The struggle for liberty never ends…

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus was a creature of habit. So she produced a length of silk from her box of tricks and handed it to Uri. "Now comes the time to tell if you're truly allowing the Force to guide you. Because you'll repeat the exercise without the use of your eyes."

She smiled at him. "Not a trick or a test, in many ways it helps to prove to you that the Force is guiding you. It's a step towards Center of Being."

[member="Uri Aureleos"]

 

[Uri Aureleos]

Uri stared at the silk confused at first. It didn't dawn on him that he would be tying it over his eyes until she mentioned he would be repeating it with out his eyes. No problem, right? Inside he wasn't so sure but he keep his confidant shell. He slipped the silk out of her hand and fixed it to where he couldn't see through it before tying it over his eyes. He tied the knot in such a way that he could pull it tight without catching his hair in it. The last thing he wanted to do was have his master rescue his hair from the knot. Maybe it was time for a trim.

He relaxed taking deep breaths. His saber at the ready. All he need to do was turn it on. Some time between this moment and the moment he put the silk over his eyes, his eyes closed. He wasn't completely sure when but it didn't matter either way he could only see darkness. His hand left the saber for a moment and swat at the air before finally finding the droid giving it a few pats. It was a wasted effort since the droid would start moving as soon as he ignited the training saber, but it gave Uri a bit of piece of mind. What had his master said? Eye or the storm. Doubt leads to failure. Allow the force to guide his movements not the other way around. His eyes can't see. His can't trust his ears to make up for the lose of the other sensor. Trust the force. His master had this faith. He took to a light meditative state. Meditation was when he felt the most at peace with the force.

Patient. Calm. Trust the force. He ignited the training saber. Hearing the droid come to life, he threw himself back into the focus. His mind immersed in the force. He tuned the droid out. The only thing on his mind was the task at hand. It felt like he was waiting forever but he remembered to remain patient and calm. With out even realizing he moved he lead his hands to and upward guard hearing the first blaster bolt wiz of the blade. He reset the blade back to the mid guard. His hands moved to defect the next one as well. He didn't dare to feel pride. He didn't want to loose focus.

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus watched and kept quiet. Sometimes a Padawan needed guidance - and other times not. This was definitely the latter. Any interference now would distract not help.

So she allowed the process to continue and started to plan the next step - to spar with Uri herself.

[member="Uri Aureleos"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Their proposed spar was halted by the sound of the ship exiting hyperspace. "OK, we can pick this up later."

They went to the cockpit to find they'd actually arrived at a space-station and not a planet. Clearly security was tight. They disembarked and were greeted by two men in suits, not troopers. They were led silently to a small room, with mirrored walls and with three chairs and a small table.

And there they were left to await whoever had requested their presence.

[member="Uri Aureleos"] | [member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

 

[Uri Aureleos]

Uri continued following as the force guided his every movement. His mind fell into a light meditative trance and a form of moving meditation as he surrounded himself in the force. He found himself glad that his master had that meditation class. He quick turned the training saber off as they exited hyper. Delayed by taking off the silk blind, he finally made his way to the cock pit looking out the front window to the space station in view. He had never sat foot on one of those before. He secretly hoped it was nothing like ships but he expected that it would be. He waited patiently as they landed the followed quickly behind his master as the two men lead them through the space station. His mind raced with possibilities as he looked their escorts over.

Entering the small room, he glance around as his refection. It gave him a eerie feeling as he simply stood their. his eyes then bounced to the table and chairs. Was one chair for him? To tell the truth, he didn't much want it. He felt better standing. Easier to act and react should he need to. With surveying the surroundings complete, he clasped his hands in front of him and stood at attention.

[member="Corvus Raaf"] [member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

Sometimes--despite her faith in Grandmaster Raaf so far accrued--Geneviève felt like the Jedi Order did far more taking than it did serving. Well, that could change sometime soon enough.

Truly, Gen did not feel comfortable gallivanting around and touring space stations like this. To be out here on such journeys posed to bring much vulnerability to the leader of the Republic itself. Then again, she supposed unpredictability was her friend--as it had been in her time with the Rebellion. She had acquired a taste for the utmost of security. And while it was somewhat of a risky chore to be floating out here instead of in the well-defended confines of the Senate Building on Onderon, there were also matters of security to the Republic as a whole that dictated a little less reliance on holocalls might be best. Besides, this was not going to be an incredibly common occurrence.

