Space

[Qaela]

Qaela was surprised at Raynuk's response and willingness to open up to her. Perhaps the haughty, bitter, and mistrusting man she met so long ago had grown some, just as she had. If he was willing to open up to her like this and expose a potential weakness, then it made her feel far more comfortable having opened up to him. The threat of mutual destruction was almost always an effective means by which to ensure violence didn't erupt.

 

Other than the personal revelations, he had some rather interesting notions to share. She had always believed that love was a weakness. None of the Nightsisters mated for love. Ever. Her mother demonstrated no love even for her daughters. All she ever saw from the Sith was selfishness and hatred. Even Ca'Aran, a man who loved her, was unable to remain within the darkness because of it. He let himself be killed by her without resistance because he couldn't fight someone he loved. Now, Raynuk, a Sith master who was able to gain the respect of a good number of other Sith, was telling her that love wasn't necessarily a weakness. As with much of the content of her conversations with the man, it made no sense and went against everything she thought.

 

When he explained some more about his apprentice, it did fit in a few gaps in her mind. She never met the girl, but she was told of what happened to her. It made more sense now why Raynuk would take such an instant dislike of her for becoming to Ar-Pharazon what his apprentice had been taken from him for being. For Ar-Pharazon to kill someone whom Raynuk was getting close to, then to take another woman to bed with him was most definitely something that could be taken as a smack in the face. Even if there was not even a hollow pretense of affection between her and Ar-Pharazon, she could see how Raynuk could be angered by what she was doing. She wasn't sure if that was much of a factor, but she believed it might have had a subliminal part in it.

 

"I have no feelings for Delta other than a deep desire to see his skin slowly burn off his body," she said through gritted teeth. "Whatever affection I had for him died when he turned his back on the darkness and gave my children to those who were once our enemies. I betrayed and killed him in an instant out of blind, uncontrollable rage that controlled me. He betrayed me in a calm, calculating, long term way that was designed to cut me as deeply as possible." There was no lies there, no self delusions. The rage within her had burned away all love she once had for him and there was nothing but hatred in the spot within her that he once controlled.

 

"Even then," she continued, "I would not sacrifice my children even if it means getting my vengeance against him. If it came down to killing him or saving my children, I would save my children without second thought. Getting my children and protecting them is my goal and nothing else can compete with that," she said as she raised her chin in defiance. "If that love means I am weak, then so be it. It is a weakness I will gladly accept even while I work to improve my strengths to compensate for it. If you don't like that, then I guess we are going to have to disagree."

 

She had plenty more questions, but she decided to let him respond and see if perhaps he would be able to answer some of them on his own.

[Raynuk Montar]

"If that is how you feel Qaela, then you are aware of your potential weakness and can indeed work around it. It is a lesson that I learned the hard way that first time. The point was, love only is a weakness if you allow it to paralyze you in the most critical of moments. That will be your battle to wage when the time comes."

 

There was little more that he could say on the subject, as his point had been made. Quietus had placed his knowledge on the table, and it was up to Qaela if she would take it and utilize it or not. The way he saw it, he was merely paying his way for the ride to Coruscant with knowledge instead of coins. After a few moments had passed in silence, Quietus rose to his feet and walked forward in the cockpit, intending to see just how close to Coruscant they were. There were many things on the mind of the Sith, and a number of them had stemmed from the conversation he was having with the nightsister. It appeared he had missed much in his time among the dead, both among the Sith as well as the galaxy as a whole. He figured it was about time that he caught himself up on the events of the galaxy. With that goal in mind, he sat down in the pilot's chair, and began looking through the holonet to see just what he had missed.

[Qaela]

Though she still had questions and would have liked to argue her point a little more, it was clear that her defiance had turned him off of the conversation and that it was over. She scooped up the remnants of her food on the way out and left the Sith master on his own. She spent the rest of the trip mostly alone while pondering all that he had said and working to calm the rage within her. It was high time that she started taking back control of it instead of allowing it to control her.

[Raynuk Montar]

Barely a day had gone by, and Quietus found himself once again hurling through space to another distant planet. This time it was different however, this time Quietus was aboard his own ship, and had the ship to himself. For the first time really since he had awoken on Korriban, Quietus allowed himself to relax and enjoy the amenities of his ship; his own bunk, his own refresher, and his own food supplies. It had all remained rather the way that he had last left it, and it was increasingly encouraging for the Sith Master to be slinking through the galaxy on his own accord once more, not having to rely on others for transport. He did not know what Qaela would do after he left her standing there, and he really did not even care. Her destiny was her own, and if it crossed his again, so be it.

 

His time in space also allowed Quietus ample opportunity to consider the outcomes of his last campaign before he died. He briefly wondered what had become of Ar-Pharazon; a Sith like that was not one to hide in the shadows for very long. Quietus had heard nothing of him or his various minions, and none of the massive and random amounts of destruction seemed to fit the bill of his old friend. Upon further contemplation, he realized that he did not know of the existence of many Sith at all. Clearly Furion was around somewhere, plotting away like the Dark Lord should, and there was Quietus himself and Emily. The nightsister Qaela too could be tossed in among them, even though she was not truly or fully a Sith. Apparently Lucifer was still floating around somewhere if what Qaela had mentioned was correct. But beyond those handful of individuals, Quietus did not know who out there among the galaxy were his brothers and sisters of the Sith. When the time was right, he would discuss the matter with the Dark Lord. But for now, he was content to recover and rest from the events of the last few days.

 

He continued to occupy his mind while he traveled, checking his comm messages as well as doing some general cleaning of the ship, as it had been sitting untouched for a very long time. As he made his way through the ship, he eventually came to the small cargo bay which for the foreseeable past had been used as a large kennel for Quietus' pet tuk'ata, Roe'gall. A quick pang of guilt flashed through Quietus' mind, as he did not know what had become of his beloved pet. It had been his first success with manipulation of tuk'ata DNA, and had been a pristine example of what the species was capable of. There was always the ability to recreate his work; Quietus had mastered the process by the time Roe'gall was created, and had even promised to teach his apprentice how to do it herself. It was merely another in a list of promises he had made to Emily, all of which he intended to keep.

