The struggle for liberty rages on [GR-TJO]

[Corvus Raaf]

Four Jedi received the same message, at the same time. It came through the official Jedi Order channel and was simple, clear and devoid of any useful detail.

It read:

The Jedi Order has received a request from a Galactic Republic Senator for a small group of Jedi to meet her off-world, at a space station to be confirmed once you are ready to enter hyperspace. You have been selected as part of that team. Please assemble at the Ossus hangar in one hour. A ship has been prepared for your journey.

Whilst secrecy was common in missions, this lack of even basic information was not. Corvus noticed that even the name of the Senator was omitted although their identity was narrowed. It wasn't a man.

And so, knowing nothing more than the brief details outlined, Corvus made her way to where she knew the ship would be. It was a new Protector Class Corvette. Corvus had flown one before. Actually more than one - but on each occasion the damage was definitely not attributable to her - and her mission logs stated this fact clearly.

And so she stared at the ships and then followed the technicians with her eyes as they bustled around, waiting to see who else was chosen to participate and smoothing the hem of her robes with the palms of her hands. She may now be a Knight - but meeting new people was always a moment of anxiousness for Corvus.

[member="Avalore Eden"] | [member="Carlo Dellen"] | [member="Varus Shatterstar"]

 

[Varus Shatterstar]

Varus hadn't busied himself with the work that the technicians were doing on the exterior of the ship, and seeing as he was an engineer by trade, most of his work would be going on in the interior of the ship. He was familiar with the Protector Class Corvette, having worked on more than a handful before when he lived on Corsucant, and he was well aware that the engine was accessible form the inside of the ship as well. That's why, when he realized that he'd been the first to arrive, much earlier than he'd been informed to by almost two hours, he wasted no time in getting to work on the engine, making sure it was in pristine condition. From what he could tell, when going over his checklist, everything was in perfect order aside from a few minor things. There had been some big adjustments he'd had to make, however, to fix such minor things, but all had gone perfectly, and the reassembly had gone smoothly.

When he finished, Varus slid out from beneath the controls deck and pushed himself up to his feet, not bothering to just his flight jacket for comfort as he didn't want to get any grease on it. He then strode through the ship at a leisurely pace, grabbing a rag from his belt and running it over his blackened hands as he did. As he cleaned his hands he strode down the hangar door, still cleaning off his hands as he glanced up to see if anyone else had arrived. He was pleasantly surprised to see a pretty young woman standing, waiting in traditional Jedi garb just outside the ship as the others continued prepping for takeoff.

"Hi there.", Varus said, putting on the friendly smile he was going to become famous for around that Temple as he turned and headed in her direction. He cleaned the last bit of grease off of his hand, flipping his right palm up, and then flipping it to see that the back was clean as well before he looked back up to the young woman who he hadn't been formally introduced to yet. He eagerly reached out his hand, spic and span like he liked it, and waited for [member="Corvus Raaf"] to take it in a formal hand shake as he said. "Names Varus. Varus Shatterstar. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss...", he said, allowing for the young woman to fill in his blank as he waited for her to speak.

[member="Corvus Raaf"]
[member="Avalore Eden"]
[member="Carlo Dellen"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus looked around to see if anyone else was about to join them. Seeing no-one she smiled at Varus. She was surprised to be offered his hand, but shook it, before bowing. Despite the grease and rags, he was clearly a Jedi. He was confident and strong with the Force but she suspected he was a Padawan, and possibly new to Ossus - as she hadn't seen him around.

"Corvus Raaf. The pleasure is mutual. Are you..." she let the words hang in the air for a few seconds, "travelling to the mystery location too?" She was cautious not to say too much, in case he wasn't and she revealed too much.

And once more she allowed her connection to the Force to wander, to tell her if any other Jedi were heading in this direction.

[member="Avalore Eden"] | [member="Carlo Dellen"] | [member="Varus Shatterstar"]

 

[Varus Shatterstar]

Varus smiled as he watched the young woman who was clearly trying to practice caution with her words. He shook her hand and gently released it, stepping back from her and shrugging his shoulders as she hadn't let on too much. "If you're asking if I was instructed to come here and get on this ship and await further instruction on an important mission, then yes.", he said as he lauged lightly to lighten the mood.

