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Faded (The Snuggubus x CasualVelociraptor)

The Snuggubus

The Snuggubus

Banned
Banished
Joined
Nov 15, 2019
Location
The fieriest pits of Heck
Tato Belwynn rushed into the building along with her current companions. Her training allowed her to remain calm, even as sounds echoed through the abandoned apartments. This mission had the intention of stopping the kidnapping of children, something that tugged on her heartstrings, but she was a Jedi knight now, and the Code was no longer just words to be recited, but the way she conducted herself. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force.

The air was tense as they chased the sound of battle towards a room. The metal doors hissed as they opened to both sides, revealing a surprising scene; Sith soldiers and a Sith apprentice, all dead to blaster wounds. Their eyes did not have to wander much to find the cause of this, as the incandescent red light of a lightsaber drew closer and closer to her. The imposing figure of Darth Zyr stood before a woman, seemingly the cause of the previous battle, and he intended to make her pay for it. With his steel boot putting weight against her thigh, his lightsaber had carved through her arm, that now aid to the side, charred around the shoulder, holding her blaster rifle.

Seeing the scene, Tato did not hesitate to pull out her blaster pistol and saber, shooting once. The sith lord lifted his saber to deflect it, which put the girl out of danger. Outnumbered five to one, not even a sith lord could think highly enough of himself to consider the fight worth it. His hand lifted towards the group of knights, shooting lightning in an arc towards all of them, temporarily disabling them, before turning to his previous victim. "Do not think this will save you, meddling child." his distorted voice crackled as he spoke before he pointed his hand at her, using the force to infect the woman with a plague, before dashing out of the room and away from view.

The group of Jedi knights, still recovering from the intense power of a Sith Lord's lightning, seemed to struggle to find out what to do. With a wave of her hand, Tato reinvigorated her allies, healing their superficial injuries. "Find the children, make sure they are safe. I will take care of her." She ordered, taking control of the situation. She ran towards the girl, immediately pressing her hand against the wound, trying her best to ease her pain. "You'll be ok. The Jedi will take care of you." She said although she herself was not very sure of those words. She had not met many who could survive such a strong plague for long, although if this woman was able to fend off so many soldiers, an apprentice, and even the Sith Lord himself, there was a chance that she was strong in the force. For her sake, Tato hoped that was the case.
 
Setana Sim awoke in a...medbay tent? Where...? When...? she wondered and looked around. Then images stopped blurring and she remembered the planet at least: Ossebeeth. But what had she been here to do? Where was her ship, the crappy XS Freighter? Where was her little R2-Q5?!

“Oh, uh...are, are the children alright? I didn’t think I’d be trading my completed bounties for anything other than cash...” Setana asked and sighed. “I should’ve just done the deal and gotten them out.”

“Where am I? Who are you? What’s going on here?” Setty Sin herself demanded as she sprung out of bed.
 
Tato had rushed to bring the woman back and instructed part of her group to bring her ship while she and others would take theirs, the small Ardus-class stealth ship. The wound on her shoulder, painful as it was, was not life-threatening, unlike the plague that made her skin pale. With the help of two other knights, they contained it as best they could while the ship sent them back to Leinos.

Once there, the Masters took over. Tato did not have much contact with her, having to go back to her training despite her worries, before she was called to her medical room since they thought it was a good idea to have a familiar face to wake up to.

She waited for her to wake up, meditating while making a datapad float just above her lap, a basic exercise. Her concentration was broken by the rattling of the woman's new mechanical arm as she woke up. "Calm down. The children are safe, so is your ship. You are in the Jedi facilities of Leinos. My name is Tato, I was part of the team who rescued you if you remember." She replied, her voice soothing as she answered her questions one by one. "How are you feeling?"
 
Setana jerked her head back and forth repeatedly to try to make sense of what was happening as she gulped down air rapidly. Just as she looked down at the mechanical arm that replaced her dominant arm near the shoulder, and began trying to prism off her helmet and cape, Tato told Setana to remain calm, and almost instantly she did feel that way. Was that Tato’s doing directly? Or what was going on?

“Oh, good, that’s good. I uh...I only ever thought that I was trading crystals for credits. Not for children- I swear on my life! And um, yeah, yeah, thank you for rescuing me,” Setana gulped.

“I’m feeling like shit,” she groaned and held the back of her head.
 
