The New Class Enters

[Aerion Ivelisse]

Aerion Ivelisse's shuttle was heading for a large ship, one he had never seen before under the colours of the Galactic Alliance.

His time as a Jedi was seeing him being integrated more into the military aspect of the Alliance. From approved Galactic Alliance Fighter Pilot, to an attendant to a Navy Captain, the Jedi Padawan wasn't entirely certain why he was chosen out of all the Jedi of the New Order. Naturally, he objected, argued, and complained, but in the end he had been sent nonetheless. Was it to teach him discipline? Chances were it was.

High Command was anticipating war, even he could see that, and he never looked to what the future held for him. One only had to turn on the HoloNet to check out the news to find out that Sith nations were dropping like flies, corrupted organizations disappearing, re-organizing, and not to mention the growing First Order. They were the biggest threat to the Alliance, he assumed. He had been on Zarnathea, they had caused lots of damage there.

"Padawan Ivelisse of the New Jedi Order," he said when he received the prompt. "Captain Hastings expects me." His voice was drier than Tatooine. This was so beyond him.

But he'd do what was necessary.

As long as it served his own purposes, of getting even further away from people. He doubted this was going to be a long term arrangement. The plan? Annoy the Captain until he didn't want him anymore, or requested a different attendant.

"Docking tube extending. Welcome, Master Jedi."

Great.

They were nice about it.

 

[Aerion Ivelisse]

His shuttle came to a stop outside one of what appeared to be many docking tubes. Opening up the door, he saw that his astromech had already found itself rolling down the temporary corridor, and it was rolling in the middle of the hall as it waited for him to come along. It was beeping lots, but he ignored it as he closed the top of the Fighter behind him and then slid off the side of the wing to land heavily on the ground.

Looking up, there was someone coming to meet him.

"Padawan Ivelisse, the Captain is awaiting you on the Bridge."

There was something that sounded akin to rumbling, and then it passed.

"Right. Lead the way." He said with a thick brow raising up in question.

And then they were in hyperspace.

"Of course, Master Jedi." The... Ensign! That was it. Ensign said to him. He followed a few steps behind him as they exited the tube. He looked at the ongoings of the ship. Lots of other docking tubes and crates left all around. He didn't recognize, well, any of the logos on them. Curious. What was the point of this? There was a frown as he opened his mouth, but said nothing, closing his mouth as he just took in the sights. They entered a turbolift and then they were on their way up.

"Why are we on the edge of Alliance Space?"

"The Captain will answer all of your questions," the young looking Ensign said.

"Okay, but... Where are we going?"

The ensign offered a patient smile, but there was something about it that said the answer was going to be the same.

Young Ivelisse tried his hardest not to get frustrated. Instead, he just let out a strained breath, and then the doors spread open.

 

[Aerion Ivelisse]

The turbolift doors opened up to a relatively empty hallway. There were only a handful of people in the hallway, including Aerion and his guide, and the other crewmen looked as if they were in a rush.

"There's so few people," Ivelisse said aloud, without thinking.

"Yes, many of them are at their stations as of now. Medical, Gunnery Level, Hangar, Engineering, and the Bridge." His would be guide had explained.

Still, it was odd. Didn't ships of this size normally have tons of people wandering the halls? It couldn't have been a skeleton crew, it was as if the ship itself was functioning perfectly. They didn't move down the hallway that fast, so every now and then the much shorter attendant had to double their pace to keep up with the longer strides of the Jedi Padawan.

Zayden, or rather, Aerion, didn't like to waste time with walks such as this. Slow, painstakingly so, almost as if they were stalling, or trying to enjoy themselves. What was their to enjoy? They were passing bulkhead after bulkhead door, hardly anything of interest going on. And the viewports were rare. Wherein most ships would've had at least a handful of viewports to look out of the ship and hyperspace beyond, this ship featured none.

"We're almost there," the ensign said.

"Uh huh," and then the past underneath another bulkhead door.

 

[Aerion Ivelisse]

And then another bulkhead door opened in front of them, this one appeared to be thicker than the rest.

Reinforced?

One door opened, and then there appeared to be a cycling of the door as it opened up.

That was cooler than it should've been.

But his features didn't illustrate what he was thinking.

"Captain Hastings, your guest has arrived." There was a tall man in the centre of what was unmistakably the bridge. Not taller than Aerion, but he did, sorta, appear to have a powerful presence. A commander for a long time, it appeared. Aerion wasn't impressed.

"Ah, Padawan Ivelisse, it is a pleasure to meet you."

"I doubt it," he let slip almost immediately.

The smile on Hastings face only widened. "I heard you'd act like you wouldn't enjoy this," he said with a knowing look on his face. Of course, Aerion didn't know what he was talking about. Who had told him that? He had limited friends and had definitely done limited work with the Alliance's Military, let alone Navy. Well, it was too late to complain, or was it.

"This is no act," he insisted.

"As you wish, Master Jedi." Was the man grinning? Did he think this was a joke? "What do you think of the ship?" He appeared to be unphased by the Padawan's attitude. A few moments later, they had dropped out of Hyperspace.

