Temple Hangar

"So whose eyes have you seen it with?"

The words were out of his mouth before he ever really had a chance to consciously consider Alexis's statement, but her inflection implied that there was more to her statement than simply an assertion that she hadn't been there. Mike had learned that the way things were said were sometimes more important than the words used to say them.

"Sorry, that was rude. Anyway, yes, it's that important. I know we're at war but..."

A shadow crossed the archaeologist's face, the briefest flicker of something that might have been shame. His gaze was fixed firmly on the floor for a moment, but only just. He screwed up his courage and met the young padawan's eyes.

"Believe me, if the Order thought I'd be useful on Kuat, they'd have sent me there. But they didn't, so I'm going to be useful in the only way I know how. If the Mandos want to wipe us out and erase us from the universe, it seems to me that uncovering our history and sharing it is a lovely little poke to the visor."

The person who had reviewed Mike's request to go to Kuat and help in some fashion had told him almost the same thing, word for word. He couldn't fly, wasn't much use as a gunner, would be utterly useless trying to coordinate evacuees, and while he could be hell in a dark corridor, most of his skill with weapons was geared towards the nonlethal side of things. The best he could hope for was to die without getting in the way, should he have gone.

"At any rate, I requested a small freighter from the temple's motor pool, so that should be more comfortable. But hey, if you've got other ideas..."

Mike nodded to the newcomer. Once one person noticed him and could point him out to others, life became a little easier.

Atton shrugged when he was asked about Roon"Heard of it. Never been there before though."He got the feeling that Alexis was up to something but he decided to play along for the moment. As for the man she was speaking with, he would wait and see.

He looked to Alexis."Care to tell me what's going on?"

"Fine. In that case, you can have the laser cannons," Alexis informed Kaelan. She couldn't imagine him really wanting to stay here on Honoghr one hundred percent of the time. Corellian pilots weren't by nature comfortable on the ground. A mischievous streak generally buried deep within her psyche wondered if the possible offer of spice might pique his interest. "Master Kaelan, this is Mike Hamish. He's looking to get to Roon."

She glanced from one to the other of them, measuring them up so to speak. Finally, she smiled at Mike. "It is warm on Mustafar at this time of year." Frankly, the volcanic planet probably had no clue what cold was like. Anyway, a 3-Z wasn't bad for a freighter. But, unless he had skills that he was downplaying, she'd be hard put to it to fly and put up a defense if they ran into a hostile situation, unless Kaelan agreed to come along. And besides, she hadn't agreed yet.

It wasn't an x-wing. She'd have to leave her fighter here. Should she leave R8 to guard it, or bring the astromech with her, that was the main question. Alexis didn't like either option really. She didn't like not having her ship within reach. But, it was better to actively do something instead of dragging around here with regrets to keep her company.

She knew Mike was going to ask about her master sooner or later, probably when he realized that Kaelan wasn't it. After all, she was young and she wore the braid that traditionally denoted her status within the Jedi Order.

After what seemed like a long time, though she knew that was relative, she finally agreed. "I'll do it. Two conditions though. Firstly, I get to inspect this ship before we leave. Secondly... I'll tell you that one when I think of it."

Mike frowned.

"I don't mind if you accompany us, but there is a problem. People tend not to notice me if I'm not pointed out, and they tend to forget me if I am. Alexis spotted me in her own, but you spotted me because I was talking to her, I'd wager. No offense, but it wouldn't do if the pilot had trouble remembering why we lit out in the first place."

There were other issues, but that was the big one. The horror stories of the exploits of Corellian pilots littered history as well. A lucky few survived to become famous, but the spectacular failures were far more numerous. This expedition would be worrisome enough on its own.

"Alexis, I have no objection to that. However, all of this is a bit premature without discussing it with your master first."

The archaeologist had a feeling that the question of her master might be linked to the inner turmoil he sensed, but it absolutely wouldn't do to make assumptions.

For a few moments Alexis Karidian said nothing. This was the wiser choice when one was tempted to say something that in all likelihood was not completely thought out and that, when once said, could not be taken back. And one thing had just achieved sudden clarity in Alexis' mind: Atton Kaelan was not Dav Man'sell. He never would be. This was perfectly fine, but it did have ramifications. At least for the moment though, Mike had deflected a situation that threatened to become tense.

