Bespin: (Black Sun's) Cloud City

[ForceFusion]

Shawmus attempted to make himself as quiet and unremarkable as possible while the two engaged in their conversation. He breathed very slowly, kept his muscles in place, and was thankful that his droid has stayed aboard the Ghost Breath. Though he desperately wanted to fidget, he controlled himself. Being respectful was certainly a lesson for a Jedi Padawan, he figured.

[ObliviousKnight]

Unfortunately, their meeting seemed to have opened as Armiena feared. She had an inkling that Var had been entertaining romantic feelings for her, but after the catasotrophe at the Memorial... she doubted that they were ever going to meet again. Besides, Armiena was soon going to be a married woman, bound to a man that she loved and admired. The entire arrangement simply felt right--there was no other word to describe it. They loved each other; they meshed well with each other; they both had an enormous amount of respect for each other, and the bond they shared was stronger than Armiena thought possible. How could their decision possibly be wrong?

 

And alas, that did not mean they wouldn't face difficulties along the way. Armiena hadn't even brought the news to her mother, who was currently overseeing the Survivor's Foundation's operation above Mon Calamari.

 

Armiena sighed inwardly, refusing to be distracted by that future. There was a friend in need now, and the inevitable argument with her mother would have to wait.

 

"I don't understand. What do you mean, you can't go back? Who--or what--can't you return to?" Given Avararda's past history, Armiena had a vague idea what he was referring to, but her friend's plea for help left much to her own interpretation. However, he had only been partially trained by the Sith. According to him, he had managed to escape from his Master and somehow found the Jedi.

[Avararda Dinn]

He chuckled, but the motion seemed forced.

 

"The Sith, Armiena. I will not allow myself to return, but my dreams, as of late, seem to be pointing to an inevitable future. It's as if I'm supposed to return."

 

He glanced at the apprentice.

 

"I apologize, young one. I'll try to keep you both as short as possible."

 

Returning his gaze towards Armiena, Var continued.

 

"I called the first person I could thing of, Armiena. You're the only one that can help at this point."

 

He continued only in afterthought.

 

In more ways than one...

[ForceFusion]

Uh yeah, Shawmus thought to himself, still a little creeped out by the Force message thing, and now wondering if his thoughts had gotten back through to this Avaradra guy. He didn't know, so he just nodded in agreeance.

 

Editted for spelling

[ObliviousKnight]

Armiena shook her head, a tiny gesture of comprehension, as she took in Avararda's explanation of his dilemma. She knew about the belief that the Force had a will of its own, as well as the fact that both the Sith and Jedi seemed to agree on this issue. However, being a fairly stubborn and strong-willed woman, Armiena was reluctant to accept those teachings as fact. She was reluctant to believe in the very concept of destiny--her choices determined her destiny, not the arbitrary will of predestination.

 

Regardless of her private beliefs, this was Var she was dealing with. He had been a friend since before her Jedi training even began, and if she could help him...

 

"Var, I don't know how I can help, but I'd be happy to lend a hand in any way I can. As far as I'm concerned," she paused, considering the fact that she effectively was the Jedi Order--and also struggling to not let it go to her head. "You'll always be welcome among the Jedi."

 

Armiena gave Shawmus a sideways glance. While she trained her Padawan in the ways of the Jedi, she wouldn't mind if Avararda invited himself along while they travelled over the course of his training. If he was so concerned about his visions of the Sith, her friend's presence would at least give her a legitimate reason to keep an eye on him as well as iron out some personal issues between them.

[Avararda Dinn]

Var nervously chuckled again, noting the glance to her apprentice. He hung his head, ashamed that he actually took the time away from her apprentice.

 

I shouldn't be doing this.

 

An internal battle raged inside him, although he'd never admit it.

 

But.. I don't know if I'll stay in the Jedi Order should I continue on my lonesome.

 

He brought up many points for each side, but ultimately went with company.

 

Another nervous sigh was released.

 

"Armiena...I need a favor. Do you mind if I come with you? At this point, you're the only thing holding me to the Jedi."

 

He laughed.

 

"And besides, I know you're eager to be in my company."

