[Ask] NEVER In My LIFE!

[Jacques]

...had Arek gone to train with his lightsaber on the Jedi flagsip. The Will of the Force was a beautiful ship, and he liked to be on it. But he just didn't like flying or anything of that sort. Being in space made his migraines worse than they were when he was standing up straight. And those always seemed to be the worse ones until he found out he eventually had to fly again. It was like a one-armed soldier learning he had to go back and fight in war.

Arek got into his Soresu stance and looked across the way at three little, round, flying droid things. He'd never bothered to learn their name, seeing as how he didn't use them much.

They fired a lot of shots in that first round, but they weren't nearly started. He was able to easily block them in the beginning, though his ability wore down after a good chunk of seconds was taken up without a break. When they paused he went back to his starting stance, waiting for them to begin the firing again. This time they flew in a formation and surrounded him.

Arek rolled backwards, almost losing his balance as he got back up. The droids turned, simultaenously, and opened fire again. He blocked up high and to his left and right, though catching one in the shin.

"Gah!" He yelled, angry...not so much out of pain but because he was lousy with a lightsaber. He got back into position and the droids closed in on him again. A barrage of blaster bolts came flying at him and he reflected them with his lightsaber. Too many were coming, and he was barely able to block all of them.

Eventually Arek had to begin dodging some, too, not being able to use his saber to stop all of them. One caught him in the sole of his foot, and another caught him in the side. He clutched the on on the side, holding his lightsaber. The three droids went back to their starting positions and waited.

"No wonder I'm a diplomat, even a Jawa with a wooden stick could kill me in a lightsaber duel." He said, chucking his weapon across the room and into the wall. It clunked once, and then twice when it hit the floor. It rolled a little bit and stopped, behind the droids.

 

[Master Maverick]

Walking around the halls of The Will of the Force was becoming more regular to Akacen. He was in no way use to being on ships of any kind, so he still had a bit of difficulty.

Passing the door-less training rooms, he was looking for one that was empty so he could work on his Soresu and Makashi. All the ones had been filled, and he made his way left around the corner to keep looking.

He peaked into every one he passed; they were practicing various techniques and were all of varying levels of proficiency. He passed a few more when he heard a cry from the next room. He kept his pace, but stopped at it, and peaked in. He did it in such a way as to not be obviously noticed. He was a bit curious at the sight. It was a Tusken.

He had read of Tuskens before and they were not force sensitive. He was entirely curious and continued watching.

He seemed to fumble around with the saber, in a way. To the untrained eye he would have been intermediate. But in a place of Jedi, he was little more than a padawan learner.

Now he had to dodge the three droids shooting at him, not able to keep up with his saber. Akacen knew that he would be hard pressed to not do the same thing, but was intrigued by it. Neither unimpressed nor condemning his actions. He noted that he was using Soresu for the base of his technique. It was not a particularly common form, at least outside his circle of friends, however small it was.

When he was hit by 2 shots, Akacen winced in pain with the... sentient. He didn't quite seem to be Tusken. He didn't move as violently as them. However, he was a Jedi, no doubt, so that could have something to do with it.

At his comment about his own skill, Akacen couldn't help but chuckle. He immediately gasped and moved so he was hiding against the wall outside the room, unable to be seen by the... Jedi. He was a bit scared, but not nearly as much as he could have been.

 

[Jacques]

There were eyes staring at the back of his head. Possibly intrigued by the Tusken practicing, though he couldn't find a reason in the galaxy as to why that would be the case. Arek sighed and pulled his lightsaber back to him with the Force, just feeling somewhere in the back of his mind he was being watched. Of course, he wouldn't do anything about it...but he didn't like it, that was for sure. He had to shake his mind of all these thoughts as he gathered once more in the Soresu position, anxious to take another shot.

The droids opened fire, and he deflected them with his lightsaber using swift movements. Their rate of fire slowed for a second as they moved in closer. Arek thought about his chances in close quarters and didn't like them. The Tusken jumped, using the power of the Force to propel himself, all the way to the other side of the room. As he did, he took a look at the door to the room he was in...empty. Arek cursed himself for wondering why anybody would be watching him practice.

