Campaign Ruins and Robots - Part One: Dude Where's my Holocron?

[Ryv]

​

Peace
Jedi Praxeum Station,
New Found Home of the Unified Jedi Order

​

Many had come to call Peace home after Master Morga's initial call to the Jedi of the galaxy. While some were stubborn or locked in more isolated ways, those who saw the value behind reunification did not allow themselves to be swayed. Masters, knights, padawan, and even some younglings transitioned to living upon the artificial moon. With each new member of the order came a small victory for this great goal, but it also brought a plethora of problems. There simply weren't enough hands actively working to prepare the station to house more Jedi on top of the various responsibilities each member of the order was expected to take on. A dark influence grew each day, meaning many were deployed to combat the touch of the dark side. Others were tasked with training the next generation of peacekeepers, some of which were padawan themselves. That left a very small and select few to do the dirty work so few wanted to. Cleaning rooms, collecting relics, and exploring long empty halls.

While Wyatt Morga had come to act as a spokesman and leader for the fledgling order, his latest padawan, Ryv, was left to handle the dirty work. Weeks of labor had gone into preparing the grand council chambers, maintaining bedrooms, and cleaning out the mess hall. He was fortunate given he wasn't expected to do it alone, but it would likely take months worth of work before the station itself could hold all the Jedi the galaxy had to offer. That was the long term goal anyway. The short term was a lot simpler. A new wing of the station had been opened up to be explored and Master Morga tasked the kiffar with handling it. Had Ryv been expected to do it alone he'd of been screwed. Wyatt likely considered that, given he permitted the padawan to put together a small team to collect everything and bring it all to the growing archives for assortment.

Ryv took a day to himself to think about who he wanted alongside him. He didn't know too many other Jedi due to the hours he spent working every day. Those he did know he held in relatively high regard. Auteme was the smartest person he knew and found these sorts of things interesting as far as he could tell. She never struggled to recall information and brought with her years of study no other padawan could match. Aaran Tafo was a competent duelist, kind-hearted Jedi with the drive to make a difference. Ryv was fortunate to even sit in on a few of his classes to get back into form with a lightsaber. Both Loske Treicolt and Bernard of Arca were on loan from the Imperium and that was enough for Ryv. Each of them had the trust and respect of his master, the Imperator, so there was no real reason he couldn't rely on them.

Already, the kiffar lounged in the mess as he awaited the others to arrive. The younglings were serving a wide assortment of food to those on their lunch break, which meant he could snag an ice-cold tea, a bowl of exotic fruit, and a roll of buttered bread. It was a simple enough meal for a simple enough guy.

 

[Aaran Tafo]

Location: Peace
Friends: Auteme Ryv Loske Treicolt
Potential Friend: Bernard of Arca

There was a saying floating around the Galaxy that there was no rest for the wicked. Well if that was the case, then it seemed that those brave souls who had decided to give their time when it came to clearing out the many, many, many abandoned wings of the space station had committed crimes so henious in a previous life that Emperor Carnifex himself would blush.

But Aaran never complained. It was good, honest work. Familiar work that just allowed him to shut his brain off and work through the motions. Wake, exercise, work, eat, sleep. It had been his schedule for the past week. Most labour of the manual kind. Moving boxes, cleaning out rooms. Organising supplies and teaching the occasional class of younglings in meditation techniques and saber theory.

Little by little. Peace was starting to wake up. While not truly alive in the way a planet was. There was some semblance of being to the massive station. One could not be so closely tied to the Force and not develop some kind of a mind of its own. And now, with the rekindled spark of so many Force sensitives living within it. The presence was starting to stir from such a long slumber.
So naturally. Aaran wanted to do his part. He had answered the call to come to Peace. He had spoken his part during the initial meeting of the various Jedi. And now he was putting his credits where he mouth was. Doing his part for the chance for a fully unified order to finally come to fruition.

It was only a few minutes after the Kiffar had settled himself in the lounge did Aaran wander his way in. The bulky Padawan strode his way into the room. Clad in a sleeveless black shirt, cargo pants and boots. He gave a lazy, two-fingered salute to Ryv. "Yo." He greeted, before making his way over to the refreshments table, grabbing a tall glass of Moof juice. Before settling down in one of the chairs nearby.

"So who else is coming?"

 

[Auteme]

So, a chance to keep exploring the station? Do some good work for the Jedi, all that neat stuff?

Sounds like... KNOWLEDGE.

