Private A Small Miscalculation

[Yenna]

Yenna's reassuring smile returned as she felt Zoar calm down significantly. Slowly but surely, he managed to compose himself and look at her before hiding his face from her. "Okay, it is. To apologize for, you have nothing." She calmly reassured him as she risked a very gentle hand on his knee. "Fine, you are." She continued as she pulled back.

He asked where they were and what happened, prompting Yenna to look around for a moment. "On a ship, I think we are. Empty, the Force feels around us. Feel it, can you?" She asked him as she sat down across from him. "I think... some kind of stun charge, they used. Unconscious, it completely knocked me... and... you too, it hurt." She explained to him as she looked at him. Actually looked at him.

A hollow, low laugh drew Yenna's attention to a man walking past, giving their cage a harsh slap to startle them. "Two Jedi of all things... you'll fetch a pretty price, don't you think?" The man spoke up as he leaned down to glare at them with a smug look. "For sale, we are not, sadly." Yenna commented with a neutral expression as she ushered Zoar behind her. The thug barked out a laugh and gave the cage a kick before moving on. "You might wanna take a look around you, kiddo!" He called out as he walked off.

"Rather rude, he is." She muttered as she looked at Zoar. "Zoar... what these collars are, can you figure out? Explosive or shock collars? For our escape, rather crucial, the difference is." She asked him as she held up the collar around her neck.

Zoar

 

[Zoar]

For the first time, Zoar took a bit of comfort in the physical touch of Yenna's hand on his knee. He frowned up at her, still sniffling and grasping his implants. "O-okay," he ventured, speaking slowly, but quickly retreating back into a ball.

He thought about her answer to his question, completely still. "It's not... cooompletely empty," he said, after a moment. "But less. Def-ef-finitely less." He chanced a short glance around the area, squinting against the pain in his head, and avoiding direct eye contact at all costs.

But suddenly, there was a harsh sound behind him. Zoar jumped, trying to escape the sound, but just falling on his face as he tried to move, his limbs refusing to work. He just curled up on the ground, unable to do anything but battle an incoming panic attack with ineffective breathing exercises, until the man left.

"Zoar... what these collars are, can you figure out? Explosive or shock collars? For our escape, rather crucial, the difference is."

The Miln stood shakily, taking a few tentative steps towards the Jedi Master. "Maybe," he said, unsure. "Just... um... let me think a sec."

He took far too long to think about the answer, studying Yenna's collar, and running a clawed finger along the inside of his own, which fit him loosely around his neck. "Shock," he finally confirmed, grimacing. "Th-the inside is lined with a... uh... superconductor. There could be a bomb in here somewhere, but... I don't think so. Materials are too pricey."

Zoar went back to sitting in the corner, wiping the corner of his eye again. "How are we gonna get out? Without my suit, and my implants, I can't... I can't do anything."

- Yenna -

 

[Yenna]

He was focusing on his surroundings. That was good. As long as it kept him occupied, it was fine. She stood still for him to inspect her collar for as long as he needed, not an ounce of irritation or haste in her aura as she watched him. He finally reached a conclusion and she gave a nod. "Well, work with that, we certainly can." She muttered with a nod. "Very complex, they are. Unlock them with the Force, too difficult, it is to." She continued. They were going to have to find a system that could unlock the collars,,, without someone triggering it.

"How are we gonna get out? Without my suit, and my implants, I can't... I can't do anything."

Her gaze lingered on Zoar for a moment before a mischievous giggle escaped her. "A big mistake, they made." She spoke up as she kneeled in front of him. She reached out and wiped his tears away, taking his hand in the process. There was no questioning or hesitation in her movements. "Together, they put is here." A grin formed as she looked at him.