Tato smiled. "Fear not, you are not here under arrest or anything similar. We had to bring you here for treatment, otherwise, you would have not survived." She paused. This must be a little overwhelming for the woman, she did not want to breach the main subject yet. "I take it you're Setana Sim? That was the name we found in one of the datapads in your ship." She asked.
 
“Yeah, but you can call me Setty,” Setana grinned at the other woman as she fully sat up and composed herself. “So, you mind telling me who the angry dude with the hokey hood and overcompensating double blades laser sword was so I can give him a close shave?” With a blaster, she meant. “This guy really gave me a helluva fight, but I had it under control,” the smuggler then tried to reassure her.
 
Tato was a bit taken aback by her dialect. Used to the Jedi's way of speaking, while it was no surprise that an outsider would speak differently, it still took her a few seconds to reply as she processed what she had heard. "That man was the Sith Lord, Setana." She paused to let her absorb that information. "The fact that you survived the encounter, a serious wound, and even the force plague that was put in you shows that you are incredibly strong in the Force." She paused again, this time to let her reply. There was a chance that she didn't even know the terms she was using, and she wanted to explain it calmly; the worst thing she could do there was to drive away a potential apprentice so powerful.
 
“The Force? The Force?! Wait, you’re serious?” Setana laughed and then nervously chuckled. “The Force is a myth used to make naughty children behave. What are you on about with Jedi, Sith, Force plagues?”

Setana vigorously shook her head as she instinctually tried to tie up her hair and proclaimed, “Yeah, nope, not happening. I’m not hearing this. Look, lady, I did my good deed for the day but I’m not sticking around on Planet of the Space Monks! You’re all a few credits short of a bounty if you ask me! Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll chase after that scruffy nerfherder myself and show him what for with my turbolasers.”

But then Setana groaned and sat back down; failing even that, she completely splayed on the medbay bed and looked blankly up at the ceiling. Then the confident pirate looked up at her prosthetic and wondered: How had she managed to dodge so many blaster bolts, and land hits on Crazy and Crazy Jr with their ridiculous laser swords that could block blasters and their huge jumps that were powered with nightmare logic?

“So...what do you think this means? If I believe your little fairy tale,” Setana coughed.
 
Tato stayed perfectly calm and silent, not displaying any emotion as the woman went on. She did not know that some had such warped views of the order. To her, who grew up with this, it was much easier to accept, but this person claimed to have never even seen a Jedi in action. After she was done, she grabbed a water bottle from the side of the bed and gently floated it above her hand. "The force is no myth, Setana. It's what kept you alive during that fight, and it's what we learn to control here, among many other things."

To continue her demonstration, she pushed the bottle towards her in an arc, landing into the girl's mechanic hand. "What it means is that you can stay here, and train with us. Learn to use the force, and help us defeat sith like the ones you fought. We would not stop you from leaving, but I'm afraid your latent powers paint a big target on you, and even if you survive that, you could still be corrupted to the dark side on your own."
 
“Well...I don’t know if I’d call it a Force per se, but you certainly have something here,” Setana begrudged her newfound acquaintance after using her good hand to pop open the strange canteen and drink from it. “If it gives me the ability to pound that slavering snake into a pulp, then count me in. But lady...Tato you said your name was? You’re going to have to slow down and explain something to me. A whole lotta somethings in fact. What IS the Force exactly? What are the Jedi? The Sith? The Dark Side?”
 
"Ah, pardon, I do not often encounter those who had no contact with at least one of those things." The woman seemed to not even know what a lightsaber was. It was not hard to believe; the planet she was in had no ties with the Republic or the Sith, at least until that day. What Darth Zyr was doing there was a mystery, especially what he wanted with their children.

"As you mentor, we would go in-depth through all these concepts, but since I have yet to convince you to join, I will give you a simplified version; The sith are a conquering force, who wish to conquer galaxies with little regard for their inhabitants. The Republic is their opposing force, wanting to maintain peace and order. Us Jedi are with the Republic. We use the control of the force to our advantage. Those strong in the Force that succumb to the dark side ally themselves with the Sith, using their powers for personal gain with no regard for others."

"As for the Force itself, it is, like the others, a subject that will take much longer to explain. For the moment, all you need to know is that it is the energy in all life, in all things, and that people like you can manipulate. You felt it as it guided you, didn't you? You knew where to position yourself, how to dodge their attacks, even before they came."

