[Jedi Mission] Misguided Padawan

[FallenKeeper]

Dantooine, a planet of rolling hills and lush seas of amber grass. Settlements dot the landscape with small ranches scattered about the endless plains. The settlement of Kavas has thrived for decades on the peaceful planet. The product of hard labor and prime location. Situated between two rivers Kavas attracts travellers with its calming ambience andcompetent militia, who keep the settlement secure from roving kath hounds and the occaisional raider.

Karva Nise, a Jedi Padawan who recently arrived from Ossus, patiently awaits her fellow padawan at the Kavas spaceport. Though to call it a spaceport would be an overstatement. Though a tourist attraction, Kavas was not bustling with activity on a regular basis. The spaceport was only large enough to situate a handful of ships. Most of the space was reserved for freighters that were coming and going as they unloaded and loaded cargo.

The Lethan Twi'lek sat upon a squat and round chair with soft brown upholstery. Her legs were crossed and her hands rested at her sides. She wore her lekku with one around her neck and the other over her left shoulder. As usual she was dressed in the traditional padawan garb. She carried a lightsaber on her belt. The pure white casing seemed to glow in the light of the afternoon sun.

A few folks gave her brief glances as they walked by. They were more suprised to see the rare skin color of her species than her Jedi garb. A few children even watched her from a distance, hiding behind the landing struts of a freighter. From their dirty coveralls and sun-kissed skin she could tell they were local kids. With a white-toothed smile Karva waved at the group. It seemed as if the gesture was taken as invitation because the small cadre of younglings rushed over to the Padawan's seat and surrounded her.

She could only laugh as they posed question after question while a little girl poked and prodded at Karva's lekku. Hiding the discomfort with a look of pleasant surprise she took the little girl's hand and gently pushed it away. "Careful now, those are attached!" she said in a playful tone, hoping to convey the message to the rest of the kids. She scrunched her face after a moment and held up her arms, her hands hung limply forward with fingers crooked. With a goofy shake of her head she jokingly exclaimed, "Ugga bugga!"

The children erupted in excited shreaks as they rushed off in mock fright, giggling the entire way. The moment of play, however, did little to abate Karva's concern. She was not here on a vacation. A padawan had fled one of the Jedi temples and it was feared that he may have turned to the dark side. At the moment Karva only had the short story of it all. She wanted the facts, and the lost padawan had them.

 

[Casimir Goetschl]

The sound of a child’s laughter drew the light blue eyes of Casimir in the direction of a red skinned Twi’lek. Apparently playing an aliens Lekku was amusing for a kid and it was understandable for someone that young. They did not realize just how harsh, cruel and uncaring the galaxy was. Every little possibly thing that could entertain them became a toy; if a Jedi’s body parts apparently. The Twi’lek was dressed in her traditional Jedi Padawan robes, a habit that Casimir himself had not gotten into since arriving within the order. The man had vehemently stuck to his denim pants, shoes, and plain t-shirts. The Jedi may have been teaching him but there was two things a Goetschl did not do; call someone Master nor be told what to wear. If and when he wanted to dress like a traditional Jedi, he would do it. Not a moment sooner and it seemed it was those two things that were causing a slight rift between he and his Master.

The Order had told him to arrive here, to find Karva Nise and to locate a Jedi Padawan. Either this Padawan they searched for ran away from the Jedi Temples, or got lost, or kidnapped, or something else; the details were sketchy. If this person was a run away, then let him run. Goetschl lived a life where people made their own choices. Why was it so volatile that they locate this one person? If he wanted to come back to the Jedi, he would do it, would he not? If this man did not want to be a Jedi, why send two students to go find him? What did they hope to accomplish from this? A show of force? A show of some sort of intimidating support? Regardless, Goetschl conformed and went on this mission without to much of a questioning.

