Chicka Chicka Boom Boom!

[Kira Talith]

O N D E R O N


"So you did what?" One fairly tiny blonde pixie like female would look up at the other blonde but taller girl with her. Though to be frank, it would be hard to determine who was the elder.

Kira Liadain, Jedi Master and sugar cookie extraordinaire would wander down the local market place with Sabena, her padawan. They were gathering a few fresh supplies before heading offworld towards their mission objective: Ruan.

Standing at 1.52 meters, Kira wasn't much to look at in terms of a threatening presence. In fact, most at first glance would imagine Kira to be a youngling herself, which was only emphasized by the cheerful and infectiously mischievous nature the Lorrdian had.

They had come from Ossus, steadily moving towards the Core Worlds. As discretion was to be advised, they would be traveling along Arceneau Trade Company mass ship freighters as casual travelers. From here, they would end up heading into the Deep Core, and then finally reaching Ruan, where the close proximity to the One Sith Border has seen much chaos and a near unhealthy amount of refugees.

Dressed in spacer traveling attire, Kira would give a crack of a smile at Sabena. The tale might have something to do with a Sith Master, the reason why Sabena had a sith saber, and something about black powder.

 

[Thalia Rist]

Thalia stared outside the cafe, looking at passerbys and what not as she glanced at the guard who was sitting across from her with an iron stare. "I am not running off again, i promise... you over protect hire on..." The Guard sighed and spoke once she was done. "Miss, you know that your antics are going to get you killed one day, you pass out if you aren't careful as it is and you know how much trouble that could leave you in if we aren't around." Thalian nodded and sighed, looking back out at the port of Isis, her home and the home of her people. "You know, its a bit chilly today, we should probably get back to the palace some time soon."

 

[Sabena Shai]

“Well, maybe I was lucky, maybe not,” playful began Sabena with some snorts in between words as she held her laughter. [member="Kira Liadain"]’s cheery personality was infectious for Sabena - though it was for the better.

“But he nearly blew himself up after I threw the powder at him and he dropped his lightsaber!” added Sabena as she maintained steady eye-contact with Kira - observing details on the Lorridian’s face.

As for Sabena’s attire herself, she wore a simple, tan leather tunic befitting for a Jedi with brown pants. The Sith saber she had mentioned was securely clipped to her belt.

The two Jedi were waiting near the freighters they were to board. A third party member was to journey toward Ruan with them. Sabena had not met this person before.

The smile on Sabena’s face slowly faded. She had already told Kira about the losses of Jedi she witnessed on the Phobos - well before she started describing her own actions.

Getting back to the story, Sabena then told Kira in confidence, “Though I was able to find out that I really can… you know… affect a Sith. I don’t know if it was through the Force not, but I was trying during that fight.”

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Sabena Shai"] [member="Kira Liadain"]

Soliael sat on a small bed within the transport.

It wasn't exactly the largest room, admittedly it was actually quite tiny. Two beds, one slightly larger than the other, a refresher, and room enough for their luggage. In truth Soliael had not been so cramped up since prison, but he wasn't one to complain, especially when Kira had asked him to come.

Well...she hadn't so much asked as informed him she was going and that she would lament his absence on the trip and how it was such a shame that now that he had so much free time he couldn't take more “vacations”.

It hadn't been difficult to see the hints.

He sent amusement through the bond, laying on their share bed with his leg resting on his knees. They would likely return soon, or at least he hoped so.

This place was awfully boring.

 

[Jack Rand]

Jack swaggered down the market street whistling the Republic anthem, nodding gratefully at anyone who addressed him by rank or even just admired his uniform. Jack was feeling great, the sun on the bustling market of Onderon beating down on his skin. The warmth was a nice change to the past few planets, but as with every other planet he wouldn't be here for long. The Republic would eventually find him another errand to run and he would have to go to another planet, god forbid it be pleasant. Maybe Dagobah or Hoth, until then Jack just kept sauntering down the streets.

Jack was flipping his favourite card, The Idiot, in between his fingers, old habits die hard. Jack had no real reason to be here, but he felt that the market often took his mind off of other responsibilities and he could just lay back and relax. Jack had already bought some new stuff that he was wearing, some new clothes underneath his jacket, a pair of sunglasses and a little toy Cannok to remember Onderon by.

