Gala - Jedi Praxeum Ruins

[ObliviousKnight]

Upon pulling out my datapad, my mood immediately took a turn towards darkness. I turned so Aryian could read the message over my shoulder. Now that I thought about it, I was probably going to end up having to kill Julz, or whatever his real name was.

 

"You'll have to go. Wait””get changed, and meet me at my ship." The possibility existed that this was a trap for either of us. I made a few minor preparations””really, nothing more complicated than scanning the exterior and interior of my ship and clothing, to ensure that no devices had been planted to track my movements. A communication was also sent to the Wolf Spiders at the Rebel base. When Aryian arrived, I delayed only long enough to kiss him before I retreated to my ship and left this planet behind.

[Ary the Grey]

It was not a good day at all. The last thing Aryian did before leaving the temple was kiss his wife, boarding his ship and leaving for Coruscant.

 

((I'll see you there.))

[Scorp Jedi Knight]

Silence seemed to fill the halls. A strangeness to be sure, one worth looking into perhaps at a later time. However, given the recent defeat at Ilum, it was understandable.

 

He had opted not to rush headlong into danger. Instead, he had focused on other matters, which were now a moot point thanks to the Empire's willing and wanton destruction of Ilum.

 

Given such a state he felt he should at least seek out the man he had sent off before and begin his training in earnest lest something untold happen and yet another padawan be torn from him.

 

He had to admit he was somewhat surprised to find him sitting in the library.

 

"Have you had your fill of studying yet?"

[Skarr]

”œQuite.”

[Scorp Jedi Knight]

"It didn't go quite as planned."

 

He raised an eyebrow as the motion of the book closing signaled a finality that had yet come to pass. Perhaps it was just the recent battles that were being spawned by these invaders. However, he felt a little bit more on edge than he usually did, which was troubling to say the least.

 

HE accepted such feelings, though instead of fighting it like most would suggest he should, he accept them and calmly let them go over the span of a few moments letting a small silence fill in-between them.

 

"Well I suppose if you are bored of studying, I could simply teach you for a while. A little hands on interaction never hurts anybody, well in most cases anyway. I think first and foremost I shall show you Jedi flow. Follow me to the gardens, I am a fan of actually engaging natural surroundings when in this line of work."

 

He swiftly turned and feeling no need to beckon to him began a rather interesting though roundabout path to the gardens.

[Skarr]

”œJedi Flow?”

[Scorp Jedi Knight]

He came to a sudden stop in the middle of what could easily be an allergist's person worst nightmare. Yet, to the rest of the galaxy fortunate enough to not be subdued by such things it was really a work of art meant to be admired.

 

He turned to face his padawan while simultaneously bending over and performing stretches.

 

"You might want to limber up a bit. I haven't done this particular game in a while."

 

He paused to do a back bend, and then taking a deep breath he held the position and continued speaking.

 

"There us a thing that I can teach you first, it is used to be considered a game of sorts. Yet it been so long since it has been played by children that is simply just useful to know. I believe it is called Jedi flow. Now Jedi feel the force as if it was an ocean of energy, we immerse ourselves in it, floating within its currents or directing its waves. Your body holds inside of it memories of pain, anger and fear. It holds them deep within your tissues which is why you have conditioned responses that attempt to protect you from future injury. Kind of like scar tissue. "

 

It was difficult keeping his voice steady despite the demanding nature of the position he was in. However, when one trained extensively in form Four combat, the idea of acrobatics is as acceptable as walking.

 

He took a deep breath and then flipped himself over as to perform a hand stand. His lightsaber flipped upside down banging into his ribcage. Which would hurt anybody no matter how tough they were. A small grunt of pain was all the acknowledgement he gave having the metal weight slam into him.

