Ask Scrub Squad Strikes Again

[Leon Baudelaire]

The raw power of the ancient consciousness writhed with rebellious fury as Leon’s force lasso coiled around it. He could feel Ferrin doubling down and Baudelaire’s mischievous smirk flashed across his face as he closed his eyes and devoted all of his concentration to holding the plant in place.

To his surprise the killer foliage was strong enough to lunge forward for a final time and sink it’s teeth into Ezra. Leon felt his friend’s pain through the force. Ezra’s scream galvanized Leon’s determination and suddenly the tree was off Ole Jabs, skittering backward, until it froze. Ezra hacked at the plantoid’s body, as someone else entered the room.

Leon’s eyes went wide as he saw Dash burst in from the shadows. He called out before tossing Baudelaire’s blaster. Leon snatched it from the air, the weight of the weapon was a welcome burden, but before he got to use it, the thing was done. Or so he thought. Another spike of searing pain burst behind his eyes as the plant attempted to retake his mind. Leon wasn’t sure if he was just more prepared or if the plantoid was simply dying, but the attack didn’t have the same gravity as it had before.

In flashes or bursts images both familiar and new unraveled before him. The smell of smoke wafted past his nose accompanied by the sound of a mother’s sobs as a glint of blue skin was carted off in chains. A ripple of barely perceivable heat washed across the scene distorting it’s view until a single solitary figure stood looming above, Leon. The Padawan was frozen with fear as the volcanic gaze of an unknown figure bore into him. He felt like an ant staring into the searing gaze of a magnifying glass just before it caught the sun. Then everything began to fade and a voice that dripped with command could just be heard like cannon fire in the distance as the plantoid’s final stand came to an end.

Ezra’s voice pulled Leon out of his daze, relief flooded over the Adumarian as he spotted a tuckered Ferrin and put together what the Pantoran had done, “From rogue to cleric?” he teased. Leon reached out with the force and brushed against Dash’s mind.

His eyes went wide, “Holy shit! Dash is actually here!”

He looked down at the gun in his hand and smiled. It was real! Leon was still shook from everything he’d seen. He was over-stimulated at best at this point and decided to lean against the nearest wall and just breathe. He could feel his emotions clawing at his throat begging to burst forth, but Baudelarie swallowed them down. There was still work to be done and while the looming darkness had lifted they still weren't completely out of danger.

Once the love birds had, uh well, once they'd gotten done with one another, he’d step up and give Dash a hug. “Gald you could make it," he teased, "Mind if I snag the rest of my stuff from Charlie… WHERE IS CHARLIE?!”

@Alhon @Altaris @Sreeya

 

[Dash Pavan]

Dash slid across the floor like a ninja of death, totally focused on ending the creature and saving his man. His twin sabers sliced through the air, bisecting the shifting mouldy mass like carving clay. Dash drove the blades through, cutting through thorn and vine alike. The Rhinnalian barrelled into the thing, his compact form driving it over. The Seedling roared a final time, a death wail that seemed to pierce the air and hit back at Dash hard.

The rancid smell of the Dark Side filled his nostrils and this time he knew it for what it was. But it was not just Jadis that it brought forth. Dash saw other flashes, a burning world, a pile of the mutilated and an anguished Leon. Ferrin was dragged before his eyes, jagged chains biting into the Pantoran's flesh.

Above it all stood a huge, towering figure, cloaked in flame and shadow. A ominous red visor glowed with a evil that chilled Dash to the core. Familiar yellow eyes flashed in the Jedi's mind, primal and hungry.

The frightening images vanished as quickly as they had come, but it was a long moment before Dash gathered himself enough to rise to his feet. Who did those eyes belong to and why did they follow him?

His thoughts suddenly rushed to Ezra and he whirled to find his boyfriend in Ferrin's arms, a scene that gave him pause again. Another vision?

Then he saw the wounds in Ez's arm, the black venom oozing from puncture marks in his perfect skin. No!

Dash took a step, but Ferrin's own movements stalled him, light emanating from the Pantoran's hands. The Force stirred around them and Dash watched in awe as Ferrin drew on it to heal and purify. It was not something he knew much about, but everything he was seeing told him the Pantoran just might. Ez seemed to rally, his breathing steadying and his eyes fluttering open as Ferrin did his work. Dash's relief was so total it nearly made him collapse.

"I'm real enough baby" he said, leaning in and pecking his boyfriend on the cheek to prove it. The public display was not very knightly and Ezra would hate it, but he was probably too off his game to wriggle away. Dash was suddenly conscious of his silly sleeveless flightsuit, but he tried to focus on more pressing concerns. He reached for Ez's injured arm, gently examining the wounds which were at least not oozing with poison anymore.

"I came to rescue you all" he explained, rising and clapping both Ferrin and Leon on the shoulder. "But I reckon you might actually have been ok without me" his gaze lingered on the Pantoran, though he could not quite find the words to express the debt he now owed Ferrin.

