A Short Hop

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Joza Perl"]

"I do try," he replied in a low tone, the mischievous smile having permanently taken up residence on his face. The pinpricks ahead of them were so numerous they were more a cloud dust catching the light than individual points. No atmosphere in the way to spoilt the view and the sun behind them. The brightest of them stood out as great steaks spread to an infinite horizon before them, before the pair were bathed in the cerulean blue of hyperspace.

Asmus shuffled around and leant his chair back slightly. He came to lean on his shoulder, facing the zeltron jedi. "I programmed the nav comp with a modified Horlay-Fash hyperspacetime metric so she would take a little longer over the calculations but bring us closer to a star cluster on the edge of Techno Union space. Should put us clear of any patrols and shave a few hours off the journey." Dimples appeared on his cheeks as his smile widened. He liked to let people know how clever he was from time to time. Behind that veneer was a fierce intelligence, when he could be bothered to apply it to something. Currently he was churning his way through exams to join a naval officer's academy. They weren't all that challenging, so wouldn't typically hold his interest. However Kairon and Mal had come up with a variety of rewards and punishments to keep him focused.

"So, you looking forward to getting to Voss and their more flexible interpretation of the Jedi code?" he asked, choosing his words carefully.

 

[Joza Perl]

“Hm.” She didn’t even try that hard to keep a small pout from surfacing on her face, figuring that by now it would be futile. Some part of her probably found the young scoundrel charming, but it was buried by her need to have direction and be taken seriously. Her eyes found his own for a brief moment when he turned toward her, brow arching for the umpteenth time, right now at his explanation. She understood about half of the words he used, but couldn’t make sense of them in context.

She let out a grunt of acknowledgement, but that was about it. Smartass. She chided him in her head but elected not to voice her thoughts. “You certainly know some impressive words.” Okay, maybe she didn’t keep them entirely to herself.

She watched him carefully as he inquired about Voss, as if she would catch any subtle snark in his features that were not found in his words. “Yes.” She answered simply, making a point to make herself more comfortable in the chair before continuing. “I hear that they allow a wider…range of force users.” She sent him a sideways glance, again not wanting to delve into force alignments, largely out of fear of exposing her own inexperience. “I also know of a few Sanctum Jedi who suggested that I visit. Voss is much more pleasant than the oppressive atmosphere of Sullust. Doubt it compares to Zeltros, though.”

[member="Asmus Janes"]

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Joza Perl"]

Asmus pretended to look hurt as she emphasised the word impressive. He didn't really follow the notion of a range of Force Users; it was clearly ignorance on his part. Asmus was aware that there were Sith and Jedi and that was about the limit of his understanding.

"I'll be honest I've never headed out for a drink on Voss," he said. He looked thoughtful now, the mischievous grin having melted away. "I'm not going to disagree on the other point though. Heck, I was amazed they actually had bars on Sullust, let alone with dancers.

"Mind, we spent a good week long vacation on Zeltron not that long ago. Whole crew went and Kairon's girl. That was a good week," he said with a slow nod, eyes almost glazing over at the pleasant memories. "Not that I'm one of those awful touchy tourists!" he added quickly. "Nothing without consent!"

"I'm sure you'll get on fine wherever you end up though," he tacked on.

 

[Joza Perl]

“I bet it was. Zeltrons do know how to have a good time.” There was a haughty note to her voice as she nodded in affirmation. As much as she tried to distance herself from her heritage—which admittedly she did not put a lot of effort into at times—she still couldn’t deny that Zeltros was considered the galaxy’s party capital. “I don’t imagine you would be one of those types,” She admitted, glancing over as if to confirm so. While he seemed like the type who didn’t shy away from a good time, she would have guessed he wouldn’t harass someone in that way.

Clearing her throat, she brought her thoughts back to Sullust and her face heated up for a few seconds. “Honestly, I probably shouldn’t have done that on Sullust. Seems to have been more trouble than it’s worth.” She pouted for a moment, crossing her arms over her chest as a child would when they were upset. Realizing what she was doing, Joza quickly smoothed out her posture to appear more ladylike.

“Thank you.” She offered a more adult-like reaction to the last of his words. Though really, she wondered if she was even Jedi material. Before she would work herself up to the point where she regretted her big decision, she decided to turn her own mind’s question onto him. “So…do you have any ambitions beyond being a…smooth talking scoundrel?”

[member="Asmus Janes"]

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Joza Perl"]

"Yeah they do," Asmus agreed emphatically on the subject of zeltron parties, a broad grin on his face. Personally he was quite glad she had put on the show. Before someone decided to drive an armoured vehicle through the middle of the town he'd been having a particularly good evening, enraptured by the dance and a pleasant alcohol buzz.

