[fieldbox=Ishua Ken, green, solid, 8, book antiqua]
The human soon rose, walking with the Mirialan into his quarters, which were- of course- identical to hers. Passing from the small office in the front where Rusty was recharging and resting, the Jedi Master soon winced as there was an audible pop as he rolled his neck, the droid whirring to life before the Jedi sighed, tapping his dome to tell him to go back to sleep. With the door closed behind him, Ishua removed his lightsaber from his belt, placing it next to his comlink and datapad on his bedside table before turning around and looking at Kana. "Well... I suppose what's mine is yours, for lack of a better term."
Kana nodded absentmindedly, her eyes scanning every detail in the room. Although it truly was identical to hers, it was hard not to stare. Really, she was embarrassed, but she'd be damned if she admitted THAT. Finally, after a brief moment of silence, she unhooked her two light sabers and placed them next to Ishua's. "Crazy day," she muttered under her breath with a sigh. Crazy was more than an understatement.
"You're telling me. It hasn't even been two standard days since we left Ossus for Ithal and suddenly I'm on the Jedi Council, we have a Clone Army, we have a Sith defect, and Force knows what else. The only thing that's stayed constant is Kuno's obsession with machinery." He then began to stretch, yawning loudly as a few tired joints popped before he looked back at the green-skinned woman. "Still, I suppose there have been crazier days in the history of the galaxy."
Kana chuckled at the mention of Kuno. It had taken her many months to trust the ex-Sith. Now, she was glad to have him around, along with his padawan. She shook her head when she saw Ishua yawn, followed by the loud pops of his joints. "You look exhausted," she said quietly, sitting on his bed before her legs gave out.
"Well, it's not like fighting a bunch of Sith and Black Knights is easy, especially since I doubt this lightsaber scar is ever going away." Ishua pointed at his chest, where he still had a multitude of bandages wrapped about his torso. "Besides, I always feel super stiff whenever I come out of a bacta tube. Sure, it's a nice place to take a nap but that doesn't mean the harness doesn't keep you stiff as starch." The Jedi then removed his boots, setting them next to his tan cloak that he had made with the new robes he was wearing.
Kana bit her lip when he mentioned his wounds. She had almost forgotten about them, between her master's funeral and everything else. Guilt twisted inside her, wishing she could have been there. She might have been able to help. "Does it hurt?" she asked quietly, her fingers working at the bed sheet's loose threads. It was a nervous gesture, but she couldn't help it. So much had happened in the past two days, her mind couldn't process it. She still had yet to fully realize that she had confessed her feelings to the man standing only a few feet away.
"Not really- although I will need to keep some bandages on it for a while. Other than that, given that lightsabers cauterize what they cut, the pain could've been way worse if I didn't black out." He then removed his socks and his top, exposing his black undershirt as he folded the top and set it aside where it could quickly be cleaned in the scrubber later. Either way, the Jedi yawned once more, grabbing his datapad and turning it on as he sat next to his new significant other, browsing casually through various documents while his focus was kept primarily on Kana.
"You still got injured," Kana mumbled, trying not to focus on the fact that Ishua was just in his undershirt. "I should have been there." She was nothing if not protective, especially over the people she cared about. Letting out a breath, she untied her own boots, her body catching up with the exertion of the past two days. She was sore and exhausted; but, at the same time, adrenaline was keeping her wide awake. She didn't know how she was going to sleep being in the same room as him. The whole thing had yet to catch up with her, and she had a fleeting premonition that she would very much regret her decision in the morning. Still, in that moment, she could barely keep her breaths steady. Damn it all.
"You were doing your job and I was doing mine- you were exactly where you needed to be." Ishua yawned once more, standing up again and excusing himself, going into his bathroom, coming out wearing some pajama bottoms and a fresh set of bandages wrapped around his chest, sliding into the bed and picking up his datapad once more, rolling his shoulders before speaking up again. "Feel free to shower or do what have you- like I said earlier, what's mine is yours."
Kana pursed her lips but refrained from saying anything else. Ishua was nothing if not stubborn about his philosophies, and the same could be said of her. The important part was that he was alive and breathing. At the mention of a shower, she suddenly realized that she must look an absolute mess. She'd been in the training hall for at least a few hours, even though it had felt shorter than that. Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment, but she simply nodded and disappeared inside the bathroom.
She was right; she looked like shit. The circles under her eyes were so dark they looked like new tattoos, and she probably looked ten years older. Turning on the faucet, Kana peeled off her sweaty robes and stepped under the hot water with a sigh. Damn, she had needed this.
By the time she was done, she felt a bit of the weight lifted off her shoulders--along with all the dirt and grime from the past two days. She even looked more like her age again, though there was still an undeniable weariness to her features. The dark circles seemed even more prominent without dirt to blend them in, and she knew it wasn't just caused by sleep deprivation.
Kana put enough clothes on to be decent, trying to ignore the fact that she had never been so exposed with someone in her life. She slipped under the sheets of Ishua's bed without a word, both embarrassed and exhausted. Kana could only mumble a few parting words before she was fast asleep.
Ishua, having already fallen asleep when she entered the bed, was the first to awake. Finding that his arm was laid across the woman, he slowly slid out of the bed, dressing in his now clean clothes and attaching his lightsaber to his belt before putting on a tan, traditionally-styled Jedi cloak atop of his new robes. He soon slipped his datapad in a pocket inside his cloak before strapping his comlink to his wrist powering it on. Seeing that he had everything he needed, he near-tiptoed his way out of the room, gently kissing Kana's cheeck before he did so.
Entering his office, he tapped on Rusty's dome, the droid complaining about having to wake up as they subsequently made their way to the bridge.
