Cadet Cruise: Across the ThonBoka (Levantine Astronautical Academy)

[Ashin Varanin]

ERILNAR
CAPITAL OF THE CENTRALITY

One last drink before they left civilization; a ritual she'd followed at Kal'Shebbol and half a dozen other places, on other expeditions. Erilnar, she had to admit, was a nice one. A hundred thousand lakes, most of them interconnected by natural or artificial tunnels. Lots of underwater monorails, lots of boats. This particular cantina was, itself, a boat, bobbing off the shore of the landing field where their ship sat among others. The MC15 Great River, crew of three to five, was headed deeper into the Centrality, then to the planet Tund, and finally the mysterious ThonBoka.

For the moment, Alec was content with her mug of lum. But only for the moment. They'd passed through the Flamewind of Oseon to get here, and she was still jittery.

[member="Shakk Awaud"]: Engineering/tactical
[member="Isaiah Dashiell"]: Pilot/tactical
[member="Morgan Redeaux"]: Science/sensors
[member="Token Waters"]: Science/sensors
Alec Rekali: Navigation/engineering

 

[Brooke Waters]

ERILNAR
CAPITAL OF THE CENTRALITY

The Centrality was one of those places her employing company, Bright Star, just didn’t travel through. There was a lot of… discrepancy through the hyperlanes here. While there was a lot of work being done, the company just didn’t feel safe sending paying customers through less than perfect conditions. That was half the reason her position was created, to fly known hyperlanes and surprise any traps before they hit the cruise ships. Not necessarily hard work, but she got to help protect lives.

She was excited for the trip. Starting from such a nice world as Erilnar was excited, and she’d have to make a point to come back here. She looked over at the navigator for the little expedition, [member="Alec Rekali"] and smiled. “So… The flamewind… That was my first time.” A bit nerve wracking. Well, like… really nerve wracking. “Seems that its still unexplained just why it happens.”

Yeah, sometimes she liked to look everything up on the HoloNet. That was before she got to the bar and ordered her cider. Seemed to be a ‘when in Rome’ thing. Sort of like the uniform. The blonde wasn’t ever really a fan of it. But she also wasn’t a fan of not having her lightsaber, which was in her locker back on Oswaft Station. Couldn’t have that around. Lucky for her she snuck a few extra bracelets on before they left. Had to keep her individuality, even if she’d get reprimanded.

 

[Jaster Awaud]

Shakk was always on the move, as an operative for her father in gathering infermation and a scientist for the company, she never was in one place for too long. Now though she was attending school, and academy for the first time and this would be her first expedition flight with her fellow students. It was an interesting to say the least, and she was part of the engineering crew. She would be interested in how each individual would perform and would do her best to find a way to fit in and work well together.

On her fathers cruiser, she was raised in the engine room with the mechanics as her early teachers. She knew how to work on big cruiser class and destroyer class engines, so this would be an interesting challenge as she rose early to study the engine. Another job of hers was the weapons systems, so she arrived with a datapad glued to her face and her eyes scanning every word. Even had to reprogrammed droids take a look at the ships propulsion systems and core generator for abnormalities. Nothing was wrong and she had the extra datapad when she would see the pilot, her first part of the job was done. The weapons systems were online, but she still had to run a full dry run before suggesting lift off.

Shakk arrived in the bar with her face still reading the manual of the laser cannons for the ship. She had already read it twice, but double checking to make sure she didn't miss anything. She used the force to maneuver around the people who stood in frount of her, that much she could do. She then arrived to meet the Science Operator [member="Token Waters"] and the Navigator [member="Alec Rekali"]. She sat near them and didn't interupt their conversation.

 

[Morgan Redeaux]

After her maker Lanax Grayson granted Morgan Redeaux a manumission, she had enrolled in the Levantine Frontier Corps on a part-time basis in the hopes of expanding her skill set especially as it related to starship navigation. She was a protocol droid with a vast data bank of languages and galaxy cultural information. She had installed a variety of scanner modules which would allow her to examine and identify lifeforms, droids, cybernetics... to even tell if beings were lying or telling the truth. She also now had some protection from hackers with a management circutry subsystem which would allow her to give a verbal warning if her programming was being sliced into. Now it was time to learn some basic piloting which would allow her to be more mobile.

As a machine, Morgan couldn't drink so she sat down at a table and waited patiently, internally reviewing her data entry on the Centrality. When there was a pause in the crew conversation, the HRD added, "I found the Flamewind quite beautiful and it caused me to feel well kind of sad and a bit nostalgic. But for what, I don't know as I've only been in service for two years. How is everyone else feeling now that we're on well... not necessarily dry land I suppose?"

[member="Alec Rekali"] [member="Token Waters"] [member="Shakk Awaud"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Token Waters"][member="Shakk Awaud"][member="Morgan Redeaux"]

"Jittery," said Alec, and slugged back her lum. "That was my first time through the Flamewind too. That, and I've spent a long time navigating places like this, places with bad hyperroutes. I just spent close to two years doing this in the Kathol Outback, same mission profile and everything. Not that this'll take us two years. Barring accidents or, uh, anomalies, it should only be a couple of weeks before we're back here at Erilnar."

 

[Brooke Waters]

Token looked over at [member="Morgan Redeaux"] as the apparently not-so-secret HRD asked about the Flamewind. Token hadn’t done that before, and unlike [member="Alec Rekali"], she traveled established hyperroutes. That was part of her job, and half the reason she was here, to feel more comfortable navigating. Or, y’know, being the science and sensors officer while someone else jumped her through new places.

