Up and to the Left

[Morgan Evanar]

OOC:
This RP is open if you ask to post. AIM is Morgan Evanar.


IC:

Arcan IV, NRSF Command:


West's office was a typical military affair. Or at least Morgan thought it was: Big, mostly empty desk with a few datapads scattered about and a thermos filled with coffee, long meeting table in the middle of the room with a holoprojector in the center, and lots of star charts. He motioned to a seat, which the Jedi occoupied as the General yawned wide and drew a hand across his face.

"Thanks for coming, but I'll get to the point. You know the the Mk.2's just came in last month, right? Well, we have a replacement part supply problem, specifically, the barrell manufacturer hasn't delivered the last shipment. But the trick is that they think they're making antenas. Start at Sulis and work your way back to the manufacturer." Morgan looked a bit surprised.

"Well, why not send someone from Intel?"

"I'd send one of us, but we stick out worse than you. Intel is stretched thin right now. If someone in the Empire breathes funny, we're getting some sort of report on it."

"So I'm your inconspicous errand boy." He stated factually.

West sighed.

"Pretty much." Nathan passed the Jedi a datapad. "All you need to know is in there. The sooner you can leave, the better."

"Mmhmm."

Morgan walked out of the office, flipping through the pad's information.

Shipping company information, locations, mainifests... looked like everything but the shipment itself was in order.

---

He had given Slade the afternoon off for meditation, and some time to let him take it all in.

The Jedi Master found his Padawan with little trouble.

"Hey. I've got a rather interesting errand to run tommorow. Off planet. Should be interesting. You want to come?"

[Slade Azrrel]

Fire. It was everywhere. All that could be seen was the flickering color of the flames that engulfed everything in sight. His farm - gone, burnt to the ground. The forest - all that was left was burning stumps. His family - Either dead, or being burnt alive. Everything was burning, except for a metre in all directions around him. It was like there was a invisible wall surrounding him, stopping the flames from burning the grass patch that was around him. Then, suddenly, everything changed. Nothing was burning, there was no flames, nothing. It was back to normal. The farm was there, the forest there. Slade looked around, confused. How could this be?

Before Slade had time to even look around in a full circle, he heard the sound of an engine. A spacecraft engine. What would a spacecraft be doing here? Slade watched it, and then it started. The craft, which looked like a modified Shuttle, landed right next to his farm. Several people come out, with dark robes covering there body. They busted down the door of his farm, and then before his eyes, his parents, his family, his farm.. was all burnt to the ground, with nothing remaining. Slade tried to move, but it was as if his body was stone. He felt so heavy, and to even move and inch would topple him over, and break him. Then, suddenly, it was as if time speeded up. The people ran into the craft at amazing speeds, and the ship took off into the air, and was gone within a second.

The flames sprinted past him, and before long, everywhere was as it was before. Flames were everywhere, and everything was once more burnt to ashes. Nothing was left apart from the flickering color of the flames.

“No..” He said softly.. “NO.. NO!” Slade screamed as loud as he could.

And then - he came back to reality. He opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was Morgan, who was moving towards him. Slade looked up at his master, but almost instantly looked away. He didn't want Morgan to see the fear and pain within his eyes, and looking directly at him would show the Jedi Master. Slade had no doubt that Morgan would find out anyway, but it was worth a try to hide it.

“Hey. I've got a rather interesting errand to run tomorrow. Off planet. Should be interesting. You want to come?” Morgan said.

Morgan had either seen Slade trying to hide his pain, or completely missed it. It took a moment, but Slade eventually nodded his head to his master.

“Yeah..”

He nodded his head again, and forced a smile - still not looking towards his master.

“Yeah, I'd like to come.”

[Morgan Evanar]

Morgan nodded. He's hiding something. I'll try and get him to talk tommorow. Don't let this be another Cloak.

His hand twitched involuntarily at the thought of Jeseth, and Morgan let out a deep sigh.

"Be ready at 0700. If you need to talk about anything, my door is open."

One of the many times I wish I was more empathic with the Force. The thought drifted through his head admist the other important things he was juggling in his brain. At least there would be time to talk on the Tea.

"Master Evanar? We're trying to install the new ID transponder, but..." It was one of the techs working on the White Rhino Tea.

"The computer basically told you to go to hell until I get there."

"Actually, thats vertabim."

Morgan chuckled a bit, and the tech sighed.

