[FIC] The Adventures of Jolee Bindo

[Jae Onasi]

^

More views than replies: Lots of people reading, not so many commenting. I'll go read an update/post, but if I don't have the time to read it in depth so that I can make an appropriate comment, I won't leave a reply at that point (and this week I was busy reading the challenge submissions at kotorfanmedia--I entered a short piece there, and the challenge has a short turnaround time to read/comment on the other submissions, so I got a bit behind here).

More replies than views: weird computer glitch.

 

Yes, I had fun writing that little pazaak comment.

Poor Jimbo has to listen to me get all excited about what my characters are saying or doing:

Me: Hey, do you think Jolee saying that pazaak line is funny? Is Mik'oth smarmy enough?

Jimbo: (trying to sleep because Jae's still writing at 12:30 am and he has to work in the morning) Mmmph. Sure, dear. I think it's wonderful that they have a vaccine for the scourge now.

I posted this before he got to read it, so I know he's going to roll his eyes at me managing to fit tornadoes into a Star wars fic.

[Sable Phoenix]

This just gets better and better.

 

I'm following it avidly here because KFM updates too slowly. More!

[Jae Onasi]

^

That's because I didn't consider submitting there for quite some time (not that there's anything wrong with KFM, the thought just hadn't occurred to me, and then I wanted to lurk a bit). I don't want to upload a ton of chapters all at one time, so it's quite a bit farther behind than here.

I can totally understand their submit policy since they handle more edgy stories.

 

Back on topic...thanks! Ch 18 is already being thought out. I'm going out of town this coming weekend with a long flight so I may get some solid work done while on the plane.

[Hallucination]

Every thread has more views than replies. Another Jae-licious chapter, keep it up! BTW cutting the branch seems like something Talin would do, not Jolee. IMO a 'Jolee thing' would have been cutting down the tree.

[JediMaster12]

Woohoo! (My signature glee)

Yeah I was wondering where those who have read it have gone. I understand the whole concept of LIFE. Still I wait for another Bindo moment.

[Jae Onasi]

@Hall--Jolee cutting down the tree--

@JM12--I think mine has roughly a 5-10% reply rate (out of views). That doesn't really bother me. Some people just want to read it and not necessarily say much if anything, and that's fine. I'll view a thread more than once sometimes without making a reply, either because I don't have time to reply right then (like when I'm at work and have a few minutes to breeze through a thread or because I don't have anything significant to contribute at that time. Other times I'll read a thread (in any forum) because certain people have replied, and I want to see what they have to say about the topic, or because I'm interested in seeing where the discussion is going.

 

Heh, Jimbo saw the tornado in this chapter, shook his head, and sighed, "That's my wife...."

[Sable Phoenix]

So... what is it with you and tornadoes, anyway?

[Jae Onasi]

^

I've been fascinated with them ever since I saw "The Wizard of Oz" as a kid. In 4th grade, I wanted to be a meteorologist when all my other girl friends wanted to be homemakers (nothing wrong with that, btw), teachers, or nurses--the 'traditional' women's occupations. I actually wrote a fan letter to the local TV meteorologist (who took the time to write me back!). When the tornado sirens go off, that's my cue to go outside, not to the basement. I'd like to go on a tornado chase vacation, although I've been informed it'd be over my husband's dead body, so I guess that probably will never happen. He said something about worrying to death about me getting injured or killed while going on The Great Hunt for Twisters and I don't want that to happen. You learn to make these compromises in marriage.

 

However, given the unusually severe weather that Li'adin experiences, an F5 tornado would not be an unusual occurrence, and I thought it'd be something different from dodging asteroids. I didn't create the planet's weather problems to specifically include tornadoes, however. I don't mind the dodging asteroids thing, I just don't want to see the concept made stereotypical by doing it into the ground. The fact that I like these storms made it even better.

[Renegade Puma]

The last two chapters were amazing Jae. I really liked the reference to KOTOR I as well. Where Jolee said he hung out with some trees and walking carpets for awhile. Keep up the great work, I can't wait for Jae to save the universe!

[JediMaster12]

I like your tornadoes Jae. It does make a difference from the dodging proton torpedoes and asteroids, though the odds of surviving an asteroid field is approximately 3,527: 1

I wonder what are the odds for surviving a Liardin tornado?

