[IC] Lannik, Neutral Archaeology Site

[Apollosarcher]

First arrival of Jedi two months into the survey

Doctor Kane folded her hands, taking a deep breath the blonde woman, with a touch grey, placed her elbows on her desk lifting her eyes to look at the intern before her. "Kaleb. What do you mean, you lost the terrain mapper!?" She added the end of that sentence slamming her fist down on the table in her building making the young man jump. The petite doctor put the fear into her students, co-workers, and interns when they failed her this was no exception.

"I just... I heard something in the woods, it scared me so... I just dropped my bag and ran Doctor Kane! I was worried it was one of those Sith who doesn't want us here!" The tanned skinned young man answered, nervously wringing his hands as the older woman pushed her glasses up glaring hard Kaleb. The rather plain blue-eyed young man with a nervous personality pushed his slightly too long back scared of further berating.

"You will get back out there. Find that bag. If you do not, I will do far worse things to you and your future back on Coruscant than any Sith could dream up! Is that understood, Kaleb!?!" Zaniah Kane added with an angry growl as she leaned over the table leaned angrily over the table her piercing green eyes glaring at the young man who couldn't even summon words before turning and rushing out of the administration building. He would have walked right into the approaching Jedi had the Miraluka not seen him coming, stepping out of the way as the scared young man ran. As Airus approached he thought carefully, he could feel the anger and distress radiating off the doctor deciding it was best to approach her with more flattery and let her know right away how happy he was to work with her.

A few of the other students muttered, even the senior staff watched the Miraluka pass by weaving through the busy camp with his head tilted downward making straight for administration. While not a Jedi archaeologist Airus's job here was to look over what they knew, research local history, Jedi archives, and other relevant information from any source to help try and move the search in the right direction. In two months both Sith and Republic efforts had only mapped half a kilometer each. The with progress slowed every day by more trees, wildlife, rockslides, and the locals pushing for both teams to find solid proof of the location before being allowed to begin a proper dig site.

Airus entered as the doctor had just seated herself once more, taking a breath still getting over her intern's sheer idiocy. "Doctor Zaniah Kane, I'm Jedi Knight Airus Vel Aath, I've read your book on the Mandalorian Wars. You have a very gifted mind to be able to understand the Mandalorian's motivations so clearly. I enjoyed the book immensely and recommended the copy be required reading for Jedi studying the Mandalorian War." Airus spoke bowing graciously before his host, as Doctor seemed surprisingly floored that Jedi knew her work so well and thought so highly of her.

"The honor is mine Master Jedi. I'm so glad you've come, while the team is doing there best this environment just isn't cooperating and we've got too many areas to search. We need someone with more resources and maybe a clear head... Though I didn't expect a Jedi historian to be so..." She didn't finish the sentence as she looked him over pushing a stack of datapads filled with information towards him. Clearly trying not to insult or insinuate things about him.

"Young? Believe me, I know... But I've published works as well. I do know how my way around research quite well, Doctor Kane, I promise I will not disappoint." The Jedi smiled at, offering her a handshake that the Doctor stood and readily accepted. "I'd like to stay longer but I don't want to be a burden in your camp. I'll take a Speeder over to town and work on reading up there. You can call me on the holo should you need anything doctor, the Jedi serve the Republic and you are in charge of the Republic presence here." Airus added, seeing her aura change from her once angry mood to a much more mellow and perhaps even flattered tone. The Jedi Knight felt he'd done her some good and helped those under her some by at least relaxing Base Camp Resh's director.

Collecting the datapads and leaving the administration building he saw a group of students whispering to one another he could feel how nervous they were just being near a Jedi. So he turned his head towards them, giving a smile and wave as he passed them by they seemed to soften some. Yet in his heart, Airus knew it would simply take a lot of time and effort to rebuild faith in the Knights of the Republic. Hooking his bag onto the speeder Airus lowered his hood and set off, following the trail markers he took the speeder straight towards town. He'd decided to stay in the neutral village in the middle of the survey area, where he could inspect the Republic outpost if he wanted and escape the noise of the camp to read in peace.