Of course Auteme is on board! And, y'know, the whole bonding-with-friends thing... not like she did a little happy dance in her room after she got Ryv's message. Sure, it was a sort of task, but she took it as some more time to spend with others who were around her age. Well, mildly around her age -- Ryv had mentioned a few others would be around, and it wasn't like she'd met all the padawans aboard the Peace, much less among the Jedi overall.

Meeting new people was fun though. So of course Auteme arrived at the designated time, around noon -- not that she could tell what time it was from, say, looking at the sun -- and looked around a bit for Ryv. It didn't take too long to spot him; people were just beginning to come into the mess hall for lunch. She smiled across the room, then wandered on over, taking a seat beside the kiffar. "Hey Aaran," she said, smiling to the other padawan. She simply grinned at Ryv, plucking a slice of fruit from the bowl he'd gathered.

"So where's this new wing of the station? I could go talk to the Gatekeeper and see what I can find. This place is enormous, no wonder he hasn't even mentioned it." To be fair she hadn't asked much about the station itself -- she found the Zeffo to be much more interesting than any mechanical construct. Then again, this was a Holocron of sorts, meaning to an extent it was alive.

"Oh, yeah. And who else is coming?" She asked, nodding in agreement to Aaran's question.

Ryv Aaran Tafo Loske Treicolt Bernard of Arca

 

[Loske Treicolt]

"Me!" Loske sing-songed by way of introduction and made a well-timed sidle into the bench the rest had started to gather around. Her tray almost buckled under the weight of the goodies that adorned it. With all the physical training she'd started to pursue, what with this whole Ataru thing, she was a hungry, hungry girl. And being lunch time, meant it was time to get those calories.

Given her arrival time, she missed any of the questions other than the one about people that Auteme had asked.

Eagerly, she broke apart one of the butter rolls and pointed half of it in salutations to the folks she knew, namely Ryv and Aaran Tafo . With that out of the way, the other half of the roll waved in greetings.

"I'm Loske." And plopped that baked good right into her mouth before extending her now empty hand in a friendly shake request in the brunette girl's direction. New friend.

 

[Bernard]

Amongst the many earthen tones entering the mess hall the stark white of the Arkanian’s cloak stood out. The elaborately painted blue rim of the cloth alone bore more detail than the entirety of a Jedi’s plain robes, together with the intricately carved breastplate and vambraces, both glinting under Peace’s lighting, he appeared downright decadent by comparison. The way he strode into the room, filled with confidence, head held high, further separated him from those around him.

After several strides into the room, he came to a halt, scanning the faces around him slowly. It didn’t take long to spot the sole familiar one of a fellow representative of the Grayson Imperium’s Jedi Order. He’d seen the young Kiffar before, following the conclusion of an operation to neutralise an insurgent group on Anaxes. He never got to talk to the man, as he seemed too preoccupied in conversation with the Imperator Cedric himself that day and there had been little time to socialise after the mission had come to its conclusion. This would be the first time Bernard got to talk to others from his Order in earnest, having spent a majority of his time meditating on isolated worlds or off on missions on his own.

There were others he spotted sitting with the Kiffar. One face he recognised vaguely as familiar, the others drawing complete blanks. He began making his way towards them, striding towards them with determination. The appearance of a young Togruta before him stopped him in his tracks, however, just before he had reached the table. The youngling peered up at the Jedi, offering some fruit with a smile. Bernard’s face remained emotionless as he looked down to shake his head to decline, but the youngling simply raised himself onto his tip-toes to offer the fruit again.

“No.”

His voice was cold and carried a note of finality, a streak of annoyance entering into his features. Glancing back to the table of his fellow explorers he side-stepped the youngling, moving quickly towards the table to avoid any further interruption. The four were already conversing when he stopped beside the table without taking a seat.

“Bernard of Arca,” his tone was cordial enough, but devoid of any warmth still, “I am to report to a “Ryv”.”

His gaze was fixed on the Kiffar, but the name was drawn out ever so slightly, almost as though the Jedi was questioning whether he’d read the message he’d received correctly.

Ryv , Auteme , Loske Treicolt , Aaran Tafo

 

[Ryv]

Ryv was midway through popping a sliced strawberry into his mouth as Auteme and Aaran nearly snuck upon him. He went through with the action anyway and chewed on the sweet snack as silently as he could. Partially because he didn't want to interrupt the fledgling conversation, but also because his old man always told him it was rude to chew loudly. It wasn't surprising Auteme had more to say than Aaran, she was a scholar at heart which meant there were likely dozens of questions racing through her mind at any given moment. Ryv found it interesting given the only thing on his mind ninety nine percent of the time was napping, song lyrics, or his next meal.

