The Road Less Travelled

[Winter Ardmore]

Winter had been needing a break for a while. She wasn't used to having so many duties all at once, and it tired her out. So she had decided to take a day off, relax a little. She was surprised it was even allowed, but she wouldn't pass off a great opportunity like this one to unwind. The Alliance had kindly loaned her a ship, and she intended to use it. Not that she was much good at flying, but that was a minor issue. Well, it wasn't, but she would choose to view as a minor issue. Starting up the ship, Winter grinned to herself as the engines started and the ship rose slowly into the air, building up power. Adventure time.

Flying was one of the only things that Winter liked, yet wasn't good at. It was hard to hate. Zooming around, seeing constellations, nebulae, planets, stars -- For someone used to staying inside all day, performing week after week, it was like heaven - she had only seen space through books and videos before joining the Alliance. But it was much better in reality. Still, she would have to land at some point. Unsurprisingly, randomly flying around depleted fuel supplies rather quickly. She checked the holo-map. Janara was nearby, and had a nice enough terrain, unlike some other planets she'd visited. That would have to do.

A sudden beeping noise came from the back of the ship. Winter looked around. Something was flashing red. She turned back towards the front and noticed that the ship was speeding up. After pressing the brakes ten times and seeing no decrease in speed, she deduced that she was probably crashing. Scanning the planet quickly, she saw there was a large meadow that she might be able to try and crash into instead of a building. Setting the ship to auto-pilot, she jumped out, spreading her wings quickly and flying to a safe distance. The ship crashed to the ground a few seconds later, bursting into flames. Winter had a fire blanket in the cargo hold and tried to put out as much of the fire as possible, then sat down and pondered over what to do next. She should probably call the Alliance on her datapad, but this was neutral space and it might annoy the colonists. Still, if she didn't, then she'd be stuck here. There weren't any nearby public starships either, so she couldn't just fly into Alliance space.

Sighing, she set up a transmission on her datapad to the Alliance, containing a distress signal. Someone should pick it up. Until then, she'd have to wait.

[member="Kaalia Voldaren"]

 

[Kaalia Pavanos]

The Knights of Ren had been extremely active ever since she joined, and when the opportunity to take some time off arose Kaalia jumped on it. She currently was in neutral space, hoping to not have to deal with any conflicts for now. Janara was the planet of destination. She had been there before back in her mercenary days, but this time she was here to enjoy the scenery that the place had to offer and to ponder on everything that happened in the last few months. Her inner conflict between the Light and Dark side was far from gone, but the redhead barely had any time to slow down and calm her mind. Deciding to avoid any settlements, she looked around for a place to land her ship.

Scanning around, Voldaren's eye caught something curious. A crashed ship, still partially on fire, with a figure with wings, undoubtedly a Shaliz'na, standing next to it. One thing that particularly concerned her though was the fact the ship belonged to the Galactic Alliance. Nevertheless, the member of the First Order landed a bit further away, hoping the Shaliz'na didn't notice her ship, and started moving to where she saw the ship last. She wasn't in the mood for any hostility, and was going to try to avoid any violence if possible.

She moved closer. The ship came in sight first, and as it took up more space in the scene the supposed pilot materialized as well. Despite the wish to avoid violence if at all possible, she had her lightsabers at the ready, concealed from sight by her clothing. Kaalia was about 30 meters away now, and waved. "What happened here?"

[member='Winter Ardmore']

 

[Winter Ardmore]

Winter looked at the redheaded girl. She appeared to be friendly, and she definitely didn't look like the police.

"I'm having a party." Winter said, her tone light. "What do you think happened? My ship crashed." Winter knelt down to put out more of the flames, but still kept an eye on the girl.

