Heritage of the Light.

[Jsc]

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Planet Tython

Current events came and went. The Jedi remained busy. Tython had become a new hub of activity for the Order and Karen Roberts was happy to help. The first orders of business had already been squared away and it was now safe enough to begin activities away from their usual routine. Padawan Roberts had traveled up into the mountains behind their camp and was busy setting up a thermal sensor station and also clearing away a path for an eventual supply depot construction. All in all, she was a very busy girl. Perhaps in time the Jedi Order might call Tython a cozy little home. But until then, there was much work to be done taming the land and soil. Even greater tasks and construction lay ahead.

"Goodness. I think I forgot my power cell? ...Oh. Where did I put it?"
"Something wrong Miss Roberts?"

A tech by the name of John Fiddle came over to help Karen with the Sensor Tower. It was almost complete.

"Oh no. It's nothing John. Just looking for another power cell. The tower takes three and I only seem to have two of them lying about."
"Ah. Well. I'll call down to camp and see if somebody can't bring us up another one. And maybe some lunch too?"

Karen frowned and nodded her head. It was a good idea. They wouldn't be able to finish the tower without it.

"Very well. Call ahead and see what you can find. I'll start moving the branches down by the road for the trucks to come pick up. Call me if you need anything John."
"Can do madam. I'll just be back by the depot."

John went one way and Karen went the other. She could carry the chopped wood down by the road to kill time. Eventually someone would come along with her power cells. ...And maybe even bring lunch with them too?

 

[Ben Watts]

Ben thought he had been busy before when it was just him trying to get the Jedi together, but really, he did not know what he had been thinking. He had been back for maybe a week and he was already sleep deprivived due to him constantly doing something. It seemed like his baby, the Jedi, and now that he was back from his meditation he had to nurse it. He felt a little out of place at first because he was jumping right back into the swing of things like he had never left in the first place, and he knew some people would get a little angry that he had vanished for so long without so much as a warning, but he was trying his hardest to win them back over. If there was someone who knew the definition of hard work, it was Ben, and he would do whatever it took to rebuild the Jedi Order and bring peace to the Republic.

"Master Watts?"

His attention was gained by a young soldier of the Alliance. They had met a few times, his name was Erik, and he seemed like a good guy. He was young and full of life, which could go either way for a soldier, but for now Ben enjoyed his company. "Private Sharp, how are you?" Ben tried to be as formal with everyone as if he was talking to a superior. It seemed to gain the respect of everyone, even if they were on the bottom of the totem pole.

"The thermal sensing station needs some power cells and.... well.... I am not allowed to leave my post and everyone else is out and about." He seemed as if he did not want to ask Ben to do him a favor, which seemed to be the fact with a lot of the lower ranked soldiers, they did not know how to approach the Jedi.

"Sure, give them to me, and I will take them up there. Been meaning to stop by there anyways." Ben offered a smile and he followed Erik to pick up the power cells. He was given a bag full of them and he was sent on his way. The trek did not take long, maybe longer than it should have because he was busy admiring the view, and he was at the station in no time. Since he had come back from his meditation he made sure to take in the sites more than he used to. He realized he had taken advantage of a few things in his life and he planned to stop that.

He came across a girl carrying logs down a path, and from the looks of her robes, she seemed to be Jedi. Nifty, he always enjoyed meeting Jedi he had never encountered before, so a smile instantly warmed his face. "Are you the power cell expert around these parts?" He meant it as a joke, but most times, his jokes did not seem that funny. He had a very lame sense of humor after all. "You know, it is a lot easier to carry that wood with the force, see?" He lifted his hands and he lifted up a large number of the wood that was sitting out and he brought it over to where the two of them were. "Much easier, and saves time, and we can use all the time we can get."

 

[Jsc]

"Well my oh my."

Karen smirked at Ben's masterful use of the Force. Even after almost thirty years as a Jedi Padawan, Roberts could still be impressed. With her hands on her hips she smiled a beaming smile and nodded with satisfaction.

"Well now. Thank you good sir. This young lady does mightily appreciate that. Hehe. ...Padawan Karen Roberts. At your service. ...And yes. I am the local expert in all things Sensor Tower related. So I promise that power cell is in good hands."

