Fwurg

[Astrian Colonial Authority]

As Shebi Ajava stepped off the transport at one of the larger spaceports on Stellaria, a tall woman wearing an Astrian Colonial Navy uniform approached her.

"Excuse me? Are you Miss Shebi Ajava from the Jedi Order?" She asked. "I'm here to escort you to the Temple."

((OOC: You said in your post you booked a flight so you arrive at a spaceport. :)))

[Shebi Ajava]

When she left the temple to travel to Stellaria, Ajava had packed lightly. Knowing the climate of Stellaria, she made sure to have appropriate clothing; that is, she had with her only her jedi robes, a single-layer armour and a well-made dress. Right now, she was wearing only the armour as she usually did. Hanging from her iron belt, she carried her two lightsabers. She carried a simple military-issue bag containing her dress, jedi robes and a few personal items.

She has read about the Astrian people and found that they had a long-standing martial tradition in the school of blood. Hoping to be able to use this trip to find others that still practice the art of archery she brought her bow with her. As she walked around in the spaceport she carried the bow on her back, attached to her armour's dedicated long-range weapon UVMAS slot, or 'massy slot' as the grunts back home call it. It drew a few looks from security both here and on Unity, but the moment they spotted her lightsabers they usually stopped moving towards her and went back to their normal duties.

Easily recognizing a fellow soldier she shortly replied: "I am" while looking the woman over. "Unfortunately, you have me at a disadvantage, I know neither your name nor rank.", she asked with a smile. As she did, she remembered that most Atrians were used to non-audial communication. "And, would you prefer mental communication?", she added.

[Astrian Colonial Authority]

"Commander Hana Kusanegi, ma'am." She replied with a smile. "And I would prefer speaking normally, as will be expected of you at the Temple."

The commander led Ajava past a crowded area, where lots of people where standing in lines, to a second set of lines. Apparently it was a security checkpoint, like those found at every public spaceport. Walking past the lines they came to an clear checkpoint. Unlike the other checkpoint this one didn't have a scanner, just two Marines guarding it.

"Do you have a personal communication device with you?" The commander asked before going through the checkpoint stopping before the marines.

[Shebi Ajava]

Not feeling the need to inform the commander of her own rank or titles, Ajava happily followed her to the checkpoint. While they walked, Ajava realized that she hadn't thought about how Astrians could communicate with her. She met most of them while wearing a headset, but now that she walked here, she recognized that the spaceport was devoid of the usual chatter.

"I have a holocommunicator with me, so the Jedi order can reach me. But other than that, not much else I'm afraid."

[Astrian Colonial Authority]

"That's not a problem." The commander said. One of the Marines turned around and walked away.

"Just as a formality, may I see your identification? And have you brought any biological substances or materials with you?"

The Marine who just walked away returned, holding something small in one of his hands.

[Shebi Ajava]

Shebi Ajava opened up the bag, and got out an identification card. The card was made of a translucent material, and clearly featured the logo of the Commonwealth and the logo of House Shebi. There was no photo printed on the card, and the only text on the card was 'Princess Shebi Ajava, Fleet Admiral'.

"Here", she said as she handed over the card. Though there was a some data on the data crystal cleverly embedded in the card, it only repeated the same information: the two logos, and the name of the card holder.

At the question about biological substances she looked a bit confused. "Ehm, the padding of my armour is made of biological materials, my dress is made of silk, and the windings of the grip of my bow are made with leather..."

[Astrian Colonial Authority]

The commander swiped the card past a scanner, frowned then swiped it again.

"Hmm, there seems to be a problem with your ID ma'am. All I'm getting is two logo's and a name. It doesn't even tell the document number or the species of the document holder. Do you have anything else that can confirm your identity?

Are you carrying any food, plants, creatures or parts of those? Shells? Seeds or spores?"

[Shebi Ajava]

Ajava's look of confusion changed to one of subdued annoyance. "As I already said, the grip of my bow is wound with leather. And as far as I know, I'm not carrying seeds or spores around. Unity City really isn't a good place to pick up plants."

Ajava put down her bag on the ground, and walked over to the commander. She leaned over to glance at the logos on the scanner's display, to make sure that it worked.

"Why should my card have a document number? There is only one card like this. As you can see for yourself the first logo is the insignia of the Veolian Commonwealth, the other one is probably less well known outside the commonwealth. It's the symbol of House Shebi."

Ajava seemed completely oblivious to the fact that most people carried more useful identification papers when going abroad. Then again, compared to this rather simple card, most worlds issued better identity papers.