It was during these moments of sheer bliss and joy that something always ruined the moment for Jack, and of course it came. Jacks holocommunicator chose to give him a message from his superiors at that exact moment. Evenbefore looking at the message Jack let out a loud sigh. "Never get a moment to myself."

Jack whipped off his new pair of sunglasses and put them in his coat pocket, Jack lifted his communicator and read the message. Lieutenant Rand you are to report to Ruan immediately and go to the Republic Naval Base as soon as you can.

Jack pocketed his holocommunicator and whipped his sunglasses back onto his face. He pulled out his pocket watch and traced the circumference of it with his thumb determining if he should stay a bit longer, but nothing interesting happened to those who wait. So Jack went down to the port, Idiot in hand and a spring in his step.

 

[Kira Talith]

It was there. The subtle nuances that would play across Sabena's face. A somberness at loss of life. Kira's own smile did not fade, but there was an understanding there that ran lightly over her body than just merely her face.

Kira's hand would reach out from her pocket, smiling warmly as she would lightly run her fingers through Sabena's hair. It was as much of a comforting gesture as it was encouragement. Perhaps even a bit of pride at her Padawan's ability to think on her feet and adapt to the situation. Her finger would continue to tuck a stray lock behind Sabene's ear, and an impish grin would grow wider.

"Just remember, at its core..." her fingers would give a slight twist, revealing a small round Hutt peggat. A golden coin. A keepsake.

"It is all about perception." she'd tease, flicking the coin up into the air towards Sabena for her to catch. Blonde brows would dive up into the straight slash of bangs in amusement.

"And maybe a bit of slight of hand." Two fingers would encourage the girl to keep walking with her. Mindtricks were all about altering the senses and perceptions of another, sometimes through somatic or verbal suggestions and even often both. However, the training of mindtricks and slight of hand uses of the Force with the Lorrdian came with a unique twist and perhaps a benefit to Sabena -- in which the Lorrdian was able to use her ability of Kinetic communication to teach her padawan the ability to manipulate perception in subtler ways. It was not necessary to overemphasize hand movements or even to take a specific tone of voice.

No, in this Kira has been able to teach Sabene subtle nuances of hand movements or flutter of fingers to do the exact same thing. It would take practice to master completely -- but the young woman was picking up quickly if the actions against the Sith were to be taken to account.

It was then that the wash of Soliael's amusement would hit her and her grin would perk. Affection would bloom over her expression. She would turn to Sabena, flashing a conspiring wink, "Come on Houdini, let's test out your bag of tricks."

Code word for -- lets see how well you do.

They were traveling under the guise that they were sisters; this as much of a training exercise as it was a mission. Their first stop would be pass through customs and onto the mass transport ship with forged identities. Digging through her satchel, Kira presented Sabena with a different Identi-tab than formally presented. Identi-tabs were usually equipped with a hologram image of the owner, this one had a holographic image of a Chiss Female.

It was Sabena's job to make the security guard that would be scanning them in believe it.

 

[Sabena Shai]

A hand ran through Sabena’s hair. The young woman closed her eyes - the sensation soothing and calming. A peaceful smile appeared on Sabena’s face as Kira essentially petted a woman that was almost half a foot taller than her.

Then her eyes opened just before [member="Kira Liadain"] revealed the coin. Sabena giggle in amusement and caught the coin after it was flicked toward her. Sabena examined the peggat - everything from the design to its texture and its weight. She then pocketed the coin in a pouch of her belt.

At the beckon of Kira’s gesture, Sabena followed Kira. As Sabena looked around at the signs, she saw that they were going toward customs. She had been informed about the details of their mission.

Fortunately for their undercover boarding, Sabena was also wearing a coat that hid the lightsaber she was carrying as well as her utility belt. The coat was distinctly designed for fashion - giving a sharp look.

Eventually, Kira and Sabena would queue up for going through customs. Officials were quick with their inspections. The majority of them were simply an identification check. It was only a few minutes before Sabena was up - before Kira.

