Hangar

Dar ensured Riyo had chosen an acceptable blaster and found her seat, then found himself a place to loom appropriately, as the seating wasn't meant for beings of his size.
"Where are we going Master Frantz, and what is our mission?"

It isn't long after Raja arrives that various controls in the cockpit begin to move seemingly on their own. In truth I'm manipulating them with the force as I make my way from my workshop to the cockpit but really the startup sequence of my ship is almost instinctual, while I may be the catalyst for what's happening I can feel the old girl coming to live around me, her welcoming hum surrounding me and centering my mind. I had not intended for this mission to become a daycare center for new apprentices, however that seemed to be the case. It would be more dangerous than I would generally be comfortable bringing apprentices so new as this pair but the force seemed to have it's own plans.

Stepping into the cockpit with a simple nod for my newly acquired apprentice I take a seat at the pilot's chair and add my own physical arms to the telekinetic forces manipulating my ship's controls, allowing the familiar tactile feel to take over momentarily and process my thoughts on the plan for the brief minutes it takes for Dar'Toral and his apprentice to join us. As they arrive I swivel the captain's chair around to face the other three at almost the same moment the ship separates itself from the hangar floor, and slowly takes the familiar route out of the massive chamber. A part of my mind acknowledges that it might be jarring to have your pilot put his back to the viewports just as takeoff begins, but I could have flown the old girl out of this hangar in my sleep, in truth I'm not sure I hadn't a time or two.

Pulling a quick draw from the flask I offer it toward the Coynite Jedi before addressing the man's question, cringing only slightly at his use of my title. Since becoming headmaster I'd dropped my habit of reminding everyone to just call me Mike when they address me by my title but I really wish they still would. We are on our way to Dressel. I'm not sure how much you've heard about the recent mission to Thyferra but there have been reports of more Dominion activity that sounds disturbingly like the beginnings of a similar ritual. Flashback of an abomination ripping itself out of a rift of sorcery briefly cross my mind as I mention that mission. Hopefully we will arrive before the sith sorcerers involve can finish their ritual, but if we don't we will be faced with an aberration ripped straight from the darkside itself. I suppose I never really was one to sugar coat things, it was always best in my opinion to be upfront with people, especially when you're about to bring them into a combat situation.

Turning my attention to the pair of apprentices my serious expression shifts slightly to my signature half-smile as I address them. The pair of you get to babysit each other because she's older He gestures to Riyo. and he's got more experience with the force. I gesture toward my own apprentice. Thankfully both of you will be babysat by Glitch and Gyro who will have specific instructions to pull you back to the ship should things go south. Though I don't specifically state it now the two are a pair of battle droids, one an advanced YVH model and the other an old modified B-1 pilot droid that I'd introduce the team to later. Dar'Toral and I meanwhile will do what we can to interrupt the ritual or if we are too late to contain the beast that they summon before it can harm the people of Dressel. Any questions? I make eye contact with each of the three briefly as I open the floor for questions, the back of my mind still steadily directing the ship up and away from the academy and toward the space above Corellia.

Kay'li Raganella Dar'Toral Riyo Cho

As it turns out the second Guardian on duty in the temple hangar today was familiar with Johun. Having been among the ranks of the watchmen before they had disbanded there were a number of missions the Corellian woman and the returning Knight had been on together, and although they had never really been friends she was still heartened by seeing his face again. Approaching the other Jedi wearing her own Green Corellian robes the diminutive woman flashed a bright smile. Johun Starfield it has been a long time. How has the galaxy been treating you?

The venerable whiphid strode into the hangar, leaning on an ornate lightstaff. He had gotten the com from young Kelden Cross and decided he would come himself to ease the headmaster's burden. Though old, and leaning heavily on the staff he carried, his presence conveyed purpose, dignity, and inner strength. He saw Kelden speaking with another young human and he approached.

"Kelden"
K'Mogh smiled warmly, such as he could, and bowed his head to the young knight. He then turned his attention to the new arrival, feeling him within the force. He was strong and good, but troubled. He would need attention.
"I am called K'Mogh, and you are?"

[Aboard the YT-1930 freighter Daystar.]