"But that strength comes at a cost. We must always remain vigilant of ourselves, otherwise, you can become like the man you faced; twisted and corrupted, a force of destruction. That is what it is so important that you agree to stay with us."
 
“I...suppose I’ve been in worse living situations,” Setana quipped. “I mean, I did feel something that was hard to explain when I went in after those kids. It was just so upsetting to me that I- I hardly had any time to think. It’s all still very much a blur to me. But yeah, no, I don’t want to be bunking up with Mr. Yellow Teeth, that’s for damn sure.” She was saying that to try to digest the concept of “turning to the Dark Side,” and figured that whatever happened as a result of her turning to evil, it wouldn’t be good- for anyone.

“Tell you what, Tato...I suppose I’ll give this training thing of yours a shot. But I get to keep my ship, my guns and my droid, and if you’re pulling a scam on me, I’ll be out of this leaf pile faster than a Rancor at a watering hole.”
 
"I am glad to hear that. For now, just rest. Feel free to explore our facility and talk to others, just make sure not to wander too far from the facility, as there are some dangers out there I'd rather you not face in your current state. When you are feeling tired, ask for directions for the apprentice's quarters. You'll have apprentice robes waiting for you there, that you'll need to wear for the training tomorrow. Do you have any questions?"
 
And rest Setana did; although she scoffed at the thought of wearing unflattering robes, she also knew that at the direction of the beautiful Twi’lek who saved her life, the smuggler was willing to do nearly anything. But only for a few minutes, for Setana was hardly accustomed to staying in one place for long, unless it was in the cockpit of her freighter. Which, thankfully, hadn’t been banged up. And neither had Setana’s only real friend in the galaxy, a trusty grey colored and red striped astromech, R2-Q5, often just called QE.

She did her best to chat up the four other Jedi Knights. However, even when she was really trying to pay attention as opposed to pretending, Setana was having a hard time keeping all the bizarre names and terms straight. There was one thing, at least, that Setty was looking forward to, and that was talking to Tato again. Even if her stubborn space captain brain wouldn’t admit it...

So she sent QE to bleep and bloop at Tato, letting the Jedi Knight know that her new charge was going to sleep.
 
Tato took care of the final preparations for her training. Her training stopped her from being nervous, but to train someone so promisingly powerful, to have the responsibility of teaching her well and not let her turn, it was a little much for an only recently knighted Jedi. After the preparations, she spent the day in meditation. It was something the rest of the world did not have the luxury of doing; busy lives and the state of war between the Republic and the Sith made it so unrest was the status quo. The woman she had to train would come from that, making her training much more difficult. Even while meditating, Tato could not help but worry.

The next day, probably earlier than Setana would expect, Tato was at her door, knocking on it, which set off QE's alarm. It bleeped and blooped and shone rotating lights as it opened the door to the closet and took the robes, poking her owner with it.
 
“Five more minutes...” Setana groaned just as QE’s alarm woke her up. But the droid was insistent that she had to be ready for training. As a result, Setana, figuring that Tato wouldn’t leave her alone either, went against her instinct to grab one of her pilot uniforms and instead threw on one of the unflattering things these kooky ascetics charitably called robes. Setana felt like a performer in some alien theater, but she flashed her winning smile again as she exited the bedroom and asked, “So, what’s on the menu for training today, Tati?”
 
Tato wore similar robes with no problem, although hers went down to her ankles, a subtle signifier of her rank. They were modest, just like the Jedi who wore them, but good enough to maintain an organized structure. Speaking of organized structure, the woman didn't seem to be taking her training seriously. Tato could not expect her to do so on her first day, however, and tolerated the nickname. "We'll start with the Force itself. Then, breakfast." She shot a smirk at her at the juxtaposition of something so important with something trivial. Damn it, now she was doing it too.

What she did not tell her as they went through the corridors that led to the outside of the facility, was that her training was starting the same way it started for every apprentice, and apprentices were often kids. Tato needed to turn years of training into months, for the situation was dire. One of the reasons she had a "private teacher" was that they did not want to discourage her by having her training alongside children.
 
“Hopefully it shouldn’t take too long to get to breakfast,” Setana grumbled as her stomach did the same, after grinning at Tato’s delivery of her last sentence. “I didn’t eat much yesterday, and I could probably eat a whole bantha at this point!”