The White Rhino Tea was a modified YT-2400, which was a common enough thing in the galaxy. Modified weaponry, shield, power core... that was the mundane part. What made this ship interesting was the extrodinarily grumpy astromech that had effectively bonded itself to the ships computer.

"CAD, I'm here. Let the guy do his job. Its just a new ID transponder. Let them see where it is. And behave" An insectiod Verpine chittered an apreciative tone, and removed a wall panel.

"If he gives you two any more trouble, let me know." Morgan waved the comlink, and the ship's intercom let loose a noise that could be equated to an astromech's disapointment.

Supplies were a non-issue. He could afford to keep the Tea well stocked and did so. Equipment was a bit of a different issue. Lightsabers would be kept on-ship. Railguns were to be avoided, so West had suggested that he pick from a list.

Blas-Tech DL-56s were pretty solid weapons, and quarter-meter vibroblades. He looked forlornly at his lightsaber, placing it underneath the pilot's controls in a small compartment. Sulisi did not like Jedi as a rule, and the less questions the better.


The Jedi Master had a lot more to think about than weapons as he left the armory and headed to bed.

It had been a while since he had gone beyond Arcan and Yavin, and while many Masters sort of isolated thier Padawans, Morgan had decided that might have been one of his mistakes.

After the fact, of course, it occoured to him that he missed his birthday, which, because of his nature, was not an exactly known date. Still, at this point, he had indeed missed it, and it meant he was 32.

Morgan pulled his hands to his face and flopped into bed. It wavered and creaked for a moment, and he sighed deep and long.

21:36. Sleep. I'll be up at 5:30. With that, he rolled over and drifted off.

A loud yawn followed by growl manifested themselves at 0545. By 0700, he was at Slade's quarters.

"Hey kid, you ready?"

[Slade Azrrel]

The Jedi Padawan wasn't used to waking up early. Back when he was on his world, Slade always used to wake up at about 0900. Another thing effecting him was he didn't go to sleep until late the night before. He was up half the night thinking about what he had saw that day. The fire.. his farm.. his world.. all gone. If what Morgan said was true about "visions", then what he had seen could be true.. and just thinking of that made him tremble.

Morgan was at his door exactly when he said he'd be, and Slade had only just woken up.

"Hey kid, you ready?"

Slade sighed softly, then called back to him.

“Yeah, just give me a sec..” He paused for a moment, then called again, “and I'm not a kid!”

Slade grinned lightly to himself, and quickly got dressed into what he had worn to the Jedi Order. Whitish-grey cargo pants, with a white tank top, and a whitish-grey jacket over the top. He didn't know why, but there was this "thing" about white that he liked, so he wore it all the time. Maybe because his hair was also white.. ah, he didn't know.

Slade put a small dagger into a slot on his belt, as that was his only weapon. Walking to the door, he checked he had everything, then walked outside. Slade nodded to Morgan in greeting, and they started off down the halls in silence, on the way to the docking bay. Slade got rather bored, and tried to bring up a conversation..

“Hey, is anyone else coming? Oh, and.. I don't have a lightsabre yet.. so if we get into a bit of danger.. well.. all I've got is a small dagger. You wouldn't happen to have a spare, would you?”

[Morgan Evanar]

"Todays word is 'incognito'. As such," Morgan removed one of the holstered DL56s and a sheathed vibroblade from the duffle bag he was carrying,"we use these. Lightsabers, while certainly more common than they used to be, aren't exactly your household fork. So..." he handed the weapons to Slade. "...we use these instead."

They boarded Morgan's ship.

"Anyway, as for your first question -- no one else is coming. Too many people and we attract too much attention. We're looking for compact subspace antenas. Well, thats what they're supposed to be. They're actually barrels for rail guns. But they do work as subspace antenas in a pinch, so thats what it says on the manifest. The shipment was supposed to get here last week, but obviously it never turned up. Should be pretty dull work, for the most part, and we'll have plenty of time to talk between here and Sulis."

He took a seat in the Tea's pilot chair, gestured to the copiliot's seat, and then turned on the comm.

"Arcan control, this is the Fardi's Run requesting clearance to exit."

"Roger Mister Fardi. Please use flight corridor six. Arcan out."

The comm was switched back off.

"Slade, yesterday, you seemed deeply troubled. Something wrong with the way things are going?"

[Slade Azrrel]

Slade took the weapons, then looked at Morgan..

“Well, if I'm going to be taking these, then hold on a second..”