 

Knowing that in time he would create another tuk'ata, Quietus spent the majority of the rest of the trip cleaning the cargo bay to prepare for Roe'gall's eventual replacement. When that task was completed, Quietus retired to his bunk, intent on getting some rest before his arrival at Mechis III.

[Frozen_Slicer]

A small flash raced across the stary abyss, headed towards a brown gas giant known as Bespin.

[Ads-Gop Flif]

A Jedi shuttle, piloted by Ads-Gop Flif and carrying Grandmaster Kirlocca, popped out of real space and into hyperspace.

 

"Should be safe to undo your restraints," Ads called back to Kirlocca as he turned to face the Wookiee. "So, what's at our destination, if you don't mind my asking?"

[Padme]

Teen Jedi, Lighterre , nursed a glass of bluemilk while her fellow Jedi, Kailen, piloted their ship in route to Rhen Var.

[Raynuk Montar]

As silently as it had come, the Ogariv II departed Mechis III under equally forgettable terms. Having left the planet behind several minutes ago, Quietus set in his course through the stars, each minute bringing him closer to his destination; Kuat. More specifically, the Kuat Drive Yards, intent upon becoming their latest client. There were plans a plenty that soared through his mind as he set the course into his nav-computer, all of which lead to a very different outcome from each other, and each would have created an unknown number of problems instead. The line that he would have to walk would be thin enough as it was without causing more problems for himself in the meantime.

 

Once the course was set, Quietus stood from the pilots seat and stretched, already feeling oddly cooped up on his own ship. Considering that he had a few hours to waste while traveling through hyperspace, he decided that he should probably check on Vex'aedr at least, to ensure he had not gotten into trouble or worse, eaten something it shouldnt have. In that moment however, Quietus became acutely aware that Vex'aedr was on edge, nearly at the tipping point. Further investigation through the Force found that the tuk'ata was in the cargo hold, and was not moving. While he had expected the tuk'ata to be edgy given that this was its first flight through space, there was something else; some other sense hidden within the edginess that caused him to not simply dismiss the feelings he was getting from the tuk'ata. Quietus' mind then began running down the possibilities. The first and most likely was that Vex'aedr had picked up on the scent of Roe'gall still present within the cargo bay. Either way, it wouldnt serve anyone to simply let the tuk'ata be that worked up for the entire flight and then let it loose upon the Kuat Drive Yards.

 

Settling on the fact that he needed to defuse whatever situation Vex'aedr had gotten himself into, Quietus sighed slightly and made his way back through the ship to the cargo bay. With every step he took through the ship, he could sense the tuk'ata becoming more and more agitated, with brief spurts of anger flashing across its mind. Whatever trouble he had gotten into, there was no time to spare as he opened up the door to the cargo bay to deal with the issue.

[Wookiee Jedi]

Kirlocca kept his eyes closed, although it had absolutely nothing to do with the flight. But rather, the Jedi Grandmaster was allowing for the Force to direct him in his actions, as well as to flow more fluently with the Force naturally subconsciously. A technique Kitt had and Aryian had taught him a long time ago. But the question did break the flow, as Kirlocca was no master of the skill. With eyes still closed, he spoke up as if he himself was unsure of the answer.

 

<< A destination is your answer? Perhaps there are many destinations that I could answer that would put your mind at rest. A look into the mirror perhaps? Or maybe a long time goal once forgotten? Maybe we are just traveling to a planet to keep you occupied from the others? >>

 

Kirlocca allowed for a moment to pass. The moment was just long enough for Ads to realize that the Wookiee had finished, yet not enough time to actually ponder greatly upon the words just spoken.

 

<< Answer me this first, and than I will yield an answer to your question. I have seen you from afar for some time within the Jedi Order. Whom of which did you train with, and why do you still hold your rank of padawan? >>

[Ads-Gop Flif]

Ads appeared to disturb Kirlocca with his question. Oops. The Grandmaster responded to Ads with questions. Ads wasn't quite sure what to make of them, but before he could begin to consider it, the Wookiee continued. << Answer me this first, and than I will yield an answer to your question. I have seen you from afar for some time within the Jedi Order. Whom of which did you train with, and why do you still hold your rank of padawan? >>

 

"Yes," Ads began, ruminating on his past. "I first trained years ago--it feels like a decade, yet I was not a decade younger--in the Jedi Academy. My class was instructed by Master RaveN and Jade Dragon. We learned some basic force skills, but I believe the Academy was shut down before we could complete our training. I had a couple of other masters after that, but they became..." Ads paused, pondering their condition, "...catatonic. They simply stopped responding to any external stimuli. So I left them." Ads considered the years since. "Then, my next trainer was Knight Ordo. Something similar happened with him. Possibly. Come to think of it, we just switched trainers in the middle of the night...we were taken on by Oovo, and that is where you came to us. I have had a few other associations with the Republic and Jedi without receiving any training as well. So that's why I am still a padawan. My masters have simply stopped responding. And there are the periods I have blacked out for what seem to be years on end. I guess I forgot to mention those. That's probably why I have not continued to find new masters throughout all these years. So," Ads trailed off, yielding to the Grandmaster.

 

((By the way, the catatonic masters are users who disappeared from the site, and the blacked out years are when I have been gone from the site.))

[Frozen_Slicer]

A freshly painted Star Skiff crossed the stary abyss at light speed, crossing a vast distance in a matter of seconds, yet it would still take some hours to reach its final destination

[Wookiee Jedi]

The tale of Ads felt very familiar to Kirlocca, but for reasons unfathomable to the Jedi Grandmaster. With a slow nod of his own head, he spoke with a slight curiosity in his voice.

