Gala - Jedi Praxeum Ruins

[Syn]

((I need to get this out before I pass out, I've stayed up all night long and have no energy. Lets hope ppl can follow it....))

 

The Jedi Knight sensed her Padawan's slight hesitation about leaving his ship behind. Something that she knew well herself, after having to have left Kyp's ship Redemption back on Ossus when she'd left with John to complete her training. It seemed so long ago that she'd had to leave the ship that had been her home for six years, the happiest time that she'd known until John came along, but in reality it had only been about six months. She nodded, understanding his concern, ”œIt will be in good hands with the Jedi, and I do not plan on lingering on Concord Dawn, as we are needed here.”

[Grimo]

Widdimur dropped to the floor in relief as Sirius halted the duel. He realized his own limits, and while he had been holding his own quite well, his brash decision to launch himself on his opponent's attack had been about to cost him a few teeth. He gave a quick mock salute to the big man. "I concede defeat, large one. Perhaps we can finish this properly at some point in the future. Until we meet again." He bowed to both his opponent and Sirius. "I thank you for your willingness to help me in my travels. If there is ever anything you need from me, please to not hesitate to ask. I take my leave of both of you." With that, Widdimur padded softly out of the room. Next stop: Ossus...

[ObliviousKnight]

”œGray Jedi are still Jedi, at heart. No, I'm not Gray, but I'm no aimless wanderer. Aside from looking after my daughter, I have my own teacher to serve and comrades to rely on. I couldn't tell you any valuable information, at least not without having to kill you”¦”

[Malcolm Derrial]

"I see..."

 

Malcolm followed what was said, but did not fully understand. It made sense to him that there would be many force sensitive factions in the galaxy that he'd never heard of, but less so that the Grand Master's mother would be one of them, and further that he would ever meet her and hear all this from her.

 

And yet here he was.

 

"Well, as I said, I'm an idealist, so I'm not prepared to describe my life as 'squandered' just yet. While I share your opinion of the war, I fear that there is little choice now but to fight it; lest one side be permitted to lose. But if that all could be set aside, what would constitute a life un-squandered by your reckoning?"

 

It was foolishness, of course, to talk of war with one so much older. His history lessons were her memories, perhaps even firsthand. Still, she seemed tolerant enough, and had been good humored and patient thus far.

[Xae-Lin Ardel]

The auburn-haired Jedi looked up from the Cabur's displays and nodded in acknowledgement ”œNo problem.”

Edited February 29, 2008 by Guest

[ObliviousKnight]

Misal Draygo wasted no time in responding to Derrial's question. Clearly, this was a subject that she'd done quite a bit of thinking about, or life had supplied her with an answer years ago. "Learn as much as you can. The Force might be a powerful tool, but it's only one that can be at your use. Forgive my boasting, but I know that my daughter was something of a mathematics and engineering expert long before she even knew of the Jedi's existence. Then she found the Rebellion.

 

"Even more important is... don't allow yourself to be limited, least of all by yourself. Your training should only end when you die--and if you believe in certain religions, not even then. But most importantly, do not take things for face value. There's a war going on, and we already have enough people fighting because they were ordered to, or for stupid, petty causes."

[Malcolm Derrial]

"I thought as much."

 

Understanding this concept was one thing, acting on it was another. For now, it was enough for Mal to master the force. Broadening his philosophical base was a good start, and such studies came easily to him, but eventually complicated things like chemistry and astrogation would complicate his ascension to "Renaissance Man." Mal briefly wondered if he'd have to eventually take up needlepoint.

 

"As for the war, I will follow my path to its end. I do not want the Jedi to show me their path, only to give me the light by which to find mine."

[ObliviousKnight]

"Good." Misal Draygo regarded the Hopeful for a very long moment, allowing the silence to stretch until her delay became nearly unbearable for him. But it was not a moment wasted, for the Miraluka spent it in thought. She knew what had occurred in the last few hours, and even though she accepted that Armiena was not disposed to spending the next several months in idleness, she was not going to risk the life of another in reckless combat.

 

Misal had been debating this ever since the conversation commenced, but she now accepted that this was exactly where she needed to be. Armiena needed to ensure that this youth was not lost to the perpetual war between the Jedi and the Sith. And Derrial... maybe the young man had an important role to play in Armiena's life.

