Lehon - Jedi Temple

[Adrian Makaryk]

Adrian fought to suppress a yawn. He wasn't trying to be rude. Not at all. But despite the fact he'd had a full twelve hours of rest, he still felt as if he had just stumbled home, exhausted, after one of his old forty-eight-hour ER shifts (often with overtime operations on top of that). The surgeon, newly recovering from starvation, had expended and wasted precious energy wandering about, listlessly lost; it'd taken him a substantial amount of time simply to find the right room. His soft, listless eyes wandered about, almost as if seeking a pillow. Yet through sheer, practiced willpower, the man forced himself to stay awake, barely aided by the mastication of his nerf jerky.

 

It took even more endurance for the man not to immediately reach for a stimulant. Doing so would likely disturb the surgeon-cum-student's metabolism further.

 

Adrian guzzled what remained of his juma juice in a desperate bid to get some glucose to his brain. But even that would take a few moments, and in the interim he strained to think. Perhaps he was physically capable of making it to this class, but now he doubted he had paid sufficient attention to the effects of starvation and exhaustion upon his mental faculties. For a moment, the tall newcomer seemed to stare down at Jaren, then Ads and Halo in turn, eyes seemingly half-glazed over. Truth be told, Adrian really could have used some cold water splattered across his face...

 

It took a moment for Jaren's introductory questions to even register properly within Adrian's consciousness.

 

"I'm sorry." Adrian's voice came out heavy and exhausted. He spoke slowly, almost unsure of himself. "I am Adrian Makaryk of Onderon. Unfortunately, I had to make some sacrifices to afford passage here."

 

Well, that was somewhat simplified. Technically, he'd been unable to afford an interstellar transmission across the galaxy to notify the Jedi he'd accepted the evaluation for training. But he'd rather not get into that, for to do so was to implicate someone who was now not present to defend himself of being catastrophically ignorant of his surroundings, and regardless of what grievances Adrian presently had with the Grandmaster of the Order, he had more respect than simply airing them in public, behind said Grandmaster's back, would indicate.

 

The next few questions seemed substantially more difficult. The Grandmaster had found him, that much Adrian knew, but the precise circumstances now seemed a bit foggy. Experience with the Force? Far as Adrian knew, the Force amounted to a number far down the labwork page of a complete bloodcount. Adrian's own manifestations of Force sensitivity had proven too subtle to detect without such a CBC (that the local medical system could not afford for any but the most urgent cases...and screening for Force sensitivity was not among them) for three decades. It had taken even the Grandmaster more than an hour of proximity to Adrian to notice the presence of another Force-sensitive around him, and as far as why Adrian had come for training...he'd required some convincing to leave his post.

 

"I know nothing of the Force except a clinical definition out of a medical dictionary, and even that I strain to remember now, in my current state. I came here only after the Jedi sent others to relieve me of my duties as a surgeon at Iziz. But even my replacements had little time to tell me of the Force, for I was too busy making sure they could handle forty-eight hour ER shifts without keeling over."

 

He hadn't even come to the question of why he was come...perhaps because his brain was too busy trying to recover from the sacrifices the man had made to come in the first place to bother with such questions of philosophy.

[Joreel Ordo]

Joreel had never heard of Lehon before, a world where now the Jedi found themselves a home according to Master Damon's information. The Jedi Knight didn't know what to make of it, as he had only heard a rare few stories in relation to the planet, that it was a place of the Dark Side was chief among those stories he heard from his father, who told stories of the Mandalorian Wars and the clan's part in them. Why had the Jedi chosen to settle such a massively evil location to call their home?

 

The taxi shuttle pulled out of hyperspace above the planet and looking down below through a window aboard the shuttle, he could see one reason why they may have chosen this place. It was a tropical paradise, bright blue with islands scattered throughout, this place seemed like a vacation spot, one that Joreel could not wait to set foot on. His worries about the Dark Side's possible presence here was dashed from his mind by the promises of enjoying the sun, something he could use after who knows how long he was in the coma.

 

The ship began to decelerate as it approached the planet's tropical surface, and the beauty of the planet became more and more apparent. Tropical trees, sand, grasslands and tide ridden rocks, the planet was a paradise, and the tinge of the Dark Side was no longer here, whatever evil had ever existed was long gone, replaced by the natural beauty of this place.

 

The ship landed with a soft thud and Joreel thanked the pilot for his generosity, who was humble in accepting the compliments from the Jedi Knight. The hatch opened, and Joreel walked out into the bright sunlight, his hand over his eyes to protect his recently opened eyes from the sunlight. The planet was very warm, and the excessive robes he was wearing felt heavier than ever, and he removed the outer heavier robe and felt instantly better. It was easier for him to move as well, the heat felt good on his limbs which were having trouble coming back to moving before.

 

He turned away from the beautiful aquamarine oceans and saw the cliff face behind him where the Jedi Temple had been constructed, reminding the Jedi Knight how beautiful the Jedi Order could architect a building into the natural environment. It was impressive, and the Jedi Knight walked toward it slowly, taking in the world about him, wondering how much it would cost to build a retirement home on this planet.

 

Walking into the entrance, Joreel found the usual simplistic design of the Jedi in full effect, minimalist and easy on the eyes. The general lobby was large, yet Joreel still wondered where he was, and where everyone else were, aside the staff he saw no sign of a Jedi like himself. He saw a seating area, nearby and sat down and meditated for a while, hoping a fellow Jedi would notice and come to greet him and bring him up to speed with galactic events.

[Darex Trevelian]

Jaren frowned as the man spoke. "If you can barely remember your own name, then why are you here? You're clearly exhausted and out of it. Why did the medical droids release you from the med bay? You look like you need at least twenty four hours of uninterrupted sleep." His tone was firm. He didn't want the new hopeful passing out in the middle of an exercise, or causing himself lasting damage by pushing himself to much too soon.

