Libraries of Ossus

[Solaris]

Spoiler: Prologue

Nasiri's Valkyrie aerobat sailed down through the atmosphere of Ossus, the ancient Jedi library world. Located on the border between Sith and Alliance space, it was a harsh and inhospitable planet with a caustic atmosphere, furious electrical storms, and a blasted surface slowly recovering from the effects of the Cron Supernova and the much more recent Sith sabotage of the Yuuzhan Vong efforts at resurrecting the world. She pursed her lips in distaste at the sight; Ossus was by no means a pretty world. Though she could see pockets of greenery scattered across the surface and especially around the planet's poisoned oceans, by and large Ossus was yet another dull rock devoid of civilization and even much sapient life.

Perfect.

Nasiri selected a likely-looking spot and carefully settled her fighter down on a patch of hard dirt surrounded by rock. Her fighter's sensors had picked out a freshwater spring nearby, and where there was water there was life. Nasiri came to Ossus not looking for the Jedi ruins; archaeologists much more interested than her had already gone over them time and again. No, she was here for the Ysanna nomads. She was near the Eocho Mountains, near the cave systems that had sheltered the Ysanna's Jedi ancestors from the supernova that scoured Ossus of life during the Hyperspace Wars. Nasiri looked around at the rocks, starting to pick out the vegetation growing among them, then popped the cockpit canopy. The lid atop the cockpit raised up, letting in the planet's bitter air. Nasiri grimaced at the unpleasant scent of the atmosphere, but breathed deep and pushed it from her mind. She had other business to attend to.

The petite redhead hit the ground just as her astro droid, S19-N4, lowered to the ground from her fighter's underside. Nasiri smiled at the boxy little unipod as the droid made its dislike of their landing site known. Enfour beeped and blatted disconsolately as it hesitantly started picking its way over towards her. It reminded her of nothing so much as a toddler in unfamiliar territory seeking out its mother. Nasiri fondly patted Enfour on the top of its casing when the loyal little droid reached her. The terrain wasn't nearly so rough as Enfour made it out to be, but to the droid anything other than smooth pavement was an adventure. She giggled when she heard its internal gyro spinning up to its highest setting.

"You big baby," she said. "It is not that bad here."

Enfour blatted uncertainly. Like many of its make, the droid had a pathological fear of falling over. Still, Nasiri could hear its internal gyroscope calming down to something almost normal. The droid followed her as she turned and started walking, unwilling to leave its mistress unsupervised in such an environment despite its wariness of the terrain.

"Stay with the fighter, sweetie," Nasiri said to Enfour, waggling her comlink at it. "I'll com if I get in trouble, 'kay?"

The astro droid hesitated, then chirped its agreement. It already turned its single-minded positronic brain to the fighter's post-flight maintenance tasks, all but forgetting about Nasiri as it went to work.

Nasiri watched it trundle up to the fighter before she turned back to exploring the local area. She clambered about the rocks, leaving sensor fenceposts around the perimeter of her encampment before returning to her fighter. She wore her flightsuit, and while that was adequate for a little bit of exploring Nasiri wasn't exactly eager to go scrambling around the planet in the skintight pressure suit. The thing simply wasn't designed for anything but sitting in a cockpit and protecting against vacuum exposure.

"I know, I know," Nasiri said before Enfour could say anything, unzipping her flightsuit as she walked up to the fighter. "She's been watching me pretty much since we landed." When the droid warbled a querulous response, she shrugged. "'Cause." She slipped out of the flightsuit and rolled it up, tossing the garment into the fighter's cockpit before opening up the port-side cargo bay beneath the cockpit and pulling out some clothes better-suited for hiking and adventuring. She smirked to herself when she heard the sudden scrabble of rock; evidently the unseen observer did not expect her to stand about in her underwear. Her stalker was definitely a 'he', and had a nudity taboo, judging by the emotional burst she'd just picked up. Nasiri pulled on a pair of sturdy, lightweight shorts and a tee-shirt suited for rock climbing before looking out at the rocks and then sitting down to slip on a pair of socks and ankle-high hiking boots.

"Might as well come on out, hon," she called out, shading her eyes as she peered at where she thought the stalker might be hiding."I don't bite."