When he had stopped thinking about it, the droids began to open fire again, faster than before. Arek tried to maintain his thoughts, keep calm. To just keep deflecting the fire and eventually he'd be the winner in the situation. One droid flew up and fired at him while the other two closed in. Arek couldn't deflect every one of those, and took a shot to the arm. He winced, but rolled out of the way and got ready aqain.

One droid flanked to his left, one came from up high, and the other was coming straight at him. Arek couldn't keep up with all the blaster bolts as he was deflecting them. As he turned the blade to deflect a shot up high, the one flanking fired and hit his wrist, sending the lightsaber flying across the room. The blade extinguished as the metal clanked against the floor.

The Tusken gathered his thoughts and looked around. The droids were closing in, having stopped firing. A few more shots in and they'd reset, but he didn't really feel like being shot anymore. Thinking fast, he sent a push of the Force out at the one straight ahead of him. The droid was pushed back into the wall and, too, fell to the ground with a nice sound. Then Arek rolled out of the way of a few more shots, grabbed his lightsaber, and ignited it. It sounded with a nice snap-hiss sound.

Blocking a few more shots, Arek reared back as the two moved in and chucked his lightsaber at the one who was up above. The blade cut through metal and flew back to his hand. He'd heard about students who liked to destroy all the little droids who they sparred with, though he usually wasn't one of those. Today was different, obviously.

The last little droid continued on, firing even faster than before. It was much easier for Arek to block, as it was only coming from one little machine. As he was deflecting the blaster bolts, a sharp pain stuck in his side. The first droid reset, and was almost immediately joined by the one he hadn't destroyed, but only thrown against a wall.

Arek clutched at his side, dropping his lightsaber in the process, and groaning in a mixture of pain, anger, and self-loathing.

 

[Master Maverick]

He reached his senses out gently through the force, keeping an eye on the... man. He made sure not to announce his presence, or at least *try* not to. He was certainly getting a workout from the 3 practice remotes.

Once he was sure the man was no longer looking at/for him did he peek around the door to watch a bit more. It was an impressive sight for sure, at least in Akacen's opinion. When he pushed one against the wall, he was a bit relieved. He would have done it far sooner than that, however. Not that that's any better.

When he threw his lightsaber to slice through a second, he was a bit impressed. Akacen had yet to learn that ability. Though, it was more because he didn't have the desire to learn it.

He didn't have to try so hard against the last one, and could refocus his thoughts.

A moment later, he noticed the one he had thrown against the wall reset and was readying to fire upon him. Before he could say anything, it shot at him and hit his mark, as the man obviously didn't sense the attack and didn't defend against it.

He winced, empathetically sharing the pain with the man. The droids stopped as he fell to the ground.

He debated for a moment on whether or not he should help him. He looked down both ways of the hallway, and no one was in sight. He looked back quickly, hesitating for a second before finally deciding to help the man.

As he had recently taken a class on healing techniques, this would be the perfect opportunity to try it in a real life scenario. "Are you alright?" He asked in a genuinely concerned voice. "Here, let me see..."He told the man.

Now up close to him, he was a bit more sure that he wasn't ethnically Tusken. ((OOC: Sorry for God-modding. If you don't want it to happen this way, I'll edit it.))

As he let go of his side, Akacen cleared his mind and thought of the time he, his Master and Saia were upon the fields of Tython that sunny day just meditating. The feeling of the Force so intimately was the happiest memory he had, and he used it to focus his mind in order to heal the burn from the blaster shot.

He put his hands over the mark and infused the Force through his hands so as to heal the wound. It took but a few moments and he was finished.

He withdrew his hands and, from the kneeling position he was in, moved to sit cross-legged across from the man.

After a few awkward moments, he introduced himself. "I'm Akacen." He said hesitantly. In a not-so-graceful movement, he stuck out his hand to shake in greeting.

He was trying to be social. 'Trying' being the operative word.

 

[Jacques]

(No, it's alright, I can roll with it. Just so long as he weren't fighting or anything I don't care...unless it's incredibly bad.)

Arekn could've gotten up faster, but he was too busy drowning in self-loathing and anger at himself for not being able to recognize the second droid. He was embarrassed, though he hadn't seen anybody watching him, though he had sensed it. And...suddenly, he was sensing it again. Oh, well...that wasn't good.