Slade quickly ran back to his quarters, picked up a bag, and then ran back to Morgan. Grinning slightly, he placed the vibroblade next to his dagger, and the DL56 into the bag. He slung the back over his shoulder, then they walked off to the ship.

-------------

Morgan took a seat in the Tea's pilot chair, and Slade sat himself in the co-pilots seat

"Arcan control, this is the Fardi's Run requesting clearance to exit." Morgan said into the comm..

"Roger Mister Fardi. Please use flight corridor six. Arcan out.”

“Slade, yesterday, you ..”

Slade chuckled lightly half-way through what Morgan was saying. Morgan just looked at Slade, and he thought he'd best explain himself.

“Mister Fardi? Do I get a fake name too?”

Morgan ignored it, and continued with what he was saying, " As I was saying, yesterday, you seemed deeply troubled. Something wrong with the way things are going?"

The small smile, that was left from laughing, dropped from his face, as he remembered what he had seen yesterday. He shook his head lightly, and turned to Morgan.

“No, not at all.. Everything is great, actually. It's just that.. I had one of those visions, or dreams, again yesterday..”

Slade sighed lightly and told Morgan what happened in his vision. About how it all started as fire, then it all turned back to normal, and then how the ship landed and everything turned to fire again. Also, he let Morgan know that he felt so heavy, and couldn't make himself move.

“.. And then, you came and asked me to come with you today. Do you think they're visions, or dreams, or what? I surely hope they aren't true..”

[Morgan Evanar]

Morgan sighed.

"Slade, like I told you before, I'm fairly vision-ignorant. But I did do a little reading. In theory, it would be good news-- but for this kind of vision, its not. Repetion means what you are seeing is being reinforced, and it wants you to pay a lot of attention to it. Its important, at least to some part of your conscience. It could be the Dark Side playing on your fears. So what it comes down to is that you need to pay attention to them, but they aren't an overriding, certain reality."

He leaned back in his seat and stared at the ceiling for a moment.
"When we get back to Yavin, we'll sit down and talk with the other Masters and any Knights that have moderate amounts of experince with visions. I don't want to do a disservice through my lack of personal experince."

Sitting back up, the Jedi Master seemed to warm up for a moment.

"Now on a much brighter note, I liberated several fresh crepes and fruit from the mess right before we left. Always remember, that a Jedi cannot make truly reliable thought on an empty stomach."

The ready to jump indicator came up green.

"Hold on, we're going to jump to lightspeed. And then, breakfast."

Starlines pulled themself across the Tea's cockpit, before settling into the blue swirl of hyperspace.

[Slade Azrrel]

“Alright, hopefully the masters or knights will be able to help me with this .. I hate it, you know. It scares me like nothing before. I wish it'd just stop, and go away.”

Slade sighed lightly, before sitting back in his chair, and Morgan continued talking. He went on talking about how he picked up some food from the mess hall, and his small comment about Jedi not being able to make "truly reliable thought" on an empty stomach. To that, Slade let out a small chuckle, and nodded lightly.

“Here we go..” Slade muttered to himself.

The Tea's cockpit was pulled towards the stars, the white streaks flashing across the viewport. After a few moments of staring out into space, Slade's stomach rumbled slightly. He let out a small laugh, and saw Morgan smile, and stand up. Slade also stood, and followed Morgan down towards the area where they were going to get some breakfast.

[Cizerack Hunter Forces]

Several systems away, a bulk freighter limped along on minimal thrust power, leaking drive plasma from its starboard engine. Scorched hull plating pocked the ship, an evident sign of a fight that had not gone well. The vessel listed slightly, its angle offset by its inability to provide constant forward thrust. On some decks, the window lighting flickered. The limping freighter sent out a multi-channeled distress signal, in hope that someone might come to their aid.

But in treacherous open space, one was far more likely to find trouble than help.

[Morgan Evanar]

A narrow trickle of chocolate syrup was on the round, doughy, thin crepe, which ran arcoss it a lazy, wavy manner.

There was a sort of zen-ish art type thing to making crepes properly. Next, bananas and blueberries were laid out in an alternating fashion - a slice of banana, then two blueberries.

"Slade when you're done with the fruit, try wrapping the crepe using the Force."

He set the plate in the middle of the small table next to the mess. The crepe seemingly folded itself up.

Morgan lifted breakfast up by hand and took a large bite.

[Slade Azrrel]

“Uh, can I get some food in me first?”