"Well-" before he could respond to the two of them, Loske arrived and answered half of the question for him. His amber gaze snapped to his buttered roll almost immediately. He quietly shoved it into his mouth as she introduced herself. "Man, that's good stuff," he mumbled softly to himself before downing the tea and quenching his thirst. "Yeah, alright, so, we're only waiting on Bernard. He's with the Imperium like Loske and Found over here," he nodded to the fellow kiffar with a slight turn of his head. "He's a bit rough around the edges, but he's a good enough guy."

As if on queue, the arkanian strode up to the table with a purpose. Ryv met his icy gaze with a smile.

"I'm Ryv," he raised a hand and waved. "Take a seat, my dude. We can finally begin talking about what we're doing today," his hand slipped into his jacket pocket where he retrieved a personal holodevice. He set it down between them all and activated it. A holomap of the station's various facilities popped up before them. A gloved finger pointed at a darker part of the station. "A few quick things. One, the dark parts are unexplored. Two, we're going here," to accent the second point, his finger seemed to dance a bit in that same dark space. "This was the station's medical bay before its abandonment. Apparently, the security in this region of the ship was pretty strong for that reason. Wyatt did a thorough check already, said it was all deactivated. Our goal is to clear out the rooms, clean it up, and get everything taken to the younglings for sorting."

Ryv looked to the gathering with his usual big, goofy grin.

"Any questions?"

Aaran Tafo | Auteme | Bernard of Arca | Loske Treicolt​

 

[Auteme]

New friend!

Loske's friendliness was infectious, adding to Auteme's already social mood. Her grin simply widened as she took the blonde's hand and gave it a quick shake. "Nice to meet you, Loske! That's a really pretty name." For a really pretty girl. "I'm Auteme." It was good to meet more padawans. If these other ones were from the Imperium like Ryv, they had to be pretty cool, right?

She listened to the kiffar speak, laughing lightly at his joke. Still, it seemed like his description of Bernard was a little off -- when the white-haired young man approached the table, Auteme suddenly felt that the wave of friendliness she'd been riding wasn't quite enough to carry her through. That cold gaze... he was kind of like an angel, looking down on the 'imperfects' that had been gathered. She knew more than enough about Arkanians. Hopefully he didn't live up to his species' reputation of arrogance. Her smile faltered only for a moment, but once her face brightened again she gave a nod to Bernard. "Hi."

Instructions, right. This was a whole mission thing. Again she listened carefully. Ryv was completely right; Auteme already had a dozen questions bouncing around in her brain. She asked only one as she tried to figure the rest out herself. "So how are we going to map it? Is there a feature on your holodevice?"

Ryv Loske Treicolt Aaran Tafo Bernard of Arca

 

[Loske Treicolt]

Loske and found was a good one. She was a little jealous this was the first time she'd heard it. "Nice." She murmured, dousing the acknowledgement of the other kiffar's wordplay with a sip of water.

"Thank you," she replied to the compliment and gave a conclusive shake of Auteme 's hand. She'd never been complimented on her name before, it seemed like such a forward thing to acknowledge. It was something you carried with you all the time, and hearing that it was something attractive to someone's ears was bolstering. And Auteme was also far from cacophonous, but now she'd feel stupid mirroring the flattery. Well heck, if she was thinking it, she may as well up and say it with a wink at the end. "Yours is nice as well, soothing even. Good job to our parents." That made her stomach tighten reflexively, falsifying parenthood for the sake of attempted connections.

There wasn't time to dwell on poor introductions, however, because someone was coming with title-in-hand. A snow-haired individual who was making a purposeful introduction to Ryv and Ryv only. Loske'd briefly seen the flickers of his visage on Anaxes, but Bernard of Arca had been nothing more than a spectre at that point.

She ate the other half of her roll while the explanation of their adventure was laid out.

Bo-ring. Medical clean up? Ugh. She loathed medical facilities.

Still, Ryv's finger danced around a shadowed spot, so that meant there could be something interesting there. She reserved the questioning for the rest of the group, and focused on finishing her tray of goodies for the required nourishment to be useful...lifting and rearranging boxes.

To the side, she eyed Aaran Tafo 's orange milk-like drink. "What is that."

