Common Ground

[Choli Vyn]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

[SIZE=9pt]The T-1 wasn't as sensitive as an X-Wing, but it has surprising mobility for its size. Her fingers gave a flex around the controls, piloting yoke yielding under a bit more pressure. That whine turned into a loud hum as the shuttle rode into the air, the twin exhausts burning a bright blue.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]From her tiny viewport, Choli caught sight of Trextan running her way. Off in the distance, a droid seemed to struggle getting upright. He'd been knocked back a few feet onto a stack of cargo crates, knocking him off balance.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt][ Halt Trextan Voidstalker!! -- [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]oh my[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]. ] [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]his cry turned into one of panic as the shuttle Choli had commandeered turned on a tilt of the yaw away from him.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=9pt]“[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Come on…” [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] she grunted out, leaning over the console to flick a series of toggles and the ramp hydraulics. It gave a groan of metal as it slowly began to descend. Well, looks like Trextan [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]wasn't[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] going to be left behind tonight.[/SIZE]

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

The sound of the pneumatics lowering the ramp temporarily drowned out the whine of the repulsors keeping the shuttle hovering. The fins sticking up from the shuttle and smooth canopy certainly made it the most attractive shuttle in the hangar.

He grinned as he ran, gathering the Force around him to aid his jump up. He touched down on the base of the ramp lightly, but the bag bumped into his bag and forced him to stagger up the ramp.

“Go! Go! Go!” He called out as he slapped a button on the wall and started the ramp ascending. The shuttle was small. Only a few strides and he was in the cockpit.

Trextan dropped his bag down beneath the copilot's chair and slipped into it. The ramp hissed as it sealed shut. He didn't look annoyed, frustrated or concerned. When he turned to watch her at the controls he was breathing hard and grinning.

 

[Choli Vyn]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

[SIZE=9pt]“Then hold on tight.” [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Choli managed to utter out a second before she hit the throttle. The droids cried out behind them, commanding them to stop. Those words fell on deaf ears as the Rogue flew the T-1 shuttle at breakneck speed, a slight grunt falling from her lips as she felt her body jerk back.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]They barely managed to cross the magnetic containment field when her sensors gave a small beep in alarm. Her head went flicking over towards it and she uttered another curse[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]. “Gorram it.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Lips pressed and hazel green eyes bore out into the floating asteroid belt. Well, Janes’ had been the one to teach her the fine art of Rogue dogfighting. Nostalgia hit her like a brick house and Choli’s jaw gave another hard flex.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=9pt]“Hope you don’t get sick.” [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]was her only warning, before the brunette teenager had them flying straight for the asteroid belt.[/SIZE]

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

He tightened his grip on the chair as they left the hangar. His prosthetic hand was no more forceful than his real hand however. Trextan started to slow his breathing, his grin settling for a content smile.

As he turned towards her, with questions on the tip of his tongue, the instruments started to light up. A flickering on one scope showed them being scanned and Cho swore as the others started tracking asteroids and other small objects.

The smile was gone in an instant. “I'll be fine,” he replied through clenched teeth. He didn't ask what was going on; he didn't want to distract her. Trextan didn't know she was used to flying with Asmus chirping in one ear and a BB unit in the other.

His stomach lurched as they angled towards what appeared to be an impenetrable wall of rock. She twisted them suddenly and pulled them up, the tight maneuver revealing a narrow gap between two asteroids.

“You can fly,” he whispered. “Right, what's on us? What can i do to help?” There was a steely-eyed look of determination as he pushed his shoulders forwards. It was an expression anyone who knew his father would recognise at a glance.