The bored-looking Duro guard, female and roughly middle aged and slightly overweight, said in a monotonous voice, “Ticket and Identi-tab.”

Sabena obliged without objection. The guard silently looked over the ticket - noting the destination as Ruan. She then activated the Identi-tab. Her eyebrow peaked as she looked as the Chiss Female’s face - noticing the lack of detail in the hologram’s eyes.

The guard looked up to Sabena. The young woman wore a coat similar to what the hologram had. Not only that, but Sabena stood in a very similar pose as well. Sabena gave a gentle smile as the guard examined her. The Chiss Female had longer hair than Sabena, yet it was of similar volume. Since it was a hologram, the difference in skin and hair tone would not be revealed.

“What’s with the eyes?” questioned the guard.

Leaning forward, Sabena turned her head and eyes as if examining the Indenti-tab.

“I hated that thing every since I got it. The holo-camera the post office used must have been cheap,” claimed Sabena with a perky voice, “Luckily it’s expiring soon, so I can get a much better hologram.”

When Sabena told the guard that, she thought about how unreliable cheap holo-cameras must have been in getting a detailed scan of the face and eyes. She tapped the index finger of her right hand once.

Without responding, the guard scanned the Identi-tab. It came up as valid. While the identity was forged, Jedi at least still had resources available from the Republic. The guard stamped the ticket and pushed it and the Identi-tab back toward Sabena. The guard then waved her through.

“Thank you!” said Sabena as she took both the ticket and Identi-tab from the guard and continued through - only to wait past customs for Kira to pass.

 

[Not Ordo]

The man sat on a bench eyes closed as he strummed his Hapan lute. The graceful sound mingling witht the crowds as they passed through customs to produce an effect that was at once beautiful and abrupt.

"Ladies fair, oh ladies dare to lend an ear or two. We go and come and hum and run but run we run from who? The ladies go and know to well the truth that lies can tell. And what should come but what was gone and rise again what fell." He smiled as the people passed oblivious that he had told them all a very interesting secret. It amused him greatly as he sat and began a line again.

"I passed a man upon the stairs that knew just what i know. upon the stairs climbing high i sank a touch to low." he strummed his lute carefully. "While walking up the stairs again I passed a girl that wasn't there. She wasn't there again today oh why oh why won't she go away?"

[member="Sabena Shai"] [member="Kira Liadain"] [member="Jack Rand"] [member="Soliael Devin Talith"] [member="Thalia Rist"]

 

[Kana Truden]

A small trace of a disappointed frown had spread across her lips. Perhaps expecting to meet an ever-wandering doctor in the same place twice was too much to ask for. Why was it that he did it anyway? It was a long time since the Coruscant, you’d think he’d found peace at this point. She sighed in frustration. Perhaps old habits die hard. Too hard.

The once rundown clinic he had established had become a cantina, but nothing of interest, not a single clue as to where he went remained. She shrugged it off and headed back outside. The street still remained the same. The cracked facades that spoke of it’s less reputable inhabitants. It was no place for her, at least not this time around. She quickly made way for the nicer parts of the city and found herself in a town square. The attitude, the stares and looks of people felt different. In a good way, of course.

All around her were people of different stature. Admirals going on a nod-frenzy and sisters having a chat. There were more people around, of course, but in the end these were the ones that were the most noticeable. The most peculiar of them all was the man with the flute singing a song, but what he sang of was beyond her.

She gave him a confused look and squinted. “I am sorry, but I have no idea what you’re singing about.”

It wasn’t the most ‘polite’ of greetings but she certainly had to tell him. Of that there were no doubts. She always had been more of an instrumental-music-kind-of-girl anyway.

She had to admit, her presence in this thread made little sense, but something made her wanna participate.

[member="Malkav Nissiku"]

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Sabena Shai"] [member="Kira Liadain"]

He didn't quite understand why they were bothering using mass transit. He supposed it was in order to be stealthy, given that edge of secretiveness to the whole event, but to him it was rather played out. It would have been just as easy to buy an unnamed freighter or transport vessel and use that.

Then again, not everyone had his resources.

Soliael frowned slightly, looking up at the ceiling of the ship.