"I don't know," he replied immediately, "Being a smooth talking scoundrel has done alright by me so far." He turned back to face the console, brow furrowed. It was clear that he was actually taking the question seriously.

"I've been thinking of the officer's naval academy on Sullust actually. I've been learning for fly small craft and I've been working through some distance learning stuff. Astronavigation stuff mostly.

"Plus I'd look really good in uniform," he added, unable to stay entirely serious. But she'd opened up on her own difficult decisions so it only seemed fair.

 

[Joza Perl]

“Oh?” Joza’s surprise was directed at the fact that she’d gotten a serious answer from him, rather than the response itself. She couldn’t picture someone as carefree as him being a part of some sort of military branch, but the depth people had could be surprising and she’d only just met him. The Zeltron was not naïve enough to believe that someone only existed on the surface, after all. Beneath her anxieties of fitting in and doing the Jedi good was a young woman who battled with her own racial tendencies to remain as pure as possible. Alright, maybe it wasn’t that hidden. He had seen her cut loose, after all. And that was why she found it so hard to stay so straight-laced around him, mostly.

“Oh, I suppose.” She drew out her last word with a bit of mock exasperation. She gave him a sidelong wry smirk. “Admit it, you’re doing it just for the uniform, right? Have the ladies flocking all over would be a welcome change, I assume.” Her smirk would grow to a toothy grin as she spoke.

[member="Asmus Janes"]

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Joza Perl"]

She was rewarded for that comment with a heartfelt laugh. His hair fell down over his face before his eyes turned back up to regard her. “Ladies, men, I’m fairly easy,” he chuckled. He was too. As long as everyone knew what was on the table and willing Asmus was very relaxed about trying new things.

He sighed, one hand came up to draw his hair back up and tuck it behind his ears again. “Truthfully, this can get pretty dull. I mean it’s me and a few others for long journeys. Don’t get much time in port to let my hair down and then we’re off again. Don’t usually take on passengers.

“Still, got lucky this time I supposed. You’re interesting,” he said, inclining his head in her directions. “Long as you’re not going to hole yourself up in your room should make passing the time far less tedious.”


OOC/ How about a bit of pirate trouble shortly?

 

[Joza Perl]

Subtly biting her lip at his comment, the young Zeltron would clear her throat in an attempt to uncloud her mind. She was jealous of how easygoing Asmus was, his behavior reminding her of her fellow Zeltrons. Carefree and fun, she’d often felt anxious around them despite how accepting they were of her. Yet she was simply too high-strung to let loose unless coaxed into it—which was possible, but she insisted that those days were behind her. She was a Jedi now, she had to be good.

“Hm?” She looked over at him as if she’d been broken from her thoughts, a vague smile slipping onto her face as the comment registered. “Interesting?” She was about to protest when their first meeting came to mind, having forgotten it even though it was only a short while ago. She withdrew that thought immediately. “As long as you continue to be perfectly cordial, I won’t have a reason to. I just hope that the journey goes smoothly…how often do you encounter trouble?”

[member="Asmus Janes"]

OOC: I'm diggity down!

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Joza Perl"]

Asmus sighed at that question, some of the mirth drained from his expression. "Used to be Republic covered most of the galaxy. Now space is broken up all into little empires who guard their territory ferociously," he lamented. "It might seem counter-intuitive, but working within one nation's borders is much easier than trying to cross them. Sure smugglers...I mean...honest traders," half a wink came with that, "Might not be their main aim, but those patrol ships will haul us over as quickly as they'll report an enemy incursion."

"Pirates are getting worse too. They're actually less prevalent neat Sith space. Don't know much about the Jedi, but that Silver Coalition is pretty piss poor at dealing with any matters beyond their own worlds. Like to keep themselves to themselves. And anyway, I've seen you move. I'm sure any low rent pilots who see you twirl a saber will trip over themselves to jump back into hyperspace and get a fresh pair of pants. That's as long as they don't, you know, breach the hull and have us all killed by vacuum before they come aboard."

 

[Joza Perl]

Her face smoothed out to reflect a more serious disposition as he mentioned honest traders with a quasi-wink. Jedi didn’t condone things like that…right? She couldn’t play along with him, and wouldn’t, instead focusing on his reflection of galactic protection. For the first time, it occurred to her that he could actually be useful in providing insight as to how things were handled in different corners of the galaxy.

