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May The Invisible Hand Be With You - (Star Wars CK2-Style Quest)

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That's often a problem with stories that have races of non-human people. Humans have variety, just like in real life, whereas every other race is homogeneous and even the important characters from those races either exemplify the stereotypical traits of their race, or are utter opposites of them, and thus still defined by the expectation.
 
Skywalker_T-65 said:
Thing is, I based it off of Ventress' sabers. Since I figured that there would be more than a little overlap, considering the situation.



If anything, her's have more of a curve (this is because I also took some cues from Dooku's, for again, obvious reason). Scaling is roughly equivalent to Ventress as well. It looks like it is more meant for two-handed, but it isn't.

EDIT: The Sky is tired and was mixing up the old complaint with the new discussion, don't mind me >.>
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It might be the camera angle.
Dr. Snark said:
Finally got around to adding Galen to the front page. Spoilers: He's amazing at Learning and "meh" at almost everything else.
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Clearly he needs buffing. I suggest we add Sanity as a Stat.
 
adaer said:
That's often a problem with stories that have races of non-human people. Humans have variety, just like in real life, whereas every other race is homogeneous and even the important characters from those races either exemplify the stereotypical traits of their race, or are utter opposites of them, and thus still defined by the expectation.
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It really doesn't help that the Planet of Hats trope is a time-honored storytelling method in sci-fi, so there's even less incentive to have anything in between "conformist to stereotypes" and "rebel who doesn't play by The Man's rules."

That or the race in question just doesn't get enough screentime to get any depth. GEE, I WONDER WHAT FRANCHISES IN PARTICULAR ARE LIKE THAT I WOULD NOT KNOW
 
Dr. Snark said:
It really doesn't help that the Planet of Hats trope is a time-honored storytelling method in sci-fi, so there's even less incentive to have anything in between "conformist to stereotypes" and "rebel who doesn't play by The Man's rules."

That or the race in question just doesn't get enough screentime to get any depth. GEE, I WONDER WHAT FRANCHISES IN PARTICULAR ARE LIKE THAT I WOULD NOT KNOW
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It ACTUALLY sometimes goes so far that the trope even applies to Humans themselves depending on which Planet they are from. *looks at Corellia where EVERYONE is a rough or rebellious or both maverick pilot or smuggler or both*
 
Dr. Snark said:
It really doesn't help that the Planet of Hats trope is a time-honored storytelling method in sci-fi, so there's even less incentive to have anything in between "conformist to stereotypes" and "rebel who doesn't play by The Man's rules."

That or the race in question just doesn't get enough screentime to get any depth. GEE, I WONDER WHAT FRANCHISES IN PARTICULAR ARE LIKE THAT I WOULD NOT KNOW
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Teron said:
It ACTUALLY sometimes goes so far that the trope even applies to Humans themselves depending on which Planet they are from. *looks at Corellia where EVERYONE is a rough or rebellious or both maverick pilot or smuggler or both*
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Frankly I just take the Mass Effect path. Every species has its hat, but the more you talk, the more one realises that the hat is just the stereotype.
 
Since I now have some time to respond on this aspect;
Dr. Snark said:
Finally got around to adding Galen to the front page. Spoilers: He's amazing at Learning and "meh" at almost everything else.
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*Looks at front page, see's him having the N/A Martial.*

*Immediately assumes that if unprotected, he could be hijacked, assassinated. Or worse, 'puppied' into siding with the baddies.*

Well~, at least we snagged Galen. But chances are probably likely, Palpy has noticed that, and has his sights on loss opportunities, giving him the insentive to probably start wrecking some of our opportunities in turn.

But hey, derailer wise; we've probably snagged ourselves a dude, who can totally indirectly aid us in Lightsaber tech. And maybe, even aid in building 'anti laser armor' if fudged, under "Defense systems" fudge.