 

The man's lack of knowledge of the Force was not an issue; on the contrary, Jaren looked forward to the challenge and rewards of seeing Adrian touch the Force for the first time consciously. But training was no picnic, and if Adrian wasn't in a good state physically and mentally--and even emotionally, for Jaren had sensed some bitterness in his tone--then there was little point of him starting until he was ready.

[Padme]

"Go ahead and try these things." Came Jedi Knight’s final instructions shortly after he himself demonstrated a few tricks through the Force. Lamb stood there watching and soaking it all in as Ads took the lead.

 

Shortly after Ads came to a pause, the Nabooian initiate beckoned the Force around her, particularly her feet. She then arched her feet, allowing her body weight to rest on her arched toes, and then leapt forward. Still utilizing the Force, Halo then jumped up landing on the corner beam.

 

Merely seconds upon landing on the beam, the blonde jumped back down, effortlessly landing at her original position. Halo expected a critique, but that critique never came as another initiate joined the group.

 

Lamb paused the exercise at hand, as she and Ads were instructed to pause and join the new arrival to the class. Unlike Knight Jaren, Halo did not offer her hand, but she did give the man a short bow and quickly introduced herself “Haloburner Lamb, nice to meet you,” offered the teen Jedi initiate.

[Joreel Ordo]

It was noticeable that Joreel had not actively used the Force in some time. While he used it with ease to aid his movements, having it flow through his body during meditation was entirely sensational, like having blood flow to a limb after having a tourniquet on it. The way the force flowed through him, filled him with light, was immense, as if regreeting him with a massive hug, of sorts. A smile came to the Jedi Knights face and he allowed himself to reach out more with the Force and found that he was not alone in the seemingly desolate Temple.

 

Joreel came out of his meditation, feeling refreshed, his body feeling better, and standing he realized he was no longer using the Force to support his body from falling over. Happy that he was beginning to return to form, Joreel walked to a doorway leading to the others he felt in the Force, and opened it by touching the Force Sensitive panels with the Light Side that freely passed about him.

 

He walked through to a room where it seemed four Jedi were, none of them who Joreel had ever met in his past time with the Jedi Order. The Jedi Knight, his hair short and beard trimmed neatly due to the doctros on Corellia, was a different sight than his normal long hair and full beard he wore in the past, so even if they knew him from holos, they would not recognize him now, at least fully.

 

"Glad to see I am not here alone," the Mandalorian Jedi barked to the room happily, "Joreel Ordo, or John Ordo to the records here in the Order, Jedi Knight. And I am sorry to say I don't know any of you here, might I ask you of your names?"

[Ads-Gop Flif]

.:"And I am sorry to say I don't know any of you here, might I ask you of your names?":.

 

Ads stepped over to the newest newcomer and offered his hand. "Ads," was all he said in response, but it didn't seem awkward or curt because that's a totally normal way to respond verbally, even though it looks rude when written down.

 

Hmm, Ads thought, it's strange how we give such short responses that would look really rude if the conversation was written down. He contemplated saying more, but he knew that it had been too long since he spoke and it would be awkward if he expanded his response now, and all that could do was further decrease the newcomer's opinion at all. Unless it isn't negative already, in which case it would just decrease his opinion without a relative descriptor...

[Adrian Makaryk]

You look like you need at least twenty four hours of uninterrupted sleep.

 

Jaren's words reverberated through Adrian's mind. Though sleep certainly seemed tempting at the moment, he needed to do something to awaken himself more. Adrian's metabolism, effectively destroyed by starvation, would only stay lethargic if he slept more. At the moment, the would-be Jedi was more interested in recovering his body's ability to actually utilize the nutrients he presently ingested. Admittedly, the medical droid had informed the surgeon he presently missed class--which Adrian had taken to mean a class of the sedentary variety, not a class involving heavy exertion of any sort other than thinking. Nevertheless, Adrian thought he might understand the instructor's frustration of having a student show up that, as he so bluntly put it, "barely remember your own name." To be fair, however, it was a clinical definition of Force sensitivity from medical school that Adrian had had difficulty remembering--and that was a condition the surgeon had never had the occasion to diagnose!

 

At approximately this point, some of that glucose from Adrian's juma juice finally reached his brain. Lo, Adrian formed a coherent thought in his mind! Maybe he would be able to learn something after all...

 

Adrian nodded at the newcomer Joreel to acknowledge him, but found he had to answer the instructor's question about why he was come. Not to mention why he wanted to become a Jedi.

 

"I am terribly sorry, Master Jaren. I am recovering from starvation, which is why I brought food with me to class. My metabolism is a fifth of what it was, yet I have rested twenty of the last twenty-four hours. At this point, more sleep will only keep my metabolism depressed, just as it should start adapting to having access to food again. I appear tired because my body would rather store energy for famine at the moment than expend it--for that, more sleep can do little. I need to ingest calories and use them--gradually, of course."

 

"I am sorry I arrived in such condition. I really am. I had---let's call it a communication error with the first Jedi I met, and because of that error, I went without food to send your Order the message that I would accept training. Not everyone can afford cross-galaxy transmissions on a moment's whim..."

 

Now, Adrian could finally come up with a coherent answer to the instructor's final question, about why he wanted to become a Jedi. He guzzled the last of his juice during the pause, hoping it would be enough. The nerf jerky in his hand was slower-digesting, to say the least.

 

"I am a surgeon by training, Master. On the day the Jedi arrived, I performed a surgery not attempted on my planet for some four millenia, with almost no equipment other than a scalpel and drill. Had that Jedi not visited, looking for something else, that would have been lost in yet another fifty-some-odd hour ER shift, and I would still go about believing the Force is simply a few pages in a medical dictionary that I would never have occasion to diagnose because of its rarity and lack of tools to screen for it."

 

"But, after thirty-one years, I was found. I did not come immediately, for to do so would have deprived a devastated city of what little healthcare it had. I waited to be replaced before leaving, which entailed certain sacrifices that you can visibly see now, that I could not adequately explain to that Jedi at the end of fifty-some-odd hours of patient care, all of it without rest longer than the occasional meal break."