He made his way to the sitting Padawan and made quick work of introducing himself, “I am Casimir Goetschl. You must be Karva Nise’. The Masters on Alderaan told me I would be meeting you here?” Karva would undoubtedly be taking lead in this mission, wouldn’t she? If Casimir had to, he might find the missing Padawan, asking him if he wanted to come back and if he said no then Goetschl would just up and leave. That might not have been the plan the Masters back at the Temples wanted. Did Karva have a better handling when it came to interpersonal communication? Hopefully because quite frankly, Casimir’s sucked. He often came off as blunt, crude, defensive, and quiet. Not exactly diplomat material, one might say.

This was not a vacation and the idea of being on Dantooine was apalling. Hot humid air damaged a persons skin and caused them to sweat profusely. A man in the sun too long would undoubtedly begin to smell like sweaty gym socks and unwashed jock straps. Eugh! He brought nothing with him as a result, not even a saber of some sort. He was essentially walking unarmed, into a situation he really knew nothing about.

Just wonderful!

"Any idea on where to find the run-away?"​

 

[FallenKeeper]

Karva unfurled his legs and planeted her feet firmly on the ground. She stood up and gave Casimir a shallow bow. "It is nice to meet you, Casimir," she replied as she looked around to see if they had any spectators. A few spacers were now loading cargo onto a freighter and the kids were well on their way to play a game elsewhere. Certain of their privacy Karva continued speaking, "The only lead we had was that he came to Dantooine and he arrived at this settlement."

With a gesture of her hand she began walking towards the spaceport's exit. She didn't know what to make of Goetschl, he appeared unarmed and uncertain. But of what? She pushed the question away from her thoughts and focused on the mission. "I think we should ask around Kavas and see if anyone has spotted the padawan. What do you think?" she asked.

 

[Casimir Goetschl]

“Logically speaking,” Casimir interjected almost immediately upon Karva’s question and as the two continued their pace towards the exit, “how are we suppose to find someone we really know nothing about? It’s not like we know the exact location of his residence, the places he hangs out, or what not. I mean, honestly, even if we asked people about a missing Jedi Padawan, do you think they would know or would want to say anything?” He paused momentarily as he contemplated his next line of thought, “But seeing as we don’t have a choice in this matter, if you decided to just up and leave the Jedi Order without telling anyone, would you want to be found? Coming to Dantooine would be a smart move. It’s a populated planet, with a mixture of cities, towns, and terrain.”

It was frustrating, not knowing the details of an individual and it might have helped had a Master or Knight given the Padawan some sort of detail on this missing mans personality. Then an idea hit him. In the span of a couple of seconds, Goetschl’s attention turned towards the security station. The guards stood afoot, their gaze falling onto every face that neared them. His eyes then turned to the ceiling at various points, spotting the security camera’s and just as they made their exit from the port, he spotted surveillance camera’s just outside the main entrance way.

The idea was simple, at best. Talk to the security guards and see how long ago the Padawan had passed through. “How long ago did the Padawan arrive here? Did they give you any ideas?”​

 

[FallenKeeper]

Karva smiled at Goetschl's well thought-out answe, though it was more a series of questions than anything. She listened and thought on it carefully for a moment as they stopped at the edge of the permacrete ground. The exit to the spaceport was simply where the structure opened up to an expansive plain. Just to their right three landspeeders were lined up, each one with a driver patiently waiting on passengers.

"There isn't really much variety of terrain on this planet," she stated with a chuckle, "which would make it a bit more difficult to locate them." She folded her arms over her chest and brought her right fist to the side of her chin. "I would say he, or she" Karva emphasized, "has been here a little over a week." with her answer Karva turned her attention to where Goetschl's was focused. Security cameras. "Good thinking."

Karva was already moving towards a pair of militia-men, her eyes bright and smile wide. Mentally making a list of questions for the pair.

 

[Casimir Goetschl]

"Hey!" Goetschl shouted out, "You seen a Jedi Padawan come through here lately?" There was no point in playing games. Goetschl wanted to find the brat, have them given an official yes or no question as to whether they want to come back to the Jedi Order, then leave. Honestly, what was expected to be accomplished? Jedi Padawans dragging another one back to the Jedi Temple kicking and screaming. It was ludacris. This bold and straight forward maneuver also ensured that the guards took note of the approaching Jedi quick, fast and in a hurry.