Also; in before I imagine him having one too many revelations, to the point of being AOK on Anti-Palpatine/Sith Lord road, and being an utter mix of adorkable and suffering with Ciaren... And drunkenly feeling that it's 'probably' better to aid a 'shady' business women, who has high interests on monopoly, over a suspicious Senator who has evidence of being a Sith Lord, and would have totally forced him to build a Death Star for destruction, over actual peace.

Hindsight; it'd be more funny if we can somehow crit him to being AOK on building even a Death Star, if Thrawn had his way/words with him on certain problems. But then again, it'd be more hilarious if we can totes throw him under Android technology, and they start being more like Aegis-like (persona wise) with internal crystal batteries. :p

Hmm... Hindsight, I'd have almost shuddered to think what we could have maybe gotten, if our Diplomat Android appeared like Aegis? :p
Dr. Snark said:
Don't get me wrong, if this was around canon 0 BBY his Intrigue would be in the high 20s/low 30s.
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Don't forget obligatory Cynic trait get as well, and other bad mental health traits after Palps 'invested' some turns to break him into halping with building a Death Star, with nooses attached.

-

Now in other news; almost tempted with an idea, of a hypothetical him critting on 'dimensional' travel, only to be hit by a cynical Archer analogue... Before the "Rogue One" Galen snarks on how 'nice' his lady 'Sith' is, in contrast to 'his' boss, who brought nothing but destruction.

All while our Galen's eyes are lit wide...

-

Hindsight, I'd almost be tempted to imagine what his Martial would be, if we somehow crit into breaking him into actually being 'into', but not unto Martial? (As in, he'd need to learn how to defend himself. But does not need to go beyond that.) I'd likely expect best being 10, or something under a clause under "defensive measures" at best.

Now, what else; other than imagining Palpatine starting to place bounties or assassination orders on Cheriss most likely, if he hasn't already... :p

-

Oh yeah, either imaginine Galen slowly morphing to be somewhat akin to a "Yoshikage Kira" analogue, in appeal and wanting "a quiet life" after all the shenanigans bound to happen around Ciaren, or becoming buddies with Talesan Fry if he suddenly goes REVELATION on Intrigue/"Traitor" horror that he'd agree like an easy to pet/tame puppy. :p

-

I would have maybe concluded with a Rogue One "future" speculation comment, involving a 4 gag punch line on 'conspiracy', 'rebel alliance', and Ciaren making a profit. But by that point, I don't know how to spin that off without making a mix of "Hank Scorpio" here, and "Palpatine's Revenge" there...

:p
 
Teron said:
It ACTUALLY sometimes goes so far that the trope even applies to Humans themselves depending on which Planet they are from. *looks at Corellia where EVERYONE is a rough or rebellious or both maverick pilot or smuggler or both*
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Hey, I'll have you know that Corellian Quality Assurance officials are the roughest, toughest around and those ticket inspectors and accountants are wildcards who need to reigned in. Why do you think all those smugglers are plying their trade so far away from their home planet?
 
I'm still in the early chapters and therefore haven't read the recent discussion for fear of spoilers, so sorry if that was mentioned before:
The Silencer's martial stat in the "Hero Units" threadmak sums to 41, but is displayed as 37 (which is lower than Grievous, who gets a +6 bonus for the Silencer having a higher stat.)

Edit: There also doesn't seem to be a trait that explains the +4 in the sum.

Edit 2: What's the "Nightsister's Journey" trait? I can't find it anywhere.
 
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(Omake) Lean On Me (Canon)
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    • Lean on Me​

    The Oracle,
    Cünuel's Dorm

    Most of the grunts don't seem to care to understand what it takes to prepare for a mission. Your boss doesn't just wake up one day and say, "I feel like organizing something." … Well, hmm … There was one time during Ciaran's coma that Silas grabbed a few of us and said, "We're doing a party" and … Right, anyway, back to my point.

    First you have the background. What made the mission necessary? Who gave it? Where did it come from? Why are we doing this? Referring back to the party, that came from Silas being under the stress of running the organization, as smaller as it was at the time, and having his granddaughter he had reunited with being near death.

