Hokey Religions and Ancient Weapons are No Match For a Good Blaster at Your Side,Kid

[Delila Castillon]

Bakura. It was the perfect place to hold a friendly but competitive training session. The planet was covered mountains and valleys, dotted with plains and small seas scattered across the surface. While much like Alderaan, Bakura had a great deal of rain. It was as if every season was rainy season. This would be a small inconvenience to those training but the planet was in the perfect location. Out of the way, undisputed, and largely uninhabited-at least uninhabited in the sector the group was headed to.

The training was deceptively simple. A military member and a Jedi Padawan were paired off together and left in the wilderness.Their goal was to reach a beacon and check in before anyone else. However, the supplies the pair could carry were restricted and limited, leaving the group to survive off the land. In addition, pairs would be dropped off alone then be forced to march an equal distance to the beacon. Each pair had a device to give the general direction of where they were headed but no clues to the location of the check in point or what it even looked like.

A gunship flew low over a chain of valleys, mountains towering on each side. Delila sat comfortably near the open gunship doors, wind blowing through her red hair that was carefully secured in a ponytail. A small backpack rested between her knees and Delila was dressed in standard fatigues. The Captain grinned at her Galan friend across the way.

"This is going to be awesome. Thessa Kai marching across a planet. I'll have to ask your Padawan to record every step of the way for me."

The two Captains had been friends for quite some time, having their own unique form of teasing in addition to being competitive with one another. It wasn't unusual to see them both spouting their views on which was the best military branch. Of course everyone knew Army was the backbone of the Republic. Flying could only get you so far.

"Team One, end of the line!" the pilot hollered back to the group.

Standing, Delila collected her pack and slung it on her back as the gunship slowed.Her heavy blaster rifle also joined the pack, the heavy weapon resting against her back. She gave Thessa a friendly salute as she was departing with her Padawan.

"See you on the other side Captain." With those words, Delila made the small leap to the ground from the gunship, stopping to look around. The pair had been dropped in a valley, mountains surrounding all sides. The mountains were far from large, but enough to create a challenge. After grabbing her bearings, Delila pulled out the crude map and decided to figure out which way to go.

"Any ideas Padawan...Sorry...Didnt catch the rest of your name"

 

[Davin Jusik]

Davin looked at the Padwan seated in front of him behind dark glasses. He grinned as he leapt out of the gunship, readying his rifle and looking around the heavily wooded environment for any potential threats.

"Got a name padi?" He said as the gunship sped away.

 

[Sandis Veeran]

Sandis hadn't ever jumped out of a gunship before. True, it wasn't very high, but the ship had remained the same speed through the jump. She turned to Davin, next to her. "Sandis," she panted. "Sandis Veeran."

 

[Davin Jusik]

"Alright Sandis. Nice jump. You got the map?" He asked as he sat the butt of his rifle in the dirt and looked over his shoulder at her with a smile. He always felt good after a jump.

 

[Thessa Kai]

[SIZE=medium]“Yeah, you too Captain,” a wink found its way beyond her mock scowl at her friend’s quip before she disappeared off the ship.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]“Remind me to lay it on you next time we have a swimming contest, eh?” She couldn’t help the unprofessional holler down at the disappearing form of the groundpounder and unlucky…erm…lucky padawan partner. Grabbing her pack, she hefted it over one shoulder and growled at the dropship pilot to get lower to the ground. Satisfied, she lowered herself out and surveyed the surrounding area turning to the padawan she had yet to meet.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]“Alright kid, got the compass?”[/SIZE]

 

[Teynara Jeralyr]

@[member="Delila Castillon"]

Resting comfortably in the back of the gunship as it approached their landing zone, Teynara reflected (and not for the first time) that this had to be one of the crazier things she'd agreed to do since joining the Jedi Order. Still, the others had said it would be good for the Jedi to branch out and work more closely with their military counterparts (though Teynara had a few things to say about that, too), so she'd agreed to it and joined those students participating in this little venture.

The idea behind the whole thing was that, since there was a war in progress, it was best for both the Jedi Order and the Republic Military to learn to combine their efforts in the field so that they might prove more effective working together in other situations (preferably those that didn't involve lots of bloodshed, or so Teynara hoped). It was supposed to be a survival exercise, at any rate: get dropped at a random spot on a particular planet (Bakura, as it had turned out), then try to survive and co-ordinate with your teammate to beat the other teams similarly stranded to a pre-arranged rendezvous point, and signal success. But that information's all with our Republic friends here - we've just been given the quick briefing and told to go forth. Not a problem, as far as she was concerned. Should be fun, though.

