Discovering a New Me

[Kat Decoria]

Kat was nervous, she hadn't really thought about her connection to the Force until recently. She wasn't even sure if it was something she wanted to explore but figured the best way to find out would be to seek out a Master. She wasn't sure what to expect or who would teach her, would it be some old guy or woman or maybe someone closer to her age? Did it even matter?

These were just a few questions that Kat had.

Due to her anxiety, Kat was in a training room alone, sat on the ground and fiddling with her legs. Making sure that they were working and adjusting their sensitivity to her for the umpteenth time. She was wearing white vest covered in black grease stains and baggy grey trousers. Not her best look, but the one most people saw her in.

 

[Willa Isard]

[member="Kat Decoria"]

Willa entered and rolled her shoulders a look on her face of neutrality. THe vahla mostly tried to suppress expression when she needed it and emotions. The Ember was still out there and worse they continued to act like lap dogs of the sith. IT got her fired up while she stepped forward wearing the jericho class mark two armor and her cloak. Thick allowing her to breathe and everything worked with an active camo system that broke when she was moving faster.

"Welcome." She said it crossing her arms over her chest and short hair with her facial tattoo, pale skin and eyes looking out on her. The vahla kept her sniper rifle slung across her back and on her hip was her saber and smg's. The weapons small and compacted but able to pack a powerful punch as her blast saber was built with a sonic shot to catch anyone off guard while the bolters were highly explosive. "I am Isard."

 

[Kat Decoria]

Kat was in her own thoughts when she heard another woman greet her, looking at this new person she was slightly taken aback. Jedi from what she heard were peaceful, mostly non-violent people, though she seen many in action they were fighting Sith to protect others. However this woman looked very different, a soldier first it seemed. Kat wondered why she was wearing so much armour and weaponry in the Temple, unless the woman was coming from a mission or going on one. Though, Kat would have thought she'd heard one being discussed by other Rangers.

After a long pause, Kat corrected herself and offered a small bow to the woman who called herself Isard. "Do I call you Master Isard, general Isard? Mistress Isard? Is Mistress the female title instead of Master? Or does everyone assume the male term Master? Is that why there are so many gruff men? Is the Jedi Order secretly a sausage fest?" The last two question Kat lowered her voice to ask with a smirk. She was geniunely curious about how the Order works but couldn't help but be a tad silly, helped lower her nerves.

[member="Willa Isard"]

 

[Willa Isard]

[member="Kat Decoria"]

"You can call me what you like." Willa moved forward and standing there crossed her arms over her chest looking at the girl. SHe wasn't going to discount her skills based on looks... that would be an insult as most discounted a vahla who punched with a power fist. "But I was a commander before becoming a jedi master." She looked more to the side but had caught the last two not speaking but mostly pointing out there was only a handful of males within the order and rangers... while the females outnumbered them easily. "If you have noticed most of the men in the order are pretty boys as opposed to gruff... I think only one of them even has the ability to grow a beard... Yuroic or something."

 

[Kat Decoria]

Kat chuckled at Isard's comment and nodded her head. Most of the Jedi she had met were female, it just felt weird using the term Master. Kat might not as formidable as most for combat but she was still Echani, from the age she could walk and hold a staff, she learned to fight. Her combat didn't have the grace of her siblings or others of her race. It was hard to be graceful with two robotic legs, but she was still capable and had fought Sith Lords with her Force Pike. Hopefully now on she wouldn't be at the mercy of their powers. Choking sucked!

Listening, it was interesting to hear another person had gone through the same path as Kat. Abeit the woman was higher rank in both cases, it was interesting nonetheless. "Meh, not a fan of pretty boys or gruff guys anyways, tend to worry too much about their appearances." Kat usually didn't care how she looked. While she had dressed formal before and looked tidier than she currently did, her sister often made the effort to get Kat to look nice.

"So... are you going to be my teacher?" Kat questioned as she studied the older woman.

[member="Willa Isard"]

 

[Willa Isard]

[member="Kat Decoria"]

"Maybe." She was watching her and moved into a position where she was standing at the ready. "I am not exactly certain about a student. I've never taken one on before but I can teach you what I have learned and hopefully the experience will save your life one day." She shrugged though and rolled her shoulders taking the hellfire cannon off of her back. Massive and heavy it was possibly one of the longest range rifles the vahla could use and still control with ballista kinesis the slugs fired from the railgun. She would have to make sure the rest of it was something to teach. "But I am a vahla, I am uncertain if you can learn how to call fire to your hands or control the flame."

 

[Kat Decoria]

Kat looked at the woman, Vahla, from what she had heard they were nomadic people. However, that was the extend of her knowledge about them, she didn't really study much. She let out a disappointed sigh, she had hoped for a personal Master, if that was what they were called, but someone to take her under their wing. However, she smiled warmly, still grateful for whatever tutelage she could get from this woman. "That's okay, I understand if you cannot teach me. I will be glad to gain any knowledge you have."