Leon broke the awkward silence as he was so good at doing, brushing up first with the Force and then wrapping the Rhinnalian in a hug. "You too" Dash smiled "though, about Charlie...." it was hard to break the news that he had not even managed to rescue the droid "the poor guy ended up taking a bullet for me, well, an axe...". He was reminded if they got out of here they still had to face the natives. "But I do have your gear!" He swung the pack down of his pack and offered the remaining items out.

"Are you all ok?" he asked. It was his instinct to look out for his friends, but he remembered it was actually his job too now. "Did any of you see some pretty tough visions?". He doubted there would be much they could make sense of, but he had to try. Too much of today had already been inexplicable.

@Altaris @Sreeya @Zay

 

[Ferrin Sipal]

For that prolonged moment, Ferrin was completely focused on the act of healing. The Pantoran found his center and opened himself up to the Force once more - allowing that wellspring of life to fill his body and flow directly into Ezra. He could subconsciously feel the strands of energy that connected himself to the quarter-Sephi, to Leon, and to Dash as the Knight made his arrival. Like blotches of shadow, he could see the venom that pumped through Ezra’s veins - and directed the Light to surround and overwhelm it. To wash over and purify everything that it came in contact with. It was a talent that came to Ferrin far more naturally than swordplay - even in its more rudimentary applications.

It wasn’t instantaneous, but Ferrin’s efforts were enough to prevent the worst effects of the poison. The pain would subside significantly - replaced with a gentle warmth throughout his entire body - though the bite marks on Ezra’s arm would need more conventional treatment and bandaging.

As his eyes fluttered open, Ferrin felt the wave of exhaustion that struck him all at once - causing the Pantoran to slump back against the wall behind him. “I’m a man of surprises,” He projected towards Leon. The Pantoran blinked a few times, as if to banish the urge to sleep, before his golden gaze eventually found Ezra. The usual ice was gone from the quarter-Sephi’s gaze - replaced instead with a fondness that gave the Pantoran pause. Perhaps it was that rare smile that caused Ferrin’s cheeks to grow a hint red, his own lips tugging upwards with far deeper emotion than his playful smirks and grins. Far deeper than Ezra would’ve seen up to this point.

His open mouth opened to say something - only to be interrupted by the words that flew from Ezra. He glanced over - golden gaze settling on Dash for the first time. There was the faintest twitch of his left eye, as the Pantoran fought the overwhelming urge to grimace. Friends or not, Ferrin wasn’t particularly pleased to have their moment interrupted - and couldn’t help but wonder how the Knight made his entrance at precisely that moment. Somehow he was absent for the commentary about getting railed, but now he appeared.

Ferrin glanced between the two as Dash leaned in to peck Ezra on the cheek. His face settled back into its usual, flippant countenance - banishing down the hints of fondness that had previously been elicited by Ezra. “Alright - y’all can jack each other off later - still need to bandage that arm.” The Pantoran said between exhausted breaths, clearly feeling the aftershock and toll of his own healing.

“‘Sup Glub,” He jutted his chin towards Dash and flashed a peace sign.

He grumbled a bit upon hearing that Charlie met his demise. “R.I.P Charlie,” The Pantoran said with a small shrug, his eyes narrowing a bit when the visions were mentioned. True to his nature, he wasn’t about to divulge about his own nightmares - and largely offered his companions the same courtesy. “Yup, I saw ‘em.” He said in response, tilting his head back against the wall and allowing his eyes to close.

Without projecting through the Force, Ferrin pointed a tired hand towards the door at the end of the hallway - gesturing to what was likely the direction they needed to go. Of course, the Pantoran didn’t really move and had no intention of getting up for a few more minutes.

@Sreeya @Alhon @Zay

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra stared in surprise as it became clear Dash was, in fact, actually here. And he was even dressed like a superhero, toned biceps and pecs on display. However even that didn’t stop Ezra from grumbling a bit when Dash kissed him. He didn’t return the gesture physically, though the affection was clear in his eyes as he looked at his boyfriend. When Ferrin loudly declared his crude color commentary, Ezra rolled his eyes and looked down at his wounded arm which hurt badly. He used the Force to drag his oversized bag to himself, using one arm to patch himself up.

He paused immediately when he learned about Charlie’s fate, his head whipping up instantly, “We have to get Charlie before we leave,” Ezra declared in an uncharacteristic display of compassion he never showed for other actual human beings.

After he was patched up, he slowly rose to stand again. They were all shaken up and injured, but nothing explained all the visions. Unlike the others, he purposely stayed quiet about what he saw, though it was clear he was troubled. He was confused and angry. There was something familiar about that visor and something about seeing himself with yellow eyes. Was he destined to fall to darkness? Was there anything Sith about him that he didn’t understand? He couldn’t express that here. Perhaps not even with Dash. He had to work it out by himself.

His irritated mood didn’t improve as he looked at Leon and Ferrin, “What the hell were you guys thinking?” Ezra finally blurted out coldly, “I had that sword girl wrapped around my finger and you just had to wave your Force dicks around,” It had almost cost them their lives. Leon was shot in the ass, Ezra had puncture wounds and they were all still stuck on this planet. And his ego took a bit of bruising that his boyfriend had to come save the day.

