The education one never seems to get used, even as a threat or a punishment, and the Exploration corps just never really has a chance to come up for most of the canon timeline? Not like the stories focus on exploration heavily.
Considering my headcanon that like 99% of the Galaxy is uncharted/unexplored (major disparity between given numbers for the EMpire and rough estimates for the Milky Way + just fitting for the galaxy to be "here there be dragons" all over the damn place) yeah, the other service branches are pretty important too. I mean force sensitive scouts are obviously useful, and the Exploration Corps was probably the hardest for Palpatine to pin down and exterminate, probably were a major source of early Rebellion in the Rim....
Exploration Corps are also Archeologists, Adventurers. Like, they're not just scanning and charting planets, they're digging for ancient relics or texts, holocrons, that sort of thing?
There's a reason why you want force sensitives for there. Which is generally true for all the service corps. Healing is obvious, Empathy would be great for education, and the Agriculture Corps are literally druids, in my opinion.
[X] Yes. Jar'kai is a lot of work, and so it will cut into her time a little bit, but she can talk to Master Cin Drallig and Ahsoka and start working on seeing how well she does at it. After all, if it doesn't work she can always go back to a single lightsaber.
[X] The Fun Police: Scout's too stressed and she's working too hard. It's time to get together with Ahsoka while she's still here and see if she can't get scout to relax and take things a little less seriously. Surely together they can help.
[X] No Running in the Library: It's time for yet another rounds of tests as the new year begins, and that means studying, and then more studying. Oh, and then some studying after that. Nima could bury herself in the library, and that's just what she's going to do, but why is that so hard? Really.
The education one never seems to get used, even as a threat or a punishment, and the Exploration corps just never really has a chance to come up for most of the canon timeline? Not like the stories focus on exploration heavily.
I imagine that the other three corps never get used as a threat because most of the students that go into those fields genuinely want to be there. Medical requires a lot of training and hard work, I can't imagine anyone who didn't want to learn all of that being put into the corp. Education is a similar field where you need to be well versed in a number of topics and have strong empathy and patience, I imagine that most of that corp is filled with younglings who failed at the more combative elements of the order. Exploratory honestly sounds like being Indiana Jones in Space, they probably recruit pretty sparsely and only those with a lot of potential, and again requires a lot of prerequiste knowledge.
Agricorps is probably the only corp that doesn't require significant additional education and has fairly lax standards in who will succeed in it. So they probably take the majority of the unmatched younglings, it's also the one that sounds the least important so it's easy to see it being used as a threat.
Considering anyone of adult age can leave the order with no penalties, it's not like anyone would actually be stuck doing a job they hate forever. But the Jedi generally want to avoid turning a bunch of thirteen year olds with no close family out on the street and telling them to fend for themselves. However to the students it seems like the end of the world and this terrible fate, rather than a couple of years of on the job training.
A random thought: if not for the weird bias against agriculture, Wessen with her knacks for biology and against violence, would have been a good fit for AgriCorps.
Nima turned to go, while Hannah hadn't noticed her.
She didn't try to see her own mother, she showed restraint, and meanwhile Hannah was apparently carrying on this huge illicit conversation with her father. One that had apparently been going on one way and another for years.
I kinda understand that people are somewhat upset about it. This was a major character moment, and we got no say in it. The problem is not that we dislike Hannah, but that our dislike of her meant we actively tattled on her, without confronting her about it, and made her life miserable. That is petty, for lack of a better word. Or at least lacking in empathy.
That said, I kinda support this development, its good for the quest. Nima now has a flaw, she has room to grow as a person instead of always making the "perfect" decisions according to us voters. I would like for Nima to become the kind of person who can see past her prejudices and be emphatic and open-minded, even towards people she dislikes. But she is not that person yet. For all her perceptiveness, she is a child. And children can be petty.
Nima took a breath and said what she'd thought. What she felt, even. "No, Master Skywalker. She's safe, and so am I. As long as she's well, why should I make both of us miserable? That's what matters, our happiness, not seeing each other again. I'm happy that she's well, even if there's moments of doubt about that. You don't have to worry about me."
Seems like I am one of the only people that agree with Nima here? I mean, its surprisingly mature of her. What good could come from having a forbidden meeting with her mother, exactly? "Hi Mom, just wanted to drop by this once, although we aren't allowed to meet and after today you might not see me ever again?"
Nima knows her mother is alive and well, and her mother propably knows Nima is well as well. Hopefully Nima's mom has moved on by now. Let's not tear up old wounds.
Now, to be clear, if Nima had any inkling her Mom was in danger, the situation would be different. If she wasn't ready to try and rescue her Mom with Anakin in that situation then I would be worried about her. But I believe she would be, its clear she still loves her mother. I don't agree with the Jedi "no attachments"-thing, but refusing Anakin's offer doesn't feel to me as Nima is becoming an emotionless robot, but more like she is mature enough to realise nothing good could come from that meeting, as they still can't be together.
I also just realised why Anakin reacted so strongly. When he had dreams about his mother, they were warnings about her being in mortal danger. He propably assumed Nima's dreams were the same.
[X] Yes. Jar'kai is a lot of work, and so it will cut into her time a little bit, but she can talk to Master Cin Drallig and Ahsoka and start working on seeing how well she does at it. After all, if it doesn't work she can always go back to a single lightsaber.
[X] The Fun Police: Scout's too stressed and she's working too hard. It's time to get together with Ahsoka while she's still here and see if she can't get scout to relax and take things a little less seriously. Surely together they can help.
[X] No Running in the Library: It's time for yet another rounds of tests as the new year begins, and that means studying, and then more studying. Oh, and then some studying after that. Nima could bury herself in the library, and that's just what she's going to do, but why is that so hard? Really.
Seems like I am one of the only people that agree with Nima here? I mean, its surprisingly mature of her. What good could come from having a forbidden meeting with her mother, exactly? "Hi Mom, just wanted to drop by this once, although we aren't allowed to meet and after today you might not see me ever again?"
