Public Adventure Time {Open to Jedi}

[Karra Tor]

Karra had always been told that it was bad to pace but she just couldn't help herself today. Her mind was hurtling forward at a lightyear a minute, calculating and recalculating and going over provisions lists and fending off the lingering doubts and negative thoughts all the way in the back of the crowd. Patience was a virtue for a Jedi but clearly not one that she possessed, otherwise she would have been able to stay still. It'll be a relief when they finally get here, at least then she could vomit the information out and get it all out of her head once and for all, after all, once it was out, it was out, no taking it back, so she just had to pray that it wasn't wrong because if it was wrong then everyone would end up horribly maimedohcraphurryupALREADY!!!

She grabbed the table and forced herself to stand still, curling her lips together as she shut her eyes tight and listened to the natural sounds surrounding the meeting room; the gentle hum of machinery pulsed from all around, hiding the myriad of thoughts that she was trying to get out in a way she was happy with. She went over to the chair at the top of the table and sat herself down, taking a deep breath and forcing her mind to stop for a minute, listening only to the sound of her breaths. Doing that always seemed to calm her down somewhat...ok...

Karra needed to take a step back and think rationally, so she put her fingers to her temples and began to massage, mentally rolling back to the notice she had posted. It was a call for fellow Jedi to provide cover and support for her while she was on her expedition, the year of study had finally proven fruitful when she managed to pull old references to an Arkanian capital ship from thousands of years ago. The schematics were lost to time, but there were plenty of places in the galaxy where time was frozen, one such place being on her mind when it came to finding the schematics. It would be dangerous, and likely would result in injury and, worst case, death, but if she could get her hands on the schematics, hundreds of thousands would have a place that was removed from war and the suffering it brought, a place to heal and relax and put the past and future out of their minds for a time. Given the tumultuous days they lived in, it felt like that would be worth more than any amount of credits.

Recalling things had helped her calm down, and as her datapad notified her it was now the time for the meeting, all she could do was let her head fall back into the chair and hope someone actually felt like accompanying her for the trip...

 

[Ripple]

Ripple had been in here earlier in the day, repairing a connection from the table's internal holo-projection system to the controls at the head. Someone had spilled a drink on it, and shorted out the circuitry inside the panel, and the poor Tynnan had been forced to play find the electric wamp rat in the system. His belt was quietly set aside, beneath the table where he currently lay. He had finished some time ago, and after some wriggling through the limited space inside the holo-projector housing, had decided to get a wink.

Little did the maintenance man realize the room had been scheduled for a meeting later in the day. Another maintenance worker had swung by, checked for Ripple and removed the under maintenance door tag. Had the other worker checked beneath the table, he would have found the Tynnan snoozing. Surprisingly, he wasn't squeaking in his sleep, suggesting he wasn't having a dream about chasing after suuri.

He was directly in the center of the table, barely out of reach for people that were polite about where they placed their feet, and directly in ground zero for those that liked to stretch out.

 

[Caden Evesa]

He was being trusted.

The masters in the temple had pulled him aside. They had told him that a Jedi Knight had asked for assistance, and that they would be trusting him to provide that assistance. They bigged him up big time, he was a powerful Jedi Padawan and the adventure would help him expand his skills.

He had spent much of the evening preparing his gear for the adventure. He regretted, in a way, not having yet constructed a Lightsaber. He knew he had no form of defense should everything go wrong, but he put his faith in the force, faith that it would keep him safe.

The meeting was the next morning, but Caden wanted to be prepared to leave at a moment's notice.

He didn't sleep well that night. He was plagued by dreams, almost nightmares. He was plagued by visions that something would go wrong. He was plagued by visions of a ship, a body falling. He tossed and turned, and tossed and turned a little bit more.

He woke in a sweat at roughly four in the morning.

He couldn't go back to sleep, so he instead got himself up. He had a long shower that morning, thinking on his own. He was scared of the mission that he had been signed up for, he was scared of the vision that the force had shown him through the night.