Here she came in that black coat of hers (No hat today.), well-known to friends of her past but not exactly a normal wardrobe choice for her over the last five years or so. Stepping down the ramp of a modified CR90 vessel, a squad of Senatorial Guards fanned out and provided the 'protection' the Prime Minister would need from the soldiers who were sworn to protect this Republic she led. It was all for show, really. The moment she had stepped aboard this station, she was either safe or she was not. Paranoid as she may be, she trusted the forces stationed here enough to feel like she was in no danger.

Momentarily, Lasedri was introduced to a rather private room, not especially furnished but with decent provisions as it was. Not that anything necessarily fancy was required. Immediately upon entry, she felt a soul that she was learning to become familiar with. And, in that instant, she shut down everything leashing her to this Force connection. There was someone else in the room, as well.

"Master Raaf," the politician greeted, glancing to the Jedi leader's side. "And who is your company today?" She had almost expected Master Karr. As if she knew any other Jedi yet.

[member="Corvus Raaf"], [member="Uri Aureleos"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus was not surprised when the Prime Minister entered the room. That shock had come when she sensed her approaching presence. There was something about the Master-Padawan or even just Master-learner process that heightened awareness between the two.

So she bowed formally as the head of the Republic Senate entered the room. "Greetings. This is Padawan Aureleos. He's a great prospect for the Order and I'm glad to have him along for this mission...whatever it is." A smile played on her lips. She was not used to being kept in the dark whereas the woman facing her was no doubt accustomed to holding all of the information.

"How may we serve the Republic?"

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"] | [member="Uri Aureleos"]

 

[Uri Aureleos]

His eyes examined the other woman. She knew Master Corvus but she didn't give her own name. Her clothing didn't stand out to Uri but it did seem odd. He assumed she would be wearing something more elaborate. She didn't appear to be high class, but he assumed as a senator she had to be.

This wasn't an every day occurrence for Uri. Thinking back he wasn't sure if he had even met a senator before. In his defense he didn't leave Ossus too often when he was younger. He found himself away from it more and more here recently however. His mind never even thought about her being the prime minister. He knew the prime minister was a woman. He just didn't follow politics enough to know what she looked like. Still Uri had no plans to be disrespectful despite rumors he heard about politicians being dishonest.

He watched his master as she introduced him then calmly turned his attention back to the senator, "it's an honor to meet you."

[member="Corvus Raaf"] [member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

She walked about the table and took her seat, noting the odd lighting beamed on the Grandmaster's student. On closer inspection, however, it seemed like the Aureleos kid was supposed to look like that. No matter, though. People of all colors came from all corners of this stellar pinwheel. "An honor to meet you, too, Padawan." Formalities. They could be irritating.

"Being of the Jedi Order and not technically affiliated with the Defense Forces, I am obligated to open with saying that you are not required to take on this mission until I reveal the information. So you have time to walk out this door before you are our slaves." A gentle smirk became evident on Lasedri's lips. She almost immediately proceeded without waiting for a true response from the Jedi duo.

"Republic Intelligence had made contact with an admiral in the One Sith Navy--an Admiral von Trapp--who had intention to defect to our side and assist us in this war. Everything checked out. Transition went almost smoothly." She flipped on her datapad and pulled out some details for the Jedi to gloss over. Having not entered the double-secure passcodes, there were still several lines in the briefing document that were invisible. "Things went wrong while smuggling him to Eshan. Seems like some of our 'trusted' freighter crews got an offer they couldn't refuse and took a rather lengthy detour to Nal Hutta instead.

"Von Trapp is currently in holding somewhere within Gogurt the Hutt's district of the world, probably about to be auctioned off to the Sith or whoever has a large pile of money and some nasty deeds needing to be done. Our friends with the Rebel Alliance has reported that he was not located in the slave communes, so there's one place you won't have to look." She scrolled down to a map portion and tapped on it, activating a holoprojection of Gogurt's domain. "The district's pretty small. It shouldn't take any time at all to find von Trapp. Trouble is--naturally--getting him out safely. And getting him back to us this time."

Gen pulled back her datapad and sat up straight, eying both of the 'Guardians of the Republic'. "Thoughts?"

[member="Corvus Raaf"], [member="Uri Aureleos"]