Hope In The Skies

[Kartikeyan]

[[Locked between Kartikeyan and Hurricane Gary]]

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“Well, I think the tune ups are all finished.” Arai said as he slid out from underneath his Jedi Starfighter and shook dirt off his now messy raven black hair. Days after first arriving on Arbra and searching through the tunnels Arai found one cave large enough to make as a personal hangar for his ship. It once belonged to his mother who gave it the black crystalline durasteel plating and upgraded it from the old era it once belonged to. It was officially handed down to her son as an heirloom. He took great pride in having his own starfighter but felt bad for neglecting it so much in the last decade. Honestly he never had a reason to use it until the Jedi became whole again and he found himself traveling to Anoth and Light of the Force from time to time. Arai was no ace pilot or mechanic, but he could tell the lack of maintenance has affected his ship’s performance greatly. So today, he spent tuning up the systems and engine, making sure everything was recalibrated to be good as new. Shadow had already integrated himself to the fighter since he was tired of sitting around in Arai’s room.

With his hard work finally complete, Arai decided “It’s time to take her out for a spin.” He said already stepping on the nose and walking to the open cockpit. He strapped himself in and started up the fire. Systems beeped and chimed online and the engines sounded way better than before. “Alright, everything is in the green, let’s fly Shadow!” He took control of the yoke and slowly accelerated out of the cave, through the wavy tunnel and shot up into the beautiful Arbran skies with a spin. He leveled himself at a kilometer above ground level, cruising over the vast landscape while sending his transponder codes to patrol convey in orbit. He didn’t plan on leaving the atmosphere but it was just to prevent being shot down by rogue class fighters. Now that he was in the clear, he could fly through Arbra however he pleased without a worry.

 

[Just Matt Now]

Soaring through the clear Arbran skies in the Heart of Shakti, the Master Attendant had spent countless hours in the cockpit of his fighter. With his droid, Shorty, always to accompany him, he took these tours in order to clear his mind. Ever since he was young, peace and joy was found in flying in and piloting ships. And ever since the fall of Coruscant, these tours have brought him a vice that would also sharpen his skill behind a control stick. His skill had brought them to Arbra, saivng his master and many others form the wrath that the Sith and Empire had unleashed upon the city-planet. Though thoughts like these had been long vanquished form Loogo's mind, as such would dampen his mood and cause him to dwell on the past.

instead, he focused on the present and on the future. The Delta-7B Aethersprite-class light interceptor cut through the clouds and ducked into the sun, every movement and turn carefully guided by the Sluissi's hand. Pushing the fighter to the limit, he was always looking to improve his fighter, making it faster and more powerful, accommodating it to the flying style of Loogo which was more aggressive than most.

Looking down any chance he got, the view of Arbra was gorgeous. The blanket of trees, and patches of lakes and ponds, such a distance was covered in mere seconds as the thrusters of the Heart of Shakti pumped out increasing speeds.

"Breep-boop-brep!!"

"I am supposed to push it sshorty. I want to see how fasst this baby can go!" He replied to his worrisome droid. Grabbing the control rod and shifting it close to his body, the fighter was now pointed at the sun. Growing closer and closer, though not to break the atmosphere, Loogo pushed it against gravity until he reached the edge of Arbran space. Hearing the roar of his engines, they started to falter slightly. That was when loogo cut the throttle. With his fighter suspended in air for a few seconds, still reaching for outer space, it then began to fall. Tumbling in a roll, the fighter eventually set it's nose down and free-fell towards the ground. Firing the engine back up, Loogo used the momentum and took off, his acceleration and top speed ten times faster than what he could produce without the addition of gravity.

Yelling in his cockpit through pure pleasure, Loogo knew that his droid was stunned to silence. Though he did not care, it was to much fun to worry about what Shorty felt was dangerous or not. Carving through the air, Loogo continued his joyous and dangerous tour.

