Trip to Ilum

[Ava Solborne]

​

CORUSCANT​

The Capitol of The Republic​

04:14 AM​

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Dominator stood near the Jedi Temple. The day had just come. He finally had a chance to create his own lightsaber. He had asked a Republic Gunship from his 'friend', V-34S's master, so some fellow padawans could come with him. An announcement was on notice-board, so maybe some padawans know about the trip. But yes, the time is early, so maybe some padawans still sleep. But... the ligtsabers have to be made, so...

Dominator had already heard, that some padawans have their own lightsabers, but some of them don't. Dominator was already nervous, because he was supposed to lead the trip. And it was really hard, because Dominator has only led something for a few times. On Umbara, no one had the chance to rule something. There was a president. Okay, more like a dictator, but the people loved him. But he didn't accept any more rulers. He didn't even trust his own family, so he killed them. That happens, when a person goes crazy...

Dominator saw a butterfly flying around and thought: A good day it is... Even butterflies fly around... But then he remembered. Coruscant was so urban planet, that butterflies only existed on some certain places, not in free air. It was a miracle. Dominator saw a real butterfly for the first time. He knew, what they were, but... He had never seen so beautiful thing. The insect was so pretty... His pure, light yellow wings, what were a little bit transparent, moved so calmly, like the life was so relaxing and... Easy.

 

[Jsc]

Jedi Padawan Karen Roberts approached. She was away from Tython for a few days and had heard about the venture swiftly. Since this was an away mission, she wore her G.Mark II armor and held her helm underneath her arm.

"Good morning Jedi Dominator. I look forward to traveling with you today."

She gave a bow of her head and waited on his lead.

 

[Ava Solborne]

Dominator lookaed at Karen and smiled. Then he bowed to her and said: "Good morning, padawan Roberts. So you want to create a lightsaber too?" Dominator asked. Well, at least his favourite fellow padawan wanted to come. Maybe there were other people too, but it was still too early to go. Maybe they should wait about fifteen minutes?

 

[Jsc]

"Oh no. I have a lightsaber. But I'm a certified Gunship Pilot. So you've got yourself a wingman. Hehe."

She smiled and waved away the comment. It was early. Perhaps others would show up too.

 

[Ava Solborne]

"Oh..." Dominator said and nodded. Some clouds started to fade and the sun raised. Dominator would say it is about 4:20 AM, but he wasn't sure. Still, they shouldn't go now. They should wait about ten minutes. "How is your work on Tython going?" He asked from miss Roberts.

 

[Jsc]

Karen played with her helmet,

"Slow. We are expanding across an entire planet. It takes time and patience. Weather, terrain, and the local creatures make it slow going. But we'll get it done. The Jedi will have a homeworld again. Soon."

Truthfully it was making her rich too. She'd set up camps, created local businesses, and funded loans herself to get the place off the ground. In five years? Karen would make her money back with interest and more. But for now it was slow goings.

"So? Who else signed up?"

 

[Ava Solborne]

"Don't know... There was no formal signing, but I think someone might come." Dominator answered to Karen and held his hand in front of him. That was because the butterfly flew in front of him. If Dominator raised his hand, the butterfly flew right on the hand and walked around. "You know... I might want to help you. Tython is a good planet. And I love doing things like... um... Growing cities and making planets more... populous and other things." Dominator said. Miss Roberts' actions were great. He did a lot of things for the Jedi Order and that was something Dominator liked.

 

[Jsc]

"Oh? I thought you were busy trying to bring balance and equality to the Force? But... Yes. We could always use the help. It will take years to get Tython back to her old self again. So, no rush. Like a good things. It just takes time."

She again placed her helmet underneath her arm and tugged at her hair. She wondered if Equa had invited anybody.

 

[Ava Solborne]

"Well, balancing the Force is the hardest thing I have ever done and I need to do other things too, so... Recreating Tython would be the best." Dominator said and then smiled. The butterly flew away and Dominator realized, that the time is too early. They should most likely fly to Ilum in the near time.

 

[Jsc]

"I'm... I'm sure it is. Ahem. ...And yes. I'm sure Ben and I would be very grateful to you if you helped rebuild the world with us. It is an honorable pursuit indeed."

Karen didn't know what 'balancing' the Force meant. But she wasn't going to question it. She wasn't the biggest fan of prophecies, visions, or ancient ideologies. She was a builder. She built things. And she had a whole planet to fix before she could worry about 'balancing' anything other than her budget. And, I mean? ...Who knows? Maybe the Force would balance itself, one day.