 

"Tight ugh like the belt around a fat man or like a fist, it warps and twists you, after a time when you have collected enough it becomes like an armor of sorts. However, Jedi don't really wear armor, some do but it is only because of the trying times that face us all. However as Jedi we really don't wear armor. For armor both protects as well as numbs, jedi must expose themselves fully to the currents of the universe. I can teach you how to remove some of these wounds that you may have accumulated in your life span. "

 

He felt his arms reach the point of stress he knew they could take and so he bent them downward before pushing himself off and flipping around to land on his feet.

 

"Ah much better! Where was I? Oh yes, You could consider them to be boulders of a sort, obstacles in your river of energy since you have yet to truly unlock the force. You need to learn to flow around your fears and angers instead of crashing into against them. Learn well enough and you can even direct the river to move the boulders for you, widening the riverbed and allowing you to access more of the force."

 

He unhooked his canteen and took a sip of lukewarm water, though it was more than enough to quell his current thirst. It also gave him a little more time to try and form his next words carefully.

 

"Activity or physical action is the unity of breathing, motion, and alignment. In other words I think, breath is the result of the motion of your diaphragm, and the movement of your spine. Motion is the result by breathing and proper posture. And alignment is resulted by a unity of breath and motion. Try to keep this in mind when we move in to the martial arts portion of our training. After all a Jedi must know how to fight."

 

He then sat down on the ground and motioned for his padawan to do the same.

 

"You see with Jedi flow a person can take two-dimensional calisthenics and can turn them into three- dimensional gymnastics, moving static exercise positions through additional ranges of motion, turning poses into dynamic waveforms and, combine them, flow in and out of them, creating your own combinations to address any specific fitness needs."

 

He took a deep breath.

 

"Let us start with a simple breathing exercise. Follow my example."

 

He began to slowly take a deep breath filling his lungs to their full capacity and then slowly exhaling outward. On the second breath he created a number of short small bursts of air. In the end he focused on the exhalations only, allowing air pressure to fill his lungs passively as the rib cage expanded.

[Skarr]

He watched with careful attention as the manoeuvre was done with ease. It was less dramatic than it was a control of all the muscles inherited as well as the stream of the Force. He believed he could clutch this piece of acumen with the same ease; all it took was patience, which he had masses of. First and foremost however was comprehension before achievement, one step at a time.

 

Nevan took a step backwards and widened the space between the two. He took notice of the other scholars and apprentices in the area but paid them no heed as their deeds were of diverse importance. He pulled the brim of his traditional robe up from his waist and tossed it over his shoulders to loosen himself up and become limber as was instructed. It was here that the same marks that tattooed above his brow were revealed in the same fashion that tattooed the left half of his chest. His body was a symbol.

 

Nevan pushed the strands of his snow white mane aside and took a deep breath. He didn't release, but in its place he held close to what was educated; a slow exhalation. With the second breath came controlled spurts of air and the expansion was now in official process. He persisted and refused to stop until his Master was prepared to move him on.

[Scorp Jedi Knight]

Though always in tune with his surroundings time seemed to slip away as he spent at least the better part of an hour demonstrating how two-dimensional calisthenics could be turned into three- dimensional gymnastics, moving static exercise positions through additional ranges of motion, turning poses into dynamic waveforms, and melding all with the triumvirate of breathing, motion, and alignment. Then willing to take it a step further by taking those exercises and combining them, flow in and out of them, creating his own combinations to address any specific fitness needs. Yet always preserving and attending to breathing, motion, and alignment.

 

Finally at last rather lose and limber, though quite relaxed he motioned for a new phase to begin.

 

"All right now I Shall take you through a basic mediation exercise. Sit down and close your eyes. I find closing that closing your eyes helps people since it removes visual stimulation. Now allow yourself to feel the force flowing through you much like the ocean current I talked about before. Now reach deep into your self and relax. feel the force and allow it to flow through you."

[Skarr]

Nevan buckled down and sat before his Master with hands folded in lap. He drew a short-winded breath towards him and ceased the moment as he allowed his vision to dim and the world around him to disappear. It was black, and the noise from all around was still unmistakable. There were faint colourful lines that darted across his black expanse, and he almost chuckled at the spectacle. He knew however, that it was just the fibres that built his eye and nothing to do with the force whatsoever.

