Crazy Like Me (The Galactic Alliance)

[Chevu Visz]

Master Starchaser gave her an easy grin, one that took over his whole face and crinkled his eyes around the edges. She found herself liking the scruffy Forcer more and more. Coren had an easygoing way of making her feel more comfortable, coaxing her to come out of her shell. If only she could get used to calling him "Commander" and not "Master."

The Mirialan matched his grin, her teeth stark white against her full green lips. Her posture loosened up, hands open, green fingers unclenched. She was less twitchy than when he'd first arrived. Coren was right. They needed to get away from these crazy percussionists, especially as they were now being joined by an interpretative dance troupe. Luckily, Chevu knew her way around Fulluusub fairly well.

"There's a public park not too far from here. I'm sure if we don't destroy anything, we could practice there."

With a jerk of her head, she began to take him in that general direction.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

His belief was to make most things simple for people, there really wasn’t a trick to many things, but teaching someone who was primarily focused in a Jedi path, that was tricky for him. Like many Force users out there, especially in the ranks of the Galactic Alliance military, he was more concerned with his own school of thought, Warden of the Sky, and the Aing-Tii monks, and how they were to be used. A lot more action-oriented and less dogmatic.

The Starchaser wanted to make her relax. It was important. If someone was going to be working alongside him? They needed to be mellowed out, relaxed. And he was trying his best to not snap at the hippies, he wasn’t sure what it was that was bothering him about them, but it just was. Nodding as [member="Chevu Visz"] started directing them, he smile.

“Lead on.” No, he was not going to call her kid. That’d be rude, and he was trying to put his bet foot forward here.

 

[Chloe Blake]

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

A musical chuckle would bubble through the comm, almost to the tune of the melody playing in the background.

"Reckon you missed the Aa-Tee-Cee station in orbit. They are pretty tiny, so don't feel too bad," the teasing quip would follow suit. Depending on the position, it could be missed, but the Arceneau Trade Station in the orbit of Sullust was no small thing. In the neck of nearly three hyperlanes, there was a reason why it was here. A fuel stop, trade center, and even a small repair area for small craft, it was a one stop shop for those who desired to stretch their legs and get out of the sardine can they called home.

Or for frozen burritos.

"Got some Nuna and Cheese and..." she paused, thinking, "Ground nerfsteak with beans. There is always the veggie option too if you are into that." she said with an impish joke.

"Looking to get myself some fresh strawberries if possible."

Now those were as good as golden peggets.

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Chloe Blake"]


"ATC Station? Yeah....don't really pay much attention to those."


Still trawling along, Judah continued to place his sensors while talking to the pilot of the Aurora Hawk. It was tedious work, mainly due to the fact he kept having to lean over to check readouts. So far, nearly all the sensors worked. One seemed to be on the fritz and the other a dud. No matter. This was a cursory overview of the planet. Wanting to see something with his own eyes first.


"Nuna and cheese sounds good....Tell you what Aurora Hawk, I'm nearly done here. Meet me up at the station? Food is on me. I'll be the guy that looks like he ain't shaved in about six years."

 

[Chevu Visz]

Nebula Park on Fulluusub was a picturesque place, full of lush green fields, nature paths, and a large lake where Sullustans fished for gulley and plar fish. Peppered about the fields were various monuments to famous Sullustan artists. The idyllic setting might have seemed like an odd place for two Force users to spar against one another if that was what Coren and his student were about to do, but Chevu was fairly certain the easy going species wouldn't mind, especially since it was a common sight to see Sullustans practicing archery and wrestling in the same public park.

One she got to the edge of the park, gave Coren a playful smile and ran ahead of him, taking off down a wooded path that wound through the park. It opened into another wide expanse of field. Chevu finally stopped when she found an isolated patch of grass they could claim. The breeze ruffled her long black hair, sun gleaming off green skin as she whirled to face him.