The gunship dropped to the ground with a stomach-churning descent, hovering just above the valley floor, the sudden stop and the warm air firing from the thruster exhausts throwing up a cloud of thin dust all around them, obscuring the view. Teynara heard the shout of the pilot instructing them that they'd arrived, so she grabbed her own pack as she saw her new teammate grab theirs and vaulted nimbly out the side door of the gunship, landing lightly on the ground, her boots gaining traction and absorbing some of the shock of the jump, such that she barely felt it as she straightened up.

Looking around, she observed the short mountains and the large valley into which they had been dropped, the young woman putting a hand just over her forehead to shield her eyes from the light while she took a good look at their surroundings. "Pleasant sort of place," she remarked cooly, her expression calm and her tone fairly light. "I don't suppose there are any tapcafs nearby? Could do with a cold glass of Fruit Juice," she added with a wry smile, knowing fully well that such things wouldn't be possible for a good while now. Not to worry - we've got water, and finding more won't be too hard. Not like they'd been dropped on a desert planet.

The other woman had pulled out a map, clearly ignoring Teynara's attempt to levity, staring at the chart as though it would point them directly to where they wanted to go. Unlikely, though, she thought, knowing this wasn't supposed to be that easy. Good thing I've got a soldier with me, though, the young woman reflected. Not as though I know much about topography. That was the point of this, though, wasn't it? To learn things like that? Her reverie was interrupted rather shortly, though, the other woman turning her attention towards Teynara at last.

"Oh, you don't have to do that," the blonde said quietly, her pale-blue eyes narrowing slightly. "I don't go for formalities: I'm Teynara," she added, nodding in what was obviously an abbreviated version of a bow - the way that Tey figured was probably the least formal way of doing things. Plus a handshake would be ridiculous, she mused. "Our best bet would be to note some landmarks, so we'll know if we're going in the wrong direction once we get started. Don't want to go moving in circles, huh?"

 

[Adele Adonai]

@[member="Thessa Kai"]

"I have the instrument, Captain." came the rather polite reply from the Zabrak padawan. Her horns and blond hair were hidden away under the traditional full covered veil and wrap of pale white and silver Voss Mystic robes. Extending her hand, she presented the small compass to the Galen.

"What do you wish for me to do?" she asked in turn, her pale aquamarine eyes staring quietly into Thessa's ice-azure own.

 

[Delila Castillon]

@[member="Teynara Jeralyr"]

The Captain had been too busy looking over the map to appreciate the others humor,otherwise she might have cracked a smile. Looking up when Teynara mentioned such formalities were not necessary, Delila tucked the map into her pocket and nodded in return.At least she didn't get stuck with one of those uptight non-joking types. The stereotypical Padawan.

"Pleasure to meet you then Teynara. You can just call me Dells. Everyone else does.Probably the best idea yet. I say we scale the mountain, get a look."

Climbing higher would provide an excellent vantage point and let them gather some landmarks on the map. It wasn't as if the valley was so low that this was not possible or the mountains so high. Adjusting her pack, Delila nodded slightly upwards towards the lowest mound in a gesture that clearly meant lets go.Starting off with her partner on this training adventure, the Captain decided they couldn't march the entire way in complete silence. She would have to appear mildly friendly-not that she wasn't. Just not a fan of awkward small talk.

"So why did you sign up for this? Its not everyday we see Jedi wanting to learn from us honestly."

 

[Teynara Jeralyr]

@[member="Delila Castillon"]

Dells? Teynara wasn't sure how to react to that - nobody had ever asked her to call them anything like that before, and it was the last thing she'd have expected coming from a military officer. Suppose that's another good reason for doing this, the blonde mused with a faint smile. Guess we learn a lot about those who spend most of their time protecting everyone else. It was true: she hadn't had really anything to do with the military beyond occasionally seeing a few of their people from a distance, so this was definitely a good opportunity to learn more up-close.

She wasn't entirely sure that scaling the mountain was the best idea - sure, they'd get a great view of the surrounding landscape, but they also risked being none the wiser from doing so, and that would cost them precious time. And this is supposed to be a competition, she thought with amusement. Wouldn't have ever imagined I'd have signed up for that, though. Another little surprise right there. Still, she hadn't have a whole lot of experience with traversing outdoor terrain - there had been the occasional fieldtrip while she'd been studying at University, but that was about it. And we knew exactly where we were going that time, too. So it was best to follow the officer's instincts and see what happened next.