Nima knows her mother is alive and well, and her mother propably knows Nima is well as well. Hopefully Nima's mom has moved on by now. Let's not tear up old wounds.
Now, to be clear, if Nima had any inkling her Mom was in danger, the situation would be different. If she wasn't ready to try and rescue her Mom with Anakin in that situation then I would be worried about her. But I believe she would be, its clear she still loves her mother. I don't agree with the Jedi "no attachments"-thing, but refusing Anakin's offer doesn't feel to me as Nima is becoming an emotionless robot, but more like she is mature enough to realise nothing good could come from that meeting, as they still can't be together.
I also just realised why Anakin reacted so strongly. When he had dreams about his mother, they were warnings about her being in mortal danger. He propably assumed Nima's dreams were the same.
[X] Yes. Jar'kai is a lot of work, and so it will cut into her time a little bit, but she can talk to Master Cin Drallig and Ahsoka and start working on seeing how well she does at it. After all, if it doesn't work she can always go back to a single lightsaber. No. of Votes: 36
[X] The Fun Police: Scout's too stressed and she's working too hard. It's time to get together with Ahsoka while she's still here and see if she can't get scout to relax and take things a little less seriously. Surely together they can help. No. of Votes: 32
[X] A Ghost Haunting: There are rumors of a ghost down in the lower levels, who slips in and out and might be stealing stuff, or maybe they're just getting lost? Either way, Nima and Wessen are on the case! No (surely fictitious) ghost, no matter how many creepy stories there are about them, can stop them from learning the truth! No. of Votes: 20
[X] No Running in the Library: It's time for yet another rounds of tests as the new year begins, and that means studying, and then more studying. Oh, and then some studying after that. Nima could bury herself in the library, and that's just what she's going to do, but why is that so hard? Really. No. of Votes: 12
[X] Perchance to Dream: Nima's been having nightmares, Nima's been having dreams. Perhaps she should talk to Master Tray'lor, and then maybe the people at the Hall of Healing, about her dreams. Yet she cherishes them, despite her words, as proof that her mother is safe. Can she truly bring herself to end them forever… can she even end them? No. of Votes: 6
[X] The Great Pretender: Marruc is always trying to cheer people up and set up small little private celebrations, reasons for people to relax and feel grateful. He's the most empathic initiate that Nima knows, doubly so from both his heritage as a Zeltron and his own natural skills. Perhaps she could try to help him out. No. of Votes: 3
[X] The Rookie: Not all of the Clones are so sure about teaching. In fact, Eleven doesn't know if he has anything to teach. He is straight out of Kamino, he's only fought in a single battle and even then not for long. He doubts his ability to actually get anything across. But he has his own perspective, Nima is sure. If they can just figure out what it is. No. of Votes: 1
[X] No. Two lightsabers is difficult, and rare for a reason. It'd be a lot of work and effort, and it might not be that important, compared to all of the other things she could be doing. No. of Votes: 1
Does she take his advice?
[X] Yes. Jar'kai is a lot of work, and so it will cut into her time a little bit, but she can talk to Master Cin Drallig and Ahsoka and start working on seeing how well she does at it. After all, if it doesn't work she can always go back to a single lightsaber.
Pick two events!
[X] The Fun Police: Scout's too stressed and she's working too hard. It's time to get together with Ahsoka while she's still here and see if she can't get scout to relax and take things a little less seriously. Surely together they can help.
[X] The Rookie: Not all of the Clones are so sure about teaching. In fact, Eleven doesn't know if he has anything to teach. He is straight out of Kamino, he's only fought in a single battle and even then not for long. He doubts his ability to actually get anything across. But he has his own perspective, Nima is sure. If they can just figure out what it is.
Damnit Nima! Take Anakin's advice! Don't let the Jedi brainwash you into a robot! Seriously, dick move to Hannah as well. We need to work on getting Nima to be more well, open-minded. Seriously, the whole severing attachments didn't even have a reason, it was literally some random conservative Jedi council member like 5000 years ago who got all huffy about his students having attachments and getting married.
Also boy her mother could be a great way to get off Coruscant in the future now that I think about it. At the very least, she might have credits to buy a ship. Of course, who knows what her mother is even doing right now. Judging by the Jedi's track record she could be in a situation Nima's not going to be happy with.
From what I remember of the previous update, Nima refused Anakin's offer for very emotional reasons - discovering that her mother, who she's missed for so long, was literally a cab ride away this entire time but never gave enough of a shit to bother inspired some pretty strong feelings of betrayal & outrage. I read her claiming she was fine with it as a deliberate lie to hide her issues, which Anakin totally failed to see through because he has a social acumen of potato.
At absolute best, Nima's mother was 100% hooked by the Jedi propaganda byline and feels that Nima is no longer her purview. At worst, slavery hardened her enough that she's willing to ditch her own daughter out of paranoid fear of losing what she's built for herself.
Not like we picked options in our classes that encouraged independent thought and empathy. I hope we can ditch philosophy first chance we get for something that can up it cause man, we saw in this update how it's changing Nima for the worse.
I can definitely say that what we did to Hannah was both cruel and profoundly stupid - even if Hannah never figures out that we snitched on her, having such a basic emotional support torn away is going to destroy her, especially given that any authority figures present will say that she's just being weak and a bad Jedi for missing her father (if in less blunt terms).
Smart money says that she either completely implodes, deliberately flunks out and tries to rejoin her family, or (this one's not terribly likely, but still possible) ends up falling to the Dark Side thanks to this completely obliterating her faith in the accuracy of Jedi doctrine within a year.
Part of the issue is that Nima has been raised in a remote compound with the vaguely Cyberman-esque bullshit of the Republic era Jedi being funneled into her head 24/7. She has no idea how toxic their insistence on total emotional suppression is, and even once the damage starts to set in she'll be more likely to blame herself than question the dogma. Her best bet is probably to hang out with the clones as much as possible and hope their not-Jedi-ness rubs off.
