Wanted to Sail Upon your Waters, Since I was three feet tall (Levantine Dominion of Arda)

[Coren Starchaser]

While there are many influential members of the Levantine Sanctum who have called Arda home over the years, the Rapture has caused many planets for many galactic nations to fall to the way side. How this event had affected the primitive people on the tropical world, only time would tell. They were a people who were more concerned with the motion of the ocean than the galactic events. Located off to the side of the aquatic world of Mon Calamari, it was easy to miss Arda with her much more charismatic neighbor.

Looking through the records would indicate that the world had a lot to offer, from the scientific to the archaeological to the anthropologic. The world was also one that held much history for the Levantine Sanctum, and while the nation had been absent, it was time to repair that rift. Entering the world, for many areas it is the season of Calabed, the hurricanes were coming. And what did that mean? Many of the tribespeople were working to help prepare their homes and boats for the coming storms.

On top of that, pirates and mercenaries have been visiting the world, causing distrust and interrupting the natural order of the world. That was going to cause some issues for the Levantine’s expansionary force that were coming out to help pull the world back into their protection. All was not as peaceful as the turquoise waters would suggest.


Objectives after the jump

Spoiler

Objective A: Welcome to Arda. Clearly this world is a tropical paradise, and full of natural resources. You and your team are part of the Levantine Frontiers Corps and are working to catalogue the planet. There are many resources yet undiscovered as the world has been lost during the events of the Rapture, and our data may be inconclusive. We are looking for anything of value on a scientific or production-capable basis.

Objective B: While the Levantine’s have visited the planet in the past, and at least a pair of us live on-world, several other groups, pirates, smugglers and mercenaries, have also shown up. The rise of a new chieftain, in an effort to protect their people, has warned the tribes to fear outsiders, causing a rift between the Sanctum and the people of Arda. They are unsure of the Levantine’s purpose here and are set to do their best to scare us from the world. We need to show them that we mean no harm. Work with your team to establish a rapport with the local chieftains.

Objective C: A recent pirate patrol has found its way to Arda. With them comes a lot of unsavory beings, lazy and technologically advanced. They are working to subjugate a tribe of by controlling the Sendan. How are they doing this? Making fishing easier for the mighty group. And how is this being accomplished. They are explaining the finer points of thermal detonator and cyanide fishing. We need to keep the pirates away while preserving the ecosystem and reinforcing sustainable practices.

Objective D: Because everyone has their own ideas, we’re going to a tropical paradise. Try to take only pictures, leave only footprints. Do what you can to secure perhaps an orbital listening station around the world, learn their culture, expand on the world’s lore. We’re the Levantine Sanctum, this is what we do.

***

Objective: A - Explore
Location: Landing on the water
1/20

Coren Starchaser, a member of the Levantine Sanctum and an instructor in exploration classes for the Sanctum’s Astronautical Academy, was aboard the Scout, one of Silk’s newest Forerunner class vessels. Inside her were two of the Niathal-class shuttles, all primed for water usage and exploration. Coren was here with the Frontiers Corp. The vessel herself, Scout would help the team with computing data that they found and sent back up to orbit.

But for now? Coren was piloting one of the pair of shuttles with Frontiers Corp hopefuls from the LAA. And that meant he was having to teach.

He really preferred field trip lectures to the class room.

 

[Rosa Gunn]

Objective C: Preserve Arda's way of life.
Location: A village somewhere on the beach.
1/20

His sun bleached dreadlocks were pulled into a loose ponytail at the base of his neck, tanned muscles rippled as he spoke quickly with frantic gestures. Dark eyes blazing with anger as he stood almost nose to nose with the outlander, bellowing. From her distance, Rosa could not determine what was being said, only that the Sendan was not happy. She moved away from the cluster of children she'd been speaking with and moved to stand next to Nante an elder sendan she still rippled with muscle beneath leathered skin. Her old friend placed a hand upon her heart and bowed her head, Rosa returned the gesture.

"Whats happening?" she asked softly.

"The outlander brings something to upset the seas. We elders say he'll bring Calabed early, that he'll upset the circle. The young? The young are foolish and lazy." she turned dark eyes to Rosa, almost disapproving. "Your fault." rosa took no offence at the remark, for it was matter of fact. As the Sanctum had expanded, word had reached the edges of the galaxy of a 'free space' thus inviting a whole host of problems with it. Pirates being prime among them. Pirates could bring many things, sometimes they were useful, but as the younger generations heard their tales a change began to shift in where they wanted to go and what they wanted to do. Ardan could no longer contain them, but nor did it have the technology to let them fly.

