Private Counterpoint

[Jend-Ro Quill]

"No, nothing."

Quill closed his eyes. His forehead and eyebrows were so knotted in thought that he felt a headache coming on.

"How do the Drael use these stones? Does each Drael carry one as part of a weapon, not just their Force-users? Is it attuned through the Force to that specific Drael - is that why picking up a Bryn'adul weapon just doesn't work? Can the stones be...convinced, coerced, turned, suppressed, put to sleep? Would Force suppression work? I don't see why not. Would a Wall of Light shut down Drael weapons? Arguable. A...mind trick? Did you get any sense that the stones are...in some sense alive?"

He surged up from the chair as it all finally clicked.

"We need to reexamine every close-range battle we and our allies have had with the Drael. We need to work with memory, take a look through the lens of understanding these stones and their relationship to the Drael and their technology, if it even is technology. It might just be equivalent to a bunch of Sith troopers running around with alchemical objects - which is hardly an alien thought at all, and which we can counter if we do it right. Memory. We need memory in bulk."

Romi Jade

 

[Romi Jade]

These were the questions

"I don-I don't know." She responded, perplexed really because she thought she knew but, "It definitely didn't feel technological...or crafted by any means. It felt natural but...I don't kno--I hear or feel? It's like this faint signal in my head but it feels...far off." She framed the width of her head without touch; her fingers sprawled.

Her head whipped around when he shot from his seat.

" Loske Treicolt and Ryv were with me when I conducted this little experiment. We can start with them, Ryv I believe is one of the few who has done the most battle with Drael. I'll reach out to them and also look into others but...I need to get near that stone." She nodded and leaned forward to get the leverage she needed to rise from her chair before pacing off just a few steps.

She was in thought.

"If this stone is imbued with the Force somehow, then maybe I can use the Crown to get a vague sense as to where it may be...but i'd probably need something to use as a focus...and a way to balance the amount of energy it'd take..." She wondered...

She came around full circle. "Master Quill...you've been an amazing help..."

---

Jend-Ro Quill

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

He ducked the gratitude, almost physically, by focusing on the unanswered questions.

"My sense," he said, "just based on stone fragments I've heard about, is that you're not after a single massive central stone so much as...many, thousands or even millions if they're so fundamental. Maybe they're carved from the area. And if the...if there's that many and they're connected, perhaps there's a way to influence them, interact with them, bond with them. If they're anything like how Yuuzhan Vong and lambent crystals work..."

He sat bolt upright.

"Vongsense. These Drael stones don't exist elsewhere in the Force like most Vong life - but the principle holds. Um, how do I put this. Some Jedi have bonded with lambent crystals and developed a small window into the part of the Force spectrum where the Vong look. It gives them what's called 'vongsense' - the ability to sense the Yuuzhan Vong and their creatures. What I'm thinking is that if you could capture one of these stones from a Drael weapon, you might be able to...crack its encryption. Bond with it. Which could let you sense the presence or whereabouts of other stones - a Draelsense, but within the spectrum of the Force that you and I and this galaxy can access. The possibilities are..."

 

[Romi Jade]

She nodded in thought, poking her lips out as she deconstructed everything internally. "That would make more sense..." She realized.

"Couldn't likely be just a massive stone if its used that frequently...and maybe more so just a natural occurrence wherever they harvest them." These theories were feeding her largely. She set out with the hopes of learning more, and this was starting to make a bit more sense to her the more they delved deeper and deeper. Albeit, if it weren't for Quill, she'd have likely never deduced some of this.

"I think that's a good next step...follow these clues, and get my hands on a couple of those stones, several if luck is sucha' thing."

She inhaled with just a brief bout of relief, "I'll admit this eases my mind just a tad. I'll take what i've learned from you and speak with Coren & Cotan at the Conclave, and hopefully I'll be able to gain an audience with Thurion Heavenshield at some poin--"

She realized, "Sorry Master, I should show you to your quarters so you can get settled in. I get tunnel vision sometimes..."

A blessing and a curse.

Jend-Ro Quill

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

Quill waved it off. "Just call me Quill, and I can find an empty room to drop my pack easy enough. You've got much more important things to do, and so do I. One thing...how many Jedi are here at any given time? Permanent residents other than you? Frequent visitors, occasional visitors?"

Romi Jade

 

[Romi Jade]

Quill waved it off. "Just call me Quill,

Her reply was a coy tilt of her head, almost melting a bit into herself, "Quill it is." nodding with respect to his wishes.

