Jedi Mission: Up In Flames (Troiken)

[Meira]

The transport was a rather slow, lumbering ship, but with all the activity amongst the Jedi, ships were quickly becoming a hot commodity. It was far easier to negotiate passage on civilian ships than it was to try to procure one from the Jedi hangars. So after receiving their mission to Troiken, Meira and her fellow Jedi found space on a trading vessel bound for the planet.

The young kiffar knight had been resting on a bunk when the ship's captain announced over the comms that they would soon be landing. As she had been previously instructed to do, Meira made her way to the passenger cabin where a seat would be waiting for her to strap herself into. Though the ship was slow, it was still small enough that passengers would need to be secured during the landing sequences.

Arriving in the passenger cabin, Meira found the other three seats still empty. She took one, knowing that her fellows would soon join her. In the mean time, she mused over the mission to come. The intel they'd received had been disturbing. Attacks on both Xextos and Quermian government buildings suggested boiling tension between the two related species. Meira had read that there had been tension between the two since it was discovered the Quermians were made from Xextos by Arcanian scientists, but it had never been a violent thing. The question then was, what had happened to cause this sudden burst of anger? And who was to blame.

Officials from both species were fervently denying any blame in the matter, but this was not surprising. Meira hoped that she would be up to the challenge of this investigation. At first, she'd been surprised she was selected, but with more and more Jedi answering the Blades' call to war with the Republic, she supposed options were starting to run thin.

She was content, though, to be taking Arichi on a mission once again. She still felt she had done the boy a disservice by leaving him behind during her last few. It was one thing to want to protect him, but it was a completely different matter to hinder his progress as a student. She imagined this was a conflict many parents faced when raising their own children. When to hold them back, and when to let them loose must be a difficult gray area to navigate. Perhaps she would be able to observe how Master Oki handled his padawan in order to better understand how to go about this time with Arichi.

[Juzt]

Kalan could not bear it, it was horrible. The transport chugged on slowly, and all the while it hung in the vast empty void of space. He knew hate was something he should strive to avoid, but he HATED space travel. There was nothing worse in the Universe in his opinion. These ships were complicated machines, but what if one thing went wrong? It would only take shorted servo motor here, a small crack in a bulkhead there and they would be sucked into nothingness. Wide empty nothingness. In the time he had been with his Master, Rune Oki, Kalan had to an extent mastered his agoraphobia. Outside he now only felt mild discomfort, that could be ignored, but out here. In the depths of space he felt like he had no control or anything, his immature senses could detect a little way out of the ship, enough to get an idea of how wide and unknowable space was. He had spent most of the trip under his bunk, he felt safer that way somehow. He thought however, his master would be disappointed if he did not at least make the effort to overcome his fear. So he had wondered about the ship trying to talk with others to take his mind off it, imagining that the ship was actually not a ship but a land crawler. His mind knew he was lying.

At least for the most part the crew were friendly, but he noticed little things. They seemed to treat him with undue care. Clearly they knew little of Miraluka and though him simply a blind little boy. He knew very little of the other Jedi on board and did not like to ask. He was still a little nervous talking to others, plus he rarely came out from under his bunk so he had barely seen them either.

He had taken to wearing the lightsaber Rune had given him on his belt, despite the fact that it was massive and weighed the 12 year old's belt down. He still sometimes felt his selection had been a dream and woke up terrified but one hold of the saber and he felt his mind quieted. It had seen battle clearly, and Kalan often wondered where Master Oki had gotten if from. Never the less he was glad to have it.

Kalan stepped into the passenger cabin, maybe he could relax in here. He sensed someone else was there. She was the Jedi Knight his Master had told him would be with them, he had not seen her Padawan yet. Kalan felt a little to shy to say anything, so he took an empty seat far from her. He pulled out his datapad, he had already listened to the mission several times. He was nervous, not particularly of the attacks on the Xextos and Quermian but the possibility of messing up. He subconsciously toyed with the wrap round his sockets. He was determined to make his master proud.

[Ghostie]

Rune had taken to spending time with the crew inside the cockpit of the ship. It was a shame they couldn't procure transport from the Jedi. Rune enjoyed flying. There was just something about flying among the stars and planets. In his mind, seeing all the beautiful nebulae and planets and constellations, it proved there had to be a higher power at work in the galaxy besides credits and government. Everytime Rune took to the spacelanes and saw these majestic celestial bodies, it renewed his faith in the Force.

It was a shame that his padawan, Kalan, was the complete opposite. Their first trip through space had not gone so well. Rune hardly saw him the whole time, and then at the end he had found the little Miralukan inside a crate in the cargo hold, trying to hide. From what Rune had saw, Kalan was trying to make an effort this time around, but he had still taken to hiding once and awhile.