"I know, Nante." she sighed softly before moving down the beach towards the argument and tugged her comm from her belt sending out a blanket alert, warning any other levantines in the area of a potential problem. attaching it back to her belt she drew up as Anish, the dreadlocked sendan pulled a knife from his belt. "Ay!" Rosa shouted, jumping between him and the pirate. She place a hand on his chest, violet eyes flashing a warning before turning her gaze on the 'outlander'. Rosa knew a pirate well enough when she saw one, he idly fingered the blaster on his hip with one hand, a smirk hanging too easy on his lips as he threw and caught a thermal detonator repeatedly in the other.

"You should leave." she warned him. He grinned openly in response.

"You ain't from here, got that look about you that says so. I've got business to do."

"Your business is not welcome."

"Why? Because he says so?" he'd pulled the blaster from his holster and used it to point at Anish who stood at least a head taller than Rosa. "He ain't the only one here. There are others who wanna trade." There was a ripple of fear behind her. Ardan's did not have blasters, but they were well aware of the damage they caused. No thanks to the Sanctum.

"Yes," Rosa said sharply, placing herself very firmly in the line of fire. "And because I say so." His grin widened and he fingered the trigger. "Try it." she hissed at him. "Try it, I dare you."

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

Objective: A - Explore
Location: Shuttle to the beach
Allies: [member="Coren Starchaser"]
Posts: 1/20

As soon as Setzi landed and climbed down the ramp of the shuttle, she was lathered in a warm breeze coming off of a crystal-blue lagoon on the planet of Arda. If paradise exists, it has to be here, the brunette padawan thought.

Everything about her newest order, the Levantine Sanctum was an antithesis to the strict and monastic day-to-day rigor of the Jedi Order. Not to mention that she was stationed primarily on Arkania with Jedi Master Varus Shatterstar, and the Praxeum in which they studied was cold and drafty, the landscape, frigid and snowy.

Since the temperature was warm, Setzi Lunelle took the opportunity to wear something else besides her thick woolen padawan robes and today dressed in something light and flowing:

Spoiler

A large-brimmed hat would protect her fair skin from the sun, although she hoped to have a rosy glow when the day was over.
She was supposed to take a jetski over to a water shuttle to meet up with a Levantine Sanctum instructor, whom she had never met, to do some marine exploration. Setzi signed up because she thought she could be helpful, having grown up on a nuna and maze-stalk farm. She knew a bit about agriculture, but perhaps the sea was something else altogether. Time would only tell.

She checked her chrono and noticed that she was early. I never get to do things like this, she thought, eyeing that beautiful, clear water. She set her satchel down and stripped down to her bathing suit. Who wouldn’t be able to resist a swim right now on this stunning white-sanded beach? Setzi tossed her hat like a frisbee and jogged to the water, diving right in.

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

Post 1 of 20
Objective: B - Diplomatic relations and history lessons with the local Orthan
Location: Subtropical atoll

Spoiler: Post Theme

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3ii-Df1Hs8[/youtube]​

The young Anzat's feet plied into the soft, warm sand.

The boy's hands weaved through the air, passing back and forth in a rhythm with the music resonating from out of hand-carved instruments. Moving in time with the motion of the other younglings, the small Jedi was demonstrating a local custom known as ha'ula.

Oddly enough, this was exactly the reason why the Jedi Archaeologist was here. To learn the culture, the history, the folklore.

...plus, there were no Sith ruins, Sith temples, Sith ghosts, Sith undead, or Sith chit to be found within at least twelve parsecs of here!

That was a totally HUGE improvement over the last planet he'd visited with the Frontier Corps.

Ha'ula was a dance commemorating the victory of Je'uli over the o'ka'kali -- which was just a word that meant the aggressor. Just who Te'uli had been, or who they had been fighting, or why, was as much myth as it was history. If it was history at all. The dance, and the legend which followed it, was the product of an oral tradition. The Je'uli tribe, like most of Arda, wrote down precious little. In fact, nothing inscribed in bone or stone recorded anything about Je'uli or the ha'ula dance.

Maybe it was history, maybe it was just myth. But it had become the culture of Je'uli tribe. As a Jedi Researcher dedicated to the civilizations of the Outer Rim, everything about the Je'uli fascinated him. Especially the myths. Yesterday's tribulations became the stories told around the fire to thrill younglings and inspire the warriors.

Off shore, the old Corellian YT freighter was parked amid the dunes. A young clone trooper, still clad in the blue-on-blue uniform of Kamino clones, was fishing from off the cockpit section of the craft, which extended out from the shore. The Alderaan Queen's other relic from the Clone Wars, the 2-1B surgical droid, was oddly decorated in a floral and krakana tooth lai around its squat neck. While Sor-Jan was soaking up the local culture, and 3X744 was guarding the ship, OneBee was working with the local witchdoctor about remedies and treatments for local ailments.

