Ask Putting Out Fires

[Ezra Thorne]

The Jedi were spread thin with all the chaos happening across the galaxy. Between the Sith and ISC war, New Republic vs. the Alliance and now whatever was happening on Coruscant, it was all hands on deck. While the Grandmaster had initially called everyone back, the Jedi were forced to triage different kinds of missions for its members to take on. Padawans were sent to planets ravaged by war and crisis, but where there was no danger of an imminent attack. Knights and others were sent to combat missions or to confront Sith.

Ezra wanted to do some fighting, but he was delegated to Tanaab to assist with any rescue and recovery operations. The 5th Fleet’s bombardment was swift and devastating, leaving entire regions of the planet completely wrecked and millions of people displaced. There were still fires and smoke to put out and people to save.

He may have been a padawan, but he didn’t feel that innate urge to go around helping random strangers just yet. He had signed up for Jedi to get a better handle on his powers, and so far it seemed like far more work than that. He vaguely recalled a combat movie classic about a kid that had to clean a lot of speeders and houses, but it ultimately helped him learn to fight. Ezra hoped all these missions had the same idea and he would one day just naturally kick ass with the Force.

As usual, he was denied from being able to bring his own luxury yachts or speeders. He was stuck on a budget shuttle that landed a distance away from where the action was. Ezra still refused to wear standard Jedi robes, but he did dress up in a sleek uniform with a blastvest (no hood or mask). His clothing was accessorized by his kyber crystal shard necklace, a fancy chrono on his wrist and of course expensive cologne. He walked down the ramp, still checking his NalPhone for the area he was assigned.

Ezra was supposed to work with another padawan for this. He looked around briefly, didn’t spot anyone, shrugged, and started walking off to do the mission by himself.

@GABA

 

[Vida Harp]

Vida had never seen anything like it before in her life. She wasn't sure how many times she replayed the scenes on her way to Tanaab, the fires consuming as it would the innocent citizens. It had only been a few days since she had arrived to the Order and she was beginning to regret her decision to help on this task in her effort to cure her boredom at the temple. It seemed like things would have been much more exciting, but so far it involved a lot of sitting around with one's eyes closed and listening. She wondered if she would even be good at this. Regardless, she admitted she didn't have anything else better going for her currently and now she was here.

Silently and nervously, Vida waited for her partner to arrive: they were late. She hoped they knew what they should be doing however. It felt like everyone was watching her stand uncomfortably in her padawan robes, they itched terribly, someone told her it was because they were new, though she was uncertain if she believed it.

Her bright eyes caught the sight of another ship landing and she sighed, it looked too much like a junker for it be a Jedi ship and she shifted in her stance, restlessness creeping into her legs. Looking around she saw a crate and hoisted herself upward to sit eventually catching sight of a guy who looked terribly out of place. Her brow narrowed in mild amusement as she scoffed at such a display, but a feeling pushed at her and it took a moment to process its meaning as she watched him walk off.

Oh kriff

How did she get assigned to work with Ezra Thorne!?

She saw the stories on the holo, heard the stories when she arrived and now she was partnering with him. Vida's stomach dropped but then she realized he was leaving without her. Springing from where she sat, she quickly ran to catch up, feeling a bit put-off by his dry-clean only attire. "Hey!" she cried out to grab his attention, "Hey! Wait up, I think we're working together." she said walking quickly to keep up with his larger steps, the guy towered over her. "I'm Vida." she said.

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra was thrilled to not have anyone hindering him on the mission. This meant he could go about it his own way and his own pace. He had gone on several group missions that turned to complete disaster, and this was a break from that. Ezra heard someone calling out at him. He glanced over briefly, decided it was probably a hobo chasing him for credits, and kept walking. That was when she mentioned they were working together. Damn.

“Hi Video,” He thought she spoke with a commoner farmer accent or something, “I’m Ezra,” He said, eyeing her for a moment before he kept walking. She was a foot shorter than him and had to jog to keep up, but that wasn’t his problem. Ezra pulled up his NalPhone again as he walked.

