Ask Secret Worlds

[Hera "The Joyful" Albion]

Telos was beautiful. At least, Hera thought so. It was a shame their mission was not to come and admire the world's beauty. All the flight over, Hera had been pouring over ancient technical manuals about how they completed a full restoration of the entire world thousands of years ago. The ancient Sith supposedly attempted a glassing of the surface of the world, however, they were either incompetent or incomplete in their destruction. This allowed the Ithorians to restore the planet to glory, however, a number of non-native fauna were unintentionally, or intentionally, released on the surface of the world.

They threatened to destroy a lot of natural flora and fauna that were being prepared for the world. Thankfully, however, the ithorians were able to exterminate the non-native species that sought to unbalance the ecosystem. This all occurred so long ago that the Jedi and Sith orders of old that battled each other were practically completely different ideologies now. Hera almost wished she could have been a fly on the wall, even if only for a minute, to observe that ancient time.

Now, the planet had been a picturesque getaway for vacationers and eco-nuts alike. Having recovered from hard times a few hundred years ago, many sacred places and large swathes of nature reserves were being reopened to the public for observation. Unfortunately, there had been an accident with one of the sacred places they re-unveiled. Apparently, quite a few residents had been killed when an ancient tomb had been uncovered on the surface of the world, hidden for thousands of years in one of these sacred reserves.

There weren't horrible ancient killer droids or dark spirits unleashed from the tomb, however, there was a deluge of non-native and extremely violent animals that had called the tomb home for thousands of years. Suddenly unleashed upon the environment, anyone within a dozen miles of the tomb found themselves the prey of ancient breeds of monsters. The locals had, thankfully, been able to contain the animals, but they had called the Jedi in for the tomb. After all, it could be a great historical site for their 'religion' as the locals so eloquently put it.

Hera, smiling as the Jedi shuttle set down at a 'spaceport' near a great plain reservation, looked across the way to her companions. Her Padawan, Dash, Knight Zathria, and her Padawan Ezra, had all been officially requested for this mission. Well, that wasn't exactly the truth. A Jedi Master had been explicitly requested for this mission, but Hera abused her authority to require Zathria and her padawan to come with her as a full, official diplomatic envoy to the world. Additionally, she brought along Dash, because a Jedi Master should always keep a close eye on her Padawan.

All in all, Hera thought herself very clever, and that made her smile all the more.

@Alhon @Sreeya @Phoenix

 

[Zathria]

Zathria hadn't gotten the chance to know Hera well, but she was probably the most well known of the Justicars, which meant that Zathria knew her by reputation to be sure. She had been one of this Zathria could count on to actually be a Jedi in the times when Jedi apparently didn't want to be Jedi. She was excited to be working alongside her for this Telos... excursion.

The fact that their two Padawans had developed a now-very-public attraction meant that it was all the better an opportunity for the four of them to get acquainted.

The trip across the galaxy had mostly been occupied with Zathria... sleeping. She'd put her head back against the bulkhead in her seat and just drifted off. She'd been up most of the previous night dealing with a small "fire" in the Mercy Ships management. By the time she'd gotten to sleep, she grabbed about three hours, and was up for the journey.

As the sounds of the ship dropping out of hyperspace woke her with a small start, she let out a quiet groan and then tried to rub the sleep from her eyes.

So, Master Albion. A visit to TSF headquarters to see if they have any information for us before we go out to try to... deal with the incursions? she suggested.

@Alhon @Black Noise @Sreeya

 

[Dash Pavan]

Dash sat hunched on the bulkhead bench, fiddling idly with the belt of his outfit. They had been called in as Jedi this time and he had opted for some more Jedi-like clothing. Well, slightly like a Jedi, but still with his own take. It was probably the least formal he could get away with.

He inclined his head, trying to listen in on the senior Jedi's conversation. It seemed like they were genuinely just making plans for landing, but the Rhinnalian felt a little watched on this outing and he wanted to hear if Hera and Zathria started trading notes.