Well, it'll be tough, both because of the built up dislike and the fact that, especially to people she hates, Hannah can be a pretty bad person (remember the time she accidentally implies that non-humans aren't even really part of the Republic, or that other time she implied Nima was selfish for caring about Ryloth being sacked and slaughtered?), but I'd say it's still possible? Just... probably not anytime soon.
...We just blew up her last link to humanity out of a mixture of spite and anal-retentive dogmatism. That's not the prelude to greater understanding & friendship, it's the poignant flashback scene illustrating precisely where the villain's dark path began.
And the fault lies with the Jedi, for refusing to acknowledge that emotional pain and internal struggle are anything more than abstract enemies to be righteously confronted and defeated with the pure logic of a true Master; they've taken the vast expanse of sapient thought, emotion, and experience and turned it into a two-dimensional morality play about how Real Men Jedi Don't Cry.
Pretty much the only Council member who I could picture interacting with someone in intense emotional distress without instantly fucking things up would be Yoda, and that's because he's essentially a total apostate who avoids censure through seniority and soft power.
Part of the issue is that Nima has been raised in a remote compound with the vaguely Cyberman-esque bullshit of the Republic era Jedi being funneled into her head 24/7. She has no idea how toxic their insistence on total emotional suppression is, and even once the damage starts to set in she'll be more likely to blame herself than question the dogma. Her best bet is probably to hang out with the clones as much as possible and hope their not-Jedi-ness rubs off.
And the fault lies with the Jedi, for refusing to acknowledge that emotional pain and internal struggle are anything more than abstract enemies to be righteously confronted and defeated with the pure logic of a true Master; they've taken the vast expanse of sapient thought, emotion, and experience and turned it into a two-dimensional morality play about how Real Men Jedi Don't Cry.
Pretty much the only Council member who I could picture interacting with someone in intense emotional distress without instantly fucking things up would be Yoda, and that's because he's essentially a total apostate who avoids censure through seniority and soft power.
....
what emotional suppression?
Like what suppression?
Did you miss movie night?
Did you miss affection for Bell? Did you miss the fact first thing he did when he arrived to Temple was not Council, not report, not anything but us and that's a Jedi Master, who is, while not always agreed with, respected.
Did you miss that the first thing Nima did on him entering was a hug?
Or the fact this very vote has several very much friendship-based options with, guess what, oh-so-biorobot-Jedi having fun! Oh the horror.
There are friends, there are affectionate bonds between teacher and master, there is the genuine camaradie between Anakin, Obi and Ashoka, there is....
Are you even reading the same story I do? Every update has emotional interactions and bonds. Literally every single one. And nobody is really bothered with it.
The Hannah thing was caused by several factors: her flagrantly violating infosec + her violating rules about politics + Nima actively disliking her (surprise, choice to dislike a person has consequences and cannot be waived away on a whim by a convenient sidequest!) + Nima critfailing Empathy roll.
I don't agree with basically anything you said, but this stood out to me? Are you seriosly proposing that Nima's mother abandoned her because she is either brainwashed or she does not care? Seriously?
In real life, people give up their children for adoption all the time. Not because they dont care, but because they want their child to have a better future than they could provide. And I am not just talking about unwanted babies here, historically this kind of thing was common, even for older children.
Let me just remind you that Nimas mom was a slave. She had not built herself anything, she was dirt poor even after the Jedi freed her. What she did was completely understandable for a loving mother: the Jedi were a opportunity for her daughter to escape the cycle of poverty and slavery. This kind of thing has been common lots of time in history. Hell, it's propably happening somewhere right now.
I don't agree with basically anything you said, but this stood out to me? Are you seriosly proposing that Nima's mother abandoned her because she is either brainwashed or she does not care? Seriously?
In real life, people give up their children for adoption all the time. Not because they dont care, but because they want their child to have a better future than they could provide. And I am not just talking about unwanted babies here, historically this kind of thing was common, even for older children.
Let me just remind you that Nimas mom was a slave. She had not built herself anything, she was dirt poor even after the Jedi freed her. What she did was completely understandable for a loving mother: the Jedi were a opportunity for her daughter to escape the cycle of poverty and slavery. This kind of thing has been common lots of time in history. Hell, it's propably happening somewhere right now.
Also, it should be noted. Nima knows that Master Bell checks up on her mother. When she sees Master Bell--and has reason to think he's seen Mala, obviously, as opposed to having just landed straight on the Temple--she does eventually ask how her mother is doing. Nima, since she loves her mother, has always assumed that Mala was asking the same of Master Bell, and probably getting the same accurate, but hardly detailed, "Just fine, she's doing alright" sorta answer.
Is it true? Well, Nima has no way to be sure, obviously.
Luke's order handled that problem by expanding what a Jedi is, and more importantly didn't do what the Order did by making it so the Agricorps was where all initiates went without Masters. You have to remember the Agricorps in practice were basically where they dumped every initiate who didn't catch the attention of a master, regardless of their skill in the force. Obi-Wan was going to be dumped there until Qui-gon was convinced otherwise, even when he was Yoda's pet student.
Remember you don't automatically become a Padawan if you reach the age to be selected. If you aren't selected you're pretty much screwed. Not to mention people forget it's just kids, it doesn't account that some people might have a more difficult time or don't learn as fast. Even if by necessity Luke's order basically allowed more Jedi to reach their full potential.
And as canon proof look at the inquisitors, most of them were Agricorp who the Emperor indoctrinated. They had potential, it's just the only one who saw that was a psychopathic monster.
Sounds like the problem was that they were using a medieval Guild Apprenticeship to operate a galactic scale training regime.
Which they had to because anyone getting trained to a full Knight needs an apprenticeship level of scrutiny and they needed somewhere to keep young Force Sensitives busy that they couldn't elevate.
So...sounds like the solution might be MORE corps, so they got a better choice of job assignment if they were shooting for Knight and fell short of the top 5% that could actually get picked?
