The Eternal Vigilance (The Maw)

[Kirana Sunrider]

((Sorry Dashel, missed this one))

 

"Sneaky Dash... I like it. Good way of testing your padawan."

 

She grinned at him, knowing the things they had done with Locke and Sahv. The Quartet had and interesting time with their training. It was such a shame that Locke was gone off wherever he had gone. Kira had mourned the loss of that relationship, throwing herself full time into her Jedi training and service of others. She hadn't taken on another padawan since the death of her last two, not quite certain if she wanted to take on another, thinking that Nurgle had placed a curse over her. At least the God had disappeared, not to be heard from again. Some relief there.

 

She followed him through the ship, stopping when he did and turning to face her former padawan.

 

"I've sensed some illusive darkness out there. I don't doubt that he will have to deal with something dark in the future. Something that doesn't have the taint of the Sith about it, but something else. Something that I can't pinpoint. I don't know if any of the others have sensed it, or if they know what is going to happen..."

[Dashel Illioni]

((ooc)) s'okay Kira...its not like there's been much activity anywhere.

 

Dashel nodded to Kira. When he spoke, his voice was still pitched low and he kept an eye out for the approach of his now senior apprentice. "The worst part is how few Jedi there seem to be left. Its ironic, that after years of fighting the Jedi fold from within once again." He stopped, looked down at the ground in a moment of silence, then turned to back to her with a toothy grin in place. "Then again, we got this many together for the EV, maybe there is a great deal of hope."

 

A beeping from the Comm shack alerted him to the presence of at least three hopefulls orbitting the planet. Leaving Kira's side, he entered the room and logged into the comm traffic and then contacted all three.

 

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Dashel Illioni, Jedi knight. I would be willing to take on all three of you (Scubby, Korin, and Malone, pm me if interested) until as such time as a more senior knight or master contacts you. If you do wish to go along, here are the coordinates where we will be heading."

 

He closed the system, but monitored the airwaves should any of the prospects decide to respond.

 

Looking over the status boards, he keyed an internal microphone to a speaker near Odan. "Padawan, when you are finished slaughtering my ships electrical system, please join Knight Kirana and myself in the comm shack. We might be taking on new apprentices and I wish to let you know your next assignment."

 

He rose from the comm equipment, passed Kira where she remained in the passageway and began reviewing a list of planets acceptable to land the various craft on and then leave them there.

[Korin]

"Understood, Knight Illioni, the Prattling Baby complies...following coordinates..."

 

Korin plugged the coordinates into the shipboard computer, noting it was not a location on the planet, but rather in space. Actually, in all honesty, it denoted a particular extreme high-orbit, but the orbit moved so slow it might have been a stationary position. Regardless, Korin piloted the small vessel over, taking wing position beside their own.

 

I just hope this is what I paid all my money for...not some hoax.

[Hou-Jo Poleb]

*A coded message from the High Council made contact with the Jedi Temple on Manaan, demanding immediate contact from the Jedi there as to coordinate an offensive*

[Kirana Sunrider]

"Yes it is. There is always hope Dash."

 

Listening from the corridor, Kirana spoke after Dashel had closed the comm, "I guess I can help you train them. Who knows... I may be tempted to take one on myself. I just hope that curse has lifted. I don't want another padawan dying on me"

 

The alert message sounded from the High Council, Kira receiving it via the comm chip implanted in her brain, the same time as it came over the airwaves of Dashel's comm shack.

 

"I wonder what that's about? I'll send a reply to find out. Seems strange going on the offensive though when the previous attacks have failed. I wonder what's up?"

 

She sent off a reply to the source of the message.

[Dashel Illioni]

Dashel returned to the comm shack and input a quick, heavily encypted and mutiple path communication to Master Poleb.

 

He closed that line and opened one to the apprentices circulating in the skies over Manaan. "Prosepective Apprentices, this is Knight Illioni. Open a direct channel to your ships hyperspace computers for direct data transfer. Acknowledge receipt and procede to indicated coordinates.

 

He left the comm shack and went to his bridge. The force was fairly disturbed and it was bothering him severely. He would meditate enroute to Hou Jo's location, but for now he had new apprentices to collect and a mission of importance from the Master of the Jedi Order. A small, forbidden thrill coursed up and down his spine. He mastered it, sending it to the force and set about breaking orbit and leaving the system.

 

((ooc)) ok padawan's, you heard Hou Jo and know the destination, Harum Kal. Get there, everyone coming post landing on pad 8, We will meet there and go see Hou Jo. Odan, keep continuing with what you were doing 'cept it wil be over Harum.

[Kirana Sunrider]

"Dashel. Just wait a minute here. We should find out what is going on first. I don't want to go rushing into something that could be a disaster waiting to happen. Look what happened the last time the Jedi went on an offensive."

