To The Vahn, To The Stars, To the O [Jedi Mission]

[Josh Dragovalor]

It was time to get to work.

The mission briefing was simple, really. There was a crime ring, on some no-name planet. They'd made their base there, and were terrorizing local residents. They had even begun dipping into kidnapping and slavery. As a lot of the slavery reports in the Outer Rim's Outer Regions Defense Force tended to get relegated to Josh, he was on it immediately as he always was. Of course, being a more minor case, he decided that perhaps, seeing as two of the three he was planning to send had experience with this kind of thing, he would decide to send his Padawans as a group. Or, the three that were ready for it anyway. Seskel still had much to learn, and sending him on a mission like this now would be the equivalent to suicide. It just wasn't right. So instead, he had decided to send Padawan Starwind, Padawan Dresari, and Padawan Vahn. Of course, Josh would be accompanying them. He'd make sure that the mission went smoothly, and if things got dicey, he would take over. The plan, the goal, the aim here was simply to give them experience. They needed to see what it was like on the field as a Jedi before they could be trusted to wield lightsabers and go around the galaxy being the peacekeepers that the Jedi were supposed to be.

It was simple, really. Go in, take out the criminals, save the hostages, and drinks were on him... Maybe. The shuttle carrying the Jedi Master and his three Padawans would touch down on the planet. As the ramp would be laid down on the planet's surface, Josh would hang back and allow the Padawans to take the lead. This was their mission, after all.

It was up to them now. This was their test. But he would be watching carefully.

[member="Douglas Starwind"] - [member="Anora Vahn"] - [member="Dusaro Dresari"]

 

[Dusaro Dresari]

Dusaro was all for the mission. Break up a crime ring? Any day of the week. Busting up a crime ring that was enslaving and kidnapping? Even more so. Though this time, compared to the first slave mission he had done with Joshua, things were diffrent. Before he was a Merc doing a mercy mission. Now he was a Jedi, who was supposed to have the mindset of one. If he had that proper mindset, well, that was to be seen. That was what the mission itself was partly for after all. All he could do was his best, and show how far he had come. Made things plain, straightforward and simple. Just how he liked it.

Dusaro went ahead and stepped down the ramp, looking around the planets surface and getting familiar with what the place looked like. It wasn't anywhere he recognised but with how big the galaxy was, that was not exactly suprising. "First proper mission as a Jedi... Lets do our best." He said with a grin, to no one in paticular.

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"] / [member="Douglas Starwind"] \ [member="Anora Vahn"]

 

[Douglas Starwind]

This mission definitely struck a cord within Doug. The reason he had even met Josh in the first place and discovered his force sensitivity was due to him trying to save his parents from a very similar kind of people that they're here to stop. Compared to before, he wasn't just some bumbling farmer with a blaster either. He was now a Jedi Padawan utilizing a weapon akin to a lightsaber and was a bit more trained with his capabilities as well. It likely would be a bit more simple than last time as it isn't just him and his now-Master. Josh was going to be hanging on the sides unless he needed to intervene, but he was still there and Doug would have the primary assistance of his fellow Padawans Dusaro and Anora. Hopefully things would go smoothly.

Doug would step down the ramp onto the surface of the planet alongside Dusaro, glancing around himself. It was always fascinating to him to see these different kinds of planets with their own quirks on the surface. He had lived on a planet that was pretty much solely a desert his whole life after all. "Yeah... Let us do so indeed." He said lightheartedly, having heard Dusaro musing out loud about doing their best.

 

[Anora Vahn]

Out of everyone involved in this mission, Anora seemed to be the only one without experience in these sorts of matters. Breaking up a crime ring was all well and good, and the fact that slavery was involved only made matters more urgent naturally; those things didn't make Anora feel any less nervous about dishing out justice to slavers. Sure, there were organizations that were far more dangerous, and made slave rings look like child's play. But those sorts of situations had always been more 'horror story' to the girl, while slavers were a much more real reality.

A reality that made her take a deep breath and let it out slowly as she followed Dusaro and Douglas down the ramp. She squint a little, as if it would help her see further as she looked around just as the others had. Though when the boys spoke up she shifted her attention to them before sighing and nodding in agreement.

