Shipwreck!

[Kaia Starchaser]

She was kind of surprised that they let her use one of the Forerunner ships. She was still a cadet at the Academy and really only a Padawan as far as the Force was concerned. Sure, she sent data back to the Frontiers Corp pretty often, but that was all a matter of decency. The future Redemption of the Starchaser Clan was just doing her duty. If she was out in some far off end of the Rim? She’d send what data her ship had received and processed.

Simple enough, right?

But her and [member="Setzi Lunelle"] were both fairly new to the Levantines and the Frontiers Corp, well at least Kaia was. She wasn’t quite sure where Setzi’s focus was going to be yet. She did get a bit of an excited vibe from the other one though, and that was nice.

“So, that was the first… and probably last time I’ll eat ---“ And the ship got pulled from hyperspace with a jolt. The dyed-haired pale Starchaser did spill her drink on the table and quickly got to her feet. Part of the Warden of the Sky training was that any ship where you were crewing, you were a guest on, and you did your best to earn your keep.

She made her way over to one of the monitors that gave the ship’s status and awaiting Captain William’s call. It seemed there was a gravity anomaly out there. “That’s odd...” Kaia said, looking over to Setzi. She wasn’t sure how well the girl was with being shipboard, for Kaia? It was second nature.

“Captain, anything we can do?” She asked over her comlink after giving the crew a few moments and looking over the data read out.

“I dunno, Starchaser. We’ve got what looks like a derelict still giving off a gravity well. Been trying to hail her as soon as we hit the well. No response. We’re basically right on top of them, surprised we didn’t hit them.”

Kaia looked at Setzi again for a moment. “Want us to go check it out?” She asked, the tattooed girl was feeling a bit overzealous with the recent creation of her own lightsaber. She could take on the world.

Plus, space. Space was home.

“Can’t hurt, you and Lunelle good for a space walk?”

“I am!” She grinned, looking at her partner. “Are you?” She said, getting off the comlink.

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

No matter how many times she travel through hyperspace, Setzi would feel a lingering nausea for a few minutes after. Resisting the urge to hurl in a nearby trash depository, she kept a bottle of carbonated water close just for the occasion. Did this feeling ever go away? She supposed with more space travel under her belt, it would eventually.

The Forerunner-Class ship lunged back into a stationary position and then moved along at a slow crawl through space. Setzi was with a new friend from the Levantines and Frontier Corps named Kaia Starchaser. She watched as the fellow padawan cleaned up her own drink which had spilled during the hyperspace jolt.

Kaia was much more familiar with piloting and well, space in general. Setzi had grown up on a farm. If you asked her about the moisture in soil and how much to feed a juvenile nuna, she would be able to tell you. But space, stars, asteroids, gravity, thrusters, all of that other stuff... well, the padawan had no idea about any of it.

"A gravity anomaly," she said to her new friend. "Is that good or bad?"

The other girl was suddenly filled with bravado which was infectious. Likewise Setzi too, could be competitive. Even though a space walk sounded terribly frightening, she chuckled once at the other brunette.

"Of course," she said with a challenging grin. "I'm ready for anything."

[member="Kaia Starchaser"]

 

[Kaia Starchaser]

She looked to the other girl and shrugged. Kaia knew that it was just part of the directive, they needed to clear the space lane, and with her being a Warden in the Sky in training, that was like… what she did for ninety five percent of her flights. Go out, see who needed help, give them help, make sure everything was good and keep flying. The Levantine Frontiers Corp was a great thing for her to be a part of. Sure, her own vessel was back at her temporary home of Oswaft Station, she wanted to put it on the Dawn Treader but her trip wasn’t nearly over yet. But she knew she wanted to do whatever her father was doing. As much as she was not happy with him, he was doing good work. Granted she was not going to be running around pissing in the Sith’s cereal bowls. She just wanted to help people.

It was the nice thing to do.

She wasn’t going to go chasing down criminals who were resisting arrest. That wasn’t her, but she could help people get out of jams, and deal with Pirates (Avast!).

She ran her hand through her thick hair. “Its not really bad or good. It just… is. I mean, the derelict out there, that might be a bit of worry, but I’m sure we’ll be fine.” It wasn’t like she was feeling anything too crazy from it. “We just have to go over there, turn off the gravity generator, and see if there is anything useful, or exciting on the ship, come back and we’ll be on our way!”

