The Dawn of the Dusk

[Vuthari]

The Apogee
Hutt Space
Outer Rim

Clearance from Nar Shaddaa was in many ways, just a formality, with the sole purpose of watching for an invasion force, whatever form that may take and to ensure that ships did not crash into one another as they went to and from the “Smuggler’s Moon”. Vu’thari maneuvered the modified exploration vessel out of the traffic lanes and out into the vast of open space. Once clear of the moon’s traffic and all other obstructions, the twi’lek began calculating the hyperspace jump to the deep core. The Apogee had a very fast hyperdrive, so usually was able to get to different parts of the galaxy in half the time as most light freighters. Looking over his shoulder, he spoke to Ayasha’s astrogation droid, “SawDip, double check my calculations for the Deep Core…”

The astrogation droid beeped and chirped as he used his scomp-link to connect to the nearest interface. Moments later, the twi’lek was rewarded with a celebratory whistle. Vu’thari nodded and said softly, “Good enough…”

Vu’thari unstrapped himself from the pilot’s chair and made his way to the common area on the Apogee. Within, he met the eyes of his three padawans and his newest addition that would indeed become his padawan as well. An easy smile crossed the twi’lek’s face as he confessed to the gathered learners, “You…all of you…are my family now. I will treasure this time we have together. We may not get this opportunity again, for all of us to be in one place like this. Get to know one another. I know each of you well. There is common ground between you. You are not so different from the padawan next to you as you think. You will have to trust each other with your lives where we are going--I have felt it. We will also get some much needed training in, because…”

With a small sigh, the Jedi continued, “For better or worse, this trip to the Deep Core will take approximately 14 days. It would be a whole lot longer if the Apogee had a shabby hyperdrive. Please know that the Deep Core is one of the largest, most unpredictable areas in the galaxy. Once we make our way to the asteroid field near the planet of Eclipse, I will need your help navigating the course and destroying any of the smaller asteroids…”

With a broad smile looking upon his “family”, Vu’thari announced, “And away we go…”

Moments later, the twi’lek was in the pilot’s seat, pushing down the hyperdrive lever and the stars began to streak by…

OOC NOTE: This thread takes place following Rock within the Shadows. For Prax and Ayasha, this is following lightsaber construction. For Alexander, this is following the thread with Leah.

@Wolf
@Critas
@EmilyHuene
@Lucid

 

[Kae'Leigh Tameris]

So here she was. After several days of contemplating and making up her mind the blue-skinned Twi'lek had come to store all of her worldly possessions save for the clothes on her back and the R-5 blaster pistol on her hip. Technically she also had some smaller pieces of gear one might need for traveling but those weren't exactly valuable to her so she didn't count them as property. Now she was in the back of the Vu'thari's spacecraft heading out into black space that could very well get them killed.

Oh and to top it off she was with three other people who had yet to warm up to her. The first was a man who as it turned out had been a slave most of his life. Although one might think the same of the Twi'lek, she had spent her life free from shackles. And she aimed to keep it that way. It had been one of the initial reasons she first agreed to train under Vu'thari. But her morals and such brought her to the right path and was now here for the right reasons. The other was another man -again making Kae'Leigh uncomfortable since he was the opposite sex- who she'd never met at all. According to him, he'd been on Kashyyyk the same time as Kae'Leigh and the girl named Ayasha had been. But she didn't remember seeing him there.

Ayasha was a curious individual. She was so quiet when Kae'Leigh was introduced to her. So much so it seemed her entire personality was reversed because now Kae'Leigh honestly thought that one was still contemplating killing her...out of spite? Jealousy? It was hard to read the human girl. But Kae'Leigh knew enough of the signs to know when another girl was stepping on her territory, and vise versa. Well Kae'Leigh didn't care. Though to be honest....the object of her affection would be better suited to someone of his own race. That's her opinion on the matter.

When she had come onto the ship that first time she started totally geeking out. "This is a parallax isn't it?" she'd ask. Not waiting for an answer she ran into the ship's hold via the ramp and headed to the shuttle's computer to start looking at the diagnostics and schematics. She of course blew through the mainframe to get to the source, exactly as one might expect from a slicer. "Hoersch-Kessel Drive, Inc. Class 3 hyperdrive. Speed....75 M-G-L-T. Complete with dual light laser cannon, tractor beam...oh no way! You added a groundsweeper?! Do you have any idea how fast those things shoot! Heavens, I can't wait to see that in action. Oh no way!!!"