 

<< So you would say that the Jedi Order has failed you? Or was it the Force? >>

 

Kirlocca didn't believe either had failed Ads, but rather that the Force held it own purpose for the young man before him. Perhaps the mission they were on now would amplify what Kirlocca already suspected.

[Ads-Gop Flif]

<< So you would say that the Jedi Order has failed you? Or was it the Force? >>

 

Hmm, Ads thought, a little surprised by Kirlocca's question. I've never thought of it like that... Unsure of his exact answer, Ads verbalized his thought and just continued to speak from there, perhaps spontaneity would reveal his feelings.

 

"I've never thought about it like that, um, I don't know that I really think either one has failed me. I don't thin the actual Jedi Order was much involved in my training, just the specific masters, and I don't really see how the Force could have failed me. But I don't really know too much about Force theory, I guess it would be called, so I don't know."

 

Ads tried to show on his face that he was thinking about it, but he really didn't think he would come up with a good answer, so he just hoped that Kirlocca would continue shortly.

[Adenna Alluyen]

The trip to Haruun Kal would take a good amount of time, so as soon as they were in hyperspace, Adenna wanted to get started on her Padawan's training. The man was new to the Force, so he would need all the help he could get, even if it was just the basics.

 

As soon as Tokala gave them the clearance to move around, she got up out of her seat and stretched. "I believe that you would benefit well with a little training," she said to Adrian. "There are many things I could show you, but all would require the ability to sense the Force in general. While being in hyperspace is not the best place to do it, you can still start to reach out and touch the Force sufficiently well to accomplish our goals."

 

After eying the floor for a few moments to determine if it was clean enough to sit on, she finally shrugged and sat down cross legged. "Sit across from me until our knees touch. The physical contact will help me gauge your progression. Relax and take deep breaths while trying to clear your mind.

 

"People sense the Force in different way, and each have their own way of interacting with it. I cannot tell you what you will experience or how your mind will interpret it. All I can do is show you the doorway and hope that you walk through it into a much larger world."

 

She took a deep breath of her own and smiled faintly as memories of her own early training surfaced within her mind. "The Force is an ever present entity that cannot be truly defined, quantified, or contained. Some believe it to have a will of its own while others claim it simply is and has no direction, much as a giant river. If you wish to debate philosophy, we can do that, but right now, the point of this exercise is to allow you to sense the Force on your own so that you can begin to personally understand what it feels like. From that point, you can formulate your own decisions about the Force's nature while exploring your abilities under my guidance.

 

"What you will experience will be unique to yourself and is something you should treasure. When I feel the Force, the world falls away from me. In place of my physical eyes, my mind's eye sees the world around me in a haze of blacks and whites. It was extremely disorienting at first and I couldn't see much. It was like walking through the world that was in a thick fog while having water in my eyes. Over time, as I began to learn how to use the Force, things cleared up. I could see physical things as clearly as I see them with my eyes, but I quickly found that I could see more.

 

"Everything began to take on color in my mind's eye. Instead of a world full of black, white, light, and darkness, I could see a spectrum that was beyond what any physical eye could detect. Anger and rage were violent reds, envy was sickly green, and peace was a tranquil blue. I could see life as bright lights of goodness and murky shadows of pure evil. Sounds amplified themselves when I desired it and I could see the sound waves floating through the air. If I desired, I could sense heat and cold, life and death, pain and pleasure, intents and dreams. It was all there for me to see and understand, all because they are connected to the Force.

 

"Then came the truly amazing part. Not only could I sense things that no ordinary individual could, but I could alter the universe around me. Time would slow down and I could move faster than I could ever dream. I could temporarily alter the hold of gravity around me so that I could jump to or fall from heights that would kill other humans. I could grab objects with my mind and move them where I willed. I could do more than simply feel what others were thinking, I could alter their very moods and thoughts. I could reach out and heal wounds or cause plants to grow faster. I could sense what people were going to do and react to it before they finished the thought.

 

"All of this is what the Force can do for you, but you must first learn how to feel it, to sense it, and to let it flow through you. I will guide you, but you must do it yourself. You must find that part of you that allows you entrance into a whole new world. I will be here to help clear your mind, to give you peace, and to encourage you when you fail--and you will fail.

 

"If you let me into your mind, I will lead you to the Force, but as I have said, only you can take the step through the door."

[Wookiee Jedi]

Kirlocca nodded his head slowly as he listened to Ads explanation of his view.

 

<< Very good. The way you should view it. I only ask because it would give me an outlook into your character as a Jedi. Which is good. Our mission revolves around the very principles of which the Jedi Order was founded. Stray but a little and we may be viewed as hypocrites in the eyes of those that we are trying to provide assurance for. Your very basic skills learned will be put to heavy practice, as will your patience as a Jedi. >>

 

Kirlocca now stood up and moved towards the copilot chair this time and sat down a bit more closer to Ads.

 

<< Our mission lays within Bothan space. Bothawui is our destination. >>

[Adrian Makaryk]

"If you let me into your mind, I will lead you to the Force, but as I have said, only you can take the step through the door."

 

Unfortunately for Adenna, Adrian had no concept of allowing someone else to enter his mind. However, the newish padawan had no concept of how to defend his mind from intrusion, either. He knew not how to offer resistance; therefore, for this exercise at least, Adenna need not worry.

 

Padawan Makaryk wasted no time in sitting before his teacher, cross-legged and allowing his knees to contact hers as instructed. Though the circumstances of his arrival at the Jedi Temple had necessitated a version of this very lesson, that he might learn to call the Force to aid in his own recovery from starvation, he did not voice complaint about the apparent redundancy. While Adrian had already touched the Force, Adenna had not witnessed that, and she required some way to evaluate where her new padawan stood. Therefore, Adrian determined that she wanted him to push his latent senses in the Force to their limits, so that she could properly gauge her new student's inherent strengths and weaknesses--both of which would prove highly distinctive.

