Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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Roots

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Trextan had been walking into the cockpit when he decided to brace himself against the frame. He only relinquished his grip on it when the shaking stopped. Whilst he trusted Choli, he didn't quite hold the squib salvagers in the same regard.

"Did something just fall off?" he asked incredulously as he stepped towards the copilot's chair. "That sounded like something fell off. In hyperspace." That felt like something bad. Skor hadn't been the bloodbath it could have, but now the navies of the two factions were busy consolidating their lines once more. So here they were, half an hour - and several frayed nerves - closer to Mos Espa.

The King had asked them to leave so he could deliberate. The Squib wanted to genuinely negotiate. Apparently that first meeting they had intended had been, as far as the squib were concerned, an ice breaker. They didn't need pilots and Jedi around. They needed diplomats on the ground. So this was their chance. Jacen wanted Trextan to get away from the war for a time. He'd suggested Trextan would be sent to the new temple on Coruscant for some more training in time.

That was if they survived this trip. There had been no GA ships close by but Beequay wasn't having them waiting. The proud squib had wanted to show them thanks for the work they had done so had made a grand display of gifting them this ship. It was of no design anyone could purchase. Choli had been slightly astonished at how quickly it had pulled away, but Trextan doubted any regulations had been followed in its construction. Hopefully whatever regulations the original ships and parts had been built to would see them through.

[member="Choli Vyn"]
 
[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

"Ahhh..." eyes wide and swirling into a mild gold-flecked green of minor alarm, the slight spike in Choli's tone didn't bear any note of well-being for the Justicar if he was looking for any sort of reassurance.

"Maybe." fingers went curling tight along the piloting yoke while Choli's left hand went reaching over to flick a few toggles and check sensors. Oh, maybe that wasn't good.

That distinct rattle turned into a distinct, vibrating rumble.

"It's... fine." sorta. Maybe. If the Squibs were able to build a semi-functioning ship out of a mix match of salvage parts, the furballs were geniuses. Just that perhaps it might have a kink -- another shudder.

Or two.

A faint grimace and then the Rogue would spar a glance over at her companion. He was clenching his chair tight and eyeballing the cockpit as if it were about to shudder apart.

"It's fine -- really."

A lick of her lips and Choli spun her head forward. Tatooine was an arid, desert wasteland full of sand, grit, junk, and just about three dozen ways to die. However, it was home. Well -- had been for as long as Choli could remember out there in the Waste.

"I'm an expert crasher."

Was that a joke? Totally had to be a joke. Never mind the stoic manner that the Epicanthix had said it in order to tease the teenager beside her.
 
[member="Choli Vyn"]

"Oh, well. Good then." There was a depth of sarcasm to his attempt to sound reassured. "Of course...currently being in hyperspace we'll really struggle to find something for you to crash into to prove that point..."

What happened if an escape pod was launched in hyperspace? He thought to himself. Likely a redundant question. Whether this thing even had an escape pod was yet to be explored.

"Great Uncle Kellan sent a message, said he was looking forward to seeing us. Is happy to lend us a landspeeder under the proviso it gets paid for if you feel the need to crash again."

He looked around the consoles. "Anything I can do? Go and hold onto bits of the ship to keep them attached?" He tried a smile as he turned back to face her. Trextan was still a little nervous about exploring where they stood. Forced in the moment to realise it could be a long time before they saw he other again he'd acted quite rashly in the hospital.
 
[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

He's watching me again, Choli thought to herself, feeling that dark brown gaze drift over to her more often than naught. Normally, the girl wouldn't have really picked it up. Yet ever since Skor -- well no, before that really let's be honest Cho- the Rogue had an affinity at picking up when the Justicar in training would spare a glance at her.

"You can try but then what if you go flying off too?" jokes were good. Jokes were a bit of normalcy that could cover a mountain of nerves and fluttering bellies.

A flash of humor gilded her eyes with gold flecked jade green eyes over at Trextan, "Hey, my skills cover things that fly, not landspeeders. Those crashes you can muck up yourself."

Another heavy rumble of the ship and Choli's eyes went wide. Once again her attention went back to the ship.

"So... how did you manage to get this ship again?" keeping conversation going was a good way to keep Trextan distracted. That had been one of the rear panels that had blown off. Alright in the short term, but it would need to get fixed, " -- I mean, just so I know in the event we do blow up and die."

Okay, that had been said with plenty of mild sarcasm to match Trextan's earlier pitch. Blowing her hair away from her face, the Rogue adjusted a few controls. The rumble faded into a tolerable hum.
 
