The Awakening of Crutiae

[Prancing Yawn]

Kashyyyk.

Today, Cat's mission was in the same system as this planet. Here, with his Padawan and another of the name Andreus Makaryk, he prepared for a mission on Trandosha. They had been briefed, explained to, their questions answered by the Order. Their mission was serious, but also simplistic in description. A vision from the Sage Master had warned the Order of dark activity on Trandosha. They believed a Dark Jedi was going to attempt to venture into the deep catacombs in the undergrounds of the planet.. and awaken a dark force. A team was formed and dispatched, and all they were waiting for now was their ship to be refueled.

In a hangar high up in the trees of the planet, the Jedi's Consular-2 class cruiser was being refueled for the short trip to Trandosha. Cat watched the wookiees work, as they hooked up a hose to the hull of the ship to feed the lifeblood into the cruiser. He sat on a crate of tools, munching on a banana.. best as he could without shoving it up his nose. After his duel with Darth Oseth, he had to see with the Force, and he had no time to take a class for Force Sight, especially with this mission coming up in his week.

"Apollo, Andreus, they should be done soon. Better get your gear."

 

[Andreus Makaryk]

A lone E-wing quietly touched down on another of the landing pads tucked amongst the Kashyyyk foliage, several hundred feet above ground level. That E-wing bore a single person; it was come because it simply was not big enough to transport an entire Jedi strike team, two Knights and two padawans, to the mission to which they were assigned.

Out stepped the tall, imposing figure of Andreus Makaryk. Andreus was even bigger and physically stronger than Cat, but as a padawan, he had comparatively little training into putting that strength (and the two lightsabers clipped to his belt) to use. He had managed to scrounge together some, so he would not be altogether useless, though he still felt more like a lawn ornament or maybe an astromech droid than anything else.

At least astromech droids could pilot ships--which was exactly what Andreus would be doing.

The lawn ornament--imposing though he might superficially appear--did not even stop to say hello, or even to glance in Cat's general direction. Instead, it went straight to the ship it was assigned to fly to Trandosha, produced an exterior preflight checklist from its datapad, and began checking the Wookiees' work to ensure there were no unpleasant surprises...

 

[Matty]

Apollo gave a small scoff at Andreus's lack of tact and began to ready his armor. Apollo allowed himself to slip into a small meditative trance as he mentally prepared himself for the mission to come. The memories of his exploits Jabiim and Muunilist still weighed heavily upon Apollo's conscious. The nightmares that they brought to him every night sent shivers down his spine and caused his lekku to twitch in response. Never again... he said in the silent language. Apollo gave his head a quick shake and banished the negative thoughts to the vast recesses of his mind. Apollo lifted up the chest plate of his armor and gave a small smile. Along with throwing himself into the fine art of lightsaber combat, Apollo had become with ancient Jedi lore. When not training with Cat, Apollo would spend countless hours in the archives. Modeled after what the Jedi during the Cold War wore, Apollo gave a small chuckle at his fanaticism. Still lightly chuckling, Apollo donned the armor, his single shoto and began to walk towards Cat

"I'm ready when you are Master" Apollo said with a half smile "Are you sure you're up to this?"

Worry quickly covered Apollo's face, causing his brow to furrow. The duel with Darth Oseth had taken nearly everything from the pair. The maniacal genius had brought Apollo to the very edge of despair. Ever since the duel on Muunilist, Apollo was in a constant state of regret. Cat's injuries could only be attributed to a single person. Oseth may have been the one to inflict the blinding strike, but it was in Apollo's despair in which he was given the opportunity. Cat had tried to stand up for his failed student and was forced paid the price. Apollo put his turquoise hand on Cat's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze to let the man know where his student was. Apollo released Cat's shoulder and took a seat on the floor next to him. Apollo un-clipped his green-bladed shoto from his belt and began to tinker with the hilt.

"What's the deal with the new guy Master" Apollo asked, mentally gesturing towards Andreus

 

[Padmé]

“Yes, I can and will join you on the mission” Haloburner said to Andreus. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll find my way to the meet at the said location,” she added as she ended their conversation. The Jedi Knight quickly gathered her things, made travel arrangements, and called on her best friend for transportation needs from the Tython….