Kae'Leigh shrieked and dropped her shoulder bag right where she'd been standing. She then would run further into the ship into the cockpit, past the adorable little modified KLT droid who probably wondered what she was doing on Vu'tharui's ship. She shrieked again as she ducked under the cockpit's console to inspect the little box plugged into the computer. "You have an I-F-F spoofer. Gosh I need one of these. I ended up finding a broken one on Nar Shaddaa but haven't been able to fix it up yet. I'm missing-" Kae'Leigh stopped talking as she realized no one had followed her into the cockpit. "Oh.......whoopsie. I'd better head back"

Returning to the main hold she blushed and scooted around the doorway and leaned against the wall. The others were still climbing aboard and talking a little among themselves. She mouthed an apology to Vu'thari as he passed her by to get the ship ready then awkwardly would make her way back over to her bag. She picked it up and without another word to the others headed to the common room to stay out of sight. That was almost two weeks ago.

"What am I doing here?" she asked herself for the hundreth time. "No. Stop overthinking. You're going to help people. This is the best thing for you. For others."

It was probably terribly obvious for the other Force potentials that Kae'Leigh was bothered. They could read people's emotions and possibly even take things a step further and see into their minds. The Twi'lek possessed none of those skills. Or rather she did, she just didn't know how to use them. Her training up until now was simply in controlling her emotions. That was it. She did know she had a knack for sensing danger and knowing when to run. It's kept her alive all these years and away from being caught by slavers and the like.

Soon enough Vu'thari returned to them and she couldn't help but smile a little upon seeing him. Hopefully Ayasha wouldn't notice. Kae'Leigh hadn't meant anything by it. To her, he was just a friend. And to reassure her feelings, or rather confuse them further, he'd explain that they were all his family now. That the time shared would be treasured. How cliche. Sweet. But pointless. They were here to train and become stronger. No time for lovey-dovey emotional crud. Kae'Leigh certainly didn't need the distractions. Not that she had a choice. Fourteen days. That's how long they'd be stuck with one another. Now she wished she had come time to look at that hyperdrive. She could maybe tweak it some and get them there faster. If she'd done so before liftoff. Now it was too late for any modifications. Maybe when they got back...

Kae'Leigh checked out for a moment. "Wait! Did he say asteroid field?" She looked around at the others but they didn't seem too worried. Kae'Leigh gulped. "Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear oh dear." She hadn't heard what else he said because he'd already turned around and headed back to the pilot's seat. She was sure Ayasha would be the first to follow since she'd called "shotgun" back at Vu'thari's home. And a small vessel such as this didn't have much room for multiple seats in the cockpit. She'd have to stay back here with the boys.

Oh dear.

​

 

[Ayasha Waya]

The only constant in the galaxy was change and indeed, life had been changing for the padawans in Vu'thari's charge. Relationships were ever changing. Skills and abilities were ever growing. Knowledge was ever being acquired. Ayasha and Prax had grown closer in a short time than the Galtean native could have imagined. The man of quiet strength had become something akin to a brother. Whether he knew it or not, her fellow student had helped heal a deep wound in her heart that had been inflicted when she was just a small child. The loss of her brother had left the woman in a state of constant fear of abandonment. The day he died, a piece of her died with him. From then on, she held everyone at arm's length, knowing that loss was more than likely...it was certain.

Many things had happened, seemingly all at once. Ayasha and Vu'thari had finally put all of their emotions on the table. Knowing where they stood with one another gave the young woman a sense of peace that she had not known in so long. The twi'lek was the only one she had ever allowed close enough to break her heart, a risk she was willing to take in the name of love. She and the Jedi Master had made promises to one another that their attachment would not cloud their judgement and when the chips were down, Ayasha would choose the greater good ahead of Vu'thari. Every time.