Nothing moved. Enfour warbled, but Nasiri shook her head. "No, I think it'll be alright," she said as she looked at the little droid with a smile. Sitting down, she was about eye level with its photoreceptors. "He's just skittish, that's-"

The muzzle of a rifle pressed against the back of her neck.

"-all." Nasiri slowly raised her hands, heart pounding. Nobody snuck up on her! "You're good," she said flatly.

"You're cocky," the stalker said in accented Basic. "Why have you come here?"

"My name is Nasiri Lavii," she said evenly, forcing calm into her voice. The guy sneaking up on her had really unnerved her - not even Char could do that, and he was great at Force stealth. "I'm looking for someone. The Ysanna."

"Then you should look in the lowlands," the stalker snapped. "The ruins and cities are where you are welcome."

"I said I'm looking for the Ysanna," Nasiri replied curtly, "not the Jedi." She turned around to face the rifleman, taking a step back away from him as she did so. He was olive-skinned, from what she could see, with shaggy dark hair beneath a hood and a war mask reminiscent of ancient Sith designs concealing his face. He was just under six feet tall, much larger than the petite Nasiri, and dressed in gear reminiscent of militia kit. The weapon he held aimed squarely at her bosom was something like an assault rifle, but the magazine located at the bottom of the firing mechanism was over-sized and suggested a slugthrower rather than a blaster. That made sense, actually; a local who refused the outside world wouldn't have much access to blaster gas, but any sub-sentient could make primitive explosives and gunpowder. Nasiri smiled disarmingly. "Don't tell me you're scared of li'l ol' me."

The man was silent a moment, then slowly lowered his rifle. "Lady, you're all kinds of trouble."

"You sound just like my ex," Nasiri giggled.

---

Tatooine, Arkanis Sector
The Separatist Fortress in the Dune Sea

"The Sith are closing' in on Ossus," Char remarked to the small gathering of Separatists in their fortress on Tatooine. It had been a couple of weeks since the Convocation, and though it was far from a mass exodus a not-inconsequential number of Jedi had at least agreed enough with his point of view to join him in departing from their entanglement with the Galactic Alliance. He stood in front of a holographic astrogation chart focused on the region of space that the loss of Boonta had all but cut off from the Galactic Alliance, looking the map over carefully. Char wore a much more casual outfit than his dark garb at the Convocation, a collared off-white shirt with dark brown pants tucked into his black armorweave boots. He wore his utility belt, his Jensaarai lightsaber clipped to it above his right hip, and his ever-present Dark Eye probe droid hovered at his shoulder like a decidedly sinister monkey-lizard.

"I'm thinking it'd be wise fer us to see if'n we couldn't sneak in there an' ensure they don't get some a' the relics there. We could look into stashin' some of 'em in the Tusken tunnels below, an' maybe some others in other places on the Rim." He shrugged. "That's a concern for another time, though. I got a ship what can make the trip - the Celestial Phoenix don' care much fer blockades an' can nip in an' outta the world afore the Sith know we're there."

 

[Stacker01]

"That will certainly do us well, Char," the Knight said, his four arms hanging lazily at his side. The aging Codru-Ji had been out of his self-imposed exile for little more than a week and had already been contacted about running around at the edge of Imperial Territory in order to grab some relics and get them safely away from the Sith. "A ship that can sneak past a blockade and get into place without being seen may be one of our greatest assets for some time."

Ashur-Dan Hars was well seasoned in sneaking around places he shouldn't and getting past people he didn't want to get to know, so he was more than comfortable with the parameters of this particular mission. "I believe Tuwan was interested, and she can fly. I would also like to take Amilthi, if this does not inconvenience the Knights too much. It may be good to get her out and about." Ashur was definitely allowing for help. When it came to physical age he had the other two beat, though Tuwan was obviously far older than he. And Amilthi was one of the newest to the Knights. "How long do you suspect we have and when are we leaving?"

 

[Master Maverick]

"Soon, I trust." Tuwan's voice sounded out through the dimly lit corridors and cavernous rooms of the underground stronghold. Well, stronghold probably wasn't the most accurate of terms. At least not yet.

The course sands and grains created a discomfort so strong in the Neti that she had visibly, not to mention socially, tensed up and became short of temper, almost to the point of intolerance of her antics by the others she now found herself surrounded by.

