Private Desert Hermit

[Thalia Senn]

The engines of the Coub flared as the young Jedi Padawan walked down from the ramp into the heat of Jakku. Over the din of the surprisingly busy Port's Port of Steadfast, the Coub's internal speakers were blaring Nautolan Vortex music, though in the wind it sounded muted. The Coub's pilot was staring down at her as Thalia took her first tentative steps onto the sand dusted landing pad, admiring the massive city she found herself in. Massive may have been an understatement but for Jakku, and for her, it was huge! Besider her Kujo, a KJ-S0 Paige droid from the Jedi Order, stood, scanning the crowd with his towering frame.

"You sure you gonna be okay kid? The Jedi ain't all what they cracked up to be ya know," the red Nautolan pilot said. Thalia looked back up at her. The woman had been good company if a little grating when it came to her dreams of the Jedi. Thalia was sad to part ways with her now. The young Jedi looked back up at the red woman. The pilot's tentacles were flapping in the wind and her black eyes were discerning, a disturbing look from a Nautolan what with their big, black, ambiguous eyes. Thalia met that unknowable gaze with defiance with a look of defiance that seemed to be all the Nautolan needed to see. The older woman shrugged and pushed herself off from her perch.

"Just, be careful kid. You've got my contact. Always willing to ferry agreeable passengers." The pilot winked at Thalia and walked back into her ship, the ramp closing behind her. In moments the freighter was almost out of sight and Thalia couldn't help but feel an important chapter of her life had just begun.

​

The low rumble of the AT-Crawler she was riding in was constant and pervasive. Thalia didn't doubt that if she had time to concentrate and wasn't interrupted by the janky rumbling of the cobbled-together beast of a desert transport she'd be able to feel the rumbling in the storming Force itself. She was huddled in the corner of the scaver's cargo hold, packed in tight between Kujo's legs who in turn was surrounded by junk. The ride from Steadfast to the drop-off point would cost her a few credits but it was well worth the ride. She would have died traveling by foot or beast in this heat. This way, she would be there in hours rather than days.

"This situation is rather compromising Padawan Senn." said the droid.

"Tell me about it. I can't even feel my storming legs anymore."

"You know what the Master has said about your cursing young Miss." Thalia rolled her eyes.

When they were finally deposited into the Jakku dunes it was evening and the chill was beginning to set in. Thalia shivered and dug in her bag for her Jedi robes and wrapped the coarse, light colored robes around her.

"Its supposed to be around here somewhere right?" Kujo was scanning the area and Thalia was digging around in her bag. With a shout of excitement she whipped out her Jedi compass. With its help they managed to find the turbolift. She entered into total darkness, passing the green room and entering the main hub.

"Excuse me," she said when she saw a reading light. "I'm um...I'm looking for master Romi Jade?" Thalia had heard stories of Romi Jade as a child. One of the brightest lights of the Galactic Alliance, a true Jedi Master. As deadly as she was beautiful, as kind as she was cunning. Romi could teach her everything she needed to know about being a Jedi, even if it was on this sandy storms forsaken rock.

What Thalia got instead was an old man who looked too sickly to even be a Jedi. As she got closer Thalia began to wonder if this was just a patient of some sort that the Enclave was looking after. He seemed to be ignoring her.

"Excuse meee? EXCuuuuuuUUUUse meeeee!!!" It got to the point that she huffed angrily and flipped whatever he was working on into his face with the Force.

"HEY YOU AIRSICK OLD MAN I'M TALKIN' TO YE!" Anger flared in the Force. When she got angry her real Pamarthen accent spilled out. She already cursed like a sailor but she could really get going when she got like this. "I DIDN' WASTE CREDITS TO COME TO A CRICKIN' DUST BOWL LIKE DIS FOR AN' 'OL JAGGATH A FEW PLANKS SHOR'T O' A BRIDGE TA IGNORE ME. I STORMIN' ASKED YOUU A QUESTCHIN. WHERE IS MASTER JADE?!"

Jend-Ro Quill

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

The first Quill knew of Thalia Senn 's presence was the durasteel-encased Doverri Holocron bashing him in the face. Blood exploded from his nose. He jolted in his armchair and stared up at the new arrival wide-eyed. A part of him, by instinct, wanted to reach out and return the favor - but he'd spent decades reining in such instincts, so Thalia did not get a bloody nose for her time. Nor did he interrupt, more out of shock than anything.