 

• ”œOkay. So, my eyes are closed and I have shut out all visual stimulation. I feel the same, so that means it hasn't worked. I need to shut it all out; the noise, these thoughts, and all that exist to distract me.”

[Scorp Jedi Knight]

He had seen many people open themselves up to the force for the first time. He considered it a sort of special moment between a person and the force that he had no reason to interrupt. All He felt the need to do was guide them to the point that they can discover it for themselves.

 

Though the exercise had been some what silly, it had also been physically challenging yet an eye opener. He exhausted the inexperienced body while free it up to let the force flow through it with greater ease.

 

Despite everything, he flipped himself over and caught himself on his hands. He felt he was a master of his physical body, though in order to truly know he always felt the need to stretch what ever limits he placed upon himself.

 

A complex movements of hands forced him to resemble a dancer in the most unique form. Strange as it was, it was more or less as graceful as he could manage. Exercising full control of himself, he stopped his swaying movements and opened himself up to the force.

 

The force was connected to all things, much like an all-permeating mist. He grasped his lightsaber with the force and slowly unclipped it and held it away from his body while simultaneously holding himself physically upright using only his hands.

 

Then with a strange idea in mind he began to walk on his hands, exercising control of the force and control over his body by forcing the saber to move in front of him, as if he was a dog that had a bone dangled in front of him by a stick stuck in his collar.

[ForceFusion]

Aerec awoke feeling a hint of remaining depression, though he was fresh from one of the more comfortable sleeps he'd had in a while. Rolling out of his bed, he headed to get a sani-steam, a luxury he was excited to exploit. But as he stumbled through his room, he looked in a closet and saw something interesting: clothing. He hadn't brought any clothing to this planet; he didn't have any. But he saw a set of beige trousers and a matching tunic, as well as a long brown robe. He raised his eyebrows in interest. Thinking back on his previous day in the Jedi temple, he did recall that there was a fairly uniform style here, though it wasn't so uniform that it seemed required.

 

He debated wearing the robes while he showered. They weren't his style, lacking color and pizazz, but his old ratty clothes hadn't been washed...ever. He'd give the clothes a shot.

 

Now clean and adorned as any other Jedi hopeful, though his hair wasn't cut close to his head, rather it was long and matted, he made his way to the cafeteria and ate a massive breakfast. After that, he studied for a few hours in the archives, going over some of the information he'd already studied and adding some new ones. He found information on the tradition Jedi weapon, the lightsaber, and its use. The seven traditional forms interested him, and after going over the basics three times, he was ready to start practicing. Unfortunately, he had no master as of yet to train him, nor did he have access to lightsabers.

 

But he did have access to the gymnasium, and decided that he would substitute a general workout for his desire to jump into a lightsaber duel. His wiry frame was good in a fight, but it wasn't adorned with big muscles. He was slightly embarrassed in the weight-lifting categories when he saw young Jedi a few years younger than him lifting twice as much as he could. He tried not to look at anyone his age or older; his ego couldn't handle it.

 

Slightly discouraged, he went back to the cafeteria for lunch, trying unsuccessfully to forget what it was like to have a companion. He was slowly coming to terms with the fact that being a Jedi meant being lonely. That was a sad prospect, but he'd survive. If he knew how to do anything it was survive.

[Skarr]

• It all vanished

 

He found himself alone; the walls of his mind had collapsed. He could feel no air on his skin, and what he breathed wasn't even there. At first, he would suffocate. But as he choked for dear life, he did not die. His palms fell onto a surface of black and his white hair splashed into darkness; where was he? There was no answer, there was no sound. He opened his mouth and forced the words from his soul.

 

”œWhere am I?!”

[Scorp Jedi Knight]

Muscles straining he was”¦ observing his apprentice's progress while still trying to keep up with his multitasking. It was something he did well enough that he sometimes lapsed into doing such strange things, not as a means to pass the time but, to strengthen his own connection to the force.