The trio that had been Vu'thari, Prax and Ayasha had grown a few times over as Kae'Leigh and Alexander had now joined their mismatched tribe. The Galtean native had slowly been learning to open her heart to these newcomers. The former slave and the backwater savage were an unlikely pair, but they had faced several challenges together and their bond was stronger than ever for it. Most recently, the padawans had collected their kyber crystals and constructed their own lightsabers. They were on the cusp of earning the title of Jedi Knight and the responsibilities that accompanied the title.

Ayasha wore the ornate Brylark hilt of her saber with pride, though out of sight beneath the folds of her tunic. The black wolf that stretched across the surface represented the young woman who was named Ayasha Waya - 'little wolf' - in Tsalagi, the native language of her people. She felt the turquoise crystal silently humming within the cylinder, their connection ever present within the undulating waves of the Force. The lessons she had learned from Ezekiel remained close to the surface, a part of his spirit encased within the glowing stone.

The caramel skinned woman sat beside Prax in the lounge, the place within the Apogee that she had once described to Vu'thari as her personal oasis. Learning to share the places that she had called her home had been a journey all its own, but Ayasha now found herself thankful for the company. She glanced over at the tattooed man beside her and smiled warmly as Vu'thari walked in and stood silently for several moments. The grin on his handsome face was genuine and it filled Ayasha's heart to see him so happy. “You...all of you...are my family now,” the twi'lek began as his brilliant emerald eyes met the gaze of each of his students.

The Jedi Master continued explaining how each of his padawans shared common ground. He made mention that they were not as different from one another as they had initially thought. “You will have to trust each other with your lives where we are going – I have felt it,” he continued before explaining that there would be a great deal of time for training due to the length of the trip. Ayasha was comfortable aboard the Apogee and was looking forward to spending time in many of the same ways she had when she and Vu'thari had first acquired the ship.

The pink skinned alien went on to describe the unpredictability of the Deep Core region and his need for the group to assist him through the asteroid field near Eclipse. Oh how Ayasha loathed asteroids and the fields they frolicked in. She shot Vu'thari a funny expression that involved a crinkled nose and pursed lips at his mention of the challenge that awaited them. The woman had been thrust into the seat of the turret aboard the craft during their last encounter of the same nature. Though she and the twi'lek had survived, the experience was not one of their favorite memories and certainly not one that Ayasha was looking forward to reliving anytime soon.

Vu'thari shared a wide smile with the family that had been pieced together from all ends of the galaxy. They resembled a trainwreck, a dysfunctional semblance in the stead of normalcy. In spite of it all, these individuals were the next generation of Jedi and each of them would make a fine addition to the fledgling Order. “And away we go...” Vu'thari announced before turning to make his way back to the pilot's seat. Ayasha's heart burned to sit beside him, but over the course of the days and weeks to come, she knew that they would have the opportunity to share the space as they had before. For now, the greater good called and the best way the woman could honor the twi'lek would be to stay here with the others and get to know them better as he had suggested.

Silence settled over the group and the caramel skinned woman shifted in her seat, bringing her legs up and crossing them upon the leathery cushion beneath her. She looked over Prax to face Kae'Leigh to his left. “How has training been going?” the padawan smiled gently at the blue skinned twi'lek. Though they had started off on the wrong foot, Ayasha was beginning to see her fellow student as a friend and an ally. She knew that the band of misfits was fortunate to have her in their ranks and so the Galtean native continued to strive for a deeper bond with the only other female in their troupe.

Ayasha, the natural empath and skilled mentalist of the bunch, sensed the unrest within Kae'Leigh's mind the moment that Vu'thari made mention of the asteroid field. “The Apogee is fast. We had an experience with a surprise asteroid field not long ago and we lived to see another day,” the woman gestured toward the front of the ship where the Jedi Master sat. “I think if two can make it out in one piece, five of us should do even better.” She leaned forward across Prax and placed a reassuring hand upon the twi'lek's arm. “I've got your back,” the woman said with a deep sense of sincerity within her golden eyes. She leaned back into her seat and shifted her gaze to Prax as a playful grin tugged at the corners of her lips. He had come so far in such a short amount of time. “Didn't see you there,” Ayasha winked at her fellow student, hoping that her presence beside him would help ease any anxiety he may have been feeling about the situation.