"Jedi, we are. Alone, strong, we are... but together? Any obstacle, we can overcome." She gave his hand the faintest of squeezes. "In yourself, you should not doubt. As a padawan... terrified, I was. In myself, I doubted. A grave mistake, that was... by Darth Carnifex, captured, I was." She admitted softly, just loud enough for him to hear. "How you feel, I understand. But... when I tell you, you should believe me. Powerful, you are. See it, you might not, but I see it. Now... after me, repeat." She placed her hands on his shoulders as she looked at him with gentleness and sincerity.

She hated talking backwards. But it was needed for this.

"I am one with the Force. And the Force is with me." She spoke, waiting for him to repeat it. "I am one with the Force. And the Force is with me."

Her golden eyes glimmered with a sense of pride as she looked at him. "In the Force, we must trust. Work together, we must. But, most of all... in ourselves, we should not doubt." She rose and stepped back, looking at the door of the cage. "Time to get out, it is. Our welcome, we overstayed." She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and thrust her hand toward the door. The cage burst open and the door hit the floor with a loud 'clang' as Yenna stepped through. The guard from earlier came running in with a baton in hand, but he never got a chance to use it on them. "To bed, you wish to go."

"I wish to go to bed..."

"Unlock our collars, you wish to."

"I wish to unlock your collars..."

Like a zombie, the man moved over and pulled a device from his pocket. With the press of a button, the collars popped off and clattered to the floor.

"Rethink your life, you want to."

"I want to rethink my life..."

With that, the man turned and left the cargo hold entirely to follow the Jedi's suggestions. Yenna looked at Zoar and gave a nod. "Teach you that, I can. Now come." She pressed on with her head on a swivel in search of an exit to the rest of the ship. "A security terminal, can you access, without your augmentations? Entry into their system, if we can get, a huge help, it will be." She asked him as she spared a glance at the Miln.

She hoped that she could get him back safely. All she could do was trust in the Force and hope that he would get back to Coruscant better than when she found him.

Zoar

 

[Zoar]

"In yourself, you should not doubt. As a padawan... terrified, I was. In myself, I doubted. A grave mistake, that was... by Darth Carnifex, captured, I was. How you feel, I understand. But... when I tell you, you should believe me. Powerful, you are. See it, you might not, but I see it."

Zoar looked up at the diminutive green Jedi, the fear still present in his eyes, but something changed as Yenna spoke. Slowly, he stood up, holding her hand, letting her hold his shoulders, with no thought of stepping away.

He didn't believe in himself. He didn't trust himself, especially without his tech. But he trusted Yenna. And she trusted him. Maybe that's what she meant. Together, they were unstoppable.

So he repeated the words after her, closing his eyes. "I... am one with the Force. And the Force is with me." He continued the phrase, quieter under his breath, feeling the motion of the universe under his feet. The Grand Machine that they called the Force.

So he was unmovingly calm as Yenna broke the door apart, and pacified the guard, the collar falling to the floor. It was only then that Zoar found himself again, stepping timidly behind Yenna as they exited their cage, simply nodding in awe as she suggested she teach him how to do her trick.

"M-maybe," he stuttered at Yenna's question, glancing around a moment, and finding a security terminal. With slow movements, the Miln picked over to the computer, and opened up a series of tangled wires. He took a second to look at it, before digging his clawed hands in, quickly cutting and rethreading wires with practiced ease. He closed up the panel, and studied the dark screen. It didn't turn on.

Zoar groaned, holding the side of his head.

"I can't," he said, a bit of despair leaking into his voice. "I would need a datapad. Stupid," he added, tapping his cybernetics, as if a bit of physical force would turn them on.

- Yenna -

 

[Yenna]

Yenna watched as Zoar jumped up and fiddled with the terminal, though it quickly became apparent that he was going to need some help to get into the ship's systems. Her golden eyes moved around for a moment as she thought of some options. A wild thought popped into her mind along with a cheeky grin. "Then get one, we shall." She quipped as her eyes found the grate of a vent.

