Full Barrier Defense

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"The main reason why there are actually few Jedi holding flag-level or even mid-level commands is because the skills required to adequately serve in those capacities, outside of starfighter combat, are quite different from combat skills. Many tend to keep to smaller-scale stuff. The same holds for Sith, too"

Mid-level commands are usually understood in armies as batallion or regiment-level, and the ranks associated with those in navies range from lieutenant commander to captain. The big problem with the Grand Army of the Republic in the Clone Wars was, as she understood it, command-and-control, or C2 for short. For each Obi-Wan or Anakin, there was at least one Jor Drakas, Sirrus or Rees Alrix, whose incompetence in command were almost akin to today's Sith. Yes, she had more successes on the ground than in space. But starfighter flight crews have no interaction with the hangar-side crews in battle, other than perhaps combat controllers for C2 purposes. [member="Jairdain"] could not be faulted for not havong any clue whatsoever as to what it is to be placed in a command position, or for not wanting anything to do with that aspect of warfare. To be fair, in space, other than for boarding operations, the Force is of limited use in combat, and hence space combat is a theater where it is much easier for NFUs to operate, and in a command capacity there is no real difference in effectiveness.

"Armies and fleets are different. In both instances, they amount to having a large amount of people under one's command, and most of the command-and-control functions are done from the rear, in a room with several sensor consoles. In a fleet, that room is called a CIC, or Combat Information Center. But that's where the similarities end. On the ground, there are more parameters to take into account, such as the terrain, and the spread of enemies is much greater, but also a greater spread of assets, too. In space it's usually more technical beacuse sensors usually return more information about a ship and ships are complex targets, sometimes you want to pinpoint a specific spot on an enemy ship, and also the rooms for error are very tight at best"

 

[Jairdain]

"I think I understand. Maybe I could be fighter pilot or a ground troop commander of some sort. In space though, I would pretty useless."

Pointing at her eyes, she shook her head slightly before continuing.

"There's no way for me to see those reports brought back by the sensors. Not that I couldn't learn how to do it, but not being able to read would be what makes me useless in that field. On the ground, I think I could be of better use. There I would be able to see the people at least."

Jairdain assumed she would be able to see them at least. Even being at the rear of action, she should be able to command troops in front of her.

"Master Jessica, do you think that would be something for me to look into?"

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"It's best to start small, if leading ground troops is what you want. It's a lot of responsibility over whatever troops you will get, and even more so if you prove competent and you get promoted. I'm not forcing you to commit, but at lower levels it's likely you will see a battlefield regularly. That's for the ground part. There is one thing troops do not appreciate: unearned billets at senior levels. They tend to be more forgiving in smaller units"

In a clone army like the GAR in the Clone Wars, or droid army like the CIS (all four incarnations) that might not have been an issue, but [member="Jairdain"] may not have realized that all-volunteer forces, such as the Silver Jedi, require more careful attention to who's getting which billets at which level. In a sense, the GAR could be grateful for its clone troopers, since it would allow them to mask the C2 issues posed by padawans being handed mid-level commands by default; in modern times, not even today's Sith factions would hand out mid-level commands like candy to the extent the First Republic did in the Clone Wars. Also, infantry seemed to be where Jedi, and especially Sith, ended up starting on the command track. This was where the men most appreciated how FUs were force multipliers, after all. However, for the starfighter corps, there are actually two chains of command: the hangar guys and the aircrew, with limited interaction between the hangar guys and the aircrew in combat. Plus, for some reason, Sith did not embrace dogfights as readily as Jedi, even though Darth Vader showed that the Force-tools of dogfighting were independent of Force-alignment.

"Now for the starfighter part: pilots tend to be separated between ground-attack pilots, which mostly support ground operations, and space superiority pilots, which usually fight in orbit alongside fleets. Regardless of whether you're more of a ground-attack person or a space superiority person, you will see action without fail if that's what you choose. More of an opportunity to act independently of the chain of command, if you're uncomfortable giving or taking orders"

 

[Jairdain]

Jairdain did little more than shrug at the first part of what Jessica said, but inside, she wanted to burst out with her words.

