A Stunning Performace

[Aela Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

She was seventeen now, almost an adult my galactic definitions.

Father and Mother had trained her for the past eleven years, both of her parents having given her some gift and lecture, surprisingly her mother more than her father. She smiled slightly, running her finger down the spine of the book she was holding. She knew a great many things now thanks to them.

Aela was now a match for any Knight trained by the Jedi, perhaps even more so. She was strong in the force, lithe on her feet, and quick with a lightsaber. Mother had told her that she moved like liquid, Uncle Cameron had told her that she was like an iron wall in combat, her father had simply smiled and beamed with pride. All of them had imparted some knowledge on her, and all of them had told her she was doing a great job.

Yet there was still more to learn.

She could advance herself in her own force powers, push herself forward, and perhaps learn something...bigger. Her hand traced down to the book and she shifted slightly, moving through the house in bare feet.

Aela found her mother within the living room, sitting on the couch wrapped in one of her fathers fur cloaks. There was a holo-show of some sort on. Nohei would have been able to recognize it, but the program was utterly foreign to her. For a few moments the eldest daughter of Soliael and Kira lingered in the doorway, then she wandered closer to her mother.

“Mummah.” She tried to catch Kira's attention.

 

[Kira Talith]

"Hey sweetie,". Kira would smile at her daughter, a bit curious as there were only a few times Esmae would ever call her 'Mummah'. She would shift a bit under Sol's cloak, the massive thing dwarfed her but it kept her warm. Besides, it had his lingering earthy scent.

"Anything the matter?" She would ask, her face awash in growing concern. She turned down the volume of the holodrama, setting the bowl of popcorn to the side. Her arm would slip from under the cloak and reach out towards [member="Aela Talith"] to encourage her to come over.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

Aela approached her mother, body language giving away the fact that she had come here to make a request.

All of the children bore Kira's more expressive body language, and although they had learned to hide it, at times it simply came out in droves. Right now it was clear that Aela had a request on the tip of her tongue, one that she had not yet figured out how to make. She fidgeted slightly, shifting, then stepping closer to her mother again.

“I...” She trailed off. “I'd like to learn more about stunning people, with the force.”

Kira didn't like the thought of her children heading into combat, she didn't like the idea of them fighting, but she did like the idea of them learning non-lethal means of doing so. Force Stun was perhaps the greatest application of this, capable of paralyzing and completely stopping someone in their tracks.

 

[Kira Talith]

Kira's eyes would widen slightly, her smile following suit. Her daughter was walking, breathing, curious thrum of emotions that would seep from her body.

"Okay," she began slowly, giving a little nod. The kids already knew the basics of Force Stun and Force Paralyze; Kira was always a stout supporter of using non lethal means of incapacitation if the usual tricks without the Force were not an option. Unlike their father, Kira preferred to make use of the Force as little as possible, leaving it for a last resort. The brief glazed over story of how their parents met certainly caused a few laughs, but it relayed the lesson that if one needed to fight, it didn't always have to be aggressive nor hold a final lethal blow.

Kira gave another nod, as if going through her thoughts and coming to a decision.

"Alright --" she would drop her gaze from [member="Aela Talith"], glancing around the living room. A rather impish grin grew over her face.

"I'll need you to help me clear out the coffee table first...." she said, standing up as she would shrug off Sol's cloak from her tiny body.

 

[Aela Talith]

For a second Aela looked confused.

“I thought we would do it outside...” Why would they practice inside? That made absolutely no sense.

Of course the thought that her mother simply didn't want to leave a mess behind her didn't really occur to her. She was eighteen, followed the rules...generally, and was known as the more grumpy of the kids. Yet certain things simply did not occur to her, the idea of cleaning something now, before they trained, it simply flew right over her head.

She frowned slightly.

Her mother could get curious at times, but training inside? That just seemed like asking for things to break, especially in this room where father stored some of his more sensitive furniture.