Slade peeled open a banana before Morgan answered, and took a large bite out of it. He grinned lightly, as he chewed on it for a bit, before swallowing it. He took another bite, and another, and another.. until the banana was finished. Picking up another, he peeled it, and ate that one too, aswell as taking three blueberries, and eating them.

“Mmm..”

Slade looked over at Morgan, who was slowly eating his banana's and blueberries, and that delicious looking crepe. Looking towards the plate of food, Slade noticed one of the crepe, and decided to do what his master had asked of him. So, he stared at it for a few moments, concentrating hard, and eventually the sides began to move up, folding itself into how it should be. That had only taken him at most a minute, and in doing that, he actually surprised himself.

A small smile crept onto his face, and he picked up the crepe, taking a large bite out of it. Slade placed the crepe down onto his plate, turning towards Morgan.

“Hey, uh, where was it that we were going? I don't think I've ever heard of the place before.. Mind giving me a bit of information about it?”

[Morgan Evanar]

"Well, the last place the ship was heard from was the Sulis Van shipyards, so thats the first stop." Morgan pulled a datapad out of his coat, and passed it to Slade.

"Those are the list of stops the frieghter made since picking up the subspace antennas."

Rhegar Shipping - Route 315 AC

Pickup point - G'rho
Cargo -
G'rho-Tibal Manufacturing model 6A Short Range Subspace Antena. QTY 1000.
G'rho-Tibal Manufacturing model 2B Short Range Subspace Antena. QTY 1500.
G'rho-Tibal Manufacturing model 7A Short Range Subspace Antena. QTY 500.

Truncated list -
Flitter
Vodran
Phorliss
Telos 4
Pii
Bpfassh
Sullust
Sulis Van
Naboo
Kashyyyk
Topwara
Arcan 4

-End

"Its one of those 600 meter Battle Horn bulk cruisers. With a little modification, you can shove a fairly obscene amount of freight into one of them."

"Warning. exit from hyperspace in five minutes."

Morgan blinked, confused. He took a long glance at his wrist chrono.

"CAD, we're not due at Sulis for another four hours."

"Correct. However, we have picked up a distress call. We are going to investigate."

[Cizerack Hunter Forces]

One blonde-haired Cizerack officer leaned heavily over a glowing console, in the dark of the command bridge. With the exception of a few consoles and other necessary lighting, the entire ship was dark and unpowered. The female's blue eyes picked up the scarce light, amplifying it several times over in her sensitive eyes as they glowed faintly.

"Captajin...we have an jincomjing crrraft, exjitjing hjyperrrssspace now."

Further back, another female shifted in her seat, her voice a low, serious purr.

"Tjype?"

The junior officer manipulated her controls quickly.

"Corrrelljian sssmall-load frrrejighterrr. Heavjiljy modjifjied."

Her commander hissed softly, standing and approaching her seat.

"Pjirrratesss, no doubt. Onljy thejirrr tjype of ssscum would fljy sssuch thjingsss."

In the dim light, her lips peeled back from her sharp teeth as she smiled deviously.

"Prrreparrre a prrroperrr welcomjing forrr ourrr "sssavjiorrrsss"."

[Morgan Evanar]

The Tea came out of hyperspace about two klicks from the damaged Cizerack vessel.

"Cizerack vessel, this is the Fardi's Run. We picked up the emergency call, how can we be of assitance?"

All channels were silent, and Morgan fidgeted with his left hand for a moment, and inadvertently frowned. Something was very amiss.

"Cizerack vessel, I repeat, this is the Fardi's Run offering assitance. Do you have a transmitter problem? If so, please signal."

The comms were still dead. Morgan brought the ship to a klick, and put it into a loose, circular flightpath around the Cizerack transport.

[Cizerack Hunter Forces]

The junior officer spoke lowly.

"Pjirrrate ssshjip apprrroachjing ssslowljy. Thejy arrre hajiljing usss."

The captain's eyes remained fixed on the viewer.

"Sssend them ssstatjic. Djissstance?"

"One hundrrred kjilometerrrsss."

The captain smiled. The time to pounce had come. These hunters would soon become the hunted.

"Attack now!"

Scorched hull plates all over the "crippled" freighter slid back, revealing rows of laser cannons and turbolaser emplacements. A large cargo pod detached, splitting apart and releasing a squadron of Cizerack Keerta fightergrapplers, which began to scream towards the Tea. As they did so...the Cizerack freighter opened up with a withering barrage, hoping to quickly cripple the pirate ship before they could strike.