His heart was still racing, but he called on the Force to an extent limited by his damaged calm. The nosebleed began to heal somewhat.

"She's...out getting groceries in Steadfast, I think. Uh..." He wiped his sore nose on the cuff of his ragged robes and winced. "Can I assume you're the Padawan with the...anger management problem?"

 

[Thalia Senn]

"A-Anger-" She felt the heat rise up her face, her already dark completion deepening in shade as what the old man had just said caused her to flare up again. It was so intense she could feel stinging in her ears from the blood near BOILING from both the embarrassment of his claim and the truth of it. HOW had she walked RIGHT THROUGH that city and not seen her?

And what right did this old man have to say anything about her anger issues?

"OH! Padawan Senn, you won't believe the sorts of plants they have-" The page droid stopped, looked at the padawan and then the Master, his internal computer processing which Jedi he was looking at through a database.

"Ah, Master Quill, it is good to see you. I hope you are doing well. Our records indicated you were still on Hoth. I will make sure to up-" He didn't finish his sentence. Still hunched under the hallway arch, holding some sort of wet plant in his palm the palm shot upward, squelching the algae into the droid's face. Another childish act of the Force from the Enclave hopper. She crossed her arms, suddenly feeling much better, and looked to the corner of the room, pouting.

"I don't have anger management issues....Master just had more...important things to do on the Prosperity...." She didn't get...Dumped like this old man was saying, right?

Jend-Ro Quill

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

If ever a Jedi was in need of some quiet time with the blue banthas of Entooine, this was it. Both for Thalia Senn and, increasingly, for Quill. His soul longed for the tundra just now.

"I don't particularly care about being yelled at," he said gently, "but we've known each other sixty seconds and in that time you've used the Force angrily or disrespectfully, twice. Can you promise not to do that again, or is this a deeper impulse control issue?"

 

[Thalia Senn]

"Well," she started still pouting and averting her gaze, "You're like a Master or something right?" She peeked, "Your nose is already fixed. I knew it wouldn't be a big deal..." Kujo lowered his algae-covered hand from his face, the slop dripping from his round dome.

"Well, Padawan Senn, unless you knew information that the archives of the Prosperity didn't have you are a prodigy indeed!" Thalia shot a glare up at the page droid, her hand half balling into a fist for another algae slap before she remembered that the Master's eyes were on her now again and she thought better of it, quashing her desire to make the droid eat algae again.

She sighed and put arms down at her sides and bowed.

"I apologize Master Quill. I will try my best to contain my disappointment. It was a long trip."

Jend-Ro Quill

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

"Disappointment? Heh." Quill patted the holocron fondly and set it aside as he got up. He gestured down at his threadbare hermit's clothes - significantly stripped down now that he'd moved from Hoth to Jakku. Still raggedy, though; still his. "I admit I'm not the picture of valiant martial grace like the Master who runs this enclave, but I think you'll find as much learning down here as in any of the big temples, if you get invested at least."

He'd gotten sand in his hair at some point. He scratched absently.

"Apology accepted. So tell me - Padawan Senn, was it? - what do you like to learn most? Where are your talents and your struggles? I can promise you'll get plenty of chances to work on both."

 

[Thalia Senn]

Tallents? What was she good at? Thalia's face lit up, pride filling her lungs as she took a breath to begin the list of things she believed she was good at. She was good at sailing, maintenance, atmospheric flight, starfighter piloting, telekenesis was something she'd picked up right away, she could rewire droids, slice vending machines to get her extra portions when nobody was watching (she probably shouldn't have told Master Quill that one), she was good at using the holonet, and, and, and.

"Oh, and I'm really good at fighting, " she added, "especially with my hands. I can throw a mean left hook, haha!" she giggled as she punched her own palm as if to demonstrate her own prowess and boost her bravado.

If there was one thing she struggled at, it was clearly humility.

"I'm like, the perfect Jedi candidate! Pretty impressive for a girl who only started training at 11 huh?" She stood there, basking in her own greatness.

