Fresh air

[Lotho Minorian]

Dip wriggled in his seat inside of the ship awaiting its doors to open. The wait was finally over. Years of dreaming and effort finally lead to this glorious moment in the Junkers life. He glanced around eagerly waiting for the signal that he could depart from the ship and into the fresh air of the wonderful new planet he was about to see for the first time. Up until this point Dip had only ever seen sand and rust, with blazing hot air accompanying it. His imagination ran wild about the colors and atmosphere of the new experience, leading to funny images of fictional creatures and absurd features in the land.

Dip called out to whoever would hear him in a delighted but impatient tone. "How much longer until we move! I have waited many years for this!". Fidgeting again he tapped his metal hand against the table and pulled out one of the few credits he had in his tunic to twiddle in his other hand.

 

[Undine]

After making sure that her astromech, RV, had used the correct landing sequence Jade moved back into the lounge around of the ship she along with Dip and her friend Mjou had taken after killing their pirate attackers. She had promised to take Dip to the planet of Naboo in exchange for his aid in acquiring the ship. Mjou had gone off after the ship was secured, having only gone to Tatooine in the first place to meet up with another individual. Jade on the other hand had served as transport for her fellow Jedi padawan and had come across Dip by chance, offering to take him for a ride back to Naboo where Jade intended to meet up with a few friends.

The only problem with the trip was when a group of pirates had attempted to kidnap her and then Mjou in order to sell on the black market as slaves. Luckily Jade was able to break free from her bonds and stop the pirates along with her two companions. Of which, Dip could be heard down the hall as Jade made her way into the same room as him. "You didn't need to sit throughout the entire trip you know, you could have helped me sort through all the junk left behind by those pirates I've had Cyaneous cleaning for hours." The young pantoran gave the Junker a wide grin, she could only imagine what it must be like to see an entire new world for the first time.

Checking to make sure she had all of her equipment she sat down next to her newest family member and waited for the ship to land. "Do you have everything you need? We'll be taking your speeder out to a safe location I know that should have a few friends." After looking over the Junker's body suit Jade had another thought. "Perhaps it would be appropriate to get you some weapons or new parts for your speeder, with the amount of no doubt stolen cargo in the hold we should be able to fix you right up. Plus I want to talk to someone about converting some of this ship's massive cargo space into additional quarters." Thoughts of what Dip might need and her mental plan for their ship started to take root in her mind and her face softened into an image of contemplation as the ship finally landed.​

 

[Lotho Minorian]

Dip made a small grunt as he was brought back to reality with the arrival of the young jedi Jade. Trying to contain himself a bit he hopped from his chair and stuffed the credit chip back into his tunic. "I am not good with flying young Jade. It will take while to adjust." The Junker could not contain himself well as Jade talked about their plan for upon arrival. Use of his speeder in this world would make it all the more worthwhile. He had barely payed attention as his mind wandered off again merely replying to Jade in short nods and mutters. "Uh huh yes that sounds good. I shall go and prepare machine for departure!"

With his mind set he limped past Jade and made his way out of the room hurriedly to find his speeder in the cargo hold. Whilst limping through he reached back into his cylinder and pulled out the cool power core of the speeder. Precautions were still a habit of his that he did not want to impede the pacing of his new adventure. However as he moved along the ship he stopped at a crossed hall and looked about. He did not remember his way around the Ship very well as he had sat still for the majority of the trip as jade mentioned. After a brief delay he hobbled to the left and continued along until he was brought to another room filled with old refuse from the pirates and the droid Cyaneous organizing. Dip looked around again and sighed as he turned around to try and find his speeder again.

 

[Undine]

After watching Dip walk off to get his speeder ready, Jade made her way to where she was planning on having her quarters. It wasn't the largest room and was the last one on that hallway. This made it the perfect room for her since being in the middle of too many people tended to give her headaches, plus it would allow her more privacy due to less people walking past. It wasn't that the young padawan enjoyed being secretive so much as secrecy was often needed due to others not understanding the lives of others.

The room wasn't all that much of a mess like the rest of the ship, it would seem none of the pirates used the room for much. The was proven more likely by the fact that hardly anything was in the room. A small cabinet a few feet off the ground in height sat at the end of the moderately sized bed, the only other thing in the room was what looked like an old rug bounced up in a ball and thrown to one side of the room. Before the ship could be remodeled to fit more passengers it would definitely need to be cleaned and furnished. Still the ship even had it's on medbay so it was definitely worth the hassle.

Once she had finished inspecting her room, Jade went to the cargo hold to look for Dip who should have readied his speeder by now. It was a joy to have her own ship as well as to have made a new friend in Dip. He may not have looked like much asking for a ride to another world, but Jade had a growing feeling that he would prove a valuable member of her growing circle. When the time came she hoped she would be able to rely on him as a confidant as well as in combat.​

 

[Lotho Minorian]

Dip wandered around for a few more minutes before finally making his way to the cargo hold that contained his speeder. Once there he laid the power core aside and started putting the speeder back together again.

