New Faces

[Jason Na'moda]

Jason wandered the halls of the Valiant, interested in the goings on of the Jedi haven. He stood by the transparisteel window into one of the larger training rooms, watching a couple of force sensitive children being taught to master their talents. Admittedly, this was a serious setback for an organisation which had once acted as the peace keepers of the galaxy, but it was a start to reclaiming that.

Jason himself worried that as Jedi were being trained in an age of war such as this was, whether they'd lose the element of inner peace that Ka had taught him Jedi should strive for. It also brought the question of whether that was really needed. Being a Jedi was as much an ideology as a profession, if that was the right word, but did they need to not be filled with righteous anger. Agh, it wasn't his place to wonder about these things, leave that to the scholars and people who might be able to make considered decisions about it. Jason himself was just a malcontent turned Jedi, and wasn't even sure he was in control of his own destiny, but he was definitely going to make attempt to complete Ka's wishes and destroy the Sith. Somehow, some way.

Lost in his thoughts, Jason found himself wandering past the pilots lounge, although now it seemed to have been turned into more of a bar for off-duty personnel. Stepping onto the threshold, Jason looked out over the various clusters of unfamiliar faces and found himself alone in the crowd. He tried looking for any of the Rogue Squadron who he'd met over the comms system and had seen their mugshots since, or simply any friendly faces who he could talk freely to, feeling like he could use some socialising.

[Akasha Khan]

"Uuuuuuuurrrrrrrggghhhhhbbblllghhhhhhh..."

And that was how Akasha Khan learned she couldn't hold her liquor.

The young Orryxian was facedown at a table, and beside her sat an empty mug whose inside was slick with a viscous, blood-red film. She'd ordered the Cizeri blood wine because she thought it'd be similar to an Orryxian Catsblood. No one told her that blood wine was as hard as gin, or that the bite of the alcohol was so well hidden by the sweet, spicy, bloody bouquet.

It hadn't been easy to get the barkeep to part with it. She'd told him that Orryxians aged differently from most other species, which was the truth. She'd only exaggerated a little... Said she was ten standard years, which would make her twenty by galactic standards, when in fact she was eight, or a human equivalent of sixteen. But even that math was hard for her to process in her current state of mental annihilation.

Maiur's eyes, when her new master had given her license to try whatever vices she chose, Akasha never imagined there'd be consequences.

An R-series serving droid wheeled up to her table and warbled an interrogative, making the black-furred felinoid squeeze her paws over her flattened ears. "I'm fine," she rasped. "Just... get me a water. And keep it doooooown."

[Jason Na'moda]

Heh. It was a start. Jason spotted a young Orryxian who seemed pretty out of it. Face down and slurring viciously, maybe she would need a hand. Jason walked over, taking the water from the droid and putting it down in front of the girl as he sat in front of her. With a single glance he assessed what she'd been drinking and carefully retrieved it from her. "Yeah, it's never a good idea to go for the blood wine unless you're a Gamorrean or just plain stupid. And I figure you're neither." He pushed the water towards her. "So. Drinking underage?" He'd gauged her age quickly. "I hope for your sake your master doesn't know what you're doing."

[Akasha Khan]

Ugh, a good Samaritanian. Couldn't the whole galaxy just agree to disappear for a while?

"'M not underage, just a little young," she mumbled, and her paw groped blindly until it closed on the sweat glass of water. She lifted her head and opened her eyes, which were partly covered by nictitating membranes. She took a slow, steady sip of water, swallowed, and made a terrible face.

"My master said I could do whatever I want," she said. Then she groaned and clutched her pounding head. "The bastard."

[Jason Na'moda]

Jason smiled in amusement at the remorse for her actions. That was amusing, but he clearly remembered doing something similar back in the day on Corellia. That was painful. He didn't want to think about what it would be like with blood wine. "Think of it this way. It'll all be better by tomorrow....actually no, day after perhaps." He flashed a cheeky grin, despite being aware that it could incense her. "Good idea for a trial by fire though. I guess it'll help show that your master knows best or something. But I dunno." He signalled the service droid to bring over a bowl of savoury breads and nibbles. As it was set down on the table, he took one and pushed the bowl towards her. "Have one. It'll soak up the alcohol and help you feel a bit better."
He thought back to the many times he was in her position. He'd had to learn the hard way about the various ways to stave off the pain of a premature hangover. As he did so, he decided not to extend his healing ability to her. Her master had probably set her roaming for the reason of learning that not all restrictions were without reason and he didn't want to get in the way of that. Besides, he didn't want to make it too easy for her. Otherwise she might do worse next time. Alcohol poisoning was not fun.

[Akasha Khan]

Akasha squinted at the bowl and speared a slice of rye bread. It was dry and unappealing on her palate, but it took away some of the rotten flavor that made her think a sewer rat had crawled into her mouth and died.

"Thanks," she said, and she finished off the slice and washed it down with another sip of water.

