Solen

Solen wandered through the temple looking for his "companions" while trying to use the force to detect them. As he wandered, he felt the force tugging him, guiding him towards those which he sought. In all actuality, it was Gavin beckoning him using the force, testing his perception. Being a fledgeling Jedi, he barely knew the difference though, and just assumed the force was guiding him. He turned and spotted Gavin and Roan conversing, though the contents of the conversation he couldn't discern. As he strolled up to them, he felt at ease, glad that he had not been left behind. He crossed his fist over his chest and stood rigid as a salute towards Gavin. He glanced over at Roan, a worried look crossing his face as he saw Roan's wounded optics. He listened silently as his master instructed, then watched intently as both Roan and Gavin levitated the small stones. He looked to the ground and saw a small stone near his feet. He let his conscious self go and gave into the will of the force once more, listening for it's ebb and flow. The power of the force flowed around him and through him all at the same time, just as it did with all living things, and he felt it beckoning for him to use it. Without moving a muscle, he reached out with the force to the rock, trying to levitate it as he had seen the others do. The rock jittered around on the ground, then lifted slowly in front of him. He moved it slowly to the left, to the right, then up, then down, then closer, then further away, just testing the limits of his ability. When he felt comfortable with the movement of it, he began to weave it around in the shape of a sideways figure eight - otherwise known as the symbol for "infinity" - repeatedly. He stopped the rock abruptly and began spinning it in place, then made it move faster than a hummingbird, weaving around him, Gavin, and Roan repeatedly. He finally brought the rock back to circle around him solely. He extended his hand, palm up, fist closed, forefinger out as the rock circled around his arm up towards his hand. The rock finally came to a point just inches above his extended forefinger and began spinning in place once again. He abruptly brought his hand back and cut off the connection he had established with the rock through the force. The rock dropped to the ground and bounced with the "click-click-clack" noise of stone against stone. He smiled warmly at Gavin and Roan, then bowed a silent, yet flurious bow. He stood back up and his smiling face faded as a stoicalness replaced it. He began to speak in a calm, cool voice, much different than his emotion-racked voice from the past days. In fact, the look in his eyes had even changed as well. It was as if he went into the forest an emotional wreck and came back out as a new man. He held himself differently, he felt a deeper connection with the force, with himself, and with the world around him. He didn't know what had changed, but certainly something had, and only time could tell what effect it would have on him. He glanced at Clunker and his stoic look all but disappeared as he smiled at the small astromech. Clunker was equally as happy to see Solen, noticable in the whistling and beeping noises that he made as he rolled his way over to him. Solen rubbed the small astromech on the dome as he rolled up to him, then shushed him politely. He turned to Gavin and Roan again and smiled warmly at them both. "Thank you both for your concern. I apologize about my unsightly behavior before master, It was totally inappropriate. I apologize to you as well Roan, for having to see me in such a state. I had some... troubles... to work out indeed, just as you had advised, master. It was an... enlightening... experience." His warm smile was soon replaced by a puzzled, slightly pained look as his stomach growled loudly. He reached his hand over his stomach and laughed nervously. "I guess I've been so caught up in my search and training lately that I've neglected eating for," he started counting on his fingers, "I'd say about 3 days." He shrugged at the two force adepts and rubbed the back of his head nervously, all the while smiling as he had before.