"And it's very nice to meet you.", he said, following up his response to Corvus' question as he stepped around to stand next to her, looking up to the ship as he did. "It's an impressive ship, isn't it?"

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Avalore Eden]

Never on time for anything.

Or maybe the whole galaxy was just running ten minutes fast. Either way, Jedi Knight and Healer Extraordinaire Avalore Eden had arrived in typical fashion: a flurry of blue healer robes, cheeks pinked from the mad dash made through the starport to the arranged meeting location. Like the others, she hadn't much clue as to what to expect or even, precisely, what the mission was about. All she knew was they had requested a Healer tag along, and since the mass Exodus of Healers of any rank within the Order, Avalore practically was the Circle of Healers. It was tiring, doing the job of what was supposed to be handled by at least half a dozen others, including those above her rank, but if nothing else it was keeping her in shape physically and mentally. All this running around wasn't allowing her to brood on certain things, too, which was also a plus.

Oh look! It's the gal that broke [member="Johnny Diamonds"] heart. What was her name?

"Hey, sorry, got here as fast as I could. Wouldn't believe the pile-up outside of Ossus space. Some trade freighter blew a sprocket and, well it doesn't really matter..."

Puffing to catch her breath, Avalore pulled her bag of Healer necessities from her shoulder and set it down for a rest, "is everyone already here or are we still waiting?"

[member="Corvus Raaf"]
[member="Varus Shatterstar"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus looked at the ship as Varus mentioned it. "One of Corellia's finest. I was told it was especially designed for Jedi - slightly smaller than the ship it was based up. Ideal for missions."

As she finished her sentence she was aware of a blur of blue and they had been joined by a Healer. Corvus recognised the face but she couldn't recall ever having spoken to the Jedi. In fact, she was sure they'd been on a mission together - albeit in groups. She was...

Oh! She was a close friend of [member="Johnny Diamonds"]. The memories of that trip and the subsequent lesson in Telekinesis were ingrained in her mind. And she still hadn't had a conversation with anyone about it. Or the subsequent...situations...she'd found herself in. But she was sure Knight Eden would have forgotten all about that. Sure. I mean what happened? It wasn't as if all the furniture in one of the training rooms was reduced to matchsticks. Oh...actually that's exactly what happened. Still, that was ages ago, she won't remember a thing about it. Right?

"Knight Eden?" Corvus bowed, she was sure she'd remembered the name correctly. 'Don't mention the mission, don't mention the mission.' "We were on mission once before....and, err...yes, I'd say we are good to go. Any latecomer can catch us up."

Feling her face flushing, Corvus headed straight onto the ship. "Great heating on these things - I'm feeling rather warm already."

[member="Avalore Eden"] | [member="Carlo Dellen"] | [member="Varus Shatterstar"]

 

[Varus Shatterstar]

Varus watched the exchange between the two female Knights with a bit of a surprised look on his face. His eyes grew a little wider and his mouth hung slightly agape as he watched the interaction, at a loss for words as they feeling he got was awkward from the pair. It was almost funny, but he didn't laugh.

In all honesty he couldn't help thinking that both young women were rather attractive, but he pushed those thoughts aside as Corvus turned and hurried towards the ship. As she did, Varus huffed a light laugh and shrugged his shoulders before swinging around, sliding his hands into his pockets and following her.

"Yea, it's a pretty nice ride. The engine and the core are what's really impressive about her,", Varus said as he followed them into the ship.

[member="Corvus Raaf"]
[member="Avalore Eden"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

When it was clear they weren't going to be joined by any other Jedi, Corvus settled into the pilot's seat and requested clearance for take-off. As they exited the atmosphere, a coded message came through with coordinates for their hyperdrive jump. But instead of simple instructions, the data was for the astromech to access and input. The destination was being kept secret from them even now.

Turning to her two companions, Corvus shook her head. "I've never seen security like this before - whoever we're meeting must want this rendezvous kept secret pretty bad."

"So I don't even know how long the jump will last. Anyone any ideas what to do to pass the time?

