Travelers on an Astral Plane

[Sebastian Thel]

​

Alone and on the fringes of the galaxy, Sebastian wandered a desolate station in search of a pilot. The drone of equipment drowned out the dying beep of terminals, disrupted only by the pad of his boots as he followed an empty corridor to a cantina with no patrons. An open window revealed the hangar bay, where a ship occasionally docked.

Upon seeing him walk into the cantina, a Twi'lek woman with deep blue skin gasped as she looked up. With a slight smile, Sebastian waved and looked around for any pilots who could transport him to his next assignment. Since leaving home, he had struggled to find work and was sick of being picked out of the civilian populace as an operative for the Sith.

"Can I have a glass of water, please?" Sebastian asked the woman as he walked towards the bar. She nodded eagerly, before scampering to a music player, which she turned on at a low volume and allowed the soft hum of jazz music to fill the air.

As Sebastian sat down, the barmaid returned and poured him a tall glass of water. He wore a plain, grey T-shirt beneath loose trousers with strapped to bracers over his shoulders. Sipping the glass of water, he looked out at the viewport to see a ship docking. A tall, strong looking captain strode down the landing ramp and into the station.

The man soon arrived around the corridor at the cantina and Sebastian's soft, brown eyes met his gaze as he stood beneath the door frame. At first, Sebastian found it difficult to open his mouth, gasping at the air slightly as the man approached and trying to find the right words to say.

"If you have a ship..." Was the first thing he said as the man sat at the bar. "I can offer work as a navigator." Perhaps the man was seeking the same objective, which would tell Sebastian just what he was doing so far away from any populated world.

[member="Jake Awaud"]

 

[Jake Awaud]

A Excalibur-Class Corvette docked at the rest station in the outer reaches of space. Jake was given a large amount of freedom from his brother and the Mandalorian Empire, and as such he could do whatever he needed between the calls to war. The Mandalorian was out of his armor and in his flight suite with a Bomber Jacket covering his plated jump suite that was an underlying bodysuit for the Mandalorian Armor Plating.

He stepped off his Corvette ramp and moved on to the cantina, "Afternoon Tar'ti, how are the kids?"

The Twi'lek who was serving turned to him and walked by, "You know I am still single Jake, and I am still not interested." Jake could only turn to follow her as she walked by, his eyes not staying level with the back of her head, but falling southward. "Eyes forward soldier."

He chuckled as she caught him yet again, "Why do you think all I want is your fine-" He was interrupted by the out burst of [member="Sebastian Thel"], he sent a smile to the female bartender, "I'll take the same as always," At that point she sent he a gesture that was not appropriate for children. Good thing there were not present as Jake smiled and turned to the man who requested to be his navigator. "I am Hyperlane Explorer for the Unknown Region, you think you can navigate that hell hole?"

 

[Sebastian Thel]

The well-built young man addressed the barmaid by her real name, who appeared to know him when she addressed him back. Wincing in disgust as he watched Jake flirt, Sebastian sipped his glass of water and leaned on the counter, waiting for them to finish their exchange before he spoke.

"Mister, that was very rude." Sebastian spoke up abruptly before Jake could finish his sentence about Tar'ti's backside. "I don't think that's going to make her like you." In a matter-of-fact tone, Sebastian stated the obvious as he tilted his head to one side, observing the conversation in a state of confusion.

"Don't you worry about me, cutie." The Twi'lek shot a wink to Sebastian, which caused him to crease his brow in thought. He had only said what he thought made sense, not out of concern.

"My calculations always serve me well." He nodded in confirmation to Jake. "I believe I can serve you well, too." He said as his mind began to wander to the far reaches of wild space, where there was an uncharted route he had been required to map out. Tar'ti filled a glass of alcohol for Jake, before offering a smile to Sebastian, who recoiled slightly when they made eye contact.

"There's a hyperspace lane which had yet to be mapped out, I'm expecting to find many undiscovered planets." Tapping his fingers on the top of the bar, Sebastian knew a warrior could come in handy should they encounter danger. "Who knows who may have found them first." He concluded with a sip of his glass of water.

[member="Jake Awaud"]

 

[Jake Awaud]

Jake seemed interested in the man, he seemed to know the understandings of Hyperspace Travel and the difficulties of the Unknown Region. He could only assume this man, [member="Sebastian Thel"], could come in handy.

As he spoke about the women not liking him and Tar'ti speaking of a no need to worry, it was true, "Sorry about that, its just how we greet each other, this place is a pretty remote station due to its proximity to the Unknown Region, no good trade coming out of there at the moment."

It was true, the Unknown Region was located between the First Order and the Sith Empire, if one wanted to get to the resource rich planets, they would have to deal with smugglers. There were also the raiders and pirates and gangs that were kicked out of the Hutt Territories by the Cabal and the Republic Remnant. It was pretty much the wild west of the known galaxy for those that wished to wonder its uncharted spaces and categorized space anomalies.