 

[Choli Vyn]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

[SIZE=9pt]Hazel green circlets crossed and checked the sensors, her controls, and everything else in between. There was the faint [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]beep, beep,beep[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]for the proximity alarm, the T-1 shuttle skimming a bit [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]too[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] close to a slow spinning asteroid.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]An adjustment of her thrust, a sudden twist and angle, and they suddenly ascended up.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“Got a tail.” [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]she managed to say, familiarity to the rhythm of dodging and turning aerial tricks to keep whatever was following her at bay. It wasn’t the same as in being in a starfighter, much less an X-Wing, but goodness…[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] “You got some mobility on you, girl.” [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] she uttered, for the first time, a faint twitch at the right side of her mouth curving upward. This, yes, this was good. This was a part of that much needed medicine.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Choli felt a bit of normalcy then.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“Check the sensors. Looks to be drones aimed to keep track of whomever might have left the station…. [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Hospital[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt].” [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]a grimace and then a shake of her head, as if it really didn’t matter.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“Need to get them off of our tail.”[/SIZE]

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

The amount of warning lights concerned him, but her smile and the Force reassured him. They told him to trust her. The craft seemed less willing than him, but it was a civilian thing after all; it wasn't used to being pushed so close to the limit. Not like the X-Wings used by Rogue squadron that were constantly on the verge of losing stability.

“Right,” he said firmly with a positive nod. He would have preferred the inertial dampeners up a few notches, but his main preference was whatever kept Choli from smearing him across the surface of an asteroid.

“One is dead on us, two push out towards… starboard. Bearings: one, seven…”

Trextan was given a more clear picture by the scopes than the view ahead. He couldn't tell which asteroids were close and which just large. Features on their surfaces both large and small seemed to have the same structure.

“They're going to come around that rock ahead and try and cut you off,” he said suddenly, the Force adding certainty to his tone.

 

[Choli Vyn]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

[SIZE=9pt]Before Trextan was even done, Choli had already begun adjusting course. [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]‘Sorry.’[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] the brunette in the bright coral scrubs cried out, apologizing as the maneuver that the pilot enacted. To be honest, Choli wasn’t sure if the shuttle could take it, but she had to try. She shot the throttle forward with one hand and twisted the control stick with the other, suddenly losing all forward momentum and made a loop-roll in another direction.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]As the shuttle wasn’t intended for such maneuvers, the pair went jerking in their seats, Choli bracing her feet on the floor a the spin and turn. Yeah, about thost straps that were supposed to hold them in place? That was going to make it hard.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“Strap in!”[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Choli shouted at Trextan. It was more anxiety at the situation than any actual anger. More bark than bite. After all, the last thing they needed was for Trextan to slip out of his seat and crack his head on the console.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“Sorry.” [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]she managed to add quickly back, apologetic through another grimace. I won’t be able to make another move like that. No, she needed to use her environment to lose them.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Off in the distance, the slow moving hulks of the lingering remnants of that Dead Space battle so long ago drifted listlessly. Giant megaliths a mere shadow of what they were in the past.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]An idea struck.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“Keep an eye out for them.” [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]narrowing her eyes at a particular set of Old Sith Empire Star Destroyers, Choli made her decision.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“Going on a tour flight.”[/SIZE]

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

“Don't apologise, just tell me what you need,” Trextan replied. There was an urgency to how quickly he belted in. Upon inspection one would now find five distinct fingerprints in the right hand frame of his chair.

He couldn't tell if this was organised mayhem or meticulous, honed skill. The way her hands moved across the console suggested the latter. Regular shuttle pilots didn't tend to pull maneuvers liked that.

Not quite. So you didn't crash a speeder…

Trextan wasn't sure if he found that thought amusing or disturbing. He knew that he didn't like putting his safety quite so firmly in the hands of another. Was their escape really worth this? If it had been just him he would have stubbornly refused to back down and return to the hospital, but he'd enabled her escape. How much trouble would she be in for borrowing a shuttle to leave a facility in such a rush?

An old imperial destroyer with most of an asteroid still lodged in the skeletal remains of its ventral hull loomed ahead of them.

He watched the scopes, trying not to focus on the graveyard she was rapidly accelerating towards. His emotions balanced on the precipice between excitement and fear. Any notion of trying one of the Jedi control exercises had long been dashed.

“They're backing off a few hundred metres Cho, one is coming up right on us,” he informed her. The drones were spreading out in their wake, perhaps reassessing their options in light of her new strategy whilst the lead gave chase.

