Private Late Start

[Mathieu Brion]

It was a rainy day - but they still trained outside. It was in an open area of the Commenor Temple courtyard and it was only the six of them and Jedi Master Rochtyl. Mathieu stood together with three of the other Padawans as they watched the final two locked in an even sparring match. A slight smile had found a seemingly permanent place on his lips as he studied their form. The others were less well versed in most Jedi-related things than him. He was one of the more seasoned Padawans who had yet to find and keep a Master. But then, he had not been with the order for long either, and so he was there with them. Others who had yet to find a Master.

And then it came, a perfectly executed riposte and a quick slash to the leg. The duel was over and they had a victor - Padawan Orf-Nob-Dul. Mathieu and the others clapped lightly, both praising Padawan Orf and encouraging the looser. Master Rochtyl's tired old voice could then be heard "Padawan Nostek, Padawan Brion. It is your turn." Looking to his fellow Padawan, the large Morellian offered a friendly smile and a nod before stepping into the dueling circle. Nostek, however, didn't move. Instead she looked to Mathieu and then back at Master Rochtyl whom immediately seemed to know what was going on. "Believe in yourself, Padawan - and believe that your friends will back you up if needed" It was obvious that the elder suggested that the others could help her out if she was faring poorly. Mathieu sent him a puzzled look communicating a simple What about me?!

It didn't matter. Padawan Nostek came forth and soon, she attacked. Their practice blades clashed. Mathieu comfortably fell back into his most used form: Soresu. At first, he refrained from attacking and simply blocked the swings and slashes she sent his way. He was unsure of how much restraint he could and should show and Master Rochtyl seemed impossible to read. Finally, he counter attacked after having brushed away her stab. Capitalising on his immense strength, he swung his blade from her using both hands, straight from left to right. Padawan Nostek brought up her own blade to block his attack but soon noticed how her strength faltered. Instead of letting her arms cave in, she held fast and was pushed back with enough force to knock her off of her feet.

But the duel didn't seem to be over there as Padawan Orf stepped in. Mathieu didn't expect it and consequently reacted instinctively. His blade went up to sweep away the incoming attack whilst he formed a fist with his free hand. The jab he sent at the new foe produced enough force to knock him out, bringing a much faster end to it than when he faced Padawan Nostek. His attention then switched to Nostek herself and then the other three Padawans: Would the attack or was the duel over?

Skye Pearce

 

[Skye Pearce]

TAG: Mathieu Brion

Sometimes it just sucked.

When she had to do an op that required an extra hand. She was usually in the field....where the kark was she supposed to get a second hand every time?

So she trudged through the Temple, still dressed in field clothes - the two saber hilts on her belt, the only tell-tale signs of what she was. Approaching a group of masters, she flipped her red mane.
"I need a hand. Now." she said to them. She has never been one for ceremony and posturing.
"There are some good youngins in the courtyard." Master Arrenack said, pointing to the outside.
"Thank you." she said, marching out the door.

Out in the courtyard, she stood and watched for a few minutes, the rain drenching her, as one of the Padawans was giving all the others a drumming. She winced when his fist met the other Padawan's chin.

That was exactly what she needed.

Not some school kid.

She walked closer to the group.
"Master Rochtyl! I need that Padawan for an assingment." Yeah, she wasn't one to beat about the bush.
The Master Jedi turned towards her. "Which one, Pearce?"
"The only one that matters." she said. "Big Guy, you're coming with me." she then ordered.
"Padawan Brion, you heard Knight Pearce. You are excused." Master Rochtyl said after a sigh.

 

[Mathieu Brion]

The rain kept pouring down as Mathieu stood tall over the knocked out Padawan whilst looking over to Padawan Nostek - they both shared the same expression: Do we really have to continue? There was only one realistic outcome, they both knew it, the others knew it and Master Nochtyl was more than likely also aware.

The Master raised an old arm to usher forth another couple of Padawans to come to the aid of their almost-defeated friend whom laid at the wet ground. In a way, it made the Morellian wonder why he was painted as the bad guy. It was probably nothing intentional but he wondered all the same. Maybe there was a deeper lesson behind it all? Maybe he was supposed to learn something from it? He would not find out because the lesson was soon cut short by an unfamiliar voice.

