In Search of ....

[Ciara Myst]

Adventure .....


Mhaar. A small planet about the size of a moon floats in a pool of darkness against a backdrop of stars located in the heart of the Unknown Regions. Inhabited by humans, grifters, sphanxis and kramalians, the planet is anything but friendly. For the past thousand years, its been survival of the fittest, and so far, the species of human and grifters seem to be holding out well; considering that they are fighting each other daily for the planet's natural resources. Getting water is an act that most of the civilized galaxy would find simple to accomplish; however; for the humans on Mhaar it could be, and ususually was deadly.

Mhaar isn't found on any starcharts, nor has it ever been 'discovered' by anyone. It hasn't been made famous by any miraculous discoveries nor has its name ever been made public knowledge. To the rest of the civilized galaxy, Mhaar didn't even exist.

The climate on Mhaar is a bit unsavory. Racked by violent electrical storms and heavy, flooding rains in the warm seasons makes it nearly impossible to grow any kind of decent crops. The cold season certainly isn't any more pleasant. Nighttime temperatures plummet well below zero and the daytime temps barely make it to zero.

During the rainy season, the humans are forced to live high among the tree tops, in their make-shift treehouses. Over time, the treetops came to house entire cities. When the colds come, the humans are forced far below the planets surface where they had managed to construct their own complicated set of caverns.

Grifters are horrendous beasts, large canines that can grow to three feet in length on the larger adults. Swift, agile, and tall, they are nothing to scoff at. One deadly swipe from the massive clawed-hands of the grifter can easily slice a human being in half before they even realize that they've been hit.

Ciara Myst and her family have no idea that there are other civilizations in the galaxy. The youngest, Ciara is called the 'dreamer' of Mhaarians, weaving tales of other worlds where many alien species live and die day by day. Her father is a healer, her three older brothers are as well. On Mhaar, the healers are as revered as a Shaman.

Mhaar was very young in the ways of technology and weaponry. Simple swords is all that the humans carry, other weapons such as spears and arrows are used as well. The discovery of several crashed ships in what was later called the Specters Graveyard, brought about the ancient beliefs of mighty Gods that became angry with the inhabitants of Mhaar long ago and forced them to suffer destruction and suffering at the hands of these great metallic beasts.

Through her visions that would come to her when she slept, Ciara was eventually able to make one of those ships operational. Of course, she had to craft many of the pieces and parts to replace the ones that were broken or non operational, which took her years to do. The visions first started around the time of her mother's expected death. She had been ill for quite sometime and it was a blessing when she succumbed and went to the heavens above. No longer would she have to suffer.

For years, Ciara dreamed of new worlds to see. Now, she was going to make that dream a reality. While her father and three older brothers slept, she packed a few of her own belongings then scampered away silently into the night. Running swiftly before the next set of heavy rains would make any of the bridges impassable, she eventually arrived at the hidden location of the ship she aptly named The Wandering Spirit. To those who knew their ships, they'd discover that The Wandering Spirit was actually an aged CorelliSpace Gymsnor-2 freighter that is outfitted with obsolete parts and maintained with a loving hand, and would barely make it through its travels. It also has a slow hyperdrive system, minimal shielding, and is armed with a single non-operational heavy blaster cannon.

Rising off the rigged pad, Ciara blasts off into the starry night, ready to begin her own adventures. What does her future hold? Will she run into other beings in the vast universe? What new worlds would the young lady visit? One can never tell, unless they travel along with her....

[Zeke]

Zeke lay on his back on an old ruin of...something...out in the jungles surrounding the Jedi Order. It was late at night, and he couldn't sleep. He saw something go flying through the sky above him. A shooting star? He made a wish.

"I wish a fairly good looking girl would appear with an adventure up her sleeve..."

[Ciara Myst]

As the rickety old and very outdated ship made its way through Unknown space, Ciara couldn't help but to feel down right giddy with excitement. She may be twenty-two years old, but at this very moment the excitement coursing through her veins was equivalent to that of when she was just around two years old and the night before Great Angel was to come and leave amazing gifts under the beds of all the good boys and girls.

With the ship travelling steadily; well as smooth and steady that such an old craft could travel at, she unfastened her harnesses and stood up. Squeezing her way between the pilots and co-pilots chairs, she walks down the narrow corridor and into the small cabin that she created to be her sleeping quarters. There, she rummaged around in the duffle bag she brought with and took out the journal she's been keeping since she was able to write. In it, contained her thoughts and theories, hopes and dreams, as well as every vision she has ever had. Needless to say, the pages were filling up fast.

Hours later
Ciara finishes writing in her journal. If anyone ever found her journal and read through it, they'd actually discover a piece of living history. Every known fact about Mhaar was contained within those pages; information about species that the rest of the galaxy has never heard of, let alone seen. In short, Mhaar would be put on the starcharts with the information contained on those pages. Being naive and oblivious to this fact, of course, Ciara only cherishes the memories that are scribed on those pages.

The light refracted from the stars and now nearing planetary systems causes the cockpit of her ship to become illuminated to the point needing to lower the solar shield over the frontal viewport. The blood racing through Ciara's veins at the excitement of looking upon an entire system is almost too much; she's sure that the sound of her heart pounding hard and fast deep in her chest is echoing throughout space for all to hear.

Of course, Ciara doesn't have a functioning navigational computer aboard, nor does she have any kind of alarm system, radar, LED displays, etc. She's lucky enough to have the few things that actually do work, but she really doesn't care. But, if she had those things, she'd discover that she was now passing through Hydian Way Galaxy. She's actually left Mhaar! She was out here, fulfilling her dreams of seeing the galaxy! Her hands come to her mouth as she stares wide eyed in wonder and awe at the stars and planets as her ships passes over them.

"My stars ... this is ...is...there are no words to describe what an incredible sight this is. I wish you could see this momma..."

Slowly, Ciara sits down and takes the controls. There was no need to take the ship off of auto-pilot...she didn't have one. Ciara had taught herself how to pilot this craft. While she was rebuilding and fixing it up, she had stumbled across some sort of device that kept a visual record, as well as verbal, of all the activities that took place aboard the craft. She certainly didn't know what it was for a long time, until one day, by accident, she activated it. The sound of a voice coming over the comm had scared her so bad that she scurried away like a frightened animal and grabbed her sword, ready to attack whatever creature was speaking from somewhere inside the craft. When no such body emerged from anywhere, she let her guard down just a little; even tried to talk to the thing and ask questions but it never responded. It just kept droning on and on about being fired upon, screams were heard, explosions and more.

Ciara was transfixed as she listened to it. With a bit more fiddling, she managed to find the very first recordings, where the original owner/pilot of the ship was instructing the co-pilot on the workings of the ship. Ciara paid very close attention to that, listening to it over and over while she toiled away at rigging the ship back into useable condition.

Ciara manages the controls while sketching now and then the things she sees. She doodles out the planets that come into view, dots out the stars and even marks the asteroid fields. Her hands are shaking horribly. The excitement cannot be contained any longer, and she lets out a few small laughs as she makes a few quick jerky movements against the control stick to avoid running smack dab into any of the stars and asteroids, other bits of space debris.

IF Ciara had known she was coming upon Yaga Minor (http://www1.theforce.net/CUSWE/search.asp?page=3&search=Yaga%20Minor&EandD=EyDy&no=10) , she actually might have found some way to divert past it. She didn't know what an Imperial was, or a Rebel, Jedi, Sith, Dark Jedi, etc was for that matter. Her communications devices weren't functioning so she had no idea that there was a space station trying to make contact with her.

Luckily for her, whomever was manning the communications of the space station atleast used their brains and reported to his superior that he thinks they have a ship unable to communicate with them in the sector. After checking the transponder codes, the men are left a bit perplexed. After all, a ship such as the one Ciara was piloting hasn't been seen or heard of in ages. Suspicious and curious, they order an escort to meet her ship to guide her to the planet below.

Meanwhile, Ciara was way too busy trying to maintain the controls while her eyes darted everywhere they could. This was absolutely amazing to her. She blinks, suddenly she was being flanked by a total of four ships! Awe-struck beyond belief, she lets go of the controls and presses her hands against the side viewport and stares at the ship flanking her left, flying level with her. The pilot sees that he has her attention, so he motions with his hand towards the planet, then does his best to try to tell her with hand signals that they're going to escort her in.

Eventually Ciara figures it out and retakes the controls. She wonders if entering a planets atmosphere is as scary as leaving it. She's about to find out.

Her ship shakes and shudders horribly! She screams a few times as she nearly loses control and the escorts see she is beginning to panic. Immediately, long stabilizing arms jettison out from their crafts bellies and attach themselves with magnetic
suction cups to her ships hull. The ships part until the stabilizers are near taut and her ship once again levels out. Guided the rest of the way to the planets surface the stabilizers detach just before touchdown.

Ciara powers down the ship and lowers the ramp, then proceeds to step foot on the very first planet she's ever been on since leaving Mhaar.

[Zeke]

Zeke watched as the "shooting star" freaked out, then materialized into a ship and landed in the woods not far off. Zeke sighed and got off his rock to find the ship's landing site.

[Ciara Myst]

As Ciara sets foot onto the solid permacrete surface of the landing pads at the Yaga Minor Spaceport, the escort pilots immediately surround her. A bit scared, yet very awed to be seeing that there are in fact other beings in the vast universe that her family and friends back home would scoff at, she looks to each of the four men a bit timid and curious. Her attention doesn't remain for long on the men as she looks all around her. Oh my stars!! She's really on another planet!
This was too incredible for the young lass. Turning slowly, one of the pilot's gives her a look that shows he finds her to be a bit looney; of course, he doesn't understand how very new all of this is for her.

"Ma'am. I'm going to have to ask you for your identification." One of the pilots asks as he takes her gently by her upper arm and begins to lead her across the landing pad and into the spaceport authority's offices.

"Identification?" She asks of him. "I don't have any." She informs him.

"I'm afraid you'll have to come with me then." He states simply then escorts her into the the Head Port Authority's Office. After showing her to a seat, he departs, closing the door behind him.

Ciara looks around then walks over to the window. Her eyes move everywhere as she looks to all the ship traffic! Never before has she seen so many, of different shapes and sizes, makes and models, colors etc. Then again, the only ship the young woman has ever seen was the one she came in on.

"Please, sit down." A gruff voice states behind her as the door opens then closes. A huge, burly man moves behind the desk and sits down, scanning over the logs from her ships transponder.

"Says here you arrived from..Mhaar? Where in the hell is Mhaar??"

"Mhm, yes that is right. I'm from Mhaar. Its in the Mhaarian sector." She tells the man honestly.

He simply looks to her, non-believingly, of course. "What's your name?"

"Ciara Myst." She replies.

"Why are you on Yaga Minor? What's your business here?" He asks. His voice is rather cold and unwelcoming. Ciara simply studies the man, noting his mannerisms and idiosyncrocies.

"I'm an adventure Sir. I'm simply here to observe and learn. Enriching my life and learning the ways of the galaxy." Ciara's smile beams, almost proudly as she tells him that. Yeah. She's an adventurer and just beginning her adventures.