Doing her best seemed agreeable enough. It was all anyone could ask for, right? So long as proverbial hell didn't break loose, the three of them should be able to handle it. And if not? Well, that's why their Master was there.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Josh simply hung in the back, his hands in his pockets as he walked behind them, with the hood up on his Jedi Master's Robes. He was able to sense the emotions they held. The nerves, the excitement, everything. But when the real test came, then that was when they would show just what truly lay within.

As they walked into the village, they could feel a sense of dread wash over them. It wasn't all that crowded. There were plenty of buildings, but many seemed to be inside, with many homes looking as though they'd been recently barricaded from the inside, ones that could be removed from the inside when the danger passed.

A lone woman was walking their way though, when a hooded man would arise from the shadows and point a blaster at her head. She let out a shriek, and another would pop out from behind her and clamp a hand over her mouth, keeping her quiet. If they listened, they could hear something about credits.

Josh would watch this scene with no emotion in his face under the hood. He would look to [member="Anora Vahn"] and then to [member="Douglas Starwind"] and of course, to [member="Dusaro Dresari"] in turn. He wanted to help. Badly. But he'd restrain himself. This was their mission. It was up to them to decide, and decide quickly.

 

[Dusaro Dresari]

Dusaro didn't like the place. And not just because of the feeling of dread either, though that didn't help he supposed. It was the barricaded homes. Abandoned streets were bad enough, but when the citizenry took to outright barricading their homes... That was never good.

Dusaro say the woman, and was about to speak to her untill the man popped out with the blaster, and then the other came up behind her. 'Son ofa shutta!' He swore in his mind as he mentally thought on what to do. No blaster, only had a lightsaber. Lightsaber would not help here, too far away... The force? He didn't have anything else better that could be used to seperate the man with the blaster from the woman. A well placed force pull should work. "You two see if you can push the man down behind her" Dusaro said quickly, starting to move forward fast and raise up left hand and focus, before pulling his hand back and closing it into a first, force pulling the mans blaster to himself, attempting to disarm him. Though even if he didn't he would keep on running forward, aiming to tackle him down to the ground and get one of them pinned down, literally. He hoped the other two might be able to do something about the other man. While he did not obviously appear to have a weapon, it was very likely he did, and he would need to be pushed apart from the woman with all due haste.

Just in case, he dropped his left hand swiftly down to his lightsaber hilt, getting ready to deflect a blaster bolt. Just because Dusaro could take a blaster bolt and live did not mean he wanted too.

For a moment, Dusaro thought, perhaps he was being impaitent and rushed in too early. Sure, he could wait till they stole her credits, ambush them and take the money. But with how barricaded everything was, and the general feeling of dread he got, waiting felt like a bad idea. And there was no guarantee they would leave her after they had the credits. Such were his thoughts as he made the decision to act in the moment.

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"] [member="Anora Vahn"] [member="Douglas Starwind"]

 

[Douglas Starwind]

The town that the group had walked into definitely was making Doug a bit uneasy as well. The emptiness, barricaded buildings... It was just a sad sight. Nothing seemed to be going on, though... At least so he thought.

A bit in the distance, he made out a woman and before any of the four could even make note of her presence, two men had grabbed onto her and seemed to be ready to do something to her. Could have been a robbery, but he couldn't make out everything that was being said. Nonetheless, it was time for the gang to take action. Dusaro had opted to take on the man who was pointing the gun at the troubled woman while suggesting to him and Anora to go for the man holding onto her.

He had to put his faith into the Force as he wouldn't be able to just use his lightsaber-ish weapon to get over there in time. He clenched his left fist and a vein on the side of his head seemed to bulge slightly. He then reeled his fist back and shot his hand forward, opening it into a palm. A force push akin to a very strong, concentrated wind would blow at the man holding onto the woman in an attempt to knock him away. Whatever the result, Doug nodded his head towards Anora, grabbed and turned on his saber weapon with his right hand, and charged over towards the downed mugger. He made sure to keep his saber up in a defensive manner just in case.

Maybe they were acting a bit hasty, but they couldn't just stand around and do nothing. It probably was not a good idea to do so given the dreary circumstances...