OOC: This thread occurs after several others where Ayasha undergoes a great deal of character development, thus the not so subtle differences in her personality from Rock Within the Shadows till now.


@Mithias
@Critas
@Lucid
@EmilyHuene

 

[Vuthari]

The Apogee
Hyperspace
Enroute to the Deep Core

The Science Lab on the Apogee had been mostly converted into a “Tech Lab”. More spanners and electrical parts were on the shelves than vials and beakers. SawDip was inactive, laid flat on the floor. His “coverings” were removed and open circuitry and wires were exposed. Ayasha watched with a twinge of concern as well as Kae’Leigh, but hers was more fascination. The electrical engineer explained what he was doing as his datapad was attached the dormant astrogation droid.

“As you just saw, I installed a Combat Bypass circuit in SawDip. What this does is ‘bypass’ the restrictions on this little droid in regards to defending itself…and violence in general. In short, the droid will be able to help with manning a turret or even picking up blaster and shooting an enemy…”

His fingers danced across the datapad and he continued explaining, “Also, since this little guy was not programmed for combat, the bypass circuit will enable the ability, but not teach him the skills to do it…”

Screen after screen whizzed by the face of the twi’lek as he continued to go through SawDips code. He didn’t want to change one thing about the droid’s personality matrix. In many ways, this was like surgery to Vu’thari. Each line of code served a purpose and he didn’t want to mess up what was working with any augmentation made…

“Soo…it is a good thing we live in Nar Shaddaa, where credits can fix those shortcomings. An underground tech was able to sell me some code from a decommissioned battle droid and an old pilot droid. So what I am doing now is adding some serviceable combat code to SawDip’s bank of routines, as well as expanding his piloting proficiency…”

Looking over at Ayasha, he explained, “SawDip will never be an ace pilot, but he will be able to pilot this or another ship with passable proficiency. In addition, his combat routines have many applications, but he will never be a master marksman. However, the little guy is now going to be even more useful than he was before…”

Detaching the datapad, Vu’thari went back through meticulous process of putting the droid back together. He explained what he was doing as he went for Ayasha’s sake so she could service the droid if needed. Kae’Leigh was nodding most of the time, following the engineer’s simplistic explanation of this procedure.

Almost an hour later he was done and walked over to wash his hands. As he did so, SawDip suddenly sat upright, looked around and stared at Vu’thari with a series of beeps and other sounds.

“No SawDip, I did not ‘sabotage’ you. I expanded the scope of your functionality. Talk to Ayasha about it…”

After giving a smile and a wink to Ayasha, he then looked over to Kae’Leigh with a smirk, “Come to the cargo bay…we have work to do with combat training…”

@Lucid
@Critas
@EmilyHuene
@Wolf

 

[Kae'Leigh Tameris]

As Kae'Leigh settled in her own thoughts her new friend would ask her how her training has been going. Kae'Leigh gave her a half-attempted smile showing that she wasn't too proud of herself. She had run into several bumps along the way and her training wasn't progressing nearly as fast as the others. But she tried to stay positive and would reply that she was hopeful toward the future. It was something Vu'thari might say and she figured if she could mimic the way he tried to speak -being inspiring at all that- maybe it would actually rub off on her and show some results.

She'd then go on to tell a small tale of them running into an asteroid field. While Kae'Leigh did not broadcast she was a capable pilot, she at least knew how to operate one. But she imagined one of the others on this boat here of there's would do better than she. Kae'Leigh was more proficient fixing up ships than flying them. After all, she'd grown up around them and some of her first jobs got paid to help out in small time, family owned garages.

"I'm glad you all made it out alright," she would say in a friendly tone. "And you're right. We're a team. A'int nothin' in the verse going stop us." The woman would then put a reassuring hand on the blue skinned Twi'lek's arm and comfort her by implying she would make sure Kae'Leigh stayed safe. Her smile got a little bigger and she'd reply in kind, "Thank you. And I'll be sure to have yours."