[] Yes. Jar'kai is a lot of work, and so it will cut into her time a little bit, but she can talk to Master Cin Drallig and Ahsoka and start working on seeing how well she does at it. After all, if it doesn't work she can always go back to a single lightsaber.
[] The Fun Police: Scout's too stressed and she's working too hard. It's time to get together with Ahsoka while she's still here and see if she can't get scout to relax and take things a little less seriously. Surely together they can help.
[] A Ghost Haunting: There are rumors of a ghost down in the lower levels, who slips in and out and might be stealing stuff, or maybe they're just getting lost? Either way, Nima and Wessen are on the case! No (surely fictitious) ghost, no matter how many creepy stories there are about them, can stop them from learning the truth!
Several of the Senators who had spoken out against the loyalty oath legislation -- and had even voted against it -- were found to have been giving support, financial and otherwise, to the Corellian hackers, and the news exploded with anger and fury.
The Correlians were traitors, many yelled, their right to stand aside should be eliminated from the constitution, and they should be invaded and occupied, rather than allowed to continue secretly aiding the Confederates.
There was no evidence that the hackers were anything more than malcontents and criminals who just happened to be from Corellia, but that didn't seem to matter. Even from the Temple, no doubt isolated from the worst gossip rags and the roar of the crowd, Nima could feel just how unhinged rage was making people, how hatred could cloud their judgement.
People were also demanding that Senator's immunity be entirely stripped, that the Senators who had collaborated should be executed, this endless torrent of hatred and bile spilling out.
The world grew more tense, and Nima had an argument with Cho about what to do about all of this hate and bile. Which meant that they were of course never talking ever again… until Cho forgot her old gripes and they became friends once more. Nima should be worried--and she was a little, but not much--but it was far too predictable to quite concern her. It was a pattern she'd been through enough times to know where it was going to end. She'd try to talk to Cho once she'd calmed down to see if they couldn't skip at least a few of the inevitable steps.
Nima had new lessons to learn, and yet she was tired and busy. Busy enough that she decided to take a little longer to get to it than she might usually. A few extra days of relaxation and trying to deal with some other problems wouldn't hurt.
And it was certainly a problem she was faced with. Scout had the tournament in a month and a half, sure, but if anything that was all the more reason for Scout to try to relax at least once in a while. After all, Nima hardly put in her best performance when she was nervous and in a bad mood, and Scout was clearly on the edge.
Just as importantly, there was someone still here, at least for a few days more, who had a closer, or at least longer, connection to Scout than anyone else.
*******
"I'm sure I can do something," Ahsoka said. "Or, we can do something? We need to make it official. Just asking her to take the time off wouldn't work." Ahsoka shook her head, sipping on the tea. It was a small refractory, a little bit out of the way, the kind of place Masters often went when they wanted privacy but didn't want to meet in their rooms.
"Where's Anakin?" Nima asked.
"Skyguy's doing something with the Council. They want to investigate the rest of the hacker network, and I wasn't allowed to come along. He said something about how it'd be boring." Ahsoka rolled her eyes, "He says that, and then he winds up checking the holonet again."
"He's on the Holonet?"
"They've made him out to be some sort of hotshot after we all stopped that ship crash," Ahsoka said.
Nima nodded, and asked, "What happened?"
"We were just getting off when this ship started barrelling forward past the stop point. The cabin was open, and Anakin leapt for it… I followed him."
Nima blinked, stunned. "Just like that?"
"Yeah. We made it pretty easily. So did Obi-Wan. Anakin just… piloted the thing out of the way of the spaceport blind. I'd say I don't know how, but it was the Force, obviously. Obi-Wan calmed down the pilot, and I kinda looked around to see if there were any hackers on board. There weren't, but there was a signal, and we were able to track it down to the industrial district. Well, one of them. There's actually a ton of different areas, but there's one everyone talks about." Ahsoka shook her head. "They had mercenaries, but they were easy to disarm." Ahsoka frowned. "Anakin did it literally, to this one guy. I just kept on chopping at weapons. Droids are a lot easier."
"I'd imagine so," Nima said. If there was one thing about the war that she was grateful for, it was that most of the people she'd have to fight, if the war didn't end first, wouldn't be biological sentients.
Ahsoka shuddered. "Sometimes there's no choice, though." She shook her head and gave her tea a loud, even noisy, sip. "Sorry, I'm being a downer. We should focus on getting Scout to have fun."
"No problem," Nima said. "So, how do we do this?"
"Well, in the Holovids, there's, hrm." Ahsoka shrugged. "Girl's days out or something? But I'm not sure if that really fits, does it, Nima?"
Nima blinked, "Girls day out?"
"Going to the spa. Getting your hair done…" Ahsoka trailed off at that.
Nima looked at Ahsoka's montral, still far shorter than they'd be when she was an adult, and Ahoska looked at Nima's lekku, similarly still in the process of growing. Ahsoka started giggling, "All the holovids are so human-centric."
"I did notice that," Nima said. "Are there any that aren't?"
"Hmm, well. I could look for one? I'm not sure," Ahsoka said. "But yeah, spa stuff. Massages, painting nails for… some reason. Steam baths." She shrugged a little, clearly skeptical of her whole line of thinking.
Nima, on the other hand, had an idea. "There's steam baths. I've seen them. They're near the retired wing. A lot of the older Masters have joint pain, and so there's this small locker and then these steam boxes?"
There were of course plenty of refreshers in the Temple, and showers… and even a few baths, though showers were just plain more efficient. But the only steam bath was there, as far as she knew. Well, unless someone was holding out on Nima.
They could be, the Temple was large enough that even after being there for most of her life, it still surprised her what was there.
"Oh! That'd work. What else? Well, there's usually shopping, but… Jedi shopping?"
"Where did you get the shirt, then? And the clothes?" Nima asked, with a frown.
"Well, they did give me a few credits to buy an outfit or two before I went and met Master Skyguy. So I chose this, and they seemed alright with it."
Nima blinked, looking down at her outfit. "Really? Doesn't it seem a little distracting? Revealing? Something?"