 

She followed him to the bridge, urging caution. She didn't want to be involved with something that could lead them all to their deaths. Kira wanted to know exactly what they were heading into before heading anywhere.

[Korin]

Korin did as he was indicated, linking his small navicomputer to the Black Sunday's, and praying to god his fuel cells would hold out. This wasn't a larger freighter...it was merely a small systemhopper.

 

"I comply, Knight Illioni...Prattling Baby is successfully slaved..."

 

And with that, his ship rocketed off into hyperspace with their own.

[ObliviousKnight]

((Newcomers, Manaan is no longer inhabited by the Selkath, nor are there any Ahto City-style floating cities. It's just the Eternal Vigilance... which is about to finish its repairs.))

 

Armiena observed with satisfaction as the Eternal Vigilance's damaged repulsorlift array was restored to full functionality and the ancient vessel steadily rose to the surface of Manaan's water. In a few minutes, the ocean below began to churn and froth as the vessel rose above the surface and bared its patched hull to the naked eye. Although power readings indicated that the EV was still functioning partly on battery power, with most of its non-essential systems deactivated, the submersible had finally been resurrected.

 

Job well done... The Jedi Master sent a message to the remainder of the Jedi Order, requesting the presence of damage control crews to completely repair the massive ship. Within hours, maintenance crews would probably arrive to finish the job that Armiena's droids began.

 

Armiena began to plot a hyperspace course to Coruscant, intending to meet Vladimir Faust's challenge, but she received a message from Hou-Jo Poleb that took priority over her personal vendetta. She hastily sent her reply, then turned to Nom Anor, who seemed to have retreated into his private thoughts.

 

"It looks like the Jedi are mustering on Haruun Kal. I'll drop you off there... hopefully, you'll be able to reunite with your Padawan."

[Damon]

A highly encrypted jedi COM was sent to master Armenia.

 

START COM

--------------

This is Damon. Here encoded in this COM is a file containing all of the recordins since Piccolo has arrived, the talks that took place, and what events have or will come forth. Please hurry to Haruun-Kal so that we might stop this attack agasint the sith and save the order. I am already here waiting in effort to help make this transtion as peaceful as abled.

-------------

END COM

[Ary the Grey]

A comm message came through for Armiena, not encrypted or anything fancy like that. It was a personal comm, having nothing to do with official Jedi business, yet it happened to come from another Jedi, one she knew fairly well.

 

"Hi. I think that's the best way to start this message. I haven't seen you in a while, and I guess I miss you. Certain things have begun to go down on Haruun Kal, Kirlocca tried to get Hou-Jo to step down...I'm tired of all this banter and bickering in the Order, and I'm starting to think it can never be fixed. Peace will always be upheld and maintained by the Jedi, but when it comes to peace within our own ranks...

 

"Anyways, I just commed to say I still owe you a nice sit down dinner, and after this next campaign Hou-Jo is sending us on, I'm kidnapping you, Padawans or no, and we're having that dinner. For the first time in my life and career as a Jedi I feel it's time to start thinking for myself instead of just blindly taking orders like I have since the dawn of forever. I know what I want now, I know how I'm going to get it.

 

"Armiena...I want you, want to be next to you in life, and I'm willing to do anything to get you. These feelings have been in me for some time, and it's finally gotten to the point where I'd rather spend just one more minute with you than live as an immortal without you. I want to shrug off the concerns of the galaxy for once and live freely, live like my mind is telling me to.

 

"I just want you, me, us...to be happy. I want to spend the rest of my life at your side. This...is what I want, I'm sure of it. This is what the Force and my feelings have been leading me to, and it's time to find out what happens next.

 

"I love you. I'll see you on the battlefield."

 

The message was a long one, and after listening to it Armiena would find that Aryian had disabled his personal comm, unable to recieve messages back. It was not because he was afraid her answer might be no, but that he no longer cared, he only relied on his faith that it would be, a sort of test for him.

[Nom Anor's avenger]

Nom opened his eyes again, letting the small noises and atmospheric vibrations join with the visual he assumed. Armiena spoke with her back turned, her attention obviously fixed on the repairs. Nom used the oppertunity as he spoke to move around the room. His muscles and bones reacticed quite well to his little nap as strength provided through the Force flooded into him as each boot met the metal below it. The calm silence of the room was suddenly broken as several comms rained into the room in quick succession. Two of which caused the Jedi Master a grave cause for concern. The third however only proceeded to put a small smile on his face. It was always amusing when hearing something one was not suppose to hear. The Jedi Master took no more notice of the message however, hoping to save Draygo from any embarrisment.

 

"Armiena, if you are heading to Carida to you mind making a pit stop?" Nom's words assumed its professional overtone as his internal strength powered his vocal cords. "I need to see my apprentice."