“We have to meet with someone named Elis Vans to receive instructions,” He read. Their destination was a makeshift refugee camp. It had volunteers from all over the galaxy and Elis Vans was running the operation here. Star Guardians and ISCRA were both present here and the Jedi were sent for any rescue missions.

Ezra didn’t say anything else, staring at his NalPhone the entire time he walked. He only glanced up every once in a while to see if he was any closer to the city.

@GABA

 

[Vida Harp]

She really wished they were in a speeder as she kept up with her light jogging. Her brow narrowed and she glared at him when he called her Video and he introduced himself, "Alright, nice to meet you Seesaw." she said as he moved on to their assignment instructions. The padawan noted the name of their contact, hoping it wasn't too much further ahead as she continued beside him, scratching at her neck as the fabric rubbed against her.

"Hey, where did you that uniform?" she asked him, "I was told we could only wear these." she said pointing to her robes, "They're terrible, itchy, hot, they could have at least given us a speeder there." she huffed, glancing to see he was staring at his nalphone before looking around, hoping to find a speeder, but the amount of rubble and debris was nearly overwhelming to process as she wondered how anyone just moves forward after losing everything. Vida had paused to better look at charred frame of a home; flowers were placed in front by various visitors, but quickly realized she would need to catch up with Ezra if he didn't stop too.

"You should do the talking when we get there." she said quietly.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Seesaw? He didn’t get it. Ezra was entirely oblivious to the fact that he heard her name wrong. He genuinely thought it was Video, which meant he was equally confused about her purposely mispronouncing his name. Oh well, must have been a weird Jedi thing.

Ezra kept his gaze trained forward when she started talking about clothes. It was actually one of his favorite topics, and he looked slightly more attentive, “I get custom tailored apparel for each mission,” He explained. It may not have been Jedi robes, but they were always modeled for the purpose of the mission - it was the only way the Order would allow him this exception. His silver gaze flicked up and down her attire as she complained about it, “Perhaps wash clothing you find in the lost and found..” He muttered dryly.

He said nothing in response to her request for letting him do the talking. He hated doing the talking, but Video didn’t seem too sure of herself, so he would do it. Ezra followed her line of sight to stare at the charred home. It was a wreck and just a glimpse into the kind of damage that was done here. The entire premise around the attack was insane. Things only got worse when the Alliance began to retaliate - a move they never did when the Sith attacked them relentlessly.

Eventually they arrived near the edge of the camp. It was bustling with activity and the air was still full of ash and smoke. A burly man wearing a mask was checking things off on a datapad. Someone had called his name and Ezra realized it was Elis.

“Elis Van?” Ezra asked, “Padawans Ezra and Video reporting for duty,” He stated formally.

“Fuck me sideways, is that Ezra Thorne?”

It was a testament to Ezra having inherited his father’s poker face that he kept from rolling his eyes. Elis called over a few people, “I told you! I told you the President’s kid was coming!”

A small crowd began to gather. Ezra, of course, ultimately loved the attention. He had been under his father’s shadow forever, and now this was all about him. He took the next half hour just posing for selfies with people. Even some of the injured survivors wanted to take pictures with him.

“Aww having a celeb walkin’ around will lift people’s spirits,” Elis said excitedly. Eventually, he decided to become professional again and lay out their mission. The Jedi were to accompany a Star Guardian tactical crew to venture into a city district to look for survivors. The two Padawans were handed helmets and gas masks.

“-There have been some rumors that some Joined soldiers landed planetside, so be careful,” Elis warned them.

What? Ezra’s jaw tightened. He had hoped this would be a cut and dry mission.

@GABA

 

[Vida Harp]

Padawans Ezra and Video reporting for duty...