Well, you can't conquer fears overnight.

It was just something they would have to work on. Being a Jedi meant you had to overcome your emotions, including fear, to do what was right. And Kalan was still very young. They had a lot of time to work on it.

At the mention of getting close to the planet, Rune left the cockpit and emerged into the passenger cabin, which was right behind it. It was a rather small area, with just enough seats for the Jedi, a pair of chairs on the port and another pair on the starboard side of the ship.

Knight Meira was the first person that he saw. A somewhat new Knight, Meira was a Kiffar, and was placed in charge of negotiations for this mission. Rune had some diplomatic experience himself, working as a Watchman for a good portion of his Jedi career. But he didn't mind Meira taking over. In fact, the Jedi Master welcomed it. The main reason he had agreed to come on this mission was to teach Kalan and thing or two about diplomacy. Other than that, Rune was hear to give advice and help Meira out in whatever capacity he could.

Rune nodded to the Kiffar as he entered the room. He wasn't quite sure what to think of Meira yet, he had not known her very long. And then he saw Kalan, sitting by himself already. Rune made his way over the boy and sat next to him. The Jedi Master strapped himself in the chair, and then addressed his padawan.

“I hope you slept well Kalan, you'll need the rest. We have a busy day ahead of us.”

[Meira]

"You could have waited at your own embassy."

"Now Friz, we agreed to work together to resolve this."

"I agreed to cooperate. That doesn't mean I should have to look at you. And you may address me as Ambassador Wideno."

"It's not exactly easy on my neck standing next to you, Ambassador Wideno."

"Was that... are you seriously making jokes? At a time like this?"

The conversation between the two ambassadors was cut short as the ship approached the landing platform. Frizzero Wideno stood as tall as he could, but next to his Quermian counterpart, he seemed the size of a child. For his part, Ambassador Vinloo Rop stood serenely as the ship touched down. The two had known each other for many years, a fact that the former resented and the latter found mildly amusing.

As the ramp lowered, a raven haired woman was the first to appear. The black band tattoo that ran across her eyelids caused her emerald green eyes to almost glow in contrast. She wore the traditional Jedi robes and had her hands tucked into either sleeve as she approached the dignitaries. Behind her came an interesting assortment. First, the woman was followed closely by a young, blue skinned male, her apprentice no doubt. Next came a Calamarian and perhaps a human. Interestingly, the young human's eyes were covered by a cloth wrapping. When the four Jedi had closed the distance, the female spoke first as she bowed.

"Ambassador Wideno, Ambassador Rop, it is an honor to meet you both."

Frizzero gave a slight bow in return. Vinloo's bow was more of an affair, but with the neck of a Quermian, almost any such movement is so. He offered a smile as well, a pleasantry his associate did not.

"Welcome, master jedi. The honor is ours, I am sure. Though I do wish we were not meeting on such a grave occasion." Vinloo replied to the Jedi.

"Of course. I am Meira Valli, this is my padawan Arichi Kotock. With me are Master Rune Oki and his padawan Kalan D'ravk."

"Yes, welcome." Frizzero said, before Vinloo could lengthen the unnecessary pleasantries. "Please, follow us. We are ready to brief you on the situation."

Frizzero turned and lead the way to a transport that was waiting for them. Vinloo presented an apologetic smile on behalf of the Xexto representative and motioned with a sweeping motion of his hand for the Jedi to precede him. Meira nodded her head and followed Frizzero.



((OOC: I wanted to keep us moving. I'm sorry for the delay but it seems Eclipse hasn't had much opportunity to get on the site. I'm going to move him along as an NPC and keep mention of him very vague for if/when he's able to come back. Feel free to include more from the landing time if you wish.))

[Juzt]

Kalan trailed slightly behind the rest of the Jedi, as they approached the two Alien ambassadors. He could see them through the Force. One was Tall, certainly over 7 feet in height. At first Kalan thought that the Xextos ambassador was tiny, but it was in fact the Quermian Ambassador who was giant sized. As the party stopped before the ambassadors, Kalan hurried to catch up and moved in close to his Master's side.

He heard the names of the Ambassadors Wideno and Rop. He tried desperately to commit them to memory. Kalan was well aware this was a diplomatic mission, and he had often heard how simple little mistakes could start wars. Ambassador Wideno looked especially as if he might take offense to small mistakes. Rop seemed more relaxed and serene at least as far as Kalan's limited Force sight could see but Wideno seemed a little more emotional.