She raised a brow in surprise at learning that pirates were getting worse and tended to stay away from Sith space. Were the Sith more organized and able to protect their own areas better? When he commented on the apparent threat she posed, Joza felt a bit of pride well up in her chest, despite the fact that she was still very much a novice. “O-oh…” She blanched at the mention of death by vacuum but tried to play it off by clearing her throat and shifting so that her legs were crossed. “How often does that happen? …I mean, pirates. Not the whole dying in space thing…” She trailed, her inexperience showing through the way she fumbled with her words.

[member="Asmus Janes"]

 

[Asmus Janes]

Asmus couldn't help the drift of of his eyes as she shifted her legs. He couldn't help himself, memories of a recent performance still fresh in his mind. Despite in some ways being worldly beyond his years, he was still very immature in others. When he saw something he wanted, he tended to pursue regardless of the complications.

Eyes flicked back up to meet her gaze and he smiled innocently. He silently chastised himself for that. Last time he'd convinced a passenger back to his bunk kairon had been awfully pissed off. She did have very nice legs though and a lovely smile.

Focus!

"Depends where you are. What used to be Hutt space is the worst and I'm afraid there's a lot of it between us and Silver space. What used to be Republic space is the worst. No sign of any real law and order there. Any flotilla tends to get stopped by Sith or Republic patrols as they assume they've picked up a war fleet. Dangerous place to be.

"Still, we know our business. Not much tends to catch us," he announced boldly, unaware of the asteroid a pirate flotilla had parked in their hyperspace path to draw them out of hyperspace in the next fifteen minutes.

 

[Joza Perl]

Thankfully for Asmus, Joza wasn’t yet skilled enough in her connection to the Force to be able to probe his mind—but she did have a natural knack for reading emotions. This caused her to arch a brow at his innocent smile, not fully able to grasp what had been flickering in his mind, but she got the gist of it. And if she was right in her assumptions, it filled her with a little pride. And if not, that same pride would still be there.

“Oh…” She repeated again, lips tilting into a frown. She hadn’t known that the journey would be that dangerous, but then again they wouldn’t be going if they weren’t confident that they’d be alright, right? Though she’d fought in a handful of skirmishes, she was still yellow. Still an apprentice.

“Oh, that’s good.” She offered him a smile, sounding relieved yet looking more nervous than she thought she was. Even Joza could feel the anxiety on her face and quickly smoothed out the lines on her forehead and cheeks in an attempt to appear more unperturbed. Something wasn’t sitting quite right with the Zeltron, and it wasn’t the flamboyant young pilot sitting next to her.

[member="Asmus Janes"]

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Joza Perl"]

"Trust me," Asmus said boldly. "We've been doing this a long time and they haven't caught us..." he was cut off by his stomach lurching. Everything seemed to shift out of focus. Warning lights flashed and a siren sounded. As the cerulean blue of hyperspace swept past them to reveal the inky black of realspace Asmus leapt forwards in his chair.

"Right so...going to need you to keep trusting me I'm afraid, despite fate deciding to kick me in the teeth there. All those red switches above your head under the 'weapons' label? Flick them all, then hit the auto button on the right of them."

Asmus lifted the intercom from his console. "Kairon, we've got a roid in our path and multiple reds. Joza, that screen on your left will start listing out ships and types as soon as the sensors get a lock. Read them out for me."

His hands danced across the console and he ramped the generators up to maximum capacity. Behind him he heard swearing and boots on metal decking as Kairon and Mai rushed for the quad laser cannons.



OOC/ let's say a few ugly fighters and one very big freighter that could swallow us whole.

 

[Joza Perl]

“U-um…” Joza sunk back into her seat, gripping the arm rests as the ship jarred. She’d truly wanted to believe Asmus, but something—instinct?—told her that perhaps they should be prepared for some bad company. Or something bad. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

Giving the pilot a wide-eyed look as if to say “You want me to trust you!?”, Joza swallowed her words and nodded dumbly. She had no idea how to handle this situation, being as young and inexperienced as she was, but still tried to hold herself together despite being terrified. And as such, she would defer to Asmus and the rest of the crew.

“R-right.” She swallowed thickly, reaching a shaking hand up and flicking on all of the appointed switches and buttons. Moving on, she focused on her task as she read the data out loud to him as it appeared. In the back of her mind behind the rising panic she felt embarrassed that she, a Jedi, would be feeling this way. Wasn’t she supposed to be calm and brave, like the Knights and Masters she’d worked with and learned from? Even though that kind of demeanor took time to cultivate for most, she felt as if the day she would be ready to take on a situation like this would never come.

Her head whipped back as she heard the crew rushing around, and she turned to Asmus with a wide-eyed look. “W-what can I do to help?” She fought to keep the shake out of her voice, but her tone was surprisingly strong and resolute.

