Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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Catching Fire (Bard)

Datapads littered the floor around her, a product of three days of solid meditation. She sat among them, legs crossed neatly underneath her as she surveyed her work, more anxious now than she had been when Rel had first offered her the Mind Spear to simply take it all away from her. Each datapad contained different information, snippets of things that slotted nicely together, carefully catalogued for easy reference. She drew in a deep breath and blinked slowly. Memories merged with her own, slowly becoming indistinguishable, there were moments when she simply forgot that she was a mandalorian human and believed she was the 200 year old whipid. It was for that very fear that she had sealed the doors to her chambers during this time, not allowing Rel in, nor herself out.

Her stomach rumbled loudly and she clicked her tongue in annoyance. Gathering the datapads in her arms she stacked them on the bed before stumbling into the sanisteam, feeling oddly at peace with the muddle that was her mind. A quick towel off and a fresh pair of slack and tank top, and she was out of her chambers, the datapad collection in her arms. She padded bare foot through the ship, grateful to find Rel in the galley. Depositing the information onto the breakfast island, she placed a soft kiss on the cheek and selected three datapads for him.

“People, places and technology.” She said sliding them to him. Before skirting round to the cupboards in search of food, not bothering to acknowledge the fact she hadn’t seen him for three days and he was probably worried. “The man’s a genius really, I mean a cold hearted bastard, but still a genius. I’m pretty sure there are very few people in this galaxy that he doesn’t know, never mind at his knowledge on force powers. A finger in every pie and he manipulates them all simply because he can. I mean he leads you to believe there’s a plan, but in the end I really don’t think there is… ooh Mirius cookies.” She pulled the packet from the cupboard, hardly an ideal food type when you hadn’t eaten for three days, but it tasted good nonetheless.

“Anyway, omniscient he may be, he specializes in energy manipulation so I need to be able to soak up whatever her throws at me. That’s my first hurdle. My second one…well that’s not so easy because I need someone to practice on and to be honest, I rather not risk it on you.” She waved it aside. “We’ll worry about that when it comes to it.” She said facing him finally.

“I need fire.”

@[member="Bard of the Hyperlanes"]
 

Jorga the Hutt

When life gives you Mandos, make Mando'ade
Three days of silence, then all of this -- a blur of motion and purpose and activity. Surprising as it was, he couldn't object in the slightest. She'd gone from paranoiac to padding around a galley barefoot in a robe.

He liked that robe an awful lot, sorta. Though Rel was no warrior, not anymore, he'd grown up among them, appreciating fitness and prioritizing it above other qualities. Mia's warrior's body, all hard edges and sharply delineated curves, went well with that robe. Not that he'd become too familiar with said body. They'd had moments of intimacy, been very close in the dark, but they kept separate rooms, kept their commitment mental and spiritual more than physical. Anything else would be a disservice to a woman who needed love and comfort more than she needed consummation -- so far as he could tell. And there was always the memory of his wife, of course. Not that he would feel unfaithful to her, but the memory stuck with him now because it reminded him of just how much it had meant, in the end, to wait longer than he'd wanted to wait.

He still knew her body well enough to both love and hate that robe.

"I can get you fire," he said. "I'll set down the ship, make planetfall, and build you a fire. And cook you something that doesn't come from a wrapper. Mirai cookies are nice and all, don't get me wrong, but...it's time for nutrition."

He flipped through the datapads. "And once we get down there, once you have your fire and your food, I'll sit there with a fire extinguisher and these files, and see what we've got."
 
"Mmmm," she agreed, with a mouthful of cookie, swallowing it before continuing. "Cookies are good, but no, not nutritious. I was going for the fast sugar hit rather than nutrition. Maybe next time I become a recluse I'll take snacks with me." A small smile found its way to her lips at his acceptance. There were no pressing questions no lines of worry on his face...

Then again she hadn't told him she was planning on walking through the fire, but she figured Rel was smart enough to put two and two together. "I'd bring a med kit too." she said, before putting the packet of cookies down. "Did I miss anything?"
 

Jorga the Hutt

When life gives you Mandos, make Mando'ade
@[member="Mia Monroe"]

If he hadn't put two and two together, the mention of a med kit would have sealed the deal, but he knew she'd know better than him. So he nodded and gave a tight-lipped smile, and set about making all ready.

They set down on Ilum, in the shadow of snow-covered cliffs. A blizzard piled up drifts against the side of the Liberty's Veil almost immediately. "Safest place around. We build a fire, it goes wrong, you jump in the snow and I rub your face in it for a while. Plus all those stygium-resonance sensor tricks? I've applied'em to other kinds of crystals. There's some interesting things out there."
 
"What sort of crystals?" she replied as she cast her eyes over the supplies they were taking out, set neatly at the top of a still raised boarding ramp, a fur lined coat now hugging her frame as she slung a beskad in its sheath over her shoulder, pursing her lips as she slotted two blaster pistols into the holsters at her hips before pulling thick gloves over her hands and hefting on of the small packs onto her back. She was aware Ilum was a source of lightsaber crystals but she wasn't particularly inclined to get one. She was a mandalorian first and foremost, whatever she learnt on this journey, whatever skills she obtained they were little more than survival skills.

Survival against Velok.

Packs secure, with all the supplies they needed, Mia hit the switch for the boarding ramp allowing the bitter cold to wash over them. She pulled her hood up and descended, a look of grim determination on her face. The cliffs in whose shadow the Veil was resting were only a short trek, though battling through the snow drifts made it seem a little longer. Mia moved ahead, eyes alert as she watched for any signs of Ilum's more infamous inhabitant's, the gorgodon.
 

