Ashes to Ashes

[The Dark Man]

Our salvation lies ahead of us.
Go forth.
There is nothing left to leave behind.


Core Worlds
Azure Sector
Axum System
Anaxes



The war with the One Sith of late had become quiet, but it was merely the quiet before the storm. Ekul Selah knew in his very being that the foundations of the Republic would be shaken, and may very well topple. A matter of days, weeks, months or years, he knew not, but it was coming for him, it was coming for them all. A thought that was innately disturbing and forced his skin to crawl. He had seen the horrors the One Sith could enact, and by his life or blood, he would do what he could to stop it. Though that would bring the question why, as the war neared its height, he would take a Defender-class light corvette and vanish in the early, crisp morning of the capital. Every sword was as valuable as the next, and he was abandoning them to their fate, some of the more outspoken Jedi had voiced. His departure was unavoidable. The One Sith were winning by a tremendous stroke, not only thanks to their countless Sith Lords that vastly outnumbered the Jedi Masters, but too were their play things. Jedi Selah, Watchman of the Order, was not abandoning the Republic, he was searching for a solution.

His dark robes drew around him, as black as night. The wool was tarnished, tattered and soiled in places from the time of his existence as a rat in the gutters of the Coruscant Underworld. For seven months he was on the run, and such an experience had given his possessions a deeper novelty to them, and so he dare not abandon these robes in favour of new ones. If these had suited him well enough to survive him on the run for so long, then they could survive him for any other objective in his life. As a follow of the Potentium, and the Unifying Force, he wondered if this were his destiny. The other Jedi would consider him a fool, and he knew such things and for that, he kept his tongue bit. He did not voice his opinions aloud unless required or asked. There were so few beings that believed in the Unifying Force, and even few in the Potentium. Large oval spectacles bobbed on his thick nose as he swept into the Jedi hanger, where his corvette waited him, and somewhere he would find the pilot assigned to this mission. To travel into the unknown, and beyond.



{ [member="Catherine Maxwell"] }

 

[Catherine Romanov]

Catherine was carrying out a customary set of final checks for the Defender-class light corvette, when she felt a presence near her. She looked up and saw a dark skinned old man, clad in dark tattered black robes, with these weird looking oval spectacles on his nose. Exploring was one of her passions, and she signed up for this mission when she'd heard of it. Most pilots were wary of this mission, as it had little to no prospects and it was about all about heading into the unknown. She had no idea who she'd travelling with, but Catherine figured that a fellow explorer wouldn't be difficult to get along with, and she had worked with plenty of Jedi in the past.

She did a final tweak, and closed the hatch. She got down from the ship, and headed towards the old man. Catherine wiped her gloves on her pants in her usual habit, before greeting him in her usual chipper tone. " Welcome! I'm Catherine Maxwell, and I'll be your pilot for this mission. And whom might you be?"

[member="Ekul Selah"]

 

[The Dark Man]

...till even the stars heed our calling.


Sighting his pilot, there was no doubt she was a human. A well endowed young blonde haired beauty, wearing a pilot's helmet, adorned with several art and drawings on it, coupled with a pilot's goggles worn on her neck. She was dressed in a white tank top, dirty from mixing around with mechanics. Another peculiar part of her outfit, was the metal gauntlets & pauldrons that she wore, as well as the many pouches she wore on her belt containing her numerous tools. She completed the outfit with a pair of tight-fitting cargo pants. They looked like polar opposites. The Monk and the Mechanic, they would make an interesting pair on the journey ahead. Alone in the vast emptiness of space, Jedi Selah wondered just what they would have to talk about. Given enough time, surely anyone could become steadfast friends and allies, he would just have to give it time. Few found interest in talking about the philosophies of the Force, and all else that goes with it, and he did not have interest in talking flying, metal birds. May haps he could meditate on what to discuss, to pass the time of course.

