[IC] Star Wars: The New Jedi Academy

[Nobodyman123]

Luke Skywalker, farmboy, rebel pilot, and Jedi Knight stood in the throne room of Emperor Palpatine, green lightsaber in hand. The tired, beaten form of Darth Vader laid at his feet. His hand had been cut off, revealing a stump full of wires and metal. Luke's own saber was poised at Vader's chest, ready to finish off the Sith Lord. But something held him back. Before he could make a final decision, the cold, rasping voice of the Emperor himself spoke. The decrepit old man was seemed to be filled with joy.

"Good!" he laughed. "Your hate has made you powerful. Now, fulfill your destiny and take your father's place at my side!" Luke looked down at Darth Vader. No. Anakin Skywalker is his name. He thought to himself. Looking at Anakin's mechanical hand made Luke think of his own. Despite everything he had done as Vader, he was still a man. Broken, shamed and out of control, but a man none the less.

With a flick of his thumb, Luke deactivated his lightsaber. "Never." he said, and tossed his lightsaber away. "I'll never turn to the dark side." He stood to his full height, in direct defiance of Palpatine. "You have failed, your highness. I am a Jedi. Like my father before me." The Emperor seemed at a loss for a moment, but only for a moment. His face went from gleeful, to surprise, to rage.

"So be it, Jedi." The emperor raised his hands out in front of him, fingers pointing towards Luke. "If you will not be turned... you will be DESTROYED." Luke's vision blacked out, and he felt searing, burning pain.

---

Luke Skywalker, farmboy, Rebel pilot, and Jedi Master woke up in a cold sweat. His Industrial Automaton droid, classified as R2-D2, chirped with surprise. "I'm alright, Artoo. Just-" he paused to rub his eyes and collect his thoughts. "Just a memory."

Luke got up and put on his finest Jedi robe (the only Jedi robe he owned). Today, his first academy student would be arriving, so today could be the most important day of the New Jedi Order. He checked his list again. Amalia of Syrenia (who was already at the Academy here on Yavin IV), Kaandar Dormir, Verais Laro, Bodonawieedo of the Bomu clan, Larion Tash, Sirga Uldin and Reed Aximond. Luke had met all of these young force sensitives once before, but now was the time to put them to the test.

[Kaandar]

Kaandar sat in the chair which he had been picked up by the academy's personal taxi to retrieve. He was writing in his holopad. Kaan hadn't talked to his family since he left them at a young age. He missed his family, but knew he couldn't linger on it. It wasn't a jedi way. His lightsaber was attached to the belt around his waist. He eyed the other students, and he sighed. His silver eyes scanned the ship watching everyone and their actions, before he returned to his holopad. He was learning up on jedi ways, and their history. He tried to remain focus and take notes about the information he had retrieved from the republic about the planet the area, and hell even his master himself. He didn't really need the info on Master Skywalker, he was famous enough as it is with his heroics for the Republic.

"By the force it's boring here." He exasperatedly said as he looked around to his fellow jedi.

He began noticing that only a select few had their lightsabers on their person or at all. He put his holopad away and leaned in his chair beginning to take a small nap. He dozed off and began to snore slightly. He was using jedi mediation to help himself relax and sleep, and keep himself ready for his training.

[chukklehed]

Verais sat silently in her seat, unmoving throughout most of the ride. It wasn't that she was tense or nervous, it was that she didn't see a reason to move. She didn't need to turn her head to see around her, nor would such an act have any effect. She could feel everything around her without sight. Through the Force, she could feel the shapes of everybody around her, all the obstacles and devices in the ship. She opened her mind wider, extending her sight beyond the craft to the trees flicking by just beneath them. The speed of it made her dizzy, and she quickly pulled herself back inside the ship, deciding to wait till they stopped to extend her sight.

[knighthawk]

Bodonawieedo of the Bomu clan, now to be Padawan Bomu, then Jedi Knight Bomu, even Jedi Master Bomu, why not Grandmaster Bomu?...Yeah right. He had no illusions of such. This was a school to continue his skills the father of his clan had taught him, a clan he may never return to. After so long being alone it was time to start a new family.

He sat in the shuttle and went over his items: food, water, weapon, secondary weapon, crowd control, melee, scanners, clothing, camouflage, medical, shelter. That was the umpteenth time he did that just to pass the time between reading over the old fathers notes on how to use the force. He would give them to the grandmaster as a gift of knowledge to be shared.

[Myst]

Amalia sat looking out the window. She was in her room at the Jedi Academy, on some planet called Yavin IV.
Back on her home planet of Syrenia, they would be making dinner around this time. Her grandfather would be cleaning the fish and her grandmother would be gathering milk from the ghost moths. It had been Amalia's job to heat the water and boil the milk, separating the silk from the liquid. She wondered who would do that, now that she wasn't there.

Everything had changed the day that the man called Skywalker had come down from the sky to their planet, wanting to take Amalia with him. Despite his protests, her grandparents and all of the other Syrenians had been convinced that he was one of the gods, returning to take Amalia with him to become one of the higher beings. Since her father had disappeared everyone has assumed Amalia was the 'Star Child', sharing the blood of the gods. So of course when Skywalker appeared to take her away they practically forced her out the door. They hadn't even seemed sad to see her leave.

Amalia hadn't spoken much on the trip out. She mainly sat and observed, and she had learned that Master Skywalker was no god. None of the people she met were. They were just people. But Master Skywalker had a gift. A gift that made him one of a group called Jedi. A gift that Amalia also shared. He claimed it was how he had found her. He wanted to teach her how to use this gift, something that he called 'The Force', to make her stronger. For what reason she still didn't fully understand. All she knew was they she likely was never going to see Syrenia again.
Amalia wasn't sure how she felt about this. About all of it. It was confusing and upsetting, it was interesting and fascinating, it was unnerving and terrifying. Sometimes she felt such anger and sadness, but other times she felt happiness and curiosity. At this point she wasn't quite such what to think or feel anymore. She had already seen so many things, different species of creatures that she had never imagined existed. But Luke Skywalker had assured her that everything would come together and make sense for her in time. So she would just have to trust him.
For now...