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"] [member="Anora Vahn"] [member="Dusaro Dresari"]

 

[Anora Vahn]

Always rushing...why did boys always rush into things? They had all undoubtedly felt the same sense of dread as the small group had made their approach. The sights this place had to offer were the sort that reached right into a person's chest and tugged relentlessly at their heartstrings - if the person had a heart to begin with, of course. It was a place that made Anora vastly uncomfortably, and yet she pressed through it with calm demeanor.

And then there was movement.

Anora felt her heart leap up somewhere into her throat, but it did not cloud her thoughts or her actions. If anything, the adrenaline made her focus more clearly. So when the boys immediately dove into action, the brunette groaned softly to herself before taking off as well. She managed to catch stride with Doug, and after he had sent his force push at the man holding the woman hostage, Anora sent a second wave of a similar - albeit somewhat weaker - force push.

She had no clue if that would be enough, but she too activated her saber weapon, ready for whatever retaliation may or may not come their way.


[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"], [member="Dusaro Dresari"], [member="Douglas Starwind"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Dusaro had taken the lead, and Josh nodded his head in approval. Patience was good... But so was knowing when to wait, and when to act. Dusaro had made the best possible decision here. The blaster would fly out of the man's hand, and land in Dusaro's. The woman would cry out and run just as the other man would quickly pull out a blaster and begin to open fire on Dusaro.

Of course, this didn't mean that the disarmed man was out of the fight. He would pull out a small object and take out the pin. Josh would gentle step back, knowing what was coming. A thermal detonator would cause a serious issue if it exploded just below them.

"Thermal" Josh would advise gently toward his Padwans. He would not directly interfere, but with a thermal detonator being thrown on the first mission, he couldn't help but at least advise them to stay alive.

[member="Douglas Starwind"] - [member="Dusaro Dresari"] - [member="Anora Vahn"]

 

[Dusaro Dresari]

Dusaro was almost suprised that he had been able to so effectivly disarm the man of his blaster, nearly fumbling it when it came into his hand. He had never actually tried that against a person before so he had no idea how effective it would be. He did not get time to gawk as the other man started firing blaster shots at him, activating his lightsaber and bringing it up to deflect the first shot, shifting his body and deflecting the second. The first hit a nearby house dangerously close to a window, the second went straight into the ground in front of him. He really needed to get better at blaster deflection, but thankfully no one would be harmed.

And when the third shot would start to come he was in range, lashing out with his lightsaber at the mans blaster to knock it up and into the air with a fast slash, a textbook disarming slash. It was not untill after Dusaro had made the slash that he heard Joshua say 'thermal', at which point his mind went 'oh kark'. But he could not see it, and had quite possibly run passed it, so he had to trust the other two to deal with it.

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"] [member="Anora Vahn"] [member="Douglas Starwind"]

 

[Douglas Starwind]

Doug too had heard the word "thermal" being spoken by thy mighty Master. He looked at the man who lost his blaster to Dusaro and noticed a metallic sphere emitting some kind of beeping sound that was a bit grating to the ears. Something about that thing brought up bad thoughts in his mind. If he recalled, they were violently explosive devices. He'd heard about them in the past through his time on the giant desert sphere he once called home.

During his rush, Doug had mostly closed the gap between him and the two baddies so maybe he could get rid of the device before it would detonate. He reached his hand out and with a notably quick force pull, he managed to levitate the device out of the man's hand and into his own. Good... Good... He couldn't just throw it to the side now. There were buildings around them with people inside. The only logical place for it to go... The air. If he threw it with enough force, it should stay in the air and not cause and collateral damage.

Doug reeled his arm down and then threw it upwards, sending the thermal detonator a fair distance into the air. He really hoped this would work. He had to act quickly here after all so he didn't exactly have much time to think of anything more... Formal.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

The thugs had been dealt with, but another issue hung that needed to be addressed. Dusaro wouldn't be able to get to the thermal in time, but luckily for the group, Starwind had decided to try and handle it while Dusaro was dealing with the thugs. Josh would watch then, as Doug would catch the thermal and throw it in the air.