This was exciting, the kind of stuff Kaia loved to do, really.

“Have you done a spacewalk yet?” She quirked up and eyebrow. She nodded towards the hall, they had to get suited up and ready to disembark. And Kaia wanted to grab a few stun-pistols, just for safety sake.

[member="Setzi Lunelle"]

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

At Kaia’s reassuring words, Setzi felt immediately less anxious. She rose now as the other padawan moved her head towards a room where they would get changed to go out and turn off the gravity generator. But what ever could be useful or exciting on the ship... well, Setzi could only guess. A bit of space debris, perhaps? An old satellite?

“I haven’t,” she answered truthfully. Sure she had seen spacewalkers on holoshows and occasionally on shuttles on which she rode. She imagined it involved an Enviro-suit and a few precautionary supplies. The other girl was so nonchalant about getting out there, on the outside of the ship… well, what could really go wrong? Setzi already admitted she hadn’t been out on a spacewalk before so hopefully Kaia would go easy on her and show her the ropes.

She went into the hall and found a private area with lockers were the Class D spacesuits were. She pulled out the suit and was surprised at how light it seemed based on how bulky and protective it appeared.

[member="Kaia Starchaser"]

 

[Kaia Starchaser]

Kaia was born space-side. Meant the girl really know what she was doing when it came to anything in the void. She wasn’t too worried, besides, you didn’t die right away when you were exposed, do it right and you had a few minutes. If you could splice mynock life into you, then you’d be even better off. Silicon based life and all. There were always forms of salvage and that was what made it so exciting.
Or a new hyperspace lane.

Or a map.

Or… Force treasures.

Or a pirate ghost captain!

There were a few suits, but the ship here? They had more advanced materials, small suits, a rebreather, at least an hour, maybe two of air, then they’d have to get back on board. “There’s really nothing to it. Just get in, I’ll make sure you’ve got your seal good, we’ll tack off here with the cable, hop on over. Shut it off, explore a bit, hurry on back, be outta here before you’re even hungry.” Kaia nodded.

Simple.

Unless the writer was going to fill it with Sith zombies and mynocks and all matter of things that Kaia would probably need her lightsaber for. But she had her Cross Tech System on the outside of her suit, one of her own, brought over from the Star equipped with extra cable, three lights and some power packs for her stun pistol. “Just make sure you’ve got a stun pistol, do you have a lighsaber?” Did she ask that? The young Jedi was excited, she had her own already! That was cool, thanks to that Khaleel man. He was pretty intense, but he helped her out.

[member="Setzi Lunelle"]

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

Setzi nodded and stripped down to a white cotton tank top and bikini briefs, tossing her clothing into a locker. She glanced over at the other girl as Kaia presumably was also climbing into her gear. Then she stepped into the environ-suit, pulling it on one leg at a time. After her arms were also in, she sidled over to Kaia, turned around so her exposed back faced the other padawan and said, "Zip me up?" She pulled her hair to the side so the other brunette could fasten the zipper in the back. And also check the seals for leaks.

As she waited to be encased in the protective suit, she said, "I have a lightsaber, but I'll use one of those stun pistols in the locker over there."

She wondered why they would have to use a lightsaber in an unpressurized environment, in the middle of deep space, on the outside of a ship, but no matter. Hopefully, Kaia's writer was kind of joking about those Sith Space Zombies and mynocks.

"It sounds like you've done this a lot, Kaia. I'm glad to be going with you for my first time."

[member="Kaia Starchaser"]

 

[Kaia Starchaser]

The youngest Starchaser wasn’t bothered by being seen without her typical clothes on. Underthings were still clothes and sometimes, that was what you had and you made due for a few days. When Setzi started to take her clothes off, Kaia followed suit. She went right down to her underthings before slipping into a neoprene skinsuit that would go under her vac suit. Simple really. Then the environment suit, and her cross-tech. Second nature for the tattooed Padawan, she stepped over to Setzi and helped her with the zipper

“Suit looks good. You feel alright?” She nodded, had to make sure your team was ready before you did anything.