[ForceFusion]

"Well," Shawmus said on impulse, an obvious reaction to his irritation at not speaking for awhile, "I don't mind if ya tag along. As long as you don't make fun of me for this." He ignited his pink practice sabre. "The Force guided me to pick this one...or something. It goes well with my eyes. Oh yeah, and you'll have to converse with my obnoxious droid. And cook. Can you cook? What'dya say, Armiena? Did we get ourselves a cook?"

[ObliviousKnight]

"You haven't even tried my cooking yet." Armiena cast a betrayed glance towards Shawmus, then quickly dispelled the illusion of hurt by grinning broadly. "But if you can cook, that'll be the price of your passage, Var. You'll have to teach me everything you know in the... um... the culinary arts."

 

((Really short post, but can't really do anything else with it. Actual training starts next post, FF.))

[Avararda Dinn]

Avararda was all smiles.

 

I like this kid already.

 

And I can't even see him!

 

He nodded his head.

 

"It's said, so shall it be done. I shall cook for my ride to where ever you two shall travel!"

[ForceFusion]

"Nerf steak," Shawmus demanded, then turned to Armiena. "You like nerf steak? Oh, and who are you anyway, and why are you bothering my Master?" It was all said in friendliness, but Shawmus really was curious.

 

 

EDIT: for spelling

[Avararda Dinn]

Avararda shifted uneasily at the boy's last comment.

 

He need not know everything right now. Just the basics.

 

"We met a long time ago, before either of us were Force-proficient."

 

He didn't mention the fact that he used to bow down to the Dark Side. It was a trait he was not proud of at all. He also failed to mention the hardships he and his group endured before friendships were created. The dagger... Jurha...

 

... my sister...

 

He must not know everything! Var forced himself to think. With time, the boy shall learn.

 

"We met on a planet called Borleais. At the time, it was a safe-haven for us Jedi. Now, I do not know the status of Borleais. We were trained as Jedi, and then went out seperate ways. We've always seen each other every now and then. She's even saved me a couple times, much like now, a debt I'm more than willing to repay at a credit's drop."

 

He lifted his head, unaware that he dropped it in the first place.

 

"And nerf steak sounds fantastic!"

[ForceFusion]

"Well, it's good to have someone else aboard, mate," Shawmus said, ever the socialite. "And good to have someone making me a steak."

 

Shawmus patted the man on the shoulder and turned to his Master. "So, where we headed?"

[ObliviousKnight]

Armiena shot a quick glance at her apprentice. Gone was the previous playfulness that teased in her emerald eyes; her jaw clenched, the only sign that she was actually offended by Shawmus' rude question. "Var has every right to bother me if he has to, and I am very glad that he did." She spoke softly, refusing to betray her annoyance.

 

Returning to Avararda, she continued. "If you don't mind, I'd prefer to begin Shawmus' training in some privacy. I have no idea when we'll be back..." Indeed, this stage of the training could take only a few minutes, depending on how open her Padawan was to the Force. Most likely, however, it would take hours for him to succeed--he might even take days. "But if we do return by the end of the day... I prefer medium-rare." Armiena gave her friend a devilish wink, then nodded to her apprentice to follow.

 

To Armiena's knowledge of Cloud City--mostly obtained through hearsay from other spacers and merchants before she sought out the Jedi--during the floating metropolis' evolution into an interstellar tourist attaction, various entrepreneurs had founded a number of less... "energetic" establishments to attact more wholesome guests. Although the casinos were by and large the primary attraction, still hosting some of the galaxy's highest-stakes sabacc tournaments, the City had definitely branched out its industries.

 

In order to satisfy the slowly growing population of Ithorians on Cloud City, Armiena knew that an enormous public park had been planted in the highest levels of the city. After spending a few minutes in a hovertaxi, they quickly reached their destination.

 

It took some time for Armiena to reach her destination, but as the two Jedi trudged from leaves that had been swepted away from the trails in the park, the low rumble of rushing water gradually became louder, and it quickly became evident what Armiena's destination was. As the two cleared a shallow crest, they saw that a man-made waterfall emptied into a deep pool. Although it was obviously artificial, it was nonetheless an impressive sight to find in a metal city.

 

"An old friend of mine told me about this place... ah." Frowning at the endless curtain of falling water, Armiena perceived that the waterfall hung over a shallow impression in the man-made cliffside, a relatively dry "cave" behind the sheet of water. Nodding to her apprentice, Armiena began to slide her body along the edge of the waterfall towards the relatively dry--and private--interior, occasionally forming a barrier with the Force to prevent the two from getting soaked and dragged into the pool.

