Campaign Spring Break Adventure

[Jaeson Starchaser]

At the mention of a lightsaber, he didn’t grab for the device. Yes he had one, and yes it was in his bag but that didn’t mean anything. There were slightly bigger concerns for him. Certain Starchasers were uncomfortable with their body image. Certain Starchasers were stuffy and unimaginative with a rather orthadox view of the galaxy. Jaeson wasn’t one of them, and until this moment he had never felt uncomfortable in a skimpy bathing suit. He was unsure made his back straighten up, the comment about the lightsaber or the comment about not a lightsaber. Regardless of which, or both, stimuli his face went red and his back went straight.

Control took over, his once elevated heart rate lowered a little and he began to run through the various scenarios in his head. The girl reached for a non existent saber and the calculation changed. Even without a lightsaber a Jedi could be problematic if he had to silence Tobias. No, he wouldn’t give into his programming. Those were the thoughts of his template, and he wasn’t his template. Rejecting bad instinct he came to a conclusion, do nothing.

“The Tion Hegemony is a semi autonomous region of the Sith Empire. We aren’t subject to the same rules and treatment as the rest….” the rehearsed words came out perfectly, “Besides not everyone in the Sith Empire is a Sith.” That’s right, be defensive, that’s sure to work. He considered the boy across from him. He examined him for a moment. It seemed more a lighthearted jest than a real accusation, best not to make too much of it. “And the University tries to not play politics.”



He walked the group past the que of pickup orders and moved to the counter asking if there was a table available.The host punched the data for three into a computer and Jae gave him a credit chit. After a moment they were seated despite how busy the place had been and the holographic menus appeared on the table.


Kyra Perl Tobias Katarn

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra blinked, seeming to hear the whole scope of the conversation as she stood alone with Tobias. The color drained from her features ever so slightly, the girl looking at the boy with wide-eyes that begged the question, 'Are we okay here?'

But in the end, she dubbed Jaeson harmless. He was another Starchaser, for Force's sake. While his whole reveal did send her for a slight spin and open up more unanswered questions than not ... well, she trusted Starchasers.

She gave a shrug and followed behind Jaeson as he lead them to a table. She leaned into Tobais as she walked besides him, whispering, "Sabers are more." She gestured vaguely towards their shape, exaggerating the length and edges.

The outline in Jaeson's speedo did not match.

She plopped down easily and grabbed for a menu, her drying skin sticking to the cool metal.

 

[Tobias Katarn]

Tobe bit back a laugh. He noted, though, that Jae hadn't really answered the question.

But then again, anyone as...Jae-ish as Jae, sniping the seat next to Kyra, couldn't be a Sith in any meaningful way.

Tobe got in there too, third wheeling like a champ. Besides, this seat had a great view of a sleek Glottalphib girl toasting her kebab with her breath.

He flicked down the holo menu. "I don't recognize half this Core Worlds stuff but I'm down for anything. Got recommendations? Oh, and I'm paying. Just did a stint as a crew hand on an expedition outside the galaxy - place called Cosm's Well. Paid pretty good."

Jaeson Starchaser Kyra Perl

 

[Jaeson Starchaser]

Jae waited for Kyra to be seated before practically jumping into the booth behind her body blocking Tobias in the process preventing him from getting between them. His brief smug smile was interrupted quickly. As he sat down the other boy was right behind him pushing him into the hapless girl. Now his body was pressed against her and he was sandwiched between the two. Tobias did this on purpose, Jaeson surmised... and to be honest he wasn't sure if he should have been furious or grateful. "Uh well," Jae moved his bag onto his lap his arm rubbing briefly against Kyra's before setting it on the table to examine the menu. "Most of it is pretty self explanatory. It's just this place caters to a lot of various aliens and cultures so it has a wide variety."

Cycling the menu a few times he landed on a page and tilted the display to put the hologram in front of Tobias. "You need to make sure you're in the Zeltros section. All the food here is okay for humans." He looked back to Kyra and then to Tobi his face now a shade of red that might have made him seem native if it was in any way consistent. "Watch out about getting things that are hot or sweet... on Zeltros they tend to be very hot and very sweet...." his voice trained a little bit as he shifted in his seat a little.

