Turjilyi'r'gam

[Cathul Thuku]

Cathul was a member of Clan Lok for years, practically from the day she opened the Mandalore Psychology Clinic. For years, all that she really did was practicing, sometimes to the tune of all-nighters seeing patients and trying to come to terms with their problems. She did not see it coming at all that she would have been feeling empty to do the same thing day after day and not get the most of what her Force power would allow her to do. She already had a master willing to teach her the more basic spells that most people would readily associate with space witches (a.k.a. Force-users): Force push/pull, Force vision and mind trick. As a witch doctor she does get her share of Force-using patients, light and dark. It was her turn to get herself a proper beskar'gam. So she took out the datapad she uses for taking notes on patients to write, using the official letterhead of the Clinic to write her order for a beskar'gam:

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ATTN: [member="Gray Raxis"]

By now I fully embrace the galaxy of opportunities that my own Force-sensitivity brings about, and my ability to use the Force. But my current outfit that I call a beskar'gam is, let's put it this way, inadequate. On Vanquo I found that this witch robe straight from a Dathomiri horror flick lacked any protective power thanks to it being wrought out of tissue such as cotton or rayon and I sought to replace it ever since. But due to my species' morphology (I have rather big lekku), a helmet is not practical to me: for this very reason I cannot pilot unpressurized aircraft or spacecraft. What I'm asking for: a cuirass, breastplates and boots wrought in beskar, and the customary armorweave undergarment. I will provide the dyes for the armorweave myself, since I know what kind of dyes are colorfast on armorweave. However, I'm not sure as to how paints react to beskar; does it require special paints or armorweave dye is just fine?

Please forgive me, but I always feel compelled to talk about the deplorable condition of Mandalorian mental healthcare systems when I have to talk about my professional life, that is, my life as a baar'ur. Let's put it this way: Clan Lok has complete control over Mandalore's mental healthcare system by virtue of me operating the only reputable therapist practice on Mandalore. As a result I am the one person holding Mandalore's mental healthcare system together. I understand that both Mandalorian capitals have horrible reputations in the world of mental healthcare to the point many if not most residents of each of the Mandalorian capitals go off-world for therapy, and sometimes outside Mandalorian space.

As a token of gratitude from Clan Lok, you, as Alor of the Raxis clan, are welcome to get free therapy from me on Mandalore for life, or its equivalent in credits. That is, you may wish to take up the free therapy if you find the therapist on Echoy'la unsatisfactory, or if there isn't any therapist on Echoy'la to begin with, as I do not believe there is more than one therapist on Echoy'la. Or perhaps you would like to learn about Force-alcohol so that you can brew your own tihaar? If there are any attachments you would wish to have installed as options, I will discuss them in due course.

P.S.: As there does not seem to be any word for therapist in Mando'a, my beskar'gam will be called the Turjilyi'r'gam (lit. Armor of the Witch) in Mando'a even though its name in Basic would be Armor of the Therapist. As a therapist I know that no beskar'gam provides complete immunity to mental health conditions, but my day job is so central to my identity as a Mandalorian witch that I decided to name my beskar'gam after it.

Dr. Cathul Thuku, PsyD
Clinical psychologist
Mandalore Psychology Clinic

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[Gray Raxis]

Gray was working at his deck at WESTAR. The company had recently gotten its new products finished up and were being produced to fill orders. The same was being done with the products that the company had been producing for ages, although it had shut down for a time before Gray had bought the company. The new and the old were moving down the line together being assembled to be put into the hands of those who could use them to their full potential. He had made sure that the items had all been designed to work together as well as possible.

As all of this was going on, Gray noticed a message pop up on his screen. He opened it up and began to read over it. Seemed this [member="Cathul Thuku"] needed a custom set of beskar armor created. That was interesting to see. WESTAR had some veteran designers who knew how to work beskar, so that meant his company could make it for her. He read over it and noticed a lot of detail was added into it. She said she was a therapist, a Mandalorian therapist, and worked the clinic on Mandalore. That was not going to be an easy or slow job at all. The life of mercenaries and bounty hunters was extremely stressful, and even the best of the bunch needed to work things out with someone some times. It was still odd that she would chat that much, but he guessed she might be needing someone to chat with herself. Made sense.

Gray pressed his communicator button and got it started recording a voice message. He cleared his throat then said, " Greetings Miss Thuku. I think my people here at WESTAR can create a beskar'gam that will be exactly what you want. Before we get to making it though, would you mind if we had a face to face and discuss the exact details of what you need while I pick up the materials for it after? If we can do that then I can promise getting you exactly what you need in your armor. Also, I can meet you at your office so you can handle your regular clients' appointments. Just get back with me when you have the chance. Thank you." He stopped the recording and then sent it back to the person who had sent the letter. After he did he stood up and began heading to his ship so he could head to Mandalore to meet with the new customer.