[Ish Ka Bibl]

Ish awoke from the meditated state that had kept him oblivious of the events that had transpired on the Eternal Vigilance. The force had other plans for him aside from battle....for the moment.

 

With his mission clear, a soul very near in proximity called out to Ish. It was to be his padawan. Swiftly in one fell movement, Ish stood up from his meditative stance, disrobed and entered the refresher. Within the hour the jedi was casually walking through the halls of the eternal vigilance, hands clasped behind his back, letting nothing escape his awareness.

 

Slowly Ish made his way towards the being that he sensed in his quarters, the being that the force told him would be his next padawan learner. As he neared one of the many cantinas dotted throughout the vessel, Ish could sense Jace inside.

 

Ish smiled at the thought that his padawan might actually be a drinker. As he crossed the threshold of the door way into the cantina he thought maybe I'll get him a pint of wookie ale to start off with. A smile crossed his face as he walked slowly towards the stranger who looked a bit lost.

[Hou-Jo Poleb]

*Two messages came from Haruun Kal, each being sent to each location, one for Jedi and one for the Rebels, to immediately report to Haruun Kal as the Jedi's status was raised to battle awareness and that should communications cease from the temple that reinforcements should come in extra haste*

[Nitestrike]

A matte black Corelian Corvette popped out of hyperspace near Manaan and began its descent into the atmosphere. The ship hailed the Jedi base, The Eternal Vigilance, on an emergency Jedi priority code. Its captain, Jedi Knight Brad Warren had a grave message he was carrying. Opening a channel to go along with his hails, he said, "Attention Eternal Vigilance, Haruun Kal has been attacked. I've come to escort anyone who wishes to help the stranded Jedi so they can make it past any Black Sun resistance."

[ObliviousKnight]

"That was the plan in the first place." Armiena slewed the Ghost Breath about in a lazy roll while she input an old hyperspace course into the yacht's navigational computer. Moments later, she pulled back the hyperspace lever and hurtled her ship into the hypnotic tunnel of hyperspace travel.

 

"If you don't mind..." Armiena blushed slightly, realizing that Master Anorus had heard that entire extremely private message. "I need a little bit of privacy. There's something I need to do."

 

Without another word, the woman stood from her chair and retreated away from the cockpit. Just after her booted feet cleared the portal to the cockpit, she abandoned all dignity and sprinted for the cargo bay. If Armiena hadn't upgraded the sound proofing in the Ghost Breath's bulkheads, one might have heard her unleash a shriek in response to Aryian's message that was best described as a "fan-girlish squee."

 

To hell with the fact that Armiena was about to immerse herself into a gory geyser of battle. She knew that she was loved and that she had finally found someone that she could love, and that alone made her spirits soar.

[Ary the Grey]

Another Comm came in for the Ghost Breath, relayed as per request (And through a few special codes operating through her AI) over the entire ship. The comm originated not from Aryian's personal communicator, but rather from his own ship. Mostly it was Aryian's own thoughts, somehow caught by his uplink and forwarded to her ship via Aryian's own AI system, which was remarkably similar to her own. It was a strange glitch, wherein Aryian's own AI had decided Armiena needed to hear this. The voice was that of Aryian, yet more choppy and machinelike, a dead giveaway that this was the AI's broadcast, not Aryian's own.

 

"...Allright, let's lay down the solid facts. Hou-Jo was about to attack Cardia with the Black Sun Fleet, Cardia is now an evactuated, empty planet. Black Sun has never been known to be trustworthy, and Hou-Jo seemed like he was in his right mind when I was at Haruun Kal. Which means...Black Sun has something secret going on, probably a trap against the Jedi, if I know anything about Black Sun...There's a fleet around Haruun Kal...meaning the Temple is in grave danger, and I'm right to return. What about the others...? No doubt the Temple has sent out warnings by now, the Jedi network is second to none...I just hope I arrive in time..."

 

It continued on for about another minute with thoughts like that before stopping, automatically cutting off when it reached the irrelevant. It repeated once before going totally silent.

 

The situation, it seemed, was getting extremely serious.

[Nom Anor's avenger]

Yet another comm made its way through the confines of Armiena's vessel. This message was combined with the Force however, the two things joining to bring further illumination to Nom's mind. He's fighting... The Force was a tricky thing. The vast piece of space between Manaan and Haruun Kal infringed on Nom's ability to track his apprentice's movements exactly. The only thing the Jedi Master knew was that Scorpio was fighting for his life. Aryian's comm only clarified what he had come to suspect. Haruun Kal was under some attack. That's where a sent Scorpio... The hair on the Jedi's arm started to rise at the prospect of his own mistake. He delivered him from death only to place him in its forsights once more.

