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Ookakiba

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It was times like this where he felt lucky to have such a caring mother and sister. Even years after they hadn't seen him, practically thought he was dead, his mother and sister still treated him like family...like they hadn't spent a day apart. He smiled to himself as he recalled the few days he spent with his family before leaving Corellia.

"That'd be lovely"

Paul responded as Naomi said that if she found her family she'd try and see if he could stay there. He simply nodded as she said they probably would have enough credits to rent an apartment for a while, if necessary, which was a good thing. Though he raised an eyebrow as she spoke about the computer acting funny.

"Well, that's not a surprise, this ship seems pretty old."

Paul stated calmly as he walked over towards the computer and gave it a glance. He could probably fix the computer, but he wasn't sure how long that would take, and really he wasn't all that interesting. Giving the console a pat, he waked towards where Naomi was and sat on the floor a few feet away. He smiled as he crossed legged, placed his lightsabers on the floor, and took a deep breath. Once again he opened himself to the force as he let it flow through him, in an attempt to increase his bond and strength with the force.

"So, how exactly did you get on the smuggler ship?"

Paul asked calmly as he looked towards Naomi, his eyes seeming to give off a calm aura.
 

Jiang Winters

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"I, uh... Kinda stowed away on it to get off Coruscant. Big mistake, huh?"

She laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her furry head. "I don't care to talk about my story before that, though. There's a lotta stuff in my past I'd like to leave buried. A lotta baggage I don't want to think about."

The female sighed heavily and offered up a weak smile to Paul. "But it's in my past now. I get to move on!" she exclaimed, joy in her voice. Naomi's energy and enthusiasm returned to her as she rummaged through a pouch clipped to the hip of her armored undersuit, and dug out a small photograph. "And if I'm super lucky," she said, leaning forward and handing the photo - a fairly recent one of her father, Jiang Winters - "Then I'll be living with him and my mom soon. That's Jiang - he's my dad. According to what I could dig up, he's a Jedi! Or... Was one. I'm not sure, there was barely anything on him. Oh! And he's huge! He's like, seven and a half feet tall!"

She held her hands up in a wild gesture that exaggerated his height greatly. It was obvious that the Mashi Horansi/Kasa Horansi hybrid was excited; she wanted to meet her parents desperately. They were her future in every way imaginable. "...I just, I can't wait. I want a family and a normal life. Y'know?"
 

Ookakiba

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"Ah, well don't let the past get to you, sometimes it’s best to just move on and let those memories serve as a guide to help you survive."

Paul said calmly as he smiled towards Naomi. He listened patiently as he took the picture that she handed to him and looked at it. The picture reminded him of his own father, a man who he remembered a bit from his youth, but had perished in the cold Hoth snow. It was a shame his father couldn't see how much he had grown, a true man of the family. "Sucks that you can't be here old man, well guess you're watching from somewhere I suppose." A smile crept on his face as he handed the picture back to Naomi.

He would let the feline continue talking, as he listened with undivided attention, then chuckled as she finished. She was quite eager to meet her family, though it was understandable. Though, seeing as her dad was a Jedi, perhaps her dad could teach him a few things.

"Well, I'm sure you'll find your family. Don't worry, I'll help you find them, after all you did help me escape from that ship."

Paul said as he looked towards the windows.

"Living a normal life would be great, but now a days, normal doesn't exist. Though, living a peaceful life is the next best solution or living it the way you want too. Once, we get to Coruscant, we'll see if we can find any information on your family. Just have some patience, it'll do you some good, don't get too excited."

Paul stated with a slight chuckle at the end as he closed his eyes, attempting to go into a meditative state. Unfortunately, this was interrupted as the ship shook, forcing Paul to place a hand on the floor. A thud could be heard, as it echoed throughout the ship, the ship finally coming out of hyperspace. Paul looked towards Naomi with a curious look as he stood up, glancing around the ship.

"Please tell me that the 'thud' was due us exiting hyperspace and not a malfunction on the ship...or impact."
 

Jiang Winters

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Naomi laughed and smiled warmly at Paul's surprise. "Relax," she replied reassuringly, "The girl's just old." She rose to her feet and reached back, rapping her fist against the hull a few times. "She'll hold together. That was just the sound of the power couplers disconnecting and the inertial compensator systems coming on-line. Ship just shunted power from the hyperdrive to other systems, that's all. It's perfectly normal."

She walked past the human and gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder. "Just take a seat and relax. I'll bring us in. It'll be a bit... Different from the AB19 I trained on. A lot smaller and more squirrelly. I don't like light, low-powered ships like this; they're unresponsive in atmosphere and skittish out of atmosphere. But eh, the lighter tonnage will just make it easier to put us down without cracking up."

The feline palmed the cockpit door control, then paused, blinking. "...Or the reduced engine output and lower-powered braking thrusters could... Er, nevermind, you don't wanna know. Just, erm... If you hear a 'thud' or an explosion, an alarm goes off, and I start cussing, then you might just want to hold onto something. And pray. Mostly pray."

Naomi slid into the cramped cockpit and settled into the pilot's chair. She strapped herself in and seized the control yoke -mounted on the right arm of the chair- and the thrust stick -mounted to her left- and took control. It wasn't difficult to merge with one of the dozens of traffic lanes heading planetside; within moments, she was flying alongside hundreds, if not thousands, of transport ships and shuttlecraft. She let out a low whistle and idly remarked, "More crowded than the space lanes around Noblesse. I'll have to watch my tail..."