 

"Come with me, then." She finally said, cutting through the uncomfortable silence. "I'll take you to the Rebel base, if you want to meet my daughter."

 

Misal didn't wait for an answer; she simply turned on her heels and began to make her way to the hangar, where her shuttle Journeyman waited. As she had read in some of Armiena's writings, whether Malcolm really wanted to be an apprentice was as much his decision as it was his future teacher's.

 

((Apologies. My internet went completely kaput, and it wasn't until now that I was finally able to get a new adapter that actually worked.))

[Malcolm Derrial]

(Hey, no worries: I saw your note in the absent thread, and am glad things are working now.)

 

Malcolm eagerly returned her stare, trying to determine if her sightless eyes were looking at him, or at something behind him. It seemed that she was lost in thought, but her eyes had a ferocious intensity he did not expect from the blind. Just as he could stand no more, she mercifully turned away.

 

Wait, what?

 

He stood dumb, watching her depart for the hangar. He had heard her perfectly, yet his desire to hear precisely those words made momentarily him doubt himself.

 

Just like that?

 

Malcolm's hand shot to his side, bracing his satchel as he sprinted after her.

 

"Coming!"

[Wookiee Jedi]

White lights....it was all Kirlocca could see for a while. Someone kept telling him something, but since he couldn't hear, the wookiee ignored the voice. It was all so strange for him. The duel replayed over and over in his head and he could only find two weak spots. First, he was taken off guard. He allowed for himself to buy into the illusion that Geki created. Two, he underestimated what his opponent would carry for weapons, a mistake Kirlocca would never allow himself to make again.

 

Something stung as the white lights faded out to become a singular white light over head. Some doctor was working over him, talking about how he hated working in the cloning system. After a few minutes of him telling Kirlocca to lay still, he was all done. Kirlocca slowly got up, as per doctors orders and he began to walk out into the main halls of the Jedi temple.

[Guest]

Sirius smiled to the new Jedi Hopeful. "I'm not going to crucify you for using your resources. I actually find it quite amusing how you entered our temple, though I'll have to let one of the masters know so it doesn't happen again," Sirius laughed. "Now, lets head to the mess hall and see if we can't find you a master." Sirius led the young man down the hall towards the mess hall and got in line, picking a choosing for his midday meal before heading towards his seat, trusting that Davi would follow.

[Davi Quinn]

Davi sped after the other man. Food sounded good. He had barely had anything to eat in quite a long time. In fact, now that the thought of food had come up, Davi realized he had been starving, but was far too excited to even notice. He mimicked the man in getting his food, and then finally following him to his seat.

 

Davi quickly set into gorging himself on the food before him. It wasn't exactly as good as home style, but it was much better than Davi thought he would be getting as a Jedi in training. Half way through his meal he realized his manners must have been horrible. Putting down his utensils and wiping his mouth off with a napkin he looked up at the man.

 

"So...what happens now? Do I just, get a master? No test or nothing?" He said, probably dooming himself to a test worst than he could have comprehended, or at least, that's what he feared. No...no he was a Jedi hopeful now, there is no fear. He has nothing to fear, just things to learn. He smiled in his realization, it made this a lot easier.

[ObliviousKnight]

((Working? Heck, if I knew that buying a new adapter was going to result in such an improvement, I would have bought one my freshman year instead of waiting for it to break two years later!))

 

”œThen we'll be en route to the Rebel base. I know that my daughter is probably running around frantic, trying to get as much done as she can, but I have some”¦ influence.”

[Malcolm Derrial]

(Devotion to the narrative is nothing to apologize for.)

 

Malcolm was persistently astonished at how open his companion could be; speaking frankly of private matters to relative strangers. She would likely be a liability in a relationship, and was at that moment privately glad that the Jedi Order frowned on marriages. After all, without marriage, there would be no mother-in-law to interfere and speak so plainly in front of random children. It was that much more a wonder to him, then, that the Grand Master herself would be the shining example of why marriage was complicated and dangerous.

 

Perhaps it is a protracted object lesson to the Order.

