Arrival of the Fittest (Zark and ??)

[Squee]

Meditation consumed Rayn’s life when she wasn’t teaching or doing something else rather important. Most of her alone time was spent on meditation and strengthening her mind where her body was weakened. It was an exercise for her. Meditation was not relaxed in the Master’s life, but made her break into a light sweat as if she’d been running for ten minutes.

As Rayn had eventually promised, she had departed to her chosen quarters for the journey. She resigned to taking Hiccup with her, leaving Aser to the cockpit, despite her body telling her not to do so. She didn’t bother locking the door. Closing it, she assumed, would be enough to warn the young man off. Closed was a sign of privacy, to back off, ignore, and carry own with your own business. If Rayn, especially, had wanted company her door would be locked to stay open. Open was a sign of listening and willingness. Rayn wasn’t so willing.

She kept herself shut off from the ship. The door only opened once to allow Hiccup out. He went to the cockpit but said nothing and did nothing besides stand off to own corner, seeming to watch Aser. It wasn’t for Rayn to look in on Aser, but more to have Hiccup out of the presence of her quarters.

Hiccups voice emitter was one of the many objects that bobbed around the room. Her cloak, folding and unfolding as it shifted in small circles around her head, was also among them as well as her utility belt. Boots tumbled in the air with several boxes of who knows what were also bobbing up and down. Rayn sat merely on the top of her bed, retaining a regular breathing as she focused her mind on each object and had them act out differently. It was a while before even the lightest beads of sweat began to gather on her brow.

A faint clicking crept echoed almost absently in her mind. Hiccup’s metallic droid steps. Coming down the hallway. Even Aser’s emotions in the Force became a little more fluctuate and interested. Perhaps their trip was coming to an end.

Rayn brought herself to set her levitating objects down. She opened her eyes, projecting the Force to slide open the door as Hiccup’s hand was raised to knock at it. The boots set back on the ground and Rayn slipped into them as she exerted the Force once again the snap her belt in place. As she rose to her feet, the voice emitter floated alongside her, she demanded, “Come here, Hiccup,” and she began towards her HK droid. It was a simple twist of the Force and the emitter was snapped in place.

“Statement: Thank you, Master Rayn. Now I can deliver the news that Master Aser is going to attempt to deliver us out of hyperspace. We are approaching Mon Calamari. Query: Would you like me to stop him? Previous Observation: You were rather ill on the last turbulent flight, and that was entering space. Now we are dropping into an atmosphere, and I can only imagine what that will do to you.”

“Thank you for caring, Hiccup,” Rayn said with a touch of a smile on her lips. “But I might give Aser a chance to redeem himself. If things get bad, I am already warmed up. If I react fast enough with the right amount of energy, I can probably save ourselves a horrible denting. How much brain damage will be happening, I don’t know.” Jerking her head smoothly to tell the droid to follow her, Rayn walked from her quarters to the cockpit. “Are we almost out of hyperspace? Hiccup, who were we to rendezvous with?”

“Answer: I believe CJ told me it was Second Lieutenant Jarax Syson, or something like that.”

“Close enough,” the Master said, half attentive to her droid as she sat down in the seat beside Aser. “And I think he’s on the planet. Listen, Aser, I’ll let you fly, but if you don’t do a very good job… I’m puking all over you next, and then you can explain to Republic soldiers why you stink.”

Rather cruel, but Rayn thought it was fair: her discomfort solved with a small glow of satisfaction to his embarrassment. Not taking her eyes off the viewport, she swung her crash webbing over her body, securing herself to the seat almost as tigthtly as she had during lift off.

“Your show.”

[Zarkan]

Aser for his part spent the vast majority of the week long trip to Mon Calamari in the nearly empty hanger bay taking his mind of both the trip, and his dejectedly about his poor attitude towards the jedi master who traveled with him. He disengaged his light saber as the ringer in the front of the ship buzzed him as the ship began exiting hyperspace. Clipping his light saber to the left side of his belt he strode down the myriad of halls to the cockpit sitting down heavily in his seat as he pulled the heavy freighter in slowly towards the planet. He glanced back slowly to rayn as he pulled the freighter in a long slow curve towards the shining blue world. "I assume the hiccup told you we were about to enter the atmosphere." he said calmly as she strapped herself in with crash netting. Aser snorted at her next statement. "You assume I would care if you vomited all over me. Besides I don't intend to die now that I'm here." he said finally turning his attention to the ships controls as he passed under a republic hammer head cruiser before keying up the comm system. "This is Jedi Order transport 222-A6-B copy republic control." he said sending their flight plans and specific orders and registrations down to the planet. "Copy JO-222-A6-B your are clear to come down in coordinates 223 by 411, west bay 4, in dock 72, copy." the droid voice crackled over the comm array. "I copy." he said slowly before closing the channel. "You might want Hiccup to hold on to you master this freighter isn't well matinace and even if it was it'd still shake." he said giving her a few minutes to prepare to roll it around.