"About a week ago, a long Padawan was reportedly arriving on the planet. Dunno if it was a boy or a girl, don't know the age, don't know nothing about it." His tone was semi-sarcastic, obviously careless and not entirely optimistic about any sort of response that he would recieve. "Probably dressed in Padawan clothing, perhaps carrying a duffel bag of some degree."

"That really isn't a lot of information." One of the militia-men responded.

"I don't really have a lot to offer. I saw the security camera's and assumed that they, combined with a security guards keen eye sight, would be able to detect anything out of the ordinary and honestly, a Jedi Padawan in the crowd is something out of the ordinary." Goetschl responded.

The two militia-men took a quick glance at each other before one shrugged and made his way to a nearby wall console. The man began to rapidly type in a variety of identifiers into a search field, then followed up by accessing the security footage archives. "The recording is rotated every eight days. If this padawan of yours passed through here, we'll find them." The militia-man explained. "Why is it so vital you find this person?"​

 

[FallenKeeper]

The Twi'lek's lekku twitched as Padawan Goetschl shouted to the two humans standing guard. It was clear subtlety was not in the man's nature. Though her previous master would admonish the endeavor she felt that when applied correctly bluntness was quite effective. She continued her approach and halted as soon as she arrived.

Just from a cursory glance she could tell they were seasoned veterans. One sported a spider-webbing scar deep into the skin of his left cheek, and the other had a crooked nose and half of an ear missing. Karva deduced that these two would not be unresponsive to their questions and bowed politely to them. Thanks to Goetchl the half-eared man went to his console and began scanning through the security footage. "Thank you, sirs.," she said softly.

"The padawan may be confused. The circumstances behind why they came here are not known, but for their own good we must find them and inquire about it."

 

[Casimir Goetschl]

"Found them." The guard spoke as his eyes shifted through the various screens. "About five feet seven inches, from what I can tell. Light brown robes, but the cloak was lifted over the head. They passed right through this sector before coming out." Almost instantly the militiaman pulled up the outside security camera's and watched the Padawan in his walk. "He went from here, down the street for a quarter block, then crossed and entered the Heliomax Hotel."

The Guard took a glance back at Casimir then Karva, "Exit just cross the street. Then just head down to the hotel. You can't miss it. It's not much too look at but its primarily where anyone new to this area goes for quick rest. If this missing padawan stayed the night, then the employees there may have more info for you."

Goetschl did not even wait for anything more to be said. Playing chase with someone was not exactly fun. "So what's the plan?" Goetschl asked, making the assumption the Padawan was probably still in the hotel. "Smash and grab? Trap him, then pin em'? Call for backup and let a Knight or Master bring em' in? Or should we just let our mouths do some talking first?"

The streets were filled with various designed speeders and pedistrians made their stroll along the sidewalks with apparently no cares in the world. Dantooine had an absolutely facinating social personality. It was a far cry from Goetschl's people. Sticking his hand into the air, Casimir made it to the center of the street, stopping speeder traffic completely. Angry drivers blared their horns at Goetschl, who ignored them and turned back to Karva, "They said to simply cross here."​

 

[FallenKeeper]

Karva bowed politely to the two men as her rather curt comrade simply marched off towards the opposite exit of the starport and into the midst of an oddly bustling street. It seemed strange that the settlement would have speeders within was almost everything was within walking distance, save for ranches and other settlements. Instead of questioning it Karva simply took advantage of the break in traffic caused by Goetschl and crossed the street. The red-skinned twi'lek stood out amongst the alabaster color of the nearby structures, a sore thumb so-to-speak.

