Private A Jedi, a Chiss, and a Felon walk into a bar

[Kusana]

She felt mentored. It was a feeling she hadn't felt since her master passed. It was a feeling she missed. She was young, not too young, but young enough that she still had learning to do. Not to mention, she behaved younger than she was, thought as much even. A mentor was nice to have. A fresh change of pace, as well.

Even with the rush of positive emotions, however, she heeded his words. "Stay calm." Right. Of course. She took a deep breath, moving her hand away from her hip and back to her other side.

She took another deep breath, "On three."

Var Talon
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[Var Talon]

The young Chiss echoed the Echani's words.

And as she spoke, he could see the focus wash over her features. Good. She would need every ounce of awareness to get out of this situation alive. On three it was. Var rolled his shoulders for a moment and began the count. "One...Two..." he began, double checking the positions of their adversaries. A solid sprint from here would do it...

"Three!"​

And with that, the Echani took off in a run. He kept his pace slower than his maximum at first, to ensure that the young woman wasn't left behind and that she could keep up. Their sudden rush did draw the ire of their pursuers, who began to chase after them.

"You've got this, move move move!" he called, before facing forward. Arms pumping, he moved directly for his ship and dove up the extended ramp. As soon as Kusana did the same, he could slam the cargo bay door shut.

Kusana​

 

[Kusana]

"...Wait, are we going on three or after thr-- ON THREE GOT IT!"

She started bolting forward as fast as she could, even using the Force to aid her speed; which is why she should not have been surprised to overtake her new ally, but she still was. She slowed down to fall in line with him, and as soon as she was within distance, leaped onto the ship with a great bound.

Turning around, she saw the pursuers encroaching a bit too close to the ship for comfort. For good measure, she pushed them back with a great heave of the Force. It was raw, unrefined, but it did what it was supposed to. She panted and brushed the hair out of her eyes. As the cargo door came to a close, she extended her hand for a high five.

"That was fun!" She exclaimed. A grin crossed her face for the first time in a while.

Var Talon
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[Var Talon]

No wonder.

As the Echani was not utilizing the Force to empower his movements, it was a welcome surprise that "Jaina" was able to do so. He had no idea the sort of tutelage the young Chiss underwent - but being able to move was quite a handy skill. Together they leaped into the cargo hold and Var dove for the ramp's controls. Smacking the main button, the bay quickly closed and the Echani furiously tapped on his bracer once more.

The ship began to ascend. Quickly. In a matter of seconds, they were headed for orbit.

Var breathed a sigh of relief and saw the extended hand. While fun wasn't exactly what he'd call it, he grinned and slapped his palm against hers. "You're quick on your feet, no wonder you've lasted this long." he said, before standing to his feet. He motioned for her to join him in the cockpit, where he settled into the captain's seat. She was free to sit in the co-pilot's chair if she so chose.

"Just going to plot the course now. Fair warning, it's going to take a couple days. Can't afford a class 1 drive."

But, once within Hyperspace, they'd be safe.

Kusana​

 

[Kusana]

Kusana took in the ship's interior, feeling the walls with her fingers. Her aptitude with interacting with technology using the Force allowed her to almost form a connection with the ship itself. It was one of the few impressive things she could actually do with the Force. She learned it by practicing on her old ship.

Her old ship. Her face loosened and her heart dropped. The destruction of her ship was just as much of a loss to her as her saber was. And the loss of her saber was the loss of her identity. She pulled her hand back from the cool metal of the interior wall, rubbing her fingers together as the lingering sense of bond tingled on her fingertips.

Looking back up at the wall, her face tightened again and she took a deep breath in. "Your ship is really very nice." She walked forth and took a seat in the co-pilot's spot, after being invited to. "It likes you, you know? How long have you had it?"

She looked forward into hyperspace as the question was posed, her face betraying the feelings of longing that weighed heavy on her heart.

Var Talon
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[Var Talon]

The young woman slowly got her bearings.