It had been only a short while since her true return to the Order and she already found herself with a group of dissenters. She agreed with the points that had been made, though overall questioned the wisdom of the choice as a whole. It mattered little to her in any event. She found herself where the Force willed, and if it was here then here is where she would find herself.

That was not to say she wouldn't urge for a different location to keep herself in the meantime. There was little reason for her to keep here on Tatooine. Being in the hub of the organization was hardly what she'd call enjoyable. Regardless, she entered the room, her cloak enveloping and engulfing her sleight frame and brushing on the sandy floor, to the presence of the others that had gathered.

"If your ship is ready, Char, then I see little reason in waiting." Her tone was short and would be as such until they reached the planet of Ossus. While it had been decimated before, it had grown back. She had seen it first hand and heard no mention of otherwise. If it were, once again, a desolate wasteland, then her mood would stay as such, if not worsen.

 

[Amilthi]

Archaeology wasn't normally the kind of business Amilthi conceived of herself as being in. However, the fact that Char had suggested it was strong evidence that it wasn't a matter of mere sentimentality or prestige. Chances were there might be some actually usefull stuff there. She briefly considered asking specifically, but refrained after others had already accepted the proposal. It wasn't the time to appear picky. She did, indeed, appreciate the opportunity of a change of place, and Ossus was as good as any new planet to see for herself. Although she did resent being talked about like a dog that needed exercise. Again, she was about to remark on it before she thought the better of herself. She found it hard to get a clear picture of the elder Codru-Ji, but though taciturn, he had been friendly enough, and she wondered if his manner of speaking shouldn't just be attributed to his species. It would make sense for them to think of young people with canine connotations.

She wondered if the other Knight who was coming with them didn't need the change of scenery much more urgently, even though the old Neti showed no recognizable enthusian even now. But she had been grumbling for quite a while now, to the point where others had begun to avoid speaking to her. Amilthi thought that if she were a plant, she wouldn't like it one bit on Tatooine, either; of course, she had no idea if this kind of reasoning was valid. Plants didn't normally talk and walk about.

If this had been the New Jedi Order, Amilthi wouldn't have been looking forward to a trip with the two seasoned Knights. But this was different. In their newly formed little group, there was a much stronger sense for cohesion. After all, everybody had made a conscious decision to be here because the same kinds of things were important to them, and were respected for it. It also felt more egalitarian in spirit. One couldn't say that the New Jedi Order was really authoritarian, but the Council appeared a rather remote institution, and the fact that many Jedi were raised from childhood fostered an impression among the elders that it was their job to teach others how to live. Amilthi expected such tendencies to be much weaker in her two new companions.

"I'm ready to come whenever you are", she said simply. It was the truth, too. She didn't have any particular projects or duties of her own to attend to at the moment.

 

[Solaris]

Char nodded at Ashur-Dan's suggestion. Amilthi had impressed him with her ability to understand others. He had a healthy respect for her intellect, though he did have to raise an eyebrow at the way the older Codru-Ji phrased it. Lacking Amilthi's talent for putting himself in others' shoes, he decided he'd have to have a word with the man later about it. She wasn't here as a burden, no more than Char, Tuwan, or Ashur-Dan himself. Heck, probably less than Char - while learned in his own areas, Char was nowhere near being an expert when it came to Ossus or Jedi relics.

"Th' Phoenix should be ready t' go," he said to the three of them. "She's berthed in Mos Espa, with most of 'er crew in town on orders to not get too drunk. We c'n take the speeder an' make it in a half day, I think. Before high noon, at least." By Char's standards, being used to growing up on a world where air travel was limited at best, that was a short trip. "I'll send word on ahead, an' I think we'll be good t' leave now."

---

Mos Espa was a tired old city, rundown and worn with age. It had once been a modern, advanced space-port that had flourished during the Yuuzhan Vong War, but like all else on Tatooine the city was slowly succumbing to the desert and dying a long, slow death.

The contrast made the Celestial Phoenix seem all the newer and sleeker, the ship a darkly beautiful transport nearly triple the size of most light freighters and very nearly a corvette in her own right. She was berthed on a landing pad in plain view, all but taunting the crime lord Char and his crew had stolen her from. The ship's gleaming grey, blue, and black hull stood out against the desert, and even more so against the battered relics that populated most of the local fleets.