He felt more ready for this mission than most. He had several assignments under his belt now and was doing well in his training, or at least Master Albion seemed to think so. He had taken hits, with the scars from Kashyyyk and Berchest to prove it, but he had tried to learn from his mistakes. His late night communing with the Casket was also bringing his powers along no end, though he kept that part largely under wraps.

The only fly in the ointment on this mission was going to be the pretty one sat opposite him. Dash checked that Hera and Zathria were looking away and blew a kiss in Ezra's direction, catching those silver eyes and smiling.

It would be tough focusing on the task at hand and treating Ez like any other Jedi, but they were Padawans on a mission today and they had grown-ups with them too. Dash did not want to give them any excuse to suggest he and Ezra couldn't work together, or worse.

@Sreeya @Black Noise @Phoenix

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra had no clue about Telos or whatever planet they were going to. His biggest concern was with the fact that his Master tried to tell him this was a ‘Jedi attire’ mission. After some back and forth, he was permitted to wear armor. But of course, it was very extra since it was still Ezra. The material was expensive and the luxury trimmings made him almost look like royalty. However, it was still made to be useful in combat.

He only found out last minute that Dash and his master would also be joining them. Ezra sat across him, making eyes every so often. Unfortunately between the Thorne fitness routine, private school and Jedi training, exhaustion took over. At some point, Ezra also fell asleep, his head leaning into the shoulder of his Master, both happily sound asleep for practically the entire journey. Hera and Dash would have all the time in the world to chitchat while sitting across the two.

The jerk of the ship coming out of hyperspace startled him awake, and he groggily looked around before rubbing his eyes. Dash didn’t have any sort of sexy gaze staring back at him - only a bleary and sleep deprived Ezra staring blankly, just barely processing the kiss blown his way.

Ezra stood up when the others began to walk, stifling a yawn. He fell into step beside Zathria, nudging her lightly, “What’re we hunting again?” He asked with a whisper, “I forgot to read the mission report…”

@Black Noise @Phoenix @Alhon

 

[Hera "The Joyful" Albion]

Standing up as the vessel made its approach for landing, Hera gripped a strap hanging from the ceiling and grinned at Zathria. "Of course! Assuming the TSF has a proper headquarters where we will be landing, a mission briefing from the experts on the ground certainly couldn't hurt!" Suddenly, the shuttle shuddered again as it entered the atmosphere. The turbulence over the plains gave Hera cause for joy as she kept speaking to Zathria.

"So tell me! How has young Ezra been getting along? Not too many nights spent off and alone with Dash, I hope?" She did not mean to say it at a full conversational volume. Truly, Hera meant for that to be no more than a secretive whisper. However, as the shuttle shook gently with the sounds of wind buffeting its side, Hera increased in intensity in order to be heard. "Er, don't worry about it, I'm sure they've perfectly behaved. Do you know much about Telos, Knight Zathria?"

Hera switched to formalities in her slight awkwardness. Cursing her talent at mucking up in social situations, all she wanted at that moment was for the damn shuttle to land faster. While Zathria had the right idea in wanting to meet with the Telos Security Force in order to obtain a better understanding of their target, Hera had received initial reports already and wasn't too worried. From what she saw, they wouldn't be facing anything bigger than a herd of Cannoks. While certainly a danger to private citizens and undertrained local officials, they would be of no consequence for Jedi.

It's not like there'd be a Zakkeg or anything else insane like that prowling around, surely.

@Alhon @Phoenix @Sreeya

 

[Zathria]

Evidently two pees in a pod, as Knight and Padawan awoke, she was almost immediately confronted by his admission that he hadn't read the briefing report.

Ezra... she said, almost as a sigh more than anything. During the unearthing of the ruins, the locals dug up a lot of old wildlife. Sounds like most of it is hostile, she explained in brief. The exact creatures they'd be hunting... well, that remained to be seen.

Take a glance at it as we come in to land, she said quietly back to him as she moved over to address Hera's questions that were... oh they weren't as quiet as the Sephi's whispers.

Zathria bristled slightly and cleared her throat, but Hera moved along quickly after that altogether. And Zathria thought she was awkward sometimes.

Not a ton, she said. Very popular tourist location. Lots of beautiful sights, which means their primary business is probably suffering from wild animal attacks, she speculated.