"Of course, I would want to start small. It only makes sense to work one's way up. Besides, if I turn into a total failure at it, it's going to be known I wouldn't do well higher up. Conversely if I do well, then it's going to be known that I would make a good field commander...or whatever they are called."

She had no knowledge of either ground or space combat, so learning would have to take place before anything could happen. Just another weakness that needed fixed in her mind.

"I think I would like to learn how to do ground command. Is that something I can observe and learn or does it have to be on the field and the fly?"

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"I have to say it: there are a few things you can learn prior to taking the field. But there is only so much one can learn outside the field. The first engagement, also known as the baptism of fire, will often prove to be a sobering experience for people who survive. When you take the field for the first time, it would be a good idea to listen to anyone with actual combat experience. I believe infantry might be the kind of unit that will best respect what a Jedi can bring to the table, so small really means a squad in your case. Unlike the Sith, I have to say that there is no glass ceiling based on Force-rank, nor a glass floor"

So a stream of thoughts about what Jessica knew about what she knew about that stage of one's career as a grounder began to erupt in her mind. In several factions that ran separate academies for commissioned officers that can be entered without any field experience, ground officers that were freshly minted from the academy, usually with the rank of lieutenant, were often told to listen to non-commissioned officers when they first take the field. The Levantine Sanctum Academy, which performed this function for the Silver Jedi, usually earmarked at least half the ground division spots to NCOs with combat experience, ensuring that there's a supply of officers with actual combat experience or skill. [member="Jairdain"] will soon realize that specialist units, such as combat engineering, demolition experts or even artillerists (field, emplacement, missile or otherwise) tend to view Jedi with suspicion. And one of the big reasons why the Sith Empire are having difficulty recruiting skilled command-level ground personnel as of late is because Sith factions tend to view FUs as superior to the point NFU personnel tend to hit glass ceilings at certain ranks, with said ceilings usually being higher in the navy than in the army.

 

[Jairdain]

"I've been in battle, but only had to worry about myself in those cases."

Jairdain could imagine the stress and anticipation of a first real battle where one had never been in a command position. Listening to any and all adivce would go a long way and she understood that. There was always more to learn about pretty much any subject, even a Master still things they could learn.

Giving Jessica a rather large smile, the other woman may not know just quite why Jairdain was smiling like that.

"You know at least the basics of Tutaminis and Shield. Is there anything else in my skill set you may want to learn?"

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"No, there's nothing else I would like to learn at this stage. Perhaps I'd be open to more lessons at later stages"

She knew that learning too much too quickly would prove detrimental. That's why [member="Jairdain"] didn't absorb her whole skillset in one go. And because she already knew other Force-powers, she knew she was ripe for more independence. She knew that even elite units can sometimes have poodoo happen to them when it comes to getting captured, and Jedi weren't immune, so she couldn't hold it against her. it was difficult to predict how could one get captured, both individually and collectively, she knew as much. But Jairdain piqued her curiosity as to how she got captured at the hands of the then-Sith Ascendancy. Maybe there was a special set of circumstances that made her captivity, well, different from what's the norm under Sith captivity, maybe there was a set of mental scars Jair endured in captivity for which Jessica was part of the cure? Alongside one Yuroic, of course. Because she heard tales of how some prisoners of the Sith were tortured or otherwise subjected to brutal treatments while imprisoned.

"Is there anything you would like to talk about when it comes to your time in captivity? Especially at the hands of the Sith Empire"

 

[Jairdain]

Jairdain nodded at Jessica's answer and accepted it. She had the feeling though Jessica may want to learn a few other of her skills, even those she learned while with the Sith. They were neutral powers and did not call upon the Dark side to use them. Some Jedi already knew of them and were better classified as Shadows.

A feeling of curiosity came across Jessica and then she asked if Jairdain wanted to talk about her time of captivity with the sith. Her unfoucsed eyes became even more distant as she remembered what happened. Her arms wrapped around herself on their own and her voice was quiet and hushed, loud enough to be heard though by the master.

"I was alone. Held captive in a single room, bereft of the Force for months on end. Surrounded by sith spawn and then Krest injected me with burning poison. I lay dreaming for weeks of my past. He overwrote my memory of my past Jessica."