"It's Vida." she promptly corrected, but it seemed to be overshadowed by the fact this Elis guy was star struck by the president's kid. The girl couldn't help feel a tad bit of resentment as she was suddenly flooded by people looking to meet him. Her mind suddenly jumping to the fact they needed to complete their mission here, not stand around and take pictures with everyone. She crossed her arms and watched in silence as he took picture after picture of various individuals present. Even though it was only a half hour, it felt as though they wasted half a day and Vida wondered if this was all about being a jedi too.

Though it seemed to get worse as everyone got back on track for the padawan's assignments. Looking for survivors seemed easy enough until she was handed a helmet and a gas mask and warned of possible Joined. "Oh-oh okay..." she barely got her words out as she felt her stomach drop. She gave a worried look to Ezra, she was absolutely not ready for this, but she couldn't protest, she didn't want to get in trouble and be kicked from the jedi before she was even given a chance.

As they walked to join the Star Guardian team, Vida leaned in to Ezra, "I-I don't know about this," she slipped on the mask to hang around her neck and put on the helmet, "Do they normally send padawans to do this stuff? Like Joined are serious, I don't even have a lightstick yet." she said quietly to Ezra.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra asked about the mask and the helmet a few times, wondering if they were properly sanitized. He despised using things that didn’t belong to him directly. For now, he popped the mask on, grimacing at how it smelled already. His hair was effectively ruined.

He followed along with the Guardians. They were going into a city to look for trapped people, how hard could this really be? Ezra wasn’t thrilled about the possibility of Joined, but he figured the Guardians were at least trained at whatever they did. His father was certainly funding them enough to have their shit together.

When Video leaned towards him to complain, Ezra tilted his helmeted head to look at her, “You’re not about to have a panic attack, are you?” He asked. He was always around rich kids that seldom got out and about. He had seen his fair share of anxiety and panic attacks from simple exposure to the real world.

When she mentioned not having a saber either, it gave him pause, “Oh?” He asked, curiously, “I don’t have one either,” She was perhaps the first Jedi he had met that also didn’t have a saber. He had the kyber crystal, but he was told he wasn’t ready to construct it yet.

Visibility grew rather poor pretty soon as they began to walk through smoke.

“Okay, we’ll need to split up,” Ezra heard the group leader say, “Jedi, go that way and look for survivors. Two of you come with me.”

“Wait what-” Before he could ask, everyone began to walk in different directions. Ezra blinked a few times. He looked over at Video.

“Don’t have a panic attack,” He said curtly as started to walk off to the left.

@GABA

 

[Vida Harp]

He asked if she were going to have a panic attack and her eyes narrowed, "No, as long as you don't have one about your gear being sanitized." she whispered back, having not missed his extensive questioning about the cleanliness of the equipment. She didn't mind it too much, there was certainly much worse out there, thinking back to the times she had cross through sewers. With a few deep breaths and a trust in her feelings as she had learned so far, her mind begun to clear some, even when Ezra mentioned he didn't have lightstick either; knowing that at least made her feel less awkward in this situation.

She noticed it became increasingly hazy, and the smoke from the fires that still burned- and likely to burn for years- settled heavily in the village. Suddenly they paused and the leader mentioned something about splitting up and Ezra seemed to be taken aback by this and looked to her, telling her not to have a panic attack. Though she could feel her nerves grow, it was now for a different reason, as she didn't appreciate to be told what she can and cannot do. "I'll have a panic attack if I want to." she grumbled, watching as he started to walk off and Vida followed of course.

"HEY! Wait up, Seesaw." she said, noticing some of the doors to the buildings had an "X" painted across, "That usually means everyone inside is dead." the girl informed, remembering seeing something similar when there were territory wars in the neighbors of where she lived. Some homes they passed it would be fairly obvious of no survivors: debris, ash, and smoldering fires were all that were left. "Do you ever..." she started and stopped herself, walking off to the remains of a building where she was unable to see the "X".

