Bad Day

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Kurt recognized the name, but only from the news segments. "I see."

He could feel for Jamie, he really could. His hand extended and took hers, his thumb gently stroking across the back of her palm as he tried to comfort her. There was a part of him that was...well just startled by all of this. Suravi had claimed to be a part of the Republic, had claimed to lead it in fact, but that wasn't the Republic that Kurt knew. He had served within the Navy and although he had been dishonorably discharged he had never really born any ill will towards the Government he served.

Just the opposite in fact.

In the years after his service he'd still been somewhat loyal to the Republic, at least until they turned into a madhouse. He had no idea what had happened, nor did he have any idea who any of the people in charge where. When he was in the Navy the Supreme Chancellor had been Popo the Hutt, a man...or rather Hutt that had by all accounts tried his best to serve the Republic in whatever fashion he could, never conducting war crimes or anything of this sort.

"You'll find answers." He told her as he gently squeezed her hand. "I know you will."

Sometimes people did senseless things for no reason, Kurt only hoped that this wasn't one of those times. "Naboo will be alright."

It had survived this long after all.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"I hope so." She said, forcing a smile through, before taking back her hand to start eating the food that had been brought out a few minutes prior. Food served as a good distraction from the previous conversation, and the reminder that the issues of her people were still quite overbearing on her shoulders. That was something she needed to at least take her mind off of for now. That, and her whole family issue that was still pressing and in need of addressing. There was simply so much to do Jamie felt like she hadn't enough years in her to do it all.

"We've got people looking for her now. Hopefully she'll be found and brought back to answer for her crimes in a trial."

The trial would most certainly be nothing more than a formality, given the irrefutable hard evidence they had of both attacks. It was only a matter of time.

"On the subject of terrorists though, Aela thinks it is only a matter of time before the Alliance and the First Order find themselves in aggressive conflict." She hesitated to say war, out of fear of worrying Kurt, or speaking out of turn on matters she knew little of. "All we can do is hope that things stay civil." Outside of Naboo Jamie had no political influence, whatever happened between the Alliance and the First Order was out of her hands.

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

That wasn't likely. Kurt was fairly simple when it came to most things, but war...well war was one of the few aspects of galactic life that he had a greater understanding of. The First Order weren't the One Sith, but they were pretty damn close. As far as he was concerned they were practically the same thing, except the First Order had a little bit more discretion in how they did things. He frowned for a few moments and looked down at this food.

"From what I can tell it's going to be war." He knew that she had purposefully avoided that word, but he couldn't really deny the truth. Though he wasn't nearly as well informed on the subject as he would have liked, Kurt could practically smell it in the air.

"I don't know." He didn't like the idea of Jamie getting involved with all that, but there wasn't really a way to stop it. "Maybe it won't happen."

All he could really do was hope.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"Maybe" Cutting into the vega-steak brought out a small smile from her. The smell of the food was delightful, and the taste even more so when she finally brought the bite to her mouth to indulge her taste buds. "I imagine whatever happens they will want us somewhere in that mix." Jamie wouldn't look to be anywhere near a ground battle, that much she was certain of. Protecting some important person or asset she could handle well enough she thought, but being one of those front line Jedi in the thick of battle wasn't her specialty. Sending her into something like that would be senseless.

"Anyway, at least Naboo is on the opposite end of Alliance space that maybe they'll get a break if things go sideways between them and the First Order."

Force knows the could certainly use the break as of late.

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"Probably." Naboo was a pretty famous planet. It was known the galaxy over as a bastion of Democracy and civil rights. People talked about how beautiful the Theed was, how expansive the plains were, they even talked about the Gungas. With notoriety came renown, and more often than not with renown came a target.

Kurt didn't say that to Jamie though.

"No matter what." He told her with a smile. "Just be safe."

War wasn't a joke. While she may have survived Dxun and whatever had happened on Bastion, if war broke out between the First Order and the Galactic Alliance...well things would turn serious fast. Kurt wouldn't have wanted to be involved, and unlike Jamie he wouldn't have been on the ground fighting people.