He turned the shower off and just stood there for a few minutes.

He composed himself while he stood there. By the time he stepped out of the shower, he had managed to pull himself together just a little bit. The fear was still there, but Caden was trusting in the force. The force would keep him safe, he was sure.

He spent the rest of his morning doing nothing but pacing. He dressed and collected his backpack before walking through the temple to the meeting room. It wasn't a long walk, but he dragged it out. He needed to compose himself before he walked in there.

The doors slid open, and the Padawan walked through.

He was the first in the room, and he took his seat casually. He kept his feet close to him, not kicking whatever would be under the table. He flicked his eyes around the room. He was genuinely scared, but also oddly excited for what was about to occur.

"Master, you called this meeting?"

Ripple | Karra Tor

 

[Karra Tor]

The sound of the door finally snapped Karra from her erratic thoughts and she turned her attention to the first visitor, standing and moving to meet them with an awkward handshake.
"I don't know about Master but yes, that was me," she said, gesturing to the table. "I'm Karra Tor, nice to meet you, please sit." Once the introductions were made, she immediately retreated to the table and sat, letting out a heavy breath. It was easy enough to introduce herself in the middle of a tense situation, easier for her to focus during those times, it was the moments in-between she struggled with. Simple hellos turned basic into a second language for her, and she never quite understood why when, for other people, it was usually the other way round, or that's how she saw it, at least.

She looked the newcomer over as he moved past her to sit and the first thing she noticed was how young he looked. Not just the babyface, but the behavior too; slight twitch, unsure and slightly stiff posture, eyes bouncing around the room, etc. There was energy too though like he was trying not to sink into the chair and fade from view. Was he a Knight? A young Padawan? Certainly not a youngling, the masters wouldn't allow that...hm. She would need to ask about that in a few minutes once anyone else has arrived. Still, his seeming stress gave her an opening to start a conversation, that should help focus her before she started laying things out."You look nervous...first time heading out? You don't exactly look like the experienced type if you don't mind me saying."

Already she could feel herself relaxing, the chair feeling a little more inviting and beckoning her to stretch out juuuust a little...

Caden Evesa Ripple

 

[Caden Evesa]

She could read him like a book.

He certainly wasn't the most experienced of Jedi, actually he had no experience at all. Yet, what he lacked in experience he knew he made up for in potential. He had the potential to be something special and the best way to learn was to learn on the job.

"First time, Master. I've been training since I was six and still, this is my first time heading out on a true mission and I'm scared. I know that the force will guide this mission, keep me safe. I know I should trust in it, but that still doesn't stop the fear"

He had been unusually honest, but he figured it was only right considering the vision (or as he liked to describe them, super terrifying nightmare) he had been having through the night. He figured it was only right considering that this mission could go wrong at any time.

"I'm just a Padawan at the end of the day, nothing special. Y'know?"

He looked around again, slightly more relaxed now he had gotten it all out. He needed his little breakdown, he found that it had really settled him. He was still on edge, still nervous and still very excited, but less so. He was more relaxed now.

"Who else are we expecting, Master?"

He allowed his legs to stretch out under the table, just a little.

Karra Tor | Ripple

 

[Ripple]

The napping tynnan was quickly awakened when pressure was put on his paw and tail. A horrid screaching sound coming from beneath the table as the small being whipped himself awake, scratching with free paw towards one set of legs( Caden Evesa ) beneath the table, his focus then becoming of the one that had stepped on his tail. Another horrid screaching sound, almost like a war cry, preceded teeth being buried into the shoe of the other set of legs ( Karra Tor ) that were beneath the table.

Towards Caden, what looked like a miniature tool belt slid his direction. Thrown by the mad clawing that Ripple had done to turn on the foot holding his tail down. Beneath the table, it was a furious little Tynnan retaliating against what was perceived as an attack.