Kujo stared at the young padawan for a moment and sadly shook his head, if a droid could even be sad.

"I will leave you to your studies then Padawan Senn and Master Quill. I do believe this enclave could use a good bit of cleaning and I have noticed your distinct lack of New Jedi Order Page droids like myself. I will see to making myself useful around the Enclave." And with that the lanky droid clanked off into the halls, leaving Thalia and Quill alone.

Jend-Ro Quill

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

Quill thanked the droid somewhat dubiously. He'd never entirely gotten over seeing hundreds of millions of droids ravage Coruscant three decades back during the Clockwork Rebellion. But he refocused on Thalia Senn .

"Well, you've come to the right place to hone your fighting skills. Master Jade might be the Order's top blademaster. She even knows Vaapad, the style that's only ever taught to high-level masters of multiple Forms, traditionally. Something to aspire to, eh?" He scratched his sand-ridden hair again. "I have an idea. Let's get you settled in."

***​

The main training room was, like everything else down here, a circular underground chamber. He dragged out a large set of metal chimes, like the pipes of an organ.

"This is a training tool I built. Each chime resonates with a different note when struck. You stand some distance away and use projected fighting - you seem to have a knack for it, maybe you've even trained in it. Punch the air precisely without overcommitting, and let the Force carry your strike across the room to hit the pipe you've chosen. There's a memory and judgment angle too: you want to create harmony, even a little tune, not dissonance. You can also use rubber balls to strike the pipes with telekinesis. Show me just how good you are."

He'd picked the task because it seemed like something she would excel at and enjoy - but also something that would challenge her to be precise and disciplined.

"And while you do that - answer the other half of my question from before. Where do you still need work? What gaps do you want to fill; weaknesses do you want to turn into strengths here?"

 

[Thalia Senn]

Thalia had never heard of projected fighting before, but if all she was doing was applying her telekinesis she had this in the bag. She wasn’t in her leathers anymore, the material was for exploration and some combat to keep things like gravel and blades from harming her. She’d shed those pieces and left behind only the robes beneath. Much easier to move and think in.

Thalia closed her eyes, centering herself in the Force. To her, the Force was an endless ocean and she a lonely little sailor, guided by the wind and sea, only making course corrections occasionally as she did now. She did not manipulate the Force like the Sith taught, she changed her own state of mind to let the winds of the Force push her towards her goal.

She pushed, sending a wave of telekinetic force into the chimes and…Nothing. Thalia cracked one eye open when she didn’t hear sound. That was weird she was sure she’d thrown a pretty heavy hand into that one. She tried again. Still no sound. Her brow furrowed in frustration but she kept her eyes closed, doing her best to- STILL. NO SOUND. Now her eyes flew open and she took both arms and swept them to the side, sending the thing into the wall. It clanged and gonged satisfyingly to her ears.

“I think its busted Master Quill,” she snapped.

Jend-Ro Quill

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

Quill hurried over to check the training tool. A non-negligible part of him wanted to take it away from the mean Padawan and comfort it.

Maybe, he realized, he needed a pet.

The chimes were intact. He put them back where they were supposed to be and went over to stand as far away as the kid was. He kept his distance from her as well, making them the points of a triangle.

While hand-to-hand would never be his forte, decades as a Jedi gave him a decent grasp of Broken Gate. "How much Broken Gate have they taught you?" he said, settling into the introductory stance of a kata. His Master, the Ithorian pacifist Boolon Murr, had taught him this one for meditative purposes. Nothing like a good kata for learning the ins and outs - heh - of your own breathing, its relationship with your body's motions and strength and timing.

He began the kata, shifting his weight from stance to stance. A fist snapped down or a kick whipped around - a chime rang. He built a standing harmony in short order. He was no musician: it just sounded good.

The kata ended.

"Go on, try again."


Thalia Senn

 

[Thalia Senn]

​

"She didn't get a chance to teach me much," she started but stopped when she realized that Master Quill had started a basic kata. At least, she had thought it was the basic kata. It looked like he was going through the basic stances but he looked so at peace, so in tune with the Force, that it made it look like a dance she had never seen before. She was entranced by his movements and their corresponding chimes. She felt a wave of calm wash over her in the Force.