"Fine, move along. Don't cause any trouble. You're ship's been docked and you may get any personal items from it if you want."
He ushers her out of his office then shakes his head, closing the door again.

"Well...no need to be rude!" she murmurs under her breath. Reminded her of her oldest brother Senger. He definitely needed help where manners were concerned.

Heading out the way she was led in, she asks around and finally locates her ship. The only things she takes out are her duffle and her journal then heads back out again. Still looking around, completely awe-inspired, she memorizes the things she sees as well as their descriptions to add to her journal later.

[Zeke]

Zeke snuck along in the bushes on the outside of the landing pad. He had hoped it'd land closer, so he could sneak on and examine it, but no such luck. As he watched, several security guards began to cause a young lady trouble.

"Some gentlemen..." Zeke muttered to himself.

He scurried across the pad, staying hidden behind spaceships, and mingled with a group getting off a private yacht. He drew near the girl who had got off the old and busted rustbucket and tapped her shoulder.

"They give ya lotsa trouble?"

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara was looking everywhere but where she should have been, which was ahead of her. It was amazing the woman hasn't bumped into anyone or smacked the side of her head on some building's corner or anything like that. Unable to contain her sheer excitement over .... well ... over everything! She finds herself laughing in exhasperation ocassionally, and there is this stupid smile just plastered to her face.

If anyone else were in her shoes, they'd probably be looking and feeling the same way. Everything she sees is so very new to her. The people and aliens, their style of dress, their mannerisms, the ships and personal crafts, location transportation vehicles, heck the buildings! She has never before seen anything of the sort!

Suddenly, there's a tapping on her shoulder which causes her to yelp out in surprise. Whirling around, she nearly knocks the kid right across the face with the duffle bag that swings around in momentum to her own fluidly quick movement.

"My Gods! You scared me!" She tells the boy as a hand comes to settle over her racing heart. She begins to laugh, a nervous/relaxed laugh. Looking around a bit more, over her shoulder a few times, then back to him, she smiles to the boy; her eyes seem to be studying his eyes and face intently.

"Did who give me any trouble?" Oh. Then she remembers those men from Port Authority and she shakes her head. "No, not too much trouble. Who are you? Are you going to ask me for identification too? 'Cuz if you are, let me save you the trouble, I don't have any."

The look in the boy's eyes told her he was about to ask no such thing of her. Her eyes seemed to drink in his features as she committed them to her memory. Good thing Ciara is a decent artist, there was something captivating about the boy's eyes. After memorizing each line and curve, she smiles to him again.

"What's your name? Mine is Ciara." She offers. Perhaps today, she would make her first friend.

[Zeke]

Zeke notices her studying him, but pays it no mind. He gives her his usual happy smile.

"M'name's Zeke! I used to live on a starship!" he said helpfully.

He shook her hand.

"Is nice to meet'cha!"

[Ciara Myst]

That stupid smile on Ciara's face turned into a pretty one that beamed brightly as the boy shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you too Zeke." Ciara glances to their hands as they shake, noting of just how he took a hold of it. On Mhaar, they didn't shake hands to greet others, even when greeting those who were new to them. On Mhaar, the standard greeting between humans was similar to a shake, but one would gently grasp at the person's elbow, so each one's forearms were touching, then to give a quick squeeze to the elbow itself.

Ciara looks back to Zeke, and his charming smile is rather contagious as her own smile continues to radiate. Ciara's eyes are a deep, vibrant shade of emerald that holds swirls of amber within. The amber color was a literal swirl as well, almost as if that one color alone was alive somehow. Ciara draws her hand back then readjusts the duffle on her shoulder. Since the strap had settled onto a few locks of her hair, she brings her hands up and frees her hair then settles it along her back. The breeze wasn't helping to keep her hair completely behind her where it belonged, as now and then she had to finger a few arrant strands from her cheek.

Ciara sets those eyes of hers to looking around once again as she asks Zeke, "Are you from here?" Then a perplexed look crosses her face. "Come to think of it... where is here?" She looks to Zeke again with a sheepish grin. What if he found that question to be stupid? I mean, seriously, how many people really didn't know where they were?

[Zeke]

"Where is here?" Zeke repeated.

He rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, here is where you are. Wherever you happen to be is here, and wherever you happen to not be is there. Right now, here is a landing pad near the GJO."

He grinned again.

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara smiled at the boy's wit. "Ha. You're funny, but that really doesn't answer my question now does it? What is the name of this world I'm on? How far from Mhaar am I? What's the GJO?"

Ciara's questions seemed to be never ending as she babbled on and on while Zeke started to lead her away from wherever here was. As Ciara continued to go on and on, her eyes were darting everywhere. To the ornate and imposing structures that rose ever skyward, to some of the more extravagant looking creatures that bustle about with their daily lives.

Ciara's eyes widen to large emerald orbs as one such creature lumbered past. The thing was huge! Had to stand atleast eight feet in height, massive build and *blink* three breasts!? Ciara found herself unable to stop staring at such a sight until her own eyes wandered down to her own chest. "Hmm.." She murmurs then looks over her shoulder at the grunting beast as it continues on its way with a guttural growl.

"Um...what was that?" She asks Zeke, still looking everywhere but ahead of her.

[Zeke]

"What's a Mhaar? Um...this should be Yavin...but it could be Arcan...I dunno, when I got here I was asleep in a cargo hold somewheres and didn't know where the ship was going in the first place. GJO stands for "Greater Jedi Order". As for that..."

Zeke's eyes followed Ciara's to the creature, then to her chest. He blinked and focused on her face instead.

"No one knows. 'Tis a mystery."

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara suddenly bursts out in laughter. The look on the boy's face was classic.

"Well. Mhaar is where I'm from. What's the Greater Jedi Order? What's a Jedi? Are you sure you don't know what that thing was? What's a cargo hold? How old are you, anyways?"

Ciara was definitely not afraid to show she was clearly new to any sort of travelling, atleast her questions and actions would show that rather blatantly. And of course, with her looking everywhere but where she should be, it happens. "Ugh!" She grunts a bit when she runs right into some imposing looking man in some odd looking white armor with big black oddly shaped eyes. He was armed as well, but if Ciara knew that she just ran into a stormtrooper, she probably wouldn't react as she was about to.

"Oh! Pardon me, I'm so sorry." Remembering the way Zeke shook her hand, she reaches over and grabs the troopers, then shakes it vigorously. "Pleased to meet you, I'm Ciara, what is your name?"

The stormtrooper and his companions that show up a moment later right behind him, cants his head to the side at what he deems as odd behavior. Jerking his hand back, he levels his blaster rifle towards her chest and gives a sharp shove, making Ciara stumble backwards a few steps. "Hey! There is no reason to be so rude! My stars! What did you do that for?"

"Move along." Is all Ciara hears from the armor clad man. Then the audible *clicks* of several rifle's being armed is heard. "Well, I was moving along just fine until bumping into you. What is the name of this planet?" She informs and asks of the man.

"Yaga Minor, now move along, Miss." Geesh! What a grumpy man.

"Well, how can we move along if you and your friends are standing in our way, hm?" Ciara has no idea of what possible trouble her curious nature can get she and Zeke into as she looks to the trooper and awaits an answer, and she waits rather impatiently as well.

[Zeke]

Zeke was still walking when he noticed Ciara was no longer with him. He began to sneak quietly up behind the troopers.

"Guys! What's going on?" he asked in a loud whisper.

The troopers turned and fired their blasters, but Zeke wasn't there any more. He stood atop the lead soldier's shoulders, bending over and looking at him upside down.

"What are Imperial stormtroopers doing here? Didn't think the Empire liked Jedi very much. Or are you just wearing the armor?" He rapped on the helmet with his knuckles.

The troopers surrounding their leader aimed again at Zeke. They fired, and this time, it appeared they'd hit their mark. Zeke drew his lightsaber and deflected the blaster bolts. Zeke was a lucky guy; he hadn't had time to call upon his Force abilities.

"No need for angry. Hey, is that your ship?" A ship was about to take off. The troopers hustled off to make sure it didn't leave without them. "Jeez, but you sure have a knack for attracting trouble."

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara blinks when she sees Zeke on the man's shoulders, "What in the ... " Then her hands come up over to her mouth as she gasps audibly when the man turns his rifle on the boy, Ciara's literally shocked frozen as she looks on in horror. Never before has she seen their weapons, let alone to see someone being shot. Everything had happened so fast she had no time to do much of anything than tremble by the time it was all over.

Her breathing was quite rapid, and she couldn't speak for the longest of moments as the troopers suddenly took off running towards a ship. She needed to sit down before she collapsed right there on the ground. With her hand over her chest again, she looks to Zeke and her fair complextion had taken on an even paler tone.

"Wha- wha-what just h-h-hap-pened?" Is all she can stammer out while blinking back the stunned look from her face. If she knew anything about Jedi, Imperials, or Yaga Minor, then she probably would've told the young, nimble boy that he was less safe than she was on this Imperial controlled planet.

[Zeke]

"Um...they were gonna shoot ya, so I came up behind them and scared 'em good, then they tried to shoot me, but I used the Force to dodge, and then I was makin' fun of dude, and they tried to shoot me, and I got real lucky and deflected the lasers, then I told them they're ship was leavin', and they left."

He squatted next to her.

"You okay?"

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara really didn't hear too much of what he said as she watched those troopers taking off in that ship. She was still pretty shaken and her mouth felt very dry. Moistening her lips as best as she can, she nods her head subtly and then looks to Zeke with her brows furrowed deeply. As if snapping back to the here and now, she nods again, this time the motion was more believable.

"What were those things in their hands? And why would they ...shoot?....at me? I only said hello and shook his hand like you did to me. Is this `shooting` at someone a custom? What's this `force`?" Her eyes shift towards his saber then back to him, "And what is that glowing stick?"

Ciara was doing her best to remember all of this, so she could add it all to her journal later. Hopefully she would be able to draw what she saw as well, but at the moment the most recent event felt like a blur to her.

[Zeke]

"Um..."

Zeke considered.

"Well, those are called 'blasters', and they're used to kill people and break things. Stormtroopers are cranky people, and they don't seem to like other people very much. Shooting people is, well, I suppose you could call it a custom. It's a method of fighting that I don't like very much. The Force is an energy that surrounds and permeates through all living things. Some people can use it to push things and sense stuff. The glowing stick is my lightsaber."

Zeke took his first breath since the beginning of his explanation.

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara did her best to follow along with Zeke's quick explanations, nodding at the appropriate times. Though she still looked a bit scared, she was beginning to regain some of the color to her face again.

"Why would humans want to kill others? Why would anyone want to kill anything? On Mhaar, the only time we had to take the life of another creature is when that creature of course tried to kill us. Grifters, those were the creatures we had to kill, but I never could find it in my heart to do that. The Holy Warriors of our clan did that. I mean, resources on Mhaar are becoming scarce in most regions, and the Grifters have to eat and drink too."

Ciara was definitely disturbed by the mentions of killing things. It was one thing she hopes that she never has to do. She's not sure she could even do it if her own life was threatened.

"Maybe we should leave this part? Are there other worlds out there to see? I want to see as many as I can if there are. I want to learn about all the different cultures and religions, I want to know how things work, what they are called and what other beings are out there."