His brown gaze fixated on her hands as she swiped them against her cargo pants, cleaning them of any grease and grime that may still be existing. Her voice sang out to him, chirpy and upbeat, "Welcome! I'm Catherine Maxwell, and I'll be your pilot for this mission. And whom might you be?"
“Ekul Selah, Jedi Knight of the Republic,” Ekul said, all formalities, “But feel free to call me what you like.” A thick-lipped smile spread across his mouth and creased his cheeks. He subtly motioned with a hand towards the lowered access ramp, located directly beneath the cockpit. He began to move, his cloak draped from his shoulders gently brushed the back of his boots, such was its length, but not quite dragged on the floor behind him. He seemed to be a fairly untraditional Jedi, for where others wore much more neutral colours of tan, grey or light brown, he wore all black and dark greys. The only glint of brightness was that of his hilt, and even that was not of his own design. It was afforded to him as a gift from a great Duinuogwuin Jedi Master from the time of the New SIth Wars. “Have you ever piloted one of these before?” he inquired with open honesty, and in the way he spoke it was not that of critical judgement but instead sincere, innocent curiosity.
{ [member="Catherine Maxwell"] }

 

[Catherine Romanov]

Catherine followed the old Jedi up the ramp, and promptly hit the switch that brought up the ramp, which closed with a hiss. As Ekul made his way into the interior of the ship, she proceeded to hit the remaining switches that turned on the lights and and all the other necessities. As she settled down in the pilot's seat, she heard the old Jedi ask "Have you piloted one of these before?" to which she answered, " Not alone, no, but I have piloted this alongside other pilots before though. I usually fly smaller crafts, like starfighters or bombers." She proceeded to flip the numerous switches on the dashboard, grabbing hold of the levers and throttles, started the engines and thrusters, she uttered simultaneously with a grin "Here we go!" and piloting the corvette gracefully, moved the ship out of the hangar, and into the black.

[member="Ekul Selah"]

 

[The Dark Man]

The lights startled his eyes, forcing him to wince as Catherine activated them. The creek and moan of the access ramp slowly rising reverberated throughout the vessel, then it connected with the hull and a snap-hiss could be heard. A small indication that the corvette was now pressure sealed. He glanced to Catherine as she answered his questions, raising a brow in curiosity. Corvettes were certainly different to bombers and fighters, but at least it was not necessary for five crewman, and only one. Though Ekul was sure that if she needed an extra hand on deck, she could rely on him. She would need to only ask — and of course instruct him on what to do. He was oblivious in the ways of commandeering a ship. To him, it was like trying to study a whole new language, and at his age, that was a task quite hard for him. The engines roared, the corvette trembled at their sheer might. Thrusters engaged and propulsion drives slowly lifted the flying-boat off the hanger floor. Ekul had not been quite yet ready for the ship to move, he quickly grabbed onto a bulkhead to steady himself. The ship shot forth from the hanger, almost toppling him before the gravity-generators kicked in.

“Dear me, I thoroughly do not enjoy this — not at all,” he murmured to himself quietly, yet loud enough that Catherine may have heard over her shoulder. He reached under his wrist to a commlink and activated it, allowing him to instanously communicate with Maxwell wherever he may be on the corvette. Of course he could do that without the communicator, but that would require shouting. He began to beeline his way towards the bridge, moving from one bulkhead to another to steady himself, though it was not necessary as the gravity generators were now online, but the old Jedi was so unfamiliar with space travel that he still felt the desire to steady himself. Entering the room, it was quite spacious with a holographic navicomputer situated in the centre of the bridge for easy access and visibility. “Change of plans, captain,” he spoke gently over the communicator, his voice like gravel down a metal chute, “We’ll be taking course for Yoggoy first, somewhere in the Unknown Regions, from memory the closest grid coordinates are H-7.”

[member="Catherine Maxwell"]

 

[Catherine Romanov]

"Aye sir!, Yoggoy it is then."

Catherine knew very little of the Unknown Regions, and even less of the planet Yoggoy. She knew that it was a planet covered in mounds, created by the Kiliks, which were the migrant species of the planet. She also knew that the planet had several flora extracted from Alderaan and re-grown there. Most explorers had also heard the famous story of the Tachyon Flier, and how it crashed on Yoggoy, becoming a holy site which eventually became the home of the Kiliks.