The ship's rear cargo hatch opened up as the speeder full of Jedi Separatists approached, the ship-mind recognizing her captain on the external sensors. Char slowed the speeder down, sliding it into the cargo bay below the engines. A fighter and a small shuttle were stowed in the upper half of the cargo bay, suspended by the bay's internal tractor beams.

"Welcome aboard the Celestial Phoenix," Char announced as he dismounted the speeder. "The ship-mind'll see y'all to your rooms. I'mma go pester th' pilot."

 

[Stacker01]

Ashur-Dan bowed his head respectfully to Tuwan when she arrived, silent and giving a comforting smile despite the air of annoyance and frustration he sensed from her. He was glad to see Amilthi was also ready to head out. He did want to get her out of this little...fortress, this sandy, hot enclave on Tatooine and allow her to get some experience, so seeing her ready to leave impressed him. He had seen to many in his time that were unwilling to learn or advance. He nodded to Char and walked with him and the others to the speeder, flipping his hood up over his head.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ashur-Dan stepped out of the speeder, the hood covering his head and his arms exposed. If any looked into the ship in time to see them they would know he was Codru, but he was not worried about it. He had dealt with much racism in his lifetime and no longer cared that much. He looked around, admiring the interior and the sheer size of the near-corvette size transport freighter. He dropped his hood and glanced at Amilthi, having felt a small sensation of annoyance that had come from her momentarily when he had been speaking of her and Tuwan. He wondered what he said wrong, but was not too worried about it. "I will be in meditation for some time. If you need anything from me I am sure you will find me." He gave a slight smile before turning to walk away.

He began walking with a slow deliberation. He wondered to the ship-mind until it lit up his path. It was obvious the ship had an automated intelligence and he was beginning to feel rather impressed with this ship. Following it's lighting to his quarters he went along, entering his room and finding a good space to set down and meditation. He sat down and his lightsaber floated from his belt. Closing his eyes, he too rose from the ground and the lightsaber began to unravel itself. He reached out with his mind, allowing himself to be cleansed of himself and enter a state where he simply was, reaching out to see the ship, it's contents, and it's passengers. All the while he was exploring his lightsaber. All-in-all he was simply meditating, but keeping his focus on the ship.

It wasn't that he was uninterested in speaking with anyone, but rather that he had spent so long in a self-imposed exile, living with different peoples, that he could appear to be reclusive.

 

[Master Maverick]

This ship was indeed impressive, even Tuwan had to admit. While she held no real interested in the hunks of metal, perceiving them as mere tools that fulfilled a function, she was glad they would be travelling in, at the very least, comfort. Despite this, the trip there had only soured her mood. Her face became even more immovable and stony, somewhat ironic considering her anatomical composition.

She stepped out of the speeder with the rest. After having a look around, noticing the ships suspended in the hanger and the impressive pieces of equipment the vessel sported she turned to Char. "I don't suppose there's a garden or botanical room on this...?" The question was, no doubt, unusual with the likely answer of 'no'. Even still, she just wanted contact with living things that didn't have mouths.

 

[Amilthi]

The ship that Char had somehow managed to acquire was quite impressive, if you cared about such things. Amilthi didn't. Not any further than learning that yes, they did have a ship that could get them safely where they wanted. The delight some people took in technical things, be they droids or ships, or even computers, was entirely beyond her. She liked the mathematics behind them, like how droids made decisions, but you didn't need an actual physical droid to think about that.

Drawing back her hood as she walked up the ramp, she followed the others inside. She wondered briefly if there was any particular reason that Ashur-Dan would point out specifically that she could come to seek him out, and decided that in all likelihood, there was not. The simplest explanation was also the most probable: he was simply trying to be helpful. The more uncharitable explanation that he was displaying his status as a more experienced person who had something to teach to others might play a minor role, but it was most certainly not a conscious one, and there was no point in thinking badly of a person for that, especially when thinking badly of a person might actually cause her to miss out on the opportunity of learning something. She returned his smile with a barely noticeable nod.

