Difference between revisions of "4237/Checking In"

Latest revision as of 04:00, 26 June 2016

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
Accepting a life of chaos had come early to Juno Eclipse. It had started with the death of her mother. That fundamental ability to cope with nearly anything had extended through her days in the Academy, and later through the Imperial Navy. The life of a TIE fighter pilot was not an easy one; the life of an Imperial Inquisitor's pilot was even more trying.

The life of a rebel, though, is the most trying of them all. Keeping constant watch over her own shoulder is a strain that wears on her even in times of relative peace.

Kyra Hyral had been sent coordinates to a very pretty, if somewhat treacherous, nebula. It's here in the deep shades of violet and blue gases that the White Mage will find her friend's ship, drifting in the darkness with even its running lights switched off. Even without the cloaking system the ship is almost entirely invisible out here.

Fortunately, PROXY is keeping watch, and the ubiquitously polite droid offers directions to guide Kyra in once her ship appears on the instruments. The Rafflesia is given permission to dock and Kyra invited aboard in due time by the droid, and he'll verbally direct her to the common room; evidently, PROXY has sensor duty, and is reluctant to leave his post. Fortunately, he's perfectly polite and helpful. The very picture of it, in fact.

He also very seriously tries to kill Galen Marek once or twice a day.

Once Kyra reaches the common area, she'll find a dimly-lit room with a sturdy table bolted to the middle of the floor. Mechanical bits and bobs are strewn across the surface, and so are a series of delicate tools, all held in place by magnetic power. Juno herself is at the table; seated beside her is Galen, whose side she's slumped against, head resting on his shoulder, sound asleep.

He's awake, although he doesn't look like it. The stubble-headed, wiry ex-Sith has his eyes closed and expression set in an expression of concentration. Floating in front of him is the cylindrical hilt of his lightsaber. Parts of its chassis are stripped away, and the pieces are also floating, orbiting the hilt. Huh. Neat trick.

His eyes open when she comes into the room. They're a soft brown, like chocolate; not really the eyes of a ruthless killer, are they? A half-second later, the lightsaber and its pieces clatter noisily to the table.

Galen winces, but Juno is apparently sound asleep. She doesn't even stir.

"You're... Kyra, right? Hi." His voice is a half-whisper; he manages a 'what can you do?' sort of grin. Very slowly and deliberately, so as not to disturb her, he gestures to a third chair across from the side the ex-Imperials are sitting at. "Have a seat. I guess Juno wanted to talk to you."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
Over the months, Kyra's piloting skill had improved. She was able to fly without the assistance of the Rafflesia's AI, guiding the ship through the dangerous nebula to the well-hidden Rogue Shadow. Based on their previous encounters, she knows to search carefully for the ship with her eyes and not her scanners. Juno knew way better than to show up on anyone's scanners.

    Carefully, she docks with the ship and meets PROXY at the airlock. She'll give PROXY a smile, despite the last encounter with a droid not doing so well for her, and move on in search of her friend, stumbling into a common area turned workshop. Though as she enters, she notices right away her blonde friend is asleep.

    But Galen is not, in a strange role reversal of all the times she's been on the ship. Usually it was /he/ that was resting or meditating. He could be mistaken for such right now but given that he has his lightsaber floating in front of him, Kyra has the strong inclination to believe that he was pretty awake. If not...well, chalk up 'sleep telekinesis' to another impressive space wizard feat Kyra was not aware of.

    "Hi. Yeah, that's me. You're Galen, right? I guess I came too early." she takes a seat in the third chair, leaning her elbows against the table. She keeps her voice down. "If now's a bad time, that's okay, I'm actually kind of happy to see her sleeping for once. I could always tell when she never let herself get enough sleep."

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
"Yeah." He offers a smile to the White Mage, though the expression is a little uncertain. When your father figure was Darth Vader, your social skills are somewhat lacking. At least he tries. "I don't think we've really met. My name's Galen Marek. You might know me as Starkiller... but I don't use that name too much, these days."

Carefully collecting the pieces of his lightsaber, moving slowly to keep from jostling the pilot, he offers a faint nod. "No, it's fine. She'll come to sooner or later," he explains. "Juno never sleeps for long at a time. It's probably her pilot training. She was a TIE fighter pilot before Vader reassigned her to the Rogue Shadow." Galen manages a faint half-smile. "I went through seven pilots before her, but none of them were as good as she is."