"Well, Master Secura doesn't dress that differently, does she?" Ahsoka asked.
Aayla Secura was probably the most prominent Twi'lek Jedi, and it was true that the way she dressed was honestly pretty emblematic of Twi'lek female fashion. Oh, there were reasons for it: Ryloth was pretty warm, but that really didn't explain all of it? It was just cultural. Nima couldn't imagine dressing as Master Secura did, though of course she didn't seem to have any problems. Her Mom didn't dress like that, either: her clothes all seemed to be, as far as Nima could tell, basic professional Coruscanti attire. Since hats weren't typical, there wasn't even any trouble with the lekku, not really.
"I guess so," Nima said. "I can't imagine doing that."
"Well, you're not a teen yet. Wait for that rebellious phase," Ahsoka said, teasingly. "And if anyone complains or finds themselves looking too much or getting distracted, that's on them, right?"
"Right," Nima said.
"Besides, I have another outfit too," Ahsoka said. "I just wanted to shock everyone now that I'm back at the temple. This is my 'welcome to a jungle planet' outfit."
Nima nodded, believing her. It certainly would be smarter for a planet like Ryloth, or any of the jungles that you could wind up in. "So, clothes aren't an option."
"Nope."
All Initiates who could wear regular clothes--or whose species needed them--wore the exact same outfit. The only difference was that older girls had bras, as Nima didn't and Scout and Ahsoka did. Everything else was standardized, other than size. It was pretty simple, and from what she'd seen of Holovids, at least she didn't have to spend a lot of time each morning figuring out what she was going to wear. Though if she believed Holovids, only the villain did that. The heroine just knew.
Holovids were weird and she had a feeling that--even with her limited sample size--she'd seen too many and that watching more of them wouldn't actually give her a more accurate picture. IN fact, her understanding might actually get worse the more she watched of the holovid movies that she'd watched with Ahsoka and Scout.
"Alright, then. Food, steam baths, and a movie? Do you know what she knows?" Nima asked.
"Food! Yeah, that's a great idea. I'm… not a cook."
"I like too many things," Nima admitted. She had never cooked before, but she knew how to follow instructions, so that part shouldn't be so hard. But the fact was that even when she didn't like it, she could eat something. Plus, she was a Twi'lek, she didn't have a human set of taste buds. "Hmm, how different are your tastes?"
"Pretty close to human? Also, I know what she likes. Cheese, fish, olives: don't care for them myself, but she liked them, I think?" Ahsoka frowned. "Oh. If we're doing desert, she likes strawberries, and also caramel."
Of course, if making something with olives, cheese, and fish was possible, making some sort of… major dessert was less likely. But perhaps strawberries and some sort of cream, and then maybe some caramel?
Nima considered this. "Sandwiches?" she asked.
"Oh, that'd work," Ahsoka said, frowning. "Sandwiches. We can talk to the people in the kitchens. Surely we could convince them if we say it's for a good cause. And I've thought of just the holovid."
So, there was a plan, Nima thought. Though she still wasn't sure how to get Scout to play along, but the more she thought, the more ideas she had.
*******
The kitchen staff were dedicated professionals all. They were certainly not easily swayed to just help out with a big order. After all, Jedi shouldn't get too used to fine living, because all such things were ephemeral, and besides, it wasn't healthy.
But Nima knew a few of the workers, and one of them, the older Twi'lek gentleman, helped convince the others that an occasional spread wouldn't be so harmful. After all, there were sometimes parties and small gatherings where they did the same thing. So, with Ahsoka safely ensconced in the kitchen working on that part of it, Nima hurried on to see if she couldn't catch Scout.
Her own classes were done for the day, and a little early, and so hopefully Scout wouldn't be too long.
Nima waited in the hall, looking at the door and hoping she wasn't too obvious, humming a little bit to herself and waiting. Eventually the kids started leaving, in packs and clumps, talking and gossiping.
There were even more rumors out there now than there had been a week ago. It was just building and building, and the lowered number of daily meditations only meant that there was even more time to worry about what was happening.
Finally, Scout came out, and stopped the moment she saw Nima.
Her red hair was slightly wet, and she'd clearly been exercising pretty hard, her small lips pursed slightly in an uncertain frown, her bright green eyes looking Nima up and down as if trying to find a hint of her purpose.
"Hey, Scout. How was practice?"
"Good," Scout said. There were bags under her eyes. "I should go somewhere to do some calisthenics, maybe some cool down exercises, if you wanted to join in?"
"Actually, I had a thought," Nima said. "I thought you might want to try a steam bath. I've heard that really helps you after some exercise?"
"Well, it does," Scout said. "I've read a little about that, I think, in--wait, where?"
"You know the retired wing?" Nima asked.
"Well, yes. They have one?"
"That's the only one I know about. It's because a lot of them are old and have joint pain," Nima said.
"Oh, well, that seems reasonable," Scout said. Then she blinked, "This isn't some sort of plan, is it?"
"No it isn't. Why would you think that?" Nima said, with a hopefully passable poker face.
"You being here, that's all," she admitted. With a chuckle she added, "I shouldn't be so paranoid."
"It's fine. I wanted to go have a steam bath too. It's been a long day," Nima admitted.
"Oh?"
"Well, I had a test in math, at least," Nima said. "Logistics."
Scout winced, "Ah. Well, did you do well?"
"I'm… not sure," Nima admitted. "I'm not sure if I figured out the fuel equation right?"
"Well, if you didn't do well, you can just figure out what you got wrong and fix it later," Scout said, casually.
That wasn't advice she herself was listening to.
"Probably," Nima admitted. The problem was that fuel usage was, after all, highly variable. There was a lot of math for that, and she hadn't expected a test at all. The Temple wasn't much for constant tests in the usual way, written tests like that were pretty rare compared to just seeing whether you knew the material or not in class.
"C'mon, you don't need to worry. Doesn't Master Bell have his eye on you? Everyone's saying that," Scout said.
Nima blinked. "He… might? Who is everyone?"