"I suppose I wouldn't consider myself a typical Jedi," she remarked softly in response to Delila's question, following the other woman at a decent pace, her boots crunching quietly against the rough ground beneath their feet with every step. "A lot of the others just rely on their touch of the Force and use that to get them through situations," Teynara said with a slight shrug punctuating her words. "I'm not that talented with it, so I guess I have to make my own way with different methods. Always gotta take a chance to learn, right?"

Actually, most of her training had been observation of what the others did - well, that an copious amounts of reading. The hands-on stuff she hadn't really gotten around to, but what she had tried to practice on her own had only resulted in frustration and failure. Not a great start to my career, at any rate, she mused wryly. It was honestly just a relief to get out of the Temple and be doing something that wasn't trying to cope with her own feelings of inadequacy, or trying to stay away with a few extra cups of Stimcaf after the reading became very tiresome.

"How about you?", she asked, reflecting the question back the other way. "I'd have thought most of the military had an issue with the Jedi," the blonde noted, thinking about the way she'd seen many of her comrades act with respects to field work. "We're all trained to do things most of you can't, but a lot of us act as if that makes us better, or more noble than the things you have to do," she added. Just look at Master Wraith reminding us for the hundredth time about the number of Sith he's had to deal with in combat... "I can't imagine that any of us really count as your favourite people to work with," Teynara admitted with a slice frown. Not that I could necessarily blame her if that's the case, she thought.

 

[Delila Castillon]

@Teynara Jarelyr

Delila knew scaling higher ground was a potential waste of time. However, she was confident in her abilities and it was more of a laid back contest rather than a life-and-death, your-job-depends-on-this type of training. The Captain had enough of those in her life. While she would love,love,love to win against Captain Kai...just being out of Coruscant and into raw natural beauty was enough for her.

"Forgive me for being ignorant, but how can you be a Jedi if you're not talented with the Force?".It seemed like a mystery to Delila. Wasn't that the entire point of being a Jedi? Using those powers?Maybe Teynara meant that she was merely learning, hence not as talented as some others. She was very illiterate on the subject.

Now the tables were turned on her, interesting. Delila was going to have to keep her mouth shut on her opinions honestly. There was no need to offend her Padawan partner. This was supposed to be an exercise in cooperation, not a knock down drag out fight.

"I try to take it on a case by case basis. I rarely work with Jedi though due to issues that do arise. Making blanket statements isn't always the best I've found out.

 

[Teynara Jeralyr]

@[member="Delila Castillon"]

Teynara wasn't entirely surprised by the fact that the Captain wasn't entirely able to distinguish between grades of competency when it came to Force Sensitives. Not surprising - I wouldn't have been able to, either, but a few months ago. It had become easier the more time she had spent with the other Jedi, of course, but that knowledge hadn't exactly proven helpful. Just highlights how much of a gap there is between me and the others, she thought gloomily.

"I'm sensitive to the Force, as well call it," the blonde woman remarked conversationally, continuing to walk alongside the Captain, keeping pace as best she could, considering. "I'm just not overly skilled at it's use - you get some new apprentices who can feel everything around them after a few days of work, or can levitate a datapad in a week. I'm nowhere close to doing either," she confessed with a touch of frustration in her voice, though she was doing her best not to let it bleed out into her tone. "I suppose you could think of it as with your weapons training: some are natural shots, pinpoint accurate every time, while some are mediocre marksmen at best." She offered a short shrug, as if to indicate nonchalence. "I guess I'm in the mediocre category."

She walked on, deep in thought for a moment, but not truly worried about her progress thus far. As she understood it, some Jedi would indeed make amazingly intuitive leaps, while others would make slow and steady progress, while others still would ultimately only ever wield the least abilities among them. Doesn't make you any less of a Jedi, though, she thought reassuringly. Every one of us has a part to play within the Order, whether big or small, and even the least able among us can contribute in ways that many people can't even dream about. That she had the opportunity at all was more than enough.

Something told her that Delila wasn't entirely as fond of Jedi as some were - and, truth be told, Teynara wouldn't have blamed her were that the case. Say one thing about the Jedi: we're great at stepping on people's toes. In truth, her answer felt a little evasive, though the blonde couldn't claim she was sensing such a vibe from the other woman - it was just a feeling. Still, she admits that there are problems that come from working with us. She really hoped that wasn't going to be the case with their work here, but Teynara didn't have that precognitive gift that some of her fellow Jedi showed a talent for, so there wouldn't be any help from that quarter either.

