Knights of the Old Republic: The Undiscovered Country - IC

[OldSchoolGamer7]

Calith

"Well, since it appears that most people are retreating to their rooms during takeoff, I see no need to remain." Calith sauntered down the hallways, taking it all in. Calimarian design, even done in a sparse manner, was still impressive and a bit more luxurious than the various cruisers he had flown in during the wars. It...gleamed. That was the only word to describe it. The entire ship seemed to gleam as if had been removed from the packaging not more than a day ago.

Reaching the hallway where the quarters are, he began to think more. It seems the entire group has some sort of dark secret they do not wish the galaxy at large to know. I know what mine is; the less they know about my connection, the better off we will be. There will be questions, especially from that Jedi...WHY did she have to come along...that I am unwilling to answer. Marcus has an aversion to anything dealing with a medbay; I wonder why.

The galaxy is at a crucial point now. The choices we make will have long lasting impressions on history. Something's not right here... He reaches the room that Scio had gone into earlier, somehow able to tell that it is the right one, and raps twice. "Decent?"

[Druid_lord]

Scio looked up from his blade. " Very much so, my friend. Compared to what i'm used to, this is a ridiculous luxury. I'm used to just grabbing a nearbye wall and taking a few hours, It's something i picked up during The Mandalorian Wars, you rember how it was, always so edgy, never knowing when you might get attacked, so i started sleeping with my feet on the ground, and my back to a wall. it's similair to how sometimes , beings with eyes will sleep with them open." He said, finally removing his hood, and revaling his face. he had pale skin, and a gracefull face. his long shaggy brown hair was shoulder length. The most unique feature was the birght white clothe tied around his eyes.

[OldSchoolGamer7]

Calith

Calith tips his hat back some. "Interesting toy you have there; I can imagine that we've both picked up our share of plunder. Though I am curious, I will not question it. A tool is just that: a tool.

"I know what you mean about just grabbing a few winks. I was lucky; the group I was attached to taught me some other sleeping techniques. You don't always have a wall to lean against. If you have the time, I might be able to show you a couple of them. If not, or you just don't desire to know, I'll keep to myself.

"I also know what it looks like. I am beginning to do this whole "father figure" thing. It wasn't my intention at first, but it seems as if our survival may depend on these wet-behind-the-ears recruits whipped into some sort of shape.

"I'm too old for this crap. Something led me here and I don't like it." Calith tossed the hat and coat onto the top bunk (assuming Scio took the bottom) and rubbed his temples some. "Please don't tell me I was that gung-ho at one point when I signed on to fight back then."

[Druid_lord]

" True, all too often that is forgotten. This blade is something from my past, a token of what i was. What it was used for and will be used for are two things that are seperate." Scio spoke, tilting the blade at various angles, before sheathing it and speaking again. " I would be more than glad to learn some of these techniques whenever you have the time. My way may allow me to function, but it gets uncomfortable after a few weeks. "
"I have no problem with it. Our companions seem ... frightenly unaware of the dangers possed by the unkown. And i know what you mean, i was wandering the galaxy looking for.. i don't know what when i seemed .. drawn to tales of this mission."
" I don't know about you, but Diety, when i look back at myself then i think' what an idiot' I signed up as a grunt, becuase that's were all the 'glory' was. Unfortunatly there wasn't anyone to tell us naive fools glory is another word for death, horror, and loss. I would have been dead a few times if it wasn't for Lacuna...." After saying that name, Scio suddenly fell silent, holding his face with his right hand.

[OldSchoolGamer7]

Calith

"Yeah, I guess I was lucky; my whole squad kept each other sane. We all pitched in, but you don't have a chance to get very upset when your position could be stumbled upon by a random Mandalorian patrol. Did they ever sleep?

"I noticed the Jedi took it the hardest, though. They were expected to keep it together and be dispassionate. Too bad we had to put a few down that went completely fvcking nuts. It...it was sad, to say the least. All that training and power, but no training on how to control themselves under stressful situations. Sanctioned or not, their Council needs to rethink their training methods. Maybe this will serve to be a wakeup call to them."

Calith sighs some. "Not likely, but a man can dream." He bit his tongue some. This was getting too close for comfort; last thing he needs is being outed as another Force user to be either hunted down or brought under the Jedi thumb.

