Upon the Rock of Paradise

[Abbi Odell]

Abbi didn't reply to his first statement out of fear of betraying her feelings. The sides of this galaxy were on the verge of colliding and once they did it was unclear who would remain after the smoke cleared. The Jedi feared for her family and the Jedi that were so important to her.

[member="Travot Ravenna"] pushed the cart around looking for a cortosis vein. It was a barren depression in the ground. "Maybe its because everything is connected. In one form it brings death when in another it saves life, which is like a lot of vegetation. I've heard of a leaf that if consumed it causes the person to die in horrible agony. But if the leaf is boiled it can help with infectious disease," she said moving down to stand next to the man.

Reaching out with the force Abbi could feel the metal deep in the ground. It gave off an energy life that of some weapons she had seen in the ice cave from training. Getting at it was going to be annoying though....

"Sith? No," she answered surprised by Travot's question. "If I had I am sure I wouldn't be standing here with you. I am of no use to a Sith so they would have killed me. I have limited fighting skills and most of my power lies telepathy. Have you?"

 

[Travot Ravenna]

“Only once,” replied Travot, setting up the tripod for the vertical hydraulic jack, “a pair of Sith Lords when the One Sith invaded Telti. I wasn't...quite myself for a good part of it. One of them was a very skilled telepath who warped my sense of reality. The other one fought me in a lightsaber duel. It's still kind of murky in my memory, but I remember striking what I thought was her wrist, but she was wearing some sort of creature, or an armor that was highly stylized to resemble some sort of sea creature, that stopped my lightsaber blade. It might have seared its skin or something, but it couldn't get through...”

With the equipment set up, Travot quickly donned his own mask before hitting a switch on the machine and walking a little ways away so that they could still hear themselves speak as the jack began to batter away at the surface. He continued to share his thoughts with [member="Abbi Odell"].

“I was meditating on that day a little over two weeks ago, and part of my meditation brought me here...” mused the man, “it's an altogether different place than where I nearly died. It's so natural and peaceful here, it almost makes me want to never leave..."

He briefly considered the thought before shaking it away.

"But then I'd never finish my training. So how did you discover your talent in telepathy?"

 

[Abbi Odell]

The mask felt awkward to wear but it was necessary. [member="Travot Ravenna"] story was unlike anything she had every heard. Having been cloistered within Temples Travot's life seemed almost like a book. To Abbi it seemed like a fantasy that a padawan would be in battles, fighting Sith. It was something that she just couldn't imagine.

"It is tempting to stay here forever," she said. "Especially after everything you have been through. To have someone invade your mind is one of the most sinister things I can think of. It's why I never attempt to press into people's minds, I just graze on the surface to get an initial reading."

Answering his question was more difficult than it should be. It was never really one incident that led to the discovery of her abilities. "I think I always knew that I was different. It started with my brother though, I have been able to read his mind since I can remember. Then when I was five I could move things with my mind, read other people's thoughts, sense emotions. Then I made the mistake of telling my parents and I was promptly shipped off to the Jedi Order."

 

[Travot Ravenna]

He listened intently to [member="Abbi Odell"] as she spoke. Telepathy was certainly not of one of his talents. He could only faintly touch the surface of that skill, being able to sometimes understand a person's intent. Though he was not sure if that was telepathy or more of his own natural intuition or more of the innate precognition that most force-users in the galaxy possessed. But he knew it was something he certainly needed to study more, though he found himself wondering what it would be like to have such a talent. He could think of many times in the past where it would have been useful, especially in a few of his rockier relationships back home, but he wondered if that would also be a bit of burden when she was first starting out with such power at a young age.

But he found her last sentence to be the most curious to his mind. He fiddled with his mask's straps as he made eye contact with her.

“Do you regret being separated from your family for your training? I imagine it must be hard to be away from the people you were so close to, at least at one point.”