That excitement was back in her eyes now and so was that smile she seemed to have almost all the time. Looking at her, one might think of her as a kid in a toy store for the very first time.

[Zeke]

"Well...unless that rusted hulk o' yours can survive back into space, you're basically stuck here. But there's plenty more to learn here. Just wander around and I'll follow with the info and watch your back."

[Ciara Myst]

Hunk of junk!? Did he just call her precious The Wandering Spirit a hunk of junk!?

Ciara looks over to where her ship is docked then looks at the other ships taking off and arriving. Ok. She had to admit that hers was definitely not as fancy as the rest, but still .... she was quite proud of her hunk of junk.

"The Wandering Spirit" will hold up to just about anything I can put her through." HA! Right. One hit from an ion blast or even a few from the simplest of turbolasers and she would be fried Myst in a heartbeat. She just didn't know that ... yet.

"Well. I could always come back here on my way back to Mhaar. Besides, I think I'd like to be better prepared for wandering around here. Those men were down right scary and I don't want to have anyone end up `shooting` at you ... or me ... again. Is there a starmap anywhere around here? Or a library? I think that is what it is called. You know, where I can get all kinds of information with just the touch of a button. Please tell me my nightly visions were right about that! I saw those in my dreams, they were like huge....massive, even, databanks of information!"

Ciara's excitement only grows as she tells him of the things she has seen when she sleeps. "Does such a thing exist?"

[Zeke]

"Sure...I just don't know where. Maybe the console in m'room would do the trick. I dunno where to find a library though."

Zeke paused and tried to think.

"A library? One of the masters would know I bet...but everyone here's asleep..."

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara's mouth quirks into a half-grin as she looks to Zeke. She finds herself feeling quite grateful that he atleast didn't outwardly appear to be any threat to her. He certainly wasn't hostile like those armor-clad men, and he wasn't rude like the Port Authority Officers. A feeling in the pit of her stomach told her that she could trust Zeke, and so ... she'll follow that feeling in her stomach. Anytime before when she'd get that sensation, that sort of sixth sense, she followed it and it never proved her wrong. No reason to doubt it now.

"Masters? Masters of what?" She asks curiously. Looking around a bit again, she watches as two humans begin to get rather loud and beligerent with one of the Officers who had led her into the offices. Ciara grew quiet, and though the three men were a good distance away, she was able to read their lips; something she learned to do long ago on Mhaar. Her best friend back home, Varissa was deaf. Ciara learned a few different ways to communicate with her and now she finds herself missing her best friend a bit.

Her brows knit gently as she continues to look to the three men. "Zeke ... we need to get out of here now." She looks to him. The look in her emerald eyes is more than enough to get the two back on their feet and moving away from the spaceport quickly, yet inconspicuously.

And then it happens. Several Rebel craft roar overhead, massive explosions rock the spaceport with enough force to cause the ground to quake for a good half a mile in diameter at least. THe force from the blasts sends a massive roiling mass of thick black smoke out quickly, and the rush of air being forced outwards so rapidly throws Ciara off of her feet and through the air.

She hits the ground hard, but her duffle was on her shoulder so when she landed, it didn't hurt too bad; considering her shoulder hit the bulk of the bag. Coughing and blinking back the sting of the smoke, Ciara calls out "ZEKE!". Blinded by the black smoke, she can't see the debris raining down all around, but she can hear it as it nears the ground then crashes loudly against the permacreate surfaces.

"ZEKE!" Ciara's beginning to panic. Feeling around on the ground around her, she pushes herself up back onto her feet, coughing and squinting her eyes to mere slits as the tears still burn her eyes. "ZEKE!" The scream of engines zooming past overhead brings a new sense of panic to the woman, as well as to the screaming citizens running about wildly as the spaceport comes under attack.

[Zeke]

Zeke shrugs.

"The Jedi Masters. They have control over the light side of the Force. The Force--"

Before he can finish, starfighters fly by and explosions drown out the sounds of the building. He dropped into himself, using the Force. He ran to his right and scooped Ciara onto his shoulder.
He ran out onto the spaceport landing pad and looked to the sky. Outside there was little smoke, and he could see the starfighters in the sky.

"It ain't safe here...any brilliant ideas?"

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara rubs the stinging tears from her eyes as she blinks quickly, "Just ... let's get out of here."

Looking around at the smoke and debris, whoever it was that attacked the spaceport did a good job of it. Most ships that were on the ground were damaged, some were unrecognizable as anything more than broken forms of metal and the majority of hangars was destroyed.

Sirens were blaring all over the place, emergency vehicles arriving and fighter pilots were taking off in hot pursuit of their bombers. Ciara has never been so scared before her in her life and all she wanted to do now was go anywhere but here. Dead and injured people and beings laid all over, those still alive were crying out in pain and shock, and Ciara was torn. She desperately wanted to go and help those who were still breathing, and on the other hand she was terrified to stay.

Sweeping her gaze to the skies, she doesn't see anymore of the bombing craft swooping down for another run, so she starts off towards the person that was nearest to where she was standing. Kneeling down, Ciara couldn't help but to weep as she saw the look of confusion and incoherency on the elderly woman's face. The woman kept muttering a name over and over, and when Ciara noticed the wedding band on the woman's left hand she could only assume she was asking for her husband.

"Shh, you're going to be ok, Lady. I'll find him...I'll find him.." Ciara looks around a bit, hunching her shoulders at times as emergency crews scrambled past, almost tripping right over her. Not far from where the lady was laying, Ciara spots whom she has to assume is her husband. The sight of him was sickening and he was clearly dead. Ciara bites her lower lip, not knowing what to say to the woman, but the woman had suddenly gone quite as well. When Ciara looks down into the woman's face, she notices that the elderly lady's eyes stare off into nothing.

Ciara lets go of the woman's hand and stands slowly, looking around at the horrors that be. How? Why? Why would anyone bring about such pain and destruction to another?

Ciara's journal was going to fill up fast. She looks to Zeke, "Anywhere but here.." is what she tells him quietly.

[Zeke]

"Anywhere but here? My, at all the choices."

Zeke pondered for a moment, ignoring the chaos around him and maintaining his happy smile.

"Let's go to where I was before I got here. You'll like it."

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara found it a bit disturbing that this boy before her seemed unaffected by the death and destruction all around them now. She nods to him though, figuring anywhere is better than here.

[Zeke]

"Okay, let's go!"

Zeke scooped her up into his arms and ran into the jungle, weaving through the trees and foliage until he found the old ruins he'd been at earlier. He deposited her on one of the stones and flopped down on the rock next to her.

"Much better." he said, looking up at the stars.

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara gives Zeke a really strange look. "Is it a custom for the women to be carried everywhere?" Ciara looks up at the stars, marvelling at just how many there are. Sure, she seen a lot while travelling from Mhaar in the Unknown Regions, but it wasn't like sitting here and gazing up at them.

"I really need a starmap. I want to explore the galaxy and learn so much more. Can you take me to one now?"

Ciara thinks for a few minutes. "Why did those ships attack the spaceport? Who were they?"

[Zeke]

Zeke frowned as he formulated a response.

"Well, no, women walk all on their own here. But you were stressin', so I thought I'd just carry you. I suppose I could take you to my quarters, but then the console would wake my roommate, so not right now, but later. I don't know who attacked the spaceport, but they were probably after someone there."

Zeke lay on his back and folded his arms behind his head, seeking constellations.

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara falls silent and watches Zeke for a few minutes. The sounds of the emergency crews and clean up could still be heard in the distance and Ciara looks over her shoulder towards it.

During all the chaos, she hadn't noticed that they were in the woods. The sound of a bird calling out into the night shakes her back to where they are. A small smile etches her face as she looks at the trees. Reminders of home. Her eyes pass over Zeke then lift skywards to take in the stars as well.

"You know, back home .... most of my family thought I was just weaving another tale when I told them that I was sure there were others out there. Senger, my oldest brother, he's the head healer and a bit full of himself; but he use to tell me that the stars were the souls of those who had passed on before us."

Ciara keeps telling Zeke of home; Mhaar and her family. Whether or not he wants to hear it or is interested, she doesn't seem to care. Then again, maybe she's talking of home because she misses it already and just needs to find some comfort and solace for herself.

"It's nice to think that maybe the stars are the souls of those we loved who passed on, you know? My father. Boy! He's pretty stern and all, but ... he's a good man. He's a healer as well, so are my two other brothers. I wonder if they know I'm gone...."

Ciara stands and walks around a little bit, not straying too far just yet. Ciara always felt comfortable in the forests. She spent most of her life living in them, after all. Each one had it own's tale to tell, and if they could talk like humans could...what tales they'd weave.

Stories of the lovers who walked hand in hand under the safety and privacy of their boughs; loved one's who were buried beneath those same boughs as well; wars, the critters living within.....

She notices one tree, smaller than the rest and if you looked at it, you could tell it was trying as best as it could to catch up to the others, but the canopy caused by the spread of their tops was making it difficult for the young sappling to get sufficient light.

Walking over, Ciara presses her palm to the trunk of the young sappling, her fingertips feeling the bark lightly. Looking up to the stars again, she lets her eyes close for a few minutes so she can listen to what the sappling says. It's weeping. Ciara didn't know what to do to help it. She couldn't uproot any of the trees and move them so the youngling could get what it needs. She draws her hand away and looks to the slowly dying tree sadly then moves away.

"Drayce, my other older brother is the fun one. He's closer to me in age than the other two are. I remember when Drayce had dared me to take one of the eggs from a Kramalian's nest we found. I broke my arm doing it, but I got it." She smiles a bit, shaking her head.

"I think we were the only family, probably the only humans for that matter, to have a tamed a kramalian and have one as a pet. "

Walking back over to Zeke, she squats down and looks over to him.

"I'm boring you, aren't I?"

[Zeke]

Zeke shook his head.

"Nah, not really. It's cool that ya got family. I don't. M'mom died havin' me and m'dad's been AWOL since before I was born, so...ya know. Keep going if you like."

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara walks over and gently nudges Zeke's foot.

"Come on. I didn't leave home without telling anyone that I was going to end up just sitting in the woods, gazing up at the stars. I want to see things and learn things. Let's go."

Ciara didn't exactly wait for him to get up. She just started off, following the treeline until she came upon what she had to assume was the main street leading to the spaceport. The activity was beginning to sound more like a dull roar now as the clean up continued. The emergency vehicles that held the wounded had left for the hospitals; though their sirens could still be heard in the distance.


Walking along the streets, Ciara couldn't stop looking all around. She lost count of how many people she literally ran into because she wasn't looking where she should have been. Seems to be becoming the story of her life now.

Reading the names of the businesses she passed, she probably could have pissed her pants with excitement when she came across a library! She'd be able to pull out starmaps, information of the planet she was currently on, look up anything she could think of! Without bothering to look before crossing the street, it was a miracle she wasn't smooshed flat from being hit by any of the speeding vehicles, she ran over to the library and scaled the steps two at a time.

Once inside, Ciara was awe-struck at the volumes upon volumes of information that was available at her fingertips. Unsure where to begin or even how to use anything, she just opted to walk around a bit and let her mind absorb the fact that all of this even existed.