"Commander, I'm not exactly sure what you want from me. My name is Shebi Ajava. I am a Jedi knight with the Jedi Order on Unity and I came here to visit the divine nova triage. I already handed you my identification, what more do you expect from me?"

((OOC: Yes, the Veolian Commonwealth identity 'papers' issued to nobles are useless. They do issue better documents to commoners, but those aren't that much better. They state name, date of birth and have a photo. Sorry... Though both types of cards are difficult to forge because of the crystalline structure the card is made of -- unfortunately, Ajava doesn't know this, though maybe someone more knowledgable with spaceport security had to deal with the issue of Veolian ID before? Or not, in which case we are in for some interesting RP ^_^))

[Astrian Colonial Authority]

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but this card does not contain enough information to identify you. I have no way of knowing if this card belongs to you or someone else."

The commander handed back the card but made no attempt to move on. While Ajava tried to look at the display only to find out the scanner didn't have a display.

"Jedi or not I can't simply let someone without proper ID pass through here. Especially someone as heavily armed as you are."

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Look, how about I make a call to the jedi and ask if they can confirm your identity and provide the information we need?"

((OOC: I may be assuming to much but it makes sense the jedi have a way of keeping track of who's one of them and who isn't. Probably with a picture and other useful information, like height, race, date of birth etc.))

[Shebi Ajava]

Ajava raised an eyebrow at the commander's remark that the card wasn't enough to identify her. Especially since the scanner had no display.

"Since you seem to not believe me at my word, even though I am a Jedi, I would indeed advice you to contact the Jedi Order. You could also try contacting High Priestes Amilia, we had a long discussion when she visited the Jedi temple, and she should be able to vouch for me."

"Alternatively, I could demonstrate my power as a Jedi?", she added in a friendly tone.

((OOC: You're right, it doesn't seem unreasonable that such information is available through the Jedi order. Then again, knowing height, race and date of birth doesn't help with identification if you think about the technological options of infiltrators in the Star Wars universe. I leave it up to you, with the note that Ajava is a private person, and would only have registered the absolute minimum of information with the Order.))

[Astrian Colonial Authority]

"I wouldn't be able to contact Her Holiness if I wanted to, I'm just a Blood Sister. I'll contact the Jedi. One moment please."

The commander closed her eyes and turned away.

"Ugh, they put me on hold." She mumbled after a moment. A few moments later she opened her eyes again and smiled.

"There we go. We can work with this."

A holoscreen appeared displaying a picture of Ajava and other information, such as her name, her race and when she was born. Ajava immediately noticed the last digit of her birth date was one to high.

"Is this information correct?"

((OOC: I know, but I assume an infiltrator would be more subtle then carrying weapons in plain sight. Also I have it on good authority the Astrians are only mildly paranoid.))

[Shebi Ajava]

Luckily for the commander, Ajava had not yet given up on counting her age. So, she actually recognized the wrong birthdate, something an older hemet veolian would most likely not do.

"No. I think you deliberately increased my birth date with one day, to see if I would spot it. That, or the Jedi Order cares about as much about my birth date as I do."

"Now, shall we get on with our journey, or do you want to search me as well?"

((OOC: Hehe "mildly" ^_^))

[Astrian Colonial Authority]

"Correct, it's a simple conformation we use often around here." The commander said, turning around to the Marines. They handed her something.

Turning back around she handed a small device to Ajava. It was an earpiece with a minuscule see-through screen attached to it.

"That should help you get around on Stellaria. It will help you communicate with Astrians who don't have a vocal implant, which is most of them."

The commander walked past the checkpoint and gestured Ajava to follow.

"The display will show hearing networks, private channels will be shown as a lock. It will also provide information on certain structures and locations, as well as important notices of the area. It will also serve as your ID while on Stellaria. Please don't lose it."

They walked past a crowd of people waiting in line to get through security.

"I'm going to call ahead that we're five minutes late, we just missed the hyperline. The next one leaves in fifteen minutes so we'll take a small detour."

((OOC: At least not more mildly than other Union members.^_^))

[Shebi Ajava]

Ajava accepted the earpiece and put it in.

While they walked, Ajava suddenly asked: "So tell me, if most astrians have no vocal implants, do they have lessened hearing as well? Because I'll be speaking vocally into the microphone, so won't they get double audio feeds?"