    Next you have the goals of the mission, short term and long term. The short term goal of that party was for Silas to temporarily get his mind off the situation we were in. There wasn't any long term for something so simple but for larger missions, and even the small ones, the good planners have them in mind.

    After that, is deciding on which assets can be used. Booze from the Cantina? Sure. Explosives from the stock? No, those were needed to blow up Haka Hai's operations on Mimban.

    And finally you have the bulk of the preparations: planning. Objectives, assets, timing, infiltration, exfiltration, everything wrapped up into one complicated ball of "Who, What, When, Where, and How the fuck are we doing this?" Intel says this, this, and this, but what happens if we come across this, this, and this? Known complications? Unknown possible complications? Unknown impossible stupidities? Many people don't think of the last one (see the term impossibly stupid) but that's the one which can cause a good plan to go FUBAR or an insane plan to somehow scrape by.

    In the end, all of that was a long winded explanation to explain why I'm staring blankly into my room's ceiling with my feet up on a table filled with datapads. Gulan might not be needing much help with the bigger stuff right now, but Abyss Intelligence is still very much a galactic organization. And I get to help deal with the "smaller stuff" like dealing with all of the Regional and even Sub-Regional Administrators, getting familiar with all of the assets both legal and illegal, and all of the other minutiae like making sure my replacement for the Outer-Rim actually knows what he's doing and isn't scraping off a few credits from the top like the Northern Core Sub-Regional Administrator is doing.

    And he's allowed to do this because we all constantly have other more important shit that needs doing and we don't need more of it. But his time will come and, if there's one thing I've learned to love doing, it's fucking over other people who have decided to fuck over other people. … The hypocrisy isn't missed.

    It's hell.

    I wish I could be relaxing in the rec-room but I'm only halfway through the day. I stare longingly at my room's door hoping it will open to the void of space. At least then I wouldn't have to deal with work.

    ...

    And wow, I just realized I've truly been regulated to desk work if I'm thinking that. Undercity scum to a shadowy intelligence desk jockey. Small wonders.

    My meandering mind is cut off when I hear the door beep and start to open. Shutting off all the datapads with a simple phrase of "lockdown", I begin to think my idle musing might be coming true, but instead something better happens. Swiveling to face the door with my unholstered pistol, I see Dani walking into my room.

    I quickly reholster my pistol and start to ask, "Oh, hey Dani, how did the-"

    My question dies a quick death when I get a better look at her. For one, she's still in her armor. I've actually never seen her in it. The dark, modified, Phase-I armor she's wearing is a bit more sleek and compact than the regular type to suit her Seeker background and talents. There's no blaster markings and I doubt she's injured if she's here but the armor has a few scratches and dings. But it's not really her armor which causes me to pause.

    It's her eyes.

    I've seen her eyes when she purposefully shines them. They glow a bright gold. From the "vacation" details I now have access to I've even seen her when she's actively angry and they become sickly yellow. Now though I'm seeing something new. Her eyes have noticeable veins of amber and the magenta seems to swirl. That's a warning that there's something a bit more subtle going on.

    Nonetheless, I don't interrupt her as she passes me by. She throws the security spike she used to get into my room onto my desk. I watch her move further into my room before she unceremoniously plops down onto my bunk face first.

    There's a moment of silence while I try to think of what to do. I start to ask if she's okay before I mentally slap myself and ask, `What do you think!?`

    I fully turn to face her and ask, "What's wrong, Dani?"

    All I get back from her is a low groan. I purse my lips and decide to leave her there to relax. I get up and go close my door. I make sure that the lock still works and then go back to my desk and sit down. The next few minutes pass by with me reading about a certain topic on a certain datapad while simultaneously keeping a worried eye on Dani. Sadly, learning more about who the Sith were probably isn't going to help me with my current suspicion. I know just enough about the Force to know I know nothing about it and that I likely never will.

    Before I completely zone in to my reading I hear a muffled, "I'm fine."