=Raja=
Awaiting his master's arrival, Raja's eyes snapped open as the ship's controls came to life and began what Raja quickly recognized not as a random malfunction, but a preflight sequence. The average ten-year-old padawan might have been alarmed, but Raja had spent much of his life aboard ships similar to this one, and even this strange occurrence was not enough to shake the confidence he had felt since stepping aboard. Instead, he stood, took a couple of steps toward the controls, and reached out to them through the Force, searching for an explanation. After a moment, he exhaled sharply, releasing a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. His feelings could sense no threat of harm. Instead, every control seemed to be wrapped in the still somewhat unfamiliar but purposeful presense of his new master. He turned around, a look of wonder in his eyes, just as Master Frantz entered with two other Jedi.

The puzzle now solved, and his conclusions confirmed as the Jedi Master took his seat in the pilot's chair, Raja returned to his rear seat without a sound, his green robes floating around him. So Jedi Masters could operate ships remotely? Wow. He couldn't wait to learn that one. Someday. If he studied hard enough. Even his mother had never done anything quite like that, and she was a Jedi Knight. But Master Frantz was briefing them on the mission now. Time to pay attention to that.


=Raja=
He looked the Corellian head master in the eye as he addressed them, and then shot a shy smile at the older apprentice. Her blue skin. Her golden eyes. Pantoran? Being in the Core Worlds was going to expose him to a whole new list of species than the ones he had grown up around, and he was excited to apply his holobook knowledge to the real world. But his curiosity was cut short, as the other Jedi Master had begun speaking. Dar'Toral, Master Frantz had called him. "I understand, Master Dar'toral." Raja replied solemnly. The Coynite was an imposing figure, and his tone was stern, but his words made sense. The boy had no illusions about fighting mysterious Sith sorcerers alone, at least not yet.

His gaze shifted back to his own Master, his mind racing. Did all Jedi Masters drink before a mission? But that wasn't important now. Instead, he asked a question about the mission. "Master Frantz, uhm, what powers do the Sith sorcerers possess? Like, how do they do ... it?" He glanced at Master Dar'Toral and his padawan uncertainly. They were still strangers to him. Maybe they already knew all of this. He would have rather asked Master Frantz alone, rather than revealing his lack of knowledge, but he had no choice. "We, er, I, should learn about our enemy. Even if I'm not going to fight them now, I may have to fight them later."

Johun bowed slightly to Knight Sorkin.

I must be on my way, Knight Sorkin. May the Force be with you.

Johun continued into the academy proper.

The freighter shook and rattled slightly as it made its slow, lazy descent towards the hangar. It was a non-descript thing, really, an old, banged-up YT-2000 Corellian bird without any visible modifications or any other noteworthy features other than its transponder, which had been scrubbed clean to prevent its purchase history from being traced, replacing the previous data with a generic name and identification code.

Within the ship's cargo hold, the Sith Lord held one last briefing with his troops, amidst various crates and boxes of food, cleaning supplies, toilet paper and whatever else the Jedi needed to do their daily Jedi-ing. For all intents and purposes, this was nothing more than an ordinary supply ship, bringing in a scheduled cargo shipment. Getting the contract for the supply run had been tricky, in the end they had to slice into the databases of one of the companies regularly contracted for this job and assign their ship to the task, but they had to make it look legit.

A crew of eleven might seem a bit odd on a ship this size, but he had thought of that as well and a simple sob story about families to feed and poverty ought to be enough in case anyone asked questions. The Jedi were known to have a bleeding heart for this kind of thing. As he took note of their equipment and went over the details of the plan one last time in his mind, the Sith Lord delivered his instructions to his squad of commandos.

"Once landed, we will proceed to begin unloading the cargo as if everything is normal," he said in the calm, business-like tone of an experienced military commander. "Our weapons and equipment are hidden inside duffel bags placed inside one of the crates, marked with three parallel scratches on the lid. Three of you will proceed to retrieve them while the rest of us pretend to unload cargo for exactly five minutes," the Sith Lord instructed. A small incendiary device had been implanted inside one of the bulkheads in the cockpit, set on a timer to detonate and create the impression of an electrical fire. He had been unable to obtain any information about what kind of sensors the Jedi might have within the hangar, so in the end he and his squad had opted for a manually-armed device in order to avoid the risk of the detonation signal being detected.

"Using the distraction of the cockpit fire, we will slip away into the entrance hall, where we will proceed to trigger the secondary diversion as scheduled, before making our way into the archives on the second floor. All weapons are to be kept concealed until after the secondary diversion and casualties must be avoided so as to deny the Jedi and their Corellian benefactors from assigning additional resources to the manhunt which is sure to follow after the conclusion of this operation. So, set blasters to stun and use only non-lethal takedowns when necessary," he ordered.