There wasn't much going on, Kira had gone off with her little apprentice, a girl that he found to be somewhat odd. Sabena was young, and a slightly timid creature, but then again most apprentices acted that way around him. Kira had told him that the young girl had taken part in the battle of Manaan, something that Soliael had found odd.

He was well aware Padawans acted in battle, but Sabena was young enough that calling her a child soldier wouldn't have been wrong.

Soliael shook his head, his eyes casting towards the backpacks located in the corner of the room. They held most of Kira and Sabenas stuff, his own had been stuffed underneath the bed. Those packs contained indications of who they really were, hence why Soliael had stayed behind. He eyed them for a moment more, then shook his head.

“Jedi.” He said in exasperation.

 

[Jack Rand]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"] [member="Sabena Shai"] [member="Kira Liadain"]

Jack made his way through the city towards the spaceport, it smelled like a Hutt's personal bathtub though Jack was used to that smell. Being a Corellian gave a few advantages after all. That still didn't mean he liked the smell, in fact it only increased his desire to have his own personal ship.

As Jack went into the spaceport, the city suddenly seemed more reckless. People were bumping into him without apologies and everyone seemed to be in a big rush. It was at times like these that Jack gripped his personal belongings, lest they be spirited away by some schutta and her Gamorrean boyfriend.

Jack finally found the public transport gate that led to Ruan and Jack fumbled through his Jacket to find his identity chip on himself. He grabbed it out of his left pocket and went over to the booth with the Duro woman who looked miserable in her day job. Jack walked up to the counter and showed her his identity chip beside his ticket. When she looked back up at him to compare the chip to the real thing, Jack gave her a wink that she completely ignored.

She ushered Jack towards the bus nonchalantly and he made his way onto the bus. "Thanks for your time ma'am." She gave an eh, but Jack ignored it.

Jack walked onto the transport and looked onto the diverse crowd of people that had piled into the transport. Jack slowly walked down the middle of the ship looking for a seat, eventually he took a seat near the back and took off his shades. Jack looked out the window of at the business of the spaceport.

 

[Kira Talith]

With her own identi-chip passing inspection, Kira would skedaddle up beside Sabena. A mischievous light would flash in her bright blue eyes, her eyebrows waggling with glee.

"Well done, chick-e-dee," she'd say with notable praise and affection. If anything, Kira Liadain was known to be a more casual and easy going Master. While the Lorrdian took few apprentices, her lessons on the Force and the Jedi way of life were taught on real galactic applications. Her genuine desire to help others selflessly and because it was the right thing would flow from her as naturally as that jovial manner. So did her odd desire for harmless pranks and jokes.

A conspiring chuckle would come from her mouth, and she would swing her arm to lock through Sabena's so they can walk arm in arm, much like sisters would. As a Jedi Investigator and former Master of Shadows, Kira had more than easily enough slipped into various roles for whatever investigative purposes were required for her mission. The Lorrdian had a natural knack at mimicry, able to change her voice and her body language to match nearly any sapient with perfect precision.

In this mission, they were to play the roles of sisters, with Sol joining them for his familiarity on Ruan. That and, well -- her grin perked up more feeling his combined boredom and exasperation -- it was fun seeing him again. A welcomed comfort.

They would pass [member="Malkav Nissiku"], hearing the bard and his song just as another female ( [member="Kana Truden"] ) would approach him. Everyone was an unfamiliar face to Kira - [member="Jack Rand"] coming up behind her on customs.

"So -- what do you feel like doing?" she would ask the padawan who was five inches taller than her. Honestly, one may think Kira to be the youngling or younger sister with the height difference.

"Want to grab a bite to eat? Or go to the cabin and drop these off first?" she gestured to the bag of fresh fruit they managed to buy earlier plus one small green ball, tossing Sabena some options as they would weave their way through the crowds.

 

[Thalia Rist]

Thalia watched from where she sat the weird musician named [member="Malkav Nissiku"], she didn't actually know his name though as she sat there drinking from her glass and wondering what it is that he was playing. "Hey Joe..." The Guard sighed and spoke. "You know thats not my name, right miss..." Thalia smiled and waved her hand. "Yes, i know its not your name Harold but would you rather me start calling you harry?" She looked at him with a seriousness to her question as she sat there before looking through the people that she could see from where she could see. She started reaching out with her empathy, touching mind after mind as part of a way of making sure she could control it in panic situations that left everyone overly emotional.