 

Adrian wished he'd brought some fruit from the cafeteria with him in addition to the juice--another wholesome, yet fast-digesting, source of sustenance. But that omission was his own fault.

 

"I have seen civil war, and nearly given my life to mend others. Both literally, and from an hours-worked point of view. I do this willingly. I came here to learn more about medicine and healing. Perhaps, if you are still wondering why I cut my own treatment short, we could start with the interaction between Force and metabolism?"

 

Assuming there was such interaction of course, but Adrian could hope. He knew nothing of the Force, other than that very clinical definition from medical school, and the allegation that he was somehow sensitive to it.

[Darex Trevelian]

Jaren nodded slowly, though he still frowned. "Very well. If you insist on pushing yourself, then it's not my place to tell you what to do. But if you need a break, take one."

 

He turned as another Knight approached the group, and smiled. "I'm Knight Jaren Platt.It's a pleasure to meet you, Knight Ordo." He was always glad to see a new face. "These are the hopefuls I am training. You met Ads, and this is Adrian Makaryk and Haloburner Lamb." He wanted to talk to the knight more, but he would do it privately. For now, the others had taken a long enough break.

 

He turned back to the hopefuls. "Ads, Halo, I want you two to spar each other." He walked over to a footlocker that contained long bamboo poles and handed one to each of them. "Be mindful of the Force, and use what you have learned so far."

 

He turned to Adrian. "As for you, to take your first steps, you need to learn to consciously tap into the Force." He motioned for the man to take a seat, grabbed a few things from another cabinet in the room, then returned and placed two objects in front of Adrian. One was a polished green marble, and the other was a small bird in a cage. "Close your eyes and reach out with your mind. Feel the life in this bird, it's essence. All living things create the Force. When you feel like you have connected with that energy field, shift your attention to the marble, and try to lift it in the air."

 

He left the man to it, and motioned for Ordo to join him out of earshot of the others. "Do you have a padawan, Knight Ordo? If not, you should take one of them on."

[Padme]

((Adrian asked for it...))

 

Lamb made a short eye conctat with the new arrival- Knight Ordo, followed by a short bow. As she rose from her bow she added “Haloburner Lamb, Jedi Imitate. Pleasure to meet your acquaintance.”

 

The Nabooian quickly moved to the snack table, took two cups of water, walked closer to Adrian and then reached out to offer him the extra cup. While she did so a mischievous idea crossed her mind- at which point she followed through with it. Instead of handing Adrian the cup, Halo reached out through the Force to carry the glass of water to the man. However, merely seconds before the glass reached Adrian’s hand, Knight Jaren’s voice interrupted the teen’s concentration. The glass nearly fell on the concrete floor, but Halo was able to grab it! Even so, some of the contents in the glass splashed through Adrian’s face!

 

“Sorry about that,” the teen whispered to Adrian while slowly backing away. So much for trying to help- the blonde thought- while she moved her attention back on Knight Jaren.

 

"Ads, Halo, I want you two to spar each other." Came Jaren’s instructions. Lamb quickly set her glass on the table, took one of the long bamboo poles from the Knight’s hands then finally beckoned Ads to join her in the other room. “Looks more spacious there,” she said as she made quick jabs in the air with her bamboo weapon.

[Joreel Ordo]

The Jedi Knight was pleased that three of the four geeted him. Welcoming each other is what made the Jedi Order so dramatically different from life on Ordo or even Mandalore. Greeting each other was only necessary for diplomatic discourse, it was never expected elsewhere, and that reminder was another reason the Jedi Knight felt more at home here with the Order.

 

"Ads," he said in response to the young man who gave him a simple response, "nice to meet your acquaintance."

 

The Jedi Knight then was welcomed by a fellow Knight, Jaren Platt, who was much more cordial and lengthy in his response than the young Jedi in training. Ordo made a quick bow to his fellow Jedi Knight and allowed a response to him as well.

 

"And to you as well my fellow Jedi Knight," Ordo called out to the man, glad he was not surrounded by initiates but instead someone who had a connection to the Order itself. He would need to speak with him about information relating to Xae, and about this new temple, to which he knew nothing of and had need to craft new lightsabers give his old ones were lost to him.

 

He noticed a motion from his fellow night and went to follow when a young lady had made herself known to him as well, Haloburner Lamb another initiate.

 

"And to you as well Haloburner," he said as he passed by following Jaren, wondering how she was named such an obscure and odd name not befitting of lady, but her father could have been a quirky spacer or something.

 

He went out of earshot of the other soon-to-be Padawans with Jaren who was quite indirect with what he needed from Ordo, a bit different from his articulate response before. Ordo understood though and smiled.

 

"I haven't trained anyone in some time, and in fact I just got out of a coma so exercising the Force and instructing another sounds like it would be helpful for both myself and the Padawan I take on," he said calmly to Jaren, "I assume you have one of them in mind for me, though, I will have a few things to prepare though, as you can see I have no Jedi robes, armor, lightsaber, anything. In order for me to train someone I should probably have the proper tools at my disposal."

 

He paused for a moment before continuing on another issue that he had questions on, "On another note Jaren, do you have any information on the Jedi Xae-Lin Ardel? Master Damon was quiet about anything to do with her, and she is my partner, so I am sure there is more I need to know."

[Ads-Gop Flif]

.:"Ads, Halo, I want you two to spar each other." He walked over to a footlocker that contained long bamboo poles and handed one to each of them. "Be mindful of the Force, and use what you have learned so far.":.

 

Ads took his pole from Jaren. He had seen Halo flirting with the newcomer, Joreel or John. She seemed like quite the floozy, and for that, he promised himself that he would smack her with his pole. And he would enjoy it.

 

He had a strange feeling that she would too.

 

Ads followed Halo into the other room. When a support column obscured him from Halo's vision, he leapt. Or leaped. Either one is fine, really. Either way, he used the force to assist his jump up to the pipes near the ceiling and waited for Halo to come looking for him...

[Darex Trevelian]

Jaren was pleased. "I'm glad to hear that you're back among the rest of us again. I'm sure you have plenty of catching up to do on galactic events and the state of the Order. Feel free to come to me with any questions and I will help you all I can."

