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[Dragonmaster352]

Recently a nebula in sector 7 -3 has begun to lose some of it's mass without any indication what has caused this. The Astrian Colonial Authority, being the closest to the area, has offered to send a team of scientists to investigate the phenomenon.

While normally they would send their own escort, the threat of the Mandalorians has made the Astrian Colonial Navy unable to send a ship as escort. To that end the ACA has asked the Jedi for an escort for their science team. The Jedi Counsel has deemed that a Knight and a Padawan should be adequate for this task. The Jedi will be expected to interact with the scientists and assure their safety.

((OOC: A knight and a padawan can now sign up for this mission it will be relatively short so the posting frequency will be twice a week. There will also be a chance for some casual roleplay on the ACA homeworld after the mission, this will be done in a different topic and is strictly voluntary. The reward will be given regardless if you participate or not, when the actual mission ends.

The reward is 1 skill point to spend however you like.))

[Ariana Danacia]

Ariana volunteers for the mission. This mission matches her profile, support and protection.

"Master, what kind of ships do we have available to bring these scientists to the their destination?

Maybe relevant... How many scientists are we talking about?"

[Shebi Ajava]

Shebi Ajava volunteers for the mission as well. And reads the mission documentation to find out if the mission description contains details on the size and number of the scientist vessels, the number of scientists and other personell, and possible problems.

[Dragonmaster352]

Ajava looked through the documentation and found out a single ship and crew had been hired. The Labraham Incoln was medium sized vessel with heavy armour and shields. It had a few weapons, but the most important feature was the powerful broad spectrum scanners.

All in all the ship would not be of much use in heavy combat, but it could handle quite the punishment and was very nimble. If they where attacked by a ship they would probably be running rather than fighting.

The crew looked competent, though rough and blunt. Apparently they knew the area and how to handle themselves if problems occurred.

There would be five scientists, more information than that was not available.

The list of possible problems went from pirate attacks to meteor storms and went on and on.

The two Jedi boarded a ship that would take them to the station where they would board the Labraham Incoln and meet the scientists.

((OOC: Please post your equipment list in your next post. Hint: bring a space suit.

As this is a short mission I'm jumping past long conversations with Jedi Masters and go straight to business.))

[Shebi Ajava]

As has became her regular habit, Shebi Ajava visisted quartermaster Nishra before the mission.

((OOC:

• Her lightsabers, Talavāra and Katāra
• Her composite recurve bow, with 35 durasteel-tipped arrows
• A wireless communicator headset, worn
• A sealed emergency pack with survival gear for two weeks: (e.g., sturdy space-proof backpack, chemical water purifier, water bag, rations, single person tent, flashlight, emergency radio, a few chemical torches, sturdy rope, first aid kit, etc.)
• A space-proof Onyx Series 5 environment suit, complete with helmet. Customized with pressured air boosters, grappling hook, Carbon nano-fiber plating, Visor with dynamic range adjustment, Infra-red vision and resealable fresh-air seals.
  

))

[Ariana Danacia]

Ariana visits quartermaster Nishra to acquire her weapons, a space-suit and some survival gear.

((OOC: Equipment for Ariana:
* Dagger blade and regular blade lightsabers with short handles
* Two DH-17 blaster pistols
* Two sets of 5 lightweight throwing knives
* First Aid Kit
* Engineers Kit
* Communication pad (A very advanced touchscreen computer device for communication and interfacing with larger systems)
* Backpack (containing the First Aid Kit, Engineers Kit and communication pad), worn
* A wireless communicator headset, worn
* A dark blue coat with pockets, that are hidden from sight, for knives and blasters, worn
* A space-proof environment suit.
* A sealed emergency pack with survival gear for two weeks: (e.g., sturdy space-proof backpack, chemical water purifier, water bag, rations, single person tent, flashlight, emergency radio, a few chemical torches, sturdy rope, first aid kit, etc.)))

[Dragonmaster352]

((OOC: Equipment lists APPROVED))

After about half a day of travelling through hyperspace, the ship arrived in the Novalia system and docked at Kollium station 3 a transit station in low orbit around the gas giant.

As soon as the two Jedi and their equipment were transferred to the Labraham Incoln, the ship undocked and proceeded to hyperspace towards their destination.

After they came on board Ajava and Ariana where led to an observation deck by one of the crew. Once there the two saw five people, judging from their physical size the Astrian scientists, standing facing one another. From their posture one would think they where having a conversation or discussion but none of them made a sound nor did their mouths move.

They didn't seem to have noticed the two jedi entering, it might be a good idea to announce their presence to the group.