 

"This is... very nice for this lesson. Pull up a bit of rock and try to get comfortable, we might be here for quite a while." Armiena followed her own advice, finding a nook in the damp rocks that allowed her to sit cross-legged fairly comfortably.

 

"From what I understand, you received very little training as a Hopeful, which lets us start at the beginning: the Jedi Code. The Code is our ethical foundation, words of wisdom to heed when it becomes necessary to act.

 

There is no emotion; there is peace.

There is no ignorance; there is knowledge.

There is no passion; there is serenity.

There is no death; there is the Force."

 

Armiena took a few moments to think, allowing the dull roar of the waterfall to dominate over her silence.

 

"If you have any questions to ask about the Jedi Code or our ethics, please... the only stupid question is the one that isn't asked."

 

((Wow. I took major liberties with the layout of Cloud City, but I can't really see the place not having a park of some sort.))

[ForceFusion]

Shawmus was, quite frankly, shocked at how the city in the clouds had transformed into such a beautiful simulated outdoor setting. He'd already been impressed with the floating city with its spires slicing through the puffs of white. The thing was a surreal dream.

 

And now, this waterfall. There were plenty of gorgeous waterfalls on Selt Island that Shawmus had played or bathed in as a boy. This one was beautiful and reminded him of home, just a bit. It was man-made and therefore not nearly as powerful in Shawmus' mind as the waterfalls of his homeland, but still. It was something.

 

Master Armiena spoke the words of the Jedi Code and paused, leaving Shawmus to his thoughts. He'd read the Code over a few times on Brad's datapad, but there had been no real interpretation of it that he could put into practical meaning. As Armiena repeated it, the same sense of confusion and frustration rose between his shoulder blades and up his neck, the stress of being in a realm he didn't understand.

 

He tried, he truly did. He understood the Jedi emphasis on peace, knowledge, serenity, and this mystical thing called the Force. He did not, however, understand some of their seeming converses. "There is no emotion"? No passion? No death? There was plenty of death in this galaxy, Shawmus knew. He'd witnessed it with his own eyes, unable to save the ones closest to him, the first instance of failure in his life, the reason he had fled across the stars and found the Jedi. There was plenty of death.

 

Armiena was speaking. "...the only stupid question is the one that isn't asked."

 

Shawmus took a breath, knowing he had plenty of questions and knowing that he would have plenty more. While Armiena was no drill sergant so far and Shawmus did enjoy her presence, she would most definitely challenge him in ways he'd never been challenged. This new intelectual code was the first of those challenges.

 

"I'm sorry, I just...don't understand most of the whole of it. I see the emphasis on peace, serenity, knowledge, and the Force. And even defeating ignorance makes sense. But I don't understand how we can deny emotions, passion, and death. Those are just...life, as far as my experience has shown me."

[ObliviousKnight]

Armiena nodded slowly; she wasn't surprised that her Padawan had major philosophical issues with the Jedi Code. She had serious disagreements with the most conservative interpretations of the Jedi Code, particularly the belief that a Jedi should have no attachments--and she was planning to get married. Armiena could only wonder what the reaction of the Jedi in the Old Republic would be to learning that their beloved Order was under the leadership of a woman who openly defied their beliefs with nothing less than gleeful enthusiasm.

 

"When the Code says that 'there is no emotion, there is peace', it doesn't say to suppress your emotions or to try to not feel them. That's not only stupid, it's probably impossible for any sentient to do so. Emotion is just another part of life, and we shouldn't try to deny it. However... it's a terrible mistake to allow yourself to be ruled by your emotions--in a fit of rage, it's easy to do something very stupid and hurt yourself, or worse, your friends. It's a reminder to understand your emotions so you can avoid letting them use you.

 

"'There is no ignorance; there is knowledge...' I know it's an old cliche, but knowledge is power. In the right hands, knowledge is often better than raw power. Personally, I'm fluent half a dozen languages and I can understand a few others; I know how to repair virtually every system on a ship; I know how to handle more weapons than I care to name, and I'm familiar with the trading routes of more systems than I can count. That's only scratching the surface. Then there's that thing called the Force..." Armiena offered a self-depreciating smile. "Excuse the ego, but I like being me."