"How's this?" asked the Mirialan.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Sullust was a weird world, as Coren was a bit of a wanderer, and unlike his kid, he enjoyed being planetside, with the right worlds. Sullust, not so much. Having to live in biodome cities wasn’t all that fun. He missed the fresh air of worlds like Mon Cal, and Arda, and the scenic vistas of the Golden Beaches. He was going to need to do something about the Sith.

Soon.

Following the student, the… well, he wasn’t sure how to put it politely, but she was definitely bubbly, he could roll with that. For a bit. He wasn’t sure she’d be combat ready, not in the way he needed her to be, but passing on what he knew? Getting someone he could trust in the Jedi ranks? “This’ll do fine.” He looked back at her. "Any idea on how you'd start with this?" He wanted to see just what she knew.

[member="Chevu Visz"]

 

[Chevu Visz]

Chevu froze. She was expecting the start of a speech about the history of the power, followed by a long harangue about its uses and abuses, and then possibly, a demonstration, followed by another speech. Rinse. Repeat. At least that's how Oomomo would have done it. Coren had a different method, which apparently involved putting his students on the spot. What was the power again? Tutaminis?

"Uh, well. Tutaminis is about...um...energy absorption, right," she stammered. "I suppose, you'd attack me with a power, and I would, with your guidance, try to channel it away?"

A deep exhale came. Chevu was off to a shaky start, but then again, she was his student. Just stop fretting and relax, Chev. Oomomo always insisted that she was her own worst energy. Feel the Force. Let it erase your self-doubts and it will guide you through this.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

There weren't really methods for Coren Starchaser. He just went in guns blazing and hoped it worked. For Chevu, training was this way, today. Next lesson? Who knew? Maybe he'd give her a reading assignment, have to go to the grand Jedi Library on... whatever world they worked on and help get information on XYZ Sith world. It was how he did things, organically. Setting up at Sullust? That wasn't in his plans. Not at all. She was going to define for him, then she was going to act.

"It is. It works on a variety of levels, or at least, I've been working on getting it to work on a variety." When he wasn't running off after the Aing-Tii, or curbstomping Sage Bane for kidnapping his girl. Or like.... niece, thing. Whatever [member="Kinsey Starchaser"] was. "Its focusing on the... flow of the Force, and how you can use that, instead of allowing it to harm you. You can do it with Force energy, and blaster energy." He took the gun from his belt, switched the safety on (Because kids were on this site, and better safe than sorry) and tossed it to Chev.

"Take a shot."

[member="Chevu Visz"]

 

[Chevu Visz]

Chevu caught the blaster and clicked the safety off.

"Shoot you?" she asked, her brow raised quizzically at the man. She never thought she would be standing in a park in a biodome on Sullust firing an energy weapon at her Master, but life had a way of surprising her. Unconventional. That's how Master Oomomo described Starchaser.

"Okay." Chevu sounded unconvinced, but shrugged anyway and lifted the blaster.

Deep brown eyes dove into his blue ones. He trusted her, and that felt good. They were making a connection. Even better. Adjusting her stance, she carefully aimed the blaster. He didn't tell her where to aim, so she went for the legs. If something went wrong, then at least she wouldn't gravely injure him.

Then she fired.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

He was not nervous. It wasn’t that he didn’t think that Chev could hit him, that idea didn’t cross his mind. Had he known the way he was described, Coren wouldn’t exactly argue. He was a bit more out of sorts than other teachers, especially Jedi teachers. When she confirmed that she was to shoot him, he nodded. “Yeah.” He bit at his tongue, right side of his mouth, his molars.

Taking a second to concentrate, to pull the Force to him, this one was a bit easier of the skills to do, a control skill, a self-focused skilled, the Force wrapped around him, refreshing like diving off a boat into the ocean on the first hot day of spring time, but familiar enough, like hopping into the seat of your first speeder, he was ready.

