Why Do Birds?

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Thema Csapla"]

Location: Ahch-To

It wasn't an easy place to find as Matsu meditated in the reconstructed courtyard of the temple. THey had found the world, had come here with new materials to reconstruct the temple to be able to use. The islands ont he world was scattered with different ruins when she had a small nod of her head. The small focus, the scent of the salted air from the sea and the boats they were using to go through some of the different islands. As one of the jeid masters who had found the location with Corvus Raff she had come here to work over with the works the jedi grandmaster had started. To find a new and better home the jedi would have for themselves. Much like some of their other temples across the galaxy would give her projects to work on while the first batch of padawans who wished to come and learn on the world could find their way. A new and semi protect location to study the force while going on an adventure. She had been working with many of the other jedi orders throughout the galaxy and in the golden city they had discovered that had marked locations throughout the companion galaxies themselves. Matsu rose up as she stood in her synthweaved meshed kimono with the dreamsilk giving it a neutral looking appearance that hid its protective qualities. She was waiting to see the padawans that were coming to join her on the world.

 

[Thema Csapla]

[member="Matsu Ike"]

The drop-barge containing the first wave of Jedi travelers was awfully empty, during wartime. No more than a handful of Jedi- Half knights, a few padwans, the rest younglings, on an expedition to Luke Skywalker's ancient retreat. Cheek pressed to the window of the shuttle, Thema was one of the more quiet Jedi on the ship. The trip had been exhaustively long, and she was exhausted, cranky, and in no mood to socialize. Even the younglings failed to put a smile on her face. 'I sure hope they've got nicer quarters down at the temple...' She thought to herself, stiffling a spontaneous yawn with the back of her hand. Noting the incoming island which was rapidly approaching through the veil of clouds, Thema looked down at her outfit, making sure she was well-equipped to receive her master.

Her padawan robes were, as always, traditionally dull. Sure, they looked good on some of the older Jedi- Giving them an aura of wisdom and friendliness- But she never really felt comfortable in it herself. In fact, she could only hope her master didn't mind flashier clothing. The moment she was done with the courtesies, she'd be taking this off.

At her belt was her crossguarded lightsaber, as always. She rarely left the green bladed lightsaber, and she sure as hell wouldn't now. Not only was it her only defense aside from the Force- But it was her only memento of home. The very touch was enough to comfort her, in most situations. It brought back memories of joy, happiness, and peace. With the war, those were emotions she needed more than ever.

And... That was it, really. A suitcase containing her meager belongings, and nothing more. As a Jedi, she'd always been taught to let go of personal belongings. Most of the time, that was a problem. This meant abandoning dresses, jackets, boots, shoes, and any other article of clothing she'd acquired throughout her adventures. Slowly, her dream of becoming a fashion designer was being killed by her duties as a Jedi.

But, that didn't really matter. Tilting her head up to hear a woosh noise, she found the doors to the transport wide open, with it's passengers streaming out. "Alright..." She said, bracing herself as she approached the reconstructed Jedi Temple. "Let's go find our master."

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Thema Csapla"]

There was a feeling in the air, something she had felt plenty of times and it was common among her padawans. Well the ones who stuck around as Matsu moved forward to greet the ship. Getting a look when the older Atrisian woman offered a bow of her head with a small smile on her face. Much like with satyana and Sorel the jedi master knew that feeling of doom and gloom before she moved forward spying the chiss girl. She looked upset and as the temple was in full view with the living and pathway modules constructed by Sasori to give them accommodations with comfort as well as the sterile simplistic lifestyle. It worked for her as well when she spoke looking her over.

"Welcome to the temple padawan." Matsu said it offering a neutral expression but she let the lightside of the force radiate off of her with her stance as well as all of their big things. Attention to the smaller details like the complexion she had that showed naturally pale skin with some scars from training and fights. Eyes with black pools looking at her unblinkingly for a moment and then she moved to the side. "Please come along and there are living modules you may store your gear in. Each comes with a small bay for food and equipment to give you whatever you need. We use the newest technology for self sustaining living equipment. I am master Ike and you must be Thema."

 

[Thema Csapla]

[member="Matsu Ike"]

Thema froze, admiring the gracefulness of the Jedi Master in front of her. Sure, Thema had been expecting more season Jedi, but this woman... This woman commanded an aura of respect and grace which made her subconsiously straighten her back, squaring her shoulders. "Master." She said, with a rigid tone of politeness which she was unaccustomed to. For a second, she stood like this, until mentally yelping, and remembering to bow.