For himself, the five decade old veteran of foreign wars looked absolutely nothing like a Jedi knight. There were no robes, no tunics, and no lightsaber. Barefoot and bare chested, the tow-headed Corellian instead wore a pair of shorts that had been woven of flax from local plants.

The Je'uli had been skeptical of visitors, and even more so at the proposal of a visit by a Jedi of the Levantine Sanctum.

When what they got was a boy barely over a meter tall, that skepticism had turned to confusion.

Which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't all that bad of a place to start a new dialog.

 

[Kaili Talith]

Objective: A - LAA 4lyf (until older)
Location: Also landing on water
Mentions: [member="Coren Starchaser"]
[ 1/20 ]

With her papers signed and the utmost best of spirits brought there was no longer anything there to prevent Kaili from learning something with the Astronautical Academy. To say that she had been looking forward to this would have been an understatement. She had been so excited that the idea of putting her on sedatives had in all seriousness nearly been brought to the table. It must have come as a relief to her mother, [member="Kira Talith"], to finally be able to send her youngest daughter away on a trip and be rid of the the constant nag that Kaili had been providing since day one of finding out there would be a field trip.

“Here and ready.” Said the kid as she began patting herself down. “I am not, like, missing out on anything when it comes to the uniform, right?”

It was her first time and one could hardly blame her for being nervous. As she patted down she couldn't help praising the force that she wasn't in the jedi robes she had worn during her visit to Yavin. The impractical and wavy pieces of cloth that, unlike the sleek and at least comfortable design of the LAA Uniform, was not comfortable.

“I am not missing out on anything with the uniform.” Kaili said with a sigh of relief. “Good.”

Or maybe it was just simply because putting on the LAA uniform meant she was about to learn something that she couldn’t learn at home.

That could also have been it.

 

[Arage Bao]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Objective: A - Explore[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Location: Passenger-seat[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Allies: [member="Coren Starchaser"][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.6666666666667px][01/20][/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“So, is this where my money is going, Starchaser?” Khal would smirk, while strapping himself in for one hell of a ride.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Coren and Khal hadn’t had some quality in a while now, mostly busy in their own little fields. But the man was Exchange and that meant he was family, you always make time for family here and there. For the past years Coren had been exploring the Unknown Regions and other… regions of space, most of which was under his business as an explorer…[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]But there was always more to it than that.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Since before the Netherworld they had established a working relationship, Coren would get a good paycheck for his costs, Khal would get any relevant data that was necessary for his expansions. The man would support the Exchange et cetera.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]You know the drill.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Things change though, and the Exchange had been assimilated into something new.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Something [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]bigger.[/SIZE]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Location: Niathal Shuttle, making a water landing because Mon Cal Shuttles can do that
Allies: LAA NPCs, Levantine Frontiers Corp Wannabees, ‘business’ partners [member="Khaleel Malvern"], [member="Kaili Talith"], [member="Setzi Lunelle"]
Objective: A, Diving, underwater exploration, making sure he doesn’t lose a student
2/20

See? He checked for the permission slips of any LAA students under the legal adult age within the Levantine Sanctum borders, he was assuming that was 18, but really, he could be wrong. Actually, anyone under 21 was having to provide him with the knowledge that, yes, they were a legal adult in their society and could do what they want. For kids off Borealis? Well, he was going to be checking their slips. He didn’t know their parents, but he knew of them, and well, he was afraid of the female.

Additionally, he had made an announcement before they even left Scout that the planet was a waterworld, and anyone in his exploration class wasn’t going to be focusing on first contact, they were going to be learning a new skill. Coren was the one who taught a lot of the shuttle lessons, and some of the space walks for the Vac-Suit certs. On top of that? Water. Self-contained and rebreather systems. He was using the latter, but most of the newbies? They’d used the former, airtanks that were densely packed with very clean air.

Hopefully everyone brought wet suits, or at least swim suits. He didn’t think the water was too cold on Arda. And the shuttle he was on, what was her name anyhow… Diver One, really? They weren’t very creating at the Frontiers HQ with their ship names, was broadcasting locations to any of the Levantines who were looking to do some exploring and science research. He figured some of the Frontiers Corp were out doing their own thing, making peace treaties, teaching the yokels how to fish and prep for the hurricane season.

It wasn’t that Coren was in charge here, only of the small group with him, but he was a former Wing XO, he was used to being in charge. And he knew what the feth he was doing, most of the time.