Amilthi waited for a polite three quarters of an hour into their journey. There wasn't really a question of getting settled into her room. Unfortunately, she didn't have a window, although she would have very much liked to watch during their ascent into space. Instead, she just sat down and mentally rehearsed a couple of her Soresu kata. This mode of practice had become second nature by now, and it took almost no effort to conjure the imagination of her body being in a certain configuration or executing movements. Years of relying on it had apparently developped her mind's ability to simulate such things, along with her proprioception.

After the aforementioned period of time, Amilthi rang at Ashur-Dan's door. It took almost a minute for it to open, but she waited patiently. "Hello", she greeted him with a friendly smile. "I hope I'm not disturbing you. Actually, there might be something you can help me with... Given where we're going, it came to my attention that there is a... property which would be advantageous and which I don't have. I've been told that I positively appear like a beacon to other Force sensitives. I also notice that other people, like Char, for example, don't do this, and I doubt it's because his link to the Force is so much weaker than mine. So... Do you know what causes the difference? Is there something one can do about it? Not that I'd expect to learn it underway if there is, but now would seem as good a time as any to start..."

In truth, this wasn't the first time that the difference had come to her attention. She had been meaning to ask Char about it for a while, but never gotten around to it. But it was a very convenient occasion to visit her fellow Jedi and show that his offer was appreciated.

Spoiler: OOC

I know, it's kind of squeezed in and a bit hasty, but I think it would be out of character for Amilthi not to visit him, so I compacted it a bit in order not to keep everyone waiting.

---

Jenny wasn't quite sure what she thought of playing chauffeur for Char's clique of Jedi. In fact, she didn't know what she thought of being out here on Tatooine at all when there were battles being thought for the very survival of the galaxy. Nevermind that she was probably piloting on of the coolest ships in the Outer Rim. What she did here was surely helping people - they had been able to make a surprising impact simply by doing something that nobody else bothered to do at this time. But to some part of her it didn't feel quite right for a fighter pilot to be here. Not that she had choice, anyway - she was actually here on assignment. The GA military had thought it a good idea to support privateers to combat the piracy that was rampant in certain parts of Alliance space where the war prevented the Navy from maintaining much of a presence, especially the galactic south. And due to certain... circumstances, Jenny had been very eligible for the job. In fact, she had volunteered.

Now she was standing on the bridge of the Celestial Phoenix and watching the passengers enter via the security feed of the ramp. When they were inside and the ramp was closing again, she just shrugged and went to the pilot seat to tell the computer to run pre-flight checks while she waited for Char.

When she heard his steps behind her, she turned around, though without standing up. "So, where to, Cap'n?" she asked with a smirk.

 

[Solaris]

"'Fraid not," Char said to Tuwan with an apologetic shrug. It had honestly never occurred to him; Char was by far much more used to the austere, harsh living conditions of his home-world, not being surrounded by green and growing things. The Neti Jedi was thus far more alien to him than to most others, being more used to forests and trees. "I s'pose we can put in somewhere a li'l greener, if'n you're wanting."

---

"Ever been t' Ossus?" Char asked as he walked up to the astrogation station and started punching in the codes, double-checking them from his datapad. He stood there with his arms folded across his chest while the navicomp quickly plotted out the most efficient route. "Ol' Jedi world on th' Sith border. Looks like you'll be back t' the frontier, eh?"

Spoiler: OOC

Ashur-Dan can respond, and we'll arrive at Ossus when they're done. Force stealth is a really good idea for the Separatists, after all. If it's going to be an extended procedure of more than a couple of posts, might I suggest doing a separate thread?

 

[Stacker01]

Ashur's meditation was interrupted by the knocking at his door. He felt Amilthi's presence on the other side taking up his offer. He sat still, using the Force to open the door. A soft smile creased his lips as he bowed his head to her and motioned with his hand to show he was allowing entrance. "Hello. Please, come in." He listened as she spoke, recognizing what she was talking about. It was a form of Force Stealth, known colloquially as "The Art of The Small" to many Jedi, a way of 'hiding' ones presence in the Force. He appreciated her willingness to learn, even if there wasn't much time to actually learn how to do it.