"Sorry we've been so hard to get ahold of, lately," he murmurs, sotto voce. "I know she's been wanting to talk to you, but we've got to be careful about how we cover our trail."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
Admittedly, this is the first Sith (or ex-Sith) that Kyra's ever really met but the lack in social graces does remind her of Dark Knights. Though it was rather Jobist to think that way...typically they were rather rough around the edges and lacking in the people skills. A little understandable when the power Sith and Dark Knights alike come from a dark place. "I've heard that name too...though you were mostly active under that name before my time in the Union I think. It's popped up in older reports." Uh oh. Looks like Kyra dug through the archives at one point.

    She sees the lightsaber pieces on the table and reaches out to touch one of them, curious. "I could see that. Having to sleep light because she could be called into battle at any moment. W..wait, what do you mean 'went through seven pilots'?" She immediately assumes that the other seven were killed. That's what happens when you serve in an army, right?

    She waves a hand dismissively, "I've been busy with school myself. It's understandable, especially when you have a whole empire out that wants to kill you. Gotta lay low and be careful about trusting people then, right? I hear this galaxy is crawling with bounty hunters."

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
"It was my callsign in the Confederacy, too." Galen's voice is unremarkable; like his eyes, it doesn't seem like the sort of thing associated with a person using powers formerly fuelled by rage and hatred. "It was also my callsign in the Empire; there wasn't much reason for the Imperial brass to assign me something different." Waste not, want not. "But... yeah, I guess. It's what you would've seen in the reports, though."

Those dark brown eyes snap to the table when Kyra reaches out to touch the lightsaber pieces, but he doesn't tell her to stop. Apparently Juno's trust goes a long way for him.

He shrugs, but carefully; slow enough and on the other side, so he doesn't dislodge Juno. "Yeah. TIE fighter pilot training is pretty rough. I actually don't know too much about it; I was always an Inquisitor. Juno could tell you more, though. She was a TIE pilot for a long time before she was in the Black Eights, or piloting the Rogue Shadow."

He tilts his head, very slightly. "I mean I went through seven pilots. Uh, let's see. Vader killed one or two of them for being late or for not following orders properly. The rest were killed in the line of duty." To his credit, he doesn't say that /he/ killed any of them. He probably didn't need to; ineptitude weeded a few of them out. He shakes his head, very faintly; an equivalent of a shrug. "None of them were as skilled as she is, though. They couldn't fly like Juno."

Tilting his head again, he looks down at her for a few seconds. Even though his expression never changes, there's no disguising the warmth he spares for her. "When it comes down to it, it's the reason we're still alive. She could fly us out of anything." His attention turns back to Kyra, and he nods, slowly. "There are, but it's only the good ones we need to worry about. Most of them probably aren't a threat to us. It's the ones that are we've got to keep an eye out for."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
"Yeah. Yeah it is." she says quietly, suggesting that...the contents of the reports were probably the kinds of things that would have had people in the Union objecting to Juno joining, even as a Last Chancer. At one point she did make the effort to try and familiarize herself with the past misdeeds of Starkiller and his pilot from the Union perspective, especially if she had to go make a case for both of them. Such a need never arose but she did learn more about the pair.

    Kyra gingerly picks up a piece of the lightsaber and looks it over curiously. She's careful with it, movements of someone used to manipulating small, delicate objects in a lab. Eventually she sets it back down with the other pieces.

    "Juno told me about it once-TIE fighter training. How it was really rough and hard to survive. But it helped her become a good teacher-she's been teaching me about piloting, you see, and it's been really helpful." She freezes, then looks up to stare at Galen.

    "Darth Vader killed someone because they were /late/? He killed an actual pilot? For being late? That's a little /extreme/!" she exclaims, sounding horrified, "What the hell! How can he get away with mistreating people /that/ bad? Though for that matter...kind of related..."

    She rubs her neck, remembering the day that Vader Force choked her while she was trying to cover her friends. "Galen, what's using the Force like?"

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
Although Galen cocks a dark eye at Kyra's tone, he doesn't comment on it, keeping his thoughts to himself. He seems to trust her, thanks to Juno's example; her opinion seems to carry a great deal of weight for him.

Fortunately for Kyra, the lightsaber component doesn't explode. It all looks very mechanical, but there's circuitry through the pieces, too. Lightsabers are delicate and complex machines, by the look of it, and this one's probably toast until Galen puts it back together again.

"Really? She must see something in you," Galen offers, reaching up slowly with his free arm to rub at his jaw. "She wouldn't take the time to do it, otherwise. We haven't got much of it, lately. I guess Juno must think you've got potential."