Solen just stood there as Gavin lectured him on his urges and the force. He didn't quite know why he had felt the rage, or why any of these things were happening. He knew one thing though, that this man had far more experience with the force than he had ever had. Under such circumstances, he decided he'd listen to what Gavin had to tell him. So many questions came to Solen's mind; Since when did he become so enraged at things? When did he lose sight of the light side? Why had he seen that vision? Why were his uncle and father trying to attack him? What did all of this mean? "Yes, master. I shall do whatever you ask of me." He smiled a half-smile at Gavin and turned to Clunker. When he thought about how he'd gotten off on a bad foot with possibly the only hope of him becoming a Jedi, Solen cursed to himself. He smiled a fake smile down at Clunker and told him to wait with Gavin while he was gone. Clunker whistled worriedly to Solen, "Don't worry. I'll be back soon enough. If I'm not, I'm sure they can find someone who can take care of you." He smiled warmly as he patted the little R9 unit on the dome. He started to remove all of his weapons, one by one, and sat them on the floor next to Clunker. He turned back to Gavin, then looked at Roan, then back to Gavin. "He should probably have someone look at that. But I wouldn't force it on him to have it healed." With that, he walked over to one of the huge floor-to-cieling windows. He looked out at the jungle and took a deep breath before jumping down off the window ledge. He took one last look back at the temple before disappearing into the forest. He walked out into the forest, stepping over tree roots and under tree branches. He tried his hardest not to disturb any of the creatures that made their way around the forest. It took him quite some while, but eventually he found a spot he believed to be perfect for self-reflection. He walked into a clearing surrounded on almost all sides by downed trees. He stood there silently as he listened to the sounds of the world around him. He heard the animals making various noises, the wind rustling through the plant-life's branches, and a stream flowing in the background. He sat down in the middle of the clearing and began to think about all of the things that had happened and what they could mean. He sat down cross-legged and took a few deep breaths in and out, trying to clear his mind of all thought. As he sat there, the sounds around him began to grow silent and the wind stopped blowing. He opened his eyes to see himself surrounded by darkness, the forest he had previously been in nowhere to be found. He stood, startled, wondering what he should do. He turned around and around, looking for some sort of exit to where he was. He turned back to where he had been facing originally and saw the charred forms of his uncle and father laying there on the ground, just as they had been when he himself had done that to them. Tears welled up in his eyes as he fell to his knees and began to sob. He was startled to feel a hand on each of his shoulders and he looked back to see who it was. He saw his uncle and his father's ethereal spirits standing there, smiling down at him. He heard the crackle of electricity and turned to see a dark apparition in a hooded cloak. It flashed a wicked smile at him, its eyes filled with a bloodlust that Solen had never seen before. In each of it's hands, it held a silver, cylindrical object that Solen assumed were lightsabers. He shuddered as he stood slowly. The figure ignited the lightsabers and red beams of light coming forth from the hilts as it slowly walked towards Solen. Solen began pleading for the figure to stop, that violence would only beget more violence, but the figure just kept strolling towards him as if he's said nothing at all. The figure lunged towards him, and it's hood flew back off it's head, to reveal something that should've been physically impossible. Solen's eyes flew open and his mouth dropped as a mirror image of himself came down on top of him. He fell backwards to the ground as the figure held it's red lightsabers in an "X" across Solen's throat. It's bloodthirsty, wicked grin taunting him as the murderous lust in it's eyes grew. Tears streamed down from Solen's face as he turned his head and saw the corpses of his uncle and father lying there next to him. Solen closed his eyes and turned back towards the figure, ready to accept whatever fate had prepared for him. A few moments later, he no longer felt the warmth from the lightsabers on his neck, nor did he feel the figure standing over him. He opened his eyes to see that the figure was about 30 feet away from him, flat on it's back. He looked up to see the hands of his uncle and father extended towards the dark figure. He slowly brought himself to a standing position, as the dark figure did the same. The apparition roared primally as it stared at him with more bloodlust than ever before. It charged towards him again, screaming and swinging it's sabers wildly. To his surprise, a blue and green lightsaber crossed themselves in front of him in an "X" to deflect the apparitions blows. In his head, he heard the voice that he could only assume was his father's telling him to take hold of the sabers. He reached out his hands unsteadily and grabbed each saber. He felt an unusual warmth coming from them, flowing up into his body, infusing him with an energy that he had never felt before. As the apparition kept