Muu nods to Walden's responses. After chatting with Tiberius and Walden briefly, he scans the ship with his eyes to the living quarters observing the layout. Muu picks out a bunk that calls to him and drops his belongings nearby. Next the Iktotchi heads towards the comm dish sensor array and finds a seat before take-off. Muu would abruptly hone into his precognitive ability and foresee the boisterous take-off by Gunda. As Muu returned to present time he would think back to a similar take-off situation Master Zear and he experienced busting through a blockade in neutral space. Mentally he would say " Oh this again " prepared and would begin to strap himself in. Muu would gently brace himself when he heard Gunda give everyone a heads up. Muu would say " I think he means it " with a grin. The Iktotchi would take a breathe and center himself as they took off. As the thrusting against his seat would increase, Muu would focus on his connection to the force. Muu remembers back to Gunda on the Ilum trip chatting with the pilot, swapping stories. He figures that this might be standard take-off protocol for the Dug. After the turbulence settles, Muu hears the hyperspace jump kick. The Iktotchi would unstrap himself and turn to smile at everyone. Muu would say " We are finally set off to Foerost! " thinking this might be a fun adventure without our Masters.

Gunda just waits silently. Dealing with bullies is nothing new to a Dug.

"ENOUGH, BOTH OF YOU!"

Kattadik's argument was not without merit. After all, Gunda did just blast off with little warning. But in Walden's mind, the cockpit was not the time to argue about such things, especially if the ship was in hyperspace. Butting in might cost Walden a mentor, but he had to take the risk.

"Have you noticed where we are?" he says, pointing to the cockpit. "If you two come to blows here, there's no telling where we might end up. I've tried to make it so that we're getting there safely, but I can't say the same if one of you guys presses a button during a brawl and stops us in the middle of a star, or right in front of an asteroid field! And then what? We'd all be dead ."

He sighs for a moment before continuing on.

"I understand, Kattadik. Gunda launched with little warning and that tossed everyone on this ship for a bit. But if you wish to start blaming someone, you also need to blame me. I was here and I did nothing to stop him."

"And Gunda, I know you're excited to start flying. But remember that we're a team now. If you wanted to blast off, at least let everyone prepare themselves for it."

"Our Masters trusted each and every one of us that we can handle this without our help. But right now, we're showing that we can't be trusted with each other. If we can't trust each other, how are they going to trust us with anything else?"

"Now...we got bunks to prepare. Both of you, it'd be best to stay away for the time being and cool your heads off. After that, we can talk about it. If you wish to come to blows, both of you, do it in a sparring area, not in the cockpit. If both of you don't want to spar with each other, I'm always up for a round."

"Understood?"

Leadership [Calm Down, Everyone!] : 1eP+2eA+3eD 2 successes, 1 threat, 1 Triumph

I don't know what the true difficulty is, but I set it on Hard since Kattadik and Gunda's Cool combined equals 3.

Meanwhile Matt walks up to the room the ikotchi walked into. muu he remembers.

muu, can we talk. If I don't say this I'm going to burst.

" Yeah Matt, what's on your mind ?" Muu said, curiously.

I've waited about 14 years or so, saying nothing. At the crystal trials I tried to foresee how I solved The problem, and I saw something evil, me. I'm going to go to the dark side. I need you to keep me away from people as much as possible. When I go dark, I can't hurt anyone

Muu nods “In the Ilum cave? That place put all the Padawans through all sort of illusions... showing us our weakness. Have you had similar visuals since then?” trying to create a calm aura.

Before he was hyperventilating, now he was calming(ish) every time I have a vision it is of doom, and dark

I’m not sure if you’re aware of Iktotchi’s xenology but we all have precognition. Ever time I see a possible future, I have the will to act on it or attempt to alter its course daily. The future is always moving, flowing through the force. You have more control of your destiny than you could believe, trust me.” Muu would smile. “ What other sorts of visons have you experienced? ”.

Not many more, of any other subject. Listen I have to go and set stuff up.

Matt leaves the room happy to have let it all out

Zoroku arrives in the Archive and immediately begins his search looking for any and all references to Republic ships and Naval Strategy. After searching for a good half hour, he takes all the Holocrons he found on the subject and begins to pour over them at the table in the center of the room.