 

Somehow, Adrian could not help but be relaxed--compared to the life from whence he came, where he worked for days at a time and learned to be thankful whenever he could scrounge together a ten-minute 'meal' break, there existed no stressors here. Not at all. Perhaps there would in the future, but for now, no emergency demanded the doctor's attention--which meant he seemed to fall back to an inner state of peace as he savored the quiet, stress-free moment. Adenna's description of a "clear mind," however, seemed a bit vague. Adrian did not know whether or not his mind was clear, but that little bit of doubt seemed insignificant, at least for now. He knew he had touched the Force before, and now under more favorable circumstances, when he did not have to worry so much about his blood sugar dropping below acceptable levels within the next moment, he would do it again.

 

The man closed his eyes. All fell quiet. The quiet hum and vibration of the hyperdrive, the flipping of flimsiplast as a bored pilot caught up on his reading while autopilot navigated the ship through hyperspace--all sound seemed utterly insignificant to the padawan. It was there, and the padawan was aware of it, but next to the presence of the Force filling his mind, the mundane sounds of space travel, despite their novelty to someone who had only done it once, while utterly exhausted before, seemed completely irrelevant.

 

And there it was.

 

Greyscale. If the Force existed as an energy field that bound all living things together, perhaps not surprisingly for someone who just days earlier spent time in the sick bay recovering from starvation, who first touched the Force while recovering such a state, that was exactly what Adrian sensed. His own body seemed to burn as a white star--as did Adenna's. The pilot appeared white to Adrian's senses, too, as the pilot was a relatively large, living organism and therefore connected to the Force as was all life, but the pilot's connection to the Force was less well-defined, hazier, with tinges of grey denoting the weaker connection.

 

At first, the imagery Adrian's senses conveyed to him, somewhat like seeing the Force in a manner such as an infrared spectrum, was blurry and ill-defined. Though it vaguely sensed energy use, the image did not pick up on inorganic sources of energy, such as the ship's reactor, at all, at least not at first. But before Adenna sat a man who, just the other day and with very little formal instruction in the ways of the Force, had called upon the Force to assess his own brain's metabolism--and then within the hour, utilized the Force again to accelerate digestion a couple thousand times over. Presently, the padawan viewed the Force as if through the scanning lens of a microscope. It was by far the weakest lens, used only to identify an object of interest to focus a more powerful lens upon.

 

And one thing this particular padawan was very, very good at was maintaining his focus. He'd had to be, to even function within his old work environment. The initial haziness of the image lasted only a few seconds as Adrian focused upon interpreting the influx of raw data his newest sense provided him with. The humanoid-shaped blur of white that originally represented his own body dimmed, as did the blur of white representing Adenna. But that in no way implied either experienced a degradation of connection to the Force. Not at all. The brightest whites retreated to the space occupying Adrian's brain (along with Adenna's), the heartbeat became a tinge dimmer, and the rest of the bodies of the two Jedi appeared to Adrian as various shades of grey. Within a few seconds, Adrian had filtered his senses to detect which parts of the body utilized the most energy--perhaps not surprising, for a man who just days earlier had been starving.

 

Adrian retreated ever deeper into this new sense, which to Adenna would probably seem to unfold in time-lapse by now. The black void of the ship's atmosphere started to fill with imperceptible specks of dark grey, until a moment later a light mist of that grey filled the recirculated air. Likewise, a thin film sprouted across just about every flat surface present on the inside of the spacecraft. That all happened to be the doctor focusing his senses further--until he sensed the microbes that populated nigh everything remotely habitable--and their connections, tiny and imperceptible though they might be, to the Force. With further effort on the padawan's part, inorganic energy sources, such as batteries and operating reactors, began appearing in varying shades of grey too, the brightness of which correlated to the strength of the energy source. The padawan had received instruction that the Force was not confined to living things, that it affected the inorganic as well, though very clearly the doctor was more at ease sensing the Force through its connection to all things living.

 

However, Adrian's ability to sense the Force seemed confined to perceiving the Force as more or less an energy field. He sensed it most easily through the biorhythms of living things, with inorganic matter being nearly an afterthought. This paradigm left no room at all for sensing emotions, nor for foresight, nor for anything resembling telepathy or mental defenses. If Adenna called upon her padawan to perform pretty much any Jedi-like activity that did not involve healing of some sort...she might find her padawan just a tad under-prepared, just like he said he would be. Adrian had not been kidding when he said he needed more training to take on the wide diversity of duties that fit within the job description of Jedi.

 

In the moment, however, Adrian immediately recognized the potential of the Force for medical diagnostics. Before him, he had a teacher who had sustained some form of brain injury, currently treated by nanites. Nanites that she desperately wanted out of her body. With his own senses becoming more precise, subtly and unwittingly honed in his years as a surgeon and now able to detect single-celled organisms, Adrian's mind always seemed to come back to that. Did he dare focus his own senses upon his instructor's mind, that he might more fully understand her injury? Did he dare do this, in spite of the knowledge that he currently almost certainly lacked the skill to heal what he would see? Would any diagnosis alone that he could provide help Adenna to heal her own problem?

 

Before long, the questions imposed themselves upon his mind. Ever omnipresent they were. And Adrian's mind was fully open to hers.

 

"Teacher?" the padawan finally asked, wholly uncertain as to whether or not she would wish him to proceed. "Do you think this...exercise might help you? Do you wish me to proceed?"

[Frozen_Slicer]

Wanted: Jarel Smith

 

Homeworld: Naboo

 

Race: Human

 

Gender: Male

 

Last Known Location: Coruscant

 

Bounty: 25,000 Credits (Dead)

 

 

"I know that guy!" Vailiance said as he thumbed through the bounty listings. "He took his coward ass back to naboo right before this bounty was posted"

 

Erdric smiled, that was a good sign, he knew now where his first target was going to be taken, and since he was not a high profile individual Erdric knew it would be an easy take, and that the bounty on his head would more than cover the costs of his loan, and would feed him and his friend for a little.

