Well, after writing about 10 pages of prose in a report, waiting on some data from one more person to complete that report, and working on some other information to continue doing taxes, I just had to take a little break and think about something entirely different. So, here's Ch. 7. If I weren't so tired from staying up way too late writing it ;) , I'd polish it a bit more, but I'll post it for now until I can get a little more creative. :)


Chapter 7: A Mission

We stood waiting outside the Council chambers for our meeting. Stepping over to peer out the window at the famed Thousand Fountains in the courtyard below, I took a deep breath and straightened the collar on my robe once more.

“That’s about the 20th time you’ve adjusted that robe,” Jolee observed, “you’re not nervous about talking to these masters, are you? You’ve been here before.”

“Yes, actually I am,” I admitted. It was pointless to be dishonest with a Jedi, particularly a Jedi with whom one had a Master-Padawan bond. Such Force bonds allowed those connected to sense each other’s feelings and sometimes even thoughts. Picking at my robe, however, made my apprehension quite obvious to anyone.
Continuing, I said, “These Jedi are the premier of our Order, and I don’t want to make a bad impression. I’m concerned about what they’re going to say about the transport incident, and I admit I’m a little excited to finally be going on a mission.”

“Jae, I have great faith that you will do well, and I’ll handle the transport issue if it comes up, don’t you worry. Remember, every single Master in that room was a Padawan at one time. It’s not like we become Jedi Gods when we reach Master rank, you know. We all put on our robes the same way. It just means we Masters have been in so long we don’t know what else to do but be good Jedi.” He stole a wicked grinning glance my way, “At least you have the option of cantina dancing."

Exasperated, I tossed my datapad playfully across the antechamber towards his head. The datapad stopped in mid-air as Jolee easily levitated it. Suddenly, he pushed it back hard at me, and I was expected to catch it in mid-air. Just as I was about to draw it into my hand, however, it froze, suspended above the ground, and then flew away. Talin Kayl caught it. He walked towards me to return it and stood close enough that with his height I had to look up at his face.

He held it out for me to take, saying with a slight upturn to his lips, “A rather plebian use of your skills, don’t you think?”

Silently, I took back the datapad from his hand. Being chided was not something I was expecting.

Jolee walked over towards us to greet him. “Jedi Talin. How are you? I assume you’re going to the same meeting we are?”

“Master Jolee,” Talin smiled thinly at him and then turned his gaze back to me. “I was just returning your Padawan’s datapad to her and reminding her that our power is a gift to be utilized appropriately.”

“So sure are you that we were engaging in rather useless levitation when in fact we were practicing levity?” Jolee responded coolly with one eyebrow lifted in question. “A good diplomat knows some things are not always as they appear.”

Rebuked, Talin nodded to Jolee. “You are right, Master Jolee. I momentarily forgot this most basic lesson in diplomacy. Please forgive me, Padawan Jae.”

“No offense taken,” I replied.

Talin went on, “I have been called before the Council for this meeting, as you both have.”

The two large ornately carved wooden doors of the Council chambers swung open. I took a deep breath and composed myself.

Winking, Jolee whispered to me, “Jae, don’t forget to play it up for Vrook,”

Arranging the most innocent doe-eyed look on my face that I could muster, I said, “How would it be if I prostrated myself at your feet?”

Jolee just shook his head, “No reverence for elders. What is the galaxy coming to? Come on, let’s go see what task they have for us today.”

The three of us entered, though I followed slightly behind out of respect for Jolee’s rank of Master. Talin followed slightly behind him as well, I noticed. He may have been rather self-righteous, but at least he showed respect for Jolee’s long experience as a Jedi. As we silently approached the small circle of Masters, Talin and I bowed our heads slightly to them. Apparently, some of the Masters were occupied with other assignments, for there were only four in the room today—Masters Vandar, Vrook, Kavar, and Vash.

Master Kavar had a look of pleased relief, and noted, “Jae, I’m very happy that you look so well healed after the transport incident. Your injuries caused great concern.”

“Thank you, Master Kavar. I am feeling much better. I have to give credit to Masters Jolee and Vandar and Jedi Talin for their healing assistance. I don’t believe I’d be standing here without them.”

Talin nodded slightly towards me, acknowledging the thanks.

Master Vrook then added with a slight frown, “Still, it is important for you to take extra care. We do not like to lose any of our Order, and we do not have so many Jedi that we can risk ourselves needlessly.”

Jolee came to my defense. “Vrook! We already talked about this a several days ago. We would have done the same exact thing in that situation. None of us could allow another person to die if we could help it. I find no fault in her actions,” he argued.

Master Vandar held up a hand, staying any further discussion on the matter. “Already have we agreed that correct were Padawan Jae’s actions. No further is there discussion.”

“I would respectfully disagree with the Council that the matter should be closed,” Talin spoke up.

“Oh, know you the Council’s mind so well you can question their decision?” Vandar asked, challenging Talin’s audacity in questioning the Council.

Talin stopped a moment to collect his thoughts in order to express himself appropriately, “I mean no disrespect to the Council and I accept the judgment of this body in matters regarding members of our Order. However, I think Master Vrook brings up an important point. I agree completely with the Council that her decision was entirely appropriate. The execution of that decision is what caused this unfortunate incident.”

Jolee interjected, “My Padawan is my responsibility, Jedi Talin. Any fault in her training is mine.”

Talin answered, “I do not mean to impugn your efforts, Master Jolee. Her skill in healing and her other Force powers have increased exponentially while under your tutelage.”

Much as I disliked being the object of such discussion, I had to admit to myself that Talin did have a gift for diplomacy. He mixed careful language with a considered attempt to forge a path that would connect both Vrook’s and Jolee’s opinions, combined with the certain brashness in just knowing that his path was the correct route through the challenge.

Talin continued, “But while her skills are indeed improving greatly, I believe there needs to be more balance in the development of her Force powers and her fighting skills in order to minimize the risk of future incidents such as this. Training with someone who is a lightsaber specialist could be very beneficial in rounding out her education as a Padawan.”

Master Vandar asked Jolee, “Your thoughts we would seek on this matter.”

Jolee and I both knew Talin was right on that matter. While Jolee fought well with a lightsaber, it was not his area of expertise, and my lightsaber skills were, well, at a Padawan level.

Jolee considered his response, and said with a bit of a smile, “Jedi Talin speaks with a wisdom greater than his years, which is quite refreshing to see in someone that young. However, we would have to be assigned here to Coruscant to get the extra training.”

Master Kavar added, “What are your thoughts, Jae?”

“I have no desire to fault Master Jolee’s training. I have learned a great deal in a very short time. However, after catching the blaster bolt with my thigh instead of my lightsaber, it is obvious that I could use further instruction in lightsaber use. I have absolutely no desire to have such a personal experience with the kolto tank ever again,” I commented. Knowing chuckles could be heard among the Masters. Apparently, they had also had a similar experience with kolto.

Master Vash added, “We appreciate your candid thoughts in this matter, and we had come to a similar conclusion.”

Master Vandar went on, “For this reason are you three here before us. Have need of all your skills we do.”

My heart sped a little in anticipation of my first real mission, though I tried to concentrate on maintaining my calm.

Master Kavar delineated the mission for the three of us in the manner of someone very experienced in doing military briefings. “You must find out what is happening with the Exchange on Telos. We sense there is something greater and darker behind Norelden’s maneuverings, and we need to find that underlying force. We also received a request for a meeting with one of the leaders of the planet Li’adin, which is past Telos in the Outer Rim. Their culture is quite reclusive, and so their request is rather unusual. They have mentioned concerns about time vortices forming near their system and have asked for assistance in determining the source. We need to learn the nature of these phenomena and why they are occurring. We have prepared a detailed report for you and have downloaded it to your datapads.”

In his typical gruff voice, Master Vrook added, “We have sensed a connection in the Force between the formation of these vortices and Norelden’s increased activity. You must find out what is happening and put a stop to his illegal activities before they destabilize Telos and the rest of the sector. We will provide you with a small ship so you may travel discreetly. And we do expect you to take care,” he finished, looking pointedly my way.

“We have decided to assign Talin to you for the duration of the mission, Jolee,” said Master Kavar. “His diplomacy skills can be very helpful with the people of Li’adin, and with his considerable skill with a lightsaber, he will be able to provide some advanced instruction for Jae.”

“And benefit Talin will from the Force skills of Jae and the wisdom of Jolee,” added Master Vandar.

I glanced at Talin. From the touch of surprise in his blue eyes, I could tell that he had not anticipated being included in the mission, but when he glanced my way, he gave a little smile. Apparently, he thought this was a good thing. I just hoped he wouldn’t become an insufferable instructor.

“There’s never such a thing as too much help. I think I can teach this lad a few tricks,” Jolee grinned.

“I am honored at the confidence you place in my skills,” Talin said to the Masters, bowing his head slightly once more. “I will take care to provide an appropriate education and in turn learn what I can.”

“Very well, your transport is ready as soon as you are,” Master Kavar said.

“I’m not leaving until the food stores are full and the food replicator is cleaned out. I can’t stand that simulated stuff.” Jolee said.

“We are aware of your culinary penchant, though why we accommodate it I do not know. Nevertheless, we arranged for the appropriate supplies,” Vrook commented.

“Good. Then we can leave as soon as we gather our personal effects,” Jolee answered.

“May the Force be with you,” Master Vandar intoned.

Great Chapter. I don't think it needs polishing.

I could hear Vrook as he was speaking. You have a gift with already established characters in making them as we would be inclined to remember them Jae.
I sense a possible romance coming between Jae and Talin. You can berate me if I'm way off target but something in the dialogue and narration tells me so.
Great chapter Jae. As always, a pleasure to read your work. :)

I sense a possible romance coming between Jae and Talin. You can berate me if I'm way off target but something in the dialogue and narration tells me so.


The Force moves in mysterious ways. ;)

Great job Jae. Once again your superb writing skills shine through in a new chapter. I still think that Talin is evil. Can't wait to find out if I am right or not. We await your next chapter. :)

Well, got my report done and sent out (Jae does a happy dance :D ), and taxes are in the works, so I cheerfully sat down and wrote a little, or a lot, depending on your point of view. So, here's chapter 8 (eight! this is turning out to be a lot longer than I ever anticipated).
So, Renegade Puma, you didn't have too long to wait! :)



Chapter 8: Jolee Becomes an Apprentice

The Accipiter was a fast, sleek ship, and while she was not as big as a freighter, she nonetheless had more than enough room for 3 people and the requisite astromech droid. She was meant to be used more for diplomatic missions, but she had enough armaments that she could defend herself well in a fight. While the accommodations were not extravagant, they still had an understated elegance. The bow of the ship had the cockpit, of course, and a spacious common room for meetings. In the common room, pale aquamarine tinted the interior walls, and the comfortable light tan and ivory furnishings invited long sittings. The galley that sat just off the common room was large enough to seat four comfortably or six if they got cozy. The pantry was nearly filled to overflowing with Jolee’s food stores, though I had no qualms about using the replicator.
Farther back, the two modest crew quarters on one side of the ship were separated by a small refresher. Jolee and Talin decided to share the larger of the two quarters, and I placed my effects in the other room. The other side of the ship boasted a large multipurpose room that could be sectioned off as needed. The hyperdrive compartment and droid docking station filled the stern. R4-T3, our astromech droid, was recharging. The hold underneath the main deck carried the extra supplies, and the retractable gun turrets were located in the lower portion of the wings.