He would be in a cockpit.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Being safe was a relative idea. It was impossible to stay entirely safe when involved in any capacity with war. But if that war was brought to Naboo? Her home? That was something she would die to protect. That much she knew was plain and simple. That was the whole reason she left Naboo to begin with, to understand the Force and to better control it. To protect her home and those she cared for, and by extension, others as well.

"I'll do what I can." Like she had on Bastion. She did what she could, or rather, what she thought she could, and should, do. That turned up rather poorly. That was one memorable way to begin a new life as a Jedi in training. Things had gone from smooth to deadly in such a short period. "I do hope that if something does happen that I've finished my training by then." A repeat of Bastion she could do without.

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"There's always something new to learn." He reminded Jamie. "The force is limitless."

He sounded almost like he was teasing her.

"So i've been told anyway." Okay maybe he was teasing her. The force wasn't really something that Kurt understood, even at its lowest concept. He knew that both Jamie and Kaile could use it, knew that Sith used a different spectrum of it, but that was really it. If you asked him what the force was or what it actually did he would be completely and entirely lost on the subject. As far as he was concerned it was all just some grand mystery.

Some things weren't meant to be understood.

"Besides." He went on. "I could teach you a thing or two before you go to war."

 

[Jamie Pyne]

The joke was lost on her. She simply assumed he was being serious and somehow knew something of the Force if Kaile had shared things with him. "I know." She said with a nod. "I just don't want to be caught up in a scuffle and not know what to do." The glass she'd been drinking from had begun to accumulate some condensation around the outside of the glass as Jamie picked it up, leaving moisture on her hands after taking a sip and setting the glass back down.

"Bastion, Dxun, the terrorist attacks on Naboo by Suravi, and Ossus by the Mandalorians."

That was something she'd left out of her recent messages, which might come as a surprise to Kurt. "None of that was full on war. I want to be as prepared as possible, especially after we found a number of the Knights of Ren trying to steal crystals from the caves on Lothal."

Another small detail she'd omitted from their recent messages.

Whoops.

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

He paused.

"What?" That wasn't just a passing statement either, that really meant something. He frowned for a moment.

"They attacked Lothal?" Or they had stolen lightsaber crystals...still that was..."Jamie that's an act of war."

His stomach tightened. The Knights of Ren were the First Orders Force arm, sort of like the Jedi Order for the Alliance. Kurt had seen the news reels, the holo-feeds from some of the things they had done like on Eriadu. Suddenly he felt somewhat sick to his stomach. "What happened?"

Oh no no no, he didn't like this.

Not one bit.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"I don't really know." She admitted. The whole thing had been entirely coincidental really. "I was there with Aela. I decided to take a walk one morning. Nothing out of the ordinary really. I went to gather flowers from the fields to make something pretty for the two of us." There hadn't been any signs of the Ren then, or what was going to happen. It was just a quiet morning. "I decided to take some time and explore the caves there, because it's something I did quite frequently back home, so I headed inside alone." Even that wasn't unusual, she had explored many caves on Naboo as a kid and teenager by herself. It was peaceful.

"When I was in there, I came across another Jedi I hadn't seen in a few months, one I didn't quite get along with for a number of reasons, but regardless there he was." ​Aerion. Not getting along and borderline despising were interchangeable at that moment. "We both felt the presence of something dark, but we split up to look around." She paused in her story to appease her growling stomach again. "I found one of them first. Never caught the name, but he was much older, was able to manipulate the Force and was surrounded by the dark side, and carried with him a bright red lightsaber."

That was the simple part of the story. "I tried to keep things civil, to convince him to leave without incident. Aerion got involved shortly into our conversation and things went badly. The man panicked, and while he didn't get away with the crystal he was after, he did manage to collapse an integral part of the cave." Her eyes shifted away from Kurt before she finished the next part of the story. "I made a snap decision and threw Aerion out of the way with the Force, but I wasn't fast enough to protect myself as well and was pinned beneath the rocks. Aela eventually found me, but the Ren escaped."

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Kurt nearly collapsed onto the table.

"H-ho" He cut himself off. The Courier knew that Jamie would get into dangerous situations, he knew that he couldn't prevent things like that, but hearing about it caused him to tense up, feel sick, and experience a colorful range of emotion that he didn't even think he was really capable of. He had so many questions, he wanted to yell, but in the end all he could do was think about the fact that at the very least Jamie was safe.

