Private When the Force flows

[Vexander Graves]

Jakku Jedi Enclave
Training Dojo​

Days have passed... and the bearded man was getting used to the ins and outs of life within the Jedi Enclave. Being surrounded by fellows that had similar goals and a similar alignment in the ways of the Force. Eventhough he had visited the New Jedi Order temple in Coruscant, he didn't managed to take some time with his peers right there... he didn't have the chance to get a deeper insight on the galaxy that surronded him after this many years... and it didn't matter, at the moment; Vexander's mind was deep into the Force and trying to feel it's will once again.

There were many things that he had to practice and to remember... he had been isolated for quite some time... not complely silent in the ways of the Force but with little practice in different of his strenghts. For example, the man knew quite well how to bend the light around him but there was no need to do that over the different ecosystems found in Dressel. Sometimes, by just being a good hunter and following general practices to hide and to stay within cover and out of sight would do. He was not fighting a darksider or any other military personnel.

Today, seated in a lotus position in the dojo, the man decided to take this time to actually hide himself a bit from the Padawans and Knights and different beings passing by... he wanted to train once again and to practice this rare Force ability that he constantly used years ago... Force Concealment... he just wanted to hide his presence and to remain undetected. It made sense to him since being this open to the Force in a fairly common area was the closest thing that he would get similar to a battlefield battlefield filled with dark forces lurking in the galaxy.

Closing his eyes, in the left side of the dojo, the man just began to breath slowly and to regulate his breathing...he needed it to be as steady as possible, as subtle as a leaf falling from a tree in the middle of Kashyyyk... something that would go unnoticed... something so small that people wouldn't even care if it was around... manipulating the light around him, he needed to go further... he needed to bend the light in a way that it would cloak his physical appearance even if people turned over to look in his direction... he just needed to be a shadow where he could see everyone training, chatting, sharing Force wisdom... but without being seen.

The feat at first, required some amount of concentration... but this is one of the main powers that he had learned to carry on with his job as a former Jedi Shadow... eventually he managed to get the rope of things and once again blend-in. Sure! This was easier in this current setting where there was no one actually looking for him, there were no signs of blaster fire or negative implications that would mess with his senses and feelings... but still, it was a good practice.

A smile reached his face... thinking he had done it... thinking he managed to attune with the Force and his enviroment like he used to... but what he know was that... his current best effort was good enough to shield himself against Padawans in training, Jedi Knights and perhaps a few Jedi Masters... but against a Legendary Jedi such as Romi Jade ... this level of Force technique wouldn't work.

​

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

"Maybe he's in..."

Quill trailed off as he walked into the training room. It was a circular space like the other chambers of the underground enclave, so one glance was enough to tell him that Vexander Graves , the new arrival, was not here. Graves might be in the green room, or the kitchen for that matter - he hadn't checked either one.

Quill grimaced, turned around, and left.

 

[Romi Jade]

She sauntered up the incline just about hitting the intersection from the Hub when she saw Jend-Ro Quill walking the other way "Hey Quill did you see--"

He was likely much on his current path and far enough to where he couldn't hear her over the hum of this place, "Him.." she'd bug him later. Curious. This place was small but felt so big sometimes. A slight pivot, and small stride carried her forward. Tensing in the calves helped her glide down the slight decline and into the training room.

Her blonde hair shone with reflected highlights from the strips above -- much brighter in here. Her blue eyes sparked with another sort of light, one that matched the puzzled look on her face.

Her first scan of the room from left to right told her it was empty.

So he wasn't here huh, Quill must've went to the Green Room to check there then.

Least that's what she was thinking.

Under her breath, "I thought the logs said..." she moved over towards the panel on the wall, "Eh guess I missed him."

She had every intention of leaving, and when her form finally gave way she caught a silhouette in her peripheral. She stopped instantly, and whipped around to lay views on their new arrival.

"Neat trick." folding her arms, she swayed a bit in her stance.

He was concealed.

"I don't mean to interrupt, just wanted to formally welcome you." She smirked, "I'm Romi Jade."