“So, the Force, huh? How do I control it? Is there, like, a magic word, or an artifact of some kind?” the pilot wondered with her hands on her athletic hips, and looked out into the...nothing at all. Was Tato expecting her to conjure something out of thin air? Where were any practice targets? What kind of a flimsy operation did these Jedi have going on here anyway?
 
She ignored her questions, at least for now. She chose to lead her away from curious eyes. The planet's landscape was mostly grassland without much difference between them. The Jedi facility was a fair bit away from any sort of building, so getting her away from people was as easy as getting her away from the place.

One thing Setana could have noticed is that, unlike most Jedi, who only carried lightsabers (which she might think of as just weird bits of technology around their waists), Tato carried one to her left and a blaster to her right.

Once she felt they were far enough, she started; "We'll start with a simple exercise, although do not feel discouraged if you can't manage it at first." she felt necessary to state, given that she seemed like an... excitable person. Hopefully the natural landscape would help her relax. "Laid down facing up and close your eyes."
 
Setana didn’t really close her eyes much. Her thoughts could go a mile a minute. And they had to in order to help her survive out in the galactic underworld, especially around the Outer Rim where the notorious Hutt crime family ruled much of the area and often wanted her head for some reason or another; until she could pull in a huge bounty or supply haul for them, that is. Closing her eyes was for sleep in her ship, and if she was really under a lot of pressure, one eye would remain open for threats. Slowing down, taking a breath meant death.

Except here. In this strange place, with these oddly calm people, what with their fancy swords and elaborate costumes. And Tato? Tato seemed different even from all of them. But Setana couldn’t put her fingers- mechanical or organic- on why. Maybe it was the fact that she kept a trusty blaster next to her doohickey. One that Setana noted was sleeker than her heavy repeating blaster; at the same time Setana gave herself some credit as she’d used this inelegant, taped together bucket of bolts to kill a Sith apprentice and wing a Sith Lord- whatever the fuck those meant.

But back to the cute Twi’lek. Maybe it was Tati’s easygoing nature that seemed to disarm Setana. Maybe it was her smile...

Thinking about her erstwhile mentor while in this unnatural position made Setana feel a lot better while her eyes finally shut. So much so that she was floating an inch or two above the grass without even realizing it.
 
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The exercise had to do with the Force, but before she could even say anything, the girl was already floating. How had she never noticed her affinity with the force, when something so simple could make her use it? She shook her head; this was the perfect opportunity to teach her. She'd have to change the method a bit, but this could work in her favor.

Without telling her what was happening, she began; "Now, keep your eyes closed. I want you to feel the Force, not just within you, but within all living things. Every leaf of grass beneath you. And me. You should know where I am in relation to you, even when I stop speaking. Can you feel it?" She asked. Strength could come from talent, but technique came with time. She wondered how long the girl would take to complete this exercise.
 
“Feel the Force? What the hell does that even mean? Is it cold, hot, what?!” Setana asked, frustrated with her inability to comprehend the mechanics right away. As soon as she did, however, she fell a couple inches onto the ground and winced, her exasperation becoming more apparent while she lay prone on her back, her substantial chest rising and falling from anxiety.
 
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She sighed as she fell. She was patient, but it was an ironic situation. "It is not a physical feeling. You've felt it, remember? Even as your heart was racing back in that fight, it guided you. Try to remember the fight, remember what you felt." She instructed. Now that she was actually in contact with the grass, the exercise was working as intended, and she could feel the force on it as well.
 
Setana stewed with her failure for a few minutes. Then she exhaled and began talking under her breath.

“I was so...scared at what I’d gotten myself into. Angry that someone was taking kids from their parents and making them into slaves...like, like what happened to me. And then I moved and it was like I knew every movement ahead of time. But l was also...out of my body?”

And as Setana was softly whispering these feelings and being vulnerable in front of someone, she was floating again, and this time she seemed to be able to hold it longer...
 
Talk of anger worried her. It was not uncommon with apprentices, but still, she needed to control this. Tato also didn't expect her to open up like this.

"Yes, it was the Force guiding you." She explained again. Sadly, a side effect of her floating was that she was not against the grass, and feeling the Force of something you weren't in contact with was a step ahead of what she wanted to teach for the day, much harder than when you are in contact. She changed plans and placed her hand gently against her arm, not the metal one. "Ignore the feeling of my hand, you can feel something else, can't you? In the same direction as my touch?"
 
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