[Jae Onasi]

I wonder what are the odds for surviving a Liardin tornado?

 

I don't know. I'm making this up as I go along. And I'm betting Jolee's one of those 'Never tell me the odds!' kind of people.

 

Seriously, it depends on how strong the tornado is and if it hits you directly or not. Since F1 tornadoes can overturn mobile homes, it has enough strength to do some serious damage if you happen to be in the center of it.

The F5 tornado I have above can have winds over 300 mph and throw cars about 1/15th of a mile (or 100meters)

 

The Storm Prediction Center has some great info:

Online Tornado FAQ

[Sable Phoenix]

Or do really wierd stuff like knock down a store wall, but leave the canned goods and shelves standing against the wall undisturbed. Or pick someone up bodily, strip off all his clothing besides his boots, and set him down completely unharmed. Or pick up five horses hitched to a railing and deposit them a quarter mile away, also completely unharmed. Or drive wooden splinters into an iron fire hydrant, or a pine plank through an iron girder. Or send a brick through two rooms of a house to embed itself in the back wall without even chipping one of its corners. Or my favorite, embed a piece of straw in a car's windshield like a spear.

 

Tornadoes are fascinating.

[Jae Onasi]

My favorites are flying cows that land uninjured and the piece of hay stuck in the side of a tree.

The best story (on Weather Channel's storm stories) was when a toddler got blown away from her mother in a tornado and was found without serious injuries and rescued by a sheriff to get reunited with her mother.

[Jae Onasi]

(Thanks to Jiara and Emperor Devon--your help with the beta-reading is much appreciated.)

 

Chapter 18: Tornado

 

“Hang on; it’s going to get rough. This tornado’s right on top of us and I don’t have enough room to maneuver. We have to get above the storm to escape,” Jolee said.

 

The winds grabbed hold and rocked the ship. Jolee’s hands gripped the controls, fighting to keep us airborne as the furious gales slammed us up and down. My fingernails bit through fabric where I grabbed the armrests too tightly, and I breathed deep to fight back the fear as the ship bucked again. I shouldn’t have stayed out so long. I shouldn’t have risked our lives for a couple of pieces of a broken starfighter.

 

“Jae, block those emotions. I can’t afford the distraction,” Jolee growled over all the noise of debris peppering the ship. He hit another control when the ship started to roll violently. It corkscrewed a few more times before Jolee could slow it down to shaking turns.

 

I compressed the terror into a tiny nugget and hoped it would be enough to allow Jolee to concentrate. His eyes were riveted to the displays, and he said nothing. An alarm sounded, warning of extreme structural stress, and I felt the vibrations down to my bones. I fought to press the fear back down again and block the adrenaline surge.

 

The ship shuddered. One of the compartment latches broke free, and tools flew out into the cockpit like miniature missiles. I froze them all in mid-air. One hovered a few centimeters from Jolee’s head, and I held on tight through all the shaking. Please, let this end soon….

 

The skies lightened abruptly. We broke through the top of the storm into the clear stratosphere where all weather stopped. I looked at the cloud deck below us, its puffy white innocence belying the deadly winds that roiled below.

 

“Heh, good girl! Knew you could do it,” Jolee said to the ship, patting the edge of the instrument panel. Then he looked up and saw the hydrospanner suspended just above him. “Jae, were you planning on whacking me with that thing if we crashed?”

 

I giggled and breathed the rest of the anxiety away. I used the Force to fly everything back to the compartment, then locked the latch down tight.

 

“Show-off,” Jolee snorted. “And make sure it’s latched tight this time.”

 

I grinned and then scanned the instrument readouts. “Ship integrity looks OK.”

 

He studied his readouts and nodded agreement, then looked at me. “What do you think the odds are of surviving a Class five tornado like that one?”

 

“After what we just went through, I’m betting it’s less than flying through an asteroid field.”

 

“The answer is it doesn’t matter as long as you survive.”

 

“Oh, Jolee…” I just shook my head in amazement.

 

“Let’s get back to the capitol. I’ll contact the Li’adans and give them the short story on what happened. And for Force’s sake, go get some dry clothes on before you leave a giant puddle all over and catch cold or something like that.”