Kyra Perl Tobias Katarn

 

[Kyra Perl]

“Oi!” Kyra laughed, squished tight against the glass pain. “Alright, this is cozy!” She took the two boys actions with easy grace. Either they were playful, flirtatious, or just as energetic as her. Kyra felt the urge for acceptance ring clear through one of their chests.

It was a motivation she understood well. She Jaeson a pat pat on the knee, squirming a little as her elbow hit his bag.

“There isn’t nearly enough space!” She continued to laugh. “Here, just shove that there.” She took the pack from him and slid it across the table, into the empty booth. It clunked into place, allowing her to settle easily at his side. She leaned in, her wet hair falling over her shoulder as she perused the menu with him.

“I mean if you’re really hungry we can just get burgers. You know. Meat between bread— it’s like ancient, you gotta have that out there?”

She leaning over Jaeson and grinned at Tobias, a silent yet appreciative gesture for his paying offer.

“Or milkshakes? Everyone has milk.”

 

[Tobias Katarn]

Jaeson Starchaser Kyra Perl

"Yeah, mashed meat between bread is pretty universal. What they call a burger out here is a scrunklith on Jedha and a doobieflem on Nar Shaddaa and so forth, but yeah, it all looks about right."

Tobe sighed in relief as Kyra tossed Jae's bag. Entertaining as it was to cram Thing One up against Thing Two, squeezing in beside them was proving to be a mistake. He edged over for a bit more space and perused the appropriate menu section.

"Anyone know if they have borbeesters? The whipped frozen milk with the heated fruit sauce?"

 

[Jaeson Starchaser]

Looking nervously at his bag for a moment before he was confident it was close enough he extended across the table and rearranged it to make sure it was sitting upright and he could see it. The boy practically fell back into his seat between his two new found friends and he gave them each a smile in turn lingering a bit on Kyra before returning to to the menu. he began to place the order on the screen as the droid server came over and started to take down any particulars they had. Easily he watched Kyra order and gave her a half cocked grin, all thought of resistance to having a good time having left him. This itself was mildly concerning to him had he stopped to think but rather he just kept going.

He could feel Kyra next to him, her leg against his, her side occasionally shifting and stumbling of arms brushing against one another. Act cool. That was his thought whenever he found his gaze attracted to a bit of movement from the girl locking onto her. He'd pull back and stay away until he heard Tobi speak. This was his out, a chance to gain a little courage with normal conversation.

"You've been to all those places Tobi?" he asked the other fella' at the table. If it were a more comfortable setting his face would have been bright red but as it was the three of them squeezed onto a bench seat made for two the discomfort prevented him from fully enjoying the.... "It must be nice, being able to go where you want when you want." A luxury he himself rarely had. Sure there was leeway when leads on a job led elsewhere but his every move was registered and permissions had to be asked.

Tobias Katarn Kyra Perl

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra flopped against the table, her arm outstretched and cheeks pressed against it as she watched the two boys talk. The cool vinyl was a balm to her sun-kissed skin, the girl looking minutely pinker than her genes naturally permitted. Her attention settled softly on Jaeson’s face, a small sense of satisfaction filling her as the boy relaxed into the moment and engaged Tobias back eagerly.

She could feel his flickering thoughts— the draw of attention towards her touch, his stress over the bag, the yearn for travel. It traveled unbidden through the contact they shared. She tried to close her mind to it, if just because she had learned this lesson the hard way and it was simply rude! But she was not yet that skilled.

Instead she sought a distraction by she turning her attention towards Tobias instead, a smile cracking as she propped her head up and pitched in, “You mean lizats? Yeah, page 3–. If you want to travel so much, why not jus-“

She had been so absorbed in not being absorbed, she didn’t see it until the bag went whipping up, straps smacking her face. Amongst the bustling crowd, a blue hand slipped down over the booth and yanked the bag up with it. Kyra sat up, blinking in shock.

“Was that... oi THEIF!”

 

[Tobias Katarn]

Jaeson Starchaser Kyra Perl

"Jedha and Nar Shaddaa? Yeah, a little. Just shore leave passing through, or getting stranded between jobs and ships."