"You and I are the only permanent residents for now. We've had a few students come through, no more than five or six at one time, and none of them stay more than a few days. However, with you here that could change-- I mean they'd be small groups of course because of your--"

Ahem.

"Not a lot of frequenters, and as far as occasionals...Johannes uhm," A beat, "...Does stop by here and there. He's uh...a friend of mine from when I was stationed on Hapes. He mostly just does a check in." She pointed around the room.

Jend-Ro Quill

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

"Call it a preference," said Quill with a shrug. "It isn't, but it flows better than words like 'disorder' or 'Force affliction.' Or just say 'what you need' or 'your condition.' I don't offend easily, and if we're the only two here for now, best to get all this awkward pausing out of the way."

He grinned.

"Sound like a plan?"

 

[Romi Jade]

Heh.

She nodded, "I can get with that." swaying a bit in her stance, and reinforcing herself with a hand in her hip.

"Condition then." She chose, "I can already tell we'll get along well Quill. I like you already. Please let me know if you need anything in the meantime to make the transition comfortable? I look forward to the work we'll do, I've already learned something so." She laughed.

"No more awkwardness."

Jend-Ro Quill

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

"Well since we're getting all that out of the way...I'm never going to beg you to teach me the secrets of Vaapad. I'm a Niman user. I can hold my own but becoming a blademaster isn't in the cards. Also, I'll never fall for you or moon over you or anything like that. Asexual is the word, I think."

He offered a lopsided smile.

"Since we're getting all that out of the way."

 

[Romi Jade]

Her eyes grew wide, wincing as she held back her smile.

"Oh you know about that huh?" She'd been studying up on what she could find at least. Hehe "That's fair. I doubt I could teach it really myself, i'm only a beginner and that was all by accident."

The second part shook her bit -- in a surprising way.

Gasp that turned into a burst of giggles, "Fall for me? Quill...I-"

She'd gotten compliments before, and had heard rumors here and there but she honestly never considered herself that attractive "That's alright with me heh."

She nodded, throwing her hands up

"All squared away. I promise. Hahaa"

Jend-Ro Quill

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

"Oh dear, I've put my foot in my mouth, haven't I." Quill tapped his skull self-effacingly, a broad reference. "A constant hazard, I'm afraid. But yes, Vaapad - it's such a rare skill that some have noticed. Fascinating talent that I will never, ever have. I'd be honored to observe sometime if you're comfortable. How did you come to pick it up?"

 

[Romi Jade]

She shook her head in response, reassuringly but playfully waving her hand "Oh you're fine." Following that with a giggle of her own.

She nodded, "Quill, you've got like one of the best minds...if anyone could figure it out it'd be you. Beyond the whole physically taxing thing, I'd imagine for instruction sake."

She inhaled, lingering on thoughts she wanted to recall, and on the exhale "The Archives on Exis Temple Station. I do these...sabbaticals every now and then, to push myself. I went searching for records left over from the early Republic days...mainly Battlemasters. I found very little on Vaapad beyond what Master Darron Wraith left behind, and even then it wasn't complete or in full."

She got a playful look on her face,

"Beyond the lectures of what it really meant to be a Battlemaster...I thought it would be interesting to plug a proxy droid up and go through some saber instruction myself...and it just turned into several sparring sessions which then turned into me picking up some very surface level stuff. I learned a lot but not much at the same time."

She nodded, "And Master Sochi Ru hadn't any knowledge of it, but she taught me things Force related I'd never knew about. So it ended up a very balanced experience."

Hehe

"Of course, maybe you could help me explore it more."

Jend-Ro Quill

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

Quill scratched his stubbly beard in thought.

"I suppose there's no reason not to try. I'm a Niman stylist, and that involves grounding in the first five Forms, so at minimum I'd be able to speak the same language. And the mental and spiritual side of Vaapad is supposedly all-important...why not. I doubt it'll go anywhere, but then again, 'I don't believe it,' 'that is why you fail' and so forth. Try not, Vaapad or Vaapad not. Heh."

 

[Romi Jade]

She clenched her hands in mild excitement.

"Right!" She emphasized with her finger. "You've got the base for it. Better for those wanting to learn it properly and safely. If it were easy to access what I found and pick up what I did...I'm sure someone else could and be about the Galaxy trying something without proper instruction."

She pointed at herself,

"For example...me."

Heh.

"Heck and if we can't crack Vaapad, we'll create our own form or something."

She wasn't as reckless or overconfident as she was when she was a Padawan herself... she was but the point being she knew what kids that age were about if they had a personality like hers.

Jend-Ro Quill