From there the days blurred by with friendly stories and some mild training exercises that still made Kae'Leigh question everything she knew. How was she supposed to lift up a tiny wooden box without even touching it? It made no sense. She trusted in her comrades words and tried to still her mind from questions and doubts. After several attempts she managed to lift the small object up into the air. It was shaky and looked ready to fall at a moment's notice, but she'd done it! Kae'Leigh exclaimed loudly with a shriek. She tried again and again, getting slightly better at it with each attempt, but it still wasn't as smooth as she would like it to be. Maybe if she understood how it all worked it would be easier to process?

Her training was put on hold as she was called over to the "Tech Lab" of the Apogee. Kae'Leigh gasped loudly when she saw the small astromech droid lying on the floor with pieces of him missing. She'd run in and ask if the little man was alright, and be reassured by the others this was just maintenance work. She breathed a sigh of relief and then began asking millions of questions about what Vu'thari was doing. She loved this kind of repair work and wanted to be as immersed in the procedure as she could; without getting in the pink skinned Jedi's way of course.

Showing the deviant little mind that Vu'thari was displaying, Kae'Leigh nearly fell over onto her behind in shock. Vu'thari explained he was bypassing the combat restrictions built into the droid so that it would be more capable to defend itself, as well as them. Such as using a turret or a blaster. Kae'Leigh had heard of droids being given advanced software to fight and attack, but she'd not heard of this procedure being done to a mere astromech. It was a wild thought to be sure, but a genius one at that.

"Vu'thari!" she said with a smirk of pure shock, a little awe as well thrown in from her appreciation on the subject at hand, "I didn't think you had it in you to do something so evil. So against the rules. I am impressed, sir."

He then explained that the combat needed to still be taught to the droid, since it never had combat capabilities until now. She understood that. Heavens forbid the day droids gained consciousness and learned to attack people. There'd be none of them left. A scary thought indeed. She then crouched in close to Vu'thari again, peering over his shoulder to read the code. She loved all the technical bits of mechanic work. Coding was almost a second language to her. Binary being a true language. She could have said Ryl, but she actually didn't know a lick of her own people's tongue. Her parents had dropped her off on the streets when she was far too young to learn words. So she'd never had another Twi'lek in her life up until Vu'thari. She thought about asking him to teach her their common language, but as always, there were more pressing things to worry about.

From there his mentor-like tone continued to explain what was going on. They could buy from an underground tech to get the codes needed to make SawDip as upgraded as they could. Kae'Leigh thought about offering her services to Vu'thari in the way that she could probably hack into some network and steal the codes, say from a factory or something. But this idea would work fine too. It wouldn't be as cheap, hell she'd do it for free, but their way was far less dangerous.

The next hour passed as Vu'thari began to put the little droid back together. She helped by passing along the next piece in succession. She loved busy work, and it kept her mind off of all the frustration she'd built up during her training. It was nice to just let herself not stress out for a change. They would all make small talk and in turn the group answered and asked any questions about SawDip that came up. When it was all done SawDip's lights came on and the droid was helped up. Kae'Leigh then burst out laughing as SawDip claimed Vu'thari had sabotaged him. He of course protested and explained himself to the droid but Kae'Leigh could tell it wasn't doing much of a difference for the spunky astromech droid.

"Calm down, cutie pie," she'd say to the droid. "You're going to be better than ever now!"

And then the dreaded news Kae'Leigh did not want to hear. Vu'thari would turn his attention away from Ayasha and order Kae'Leigh to the cargo bay. More training. Yay. Kae'Leigh lowered her head in defeat, groaning a slight protest, before getting to her feet and marching slowly like a pouting child. When would she get a break.

"So what's the plan for today's torture then?" she asked her mentor as they entered into the back of the ship. "More block lifting? More meditating? Please tell me it's not more meditating exercises. I can't stand those."

 

[Vuthari]

The Apogee
Hyperspace
Enroute to the Deep Core

Vu’thari smirked as she referred to torture…and the other lessons she considered torture. Leading the twi’lek down the corridor, he activated the cargo bay, which gave them a bit more room. Most of the gear and speeder bikes had been cleared away leaving a large open space in the middle of the area. As they entered, he answered his padawan’s question, “I am afraid nothing quite as exciting as meditation exercises for today—lightsaber training intstead.”