Arriving he checked his speeder with the Republic personal on site and headed for local cantina, while not the best place to relax they did have rooms for rent and he'd been set with one here after he'd requested it. Airus had made the request knowing many of the students and personnel from Coruscant might not be fans of the Jedi, staying away from them might be for the best until they were more used to the Jedi presence. So Airus checked in, placing his bag in his room and stowing the few things he'd brought for his task. He walked down the stairs and took a seat at a table in the cantina, finding the whole place rather nice. The forests reminded him of Tython and it's wild untamed lands, so rich and ready to be explored.

Ordering a hot chocolate from the barkeep as he took a seat, Airus buckled down and began to read through documents, forgetting how strange it must have looked. A Jedi with no eyes reading from a datapad, sipping a hot chocolate in a bar, and in such close proximity to the Empire some the locals poorly whispered poorly jokes about Jedi and Sith being more bad neighbors than enemies not that the Jedi understood at least absorbed in his reading occasionally adding a notation on something as he went along.

[Jorick]

Lannik Dig Site, Neutral Camp

As the shuttle hobbled and bobbed through the air on ancient thrusters in dire need of maintenance, Miarhi sat with her back braced against one crate and her feet up against another. There had been no passenger shuttles set to depart from Palesia to the dig site for another day at the very least, and none of the available speeders within her price range had seemed like something she wanted to take through treacherous terrain, so paying for a very uncomfortable spot on a supply shuttle had been her best option. It would have been almost tolerable if not for the fact that Miarhi was currently torturing herself to make a friend happy.

She had her datapad, an excessively elaborate model Ashyn had given to her as a gift after hearing that she'd passed her trials to become a Padawan, propped up against her knees in order to read the drivel currently filling the screen. It had been a very thoughtful gift, meant as a way to keep in contact with each other through the Holonet even when they were half the galaxy away from one another, but it had come loaded with an insidious trap: a trove of romance novels that Ashyn wanted her to read. When the painful novel recommendations had come one by one they were fairly tolerable, but now she had a veritable library of the things at her fingertips. Ashyn was Miarhi's best and oldest friend, and she so loved having someone to talk to about her favorite genre of novels, so there was nothing Miarhi could do but suffer through the things to make her friend happy. She just wished some of them had at least a speck of realism to them. The current read, a horrid thing called Dawn of a Knight's Dream, told the outlandish tale of a rogue Jedi and a Mandalorian warrior fighting off pirates and developing a romantic relationship along the way, and it didn't even have any horribly exaggerated sex scenes to provide some amusement. All the author names blended together, but Miarhi had a strong feeling she'd read some of this one's work before, and they were definitely among her least favorite if her memory served her correctly.

A sudden lurch signalled the shuttle descending toward the camp. Or perhaps it was just the shuttle finally dying after what seemed to be many years of service without any work being done on the poor thing. Normally one would expect panicked yells from the pilot in that case, but the man had been so gruffly taciturn that Miarhi would be surprised if he gave more than an annoyed grunt at the prospect of hurtling to his fiery demise. She braced herself harder against the crates, just in case, and after a minute a hard bump followed by stillness made it clear they had in fact been landing rather than crashing. Miarhi pushed herself to her feet and stretched out her cramped muscles, grumbling at her cloak as she fought to untangle it from her legs. She still wasn't quite used to having the long garment to wear atop her simple tunic and trousers, but it was part of the attire that marked her as a Jedi so she wore it proudly. She just also maybe cursed at it now and then when it got in her way.

When she finally clambered out of the back of the shuttle, Miarhi found the pilot coming around to ready it all for unloading. She gave him a smile and a respectful nod. "Thank you for your assistance." He just grunted at her as expected, so she sighed and hurried on her way rather than trying to make conversation. She'd carefully examined every piece of information she'd been able to find about the neutral camp of the Lannik dig site, and thanks to that (and the obvious signage) she was able to find her way to the cantina that was apparently the central hub of activity in the place. Her plan was to ask around to find the whereabouts of her new master, but as she stepped through the doors she felt something unexpected: another Force user nearby. She was no master of using the Force to sense her surroundings, but she was certain someone in the building or nearby was definitely trained in the use of the Force. Given all the talk of Sith possibly being in the area, Miarhi was very careful and as covert as possible in her surveillance of the large, open room that made up the majority of the ground floor of the cantina. Her fear subsided when she finally spotted the Miraluka sitting at one of the tables, but it was quickly replaced with a mix of anxiety and excitement in equal measures that were hard to suppress.

