Lieutenant Warren McJump
Location: Minos Cluster - Travnin system
Personal Location: Hangar of the
Indefatigable Accompanying ships: 2 Wayfarers.
Knight-errant Jian Yakamura
Location: Minos Cluster
Personal Location: Travnin, Minos Cluster
Accompanying People: Warren, The Gundark
Current Attire: http://fong-saiyuk.deviantart.com/art/Wudang-Swordsman-285257811
"I assume you already have a plan to get onboard the station?" Jian said, cocking an eyebrow. He shifted the backpack a bit as he headed into the hangar. "You don't expect me to believe that there are a group of slavers who are trustworthy enough to bribe to allow us to swing with them. Which means you either have a ship, or another plan."
"Sorry, Master Jedi, this one's the simple plan. Never make a plan difficult. Either keep it simple and direct, or so off the wall unlikely they'll be unable to figure out your moves. Good plans often are both. Look at that," he said, pointing to a sith shuttle docked in the bay of the Thranta just opposite the
Indefatigable. "A while back some of your buddies managed to snag a shuttle which we were able to requisition for this operation. SIS took it off their hands and have graciously handed it over to me for this time alone. I know a lieutenant whom I personally helped along with his career that was rather enthusiastic to repay the kindness back home to pull some strings. Jen'nee also helped a-" Warren said, stopping at the shuttle's entrance and in mid-sentence. Gundark and Jian both looked at the lepi, though Jian knew something that Gundark was not quite yet aware of. At the shuttle's entrance, flicking her tail with obvious irritation as her hands were crossed over her chest, the cathar hybrid in question stood with a glare.
"Jen'nee," Warren began, holding his hands up.
"Don't start with me. You might be captain of this ship, but you know my stance with working with the Jedi," the cathar hissed, her clawed hands digging into the fabric of her sleeve. "We don't need their kind to succeed."
"This is a military ship, and under direct orders-"
"That hasn't stopped us before."
Jian watched back and forth as the Cathar spoke with passionate heat, only to be quietly rebutted by Warren's rather calm riposte. His glance moved to each as they spoke, soaking in the details. He supposed maybe the two had some sort of relationship, but this was neither the time nor the place to really inquire. In spite of it all, his gaze floated once to the Gundark, only to require a double take at the giant trooper. His brow was furrowed, as if a thought was just trying to formulate. The Cathar pressed her advantage, cutting Warren off more and more as he calmly took the verbal beating, and more than a few words of insult had the splash damage to hit Jian's personal pride with dagger-like slices. Warren eventually said nothing, his eyes glowering like a warrior against the storm, as Gundark reached over and gripped the Cathar's mouth shut.
"Let the captain speak," a gutteral growl issued. Jenny glared at the tattooed soldier, and then reasserted her stance of folded arms. Warren took a deep breath, and patted himself down.
"As I said before, this is a military vessel, and we should at least attempt to act like one before guests. Including calling me sir. I am sure the Jedi would be more than willing to overlook this incident in his reports, but other commanders may not be so lenient. And more importantly, this isn't our mission, but the Jedi's. The Jedi asked us for help, and I agreed."
"Then I'm coming-"
Warren held up a finger, as Jen'nee silenced herself. "Secondly, you're staying here. And before you ask, I have reasons. We're walking into a den of sith and the more force sensitive people there are, the easier it will be to be spotted. That, and I need someone to be there in case things go south that I can trust to be as wiley as I."
Jian gave a sigh, as the two stared each other down in silence. The cathar begrudgingly agreed, taking her leave, with the usual type of retorts and cautionary warnings about his order and actions as one might expect, while the trio boarded the shuttle. Some of the former prisoners that Warren had saved were also onboard, more than willing to return the favor of freedom with their own necks, something which mildly impressed Jian.
"What was her issue?" he finally asked, the betterment of his curiousity nagging him.
"Long story short, she doesn't like Jedi due to unfortunate circumstances. Get prepared. We'll be taking the shuttle to the destination as soon as we can, and you need to be prepared for your part."
~~~~
Nine Years ago…
Eshan System
“Breathe in…. Breathe out… No, no, no. Jian, you’re trying too hard to force the motion. Let your body rock on its own, and let it breathe with it,” a silver hair woman said, stopping her motions and standing straight up. In the last three days, Jian was having trouble getting himself suited here; it was bad enough that he seemed to be the only boy around, and the quiet remarks about his heritage and being a jedi were somewhat unbecoming to begin with. But atop that, being given a tutor outside of the classes as well only made his inherent bookworm abilities and natural predisposition towards accomplishing a goal come into doubt. He was usually such a good student, why couldn’t he understand how to do this?