"Once in the archives, we will have roughly a few minutes before the Jedi figure out what is going on and converge on our position, so use the available time to retrieve any holocrons you are able to and slice into their archives to download as much data as possible. We will have three minutes for this task, after which we will proceed to fall back to our extraction point through the academy grounds, utilizing the climbing gear stowed away with our supplies to scale the wall on the eastern side and subsequently board the getaway speeders that have been left at nearby waypoint omega. Flashbangs, smoke grenades and stun bolts are to be utilized as necessary."

"Any questions? No? Good," the Sith Lord delivered his orders as the freighter touched down on the landing pad below. "Let's get to work."

*Roma's first ever experience with space travel... Morgan could hardly wait. She grinned as they sat strapped in the cockpit of the Naked Dragon, watching the girl's reactions. Her shock at the feel of the ship lifting off, the seeming uneasiness at the way it tilted as it made its way out of the hangar... She at least had a kindred spirit in Lokay; the tailring still disliked takeoffs and remained tightly curled up in Morgan's lap.

Roma's unease, however, gave way to complete awe as they breached atmosphere.* "We made it to the stars," *she whispered.

Morgan giggled to herself as Niam told them to prepare for the hyperspace jump. Of course she had prepared her child for this phenomenon—a concept she could barely grasp—but nothing was like the true experience. The girl's eyes stretched as far open as possible as the stars turned to streaks, then the brilliant colors of hyperspace danced off her face. She was absolutely captivated...

... and a moment later, recovering from motion sickness in the refresher.

Fortunately, she seemed to adjust well enough afterwards, spending the rest of the flight either playing games with the rest of the crew, or being told what to expect by Morgan. The point, of course, was to visit the home of the Jedi Master who Roma was named after. And to just, travel with her friends again; a rather nostalgic gesture in and of itself. Morgan couldn't remember the last time she had been to Corellia, so in a sense it would be a fresh experience for her, as well.

The YX-1980 briefly stopped in orbit and exchanged clearance codes with the Academy. Morgan brought Roma up to the cockpit again so she could see what the planet looked like from space, and relished every second of the child's increasing amazement as they reentered atmosphere, as landmasses came into view. It looked nothing at all like Felucia, and that was absolutely what drew her eyes to it all. Then the Academy itself loomed before them; being so far only the second big building she had seen, her wide gray eyes were also locked upon it.

Once the ship was settled into the hangar, Niam received a ping on the console. The Arkanian sent an acknowledgement, then, once everyone was gathered, announced,* "A droid, C3-P9, will meet with us in the gardens."

"We're getting off the skybeast?" *Roma asked, looking excited.

Morgan giggled at her continued use of that term and patted her head, nodding.* "That's right! Your first new planet."

*Roma beamed and bounded off her seat, ready to get a look at their new surroundings. Niam lowered the ship's ramp, and the party of an Arkanian man, human woman and child, half-Zeltron woman, Devaronian man, and Sylphe woman descended into the hangar.

Sitting at one of the workbenches in the repair bay I'd converted into my office when I'd taken the post of headmaster I feel a subtle ripple in the force. It isn't precisely a tug so much as a peaking of curiosity. Never one to turn down a spark of curiosity, especially one guided by the force, I wipe my hands on my already grease stained mechanic's jumpsuit, adding a new patch of black as I step away from the small servo I'd been recalibrating. I leave my blue robes hanging on the peg by the door as I make my way out into the hangar itself, embracing the feeling of life and machinery around me as I do. While ships aren't precisely alive I've always had an affinity for them and their approximation of life seemed to resonate through the force to me. It had been years of training before I'd realized that not everyone felt machines the way I did and I'd known many jedi who felt almost uncomfortable surrounded by them, but I'd always felt most at home near ships and machines, which is why I'd located my office off of the hangar rather than any of the dozen other locations that the staff had suggested to me. Besides it has the added bonus of allowing me to be near my own ship, the YT-1930 freighter Daystar.

It was near that ship that I found something that seemed to correspond with that spark of curiosity. There was an unfamiliar man studying the ship with a curious look on his face. My usual half smile spreads across my face as I watch the man for a moment, unable to keep down the burst of pride I feel at the hundreds of hours of work I'd put in on the old girl over the years. Without my robes or any of my weapons I look far more like a very old mechanic than the Headmaster of a Major Jedi Academy, but I'd never been the most formal member of the order anyway. Stroking my white beard for a moment I politely clear my throat to get the other man's attention before speaking. She's a good ship, is there something in particular about her that you find interesting?