….Why do I always have to arrive late, she pondered as she adjusted her lightsaber on hip clip. The krifing thing won’t stay on but for now, she just ignored her belt dilemma and walked up to the rest of the gang. Cat, whom the blonde remembers meeting only a few weeks ago, and another fellow were both present. Cat munched on a banana while speaking to the other fellow.

Walking close to the pair the blonde Knight lifted her hand to shake Cat’s while looking at the other man. “Nice to see you again Cat. Hope you have had significant improvement in your eye.” Halo scanned the area for Andreus, there, she thought as she finally spotted him- doing what he does best- checking his check list before take off. Halo scanned the area for other members, but she saw none in sight apart from Andreus, Cat and the other young man. “Sorry I am tardy. Seems to be the story of my life…. Hope I did not miss any pertinent before we commence our mission.”

 

[Prancing Yawn]

"I'll be alright.. if I'm lucky, it'll be fully healed once we're done with this Dark Jedi business."
The Jedi Knight was humored at his Padawan's concern for him - they really had grown to be like brothers.

"As for Andreus.. well, he's our pilot. Looks like a pretty tough guy - or uh, sounds like it."

As Andreus passed by the two, Cat opened his mouth to speak, but he seemed to ignore both of them.
"Hey -

well, that's that."
The Knight sighed - Andreus was obviously not the social type, just the opposite of himself. He had heard he was a pretty good pilot, and had himself tangled with the Dark Side. But the past was unimportant, as they'd be tangling with the Dark side aswell, now, in the present.

Behind his blindfold, his eyebrows perked up, surprised at the new voice reaching his ears - Haloburner Lamb?

"Oh, uh, yeah, umm - Haloburner! My eye is doing fine.. I didn't know you were assigned to this mission, too. This is my Padawan, Apollo." He beckoned to the Twi'lek sitting next to him - he almost said 'my bro.'

The Knight was quite surprised to see - or hear - Haloburner there. They had met a while ago, when Cat fell into a waterfall on Tython.. well, nevertheless, he was glad she was there.
"It's all right, I can brief you on whatever you need to know on the short trip to Trandosha, but I'm sure you know the basics already - are we still on for lunch, after this mission?"

Cat didn't return the handshake, as he didn't know there was a hand expecting one. Instead, with his banana finished, he stood up from the crate and tried to figure out which way it was to the ship - ah, he could sense Andreus, so he went in that direction. One of the Wookiee station workers approached Cat and informed him that the ship was all fueled.

"Good. We can leave now," he said, walking up the ramp into the Consular-class shuttle. It was a resilient ship, being in the service of the Republic and Galactic Alliance for upwards of a thousand years - but it did, of course, receive technology upgrades as necessary. He made a quick walk down the main hall of the ship, passing Andreus and not even knowing it. He stepped into the cockpit, which had 4 chairs - 1 for the pilot, 1 for the co-pilot.. which Cat would've been, if not for his eyes.. and 2 passenger seats.

 

[Andreus Makaryk]

Andreus, not surprisingly, busied himself in the litany of preflight checklists; having completed his inspection of the shuttle's outside, he now performed the cockpit preflight checks. His passengers entered chatting amongst themselves; not surprisingly, they ignored him as he had done to them. Briefly, Andreus wondered if he should have humored his lawn ornament status by wearing his commercial captain's uniform, but he had decided against it because he didn't have that clear an idea of what the mission before him might involve. It was possible that he might need more mobility than such a formal dress might allow, or that the mission would effectively ruin his uniform by splattering blood or somesuch upon it; therefore he used his better judgment and wore more comfortable clothes, though he eschewed Jedi robes as usual.