The flight was fairly smooth for the first few minutes. Naomi was a capable pilot - flying in such tight formation was second nature to her, and she didn't seem bothered by the nerve-wracking maelstrom of ships and thruster exhaust that whipped about in front of her. In fact, she seemed incredibly nonchalant.

That was, until a light freighter, piloted by a half-drunk man and strapped to the gills with fuel pods, made its appearance in their lane of traffic. The fool was in the wrong lane and was hurtling straight for them on a collision course! There was no time to warn Paul; she yanked back on the stick, the little craft darting upwards in a desperate attempt to evade the oncoming vessel that had appeared so unexpectedly. The proximity of the other ship and the sheer force of its thruster exhaust made the little shuttle rattle as if it was flying through a thunderstorm.

Unfortunately, the engine wash of the larger ship was just too much for the smaller vessel's hull plating to bear; the stern of the hull flared white-hot and half the drives burnt out and began churning out thick black smoke. The ship shook violently and a disturbing, low-pitched whine sounded, then slowly died down and disappeared altogether. The lights in the shuttle failed and the emergency lights snapped back on.

"Paul, grab onto something. We're going in hard; some jackass buzzed us in a freighter. His engine wash cooked this poor thing. I've lost..." She paused, checking her diagnostics screen. On the ship's schematic, the entire rear half of the ship was flashing yellow, with half the engines blacked out, the other half flashing red, and the power plant flashing red. "Shit. Paul? If you aren't religious, you might wanna get religious fast."

Without waiting for a response from the other teen, Naomi grabbed a headset off of the cockpit's inner wall and plopped it on. She fidgeted with the microphone for a split second before calling up the CSF - the Coruscant Security Force. They'd be able to direct them to a landing point.

"Coruscant Security Force, this is Shuttle... Foxtrot Kilo Zero Niner Seven Eight. We are in low orbit and have just lost half of our engines. Our power plant is failing and we are rapidly losing altitude. Time to atmosphere is about twenty seconds at current speed. Please advise, over."

The subspace radio was silent for a moment, then crackled to life, filling the cockpit with orders from the control tower. "Foxtrot Kilo Zero Niner Seven Eight, this is CSF Frigate 'Tantalus.' You are now flight 'X-Ray,' break. We're transmitting landing co-ordinates to your ship. Co-ordinates are for a civilian air field in the industrial district, break. At your current speed, we estimate that you are approximately two minutes from the field, break. Please confirm that you have received co-ordinates, X-ray."

Naomi sighed in relief. "X-ray, solid copy on all. Co-ordinates received, plotting course now." She paused, glancing at the screens again. "Uh, Tantalus, my screens are showing an engine fire in my starboard engine compartments. Can you confirm visually? Over."

"That is confirmed, X-ray. You're smoking pretty bad. We'll have the spaceport emergency services brigade on stand-by."

She frowned. Engine fires weren't good, especially on shuttles like her and Paul's. The thrusters were old-fashioned, using a fuel that consisted of both the fuel itself and its oxidizing agent, making it capable of burning in space. A fuel fire meant that their ship could go 'pop' if it spread to the fuel tanks; it needed to be stopped, and she could already see that the automatic fire suppression system was fried.

"Paul!" she hollered back. "Find a fire extinguisher and head towards this tub's engine bay in the back. My displays show that it still has atmosphere back there, so you should be fine. Get back there; there should be a fire, starboard side. Can't miss it! And cut the primary fuel lines while you're at it."

She paused and took a breath. "When you're done with that, I need you to find the manual override for the landing skids and pop them when I tell you to. Something's wrong with the electronics - I can't access them. We've about thirty seconds tops before this thing hits atmosphere, so hurry! Otherwise this rust-bucket may shake you off your feet!"
 

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"I am relaxed; I just don't like small ships. They seem to have an issue with crashing."

He stated after she gave him a pat on the back and made her way to the door. Paul wasn't a fan of ships like these, plus since he didn't know any technical ship details, it made him slightly more uneasy. He took a deep breath to calm down as he placed a hand on the chair to sit down. Unfortunately, it seemed like something was going on.

He turned towards Naomi as he stood straight up, a strange feeling pricking at the back of his neck. It felt strange, as if it were some warning of some kind, but his gut soon confirmed that feeling as he felt a sinking feeling and Naomi telling him to pray.

"Now's probably the worse time to say...I have a bad feeling, isn't it?"

He said in a slight joking tone as he stayed near his chair, watching Naomi take control of the ship. He walked towards her placing his hand at the top of her chair as he watched what was going on. It was practically a chaotic mess above the planet; thankfully, Naomi was a good pilot and could hold her own. Though, Paul wasn't sure what the Noblesse was.

Of course, things just had to get worse as Paul felt the ship fly upwards, causing him to lose his balance, and tumble backwards towards the mid-section of the shuttle. A chair would stop his tumbling as his back slammed into the stationary object, causing him to grunt as he caught his bearings. His hands gripped the chair as the ship shook, the temperature inside the ship rising, and then the lights flicked off, turning towards the reserve power.

Things had just went from bad to worse, as Paul regained his senses and stood back up onto his feet. He could tell by the shift of pressure, and the fact that he wasn't tumbling backwards that the ship direction had change. Unfortunately, a new problem arose as smoke came from the engine room, which indicated a severe, and possibly fatal threat. "Looks like there's no time to waste." He thought to himself as he made his way towards the engine room.

He coughed as he inhaled some of the smoke, cursing under his breath while grabbing the fire extinguisher. It was at that moment he heard Naomi call out to do what he had already planned, and within a few seconds the sound of pressurized water released its fury on the small fire. The room was littered with the residue of the fire extinguisher as he could hear a small whine coming from the engine, and a loud grown echoed throughout the ship. The fire extinguisher was placed on the floor as the engine room door was closed, and Paul made his way towards Naomi.