 

[Karra Tor]

Karra listened as the padawan bore his feelings to her, a light smile stretching across her face. It was like looking in a metaphorical mirror; the fear, the insecurity, the put-down. If he turned out to be a Shi'ido as well then he might as well be her brother. She couldn't exactly provide sage counsel to soothe his nerves, she hadn't conquered her own, um, quirks, after all. Still, she could at least try to empathize, she had been where he was sitting before after all.
"Oh no, the opposite padawan, you're something very special...I know you feel, that fear in your belly that makes you want to shake and whimper and run away, getting stronger with each step forward?" She said, raising an eyebrow at him. "Yeah, that's that fear isn't it...but you're still here. That's what makes you special, not everyone can do that, take that first bold plunge. No matter what happens, we take it together, right? You can trust me."

If anything resembling a wise mentor image had been established there, it was most likely immediately shattered upon subsequent events. As soon as she felt the fur, the otter was already screaming, throwing any pretense of composure out the window as Karra yelped in surprise. Looking beneath the table, she managed to catch a glimpse of something furry making for her leg just as the sharp teeth sunk into her feet...her bare relaxed feet. What happened next was a source of embarrassment for her for many years to come. In sheer instinct at feeling the pain shoot up her leg, Karra's shapeshifter reflexes kicked in and her leg opened up and became almost clay-like in it's composure, wrapping around and encasing Ripple as she started howling herself in pain. Kicking out from under the chair, Karra pulled her leg up and started trying to rabidly throw the Otter off of her, shaking her leg frantically as it twisted and warped around the creature like demented ink.
"GAAAAAGH!!! GETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFF GET IT OOOOFF!!!!!!"

Ripple Caden Evesa

 

[Caden Evesa]

He was in shock.

He didn't know what had happened. He had been talking to the Jedi Knight about fear and that fear was only natural. They were talking about how him even turning up had proven that he was more special than most others, how most others would just run away from fear.

Then he had felt something dig into his leg.

He had felt the scratch against his leg and grimaced, then he heard the scream from under the table. Everything else was a blur as an otter came from under the table, attached to the leg of the Jedi Knight. It was a weird sight, an odd sight, not one he was prepared for.

In a moment he reached out with the force and pulled the creature away from the Jedi. He held him for a few moments, studying him, before carefully placing him down on the floor and dropping to a knee to be remotely level with the creature.

"And what do we have here then? Maintenance Otter?"

Ripple | Karra Tor

 

[Ripple]

There a moment in every Tynnan's life outside of their homeworld where they questioned the sanity of leaving their small, comfortable dwellings that had no threat of being stepped on, or hugged by near human females in a fit of needing to be in physical contact with the cute thing. Or with being devoured by inky black that tasted terrible. Fangs had bit into what he expected to be shoe, but had been a foot, and then something close to clay. And then ink. And his waking mind had bot been able to fully process what the devil was going on as he squealed in surprise and fear at the shifting texture before he was nearly flung across the room.

Only to be grabbed up by another, freezing for a time until he was set on the ground, wide eyed and staring as his brain caught up with what was happening. Beneath the table, took a nap. Someone took the card off, people came in. Meeting, small meeting. Feet touched him. Instinct kicked in. Bit foot, human woman screaming. Young human male caught him. Why was human woman made of clay?

His eyes shifted to the young human male, speaking to him and he remembered he had worn a belt. A quick glance had him spotting it, a foot scooting it closer towards him before he cleared his throat to speak.

"Ah, yes. I am. I do apologize for the...foot. Scared. As I am sure I scared you. Deeply sorry. Ripple, Maintenance and Mechanic. I apologize for disturbing your meeting." The otter spoke clearly, donning the belt with tools as he kept close to the human male.