 

[Kira Talith]

Kira gave her daughter a mischievous glance. She only shook her head, pushing the coffee table away and clearing the path.

"Oh Esmae," she began, giving a light laugh, "Training doesn't have to be exclusive to the outdoors or so rigorous to follow a specific set of rules!" she'd tell her, the petite woman now starting to toss pillows and the blankets to the clearing they had both just cleaned off.

"Think outside the box, honey. Try to have a little fun." By now it would appear as if Nohei and Khayri had decided to get the preliminaries set up to make a blanket fort, the entire floor was covered in blankets and pillows. Even Sol's cloak!

A finger would reach out to boop at the tip of [member="Aela Talith"]'s nose. "Maybe I just don't want you freezing over and falling on your pretty face hmm?" she'd tease.

And before Aela knew it, Kira would reach out and send a massive charge of energy through the Force, crashing against Aela's slender figure. Force stasis was a more potent version of Force stun, deadening the senses to induce a near - catatonic state and in effect freezing them in place.

" Your father learned that the hard way y'know." she would chuckle out. The best way to learn it was to experience the sensation and how the Force worked on the body themselves.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

Aela suddenly became very nervous.

“But what if we break something?” She looked at all of the things in the room. There wasn't much, honestly, but there was enough to worry about. There were the books that her father had stored here, the vases that they had bought for some reason, a mask that sat in the corner, and a few other things that Aela was terrified could be broken if she accidentally messed up.

“I could fall and knock something over!” Aela said nearly frantically. “Or I could use the force wrong and blow up half the house!”

Some might consider that a joke, but with the Talith children a show of force like that was a very real possibility. At one point Micah had tried to pull down a tree branch with the force and instead had pulled out the entire tree by its roots.

It was hard being so strong.

Suddenly, before she could say anything else. Aela completely froze. Her sight became blurry, all sound drowned out, and her body began to paralyze itself. "Mo-!"

Aela tried to scream at Kira, tell her how they couldn't do this inside, but it was too late. She suddenly became very dead to the world.

 

[Kira Talith]

So there they were. One frozen daughter and the Jedi Master who did it. Kira gave a shake of her head, looking at the near catatonic state of [member="Aela Talith"].

"Why are you afraid?" Kira would ask her daughter, aware that she would not be able to answer her back until Kira would release her or the stasis waned.

"Why do you not trust your abilities? In the Force?" there was a measure of slight disappointment in Kira's expression, as if she could not understand why Aela could act like so. Had Soliael and her been lacking in their training of the children? Had they failed somewhere?

"Why don't you just let go and simply be, Esmae?" a hot puff of air would blow Kira's bangs away form her face.

"Why can't you trust me?" another shake of her head, then a wave of her hand would release Aela from the hold of stasis, her other hand using what bit of telekinetic ability she had to ensure Aela would remain on her feet.

"I can teach you advanced methods of stuns through the Force. But I cannot teach you to trust in yourself." She gave a sigh, taking a step back. She bent down to pick up a pillow and tossed it to the couch.

"That's something you will have to learn on your own."

 

[Aela Talith]

“I try to.” Aela said quiet as a mouse.

She didn't mean to be so uptight.

She didn't mean to always be so aloof and stoic.

It was simply how she was. She trusted herself...or she thought she did, but she was scared of doing something wrong, of messing up. There was confidence when she was doing something she knew she could accomplish. Like when she handled animals, or when she was using Fathers old tomes.

Yet when it was something new, when it was something that could hurt someone or something that she could lose control over...Aela wasn't good at losing control. Her lip found its way between her teeth and she nervously chewed.

“I try, Mumah.” She said again quietly. "I do.”

 

[Kira Talith]

"Everyone starts from the beginning somewhere," her mother would explain, "And not everyone is perfect. People make mistakes, but then they learn from them." she told [member="Aela Talith"].