"That loud groan, can't be good. Also, the manual control for the brakes and landing skids are right there."

Paul said with a stoic expression as he pointed towards a small lever, hidden on the starboard side of the cockpit. He grabbed Naomi's shoulder lightly as the shuttle hit the atmosphere, and once more the groan echoed throughout the ship. With a deep breath, he did his best to remain calm, still a slight sense of panic could be found within his eyes. He was starting to have a strong dislike for flying, granted it was the only way he could get around, it was starting to become more of a hazard with each trip.
 

Jiang Winters

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"Really?" Naomi leaned in and glanced at the lever Paul had indicated, only to sigh in frustration. "No, those are the emergency air brakes. Shit! Does this tub even have manual skid controls?" she grumbled. She was silenced in short order as the little craft began to punch through the upper layers of the atmosphere, beelining straight for Coruscant's surface. The shuttle bucked violently and its metal frame loosed off groans of protest. A sharp crack, much like thunder in sound, blasted through the ship as the vessel's outdated fuel system gave out and exploded. They were fortunate - there was so little fuel remaining after the engine fire that the explosion caused almost no damage, save for utterly ruining the entire engine compartment and re-igniting the engine fires.

"Heat must've wrecked the pumps. That was a tank explosion, Paul," Naomi explained grimly. "Good thing is, with no fuel, this rust bucket just shed a good chunk of its weight. Bad thing is we're stuck with emergency thrusters. I'm not gonna be able to brake. I'll be lucky if we can even stay on course. You might want to buckle into the co-pilot's seat and hold tight. This is going to get a lot worse before it gets better."

The feline's hand left the thruster controls and flew across the shuttle's touchscreen displays. Dull thuds and hisses echoed through the ship as Naomi systematically dumped the shuttle's water, air, refrigerant, and septic tanks. The weight lost was minimal, but every little bit helped. The starport's emergency runway, brightly lit with dozens of flashing blue and white lights, was in sight; was in view. There was no time left. Naomi engaged the shuttle's retrorockets and yanked the air brake controls.

The braking rockets snapped to life with a ferocious roar. The explosive bolts holding the emergency air brakes in place detonated, allowing powerful springs to fold the brakes out, creating a tremendous amount of drag to slow the racing vessel. The ship shook so violently that it seemed like it might fall apart - Naomi never noticed the rattle, though. Her gaze was entirely fixed on her instruments. She kept track of their altitude and airspeed with rapt attention, her ears twitching every time she saw something odd. Her right hand, acting as if by instinct, constantly made tiny corrections using the ship's flight stick. It was, in a way, the world's most dangerous balancing act - so much as one wrong move, and the shuttle she piloted would become a flaming ball of wreckage bouncing along the tarmac.

The runway came rushing up to the ship. She softly bit her lower lip as the altimeter ticked down. "Ten meters," she muttered. "Seven... Six... Aw, ****berries."

The last six meters disappeared in an instant. The ship's tail smacked the ground and the vessel bounced, turned several degrees to one side, then flew forward as it fell and struck the pavement again. A cascade of white-hot sparks chased after the vessel as it skidded along, ripping the tarmac apart as it gradually slowed down. Alarms blared inside the little ship and Naomi was terrified into silence. The ship's nose caught, the vessel flipped up, skidded along on its bow for a half-dozen meters, then, slowly, flopped over onto its back and kept going. It bounced, rolled, and slid its way across three hundred meters of tarmac before it finally came to a stop, rolled on its back in the middle of the emergency runway, with smoke and fire belching out of its engine compartment.

Naomi, knocked unconscious by the sheer force of the final few impacts, hung limply from her seat's harness. They were, however, safe... At least, until the ship decided to randomly explode, which might well pose a few health hazards.
 

Ookakiba

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"Oh..."

Paul said as Naomi responded to his statement, while the ship punched through the atmosphere. No matter what situation they seemed to be getting themselves into, there was always something worse waiting to happen. This shuttle was no longer an old rust bucket; since now it became a metal deathtrap. His hand gripped the chair tightly as the shuttle shook violently, its speed now increasing as the ground seemed to come ever so closely.

Half of their ship gone, or so it seemed, and there was no emergency brakes, which meant that it wouldn't be the friendliest of all landings. Without hesitation he slid into the co-pilot's seat and fastened the belt around him, making sure he wouldn't go flying off. Adrenaline coursed through his body as his heartbeat rose, things were getting intense, but he sped his breath up to match his heartbeat. It was an attempt to calm himself down as he opened himself up to the force, to prepare himself for impact. He wasn't sure if it would do anything, but it would at least help him mentally to calm down.

"We might just be lucky-"

Paul began to say as they neared the runway about six feet till target, before the shuttle's tail slammed into the ground beneath them. "Crap." Paul thought as he felt the shuttle begin to slide through the tarmac, and then all hell broke loose. Paul sighed and gripped his seat as he surrounded himself with the force, to the best of his ability, while the sheer pressure of the ship constantly tried to send him into an unconscious state. The final bounce finally succeeded as it slammed Paul into the back of his chair, causing him to black out for a few seconds.

The shuttle came to a halt while smoke rose from the engine, and flames began to engulf the craft. Paul squinted his eyes as he regained consciousness, hearing a small thud sound as his lightsabers hit the ceiling. His ears rang with a high-pitched noise as he instantly began coughing, the smoke irritating his lungs. He kept his eyes close for a few seconds to regain his vision, and then opened them only to see his lightsabers above him. "How'd those get there? Why are they on the ceiling if-" It was then when it hit him, that they were now hanging upside down.