There was mention of controlling fire and Kat looked at Isard with a blank stare. Totally unaware of whether or not she could create such a thing with the Force. "Urm. You can make fire? That's totally cool!" She exclaimed as she looked at her own hands and wondered what abilities she had secretly.

[member="Willa Isard"]

 

[Willa Isard]

[member="Kat Decoria"]

Willa was taken aback and there was never a challenge she couldn't meet and beat. "I... I can teach you, I just have no idea how in manners of the force really. Teaching you how to shoot a rancor from four kilometers that is easy. Showing you how to guide a bolter against a lightsaber and get their saber hand.. easy.... Explaining what the force is and the mysteries of life or whatever junko most of the jedi have tattooed on their eyelids.... Nope. I have no clue."

SHe said it crossing her arms but when Kat said making fire was cool she huffed for a moment. Snorting just enough with some heat for small streams of smoke to come from her nostrils and jets of flame. Vahla were naturally able to create fire and she balked at shapers... more so when she saw others trying to claim mastery. They merely adopted it, vahla were fire made flesh, given form without bones. Sent by the goddess to purge the infidels who would deny her.

 

[Kat Decoria]

Kat noticed Isard was taken aback by her comment on her, telling her that she could teach certain skills to Kat but attempting the explain the Force was a challenge for the Vahla. Kat nodded in understanding, "I am sorry if I offended you, I meant I understood if you couldn't teach me long term as a Padawan. Anything you could teach me would be amazing." Kat explained herself better, at least she hoped she had.

There was then a sudden snort of flames and smoke from the Vahla, it was Kat's turn to be taken aback. The smoke and flames came across almost demonic in appearance, moreso with the armour. "Urm... That's. cool?" Kat suggested, unsure how well this meeting was going between the two of them.

[member="Willa Isard"]

 

[Willa Isard]

[member="Kat Decoria"]

That was at least a little better. "I don't know... we mgiht not be a good fit padawan. We might work well together I am not the type to eliminate your options should the need arise." SHe was looking at her though and then gave it a nod. "Now lets see what you already know, tell me what you did to come here?" She really had no idea how to explain it... what was it that had a ranger showing they knew how to use force abilities? She wanted to be certain but she had a few ideas for now. Willa was remaining over there but she had the force in her hands and was reaching out with her senses... she would figure out how to train this one.

 

[Kat Decoria]

Kat understood, this was just an introduction to the Order and assessment of her abilities. Whether or not this would become a formal training session between them was to be discussed later. Instead, Kat had to now show her abilities with the Force. This was somewhat problematic, Kat wasn't hundred percent sure where or how to use the Force. It was just something she had started to notice in her daily life. Tasks were becoming easier and things seemed to move into place on their own, it was mostly when she was focused on mechanical tasks.

Hesitate to explain her issue, Kat was stumped on what to do. She couldn't just will the Force into existence for her, could she? Looking at her right hand, she had seen Jedi use the Force to push things. Awkwardly, Kat pushed her palm forward expecting to knock over a nearby chair. Instead nothing. Blinkly, Kat blushed red and looked sheepish. "I... I'm not sure how it works..." She stuttered, wishing she could just hide away and work on some tech.

"Normally things come together without me doing it when I'm building something... Constructing itself..." Kat attempted to explain.

[member="Willa Isard"]

 

[Willa Isard]

[member="Kat Decoria"]

Hmmm looking at her and listening she had an idea moving and walking over towards the padawan though... she could work with this idea. "Hmm I got something that might help." Willa tapped her shoulder for her to follow and make sure she had her gear as the woman moved towards the hanger bay. Exiting it and going to the purple ship... In the distance the Rac looked simple enough but the stealth ship as she opened it with the biometric locks welcomed her back. War droid at the sides before she was walking in and to a hatch. "We'll ease you into it, grab your tools."

 

[Kat Decoria]

Kat followed Isard to her ship, which looked very impressive. The ship did have Kat wanting to walk around and inspect it, have a good understanding if how it works and some of its flaws. Though much of would require taking it apart and then figuring out how to fix it back together. Not something many people wanted a stranger do to their precious ship, it was frustrating but Kat had to accept it. Occasionally she got to deconstruct a ship to rebuild it.

Getting a good look at the ship from all angles, Kat paused before acknowledging that Isard had returned from the inside of the ship. "Tools? Really, okay!" Kat stuttered as she raced back to her room. It was quite the distance but that never bothered Kat, she was full of energy, curious to see what Isard had in mind. Perhaps she needed Kat to do some repairs on the ship, or the droid. That would be cool!

Panting slightly on her return, Kat was carrying her toolbox with a variety of equipment. "What's in need of fixing?" She asked.

[member="Willa Isard"]

 

[Willa Isard]

[member="Kat Decoria"]

Willa looked at her and spoke. "You said when you are working on things your conection tot he force opens up. we're going to do just that, work on things. My ship is top fo the line. The Rac as a stealth ship has some fo the best systems and strongest reactors. It wasn't and hasn't been used by the ranger's in years though so having more then me and a handful fo droids on it means need to fix up some fo the bunk space and processors. Unless you want to eat nutrient paste."