Gaze is curled on his bunk, reading through one of his medical manuals, the faint blue illumination of the display making his face glow in an ethereal light. He scrolls through screen after screen, reading up on known diseases from that sector of space, cross-species infection capabilities, and any known treatments. He frowns at a particular entry, and mutters. “Huh, well that’s odd.” He decides to go cross reference the information with the Jedi Archives and heads towards that section of the ship. Gaze autopilots through the hallways and turns into the Archive room, coming up short when he spots Zoroku in the room already.

“Oh, someone’s here.” He says, stating the obvious. “Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt your research.”

Zoroku Looks up from his collection of Holocrons on the table before him to see Gaze, it had been years since they had last met. “ You have no need to apologize. I am researching the starships that will constructed at Foerost. I have some familiarity with Naval starships and would like to offer my expertise to those constructing them. ” He gestures for Gaze to sit.

“Oh good, someone is at least familiar with what we are being sent to deal with.” He says, sitting down. “I was a bit perplexed when I heard our mission, not sure why I would be sent.” He sighs and taps his display from his hand device, closing out the screen for now. “So, the collection of all the younglings who went in to find their crystals together, reunited years later for some effort. If I didn’t know better, it sounds like the plot to a pulp fiction holo-vid story. “ He smirks a bit and shakes his head absently, amused. “Wonder what it’s all about.”

“ My master Xira would mention that it was the will of the force. However It may just be the council was short on Masters and Knights who could take this task.” Zoroku puts down his Holocron and looks towards Gaze, “ What brings you to the Archive from what I understand you are a healer like your master.”

“Cross-referencing mostly” Gaze says with a shrug. “With intersteller travel, massively varied planetary ecosystems, and a multitude of species intermingling all over, the field of infectious diseases is…..diverse, to put it mildly.” He says with a smirk. “I was just coming to cross-reference any of the Archives about the area, maybe get a heads up on possible medical problems that might spring up.”

“ At a construction site such as the one at Foerost, Injury is more likely than disease.” Zoroku’s red eyes turned back to his Holocron. “ Did you witness any of the space battles in the Mandalorian War?” He asked Gaze not turning away from his research as he asked his question.

“Sure injuries are injuries, you get those everywhere. But if a large percentage of the crew suddenly comes down with Bothan Crotch Itch, trust me, you want to be ahead of that.” He grins a bit, but then sighs as he replies to the second question. “Not directly no. Most of our efforts were in relief, after the majority of the dust had cleared….” he looks down at the table for a moment “...but the screams were still fresh. Triage tents housing thousands, and that’s when they were lucky enough to survive. The war front might have moved elsewhere, but the scars were still there for anyone caught in the middle of it.” He shakes his head a bit, clearing out a bad memory, then looks up at Zoroku. “What about you? Were you in any of the battles?”

“ No not in any of the Naval engagements, but I did witness them from afar as Master Xira would pilot us in to help with refugees. I always requested to watch the battle from a distance so I could observe both Republic and Mandalorian naval tactics.”

He pulls up a passage in the Holocron showing the general tactics of republic fleets for gaze to understand what he was referencing. “From what I could tell for most of the War the Mandalorians had the upper hand tactically being more aggressive and taking out capital ships with concentrated fire from Fighter craft…” He pulls up another text showing typical Mandalorian aerial combat tactics “ but the Revanchist had the better strategy and that is why he won in the end.”

Gaze nods absently as Zoroku speaks, “That sounds right. I never really paid it much attention really. The wounded didn’t really have sides by the time I got to them.” He shifts in his seat, a bit uncomfortable. “So what are your theories about the facility we are told to get into shape? “

“ I know it is the main shipyard of the Republic, and with the Republic so short on naval personel it is likely they requested the Order send Jedi.” His red eyes lock with Gaze’s as he pulls up another datapad, “ The last reports of the Revanchist are of him chasing Mandalorians into unexplored Wild Space as you call it, he took half of the remaining fleet with him.” He pulls open a star chart on the tables central display. “ That is Space that my people are most familiar with…” He points to the reported last sighting of the Revanchist. “... given his trajectory he could be headed toward my people’s space or if he goes past it… he will be facing an enemy of great power.” He looks back at Gaze “ The Republic wants to rebuild because it needs to defend itself from both the known and the unknown… But I can tell you what lies in the darkest regions of Wild Space is worse than anything the Republic has faced, I want to give the Republic advice on how to prepare for the enemies it does not yet know.”