They all looked over to the red-headed Knight standing by the side, also drenched by the rain like they were. Her frame did not seem all too imposing, at least not judging by her height - but the way in which she carried herself, that was something different. She moved with confidence and spoke as if she had no fears in the world. Many others would be more respectful in the presence of a Master. Mathieu would know, for he was one of them.

The only one that matters - he was surprised by her choice of words but looked over to Padawan Orf with a smile, assuming that they were the one who got picked. But when she mentioned the big guy, there was really only one option, even he could see that. "Me?" he asked, pointing to his wet tunic with both fingers, still maintaining a sense of confusion in his voice. But even though he asked the question, Mathieu instinctively took a step towards her, before Master Rochtyl had even instructed him to come along with her. He couldn't help but to wonder why he did it but she did have a strong presence, he could feel it.

The Master cleared their throat and sent Mathieu a somewhat annoyed look. The Padawan had followed the instructions of a Knight before being condoned by the Master who was instructing him. It was a bad look and the other Padawans could see it too. He let out a meek "I'm sorry", barely loud enough for anyone to hear. The Master shook their head before signalling for him to move on.

Upon arriving, Mathieu produced a slight bow "I am Mathieu" he said, figuring that the Master had already told her of his position and family name. "What's the assignment, Knight Pearce?" he asked, before leaning his head to the side and pointing in to the temple halls "My robes are nearby, should I grab them?"

Skye Pearce

 

[Skye Pearce]

TAG: Mathieu Brion

A brow lofted as her blue eyes looked at the Padawan apologising to the others.

He then approached her with his first name. She cocked her head to the side. It would probably be best not to get him into more trouble, so she bit her tongue.
"It's a need to know op. Walk with me." she told him before nodding at Master Rochtyl.

On the way back into temple, she gave a brief explanation to his question about his robes.
"No robes. Nothing that says you're a Jedi. If you have some nice looking clothes, put on that. Meet me at the entrance when you're done. Oh and bring your lightsaber. Never know when you'll need it." she told him before taking off to get herself dry as well.

Fifteen minutes later, she met up with Mathieu on the steps to the temple, looking like some corporate authority.
"Now, let me make something perfectly clear. On this op, you call me by my name - Skye. If you put Knight in front of anything, I'll punch you myself." she said, walking up.

She did not want to waste a lot of time, but she figured she probably had to tell him something of what they were to do during this assignment.
She sighed. "As for what we are going to do - we are going undercover, so I seriously hope your as good with improvisation as you are by knocking out people. We have received intel that a cybernetic company big wig in Chasin has been selling shares into the company to the Sith. Believe it or not, but that is not acceptable for our lovely Order. Ergo, we have to go do some dirty work to get the Sith fingers out the Silver pie. Let's move." she said, motioning with her head in the end before marching off towards a speeder.

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Walking with her into the temple, Mathieu listened attentively and nodded as she gave him the initial instructions. Bring his lightsabre, don't wear robes or other Jedi-like items, take on the fanciest things he owns. He produced another nod, confirming that he got the instructions right before producing a slight bow "Yes, Knight Pearce" he said - her demeanour told him that he might get a stern talking to if he didn't stay formal enough.

After having rushed off into his chambers, Mathieu worked on an appropriate outfit - he had not had much cause to wear anything formal except for his robes and most of his clothes were Jedi tunics. He did still have his heavy armour which did not necessarily scream 'Jedi' but it was also far from formal. He was in quite the bind. Especially since borrowing would be hard as he was both taller and more impressively built than many of his peers. Browsing through his rather limited wardrobe, the Padawan finally settled on a pair of more formal pants and a simple shirt.

With a more nonchalant demeanour, he might have looked like a privileged rich kid - but still as friendly as ever, Mathieu would not fit in all too well with the higher strata of society. At least it didn't take him long to get ready - for by the time the Knight showed up, he had already been waiting for a few minutes. "I could barely recognise you" he said, trailing off to let her speak. For some reason, it always seemed like she was in a bit of a rush. His eyes froze for a few moments as she instructed him to call her by her first name but it was not long before he nodded "Alright, Skye. I won't give you any cause to punch me" he said whilst sending her a friendly smile.