"Well, mostly the people who gossip about that," Scout said with a shrug. "Not me, I just listen in to all of it."
"That you do," Nima said. "It really must put you on top of these things."
"Sometimes. But people talk about the stupidest things," Scout said. "Like, get this. There's a rumor of a ghost in the bowels of the Temple. And you know what evidence they have of it? That some of their stuff went missing and that they've glanced something blue-white when they were walking down there. Certainly not for any sneaky purposes, I'm sure." She shook her head. "It's not like there's anything much that far down."
"I guess there isn't," Nima said. "But that does make me want to track down the ghost, actually?"
"Really?" Scout asked, frowning.
"Just to see who it actually is. There has to be some person causing the little sightings and stealing the trinkets, right?" Nima asked.
"Huh, well. Don't really have time for something like that," Scout said. "Though, actually it does sound fun."
"No time for fun?" Nima asked. They'd started walking in that direction.
"I have other things to do. Once I'm a Padawan there'll be more time," Scout said, with a wave of her hand. "I felt like I was close to a breakthrough, in there. Or… something? And if I learn about logistics, and military tactics, that's more I can do. If I work hard enough on everything else…"
Nima didn't know what to say. She didn't know if it was really something to have to make up for? She'd seen enough of Scout to think that there had to be a Master out there who'd love to teach her. "What are you learning in the clones' class?"
"Sixteen Seven, that's one of the clones--"
"I know him," Nima said.
"Oh, you do? He's interesting."
"Yeah, very enthusiastic," Nima said.
"He wants to try to teach us to use blasters as a last resort? And, well, it's not against the rules or anything, but 'blasters are uncivilized' Scout said, with a shrug."
"Ah," Nima said. "Is he going through with it?"
"Yes. It's all on stun, and only some of the kids are interested, but I figured I'd learn a little bit of it? At least enough to be able to hit a target if somehow I lose my lightsaber. Though, what kind of Jedi does that?"
"Well, I don't know," Nima admitted.
"Lightsabers are more fun, and I'm better at hand-to-hand, but I'm not exactly going to be picking up and throwing boxes around anytime soon," Scout said, doubt creeping into her. Or perhaps it was always there. "So something to do at long range if they don't have lightsabers wouldn't be the worst choice?"
"What about Shien?" Nima asked.
"I can sorta do Shien, but some of it requires a more delicate sense of the Force," Scout admitted, with a sigh. "To know exactly where the bolt is coming from. Otherwise if someone just fires it at some weird way or at your leg, you'll do a standard deflection and miss by miles."
It was pretty true. Nima didn't even really think about it, which was probably something of a problem. It was possible to train your reaction time to be good at Shien without the Force. At least, Nima suspected it was possible, and there were rumors that there was a lightsaber wielding Separatist General that lacked any real experience as a Force user, though she knew that it was hard to tell. But it was always going to be harder, and all of the Forms assumed that you were in tune with the Force, sunk at least part-way in, even if you were distracted.
It wasn't a situation where you could just pick it up, even if it wasn't hard to learn, and just do well. Of course, Scout tried and worked harder than most people, so maybe she'd figure out how to get her reaction times up until she could use Shien like it was instinctual.
But it wasn't. She was working harder to get the same results and she'd never be, for instance, one of the great lightsaber duelists of the Order. There'd be someone, and maybe multiple people, who were as athletic, and perhaps even more skilled, but who also had the Force to give them a huge edge.
"You see what I mean? But I shouldn't be worrying that much," Scout said. "So, what about the other parts of the test?"
******
The locker room was pretty simple. There were a few bins to put clothes in, and then another bin that had white robes that people could wear. Then there was a rack to put the robes on once they were wet.
Besides that there was a bench and one or two older Jedi sitting on the bench, half-undressed, clearly waiting on the boxes.
There were four of them, four doors in the wall. From a quick glance, two people could probably fit in each, but from the shadows seem on the glass, each one held one person. Privacy, of course.
The one thing Nima did notice that was less private was the way that up near the ceiling there was a little bit of space. So, they could probably hear each other, and talk across the boundaries.
"Alright, we should get changed," Scout said, and she began to take off her uniform. Nima did the same after a nervous moment, putting her tunic, the belt, and her boots in the same case, and then doing the same for her grey underwear, before hurrying over to grab a robe to wrap around herself.
Scout had chosen a huge robe, meant for someone twice her size. "What? We just wear it to go in, right? So I thought it might as well be huge."
"Well, that makes sense," Nima said, walking over to grab a larger robe. There were robes of every size, since Jedi came in basically every size too, including ones that seemed as if they'd barely fit a six year old.
She wondered whether Yoda ever came here. Probably.
Master Kirrlan stepped out of one of them, her fur sodden. She'd actually written an important book on pacifism a century ago, but Nima hadn't had time to check the book out, except that apparently her arguments had been very controversial.
At the moment she was mostly very relaxed, and Master Kirrlan walked over towards a far wall, where there was a dryer. Oh, huh.
That left one of the already waiting Jedi to go in first.
It actually took about ten minutes before one opened up, and Nima let Scout have it first. "Oh, huh," Scout called from inside. "This is pretty neat. There's a bunch of knobs and levers…"
The steam only built up, as she fiddled around with them, and once a aged female Master slipped out of the one next to Scout, it was Nima's turn to get in.
It was warm, but pleasantly so, and Nima noted that the ground was some sort of soft material, on top of the bench and the knobs which clearly controlled some specific settings.
She realized that the mat on the ground was for if someone wanted to sit down on it, which made Nima think that this would actually be a great place to meditate.
"So, you in?" Scout asked.
"Yes. This place would be great for meditation," Nima said, repeating her thought.
"It really would, wouldn't it? So, tell me the truth. You got some sort of crazy plan to loosen me up?" Scout asked, her voice echoing slightly over the hum of the steam and the dripping of water.
"Well, maybe. Just go with me and we'll eat some dinner and see what happens."