"I believe we should find out if the padawan is indeed here. We should minimize our presence, we don't know if this person is hostile, we should't put innocents at risk. Not if we can help it. Until we find out why they are here we shouldn't make any attempt to communicate with them as Jedi, or padawans to be correct. I just hope they have not turned to the dark side."

Karva continued towards the hotel as she spoke, stepping aside politely to grant fellow pedestrians the right of way. It would be a challenge gathering information without directly influencing the padawan, all the questions had to be worded carefully. Luckily it would be simple to sense whether or not they fell to the dark side. Either way, Karva wanted to bring this person back into the fold. With a war going on the Jedi needed every able body they could get.

 

[Casimir Goetschl]

“Wait what?” Goetschl asked as the duo avoided a slew of oncoming pedestrians. “Without identifying ourselves as Jedi, wouldn’t that cause people to make it more reluctant to talk to us? Granted, I’ve not been a Padawan long and I am probably one of the oldest, but still, wouldn’t the authoritive title of Jedi aid in us getting answers?”

“Do you honestly think this is a situation in which civilians could be threatened? We’re here to just discuss things… right?” His voice was just a tad bit stern with a splash of questioning. Goetschl did not like unnecessary fights. Sure he got into brawls with other males of his family, but that was due to sour puss’ throwing fits about personal fouls and cheating during games. In the end, every bloodied and bruised Goetschl always made up. “How are we going to do this? We both ask a few questions, or I ask and distract while you snoop about?”​

 

[FallenKeeper]

Karva turned to face Goetschl, walking backwards as she spoke with her companion. "The title of Jedi Knight perhaps, but we're still padawan learners. We have no clue what this person looks like. If we announce we are Jedi and this padawan has been corrupted, how do you think they will react? They could hide or challenge us." her expression was calm and her tone confident. She drew on lessons taught by her previous master.

Karva took a few more graceful steps back before pivoting around 180 degrees to see the hotel looming close. She folded her arms for a moment and paused. Though she spoke of being discreet here she was parading around in Padawan garments. In her haste she had displayed ignorance. With the realization Karva recalled the Jedi code.

Ignorance Yet Knowledge

Karva gathered her thoughts and nodded to Casimir, "Let's ask some civilians first, maybe we can get an idea before we even get in the hotel." With a cordial smile she began to politely question civilians, hoping for a result.

 

[Zach]

Kriv Nexus sat idly, deep in a meditative state inside the cavern. An entire week ago had he arrived on Dantooine, and only two days after that had he been drawn to this place. When he'd first arrived on the planet, it was to get away from it all. The Jedi, the Republic, the Bogan, the Hutts, the entire war. He just wasn't prepared to deal with this kind of stress. He'd been a Padawan under a master for years, but the war took even that from him. His master, slain in battle by a Bogan, had left him alone. There was no one to take him in at this point - perhaps another master, but no one could ever build a bond such as the one he'd felt before. Lost in confusion, doubt, and uncertainty, he fled. What else could he have done?

Kriv opened his eyes and looked around at the shining crystals in the cavern. There was a variety of colors, from deep violet shards to burning red fragments. All along the cave walls, the crystals embedded themselves in the sides, or even in clusters among the piles of rocks here and there. The cavern mystified him, some places giving him a calm, soothing sensation, where as the step directly next to it made him feel angry or doubtful. He suspected the cave was a hot spot in the Force, but he knew little on the subject. From his studied, Kriv could recall his master going over hot spots in the Force, locations where one could confront their own inner demons.

He pushed such memories from his mind, trying not to remember the painfully vivid images of his late master's face. He happened to be standing in such a spot of calmness and peace, and wished not to disturb the meditative state he'd slipped into. Perhaps later that day he would return to the nearby settlement to pick up some food supplies. It'd been several days since he'd been to town, and it was unlikely that anyone minded him being here. His only worry was that the Jedi had sent someone to look into his disappearance. No doubt they had the records of his ship leaving in the hangar, but he thought it not to be an issue of importance. He would deal with his grief on his own. Whatever path chose him, he would follow, be it a gateway of the Light or a road to Darkness; whatever relieved him of the pain he felt.