"I..." She paused, head still tilted. "Forgive me, Master." She said carefully, gesturing with her hands as she rose back up. "I'm just exhausted from my trip. The astromech droid failed twice, if you could believe that!" She exclaimed, chuckling to ease off the tension, before sighing, laugh melting into a soft smile, only complimented by her alien looks. "It's an honor to meet you, Master Ike."

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Thema Csapla"]

Matsu was watching her and leading her through the temple the black stone pulsed with the lightside of the force and the sythweave they had developed glowed blue from all of the energies present. She was going throughout it as the prefabricated construction modules were encased in the stone works to give it the ancient look but inside it was all modern showing some basic defenses throughout the hallway. "It is alright padawan, you will have more then enough time to learn here on the world. For now though this will be your room." SHe led her through the hallway into a room that was basic but somehow still showed everything needed. A modest living space with the bed, closet and drawers built into the wall. A place to sit with a table and meditation area as well as a bed made to fit at least two adults on it in the back. The refresher off to the side but still built into the wall with its own little box design that still had some space. The other side of the wall had three banks, one for growing food, another that was showing tubes of cloned meat and the third was the joshu converter for making whatever else was needed. A holoscreen rod could drop from the room with the holoscreen display viewable from anywhere in the room as Matsu guided her inside and closed the door. "The quarters are not much but they are designed for a jedi to live in by themselves for up to two hundred years at the minimum. We haven't really been able to test the lengths of the sustainability with them only being a year old." Matsu kept her hands in front of herself and the kimono she was wearing wasn't plain it was white with purpose, leading down to her twin blades. The petite and skinny master looked smaller then most of the others in the order but it was made ot hide that she was skilled in more the knowledge of the force and using everything and anything in situations to find the creative solutions instead of the easy ones.

 

[Thema Csapla]

[member="Matsu Ike"]

Walking alongside the Jedi Master, the Chiss couldn't help but glance at the engravings lining the temple hallway. Carvings, some of which she recognized. The sigil of the Bendu. The sword of the Jedi order. But others, aged past the point her knowledge Nevertheless, they looked ancient, and... Meaningful. Fingers skimming the cool face of the stone wall, she followed Matsu, silent until reaching the more modern instalations. "Self sustainability?" She asked, touching the harvesters with a blue hand. The soil was damp, and clearly engineered to cultivate whatever food crop a Jedi could need in a matter of seconds. Spinning around to meet her, she grinned. "So, I take it the waters aren't exactly great for fishing?" She light-heartedly joked, pulling her grasp from the cultivator.

"But in all seriousness, it is a lovely room." She admitted, dropping her suitcase by the door. "I take it these are the padawan's quarters?"

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Thema Csapla"]

"The fishing is quite good but one of the big things the order has started to do is move away from requiring credits from governments to pay for things. That can lead to conflicts of interests some of the more ambitious take advantage of for their own ends. It was how the jedi grandmaster was able to give away the contents of the jedi vaults in exchange for a new position and title without anyone knowing and a senator covering it up. Both are gone thankfully but new measures like taking less from governments and making our own things have been promoted." Matsu stood there with a small look on her face while she walked going towards the rest of the place. "The rest of the temple itself has been rebuilt much the same bringing in modern technology to suppliment and go with the ancient design. Restoration teams getting enough of the stone from other islands and underwater to build it to better specs. As well as with some of the new training methods."

 

[Thema Csapla]

[member="Matsu Ike"]

"So, we're declaring our sovereignty?" She summed up, scrunching up at nose at the thought. Clearly, the Master knew about this topic better than she did, but still... The idea of the Sith attacking a completely sovereign world ran a chill down her spine. "I-" She paused, biting her tongue. "Well, it makes sense, Master." She admitted, sitting down on the bunk, and drumming her hands on the top. "But still, corruption aside, do you think it's a good idea?" She knew better than to question a Jedi Master, but sometimes, her loyalty for the Republic overtook that wisdom.