 

[Karra Tor]

Whereas Ripple had only taken a few moments to realize what was happening and adapt, Karra sat there, frozen and dumbfounded for a good 10 seconds, her leg still in the air and slowly morphing back into a human leg. It was only a few moments after Ripple introduced himself that she felt her sudden rush of adrenaline begin to wean off, sudden tiredness coming over her as she looked at the two.
"...oh," She said quietly, like a small girl who had just been given into trouble. She put her leg down and slowly turned the chair back toward the table before scooching back in, taking a nervous breath. "Um...sorry about that, I freaked out a little and I hope that you don't think less of me for it...still coming to terms with how scary the outside can be sometimes."

Now that there were three people here, she figured it would be a good time to get to the point of the meeting. "Ripple, right? Nice to meet you, if you want, you can stay for the meeting, since you and Caden are present, I think we have enough people." If he accepted, Karra would stand up and shakily move over to the pair, passing them a Datapad that they could use together. "Ok, so...as a healer, I want to help people, but the galaxy is in an almost constant state of war, so I got to thinking 'how can I help as many people as possible?' I thought about places like Silver Rest, where wars and conflict stay outside and people can feel safe. I want to create a place like Silver Rest, a place that can be a beacon of safety and security for everyone, long after me and you and everyone in the order today has joined The Cosmic Force: an escape from the chaos. I spent a year searching through the archives, combing through stories and schematics to find a ship large enough to accommodate both people that want to relax and people in need of medical treatment, and a few weeks ago, I found one." The datapad switched to show drawings and old photographs and sensor readouts. "It's an ancient Arkanian capital ship dating back to the Mandalorian Wars, 3 times the size of our biggest capital ship, 100,000 passenger capacity, with space for medical R&D, relaxation facilities, a hospital, lodgings, and from the stories about how fast it was? I'd say a Class 2 or 3 Hyperdrive. If we could get the blueprints for this ship, and upgrade it with what we have today? We could have something truly special."

She gave them a few moments to absorb what she was saying, ask any questions and such...

Ripple Caden Evesa

 

[Karra Tor]

The seconds ticked by as both potential companions looked over the cumulative research of a year-long quest, Karra sitting back and swaying her chair side to side as she began to think paranoid thoughts again. She wouldn't pay them any heed this time though, she had done her worrying before Caden and Ripple entered, now was the time for moving forward. Of course, as soon as this thought came to mind, Caden received a message calling him away, seemed he wasn't going to be able to accompany them because of another issue elsewhere. Now her mind began to entertain thoughts of worry a little more, her eyes switching to the otter in front of her.
"What about you RIpple? You in?" She asked hopefully, the worry creasing the corners of her lips into a slight grimace.


Ripple

 

[Ripple]

His little paws went up when she apologized for her reaction. "We are even. I scared you. You scared me. Granted, I attempted to...well, did bite you. And you tried to...eat...me? So I believe that makes us even as far as what was done and attempted." There was blatant confusion in the processing of what exactly she had done with her leg, even with the slight squeaks of a laugh. His mind was not quite sure of what had actually happened, but then again it was a wide universe and there were many beings that occupied it. Though he would have to inquire as to her specific genetic heritage at some point to come to terms with the sight he had seen shortly before being removed from his perceived impending doom.

The younger man was called away by a message, leaving Ripple to examine the data before him with exuberant interest as he looked over the data. Karra's question went unanswered for a brief moment however as the otter perked eyebrows at her having been so drawn into the data to have missed what she said for just a moment. His mouth parted as if to ask a question before the aha moment hit and he nodded sharply.

"Oh force yes! I would not miss the chance to examine an old ship of such scale and help bring it back to bear for civil aid!" He was nodded softly as he spoke, a sudden thought making his whiskers dance in stricken thought.

"Would this be a ship that exclusively serves our group, the Silver Jedi I mean, or would this be an intergalactic civil aid vessel?" Paws went up in hasty show of pausing a thought as he realized the phrasing that he had used. "In the sense of travelling across borders I mean, not that the ship itself would be owned by a number of groups. If so, given what I understand of Arkanian nature from the somewhat vague mention of the species that I have heard, they were a people more concerned with...oh what was it...personal genetic and physical enhancement I believe? There could very well be remnants of there tech on board the vessel with caches of data as well."

