Ask Two and a Half Jedi

[Vinry Forge]

Jedi Hangar, Yavin IV​

Vinry sat frustrated in the hangar, fiddling with the contraption in front of her as she waited for her companions. It had been a few weeks since the events on Ajan Kloss, and the medical droids had finally discharged her and declared her ready for duty. She had jumped at the first opportunity to get out and help out. The droid had suggested she might need counseling, that while she might be physically healed from the events of Ajan Kloss, there might be mental wounds that hadn't healed. She didn't doubt that, but she wasn't ready to face that challenge, not yet.

So she had reached out to Talak, one of the last people she knew within the Jedi ranks after Oren's...she pushed the thought away. That was another truth she wasn't ready to face. She had reached out to Talak to help her get off the forest moon, even if only for a short while. There was a trail she wanted to follow, a long lost artifact that she didn't think was as lost as everyone thought. It had been his suggestion to bring another Jedi along, and as she was right now she had to agree that it was probably best to bring some extra hands along. If the way the puzzle in front of her was vexing her was any indication then she was going to be pretty useless till she got used to her new reality. She glanced down at the end of her left hand, the arm missing within the sleeve. She had gone almost fifteen minutes without looking at this time, that was progress.

"I will beat you," she muttered as she returned her attention to the piece she held in her hand, "if it's the last thing I do."

@Loco @Phoenix

 

[Talak Rand]

Talak was glad Vinry had reached out to him. He had seen what had happened on Ajan Kloss and he knew what it was like to lose an arm. It had taken him a couple of months to readjust to having the prosthetic, and that was with a prosthetic.

He arrived in the hangar, his ship prepared in case they chose to take that vs an Order transport, and his eyes quickly settled on Vinry. She looked... annoyed. She was working on something he couldn't see with a single hand, and he was surprised to see that her shirt sleeve still ended in emptiness. Had she opted not to use a prosthetic? Shouldn't Jedicaide have covered that medical expense?

He moved over and took a seat across from her as they awaited their third companion.

Yes, you will, he said as he heard her say that she would beat what she was working on.

So, got a big adventure planned for us? he asked. He didn't feel the need to stare at where her arm had been. He'd done it to himself enough after the battle on Coruscant, and she probably didn't need any more people staring at her. She also probably didn't need any more people trying to tiptoe around her as he expected they'd been doing. Even Jedi didn't always know how to handle those "awkward" situations despite their good intentions. @Wit @Loco

 

[Vitiion]

Vitiion slowly scanned her visor across the temple hangar, watching the techs work frantically on the eclectic assortment of ships present. It reminded her much of the Ajan Kloss temple- a sort of controlled chaos, with rigid stone and artificial constructions blending into the surrounding forests just like the techs work straddled the line between strict mechanical solutions and good old fashioned improvisation. Unlike her old home, however, the atmosphere here was... heavy. She could sense apprehension all around her. Recent events had shaken many to their core, and it was easy for one attuned to such things to become overwhelmed, if they weren't careful, by the swirl conflicting emotions amplified by this worlds strength in the Force. It was good, then, that she would not stay here long.

The council had seen fit to allow her to get back to work. While she was physically recovered, Vitiion knew it would take some time to fully assess and come to terms with all that had happened- what she knew about, what she didn't remember, and what she had learned about most recently- and she knew that this would not happen if she sat idly about the temple. She needed to occupy herself productively, and so had immediately begun to seek out opportunities that might put her expertise to work. Master Forge had presented one such opportunity.

She approached the Jedi Master and her companion- she had never met either of them, and did not recognize them from her time before the expedition- and came to a stop near their makeshift seats. Her oversized grey cloak swayed in the light breeze blowing through the hangar, and she adjusted the small travel bag hanging over her left shoulder. Vitiion directed her faceplate straight at each Jedi in turn and inclined her head in respectful greeting.

"Iatei, iatuh.", she rasped, her right hand sweeping from herself to her companions and then the nearby ships in one flowing motion in time with the words, indicating that she was ready to leave whenever they were.

