Corulag's Open Orbit

Kor moved easily through his exercises, wearing only a pair of comfortable trousers as his green saber moved gracefully through the air. When he heard Nemo he turned off the blade and left the room he had been using. He arrived on the bridge shortly after, still only half clothed, seemingly having given it no thought whatsoever. His body told the story of his long years of warfare and he nodded gravely at the assembled men.
"Your pardon, Master Nemo."

A Lady-class luxury liner jumped out of hyperspace. On the sides of the large vessel, the name Painted Dreamer was etched into the hull. This was the civilian vessel from Corellia, normally used to carry celebrities on tour throughout the Core Worlds sector, mostly from Corellia or Coruscant. This time around, one particular celebrity, Emi-Lee Wareno, and her entourage, was the sole guest on board the Painted Dreamer. It was for the promotion of her new album, The Golden Ring, which included ten new compositions from Emi-Lee herself, as well as the premise of her new holovid, The Skyrunner Chronicles VII, in which she was co-starring alongside living legends in the acting industry. Right now, though, Emi-Lee, in the observation deck of the vessel over the bridge, was not thinking about her upcoming tour, dinner events, or anything related to why she was here in the first place, but rather, why she had a growing sense of foreboding the closer she got to the planet.

Her personal assistant, Edworth Winningham, was a fussy, uptight, and jumpy elderly man with a well-regarded reputation for working with upcoming and popular celebrities from Coruscant and Corellia. He had been attached to Emi-Lee ever since the beginning of the Hapless Jedi holovid series. He was in many ways, like an eccentric, obssessive-compulsive uncle to her. He stepped out onto the observation deck, having been looking for the contemplative Emi-Lee all over the ship save for the bridge or here, until now. And now that he had found her, he grinned and exclaimed, "Ah! There you are, young missy."

Emi-Lee's slight shifting of her head and even more subtle nod was the only acknowledgement that she'd heard the man enter and speak to her. Not requiring further encouragement, Edworth marched up to stand beside her, fussing with his attire and making sure everything was in place, brushing himself down along the way, and then upon taking a cursory glance and seeing the hem of Emi-Lee's dress slightly out of place, gently tugged on the imbalanced end, to make it look proper. Satisfied, he grinned to himself and stared ahead at the planet Corulag, much like Emi-Lee was doing, and looking seemingly lost in thought. He looked over at her again, his grin still plastered to his face, and he asked, "Thinking about what needs to be done when we land?"

"No." She said softly, her Coruscanti accent strong. "Not really about that."

"Then what is it? Something's on your mind." Edworth said sagely.

Emi-Lee smiled at the man. Sometimes, she believed he was more Force-Sensitive than she was, "I can't quite put my finger on it, Edworth. It's just...the closer we get, I...well...I have a bad feeling about this, simply put."

"Oh, that's perfectly normal, my dear!" Edworth laughed and waved dismissively with a hand, then turned to fuss with Emi-Lee's jacket on her shoulders. "You're just nervous. It's been a long time since you last did a tour, that's all."

Emi-Lee gave him a look, "Ed, three months ago is hardly a long time."

"Three months?!?" Edworth exclaimed, "Oh my! Where did the time fly, now? That's an eternity in this line of woik."

Emi-Lee let out an uncertain laugh. Edworth didn't understand the true Jedi, the ones that weren't portrayed on holovid films, whilst she had first-hand experience and knowledge of the Jedi, herself being a member of the Order, on Coruscant, and then on Corellia. She'd been trained, and even knighted, though in a private ceremony, between her and her master only, so whether she was acknowledge by the entire Order as a knight of the Galactic Republic, she had no idea, and she was frankly a little too embarrassed to ask for clarification on the matter. Since she was more of a celebrity than a Jedi, she received little-to-no assignments or responsibilities from the Order, and generally, she assumed that her time with the Jedi was at an end. Nonetheless, having had some training with them, she knew that when one had a bad feeling, they were usually right.

"Perfect!" Edworth said, studying Emi-Lee top to bottom. "Now just remember, the holocams will be running the second you step out of the ship, and then there's a press conference right after. I'll have the crew set up our rooms, and your luggages will be all sorted out."

"Thank you, Ed." She said, "I'll meet you at the conference later."

"Of course." Edworth bowed his head lightly, with a pleasant smile, and left the way he came in, humming a tune to himself cheerfully.

Emi-Lee then turned back to studying the planet on the viewscreen of the bridge. The feeling in her gut growing stronger and stronger as the Painted Dreamer drew ever closer to the planet. Down in the bridge, the female Togorian captain opened up a communications channel to the fleet that defended the planet, :: Hailing on open channels to Corulag defense forces, this is Captain Yenara of the Painted Dreamer. We're carrying the entourage of Emi-Lee Wareno of Coruscant, on tour for her album and holovid promotions, as announced two months ago. Requesting permission to enter atmosphere and disembark. ::

The Togorian was all business, and was not interested in delays or hold-ups for miscommunication. For some odd reason, Emi-Lee was hoping that the fleet would refuse the captain's request and turn them away. But somehow, she doubted things would be that easy. She placed her hands on the railing of the observation deck, waiting tensely for the response.

So much for that... Emi-Lee thought, as her hopes of being turned away were dashed. Now, she'd have to face whatever was waiting for her down below. What was more worrying was the ominous warning Admiral Greel had for her. Things were not what they seemed. Now wasn't that a coincidence? One thing her Jedi Master taught her, was that there was no such thing as a coincidence. Everything happened for a reason, and often, everything that happened, happened because they were supposed to. It was a bit of a paradox, but she was inclined to agree now. She believed she was beginning to understand her master's teachings. On impulse, she gripped the railing of the balcony, then swung over it. If Edworth Winningham had seen what she'd just done, he might have died of a heart attack. Using her rather limited training in the Force, she was barely able to prevent herself from having a fatal fall or breaking something, but it saved her a great deal of time of taking the lift down from the observation deck to the bridge. She certainly didn't look graceful dropping down from such a height, but she did land without injury, and gained the attention of most of the bridge. Emi-Lee wanted to speak to the admiral, though it was not her place to do so. She wasn't even sure she should ask the captain.

On her part, Captain Yenara liked Emi-Lee, as the young actress had yet to assume authority over everything she came across, and was polite to everyone, even the lowliest crew member, and treated everyone with respect. Though for the most part, she kept to herself. Even now, the actress clearly made her entrance because she wanted to speak with the Admiral. Yenara had been aware that Emi-Lee was in the observation deck for some time now, so she was certain the actress heard everything the admiral said. And she was looking to the captain for permission. The female Togorian appreciated Emi-Lee's respect to her, and wordlessly gave her approval, so the girl made her way over to the console and keyed in a response, :: This is Emi-Lee Wareno, Admiral Greel. We acknowledge, and thank you for the escort. Your warning has been noted, we'll be careful. I...I hope we'll meet you on the surface, if you have the time. You and your crew. ::

Her face would have been picked up by the holoprojectors of the communications console. But then, it would have been easy to tell the difference between her soft, quiet voice and the Togorian captain's gruff voice, despite being a female of her species. She nodded at the captain, and took her leave of the bridge, heading back down to her rooms to retrieve her personal belongings that she brought with her, which wasn't much. But as she felt the ship make its descent, she staggered a moment, like something had hit her. Something did.

A bad feeling, times ten.