Are you both ready? she asked, glancing back at the two Padawans as the ship's ramp began to open and a fresh, perfectly temperatured breeze blew into the ship.

@Black Noise @Sreeya @Alhon

 

[Dash Pavan]

Ezra missed the blown kiss, of course he did. Dash was the only guy in the galaxy who had managed to get himself a first class, cut diamond boyfriend who still, just occasionally, was a complete dork. It was adorable, but sometimes it did not seem right. This guy had to carry on the Thorne name after all.

Ezra did not distinguish himself any further by opening admitting he had not read the full report. Dash had, though he must have misunderstood it, as he had thought the locals had the critters under control. He had thought they were doing more temple diving than animal taming, but he knew enough to keep his uncertainty to himself.

"I'm ready" he replied, in answer to Zathria's question. He slipped past Ezra in his rather extra armour and headed down the ramp. Dash had always favoured speed and dexterity over strength or power and it felt good to be outside and feel the Telosian air in his hair. From what he knew, the Ithorians managed a beautiful world here, holding everything in balance. It would be a far cry from the wilderness they had faced on so many other planets.

@Sreeya @Black Noise @Phoenix

 

[Hera "The Joyful" Albion]

Walking off the ramp, Hera quickly monitored her surroundings before moving on. The 'spaceport' was indeed nothing more than a pair of landing pads surrounded by a small fence designed to keep out unwanted critters, not people. Off to their left, Hera could spot a handful of angular structures that the locals were clearly inhabiting. Most were uninteresting, but two caught the Master's eye. One, a large building adorned with local flags and surrounded by sophisticated droid guards, and another less grand with a handful of humans in uniform around it.

Guessing that the uniformed men were TSF, Hera made her way in their direction. She did not call Dash to follow her, the pair had been together long enough that she knew that he knew to follow when she moved away. The guards straightened up as Hera approached, robe flowing about her green armor, lightsaber hilts clearly visible. Smiling and raising her arms, she announced, "Gentlemen! A pleasure to meet you! I am Jedi Master Hera Albion! May I speak to your commanding officer? We'd like a bit more information on our targets of this beautiful planet."

A nervous glance was shared between them before one spoke up, "W-Wait here, please." Then, with a quick entering of a code on the door keypad, he disappeared into the compound. Returning not a minute later, the guard spoke up again. "C-Commander Mathrox said on-only two of you. Sorry, m-master Jedi." His voice shook with the nature of someone too kind for soldier work, but too poor to go anywhere else out of his small town.

Hera didn't mind it, though, as she responded with her dumb grin still plastered about her face, "No worries-!" Turning to Zathria, she continued, "Master Zathria, do you and Ezra mind speaking to the Commander? I'd like to take a look around with Dash." Then, without waiting for Zathria's response, Hera began to move toward the other building. Once again, expecting Dash to follow.

----------------

Once out of earshot from the others and moving towards the guarded compound, Hera would sigh deeply. Turning to Dash, she'd smile gently and tell him, "Sorry! I feel a little awkward around Ezra. Need to get a quick breather. I met his dad, you know! I'm pretty sure his old man must think I'm crazy, wasn't a good situation to really introduce myself. Do the two of them talk together a lot? I told him about you two! But I think he was too busy to talk about it."

Of course, Dash would know that Hera had gone to assist in what ultimately ended up being the execution of a Dark Council member. Though he wouldn't have known exactly what went down, outside of the sparse details Hera told him before and after the event occurred. Something along the lines of 'There was a Dark Lord, Kaisa killed him, I helped, Emryc was there? I think he gave us the Sith.' Weirdly enough, the elimination of the Sith wasn't high on Hera's priorities to 'get over.' She wasn't sure she felt anything toward the death of the villain.

@Alhon @Phoenix @Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

With Dash walking ahead, Ezra entertained himself by shamelessly staring at his boyfriend’s rear end as they walked. Zathria had told him to look around at all the nature, but it was either going to be his NalPhone or Dash’s ass, and he chose the latter this time. Ezra was pondering if there was a caf shop nearby where they arrived and Master Albion happily ditched him and his Master to go do something else. Ezra looked over at Zathria and shrugged.