[Druid_lord]

"True, it seems those bastards never slept. And indeed i belive it is the Council that is artially to blame for this mess we are in. Even if they didn't agree with the jedi saving us, they should have given them training on how to avoid falling in combat situations. Most of them were not prepared for the sheer horror of war, of killing a man when he can see your face. After the first battle, Lacuna. our squads jedi, nearly went mad, she burst into tears, and could barely move, the death shocked her so. She eventually overcame it, but i wonder if she had been better prepared, maybe ... things would have been differnt. ON a different note, what do you think of our lovely jedi master? I am maybe a bit.. nervous, but that might just be personal taste.

[OldSchoolGamer7]

Calith

Calith bit back his initial reaction. "As long as she doesn't make me bow, scrape, and call her Master or Mistress, I believe we should be able to deal with the inconvenience. Confidentially, I believe we both have at least one or two secrets that we wouldn't like her to nose around in. War brings out the worst in a man."

Force user or not was left unspoken, but could easily be implied.

"We have a right to be nervous. All you must do is remember what the 'patience' they preached cost our friends...how many could have been saved..." His voice trailed off. No matter how much better he handled it than some other vets he met, he bore scars through the Force of the actions that happened. They were his burden to bear...the price of saving lives. It all must balance. He had taken so much hurt in...

Calith took a quick, firm breath in and out, eager to put it behind him before the darkness creeps up again. In that respect, the Jedi were right. It is seductive, calling to you in moments of weakness. Knowing when one can call on it and when to rely on your own strength is the most powerful tool anyone can have. Does that make him evil? No; merely human.

[Druid_lord]

Scio seemed to shiver for a moment before speaking. " Aye, friend, and not just war, but what happened after. I believe most of us have things we wish would never have happened. And not only that, i doubt she'll leave us alone, particularly if certain... facts come to light. And the most dangerous thing about the jedi is, in their arrogance, they all too often have not realized that they have fallen. I'm not familair with much of the jedi tachings, but from what i understand, they never taught of what it [I]feels[I]like to use the Darkside, to feel its terrible power course through you and to know that it is right that this is true power, all your goals, every person you wanted to save, this power can let you do that. It is a horrifying thing, this madness that comes in the dark. It is all you can due to keep yourself from giving in, to becoming one of its willing slaves."

[OldSchoolGamer7]

Calith

Calith bit his lip again. This would be so much easier if I just came out and said it! "What is it to fall, though? Is the Dark Side such that it alone causes suffering...or is it as much the mind that wields it? I once saw an entire platoon mowed down through the Force to save a village. I talked with the woman who did it; she cried her eyes out for an hour before I convinced her that it was a minor thing and, sometimes, dark deeds must be done to preserve the good. I believe in the power of redemption for people like that."

He shakes his head one more time. "The walls may have ears, but can I confide some information in you? It will come out eventually, but I would rather it happen when I can control the situation."

[Druid_lord]

" . I have come to belive that the force is like a sword, niether inherntly good or eveil, only the intentions and ends of its user matter.Indeed you may and i promise you it will stay here, and I have something i wish to confide in you as well."

[OldSchoolGamer7]

Calith

Calith takes a deep breath in and his hat rises to orbit around the room, guided as he wills it. As it settles back onto the bed, he looks up to the ceiling as if lost in thought...

"My family is from Telos IV. We had lived there for countless generations before I was born. There have been rumors that one of them was a failed Jedi who dropped out of sight from the Agricorps and began to raise a family. Whether or not this is true, I do know that we all have a deep connection to the Force.

"The Jedi would never have come for any of us. The Agricorps hid our potential as we began to explore the nature of the Force. With no code, no strict warnings away from the Dark Side, we were unfettered and allowed to learn how both sides worked. This gave us a greater understanding of both.

"Not one of us ever fell. There was nowhere to fall to. The notion of falling to the Dark Side is an invention of the Jedi. Our tradition, for lack of a better term, teaches that personal responsibility bears more weight than anything else. You CHOOSE to call on the Dark Side, for whatever reason. This doesn't make it a bad thing...just a thing.

"I have tasted it, once or twice. It always whispers in the night to abandon yourself to it. That may well be why so many Jedi 'fall' so hard."

Calith leaned against the wall some, letting it all sink in. The die is cast, there is no going back.