She shrugged at her own humor and playfully motioned Ben to follow her back up the hill.

"The tower is in place and nearly complete. Once the techs and I finished with the supply depot plot, we'll move on to the next objective. All in all? We are making good progress today. You should be proud. Given a few more weeks, this whole area should be well on it's way towards being a Jedi Temple again."

Roberts turned about and waved her hand over their handiwork. Construction markers, mobile power generators, lost astromech droids, and haul trucks running up and down all the roads. It was glorious mess under the sunny leafy cover of a glorious green jungle.

"Home sweet home. Welcome back Master Watts. ...We've missed you."

 

[Ben Watts]

"Pleasure to meet you Karen."

She seemed pleasant enough, and if there was one thing Ben could use, was a little pleasantness. Tef was not his usual self, he was having to go back and forth with Republic command, and he was having to try and oversee the entire process of rebuilding a new temple for the Jedi. So all in all, Ben was run pretty ragged, and he could use a little friendly conversation every now and then. When she motioned for him to follow he complied and took off after her once he set down the pile of wood he had picked up.

She started talking about the progress of everything and Ben's face was met with a look of pleasant surprise. It was nice to hear of things actually going to plan. "Yeah, you are speaking Wookie to me, I am no good with anything electronic. I will leave all of that up to you." He laughed and then she said that he should be proud. Proud was an understatement, in his time away, the Jedi had come much further than he had ever hoped. He was enthralled and could not have asked to work with anyone better. It was why he loved the Jedi, they always found a way, no matter what he stakes.

He stopped to look at everything when she pointed it out, and what a site it was, compared to when he was just a lone Jedi with a dream. "Don't overwork yourselves, you're all of no use to me if you are killed from exhaustion." Again, another one of his jokes, he needed to work on things. "Well, Karen, it sure is good to be back. The Silent Desert is second to none when it comes to getting your head on straight and meditating. The force showed me a lot and I know it will help us all."

"So what is your story? How did you end up here in the good old Jedi Order presented by Ben Watts?" He was changing the subject, he enjoyed knowing about the Jedi he was working with, plus he liked to know if anyone had any dark history he should know about. Tef handed him a bunch of files on all the current Jedi, which he had not gotten to yet.

 

[Jsc]

"Heh. Well, aren't you sweet to ask."

It was a common question. Karen had seen alot in her many years of travel. The fact that she finally had an Order to call home was a miracle. The wandering Jedi lifestyle was one to get old quickly.

"I'm Corellian and I grew up in the care of another Jedi Sect. I learned, grew, fought, and faced dangerous trials. Just like anyone else who happens to call these strange times home. I've been a Jedi for almost thirty years now Mister Watts. ...And the greatest achievement in all my travels was finally finding someplace I could call home. Here. With everyone else."

It was a quick summary. But a good one.

"...And like you. I only dream of a better world. A world where we Jedi can live and grow in peace. Alas. These are difficult times and we shall be tested sorely. But I look forward to nothing more than enduring it pleasantly. And? Hehe. ...And in good company."

She gave a short bow to entertain and to close her story with showmanship. She was, as she is. A woman of faith. A woman of dreams. And most importantly, a woman with dirt underneath her fingernails. Fighting everyday for that better future.

 

[Ben Watts]

"Thirty years? Jeez, you got me beat by a longshot!" He laughed and then wondered why she had never been promoted. He guessed it was due to the fact that most Jedi Orders disbanded quite some time ago. As far as he knew he was the last of the original Jedi Order besides Tef. He was sure there were stragglers out there, but if they did not answer the call by now, they weren't coming anyways. "I've met a few Coreillians, cocky bunch you are."

"It is in difficult times you find out your true friends and allies really are. As for your dreams, well, they are slowly coming to fruition. Some day soon you will no longer call yourself a Padawan, and instead, a Knight of our Order. I can sense it, you have a bright future, so keep those ideals up. Buncha grumps running around here." He chuckled a bit and looked around at everything once again. It was nice having a place that he could actually call home. Home under construction, but home none the less.

"So who is it that is training you Karen? There is only so much you can do yourself."

 

[Jsc]

She giggled at that last question.