Bringing the shuttle about, he looked at Khaleel. “Trust me, mate. A venture like this, get the right people doin’ the right stuff? You can make a base of operations just about anywhere. And going beyond what most people do? What science teams do? You can find some pretty out of the way places for a store room.” Was this out of character, for Coren Starchaser, Scourge against the One Sith and explorer of the Unknown? Not really, he had a life before he joined the Imperial service, smuggling and running spice and guns.

Warden of the Sky before he even knew what they were.

“Hold on a sec,” He said as he clicked on the intercom for the ship. “We’ll be entering atmosphere in a few minutes, it’ll be bumpy. Once we get in, we’ll stop shaking, I’m going to land us out in one of the larger oceans, not too far from shore, but if you need to do anything before we get to splash down, nows the time. Worry about your wetsuits when we make touch down, we’ll see the water temp.” See? Simple. The class he had here were newbies to the idea of exploration, newbies to the idea of the Frontiers Corp, but he had made sure that the course description detailed that it would be useful for anyone from science minded folk to salvagers, to miners and just a skill for recreation.

He looked back. “But, I mean, you get the right people with the right skills? Treasures underwater are more than just shipwrecks.”

Not that he’d ever volunteer his students or the Levantine Frontiers Corp newbies, but if they went after work like that after they got their certifications? He’d not tell them not to do it. Just to be careful. Khal was a criminal, but he had… morals?

They would hit the atmosphere and would make a clam splash down not too long after that. Then it would be time to get to work. For now? Coren adjusted the flight path. Touch down in what? Five minutes? Maybe.

 

[Micah tol Powl]

Post 2 of 20 (shared with [member="Sor-Jan Xantha"])
Objective: D - LAA Student Working on Rescue Diver Certification
Mentions: [member="Coren Starchaser"], @LAA Students/Faculty
Location: Scyaela

Spoiler: Post Theme

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDMYDC2jjKM[/youtube]​

Scyaela was one of two major population concentrations on the planet.

Even with the primitive nature of the world, a city this size had all the problems of a modern beach front city. That being, keeping people safe on the water.

Water, while having its own risks, was a good training ground for zero gravity and vacuum suit divers working on certification in 'rescue diving'. While the perils and extremes of temperature found in space were not present, pressure and tidal influences created different-yet-similar situations that made for an apt training opportunity.

So, the Pantoran had exchanged the trappings of his green-trimmed Levantine Academy suit for the uniform of a lifeguard. A pair of red board shorts cut a sharp contrast against the pale blue skin. The sunlight made the boy's hair look a vibrant shade of violet, even as the 'sun ray' markings on either side of his face glowed.

The instructor along for the trip to this world had wanted a permission slip in order for him to be here. Being that the azure youth was an orphan, the Pantoran could have forged a signature of just about anybody on the document... but his conscience had gotten the better of him. The light of Nogras was without deception, after all. So, instead what he'd turned in had been a slip signed by the Host Lord of the Primeval. Which, for some reason, several administrators in the Levantine Academy hadn't even wanted to touch something with the autograph of [member="Anja Aj'Rou"] on it.

Strange.

Kneeling down beside a lifeguard stand erected in the shadow of a beach tree, the Coruscant-born youth worked at cleaning an A99 rebreather. The unit was part of the lesson, along with dive tables of depth, pressure, nitrogen absorption rates, and metrics for calculating bottom times. In many ways, it was a science as old as anything 'technological' on this world.

But it was going to be on a test, which meant that he had to care about it. At least until the test was over.

Looking out over the stretch of beach where he was working with the lifeguards, the boy had absolutely no weapons on him. No lightsaber. No blaster. Not even the shiv he usually kept tucked away in his boot. Just the reverie chain around his neck and the shorts around his trunk.

He felt completely naked without a weapon.

...on the plus side, it felt kinda nice that he was here to try and save people. Usually, he was sent to have an opposite effect on people. Which, saving lives seemed as though it might be more work.

But if he could do it and get a good grade on his rescue diver certification, then why the feth not?

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

Objective: A - Explore
Location: Jetski to Diver One
Allies: [member="Coren Starchaser"] [member="Khaleel Malvern"] [member="Kaili Talith"]
Post: 2/20

As Setzi floated along on the water, her thoughts were as calm as the glass-like sea. Every now and then a school of small colored fish would swim by her, but otherwise she didn’t see anything to make her think it wasn’t safe to swim here. She checked her chrono again, and oh rot, now she had lost track of the time and was going to be late.

Effortlessly, she swam back to shore, but there was no time to dry off. She put her wet clothes on right over her bathing suit and walked fast up the beach to where she a jetski was waiting for her. Setzi tucked her hat and shoes into her satchel so neither of them would get wet. Paying the attendant with a credit chit, he quickly showed her the controls, programmed her GPS to the Levantine Sanctum shuttle touch-down location and she was off.