That she had made it out alive.

"I...." He began, looking up at Jamie for a moment. "That's..."

What the hell was he supposed to say to this? Sure he'd flown a starfighter in the middle of a war, sure he'd accidentally delivered a package of spice once or twice, but he'd never run around a cavern only to have it collapsed upon him by some madman using the Darkside of the force. He was out of his depth here, and in truth he had absolutely no idea what he was supposed to say in answer. He frowned, then his lips thinned, then he frowned again.

"I really have to get you that anklet before we leave here." He commented quietly.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"That might just make you worry more, honestly." The places he would see her would probably be enough to send him into cardiac arrest, or at the very least come looking for her despite the dangers. "If that other Jedi hadn't shown up I think there may have been another way. Aerion though, I believe him to be on the distant edges of being a Jedi. He's very militant, quick to anger and eager to kill. All things very unbecoming of a Jedi. I think that may have been what triggered Castor into acting the way he had."

At least that is what Jamie believed and told herself.

She always believed there was good in everyone, even those who committed acts of evil. It was why she would never take a life.

"And if it makes you feel any better, I talked a Sith into releasing three hostages without killing them on Ossus when the Mandalorians attacked the temple there."

She would omit the rest of that story, given that he had in fact harmed others, severing one mans arm in an attempt to escape, proceeding his attempt to destroy the planetary shield generator and nearly cutting her in half with his lightsaber. Minor details.

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"Oh you mean the attack where the Temple was nearly wiped out by a chemical attack?" He sounded sarcastic, but not in a harsh way, but rather a more amused 'I can't believe this' tone. "That makes me feel a lot better."

He crashed his head against the table, missing his food luckily.

"Jamie." Kurt said, his voice muffled by the table.

"I know you know what you're doing." Voice was still muffled. Kurt really wasn't sure how to take any of this. He knew what Jamie was doing was important, and she had already saved peoples lives, but...well that didn't mean Kurt had to like it one bit. In fact by the tone of his voice it was clear that he had an absolute disdain for it. That being said, it was also clear that he wouldn't try to tell her to stop...but there were suggestions. "How about being one of those diplomatic Jedi?"

Kurt said as he raised up his head. "The ones that go and Trade Missions and stuff. I think that'd be a good idea."

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie leaned back in her chair and laughed. Not out of spite, but because she understood what he was suggesting and why he was suggesting it.

"Kurt." Her head shook ever so slightly as she bit down on the corner of her lip. "I am a diplomatic Jedi." The blonde set down her fork and knife for a moment, hands brushing against the napkin on her lap. "I report to the King of Naboo, and both deliberate and deliver messages with the crown. As part of the Alliance and SIS, Aela and I aren't sent on murder missions." The fact of the matter was that most places that did not harbor Jedi were often intolerant of them, at least the worlds with more nefarious backgrounds, organizations, and leadership. It was simply something that came with being a Jedi. "Bastion would have been diplomatic, at least somewhat, if certain things hadn't happened. Ossus was in part, diplomatic, at least at the end, aside from the chemical bomb, but I was nowhere near that by that point." She had been off chasing Waide as he tried to escape with a few hostages. "After the attacks on Naboo, that was diplomatic."

Her shoulders raised slowly, then fell, as if saying I don't know what more you want.

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

He slumped slightly.

She was right. He couldn't really argue against the facts, and what she was presenting was facts pure and simple. He frowned for a moment, trying to wrap his head around all of this. Kurt would worry, that was...well that was simple fact. He couldn't help it anymore than she could help doing what she did.

"Okay." The Courier said quietly. "So I lock you in a basement."

Kurt looked up at her, only the slightest hint of a smile on his lips.

"Comfy bed, fridge, big bath tub, you won't even want to leave." It seemed a fair enough compromise to him.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"I can't." She said quietly, her hand reaching across the table to rest on his. "I have to do this."

There simply was no other way.

"Maybe if I never discovered the Force, that could have been an option. But then I would still be tied to Naboo. I likely wouldn't have ever left. So I don't know that it would have been any easier."