He studies Kyra for a moment. He could tell her the pilot wasn't a very good one anyway, and the man was disgustingly slovenly, but that probably wouldn't win him any points. Galen instead manages a somewhat awkward expression. "Uh. Yeah. I guess because people are afraid of him. I'm not, but a lot of people are, and that's why." His tone darkens. "It's one of the many reasons why we've decided to fight."

"Using the Force?" Galen's brow furrows, and he seems to consider the question carefully. "I... don't... know. I mean, I've always been able to do it. I'm not really sure how I can describe it to someone who hasn't. Juno's asked, too, but she isn't Force-sensitive, either." He looks down at his partial lightsaber hilt. "Like..."

"Like slipping on a comfortable glove, I guess. Or using your body. It's just instinct. Part of you, y'know?" He shrugs, faintly. The movement jostles the pilot a little, this time; as she mumbles something half-coherent in protest and stirs, Galen does his best 'stone statue' impression. Juno eventually settles back against him, and only then does he start breathing again.

He offers a sheepish grin, lowering his voice a little. "The Force is like reaching for power," he half-whispers, grin fading, "and knowing it's there and waiting for you. But I'm trying to do it better than I ever did before. I used to use the dark side of the Force. I used my anger, my hate, my frustration... but now I'm trying to do it another way. Once we're in a more stable position, I'm going to talk to Revan. She can teach me."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
Those circuits-Kyra's pretty sure she can rewire something in that lightsaber to make it explode, off-handedly. But of course, she'd never do that to Galen. She's careful to not damage the component, merely observing-she's heard that Force users construct their own lightsabers as part of their training or something along those lines. So seeing the components disassembled before Galen only lead more strength to that rumor. Maybe he was doing maintenance on it? Not unlike how Kyra does maintenance on her guns?

    "O..oh, you think so?" Kyra reddens. "Well I am awesome but I don't know about /pilot/ potential in me. I mean. Well. I'd need it mostly out of necessity! Especially if I'm going to own a spaceship and poke at the Empire. It's important, you see. For defense! But I know I've definitely become a better pilot because of her help."

    There could be any number of excuses for that man...but Kyra still thinks that death is a little harsh for /lateness/. "So he rules via intimidation. It all makes so much sense, really. Just looking at him alone is scary enough. Brr." Kyra shudders a little, betraying the fact that she's run into Vader a little more often then she has wanted, which is a bad place to be in for a teenager.

    She listens carefully as Galen describes the force, likening it to just moving another limb of the body. She slowly nods, then falls silent as Juno almost rouses then falls back asleep while snuggling on her boyfriend. Aww. Once that danger has passed, Kyra speaks up: "So Revan is going to give you Jedi training? How interesting...I wonder what you focus on if you don't use hate, anger, and frustration. Love and peace...?" she glances to Juno again on that note, "Are there ways to detect the 'force sensitive', by the way?"

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
"Maybe. I don't know you as well as Juno does, but I know Juno won't spend effort on anything she thinks is a waste of her time." Galen is particularly careful not to shrug this time, but his tone of voice suggests a shrug. "She must think you have some kind of potential as a pilot, even if you're not on her level. Then again," he says, with a half-grin, "not many are going to be on her level."

He shakes his head, just a little. "Scary for some, but not for me. And for that, I don't know. I've never exactly been a Jedi before." He glances over his shoulder at her, making sure Juno's not in any danger of waking up any time soon. She seems to be sound asleep, hair fallen partway across her face. Very, very carefully, almost with exaggerated care, Galen reaches over and brushes some of that white-gold blonde hair away. "I guess I'll find out when I have a chance to track down Revan."

"Not really. The Empire has ways to test people to see if they have Force-sensitivity. Mostly it depends on reflexes and reaction times. I think what's most impressive is that she's that good a pilot, but she /doesn't/ have Force-sensitivity." He half-smiles. "Guess that's what happens when you actually survive TIE piloting."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
"Oh yeah, well, I'm pretty sure I'm never going to be an ace pilot at all. I'm alright with being a competent pilot...which I think is why she's spending so much effort on training me. We're friends and I know she worries about me so the last thing she wants is for me to get caught in a dogfight or unable to escape pursuit by a Star Destroyer or something." Presumably something much smaller than a Star Destroyer, though. Kyra's done nothing to incur that kind of level of Empire wrath.