 

This made little sense, but there was much in the universe that Malcolm did not yet understand, and so he was quite content for now to break with logic to give his Grand Master the benefit of the doubt.

 

Maybe theirs is a platonic relationship, like some kind of super-force bond... A pure merging of their souls with the force or something... And therein the classic Jedi "love versus stoicism" conflict is resolved!

 

Malcolm speculated in respectful silence, watching the planet drop away only to rush in again as they approached the base.

[Guest]

Sirius smiled down at the man.

 

"No test. I'm not sure what will happen to you, but I will work with you to get you at least partially trained until you are chosen by a master. I myself can't actually train you as a Jedi because I am not one myself. I was brought here by a long deceased Jedi Master, but it was discovered that I didn't have much Force potential. I know the methods, but I am not qualified..." Sirius said trailing off. "But that is for another time. For now, follow me and we will continue your preparations."

 

Sirius stood and left the mess hall, making his way into the halls. "Tell me, what do you know of the Jedi?"

[Wookiee Jedi]

As Kirlocca walked in the halls of the Jedi temple, his comlink beeped, letting him know that he had a message on the Holonet. Kirlocca quickly made his way to an outlet to find out who was trying to contact him. What he found was not pleasing to his eyes at all. His dad, whom Kirlocca believed to have been in the Unknown regions had left him a message. All the message said was, "Meet me at 29102." The numbers were coordinates, ones that Kirlocca recognized from his childhood.

 

Kirlocca pulled himself away from the outlet and began to walk towards the hanger bay, against his better judgment, Kirlocca was going to follow those coordinates and meet with his dad, whom had tried to kill both his grandfather and him before in the past. All Kirlocca knew about him now was that he was some psycho pirate.

 

Within a few moments, Kirlocca had his fighter ready and lifted off, blasting into space and heading for the what was going to be, awkward meeting with his dad.

[Davi Quinn]

Davi happily smiled. He had sat down and talked for great lengths with the Jedi that stopped by at his home. Davi mentally stopped himself. That was no longer home, this temple was home.

 

"I know Jedi are the protectors of peace and order in the galaxy. They are called upon to help settle disputes. They are warriors, but they don't like fighting. They are leaders, but they don't like to lead, only to guide. They wield lightsabers. They harness the force, which is apparently something that is everything around us. The Jedi who told me this tried to show me, and he gave me this plant, and, well, I could feel it living, I couldn't explain it, I just, could feel it. Other than that, I just know some random stories about the exploits of Jedi, nothing much else."

 

Davi had cleaned his plate and gone for seconds. He was ravenous and hadn't eaten in forever. "What's next?" he asked curiously as he dug into another large helping of food. He was a large growing guy, and he needed large growing food.

[Kitt]

Kitt found himself walking out of the Jedi library, which wasn't all that much to begin with, yet, the Jedi found it very soothing place to be anyways. He slowly walked that halls, reaching out with the force, finding all sorts of currents and treads. Kitt wasn't all too sure of what he was doing, being that there was no class to teach, and it looked like all of the masters were not present.

 

All of the ripples through the force told him that they were worried about the Arach'tar, and for good reasons too. Most of the masters were still on Gala, debating and discussing plans about the future. Kitt found himself wondering why the Jedi as a whole could spend so much time planning for events for the future, when they themselves knew it was always in motion.

[Conner]

Waking up in a room he never seen before, droids moved around the room taking care of people and there injuries. A droid leaned over him "Good evening Sir how do you feel? Do you remember anything?" Quickly sitting up he looked around to realize he was in the medical bay. "What happened? Why am I here?" The droid started to look at the read outs that were left by his bed.

 

With out hesitation Conner climbed out of the bed, his whole body felt weak. Falling to his hands and knees he took in a few deep breaths. "How long have I been out?" But the droid didn't reply, instead he moved on to the next patient. Drawling on the Force he slowly stood up and gathered his things, changing out of his hospital gowns and into his robes he started to wonder the halls again. Things seemed so different from what he remembered, the temple seemed filled with fear.

 

Finding an empty room where he could meditate and hopefully learn what has been happening. Sitting in the center of the room he closed his eyes and opened himself up to the Force. It's soft touch soothed him, it felt as though he was being cleansed. He could feel his sores and aches going away but more important he could feel others around him again. Slowly he drifted off in meditation the Force guiding him.