 

[Kartikeyan]

Shadow made a whistling chirp sound and he didn’t need a translator to know what the astromech was telling him. The droid told him that scanners detected a starship dropping down from the atmosphere at high speeds exceeding the regulated limit. “Where and how far?” Arai asked. Shadow gave a ‘Beep-beep’ then a longer whistling chirp. The padawan nodded and Black Series arced sixty-seven degrees starboard and accelerated to maximum speed. Arai first thought it was just some pilot having fun dropping someone off, however, Arai looked left out his canopy seeing the designated landing zone in the distance and disappearing out of view. ‘Now I’m curious,’ The padawan thought to himself.

Within a minute he could get a visual scan of the detected vessel. It was a Delta-7B just like his but with a blue and white coating. Arai became relieved as he recognized it as Master Voogo Vsil’s starfighter. “Should have probably known,” Arai said to himself out loud with a smirk, shaking his head at his own lack of insight. The Master Attendant was always flying his starfighter in Arbran skies. While outside the hidden temple Arai and Toph, his Hoojib friend, would always see him take out from the enclave. Now the Tythonian understood why the Master was always out here. Not only was the view of Arbra breathtaking from above but there was something about flying that put him at ease. “It’s only Master Vsil Shadow, he usually be out here. Me and Toph see him all the time.” The Droid gave a sad sound boop-boop-boop. “Well if you feel that way you can come, you’re always welcomed to join us. I never understood why you stay in the room all day anyway. Now let’s go say hey.”

The Black Series came up port side just a few meters away from the Heart of Shakti while Arai got a channel open. “Good day Master Voogo Vsil, its Arai Munkaira. I tuned up my Black Series and decided to take her out for a spin. She running better than before but I haven’t felt the need to test her limits and my piloting skills until now. What do yah say Master Vsil? Got time to have a little fun? The name of the game is catch the Padawan!” Arai asked, grinning wide with determined eyes as he accelerated forward while slowing rising just a few meters up then peeling off to the right above Master Vsil and accelerating off towards a chain of mountains in the distance and now closing. “WOOOOOOOOO AHHHHH!” Arai yelled happily through the com.

 

[Just Matt Now]

"Beep-breep-boop-brop!" Short whistled in droidspeak. Picking up a friendly fighter in the near distance.

"Ahh yes, I see. Though I cannot sseem to recognize it." Loogo spoke to soon as he was being hailed by the other fighter. Introducing him as one of the many Padawans that Loogo had helped escape Coruscant. Loogo remembered him for being the one to aid Kendra with her wound on the Sundance Maiden. Also seeing in some of the classes and around Haven Temple. Loogo deemed all Padawans as the key and most important parts of the Order, especially in times like these. They were the light that gave hope to the future of the Order and prolonging the true Jedi way, even if they would have to learn it through hidden temples. Though it would not matter, they would be taught to preserve what they had, and stand up for the rest of the galaxy to take back what was rightfully theirs.

Loogo certainly liked Arai's vigor and determination. His eagerness to fly with a Master was clear, though Loogo did not blame him. He was a role model to many of the Padawans at the Temple, whether he knew it or not. Both of them having Delta-7B's would make it an even more interesting little game. Loogo did not mind tagging along and amusing the Padawan. Though he intended on pushing him to his limit and seeing what he could really do in a cockpit.

"Game one!!" Is all that Loogo replied, his grip on the control stick grew tighter and his eyes more focused. Even shorty saw the difference in his concentration spiking to a determined level. Loogo's fighter jerked after Arai's with a sharp turn that even surprised his droid. Loogo tailed Arai towards the mountains...

"Let us see what you got, Padawan!!"

 

[Kartikeyan]

Arai’s heart now rushed as heard the viperine accent of Master Vsil accept his challenge. Now it was on and time to show the ace pilot what the rookie could do. The padawan didn’t know much about flying, but when he could recall a memory back when he was a child on the Will of The Force. His first ever knowledge on starfighter combat came from a bunch of skilled pilots. One said in particular, “If you ever got an enemy fighter on your tail, shake’em or else you’re dead.” Arai knew the master wasn’t an enemy or wouldn’t shoot him down, but the Tythonian was determined to put up an impression. “I’ll show you what I got!”