There was one problem.

It was coming back down.

Josh knew that Doug hadn't thrown it hard enough, and as he saw it begin to come down, his eyes would widen. While he hadn't intended to interfere, they were too preoccupied with the thugs to notice... A rookie mistake, but Josh needed to interfere.

He would raise a hand, and the thermal would stop in the air, detonating just above their heads. The remaining thugs would take advantage of the ruckus to make a run for it, dropping any stolen valuables in the process.

[member="Douglas Starwind"] - [member="Dusaro Dresari"] - [member="Anora Vahn"]

 

[Dusaro Dresari]

Dusaro was in the middle of trying to figure out exactly how to deal with the now disarmed thug infront of him. He didnt intend to kill the thug but leaving him as is would be a very bad choice. After a split seconds worth of thought, he made a slash with the 'blunt' trianing lightsaber at the mans temple in a move to try and 'knock him out'. Halfway through the swing the thermal went off above the group and it caused Dusaro to reel back, his lightsaber harmlessly going over the thugs head, who then started to immediantly run away in the confusion along with the others. Dusaro started to take aim at the leg of the thugs, using the pistol he had pulled to himself earlier, but stopped himself as he got ready to pull the trigger. 'I didn't come here packing heat for a reason' He thought to himself, and after seeing that anything they had stolen had been dropped he tossed the pistol to the side and checking to make sure the area clear before turning to the woman from earlier if she was still there.

"Are you alright ma'am? Seems they dropped anything they had stolen." He asked in a gentle tone, turning off his lightsaber.

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"] [member="Douglas Starwind"] [member="Anora Vahn"]

 

[Douglas Starwind]

Doug heard the explosion in the air as well, which caused him to stagger for a moment. He looked to the sides and noticed that the thugs were running off, but at least they were getting away empty handed rather than... Full handed. Doug took a deep breath and turned off his own lightsaber. He looked around at the ground to inspect what was dropped. They had more stolen valuables than he had initially thought so it was good that they didn't manage to slither away with any of them. He then looked at Dusaro, Anora, and the woman that they had saved. Everyone appeared to be okay so it seemed like this was a small victory in the grand scheme of the mission.

Doug scratched his head as Dusaro began to speak to the woman to make sure she was fine as well as remark on the dropped goods. He did not really have much to add on at the moment.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

They'd done well, at the least. The woman seemed fine, and thanked them for their help before skittering off. The Jedi Master would walk forward, arms behind his back.

"You both need to be more aware of your surroundings" Josh would chide, quirking a brow toward the three with a scolding hint in his voice. "If I hadn't stepped in, the three of you and the civilian would have been splattered all across the wall. You need to be constantly alert. Let the Force be your friend, let it guide you, let it help you. Let it enhance your senses and be your second pair of eyes and ears. If you don't... Well... The next thermal detonator that gets thrown your way may very well be your last."

The Jedi would shake his head as he walked ahead of them.

"Come. We've made enough commotion, more will be here soon."

[member="Douglas Starwind"] [member="Anora Vahn"] [member="Dusaro Dresari"]

 

[Dusaro Dresari]

After the woman left Dusaro scanned over the area carefully until he hear Joshua speaking, turning his attention to his mentor.

He winced a bit at the scolding, awkwardly shifting around as he thought through the situation. He was used to giving his trust over completly to his instincts and six senses when in combat, the entire force thing was still new to him. But Dusaro knew far better then to try and use that as an excuse, that was the very reason the situation got to where it was. All it meant was that he needed to train harder, learn more, experince more. When Joshua finished speaking he gave a diligent nod.

"Yes sir." Dusaro turned around after Joshua walked past and started following behind him.

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"] [member="Douglas Starwind"] [member="Anora Vahn"]

 

[Douglas Starwind]

A bead of sweat trailed down the side of Doug's head at the remarks made by Josh. He figured he had tossed it high enough into the air, but he acted too hastily. He was still not entirely used to this whole Jedi deal despite the time that had passed since he had first met the man who was now his master. He looked down in an ashamed manner. "I am sorry for my hasty action, Master. I will do better next time..." He said quietly. He HAD to make sure he did better. This was not some game or simulation. This was real. The thoughts lingered in his head for a moment, but they slowly began to die down.