Miarhi took a minute to calm her breathing, without much success in translating that external calm to into internal calm, but it would have to do for the moment. She marched over to the table and cleared her throat twice before managing to get any words out. "Uh, Jedi Knight Airus Vel Aath? I've been sent by the Council. This datapad should explain it all, but, um, I've been assigned as your Padawan." She pulled the mentioned datapad, a much simpler model than her personal one, out of a pocket and set it on the table in front of the Knight. "Oh, and they said I should introduce myself because they didn't sent word in advance. I'm Miarhi Gako, I just passed my Padawan trials six days ago, and I... don't know what else to say. Um, I think they said they put my records on the datapad?" People at the nearby tables were staring at her by this point, and Miarhi flushed with embarrassment as she realized that a fairly crowded public place was probably not the best place to introduce herself, but it was far too late for such considerations. "Uh, sorry." She quickly sat at one of the chairs across from Airus and made herself busy with staring down at the table and trying to predict just how fast she'd be sent back to Tython for being an utterly useless Padawan.

[Apollosarcher]

Lannik Dig Site, Neutral Camp

The Felinx and Rodus Cantina

Airus Vel Aath was on his third hot chocolate the locals had ceased the staring and gone about their daily lives most patrons of the day were enjoying meals. Afternoon had arrived, the bar remained rather empty save for a handful of transport pilots, local workers, and a few personal from off world who had left their respective camps to get back to some kind of civilization.

The Jedi knight was skimming through the data mostly he was watching the sabacc game a bit back behind him, to Airus this was the vacation he'd happily accepted as an assignment. Few people and none he'd have to work closely with, meaning no headaches from being crowded of course the part he loved the most was no one bothering him. A few of the younger Jedi or sometimes his fellow knights would pester him about what he so intently typing onto his datapad. Though more often he'd be asked to assist in lectures on history for those curious about certain topics or assist in providing materials to those who were attending the class.

Of course most importantly he'd accepted the task to escape the constant questioning about him being fit as a teacher. Of course it came to the battle of Dantooine, a victory for the Republic and one that proved at least to Airus that the Republic and Jedi were not spent as a fighting force, even in the darkest hour and beyond they had taken the planet. He'd even heard rumors about some of what went on planet in other areas, of course he'd never spread them. Of course his own experience had colored his last few years within the order, needless to say he'd been... Distant, from many of the other Knights even those he'd trained with on Coruscant.

He expected to return to a denial of his request to take a Padawan after all Master Turus had been rather against it, he'd rather settled with the fact from what had leaked down it his Padawan assignment request had split his superiors for awhile.

Of course, when other presence in the force approach he sat up from his relaxed positioned focusing towards the presence curious who it might be. Airus was a bit surprised as she approached he could sense it, a Jedi, and a Padawan no less but what could she... Oh, oh no... No no no no no this couldn't there was no way this was... However, when she confirmed it he could only yell at himself internally for not planning for this outcome, the order had shown faith in him.

The girl, no Miarhi, offered him a datapad so Airus took it before she sat down and pushed it aside. Mentally he was kind of shocked, outwardly he gave her a friendly smile. "Relax, yes I'm Airus Vel Aath and you have nothing to apologize for, Padawan." He answered calmly, of course it had been different for how he'd been chosen and the age... She was much older than he had been when he'd been assigned a master.

"You are nervous... Don't worry I'm not some perfectionist, though if Master Dan'ii was here she'd tell you that I do work to hard. Either way, I'm here to research about the planet and go over data on possible locations to help shrink the search zone." Airus then figured it was best to explain why they would be here rather than at the Republic dig site. "If you are curious... Most of those dig site personal are Coruscant University students... And Coruscant is rather anti-Jedi lately so I figured it would be best to work... Away from where they might see me as trouble." He explained, before waving towards one of the service droids.

"Please, two of your lunch specials and hot chocolate for my Padawan." He added the droid just nodded and moving back to the kitchen. "They don't have much here but the food is hot and well made, much better than rations... And I was given credits to make sure I wouldn't inconvenience anyway." He explained turning his head to face towards Miarhi. "Would you like to join me in reviewing the historical significance of the area and possibly locating the fortress in question?"