Black Series took a sudden dip down towards the trees and gaining speed. This was something Arai had never tried before, but the boy pulled his vessel up in just the few seconds he had to do so or else crash straight into a bush of trees. The ship then came up in a slant just as it approached a massive mountain of grey stone. Arai turned his craft on its side; it’s under hull facing rock as he trailed around the right side of the mountain. Once he got to the other side he pulled away from the mountain, his star fighter turning back up and juking out of the way of a small hill of stone, they were everywhere in all kinds of sizes causing the Padawan to constantly swerve left and right, at first he was making his vessel jump and snap from his rudimentary skills. He relaxed, took a breath and concentrated on the obstacles and timing his evasive maneuvers.

Now that he was really focused and drawn on his competitiveness, Arai was putting in more effort how he handled Black Series. The black vessel swerved in horizontal arcs back and forth in better coordination than before. Arai knew he didn’t have a chance at shaking off the Master Attendant, the purpose now was to work keeping him directly off his tail. Right when he emerged from the end of the mountain chain, Arai angled up towards the blue sky and hit the after burners. There was only a quarter of afterburner fuel since he never bothered to refill it, but it was just enough to give Arai the boost he needed to shoot into the heavens. The sky blue darkening by the second until the darkness of space and glitter stars filled his canopy. “Hope you don’t mind.” Arai said cheerfully with a mischievous ring in his voice. He veered left and began to head towards Arbra’s only moon.

 

[Just Matt Now]

Loogo liked to see such will and determination of the Padawan, a great and important aspect of the Primal Force. Though that didnt mean Loogo would go light on him. In fact, Loogo was determined to catch the Padawan toying with him just as much. Trying to point the nose of his fighter right behind Arai's, he continued to chase the Padawan. Following him just above the trees, Loogo stayed at higher altitude before he got the the mountain. With no intention of actually shooting Arai down, that didnt mean he could point him in certain directions with his blaster canons, Loogo was also very familiar and trained with Force flying.

Following Arai through the mountain, Loogo's fighter moved smooth and clean, his hands were steady on the control rod. Now they were going in and out of stone hills, making it difficult to get on Arais tail. A smart tactic to use the environment in order to shake the Master, it was working while the stones were in their way. Once the mountains had cleared up, Loogo shot straight up after Arai. Their fighters both making a line for the moon, Loogo knew that if he were to take a shot, Arai's fighter could easily dip back down and evade his fire. Though if he were to hit him, then the remains of his ship would become a direct obstacle that Loogo would not be able to avoid.

Curious to see what Arai had planned. Loogo chased him towards the sky.

 

[Kartikeyan]

“He still on our tail?” Arai asked Shadow, watching the moon grow bigger through his canopy by the second. The R9 series astromech replied with a ‘Veeeerp’ that made Arai grin, letting him know the master . “Okay, good. Now let’s try to get him off our tail for good.” Arai said still having Black Series weave to spoil the following fighter from having a fixed lock on him. With just a few miles away from the moon’s grayish surface, Arai shut down his ion drives to drift freely. He then dipped his vessel down then tipped it up, flipping it over with a twist as his engines kicked back in and propelled in straight in the opposite direction towards Master Vsil head on.

The targeting reticle on his HUD was now fixed on the fighter right in front of his path. Arai had never done much practice shooting, particularly while in a starfighter. It seemed too easy for the vessel to get blown up to scrap metal which required the pilot to treat deflector shields like their fragile new best pal. Even if he wanted to shoot, his laser cannons didn’t even have any power and he didn’t have time to charge them up. His focus was on the vessel he was on a straight collision course to but Arai spun Black Series around in a spiral to avoid hitting the Heart of Shakti. His heart had skipped and lung became heavy from the risky maneuver that he knew he only pulled off because of his jedi reflexes and awareness aiding him.

Regardless, he allowed himself a chuckle from the growing thrill of the chase he spun towards the planet’s atmosphere, the gravity pulling him and allowing him greater speed. Once he reached the clouds he decreased his speed and maintained the altitude while pulling up to use the thick cloud for cover.