 

* * *

 

We landed, and the emergency teams scrambled around the ship, searching for any danger. Finding none, they released the Accipiter to the repair crew. Kiol’ad and Tarm’ad came aboard to evaluate Dycen’a and get more information. Jolee spoke with Kiol’ad while I took Tarm’ad to see Dycen’a.

 

“The injuries are pretty extensive. Jolee and I agreed we don’t have enough power to prevent multiple organ failure during healing. It’ll take a couple of Masters to heal him properly.” I sighed. “I wish he’d surrendered instead.”

 

“I don’t believe it was in his nature. He needed to be stopped. We found his base, and there were tens of Singles there, some severely injured or damaged in some way by Dycen’a. We think it took a remarkable restraint to keep him alive, actually,” Tarm’ad said, peering at one of the wounds and then looking at the monitors. “Looks like a very stable stasis field. This should hold him well as long as you leave soon for Coruscant.”

 

“We’ll have to leave Talin here, then.”

 

“He’s healed enough to go with you,” Tarm’ad said. When I raised my eyebrows in surprise, the Triad continued, “He was the model patient while you were gone. We were able to free up a kolto tank, and he didn’t even complain when we put him in it for awhile.”

 

Jolee overheard us as Kiol’ad and he came to see Dycen’a. “Will wonders never cease. The boy actually listened to reason, then.”

 

Tarm’ad smiled. “He is rather strong-willed, but he did well.”

 

“‘Strong-willed’ is not the description I’d use,” said Jolee.

 

Tarm’ad’s smile broadened. “We’ll send him to you shortly, along with your belongings, so that you can be on your way.”

 

After Tarm’ad debarked, Jolee said, “Jae, show Kiol’ad what you found running around in that damn storm that nearly killed us.”

 

Kiol’ad’s eyes widened. “That was one of the worst storms we’ve had in years. You were out in it? You’re lucky you weren’t killed.”

 

“I had to go out. It was the only way to find out where Dycen’a had been. I found the navicomputer, and this object. I’ve never seen anything like this before.” I handed him a slim metal cylinder.

 

Kiol’ad pressed a tiny button, and a display flashed to life. “Ah, good, it works. This is a timestreamer. It maps out time with great precision. All events are referenced to these instruments.”

 

“That’s a pretty fancy chronometer,” Jolee said.

 

“Rather like that, yes, but far more detailed, and it works in multiple dimensions. Our species has the ability to make limited transfers extra-dimensionally in time. The timestreamers prevent the formation of time paradoxes. We know exactly when we leave a particular dimension and exactly what time we return. Most curious that he would have one of these on a ship. We’ll have Aklar’an process both instruments for data.”

 

“Can non-Li’adans use it?” Jolee asked.

 

“No, only those who can make the transfers in time.”

 

“So we have to worry not only where Dycen’a went, but when he went.”

 

“Precisely. We’ll contact you shortly,” Kiol’ad said, and then left the ship.

 

I watched various thoughts play across Jolee’s face. “So, what are you thinking?”

 

“A lot of things. Let’s get Talin settled, and once we get going we’ll all talk to see if any of my ideas make any sense.”

 

* * *

 

Talin eased his tall frame down onto the sofa with a sigh. “It’s good to get out of that infirmary bed. I don’t know what it is about those things, but they’re never comfortable.”

 

“You look a lot better. The kolto did you good,” I observed, handing both Jolee and Talin some mugs of caffa before sitting down on the sofa with a cup of my own.

 

“I hate the taste of that stuff. No matter how tight a mask they put on, somehow it always works its way in.”

 

“It’s awful, I know. I’m glad I don’t have to do that again.”

 

“Why would you have to do that again….just how did you get hurt?” Talin’s eyes narrowed as he frowned at me.

 

“I’m fine, it was all minor. You can’t even tell where I healed. Your fighting tips were very helpful, by the way.”

 

“Yes indeed, the fighting tips were quite useful. However, Dycen’a wasn’t the main problem, was he, Jae?” Jolee said.

 

“What’s worse than a Sith apprentice, except maybe his master?” Talin looked back and forth at Jolee and me.

 

Jolee replied, “She ran out into a Class five tornado looking for little souvenirs in the wreckage of Dycen’a’s ship. Thank goodness it was actually something important instead of a caffa-maker.”

 

“Great, Jolee. I’m glad you broke it to him gently.”