[Zeke]

Zeke moved quickly after her, sticking to the treeline close to the road and jumping throught the tops of the trees to keep a better eye on her. Once the forest dissolved into city, he opted to simply follow her.

"67...68...one more! Dang it!"

He watched as she entered a library, nearly getting hit by every car and speeder bike on the road. Zeke crossed the busy street with Force-boosted speed and followed her in. He watched as she wandered in amazement, then sat down at a table and put his feet up.

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara's eyes light up as she walks over to a holoprojector. Since she's never seen one before, she has no idea how to work it or activate it, so what does she do?? Pushes all the buttons of course! To be the one observing her, one might be led to think that there was something mentally wrong with her. I mean, a grown woman behaving much like that of a child who's discovered a new toy.

Then again ... wasn't that the way most grown men behaved when they got a new weapon, ship or droid?!

.... "Greetings. Welcome to the Holocron Library of Yaga Minor. Please enter your identification to proceed...."

"Ack!" Ciara jumps back from the database that suddenly spoke with an electronic monotone voice. Several passersby look in her direction, scanning their eyes over the woman with scrutiny. They clearly thought she was a bit odd, due to the reaction she just had.

Ciara steps towards it carefully; never knew if the thing had any weapons hidden somewhere on it that just might try to shoot at her. Zeke had something about that being somewhat of a custom around here.

Once she was fairly sure the thing wasn't going to shoot her, she peered closely at the datascreen at the little flashing green cursor.

"H-hello? Is someone in there?"

Hm. No response. Bringing her hand up, she taps the datascreen with her fingernail a few times. *tap, tap, tap*

"Hello?"

Still nothing but that flashing cursor. She sighs deeply, shifting her weight to her left leg and setting her hand against her hip.

"Ok. Well. If I can figure out how to get a ship operational and fly it, then I can figure out how to get this thing to talk again."

Had to admire her determination. Or was it stubborness?

As she gently chewed on her thumbnail, she looked over the controls and the keypad. This thing had asked her for her identification so she figures she'll try just entering her name to see if that would work.

C I A R A M Y S T

"Welcome, Ciara Myst. Enter the data you want to access."

Well. That worked! Her hands were trembling a bit, she was so excited she could barely contain it. At this point, she really wanted to take the database apart to see how it functioned, but then she also wanted to read every bit of information it contained.

S T A R M A P

Suddenly the database started its search. Billions of bits of data suddenly scrolled by rapidly on the screen and for a moment, she looked around nervously; thinking she broke it some how.

Then there it was.

Ciara's breath was taken away. The images of the planets, stars, galaxies, turning and swirling in slow motion floated on the screen before her. All she could, was simply stare in wonder and awe.

[Zeke]

"Neato."

Zeke had suddenly appeared behind her and was studying the map.

"You are here." he stated.

The map zoomed in on a small, green planet.

"This, to answer your question from a few hours ago, is where here is."

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara smiles as she notices Zeke's reflection on the datascreen. She couldn't help but to chuckle as two pulsating stars on map appeared like twinkles in the reflection of his eyes. She watches as he touches the screen with the tip of his finger then blinks in surprise as a grid appears, then zooms in on the image of Yaga Minor.

"So ... I can touch different areas of the screen, the image to be more precise, and it will enlarge it and tell me all the information it has on that location?"

[Zeke]

"Yuppers. Here."

He punched a button on the console, then navigated a small menu on the screen.

"Now it'll take voice commands as well. Talk to it, and it'll show exactly what you want it to."

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara watches Zeke intently as he manipulates the controls of the database and its screen.

"Mhaar." She tells the database. After a few moments, it replies to her with...

"I'm sorry that does not compute. Please try another inquiry."

Ciara's brows knit as she looks to Zeke.

"How come Mhaar isn't in here?"

She didn't really understand why no one's heard of Mhaar. To her it seemed that everything should be known by the other inhabitants of the galaxy. Surely there had to be someone in this vast universe that's heard of or been to Mhaar. Right?

[Zeke]

"I'm not sure. Maybe its an error in the system, or something. Can you try and find it manually? Just poke the screen and move your finger around it..."

Zeke pointed and dragged his finger around to a planet.

"Like so."

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara watches Zeke again.

"Ok, let me see if I can find it."

Ciara looks at the grid on the screen for a long moment. After making the screen scroll to the right so she can view the entire left side of the galactic starmap, her brows furrow deeply.

"I don't understand. There should be planets all over in this quadrant." She points to the areas known to the rest of the galaxy as the Unknown Regions.

"Why aren't there any planets here?"

[Zeke]

"Says that's 'unknown'. Meaning no one's bothered to go out there and see what's up."

Zeke shrugged.

"The people who make this thing are awful lazy."

[Ciara Myst]

She nods. Well.....

"Who maintains these? I know everything there is to know about Mhaar. The ways of life, the ecological systems, the floura and fawna, the lifeforms...everything. Mhaar should be in here. "

Ciara doesn't really understand that there are those in the galaxy who would begin hunting the creatures there, scientists who would try to see what things they could extract from the planet's resources to search for medicinal items and more; the possibility of wars and hostile take overs.....

[Zeke]

"I don't know who updates the records. Maybe there's someone around here who would know? What's the place like? We'll see if its in the written archives."

Zeke hit some buttons and hovered over the keyboard.

"Whenever you're ready, let's hear about Mhaar."

[Ciara Myst]

"Just like that?" Ciara was truly perplexed that it could possibly work just like that.

"Hm, well. What do I say about it? Just start rattling off information and wait and see?? What if it has nothing on it? Then I can be standing here for hours just rambling on and on about home."

[Zeke]

"Just talk to me. Say whatever comes to mind. I'll put in some major info and we'll see what comes up."

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara thinks for a moment then just starts rattling off stats about Mhaar, almost sounding a bit like a recording herself.

"Mhaar: Size of a small moon

Standard Day: 29 1/2 hours

Standard Year: 372 Days

Um, the climate... well it has two seasons, warm and cold. Very wet and hot during the warm season and blistery cold during the cold season.

Violent storms too, lots of lightning.

Lifeforms: Humans, grifters, Kramalians, and sphanxis."

Ciara thinks for a moment. "Anything come up from that? I don't know what else you want to know on Mhaar."

[Zeke]

"Okaay..."

Zeke typed as fast as he could go, then hit a button.

"Hm...We got some other planets, but nothing labeled Mhaar. Maybe your planet was misfiled...but that's not likely. Droids update this thing; they don't make mistakes unless they're programmed to. I bet they haven't found it yet."

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara was a bit perplexed at first. Then she nodded gently. If she knew that Tatooine even existed, she'd probably make some sort of witty remark about how a backwater planet like that could be documented and Mhaar wasn't. Figures.

"Well. Maybe that is a good thing, and I just don't know it yet. I mean ... I certainly don't want those Rebels going there and bombing my home like they did here."

Ciara's first experience with the Rebels certainly wasn't a good one and her opinion of them was now set. How could they do that to this place? To the people just going on with their lives. It wasn't fair at all.

So young, so naive. Ciara has so much to learn. Hopefully she will learn it without getting killed before she do so much as step outside.

"Ok, Zeke. You pick a planet to visit. You seem to know more about all of this and I'll go there. Sound good?"

[Zeke]

"Um...okay. Why not? Let's see..."

Zeke hummed as he scanned the list before him.

"Not Hoth, its too cold...Yavin...but it appeared in the search for Mhaar, so you won't learn much from there...Maybe Thyferra, where they make all the Bacta, or Corellia? Decisions, decisions..."

[Ciara Myst]

She kept trying to get a word in as he went on. Deciding to give up and wait until he was finished, her eyes light up as she watches him. He seems nearly as excited as she is.

"What's bacta? Or a Corellia? And Hoth? That sounds like some nasty cough or something."

[Zeke]

"Bacta is a curative substance that heals EVERYTHING. Except for stuff that's fatal, like getting shot through the heart, bacta will fix ya up quick fast and in a hurry. Corellia has a reputation for gambling and hotshots that don't care about odds and Hoth is a cold wasteland that has some kind of importance in history."

Zeke laughed quietly.

"People who were stationed on Hoth often caught colds though."

[Ciara Myst]

She laughs. Ciara considers herself lucky to have met Zeke. There were many rude people she met and bumped into back at the spaceport, so seeing him smile and hearing his laugh made up for all that.

"That Corellia sounds interesting. Can we go there?"

[Zeke]

"Yuppers. Just need a ship, is all."

[Ciara Myst]

"Ok, then let's go get one." she makes it sound so easy.

[Zeke]

"Okay. To the spaceport, then."

Zeke turned and walked toward the door.

[Ciara Myst]

*Continue in here, or begin a new thread?*

[Zeke]

Why not keep it here? If you want a new thread, that's fine too. Its your adventure. You make the call.

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara looks at the database's screen again. Ok, looks like its to Corellia they go. Looking up, she sees Zeke heading out the door so she scuttles along after him.

"Wait for me!" She calls out to him. That childlike excitement begins to swell from deep within again. She catches up to Zeke then asks ...

"Wait. Didn't those Rebels just drop bombs or something at the spaceport? How are we going to get permission to take off, let alone get to my ship?"

[Zeke]

"It's easy. No one's there, b'cuz its bombed to oblivion. We'll just find your ship and go. I doubt if its been damaged."

[Ciara Myst]

"If its been bombed to oblivion, then how do you know my hunk of junk, as you so eloquently put it, is even still there?"

Ciara asks of Zeke as they head away from the building and make their way back to the spaceport. Once again, Ciara darts out across the street, causing traffic to come to a screeching halt from both directions; drivers shake their fists and yell obscene curses at the girl as she runs along. oblivious to the commotion she's causing.

[Zeke]

Zeke grinned.

"I don't. Just have some faith." Zeke waves happily to the stopped drivers, shifting their attention to him. If they tried to run him over, he could use his lightsaber to destroy the cars.

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara jogs across the tarmac, most of the mess has been moved aside and the massive clean up effort, gathering of evidence, parts, etc was well under way.

Skirting under a strip of yellow tape with DO NOT CROSS THE LINE scrawled upon it in bold black lettering, she heads to the hangar where she ship was. Security immediately grabs her by the arm and hauls her aside, the second officer levels his weapon on her.

"We'll need to see your identification." He stats rather blandly.

Oh cripes! Not this again!

Ciara sighs.

[Zeke]

Zeke approached calmly.

"Identification? She doesn't have such a thing as that. But that over there is her ship."

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara nods, "He's right. I've already been through this with the port authorities when I was escorted in." She adds.

With a jerk of her arm, they start to lead her away.

"Hey! Lemme go! I didn't do anything and I just want to get to my ship..."

[Zeke]

Zeke sighed. Stupid cops. Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he had a flash of brilliance.

"Wouldn't recommend you do that. This one's been arrested for 29 counts of murder, 5 counts of arson and a hundred other crimes you couldn't dream of. She's also a powerful Sith Lord. She had to be placed under my care."

Zeke ignited his lightsabers for effect. The guards exchanged glances, clearly worried.