"Go on ahead, I shall, and distract them for you. Through the vents, you can move, to the recreational areas. But be careful. Distract them all, I will likely not. In the Force, just trust. Fine, you will be." She instructed before she motioned to the vent. "With you, may the Force be." She gave him one last smile as she turned and made her way deeper into the ship.

All she needed to do was distract them all long enough for Zoar to get into the security systems. Once that was done, they were all set. Restrain the crew, take control, get back home.

It didn't take long for Yenna to round up a few of the crew members. From the look of things, they weren't on a large ship. Likely a medium freighter. However, there were a variety of prisoners as well. From animals to people. They all needed help. But for that to happen, she needed to keep up the momentum against their captors.

"Rather slow, you are!" The little green blur giggled as she bounced around, skidded along the walls and floor, and generally just made a fine mess of things as the slavers tried their best to catch her. The commotion soon drew more crew members into the mix and Yenna capitalized on the amount of people in the area. She was being a royal nuisance, causing people to crash into one another, trip or generally just embarrass themselves.

However, the two crew members in the mess hall were in a world of their own. Their weapons, datapads and personal effects were sitting beside them as they sat hunched over with sharp eyes studying their sabacc cards...

Zoar

 

[Zoar]

Zoar looked at Yenna aghast, his hands fidgeting against each other, twirling and pulling at his fingers, as if there was nothing else he could do with them. He had to sneak past them. By himself? He couldn't do that! Even with his suit, he was frightened of being alone. How could he...

"In the Force, just trust. Fine, you will be."

The diminutive mouse's eyes clarified, as he stared at the Master. That was right. He wasn't just a lab rat with a bunch of tech. He was a Jedi. "Okay," he finally said, growing a bit of spine for the first time since his implants shorted. He tried a smile. "Go g-get 'em!"

Zoar dove into the vent.

After a minute of moving, peeking into rooms from above, Zoar could hear the sounds of frantic combat from far off. How one person could take on so many three times their size, without a weapon, the Miln couldn't fathom.

Finally, the little slicer found his target- a set of datapads, discarded to the side by a couple of card-playing criminals. Slowly, Zoar unscrewed the grate open, laying it gently to his side, before silently dropping in.

"...No array this time?" one of the players asked, staring at the other over his cards. The Miln creeped under the table.

"You think I'd tell ya if I did?" Zoar reached a hand over the side of the table, one finger barely scratching the side of a pad.

"Nah. Can't knock me for tryin', though." The datapad slid on it's own to the edge of the table, disappearing underneath. "Well, only one way to find out. Sabacc!"

Like a breeze, Zoar used the Force to jump back up to the vent, and shut it with dexterous hands behind him. "Fuck."

Zoar sped back to the computer terminal, immediately gutting his newly-acquired find, and plugging it in. The screen lit up in a flash of binary, and the hacker braved a smile.

Wherever Yenna was, the nearest screen wavered and turned bright pink, his own little signal. This next part would've been much easier with his cybernetics, but the end result was the same.

Zoar was in control.

- Yenna -

 

[Yenna]

As best as she could under the circumstances, Yenna tried to reach out through the Force to keep an eye, figuratively, on Zoar. Despite his continuous nervousness, the Jedi Master couldn't pick up on anything out of the ordinary. If anything, there was a sudden relief and a measure of triumph coming from the Miln.

Sure enough, one of the terminals turned bright pink as a signal for Yenna. With a smirk, the little green Jedi jumped over a man's head and landed far behind the group to launch a powerful blast towards them. The thugs toppled and tumbled under the wave of power before being herded towards the mess room. It took some more jumping and Force 'persuasion' to get them moving back, but slowly they were losing ground to the little alien barely any taller than a child.

<"Zoar... in the mess room, when they are, engage blast doors and locks."> Her voice resounded through the Force for him to hear. Once the disgruntled and confused group were in position, Yenna landed and drew the Force through her body for one last powerful blast to send them all crashing into the two confused sabacc players. She stayed put until the blast doors closed up and locked down, leaving Yenna and Zoar as the sole occupants of the freighter. Only then did she relax and lean against the wall to let her throbbing hip relax.