 

He scratched his head. "Of course, you should be able to get whatever equipment you need from our storerooms. It's just a matter of stopping by. When you feel ready, you can come and officially take one of these hopefuls as an apprentice."

 

He frowned as Joreel mentioned Xae-Lin Ardel. "Hmm...Last I heard, she and her apprentice were on Gala, but there was a Sith attack and that temple is now destroyed. I can't say as to her location now, but if I had to guess, I'd bet they ran to the Eternal Vigilance." He lowered his voice. "When you get your comlink reconnected to the Jedi network and your ID is reactivated, then you'll be pinged the current location of the ship."

 

His eyes strayed to Ads and Halo's duel, which had already led Ads to the rafters of the training room. "Forgive me, but I'm curious. When you say Knight Ardel is your partner, what do you mean by the term? What is the relationship between the two of you?"

[Padme]

(( Le sigh... Sue me- if you must....I'm a dolt. Had to edit to fit Ads' prior post.))

 

Bamboo weapon dangling in her tiny hand, Lamb slowly positioned her body as though she was getting ready for a real spar. The teen moved into Jedi ready stance- dominant foot held back, with the bamboo in a vertical parry position on her dominant hand.

 

In lieu of a smile, Halo graced a rather stoic look. It seems Ads was out of sight....

 

Knight Jareen did say use the Force, so that is exactly what the teen did. She turned her head clockwise, and then counter clock wise- frantically 'looking' for Ads. About twenty seconds into her search she started to move around the room. Alas she sensed his presence tucked up one of the columns which had apparently obscured her sight. Letting out a quick sight she hesitantly called for him.

 

This was supposed to be a spar, not peek-a-boo, thought the Nabooian as she finally spoke "you do realize we Knight Jareen instructed to spar, right?"

Edited May 15, 2012 by Guest

[Joreel Ordo]

Xae had been attacked, and he was not there to stop it. News of her escape softened the blow of this news. His training, and her strong will, must have done something to help it seems, but he wasn't there for her. The Mandalorian, who always put on a stern face, had to fight back a tear to this news. He loved Xae, and anything happening to her, hurt him to hear. He straighten up though and tried his best not to visually display the sadness he felt to his fellow Knight.

 

Joreel was surprised though Jaren did not know about he and Xae, he had always assumed the knowledge of their engagement was common knowledge, even if it had become estranged due to them being apart for some time. The connection in the Force was still there, a Force bond and Joreelknew it was still there, it had been some time since he had been close to her and rekindled that bond again.

 

"Xae is going to be my wife," he started with a somewhat solemn tone in his voice as he spoke, "we had intended for this to be done sometime sooner than now, but the events of the galaxy seemed to always get in the way of or union becoming official."

 

He walked a bit away from Jaren and looked at the hopefuls, one of them or more to be a padawan learner under his wing.

 

"I hope she hasn't forgotten about us, about me. I had been gone for so long, against my intention or my will."

 

He turned back to Jaren and clasped his hand on his shoulder.

 

"But enough of this news my new friend, let's get these hopefuls a master to train them, eh?"

[Ads-Gop Flif]

Ads could feel Halo looking for her. She was definitely taking her time. As Ads was beginning to tire of waiting and hanging, Halo stepped into view. She gave a sigh; she had realized where he was. Ads launched himself toward her as she called out, "You do realize we Knight Jaren instructed to spar, right?"

 

He let his actions speak for him as he swung his pole at her face.

[Padme]

Ads could feel Halo looking for her. She was definitely taking her time. As Ads was beginning to tire of waiting and hanging, Halo stepped into view. She gave a sigh; she had realized where he was. Ads launched himself toward her as she called out, "You do realize we Knight Jaren instructed to spar, right?"

 

He let his actions speak for him as he swung his pole at her face.

 

A slow gush of wind towards Lamb’s direction cautioned her. Caution- not in the sense of eminent danger, but one of mischief. Ads apparently was in the process of lunching towards the teen, with bamboo stick and all.

 

With a slight move to the side, Halo dodged the stick aimed at her face. She then lifted hers upwards, towards Ads’ hand. Her goal? To knock out the stick away from the man’s hand! Tapping into the Force, the girl aimed straight at Ads’ hand. If Ads fails to block Halo’s attack, his stick will undoubtedly be knocked out of his hand, and even suffer a minor bruise from Lamb’s bamboo.

[Ads-Gop Flif]

Damn.

 

Halo sidestepped Ads' stroke, a development that did not exactly shock Ads, although he was a bit disappointed. Ads tucked and rolled as he landed, not out of necessity, for he could land on his feet just fine (and, verily, he had already done so just a few minutes ago to demonstrate his competence), but rather to separate himself a bit more from Halo so that he had room to take up a defensive stance.

 

It was good that he had done so because merely moments after landing, Halo aimed a strike at his left hand, with which he was holding his bamboo staff. In one deft, force-aided motion, Ads grabbed the pole with his right hand and rotated the staff so as to redirect the bamboo rapidly approaching his hand. While Halo was still reeling from Ads' parry, without winding up, he aimed a quick shot at the exposed part of Halo's forearm, just below her elbow. He swiftly stepped back from Halo to allow himself room to backflip onto the box that he had lifted and taken cover behind earlier. He readied himself, waiting for Halo's imminent response.

[Padme]

Damn.

 

Halo sidestepped Ads' stroke, a development that did not exactly shock Ads, although he was a bit disappointed. Ads tucked and rolled as he landed, not out of necessity, for he could land on his feet just fine (and, verily, he had already done so just a few minutes ago to demonstrate his competence), but rather to separate himself a bit more from Halo so that he had room to take up a defensive stance.

