A Day in the Life of a Jedi

[Kei Amadis]

@[member="Vulpesen"]. At the mention of the word Jedi grave, he didn't pry if it was someone he cared about. Catching the crystal in the air, Kei looked it over, feeling the weight of it before passing it back. Having a chuckle, he wanted to reply to Vulpesen, when they put whatever the frell this was in his chest, but the Epicanthx nodded his head lightly instead, reserving that. "Make it through enough people shooting at you, and you begin to suspect." He gave him a friendly grin, holding a look in his eyes that'd he'd seen a lot, especially this past year, just pushing through it. There was more to it than that, seeing the sniper's shot before it happened, that echo in the force, and the crystal hunters, but that was a story for another day.

Food, a good idea. "Bantha steaks on me when we break topside again." Taking @[member="Kale Arkin"]'s cue, he stepped over a patch of loose stone so not to lose his footing, Kei didn't let his attention go very far from the task at hand. He enjoyed the banter, but he was always aware of where they were and what was around them at all times. Training and conditioning brought it on, a part of him that rarely let go.

"Family means a lot." Kei replyed to @Diana Moridena poignantly, the memories of his father, and the very holotags he always wore around his neck a remind of his years by his side. His Crew what he had left of those days. "Do you think of the Jedi as yours?"

Going forward, time past before the more silent archer spoke up, something Kei could appreciate being a sniper, a silent force archer seemed a practical combination of traits. "Maybe you can catch us the steaks?" He grinned at @[member="Hood"].

Kei steadied a hand on the wall, as the ground again felt loose again underfoot, his boots pushing firmly down to grip the stone, making the passage more hazardous. "Watch your footing everyone."

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen heard the warning, yet found it unnecessary as his use of the force had already been guiding his actions. He loved the darkness, and was thankful to the force for alloweing him to move within it without stumbling. His eyes continued to scan the room until they caught the faint gleam of metal. Normally he'd had ignored it but his mind's enhanced state forced him to take a closer look. @[member="Diana Moridena"]. "Umm, did anyone ever read about a battle here? Droids don't exactly belong within a system of catacombs." He poked the droid, keeping his hand on his vibroblade in case the mechanism had kept some sort of life.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Diana considered the mans question for a few seconds. She wasn't sure how to handle it. Sure she had been raised by the Jedi, had constant contact with other Jedi, and had even lived with them. But did she consider them her family? The answer was of course no, but she found that it depressed her slightly to realize. The truth was she had no family, no one to feel close to, no one to lean on. She shrugged slightly, more out of habit than anything else, trying to shake the unpleasant thoughts from her mind. “No.”

She said in simple answer to his question an immediately began to move on. It was a few minutes after she answered that another one of the padwans spoke up. Her ears perked slightly as he mentioned battle, even more so when he spoke of droids. With a slight smile she wandered over to him, illuminating the section of the catacombs that he was in.

“Nearly a millenium ago there was a war that raged all across the galaxy. It was called the Clone Wars.” Diana spoke as though she was an archivist, though perhaps she was. Taking careful measure not to touch the droids skull Diana knelt down alongside it, examining it. “Cato Neimoidia was at the center of this conflict, I wouldn't be surprised if we stumble across more of these.”

She said the words with a sort of awe hidden in them, she clearly enjoyed the history of this place.

 

[Vulpesen]

@[member="Diana Moridena"]. "I've read about it. While on Amar, my master had a vast library. I always enjoyed reading about the jedi, and their destruction after the Clone Wars wasn't exactly a small event. Still, it's strange that the jedi would allow a place like this to host a battle." As he spoke, Vulpesen's stance shrank to a passive defense posture. He didn't want to be the boy who cried boar-wolf, yet he was also fond of his life, without dying.

 

[Lilia Dur'iar]

"Spacehead, huh? We haven't had enough dates for pet-names yet. This is only number two."

Lilia returned his grin. "Now who said it was a pet name? I thought it was a perfectly accurate description." She said innocently, but her face creased into a slight frown as she followed the directions his eyes had flickered. There - was that...? No, it was probably nothing. Just a trick of the glowsticks' light. Even so, Lilia's mind provided her with a wonderful list of things that could possibly go wrong. "Okay, either I'm going crazy, the lights playing tricks on me, or I just saw something." She murmured, semi-consciously lowering her voice.