[Druid_lord]

" from my travels across the galaxy, i understand traditions like yours are common. The Order is not the only way, your actions, why you do what you do, matters more than how you do it.Look at it this way, if you kill an unarmed man who's planning to kill 100 people, was it evil? no . My story is a bit... darker. I have mentioned Lacuna, the jedi assigned to my squad. Well she noticied i was force Sensitive, like all of my spescies, but felt i had great potental. All throughout the war, she gave me training in the force. I think that's the only way we got out sometimes. After the war ended, she couldn't go back to the order, so she joined the sith. And i like little dog, followed her. I was in love with her, i think. So we became Bladeborn, and for w while she and I murdered Jedi and former allies with steel and Force. Until one day we went on a sabotage mission with another Sith, Caedo. He stopped us and told us we were ready to be full sith, once one of us killed the other. We refused, and he ran her through, called her 'deadwieght'. I.. somehting in me broke, and i was filled with a dark, rage. I Attacked him with my blade and the Force, fighting like a beast, until i severed his hand. I stood there, as he begged for mercy, and all i could see, was her face. And i smiled and said, "Why?'' and used the force to throw him off the catwalk on which we stood. That is where my saber comes from. After that, i wandered a bit, trying to figure out what to do, not the Jedi, all they'd have me do is sit , meditate and fell really, really, sorry. NO i must attone with actions. So, you know my story, that of soldier turned killer, turned self-exile.

[OldSchoolGamer7]

Calith

"You will find the redemption you seek, for good or for ill. I am not prepared to make a value judgment of your love, your passion, and so on. I do not care what the Jedi teach; you cannot sit there, watch someone who has been close to you get slaughtered, and just let it go.

"You may not really seek redemption, though. It sounds like you need to find peace with your actions. However you want to call it, I have no doubt that we will find great resistance to both our pasts among the others.

"By the way, did you even see our pilot get on this ship?"

[Druid_lord]

Thank you, my friend, it has been some time since i have spoken of this. And you're right, i don't recall seing our pilot come aboard. I wonder where he is" Scio rose from his bunk, wincing from sitting a an awkard position for so long" Shall we attempt to find him?".

[OldSchoolGamer7]

Calith

"Two sets of eyes work better than one...and it is comforting, after these last few years, to know I've got someone watching my back. I can imagine that you would agree." Calith throws his hat and glasses back on, adjusting them to give him this "gun for hire" look. It may be stripped from a bad holovid, but it tended to disorient people long enough to gain the upper hand of the conversation. "Lead on, O fearless leader." He smirked some.

[Druid_lord]

"I agree. After all this solitude, tis good to have an ally. Let us find our wayward piolt." Scio left the Cabin, looking for Carric, or their empolyer.

[Liliedhe]

Your employer, as well as the Arkanian Jedi, are still on the bridge...

Spoiler

Show

I will PM Seraph, whether he is still in. And if not, well, someone wants to volunteer for piloting?

[Ascension]

Marcus realizes it's been several minutes since he began cleaning his weapons and the ship still isn't moving. He sticks his head out of the cabin and yells up the hallway.

"Hey, who's flying this bird? Shouldn't we get going sometime today?"

Grumbling, he heads towards the cockpit.

"Heck, I'll fly this thing if no one else is going to..."

Spoiler

Show

Consider me a volunteer.

[OldSchoolGamer7]

Calith

"Then grab a fistfull of console and let's get moving. Even thinking about the landscape outside is chilling me to the bone. I can co, if you need an extra set of hands.

"Let's hope your Astrogation skills are up to the task before us. Knowing that you are about to die is horrid, but not knowing is worse." Subconsciously, he jerks his head to look over his shoulder. It had become a bad habit, but living is something he enjoys.

[Ascension]

"Don't worry about my flying," Marcus says with his usual grin, "Worry about keeping up."

He eases into the pilot's seat and hastily runs the ship through its pre-flight checklist. Satisfied, he guns the engine, his grin growing even wider as the ship easily glides free from its moorings.

Once out of Arkania's gravity well Marcus keys the intercom.

"Now hear this, now hear this... You signed up to test out a hyperdrive route... we're about to test out a hyperdrive route. This may get a little bumpy, so hold on to your hats... and holding on to a nice solid object might be a good idea, too. In fact, why don't you sit down someplace safe and strap in, just in case? If you want to back out, this is your last chance. Run for your life while there are still escape pods available. Please flee in terror in an orderly fashion, we wouldn't want to have any accidents..."

Marcus laughs.