 

[Aaran Tafo]

Friends: Ryv Auteme Loske Treicolt
Potential Friend: Bernard of Arca

A small two fingered wave was given in greeting to the arrival of Loske and Auteme. He'd seen the scholar tottering around the station, poking and prodding at anything that caught her attention. But his only real interact with Loske was that one time they hunted terrorists in the Undercity of Coruscant.

You know, normal things that young adults got up to in their spare time.

"Moof juice." He said in response to Loske's question about his choice in beverage. It was pleasant enough. A strong flavour of citrus that lingered on the tongue. Judging from the taste, he was fairly certain it was something artificial and not organic fruit juice. But it was cold, tasty and not all that sugary. So he was not going to complain. It was enough to wet his throat. That's all he needed.

Unprompted, he reached up, grabbing a fresh glass of it from a nearby counter, passing it over to Loske. Before turning his attention back to Ryv.

"So. Cleaning out some rooms and carrying stuff around?" He gave a slight shrug at the mundane task. Not exactly the most exciting of jobs. But he could see why someone would assign a Padawan to it. Better to have the younglings learn responsibility through sorting out random stuff found. Plus, it saves valuable droids that can be used in the more inhospitible parts of the station.

It was then his gaze finally drifted over towards Bernard. Giving the older Padawan a nod in greeting. No point in being overbearingly friendly right off the bat towards someone that standoffish. Best to let things warm up a bit before proper introductions are made. "Aaran." He greeted, introducing himself before taking another sip of his drink.

 

[Ryv]

Ryv looked away from the map as the two women spoke, choosing to instead watch the brief interaction. One of his main priorities was guaranteeing good relations between the Imperium and the bustling station of Peace. His master had kept an air of mystique during the massive meeting weeks prior, leaving many aboard the artificial moon concerned with the Imperium's intent. Some looked harshly on the Jedi who belonged to his master's order, which wasn't entirely surprising when folks like Bernard and Ryv were a part of the team. Fortunately for the kiffar, Loske was much better with people than either of her companions and based on Auteme's thrill at meeting her, things were looking up.

Loske's mention of parents left Ryv momentarily confused. Through the psychometric connection the duo formed on their first mission together, he couldn't recall seeing anyone fitting a parental role in her life. Beyond that, the faint shift in her emotion following her words to Auteme helped Ryv piece it together somewhat. It was a can of worms that wasn't his to open.

Instead, Ryv shifted his attention to the new matter at hand, Aaran's drink and Loske's fascination in it. Ryv couldn't say he wasn't curious about it himself, so he listened intently to his fellow padawan's two-word answer and stared at the second cup as it hit the table. Reflexively, Ryv took a swig of his tea before setting it down to answer Aaran.

"Yeah man, the usual work around here. Clean, carry, repeat. A vicious cycle that makes the rise and fall of the sith look like a children's game," Ryv pushed himself to his feet and stretched. His hands reached skyward as he bent his back at the hips. A yawn followed suit as he collected the holodevice from the table and slid it back into his jacket. "As for mapping, my holodevice can't, nah. Wyatt is lending us one of the exploration droids he has around here. A BD unit is waiting for us at the entrance to the wing we'll be heading to," he lifted the drink to his lips once more and downed the rest of it before turning from the table. "I think we should start making our way there. He's expecting this done before dinner."

With that, Ryv made his way out of the mess hall through the northern corridor. His hands slid into his jacket pockets as he kept a real casual pace during the trip to the former medical wing. He didn't stop to make sure the others were following given they just had a chance to see the map. The trip was a few short minutes with a couple turns along the way. Real easy stuff for such a talented group. As he arrived, the small BD unit chirped happily and bounced up and down before gently headbutting the kiffar's leg.

"Yeah, I know, it's always cool to see people," Ryv knelt to pat the droids head a few times. "Few other folks will be here soon, so dance and chirp to your heart's content."

Aaran Tafo | Auteme | Bernard of Arca | Loske Treicolt​

 

[Bernard]

Bernard ignored the Kiffar’s suggestion. He remained as he was, though he crossed his arms in front of his chest plate, as Ryv began fiddling with his jacket to retrieve something. He briefly glanced towards the younger Jedi who addressed him with a greeting, nodding once as a concise acknowledgement. His gaze returned to the Kiffar as he produced a holodevice and set it on the table. The flickering of a holomap followed the finger’s tap of the device.

During the Kiffar’s explanation, he made a note of the casual use of Master Morga’s first name. Though he didn’t have much else to deduce from that alone, in combination with the man’s measure of informality he concluded that it was less of a lack of respect for the man and more just a manner of speech.