 

He sometimes though his own training methods could be considerably less jedi like, since instead of moving boulders or doing something helpful while training, he normally ended up performing some dangerous stunt that required him to be in full control of his body as well as muster up the ability to use the force.

Though it was perhaps this view he had of his own training methods that allowed him not to lose concentration when his apprentice finally spoke again. Instead he bent at the elbows and rolled forward. Clipping his saber to his belt as he stood up he raised an eyebrow.

”œObi-Wan Kenobi once said, you have taken your first step into a larger world. I believe this has happened now with you as well.”

[Skarr]

The code repeated itself in his head as he recalled them from his studies. It all made sense to him and he was honoured to hold a respect for all that was said. He stood upon from his rested position and brushed the snow white strands of hair from his marked face. His utilitarian irises strained as he called to mind his connection with the force and how it now made him feel. It was as if he was born a new man with a spirit of virtue that embodied him; but he was not command the force, but rather work at the side of it with his head held tall in each and every condition.

 

• ”œNo questions at all, Master.”

[Darex Trevelian]

A comm arrives for Aerec Blackwood.

 

Begin communication:

 

Aerec,

 

I was wondering if you are still interested in becoming a Jedi. If you are, would you meet me at the Alliance base main mess hall in one standard hour? I have enclosed a map of the area--it's not far to the base.

 

Sincerely,

Darex

 

End comm.

[Onderin Starlisk]

A comm arrives from the Alliance base not far away. It's from Admiral Starlisk:

 

"All offensive personnel and Jedi volunteers report to the fleet immediately. The attack on Gromas is about to begin, and it could be a major victory in the war to drive the Arach'tar out of our galaxy."

[Bad karma]

Nowhere is safe

 

The alliance and Jedi order had learned this some months ago, or was it a year now? I couldn't recall, time escaped me these days, but they had seen the force that the Unholy Trinity could bring to bear that day. No small toll had been flayed from their very flesh, but this visit was for an entirely different reason. I was not here to slay the Jedi and soldiers while the greater portion of their forces was elsewhere in the Galaxy.

 

I was here to recruit help in taking down one of the linchpins of the Arach'Tar. The Sith alone could not bring this one down and I am not opposed to coming for a Jedi for help. Normally they are the ones that would find fault with such an arrangement. Fortunately their arrogance and holier than thou attitude had been dampened by the invasion.

 

The temperature in the room dropped twenty degrees in an instant and my presence spreads throughout the temple like an insidious poison, temptation and corruption flourishes. His meditation is interrupted and I take a few steps forward. He looks taller than I imagined he would be; though I suppose I am shorter than people imagine I am.

 

”œSaulot.”

[Amon Saulot]

"Let's do this."

 

Amon took Dominique's hand, ready to deliver justice to the invaders.

[Ason Antilles]

Sublight drives grunted as they stirred back to consciousness, the streaks of white around him falling into little holes in the galaxy's emptiness. The Toscan 8-Q Fighter The Consequence steered effortlessly through the system and toward the Dreadfully Unpleasant and Very Unholy Chariot of Unwarranted Suffering that laid in orbit of Gala. At the helm of the fighter was a sith, an alchemist, and, most importantly now, the bane of all enemies that should threaten the Order.

 

Even the very air of that planet below sickens me.

 

Subduing his urge to vomit infinitely and rather unprofessionally, Ason Antilles continued on his path toward the destination of his journey. His awakening had given him quite the unexpected symptom. After having been secluded from life so long, his flesh now tingled quite madly at the possibility of serving the Sith again through the slaughter of its enemies. His usual apathetic demeanor was still quite easily maintained physically, yet the blood lust in him was rising to the surface a tad. It wouldn't cause him to be irrational, for he was far too tactically sound for that. It would merely grant him a certain enjoyment in his brilliant art that a man of his stature rarely indulged in.

 

His ship entered the cargo bay of the corvette, touching lightly on the ground as the canopy busted open and conceived the dark horror inside.