It took a couple minutes to get used to the jetski, but eventually she was leaning in and enjoying the sensation of the wind as it buffeted her face and whipped through her hair. She saw porpoises riding and jumping beside her, but there was no time to sight-see. She could see the waterborne shuttle directly ahead as it just touched down onto the water.

Hailing the ship first to be on the safe side, Setzi pulled up alongside and climbed up onto a boarding ramp, her wet clothing still clinging to her. One of the LAA students, a young boy about twelve or thirteen shouted, “Welcome to Diver One!” Oh how exciting to be that young and exuberant again, she thought. Of course the padawan was twenty-five which was not old by any stretch of the imagination, but she had responsibilities now. She had her sister to keep an eye on. The slim brunette had serious Jedi Order training to do.

“Race you to the bridge?” dared the student. She gave him a mischievous look and pushed him aside, running up the stairs to presumably where the rest of the crew where. It probably wasn’t a good idea for either of them to be racing on a shuttle with wet, bare feet, but Setzi couldn’t resist a dare.

 

[Anija Betna]

Location: unnamed peninsula home to the Sendan
Allies: [member="Mia Monroe"] | @LAA Students and Faculty
Objective: C - Pirates!
Post: 1/20

Well, if there was one place in the universe Anija would have picked for a vacation spot, Arda would be it. The world was breathtaking. This was the first time Anija had visited, and with the LAA, no less. She was along as a quasi-chaperone for the field trip for the LAA Cadets... though she'd found herself more interested in another area of the planet. The Sendan. a sub-culture of the people of Arda, these people fished for their tribes... and sometimes at great risk.

if she had time, she hoped to learn some of their techniques. While the Mandalorians didn't really depend on fishing or other such means of gathering food, it never hurt to have the skill should the need arise. But what concerned her more were the reports of the pirates which had strong-armed their way into the Sendan settlements and pretty much taken over. And not in a way that was beneficial to the Sendan or to the planet's ecosystem.

And that... was why she was here. To serve the pirates their eviction notice. Sure, the Sendan might view her much like the pirates whose thumb they were currently under. But she was more worried about the end result. She knew well what could happen when one's way of life was threatened like this. And she was determined to stop it.

 

[Kaili Talith]

Location: Niathal Shuttle with Coren and Khaleel
Objective: (D)iving!
Mentions: [member="Khaleel Malvern"], [member="Coren Starchaser"], [member="Boo Chiyo"]
Post: 2/20

The girl admired the insides of the ship for as long as she could. Had she been older perhaps she would have owned a ship like this but for the moment that didn’t seem like something that would just happen. No, Aela had to wait until she was sixteen for her own ship. Kaili was two years away from the Age of Potential Disappointments.

Irregardless she carried herself around everything and nearly touched just about all that she saw. Obviously she didn’t, but the girl would if it had been her own ship. For now she simply settled on keeping her jaw just slightly hanging as she walked around the ship.

The intercom chimed up and Starchaser left his message not long before she passed his way.

“...-right skills? Treasures underwater are more than just shipwrecks.”

The girl perked up. Treasure? She wanted to give the man her fullest attention but considering that it would give away the that she was -- well, eavesdropping -- she decided not to. Instead she put her sneaky ways to use and snuck back to where she was supposed to be and took her seat.

Treasure? Don’t mind if she did.

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

Objective: A - Explore
Location: Diver One
Allies: [member="Coren Starchaser"] [member="Khaleel Malvern"] [member="Kaili Talith"]
Post: 3/20

Setzi could feel the boy tug at the back of her shirt to try and pull her back from winning their impromptu race to the bridge of the ship. She laughed when he lost his grip and nearly fell backwards, but with a quick hand, she grabbed him to make sure he didn’t completely fall and bump his head. It would not be a good first impression with the LAA instructor if she was somehow responsible for a pre-teen’s concussion before they even got started on the exploration.

“Almost there!” she yelled and the two of them ran past [member="Kaili Talith"]. The younger student finally started getting an edge on Setzi, but she could tell from the signs in the corridor that they were now close to the bridge. The boy quickly activated the door panel to the bridge and skidded in. Setzi was hot on his heels, but with her feet still wet, she skidded directly after him and fell flat on her face in the middle of the room.

Starchaster and Malvern would see them both now, the boy laughing and the embarrassed brunette padawan as she lay on the floor in clinging, wet clothing.

“I won,” he said in a teasing voice. “And also this is our instructor, Coren Starchaser. Coren, I found this girl on a jetski climbing aboard the ship.”

