A lot had happened to Ace Lancer and his friends in the last year.  After they had rescued the four Force adepts from Nal Hutta and Kessel they had had to expand the Rebel cell's base on Roon.  The whole cell had helped to build out the third floor of the building they had been using for the base to house the Force adepts and to use for their training.  The roof had also been adapted to use as a training area.  The cell's commanding officer, Captain Kiel Sunka had assigned Ace, as the executive officer, to be in charge of the Force adepts; partially to give Ace more responsibility, and partially because he had no idea what to do with the adepts.  This had led to everyone, including Ace, to call the Force adepts his apprentices, and they had started calling Ace master.

Some other things had changed as well.  Timm Dakas and Mrrorrg had left the cell and gone off to be bounty hunters on Nar Shaddaa, hunting down old Imperials.  They kept in contact occasionally, but they were pretty busy with their new work.

As Ace had trained the four apprentices, he had started to notice their strengths and weaknesses.  First of all, as a result of having grown up so close together, they had developed a level of telepathy that allowed them to communicate with each other without anyone else being able to hear them.  Ace had learned how to "listen in" on these conversations, but so far he had not figured out how to contribute to the discussion.

Ace had found that Aris Lyseck was acrobatic and good at combat.  He had noticed that Tashor Sprull was good at combat and at affecting minds.  Camber Manak was a skilled pilot, with her piloting skills being guided by the Force.  She was also a good diplomat, often solving arguments between her brother, Tashor, and Aris or Filup.  Ace had found Filup Paykus to be a good healer, but he wasn't sure what else he was capable of.

Currently Ace was on the roof with the four apprentices, having Aris and Tashor spar with their Kathracite crystal lightsabers.  Aris tumbled past Tashor to attack him from behind, but Tashor made a deft parry.  He riposted, but Aris had anticipated the blow and already moved out of the way.  However, Tashor's follow-up strike hit home, charring Aris' sleeve and the top layer of skin on his tricep, eliciting a grunt from Aris.  "Your acrobatic tricks don't fool me," Tashor taunted.  Each of the apprentices had their lightsabers angled forward slightly in a defensive posture.

OOC: Any action on Ace's part?
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:42, Mon 09 July 2018.

"Taunts are the province of the dark-side," Ace warned.  "Its purpose is to stoke rage in others."

"Yes that was my purpose," Tashor muttered under his breath.  But he let a shudder run through his body that put it in a more relaxed position. Aris still reacted first, flipping over Tashor and called upon the Force to strike more powerfully at Tashor from behind again.  This time Tashor was not quick enough to turn in time to block the blow, and the momentum of the blow nearly knocked Tashor over.

Tashor's face turned into a snarl, and Ace could feel him getting frustrated, the darkness welling up inside of him; could tell that he was getting ready to unleash it.

"Enough!" Ace commanded, sternly.  "Stand down, everyone!"

Both Aris and Tashor seemed surprised by the command, but Aris immediately deactivated his lightsaber and stood up straight.  Tashor huffed for a few breaths, keeping his lightsaber lit and in a forward slanting position.  Then he seemed to calm himself and deactivated his lightsaber.

To break the tension that still seemed to be lingering, Camber spoke up.  "Master Lancer, could Filup and I spar?"

"No," Ace sighed, feeling overwhelmed.

Camber's head and shoulders slumped.  "Okay," she said dejectedly, clearly disappointed.

"It wouldn't have mattered," Tashor spoke up.  "We all know you would have whooped Filup.  Any of us would have; he's useless."

Filup didn't say anything, but he hung his head and fiddled with his lightsaber clip.

"Tashor, he is not useless!" Camber said defensively.

"I only mean useless in combat," Tashor said only slightly apologetically.  "He's great at fixing us up after combat."

"Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses.  No one should be shamed for being weak where another is strong."

"Yes Master Lancer," conceded Tashor, hanging his head.  Tashor, Camber, and Aris slowly walked to the stairs that led back down into the rest of the base.  Filup hadn't moved, his head still hung, and he was balling and unballing his fists.

Ace walked over to Filup and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Do not let the views of others determine your self-worth."

Filup seemed to shake himself out of a reverie with Ace's words.  "Yes, master," he said sullenly.  He headed towards the stairwell door with his head still down, but more in thought than in any particular emotion.  As the words seemed to sink in, Ace could visibly notice Filup's walk becoming lighter, his head higher.  By the time he reached the door to the stairwell leading down to the base proper, Filup turned around, smiled at Ace, waved and said "Thanks again, master!" before heading down.