"I think the engine failed and I sent out a signal but I don't know how long that'll take. I'll be gone soon enough." Which could mean anything from a few hours to a few days. Janara wasn't far from Alliance space, but Winter wasn't certain how long it would take for somebody to spot her signal. She was essentially stuck here until someone picked up the signal, got to Janara without disrupting anybody, and actually came and picked her up. Probably about 12 hours. At least. Still, the redhead was still standing there. If she had potentially half a day to waste, she might as well talk to someone.
"So, um, what's your name?" Winter observed her surroundings. Janara was a nice enough planet, not too bad weather, lots of sun, grassy fields. Perfect for a day off. She might come here again some other time. With a better ship. Meanwhile, the girl seemed interesting. Was she a Force-wielder too? Winter couldn't tell properly, but it was a possibility. She could figure that out given time. Moving about as she tried to put out the flames, Winter looked at the redhead carefully.

[member="Kaalia Voldaren"]

 

[Kaalia Pavanos]

Kaalia snorted at the opening remark, cracking a smile. "I had that one coming. Anyway, let me help you put those flames out." she said as she knelt down next to the winged girl, nodding as she did. She had nothing else to do, and having a casual conversation was something she hadn't had for a while. Most of her interactions were brief, and all business; the Ren weren't much for socializing. Although it gave her all the alone time she needed, it did make her feel lonely at times.

A quick glance confirmed two things: The ship was indeed of the Galactic Alliance, which somewhat raised her suspicions, and that the engine had indeed seen better days. "You're with the Galactic Alliance, huh... Unless you were somehow able to sneak into their base, steal a ship and fly out without being noticed. And with wings of that size I don't see that happening. They fit you well, though." Although she was curious to find out why she was out here, the redhead didn't assume much of it. She doubted someone of the Shaliz'na's age, Kaalia guessed around 15 or 16 years old, would be sent out on a mission solo and in non-GA space; She herself was 19 and even she rarely did anything alone.

Kaalia was asked for her name. Her first instinct was to use an alias, but assessing the situation, and coming to the conclusion she likely posed to threat, the young woman decided that today she was going to keep it straight. "Name's Kaalia. And what might your name be?" she replied, as she put another patch of flames out. She enjoyed the sunlight as it cast down on the back of her head, feeling its warmth. It was peaceful. She could get used to this.

[member='Winter Ardmore']

 

[Winter Ardmore]

"Winter." She grinned ever so slightly, her tone open and almost chatty.. "Yeah, I'm with the GA, but this isn't a mission or anything - I was planning on exploring a bit, what have you. And, well, yeah. This happened. I probably should've taken proper flight training, in retrospect." Putting out the last of the flames, she stood up and stretched her arms. Time to wait, she supposed. She got impatient so quickly. But at least the redhead - Kaalia - wasn't bad company.

"So, you part of some group or other? Or is that classified?" Winter asked jokingly. She still knew very little on all the galaxy's various factions, or she would've been able to have a stab at Kaalia's allegiance through geography, but that seemed like such a pointless way to pass the time when she could do interesting things like using the Force. She'd get there one day.

[member="Kaalia Voldaren"]

 

[Kaalia Pavanos]

"I like that name. There's something elegant about its simplicity." Although finding a friend wasn't something Kaalia expected to do today, maybe she was in luck. Seeing the ship no longer produced fire, she stood up, walked over to a sizeable rock and sat back down against it. The redhead plucked some grass out of the ground, letting it fly in the wind. The question Winter then posed was something the formed Jedi should've expected, but was still caught off-guard by it. Her relaxed expression died down a bit as she simply answered with "Let's just say I'm supposed to be your enemy. However, I really don't feel like fighting today and you seem like a good person. Do you mind if I leave that question unanswered?"

The Ren took a more active sitting position. "Today, I'm not with any group. Yesterday I was. Tomorrow I will be. But today, today I'm with nobody." There was a slight pause as Kaalia took in the sun for a little bit, letting her relax again. "I'm curious though, what is your position in the GA? It doesn't seem like you're an experienced pilot, no offense, but I do sense something about you that I can't really place. Like the Force is trying to tell me something."

[member='Winter Ardmore']