    I hesitate before sighing and then turning around to give her a deadpan look.

    I ask, "If I accept that answer for today, will you allow me to call you out on your bullshit tomorrow?"

    Dani gives a soft growl causing me to tense. It's quiet for a second until Dani suddenly groans. She then gives a small snort and then turns to face me. She's sporting a smirk now so I guess that, whatever is wrong, it can't be that bad. Hopefully.

    She quips, "If you give me your bunk, maybe."

    I sit back and raise my eyebrows. I reply, "Are the bunks in the Agent's section that bad?"

    Dani snorts again and her smirk turns into a smile. The yellow veins that have softened slightly start to disappear completely. I'm able to see the magenta in her eyes calm down as she turns over to lay on her back.

    Dani says, "No, I just don't want to have to listen to their whining."

    I smother the immediate response I want to say before it can escape.

    Dani must have caught my expression somehow though because she says, "It's not whining about others if it's them that's doing the whining."

    I laugh and nod my head. I scratch my head before deciding to dig for the real reason.

    "So how did the raid go?" I ask.

    Dani purses her lips and then closes her eyes. There's a pregnant pause before she lets out an explosive sigh. Her face goes blank as she looks at the ceiling.

    She asks, "The Armchair Spy wants to ensure he gets the details, huh?"

    My eyes furrow and I shake my head.

    I say, "No. If I truly need to know what happened, then I can get the processed AAR's when they're made. I might even be the one assigned to process them." I pause before explaining, "What I want to know is why a close friend came in looking troubled. I want to know what caused this usually stubborn and snarky friend to limply crash onto my bed."

    I sigh before adding, "I want to know in order to help you."

    Dani continues to look into the ceiling for a while. I almost decide to go back to reading before she decides to roll over onto her side and face me.

    She quietly asks, "Have you ever felt anger, rage, or hatred that was so pure that it just seemed to completely devour you? Nothing left? Nothing else even allowed?"

    I blink and think for a second before shaking my head.

    "I can't say I have."

    We share a glance before she rolls back to look up. Her gaze seems to not be focused.

    She says, "Well, it was the first time for me."

    It's obvious to me now that I'm venturing into a Force related subject but I'll push through regardless. I ask her to explain what happened.

    She says, "Those notes you're reading? About the Sith? Do they mention a guy called Revan?"

    Ignoring the idea that Dani might somehow be able to eavesdrop into my mind, I slowly nod my head.

    "Yeah. After Exar Kun and the Mandalorian Wars. Before the Great War. He was a Jedi who … is 'fell' the right term?"

    Dani nods her head and she softly mumbles, "Yeah. And yes, that's him. Do the notes tell you how he died?"

    I glance back to the datapad and scroll around. Eventually I shake my head. I answer, "No. The last mention of him says that he disappeared a short while after dealing with another Sith called Malak."

    Dani hums before saying, "Well, something horrible must have happened to him because his Force presence somehow was broken into parts. And lucky us, we had to deal with the part of him filled with anger, hatred, and rage … I wouldn't even have known it was him if I hadn't been able to overhear HK-47 say 'master' during the fight. "

    "It affected you?"

    Dani's eyes seem distinctly glazed now when she replies.

    "At the start I could barely breathe it was so strong. I might have simply stayed frozen there if Thrawn hadn't shouted to open fire."

    That causes my mind to skip a beat and I nearly go back to my desk to look for the mission briefing.

    I mumble, "Thrawn?"

    Dani laughs and nods her head. She says, "Yeah. He snuck in as a mystery man under Grievous. When someone asked him on the way back up, he said something about, 'Learning what it meant to be a soldier.' "

    A wry smile grows on my face and I say, "Yeah, that sounds like him."

    The smile disappears though and I prod Dani.

    "So … "

    Dani's smile disappears as well and she says, "So I was simply overwhelmed by the- … I was overwhelmed."

