Heavy lifting

[Mantic Dorn]

He pressed his steps slightly as he walked through the hallways of the jedi temple on Ossus. This was the heart of his life these days. This was where he found peace at mind, calmness and safety from the darkness that had been surrounding them all for such a long time.
Yet, he felt a sting of nervousness on this day.
He was to be put to the test. He was about to put himself to the test.

He was a product of the old times, having been cared fore and raised in the jedi order since he was able to utter his first words.

Mantics upbringing had only had one purpose, to create a warrior of light, a jedi who with extreme skill and speed could best the evil that was of the dark side.
But as Mantic was a warrior all through and through his abilities were not mainly based upon mere physical training. His main strength derived from being attuned with the force. To create a trance like state of mind even in the heat of battle. Clearing his mind and entering a numb emotionless form allowed him to perform great achievements as a jedi. The hardest challenge was to remain unspoiled with events around him during these times and to not falter on this he kept pressing his mind to overcome those obstacles.

The key was meditation, in whatever way it could be reached.

Today he was allowed to enter the vault to practice with the Muntuur stones. Ancient artifacts that stood as the ultimate challenge for jedi to master.
He knew of them. How they had been moved to Ossus when the temple on Couroucant had fallen and how since then, very few jedi had attempted to use them.

He hoped that [member="Minna"] was going to meet him at the doors to accompany him inside the meditation chamber.
The jedi master would indeed give him support and advice for the feat just be being there.
He also hoped that [member="Corvus Raaf"] would grace the event with an observation. For Mantic the traditions of the jedi order were important, in his attempt to lift the Muntuur stones he hoped to inspire more jedi to try the feat and embrace the challenges of old.

 

[Minna]

In her time with the Jedi of the Republic, Minna had only been able to count the Raaf sisters as proper friends; everyone else she had interacted with was either a student or a passer-by. Whilst she had quite the past with Taeli in the Sith, she had only known Corvus on the few occassions they had met, but she still considered them both good friends for how much they had helped her. Now though there was another Jedi she could count upon her friends, the Knight named Mantic Dorn. He had been her unrelenting ally on Balmorra, and no doubt they saved each other's lives on that day. But this friendship was not out of necessity, they did not owe each other anything. The truth was Minna admired Mantic in some way.

There was no romantic attraction, that was pretty certain, but the way he followed the traditions of old in a changing world impressed her. She almost wished she could do the same, although her habits would be hard to get rid of. No, all she could do for now was observe, although abit of help also presented itself. He was planning to test himself on the Muntuur Stones, large artefacts that had a long history with testing Jedi. It would be interesting to see him take them on, and she only hoped he could set an example for other Jedi to test themselves. They really needed a push, especially with recent events, and maybe Mantic was the right person to lead by example.

"Mantic," She greeted him with a warm smile at the doors of the vault, glad just to see him again since their battle. "Feeling confident?"

[member="Mantic Dorn"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus had overseen their removal and return during the last Galactic Event. They were something she practiced with daily - and was surprised more Jedi did not use them - given they were a perfect training aid.

She could lift three and raise a fourth - but given her lifespan was nowhere near that of Master Yoda's, she suspected the successful lifting and control of four might be her limit. Yet every day she pushed herself to do more - to make an improvement. For if a Jedi believed they could not do something, they couldn't.

So she was surprised to see others here today. So she bowed politely to both and smiled broadly.

"Good day to you both, glad to see they're being put to good use." She gestured at the stones.

[member="Mantic Dorn"] | [member="Minna"]

 

[Mantic Dorn]

Mantic smiled and bowed to [member="Minna"]

"Confident might be an exaggeration Master Minna." his voice holding some gratitude for her effort to lighten his mind.

"But, this is most definitely something I have been preparing for over s long time. I believe I can accomplish much here today."
this time his words must have come off as confident. But in truth, if he held no doubts he could have lifted them all a long time ago.

"Thank you for being here." he finished and stepped into the chamber to find [member="Corvus Raaf"] already inside.