The nervous TSF officer gawked at Ezra’s armor for a moment until Ezra cleared his throat, “Oh, r-right! Come this way please.”

With that, Zathria and Ezra were led towards the angular structure. Once led inside, Commander Mathrox gave them a curt nod. His gaze also lingered a bit longer on Ezra’s armor, brows raising. However, he said nothing. He pressed a button to project a holographic map.

“Welcome, Jedi,” He said, “We’ve been seeing a spike in attacks on local civilians and the attack radius is getting wider. We normally have task forces deployed and monitoring around the clock, but the constant invasions this planet has faced has severely cut our funding and staffing. We desperately need assistance with finding the root cause of the problem which…” He zoomed in on a point in the map. It aligned with the Jedi mission log that identified the tomb as a source of disruption, “Is right there. We haven’t had any success sending a team that far out and I’m running out of resources.”

@Black Noise @Phoenix @Alhon

 

[Zathria]

Hera asked the two of them to see the Commander, and was scurrying off before Zathria could even say anything yay or nay. Well, looked like it was up to them to play diplomats, but from the looks of things, that might be better for them than for the Jedi Master. Zathria got the impression that "people" weren't really her strongest suit.

Why, yes, we'll handle it, she said to the now-long gone Jedi Master with more than a hint of sarcasm in her tone as she laughed slightly and shook her head.

They were led into the Commander by some nervous-looking guards, and something about that... seemed out of place. Zathria couldn't quite place it, but her Justicar warning bells were clanging, and Ezra had gotten to know her well enough that he would be able to sense her demeanor had grown far more serious.

A pleasure to meet you, Commander, she said, her tone now more guarded than it was before.

Although her attention was externally on the report, her focus was now drawn to the Commander who - although he held it better - seemed nervous as well.

He gave a further report that didn't really provide them with any more details than they already had and Zathria stood up to exit, giving a small bow and heading out of the building, waiting until they were out of earshot before turning to Ezra.

What did you think of the Commander? And that meeting? she asked, wondering if he had picked up on... whatever it was. If he hadn't, she wouldn't be disappointed, but in her experience getting him to think for himself was the best way to help him learn. She wouldn't always be there, and she cared that he was prepared for whenever she was either gone or he was moved on.

@Alhon @Sreeya @Black Noise

 

[Dash Pavan]

Dash followed Hera dutifully, challenging himself with how long he could go without looking to see what Ezra was doing. It was not easy, but he impressed himself and was actually intrigued by the guarded compound he and Hera headed to investigate.

His Master's mention of Ezra and his Pops, Emryc Thorne, definitely caught Dash off guard. "What did you tell him?" The question was out of his mouth before he had refined the words, a hint of panic jumping into his voice. He had not met Ezra's parents yet, though he had suggested it and Ez was supposedly sorting out a meet. He did not want the scariest man in the galaxy getting ideas about him before they even spoke.

But he was a senior figure he supposed, and Hera was a senior Jedi. People like them were going to cross paths, in fact he thought she might have mentioned something during the recent Sith trouble. "I mean, did you have the chance to discuss me much?" he rephrased, trying to sound more measured "I haven't met Mr Thorne yet and I don't think he and Ezra get the chance to speak that often no". In truth, it sometimes sounded like they had plenty of chances but neither was a big talker.

Dash was hanging on Hera's answer with such interest that he nearly walked right into one of the droid guards. The thing looked him in the face challengingly and he stepped around it quickly. What the hell were they guarding?

@Black Noise @Sreeya @Phoenix

 

[Hera "The Joyful" Albion]

Hera was caught off guard by Dash's quick response, stuttering a moment in response after Dash quickly rephrased his question, "O-oh, nothing. Just that you two were cute together, sorry. Did I overstep? We didn't talk after that, there were extenuating circumstances." Like holding a headless corpse... She thought, before pulling her smile back across her face, "Yeah Emryc was busy at the time, though if he hasn't said anything to you or Ezra then I'm sure everything's fine!" And Hera believed that, mostly because she didn't know Emryc personally. She knew of him and of his deeds, but not how he thought about the world or his son getting into relationships.