[Damon]

Arriving at the jedi base Damon walked down the exit ladder of his transport and looked around. This was a new jedi temple and it was one in particular he had yet had time to see. Still he had a reason for coming. He was off to do somthing that had not been done in some time. Among his studies long ago he came across an item that interested him so much but at the time as a jedi knight. It had tucked away that nugget of knowledge and waited till there would come a time where he could study it and maybe practice it. Gathering data pads full of translations as well as histories Damon made sure he found everything he woud need to put to good use what he would learned.

 

After everything was gathered he loaded up his transport and headed to the one place where his studies would lead him to his answers.

[Xae-Lin Ardel]

The Cabur re-entered orbit around Gala and made her approach to the temple.

 

The pilot, Xae-Lin Ardel had just returned from dropping off a rather special cargo on Concord Dawn and beside her in the co-pilots seat a stoic Zabrak sat in quiet meditation.

 

Leaving Iniera behind had been hard for the Jedi Knight, but she knew there was no safer place for the child in this uncertain galaxy than with the Mandalorian people to protect her during these very uncertian times. As a Guardian, Xae couldn't constantly be worried about the niece that she'd rescued from the dark-force using Nightsisters.

 

She cleared her mind of the sadness she felt, choosing instead to devote herself to whatever challenges lie ahead.

 

As the ship re-docked at the temple, Xae-Lin took a moment to address the Zabrak. "I will likely remain here for the time being, you may feel free to take anything with you that you wish, or leave anything that you wish. That room is yours as long as you wish. I'm not certain what my plans are right now but you are welcome to walk what path you choose."

 

She bowed out of respect to the young man and disembarked from the ship, R2-D6 trailing after her, still covered in Iniera's art work and wondering when the Jedi Knight would get around to cleaning him up.

 

The petite Jedi took a moment to reconnect her energies to Gala, greatly enjoying the breeze through her hair after being cooped up in the ship for so long. The planet's life force helped to heal the emptiness in her heart that came from missing both John and now Iniera.

 

Her stomach rumbled, reminding her to eat. She didn't have a clue as to where the cafeteria was in this place, but she figured she would attune herself to the highest concentration of the force, though following her instincts and and nose didn't exactly hurt either.

 

Soon she found herself in a fairly occupied cafeteria and was immediately remined of her first encounter with other members of the Jedi Order other than Kyp. She quietly entered and took a sampling of the faire that was offered, always eager to expeirience new tastes.

 

She took a seat somewhat off-to-the-side of a couple of men that were talking about the force. A hopeful, perhaps even a Padawan, and likely his master.

 

Unconciously she watched them, even more reminded of the time where she had sat in the brown-haired man's seat and had very similar conversations with her first master, Kyp. She didn't realize that she might have been staring.

[Davi Quinn]

Davi looked next to him as he plowed through his third helping of food. A very pretty but very small woman sat next to him starring at Davi. He probably had her by a foot and a half, and definitely at least 150 lbs. Maybe that was why she wouldn't look away.

 

The conversation he had had with Sirius was interesting, but Davi knew that if he was going to fit in here, he would have to make friends, especially if they could help him in his training or even fight along side him if the time ever arose.

 

Davi held out his hand to her offering it to shake, "Hi, my names Davi Quinn. I'm a jedi hopeful. I just got here. What's your name?" He asked, hoping she finally stop starring. Maybe she was friendly, maybe she was a learner like him.

[Xae-Lin Ardel]

Hi, my names Davi Quinn. I'm a jedi hopeful. I just got here. What's your name?

 

Xae-Lin blinked for a moment, suprised that she had actually been staring. She blushed a little bit out of embarassment as she extened her own hand to meet Davi's. "Xae-Lin, Xae-Lin Ardel," she answered.

 

"Forgive my rudeness for staring, but you and your friend were just reminding me of a few years back when I was having similar exchanges with my original master, Kyp Durron. I fear I was lost in memory."

[Davi Quinn]

Davi grinned. "No worries, no offense taken. Wow...a master. What's that like? I can't wait to get one of my own. There's so much out there I don't know. So many things I know I can learn to help out the galaxy. Maybe even scrap some Imperials."