    "Hmm ... "

    I lean back in my seat and look to the ceiling myself. We both stay quiet for a moment, both of us thinking. I end up leaning against my desk with my head held up by a hand.

    I say, "Well … I wish this was something I could help with but sadly I'm becoming well aware of my 'Force illiteracy.' Not to mention that I'm not trained to be a therapist."

    There's a pause before Dani laughs again. She looks at me and jokes, "I didn't know you were trained at all."

    I smile myself and reply, "In very few things, but I've found experience to be a harsh if effective teacher."

    We share another laugh before going back to a more comfortable silence. I turn around and continue reading the history of the Sith and let Dani go back to resting. Around an hour passes before I stumble over a particular title in the Banite Sith portion.

    My eyes narrow and I lean back. A single name shoots through my mind.

    'Vectivus'

    I go back and read the section again. "Darth Vectivus" was a Sith Lord in the Banite Strain. And Dani said back when she was promoted that a certain "Vectivus" was there. If Dani is also right in that what she had fought was actually a part of Revan himself, then …

    "Dani?"

    She gives a soft hum in acknowledgment.

    "Is the Vectivus that was a part of your Watcher Promotion Ceremony alive?"

    I look back to her to see her glancing curiously at me with an eyebrow raised. Slowly she answers, "Yes?"

    "This might be an insane idea but is this Vectivus the same as the one listed in this history report as the 'Darth Vectivus' whose tenure as a Sith Lord was as a businessman gathering resources for the Sith?"

    Dani realizes where I'm going and nods her head.

    "Yeah. He's still around as a force ghost and his presence is tied to The Home."

    I turn back to the datapad to digest this. A minute goes by before an idea hits me.

    "Dani."

    "What?"

    "I might not fully understand what you've gone through enough to help you but maybe there's someone that could."

    Dani looks at me curiously before her eyes widen in understanding. She sits up and bursts out laughing.

    "Hahaha- What are- Haha! What are you- heh. Are you saying that? Haha- Are you saying that I should go and ask Darth Vectivus for- for a- hahah! For a therapy session!?"

    I grimace and fidget in my seat as Dani curls in on herself.

    She continues to laugh, "Haha. Thanks Cün, I needed that."

    I grumble, "It was a serious suggestion."

    Dani calms down enough to seriously look at me. She's wearing her large smirk and she shakes her head.

    She says, "You really think that a Sith Lord would waste his time speaking with someone on my level and who doesn't claim to be Sith?"

    I shrug and say, "Fair enough, the Sith Lords did seem to all be assholes but … If I've heard this right, this is a ghost who Asajj has started to visit more than twice every year. This is a ghost who Ciaran already visits at least a few times every couple of months and unless she does it just to make the ghost's afterlife an unliving hell -which at this point would be a waste of her time as she has other stuff on her plate- he must at least tolerate her which might say something about his control if not his personality."

    Dani actually purses her lips and looks up, "I'll admit he didn't seem to be the maniacal laughter type."

    I bite my lip for a moment and then sigh. I slump into my seat and look at my datapads. I then look back up at Dani.

    She looks back down to me and says, "A lot of what the apprentices and regular agents are taught comes from the guy. It talked a lot about self control and how one can just as easily become a slave to base emotions as much as to society. There wasn't really anything about reveling in the dark side or things like that. Also, there is actually a guy assigned to The Home who says he's Vectivus' assistant. I doubt that someone off his rocker enough to willingly assist a madman would be allowed to know of that site so …"

    I shrug again and say, "I don't know if it's needed, but if something like the Foundry or … your vacation happens again, then I want you to have at least someone who actually understands this Force stuff able to help you."

    Dani flinched at the mention of her vacation but her smirk manages to repair itself. Her smile widens and she leans an arm on my head and rests the other on her hip.

    She ribs me by saying, "Aww, does this Armchair Spy actually care for a grunt like me?"

    I match her grin and say, "Yeah, somehow this low level enforcer managed to learn to make actual friends."

    She glances at all of the datapads and snorts.