@[member="Kale Arkin"]

 

[Arkyn Rane]

Lilia returned his grin. "Now who said it was a pet name? I thought it was a perfectly accurate description."​

I lifted a hand to my chest. "Oh, you wound me." She too noticed something moving in the shadows ahead. That didn't mean it was a literal something, but that definitely meant it wasn't nothing.

"Okay, either I'm going crazy, the lights playing tricks on me, or I just saw something," she murmured.​

​

"I'd wager all three," I returned with a quick smirk, voice matching hers. "But I saw something too. Maybe it's a really old droid?" Between the darkness and my general lack of knowledge about what the kark we were doing, I should've been worried. There were six of us though, and I'd long since learned the truth of safety in numbers. All of us had sabers, I had a blaster, and Hood had his arrows -- if there was something out there hoping to start a conflict, it would regret it. But the flickering shadows could just been a rodent or some other cave creature fleeing us.

Maybe the Force had some insight to offer?

@[member="Lilia Dur'iar"]​

 

[Lilia Dur'iar]

"Oh, you wound me."

"That's the idea." Lilia told him, a bit of a smile flickering across her face, which quickly vanished at his next statement.

"But I saw something too. Maybe it's a really old droid?"

"Well, then, I guess we're both going crazy. Or a droid with more energy reserves the a lightsaber without an on switch." She acknowledged. "Or some carnivorous rodent that thinks we look like a meal. Maybe some loose rock or rubble signaling an imminent cave-in. Or it could be an old Clone Wars battle droid with corroded programming who remembers enough to kill Jedi..." She stopped, glancing up at Kale sheepishly. "I'm being pessimistic again, aren't I? Sorry about that."

@[member="Kale Arkin"]

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen chuckled, looking at @[member="Lilia Dur'iar"]. "If you're that nervous in some catacombs, I guess you haven't been to Nar Shadaa." The words were bold but like @[member="Kale Arkin"], he had learned to trust in others, especially when everyone else was seeing things. Letting his mind open, he searched through the force. He felt each apprentice, and the uniqueness of each presence. He would have dwelled on such a thing had he not been busy, as it were he passed on to the rest of the caverns. Something was there, and it didn't feel good. "Might I suggest steady hands on our lightsabers? I'm not sure what, but something isn't right."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Diana looked around at the other apprentices, she could of course tell their fear and slight anxiety that much was palpable. She smiled at them, trying to reassure them. The other woman there was fearful of something being within the catacombs, and quite honestly Diana agreed with her. She felt that there was something down here, and slowly she moved towards the droid at one of the other padawans feet.

“Let me see something.” Slowly she moved over towards the broken droid and then touched its skull.

As soon as she did so an entire world flashed before her. The natural Psychometry that almost all Kiffar carried was strong in Diana. The memories of the droid flashed before her eyes, and they took on a glazed quality as she relived the life of the now dead droid. She saw a factory, she saw transports, and she saw wars and battles beyond her imagination. This particular droid had been through much, it had fought on a dozen world against hundreds of opponents. It had killed, destroyed, and even burned entire villages. It had done so ruthlessly, as any droid would.

One final memory stood out however, the final battle of Cato Neimoidia. The Confederacy of Independent systems had lost their bout against the Republic, in a last ditch effort this droid and its companions had been ushered into the catacombs to be used for a surprise attack later. This droid had been cannibalized for parts long ago to maintain worker order of other droids, and with that the memories stopped.

With a shock Diana recoiled backwards, instinctively falling on her but. Before she could stop herself she blurted out some words. “Were not alone.”

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen glanced to Diana and half-drew his vibroblade, taking point in front of the others and staring into the darkness. Opening himself up once more to the force, he projected himself throughout the caverns. Several presences came up, smaller than the group's but numerous in number. He cast a glance at @[member="Diana Moridena"]. "So, is this part of the grand tour of our field trip?"

 

[Kei Amadis]

Among many others, Kei had been watching holotapes of the clone wars in study for the building of his lightsaber. The scale of of the conflict still made him pause, the battles huge and unrelenting. Armies of white and Jedi meeting metal, but all for nothing. Lot of good men and women killed and for what? No grand victory, nobody even left alive. He cleared his throat and pushed on.

When @[member="Diana Moridena"] picked out a droid's head, the unstable ground and rocky tunnels made sense to him, the site of one such battle probably lay at their feet. At her recoil and shock, he dipped down to make sure she hadn't fallen too hard, giving a nod to make sure she was okay. Sharp instincts on, eyes narrowed, it wasn't fear from Kei it was the natural instinct to act rather than react. The words and the banter of the other's went right past him, he was already looking in the direction the others had been, moving along the side of the wall. Back to the wall meant he was only exposed from the front. Unity was already instinctively humming away in his hand, the weapon in a low guard.