"Plotting coordinates..travelling to the Yoggoy star system now." Catherine announced over the ship's PA comms system "Prepare for FTL travel. Engaging hyperdrives in 5..4...3..2..1..Engage!"

 

[The Dark Man]

Ekul Selah had made it to the holographic navicomputer, but not without his fair share of trouble walking. He felt like a green-as-grass sailor, his first day at sea. He thumbed the activation and began to scrounge around the network archives for any information on Yoggoy, and what information he found was incredibly miniscule. He brought up a holographic display of the landscape, immense and oddly shaped mounds protruded high up from the ground. It looked like a beach full of sand castles — without the sand. Ekul had not detected the presence in the force, but he sure heard the footsteps behind him. He knew it wasn't Catherine, and quickly whipped around, prepared to launch a concussive blast of kinetic energy at whatever creature may be stalking him. It must have been a stow-away, but when he whirled around it was merely a Factotum droid, C2-N2 series. “You scared me,” Ekul said through gritted teeth, and released his guard. “I am most terribly sorry, master, but I was assigned to this ship.” Ekul studied the droid for a moment, and called it over the comms, “Uh, captain, we’ve got a guest.”

He led the droid through the bowels of the belly of the beast, but it seemed to already know every single nook and cranny this ship held. Jedi Selah was not aware the ship came with its own droid, and if that had been so then he had not had any need of a pilot. Oh well, too late for that. The help would be welcome either way, give Catherine someone to talk too while Ekul was studying or meditating, or any number of things any non-force user would find boring. He entered the cockpit just as she had counted down, and the stars became great white streaks that stretched across the viewport. The sudden speed made him want to throw up his early morning breakfast, but he quickly focused and settled his stomach. “Apparently the ship comes with a droid,” Selah said, motioning to the droid companion beside him. “Maybe you could find some use for him to keep him from getting bored.”​

[member="Catherine Maxwell"]

 

[Catherine Romanov]

Catherine turned around as Ekul came into bridge, exclaiming about the newly discovered visitor. "Oh! a C2." She then nodded before continuing, "Most ships of these size do usually come with either a factotum droid, or a protocol droid. These droids are more for a convenience, than necessity. Imagine a robot butler. It's purpose mainly lies in acting as a vocal library of technical readouts, blueprints, and manuals, and well as catering to advanced etiquette protocols."

She smirked before glancing towards the droid. "It's pretty useless when it comes to combat, piloting and navigation though, aren't I right C2?" The droid promptly replied "You are absolutely right captain." Catherine then giggled. "You don't have to worry about it getting bored either, droids don't get bored, C2 surely doesn't. Perhaps it'll be of more use to you aiding you in your studies." She remarked.

[member="Ekul Selah"]

 

[The Dark Man]

Cynically, Jedi Selah spoke, "Pretty useless in more than just that, I don't think we'll be requiring a protocol droid for this mission." C2 craned his neck, as best he could, "Sir, I am to believe you're travelling to Yoggoy, I dare say if you wish to converse with the Killiks - as I suspect that is who you seek, then you will require me for translation purposes." Jedi Selah rose a brow, eyes hidden behind his spectacles, "Well, your point is proven." Ekul clapped a hand on Catherine's shoulder, "What is the ETA for our arrival." He moved to sit in the seat beside her, pulling a harness overhead and clasping himself in. The droid simply stood in between them.

{ [member="Catherine Maxwell"] }

 

[Catherine Romanov]

Catherine turned to face Ekul and grinned, "See that planet there in the distance ahead? That's Yoggoy." We should reach Yoggoy's atmosphere in two hours. Almost there now!" "Yeah!" Catherine remarked as she did a fist punch in the air.

[member="Ekul Selah"]

 

[The Dark Man]

A broad smile curled his lips at her punching of the air. Enthusiasm is what he needed on a trip like this. He thought for a moment, reflecting on the relatively easy trip to the planet, no dangers had yet posed themselves - something told him it would not be like this for long when they go through the Kothol Rift after Yoggoy. "Excellent," he remarked, pushing himself further back into the folds of his chair.

{ [member="Catherine Maxwell"] }