[member="Choli Vyn"]

"Well on those last moments direct your ire at Beequay." Trextan chuckled and turned his attention back to the controls. He neither understood astromech droid nor most of the information displayed on the consoles of a ship.

"He was exceptionally proud of it. I think they felt that by giving up the sale of their recycled ship parts as a gift I was being greatly honoured for my services."

Trextan wanted to ask for more details on what had happened to her on Mustafar. Right now it didn't seem the right time again. Not when she seemed to be keeping the ship in once piece.

"Just as a heads up...I'm not a very good driver. Coruscant remember. No one owns speeders there we get, erm, taxis everywhere."
 
[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

[SIZE=9pt]A[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] beep boop[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] came rushing in at the back end of Trextan's conversation; yes, they were not [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]truly[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] alone. R4 had come along for the mini vacation; or more aptly, the little droid didn't want to be parted for too long from Choli. He'd already missed her a month during Kaeshana and then having her crash without him on Mustafar was one too many without him by her side.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Whatever the Pebbledrone said, however, was enough to warrant a quick chuckle from Choli. Not that she needed any more, the astonished expression upon her face as she swung those startled, yet amused, jade green eyes was enough of a hint anyways, "Wait, are you saying you [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]can't[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] drive?" Her jaw fell a bit, only to close shut. The awkwardness fell away in the midst of cracking jokes at the Jedi.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]"Okay... so what can[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] you do." She'd inquire, turning back for the read outs on the nav computer. About ten more minutes and they would revert to real space.[/SIZE]
 
Trextan wondered if by slowly recognising her eye colour against her facial expressions he could learn to read Choli better. Her mind was remarkably closed off through the Force so if he built that mental map he might be able to catch an emotional warning even if her expression was guarded. He felt a little guilty for thinking that.

“What can I do?” he asked in mock incredulity. “Look it’s not that I can’t drive. I’m just preparing you for how rusty I might be. And I’m pretty handy in a scrap, which given your description of the wastes might just come in handy. Good in a wrestling match for crisps too,” he added with a grin before looking at some instruments redundantly.

The pebbledrone made an enquiring sound at his last remark.

“To be fair to Beequay I can’t imagine it’s easy to get a hunk of metal salvaged from parts into hyperspace safely.”
 
[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

[SIZE=9pt]"No... no it is not. " In this Choli could agree. The admiration in Squib genius and ingenuity could be gathered from the tone in the Rogue's voice. As she had told Trextan before, the Squibs reminded her of a far more chattier Jawa. Maybe that's why they'd grown on her quickly. Granted, Trextan had to deal with them a bit longer than Choli did before she arrived at Skor. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]To hide the small bit of color that rose to her cheeks at the mention of how good Trextan is at a wrestling match over a bag of chips - and the subsequent images and actions that had followed thereafter up until the day he left - Choli added, "Arr-four, think you can go check out to make sure losing that panel won't burn us to a crisp?" The tone of voice suggested she really didn't think it would, just more trying to get the nosy droid out. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]A sideways glance to Trex and her lips gave another twitch, "So... you'll be the one crashing going backwards instead of forwards, got it." Darting her eyes away, she returned her attention back to the Pebbledrone. He had not left yet. Instead was eyeballing them with his ocular sensor back and forth with what would pass for a narrowing inspection.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]"What? " that same inquiring beep and boop turned into a chatter of chirps that suddenly had the girl's face bloom crimson.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]"Okay, well... just go check it out!"[/SIZE]
 
Trextan was grinning and about to open his mouth before the droid said something to bring colour to Choli's face. He looked to the droid with narrowed eyes before it rolled away and made a noise that sounded rather put out. He decided to press on.

"I tell you what, you can do the driving around Espa and those narrow streets and I'll take shifts if we head out of town. Least that way if I have it in reverse I shouldn't hit anyway. Just, you know, don't laugh too hard if I stall. There just isn't room on Coruscant for keeping your own speeder most of the time. Mum was quite opposed to me having a swoop," he said. His expression turned pensive as he tried to keep away from topics that could still feel very raw for him if he focussed on them.

“Am I going to have to get a translator so I know what R4 is saying?” he asked.

[member="Choli Vyn"]
 
[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

"Why does it feel as if I'm the one doing all the leg work for this trip?" Choli said in mock affront, running the flat of her tongue along the front of her teeth as she made the attempt to hide her embarrassment at R4 making quip remarks about chip wrestling and if it had anything to do with the semi awkward conversations with Janes.