Mentions of the medical wing’s security brought up concerns of safety for their group as they would go about the process of carrying crates. He’d heard of ancient security measures that were more than a match for experienced masters of the Force. If the ancient Zeffo had set security measures worthy of special note in the medical wing, then there was room to worry for their group. Though the Arkanian trusted Master Morga’s assessment, his own paranoia continued to nag at the edge of his thoughts as the briefing continued.

Though this kind of routine drudgery wasn’t what he had trained for, their mission seemed to have the endorsement of one of the wisest Jedi Masters Bernard knew. Wasting several hours carrying crates back and forth would at least allow him to further familiarise himself with passive Jedi meditation techniques. The pirates of the Bogden system would have their stay extended by one day, it seemed. He remained still and staring at the map as the other Jedi around him socialised.

Eventually, he was broken out of the thought by the realisation that one of the others had shifted their gaze towards him. Once again, the Arkanian nodded briefly in acknowledgement, mirroring Aaran’s gesture. It never occurred to the Arkanian to introduce himself to the others. He’d never had group assignments before. Life at the Arkanian temple had been solitary and the years following the fall of the Republic presented nearly no opportunities to properly associated with other Jedi, most of it he’d spent hunting criminals or solving small-time crime on various Outer Rim planets. It was only recently, after encountering Master Morga and the Grayson Imperium, that he had pledged himself to a greater whole.

His white eyes were transfixed on the table. He’d sunken deep into contemplation, spurred on by the sudden overwhelming prospect of having to work in a team with other Jedi. Several considerations flew across his mind in quick succession, though they were quickly dismissed as his thoughts turned to the matter of how to actually integrate the efforts of his fellow Padawan into his own methods. During missions, the expectation was that he had to prepare for every possible circumstance on his own. From securing additional intel and assembling any equipment to managing his own resources, all these duties had fallen squarely onto his own shoulders. Now that the others entered into those calculations, he had too many variables to deal with to properly come to any definitive conclusion about the partition of tasks.

Once more his concentration was broken, this time by the sudden movements of Ryv who had begun to make his way towards the mess hall’s exit. Though several questions lingered on the Arkanian’s mind, he didn’t wish to interrupt the Kiffar, expecting that his departure was somehow specific to a mission-detail only the man knew about, as it didn’t seem like he expected any of the others to follow him directly. Nodding once, more to himself than anyone else he too made off, but towards the mess hall’s many buffets. He imagined preparations might as well begin now, he’d join up with the others later.

Ryv , Auteme , Loske Treicolt , Aaran Tafo

 

[Loske Treicolt]

"Oh, thanks!" She was surprised and delighted to receive the alleged moof juice. Despite Aaran Tafo 's praise of the beverage, she still have it a sniff. Didn't smell like anything. She sipped it while the larger Padawan paraphrased the mission and Ryv in turn confirmed it - though her gaze was on Bernard of Arca. He seemed distant. And silent.

The pungent mandarin flavour announced itself, and she clicked her tongue and the surprising amount of bite, with a mock cheers in the direction of Aaran by way of agreeing with his recommendation.

There was relief to the suggestion they'd be done by dinner-time. Peace didn't have it's own sun, but it would be fair to assume that was only a few hours away, rather than more than one rotation. Through the back-and-forth conversation, she'd managed to plow through a majority of her lunch and happily rose when it was time to go, quickly ushering up any of her mess to her tray and depositing it to a basin that beckoned attention on their way out. "Oop, we lost one already." She smirked, casting a wayward glance to the stoic chevalier who departed from the group and elbowing Auteme to get her to agree. "Byee Bernard of Arca."

Then there was walking through the ancient hallways, which was enough of a marvel. There were twists of pillars and beams, suspended in a balance of necessity and ornate brilliance.

The BD unit was cute, and Loske looked partly wistful at it's excitement to see Ryv . Frank didn't have such a pleasant attitude built into his system. "Ah, Frank's going to be bummed I didn't invite him." She shrugged, ruminating outloud.

 

[Aaran Tafo]

Friends: Ryv Auteme Loske Treicolt
Lost Friend: Bernard of Arca

Downing the rest of his drink, the Padawan handed the drained glass off to a nearby Youngling for cleaning, before hopping up off the couch he had been draped across. "No sense in sitting around then." Springing to his feet, he tucked his hadns into his pockets, beginning to make his way after the pair of Kiffar Padawans. A spring in his step, leading to the comical sight of the massive young man bouncing down the halls of the normally solemn station.