 

[Cathul Thuku]

With Cathul having been busy, probably as she would normally be used to, the only time for [member="Gray Raxis"] to come to the Mandalore Psychology Clinic to visit her and allow minimal disruption of clinical activities would be in the dead of night. For a while now she has contemplated letting someone use the Clinic's space while she was away on training, probably some off-worlder. But even the ease at which charlatans on Mandalore could meet with patients is not enough to lure anyone remotely looking like a reputable therapist. And even Echoy'la have just one of these charlatans - if that. If the latest estimate made by the Galactic Confederation of Psychotherapy is correct, only about one therapist in 10,000 is a Force-user. Actually, scratch that: the main Mandalorian Clans are not members of the Galactic Confederation of Psychotherapy, only Alderaan and Wayland are known member planets to lie in Mandalorian territory, and the primary go-to worlds for Mandalorians looking for therapy. There may be other worlds with GCP membership under Mandalorian control, but they are rather obscure in comparison. And never did Mandalore even apply for GCP membership; as she just got started in her Force training, she feels as if GCP membership would help Mandalore get proper mental healthcare and thus alleviate her worry of putting too much pressure on herself. She would also represent Mandalore in the Council of Planets, the main body of the GCP on Coruscant from which the highest echelons of the profession are drawn. After her last regular patient left the office, Cathul receives the visit of a certain Gray Raxis.

"Greetings, Clan Lok wishes to welcome the Alor of the Raxis clan" Cathul said that night.

Free therapy for a lifetime... what was that worth? If each therapy session costs 250 credits and as much as 500 credits for the patients that score big bounties - a little high, sure, but it isn't quite like Alderaan where healthcare can be had for much cheaper, then how many sessions would he be entitled to before the beskar'gam would be paid in full? After hearing the patients talk about whether to stay on Mandalore and spend the brunt of the bill for their care on Mandalore, or to travel to Alderaan or Wayland and it would almost cost the same.

[member="Gray Raxis"]

 

[Gray Raxis]

Gray had made it to Mandalore with little problem. He had been to the planet often enough that it was a familiar trip for his little astromech Key to be piloting. The only problem was that he was having to wait until night time to travel to the clinic to meet with the customer, so getting the beskar would have to wait until the morning. Mines could and would often run all day long with alternating shifts of workers, but they only sold the materials that they didn't have contracts for during the day. So that was when he would be getting to it after he got the details he needed.

Gray waited until he was called into the clinic, and walked into it. He smiled as he came in and listened to the greeting. He held out his right hand to her and said, " Thank you, and a pleasure to meet you at last Ms. Thuku. It is late and you have had a long day already, so how about we get into the heart of things and figure out the details for your armor?" He would wait for her action and reply then sit down. He was surprised someone had asked WESTAR to make a custom set of armor like this, but it was a good thing. He could use this to help get his company going again and show people exactly what kind of company it was he was running. Hopefully one of quality and service.

[member="Cathul Thuku"]

 

[Cathul Thuku]

"Roger, and because I feel too many beskar plates would hinder my mobility, I'd want beskar boots with grav-boots and magno-grip soles. And also a cuirass and shoulder plates wrought in beskar, with armorweave undergarments outfitted with thermal gel and with other similar items equipped in beskar'gams used by my patients, such as a life support system, a power pack, a body temperature control system. But, as I said before, the size of my lekku makes a helmet impractical so I don't want a helmet on this one. Plus it doesn't help me improve with the Force if I am using the technological gadgets usually found in beskar'gam helmets, such as HUDs, night vision. My communications equipment would have to be on my right bracer"

Not only she could comfortably talk about military (and economic) strategy from memory, she could also talk just as well about the contents of her patients' beskar'gams: even space wizards like Mand'alor [member="Isley Verd"] sometimes had beskar'gams, so why wouldn't she have one? She was a space witch after all. She was visibly unhappy as a witch leaving her power to be undeveloped. But she knew that full-plate beskar'gams, or beskar'kandars, even the First Order ones which were not made of beskar, or even phrik, but who were nevertheless rigid, hindered one's movements, and hence why it was suboptimal for how she understood the use of the Force (or space magic). She once tried a First Order beskar'kandar back on Dagobah but their helmets were designed for humans and Near-Humans, as well as other species devoid of appendages like lekkus.