[member="Asmus Janes"]

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Joza Perl"]

Asmus turned his head just enough to put her in his peripheral vision. It was enough to see the look on her face. He craned his head around further and flashed her a quick smile. This was a precarious situation, but if he couldn't put on a brave face when a beautiful dancer was in the co-pilot's chair then he was pretty certain there were rules about the smugglers taking away his member's card to the gambling dens.

"That display has a red range ring on it around us. Anything crosses that line you read me out it's position: bearing and elevation!"

Asmus shifted his hands across the console and ramping up everything he could give the ion engines. They were well laden however and the snubfighters closing in were cheap but effective. He turned up his nose at the approaching flight of fighters bearing down at them, giving the dorsal guns a good line on them. The noise reverberated through the ship as they fired their first warning shots as vessels out of range.

 

[Joza Perl]

Joza made a mental note to ask Asmus how he was able to keep his cool—or rather, keep any anxiety over the situation hidden. Then again, maybe she shouldn’t. After all, wasn’t a Jedi supposed to be the one remaining calm? And didn’t they know what to do in situations like this? She’d seen Masters face high pressure situations with what seemed to be a clear mind—and even though she wasn’t supposed to be near their level of expertise, she still felt ashamed for her reaction.

Fighting back fear the best she could, the young Zeltron attempted to steel herself. She’d help in any way she can, but she lacked the confidence to do anything on her own in this situation…which may have been for the best. It wouldn’t do to have a rambunctious Padawan running off and getting themselves killed.

“Right.” She responded coolly, letting out the breath she didn’t even know she was holding in. Her anxiety would just have to take a back seat this time. She shifted in surprise at the vibrations traveling through the ship, but kept her eyes glued to the display. Her eyebrows shot up as a dot meandered its way onto the screen, and she nervously called out the coordinates.

[member="Asmus Janes"]

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Joza Perl"]

“Kairon, I’m bringing us about, you’ve got one…” Asmus started to call, following Joza’s advice.

“I see him!” Kairon interrupted. The sound of the quad lasers firing once again reverberated through the bulkheads of the Quintessence. Asmus did his best, but all he could do was keep his eyes on the larger freighter that was moving on an intercept course and re-angle the ship to give the gunners to best chance at keep those fighters at bay.

A whoop sounded over the intercom. One of those red tracks on Joza’s display came to an abrupt halt. A look of grim determination had settled over Asmus’ features, but he permitted himself a small, satisfied smile.

Two fighters came in too quickly to be dissuaded. Asmus primed their torpedoes to try and catch them on the flyby. Warning lights flared and green bolts lanced past the canopy as they came under fire. As the two Ugly fighters passed them two torpedoes leapt out in pursuit.

“What did they hit?” Asmus called. None of the major systems seemed to have been damaged.

“They took out the tractor shrowd!” Kairon replied.

“Kark,” Asmus muttered. If they were deliberately targeting that system, then it stood to reason that…

Right on cue the felt the ship fight his control as she never did. There were a lot of red tracks coming their way now. More fighters than they could hold off. The open channel opened up and a new, gravelly voice sounded in the cockpit:

“Quintessence, this is the Blight. We ain’t got no need to be killing today. Turn off your engines and prepare to be pulled into our main hangar. Resist any further and we’ll breach your hull. We’re taking your ship and your cargo, but we’ll drop you off at the next system.”

Asmus muted his comm. “Brilliant, pirates with a conscience.”

“It’s a lie,” Kairon called. “Just to make their job easier. They’ll gun us down in the cargo hold.”

“I’ve got nothing Kairon.” Asmus said.

“I know, do as they say and meet me in the hangar bay, both of you. We’ll fight.”

Asmus sighed and turned to Joza. Already he’d flicked off main power and had pulled his blaster pistol from its holster, checking how much charge he had. “I do hope you can swing that saber of yours, because it looks like we’re in for a scrap. We’ve got four gunmen aboard, a Jedi and a hidden repeater in the bow we can fire. They won’t be expecting it if we hit them hard.”

As the Quintessence slowly passed through the field separating atmosphere from vacuum, at least fifteen pirates gathered around her and waited for the bay doors to open.

 

[Joza Perl]

As much a she tried not to, Joza remained wide-eyed with both inexperience and determination. She’d never been in a situation like this without other, more experienced Jedi around to protect and guide her. Though she wouldn’t know it yet, this experience would be the first of many for her.

She remained silent thoughout the communication out of deference, but mostly out of greenness. When the pirates indicated that there would be no deaths today—only theft—she visibly relaxed. At the very least, they would escape with their lives, even if defending against evil was the proper Jedi thing to do. But when Kairon indicated that the enemy intended to do just the opposite, she tensed almost as quickly and immediately felt foolish for believing them.