Ezra shook his head and walked forward, having no desire to go back the way they came to run into the Salami again. He kept walking until he could see sunlight again, blinking as he came out the other side of the ruins. His eyes widened as he saw the colossal parts of what looked like a…ship? No, he knew ships. This was bigger. Much bigger. It looked like a space station that crash landed on the planet, its huge frame extending out as far as the eye could see.

The engineer side of him was doing backflips as he quickly shuffled towards it.

@Zay @Alhon @Altaris

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Ezra made an executive decision to snag Charlie before they got the hell off this planet, and Leon said, “I’m down. No droid left behind.”

”Thank the Force,” sighed Leon as he slipped into his arsenal. Leon shrugged when Dash mentioned the visions. The images of his friends being molested by the vines flitted across his expression, but Leon was practiced at hiding his pain behind a lie. “Nah, that thorny plant super into you three, my vision was you three banging. All three of ya, just absolutely going nuts. Super weird. Def nothing to read into there,” he said, barely holding back his grin.

Leon laughed as Ezra started in on him and Ferrin about their force antics back at the camp, “Uh, I think we all had our dick’s out there buddy,” quipped Baudelaire as he crossed his arms over his chest, “This is the first I’ve heard of your plan at all,” Leon’s little smirk settled on his lips, “We’ve been communicating telepathically together for weeks, NONE of us considered telling one another our plans. We all fucked up, not just me, not just Ferrin and not just you,” he said, gaze shifting from Ferrin to Ezra respectively as he spoke, “We all need to do better, I say we put it behind us and do better moving forward.”

Baudelaire knew this was about to go over like a sack of shit at dinner, but he wasn’t going to let Ezra pass the blame so quickly. They’d all suffered, they’d all been scared, and they’d all messed up, but at the end of everything they were alive, and had each other. Plus their squad was complete. So, any other bullshit they faced would be staring into the faces of the Jedi’s new best boys and Leon could feel his chest fill with pride despite everything else that had happened.

He followed Ez knowing they were moving deeper into the structure. Leon had felt each of their visions and he knew they’d felt his. Even if it was for the briefest of moments he’d never felt as close to anyone else in the galaxy as he did with the Scrub Squad right now.

Leon’s mouth dropped open as Ezra’s nerdy excitement bubbled up. They were standing in front of a massive structure. Was… was this a freaking space station? Daybreak hummed against his hip and he glanced down at the weapon, then back to the machinery in front of him.

“Anyone down for continuing our little dungeon crawl?” he said. They were together, they were alive, and The Force was with them, it was time.

“Scrub Squad on 3?” he asked putting his hand in the center of their little group.

@Alhon @Altaris @Sreeya

 

[Ferrin Sipal]

Almost at once, Ferrin’s brows knitted together. He opened his mouth to speak when the group made an executive decision to go back for Charlie - and thus return to Sashimi territory. In the end, he merely shook his head, already outvoted and regretting the decision ahead of time. The Pantoran wasn’t nearly as sympathetic to the pilot droid as the rest of his companions, especially when it meant going back the way they came. Ferrin sighed, turning his attention to Leon when the fellow Padawan mentioned what he saw.

The Pantoran didn’t even attempt to bite back his grin, golden eyes flicking over to Ezra and Fash at once. “Yeah, definitely a vision,” He projected through the Force after a moment. “After all, Dash doesn’t seem like the threesome type,” He said shamelessly, flashing the blonde in question a wink.

Of course, his eyes narrowed a bit when Ezra began to moodily call out the situation back at the camp. Ferrin crossed his arms over his chest, listening for a moment as Leon attempted to calm the situation and remind them to do better. It was a good sentiment - and perhaps a reminder that Leon was one of the more mature Jedi of their group - but Ferrin’s ego was something else entirely.

“Speak for yourselves,” He said with a huff. “My plan to spook their asses would’ve worked, until Shaman-Grandma appeared and started to lose her shit.” Ferrin grumbled to himself, “Going all pyro-maniac didn’t help neither.” Ferrin glanced over at Leon. “Somehow I doubt flashin’ Sword Lady the smolder was gonna to help us when all of her buddies were hanging out in plain view.” Ferrin wasn’t exactly privy to Ezra’s uncommonly advanced abilities with mental manipulation, and didn’t expect it to work with how crowded the camp was at the time they escaped.

He glanced ahead, golden eyes narrowing onto the structure that poked up from the ground. “If I see moving vines, we’re gettin’ the fuck outta dodge.” Ferrin stated flatly. He glanced over when Leon put his hand in the center for their group chant, huffing loudly. Nevertheless, he wasn’t about to ignore their tradition and placed his hand over the top of Leon’s own - waiting for the others before loudly shouting “Scrub Squad!” With the others.

As they drew closer to the space station, however, the group would begin to get a glimpse of the engineering wonder that they were dealing with. It was sleek and elegant to behold, even in the aged state from being grounded for centuries. Ezra would quickly be able to make out a terminal at the far side of the section of the station, while other mechanicals were easy to expose with move of certain, metallic panels.