Kalan had done as much research as he could into the peoples of this planet, learning about the Xextos' love for risk taking and dangerous sports. He also loved learning about the Quermians and their two brains and the telepathy they shared with each other even though they themselves believed it not to be telepathy. Kalan heard his name mentioned.


"Of course. I am Meira Valli, this is my padawan Arichi Kotock. With me are Master Rune Oki and his padawan Kalan D'ravk."

Kalan gave a start and bowed hurriedly. Ambassador Rop seemed eager to push on however and led them to a transport that was waiting. Kalan could understand that, they were here to fix a problem. Pleasantries would have to wait Kalan stopped and gulped as he saw the transport. “Oh no not again.” He muttered under his breath. He tried to console himself with the fact that this transport was not going into space, but the association still made him nervous.

He followed his master reluctantly up the ramp “I will beat this” He muttered to himself over and over. Inside the ship was comfortable and featured large open spaces for people to sit. It was in marked contrast to the ship that brought them here. Kalan almost forgot his uncomfortable feelings in such plush surroundings. He then noticed everyone else taking a seat as the transport began to power up. He quickly grabbed a seat next to his Master opposite the Ambassadors. He self consciously and shyly smiled in their direction while his hands nervously wrung in his lap. This was going to be an interesting trip

[Ghostie]

Rune remained silent as Meira spoke. It was her mission, and he wanted to see how she performed. The Mon Calamari bowed as his name was mentioned. He took note of the two ambassador’s names, Wideno and Rop. It was too early to get a read on either ambassador, Rune decided he would just have to see how they acted.

That was the problem with these kinds of missions. You usually didn’t know what you were stepping into until you were there. You didn’t know what kind of people you were dealing with or how bad the situation was until you experienced it yourself. That was only doubled now, as Rune hadn’t even met half the team he was supposed to be working with until they were on the transport.

Rune entered the speeder last, after his padawan. There was a surprising amount of space inside the vehicle, enough for everyone to sit comfortably. They started off, flying through the morning sky, weaving in and out of speeder lanes.

“Kalan,” Rune begun under his breath in the back seat of the speeder “I want you to pay close attention to the ambassadors. Watch how they conduct business, how they talk. This is a perfect moment to watch how diplomacy works.”

Rune adjusted himself in his seat. He would give Kalan his first chance to view the ambassadors at work, but then it would be up to him. Hopefully the boy was be inquisitive enough to ask questions. And then they would go over what Kalan had seen on the way home. Hopefully that would keep him from under the bunks on the ship.

“Ambassadors, we’ve been briefed, but I would like to know the story straight from you. What exactly is going on? What are the hooks in the situation?”

[Meira]

For whatever reason, having the introductions out of the way seemed to lift a weight off of Meira's shoulders. She was of the sort that wondered over details in the planning stages of a mission. She could spend hours picking apart different approached. Luckily, once a mission was underway, Meira was much more flexible and relaxed. Now that they'd begun, she felt as if she could focus more intently on the subject at hand.

When Master Oki offered his question to the Ambassadors, Meira turned her full focus on the two beings that had invited them here. It was good to try to get to the root of the problem from the beginning. Such a question would likely bring up more, but this was where to start. It would also help to know where these two Ambassadors stood on the issue. The report had said tensions between the two species were already slightly strained. Having to deal with backlash was a likely problem. It would be good to know how strained relations had become.

"Two bombings," began Ambassador Rop, "attacking both Xextos and Quermian government buildings. Both have left little evidence and many questions. The first attack was on my embassy and suggested a Xextos perpetrator."

"You mean assumed." Interrupted Wideno.

"Assumed." corrected Rop, giving his counterpart a slight nod of his head. "But such assumptions were put aside when the Xextos court house was bombed soon after. Then it was assumed retaliation had occurred." Rop glanced at Wideno, who rolled his eyes. "But rather than escalate the events through assumptions, Ambassador Wideno and I are working to coordinate the investigation to ensure that both parties are satisfied when the criminal is brought to justice."

"Have your teams uncovered anything at either scene yet?" Meira asked. "Surveillance perhaps? These are both highly secure locations. Surely there was-"

"If it were that simple, we wouldn't have sent for you." Wideno interrupted, giving the Kiffar an impatient glare.

"Forgive me, Ambassador." Meira replied after an initial pause. "We are simply attempting to determine the best place to start. It would be a waste of your time and resources to go over options that your teams have already addressed."

"Of course." Ambassador Rop replied before Wideno could respond. "But as he said, there is no footage to review. Whoever has done this has worked hard to cover their tracks. You can see for yourselves."