Some of those had been fething lean days that he'd rather not remember. The whole 'go where you want' things had its moments, but only for folks with more money than Tobe generally had.

"If you want - HEY. FETH." Tobe scrambled out of the booth. He caught a glimpse of blue skin and a purloined bag darting through the lineup outside. They had a good ten meters' head start.

Tobe took off, bare feet slapping the tourist-soft ground cover. He burst through the line and kept moving. Anger spiked in him and he used it, just like Marcaragna had taught him in Cosm's Well. He accelerated.

 

[Jaeson Starchaser]

With his defenses utterly destroyed by the planets good vibes and chemically alluring inhabitants he was talking easily with Tobias taking slight glances at Kyra as they went. He caught her looking at him and his face went red but he didn't stumble... externally. Internally he became just as much a mess as those around him probably thought he was. It was this planet. Curious as to what the girl was thinking in the moment, his mind at ease.

A smile crossed his face as Tobias started to say something and then. "..Feth." he said in unison with the other boy giving him the side eye as he stood up and ran out. He hadn’t been paying enough attention and barely saw the blue arm grabbing down to reach his bag.

If things had gone the way he wanted he would have been at the end of the bench first to jump up and dart at the perpetrator of the crime. He also would have been sitting alone with Kyra and not pressed between two… no time.

Tobias was first up, and he was fast. Jaeson however had the force. Preternatural power pumped his legs full of speed.The two hit the door and once outside Jae found himself looking in both directions. First to the right, nothing, and then to the left where he saw a figure in a flowery shirt and blue naked arms under the elbow running through a crowd carrying Jae’s bag.

Pivoting on his feet Jae took off. A proper Jedi, or Sith for that matter, could have gone faster in a shorter time but his meager ability did what he needed to. Closing in on the thief he dodged and bound through the crowd. The thief threw debris towards him before ducking down an ally.

Jae turned as well foolishly bounding into the dark alleyway. He was surprised to see Tobias bounding just behind him… no time to consider those implications. Kyra’s speed would be no surprise.

Bounding down the ally he saw a blue arm extend out and barely managed to power slide underneath of the blow and not ending up on his ass. Turning he looked towards the man and stared. Twi’lek, quivering lekku. Jae balled up his fists and took a swing striking the man in the stomach and grabbing at his bag pulling at it. The strap ripped and the bag fell to the ground.

The twi’lek punched at Jae jabbing him as he lowered to reach the bag. Jae managed to dodge the majority of the blow taking it to the shoulder and swinging back at the mans head. The two squared off over the bag. Jae loosened his shoulders and prepared for a brawl.

The Twi’lek smiled and pointed behind the boy. “I’m not falling for that,” Jae said… and then he heard the clicking of blasters behind him.

He turned briefly letting his peripherals get a glance of five men, probably more, each with blasters trained on him. An arm from his blindspot reached out and pulled him in. One last act of defiance, Jae kicked the bag down the alley and towards Kyra.

Pulled into waiting arms with no less than five blasters on him Jae smiled. One of the men demanded the contents of his bag. “Kyra,” he said, looking at the girl with a calm she’d probably never seen before.. “I want you to reach into the bag, and give them what’s inside.” he thought briefly of his violette lightsaber and hoped that the girl was indeed a Jedi and not just playing. Regardless of the outcome, the jig was up.

Kyra Perl Tobias Katarn

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra skidded into the mouth of the alleyway, panic hitting her chest in rapid waves as she found her new friend held by gun point.

Multiple guns, actually.

Her mind reeled, no where in her training preparing her for protecting someone from blaster bolts when they weren't already behind her. "Uuuuuuuuuuh," came the stressed reply. Jaeson seemed to hit his senses, tossing her his bag so she could bargain the artifacts for his life. It was clear that was why they were doing this. Just why so many for something Jaeson had said was worthless?

Of course, she realized, he must have been lying.

Her hands in the air, she bent down slowly and picked up the bag as directed.