Completely worthless when it came to engineering, Ferrin took a look around the space station - squinting a bit. “Think we can strip it for parts? Something to get some signal?” He said, despite the fact that the mere suggestion was likely going to give Ezra a stroke.

 

[Dash Pavan]

It seemed that miraculously they were all ok, though Dash would make sure they had Ezra's arm looked at as soon as possible. Left untreated, it might leave lasting damage. For now, his boyfriend seemed mostly his usual self, brushing off Dash's public affection and moaning about Charlie as he stalked off. The Rhinnalian was a little peeved that a warm look was still all he got from Ez sometimes, but he swallowed it for now. They were not out of danger yet.

Dash headed after Ezra, making sure Leon and Ferrin were also following. He did not miss how all three of them deflected his question about the visions they might have seen. Ez was a hard knut to crack at times, but the others were normally quite open. Ferrin in particular usually acted bullish and chilled. Clearly even he had fears he did not want to share.

Dash let the Pantoran's banter roll over him as they walked, including the nickname that never died. But when Leon threw out the image of the three of them rutting like stags, he could not hide the awkward grimace on his face.

Ferrin seized on the notion of course, quipping that it was obviously too racy for Dash. "How would you know?" he projected back, blue eyes steely. He could at least try to put the unease back on Ferrin. After all, he had what the Pantoran wanted, not to mention a few years on him, and far more chequered bedroom habits than he knew.

They walked on to the sound of his friends disagreeing over who was to blame for their latest near death experience. Dash was just glad he could not be remotely implicated. Leon for his part was also going on about Charlie. What had Ez and he been drinking? The droid had almost had spirit, but he was just a droid. Dash saw little gained in going back for his parts, particularly if it risked another run in with the Sloomarni.

When they finally emerged into the daylight and the spectre of the downed space station, Dash actually gawped, shielding his eyes to get a good look. It was massive and remarkably intact despite whatever had befallen it. The Rhinnalian had the sense it was something of importance, but it looked to have been here long enough he was wary of disturbing it. His friends began excitedly crossing hands in their traditional rallying cry and while he joined in, he never took one eye off the structure.

"Hang on Ez" Dash called, noticing how his boyfriend was scampering towards an apparent terminal. "We don't know what that is or why it's here. We should not just go pressing buttons or pulling parts out" he glanced at Ferrin "until we know what we are dealing with". He phrased it as advice but hoped they all remembered it was not. If he had to say 'I am the Knight here' then he had already failed, but there were subtler ways to remind them.

"In any case, you're injured" he looked at his boyfriend with a raised eyebrow "I still have my comlink and I can signal my ship. We should get offworld and regroup. If the Order want us to come back and investigate that then we can, but properly and better prepared".

He knew it was a sound strategy that aligned with all of his training. But the thing behind Ezra looked out of this world; he feared his headstrong boyfriend would not leave it be.

@Sreeya @Zay @Altaris

 

[Ezra Thorne]

He wasn’t impressed by the rebuttals put forth by Leon and Ferrin, “I’ll dumb it down for you next time,” He said dryly. It was pretty clear what he was doing with the mental manipulation. He didn’t think he had to give an elaborate StrengthPoint presentation for them to get onboard.

Ezra only stared blankly as Leon lobbed a molotov cocktail in the form of a crude description of the three of them going at it. He would steer entirely clear of that, and he let Ferrin and Dash have their catty exchanges. His focus was on the space station and ways he may be able to get it online. Ezra stopped abruptly when Ferrin blabbed about stripping it for parts.

“This isn’t some two bit junkyard speeder, this is a space station,” Ezra reminded him firmly, “If I can get it operational, this could be a huge asset for the Jedi,” He explained as he kept walking. It was when Dash spoke that he stopped again, this time surprised by who the objection came from. Ezra turned to regard him quietly.

Was that Dash talking? Or Knight Dash talking? Because the Dash he knew was the one that blatantly ignored Zathria on Kashyyyk and pushed him towards the mountain trail on Kashyyyk. The Dash he knew ventured out to find a dangerous holocron all without supervision. The Dash he knew and fell in love with was fiery, impulsive, and always up for an adventure. Ezra had been the wait and see type in the past, and all it did was build a huge reliance on Zathria. He saw her as a crutch and he was trying to break out of that habit.

“The Order will never allow us to return here,” Ezra stated flatly, actually glaring at his boyfriend. It was clear he had a lot more to say, but he reined it in for now. The disbelief and anger was simmering just beneath the surface.

@Zay @Altaris @Alhon

 

[Ferrin Sipal]

Ferrin arched a brow when Dash fired back with commentary. The Pantoran was expecting a glare or backhand for the threesome comment, and was somewhat surprised by the Knight seemingly offended by the implication he wasn’t interested. He blinked a few times and smirked. “Intending on proving me wrong?” Ferrin asked with a raised brow.
He didn’t waste time approaching the station, grumbling a bit when Ezra shot down his idea. A few moments were spent glancing around the bits of equipment and design that caught his eye. Nothing in particular seemed helpful, and thus the Pantoran’s attention flicked back to the terminal just a few meters away. Before he could get too close, however, Ferrin caught sight of the exchange between the Dash and Ezra.