He offered one of the datapads he'd been given to Miarhi. "I assume they've told you about me? Well if you'd like to know anything... Even if it's about the whole lack of eyes thing or my own abilities as a Jedi. Please ask, I'm an open book as it were." He chuckled to try and help his new Padawan find her voice and relax around him. He didn't need her nervous or worried about what he thought, he wanted to help her learn not put his burdens on her.

[Jorick]

Lannik Dig Site, Neutral Camp
The Felinx and Rodus Cantina

He's treating me like a scared child. The initial thought came with a mixed tumult of emotions, but embarassment won out in the end. That's fair. I guess I did sound like a frightened child when I introduced myself. Miarhi managed to quell some of her nerves as Airus spoke, especially after he made it clear he was not a perfectionist. That was a horror she hadn't even dared to contemplate: a perfectionist of a master who would point out each and every little flaw. The nervousness and embarrassment all got shoved to the side once her new master mentioned asked if she wanted to help him with research, and they were replaced with an eager excitement that she knew was probably also not fitting for a Jedi, but she was fully willing to embrace the less awkward emotions as a crutch.

Just as Miarhi was about to get into checking out the offered datapad, Airus stopped her in her mental tracks with another question and offer. Historical research was always fun, but learning about her new master was probably more important for the time being. "They did tell me a few things." She carefully weighed how much she ought to say and what was better not to mention, but curiosity got the better of her and she couldn't help pushing forward with the topic that sprung immediately the mind, never mind the fact that it would probably be better not to ask. "But I learned more in doing some research of my own while waiting for transportation to be arranged. Is it true..." Miarhi glanced around at the nearby tables before lowering her voice enough to be absolutely certain that nobody else would overhear her words. "Is it true that Miraluka can see through people's clothing? I read something once that said they can, and I just couldn't get it out of my head after they told me you were a Miraluka."

The ordered food arrived just moments after she finished speaking, and Miarhi took it with a smile and murmured thanks for the service droid. She belatedly realized that the way she asked her weird question probably made Airus think she was going to ask about, well, the thing that would've been the obvious quesiton from a normal person, so she hurried to add a clarification. "Oh, um, I did read about Dantooine and things that happened there, but I wasn't really concerned about any of that. Forgive me if I'm saying too much, but I was actually really relieved to find out my master was someone who wasn't a perfect Jedi with a spotless record. It, I don't know, makes me feel less worried about my own, um... less than perfect record?" A heated flush crept up into Miarhi's cheeks as she suddenly realized that her record on the datapad she'd handed over would almost certainly include explanations of the times she got in trouble for engaging in relationships with her fellow Initiates. The sudden return of embarrassment was compounded further as she realized her words may very well have sounded like she was saying that if someone who screwed up as badly as Airus could succeed, then she could as well, as if she was looking down on him despite being a brand new Padawan.

Rather than sticking her foot any further into her mouth, Miarhi picked up her cup and took a long, slow sip of the hot chocolate. At least this horribly awkward first conversation will make for a funny story to tell Ashyn. The amusing thought was enough to take the edge off of the negative emotions currently raging through her, but she still opted to busy herself with her cup in silence rather than to keep saying hilariously foolish things.

[Apollosarcher]

Lannik Dig Site, Neutral Camp

The Felinx and Rodus Cantina

Airus would have blinked his usually rather hard to read face cracked into a smile, the Miraluka chuckled then laughed at the question Miarhi had asked him. He knew Miraluka were uncommon and knowledge of force sight was obscure but, this was funny. "I suppose in a manner of speaking I see through your clothes... Might sight is, unique. I can see the lightsaber on your belt or what you place in the fold of your robes. I can tell you what the owner is doing over at the bar behind me." Airus explained.

"But I also don't perceive body as more than outline I suppose, instead you are... An aura as my people call it, your emotions form colors and patterns. I could quite literally see how nervous you were, never mind feeling it through my own ability as an Empath, speaking of which. You are one too, aren't you?" He smiled at Miarhi a bit more like a proud teacher looking to a pupil. "I'm an Empath as well, bit of telepathy as well." He chuckled.