[DELETED324324]

Larion took in his fellow padawans and looked around he was homesick and claustrophobic of the shuttle but his nerves held the whole trip to Yavin IV in his head he went through the same thing over and over try to make friends, try to smile but not too much. This was scary but he knew that his new teacher Luke had contributed to some way in bringing down the empire and this made him eager to please his new teacher as well as learn.

Feeling scared and alone he went over a silent list of the belongings he brought with a few changes of clothes pictures of his birth mother and father and pictures of his old family as well as his old swoop gang posing in front of a building they had graffitied with their tag and finally his old vibro blade that he keeps tucked into his boot. He steeled himself for his day of training was near.

[Nobodyman123]

Reed managed to land his Y wing star-fighter into a clearing fairly close to what used to be the rebel base. Abandoned years ago by the Rebel Alliance, Reed heard that this place was where Luke was gathering what he calls his "Jedi Applicants". It's a piece of galactic history AND it's your new home for the foreseeable future. Try not to crash into it." Reed Aximond was not ashamed to admit that he wasn't the best pilot in the world. His father joked that was why he bought the aging Y-Wing for his son to take to Yavin. Those old ships weren't maneuverable or very fast, but they had thick armor plating. The elder Aximond suggested that if Reed did hit something, at least Reed would probably survive. [I]That's Dad. Snarky but lovable.

As his fighter touched down and his cockpit opened, Reed felt the strain in his back. Five years since he got it, and one year since he left the hospital, and Reed's scars weren't getting any better. He privately hoped they wouldn't hinder his training. More carefully now, he got out of his fighter and took his dufflebag. Clothes, toiletries and a cheap blaster pistol. Pretty much everything I own. I hope Luke can spot me a few more things. he thought to himself as he headed towards Massassi Station, home of the New Jedi Order. Reed had almost forgotten about the strange orange gem still hanging around his neck.

---

Luke sat in a meditating position in the Great Audience Chamber, and one by one, his students began to filter through. He had recognized some of them as one's he had met before, others were still new to him. All, however were welcome, and hopefully ready for the days ahead. When they all took their seats on the stone floor, he spoke.

"Thank you all for coming. I know this wasn't an easy decision for some of you to make, but I promise you that someday, you will be glad you came here." He stood up. "For those of you who don't know, or have forgotten, my name is Luke Skywalker, but you can call me Luke if you'd like. Just don't call me Master. I'm still learning along side all of you." He said with a smile. "Now, before I get started, were there any questions for me?" he continued.

[DELETED324324]

If Larion felt scared in the shuttle in the temple meeting one of the people who ended the empire made him frightened but also gave him an immense sense of awe it was like looking at a god he was ready to prove himself but when Luke asked if any of them had any questions Larion had a million in a heart beat but decided to keep quiet instead he settled for taking in his surroundings the room his teacher the other pupils they were to work side by side yet they were all different but all were brought to this place for a reason not wanting to be lost in thought anymore Larion looked to the other students to see if they had any questions.

[knighthawk]

Besh had made his way off the the loading ramp, antenna at attention as he took in the thousand scents, all in all really overwhelming enough to make him stagger to the side. He took a seat on a loading crate and tried to get his sensory bearings. He started with sight, this was a jungle world, he tuned out sound to focus on a flock of noiseless avians who passed across the sky. He tuned out his powerful sense of smell to watch the way wind played across the leaves. He let his skin go numb to focus at the shape of the pyramids, their obsidian surface shimmered with an unseen layer beneath.

He did this over and over as he sat upon the crate while ignoring all others. Closing his eyes now to focus on each other sense, one by one he pulled on the force to sharpen his awareness in one sense while dulling others, this exercise brought him into a more intuitive connection to the environment. Lastly he had to walk while using his sense of touch as he approached the stone building, he pressed himself into the nook of a wall and felt himself extend his sixth sense out to this teacher to feel his intent more than hear his words. It was a combat practice his clan leader had taught him to feel where his enemy wanted to be so he wasn't there and he hoped to learn so much more in his time here.

Now was the time for questions, he could feel intense curiosity and uncertainty in the room like everyone having questions but no-one wanting to ask a stupid question to start. Breaking his own habits, he spoke up with hand raised.

"What is the force and what is a jedi?"

It was a simple question, yes, but it was just to get the ball rolling.

[PhoenixEye9]

Xantos walked off the ship, he was "hiding" before hand. He wasn't really hiding he was just late and kind of rode just within the airlock thank God for blind luck. He walked his mask down, no need to scare anyone yet even though the mask was meant to intimidate people. Xantos didn't do much as he listened, but when he heard the question "What is the force and what is a jedi?" he didn't know what to think since he was familiar with the terms hearing them back home though no one told him what they were.

Xantos narrowed in on Besh, he saw the tattoo meaning he was Bomu clan, there was good radiating from him but there was a darkness in him... his clans blood still coursed through him making him always on the edge leaning to those who bid the most.

[Myst]

Amalia stood off to the side as Skywalker talked. She had her arms wrapped around herself, staying separate from everyone. It still unnerved her that there were so many different races of creatures in the galaxy. None of this made sense to her. Even the thing he kept calling 'The Force' seemed strange and unbelievable to her.
Finally one of the strange beings asked what they all wanted to know, what was The Force and the Jedi that she kept hearing about.
She supposed Jedi was their name for what her people had called her:
"The Star-Child"