Big Trouble in Little Mon Cal

[Armand Temi]

While the Rebel Alliance did business on Lamaredd, Armand Temi had arranged a meeting with one of the newest members, a Jedi Padawan and archaeologist named [member="Mark Sage"]. He had asked Mark to meet him on the land mass of Little Mon Cal in a small fishing village where there was a dockside museum with artifacts and fossils of extinct sea creatures. He thought that would appeal to the teenage history fan. The Hapan doctor was a bio-engineer and scientist - he understood scholarly passion.

With his hands clasped behind his back, he stood and admired a prehistoric Menahuun skeleton. Recruiting new talent was his first assignment as the new Benefactor of the Rebel Alliance. And even though Mark was young, right now their fledgling group was small. Armand had his drafting a teenager but again no one was forcing the young Jedi into the Alliance. And right now the Hapan doctor would take any willing pilot or Force user who wanted to lend a hand.

 

[OriginsoftheJedi]

Mark Sage was in his element. If he belonged two places, it was out in the jungle looking for fossils and artifacts, and here among the skeletons of creatures from a time long past in museums like this one in Little Mon Cal. But Mark couldn't hang around at each exhibit for too long, not today. He had a meeting with the benefactor of the Rebel Alliance, which Mark had signed up to join recently. He wanted to help people in as many ways as he could. Soon he'd be serving the galaxy as a part of the Jedi Order, as part of the Galactic Republic, and as a part of the Rebel Alliance (Though what was rebel about them was beyond Mark. All he knew was that they were freedom fighters, and that was exactly what he wanted.)
Mark decided that it was time to find [member="Armand Temi"], the Benefactor of the Alliance. He wandered through exhibit hall after exhibit hall, but was unsure where to find him. He entered another room and found a man gazing at a Menahuun skeleton. Mark wonders if this was who he was looking for.

 

[Armand Temi]

Armand being a fellow padawan felt Mark before he saw him. He sent an acknowledgement of the other's presence and Mark would feel this slight tremor if he were attuned. The Force signal was like the blip on a radar screen. Then the Hapan doctor turned around and said, "You must be the Rebel." He shook the teenager's hand and said, "I'm Armand Temi, Benefactor of the Rebel Alliance and Ambassador of Praesitlyn but... once upon a time, I was just like you. A student of both science and of the Force." He smiled at Mark and with slender fingers beckoned him over to his side to gaze at the skeleton.

"I'm fascinated by all life forms and believe that all sentients, no matter what race or religion deserve a place in our galaxy." He leaned in to look closer at the placard on the exhibition. "I'm not sure by whom but at one point the Menahuun were almost hunted to extinction." He looked over at the Jedi Padawan. "This is what the Rebel Alliance stands to protect: freedom from tyranny. The right to not be hunted by populations which seek to enslave and subdue."

"But I ramble at times as you'll come to find out," he said. "Please tell me about yourself and your talents, Mark?"

[member="Mark Sage"]

 

[OriginsoftheJedi]

Mark felt a slight tremor in the force. The man was calling him over.
"Ah," Mark thought to himself, " a fellow force user."
The man revealed himself to be known as Armand Temi and that he was also once a jedi and man of science. He then, asked to know more about Mark. Mark didn't like talking about himself too much. He felt like he was being boastful, but most people said he was just being paranoid about it.
"Oh, don't worry about the rambling sir." Mark said politely. "I'm known to ramble a bit as well, so I think we'll get along just fine.
So, about myself. Where to start..."
He thought for a moment.
"Well, I was brought into the Jedi Order after I was found living alone with retrograde amnesia in the jungles of Generis when I was 7 years old. I don't remember anything that happened before then: where I was born, my parents, if I had friends, etcetera. I've tried using the force to remember, but haven't been successful as of yet.
Since then, I've been trained under Jedi Knight, Avi Merron, along with others at the Jedi Academy on Yavin IV. I grew an interest in the past early on and have also been allowed to study archaeology as well as xenopaleontology along with training to be a jedi knight and, one day, hopefully a jedi master.
Ever since I lost a very good friend and companion to the dark side on an archaeological mission on Tython about a year ago, I've wanted to help people more, and I decided that by joining the Alliance, I could do that. I'm probably fairly young to be joining, but hopefully, I can be of service to you.
Really, that's the basics of me. If you anything else, I'd be glad to tell you."

 

[Armand Temi]

Armand listened carefully to the young man. The amnesia was truly unfortunate. The medical professional in him wondered if the human had ever been tested to figure out why, but he wouldn't push the issue. Some patients were sensitive and it would have been brought on by trauma for all he knew.

"You are a man after my own heart," said the Hapan doctor. "For awhile I wanted to specialize in xenopathology but I ended up running a clinic on Hapes. And the archaeology... I think we can come up with some good salvaging missions that you may want to take part in. I have a Squib friend who is highly resourceful with salvaging. If you are interested, I'll send him a message and we can go into Wild Space and check out some wrecks. Dig up some trouble."