He could only ignore his passengers for so long, however, but he was all business. The safety briefing. Andreus fell back into his old, commercial spaceflight habits as he thumbed the Consular-2 cruiser's intercom. The Jedi probably thought themselves above such trivialities, but he would indulge, if only out of familiarity.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I am Andreus Makaryk, and today I have the honor..." more like busywork... "...of flying you on the short one hour, eighteen minute subspace hop from Kashyyyk to Trandosha. Please direct your attention to the briefing on the safety features of this Consular-2-class light cruiser, as it might save your head should the Sith feel this spacecraft would make an excellent projectile weapon, amongst all kinds of other bad feelings I may or may not have." Andreus wasn't always serious, but when he wasn't, any humor he did manage was almost always of the gallows variety. "All carry-on luggage should be safely stowed in the ship's lockers or under your seat. Unsecured objects may not remain where you left them, and may cause injury in the event of emergency. In preparing for takeoff, please make sure your seat back is straight up."

"Click your seat belt closed and fit it snugly around your hips. Seatbelts must be worn at all times when seated. When the seatbelt sign is turned off, you may move freely around the cabin. Return to your seat immediately if the seat belt sign is switched on and fasten your seat belt."

"No smoking is allowed on this flight in any part of the cabin, including the lavatories. Tampering with any smoke detector on the spacecraft is against regulations and subject to Jedi disciplinary action as no bureaucracy likes to see it has to spend a few credits replacing clogged air ducts, so please don't do it."

"All electronic equipment including commlinks, portable holoprojectors, electronic games and datapads must be turned off now as they may interfere with the spacecraft’s navigation system. When we reach hyperspace, datapads may again be used. Commlinks must remain turned off until we are on the ground at our destination."

"This spacecraft is equipped with three emergency exits: two escape pods, one on each side of the spacecraft, and one self-sustaining salon pod, which encompasses the meeting room. In the event of an emergency, floor level lighting will illuminate, showing the routes to these exits. These lights are raised slightly; in low-visibility conditions, it might be necessary to use touch to feel the exit path out. Please familiarize yourselves with exit locations and note that your nearest exits may be behind you."

"If oxygen is needed in an emergency, an oxygen mask will be released from above each of the cockpit seats and above each seat in the meeting room. Place the mask over your mouth and nose and tighten the strap. Pull down on the hose to start the oxygen flowing. Make sure you put on your mask first before assisting others."

"Life jackets are found under your seat. In the unlikely event of a water landing, put your head through the hole in the life jacket and pull the jacket over your head. Click the waist band clip and tighten your belt. To inflate your jacket, pull the tabs at the end of the chords. If more inflation is needed, blow through the tube on the jacket. Do not fully inflate your jacket until you are clear of the spacecraft."

Andreus could talk...when he wanted to. But as he completed his all-business, no-nonsense briefing and more preflight procedures, he didn't really feel any compelling need.

 

[Padmé]

Withdrawing her hand from Cat, the Knight responded “ah, yea about that. We’ll play it by ear.” With that she gave Cat’s Padawan a nod, then heeded further inside the Consular.

Seeing that no one occupied the co-pilot’s seat, Haloburner headed in with the intent of asking Andreus if he needed one. However that plan was diverted by the pilot’s lengthy announcement. The blonde could have sworn the announcement was a tad bit sarcastic, and wondered what sour drink Andreus consumed prior to his arrival. At least he is one of the most competent pilots I’ve seen- she whispered under her breath.

With a slight sigh of relief, the blonde spoke- "well, now that his rantings are over, I might as well find a seat."

 

[Matty]

Apollo watched Halo depart, his eyes unknowingly lingering on her for a fraction of a second longer than they normally should have. A small smirk crossed his turquoise lips and he quickly started to pour embarrassment into the Force when he realized what he was doing. Apollo lifted himself up from the crate with a small grunt and mentally gestured towards the awaiting ship for Cat. Apollo let loose with a small sigh and extended his left hand for Cat to take knowing full well the Jedi could see just fine through the Force. Small flashes of guilt slowly began to creep their way forward but were just as quickly banished with a fake grin and a simple Jedi calming technique

"What can we really come to expect on this mission Master?" Apollo asked, his voice full of anticipation "Sith, Chiss...Trandoshans?"