((OOC: Yeah true. Though for the Veolians it depends, they are politically paranoid, but they have mostly fully opened borders with only a simple check for contraband. They firmly believe that infiltrators and the like should be caught by whomever is responsible for what they want to infiltrate -- the Veolians have very strange ideas about some things. They couldn't care less if you land on Mirda with false identity papers.))

[Astrian Colonial Authority]

As soon as Ajava put the earpiece in she could hear voices and talking. The small screen indicated she was in the public channel, along with about fifty others. There where also a lot of locks displayed. There where no other open channels.

"That won't be a problem. Hearing networks only reach normal hearing range, for anyone in the channel you are in the microphone is muted. They will hear you just fine." The commander explained as they arrived at platform.

The moment they stepped on a message blinked on Ajava's screen. 'Northbound Speedline 32-207 now arriving.' And just as promised a fast looking train arrived and stopped right in front of them. The doors opened and a small number of people disembarked. The commander let Ajava go in first and stepped in after her. The train was not very busy, there where still plenty of seats free. The commander sat down at a pair of seats close to the door. Exactly two minutes after arriving the doors closed an the train accelerated out of the station. It seemed the train had inertia dampeners as the windows where the only way to tell they where moving.

Outside it was raining heavily, occasionally bolts of lightning shot through the sky.

[Shebi Ajava]

Ajava didn't exactle get her question answered, but she didn't want to press the issue. She would ask someone less military-minded about it sometime later.

Ajava had little to do, so she looked out of the window for a while.

If nothing had happened after ten minutes, she asked: "Commander, can you tell me something? I have met High Priestess Amilia of the school of Purity. I think that the High Priestess Minoka is from the school of Knowledge, but I couldn't confirm this. And I have no idea who the High Priestess of the school of blood is. Can you tell me a little bit about the two high priestesses I haven't met yet?"

((OOC: The wiki Divine Nova Triage was very informative, but didn't name the priestesses. (And, unrelated, did not provide a link to Amilia either.)))

[Astrian Colonial Authority]

"High Priestess Minoka is indeed the Lady of Knowledge. She has fulfilled that role for over 60 years. You probably won't find anyone more respected then her in the ACA, or wiser for that matter. Her cybernetics make her look a lot younger than she is."

The commander spoke respectful about the High Priestess.

"The Lady of Blood is High Priestess Shiria. She is disciplined, beautiful and powerful. She hasn't been a High Priestess for long but the School of Blood hasn't seen someone better suited for the role since the Gender War, that was 900 years ago by the way."

Another message blinked on Ajava's screen just as the commander finished. 'Now arriving at High Park district 14 Station.' Was what it said. The commander got up and walked to the door. The train stopped and the doors opened just as she arrived at them. Stepping off the train the commander led Ajava up a flight of stairs to a different platform.

Unlike the previous platform that was openly connected to the tracks, there was a round glass wall blocking the tracks. It looked a bit like an orbital dock, with the doors in the wall connected to something that looked like a docking tube. The platform was busier than the one at the spaceport. Still Ajava had barely enough time to take in her surroundings before the message signalling the trains arrival appeared on her screen. 'Eastbound Hyperline 20-14 now arriving.' And like announced a train arrived an stopped.

It took a moment before the doors opened because the 'docking tubes' attached themselves to the train. A lot of people got off before they could board. The commander and Ajava seemed to be in luck because they found the only two seats left. Just before departing five minutes later an elderly woman boarded the train. The commander immediately got up and offered the woman her seat, which she gratefully took. The doors closed and the docking tubes disconnected. A moment later Ajava felt a subtle vertigo as the train accelerated.

When Ajava looked out the window she could see the train was travelling through a see-through tube at enormous speed. According to a display near the door the train was going 11,076 kilometres per hour. And that while the had departed the station less then a minute ago.

[Shebi Ajava]

Ajava looked up at the commander "So this is the network of supertrains I've read about. How long does it take until we are at our destination?"

((OOC: Please use , as the thousands separator... This put me on the wrong foot for a moment 11.076 kilometers per hour isn't all that fast :P))

[Astrian Colonial Authority]

"About fifteen more minutes, then it's about three minutes walking to the entrance of the Temple." The commander replied.

Then it seemed she just remembered something.

"On second thought we might want to take a small detour. Some of the streets we'd have to go through aren't exactly places for polite company. The detour would take about four or five minutes more. Is that okay with you?"

[Shebi Ajava]

Ajava felt strange, talking to the standing commander, so she stood up as well.

Not knowing what the Astrians would consider polite company, her interest was piqued, if only to find out what wouldn't be polite. "I won't mind taking a detour, if you think that's a better plan", she replied before adding "but I'll most likely go back later to have a look anyway", out of honesty.