“No, no, it's not like that," she said, laughing. But her heart-shaped face was blushing from taking such a foolish tumble directly in front of the instructor and his co-pilot. “You make it sound like I’m a pirate. I'm no such thing," she said to the three of them as she rose up from the floor and sheepishly brushed herself off.

"You can call me Setzi."

 

[Micah tol Powl]

Post 3 of 20
Objective: D - LAA Student Working on Rescue Diver Certification
Allies: @LAA Students/Faculty, #TeamDarkSide
Location: Scyaela

300 meter swim before breakfast.

The young Pantoran startled the Ardans. He frightened them with the uncanny ability that the youth displayed. An eighty kilo dummy lifted over his shoulder, as the azure youth took off for a half mile trek across wet sand.

He didn't even weigh half that.

A palpable chill radiated from out of the boy. The Force flowed through him, channeled into limbs and muscles, as the blue tween moved with the preternatural grace of a predator. Feet digging into the ground, which gave under the burdensome weight. The sand shifted, testing his balance with the simulated victim over his shoulder, as the boy demonstrated what might be required to get an unconscious victim to paramedics further up shore.

Breaths came in ragged, harried. His heart was pounding up in his throat from the exertion. His legs fatigued, the calf muscles burning with each belabored step into the wet sand. His free hand came up to the crystal at the end of his Primeval reverie chain. A prayer to Nogras passing wordlessly from his lips, as he searched inward for the means to continue on.

The Dark Side of the Force was a connection forged through emotion. Gutter trash, growing up on the streets of Coruscant's red light district, fear and pain had been his constant companions. From out of the anger and anxiety, he found a power. The will and the word; the prayer was a rote spell of sorts -- strengthened his resolve, as he crossed the line in the sand and set his rescued dummy down for the next part of the test.

Practicals of cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid.

The weight removed from his shoulders, the boy had little time in which to enjoy the sudden sense of weightlessness. Sinking down to his knees, the youth let go a breath he'd not even been conscious of holding as he knelt over the dummy. And then placed his hands on the center of the chest as he began to demonstrate the cycle of chest compressions and rescue breaths for the exam that was being administered.

The instructor was standing three meters back, and continued to take another step away from the boy. The other students, slack-jawed, seemed horrified by the blue-skinned creature before them.

On a sun-lit beach, in the tropical equator, the aura radiating from off the youngling smelled of blood, and felt like nothing less than the frozen winds of Orto Plutonia.

 

[Arage Bao]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Objective: A - Explore[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Location: Passenger-seat[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Allies: [member="Coren Starchaser"] | [member="Kaili Talith"] | [member="Setzi Lunelle"][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.6666666666667px][02/20][/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Naw, I am fine.” Khal would reply back, he didn’t need a bathroom break and most of his stuff was already on board. The rest was irrelevant and could definitely wait for another time, but Coren had basically the right of it, it was why Khaleel had been doing [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]this[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] for a while now already.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Some might ask what had happened to the Red Dress, the Ravens’ capital stealth flagship, and they would never believe it.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Because Khal had dismantled it, sunk it and was currently using it as an deep ocean exploration slash mining slash storage base. It was a far better thing than to have a bunch of criminals run around in a capital ship, whoever had decided to do that?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Lunatic.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Yeah, I think I am catching your drift here. Remind me to tell ya the tale on how I sunk a capital ship and used it as an exploration base.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Khal had morals, but more importantly.. he had a good sense of… [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]sense[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]. Which was frankly more important in the world they were currently living in.[/SIZE]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Objective: A
Location: Diver 1, Cockpit
Allies: [member="Khaleel Malvern"], [member="Kaili Talith"], [member="Setzi Lunelle"]
3/20

See? The way he handled the Red Dress, that was all right here with how Coren was going to handle things with the LAA and the Frontiers Corp. He’d be able to help with the Exchange in his own way, by leaving the right bread crumbs for everyone to follow. It really was simple, when you looked at it that way. And Coren, well, he liked to take things from outside the box and make it work.

“That’s definitely a story I’ll need. But it sounds right at the pace I’m lookin’ to sell at ya.” He nodded, turning the ship off and getting up from the seat. He had permission slips to check, now.

When he turned around and came face to face with Setzi, he nodded. “Not a stowaway then?” Coren gave her one of those famous lopsided Corellian grins, the man wasn't too nervous. “Pirates are a serious offense on this world, darlin’.” He ran his hand through his hair, checking slips from a few of the other students, the young ones. The older ones were already helping the others get their gear on.

