Building a team

[Gherron Dragovalor]

Gherron sighed and sat down. "The problem is, Rael, that nothing we do can really stop them. There will always be a bully around. The only way to truly stop a bully is to change him. Do you think those two could have been changed?" He gestured to the bodies on the floor. "Maybe they did it for a family. Maybe they were scared for their life. In gangs especially, people join for odd reasons. What if we let them lead us to wherever their leader was? Would we end up killing some? Likely, yes. Gangs don't usually take well to others on their territory, and I doubt being Jedi would make that better. But if you change the head, you change the body. Dranon Fleck could have been saved, Rael. And he wouldn't be doing what he does now. I'm not telling you not to ever use your weapon. Just kow that there's a time to use it, and a time to use your head."

[member="Rael sul B'an"]

 

[Garik Reed]

[member="Gherron Vael"]

Rael nodded, and sat down on the floor. The Padawan knew he wouldn't make the same mistake in the future. In that moment, he vowed to himself. A vow of peace, a vow to the Jedi, a vow to life. He could only allow his inner warrior to come out when he needed it. But not while simply trying to go about his business. The Warrior had killed those men, not Rael. Rael's Warrior, his second half, needed those men to die, for they had hurt the innocent. But the Jedi Rael, his first half, knew better. "I will not kill so quickly in the future." He said to Gherron. Just then, Sunrele walked in, looking rather pouty. "What're you two crying about?"

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

Gherron was the first to pipe up, covering Rael's skin. "We were discussing ideas, is all. Interestingly enough, we found the gang members, but they're dead. We were wondering if they could have been killed off by another gang, or a creature maybe. We were just about to come back out." Looking back at Rael, he winked slightly. As he did so, however, he heard a noise down the corridor.

"Bweeeeeeep."

"Hey, you guys hear that?" Not waiting for an answer, he headed down, investigating the noise he'd heard.

[member="Rael sul B'an"]

 

[Garik Reed]

Rael's eyes drifted towards the corridor where the sound came from. Rael looked at Sunrele, and stood up, he shrugged at her. They both started slowly following Gherron, and Sunrele saw the two dead men. "Did you kill those guys?" "I...don't wanna talk about it." Rael responded. The twi'lek laughed, and Rael looked down at the ground. She gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder, "Don't worry big guy." The Kaleesh grunted, and started walking faster to catch up with Gherron. "Master, what do you think it was?"

[member="Gherron Vael"]

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

Not answering, Gherron continued down the way he'd heard the noise. It sounded a lot like an astromech... "Brweeeeep." Rounding the corner, Gherron looked around before setting his eyes on a small black droid that had several places where wires were visible. Every now and then it would spark, followed by a sound of dismay from the droid. "It's an R7 unit. I haven't seen one of these things around in years. Rael, help me get it out of there."

[member="Rael sul B'an"]

 

[Garik Reed]

Rael looked at the droid curiously. R7? He never even seen a droid that looked like this, let alone how it worked? He didn't move to help Gherron, and instead, Sunrele did. "Looks like one of the droids they use as scrap. Probably'd sell it to us for a couple credits." Rael looked at the droid again, and confusion emanated from him. He just turned around, and started walking out of the sand crawler. "He really is clueless about this stuff, isn't he?" Sunrele asked, she helped Gherron pick up the droid, and start to carry it out.

[member="Gherron Vael"]

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

Gherron grimaced at the comment about Rael. "He's learning, don't be so hard on the big guy." Lifting the droid out of the corner, he examined it a little more closely. There were a few plases in which wires were showing and mismatched "Sun's right. We can likely get him for a small price. I can fix him up back on the ship. Come on, let's wheel him out of here." As he said this, the little droid lofted itself up slightly and slowly moved a few feet; it's treads a little worn out made it look like it had a limp to it. It seemed to like the idea of being used again.

[member="Rael sul B'an"]

 

[Garik Reed]

As they walked out with a droid, a few jawas came over to them, yelling and motioning for them to stop. Sunrele responded to them, and on of them stomped his foot, and shook his head angrily. He moved to grab the droid, but Sunrele kicked his short little body, and sent him flying. The jawa landed in the sand, and moaned. The other two backed off, raising their hands. Sunrele said one last thing, before helping the droid onto the back of their speeder, and began to tie him down. Rael jumped back in his seat, and looked back over at the twi'lek girl. "That was pretty cool, actually." The girl smiled, and winked at him. "I know."

[member="Gherron Vael"]

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

Gherron just smiled and hopped in, starting the speeder up and taking off. "You two play nice now." Now that the mission had been compromised, there was no sense in digging where they didn't need to. Besides, he wanted to get to work on this droid. Who knew, maybe with enough work, it could be part of the team he and Rael were building.