[member="Varus Shatterstar"] | [member="Avalore Eden"]

 

[Avalore Eden]

"I play a mean game of Bantha-Poodoo," Avalore replied with a smirk, the SW equivalent to the ever-popular card game Bullshit likely wasn't the prime choice for passing the time, but it would certainly be entertaining. No, she wasn't really serious. Yes, she had a pack of cards for just these sort of things.

Okay, maybe she was a little serious.

Life's too short to meditate all the time, guys.

With a sigh, the Healer set her bag out of the way, "What exactly do we actually know about this mission? I must have gotten the most scant of details. Are we so sure this isn't some ruse played by the One Sith?"

Avalore wasn't ready to go back into prisoner-mode. As a matter of fact, she would never be ready for that and had every intention of never needing to be, ever ever again.

[member="Corvus Raaf"]
[member="Varus Shatterstar"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

It was a fair question - and certainly more interesting to discus than the card game on offer. In fact, was there even a game of that name?

"All I know is that the request came through the highest channels and the coordinates that came through were definitely Republic - as the astromech seemed to accept them readily. Senatorial? It's possible. Certainly not a Shadow mission. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see."

She looked at Varus. "Any non-card game suggestions or speculation about what the mission is about?"

[member="Avalore Eden"] | [member="Varus Shatterstar"]

 

[Varus Shatterstar]

Varus glanced over at Corvus as she addressed him with her question, which immediately warranted a shrug from Varus. He was just a Padawan and had only done so much for the Jedi so far. He was the last person who would have any real opinion on what their mission could possibly entail, but he chose to try and make the prediction none the less. "I figure... it's low profile and we don't have any details. It's got to be some form of security detail, or maybe an escort mission of some sort.", he admitted as he looked between Avalore and Corvus.

"The secrecy arouses question, so there's really no telling what we're going to be doing, but I'd find it hard to believe that we're going to be playing mall cop or teaching a self defense class with them going through all this trouble to keep us blind for now."

[member="Avalore Eden"] - [member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

They pontificated about the who and the why thoughout the hyperspace journey and no sooner had they exited it than they found themselves not at any planet but at a space-station.

Docking and being greeted by a blend of Republic military and security, they were led to a briefing room and asked to waited until their 'host' arrived.

[member="Varus Shatterstar"] | [member="Avalore Eden"] | [member="Alena Beswin"]

 

[Varus Shatterstar]

[member="Avalore Eden"] - [member="Corvus Raaf"]

BUMP

 

[Avalore Eden]

Sorry guys, thought were were waiting on [member="Alena Beswin"]?

Pontification for such a long ride made for severely thrilling chatter. Avalore arrived on scene thoroughly bemused, but gave a practiced sigh. At least they were off the ship and moving about, getting that blood flowing again. She hoisted her satchel over her shoulder, pulled the hood of her robes and followed after their escorts. Republicans, at least, judging by the sigils on their uniforms, but she couldn't perceive any further decorations to give her any idea of where they might be.

This was all very peculiar.

[member="Corvus Raaf"] [member="Varus Shatterstar"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

The Jedi were kept waiting for what seemed an obscene age - and in truth it probably was. Finally an aide came literally bursting into the room and spoke a thousand miles an hour.

"I'm sorry, the...person you were due to met has been unavoidably detained. The briefing you require is here," she indicated a datapad. "Apparently you shouldn't read it until I've left the room. Thanks." The woman put the datapad down on the table and left only marginally slower than she'd arrived.

Clicking on the datapad it gave the following message:

STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL - For the eyes of the Jedi Strike Team only

An important piece of cargo has been stolen. The item in transit was a defecting One Sith Admiral. He was encased in carbonite and placed on a routine shuttle to avoid unwarranted attention. Unfortunately the shuttle was captured by pirates. Intelligence suggests he is currently in the custody of a Hutt crime lord on Nar Shaddaa. It was believed a small team of Jedi are best placed to carry out the rescue mission and a healer should be amongst you in case required. The coordinates for the Hutt's hideout have been uploaded to your astrodroid. May the Force be with you.

[member="Avalore Eden"] | [member="Varus Shatterstar"]

(OOC - are we still game to continue?)