 

[Just Matt Now]

Loogo was shocked to see such risky behavior, and truthfully he could have ended it right there if he was an enemy. With Arai coming directly at him, with no power to his shields or thrusters, he was quite literally a sitting duck. A quick tug on the trigger and Loogo's blaster cannons would have tore through the hull, though instead he jerked the ship out of the way and let Arai pass.

Loogo's fighter had turned much less sharp, taking more time to get back onto Arai. And by the time he headed back to the surface, he could no longer see Arai's fighter. Assuming that he took cover in the clouds, Loogo had no direction to go in. A smart move that would have paid off to any other pilot, Loogo reached out with the force and sensed for his target. Feeling Arai's presence, he pressed on his throttle, zooming n the same direction. Loogo could feel exactly where the Padawan was, and with still no visual on his ship, Loogo pulled the trigger. His blaster cannons spit out green tracers that would whiz right by Arai's canopy. The shock he hoped would get Arai out of the clouds, though he hoped that it would scare him off.

Sometimes using your internal radar was more useful than using the one designated to the ship. Loogo taught himself how to Force pilot throughout his many years as a Jedi. Already being an excellent pilot, he simply applied the Force. There wasmuch more he could do, that he would soon show Arai if he decided to continue.

 

[Kartikeyan]

Arai relaxed back in the cockpit while cruising through the clouds. “Smooooth, sailing Shadow.” Arai said pleasing to his droid friend. His idea of hiding in the clouds seemed to work and had successfully got away from Master Loogo, or so he thought.

There was a flare of alarm in the back of his mind. Instincts took over and he let the force guide his actions. Black Series dipped down just for Arai to witness green bolts race over his canopy. The panic and sudden reality that Master Loogo had not only found him, but was now firing his laser cannons had Arai’s mouth hanging to the floor in complete shock. “Beeerrp Veeerp” Shadow said in Binary, informing the padawan of their ‘doom.’ “Just pull up the shields!” Arai commanded. He had no time to even insult Shadow like he wanted. He was too busy focusing on evading live fire, once again jinking and accelerating down out of the clouds towards the land.

Arai realized the only logical explanation for being discovered was through the force. He wasn’t going to be able to get away from the Master unless he could hide himself in the force. It wasn’t a skill he had but in times like this he wish he had it. Arai turned to the right and began to head towards the enclave. “You win this round Master Vsil.” He said through the com with a smile. He wasn’t given up but he knew he had lost this one for now. Master Loogo was too good and Arai knows his inexperience right now would be too much of a risk that he didn’t see a reason to take. He knew better than to challenge the renowned Jedi pilot but there was too much fun involved, but his lack of skills made it less fun since he couldn’t keep up at this point.

Arai brought Black Series down in a large clearing close by the enclave and landed gently on the green grass. He stepped out of the cockpit and jumped down into the knee-length tall field of grass wavering from the continuous breeze. Arai waited on the Master to come down to join him so that he may talk with him.

 

[Just Matt Now]

Chasing Arai through the thick cloud, Loogo knew that he felt the pressure of the lasers coming down on him. Having it completely under control, Loogo made it completely safe, though that was unknown to Arai. Loogo's droid buzzed and beeped in protest for firing upon the Padawan, showing some compassion.

"I have it under control Sshorty, don't worry." Pressing buttons and flipping switches, Loogo prepared his fighter by adjusting it's settings. Loogo did not respond to Arai's com chatter, though rather he followed the Padawan to the ground in his defeat, though it was merely a competition...a lesson rather. Now Arai understood the power of Force Sense, and that it did not simply apply to when one was on the ground, but when they are in space as well. Spinning his fighter to angle himself in a better position to land.

Setting his fighter down right next to Arai's, Loogo popped open his canopy and jumped out, leaving Shorty in the fighter. Arai showed great heart, his will and determination fretted away by the change in seriousness of the little chase. Loogo slithered over to the Padawan, standing tall above him. Taking his helmet off and tucking in between his arm, Loogo placed a hand on the Padawans back.