It was the first time, Jairdain had not included the master in front of her name. She didn't even notice as she spoke.

"Even now there are times I can't tell what is real and what is false."

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"That would suggest that Jedi would be treated differently from NFU personnel; NFU personnel are often tortured beyond belief, and often to death, with the rabble being summarily killed on some torture device"

Sithspawn were all too common in Sith prisons, and were sometimes used as weapons, sometimes as torture devices. And even on battlefields when they were short-staffed with regular troops. Then again, they knew Sithspawn had their limitations. But upon hearing about how [member="Jairdain"] had her memories altered in captivity, the memories of her first meeting with Jair resurfaced. She knew that a squad's effectiveness would be impaired if its commander was impaired in the way the Jedi described it. There was a lot of conent to those memories that might help heal Jair's mental scars. Because she has no knowledge whatsoever of the alterations in Jair's memories, there is a baseline of facts that she can use to help her recover. To sort out the mess created in captivity, she had to condense those memories that resurface as a starting point, even though she knew it was going to be just that: a starting point. She began digging deeper into her memories, which was nearly effortless: the real effort was to not to go into too much detail too quickly.

"I still remember you, when you were but a rather innocent girl on Trian, prior to your capture, where you talked about Eraton, how the planet died, how the NFU population was killed off by some germ, and how your own education shifted gears towards more Force-training rather than mundane topics after elementary schooling was over, and also how the government gave all the FUs in your class a basic set of equipment, including a ship, prior to evacuation. The reading list contained topics such as mathematics, chemistry and other stuff such as history. And also you now understand exactly how love and attachments affect a Force-user because a certain Yuroic had a hand. We had that talk prior to capture, and I also remember having taught you psychometry, too"

 

[Jairdain]

"I never came across any other prisoners, so am unsure if my treatment was special or not. In a way I think it was though. Krest wanted to turn me into a Dread Master. To use my mental abilities as weapons."

Pointing to her head, when she said that last sentence, Jairdain's arm went back to be wrapped around herself. Part of her knew there was a need to speak on what happened to her, but another part didn't want it come out. Jessica was trying to help, but that one part of her...the darker part told her she was being weak to speak of it. It seemed to be an issue with her since her captivity. Almost like there were two minds within her instead of one. Two Jairdain's, one light and one dark.

Jessica then went on to speak of what she remembered of their meetings. The first introduction, what information Jairdain had told her then about herself and the class Jessica had taught on psychometry. It brought a smile to her face as she remembered all of this too. She had forgotten about that reading list though until Jessica reminded her. Some of it she had looked up after though.

"My people banished my class and I for creating that plague. I'm going to have to get that list again, it got lost in the course of time. The history I devoured though."

The thought of Yuroic brought another smile to her face. He had been a large key to her recovery and was there providing emotional support for her as she recovered. Even he didn't know all that had happened though. Jessica knew more than anybody else now.

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"Dread Masters? Surely there ought to be a light-sided equivalent to that; it's possible I could qualify under that, too"

Jessica just was... aghast upon hearing about what the Sith Empire intended to do to [member="Jairdain"] when she was a captive. Dread Master? A highly Force-intensive breed of dark-siders, and, of course, mentalists. Needed more brains than normal to be effective in that capacity. Some people believed Dread Masters to be a myth, while others would rather have clear criteria for entry into their ranks instead. But she just couldn't believe that there would be light-siders that operated very similarly, much like Jairdain or even herself would. And then Jairdain couldn't stop blaming her own class for the plague; yet, if such was the case, that class had a genetic engineering prodigy among its ranks. Might have been some youthful Anzat refugee from another planet if such was the case. Or some off-world shapeshifter. In the latter two cases it may very well be some sort of One Sith sleeping agent, or from another faction that was around when the Netherworld occurred.

"About the plague, as I said last time, it might have been a Netherworld manifestation, much like Eraton's destruction might have been. Especially given that any perpetrator, if it was an Eraton native, would have been swiftly dealt with and executed. It's also possible that an off-worlder, possibly a shapeshifter that could morph into someone that could believably assume a class member's form, could have brought the virus to Eraton"

 

[Jairdain]

"Master Jessica, do you know how to imbue an object? You see the Dread Mastered us what was called a Phobis Device to enhance their already supreme mental abilities. Many sith attempted to study these devices and there were three of them. They were created through alchemy done by the Emperor. A Phobis Core also created by him was kept on Dromund Kaas..."