OOC: Does Ace want to do anything in particular during the remainder of the evening?
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:56, Mon 24 June 2019.

Nope.

Ace fell asleep quickly that night, the mental and emotional strain of trying to train four apprentices who were really not all that much younger than himself wearing him out.

Ace's sleep was peaceful, but it didn't last for long.  Early in the morning, before dawn, Ace and Kam were awoken to a knocking--really more of a pounding on their door.  Kam was more quick to get up, perhaps as a doctor more used to be awoken from a dead sleep to immediately be called to action.  She answered the door and Ace could see Aris there, his face lined with worry.  Just behind him was Camber nearly in tears.  Tashor had his arm around Camber, but he looked more inconvenienced than concerned.  Aris spoke past Kam to Ace: "Filup is gone.  He's not in his bed, and we can't find him anywhere."

"Spread out, use the Force to help you find him."  Ace said.  Ace drew upon the Force to try to determine where his wayward apprentice might be.

OOC Sense Force Check: 4+15=19

Ace sensed Filup about a kilometer west of the base.

"To the west!" Ace told the others as they began to run off.  "About a kilometer!"

After starting to head off in different directions after Ace told them to spread out, the apprentices changed direction and headed to the turbolift quickly.  Kam also followed sleepily.  As soon as the turbolift reached the main floor, everyone headed for the west exit.  After getting out the door, they could just make out a dust cloud in the distance.

OOC: Make a Perception check.

OOC 16+13=29

Ace squinted in the early morning light and could just make out a large bipedal creature running toward them at a sprint; the seeming cause of the dust cloud.  Atop the animal rode Filup!

OOC: Any comments.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:43, Mon 24 June 2019.

"He's riding an animal.  We'll need to take a speeder."

"I don't think so, master," Aris replied.  "He's riding toward us."

As Filup and his mount got closer, the creature started to slow and came to a full stop only a few meters away. 

"Master, I found another one of my strengths.  I get along well with animals!" Filup said excitedly.  "That's useful, right?" he asked longingly.

"Of course," Ace replied as enthusiastically as he could considering how cold and tired he was.  He tried to make out the animal in the morning shadows.

Having been on Roon for as long as he had, Ace easily recognized the beast as a rockhopper (https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Rockhopper).  The locals used them in their Colonial Games as racing mounts.  Ace noticed that besides its strong back legs, which told of its speed capabilities, that it also had a strong jaw filled with sharp teeth.

"We can keep it, right?" Filup asked as he dismounted and led the animal closer.

"That depends on if it has an owner," Ace replied.  "If it's wild it might be best if you could convince it to simply stay nearby.  Unless you know how to care for it already?"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:28, Wed 22 Apr 2020.

"He doesn't belong to anybody," Filup said.  "I found him in the wild, with no markings or identification."  He stroked the side of the beast's head.  "I just started talking to him and he took to me."  Filup turned back around.  "I know I can take care of him.  And I can convince him to stay nearby."

OOC: Any other comments before I move on?

"Until we're sure it's safe around the others it should stay outside," Ace explained.

"That's fine," Filup agreed.

Tashor rolled his eyes and asked "Can we go back inside now?"

Ace nodded and ushered them back inside.

As the group started to head in, Jaakub was already at the door, heading in himself.  "You guys got an early start this morning."

"And apparently so did you," Tashor pointed out.  "From where are you coming?"

"From being out," Jaakub answered vaguely, and then went inside.

As everyone else headed in they were all stopped by Kiel.  "Sorry everyone, but there won't be any going back to bed.  Everyone get cleaned up and meet in the briefing room.  We've got a mission."

OOC: Any comments, actions before the briefing?

As the students walked off Ace stayed back and gave a concerned look at Kiel.

"What's going on?"

"Well, I'll give full details in the briefing, but do you remember that Mon Cal we saved a few years ago, Ackbar?" When Ace nodded that he did, Kiel continued.  "You probably also know that he was made the head admiral of the Rebellion before the Battle of Endor.  Well, he and his flagship are stuck in space with a dead hyperdrive and they need our help to protect them until they can finish repairs."

"Should be simple enough," Ace replied.  "But you think maybe it could be sabotage, or a trap?"

"I don't think it's either," Kiel replied.  "But I think there may end up being more trouble than anticipated."