Leaving would have been harder to justify then. That much she knew.

"But it isn't like that is all I can do. There are times like now, where we can just be together and relax, and talk."

The girl sitting across from Kurt smiled, her hand returning back to her side to continue eating away at the food in front of her, cutting into one of the brightly colored Brekka beets and taking a bite.

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Kurt hadn't taken a single bit of his meal, and in truth he still didn't really feel like touching it. There was...well there was just too much on his mind. The truth he still had to share with Jamie was there, and now...well now he had to live with the fact that she was constantly in danger. For some reason that really hadn't struck him until now. He'd known...but it had always sort of sat at the edge of his mind. Denial. That was the best word for it.

"I know." Kurt admitted quietly.

He couldn't keep her away from the dangers she faced as much as she couldn't keep him away from flying. Jamie did this because it was what she wanted to do, he couldn't deny her that, especially with...well. He frowned for a moment and looked down at his food. By now he'd lost all semblance of an appetite.

"I just want you to be safe." He told her. "Not squished beneath some rocks."

It wasn't a difficult request. "The things you do are out of my depth. I can't help you fight Sith Lords."

 

[Jamie Pyne]

A somber expression grew on her as she looked over to notice Kurt still having not touched his food. This was beginning to seem like a trend for him. Quite often when they went to eat he wound up not touching any of his food, and instead just looking at his food until the end of the meal, before discarding it. "I am safe right now." She offered, "And I am as safe as I can be when I'm not with you." Jamie knew Kurt couldn't help her fight the galaxy's evil, especially Sith Lords. Though oddly enough, one Sith Lord had taken a particular liking to her for reasons she did not understand entirely. He frightened her beyond measure, but he seemed the type disinterested in actually harming her. She'd met him on two separate occasions, and he had contacted her to request a third meeting shortly after the attacks on Naboo.

That was a bit of information Kurt didn't quite need to learn of yet, not just because she had no real idea as to what it was all about, but because he had more than enough to worry about already. If she told him she'd become acquainted with some Sith Lord, he might very well suffer from an aneurysm right then and there.

I still haven't told him about Bastion either...

She would need time to consider how best to dodge the bullet there. Regardless he would eventually come to see the effects of that day on her stomach, it wasn't quite as easy to hide as something she'd seen. There was a physical remnant of that day. She knew he had spent enough time around her, behind closed doors, to know every inch of her by heart.

"You haven't touched your food." She commented, as if it weren't obvious to him.

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

He shifted in his seat slightly.

This entire situation was just awful. He wanted to say something, wanted to help, wanted to do...well whatever would be best for Jamie, but he already knew he couldn't. At this point things were rather out of his control. As much as he wanted to help her he couldn't. Kurt simply didn't have the skill, the resources, or the knowledge to actually do anything to help Jamie with her goals. Sure she was a good pilot, but that didn't really help when fighting Sith Lords.

Nor did it help her in being diplomatic.

In the end, Kurt was just a simple farmboy, a pilot, and that was what he'd always be. Even if he was good at racing, even if he earned a few titles, there wasn't anything he could do to better himself. He frowned for a moment. Maybe it was a good thing that all of this had happened. Maybe it was a good thing that Jamie would realize just what he was.

He didn't deserve her.

He wasn't worth it.

"You dropped a lot on me." Kurt said with a weak smile. "Not really hungry after hearing my girlfriend nearly got killed...three times?"

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"I'm sorry." She suddenly realized this conversation was anything but entertaining. And for that she felt terrible. Now Bastion really had to wait.

Okay, Jamie...Change of subject...Something happy...

"I learned what happened to me on Spira with the Manka Cat. Aela taught me how to stop myself from passing out, and how to influence the minds of animals. And hey," a genuine smile painted her face as she ran her fingers over the top of Kurt's hand again. "Nothing really dangerous or bad or life threatening happened there."

Except that Terentatek, but he doesn't need to know about that.

"We even got to look around the ancient tomb of a long dead Sith Lord! It was very exciting! But the really crazy part of that whole adventure, the part I mentioned in my message to you? I FLEW on the back of a Skreev! It was unbelievable!"

[member="Kurt Meyer"]