 

It was good that he had done so because merely moments after landing, Halo aimed a strike at his left hand, with which he was holding his bamboo staff. In one deft, force-aided motion, Ads grabbed the pole with his right hand and rotated the staff so as to redirect the bamboo rapidly approaching his hand. While Halo was still reeling from Ads' parry, without winding up, he aimed a quick shot at the exposed part of Halo's forearm, just below her elbow. He swiftly stepped back from Halo to allow himself room to backflip onto the box that he had lifted and taken cover behind earlier. He readied himself, waiting for Halo's imminent response.

 

Disappointment crept down the blonde’s mind as she watched Ads tuck and then roll; successfully dodging her attack! Though sorely disappointed, the tee forged on without wasting a second.

 

 

Though the Nabooian Jedi wanted to speak, she held her tongue. She simply allowed her weapon to do her biding.

 

Ads attempted to take advantage of the blonde’s open forearm by aiming a shot at below her elbow. As though on cue, Lamb quickly swerved the opposite direction, thus successfully avoided the bamboo stick!

 

Meanwhile, Ads appeared to be stepping back, via a back flip towards the direction of a box- at which point Haloburner levitated midair, pushed the box several feet away (through the Force), and then swung her bamboo weapon at her opponent’s torso.

[Darex Trevelian]

"Well, congratulations on your engagement then!" Jaren exclaimed with a broad smile. "I'm sure she is eager to be reunited with you." Marriage in the Order came in and out of fashion, but to Jaren, it had always been something that he had wished to see more of. He knew that marriage created an emotional attachment that could be a hindrance, but he believed it could also be a benefit to a Jedi. It gave them something real and immediate to fight in defense of. Jaren himself was sweet on a Jedi Knight that he had met when they were both assigned to the same mission a few years back, just after they had both been knighted. Unfortunately, their paths had pulled them apart, but he hoped one day that they would get back together and complete what they had begun.

 

The two Jedi turned their full attention back on the hopefuls. Ads and Halo were sparring enthusiastically enough. Jaren determined to keep watching and see what happened before interrupting. Adrian didn't seem to be having much luck, but Jaren had sympathy for him. He remembered how hard it was to touch the Force for the first time.

 

He glanced at Joreel and spoke quietly again. "Ads has received training before. I'm still putting him through his paces to see what he knows, but it so far it appears he hasn't much else to learn before he's ready for his trials. Halo is new to the Force, but is proving herself to be a quick learner. And Adrian is our newest arrival; he had just joined the class when you arrived. Do you feel the Force prompting you to a certain one, or would you like one assigned to you?"

[Ads-Gop Flif]

((To Darex and Joreel: Although Jaren might feel that Ads is almost ready for his trials, I would love to have a master at least as a traveling partner of sorts for a short time, at least. Also, Ads really only knows how to use the force, not any schools of thought about it or anything, so if this stuff really comes up in the RP, I would also love to have him finally be taught this stuff. Thanks!)

 

Ads had landed firmly on the box...at least he thought he had. He was continuing his backflip toward the ground. It was odd, Halo had revered quickly enough to apparently push the box that just minutes ago she was barely able to lift on her own, because there was no way that Ads had misjudged his flip, it was not a difficult maneuver. It was almost as though she had entirely avoided Ads' smack on her arm even though he was sure that he felt his pole quiver as he tapped her. Either way, he was rapidly approaching the ground.

 

Ads' eyes widened as he saw that Halo's staff was coming toward his body. He had no idea how she had avoided his attack, pushed the crate away from him, and kept pace with him enough to now be on the offensive. Her learning curve in the force was...formidable. Merely minutes ago, she was using it for the first time (and it was arguable whether or not it was actually even her using the force at that point), and now she was almost getting a step ahead of him. Almost.

 

Her offensive, however impressive it was, had failed to account for his motion. As he fell, Halo's strike continued at the same level. Perhaps this was on purpose, though, because Ads was only afforded a fraction of an instant to duck his head out of the way. That shook him up a bit. Ads had promised himself to smack her in the face with his pole. The last thing in the world that he wanted was to be hit in the face by her rod. For multiple reasons. As he rolled away from Halo again, he knew he would have to do better if he were to beat her.

 

Knowing that she would be in quick pursuit of him, Ads lept up, bringing his staff over his head to bat at Halo from above. As he reached the apex of his jump, he waved one of the hard rubber balls that Jaren had earlier flung at the two duelists toward Halo through the force. If he couldn't hit her with his pole, perhaps at least a ball would hit her.

[Adrian Makaryk]

Adrian didn't really do much to attract attention. Even when Halo "accidentally" splashed water across his face, Adrian barely blinked. The cold water reminded him of a cold shower on an otherwise miserably humid midsummer Onderon day. In fact, the cold water helped to wake him up, just a little, and truth be told, Adrian would not have cared if Halo deigned to splash water in his face again. Almost before he could open his mouth to speak, however, he found Halo and Ads assigned to duel, a caged bird and a marble unceremoniously plopped in front of him, and any trace of the instructor(s) vanished. Oh dear. Well, at least Halo had attracted Adrian's attention, at least at the next viable opportunity for them to speak, which didn't seem to be now. Maybe Adrian would actually be capable of thinking about something other than food by then.

 

All Adrian could do for the moment, however, was recall the instructor's last words to him.

 

"As for you, to take your first steps, you need to learn to consciously tap into the Force. Close your eyes and reach out with your mind. Feel the life in this bird, it's essence. All living things create the Force. When you feel like you have connected with that energy field, shift your attention to the marble, and try to lift it in the air."

 

It was the absolute barest of instruction. The instructors had gone off to carry their own conversation, leaving Adrian bereft of further guidance. And the man had no concept whatsoever of what consciously touching the Force was like...much less any experience with telekinetics. Nevertheless, he closed his eyes...

 

Surprisingly, he 'sensed' the bird's life processes in very short order...its breathing, its heartrate, along with a vague sense of its metabolic processes. But perhaps that should not have been a surprise, because for years the surgeon's fingers, unwittingly connected to the Force, had 'sensed' where they needed to go, sometimes within mere micrometers. The student had plenty of experience when it came to sensing the condition of life around him with the Force, but none of it consciously driven. Indeed, his training as a surgeon had masked that experience, and buried it beneath more consciously driven, trained skills.

