AN: here is chapter 3
Disclaimer: I only own my OC's
(Chapter 3 What Lies Ahead)
Micah and Rohkea were glad that Aaron had changed the subject and decided to finish the tour after leaving the bridge; they lead them to the turbolift and went down to the next deck, "So this deck holds all the storage areas, of course Rohkea and I converted almost all but two of them into something else." Micah said as he led them to the first room, "This room is now the training room." he informed as he opened the dura steel door revealing a large and open space room with training equipment on one side of the room and a sparring arena on the other side.
"Nice." Aaron said voicing his and the others approval.
"Good, I'm glad you like it." Micah said with a smile, "but before we start getting sweaty there is more, follow me." He finished and beckoned them with his hand to the room across the hall "This is the shooting range." he said and just as before opened the doors to reveal another room with a good amount space to at least fit all of them as for the range, was a good distance to practice against moving targets.
Caleb turned to Daniel and Vega, "I know Jedi don't typically use blasters but I think it would be a good idea to at least learn how." he suggested.
"My brother brings up a good point if you would like we can teach you how to use one." Aaron agreed.
Daniel mulled the suggestion over he could see no harm in learning such a skill plus it would allow him to engage hostiles at a distance than there was Vega he didn't have a lightsaber yet and again a blaster did have it's advantages he looked at the rangers "I see no harm in learning how to shoot, I'll take you up on your offer." he told them.
"We can do that later." Micah said "For now let's finish the tour." and proceeded to lead them to the next room "This room was already converted by the previous owner." Micah informed getting the other's attention except Rohkea's who already knew about it.
"Really what is it?" Daniel asked curiously, the chiss answered by opening the door and revealing the rooms contents. Daniel examined the machine before him squinting his eyes as he did so the machine took up a lot of the room's space and had what seemed to be monitors and consoles, as well as what looked to be a work table and some arms "Is that an assembler?" he finally asked.
"That it is, though it's a bit aged it's something we can work around, besides it's still functional." Micah went over to the console and activated it, and like he said the machine somewhat sparked but began working.
"It seems like it could use a tune up and some new components." Caleb observed.
Micah hummed in agreement and nodded "Yes it could but it will do for now, Rohkea and I used it to build a medical droid and it pulled through." he reassured them the company nodded and left it at that "Alright then let's go to the next deck, like I said the last two rooms are for storage so there's really no need to check them out all you really need to know is that one is for food and the one adjacent to this is for metal and scrap."
With that they headed back to the turbolift and went down to the next deck the turbolift doors opened to reveal a room and at its center was a holo table with the galaxy map on it "I call this the Tactical room, from here we can plan out our next moves and from that console over there." he pointed to the console on the wall; "we can send out probe droids to find hyperspace routes as we travel through the unknown regions, that is of course we're unable to negotiate for some maps from the Ascendancy." He explained.
The others nodded impressed.
(My turn now.) Rohkea growled.
Micah nodded "Be my guest." he said and gestured for him to lead
Rohkea lead them to the door on the other side of the room (This is the infirmary.) he said as he opened the door.
When the door opened a medical droid looked at them "Hello are any of you in need of medical attention?" It asked in it's robotic voice, completely devoid of emotion.
"No thank you, Micah and Rohkea are showing us around." Vega answered politely.
"I see, well I shall continue my other duties." the droid said and went back to what it was doing as if it hadn't been interrupted, the room had a simple layout a bio bed, a surgery table, and a bacta tank in the corner.
(Yep that's it for this deck) Rohkea said as he turned around (There's one more deck to see) he growled getting them to follow them.
They got on the turbolift again and it took them to the final deck this time the door's opened to reveal a small room with a window at the other end of it with consoles below the window Rohkea walked up to the consoles and they followed him they looked out the window to reveal an even bigger room in it was a a Delta 7 Aethersprite class Jedi starfighter (When we bought the ship we found one of these being sold, some scavenger must have taken it from a battle so we bought it from them as well.) Rohkea explained upon seeing the bewildered look on everyone's faces aside from Micah who was there when the transaction took place.
The fighter had dark red stripes and the symbol of the jedi order close to the cockpit, when Daniel saw the fighter he thought it was familiar to him at first he thought it was because it was a Jedi fighter but something told him that wasn't it "Wait how are we supposed to get it out of here I don't see an exit?" he asked for the moment ignoring his feelings as he noticed there was no way to get it out.
(You see the wall at the far end?) Rohkea asked rhetorically after receiving a nod he continued (It opens.) he said bluntly.
"Ah." Daniel nodded in understanding.
"Is there any way to know who this belonged to before it wound up in the scavengers hands" Aaron asked his curiosity all felt by the others especially Daniel.