The young Padawan must have realized she had been staring with her mouth hanging open, because she could feel the heat in her ears rising when the old man stopped his kata.

"Wow," she muttered.

"I-I don't think I could do anything like that Master Quill." The doubt was settling in.

Jend-Ro Quill

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

"Sure you could. Be patient, hm? Patient with yourself. I've been a Jedi for twenty-nine years, Thalia - and I built that training tool. Don't measure yourself against what I just did. But I promise you, it's an achievable goal.

"Pick a song you like, or something calming from childhood. Play the tune, one punch at a time. Go on."

 

[Thalia Senn]

He, of course, was right. He was a Master and she'd only been a padawan for four years, most of which was spent moving from place to place as Thalia and her master attempted to escape the thrall of pirates, Tssi'ruvi skirmishes, and Sharukah patrols that had become more common in the wake of the crumbled Outer Planets Alliance. She did, however, know this kata, or at least her version of it. She took a deep breath in through her nose and let it out through her mouth slowly in an attempt to center herself.

She was on the ocean again.

She took the opening stance, her eyes still closed, and began the kata. Just as before she was hearing nothing, simply sending outbursts of wind and unfocused energy. Frustration began building until the ocean she was trying to maneuver was a roiling storm and she lost her focus. She shouted in frustration, sending the last burst into the ground. She spun around and started marching for the door.

"UGH!"

Ding

The sound stopped Thalia in her tracks and she turned, noticing for the first time really that along with the chimes Quill had brought out small little plastic marbles and she remembered what he'd said during his initial instruction.

"This is a training tool I built. Each chime resonates with a different note when struck. You stand some distance away and use projected fighting - you seem to have a knack for it, maybe you've even trained in it. Punch the air precisely without overcommitting, and let the Force carry your strike across the room to hit the pipe you've chosen. There's a memory and judgment angle too: you want to create harmony, even a little tune, not dissonance. You can also use rubber balls to strike the pipes with telekinesis. Show me just how good you are."

She'd never used telekinesis on something that small before. Could she? She focused on one of the plastic balls. It took more concentration than she thought but she could pick it up and toss it and-

Dong

A grin inched its way across her face and she stepped back to the training position and took another deep breath. She may not have the skill or expertise to just punch the air, but she could do this. She exhaled, closing her eyes, and moved into the ready stance. She let herself sink back into the ocean of the Force, this time letting it guide her as a melody her mother used to play for her before bed or in really bad storms came to her mind. The kata flowed with more purpose and certainty this time. The chimes were very much off-key, but she didn't let that bother her, she just let the Force push her little boat along, guiding her hand. Soon though, the chimes were hinting at the beginnings of a melody. When she finished the kata Thalia opened her eyes, alight with newfound confidence. She looked to Jend-Ro Quill expectantly, her brown eyes shining.

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

If there was one thing separating Thalia Senn from real growth as a Jedi, it was her urge to ragequit, as the youths would say. In Quill's estimation, she needed to improve her sticktoitivity.

What she did not need was to hear that.

"Excellent," Quill said firmly and honestly. "And I believe you'll grasp projected fighting as well, soon enough. Keep at it for the next day or two as you settle in here at the enclave. Then come find me..." He grinned. "...when it's time to show off."

 

[Thalia Senn]

She did as she was told, and then some. Energized by the unexpected praise and wisdom of the old hermit several days went by as she settled into a routine. In the morning she went through her basic and advanced lightsaber forms, had a quick and bland breakfast, and tended to the plants with Kujo and occasionally Master Quill. In the afternoons she'd work on her Broken Gate kata and the chimes, and in the evening she'd put aside some time to either read or tend to the moisture collectors. On nights where she wasn't dead tired from the day she'd help Master Quill maintain the perimeter sensors, but most days she would be far too exhausted. She became so absorbed in her training that she didn't even notice Master Jade's absence and by the second week's end the enclave felt like home, even if Quill continued to be a reclusive old man.

They were both standing in the training room again, the chimes shining, recently polished by Thalia herself. She'd come to respect the chimes and had been taking good care of the tool since she started to use them.

She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly and glanced first at Kujo who was standing holding a basket of bred, his white photoreceptors glowing and bearing down on her. Then she looked to Quill, waiting for his signal to begin. It wasn't a test, but she felt the same sort of pressure from him.

