Private A Murder Most Fowl

[Katherine Holt]

Location: Heading towards Ukatis
Tags: Oryn Selvar​

Katherine had been up at the crack of dawn in order to get some early morning training. It had been a routine she had started during her time away with Torin, and had maintained ever since. The fact Naboo was a gorgeous place certainly helped, although nothing could ever replace what she called home these days.

And for a while Katherine thought the day would go like any other day, until she suddenly got a ping on her commlink mid-flight. A fairly high priority mission had arrived on the Jedi Order’s doorstep, the source being a face familiar to the redhead.

Corazona von Ascania

Apparently a dispute had erupted on Ukatis, between two rival families that were focused on agriculture. So far it had only escalated to verbal threats being shared, but there was a growing concern it was going to get worse. Cora was unable to personally deal with it, and the Jedi already present; situated at the enclave there, already had their hands full trying to help keep the peace

Thus, she had sent a request for help from the High Republic’s Order.

Katherine hadn’t hesitated to answer the call, indicating she would head to the planet as soon as possible. Though, as she went to do just that, an idea struck the winged Jedi.

Since taking a place within the High Republic, Katherine had been gradually working towards the idea of officially taking on a Padawan. It was a massive responsibility, and one that she wasn’t about to take lightly. And while she had yet to make a final decision, it wasn’t about to stop her from still instructing a Padawan or two.

Thus, she made a call and requested for Oryn Selvar to join her post-haste. When he had arrived at the hangar where her ship was, Katherine ushered the Nautolan onboard with nary an introduction. It was only when they were away, the ship thrown into hyperspace, that Katherine finally turned to face where Oryn was seated.

“My apologies for the abruptness, Padawan Selvar. The mission we are undertaking is ever developing, so I wanted to get us underway as soon as we could.” She said, a small apologetic smile on her face. “My name is Katherine Holt.”

 

[Oryn Selvar]

​

Oryn was halfway through a spar with two droids when his summons came. He had lost track of time of how long he had been there, so lost in the motions of combat had he been. He hadn't managed to drive past the defences of the droids, but in return they had only touched him thrice. The message indicated haste was of the essence, so he quickly shut the droids down and handed in the training saber, as he did not own one himself, and moved out.

Even before reaching the hangar he could hear the sounds of a ship powering up. Surely it wasn't his, was it? Was it? Oh. The Nautolan transitioned from walk, to a jog, to a sprint. The ship was already levitating as he leapt onto the ramp. It wouldn't have taken off without him, would it?

"Padawan Oryn Selvar, reporting for- oh" he started, though once he saw the back of Knight Holt, he simply followed into the cockpit and found his seat. Even without the Force, his headtails would've picked up on the emotions filtered through the air from the pheromones. In the Jedi Knight he couldn't sense any malice, or even annoyance. He wasn't being dismissed. All he could taste was simply the pursuit of efficiency.

Oryn let Holt pilot the ship while he used the moment as a chance to meditate. What was this mission? Where were they going? Why was he selected? Was he ready? He tried to avoid doubt settling in, letting there only be the Force.

He didn't recognise the coordinates, nor was he familiar with the path they were taking.

When he was addressed, he looked up at the Knight, and smiled. The undercurrents were still that of focus, yet layers of the air grew warmer. "No apologies needed." "Oryn" he repeated, following up from her introduction.

"What is our mission?" he asked, then turned with a serious look towards what seemed like star chart of some kind. He stared a moment, but couldn't quite make sense of what was in front of him. "What's an Ukatis?"

Katherine Holt

 

[Katherine Holt]

Location: Heading towards Ukatis
Tags: Oryn Selvar​

“Ukatis is a predominantly green world, a majority being rural farmland and forests. Its capital city is Axilla, a feudalistic society which means yeah, King, Lords, Nobles, Peasants, the whole thing.” Katherine paused for a moment, mentally cataloging the information she knew. “Fortunately; hopefully, we won’t have to be dealing with any nobles today.” If they could avoid drawing their attention, she’d call it a minor victory in of itself.

“Oh, and there is a Force Nexus located on the planet, so you may likely sense it even if we aren’t going to be venturing anywhere close to it.”