"Oh dear goodness, no. I've had enough 'training' for one lifetime. Thank you very much. I've been 'trained' in excess really. Let's see... Yes. I'll count them. My lifestyle is an active one, my battle reactions are impressive, my swordsmanship is a keen edge, my diet is the envy of most lord-lings, and my body is honed tighter than a honey-badger's resolve. Oh no Master Watts. Trust me. I've been so throughly 'trained' that I'm more of robot now than a Jedi. Haha."

Bad joke. Haha. It happens. Still? Karen did so love laughing at herself sometimes. Can't take one's self too seriously, now can we? Hehe.

"Now. ...However? If your asking who my Master and Mentor is? Well. Then I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you. I haven't had a role-model for many many years. Such is life without an Order, I suppose. But we press onward. We endure."

She shrugged. It was an old bone. Of never having been promoted to Jedi Knight in her adulthood. It still hurt sometimes when she encountered other, younger women. But the Force thought nothing of it. It still fancied Karen just as much as the day she first believed. And so? Being a Jedi was enough for her. For now, at least.

"I. I know that there is only so much I can do myself? ...But. Well. Perhaps when all of this is finished and the Order's future is secure. Mmm. ...Perhaps then I'll have time for a normal life."

She sighed. Roberts had never been normal. Never worn a dress or danced in heels. Never gone shopping with her girlfriends or gossiped about boys. Her life was a long tedious journey of survival. Nothing near what some might call a 'normal' one. Goodness? Did she even know how?

"Oh. Nevermind. ...Humph. ...We still have work to do. I shouldn't let myself get distracted."

She faked a smile and stood up straight,

"Sorry. ...Oh!? Power cells! Right! I almost forgot."

 

[Ben Watts]

"Oh dear goodness, no. I've had enough 'training' for one lifetime. Thank you very much. I've been 'trained' in excess really. Let's see... Yes. I'll count them. My lifestyle is an active one, my battle reactions are impressive, my swordsmanship is a keen edge, my diet is the envy of most lord-lings, and my body is honed tighter than a honey-badger's resolve. Oh no Master Watts. Trust me. I've been so throughly 'trained' that I'm more of robot now than a Jedi. Haha."

"See, told you, cocky group you Coreillians are." He chuckled and he thought about what it would have been like if he had been a Padawan for thirty years. He was so desperate to get promoted that he would have done absolutely anything. He laughed in his head about how imptient he had been in his youth.

"If you are looking for a normal life, well, you are with the wrong group of people. We Jedi do not have the luxury of living a normal life." She stood up and remembered her power cells and he guessed it was time for him to learn a little something. "Karen, you are full of potential, and now that we have a little bit of structure you are not far away from being promoted. So, buy your time, and you will gradute from installing power cells to doing more, COOL, Jedi things." He smiled and he walked over to the power cells. "Alright, what the heck are we doing here?"

 

[Jsc]

"Fear not. Luxury and I are not acquainted. Hehe."

She rolled up her sleeves and slapped the power cell into place. The tower instantly began to light up and a holographic screen appeared on the monitor.

"Ah. Well now. Let's see. I just have to set the range and settings of the Tower. ...So? Erm. Let's see. Set to? Maximum scanning range. Check. Temperature controls. ...Hmm. Set that to? Detect All. Check. ...Ah, but the jungle is too hot. So I'll have to lower it for the ambient heat. There. Perfect. Now let's see if the tower can 'smell' us."

Karen took a step back and activated the tower's thermal scanning. With proper settings it could detect all lifeforms within many kilometers. A sort of, radar. Well. Kinda. It only noticed heat signatures. So it was too crude to tell what kind of animal it was detecting. Or even if the heat signature was an animal at all. But it was very accurate and could 'smell' many things wandering about out there in the jungle. The tower rendered the moving heat signatures in 'Real Time' and could broadcast them back to the Temple as fast a radio signal could travel. So it would do it's part as an 'Early Warning System', just fine.

"Okay. So with just a little tweak. There! Now the tower should be up and running smoothly. Now we can see everything moving about around us. Very handy indeed."

She placed the rest of the components inside the tower and closed the latch. Turned off the screen and let the tower do it's job.