 

He, politely as he could, put some more food to his face. So she had had a master. That would mean she's at least a padawan, possibly even a Jedi herself. Davi's thoughts jumped with the possibilities, tingling at all the things he would be able to do once he found a master.

[ForceFusion]

Aerec Blackwood lay sprawled out in the dark belly of a transport headed from Corellia to somewhere the young man wasn't aware of. It didn't matter where the transport was going, Aerec wouldn't have been aware of the destination: he'd never been off Corellia and he'd never done much more than glance at a starmap. Even if he'd landed on the tallest spire of Coruscant, he wouldn't have been able to guess the planet's name.

 

As it was, the forests of Gala were hidden to his eyes, his deep unconscious sleep causing him to snore like a wookiee, his limbs twisted at strange, but comfortable angles. He did not notice, but his left foot was in his older brother Dante's face. If he had noticed, he wouldn't have cared much.

 

His glorious sleep ended with a jolt as the ship touched down somewhat roughly, and his excitement cause him to sit directly up. "We're somewhere!" he proclaimed, just before slamming his head into a bar and falling back into his sleeping position, swearing and rubbing what would soon be a large bump in his thick black hair. Once he'd recovered from the shock of his pain, he kicked at his brother, surprisingly easy due to the already close proximity of his foot in the cramped confines, waking the stockier Corellian young man. "Get up, Dante. I'm hungry and we're broke. Time to get to work."

 

"Work" had gotten them into trouble in Coronet City, hence their presence on this transport the hell out of there. Yet for two orphans with no education and no social stability, pickpocketing and other types of petty thievery was just about the only stable employment they could find. They were somewhat renowned in some of Corellia's cities, making a living more difficult to come by, but perhaps this new planet would be a better fit.

 

Sneaking was a fairly second natured thing for the Blackwood brothers, and getting off the transport without notice was a simple matter of getting behind moving repulsor-slates. Once outside, the forests were thick enough for hiding, though civilization was always near. Aerec, the rambunctious and brash one, jogged along with boundless energy, stretching his long legs after the seemingly endless journey and greatly enjoying the strange new reality of this very un-Corellian planet. "Let's build a tree-fort, Dante," he said, somewhat jokingly, somewhat seriously. "A hideout in the forest away from the fools we mark up on, somewhere we can stash our surplus." He laughed at that. Surplus didn't exist in the life of the Blackwoods. One could dream.

 

"Ok," Aerec said, peering out from a tree on the edge of the forest, looking at a small settlement, populated, but not bustling with people, "looks like we've got a potential mark. Look at that kid, wandering all by himself, wearing those goofy lookin' robes. What the hell kinda style they got here on...whatever planet we're on?" In reality, Aerec shouldn't have been one to talk about style, being as he only owned two pairs of trousers and two tunics, both tattered and torn, both faded from their once bright colors of blue and red and green.

 

"So, standard maneuvers, bro, for a singleton? You rough 'em up, I play save-the-day and pickpocket 'em, and we rendezvous later?"

[Guest]

Dante yawned. This trip had taken forever...at least it seemed that way cramped in the small dark landing strut hold. But, at least they were away from the local authorities, and any place was better than jail. Lucky for them they'd never been there, so they really never had a record, and Dante never intended for that lucky streak to fail.

 

The duo managed to easily hit the treeline beside the landing pad, escaping into the foliage before being spotted by one of the spacers, something that Dante always had a knack for. He snickered at his brother's quip, looking into the trees momentarily to ensure they wouldn't actually disturb some local wildlife as they crept up to the nice vantage point next to the few buildings nearby. It couldn't really be described as a forest, just undeveloped area, but to them it technically was a forest.

 

For a moment, the two scanned the area before Aerec finally spotted a decent mark...Dante had taught him how to do that well, but it even seemed as if the kid was getting better than he was.

 

"So, standard maneuvers, bro, for a singleton? You rough 'em up, I play save-the-day and pickpocket 'em, and we rendezvous later?"

 

He kept looking at the young man for a moment, judging him, his build. Yeah, he was a good mark.