Stepping up to the guarded compound, she waved to the droids and introduced herself, "Hello! I am Jedi Master Hera Albion, Myself and my Padawan are-" At that moment, a voice erupted from an intercom hooked up to the machine's chest, "Go away! We know why you're here, but it's your fault that things are the way they are! Kriffing Jedi and their space magic, we'd be better off without the lot of you! Piss off!"

Without skipping a beat, Hera smiled and nodded, "Thank you for your time!" Then turned off toward the direction of the tomb. Her smile slowly faded as her mind drifted. What was that supposed to mean? Was the tomb a Jedi or Sith artifact? It would make sense with the beasts emerging from it. It could be a nexus; if so, they'd need to be prepared to purify it. These things were cropping up more often now with the prevalence of the war.

Looking to Dash, she smiled, "Let's go and meet back up! With any luck, Zathria will have a speeder prepared for us. She's sensible like that."

@Alhon @Sreeya @Phoenix

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra fell into step beside Zathria when they walked away. He thought for a moment when she asked her question, “They’re hiding something,” He said as he walked, “Eyes shifted left repeatedly. TSF guy was sweating and kept looking at the Commander as if looking for cues. Oh and his uniform was inside out,” Ezra shrugged, “Odd for a military sort,” He looked at Zathria, grinning sheepishly, “I have a paranoid Pops.”

Regardless, the problem still needed to be solved. Ezra waited around outside, wondering where the others were. He hoped there would be a transport for them to take on this safari trip. His cardio still needed some serious work, and he definitely needed a caf if they were going to walk.

“Do you know if there’s a Spacebucks here?” Ezra asked hopefully.

@Black Noise @Phoenix @Alhon

 

[Zathria]

When Ezra looked up at Zathria, he would see that she had a wide smile and was beaming with pride at his assessment.

We may make a Justicar out of you yet, she said. Although it was half a joke - as she wanted him to be free to choose his own path - he would also recognize that it was a high compliment as well.

If Hera thought that Zathria had gotten them a speeder, she was going to be disappointed. While Zathria had been an influence on Ezra, he had also been an influence on her and had actually helped her to lighten up a bit from her normally serious and sarcastic nature. Therefore, at his suggestion of getting a spacebucks, Zathria actually stopped to ponder.

You know, probably not, but I bet they have some local shops, she said. I could use a caf, too, she said, angling back toward the "main street" that on Dantooine was really just a handful of buildings together in a rather unimpressive path.

She angled off toward a building that said "The Singing Bean" and walked inside to the immediate smell of caf, causing her to take a deep, happy breath of caf-scented air.

Yeah, this is what I needed, she said, having almost completely forgotten that they were on this mission with another Master-Paddawan pair and remembering she should probably fire off a quick message to them.

Grabbing caf. Talked to the Commander. Will update you in person. The Singing Bean. she sent off to Hera. Seemed as good a place as any to put their heads together, no?

@Sreeya @Black Noise @Alhon

 

[Dash Pavan]

Hera's answer was not particularly reassuring, but it sounded like she had not said anything explosive at least. Still, Dash hoped her encounter with Emryc really had been as brief as she suggested. It was all very well that she thought they were cute, but the Rhinnalian had no idea what the ISC President would make of his involvement with his son. He did not want to upset any apple carts.

It seemed they had already managed to do just that here on Telos. The voice on the intercom could not have been anymore rude, but Hera took the rejection in her stride and they went to find Zathria and Ezra instead. "Sounds like we need to go and sort this temple pretty quick?" Dash surmised the sooner they resolved the root of the issues, the sooner they might earn the locals' goodwill again.

Apparently the other two were not in quite the same hurry. When Dash heard they were in a caf shop, he automatically blamed Ezra. It would have been his boyfriend's first thought back in the beginning and the Jedi had not changed him that much. Not yet.