Two years without shore leave? Token wasn’t sure she could do that. Her trips were at most a three month stint. But with plenty of time to be aboard one of Bright Star’s liners. She really liked to dance, and well, y’know, impress people. So that was important to her. “Yeah… It made me… nervous.” Like it could fry the whole ship, like she did to her parents years ago. “And weeks isn’t bad. I dunno if I could do a trip that lasted years!”

[member="Shakk Awaud"] [member="Isaiah Dashiell"]

 

[Jaster Awaud]

[member="Morgan Redeaux"] [member="Alec Rekali"] [member="Token Waters"]

Shakk finished reading up on the laser cannons and engine of the shuttle they were to fly. She then looked up at the group she was with and saw the second science operator had appeared without her noticing. She found that interesting, but not enough courage to pry. The territory they were to fly into wasn't her first tour, a science team she was with once collected scans of the Oswaft. Though she was too shy to admit she had traveled to this area once before she decided to lie.

"It's my first time working with a small crew like this," Shakk shyly spoke, though she may have been comfortable with being close to these people. Shakk was still quite shy around people period, her heart raced as her brain thought of ways of making new friends, "though this part of space I've been before, the routes are quite tricky."

She thought to herself that the truth had slipped out, 'I told myself I was gana lie?' She said to herself with concerning thoughts darling around her head. She didn't want to come off to pompous as she had travels this part of space, yet she didn't want to be naive to space travel. The conflicting thought rattled in her brain as she waited for a responce from her new crew members.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Token Waters"] [member="Shakk Awaud"] [member="Morgan Redeaux"]

"You've flown around here before, Awaud? That'll be useful. Always nice to have at least one along that can give a firsthand perspective." Alec grinned. "Or else it really might be years we're stuck in here. And it's really not so bad, long voyages, Waters. There's always a pre-technological planet or two for shore leave and fresh fruit, assuming the scanners and doctors clear it. Now, we don't have much in the way of doctors aboard, but the Centrality worlds are more or less known quantities, and the inoculations we took when we landed should cover it. Which means even if we get shipwrecked and marooned on some uncharted moon, we won't keel over dead our first day there."

 

[Morgan Redeaux]

Morgan didn't always advertise her droid status but she didn't see the need to keep it as secret now, despite what some of her closest confidants told her. Gerion Ardik wasn't her Master after all, but as he employer he was the closest thing to it. He had warned her to be careful about her HRD status. Still she had protection and she had enough software installed to make her a worthwhile science officer. All she needed now was training on how to pilot.

She addressed [member="Alec Rekali"] who she assumed to be the Captain and [member="Token Waters"]. "A med scanner module is part of my technology so if there are any sudden illnesses or injuries I should be able to identify the cause."

Again, Morgan hoped to put her best foot forward with this crew and maybe it would make up for the navigational and piloting skills she lacked.

[member="Shakk Awaud"]

 

[Brooke Waters]

Still, years… that was a long time. Token could always use stops on shore for fresh air, stretching her legs, fresh fruit, dancing, general debauchery. It really was just her nature, as silly as that was. But she liked to connect. Nodding to [member="Alec Rekali"], though, she smiled. It wasn’t the Unknown Region, so that was something.

Plus there was [member="Shakk Awaud"], who had flown through here before? She’d let Alec talk about it all as Token didn’t know these worlds from anything, half the reason she came on this trip. And that was when she realized she couldn’t tell if Alec was kidding about the whole dead thing. How old WAS Alec? Could she be kidding? Token looked from the Engineer to the Navigator.

“But if you identify it, can you… treat me?” Token was starting to sound a bit paranoid. She didn’t know any real hardcore healing tricks with the Force. Not yet. She hoped that [member="Morgan Redeaux"] could do that. Also... where was their pilot? She looked around for [member="Isaiah Dashiell"].

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Token Waters"] [member="Morgan Redeaux"] [member="Shakk Awaud"]

"Easy, Waters. We probably shouldn't have to make landfall until Tund, and there's still a leftover Republic-built outpost there, or should be. We're just talking hypotheticals here. Take a look for yourself."

Alec fished out her datapad and switched it to holomap mode. A tiny image of the Centrality appeared.

"Now, we're going for Scillal next. That's the Centrality's shipbuilding hub, which isn't saying much; lots of little yards there. Well-established routes. Same with the next leg, to Lekua. Lots of universities there; calls itself another last stop for civilization. Then we jump to Cadma, bit of a no-name world there, just a waypoint with an old colony, and thence to Zebitrope. And it's on Zebitrope that things get interesting. See, there's this sort of disgusting plant/lizard/fungus byproduct called lesai. It's banned in a lot of places, but you get hooked on lesai, you don't need sleep. Ever." She grinned widely. "Plus it's something special, I hear.

"Anyways, Zebitrope's the end of the Cadma Circuit. Then we make the long jump to Renatasia. Renatasia Three is an agriworld, Renatasia Four is a backwater, and both of'em have a long history of repression and violence. Routes to Renatasia are very bad, contact's intermittent. If all goes well, Renatasia's our last stop before we dive into the ThonBoka, find a route through, and attempt to make contact with the Oswaft. From there, we hit Trammis -- home of Trammistan chocolate -- then get on the Falko Run. We jump to Tund from Antipose, then turn around and use the Falko Run to get back here. If all goes well, we'll make landfall at Zebitrope, Trammis, and Tund.

"Any questions?"