 

"Nah. Let's do the hit-and-fade. He'll never see it coming. It's quick, fast, and to the point, we'll be gone before he knows what happened. Besides, I'm hungry. Come on."

 

The two walked out casually, engaging in a fake conversation about how space economics would eventually affect planetary governmential alliances, until they got closer, within arms length of the man as he was going the opposite direction, and as they split to let him pass...

[Xae-Lin Ardel]

Xae-Lin smiled at his enthusiasm, once more he was unwittingly reminding her of how she was at that stage of her training. "Jedi do not seek combat, but fight when they must, especially to protect others."

 

Her tone was even, as one offering wisdom, and not condesending or demeaning. "It was...interesting to be with a master," she mused, thinking of the fun that she had with Kyp, and the love that she'd felt with John. "Though I am very much under the impression that my training wasn't exactly orthodox or the norm."

 

R2-D6 burbled at her side in agreement, and nudged her just a bit in hopes that she'd remember to remove the art work that currently decked his metal body.

 

"This little guy actually belonged to my first Master, Kyp Durron, and was left to me when he left to complete some mission for the Jedi," she didn't yet divulge the tale John had told her of her former master turning to the Dark side, the same side that had claimed his daughter years before.

 

"So how's your training going?" ,she asked, curious to see how much this one had learned. He honestly didn't seem to be that much younger than her, but growing up amond the Dathomiri witches, being left alone on Ossus for two years, and her recent trials, often others with a sense that she as actually older than she appeared and was.

[Davi Quinn]

Davi laughed. "I haven't had any. I literally just slunk onto a ship and got dropped off here, came in, dueled a little furry guy with a stick, and now I'm stuffing my face because I haven't eaten in days. If that's Jedi training, it's going to be an interesting ordeal. Though...I don't know how much it's taught me about the Force. I do know that I don't fit so well in with shipments of potted plants."

 

Davi finally spoke aloud what had been bothering him this whole time, "What about you? Where do you sit on the training scale?"

[Darex Trevelian]

An X-wing appears in the skies over Gala. The pilot requests and recieves permission to land at the Jedi Temple. The ship makes a slow arc over the sky, then settles down gracefully for a smooth landing.

 

The hatch opens and a tall, blonde-haired man leaps out. Taking a step, he stumbles and catches himself on the S-foil of his ship. An embarrased grin plays over his face. That's what I get for spending so much time on Manaan, Jedi Master Darex Trevelian thought wryly. I'm not used to different gravity.

 

It didn't take him long to get adjusted, however, and he strode slowly towards the Temple, enjoying the forest and natural wildlife of Gala, as well as the wonderful feeling in the Force caused by the presence of so many Jedi.

[ForceFusion]

Dante was spewing rather large and confusing words about economics and politics at Aerec, most of which Aerec didn't recognize. But he was able to nod and form sentences around those words easily enough, falling into the role. Only once did it occur to him that a pair dressed as shabbily as the Blackwood brothers didn't at all look like the types to be discussing interstellar commerce. He snuffed the thought out as irrelevant and no fun.

 

He continued to babble while keeping his focus subtly on the mark. Though his eye was rarely actual on the young man in strange robes, he had a distinct awareness of his presence, something he couldn't necessarily explain. "Well, the flow of credits from Corellia to Coruscant via the various core-based hyperlanes shows us--oof!"

 

The two brothers clambered awkwardly into their mark, both apparently taken by surprise by his presence. While grabbing the robed man in a feigned attempt to keep his balance, Aerec also slipped a hand into an inner pocket...which was empty. Reacting quickly he pretended to trip, knocking the trio off balance again, and gave himself an opportunity to grab something off the man's belt.

 

It wasn't a particularly small item, however. It was a mostly silver cylinder, with a red button and hand grips. What in the star-flares of Corel is this? he muttered inwardly while attempting to hide it from its owner behind his back.

 

However, he now found himself flying across the area he'd just recently walked, then slamming into a tree on the edge of the forest, the stolen item no longer in his grasp. "What the kriffing frack!" he swore in mid-flight, then added at "Shab!" when his body slammed into the tree. He would've gotten up to run immediately, but he was in quite a bit of pain and shock.