 

Unbeknownst to Armiena, her squeel of delight was accompanied by an almost simotanious howl of frustration derived from the other end of the ship. "I just sent him to his death." The shock behind Nom's words carried the sound into silence. Unfortuantely Nom heard the implications of such a statement all the same. Disregarding Draygo's attempt at privacy, the Jedi Master tore after her.

 

He halted a little quickly, as if about to fall ove himself. "We need to go Armiena!" Nom felt a small twinge of guilt at his sudden rudness. The fact that this woman just saved his life added even more guilt to his rising conscious. His consicous right now however, took a back seat to the life of his apprentice.

[Nitestrike]

Brad let out a deep sigh on the bridge of The Argent Dawn. He had recognized the ship that blasted off into hyperspace shortly after he arrived as the Ghost Breath, Armiena's ship. "So much for bringing more Jedi to Haruun Kal," he thought to himself. There were few other Jedi he could feel on the planet, and none felt to be the right caliber for the battle on Haruun Kal. There were enough Jedi at Haruun Kal, he decided, so he had a course plotted to the Alliance's current base and set out for it, the large Corvette shooting into hyperspace.

[MSA]

((I'm assuming the EV is operational enough for me to respawn here. If not, please let this one time slip, PM me saying i can't do this, so i'll know next time not to do this.))

 

Scorpio laid in the cloning tube aboard the Eternal Viligiance on Manaan. It felt warm inside the tube, but wet. Scene's of him fighting Piccolo on Haruun Kal started playing through his mind. And then, nothing. Scorpio suddenly awoke, startled by his wet surrounding. "Where was he?", and for the best, "Is this place a friendly area, or full of enemies?" These questions rolled though his mind as he burst out of the cloning tube. Scorpio fell to his knees, coughing up the muck that filled the tube.

 

Scorpio stood, wobbly at first, but his muscles tightened, and he gained control of his movements. Then it hit him, and he fell flat on his arse. Images of the battle slaved his mind, and the force rushed back into him, causeing him to fall. He regained his movements again, and stood up once again. Within moments, he was up and about, looking for a quick grab of cloths. As raced down the halls, bare arsed, he saw only droids, and realized he was aboard the EV. He quickly dove into one of the rooms, grabbing a set of Jedi Robes, and after he was suited up, went to His room that he once stayed in. There he found something he had left there incase he ever needed it. There he found an unknown amount of credits, which he placed in a spare bag he had left there, and he went to find someone who was working there.

 

After an extensive search of the EV, he finally found someone one who was flesh and blood so to say. He walked up to the man and spoke......

 

"I am Scorpio Armegedon, the Apprentiance of Master Nom Anorus, and i need to see Master Nom immediately."

 

The man looked at Scorpio with an odd look on his face, and he replied....

 

"Ah yes, Sorry to report, but Master Nom and Master Armiena just left yesterday for Haruun Kal."

 

Scorpio knew this man was telling the truth, and Scorpio had to see a man about a ship, so he could find his Master, so he spoke back to the man.......

 

"Can you get me to Coruscant? I need to see a man about a ship, and i can pay you for the voyage."

 

The man's face turned kinda red for a moment, and then he calmed himself, and spoke......

 

"Sorry sir, but for a Jedi, there will be no need of pay. This ship outside here is headed for Coruscant anyways for more supplies. I'll call for a transport."

 

Scorpio was glad to hear it, and the man did indeed call for a transport. After the transport landed in the hangar, Scorpio gave a polite bow to the man, thanked him, and headed into the transport. Within moments, Scorpio was on the bridge of the ship outside, with Captain of the ship, as it entered hyperspace and was gone from Manaan.

[Scubby]

Still sitting in that cantina Scubby downed another ale... he'd watched the door for some time from his booth. many people came in and out, some looked to him like they meant business, others like they wanted to get plastered. Some looked to be jedi, others were technicians and many others were random space jockeys... Just like him.

 

Well not exactly like him, not many people were like him, following the force as it guided him around the galaxy... Ordering another ale Scubby continued waiting. The force would tell him if he was meant to leave...

[Scubby]

And so it did... Finally too drunk to stand properly Scubby made his way to his ship... After a little bit of FUI he made it to hyperspace... Where to now? He thought to himself... Going back to his Ranger days he decided to pay a little visit to an old friend of his... His nephew to be exact... Apparently the boy was in the Rebellion... Scubby in his work as an assasin had been keeping tabs on him... The boy was a Commander and not yet Twenty-Five... Very impressive.

 

Hitting the jump button Scubby flashed into hyperspace ...

[ObliviousKnight]

The Ghost Breath flared into existance above Manaan, streaking out of hyperspace with a trail of pseudomotion. Armiena regarded the water-covered world with a mixture of woe and wonderment; she had both fond and... less than fond memories of the planet. Nodding towards the viewport, the pilot locked onto the Eternal Vigilance's tracking beacon and dove towards its location.

