Ask Onderon Raxx's School for Gifted Youngsters

[Kliedden Raxx]

​

The revelation that Alisaah Tila was Force sensitive had come as an even greater shock to Kliedden Raxx than the knowledge that she was a slave. It seemed the Togruta was just full of surprises. Of course it wasn't enough to just leave it at that. If Ali was going to be joining him and their other friends on mercenary operations, he wanted to know she could control her inherent gifts. Not only did being a Force user present the opportunity for them to have a powerful asset within their burgeoning company, it meant the girl was in grave danger the longer she went untrained. Klied knew enough about her kind to know that the 'dark side' was something all Jedi had to deal with. And given what he'd seen on the holonet, a Sith in his midst was the last thing he wanted. Especially when the Togruta was starting to grow on him.

To that end he'd used what contacts he'd made throughout his travels to put the word out, discretely of course, that he was looking to hire a Force user. And that he was willing to pay very handsomely. While he wanted to ensure Ali's safety, he had no desire to see her carted off to join a monastery on a distant world. So the Jedi and all the other associated Force cults were out. But a certain Sector Ranger he'd worked with a few years ago informed him of a reliable woman. A former Jedi who had chosen to walk her own path. It was the best lead he'd gotten so far, so he invited Nara Allam to meet him at his estate in Iziz, to discuss the possibility of long term employment. If everything worked out, Ali would have her tutor.

The nobleman was dressed in the typical livery he was starting to become more accustomed to, a blue long-sleeved shirt and dark pants, with a white cape trimmed with gold. He stood in a large office on the upper floor of the main house, positioned before the windows behind his desk. Hands folded behind his back, he remained quiet as he paced back and forth restlessly, eyes scanning the estate grounds outside. His feet stomped incessantly on the dark wooden floor, the eyes of his ancestors staring at him from the busts and paintings arranged around the brightly lit, white room. He'd seen a Jedi in action once before, years ago. They had been quite the sight. He wasn't sure what to expect from this Nara woman. Why was it she had left the Jedi after all? Was it really her choice to do so? Or had she been cast out for some nefarious actions? It would be impossible to know until he got a measure of her, but none of this Force business sat well with him.

"Lord Raxx?" A servant's voice stopped his pacing abruptly, drawing his eyes to the woman standing in the doorway. "Miss Allam has just arrived." She informed him. Klied hesitated, then nodded and forced a small grin.

"Good, please send her in." He replied. The woman wordlessly nodded back before turning to leave. Once she was gone Klied sighed before walking forward and sitting down in the large, comfortable chair before his desk. He leaned back, thrumming his fingers on the surface of the table. Well, time to get this over with...

@Bex @Charndley

 

[Juniper]

Nara's continuing association with a certain Sector Ranger continued to pay dividends. Against all belief, it turned out that there was a small market around for former Jedi who could provide insight and knowledge into using the Force. Most importantly, they were willing to pay the big money for her 'expertise.' The perfect amount to perhaps consider leading a less migratory lifestyle, maybe?

She'd arrived at the estate in Iziz and took a moment to gawp in awe. Whatever these people did, she was clearly in the wrong business. Then again, what would she even do with all those rooms and all that land? There was only so much space you needed, even for someone as messy as her.

The servants invited her inside and made her wait, while she scoped out the place. Old, half-scabbed over instincts filtered into her thoughts, taking note of exit points and valuables, wondering how much that painting would fetch or whether she could pry the precious metals out of the lighting and...

Stealing from a potential employer is usually considered a bad look, Nara.

Guided in by a haughty servant, Nara stood in front of the desk. In front of 'Lord Raxx' himself. He certainly made quite an impression. Definitely had some money though. Only a rich person could decided something as gaudy as that cape looked good.

In contrast, she stood in simple clothes. Dark trousers, a white blouse and a long, hooded coat. She slipped the hood down, revealing her pale features. Little to suggest she was anything but ordinary, aside from the slim hilt dangling from her belt.