The Singing Bean was hidden away behind the two main buildings, squatting amongst a ragged line of structures that looked like they were undecided on their permanence. Dash had to give the proprietor credit for naming his establishment like it was something more than a retreat for the workers and security, though there was little else to compliment. He smiled to himself, knowing already that Ez would hate the caf here.

"The folks we spoke to were not very pleased to see us" he said, spying Zathria and Ezra and filling them in. "Gave us the brush off. Did you guys do any better?".

@Black Noise @Sreeya @Phoenix

 

[Ezra Thorne]

“What do you mean you can’t do a half blue and coconut? Look, it’s a breve with 3 shots with a spritz of cinnamon and-” Ezra recited his very long order a few times, but the barista only stared at him blankly. After giving up, he was standing next to Zathria and silently fuming with a subpar caf as his Master happily enjoyed herself. If there was anything that could spoil Ezra’s day, it was caf that wasn’t up to his standards.

However, he was pleased and surprised that his Master came along with him at all, so he wasn’t going to complain too much, “What do you like doing for fun?” He asked Zathria out of the blue, genuinely curious. He decided he found her largely tolerable and actually wanted to get to know her.

They were standing around for a few minutes until Dash and Hera showed up. Ezra was sipping from his caf, his eyes betraying his displeasure at the taste even if the rest of his face revealed nothing. His expression softened a bit from the usual broody when he spotted Dash.

“The TSF guy and his Commander were very suspicious,” Ezra said, “They’re definitely covering something up, but up to you guys what we wanna do,” He shrugged noncommittally at Hera and Zathria as he sipped from his caf. Ezra pulled up his NalPhone to scroll through Limmie stats, pleased to see that his team was winning the semi final round in the championships. With luck they would qualify for the Galactic Cup.

@Phoenix @Black Noise @Alhon

 

[Hera "The Joyful" Albion]

Hera heard the message sent by Zathria and had almost made a bee-line to the cafe with Dash. It wasn't like their mission would crash and burn in the extra hour or so spent relaxing at a local spot, and Hera wasn't the type to stress about dates, timetables, or even being on time in any case. From what Hera knew about the Thyrsian Echani compared to herself, Zathria was a serious woman, and Hera wasn't. But it seemed that Ezra had been influencing Zathria to be a bit more laid back, and that gladdened Hera.

Arriving at the cafe, Hera immediately made her way to the counter to pick up a straight black cup of caf before coming back around to the table with everyone else. Pulling up a chair as Ezra and Dash spoke, noting the subtle softening of the younger Padawan's face as Dash approached, Hera sat down to sip her hot drink. On the walk from the compound to the shop, Hera had completely forgotten about assuming Zathria would get speeders. That said, if Hera couldn't be bothered to even remember it then it wouldn't be fair to expect Zathria to go get them.

"It's possible they just don't like Jedi." Hera remarked in response to Ezra, "But more likely they blame us in some way for the origin of the tomb. The Jedi have held a presence on this world on many occasions throughout time, and I can't recall a time the Sith held presence here-" At that, she turned to Zathria to see if the Knight would correct her on her assumption. "It's also possible this is an elaborate trap to kill us all, but we shouldn't assume that! Hope for the best, right?" At that, Hera would laugh, thinking she had just made a funny joke.

Looking back to Zathria, she added, "Any insights, Zath?"

@Sreeya @Alhon @Phoenix

 

[Zathria]

Zathria had ordered herself a latte and her eyebrow arched as she listened to Ezra's order, getting lost somewhere around the third detail of what he wanted in his drink and completely zoning out by the end.

She was quite satisfied with her drink and sipped at it as she watched Ezra grumpily make his way over.

I run and I do martial arts, she said. It was the nature of her people to be physically active, and that had been quite instilled in Zathria before she had come to the Jedi. I'm hoping to enter in the Coruscant Marathon next year, she said.

What about you? Other than order incredibly complicated coffees? she said, suppressing a teasing smirk.

The others arrived only moments later and it didn't sound like they had much success based on what Dash said. Zathria grunted and her mouth twisted around in some weird expressions that indicated she was thinking.

Hera arrived moments later and gave her input as well. Zathria shook her head.