"Listen, there's no need for things to be like this!" She reasoned, her voice shaky. She rummaged around for-- her fingers hit cylindrical metal. At once, she felt the small bit of life thrum inside of it. Oh. She shot Tobias a wild look, her gaze pleading for him to have a solution besides the one that laid between her fingers.

Tobias Katarn Jaeson Starchaser

 

[Tobias Katarn]

Jaeson Starchaser Kyra Perl

Marcaragna had showed him how to move rocks, but a pebble was a far cry from half a dozen triggers. One wrong move and they'd ventilate Jae, then Kyra who had the bag, then Tobe on general principle.

Not a lot of good options, so Tobe latched on to one that seemed decent. The Zeltrons were, believe it or not, a warrior culture - well accustomed to handling belligerent offworlders. Plus they were in Jedi-protected space. Lots of law and order floating around, even a little too much for Tobe's comfort.

"Hey!" he barked, and mimed drawing a blaster from his swim trunks. Half a dozen muzzles swung his way. Only two of them fired. A bolt skimmed his shoulder mid-sideways-leap, and that H U R T but it did one other very important thing. It started the countdown timer on the cops arriving, and the bad guys knew it.

He scrambled behind a dumpster. At a guess the situation was about to escalate.

 

[Jaeson Starchaser]

Foolish heroic idiot, Jae thought as the other boy was for an illusory blaster. Two men fired, they were in it now and had no reason to hold back. The one holding onto Jae started to point his blaster to Kyra when he felt a hand on his arm.

It was a hundred percent instinct, training and a genetic legacy of a clone template who must be psychotic. Jaeson yanked and pulled the blaster pistol away twisting his body and throwing the man to the ground. With a step he went over the mans arm and snapped it like a twig before raising the blaster and with extreme effort throwing it away instead of firing it. That was a Damian Starchaser thought, a development of his cloning process. Damian Starchaser was nothing but a murderer whose impulses were his to reject.

Still the genetic conditioning did have it’s uses. In a fluid motion he moved to the next target, swiping at his neck with a well timed blow causing him to flinch. This allowed Jae to close in on his blaster arm and pulling him aside as the weapon fired into the air a few times. Legs flying up and wrapping around the arm he stripped the weapon once more and sent the man to the ground a loud crack echoing as the air was driven from his lungs. There was an instinct to jab into the armpit with something sharp, a nearby piece of broken debris would do, straight into the soft section to the man’s heart. Hatred ran through Jae as he considered the thoughts of the man he was cloned from. Instead he raised his body and struck a telling blow to the man’s head with a nearby bottle which had fallen from a trash receptacle.

Spinning he lofted himself up and darted across the alley. With preternatural speed Jaeson was able to close the distance on the next man in good order, swiping at him and taking him to the ground. So entangled his fellows wouldn’t be able fire or else risk shooting one of their….

A blaster bolt struck the man Jaeson had grappled with. They didn’t care about their own. The limp body fell from Jae’s arms onto the ground. The boy stood there for a moment dumbfounded staring at the corpse.

Snap out of it Jae. It’s just a body, you’ve seen plenty. All his conditioning meant nothing in that moment and he didn’t see the man behind him taking aim with the blaster….

Kyra Perl Tobias Katarn

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra was left scrambling, a scream in her throat as shot fired all around her. She wasn't the most diligent padawan, nor was she the most experienced. She trained as much as her fickle attention allowed her, and while recent life events had surely made her start taking her lessons more seriously ... very little of it managed to translate into the real world shoot out.


She stood frozen, aghast, as Jaeson turned into a blur of motion. It was like a scene out of a movie. Or watching Romi Jade in the field. Bodies dropped, the boy drawing most of the attention his way. He was a threat, and a prominent one as the other two children scattered or gaped. For a moment he might think he had been abandoned-- left on his own.

Then the gun was drawn behind him.

"No!" Kyra threw the saber out on instinct, the blade igniting as it turned end over end through the air. With a hiss, it severed the hand from the owner. Both gun and appendage went scattering to the ground. The saber hit the wall, going out.

She threw herself forward without thought, her body landing over Jaeson's. Her eyes squeezed closed, a force bubble erupting over her, absorbing the incoming shots. What felt like eternity was more like 15 seconds. By the time the crooks connected their dots that weapons were pointless, a new voice entered the scene.