 

[Casimir Goetschl]

"Sometimes the best way to get a rabid dogs attention is to poke it with a stick." Goetschl smarted, then he turned his attention to the any and all around. "Ok everyone! We are looking for a missing Jedi Padawan. Anyone have any information? Anything at all? He or she might be emotionally distraught, a bit loopy, or possibly in trouble. If you have information please do speak up now."

Perhaps this was not the best way to go about getting information but already Goetschl's patience had run thin. In his opinion, this mission was a waste. Even though his training bored him, he now preferred doing that than this. The man was fully grown. He was not some child and the idea of being just a Jedi Padawan did not cross his mind. He was Casimir Goetschl. While the galaxy may have thought most Padawans were pre-teens or young adults, Goetschl was anything but. He did not even look the part; physically or in attire.

That gave him somewhat of an advantage.

"Come on," He shouted at the top of his lungs like a drunk man screaming about the end of the world on a street corner, "Someone's gotta know something. Jedi Padawans aren't like ants. They aren't everywhere so one would stick out. Anything at all!?"​

 

[FallenKeeper]

Karva winced momentarily as the man was again resulted to blunt force. She covered the sides of her head and hastily stepped back. One thing was certain, Goetschl was impatient. The twi'lek girl left a couple meters between her and the hairless wookiee. An audience had formed, gawking at the man and murmering between themselves. Karva collected herself so as not to seem unhinged as well and stood upright, bearing the brunt of Goetschl's voice due to proximity.

While he went on, Karva snooped. Through the Force she extended her senses and honed in on the crowd. It took a consiberable amount of effort to push the shouting from her mind but she managed it. She gathered bits of conversation whenever key words were mentioned. Padawan, newcomer, stranger,and lightsaber. When all the words came from one direction Karva zero'd in her senses to eavesdrop. "... and I saw him just last week at the general store.." "... never understood why they wear those boring robes..." "... Meura said they didn't buy much..." "-obably come back any day now..."

Karva had heard enough and when Goetschl was finished grandstanding she motioned for him to follow her.

 

[Zach]

Meura, the local settlement's shopkeeper, slowly approached the pair of Jedi, her eyes focused on the ground. She furrowed her brow slightly, unsure whether she should talk with these strangers, but if they were looking for one of their fellow Padawans, it was her duty to everything she could to help. She knew the pains of a lost comrade all too well. Having years of exploration experience behind her, along with the familiarity of the land on her side, she'd been pretty involved in the exploration teams when they first settled on this part of the planet. She recalled the first excavation team she'd put together to explore the crystal caves many years ago, and the death of her team's co-leader. She shook her head and pushed such memories from her mind.

She approached the Jedi, still frowning to herself, but looked up into the eyes of the one that had spoken to the crowd. "Excuse me, Master Jedi, but I believe I've seen the Jedi Padawan you're searching for. A few days ago he came into my store to buy food supplies, along with some basic survival gear; a blanket, a first aid kit, some clothes, but nothing more. I asked him if he was planning a trip somewhere, and he told me that he was planning on staying out in the wilds for a while. I wanted to ask why, but he left before I had the chance to ask. I just thought you should know," she said, giving a soft smile before turning her back to the two, meaning to get back to her store. It was mid-day and was sure to have more customers.

After a step or two, she turned her head and called over her shoulder, "If you'd like, you could come by the store and I can show you the things he purchased." If anything, she could at least get some business from these two.

 

[FallenKeeper]

"Thank you, ma'am," answered Karva with a polite bow of her head. She watched as the woman retreated from the crowd. From the information Meura gave it was clear that the stray was nearby and would be returning soon. The twi'lek turned to Goetschl and grabbed him by the arm, hoping to pull him from his fit of shouting. "Come on," she said, "let's follow her. Let's see if this lead pays off."

Karva followed Meura to the woman's shop, tuning into the Force and letting it guide her thoughts as they neared.