[Shebi Ajava]

Knowing about Astrian communication, Ajava thought it rude to interrupt.

With a shrug to Ariana she walks to the window to view out. The mesmerising view of hyperspace almost never fails to capture her attention.

[Ariana Danacia]

Ariana looked at the scientists for a moment.

After a minute she walked to the middle of the observation deck and focused for a moment. She broadcasted a message telepathically to everyone on the observation deck. "Hello, we are the two Jedi that were sent by the Jedi Counsel to support you on your mission. I am Jedi Padawan Ariana Danacia and my partner is Jedi Knight Shebi Ajava."

After the message she joined Shebi Ajava and walked towards the window to look at the view of hyperspace.

[Dragonmaster352]

When Ariana broadcast her message a three of the group jumped in surprise. One of the other two shot a glare at Ariana and muttered something that sounded a lot like: "How rude, just invading some ones mind like that."

The last person left the group and approached the jedi. It was a tall woman wearing a blue dress, richly embroidered with blossoming cherry trees.

"Excuse me, please forgive our rudeness for not noticing your entry. We where in the middle of a very interesting philosophical discussion."

The woman bowed to Ajava and Ariana.

"I am Lady-Priestess Hikari Ashikata. It is a pleasure to meet you and I hope the goddesses will watch over you on your Great Journey."

[Shebi Ajava]

Ajava turned and bowed to the priestess.

"There is nothing to forgive, lady-priestess", she replied, "I am sure that you would have noticed us eventually."

"I must say, I did not expect to meet a member of the school of knowledge here. I have an interest in Astrian beliefs, and I look forward to learning about your culture and beliefs from you. In fact, maybe you can answer a question for me: why is the telepathic communication of this padawan considered rude, while you yourself use a technological equivalent of this form of communication?"

[Dragonmaster352]

"You are right that the methods are similar. The biggest difference is our use of channels. Which can be divided in general and private. An Astrian would have announced their presence in the general channel. Basicly your padawan barged into a private conversation. I don't know for sure how other cultures view this but in Astrian culture that is considered rather rude. In the future you might want to simply speak up rather than use telepathy."

The Astrian Lady-Priestess explained, sounding a lot like a school teacher.

"As for my being here..., I'm here to determine whether or not the anomaly is related to the Goddesses and there for sacred. That and seeking new knowledge is a sacred duty in and of itself."

"But please join us, we would like to know who it is that was sent to guard us." The woman said as she gestured to the rest of the science team.

[Ariana Danacia]

Ariana waited for the others to join them.

"I am sorry for invading your private conversation. I did not mean to do that. Since nobody was speaking normally I thought I would just adept to the situation. In Praetorian culture telepathy is never seen as a invasion of privacy, if you are contacted with telepathy this is a privilege, since only some powerful Praetorians are capable of it. If they contact you it means you must be important as well."

Ariana waited for a moment.

"I am Ariana Danacia, born and raised on Praeto. Besides my Jedi trainings I specialize in mechanical engineering and programming. Furthermore I have had medical training on Praeto."

[Shebi Ajava]

Ajava looked the scientists over before replying.

"I am jedi knight Shebi Ajava.", was all Ajava said by way of introduction. "Are all of you capable of natural speech? If not, I propose you get used to telepathic communication for this voyage. It will be the only way to directly communicate without a third person present."

"Now, if you'll excuse me, we'll leave you to your discussion. We still have to familiarize ourselves with this ship. I look forward to speaking with you at a later moment."

After a moment to allow others to say goodbyes or to interject, Ajava turned and left the observation deck. While talking with the Astrian scientists might be interesting, she really had to know the ship before any trouble comes around.


Together with the padawan, she starts by familiarizing herself with the ship's layout, the locations of airlocks, locations of emergency equipment, the locations of the quarters of the scientists, priestess, Ariana and herself. Then she checked hangars for possible points of entry or exit.

When they are done with checking out the Labraham Incoln, she speaks to Ariana: "Padawan, while these technical methods of communication are most likely sufficient, I trust the force better. I will explain a ritual to you that can be used by those with telepathy, it will allows us to communicate through the force as if using a radio."

If Ariana agrees, she explains the ritual used to create a telepathic bond. ((OOC: Telepathy 2))

[Dragonmaster352]

"We can all hear just fine. The only one who doesn't have a vocal implant would be Doctor Hasley." The lady-priestess said.

"You can just speak normally. I will reply like this." The transmission came through the jedi's communicators. The shortest woman of the group bowed, apparently that was Doctor Hasley.

"We will not keep you further." The lady-priestess ended the conversation with that. The five Astrians all bowed.