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara snaps her head around, her long strawberry blonde hair happens to hit one of the guards right across his cheek. Her mouth drops as her eyes widen.

"What in the name of the stars are you talking about!? I was not and am not!"

Ciara didn't know what Zeke was trying to do and the poor girl couldn't lie to save her own life. Now the guards look at Zeke dryly, and the second one levels his weapon on Zeke now.

"Little boy's shouldn't play with toys that they can hurt themselves with. Put the flashlight away and move to the side."

[Zeke]

Zeke sighed.

"I'm warnin ya dudes. Ya think this innocent girl act is for real? She's about to kill you both, and you're blocking my angle of attack."

He used the Force and slid 2 sharp pieces of wreckage at the guards.

"Duck, idiots!"

He kicked the two guards to the ground, keeping Ciara on her feet. He held out two hands and the wreckage stopped. It looked for all the world as if he had saved them. He leaned in close to Ciara.

"Just play it off!" Louder, he said "Foolish Sith, what do you think you're doing?"

He placed his sabers a few inches from her shoulders.

"To the ship." he said with a tone of authority.

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara yelped as the twin parts of wreckage suddenly rose from the ground and headed right to the guards. Her natural instinctive reaction was to start to shove the guards out of the way, thinking Zeke had gone positively mad!

Play what off? She thinks to herself and upon seeing his saber near her shoulders, she looks to Zeke ... hurt. She didn't understand any of this, never experienced anything of the sort before.

Downtrodden, she sighs and heads over to her ship and embarks up the boarding ramp, then to the cockpit.

*****note: gone for the next ten or so hours****

[Zeke]

Zeke followed her up the ramp, then, when the ramp had closed, shut down his sabers.

"Sorry about that. They wouldn't have let you go any other way."

He joined her in the cockpit and looked at her face. She wasn't fakin'; he'd seriously hurt her feelings.

"Look, I didn't mean to hurt you. It was an act to make the guards let you go. Otherwise, there'd have been a big me vs Spaceport guards battle and those guys are endless, lemme tell ya. It'd be like a rerun of the stormtroopers."

He looked over the consoles.

"Ghetto...how much of this actually works?"

OOC: Take your time.

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara still really understand just why the spaceport rent-a-cops wouldn't have let her go. She didn't do anything wrong, hadn't broken any laws ... that she was aware of ...

She eyes Zeke, letting an awkward moment of silence pass between the two.


(if this posts twice, I apologize. I got disconnected as I hit the submit reply button)

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


"What's ghetto? And it all works, thank you very much!"

Ciara was a bit offended. Ok. So what if her ship was probably the most outdated piece of technology in the universe, it worked.

"Except for a few things."

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

Stars, for as far as the eye could see.

General Matthers turned away from the view port on hearing the doors slide open. Immediately he took his position next to his 6 man squat team and saluted his superior as he entered.

Captain Edryl motioned all seven of the men to ease as he marched into the room, accompanied by two commandos. “We were attacked, four enemy fighters…I’m afraid the damage is fatal…This ship will go down.” He pauses, rubbing his brow thoughtfully as he stares blankly at the viewport window. “We’re stranded.”

Matthers responds, “We can’t be far from Yaga Minor.”

The Captain interrupts, “We lost contact with Yaga Minor….Shortly before we lost all transmissions. I can assure you General Matthers, we are well and truly stranded.”

“Aaa nutz..”

[Zeke]

"Ghetto means its old and busted. And are you sure? Let's run some diagnostic stuff."

Zeke had learned a basic diagnostic program while growing up on starships. He ran it now, viewing the readout onscreen as it gave out info...very, very slowly.

"This thing's frikkin ancient! It's taking forever...Ah, there it goes."

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

Captain Edryl sat behind the desk in his quarters. General Matthers stood the other side, facing the man.
“You understand the implications of this mission General? Your life support will last only 7 days. We could be 10 maybe 15 days away from Yaga Minor by the shuttles readings it is hard to say.”

“Personally I’d rather die trying rather than sit here and wait.” Matthers replied with a dry smile.

“Then I’ll have the shuttle prepared for you,” he paused to study the Generals face, one of the finest men he had worked with on the field, both resourceful and deadly, and now proving himself yet again to be fearless in the face of danger.

“You will be commended for your bravery, of that I assure you, Your selfless act will be logged in my private journal, lets just hope that’s not where its found.” He nods with a stiff bottom lip, then rises to salute the General. “Good look Raigen” He offers the man his hand, which the other takes in a firm grip and replies, “I’ll see you in a few days Captain.” With that he turns and leaves the room.

By the time Raigen had gathered a few belongings and supplies for his journey and made his way down to the shuttles dock, the final checks were nearly complete. It was just a case of him climbing aboard and strapping himself in. Several of the crew had joined his team of commandos on the shuttles ramp to pass on their good wishes. Then the door came down and he was alone.

Six minutes, that’s how long Raigen had been travelling at full throttle when he spotted the wedge shaped space craft to his far left, some twenty miles off he guessed. The feeling of relief had him smiling to himself as he pulled up to perform a 180 and head back to his friends.

There was no doubt in his mind that the Star Destroyer was already heading for the stranded craft. The scanning crew aboard a ship of that size would have already found them, if not identified the vessel as one of their own.

Raigen still awaited a visual on his ship when it happened. A flash of white light, dead central to where he was heading. The light went out as fast as it appeared and there was darkness again.

His first thought was, did I imagine it? He actually managed to convince himself until the shower started, pieces of wreckage started pounding the shuttle. Most were to small to do any real damage, but some he spotted looked menacing. Without hesitation he pulled round and back on himself making the shuttle creak as it performed a wide arc at full speed. The debris seemed to turn in to dust as he came out of the turn, so he laid off the throttle a little to gather his thoughts.

He levelled up in the direction of the Star Destroyer, It seemed no closer than when he’d first spotted it, but he had a good visual. It seemed to be manoeuvring, turning away from him, so he pushed forward even harder, maybe getting another centimetre of the lever.

He made no ground on the Imperial warship in the time he followed it, which turned out to be the amount of time it took for the ship to manoeuvre. Then a similar blast of light made Raigen squint as the Star Destroyer made the jump to lightspeed, It was gone by the time he’d opened his eyes.

He was alone again.

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara watches Zeke as he runs a diagnostics trick he says he learned. As he mentions how slow and ancient her ship is, she slaps his arm.

"Hey! Be nice now. She'll hold up rather well anyways. So what if that thing you're running is going slow. What is that thing you're running anyways?"

Ciara looks at the screen as data begins to appear. Ok, it was moving slower than a herd of turtles stampeding through a puddle of molasses.

"What do you know of Corellia? Have you done much travelling?"

Ciara's schoolgirl giddiness was returning, she couldn't wait to begin another leg of her lifelong adventures.

[Zeke]

"This thing I'm running tells me what parts of your ship are busted and what parts are working. While I'm waiting on it, tell me about the ship. Corellia is a planet I know nothing about, save its name. I spent all my life traveling until I arrived at the GJO."

By now they had taken off and were in outer space. Zeke spotted something in the viewport.

"Wonder what that is."

[Ciara Myst]

She looks over the stuff scrolling on the screen but then her attention is drawn to the viewport.

"Maybe we should go see."

Ciara takes the controls and her fingers move fluidly over the dials, keypads and other various things on the instrument panel.
The ship alters course and heads off to investigate.

"So what doesn't work on this ship, Zeke?"

[Zeke]

"Um...your big gun, comm, and shields."

Zeke reached up and banged the ceiling hard with his fist. A hatch popped open and a big datapad dropped into his lap.

"Owners manual. I should be able to fix them with this. Not as good as a mechanic, mind you, but they'll do the job 'til Corellia."

He began to navigate the menus of the manual, figuring out how the ship worked.

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

The warning light on the console at Raigens lap lit up the whole cockpit of the shuttle as it reacted to the incoming vessel. With that he snapped out of his slumber and after rubbing his eyes a little, he spotted the ship.

He got to work, slipping the controls to manual and slowly guiding the shuttle towards the vessel that also seemed to be heading towards him.

His inability to make radio contact was a pain, but the flash light in his satchel would be more than capable of sending a visual message to the incoming ship.

He pulled back on the control stick making the shuttle halt, then with the flashlight he went about sending a basic morse code message to the others.

NO COM.....NO COM...... TAKE ME IN.......TAKE ME IN.......

[Zeke]

Zeke was underneath the cockpit console, fiddling with the comm system. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash: Morse code. His reaction was the same as if his commphone at home went off at a bad time.

"HEY! SHUT UP! I'M BUSY!" he shouted. "Ciara, answer that!"

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara quirks both of her brows as she keeps her eyes on the flashing lights through the viewport. Tapping Zeke on his shoulder as she leans forwards a bit to reach.

"Uh.. Zeke .. I think we're in trouble."

[Zeke]

Zeke came from under the console.

"Whaddaya mean...oh, he just needs pick up. Probably an escape pod or something."

He flashed a message back

::CHILL. THIS CRATE'S GHETTO, LEMME MAKE IT WORK::

then continued to work at the console to make the hatches work.

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara blinks, watching Zeke send a message with lights back. She has no idea whatsoever what any of this is about.

"Zeke. Is it really such a smart idea to be picking up stranded strangers in space?"

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

Raigen waited for a repeat reply, just to make sure what he read was correct, He received no such thing. “The Cranes Ghetto? Funny name for a ship.

On closer inspection he discovered that it was a fitting name for such a vessel. The whole hull looked fit to drop and those hatches definitely hadn’t seen daylight for some years. It was a wreck, just how it had gotten off the ground was puzzling, to say the least.

He decided to wait and see what their next move would be, In the hope that the ‘Cranes Ghetto’ would be at least accommodating.

[Zeke]

Zeke fixed up the hatches hurriedly and docked them with the hatches on Raigen's shuttle.

"If he causes trouble, I'm armed with 2 sabers."

He opened the hatches and let Raigen in.

"Word. What'cha doin' out here?"

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara couldn't help but to chuckle as Zeke addressed the stranger with 'word'. She'd have to remember that.

Still, she was apprehensive with this new arrival. She'd keep on her toes; just in case.

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

Raigen ducked below the shuttle door and entered the ship, Its interior at first glance looked a lot better than the outside, someone had obviously spent some time on that at least.

He looked at Zeke, instantly noticing a saber hilt hanging at his side. Outwardly he showed no emotion towards the young mans weapon of choice, but inwardly his thoughts raced. A Jedi? This could mean trouble.

He released his satchel from his shoulder letting it hang touching the floor in his left hand, then sternly he offered Zeke his right, clutching tightly as to greet the man. "The names Cameron...I've had a little ship trouble."

He looked to Ciara, nodding once then his dark eyes homed in on Zeke once more, "Where are you guys heading?"

[Zeke]

Zeke shook his hand, then moved to lean on the wall.

"What kinda ship trouble?"

Zeke began to suspect that Ciara had been right. If ship trouble meant a starship battle, then they were all screwed.

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

"I lost my drive units, They just blew."

