The dusts and dunes of Ophus V’s desert regions never knew of galactic credits. It never knew of rigid hierarchy, and it never knew of the cruelty of the few at the cost of the many. It did however know the cost of isolation and the trials that came with dwindling population numbers. The culture there also understood the importance of the struggle to survive and the weight of compassion. There was no ‘I’, there was only ‘we’, and those who disagreed often changed their minds once they lost their clan to starvation or predator attacks.
This society was all that Colette had known for most of her life. She was found as an infant in one of the small towns dotted across the barren landscape, brought into a clan and raised as one of their own with a few rather natural exceptions; the biggest one being that she was never to be allowed a marriage or the chance to carry a child. Cruel to some, but just a fact of life to the people of Ophus V. With such a scarce and scattered population thanks to the plague that nearly wiped them all out a few centuries ago it was seen as paramount that proper steps were taken amidst clans to both minimize as much intersection amongst bloodlines as possible.
Although it wasn’t always a pleasant or particularly comfortable life it instilled in Colette a variety of deeply embedded values such as survival, compassion, and a relentless stubbornness. Because of the nomadic ways of the clans, she was raised to venerate nature itself as a being unto itself. It isn’t any one thing but rather an image of the whole. A tree can only do what a tree does and a wolf can only eat what a wolf eats. If anything in these things change, their nature too has changed which means that much like always nature itself finds a way to adapt to the ever-changing rhythm of life itself.
That doesn’t mean however that one should idly sit by and let devastation take root for the sake of a new nature. Care always has to be taken so that current balances should remain balanced, but at the same time recognize that sometimes what’s best is for things to change. Colette’s clan in particular was a seed-bearing clan that helped spread and seed life in the few fertile plains and valleys that they traversed, ensuring that the local animal population always had enough to eat so that it could sustain itself for longer.
This is what Colette most likely would have kept doing if she had stayed, but as fate would have it she didn’t. While out on the dunes and returning to the singular spaceport attached to Ophus V, her clan was encountered by a Seer from beyond the stars who was looking for one of his own kind. After spending an evening to discuss who it was that he was looking for and where to find her he gave the offer to take Colette with him back home. Under normal circumstance it would have been a request that could weigh heavy on a clan, but the revelation of her innate ability to feel and manipulate the force — something that she had brushed off as merely having good luck — meant two things for her:
- Colette had a chance to start a whole new life away from the life she already had.
- Given the rarity of such abilities it was her duty to explore it so that she could better help others through it.
Of course, there was a lot more that went into it that the girl wasn’t aware of yet, but that was a topic for later.
The first thing she remembered about space was how cold it was and how lifeless it seemed. The darkness of the stars haunted her for weeks after she had arrived at the temple on Coruscant, and the nausea she felt that day still crawls its way up her throat to this day each time a ship takes off.
The cultural shock was immediate upon landing on Coruscant. During her first week she was introduced to the Order and the head of the Order: Valery Noble. Colette had been so nervous at the time she would threaten to rub a hole straight through her hand with how she was going. The first few moments of talking to one another was as awkward as it got. Colette stumbled over her words, accidentally called Valery fat, and quickly apologized to the mostly bemused master who was used to handling awkward new arrivals.
Colette was always open with Valery that the idea of having as much power within her as the force could provide scared her. Given that the Jedi Master took the young Colette under her wing there must have been something to her that the kid just couldn’t see. She was taken in as a Padawan for Valery and before long training began.
And that was when she properly introduced herself to a few of the others around her. People such as:
- Lily Decoria, a fierce Echani noble who Colette meets after staring at her at the gym. Colette found the idea of a warrior culture extremely stupid, but that Lily was a good person regardless.
- Kahlil Noble, Valery’s husband who is a warrior by his own right. First met for an investigation into graffiti around the temple area. He too came from a warrior culture which irked Colette.
- Shan Pavond, a mirialan apprentice under Kahlil. Someone with a good heart and a lot of shared beliefs with Colette and the first person Colette knowingly formed a crush on.
- Corazona von Ascania, a stuck-up noble fixated on beauty and all such — and yet, somehow, still a good person that Colette managed to grow to respect the longer they knew each other, eventually forming a somewhat sisterly bond with one another despite their polar opposites.
- Loomi, her roommate and one more good soul to add to the bunch. A fellow padawan at the time and a weaver of skill. A friend she respects immensely.
It wasn’t too far into her apprenticeship under Valery that the Master was abducted. Colette had not been brought along on the rescue mission which upset her. In her anger she managed to get a concussion from a punching bag — or so she tells herself — and managed to see a supposed ‘ghost’ of her master’s former master from the ancient past who teaches her about the person Valery used to be and how similar they were. Of course, Colette took none of it to heart on account of the fact that she was utterly convinced he was just a hallucination.