 

The Imperial had not been kind to the EV's graceful hull. Even after loving attention from the Jedi Order's maintenance crews who worked tirelessly to restore the ship to its former glory, battle scars criss-crossed its hull, unpainted patches of metal plates that had only recently been welded down. Most of its archives had been destroyed--the ordinary data had already been restored, but the holocrons, taken by Faust, were impossible to replace.

 

Someday... Armiena bit her lip as she guided her freighter into the giant's primary hangar. Here, the damage was most evident--judging from the contrast in the metal plating of the roomy chamber's interior, the entire hangar must have been rent into rubble during the attack. The EV was a lonely ship these days, emptied of almost everything except maintenance droids. It was going to be a long, long time before it would be suitable to house the Jedi again... which, coincidentally, made it an ideal place to hide from her enemies' preying eyes for a few days.

 

"I know, it looks a bit... depressing." Armiena admitted. "But it looked even worse when I was last here.

 

"I was hoping that we would be able to stay on the Vigilance for a few days to get some training done, at least until we can do something with our guest. We weren't able to get much done on Bespin..." she shrugged in apology and started to rise from the pilot's seat. "If you'll wait for me in the hangar, I have a few things to gather before I can continue your training." Her tone conveyed that she had little clue how long her errand was going to take, as whatever she was looking for had apparently disappeared into the piles of miscellaneous cargo in the Ghost Breath months ago. She could take just a few minutes, or Shawmus could be left alone for a long time.

[ForceFusion]

"Not a problem, mate" Shawmus said casually, picturing himself inside the Eternal Vigilance. The ship had been impressive from the outside, despite the battle wounds.

 

Shawmus strode out of the Ghost Breath into the hangar bay which he had been ordered to stay in. There wasn't much there. Some empty crates and scattered debris. Not much indeed.

 

It could be a boring wait. But a thought struck him before he had the opportunity to get fidgety. The Force.

 

He'd touched it ever so briefly on Cloud City and knew that, to be a strong Jedi, he needed to have a good connection with the Force.

 

And there was nothing better to do. Shawmus sat, legs crossed, and closed his eyes, emulating the position he'd been in when his first encounter with the Force had come. Armiena wasn't there to guide him, but he thought he could recall the feelings and sensations that had come as he journeyed toward the Force. It had been...shocking. But refreshing.

 

He cleared his mind. Or at least attempted to. His thoughts dashed around the galaxy on a regular basis, and calming them was not an easy task. But images of the rolling hills and towering Spirit Trees of Selt Island always held a place in Shawmus' heart. And soon his breathing slowed, his mind filled with the green images of home.

 

And life. And the Force. It surprised him, once again, as he suddenly felt inexplicably connected to the galaxy. But he would not let it go so quickly this time. He felt the people around him, vaguely if at all. Armiena was a powerful presence, strong with determination. The depth to her signature in the Force was almost overwhelming. Var's signature was storied and pained, yet nearly as determined as Master Armiena's. And the mysterious guest was even more pained. She was confused and feeling trapped. Shawmus had no idea who she was, but she could be very dangerous. But she was also very vulnerable. What an interesting crew Shawmus had found himself with.

 

He smiled outwardly and inwardly, feeling his own happiness resonate in the Force around him. He only had vague impressions of the lifea round him, but he could already feel the Force changing his entire outlook on the galaxy. The universe was huge, but Shawmus felt as though he could stretch across it.

[Avararda Dinn]

((Sorry... mom grounded me again....I'll be able to post at this time everyday from school.))

 

Avararda nodded.

 

"If you need help, Armiena, please don't be afraid to ask."

 

She sent him a Force-message.

 

"What of the Sith? I'm assuming I'm staying here to guard both friendly and not-so-friendly people." He motioned towards the squating apprentice.

 

"If you want, I'll train him a little bit. I still have both my sabers, and believe it or not, I still know how to fight," he Force-thought, smiling.

[ObliviousKnight]

"Keep an eye on the Sith apprentice. If she wakes up, just keep an eye on her--don't threaten her, don't try to constrain her. If she wants to, let her leave my ship, but don't let her... wander into any sensitive areas on the EV. Just follow her around." Without another word, Armiena turned on her heel and headed for the Ghost Breath's cargo hold.

 

Armiena did not lie to her apprentice; whatever she was looking for was quite elusive and the search had the potential to tie her hands for hours, even on her ship. She found the training equipment she was looking for in a matter of moments, and was now hauling a pack of spherical remotes with her. However, as expected, her mother had managed to skillfully conceal her presence and continued to elude her senses.