Oh feth how close are we going…

 

[Choli Vyn]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

[SIZE=9pt]“Good,” [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] Choli replied with a sharp, determined quip. Her expression had frozen into a mask of concentration, lips moving as her upper teeth went scraping over the fullness of her lower lip. It was a concentration tick. A tell. This wasn’t going to be a simple ditch and run.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“Hope you aren’t claustrophobic.” [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] the pilot added a second later, angling the shuttle to a new objective, the monstrous exhaust ports of the former Sith Empire Star Destroyer. Trailed by the drone, the shuttle slalomed through the colossal debris field. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Almond shaped eyes shot over to her left. Reaching up, the Rogue barely managed to reach the shield controls and flicked them to life. The shimmering blue particle shield went blooming over them, a short veil of sanctuary that was about to be tested beyond manufacturing capabilities.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]That next second had Choli snake into the enormous field of the derelict spacecraft -- and straight into the gaping breach that was the center of a ruined engine thruster.[/SIZE]

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

“I don't see how…” Trextan started to reply. Choli managed to find, in the vastness of space, a tight space. “Oh…”

The scopes were neglected as his face locked into a grimace. He didn't want to see cowardly I'm front of Choli so he kept his hands from grasping the frame of his seat again. He told himself that if she was going to crash this thing having something to hold onto wasn't going to help. Not I'd she smashed them into a star destroyer.

Alarms blared as the proximity sensors looked at the distance to the inner engine housing, the speed they were going at and had a little meltdown.

Scopes, scopes!

“It's right on us. It's coming…”

There was a flash of blue as they clipped a protrusion from the wall of the engines and the shields bounced them off it. Somehow she managed to react almost instantly and level them out again. The debris behind them struck the front of the drone and it veered into a skeletal web of durasteel frame and lodged there.

“You're magnificent,” he uttered to himself. He checked the scope. “We've lost him. Wait, the others are following us in.”

Where was she going to go? There wasn't much of the fixtures and fittings left, but a good amount of the main frame hadn't been picked away by scavengers yet. They tended to start work on the expensive components before turning their attention to the volume of raw scrap durasteel.

 

[Choli Vyn]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]


[SIZE=9pt]“Just lIke Bantha flies.”[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Choli uttered with a curl of her upper lip, but a brief glance at her expression could relay the adrenaline rush the girl was going through. She had the steely focus of those single-shooter holo game competitions, only difference being that it was in a shuttle and not in a holographic Championship game.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]The Force bloomed within the pilot, helping Choli gauge the proximity of the metal walls that were racing past on either side of them. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“Hold on!” [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]she cried out in warning, sparks flaring from the side of the shuttle as Choli negotiated one increasingly narrow passage after another. Undeterred, the other drone was nearing proximity from port, using a gaping maw that a previous high velocity javelin had ripped open so many years ago. It quickly picked up speed and neared the twin contrails of their exhaust.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Light from the distant sun came pouring in from starboard side. The shuttle gave a shudder, protesting the wild, sharp swerve in a tight aerial twist. It would feel like a wild swing of the cosmos, giving anyone with less experience a bout of nausea.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]Anyone save Choli.[/SIZE]

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

Trextan had been struck by the beauty of the remains of the once great and powerful beast. The sun caught the flakes of metal in the corridors they navigated making something akin to sunbeams through gaps in a cloud.

Then his pilot turned everything up a notch. He forgot the scopes and turned his focus inwards. Hopefully that was he could keep his lunch inwards. Jacen had been trying to teach him to let go of the physical world and connect his mind only with the Force but it was not easy.

She was reacting faster than anyone should. As he found a small measure of focus he could feel the flow of the Force move differently around the pilot. His own senses pushed out through the Force and he could tell when she was reaching out further ahead or tightening it close to the ship to aid in a tight maneuver. Whether she knew it or not she was using the Force to fly.

That realisation was just enough of a distraction to keep his stomach settled in one place for now. He didn't try and speak though, his lips remained shut tight, his eyes a little wide.