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra didn’t respond as she made a quip about his concerns with sanitation. He could never understand why people touched everything around them without sparing a second thought to disease. Especially when things like AMS and Killik ran rampant. Her haughty response about a panic attack was similarly ignored as Ezra continued to inspect the buildings.

Of course, Video caught up to him again, once again using that stupid nickname she gave him. She began to speak and this time he opted to finish the sentence for her, “...wonder why people constantly talk at me? Been wondering my entire life,” He said dryly. His Pops had a similar problem. The man could be a statue and his stoic self, and people still considered him approachable to tell him about their day.

Ezra quietly followed Video towards the house that appeared empty. He knocked on the door and entered. It looked as if people had been sitting at a table eating a meal, but something abruptly interrupted them. Ezra continued to walk through the house, “Hello? Anyone here? Make our jobs easier so we can get outta here!” He called out.

@GABA

 

[Vida Harp]

Ezra decided to finish her sentence for her and she snapped a warning look, "Shut-up, no." she hissed and rolled her eyes as she looked around either side of the building before following Ezra inside after he entered. It seemed as though the home was empty, but there were people living here, that was obvious to the padawan as she stood quietly, listening to the creaking of the floorboards as Ezra moved through the rooms, calling out for any residents.

She walked into the kitchen, seeing the partial eaten food on the plates, chairs overturned, utensils sprawled on the table and floor. The girl pursed her lips in thought, walking into an adjacent room, seeing the windows blown in, glass cracked under the weight of her step. If it had been artillery fire, she was certain they would have sought shelter; Vida looked around, stomping on the floor, until a spot made a dull thud compared to the hollowed ones. She knelt down and pressed against the floorboards, hearing a click and her stomach sank. A feeling washed through her body, a warning to be cautious as she lifted the secret door, "Seesaw, I found something." she said, hoping he would hear her and not be distracted with his nose to the comm.

Though as soon as she opened the door, she was hit with the smell of rot and she turned her head away, letting her turning stomach calm before she looked again in the basement and started to climb down.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra was highly amused to find Video already huffy and pissy. He often ran into people that lost their cool easily. They seldom survived these missions. He kept walking around the house, judging their eating and organization habits. Ugh, they clearly shopped at charity shops and had second hand items. He made a point not to touch anything, staring blankly as he came across Video practically making out with the floor. Jedi.

He didn’t budge as she opened the floorboard and immediately gagged. He then watched as she proceeded to climb down after almost vomiting, “What is compelling you to venture down there right now?” Ezra asked as he stepped to the edge while she climbed down, “If it smells like something died, and no one is answering when we call, what are you hoping to find?”

Ezra never understood Jedi logic, which made as much sense as scary movie logic. He didn’t bother following her, his arms crossed over his chest as he waited for her to be Roda the Explorer through a makeshift graveyard from the smells of it.

@GABA

 

[Vida Harp]

Vida rolled her eyes to his insistence of her reasoning as she reached the bottom; the space was obvious used as a cellar for storage but someone took shelter down here, one of the bodies laid at her feet on the floor. Yes, she knew they were dead, "We can at least bring some identification for their families." she finally gave him an answer. Vida pulled out her comm, using the illuminator function to better see and give some sort of light as she ran it up and down the corpse. With it facing up, Vida could see the violent way they were killed, blood dried around their clothing, deep wounds from something sharp, perhaps a vibroblade; their arm laid overhead and girl picked out the radio that was held loosely.

"I found a radio." she said, checking the pockets and pulling an ID, frowning as she decided she would need a moment to process what it said, but decided maybe she could get Seesaw to read it. She held up her light to flash it around the cellar once more, not seeing anyone else before climbing back up, "Here, take this, what does it say?" she asked handing him the identification card, looking busy with the radio as she turned it on, surprised it still worked.