The freighter began to shudder as it's belly hit the atmosphere shaking and jarring the passengers as it bent and flexed under the force of the wind on it's frame. Aser just ignored the sound of some of the panels ripping off as it plummeted finally pulling up as aser flew it low through the towers of the city finally pulling it around a large comm tower before slipping into a dock. "well, here we are."

[Squee]

((Sorry for the long wait, Zark, didn’t know how to post as Rayn. X.x))

“Well, if you assume that vomit doesn’t disturb you, then that’s your issue.” I would say you need to be more concerned about a Master’s welfare, Padawan Knight. Padawan Knight, by Rayn’s definition, was the name of those Knights who acted so much like arrogant little thirteen year old Padawans. It was Knights like these that could cause Rayn to doubt the council and their decisions sometimes. Along with whoever the Knight’s master had been. It was those little things that irked her and made her consider during a long meditation that Gray could be an option. But then when thoughts of younglings entered her mind, interlaced with Rayn’s own fear of the Sith or even being that close to the dark side, made the Master think otherwise.

“And Hiccup won’t move too much,” she said the Aser but then craned her neck to regard her droid. “Bolt yourself somewhere, Hiccup.” Hiccup had flown through a battle once. Not as the pilot. Rayn remembered the jostling quite well when she backed out of her meditation. The jostling to right the ship. She didn’t recognize the bucking of the ship as she was in a meditative trance.

Perhaps that was a good idea. Especially when Aser was flying and was warning about vibrations on the way down. Warily and suspiciously, her eyes scanned the cavern. A bucket of bolts. Why couldn’t she ever travel on a decent ship for once in her Jedi career?

When she shakings started, Rayn found herself holding her breath. As it grew steadily, she resolved to previous thoughts: submerge herself in brief meditation. Hiccup would notice and if she didn’t disturb herself from the meditation, he would. Quietly and without telling Aser, her sea-green eyes fluttered closed and her breathing and body became relaxed. Her mind slipped, thinking outside the ship and studying the planet that was before them. When she felt that caused an ache in her thoughts, she diverted that attention to other mentions she had wafting around in her head somewhere. Some were random, some made perfect sense.

A physical touch brought her out after such a short time in the light trance. It was Hiccup. She was just in time to hear Aser’s comment on their arrival. Brought back to the awakened world, Rayn untangled herself from the crash webbing and stood up. Hiccup followed her from the cockpit and to the ramp that should have been lowered, or lowering, already.

“We have to find… oh, what’s his face. Lieutenant Syson or something or another.”

She descended down the ramp with that surprising grace of hers, the center of her body balanced so perfectly despite that arms missing. As always. Rayn was known for her stumble moments, and in this case had a small one when the ground leveled out again.

“I just hope he doesn’t expect me to be fighting much a ground battle. I don’t do so well in the thick of things.”

[Dire Wolf]

Jarax found himself leaning to his side at his desk with his fingers supporting his head. The day came that a Second Lieutenant, even one that was in Special Operations, was the supreme commander of a planetary defense force. He sighed. At least it was him, he had seen war and fighting before, and not some young punk just out of college who thought he was hot stuff. Sarsyn was beginning to drift asleep when a man rushed into the room, effectively thrusting him out of his near comatose state. "Sir, we have a Jedi transport coming in, bay 4, dock 72."

"Best news I heard all day." Jarax said as he stood up and headed out the door. He strode down the corridor in his usual posture: Back straight as a board and a swagger that yelled confidence (and a little arrogance too). It didn't take him long to get to the bay, he arrived at just about the same time that the Jedi transport was docking with the station. He went through the door just in time to hear a woman say something about a Syson... probably him... no-one ever got last name right.