---

Vexander Graves

 

[Vexander Graves]

Vexander could feel the Force shielding him from the different lights that bathed him, it was quite refreshing and amazing to feel such protection with the help of the Force after this long. But, eventhough he was trying his best; he could sense and feel the gaps were he still needed to practice more to reach his previous mastery in this art in order to carry on with his duties as a Shadow...

A man got inside the chamber where he was, his presence was strong through the Force... it was someone to acknowledge as quite experience in the ways of the Force... still, he glanced over the room and left. He didn't stay long enough in the room to sense and to feel what was going on inside it... otherwise, Vex knew he was definetely going to get caught.

In an instant, almost like if they were following each other, the bearded man noticed a blonde female figure enter the same chamber where he was, this time he heard her voice call out to the man confirming what he suspected: Quill... Jend-Ro Quill . He was indeed an experienced Jedi Master. Someone he hoped he would have the chance to talk to when the time presented itself... perhaps this was the time?

Vexander gazed at the female Jedi, who he guessed was the one that was pivotal in the construction and maintenance of this Enclave... the one he had heard some stories about... Romi Jade . For a moment, the blue eyed man thought that he had deceived her as well with his power, but she stood there for far too long and she was experienced... it was just a matter of time for him to get caught under his current lack of practice.

As soon as she addressed him directly, Vexander just stood up revealing himself completely, in his face, a broad smile shined through .

"Well well..." he said as he cleaned the dust of his robes a bit "...your reputation preceeds you Master Jade" the man approached the lady and when he was just 3 meters away he just bowed his head politely "It is a pleasure to meet you. I am quite grateful for your hospitality" the man then raised his head and looked her once again still with the same smile "You do not interrupt at all, in fact; your presence just pointed at the obvious..." With that being said, he just scratched his next with his right hand a bit "...I havent' forgotten a lot of things but I still need practice".

With that being said, the man turned the attention towards praising the work that she has done in this specific location despite the harsh conditions "I am quite impressed with what you have here... this is a lovely Enclave" He then placed his left hand in his beard "I am curious though... such secrecy... what happened that lead the Jedi to have places like this one?"

 

[Romi Jade]

She bowed her head in humility.

"The pleasure is mine. I do hope you're finding our little accommodations suitable to your needs. She ain't the biggest, but she gets the job done." She worked the room with a few stray glances before landing on him. "We're happy to have you." the corners of her mouth cut a smile.

She cocked her head with the most curious look -- the obvious?

Understanding now, she lurched forward in a bout of silent laughter. "For a sec...I didn't know you were there. I don't think Quill did either-- he's probably still looking for you. I'm sure you'll meet him at some point, he helps run this place." She nodded, "Actually, maybe I could join one of your sessions one day. This technique seems interesting...some sort of concealment?" she posed the question.

She smiled, but then that fell astray -- "Tons..." she responded.

"We've had several Enclaves and Academies all over before...which you probably know. But, quite a few of the ones that remained standing came under assault. I also prefer smaller and far flung facilities like this, I started my training at one...but this was all prompted by something I felt stirring. I really wanted to address it before it was too late."

A beat.

"Jakku isn't the most popular world...it's quite useless in the eyes of some and sort of harsh. This seemed...like a decent location?" She giggled. "People certainly wouldn't think to look for a congregation of Jedi here."

Vexander Graves

 

[Vexander Graves]

Vexander was a calculating man, prone to few words when surrounded by a lot of people unless it meant giving orders or replying to them... his eyes were trained to look at weaknesses and look for them. That was not what he wanted to do at the moment, but he couldn't help but to analyze Master Romi Jade for several reasons that were in the back of his mind.

"Acommodations are great Master Jade..." a smile flashed a bit remembering the landed ship he left in Dressel that he called his home for years "...you would be amazed how much I can enjoy this place". This was indeed a fine Enclave, he could attend to all his needs with a lot of ease and little effort and he could actually enjoy something that he thought he wouldn't ever miss at all: the warm feeling of a few lightside comrades at his side... it just brought a warm embrace that made him feel bad for staying far too long on his exile. But yet again... perhaps the Force wanted him to understand that specific point for some yet to be revealed reason.