Dangerously fantastic thoughts began to race through Apollo's mind. Dreams of actually confronting the Sith will bravado caused Apollo to beam with pride. The last vestigial feelings of embarrassment and worry were quickly overshadowed with that of pride and blind courage. Apollo knew that he had failed in his last mission, and this was literally a second chance to prove himself. His free hand dropped down towards his remaining shoto. He ran his fingers along it's smooth hilt, basking in the comfort and confidence that it gave him. Apollo silently scolded himself in not bringing another lightsaber. He had devoted himself to the art of dual lightsaber combat, and without a secondary saber, his fighting capabilities would be severely diminished. With a quick shake of the head and a twitch of his lekku, Apollo reaffirmed his confidence in his abilities and summoned his old orange-bladed training saber out of his pack with the Force. With his one free hand, he hooked the aged hilt to his belt and gave a small smile.

"I won't let you down Master" Apollo said, voice filled with confidence "I can do this..."

 

[Prancing Yawn]

"If we're lucky, this Dark Jedi won't bring along any of his friends. I don't know what the Trandoshans or Chiss would be doing nosing around the catacombs, though, Apollo."

Cat stretched in his seat, trying to find the most comfortable position in the plush chair. Andreus' little safety lecture instilled him with an infectious yawn, and he ran his hand through his hair, trying to wake himself up... now he could feel the anxiety inside Apollo. The Twi'lek boy seemed to be pretty shaken up since their brush with the Dark Side on Muunilist. He seemed to recollect himself, but Cat still wanted to make sure that Apollo was as stable as possible - for any mission.

"Don't sweat it too much - I won't whip you if we fail,

That's 'cause we're not going to," he added, with a smile.

Telepathically, he sent a message to Apollo on a 'closed channel' of sorts,

'Pretty nice girl, huh?' - he was referring, of course, to Haloburner. He had shown the slightest interest in the girl, after he met her a few weeks ago - he hadn't made a very good impression of himself, though, falling into a waterfall and ripping his jeans and all, but they planned to have lunch after the mission. He thought.

Shaking his head to get his mind off the girl, he looked over his shoulder down the main hall of the Consular.

"Hey, Andreus - are we ready to take off yet?"

 

[Andreus Makaryk]

Andreus gave Cat a quick glance to make sure he had fastened his seatbelt, but couldn't be bothered to actually answer. Cat's question only reminded him of his fungible nature--that he could simply be replaced with any of a few hundred million pilots spread throughout the galaxy, Force-sensitive or not, qualified to captain this particular ship. Certainly, Andreus was too inexperienced to make any other contribution to the mission. He felt like a lawn ornament, and would not dignify reminders of that with a response.

As Andreus started the light cruiser's massive repulsorlift engines to let them warm up, he wondered if he might make himself slightly more useful by using the opportunity before him to instruct Halo in flying heavier ships. "Co-pilot?" he asked, as Halo slid into the right seat.

She nodded her head no.

Andreus let out a sigh. No, he would not earn the fulfillment that came from instructing another. Not this day. He would remain but a replaceable and interchangeable part, to be swapped out for any other. He had never thought of himself in such a manner back during his days as a commercial pilot, but being the least experienced (and, by extension, least capable) amongst Force users in combat applications highlighted the discrepancy every day. He might as well be unable to use the Force at all--but he did not confide his thoughts in anyone. Even through the Force, he left little evidence other than the sigh he had exerted. Performing the litany of preflight checklists hid it well--unless Cat and Apollo wanted to pry in a manner far more intrusive than merely asking.

Other than the communication necessary and required to obtain takeoff clearance, Andreus spoke nary a word as he went down the checklists in silence. He almost seemed to...meditate. Yes, that was it. He centered himself. Zeroed himself, as if he was little more than an air data inertial reference unit. Indeed...he was. For sensing changes in inertia and calculating position and other pertinent information therefrom was quite literally the first thing he had learned to do with the Force. By now, he had honed his senses to such precision that they served as a backstop to his actual instruments. He had actually landed on his senses when physically blinded before. Once on course and having set the autopilot, he would literally be able to take his headset for any necessary interactions with space traffic control, and leave the captain's seat--all the while being able to sense if he needed to return before any alarms went off.

But clearing his mind as such took a couple of moments, a delay he didn't bother to explain to Cat. Halo would have seen it before, back when Andreus had taught her how to fly, but neither Cat nor Apollo would have.