“The Jedi have learned to travel in style,” Jolee commented, looking over the ship after taking her into hyperspace. “This is a lot better than that bucket of bolts they gave me about 30 years back.”

“I suppose they have to have transports that work well for diplomatic missions as well as the less savory escapades,” I replied, following him through the various rooms, “and I can’t blame them for not giving you a shiny new ship if they knew you were hanging out with someone like Mik’oth.”

Talin joined us and informed us, “Comfort can be paramount in diplomacy. Some of the negotiations can take hours, and one could be sitting in the same spot for the entire time. The more comfortable people are, the less likely they are to be overly aggressive, too.”

“Oh, this will do nicely for lightsaber practice,” noted Jolee, looking over the multipurpose room with approval. “You can’t have too much space. Let’s get some shielding up. I’m not too interested in sucking space from a breached hull if one of the lightsabers goes flying.”

We quickly adapted the multipurpose room for practicing lightsaber combat and dressed in clothing appropriate for a long workout—sleeveless shirts, but all of us were wearing shorts instead of the usual pants which Talin claimed didn’t allow proper analysis of stances and foot position.

Jolee sat off in the corner, stating, “I’ll just sit here and referee this time.” He watched with great attention.

“Let’s see what you’ve learned so far,” Talin said, igniting his green lightsaber and holding it tip-down in a casual position.

I got into my ready stance and ignited my saber, the turquoise blade glowing.

“Stay just like that and don’t move,” Talin directed.

He walked over to where I was frozen in place, and gently pushed back one of my shoulders, forcing me off balance. I stepped back to catch myself.

“If your stance was strong, that wouldn’t have happened—you would have maintained your balance. Set your feet wider—shoulder width side-to-side and front-to-back.” His blue eyes caught and held mine, “If your stance is weak in a fight, you’re dead. Simple as that.”

I fixed my stance immediately while he took a few steps back and set himself solidly.

“Ready?” he asked.

Nodding slowly, I raised my shield and brought up my lightsaber.

He lowered his saber from the ready position, looked at me, and lectured, slightly vexed, “You’re unsure and you’re hesitant. This is a powerful weapon and you have to have 100% commitment when using it. Anything less than that and you may as well put that lightsaber away and never use it again, because there’s no such thing as partial commitment to it.”

I leveled my gaze at him, and said coolly and quite resolutely, “I’m very ready,”

Suddenly, the attack was on, far faster than anything Jolee had done. I barely caught the first blow in time and could only instinctively fight off the rest of the raining blows. Talin pressed the battle relentlessly with attack after attack while I fought in a completely defensive mode—I couldn’t find an opening to attack because of his speed. He whirled his blade around towards me while I tried to circle out of the way. He anticipated that move and cut me off, extending the blade out to stop my movement, and then in a flash whipped his blade around to within inches of my face. I deflected that blow just in time, and slid my blade down the length of his, finally seeing what I thought was an opening in his defense. He stepped sideways to dodge the blow and then slid his blade back down mine, right into the center of my chest. I deactivated my shield and saber and bent over to catch my breath, wiping the sweat of my face. While it seemed like a long match, it had only taken a few minutes.

Talin, who hardly appeared to have been working, shut down his lightsaber, and mentioned with a look of disappointment, “We have a very long way to go to make your skills passable. I think we need to start with your forms instead.”

After completing my first form, he began his critique, “You should have stepped out farther here, and blocked lower in move 12. On move 20, your lightsaber should be angled more, yours is not angled enough. Let’s do this one together.”

We practiced that form for the next 45 minutes, until he was satisfied that I had performed all the movements in order, in the correct stance, and with sufficient power to attack or block blows. “Your form should improve with continued practice,” he finally declared. It was the most positive thing he had said the entire practice.

Jolee got up from his spot in the corner. “It looks like this has been a solid practice session. Now, I think it’s time I went and made some dinner. Both of you need to clean up before joining me so I don’t have to smell Geonosian stinkbug scent over the fragrance of my fine sauce. Jae, you can come help me when you’re finished. Talin, just a reminder, Twi’lek moths are more attracted to honey than they are to Devaronian poison.” He went off to prepare the meal.

After silently gathering my things, I headed towards the refresher across the way.

Talin called out, “Jae, hold up a minute.”

I stopped and then turned to face him with a guarded look. “The practice was very thorough, Talin.”

He sighed, “Jolee was right.”

Drily, I commented, “He does have that maddening quality about him, yes,”

Talin chuckled, and then more seriously said, “I fear I was a bit harsh in my criticism,”

There were numerous responses I could have said to that, but then I chose the frank answer, “It was rough.”

“Several of my friends have been seriously injured or killed because they did not give adequate attention to their lightsaber skills. I don’t want any of my students going through similar experiences, and you’ve already had one brush with death,” he commented, “but I’ll try to include some honey, as Jolee puts it, in my instruction.”

“I’d appreciate that,” I said with a small smile, and we both went our separate ways to freshen up for dinner.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The spicy fragrance wafting from the galley encouraged me to rush to dry my hair and dress, and I joined Jolee quickly to help with dinner. He prepared a simple meal but added some exotic touches. Talin followed shortly thereafter and we all sat down for the meal.

“Blue milk?” Talin asked Jolee, arching his eyebrows in question.

“It’s from Tatooine,” Jolee answered. “Makes you grow tall and strong. Well, maybe you shouldn’t have too much. You grow any taller and you’ll be eye-to-eye with Wookiees.”

Talin smiled broadly and began eating. There was some silence as we enjoyed the meal, and after sating our appetites a bit, Talin dabbed at his mouth with his napkin and suggested, “Since we’re going to be traveling together for awhile, I would like to suggest that we get to know each other better.”

“Fine idea, lad,” Jolee agreed. “Let’s start with something easy, like how we all came to the Order. I do like a good story. Talin, since you’re the first to put down the fork, you get to talk first.”

“I’m afraid my story is not terribly interesting,” he replied. “I was born on Alderaan in the House of Kayl. Many in my family are groomed to be ambassadors. We seem to have an uncanny knack for adapting to different cultures and negotiating through difficult situations, probably because many of my family are low-level Force adepts. However, the Jedi found I had an unusually high affinity for the Force, and my family considered it a great honor to send me to become an apprentice in the Order instead of following in my family’s footsteps.”

“Who took you as a Padawan?” I asked.

“Vrook did at first, which is where I learned all my lightsaber skills. He was an unbelievably difficult taskmaster, but I finally mastered his teachings. Once the Council learned I had a talent for and an interest in diplomacy, I was tranferred to Vandar for training in the art of using words instead of a lightsaber, though I still practiced with Vrook a great deal,” Talin answered. “When words fail, a lightsaber is an excellent backup tool. How about you both?”

Jolee, chewing, motioned for me to go next. I took a deep breath as the memories came flooding back and began my tale, “I was living on Onderon and serving in the Queen’s household—never as one of the high level servants, but I enjoyed the work just the same. I developed a talent for healing at an early age, but I never realized that it was the Force at work. All I knew was that when someone was sick or hurting, I had the ability to take away some of the pain and make them feel a little better. Master Kavar discovered that ability.”

Talin, discerning there was more, commented, “There must have been something more that made Master Kavar take notice of your Force skill, and then be so absolutely convinced of it that he was willing to prevail upon the rest of the Council to take in a 22-year-old apprentice.”

A lump rose up in my throat and I swallowed hard against it. I thought that time would erase some of the old wounds, but several images would be with me always. Talin and Jolee both waited patiently as I collected myself.

I found the words, finally. “There was one very bad day. It started out with the Queen walking through Iziz to the Parliament so she could give an address there. I was assigned lady-in-waiting duty, so I was in the entourage. She was talking to Master Kavar, who had arrived from Coruscant for her address. The Queen is a well-loved figure, and not surprisingly, there were crowds along the route. So, we didn’t see the small guerilla group that infiltrated the crowd. We knew about some growing unrest among the Separatists, but never expected such a bold attack in broad daylight with thousands of loyal subjects watching.
"We rounded a corner, and I saw them nearly the same time the Queen’s protection team did.” I stopped and closed my eyes, remembering the overwhelming chaos of sounds of screams and soldiers shouting instructions, the smell of smoke and burning flesh, the sight of blood everywhere, holding Roben’s singed head, one eye swollen shut, in my lap as he struggled to breathe….

When I could continue, I was relieved that at least my voice held steady, even if my hands were not, “I don’t know if it was grenades or something else, but there were 3 or 4 explosions right in front of us. Several more went off down the road. The protection squad literally jumped on the Queen to protect her while the rest of the guards and the police in the crowd took off to capture the attackers. Master Kavar stopped briefly to make sure the Queen was OK and then ran after the attackers with his lightsaber blazing. They captured some but not all of the bombers.
"I saw several of the soldiers lying on the ground, and I ran over to see if there was anything I could do. One was already gone, another was hurt but not badly, and I was able to heal him easily. The last one barely lived. I turned him a little to help his breathing. It was Roben, and he was hurt so bad. I held his head in my lap while trying to concentrate on easing his pain and saving him.
"All I remember next was Kavar kneeling next to me and placing a hand on Roben. He looked at me and said something about needing to leave, it was too dangerous to stay out in the open. I told him Roben would die if I left, and he needed my help. ‘You’ve taken away his pain and done more for him than anyone else could, but his wounds are too severe for him to survive,’ Kavar said. I had to save him; I couldn’t leave him. Kavar picked me up, threw me over his shoulder and ran off to get us away from the blaster fire. I looked back at Roben, and I could see his spirit leave. Maybe I imagined it, but he waved at me and smiled.”

I got up suddenly to take my plate over to the cleaner so they wouldn’t see the tears that threatened to spill out. I thought briefly about how ridiculous it was to try to hide such a thing from two other Jedi. The emotional wave passed, and I turned around to lean against the counter. “Kavar came to me shortly after that, and told me I was strong in the Force, that I needed to train as a Jedi. The Queen encouraged me to go, and since I no longer had anything to keep me there, I decided that the training would do me well, and I had something to contribute to the Jedi. So, here I am.”

“Who was Roben?” Talin asked quietly.

“My fiance,” I replied.

“I’m sorry,” he said, and while I expected a diplomat to immediately say the correct thing in such situations, I sensed it was genuine and not just for show.

“Jolee,” I said after a bit of an awkward pause, “perhaps you should tell Talin how you came to the Jedi. I need a good story right now.” I looked at Talin with a bit of a smile, “If I didn’t know Jolee, I’d never believe it.”