Rop gestured out a window as the transport slowed near the Quermian embassy. The building was impressive and elegant, spare for one wing which was almost completely leveled. The interior structure and many rooms were open to the air. Crews were hard at work clearing debris within the area that had been closed off. As the doors opened, the noise of equipment and shouting voices filled Meira's ears. The air was thick with the dust the cleaning crews were stirring up from the rubble.

"Please forgive us, master Jedi, but Ambassador Wideno and I must leave you for the time being. We must brief our staff. You will find Sergeant Ba at the command tent just inside the perimeter over there. He is leading the investigation at this site. When you are ready to visit the court house, let him know and they will coordinate transportation for you. Thank you again for coming."

Meira bowed her head to the ambassadors as they took their leave. With a quick glance at her companions, she made her way to the command tent.

[Juzt]

Kalan studied and appraised the two ambassadors as they spoke. There seemed to be resentment on both sides about the attacks.... understandable of course. However, it seemed that the two ambassadors had a friendly relationship, all the conflict seemed to be on the surface.

Kalan had devoured as much information as he could from the reports and on the two groups.... not that he expected himself to play a major role, other than as a dogsbody, but maybe he could be of some use. The tensions themselves were recent on the basis of recent scientific discovery, but previously their relationship could only be described as amicable.

The ambassadors seemed to know and understand each others foibles, if this was indicative of of the Xextos and Quermian's relationship, it seemed unlikely that even a major discovery would create such a dramatic change in their relationship. After all it was easy to become angry and viciously attack those who you did not understand well, but these to races had lived side by side for such a long time. As Rop said “You can see for yourselves.” His focus shifted to the Embassy as they approached it. It had clearly been a really large and important building, its aesthetics he would leave to his Master who could see it clearly with his eyes. Kalan wondered for a moment what it would be like to see as other did. He pushed it aside.

He followed his Master and Meria down the ramp way. The ambassadors took their leave and directed them to a tent, towards someone named sergeant Ba. As he followed the two senior Jedi, he felt unnerved by the Embassy. The flattened wing felt wrong somehow, it really scared him a little, which he tried his best to hide. That two groups that knew each other so well could do such a thing to one another. It was easy to attack the faceless and nameless but far harder to attack those you understood. “This feels wrong, something is not right here.. this really makes no sense.” He said unaware he was speaking aloud.

[Ghostie]

The scene did not look good. One wing of the embassy was completely flattened. Debris was everywhere, covering most of the area except for where they landed and the tan tent in front of them. Dust clogged the air, and Rune gave a slight cough as he stood and looked around at the scene.

There was something different about this attack. Why would two species who had lived in relative peace do this to each other? They might have fought at first, but these kinds of attacks were behind them. There was most likely an outside force at work here.

Rune followed Meira into the large tent in front of them. Inside, there was table laden with all kinds of items, either evidence or tools for looking for evidence. Along with a table, there was a white board to the side on which hung many pictures, most of the scene outside or some of the items on the table. As he entered, it was then that Kalan spoke up.

“This feels wrong, something is not right here.. this really makes no sense.”

Rune smiled inwardly. It seemed Kalan reached the same conclusion that he had, there was no sense behind this attack, no reason for either species to attack each other. Rune hung back at the entrance with Kalan so they could talk.

“What do you think, then?”

Rune wanted to hear what Kalan had to say before he put forth his own ideas and helped Kalan brainstorm.

[Juzt]

Kalan flushed and jumped when Rune spoke. Kalan took a deep breath and edged back towards Rune. He licked his dry lips and tried to summon up the words to answer Rune.

"I....I... think... M-master" his voice cracked and waited a moment, not used to sharing his thoughts with anyone he took another deep shuddering breath. "It...it makes no sense." He stammered. "These two peoples have been living peacefully side by side all of their existence. Why attack each other now?" He was taking calming breaths and trying to calm himself and he could feel his confidence growing a little. "...Say Master..say you had arrived on my planet and none of my people had met a Calamari before, it would be very possible you could be attacked out of fear. But.... but if you had evolved and lived on the same planet and lived peacefully." He through up his arms struggling to explain the idea in his head.

He paused and looked around desperately for the words "Plus... plus Master, many of them will know each other personally. Making friends between the two, it is easy to get angry with a species or.. or a group, but not with people who you know."

He blushed again "Sorry Master I went off on a tangent was...was that helpful at all?" Kalan felt a weird sensation that could only be an adrenaline burst, his hands twisted round each other hyperactivly as if they wanted to be some where else. He tried desperately to relax and hoped he had said the right thing.