    " 'Low level', he says. You're like, what? A single step down from the core council?"

    I roll my eyes and say, "I hope not. I wouldn't be able to handle Gulan's apparent level of paperwork."

    Dani shrugs without batting an eye.

    "I doubt he does most of it himself."

    I slowly nod and then ask, "Oh and by the way, how long have you been wearing your armor? Wasn't it like over a full day's travel time from the Foundry to here? You'd think you would have changed into something more comfortable."

    Dani looks down at herself and blinks. A moment passes before a wide grin overtakes her face. I know this type of grin and so I tense up for whatever joke she's about to pull. Dani pushes off of me to stand up properly. My eyes shoot wide when she starts fiddling with her armor clasps.

    "Dani!?"

    Her grin has turned down right evil and she snickers, "What? You thought I would have changed into something more comfortable and nothing is more comfortable than armor."

    "What? That's not- That doesn't make- What!?"

    Dani finally stops fiddling with her armor due to her snickering exploding into full on laughter. She ends up on her rear with her hands around her gut.

    "HAHAHA! That was- HAHAHA!!"

    I can only stare in bewilderment at Dani's guffaws. A smile creeps onto my own face as her laughter slowly softens into chuckling and then into a fit of giggles. Her head is placed onto her knees. She turns it around to look up at me. I meet her smile with my own bemused one. Nothing is said for the moment.

    Dani finally shakes her head with a few more giggles. She manages to stand up and then rubs my head.

    She says, "Thank you for the laughter."

    I dryly answer, "Uh-huh."

    Dani steps back towards the door and continues, "I'll think about your idea."

    I nod my head, "That's all I can ask for,"

    Dani's smile quirks as she gets to the door. She opens it and then before moving fully through it she says, "I'm heading to the armory to get rid of this crap. After that, I'll take you up on that bunk offer."

    Before I can finish blinking, she's gone. My mind slowly churns at what she said and then I blink some more.

    "But I never offered … "

    I stop and then shake my head. I turn around and get back to work with a smile.

    'At least she's in a better mood.'
     
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    • Void Stalker said:
    Galen-36
    Cheriss-30
    Fry-28
    Thrawn-25
    Ciaran- 21
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    Sweeeeet.
    Master Basher said:
    But hey, derailer wise; we've probably snagged ourselves a dude, who can totally indirectly aid us in Lightsaber tech. And maybe, even aid in building 'anti laser armor' if fudged, under "Defense systems" fudge.
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    At this point, we might be able to spare the hero support to ensure the 'Force Saber' research action succeeds.
    Dr. Snark said:
    [] The Force Within A Blade: Var Zheen and Cheriss have both been curious about the forcesaber you recovered from Lehon and want to see just what makes it so special, just how it is infused with the Force. Of course, they have basically nothing barring stories and myths about it to go on, so it's going to be much more difficult for either of them to figure it out. Chance of Success: 40% Cost: 200 Reward: Forcesaber analyzed [Takes 4 turns, locks actions for 3 turns]
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    Though in the short term I'm more inclined to follow up on the 'industrial applications of phrik', considering just how useful those materials can be....


    We're still a long way off from next turn, but I'd be interested to hear if people have write-in ideas for what Galen Erso could do for Hero Actions. (...Perhaps we could send him to recruit the Shard engineers, so we can finally add them to our organization without spending a Diplomacy action! Actually, now I'm wondering if we could have done that all along with a hero action from Cheriss...)
     
    (Omake) Crushing Squeeze of Tython (Canon)
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    • Crushing Squeeze of Tython​

    I spent the rest of the day searching through my ship for things I'd need. I'd heard rumors from some of the Jedi that they'd seen strange creatures deeper in the wilderness. I set up my gear belt, with my blaster, lightsaber, and scythe all in their proper places. I put together some other useful things including a holorecorder as well as my portable medical kit and portable surgery kit.