Jolee cleared his throat and sat back comfortably into his ‘story-telling’ mode. “I grew up on Coruscant, and while I wasn’t a bad kid, I did have a knack for finding trouble. I about drove my mother crazy. I loved speeder racing and hated school. Can’t tell you how many times I outran the truency patrol. Of course, a little skill in Force misdirection didn’t hurt in making them miss seeing me. I didn’t know just what that ability was at the time. I just thought I was extraordinarily lucky.”

“There’s no such thing as luck in the Force,” Talin noted with a slightly superior tone.

“Well, I know that now,” Jolee retorted. “Jedi here, remember? Some time when I was around 9 or 10, I noticed a Jedi that would walk the same route to and from the Jedi temple from time to time. He always seemed distracted, so my friends and I decided on a dare to see if we could get that Jedi’s lightsaber.

“It wasn’t one of their brightest plans,” I stated to Talin.

“Shush, you. Whose story is it, anyway? I’ll have you know that some of those friends actually turned into contributing members in society,” Jolee answered back.

“And how many of them spent time in Juvenile Rehab for, um, inappropriate acquisition of items?” I asked innocently.

“Let’s see—Jaren, Isith, Padrin, Alina, yep, that pretty much covers it,” he said, ticking off the names on his fingers. “That’s not the good part, though. We watched that Jedi, figured out his schedule, and made our plans. The five of us pretended to be playing ball and not noticing where we were going, just your typical kids. We ran right into him, bowled him over, I grabbed his lightsaber, and then we ran like the wind. It didn’t take him long to figure out his lightsaber was gone. I kept running, and just when I thought I’d escaped him, I skipped past an alley, and suddenly there he was, right in front of me. I swear he rose up out of the ground or something. He dragged me into the Jedi temple by the scruff of my neck. I would say he was just a tad indignant.”

Talin looked at me and commented, “You’re right. I don’t believe this.”

“But wait. There’s more.” I assured him.

Jolee shook his head and sighed, “No respect for elders, always interrupting them….Where was I again? Oh, yes, dragged into the temple, and before the High Council, no less, for discipline. His eyes just about popped out of his head when Vandar announced that I was strong in the Force and needed to be taken in as an apprentice.”

Talin looked at Jolee with more than a little suspicion, “Wait a minute. Just who was this Jedi?”

“Vrook, of course. I remind him about it every time I feel his pride needs a little pricking,” Jolee applied.

Talin gave Jolee an incredulous look before putting his head in his hands. I thought he was quite upset until I saw his shoulders shaking in mirth. When he could control himself again, he said, “You do realize that I will never be able to view my old master in quite the same way ever again, don't you?”

Jolee could only flash him a wicked smile.

Suddenly, the ship shuddered and an alarm rang through the rooms. Jolee got up calmly, and sighed, “Something’s just knocked us out of hyperspace. So much for my hopes of a good night’s rest. Let’s get to the cockpit and see what little adventure awaits us.”

Such enjoyable reading! You have a wonderful ability to mix the serious with the humorous, Jae Onasi. Your story really has come to life for me and after reading your story thus far I'm not sure I'll be able to look at Jolee the same as I did whenever I play KotOR.

Such enjoyable reading! You have a wonderful ability to mix the serious with the humorous, Jae Onasi. Your story really has come to life for me and after reading your story thus far I'm not sure I'll be able to look at Jolee the same as I did whenever I play KotOR.

I agree, although do they have school in Star Wars. I mean, you don't see Mission going to school do you? Anyway a good Chapter as always, Renegade Puma will like this when he reads it.

Well written I decided to wait and see how things progressed before replying
I get the feeling that jolee is hiding something as well but I'm not sure what
anyay keep up the great work I keep expecting jolee to make some of his quips from
KotOR but as its still a work in progress we will see what happens

I agree, although do they have school in Star Wars. I mean, you don't see Mission going to school do you? Anyway a good Chapter as always, Renegade Puma will like this when he reads it.

Mission doesn't attend school because she's a street urchin, at least in my little Kotor world view. :p I'm betting she'd skip school too, if she was actually made to go. Not that I recommend that to anyone here of course. :D

@cutmeister--I've viewed him as wise and irreverent all at the same time, letting people learn from experience (unless they choose to ask him for his opinion), all with pithy comments to keep me on my toes.
I'll never be able to view Vrook the same way ever again, either. ;)

Thanks folks!

This is so great. I think you've completely captured Jolee. Wonderful work.

Just a question, where does this take place in relation to KOTOR? Is Jae who I think she is, and if she is, what was she doing as an attendant in the Queen of Onderon's court?

If you read near the beginning of this Thread, this is set shortly after KOTOR.

This is so great. I think you've completely captured Jolee. Wonderful work.

Just a question, where does this take place in relation to KOTOR? Is Jae who I think she is, and if she is, what was she doing as an attendant in the Queen of Onderon's court?

Thanks!

As Pottsie nicely pointed out, it's set shortly after Kotor.

Jae is just Jae. :) Jolee does his best talking in Kotor when he's shepherding along young Jedi and has something to teach, so I thought I'd continue along that line.

Hey Jae, you should include Jolee telling Jae about his trial after the War with Exar Kun. Just an idea.

Hey Jae, you should include Jolee telling Jae about his trial after the War with Exar Kun. Just an idea.

Yep, Nayama was a big part of Jolee's life and the trial was a pivotal point in Jolee's Jedi career, so those will be included.

Great chapter as usual Jae. As always I can hear Jolee when he tells his tales or just gets into his own crotchety self. Methinks something is blooming with Talin and Jae but I sense the Force works as it wills. :D

Pottsie said that I would like this when I read it.. well I don't!

I love it!

Seriously Jae. I think I would give up writing my own fic if it meant that I could just read a never ending story written by you. The way you intertwine action, emotion, humor, descriptions, everything! It's just amazing. While I can see that Talin and um.. "you" might have something going, I still hold to the fact that he is evil. I think somewhere in this story he is going to turn to the DS because of his overconfidence in his own skills. Can't wait for the next chap!

Pottsie said that I would like this when I read it.. well I don't!

I love it!

:D

Seriously Jae. I think I would give up writing my own fic if it meant that I could just read a never ending story written by you.

Noooooo! Don't stop writing! I've got more chapters for the story but you just have to keep going with yours! :)

I still hold to the fact that he is evil. I think somewhere in this story he is going to turn to the DS because of his overconfidence in his own skills. Can't wait for the next chap!

Redemption is a recurring theme in the SW universe.
I'm working on the next ch. and hope to have it up in a day or two more. It has some more action for us adrenaline junkies. ;)

Chapter 9: A New Threat

The swirling tube of light that was the visual manifestation of hyperspace had resolved back into individual stars by the time we arrived at the cockpit. R4 was already linked to the navicomputer to triangulate our location. We didn’t need to see the translation to know we were in the middle of nowhere, but R4 finally determined we’d come out of hyperspace several sectors shy of Li’adin. Far below us off the starboard bow was a freighter, being harried by about 8 small fighters that had scattered themselves all around the ship, shooting at her.

“Sith fighters, and they don’t see us yet. I’m going to position us between the sun and those fighters and dive in fast, but that’s the only time they won’t see us,” Jolee pointed out, “you two get to the gun stations and strap in. This is going to get bumpy fast.” He patted the control console, “Ok, baby, let’s see what you’ve got.”

The Accipiter turned smoothly and accelerated quickly under Jolee’s skillful hands.

“All right boys and girls, here we go,” he called out with excitement in his voice. He seemed almost to be enjoying this.

I was pressed back in my seat as our speed abruptly increased again, and I watched the monitor carefully so I could shoot as soon as I acquired a target. The Accipiter spun down towards the targets, and suddenly Talin and I both had acquired our targets and were busy shooting at them. Talin got the first one, I hit the next two. He fired again, and a fourth fighter exploded in a ball of fire. Two fighters of the remaining group disengaged from the freighter to take us on as the greater threat. They started shooting, and our ship rocked a couple times with the concussions.

“Talin, make sure those shields stay up or this is going to be a really short fight,” Jolee called out. He flew tightly under the freighter and brought us up on the other side, turning over.

I fired and missed my third, but Talin caught him just before he could fire on us again. We flew right through his still-glowing dust. The rest of the fighters turned to meet us in battle, and suddenly we had a fighter coming in from above and below us, with the last one firing on our stern. The ship vibrated as another bolt hit us, and a warning signal beeped loudly. Talin’s hands flew over the controls for the shields.

“R4, check that shield generator in the stern, I think we’ve got a loose connector,” Talin ordered.

R4 quickly rolled aft to find and fix the problem.

“Let’s hope that’s the only problem we’ve got. Hold on!” Jolee yelled out.

I lurched forward hard in my seat as he hit full reverse and the Accipiter immediately decelerated. Now I was very grateful for the restrictive straps, but discarded that thought quickly to concentrate on the small ships we were battling. The fighter that was behind us suddenly zoomed past us, and I tracked him all the way. As soon as he was in my crosshairs, I fired, and that fighter was suddenly nothing more than an orange fireball.

“Nice shot, Jae. Let’s get the rest of these fighters quickly,” Jolee said with excitement.

The two remaining fighters nearly collided with each other and peeled away at the last moment, but both flew into Talin’s sights, and with a couple more shots, the fighters were gone in glowing balls of fire.

I let out a yelp of triumph; Talin smiled. Jolee grinned back at us, eyes bright with the success. Then he turned back to contact the ailing freighter.

“Accipiter hailing freighter 2278, come in freighter,” Jolee transmitted. There was only silence from the heavily damaged ship. There were a couple holes near the cargo section and several electrical lines sparked wildly in various spots around the ship.

Jolee called again unsuccessfully. “We’re going to have to board the freighter to see if anyone needs help,” he decided. “Those Sith fighters are like Dagoban mudsuckers. One all by itself isn’t going to do much damage, but you get a bunch of them and they can just suck the life right out of you. Jae, go to the emergency hatch and prepare to link it with their hatch. Let’s just pray it’s not damaged. Talin, come be an extra pair of eyes for me here. I don’t relish the idea of bouncing our wing off of their ship if something suddenly gives way.”

Not that Jolee needed the help—he finessed the Accipiter against the freighter, and after several more minutes, I was able to dock our ship to theirs with the emergency connector. The indicator signaled that the other side of their hatch was pressurized, and so I prepared to open both.

“Stop!” Talin called out. “What are you doing?”

Holding my hand above the control, I said, “I was about to open the hatch.”

“You’re assuming there’s nothing dangerous on the other side. Are you prepared if we’re not welcome? If you’re not, that would be a fundamental error,” he stated, rather severely, holding up his lightsaber.

Silently, I pulled my lightsaber from my belt, feeling both foolish and rebuked at the same time over such a simple mistake.

Jolee came back to the hatch area, but out of direct line of sight of the hatchdoors and pulled out his lightsaber as well. He didn’t miss the stern look that Talin gave me, but ignored it to deal with the more pressing issue of preparing for whatever was on the other ship.

He gave an order to R4-T3, “Guard the hatchway while we’re gone. Don’t fire on anyone unless they fire on us, we give the signal, or they try to board our ship.” R4 beeped his understanding and waited for us to go through.