And not a moment too soon. Coren wasn’t wasteful when he was pulling on the Force, everything had a mission a use, an immediate fething need the bolt hit him, hit his aura, and he could feel the down-right tingle of the energy as it flowed in and around, through him. “Again. This time, watch, but… with the Force.” Yeah that sounded metaphysical. He had no other way of putting it.

[member="Chevu Visz"]

 

[Chevu Visz]

The energy beam sang right through the air heading towards Coren's legs. Chevu almost couldn't look. Her eyes widened when the blaster beam went right through him, as if it were a ghost. The trail of green energy didn't even come out the other side. It just went...into him. But where did the energy go? Did it have to be purged somehow? Chevu wasn't much of a swearer, but this time she made an exception.

"That was really fething cool, Commander Starchaser."

Watch with the Force? Chevu could do that. She lifted up her blaster more confidently this time, then aimed and fired, this time at his shoulder. As she did so, the Mirialan opened herself up to the Force, letting it pour into her like a river, the way Oomomo had taught her. She could see it in the air, in Coren, in the negative space around Coren, and in the blaster beam at is hurtled towards him like a green comet.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

He was ready. Coren Starchaser knew what to expect, it wasn’t one of those feelings he exactly craved, but well, he could shunt it out and deal with it. The body and mind were good at that, forgetting pain, and yes, it made it bad each time, but in between? You underestimated that. And maybe it wasn’t typically for someone to felt the pain, but there was still heat and concussive energy. It was going to hit. He shook his head for a second.

“Just make it Coren.” A bit of a laugh followed that.

Reaching out, he, for all intents, slapped at the bolt, catching it on his hand and wrist, not his shoulder. He was instinctive and reflexive about several things, and protecting his core? That was chief among it. He could feel the Force suck the bolt in, absorb it, combine it to his reservese. He was going to need to get this energy gone before it overflowed. "You see?"

See what, Coren, what was she supposed to see?

[member="Chevu Visz"]

 

[Chloe Blake]

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

Chloe's melodic chuckle would crackle through the comm. A wry grin planted itself upon her face, and her cheeky voice would confirm the suggested venue.

"Copy that Siren's Song," the Warden would say, plopping back down on the piloting chair. She kept the small black box by her mouth, continuing, "I'll be the grease monkey with the blonde hair." she joked, dropping her thumb away from the activation button of the comm. Hooking it back upon it's receiver, Chloe gave a slight bob of her head, a continued tap of her boot. The catchy beat would echo throughout the cabin, an extension of the Corellian's jovial personality.

Taking the piloting yoke between her hands, Chloe would trail the ship for safety, just to make sure that the freighter didn't have any last minute hiccups. It was a natural tendency to be cautious, there were few others who were aware of the dangers of space, much the less active volcanoes. Pulling back, the YZ-1200 drew back up, leaving Sullust's sulfuric atmosphere.

Following an orbit around the magma covered planet, Chloe charted her way towards the large ATC orbiting trade station up ahead.

For a loner who normally traveled the lanes alone, it was always nice to have company.

 

[Judah Dashiell]

"Gotcha"


With the last of the sensors deployed, Judah waited a moment to make sure everything was still reading. So long as he didn't travel too far away from the planet the signal would be strong enough to continue transmitting. Could have been easier to have had longer-range sensors planted inside but that would have cost more money.


Wouldn't have been able to go on this little trip and see Sullust with his own eyes either.


Satisifed that the sensors were panning out, the Siren's Song moved away from the lava, back into the atmosphere. It was time to dock at the ATC station, find a little grub, and meet his mystery follower. Could be a psychotic murderer. Or an Ewok. A small shrug of his shoulders. There were worse things in life.


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Standing with a bottle of Tralus Pete's Hot Sauce in hand, Judah stood staring at the display of burritos warming in the case. There was no sign of the 'grease monkey with blonde hair' but he hadn't exactly been looking yet either. The convience store on the Arceneau Trade Station was massive. The more he knew about Danger Arceneau the less surprised he should be. The woman was smart and the store proved it -- nearly everything for a hungry wanderer of various species.