    The next morning I closed and locked the ship, heading for Darra's dorm. She was already out at the front door, waiting to meet me. "I've got maps, I've got supplies, I've got my lightsaber," she announced.

    I smiled warmly. "I've got your back. Also, holorecorder, portable medical kit, portable surgery kit, blaster, lightsaber, wan-shen," I said, indicating each item with a pat. "I've worked with the Five Oh First. Barring the holorecorder, I've carried everything else in combat situations." Completely true. Slightly misleading, suggesting that I've carried these with the Five Oh First, but so much the better.

    "It doesn't weigh you down at all?" Darra asked as we started walking over Tython's surface.

    I nodded. "It seems like a lot, doesn't it, especially with me not being a super-big guy. You of all people should know I'm stronger than I look. It's a Matukai thing."

    We walked along the Tythos Ridge the rest of that day. "It's the weirdest thing," I said, "I've been better at learning abilities that benefit myself and those around me rather than those that negatively effect my enemies. I'm not sure if that's because my overall strength in the Force is probably about on par with your nine-year-old self--"

    "--six. My six-year-old self. A year after I started learning to use the Force properly, on Coruscant," Darra corrected.

    "The bright center of the galaxy. I grew up never thinking I'd meet anyone who called that place home," I said.

    Darra wore a quizzical expression. "Oh yeah? Where'd you grow up, all full of starry-eyed wonder?"

    I laughed. "Y'know how pilots joke about how half the galaxy is just boring agriworlds? I grew up on one of those, Anoat sector, on the southern part of the Outer Rim, a literal farmboy child of farmers. I wonder, sometimes, where they are now, my parents. They sold the farm to help pay for med school and told me I should keep my eyes fixed on the present instead of the past or the future. They told me they'd become traveling merchants, but I haven't found any trace of them. Maybe I should...after the war."

    "I don't remember mine. The Jedi are my family, my past and present and future," Darra said.

    I blinked. "The Coruscant Jedi. You know there's Jedi on Corellia?"

    Darra scoffed. "They never leave the system. Which is fine, because they're perverts anyway."

    "They don't seem to have gone dark, even if they've got families. Close to system law enforcement, maybe, but that's a connection pretty much every Jedi has," I offered. "Now, what was it I heard back in undergrad, hold on, let me think," I said, closing my eyes and searching through my memory. Jedi, Jedi, there was a code thing I read from a book...Jedi, Jedi...there. "Jedi are the guardians of peace in the galaxy," I started, reciting from memory. "Jedi use their powers to defend and protect. Jedi respect all life, in any form. Jedi serve others rather than ruling over them, for the good of the galaxy. Jedi seek to improve themselves through knowledge and training."

    Darra blinked. "What. You just...remember stuff."

    I smiled. "I don't know why, but I've always found it easy to remember things. Might be the Force, now that I think of it. It was before I learned what it was or how to use it... might have been an unconscious thing. Really helped with xenophysiology, though."

    That seemed to explain it to Darra. "Interesting talent. You'll have to teach me sometime."

    I blinked. "I don't quite know how to explain it. I just do it." Part of my mind told me that was a lie, and I could probably recite the steps. The other part argued that it was probably some combination of eidetic memory and spatial mnemonics in conjunction with application of the Force and couldn't be trained. "Okay...maybe I know how I do it, but I don't know how helpful it would be to tell you. I've been trying to explain how I do this ever since elementary school, ever since the early-entry test for Byblos Medical Academy, when I was one of the youngest Humans in my class."

    Darra cocked an eyebrow. "You're how old?"

    "Old enough to know better than to have volunteered for this...but also too young to care," I evaded.

    Darra sputtered into laughter. "You and me both, but here we are out in the middle of the wilderness with the sun about to go down."

    I looked around. Mountains on the left...trees on the right. "How do you feel about sleeping up in that huge tree along the ridge there?"

    Darra stared at me like I was a madman. "I brought a tent."

    "You think a tent is going to stop whatever goes bump in the night?" I asked.