Joza turned toward Asmus as he retrieved his blaster, an anxious yet hard look in her eye. This wasn’t her first fight, but she was painfully aware that her previous experiences could only help her so much. “Y…yeah, I can. Don’t worry about me.” She arched her back lightly as she rose from the chair, stretching as if it would somehow prepare her better. Tilting her head towards him, she let her gaze linger on Asmus before taking a step forward and brushing hers lips against his cheek in a subtle kiss. Moving back, she inhaled deeply, hand grasping at her saber hilt hard enough to try and keep the shake from it.

[member="Asmus Janes"]

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Joza Perl"]

Despite the rather dire situation that brought a smile to his face. An extraordinary cocktail of emotions was brewing and it took a great deal for the young scoundrel to push them back down. Leaning to one side he pulled open a box just under one of the consoles.

"I tell you what, rather than a kiss in return, how about..." he hand shuffled through a rather untidy container of tools and spare components. Pulling free a small radio chip a few centimetres across, he held it up with satisfaction. He tapped it to a reader on the console and a green light lit up. "How about I remember to give you one of these before we step outside. Put it somewhere safe in your robes or something. The chip means the auto-blaster hidden on the underside of the hull won't shoot you which would be...advantageous."

Spinning out of his chair he reholstered his blaster, but grabbed a spare power pack from a cubbyhole at the back of the cockpit. He jogged through the corridor that ran to the rear of the ship and the access ramp down. Back there the whole crew was gathered. Kairon had a carbine strapped to his hip, Mai had a pair of blaster pistols. Jarrick meanwhile had an armoured best on and a blaster rifle in his arms. Asmus assumed he was going to stay here out of sight until the shooting started.

As the ramp lowered Asmus strode out besides his uncle. His expression set, his heart hammering away in his chest; there were a lot of pirates out on the hangar deck. Several smaller ships littered the massive bay. A few Ugly fighters that seemed to be undergoing repairs.

Three men strode forwards. At the front a squat human male with multiple scars visible. A trandoshan and a gran flanked him on either side, both cradled heavy rifles. When the man spoke, Asmus recognised that same voice he'd heard over the comm.

"Well then..." he called. Asmus could see his eyes stay fixed on Joza. He could actually see the decision play out across his features. A Jedi, was this ship would that kind of trouble? It seemed greed was winning though. "Well Jedi. I assume you're a passenger rather than crew. Why don't you go with one of my men here who can see about getting you to your destination? Leave me to sort my business with the captain here?"

The intention was obvious. Separate her from the rest of them so he could put the crew in body bags and take the ship without her getting in the way.

 

[Joza Perl]

Joza watched Asmus carefully for his reaction, not entirely sure why she’d kissed him. Was it the stress of the situation, or her own hormones? She was certain that if the circumstances were different, that she wouldn’t have…but who understand the mind of a teenage girl? Certainly not her.

Her eyes followed his hands as he rifled through the container, perhaps focusing on him a bit too hard. With the very real threat of pirates, her mind was moving a bit erratically and she wasn’t sure where to put her attention. “O-oh. Yes. Th…thank you.” She nodded quickly, taking the chip and stuffing it into her robes. Taking the cue from him, she followed the young pilot to the rear of the ship. With a nervous glance, she remembered to take in as much about the situation as she could while remaining calm. And picking up any signs of immediate hostility. And reacting properly. She tensed as her mind instinctively ran through the list of potential outcomes, most of them not very pleasant.

She nearly jumped when she was addressed, not having expected to verbally interact with one of them aside from the exchanging of a few curse words. She struggled to maintain her calm facade, though her anxiety was eating away at her. A small part of Joza wanted to go along with his request and be done with this mess, though there was no guarantee of her safety. No, you fool! Have some shame! She squashed those thoughts as quickly as they came, hoping that they would never come back. Jedi were supposed to be selfless, peaceful mediators right? Maybe she could try that route and see if this could avoid coming to blows.

“I’m afraid that your business involves me as well.” She began, hands hidden in the sleeves of her robes as she brought them up and in front of her in an attempt to appear more sage-like. “I’ll have to ask you to l-leave in peace.” Despite the strong tone she put forth, a stutter crept into her speech and gave away a bit more than a glimpse of the anxiety raging inside the young woman. Her fingers twitched beneath the fabric, itching to grab her saber. So far, negotiations proved not to be her forte. In a last ditch attempt, she tried to release her relaxing pheromones but found that she was far too nervous to produce them.

[member="Asmus Janes"]