The dark haired girl grabbed one of the stun guns and handed it over, fastening another to her Tech System. She fixed her special Covenant shelled silvery-blue lightsaber to her belt and nodded, more to herself than anything else. She was a Jedi. She was a salvaging Jedi.

“A bunch of times! We used to take turns walking around the outside our ho—the Dawn Treader. Have to learn some how.” And she got to learn her ship that way. Grabbing the helmet, she made her way to the air lock. “Ready?” She said, putting her helmet on and securing it with a small hiss as it equalized.

[member="Setzi Lunelle"]

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

Kaia was certainly a pro with her gear and the neoprene skinsuit looked much more comfortable than what Setzi was wearing underneath the enviro-suit. But it was too late to get in and out of the bulky attire now. The air pressure ws triple-checked and seals inspected for tears. “Yes, I feel pretty good,” she answered, pulling the helmet onto her head, which she quickly fastened as well. She was nervous but it would be hard to see any emotion on her face behind the thick spacesuit and helmet.

“Should we test out our commlinks?” she said, her voice a little muffled. Kaia handed her a stun gun, and it still boggled her mind that they would need a gun out there in space for anything. The fellow padawan watched where Kaia placed her lightsaber and she did the same.

“I’m ready,” Setzi said smiling at the other girl. Like she said, gotta learn somehow.

[member="Kaia Starchaser"]

 

[Kaia Starchaser]

Kaia had lived this life since she was born. Being a pilot, working on ships, doing her thing. She was used to wearing things that kind of hugged her slim figure and kept it so nothing would get snagged when she was crawling through vents on the way around the Dawn Treader and any number of freighters and frigates that were supporting the larger vessel. It was a bit of learning for her.

She smiled at Setzi and nodded. “Can ya hear me?” She tipped her head and looked at Setzi once more. Just to make sure. She wanted to make sure the other was focused, and then everything would be fine. Keeping a cool head? That was what it was about.

Kaia nodded once and then contacted the ship. “We’re ready to step outside. Keep her steady, Cap. Tying off and stepping out.” She bit her lip. Exciting is what this was. Swapping back to talk locally, she looked at Setzi. “I’ll go first and secure the line, you follow.” She nodded and moved to open the air lock. With a hiss, the air that wasn’t sucked out by the ship was not whipped out into space. Kaia took her hands on the edge of the frame and pushed, floating over to the derelict’s airlock, working to open it. Right.

Three… two… one… explosion… And the door popped open.

Normal.

[member="Setzi Lunelle"]

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

“Roger that,” Setzi said into her commlink. To further show she could hear the fellow padawan, she gave her the thumbs up sign with her bulky gloves on. Kaia was so proficient at this that instead of being fearful, she started to relax. Nothing could go wrong with such an experienced guide, right?

She nodded when Kaia said she was going to go first and tie the line. Setzi assumed the line was what they would hold onto when on the outside of the ship. “Will we be tethered to the line?” she asked. By the maker, she hoped so. "Because what if one of us slips off of the side?"

When the outer door popped open, the brunette padawan realized that there was no turning back now. She looked down making sure her saber and her stun gun were securely fastened as losing them in zero gravity would be regrettable to say the least.

[member="Kaia Starchaser"]

 

[Kaia Starchaser]

Kaia nodded and smiled. Giving a quick O-K sign with her right hand she nodded. They’d be fine. Setzi could do this. And if not? Well, Kaia would carry her back and finish the operation solo. She wasn’t too nervous, but of course she wasn’t reaching out with the Force right now. She hardly did. It was… not cheating per se, but it was something. Took away the fun?

“This line will tether to the ship. Kind of. Like… we’ll be able to use it, so long as the captain doesn’t pull away too fast or hard. More a guide line. Once we’re inside, we’ll tie off and use that to find our way back.” She wasn’t familiar with the derelict, so even Kaia wasn’t going to navigate its halls well on her own. Better safe than sorry.

She stepped inside of the derelict and soldered the anchor to the wall, from there, it was just getting Setzi on board and then a bit of an adventure. She turned and hit her comlink. “Whenever you’re ready.” No use in rushing her.

[member="Setzi Lunelle"]

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

“I’m ready,” she answered.

Well here goes nothing, thought Setzi, also stepping inside the derelict. She did feel some kind of Force presence, but it was difficult to identify exactly what it was.