swinging wildly at Solen, he blocked each blow effortlessly. It was almost as if something else was guiding his hand every time he swung. He blocked and parried deftly, as if it had been as natural as breathing. Even when lightning shot forth from the apparition's fingers, Solen blocked it effortlessly with his saber. It was all he could do to keep himself alive though, was to block. The apparition relentlessly attacked, as if powered by the dark side itself. Finally, Solen's opportunity came, and he slashed, cutting the hilts of the apparition's sabers in half. It shot forth lightning from it's hands at Solen in full force, knocking the sabers from Solen's hands. It grinned wickedly at it's disarmed opponent, and shot forth lightning once again. He fell to the ground and jerked convulsively as the lightning coursed through his entire being. He screamed at the top of his lungs as the apparition walked closer to him, trying to intensify the force of the lightning. Finally, the apparition stood directly over him, blasting him with the dark lightning as Solen reached out desperately. He caught the apparition's legs, it's lightning flowing through him and into it, creating a loop. The force knocked the apparition to the ground as Solen climbed up and straddled it's torso. He placed his hands on the apparition's chest and let every ounce of his energy pour into it. All he wanted to do was to stop it from attacking, to calm it's rage, it's anger, it's senseless emotion. The being's wicked smile slowly changed to a warm, loving smile as Solen poured his entire being into it. The apparition's form began changing to a blue, ethereal form, similar to his uncle's and father's. Tears rolled down the apparition's face as Solen's healing energy flowed through it, putting it at ease. He heard the voices of his father and uncle and turned to see their apparitions standing there. To his surprise, the being beneath him began to dissipate and flow back into his own body. His father and uncle smiled approvingly, his uncle's smile a bit more cocky than his father's. "See Lucien, I told you he could do it," his uncle said to his father. "Of course he could, Xander. The blood that flows through his veins is stronger than either of ours." They turned to him and in unison said, "We're proud of you Solen. You have conquered your dark urges, which is more than we can say for either of us." The darkness and the forms of his father and uncle began to disappear before his eyes as he was brought back to the forest he had been in before. He looked around and saw that much time had passed in the real world. The sun was just beginning to peek up from the horizon as he stood and brushed himself off. He walked towards where the noise of rushing water had been coming from. He eventually came upon a river running through the middle of the forest and leaned down on one knee at the bank. He splashed the cold water up into his face; a brisk, clean feeling washing over him as he did so. He wiped his face on his shirt and began his long trek back to the temple. He arrived at the temple about 10 minutes later than he had left the day before. He made his was into the temple warily, not really sure if they were still there or not. He wandered around the temple, hoping to find Gavin, Roan, or Clunker soon.

He shrugged off the feelings of doubt and sorrow the vision had brought him and caught the lightsaber effortlessly. He examined it thoroughly, looking at every single minute detail of the hilt. Then, he activated it and swung it around to get a feel for it. It was quite a bit lighter than his swords, and actually even lighter than his father's was. He was too busy fiddling around with the lightsaber to notice that the remote had been swishing around him. Before he even realized it, the remote zapped him with one of it's bolts. "OW! Dammit!" he shouted before grumbling about the remote. The remote fired another blast at him and he swung the lightsaber to dodge. He miscalculated though, and put too much force into his swing, allowing the remote's blast through. "ACK!" he exclaimed before saying "Okay, time to get serious." He took the saber in hand and stood in a ready stance, focusing intently on the remote. The remote swished all over a few more times before blasting at him again. This time, he swung the saber with a little less force. Unfortunately it wasn't enough and he got zapped yet again. He grunted and growled at the remote before going back into ready stance. The remote swished back and forth a couple times before blasting again. This time, Solen swung his saber exactly right, deflecting the bolt off into the floor. He held both hands in the air in victory and laughed aloud at the remote. The remote, in return, zapped him again. "OOOOW!" he exclaimed once more. This time, as he turned to look at the remote, a sense of hatred came over him. He rushed at the remote with abandon, roaring loudly, deflecting every shot it made at him as it swished around to avoid his strikes. Finally he jumped over the remote, flipped towards it in midair, and cleaved it in two as he came down to the ground. He deactivated the saber and held it out in his hand, examining it yet again. He looked over to the Jedi and nodded solemnly before walking towards him. He held out the lightsaber to return it to him and spoke up, "Sorry I broke your little flying thingie." The rage and hatred all gone from his eyes now, and only a warm compassion remaining.