"I need to get a droid buddy." Aaran mused, a touch of wistfulness in his voice as he watched the tiny BD unit chime, chirp and beep as it rolled around, eager to meet the newcomers so the work could begin."Just to have someone to talk to during flights and keep an eye on the ship."" A small smile on his face as he gave the droid a small wave.

Cracking his neck and looking around, Aaran began to flex his fingers, drumming them against his thigh. "So. BD buddy. What's the situation? How much stuff we gotta carry?"

 

[Auteme]

"Haha, yeah." Auteme mirrored the other girl's feigning of something she didn't truly have. She could sense something was off -- perhaps that Loske was lying -- but she didn't mention it. After all, if she was, she wouldn't notice Auteme was as well. Her parents hadn't exactly been involved in their daughter's naming process. Mentioning them was a whole can of worms she didn't want to open in front of people she was just meeting.

She pushed those thoughts aside and focused on the task at hand. They were going to this particular wing of the station, to clean it out, move some boxes and whatnot. Auteme wasn't very good at manual labor, but she was sure they'd encounter something that might need her knowledge and expertise... if she was being honest she didn't really want to spend an afternoon moving stuff. Unless that stuff was books. She'd spend days doing that, if needed. This just seemed less important.

Still, she agreed she'd help, so that was what she was going to do. Once Ryv got up, Auteme followed along, walking casually alongside Loske. It was only when she mentioned it that Auteme noticed Bernard wasn't with the rest of the group. The padawan paused for a moment, before stopping. "I'll go grab him, make sure everything's okay," she said to Loske, before heading back down the hall to the mess.

Auteme didn't want anyone to feel left out of the group, and Bernard had been rather distant since she'd met him. Hopefully she could make him feel more comfortable... though part of her warned against approaching the rather distant young man. Still, she had to try.

The padawan approached the Arkanian, introducing herself softly. Didn't want to startle him. "Bernard? Hey, I'm Auteme." She gave a friendly smile. "It's nice to meet you. What brought you to Peace? I haven't seen any other Arkanians here, honestly."

Bernard of Arca Ryv Loske Treicolt Aaran Tafo

 

[Bernard]

By the time Auteme reached Bernard, he had stacked two trays with a wide assortment of edible roots, leaves, and other plant matter; he was already on his way to gather paper towels when the voice of the other Padawan reached him. It only occurred to him now that he’d never caught her name. A mistake, he’d been too absorbed in consideration of their mission parameters to learn the identity of his teammate. He made a mental note that adjustments to an approach of these briefings would have to be considered after their tasks were concluded.

“Master Morga did.” He answered without turning to the other. He began to wrap the food into five bundles, pausing his response to concentrate better on a correct distribution.

“The probability of you having seen another one of my species approaches certainty. They were unlikely to share the same degree of genetic purity, however.” He lifted his hand for a brief moment to draw attention to his four clawed fingers. “This kind of Arkanian is not common amongst the greater galactic population, let alone the Jedi’s.” He seemed distracted as he spoke, his tone as dry as a Jedi archivist’s lectures.

Once each bundle was thoroughly closed and secured with proper knots, he unclasped the buckles that held his cape in place, catching it with a quick movement as it fell. He set the cloth onto a table and placed the bundles into its centre. As he began wrapping the cape he glanced sideways, his nigh pure-white eyes fixed on the other Padawan for a moment before returning to the task at hand. He figured she’d have questions about what he was doing.

“Rations. The time frame of our mission was left unspecified. ‘Before dinner’ defines a wide interval. Physical labour is exhausting, thus the sustenance to recoup in case of failing strength.”

He tied the cape with an elegant bow, picking it up as he began to move towards the mess hall’s exit. After several steps, he paused to look back and make sure the other Padawan was following him.

The sounds of a droid’s mechanic chirping echoing down the hallway were the first indication that they had reached their fellow Padawans who seemed to already be engaged in further conversation unrelated to the mission. Bernard had little mind for it, but he was neither in any rush nor did he judge them for their lack of focus. Carrying crates wasn't exactly taking down a fleet of pirates.

With the bundle in his hand and down one cape he rounded the corner of the hallway coming to a stop next to the others already assembled, nodding to greet the group. His gaze settled on Ryv. As the man whom Master Morga had entrusted this mission, Bernard expected him to hold the authority to commence their assignment.