"Lord Raxx, I presume," she said, her voice calm and neutral. "Nice house. I believe you're looking for someone experienced with the Force."

@Reyn @Bex

 

[Kliedden Raxx]

Klied instinctively stood up as Nara entered, eyes briefly scanning over the woman. As usual, his first instinct was to size someone up for a fight. She was shorter than he expected, and younger too. His eyebrows quirked up slightly in surprise as she pulled off her hood, revealing a face that looked about as old as her prospective student. The lightsaber did not escape his notice though. He was glad he'd decided to keep his blaster in his desk drawer... just in case.

As she introduced herself the Onderonian forced a smile and awkwardly leaned over the desk, extending a hand to shake. "Yes, and you must be Miss Allam. And thank you," After she chose to shake his hand or not he would stand up straight once more and briefly look around the room. "We've been trying to tidy things up, get everything in order." He gestured to the two cushioned chairs on her side of the desk. "Please take a seat, make yourself comfortable." The hunter would take his own advice, sitting back in his chair but leaning forward to put his elbows on the desk as he looked the ex-Jedi in the eyes.

"And yes... I am." He said in a more stilted manner. "You'll have to forgive me, I've had very little experience with your kind, this is all new to me." He paused again, trying to gather his words. "Now I expect nothing that's said here today to leave this room. Our mutual acquaintance assured me you can be trusted, so I'll come right out with it." He sat back in his chair, adjusting himself somewhat uncomfortably. "It's come to my attention one of my... employees is what you call Force sensitive. She requires a teacher to show her how to control her abilities. I have no desire to lose this employee to the Jedi, so I'm hoping you can provide her the training she needs privately. I'm willing to offer a salaried position for as long as you would require to get her into a state fit to serve in combat scenarios."

@Bex @Charndley

 

[Juniper]

Nara chose to be polite and shook his hand gently. His seemed a little larger, and rougher, than her own. Afterwards, she settled into the seat carefully. The relative opulence of the place was more than a little stifling. Crossing her leg in front of herself, she rested her hands on top of her knee.

"Oh, I'm sworn to secrecy," she said honestly. Who the heck would she talk too about new Force sensitive people? Corran? The scope of the job didn't come as a shock. What other reason would you need a former Jedi? There was a slight hesitation when he mentioned employee, which suggested closeness. A friend? A lover? A child? Interesting.

"I can provide training with the Force," Nara replied, looking at him straight on. "But I was a Jedi once, so that is the way I know. I can teach your employee to build on her connection to the Force, how to harness it properly and use it. Without meeting her and assessing her abilities for myself, I can make no guarantee about combat effectiveness. The Force is a mysterious thing and everyone feels it different. It may be that her abilities lie in a less combat-oriented direction."

That probably wasn't the answer that he wanted to hear. "However, whatever may lie in her path, I can provide some combat training and, if necessary, assist her in creating a lightsaber when she is ready to do so. I must be clear though, that my terms of employment are solely for training them. I'm not here to dish out Jedi secrets. I may have left them, but I'm not a traitor."

@Reyn @Bex

 

[Kliedden Raxx]

Klied sat silently as he listened to Nara's reply, maintaining a neutral expression. He was surprised to hear her say that Ali might not be fit for combat, even with the Force. The prospect seemed somewhat silly to him, considering even the weakest of Force sensitives must have been many times stronger than the average man with their inherent powers. Still, he was pleased she was honest enough to admit this upfront, rather than string him along and take his money, promising something that might not be in the cards. And at least she could promise to teach her the basics of combat, much like Klied had been doing with blasters. As she mentioned her own intentions to keep the secrets of the Jedi from him, the Onderonian only smiled.

"We're a private security group Miss Allam, I assure you we have no interest in your deeper mysteries," He said in a slightly dramatic and joking tone. "And I can personally say I'm on your side. I appreciate what the Jedi do for the galaxy. I haven't got any reason to wish them harm." He sat forward again, keeping his eyes focused closely on the Jedi. So far she was giving him a good impression. This could work.