"Well. All done. The power cells will last for about three years. But I would guess it would be the moisture and jungle that break this machine first. Haha. ...Still? Its up and running now. I just have to run back to the Temple to give the radio frequency codes to our Com Specialist. Then we can allow the Temple to see what the tower sees. ...Simple enough."

She whipped her hands on her jacket and smiled.

"Care to accompany me back to the Temple? Or have you other business up here in the hills today?"

 

[Ben Watts]

Ben watched as she put the entire system together with intrigue. He had never been much for electronics or how they worked but he appreciated having around other people who knew what they were doing. Karen seemed to have her head on much more than a lot of the Padawans he had encountered so far, enough in fact to impress him enough to want to work with her until she no longer wore the title of Padawan, the Jedi needed more people with the attitude and desire for something more like she possessed.

"My business is to help out the Jedi, and you are a Jedi, so I do not mind accompanying you." Ben followed behind Karen and did not say anything. He had decided he wanted to test her and see just how much she knew about the force. Without saying anything, he started reaching out with the force and started trying to probe her mind, she would be able to feel him trying to get in. He was not trying very hard, if he was, he probably would have been able to subdue her and get her to do whatever he wanted. He just wanted to see how well she could fend off a foreign attack.

 

[Jsc]

They walked down the hill together and met up with the road. It would take only a few minutes to reach the Temple proper again. In the mean time Karen noticed something rather unexpected from Ben. The Force began to move upon her mind in a most uncomfortable way. Not a Darkside shadow but rather a knocking upon the door. She heard footsteps within the garden meadow of her mind. How rude?

Karen awakened her 'Charm of the Doe' and cast it at the door of her mind. Now Ben's meager browsings would present him with only a simple, persistent image. A glowing white Deer that stood between two trees. A fair symbol of her willpower. And a sentinel to impede his progress. This charm required no concentration to maintain. It was a powerful memory in Karen's mind. One she was intimately familiar with. She needed only summon it again and her subconscious would grasp at it with fascination. Holding it in place with the permanence of an acquired learning. Similar? It was like learning to ride a bike. Once you learn? You'll always have it at your beck and call.

"Tell me Master Ben. Is it common place for men on your planet to browse a woman's mind? I should warn you. Mine is riddled with snares, foot-holds, and a labyrinth of sparkling decorated shoes. You'll not escape without learning something of ladies fashion. Hehe."

She continued walking at an easy pace. If Ben desired answers to a question he had not asked? Well. Then he would most certainly need to vocalize it. Hunting around in a woman's mind is like getting lost in her closet. Your not likely to find your way out again.

 

[Ben Watts]

Ben smirked as she warded off his offense and he quickly pulled back, pleased with how well she defended his attack. "Not common place, no." He laughed and he continued walking beside of her. "It is common for me to see what exactly thirty one years of being a Padawan has taught you. Thankfully you know what you do, my interest in ladies fashion is at an all time low, considering my mind is already running at maximum capacity at all times."

"It is uncommon for a Jedi to hold the title of Padawan for so long, especially thirty one years, don't you think it is time to maybe take your trials and take the step to the next level? We could use more leaders both on and off the battlefield where we will surely be more often than not in the coming months. You have a level head, plenty of patience obviously, and I am sure you could easily gain the trust of both Jedi and Republic soldiers alike."

 

[Jsc]

Karen continued down the dirt road at a somber pace. They had time.

"To answer your question? Yes. I would enjoy that very much. Of course, to the Force, rank and social standing matter little. I am simply another talented daughter with which to bless the universe. In my many years I have learned that I am but a child. I have met immortals and aliens which live the lifetimes of a star. I have spoken with faerie creatures that perch no larger than a man's thumb on your shoulder. Indeed. I have seen and endured much in my few years in this mortal sphere. But all that tells me only one thing. ...Hehe. ...That I still have much to learn."

She giggled at the thought. It was fun to remember such adventures. Such little creatures and such wizardly foes. She rather liked that part of being herself. Being old. Being human.

"Now. I would love to help the Order in anyway I can. ...And if you'll have me? I'm yours. Knight and all."

She beamed a smile and lifted her chin up high. She would be happy to teach, to lead, and to follow.