 

Armiena coughed lightly, refusing to let her wealth of practical knowledge go to her head. "Frankly, I'm not sure why the third line was included in the Jedi Code. I personally believe that it's a warning against obsession, but that also seems redundant.

 

"Finally, 'There is no death; there is the Force.' It's true; everything dies. Even the stars eventually burn out. Some Jedi use that rationale as a reason to form no attachments, but I personally think that's some of the worst thinking this side of the Death Star. So what if everything is doomed to death? That's no reason to not live!

 

"The fact is... death is not that important. Even ordinary people know this: people join the military, and plain citizens sign up for their local security forces. They accept the possibility of death... but they also recognize that there are worse things than dying. There are also things far more important than survival. Compared to loyalty, integrity, honor, and life itself... death is nothing.

 

Armiena swallowed for a moment, willing away a slightly dry throat. "I wish I had the eloquence some of the Jedi have on this subject, but I know my own beliefs. And what I believe is... that death isn't that bad. Death is only a natural part of life; we'll all eventually die. However, the way we die doesn't matter--the way we live is far more important."

 

Armiena fell silent and nursed moisture into her throat, hoping that she had at least satisfied part of Shawmus' desire for clarification. If not... well, they only had all day to spout philosophy.

[ForceFusion]

Shawmus took a deep breath to symolize the masses of new thoughts that were entering his head via the Jedi Code. Training as a Jedi would be...interesting.

 

At this point, he felt he understood, or was at least beginning to understand, the emotion thing. That wasn't too difficult of a concept to grasp now that Armiena had laid it out for him. Shawmus was solid on the knowledge equals power bit, though he sincerely hoped there wouldn't be too much study time, as he'd never made a good student. The passion thing still threw him for a loop, but Armiena had dismissed it so he would too for the time being. And the death thing, well...that would take a while. He was starting.

 

But he didn't really know what to ask at this point. "Well," he started, cautiously, looking for a way to somehow incorperate laughter into this lesson and failing miserably, "that's...that." He paused, truly at a rare loss for words. "Yep. I guess you'll be drilling that type of thing into my head, the next few days, eh mate?" He chuckled to himself, mostly to even out his own comfort level. He seriously disliked not understanding everything. Shawmus was a natural at things, always had been, always would be. Things should not be difficult.

 

Best move on. "So, what's next?"

[Avararda Dinn]

"How about some steak?" Var questioned, removing himself from Armiena's ship. He walked down the ramp, two hot plates full of nerf steak on it. It was also decorated with some seasonings and a side of potatoes.

 

"Tell me how it is!" he said, handing them each a plate. He waited off to the side, anxious to see reactions.

 

((Got bored.. Took the liberty of using your ship.))

 

((Happy thousand))

[ObliviousKnight]

((Err... Var, we are currently far away from the ship.))

 

Armiena Draygo's brow furrowed as she listened to Shawmus' reply. She sensed the most peculiar sensation pass through the Force, a presence she had not felt since... since she and her mother had parted so she could attend to her duties as a Jedi, and her mother could shepherd the Survivor's Foundation during its first few months of life.

 

Armiena was certain that Misal Draygo was somewhere nearby--as in, on Cloud City--and she nearly paled. Although she knew it was inevitable that she would have announce her engagement to her mother, she would have preferred it in a more private setting, in surroundings less alien, and preferably with Aryian at her side so she would not have to face her mother's ire alone. No time for wishes--this was reality, and she was going to have to deal with it.

 

However, not to the detriment of her Padawan's training. The next step in becoming a Jedi was arguably the most difficult lesson, and it was the essence of what made a Jedi. She couldn't rush this--Shawmus had to learn how to tap into the Force, to let it carry him.

 

"I'd like you to meditate with me. Personally, I'm not much for meditation, but it can make focusing and contacting the Force a much more simple task. If you're ready, it's time for you to meet your new best friend..." Her breast sedately rising as she took in a deep breath, Armiena's eyes glazed over as she focused on a point somewhere approximately six parsecs in the distance.

 

Excuse the intrusion. Armiena's voice, previously struggling to make itself heard over the natural roar of the waterfall, rang as clearly as a lightsaber crystal in Shawmus' mind. Like I told you before, this is a Force Message. Even though we don't know each other all that well, and this is a pretty complex message, the distance--or lack of--between us makes even this relatively simple. For me, at least.