No, it wasn't just "wary of Jedi." There's definitely something more going on, but I don't know what. Maybe they opened up the temple to smuggle out artifacts, she said. She couldn't break the thought in her mind that the TSF was somehow responsible for this situation.

I'd still head out and see what we find, she said. Sometimes, the Knight just preferred the "straightforward" approach of springing the trap and seeing what it was. She had had too many instances of wasting time poking around for answers she didn't find and then having to resort to that anyway.

And with that, she started heading in the direction of the speeder rentals that could take them out to the plains.

The rentals place... didn't look much better than anything else in this town, and Zathria had this nagging feeling that they weren't going to be getting a "reliable" vehicle here.

Eeeh, welcome to Brok's Speeder Rentals. What can I do ya for? a man asked, appearing out of the building completely unbidden and nearly causing Zathria to jump with a start.

@Black Noise @Sreeya @Alhon

 

[Dash Pavan]

Dash slid into the booth, consciously choosing to sit next to Zathria rather than Ezra opposite. If he sat next to Ez he was likely to get distracted and it seemed to him they were having a slow enough start already. His boyfriend was already off on his phone in any case, no doubt checking which grown man had successfully placed a ball on the right patch of earth this time. Those Cup games were so inane, but Ez did love them.

The Rhinnalian listened to Hera and Zathria trading reports. The TSF and locals certainly seemed off, but he was not quite sure it was as calculated as a trap. But they were never going to find out in the caf shop - they needed to head over to this temple. Dash had already said as much to his Master though and he was not going to risk a telling off for overreaching. The two senior Jedi knew what they were doing.

Sure enough, they settled on a plan to advance, paying for their drinks and heading over to the speeder place across the lane. Dash stepped around a few locals, the cut of his Jedi outfit drawing a few looks. He had thought they would be welcomed here, but like the others he felt a subdued resentment from the Telosians.

The exotic Brok greeted them that it had never crossed his mind his customers might want a speeder. Dash held back and did not stick his nose in. Whatever model Hera and Zathria went for, he just hoped it would get them moving fast.

@Sreeya @Phoenix @Black Noise

 

[Ezra Thorne]

“Martial arts? I know Teras Kasi,” Ezra explained, though he knew the form wasn’t entirely common. He wasn’t even sure why Pops knew it so well and was insistent on teaching the twins. He shrugged vaguely when Zathria asked about him, “I like sailing and racing as you know,” He said, not thinking much of it. In truth, he was rigorously preparing for a swoop race coming up in a few months. Zathria had seen him place on the leadership boards when she found him after Kashyyyk.

Ezra followed the group without protest to the rental shop. Once they were there, it was a different story.

“Disgusting, I’m not getting in that,” Ezra said flatly as he was presented the fifth janky speeder for all of them. He didn’t care if he was being difficult, he was not getting into a cramped speeder that had sticky cupholders and wobbly seats. He was standing with his arms crossed, refusing the budge. They could all go without him, but he wouldn't lower his standards.

After a bit of walking around, Ezra spotted a pair of speeder bikes that looked acceptable. He checked them out from all angles, asking Brok many technical questions about the specs, mileage, thrusters, and a whole bunch of things that made the man’s eyes glaze over and confuse him. In the end, Ezra settled on two models that didn’t look like garbage.

He had no clue where he was going, so he swung a leg over the bike and jutted his chin for Zathria to get on behind him. Ezra grabbed a helmet and handed it to her, “Safety first, Master,” He said with a faint grin as he revved up the engines, popping his visor down. He tipped his helmeted head towards both Hera and Dash before he began to speed off.

Zathria would learn quickly what it was like to ride with someone that did competitive racing. The rental was pushed to its limits as Ezra zig-zagged past any other vehicles in his path. Every turn was harrowing and they were tilted almost completely to the side each time, but the level of control was almost unnatural.

As they began to approach their destination, the fields were changing. A thick fog loomed to where Ezra had to slow down. Visibility was poor and it was a strange pocket of fog that didn’t appear anywhere else.

“What’s happening here?” Ezra asked Zathria, looking around himself and seeing nothing but dense fog.

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