He noticed Zekes brief acommodating persona had vanished to reveal an almost accusing glare. Probably justified, Raigen hadn't had as much as a wash for 5 whole days. His face itched as his dark stubble made the change to beard. And he smelt.

"I need a wash."

[Zeke]

"Not my department. Ciara can help you with that. I gotta go fix the rest of the ship."

Zeke looked between Raigen and Ciara.

"Lemme talk to dude alone. Ciara, go see if this ship has a washroom."

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

Raigen hung his satchel back over his right shoulder. With widened eyes he looked to Ciara, who seemed to be staring at him blankley, almost as if she'd never seen a man like him before.

He wore an unmarked, pale grey flight suit. They had know way of telling he was an Imperial Commando, Such was the policy of sending men out in escape pods. The Empire had a lot of enemies, and advertising the fact someone worked for them could only hinder their chances of finding help in such a situation.

His dark inch length hair stood up around the back of his head, as if he'd just awoken from a long sleep, and his thick set lips were almost blue in colour and dry, cracked through lack of fluid. His eyes had a sinnister look to them and his dark brows were naturally arced. Standing at around 6' 2", he was of an athletic build and aged at anything around 35.

He hoped to be offered a drink anytime soon. "I get the feeling you don't make a habit of picking up strangers in space."

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara didn't take her eyes off the newcomer; an uneasy feeling causes the tiny hairs at the nape of her neck to rise. She makes no motion to rub at the back of her neck as she normally would do. Better to not let anyone see her unease. There was definitely something about the man that she didn't trust. Perhaps it was the look in his eyes? He wasn't that much taller than she was at a height of around 5'7".

"Mhm." Is all she says to Zeke as he asks for time alone with the man. She didn't give her name to him; she saw no reason to. However, her ships recorders were on as she had been able to slide her finger past the sensory to activate them when Zeke was docking the ships together.

As if she'd get some horrific disease from touching the man, she inches her way along the sidewall past him, shuddering once as gooseflesh prickles her skin. Once past him, she looks to his back with gently narrowed eyes while her long, slender fingers rake back through her hair.

"The refresher is this way. Down the corridor and the last door on the left."

She tells the man. A few more paces down and she opens a small box looking thing. Its like a built in mini refreshment station. She pulls out a cold glass of water from her homeplanet; the best tasting and cleanest water in all the galaxy.

She sets it down on a shelf then nods gently, still keeping her eyes on him.

"Here's some water if you are thirsty."

She thinks to herself; or maybe its meant to be a projected thought to Zeke; at any rate, she simply thinks.

~Keep on your guard~.

[Zeke]

Zeke could've sworn Ciara'd said something. He ignored the feeling and watched Raigen.

"Okay, dude. This is a ghetto transport ship, so you gotta go through ghetto customs. Empty the bag."

He wasn't going to do this, but Ciara was definitely looking ill at ease. Zeke was sure he meant no harm and was just freaky-lookin', but he figured it'd be best to show her rather than tell her.

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

Raigen lets a slight grin part his lips as he lets the satchel slip off of his shoulder and slide down his arm. In almost the same movement he tosses the bag to within inches of Zekes feet.

"You won't find anything interesting....I assure you."

Although he remains desperate for a drink, he remains still, waiting for Zeke to search his unincriminating bag. He briefly glances to the lady as she walks away, then to the drink.

[Zeke]

Zeke sat down and opened the bag. He stuck his face inside, then upended the bag onto the floor.

"Lessee here...da da da..." Zeke continued to talk to himself as he searched the stuff "He got clothes, some datapads, a pic of his wife or girlfriend, which it is, I'll never know, some ID...ID check! Are you who this says you are?"

He looked up to see Raigen staring somewhat confusedly.

"Your name, dude?"

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

Raigen remained unfazed.

"Cameron Forester...like on the card."

Once again he eyed the drink.

[Zeke]

"Yeah, right! I'll bet you're an Imperial commando on a secret mission!"

Zeke was kidding, of course, saying one of the many random things that popped into his head. He had no clue how close to the truth he was, or that it was Force-induced. Raigen had no clue Zeke was kidding.

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

Raigens blood began to boil, his fingers started to itch for the triggers of his blasters that weren't there.

He smiled "Do I look like a commando?"

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara cants her head aside as she listens to the two talk. Her vantage point of being behind Raigen gave her a chance to subtly curl her fingers around a loose pipe she kept near that cooling unit where she had just gotten the man's water from.

If anyone were to look at her, it would just appear that she was resting her hand against the small portion of wall that jutted out there.

"You certainly don't look friendly." She states rather softly; a coolness in her voice that Zeke had never heard before. Perhaps a hint of a fighter spirit was in that tone; then again, it could just a hint of fear. It was hard to tell.

[Zeke]

"Of course he don't, he's scruffy and dirty and ugly to boot! Just kiddin', I don't care what you look like, dude."

He stopped to ponder Raigen's question.

"I seen commandos dressed as civilians. You could be, I guess."

Zeke kept going through the bag, some of its contents were still in it.

"Ooh, nice blaster ya got in here," he said, looking into the bag.

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

He made note of Ciara's comment, though he decided not to respond, Infact he was kinda taken back by it, left speechless.

His attention was welcomingly drawn to Zeke, who by now was clutching one of his DL 44's in his hand. "Its loaded" he said in a semi concerned manner.

Then abruptly he turned, his eyes diverted to the glass of water, then to Ciara where they remained as he started walking towards her. The smile had gone, his glare seemed softer than that before, almost warm as he halted before her. He moved his hand slowley to the glass. "He nodded as to say thankyou, then he started drinking. It was bliss, the nicest tasting water ever and his eyes failed to hide this, By the time he'd finnished they were full with tears, one managed to escape, rolling half way down his face before he caught it on the back of his free hand. He smiled to Ciara, maybe through embarassment.

"Thankyou."

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara swallows as he keeps his eyes on her then starts towards her. Long, slender fingers curl a bit tighter around that long, metal pipe that remains concealed. When he draws even closer, she steps back a step; odd for her to such a thing.

She nods her head once, so subtly that it might not even be seen.

"Mhm." Is all she says to his thanks.

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

He places the glass back on the shelf, then turns slightly to see Zeke, who must have nearly finnished his search by now.

"How far off is Yaga Minor?" He asks aloud.

He would of had to be stupid not to have realised his welcome was none existant. Zeke was just going through the motions, He cared little whether the stranger was an Outlaw or a Priest, He only seemed to be bothered about pleasing the young women, who was the real problem here. She had made no effort to welcome him, Infact she'd done the complete opposite. She'd been outright rude to put it mildly.

His plans were simple. Get to the nearest planet and as soon a possible, then he could find out why that Star destroyer had turned on one of its own ships, His ship.

[Zeke]

Zeke put the stuff back in the bag.

"We just left Yaga Minor shortly after it was bombed to crap. Know anything about the bombing? If you were in space, you probably saw it."

He looked over at Ciara. What's her deal? At the spaceport she was jumpin to make friends...oh well, I'll give her the rundown on making friends later.

"You wanna us to take you back to Yaga Minor? It shouldn't be any trouble..." he said, with another look at Ciara.

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

Bombed? Things were starting to add up in Raigens head. Could the bombing of Yaga Minor be tied to the destruction of his ship? If that were the case, Yaga Minor was the last place in the Galaxy he wanted to be, bar one, Coruscant.

He remained calm, his eyes relaxed, "Where are you heading?"

He needed to get out of Imperial Space and fast. His only advantage was, they thought he was dead, like the rest of his crew. For how long, God only knew.

[Zeke]

"Corellia."

Zeke decided it was time to give some props.

"But sounds to me like you got biznass on Yaga Minor."

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

Raigen could only hope that he still had business on Yaga Minor, but his gut feeling lead him to believe that episode of his life was well and truly over, And with nothing to show for his troubles. The more he thought about excepting Zekes offer and dropping in on his home base of the past 9 years, the more suicidal it seemed.

"Forgive me....but the idea of being dropped off in the middle of a war zone doesn't really appeal to me. You say your heading for Corellia, Is there any chance you could take me to Agamar?" He paused, then continued, "Of course I'll pay my way, plus its the ideal place to pick up supplies before you hit the Hydian Trade route."

He failed to add that it was also home to the second largest crime syndicate in the galaxy, one that he himself had carried out work for on several occasions.

[Zeke]

"Agamar? This crate's starmap is nonexistant. If you got an updated one you could show us, we'll consider it."

Agamar...why did that ring a bell? And why did it bring danger to mind? Zeke decided to hide his discomfort with small talk.

"I used to live on starships, surprised I haven't memorized the stupid starchart by now."

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

Raigen moved forward straight for his bag, picking it up and placing it on the work top. He plunged his hand in before catching a slight movement in the corner of his eye. He looked to Zeke as he slowley pulled out the data pad, a slight smile appeared on his face "Easy". He removed the satchel from the surface and placed the pad down quickly bringing it to life.

He pressed a few buttons, then paused briefly. "There you go." He moved aside a little and span the data pad around so it was in line with Zeke.

"This is Yaga Minor, we take a south-eastern course," he moved his finger down the screen, "passed Garqi....bingo." he pointed to Agamar, the next but one planet in the cluster. "Now assuming your getting point 2 from this thing, we should make it in," he looked around the ship, had he somehow forgotten the state of its exterior. "32 hours or so."

He straightened himself up, leaving Zeke at the screen and looking over to Ciara. "Come and see."

[Zeke]

"Nothing doing." Zeke said after studying the chart.

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

"Pardon?"

[Zeke]

"Last time I came through here I got attacked."

Now that he could see the starmap, he remembered why Agamar set off the warning bells in his mind.

"This ship can't take punishment."

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

"This ship 'can't' take you to Corellia. It's an antique." He said with a hint of sarcasm. "It needs attention, I can fix you up."

[Zeke]

Zeke didn't stop studying the starmap.

"Not my call. Ship belongs to her. She knows what it can and cannot do at this moment. All I know is what's busted. She got to Yaga Minor from Mhaar, so it should hold together 'til Corellia."

Zeke sighed. This guy had an angle, by now it was clear. Whether it was for good or bad was anyone's guess. Now he questioned the ship. That was Ciara's department, Zeke decided to leave the next decision to her.

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

Raigen picked up his bag and from a side pocket he took a packet of ciggies and a lighter. He quickly sparked one up before returning the items to the bag.

As he stood up right he turned to Ciara. Holding the fag between his thumb and first finger he took a long drag, inhaled and blew the smoke from the side of his mouth.

"Mhaar?"

[Wraith Frostmourne]

In the black of space, Wraith sat in his Star destroyer. His radar was top of the line, having an extended reach on detection, it could detect other ships from miles away without its self being monitored. It read a small ship several leagues away. This would be interesting. Wraith did not engage an attack becuase his weapons on his ship were not very sufficient. He decided to just track it and see where it was heading. Wraith would wait this one out.

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara had been watching Raigen and Zeke quietly for the past several minutes. Moreso Raigen. She still felt pretty uneasy and she couldn't explain why; she just did. Maybe it was his eyes, or his brows or even just his voice but the minute he sparked up and blew out his smoke she marched over there and yanked it from the man's hand.

After she smothers it on the the metallic floor, she scowls at Raigen, shaking her head.