 

If you've heard the old philosophies before, excuse me while I repeat them. The Force... what little we know about it... it is an energy field that fills the galaxy. It, and life, are symbiotes--one cannot exist without the other. Because the source of a Jedi's most exceptional gift comes from the Force, we respect life and defend it wherever we can.

 

For Armiena, touching the Force as as natural to her as breathing was for most sentients With a tiny shift in her stance, a slight "loosening" in her mind... she had access to the mightiest spring of power in the galaxy. For an apprentice, however... Armiena would understand if it took him hours or even days to accomplish the same feat.

 

There is no emotion; there is peace. Armiena's "voice" seemed to adopt a humorous lilt, as though she found a hidden joke in those words. Now would be a good time to let go of fear and doubt.

 

As Armiena sat before her apprentice, her occasional breath the only sign of her life, she seemed to radiate a comforting warmth. Shawmus was born with the ability to use the Force; it was only right for him to accept it into his life. Although it was understandable if he had difficulty reaching into it for his first time, it would have been criminal if he never learned to live with his gifts. If he failed in this single moment... it would have been merely disappointing, but they would have plenty of time for to wait for his success.

[ForceFusion]

Shawmus was something like overwhelmed, but not in a sense that he felt like he was drowning. He was silghtly confused, mildly perplexed, and feeling very small in a very large galaxy. Armiena's voice penetrated his thoughts with a bit of comfort, and he felt the bond between Master and Apprentice begin to form. He was still a bit creeped out by the Force message thing, though.

 

"Meditate, huh?" he said, wishing he'd been able to communicate wordlessly as other Jedi could. He was not one to sit and think. He was one to go out and do, a man of action. Even in the peaceful forrests of Selt Island, he could rarely sit and ponder life. He had to be running or hunting or somehow engaging life.

 

And now he sat behind a beautiful man-made waterfall, being asked to meditate. "Alright," he said, more to himself than anyone. He could do this. He could conquer. He sat in what he figured to be a typical, if not unfairly stereotypical, meditation posture: legs folded around each other, fingers laced in his lap, eyes closed, breathing deeply through his nose. And he attempted to meditate.

 

And failed.

 

Shawmus had no clue what he was doing. The thought of meditating was something that had never crossed his mind. He listened to his breath for a few moments, then the waterfall, then let his mind wander to the images of a thousand different things he'd seen on Selt Island and the few other places he'd seen in the galaxy. He attempted to limit the images to peaceful ones, but his last day on Irrador could not be completely avoided in his thoughts.

 

Feeling slightly clausterphobic, as he had that day in his A-Wing after the death of his friends, he breathed out a breath of frustration, feeling a bit of emotion welling up in his chest. No emotion, he told himself. Peace.

 

But he knew he wouldn't be able to do this meditation thing on his own. "So," he started, filled with blushing humility, "got any pointers for a newbie, mate?"

[Avararda Dinn]

"So how is it?" Var said, aiming his head over to the two occupants he was chatting with.

"Oh really?" he continued. "I didn't think it was that good."

 

The rock sat still, but the tree swayed in the gentle wind. Two plates sat in front of the non-verbal things. He sighed, taking the plate from the rock and started to munch on the steak.

 

"So where are you two from?"

[ObliviousKnight]

"Alcohol sometimes helps." Armiena said without hesitation. She held the stunned silence that filled the gap between her words for just a moment, just to let him wonder if his master was only jesting, or if her comment was actually an earnest suggestion. "I'm not joking--obviously, it doesn't help to be stark raving drunk, but a drink or two sometimes helps me relax and makes it easier to reach a meditative state."

 

Unfortunately, a stiff drink was going to be difficult to find, considering that they were a fair distance from any cantina and the Jedi Master had not taken to carrying a flask on her person. Armiena's lips twitched briefly at the thought of a Jedi Master drinking enthusiastically from a flask of vodka.