As the train had to go for fifteen more minutes, Ajava decided to ask about some of the things she hoped to find.

"So, commander, you said you are a blood sister. I take it that means that you are a member of the school of blood. Could you tell me something about your training? I heard that one of the lightsaber styles taught at the Order originated here in Stellaria, and I was hoping to meet with someone that knows the style it is derived from. I also hoped that the school of blood still contains members that practice archery."

[Astrian Colonial Authority]

"Well if your going there later anyway, we might as well save the time of the detour." The commander said. "It's not really a problem for people here, but I would rather avoid insulting anyone from another world. I heard that in some cultures people would be insulted if you guided them through streets with brothels and strip clubs."

She looked a bit unsure, not knowing if Ajava would be insulted by this.

"I am a sister of the School of Blood, yes. The initiation training takes about three years, after that it just gets harder. On the bright side I didn't have to go through basic training when I enlisted in the Navy.

I'm not entirely sure what style you are referring to, The School teaches a large variety of martial arts, combat styles and tactics. That includes archery."

[Shebi Ajava]

"Well, it is a bit unusual, but I wouldn't consider that an insult", Ajava smiled with understanding when she sees the commander look unsure.

"The style I am referring to is Kawa no Michi, a very elegant and fluid style. The style has its roots in the gender wars, I am told."

She tried to guess the age of the commander. But since she already knows that Astrian cybernetics countered visual ageing, it was a difficult guess.

"Commander Kusanegi, I wouldn't normally ask this, but would you be willing to tell me your age?", she asked in a playful tone. "You don't look a year over 25 -- and you just said you spent three years in initiation, after which you seem to have spent more time in training before you enlisted with the Navy. Would my estimation that you joined the school of blood around when you were around 12 years old be correct?"

[Astrian Colonial Authority]

"I'm 29 and I joined the School of Blood when I was 17, straight out of high school. At 22 I enlisted, completed secondary officers training and I've served on starships ever since."

The commander looked at Ajava.

"The School does teach Kawa no Michi. It's ironic actually the style was originally created specificly to kill members of our school."

((OOC: I would like to make the next post I make the last post before arriving at the Divine Nova Triage temple. At that point we can get to the good stuff. ^_^))

[Shebi Ajava]

"Thank you, commander. Sometimes it's difficult to relate to other species, and knowing some of the training durations helps me put things into perspective.", Ajava did not seem inclined to inform the commander of her own age.

At the remark that Kawa no Michi was created specifically to kill members of the school of blood, Ajava remained silent for a while. "Maybe I shouldn't try to delve to deeply into the history of the style then."

((OOC: Go ahead, though this was good fun already ^_^))

[Astrian Colonial Authority]

The commander shrugged.

"Feel free to ask. That was over 900 years ago. The past is the past. If you really want to know about it I suggest asking someone from the School of Knowledge."

She looked out the window of the train. The train had lowered underneath a see-through roof.

"It looks like we're almost there. you can see the Temple in the distance."

The commander pointed out the window.



About a minute later Ajava's screen displayed: 'Now arriving at Triage Station.' Ajava felt a slight vertigo again as the train decelerated and stopped. After they got off and exited the station the commander guided Ajava through the streets. The rain could be heard and seen hitting the roof that covered the streets. Lights illuminated the streets.

It didn't take long for them to reach the streets the commander had warned about. The first street was subtle, a sign here, a bouncer there, but nothing really drew attention to it. An elegant looking woman entered one of the doors, clearly not trying to draw attention to herself. As Ajava and commander Kusanegi turned a corner they where presented with quite the contrast of the previous street.

Here colourful lights and holosigns drew attention everywhere. Promising al sorts of pleasures, luring in costumers. Some of the establishments had large windows, some with closed curtains, others with a person behind them. Both men and women, all wearing tantalizingly few clothes. These people also displayed a side of Astrian cybernetics that was rarely seen outside the ACA. Skin that could change colour, tails and animal ears and even horns where some of the more common features. Some women could change the size of their feminine features. The most elaborate of all was a woman with a pretty face. Instead of legs she had the lower body of a snake, the tail could be seen coiling as she sat there waiting, and wore only a short skirt.

The commander noticed the snake woman and glanced her way. The snake woman noticed and she licked her upper lip slowly and seductively. Her tongue was forked like a snake's as well. Immediately the commander directed her eyes straight ahead. It was barely noticeable but her movement where slightly more rigid.