"I do believe that it is Sarsyn..." he quickly retorted "Hell, just having a Jedi here is enough to raise morale. Even if you can't necessarily fight." The man said as he saw the armless woman.

[Zarkan]

"Well, I believe his name is..." Aser began just as a man stepped up on the gang plank of the ship. As lopsided grin covered his face as he pointed at the newly arrived soldier. "That, I assume you would be our intrepid commander, no?" he said stepping past the soldier and onto the floor of the hanger. "I wouldn't worry much master rayn, I can always do your share of the fighting also and you can do my share of the the...force-y stuff." laughing aser turned back to wait for the soldier and the small woman to follow.

[Squee]

“Sarsyn…” Rayn repeated, hearing the soldier come into the room. He had startled her a bit, as she had been addressing Aser. Rayn assumed she hadn’t thought Lieutenant What-His-Face would arrive so quickly. Whipping around, she had echoed his name. She could hear the metallic footsteps of Hiccup coming up behind her. Her head tipped oddly to the side and she twisted her neck and upper body to peer at her droid.

“Hiccup, it’s Sarsyn. Not Syson. Hunk of metal.”

“Observation: That’s quite a stare you have fixed on me, Mistress Gera. Analysis: I seem to have been given the wrong information. My apologies. My memory reads Syson. Conclusion: Your protocol droid CJ must have overheard incorrectly then, Mistress.”

“You’re all a hunk of metal. Never can do anything right,” Rayn remarked, turning away from her droid now.

His programming in intelligence and the logical and/or radar allowed the droid to understand there was another individual about the room that was other than Jedi. Instead of using casual terms, such as just her name or not addressing her by name at all, were instantly eliminated. He had to prove he was under Rayn’s command, and was not a rogue bot. Hiccup would address her formally and used her name often to avoid confusion and to show he followed the Jedi Master where she went, and not the other way around.

Rayn hissed at Aser suddenly, “Don’t point at people like a two-year-old youngling. It’s rude!” Had she hands, Rayn would have slapped his hands. Her eyes darted a glance at them and the Force was executed to toss his hand lightly to the side. A wiry smile cracked across Rayn’s face, nothing like her usual smile, which the wired expression became as she gazed upon Sarsyn.

“As, yes, fighting, well, eh-uh-uh,” she coughed, dipping her chin toward her shoulder. “Well, there’s other ways to fighting without arms. I don’t know how much you are into our belief of the Force, but that’s what I’ve studied to be, kid. And Hiccup, my HK assassin droid here, is my surveillance team when I engage myself fully into the fuzzy and complicated side of any fight. I wonder just how happy you are to be aware that I am suggesting battle meditation.

“Aser here, my rude Knight who can’t seem to be minding his manners today – I apologize -, can help with your ‘fighting’, as you seem more than enthusiastic to know about.” Rayn was within five feet of Sarsyn by now. Not surprisingly, Rayn remained the smallest among the group, a munchkin compared to her companions almost.

“Anyway, good day to you, Second Lieutenant,” she finally said, introducing herself and wishing him well. “Master Rayn Gera, and I am here to assist you.”

[Dire Wolf]

((Sorry for taking so long to reply... I kind of lost track of this thead))

Jarax tilted his head at the younger of the two Jedi... intrepid commander? He instinctively turned his head to see if a Colonel snuck up behind him. The only thing that stirred where the myriads of repair and refit droids that scrambled towards the ship, standard protocol. He turned back to the young Jedi and let out a rueful little chuckle.

"Me? Intrepid? Heh... I dunno about that... but I am all we have for now."

Sarsyn's gaze dropped to his feet, this was truly a sad situation. He was the lowest officer rank possible, but, at least it was him and not some fresh out of basic baby face. Jarax was what the military called a "Mustang" officer, or an officer who started out as a private and had the "good fortune" to be promoted to a commissioned officer. Naturally, Jarax took a pay cut with the promotion.

He looked back up at the Jedi when she mentioned battle meditation. The battle hardened man tried to remember back to the history lessons that the Army taught after basic training.

"Battle Meditation..... battle meditation..."

Then the proverbial little man in his mind found the morsel of information that he was searching for in that was archived those years ago. Jarax's mouth went agape slightly as he realized just what kind of power that this woman had.

"Thank the Force... you have Battle Mediation, Master Jedi?"

All hope was not lost.