Solen closed his eyes slowly, still unsure on what the Jedi meant. He wondered if the Jedi meant what he had felt earlier, the strange reverberations. He took a deep breath in through his nose and blew it out through his mouth, then repeated the process several times as he tried to focus on the energy within. He slowly began to feel the echoes and reverberations again. The first thing that came to him was a flying creature, swooping around and around, searching for prey. He turned his attention downward, and felt a small rodent, trembling in fear of the flying hunter. He focused on something closer and found the two men standing near him, though he couldn't quite make out what they were thinking. He then expanded his reach and felt the various flora and fauna around him, as their thoughts all overwhelmed him. He fell to his knees and huddled over, clasping his hands to his head, trying to silence them. He opened his eyes and all he saw was neverending darkness all around him. He called out to the other two men, then to his R9 unit, but to no avail. He reached down into his own power and felt something tugging at him, calling him. His heart started beating so hard and so rapidly it felt like it would burst from his chest. He placed his hand over his chest to keep his heart from leaping out of it. It was then that two men walked from the darkness, coming into focus slowly. He smiled as he saw that it was his father and his uncle. They looked down upon him with menacing scowls, as they pulled their lightsabers to the ready. He looked at them, confused, as they ignited their blades and came towards him ever so slowly. He reached for his weapons, but to his surprise, they weren't present. He cursed as he realized even his blaster was missing. He reached his hand out in an effort to stop them from coming forward. He covered his eyes with his arm and turned his head away, trying not to watch his oncoming doom. He suddenly felt a dark power well up from within him and a tingling came down through his arm to his fingertips. From his fingertips shot bolts of blue lightning, striking down both his uncle and his father, burning them to a crisp instantly. The smell was pungent in his nostrils and made his eyes water. He turned to look and saw their charred remains and saw the lingering electricity coming from his hand. The sudden realization that he had just killed his father and uncle once again shocked him and caused him to throw up right there. He closed his eyes and wished for it all to stop, and as he lay there huddled, the darkness seeped back away. He began to hear the noises of the forest once more and he heard Clunker beeping worriedly. He opened his eyes and saw the other Jedi standing there, looking at him strangly as he lay huddled on the floor. He stood up and brushed himself off, then straightened his clothes out before looking at them both and asking "What?" incredulously, as if nothing had just happened.

He looked around, slightly confused by the question. He looked to the force-sensitive, then to the other Jedi prospect, then to the windows looking out onto the forest before speaking up. "Well the most obvious thing is that we just walked from one place to another. From what I can tell, it seems as if the temple is returning to the planet, and nature is taking its place once again." He walked right up to a busted out window, looked out to the forest, and took a deep breath of fresh air. "I've never been quite good at riddles. Personally, I hate them. I feel they are just a way to cover up truth and confuse people. Although, I must say, I did notice the typical skittishness of the fauna as we worked our way here. Now I don't quite know what you mean by what we did on our way here, but thats about the best answer I can give you with the given information." He laughed at himself and his foolishness, "I guess thats why I chose the path of guardian. I have been told all my life I was bright, but I just thought it was luck that got me through. I always thought I was better at physical activities than activities of the mind myself." He sighed to himself as he recollected his past, "My mother wouldn't have it though, she didn't want another Jedi in the family. Always going on about losing a brother and a husband to the force. She always told me to focus on schoolwork and be rational rather than chasing 'dreams' and 'fantasy entities' like the force. But thats neither here nor there, because that doesn't answer your question. I feel that it helps to let my... inadequacies... be known rather than hide behind a veil of feigned knowledge."

"Interesting, I knew Jedi had different duties but I didn't know there were specific castes. I think I shall follow my uncle's path, the path of the Guardian. It sounds more like a fit to my abilities anyhow." He looked down at Clunker as he beeped solemnly at Solen's decision. Clunker had worried about him ever since his father had given him the order to watch over Solen. Solen understood Clunker's worries about the path he has chosen and rubbed his dome lovingly to reassure him. He looked back to the other two in the room and smiled warmly. "I won't be so assuming as to say you are the Jedi I seek, but you do know quite a bit about them. Not to mention, you're adeptness with the force. So lets just see where this takes us."

He groaned on the ground as he rolled to get up. He hadn't expected the man to attack him, seeing as he was only trying to figure out what was going on. He slowly started to stand, cursing all the way. Clunker came around the corner just in time to see Solen slam into the control panels and whistled in an astonished tone. "Slag! Did you absolutely have to do that? I knew force users were cautious but cripes, man." He groaned as he stretched and tried to work out the pain. He slowly limped back towards what he assumed was a force user and bowed politely. "Lets try this again. I am Solen Darkstrider, and you are?" he said as calmly and pleasantly as he could. He didn't want to invite this man's wrath upon him again, so he had decided to tread lightly. He slowly moved one hand to rest on the hilt of one of his cortosis blades and held it there. "I'm not here to fight you, but you will understand if that put me on guard a little. For one thing, I hadn't even really detected the other one here, so I don't know what his agenda was." He glanced out of his peripheral at the other man in the room, wondering what he was doing here and why he had pointed a blaster at this man. He quickly regained his senses and focused his attention back onto the man before him. He smiled warmly and backed up away from the man, slowly removing his hand from the hilt of his blade. Clunker quickly rolled over to him and began looking over him, whistling and beeping worriedly.