 

“When we get back to Coruscant, I’m going to ask the other Masters if impudence was added to the Padawan curriculum recently. I think I missed that somewhere in Jedi Master training.”

 

Talin looked at both of us in disbelief, then concern. “Why would you do anything so insane? You could have been killed! Didn’t I tell you to come back safe?”

 

“Talin, we’re both fine, and you need to stay calm right now.” I put a hand on top of his briefly to transmit tranquility and pointedly ignored Jolee’s amused look. “Going after those instruments was our only chance to get some answers on Dycen’a’s whereabouts. Kiol’ad has Aklar’an reviewing the information in both the navcomputer and the timestreamer.”

 

We filled him in on the rest of the events.

 

Talin brought out a datapad. “While I was stuck in bed, I looked over the data that Kiol’ad gave us at our first meeting. The vortices have been appearing in this system and near Ossus. That has to be connected to what you’ve found.”

 

“Why go back in time to Ossus?” I asked. “Oh, wait. The Scourge defense holocron was from the Jedi Library there, wasn’t it?”

 

“The Jedi managed to get some materials out of the Library before the stars exploded, but we still lost a lot of items,” Talin said.

 

Jolee sat back in his chair, stroking his chin in thought. “That holocron was supposed to have been one of those lost items. Here’s my theory. Dycen’a was apprenticed to a Sith Master and went traveling around in time to steal items for him. Somehow, he was able to slip in and out of the Jedi Library, though we’ll probably never learn how.”

 

“Dycen’a and his Sith Lord had to meet up from time to time so he could deliver whatever he got from Ossus and get his training,” I said. “If we can find out where he’s been going, we may be able to narrow down the location of his master.”

 

Jolee nodded. “Now you’re using that brain of yours. When we get to Coruscant, we’ll check with the Master Archivist to see if any other items were missing instead of confirmed destroyed at Ossus. If Dycen’a has been time-hopping for this Sith and stealing holocrons, we may be up against something far more dangerous than we anticipated.”

[Diego Varen]

A good Chapter as normal.

[Char Ell]

Welcome back, Jae Onasi!

 

Tornadoes are awesome weather events. I think they're cool to watch but not so cool if I happen to be in one's path.

 

So the sparks between Jae and Talin are really starting to fly now, eh?

[JediMaster12]

And a Bindo moment! Another great chapter Jae. The crash landing scene sounded vaguely familiar like from a movie

Meesa likes it.

[Jae Onasi]

Thanks folks! I love writing Bindoisms. Sometimes even I don't know what he's going to say next.

[JediMaster12]

I especially look forward to a kiss or two between Talin and Jae

[Jae Onasi]

I especially look forward to a kiss or two between Talin and Jae

 

No worries!

[Jae Onasi]

Thanks to Emperor Devon and Jiara for the betas.

 

--------

 

 

 

Chapter 19: The Xi-ro Form

 

“We have the data from the navcomputer and the timestreamer, and we’re sending you the information as we speak,” Kiol’ad informed us the next day. “It appears Dycen’a has made frequent trips, though why he has gone to Telos, Ossus, and Nar Shaddaa, we don’t know.”

 

Jolee cocked his head slightly. “Telos and Ossus make sense. But Nar Shaddaa?”

 

“We were curious about that as well, and thought you might have some thoughts on that.”

 

“Hmm, none at the moment, but when we find something out we’ll make sure to contact you. Was there anything from the timestreamer?”

 

“There are frequent instances of travels in time, and they coincide with the vortices. Dycen’a was the only one who could have done this. Since he can no longer cause these swirls, the gravitophoton count should drop and our planet’s weather system will hopefully return to a more normal state.”

 

“We were happy to help with that mission,” Talin said.

 

Kiol’ad nodded. “We’re happy to have that help. We gave you all the data on his travels. We’re not entirely sure what to make of the rest of the information. Perhaps you’ll have some insight.”

 

“We think Dycen’a was working with an Exchange boss on Telos. The travel information might give us some clues on where to find him,” I said.

 

“Good. If we find out anything more here on Li’adin, we’ll make sure to forward the information to you.”

 

Talin added, “We’re very grateful for your help. If there’s anything we can do, please ask.”