 

I wonder, I wonder, I wonder... Not caring what Var's reaction might be if he was in a position to witness this particularly insane plan of Armiena's, the Jedi Grandmaster drew her blaster and pressed it to her right forearm. Asking the Force for assistance, to not let her harm her own body through one of her half-baked plots, Armiena closed her eyes... and pulled the trigger.

 

The whine of the blaster's ignition roared in her ears, but that was drowned out by the sheer complexity of the images that overwhelmed her closed eyes once she absorbed the energy of the blast. Wild currents of energy flowed past Armiena's eyes: the crimson throb of heat that receded from her fired blaster; livid pain from her forearm as it pressed against the barrel of the blaster (she hastily withdrew it before she suffered a self-inflicted burn); the cold, gray, sterile steel of her ship, as solid as it was lifeless; unpredictable eddies of the Force that Armiena breathed through her body, occasionally disrupted by the rhythmic pulses that substituted for her friend's lost sight; an obvious, undeniable spring of power that gently trickled from every living creature on the planet and beyond.

 

It was beautiful. Incomprehensible, exotic, and overwhelming. How could Armiena have settled for her eyes for so long?

 

Just beyond her ship, Armiena saw her Padawan chisel away another few meters of what would eventually become a solid canal linking him and the Force. Beyond that, far, far beyond that, she the gentle Force-light of a congregation of Jedi shine on a distant planet, to be shattered into a full spectrum as a fraction of their presence passed through a jagged array of prismatic crystals.

 

And much closer to home, the Jedi saw the stony silence of another Force-Sensitive refusing to disrupt the currents and reveal her presence--however, such a technique also used the Force, and its wielder was also alive...

 

"This is a warhead launch tube." Armiena observed, stunned by her mother's daring. She was not aware that her feet had carried her away from the cargo hold, but here she was, bent over at the waist and dangling into one of the Ghost Breath maintenance crawlspaces. Misal Draygo merely beamed at her daughter, filled with pride at her recovery of half of her heritage.

 

"It's... eerie, like I'm living in some sort of fantasy. You... in one of my warhead launchers..."

 

"Armiena..." The Miraluka warned her in a forboding tone.

 

"I can hardly think of any projectile that I'd rather launch at a Star Destroyer." Beyond her silver veil, Armiena knew that Misal was glaring at her. "It would certainly elminate two problems with one stone; no Star Destroyer, no mother." It was a heartless thing to say, but given the eccentricities of the two Draygo women, both of them reluctantly abandoned their stand-off and shook with delirious laughter.

 

____________________________________________

 

It took some more time, but Armiena eventually left the confines of the Ghost Breath, striding with a spirited spring in her step.

 

"Well done." Armiena said simply. Her prosthetic hand withdrew from a pocket in her robe, revealing that it held a metallic snowball: an old-fashioned seeker remote, commonly used for training with lightsabers. When activated, the little ball would hover roughly eye level above the ground and periodically spit stinging bolts at any large organisms within its range. Armiena had long modified her remotes with special alternate exercises and programs, allowing a small swarm of them to coordinate effectively and overwhelm even the most defensively-minded Jedi under a torrent of harmless rounds.

 

However, Armiena held only one in her palm, and she had set it to one of its lowest difficulty settings. Although it wouldn't buzz about harmlessly as though in a drunken state, it wouldn't deliberately attempt to reduce Shawmus to a agonized, quivering mass as it mercilessly pumped round after round into his inexperienced body.

 

"It's a little unconventional to begin your lightsaber training so early, but...." Armiena grinned and shrugged in her robe. "Screw convention. Defend yourself!" Tossing her arm back as though pitching in an obscure sport known as "softball", Armiena hurled the mechanical missile at her Padawan's forehead. The device's array of repulsorlifts would prevent it from bopping him on the noggin, but its swift flight would undoubtedly startle Shawmus and encourage him to ignite his training lightsaber as quickly as his body could manage.

 

Armiena secretly felt somewhat guilty, introducing her Padawan to lightsaber combat in such a manner, but... the remote's stinging shots would undoubtedly rob him of his pride and force him to open up to her teachings that much more quickly. In the meantime, she watched the spectacle unfold with a polite smile on her face.

 

((Whoa. I ended up getting much more done with this post than I initially imagined. Oh, and have fun. I know I did while writing this post.))

[ForceFusion]

Armiena's voice took Shawmus out of his immense concentration. He'd felt her coming, yet somehow it was still a surprise. Her words didn't register at first, as he was trying quite hard to stay in tune with the flow of the Force and the feelings it brought to him.

 

But "Defend yourself!" got his attention. He opened his eyes to find a silver orb flying a menacing course towards his forehead.

 

The snap-hiss of a lightsaber filled his ears, as did a pink tone to the lighting of the nearby hangar. Shawmus was on his feet and in a defensive posture. He didn't even remember taking the steps to get there.