The ships layout was fairly standard. There where two crew cabins, one for men and one for women. Ariana, Ajava, and three of the scientists, including the lady-priestess, would sleep in the women's cabin together with most of the female crew. The two male scientists slept in the other cabin with the rest of the men. The exception was the captain, who had his own cabin, and the second in command and chief engineer, who shared a separate cabin.

There was a mess hall, three airlocks and a small sickbay in addition to more vital areas such as the bridge and engineering. The ship was to small to have any actual hangers though it did have two very large cargobays. Escape pods where strategicly placed throughout the entire ship. Apart from the observation deck there was also a room reserved for meetings and such.

The crew turned out to be multicultural with no species clearly having more people than the others.

((OOC: Ariana needs to agree or decline Ajava's offer, before you can perform the ritual.))

[Ariana Danacia]

Ariana checks the engine room to make sure that the engines are configured right and to check for parts that might fail.

((Check: 14 = 6 Force Level + 6 Reason + 2 Mechanical Engineer -- Checking the engine room.))

After checking this she joins with Ajava in performing the telepathy ritual.

"I agree that we should trust the force."

[Shebi Ajava]

Ajava goes through the ritual, and explains it to Ariana.

"We'll do this every morning, after katas."

((OOC: Time to move the story forward, methinks ^_^))

[Dragonmaster352]

Ariana checks engineering, severely aggravating the chief engineer as she does. Though most settings differ from the recommended she can't find anything really wrong. She notices that most systems come from different species. With engines being Mioman, main reactor being Excarian and hyperdrive Astrian.

After a few days in hyperspace the two jedi and the scientists are called to the observation deck. Shortly after everyone arrived the ship drops out of hyperspace. Both Ariana and Ajava feel not one but several massive presences with the force. The presences are far away and one much closer.

"You people might want to look out the window." The voice of the captain calls through the intercom.

[Shebi Ajava]

Ajava walks to a window.

((Check: 11 = 7 Force Level + 4 Vision -- ))

[Ariana Danacia]

Ariana walks towards the nearest window and looks outside.
((Check: 9 = 6 Force Level + 3 Vision -- looking outside.)) ((OOC: Yup, we might be missing the meaningful choice here.))

[Dragonmaster352]

Outside the window a large nebula was visible with a few gaps in it. But the real sight was not the nebula, it was what was moving through the nebula.



It was immediately clear the moving object was the presence the jedi felt, but what it was exactly it was was still any ones guess.

"I'm coming down just a moment." The captain's voice came through the intercom again. Meanwhile the scientists where either intrigued or excited.

The captain arrived a few minutes later.

"I got sensor readings here for ya." He said and a hologram of the moving object was displayed in the middle of the deck along with sensor readings. "There are more of those thing further in the nebula."

The scientists gathered around the hologram.

"Interesting..., It has no detectable energy signature." Doctor Hasley's voice said through the comm.

"Not just that it also seems to be sucking in the nebula." One of the male scientists said.

"Your all missing the most important feature." Lady-Priestess Ashikata interrupted. "The outer molecular structure..., it's organic in nature."

[Shebi Ajava]

"I think you misjudge the Jedi, lady-priestess.", Ajava smiled at the priestess, "Though I could not have told you that its outside molecular structure is organic in nature, I already felt their presence before the captain told us to have a look... So I already knew that it is a living creature."

Ajava was bit wary of the situation as she was sure that the creatures were significantly larger than the ship.

"I take it you will wish to hang around, and investigate these creatures?"

[Dragonmaster352]

At Ajava's all the scientists paused, then all started speaking through each other.

They where interrupted by a bright flash. Looking for the source they soon ended up by the window again. This time there where a whole series of flashes, made by the creature.

"Could it be a form of communication?" One of the scientists opted.

"We need to take samples, captain can you take us in closer?" The Lady-Priestess said. "We're going to catch some vacuum. Did you two happen to bring spacesuits?" Directing the last sentence to the two jedi. "If so I would like you to come with us."

"I'll head back to the bridge and get us closer." And with that the captain left again.

[Ariana Danacia]

"Yes Ma'am I will get suited up right away."

Ariana waited a few seconds for Shebi Ajava to respond and expected to leave together to go change.

[Shebi Ajava]

"Padawan Ariana, this woman is not your superior. I am.", she said sternly when Ariana Ma'am'ed the priestess.

"With all due respect, as your protector, I advise against going outside of the vessel.", Ajava replied after turning her attention to the lady-priestess. "Send an expendable droid, instead of putting yourself in harm's way."