Slowly she limped her way back to Zoar with a proud smile. Once she reached him, the little green Jedi reached out to place two small hands on his shoulders. "Absolutely brilliant, you are!" She praised him with a sincere warmth in her voice. "Well done, Zoar. Now, find out lightsabers and go home, shall we?" She asked him as she let go and turned to lead the way. This, however, gave her another idea for a quick lesson.

Yenna paused in the hallway as silence lingered, the only noise coming from the screaming and cursing behind the mess room's blast doors. A perfect distraction for the lesson. "Feel your crystal, can you?" She asked him as she glanced up at the Miln. She could feel her own quite easily, but that wasn't the goal of the lesson. "Lead us to our crystals, why don't you?" She suggested as she stepped aside to let him lead the way.

Zoar

 

[Zoar]

Zoar was frustratingly slow to respond to Yenna's call in the Force

It took him a full two seconds to engage the heavy blast doors, sparking with protest as the little Miln bypassed their security protocols. If his implants were online, he could have done it in a quarter of the time. So infuriating.

For good measure, he turned off the lights in the mess hall, too. Not because he had to. But so they couldn't play sabacc while they were waiting to be detained. The tiniest of technological middle fingers.

Zoar sent a relieved smile Yenna's way as she returned, accepting the hands on his shoulder with only the littlest bit of discomfort. "Nah, I was j-just... me, s'all." He massaged the side of his head, fighting through a pounding headache, but giving the little master a timid smile.

"Lead us to our crystals, why don't you?"

The tiny mechanic's smile turned into a pensive frown, as he closed his eyes. His connection to his crystal was... tenuous, at best. And with his headache, could he really do this? What if he failed? He felt his heart begin to race.

No, stop. Deep breaths.

The Miln simply outstretched a shaking palm, and began to walk. Hesitantly, unsure at first, but slowly picking up the pace, the shouts of the trapped criminals becoming distant background noise as they traveled. He walked for about a minute, then pointed to his left, chancing his eyes open to see a closed door.

"There," he said. Then, he quickly backpedaled. "I think. Maybe."

- Yenna -

 

[Yenna]

Not a hint of annoyance or impatience rose from Yenna as she patiently waited for Zoar to try and find his crystal. She could hear the faint whistle of her own weapon as her former master's split crystal called out to her, but she wasn't going to interrupt the Miln at all. A reliance on technology was a great advantage, but to sharpen one's connection to the Force was far greater.

He had the potential to be a great Jedi. All he needed was that support and confidence in himself. She hoped that she could at least grant him that, even if they never had the privilege again to see each other. She hoped that wouldn't be the case.

Eventually Zoar began to slowly move forwards, through the halls of the ship with an increasing speed until finally they arrived at a closed door. Yenna could hear her own crystals inside as well. A proud smile formed as she looked at Zoar. "Find out, let us." She muttered as she reached out and waved with her hand to open the door. With a loud hiss it slid open and a storage room was revealed. Weapons lined the walls and crates adorned the space.

But within the room, between the large crates and weapon racks, lockers stared back at them along with Zoar's armour. With another grasp through the Force, Yenna tugged a locker open to reveal their weapons. "Missed you, I think your crystal has." She muttered as she summoned her twin lightsabers to her waiting hands. Once they were clipped to her belt, she pulled her cane to her hand and turned to face Zoar. While she hoped that he wouldn't immediately jump back into his armour, she certainly understood if he did.

She couldn't help but be a little bit jealous of the suit. Not in a dark or selfish way, of course. Simply from the perspective of a being of short stature who had to figure out a way of reaching the top shelf for most of her life.