He motioned for me to open the emergency hatch, and there was a hiss as the pressure between the two ships equalized. We could hear warning sirens as their door swung open. There was an acrid smell of burned plastic and smoldering wire insulation permeating the ship. I stepped through the link onto the other ship and moved to the side to make room for the other two, lightsaber raised but not ignited. The ship was lit only with the emergency lights, so it was dim on the vessel. Only a sparking wire here and there added some flickering light and the irregular buzz of shorting electricity. Other than the emergency signal, there was no sound of life anywhere on the ship. I stretched out with the Force for any lifesigns and found only one faint one near the cockpit of the ship.

Talin followed onto the ship behind me, and said in low tones, “Watch yourself, there’s death on the ship,” and he scanned the area carefully, alert for anything unusual, and then stepped in front of me to take point and move cautiously towards the stern.

Jolee brought up the rear and looked over the ship, “Hmm, bad karma on this ship. Feels strange, too. Reminds me of some of the sensations I got about 50 years back during the Exar Kun war, but I can’t place it. Let’s find that one person and see what the problem is.”

We moved forward, carefully watching for any signs of danger, and other than a broken wire whipping around wildly, we encountered nothing unusual.

When we got to the cockpit, both Talin and I stopped short in horror. Talin, being a diplomat and therefore not experienced in medical issues, could be expected to have that kind of reaction. Being a healer, though, I thought I had become immune to most of the kinds of pain and suffering that a being could experience, but I had never seen anything like this before.

Two people lay on the ground, twisted strangely in what must have been an agonizing death, and one more still lived, barely, leaning back in the pilot’s chair. All three were completely covered in blisters, the skin bleeding in the numerous places where it was raw. I went over to the pilot, whose breathing was frothy and labored. His lungs were badly damaged by whatever this terrible affliction was. I tried to touch him gently, but even a feather touch must have been painful, because he moaned aloud. I entered the healing trance but knew there was not much time left. Still, if we could get even a few moments to talk to him….

He woke up finally, and I concentrated on mitigating his pain as much as possible.

He looked at me and gave a slight smile, cracking the skin by his lips, “Thank you,” he said in a barely audible voice.

I smiled kindly at him.

He turned his eyes, nearly swollen shut, towards his comrades. “Friends?” he questioned through the harsh breathing, wanting to find out how they were.

“They’re in no pain now,” I murmured sympathetically.

He sighed his relief.

Jolee, recognizing the man’s impending death, went directly to the point. “Who was chasing you? Who did this to you? What happened?”

The pilot turned his head shakily towards Jolee. “We escaped…a Sith,” and he paused frequently for rasping breaths, “He…wants to change…time. Wants help…from Kun….We found…this,” and he weakly held out what appeared to be an old holocron.

I took it from him to examine later.

The man continued haltingly, “Sith…did this” and he waved feebly towards his face, indicating the affliction, “but…he couldn’t…stop us. We jumped…hyperspace. And now…we’re…finally free.” He shut his eyes, and I felt his spirit leave to join the Force.

Closing my eyes, I used the Force to investigate this terrible disease. It was not caused by any chemical, pathogen, or natural phenomenon. They had been affected through the Force by something horrendous.

“Jolee, I think this is a Force attack, not an actual disease. I’ve never seen anything this awful” I commented, disquieted.

Jolee nodded agreement, “I think it’s a very unusual Force power, too, but I’d like to have a master healer confirm it to make sure we aren’t contaminated with something ourselves. I wouldn’t relish bringing something like this anywhere else. You two check out the ship, and I’ll go back to ours—I don’t want something funny happening while all three of us are on a derelict ship.”

Talin and I searched the parts of the ship that were still pressurized and thus accessible while Jolee went back to the Accipiter to ensure security there and to contact the Jedi temple. We found nothing more of importance, but we downloaded the flight and navicomputer data for R4 to evaluate.

“That’s it,” I said, as the datapad beeped that the download was completed.

“Let’s get back to our ship. I find this place most disconcerting,” Talin commented, scanning the freighter for anything else unusual.

When we returned to Jolee, we found him speaking with the holo of one of the healing Masters. Master Vandar stood next to him.

“Here’s Jae, Master Supat. She should be able to give you more details,” Jolee stated.

Stepping into the range of the holo link, I bowed slightly to the masters.

“Please describe the condition for me,” Master Supat asked in a slow and deep voice typical of most Ithorians.

“It looked almost like a skin blistering agent that completely covered him, but it affected his lungs as well—they were filled with fluid. His skin was cracked oddly in between blisters. The slightest touch created tremendous pain, and I found it very difficult to turn off his pain centers for some reason,” I reported. Those images would be burned into my memory forever.

Master Supat steepled his fingers and tapped them gently against his lips in thought. “There were three of them? All in relatively similar condition?”

“Yes, two were laying on the ground, and the third man was in the pilot’s seat.”

“Describe the body positions,” he told me, his brown eyes intent with thought.

“The two on the ground were lying in awkward twisted positions. The pilot’s positioning was upright—he was trying hard to breathe, but he still was bent over to the side a little.”

“I will know for sure when the freighter is towed back to a secure place and I can do a thorough investigation personally, but it appears this is indeed a rare Force technique, Force Scourge. I have not seen this technique used in a long time. It is extremely difficult to defend oneself against this technique, but it can be done. I will research the appropriate meditation and defense techniques and transmit them to you, since I believe you may have need of such information in connection with your current mission,” Master Supat opined, gravely.

Master Vandar added, shaking his head back and forth, clearly not happy with this turn of events, “Mmm, not good is this news. Powerful technique is this Scourge, and few are there strong enough to use it. Employ it only a Sith Lord can.”

Master Supat instructed, “you must stay where you are in quarantine until we can confirm that this is not a communicable disease. I wish to be 100% sure that it is a Force attack and not something else. It should only take a few days.”

“More information do we have about the merceneries,” added Vandar. “Confirm did we that from Telos Exchange they came, and die from crystalline anithe one mercenery did. Connected to Norelden are they, but work directly for Antin Thorn they did.”

“Mik’oth may have more information on Thorn. I can contact him if you wish,” Jolee suggested.

“Yes, information he may have for us,” Vandar agreed. “Contact you we will as soon as we know more on this new attack.”

“We’ll investigate the area without breaking quarantine to see if we can find out anything about the freighter and why it was here. We’ll await your instructions,” and then Jolee signed off from the transmission.

R4-T3 rolled by on the way to do some maintenance tasks.

“R4, come here, please. I have some data for you to analyze,” I stated. He rolled over to me, and I placed the datacard into the appropriate slot. He issued a series of beeps in response, letting me know it would take time to do the analysis.

“I understand. There’s no rush. We’re staying put in this area for a couple days,” I replied.

Sitting down on a couch, I turned over the holocron in my hand, inspecting all its sides, noting all the unusual markings. It glowed and was faintly warm. “What do you make of this?” I inquired, handing the holocron to Jolee, who had joined me in the common area to relax after all the stress of the latest events.

Talin sat down in one of the chairs opposite my seat.

Jolee looked at the holocron with a critical eye, turning around. Suddenly, he looked up at both Talin and me with great surprise.

“What is it?” I asked him.

“Well, the obvious answer is a Jedi holocron, but you’re smart enough to figure that one out already. The question you’re really asking is ‘why does Jolee look like he just got stunned by an electric eel.’ I’m surprised because I realized I recognized this holocron. The only problem is this holocron was supposedly lost when Ossus was destroyed,” Jolee concluded. "It's not even supposed to exist anymore."

Ah! The intrigue builds!

Don't these guys ever watch the movies? When boarding another space ship the boarder should never leave the way back to their ship unguarded. Oh well, it doesn't appear that anybody besides the three crew members were aboard so they're probably OK. Or maybe not... :D

Uh, it was a _small_ freighter and they could see everything, yeah, yeah, or maybe R4 stayed by the door, that's it, but I'm just sure it's not the fact that the author is really clueless on safety techniques when boarding a potentially hostile ship and so didn't write in the proper naval procedures.... :D
Thanks for pointing it out in such a creative way. My hubby's Army, not Navy, and so I'm more familiar with ground fighting than air/sea, and if I don't know I can always ask him.

I'm just paranoid like that. :p

I liked how you had Talin and Jae at the ready in front but held Jolee back out of the line of any potential blaster fire or explosion. After Jolee felt a "disturbance" of some sort, dropping the dreaded name of Exar Kun no less, I couldn't help but notice that nobody hung back to guard the entrance to their ship. I'm thinking, "What if this powerful Sith Lord is cloaked and then sneaks aboard their ship while they're poking around the derelict freighter? Not good!" Only you know where the story is truly going here but I can't help it if my brain is working overtime considering all the possibilities... :giveup:

The intrigue, the suspense, the drama!
That was a brillant plot twist with the holocron. I didn't think that Jolee got surprised. I know he was flabbergasted when the Star Map computer said match found. Still nice flow. In my opinion, I would have written more eeire descriptions of the ship and its condition. Even hints as to the flickering of lights would add to the adrenaline rush. That's just me. Still, a good chapter to a great story :D

A new Sith Lord is rising? I can't wait to find out who. If any. A good Chapter as always.

Wow Jae! Just wow! I think you have moved in to a three way tie for the best writer here on LF. At least in my mind :) It would be you, Forcefight and JasraLantill all tied for the top spot. Seriously, this chapter just blew me away. I can't wait for your next update!

P.S.
If you kill Jolee in this story I will hate you forever. :fight1:

Thanks, folks. I'm going to alter the chapter a bit to incorporate the suggestions, because they're good.

EDIT: Added a few lines for 'color'.

@cutmeister--you would not believe how challenging it is to find anything detailed on ship-boarding techniques online. SEALS, pirates, Coast Guard, Marines, all use the techniques but apparently don't wish to reveal their secrets and specific procedures on the internet. Can't imagine why. :)
@JM--you're right, the description was a bit lacking and could use fleshing out. I got sidetracked with the plot stuff. :D
@Pottsie--gotta have a good Sith Lord to go do battle with.
@RP--I'm just happy you all are having as much fun reading as I am writing. And don't worry--I'd hate _me_ forever if Jolee got killed. ;)

Chapter 10: The Vision

The mist swirled around and then suddenly cleared as the tall Sith Lord strided into view, red lightsaber flaring in the dark and casting an angry glow on his sneering face. His black cape billowed and disappeared into the darkness surrounding him. My lightsaber seemed to ignite of its own accord.

Jolee and Talin stepped out of the gloom to join me. We attacked him, but it was like the slow speed when one is underwater. The Sith Lord struck down Jolee as if he was nothing more than a gnat to swat, and then attacked Talin through the Force. Talin writhed in the agony, falling over and twisting on the ground, horrible blisters breaking out all over his skin, howling in pain. The Sith Lord threw back his head, laughing at our pitiful attempts at attacking him. He stared at me with glowing amber eyes, wolf eyes, predator eyes.

“Join me,” he demanded.