 

[Kat Decoria]

Kat nodded, made sense to try and create her connection to the Force once more through work. Seemed so obvious she was surprised she didn't think of it. Walking onto the ship, Kat plugged herself into the ship's computer system, tapping away, she checked out areas of the ship that needed improvements in case one or more humanoids were aboard for any length of time. Her mind sharpened to the task with a laser focus.

After her scans of the ship's layout and programming, Kat walked to an area of the ship she deemed suitable for living space. It just needed Kat to move some of the items that Isard had stored in the room. Kat started moving some of the items, her mind picturing how she wanted to room to appear after she shifted all the boxes and stuff around. After moving a couple items, Kat noticed that several more items had moved on their own.

"Did I do that? Did I use the Force? I get so focused I don't really take in my surroundings..." Kat called out to Isard.

[member="Willa Isard"]

 

[Willa Isard]

[member="Kat Decoria"]

Willa was watching her work but also helping it wouldn't serve to be lazy in this exercise when she looked at the interior of the Rac. Most of the things they had stored were important... kind of ammo and weapons that had overflown from the armory. Some of the heavy weapons the ranger's could use or the chainsaw for getting through... well anything hijarna stone and beskar were like tissue paper under those teeth. Different sets of armor that had been created by a number of companies for the Silver jedi with varying degrees of usefulness compared to her jericho armor that she had taken off. Standing in skylar uniform with just her silvermist and nightwish on her hips. The vahla observed she was using the force to move additional boxes like it was a floating meditation. "You did, your focus on a task allows your mind to relax enough to feel the flow of the force as it were."

 

[Kat Decoria]

Kat nodded slightly excited by the fact she had used the Force, unfortunately there was an issue with that. "How do I use it with some control?" She looked at her hands then back at the boxes, reaching out with her arms she tried focusing on lifting the boxes but nothing happened. Kat's mind whirled away, attempting to solve this puzzle that was starting to overwhelm her. Perhaps she couldn't be practical about it, the Force wasn't like fixing a ship or repairing a droid. There were no easy answers, at least that was what Kat was discovering.

"Yeah, so how do use the Force without having to do these tasks? Wouldn't be much of a Jedi if all I could do with the Force was make fixing tech faster." Kat commented, slightly disheartened at the inability to use the Force at will.

[member="Willa Isard"]

 

[Willa Isard]

[member="Kat Decoria"]

Willa looked at her and raised her eyebrows. "Never underestimate the power of the jedi's tech division. They can do a number of things with their own skills and each one finds fixing things a form of meditation instead of just sitting around." She did though think about it and how best to explain it was going to be the trick as Willa worked on some parts of the wiring under the floor to get the room fit with its joshu converters. "Alright well, I don't know if my way of feeling the force will work for you but I will try and explain it. Vahla are fire made flesh, we were given life by the goddess and to her we return. When I was little I was taught to feel the heat, the inner fire by thinking about the line of my people back to the beginning. The power the passion, the inner resolve to never give in or up. It brings fire to my hands." SHe thought about it and gave a nod of her head. "THink about what motivates you, what you feel when you are working on things, when you are fixing them. SLowly feel it and practice trying to use the force and then ease away from it until you can do it wihtout having to focus so hard."

 

[Kat Decoria]

"I wasn't trying to insult any tech people. I am a tech head, look at me, love tech and it's crucial to me. I just, I just feel stupid if I can't use the Force outside of making my building tech faster. I bet the tech division can do more than just build tech and they can use the Force at will..." Kat explained, she felt embarrassed that she had lead Isard think she looked down at people who build tech. People like that allowed Kat to walk, they were heroes to her.

Isard explained her interpretation of the Force, it was also an interesting insight into how the Vahla race perceived themselves. Fire made flesh, seemed unlikely but then Kat could be thinking this all logically, fact was the Force made other areas of life less logical. If one could push items several feet without breaking a sweat, then what is stopping Vahla actually being fire made flesh. However, there was something unique about what Isard said.

"Passion? Aren't Jedi warned not to give into passion?" Kat commented, already trying to put herself into the mindset of work while not doing it. It was hard to slow down her thoughts, to pinpoint a single focus. In her mind she started picturing herself doing some basic rewiring, nothing complicated but allowed her mind to block out the other voices. Then reaching out, she tried utilising that focus into moving the boxes.

They shifted slowly to her command. Before dropping as her focus did. "I did it. I did it!" She shouted excitedly.

[member="Willa Isard"]

 

[Willa Isard]

[member="Kat Decoria"]

Willa looked at her. "What is passion? It is something that that you enjoy, that gives you enjoyment. Even the most stoic jedi enjoys things it could be from tea to studying history. Something that makes their heart beat faster, something that makes them excited to do it. They don't have to give into it, anger can lead to the darkside but something you enjoy or have interest in won't harm you unless you obsess about it." She was watching her with her being able to use the force. "Good."