First she touched [member="Kira Liadain"] and [member="Sabena Shai"], not knowing they might feel the intrusion as she looked through the emotions she felt from them. Not really knowing what it was she felt from them but either way she continued and switched next to the one not far off from them. [member="Jack Rand"]. He was a curious one because like them she could not so clearly judge what emotions were coming from him due to his disappearing too fast into the ship. Last her eyes came down on [member="Kana Truden"] who seemed to be confused, and judging by who it looked like she was talking to it was probably about his instrument like Thalia... right? She shrugged and looked back at her drink, staring into it as she yawned. "This is hard, wonder where that guy that was going to teach me ran off to."

 

[Not Ordo]

[member="Kira Liadain"] [member="Thalia Rist"] [member="Soliael Devin Talith"] [member="Kana Truden"] [member="Jack Rand"] [member="Sabena Shai"]

The man looked up from his lute and smiled at the woman. Her approach was calm her manner not nearly abrupt as it could be. The set of her eyes the way she held her shoulders with calm discipline.

'Jedi' he thought.

'Should we warn her?'

'Does she want to be warned?'

'How could she she doesn't know.'

'True. Now say something.'

'Oh. Right.'

"You weren't meant to know miss. Not yet at least." He said patting the bench beside him, "have a seat for a moment."

He looked at her shoes and nodded to himself.

"You know, when I meet new people I usually ask whether the like the third law of thermodynamics or what their favorite color is but I've learned that some find that rude. So, hello, I'm Mal. What's your name?"

 

[Kana Truden]

“I really have a ship I should catch, but I should have a few minutes.”

She took a seat by the bard, or ‘Mal’ as he called himself. A quick look around the immediate area told of no smug zeltrons and she could rest easy. Her head turned towards [member="Malkav Nissiku"] as she crossed her legs. Did he truly know the laws of thermodynamics? Actually, did she truly care? No, not really.

“I’m Kana, it’s good to meet you Mal.” She afforded the man a smile. “So, what you’re saying is the song wasn’t for me? Or maybe, are you saying the song is... “ She let out a soft chuckle. “I am probably putting way too much thought into this.”

“It was a wonderful song. You’re a good artist, Mal.”

 

[Sabena Shai]

Words of praise touched Sabena’s ears. She smiled and softly replied to [member="Kira Liadain"] with, “Thank you.”

Walking arms locked with Kira, it would have been noticeable to Sabena’s master that she had grown more accustomed to Kira’s touchy nature. While Sabena was one to avoid being aloof, even she had a certain distance required for her comfort zone - and this was something Kira would have had ample opportunities to notice during their first encounters.

When questioned on what she would wish to do, Sabena gave a contemplative hum. Her eyes glanced to the bag of fruit that they had procured earlier.

“I’m getting a little hungry,” commented Sabena, “And I don’t know if there’d be any opportunity to eat on the crowded ship.”

For [member="Thalia Rist"], who sought to read the emotions of those nearby, she would sense within Sabena a mercurial nature.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael simply lay upon his tiny cramped bed.

He could have followed [member="Sabena Shai"] and [member="Kira Liadain"] out onto the planet, but such a thing would have been dangerous. They were supposed to be undercover here, and here on Onderon Soliael was somewhat well known, at least to the upper class. Having just left Onderon days ago made it slightly suspicious that he would return so soon, especially in such a...pedestrian manner.

A frowned settled on his face as his eyes shot back towards the backpacks in the corner.

Bright Orange eyes shifted towards the smaller bed.

Sabena was an interesting girl to be sure, though it wasn't the girl herself that had caught Soliaels interest. She was Kira's apprentice, so the two of them would very likely be spending some time together. The oddity for Soliael had been in her age and the age of the other padawans that he had encountered at the Temple on Ossus.

To Soliael, they were all disturbingly young to be doing what they were doing. The war with the One Sith was not place for children, even if they were trained to use the force. He knew that was the Jedi way, but to him it seemed...odd.