"You fly valiantly, though you mussnt be afraid to push your own boundaries. You hid using your ssurrounding, that was an excellent maneuver, though you should have kept up with it. You undersstood that your opponent was more sskilled than you are, though you will always have a fighters chance if you sstick with it. Never give up, no matter the odds." Loogo slithered over to Arai's fighter, placing his hand now on the slick black coating. "A nice craft, how goes your training Padawan?" Looking back to Arai.

 

[Kartikeyan]

Arai watched silently with a friendly smile as the Master Attendant slithered his way. An imposing Slussi, that made Arai glad he was not his enemy in the skies or on the ground. He could feel his scaly hand easily on his back, a touch that sent reassurance into him as he listened to the master. Loogo’s serpentine tone spoke in similar words that were told to him long ago by his father. ‘No matter how great your opponent might be my son, you must never give up or show fear in the things that will challenge you in life.’

He turned and watched the master take an interest in his mother’s vessel. The padawan leapt onto the black starfighter gracefully and sat down on the side, now having better eye level with the master though his deep red eyes were staring off at the Heart of Shakti, a Delta 7B just like his however stripped in white and black. His eyes trailed back to scan to the black crystalline surface of “Black Series, it belonged to my mom.” he said looking back to the master with a proud smirk.

“My training is…” Arai trailed off as he thought about his training over the last year. “My training has been going nowhere.” He said, releasing his shame and frustration out in a cleansing deep breath. “I need new challenges, new ways to push myself, new things to learn for myself. I am glad we have the archives here but with all the things I can learn and put to practice I cannot but it to use and gain true experience in my skills.”

“I must admit I did not think I would handle myself up there but because of what you said I should have tried. Since we first been here I haven’t paid much attention to Black Series because I been too busy working on other skills before I thought about starfighter combat. I’d rather know this thing inside and out before I decide to trust my life in it.” Arai gave a small smile, figuring he was rambling out his thoughts to the Master Attendant.

“So Master Vsil, how have you been? I figured the Master Attendant would have a lot of attending to do.” Arai laughed. Even Shadow gave a chuckling beeping noise from inside his socket. “Oh and that is R9-S3, he also belonged to my mom. She nicknamed him Shadow so that is what I call him.” The black astromech droid introduced itself by spinning his head around with a few proud and cheerful beeps showing it had some personality. Arai thought it might be time he had its memory wiped, it knew too much about him and in the wrong hands it could betray him. This was a thought for later; he turned his attention back to the Master. “Any ways Master, I have to get going. I have my own attending to do.” He chuckled as he stood up and walked towards the cockpit then turned around. “Oh yeah, since you know more about flying than I do and that I can find you out here, I will be seeing you often Master Loogo Vsil.” He grinned, thinking of the day he would become good as him as flying, since it would be something he needed in the future.

 

[Just Matt Now]

Loogo saw the passion that Arai had when he spoke of his other. There was something there, a specific emotion that pressed against the Padawan. The feeling of loss was not something new to Loogo, he understood the Padawan's pain all too well. He had high hopes for Arai, he certainly had a lot of potential, though he did need learning. He seemed to be impatient, a skill not many had, and had took even Loogo himself long enough to acquire. Not blaming the Padawan, he wished he could instill this thought onto him, though he seemed set on pursuing his own engagements.

As Arai introduced him to his droid, Loogo did the same, pointing towards Shorty. "And this is sshorty." The purple droid reciprocated the greeting. Disheartened to hear that his training was not faring as well as he would have liked, Loogo was always up for training Padawans, though it seemed that Arai needed to be tailored to the philosohpy and teachings of the Jedi.

"Well Arai, if you ever feel the need to train under me, or if you may need ssomeone to talk to...I am here, and you know where to find me."