 

"Good, lets head to Naboo, and see if we can find him." Erdric said as he sat down and plotted the course for Naboo.

 

The Galactic Chaos's hyperdrive spun into action, and they shot off.

[Ads-Gop Flif]

Ads nodded as Kirlocca plopped down in the seat next to Ads.

 

<< Our mission lays within Bothan space. Bothawui is our destination. >>

 

"And we should be there in about..." Ads checked the nav computer. "Fourteen hours or so. What exactly are we going to be doing, if I may ask?"

[Wookiee Jedi]

Kirlocca could understand the motivation in the young padawan to want to know the mission. It was the way Kirlocca was during his padawan years, and even into his Knighthood. But Ads was a bit more seasoned then he should have been, so Kirlocca just assumed he would be by the book.

 

<< Peace keeping. The Bothans are considering a withdraw from the Galactic Alliance, due to the tied nature with the Sith and the Imperials. Remember that they fought against them for so long, that their trust in them might be the reason behind their new found stance. Our mission is to uncover why they want to withdraw, and to keep them from withdrawing, peacefully. >>

 

Kirlocca almost smiled as the thought of how far difficult this mission was would not dawn upon Ads until sometime later within the mission. Bothans are very stuck in their way creatures.

[Wookiee Jedi]

Opps, double post.

[Adenna Alluyen]

Trust. That was the key to any teacher/apprentice relationship. Adenna didn't know this doctor very well, but she was quickly learning. As he studied the new wonders that the Force could show him, she studied him. He was a man who spent his life doing his part in helping others. He was a natural for becoming a Jedi because he was already dedicated to serving and healing. She didn't yet know him well enough to know where his weaknesses might be hidden, but that would come in time. For now, he was solidly dedicated to doing his part and becoming a Jedi.

 

He was also a quick learner. He was older and more mature than Sandy had been, and thus was more willing to do the mundane without the rebellion of youth. He was not corrupted or prejudiced by the dark side as Tobias had been, either. Even though he was older and, were the Force removed from the situation, infinitely her social superior, he was not arrogant and seemed to respect her experience in the Force. If he was willing to stand through the difficulties and overcome his hesitancy at the unfamiliar, she would be able to teach him a great deal. In a fairly short time, he would be her superior in the art of healing, and with his larger, potentially stronger body, he could become a powerful warrior for the light. Like her, he knew what it was like to work with the poor, the downtrodden, and the helpless and didn't come from a privileged military caste as most other leading Jedi had. If he held on to that, he would prove to be a most useful champion for those who most needed one.

 

He was also ambitious, though not in a bad way. He saw a problem and wished to fix it even if the solution was beyond him. He the limits of his abilities expand with access to the Force and yet, wanted to push them even farther. It was noble, but she dared not let him overextend and burn out. He wanted to tamper with the fire that was her mind, and at this point, she wouldn't trust any but an experienced and master Jedi tread there.

 

"Not yet, Adrian," she said, though her eyes were closed. "My mind is currently a treacherous place, not for the untrained to wander. Psychological trauma might not be contagious to normal individuals, but I fear that among whose who can use the Force, it is. Come too close now and you may find your mind damaged just as I did when I tried to heal Jidai Geki's mind. When you are stronger and I have healed more, perhaps, but not now.

 

"Life is easy to track through the Force, but the greatest majority of the universe is not living. Stones, metal, synthetics, and even energy are all connected to the Force. You will not be able to sense the intent or feeling or life energy from inanimate objects, but in time, you will learn to sense their vibrations in the world of the living. If you see concentric ripples in a pool of water, you can make an educated guess that a pebble was dropped within even though you didn't see the pebble. Be careful in making assumptions, though. The ripples could have been caused by a falling pebble from above, but they also could have been caused by a bubble from below. In time, you will learn how different materials can feel and what causes the particular ripples in the Force, just as you can begin to tell the differences between various life forms. Only time and practice can give you senses that attuned."

 

Rather than focus on that just yet, she had another idea in mind, a test of his abilities and her own. It took some concentration on her part to do what was needed and prepare, but when she was done, she had hope that it would work as intended. Still with closed eyes, she lifted her hand to her forehead. With a single finger, she rubbed some perspiration from it and pressed the finger against Adrian's forehead before withdrawing it.

 

"You have an affinity for sensing the small and for diagnosing other people," she said. "I wonder, though, can you do the same for yourself? I have infected you with three nanites of my own formation. They will enter your pores, burrow through your membranes, and find their way into your bloodstream. You have thirty minutes to track and redirect all three of them to the surface of your left forefinger. They will not be capable of replicating and will break apart into their base molecules within forty-five minutes, so you will not be permanently infected.

 

"Use the Force to look at your body and track the inanimate objects that are the nanites. They will not be intentionally causing harm to your body, but your organic cells will know them as strangers and react subtly. Once you find them, you must then carefully direct them where you wish them to go. Be cautious that you do not exert too much pressure or force on them or they will shatter and be lost."

 

She did not expect him to succeed, but that wasn't the purpose. She wanted him to learn about his own body and how to begin tracking foreign intruders. Hostile viruses, bacteria, and even poisons were little different than the nanites and if he could start learning how to focus on those, he diagnose and possibly heal many others. It was a first step for him as well as her. She had not yet dared to use the nanites on anyone else. This extremely limited test would see if they had potential in being of some service to her in the future, or if they were indeed nothing more than a blight to be purged when their purpose was complete.

[Ads-Gop Flif]

<< Peace keeping. The Bothans are considering a withdraw from the Galactic Alliance, due to the tied nature with the Sith and the Imperials. Remember that they fought against them for so long, that their trust in them might be the reason behind their new found stance. Our mission is to uncover why they want to withdraw, and to keep them from withdrawing, peacefully. >>

 

Ads thought on Kirlocca's words for a moment as he watched the viewport shutters close, blocking out the swirling hyperuniverse outside, a (quite litterally) sickening sight beyond the first few moments.