"Grand Master." he uttered and took a deep formal bow.

"They have their purpose," he gestured to the stones and quirked an amused eyebrow. "Who am I to deny them?"

He turned to the center of the room. While it was always both pleasant and an honor to converse with such jedi masters he did not want to be too distracted. Mantic had been mentally preparing himself for days to push his abilities as far as he could on this day. This was an official test to lift as many of them as possible though and not "just" training with boulders in the forest.

The Muntuur stones told their stories, and Mantic was slowly blocking the material world aside to be able to hear the ancient message.

 

[Minna]

"Please, just Minna." She corrected as she always did when people used her title. "I have faith in your abilities." Her smile maintained, showing she was there to help. She had seen some of his skill on Balmorra, and his ability to perservere impressed her. Hopefully he would apply that today.

As a warrior like Mantic she had also never used the stones, but maybe one day she would try them. Lifting objects with the force was easy, but the Muntuur stones were something else entirely. Legend had it that one Jedi had lifted all seven, but there was little chance anyone here would achieve that. Maybe she could lift two, or even a third if she was feeling optimistic. However as she already guessed, she was more of a fighter than a lifter.

"It's my pleasure." Minna said lastly, before Mantic entered the chamber. Silently she followed him, stopping beside Corvus once they had finished conversing and he was preparing himself. She gave a respectful nod and a smile to Corvus, yet saying nothing as not to put off Mantic. Instead she would remain silent, observing the Jedi Knight as he would begin the test of the stones.

[member="Mantic Dorn"] [member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus gave Mantic a respectful amount of distance. The last thing a Jedi needed was to be crowded - but by the same token, she needed to show her support.

The key for him - for any Jedi - was belief. He simply had to believe he could do it. To push doubt from his mind, and allow the Force to do the rest.

So she stepped aside and sat on the ground, cross-legged, and waited, indicating Minna could join her if she wished.

[member="Minna"] | [member="Mantic Dorn"]

 

[Mantic Dorn]

He was about to start when the message came though. Naturally the Grand Master of the order was to be the first to know about the consequences the loss of Conturuum would have on the jedi order.

Ossus was turning away from the republic, its senator recalled and the planet would no longer be what the jedi had hoped for.

Mantic sighed and turned to [member="Minna"] and [member="Corvus Raaf"]

"I guess the test will have to wait." he spoke with graveness.

"Grand Master," he continued with a bow. "with your permission I would like to oversee the move of the muntuur stones to one of the Kenobi Praxeum ships for safe keeping until we know more about what is going on."

 

[Corvus Raaf]

The news was grave. One before she'd had to leave Ossus - at the time of the last Galactic Event. But they'd returned as soon as possible to reclaim the site.

This time would be different. There would be no return.

She nodded to Mantic. "Yes, please see to the arrangements." They'd moved them to a Praxeum once before. They needed to call a freighter down to shuttle them to the bigger ship. They may never reside in a Republic Jedi Academy again, but if there was one person she wanted to oversee their safety? It would be Mantic.

[member="Mantic Dorn"] | [member="Minna"]

 

[Mantic Dorn]

Mantic bowed and moved to call the closest docking platfrom. The stones would soon be fetched by lifter droids and moved into a freighter for safe transport to the orbiting Praxeum ship.


Exiting the temple he approached the platform officer with his instructions. carrying the mandate of the grand master made this nothing more then a formality.
The lifters were dispatched and a ship was readied for the final move.

[member="Minna"] [member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Once on ship, access would be reduced for Corvus, she simply knew it. They would be placed somewhere for safe-keeping - under Mantic's jurisdiction - and she might never practice with them again.

So as they were moved, she gave them one last work-out. She closed her eyes and focused on the first four stones. Simultaneously they lifted. And she had control of all four! She believed and the Force made it happen.

She carefully lowered them and looked around sheepishly. It didn't do for the Grand Master to be playing with toys. Even grown-up ones.

[member="Mantic Dorn"] | [member="Minna"]