As he walked through the halls of the seemingly abandoned Jedi Temple, he took note of the years of dust caked on things. He looked around, trying to see if anyone was around at all. "Hello? Is anyone he--" he started to yell before abruptly stopping. He smacked himself on the forehead and thought to himself, 'The presence you detected might not even be there, and if they are, all possiblity is that they could be an enemy.' He was continuing his search through the temple when he felt a ground-shattering reverberance in the force. His knees buckled and he fell down into an archway. He gathered all his strength to curl up into a protective position and cover his head. It felt as if the entire temple was about to come down on top of him as he sat there, curled up. He sat there for a minute before cracking one eye open to see if he was still alive. He patted himself down, to verify he was still in one piece, then looked around to notice that nothing had moved. The temple didn't have so much as an uprising in the floor, it had just stayed in the same condition it had been before. He raised an eyebrow, shrugged, then began searching more cautiously than before. He finally came upon a large room filled with a plethora of control panels, and assumed that this would be the control room. He walked over towards the controls, noticing that some of them happened to be on, totally oblivious to the man sitting there in the chair. He turned to see Gavin sitting in a chair, reading some news on the holonet. He turned away and started walking around the room, examining all of his surroundings thoroughly. "Were you the voice that I heard a while ago?" he asked offhandedly, still examining everything in the room. "Or are you just here setting up traps for unsuspecting victims? Perhaps you're trying to find some stuff to loot?" He paused for a moment then finally said, "Well whatever you're doing here, the name is Solen Darkstrider, I'm looking for someone to teach me in the ways of the force. Know where I can find someone like that?"

As Solen walked alongside Clunker, he reached out and touched his surroundings. He noted that he felt some sort of strange reverberation coming from the things on this planet. Solen heard faint whispers that sounded as if they were coming from within his head. He looked around, puzzled, to see if he could locate the sound's source somewhere around him. He turned to Clunker and asked the little R9 if he had heard that noise. Clunker beeped and whistled at him quizzically as if to ask him what he was talking about. He shrugged at Clunker and walked alongside him. Shortly after he felt the reverberations again. He gathered that they were coming from some sort of central location here on the planet. He wondered if the reverberations were the force trying to tell him something. He stopped, sat down, and focused, as his father's holocron had told him in the past. He shut off all outside influence and began to meditate, trying to focus on the reverberations he felt. As he sat there, he began to see the reverberations in the force. He sought and sought until he found a massive concentration of force energy. 'That's gotta be the place,' he thought to himself as he started to stand. He opened his eyes and noticed that he could still see some of the reverberations. He looked down to Clunker and said, "I think I may have found the temple, I'm going to go on ahead. Either meet me there or back at the ship, your choice." With that, he took off with an unusual burst of speed towards the strongest reverberation, hoping to reach it before he lost it's location. It wasn't long until he came upon what looked like a dilapidated, run-down temple of some sort. 'THIS is the Jedi Temple?' he questioned in his mind. He ran his hand along it's side as he walked and felt a constant, strong reverberation coming from it. He pulled his hand back and rubbed his fingers together, trying to understand this feeling. He heard the noise of an electronic motor slowly moving closer to him and turned to see that Clunker had caught up to him. "You used your jets didn't you?" he asked the little R9 unit, to which Clunker whistled happily at. He laughed and shook his head, then patted the R9 on the dome before continuing his examination of the temple. He noticed that there was another, wholly separate reverberation coming from inside, and wondered if that was the voice he heard. He also felt another reverberation nearby that put him on guard, for he had yet to discover it's origin.