[member="Rael sul B'an"]

 

[Garik Reed]

[member="Gherron Vael"]

Rael smirked, but it changed to a frown when Sunrele jumped in his lap again. This time, she immediately threw her arms around his neck, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Rael sighed, and the young twi'lek laughed back at him. "Let's go..." Rael said. He knew Gherron would screw around while driving again, and would have to wait out the ride to the spaceport. As they drove, he looked over his shoulder at the rusted droid. Why they wanted it, Rael had no idea.

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

When they eventually got back to the ship, Gherron asked Sun to help him haul the little droid inside so he could work on it. Looking around it's body, he quickly found the serial number. "Says here he's called R7-242." The droid did a quick series of beeps and whirs then in affirmative, a few places sparking with electricity. "Alright, you guys go do your thing. I'll have this little guy up in no time."

[member="Rael sul B'an"]

 

[Garik Reed]

[member="Gherron Vael"]

Rael shrugged at Gherron as he went to work on the droid. The Kaleesh walked off into the bridge, and sat down in one of the chairs again. He fiddled with one of the screens, trying to see if he could find some sort of news station. Sunrele, however, stayed with Gherron. She crouched down to help him, and started fiddling with a couple of the droids pieces. Rael called out from the bridge, "Let me know when you guys are done..."

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

Gherron noticed the state of his padawan, and leaned over to Sun for a second. "Actually, why don't you go talk to Rael?", he whispered. "He may look like a big dude, but trust me, he's a softie underneath. i'll get this little dude up and running in no time." As he said that, he would wait for the twi'lek to go so he could work on the droid. "Just you and me, buddy." He would first try to get to the main circuitry, and then work his way out. Over the course of the repair, the R7 unit would often spark in a few places where the wires were disconnected, causing Gherron to smirk slightly. "I know, I'll call you Sparky. You like that?" In response, the droid whirred and beeped a few times. "I'm hoping that's a yes."

[member="Rael sul B'an"]

 

[Garik Reed]

Sunrele, just shrugged, and walked into the bridge after Rael. She hit a couple buttons on his screen, and suddenly a new report popped up. "Thanks..." He grumbled. The two would sit there until Gherron was done. They chatted a bit, and Sunrele tried to teach Rael a thing or two about piloting the ship. They heard various noises coming from the back of the ship, Gherron obviously working on the droid.

[member="Gherron Vael"]

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

Quite a bit later, the black droid rolled out of the room, looking good as new, did a quick spin and stopped in front of the other two, little chirps and beeps spouting forth. Gherron was right behind it, smiling at his handiwork. "Guys, meet R7-242. He'll be our new crew member."

[member="Rael sul B'an"]

 

[Garik Reed]

Rael glanced over at the small droid. He looked at it for a few seconds, before becoming disinterested. To be honest, the Kaleesh was a little freaked out by the little droid. "What exactly can it do...?" Rael asked Gherron, scrolling through the news. "What can't it do?" Sunrele said, getting up to walk over to the little droid. She crouched down in front of it, and ran a finger over his dome. "This little guy will make a great co-pilot. No offense, Gherron. But, no one can plot courses like this little guy." She got back up, and sat down in the pilot's chair. She gestured to a port for the droid to plug into, and looked to Gherron.

[member="Gherron Vael"]

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

"Um, yeah", Gherron said, following up on what Sun was sayin before. "Astromechs are good for just about anything, even piloting. They can check diagnostics, and repair better than I can. They also have several tools on the go. Show 'em, Sparky." In response, the little droid began popping out small tools, one after the other. A buzz saw, a flashlight, a dock for maintenance, and a little something he really seemed to enjoy, that Gherron installed when he was working on him, a little arm that buzzed with electricity.

[member="Rael sul B'an"]

 

[Garik Reed]

Rael nodded at the little droid. Looked like he had some pretty cool little gadgets. Rael stood up, and started to walk out of the bridge. "Master, may we speak in private?" He asked Gherron. Rael would start heading for the Jedis' personal meditation room. He sat down on one of the mats on the floor, crossing his legs and waiting for Gherron to do the same. The Padawan wanted to talk more about what had transpired on the sand crawler, and no doubt, Gherron would be able to tell exactly that.

[member="Gherron Vael"]

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

"Sure Rael, of course." Gherron saw the emotion in his padawan's eyes, and had an idea what the impromptu meeting was about. Giving Sun a silent 'one moment' sign with his finger, he followed the kaleesh into the room and shut the door. "What is it?"

[member="Rael sul B'an"]

 

[Garik Reed]

"Back on the planet, what happened with those men...I truly am sorry." Rael bent his head, and stayed silent for a few moments. "I now my actions might have also cost us our one lead, but if you so desire, I will follow you back out to find this gang leader." The Padawan raised his head again, and looked back to Gherron. He honestly felt bad about his decision, and knew he would kill with logic next time he had to, not his emotions or his opinions. He took a deep breath, and tried to calm the guilt inside of him.

[member="Gherron Vael"]