"Come in, Come in, anyone copy?" she said, closing the door of the cellar and tilted her head to their exit. The radio remained silent but the two would feel something, or someone approach the house.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

“Gross,” Ezra muttered as she handed him the ID. He didn’t, in fact, take it right away. Unlike virtually every padawan, he wasn’t in the habit of touching everything with his bare hands or accidentally incriminating himself in potential crime scenes. He walked off, grabbed a napkin, and then walked over to then take the ID. Ezra read through it, “Looks like a diplomatic official. These people were important.”

He stared at her as she tried to get the radio to work, “Ow!” He suddenly hissed, clutching at his ears. The radio was transmitting a frequency that she likely couldn’t hear, but he could. Ezra’s eyes almost began to water. That was also when some footsteps resounded right behind them. He looked over right as the door was kicked open.

Ezra had been on the receiving end of enough mission mishaps to be caught entirely flatfooted. He grabbed a hold of Vida’s hand and ducked down. It was a man dressed like a soldier, bearing insignias that suggested he was part of the New Republic.

“For the will of the queen,” He muttered, his eyes glazed over. A barrage of bolts erupted into the room, “Every last one must die,” He chanted, having come back to finish what he started.

@GABA

 

[Vida Harp]

She didn't think too much of it when he grabbed a napkin, but in case there was something on that identification card, she wiped her hand along her clothing. Vida had immediately looked surprised when her padawan partner quickly covered his ears, hissing in pain and shock to something. Quickly she turned off the radio, piecing together there was something he had heard and she did not, but what she did not piece together was the approaching trouble.

Luckily Ezra was a bit more experienced, grabbing her hand before she could hesitate and protest and ducked low with him. The blaster fire from where the Joiner entered berated the kitchen area once more, blaster bolts eating through the wooden walls and some found their way in the adjacent room herself and Erza were in currently. She pointed to the blown out window behind them, mouthing for him to follow and keeping low as she pulled Ezra with her. Swiftly making her way to a pile of duracrete and steel debris to hide as she tried to think of a plan for them to get out.

The Joiner would make his way into the room they were in, the radio left behind, but no lifeforms present. He picked it up, eyes still glazed over and seemingly unbothered by the escaped non-believers. Though Vida would not hear, Ezra would certainly hear the frequency from the building they just left and as well as an answering one not too far from the padawans.

"We can get out of here." she spoke softly just above a whisper as she peaked from behind, "We get out and I won't have a panic attack." she glanced at Ezra, breathing in deeply.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra had been in so many nonsense situations by now that he was more furious than afraid. He glared as he followed behind Vida, cursing internally at yet another mission going sideways. The explosions made his ears hurt, but thankfully he remembered the aural dampeners this time. He scrambled out of the window, landing on the ground behind Vida. To his surprise, the Joined didn’t follow them.

As they walked away from the house, Ezra winced. He could hear the radio frequency, but with Video blabbering about panic attacks, it was clear she couldn’t, “I think it’s calling its friends,” Ezra informed her. However, he was not entirely inclined to do something about, “Don’t Star Guardians have people to work on this? I’m just going to focus on finding survivors..” He muttered as he gave the house a wide berth and walked in a different direction.

Ezra didn’t have a savior complex and he had no desire to get mixed up in fighting the Joined. Besides, there were rumors that their bullshit was airborne and he wasn’t going to risk any of that, “Do you even have a weapon at all?” He abruptly asked, stopping in his tracks as he looked at Video suspiciously. He at least had the electrosword that Zathria handed him.

@GABA

 

[Vida Harp]

Calling its friends?

Vida frowned, she remembered how he recoiled to the radio and wondered what else he could hear... could he hear her breathing? Maybe he could hear her if she screamed loud enough in her head too. Regardless, a Joined having friends, she did not like the sound of that. She wished she knew where this other Joined friend could be as he took a wide path away from the house through the rest of the village. Vida certainly did not want to be here anymore and shared the same sentiment he did about others taking care of the joined problem. She wondered if this is what her life entailed...going on missions and being mistaken as all powerful and taking care of things because she was a Jedi.