“What do we do if we find signs of life? Call a rescue team and take them to the medbay?” she asked.

The padawan wondered... if there were no signs of life what would happen to this wayward ship? If disreputable scavengers had come along, most certainly this ship would be stripped of valuables and usable parts. If pirates... any survivors may be killed or captured along with goods to pillage.

Either way, if a ship became derelict, especially in the edges of Wild Space… well, what a horrible way to die she thought. Unlike Kaia, Setzi wasn’t sure she would be this comfortable in space all the time. So much could go wrong. But the fellow brunette padawan appeared confident and brave as she led them along.

[member="Kaia Starchaser"]

 

[Kaia Starchaser]

The Starchaser never worried herself with the Force. She just… she used it, sure, but she kind of avoided it. Her father and mother had left this huge… hole with her when she was younger and the Force always felt scary? Dark? Alone. Definitely lonely. Jared and Lia, for all they were great to her and tried to make it a bit easier just… didn’t quite fill it out for her. Then her parents came back into the Force and her mother was ripped from it. See? This was… it was weird for Kaia.

“If we find people, we try to stabilize them, and yeah, call the ship. They’ll send people to come pick them up.” She opened the main hatch to get into the vessel. “Just keep your own suit on. The… ship is weird.” And she knew that the main halls were depressurized, no atmosphere, but there were ray shields. “There are shields in here… might be survivors. But first, we wanna make sure we turn that gravity well off. Primary focus.” She nodded.

Sometimes Kaia could get cold.

It was what needed to be done. She was a Warden, but she was also watching her own ship and crew. This? She didn’t expect much. “I’m getting an energy reading ahead… I think we’re heading to the bow.” She licked at her lip. “Watch your step.” Still, she wasn’t using the Force. Well, not to any extent, only to reach out to [member="Setzi Lunelle"].

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

Setzi was too distracted by the newness of this experience to even think of using the Force to assist her out here. When she worked with the AgriCorps, it was different and occasionally she wondered if she shouldn’t just specialize in those Force skills – like consitor sato - which would make her able to aid farmers, instead of her current Jedi path.

But space? That was just too unknown for her to even think about in juxtaposition to what she was being taught by Walker.

“Oh my suit isn’t going anywhere,” she laughed. In fact, even though everything was checked and checked again, she still fretted about holes and leaks in the environ suit.

But to save someone out here? She sure hoped Kaia was right, and that they would be able to do that. Although it sounded a little like the fellow padawan wasn’t hopeful on the subject of survivors. She moved carefully along and followed Kaia’s every move as the other girl went towards the energy reading.

[member="Kaia Starchaser"]

 

[Kaia Starchaser]

Kaia never thought about how the Force was going to affect her gig with the Frontiers Corps. She really didn’t think about the Force. Sure, there was a bit of predictive fighting, and a bit of Force Valor, and she knew she wanted to see what else she could learn. But beyond a generous helping of instinctive astrogation? She didn’t need much from the Force to help her be the best pilot she could. Her father was the explorer, but being able to cut off some bit of the trip and catch the bad guys?

That would be useful.

Or find a new way to deliver supplies. Maybe she could make wormholes. That’d be neat!

But as for the suit? She didn’t think to bring any extra air, but the ship, she was spinning all sorts of weird, and with life support on the fritz? She wasn’t expecting anything alive. Oh, how wrong was Kaia going to be now that her writer was thinking about messing with her life.

A little. Right now Coren’s was upside down.

“Watch your step. She won’t drift worse because we’re moving on her, but…” She shrugged.

And that was when the sound hit. The alternative Jedi grabbed a glow rod from her belt. She looked over at [member="Setzi Lunelle"]. Taking the lead, she went down the hall towards the sounds. Fortunately, it wasn’t going to be a xenomorph. Kaia, a bit fearless and reckless, equal parts, maybe, started walking without making a sound towards Setzi, just checking to make sure she wasn’t eaten fine.

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

"Wh... what was that noise?" Setzi asked worriedly. She took a couple of rapid, shallow breaths from the oxygen pack in the suit, but still felt a little like she was going to hyperventilate with fear. The fellow padawan was pretty brave respectively. She had fought Sith Knights, had dived into deep ocean depths, had infiltrated a Sith archeological site to eliminate raiders, but this space walking stuff?