He took a deep breath, slowly raised his head, and began to follow after him and Dusaro towards their next location.

[member="Dusaro Dresari"] [member="Anora Vahn"] [member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

The Jedi Master would let out a sigh. What in the world was he going to do with these two? Geez, if he hadn't been here, they would have been dead. And on a simple crime run too. Dusaro he was surprised he hadn't had the awareness, having been a combatant all his life. Starwind, he could understand, the kid had been nothing but a farmboy before he had become a Jedi. But Dresari? Well, he supposed everyone had flaws. And they were still learning the ways of the Force...

He supposed he could overlook it this time.

"Das dem, sir! 'Das the fellas who took out our boys!"

They were surrounded.

On all sides, they were surrounded. It seemed that the town was closely monitored by this gang, and they hadn't exactly been subtle... Josh had been right to advise them not to cause too much of a scene or risk attracting attention. Well, the attention was on them now. With blasters trained on them, the Jedi Master would look toward the clear leader of the operation. Certainly not in charge of the whole thing, but perhaps an officer... The leader himself wouldn't just put themselves in harm's way like this. They never did.

"Well, this is hardly fair" The Jedi Master would quip, cracking his neck and stretching his shoulders out. His lightsaber would fly from his belt and into his outstretched hand.

"I suppose I can lend you a hand."

[member="Douglas Starwind"] [member="Dusaro Dresari"] [member="Anora Vahn"]

 

[Dusaro Dresari]

Dusaro was mentally beating himself a bit. He had made a bad call, something he didn't usually do. He was far too used to being around other people who were trained soldiers, from green to experinced. That was not the two people he was padawans with however. It was possible that it was the first time Doug had even seen an actual thermal detonater. He made a mental note, go over military grade weapons and systems with Douglas and Anora later. Even if they were not going to be using them as Jedi, knowing how they funcioned and how to deal with such common weapons was crucial.

And then his sharp ears twitched, his instincts kicking into gear. A combination of his fighters instinct and the force as the group that had them surrounded made themselves known, his training lightsaber coming quickly into his hands. 'Oh what i wouldn't give for my blaster right now.' A flashbang or smoke grenade would make life so much easier and safer right about now too. Instead he had a training lightsaber.. Close enough. But this was not a situation he was familiar with. If he had a blaster he could go guns blazing, try a few tricks. He knew how to survive in that situation. As a Jedi, with two fellow Padawans and a Master? This was one confused former merc who's mind was flashing to figure out how to adapt. But their opponent didn't seem to intent on going guns blazing instantly against a group of four Jedi, no matter how inexperinced they may or may not look.

That gave him time to recover, and start to focus on the force. Calm... Calm... Come on, you can do it. It clicked, his focus honing down as he looked at the group around them. Now was not the time to act, though he most certainly wanted to. He kept on guard, waiting. Joshua had just said he would join in after all, but he was also waiting with his guard up, not yet attacking. So, feeling this was a good choice himself, Dusaro didn't move, kept defensive, and waited.

"I get the feeling we need both hands." Was Dusaro's light hearted remark to Joshua's comment.

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"] [member="Douglas Starwind"] [member="Anora Vahn"]

 

[Douglas Starwind]

Just when things had seemed to die down for the moment, more of the gang members ran in and it appeared that the group was surrounded. Doug sighed and grumbled a little before he grabbed his training lightsaber and made sure it was in an active state. He was going to have to get used to this sort of activity sooner or later. The thoughts of possibly messing up began to linger in his head again, but he couldn't dwell on it. It would only make him make a mistake if he feared that he would make another mistake. He took a deep breath and began to focus. The Force was with him. He had to remember that.

He raised the lightsaber and glanced around at the others. It seemed that thy mighty Master was actually going to get involved in this skirmish. It was not too out of the realm as there were a lot of those gang members around them.

"Yeah... The extra help would be nice." Doug briefly said in a quiet voice towards what Josh said. They probably did need it after all.

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"] [member="Dusaro Dresari"] [member="Anora Vahn"]