Jairdain suddenly got paler than she had been from the use of the Dark Side. Her skin tone had yet to return to being fully normal.

"We control Dromund Kaas, Jessica. Is that core still there?"

The madness the devices caused would be eclipsed by the core if it was released. A fear crept into Jairdain and she knew the Sith Empire was coming for it. Nobody would be safe if they found another mentalist that could use it. The thought of her class, her home and anything about her people flew out of her mind as this fear came into her and started to grow.

"It needs to be destroyed!"

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"I admit, Dromund Kaas is a planet that is highly dangerous, and that's just the security part. However, I'm afraid I do not know the status of those Phobis Devices, much less the Core. If, at any point, I learn about their status, I am willing to share that information with you. It's entirely possible, from what rumors I heard about those, that Phobis devices can be built pretty easily"

Dromund Kaas... that world made her uncomfortable to talk about. Yes, the Silvers were able to recapture the planet thanks to the Resurgent Empire remnants being just as inept with troops as they were when the RE even fought over it in the first place. But it's considered a high-risk world, where rebellion risks abound and whose only real settlement of any value is Kaas City, the capital, and how Jedi are not the most welcome people on Caldera planets, despite the heavy-handed RE regime that caused significant grief to the populace under the form of conscription, and the resulting crisis ultimately exacerbated the tensions that led to its downfall, she thought, while her train of thought focused on what the operational and strategic picture was on the planet, and how said picture came into being. [member="Jairdain"] would likely know about how unstable the planet, especially if there really are all those Force-artifacts floating around the planet, with most of them being dark-sided artifacts, including but not limited to, possible Phobis devices or even the Core.

 

[Jairdain]

"Why is Dromund Kaas so dangerous?"

Jairdain could guess why, but they may not be the same reason Jessica thought. Another look of shock and then terror crossed her face she learned the devices could be made easily.

"How? Only the Emperor and the Dread Masters could use them. How is it the Sith now can do it so easily? Are we much more stronger now?"

She had a device and had kept it secret. Given to her by Krest once she had turned. It would have been used to project her Battle Meditation and any other skills she had. The device made her more powerful, but the price was that it was dark sided. Not following that path any more, she was hesitant to use the device and kept that she held one secret still.

What she really wanted to know is if it could be infused with the light side and used the same way. Trying to do that without admitting she had one, she wanted to pursue this course and see where it went.

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"Dromund Kaas is a dangerous planet for several reasons. Sithspawn of several varieties live in its jungle, and some of them may even be guarding the Phobis Core for what I know. Also, I'm not sure how relevant that is to you, but because the population does not take kindly to Jedi, rebellion risks are high. As for the proliferation of Phobis devices, my guess would be that a descendant of an original Dread Master would have built several such devices in secret while the maker of those second-generation Phobis Devices lived, and that person may as well have introduced instructions to build new ones inside those second-generation Phobis devices"

The Silver Jedi found Dromund Kaas outside of the immediate area of the capital to be... a rather wild place. Sithspawn is a major operational concern for the garrison posted on that planet, and it's something any rebel cells on the planet would have to exploit to their advantage. But yes, [member="Jairdain"] knew better than to focus on just one planet, and, given the mobility of the Phobis Devices that were on her mind, it was pretty understandable. It was obvious that Jessica and Jair had different concerns, a different approach to security. All too easy to see what sort of Jedi Jair is to become, what sort of threats she expects to deal with, she thought. A mentalist, but the intermesh between intellect and mentalism just isn't perfect, or else she would have been a mentalist as well. Or perhaps Jessica could also become a mentalist, too, just that she decided to take her Force-skillset in another direction. And then it opened a few new directions for their learning.

"Making Phobis devices required one to imbue it with dark-sided energy, but yes, it's possible to build a light-sided Phobis device provided one could imbue the item. Speaking of which, perhaps you should learn Force-light"

 

[Jairdain]

What Jessica said calmed Jairdain down slightly, but there still a clear sense of concern in the knight.