"Freeze! You're under arrest!"

Kyra's tense body uncoiled over Jaeson, the girl looking up between strands of hair to see a singular, blessed policeman standing firm at the front of the alleyway. By the sound of his com device, others would be quick to follow.

Kyra took the chance of distraction and let out a force push around her, undoubtedly the strongest she ever managed. Every man yelped in sudden shock, flying back into walls. "Oh thank the force!" She scrambled up, kicking the gun out of the closest's hand, blowing hair out of her face as she went.

It was in that moment that she noticed the other bodies.

Still, unmoving bodies. Her expression paled, turning up to the still tense police officer. His gun pointed at her.

 

[Tobias Katarn]

Now seemed an excellent time to be elsewhere, and fortunately Tobe was behind the dumpster when the Force bubble...exploded?...and the cops moved in. He stayed there, just an unarmed kid with swim trunks and a blaster burn, until someone noticed him.

That took a while. The cops had other things on their minds, like rogue Jedi and maybe a Sith spy and a whole lot of dead whoever-they-were. In due course, however, an agent of the law spotted Tobias shaking with slightly-exaggerated physical shock, and led him off to give a statement.

Kyra Perl Jaeson Starchaser

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra had never been arrested before. They were all frightened, the fact of it seeped into her senses, threatening to undo her. Somehow, she remained composed, Jaeson's own fear speaking volumes. Fear of discovery. Fear of prosecution.

He was from sith space.

As she was being led away, her gaze jumped to his saber. "Don't forget my weapon!" She demanded, struggling for a moment. She caught Jaeson's gaze, a single phrase cutting into his mental space.

"I'll cover for you-- cousin."

And that was all she could get out, the girl taken away in a separate vehicle. Boy was her mother's lawyers gonna come in handy. Maybe even Uncle Dami.

 

[Jaeson Starchaser]

Jae stood befuddled for a moment as the girl held onto him, casting an exploding bubble. His estimation of her went up, she was indeed a jedi. He wasn’t sure at first when she mentioned the lightsaber. Then came the local security forces flashing badges and pointing guns. A million thoughts rushed through his head in that moment, he could attack and probably take the lone officer disappearing before others showed but instead he waited. Better to let things play out.

Still there was little time. Jae took stock of the situation and looked around taking in all the details he could before he was being taken away. There weren't cuff’s on him yet. That was good, but then again he was cooperating with them. He was able to survey the scene, he had done a lot of damage to the men on the ground but nothing that should permanently harm them. The one with the blaster wound and missing a hand was another thing. His eyes flashed to and fro examining the bodies and noticing a tattoo on the exposed abdomen of one of the men. He didn’t know what the symbol was, a gang marking perhaps?

And then it happened. Kyra turned and asked for the police to collect her weapon. They picked up the lightsaber blade and Jae had to suppress his emotion less the Zeltron officer geam the deception from him. Of course he felt the thought being projected at him and almost shuddered. More questions raised than answered. Why would she cover for him? He was grateful of course. And cousin? That was a chilling thought given how he was acting but he didn’t have any zeltron relatives.

He was left to his devices for awhile, driven to the location station house and interred within its walls. Cooling his heels until brought to a small interrogation room. There was of course one big thing at play, Tobias. He knew the lightsaber wasn’t Kyra’s and could still talk. For his park Jae said something.

Halfway through the interrogation Jae was tempted to make a terse comment about the mans wife. He had noticed the man’s disheveled clothing and probed a bit picking out details around him. The officers wife had left him recently and he was pressing his shirts for the first time. There was no surety to this thought but he knew it was true, he always seemed to just know these things. First instinct was to use this but instead he clammed up.

The only words out of Jae’s mouth and his answer to every question was asked was “Lawyer.”

Everything was so fethed up.

Kyra Perl Tobias Katarn

 

[Tobias Katarn]

Zeltron police weren't above a little pheromonal manipulation if they got the sense Tobe was hiding something. And they did, because he was, but the joke was on them: Zeltrons were far, far too humanoid to interest Tobias Katarn.

