Private Into The Unknown

[Auraya Irath-Ur]

Up and up and up through the Temple she ventured, into hallways that had barely seen usage with so small a grouping of Jedi to filter on through. Though she had checked the message upon her datapad countless times to ensure that she was, in fact, going the right way, Auraya could not help but feel as though she was missing something. Surely this was not where she was supposed to be? Even the constant bustle of activity from Coruscant had ebbed away into near nothingness the more she climbed.​

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It was honestly nice to find such peace within a world of natural chaos. But that didn't make it any less bizarre.​

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Truth be told she did not know exactly who it was she was coming to meet. There had been mention of a mission, some hands on learning, so she presumed it was simply a Jedi Knight that sought an extra pair of hands. Being in no position to turn down what could result in valuable experience, and given the hospitalized state of her Master, she had agreed. If only to give herself a distraction, to worry about something other than poor Zaavik Perl stuck in his hospital bed.​

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Now, coming up to the meeting point, she wasn't feeling quite as sure about it. It felt strange, though she had been his Padawan for so little time, to be heading out alongside someone new. Someone different.​

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And why were they not meeting at a landing platform, or the atrium?​

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Who are you to question a proficient Jedi?​

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She walked up to the set of doors, grander than most within the Temple, and carefully eased them open. She was a little earlier than planned, but at least that gave her an opportunity to calm her nerves before the individual arrived. Right?​

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Wrong.​

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It wasn't until she breached that threshold that she came to realize that they were already there. They had requested she meet them there for a reason: it was where they had spent the morning.​

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Inside she found a man deep in concentration, lightsaber arcing through the air and striking at a training droid which seemed to match his every step. She had intended on backing out, waiting in the hallway until the actual hour came, but she could not help but stand and stare. Observing the dance-like routine that man and droid repeated over and over, interrupted by only the occasional "Again!" uttered by the man.​

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Maybe there was something to be learned from it. Who knew. Auraya simply could not look away, so she hovered in the doorway without a word.​

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

"Again."

If Cotan had noticed that the Padawan had entered the chamber, he gave no sign of it. Eyes locked on the hulking training droid he faced, lightsaber in hand, the rest of the chamber—the High Council chamber, though the New Jedi Order had yet to use it since its repair—simply faded away into the background. Into memory; one wall blasted out entirely, the roof gone, the chairs turned over and strewn about, the winds of Coruscant's upper atmosphere above the temple mount threatening to carry him away at any moment, and struggling to fit both hands on a hilt he'd designed for only single-handed use.

The droid stepped forwards with lightning speed, its massive blade arcing upwards from below; just as during his duel before, Cotan stepped to one side, the arcing slash missing him entirely. When the droid pulled back and lunged forwards, a stab aimed for his throat, Cotan brought his blade over, sending the jab wide. This time, however, before any retreat could be done, he pressed the attack, lunging forwards; his blade slid between the overlapping metallic fields protecting the droid, a simulation of Carnifex's armour, and scored a hit directly under where the chin would be.

The droid immediately retreated, returning to a standby position.

He'd gone through every step of the duel he'd had with Carnifex atop the tower, when the Sith came and laid waste to Coruscant after Taeli Raaf's subterfuge was unveiled; every swing of the saber, every minute difference of angle, every strategy possible, just in case he should ever face Carnifex again. He would be more than ready. "Alright, droid. Safety protocols disengaged; free combat, live weaponry. Continue to follow set stylistic parameters." He hooked the smaller lightsaber at his belt, drawing the one he'd made on his ascension to the position of Marshal within the Judges.

The second amber glow lit up the room; from the droid's grip, a scarlet blade erupted. "Begin."

The automaton rushed forwards, repulsors built into it keeping it light on its feet; fast, nearly faster than any mortal eye could see, it unleashed a horrendous onslaught of attacks. Cotan's blade flashed back and forth, parrying one strike, blocking another, carefully disengaging to avoid being constrained by a third. He weaved left and right, narrowly dodging strikes that came too close.

Then, in an instant, in a blur of motion impossible to reconcile, the short duel was over. The scarlet blade winked out of existence, the droid's hands falling to the floor with a loud clank. It had raised to an overhead strike, and Cotan, in a sudden burst of speed, darted forward, swinging at the wrists, between the protective magnetic fields. When the droid raised its stumps to blast him away with repulsors, or discharge electricity at him, he swung again, and the head fell from its shoulders.

Not acknowledging the sparking circuits and acrid smoke, Cotan replaced the lightsaber hilt at his belt, right next to the other; using the Force, he called a small canteen into one hand, sipping from it, and finally turning to acknowledge his observer.