Internally, the girl scowled at that thought.

"Maybe this is part of the plan." she said, "And they are Joined too, sending two padawans to this village, to find "survivors", what if there are none." she spoke her conspiracy out loud. It made sense to her, to brainwash padawans, one being the son of the president, and then sending them back to the temple or him back home. Her stomach twisted in the thought of losing herself to some bug mind.

"I have vibroblade and I can fight." she answered his question, glancing up, thinking how he would stick out with how tall he was if they were attacked again. She was thankful for her shortness this time. "I don't think there are survivors here." she whispered seeing another house with an "x" on the door, "I mean, it looks like someone already came through here. So why are we here."

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra was quiet as Video rattled off her conspiracy theories. The more time he spent with her, the more convinced he became that she was a lunatic. If he stood her up next to a Joiner, he likely wouldn’t be able to tell the difference with the level of nonsense rambling. After she questioned again whether or not there were survivors, Ezra finally stopped and turned to look at her.

“The point of being a Jedi is that you at least look,” He said flatly, “Now shut up,” He declared before he kept walking. In truth, he couldn’t deny that some of her ramblings made sense, but he’d rather drink a full glass of Joiner Juice than admit that aloud. Ezra was about to finally admit it was best to quit when he heard a noise from inside one of the houses. He could hear it solely because of his hearing, and Vida wouldn’t hear anything.

Ezra quietly made his way over, slowly opening the door and stepping inside. He could hear shuffling and someone shushing someone else.

“Hello?” Ezra called out. He was met with silence, “We’re here to help.”

Nothing.

“Look, I can hear you moving around, I’m part Sephi,” He declared, “We are Jedi. We’re not going to hurt you.”

It was only then that he could hear some movement. After a moment, a trapdoor opened and a man popped out, leveling a blaster at them. After he took in sight of them, he lowered it, “How are you going to get us out? There are Joined out there. We lost several of our own already…”

@GABA

 

[Vida Harp]

Did she strike a nerve? Perhaps, and the girl scowled at him, waiting for him to turn around before she rolled her eyes, "NoW sHuT uP." she mouthed, "Grumpy." she grumbled and folded her arms, standing in place as she watched him divert to another house. Remembering there were Joiners, she quickly looked around, still feeling uncertainty about where the Joiner that remained in the area before stepping lightly but quickly to the next home behind Ezra. She felt more cautious, glancing over her shoulder as Ezra called out into the home to see if anyone was present.

The girl remained by the door, stepping just inside, but wanted to keep watch to make sure they were not taken off guard like the previous home. Ezra called out again, clearly hearing something or someone inside; there was rustling and she heard someone else speak, concerned for the joined.

However, they wouldn't get much of a chance to plan as now there was another with the Joiner that had attacked her and Ezra earlier. The two walked down the clearing, between the piles of debris as they seemed to be doing a sweep of the area; Vida crouched down, staying just out of sight, but enough to keep an eye on the false soldiers. "You gotta go." she whispered, "Get 'em out of here Ezra." she glanced to the part-sephi.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

“What’re you going to do? Have a panic attack to distract them?” Ezra whispered back as he glared at Video. With a shake of his head, he decided to go along with the idea. He gestured for the man across them to be quiet, signaling to get out through a back window. The man briefly disappeared, coming up again with a wife, two children, and two grandparents. Seriously? Ezra exhaled softly, turning to scowl at Video again.

Leaving her to do the distraction bits, Ezra began to direct the family out one by one. Grandpa was skeptical about him being a Jedi. Ezra proved he was by floating a chair and was promptly smacked with a purse by Grandma who was immediately terrified by the display. After a bit of whispered bickering and time wasting, the troupe was finally out.

Ezra barely fit through the window himself. Cursing to himself, he used a separate back door to exit. And promptly walked right into a Joined.

“Video!” He hissed. She had one job.

@GABA