"I would also like to know your availability." He continued. "I can provide room and board for you here and in our other facilities. I completely understand if you'd prefer a larger freedom of movement during your employment, but I need to know how often and for how long you would be with us for training. I'd also like to know if you could be persuaded to join us on some lower risk operations, to provide in the field training." He was aware he was asking a lot of the ex-Jedi, but then, he was offering a lot as well. He didn't know how well it would work on a former-monk, but he had found most people responded quite well to large sums of credits dropped in their laps.

@Bex @Charndley

 

[Juniper]

He seemed okay about her keeping some things private. The 'Lord' was refreshingly direct, for someone with a puffed-up title and more money than sense. As his eyes focused on her, Nara stared back. Early dominance technique from her teen years, stare and stare and stare until you unnerve someone.

"I have very few demands on my time, aside from some personal projects. I doubt they'll take up too much time though." The thought of being confined so much to one particular place bristled at her. Reminded her of being a padawan again, except she'd be getting paid this time. "In the instances that I need to leave, I'd inform you in advance and make sure to return in a short while." Lower risk operations though? Sounded a little more than dice-y. "So long as it's actually low risk, and you're not relying on me as one of your troops or anything."

Now came another niggle. "It may be necessary to take your employee off-world on occasion. A lot of the training can be done anywhere but some stages may require a visit to certain other worlds. Relatively safe ones, with me escorting them obviously. I expect you to trust my judgement in those matters."

"Other than that... I find the rest acceptable, Lord Raxx."

@Reyn

 

[Kliedden Raxx]

Klied nodded along with Nara's response. She seemed worried about him roping her into their mercenary work, which was perfectly understandable. "Oh of course not," He assured her. "I just want you to be aware of what we do, and that some systems our business takes us to may be unsafe. But I'll make sure to keep you well informed and prepared, and try to avoid assigning your student to dangerous missions until her training is complete and you've gone your own way." He agreed.

What she said next brought a slight frown to his face. He wasn't crazy about Ali going anywhere alone with the Jedi. As much as she had left a positive impression so far, he still didn't know her. "If you agree to provide information on where you're going and how long you plan to be gone beforehand, then yes. I can accept that." He offered what he considered was a reasonable compromise.

If she did not object he would then tap his hands on the desk. "Well, that all seems in order. Let's talk payment." He began. "I'm prepared to offer a yearly salary of three hundred thousand credits, paid on a biweekly basis, until such a time as Alisaah Tila's training is complete. This would of course require your silence as well, as previously discussed. If at any time you are found to be responsible for Miss Tila's Force sensitivity becoming public knowledge your contract will be terminated immediately. As well, I reserve the right to terminate your contract at any time if I feel that Miss Tila is not seeing sufficient progress in her abilities. Are those terms acceptable to you?" Klied sat back in his seat, wearing a neutral expression as he awaited Nara's response.

@Bex @Charndley

 

[Juniper]

A reasonable compromise, even if Nara felt like a little kid having to report to a parent every time she went anywhere. Such is the life of the wage-earner, she supposed. But man, what a wage. Nara blinked a couple of times as he mentioned the amount of credits, eyes going just a little wider. It took all her fortitude to avoid opening her mouth in awe.

How many credits did he just say?

That was a very generous salary, to say the least. She supposed that she did have rare training that was near impossible to find outside the Jedi Order, but still. Three hundred thousand credits. That amount of money was ridiculously huge in her mind, used to meagre amounts from stealing and monastic life.

The idea of Lord Raxx, or whatever he was called, dismissing her because Alisaah wasn't seeing enough progress in his mind... well, how would he know how a Force user progressed? Apprenticeships usually took years of training... but she could make some progress. Once you had a teacher, it was amazing what you could do.

"They are. I agree to your terms and I'm ready to begin whenever we can."