Var said nothing as she took a moment to grace the walls of the ship with her fingers. Instead, he focused on plotting their course. In but a few moments' time, the ship danced into the blur between the stars. It would take some time to reach the Shiraya Expanse - but when they did, a new world and life awaited the young "Jaina."

Soon, she settled into the co-pilot seat beside him and complimented the vessel - before talking about how the ship felt about him. The average soul might have questioned her sanity at such a thought, but Var understood. Not in the force-centric way, but in the deep, emotional connection way. The ship had been a gift from his partner: a keepsake from the era of crime and villainy they both shared. A relic of a bygone age where they had one another, a crew, and more spice than they knew what to do with.

This ship had saved their hides a million times over. And thus, Var gingerly tapped on the dash, as if petting a beloved companion. "And I like her, very very much. She's gotten me outta plenty of jams. Wouldn't fly another ship if they paid me." he began, chuckling. "I've had her for years now, since before I joined the Medjai."

He then looked up from the dash and saw her expression. Loss painted her face.

His hand reached up and settled upon her shoulder. "You still got those crystal fragments? Since we've got nothing but time, figure we can at least put them to good use." He offered a light, confident smile. "You won't lose that part of you, I promise."

Kusana​

 

[Kusana]

As Var reminisced on his ship's past, Kusana drew her hand down her face—as if to wipe away the emotions that had gripped her. Refreshed, she took a deep breath in and responded.

"Thank you. Yeah. These crystal shards, though...are they really still useful?" She brought them out of her pocket, the green shards reflecting the light of hyperspace around the cabin. The green and blue reflections danced over the control panels as though a brilliant ballet upon the twinkling lights of the dashboard. Not expecting this, she became absorbed in the reflections and moved her hand around to aid in their dance.

As she clasped her hand shut, the lights disappearing from the cabin, she gave a small smile. "I guess they are."

Var Talon
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[Var Talon]

As the Chiss steadied herself, the Echani briefly rose from the captain's seat. Now that they were within the depths of hyperspace, he was free to move about the cabin. He stepped past for a moment, standing in the doorway before a series of drawers built into the frame. Muttering, he rummaged for a moment before procuring an iron box.

"Of course they are." he answered, just catching the tail end of her "light show" as he returned to the captain's chair. "They won't be able to focus a saber on their own, but you can easily use them to amplify the cutting power of your next blade."

He then placed the box down upon the console and flipped it open, revealing enough saber components to create a fresh hilt from scratch. It wouldn't be pretty by any stretch of the imagination, but she would have a piece of home again.

"Rule number...shit I lost count...whatever. Always bring a backup. Always. If I were you, I'd save one of those shards for when we get to Verun, because you're making a second saber." he began. He then fished out a flawlessly white crystal from the box. "This is synthetic, we call them 'blanks'. You meditate on it and it'll change color based on your personality. Pass the time with that for now."

Kusana​

 

[Kusana]

He was handing her a synthetic crystal. She had never held one before. Her master had brought her to a natural Kyber crystal deposit early on in her training. She couldn't remember where it was for the life of her, but it was where she found her first crystal. Authenticity seemed an important part of the saber to her, so holding this synthetic crystal was conflicting.

She knew she needed a lightsaber, but she was conflicted about many things other than just the crystal. She was uncertain of her future, of her past, of her present. She was caught in the midst of an emotional turmoil that was driving her to the brink of giving up and here she was with a fake crystal and a spare lightsaber and it all just felt...wrong.

Even still, she tried. She held the synthetic crystal in her very real hands and felt it. Not only with her fingers, but with the Force. Just as she felt she would begin connecting with it, something drove her out. She tried again and once more after that, but after her third failure she gave an exasperated sigh and placed the crystal down on the dash.

"The stupid thing doesn't work. It's keeping me out." Any half-trained eye, however, could see it was not the crystal keeping her out, it was herself.

Spoiler: OOC Comment

I posted in the faction thread first, indicating her saber was still broken with no spare. So let's just say the conflict within her makes coloring the crystal difficult.

Var Talon
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