Sure, this was a maritime exercise, but it was helping with their classes, he promised. He looked right at the Talith kid and nodded. “Get yourself ready, getting’ wet today.” And then back to Setzi. “Setzi… Forcer, yeah? Looking to work for the Frontiers Corp?” He took a few more slips before walking over to one of the sets of gear. He preferred the tanks, though he’d bring his rebreather too.

“Alright everyone, when you’re ready, get in the water, no diving down yet, want to get you all accounted for, buddied up and then we’ll go on the trip.” Science and all.

But he was balancing two conversations right now, while letting Khal get himself prepped. Coren was multitasking, and maybe confusing everyone around him.

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

Post 4 of 20
Objective: B - Diplomatic relations and history lessons with the local Orthan
Location: Subtropical atoll

Spoiler: Post Theme

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cgovv8jWETM[/youtube]​

The sparks from the fire rose upward, as though ascending to become the stars in the sky.

The younglings sat in a circle around the fire pit, sitting in the sand as an old Ardan woman spoke in the ancient dialect of the Je'uli tribe. Knees drawn up to his chest, the young Anzat hugged his legs as he swayed side-to-side while listening to the silver-haired matriarch speak in melodic tones that were reminiscent of the Old Coruscanti language. A younger Orthan translated some of her words to the young audience, as the old woman strut and swayed slightly in a rhythm to the story that she told. Spindly, knotted fingers gesticulated up to the stars above. With sweeping gestures, the woman highlighted clusters of stars in the sky above, illuminating constellations with her words as she told the story behind them.

This was a story of a time long ago. A time of myth and legend, when the world was still young. The gods were petty and cruel, and plagued the Je'uli for their sport. Preying on their suffering and besieging them with terror.

The young clone of Jango Fett, forcibly removed of the uniform and wearing appropriately local attire, peeked up with interest beside the small Anzat. The copper-skinned youngling seemed entranced by the old woman's storytelling, his eyes enamored with the illustrative gestures. The woman's entire body seemed in motion with the tale, and even as he reached down to pick up his small datapad, the young Jedi was similarly distracted from his task of taking notes by the compelling narrative that the venerable storyteller wove with her words.

Only one man would stand against the wrath of the gods. His name was Ma'kalapa. Born from the sea, birthed by the spawning of the Su-enae -- when a great waterspout appeared to deposit the child on the beach. Ma'kalapa showed no fear of the gods, and grew to become a fierce warrior of the Je'uli.

It was strange, but as the Anzat turned his blue eyes up to the stars it wasn't the mythical Ma'kalapa that he imagined at all. It was a great warrior of the Jedi. A bearded Thisspiasian. Amber lightsabers blazed a golden light in two hands, while the other two arms of the serpentine Sentinel weaved abilities from the Force which had remained a mystery to his student even now. It was Niman at its most beautiful. Jar'kai with ultimate grace. Always changing, adapting, blending...

A clap of the woman's hand snapped the child-knight out of his brooding, returning him to the tale at hand as the matriarch spoke of lightning and summoned the thunder with the low whisper in which she now spoke.

Blessed by the Su-enae, Ma'kalapa's body was invincible. But the god's knew that his heart was unguarded. A beautiful flower, a maiden by the name of Ha'li, had captured the love of this great hero. Seeking to destroy the spirit of Ma'kalapa, the gods summoned forth the Su-enae to steal Ha'li and entomb her within the sea. In his anguish, Makalapa cursed the gods, and demanded that he be allowed to see Ha'li.

The undulating flames cast a harsh light across the old woman, sending dark shadows over the younglings clustered around as her audience. The Old Coruscanti dialect came from her broken lips like a song. The spellbinding effect wholly immersive as she artfully crafted the tale as she had been told it, and has been told before then.

The gods cast Makalapa to the sky, so that he could peer down on the waters where Ha'li waited for him. And, for a single season, the constellation would dip below the waters of the horizon, when Makalapa was allowed to visit with Ha'li in the waters below.

It was for that reason, the woman declared, that the rains came when the constellation dipped below the horizon. To celebrate tears of joy for the star-crossed lovers reunited.

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

Objective: A - Get ready to dive
Location: Diver One
Allies: [member="Coren Starchaser"] [member="Khaleel Malvern"] [member="Kaili Talith"]
Post: 4/20


Apparently clumsy padawans running around the Diver One, tripping and falling over one another was a common sight for Levantine Sanctum staff. Both men didn't seem to notice her presence at all which put Setzi immediately more at ease. The blonde man was bragging about some kind of heroic ship sinking, and Coren Starchaser, who at least acknowledged her with a smile, was distracted by permission slips from the younger students. She noticed the young blonde girl she had passed was now in the vicinity.