Andreus Makaryk opened the throttles to full when he was darn kriffing ready; his passengers would find themselves pressed back into their seats as the light cruiser took off under full power, repulsorlift engines throbbing loudly. Though Andreus wasn't social, he now appeared relaxed, as the Force filled his head with numbers, the same numbers he could, and did, read off his instruments. They coincided perfectly; the pilot, though only a padawan, used the Force perfectly as merely another integrated flight system, another source of redundancy. Andreus would use Force Navigation all the way to Trandosha.

"Eighty knots..." Andreus muttered the first of his cross-checks quietly. Relaxed. Though heavy and ungainly compared to the light ships the vast majority of pilots flew, the ship had attained that speed from zero in mere seconds as it lifted off. Andreus, of course, had flown much heavier craft for a living before joining the Jedi.

"Positive rate of climb..."

"Gear up, climb thrust." The pilot reduced the power slightly, and the engines reduced to a somewhat quieter, more comforting, throb. Andreus flew spacecraft hard when he needed to--he had overloaded engines before--but this was not one of those times. He didn't have need to overload the engines, not today, so he might as well go easy on them to increase their longevity. Climb thrust, about eighty-five percent throttle, would be more than sufficient to break atmosphere on the repulsorlift engines and get to the point where he could switch to the sublights without dumping tons of ionizing radiation onto the Wookiees and forests below.

Andreus continued his climb, mostly silent, only really speaking with the traffic control authorities when he needed to. Nostalgia struck him, nostalgia for the days when flying was all he did, getting his passengers from one planet to another in some degree of comfort. Nostalgia for the service he no longer had flight attendants to provide...

At two hundred thousand feet, he switched from repulsorlift to ion engines and set his course; by now he had been climbing for about twelve minutes. His nostalgia for days gone by might even produce some modicum of social activity, even if Andreus kept it cloaked under professionalism...but after a moment of setting a new course for Trandosha and clearing it with the space traffic authorities, and then setting his center autopilot up with command of the spacecraft, he would have little else to do.

He thumbed the PA, so he would be able to use it when he got up in a moment. For now, though, he spoke from the captain's chair, as he uploaded the ship's catering stocks to his passengers' datapads.

"Ladies and gentlemen, as we have broken atmosphere, I will now turn off the fasten-seat-belt sign as it is now safe to unfasten your seat belts and move about the cabin. Please note that the fasten-seat-belt sign will come back on for atmospheric entry into Trandosha. In the meantime, it will be my pleasure to serve you refreshments and beverages. The menu of available selections may be found on your personal datapads."

Andreus unfastened his own seat belt and got up to take orders--all the while, his senses never wavered; he would know precisely where the cruiser was, where it was going, and at what speed even as he circulated about the cabin.

 

[Padmé]

Moments of silence permeated the ship…

…Waves of air colliding with the ship as the Andreus did what only he-among the four- was qualified to do made the blonde think about her flight lessons she had with Andreus. She had turned down Andreus co-pilot offer for this trip, and for that she was glad. No one needs a nervous co-pilot….No, not on this mission.

The blonde Knight could not bear the silence on the ship. Instead of breaking the silence, she used the time to do something constructive- think. She thought about the pending calamity discovered by the Sage Master. Just who is this rouge Jedi who plans on reopening the ancient pre-Imperial catacombs? Is this person working alone?... Halo pondered.

Finally the pilot broke his silence and spoke. The crew could now use their electronic gadgets, which came as music to Halo’s ear. She sent a quick message to her Master- least she get overly nervous and anxious about Halo’s whereabouts.

Moment’s later the pilot made announcements for refreshments orders. The woman didn’t bother with the menu. As Andreus walked up to take her order she politely turned down the offer, “thank you Andreus, but I don’t think I want consume anything.”

Looking over to Cat and his Padawan Halo smiled, knowing perfectly well that Cat couln’t see her. Perhaps he could sense it. “Are your eyes feeling any better today Cat?” she asked. She thought about asking Cat if she could use the lessons learned in her Force Heal class to help him get his eyesight back- preferably before landing on Trandosha- however she decided against. Not now, perhaps after the refreshments.

