Roller Coaster
The stars were everywhere. He knew that for a fact. His eyes were closed, his body surrounded by durasteel on each side, his mind lost in the folds of the Force, but he still knew that he was surrounded by the stars. It was one of the only constants in the life of a Jedi, even a padawan. He could count the constants in his life on one hand… His master, the Force, and the stars. He took a deep breath, though he wasn't aware of it. Not even a little. He was connected now, a part of the living Force, and he heard everything. He heard the living Force speaking to him.
Hell, he heard everything speaking to him. He heard the jangled mess of all the crew, the annoyance, the happiness, the anger, all coming through to him in vibrant emotions through the Force, going through him like concussive blasts. One 'blast' suddenly hit him hard, coming from a rodian on level three… His girlfriend was leaving him, and he was not happy. He grunted, as the rodian felt angrier and angrier as he spoke through the hologram. The padawan felt the wave, the anger blossom forth, his teeth gnashing forth.
Cut it off. Came the sudden voice, but the padawan couldn't hear him, not anymore. The anger, to him at least, felt strange and foreign to the touch. He reached out with the force to inspect it more, only to recoil back in pain. The rodian's anger was… prickly.
Cut it off. Maudo, cut it off. It's just anger. The voice was much more insistent, and Maudo's eyebrows furrowed. Who was that again? Oh right, it was his master. The door to his left suddenly opened.
"Maudo, talk to me." Was all the man said. The apprentice's eyes flew open, and he turned to his master.
"Anger is always… So bizarre." He admitted, and stood up with only minor difficulty.
"And yet it comes so naturally to everyone except you."
"Is that a bad thing?"
"Not necessarily. It just makes you a… Strange case."
"How so?" He walked with his master, arms behind his back. His hood was down, revealing his short, black hair. His nose was long, tapering off in a sort of eagle beak. Not surprisingly, it was quite the conversation starter. His master, a Zabrak from Tattooine, Eran Tora, cut quite an imposing figure. He stood at easily over 6 feet tall, massive muscles bulging under his robes. His horns were long and well groomed, and his hair dangled in a long and graceful pony tail. He stood several feet over Maudo.
"Shouldn't Jedi have no emotion?" Maudo asked, looking up at his master.
"Jedi are luminous beings, like every master will tell you, but we are actually physical beings with luminous minds. Maudo, you are an organic being, last time I checked, and that pretty much implies some sort of emotion." His master answered.
"Sorry to be a dissapointment."
"Don't be pouty, I invented pouty."
Maudo gave a small smirk. "Forgive me master. Where are we going?"
"To the bridge. The captain wants to speak to us."
"Why? Drinks and Zeltrons?" Eran didn't even dignify that with a response. Before Maudo knew it, they were already at the blast door to the bridge. It opened with a whoosh and they walked inside. Maudo found himself staring around, watching the people milling about like ants. Everyone had a job to do it seemed, everyone having a purpose. Unconsciously, Mauto tried again to reach out with the force, and what he found surprised him. Some of the men weren't… Thinking. At least not about their jobs. Perhaps they were distracted? He decided to search again, and finally made a connection; as he looked at a younger, newer officer and felt his passion for the job he was given. Almost all of his efforts and concentration were focused on that keyboard he was tapping away at, while the much older commander Maudo was walking towards was spending his mental faculties looking at the stars.
Maudo rose an eyebrow, wondering if all old people were just lazy or if they were so familiar with their jobs that they didn't need to focus. He tried to focus more, only to feel his master's hand on his shoulder, like a calming wind blowing away the muddle of his thoughts.
"It's rude to read someone's feelings like that." Eran scolded.
Maudo only nodded, deciding to focus on the head honcho alone. Maudo realized with a start that the conversation had already started, and he had allowed himself to drift off. He cleared his throat apologetically, and listened.
"Master Tora, we're going to come out of hyperspace pretty soon. The supplies for your little mercy mission are still in the cargo bay, as well as the speeders. We'll drop you off on Dantooine, send a couple soldiers with you, then let you get on your merry way right?" He explained to Eran, who only nodded every so often.
"Sounds good to me." He reasoned, giving a small shrug of his shoulders. The plan certainly hadn't changed in the last three hours they spent in hyperspace.
Speaking of Hyperspace, a younger pilot spoke up.
"Captain, we're coming up on Dantooine."
"Perfect. Go ahead and pull us out real close. We're on the clock here." He warned, and Erak gripped Maudo's shoulder.
Cargo Bay. And Maudo nodded. He understood his master' intention perfectly, as he turned on his heel and walked across the bridge to the door without so much as a word spoken to everyone. Erak gave a small, sheepish grin when he turned to the captain.
"He uh… He's not the best at conversation." He lied, before walking out with him.
They hit an elevator, and went straight down as the crew hit the breaks. The ship came out of hyperspace as Maudo and his master started loading crates onto the transport, affectionately called "the Mule" by the crew. Maudo was lifting two or three boxes at a time and stacking them impeccably. He certainly didn't want to damage the food.
"Good. Try 5 boxes." Erak ordered, and Maudo nodded, taking his time as 5 suitcase sized crates were lifted, and he slowly moved them to make up the newest row, setting them down one at a time. Erak nodded, satisfied.
"Telekinesis is getting better."
"I prefer telepathy." Maudo almost pouted.
"Telepathy doesn't control things for defense. You rely too much on your own body for reactions." Erak scolded.
"Says the body builder."
"Don't argue with me."
"It's true."
Erak sighed, and looked at his apprentice.
"It is true, but I use telekinesis to augment my strength. That's the difference. Sure, you can read minds and guess what people are going to do next, but it doesn't help to know a speeder's coming if you can't find a way to stop it."
Maudo was silent as he contemplated this. He then lifted 6 boxes, and carefully moved them into place.
"Well done." Came his master's voice, and he gave an approving nod. Under Erak's supervision, the food was loaded into one transport, while clothes and miscellaneous supplies were loaded (much more quickly) by a few soldiers into two other transports.
"Dropping down on the planet's surface in 5." Squealed the captain's voice over the intercom, and Maudo entered their little transport. His hands reached for the controls, but Erak beat him to it, giving his apprentice a knowing little smirk.
"Not after last time." He chastised, and booted up the transport.
With practiced hands, the ship was floating in place, and when the order was given, he hit the throttle and shot through the one-way ray shield like a blaster bolt as he flew down to the planet's surface. Erak didn't need to look back to tell what maudo was doing, for he could already sense a tranquility coming from his apprentice. No doubt, he was looking at the stars as the three transports fell to Dantooine to help out the populace.