There was a part of Ferrin - perhaps the intelligent part - that urged the Pantoran to steer clear of the conflict entirely and melt into the nearest wall. Nevertheless, Ferrin wasn’t particularly skilled when it came to keeping his commentary to himself - telepathic or otherwise.

“No, they won’t.” He nodded towards Ezra, agreeing with the sentiment that the Order would ban any return to the planet. “More importantly, trying to get back to your ship will be a bitch. The natives spotted us arrive and will have likely swarmed your vessel too.” He shrugged a bit. “If we can bring the station online, it is our best chance off the planet.”

Ferrin glanced between Leon and Dash, “If it is a station.. It’ll have some hyperdrive and propulsion, right?” A regular ship certainly did. He glanced over to Ezra to see if the quarter-Sephi had any disagreement with the statement. “Those’ll be important to repair if we’re gonna go anywhere.” He jutted a chin. “We stick in pairs. Neon and Glub search for any signs of an engine chamber,” He glanced over to Ezra. “I’ll stick with Reed over here and follow his lead.”

“We all have our comms synced to the same channel - use ‘em often.” Part of his pitch was to tackle the giant Space station. The other part was to de-escalate a conflict before it erupted into something untenable.

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Leon just rolled his eyes at Ezra’s dry response. He wondered if Ez wanted a prize for the snarkiest retort provided after a near death experience. As Ferrin and Dash did their weird, we like each other kinda, thing Leon simply vibed away. The massive structure was obviously old, ancient as hell, but he couldn’t help but think it felt familiar. Baudelaire wasn’t interested in the other three’s squabbling. It was super awkward and he found something incredibly interesting on the ground to occupy himself with. However, when it came to the game plan he chimed in.

“I vote to investigate, I don’t care who’s team I’m on, but for the record, I don’t think splitting up is smart given we’ve already fought one mind control plant thing,” he’d say with a shrug as he continued heading toward the entrance.

As they reached the entry way at the top of the door was a circular emblem that looked like this.

“Huh, that’s kinda cool,” he said absently, not really sure if anyone in the group was talking to each other right now, but still hoping to enjoy the view with someone. “So, I guess the plan is, if you see something say something?”

He wasn’t totally sure Dash was going to agree to any of this. It was clear to Leon, the homie was stuck between a rock and a hard place right now. As the Knight, they were his responsibility. Big Oof there, buddy. Leon was curious to see if Dash would adhere to the rules or follow the force. Baudelaire had his Nalphone out and was saving their current location in his nav for later just in case. He knew the force had brought them here, and he was more interested in following its guidance than the councils.

@Sreeya @Alhon @Altaris

 

[Dash Pavan]

Ezra actually stopped to listen, which was something, but as Dash expected he did not just lie down and agree.

"You don't know that" the Rhinnalian replied, holding his boyfriend's gaze "if this station has potential like you say then they might send us back. We can all speak up for it, we have people on the Council who might back us. It has not got to be now or never".

It seemed to him there was every chance friends like Hera could be persuaded that they should return. There was no need for Ez to charge back into danger mere minutes after he had been hurt. Dash had been determined to rescue the three of them since he arrived, now they were safe he was keen to keep it that way.

Then Ferrin chimed in, his smug tones echoing in the Rhinnalian's mind. The sight and sound of the Pantoran uniting against him with Ezra made Dash flush in spite of himself. They had been through a lot, but any bridge he and Ferrin had built was still makeshift and weak. Dash felt old hostilities roiling beneath it. He tried to focus, keeping his face impassive and remembering the diplomatic course from Ryoone. He needed to stay calm and centred.

Then the Pantoran started giving out orders, topping it off with a tactless 'Glub'. Dash cracked. "You aren't making any sense" he said icily, cutting across Ferrin "maybe you should take a timeout. A second ago you were all for stripping the thing for parts and now you want to ride it out of here". He gestured dismissively. "You don't know the first thing about its systems, or my ship, which is perfectly fine. Some of us didn't crash ours or lose our droid. Mine has my ship on roving patrol, waiting for us".

He knew on some level he should be more composed, but he could not help it. Whatever Ferrin was trying to do, it came across as nothing more than once again taking any opportunity to stick him between the ribs, this time on things that mattered. Dash might have brushed it off, had he not traipsed through the jungle, fought and killed two alien beasts in the dark and had his simple escape plan shat on by his friends.

Leon wielded the final blow, also voting for them to go forward. "It's not a vote" Dash said quietly, though it was impossible to feel the same animus towards the Adumarian. "But it's not like I can force you guys to leave now, if you're not with me". He looked at each of them in turn, Ezra last. His boyfriend did not have to agree with him all the time, but he could at least have been more supportive. But then, he had not even managed a kiss and thank you.

"I'm signalling my ship in thirty" Dash said with finality "if we have nothing then, we leave". He strode off hastily, motioning for Leon to follow him. He was the least objectionable right now and Ferrin and Ezra could hang together all they wanted.

Dash needed to get away from them before he froze something. This Knight shit was bollocks.