"Take it steady, see what comes. We don't know what we are up against, or how many."

Steps slow and careful, a sense through the force of imminent approach, watching every detail, edging around a corner into a larger cavern he saw a.... coming straight at him!

Spoiler

ooc I'll let you fill in the blanks

 

[Hood]

Hoods eyes were scanning the shadows for long sweeping seconds, his teeth clenched tight. Something was here...he continued to see movement in the shadows off in the distance. First to his right..then to his left..then off ahead of them further then the others but undoubtedly there. Like a predator of the highest caliber, Hood slid away from the group to seek the disturbances.

Hood slowly notched an arrow, then with slow sharp sweeps, he looked...Loosing the miniature spear, with a soft thwang, Hood slowly guided the Arrow towards it's target. Hitting the droid directly in the side of it's head, the steel sank deep and the body crumpled, sparks shooting off. It provided some light though, as Hood slowly crept up from the shadows another arrow already held against the string, "What is that...it's so skinny...it's not an astromech.."

(I imagined one of the normal roger roger droids.)
@[member="Kei Amadis"]

 

[Vulpesen]

"Battle droid." Vulpesen's voice took a strange mix of joy and seriousness. Instability had always raged in his mind and he was constantly in battle with himself, but in times like this he was tempted to let go and let his other self be free. Normally calm, Vulpesen was unleashed in combat, a place where all things were accepted and he could finally use his potential power and prove what he could do. "Stay behind me, I'd hate for this to hit any of you." he lifted his hand and cleared out the noise within his mind. Thoughts of protection swirled in his brain. Having been trained by the Baran-Do, it was only natural that his best force abilities didn't come from order he was newest to. "Now then, who are you?" A green light shot from his fingers, creating a single tendril of lightning. The jedi had found it, the Baran-Do had perfected it, and Vulpesen had learned it. The first bolt his one droid in the chest. It was fairly week, but it made the mechanism stumble. On the surface the attack would have seemed weak, but Vulpesen had done his job. The lightning had managed to illuminate the group of battle droids that now walked their way. "Ummm, I think we have a problem."

 

[Hood]

Using his utmost speed, Zaiden drew 2 arrows and loosed them so close in time they appeared instantaneous. Both struck home in separate droids with no extra guiding necessary. Even before they were 2 feet away though, another was plucked and pulled.

Every action he did was accompanied by another slow step, for though he was using his best tool, he had not brought a full quiver. So in order to also utilize the skills in melee combat he had grown accustomed to, he would need to be within that 4 foot range.

 

[Arkyn Rane]

I didn't consider our situation as quite so much as a problem; more like a setback. We were pretty clumped in the cavern, and while the tunnel wasn't narrow, it wasn't exactly wide either; if you could maintain a line, we wouldn't have to worry about getting swarmed. "Don't apologize," I told Lilia. "Cuz' in this case, your pessimism turned out to be realism."

I drew my blaster in a fluid, well-practiced movement, squeezing off a few shots into the throng of droids. My aim was true -- it always was -- and three droids fell to the ground, their heads reduced to smoking, molten wires. I wasn't worried about these droids; I was worried about what other droids might be in the catacombs. Or what creatures. What I'd seen hadn't been a droid; I was certain of that now that I'd seen these droids. It had been lower to the ground, and quicker. Much quicker.

My free hand fell to the training saber at my waist. It could deflect weaker blaster bolts, but it couldn't cut through them. Considering the nooks and crannies I could duck behind for cover, I wouldn't really need it. Not against these droids, at least. A device to disrupt the electrical signals that powered them would be much more useful...

I thought again about the saber at my waist, specifically the magnetic stabilizers, diatium powercell, and focusing crystal. If I could reverse the polarity of the charge and disperse the resulting energy instead of focusing it -- make it ping instead of pulse, I could possibly disrupt the droid's frequency. If my trusty astromech Tee Nine was with me, it'd be a certainty instead of a possibility, Still, all it would take was a little re-wiring, a few spare circuits from the ancient droids laying around, and a stroke of luck.

I was nothing if not lucky.