Once he was settled, Yenna turned her attention to the cockpit. "To Coruscant, let us go. Home is calling to us." She muttered. Only once they were on their way back to Coruscant, did Yenna relax and make herself comfortable in one of the seats. "Zoar... very good, you did today. You overcame your fears. Your doubts. A great Jedi, you can be someday. If... if you want to... teach you, I can. Your choice, it is of course. But... an honour, it would be, to have you as a padawan." Yenna spoke up after a long silence as she looked at Zoar with sincerity.

"Make the decision now, you do not have to. Up to you, it is. But... there, the offer is, if you want it." She continued with a gentle voice as she stared into the spiralling void of Hyperspace.

Zoar

 

[Zoar]

Yenna forced the door open, revealing...

His armor.

Zoar squeaked in joy, dashing into the room, and hugging the knee of his powersuit. "Golem! Oh, thank the Force." He felt a little more confident already. The Miln clambered inside almost immediately, turning on the mech, and fitting into the comfortable confines of the chest cavity. Because of his faulty cybernetics, Zoar had to rely on the simpler physical controls in the suit, coupled with a bit of autopilot.

The mech looked down curiously into the locker, and picked out his greatsaber with delicate fingers. Zoar bid his mech to study it, looking for any kind of emotion from the cylinder. //You think so?// It would have been surprising to Zoar, given how long it took him to find it on Ilum.

Soon enough, the two Jedi found themselves at the cockpit at the front of the ship. Finally, they were headed home. Maybe then, he could figure out how to turn back on his brain.

When Yenna started talking, the mech didn't move much, even looked away a little, as if it didn't quite believe the praises the Master threw it's way. But then, she made the offer.

//... Really?// Zoar turned to face the little green Jedi, shock in his robotic tone. //But I... I didn't do anything right today. I-I-I was sc-cared the entire time, I froze up a bunch, my implants turned off...// He felt himself beginning to downspiral, and took a deep breath, trying and only partially succeeding in centering himself. //Jedi are supposed to be brave. I wasn't that. I was terrified.//

//Are you sure? You don't have to feel obligated to, if that's it. I don't need a master...// Even if it was obvious in his voice that it was something he desperately wanted.

- Yenna -

 

[Yenna]

Once again, a gentle smile graced the little green Jedi's lips as she looked up at the mech beside her, waiting for him to voice all of his concerns. "Zoar... your suit, please open." She gently requested. "Your face, I wish to see." She waited patiently for him to comply before continuing.

"Brave, Jedi are, yes. But, to be fearless, bravery is not. To be scared, bravery is, but to overcome that fear. That is what you did. Fine, it is, to be scared. Normal, it is. Droids and machines, we are not. And what you did today... the definition of bravery, that is." She leaned in a little, as if to tell him a secret. "Terrified, I was too, this whole time." She admitted with a smirk. "About you, I worried. About getting you home safely, I was concerned. But, through it all, you powered. You saved our lives. You conquered your fear. To have a padawan like you, an honour for any master, it will be." She sat back in her seat and rested her cane beside the chair.

"Yours, the choice is. Force you, I will not. Nor will anyone else. But a great Jedi, I am certain, you can be. Plus... a kind smile, you have. Hide yourself, you do not have to. Many years, it took me, to stop hiding myself. I realized... you being a Jedi, your appearance does not dictate." She looked back at him with admiration in her golden eyes. "For everything today, I must thank you. And... also... apologize, I must. My fault it is, for you being here. Recognized the threat, I should have, on Denon." She admitted as her smile faltered. "Make it up to you, I hope I can."

Eventually the ship dropped out of hyperspace, forcing the two Jedi to work together to safely land the freighter on Coruscant. The criminals were arrested and the investigation on Denon was passed up the ladder to other Jedi to pursue. Limping along the walkway with her cane, Yenna turned to look up at Zoar. "An honour, it has been, Padawan Zoar." Yenna formally declared as she gave him a deep bow in respect.

Zoar