Rythen Karr

The Thunderbolt cruised out of hyperspace above the planet of Haruun Kal, and immediately headed for the surface, transmitting his ID codes to the comm centre. As he was landing his ship, he tried not to reflect on the most recent events. To say they were disconcerting was a gross understatement. And they left him confused. What was he supposed to do now? Where should he go? Climbing down slowly from the patrol fighter, he made his way through the Jedi Base. He didn't know where he was going, or what he was going to do. But he would be damned if he would just sit here and wait to die. He would do something with his time. And, if no one was going to train him, he would just have to find another way to learn.

Throughout the battle, Rythen's presence had been less than secondary. He had taken down many SEED troopers, but, when it came down to it, he hadn't done enough. In the end, justice wasn't served, and a large chunk of the Jedi forces had been wiped out. Since he left home, life just seemed to be one crushing defeat after the other. Strangely, however, this did not make him want to leave the Order, far from it, it merely strengthened his resolve to train to become a great jedi. And to bring justice to this galaxy. He was already on his way up towards the Rebel spaceships when the order came, and, as he maneuevered the ship into the hangar of one of the mammoth Mon Cal ships, exiting the Thunderbolt and walking through the hallways of the immense ship, he looked for another Jedi. Someone who could, possibly, give him some form of insight into what had transpired today.

OOC: Okay then, since the above post affected only me, lets just assume that it was posted in retrospect, and took place before the ships left then... On with the show.

Unable to wait while Jedi below were dying, Rythen fired up the engines on the Thunderbolt and flew out of the hangar, heading planetside, to see if he could help his comrades. Pushing the throttle to full, the small ship headed down through the atmosphere and into the thick of battle, diving low over the battlefield. Powering up the laser cannons, Rythen cycled down the power setting to minimize the damage that it could cause to any nearby Jedi. The blasts would still be powerul enough to vaporize the enemy, however the ensuing blast radii would lack the power needed to injure many nearby fighters seriously. Setting his jaw in grim determination, and began blasting into the masses of SEED forces. As the small, agile fighter flew along, nose tipped slightly down, running at high speeds on it's repulsorlifts, beams of crimson destruction poured from the cannons on the fighter. Rythen somehow knowing the exact times to squeeze the trigger, and vaporise a threat below. His accuracy was amazing, thus far, he had yet to even injure any friendly forces, while at the same time, picking off enemy forces as though they were attracting the blasterfire magnetically.

Rythen's eyes widened in shock as he heard his name on the list of teams, announcing that he was to not only be involved in the attack which was to take place. He had only been a part of the Jedi Order for a very short time, and had yet to even begin any form of training. He did not even know how to float a pebble, but he was being asked to take part in a massive offensive against a galactic power. But, once the sense of shock wore off, he realised that he knew it was something that he had to do. He may not be able to float rocks or alter people's minds, but he could fight, and he was one of the most gifted pilots from his planet. He was going to go on this attack. He was going to force the SEED scum to face justice. He made his way back towards the Thunderbolt at a dead run. Leaping into the cockpit and fired up the engines, lifting the ship off the ground and heading for space, straight for the large interdictor cruiser. Gliding into the hangar, the Bolt came to an easy rest on the polished deck of the warship. To pass the time, Rythen ran a quick diagnostic on all systems, only to find that they were running at 100% efficiency.

After what seemed like hours of wandering listlessly, Rythen made his way towards the council chamber. He didn't know what to do, and maybe one of the higher ranked Jedi would be able to shed some light on the situation.

Above the planet, a small patrol fighter came out of hyperspace. The Thunderbolt diving towards the planet, it's pilot, Rythen Karr, indulging himself in a little bit more speed therapy, hoping the accompanying adrenaline rush would be enough to help remove some of the grief and regret that he felt about what had transpired at Borleias. But, all too soon, he reached the planet's atmosphere, and decided to slow down, lest he create a sonic boom which may disturb or injure those below. Transmitting the clearance codes to the base, he brought the ship down to land in one of the base's hangar bays, Rythen hopped out of the ship and began to wander around. He wandered throughout the base aimlessly. Not really sure about why he was there, or what he was supposed to do now.