"Anyways... just how comfortable are you even at driving in a desert. Sand gets everywhere you know... nor do you know exactly where we will be going...". Another sideways glance of her light green eyes. If Trextan kept his good observation, he would be able to gather the emotive tells from the teenager. Well, as so much as one of Epicanthix nature would allow.

Now as for getting a translator for R4...

"Ahh, no. It's okay. He's just being sassy. Didn't get to give his jabs for a bit so he's trying to catch up." Semi-truth as the color lingered a few more seconds upon her olive face. She was avoiding his gaze again, realizing that if she did meet his eyes she just might blush again.

"Not everyone understands binary. " which was true. It was a complex language and took some time to really be able to understand it. Mostly those who worked with droids or had an affinity at learning languages quickly were able to understand it.

"Although I guess if I do teach you how to speed up your ability to comprehend information through the Force quickly then you might not need a translator if you do decide to learn it." Okay, con number one to offering to do that; having Trextan actually understand R4 when he went on about what he'd heard about concerning the young Jedi Voidstalker... and all the embarrassing conversations in between.

"Anyways...So Beequay gave this to you as a gift? " that's interesting. "Would have thought they'd have bartered for it."

Truth be told, Choli hadn't really explored the ship. They hadn't had time. She at the very least made sure it was airworthy, but the amalgam of ship parts at first glance had made the Rogue's jaw drop.
 
"I can carry heavy things with my robot arm?" He suggested. He squinted slightly. "I...provided the ship, a room in Espa... Yeah it's mostly on you." He chuckled softly. Choli had explained at some length that he was very much reliant on her for this trip. That was the deal they'd made after he had - probably - saved her from dying in the crash on Skor.

Again he interest was piqued by the notion of using the Force to learn quickly. There were a lot of things that could be useful for. "Learning binary...reverse parking..." He mumbled.

"It was rather, well, straightforward if him. I did get them out of a bit of a tight spot with some chazrach. I don't think I'd quite worked out exactly how the think, but I know they like to keep both sides happy in an arrangement. Maybe he was thinking that no matter which way things went it would be useful to invest in having a friendly Jedi Knight."

He shifted in his seat. Not the focussed shuffle of one finding a comfortable spot, but of one fidgeting whilst considering options. In the end he decided to get to the point.

"What happened on Mustafar? Where did you go?" He asked. His right foot tapped a little on the deck, it was obvious that the subject still made him slightly anxious even after finding she was for and well now.
 
[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

Yeah, Choli, let's not consider just what Trextan can do with his arm. More like the remembrance of how he'd locked her down in their little wrestling match.

"That's double food rations then," cake her subsequent quip, as if he'd been fined. It was all in teasing but kept the conversation going.

Well until he mentioned Mustafar again.

Her expression visibly shifted, a small grimace returning to cross her lips. Forward focus her attention and her color-shifting eyes said the rest.

"A lot of things did." Putting if lightly. At least, in this case, she did remember. Every agonizing second.

Choli could hear the slight rapping of his foot, her peripheral catching how he kept shaking his knee. It increased in speed for a second, almost matching the flex of Choli's hand on the yoke.

"Was shot down. The end result landed me in the med ward again. " in a breathing apparatus. "I was out for about a week... had to be monitored."
 
He scrunched up his lips and looked at her sympathetically. He noticed his foot tapping and consciously stopped it.

"I shouldn't be...weird about it, but it was a bit confusing when they wouldn't tell me anything. Eventually managed to get through to that Janes and he at least told me you were on the mend."

It had been horrible not knowing. Trextan was glossing over how it had made him feel because he wasn't particularly good at expressing that at the best of times. Also his concerns probably couldn't compare to what she'd been through...again.

"How far out are we?"
 
[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

[SIZE=9pt]"It's not weird..." Choli spun her gaze to meet his, giving a small awkward shrug of her shoulder. It was an odd medley of thoughts and emotions. Part of her had been surprised he'd attempted to find out her status so persistently. Another was, well, oddly that it felt ... nice to be thought after. Choli wasn't sure what to make of it or what it all meant, but at least there was that. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]"And yeah... they were pretty tight lipped. Was on a military ship that was running dark. " now as for the mention of Janes, Choli gave a frustrated half groan. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]"Janes, yeah. Sorry about him. But yeah..." Hazel eyes met brown. "[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Thanks[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]. " a pause and a swallow that made her throat bob. "For asking if I was okay. "[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Glancing forward, "Even though you didn't have to do that. " a bite of her lower lip and then she felt her face redden, "umm.. five minutes out."[/SIZE]
 
"Like I said, I was worried. I was over on Barkesh at the time so wasn't like I could get wounded and thrown on the same ship," he replied. The second sentence was added quickly to try and cover a touch of embarrassment in saying the first. "We held the line outside the base, but then we got ordered to fall back."