 

[Kartikeyan]

Arai saluted off to ‘Shorty’ resting in the astromech socket of Heart of Shakti with a warm smile. The droid reminded him so much of his own little buddy that flew with him as his co-polite companion. How many missions have they been on together? Arai wondered to himself while directing his attention back to Loogo. A Slussi that just wasn’t a Master Jedi, but was the Jedi Master Attendant, a rank that was not so easily earned. Despite the little information he knew on him, Arai believed he had to be a remarkable Jedi regardless. The things he could learn and witness from Loogo seemed endless, and when he said Arai could train under him, he was practically mind blown with widen eyes flaring with hope. Loogo could probably teach and educate him in ways the Padawan couldn’t even dream of. But, what really touched the Tythonian on the inside was that Loogo offered to listen to him. Arai always figured the Master’s had too much work on their hands to have a personal conversation with Padawans, however he understood they had more important matters to attend to and this offer was one he would not slip by.

“Thank you, Master Attendant Loogo Vsil.” Arai said with an edge in his voice that suggested he was close to breaking his cool into full blown enthusiasm. Was now the time to mow the master down with countless questions? Ask for his aid in his training? Tell him of his life story and future goals? He thought silently for ten seconds, and then said. “Master Loogo, before I go I do have one last thing to say, or rather ask one thing for now. I know I am not your Padawan and thus you have no obligation to accept, but would it be possible that I can travel with you on some of your assignments? Going from enclave to enclave doesn’t really fancy my interest of seeing and experiencing the galaxy.” The moment he finished talking he wished he could take it back. The Master Attendant probably had enough things on his hands to worry about a Padawan that was not his own, tagging along with him to handle important matters. Yet, it was those important matters that the Padawan felt he could best learn from.

“Also, I do need to work on my skills and abilities in diplomacy.” He said dryly. Diplomacy was probably the best skill a Jedi could have, what they should be known for. Solving problems without having to ignite a lightsaber or push someone away with the force was indeed worth the time and effort, but he had little to basic skills in the art. How could Arai call himself a problem solver if he did not know the art of politics as well as he should? This gave him a thought. He should go to archives and research into past political arguments of the Jedi. His eyes were on Master Loogo, older and more knowledgeable than he was. The Master Attendant spoke on behalf of all the Jedi, a political representative that handles the most serious of delegations. Loogo did seem like a being that could help clear his mind of things. “One finally thing, if you ever need to talk with me Master Loogo, you know where to find me… no wait, you don’t.” Arai usually doesn’t stay in one place too long unless he would study, but even then he would make a copy so he’d have something to read while walking or relaxing.

“I’ll just find you Master Loogo, unless you can find me. I’m usually somewhere out here in Arbra. When I have time there is something I would like to talk with you about, but that is a conversation saved for another time. I have enjoyed this fine afternoon with you master, and glad we had this chance to talk. It has been an honor and the next time we go at it expect a challenge.” Arai bowed his head with a smirk on his face. “Farewell Master Attendant Loogo Vsil, ‘til next time.” Arai waved and turned around to leap into Black Series’ cockpit. A second later the vessel lifted up on its repulsor, slowly rising up thirty meters while rotating off in the direction of the enclave, but not to the main hanger, but to his own personal hanger to cave not far by. Black Series sped off, then disappeared under the trees.

 

[Just Matt Now]

Loogo could see the joy and enthusiasm in his heart and voice. He hadnt truly realized how he affected the Padawans he had been around, and he could see it as such in Arai. The yound learner was going to be great, a true testament to the future of the Jedi, and Loogo was happy, if not honored, to have been in his presence and hopefully influenced him in a positive way. Also happy to hear that Arai wanted to accompany him on future missions of diplomacy, Loogo was filled with pride.

"Arai, I would be honored if you would accompany me on assignmentss, and I would be happy to teach you ssuch sskills. I am happy that you realize being a Jedi means more than jusst weilding a lightssaber..." Loogo understood this all too well, though little did anyone know he was more impressive and skilled with his saber and abilities in the Force than his diplomacy skills. "Arai, you can alwayss talk to me. Please, my doors are always open. I am counting on that converssation. We will sspeak more, Arai. And that challenge will come quick so you better train!" Loogo smiled and watched Arai as he got into his fighter and zoomed off.