"That thing smells horrible and it won't be stinkin' up my ship. Rule #1 on this craft. And if'n you can't live without that horrid .. whatever it was... there is the door."

She points to the hatch. No, not the one that was still connecting her ship to Raigen's; the other one. The one that is suppose to house an escape pod but doesn't.

"I know what this ship can do, I know what it can't do. I know it's not as fancy as anything the two of you are obviously use to, but neither of you know a thing about Mhaar; therefore, you couldn't know how 'new' this hunk of ghetto junk as you called it looks to my people."

Yes, she was a bit upset now. She was quite proud that she had done as well as she did with this thing. It took nearly .. what .. ten years or so for her to get it operational and able to travel without breaking apart the minute it hit the planet's atmospheres.

Now she looks to Raigen.

"Yes, Mhaar. It's where I'm from. In the Unknown Regions."

However, her eyes kept looking to that datapad on the floor; the one with the starmap showing on it. The look of apprehension was replaced by one of deep curiousity in her eyes, which also kept flicking back and forth between Raigen and the datapad.

Even if her ships radars had been working properly, there was no way they'd ever have detected another ship as far off as Wraith's SD was. But at the moment, they seemed to be sitting ducks.

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

Raigen stepped back hiding the amusement Ciaras outburst caused him. A fiesty women she was, and resourcefull if what she said about the ship was true.

"Miss.....forgive me. I had no idea...honestly. But we have no time for arguing, we must set a course and start moving. This is dangerous space."

He looked to Zeke for any sign of his agreement. "Now it seems this ship is under your command miss, So what will it be?"

[Zeke]

Zeke rubbed a hand behind his head and grinned apologetically.

"Sorry, Ciara. Okay, how's this? We go to Corellia. From there, Cameron gets a more powerful ship to Agamar. I keep showing Ciara around the galaxy. Fair deal?"

A sudden prickle raised the hairs on the back of Zeke's neck. He rubbed his neck, trying to shake the feeling they were being watched. He couldn't.

"Let's move on. Cameron, if you be honest and trustworthy, I'd like you to help me fix this thing while we're going. Earn some good karma, or whatnot."

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara nods to them both, giving the hem of her vest style shirt a gentle tug as if to emphasize her point as well as to rid herself of the last of her angst.

"Very well. If Mr. Raigen here would be so kind as to helping you Zeke, and perhaps allow me to look at that starmap, I can atleast get us unhitched from the other ship and start heading off towards Corellia. If that is fine with the two of you."

[Zeke]

"Fine by me."

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

Raigen smiles widely. "Hold on a minute, let me get this straight. Your gonna take me to Corellia, which will take near on 2 weeks, so that I can get a ride back to Agamar, right?"

He looks to Ciara, her stern stare tells him not to pursue this anymore.

"Fine....Now can I go freshen up please?"

After all, Agamar was an after thought in the first place, Corellia would be better anyway, He could pop in on old Ned.

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara sweeps her arm aside, motioning to Raigen.

"Be my guest." Damn straight he was going to have to suffer aboard her ship for two weeks! No way in a Hutt's bottomless pit of a stomach was she going to risk the lives of those aboard by going to Agamar if Zeke was speaking true about the dangers. Ciara was sure he was telling the truth, Zeke had never lied to her since they met and she doubted he was going to start now.

[Zeke]

Zeke grinned at Raigen and Ciara.

"See, with a little bit o' love, we can all get along!"

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

Raigen picked up his bag and with a polite smile he passed Ciara and started towards the washroom. Just before he entered he turned and looked at the pair.

"This is all very nice....but this ship won't get going by itself."

Old habits die hard. Raigen was used to being the teller, not the told.

[Zeke]

"Hm. He'll loosen up."

He'd have to if he didn't want Ciara to kill him.

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara mocks Raigen under her breath as she runs her slender fingers fluidly along the control panels. Just to prove a point, she guns the engines and the ship lurches forwards, a bit violently since she didn't detach from the other ship. Yes, she did that on purpose.

Easing the ship back into position, she enters a few key commands and the two ships detached; leaving Raigen's derelict in space.

[Zeke]

Zeke watched Raigen's craft float away behind them.

"Man, that ship was worse than this one. Hang on a sec, I'll fix your hyperdrive."

He navigated the owner's manual and found the hyperdrive chapter.

"Wow, this thing's in real good shape. Only thing wrong is this..."

He reconnected a wire to the console and the panel in front of Ciara lit up.

"Now just point us at Corellia and go."

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

A few seconds. Thats how long it took to dawn on Raigen what Ciara had just done. His face, which was covered with shaving foam, dropped as he stared at his reflection in the wash room mirror. He was stunned for a moment, then the inevitable sound of the ship entering hyperspace rang through his ears.

If the Empire didn't already no he was alive, they would the minute they found his shuttle floating aimlessly through their space.

"deep breathes Raigen.......deep breathes." A technique he quite often used to extinguish his dark temper. He would of course not let his anger be known, in time he would reason to himself and come to the conclusion she was not to blame. But right at this moment, She was satan.

[Zeke]

"Ah, now for...Hey, do you want offensive power or defensive power?"

Zeke pulled himself up from under the console.

"Hyperspace is so cool."

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

Just then the washroom door slid open and out came a new, freshley groomed Raigen. His flight suit is no more. He now wheres a pair of casual dark slacks and a slightly lighter off blue long sleeved shirt. His hair is flat and clean. His face is cleanly shaven and his lips have regained some of their natural color.

He drapes his jacket over a chair then looks around, finding the main access ramp he approachs it, then hangs his holster on an air duct pipe right next to it.

He then looks back on himself and into the cockpit area. To his right he see's what could be the air filtering systems cabinet, as gooder place as any to start his check.

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara blinks and looks to Zeke.

"I don't know. Which do I want? Why not both?"

Wow! She's never seen the cockpit so lit up before; that panel had not worked in forever. Come to think of it, it never worked.
Hearing Raigen approaching, she looks towards him then to Zeke.

Turning back around, she enters in the coordinates she had already figured out mentally into the system and the ship corrected itself for its long flight to Corellia.

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

He crouches next to the Air purifier, something he'd never seen on a ship before. A system that had been scrapped some 20 years previous.

It was in mint condition. As clean as a whistle. One thing about Ciara he'd noticed was that she had kept the ship clean. She definately had put plenty of care into preserving this rust bucket.

He took the reading on the gage, 22*51. Then he quickly inspected the pipes, which lead up and through the ceiling plate. It all seemed in order.

He moved on to the cockpit, standing behind Ciara over her right shoulder, Visually inspecting several key readings. "Point 04?....You gotta be kiddin." He shook his head and walked a bit to the right watching Zeke tamper with the main shield units.

In his eyes, the need for shielding at present was minimun. They needed to push all the power into the hyperdrive, at least untill they got out of Imperial space. The shields could always be activated when needed. He thought he'd skip putting his idea across for now, he was hardly Mr popular and he wanted to avoid coming across as a no it all.

He diverted his attention to the communication and scanning console. Now that was something that could do with working.

He smiled at Ciara as he sat next to her at the controls. "Whats your name then?"

[Zeke]

"You can't have both b'cuz I can't fix both. I'll do shields."

He consulted the owner's manual again. He found the problem: a short in the control unit that sent the commands to the shield generator. He'd seen this problem a hundred times before; a little piece of metal would make the connection hold until Corellia.

"Hey out there! Got a scrap of metal I could borrow?"

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

"How big?"

[Zeke]

"Little. Like a paper clip."

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

"On my holster theres some pins, try one of them."

[Zeke]

Zeke took some pins off the holster and wedged them into the break in the connection. It sparked, proof of Zeke's success.

"Shields work. We'll need a pro to fix 'em permanently."

Zeke came out from under the control and sat on the floor.

"I'll do the gun later."

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara had almost forgotten that Zeke was down under by where she was sitting; she had to turn the captain's chair so he could get out. She looks over to Raigen and again, that suspicion is in her eyes.

"Ciara." She tells him quietly. Who knows? Maybe in having to spend the next two weeks together, she might come to like the guy.

[Wraith Frostmourne]

On the radar he realized a small ship depart from the main vessel. I wonder whose on those ships. Why would they take this course of action? Wraith pondered some more upon these questions as his ship moved closer in on them, keeping extreme distance.

[Ciara Myst]

"Well, I suggest you two find a seat if you haven't already. I noticed while glancing at that starmap you have Raigen, that we're going to be going through many other planetary atmospheres, so since I have yet to see anything else other than Mhaar, deep space and this.. Yaga Minor...and since I'm the owner of this craft looking for adventures in her life, we will be making numerous stops. I hope no one is in any hurry to get to Corellia."

And with that said, Ciara decides to skip a few of the hyperspace jumps and just cruise leisurely on their course.

"From the looks of this, we'll be landing on Ord Mantell in the next 24 hours. What's known about Ord Mantell? Did I say that right?"

There was the vibrant spark of her innocence, that excited adventurer's spirit shines through once again.

Little did the three travellers know, they appear to have drawn attention to themselves. All because they had to pick Raigen up from his defunct ship.

[Clarius Korban]

He sat in the space port bar, nursing a dry whiskey.

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

There it was again, he wasn't imagining it. She definately called him Raigen. Now either he'd let it slip in conversation, which was near enough out of the question. Or she had some how sensed his name. Was she one of those physic weirdo's he'd ran into in the past, or was she a witch. He quickly put these thoughts out of his head, relying on his first option, He must have let it slip.

He leant forward towards his datapad, which Ciara seemed to have adopted. He placed hi finger on the image of Ord Mantell on the screen. It quickly zoomed in on the world. A 5 paragraph description of the planet appeared next to it. Raigen ran his finger down a list on top of the page, The planet span around and the cursor pointed out a space port. Deep in a rocky canyon. "The ten mile Plateau....We should beable to find a mechanic there." He turned to Ciara. "You want to see the Back Country Rockies?"

[Zeke]

Raigen...? Zeke glanced at Ciara. This guy's name was Cameron, though. Why would she call him that? A past memory? Or...perhaps she's Force sensitive? Ooh...Force sensitive...a possible Jedi recruit. He'd watch and see.

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara was busy piloting her hunk of junk aircraft through a small asteroid field while waiting for the information on Ord Mantell to scroll up along the screen of the monitor on her control panel that Zeke has just finished getting operational again.

Since it never worked before, she was also giving herself a fast lesson on which button did what and what user commands were available to her fingertips.

Using all of her concentration, she eases back the throttle and slows the ship to a near crawl, maneuvering between to huge rolling asteroids that appear to be on a collision course. Giving full power at the right time and a steep downwards dive, then a gentle roll, the two spacial bodies pass clean over the ship and barely miss hitting each other.

"Ahhh... it's rather exciting to fly though an asteroid field."

Allowing herself to relax, now that they are clear of that, she sets the crafts speed as well as the autopilot. Time to read over the information on Ord Mantell.