"No, no...I'm alr-oookay then." Arek tried to get up, but was stopped by the younger boy. He had no wish of fighting, and didn't mind having the pain be taken away. Well, it wasn't going to be taken from his mind, but at least his body would stop hurting. When all was said and done, the older, Tusken Padawan nodded and offered a thanks to the boy, though he was stopped once more when the kid introduced him.

The Tusken fell to his knees and sighed, "I'm Arek." He offered, almost but not exactly mumbling. He didn't take the hand out to greet him, but instead fell to a position a little bit more comfortable than the one he was in.

 

[Master Maverick]

He was a little put off by his refusal to shake his hand, but only felt a little foolish. He didn't even like shaking hands anyway.

He took his hand back and just looked at the man. At least, he assumed that's what he was. He was certainly male, there was little doubt in his mind. Well, it could be a masculine female...

The face wrappings were the most disconcerting thing about his whole outfit. Though he was wearing a traditional Jedi robe over it all, the wrappings were unsettling.

He allowed himself to ask the obvious question plaguing his mind. "So, you're a Tusken?" He asked almost shamelessly.

He wondered about his other wounds, but waited for him to answer his initial question, not wanting to annoy him.

 

[Jacques]

Arek shook his head, "No, I'm a Jawa. I was just a wee bit too tall to fit in their little robes, though, so I dress as a Tusken Raider to feel more...appropriately raced for my height." He said in obvious sarcasm...thought after a short silence he sighed and shook his head again, "I'm sorry about that, yes, I'm a Tusken." He was just still angry at himself for the failure he had been when doing that little excersize earlier. It was pretty terrible, at least in his mind. He was still drowning way in self-loathing because of it.

 

[Master Maverick]

He chuckled at his little joke. Akacen's had a decent sense of humor and wasn't naive enough to take everyone seriously.

He could tell he was still internally berating himself for his performance in that practice session. He looked at him for a moment before saying, "You were pretty good. How long have you been practicing?" He really meant it too. Akacen wouldn't have done much better in the same situation; it's not easy to defend against multiple blaster shots coming from all directions.

Of course he had practiced the same exercise, and had completed it a few times, but it took him a long while to be able to do it, and they only real-world experience he had at blocking many blaster shots was in that cave on Halm, but they were only in front of him. He vowed, after doing the same exercise countless times, never to let that happen in real life. That was the point of Sokan anyway, was it not?

 

[Jacques]

The older Jedi padawan waved off Akacen, "Don't tell me I was good, I should be doing much better for a guy my age. I started off my excersizes with one, and then two. It's been about two and a half hours now, I'd say." Arek said, although he paused for a second and then added, "I hope, because the GODS only know how slow those things seem to go by." It was the truth. One time the young Padawan had been training for what felt like an hour, two hours, and he found out after checking the time that it had only been fifteen minutes. Of course he was heartbroken then, as he had to do a minimum of one hour.

"There are just some people, including myself, who aren't good at this whole...lightsaber thing." The Tusken told Akacen, picking up his lightsaber and staring at it. "I've come closer to slicing my own arm off more than I have of those lightsaber combat droids. It's embarrassing when it's only on the second lowest level." He shook his head, sighed, and clipped the saber hilt back to his belt, figuring that today's tests were probably over. He could say he wasn't happy with the results, although the kid would probably tell him he did well.

 

[Master Maverick]

"Well, how long have you been a Jedi?" He asked, curious as to the answer as well as trying to put it in perspective. If he had started only recently, then he couldn't be expected to be any better than he already was, especially since it was already harder for him to learn since he was older. Also, he may not have as much time to practice as Akacen, as he may or may not have other responsibilities to worry about and therefore the time to practice things he doesn't care for is diminished on top of the fact that he obviously didn't really care to be practicing, but knew it was essential that he knew basics and could hold his own in a pinch.

 

[Jacques]

Arek looked at Akacen for several moments, deciding he probably shouldn't lie just because that would be a bad thing to do. However, he knew it might be a little bit embarrassing if he told the truth...as he had spent most of his life as a Jedi, and should be much better with a lightsaber than he actually was, "I've been a Jedi for...fourteen years." Arek admitted, sighing slightly as he did so, "Since I was six." Maybe the fact that he was twenty years old and only awful with a lightsaber was the actual embarrassing part. Or maybe it was because he specialized in something different besides most other padawans that it made him feel...out of place. Not many Jedi preferred diplomacy over...aggressive negotiations.