 

The Force, he thought. He'd somehow stayed in tune with it! Though now he was losing concentration.

 

Shawmus' thoughts spun as he lost his focus, and a stabbing pain exploded in his shoulder. The orb had fired at him. Suddenly Armiena's command that he should defend himself made sense.

 

His pink blade was too slow to block the next two bolts, and that was when he remembered that his reflexes were much quicker with the Force. His problem was that he wasn't very confident of his ability to get in tune with it very quickly.

 

He closed his eyes momentarily, picturing Selt Island and the green it had to offer. Life teemed there in his mind, and suddenly he was accutely aware of his body.

 

His arms were moving. He opened his eyes to see the pink blade intercept a single bolt from the orb. Two more lept out at him, almost simultaneously, and he knew that he could not block both. Instead, he dodged, stepping to the side and out of the way of danger.

 

Another blast fired, this one at his midsection. It wasn't a challenge to bring the blade to intercept. Shawmus felt more confidence in tracking the trajectories of the blasts. But he was not confident with the blade. He moved it very little over the next barrage of shots, choosing to dodge more often, especially when the shots went low. Multiple shots were a problem, and the stinging sensation of shock was no stranger in the practice.

 

Sweat dominated his brow, and he was growing tired. Shawmus was struck by another stinging hit before he finally cried out, "Enough!" He heaved as he managed to block another shot. "I'm bloody tired, mate! This Force madness isn't easy!"

[ObliviousKnight]

((Sorry I've taken so long in posting. This week has been exam/homework hell, but you at least deserved an explanation.))

 

"It usually isn't." Armiena commented mildly. It wasn't until the seeker remote came around Shawmus' right shoulder and nearly boxed him in the ear with a stinging blast that she took action. Whether by accident or program, the aforementioned bolt towards his teacher's face, who swatted it out of the air with her left hand. Because of its mechanical nature and its lack of pain receptors, she didn't feel a thing--a tiny jolt that caused the fingers to contract a fraction, but no more.

 

As though suddenly realizing that he was all but begging for a refrain in the exercise, Armiena produced a remote and ended the drone's attack program. It continued to hover at the level of her eyes, waiting for its next command with the infinite patience of an unintelligent machine.

 

"Not bad; actually, pretty good considering that you have all of... a few day's experience." Hopefully, Shawmus' stamina would improve over the course of his training. Otherwise, Armiena was going to have to lead him through some grilling physical training. But that was for later; for now, she would have to offer him a brief respite in order to learn as much as he could... then toss him again into the grinder for a little while longer.

 

"Good news is you don't have any bad habits. Bad news: you don't have many good habits, either, but I can teach you those." Unhooking her lightsaber from her belt, Armiena approached her Padawan for more specific lessons.

 

Armiena put him through a rough introduction of lightsaber combat, beginning with Form I: Shii-Cho. As she described it, it was the most simple of the seven prevalent lightsaber forms--even more so than Form VI--and arguably the most deliberate. Simplicity was both its strength and its weakness--in fact, the form's lack of critical weaknesses was probably its greatest fault. It lacked the sheer precision and utmost discipline that Makashi required; it lacked both the passive defensiveness and nigh-impenetrable cover that Soresu allowed; although it was possible to apply Ataru techniques, the form didn't include any of the gravity-defying feats of agility that Form IV featured; it lacked the primal aggression and selfless offense that Form V required in order to be effective. It was simply an excellent all-round lightsaber form, and that was both its greatest strength and weakness.

 

Armiena lead him through a few basic cadences and corrected some minor faults in his stances, but as she described it: "Swordsmanship is definitely handy when you have little else to draw on, but its nothing when you compare it to the Force."

 

Armiena had no idea how long she had been instructing Shawmus, but by the time Armiena was beginning to run out of material that her Padawan could soak up in his unpracticed state, she had begun to grow slightly hungry, and the sun had shifted almost to dusk outside the hangar's maw.

 

"Relax. Take a deep breath. Open yourself up to the Force; find it, and you'll find yourself far more capable than you are with just your hands. Now...

 

"Ready for another go?" Unfortunately, it turned out that Shawmus had little say in the matter, as his Master had already activated the training drone.

 

((http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Lightsaber_combat. This is where I get most of my info on lightsaber combat. Sure, it's Wikipedia, but it's one of the most compact sources out there.))

 

 

 

_________________________

 

Edit: 2/4/07, concerning the situation on Coruscant.

 

Armiena took a single step back from the remote, which was just beginning to circle her Padawan like a pestering vulture. At that moment, her comlink began trumpeting Reveille with unrestrained pride, crying for her attention.