So there he sat in actually a really comfortable interrogation room, pheromoned out of his mind, wearing nothing but swim trunks and a bandage where the blaster had scorched his shoulder. They were using words like 'accessory' and 'person of interest' and 'eyewitness' and 'asexual,' which Tobe absolutely was not. But when you're a Zeltron and all you have is a sexy humanoid hammer, everything looks like a nail. Or maybe square peg/round hole was a better analogy.

They couldn't really get anywhere with him so far, happily enough. Give up the fact that Jaeson Starchaser was almost absolutely a Sith Empire spy of some kind? Nah. Give up Kyra Perl for whatever Force crap she'd used to save their lives the hard way? Nope.

 

[Jaeson Starchaser]

For the first hour after Jae had demanded a lawyer there was nothing. The interview had to stop, but they weren’t required to get a lawyer with any speed. Instead they left Jae alone in a room. For a normal person this might have had a psychological effect, making him lonely and isolated, bored and starved for attention. Jae counted the ceiling pannels and went over the events in his head.

There was a trick Jae could do, he was unsure if it was related tot he force or simple mental conditioning brought on by his unique genetics, where he could compartmentalize things. After a quick review he stuffed the incident into a folder in the back of the brain labeled confidential. Lifewise he could shift emotion off, or so he’d like to think, leaving himself blank to the empathic abilities. Jae sat in silence for the entire hour, not standing up and pacing or performing any action that would make it seem like the situation was getting to him.

The second hour was different. Once a person asked for a lawyer the interview was over… however an officer could still be present and if the suspect said anything it could still be used against them if they volunteer the information. Jae wasn’t so foolish, or so he thought.

A beautiful woman oozing pheromones sat down across from him. The second hour was him sitting and ignoring her, stealing occasional glances and receiving a smile in return. It was all a game, and he lost. At the end of the hour after repeating the term lawyer for the twentieth time instead he chose a new course. He asked the officer her name. Lanna. Such a pretty name. He conversed, keeping his information locked away. The two of them talked about the weather and he stammered through his sentences. Jae for his part explained the geopolitical situation of the Tion Hegemony in great detail. He started early in history and expounded that while within Sith Space the Hegemony was an autonomous state noting the Rudrig proclamation, the Tion Silver Jedi treaty, and most recently the Tion Sith Treaty. Tion enjoyed the same autonomous status under the Sith that it did the Silver Jedi, he explained.

By the end of the hour the attractive officer was no doubt tired of the yammering teen who fed her nothing but useless flirts, awkward glances, and historical lectures that Jae no doubt thought impressive.

The fifth hour. They were tired about being nice and began the threats. Your friends have already talked, you’re going away for a long time. It was that sort of situation. As long as they didn’t ask any questions and just made threats they were within their rights. Jae clammed up again.

Kyra Perl Tobias Katarn

 

[Kyra Perl]

It shouldn't have even taken five hours, but footage had to be retrieved, Kyra's status confirmed, and uncle Dami contacted. Petty theft over jedi business was what Kyra's very expensive lawyers had it boiled down to. The cops didn't buy it, they could feel the subtle lie. That was why the pressure on Jaeson had been upped.

Like it or not, the cops were cornered with facts they couldn't disprove and some very wealthy names backing the 3 miscreants stories. Uncle Dami hadn't questioned Kyra hard, he knew she was being truthful and trying to protect some innocents the first moment he stepped into the room. Thank the Force for family. She convinced him she didn't need him to come home with her afterwards. This was being blown way out of proportion.

She was fine.

Don't tell mom.

As if Joza Perl wouldn't see the lawyer bills come the month's end.

Dusk was setting once the two were finally brought out together to find themselves faced with an already dressed and freed Kyra. She gave them both a tight nod, glancing once at the guards that freed the boys from their cuffs.

"You're free to go," came the begrudging order. She jerked her chin over her shoulder, urging both boys to follow her out without delay. A rather luxurious vehicle was waiting for them, arranged by her uncle. Kyra said nothing, waiting for privacy before she could offer an explanation.

'Get in the car,' her gaze seemed to plea at them, her blue eyes staring out at them from the seat she had taken.