 

"You're trying too hard, trying to measure yourself against a nonexistant standard. Your meditation is fine--what you failed at was contacting the Force." Armiena had heard of dozens of traditions that placed a high emphasis on meditation and reflection. Meditation was by no means unique to the Jedi and the other sects of Force-Sensitives; only the Force was. Her brow furrowed, having sensed the tightness in his presence that suggested a sudden wash of grief. She was tempted to offer a reassuring comment, but Armiena had no clue of what caused him so much discomfort--offering her well-meaning but unwelcome sympathies would probably only alienate him.

 

"Don't try to force the... Force. Relax. Let go of your distractions. We have as much time as we need. If you let it, the Force will come. Be at peace..." As she hissed that last syllable, her voice took on a nearly hypnotic quality. In reality, she employed a mild Mind Trick to help him relax, a gentle, almost imperceptible caress across an overactive sector of his mind. Armiena felt slightly guilty about invading his privacy like that, but hopefully it would help him relax into a meditative state and let him tap into the Force.

 

Her brilliant green eyes shutting out their dim surroundings, Armiena again let the Force fill her, like oxygen-rich air. She was waiting patiently for Shawmus, inviting him to step over that final threshold--she couldn't simply shove him over; he had to take that first step.

[ForceFusion]

Shawmus appreciated the bluntness of his Master, as well as her sense of humor. Though he was still far from comfort, he was at least headed in that direction.

 

His current problem was the Force. He knew very little about it, and that was very problematic as the Force seemed to be so large. He didn't know if he could trust it, if he could remain himself within it. Meditation had always been an intimate thing in his mind, something he'd done only rarely on Selt Island, letting his mind wander completely with the waves and currents of green nature. But he knew Selt Island. He'd grown up with its trees and hills. It was his home.

 

He was very far from home. Very far.

 

Suddenly he felt relaxed, as though his mind was persuading the tension in his muscles to disapear. Let the Force come.

 

Selt Island was a beautiful place, filled with rolling green hills, towering trees, and even a jagged mountain range that pierced the heavens. In his two decades living there, Shawmus imagined he'd scowered nearly every meter of the island. He'd been completely in tune with it.

 

In the present, he closed his eyes, but his mind was not there. It'd travelled lightyears and time years back along his journey, to a more innocent place. His memories were not always pleasant: he'd seen plenty of pain and heartbreak, plenty of disapointment. But there were shimmering images of life there, too, and that was the moment he was in. Alone. His legs in the sun, his chest and head protected by the shade of a Spirit Tree. Late afternoon, the sky hinting of sunset. A stream trickling softly just out of sight. Life.

 

The Force.

 

It swarmed him like an old friend, or like dozens of old friends, all gathered in that place called Home. His blood rushed like a river along the currents of galactic life. It was the Force.

 

The moment passed. Once again, he sat under the man-made waterfall on the floating city. Once again he was slightly confused and afraid. But he had had a moment. It might have been the Force.

 

He looked at his Master, searching for words but finding none. He only raised his eyebrows, a question and a statement at once.

[ObliviousKnight]

Armiena's lip's twitched in a smile that her inattentive body barely registered. Yes, Shawmus had succeeded in tapping into the Force for a brief moment; she sensed the flare in his presence that heralded his success. Although the moment was quickly lost when his self-consciousness returned with a vengeance, the fact remained that he had experienced his first conscious glimpse of the Force.

 

Opening her eyes, that smile broadened into a genuine grin as she read Shawmus' expression. "It's really something, isn't it?" However, judging from how the little light that shone through the curtain of the waterfall had shifted closer to total darkness, they had been in meditation for... possibly hours, Armiena estimated. "I'd love to capitalize on this success and see what more we could accomplish, but it's getting late. And I'm getting hungry." She added, in brief conversation to the rude grumbling of her stomach.

 

Using another Force-fueled shield, Armiena shielded their departure from the shallow cave from the endless assault of the waterfall. The woman was uncharacteristically silent as they returned to the Ghost Breath--she knew that Var would be waiting for them with dinner, and that would also be the best time to draw her friend aside for a heart-to-heart talk concerning her engagement to Aryian Darkfire.

 

It was not a conversation that Armiena was looking forward to. She would find a way to break the news to her mother and convince her to accept her fiance as family; however, she couldn't bear to see her friends hurt.

 

"Var, we're back," she murmured as her boots climbed up her yacht's boarding ramp. Regardless of how softly she spoke, Armiena knew that her words were completely unnecessary--he would know that they had returned.