"Auraya, right? Hope you remembered to pack your things. This trip is gonna be a few days, and if you think I'm letting you stay on my ship that long without taking a shower, you are wrong."

 

[Auraya Irath-Ur]

Her gaze shifted back and forth swiftly as she tried to keep up with the movements of man and droid. He was definitely working through something, but whether an old, intense regimen, or something more organic and true to form, she had no way of knowing. Over and over the two of them replayed similar moves, with varying results. A changed angle here, a wider swing there. Miniscule acts that seemed to alter the entirety of the battle.​

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It was dizzying to say the least. Was this how it was in reality? One weak move could spell disaster? One well timed, well placed strike could turn the tides in ones favour?​

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She supposed, deep down, she had always known that to be the case. But it didn't make it any less crazy to comprehend.​

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So lost was she in her observations that she barely had time to react, to even consider dipping back out into the hallway where she ought to have been at that very moment, when the man turned toward her. The droid looked worse for wear, pieces scattered about the relative space it stood; the man too seemed drained, though certainly in a better state than the mechanical among them.​

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"Yes, Master," she swiftly retorted, trying to stifle the red-faced embarrassment she felt at having been caught staring. Though she had packed her bag as instructed, complete with a change of clothes and the usual bits and pieces, the fact that this was to be a trip and not simply a day-long adventure seemed to surprise her. Had that been in the message?​

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She felt certain it had not.​

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Her eyes slipped away from him soon after, back to the dismembered droid, and she seemed... torn. Antsy almost, she inched closer toward it in the moments which followed their conversation - if her end could even be considered conversation - and with a slight inhale of breath she knelt down beside it and peered at the frazzled wiring.​

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Usually she would not have dared act out of place like this in front of an older Jedi. She would have stood and waited for instructions. But something about the state of that poor droid had clouded her judgement and put motion to her legs. She stared at it quizzically for a moment, and would continue to inspect it and ponder on what exactly it was she could do to see it back in one piece until the other Jedi interrupted.​

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Cotan Sar'andor ​

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

Cotan raised an eyebrow, watching as the girl investigated the remains of the droid. "I wouldn't worry so much about that thing," he said after a moment, leaning against one of the council chairs. "It's not like an astromech or a good protocol droid, or anything like that. That thing's memory has been wiped more times than the two of us combined have had birthdays, the programming has been modified, it's been torn apart and pieced back together again who-even-knows how many times. There's no personality or anything to worry about, and their haptic sensors don't register pain so much as just the fact that they've been touched. Good training tools, but terrible for battle droids."

Of course, by that point he was wondering if she even recognized what the room they were standing in was. Perhaps many of the New Jedi Order neither knew, nor cared, given that they had scarce few masters among them, and any semblance of a standardized, centralized guiding body had been thrown out the door with the typical robes that most Jedi were expected to wear. Then again, there were some around like Auteme who did stick to the traditional look. Maybe Auraya would go that way in the future?

"Well, not even going to ask my name? Brave choice." He turned, looking out the window he was closest to, and then the one beyond that, on the outside of the ring around the council chamber. Sure enough, further down below, by one of the meditation balconies, he could see his ship hovering, boarding ramp open. Right on time. "Would you like to walk with me down to one of the contemplation stations below? They've got a nice view, at least, even if all they were really good for was giving you a spot to wait before the council called you in."

 

[Auraya Irath-Ur]

Though the Jedi assured her in more ways than one that the droid was unaware of its present state, was not in fact capable of suffering, she could not help but look upon it in a forlorn fashion all the same.​

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"It will be fixed?" she inquired softly, slowly rising back to her feet rather reluctantly. She knew nothing of mechanics, knew not how to reassemble such a thing, solder the wires and get it back in motion, or she might have insisted on doing it herself. Alas.​

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She turned toward the man slowly, just as he turned to the window, and regarded him from beside the droid.​

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"Forgive me, Master, I did not mean to be so rude. I'm Raya, and you are..?"​

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Whatever he was looking at brought an inclining of curiosity rising throughout the girl, and soon enough she had joined him at his side by the window. She peered down over the cityscape, and felt positively nauseous as vertigo set in abruptly.​

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Auraya looked away, turning her sights up at the man instead.​

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"Sure," came her quiet response, as her stomach and mind began to settle from the dizzying effect. The last part of his statement, however, drew attention to what the room actually was. "This is the council chambers?" She turned and inspected the room for a moment, before nodding. It made sense, now that she knew. But what didn't make sense was why they were in here. Was it not in use?​

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Cotan Sar'andor​