Gaze sighs and rubs his eyes. “Great, the smoke hasn’t even cleared from the Mando’s, and now you tell of a mysterious threat from Beyond the Rim…” he says this last bit in a dramatic voice. “....you really know how to brighten up a trip.” His tone is light, and he is smiling a little, but he did listen to what Zoroku said.

“On matters of naval security rarely is there ever time for levity.” Zoroku responds not smiling, his tone was dark and he seemed to be in thought. When he had seemingly snapped out of the trance he was in he Looked back at Gaze “ Would you like to discuss something else, something more,,, cheerful.”

Gaze internally disagrees with the idea of no time for levity. After a 20 hour stint in a medical wing, listening to the maimed and dying, humor is about the only thing that can keep someone from giving up in misery. It’s bad enough to hear them die, but to feel the Living Force diminish on such a grand scale, moment by moment, as each life they couldn’t heal is lost...it made Gaze feel like his soul was being devoured, bit by bit. Remembering those thoughts pretty much killed any good mood he was in, he sighs and says. “No, that ships pretty much sailed.” He looks at Zoroku. “So our orders were to make sure the place was running smoothly, do you know anything about capital ship scale manufacturing and fabrication? How to manage a workforce of that scale? I know I had a slightly different training from the Order, but I don’t recall too many lessons discussing that from my days in the Temple.”

“The limited knowledge I have on capital ship development comes from my short time at the Ascendancy Naval Corp, before I ran from my people I was training to be in the Navy. We start training our youth for their respective jobs early on in life I was no different.” Zoroku looks down at his collection of Holocrons “It has been a while since I have had the time to study capital ship construction. As for my study at the temple it has been a lot like yours except with a more combat focus as Xira is aspiring to be a Battlemaster.”

Gaze nods as Zoroku talks about his upbringing. “Well, hopefully we can find a way to help them with their objective of amassing a new fleet.” He looks down at his display, having set it on a search program before they started talking. He sighs and shrugs, apparently the search found no results. “Well, that’s good I guess. Nothing really unique in the area that I might need to worry about. If I’m lucky, it will be as you say, and all I’ll have to deal with are broken and severed limbs. Force knows I’ve had plenty of practice with that.” He says, remembering. He gets up and stretches. “I think I’m going to head back to my bunk for now, maybe do some contemplation before bed. It was nice talking to you again.”

“It was good to speak to you, have a good rest.” Zoroku went back to pouring over his collection of Holocrons and switched the tables display to a reproduction of the Battle at Malachor V.

19 hours ago, satkaz said:

"ENOUGH, BOTH OF YOU!"

Kattadik's argument was not without merit. After all, Gunda did just blast off with little warning. But in Walden's mind, the cockpit was not the time to argue about such things, especially if the ship was in hyperspace. Butting in might cost Walden a mentor, but he had to take the risk.

"Have you noticed where we are?" he says, pointing to the cockpit. "If you two come to blows here, there's no telling where we might end up. I've tried to make it so that we're getting there safely, but I can't say the same if one of you guys presses a button during a brawl and stops us in the middle of a star, or right in front of an asteroid field! And then what? We'd all be dead ."

He sighs for a moment before continuing on.

"I understand, Kattadik. Gunda launched with little warning and that tossed everyone on this ship for a bit. But if you wish to start blaming someone, you also need to blame me. I was here and I did nothing to stop him."

"And Gunda, I know you're excited to start flying. But remember that we're a team now. If you wanted to blast off, at least let everyone prepare themselves for it."

"Our Masters trusted each and every one of us that we can handle this without our help. But right now, we're showing that we can't be trusted with each other. If we can't trust each other, how are they going to trust us with anything else?"

"Now...we got bunks to prepare. Both of you, it'd be best to stay away for the time being and cool your heads off. After that, we can talk about it. If you wish to come to blows, both of you, do it in a sparring area, not in the cockpit. If both of you don't want to spar with each other, I'm always up for a round."

"Understood?"

Leadership [Calm Down, Everyone!] : 1eP+2eA+3eD 2 successes, 1 threat, 1 Triumph

I don't know what the true difficulty is, but I set it on Hard since Kattadik and Gunda's Cool combined equals 3.

