Ask Yavin IV Non-zero chance of disaster

[Thayd Karkoza]

Storm clouds loomed livid over the ziggurat. Small things, weeds and bits of paper flitting by, picnic trash racing in the wind. Somebody’s lightsaber rolled across the pavement like an empty soda can. A great deluge was imminent. The whole sky was bruised and bulging with rain about to fall and the residents of the temple had vacated the grounds for the shelter of the temple's interior. On a normal day this little campus carved out of the jungle would be bristling with Jedi. Knights, padawans, masters, maybe even the Grand Master herself could potentially be found out here: coming or going, eating lunch, meditating, or following along on some kind of first-timer’s orientation led by one of those elderly Jedi librarian types. What you would almost never see in this place, other than as a name at the bottom of some decrepit roster buried in whatever depressing office housed such records, was the Jedi Knight Thayd Karkoza.

Between all of his “sabbaticals” and “leaves of absence” interrupted by sporadic bursts of contact and ephemeral flurries of involvement in Jedi initiatives out in the wider galaxy, it was possible this individual had never even been to Yavin IV since the Order had set up shop there in secret, just a shade under a decade ago.

And yet there he was now, in the flesh, suddenly pried loose from obscurity to take an apprentice, of all things. From the temple's high chambers, one could see zipping up the long, main driveway, a little electric golf cart with Thayd Karkoza behind the wheel. With its tiny tires and thin plastic roof and total lack of siding it appeared as if it were inviting any strong gust to just yank them up and feed them to the yavin thunder god for their insolence. Nevertheless the cart proceeded along its course until it came into the open parking garage / hangar bay / multi-purpose area of the temple's ground floor.

Some of the oil-smudged Jedi tinkering around with a starfighter gave him puzzled looks as he rolled in but Thayd paid them no mind and set the parking brake. He took out a little comms device, smacked it a few times to give it signal and dashed off a message to Torruye Almuth, telling her to come downstairs with her boots on.

@Reylo4evr

 

[Torruye Almuth]

Torruye was laying on her bed in the room she had been given two years ago. Thunder rumbled in the distance outside and Torri shut her eyes, feeling the Force around her. A rare smile graced her light blue face and she entered a state of peace, which was suddenly disturbed when her datapad buzzed. She opened her eyes and sat up slowly, swinging her bare feet over the side of her bed. She looked at her datapad and noticed she had gotten a message from the man that was supposed to be her master, training her in the ways of the Force.

For the two years that she had been here, on Yavin IV, she had spent a lot of her time in the temple library, getting lost in knowledge. The old librarian knew Torri by name now, even calling her by her nickname. She really was a sweet old lady, and seemed to have memorized the location of everything.

Torri pulled on a pair of brown leather boots that had been given to her soon after she arrived, wondering why her new master requested such a thing. As she walked to the ground floor it occurred to her that he intended to take her outside into the brewing storm. She walked into the large hanger, and scanned the crowd. She had no idea what her master looked like yet; but her blue skin and lavender hair stood out against the dirty mechanics that turned their attention to her as she walked in.

@Evan

 

[Thayd Karkoza]

When he spotted her, Thayd disembarked from his vehicle and made his way over. A tall figure in brown robes, clearing six and a half feet and heightened further by a wide, rough-looking straw hat like a farmer might wear. He had long dark hair that came past his collarbones, and tan skin, flecked with chaotic bursts of scar tissue on the backs of his hands, his forearms, and neck. His face was one that smiled easy and often, but even in such moments seemed anchored to the gravity of some inescapable stress, however distant. This weight lingered in his eyes. His brow bent under it slightly. He looked human, though he wasn’t, and the only outward sign of his difference were the two faint, vertical lines to the left and right of his nose.

As he approached her, a change seemed to come over Thayd. When he’d seen Torruye, and as she came into clearer focus for him now, some of the notions and expectations he’d brought with him simply evaporated. He had never taken a padawan before, nor had he himself ever really been inducted as one under the regulatory auspices of the Jedi Order. He had never been to this temple, and the cumulative time he’d spent at any Jedi temple, in any capacity, was minimal. "Torruye Almuth, is that right? I'm Thayd Karkoza." He smiled, gave a short nod.

"Shall we get started?"

@Reylo4evr

 

[Torruye Almuth]

Torruye nodded, looking up at the man who introduced himself as Thayd Karkoza. He towered over her. She craned her neck, giving him a small smile that, if anyone didn't know her any better, they would assume was a timid smile. "Yes," she said, her voice soft but melodious. "What are we doing today?" she asked bluntly, as she fell into step beside him. The mechanics in the garage paused their work to ogle the odd pair; a tall, dark haired man, and a shorter, blue skinned and purple haired girl. Torri cared not what others thought. Her face was cool and calm as she watched Thayd. Or rather, Master Karkoza.

@Evan

 

[Thayd Karkoza]

Today we're going to dive directly into Hell's heart! No.

"Well I'd originally intended to go out into the forest, but first we need to make sure we're on the same page." He took a brisk pace, and although like Torri he paid little attention to any weird looks, he wanted to be able to discuss things in a place with fewer distractions. Thayd led them away toward a door with the word "workshop" stamped on it in faded dark letters, pushed it open and a few overhead strip lights flickered on as they entered. The walls of this room were covered in great wide pegboards decked with tools of all kinds for working on all manner of machines. In the center of the room was a vast table, like for a banquet, but taller, littered with components, wiring, solder, chips, etc. The door swung shut behind them.

Thayd strode across the room, as if it were space he meant to make use of. When he got to the opposite end of this long worktable he stopped and turned toward Torri. The table lay between them, set with its metal feast. "You've been in this place for a couple of years. What have you learned here? What do they teach?" Thayd raised his left hand. Over a few seconds, all of the little pieces and scraps and whatnots on the table fled dutifully to its edges, leaving the center open and clear down the length. Other than his raised hand, there was nothing else to indicate much of a negotiation between Thayd and these objects. No squint to his eyes or wrinkle in his face. Then he reached into the sidelines, picked out a small brass ball maybe an inch in diameter, and rolled it down the table toward her. It stopped a few inches from the edge and remained still. "Can you move that ball?"

@Reylo4evr

 

[Torruye Almuth]

Torruye looked at the ball as it rolled to a stop in front of her. Thayd's display had been impressive, especially since she hadn't seen anyone use the Force with that much ease since the first Jedi had brought her here. She glanced back up at Thayd. "I know the basics of the Force; how to move things, and how to use it to enhance my speed and strength." Without looking at the ball, she tugged on the Force that seemed to always be present, and the ball floated in the air in front of her, stopping when it was level with her nose. She could not move it further without using some sort of hand gesture like Thayd had, but she supposed it would be smart to make a good impression on her new master. He would certainly help her improve from here, and Torri liked to be good at everything she did.

@Evan