Bothawui Bothawume

[Arda Breaux]

Bothawui

Arda had been determined to learn as much as she could on their way to the homeworld of the Bothans, however, she was given the task to meditate and at some point, her meditation left her comfortable enough that she fell asleep quickly into the process. Arda was certain that was not how it was supposed to work and woke as the steady hum of the hyperdrive engine quieted, and the sublight engines kicked on, spending them into the pull of the populous world. The padawan had almost wondered if Aurora had given her this task knowing she would be distracted - either by perfecting her skill or falling asleep - in order to avoid the girl's 20,201 questions.

She rubbed her eyes, waking up her body, finding herself still exhausted, but when she remembered where they were going, Arda was quick to spring to her feet, her boot taps echoed through the ship's hull as she joined Aurora in the cockpit, taking a seat in the copilot's chair, but not mentioning how her meditative progress went or how well she slept. "So what is happening here?" she asked leaning forward, watching as they approached the world and descended through the atmosphere.

Arda was uncertain if she should reach outward with her senses, however, she would anyway, cautiously as she tried to detect anything before they even landed, but she found it difficult to search for something that she didn't know what to search for. Usually, when she felt trouble approach, there was a tightness she would get in her stomach, but she was uncertain if that would manifest the same way, or what those feelings would feel like now as she became more aware of her abilities in the Force.

@Valen Pelora

 

[Aurora Blackwood]

Aurora sat silently in the cockpit of the Puddle Jumper. Her crash harness fit snuggly around her shoulder, her hands loosely gripping the yoke. The Jedi Master wasn’t a great pilot. She knew just enough to get by, seventy three years of life gifted you many skills. The autopilot was really doing most of the work. She just punched in the hyperspace coordinates and worked to make sure they didn’t die horribly. Aurora had taken control of the shuttle once the little light beeped telling her they would be out of hyperspace soon. She sensed Arda approaching before the young girl spoke. Aurora smiled.

“I can feel you reaching out, searching.” It was an untrained groping, like a teenager on their first date. Hard to know what you were trying to feel if you didn’t know where to look. “Look closer and you can feel the tension, the darkness.” They were close to the Empire. The balance of the Force was truly disgustingly off kilter. It made her skin crawl. Was she being foolish? No. Arda needed this lesson, she needed to see this. “The oppression of the Empire is felt deeply by the Bothans…Oh, they aren’t technically in Imperial space but they are close.” She sighed sadly. It pained her heart.

“Everything they are is suppressed and they are treated as second class on their own world.” The Republica’s truly disgusting habit. Their xenophobic lifestyle was unforgivable. “They need relief…they need help. That is why we are here, to use your talents.” Aurora smiled even more broadly. “We are going to remind them that someone is fighting for them and that they are not alone.” She pointed at the bag in the corner of the cockpit. It was filled with spray paint cans. The shuttle burst from hyperspace. She had a variety of dummy transponders provided by the Alliance. She flicked on one of the transponders and headed down towards the surface. Aurora deftly piloted the shuttle towards the outskirts of the capital city. She didn’t want to take too many chances. @GABA

 

[Arda Breaux]

Aurora spoke, instructing Arda to continue to reach out with her senses, the girl glanced at the Jedi Master, listening intently before her focus turned back to the viewport, feeling more confident in her ability to feel as she did as Aurora suggested. Arda could see the world grow as they approached, but there was something else, something turbulent like a pot right before it boiled over on the fire. What was causing this turbulence was not necessarily heat, she had felt this before, the constant chill that stuck like a sludge, Corellia was heavy with it and it wasn't until she had arrived on Al'doleem could see feel the difference. Now they were returning to the darkness that seeped from the borders of Imperial space; harder didn't find it too hard to believe about the oppression the Bothans were facing, she understood, six years ago was evidence of that, and eventually even not in the territory of the Sith would come, take, and leave only death behind.

Arda nodded in understanding as Aurora told her they needed help, for a moment, the thought of helping an entire world seemed a bit overwhelming, as for Arda, a victory was small scale for her, always. However, Arda would follow the Jedi' Master's finger to a bag in the corner and suddenly Arda felt a rush of excitement, "Master, you shouldn't have," she spoke with exaggerated awe in her tone as she placed a hand over her heart in mocked affection; of course this was all with an equally large grin.