"Unfortunately I couldn't find anything pointing to which Jedi it belonged to." Micah said a wave of disappointment flooded the group at his answer.
"Ah well." Caleb said with a shrug "So who's going to fly it?" he asked looking around.
"I will." Daniel volunteered. "though not now." he said humorously.
"Speaking of which, how long have we been in hyperspace." Aaron asked Micah who was closest to the consoles.
"... About three and half hours we have another... ten hours to go before we reach the edge of known space." he reported.
Aaron nodded "Ok for now let's go get some rest." he suggested everyone nodded with the exception of Daniel who was still looking at the fighter.
"You go on ahead I'll catch up." Daniel said somewhat distracted.
Aaron was a bit worried and he told the others to go on up after they left he turned to Daniel "Are you alright?" he asked concerned for the boy.
"The fighter, it looks familiar." Daniel said ignoring the question.
Aaron looked at the fighter than back at Daniel "How so?" he asked.
Daniel shrugged "I can't say." he said.
Aaron suddenly had an idea "Let's go check it out, alright?" He asked, Daniel nodded and the two took the utility lift down to the hangar floor.
Daniel walked over to the craft looked it over studying it thoroughly he opened the cockpit and climbed in and looked at the interior, and felt the controls after a few minutes of studying the craft he found some writing subtly engraved on the steering wheel, he studied the writing mentally translating it.
After he finished he blinked in surprise and studied it again to make sure he translated it correctly once he made sure, he smiled sadly.
Aaron seemed to notice "What did you find?" he asked.
Daniel looked at him and beckoned him over "I found an engraving on the controls." he said.
Aaron looked at the engraving and found it was in a language he could not read "huh I can't read it." he admitted.
"I can, it reads 'Shelo Fairo' translated to basic it means Star Fire… that was my master's call sign." Daniel said his voice breaking and tears welled up in his eyes as he spoke.
Aaron was inspecting the craft "Really? Wow. What are the odds of that?" he asked rhetorically and looked at Daniel seeing the signs of distress in the boy's face he instantly made the connection; "What was your master like?" He asked hoping not to upset the boy.
A warm smile broke out over Daniel's face "She was an amazing teacher, Jedi and..." he stopped unsure if he should reveal that last detail.
"And…" Aaron gently prodded; "Hey it's okay if you don't want to tell me I understand." Aaron assured and began to stand up.
"Wait!" Daniel exclaimed causing the ranger to stop in his tracks and look at the young man "It's just that she was more than just my master... she was also my mother." Daniel revealed causing Aaron to raise an eyebrow in both confusion and surprise.
"When you say mother do you mean she was literally or figuratively?" Aaron asked confused because as far as he knew, Jedi were not allowed to have such relationships in the literal sense the only notable exception he knew of was Ki Adi Mundi but that was because of his races low male population due to the fact that males have a low birth rate.
Daniel understood his confusion "She was my biological mother." he confirmed; "It's just that..." he suddenly got really uncomfortable "... my conception wasn't willing on her part." he finally admitted and braced himself.
Aaron suddenly felt very awkward, "... I see." He finally said. Aaron noticed the young Jedi's body language "What's the matter?" he asked concerned.
Daniel suddenly became very self conscious and tears rolled down his face "It's just t-that I-I was...hic... the victim of ri-ridicule and I-I'm afraid you'll t-treat me the same w-way." He admitted as sobs racked his body.
Aaron was outraged that someone could treat this boy with any fault for something that he didn't do and gathered the boy up in a hug as he cried in his shoulder, Daniel released all the years of pain in his heart "I would never do that, you hear me?" he soothed the distraught Jedi, only making Daniel cry harder.
In the short time Aaron had known Daniel, he had never seen the young teen break down like this, even when he had the most reason to, after all he did lose his very way of life not to long ago.
After a few minutes Daniel's crying had been reduced to sniffles. "I'm sorry" Daniel said as he pulled away.
Aaron looked at him in confusion "For what?" he asked.
Daniel smiled "For soaking your shirt." he said with a chuckle drawing a chuckle from the Ranger "Actually I'm sorry that I broke down like that." he said when they stopped chuckling.
"Hey, buddy there is nothing wrong with needing to release emotional baggage and I imagine you have a lot given recent events." Aaron consoled while patting the boy on the shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze.
"Thanks." Daniel said exhausted as the two got up and left the Hangar and taking the turbolift to the living quarters to catch a few hours rest.
The next ten hours went by slowly for the crew as they all did some activities to at least pass the time and make it more bearable Caleb took Vega to the shooting range to give him a head start in his marksmanship skills, Micah was on the bridge working out what to say to the Chiss when they entered their territory, Rohkea was in the training room lifting weights, and after Aaron and Daniel took their nap they went to the training room and sparred a bit Aaron teaching Daniel the martial arts he learned from his days as an independent mercenary.