 

And attention it got. Armiena listened intently to the sound of her mother's panicked voice, her expression steadily changing from mild curiosity, to a glare that resembled the borderline to outright fury. Rudely cutting off her mother's transmission, Armiena sent another signal to the Special Operations division on Ilum, another to her personal armory on Phu, yet another to a Jedi Master that also shared a seat on the Council, and finally... to the Survivor's Foundation's holdings on Coruscant and the Esperanza above Mon Calamari.

 

"Enough, Padawan. We can't afford to spend any more time here. There's been a threat of a huge terrorist attack on Coruscant, and..." Armiena shrugged in apology. "I'm afraid that millions of civilians will have to take priority over your training. If you want, you can follow me to Coruscant; I'm having a starfighter shipped from Phu to the EV. Regardless, I'm leaving. Now."

 

Matching actions to words, Armiena jogged up her ship's boarding ramp and ran through an accelerated start-up sequence. Within moments, she was gone.

[ForceFusion]

Since Armiena hd been gone, Shawmus had gotten very acquainted with the remote and his pink practice lightsaber. Though he slept a healthy eight hours every night, his body did not feel rested. The waking hours were spent fully in practice, either meditating on the Force or blocking the shock blasts from the hovering remote. Well, that wasn't quite the case. The first day, Shawmus set out to work for a few hours, then decided that because there was no actual authority around, he could slack off a bit. It turned out that the whole of that first day, he didn't do any more practice, and when he finally fell asleep, it was with a great feeling of guilt.

 

The next morning he put himself through a serious set of exercises, starting with meditation, which he found to be extremely boring until he finally got a strong grasp of the Force and touching the new and interesting pieces of life emanating their Force presences in the seas around the Eternal Vigilance. But, that took three mind-numbingly boring two hour sessions. At more than one point, he wanted to give up, or at least add a bottle of liquor to help him relax, as Armiena had suggested in his first attempt at touching the Force. But he soldiered on until that moment when something finally clicked, and new life and personality was flowing through him, surging the energy of the Force as if it was his bloodstream singing and dancing.

 

After his morning meditations, he did a long string of physical work outs, including push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, stand-ups, and a few other ups that hadn't been officially named. He also sprinted across the large hangar bay as well as jogged circles around it for the sake of cardiovascular exercise. Needless to say, he found himself quite sore the morning after he implemented the rigorous routine. But he forced himself through, and when he finally connected strongly with the Force, he found himself stronger, faster, and in much more control of his body.

 

Much like the improvements in the physical aspects of his work out, the lightsaber work improved greatly with with his newfound identity in the Force. Practicing Form I stances and blocking techniques when he could bring them to mind, he had mastered the lower and mid levels on the remote, avoiding any shocking hits by the end of the second day. But, even now the highest levels baffled him, as the thing circled him at blinding speeds and was completely unpredictable in its firing patterns. Even so, Shawmus was still able to block a majority of the shots.

 

He completed three of these cycles per day now, and was finally getting over his soreness. So invigorated by the end of each day, he found himself picturing opponents which he would duel using the rudimentary grasp of Form I he had. His imagination seduced him so thoroughly at times that it was a few minutes before he realized he was talking back and forth to himself, providing the voices of both the hero and the villain in the story. He attempted to control those habits at first, then he realized no one was around to hear him anyway.

 

That was the advantage of the solitude. But the disadvantages were numerous. Only once had he been so isolated: after his failure in the A-Wing above Irrador. Throughout most of the day he could distract himself with his work out and meditation (along with the occasional chattering to himself), but when he laid down to sleep, the loneliness set in. Shawmus was naturally a talkative young man, always attempting to lighten a situation with humor, easily the center of attention in large groups. Using his voice as almost an addiction, and the silence rang in his ears louder than an explosion. He was able to solve that problem by talking to himself, but when the time came to sleep, he could not fight off the disturbing feelings and images from those claustrophobic and haunting days in the cockpit of the A-Wing after seeing his best friends slaughtered and his home taken by an invading force.

 

He'd exiled himself that day, attempting to come to terms with a life of loneliness. The Jedi had re-directed that path, and Master Armiena and Avararda Dinn had presented him with companionship and even family, something he didn't realize how much he'd missed until Armiena had left.

 

Hopefully she would come back. Hopefully he hadn't lost the family he thought he'd found.

[ObliviousKnight]

The primary hangar of the Eternal Vigilance filled with the roar of a basic Lambda-class shuttle, a commonly seen vessel throughout the starlanes. Its pilot, Misal Draygo, departed from the shuttle, leaving the power-down routines incomplete. Her all-concealing robes rippled in the wake of the shuttle's idle sublight engines, and the elder Draygo paused, sweeping the hangar with her veiled face, as though searching it for her quarry.

 

"Shawmus. Where are you?" The phrase mostly served to announce her presence, as Misal, being a Miraluka, knew precisely where the Padawan was. She simply preferred for him to come to her out of his own volition.