When talking about his Force technique, Vexander couldn't help but to curve his mouth a bit in some little sore way... but not at Romi... instead at his own skills... he realized that he was perhaps not being quite polite and instead of correcting her in anyway, he tried to shake any hint of negativity "It is a Force cloacking technique that adds concealment elements..." Vex moved his right hand to his front and made some sort of dismissal movement to the right "...by bending the light around you and containing the sound you produce, you can actually disappear from sight and remove the sound you make... and placing a slight more effort you can suppress your connection to the Force rendering yourself completely invisible even to other Force Sensitive beings" at that moment, the man crossed his arms a bit and tilted his head thinking a bit how to phrase things properly "It would be my pleasure to have you join a session with me, I still require more practice since I haven't had the chance to practice this technique for far too long, and I still need to make sure that I can move freely while maintaining my focus."

As Romi began to explain about his query, he just listed... and he couldn't help but to notice a slight hint of sadness while explaining what happened. Vexander didn't want to add any more concern or even bring back memories and instead he just looked at her with seriousness in his face. Although, when she mentioned something stirring it made him wonder about his vision.

"Well Master Jade..." regretting the question just a bit due to the reaction he caused at that moment, he tried to release a reassuring smile in his face and to light up the mood "You have been quite wise to follow this course of action and it shows how much you care for those around you. You and Master Jend-Ro Quill are quite remarkable in maintaining this enclave"

Not wanting to place any burden and, instead; feeling that he had to do everything he could do to help them, Vexander saw the need to offer his assistance "I have been called Jedi Master before... but at this very moment I believe that my role as one needs to be placed in hold a bit..." Vexander took his left hand to his chin and with his right foream, he allowed his left shoulder to rest on top of it "...I am quite eager to know why the Force brought me here and where the Force would like me to help" At that moment he smiled as well knowing that the Force could actually flow through other beings and convey it's will by words they all shared. He smiled "Where do you believe I would be of assistance in this Enclave? Any job you deem necessary within my capabilities will be something I'll place my heart on to see it to completion"

 

[Romi Jade]

"Good." she nodded.

She'd heard of various techniques on concealment, all very intriguing, but she never sought to learn more beyond what was briefly described to her. Ironic, giving that she trained with Alliance spies and operatives before; one would think she'd at least dabble. But it's been a few years since she did any covert work.

"Interesting." She followed, "Bending the light around you huh? Sounds like a neat trick." She considered for a moment learning what she could from him, something to explore in the future.

She often times took sabbaticals here and there. But with the Enclave, she was beginning to have it all centered right here.

"Well" She pondered for a sec, "We could always use help in running this place...instructors. Quill and I split teaching and administrative duties. For the most part activity fluctuates here. We only have a few in house students, but we often get small groups that come from other parts of the Galaxy looking for some guidance here and there. I often get called off-world, and Quill leads a lot of field trips. "

She shrugged.

"If you're willing to take a more active role here, you'll be provided permanent residence. Teaching, and general maintenance make up most of the role." Something she's been briefly chatting with Chiara Viren about, as they could always use some proficient in healing, the conversation was meant to happen more in depth at some point. "All in all, my hope is that whoever comes through here can receive well-rounded education. But, I'd still like to keep things in small doses here. Some of us...."

She smirked, "Myself included, like the space."

Vexander Graves

 

[Vexander Graves]

Vexander just smiled back at Master Romi Jade when she mentioned about the Force Concealment techniques "It is indeed a neat trick for covert operations".

As the blonde Jedi began to explain further the duties of the Enclave, Vex just listened patiently until she was done with what she had to say... mostly because she was still trying to learn about her further and he hoped that he would be able to better understand her and everyone around. To actually determine where he could assist with the best of his abilities.