    Kyra nods, "I'll have to ask Revan about that later." Though later she'll learn that Jedi apparently reject emotions. So confusing. She falls silent to watch Galen fuss over Juno for a moment and seems to be holding back a giggle. It's clear by the expression on her face that she thinks the doting is absolutely adorable.

    "I guess that just goes to show..." Kyra says smugly, "That non-Force sensitives matter too. But...hmm. Without anger and rage and hate...how do you use the Force now?" she nods towards the Lightsaber pieces, which he was clearly floating in the air moments before.

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
"Star Destroyers aren't too bad. They manoeuvre like a brick, so if you can get around them and run to hyperspace, you'll probably be fine. Maybe." Galen half-grins. "Guess now is the time to test that. I've piloted around Star Destroyers, but that was when the Rogue Shadow was still stationed aboard one. We were stationed aboard one for a little while."

He fortunately doesn't notice Kyra restraining a snicker. Neither does Juno; the pilot is still sound asleep. She must really be exhausted if she let herself fall asleep while awaiting company.

"I don't know." He shrugs, and sounds almost sheepish. "It just... happens. I reach for it. Sometimes I have to reach harder. Determination, I guess. Or something like it..." Very slowly and carefully, he reaches up to rub at the back of his neck with his free hand, using the arm around Juno to hold her steady and keep from jostling her. "Hope. Survival. And concentration. I'm... not really sure. I'm not really concentrating on anything when I'm dealing with my lightsaber but the lightsaber itself, you know?" She probably doesn't. "Sorry. It's hard to explain. And I'm not as good with that kind of thing as Juno is."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
"Wait...now?" Kyra sits up a little straighter, "Why, is one coming? Am I going to have to run for it?" Knowing Juno she probably /would/ tell Kyra to run if the Empire was just about to roll up on them. She herself would also insist that she stay and fight and help her friends. Who doesn't want a healer on their side?

    But Galen doesn't seem to be in any hurry to get anywhere. So she figures that he probably meant it in theory. Or that he has a Star Destroyer somewhere they could use as practice? Ultimately, she seems confused.

    "...determination. Hmmm. I can see that. Determination /is/ pretty powerful if you can hang onto it." But for the rest, she doesn't seem very..convinced? Just more confused. "I'd probably get it better if I could feel the Force myself. I don't think I can. My magic and the Force isn't really the same, I'd say."

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
"What? Oh, no. Not now. I mean... now." Galen gestures absently with his free hand, slowly, so he doesn't jostle the pilot. "In general. As rebels working against the fleet, instead of with its support. I used to be able to demand berth on any Star Destroyer I wanted, and I'd get it, too. Nobody in their right mind was gonna say no to an Imperial Inquisitor."

Very subtly, he leans back in his chair. "Maybe. You should talk to Lowri. If anyone can help you with it, I think it'd probably her. I just don't have any way to describe this stuff to someone who doesn't use it. Juno's asked me before, too, a little. I wasn't able to give her any more of a satisfactory answer."

"Maybe. I don't know. I'm not sure if we'd have a way to know." Galen shrugs his off shoulder, helplessly. "It is what it is, I guess."

Juno stirs again, and Galen freezes as though he'd grabbed a live wire. Her eyes flutter open slowly, and she pulls herself upright, rubbing at her face wearily. "Hey, Kyra." She manages a half-smile. "Heh. Sorry. I guess I fell asleep while I was waiting for the Rafflesia."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
"So you would know your way around an Imperial star destroyer? she asks, leaning forward, "That could be useful in the future, actually, with the Rebels and their operations, right? Imagine infiltrating one and managing to /seize/ it. Though given the size, that sure would take a lot of people." She seems starry-eyed for a moment, struck by the idea of pulling off something /so awesome/.

    She seems, ultimately, a little deflated by Galen's answer about feeling the Force. "I'll bug Lowri later then." she says, mentally equating the name to Revan. Her contact with the Jedi had been minimal and to her knowledge she hadn't been THAT involved in Rebellion operations.

    "Juno!" Kyra pipes up as the blonde rouses, "It's okay, I know you, and I know you could always use more sleep." Kyra giggles. "Besides it was cute seeing you sleep slumped against Galen."

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
"Most of them are pretty standard, yeah." Galen considers for a few seconds, nodding, although not enthusiastically. "You'd have to ask Juno for the specifics, but I know my way around the decks in a general sense. If I had to cripple one from the inside, I'd know where to go. We were stationed on one for a little while, and as far as I know, Captain Navarr's Star Destroyer was standard."