Now if her burritos were 'verse famous, then Judah would have some trouble on his hands. He owned a bit of Mara TibX. If these little crispy shells of goodness were addicting, he might have to start paying ATC instead of ATC paying him.



[member="Chloe Blake"]

 

[Chloe Blake]

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

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S U L L U S T O R B I T
ATC Trade Station


It was easy to spot him.

The corners of her mouth quirked up in mild amusement. Her blue eyes shone with growing mirth. Chloe Blake had managed to nab a seat outside the convenience store, figuring what with the crowd and the influx of patrons, it was best to nab one ASAP. She was right, the place was fairly crowded, even at this time of season.

There were Sullustan miners about, traders, spacers coming in for a pit stop. There were some Pyre soldiers, their familiar dark grey uniforms bringing a touch of nostalgia to the Corellian Pyre Freelancer. She decided that maybe grease stains were not conducive towards enjoying nerf and cheese burritos. The aroma of hydrolic fluid likely wasn't the eau of the day. So she swapped for a clean loose white t-shirt, tucked into olive green cargo pants that had seen better days. The blonde hair was there, can't miss it. So that was fine.

Nah, she had every look of a typical spacer, which was fine by her.

[member="Judah Dashiell"] on the other hand... well good golly, hadn't seen him in an age!

The scruff and the mop of curls hung loose, and his avid interest in the burritos checked off another mark. She'd met him a few times prior, and for the life of her it dawned just how long it had been. That was back during the age of the Vagrant Fleet, back when Jorus had first... Well, those were the days.

Her smile softened, and she went leaning forward, her chin coming to brace upon her palm. She liked watching people, observing them. There was something interesting about Judah Dashiell. It told a story. Being a loremaster gave her that knack to read people.

And Judah Dashiell was quite the interesting read...

Feeling that he had stood long enough with Tralus Pete's Hot Sauce in his hand, Chloe Blake made... well, a spectacle of herself.

"Hey Judah!" Her voice sang across the din straight towards the Saleucami native.

The impish wiggle of hello came after.

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Chloe Blake"] | Arceneau Trade Station , Burrito Warmer



By now, Judah had been staring at the burrito warmer for entirely too long. Part of it was trying to decide if he wanted to be gluttonous and get one of everything. The other part was he was expecting the 'grease monkey with blonde hair' to wander over at any second. After all, the Aurora Hawk had mentioned the food item, so he had suspected to find her in the general area.


"Hey Judah!"


Now it wasn't every day he heard his first name. Drowning his sorrows in work meant there was a lot of Mr.Dashiell running around. Granted, it could be some mother yelling at her kid, but it wasn't as if his moniker was trending on the popular baby name charts. Still, he turned to look, eyes searching the busy store.


Waving at him was the 'grease monkey with blonde hair'. He would recongize Chloe Blake anywhere. They had spent some time in the Vagrant Fleet together. She was also Merrills friend or one time lover, meaning they had ran in the same circles at one time. It seemed like a lifetime ago.


Grinning like a schoolboy, Judah gave a short wave back at the wandering spacer. A moment later, the universal sign for 'just a second' would follow.


The burritos were finally selected, along with a large package of strawberries that Chloe had mentioned back when he was laying down sensors. Items paid for, he carefully picked his way back over to the location of the blonde. Quite the surprise indeed......

 

[Chevu Visz]

"Ok, Coren," she said with a hint of a devlish smirk, then fired again. With a knowing gleam in his eye, Coren caught the bolt right out of the air, as if he were catching a fly. Chevu did not actually register aforementioned knowning gleam, nor Coren's hands clasping together over the blaster beam. She was watching with the Force, studying exactly what the energy did when it poured into the man instead of scorching his flesh and muscle. The energy beam was sucked into his hands, drawn to his own Force energy much like a gravitatonal pull, and forearms filling his torso like a well. There it stayed, threatenting to effuse. How much energy could be stored, and what happened if you got too much? Suddenly, Chevu peppered him with quickly-fired questions.