@Reyn @Bex

 

[Kliedden Raxx]

Klied couldn't help but smirk lightly at Nara's reaction. Well, he supposed he could chalk that down to a yes then. Credits were also a weak spot for ex-Jedi. As she agreed to the terms the Onderonian stood up and clapped his hands together. "Excellent, I'll have the contract written up for you to sign as soon as possible." He said before maneuvering around the desk, gesturing for Nara to follow as he made his way towards the door. "Come on, let me introduce you to your new student. May as well not waste any time."

The hunter would lead Nara through the house, making their way through mostly empty corridors. Even with his friends and a full staff occupying it, the Raxx estate had a way of making one feel small and isolated. For all the beauty within the pristinely cleaned halls, there was little opportunity for it to be appreciated. Eventually they would reach one of the many lounge rooms where Klied had asked Ali to wait for them. It was a cozy room, cluttered with comfortable couches and a holoscreen for watching vids. As well as some games about like dejarik and darts.

Once he had located the Togruta, Klied would introduce the two women. "Miss Allam, may I introduce you to Alisaah Tila. Ali, this is Nara Allam, a former Jedi Knight. She's just agreed to be your teacher." Finishing the introduction Klied would step back, folding his hands behind him as he looked between the two women, hoping that their first meeting would go well.

@Bex @Charndley

 

[Alisaah Tila]

Alisaah was sitting in the lounge on one of the couches. She had chosen to sit on the one with the plumpest cushions as it looked comfy. The Togruta knew that Klied had been interviewing that morning for someone that might be able to help train her in the force and she had been asked to wait there so that they did not have to scour the estate for her were the candidate successful. Although there were things to do in this lounge, Ali did not know how to work a holoscreen to watch anything and did not feel like playing a game by herself, so instead she had decided to paint her nails.

Ali was crouched forward on the edge of the couch, with a bottle of nail polish on the table in front of her, steadily painting her fingernails, every so often dabbing the brush into the pot to refresh the paint. As tended to be the case since gaining her own freedom, Meela had gifted her surrogate daughter with the bottle of white nail polish, as she thought the colour suited her. The Togruta sat there humming a little tune to herself as she worked and when finished, she sat up, holding her nails out in front of her to dry them off.

Moments later, she heard footsteps outside and turned around, seeing Klied and a woman who must have been a similar age to herself in the doorway. The Onderonian introduced the woman as Nara Allam - a Jedi - who he said was now her teacher. Ali rose to her feet quickly and bowed to Nara politely, her hands placed at her sides as her nail polish was drying. "Welcome Mistress Allam, it is very nice to meet you" she said. Though she did not sound it, the Togruta was a little nervous. She was not sure what to expect of a Jedi or how one should speak to them. Calling Nara "mistress" was most likely a mistake, but Ali had never had a teacher before and it was the most respectful title she could think of to call her. "Thank you for agreeing to teach me" she added, standing up straight again and meeting the Jedi's gaze with her green eyes.

@Charndley @Reyn

 

[Juniper]

With the details of salary hammered out, Nara followed Klied as he lead her through his estate. It seemed like endless, plush hallways after hallways. After delving ever deeper into them, Klied opened up some doors and took them into what seemed to be a sitting room, introducing her to a pretty Togruta woman who seemed to have perfectly applied nail polish. Nara instinctively curled her fingers against her palm, hiding her chewed, scuffed nails from view.

Alisaah called her Mistress Allam, which wasn't the best start. She couldn't help herself. She winced, irritation washing over her face before she nodded. "Please don't call me that. It's Nara." She was tempted to insist on 'Master', though honestly she'd never been happy with that title either. Besides, she wasn't a Jedi anymore, she couldn't insist on it. "Nara will be fine, honestly. And you don't need to bow."

Ever. Don't bow to anyone. Nobody deserves it. She refrained from adding that in the presence of her new employer, though. There were credits to think of. Instead, she stepped past Klied and towards Alisaah, trying to work some things out. "How long have you known you're force sensitive?" she asked casually, trying to work out how much she could do already. "Have you managed to move things, or produced some kind of force-related phenomena?" She'd remembered that phrase coming up from when the Jedi had found her. Y'know, freaky strange Force shit that can't be explained any other way.

