[Garth Wayne]

He had snagged a couple of beers from the rec room and jumped on Tallulah to head out and just cruise for a while.

Eventually his casual expedition brought him here, to the beach and he thought it as good a place as any to chill oit and relax for a bit.

Contested success using LS for successes

[Aran Enfas]

Being in a military encampment on a campaign was in many was new and strange to Aran. Jedi temples were usually sparsely populated and peaceful; hives of scum and villainy were seedy and anarchic. Wartime, based on what he had seen so far, was loud, busy, and somehow both regimented and chaotic. He had watched with fascination platoons moving in well-ordered ranks, and was shocked at the suddenness as upright sentries went from casual conversation to scrambling for cover and comming for backup.

In other ways, it was familiar. In the temples, property was also held in common, for use as needed, and he had found it a small matter to request a speeder bike. Jedi were assumed to have important business. And, he reassured himself, he had fulfilled his stated purpose of "patrol," a sufficiently martial goal. He had succeeded in finding the enemy, if only by accident. He had gained the valuable intelligence that the Mandalorians were also patrolling on speeder bikes, and in greater numbers than one. He had also succeeded in losing them, by gunning it through open fields, plunging straight the through agrarian hedgerows, and diving down tide-carved ravines.

He had also, he reflected meditatively while applying a stimpack to the hedgrow-scratches, ravine-bruises, and blaster singes, taken the cost entirely on his own flesh, redeeming his promise to the enlisted being in charge of the motor pool to return the vehicle "in one piece."

In the end, he stood on the rocky coastline in the rain, deeply aware of his surroundings -- the sea, the rain, the creatures of the sea, land and air, and the Force flowing through them.

And the man in Republic uniform, sheltering himself, his beverages, and his kriffing sweet swoop from the rain under a rock ledge.

"Hey! Is that a Correllian?" he shouted excitedly across the sand, before glancing around self-consciously at what was technically hostile territory. He waved peaceably and approached with his hands visible, his step quickening towards the man and his vehicle.

Stealth check to reach contested location: 2eP+1eB+3eD 1 failure, 2 advantage


4 wounds! Spend 1 stimpack. I don't know if I can use the advantage to some narrative effect in player-created threads, like "you learned something important." For now I'll take the net neutral "the bike is fine and you are not on the pool chief's bad side."

[Dapper Dog]

Aran notices that out in the water there seems to be a wreck of something just barely visible in the water… but it’s a ways out maybe a fifty to sixty meters into the water.

[Garth Wayne]

Garth turned at the voice his hand quick to his pistol, until he noticed a face he'd seen in passing on base.

"One of Mobquet's finest. Ah call 'er Tallulah, mah pride and joy and the most oft cursed ride on Onderon's swoop tracks by th' other jockeys."

Garth extends a hand to shake. "You ride much?"

[Aran Enfas]

Aran gives the hand a firm shake, and follows it with a shallow Jedi-like bow to the bike. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Tallulah. I am Padawan Aran Enfas." Grinning, he turns back to the officer. "Not lately. I have spent many kilometers in the driver's seat of a Mobquet M-5, transporting the Masters. What is usually considered a 'family' speeder. Not nearly as exciting. I hadn't been on a bike in months until..." he gestured at the military speeder, which he had parked partially concealed under another overhang. "It is much more durable than my last racer, I will give it that."

[Garth Wayne]

"Durability onl' matters if ye can't handle 'er. Ah'm sure Tallulah would crumple like tin foil if we hit anythin' more sturdy 'n a womp rat, but she trusts me, 'n ah her. Besides, all them safety features 'd only slow us down."

He hands the man a beer and introduces himself, shielding his eyes from the afternoon glare of the water.

"M' name's Garth, Republic got me flyin' one o' those Spitfires while I'm here. You here to rep th' Order ah assume? No direct assignment from command?"

[Aran Enfas]

Aran, youthful-looking enough that he would probably have to produce scandocs to acquire ethanol on some Republic worlds, accepted the beer comfortably. He was, after all, used to associating with people who casually broke much more important laws. With skill born of practice, he began to engage in the art of being companionable while holding a drink without actually imbibing much.

"I am instructed to accompany Strike Force Aurek Falcon, and to assist it in the liberation of the people of Bankor," Aran said, clearly a recitation. He is used to directing the front of his head towards the person he is speaking to while sensing all around him through the Force. Otherwise, sentients tend to become uncomfortable. His focus, however, is clearly drawn to the swoop. "I think they expected the Republic to assign me to a specific officer, and the Republic expected the Masters to have given me specific instructions. I am assisting as I can, while trying to adhere to the spirit of the Masters' wishes, and follow the will of the Force."