"Naomi? Naomi!"

He called out, but received no response. "Shit, she better not be dead!" He thought as he stretched his arms out, as a flood of pain rushed through his nerves. The shock and stress of the entire accident had registered in his mind, and the seat had bruised a part of his chest, due to clinging on so tight to him. Biting his tongue, Paul stretched his arms out as he used the force to bring the lightsabers to his hand. Clipping one of them to his belt, the familiar snap-hiss sound of the lightsaber echoed through the burning shuttle as he carefully cut the seat belt lose.

Instantly, he fell face forward onto the ceiling, which could now be considered the floor as he used his forearms and knees to brace himself, hitting the floor with a slight thud, and then cursed underneath his breath. If they somehow managed to get out of this shuttle, he was going to be extremely sore tomorrow. He swayed side to side as he rose, his blade still ignited as he looked up towards Naomi, the feline dangling limply from her chair.

"Now's not the time to take a nap Naomi."

Paul said mockingly while he cut the feline's seat belt, almost completely tumbling over as he caught her on his shoulder with one arm and turned off his lightsaber. Pain rushed through his body once more as he felt her weight straining him, and his right leg had gone from better to worse. He ignored the pain as he waded through the shrapnel, glass, and smoke that seemed to engulf the shuttle. He felt the heat of the fires as they increased, sweat dripping down his face, while he felt the side of the cockpit wall.

His feet swept away any glass or shrapnel in the area around him, and then placed Naomi down. Instantly, the snap-hiss of two lightsabers ignited the air as the orange and silver light could be dimly seen inside the shuttle through the thick smoke. With a grunt Paul slammed the two blades into the side of the ship, feeling the sabers pushed through the steel. It was an older model, but these things were a pain to cut through, even with lightsabers. As the hilt reached the wall, Paul began to push the blades in a counter-clockwise formation in order to create a circle to escape.

"Damn this metal."

He said to himself while he pushed on through, finally forming the full circle as he deactivated his sabers and clipped them back onto his belt. With a hand he pushed against the circle, but no luck, it wouldn't budge. Paul sighed and then took a deep breath as he force pushed against the wall, only to create a dent in it. He glared at the wall as he continued this process a few more times, only to find more dents in it.

"DAMN IT!"

His voice echoed through the shuttle, as he heard emergency crews attempting to rescue them. He swallowed his saliva as he took short breaths to avoid inhaling to much smoke. It was becoming more irritating by the second, and he was running out of energy, fast. "I'm not gonna' die here and I won't let Naomi die. This ship can't stop me!." He thought as both rage and adrenaline coursed through his veins. No matter how calm he could keep himself, no matter how hard he tried to keep himself calm, at this moment he failed to do just that. It was his true first life-or-death scenario, and he chose to live.

The metal circle received a pounding as Paul continued to force push the wall in front of him, his power filled with both rage and adrenaline. He took a deep breath as he mustered as much energy as he could and released it, in a final force push, watching the wall fly forward and skid towards the emergency crews. The light of day was a welcome sight. Using whatever remaining energy left in his body, Paul picked up Naomi and ran as fast as possible away from the ship.
 

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As Paul so bravely hauled Naomi from the twisted wreckage of their shuttle, the emergency response team was encircling the crashed ship. Repulsorlift fire engines doused the roaring flames with streams of fire suppressant foam, while a handful of CSF and RSF patrol cruisers came tearing in, with an ambulance hot on the heels of the law enforcement vehicles. With the response in full swing, it seemed that all there was to do now was sit back and watch the wrecked ship as its hellish internal fires were stamped out, one at a time.

A pair of Paramedics emerged from the ambulance and, accompanied by a CSF officer, made their way towards Paul. The Medics dragged an antigrav-stretcher behind them. "Hey!" one of them shouted, to get Paul's attention. They turned the stretcher sideways and came to a halt in front of him. "Here, set your friend down." The Medic gave the stretcher a gentle pat. "We'll treat her. You should come with us, too. Wouldn't hurt to get checked out after a wreck like that; you're lucky to be alive as it is, so I wouldn't be surprised if you've got some bumps and bruises to show for it." He paused, then gestured to Paul's clothes and lightsabers. "You look like a Jedi. Do you need us to contact the temple for you, or what?"

While the Medics and firefighters busily tended to the crashed vessel and its victims, a fair number of curious bystanders began to creep closer to the wreck. They were the pilots and passengers of other ships; craft that had been grounded until emergency services had dealt with the wrecked craft. One such passenger was Dalang Winters, who had been preparing to leave Coruscant along with his elder brother up until a certain shuttle came hurtling in and went bouncing and skipping 'cross the runway. The ex-policeman wandered close enough to watch as what appeared to be a Jedi cut his way out of the wreck, then carry a black-armored feline towards the Medics.

"Black armor, black fur... Is that Ayda? Looks a little small to be her. Still, maybe I should try to get a bit closer and have a look-see, here," he mused silently. The big cat started to move in closer to Paul and company, with the intent of getting a look in and seeing if the unconscious female was, indeed, who he thought it was.
 

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His mind simply raced as he heard the sirens and sound of paramedics and law enforcers racing around the flaming ship. It was pure adrenaline coursing through his body as he continued racing away from the ship, to avoid the massive explosion that could happen, though he would soon find himself surrounded by paramedics that stopped him in his tracks.