"I will probably paint my beskar plates myself before any camouflage coating can be applied, if that is possible, that is, if I can apply the camouflage coating myself. Otherwise I will have to supply a picture of the paint scheme on the beskar (and probably the armorweave undergarments as well) before the order can be processed"

[member="Gray Raxis"]

 

[Gray Raxis]

Gray just sat there listening to everything she had to say to him about what she wanted. She was looking for a full on system developed in much the way other Mandalorians outfitted their armor. It was designed for combat and utilized the techniques that the clans had been using lately. Gray did wonder though if she really needed all of that. If she wasn't going to be serving in a combat role as a front line fighter, then there was no need for all of those preparations to be made into the systems. It would be easier and cheaper on her to just outfit it in a much more simple style. The other thing though was that she seemed unfamiliar with how armor set onto the body if properly designed. It seemed this would be a good chance to discuss some alternatives with her.

Gray waited until she finished and then said, " Have you worn armor very many times? How often have you been in combat? How often do you think you will see combat? Is that exactly what you want and will except no substitutes or are you open to some different options? I ask this because I have been a mercenary for most of my life and have worn several different types of armor as well as been in a lot of combat situations. If you would allow it, I might have some advise on your armor and some different approaches to getting what you want. Now if you would rather not hear either because you feel you have done sufficient research already, then we can call it good here and I can get it started being crafted. So which option would you rather take Ms. Thuku?" He just sat and waited for her reply.

[member="Cathul Thuku"]

 

[Cathul Thuku]

"Please forgive the extravagance of what I was talking about. I always tend to think of what battle equipment would my patients use because the patients talked about equipment and their malfunctions all too many times since I started practicing, and, as far as my almost nonexistent combat experience led me to think, if it was good for my patients, it would be good for me too. My patients tend to either blame their equipment for their traumas or to credit their equipment for sparing them more severe consequences. My desires may be borne of my patients having way more combat experience than I: they know what works and what doesn't, most of what worked for them would likely work for me, too. In particular they rave about beskar"

She shudders at the thought of becoming the same as her patients. She has always been a more cerebral type of Mando, much as she would see herself as a beauty in a sea of beasts. One of her patients even talked about her as "a brain with a girl", and another one as a "walking hard drive" more than simply a girl with a brain. Probably these particular patients must have had a good number of sessions with her by now... For each Mando asking for therapy, she estimated at least a dozen would not even want anything to do with it.

"I didn't wear armor nearly as often as my patients do. Even though I would be expect to enter combat more often in the future, thanks to my master that want to make a Sith Marauder out of me, or something like that, but what equipment would more occasional fighters be more likely to do without and still be fine? Is the camouflage coating one such component? I never asked for a beskar'kandar, though. Nevertheless, what are those alternatives? I won't make a final decision without having considered those first"

Sith Marauders, and their subclasses the Juggernaut and the Warrior, were more or less the equivalent of Jedi Guardians, in that they are more combat-oriented. As a Sith Lord, she would probably have been an Inquisitor and more accurately a Lorekeeper or a Healer. But her approach to grand strategy would make her impopular among the Sith factions and force her to seek refuge among the First Order. The Primeval and the One Sith floundered because they had committed too many economic mistakes for their own good.

[member="Gray Raxis"]

 

[Gray Raxis]

Gray listened to her explanation about her desires for the armor being based off of her patients words with a bit of an amused smile. That sounded about right for those who didn't have much experience in the actual thing but had plenty of second hand information about the subject. She continued on though and the mention of Sith did shift him into frowning. He was not a fan of the sith, and in face was opposed to them in general. Too much damage had been caused by them to the Mandalorian people and to the galaxy as a whole. They could never be trusted as they were always scheming their next move and using everyone and everything around them to their purposes. He was here for a customer though, but the mention of that was almost enough for him to deny the sale right then and there.

Gray took a moment to both think of his next words as well as calm himself down. He finally said when he was satisfied enough, " If you are not a combatant then I would suggest you just go for an armorweave dress or suit, and leave it at that. If you are going to see combat though without fail then you would need a suit of armor, but before I go on I do have an issue. I and my companies do not support Sith and so do not sell products to them. So would you mind clarifying that bit about a Sith master?" He looked at her with a stern look on his face. He was dead serious about what he had said to her. He did not plan to provide any of his products to Sith.

