Faction [NJO] Among the Roots, We Grow

[Xuko Pagoi]

Xuko ground his teeth as his questions went unanswered and the Grandmaster merely gave instruction for them to continue moving ahead with... whatever their objective was. Although he was aware that disagreeing with the head of the Order was a bad career move- especially when he was still so new to the Jedi himself- the Zabrak's thoughts flicked back to the beginning of their walk to what the Grandmaster herself had said.

"The Jedi are not just trained in solitude. We grow stronger together — by understanding, by trust, by shared experiences."

And so, Xuko decided to face this moment of not understanding like he'd faced any challenge up until that point in his life; head on.

"We are not done yet? Are we supposed to kill them all?" his question to Valery Noble hung in the thick air of the jungle as it burst forth from him. "I do not understand. We are vastly outnumbered, and it is reckless to continue. Look at Jobbi Chantin ." The Huttlet's skin was marked with the evidence that she was still learning to use the lightsaber Valery had lent her. "Were she any other species, she would be dead. Many times over." As harsh as Xuko's words were, his eyes betrayed his concern as he glanced over towards his fellow Padawan. It was a risk for all of them to continue, especially as none of them were Knights.

"So... why attack? We have successfully defended ourselves, and I am told that it is not the Jedi way to seek retribution" he said, indicating the rusty lightsaber emitter held by Kell Masaara .

Klar Azurine Varek Aris Noble

 

[Klar]

​

Jobbi Chantin

Jobbi was in deep. Like, WAY deep. Regardless of how badly she needed the Shii-cho practice, Klar wasn't about to abandon a fellow padawan. No matter what Xuko was doing - Klar had promised to secure the flank, and secure it she would. Xuko was also injured. That meant Klar had TWO fronts to try and defend, and try she would.

Snapping her sabers together into a pair of staffs, the Codru-Ji flourished threateningly at a pair of Flesh-Raiders trying to get behind the sturdy Hutt. She wept in low, cutting one down. His ally retailiated quickly, sending Klar sprawling with a swift kick to the side. She managed to recover before he could bring his blaster to bear, scrambling around a tree on all six. By the time Klar came around the tree, she was back upright - throwing herself forward into a frantic leap, propellering one duelsaber overhead while she brought two singles to be bear. The blonde dispatched her foe but had misaimed her leap, slamming into his body behind her strike. The maneuver left her dizzy, momentarily disoriented.

She reflexively dropped back into a defensive stance, holding her head as she flourished her sabers to keep anyone who'd approach her at bay.

 

[Jobbi Chantin]

Pet (hair): Fuzzy (Sha'rellian toop)

Jobbi registered voices.

Xuko was yelling something. Klar was still somewhere beside her. Aris was giving instructions again. Someone new had arrived — maybe? The Force around them felt different, but everything was loud and flickering now.

There was dirt in her slime. Ferns in her nostrils. Her saber was buzzing in her grip, humming wrong — hot, too light, too smooth to feel right. Every swing was clumsy. Every parry mistimed.

She raised the blade again. A bolt singed her belly.

"Jee Jee Dopa!"

The saber flew from her hand.
She didn’t even mean to throw it. She just wanted it gone.

Too hot. Too loud.

A tremor rippled out from her. Not on purpose. Raw Force rippled off her body in a frustrated ring, stirring leaves and lifting dirt into the air like ash.
The Flesh Raiders hesitated.

Something snapped.
A scream built in her throat but didn’t come out as sound — just motion.

Her arm flung wide. A tree behind the Raiders groaned, cracked, and ripped free from the roots, flung sideways into the canopy with a thunderous crash. A second tree tore up from the ground and smashed down like a club. Earth burst upward in sprays. Roots flailed like limbs. Limbs snapped like twigs.

She didn’t know who was talking anymore. She didn’t want to know. She felt hot. She felt huge. She felt disgusting.

She felt wrong.

"Tobba killee Jee! No bata!"

She shouted it at no one. At everyone.
A wave of Force slammed outward again, unformed and broad, knocking back Flesh Raiders and flora indiscriminately.

She slithered forward in short, heaving lunges, like she didn’t trust the ground beneath her. Her coils crushed bones and bodies alike. Her mucus left sizzling trails where blasters struck. She didn’t strike cleanly. She didn’t fight like a Jedi, instead flinging herself at the fleshraiders like a 300 kilogram projectile. Bone and muscle yielded to her tantrum – just make them stop and then she can go home. Then she can hide.

She just wanted it to stop.

The noise, the arguing, the pressure. The burning in her chest, the feeling of failing, the burning in her skin, pinpricks of blasters that stung again and again that she was too slow to deflect. The Force flared wildly around her again.

And everyone could see how bad of a Jedi she was.

"Jee Jee Dopa
... "

A boulder lifted and flew.
She didn’t even aim.
She just wanted it all gone.

Valery Noble Klar Xuko Pagoi Tydos Kaldan Aris Noble Kell Masaara @Padawans​

 

[Aris Noble]

They weren't ready for this. Aris didn't slow in his own movements to try and keep Jobbi safer, but the reality was she wasn't capable of keeping herself calm enough. Ranks were broken, and in the next instant Jobbi was flailing around in desperation for- he wasn't sure what exactly she was feeling. He barely understood his own emotions, let alone the emotions of a species with a vastly different set.

And yet, the pressure of what Vera Noble had shared with him still lingered in his mind. Xuko Pagoi was questioning things, they all were getting hurt where Aris wasn't. Logic took over. He looked to his mother as his expression calmed. "They should go back to the temple before they get any more hurt. I'll take care of the cave and what they're doing."

Valery Noble | Xuko Pagoi | Jobbi Chantin | Klar | Kell Masaara