Jend-Ro Quill

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

The Jakku Chimes weren't exactly delicate. Their 1.5-octave range reverberated through the enclave robustly. Quill had long since tuned them out; he barely noticed when Thalia Senn practiced with them. Also he was functionally nocturnal and wore sound-cancelling equipment to bed during a good portion of the day. That helped.

But he'd paid enough attention to know that she was getting significantly better - more skilled, more disciplined, more intentional, and more comfortable. The last bit was a two-edged sword. So this time around, he decided to stretch Thalia's skills and composure just a little.

He hummed a few bars of a wistful tune. Then he took a piece of bread from the droid's basket, and chewed happily.

 

[Thalia Senn]

Silence. Silence was key. She was on that deep, dark ocean. She didn't touch her rudder this time. No, she just let the Force take her where she needed to-

doo dooooo doo dooo doo doooooo doo

Her eye twitched behind closed lids.

chew chew smack smack Was that a burp? Now he was just over selling it. She cracked an eye open and shot the old man a glare and closed it again. Deep breaths Thalia, she thought to herself as she took the opening stance for the Broken Gate kata. She breathed...and out. She could hear the waves now, the waves of the Force crashing and slapping against her boat. Quill's distraction had made the sea violent, difficult to navigate.

No, that wasn't fair. It was her temper, her anger and frustration that was causing the sea to churn like this. She needed to calm herself. She left the opening stance and shifted a standing meditative stance and did more breathing. The ocean calmed around her and the wind picked up. She knew where the Force wanted her to go and she let instinct take the rudder. She shifted back into the opening stance, took one final breath, and began the tune her mother would play on those stormy nights.

She had graduated from the marbles a few days ago and had finally started to grasp projected fighting. The hits barely registered on the chimes at first but the little eddies of sand on the floor were indicative of her intent. But unlike her first day she did not stop when no sound came. She soldiered on and after the first full kata the chimes began as she started again. She could feel the sun rising over the ocean, its glow warming her skin as she shouted in triumph internally. Silent tears of joy streamed down her cheeks as she stoically completed two more round of the kata, each one retaining better harmony.

When she was completed with her fourth kata she shifted back into her standing meditative stance, palms facing the floor and fingertips almost touching. She released a heavy sigh and felt as if a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders.

"How was that old man?" she asked, oblivious to her tear-stained cheeks.

Jend-Ro Quill

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

"Transcendent," said Quill. "Truly extraordinary growth, a complete transformation, a moment of tangible personal progress toward Knighthood. But I just wanted you to play the tune on the pipes."

He hid a grin. Poorly.

Thalia Senn

 

[Thalia Senn]

But I just wanted you to play the tune on the pipes."

He hid a grin. Poorly.

Thalia Senn

For a moment there was a swell of pride. And then he had to say something stupid.

"You mean...I spent all that time practicing...For NOTHING?!" Nope. He didn't deserve that bread. She sucked in a breath and flicked the air, sending a burst of telekinetic teenage angst into the chunk of bread the old man was eating. Her evil deed done for the day she turned on her heel and marched out of the room.

"JEDI MASTERS!" she could be heard shouting down the hall, "I SWEAR! KRIFFING CRAZY, ALL OF YE'S!"

Jend-Ro Quill

 

[Thalia Senn]

It had been some time after Manaan and after the Galactic Alliance and New Imperial Order declared once again to the Galaxy that they were united to fight the Sith, this time with the New Jedi Order with a seat at the table. She couldn't have been prouder. At least, she couldn't have been if Quil hadn't done what the young Jedi considered sacrilege.

He was coming down the lift now and she had been waiting. There wasn't anyone home right now, it was just them. She gripped the hilt of one of her lightsaber, the words of Kaska Arden fluttered through her mind.

A Jedi should only reach for her saber when she means to use it."

She swallowed hard as the lift dinged. She did mean to use it. She...Well, he was a traitor now right? A Sith sympathizer. He'd admitted to helping Sith get off-world! Her grip tightened, the Force like a storm inside her.

The doors hissed open and she lunged, green lightsaber blade illuminating the dark corridor.

Jend-Ro Quill