 

[Master Maverick]

"Ah." He said, trying his best to not be condescending or anything. "I was accepted at 4." He commented, almost blankly while thinking.

He was trying to figure out the reason for his lack of skill. If he had been in the order for so long, it almost baffled him why Arek would be so... intermediate.

He was glad there was a small 'scuffle' of Jedi about 20 meters away from them, playful, but a distraction so he could figure out why without just staring at him.

"What do you specialize in then?" He asked. he hoped his question wasn't too presumptuous and he actually did specialize in lightsaber combat. However, that was highly unlikely considering the amount of time he had been a Jedi.

 

[Jacques]

"I specialize in a more...diplomatic range. Anything that can be negotiated, I negotiate. Especially hostage transactions, I'm usually called on when an innocent's been taken hostage." Arek told the one who was probably the only person willing to listen about that sort of stuff. Most people he had told were bored out their gourd the moment he spoke. At least the two had gotten that far. "Rarely do negotiations break down to the point where I have to bring out my lightsaber, or even the Force." Arek noted, feeling a migraine coming on. It wasn't as bad as some of the ones he'd had before, but they were all bad on his accounts.

The migraines were because of the last hostage negotiation he'd partaken it. That was what seemed like forever ago, but it had only been a few months. He'd taken a bad whack on the head from a blunt instrument...a very bad whack at that. Almost every day he had a few migraines, sometimes more and almost never less. Arek had to do everything he could to not stop the conversation and just clutch as his head like he would were nobody around.

 

[Master Maverick]

He found it unusual that such a man would be adept at negotiation. However, he tried not to stigmatize him. Anything was possible after all.

"I took a class with the Prime Envoy about the morals of aggressive negotiations." He started, trying to connect with the Arek. "I'm a follower of form zero as well. I really don't care for fighting, and I'd rather use the Force than my lightsaber." He said, looking down at his training saber. He was a bit disappointed that he hadn't even made a saber yet. He felt ready to take that step in his training, as he had read up a great deal on it and felt he could do it easily enough. He just wanted the advice of his Master along the way.

"I found it interesting how aggressive people have become. However, given the recent turn of events, I suppose it's become ever more important." He said pensively, looking down, thinking of what the future held.

"Do you think you could give me some tips on diplomacy?" He was very much interested in politics. Not necessarily being involved, but like talking about ideologies and theories.

At his question, he noticed a slight change in his demeanor. He seemed uncomfortable, but he just credited it to the pain he felt from the activity they had just participated in.

 

[Jacques]

Arek sighed, a slight one only though. He did it often, out of habit or not he couldn't exactly tell. He cracked his neck and nodded, "A war is coming and people need to fight to stay alive, but the Jedi have become much too enamored with dueling and fighting their opponents...the Sith, mainly. Although they are evil and should be stopped, too many, including young Padawans, want to just rush straight into battle and fight to the death, destroying their opponents or be destroyed themselves." He said, sighing slightly once more.

"And I don't even follow form zero. I'm only a wee bit better with the Force than I am with a lightsaber. It's sad, really, I'm more of a politician than a Jedi." The Tusken chuckled at his own lame joke and shook his head.

When Akacen asked if he could be taught anything about diplomacy, the older Padawan was a little bit skeptic. "Are you sure? It's not exactly the most interesting thing in the world..." There was a little paused and then Arek sighed a longer sigh, "In fact, it's exactly the most uninteresting thing in the galaxy." He said, trying to be blunt, "The only people who can get through it are boring people who can't do anything else. One of those many being myself."

 

[Master Maverick]

"I agree. I worry for them, they seem to be susceptible to turn." He commented in reference to Arek's observation that many padawans seem to be quite aggressive. Also, he purposefully left out "turn to the dark side" because he didn't particularly believe in a light or dark side.

He chuckled slightly at his negative feelings toward his own profession, and thus to himself. "I know many of my peers feel that way, but I'm also aware that nothing could get done without government. I'd like to know more about it. And not gossip, I want to know the truth, facts. Every time I ask someone about Congress, they always say it's corrupt and just people trying to get more power and money. I don't doubt that there are indeed more than enough representatives like that, but I'd like to know about more than just that." His long-winded statement surprised him after. He was now quite a bit more comfortable talking with Arek. It was getting to be a bit more natural, rather than the, he felt, forced questions from before. They were conversing now, not just asking ice-breaking questions.