@Reyn @Bex

 

[Kliedden Raxx]

Klied stood to the side, glancing between Nara and Ali as they interacted. The ex-Jedi's grimace at the title of mistress didn't slip his attention. He just took it as humility. He didn't really like all the titles he was addressed with either. But after a somewhat awkward introduction things seemed to be moving ahead, and the new professor was asking her student entry level questions about the Force. While he did have some private interest in the topic, Klied knew he could always ask Ali about it later. For now he figured it was best to let the two women get down to business.

"Well, I'll let you two get to it." He said as he took a few steps back from the pair. Again he glanced between the two of them a bit awkwardly. "Uh, if either of you need anything just holler, the echo really carries in here." He smirked briefly at his own joke as he looked at Nara, then cleared his throat and turned to leave the room. Well, that had gone surprisingly smoothly. He just hoped none of the training would involve using their minds to hurl priceless family heirlooms across the room. He had spent a fortune getting this place back into viewable condition as it was...

/Exit Thread
@Bex @Charndley

 

[Alisaah Tila]

Almost as soon as she had finished her greeting, her new teacher requested that the title of mistress be dropped. Aska had always hated it when the Togruta called her that and it had become clear that her other friends objected to the use of the title as well. Having lived as a slave all her life up until recently, she still found it very difficult to understand why people got upset about it. To Ali this was all very normal and proper. However, the slave mindset kicking in registered Nara's request like a command and the Togruta would oblige. "Oh... o-of course, I'm sorry, I've never met a Jedi before" said Ali, timidly. It would not have been particularly noticeable due to the Togruta's skin tone, but her cheeks had flushed a little pink, feeling slightly embarrassed. She did not want to make a bad impression.

Ali made a mental note not to bow to Nara either and then the questions started. Understandably, her new teacher wanted to know more about what she knew of the force. "Uhm, well not all that long. Maybe a few weeks. Mistress Ryun told me" she explained. There it was, that word again: "Mistress." The Togruta did not know if Klied had briefed Nara on her past - who and what she had been - it hadn't even crossed her mind. Ali was just being Ali, innocent and naive as she was. Should the Jedi question who this person was, and what their relationship to Ali was, the Togruta would gladly sit and explain. It was a rather complicated state of affairs after all, though, it was still possible that having called Nara 'mistress' just now, that her teacher might just assume she called everyone that. Ultimately, Ali had no intention of making it seem like Klied associated with unscrupulous people, but as always with Ali, things had a way of looking worse than they perhaps were.

The Onderonian had made his exit by now, the Togruta had given him a little wave as he left, and so Ali really had to make sure that she made the right impression, not only for her sake but for Klied too. Without him there she started to feel a little nervous, but she knew that he would have picked a tutor that he knew would be suitable, it would just take time to get to know her and be comfortable. "I've been told I've moved things before. I didn't know it was me doing it at the time" said Ali, in response to Nara's second question, "On Bespin I... I pushed Kayto over and his head came off..." The Togruta suddenly looked rather ashamed, shrugging her shoulders and nervously kneading the ground with the toes of her shoe. The security droid had picked the wrong time to start chastising her about her feelings towards Aska, and in her distress, she had managed to push Kayto over a chair and into a table, which resulted in him being temporarily decapitated.

"There was... also one thing that happened which I can't explain. Mistress Ryun and I had been captured by some bad men on Nal Hutta. They restrained us and they were hitting her, asking her questions. I couldn't see because she was behind me. I wanted so desperately for them to stop, for us to escape, and then the bindings just... broke" she said. This particular incident had lingered in the back of her mind for many months. It had all seemed so coincidental and down right bizarre. Since Aska had told her about her force sensitivity and what that meant, things like this had been playing on her mind, and now she had someone she could ask about it. "Was it the force that freed us?"