Dropping the dug, Kataddik looks at Walden.

"U ughghhhgh aarrragghuuhw. Wrrhw wrrhwrwwhw aaahnruh huuguughghg raaaaaahhgh uggguh huuguughghg huurh raaaaaahhgh raaaaaahhgh."

1 hour ago, Tramp Graphics said:

Dropping the dug, Kataddik looks at Walden.

"U ughghhhgh aarrragghuuhw. Wrrhw wrrhwrwwhw aaahnruh huuguughghg raaaaaahhgh uggguh huuguughghg huurh raaaaaahhgh raaaaaahhgh."

"Agreed. I expect you to apologize the others then as well."

"That is fair, so let me start." Walden reaches a hand out to Kattadik. "I'm sorry that I did not act sooner to stop Gunda's launch so that everyone would be fully prepared and not be in peril, Kattadik. I will apologize to the others personally."

Taking Walden's hand,

"R aaaaaahhgh aarrragghuuhw. Aguhwwgggghhh wuuh aarrragghuuhw."

"Good." Walden checks the systems to make sure nothing is going to go wrong, and starts heading all over the ship, finding everyone and apologizing for not stopping the sudden launch before heading back to the cockpit and learning more of the systems.

Once his shift is up, Walden goes back to the bunk he pushed all his items in. As expected, they've been scattered from the launch, but nothing is broken. He takes a bit of time to organize everything so that they are prepped for any sudden movements. While doing so, Walden takes a look at his lightsaber. It's been battered and worn pretty well, and he knows he's been skipping out on maintenance.

"...I should take care of this now. Wouldn't want to have it go out on me just because I neglected it. Plus, Master Sellas isn't here anymore to cover my butt if it shorts out."

“So...Muu, what are you doing?” Walden asked. He was at the databases, figuring out if there was anything that could help with either lightsaber combat, piloting, or repairing items. And there he saw the little Iktotchi pouring through database after database like a mynock hungry for ships.

Muu would look up after searching through the Foerost naval records on his datapad and notice Walden. “Oh hey Walden, I was trying to analyze the current records I have on Foerost’s security. It appears the present shipyard security ploy is just a responsive defense system and operates on limited outer surveillance technology. The shipyard has starfighter squadrons ready to scramble and just a few cannons for support” sounding frustrated.

“What’s with the frustration?” Walden replied, confused at Muu’s apparent reaction before he heard the rest. “Wait, you said Foerost just has responsive defenses? That shouldn’t be right.” Walden looked at Muu with doubt. Where did that information come from? “It’d be what’s expected of a civilian shipyard, since all they have to do is defend against pirates, who usually carry a single ship or two with fighters.”

“A military shipyard, especially the Republic Navy’s primary shipyard, would have starfighter patrols all the time, sensors detecting any ship coming through, and more than a few cannons for defense. They’re built to expect fleets, not single ships. I don’t think the Republic would leave such an important part of their Navy so lightly defended.”

Muu would nod in agreement. “That is closer to what I was expecting. If we are sent to Foefrost to assure the Republic Fleet gets up to speed, we need to protect all production, its construction crews and allow for plenty response time rather than reactionary methods of security. Do you know much about starfighter tactics and strategy in regards to orbital defenses?” he would look relieved to be discussing this subject with someone more knowledgeable.

“Never commanded a fighter wing, but from what I’ve read and learned, the patrols are there to be first responders. If they start taking too much, one should pull them back. Meanwhile, there always should be squadrons on call, ready to deploy at any moment. A shipyard isn’t quite exactly a fortress, so it should be calling for help as soon as possible. But the fighters there should be aiming to either stall for time to get whatever defense fleet from Coruscant up and running.”

“I would be guessing there would be wings with a specific purpose: some to intercept fighters, some to take out bombers, and a few for capital ships. If the shipyard was attacked, the Republic has home field advantage: they can cycle out damaged fighters faster than an attacker. Not only that, the various turbolasers, missile launchers, and heavy battery cannons should be working in concert with the defenders to put a lot of firepower towards the enemy. Meanwhile, a defense fleet should hopefully be there in time to deal with capital ships. The heavy batteries Foerost should have will also help against them.”