It was a piece of Ukatis history that Katherine had only heard of, mostly from Cora after the redhead had first learned about the incident, and had bugged the blonde healer for details.

I really did have a bad habit of that when I was a Padawan…

“For us, the relevant part is the farmland. There are a number of families that are solely focused on running farms. Two of which have erupted into a dispute, ranging from sabotaging crops, to outright stealing livestock.”

She could only imagine how quickly it must’ve sparked, especially as it was messing with a whole family’s livelihood.

“Our mission is to help support the investigation there. The local enclave is currently focused on keeping the peace, so it’ll be our job to solve the case.”

 

[Oryn Selvar]

​

"Ukatis is a predominantly green world," Those are some serious wings, he thought to himself. He'd been too focused on trying to make it on time, then deciphering her tone and demeanour to really focus on it. But this lady really had a serious pair of wings on her... "a majority being rural farmland and forests. Its capital city is Axilla, a..." Can she really fly with those things? Surely they're not just for show. How fast? Can't be too fast, right? "King, Lords, Nobles, Peasants, the whole thing. Fortunately; hopefully, we won't have to be dealing with any nobles today." Though she probably doesn't weigh too much. Shouldn't think about that... Anyway, those are some heavy wings. Maybe at a stand-still you wouldn't get much speed, but leap off a building or something? Those things would carry you...

Oh. Was she staring? Was he supposed to say something? "Indeed" Oh that was a dumb thing to say, but he thought it sounded clever. Drat. He still didn't know much about Ukatis. What had she been saying again? Farms and nobles, farms and nobles...

For the rest of the briefing, he paid attention well. He didn't dare to do anything else lest she throw him off the vessel and pick out another Padawan.

"Are we talking a small group of farmers on either side? Or bigger clans?" he asked for context.

The case seemed simple enough. He should be able to support the winged Knight in this.

Katherine Holt

 

[Katherine Holt]

Location: Heading towards Ukatis
Tags: Oryn Selvar​

It did take several seconds longer than normal for the Padawan to respond, and Oryn’s simple response had Katherine stifle a laugh. Even when she had been talking, she caught the Nautolan staring at her wings. At this point it was nothing new to her, especially with people who got a closer look at them. From what she had been told, it was one thing to see them from afar, it was another to see the enormity of them up close.

His question about the size of the two rival families did give Katherine pause, as she thought on the answer.

“Unfortunately the report did not state a specific number when talking about the families. Nor did the records of Ukatis provide any.” Potentially, they could request more detailed records, but Katherine had a feeling they were going to be interacting with the farmers not long after landing.

The redhead caught Oryn’s eyes shifting, just ever so slightly to look at her wings again. This time Katherine did let out a chuckle, a mouth turning into a knowing smile.

“You have questions,” she began, nudging her head a little towards her right wing. “Ask away.”

Better to get them out now, rather than in the middle of an investigation.

 

[Oryn Selvar]

Location: Heading towards embarrassment
Tag: Katherine Holt
​

He had gotten caught staring. His cheeks would've fired up a bright shade of red if he could blush. Thankfully, Nautolan physiology came in clutch. She didn't seem offended, and so he didn't voice an apology, not exactly, but she could probably read one on his face all the same.

"I" he started. He was caught off guard, and it took him a moment to recover. "I haven't seen many of your kind before, is all." none, actually. The respectful thing would've been to leave it at that. But curiosity killed the Loth-cat. "Can you fly?" the obvious question, followed up by the one he really cared about. "How fast?" he couldn't quite contain the growing grin as he envisioned it. Jedi on wings, swooping in to cut down a group of Sith. Wicked.

Oryn didn't dare ask the question about how much weight her wings could carry. He didn't want to spend the rest of their trip locked up.

"Others have said it's like I'm flying when we're in water." he managed a little laugh. "It's not exactly the same. Swimming, I mean. But I get that it looks like that."

"At sea, I'm really in my element. It must feel nice to always be in your element. Except when you're inside, or in space I guess" As long as Katherine had clear skies overhead, she must've felt like she could conquer it all.