Roberts found a wall and hopped on top of it. Sitting down to wait. And that might have been a bad decision in hindsight though. G Armor wasn't meant to be comfortable. Ouch, it hurt her butt.

 

[Ava Solborne]

Dominator didn't say anything. Maybe miss Roberts didn't know, what the balancing means, but Dominator was sure that was the only thing he could do to cure his craziness. "Maybe we should go?" Dominator asked.

 

[Jsc]

"Well..."

She hesitated and look about. She didn't see anyone else coming.

"I suppose they could take their own ship and meet us there. Just leave a note on the Notice Board. If anyone else wants to come? They are free to follow us."

Karen smiled and nodded. Jumping from her seat and clutching her helm with pride. She was ready to go.

 

[Ava Solborne]

Dominator nodded and ran to the notice board. He quickly took the tablet, what sat near the board and quickly designed a new notice. He printed it and placed it on the notice board, on the old notice. Then he ran back to miss Roberts and said: "Done! Let's go now."

 

[Jsc]

"Haha. Great. Are you driving or am I?"

She smiled and walked up the boarding ramp. A Gunship was large enough to hold 60 people inside. So they would have the whole bird to themselves.

 

[Ava Solborne]

"I think you are more talented in these things..." Dominator answered, referring to his 'supreme' landing skills. He walked into the ship and looked around. Wow... He thought. It was... um... Larger than he had thought.

 

[Jsc]

"Yeah. It's a military grade troop carrier. ...But. As long as it has a hyperdrive? It's perfect."

Karen donned her helmet and sealed the clamp. Then she took to the pilot's seat and fastened herself in. There was a co-pilot seat situated directly behind her. It was elevated so that both pilot's could look out the glass. Usually it was for the primary gunner too. But Karen switched all systems to primary control. Equa could sit behind her and didn't have to worry about accidentally firing the guns.

"Take a seat Jedi Dominator. I'll have us in the air in thirty seconds."

She switched to pre-flight and ran all the tests. Air, thrusters, repulsars, fuel, and nav-com checks. It all looked good.

"Callsign for today is... Jericho Bravo One. ...Alright."

She moved a heavy armored glove to the com switch and called the tower,

"Tower Command this is bird, Jericho Bravo One. Requesting clearance and an exit vector. Over."
~ "Bird Jericho Bravo One. This is Tower Five. Clearance received. Follow corridor twenty nine to exit. God speed Jedi. Tower out." ~
"Roger Tower. Moving to exit."

Karen hit the engines and the Gunship blasted forward as massive speeds. They would be off-world in only seconds.

...

"So Equa? ...Why Ilum?"

 

[Ava Solborne]

Dominator quickly moved to the place behind padawan Roberts and listened to her conversation with the tower. When miss Roberts asked him about the destination, he answered: "Well, I have been in many libraries and I have discovered, that Ilum was an important planet for the Republic before the Empire Era. Actually, for the Jedi Order. There was a cave. A cave full off diamonds and other things, but there were many lightsaber crystals. Jedi Masters led trips to Ilum and let younglings get their crystal over there. So that's why I chose Ilum."

 

[Jsc]

"Good pick then. I didn't know that."

She moved the throttle to full and pulled them into the atmosphere. The sky turned from black to blue as the sunrise touched the horizon. They moved through the morning clouds and then into thin-space. The sun separated from the planet and took it's place in the depths of space. The sky grew again from blue to black and the stars began to appear against the glass. They had gone from the brightest morning of dawn to the black darkness of space in only seconds. It felt like the whole day had already passed right before their eyes.

"What kind of lightsaber are you planning on making? I know many of them are different."

She keyed in the Hyperspace cords and let the computer hum.

 

[Ava Solborne]

"I would like a double-bladed lightsaber or a curved one, but they are both... um... Sith things. But I would like to create a green-bladed lightsaber. Because green is the color of Jedi Consulars." Dominator said, trying to hide his feelings. It was just amazing flight, though it just started. The way they left the planet was so beautiful...

 

[Jsc]

"Don't worry about it. My lightsaber is a synthetic double-saber too. I enjoy the utility. Two blades is fun."

Karen had built her lightsaber decades ago. It was old now and she was having thoughts about building another. No synthetic crystal this time. But a real one.

"...What do you know about building lightsabers Equa? This is your first time right?"

The nav-com beeped that it was ready for Hyperspace. So Karen hit the button and launched them forward. The stars became lines against the glass as they accelerated into warp space. The Gunship shuttered for a moment and then became still. Hyperspace was a very quiet place to be.

"Okay. Two hours and we'll be there. Our course is a newer and faster one than normal."

She smiled. She liked driving. It was like tasting freedom.