"Is that something you're interested in?" Since Armand Temi had been recently stuck in board rooms with shipyard blueprints and oversight of building development, he was longing for a little excitement. Artifacts to unearth, extinct species to re-discover. A salvaging mission may just be the cure for his intermittent boredom with politics. He hoped [member="Mark Sage"] would agree and they could pull together a group of like-minds to start roaming the galaxy.

 

[OriginsoftheJedi]

A smirk tugged on the edges of Mark's mouth. He was genuinely beginning to like this man. Salvaging was Mark's specialty. Nearly the entire recently finished lightsaber that hung on his belt was made of refurbished parts and artifacts he'd been able to salvage. Mark felt it was sort of a way to honor the jedi who'd become one with the force already.
"It'd be my pleasure sir. I'm very used to salvaging. That's mainly how I was able to finish this recently." Mark said, holding up the hilt of the lightsaber he'd recently completed. It was his pride and joy, his own creation.
"When would be best for you? I'm game whenever, wherever. My Actis-class might be a bit old, but she'll take me wherever we might want to meet."

 

[Armand Temi]

"Wonderful!" Armand said clasping his hands. "I can't wait to introduce you to Admiral Brightsky and her salvaging crew. I have to admit Wan Min was one of the reasons I joined The Rebel Alliance. She has an unwavering dedication to the cause." He stopped and spoke a little slower to try and explain the Rebel's credo.

"I hope you understand. At the end of the day, we're not terrorists, but a group of people, aliens, near-humans who want to see things change in the galaxy and well, sometimes you have to go outside of the prevailing government body in order to do that."

The Hapan doctor walked around the room looking at the other exhibits while he spoke: ""What would you like to find the most out there in Wild Space, Mark?"

[member="Mark Sage"]

 

[OriginsoftheJedi]

Mark pondered for a moment. Knowing Wild Space, he could find almost anything. "Think of what you want most in the universe." He thought.
He couldn't decide on one particular thing.
"I'm really not sure." He said. "New species and what not are always great, but I'll take whatever the winds blow my way."

 

[OriginsoftheJedi]

"Though..." He thought for a moment.
"I did have this idea that's probably completely mad. I've had it in my head for a while now, but you probably don't want to hear about it. It's most likely impossible."
[member="Armand Temi"]

 

[Armand Temi]

Armand looked at the young padawan and laughed not unkindly.

"I know all about the impossible," the Hapan doctor said. "I come from Hapes, a planet where men are treated as second class citizens. But I didn't let that stop me. I knew that if I stayed on Hapes I would never rise above my station. So I left my home-planet to join the Alliance. Of course, I still run my medical clinic there but I don't call it my home. Sometimes we have to make difficult decisions that feel uncomfortable at first but end up being just right." He stopped and shook his head, afraid he was rambling on again.

"That is the long way of saying I would love to hear your impossible idea," Armand added.

[member="Mark Sage"]

 

[OriginsoftheJedi]

"Well," Mark said, " I want you to know that you asked for it if this is stupid. Basically, I've dabbled a bit in biology, and I've had a theory that one could hypothetically clone a previously extinct animal as long as you could get some form of DNA, even if it's not the whole sequence.
If it is indeed possible, think of the applications. We would get to see animals that were dead for years alive, and in the flesh: things that died even before the original destruction of Alderaan.
Heck, we could open a whole biological preserve for them: long since extinct creatures alive and in their natural habitat again. The public would love it! Forget holozoos! Heck, do you know how long that would find the Alliance for?"
"But alas," he conceded, " it's probably not possible because we couldn't find a source of viable DNA."
[member="Armand Temi"]

 

[Armand Temi]

Armand's eyes widened and he smiled. "You would be surprised at what can survive out there, especially in Wild Space. Once on a salvaging mission I found a live hemorrhagic virus that existed eons ago. Turns out it was designed by the Sith to kill entire populations of innocent civilians. We destroyed the virus of course but I have some living samples of mutations in my clinic back on Hapes which I can show you." He held up his hands. "They are perfectly harmless I assure you."

He clasped his long fingers behind his back again and looked at Mark. "You'll need a code name because our work can be dangerous at times and you don't want to be tracked or intercepted. Do you have any names in mind?"

[member="Mark Sage"]

 

[OriginsoftheJedi]

"Right. I don't know exactly."
Mark brought a few fingers up to his chin. He thought of anything that could work. It didn't need to be anything too complicated or strange. Just something everyone could remember.
Then he thought of something.
"How about something along the lines of 'Raptor'?"
[member="Armand Temi"]

 

[OriginsoftheJedi]

He'd always liked the word, though it sometimes had a negative connotation. The raw definition, Bird of Prey, was much more than what people made of it. When Mark thought of Bird of Prey, he thought of intelligence and grace. He thought of the Kite Hawks of Yavin IV or the extinct Krayt Raptors of Tython. That had always been his style, speed, intelligence, and grace over brute strength.
[member="Armand Temi"]