 

[Choli Vyn]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

[SIZE=9pt]The drone wasn’t able to compensate for the sudden shift of direction like the Rogue. It instead found itself flying straight onto mangled durasteel. It exploded in a burst of sparks, properly out of commission of course. A stab of guilt bloomed within Choli’s breast, seeing as it hadn’t been the drone’s fault. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“That’s two.” [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] she breathed out, relaxing but for a moment. A quick check at their shields told her that they had depleted down to seventy-eight percent. Not too bad, but for a tiny shuttle, she could hold her own. A spin and adjust in her flight path, and the brunette had them swing round one of the smaller asteroids.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]That he managed to hold the contents of his stomach and not hurl over her or the piloting console gave Trextan a few points in Choli’s book. She briefly shot a glance over to him, taking in the slightly blanched expression, the tight grip on his seat, and rather wide-eyed expression.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]A smirk crept up, the pilot turning forward again.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“Surprised me.” [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] she admitted, leaning forward to check the sensor array. [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]“I’d have thought you’d toss up chunks by now.” [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]it was as much of a tease and banter as Trextan would get from the pilot right now. So far, so good. Nothing in the scanner.[/SIZE]

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

He turned slowly to face her. "Dont look so happy. It is not off the cards yet," he replied deadpan. It might not have been obvious that it was an attempt at humour.

Colour returned to his knuckles as he managed to check the scope once more. They were still maneuvering quickly, but it was smoother motions that didn't affect him quite as badly.

"They're giving you a wide berth now," he reported. "I'm not surprised," he chuckled. Trextan hoped that was the worst of it over. He didn't know Jacen was busy trying to find a way to get in touch with the shuttle.

"Where do you want to go Cho?" He asked, some of the tension smoothing out of his tone.

 

[Choli Vyn]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

[SIZE=9pt]A brief sweep of her eyes went darting over to Trextan. A brief arch of a brow inquiry and then amusement colored her expression.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]"I thought you were the one who had a specific place to go." [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]she reminded him, leaning forward to check on a few of the controls and status diagnostics of the shuttle.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]"That was you said you'd help me, wasn't it?" [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]she would remind him, the corner of her mouth twitching upwards in mild humor. A bit of her typical self was starting to shine through. It didn't completely wipe away all that still wormed through her mind, but the rush of flying like that and so fast had a way of helping her mind blank out. Nothing but instinct and skill to keep her airborne.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Little did she know that there was another who would do their best to narrow down exactly where they were at.[/SIZE]

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

Trextan could tell that too. It made him feel better about breaking her out. Clearly freedom or just the act of getting behind a yoke was good for her.

“Hmm, yes,” he replied, settling back into his seat. His stomach hadn't quite finished spinning yet so he stayed fairly still. “There's an asteroid in the system here. Known as Velok’s maw. My… a Marshal sent a team of us to investigate.”

A slight touch of colour reached his cheeks, perhaps just returning after the acrobatic flight. “Then I made a fool of myself with my arm playing up and ended up where you saw me,” he explained through clenched teeth.

He looked down at his coral scrubs. They would neither help him blend in or protect him. He had no blaster either.

He shook his head at his own stupidity.
-
A brief sweep of her eyes went darting over to Trextan. A brief arch of a brow inquiry and then amusement colored her expression.

"I thought you were the one who had a specific place to go." she reminded him, leaning forward to check on a few of the controls and status diagnostics of the shuttle.

"That was why you said you'd help me, wasn't it?" she would remind him, the corner of her mouth twitching upwards in mild humor. A bit of her typical self was starting to shine through. It didn't completely wipe away all that still wormed through her mind, but the rush of flying like that and so fast had a way of helping her mind blank out. Nothing but instinct and skill to keep her airborne.