It terrified her.

You are having a panic attack, she thought. Stay calm. It's probably nothing, Setzi.

She watched Kaia ignite the glow rod and move off into the darkness. She got the urge to tell her not to go forward and grabbed at the tether for support. The padawan would see her light and then reassuringly the form of Kaia come back, looking fairly relaxed still.

"Was there anything ahead of us?" Setzi asked.

[member="Kaia Starchaser"]

 

[Kaia Starchaser]

See? This was fine. Setzi had not been eaten yet. That meant that Kaia was doing her job. Her father would be proud. Not that she was looking for his acceptance.

Shut up!

She wasn’t.

Sort of.

But it did mean she was not getting any people under her command. Or like… guidance. She didn’t hold a military rank, and really, the girl was just a Padawan. An adorable little padawan who ran away from lizards and helped transport stuff for the Underground. Simple, right?

Of course it was.

“I don’t know.” She bit her lip, not that Setzi could see. “We have to turn the gravity well off, but I’m still not sure if straight is the best way.” Some ships had the whole central meeting area and went round-about to get to the main bridge, which was where she expected the gravity well to be.

The noise happened gain, and the dark haired girl grabbed her lightsaber. Snap-hiss and the shadows were extinguished with blue light.

"You okay?"

[member="Setzi Lunelle"]

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

"I'm fine," Setzi said in a voice that sounded anything but fine. And then the strange noise happened again, and she jumped as much as the EnviroSuit would allow. She stepped back a little and ignited her own lightsaber, keeping a healthy distance between her and Kaia.

Both of them were bathed in the blue light of their sabers. Suddenly, Kaia would hear this raspy, heavy gasping out of nowhere, but it turns out it was only Setzi with her commlink open breathing heavily. "Oops, sorry," she said, trying not to chuckle. "I didn't mean to freak you out." Don't laugh, Setzi. Now is not the right time. It's not the right...

She nearly got a case of the giggles but then heard another foreign noise. Using the Force, the padawan tried to detect anything, another Force user or even a disturbance or anomaly.

"By the Maker, Kaia, maybe we should go back."

[member="Kaia Starchaser"]

 

[Kaia Starchaser]

Fine? Did she know what that meant? Freak out, Insecure, Neurotic and Emotional. Was it her father who said that? Or just the writer wishing that was something Coren would say. The eldest Starchaser would say things like groovy, though, that was something he would say. Come to combat and be ‘groovy’ or ‘green.’ The latter was definitely something Kaia would say.

The youngest Starchaser turned when she heard the breathing. Setzi was not in a good place, huh? “If you want, you can go back to the ship, if you’re… worried. I think we’ll be fine.” She nodded to her saber. “Better safe than sorry.” Something might’ve been awakened when they got on board. It’ll probably stay dormant until the young Jedi did something that would affect it. Like fething with the gravity well generator.

Wasn’t that how movies worked?

“We won’t be able to get away from the gravity well without burning fuel. We just gotta shut it off, see if there is anything of use on the ship.” Plus clearing the space lane. Hashtag Warden. And besides, that was what the Frontiers Corp did! Free up space lanes. See? She could make this about her faction of choice.

In the Force there might be a bit of darkness, something hungry aboard the ship, but Kaia Starchaser kept on keeping on. Lights flickering and the ship groaning. She was old. She was breaking. Hopefully there weren’t cylons.

But hopefully they were!

Kaia found this stuff exciting.

[member="Setzi Lunelle"]

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

Kaia was so calm and so unflappable through all of this.

You know what, Setzi, she thought? It's time for a mental slap. I should really take some pointers from this padawan! Here I am shivering in these Envirosuit boots afraid of every bump and knock. If a mouse came out right now, I'd probably have a heart attack.

In addition to taking some tips from Kaia on staying more serene, she summoned a wave of the Force to steady herself and then the fellow padawan said: "No I'm fine. Let's keep going." Walker would be proud to see that she wasn't always such a startled, fragile deer. Even if the ship groaned and creaked like some kind of haunted mansion in a holomovie.

"Besides it would be nice to come back with something useful, right?"

Some kind of small treasure to make this terrifying - well to Setzi - adventure worth every trembling step.

[member="Kaia Starchaser"]