As it to punctuate his question, the hydraulic jack abruptly moaned before flinging shards of its battering bit everywhere. Instinctively, Travot flicked his fingers, reaching out through the Force to grab hold of one of the shards that veered a little too close to them. He focused on it, before gently guiding it down do the ground. He eyed the machine closely. Well, Terios won't be happy about that, but I can probably buy him a new one on the way back...The man strode over to the dig site, looking at the partially exposed cortosis ore peeking out through the shattered ground and the debris around it.

“Well, looks like our first load,” said Travot, “looks like it got deep enough into the deposit to see some good chunks that we can remove, though it wore down the bit quicker than I thought it would...”

 

[Abbi Odell]

Abbi moved down to look at the cortosis vein. She had never actually seen the material in its raw form before. It wasn't as shiny as anticipated which was slightly disappointing.

Thankfully [member="Travot Ravenna"] seemed to be on his game and prevented any of the shards from getting to them. "I can see why this stuff is so valuable, getting at it takes patience."

She reached out with the force to see if she could get a feel off the material. There was only a slight hum that almost everything contained being connected to the force. "I am not close to my parents. They are politically involved and as their children my brother and I have only been tools to them. I do often miss my brother though" she told him frankly. "What about your family," she asked tentatively.

 

[Travot Ravenna]

Travot briefly hesitated as he considered her question.

"They're no longer on this plane," said Travot slowly, "I never knew my father, though I know that he passed in a battle of some sort. He was a Jensaarai, not really a true jedi or a true sith. My mother died in landspeeder accident when I was seventeen. Supposedly I still have some extended family back on Susevfi, though the last time I saw them was before my teens. I know we're related by blood, but there's nothing really there any more, if you know what I mean. But still, I'd like to travel back there one day and see them again. See what they can tell me about my father and my mom that I don't know about. I guess it's one of those legacy things."

Travot reached out through the Force to grab one of the cortosis shards. He drew it near to him, levitating at it for both [member="Abbi Odell"] and himself to look at a little closer. He eyed the gray lump intently.

"Isn't strange to think about how many people have died for these lumps of rock?" started Travot, "I remember reading in the world's history that during the Clone Wars, the Republic and the CIS fought over this world to control the cortosis supply. It's weird for me to think that probably hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people died trying to control these very lumps...though I understand why they're valuable. But material things can be so ephemeral. Are you certain that you do not want to take any back with you?"

 

[Travot Ravenna]

The man waved his hand towards the cart, guiding the ore with the Force to hover just above the cart. He abruptly let his hand fall back to his side, and the rock tumbled into the cart with a thud. Travot grabbed another jack head and strode over to the machine, where he promptly fastened the new head onto machine before walking back to stand next to Abbi. The man tapped a button on the remote control, prompting the machine to rev to life again. The head surged down to smash into the ore deposit for several more minutes before it shattered like the head before it. Travot walked over to hole to see the smashed up cortosis ore. He eyed it curiously.

Well, that looks mostly usable...

The man rolled the cart over to sit next to the hole. He reached out through the Force, levitating the lumps of ore through the air before releasing them just over the cart. Several minutes passed before the man was content that he had collected enough ore for his project. The man wheeled the cart, now full of the cortosis ore and the rest of his mining equipment, onto his ship, securing it inside his freighter's hold. Travot strolled down the ramp towards [member="Abbi Odell"].

"It looks like my time here is finished for now," said Travot, "But I do hope that we'll meet again in the future."

 

[Abbi Odell]

"Trust me, I'm certain I don't need any of it. You will need it far more than I do," she replied with a smile. She watched him work for the next few minutes in silence. The material was hard to extract but [member="Travot Ravenna"] seemed to know what he was doing. None of the horrible things she had read about in mining cortosis happened.

When they were finished, she removed the mask. "I do as well. This experience has been very insightful," she said. "Travot, you must be careful. The Sith are gaining power rapidly and if it comes to war I know you will be in the thick of it. I doubt I will ever get close to a battle field but we are all fighting for the same cause. Good luck and farewell."