My heart pounded in fear, but I remembered the Jedi code, calming my emotions. I managed to gather my courage, and say to him simply, “No.”

“Then you will all die!” He started cackling once more, and struck all of us with his Force Scourge power. Suddenly there was unendurable pain tearing through our bodies, and we screamed out our agony.

A different noise broke through the relentless waves of anquish.

“Jae, wake up!”

That made no sense, and the Sith Lord was still there, jeering our feeble attempts to escape his awful hatred.

“Come on, Jae, it’s just a dream!”

But it wasn’t a dream. I could see the Sith Lord striking viciously back and forth at Talin and Jolee with his blood-red saber. I tried to block his blows with my lightsaber.

“Good heavens, she’s strong. Talin, hold her arm down so she doesn’t keep whacking me in the head!”

“Believe me, I’m trying!”

I had to fight, to save my friends.

“Blast it, you slip her a strength stim in her drink? I think I’m going to have to break out a medpak and give her something to stop this—ow! When did you start teaching her unarmed combat? That was one nasty kick!”

“Let me try something else…JAE, WAKE UP!” Talin yelled loudly inside my mind.

I sat up in bed abruptly with a gasp, suddenly wide-awake with my heart pounding and sweat drenching my nightclothes. I wiped at my eyes with a trembling hand. As the fog of the nightmare faded, it slowly dawned on me that Talin was tightly clasping my other arm while Jolee had a lock on my ankles, restraining my legs.

“Glad you’re back here with us on the ship,” Jolee commented with a bit of a smile, sitting up and releasing my legs. The concern in his eyes slowly faded in relief. “I was beginning to worry that something more than a nightmare was going on.”

Talin eased his grip on my arm and asked, “Are you all right now?”

Slowly, I nodded my head, “I’ll be fine as soon as I wake up all the way and get those horrible images out of my head.” I gave one last shudder over the nightmarish pictures that still flooded my mind.

Jolee looked over at the chronometer on the wall. “I’m going to go make some coffee. It’s early yet, but I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep after that. You have a mean kick, Jae.” He pointed to his upper arm, which had an ugly bruise purpling up.

“Oh, I am so sorry, Jolee. I didn’t mean…” I started to say in dismay.

Jolee cut me off with a wave of the hand. “Of course you didn’t mean it. Wildly thrashing about in a nightmare is not something most of us volunteer for, you know. Is it something you can talk about? You'll probably feel better if you get it out of your system,” he said.

“I need to wake up more, first, and get my addled brain back together. I’ll join you after I get cleaned up,” I replied. My soaked nightclothes were starting to feel clammy, and I found the the scent of fear permeating the room rather unpleasant.

He left the room to go make the coffee.

“I didn’t hit you, too, did I?” I asked Talin.

“You started to, but I caught your arm before you could land a serious blow,” Talin replied with a small smile, standing up, “We’ll have to work on proper punching techniques in one of our sparring sessions. Now I will leave you to change. I imagine you will find yourself much more comfortable once you have on dry clothes.”

Some time in the refresher and a dry robe did much to improve my mood, though the disturbing images still played at the edge of consciousness. The smell of coffee drifted to my room, and I decided some caffeine would be most welcome. In the galley, I poured myself a cup.

“Refill?” I asked Jolee and Talin, holding up the pot. Jolee held up his mug for more; Talin declined, still having a relatively full cup. Then I joined them at the table.

They both looked at me expectantly.

Taking a calming breath, I described the dream, leaving out the more graphic details. “A Sith Lord attacked us all. He was tall and dark-haired but I couldn’t see the color well, and he had these garish yellow eyes. It was dark and hazy so I wasn’t able to see much of his other facial features. He struck you down, Jolee, and used Force Scourge on Talin. It was not pleasant.” I stopped briefly at the disturbing images, but gathered my thoughts quickly to go on. “He wanted me to join him, and when I told him no, he attacked all of us through the Force. Somehow, I managed to strike back. He was winning the battle, I’m afraid,”

“Well, if your response was any indication, you were giving him one hell of a fight,” Jolee commented, wryly. “Still, I think this is something we need to meditate on once we finish the morning sparring session. It could be a vision of the future. Of course, it could just as easily be nothing more than a bad dream. Indigestion can do that sometimes, you know.”

A chime in the common room indicated an incoming call. Jolee got up from the table. “I put in a call to Mik’oth to check on Antin Thorn. I bet that’s him now.”

I grabbed my cup of coffee and followed Jolee. Talin joined us in the common room to hear the call. I was about to warn Talin about Mik’oth, but then decided with a smile to myself that he should have an unadulterated experience with this unique Twi’lek.

“Ah, you Lekku-less Wonder! How are you today, my good friend?” Mik’oth exclaimed joyfully. His garb today was no less colorful than the other day when we met him, and today it featured a bright red and yellow vertically-striped vest, a heavy necklace, and large rings with stones that matched the vest.

“Same as always, Tail-Headed Tornado!”

“Ah, that means you’re in trouble yet again,” Mik’oth quipped.

Talin was able to control his emotions enough that his face held a bland appearance, but I could see in his eyes the incredulous look mixed with humor.

Jolee chuckled. “Mik’oth, let me introduce Talin Kayl. He’s joined my little party.”

Talin gave a small formal bow. “It is a pleasure to meet you,” he stated.

“Good! Someone with proper decorum. Maybe your manners will rub off on the Wonder here. I’m Mik’oth, proprietor of the Eloni Cantina. Jolee and I go back quite a ways, except Jolee goes back farther.”

Talin couldn’t help but smile this time.

“Ah, and my favorite lovely Padawan! Come closer so I can admire your beauty more, my dear!”

Grinning and blushing all at the same time, I stepped a little closer. “Flattery will go a long way, Mik’oth, but Jolee’s convinced me to remain a Jedi.”

He shook a finger at me, and replied, “I still hold out hope that you will come and dance. I have the perfect costume in mind for you,”

“I have no doubt I would be stunned at the amount of exposure I would receive,” I noted, dryly.

Talin stifled his laughter enough that it came out as a cough. Jolee merely grinned.

Mik’oth feigned a hurt look, “Oh, my dear, I would never do anything more than provide certain, ah, enhancements so that one can fully appreciate your charms. Some things are best left to the imagination, you know.”

Jolee finally interrupted, to my relief. “All right, before we’ve completely descended to sewer level, how about giving us some news on Antin Thorn?”

Mik’oth sighed dramatically, “I suppose we do have to come back to business. Thorn’s been in the Exchange for about ten or fifteen years, and has worked his way up the ranks quickly to become one of Norelden’s top lieutenants—some say the brains behind Naren’s movements. Thorn fought in the Mandalorian wars, and there’s rumors he was involved somehow with Malak’s army, but no one knows for sure yet. He definitely has a lot of experience with the seedier side of things. He’s quiet and very effective at what he does, according to my sources. Someone to watch out for.

“Oh, by the way, Norelden’s taken over another sector of the Exchange. That puts him at a little over a third of the Exchange controlled by him now. It’s making some of the bosses very nervous—the balance of power has definitely shifted in Norelden’s favor. There’s some rumors of shortages of weapons, too. The prices have skyrocketed on the black market.”

“Anything else we need to watch out for?” Jolee asked.

“Just your backs. Something very strange is going on out Telos way. Now I have to get back to my more legitimate activities, so I’ll let you go and contact you again if I hear anything else.”

“Thanks, old friend. We’re heading out to Telos as soon as we finish our business on Li’adin,” Jolee replied.

“Hopefully, I’ll have something more for you soon. I do so enjoy chatting with your lovely Padawan,” he waved good-bye, mainly at me.

Jolee shook his head and said pointedly but in a friendly tone, “Bye, Mik’oth,” and broke the holo-link.

"Mik'oth is quite an experience, Jolee" Talin commented in supreme understatement.

“I think I’ll go get suited up for sparring,” I said. Maybe that would give me enough time for my cheeks to stop burning.

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

Parry left, push blade down/side, swing blade cross center, return, I thought rapidly to myself, gritting my teeth against the oncoming flurry of blows from Talin.

He stopped briefly. “No, no, that’s not quite right. Try it again.”

I got back in position, and repeated the sequence a second time.

“No, still not right. Do it again.”

A third and fourth time went about as well as the first two. Talin frowned in thought, cocking his head a little, evaluating the sequence in his mind.

“Jolee, please come here and stand in for me. There’s just something not quite right but I need to see it from a different vantage point.” Talin requested.

Jolee got up into the ready position and ignited his lightsaber.

“Go slow the first time,” Talin instructed. Jolee attacked, I ran through the form sequence one more time, hoping to do it perfectly this time.

“That seems to be fine. Now go full speed, Jolee,” Talin said, and he watched every move intently.

Jolee came at me full throttle, and I could tell something was off that time.

“Ah, now I see it. When you push down, your blade tip is dropping," he mimed with his hands. "Try again.”

We ran the sequence again, but I made the same mistake once more. Talin frowned and just motioned for us to start again. I knew that run felt wrong, too, but couldn’t quite figure out when I was dropping my blade.

“Stop,” Talin finally said, with a look of frustration slipping across his face before he caught himself. "Let me show you."

He walked over behind me, and to my surprise wrapped his arms around mine and took hold of my hands. He moved arms, hands, and lightsaber with me, saying “Like this—parry, then this—hold the blade up here, don’t let your hands rotate,” and he tilted my hands so my wrists bent in the proper form, “and finally slice across center, then return.” He released my hands. “Now try it just like that.”

There was a sudden rush of feeling that I had not experienced since being held by Roben, whose arms had been equally strong and well muscled. I was quite unsure how an innocent touch by this man, whose irritating self-sufficient attitude bordered on pride, could elicit such a response. I stepped out of the ring briefly, walked in a tight circle to catch my breath and recite the Jedi code to myself to calm the adrenaline wave. When I returned to the ready position, I noticed Jolee’s sharp eyes were following me, but he kept a neutral face.

He raised his eyebrows and asked “Ready?”

“Let’s go,” Talin instructed, waiting. I was relieved that he apparently hadn’t noticed the emotional burst.

Jolee attacked once more, and this time I finally got the sequence correct. I raised my hands in triumph, smiling.

“Better,” Talin commented. “All right, let’s see what you can do now at full speed,” and he stepped in and took over Jolee’s place.

He came at me fast, and I barely kept up but still managed to do the proper form. After repeating it perfectly a number of times, Talin finally appeared to be satisfied, and I sat down on the bench next to Jolee and leaned back, briefly closing my eyes against the fatigue, breathing hard.

“Good practice. You always work hard. Reminds me of my wife. She worked hard like that, too, when she was learning lightsaber techniques,” Jolee commented casually.

“You were married?” I opened my eyes and sat up, looking at him in surprise.

Jolee grinned. “You know any other way of getting a wife?”

I suppose the next Chapter, Jolee tells Jae about his Wife. Good Chapter as always. The dream was dark and mysterious.

