Private Starting at the Top

[Aayla Shan]

Kashyyyk, Jungle , Abandoned Fighting Platform (High above the ground, on rickety ropes, and rotting wood - yet spacious)
Midnight
Objective - Tutor Sergeant Omen in the particulars of Force Usage, and Saber Form


Aayla sat down on one of the old railings in the section of the long abandoned Wookie village. Silver hues scanning out into the night, eyes lofting in wonder as she observed the Force in a way that was unique to her. Over time, she could see Force Apparitions clear as day. What some may have found harrowing, Aayla had found odd comfort in. Usually they were lost entities; mindlessly floating through the Force Aether. Others, those that maintained their sense beyond the crushing veil of what laid beyond this world... They were curious, and unpredictable. At first, they had given her the same puzzled looks that she had given them, but the more she observed the more she wanted to learn what they had to say.

And much to say they usually did have. Mostly what she might have perceived as useless information, but sometimes they pointed her in the right direction. Sometimes, they were benevolent, and other times they were malignant. The sour lot for her being that with whatever particular species she was, they could do significant damage to her depending on their level of intent... Or maybe it was the willpower. In any case, she had become skilled at avoiding eye contact with most unless needed; ignoring their presence for the most part. Most surprising to her was the fact that not just sentient species were confined to that other realm.

Many creatures scattered the grounds below, and some even took to the sky. All the same, something as simple as looking into the blackness of night had become intoxicating for Aayla. And so, she would stare silently; maintaining her focus otherwise only on lowering her own presence and signature within the Force. Her Astrian eyes were beginning to show Aayla new possibilities. Still, it was only the start of what her physiology allowed...

Beyond that, she had a much more pressing mission agenda tonight. She knew Omen had asked about training some time ago, but was busy herself with her duties, Guardian, and Shadow alike. All the same, once she got home and saw his name slotted for a tutor there was no real reason to not jump at the opportunity. She had long gotten over the small argument that had ensued all those months ago in the Training Area at Silver Rest; ultimately apologizing even for being insensitive to him, among other things...

Well, she wasn't exactly a Master, or a Knight... The latter-most bit something that stung her whenever she DID settle her mind to think about it. All the same, her time would come...

Time... She hadn't even attempted to contact Kadan since she came back. After Kiara... For how much it hurt her, she could only imagine... The War was always shades of gray. She felt as though the Concord made headway, and then they took a severe loss; it was something that weighed her mentally; but also something she confronted openly. She had Josh Dragovalor to thank for that. Indecisiveness had to be rooted if she was going to grasp her destiny. Whatever that may be.

"You did a hell of a job Kiara..."

Aayla muttered aloud, shifting slightly and tensing as the wood under her creaked. The structure was built sturdy, but it had been here for a long time... Innately however, she felt comfortable in her position. As such she would pull her holopad from her backpack. The last thing she was looking at was a History of the late GrandMaster Kiara Ayres; but would inhale lightly before swiping the page, and the smiling woman off the screen. The next thing to show being a saved copy of a document that had been circulated like wildfire not only through the Jedi Order, but most of the general public.

A Message to all Jedi... Something that Aayla couldn't help but take as a call to arms when weighed against the accompanying document. She didn't know how to feel truly, but Dagon Kaze's reputation preceded him heavily. Not to mention the reputation of the New Jedi Order.

And yet here it was... Signed by Adhira Chandra herself... Aayla lowered the holopad, then let it fall back atop her backpack. All of their cousins, friends, and in some cases even family were being huddled into one building while the Sith were recouping... The implications were terrible; and with this document being leaked to the general public as most things were... They were in a vulnerable position.

If there was a chance, or an opportunity to help... She was going to take it. Before anything, they were Jedi like her. Not a soul on this, or any planet could stop her from having their back... If it came to it, she would do exactly what she needed to do. Although, she wished Dagon had at least... Clarified the allegations some more.

In any case, those thoughts would have plenty of time to come to fruition in the future. For now, she would have to wait and see if Omen would show up. She had sent him the Coordinates, and he knew of course who it was had agreed to give him some personalized training... She wondered now if he would take the offer...

 

[Sergeant Omen]

Kashyyyk, Jungle, Above the Abandoned Fighting Platform
Time: Midnight
Objective -To reveal information and see if he can get the training he needs.

The image on Omen's hud blew up to show the Padawan mumbling to herself. Looks like her mind was full of things, one of them him apparently. Well, I guess it's time to say hello. With one thought, he urged his friend to leap down onto the branch below, hoping to make a good entrance.

If the Jedi's force senses tingled, they would lead her eyes to an 11ft beast jumping down onto the branch she was standing on with a heavy thud. The scalely Terentatek dropped to all fours, rearing up its head and roaring into the open night air before its beskar armored rider was able to calm it down with his voice. "Udesla! Burc'ya, not skraan!" The Rider then quickly hopped from the beast's back without a sound, his beast pressing their heads together as he whispered. "Oya'karir. Ni will cuyir morut'yc olar." With what seemed to begrudging look at the Jedi, the beast followed the request, jumping down from the branch and disappearing into the leaves of the massive trees. The ARC turned towards the padawan and gave her a bow in apology before standing up straight again. "Sorry... He tends to get like that around force users... It is in his blood and it's hard to stop him once he sees a kill. I hope you forgive him."

