The essentials of war

[Mantic Dorn]

The shuttle rushed through hyperspace, with stars leaving long streaks of white and silver in its wake.

As the travel had been commenced on Ossus the ship had taken of with only three passengers, A jedi knight and his two padawans.

The situation on board was that of little information. While the jedi knight had introduced the two at the start of the journey by their names and the fact that they both were his padawans, he had told them to prepare themselves for a challenge, one that would require their disciplined focus, self-preservation and patience. With a serious tone he had also told them that they were going to try and avoid it, this mission could involve the drawing of blood and he had instructed them both to bring a med pack for the journey.

Apart from that he was very vague about what they were going to do. Their destination was Bogden - not a place one visited without a good reason.

"You have both passed the initial trials and are ready for this my padawans." he had said. "Take the time to get to know each other and prepare yourself for whatever challenge that might lie ahead. I will lead you and instruct you further once we have landed." was his last word before he ventured forth into the cockpit area where the pilot awaited.

The two was left to their own device for the duration of the trip as Mantic himself seemed to be occupied with going over information he was receiving on his datapad , and thus the door between master and pilot, and the two padawans was closed.

[member="Illyana Nightshade"] [member="Varius"]

 

[Varius]

Varius stood calm listening to his master and only nodded as he went to the cockpit, it was strange to finally have a master again, well probably better than wandering the galaxy by your own as he did in the past and hopefuly will be easier than it was to create his second lightsaber.

Varius turned slowly to the other padawan watching her with his blue steeled eyes, it could even seem scary sometimes while othertimes it would seem like... nothing, eyes which wouldn't show anything. He didn't know how to itneract with people very much unless it was the middle of battle so he tried something he thought is normal "Hello... I am Varius... Sunwalker. I suppose he's right, in order to progress and be mroe effective in missions we could get to know each other." Embarassment could be easily read on his face, outside of Mantic and Blane, he didn't really had many friends, the rebels were very kind with him, yet the past is not something you can forget so easy.

[member="Mantic Dorn"] [member="Illyana Nightshade"]

 

[Illyana Nightshade]

Illyana nodded to her master and looked to [member="Varius"]. She smiled kindly at him as he spoke. "I'm Illyana Nightshade and it's a pleasure to meet you." she looked to him curiously. "Where are you from Varius." Illyana moved away slightly and sat on the floor looking up at him. She grabbed her lightsaber and began to inspect it in her hands. She breifly thought of her friends Kaz and Jay whom she had met when making her lightsaber. She looked back up at Varius.

[member="Varius"]

 

[Varius]

Varius did the same after few moments and sat in front of her with his legs crossed and eyes more in the ground, sometimes trying to look at her then putting them on the ground again "I was born on Balmorra, lived with my familly... some time and after everyone.. umm died, the jedi found me... Well in fact few soldiers found me and then the jedi but... you got the point." he said faking some smiles along the way it was clearly he wasn't interacting with people too much, outside of Blane Mantic and ocasionally with others he would talk only once in his life he dosen't really know many people. "How about you?" he asked trying to change the subject.

[member="Illyana Nightshade"]

 

[Illyana Nightshade]

Illyanan listened to him nodding periodically knowing this would help show she was listening. When he finished she smiled "I was born on Corellia, but I don't remember it at all. Tans says that both my parents were very loving and that sending me away hurt them a bunch." she paused staring at the ground herself now. "I've never met them, but Tans has been like a mother to me in a way." she had a small smile as she spoke about Tans. "She's the one who brought me to the order when I was only two." she looked back at Varius and smiled kindly at him. "How did you meet our master?"

[member="Varius"]

 

[Varius]

"Well that is rather awkward... I was training in the forest once and... I think he was meditating or something like that, once he came to see what is that noise he saw this guy hitting the air with his lightsaber like a crazy." He said with a smile remembering the day "I didn't had a master back then so I continued the training on my own... though I remember we sparred few times that day, sharpened my skills with Ataru form." Varius then scratched his head thinking about what is this challenge about... Though he was stubborn enough to succeed if anything goes wrong, he failed his family, he would not fail himself or his allies.

[member="Illyana Nightshade"] [member="Mantic Dorn"]

 

[Mantic Dorn]

Mantics head popped out from the cock pit. He looked quickly at them both as if counting them in.

"Strap yourself in, we are landing in 7.2 minutes." he declared and then dissapeared again.
Shortly afterward the ship started to shake as it most likely passed through the athmosphere of Bogden.
The ship then flew in low over a dense forest passing the treetops turning into a green fuzz because of the speed. After about 40 minutes of athmosperical flight the ship slowed down and lowered itself into the jungle bellow.