"Oh. So Ahsoka is in on it. If it's another romance holo, I'm just not going to show up. Why did you think that you had to ambush me, anyways?" Scout asked.
"No reason," Nima said.
"Oh, alright," Scout said, with a laugh.
Nima blinked. "What?"
"Your voice… you're not always a bad liar, but when you are you're terrible. Everyone else works hard too, so I have to as well," Scout said.
"Later. Right now relax, get your muscles limbered up," Nima said. "The food's going to be healthy, and you need rest days. That's what Ahsoka would say."
"And you agree?" Scout asked.
"Sure," Nima said. "Let's just enjoy this and we can always talk later."
"Sure, why not?" Scout said.
It was very relaxing, just sitting in the steam, whether on the bench or cross-legged on the floor. There was something calming about the heat, though she couldn't say that it was that familiar. The Temple was pretty well climate controlled: she'd never really had to deal with the seasons she knew other planets had. Well, that wasn't true. When it was a warmer season, it was nice to look out over the city, and when it was a rainy time of year, it was best to stay inside. But this was certainly a little different, and she allowed herself to unwind and relax in the Force, to let go of her fears and doubts, one by one.
If anything she felt better about her decision now than she had when she was talking to Anakin… but she did wonder about Hannah. Might there have been a better way to go about it: she needed to be reported on, she'd violated all sorts of rules, and done so selfishly, but if she'd told Yoda, might he have used more discretion?
The one time she'd seen Hannah she'd looked so miserable that Nima couldn't ignore it, even really disliking the other girl. But wasn't that distaste an attachment too, one that was influencing her decisions just like Hannah's selfish attachment to her father and involvement in legislative politics?
Perhaps her failing wasn't as bad as Hannah's. But that didn't matter: being a Jedi wasn't about comparing yourself endlessly to others. It was about being better, it was about admitting mistakes. Nima had talked to the first person she'd seen, not thinking about how to report it, and that was a mistake. And she'd done it for the wrong reasons.
She hadn't thought, deep and long, about the fact that the Jedi couldn't be neutral mediators if they were known to weigh-in on every single piece of legislation. Or any legislation. She hadn't thought, not long enough, about the potential risks of compromise comms-security, or about the fact that her words about how never was a long time might mean she was planning on leaving the Order, though that latter choice was anyone's right, even if it rankled Nima.
Actually telling someone wasn't wrong, or at least, she could justify it. She thought it was even a good decision.
But that's not what she was thinking, then, it was part of it: but her dislike, her own issues and doubts with her mother, had been the driving factors.
Nima couldn't apologize, and she still disliked Hannah despite all of her reflection, but she shouldn't have allowed it to control her actions. Reasons mattered. A man who saves your life just because he wants to rob you isn't the same as one who saves it out of kindness. A Nima Tyruti who told…
So she didn't regret what she did when she finally stepped out of the steam room, her mind more determined and decided and her shoulders loose of tension. No, she regretted why she'd done it, and how.
That was something she should learn from.
*******
Scout stared at the spread. "Wow," Scout said. There were sandwiches, with smoked fish, some soft cheese, and lettuce on them, as well as a sort of olive spread. Then there were crackers with a cheese-olive-and-oil mix to put on top of them, and then, spread out, a bunch of vegetable kebabs.
Finally, clearly just for Nima, was some hot and fresh Munch-Fungus whose smell must not have been the most pleasant thing for a human, from Scout's slightly wrinkled nose when she looked at it. "Ah, you know, I was always wondering, what does it taste like, to you? I once tried it, I think on a dare, and--"
"Oh, yeah! I remember. No offense, Nima," Ahsoka said. "But you're not going to have to share that."
"More for me," Nima said, looking at the screen on the far wall. They were going to eat, and then they were going to watch… Nima wasn't sure yet, actually.
"A good way to think," Ahsoka said.
"What's the war like?" Scout asked.
"Not now! Today we watch someone solve a mystery and get into hijinx," Ahsoka said, grabbing one of the sandwiches.
Nima grabbed one as well, but while the fish was pretty good, the olive spread was pretty strong and just didn't quite work, and the cheese… well. She wasn't going to turn it down, she thought. She'd exercise more if she had to, but her Mom had taught her, even in a short time, not to waste food.
There were things you'd never really lose, even after almost eight years.
Once she was done with the sandwich, which Scout and Ahsoka were savoring, she started in on the munch-fungus bread. About halfway through, Ahsoka went to get the dessert, which was in a cool pac, and to turn on the holovid.
******
The strawberries were good, and the Holovid was this mystery. This teenager girl who was a bit of a busy-body and on a vacation with her parents uncovered a smuggling ring that was trading in stolen goods. There was a strong Wookiee who turned to the good guys when he realized what he was bodyguarding, there was a Togruta merchant who was being blackmailed by a Hutt, it was all very dramatic and complicated, and the mystery of who was really behind it was pretty intricate.
The acting was pretty good, and the blonde teenager was a much better actor than that one guy, moving around with verve and energy and infusing her whole person into this character in a way that Nima thought was a lot funnier and more interesting than the clueless amnesiac Jedi.
Then, when it was done, Ahsoka said. "Alright, so I was thinking. And between us, you know what?"
"What?" Scout asked, frowning.
"Well, I was thinking about Master Skywalker, and Master Kenobi, and then I thought. I'm really good at fighting, right? Kinda like Skyguy. And Scout, you're really smart. You're not a general yet, but I could imagine you thinking up clever schemes to win fights, just like Master Kenobi does."
"I'm not Master Kenobi," Scout said.
"But, well, he wasn't always himself," Ahsoka said. "And then you, Nima. You're going to get stronger, but more than that. I've seen the galaxy, right? It really could use people to fix it up after this war's over. Heal the wounds, say the nice words. Things that Skyguy couldn't do to save everyone's lives." Ahsoka shook her head, fondly. "He has his own solution to problems. So do I. But I was thinking, between us and the Order, we'll definitely win, right? If we try hard enough? So let's do it together."