    "I think I brought a self-warming, self-deploying tent with a ten meter proximity alarm," Darra elaborated, a hint of smug to her expression.

    I sputtered. "Those exist?"

    "Well, yeah. I wasn't--was that your plan?" she asked, incredulous.

    I nodded. "I've done long walks like this before and it worked just fine last time." It had, back on Myrkr. Then again, I was using the ysalamiri to hide and they attached themselves to trees, so I learned to sleep in them.

    "You're welcome to do that...I've fallen out of every tree I ever tried to sleep in," Darra said.

    I stroked my chin. "It might be safer up in a tree on my own, but safer still is the company of a Jedi." Especially a cute Jedi.

    We set up inside the tent, her on one side and me on the other, with about two or three hand spans of distance between us. It wasn't a large tent. Well, I can officially tell my friends I slept with a cute Jedi. Okay, slept on opposite sides of the same four meter tent with a cute Jedi. I wonder what Jedi do for pajamas?

    I fell asleep there. Trust. She trusts me to fall asleep this close to me. I trust her to fall asleep this close to her.

    I woke the next morning and felt something pressed up against me. Oh great something happened and I slept through the proximity alarm. I slept through a fire alarm back in the dorms on Byblos. Fortunately it was just some drunken idiot who thought it'd be funny, but sleeping through a fire alarm is scary.

    My mind started to press through the cobwebs. Fleshy. Warm. Oh druk did I... my eyes flew open and I couldn't see much of anything through all the hair in front of my face. I could tell I was still on this side of the tent. Clearly, now, so was Darra. Pressed up against me. Oh Sithspawn I am so dead right now. I just needed to figure out how everything was situated.

    Don't get me wrong, I've done this sort of thing before, back at Byblos...but not with a Jedi.

    I had my arms wrapped around her and she'd pressed her back up against me. It must have happened in the night, and one or both of us was too asleep to realize? Okay. Time to get out of this predicament.

    I reached my arm clear and brushed her hair out of my face. For all the moments I might have dreamed about something like this and now that it's here...

    She seemed to still be asleep. Now, all the other times I might have done this...I didn't have Force Powers. I gently lifted her off my arm with the Force, then just as gently set her back on her own side of the tent.

    Then I started cooking breakfast, because it got me out of the tent and thinking about something else. Maybe? Maybe if I was lucky we'd write this off to moving in our sleep.

    As I finished breakfast, I heard Darra moving in the tent. "Is that breakfast?" she asked.

    "Yeah," I answered. "Thought I'd get us an early start."

    A/N: Riphath sleeping through a fire alarm in a university dorm is based on my own freshman year experience.
     
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    • Barondoctor said:
    A/N: Riphath sleeping through a fire alarm in a university dorm is based on my own freshman year experience.
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    If we're giving our Abysswalkers traits based on our freshman years, that might have been Kygeetu who set it off trying to make popcorn. Not as embarrassing as some other guy in my dorm who managed to set off the alarm by failing to cook EasyMac, but still pretty bad.
     
    Panory said:
    If we're giving our Abysswalkers traits based on our freshman years, that might have been Kygeetu who set it off trying to make popcorn. Not as embarrassing as some other guy in my dorm who managed to set off the alarm by failing to cook EasyMac, but still pretty bad.
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    ...I...what did the other guy even get smoking? Did he forget to put in the water?
     
    adaer said:
    ...I...what did the other guy even get smoking? Did he forget to put in the water?
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    I have to assume he forgot the water and tossed it in the microwave for like, half an hour, but the specifics mostly came through gossip shared by everyone who had been dumped by the alarm, so I can't confirm their veracity.
     
    Panory said:
    I have to assume he forgot the water and tossed it in the microwave for like, half an hour, but the specifics mostly came through gossip shared by everyone who had been dumped by the alarm, so I can't confirm their veracity.
    Click to expand...
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    When in doubt, assume the worst.

    Forgot the water, wrapped it in aluminium foil, and tossed it in the microwave for half an hour.
     
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