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Thema Csapla"]

"Doubtful." Matsu looked at her while she moved over and sat. "The technology exists and is being produced for that purpose and it could help. The jedi order has been abused of late by political agenda and by our own who prefer the comfort of being in charge by any means or being popular as opposed to skilled and wise. So being able to eliminate the ability for a large government like the GA, like the Republic, like the sanctum to give us the credits to maintain a temple, to keep the power on, to purchase food and using that to leverage having a say in how a jedi is taught, how a jedi is used be it for diplomatic missions or to help battle the sith. That can be a good thing but there are downsides to it as some jedi maintain and wish to maintain the tradition of defending the ideals of the Republic. Neither side is wholly right, both have benefits and both have their faults. It is really just important to try and find a middle ground and I want to reach that over just being cut off from the galaxy."

 

[Thema Csapla]

[member="Matsu Ike"]

As any good student, she was silent as Master Ike spoke, taking in her assessment on the situation like a sponge. She did present a duality to the conflict she hadn't considered. Ridding themselves of an overarching goverment eliminated corruption, but it also weakened said faction considerably. The last thing Thema wanted was to make the Republic lose even more ground, but... Well, such were the ways of a Jedi. Learning to let go, and all that.

"Huh." She said emptily, pulling off her poncho, to set it aside, and look at the Jedi Master more carefully. "And... What if we're attacked?" She asked curiously, eyes visibly brimming with curiosity. She didn't hope to confuse Matsu, but she couldn't help but ask. "We can't just all throw our lightsabers at spaceshuttles, you know." She paused, considering the outlandish idea for a second. "Can we?" She continued, picturing the hypothetical lightsaber vs Sith battleship skirmish. No, they probably had defenses. Just not as obvious as Thema thought them to be.

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Thema Csapla"]

Matsu looked at her and gave a small chuckle a small one and patted the padawans back. "No not usually, though I have seen a master do it and he cut through the view port to vacuum the ship." She rose up while looking down at her which for the short jedi master was a big thing. "But we have ones who seek to make ships for the order. Training and diplomatic ships, some starfighters and I believe there is a cruiser or two." She wasn't certain but she didn know there was a lot of work to try and develop the order to have an infastructure so it could function without relying on the outside while still being a part of it. Make it more helpful and less needy... The jedi might not get much but the ability to have constant stipends for a meal when they were on assignment if it was needed or the supplies and equipment they could carry on their belts and a pack was an important thing to some of the quartermasters. "Now come we got your stuff here, we can show off the rest of the tmeple because there has been a lot happening with it."

 

[Thema Csapla]

[member="Matsu Ike"]

Thema stood up as bid, a joking smile on her features. She could tell this Jedi was to her liking. Calm, but not uptight. Wise, but not infuriatingly cryptic. She reminded Thema of a patient mother, in a way. Then again, she hadn't known a thing about Matsu until five minutes ago, so she probably didn't know much about her. In any case... She definitely beat her standards. She'd expected the leader of the Temple to be a shriveled up, taciturn monk. After all, who'd willingly start a nation in a planet covered in ocean?

"Alright, Master." She nodded, making the mental note to finish packing before the end of the day. Even if she had a long day ahead of her, she had to get fitted in at some point.

The only thing she kept, other than the clothes on her back (minus the robe) was her lightsaber. Standing at the door, she waited for Matsu eagerly. "I know it's a bit early to be homesick-" She started elaborating, gesturing with her hands as they walked out of the room, "but will I ever be able to... Say, establish contact with the Republic?" She tried hiding the clear attachment in her words, but she had failed. She was awfully attached to the troopers she'd previously fought with. In a way, they were her only consistent non-Jedi friends. She didn't want to lose that, despite the Jedi code.

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Thema Csapla"]

Matsu looked at her for a moment and touched the buttons on the wall with a small grin as it activated and showed the different temples and enclaves that were up including Yutan and Denon. "They are only a holocall away, this temple is known to some but most think it is just ruins on an ocean world so we don't go out of our way to talk about it." They wanted to avoid the tourists or the interest coming to the world as the jedi master stayed near her before she was walking and deactivating the screen to show the rest to the padawan where the rest of the temple was able to be seen. The small droids they had constructed for repairs of the temple and general upkeep, more of the rooms were laid out for students and teachers as the prefabricated modules were all the same except some were larger and some were made to be classrooms when she entered a small dome with star maps and locations in holograms all around that could be interacted with. "This is the astrometrics lab, designed and linked to the mapping relay network that was constructed by us to chart the galaxies stretching to the companions and enclave expeditions have been set out to establish jedi locations across everything. So the jedi can bring peace and justice to the lawless regions."