 

“Just look in on Dycen’a for us when you get to Coruscant. The Jedi Masters believe he will live. Any information we can learn about his activities will be very helpful.”

 

“We’ll do that,” Jolee said.

 

“We have found your visit both enlightening and enjoyable, in spite of the difficult circumstances. We hope you will return to us soon, as we now consider you part of the Li’adin family. May your time and travel be enjoyable,” Kiol’ad said, bowing slightly as the holovid image faded.

 

Talin downloaded the information onto several datapads. “I’d like to evaluate the data from Aklar’an right away.”

 

“That’s a good plan. We’ve got a couple of days before getting to Coruscant. No sense wasting it playing Pazaak,” Jolee said.

 

“I’ll miss out on practicing my Pazaak face, you know,” I said.

 

Jolee snorted as he handed me a datapad. “You’ll need a lot more practice than one or two evenings.”

 

Talin raised an eyebrow. “Do I even want to know what this is about?”

 

“Ask Jae sometime. Less play. More study. It’s been a long few days already playing in a couple bad storms, fighting a Sith a couple times, mending you, and getting the ship repairs finished. I’d like to get something constructive done on this before my eyelids get other ideas.”

 

We spent several hours poring over the data before Jolee called us all back together. “Let’s do a quick review and then call it a night.”

 

I pulled up a holomap of the region. “This point in Li’adin space is the planet itself. This spot over here in space is where the vortices always appear.”

 

Talin furrowed his brow, studying the datapad. He added his information to the map. “I’m starting to see a pattern in his travels. He occasionally went to Nar Shaddaa, but most of the time he went from Telos to the vortices and back. He started to return to Li’adin itself more frequently starting about three months ago, probably for recruiting Singles.”

 

“Can we find out how far back in time he went? Did he go back in time to Ossus, too?” I asked.

 

Talin scrolled through the timestreamer information. “Those are very interesting questions. Ah, here it is. He did go back in time about 45 years. We can double check in the archives for any reported anomalies around Ossus and the other planets then.”

 

“I wonder just what he was doing on Telos for Norelden. We need to find this crime lord,” mused Jolee, looking from the datapad to the map and back.

 

“Aklar’an gave us his ship registry. Maybe we can see when and where he stopped. That might give us some idea,” I said.

 

“We also need to find out what he was doing on Nar Shaddaa. By the way, is that registry a legit number?” Talin asked.

 

“I doubt it. We’ll search through the normal channels of course, but I’d be surprised if he was using the same number once he left the Li’adin system. If it’s not the same, we can ask Mik’oth to help us track it down,” said Jolee. Then he grinned. “I’m quite sure he’ll be delighted to see you again, Jae.”

 

“No doubt. Maybe I should tell him I bought a dancer outfit. Do you think he’ll prefer something with sparkly blue sequins or a rainbow one with strategically placed flashing lights?”

 

“I don’t think anyone will care what it looks like as long as the coverage is the bare minimum,” Talin smirked.

 

Jolee chuckled. “Talin, you’ve obviously recovered completely.”

 

“You men….” I rolled my eyes, and then smiled slyly. “You know, Talin, Mik’oth does have a Ladies’ Lounge. With your manly physical charms, I’m sure he’d find a place for you with no trouble.”

 

“I have an out. I’m a terrible cantina dancer.”

 

“Oh, I’m sorry. I never meant to imply you’d be dancing.” I got up from the table and gave him a wink.

 

Talin blinked, opened his mouth, and then closed it again.

 

Jolee burst out laughing. “You walked right into that one, lad.”

 

“Goodnight, boys,” I called out as I headed to my room for the night.

 

***

 

The Sith Lord sneered, “You’re not strong enough to kill me, Jae. And I’m not going to kill you. I’m going to turn you.” Jolee was lying on the ground motionless, eyes closed. Talin, wracked with pain, was moaning weakly on the ground, twisted with the horrible plague. The Sith Lord drove his blade down for the attack, and we began our duel. He matched my blows, our lightsabers whirling furiously, blades snapping together. He feinted a blow to my leg, and when I moved to defend, he raised his saber high to bring it down on my head. Too late to block!

 

My heart raced as I awoke with a gasp. A few deep breaths did nothing to restore calm, so I went to the galley for some tea. I sank down into the common room sofa with the hot drink, hoping my shaking would abate quickly.