“The best thing a shipyard can do is keep constant vigilance and be ready to deploy fighters and call in the defense fleet at any time, really. It can take hits, but it isn’t meant to fight in prolonged combat. And if an attacker got to the point where the shipyards were breached, that would be bad for the Republic, to say the least.”

Walden notes on his ideas before noticing that Muu had other datapads that weren’t related to the Foerost shipyards.

“What’s this?” he says to Muu. “Date when it joined the Republic...the Great Hyperspace War…the Great Sith War...looking at the history of Foerost, too?” Walden is curious on how the history of the planet relates to the situation at hand.

Muu would listen intently as Walden opened his mind to another world. “Ahh, yes. I was searching through the historical data on the Foerost system to gather warfare statistics on previous attacks. Where did the enemy come in, strike, and see if there was any systematical patterns of prior vulnerabilities to be aware of. I’m trying to develop a comprehensive understanding of shipyard operations before we arrive. Shipyard security and production is one of my weaker subjects” appearing semi embarrassed.

“Hmm…” Walden responds. He takes a look at a datapad nearby and frowns. “I’m not sure how Mandalorians attacking the Foeroest shipyards in a raid applies to this, since they’re largely disarmed.”

Muu would sigh, “During the Mandalorian Wars, Foerost was subject to a hit and run raid which resulted in mass devastation. The entire orbital defenses were taken by surprise and the Mandalorian fleet escaped before reinforcements could arrive”.

“Still, since the end of the Mandalorian Wars, I’m not sure who else could fight with as much strength as the Mandalorians these days…”

Muu would shrug, “I think it would wise to put you in charge of starfighter command supervision and help develop a more strategic orbital defense patrol design. You seem to have a better grasp at it than myself” Muu would say with a smile. “I was trying to research how much damage was suffered during the Mandalorian Wars and at what capacity is the shipyard running at presently. Who are all the actors or entities involved in production”.

“Well…” Walden says, a bit embarrassed at Muu’s praise. “It’s what I learned from reading. Plus, I’m sure the Republic has more experienced admirals and captains that know what they’re doing. I don’t think they would want a Jedi suddenly telling them what to do.”

Muu would grin in agreement noting that a group of Padawans are about to do just that. “Well, perhaps a liaison consultant for orbital defenses. We need a Jedi to supervise security around shipyard space and make any improvements we can. It's difficult to plan here without confirming the shipyards actual logistics, emergency plan, or communication matrix. I’m just trying to develop a framework of everybody's strengths prior to arrival, efficiently oversee production, and accomplish the mission objective assigned to us”.

“...I guess.” Walden says. The thought of being a liaison wouldn’t be too bad, but it would have to be treated with care. “Anyway, hope you figured out something. I still need to be finding some repair manuals and the like. It would be bad if I kept talking about starfighter tactics and strategy without knowing how one even functions, now, would it?”

“Of course! Thank you again for your valuable input” Muu said, returning his focus back to his datapads.

The Padawan was quick to determine the Order's direct mission into a advantageous assignment of growth. Muu wasn't new to space travel however, spent the last several months in the wilderness. The Iktotchi would develop a rather simple schedule as time would progress. Being relatively new to the archive life, he swiftly became grateful to the starship databanks provided. Muu would ordinarily hold meditation sessions before and after his daily research excursions. The Consular would find himself investigating Foerost historical records that would range from shipyard production rates, to war archive documentation. The collected data would become formulize statistical records, pattern scrutinization , and system analysis. The Padawan was new to unaccompanied supervision roles and knew he is a representative of the Jedi Order thus, created emphasis on being prepared prior to Foerost arrival.

The Consular would find he’d be reacquainting himself with the other Padawans on a daily basis. The casual conversations would include new paths within the Order, general interests or hobbies, and what they would hope to offer the mission as liaisons to the Republic military.

Muu would set time to meet with Svae and Gwode to interact away from his research. The Iktotchi seem to vibe well with the Seeker personality types. The socialization with Gwode would help the Padawan not feel trapped aboard a starship for 3 weeks and create a more relaxing environment. With Save's permission he would use his telekinesis to develop a few playful games with Gwode. Muu would use convenient toys suited for Gwode to stalk or play hide & seek with by dragging its scent across the starship to pinpoint. Occasionally, Muu would ploy a move that Master Zear taught him to feed the wildlife. The maneuver would consist of animating food with telekinesis at a safe distance with beasts you wouldn't otherwise wish to be engaged with. Muu understood the importance of socializing with force bonded animals and he was delighted to be applying his Master's teachings.