"Nah, I'm just kidding, you're already out of time. If you're afraid of a little bitty hyperspace jump you shouldn't have stepped on this ship. Now, I've entered the coordinates... Let's light this candle, why don't we?"

Marcus hits the button to activate the hyperdrive. I hope it's red. And big. Maybe even ominous.

"Yeeeeeehaaaaaaaw!"

[Liliedhe]

The sleek cruiser lifts obediently off the landing pad, its thrusters engaging with a satisfying purr. Arkania falls away behind you, soon disappearing in beneath the icy stormclouds of the upper atmosphere.

Then, there are only the stars above you, and their light that glints off the hulls of some other inbound ships. The rays of the sun stab around the horizon and set the ice crystals in the clouds alight. Like a sparkling jewel the planet fades into the darkness of space, before Marcus finally guns the engines and makes the jump.

The stars streak past the viewscreen before the hatches block the look of hyperspace. Supposedly, you could go mad from watching it...

The computer informs Marcus that the jump is estimated to take 48 hours - a long time. But for the moment, everything is ok, and there are no disturbances in the immediate future. So far, you didn't plunge into a black hole your flatten yourself against a planet...

[Dirk_Loechel]

Jind Mahi

Quietly segregating herself from all these odd aliens, Jind Mahi had just decided to occupy the single bunk - shall they make up whatever they have to make up among mammals. Not that she'd not like to observe and learn from them, but if they chose to rather be among their kind, well, she would not stand in their way ...

Changing the room's humidity settings to more comfortable values, so her skin would not start to itch from dryness, she put in her stuff, and then then went to the bridge, choosing an inconspicious corner where she would be in noone's way to observe the ship's first hyperspace jump, taking care to not let her agitated eye movements and blinking make the aliens too nervous, as this really wasn't the safest of jumps, and that with a new, untested ship ...

[Ascension]

Marcus leans back in his seat and grins at Calith.

"Well, I guess there's not much to do until such time as everything goes wrong, and if that happens there probably won't be anything we can do, so I guess for the interim we can relax a bit and let the wonders of modern computing technology guide us along an ancient and perilous road to the unknown. Wanna go shut off the artificial gravity in the cargo bay and play some grav-ball, spacer-style?"

[OldSchoolGamer7]

Calith

"Thank you, no. I suspect I will spend this period of time as I always wind up doing: in a state of tense restfulness. I still firmly believe that your attitude is going to be the death of you."

He turns some, seeking out something--anything--to do that does not involve spending time with Marcus playing a game. His youth was gone. There was no need to be reminded of that.

"Not that I wish you dead, mind you."

[Liliedhe]

Suddenly, the pale Arkanian Jedi moves out of her corner and towards Marcus. "Do you mind if I take you up on that offer?", she asks, her ironic smile playing around her pale lips. White eyes are very disturbing when they fix you directly, it's like looking into the heart of an iceberg...

And - as far as you understand her after knowing her a few days - she never does anything without reason or on a whim. In other words, what does she want with you?

[Ascension]

Marcus tries to laugh off her request.

"Okay, grandma, just don't expect me to go easy on you."

A tinge of fear is evident behind his still-smirking face. What could the crazy Jedi want from him?

[Liliedhe]

"I would be insulted, if you did." She just turns on her heel and strides out of the bridge - obviously expecting Marcus to follow her and thus denying him the opportunity to see if she was joking or not.

[Dirk_Loechel]

Jind Mahi

Taking a look with one eye at the Arkanian jedi knight woman (she was getting pretty good at telling mammals apart) who took Marcus' (a Corellian?) offer of playing gravball (whatever that might be), the Mon Calamari was a bit torn between following to watch them and to better not dabble too much in their social affairs, as they obviously preferred to consider her furniture anyway ...

[Ascension]

Marcus leaves the bridge entirely before he suddenly remembers Jind Mahi. He sticks his head back through the door and says to the Mon Calamari, "Hey, wanna come see if magical Jedi powers can beat youthful exuberance?"

Then he's off again.

[Dirk_Loechel]

Jind Mahi

Turning her head and the other eye to the Corellian, she wiggles her head in agreement, then remebers her primer on mammaloid gestures and her time on arkania, and nods. "Sure, if I'm not going to be in your way or something?" She then proceeds to follow Marcus and the Arkanian Jedi, a bit excited to see one of the ball games - she figures it is one, as it has 'ball' in it - the humans and their offshots supposedly love.