While unfastening her seat belt, the blonde stood up to stretch her legs. Although she was not nervous about the mission ahead of them in Trandosha, and healing Cat’s krififng eyes so the poor man can be saved from his misery.

 

[Matty]

Apollo's heart sank as he felt the pain and terror from the thousands that had just recently perished. He clutched his chest wit his right hand and gripped the arm rest of his chair with the left. Apollo poured sorrow in to the Force. Sorrow for those who had their lives snatched away in the briefest instant. Apollo forced himself to slip into a mild trance, completely oblivious of those around him. He reached into the Force to find the source of his distress. His heart rate began to slow, his breathing became near non existent. Apollo had fully submersed himself into the Force. He began to reach out into the Galaxy for any sign of an answer. The deaths had both come and gone in the briefest instant, leaving only a sour "smell" and "taste". Apollo instantly knew what he was sensing. Apollo knew that he was sensing the dark side. Some said claimed that the dark side brought power and warmth while others claimed that it brought them an icy chill. While the feeling of the darkness did send chills down Apollo's spine, ever since his encounter on Muunilist the dark side left a pungent sour taste in his senses.

"This just got a lot more serious" Apollo said grimly towards his fellow passengers "I'm not sure what Master...but something terrible has happened"

Apollo rose to his feat uneasily. He slowly pushed himself up from the seat and wobbled to the bathroom. Apollo's pace quickened and he stumbled into the ship's lavatory. Apollo hurried towards the miniature sanistream and turned it on full power. With a quickened pace, Apollo thrust his turquoise hands underneath the flowing water and began to splash some onto his face. Tears began to well up in his eyes. Apollo did the best to choke back the coming sobs but to no avail. Tears began to pour freely, the sound of his cries masked by the flowing water. He cried tears for those he had lost and for those he would lose. The tears flowed and flowed until they stopped all together. Apollo took in a deep breath and allowed the Force to comfort him.

There is no death, there is the Force he mouthed silently.

(sorry for the short post, did this from my phone)

 

[Prancing Yawn]

"Hey, Andreus, there's no need for you to be our butler - we can get our own things if we're hungry.." Cat added, looking - at the direction he thought the Padawan was in, that is - at Andreus. It was true - the Knight found it rather strange that Andreus felt the need to wait on their hand and foot. But it was his choice..

His attention now turning to Haloburner's voice, he replied to her question.
"They're doing better, the swelling went down quite a bit.. hopefully the bandages will be off this week..

not soon enough, though." He sighed - his blindness was really going to be hindering his ability in this mission. But he'd be able to handle it.. he hoped.

His hand made his way to Apollo's shoulder. Since their brush with the dark side on Muunilist Apollo always seemed to be 'on edge'.. when the Knight first met the boy he was so much more loose. He'd have to take him to Tython to relax after this mission..

"What do you mea -

oh.. my God."

The sound of turbolasers exploding with green bolts. Battle commands on the bridge of a ship. The zooming of starfighters..

Explosions. Yells. The sucking vacuum of space dragging thousands of Jedi Padawans, Knights and Masters to their deaths. All of these sounds rang at high volumes in the mind of this Jedi Knight.

His face was blank. He sat back in his seat, burying his hands in his hair... not making a sound.

 

[Andreus Makaryk]

Andreus slunk back into the captain's seat, his general feelings of uselessness aggravated by his passengers' unanimous rejection of his services. Now he felt even more like a lawn ornament; his pretext for actually getting to know what Cat had been up to since Project Warfighter and getting to know Cat's padawan at all now seemed completely dashed. No, there was nothing left to do but fly the spacecraft, a task now automated so heavily by the ship's autopilot that his very presence on the flight deck was almost entirely redundant. He would have almost nothing to do until initial approach, so he simply sat there, rejected, like the lawn ornament he was.

Then...he felt it too.