"I am actually starting to like this place as well. The size is quite important... not being as big as a Temple allows for more concentrated efforts." he touched his mouth and and looked up for a moment, like pondering "Having a permanent residence here actually appeals to me..." he looked back at Romi "...I will be able to focus my attention in more personal matters and at the same time I will be able to provide guidance to the small group of Jedi around and at the same time; I will be able to assist in some administrative task"

The man then realized that perhaps he was barging in too deep into the administrative tasks of the Enclave "By no means that means that I would make up new rules... you have your way of running the Enclave and I will abide to your and Master's Jend-Ro Quill direction, you just tell me what is needed and I can help"

"There is a small thing that has been bugging me Master Romi..." having stablished now that he would stay in the Enclave, he thought he would ask a bit more with a lot of precision "...you said something about something you felt with an specific word. Stirring I believe it was..." Vexander squinted a bit and raised an eyebrow like trying to understand "...what exactly do you mean? are you expecting something in particular?"

 

[Romi Jade]

"That's exactly what I was thinking. Could really come in handy."

She followed along, and he was exactly right. The size mattered, and perhaps she liked spots like this because she was a woman of action -- concentrated efforts were more her speed. Skip all the extra.

She broke a warm smirk when they caught eyes again, "We'd love to have you." She enjoyed hearing that place was appealing to him and his needs. "I know...it sounds like a lot but I promise dealing with the sand is really the only hard part." She exhaled a groan that was sort of a laugh at the same time.

She took a proud step forward, "It's official then, welcome aboard Master Graves." She glanced away but did a double take, swiping a stray bundle of hair back behind her ear, "What's up--"

Nodding casually, "--yeah. Well, I've just gotten the feeling that something was approaching. I don't quite know exactly what it is..." It was a feeling. "There's a dark cloud coming our way, I can feel it. I just felt the need for all of this to weather that storm when it gets here. It's welling up."

Between the Bryn and the Jedi on Jedi tension...she wasn't quite sure what was gonna happen.

"I can't quite pinpoint it, but as of late we've been focusing our efforts on the Bryn'adul. A faction of genocidal almost bug like things, that have nearly exterminated over 10 races in wildspace?" She thought about it. "The Sith Empire is still at large but, the Bryn don't take sides. It them against all of us. They'll keep cutting till they reach the Core and a million more will die if we don't find a solid solution."

Vexander Graves

 

[Vexander Graves]

A warm look in her eyes... getting closer to him... playing with her hair in such manner... Vexander had to stand his ground pretty hard not to feel embarrased or to be ackward at her reaction towards him. Although he was well aware that his reaction could very well be extremely uncomfortable to her.

"I... well..." he mumbled a bit while he tried to curve a smile while avoiding to take his eyes off her "...I am honored to be here Master Jade" Having said that, Vexander bowed his head slight, and when he went back up, he looked Romi once again. There was a reason why she was aclaimed as a legendary Jedi in the galaxy, and he was quite aware of some of her exploits due to the information he gathered when he looked for the enclave in the NJO HQ... but her charisma was something that was not documented anywhere and at this moment, the corellian knew that was a big part of her that people appreciated.

As Vex listened at her concerns, his eyes opened widely at what she was saying... everything pointed to the same direction: a open confrontation with these beings called the Bryn'adul and the Jedi were moving against them to make a stand before they could reach the core.

"Your feelings are not betraying you..." his demeanor had changed over her explanation "...I had a vision that lead me here quite similar to what you are describing..." Vexander stopped and crossed his arms while he caressed his beard "...the vision had other bits that I couldn't make of but it is certain that it implied an open conflict against some beings unknown to me and these Bryn'adul seem to match"

The man didn't want to be a bringer of bad omens, his desire was to actually ease the burden off from the lady in front of him, it was not that he thought that he could do better... or that the Force brought him here to be some sort of messiah... he just...

"I am here to be a piece at your disposal and if the Force wills it..." he stopped thinking why he had been alive for this long "...I'll do whatever it takes to make sure that you succeed" Vex knew better than to think himself to be some sort of messiah and that the Force wants HIM to be some sort of hero during this crisis... he was here just to make sure that others could make it "I will teach, share and help with the best of my abilities and you'll see that this Enclave will continue to serve it's purpose" Vex smiled once again hoping that he was somewhat reassuring.

"Now, we just need to make sure that we can get some lightsabers tuned and new ones built... perhaps provide essential tools to the few around here to carry on with their preparations and their training in the ways of the Force"

Romi Jade