@Sreeya @Altaris @Zay

 

[Ezra Thorne]

While Ezra didn’t agree with Dash’s idea, he also wasn’t amused by the others rattling off a game plan and completely overriding the Rhinnalian’s perspective as if it didn’t exist. He looked at Ferrin, his eyes narrowing slightly, “Give it a rest. Splitting up is a dumb idea,” Ezra stated flatly. He didn’t contribute towards a plan, having hoped for something they could discuss instead of taking turns acting like the authority. However, Dash was no better as he chose to be snippy and chide them all as if they were children. Ezra didn’t even bother pointing out that they hadn’t crash landed because of any user error, but because their ship had been faulty to begin with.

To top it off, Dash ended up playing right into Ferrin’s idea by splitting up moments after criticizing it. Ezra didn’t meet his boyfriend’s gaze, his own face back to the default stoic he had when he came across strangers. There was usually only a small window where Ezra was upset before it crossed a threshold to detachment, and now he coasted into the latter. He wouldn’t forget that it was Dash who walked away from him while, even in his rage, Ezra had stopped to hear him out. He withdrew into himself, removed himself from the situation, and decided he wouldn’t partake in any idea.

He took a seat on a flat surface and waited in silence for when they would leave. All his excitement and curiosity in getting the space station back online and charged dissipated at once. His posture, demeanor and mannerisms would be alarmingly similar to his father as they both had the exact same way of coping when anything frustrated them - by unplugging completely.

@Zay @Altaris @Alhon

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Leon stepped over to the entrance running a hand along the cool metal surface while the others went back and forth. He was never really sure what to do in this situation. The emotions at war between Dash and Ferrin weren’t anything he deemed his business. He loved each of them dearly and it sucked to see them at each other’s throats, but what was he gonna do? Call for another half assed attempt at a Scrub Squad Cheer?

Baudelaire was fresh out of game day inspiration. He watched Ezra separate from the situation and Leon’s heart sank. What were they even fighting over? They were alive. There was a dope space station marked by the Jedi, this felt like the treasure room they’d fought to find. He sighed.

Dash whirled away from Ferrin and Leon was positive they were about to leave, but the Knight gave them thirty. The Adumarian gave Dash an awkward smile but he just kept moving, so Leon trotted off after him.

“So, how’s having your own ship?” he tried in a feeble attempt to start up a conversation.

Leon’s curiosity sent his ADD into overdrive. His head stayed on a swivel as he attempted to see everything the structure had to offer. They came to a crossroad. In the center was a feature he’d only read about in the archives, he was looking at a Directory. The map was faded, and nearly illegible in most places, but the “You are here,” marker was still pretty easy to see.

“Which way you thinking? I’ll be honest, I’m not sure this thing is getting up, might be cool to check out an archive or something,”

 

[Ferrin Sipal]

Ferrin was progressively losing his patience as the group continued to argue. The Pantoran wasn’t the most diplomatic individual by default, and the combination of exhaustion from the healing - coupled with the rest of the bullshit that had befallen them - left him especially on edge. As a result, he couldn’t mask the way that his expression hardened when both Ezra and Dash jumped down his throat - shooting down the idea of splitting up. Whatever attempt to de escalate the tension between Ezra and Dash died on the vine, and left Ferrin in a completely bitter mood.

He shot Ezra a glare out of the corner of his eye - but his attention largely hung on Dash. The Knight took things a step too far by chidding and talking down to him like some clueless Youngling, including a tasteless and ignorant remark about their crash landing. As if he hadn’t risked his neck for the group both here and on Berchest. While Dash did.. What? Arrive at the last minute to waggle his finger? There was a clear shift in the Pantoran’s demeanor - his head tilting up and golden eyes narrowing into thin daggers. It was an almost startling shift from his usual jovial and nonchalant mannerisms, even when he was irritating. It was one of the few times he was genuinely angry, all of it burning behind his vivid eyes.

“Take your ship and superiority complex and shove it up your pale ass, Knight Pavan.” He said frigidly, his voice course and croaky, just barely beginning to heal. The Pantoran often still relied on telepathy to communicate, but he made the deliberate decision to vocalize in that moment. For all the ways that Ferrin was eccentric and flamboyant - his moments of anger were anything but. He kept his cold gaze on Dash until the Knight began to stomp off in a tantrum, going along with the idea after bitching about it.

Ferrin let out a sharp exhale through his nostrils - still simmering even after Leon and Dash made their exit. He only glanced in Ezra’s direction long enough to see the quarter-Sephi slumped against the side of the station, regarding him for a long moment. In any other moment, the Pantoran would’ve tried to make some witty comment or remark to bring him back from the brink - but for once, little manifested in his mind.

Instead, the Pantoran simply glanced back the direction Dash went. “I’m not sitting around and waiting to be escorted by our resident chauffeur,” He said towards Ezra, jutting his chin to the rest of the station. He had every intention of poking around and attempting to tinker with the station - albeit blindly - in the meantime. In that moment, the Pantoran had precisely zero desire to get carted off onto Dash’s ship.