[ForceFusion]

Ivigorated by what he now knew to be a breif encounter with the Force, Shawmus' step was light and quick, just slightly ahead of his Master all the way back to Ghost Breath. He was grinning the entire time, like a child. Confidence filled him for the first time in a while, and he'd wished they'd been able to stay under the waterfall all through the night training. This Jedi destiny thing seemed to be wokring out after all.

 

When they arrived at the ship and Armiena informed Var that they'd returned, Shawmus promptly added, "How do our steaks look, mate?" After Armiena's mention of food, Shawmus' stomach had revved itself up. Life was fresh for the first time since leaving Selt Island, Shawmus felt. Was it the Force?

[Jen the Mudkip]

Jen's ship lands on Bespin, Cloud City.

 

SHe unstraps her belt and gets out and sees the wonderful surrondings.

 

She goes around..

[Ary the Grey]

A fractally ecrypted comm came in for Armiena, consisting of two things: a specific location on the holonet, and a password. The encryption wasn't the standard encryption the Jedi Order frequenty used, rather it was based on a fractal system her ship's AI could easily pick up and translate, being it's own encryption methods were the same. Once she took the time to log into the Holonet through her ship, she'd find a very specific message.

 

WARNING: ENCRYPTION ALGORITHM ACCESSED. MESSAGE FOR: ARMIENA DRAYGO, JEDI GRANDMASTER.

 

STATUS REPORT: SPECIAL OPS PROJECT ALPHA: PRIMARY PHASE

 

God I wish you were here right now, Armiena...this training is necessary and grueling, and though sometimes I relish the small joys I get from succeeding at it with my comerades, I still miss your company. So far, our team is doing fine, we're nearly ready for the Secondary phase, after which we're officially operational, with an optional Tertiary phase to further strengthen our skills and hone our reflexes. I'm not sure if you know, but I did pick up a Padawan, a fiery one at that. I swear, as I see him in battle, it's as if lava ran through his veins... he reminds me of me when I was younger, though colder, stiffer to the galaxy than I was. Anyways, this is a partial report on our status and a partial I Miss You letter.

 

It's strange, I know, but I'm anxous to see how the team actually functions under their first live test run. Well, time to train. Hopefully, I'll see you at the new Jedi Headquarters, because I know we can't stay at Gala forever...the Imperials or the Sith are bound to pick up on our activity sooner or later, and will strike at the opportune moment, causing harm to the innocents who harbor us. Take care wherever you are, and may the Force be with you.

 

END MESSAGE

[Avararda Dinn]

Avararda quickly got up from his two 'friends' and advanced towards his real friends. He began talking to them only to be abruptly interrupted. A spike in the Force easily grabbed his attention. He tossed a casual no-eyed glance at Armiena.

 

"You feel that? Thats no Jedi..."

 

He utilized the Force to call one lightsaber to his hand, preparing for combat already.

[ObliviousKnight]

Armiena shrugged lightly. "I feel it, but there are a lot of sects of Force Users--most of them are simply content to stay out of this damned war." Of course, with the Force, the Jedi Grandmaster knew that meant nothing. She sensed the taint of the Sith on that Force presence, although it was almost negligible. Most likely, it belonged to some anonymous minion or an apprentice who had just begun her training--but it was very unlike an apprentice to be without a master, especially among the Sith.

 

Armiena was far from the spirit of caution among the Jedi. In battle, she was daring to the extreme, but she wasn't one to search out an unprovoked fight. "Relax, Var." She assured him, placing a hand on his lightsaber arm to try to steady his nerves. "If we have to, we can track this Sith down... but I have a feeling that we won't be needing our lightsabers."

[Avararda Dinn]

Var frowned; regardless of his status os Jedi, he was always raring for a fight. The man sighed, clipping his saber back onto the belt. Tightening his blindfold, Var spoke.

 

"Then let's find him."

 

He thrust out a circle of Force in an attempt to pinpoint the intruder.

[ForceFusion]

Shawmus raised his eyebrow, confused and mildly afraid. Armiena seemed calm, but from what he'd read of the Sith, he wasn't really looking forward to a potential confrontation. Especially using a pink practice sabre.

 

"How 'bout let's eat first?" he commented comically but with genuine hunger in his voice. If Armiena wasn't worried about whoever was out there, Shawmus concluded, neither should he be.