"Ah yes, The Art of the Small is what that is called," he said, his voice calm and, hopefully, calming and pleasant. He was aged and over the years he had come to find his speech sometimes was rather calming. He wondered if it was the same thing as how his grandfather's way of talking affected him when he was young. "You are only a beacon because your presence in the Force is...shall I say, unbridled? Many Jedi recognized this and learned to essentially hide themselves among the waves of the Force, to appear as small as any non-Force Sensitive or even an insect." It was the best way to explain what the result was, though it was different from making ones self actually small. It was simply making yourself unnoticed.

"Something you can practice is taking the Force that is flowing through you and making it small. I like to think of it as taking all the Force I have flowing through me like electricity and putting my hands around it like a light so that others can't see, or rather sense it." He felt a tinge of embarrassment. He had been a Jedi all these years, trained under many, but never had he trained another person in just about anything. This would be his first time explaining things of the Force unto another person.

He had been hiding his own Force signature, only allowing it out for the purposes of meditation. He let his out slowly, so as not to surprise anyone aboard the ship, until it was showing completely. It would generally eclipse Amilthi's own presence, hiding her until someone were close enough. He thought it an interesting example but chose to simple continue to do as he was doing. Then, slowly, he pulled it back in as though bringing the Force into himself. It was nothing that had ever been particularly hard for him to do, though he was not as skilled as some, but he knew it was merely the concept that would be the hardest to grasp so he showed Amilthi by example, that she should feel it and not simple hear about it. He knew that if she tried it the process could take them the entire flight. But he had faith in her, she was smart and capable.

 

[Amilthi]

Amilthi was glad to hear that this really was a learnable skill and that she hadn't just lost out on some genetical lottery. Not that she had any reason to complain - it didn't really get much better than being human, female, force-sensitive and somewhere at the right edge of the intelligence distribution. A slightly more extraverted personality might have been nice, but on the other hand, there was a trade-off, and maybe the loss in her capabilities for introspection wouldn't have been worth it.

She pushed away these strange thoughts that had been unexpectedly triggered by the information she had received - a fact that she found slightly amusing - and paid attention. She monitored the change in her perception when Ashur-Dan modulated the suppression of his presence with curious detachment. It was a very odd experience - the person in front of her suddenly seemed much more significant in a difficult-to-specify way. She was, of course, used to the presence of unhidden Jedi, and to the way they stood out from their surroundings. What made this occasion special was the perception of contrast. So far, she had met all persons in only one state, and it made her wonder if she would have reacted differently to them had the met them in the other. She made a mental note that, once she had learned this technique, she had to pay attention to whether Jedi, or people in general, behaved differently towards her.

"Thank you", she said, smiling happily. "That's very helpful. I'll have to experiment with this. But I'll need to know this, too: is there a way to know if it works without having someone stand besides you and tell you?" If there wasn't, this would make the situation a bit awkward. At the very beginning, when you didn't yet know what you were doing, it was especially hard to make progress without immediate feedback.

 

[Master Maverick]

The plant would have grumbled if she had any less control over her own action. As it was her expression merely hardened, if that was at all possible. Indeed, it seemed as though she were made of stone at this point rather than wood.

Given that it was a rather spacious ship there was plenty of room to lose herself within and keep away from the fleshy organics that filled this mass of metal. The lack of life was starting to get to her, but she'd deal with it. Indeed, she mentally cursed herself for being so weak as to be so easily affected by her surroundings. Having immersed herself on jungle worlds since her awakening had spoiled her and she wasn't use to such places. It was at this point, when she had been in meditation for the better part of an hour, that she relaxed, at least moderately. Her demeanor softened, hardly noticeably, and the tense aura that had surrounded her diminished.

The verging-on-significant pulse of a presence in the Force only proved to push Tuwan back into her sour mood. Though, not as bad as before. She didn't care to know the reason for it: perhaps he was showing off; perhaps he was proving a point. Regardless it was superfluous and childish (even though she did admit she didn't know why whoever did it, did it).

She hoped they'd make landfall soon. Spending any amount of time with these younglings was always tiring. Even those she liked remotely rubbed her the wrong way. It seemed no one knew anything. At least as she saw it. They were all ignorant but proud of what little they actually thought they knew. It was hilarious in a way, but sad in another. Overall it just irked her and she wanted to get the thing... she had forgotten at this point considering it overall irrelevant.