Solen stood on the surface of Ossus, wondering if he had made a wrong turn somewhere. He looked back to Clunker, his R9 unit, to ask him if this was the right place when he noticed the droid wandering and whistling happily. He smiled at the simplistic joy the droid received just from new experiences. He didn't know that, in fact, Clunker had been here many times before with his father. He looked around to see if he could spot anything even remotely ”œJedi-like”

Basic Info // Name :: Solen Darkstrider Alias :: Edge Gender :: Male Species :: Human Age :: 19 Alignment :: Chaotic Good (The Ends Justify the Means) Homeplanet :: Corellia Force-Sensitive :: Yes Appearance // Height :: 5'10" Weight :: 180 lbs Build :: Medium, Proportionate, Athletic (Trained Martial Artist) Hair :: Medium-Length, Straight, Shaggy, Brownish Eyes :: Shift from Gray to Green to Blue depending on his mood. Skin :: Light Complection, Flawless Apparel // Undershirt :: He wears an ash gray t-shirt under his coat. Overcoat :: His black coat's sleeves extend to his elbows. The coat extends to the back of his knees in length. The coat clasps with metal clasps rather than buttons. Cortosis Armguards :: He wears cortosis ore armguards, which he can parry the blows of lightsabers and energy swords with. Cortosis Armor :: He wears a set of lightweight torsoplates under his coat but over his t-shirt that are made of cortosis ore, which he can parry the blows of lightsabers and energy swords with. Belts :: He wears 2 black utility belts with multiple pockets and storage compartments on it. Pants :: Baggy black pants stuffed into his boots at the bottom. Boots :: He wears shin-high boots that use metal clasps rather than tie. Weapons // Current Weapons Cortosis Katanas :: He was trained by his father in the use of Jar'Kai, and the use of dual weapons. He wields two cortosis katanas, which he can parry the blows of lightsabers and energy swords with. ACP Scatter Gun :: An Accelerated Charged Particle Array Gun (commonly known as the ACP Array/Scatter Gun). The ACP gun was more suited for close quarters combat where extreme blast force was needed. Like all ACP weapons, the Array Gun was more effective against organic targets than droids. The gun could hold up to eight cartridges at a time in its magazine, though more cartridges could be carried by the user, and required manual cocking to move the next round into the chamber. Inventory // Holocron :: He carries around a holocron with some teachings from his genetic father. He usually just looks at it to see his father, as he doesn't fully understand Jedi training. Bacta Injectors :: He carries around bacta injectors in his utility belt for field healing. Grappler :: He carries around a grappling gun, you know, in case he ever needs it. Ammo Cartridges :: He carries around ammo cartridges for his ACP Scatter Gun in his utility belt. Posessions // Droid // R9-Series Astromech Droid (a.k.a. "Clunker") :: His father's astromech droid, whose last order from Solen's genetic father was to guard Solen. Since that date, it has followed Solen around and taken care of him like a guardian. Clunker is a standard R9 unit with a cerulean color scheme. Like its forerunners, the R9 was designed to work in and around space vessels as a diagnostic and repair unit. But unlike the clunky R1-series, this rounded, waist-high droid was made specifically to fit in military starfighter astromech slots. This was a radical departure, as previously all such droids had been dedicated government models. The droid's popularity was equal with Galactic Republic fighter jocks as with the general public. Industrial Automaton's R9-series was similar to its previous R-series models, but R9 droids were notorious for self-enhancing their preservation routines, even if it meant hiding data from their owners. When plugged into a T-65 X-wing starfighter, Eta-2 Actis-class interceptor, or similar starfighter, the R9 monitored flight performance, pinpointed and corrected technical problems, and performed power management, optimizing shipboard systems. The unit could store up to ten sets of hyperspace vector coordinates in active memory, and many had the intelligence and experience to perform engine startup and pre-flight taxiing. The R9 operated flawlessly in the vacuum of interstellar space. Ship // StealthX Starfighter The Incom Corporation StealthX was described as being smaller than the XJ-series X-wing. It featured equipment that hid the craft both visually and tactically, though position was given away if proton torpedoes were used or if the pilot broadcasted over the comlink. The StealthX was used exclusively by Jedi, as the restrictions on comm usage made it nearly impossible for anyone other than a Jedi to coordinate with other forces. A modification of the already formidable XJ3 X-wing starfighter, the StealthX had a star-flecked body of irregular, matte-black fiberplast that rendered it almost invisible against a background of stars. The third torpedo launcher had been replaced by a gravitic modulator designed to defeat mass-detectors, and its shields had been downgraded to make room for a suite of sensor negators. Even its fusial engines had been retooled to burn a special tibanna isotope, designated