Loske Treicolt Ryv Aaran Tafo Auteme

 

[Ryv]

Ryv flipped open a terminal beside the door and tapped in the four-digit code assigned to the room. In response, the door slid open as the BD unit danced up to Loske as she stopped behind him. The droid chirped up at her as it bounced up and down before running a full circle around her legs. It appeared ready to scurry up her side, though right before the little droid could begin Aaran approached a few seconds later. The droid bounced even quicker on its metallic feet before it began the mad dash up Aaran's frame. BD-8 rested comfortably on the tallest of the trio, beeping its excitement at how much it could see from so high up. Ryv couldn't contain his laughter at the spectacle.

"That's great, the little dude likes you guys," Ryv looked past the other two as Bernard and Auteme finally caught up. "Gangs all here, great! Lemme show you around," he turned and stepped into the room. As the others followed suit, he motioned to the far wall opposite the entry. There were forty or so boxes of various sizes, all containing relics and other priceless artifacts the group of padawan was expected to inspect and transport to the growing archives. "We've got a few tables already set up, few chairs as well if you get tired or something," Ryv set down his bag by the door and crossed the room. He lifted a box and set it down at one table. He cracked open the lid and carefully inspected the contents. There were a few dusty datacrons, some musty scriptures, and a dented cup. "Ta-da, one down, forty-something more to go!"

It was carried to the opposite side of the room and set down before he walked over to the group.

"It's not anything special, but we gotta get it done. Peace won't be ready for the others if we don't get this taken care of," Ryv took another of the boxes and set it down. He investigated it, all the same, seeming unbothered by the menial labor. The BD unit chirped from its perch on Aaran's shoulder before dropping down to begin scanning the sorted box off to the side. Once finished, it raced over to Ryv and scanned what he was in the middle of searching. "Oh yeah, BD is gonna get a scan of as much as possible to make the youngling's jobs a bit easier!"

Aaran Tafo | Auteme | Bernard of Arca | Loske Treicolt​

 

[Aaran Tafo]

Bernard of Arca Ryv Auteme Loske Treicolt

He let out a small bark of surprise as the small droid decided that the best course of action for it was to clamber up the larger Padawan's leg. Instead of moving or shifting about, his entire body tensed, freezing up at the unexpecting contact. Standing, stock still, his arms out slightly, frozen in place. Acting as if it were some large insect crawling up his back, and not an adorable droid simply trying to take advantage of his superior height to help with its scanning.

"Help." He mouthed to the others. Hoping that they would either retrieve the droid from his shoulder. It wasnt that the Padawan had anything major against the droid. Just, the simple fact that the contact was not initiated by him and came from a stranger was enough to make the Padawan freeze for a moment. Instinctive fight or flight reflexes kicking up. His body not sure if it should try roll out of the way, or simply grab the droid and throw it off him.

But, eventually common sense prevailed. It was simply a harmless and playful BD unit. Not a threat, not something he needed to react to. Slowly, his muscles relaxed as the BD unit departed to go do its scanning duties, the larger Padawan cleaning his throat. Looking side to side at the others before proceeding to grab some boxes himself. Coughing slightly at the cloud of dust that erupted when he picked one up.

"So who left this stuff here anyway? I thought this used to be an old Zeffo station before Master Morga found it. We've only been here a month tops. Way too much dust for it to be one of us." His eyes drifitng over to Auteme, hoping the resident scholar would be able to answer his questions.

 

[Auteme]

It seemed like Auteme had massively misread the young Arkanian. His initial icy tone and exterior kept up, but through that she could see that tiny glimmer of kindness and compassion. Perhaps he had difficulty expressing such traits with his words. It wouldn’t be uncommon, particularly for a person of the young, male, Arkanian variety. She’d let his actions represent his true intentions. Honestly, it hadn’t even occurred to her to pack food for the group. She probably shouldn’t have been so surprised by his thoughtfulness — it might as well be a requirement to be a good Jedi.

Bernard spoke, seemingly already having thought of all her responses, so Auteme wasn’t able to actually get a word in until the end. She followed along with the white-haired man. “That’s very thoughtful of you,” she said, giving a kind smile. She walked beside him silently the rest of the way to the medical bay, somewhat assuming he preferred the quiet to awkward conversation. They could get to know each other while lugging around boxes.

Which brought them to the soon-to-be medical bay. A whole bunch of boxes, a few padawans, and… honestly, there was no way this was the entire place. One room, with barely any medical equipment around. To be fair, this did lend to the idea that the Zeffo were extremely reliant on the Force, likely meaning they left the medical profession to those who could heal with the Force. It’d certainly cut medical costs. Still, for such a big station there had to be more than one medical bay, and if there wasn’t the one medical bay would have to be rather large.