By the time he finished reinstalling the power core Jade had met up with him. He slid the panel back over the access hole and started to wind up the engine with the manual crank using his prosthetic arm. He faced Jade with a grin behind his mask whilst winding. "Machine will be ready in seconds. Have all you need?" He was mere moments from the grand reveal of Naboo before him and didnt want to be held back for even a moment.

The speeder lit up and started to hum as it lifted off of the ground and hovered fully erect in the cargo hold now. Dip folded the crank back into the machine and hopped on making sure to shift forward to make room for Jade.

 

[Undine]

Jade stepped up towards Dip and watched past him with her Force sight and admired his practiced hands as he set the power core back in place within his speeder. She stood for a moment as he finished his work thinking about the ship around her and what she would do if something were to need to be repaired. A repairer or engineer droid would certainly be helpful in their travels and Cyaneous was just an architec droid, he could only do so much. The padawan was also thinking about potentially buying a pilot droid for the ship since neither herself nor Dip were pilots and RV wasn't exactly the best at the job either.

Her thoughts of droids was cut short when Dip asked her a question. Facing him she grind, "Yes I'm all set, any idea on what you'd like to see first?" The words sounded strange to her ears, in truth she had no idea of what the planet looked like, she had no concept of colors nor that of of the horizon before her. All she had was what the Force showed her and it tended to leave a lot of the big picture hidden from view. Jade could feel the excitement rolling off of her friend however and she was still happy for him to finally see another world. Personally she just wanted to fix up the ship and meditate afterwards but a deal is a deal.​

 

[Lotho Minorian]

Dip sat back down for a moment to flick his wrist in a dismissal gesture. "Let's start with getting outside first.". He shifted forward in his seat again to make room for Jade once more. "Then we can find others while we ride.". The thought of meeting the other jedi was admittedly another thing to get excited about. He had made so many speculations about them based on the skill of their younglings alone. Skilled warriors that he would make his allies during his galactic tour.

Dip had remembered for a moment however that regardless of these new faces he was not entirely ready to let his guard down. It was simply his nature never to let someone onto your good side merely because they smiled and stated they were friendly. Gullibility got you stabbed in the back on lotho minor.

"Come, come, I'm burning fuel."

 

[Undine]

Climbing onto Dip's speeder and sitting behind him, Jade made sure her robe wasn't anywhere near something that it could get caught. After signalling for RV to open the landing pad she waited for Dip to exit the ship. Jade's ship was already registered with the Naboo spaceport security so she didn't have to stop off in customs. She was unsure of where they would go though since this was Dip's first time coming to Naboo and Jade disliked being here longer than she had to be.

That was when she remembered her friend Kai's mansion, the Sera family was rich and they had a mansion just out of town. It was perfect, they could drive around and experience the flavors of Naboo and then drive out and get a nice view of the lush plantlife before stopping at the mansion to experience some of the finer aspects of the Naboo culture. Jade smiled to herself, she'd let Dip dictate where they went and what they did for now, when it was time to settle down for the night she'd tell him how to find Kai's family mansion so they could relax, drink some of the Sera's wine and chill by the pool before heading into town to get an taste of the night life. This trip was gonna be more fun than she originally thought.​

 

[Lotho Minorian]

Dip chuckled as Jade climbed onto the machine. He stood to leave room for her. Once the landing pad had cracked open he rocked the speeder in anticipation. As the light flowed inside and the pad was lowered he eased his way out, the machines hums were dulled out by the sounds and sights all around him as he left. His jaw dropped in awe and his head spun back and forth to see all that was before him. A city like no other he had ever seen. Structures and building with vibrant vibrant colors and strange shapes. The road beneath him was even a sight to behold. It was so neat and flat. Once finished his grand observation he looked forward and let out a joyful howl before picking up speed and making his way through, avoiding everything in his path with ease.

The cool air felt so nice against his hot skin. It was not a dreadful cool like the desert nights of tatooine but a comforting sensation all along. He took a deep breath to calm himself a little. Even that felt so much nicer. Nearly outside of the city now he could see what he had anticipated for so long. A vibrant and wonderful green field lay beyond the city with great hills. Laughing to himself he kept up the pace and hopped in place making the machine bob up and down.

Leaving the confines of the city Dip let out another cheerful howl and nearly doubled the speed of the machine to fly over the hills. He weaved the machine in wide banks and leaned over to feel the grass with his skin. After finishing his last wide banking turn he straightened out the machine and began to slow down. They were plenty far enough away from all of the people and the city now. He came to a stop and hopped off of the speeder onto the ground and fell to his side to roll over. "It is so... pretty here...".