It was not long before she started giving him more thorough instructions and then, they moved towards the speeder. He listened to all of it - the mission was certainly one which motivated him for having Sith influence the market within Silver space certainly sounded bad. "I don't know how good I am at improv" he said whilst taking a seat by the steering wheel. A sense of optimism spread across him as he turned on the engines and looked to her "But I've experienced a lot. Got to see a lot of important meetings when I did mercenary work. Even helped draft an intergalactic agreement once" he said, with a proud nod before adding a quick note "But that was after I joined the Jedi."

Going in towards the heart of the city, Mathieu felt right at home. For the moment, he ignored his clothes - the kind that he had not worn in quite some time - and focused on the piloting and the Knight next to him "So, Skye, what's your favourite colour?" he asked, seemingly with genuine interest. For a moment, he took his eye off of the speeder lane to look down at her. With a more serious tone, he asked "Why did you choose me?"

Skye Pearce

 

[Skye Pearce]

TAG: Mathieu Brion

A brow cocked again as the Padawan took his place behind the wheel of the speeder.

"You better drive better than the previous one. I ended up dumping that Padawan on the sidewalk before carrying on with my business." she told him, leaning on the door of the passenger side, her blue eyes intent.

She listened to him speak, however, as they got into the speeder. She chewed her lip for a second before responding.
"I honestly don't care about that agreement you wrote. That's not going to help you now. What I'm interested in, is your skills as a merc. Don't disappoint." she told him, but not unkindly.

They traveled a bit when his question about her favourite colour caught her off guard. She looked at him with a frown.
"If I said red, would you brand me as Sith?" she asked sarcastically. "All right all right, I'll be honest - greens and purples. Tell me about yours." she added with a smirk.

He then went on to ask her why she chose him. She cocked her head to the side, glancing at him thoughtfully.
"I'm still waiting to find out." she told him, a sly smile at the end. She did not want to inflate his head just yet by telling him his right hook was impressive.

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Hesitantly, he looked to her as she mentioned how she wanted to make use of his mercenary skills. A wave of shame washed over him as he remembered some of the things he had done in the past. While he had always tried to avoid doing anything that was morally despicable, he knew that he had explained away actions to himself and done his fair share of bad in the past. That was, partially, what drove him to be the best person he could be now - to be the best Jedi he could possibly be now.

For just a moment, the large Morellian tore his eyes from the lane to look down at her "You know..." he said with a vulnerable voice "The stuff I did as a merc - I'd honestly like to avoid doing it again. I..." he trailed off once more, momentarily, his eyes fell in shame before they snapped back to the lane they were going by. Forgiving himself for everything he had done - that was an impossible task but he did do what he could to atone for it and he told her as much "I am still trying to make up for it now" he said, flashing an empty smile before letting awkward silence take over.

Asking of her favourite colour was a stroke of genius. Perhaps that was a bit of an exaggeration but at least it brought them away from the previous topic. Mathieu let out a chuckle as she mentioned being associated with the Sith "You don't need to like red to be Sithy" he thought but simply smiled and nodded. And then came the counter - Mathieu liked many colours, blue, white, silver, green - but what came out of his mouth was "Brown" for the image that quickly swooshed by in his mind was that of Inara and her beautiful eyes. Denying that the girl could distract him would be dishonest and when he came back to his senses, they were close to crashing into an energy generator. Fortunately, he was quick on the wheel and got them out of the situation with a roll to the left. He let out an awkward chuckle and joked "That's plus points, right?"

Soon, they arrived by the 78th floor at a large and elegant office building with a sleek glass facade, just by the personal docking port that the flight computer had been preset to take them. "I suppose this is where you'll find out" he said, confirming what she had noted. As the engines turned off, he looked to her "So, Skye, what role do I play here? I'm a blank page" A few people from inside the office building glanced their way. Most of them didn't seem to care much but the receptionist could be seen in the distance, walking out to the landing platform, accompanied by a protocol droid and what seemed like two security guards, each carrying a blaster by their belt. They had a few moments before the group would arrive - but there was no time to lull around.

Skye Pearce

 

[Skye Pearce]

TAG: Mathieu Brion

The damn fool.