 

[Solaris]

"Practically nothin' but th' Alliance," Char remarked as he watched the Phoenix's tactical display from the co-pilot's chair. The ship dropped out of hyperspace in the Adega System, the twin suns in the distance with the russet-and-gold world looming large directly ahead. The two moons, Mim and Nerit, hung in the black uncomfortably close to the world. Char quirked a wry smile; he was not going to have an easy time getting used to moons that big and that close. "Alright, Jenny. Let's do us a sweep an' see what we can rustle up by way a' landin' spots. We'll look for signs a' undisturbed ruins." He thought a moment. "An' let's look into puttin' in on Nerit - the big one - for a spell, too, after we're done. Looks green. I think Tuwan might like that."

Char got up to go tell the others and glanced out at the world ahead of them. He felt something. . . something familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. Well, that could get interesting indeed. "I'm thinkin' we start near them mountains," he said. "The Eochos, by th' ruins of the old spaceport."

Spoiler: OOC

They should pick up the Sunrider, Nasiri's personal craft.

 

[Stacker01]

Ashur was glad to have someone he was 'teaching' who also had questions. He knew many of those who were learning beside him never seemed to have questions, which ultimately made things harder. He smiled to her again before speaking. "Yes, but at first it is harder to notice straight within yourself. As with all things done in the Force this changes the relation between you and others in the Force. The difference is that this is changing something in you rather than in someone or something else. It is interesting because when someone else would begin to notice that change so will you."

He reached out in the Force, not allowing his presence to be put out, but rather feeling about in the Force to others. He was thinking about how his example of how The Way of the Small might have affected others, failing to think properly of it at the time. So he reached out, hoping he had nothing bothered the others too much. At the same time he was also reaching out to Amilthi, gauging her presence in the Force and getting a sense of how she may be reacting to his simple, and likely poor, teaching. He stopped when the small jolt of returning to normal space came. "We may be arriving at our destination soon, it seems. Would you mind meditating with me before we land?"

 

[Amilthi]

Jenny was wary of this empty system. A planet with two moons, and both of them so close, offered plenty of hiding spots. But they were undisturbed, and guided by the autopilot their ship sailed smoothly onto a course for the orbit of Ossus. Jenny didn't leave her seat, though, and kept ready to grab the joystick at a moment's notice if it became necessary.

"Phoenix, you heard the man. Survey the area of the Eochos mountains and identify non-natural structures and landing points in their vicinity."

It took a few more minutes for them to reach the appropriate angle before the ship's computer could conduct its search.

"You might be interested to know that there is a fighter craft of recent design landed near the ruins of a spaceport", said the ship's AI, reporting first the item its algorithms had identified as most unexpected, and therefore most relevant.

"Well?" Jenny looked at Char over her shoulder.

---

"Very well", said Amilthi, and sat down with the elder Jedi. This called for a focussing meditation. In a way she had done thousands of times during the past years, she concentrated on her perception of the Force, blinding out all sensory perceptions from her awareness, and leaving only the Force. There was still plenty to see there, if she had wanted, she could have known her surroundings, behind, below, above here, in whichever direction, from whichever angle she wanted. But this wasn't her goal right now. She retreated entirely into herself, restricting her attention to what the Force felt like within her. The closest non-Force-related analogue of it would have been to attend the position of one's body - not to tactile perceptions, but to the configurations of all the parts, to sense exactly where they were in space relative to each other.

Focussed on the flow of the Force within herself, Amilthi made an effort to contract it - and lost consciousness. After a second of alarming staggering motion, she fell sideways to the ground with a thud.

 

[Solaris]

"It's a Vee-Eff-Forty-One Type Two-Cee aerobat," Char said with a frown, recognizing the model as the ship called up data on it from her sensor sweeps. He recognized the paint job, too. "A Valkyrie-class. Check the transponder code, an' take us in running black." He glanced at Jenny. "An' it's the Eocho mountains, Eochos is th' plural. The native Ysanna live there."

By 'running black', he meant to engage the Phoenix's stealth countermeasures. The ship, while not a true stealth vessel, was perhaps as close as a civilian craft could get. Its No-Show shield, while inhibiting the transport's deflector shields, absorbed incoming radiation nearly perfectly and prevented easy detection of the ship in most situations. They were on the planet's night side; the only way they would be detected is if someone noticed the ship blotting out the stars.