He eyes her a little warily as she goes stars for eyes at the idea of commandeering a capital ship. "Uh. I wouldn't get ahead of yourself," he cautions. "It takes an enormous crew to operate one of those. We're talking hundreds, if not thousands, of Imperials. That's not including the stormtroopers, either. There's no way we'd be able to neutralise the crew; not if they all wanted intruders off their ship. They'd throw us out the nearest airlock. Probably. Maybe," he adds, uncertainly.

Juno, meanwhile, is staring at Kyra with those blue eyes as though the White Mage sprouted a horn from her forehead.

"You want to /commandeer/ a /Star D--/" The pilot's brain catches up to what Kyra's saying, and she flushes such a deep scarlet that even the tips of her ears are. She mumbles something, hunkering down into her jacket.

Even Galen clears his throat awkwardly, though it's not without a half-smile.

Once she's done sulking, the pilot clears her throat even more awkwardly than Galen had, head bowed so some of her hair hides her face. Which is, incidentally, still red. "Uhm. Anyway, thanks for coming by. I thought you'd take a little longer to find us. Nebulas make for good covers... remember that, in case you ever need to hide. Most of them tend to play havoc with instrumentation."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
"Oh, I know it'd be /hard/." Kyra says defensively, raising a hand and noticing now that both of them are eyeing her up over this idea. "It's just a hypothetical 'wouldn't it be cool' kind of thought! I don't have the resources to pull off a kind of hijacking like that. Just getting the low-altitude ship thing was hard enough."

    She falls silent, twisting her hands together, but her embarassment fades when she sees Juno going bright red from the teasing. Yessss. Mission accomplished.

    "Oh, yes, I did notice some strange things with the ship as I got closer. I guess that was the reason! Sorry, I don't know all that much about nebulas. People cannot get into space on my world, it's very mysterious. We don't even know if it works like yours. So! How have you been? You seem to at least be healthy!"

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
Hard is probably not the right word to use, but neither former Imperial seems inclined to hammer that notion into their friend. She'll find out if she looks into the matter how difficult that kind of undertaking would be. While it's possible to commandeer a capital ship, it's a grim prospect. It's even more grim if even part of the crew are loyal Imperialists.

"That would be your instruments deciding they don't want to work any more," Juno explains. She gestures to indicate the space outside the ship. "Most of the gases interfere with sensors. It's a pain, most of the time, but it works to our advantage. We're able to use them to hide in. Unless someone has Force-sensitivity or something like it, they're not going to notice another ship out here."

"It can be dangerous, though," Galen adds. "You never know who /else/ is going to be hiding, and you're effectively flying blind."

"Not a problem for me, but it could be dangerous for a rookie pilot like you." The blonde pilot eyes her friend, speculatively. "It's one of the things I want to train you to do; to be able to fly your ship blind. Deliberately ignoring your instruments is hard, but it's not impossible. And if you know how to do that, it could save your life."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
"Unless someone has Force-sensitivity, huh?" Kyra frowns, "I dunno, that actually seems like a problem you two may run into more than the average joe like me. I like the idea of the nebula running interference but having my stuff stop working while I'm in space is pretty distressing to me. Pretty distressing! Even with all the training you've given to me so far, Juno. No offense, but I can't fly blind. I don't thinkn I ever will."

    She looks sheepsih. "At least I hope it's something I'll never /have/ to do. But if you can teach me how to do it successfully...well, that's definitely good for a back-up plan, right?"

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
"That's right," Galen confirms. "A trained Force-sensitive, either Jedi or Sith, can detect other life forms nearby. Even if something's physically hidden, they'll still be able to pick up on something hiding nearby... at least, that's the theory."

He shrugs. "You're probably right. We've got some high-profile sorts after us, and there's no telling who or what's going to be after us at any given time. Well, not Vader himself. Probably. Maybe. I'd assume we're not important enough to attract his attention personally..."

"...but it's not really wise to make assumptions," Juno finishes for him, reaching up and clearing her hair from her face. "Especially not with this."

Galen only shrugs, but his expression is a little uncomfortable.

"I can teach you that," Juno confirms, resting her elbows on the table and rubbing her hands together a little. "In fact, I'd want to teach it to you anyway. It's a good skill to have. It's hard at first, but it's not impossible; and it's really valuable once you've gotten that under your belt." She half-smiles. "It's not fun when you /have/ to do it, but if it's on your terms, or if you know how to do it and it's not so much of a nasty shock, that's much more doable."