As soon as all the Jedi and some of the senior staff personnel (including the Queen of Naboo) were gathered by the briefing console on the bridge, with Rusty connecting his scomp link to the console in order to access the secure line where the Galactic Command would be conversing. Which in a few clicks and rotations, a handful of hologarms soon appeared around the console, including Mandalore and Ishua's former master. Mandalore started the conversation.
"Looks like everyone's here- we'd best get started and keep it brief, then.
"Since we've stirred up the mynock's nest yesterday and blew half of their ships out of orbit, we'd be foolish to think that the Sith aren't going to mobilize as soon as possible. Right now, the Sith currently have seven active numbered fleets. There are also the eigth and ninth that are comprised of reserve soldiers, but it is highly unlikely that these won't be an issue until the Sith see us as more of a threat, as a military as opposed to a bunch of terrorist cells.
"For now, it's obvious that Naboo is going to take some heat. In order to make up for this...."
This continued on fo some time as the various individuals debated multiple strategic and tactical options, but after a good half hour of discussion, Mandalore spoke after concluding their business.
"Very well, you know what to do. Contact us as soon as you touch down on Felucia and we'll send what other ships we could assemble your way."
"I understand. However, how certain are we that the government is going to trust us? Given how fast they could scramble all of those Victory-class Star Destroyers, we could be in trouble if there are Confederate sympathizers."
"We've got you covered, General Ken." The miraluka delegate spoke up, his vesitgial eyesockets covered by a mask for Alpheridies' planetary military officers. "We have some sabateours in the Kessel System ready to detonate mass charges in the mining asteroids."
"Wait a minute!" The shrill soprano of the ambassador from New Alderaan was audible, the planetary government putting on the facade of being a neutral world in the conflict for the time being. "Are you sure that is a good idea? If we detonate those asteroids it could be a duplicate of what happened at Peragus II at the beginning of the Dark Wars."
The miraluka was silent for a moment, then spoke up as he shared information on the explosives. "We've taken that into account ambassador- the placement of these will cripple Kessel's mining capabilities, forcing them to limit their starfighter and weapons operations. After all, since most commercial starships don't need the mixture of solid and liquid fuel like shuttles and starfighters, they wouldn't consider it. However, the current models in the Victory-class ships require large amounts of Kesselian fuel for the maxium efficiency of their hyperdrives. As such, the enemy's ship will only be able to a small hop in hyperspace, nothing hat should let them get to Felucia without giving us time to get you out of there."
With that, the hologram of Mandalore looked about, popping his neck before speaking up. "Very well. However, despite it being of use to the enemy, we also have allied systems who rely on that fuel. If we end up relying on Hutt fuel we could cripple what resources we have, ourselves. Be careful. Other than that, we need to get on our respective missions. May the Force be with us all."
And with that, the astromech droid mad a miscellany of nonsensical noises, directing Ishua's attention to one of the clones at one of the communications consoles.
"General, the Confederacy is sending out a galaxy-wide message. Do you want to view it?"
The Jedi looked to the clone who was manning the primary communication console, nodding as he spoke up. "Put it on the main viewing screen, trooper."
Soon enough, on the main screen, an image of a well-dressed, red-skinned Twi'lek appeared. Sitting at a news desk, many could recognize the woman as Janna Untro, one of the vice ministers of information that was responsible for both propaganda and statistics. The audio was a bit on the static side, but the message was clear as the sultry alto played through thr bridge's speakers. "Good morning, citizens of the Confederacy. It is with great sadness that I must profess that a rogue cell of intergalactic terrorists calling themselves 'The Enlightenment' have teamed with the remnants of the the evil Jedi that His Excellence, Master Magus, worked so hard to clear to rid from our galaxy. Any citizen of the Confederacy who comes forward with information ro help expose the enemies of the Confederacy will be rewarded with a minimum five thousand credits. His Excellence has also instated an open bounty on all Jedi, requiring that a Jedi's robe, lightsaber, and a blood sample be brought as truth. Each bountry collected on Jedi will be a minimum of ten million credits. For the safety of our citizens, many non-government transports to the Outer Rim have been banned by an emergency act passed by the emergency Assembly session late last night. In accordance with this act, all transports and traders will need for file for special temporary permits to operate in the Outer Rim until further notice. Begininng tomorrow, some planets will be subject to a blockade as top military officials have reported that they will be adding additional checkpoints in planetary orbits and on the ground until further notice and assures us that the inconvenience will only be temporary. Remember, the Jedi are a threat to our way of life and our security. They are dangerous and should not be taken lightly. All of the Domini have been given special instruction, so it is unlikely that each planet will be subject to the same effects. I am Janna Untro, Vice Minister of the Information Bureau, wishing you a wonderful day. All hail the Sith."
As soon as the transmission was over, the Jedi Master couldn't help but stifle a chuckle. "Well, that's one thing to feed to the masses, downplaying us already." After chuckling openly for a moment, the Jedi Master regained his composure, looking to the bridge officers. "Are we prepared for the hyperspace jump to Felucia?"
"Just say the word, General."
The Jedi nodded, walking forward and looking out of the main window. "Jump when ready."
"Aye, General! Beginning the jump now..."
The ship lurched forward, the Soujorn jumping to the next available hyperspace lane that wasn't actively monitored by Sith patrol friagates. As the stars jumped by in white streaks as the ship came to a calm, Ishua exhaled loudly, popping his neck as he turned back to the other Jedi and officers. "According to the navicomputer, we should be in hyperspace for roughly three hours until we reach Felucia. When all is said and done, I'd like to see you all back here when we exit hyperspace so we can go over the particulars."
[/fieldbox]