"It is okay to make them; but starting out with fear and worrying about making them is only a self fulfilling prophecy." Kira would walk a small half circle around Aela, picking up and fluffing pillows, adjusting the blankets on the floor.

"I know you like to keep everything under control, but you can't. There are things beyond your control in the galaxy. But what is under your control is how you face each and every situation." Kira would bend down to grab a scrunchie from the coffee table, using it to tie her hair up into a ponytail.

"Now, you already know how to use Force Stun and Paralyze. Stasis is much in the same manner but and advanced form; you are going for a full body near catatonic state for a longer period on a singular person." Kira would explain to her daughter.

"Did you feel how I used the Force to spread across your body? Kinda like a wave of energy that shot through the length of you? Stasis can last as long as the user desires or up to a certain period of time without your concentration. It depends on how much power output you are going for and your level of concentration. At higher levels, like a master, one is able to do a small crowd or larger --- but that requires and immense amount of concentration at the beginning. "

 

[Aela Talith]

She nodded her head.

Part of her had already guessed that, and she had already theorized it on how to do it on her own. Concentration was something she was rather good at after all, and aided by her fathers lighsaber...her lightsaber, it was even easier.

The Angraal crystal that was situated within the hilt of her blade helped her remain calm, focused, it allowed her to find a peaceful center much more easily than if she did it on her own. She assumed that this would help with using force stun, or really any force power. Of course she knew it already worked somewhat, after all it had worked on Telti.

Her lips thinned slightly at that thought.

“How many have you been able to stun?” Aela asked. “At once I mean.”

 

[Kira Talith]

"That depends on the level of skill and power -- force stasis is meant to stun one person to a near catatonic state," Kira would explain to Aela. It was all about progress and mastering each step at a time.

"Stasis field is the advance version of it, where you can stun multiple targets. But you will first have to master Force staisis before attempting Stasis Field."

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

How many?

Dozens? Hundreds? Thousands?

She wondered just what this could do, how many people it could save, what exactly she could do with her. Aela's lips thinned as she thought, her eyes wandering to her own palms for a moment before looking back up at her mother. She nodded.

Power in the force was an odd thing.

Aela knew that she was stronger in the force than her mother, she knew that her siblings were as well. She knew that her father was powerful, her Oma and her great Oma as well, yet she knew that currently her father was stronger than her, though he had explained it was due to an artifact. Aela had never really thought about her strength in the force...it had always simply been there. Her lips thinned again.

“Could I hurt someone?” Aela asked quietly, pondering that thought.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Aela Talith"]

Kira saw the measure of concern wrinkle the delicate brow of her oldest daughter, acknowledging that there was still a measure of trepidation. All of her children were blessed with a powerful potential in the Force -- that came from Soliael's side of the family, she figured. With little to no history on her own lineage, Kira knew well what it meant to have children come from two powerful dynasties on their father's side. It was daunting, and at times there were a few bumps on the road because of control. However, she had every bit of faith on Esmae's abilities.

The question was if her daughter could control her fear.

"No, Esmae," Kira told her, coming to rest her hands upon her shoulder. "It doesn't hurt. But it is kinder than using a saber or any other method that could bring harm."

She would study her daughter with a warm expectant expression, ready to answer any questions she may have.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

“What if I pour too much power into it?” She asked quietly. “If it's just one person? If I panic?”

She had encountered that panic back on Telti, when the war had been going on. Of course at the time she hadn't even thought of stasis, but now...now she knew it would be one of the first things she would think of in a fight.

What if she was panicking? What if she reached out and poured all of her strength into a single stun?

Could she put someone in a coma? Could she make someone sleep forever? As far as she was concerned that meant death. Putting someones brain away from function, displacing their mind and throwing it away, it terrified her. She bit her lip and fidgeted slightly.

Aela did not want to kill.

 

[Kira Talith]

"Esmae," Kira began, rubbing her daughter's shoulders in an attempt to comfort as much as to get her attention. "The only way you will panic is if you let that trigger gut feeling overtake you. If you let that adrenaline rush and your fear take root." she would explain.