 

And now”¦ we wait”¦

[Exodus]

The cryptic unseen switchblade, the marvel that was Ira, paved and pushed its magnitude through the darkness and crawled upon the sights of a rather notable ship. It harvested the taint of men with blood on their hands, and of course the coordinates in which he was delivered. This world brought him memory, and if he had the time upon his hands he would be swift to reenact such. However, this convene held much more importance and the collection of the few left within this Order was no doubt a threat that even the Arach'tar would have to fear. Exodus docked, and waited.

 

(Been out all weekend, work is crazy. I'll be back tommorow if everything goes to plan.)

[Mathis]

After stopping at several different galaxies, Mathis had finally found someone who could tell him the location of the latest Jedi base. Landing his ship outside the base, Mathis disembarks and starts to search for someone who could tell him what was going on.

 

((Short, but it gets things moving again))

[Scorp Jedi Knight]

"Hmm no questions at all. Well then, I guess we could rest for today. You taken a rather large step today, I think it is fair to give you a break."

 

He gestured toward the door. "While it is of course up to you, I say you should perhaps find a recreation activity of some sort, or you can join me on a stimulating exploration of this valley."

[ObliviousKnight]

A number of the droids assigned to assist those perusing the Jedi Archives took notice of the unusual situation in the Jedi Temple, namely that of the arrival of several Sith Masters without the immediate threat of violence.

[Bad karma]

His hand is warm and flush with blood; mine is chill to the touch and pallid. Is this evidence of the toll that some believe the Dark Side takes on a person's body? Perhaps and if I had more time, I might let my mind wander on the topic for a while. Instead I tug him closer, wrapping one arm around his waist (what is it with every guy I meet being at least a foot taller than me?) and pulling him a step back into the shadows.

 

I imagine he might be a little sick to the stomach, though that doesn't much bother me. He's got the entire trip through hyperspace to feel better and I am sure that Ason and Exodus will help him out if he gets too sick. A thin smile forms on my face and I can picture the way it must look in my mind; a cat toying with its prey. A slight shake of my head and I move towards the cockpit.

 

”œThis is your captain speaking.”

[Mathis]

This is getting me nowhere fast...

 

Mathis stopped walking through the empty hall of the temple and closed his eyes to focus on the Force. One by one, he found the occupants of the temple. All were strangers to him, until he reached one of the last few. With a gentle mental nudge, he summoned Scorp to his location.

[ObliviousKnight]

Having received a transmission from the Jedi Grandmaster, a Jedi Adept put a number of construction droids on standby. The transmission had been bounced from so many relays that identifying its point of origin would have been an exercise in futility, but voice analysis had determined within an acceptable range of probability that the speaker was, in fact, Armiena Darkfire.

 

She had been especially insistent about one point, even if it made him roll his eye.

 

A few minutes later, he placed a plain, free-standing sign in the hangar: "Pardon our dust--renovations in progress." These changes wouldn't begin until after the Sith departed and the Temple was swept for listening devices, of course.

[Kitt]

Kitt's starsword pulled out of hypersapce above Gala. He quickly maneuvered his fighter to take him in closer towards the Jedi enclave on the planet. As he approached the planets surface, Kitt could sense Kirlocca was not on the planet. He quickly made a course adjustment and headed for the main Alliance base on the planet to track down the Jedi master.

[Skarr]

• ”œ”¦I'll join you.”

[Scorp Jedi Knight]

He smiled amused that the young man had decided to see the world instead of taking the time for rest and relaxation. Well he would soon burn out such idea. Sometimes a good rest is what a Jedi really needed.

He began to started forward when he was struck by a presence he had felt since....

 

He paused mid-step and soon found himself in front of Mathis.

"Next time I'll give you my comm signal. Makes things a bit easier."

He wasn't one ready to display a massive amount of surprise at the sudden and unexpected appearance of his old master. Even though inside he almost couldn't believe the man was standing in front of him. Last he had heard the man had gone out to the outer rim and presumed lost.