TibannaX, whose efflux turned dark a millisecond after fusion. The viewports utilized blast-tinting technology. The standard proton torpedoes were often replaced with the custom-made Jedi shadow bombs, if they were available. The StealthX could also carry glop bombs, which released a quick-hardening foam upon detonation, and two-stage armor-piercing bunker-buster bombs. The advanced R9-series astromech droids were assigned to assist the pilots with the special requirements of this unique craft. Personality // He is a smart-alecky kid who is good natured at heart. He likes to joke around, have fun, and lighten the mood with good-natured jokes. He was always intelligent and reserved as a child with a natural talent for athletics. He is always looking to help those in need and would protect innocents with his life. His reflexes were so good that his father believed he'd become a very capable Jedi at some point. History // He was born to Lucien and Adrian Darkstrider, has a stepfather named Alric Vanthaari, and a younger half-brother named Xander Vanthaari. His father was force sensitive, and had been trained in the ways of the Jedi. His mother was the daughter of an arms merchant, and knew her way around the underworld. They met when Lucien was asked a favor by another Jedi, her brother and his best friend, Xander Drohmocaan. He sent a message stating that he was busy with an offworld problem and couldn't make it back. She had been kidnapped by a rival arms dealer and was being held for ransom. The kidnappers warned that if anyone involved the Jedi Order, she would die. Lucien had always had a way with words and was quite the master of persuasion, where his friend was a more-than-capable lightsaber combatant. Lucien "convinced" the kidnappers that it wasn't worth their time and that they didn't require a ransom. Sometime later, the two ended up in a relationship and soon after had a son named Solen. Lucien was sent off to war with the Yuuzhan Vong, and Adrian went to a safe world with Solen under Xander's protection. Xander was sent off to war shortly after, and little did she know, that was the last time she'd see him or Lucien. Shortly after, a Jedi came to her with both of their lightsabers. He told her that he had fought alongside both of them in battle and admired them greatly. He sensed that the force was strong with her son and offered to train him, but was politely refused by Adrian. She had seen two men she loved die because of the Jedi Order, and would not lose another to them or their wars. She raised Solen as a normal boy, even if she did notice he excelled at almost everything he did. One night, while he was sleeping, she went in to check on him. When she arrived, she was shocked to see that all of his toys were floating around the room. She whispered to him to stop, no response. She said it a bit louder, to stop, no response. She went over and shook him, telling him to stop, and no response. She looked closely and realized that he was seemingly asleep, so she grabbed some water from beside the bed and splashed it on him. He sprung awake, and as soon as he did, all of the objects that had been floating suddenly came crashing to the floor. She grabbed ahold of him and started weeping while rocking back in forth with him in her arms. She kept praying that it wasn't true, that she wasn't the mother of a force adept. She went to her father, not knowing what to do, and he told her that she just needed some force-dampeners to put on him. He rummaged around one of the boxes he had sitting near him and pulled out a neckchain with what looked like crossed lightsabers on it. He promptly handed it over to her and told her to put that around his neck and he would never know any different. He warned that it wouldn't impede his force powers but would keep them from running rampant. They stayed there with her father for a little while after, to make sure that the dampeners wouldn't hurt Solen. While there, she met Alric Vanthaari, a former smuggler who had run goods back and forth for her father. He started staying there, as he usually did on his runs to Corellia. He was about 7 years her senior, but she couldn't remember him at all. Her father told her that he was only recently employed, and that he was only doing it to earn some extra money. Alric explained that he had started his own trading business and worked in conjunction with her father and many other merchants. He explained that he had men who worked to resolve conflicts without.. well.. the conflicts. She wondered if he had force adepts with him and if he'd overheard their conversations about Solen. She began to worry for Solen's safety, because if he had force adepts with him, they'd detect Solen and his powers. She left shortly after and didn't see Alric for another ten years. Solen was about 15 when Alric came rolling through Corellia on one of his runs and his force adepts led him to Solen and Adrian. Adrian feared for Solen's safety once more, but there seemed to be something different about Alric. He had no interest in Solen, and actually confessed that he'd had a bit of a crush on her since he met her. He told her that he had heard of Lucien's death via his channels and offered his services in helping