"But if you reign that in like I know you already know how to, you will do fine. You will control it." Kira told her reassuringly, "However, if you use too much power, or if you let yourself panic, then chances are that what you fear will do exactly the opposite. You might fail to properly subdue them in a semi catatonic state or it may not last as long as you'd wish. This is because in your panic, you are not focusing on the process, how the Force is affecting the multitude of bodies.

Remember, this is a power that wrestles with your target's willpower and fortitude. A Master of the Force would be different than an acolyte, and even those who are unable too manipulate it can end up surprising you. Expect the unexpected, but focus steady control over yourself and your surroundings, sense each and every person you desire to submit to your Force stasis through the Force.

It is kinda like your sitting in the center of a spider web, and once you use Force stasis, you are binding each target with your silk threads -- just at the same time."

"The effect on one is the same as many -- but again, more than one target will require an intense amount of concentration. Concentration and focus that may fail you if you panic."

 

[Aela Talith]

She nodded.

That mad sense, in a way.

Her gaze fell down onto the lightsaber that hung at her wrist. She pulled it from her belt and rolled it in her palm. It had been her fathers lightsaber once, a very simple metal cylinder with no adornments or fancy metal platings. At one point, when she had been twelve and had just received the lightsaber, she had in a very childish moment carved her initials into the bottom of the weapon.

A.E.T.S.

It was deeply carved into the bottom of the metal hilt, and was obvious to anyone that would look at it. It was one of the only two things that made the lightsaber physically special, the other being its unique crystal.

Of course to Aela, even without those two things, it meant the galaxy.

“The saber. The Crystal, will it help with that?” It should have, at least in theory, but it didn't hurt to ask.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Aela Talith"]

"Yes," Kira told her daughter with a smile. The lightsaber that Aela held once belonged to her father. It was the very same saber Kira had assisted Soliael in building himself, using one of the six Angraal crystals they found in the subterranean cavern system under the Exocron Fortress.

"The Angraal crystal will help you keep a clear and calm mind." she told her, elaborating on the benefits the Lorrdian had discovered with the aid of her husband and his archive collection. "While it won't stop you from feeling fear, it can help you keep a level mind, increasing your connection to the lightside of the Force as long as it is within your grasp." Which was a major benefit when in the midst of battle.

"Go on," she encouraged her daughter, widening her smile as the corner's of her eyes crinkled in warmth.

"How about we try Force Stasis first?" she would gesture to herself then. With all of Kira's lessons, she would always use herself as a test subject.

Probably not the most stress free of situations, but Kira had the on the job training type of teaching style that relayed she was willing to take what she was dishingout.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

Her hands tightened around the lightsaber.

Stasis.

She could do that. She had done it before to a few soldiers on Telti. It had been a bare thing, not really much to speak about and more out of shock and panic than anything else. In fact she barely remembered doing it. A frown settled on her lips for a few seconds, before they turned into a thin neutral line.

Aela nodded to her mother.

One hand removed itself from the saber and her eyes folded shut. She concentrated, though, then let her hand suddenly open. With that open palm Kira would feel an intense...muffling of her senses. Vision blurring, sound becoming less full, and her body beginning to feel sluggish, as though a great wet blanket had been draped over her.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Aela Talith"]

Kira felt the Force surge within her daughter, felt it arch and rise under her guidance. The Jedi Master had faith that Aela would be able to take her current grasp of using the Force to Stun and paralyze to the next level. She just needed to focus and concentrate on the higher output and the overall requirement to slow down and ensure a singular stasis would be successful.

There was no denying her children were all gifted in the Force. Each had their own innate talents, while others required a bit of practice.

The smothering sensation of a wet blanket would tentatively fall over the Lorrdian, and she felt a measure of pride at that first step. Okay, doing good honey. Just keep working on it.

At least, she thought she said it aloud.