"This is premature without discussing it with your master," echoed in Alexis' ears. Her face threatened to crumple as the tears she'd not allowed herself to cry welled up in her eyes. She turned away, ostensibly busy with something x-wing related, but really just to keep them from looking at her and seeing things she'd rather keep hidden. A few deep breaths later she'd recovered herself and smoothed her face back into a placid facade. Though, it was a bit too neutral to seem natural and when she spoke her voice seemed dead inside, too carefully controlled. She turned back towards Kaelan and Mike, brown eyes looking directly at the latter, "I have no master."

Pain flickered through her eyes as she spoke. Actually hearing herself say it made that seem so much more real. She felt liable to fly in all different directions internally if she lost her grip on herself. And that, more than anything else at the moment was what had made her agree navigate the Death Wind Corridor to get to Roon. It was a challenge. A pilot's challenge. And it would let her forget...

"Thanks." He had said enough, and not more. Some people ruined things by trying too hard, and in some situations words really cannot help. It is enough to say the minimum. Alexis appreciated Mike's understanding, and she looked at him with new eyes, wondering how he had accomplished this. The first step to sympathizing with someone's pain, is understanding it, and most often this can only be done by experiencing something very similar. However, Alexis did not know him well enough at this point to feel comfortable inquiring.

Most padawans and their masters had some level of understanding and awareness between them. But Dav and Alexis' relationship had been so much more. He had been family, and the two of them had shared a very close, very strong Force Bond. When it had been snapped with no warning, Alexis had lost consciousness and terrified Will Son'tir in the middle of a tricky stage in escaping from Dressel. Sometimes the residual pain was still overwhelming, and she did not think she would ever fully recover from the sense of lost emptiness and being alone that seemed to have left such a hole inside her.

Alexis felt there might be some sort of common ground, or shared experiences between herself and Mike. Of course, on their limited acquaintance it was still far too early to tell. He'd managed to keep her from becoming angry which was a good thing. In fact, this whole idea sounded like a good thing.

Mike couldn't know it for a fact of course, but if there was one thing Alexis was not: it was reckless while flying. She took pride in her skill and work, and she wasn't one to jeopardize it needlessly.

"I still want to, Mike," she replied quietly, the ghost of a smile just barely flickering at the corner of her lips.

Mike pointed over to a corner of the hangar, where an improvised paint tent had been set up. The freighter had been pretty badly scorched not too long ago, and the Temple's mechanics had wanted to make it pretty before sending it back out on what could potentially be something that attracts newsies.

"They're putting the finishing touches on it now, should be ready to go by this evening. That should give everybody time to grab what they need and meet back up here."

He consulted his chrono, thought for a minute, checked the chrono again. It was 1437.

"Tell you what, why don't we all meet back up here at 1900? That'll give everyone time to grab their gear and file any paperwork. Sound good?"

Without waiting for an answer, the young archaeologist pulled his signature vanishing act. It wasn't that he physically disappeared. He was still fully visible, and the eye would register him as such. But between the eye and the brain, something would go awry. Mike had never learned to shut off his ability to fade into the background, but he could enhance it. Normally, people that saw him just tended to look right on past him, like he wasn't there. When he tried, the effect became much more pronounced. As long as he didn't physically interact with a person, he might as well not even be there. With a little luck, the only person that would even remember he had been here as more than a vague blur was Alexis. There was definitely something odd about the girl, and Mike was looking forward to learning exactly what. In the mean time, he had to coordinate the delivery of equipment to be loaded into the cargo hold, and that would be a long, arduous task, and one he wanted to do alone. It might have been a bit rude to just walk off like that, but it had been a trying day.

That, and his nose was seriously beginning to throb.

"Arr-Eight?" Alexis looked around and finally located her opinionated astromech finishing up his diagnostic tests. "Hey, go check out the 3-Z, will you?" She didn't wish to get stranded in an unsavory bit of space. However, a series of animated beeps and whistles ran up the scale into what she labelled as her astromech's indignant voice of protest. Of course, it suited, since Dav was himself... well, anyway. "I know it's beneath your dignity, but please?" As the R2 unit huffily wheeled off across the hangar, she finished touching up the red wingstripe on the near side of her upper s-foil before looking back around.

She didn't really have anything to say to Kaelan at this point. But, beyond him she noticed someone she knew only by name as Zion Morviael. And he was staring. Rude much. She nearly marched over to introduce herself, but upon consideration, it wouldn't make much difference. She wasn't actually a student here. Alexis tilted her head slightly to the right, examining the older man narrowly.