[center] [h1][color=fff79a]Merak Shenly[/color][/h1] [hr] [b]Location:[/b] The Krayt Fang, somewhere in hyperspace [b]Interacting with:[/b] [@Delta44]'s Aether and [@DirtyDingo]'s Alessia [hr] [/center] Merak was never more relaxed than when travelling through space or hyperspace, even if he knew there might be a gigantic shitstorm waiting for them on the other side once they hit their target destination. The Krayt Fang was speeding towards Dantooine, once a pivotal planet to the Jedi Order (or so Luthor had told him) that had since been pillaged and defiled after the Mandalorians bombed the resident Jedi enclave and dropped their own troops onto the ground for hostile take over. The peaceful farming planet had now become a pivotal outpost for their enemies, and if their trio could successfully wrest control of the former enclave ('from their cold, dead hands, if necessary') from the Mandalorians, it would be a step in the right direction towards reclaiming the galaxy for themselves and driving the tyrants back into the far reaches of space that they had come out of. Beside him in the co-pilot's seat sat Alessia, a younger member of Master Antilles' hodge-podge assembly of Force users, though her age certainly didn't mean he thought any less of her. In fact, Merak rather enjoyed being in Alessia's company, as he could appreciate her eagerness to soak up information regarding anything technological; the Mirialan simply couldn't help himself and jumped at the chance to show off his skills and teach her a thing or two about piloting. Alessia admitted to spending a fair bit of time in Valkaina's simulation rooms but was quick to admonish that she had very little [i]practical[/i] piloting experience. There was no better way, Merak had told her, to learn than by jumping in at the deep end. He had begun by explaining the basic controls to her and allowing her to get a feel for the movements in her own time, while maintaining that he would be steering the ship himself mostly until she was more confident. He had lied, of course, and had been sitting with his hands crossed behind his head for the past few hours of their travel time. Alessia apparently hadn't noticed, which was just as well or she might have panicked. The joke had gotten old by now, though, and Merak thought it was about time he told her since they would be dropping out of hyperspace soon. [color=fff79a]"See? Not so hard, is it? Actually, you've been steering all on your own for the past..."[/color] he checked the chronometer on the front of the panel, [color=fff79a]"....three hours, so you really are a pretty good pilot, for someone who's never flown otuside of a sim room before. Now don't you start freaking out cause if you damage this ship we won't be friends anymore!"[/color] She didn't seem to respond to his teasing, however, lost in her own thoughts. A series of angry clicks, whirrs and 'bloops' sounded from the hallway behind them that led into the rest of the ship, the small KM1 droid peering through the opening and apparently displeased to find that sole control of their vessel had been surrendered to someone so inexperienced. Chuckling softly, Merak waved the droid away. [color=fff79a]"Relax, buddy, it's not like she's gonna crash into anything in the middle of hyperspace."[/color] Regardless, Merak sat forward again and pulled his control cluster back into his hands as the navcomputer blipped softly to announce the drop, with another slightly rattling hum that made the Mirialan pilot wince sympathetically, the hyperdrive powered down and the planet of Dantooine winked into view. [color=fff79a]"Hey Clanker, why don't you go tweak the systems, make sure we've still got cloaking. We're gonna need it if we want to get down to the ground without being shout out of the sky."[/color] the droid beeped in confirmation, its bolts squeaking as it shuffled down towards the engine room. Merak's attention, meanwhile, would be drawn to the second voice that spoke as they approached Dantooine. [color=cyan]"Could you... please fill me in on what we're about to be running into? I cannot get the machine here to tell me what I need to know..."[/color] With a devlish grin, Merak twisted in his seat to look over his shoulder at the other Mirialan behind him. [color=fff79a]"Maybe they'd like ya better if you weren't such a technophobe, Aether,"[/color] he teased good-naturedly, [color=fff79a]"Machines can sense fear, you know."[/color] that was, of course, complete bullshit as well, but Merak enjoyed messing with the fellow Mirialan. Not just because they were total opposites and she seemed to repel technology, but that in a roundabout way he liked to remind them that he was still useful to them. Being one of the only people in their group who was [i]not[/i] Force sensitive was certainly very inimidating for Merak. While he held the Jedi in high regard, and he could respect their deep spiritual beliefs and tried to follow them the best he could, he had to admit that all this Force malarchy scared the crap out of him and he would never understand it. Thus, he enjoyed poking fun at Aether's aversion to the practical things he did understand, much like he was sure she laughed at him for not being able to grasp the simple spiritual things she relied upon on a daily basis. Glancing sideways at Alessia, he questioned. [color=fff79a]"You wanna remind her while I get us in to land? This is gonna be trickier because we're trying to go in on stealth, I'll show you how it works some other time."[/color]