Sitting on the floor, he was almost eager to hear Arek's response to his opinion and request.

 

[Jacques]

Arek sighed, "The sad thing about politics is that just about everybody actually is corrupt, and many promise to help the people who can't help themselves but end up helping people who don't need any help whatsoever...actually, they usually end up helping people who are so well off they could be helping people who can't help themselves, if they weren't so greedy." It was a long explanation, but to the Tusken it made sense. He'd spent a dozen years sitting in on Senate meetings with his master to learn about diplomacy, and still did it as often as he could. Which, without his master, hadn't happened. Apparently his master only got in because he had many Senatorial friends who didn't carry over to his apprentice.

The padawan rubbed at his forehead, still in a jolting amount of pain, "But the first rule a diplomat has to learn: You HAVE to be un-biased. If you go into a negotiation with a species you don't particularly like, those negotiations will turn out TERRIBLE. You HAVE to stay unprejudiced and unbiased, and you always have to be polite and have a sense of nobility about you if you are prejudiced or biased. Another important thing, no matter how low their level, you have to get on it to see eye to eye. No eye to eye seeing, no negotiations."

 

[Master Maverick]

His long-winded explanations made perfect sense to the boy. Though he was young, he was quite intelligent and thought in circles himself. So the Tusken's answer was easy enough to follow.

He was a bit disappointed at the realism of the rumors. He almost thought people were better than that, but his remaining naivete about the subject all but vanished. His eyes became a bit harder now at the realization. The galaxy was truly harsh and many times unforgiving. His spirit was a dampened by it.

However, that only made him want to be able to influence it more. He wanted to do good and influence the galaxy in the best way; what better way that through the Galactic Congress?

As he described some of the rules, Akacen was a glad that he already was, or tried to be, unbiased in such situations. In all situations, virtually. Emotions, he felt, had no place in such matters. Only facts. Though facts could be skewed, one could find this out and therefore find more 'accurate' facts. It was a tiring process for sure, but he was always satisfied when he found the truth he had been looking for.

Truth... he thought. One of the rarest gems in the galaxy.

It was quite an unfortunate truth, but it was truth nonetheless. To him, that made it all the more precious.

At his second piece of advice, he thought that was inherent as well. He realized that he picked up on things that others would never know for all their lives. He found that unfortunate, and not fair in a way. He remembered what his Master had said.

"...Akacen, you have the skill to become what you desire, our training will show you that. It is yourself you must first defeat before we can move on however."

Though it didn't seem so much like a compliment, he took it as one. It meant more to him than just the words spoken. She had expressed confidence and hope in him. He was touched by this, and would probably never forget it.

"What's Congress like? What's it like being there?" He asked, almost dreamy eyed.

 

[Jacques]

"It's boring." Arek replied, the younger padawan wondering what Congress was like. He wasn't going to sugarcoat it for the kid, he wasn't going to make it seem glamorous, "It's boring, loud, and everybody's talking about the same problems while rarely ever trying to fix them. With a Congress so big, it takes weeks to vote on bigger issues and bills, and sometimes days to vote on the simplest of matters. If you don't have a say in anything, it's even more boring." The Tusken shook his head and sighed.

The migraine was getting worse and worse, but he had to ignore it. He couldn't just drop to the ground in pain, clutching at his head and waiting for it to go away...not in the middle of a conversation, at least. Especially one that he actually was enjoying, "The Congress is for the good of the people, and there are many doing their best to help..." He paused, "But there are more people trying to gain personally, only wishing to be in Congress to have power, the more power in Congress, the more corrupt you'll get, if you do. And if you DO. You are rich. Incredibly rich. So not many see a choice."

 

[Master Maverick]

"Power corrupts..." He commented with the common saying, not bothering to finish it. He was sure Arek knew the rest of it.

He was disappointed by the ineffectiveness of the Alliance, but knew the Empire was no better. Everyone taking months and years to decide something for everyone, he thought, was better than one person making the decision.

A discomforting look came back into his face, if only for a moment. "Are you ok?" He asked. He had no clue what it could be, and asked more out of curiosity than thinking he could help.

perhaps it was just the other burns to his body that hurt, but he didn't want to assume.