 

Having identified that energy field Jaren referenced (that oddly seemed to connect him to the bird...but was it all that odd, given all the connections he'd experienced with his former patients?) he moved on to attempt the second task, moving the marble. But he had not a clue how to do it. He'd received no guidance, no instruction, and had nothing to utilize to move it remotely. Had he wished, the Force availed him of sufficient dexterity to physically pick up the marble, and then position it so its center of mass rested upon the tiniest of pinprick markings. But that was not the task. The marble did not budge; without some very specific instruction on telekinetics, the student found himself utterly clueless on how it might be accomplished.

 

A failure, the student turned inward with his thoughts. He had briefly observed the bird's metabolism through the Force, a glimpse really. While the instructors ignored him, perhaps he might be able to troubleshoot his own...

[Joreel Ordo]

Joreel was glad that the Knight was congratulatory of his and Xae's very prolonged engagement. Having that sort of excitement over something Joreel had gotten used to was invigorating toward the promise it represented in the first place. Ordo knew the Order was a good place for him, for where real friends showed themselves with good intentions toward each other, even if a few masters were unexpectedly short with the others.

 

His mind was so focused on Xae though, he had forgotten to allow the Force to freely flow enough to keep him in the present, to be in contact with the living Force as opposed to the past and future. At his request, the Mandalorian Jedi took a moment reach into the Force and feel the apprentices, and see if the Force had any intent toward the three in the room who were possible Jedi in the future.

 

The heat of combat between the two who had introduced themselves, Haloburner and Ads, seemed to be something the Force focused on far more than the other hopeful who had failed to given her name to the Jedi Knight. Joreel knew why this would be, his Mandalorian ancestry and their combat skills made them a good match, he could instruct them as the Jedi Guardian he was, how the Force amplifies all skills in self-defense and offense for the Jedi Knight, how it weaves itself into every movement you make to create beautiful and deadly strikes to protect those the Jedi are meant to protect. Joreel was also once a part of a Jedi Black Ops group formed in years gone by, as he was able to avoid the temptatiom battle and killing caused in most Jedi, and the skills used there could come in handy to keep these pupils as dedicated to the Light as ever.

 

"The two sparring, Ads and Haloburner, they seem to be more suited for my style of instruction," he began to his fellow Jedi before continuing, "the Force always draws me toward conflict it seems, and who better than the son of a former Mandalore to teach them how to do it with honor, signity, and remain in the Light all the same."

 

Just then the Force connected to the other in the room, the unnamed hopeful, and Joreel could feel power from him that he had rarely felt in the presence of another Force user. This one, this one is more than ready to be a Jedi Padawan.

 

"The other as well, there is something about him that is different that will require a different set of instruction, but, I feel the three as a group, working as a team, could accomplish more together and be better Jedi for it."

 

He turned his back on the hopefuls and looked to the Jedi Knight with a smirk on this fun.

 

"This shall be fun, thank you for the advice on taking them on Knight Jaren, I will let them know of the good news and then be on my way to reforge what I have lost."

 

Spinning on his heel the Knight walked into full view of the hopefuls and waited for a moment as the two sparring finished their respective swipes at each other before interjecting.

 

"Ads and Haloburner, you can stop sparring I need your attention," he began loudly to ensure the hopefuls would stop their playing around and pay attention to what he said, he spun toawrd the other [ADRIAN] and spoke loudly at him as well, "and to you as well hopeful, I require the attention of all three of you, and your name too if it isn't too much to ask, saying 'Hey You' for however long we know each other will get extremely old for the both of us."

 

He waited until the three had stopped and he had the third hopeful's name to continue.

 

"Thank you, it seems the Force has brought me here for more than it being a location fo the Jedi. It appears that all three of you were destined to become Padawans, and you will do so under my tutelage. Yes, I will be your Master and Instructor in the ways of the Force until you pass your trails. Thus, it is my distinct pleasure to welcome all three of you as such, Padawan Haloburner, Padawan Adrian, and Padwan Ads. You have been assigned adjacent rooms down the hall, each of which should be supplied with a set padawan's robes, a practice lightsaber, a holocom, a limited spending card with the Order, and a pin that denotes you as Padawan's to the rest of Order should you cross paths. Please make your way to your rooms, shower, and have the rest of the evening to cleanse your mind. I will meet you all back here in the morning. Do you have any questions?"

[Padme]

((To Darex and Joreel: Although Jaren might feel that Ads is almost ready for his trials, I would love to have a master at least as a traveling partner of sorts for a short time, at least. Also, Ads really only knows how to use the force, not any schools of thought about it or anything, so if this stuff really comes up in the RP, I would also love to have him finally be taught this stuff. Thanks!)

 

Ads had landed firmly on the box...at least he thought he had. He was continuing his backflip toward the ground. It was odd, Halo had revered quickly enough to apparently push the box that just minutes ago she was barely able to lift on her own, because there was no way that Ads had misjudged his flip, it was not a difficult maneuver. It was almost as though she had entirely avoided Ads' smack on her arm even though he was sure that he felt his pole quiver as he tapped her. Either way, he was rapidly approaching the ground.

 

Ads' eyes widened as he saw that Halo's staff was coming toward his body. He had no idea how she had avoided his attack, pushed the crate away from him, and kept pace with him enough to now be on the offensive. Her learning curve in the force was...formidable. Merely minutes ago, she was using it for the first time (and it was arguable whether or not it was actually even her using the force at that point), and now she was almost getting a step ahead of him. Almost.

 

Her offensive, however impressive it was, had failed to account for his motion. As he fell, Halo's strike continued at the same level. Perhaps this was on purpose, though, because Ads was only afforded a fraction of an instant to duck his head out of the way. That shook him up a bit. Ads had promised himself to smack her in the face with his pole. The last thing in the world that he wanted was to be hit in the face by her rod. For multiple reasons. As he rolled away from Halo again, he knew he would have to do better if he were to beat her.