Enough asking questions — she could answer Aaran’s, as best she could. “Well, I’m pretty sure the station is actually incomplete. It’s possible that people were moving in. Coupled with what we know about the collapse of the Zeffo civilization, my guess is that everyone here was recalled back to their home planet when things started going south. With urgency, maybe, which would mean they wouldn’t take everything with them, particularly a few unnecessary medical bits and bobs.” She wandered over to the box Ryv opened, picking up one of the old datacrons. It probably didn’t have anything the Gatekeeper couldn’t tell her, but it was always good to have a static reference on hand for later. She pocketed it and looked around the room.

There had to be something else around here. Surely the Zeffo station held more secrets — uncovering them was much more fun than lifting boxes. The teenager wandered off to one side of the room, tracing the wall with her fingers. She pushed aside a few boxes and found a quaint little doorway; dust swirled out of the dark cut of the wall. Had Master Morga gone in here? Surely he’d have noticed this little hole in the wall. It had to be safe, then. The padawan tentatively walked inside, her eyes adjusting to the darkness to finally see...

Something that’d probably ruin her day.

Ryv Loske Treicolt Bernard of Arca Aaran Tafo

 

[Loske Treicolt]

Pure glee radiated from Loske as the droid introduced itself excitedly to the would-be kiffar girl, dancing about her kessel-run length legs with the intent to scale before getting distracted "Ah, ha!" -- the little ball of circuits seemed content to spread it's salutations to whomever it crossed. She folded her arms as a definitive stance to let the droid and scared-stiff brawny fellow play out their interaction. When the droid rolled away, she gave a short nod of amusement at Aaran Tafo 's expense.

She touched at a box to provide assistance, and recoiled at the collection of dust that stuck to her skin, grimacing in tandem. Yuck.

The dialogue between the scholar and brute wasn't lost in the space with such good audio. "I wonder what made them abandon the station, doesn't it...move?" Crouching and wedging some fingers under a large crate, she attempted to lift with her knees and gave a grunt. Defeat met her eagerly. She tried again, clenching her teeth and scraping her heels at the floor.

Skipping leg day was a mistake.

"Erg, Bernard, can I have a hand over here?"

Bernard of Arca / Auteme / Ryv

 

[Bernard]

The amount of dust inside the medbay unsettled the young arkanian. The dirty alleyways behind dingy cantinas did not quite compare. Certainly, they didn’t lack their variety of filth, but on average they had been cleaned sometime in the last century; this was not the case for the Zeffo’s ancient space station.

Fortunately, just around the corner of the main entrance, he found a small supply cabinet. Within it were several more crates that would no doubt have to be catalogued, along with various tools and smaller containers. The thick layer of dust muted any brazen shine these ancient relics may have once held. He brought his elbow up to protect himself from inhaling the dust as he brushed it away from one appliance which leaned idly against the wall near the entrance. Even with its intricate carvings and unfamiliar design, he recognized the tech as a repulsorbroom. Some things transcended the barriers of time.

After a few moments within the supply cabinet, the arkanian emerged again, sweeping a mound of dust beyond the doorway, the room behind him having taken on a semblance of cleanliness. Strapped to his utility belt, next to his lightsabre, was a smaller hand-held device very similar in function to the repulsorbroom. A white handkerchief was tied to his face, covering his nose and mouth. His otherwise spotless trousers and tunic had already taken on several dark smudges; the fingers of his gloves appeared more grey than white.

A sound of relief slipped past his guard, spurred on by mild vexation, as he set aside the broom. With most of the dust gone the cataloguing process could begin in earnest. He set one foot in the door when he heard his name being called by one of the other padawan. For a moment he was torn between the request for his assistance and the task he’d meticulously prepared. Deviation from procedure was, for the most part, an occurrence when parts of his plans had catastrophically failed and improvisation was in order. Had their mission encountered such difficulties this early?

Concern brought the arkanian to where Loske was attempting to lift a particularly large crate, dust still covered it and the area around them. The corner of his eye twitched ever so slightly, but his expression remained otherwise impassive. As he approached he unclasped the handheld broom and swept away the surface of dust covering the crate with three swift and precise movements away from the other padawan, taking care not to bring the dust on either of them. Slightly more satisfied with the state of their shared burden, he took his place opposite her, waiting for her signal to begin lifting.

Ryv Loske Treicolt Auteme Aaran Tafo