His thinking did not stop there however.

"Granted it would be exclusively beneficial to near humans most likely in the broadest sense. Arkanian's if I recall share remarkably similar traits to most of the aforementioned species in regards to physical qualities save for oh...their hands I believe? Or was it their eyes?" His whiskers danced once more as his face scrunched in ponderous thought. "Anyhow. You mentioned before that you had a location for the vessel? Or at least the idea of it's location?"

Karra Tor

 

[Karra Tor]

Karra really didn't need reminding of an incident that happened mere seconds ago, it was embarrassing enough as it was, but she still found herself covering her face to hide the red on her cheeks as Ripple brought the biting up again. She couldn't help it if her body reacted a certain way to certain actions, it was just who she was, simple. Moving ever so swiftly on though!!

He was definitely interested if the slew of words that left his mouth were any indicator, asking question after question with clarifications and explanations on top of them - maybe this was what it was like for someone to talk to her when she was nervous. She could relate, there was probably a lot of questions in his head he didn't even want to ask because they felt a bit too frivolous, but this was a briefing, and she wasn't shy about wanting friends (even if she was shy trying to make them) so she just held up a hand as Ripple kept on going, let the room settle for a moment, and then moved over to the chair next to him.
"First, the ship itself will be owned, maintained, and upgraded by the Silver Jedi Concord, but I will be the captain and I will be taking it wherever it needs to go to do the most amount of good, be that Sith, Bryn, Jedi, any territory. I want this ship to be a neutral ground for any faction willing to respect it, maybe that could help foster better relations if they could just talk to each other without fighting." She explained, gesturing to the other map detailing faction territories and how (relatively) close to each other they were. "Second, you;re right about the technology, the Arkanians were undisputed in genetic engineering, if we can find some of their technology, even if the ship is lost to us, it could lead to better advances in healing and engineering. It was both by the way, hands and eyes."

On the topic of the location, she brought out the Galactic Map so it lay over everything else, allowing them to see the full scope of the Galaxy they had charted so far. She pointed at a single planet, far away from here in the Unknown Regions. "Anzat, I spent a year researching what we knew of Arkania and I'm almost certain that one of their scientists fled to this planet during the Mandalorian Wars, hiding a cache of technology away to preserve his people's legacy. Among what's left, I'm hoping, is the schematics to the ship, allowing us to build a platform that can be anywhere in a pinch, ready to help people and give them somewhere to escape the near-constant warfare the galaxy endures for a while.

"Anymore questions?"

Ripple

 

[Ripple]

He listened when she spoke, nodding and scratching his chin as best he could manage. The silver jedi concord would own and maintain the vessel. How delightful! Always a wonderful thing to be able to put paws to metal when new things came around. She would be the captain, and taking it near everywhere it seemed. Even the sith territory. He did little more than frown at the mention of the sith, but said nothing to cut her off. She wanted it to be neutral ground, and the best place for that chance was a medical vessel.

It just required everyone to respect the purpose of such a vessel.

She confirmed his ramblings about the technology, and then confirmed it was both hands and eyes. She went on to explain the location, detailing what her findings were on the matter as he put the planets name to memory for later. Schematics, technology, all hopefully contained within the cache of a scientest that had fled from the mandalorian wars. He frowned at the thought of it just being the two of them, but he had heard far zanier stories of one person pulling incredible and far fetched achievements around the universe.

"Only a few more. Our transportation there is one. Aside from ourselves, are we taking anyone else with us? I do not expect the unknown regions to be so kind to a pair of travelers. Especially those searching for lost treasures as most would put it. An escort of like minded beings, or at the least hired hands or some such?" He waved a paw, trying to get the idea of generalization about the entourage they would have. If they would have one. "Aside from that. Perhaps a small support vessel capable of carrying a dedicated generator or core of some sort in case this ships is compromised in some manner. There is only so much one can do with engine tape after all."

Karra Tor