 

[Undine]

Riding behind Dip, Jade felt the wind whip through her hair as they made their way out of the city and into the lush countryside that Naboo had to offer. She could feel the awe and joy rolling off of Dip so much so that even a non-Force sensitive would be able to sense his elated state. Despite her distaste of the planet Jade found herself being rushed with joy from her friend's own emotions. He wasn't the same little junker she had met on Tatooine anymore. He wasn't the same ill-mannered and disgruntled rust bucket from some seedy cantina, Dip was her friend and she was quickly growing fond of having him around. His was a unique few on the galaxy, one not already tempered by some foul upbringing or childhood trauma inquire from the many abusers from across the stars.

She hopped off of the speeder and joined her friend on the grass, laying down next to him. A cool breeze blew over them, tickling Jade's nose causing her to sneeze. As she laid back down, her eyes began to water after looking in the direction of Naboo's star. Closing her eyes she whispered to Dip. "What does a star look like?" It was a simple question, almost childish but it had still bothered her for years that she didn't know the beauty of the stars, of jungles and oceans and clouds and rain. These things of natural beauty were always referenced in poetry, being compared to things such as a woman's touch or a mother's love, a first kiss or the lingering sensation of a lost lover. Still, none of this imagery or poetic beauty gave her an image of what something like a star looked like. The Force showed her many things, much of which was beautiful, but what she wouldn't give to see the clouds above as it rained around her, or watch a sunset. The gentle kiss of rain and the soft caress of the last few rays of sunlight against her skin were beautiful in their own right but the blind padawan hungered for more.​

 

[Lotho Minorian]

Laying down with Jade by his side Dip felt content. In his mind he had over exaggurated many things but he was glad irregardless that Naboo did not disappoint. Listening to the little jedi beside him he lifted himself from the ground and stretched himself briefly before the sharp pain of his blaster wound from tatooine had cut into his mind. He let out a minor grunt and took a few deep breaths before rolling his mechanical shoulder and sitting back down. He gave some thought to Jade's question and put an answer in words as best as he could. "It is simple. Bright light in night sky but not as bright as the day. There are many however, dotting darkness above in wonderful patterns. One of few things I could enjoy from home.". He had forgotten that the young jedi was blind. Unlike most blind folk he knew who stared ahead at all times her head was always facing her focus. As if she could actually see with those vacant eyes. In a way he felt sorry for her since she could not actually witness what was around. Yet she possessed such a wonderful gift that made him wonder just how much she was actually missing. There was more to beauty than just visuals to him. "If only we could touch them..." He murmured before standing up again.

 

[Undine]

Listening to the junker speak of his home brought back a flow of memories of her early childhood playing with other Jedi younglings under the vigilant eyes of knights and masters. The nausea only last a mere moment before the other memories washed in as if the happy memories receded back into the far corners of her mind leaving her only with the wet sand in it's wake, and nothing about wet sand was ever comfortable. Pushing away the memories and the panic and fear that came with them, the regret and pain did not serve her and she'd never let it. To do so was to let the darkness parts of herself consume her until there was nothing like but darkness, and the evil that lives with it. This was not the path of a Jedi, nor was it the path she sought to take, and so she would push away the pain, the regret, the fear, and the panic, she would push aways the very memories that haunted her if she had to, and all the people that came with them.

This was why she hated Naboo, it was the first place that had been offered to Jade as a safe place. She had had no idea that there were even other groups of Jedi out there as a child, and to find such a large number of them astonished her and gave her migranes more painful than anything she had ever felt. The more Force sensitives around her the more her mind attempted to see, and the more she sought to see the more her migraines hurt. Still nothing had been more traumatic to her, not even witnesses the deaths of dozens of Jedi had compared to the trauma she had put herself through when she nearly killed a fellow padawan by accident. Of course no she knew it hadn't been her fault, it was the boy's master who should have kept control over Jade's mind. Instead what had happened when the two padawans attempted to link their minds had nearly killed both of them. Since then she hated Naboo, and refused to learn telepathy, or even attempt it.

Jade's mind came back to the present as Dip mentioned touching the stars, he seemed sincere in his wish but she couldn't help but laugh. "From what I hear if you were to touch a star you'd die, the whole big ball of fire in the sky." Still the young Jedi had to admire his lust for life and his determination to see his dreams through, and what did she know? The Force worked in mysterious ways and it might just be possibly that Dip would find a way. Sitting back up Jade turned to the junker and spoke with a grin. "So then, where shall we go next, I here the countryside is nice this time of year and I even have a friend with a home nearby, although I highly doubt he'll be there." Jade got up and stretched before sitting back down next to Dip, in all fairness she was in no hurry to go anywhere on this planet, she hated Naboo.​