“If you think this thing has a chance of working again, I could use the help,” His expression softened just the slightest bit as he looked to Ezra, watching the quarter-Sephi for a moment. He’d suggested taking the fellow Padawan’s lead earlier, and it was clear he still wanted more experienced direction. If Ezra wasn’t willing, however, Ferrin would begin to make his way towards the terminal - glancing down towards some of the wires and mechanics. Whether any of it was live electrical, he had no idea.

@Sreeya @Alhon @Zay

 

[Dash Pavan]

Dash had barely taken two steps when Ferrin shouted after him, not telepathically this time, but with his voice. The harsh strained tone made him pause and glance back, their eyes locking. But there was nothing to say. The Rhinnalian trudged on, noticing Ezra plant himself down on the ground before Dash stepped around the station out of sight.

He immediately felt the tiniest tug to go back, to try and sort things. But he buried it beneath his own frustration, doubling down. Superiority complex!? As if. For all his confidence in certain situations, he had never been one to throw his weight around in public, or especially in the Order. Ferrin would know about that. He was only trying to do the right thing, the sensible thing, what a Knight should do. Wasn't he?

He replayed the stoic look on Ezra's face. His boyfriend's impassiveness could wound him far more than anything the Pantoran could say or do. Had he really given Ez chance to discuss a plan properly? But should he have to? He was so bloody hard to reach at times.

Dash could barely think straight, pent up anxiety and frustration making him red in the face. Maybe they just didn't get how scared he had been for them all day, scared he would be too late, terrified they would be hurt - even stupid Ferrin - and Ez. Ez most of all. His boyfriend had fought without even knowing Dash was there, but the Rhinnalian had spent every minute on Eiram holding back the ultimate fear that his man would come to harm.

On top of it all was the burden of his new rank - Knight Pavan - and the fear he would not be up to what it meant. He was supposed to have the answers now, always know what to do, and somehow look after everyone else. How was it even fucking possible when they did not want keeping safe?!

He nearly walked into the Directory, zoning back in and shaking himself. He had to get out of his own head.

"It's not my ship" he replied, feeling a marginal release just from speaking. "It was what they had us using for the training convoy when I got the call". Dash did not give a damn about ships. They were far more Ez's thing. "It's not even important". If the group thought he was in any way bullish about some hotrod ride, it was just another way he had been misunderstood.

"So this was a Jedi place huh?" Dash said, finally looking at Leon. That cheery face brought him down just another notch. "Looks like there was a lot here, hospital, observatory, research station, market, and cultural center..." he traced his fingers along the faded map. The place was huge; he could not imagine four Jedi could get it moving, even if they were all pulling in the same direction. "Archive does look like a good bet and it's not far. Shame we didn't bring that little guy from Christophsis to light the way".

@Sreeya @Zay @Altaris

 

[Ezra Thorne]

There was silence as they all split up. Ezra took out his NalPhone and started playing a game on it to kill time. When Ferrin addressed him about checking out the space station, Ezra simply gave a noncommittal shrug. However, before the Pantoran walked away, Ezra looked up.

“Why do you have such a problem with him? I don't mean just today,” He asked outright, “I used to think it was because you guys are ex-lovers, but now I’m not so sure.”

Ezra didn’t need to clarify that he was referring to Dash. While they had time to kill and some privacy, he decided he would finally ask the million crown question.

@Altaris @Alhon @Zay

 

[Ferrin Sipal]

Ferrin didn’t have to stick around for long - knowing that Ezra wasn’t likely to move anytime soon. Still irritated and needing to vent, he wasn’t about to sit around or beg the quarter-Sephi for help, even if it meant attempting to fuck with the station terminal completely blind and on his own. Getting it operational seemed out of the question now.. But Ferrin would sooner die than sit down and wait for Dash to bark more orders in half-an-hour. There was a part of the Pantoran that made it difficult to stay angry at any one member of their squad for very long - perhaps the closest thing to family he had nowadays. But at least for the moment, his anger hadn’t entirely dissipated.

Just as he started to walk towards the terminal, however, Ferrin was stopped dead in his tracks by the question that Ezra posed. It was enough for the Pantoran to glance back over his shoulder - doing his best to avoid looking caught off-guard. There was no dancing around the question or using their current predicament to change the topic. He suddenly despises his earlier suggestion to split up - though he’d frankly never admit it.

“Besides the fact that he likes to wave his Knightly dick around now?” He said with a hint of bitterness. There was probably some deeper reason that Ferrin took issue with being chidded and told what the group was going to do - but that wasn’t the question at hand.

He crossed his arms over his chest, idly tapping against his bicep. “We aren’t,” Ferrin said in response to the assumption that he and Dash had been anything but the shaky friends that they were now. “That party on Zeltros was the first time we met,” He mumbled to himself, knowing full-well that Ezra would remember the incident and their somewhat petty exchange.

There was no dancing around the root of the issue, though Ferrin shifted a bit on both feet. “It’s probably 'cause I’m into you, Ezra - and I ain’t talkin’ about just getting in your pants.” He finally said, the words practically spilling out of his mouth as if to rush through the answer. As close as they all were, Ferrin wasn’t the type to discuss his own emotions and clearly wasn’t an expert at putting it all into words. “I ain’t over it. And he probably knows it and doesn’t like it.” Ferrin didn’t miss the way that Dash looked whenever Ferrin and Ezra were united together - just before he stormed off, or that brief moment when Ezra was being healed. Despite everything they’d been through, there was always that underlying jealousy and hostility between them, which the quarter-Sephi would likely be able to piece together.