"Arrived in the Dulvoyinn System, Captain!"

"I think you took this ship a little far from home."

 

[Aerion Ivelisse]

"Oh, my mistake, Ensign Matheson. Thank you for escorting young Ivelisse to the Bridge. You may return to your duties." The almost scrawny looking ensign saluted, and then he was retreating out of the still open bulkhead door and then he disappeared somewhere, he lost sight once the door cycled shut after he was a few metres away from it.

"This is a new ship for the Alliance," the Captain started. Aerion recognized the tone he took as someone who was going off into an explanation. Not that he had actually asked for one.

"A warship," Aerion stated.

"Yes, a warship, pure and simple. This ship was created for disabling and destroying hostile threats," Hastings explained. "Not for planetary assaults, not for landing forces. Ship versus ship combat." Pure and simple. Shame that it sounded like he was going into a long spheel. "We don't have a hangar on this ship you would've noticed," the Captain continued. "That's one of her weaknesses. Our guns? Heavy. Made for long range," he explained with a smile, and then his older features almost appeared to decrease in age by at least a decade.

"Have you plotted in the next course?"

There was an affirmative in the form of a 'yes captain' from somewhere - Aerion didn't look, but he sure heard it over the faint sound of beeping consoles and people walking around.

"New ship. We would've stopped over Empress Teta, but we don't want to aggravate people out there."

"...Sure. Alright, but why am I here?"

 

[Aerion Ivelisse]

The Captain continued as if Aerion had never asked his question.

"Jedi Master Bishop fought at Empress Teta, did he not?" The Captain regarded him with another knowing look. Aerion paused, snarky remark on the edge of his lips, but he refrained. How did he know that? Zaren Bouqi was there, sure. He had told him as much when he was teaching him of the Galaxy's history, not that he really needed him to. He knew that his Father had set out to Empress Teta, arrived late, but had come in enough time to save the then Jedi Grandmaster's life.

"How do you know that?"

"He told me. Close friends. Your Father, right?"

Aerion's tongue found its way to the front of his teeth. His mouth was closed sure, but he still found himself testing the smoothness there as a frustrated look came across his face.

"He never talked about you," he said with a frown.

"And I never talk about him." The Captain didn't appear to be bothered. "He got in contact with me recently." Odd, he didn't get in contact with his supposed son. "So I requested you to be my Jedi Liaison," he finally said with a smile.

 

[Aerion Ivelisse]

"So he told you I changed my name before I joined the Order?"

"Yes, he wasn't too happy about that."

"Good."

"Regardless, our mission has begun. We are testing out the abilities of this ship. As you noticed our ship was capable of making the jump from Kiffex to Dulvoyinn relatively quickly," he said with a proud smile. "We've paused so that it - our hyperdrive, can cooldown, we don't want to get lost in space now do we?" There was a smile. It was clear he wanted to make best of the situation, or to at least establish dialogue with the not-so-forthcoming Jedi Padawan.

He didn't say anything. Not forthcoming at all.

"Would you like a tour?"

"If it's necessary," he said exasperatedly as he stepped to the side to let the Captain to lead him. His foot bumped into his astromech who immediately started bleeping and blooping at him, but he ignored it. He couldn't even understand what he was saying. Probably droid obscenities, if they could do that sort of thing.

"It is, come along."

 

[Aerion Ivelisse]

Aerion sighed.

The bulkhead door had cycled open in front of them and then they were heading through it. Except, they hadn't gone the same way that he had to get to the Bridge. Instead, they went in the other direction as they walked.

"Your quarters will be down here, down the hallway from mine. You've got the standard meditation ma-"

"I don't meditate."

"Mat," he finished. "Neither did your Father," he said with a grin. "Table for weapons and armour, or whatever you want to use it for. There's hooks... too..." He said as if he couldn't exactly remember what was inside. They'd find out in a few moments anyway. "Right here," he said, waving his hand at the door, but he didn't stop moving. Rather, they were continuing down the hallway. No matter. He wasn't that interested as to what was in there anyway.

"Where are we going?"

"Around the ship, you should know where you're going when you're on the ship."

"Whatever you say."

 

[Aerion Ivelisse]

A few moments ago they had gotten into the turbolift at the end of the hallway.

They began descending, and when they did, Aerion closed his eyes.

Oh, he had forgotten how it felt when you were going down in a turbolift. There were even little holes circling the top of the lift, and there were lights out in the shaft. For whatever aesthetic purpose these were supposed to serve, they were lost on him as white light shined in every now and then. It wasn't like the lift itself didn't have its own lights.

And then after what felt like an eternity the doors cycled open, spreading apart to either side of each other.

"This hallway is littered with armouries. The barracks are further down the halls - they're numbered. The armouries are to the end of the corridor." They walked a few steps, the large corridor broke off to the left and right of them. Both featured two guard stations, two of them having unmanned E-Web's, allowing for an overlapping field of fire.

"So... No one's getting down here."