Ace nodded then headed back to his room.

When everyone had gathered in the briefing room, Kiel fired up the holoprojector.  It showed an image of a majestic Mon Cal Cruiser.

"I just received a comm from our old friend Admiral Ackbar.  His ship, Home One--the Rebellion's flagship--is undergoing an emergency refit of its hyperdrive in the Senex sector, and it's vulnerable until its main engines are repaired.  That in and of itself wouldn't be too much concern, but an Imperial scout ship stumbled onto the fleet about an hour ago, and Ackbar is now expecting an Imperial task group to be on its way.  Ackbar has asked that we use all available resources to come to their aid."

"Why us?" Jaakub asked, sounding very tired.

"We're the closest available group." Kiel answered.

"We're not really that close," Jocif pointed out.

"I know.  That just shows how tied up the rest of the fleet is maintaining peace and establishing the New Republic." Kiel countered.  "Any other questions?"

"We're providing starship support then?" Ace clarified.

"That will be our major role, yes," Kiel confirmed.  "We'll bring along Tal-Mij as well to see if he can't help speed up repairs.  If there are no more questions, I'll see everyone aboard the Rain in one hour.  Danns will dock their X-wings with the Rain before we jump to hyperspace."

OOC: Any specific actions Ace wants to take in the next hour?

Ace nodded in acknowledgement and then headed back to his room to meditate for half an hour.

Ace emerged from his meditation refreshed and with plenty of time to make it downstairs to the Rain.

When he reached the hangar, Ace saw Jaakub doing final checks on his X-wing.  Jocif was nearby and Jaakub asked him, "When was the last time you tuned up your fusial thrust engines?"

"Recently," Jocif replied non-chalantly.  "Kate keeps it in good shape, don't you girl?"  Jocif's R2 unit tootled from underneath the X-wing.

"Considering that you keep your R2 unit about as maintained as your X-wing, I don't believe that."  He paused for a moment, before asking "What do you have your laser cannons set to?"

"Dual fire," Jocif answered.

"There's probably going to be a lot of eyeballs and squints to protect Home One from.  You should set to single fire."  Jaakub commented.

"Why are you so grumpy lately?" Jocif asked.

"I'm not," Jaakub answered succinctly.

OOC: Any comments?

"We're your friends, Jaakub, what's going on?" Ace cajoled, his depression temporarily assuaged by his communing with the Force.

OOC 20+15=35 Persuasion check.

At Ace's stated insight, Jocif's stance changed to be less defensive and more sympathetic to his brother, his face softening.

Jaakub sighed.  "I'm just tired, that's all," he replied.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Ace asked.  "Perhaps take some work burden off of you?"

"No," Jaakub replied shortly.  "This trip will take long enough for me to catch up on sleep."

The four young apprentices exited the turbolift together.  The excitement from each of them about this mission was palpable, even if Ace wasn't sensitive to the Force.

As they walked across the hangar, Jocif called out "Hi Camber!"

Camber turned her head and awkwardly replied, "Oh, uh, hi Jocif."

OOC: Any further comments?

"Apprentices," Ace called them over.  "Your energy is commendable, but don't forget to focus it onto the mission.  Don't get distracted, don't get trigger happy."

"You got it Master," Filup spoke up first, still upbeat about getting to keep the rockhopper.

"Of course," Camber replied, innocently confused about why they would do anything else.

Tashor simply nodded with a neutral expression, his arms folded across his chest.

"Don't worry Master," Aris assured him.  "We will do whatever is necessary."

The rest of the preparation went smoothly.  Soon Ace was piloting the Rain into orbit with Camber in the co-pilot's position and the Danns in their X-wings close behind.  Once outside of the atmosphere of Roon, the Danns docked their X-wings and joined the rest of the team on the Rain.  Ace made his way through the Cloak of the Sith, a difficult, but familiar exercise at this point.  Once the ship was safely in the swirling embrace of hyperspace on its way to the rendezvous in the Senex sector, Ace and Camber joined the rest of the team in the lounge area.

True to his word, Jaakub headed straight for a bunk to catch up on sleep.  Jocif invited Filup to a game of dejarik.  "Sure," Filup accepted.

OOC: What does Ace do during the journey?

Ace decided it would be best to achieve inner focus before the upcoming battle and retired to his cabin to meditate.

OOC: Continued in thread "Protecting Home One".