 

Talin padded silently out of his quarters. “You OK?” he asked.

 

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

 

“You didn’t. I was meditating and felt the emotion wave. Was it that dream again?”

 

“Yes. Jolee’s still asleep?”

 

“Snoring away. Do you want me to wake him?”

 

I nodded no as a violent shiver overcame me.

 

He caught my mug of tea as it slipped. “Your hands are ice cold,” he noted, trying to warm them in his for a moment. “Let me go get a blanket.” He returned and placed it around my shoulders, then sat down next to me on the couch.

 

“We’re not supposed to fear,” I said in a tight voice, huddling under the cover.

 

“No, we’re not supposed to allow fear to control us. No one said being a Jedi made us immune to feeling it.”

 

I shivered again at the vivid images. Talin frowned in concentration for a moment, and I wondered if I had somehow done something wrong.

 

“Come here,” he said as he put an arm over my shoulders, drawing me in close. I had another spasm of shaking as I laid my head on his shoulder. He adjusted the blanket and then held me tight to calm some of the trembling.

 

“I can’t sleep. That awful vision will return.”

 

“You have to sleep sometime. I’ll stay so you don’t have to worry about those nightmares.”

 

“I’d be keeping you up too late. You won’t be able to rest yourself.”

 

“I spent way too much time resting last week. Besides, you saved my life. At least let me repay the favor a little by sitting here.”

 

“What would the Council say about this?”

 

“Have you ever seen them complain about a Jedi helping someone? Besides, I’m not worried about the Council, I’m worried about Jolee. He’d shove me out the airlock if I left you alone shaking like this.”

 

“We wouldn’t want Jolee to do that.”

 

“No, we wouldn’t. You’re almost doing me a favor by letting me sit here.”

 

I gave him a half-smile at that ridiculous logic and settled against him. We lapsed into a comfortable silence, and the trembling started to calm down.

 

“I’m glad you decided to stay,” I said after awhile.

 

He gave my shoulders a little squeeze. The shivers stopped, and I was finally able to slip into a deep sleep, free of the visions.

 

***

 

“Caffa’s hot,” Talin said as I walked into the galley that morning. I poured a mug and joined the two men sitting at the small table.

 

Jolee looked up at me from his breakfast. “Something wrong with your room? You like hanging out on the sofa a lot lately.”

 

“My room’s fine. I had the vision again,” I replied, sipping slowly on some of the steaming liquid. The heat counteracted the chill from the memory.

 

“I know this isn’t your idea of a good time, but describe it again for me,” Jolee said, sitting back in the chair. “Give us every detail you can see this time, even the tiniest ones. I’m missing something in the other descriptions, and it’s sitting in the back of my head nipping at my brain like an irritated oller. Ever been nipped by an irritated oller? Those pointy little teeth aren’t dangerous, but they’re sharp enough to be really annoying.”

 

I sat back and closed my eyes, visualizing the scene. “I can’t see any room details. Everything looks dark and foggy around us. Jolee is lying on the ground, still. Talin is on the ground in severe pain, twisted up from the Scourge, blisters everywhere. Then the Sith Lord appears. He’s human, but it’s too dark to make out his features very well. All I can see is dark hair, a pale face, and eyes glowing with hate.”

 

“What is it about these Sith and glowing eyes? It’s like a bad holovid,” Jolee said.

 

I grinned and continued, “Then the battle starts, and the Sith Lord and I trade blows. After awhile he feints for my leg, I go for the block, and he comes at me from above. Since my blade is down, I can’t defend myself. It stops just as I realize he’s going to slice me in two.”

 

“Hmm. Go through the battle sequence move-by-move if you can. I think there’s something more there,” Jolee said.

 

“Let’s see…” I pictured the vision in slow motion. “The sequence is rather long.” I went through the set of attacks and defenses.

 

Talin copied down every move on a datapad as I called them out. He took a few moments to review the entire sequence. “I think I see the pattern. You said in this section here that he’s striking at your head. Show me how he’s doing that.”

 

Standing up, I pantomimed the moves.

 

Talin looked back at the datapad again, and pointed to a different sequence. “Here, on this attack. Show me that one.”

 

He watched closely as I stepped through the stances, mimicking that series of blows. Talin’s eyes widened in surprise as he and Jolee looked at each other. “That’s the Xi-ro form he’s using.”

