John Skywalker

Indeed, sir, only the most dedicated can truly critique something. You, sir, are an unearthed rare gem.

In the frozen depths of space, just outside the orbit of the dense jungle-planet Myrkr a nondescript craft appears. No one at the helm... and the life-sign was hardly one worth mentioning... at least not anymore. For a brief moment a little, unconscious chirp in the Force trickled, and quickly... the planet's bubble enveloped it. The small craft continue to enter a strong decaying orbit, so sudden, only the strictest eyes would even have noticed. The quick thud of metal careening through foliage alerted a few of the more fearful creatures on the planet's surface, but the predators would only wonder what had just fallen in their lap. A worthwhile lesson for those young and old, seat-belts save lives...the body within the craft was hurtled out of it, still quite dazed, and relatively devoid of life. It would not be long before the stench of blood awakened the insatiable appetites of the carnivores that abounded on Myrkr's uninhabitable regions... ------------------------------------------------------------------ The body had lain lifeless for a few mere moments before it was devoured. Only evidence of a once-living being was a metal brain-case. There were no weapons, no dignifying robes, not even a scrap of evidence that would identify the vagabond; it was as if, he had planned this trip to make this world his tomb. And so it had become... ------------------------------------------------------------------ As fate tends to have it, a lowly technician came across the oddity while taking a leak. Frankly, he had grown tired of his overbearing bosses demanding he plant communication buoys for survey teams harvesting this world's priceless possession, the ysalmiri. Assuming it was some crazy relic he could pawn off at a later date stuffed the item, about the size of two human fists and marked only by a few stray dents and what looked liked rust or dried blood... "Prolly chewed by one of them Vornskyrs or something..." Like all technicians he noticed the IO connections and attempted to extract information. That was when a blue screen appeared and stalled his progress... ERROR: OS NOT FOUND! His computer screen barked at him... ERROR: OS NOT FOUND! Yet again... PRESS ANY KEY TO CONTINUE... After mulling the debacle over and over again, he accessed the help files, and retrieved a small ReadMe.exe, in plain black-and-white text, it read, use of astromech droid recommended for counterpart access. Now intrigued, the technician sought out his trusty R7 droid... and despite wasting so much of his company's time, what did he care? Its not like anyone was checking on him... OS FOUND! ... ERROR: PARTITION CORRUPTED! PLEASE RELOAD... "Dammit," he cursed loudly, startling creatures away in flight... After pressing enter, the technician noticed a new splash-screen appear, and instantaneously, the cyber-brain's auto-restore features downloaded themselves and overran the R7's memory core. The technician's screen was instantaneously flooded with flashes and images of surgical procedures, ship schematics, architectural plans for monolithic structures, blueprints and computer algorithms. The last thing to splash on-screen was A Treatise on the affairs of Jedi Wizards and Sith Warlords. The technician was startled... and quickly shut off his computer, disconnecting the droid instantly. The large trashcan reeled in a series of beeps that roughly translated, "I can't believe this..."

A strange sensation jumped from his eyes, to the core of his heart... it sped rapidly, accentuated by the sting of an adrenaline rush throughout his veins. The weakening crimson that made certain he lived, at the very least, long enough to do what had to be done... what he had promised to do... Despite the roaring torment of fears, of pain... there was no way to bring a lost son back to the fold, or so his reason kept urging. There was a certain coldness to being in tune and part machine, and it was that coldness that knew that Emily couldn't be saved if she were to fall... down the dark path. Of course, such thoughts bring torment and crippling emotions, enough to leave John in a bitter silence. There was only the faint thought that Tethyn continued to strengthen. His footsteps were a touch heavier, as he moved towards the Temple... and he made few gestures towards the Temple's Adept, forcing only a smile... if only for politeness' sake.

"Well, that is a wonderful start... and Uncle Andon has a knack for pretending to be doing things he's not." He smiled warmly, "Here's something I want you to do for me, Em, okay?" Emily's eyes brightened, "Yes, daddy... what?" John smirked, "Walk with your eyes closed." Stopping in her tracks, her black hair shining in the warm sun and her grey orbs suddenly sparkled with an accusation, "But... I'll fall!" Laughing quite audibly, "No Emily, try to use the Force as your eyes and ears... and let it guide you." John crossed his arms and waited for her performance...

"Indeed." John response was simple, his eyes began to zero in on the locals... it was different to be in a place so full of life. It had been ages... "Can you feel it, Daddy? They are lots of people here... it feels different!" A faint smile crossed the elder man, "Yes, Emily, tell me... did Mommy, Auntie Jaina, and Uncle Andon start teaching you to touch the Force, to feel it?" John walked speaking to his daughter explicitly, but his wife, brother and sister-in-law could answer just the same... ((You gettin' ready for the BCS, your OSU v. my Gators, ))

John's eyes crinkled, "So Corellia... wait... hmm... I have distinct memories... no... not mine... oh... them... I think, right?" Emily's eyes focused intently on the pad, until hesitation bit her brain, so to speak... "Big city... lots of people!" John chuckled, "Yes... and its quite reminiscent of a distant galaxy's, blue-green planet's religious group... I suppose that would be a stereotypical assumption due to the large quantity of credits and bullion exchanged here." With one raised eyebrow, "Well... my dear, do lead the way..."