@[member="Hood"] @[member="Vulpesen"] @[member="Kei Amadis"] @[member="Diana Moridena"] @[member="Lilia Dur'iar"]​

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen growled as the druids began to raise their rifles. "Their armed!" His best hope was that the time hadn't been kind to their weapons, yet he knew better than to rely on simple hope. Vulpesen was well enough with a blaster, but his true abilities lay with sword and saber. His vibroblade came out with a resounding shriiing. Vulepsen used a force enhanced jump to land within the ranks of the droids, becoming a whirling dervish as his blade sliced through steel and wires. Each bolt seemed to either misfire or miss as the young jedi used his smaller form to duck and roll between the battle droids, occasionally causing them to blast their compatriots. Occasionally, a rifle would fly from the crowd, accompanied by Vulpesen's voice. "It works use it!" Though obviously his, the voice was a bit deranged. He had finally let himself go free, using the thrill of battle to enhance his movements as he slashed his way through the metal crowd. His tactics were dangerous, crazy, and bordering on suicidal, and he loved it.

 

[Kei Amadis]

Dead calm, Kei was cool as a mountain lake under fire. Unity held out ahead of him, two shots impacted against its vertically moved blade screen, the saber held upwards across his body, moved side to side. Moving forward, he force pulled the droid's legs from under it, seeing the pinpoint in the force to break its stride. For the first time using Manu's advice in a firefight, simply cutting the fallen droid along the middle as he walked by it. The Padawan's technique wasn't pretty, and needed a lot of refinement, but it got the job done.

Stepping forward into Djem So, blade over his head, down and then stabbed forward into the droid's partner. Kei cut through the second droid simply to reach @[member="Vulpesen"], who was in Kei's eyes about to recklessly get himself killed. "Rein it in, it only takes one lucky shot to give you a very bad day." He stated this bluntly, putting himself on the man's flank, giving him a bit of cover with a horizontally placed beam.

Using the beam to illuminate the darkness ahead he scanned it with his eyes, "Looks like some kind of control station up ahead, might explain why they've still got power." He called back to the group, happy to have a few good shots covering them for once. @[member="Kale Arkin"] @[member="Hood"]

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen glanced at @Kei, a wild look in his eyes. "Oh, but right now, this day is amazing!" He stabbed through the chest of a droid then grabbed another before throwing the second into another two droids with a simple use of force enhanced strength. Lacking a lightsaber, he stayed out of any particular skill, casusing his actions to become rough and lacking any elegance at all. Vulpesen had always loved the fluid movements of a lightsaber, but with a vibroblade, his work moved from fancy, to ruthlessly efficient. Still, with Kei's presence, Vulpesen took a bit more care to stay alive and near to his back up. He was a jedi now, not some Nar Shadaa street rat.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Diana reacted almost immediately, she called one of her lightsabers to her hands and ignited the blade. The blue haze of the lightsaber snapped to life and was used almost immediately to deflect a blaster bolt that came at her. She scowled as she realized that they would be fighting a variable droid army. Almost immediately after the thought came another bolt struck her lightsaber.

Our of instinct Diana began to wildly deflect the incoming fire back into the wall of droids.

She smirked slightly as the other Jedi Padwans jumped into action. She didn't even feel the need to do anything here. She let the others handle it, and instead she stood back and deflected bolt after bolt. It was quite simple to her, why attack when she could remain in reserve? If something...worse appeared she would be ready.

 

[Kei Amadis]

Kei gave a shrug, "it's not so amazing when you take one in the back." He enjoyed a tussle as much as the next man, more so in fact but it was only a matter of time diving in headfirst till he'd be in a world of pain. Cutting the weapon six inches past his opponents, going through them with Djem So's forward pressure, the momentum carried him on at a matched pace with @[member="Vulpesen"]. Curling the beam over and over in his grip, it came down from high into another droid, using gravity, a strong two handed grip and always pressure.

Metal burned and turned to slag, welding joint and droid limb into a messy heap. Only a padwan in his speed, and his rough technique. Kei didn't move recklessly or quicker than needed, keeping a high guard up at all times, having no wish to take another blaster shot here. Stance strong, steps pushing off the ground, the warrior had to duck one shot, moving underneath @[member="Vulpesen"]'s swing and taking out a droid to his left with a swipe.

They had a certain synergy, much more able to cover each other when they moved as a unit. "That's it stick with me, cover my back." He was teaching the padawan in his own way, a bit about survival, truth was he'd of rather stuck to the wall but they formed a good shield for those behind.

Getting closer to the control station, a veritable array of flashing lights, bleeping gadgets and levers held a sealed chamber ahead, the floor now mixing metal with dust and stone. Something that was powered down and out of commission, something these droids had been left behind to guard, something which was now, waking up...