Andreus had no idea what it was, only that it was something bad. His senses were attuned very finely to the here and now, the distance between current position and docking bay on Trandosha, so the disturbance in the Force only registered as a faint feeling of dread to the pilot. He checked the spacecraft's scopes for any sign of disturbance; finding none, and concluding that the feeling would have been much more acute if it had emanated from a place as close as Trandosha, Andreus could only conclude that whatever happened, it was in another system and there was nothing he could do. At least not until summoned by a distress call that indicated what system it was, if it came to that. For now, he merely checked reactor fuel quantity to make sure he had enough to divert if necessary, and continued on his present course to deliver his passengers to the mission assigned them. Was he really a part of that mission? He couldn't be, he was so kriffing useless...

He had nothing to say. Nothing at all.

 

[Padmé]

Placing her hands in her pocket she nodded at Cat’s Padawan, who was now heading towards to lavatory, in haste too. Hmm.., Halo mumbled in her head.
She walked closer to Cat’s general direction, looking rather sexy- too bad the man can’t see her.

Seconds later Halo’s eyes were back on Cat listening to him speak. Her thoughts drifted back again to the mission ahead- Trandosha. The questions she had never left her mind - who is this rouge Jedi who plans on reopening the ancient pre-Imperial catacombs? Is this person working alone?...

The blonde Knight’s walked and placed her hand on Cat’s shoulder. “Hope your eye get’s to feeling better soon. I can heal it if you’d like. Why don’t you think about it while I check on the pilot, as he seemed upset about us turning down his refreshments offer.” Halo walked away without waiting for Cat to respond, she intends on returning to him shortly.

Lamb turned her attention to Andreus, who was now back in the captain’s seat. He was not in her peripheral vision, but his earlier look was one of sadness. The pilot appeared as though he had sauerkraut for lunch as he was in a sour mood- good company will do him well…

Seconds later Haloburner walked beside the pilot, while announcing her presence. She stood next to him, smiling and said “I remember those lessons you gave me a few weeks back. Mind if I sit here for a while?”

 

[Andreus Makaryk]

Halo had been too far aft for Andreus to effectively overhear her remarks, but she had been right. Andreus felt personally rejected by everyone on board. Oh, how he needed some company. He might not have developed an incredibly social reputation, but the poor and broken man needed some company, some assurance that he wasn't just a worthless and inert lawn ornament. So very badly...

The man really didn't say anything; he had nothing to do, at least not for the next eleven minutes before the first navigation check of the flight came due. Numbers quietly filed through his mind, as he silently sensed the spacecraft's ever-changing position through the Force and used his mental faculties to instinctively calculate any manner of derivative instrument readings therefrom. He heard Halo's soft voice in the ear, but he didn't even look over his shoulder to see her. Instead, the dejected man simply nodded in the affirmative to her.

Someone needed some cheering up...

 

[Padmé]

Haloburner Lamb was glad when the pilot finally nodded in agreement. She would have preferred a simple verbal response, but hey- everyone who knows Andreus is aware of his social shortcomings or lack thereof. For now, the blonde will sit and aim to cheer him up. Cat had his Padawan to talk to, but Andreus did not have anyone, well none that deal with his social shortcomings and his kriffing temper. The blonde knows not to verbalize that out loud- last thing she wants to do is add to his feelings of dejection and utter uselessness.

Sitting next to the pilot brought memories of their training on the ship not so long ago. The Knight brushed those memories aside and focused on cheering Andreus up. She will thank him for his fine piloting skills, which was no on display, and also thank him for the refreshment offer.

"Anything I can do to cheer you up Andreus?" Halo asked as she sat looking outside the glass window.

 

[Andreus Makaryk]

Well, at least someone showed a slight sign of caring slightly. At last, just maybe, someone would actually talk to him, or at least lend him a sympathetic ear. Truly, that was all Andreus wanted, someone to care. Someone to make him feel he was actually worth something to the mission. Apollo and Cat had each other. They had spurned him, returned him to the cockpit like they might have returned a potted plant to a nursery. He felt about as useful as that potted plant. Decoration only.

"I feel about as useful as a potted plant, maybe even less." While the voice was soft by Andreus' standards, and certainly carried a note of dejection, it still would have appeared crisp and sharp to someone who had never met the man and grown accustomed to his deep voice. "I am doing absolutely nothing that cannot be done by any of hundreds of millions of people in the galaxy. I barely have the experience of a youngling at fighting, I am far too cynical for anything resembling diplomacy; why would the Jedi waste a Force-sensitive like this, when the slot could be filled by someone more capable? Look at this. I have no cabin crew, so I try to fill in once I can actually leave the flight deck, but no one would even accept a beverage, much less want to meet me during a time I have little else to do. They sent me away."