"Well the Unknown Region is not as uncharted as some believe," He winked at Tar'ti as she dropped off a Starshine Sunprise, she just punched him lightly in the arm and looked to the young man before him, "There are a total of three known charted Hyper Ways in and out of the Unknown Region, there is the Blood Trail, navigated and mapped by the famed explorer [member="Mara Merrill-Valkner"], greatest explore in near history in my opinion," Jake got lost in booze as he took a swig of his Starshine, "Then theres the Jaster Trade Spine, created by the UTC for trade routes through the Core Worlds, and finally the Rausgeber Stretch created by the First Order to open a second trade lane with the Sith Empire."

He took another swig of his drink as he look for a more defined answer to how the man can help him, "However, I am searching between the lanes, rare resources, interstellar objects of value, and maybe even some trouble here and there." A sharp grin etched the side of Jake's Mouth as he brought the drink up to his mouth again.

 

[Sebastian Thel]

When Jake reassured Sebastian that the exchange between Tar'ti and himself had only been banter, the mathematician tilted his head in curiosity, somewhat confused by the usual manner between which people interacted. With a smile and a shrug, he dismissed the explanation and instead focused on the topic of the hyperspace route.

As Jake explained the various routes making up the Unknown Regions, Sebastian was beginning to tell that Jake knew he had not been outside of his home planet very long. Armed with his mathematical capacity, he was simply a spacer fleeing the Empire and offered his skills in any way he could, from navigating to engineering. He had to hand it to Jake, the warrior knew what he was talking about.

"Alright, so you want to keep off the lanes and chart a new route?" Cupping his chin in thought, Sebastian sipped his glass of water as Tar'ti offered him a wink, one which he did not return. He procured a notebook from his pocket and a pen which had been strapped to his bracer, then splayed the notebook on the table and began to take estimations.

"I can navigate between the lanes and repair the ship if need be, while you pilot and fight off any enemies." Sebastian spoke as he calculated figures, taking rough measures and estimating the longitude and latitude of the course he would take with Jake. He had heard of Mara Merrill-Valkner and had worked against her during his time with the Empire. However, times had changed for the mathematician who had taken to the life of a space explorer.

[member="Jake Awaud"]

 

[Jake Awaud]

The kid seemed to be a little odd, [member="Sebastian Thel"] was eyes glued to the notebook before him and continued to make calculations. Jake was a skilled Astrological Machination, along with a limited understanding of Astrophysics and Rocket Science. However, what this kid was writing was something he could not keep up with. It impressed him.

"Well I don't mean to stay off the main Hyperlanes for too long," He stood up and began to walk towards his ship, lowered his voice, "However, I raided a Pirates Asteroid Base last week, and in their armory they had and found a weird Crystal, one I had never seen before," He left a few credits too much on the bar table and reached into his pack, "Unfortunately, Galactic Authorities raided the smuggler I was using to get it back to Commenor, and so its lost, but," He pulled out a data-tablet, "I salvaged their navigational sensor data terminal and got several coordinates, all of which lead back to the Void."

He tapped on the tablet and laid it flat in his hand, "The Void is a massive amount of space, located between Rakatta, Asani, Ashera, Netaleon, and Mindabaal, the place is pretty hard to navigate and there are no HoloNet Relays out there so no calling for help, but the richest can be unbelievable."

 

[Sebastian Thel]

Looking up from his notes, Sebastian caught a glimpse of a raised eyebrow as Jake looked up and down, clearly thinking that he was strange in his actions and the way he spoke. All of which were entirely true. Swallowing a gulp, he shook his head as he tried to push away the habit of making calculations in order to plan ahead, focusing instead on practical tactics.

"Okay, I get you." Nodding in confirmation in response to Jake's wish to avoid staying off the main hyperlanes, Sebastian slid his notebook back into his pocket and attached the pen to his bracer. He repeated Jake's actions and rose to his feet, walking down past the counter of the bar and placing a credit chit before Tar'ti, who smiled as they left.

"So you're after that crystal, huh?" There were few words from the small engineer as he walked beside Jake, who explained the details behind the crystal he had found in the pirate base. "Well let me take a look at the coordinates when we get to the ship." They walked around the corridor and entered the hangar bay, where Jake's ship was docked.

Space loomed beyond the energy shield above the only docked ship in the hangar and Sebastian welcomed the familiar smell of metal. Pausing for a moment to take a look at Jake's ship, he walked forward with the pilot, who lead him up the ramp and onto the bridge, where the navcomputer was waiting. Looking around at all the different terminals, he remained standing while he waited for Jake to offer for him to sit down.

While Sebastian was confident in his calculations when navigating through the Void, he could not suppress his unease. Way out of his comfort zone with a person he did not know, he only hoped his skill paid off in the end and did not lose him an ally.

[member="Jake Awaud"]