That was however also when she realized that with both Valery and Kahlil gone there would be no-one around to take care of their children and she raced off to help the eldest, Vera, take care of her triplet brothers and sisters until the parents came back again at which point they thanked Colette for the effort she put into ensuring the safety of their children.
As time passed she met more and more people, got herself more acquainted with the galaxy at large and began to fill out a role in the Jedi logistics chain which it would turn out she was fairly decent at given her past in her old nomadic clan. Not good enough for a chief position, but at least to be sent on various tasks across the galaxy for the Order.
It is in this span of time that Colette develops a crush on her fellow padawan, Shan. At the same time as this there is a bit of a breaking from tradition as Colette, someone without a family name, asked to take Valery’s which in turn led to her adoption into the Noble family. And while that was not her intention it is still something that she is thankful for.
However, having an adoptive mother and father doesn’t mean that the sting of abandonment would just magically disappear as Colette struggled — and most likely still does — to call Valery or Kahlil her parents due to the negative connotations it has in her mind.
It was around this time also that Colette decided to finally return home only to find that the clan she had once called her one and only home had turned their back on her. The Elder gave a cold greeting, and despite Colette subsequently rescuing those who remained of her old clan she was still sent away. As it turned out, her outsider status had been a point of contention for quite a time that had been easily solved when she went off to join the Jedi Order. Colette returned home to the Order as a disliked hero amongst her own people despite the requests of Nix and Red who were the two people that had come as close as one could get to parents for her.
Despite the pain, Colette would eventually find herself back to normal thanks to the help of her friends and family. While the loss of her history hurt, she also knew that the memories would always be there for better and worse. The past was the past, it couldn’t be changed. The present and the future was all that really mattered and that’s what she would prefer to focus on as she went forward.
And for as lovely as it felt to be wanted, the differences between herself and Shan would eventually grow a bit too large. He had one idea of where he wanted to go and Colette had a largely different one. Instead of running the risk of their relationship turning sour they made the decision to simply remain friends with Shan going off to pursue his dreams and Colette to pursue hers. And although things would eventually get a bit awkward, the mutual respect never really faded for either of them.
With this in mind Colette set off on the path to truly focus on becoming the knight that she knew that she wanted to become. She focused on her training, how she treated people and the consequences of words and actions alike. While most of her blunt mannerisms were toned down a little she still maintained an intense persona while acting in her duty to the people.
Of course, her friends knew better at that point. While Colette was content with the stoic reputation she was building, it was plain to see for the many that cared for her that she was and most likely always would be a soft-hearted individual behind all those layers of separation. And this was especially true for the woman Everest Vale with whom Colette bonded nearly instantaneously over their similar outlooks on life and nature itself.
If Colette would have died then she knew that she could have died happy, and that was exactly what she almost did. Due to a logistical mishap she found herself on the planet of Woostri as the the Sith Order descended upon it. There she found herself face-to-face with a trio of Sith alongside a fellow Jedi. While two of the Sith focused on her fellow Jedi, Ko Vuto, Colette focused her efforts on taking down the most powerful of the trio, the one and only: Quinn Varanin.
It was a tale of two Jedi, three Sith, one data center full of important servers best kept out of the invaders’ hands. But a body can only take so many beatings before it starts to give up on itself. Colette and Ko put up a valiant defense, but in the end it didn’t matter. Alliance forces issued the order to retreat, and with it Colette did her best to ensure the safety of her friend. She was bleeding heavily and had gotten a decent part of her lifeforce drained by her opponent.
As the shuttle to pick up Ko came into view, Colette finally collapsed onto the ground. She could feel the rain pelt her skin with water and the way that each heartbeat brought her closer and closer to the abyss. There were no bright lights or voices, just a good death for a good reason. She couldn’t have asked for a better way to go out.
Except she didn’t. She awoke in a hospital wrapped in bandages and strapped to an IV drip. With each visit that came her way and each day that passed she grew more and more restless until eventually she was let go on a strict regiment of physical therapy to get back up to speed again.
The encounter with death strengthened her resolve as she finally understood the dangers that the Sith posed to life in general. She finally knew that these people needed help, but more than that needed to stand accountable for the crimes that they committed. Not that Colette had the authority to truly see that happen, but that didn’t mean she would stop looking in the few cases that she perhaps could make something happen.
As such she began a hunt for her assailant. Quinn was a danger to everyone she knew, and while Lily might not have agreed at the time, Colette was more than willing to go after someone alone — even if they were the heir-apparent to the queen of Eshan.
As Colette got her strength back and as life fell back into the same rhythm as before, she eventually began to fall back into her old routines again. While the galaxy burned around them all, someone would still have to make sure the people had food. That person might as well be her, she figured, and went back to doing what she do best: the right thing.