 

“Looks like it to me, too.”

 

“What’s the Xi-ro form? I’ve never heard of it,” I asked.

 

Jolee said, “It’s a rare form. Doesn’t surprise me you haven’t heard of it.”

 

“Master Vrook’s the only expert in it. Not very many other Jedi know it.”

 

“Why would this Sith Lord use an obscure form?” I asked.

 

“Could be any number of reasons—his master was an expert in it, he wanted to use a form few others have seen to gain an advantage, maybe he just likes the name. However, it narrows the field of people considerably for us. Now we know he’s had Jedi training along with his Sith teaching, and he’s part of a select group. That is, unless Vrook’s started teaching a bunch of students that form,” said Jolee.

 

“He only teaches it to the lightsaber specialists,” Talin said.

 

“Then add Master Vrook to the list of people we need to talk to on Coruscant,” I said.

 

Jolee ticked off the list of people on his fingers. “Yes, Vrook. Then Supat to check on Dycen’a and you two. After that, Telos port authorities and possibly Mik’oth. Finally, Vandar about the information we’ve found and those visions.”

 

“Oh, not the visions again,” I groaned.

 

“I’m glad to see you’re cultivating a mature attitude about this. I can’t begin to tell you how much I love listening to complaining. Let’s add it to the Padawan curriculum and have more of it.”

 

I smiled slightly and then sighed. “All right then, let’s see if we can get an appointment with him first and get it over with quickly.”

 

“That’s better.”

[The Source]

Eventhough we have different writting styles, I still like the way you think. I like the technobale talk, and your action sequence was very entertaining and well developed... I can't wait to read more.

[JediMaster12]

Another great chapter Jae. I like where the budding love is heading. My favorite part is where Jae makes a comeback at Talin. I was laughing aloud and still am

[Diego Varen]

A good Chapter. I wonder how many visions Jae has had of the Sith Lord.

[Jae Onasi]

I can technobabble with some of the best. I knew all that money I spent on college might some day come in handy: I learned big words to use in fanfiction.

Doctor might have me beat in the technobabble vocabulary, though.

 

The 'sparring' terms are taken straight out of the sword-fighting that takes place in our history re-enactment group mixed with a smattering of fencing/rapier and a sprinkle of martial arts. It's how the sword-fighting community describes the blows they give or take (side/offside head, etc) when they discuss the individual fights or rounds of a tourney with each other, since the fighting is not choreographed. Hubby fights, so I get to see the sequences up close (or can ask him if I don't know something).

The whole fic is meant to be more light-hearted than some fare. That's not because I don't want to do something more serious. However, I write chart notes all day and nearly daily email for my volunteer post. In both situations, I have to be very careful about how I communicate so that nothing gets misconstrued/misunderstood, and it takes a lot of energy for me. Dealing with something in a light-hearted matter means I don't have to take it too seriously, and I can just relax and have fun with it. This means the writing style is adjusted accordingly. Of course, since this is only about the second or third piece of fiction I've written since high school creative writing (a long time ago in a galaxy not so far away), it's equally possible (and very likely greater in probability) that it's just frank inexperience talking.

But the only way to learn to write is to 'just do it'.

 

Edit--one of the things I did in a grad history course was this exercise where the prof gave us a pile of data and facts, and the 20 or so of us in the class had to take that info and write a 5 page paper on it. The results were very interesting. We all had the same starting info, but we all wrote 20 very different papers based on that. The differences in writing styles and how we each even perceived and approached all that data was fascinating. We had to read them out loud, and we all learned something different from everyone else's papers.

 

Edit--@Mac--yep, we do have different writing styles--mine's probably more 'social/conversation' oriented than yours and yours is a bit more action/activity and even thematic oriented. Nothing wrong with that, btw! I just happen to enjoy the people stories/witty repartee of the movies and games just as much as the action, and maybe leaning more towards the conversation than action stuff in my case. Just different ways of looking at the SW universe.

 

@Pottsie: 3 visions so far.

@JM12: When I was running through that part today on my lunchbreak while doing some editing, I had to make sure I wiped the smirk off my face before I left my little office, lest eveyone wonder just what good drugs I was on. I think the staff wondered what the heck I was doing there that made me laugh out loud to myself.