******DATA TRANSMITTING******

Ord Mantell: Known for its lenient banking laws and their flexibility. It was settled some 12,000 before the Battle of Endor by Corellian colonists as an advanced military outpost for the Old Republic. Over time, more wealthy planets and better hyperspace routes diminished Ord mantell's strategic importance, but became something of a free port for all manner of freighters and cargo ships. Despite the planet's dropping stature, it remained known as the Heart of the Bright Jewel, orbiting the blue star at the center of the Bright Jewel System. The planet is famous for its thick, outer cometary cloud, which has been the site of the Blockade Runners Derby for nearly 100 years. It has two moons, and has a temperate environment. It claimed to be free of Imperial interest, but Han Solo discovered an Imperial fleet on maneuvers when he arrived there. During the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the galaxy, Ord Mantell was approached by the New Republic to help alleviate the overwhelming rush of refugees fleeing the battlezones.

******END TRANSMISSION*****

"Well, this is quite a bit of information. Unfortunately, I really don't know who this Han Solo is, what a bounty hunter is or any of that other stuff."

Ciara looks to both Zeke and Raigen, with a smile.

"Sounds like an exciting place nonetheless, eh?"

The looks on their faces wasn't what she expected. Why were they looking at her so funny? She didn't know. Nor did she know how she knew 'Cameron's' true name, it just slipped. There were many times in her life when things just came to her, unknowingly and unexpectedly.

"What? Aren't you two up for adventures? And yes, I'd like to see as much of the planet as I can."

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

Raigen notices Ciara hadn't seen his lesson on how to use the datapad, and what it was capable of. He was quietly dissapointed, he really thought he was impressing her, what the hell.

"Ord Mantell it is then." What a relief. They could get the ship seen to.

[Zeke]

"Okay." Zeke yawned. "I just pulled an all nighter...back on Yaga it's morning...I'ma snooze."

Zeke curled up in a sitting position in a corner, and before anyone could say anything was fast asleep.

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

He looks over at Zeke. "Interesting guy."

He looks back to Ciara.

"So thats what you are, An adventuror. Nice work.....If you got the time."

He kind of trailed off at the end of his sentence, as he realized that he might be faced with some free time himself in the not to distant future. He hoped anyway.

[Ciara Myst]

"Mhm. Well, atleast that's what I am now. What are you? "

Ciara looks towards him, after making sure they weren't on a collision course with any other heavenly bodies.

"And I know you lied." There was no accusation in her voice, no malice or anything of the sort. Just a simple statement to something she knew deep down.

"So, while he sleeps, how about you tell me exactly how it is your ship became lame in space and who you are, hm?"

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

Raigen smiled, It spread as she looked at him, into a wide, toothy grin.

"I lied?" There was something about Raigen. On first impressions he looked trouble. His eyes were almost evil at times. But the more time you spent with him, the more he seemed to become human.

Of course he was highly skilled in deplomacy. He'd dined with some real big wigs. So his one to one skills were finely tuned. He could be very manipulative at times, but that was not his approach here. He was firmly in 'make them like me' stage.

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara may be naive, and even hold the wonderous mind of a child at times, but she was far from stupid; and she wasn't blonde.

"Mhm. You're name for one. I don't know how I know this, I just do. It's not Cameron."

She shifts a look to Zeke. Seeing him laying there in the corner like that, made her shake her head. He knew there was a small cabin in the back so why he didn't just go lay down in there was beyond her.

"So, please ... don't speak to me that way, or think of me as stupid. I think if you want to remain aboard, you had best start giving me some straight answers here."

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

Raigens face changed, he was serious.

"Straight answers? Ok. My name is Raigen Cameron, I'm an advancer...I don't expect you know what an advancer is do you? You could say I'm a bit like you. I travel the galaxy, discover new planets, explore them."

He lent back in his chair slipping his hand into his trouser pocket. He lit up a cigerette, then carried on talking.

"My ship? Well you could say I got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. I got hit by three Rebel fighters and they took out my whole System. I was forced to bail. Then I met you."

"Wheres the lie....Ciara?"

[Ciara Myst]

She still doesn't trust him. Something just feels wrong still. Could be her unease from earlier, but she wasn't sure.

"Fine. I don't like you, plain and simple. Maybe I need to get to know you better and all that. You seem to come off as gruff and .. and... why are you looking at me like that?"

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

"Like what?...and who are you calling gruff?" He paused, he hadn't had a convo like this for years, a petty squabble, something he'd always associated with women.

"Your entitled to your opinion of me miss Ciara. I thank you for your honesty," He'd calmed right down by now. He kept eye contact with her. There was a genuine look in his eye. He was being truthfull, maybe for the first time whilst aboard her ship.

"You know enough...The rest is way to much...do you understand?"

[Ciara Myst]

She studies him; his facial expression and his eyes. She nods her head gently.

"What you really mean to say is that I would be wise to not ask any more questions; isn't that right?"

Her voice was quiet, she didn't want to wake Zeke. He had been up long enough running around with her, answering her endless questions and now fixing her ship.

"Fine, Mr. Cameron, er Raigen, whatever you wish to be called. I won't ask any more .. for now."

She leans over the armrest of her chair and plucks that nasty smoke from his mouth and smooshes it under her foot on the floor.

"And I said you aren't going to stink up my ship with that."

[Zeke]

Zeke fell over on his side with a loud thump and accompanying snore. The two in the pilot's chairs jumped, then Zeke rolled over with his back to them and became quiet again.

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

Raigen shuck his head. He wasn't happy with the way she'd taken his words of advice. He somehow got the impression that she thought he was threatening her, warning her not to push him to far. That of course wasn't true, he was merely trying to say, what you don't know can't hurt you.

But with Raigen it was the complete opposite. What he didn't know was hurting him most. He needed to find out whether he was free, or whether he was on the run.

He heard a slight thud from behind and turned to see Zeke had repositioned himself, He had even taken to snoring. He smiled inwardly. These guys seemed more real than the people he'd lived and worked with for the past 18 years. Gone had the hierarchy system he'd seen as a way of life. Now he was an equal and he kinda liked the feeling.

He looked once again to Ciara, who seemed to be turned away from him as if she'd had enough of their convo.

"You really ought to try smoking Ciara...Its a religious act in some continents." He took another from his packet and lit it up. "Its all about experiencing new things afterall... Isn't it?"

[Ciara Myst]

Now he was pissing her off with this smoking thing and as soon as she heard him light up, she was out of that captain's chair, shoving him hard against the back of his seat by his shoulders. Her knee immediately pressed itself quite firmly into groin and she yanked the newly lit smoke from his mouth again and threw it to the ground.

Noticing the bulge in his shirt pocket, she removed the pack and threw that to the floor too.

"I said .. you will not stink up my ship with those things. Now, you have two choices. A:) Behave and respect me, my air and my craft, or B:) I can escort you to the trash ejector and jettison you out so that you can implode upon yourself."

Quite pleased with having made herself crystal clear this time about this, she eases off of him and proceeds to smashing the cig and pack of them with her booted foot.

That task completed, she retakes her seat and notices the countdown indicating they are about to reach Ord Mantell.

"Zeke? Zeke .. wake up and strap in; the ride's about to get quite bumpy."

[Zeke]

Zeke rolled onto his back.

"Naw...I'll be fine...I used to live in a cargo hold, in a cardboard box. I'm accustomed to landing/takeoff/turbulence/whatever...just 5 more minutes..."

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

Raigen wiped his shoulder down as he watched Ciara re take her seat. He strapped himself in, then sat back in his chair. What is her problem?

"Deep breathes lady..Deep breathes.."

[Ciara Myst]

"Mhm. I'll bet I can take far deeper breaths than you can; filling your lungs with that wretched stuff."

She begins to run through the proper procedures of descending into the atmosphere and keeping the ship as level as possible, though it shudders and rattles violently and loudly as they break through. The internal temps rise a bit, but the shielding holds and they are not baked alive. Thankfully.

Easing down further and further until they are skimming over the surface, she finds a suitable place to land and sets down.

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

"Your not landing here?....surely!" Raigen had hoped they could find a space port, somewhere to find a communications unit.

He appealed to Ciara. "We need a mechanic, You can explore while the ships being fixed."

[Zeke]

Zeke sat up.

"Where did we park?"

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and flopped back over onto his side.

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

"In the middle of knowwhere....Thats where were parking."

[Zeke]

"Swizzle."

Zeke stared blankly at the ceiling.

"Where's the nearest city?"

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

Raigen lent forward towards the console. "I'd say it was about............... 780 miles.....or so." He looked at Ciara with questioning eyes.

[Zeke]

"Swizzle."

[Ciara Myst]

Blinks. Then looks to them both.

"What? " Looking back to Raigen she smirks a bit.

"Afraid of a little walk?"

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

"That all depends Ciara. How little are you planning on making this walk?"

[Ciara Myst]

Ciara smirks, a hint of smugness may be detected in it as well. Just for that, she wouldn't mention the possibility that in the cargo hold of her ship, she just might have what would be the equivalent to a landspeeder, but her people called them simply hover-rounds.

"You look like you could use the fresh air as well as some exercise." She replies, though there is a jesting twinkle in her eye. After going through the proper shut down procedures and lowering the boarding ramp, she rises from her seat and heads out.

[Zeke]

Zeke followed, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

Raigen shook his head as he reluctantly fastened his holster and slipped into his jacket. As he walked down the ramp he uncliped the safety catches on both of his blasters, then sparked up a cigerette, before looking around.

[Ciara Myst]

(OOC: Sorry took so long)

*******************

Ciara was right at home it seemed with how well she moves across the terrain. One would be able to determine or learn a quite a bit by the way she moves. One should be able to learn by it too, a little about her planet.

Looking up, she can tell its now nearly 4 pm in the afternoon by the way the sun sits. Well, on Mhaar it would be. Idly she wonders, if time is different on each planet. She couldn't assume that it was without sounding either naive or stuck up. Maybe the other planets all spun in orbit at a different rate, perhaps their rate of speed in orbit of its sun -- or suns, in some cases -- was faster or slower than Mhaar's. There was so much for her to learn about still.

"You two holding up ok?" She asks over her shoulder. They had been walking for the better part of the last 5 or 6 hours. About another hour and they'd reach a small yet busy spaceport. Atleast out here there wasn't really anything that could be a danger to the group. But, what would they find in the spaceport?

A part of her hopes that they do run into some kind of action. Not so anyone gets hurt, but just something to stir things up.

[Zeke]

Zeke was moving at a pace to match Ciara, a bit of Force to help him keep up with her stride. Mentally he made a note to get out more.

"I got my back. You might wanna worry about dude though."

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

Raigen made no effort to hide his annoyance at their decision to take it on foot. He tutted and cursed, "This is great...just bloody great.....just the ticket....we're on a nature ramble, who wouldn't be fine...I'm totally f**kin superb missy!" He picked a thorn bud from his hair and threw it down angrily as he followed. He kept good pace, finding the terrain to be all in a days work, but his need for contact with the outside world was far greater than his need for site seeing. "You any idea........no...no obviously not...forget it.."

[Zeke]

"Forget what?"

Zeke had missed his entire round of complaints, and had no clue what he was talking about. He put his hands behind his head and looked at sky.

[Raigen Quarlly Matthers]

"Leave it fly boy.....Just leave it!!" He continued to stomp on leaving his curses to his breath.