"Actually in a way he was reassuring. Sort of. When he said 'and why are you so concerned for health?' I could at least tell you were getting better by the way he was talking. No need to apologise."

It had almost felt like fate to him, when he'd been at his lowest moment. That she would agree to see him again. And not just that but there had been a distinct implication in why they would try and spend time together. Then if she had been captured or lost it would have felt like the universe giving him another kicking. In hindsight it had been a very selfish line of thought and he'd quickly returned to concern for her wellbeing.

"I guess I'll send Uncle a message. He said he'd picked us up from our landing pad, but we could walk it if you'd like?" Trextan asked. He was looking expectantly through the viewscreen. He was born and bred a city boy, but he was looking forward to this. To seeing family, to the adventure. To spending time with her.

Beedeep. Rowr

And R4, he guessed.
 
[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

“Yeah, he's prone to being nosey and chatty, but he's a good friend. " and former Squadron Leader now that he switched to Wraith covertly.

As for his question, Choli gave a slight frown. "Shouldn't be too troublesome to walk-- we also need to get you desert clothes. If you wore what you had to at the palace you'd stick out like a sore thumb." It was said in humor, the jade returning to her eyes as she regarded him. "All that gold trim and all might attract the wrong attention. "
 
"I thought you were talking about R4 for a moment there," Trextan remarked.

Parp

Trextan hadn't really thought of getting some specific desert wear. Given their conversations so far he decided it wasn't worth admitting that.

"Good point, we can do that on the way. And leave those robes locked away on here. On in the reactor. I do have some GADF boots and gear. I suppose that's a start."

He allowed himself a small smile as he thought back to Skor. Perhaps they would have talked more openly under different circumstances. Yet she'd still been pleased to see him. He'd seen the abashed but happy expression reach her eyes after he'd suddenly embraced her. That meant a lot to him.
 
[SIZE=10.5pt][member="Trextan Voidstalker"][/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]"Oh well, he's nosey and chatty too,"[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt] Choli added without missing a beat, earning the ire of the Pebbledrone off in the distance. [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]Beep, beep, beep, [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]hoot[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]![/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt] Came the disgruntled chirps. The shared laugh had the effect of relaxing the tension off of the teenager's shoulders and face. A wayward hand went to tuck the thick tendrils of hair behind her right ear.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Not to miss an opportunity to toss a quip at Trextan's expense, she added with a mild dramatic widening of her eyes for effect," [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]wow[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]... go out walking under the Twin Suns in [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]just [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]your boots -- bolder than you look Voidstalker. "[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Teasing him was far easier than trying to steal glances at him from her peripheral. His hawkish features began to twist at her remark, and she had to stifle a laugh.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Cue another rumble of the ship along with the notice that they neared their revision point.[/SIZE]
 
Trextan's laugh sounded a little bit forced when the ship rumbled. This was slightly more unnerving that when Choli had flown them within centimetres of the wreckage to throw off several drones.

"I'm impressed you keep your nice tan on a ship, must be sunbeds on there," he remarked. "I do tan quickly actually, not like my uncle though. He looks like a leather handbag. But alright, you can be my guide and stylist I guess."

As he finished speaking the swirling tunnel of hyperspace snapped back to streaks and then the dark of space. Except in that inky black were the twin suns. The screen too a moment to polarise and darken but it forced Trextan to bring a hand up to shade his eyes.

"Well, you're back home then," he remarked.

[member="Choli Vyn"]
 
[SIZE=10.5pt][member="Trextan Voidstalker"][/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]"Well, remember to thank Beequay for not blowing up." [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt] Her hands flew over the controls, a crooked grin on her face. Sometimes it still surprised her how different Trextan was from her. Well, regarding upbringing. Then again, rolling about in a ship made of various different ship parts had a certain amount of bravery to it. Or foolishness. Either way, Choli shot Trextan an easy going smile meant to comfort, and if Trextan weren't too busy gripping on the armrests of his chair, he’d catch the lingering look.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]"Well... as home as anything could be I guess." [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt] She added, turning her attention back to the polarized viewscreen. The dust-ball that she'd wandered about like a slave in a Tusken Raider clan was just up ahead.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]"And [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]no[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt], no tanning beds," [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]came the amused scoff, if a bit abashed at the mention of her skin. Did he say it because he'd noticed or just passing commentary?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]"I’m just pretty much this color all year round; so I guess lucky me."[/SIZE]
 

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