"If you don't mind my asking, what issues have you had working with Jedi?", she enquired as politely as possible, though admittedly sounding a little worried for all that. True, she didn't much consider herself a Jedi yet - truth be told, she wasn't one, not until the Order said so, and that would be many years away yet, if ever. Still, she was associated with the Jedi, and that might be sufficient. "I really don't want to get on your nerves or do something to damage our ability to work together," she said bluntly. "It'd be nice to know what mistakes to avoid."

 

[Thessa Kai]

[SIZE=medium]@A’dele[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]“Good,” she smiled, or tried to. She was really trying not to be as moody as her old Boss. “Don’t tell me they didn’t teach you how to use one of those in your fancy lightsaber training classes,” she teased lightly, wondering for a moment if the quip would be considered offensive to the Zabrak girl.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]“And please, call me Thee. I’ve got the map and the coordinates,” taking them out, she aligned them with the compass the padawan held. “So…how did you end up with the Republic?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]She was curious. Besides Dells, she hadn’t had a chance to mix and mingle with the other folks.[/SIZE]

 

[Adele Adonai]

@[member="Thessa Kai"]

If offended, the young padawan did not show it. Instead, she was the perfect picture of passive cordial peace. "I am well able to make use of the compass, Captain. Kai." she said, not responding to the teasing or the jokes.

"I was brought to the Jedi, Captain. " she answered in turn, glancing up to lock her aquamarine gaze upon the Galan, "The coordinates?" it wasn't that she was being unfriendly, A'dele was just merely doing as she was expected to do.

 

[Delila Castillon]

@[member="Teynara Jeralyr"]

Delila arced a fine eyebrow, mildly confused. Obviously if she had a poor marksman in her Company she would merely make that soldier practice until they were at least average. After call, proficiency in such a task was counted on by everyone. If the soldier next to you couldn't guard your back what good was it? Judging from the Padawans words however, it was not as cut and dry as sending someone onto a firing range.

"Don't call yourself mediocre. If you believe that then the battle is lost."

The pair was quickly reaching the summit, cresting the ridge. Delila listened to Teynaras pressing questions as she pulled out the map once again, taking in the view. Quite beautiful honestly. Off to the west a storm was forming, perhaps they would be trudging through rain soon. Dense forest looked like what they would be fighting their way through next though.

Not wanting to answer, Delila sighed, taking her eyes off the beautiful scenery and back to the Padawan. The Captain was not about to get into it with the Jedi, this type of talk was best saved for the meeting room. Dells had problems with Jedi taking over combat situations. Were they in one?No. Were they going to be in one anytime on this trip?No. Worst they would face would be large,feral animals.

"Seeing as we are not in a combat zone, I feel no need divulge my likes or dislikes on how the Jedi handle a military battlefield. It would only lead to hurt feelings and honestly,it would be like you telling me Bravo Company is useless. I would naturally get defensive."

 

[Elara Hulis]

Personally, Elara found the task of marching across a vast expanse of Bakura to be an interesting challenge. Paired with a soldier of the Republic, it would help the Padawan familiarize herself with how they work. Continued cooperation with the Republic was necessary for her, after all.

As a part of Team Four, Elara was dropped off after the previous teams. She quickly got off the gunship when they reached that point, which happened to be a nice little clearing at the edge of a forest.

Holding the compass that would guide them to the beacon, Elara took a good look at it to get her bearings as the ship sped off to drop off more teams. The device pointed toward the dense forest.

"Should be easy to finish this, right?" asked Elara of her partner, just to get some conversation going. The Miralukan Padawan imagined that the journey would take quite some time.

 

[Gezzo]

Gezzo looked around, this planet was just plain stupid. Why did the Republic always need to operate in humid places with such a wet heat? Just once could they go someone dry, desolate and full of sand? How about Korriban? He heard that place was a proper hell hole, couldn't they just declare war and start slaughtering their way through the damned Sith? Oh well, he supposed he should not complain, after all they had sent him for some good competition!

"Should be easy to finish this, right?"