 

Knowing that she would be in quick pursuit of him, Ads lept up, bringing his staff over his head to bat at Halo from above. As he reached the apex of his jump, he waved one of the hard rubber balls that Jaren had earlier flung at the two duelists toward Halo through the force. If he couldn't hit her with his pole, perhaps at least a ball would hit her.

 

((Ads, lol. I only devoted a sentence to Halo’s cunning personality- under her profile sheet…*Le sigh* what can I say? Also, in my previous posts I meant to say Halo- not ‘Lamb’…))

 

 

 

Again Halo’s opponent successfully escaped her attack- though the movement of the box threw him off a tad. Ads was clearly going for the win, but not without a fight from the blonde.

 

Unlike the distraction from their previous activity- the Nabooian kept her focus; honing in on her Force skills. Living and fending for herself on Coruscant’s Undercity will do that to anyone. She’d learn to do things through the Force to escape many terrible predicaments.

 

Forging right ahead, Haloburner watched as Ads made the effort to roll away from her…

 

Her world halted for a nanosecond as she thought of a way to pursue the man. Alas Ads

stopped rolling and instead lept up with his bamboo weapon aimed above the teen!. Still levitating- the blonde moved higher into the air- thereby avoiding Ads’ stick, but unfortunately taking a hit to her forehead slightly missing her left eye by a mere inch.

The kriffin rubber ball hit the girl so hard, she felt her forehead changing into a color akin to a sun beaten Zeltron!

 

“Shot!” Halo exclaimed. “You’ll pay for this one,” she added before dropping her bamboo stick- a sign of her yielding. Their master was after all calling for their attention! She slowly levitated down- her feet gracefully touching the concrete floor like a feather. With a slight bow towards Ads the teen ended the spar.

[Ads-Gop Flif]

"Oh," Ads remarked as the ball hit Halo on the side of her head. "I didn't think that would actually work."

 

.:"Shoot! You'll Pay for this one.":.

 

As Halo's brow became a remarkable crimson hue as she dropped her staff.

 

Huh, didn't think it would end that quickly either...

 

Using the force, Ads pulled into his hand the bamboo pole lying between himself and Halo. As he gave a respectful bow to Halo, he realized why she had actually stopped. The newer Jedi, Joreel, had spoken to the two of them, telling them to stop sparring. Ads had barely heard him, and certainly not noticed at first, so intent was he on achieving his objective.

 

Joreel was actually still speaking to the them. "Thank you, it seems the Force has brought me here for more than it being a location fo the Jedi. It appears that all three of you were destined to become Padawans, and you will do so under my tutelage." Ads couldn't believe it, he was going to have an actual master again. Yes, it may have been the fourth time ("may" being the correct word in this instance, as Ads wasn't sure which masters counted and which ones didn't), but Ads had a great feeling about this time. He didn't expect Joreel to become catatonic like some of Ads' previous masters, and he also did not feel that he would black out again any time soon. It was exciting for Ads.

 

"You have been assigned adjacent rooms down the hall, each of which should be supplied with a set padawan's robes, a practice lightsaber, a holocom, a limited spending card with the Order, and a pin that denotes you as Padawan's to the rest of Order should you cross paths. Please make your way to your rooms, shower, and have the rest of the evening to cleanse your mind. I will meet you all back here in the morning. Do you have any questions?"

 

Ads did not, but he still had something he wanted to say, nonetheless. "I don't have any questions, but I would really like to thank both you, Master, for bearing this responsibility, and Jaren for rekindling the spark of the force inside of myself."

Edited May 21, 2012 by Guest

[Padme]

Haloburner simply nodded- her sign of acknowledgement when Ads returned her bow. She then proceeded to join the others in the side room while keeping her hand over injured forehead.

 

Knight Joreel had apparently agreed to take Halo and the other two imitates as his Padawans. ‘About time someone claimed me as their paddie,’ thought- careful not to let that slip past the group.

 

“No, Knight Joreel. No queries from me at all….Though I wonder how well the Adrian would fair given his current predicament,” the teen turned to look at Adrain once again, and then removed her hand off her forehead into her side pocket. “… The man looks rather famished!” Halo added as though she was stating something profound. Clearly Adrian looked ill- almost famished, which brought much concern to the teen. Even so she was certainly not his guardian so she simply moved on to other things…thinking of a plan to get back at Ads…

 

The Nabooian teen almost turned to leaven, but Ads stopped her. He’d moved closer to her, and even apologized. ‘Darn it- there goes my payback,’ Haloburner thought to herself as Ads spoke. His soft spoken words took the blonde by surprise. "Hey, sorry about this… I didn't mean to actually hurt you…” Halo heard, while Ads ran his finger gently over her bruise. “You play very rough- you know that?” said the teen- through telepathy- hoping the others wouldn’t pick up on their conversation!

[Ads-Gop Flif]

Please ignore.

Edited May 21, 2012 by Guest

[Padme]

His eyes caught the teen’s eyes, at which point the blonde pursed her lips together in an effort to hold her tongue. The teen listened as, more like observed, as Ads offered to help her.

 

Haloburner caught Ads telepathic nudge followed by his verbal words: "If you need any help healing that, I think I might have just the thing in my room.”

 

Finally the Nabooian Jedi spoke. “Yeah-“ she softly uttered while rubbing her finger over the bump on her forehead. “… and a couple of bacta pills would be most helpful,” Halo added.

[Ads-Gop Flif]

Please ignore.

Edited May 21, 2012 by Guest

[Adrian Makaryk]

Adrian would have loved some peace and quiet. He had hoped to meditate on why he seemed so exhausted, despite having had twelve hours' rest not long ago, to see if anything might be done to help his own recovery.

 

He kept getting interrupted.

 

First by the instructor, who demanded his name. Adrian let out a heavy sigh--hadn't he already identified himself? He couldn't remember; it seemed his brain had already consumed all available glucose from that juma juice and was starved again. No matter. He grunted out his name and moved on to meditate; what the instructor had said about taking Adrian on as a padawan barely registered in the man's mind.