Instinct was to simply shove them aside and race to a hospital, but soon the adrenaline wore off, and that's when logic kicked in. With a sigh of relief, Paul placed Naomi on the stretcher and sighed as he stumbled a bit, and then sat on the ground. For the first few seconds he ignored the comments made by the paramedics in order to let his own mind and body reach a calm point. With a faint smile he leaned on the stretcher as he took a deep breath, and then looked towards the emergency crews.

"Will my friend, Naomi, be alright?"

Paul asked calmly before he grunted due to the amount of pain he was in. After the adrenaline had worn off, he could feel the pain in his entire right leg, and his back and part of his right arm that had been burned due to the fire. He also probably had some bruised ribs due to the crash, but he couldn't be sure about that.

"There's no need to contact the Jedi temple; I'll let them know as soon as I'm ready."

He stated as he pushed himself up, stumbled, and grabbed onto the paramedic for support.

"I suppose, I could use a checkup, and a pair of new clothes would be nice."

Paul mused as he looked around. There was quite the crowd around the crews, but his eyes glanced at one specific individual: the big cat. Perhaps it was just a simple reaction at seeing another feline species. Paul would stare directly at the big cat in a stoic gaze for a few seconds, enough for the cat to notice, and then return his focus back towards the paramedics.

"Food would be nice as well."
 

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"Kid, you don't need a checkup; you need a day in a kolto tank and a weeklong rest after that. You're pretty badly hurt." the medic replied. A second paramedic moved in and helped the first to support Paul. "C'mon, let's get you in the ambulance."

The duo began to usher their charge towards the same ambulance as Naomi's, only to freeze in their tracks as they noticed a certain walking tiger whom had managed to slip right through the line of policemen trying to hold back the civilian onlookers. The feline approached the stretcher on which Naomi was laid out, his ears folding back in worry. The unconscious female wasn't Ayda - she was too young and too small. The resemblance was there, though - there was no doubt in Dalang's mind that the small female was Ayda's daughter.

"Uh, sir, I'm gonna have to ask you to step ba-" a Medic began to say, but Dal cut him off with a wave of his hand as he pulled Naomi's datapad out of the pouch attached to her belt, at her hip. The feline booted it up; sure enough, the boot screen displayed a string of text reading, 'Property of Naomi Kaede'. He'd know that last name anywhere. The feline looked to the Medic and held the pad up.

"She's my niece," he replied. "I'm Dal Winters, I'm her mom's brother-in-law. It's been a while since I saw her." He was lying, of course, but the medic wouldn't be able to tell. At least, that was his hope. The feline shut off the pad and replaced it in its pouch.

The medic froze for a moment. "Uh... Well then, in that case, I guess you're free to ride with us to the hospital? Maybe you can call her mother and father for us, too."

Dalang nodded. "Will do."

Naomi was loaded into the ambulance, and her 'Uncle' sat in the back with her. The medic with Paul sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Great, now we have Tony the Tiger ridin' with us... Alright kid, let's get to the hospital, shall we?"
 

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"I'm not injured that bad now, just a flesh wound."

He mused with a slight smile as he let the other medic support him. In reality, he hadn't checked on his wounds, and judging by the entire incident, they were probably right. With a nod he agreed as the medics began walking him towards the ambulance, of course not without something or somebody interrupting the scene.

Paul gave a curious glance as he watched the same feline he had spotted earlier walk over towards the medics that were taking care of Naomi. Whether it was the force or his guts, something didn't feel right about the feline, though it wasn't in a negative way. It was more of a feeling that the feline was around to investigate, more than just seeming to be a coincidental 'relative' showing up on the scene. "I'll have to keep an eye on him." Paul thought to himself as he took a deep breath and sighed.

Perhaps it was the stress and the series of events that led him to be thinking in this direction, but there was an air of uncertainty around the feline that Paul didn't like (he didn't believe the feline's relative story either). Still, now wasn't the time to be judging character, he needed to get to a hospital to get some rest, his body demanded it.

"Hey, at least breakfast will be greeeaattt."

Paul responded towards the medic's comment as he was loaded onto the ambulance. It was quite roomy for an ambulance, probably one of the larger models for transporting multiple people. Paul polite refused a stretcher as he sat down on the side of the ambulance, a small smile on his face. It felt good to be finally safe and relaxed for once, and as the ambulance started, he sighed.

"We'll be at the hospital in a few minutes."

The driver called out towards the other medics and the passengers, as the ambulance took off towards the hospital at the fastest speed allowed. Paul crossed his arms as he began to meditate, while his eyes glanced over towards the male feline. His body screamed for sleep, rest, and recovery, but he had a few more questions to ask.

"So, you're Naomi's uncle, what a coincidence that you seem to arrive at the airport when this happen. What were you doing here? I don't recall her mentioning that she had an uncle in Coruscant."

Paul asked in his traditional calm tone as he looked straight towards the feline. His intention was to find out what the feline wanted, though through his words, it might have been interpreted differently to others. With his lightsabers and robes, he could easily justify this questionnaire by being a Jedi. Hopefully, after recovering, he wouldn't find the same fate awaiting him from the Jedi temple.
 

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Dalang found it difficult to divert his attention away from Naomi. Now that he was sitting beside her, it was impossible to mistake her lineage. Everything about her was a mirror image of Ayda Kaede, from her clothing to her fur. Perhaps the only difference was her size - Naomi was noticeably shorter and smaller than Ayda, though that would be easily explained by the girl's age.