 

[Padmé]

Hearing the pilot express his feelings made Halo regret her decision to co-pilot. Clearly Andreus feels as though he is not making any significant contribution to the mission- which is contrary to what Halo thinks.

“Yes, there are a plethora of pilots that could have accompanied Cat, his Padawan and me on the mission. However you were chosen. Honestly, I don’t see you as a plant decoration. You are Force sensitive and have an intuition that none of here- to my best knowledge- has. Besides, I get to see a different side of you in combat…Speaking of combat I need to head over and heal Cat’s eyes. I don’t want his lack of vision to affect our mission.” With that, Halo smiled and stood up knowing that he needed to prepare to land the ship any minute from now.

Upon cheering up the pilot, Halo ensued herself and walked to Cat’s location on the ship. His Padawan appears to still be in the lavatory so Halo took that time to heal Cat’s eye. She moved closer to Cat without even uttering a word or waiting for his rebuttal- if he had any. Lamb simply placed her hand on Cat’s shoulder, and said:

“it’s me again. We… well I need you with full vision on our mission. I am going to heal your sight before your Padawan emerges from the lavatory…Just focus on the Force, and the movement of my hands over your eye.”

Drawing on the Force, the blonde will use the energy to infuse Cat’s eye. Sounds simple, however it is one that requires total concentration and focus, as Halo learned in her Force Heal Class with Master Ike. Halo kept emitting all the Force energy out of her onto Cat’s eye.

Minutes later she felt something pop under her hand- which was still on Cat’s eye. She removed her tiny hands, and finally asked Cat:

“how do you feel Cat?”

 

[Prancing Yawn]

Cat simply slowly nodded his head once in answer to Haloburner. He needed a few minutes to brood.. he and his padawan had just felt thousands die - the other two probably did, too, but Cat could hear the yells of some of the people he knew.. fellow Knights, who he grew up with and trained with as mere Padawans. One of the Order's enemies had attacked somewhere with a large amount of Jedi.. was it Tython? The Will? He didn't know, but he knew he could've easily been at one of those places, dying like the rest of them. His heart sunk. But he couldn't brood like this - there was still a mission ahead of them. Cat knew his Padawan took it harder than he himself did, and he'd have to secure his mindset too.

It's still possible that some of them got away - maybe Joshua, or Kmev..

His concentration broke as Haloburner returned to the cabin. Her hand on his shoulder startled him briefly, and his hand wavered around his shoulder, trying to find hers.

“it’s me again. We… well I need you with full vision on our mission. I am going to heal your sight before your Padawan emerges from the lavatory…Just focus on the Force, and the movement of my hands over your eye.”

He nodded again - apparently she knew enough.. and cared enough, he thought, to heal his eye.

He couldn't risk himself getting injured again in this mission, because of his lack of sight. His mind and thoughts of his friends were soothed as Haloburner put her hand over his eye. Quickly the tendrils of the Light Side of the Force wrapped around his eye, flaring out his pupil from under his blindfold. His retina felt strange and numb, and for a second there was a quick burning sensation - but it was soon over. Slowly he lifted his hands to the back of his head and untied the dark blue blindfold that had shielded his left eye from any light exposure for upwards of three weeks. He placed it on the armrest of the chair - Haloburner would now be able to see the enflamed scar across Cat's left eye, caused by the lightsaber strike of a Sith..

slowly he opened both eyes.. relieved that he could see out of both! The first thing he saw was Haloburner - girl's prettier than I remember, he thought to himself. Then he stood up and walked over to the viewport, watching the stars of all colors brush past the ship. He really -did- forget how good it was to see.

"You never really do appreciate something until you lose it," he thought out loud, still staring at the stars. Half of his mind was still thinking about the deaths he felt in the Force. He turned around, looking at Haloburner, and smiled.
"How can I repay you?"