"Yes, I am looking for work, Mr. Starchaser," she said. "The Frontier Corps sounds very interesting, and I think I can bring my expertise with agriculture to your organization." The padawan wasn't an archeologist or a geologist but had grown up on a farm and in her youth that had given her a lot of exposure to the land, to animal births, to the ebbs and flows of nature.

She watched their instructor prepare all of them to go diving. “Are we to wear dive suits or is a regular swimsuit okay?” she asked. Truthfully she only had the latter, and if a dive suit was mandatory, she would have to borrow one.

 

[Kaili Talith]

Location: Coren’s ship
Objective: Sass it up.
Mentions: [member="Coren Starchaser"], [member="Setzi Lunelle"], [member="Khaleel Malvern"], [member="Boo Chiyo"]
Post: 3/20

“Yes, sir!” Was that the right thing to say? It felt like the wrong thing. “Wetsuits it is.”

Right, so, changing into a wetsuit. Kaili could do that. She looked around the room at the others. It was her, a blue kid, a grown woman who had chased a kid for some reason and the rest of the LAA students. That one weird stubble-face guy but he didn’t really feel all that much like he belonged. Must have been a personal friend of the captain, probably.


Kaili retrieved her suit and held it in front of her as the young woman, Setzi (apparently), asked about suits.

“What? Afraid of borrowing a suit?” Kaili grinned. “Afraid of guy germs? ... Girl germs, perhaps?”

Excited and sassy. Not the best of combos. Even less so when Kaili herself seemed to remain immovable and quite-much-so-not-in-her-wetsuit-herself.

“I am going to put mine on, I just... You know, want to take in the, uh, environments first. Yeah.”

Really, it was full of other people’s germs. Ew. Kaili stared at her suit with a big grimace to her.

 

[Micah tol Powl]

Post 5 of 20
Objective: D - LAA Student Working on Rescue Diver Certification
Allies: @LAA Students/Faculty
Location: Scyaela

A minute and forty to be the hero.

The water rushed in around his body, his world transformed into a cascade of a thousand bubbles as the young Pantoran dove into the pool. The sound of the splashdown and the resulting rush of trapped air escaping up to the surface echoed in his ears. Pulling his arms apart, the young assassin dug in as he forced himself further into the recesses of the confined water. A scissor kick propelled him downward, his light frame ghosting across the bottom, where the young monk could begin the search for his 'victim'.

It was known as the brick test.

A timed practical. Jump into the pool, locate the brick somewhere between two and three meters depth. Then recover the brick and, without using the ladder, get both the brick and yourself out of the pool in less than one hundred seconds.

The boy's hands brushed against the rough stone. Seizing hold of the dead weigh, the youth braced himself against the bottom of the pool. He felt his arms burn, as the brick came up with the motion of his legs pushing off.

Not difficult enough? Here's the curve ball: Both hands on the brick at all times.

Another scissor kick and the Pantoran's head was breaking the surface of the water a moment later. Bringing the brick up under his chin, the boy flipped onto his back so that the brick rested up on his chest. His knees were pulled in, heels tilted to face one another as he pushed out in a frog kick. As his mat of violet hair brushed against the edge of the boy, the youth's body dipped down into the water as he pushed up with the brick and twisted.

The weight came down on the edge of the pool. The boy's hands at last able to let go as they went flat on either side of where the brick lay. Another kick, as he pulled himself up and the boy propelled himself so that he was out of the water. Pivoting his waist, the boy shifted his momentum even as adjusted his weight -- springing up into a hand-stand as the nimble youth's legs stood straight up in the air for a moment. Dropping his legs, the boy allowed gravity to take over, neatly flipping himself back upright as he stood over the brick.

Eighty-three seconds.

 

[Arage Bao]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Objective: A - Explore[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Location: Passenger-seat[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Allies: [member="Coren Starchaser"] | [member="Kaili Talith"] | [member="Setzi Lunelle"][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.6666666666667px][03/20][/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Khaleel Malvern was not easily confused. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]When his brother from another mother decided to go and check up the necessary paperwork of the students that were tagging along for the mission Khal simply nodded and waved Coren away to do his job. Ain’t no Underlord that wouldn’t understand the simple necessity of keeping your ship clean-cut and clear.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Gotta make the clockwork tick well. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]The man lit up a cigarette while waiting, taking a good puff from it, before turning around and giving a friendly wave over to Setzi and Kaili. Seemed like good enough kids, though perhaps Setzi was a little bit too… [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]grown[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] to be considered a kid.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Pleasure, ladies.” he would add, before turning around and settling himself back in his seat. “Name’s Walker, ‘least around these parts.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Another puff, but in his mind his own clockwork was ticking and it was wondering how hard it would be to replicate these ships.[/SIZE]