"Maiur's mane, that was just one glass. You should see my master drink. The woman's insane."

She rubbed a paw across her rheumy eyes to get a better look at her benefactor. "So who are you? Spokesperson for the Jedi Temperance League?"

[Jason Na'moda]

Jason smiled as she ate. "No problem. We're all here to help each other, right?" He signalled to the droid to order himself a tumbler of Corellian Brandy and turned his attention back to her while he waited, interested by the stories of her master, sounded like someone who knew a good time. Definitely someone to hang out with. "Who's your master then? Actually, don't worry, I don't know ANYONE here yet. Aside from some of the Rogues who I spoke to over the comms when that big Star Destroyer rumbled us." He extended a hand with a smile, intending to shake her paw if she could coordinate to that task. "I'm Jason Na'moda. Barely arrived from the Rebellion before the Impstar was on top of you all." He laughed freely at her comment about the Temperance League, taking the brandy in one hand and having a drink. It was nice to cut loose, considering he'd been on edge for a while. And earning friends was a good start to building alliances here. "They couldn't make me join that. If I'd been here when you started drinking that." He indicated the blood wine sitting innocently beside her. "Then I would've bought a round for the whole bar. Made a party out of it. There's nothing like a good party. Remember that, young one." He smiled, only mocking her a little bit in a friendly way.

[Akasha Khan]

"I can't guarantee that I will," she muttered, but the color was starting to return to the the pink flesh inside her ears. "But if we have one, I'm drinking something milder."

Now that her head was starting to clear, she looked him over. He wasn't especially bad-looking for a human, but she didn't see the appeal in humanoids, especially the ones without fur.

"My master's Tionne Thanewulf," she said. "And she has a somewhat... unorthodox outlook for a Jedi, I'm told. My name's Akasha Khan. Where do you come from, Jason Na'moda? Is there another Jedi convent I should know about?"

[Jason Na'moda]

Jason memorised the name. Her master sounded familiar and he wondered if some of the pilots had been throwing around stories or something, but when he tried to remember nothing came to mind so he dropped the subject, storing only her name. He turned his mind back to her as she asked about where he came from and a nostalgic smile crossed his face.

"Not at all. I've been with the Alliance for many years, hiding my force talents with the reasoning that the less people know the better. Many years back I was stranded on Naboo for three years, hiding from Imperials, and that's where I met my master, Ka Ornada. He was a Jedi in the time of the Old Republic and had been living as a hermit since Order 66. He taught me intensively all he knew, taking a young rebellious malcontent and turning him into a Jedi Knight. He gave me his old starfighter and together we ran small missions into the cities, bringing what we could to any people who were suffering. Learning in the dense forests was wonderful, so much beauty." A shadow crossed his face as he began to relate of darker times and the death of his master. "Three years after I landed the Imps decided that the legend of two watchful Jedi protectors must be true and dispatched several legions to comb the forest for us. They burnt half of it to the ground and I was forced to leave while they gunned Ka down. Since then I've been with the Rebellion, doing my best to frak with the Imps. I was held in captivity as a slave for a couple of years before breaking free, and punishing the man responsible for the misery of myself and others. More years with the Alliance, and here I am, sitting finally in a place where I can display my force talents freely. And maybe learn a bit too from you all." He left out the mission Ka gave him. She didn't need to know that, and either way, it wasn't something to burden a padawan with. Especially if she wasn't his padawan.

[Akasha Khan]

Jason's story was more than Akasha could reasonably process in her current state, but she caught the gist. Hidden powers, hermit master, Imperials, slavery. It was at thate last point that her ears perked up.

"You punished the man responsible for your suffering?" she said. "And here I thought revenge was forbidden for Jedi."

Somehow, there was a sharpness in her tone that cut through her inebriation. She was more interested than was probably healthy.

[Jason Na'moda]

Jason hesitated, certainly many would view it as a brush with the dark side, perhaps a dangerous one too, but he wouldn't apologise for his actions, nor would he take them back if he were to repeat the experience. He had been tortured and humiliated each day, beaten to within an inch of his life, reduced to nothing but a shadow of his former self, but it had been an amalgamate of hope and anger which kept him alive. The anger he would repress each day, only to find it springing back all the stronger. It was righteous anger though, in the face of the bad treatment of other slaves, not only himself. "The man pulled a blaster on me." He said solidly, returning to the amiable smile, if slightly tempered in memory of the experience. "I was forced to stop him in self defence." Yes the man had been holding a blaster, but Jason's memory blurred as to whether he was about to fire or not.

He smiled at the padawan. "Ignore me before I bore you back to sleep." He gestured around the Valiant. "Tell me, what else do young bored Jedi like ourselves do around here? For a mobile Jedi Praxeum there's not a lot for a new arrival to do around here."