This is one of the things I'll think of when I see Jolee during my next KotOR play thru.“Ah, you Lekku-less Wonder!" :lol:

Another great chapter, Jae Onasi. I enjoy how you take lines and other info from the game and incorporate them in your story. I think someone else mentioned that before but can't I say I like it too? I think it's an effective way to tie your story with the game. Looking forward to learning more about this Sith Lord and how Jae will handle the temptations of the dark side.

I don't mind if it's said more than once. :D There's quite a bit there to work with (Ukatis system, Andor, Nayama, etc.), which makes it a lot easier to write.
Some of his lines are just too funny not to include, though I hate using a lot of the lines verbatim. Plagiarism drives me batty, though I included the caveat at the beginning that it was adapted from Kotor so I probably should just relax. :)
Chapter 11 is well on its way and I hope to have it up soon.

Chapter 10 was interesting Jae. The main character feeling the dream as if it were real and reacting to it. Reminds me of something I came up with in an RP in my head but with a normal guy, an NCIS agent :D
The little 'emotional burst' tells me that the love doctor is coming and he will hit hard.
Still makes me laugh with Jolee's dialogue because of his nature which you captured very well. Keep it up Jae.

Congrats to Jae Onasi on The Adventures of Jolee Bindo surpassing the 1,000 view milestone!

Not too shabby... :thumbsup:

1000 views--Yes! That is seriously cool. So nice of you all to take the time to look it over.

And, to celebrate, here's Chapter 11. :D

Chapter 11: Jolee’s Wife

“Why didn’t you tell me you were married?” I asked Jolee.

“You never asked,” he replied, “and it’s something that brings up a wealth of memories, some that are very, very good, and some very, very bad. It’s not something I feel like discussing with people I’ve only met yesterday.”

“And the Council allowed this?” Talin asked, eyebrows raised.

“Sometimes it’s easier to seek forgiveness than ask permission,” Jolee said with a wink, “I didn’t exactly give them much of a choice. Of course, love didn’t give me a choice, it just happened. Something that wonderful only happens once in life, if you’re lucky. I wasn’t going to throw that away for some silly rule that I thought was probably written by someone who was too scared to really live life.”

“What was she like?” I asked, fascinated at Jolee’s revelation.

“Oh, Nayama was a wonder,” he answered. He had a wistful look in his eyes, and a little smile on his lips as he remembered her. “Smart, determined, willful, she was a fireball. Gorgeous black hair and these deep brown eyes that made you want to do anything she asked, and I mean anything. Fabulous body, mm-mmm,” he shook his head back and forth in appreciation. “Strong in the Force, too, very strong, which is how she was able to shoot down my ship on Ukatis. But that’s another story. I loved her the moment I set eyes on her. She, of course, took a little convincing, but I eventually won her over,”

Talin commented dryly, “I’m almost afraid to ask what that entailed.”

“Yes, well, after she got over the fact that I had kidnapped her, our relationship developed quite nicely. Our love was a beautiful thing, better than anything I’ve experienced before or since. Everyone should be so lucky.”

“Kidnapped.” Talin stated, the amused disbelief playing across his face.

“Hey, it was the only way I was going to get her to come with me at the time. I picked her up, threw her over my shoulder, and ran for the ship. If I hadn’t, she might have been killed by the other Ukatis enforcers for allowing my escape. They don’t take too kindly to failure.”

The proximity alarm chimed.

“The towship?” I inquired.

“Probably, let’s go see.” Jolee answered.

Indeed it was the towship, and it did not take long for them to hook up the freighter to take to Master Supat. We were about to go back to the discussion of Jolee’s wife when the proximity alarm again went off, but this time in warning mode. Running back to the cockpit, we saw a small group of the same Sith fighters we saw previously, but this time they were accompanied by a cruiser. This cruiser was about four times our size, but was not a military transport.

“Hmm, bad karma. That’s a civilian cruiser, probably Exchange. Wonder what they’re doing hanging around with Sith fighters. Talin, get those shields up and start entering hyperspace coordinates to Li’adin,” Jolee ordered.

“What about the quarantine?” Talin argued.

“The quarantine’s not going to matter if we’re nothing but glowing spacedust, now get going! Jae, get on those turrets and hold those fighters off. I don’t want them getting that freighter or us.”

Jolee contacted the towship. “You’ve got the freighter hooked up, now get out of here! We’ll cover you!”

“Yes, sir! We’re already on our way.” was the immediate response.

They didn’t need any further encouragement. The towship started to accelerate rapidly while pulling along the freighter. Several fighters broke formation, some going after the tow ship, some flying over to shoot at us.

Jolee moved in between the cruiser and the towship. “Talin, maximize the shields above and behind us. We’re going to take some hits, but we can take more than that towship can.”

The Accipiter sped up to combat speed, closely following the towship. It did not take long for me to acquire a couple targets, and two of them disappeared in puffs of red-hot dust.

The cruiser retaliated by shooting at our ship, and several of the bolts hit home, rocking the Accipiter.

“R4, make sure those stabilizers are locked down, and get ready for the jump,” Talin directed.

R4 gave a series of whistles and beeps and rolled aft to inspect the stabilizers and prepare for hyperspace, rolling to the side slightly as another blast rattled the ship.

Jolee’s eyes were intense with concentration but calm, rapidly scanning across the heavens, taking everything in at once. “Talin, let me know as soon as those coordinates are punched in.”

“I’m working on it. The shields are holding, but if we take too many more hits they’re going to start losing power,” Talin said in a clipped speech.

Jolee wove our ship back and forth, avoiding most of the bolts. “How are we coming on those fighters, Jae?”

Two more fighters exploded beneath us. I was about to reply when Jolee quipped, “That’s a good enough answer for me, Jae, keep it up.”

Using the Force, I focused on the next fighter. I knew before he was centered in my sights where he would be and so was able to fire the moment his ship was centered in the mires.

“Looks like we have two more fighters, Jolee,” I noted. The adrenaline was making my heart beat rapidly in excitement, but I focused on staying as calm as the other two appeared.

Abruptly, the towship disappeared as it entered hyperspace. Now free of the task of protecting that ship, Jolee corkscrewed the Accipiter around and I hit another Sith ship. The flames swirled around us as we flew through the super-heated dust. The last fighter turned and flew towards the cruiser, which was closing on us at a fast clip. Jolee pulled up to peel away from the cruiser, and suddenly our ship rocked as a tractor beam caught us.

“Give me all the power she’s got, Talin,” Jolee ordered.

“Done, but I don’t know that we’ll have enough power to get away,” Talin said.

“That’s not my plan.” Jolee turned the nose of our ship towards the cruiser.

“You’re not going to fly towards the cruiser!” I exclaimed.

“Old smuggler’s trick. Jae, target the landing bay. Talin, target the emitter for the tractor beam. Start shooting on my mark, and make them count. Here we go, people!”

We went from full reverse to full thrust in mere moments. The cruiser loomed frighteningly large as we hurtled towards it, accelerating rapidly.

Jolee waited until the landing bay doors were open. “Now!” he commanded.
Talin, using the Force fully, took out the emitter in one shot. I laid down a stream of blaster fire on the landing bay, and explosions rocked the other ship. Released from the tractor beam, Jolee pulled the ship up. I held my breath, willing us to not hit the cruiser, and we skimmed the surface of the other ship. I would have been able to see people’s faces in the windows had we not been going so fast.

Jolee chortled and patted the control panel lovingly, “Heh-heh, she’s a fine, fine ship. We’ll get out of this yet.” He red-lined the speed to take us away from the cruiser as rapidly as possible.

More explosions could be seen traveling away from the initial burst in the landing bay. I saw two more small flares of fire and glowing smoke, and then the entire ship exploded in one large ball of fire, with smaller bursts of glowing dust mushrooming out from the the center.

“Woohoo! That’s how it’s done!” Jolee exclaimed in triumph.

Talin sat back in his chair, closing his eyes in relief and smiling. I pumped a fist in the air in joy.

“Now we just have to get out of here before they figure out just how their ship disappeared,” Jolee commented with a grin.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

When we found a safe place to stop and wait for Master Supat’s findings, we took the time to catch up on some badly needed meditation. Jolee and I sat in contemplation in the common room, lights dimmed. We concentrated on learning the complex techniques of defending against the scourge power. The holocron, which had been placed on the small table between our chairs, started glowing brighter, and then there were whispers of instructions, just at the edge of hearing. I looked over at it in faint surprise.

“Concentrate through the Force, Jae, and it should come in more clearly,” Jolee instructed, eyes closed in his meditation.

Closing my eyes once more, I relaxed and allowed the Force to flow through. The murmuring of the holocron became louder, and we began hearing about the defense against Force Scourge….then the visions started again, as vividly awful as the nightmare. Jolee struck down, Talin writhing in pain, his skin ravaged. I shivered and my heart pounded as I stood against the Sith Lord….

I blinked open my eyes to make the images stop. Breathing hard, I leaned forward in the chair, laying my head in my hands, rocking back and forth.

“The future. It’s the future I’m seeing. Ah, blast it, I don’t want it to be true. I can’t stand to see either of you dying.” I sat up again as the disturbing images faded.

“The future is a very fluid thing,” Jolee said, reassuringly. “It may happen that way, it may not, and navel-gazing at it isn’t going to get you anywhere. Truth is, Jae, that most of us Jedi aren’t going to die peacefully in our beds. We all know that we’re called upon to do some of the most dangerous things in the galaxy. Most of the time we succeed, thank the Force. Sometimes we don’t. You’re going to lose more people you deeply care for and maybe even love, like Roben, and you’ll have to make peace with that at some point. Focus on the here and now, and really live life like there is no tomorrow. When tomorrow does come, you’ll be grateful to have another day with the ones you care about. Suck the marrow out of life.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to like it,” I replied, rather morosely.

“Of course it doesn’t. Do I look like I lead the cheering section for death and destruction?” He looked at me, eyes crinkling along with a smile.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at that, though the sadness took much longer to dissipate.

The holovid link rang. It was the call we had been waiting for the last couple of days. I hoped we’d finally be able to move out of the sector. We’d managed to find a suitable place to conceal our ship while we waited to hear if we could break quarantine, but knowing that more fighters could burst out of hyperspace at anytime while we sat around waiting was putting us all a bit on edge.

Master Supat’s sonorous voice filled the common room. “I have examined the bodies carefully and have run a number of tests. It is indeed a Force attack, and not a natural condition that is transmissable.”

I felt a mixed sense of relief and unease at his words.

He continued, “It is, as I feared, Force Scourge. This is a very powerful technique, and I have transmitted techniques for you to learn and meditate upon. It may be your only hope against this power.”

Jolee announced, “The pilot gave us a holocron when we were on the ship. It addresses Force Scourge as well. I have to tell you, Supat, I thought it was destroyed when Ossus burned up.” Jolee held it up and rotated the small pyramid around so that Supat could get a better view of it.

Master Supat tapped his fingers together in thought. “Yes, it was one of the holocrons we thought was lost to the supernova. I have seen this one before, and in fact based some of my instructions to you on the information I had learned from it long ago. It must be the will of the Force that it has surfaced after all this time. I am unsure how or why it has returned, but I sense danger in its mere presence. You must take care to learn the techniques completely. Vandar and I will contact you if we have any further insights.”