her and Solen. At first she was a bit wary, but over time, she grew to love him as she had Lucien. She noticed a lot of similarities in Alric and Lucien as far as personality went. Their love grew and blossomed over time culminating in their marriage. A short time later she had a child whom she named Xander in honor of her brother. About two years later, Solen found some old belongings while rummaging through their storage area. R9 warned him of the dangers of looking where you weren't supposed to, but Solen paid little heed to R9's warnings as usual. He found his father's Jedi Holocron buried under a pile of junk he was sorting through. He guessed his mother must have hid it here so he wouldn't find it or so she wouldn't have to remember the pain. He was fiddling around with the box covered in strange symbols when it suddenly lit up and started to pulse with blue light. R9 started emmitting a panicked series of beeps and squaks as a holographic image of Lucien popped up from the holocron. Lucian explained to Solen that he had found a holocron, and that it was a tool used for storing Jedi knowledge. He explained the kind of knowledge it held, but all he succeeded in doing was confusing Solen. Solen tried to understand, but just couldn't grasp anything. Lucien told him that with patience and time, he may be able to learn the ways of the Jedi. He stuck the holocron into his pack and searched until he found the part he was looking for. He called for R9 as he left the storage shed, and R9 promptly followed, beeping in protest the whole way. He smirked at R9's response and went into his room to work on something he had found scavenging a wreck. He attached the part he had grabbed from the storage shed and began tweaking with the device. He worked on the device for a couple more months, training with his father as much as he could in his free time. He learned Jedi Meditation, about the force, about Jedi's, about history, Teras Kasai,and the Jedi saber forms up to Jar'Kai. He was 17 when he finished his "device" which turned out to be an Accelerated Charged Particle Array Gun, and had reached a standstill in his training. His father told him that he would have to seek out more Jedi to personally complete his training. The following night, he brought up becoming a Jedi at the dinner table. His mother practically fainted and his stepfather solemnly looked at him. His younger brother cheered, not understanding what the situation was, then looked at his mother in confusion. She practically broke down and went running to her room bawling. Alric followed her, and a mixture of frantic screaming/crying and calm talking could be heard by both the children. Solen smiled at Xander and told him that he hoped to become one of the greatest Jedi in the universe. Alric came out soon after and sat back down at the table. He looked at Solen and asked if he was sure about this, and warned that it was a difficult life-changing decision. He warned him of the dangers that the Jedi faced, and that force users in general faced. He told him that in another year, they couldn't stop him, but know that his mother had already lost two of the most important men in her life and would probably lose it if she lost him. Solen told Alric that he understood and that he believed he was ready to train and help the helpless. Alric smiled at him and told him that if that was his decision, that they wouldn't interfere. It was a year later and Solen was ready to begin his training. On his way to the shuttle-lift, he saw a young child being bullied by some kids not much younger than him. He walked over and asked if there was a problem, and was curtly told that the problem wasn't his to worry about. He raised an eyebrow at this and stated that he was making this his problem. The kids smiled wickedly and explained that this kid owed them some money, and told Solen that since he had stepped in, that he could either pay the fee or take the beating. The fee happened to be more than Solen had on him, else he'd have willingly paid it. Instead the thugs started swinging at Solen, trying to rough him up as they had the kid. It was much easier to pick on the young and the weak than it was to pick on someone like him, he noticed. He smirked at the thought that theys ruffians couldn't even touch him. He used the evasive manuevers of Teras Kasai and ended up making the thugs beat each other rather than him. He chuckled as he walked away from their beaten bodies, mumbling about trying to warn them. The child stood there wide-eyed and asked who his savior was. Solen stopped walking towards Clunker, turned his head to the boy, and said calmy and evenly, "Solen Darkstrider, future Jedi Knight." The boy's jaw dropped at the mention of Jedi Knight. He bowed and thanked Solen repeatedly before running off, Solen acknowledging him with a polite nod. He asked Clunker, his R9, if he was ready, to which Clunker beeped excitedly. He smiled and patted the cerulean astromech on the head. "It was once said that a Jedi does not crave adventure or excitement. So I doubt we'll find either," he said as a reply to R9's beeps. They walked into the shuttle, soon to begin their adventure, whether Solen expected it or not. Edit: To Fix "Lightsaber Problem"