[Akasha Khan]

Akasha didn't much care about his self-justification. It only made all the sense in the universe to her - the man had hurt Jason terribly, regularly and repeatedly, and Jason hurt him back enough to make sure it never happened again. She'd have done the same in a heartbeat. Still hoped to have the opportunity.

"Order blood wine and drink ourselves stupid," she said with a septic smile. "Honestly, I'm pretty new here myself. Seems there's always someone dueling sabers on the Whaladon, though that doesn't much help me. No saber. Just one of these--"

Sssshhunk CRASH!

She'd pulled out her Echani fighting staff with an unfortunate overestimation of her remaining faculties of coordination. It had started as an innocuous looking white cylinder about twice as long as her paw, but when she gripped it and gave it a shake, it expanded suddenly in both directions into a tapered staff about five and a half feet long. Unfortunately, her wine mug had been in the way, and after a minor explosion most of it was now buried in the adjacent wall in dagger-sharp pieces.

[Jason Na'moda]

Jason smiled at her descriptions of the things to do for a Jedi. Namely, things no Jedi should do. "Definitely sounds like trying." He laughed, tipping back more of his brandy. She tried to get something out and Jason raised an eyebrow at the cylinder, until it extended violently, knocking her mug flying. Reflexes razor sharp, Jason turned and gripped it with the force, halting its forward motion and reversing it, bringing it to a controlled stop above its original resting place, before lowering it gently. "You ought to be more careful." He smiled. "You could hit someone."

[Akasha Khan]

Akasha cringed, still holding the the staff in a wobbling grasp, and retracted the weapon and clipped it back onto her belt. "Riiiight..."

She busied herself with another slice of bread, hoping to recover at least some of her dignity. "It's an Echani fighting staff," she said. "I got it from a mercenary warrior on a jungle world I never learned the name of. She and her troops trained me. Darn near killed me, too."

The Orryxian yawned. "I hear we're making landfall before too long, some planet that won't be able to tell us from spice traders. I hope I can get planetside and stretch my legs. Maybe find something small and furry I can hunt. Haven't had a decent live meal in ages."

[Jason Na'moda]

OOC: Sorry for the wait! Holidays and now school, nuff said.

Jason was curious now. Clearly the Orryxian had as much of an interesting back story as he did. He watched as she ate, fascinated by the prospect that each jedi here had stories of hardship every bit as troubling or intriguing as his, and he hadn't exactly lived a quiet life. In the war against the Empire, Purge squads were each more deadly as before, this collection of Knights and Padawans were the most accomplished Jedi in the galaxy, simply by the fact that they had lived through the skirmishes and attacks by the Empire.
Jason grinned at the prospect of this apparently uncoordinated girl hunting, even though he knew it was the alcohol talking. "I might join you. I was trained on Naboo in the swamps, I love nothing better than leaping from tree to tree. There's something pure in it." He also had some parts to buy, in order to retool his starfighter after the battle he had been in accompanying Prent and the Rogues.

[Akasha Khan]

"Ugh, swamps." Akasha shuddered. "Can't stand swamps. Everything so... dirty. No offense."

Of course, a great deal of that sentiment came from her limited experience with the dank, toxic lowlands of her own homeworld, where dank pools gathered under acid rainclouds, breeding flesh-eating slimes and loathsome parasites. There was a reason that a rain-filled swamp was the Orryxian image of hell.

She took another drink of water to flush the image out of her head, then lazily grabbed for a roll. "Y'know, I think it's working," she said. "I'm starting to feel better now. Like my mind's starting t' clear."

If her slurring voice was any indication, exactly the opposite was happening. She took a bite from her roll.

"Hey, Jason," she said, drooping lower, "have y' ever used the Dark Side?"

And then, as if she hadn't just asked a bombshell of a question, her head hit the table with a thunk, and she was fast asleep, purring lightly.

[Jason Na'moda]

Jason nodded with a roguish grin to her comment about swamps, entertained by the thought of a cat-formed alien being afraid of water, by proxy of the swamp. He watched her feline face carefully, knowing it probably wouldn't be good if he had to take her up to the medics to have her stomach pumped. She said those damning words, that it was feeling better, and the slur grew.

Then the question was out, leaving him with a hesitant space of time to answer. Jason opened his mouth halfway to deflect the question. He wasn't sure how to answer. He'd run the line about as close as he could. Especially after being enslaved by that fracker... His brow darkened even as she slumped forward onto the table, purring in sleep. His features relaxed and he sat for a moment, seeing if it was a momentary lapse, but when she didn't rise again and it didn't seem bad, he rose, stepping around the table. Carefully, Jason lifted the Orryxian into his arms and walked the padawan over to a couch in the corner, which was better than being dead to the world on a table. It was that or the med bay, since he couldn't deliver her to her cabin. Setting her down, he supposed he could find her master to sort her out. If she wasn't on her way down. When he had been training with Ka they had shared a bond, such that Jason would know if Ka was in trouble, in pain or sleeping. That was just how it had been, he assumed it was the same with others.