[Garth Wayne]

"So 'n other words, yer makin' it up as ye go along." Garth extrapolated, quite possibly incorrectly, as he took a sip of his beer.

Watching the Jedi's focus, Garth couldn't help but smile.

"S'alright, ah've come to accept she's the pretteh one in our relationship. But ain't no one rides Tallulah but me, ah'm guessing the standard Republic issue just ain't enough machine betwixt yer nethers?"

[Aran Enfas]

Aran smiled and touched the drink to his lips again. "You would not be the first to describe a Jedi's course in such a way." Then he shook his head, his face solemn and voice serious. "Attachment, especially to material things, is against the Jedi's precepts. The Force flows through all things, and there is much to be admired when luminous beings craft with diligence and skill -- such a work as Tallulah. But..." he stared out in to the rainy sea. "If a Jedi must be willing to pass into the Force, if that is what is necessary, I must not desire any more than that the tools at hand be able to accomplish my purpose." He paused, and the can touched his lips again. "Even if it handles a little bit more like a bantha than a hawk-bat."

[Garth Wayne]

"Yeah but yer get them cool light swords to make up fer it." He jokes with a laugh to show the ridiculousness with which he views his own comment.

"But ah admire yer restraint. I don' think ah could live without material attachments. Ah like....things. Although ah'm hard pressed to know how ye'r supposed to know what not to attach to when yer purpose is left so vague."

[Aran Enfas]

Aran laughs along. "A Jedi's weapon is no mere tool, though!" He clears his throat and stares back at the sea, reciting:

The crystal is the heart of the blade.

The heart is the crystal of the Jedi.

The Jedi is the crystal of the Force.

The Force is the blade of the heart. All are intertwined: the crystal,the blade, the Jedi.

You are one.

He returns to a more normal tone. "The Force flows through everything -- me, you, the water, the rocks. It is stronger in living beings than rocks... except for Khyber. Khyber is almost a living thing!"

[Garth Wayne]

"Sounds like yer practiced that a lot." Garth replied, seeming moderately curious about the subject, at least conversationally.

"Ah gets in enough trouble just bein' me though. It does sound rahther comforting thou'. Bein' part of something so...vast."

[Aran Enfas]

Aran smiled serenely, his beer dangling forgotten in his hand. "That's just it, Garth -- you already are." He became quiet after that, as if in meditation.

[Garth Wayne]

"Don' I get a say in that? Don' that effectively make me part of all the bad in the 'verse as well? If everythin's connected?"

He takes another drink of his beer as a warm breeze blows across the rocky landscape.

[Aran Enfas]

At that, Aran's brow uncharacteristically wrinkles. "I... do not have an answer. I am only a Padawan, and the wisest Jedi are wise because they know they do not know everything. But..." he trails off again, thoughtful or perhaps befuddled, before starting up again. "I will meditate on this. The Masters would approve! They say the greatest Jedi are great because they are the greatest pupils, and the greatest pupils are great because they ask the greatest questions."

[Garth Wayne]

"Life'd be boring if we had all the answers, mate. Sometimes not knowin' what ya talks about can lend a certain clarity to yer questions."

"So how long ya been one of these Jedi?"

[Aran Enfas]

"I was raised in the temple," Aran says simply, with the practiced follow-up "I understand that is very different from life outside the Order. How did you end up in the Republic Navy?"

OOC: Out for the night!

[Garth Wayne]

Swoop racer on Onderon, talent scouted to join the stunt team on The Kessel Run show. Then that got cancelled and I needed a job, never really planned on it becoming a career, but here ah am. Still serving and now a fighter pilot instead of just the grunt driver ah signed on as."

He drains the rest of his drink and follows Aran's gaze out to the ocean.

"Could'a been worse. Get ta help people, an' nev' need to worry about food or shelter. A better lot than much of the rest of the 'verse."

[Aran Enfas]

Aran nods. "Being a Jedi is very similar." A pause. "To that last part, in the military. No stunt driving." He was trying, maybe too hard, to sound matter of fact about noting that distinction.

"Speaking of having to not need to worry about material possessions, I believe I am expected to return my speeder bike soon." He looks at Garth, and speaks haltingly, desire plain on his face. "I don't suppose... if you weren't going to stay much longer... it would be an honor to see Tallulah... not a race, of course, that would be irresponsible... not much of a race, in any case, between a swoop and a military speeder..."

[Garth Wayne]

"Sure," Garth answers easily. "Ah'll ride back with ya, just so ya can hear 'er purr. As you say, wouldn' be a fair race anyway, Tallulah's got gears that your ride ain't even heard of."

[Aran Enfas]

Aran bowed deeply. "It would be an honor."

OoC: unless there's anything else you want to do, you can write us back to base, I think!

[Garth Wayne]

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