Micah got on the ship's intercom, "Gentlemen, we will be exiting hyperspace in about ten minutes. if I know my people they will find us relatively quickly, just a heads up." he said as he ended the call after a few minutes Rohkea came onto the bridge and took his station.
(You are sure they won't blast us into oblivion?) Rohkea asked the Chiss.
Micah looked at the wookie "I can only hope." he muttered.
(What does that mean?) Rohkea asked dangerously fixing the blue man with a glare, the chiss to his credit met the gaze evenly.
"It means, I don't know, the last ship from this region to come out here was blown to smithereens because they trespassed and the commander of the ship was extremely rude considering he strangled the commander of the taskforce without touching him." He confessed causing Rohkea to raise an eyebrow.
(Force sensitive?) Rohkea asked causing Micah to nod.
"Anyway, Commander Mitth'raw'nuruodo felt it necessary to destroy the ship when its commanding officer refused to cooperate so I think if we just do what they ask we'll be fine." He explained.
(Wonderful.) Rohkea growled sarcastically as they emerged from hyperspace and just like Micah said they didn't have to wait long at the most a few minutes before several ships emerged out of hyperspace Micah gulped when he saw the ships immediately recognizing them (What's the matter?) Rohkea asked nervously.
.
"T-that's Picket Force Two." Micah stuttered nervously desperately trying to calm down after all these were his people he just needed to do what they said and state their business for being in their space.
The console pinged signifying they were being hailed Rohkea opened the channel, and a man's voice came through in a language Rohkea didn't understand "Eban'cehn nah imi cssin's veo ch'ilen vim ch'acan'b ttah en'rcsovsah ch'itt'surt'asi ch'at k'ir cseo csarcican't csapotcah can to bacsa bah veo can'let'ehn." from what Rohkea could understand from the tone it sounded like a command to do something because Micah immediately shut down the engine when the order was given.{Unidentified vessel cut your engines and await further instructions failure to do so will result in the destruction of your ship}
The Voice came back over the comm, "Bun non ber veo csapun sir cssin'rt'ili can csei s rt'isi." {Good now state your reasoning for trespassing in this space}
Micah was extremely nervous if he messed up it would mean the death of everyone on board, he steeled himself and clenched his jaw cleared his throat and responded "I am Mi'ika'akah a fellow Chiss to whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?" he asked smoothly all trace of nervousness gone from his face and voice.
The console pinged again (They're requesting visual contact) Rohkea, reported he looked at Micah who made the hand gesture 'I am really sorry about this.' which confused the wookie until the chiss uttered his next words.
"Well than give it to them you brute." he barked, seriously hoping that Rohkea would not rip his arms out later.
At the front of the bridge just past the front console where the R7-D8 worked a life size holo of a woman appeared with blue skin and the same glowing red eyes as Micah's She wore the admiral's uniform of the Chiss Expansionary Defence Force, for a moment the woman studied them "I am Admiral Ar'alani." she finally responded Micah was actually a bit confused he could of sworn Picket force two was under the command of Commander Mitth'raw'nuruodo, his thought was cut off when the Admiral continued speaking "State your business for entering our space." she ordered.
"Admiral." Micah said respectfully "My reasoning for returning is two fold. My first reason is to visit my clan." he answered honestly. "My second reason… is to save two of my friends' lives" he answered calmly but with the same honesty as his first reason.
Ar'alani's eyes bore into Micah's as if she was looking into his soul looking for any hint of trickery finally her neutral look softened so slightly one would barely notice "Very well than you will be allowed to continue, under escort." she said finally.
"Thank you Admiral if it may not be too much trouble; this ship's navigational charts don't extend this far out may we have an updated civilian map of explored space?" Micah asked hopefully.
The Admiral scrutinized him for a minute, "You will get that at the next colony we arrive." she said neutrally and sent the coordinates on where to go to the navigation computer and cut off the transmission.
Micah let out a sigh of relief when the transmission ended, "I like to think that went rather well." he said towards the wookie who was giving him an eerily calm look "uh… you know I didn't mean anything by that brute comment right?" He asked nervously.
Rohkea didn't give him a response he just looked at him causing Micah to gulp, "Well I'll be going now, see you around." he said as he left the room as quickly as possible, when he left Rohkea just laughed at the retreating man's form, oh he was going to have fun with this.
AN: I imagine that a lot of you by now might be wondering where the RWBY elements are fret not they will appear soon I promise also shout out to RevengeS197 go check out his stuff.