Gezzo turned toward the Jedi as his translator did its job and transformed her fluid speech into a series of rough clicks and whistles. easy? he expected a Jedi would know better than to call any task easy . Nothing was easy, even in the tasks considered easy by the Geonosian people they just meant that it was hard enough that ten Geonosians should be doing it, so it would be a could test for a warrior.

Gezzo responded to his partner in his clicks "Nothing is easy, on my planet surviving above ground was a challenge even going to get food might be risking death. Learn this lesson well, the day you do not expect to die is the day you do. Stay here for a second, I will go up for a better look of the land." Gezzo's wings began to beat hard as he lifted off the ground and into the air.

 

[Teynara Jeralyr]

@[member="Delila Castillon"]
Defensive? Don't imagine I'd get defensive at hearing about the shortcomings of the people I work with, Teynara thought, wondering at just what impression the other woman had of Jedi, that she would assume that. Being a Jedi is all about knowing yourself and coming to understand your thoughts, feelings and the ways you act as a result of them, she mused, a slight frown furrowing her brow. To deny knowledge of ourselves just because it hurts would only cause problems in the long run. Oh well. She offered the slightest of shrugs as if to say she couldn't do anything about it. Good to know that there's a little potential animosity there, though.

The young woman stopped for a moment and inhaled a deep breath, taking the opportunity to look around them while Delila consulted her map once again. There was indeed a storm brewing, and much though Teynara hated the idea of being soaked to the skin, she had always enjoyed a good storm, if only because she liked to see the weather run a little wild, torrential, unleashed as though nature were expressing itself in the same way that an angry person might express themselves by yelling. It's all primal force and intensity. That said, the idea of being caught out in the open in the middle of a storm was...well, less appealing.

"I don't suppose you brought an umbrella?", she asked with a faint smile, glancing up and around them at the sky and the dark clouds heading in their direction. "Good thing these boots have rubber soles, I'll say that much. I don't overly fancy getting struck by lightning," the blonde added, her smile broadening to a grin.

It actually felt odd to be up so high, to see so far around them - the horizon was a long way off (obviously!, Teynara thought), and they were able to see a fair bit of the area around them. Even with the storm forming off to the West, there was still more than enough light for them to observe the area, and she had to admit, it was a much better view than you'd be able to see back home on Coruscant. Not as pretty as Tython, though. Oh well - at least it was somewhere new.

"Anyway, focusing on the task at hand, where's our next stop?", she asked, looking over Delila's shoulder at the map that the Captain had unfurled and was now examining. "I suppose we'll have to make our way back down and then traverse some equally unpleasant terrain?"

 

[Thessa Kai]

@[member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member=""][member="A'dele"]

[SIZE=medium]Tough crowd. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Handing A’dele the coordinates, her gaze traveled to the increasingly cloudy sky. “Looks like we’re in for some rain. We should look for some shelter on the way. Why don’t you take the lead?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Cocking her head to the side, she waited patiently, which was surprising considering the usually brash actions of the flight captain. “And what do you mean, you were brought to the jedi?”[/SIZE]

 

[Adele Adonai]

@[member="Thessa Kai"]

"As you wish, Captain Kai." said the Iridonian, taking point. As predicted, storm clouds began rolling overhead. "This way," A'dele said, guiding them down to the right through a small dirt path. Verdant growth brushed against her legs as she walked, her face a passive mask as she replied, "A scouting party found me at the ruined Jedi temple on Onderon." she informed, leading them further into the treeline.

A pause came as she raised her head towards the sky, the lavender tattoos highlighted by the faint glow of light. A single drop of water struck her cheek before rolling down. "And you Captain? What led you to the Galactic Republic?"

 

[Delila Castillon]

@[member="Teynara Jeralyr"]

Delila laughed a little, shaking her head at the lightning comment. "If we stick away from the tall trees we should be okay." The storm had started kicked up a slight breeze and the Captain tucked some loose hairs behind her ear and turned to show her partner the map. Might as well start sharing her knowledge a bit, although this one seemed like one of those scholarly types.

"See, this is the mountain chain and since were headed North-Northeast..." Delila ran her finger from their rough location up the map, crossing a thick forest that they saw from their mountain top perch."So, thats where we are headed, hopefully we can push through the forest quickly. How many hours of sleep do Jedi require per night?"

Delila could run about about three to four,less if there was a war going on. For a situation such as this though she figured they could afford to rest for a few hours. Folding the map back up since they had a rough idea of where they were heading, Delila starting walking down the front side of the mountain, being cautious not to fall and go tumbling down to the bottom.