Granted his own children would learn to fight, but they would not be sent to war.

That caused a halt in the gears, and for a second Soliael wondered.

He did not cease his frowning, and thoughts quickly plagued his mind.

 

[Kira Talith]

"Alright then. Let's go back to the cabin," Kira said with a grin, shaking the small bag she had.

"Won't have much of an audience there."

It was nice to see Sabena starting to get used to her more. At least, personal space wise. Kira was just naturally affectionate and touchy; it was the Lorrdian in her. Communicating through touch and through kinetic movement was a way for her to relay her thoughts, feelings, and concerns as much as she would verbally.

Not only that, Kira had a hope that perhaps it would encourage the younger woman to be a bit more of an extrovert. Either way, Kira was able to reach her padawan's true moods easier than others could. Right now, it was good to see her reveal more than what she normally would show.

"So tell me, I'm a bit out of the loop. Anything interesting going on?" she'd ask Sabena. Okay, so maybe it was encouraging gossip, but one had to be able to know what was going on. Kira still didn't quite catch up on everything, and to be frank, this was as much of a test in observation and Sabena's ability to detect small significant details one would require for investigative purposes.

They would start to make their way down to the right, weaving through the thickening crowd. Chatter would come from the left and right, some peddlers of Arceneau Trade Company selling what manner of wares they could from the incoming travelers. Through her ring, she could feel a rather contemplative resonance from Soliael. Curious.

I wonder what he's thinking about?

 

[Jack Rand]

[member="Kira Liadain"] [member="Sabena Shai"]

Jack had gotten up to relocate himself around the transport ship, an awful smelling Quarren and his Hutt consort (Lord knows why anyone would want a Hutt consort) had taken the seat beside him. Jack quickly excused himself from the seat pretending to go to the bathroom so as not to offend them, but in reality he was headed to avoid the pair.

Jack was looking straight forward for a seat, but the crowd was beginning to become sufficiently bigger. Ruan was just a farming planet, a very very popular planet due to the size of the crowd.

Eventually Jack went to the side to allow a woman with child to pass, she thanked him and that gave him some temporary morale boosting. When he continued down the isle Jack pulled out his pocket watch and stared at the time. It was at this time that Jack rammed into a woman who was significantly smaller than him, about a foot smaller. The collision caused Jack to drop his watch behind the girl and that was when he noticed the girl who was slightly taller than the other.

"Ugh damn, sorry. Guess I didn't watch where I was going."

Jack wasn't really hurt due to the woman only hitting his chest, but he wanted to make sure she was fine. 'Tis the duty of a Republic officer of course. "Sorry Maam, are you hurt." He tried to give her a massive smile and patted her head a bit, not thinking of how disrespectful it was. He hadn't seen the girls face yet, so she assumed her to be of a younger age.

 

[Not Ordo]

[member="Kana Truden"]

"Nice to meet you Kana," he said with a smile, "The song wasn't about you but you heard it so it was for you."

He looked around the area and pointed at the people going by. He chuckled gently to himself as a serious looking man walked by carrying a bag.

"Now that that is out of the way. At zero kay any system must be in a state with the minimum possible energy. This statement holds true if a perfect crystal has only one minimum energy state, a difficult thing to achieve mind. Entropy is related to the number of possible microstates, and for a system containing a certain collection of particles, quantum mechanics indicates that there is only one unique state, the ground state, with minimum energy. If the system does not have a well-defined order then in practice there will remain some finite entropy as the system is brought to very low temperatures, or energy staten as the system becomes locked into a configuration with non-minimal energy. The constant value in this case is called the residual entropy of the system. Do you know what this means? Any given system can not, no matter how idealized, to reduce the entropy of a system to its absolute-zero value in a finite number of operations!"

He shook his head and smiled.

"Now that you know, how about that song?" he said as he began to strum his lute, "Ooh, Kana, ooh, Kana
Kana. Ooh, Kana, ooh, Kana. I had a girl, Kana was her name. Since she left me, I've never been the same. 'Cause I love my girl, Kana. Where can you be? Where can you be? Ohh, Kana. Ohh, Kana. Ohh, Kana. Ohh, Kana. OOoooooooooo."