[member="Cathul Thuku"]

 

[Cathul Thuku]

"I do remember my master having some phrik weave garments that were a little heavier than armorweave and also my patients all seem to talk about beskar as if it was highly rigid, more so than phrik. The truth is that my master is now a witch, too. I don't have a Sith Lord for a master, just that my master seems to want to turn me into a witch version of a Jedi Guardian even though I think a Consular would have been a better fit for me, was I a Jedi: Consulars are more of occasional fighters than Guardians are"

She did mention a Sith Marauder, but Sith Marauders were almost the same as Jedi Guardians, notwithstanding their Force-alignment, in that they are more combat-oriented. Sith Warriors, Aces and Juggernauts respectively were infantry, aerial combat and artillery specialists, well, as much as armor combat counts as artillery in that context. But armorweave? That would be much, much less expensive than a suit containing half a beskar'kandar's worth of beskar: a cuirass, boots and shoulderguards represented about half the amount of beskar required to craft a beskar'kandar.

"What equipment would come attached to an armorweave suit?"

[member="Gray Raxis"]

 

[Gray Raxis]

Gray listened to her speak, and figured the problem was that she didn't know the differences between the different force users. The terms were less about alignment and more about mentalities and philosophy, so he decided he would go through with the sale after all. He heard what she had to say then said, " Your master needs to let you become what best suits you and who you are, but that is not what we are here about. As far as your armor goes, I can do some things to make it weigh a little less. I can have the beskar layered with some other materials. This will help to reduce some of the weight on the plating and it can offer up some resistances to things that beskar can not. The other thing is on the armor weave. I can line it in a material that will give it the same resistances the beskar would gain from it, but it will not add any protection from blaster bolts or slug rounds. It will act like thermal gel though and help maintain your body temperature. I can also shape a helmet to meet your needs. My wife is a twi'lek, so I always make sure that things can work for them too."

Gray waited a moment to let the information sink in. He then went on to add, " So what do you think? Care to let my designers do their thing or would you rather have your armor stick to more traditional methods? Either way I promise the best quality that my company is able to offer." He waited for her reply as he sat there. Whatever it was she wanted, she would tell him know. When everything was settled he could get the beskar and then get on top of the armor being made.

[member="Cathul Thuku"]

 

[Cathul Thuku]

"I know that I won't be 100% covered in beskar given my needs: there are some areas I would be just fine with armorweave, like my arms, my thighs. Last time I tried the First Order beskar'kandars, which have no beskar in it, in a museum on Jakku, I found that having plates on my arms and thighs limit my mobility and motions quite a bit, whereas the armorweave does not seem to have that sort of effects. That's what I learned from the only time I actually wore a beskar'kandar - plus that one ex-First Order patient that actually talked about equipment said that the one thing he disliked of his current beskar'kandar vs the old one was that beskar was even worse about mobility than the FO standard-issue, beskar-less beskar'kandar"

To be fair Cathul didn't have a whole lot of ex-First Order stormtroopers in her planet-wide patient base: former stormtroopers that deserted or left under dishonorable discharge were often disenchanted with combat more often than not, and would rather not fight for a living. The First Order embassy on Mandalore didn't knew that many...

"Since I would be using lightsaber training, down the road, I think I can probably be just fine with not having the extra protection from blaster rounds. But I know that slugs won't be deflected off a lightsaber like blasters will. And yet I'll have a helmet by now. Perhaps I would be best served letting the designers do their own thing"

[member="Gray Raxis"]

 

[Gray Raxis]

Gray listened to her speak and waited for her to finish. Once she had, he pulled out his holopad and began to put a few things down on it dealing with what they had just spoken about in this meeting. As he did he said, " Alright, then it sounds like we more or less have things wrapped up here. I will get on this right away and see to it my designers know what it was you needed in your armor. I will inform you of when it is finished and then we can ship it to you. All I need to know now is where to send it when it is done. If you can let me know that, then I can get out of your lekku and let you get some sleep. Sound good/" He smiled afterwards to her.

Gray waited until she had replied back then offered his hand out to shake to close the deal. He would wait for her to either take his hand or not, which ever response to it being equally fine, and then stand up. He headed out of the office and began to review over everything he would need to go over with the designers back at WESTAR as he walked. He already had an idea of what they could do for it to fit what she wanted, but it was ultimately going to be up to them to decide the final outcome. He just needed to pick up the beskar in the morning and then he could head back home to Annaj to take care of it all.

[member="Cathul Thuku"]

 

[Cathul Thuku]

"All right, as for shipping, I would accept to have it shipped here, at the clinic's mailroom, with a cash payment on delivery. Thank you for coming to the Mandalore Psychology Clinic and I wish you the best in future endeavors"

Then Cathul could shake his hand, so that she could finally get some sleep in the very bed her patients lie on, and get her ducks in a row so that she could actually have fitting equipment for her to accomplish her destiny as a Mandalorian baat'kaysh and to develop her powers as a witch. She had all the other equipment at the ready, that is, a lightsaber. And her wits. And the Force. May the Force be with her.

Fin