When he gave his favourite colour, he fell into silence and not long after an energy generator was coming exceptionally close. Without hesitating, Skye gave him a flat hand against the back of the head.
"Focus, you dolt!" she barked at him.

As he righted their course, he had the gall to ask for plus points. She narrowed her blue eyes at him.
"Lose focus like that again, and I'll change my plan and dump you in the Sith laps as a bounty myself. Got it?" she told him, cocking a brow before she continued to direct him.

Luckily he got them to the corporate building intact, mirroring her statement about her finding out what his skills are.
"Lucky that you are still alive and around to show me." she grumbled at him. She had to give him points for wanting some clarification of what it was he was to do. She glanced at the advancing secretary.
"Right, you will double as my student and clerk. So you will pretend to take notes and ask rookie business questions. We are independent accountants. That gives us access to their books. Our job is to figure out who these Sith stakeholders are and also who sold it to them. We need the evidence first. When we have it, we can arrest the seller. The Sith are outside our personal power. That's Council territory. Just don't do anything to alert them that you are Jedi. And smile." she quickly said, flashing a smile at the end as she got our the speeder just as the secretary and the droid walked up.

The droid ended up speaking first.
"Ms. Rogers, we welcome you and your protegee to CyberNet." it said in its monotone voice.
"The offices where you'll be working are this way, ma'am. Would you like some refreshments while you work?" the secretary added.
"Thank you. That will be lovely. Mat, grab my bag in the back, would you, sweetie?" she said, stepping into an entirely new role - a smile spreading from ear to ear.

 

[Mathieu Brion]

"By the stars, she is crazy!" he thought as he nodded with conviction. No need to throw him to the Sith. Nope. None at all! "Got it - we're safe now. Look, steady she goes." he continued, eyeing the vehicle as they continued their journey.

Listening intently to the instructions she gave, Mathieu nodded along as he tried to put her words to heart. It seemed simple enough - for in this situations, people rarely bothered the student as most preferred to go directly to the expert - the one whom they'd actually pay to hire. Still, he'd do his best - Skye had chosen him and he did not want to disappoint.

The delegation seemed to arrive just as the Knight finished the sentence. Putting on a slight smile, the Padawan got out of the speeder as she did, taking a few steps around it to stand by her side, albeit a few decimetres behind, making it abundantly clear who was in charge. Upon the mention of 'protegee' by the droid, Mathieu flashed a smile at it as if to recognise that is mentioned him before switching his attention to the secretary.

With a nod, Mathieu turned around upon being tasked to get her bag. Their play seemed to work perfectly as the secretary didn't seem suspicious in the least. Instead, she took the protegee's old spot by Skye's side, "This way, ma'am" she said, gesturing towards the entrance with her hand. Having grabbed the bag, Mathieu would catch up after only a few long strides but chose to linger behind the two, letting them go on with casual chatter without having him disturb. Instead, he idly looked around, trying to pick up what details there were to pick up.

Just as the landing pad with it's spacious areas around the designated landing spots, the office looked luxurious with a simplistic yet elegant design. In a way, it was extravagant in the details but from a simple glance, it was rather pleasing. It was an open office with work stations, meaning that the employees didn't really have a fixed work station. On the surface, it was all rather harmonious - but some elements seemed off. Roughly half of the workers seemed unusually rough around the edges - they wore suits and looked proper enough upon first glance but with a closer inspection, it became obvious that they weren't quite used to the nice settings. There were a mix of different models of protocol droids and the former Mercenary was almost certain that at least a couple of them could double as combat units. It made him feel uneasy but he hid it well, trying to relax and smile at a few of the people they passed.

Upon reaching the centre of the main work area, the secretary stopped to bring out two datapads from a bureau. "These are logged in to the company network and should give you access to what you need. If you encounter any troubles, feel free to turn to me our technical expert Olrom over there" she said, pointing at a scrawny-looking human in the distance. The woman continued, maintaining a friendly tone "Feel free to grab any spot you like" While the offer was sincere, it was hard to find anywhere without an employee or a droid or a security camera nearby. A sizeable Ithorian turned around, patting the seat next to him "I wouldn't mind some company"

Skye Pearce