@Charndley @Reyn

 

[Juniper]

Lord Raxx took his leave, which made Nara feel a little more comfortable. The last thing she needed was a soldier sniffing over her shoulder, questioning everything she did. Hopefully the results would become clear sooner rather than later. No doubt Ali would be much more effective in his organisation once she was a little more proficient with the Force.

She listened impassively, noting what she mentioned. Seemed to be clear signs of inadvertent Force use, the kind that'd get a kid noticed by the Jedi. That's if they knew. It was only by chance that she'd been discovered, after all. Still though, something about that last sentence troubled her. Was it the Force that freed us was drifting dangerously close to Sith talk.

"Maybe. Sort of. It's hard to know for certain without seeing it, or feeling it, but it sounds like it could be. You've made things move, which is a common application of the Force. What's important now is that you're trained to use the Force properly. It can be a great ally, once you've learned how to use it properly. How to respect it." She thought about adding something about not letting it control her either, but she didn't feel like scaring her.

"I'd imagine it's going to take a while and you'll need some patience. Most people take years to fully come into their command of the Force, and that's when fully immersed with the Jedi. Dedication too. This has to be something you really, really want to do. It's a serious commitment." She wasn't doubting her or anything, just preparing her.

"I think it best we start outside. Do you know the way out? To a garden or something? I lost track around the tenth hallway I walked down."

@Bex

 

[Alisaah Tila]

Some relief came when Nara explained that moving things was a common occurrence for force sensitives. Ali already had some idea about the fact she needed training, as Klied has explained this to her and was of course the reason why Nara was here, but what that training entailed, and how someone could be taught properly how to use the force remained a mystery. Nara talked of respecting the force and Ali could already understand why. Anything that gave her the power to shove something over with her mind definitely needed to be respected.

The training would require patience. Ali had a degree of it but even for her it would run out at a certain point. She was not the type to lash out and get angry, but the Togruta could get disheartened and insecure if she thought she was failing and disappointing other people. It was something the Jedi was likely to come across when her training began properly, but in Alisaah, Nara had a good student. As awful as her life of slavery had been, it meant that she would listen and she would obey instructions. She would not find the Togruta a challenge to control in that regard, the issue would be more coaxing Ali out of her shell and building confidence.

Nara suggested they begin their training outside, though she had lost her sense of direction. "Oh yes! Kly has a very big house doesn't he? But I remember my way to the garden. I like to spend time there, it's beautiful" Ali said in a friendly manner, "Let me show you the way." She waved for Nara to follow before the pair left the lounge and head outside. After a few minutes of walking the two women would appear in the garden of the Raxx estate. The shooting range that Klied had recently used to teach Ali how to shoot was off to the left, down the far side of the garden. The swimming pool could be seen towards the right hand side and everywhere you looked you could see grass, bushes, flower beds, all lovingly cared for by Klied's gardeners. The Togruta took in a big lungful of fresh air and sighed. "Here we are! The lovely garden."

@Charndley

 

[Juniper]

As Ali lead the way, Nara noted how she referred to 'Lord' Raxx. Kly. A very familiar relationship. Maybe it was just a teasing nickname between friends. Maybe it was more. Whatever, none of her business really. So long as this didn't get into any messy drama, the two of them could do whatever they wanted. Useful knowledge though. She filed it away for later, just in case.

Outside, the air was fresh and laced with cash. None of the wild jungles of Yavin IV, or the swamplands of Ajan Kloss there. No, it was very well cared for. Prim, proper, ordered. It would do, for now, but Nara made another note in her head. She'd need to get Ali to somewhere more... vivid.

"Great. Okay, this is going to sound weird but I promise... this is only the start. First things first, let's sit." Nara found a spot on the cut grass, right in the sunlight, as she sat. Cross-legged of course, as she slipped the coat of herself. Her pale skin stood out in the bright light. "Just however you feel comfortable. I want you to be completely at ease for this. Then, when you're ready, close your eyes."

"Tell me what you feel," she asked softly, her voice quiet and gentle.

@Bex