“It ain’t a problem until he starts bein’ an ass.” He muttered after a brief pause, glancing back towards the terminal.

@Sreeya @Alhon @Zay

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra stared blankly at Ferrin’s initial jab at Dash. He waited patiently for the answer to his question. However, nothing could have prepared him for the speeder truck in the form of Ferrin’s admission. There was nothing but awkward silence for a few seconds, his fingers fidgeting a bit with his NalPhone. Even though Ferrin reassured him it wasn’t a problem unless Dash acted out, it was still an uncomfortable situation all around.

Ezra and Ferrin had hooked up in the past, but it had never gone too far beneath the surface. Ezra had no idea it went deeper for Ferrin. Or maybe he did and just pretended not to notice. All of the signs began to appear from corners of his mind up to the front.

“Oh,” Ezra vocalized quietly. He ran his fingers through his hair, looked down at his NalPhone as if it would give him some prophetic answer, and shifted where he sat. He hadn’t expected such a heavy answer to his question and now he wondered if he should have even asked. Did Dash know this whole time? Was Ezra just that oblivious? It sounded like him.

“So…you don’t want to go back on Dash’s ship?” He asked after a long moment of silence. Really he had nothing clever to say about the topic.

@Altaris @Alhon @Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

"Wait really? You don’t even get a ship when you become a knight, sheesh, what’s the point then?” remarked Leon, who was far more disappointed at the news than he was trying to let on.

"Of course it isn’t,” he said, waving away the heart-rending blow he’d just taken to his little padawan heart. Another awkward moment played out between them for a handful of steps and The Adumarian realized he was going to have to steer this ship if he wanted to keep talking.

So, in a turn that Leon wished he didn’t have to take, he cleared his throat and asked, “What’s the deal between you and Ferrin?”

“Kinda reminds me of the ruins we found in the Crystal Forest,” he murmured as Dash listed off the other areas in the massive structure.

“You Knights and your dependance on droids,” Leon scoffed as he dramatically unsheathed a glow rod from his utility belt, “Ta-da!”

The cylindrical lamp was the same one he’d used on Kashyyyk right before he and Ole’ Jabs had stumbled into a literal den of spiders.

“Shall we?” he asked while jokingly offering Dash his elbow. He flipped the switch and the space around them was painted in a pale light. Leon's ass was starting to hurt, and as much as he didn't want to have to ask he knew at some point soon, some one was gonna have to examine his second hole.

“Question, when your– uh, snow stuff,(?) started happening, what was it like?” Baudelaire had been dealing with some strange manifestations recently, and since Dash was not only a Knight that he knew and trusted, but also a cryokinesis user, he couldn’t think of a better person to ask. Granted from what research he’d done he knew what he was experiencing fell under the banner of electrokinesis.

@Sreeya @Altaris @Alhon

 

[Ferrin Sipal]

In truth, Ferrin wasn’t… Entirely sure what to say after his admission. It was rare that the Pantoran ever delved into his deeper feelings or thoughts, let alone vocalized them. His friends knew him for the jovial and witty - albeit crude - Padawan that he was at every other instance, and it was the outward perception of himself that he thrived to maintain. He shifted a bit on both feet, watching the quarter-Sephi for whatever reaction he had in response.

He blinked a few times, watching as Ezra seemed lost for words. The fellow Padawan glanced down at his NalPhone and seemingly looked everywhere except Ferrin. It only added to the awkwardness of the situation, and Ferrin could already feel the heat rising up in his face - manifesting as tinges of violet against his blue complexion. He almost instinctively ran his fingers through his hair a few times.

There was a part of Ferrin that had hoped Ezra’s response would be.. Different. Something he knew couldn’t be a reality and something he felt guilty for even wanting, knowing the committed relationship with Dash. Even still, those emotions tugged at the core of the Pantoran’s chest - quickly stamped down and buried out of sight.

“Listen,” He said after a moment, jutting a chin to Ezra. “I ain’t trynna make things weird - or cause a fight with you and Dash.” He shrugged a bit. Feelings aside, Ferrin knew where he sat and had little desire to fuck with the group dynamic. “But you asked and I ain’t gonna bullshit you.” He exhaled through his nostrils, glancing back to the station around him. “Doesn’t mean I ain’t gonna kowtow when Dash starts throwing his weight around.”

Ezra quickly moved the topic along, and Ferrin was grateful for it. He shrugged a bit in response. “I think getting back to his ship is going to be a bitch - and after everything we’ve been through, I don’t really want to leave here empty handed.” The Pantoran said flatly. “So if there is a chance we can make something work.. Yeah, I’d rather do that, instead of just running.”

He squinted a bit. “I’d also appreciate if you could tell me if any of those wires look like they’re going to roast my ass.” He gestured to some of the equipment.