 

"This sounds almost too...I mean, sure, the Bothans are generally rather withdrawn, but this seems like a matter that a simple call could resolve. Why send a Grandmaster? Just respect that we will send our highest representative to speak to theirs?"

[Adrian Makaryk]

Upon learning that he could presently do nothing for Adenna, the doctor felt a certain sadness that she must suffer such a burden, while he remained helpless to ease it. But such was the life of a doctor; not everything could be cured, especially not instantaneously. Some things were better left to mend on their own, and Adenna clearly considered her mind to be in just that category. It wasn't Adrian's place to interfere with that decision.

 

"Very well," the doctor replied soflty, turning his own senses inward, well away from her body. "Should you determine that I have learned enough to be of help to you, you need but ask."

 

Adenna then proceeded with a set of instructions as she rubbed a finger against Adrian's forehead. The doctor listened carefully, and sure enough, he had no problem sensing and tracking the three nanites as they burrowed into his skin. This had not been the first time he had need to turn his nascent senses inwards upon himself, so of course the ability to track foreign objects entering his body came as naturally to him as did the ability to sense very small organisms.

 

There were, however, complications.

 

Close examination revealed his immune response to be healthy, despite the fact that his recent starvation had somewhat weakened his immune system. (Generally, it would take well more than three of any pathogen to cause illness.) Before the nanites had even burrowed completely through Adrian's pores, a light red speck of a dot had appeared on Adrian's forehead, centered around the point of entry where Adenna had rubbed her finger. It was but a tiny, insignificant dot, just enough inflammation to indicate the skin around the immediate area had been disturbed and to summon an immune response. By the time the three nanites managed to slip into sub-dermal capillaries a couple of moments later, various types of white blood cells were already waiting to investigate the intrusion. The poor nanites were effectively trapped.

 

Had Adenna performed this test upon a normal organism, the nanites would probably have just been ingested by phagocytes and digested, with the host organism being none the wiser. But Adrian was no normal organism; he was a Force-sensitive who had sensed the intrusion coming, so his immune system seemed content to simply quarantine the nanites while it, or he, figured out what to do with them. Adrian's white blood cells seemed perfectly content to simply hold their position, clinging to capillary walls, trapping the nanites where they were, while waiting for direction. That direction could easily have come from said nanites attacking a cell, in which case that cell would release various proteins calling for help and the nanites would meet an immediate end. But with the nanites doing nothing, Adrian's white blood cells simply seemed to wait as they quietly surveyed the foreign bodies. Their restraint implied a degree of conscious control over normally autonomous functions that most organisms did not have--a control that Adrian had developed just the other day, when he had called upon the Force to catalyze digestion, so he could stabilize his condition post-starvation that much faster.

 

Meanwhile, Adrian pondered what to do with those three nanites. Though Adenna had told him to excrete said nanites through his left forefinger, there was no medical necessity to do so. If Adrian willed the nanites gone, the pathogen-ingesting white blood cells surrounding said nanites would immediately ingest the nanites and proceed to dissolve them with powerful digestive enzymes, and any waste from the process would eventually be excreted via normal biological means. The doctor could think of precisely two ways to accomplish what his teacher asked of him. The first involved his medkit and a blood draw, whereby he would draw blood from the inflamed skin, filter the nanites out of the sample via mechanical means, and place the filtered nanites on his left forefinger. But the blood draw would cause far more harm (though the side effects would be really, really minor) than the exercise was worth, and the filtering would by itself take longer than the half hour allowed.

 

The doctor's second option (that he knew of) was to attempt telekinesis. But that left him with a really bad feeling. His most basic instincts seemed to warn heavily against it, and the mere thought filled his mind with great unease and dread. It did not take Adrian long to deduce why. Using the Force to look for things was one thing; using the Force to alter them was quite something else. And the doctor's experience with telekinesis had consisted solely of hurling a multi-ton boulder through the air; he knew that he lacked the practice and precision to use such an ability on a microscopic scale. If he attempted an internal telekinesis, within his own body, with his skill at such a coarse and unrefined state, he would cause far more internal damage to himself than he risked by leaving the nanites there, or even by resorting to conventional methods, with all their side effects, of removing them. It just was not worth it.

 

And so the doctor let his immune system have its way with the foreign material. His white blood cells swallowed up and consumed the three nanites; if they would have broken apart after less than an hour anyway, surely they would not survive phagocytic digestive processes. The doctor observed carefully, his due diligence required, for though he had been told the nanites were harmless, he understood the exercise to be some kind of test of his healing--and he further knew that some viruses multiplied by infecting the very cells that would attack them. Carefully, the doctor watched for this form of cellular hijacking to occur, for if it did, it best be treated early, but it did not.

 

"Well," the doctor observed, "it would appear the nanites did not survive to their intended destination." Technically, by the letter of his teacher's instruction, the padawan had failed--though he certainly had shown an ability to actively interact with his body, to counter the types of threats Adenna's experiences had taught her to be concerned about.

[Adenna Alluyen]

Adenna frowned at the results of her test, but nothing was perfect. In her overabundance of caution, she clearly had made the nanites too weak to bypass the doctor's own immune system. It was a good lesson learned for her in the future.

 

She was not so consumed with analyzing her failures that she failed to be bemused by her apprentice's thought process. She couldn't read his thoughts as if he were speaking, but with his mind so open to hers, she could get the gist of what he was trying to do. He was analytical, that much was obvious. It was probably a result of his medical training. Such a thing could be useful in many situations, but it could also prove to be detrimental when trying to listen to the whispers of the Force. Right now, it would be okay, but there would be a point when she would have to see if he was capable of acting purely in instinct.

