[FIC] The Adventures of Jolee Bindo

[Jae Onasi]

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.

@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.

[Jae Onasi]

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?”

[Diego Varen]

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

[Char Ell]

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!"

 

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.

[Jae Onasi]

I don't mind if it's said more than once. 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.

[JediMaster12]

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

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.

[Char Ell]

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

 

Not too shabby...

[Jae Onasi]

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.

 

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.”

[Diego Varen]

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

[Char Ell]

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

 

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.

[Jae Onasi]

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

 

 

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.

[JediMaster12]

Of course Jae does!

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

[Jae Onasi]

"Woohoo" sounded better than "Yeehaw!" and certainly beats something like the f-bomb.

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!

[Renegade Puma]

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.

[Jae Onasi]

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.

[Jae Onasi]

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 naïve. 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.

[Diego Varen]

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.”[/Quote]

 

Why is just and everything underlined?

 

PS. Please check out my new Fanfic, Fallen.

[Jae Onasi]

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

[Diego Varen]

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

 

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.

[JediMaster12]

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

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 Onasi]

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

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.

 

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

[Renegade Puma]

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.

[Jae Onasi]

^

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. 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 ), 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.

[Char Ell]

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.

 

And to think, Jae hasn't experienced the pleasures of full physical intimacy. 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.

[Jae Onasi]

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

 

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

 

And to think, Jae hasn't experienced the pleasures of full physical intimacy. 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.