 

Then someone asked for bacta pills, which Adrian did not have. That caught his attention.

 

The surgeon looked up as he reached to his side to unclasp his medical kit from his belt. He saw Haloburner, with a large bruise forming on the side of her forehead. It looked painful, but probably not life-threatening...at least not as life-threatening as the blaster wounds, uncontrolled bleeding following decapitations in cantina fights, speeder "accidents" and the like that Adrian was more than used to dealing with. Had Halo waited in the ER that Adrian had run on Onderon, she almost certainly would have waited hours, if not a couple of days, behind the constant stream of more critical patients. Even now, Adrian could have easily succumbed to the type of cynicism that deemed the young blonde's injuries superficial, even if they did require some observation for signs of a concussion.

 

Nevertheless, the surgeon opened his depleted medkit; though he needed to meditate to try to tend to himself, he still placed others' medical needs, in this case quite possibly a medical want, above his own.

 

The medical kit opened, the others in the room could see its severe depletion. The anti-inflammatories, gone. The bottle of bacta...not a drop left. Adrian certainly did not have any in pill form. The roll of gauze only had a few square inches left. There could not have been more than three or four milliliters of kolto solution left in its labeled bottle...those who knew he had come from a hospital--possibly Joreel--would only be able to surmise that Adrian had been forced to dip into his own personal supplies to cover for hospital shortages. That would be a correct assumption--Adrian had done just that, more than two months ago to cover for a medical supply shipment hijacking, and he still had never been able to replace the supplies.

 

Nevertheless, the man did have precisely two antiseptic wipes, a sterile eyedropper, and a tiny amount of kolto left. Despite his own problems, he felt compelled to use it.

 

"Let me help you with that..."

[Joreel Ordo]

The Padawans were very varied, Halo and Ads were more in the moment, fast paced, and childish. Their fight ended like how almost all childish fights do, with someone nearly losing an eye. Joreel had a strong notion that this won't be the first of many issues with these two Padawans, but the Force guided him to the three of them and thus, his choice in the matter was little. The Force wanted all three of these to be under his tutelage, and the Force always knew best it seemed.

 

Or at least, Ordo hoped.

 

Padawan Adrian was different from the other two. at first sight he seemed introspective, something Joreel respected as he was always quite the extrovert and always saw the strength in the more reserved people. Adrian surprised him however when he rushed to aid Halo without a second though. The selflessness was incredible to behold. The man acted like a Jedi already, thinking of others first. Ordo could see greatness in him, and the man's affinity as a medic is a skill needed in the Order. Joreel was sure when they learned how to heal minor wounds with the Force that Adrian would be naturally attuned to it.

 

Ordo could have easily used his knowledge of healing with the Force to fix Halo but having them work as a team was a better practice than him making things all better.

 

"Thank you all for being a part of this team," Joreel began to end his conversation with the three, "Adrian, when you have finished up with miss Haloburner's injury the three of you should get as much rest as possible. Tomorrow will be tiring and straining, that is a guarantee you can all hold me to."

 

Joreel bowed to his pupils and pointed toward the hall to their living quarters before he turned himself out of the room, down the hall Jaren mentioned before where leftover supplies and items were.

 

The Jedi Knight wondered how he would manage three padawans simultaneously, given his only other padawan ending up becoming his fiancee, so their bond made training superbly simple. This, was going to be an exercise in training Joreel hadn't done since training new recruits on how to be Mandalorians, and even then that wasn't the most pleasant experience in the world, given how unprepared some of them were for the commitments and sacrifices they would have to make. Hopefully these three were more prepared for what they were in for.

 

Joreel came upon the door to the random collected gear Jaren had mentioned, and upon entry the Mandalorian got about what he expected. For the Jedi Order, he supposed, it was quite a bit, while not the highest quality of gear, it was still good enough until Joreel could get his hands on some Mandalorian Iron.

 

The Mandalorian sifted through the shelves of armors, grabbing the standard issue Republic armor set, a set of Jedi robes, some basic hilts for lightsabers, a few blue crystals. Joreel crafted his armor first as he did in his younger days, pulling apart the pieces of armor and attaching them to the brown Jedi robes he found, making them comfortable and protective, while not as protective as a full beskar'gam, the light weight in combination with heavier armor was a good balance for a Jedi Guardian, and for himself. Joreel looked in the mirror at himself and thought he looked stellar and like his old self again. Smiling, the Jedi Knight in Joreel had come to the forefront and it was time to craft his lightsabers once more.

 

Given this wasn't the first time Joreel had crafted his lightsabers over, or even the second or third. This time it was a practiced effort and took no time at all to put the three lightsabers together, two single blade, and one dual bladed. Once crafted in their monotonous steel hilts, Joreel attached them to his utility belt on the armor he now wore.

Feeling as if he made his way to the living quarter area himself, finding an open room he assigned for himself across the hall from his new Padawans. Taking off his armor, the Jedi Knight went into his bed and slept preparing for the next day.

 

-------

 

He awoke early, per an alarm, so that he could begin preparations for the day's lessons he planned to instruct his Padawans on. Making his way back to the warehouse Joreel found a beacon and a set of eight connected transmitters. Joreel took four of them and made his way out of the Jedi Temple once he was dressed in his robe/armor mashup. Joreel felt better now he was in the outdoors, and without hesitation, he ran as fast as the Force would allow toward the beach and then finding a way around the cliff that the Jedi Temple was under. Soon enough, Joreel found himself in the exotic Jungles of Lehon, strangely devoid of beasts or sentient beings of any kind. Once he had ventured far enough within the jungle Joreel placed a beacon in the ground.

 

Now that the last part of their days activities was set up, the Jedi Knight had to find a suitable place for their other Force Powers they would be trained in. This was easy enough as after a few minutes of journeying adventurously toward the Temple, Joreel found a clearing filled with rocky debris, possibly the ruins of an ancient settlement. Noting the location, Joreel made himself back to the temple and into the main area where he had first met his three padawans, hoping they were awake and ready for their first day as his padawans.