“Any news on the cruiser?” asked Jolee.

“It was, as you suspected, an Exchange ship, registered to Vogga the Hutt but listed as stolen. Why it was accompanied by Sith fighters, I do not know. We can only conjecture that Norelden has somehow allied himself with them.”

“With our little sojourn here, we’re going to be several days late to Li’adin,” I told Master Supat.

He smiled in return. “Do not concern yourself, because the Li’adans do not conceive time as we do. All will be well. In fact, I think you will find them quite intriguing.”

Talin joined in the conversation, bowing to Master Supat. “Is there anything I need to know that can aid in developing our relations with the Li’adans?”

“There is little that we know of this very reclusive system and its sentients, but I shall transmit the transcripts of our latest communications. You may be able to glean additional information from them.”

“I shall endeavor to represent the Order and the Republic well.” Talin bowed once more to end his portion of the conversation.

“The data should be at your terminal now,” Supat stated.

Jolee nodded an affirmative. “Looks like it’s all here.”

“Then I shall leave you to your tasks. May the Force be with you,” and his image faded from the holovid.

Jolee’s eyes lit up. He clearly enjoyed the adventure. “Well, lads and lasses, next stop, Li’adin.”

I knew Jolee had to tell Jae about his Wife. Good Chapter as always. Congrats on having over 1,000 views.

Oh Jolee. Such a rebel, what with kidnapping his future wife and all. So caveman-ish, heh-heh-heh. :D

I do hope how the holocron avoided the destruction of Ossus and came into the hands of the Force Scourged pilot will be revealed in future chapters.

Oh Jolee. Such a rebel, what with kidnapping his future wife and all. So caveman-ish, heh-heh-heh. :D


:D Jolee has a line in the game where he says he kidnapped Nayama after breaking out of the Ukatis prison, so I ran with it.


I do hope how the holocron avoided the destruction of Ossus and came into the hands of the Force Scourged pilot will be revealed in future chapters.

I have to have a few mysteries for you all. ;)

Of course Jae does! :D
Good chapter Jae. I thought you were going to pull a Millenium Falcon where they attach to the cruiser's hull. The idea of Jolee saying Woohoo! is beyond me. I do that myself, but Jolee? I would have thouhgt of something approving and yet disapproving at the same time. as always a good chapter Jae. Just don't forget about Talin and Jae with their romance :D

"Woohoo" sounded better than "Yeehaw!" and certainly beats something like the f-bomb. :D
I figure if I can shout Woohoo! out myself at my (Not-as-old-as-Jolee-but-not-a-kid) age, Jolee probably could, too.
I haven't forgotten about those two, either. Shhh! ;)

Great stuff Jae. And congrats on the 1,000 views. I must say you reached that mark pretty fast. Which really isn't fair as some of us "me" have to work hard for such a thing. ;) "j/k" Keep up the great work, I can't wait for the showdown with the Sith lord.

Great stuff Jae. And congrats on the 1,000 views. I must say you reached that mark pretty fast. Which really isn't fair as some of us "me" have to work hard for such a thing. ;) "j/k" Keep up the great work, I can't wait for the showdown with the Sith lord.

Thanks.
At 1800+ views, you're not doing too shabby yourself. It's FFWM that we have to catch up with. :D

Hmm, this one took awhile. I ended up dumping an entire half chapter (or more) just because it just didn't go right, and did a wholesale rewrite.
@JM12--you can call me a tease. I probably deserve it. ;)


Chapter 12: Li’adin

The Li’adans contacted us as we approached the system. There were three humanoids on the holovid link. All three were more pale than I was accustomed to on either Onderon or Coruscant, and their skin had a light amber cast to it. All three had sparse hair in varying shades of dark brown, with large eyes to match. They wore blue outfits of varying shades in a light fabric that fluttered in the wind, just as in previous contacts with the Jedi or Republic, I observed.

“We are Kiol’ad, and we welcome you to our system,” they said to us warmly, each placing his hands together in unison almost as if in prayer.

Their speech pattern was one of the more unique I had seen in the galaxy—each saying a word or short phrase as part of the total sentence, as if completing the others’ thoughts. It came out as ‘We. Are Kiol’ad. And we. Welcome. You. To our system.”

Talin appeared non-plussed by their unusual form of speech. “We are honored to be the guests of Li’adin,” he said formally, placing his hands together also.

“Please maintain. Your current course. We await. Your visit eagerly.” It was dizzying to switch eye contact back and forth between each speaker so abruptly, even though I had been prepared for it by our review of the holovid transcripts. The link faded out.

“R4, do a passive scan of the system.” Talin directed. He turned to me. “Why wouldn’t we want to do an active scan?” he quizzed.

“It could be considered a provocative action, and we don’t want to appear to be attempting to spy.” I answered.

“Ah, you studied then. However, we still need some information, and a passive scan is better than nothing.” he said, appearing satisfied with my answer.

“Their speech pattern is hard to follow,” I noted.

Jolee added, “It is a little crazy to go back and forth from one person to another. Almost gives me a headache,”

“Try thinking of it as one person talking, not three. Look at them as a group, since that’s how they function, not as three individuals,” Talin suggested. “So, what did you notice during that brief interchange?” he asked me.

“Ooh, I love a good quiz,” Jolee interjected, “so long as I’m not the one required to give the answers. I did my time in school already, thank you. I’ll just read your notes later. I’m going to go study that holocron some more while you and Jae hash out the boring points of diplomacy.”

He went to the galley. Shortly thereafter, the smell of fresh coffee floated on the air.

“I have a feeling we’re going to be studying awhile, and I’d like some coffee to go along with the quiz. And you?” I asked him. He nodded no.

“So, what were your findings?” Talin asked, waiting for an answer when I returned. I sat down to think, looking over the top of the steaming fragrant liquid at him.

“There were three of them together, yellowish skin, brown hair—all different shades, brown eyes—more similar in color. All were dressed in different shades of blue in a lightweight material. They’re tall and stocky. They appear to be healthy—there was no indication of illness or weakness, and they were standing without difficulty. They placed their hands together when greeting us just like in previous contacts. It’s windy and they appeared to be outside in it, there were a few clouds in the sky. They must be connected mentally somehow in order to speak the way they do. The plant life surrounding them has large long leaves with a blue-green color—could be because their sun is bluer than other systems. Their building architecture is rounded with light colored walls and dark roofs.” I answered.

“An adequate start, and your observation of health will complement my information. While we are here I’d like you to continue watching for health or medical matters, since that is your forte. However, you missed quite a bit.”

“And what would that be?” I asked, sighing inwardly at what was likely going to be yet another lecture on my lack of appropriate skills.

Talin closed his eyes a moment and looked at the pictures in his mind. “Kiol’ad is a trio, and I agree with your assessment of mental connectedness or possibly some type of Force skill. They were too far away for me to feel for that. The central man drives the conversation and said the most, we’ll call him the primary man of the group. He was wearing the lightest blue of the outfits. The youngest of the three stood to the right and wore the darkest blue. The colors and shades may or may not be pertinent. There was subtle braiding on the shoulders of all three, and the primary man had the widest braiding, though the difference was small. The outfits loosely cover everything but their hands and heads so we are not entirely sure about their anatomy, other than it’s humanoid. I saw no evidence of weapons, though small knives and such are easy to conceal in such loose clothing. Their skin is a sallow color, which could be a reflection of a species developing on a blue-sun planet. It could also be some type of appearance-altering chemical. Their hair is dark and sparse as you noted. That may be personal taste or something else. That’s just Kiol’ad.”

“Just Kiol’ad?” I asked with a hint of irony.

“There’s plenty more, I assure you. The call did indeed come from outside—you could see the effects of the wind on their clothing and watch the clouds rapidly floating by in the deep blue sky. However, they were not standing at ground level. They were on a balcony that overlooked some kind of pastoral scene, though those details were unclear—you could catch the perspective of height, however. Why they chose to call from outside, I do not know, but it may be significant. The buildings all are constructed with smaller windows, are all connected, and the structures have smoothed or rounded edges. There are no sharp edges or corners on any of the buildings—that could be a reflection of taste, though I believe it’s a strong possibility that they are built that way because of the weather. Every transmission we’ve received has shown the same windy weather. All the buildings and roofs are the same color. This could be one complex of buildings in a particular architectural style, or it could be that the Li’adans value uniformity.

“There was no evidence of any transports. Either they are out of our view, or the Li’adans do not use them, which could be interesting. Also out of view were any other Li’adans, animals, and other fauna.

“As for the flora, there were five potted plants, all the same apparent type, all with long, shiny blue-green leaves and no flowers. The pots are in the same light color as on the building exteriors, and have a simple raised design on them.”

“I suppose you’re going to tell me what color the soil in the pots was,” I commented.

“Nearly black,” he said with a small smile.

R4 brought back the data from the scans. “Thanks, R4,” I said, taking the datapads from him. Talin picked up the solar system information, and I chose to study the map of their planet.

After inspecting the data for a few minutes, I looked over at Talin. “Why is it so important to have encyclopedic knowledge of these people, anyway? Isn’t that something for the researchers and xenobiologists to investigate more fully? I thought it would be enough simply to be polite at this point.”

Talin sighed, as if he were a frustrated teacher trying to educate a dense student. “I was hoping you would have a greater understanding of some diplomacy, but I will try to further your education on that subject. You have to observe everything in first contacts, because you never know what’s important and what’s not right away. Maybe they just like ivory colored flowerpots, and maybe ivory colored flowerpots can only be owned by people of certain rank. We don’t want to do something that is unintentionally offensive. Now please review that map—I’ll need a summary of it shortly.”

He continued to review the datapad R4 had given him for any other useful information.

Frustrated with all the condescension, I stood and set the map down. “Are you always this bombastic or is this just one of your good days?”

That got his attention. “What in the world are you talking about?” he asked, cocking his head at me in question, eyes intent on mine. He kept a neutral face, I noted.

“You’re always critical. You make it sound like you have graced my presence by teaching me lightsaber skills or anything else for that matter. Nothing I do is even acceptable in your view, much less any good. And your language is so, so….” I stopped, searching for just the right word.

“Sophisticated?” Talin said with a bit of a smirk.

I leveled my gaze at him. “Try pompous. Or haughty. Or maybe conceited. I’m not entirely sure how you manage to fit your head in this ship with the rest of us.” I finished in annoyance.

Talin, maddeningly, just chuckled. “Perhaps you are correct in some of your assessment, though I haven’t measured my head circumference recently to give you an accurate answer. Now since you are being so frank in your appraisal, perhaps I will share what I’ve learned of you in turn.”

“No doubt I will be spellbound by your brilliant insights,” I retorted with great irony. I recognized that the conversation, as well as my emotions, were spinning entirely out of control and silently recited the Jedi Code to calm my irritation.