Muu would grow eager to discover what Foerost had planned for the Padawans. There was only so much research one could do in comparison to conducting the actual assignment.

Kataddik meets Walden in the main cargo hold to do some sparring, given that it's really the only area large enough, and with a ceiling high enough, to facilitate it.

Walden was at the cargo hold, practicing his katas. The blue lightsaber swings in the air in short, but well-executed slashes. Master Sellas had told him to practice his lightsaber skills, and he wasn’t about to let himself get rusty, or so he thought. He had installed new parts to replace worn out ones, but the new parts felt much heavier and was slightly unbalanced. Walden could only hope that he would figure it out quickly just by swinging it.

And then he notices someone.

"If you wish to spar, I'm always up. Need to get used to it again." Walden says.

Kataddik draws his sword and lightsaber, activating the latter. rotating the sword backwards in his hand so that any potential strikes would be with the back of the blade, rather than the edge.

"U ughguughhhghghghhhgh huuguughghg raaaaaahhgh huurh."

"Alright." Walden says, moving his right foot back, setting himself in the traditional Soresu opeing stance.

"Haven't fought someone dual-wielding before. This should be interesting."

Vigilance [Intitative] : 1eP+1eA 1 success, 3 advantage

Kataddik holds his lightsaber in a guard position as he swings with his sword. barely missing, but putting Walden off balance. (1 Setback to your next attack).

The swipes are quick as Kattadik goes first. Walden blocks the blows as his Wookie compatriot goes on the offensive. But Walden stands firm and calls on his senses to keep him defended while he sets himself up to guard potential attacks.

3 minutes ago, satkaz said:

The swipes are quick as Kattadik goes first. Walden blocks the blows as his Wookie compatriot goes on the offensive. But Walden stands firm and calls on his senses to keep him defended while he sets himself up to guard potential attacks.

Went into Guarded Stance to give melee defense at penalty to melee attack, and used Force Sense, committed Force die to upgrade difficulty of Kattadik's next attack twice.

Kataddik takes several more swings, once again pushing Walden of balance. (1 setback to your next action)

Sparring session sword strike : 3eA+1eP+2eC 0 successes, 1 advantage

Walden decides it's the time to strike. He manages to land a hit, but leaves himself open to Kattadik.

1 minute ago, satkaz said:

Walden decides it's the time to strike. He manages to land a hit, but leaves himself open to Kattadik.

Lightsaber [Attack] : 1eP+2eA+2eD+2eS 3 successes, 2 threat

9 damage to Kattadik, give a boost die to you. Force die is still committed to Sense.

Remember, my sword also has Defensive 1. Is that included?

Walden had forgot that Kattadik's sword protected him, blunting his attack.

Kataddik takes several more strikes with his sword.

Walden keeps pressing the attack, and his senses are getting overloaded hard. Walden hopes the fight ends soon.

Lightsaber [Attack] : 1eP+2eA+2eD+1eS 3 successes, 2 threat

9 damage to Kattadik, will suffer 2 Strain for having Sense up.

16 minutes ago, satkaz said:

Walden keeps pressing the attack, and his senses are getting overloaded hard. Walden hopes the fight ends soon.

Lightsaber [Attack] : 1eP+2eA+2eD+1eS 3 successes, 2 threat

9 damage to Kattadik, will suffer 2 Strain for having Sense up.

Kataddik drops, exhausted.

Kattadik was good at pressing the attack with his sword and lighsaber. It strained Walden pretty well. But for every strike Kattadik made, Walden sensed it coming and answered with parries or dodges.

A gap between Kattadik's swings was where Walden would strike. It would be risky, since it would potentially leave him open to counterattack, but it was a risk he could take.

With one strike, he hit Kattadik square in the chest. And another one soon followed.

Both Walden and Kattadik took a knee, exhausted from the fight.

"You're pretty good..." Walden would say after taking some breaths.

It was a good fight. And it accomplished another thing: it gave Walden the chance to find out how his lightsaber did. It was okay, but it didn't feel quite right. That necessitated another trip to the workbench.