[member="Illyana Nightshade"] [member="Varius"]

 

[Illyana Nightshade]

Illyana had hopped up and strapped herself into a chair immediately. She looked to Varius "That's quite interesting I'll tell you how I met him . . . later" she said as the ship began to shake. When they had finally landed she unstrapped and hopped up. Looking toward the cockpit for her master hoping her master would be coming out soon. She looked to Varius a kind smile on her face.

[member=Varius] [member=Mantic Dorn]

 

[Varius]

Varius took a deep breath and prepared for what seemed to be the arrival. He didn't know much about this place, yet probably he didn't need to. A mission was exactly what he needed at the moment, all the galaxy's wars and atrocities that kept happening yet there he was doing nothing about it... He had to make himself useful, be it a mission or a simple trial everything would bring him closer to what a jedi should represent, maybe in time he would even learn to be more mature and finally be the guardian of peace he always dreamed to be.

[member="Mantic Dorn"] [member="Illyana Nightshade"]

 

[Mantic Dorn]

As the shuttle was brought down by the steady hand of a droid pilot Mantic moved back again to his padawans motioning for them to move with him. He grabbed three back packs from the side of the shuttle wall and handed one each to [member="Illyana Nightshade"] and [member="Varius"]

He smiled reassuringly to them both. He knew that they were most likely a bit bewildered about this whole affair and partly that was intentional. While they had something to accomplish, Mantic also had something else in store for them. Everything is part of their training in Mantics eyes. something that they both probably were beginning to realize as they grew to know their master.

The shuttle door opened up and the three jumped out into the small glade.

It was hot and moist in the swamp-like lands of Bogden. Strange animal noises could be heard all over and mosquitos along with other insects where everywhere.

"We have a quite the walk ahead of ourselves padawans. Be wary of getting wet and remember that even though nature can be cruel we are walking in a world that is as much part of the force as the temple on Ossus." Mantic winked at them knowing that sweat combined with insects and mud pools would make this trip very far from anything resembling Ossus.

"Save your energy as much as possible, and focus on allowing the force to guide your steps. We wont stop in several hours and the pace will be kept above average." he added as his face turned more serious to the two.

Then he turned toward the dense jungle and started walking.

 

[Illyana Nightshade]

As the young Padawan looked out into the jungle she let out a small sigh. She hated the jungle Illyana just really couldn't stand it not one bit. I would have rather gone to Hoth at least its not hot there she smiled to herself. Then looking to her master as he continued to walk away from his two Padawans. She quickly jogged to catch up to him before falling into a pace that would keep her just behind him. Well if he kept the pace he was already going.

[member=Varius] [member=Mantic Dorn]

 

[Varius]

Varius looked around with a frown, he then suddenly had a smirk on the face,jungles are dangerous and annoying... but honestly? He liked it, not because of the dangers of course, but because of the simple fact that he liked vegetation more than any city, he'd rather live in a forest than in any of those places full of criminals and who knows what else.

He, jsut like [member="Illyana Nightshade"] ran to his master as soon as he realised that he was being distracted. He could understand Mantic's words... everything that means life is part of the force and could agree with that, maybe this is why the places with less industry and more vegetation attracts him more? Could it be possible for this to be caused because he is strong in force? He didn't know, nor did he care much, it was as it was and it didn't matter.

[member="Mantic Dorn"]

 

[Mantic Dorn]

The small group headed deeper and deeper into the dense forest. Soon they were completely swallowed.

Mantic wheeled on far beyond what his human mediocre appearance would agree on.

"Remember that your environment is your ally." he spoke as they moved on. He kept a pace that was about what his padawans could handle, yet he did not push them over their limit. The march was not the exercise he had in mind for these two.

"You are both training to become jedi knights. If you have not already done so it is time to start contemplate about the fact that you will face combat, pain, suffering and death in your servitude." he continued with a serious tone.

"In or outside of conflict, always expect the unexpected. Today you will train one of the most essential abilities a warrior must master in war..."

Mantic kept going as if the jungle itself bent around him to ease his fast walk.

[member="Varius"] [member="Illyana Nightshade"]

 

[Illyana Nightshade]

Illyana listened to her masters words. She nodded as he spoke she hadn't really contemplated the pain and suffering, but had contemplated combat quite often. She kept moving after her master keeping a step behind his steady pace, but not without some difficulty. After all this was one of the only times she'd been in a jungle like area. Illyana looked to her master "what ability would that be?" she said to him her curious nature getting the better of her.

[member=Varius] [member=Mantic Dorn]