The girl got up as they made their way to the surface of the Bothan homeworld and examined the spray paint cans and the caps before returning them to the bag and throwing it over her shoulder in a cross strap. The girl leaned against the back of the empty copilot's chair, watching the city come into view as they landed in the outskirts; Arda struggled to contain herself, she wanted off the ship first off as there seemed to be more comfort with her feet on the ground, and secondly, she wanted to start redecorating the city.

"I need a canvas." she simply stated, waiting for the ramp to lower, however, Arda slowed as soon as she stepped onto the soil of Bothawui, pausing. Though the Empire didn't hold the world, Arda could feel it more than ever as though she stepped into the fridged mountain waters. She questioned if it had always felt like that on Corellia too, and now as she grew quickly in the Force, it was becoming more pronounced, it was uncomfortable, and Arda was uncertain how Aurora could remain calm in such a feeling.

"How, how do I make it stop?" she asked, her eyes searching for an invisible answer before turning to Aurora, "It almost feels suffocating."

@Valen Pelora

 

[Aurora Blackwood]

Aurora watched Arda carefully reached out in the Force. She was constantly reminded the troublemaking Rebel was skilled beyond her years. Arda was a quick study, and filled with a desire to learn. Oh, it was never that easy but that half the fun. While Arda messed around in the cockpit, exclaiming her various levels of excitement, Aurora prepared for landing. She set the craft down deftly. The Jedi Master quickly busied herself with her own equipment. Well, she never much changed what she brought with her. Robes, hidden Lightsaber, blaster, and the Force. It was all she ever needed. She prayed it would be all she ever needed.

Aurora followed Arda out onto the firm surface of the Bothan home world. She stood beside Arda. “You can close your mind.” Her own mental walls were always shut tightly. She had no desire for unwanted thoughts to stray or unwanted visitors poking around. “In time it gets easier to stay aware of the Force, but shut out the unwanted feelings.” Aurora was careful with her next words. “Focus on returning to your own mind, feeling your heart beat, your breaths. Let the Force go.” It could be overwhelming to feel so much at once. “For now it will be safer not to feel the pain of the Bothans.”

The Jedi Master started to walk towards the city. She shot Arda a glance. “So…what exactly can we tag to cause the most trouble.” This idea has popped into her head as a way to ensure Arda was engaging with her training. Unfortunately, Aurora didn’t know kark about graffiti. She knew it could really piss of the Empire, but that was about it. The rest she needed a little guidance from Arda. “And this time…try not to get caught.” She shook her head slowly. “I can only save you so many times.” Aurora winked at her young student as they continued to walk into the capital. @GABA

 

[Arda Breaux]

"Shut out unwanted feelings..." she repeated but frowned finding it harder said than done, but as Aurora explained further, it made sense and Arda focused on her breath, feeling herself return to calmer thoughts. She continued to practice in a form of an active meditation as she reached into the Force, there was certainly pain, it was comfortable, it dominated everything it touched and could see why Aurora thought it safer for her not to feel it. Though there was something else she felt, covered by the shadow that covered the city, but was interrupted when Aurora asked her about how they could cause the most trouble. It took the girl a moment to reply, not that she was uncertain, but she was trying to figure out what she was feeling.

"Well..." she returned to present, "Just about anything...turns out it is highly frowned up to mark up property without permission." she gave her Master a coy grin and her eyes begun to scan the area, noting pedestrians and businesses, and the passing speeders. She pulled out her gloves from her pocket and slipped them on, "It should be someplace that people pass regularly, seen it enough times, that they begin to ignore their surroundings so when they do see the mark, it draws their attention." Arda knew they would need to go into or near the heart of the city, no one would care too much if the tag was elsewhere.

"I haven't done free hand in a while, I usually use stencils, they're quicker, the longer you stay stationary, the more likely you'll get in trouble, so 30 seconds to two minutes tops." she glanced at Aurora and paused, seeing a dumpster in an ally, she took a couple steps backward and diverted toward the ally. She looked up and down the narrow way and opened the lid to the dumpster, seemingly undisturbed by the way she tolerated the smell as she dug through the bags before pulling out a piece of cardboard from a broken down parcel. "This will do...keep an eye out." she said holding it up her find and climbed out of the bin and pulled out her knife, quickly cutting out shapes and resizing the piece for better concealment. Though having her senses helped, having a second pair of eyes was always useful, especially when they were eyes she trusted.

INJUSTICE FOR ALL

The sign read and Arda took out a paint can, testing her stencil on the side of the dumpster, letting Aurora see.

@Valen Pelora