He dug out his personal datapad and flicked it on, his thumb moving over the touchscreen's keybad to dial Ayda's comms number, only to freeze in mid-keystroke. His ears lowered and he frowned; Ayda had disappeared not too long ago, along with Sonam. He cleared out the previous numbers that he had entered and typed in Jiang's number instead. Just as his thumb hovered over the 'Call' icon, Paul spoke up.

The feline's eyes shifted up towards Paul, one ear flicking in annoyance as the teen interrogated him. "I could ask the same of you, kid. What were you doing in the same shuttle as my niece?" he replied nonchalantly, before sitting up straight and explaining himself. "As for me, I was at the port with my brother, Jiang. We were getting ready to head back to our homeworld for a couple weeks of vacation. Speaking of Jiang..."

Dal thumbed the 'Call' button and put the datapad/comms unit up to his ear. As soon as Jiang picked up, the feline began speaking. "Ji, it's Dalang. Mei Xing was in the shuttle that came in at the starport. The ambulance is from Coruscant Medical University, so get your tail over there."

He hung up before his brother could even reply. He knew the other feline would hurry to the hospital, though; Mei Xing had been the nickname Jiang had given to Ayda while they were teens. Jiang would be expecting his dearest friend to be injured; Dal could only imagine the surprise that the poor tiger would endure when he arrived at the hospital to find that he would be looking over Ayda's daughter, rather than Ayda herself.

The Kasa Horansi shut off the datapad and tucked it back into its holster. He flicked his tail in Paul's general direction, to catch the teen's attention. "So," he stated, "I've told you why I was at the starport. Now do me a favor and get me up to speed on what my niece has gone and gotten herself into this time, if you'd be so kind."
 

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Paul's eyes flickered toward Dalang, as the feline responded in a similar tone that he did when he asked his question. Paul raised an eyebrow as he could sense a slight annoyed feeling coming from the feline. Something didn't feel right, it was as if the shuttle crash had interrupted something, or it might have been the fact that this feline had spotted Naomi. Still, Paul was skeptical about the whole 'uncle' story, though it could be true.

His face remained emotionless as he listened to the feline dial a number and call somebody. "Mei Xing? Is that what they call her?" Paul thought as he remained silent for a while. His eyes shifted towards Naomi, while his focus remained on the conversation. Hopefully Naomi would recover well; the damage from the force of the plane had knocked her out quickly, and almost completely knocked out him as well. "Hopefully, we don't have to go through that again." He thought as he crossed his arms. His brown eyes returned back towards Dalang, as the feline asked him to answer the question that was proposed earlier.

"It's quite the long story, and our meeting just happened to be by chance. I don't know what she was doing before we met, but all I can say is that we both happened to be on the same ship, when we were chased by smugglers. We managed to secure the small shuttle that just crashed and made our way to Coruscant. If it wasn't for her, I'd probably be stuck in that ship trying to find out how to work the shuttle."

Paul said and then chuckled slightly as he recalled their frantic escape from the ship. It was quite the adventure, though at least they were on solid ground now. His chuckle faded and left a slight smile on his face.

"There is one thing though, Naomi, she said she wanted to find her family...mainly her parents. You think you can help her with that?"

Paul asked as he stared directly at Dalang. It was more of wanting to help Naomi find the happiness she was searching for than finding out whether or not the male feline was really her uncle. He knew something about her that Paul didn't and perhaps that would help her achieve her goal. He'd attend to his own agenda later.
 

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Dalang thoughtfully rubbed the back of his ears. He couldn't quite puzzle out why Naomi would be aboard a ship with smugglers - then again, he also couldn't quite figure why Naomi looked to be sixteen. He knew for a fact that Ayda didn't have a cub while she was on Mutanda, and assuming that Ayda was pregnant the moment she was taken from her home, then the oldest Naomi could possibly be was eleven or twelve. Perhaps Naomi was a clone or some such? It would make sense if so; Ayda had been a cybernetics testbed for years, from what he understood, and so it was logical for her 'owners' to keep a copy on hand in case anything ever went awry with the real deal.

The tiger shook his head and dispelled such musings from his mind - they were all questions that he'd have to ask later. He tilted his gaze up to Paul and slowly nodded. "I'll try my best," the feline replied. "I know her mother, Ayda. She was a good friend of me and my brothers while we lived on Mutanda. Jiang's closer to her than I am, though; he'll know where to find her. That's why I called him, he'll be able to reunite Naomi with her parents a lot faster than I can."

Folding his arms across his chest, Dal leaned back in his seat and smiled thinly. "After all, I'm just a washed-up cop. Hate to say it, but I'm not much good at helping people anymore. But for family..." he paused, his gaze falling to Naomi. "For family, I'll do anything I can to help."
 

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Paul gave a faint smile as he heard want Dalang had to say. It didn't matter whether he was family or not, he knew more information about her than a random stranger would, so perhaps he was truly family. Whatever the case was, it'd be solved once they all got better and were rested.

"Thank you, that means a lot to me, and probably more to her."

Paul said calmly as he nodded his head in approval and leaned back against the where he was sitting. He took a deep breath and sighed as he went into a meditative trance, letting the force flow through him. "I have to reach out in the force, feel the blood flowing through me, and my cells regenerating." He thought to himself while meditation. Through the force he could feel his cells regenerating and healing a few of the wounds as a small blue light began to form on his palm, though before he could go any further, he felt himself drift off to blackness, finally passing out from the tremendous use of energy.

It smelled like coffee, fresh brewed coffee, with a hint of lemon and...tea? A pair of brown eyes opened instantly as the world seemed to spin around, reality hitting hard. A sense of confusion arose as the sound of a TV could be heard not too far away, and what he thought smelled like coffee was actually eggs and bacon.