 

"So it would seem," she said wryly. "You show great skill in working with the microscopic for someone who claims to be so inexperienced. I must confess my lack of experience in working with individuals of your age that were Force sensitive. Perhaps your prior occupation has crafted your ability to use the Force to read people's bodies without you even knowing it. Not all use of the Force must be trained, many things will come to you naturally or through your life experiences."

 

The floor wasn't exactly comfortable and her calves and feet had fallen asleep after sitting here for so long. "Perhaps we should try something more. . . energizing," she said as she broke contact and stood up. It was a simple matter to stimulate the blood flow in her legs with a touch of the Force, but there was still a tingling effect for a few seconds though it wasn't enough to slow her down.

 

She looked around the small area and found something that would work for what she had in mind. "You were most concerned about your lack of practical combat experience. While I don't believe that I could get you combat ready in the time we have before reaching Haruun Kal, I do think I can at least make a start."

 

A quick tug freed up one of the couch cushions which she threw to the doctor. The cushion was only about seventy centimeters square, but it would more than suffice for what she was wanting to do. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a ten centimeter long stylus and tossed it back and forth between her hands. Finally, she stopped tossing it and held it in her right fist like it were a knife. "This is my weapon and the cushion is your shield. I am an assassin and you are my target. You must use the Force to sense where my attack will be coming from and use your cushion to block it. You may use one or both hands. I do warn you not to rely on your normal senses because if you do, you will end up with a good number of bruises. I will be using the Force to enhance my attacks.

 

"I will be trying various means by which to attack you, so you must sense the flow of the Force and my intent to counter my actions. Stay within the confines of this lobby. For the purposes of this exercise, you will constrain yourself to defense and will only utilize the cushion. I will only strike at you with the stylus and no other weapon or part of my body. There will be a time for more physical sparring in the future, but for now, if we were to fight while you were untrained, one or the both of us would likely end up hurt."

 

She took a deep breath and began to draw on the Force. She had a few ideas in mind that would let her get the feel of where his talents were as well as allow him to slowly learn how to use the Force in a more chaotic environment. He had been surprisingly adept at touching the Force which she attributed to his advanced age as well as whatever experience he had before encountering her. She had the sense that he was more capable than he was letting on and wanted to see what she was dealing with. Her previous experiences had taught her not to assume with her students, and her own mistakes had made her cautious and led her to see the value of a slow but sure progression in things. She wouldn't make the same mistakes again, even if they had to start out small.

 

"Are you ready?" she asked.

[Wookiee Jedi]

Kirlocca allowed a moment to pass before he spoke. From a certain point of view, Ads would have a valid point as to why Kirlocca was personally heading out. But it wasn't the right point of view.

 

<< Trust. It all comes down to trust. The Bothans can respect a Jedi Master's view upon the situation, as we have as much reason as they do to not remain tied with the Galactic Alliance. They want to hear our view. And while a call could have done that much, me showing up shows them how important I feel point of view is. It also shows them respect. >>

 

Kirlocca left out the trust it left with the Jedi Order. If the Grandmaster was doing some of the more simple tasks as it were, it provided them with a more sense of a leader that they could follow. In fact, Kirlocca's own belief was that no Grandmaster should ever view themselves in a position to where they were beyond doing such a small and simple task for the Order.

[Adrian Makaryk]

While Adenna found sitting on the durasteel floor for extended periods of time a bit uncomfortable, the doctor didn't mind. Not at all. In fact, he found it slightly preferable to being on his feet for two or more days, with perhaps an hour or so combined during all that time to sit at all--and that, if he was lucky. The doctor made no rush to get up, and in fact seemed to savor every second of anything that might be construed "rest." It just seemed such a novel concept for him. Not that he was lazy, for if he had been, there were far easier (and some illegal) ways to scratch together a living on the economic wasteland that was Onderon...

 

But when Adenna tossed her padawan a couch cushion, he had to get up. As he did so, Adrian let the cushion bounce harmlessly off his head, as a means of quickly clearing any residual images of microbes, nanites, and white blood cells that still filled his mind.

 

"Why, I've never been in a pillow fight before," Adrian observed. "What a novel idea!"

 

Kidding aside, as Adrian picked up the couch cushion off the floor, he seemed relieved that his instructor suffered no delusions of a newly-arrived Force-sensitive somehow being almost ready for his Jedi Trials--as one of his previous instructors had somehow deluded himself into thinking. Indeed, combat was an art in which the doctor had little experience, and he had never observed himself to have any particularly noteworthy instincts or reflexes in those few situations when he had encountered it. As far as he knew, his reaction time was well within the normal range for twenty-five to thirty-year old males. Only when seconds made the difference between life and death during a medical procedure had he ever noticed any unusual shift in his ability to react that could retroactively be explained by the Force.

 

Likewise, the flashes of "bad feelings" he had experienced from time to time had always occurred while he was on duty as a surgeon, or immediately before his shift or some catastrophic event that required him to report on a scheduled off day. He had never benefited from precognition in anything resembling combat.

 

Nevertheless, upon hearing Adenna's cautionary words about relying upon standard sight and hearing, Adrian closed his eyes so he could better observe her through the Force. At minimum, he'd be able to observe the form of her body, and thus her actions, with a reaction time comparable to if he used standard eyesight to sense her. But what advantage, or lack thereof, the Force could provide him with...the padawan had no idea, though he suspected his teacher was intent on finding out.

 

Adrian raised the couch cushion as a shield for his right arm. "I think I'm about as ready as I'm going to get."

[Ads-Gop Flif]

<< Trust. It all comes down to trust. The Bothans can respect a Jedi Master's view upon the situation, as we have as much reason as they do to not remain tied with the Galactic Alliance. They want to hear our view. And while a call could have done that much, me showing up shows them how important I feel point of view is. It also shows them respect. >>

 

Ads turned to Kirlocca.

 

"That makes sense. Will they understand why--or even realize--you came with someone who is..." Ads ruminated on what he wanted to say for a moment, his hands practically flailing through the air as he though. "Someone who's --who is just learning? And who are--with whom are we actually meeting?"