@Wit @Phoenix

 

[Vinry Forge]

Vinry was glad to hear Talak's voice, because she had started to wonder if she might not end up breaking the damn thing if she continued fiddling with it. As determined as she was to solve the puzzle, it was probably for the best if she took a break and got back to it later. She had to remind herself she didn't need to solve it this very moment. As the medical droid and healers had said, she needed time.

"Hopefully before I start pulling me hair out in frustration," she replied with a smile, glad to see a familiar face, "good thing I can't do that while my hand's tied up with this piece of junk." She let out a chuckle that was only slightly bitter as she tossed the puzzle in her hand before slipping it into the satchel that rested by her side.

"For all I know it might just be a wild goose chase," she began, stopping when she noticed the masked figure approach them. As the figure greeted them, Vinry awkwardly looked from Talak to Vittion, wondering if this was their third companion. That question though was quickly answered as they spoke, and though Vinry didn't understand the words, she did understand what was being communicated. This was the last member of their party.

She jumped to her feet, greeting Vittion with a smile as she grabbed her satchel and awkwardly slung it over her shoulder. "Hi," she said, "I'm Vinry, this is Talak. But I guess you already knew that." She said the last bit a little sheepishly as she looked from Talak to Vittion, assuming that they knew each other. Eager to cover up her mistake, she would immediately gesture towards the ship and begin walking.

She pulled out a small holo-disk as she walked, activating it for her companions. A small holographic lightsaber began rotating slowly rotating above her hand. She pulled out a small holo-disk as she walked, activating it for her companions. A small holographic lightsaber began rotating slowly rotating above her hand. "An old friend of mine, small time antiquities dealer on Coruscant, stumbled upon this relic a few days ago. He seems to think he's found an unexplored section in one of old Palpatine's secret stashes. There's sections that he can't reach, reckons it's locked by Jedi magic."

She stopped near the ship's ramp, turning to face her companions with a wide grin on her face, genuine excitement at what they might find making her forget recent events. "If it really is what he thinks it is then who knows what we might find!"

@Loco @Phoenix

 

[Talak Rand]

Talak saw another person approaching and it wasn't anyone he had ever met before. He was a bit surprised when the language wasn't basic. He supposed maybe he shouldn't have been surprised - after all Ubese rarely spoke basic and much of the galaxy beyond that didn't - but most Jedi he'd met did.

Unfortunately, Talak spoke not a word of Ubese.

Hi, he said with a nod as Vinry had done the remainder of the introductions. Well, this would be interesting. A possible wild goose chase, a one armed Jedi, and a language barrier all rolled up into one. Nothing could go wrong.

The general impression he got was that everyone wanted to head to the ship, so he started heading that way as well, hoping that was what their new Ubese friend had actually been indicating.

They made it over to the ship and Talak listened to Vinry's rundown of the situation. An interesting find indeed, but something still tugged at the back of his mind: traps. Surely Mr. Paranoid Palpy would have left security devices or something to protect his interests.

Is your contact reliable? he asked. It was also always possible that he was just trying to pick up a quick score by letting some Jedi come in and spring all the traps for him. Was he just that skeptical of a person? Yes, it seemed he was. @Wit @Loco

 

[Vitiion]

Vitiion politely ignored the wrong assumption on Master Forge's part. She was accustomed to them. Instead she simply bowed her head respectfully once again, and went along with the pair as they made their way towards the ships. The information from the "contact" intrigued her, however. Part of her last mission had been to seek out such "stashes" of the late Emperor Palpatine- little pockets of Jedi lore and artifacts the mad Sith Lord had left undamaged for study and, most likely, exploitation. Finding such a deposit would be an incredible boon to the Order, and her own insatiable quest for knowledge. Except, there was a problem... These "finds" were almost always fake.

Ever since the Jedi had resurfaced in the Galaxy there had been swindlers and con artists hell bent on squeezing coin out of the legacy of the Fallen Order. Half a Jedi seekers job was sorting out all of these false leads and scams, and so Vitiion wasn't about to get her hopes up until she laid eyes upon something real.

She cocked her head in interest, waiting for more information.

@Wit @Phoenix