Omen looked around at the abandoned village with a twinge of sadness. He knew why the Padawan had brought him here and the meaning of her joke was quite clear. "Good people lived here once... People who were killed or enslaved just for being who they are... And maybe I caused it... indirectly of course... Nothing I can do about that now except try to make up for it..." He didn't know when this village had been abandoned but he certainly knew the empire he and his brother's backs built could have caused it. They had been duped by what they thought was a good leader who they believed in. No, now was not the time to dwell on that. He would not rise to the padawan's sick sense of humor. Besides, it was time to change the subject.

"Before you say hello Padawan, there is something I want you to see. I just came back from EE territory and saw this." He pulled off a datapad from his belt and handed it to her, the pad having several pictures on it of a big strapped lad getting cuddly with Ingrid L'lerim . "Guys name is Zachery Steelblood, a known Maw sympathizer. He even fought at our latest flare-up upon Lao-mon against a Master Nimdok. I figured you could put it through to the right people that the EE isn't exactly truthful when it tells the galaxy that it is not harboring any Maw foot soldiers. Maybe Lady Ingrid is even funding them from the shadows. Who knows how far the rabbit hole goes..." The former trooper sighed before rubbing the forehead of his helmet before recounting his own Lao-mon story as proof. "All I know is the last time I went up against a Maw grunt they used a heat-seeking scope which they shouldn't have had to great effect. Cost me a replaceable arm and nearly my life. Could just be battle salvaged equipment or it could be from a shipping crate with EE marks on it... Figured I might as well let you know while I'm here with you. Star was there to just in case you think I photoshopped the picture together and need another witness." The Clone then paused to take his helmet off and looked the Padawan directly in the eyes before asking a direct question that needed a direct answer. "So... Since you are keeping me from my bed, I'm guessing you called me here for training. Where do we start?" Crossing his arms in a patient stance, Omen knew he would get his answer shortly, and maybe... just maybe... he would get the chance to kick Padawan Aayla Shan's butt.

Aayla Shan

 

[Aayla Shan]

Aayla flinched at first, the sudden presence of a lifeform near her prompting a practiced movement to a standing position; right hand sliding back to grasp at one of her lightsabers. And then, the landing of the beast Omen happened to be riding this night. The wood responded violently, splintering and cracking, and yet it did not give. All the same, she lowered her profile for stability. Listening to what he said, and sighing aloud as he began to console the creature.

"Omen, I see you haven't lost your propensity for theatrics..."

He spoke then, and Aayla would cautiously move to a standing position. Listening and reaching her hand out to grasp onto whatever it was he was interested in showing her. Continuing to listen, she took a few more tentative steps away from him while looking over the information. She recognized the visage of Ingrid, but didn't recognize the other. She couldn't help but smirk slightly at the image itself however. She never thought Ingrid was the type... However, this wasn't time for jokes.

When she realized exactly what she was looking at, using his own wording to fill in some plot holes, she would snap her head towards him with a surprised face, mouth slightly agape.

"This is interesting, but you of all people should know things are to be taken with grain of salt. I'm going to save this, I'll see what Master Nimdok thinks... DO NOT do anything..."

She finished, voice becoming stern towards the end.

"You represent everyone in the Concord now, if you go around throwing allegations or accusations at everything you see; you might end up on the wrong side of something way bigger than us..."

Aayla crouched down next to her bag, copying that information to her own datapad, and forwarding it along to Errik Nimdok immediately. After that, she would sigh aloud, and move to a standing position. Moving clear away from him now.

"We'll start by you telling me WHY you want to learn how to use a lightsaber... And then, we'll go from there. Do you have a lightsaber already?"

Aayla questioned, eyebrows raising slightly as she asked this.

Sergeant Omen

 

[Sergeant Omen]

The Clone winced as he heard the wood groan under his Beast's weight. He probably should have checked the supports before he lead Udesla in leaping onto the platform. Now he could only give the Padawan a small smile as an apology. "You got to admit, they make life fun. Got to reinforce the stereotype you know." Omen knew he was a firebrand and a little off his nut at times but it was better for the enemy to assume what he was going to do rather than actually know what he was going to do.

Omen waited until she had said her part, nodding along. Her concerns were real but he wasn't leaking this photo for all to see, just for her. "No offense Padawan Shan, but how can I take Lady Ingrid grinding against a possible MAW operative with a grain of salt? I'm not trying to sling mud or accusations at anyone, especially at Lady Ingrid who seems to want to do a lot of good in this galaxy. This is just me being concerned and giving you the option to find out more for yourself. If I really wanted to cause a panic, I would have given the pics to the holo news to air under the gossip section but I didn't. I know what would happen if I got this wrong. It's why I'm giving it to the person with real authority to look at instead."

The ARC held his position and set his stance, ready for Aayla to come at him in a surprise attack. It was better to be awake rather than being caught sleeping. "Why not? It is always good to learn something new. Plus I didn't request lightsaber training exactly but just general help. I've been trying to learn more about my force powers since I'm half cloned from a Jedi Master but my original "Master" disappeared after two lessons so I'm pretty much stuck to borrowing Holocron transcripts from the library in Silver Reach. They are helpful but in the end they can only get me so far. So months ago I reapplied for training and to be honest, I kinda forgot about it till you messaged me to come out here. As for owning a lightsaber, no I don't have one since I don't have the experience to make one on my own"

He pulled out his Bes'bev flute and held it in his dominant right hand backhanded. Hopefully, Aayla's sabers didn't have the properties that Master Vanagor's did. He didn't need to get his arm replaced again. "Unless you got an extra, this will have to do."

Aayla Shan