Jorga the Hutt

When life gives you Mandos, make Mando'ade
@[member="Mia Monroe"]

"Well, Ilum crystals aren't just for lightsabres. Or at least, not just for traditional lightsabres." Sensor pack in hand, cold-weather gear cinched around him, the Bard pressed forward into the beginnings of a storm. "I can rewire anything, and I'm betting, from the broken sabre we pulled off Velok's body, that you've got enough lightsabre knowledge locked up in your head to make crazy things happen. You ever hear of a light-shield? They say Moridin carries one. Lightsabre, but shaped like a little wrist shield instead of a blade. Pretty much exactly what you need, at a guess."

He adjusted his load of fuel over his shoulder, and pressed on into the shelter of an immense cliff. There he began setting up a fire.

"There's some crystal resonance behind this ice wall. We use a fire to test your skills and bring it down, we get the crystal. Whatcha think?"
 
"I think," she said as she deposited their equipment on the floor "That I might have to do something reckless if I survive this...like marry you." A smile tugged at the corners of her lips. Perhaps it was a jest, perhaps she was serious. In truth she wasn't sure herself, and when she gave herself the chance to look that far ahead, she had difficulty seeing herself surviving the fight.

"A light-shield would work," she continued, after a moments consideration, "I'm going to need all the help I can get, including some new armour, but that's a task for another day. Today I need stick my hand in fire and not get burnt. If I can manage that, maybe I can stand in it." A snort of derision escaped her as self belief faltered and she knelt down beside the unlit fire. Fear rose in her chest coiling about her heart and squeezing her lungs. For a moment she couldn't breath, couldn't see and couldn't think of anything beyond the darkness that would find her at the end of all of this.

She blinked, breathing out slowly, vision returning but blurred by tears that threatened to spill. She blinked against them. "I thought when Daxton kept me in the dark for months I understood what fear was, but nothing is more terrifying than the thought of my own failure."

@[member="Bard of the Hyperlanes"]
 

Jorga the Hutt

When life gives you Mandos, make Mando'ade
@[member="Mia Monroe"]

It was, it transpired, possible for the Bard to stammer, but his sentiments were incoherently expressed and foolish in general. With a cough, he knelt beside her and the set of fuel cubes. He struck a magnesium tab, and the whole mess flared to life, warming him forcibly at face and hands. "Hey, I'm in it for the long haul, you know that. No matter how much or how little you succeed -- and frankly, ever day you're alive is a success -- I'm sticking around. Now let's get another success under your belt. You know how to do this." He grinned and pulled out a bit of metal, an old combat knife. He tossed it into the heart of the fire.
 
She wondered for a moment, just how he did it. How he managed to remain positive, then it occurred to her that perhaps, he did it in the face of things, simply because it was what she needed. A hand moved to his leg briefly as she leant in to place a kiss on his cheek. She drew back, hands moving to rest on her own knees as she stared into the flames, watching the metal that he had thrown in, determination crossing her face as she began to focus.

In theory, it was a remarkably simple task: Dissipate the energy. The energy here was the heat so in doing so, she would avoid a burn. But practicality didn't always follow the same simplistic steps as theory. After a few minute she raised her hand, moving it to the fire but not quite putting it in yet. She could still feel the heat against her palm, she closed her eyes and focused on the heat drawing the energy in, and when she could no longer feel it she moved her hand in closer, eyes snapping open to find it the flames licking it, surprise slipped her focus and the heat came rushing back.

A low hiss of pain escaped her as she yanked her hand out pressing it into the snow. Now her mind was set and she would not be defeated, over and over again she reached deeper into the fire, focus becoming more defined with each attempt until the flames were up to her elbow and she could reach the metal. Pulling it out she dropped the glowing chunk into the snow, which bubbled and hisses in protest. A wide smile spread across her face as she looked down at her blistered arm "Kih'parjai." she said softly.

@[member="Bard of the Hyperlanes"]
 

Jorga the Hutt

When life gives you Mandos, make Mando'ade
@[member="Mia Monroe"]

"Any victory over fire is not small," said the Bard, unfolding collapsible stools from his pack. He took a seat and picked the steaming knife out of the snowbank.

"Now whenever you're ready...whenever you feel comfortable with this...reach in and grab the knife, and hold onto it." He tossed it back into the heart of the fire. "Seems like the most natural next step, doesn't it?"

He unpacked a jar of burn salve, really excellent stuff, the kind they used to treat military shipboard casualties who'd fallen afoul of turbolaser efflux or reactor leaks.
 
Mia flexed her fingers, looking at the burns she had sustained as Bard threw the metal back into the fire once more. Up until now, she had felt that her defeat, her death was ultimately inevitable, that the time she had with Rel was simply delaying her death. One day he would catch up with her, and she would be unable to defeat him. Yet seeing the glistening burns on her arm changed something within her.

Victory against fire wasn't small. It was the first glimmer of hope, the first point that she had seen that she could be more than a broken paragon. Her other hand reached towards the fire, the focus coming faster. She reached into the fire without feeling the heat, finger closing about the metal shard that should have burnt her skin through to the bone but it did not. She held it fast among in the fire, the dancing orange flames reflected in her dark eyes.

Mia Monroe had found her valour once more.
 

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