"Oh my, you're awake."

A female voice said as a figure entered the room, dropping off what seemed to be a glass of orange juice. She seemed to be in her mid-30s, with blond hair, and green eyes, though he wasn't quite sure about her specific facial features with his eyes still blurry. Paul grunted as he stood up, holding up a hand to tell the nurse not to help. With a deep breath he sighed, and then looked around to figure out where he was.

"Ok I'm in a hospital room. How long have I been here?"

He asked calmly, as he searched for the rest of his belongings.

"You've been here for about 3 days sir, your clothes have been thrown away and your lightsabers are in the drawer next to you. I know how you Jedi like to keep your weapons at all times."

The nurse responded with a stinging emphasis on the word 'Jedi' as she turned and left the room. It seemed somebody wasn't too fond of having a Jedi as a patient.

"Thanks..."

Paul responded as he took a sip of the orange juice, and opened the cabinet. Placing the utility belt on along with his lightsabers, Paul sighed once more as he stood up. It felt weird being on his feet after sleeping for so long, not to mention the hospital clothing were anything but comfortable. He had an objective though, he had to find Naomi. Quickly asking the nurse about the feline, he made his way to the end of the hallway, and to his surprise the door was slightly open.

He knocked twice before slowly pushing the door open, a smile on his face. Naomi was alive, which was a good thing, though he wasn't sure what was going on in the room.

"Naomi, glad to see you're recovering. You've still got your memory right?"

Paul mused as he entered the room, completely forgetting to see if there were others around him.
 

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In the three days that had passed, Naomi had been vigilantly guarded by three visitors - her father, Jiang, and her uncles, Dalang and Weisheng, the latter of whom was the Jedi's Master of the Order. She came around on the second day of her stay, and had spent every waking hour since eagerly chattering away with Jiang - whom she positively identified as her father. Jiang was just as shocked about his status as a father as Naomi was about her father's status as a literal giant. The two were mirror images of each other in every way, from their nervous tics to their humor to their taste in food - there was no doubt in anyone's mind as to who Naomi's father was, and if there was any doubt, it was wholly dispelled when the hospital ran a DNA test to confirm her lineage.

She was amazed by just how much she'd learned about her parents. There were things about them that she had never dreamed of - her mother's incredible strength and bravery, her father's raw willpower and unmatched kindness, the colorful past both mother and father shared... It was all incredible and unfathomable to Naomi. In a way, their life read like a TV series, so full of twists and turns. Admittedly, she was disappointed to learn that her father wasn't married to her mother, but given her mother's frequent disappearing acts and shadowy lifestyle, she was hardly surprised that Ayda and Jiang weren't married.

A lawyer dropped by, just long enough for Jiang to sign the necessary paperwork to take Naomi into his custody. It was more a formality than anything - though he hadn't been her legal guardian, he was her father by blood and by right, and not a single person had dared to challenge that right. Now sporting the name 'Winters' in place of 'Kaede', along with the distinctive hammer pendant worn by all Winters, Naomi was happy as could be.

When Paul finally awoke and dropped in, Naomi had just finished eating and was tucked behind a privacy screen, pulling on her flak jacket and flak pants - the garments were literally bulletproof, and had survived the crash completely intact. As the human entered, he'd be treated to the sight of a two-bed hospital room, with Naomi behind the privacy screen in one corner and the striped titan that was her father sprawled out across one of the beds, fast asleep.

Naomi poked her head out when she heard Paul's voice and beamed at him. "Hey Paul!" she said, waving the tip of her tail at him. She had her pants on and a loose-fitting white sleeveless vest; it was good enough for her, and so she slung her jacket over the top of the screen and stepped out. "I was just about to come out and see how you were doing. How're you?" she asked softly as she padded up to him.
 

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He raised an eyebrow as he walked into the room, finding a privacy screen that he assumed Naomi was hiding behind. Now that he had finally entered the room, he took notice of who was in the room. He noticed a stripped feline on the other bed, adjacent to what was probably Naomi's bed, who he assumed was probably related to her. As Naomi, stepped out with her gear still intact, Paul chuckled slightly.

"Well, I see your clothes are still good, it beats wearing these uncomfortable hospital clothing."

Paul mused slightly as he stopped walking and greeted the feline with a hug. He gave her a playful nudge with his hand after hugging her, and then looked around the room. Her room was definitely larger than his and it seemed to have quite a bit more luxuries than the standard room he was given.

"I'm doing good, apparently I was out for about 3 days, guess my injuries was worse than I thought."

Paul chuckled as he scratched the back of his head.

"You seemed to have recovered faster than I did, and you're a bit more cheerful, I might add. Though, if you don't mind me asking...who's that?"

Paul's voice returned to its usual calm state as he motioned towards the feline sleeping on the bed. He gave a sigh of relief as he gave Naomi a friendly pat on the back, and stretched out his arms. It felt like he slept for an eternity and he felt amazing at this moment.

"By the way, what happened to your Uncle? Anything interesting you learned in the past few days?"


(ooc: Sorry for the somewhat short post XD)
 

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Naomi blinked in surprise as Paul hugged her, then grinned from ear to ear and hugged him tightly in return whilst purring happily. She laughed as he released her and gave her a playful nudge, then shook her head and watched him as he looked around. As he commented on how fast she'd healed and the feline on the bed, she began formulating an answer. By the time he'd patted her on the back, she had one.