“The art of fighting isn’t something you can think about. Not entirely. You must train yourself to react, to hit, to block, without thinking it,” the tutor stated, rather flatly. Jian was still not used to people being able to read him so easily… or at least, be so vocal as to point it out. Standing back up to his full height, he ran his hands through his hair, and tugged on the padawan braid he was starting to hone over his ear. Shaking his head and the doubts from his mind, he settled down again, lowering his hands, then rising them up, stepping forward and backward, rocking on his heels and balls of his feet, back and forth. They had called this “the wave”; Jian could tell that whomever had designed this style of fighting was probably not so concerned with the nomenclature. He relaxed his muscles and tensed them up, and let go of his anxiety. It was like a state of meditation, calm and serene. The tutor’s words of encouragement drifted into the background, uncreative and not at all motivating anyways. He drifted and let his body flow gently, following the path and motions laid out, swinging his arm around and breathing in. A small world suddenly appeared around him, as he could begin to reach out and sense others nearby. A minor, minor skill for a Jedi, seeing into other places where a normal person could not. As he concentrated and practiced, he sensed the girl in the next room, in her own state of training when the loud snap back to reality hit him.
“Jian… Focus. That’s the third time I’ve caught you daydreaming…” the tutor said, tut-tutting him with a hand on her hip and a palm to her face. “That’s all for today. I cannot teach you when you cannot focus. I know it’s only been day three, but we haven’t even gotten past the first few steps along the path. I wish I knew what Le’wenna could see in you…” Grabbing her tunic, the woman exited his room as Jian felt the crushing blow of disappointment slap on him again.
“I’m sure you’ll pick it up soon enough,” his master spoke, resting a gentle hand on her padawan’s back. “But it doesn’t take a Jedi to notice that you are out of yourself this week. Tell me, what’s on your mind.”
Jian searched himself, not exactly sure how to word it. “I just keep having thoughts about a student,” he admitted, dismissing the ideas about passing it off as nothing. He already drew enough attention without needing to lie atop of it too.
“Oh? Here?” Le’wenna replied, kicking her feet up onto the desk and pulling her hands behind her head. If this was going where she thought it was, she was going to get comfortable in the chair. Wouldn’t you? Jian crossed his arms and looked to the side, trying not to make eye contact or admit anything more than he had to. He nodded his head towards the wall, and by extension, the room next door. “Oho! So my padawan has a crush? Does she know?” Jian flushed into a harder red before he took a breath and relaxed. Le’wenna wasn’t about to push him too hard about it, even if Jian didn’t know this at the time.
“Love is forbidden to Jedi… aside from certain cases, but even then. There is no emotion, only peace. There is no passion, only serenity. Emotions are not the Jedi way,” he stated blandly, the code and mantra fully recited as if from text.
“Love? Jian, you’re not in love. Even if you were, Love is a complicated subject… Do you understand what that line even means?” Le’wenna said looking around for her recorder. She had begun to record what she needed to pass onto the pupil, perhaps for a later date. In the life of a Sentinel, there was no room to necessarily think tomorrow couldn’t be your last.
“It’s self explanatory. One cannot have passions, or one will not be at peace,” Jian stated flatly. “My emotions are putting me at odds with the Jedi order. I am failing myself at controlling my feelings, letting it distract me.” Le’wenna gave a sigh, touching her fingers to her forehead for a moment, and then taking several more breaths before continuing her speech.
“Jedi… can have emotion. We are not droids. We can love too… even if the council sees it badly. The problem is when we forget to first understand our emotions, understand our feelings. When passion rules our thoughts, we can no longer help those around us, and wind up hurting ourselves. If we did not care for others, though, the entire order would be meaningless. Love your enemies, but do not let your hate or love cloud your vision and your duties,” Le’wenna finally said, relaxing a bit.
“But it is ruining my training, every time I try to focus, I wind up being beaten…” Jian said, gripping his biceps harder now in a bit of frustration.
“Jian… Look at yourself. You are letting your emotions control you now. Will this accomplish anything of value? Are you feeling at peace?” she said, as Jian relaxed himself. “I must admit, I’m not used to having to teach two lessons at the same time…”
Jian perked his head up, curiosity now beating out his frustration. “Two?”
“Of course. The mantra is but the first lesson you’re going through. And look, now you are at a much more peaceful state now that you’ve relaxed and let the emotions wash over you. You’re starting to understand your feelings, even if you do not comprehend why yet. The second is simple. You’ve been here for three days and you haven’t mastered a simple breathing exercise. What could be wrong?”
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