With that he reached out and a pair of rods flew through the air to his waiting hands. He tossed one to Kae’Leigh and began, “We are defenders and protectors—not executioners or assassins. When we ignite a lightsaber, it is because we must. It is never the first option…”

Allowing his words to sink in, the Jedi Master continued, “I was taught a very different style that utilized the speed and quickness gifted to our species. I am going to teach you this style, but also expose you to other forms that are more practical. For you and the way you move, Makashi seems more a style for you, a fencer’s style. So I will make sure to teach you a healthy dose of that style as well.”

Coming to a ready position, he reached out and pulled another rod to his waiting hand, “The Sith of this era prefer Florentine, dual lightsabers. When at range, they are quick to draw a blaster with a lightsaber. Regardless, a great deal of our training will focus on defending and countering this style of combat. The first rule of combat is a simple one, but hard to always achieve: don’t get hit.”

For a great deal of their time together, the twi’lek taught Kae’Leigh about her footwork, stressing the importance of that just as much as her strikes, parries and counters. The hours wore on, long and grueling. When it looked like Kae’Leigh was about ready to quit or take a break, Vu’thari would simply say, “One more time…”

One more time would turn into two, then three. It was a vicious cycle. But Kae’Leigh was almost near exhausted, Vu’thari walked over and put the rods back on their stand on the wall, looked over at Kae’Leigh and said, “Well done. I am proud of you, Kae’Leigh. You pressed on when you could have quit. You kept your emotions in check. Hit the fresher and get some rest. We will be back at it tomorrow…”

@Wolf
@EmilyHuene
@Critas

 

[Kae'Leigh Tameris]

Lightsaber training. Oh boy. Now she was really going to regret this. She'd never been one for combat and she always felt silly handling the blade in his presence. It made it even worse when the other Padawan were they too. She felt like a noob, as the kids like to say on the streets, with no experience making a fool of themselves. It wasn't far from the truth. No matter how earnest she was about trying to learn, she didn't have the confidence to pull it off.

Catching the metal stick Kae'Leigh rolled it in her hand to get a feel for the weight. She would take her stance, her right foot forward and both arms up in an upside down "V" formation. As she was taught to do, just as Vu'thari had learned, she held the rod closely to the top so the majority of it fell past her hand and was parallel to her forearm. This is how she would block and counter whatever moves he made on her.

He would tell her they were defenders. Never killers. Using her blade would always be the last resort. Kae'Leigh had no issues with that philosophy. She was in no hurry to try and best someone in armed combat. He'd then go on to explain the style of which he was teaching her. Speed and quickness. She did like to admit Twi'leks were fairly more nimble than other species. Makashi, he'd call it. Whatever that meant. But she understood the word "fencer" even if she didn't like to think of herself as a duelist.

The Sith would practice something called Florentine, she wondered if that was named after someone. Dual sabers?! She'd have to fight two sabers at once? That just didn't seem fair. Not getting hit was a pretty obvious first rule though and even if she couldn't fight back with her blade, she was actually confident in her skills at dodging. She'd had a knack for getting herself out of trouble and staying safe. It was only fair to assume that same mindset would aid her now.

And then they began. Footwork. Strikes. Counters. For hours they trained. Kae'Leigh was exhausted. She was sweating something awful and it was no favor to anyone else in the room or on the ship. She kept thinking to herself about taking a refresher after the training was all done but as the time continued to drudge on she foregoed any thought of that and mentally pictured her tiny bed she'd crash on. That's if she didn't pass out right here and then on the metal floor of the ship.

"One more time," he'd say to her. She was so out of breath. She couldn't reply. Her muscles were burning. Her lungs were aching. She'd give it her all. "One more time," he'd say again. And so she did. And again. And again. Each "one more time" was met by another "one more time," until she was starting to see multiple Vu'thari's standing in front of her. She collapsed to her knees and tried to wipe the sweat off her brow. She couldn't focus. He'd take her weapon which slid right out of her hand with no resistance.

Through it all, past all the pain, he was proud of her. Kae'Leigh blinked and nodded her head. That was all she could muster. Her throat was too dry to get anything else out. He'd then release her from her duties and Kae'Leigh fell backwards and landed against the cold metal. It felt good on her damp clothes. He'd said something else, something about tomorrow, but she'd already fallen asleep.

// Exit Thread​