Talin paused a minute to consider carefully his response. He seemed to evaluate every word for a proper nuance before finally speaking. “You are a Padawan, and have Padawan level skills. You need a lot more training for those skills to develop properly. If I drive you hard, it is simply because you have a great deal of potential, a diamond in the rough as it were. Despite what you think, I’d very much like to see you succeed in your training, because I think you will be a great asset to the Order. You history at the Jedi Academy, which I reviewed by the way, indicates you may have an issue with letting people get anywhere close to you, likely because you lost Roben. Your self-conscious reaction to Mik’oth’s flirting leads me to think that you, for reasons that are unclear, are uncomfortable with others noticing either your body or your beauty.”

“I wasn’t aware Jedi were supposed to even notice such things,” I noted coolly.

Talin, to my chagrin, just threw back his head and laughed. He held his hands out to his sides and replied with amusement, “How could I not notice? I haven’t stopped being a man just because I put on a Jedi robe. We spar together daily in just enough clothes to keep us all decent, but shorts and tight shirts don’t exactly leave a lot to the imagination. It would be a mistake for you to consider yourself unattractive.”

My cheeks colored. “Men!” I fumed, grabbing my coffee cup with the intent to escape to the galley.

Jolee entered the common room with an amused look on his face, having heard a good portion of our exchange.

He quickly looked back and forth between the two of us in scrutiny as if making some kind of evaluation and then said to me, “Yes, yes, all we men think about is women’s physiques and finding the quickest way to the bedroom. I’ve heard it a million times, believe me.” Then he grinned. “Of course, I’ve flirted about a million times, so I probably deserve it. However, we men do think about other things, occasionally. Like our stomachs and the latest standings in swoop-bike racing or maybe hunting and killing something. Now if you two are done with your verbal sparring, we should get back to the business of looking over the information on the Li’adans. You never know when we might need that knowledge. And usually it’s some obscure bit of data that is the most useful, not the obvious stuff.”

Talin put on a professional mien and picked up another datapad to review. I let the ire flow out and the calm return, and took up the map once more to glean what information I could from it.

After several hours of study, Talin had indeed found a lot of useful information, and we all worked on memorizing whatever we could.

Jolee decided, “I need to do a little meditation to plant all this stuff in my brain. Information tends to fall out of it too easy at my age. Come with me, Jae. And you, Talin?”

“I’m going to finish the last of these transcripts, and then I think I’ll practice that new Force form you taught me, Jolee. I need to work some of the kinks out of my neck before we arrive at their planet. I’ll be along in about 20 minutes.”

“Don’t neglect studying the techniques against that scourge,” Jolee reminded him.

Talin nodded his agreement and returned to his notes. Jolee and I went to the sparring room and sat down in comfortable positions to reflect upon the material we’d just learned. We closed our eyes.

After a few minutes, Jolee broke the silence. “You’ve never been with a man, have you?” he asked quite casually.

“Jolee!” I exclaimed, eyes flying open in surprise at such a personal question.

He opened his eyes. “Jae, it’s just a simple question—it’s either that or some other deeper and darker issue, and as your master I need to know now so we can fix it before someone else learns about it and tries to exploit it. If your discomfort is obvious even to Talin, it’s going to be obvious to a lot of other people, too. I’m not offering to jump into bed with you, for heaven’s sake. At my age, I prefer my women to have a few wrinkles on them. Or maybe some headtails.”

I could feel my face redden. “Roben and I had decided to follow some of the traditional customs on Onderon and wait til we were married.” I said with honesty. “Then he died, I joined the Order, and that was the end of that. No other issues that I know about. The Queen made sure her attendants were protected from immoral influences, and the Jedi academy is hardly a hotbed of salacious activity.” I leaned my head back against the wall and closed my eyes, hoping the pinking of my cheeks would subside soon. “I can’t believe we’re having this conversation.”

“And Roben was your only significant relationship, I take it.”

Nodding, I told him yes. “We were very good friends for a long time before we realized we were in love. We cared a great deal for each other, did so many things together, and shared so many of the same ideas and feelings about life.”

“Hmmph. I sure hope you at least gave the poor boy a kiss.”

I looked over at him and smiled. “OK, I’m not that naпve. Now, I don’t suppose we could find another topic to talk about?”

“Look, it’s my job to watch out for your development as a Jedi, be that Force abilities, mental, emotional, or physical. I can tell you it’s probably time to let Roben go and live life fully—it’s too short not to appreciate it completely. If Roben was as special as you say, I doubt he’d want you to keep pining for him. But that's something only you can decide. Now, I don’t plan to give you an instruction manual on dealing with men—you’ll be able to figure that out all by yourself just fine when the time is right. It’s better if you discover some things all by yourself. What all this does tell me is that I should keep an extra sharp eye out for all those unsavory types who might want to take advantage of your inexperience in the relationship department. Like Mik’oth,” he finished with a broad smile.

“Add Talin to your list while you’re at it.”

“Yes, well, Talin may or may not create a problem,” Jolee mused with an inscrutable look. “I suppose we’ll just have to see what happens.”

“You know, I don’t believe the subject of people’s love lives ever came up once while I was at the Jedi academy.”

“Since when have I been anything but an iconoclastic Jedi? You’re not the average ‘grew up in the Jedi academy’ Padawan, either, having that ludicrous ‘don’t form attachments’ belief thrown at you every day. Anyone who’s even partly alive knows that’s not true. All this nonsense about avoiding love is such foo-foo.”

Talin walked in, apparently ready to work on his Force form. I dearly hoped he hadn’t overheard the entire conversation.

“But if you allow love, it can lead to passion, and that can lead to fear and rage and the dark side. Do you want to condemn Jedi to the dark side for the sake of a fleeting emotion?” Talin argued.

Jolee replied, “Love doesn’t condemn you, it saves you. Passion may lead to the dark side, but love doesn’t. They should be teaching Jedi how to control their passions while being in love, not shun it. We shouldn’t avoid the greatest things in life just because they come with a few complications.”

“That is an interesting argument that I had never before considered,” Talin said, though it was apparent that he was not entirely ready to believe it.

“I’m chock full of interesting arguments that the Order hasn’t considered.” Jolee responded. “Now let’s get working on that Force form, Talin.”

“I think I’ll go work some more on the scourge defense. I’m having trouble getting my mind wrapped around the entire technique,” I said, getting up to return to my quarters.

“Don’t force it—it’ll come to you eventually,” Jolee assured me.

“I’ll take your word for it, then.”

“Good. I haven’t lived this long to spout false reassurances.” Jolee said, pulling out his lightsaber and shedding his robe to begin working with Talin.

Back in my room, I sat on my bed, meditating as Jolee’s comments played through my mind.

Good Chapter as always. I liked what Jolee said.

“Ooh, I love a good quiz,” Jolee interjected, “so long as I’m not the one required to give the answers. I did my time in school already, thank you. I’ll just read your notes later. I’m going to go study that holocron some more while you and Jae hash out the boring points of diplomacy.”

Why is just and everything underlined?

PS. Please check out my new Fanfic, Fallen.

Good Chapter as always. I liked what Jolee said.



Why is just and everything underlined?

PS. Please check out my new Fanfic, Fallen.

You guys have no idea how much I laugh when some of these lines pop into my head just as if Jolee's standing right there talking to me.

Just/everything underlined merely for emphasis.

Will check out your fic! You are just wicked for leaving us hanging with all the other fics, though ;P

You guys have no idea how much I laugh when some of these lines pop into my head just as if Jolee's standing right there talking to me.

Just/everything underlined merely for emphasis.

Will check out your fic! You are just wicked for leaving us hanging with all the other fics, though ;P

Yeah well, I'm going to remove the second parts of Beyond The Force and Darth Insurgo. The Mandalorian Wars Fic has been abandoned and Jorran Corral, well I suppose I'll have to finish that one and The Search Of Revan has to be finished. Anyway thanks for looking at my new Fic, Fallen.

Jae, I don't know how to say it but your main character, Jae, sounds a bit like Carth in the whole pining for lost loved one thingy. At least she's not a whiner :D
Still I like where this is going and I think Talin does have a BIG head.
Good as always Jae and I have a new fic up called Broken Wounds Heal. Look forward to the next chapter.

Jae, I don't know how to say it but your main character, Jae, sounds a bit like Carth in the whole pining for lost loved one thingy. At least she's not a whiner :D
Still I like where this is going and I think Talin does have a BIG head.
Good as always Jae and I have a new fic up called Broken Wounds Heal. Look forward to the next chapter.

You know, it does sound a bit like Carth, which wasn't intentional, tho he is one of my favorite characters also. His issue was more learning to trust after being betrayed.

Yep, this is a No-Whine Zone. :) I've got 2 younger kids and get my whining quota met that way, so I don't want it in my fic, too. :D

Heh, Talin's so obnoxiously self-sufficient. He'd drive me nuts if I was stuck on a small ship with him.

A masterful chapter Jae. :) I really really enjoyed the exchange between Talin and Jae. It was funny and serious at the same time. I really don't see that you had any problems with this chapter. Keep up the great work. I can't wait for the next chapter. I am going to try and go finish my new chapter now. :)

P.S.
I hate you. ;) You write so well that I am actually starting to like Talin now. Where as in the beginning I didn't like him at all.

^
Believe me, you didn't want to see the first draft of that chapter, because it was really, well, dumb, and it just wasn't going anywhere. :D But that's what revision is for.

Talin may be a pompous jerk at (many) times, but he's a complex kind of guy. He'd still drive me crazy in close quarters for extended periods of time, though. :)

RP, I've been writing non-fiction stuff and reading just about anything interesting for a long time (for college, work, volunteer activities, pleasure, church, etc.) I write every single day, and while I don't prefer to give out my age, (though it's not quite as old as mach ;P ), I will tell you for perspective I've been married almost 16 years, so I have some time/life experience advantages. Granted writing prose daily doesn't always transfer to creative writing, but thought organization, mechanics of spelling/grammar, typing/keyboarding, etc., are similar enough that it speeds the whole process up and makes it easier.

Jolee replied, “Love doesn’t condemn you, it saves you. Passion may lead to the dark side, but love doesn’t. They should be teaching Jedi how to control their passions while being in love, not shun it. We shouldn’t avoid the greatest things in life just because they come with a few complications.”AMEN TO THAT! I'm most definitely a believer in the ideals of the Jedi Order's Bindo sect. :D

And to think, Jae hasn't experienced the pleasures of full physical intimacy. :blush2: Well, perhaps Jae Onasi will tastefully address that in the story. I don't know though. My guess is Jae would have to leave the order and get married for that to happen.

AMEN TO THAT! I'm most definitely a believer in the ideals of the Jedi Order's Bindo sect. :D


:) Me too. Of course, that's probably stating the obvious. :D

And to think, Jae hasn't experienced the pleasures of full physical intimacy. :blush2: Well, perhaps Jae Onasi will tastefully address that in the story. I don't know though. My guess is Jae would have to leave the order and get married for that to happen.

I'll try to very carefully and tastefully address the "S-word." My son reads this story and this is a PG kind of forum, so it has to be written with a certain level of discretion. There are just some things he doesn't need to learn yet, and this isn't one of those naughty romance novels. ;)