He hoped.

 

[Stacker01]

Ashur had been meditating for only a moment, centering his being on the Force, when a sudden thud caught his attention and pulled him back to his own body. Quickly glancing around he noticed Amilthi was laying on the ground, unconcious. He quickly got to his feet and moved to her, not touching her but rather using the Force to understand what had just happened, if there was anything wrong with her. From all that he could do, he felt nothing outstanding. This was an odd phenomena, not one he'd ever seen or experienced before. He could tell she was trying to constrict her presence in the Force, which made him wonder just how she had been trying. If by the way he was trying to show then perhaps it was simply because it started too fast or she had mistakenly constricted her consciousness. He wasn't sure but he did believe she simply needed to rest, at least until they landed.

Scooping her into his arms gently, Ashur stood up, still searching with the Force. He stepped over to the bed in the room and lay her on it. Being Codru-Ji he didn't have to worry about funny business because his people didn't even sleep in beds, or prone for that matter. Once she was laid down on the floor he went into a standing meditation to closer examine her and find if anything in particular was wrong.

 

[Amilthi]

The AI reported the Valkyrie's transponder codes. "Hm, ring a bell?" Jenny asked with a glance over her shoulder before she activated the ship's stealth mode and had the autopilot plot a course for entry into the atmosphere. Hitting the atmosphere when they were roughly geostationary so that the repulsorlifts could take over was not so easy to do by hand, but it was necessary if they wanted to avoid being detected like a meteorite that would inexplicably slow down instead of exploding. Fortunately, the computer had a much easier time doing the calculation and adjusting course accordingly.

"Please fasten your seatbelt, or some such thing. Do they still say that on the civilian liners on re-entry these days, or have they come to trust their inertial dampeners?" Their entry into the atmosphere was almost unnoticeable. Only when Jenny shut down the main engines somewhere in the upper atmosphere to prevent the engine lights from being seen form the wrong angly was a real change to be felt, as the engine's humming was echanged for the whooshing of the air on the hull.

---

When he examined her, Ashur-Dan could feel that the circulation of the Force through Amilthi's body was greatly diminished. Apparently, instead of looking small on the outside, she had caused herself to be small. However, it was already beginning to restore itself, and it took mere minutes for Amilthi to come to again. She looked disoriented and sat up. After a couple of seconds that she needed to apprehend her situation, she frowned.

"Huh. Tell me if I'm wrong, but... did I just discover how to switch myself off? How long was I unconscious?" She listened for a moment. "We're still flying, aren't we? Good."

"I'm sorry about this", she said with a slightly embarrassed smile as she stood up. "I didn't know this was even possible. So apparently I tried for a solution in the wrong place. I don't suppose you can tell me what exactly I did or you'd have warned me of the danger, but did you notice anything peculiar?" she inquired curiously. The incident didn't seem to bother her at all.

 

[Solaris]

Char looked troubled. What was she doing on Ossus? "Looks like we won't be the only ones out here," he said dourly. "Put 'er down close as ya can to the Sunrider, Jen - an' get the weapons primed. Looks like we'll be havin' some company."

---

The landing zone was rather devoid of life, save for a rather distraught S19 astromech. Having completed as much maintenance as it could think of, the little droid had attempted to find its mistress - only to discover that, to its horror, she was gone. It had been frantic, trying to locate her or raise her on comlink, but to no avail. Finally, it had settled down and hunkered under the ship, sending out periodic sensor sweeps in a desperate effort to find her. It picked up the approaching Phoenix and began beeping excitedly, hoping that the ship and people aboard it would be able to help it find its lost mistress.

The droid warbled mournfully as it watched the bipeds walked off the ramp, too scared to leave the shelter of the Valkyrie to approach the unknown people but still desperate for their help. When it identified Char at the front of the group, it started chittering excitedly.

"That woman," Char sighed tiredly. He looked at his fellow Separatists. "Th' fighter like as not belongs to Nasiri Lavii. Y'all might remember her from th' Convocation, she was the redhead in white. Don't rightly know what all she's doin' out here, but knowin' her . . . prob'bly nothin' good."