Rythen's hands tightened on the controls. Gone, Hale was gone, and it was all his fault. He was the one who was piloting the ship. If he hadn't been fooled by that stupid Jedi Mind trick, maybe he could have helped. Maybe Hale wouldn't have had to die. If he had been at his Master's side, things would have ended differently. He may have only known his master for a short time, but he had forged a deep bond with him, probably a bond through the Force, from what he knew of it. But the shock of his master's death had manifested in a physical way, making his stomach lurch. Quickly slapping the autopilot button, Rythen raced towards the back of the ship, pulling off his helmet as he reached the refresher unit, falling to his knees, he proceeded to empty the contents of his stomach. Pain and grief mixing as he became sick. After what seemed like an eternity of sitting in the corner, grieving, he heard the alarm, letting him know that they were about to land. Dragging himself to his feet, he walked over to the sink, and splashed some cold water on his face, and removing the space suit which he wore, to reveal his slightly crumpled tunic and pants which he normally wore. Deep down, he knew it wasn't his fault. But right now, the shock of everything was too fresh, too much, and the logic had no way to penetrate the pain. As the freighter landed, Rythen emerged from the landing ramp. On his back, he carried the three cases which Hale had carried onto the ship earlier. He lugged the cases to his own ship, the Thunderbolt, stowing them in the cargo compartment. Hopping into the cramped cockpit of the ship, he raised it onto it's repulsorlifts. He glanced back at the battered freighter, 4....3....2....1. All of a sudden the ship erupted in a gout of flames, the small explosived from the armoury that Rythen had planted in the ship's reactor going off, and causing a chain reaction which caused the grand funeral pyre for Hale which stood on the landing pad. Tilting the 'Bolt backwards, Rythen poured on the throttle, which caused the small ship to lurch forward at an incredible speed. Going fast always helped Rythen feel better. As the small patrol fighter cleared the gravity well of Borleias, he punched in the coordinates of he only place left for him now. After the few moments it took the navicomputer to calculate a proper route, Rythen pulled the lever and kicked the ship into hyperspace. The swirling miasma taking over him.

Rythen shot to his feet almost immediately. Zabrak's were known to be able to take a lot of damage with little to no pain. "Then let's get going, we haven't much time" Both Master and Apprentice made their way back to their ship, going as fast as they could. Within minutes, they had reached the vessel and had boarded. A few moments later, the ship had lifted off.

Rythen worked fast, snipping wires, and splicing them into other wires, connecting them into new recepticles and pulling out key circuit boards and discarding them. The entire job had taken a grand total of about 10 minutes, but Rythen was confident it would work. He knew it would because it had to. Amidst the makeshit repairs and stopgap solutions, he had formulated, and executed a plan. He had killed the power for a short amount of time by breaking the main power circuits using the emergency circuit breaker, which was usually used only when the reactor had become critical. He then set about rerouting most of the discretionary power, plus much of the power which should already be in use, to the thrusters which were on the port side of the planetoid missile. He flipped the circuit breaker again, reinstating the power and starting the engines. The current engine statistics would be that the port thrusters at 250% performance, while Starboard were at 30%. The desired effect immediately took place as the remains of the planetoid began to ponderously turn. At the current rate of turn, it would miss Borleias by a rather large distance. Also, at the current rate of power consumption, the cooling system would overload and the engines would short circuit, leaving momentum, and hopefully the gravity of the sun to finish the job on the chunk of rock and metal.

Rythen raced towards the maintenence hatch. In essence, all large starship engines were the same, and he had worked on enough to know their processes like the back of his hand. Pulling the hatch door open, he stared down at the mass of wires and circuits which controlled the cooling systems. This was the wrong hatch. He silently cursed as the seconds ticked away. Time was of the essence. He glanced sidways at the next hatch, and felt a sense of 'right' eminating from the metal portal to the components of the giant engine. Running over to it, he pulled it open, and immediately began working on the contents, the jumbled collection of circuits and wires which were associated with the fuel and power distribution of the engine.

Hale was understating when he said the ride would be 'bumpy'. Rythen though that the ship would fall apart before they even got to land, but, inspite of it's appearance, the dilapidated freighter held together, even if it did groan in protest a few times. As soon as the ship landed, Rythen got up and bolted for the egress hatch, stopping short before reaching it, a thought occuring to him. "Somehow, I doubt that this chunk of rock and metal has a breathable atmosphere. And, even if it does, I wouldn't want to bet our lives on it." Hale nodded, and showed Rythen the way to a storage locker, which contained vaccum suits. Selecting one which would fit him, he quickly donned the sealed suit and headed back towards the outside of the ship, the space suit not encumbering his movements enough to slow him down significantly. On his way to the egress, he made sure to grab a box of tools, as he was sure that he would be needing them. Unless SEED had left behind some spare control yokes for the shattered planetoid. Heading out the airlock, he activated the thrusters on his suit, sending him quickly through the low gravity wasteland to what the ship's scanners had earlier identified as the engine control room.

As Rythen heard the description of the situation, his heart rate began to race, and sweat began to bead on his forehead. Great, save the Jedi Dojo, that is nice and easy for a first mission. But, it had to be done. And, chances are he would be facing alot of situations like this throughout his career as 'defender of the galaxy'. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, unconsciously drawing on the Force to calm his nerves and clear his mind. "Okay, I have heard of this place. It is basically a planet with a huge engine on it, right? Well, back home I was a mechanic, and I could make a starship engine tapdance. But, since I think that an epic dance number would be a bit out of place here, I will just see if I can divert it from hitting Borleias." The Jedi Ship was moments away from landing, and then it would be all up to them. Great.

Rythen felt a change in his master's mood. He knew something bad was going down. He wasn't going to let Hale go by himself. Not by a long shot. "And I don't need you to ask. I am going anyway." he said, his voice leaving little room for argument. His place was at his master's side, even if that placed him in the sights of the grim reaper.

Rythen nodded his head, and immediately set down the duffel he was holding, removing a small package from it. A pressure packed thermal cape. Tucking the object under his arm, Rythen signalled one of the droids, and requested that it place the bag somewhere safe for when he got back. Turning to his master, he spoke only a few words. "I am ready"