[Wookiee Jedi]

Kirlocca kept his gaze solely upon Ads, as it was clear that he wasn't sure of his position or ability on this mission. Kirlocca now took the time to provide comfort.

 

<< Do not look down upon yourself Ads for your lack of experience or training. Even the most powerful can be defeated by someone with little to no experience. Besides, on missions such as this one, two eyes with different views are far better than just one pair. >>

 

Kirlocca hoped that his words would provide some comfort to Ads, as Kirlocca knew and understood that the padawans skills that were buried beneath the surface would end up coming up big in the mission, would allow for Kirlocca to push him further along in his path.

 

<< And we will be seeing both Dirrm Gir’tey, whom is the acting Senator for Bothawui unless there is a withdraw. We wil also spend some time with Akao Den'kji, whom is a governor on the planet. He holds some great swing weight. >>

[Adenna Alluyen]

((We jumped on Skype and IM'ed this a little to speed things up.

Blue is Adenna

Red is Adrian))

 

Adenna gave him a curt nod and began the test. There wasn't much room in the cabin to maneuver, but she would make do. There were several things she wanted to try, but she needed to build up to them.

 

The first thing she did was to launch a quick series of basic jabs just to test his responses. There was nothing fancy, just standard attacks like what he might face from a common thug walking up trying to shank him.

 

Had Adenna been some random thug on Onderon, Adrian probably would have simply drawn his blaster and set it to stun. But she wasn't some random thug, and he didn't have his blaster. He had a couch cushion for a shield. Nevertheless, even though he lacked much experience at melee combat, he sensed the form of Adenna's body approaching. With a reasonable degree of coordination, yet no hint of the Force providing anything other than a supernatural form of eyesight replacement, he positioned his pillow "shield" to block Adenna's thrusts.

 

While he didn't catch all of her attacks, he was doing a decent enough job for using just the Force to see. After a minute or so of these types of basic attacks, she was satisfied that she had learned what she needed from him and was ready to move on to a more advanced attack. Since she was limited to only using the stylus itself rather than her full body, she was going to need to get slightly creative. This was a test of his ability to use the Force to sense and react to attacks, not his ability to wrestle or block all out physical assaults.

 

She allowed the stylus to float out of her hand with a thought and positioned it for the next round of attacks. She used the Force to guide the stylus in the same style of fairly basic attacks, but this time she remained still and denied him the ability to sense her body and use that as anticipation. Without warning, she launched the stylus at him and looked on intently through both her eyes and the Force to see how he would react to this new challenge.

 

Adrian missed out on sensing the first remote attack completely. The stylus pricked his left arm, indicating that he had to adapt or sprout innumerable bruises because of his failure. Adenna's body had barely moved, so Adrian thought she must be throwing the stylus, or possibly telekinetically manipulating it.

 

He refined his senses enough to identify the stylus, though he found it easier to recognize it by the biofilm of various microbes coating thereupon than a more traditionally Jedi way of sensing it directly. With this, he could at least attempt to respond to subsequent attacks, though his responses were limited by the same lack of precognition that he displayed earlier. He could only sense the stylus' present location and extrapolate where attacks would land based upon a standard understanding of ballistics that any normal person would use to catch anything thrown at him. If the stylus were to suddenly change direction, Adrian would be left woefully under prepared.

 

The doctor's responses were right about what she had expected, but that didn't mean they were acceptable. She kept up this series of fairly basic attacks for well over ten minutes giving him the chance to adapt and get a little more used to what he was facing. His successes increased slightly, but he wasn't using the Force to sense where her attacks would come from. She hadn't expected him to do so yet, but this was just as much a test of where his limits were as anything.

 

After learning as much as she could at that stage, she decided to change things up once again. "You are doing well using the Force as your eyes, but be wary. The Sith and other experienced foes are tricky and deceptive. You cannot always rely on them to be upfront about what they are doing. You must learn to trust the Force, not just your perception of it. Give yourself over to it and let it guide you rather than using it to compensate for your physical senses. The enemy will do many things to trick you and alter your mind, so you must follow the guidance of the Force rather than what your own mind tells you."

 

She recalled the stylus to her hand and began tossing it back and forth from one to the other. As she did, she poured the Force into the object and prepared her next test. When she was ready, she held both hands out as if they were both holding a stylus. Using the same move with both hands, she released whatever they were holding and once again, there was a stylus floating around the cabin. "In battle, you must make a quick decision based on what you know and what the Force guides you to do. Learning how to reconcile those two is critical for not just your survival, but the survival of those who depend on you. I do not expect you to completely abandon your senses or your logic, but you must balance them and decide when your mind is telling the truth and when it is not."

 

She manipulated the Force around him for a few more seconds while letting the situation sink in for him. If he had been paying attention to her actions, he would have a sense that she could possibly be concealing something or perhaps that the stylus itself was a trick of his mind. What he could sense could be a deception entirely, or it could be real and she was tricking him with the hidden stylus. There was also a third option for him to consider: both could be fake and the stylus could be hidden on her person. He needed to use the Force, his mind, and his logic to determine where the threat was.

 

"Defend yourself." With a gesture of her hand, she launched her attack and let him react.

[Ads-Gop Flif]

<< Do not look down upon yourself Ads for your lack of experience or training. Even the most powerful can be defeated by someone with little to no experience. Besides, on missions such as this one, two eyes with different views are far better than just one pair. And we will be seeing both Dirrm Gir’tey, whom is the acting Senator for Bothawui unless there is a withdraw. We wil also spend some time with Akao Den'kji, whom is a governor on the planet. He holds some great swing weight. >>

 

"So are we just going because the Jedi are in a similar position as the Bothans, or is it also because we can get an upper hand with the force--will we be actually using it much? Wait--is there a bigger mission that we're going on that the Bothans don't know about?"