"There were six Dread Masters and after they died, there were no more. Maybe the Emperor then made more, but there's no record of them. That core though, if it's still there needs to be destroyed."

If the information she had on the core, it was kept near the temple or maybe even in it and that was out of the city. They would have to go out into the jungle to make sure it was destroyed.

"I would like to learn how to make a light-sided Phobis Device, Master Jessica. When I had one, it made my abilities so much stronger."

Technically she still had it, but kept it from the others.

"So if this Force-light is how to do it, then I want to learn."

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"Force-light has its uses to a mentalist, that much is true. It will make the business of imbuing items a lot easier, too, and help you fight Sithspawn"

Then again, Jessica's approach to Force-powers is probably not a mainstream one. So approaching Force-light in terms of LEDs, lasers or other lighting devices may not be a good idea for someone blind without the Force. Perhaps she will have a chance to see how strongly [member="Jairdain"]'s brain glowed in the Force, or even if it did in the first place; mental activity was what she could feel. But she was happy to teach that ability to someone that had an idea of what to use it for. If she wanted to create a light-sided Phobis device, she could also remove the dark side from other items, such as alchemized armor or swords (beskar or not). That was going to be the key issue going in. I guess, I suppose it can also be used as an actual lighting device should a lightsaber prove insufficient, she thought, while also drifting once again in her thought processes. But the one time where she had to even use Force-light in the first place, she was tasked with cleansing a dark-sided nexus, which isn't that different from cleansing an object.

"Here you have to think of whatever light-sided energy you have as some sort of fluid, so that you concentrate what light-sided energy you have in one part of your body that aligns with the object you're aiming at"

 

[Jairdain]

Listening carefully to what Jessica said, Jairdain nodded. being physically blind, the Force Light skill she wouldn't see if it went off or not. It was nice to know there was something that could fight Sithspawn and that this may help with imbuing an object.

"It is something I can use is combat that doesn't require me to fight physically. Was it's purpose to fight sithspawn?"

Listening to how Jessica explained how to perform seemed intriguing.

"By aligns with my body, do you mean physically or emotionally?"

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"You use your body to aim. You can make out my silhouette in the Force, perhaps a demonstration is in order. In fact, night is falling over this area now. We should get to shelter once that lesson is done"

Over that area of Eredenn Prime, they stood in the snow until nightfall. Understandably, Jessica was forced to rely on tapas to keep her body warm after the waste heat from her tutaminis attempts was gone. As a result, her heartbeat accelerated, and with it, the flow of blood within her body. And her metabolism. That is, during the period of time it took her to return to her normal body temperature, her heart was steadily increasing in speed until it beats very fast and very loudly inside of her chest. At the end of it, Jessica exploited the Force-glow of her brain, using the mental activity used to get tapas up and running as a base. In fact, she knew that her own mental activity fueled Force-light. And then she channeled her own mental energy, created by increasing her mental activity, into her arms, making her arm nerves and her brain glowing more and more intensively in the Force until a coherent beam of Force-light could get out of her arm, pointed away from [member="Jairdain"] so that she could actually look at the end result of much mental straining. A bright spot in the darkening sky of Eredenn Prime.

 

[Jairdain]

"Yes, I can see you through the Force."

A slight smile crossed her lips as Jairdain looked at Jessica. The master would know she had all of the knight's attention. ​She could tell Jessica was staving off the chill of the planet as much as she was. Maybe even in the same way, but different techniques. Jairdain focused on the rate of her heartbeat and raised or lowered it to provide a source of heat to keep warm or cool off. Here, she needed the warmth so her heart was also beating fast, but she wasn't using the Force to do it.

Watching what Jessica did to perform Force Light, Jairdain faced the master and extended her arm in the same manner. While the master used the power of her brain to bring the skill and light into being, Jairdain did as well, but drew it more from her core than her mind.

This was her first attempt at the skill, but when she felt confident she had enough light to expend, Jairdain let go of it and watched through the Force to see if it did anything similar to what Jessica's had. It wasn't as strong, but that would come with practice. Turning to nod at Jessica, she gave her a half a smile.

"Just need to practice, get stronger and I think I'll improve to your level."

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]