OOC: Feliz año nuevo, IC: "It is fine, his thoughts while disturbed, trouble me only momentarily... it is inevitable that we shall cross paths... sooner or later, anyway." He managed a faint smile to dissuade any doubts, "However, its not what is on my mind that interests me, you're face is scrunching up... I take it you have something that needs asking." Meanwhile, Emily's focus returned to the datapad... her mind like a sponge.

It was a quick shudder... almost outside himself... the student had left the teacher and become the Master... Only a master of evil... he echoed to quell his disturbed thoughts. It was rough, cruel... and filled him with much despair... In his time... disconnected from the world, he had also been separated from his... son, of sorts. "He's alive... and seeks to condemn me to Hell." His eyes turned on Emily, who had spent the entire trip focused on the computer pad, puzzled over the information, mathematical concepts... enough to enlighten a child. Her eyes rose and she offered him a smile, "You drew a tetrahedron... the stars make a tetrahedron," as she pointed towards the remaining maps of the galaxy. "Oh... yes, you're right, my dear... a tetrahedron." A master of intuition, she noticed his sudden disconnection and inquired, "Was it Tethyn, daddy? Was it?"

"Well... actually... no." John's eyes narrowed on a holographic display of the galaxy... his finger and eyes darting to and fro across the entire map, triangular markers darting particular systems... "Every marker symbolizes a religious organizationj not labeled as Jedi or Sith, essentially... someone who can perform the ceremony. Of course, there is always a quick sign-and-chop by Lord Correlli." Shifting his hands, the map closed on a number of specific systems, isolating them and their inner planets... "Well... these are our choices... from what I get."

Without much more than a nod, "Of course, if you'd prefer going on your lonesome... well, who could blame either of you...." Dissappearing towards the hangar bay, started fiddling with an astromech droid, "You ready to come along R7?" The droid beeped eagerly, his silvery-black exterior reflecting the lights jovially. Following John faithfully to Sirvani's Nubian, John waited for his two favorite girls to arrive in the co-pilot's seat....

OOC: Yes, of course. IC: Arching his eyebrows curiously, asking the question solely with his face... Then, straightening his expression he turned towards Emily... "Yes, pack your things... we're going somewhere... somewhere really, really swell... I just don't know where that is yet... there are Priests and Holymen, Oracles and Prophets... and such... all over. I'm not entirely sure where your mummy wishes to go..." A slight bit of shock crossed John's face... "Here's something for you..." He drew out a computer-pad, "I want you to study these while in flight... and when you finish, tell me what you think... I'm sure we can manage a pretty interesting discussion."

OOC: Jan 5, 2006... IC: His eyes widened... in that way that implies utter embarassment about forgetting something so utterly important; like changing your underwear during long interstellar flights, or removing the poison vacuoules when ingesting indigineous plants in the forests of Endor... "A quest... to find a respectable sort of chap to do just that!" "Yes, of course... thats what I meant. Might as well... be done with it. Might as well tie ourselves for everlasting eternity."

OOC: I'm returning with only one character for an indetermined amount of time... situations will depend on how bad next semester starts off. I can't very well fail out of college... IC: He embraced her and ruffled Emily's hair... "Well, things deterred my return... like I said, I've got a vast array of information spanning just about every sector of this galaxy and a touch from a few less reputable sources all crammed into that silly lump of fat called a human brain. I was looking to perform a few projects with the large quantities of junk that litter this planet. A few more salvage operations... who'd think after a distinguished military career, a scholar's travails, several year's being flung from battle to carnage and back again... I'd wind up a mechanic in a literal junkyard. Then again... this place was built out of junk and engineering genius." Looking at Emily, particularly, "Remember, science, mathematics and engineering... with a bit of luck, some old-fashioned charm and the Force can move oceans, Star Destroyers, and the indomitable will of imbeciles." Laughing quite audibly, "Oh... and you'll need a few other skills, but you can pawn those off on your companions." Blinking and recollecting his thoughts, "So dear, if nothing is what you've been up to... what could we get started on that isn't nothing? I'd say our band needs a quest..."

Holding a dagger, balanced on the tip of his forefinger... "When I pass out... I damn well pass out." Dark-rimmed eyes had washed off over the break to a sleep-induced bloodshot look and a refreshed pallor adorned his countenance. The smirk opened to a slightly warmer smile... "I seriously hope no one presumed I was dead... I'd prefer you'd think of me as taking downloading comas. In retrospect, I've got sixteen holonovels, every single shipyard repair manual, and over two-hundred esoteric laboratory and metallurgical experiments... my brain simply had to go off-line to collect 'em." Hurtling the dagger into the wall, the vibrations succumbing to silence, "Ladies, sir, what have I missed?"

Standing with a bit of silence and a faint smirk, "Well... we might as well, please lead the way." ((Sorry... I'm really busy all the time, I was up 'til 3am Sunday, and 6am last night.))