Jax must've noticed that he had been looking around as they walked for he answered with a nod, and a "Yes. No one is sleeping now, but when this line of ship will be in the field, there will be shifts for sleeping. No one will be down here who isn't a guard, or sleeping."

There was an understanding nod from Aerion.

 

[Aerion Ivelisse]

And then they arrived at one of the many armouries.

"So this is the primary armoury, only an officer is able to open the door. You'll have access once High Command gets our report for this ship." There was a console on the wall, probably where someone would put a biometric lock to get to the actual keypad within. At least it was high tech, or something like that. "But until then the doors are unlocked."

"Empty?" He guessed.

"Yes," Jax said and the door slid open and it showed the empty interior. Sure it wasn't completely empty, there were shelves and racks for weapons, even hooks for armour and even cabinets for other equipment. He wasn't going to question what as in those yet. He cleared his throat right after he sighed.

"Are we going to continue?"

"Of course, follow along."

They didn't continue down the hallway to view the other guard stations, armouries, or dormitories and barracks. Instead, they had returned the way they came, back to the lift. "We're heading to the gunnery deck now. Once we get into hyperspace again, in the next few minutes, perhaps you'll see the crews in action." And then the button for the lift was pressed and it came back to their level. The doors opened, they entered, they went down another few levels. It felt faster this time around. The door opened, and they were out on another floor.

 

[Aerion Ivelisse]

"Why are you being delicate with the ship? If we're staying within our Space, you should push it to its limits, even if at threat of our own lives."

Captain Jax looked surprised at the outburst. In their short time together it was clear that Aerion hadn't said a lot and didn't want to be there. On the other hand, Young Aerion had decided that if he was going to be on the ship. He may as well be on the ship, in mind and presence.

The Padawan sighed.

"At risk of the crew?"

"Push the ship to its limits. High Command wouldn't have thrown a ship at you that'd fall apart from hyperspace. If you knew my Father you wouldn't be so soft. He didn't like soft." He stopped walking too. "I also don't want to go to the gunnery deck, I don't care about the gunnery deck. Back to the Bridge."

And that's what they did.

 

[Aerion Ivelisse]

"Jump to the edge of the Coruscant System," the Captain said into the communications device in his ear.

"We haven't waited long enough, Sir," Aerion watched Jax nod and smile as he watched the Jedi Padawan.

"Young Ivelisse has an idea," he said.

And then he clicked it off while Aerion nodded his head.

There was a pause as they began heading up in the turbolift back up to the Bridge's level, and then they were in hyperspace. They'd be there by the time they got to the bridge, Aerion knew. In hindsight, perhaps they should've been visiting the Engine Room, but Ivelisse was bored. Something interesting had to happen, and if nothing did he would be sorely disappointed. The door to the turbolift opened and they were heading to the bridge. After two handfuls of bulkhead doors and finally entering the busy bridge, they had arrived.

"Reverting to realspace in thirty," someone said.

"All systems are functioning fine, Captain," another said.

"See?"

 

[Aerion Ivelisse]

And then they were out of Hyperspace.

The ship had survived its jump to hyperspace and they had arrived at the end of their short journey. Well, it wasn't over completely. They still had to report their findings.

"Lieutenant Matherson," Jax said. "Compress the data log files our computers have recorded."

"Yes, Sir!" And he went to work immediately.

Aerion crossed his arms over his chest as he raised a brow and nodded his head.

"Where are we heading now?" His head went from side to side to look for any indication. The bridge seemed slower than he would've imagined. They weren't plotting another hyperspace jump? Odd.

"Back to Sullust. Once we're there we'll turn in our data and the vessel will finish production."

 

[Aerion Ivelisse]

Aerion didn't sleep a lot.

But he knew it would take time to get back to Sullust.

Enough time for him to get a nap in, at least, he hoped so. The prototype appeared to be relatively faster than many ships within its size category.

"I'm going to my... Quarters. Check out the room, and then... Jedi stuff." He said with an affirming nod of his head as he backed towards the bulkhead door on the bridge, and when the door cycled open, he left and walked down the hallway towards where his quarters were meant to be.

Key pad and everything.

Did he mention a code?

Um.

But when he pressed the enter button, it too, cycled open.

Oh, not programmed yet.

Once he stepped inside, there lights within came to life.

 

[Aerion Ivelisse]

It was just as it had been described.

Just... Bigger than he had initially imagined.

It was like a little apartment within the warship, which, to him, didn't seem right. But, he could have it all sorted when the ship's truly filled their place within the Galactic Alliance's Fleet.

The mat was there as described. Tables too. There were even the hooks and open spots for the armour. He doubted he was going to be getting any suit of armour that was actually worth, wearing.

Soon. He thought to himself as he yawned.

If he was going to be on this ship, he was going to have to find a way to actually get to sleep. Especially since it didn't have a Hangar, it was going to be spending a lot of time alone in the Sullust Temple Hangar.

I'll make sure to leave my stupid droid there too.

And then he realized he had left him somewhere on the ship... Probably the gunnery deck. Yeah. Definitely there.