 

[Choli Vyn]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

[SIZE=9pt]“Velok’s Maw?” to be honest, Choli didn’t know much about it. She really had no real information about this system to begin with. While she had traveled with Chloe and Jan out to the Outback from time to time, she hadn’t been the one navigating. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]The name, however, was a little bit familiar. Why did it tug at a memeory at the rear of her mind.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“Haven’t heard much about it.” she admitted, giving Trextan a quick glance. He seemed to have a bit of color back on his face. Alright, so he wasn’t about to hurl. Good. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]When he mentioned ‘Marshal’ it piqued her interest. Now that was a term she knew. Well, then again, it could very well mean anything outside of Alliance space.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“A Marshal?” she inquired, probing for more information. Her eyes fell upon the console, reviewing the diagnostics. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“That whole… Jedi Justicar thing? You with one of the Orders?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]He mentioned his arm again, bringing to the fore the original though Choli had in the past. Well, she was never one to hold back being blunt.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“Your arm?” a flip of a toggle shut off the shields, saving power. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“Doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with it.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Well at least she was honest. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“You seemed to do just fine doing everything you did getting out of the hospital.” [/SIZE]

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

He opened his mouth to protest. He placed both hands in his lap and looked down at them. He curled both hands into fists. Thinking back she did have a point. It had been very stupid of him to administer that dressing, could have broken her arm.

Trextan frowned. His hair tended to fall forwards over his eyes in waves. As he raised his head he quote deliberately used his left hand to sweep it back.

“They said there was a problem with the neurological interface ,” he murmured weakly.

He changes subject. “Velok's Maw is an asteroid, steeped in the dark side. I was headed there with a few other Alliance Jedi and a GADF squad. I… I don't even know it's coordinates. We can hardly search the whole field. That would take years.”

He shook his head at his own stupidity.

 

[Choli Vyn]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

[SIZE=9pt]Now he was embarrassed. Thinking too much on it. Choli had placed him under the spotlight and it had made him uncomfortable. She caught the distinct shift and how he favored his left hand again.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“Aye, neurological in that its all in your head.” Again, choli wasn't one to mince words, but they also didn't hold any form of judgement. Almost as if she were familiar to the condition and was merely having a casual conversation about it.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Or maybe she was just focusing on the shuttle diagnostic.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“Think too much and it clouds your head. Sabotages you from the inside.” Ahh, there we go. Now what did he say? Veloks maw?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“Take a limb the mind still believes and feels as if it's there. Tries to compensate even if there isn't anything. Seen plenty of spacers do the same with less.” She finally turned to him. So he was from the Galactic Alliance. Well that cleared up a few questions. Also explained the very fancy cybernetic. Her experience with tech at least told her that. And if he was struggling with the cybernetic, it was fairly recent too.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]“So Alliance Jedi? The New Order I take it? Must be a new unit then.”[/SIZE]

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

“Oh.”

Brutal honesty was probably the best thing for Trextan. He frowned and looked down at the arm. That couldn’t be right. It couldn’t be hs fault could it?

“Yes… New Jedi Order…”

He clenched and unclenched both fists together. It was easier to place the blame elsewhere. Another person could go away. A prosthetic could be repaired. He couldn’t get someone else to fix his own issues. She said it was fairly common though. Perhaps he didn’t really need to lay the blame anywhere, just get on with his physio and working with the arm.

There was an analogy to his relationship with Jacen that passed him by entirely. That blame would take a lot longer to reassess.

He placed his hands on his lap and looked over at Choli, conscious of the fact that he’d just turned his attention inwards and mostly ignored her.

“It’s a new group, based out of Sullust. They want to do more to show the people of the Alliance the Jedi are actually looking out for them, not just hunting down Sith.”

Several quick beeps drew attention back to the scanners. Cathul’s medical fleet appearing on the edge of the system set off the alert. Before anyone could check one of the Alliance ships opened up a channel that ran back to the GADF comms network.

A small hologram appeared on the console. Trextan visibly collapsed back into his chair.

“Lieutenant Commander Vyn,” Jacen said. There was disappointment in his tone. He turned his son. “Trextan.”

Another figure appeared. An Askaj standing beside him and reaching forwards, waving his hand back and forth. Jacren rolled his eyes. “Dee-four can you please tell her to leave the hologram alone? Thank you. Right. I understand you’ve both commandeered a shuttle?”