"That's my dad, Jiang!" she replied eagerly. "He's the reason I'm up and about right now. He's insanely powerful as far as the Force is concerned," she paused and gestured towards him, and asked, "Can't you feel it? His presence, I mean!"

Sure enough, Jiang's aura in the Force was as bright and powerful as even the most grizzled of Jedi. The feline was indeed gifted in the use of the Force, and as a result of his deep affinity for it, the room was filled by his presence. Naomi found it oddly comforting; it kept out the darkness and sadness she often felt in other places, where death and misery had created a seemingly perpetual shadow that hung over everything that was good and light in the world. Or, to be more realistic and to rely less on abstract exaggerations, her father's presence was comforting simply because it echoed her own presence, but on a far grander scale, and thus it provided a sense of security and comfort.

She chuckled and smiled up at Paul. "Don't worry about keeping your voice down, by the way. Daddy sleeps like a rock. Anyways, about Uncle Dal..."

A frown appeared on her features and her ears lowered, albeit slowly. "I'm really not sure. Dad won't tell me. I... Guess there's a bounty on his head. Someone's got a grudge against Dal and they're trying to kill him or some such. I don't know, last Dad heard, Dalang was taking care of it. But Dal's tough as nails, and he was a SWAT officer for years; if anyone can take care of themselves, it's Dalang."

Her ears perked back up and a smile materialized on her face as she lowered her guard in the Force, allowing herself to reach out and 'feel' the presence of those nearby - something her father had taught her to do in a matter of minutes. "Hey! I can feel Uncle Sheng! He must be here, too!" she announced happily, as another presence in the Force - one slightly less powerful than Jiang's - came into being. "Feels like he's far away, he must've just gotten here. We probably have ten or twenty minutes 'till he shows up - Sheng's really old and rickety, so he always goes slow!" she laughed, only to go wide-eyed when the door slid open behind her, revealing the imposing frame of the Master of the Jedi Order, clad in the relatively simple brown robes of the Order.

"Old and rickety, huh?" Sheng queried as he strode into the room, pursing his lips thoughtfully as his tail swished. "By extension, that makes your father old and rickety too. He's only four or so years my junior, you know," the Jedi Master remarked thoughtfully, as Naomi's cheeks went bright red with embarrassment in response to Weisheng's teasing.
 

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He let a smile escape as Naomi backed, partially due to her initial response of being shocked as he hugged her. After their brief greeting, Naomi had explained who the feline on the bed was, though it was quite shocking as the name rang a bell in his head. "So...that's who Jiang is." Paul thought as he remembered back to his brief conversation with Dalang on the ambulance. He simply smiled as Naomi spoke enthusiastically, and chuckled a bit once she was finish.

"Well, I'm happy you found your family, who knew coming to Coruscant would be a good idea. Smart thinking."

He complemented while he patted the female feline on the head, teasing her a bit. He now felt Jiang's presence in the force as he lowered his guard a bit, his senses now returning back to full functional status. A force presence this big was hard to miss, and truthfully, Paul wondered why he hadn't felt this when he woke up. Then again, the only thing he felt was the hunger his stomach caused and the need to check if Naomi was well.

"I'm glad you're ok."

Paul smiled after he spoke, and then listened to what Naomi was saying about Dalang. It was a shame he left, Paul wanted to thank the man for helping out Naomi, though people had their own agenda to accomplish. He gave the girl a friendly pat on the shoulder as his head turned towards the door, another person had been felt through the force. Before Paul could ask himself who this person was, Naomi had already announced. "Another relative of hers? Interesting." Paul thought as he couldn't help but smile at Naomi's enthusiasm. His eyes widened when hers did as he heard a voice speak as soon as the doors opened. Instinctively, Paul turned around 180 degrees to face another feline, though this one seemed to be older than Dalang and Naomi's father.

"Well even a few years difference can change quite a lot of things."

Paul responded calmly to Sheng's comment towards Naomi. It was more of a statement of "I got your back" towards Naomi, then attempting to argue with the feline Jedi. Still, with two Jedi in the room, Paul could probably learn a few things from them, not to mention hopefully get access to the archives. It would probably look odd though for the feline to find Paul in hospital clothing with a utility belt and two lightsabers wrapped around him.

"Besides, you're obviously not old and rickety if you could make it up here this fast."
 

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"Less of a difference then you'd think," the Kasa Horansi/Gorvon Horansi hybrid replied with a hearty chuckle. He stepped up to Naomi and crouched slightly to give her a tight hug. She purred and hugged him back, then released him as he stood back up. "Your father sent me to find some clothing for you that wasn't armored, but..." His voice trailed off and he hitched his shoulders apologetically.

"It's a little hard to find clothing for a short feline girl, huh?" Naomi asked with a giggle.

Sheng chortled and nodded. "That about sums it up. But I did manage to get something from one of my Knights - a Cathar named Samanya. I bumped into her while she was cleaning out her ship, and she sent these for you." The feline held out a package, containing a pair of navy blue cargo pants with built-in kneepads and a gray tee-shirt. "They were hers when she was your age. They might fit you. Emphasis on 'might' - Samanya is very sturdily built. Tall, broad shoulders, the works."

Naomi chuckled and took the package. "Well... I'm already dressed, but I wouldn't mind getting out of all this stuff. I'll change! Thanks Uncle Sheng," she replied cheerily. The girl ducked back behind the privacy screen to change, while Weisheng turned to face Paul.

The white-furred feline adjusted his spectacles as he looked down at the teen. "Hm... Lightsabers and a strong presence in the Force," he mused, stroking his chin-fur thoughtfully. "What order are you with, kid?" he queried.
 
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