"As for my record... Well, I suppose the High Council made their choice on what they believe happened on Dantooine. However, I'm glad Master Turus was overruled on his thoughts" He frowned at that, sitting back as he turned his head towards the door. "And yes, I know what that grump of a Master thinks." He turned giving her a slightly sly grin as he added in the lower tone. "The Librarians are a rather fond of gossip, I don't just have good sight I have good hearing as well." He answered, letting her know that their had been some strife in whether Miarhi should be assigned to him.

Airus pause then groaned a moment. "Sorry, I forget myself I shouldn't speak badly of Master Turus... It's just... Master Turus only had me as a Padawan after that incident on Dantooine that denied my promotion, and spending my life in a library as much as enjoy it, is not the place for a Jedi to do their work." He added a bit annoyed.

"Oh I can guess what you got up too. I was a student not to long ago, let me guess pretty faces and feeling their emotions makes you want to connect to them, or perhaps do more than just be compassionate?" He added with a rather knowing tone. "I had another empath to train me when I was young, but I felt it too... It's hard to resist but you shouldn't lose it." He explained calmly.

"Jedi have a duty to compassion, kindness, understanding, and decency to even our enemies. Those of us gifted as Empaths, we have to set that example, you can feel another persons emotions and with those you connect to feel them even over distance. However, the moment you put one person above others to try and make their feelings better you have to consider how that affects you can help others in the future." He explained, not lecturing but speaking from what he knew from his time traveling.

"I've met grateful people who wanted something more than my compassion, I didn't give it. I won't hold you to this standard nor will I report you if something happens, I expect you to handle yourself." He spoke with a bit of authority then softened.

"You are a Jedi Padawan now, a Knight of the Republic in the making. I am going not going to treat you just as much as my student and friend, just as my Master did me. Any wrongdoing you do, I will take responsibility for and any trouble you cause or get into is my fault. You are the Padawan, you're only duty is to learn and if I cannot teach you enough to make you a Jedi, that is my failing not yours." Airus answered giving another friendly smile.

"But I am happy to have you Miarhi Gako, you will make a fine student. One I hope to see surpass me one day as a talent Jedi Knight." He spoke feel how truly happy he was to have a student and one who he could show his own talents to and share those skills with her.

Lannik Dig Site, Imperial Camp

Director's Post

Director Lyon Vargo sat behind his desk, a portly man with a pair of thick rimmed glasses. He was a well read man who had spent most of his time teaching rather than in the field. Those who can't and such, however Vargo was determined to prove he could in fact work in the field, he ached for advancement. He did not want to spend forever teaching, instead he had hoped to prove himself here at Lannik by making progress on where to dig faster than the Republic and earning himself a nice promotion. Perhaps even retire in a decade or two, he had severally under estimated the Republic.

He assumed the Coruscant University team would be mostly students and labors with a handful of personal. Instead he contended with several experts with a greater understanding of the Sith Wars and Jedi civil war than he had imagined. The Core team of Doctor Zaniah Kane had brought with her had been outpacing them as every attempt they had made been slowed by the Lannik's unwillingness to risk the destruction of more of the landscape than necessary.

Two months into the survey process he had half the data on the landscape that the Republic did, he had more qualified geologists but they had not studied alien mineral or common building materials of the time periods the fortress was from. He had less data and his experts to longer to process it, now the dark haired man grew worried results were expected and while he had assembled a team that could compete with younger fresh faced students and singular professor, what he faced was a veteran team that had dug up items from the Mandalorian Wars to the Jedi Civil war.

With the full funding of the one of the finest universities in the Republic, one that happened to have a good relationship with the Jedi even with Coruscant souring to them. As such, Director Vargo had begun to scheme he'd sent a few of his trusted colleagues to spook some of the younger Republic students and steal the data from the survey sights. That gambit had failed with the arrival of the Jedi giving the students knowledge that anyone dare harm them a Jedi would be along soon to rescue them.

Instead Director Vargo sat worriedly, listening to a friend of his tell him the Sith would be coming to ensure the dig site was on schedule. The director slumped into his chair, nervous with panic making his heart beat faster he needed someone to blame for this failure that wasn't himself if he was going to survive this.