"Does it hurt? Where does the energy go? Could you stop a laser beam from a starship?"

He didn't look hurt, but then again, Chevu couldn't read anything behind her teacher's steel blue eyes. She wondered if he would make her try catching a blaster shot, too. She wouldn't admit it, but she felt nowhere near ready.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Matron Malgus]

Public Park
Obj: Stalking [member="Chevu Visz"] & [member="Coren Starchaser"]

Castor had come to the Galactic Alliance because it had been the better option, that and his writer was incredibly biased towards the faction, so it was practically through writer intervention that he came to be a part of the faction. He wasn't complaining, they seemed to be pretty close knit so far, getting a lot of chit done in a short amount of time. They seemed to have their presence in several key places, and that said a lot about a new faction. It had potential, and not just the generic potential that your parents claim that you have; It had true potential. It was bringing together hundreds of different personalities, alignments, and morals and it was molding them into a single, unified, cause.

It was certainly a source of hope in the galaxy. There were no hardcore politics, no shifty FA's, no 'my way or the highway' types. It was a melding pot of mutual goal oriented people. He was proud to be a part of that, but then again, that could be the bias of his writer.

It didn't really matter, for at the moment he was enjoying a nice relaxing time in a public park. But, of course, it didn't hurt either that he was sitting, rather craftily, in hearing range of Chevu and Coren. He didn't have a master, nor did he know if he wanted one or not. But, it couldn't hurt to learn where he could, even if that meant poor attempts at nonchalantly eavesdropping on training sessions.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

The Alliance had its share of decent people. That [member="Judah Dashiell"] was really actually the one in charge, Coren was merely a puppet to make sure the military kept itself in line. But honestly, he was preparing for the future, and that meant he was getting the next generation ready. Starting with putting some Jedi into military hands. And that was going to get them moving on. Saving the galaxy.

The blast came at him, and his hand grabbed at the bolt, the energy was bleeding into him. Coren could feel it and rolled his shoulders, shaking his head. Part of him was wanting to just… bend the space around him to show what else he could do. But that wasn’t the time or place, instead, telekinesis occurred and the blaster was pulled from Chev’s hand.

He was going to need to do something.

“It… you can tell you’ve been hit. And a starship blast? No, and not really many of the other form. It takes its toll, but… you can heal with the energy, or some can.” He couldn’t, never cared to learn, he wasn’t a Jedi. And he wasn’t exactly a light sider, just light leaning.

“You ready, or…?” He knew it was a bit intense, but he was a soldier. He needed intense.

Also, the specialist wouldn't have realized that someone was watching, not through the Force, but the training in him? The military training? That helped, but still, the other wasn't causing an issue.

[member="Castor Sammick"]
[member="Chevu Visz"]

 

[Chloe Blake]

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

Watching Judah saunter his way over in that quirky odd burrito holding dance was amusing enough as it was. Chuckling, the blonde spacer would rise to her feet, moving round the table to meet the former Vagrant Fleeter half way.

"Lemme help you right there," she'd offer, extending out her hands to claim the hot sauce and a burrito. The chuckle only intensified when she saw the Nuna and Cheese delight.

"You'll find these are fantastic after being out in the black for long," the eagerness the woman would express was practically infectious. Then again, Chloe was always the sort to seemingly emanate boundless whimsical energy. Eyes with an Old soul and a quaint smile to boot, the navigator and pilot of the Aurora Hawk was a charming sight to see.

"Well, look at you," she'd tell him, ambling along beside him back to the table.

"You ain't changed a thing." she'd joke, quipping out after her bright blue eyes went sweeping over the long shaggy mop of hair and the scruff along his swarthy jaw.