Scout laughed, a slight bit of bitterness like the crust on bread: just there, neither offensive nor absent. "Me?"
"Yes, you. All three of us. No silly oath--" Ahsoka said.
"You don't like oaths?" Nima asked. There were stories, certainly, of Jedi who had sworn to defeat the Sith, or save the galaxy, and some of them had even done it. In fact, anyone who failed probably didn't get their story told. Three Jedi had made oaths before to defeat the Sith: three Jedi had done so. The galaxy was old, that is what history told Nima, and everything had happened at least once.
"Well, okay. Maybe I thought that lesson was pretty cool, though clearly overdramatic. Be like brothers to each other?"
Nima shrugged. She rarely saw anything wrong with sentiment.
"Do you have anything to drink? Any more lemonade? I guess I'll do it, if it makes you happy," Scout admitted.
"Sure," Ahsoka said. "Why not?"
Quite a few reasons, and of course what did it mean? If Nima was ignoring the feeling, the strange closeness of the moment, then nothing. But Nima didn't ignore feelings: sometimes even when she should be more careful of letting them drive her.
So she took a glass of lemonade and toasted to it too. Scout was in a better mood, she had another reason: she needed places to go. She wanted to be a Padawan, to be a Jedi more than almost anyone Nima had met. The strength of her desire had its own power, but that wasn't all she should be looking for.
What to do once she was actually a Padawan, a Knight? Being one wasn't enough.
Not for Nima, and it shouldn't be enough for Scout, either.
*******
At the very height of the chaos, of the fear and hate, Chancellor Palpatine stepped up to speak, his podium floating right to the center. He looked so old, he looked so vulnerable in a Senate chamber where the Senators had been baying for blood, so many of them, like sub-sentients.
He waited until they silenced down.
"I cannot support this measure. Our constitution has stood us in good stead for a thousand years, and Corellia has been a constant friend and companion of the Republic, loyal no matter how contrary they were. We must never forget what we are fighting for. We are fighting for the Republic, Senators. It might seem hard to realize it here, when the war seems so distant, when it drags on and on into a new year, but these fights, to create the legislative structure that holds the Republic together, have their own value. I am honored to be your colleague, I am honored to be the Chancellor who takes up the humble burden of leading us through war."
He took a breath, and the whole Senate seemed to follow along. "Yet I cannot be honored when sentients bay for blood. The few Senators who are accused can of course resign, return to their systems, and another such representative can be elected. There is no need to destroy the sanctity of the Senate. There is no need to tear up the constitution. Instead we should look forward, all of us, in war as we would in peace, towards doing what is truly necessary to create the best Republic we can. The brave Jedi and their clones fight for us, and sentients across the galaxy pay the taxes that allow them to do so. We must prove by our honor that we are worthy of every exertion, for we are the representatives of democracy, and thus we must do what we can to protect the Holonet from those who would take advantage of our openness. Those who would take advantage of our justice, of our Republic. They have nearly killed thousands, and they will do so again."
"Thus, I urge you, with what little power I have, for I have always acknowledged the right of the Senate to make its own decisions, to reject any amendments to the Constitution, but to act in this mild way to increase Holonet security. Thank you for your consideration, and may you vote your conscience for what is truly best for the Republic."
It was in that moment, watching that speech, that Nima decided that Chancellor Sheev Palpatine was perhaps the smoothest man she'd ever seen. He'd stood up for something bold and right… even if the Holonet legislation was a little controlling. Jedi couldn't vote, and they didn't vote, but if they did…
The Senate did as he recommended. The bloodlust collapsed. By his mere quiet and polite plea, he had done what any hundred senators, including Senator Amidala, had not been able to do.
It was a proud moment to be a citizen of the Republic, for all the problems it had.
*******
Master Drallig didn't have her practice with both, at first. Instead, for the first week, the strict human Master frowned and made her learn to use the regular lightsaber one-handed, and the shoto lightsaber one handed. The shoto, especially, was very difficult to get her head around. It was shorter, the reach less impressive, but also a little faster, meant to attack in a different way.
She wasn't great at it. She wasn't good. But she was working on her arm strength, and her grip was apparently already, "Quite good enough" in the Master's words. That wasn't true of everyone who tried to go with the two-saber style, some of them were so used to holding onto one lightsaber as tight as they could with both hands that they didn't know how to use two. Sometimes they forgot to compensate, sometimes they overcompensated and choked out the lightsaber and its fluidity itself, becoming mediocre in the process.
Master Drallig had a style for her too, a way that she should be using her lightsabers. It involved constantly moving, taking advantage of her agility and keeping it up. By the second week, she was starting to gain some modicum of skill. She was still worse with two sabers than she was with one, but she was catching it. It still got tangled, but there was something intuitive about it.
Meanwhile, she was trying to convince Ayguin to help her. Ayguin, or Scout, but neither of them were quite up to going down and hunting for ghosts. It felt a little silly, but Nima wanted to go take a look, see what there was to see.
She was almost considering asking someone she didn't know, or going herself to try to get to the bottom of this--like Juniper Jones in that Holovid--when she decided to ask Wessen, even though of course she'd say--
"S-sure," Wessen said, looking at Nima.
Nima opened her mouth to tell Wessen that if she really didn't want to go, she didn't actually have to. But Wessen seemed… actually eager. "Oh, really?"
"Yes. It'd be fun. I haven't seen you around lately. And working with animals has been…" Wessen frowned.
"Not as nice as you thought?" Nima asked.
"M-maybe. So let's do it tonight."
Nima smiled. "Sure, let's get to it."
Going with Wessen to Hunt for a Ghost! What does Nima bring?
[] Just a lightsaber and a flashlight.
[] Those two things, but also ropes, wires, chalk to catch footprints, and other things to make traps for this definitely-not-a-ghost.
[] On top of the Lightsaber and flashlight, a camera. The better to record whatever they find!
[] Write-in. Lighstaber, flashlight, and a few objects. All of the above isn't a particularly valid write-in.
