Kaylix Kitannen

[sofaking]

-Name: Kaylix Jooce Kitannen, Alias: Danny-Jah Rentius

Race: Zeltron

Age: 36

Height: 5' 9"

Weight: 187lbs



Appearance:



Zeltron’s have a pigment to their skins ranging from maroon to pink, Kaylix sports a muted pink tone that’s been artistically enhanced via tattoos here and there. His hair never stays one constant way though it usually remains short when he dose sport a top mop. Nothing about his wardrobe even hints at what Jedi might wear. Instead its usually faded shirts, tough if not military issue pants and light boots; a roughed up long coat when the occasion calls for it and maybe an undershirt with a hood. His apparel has to look like every other common man who works for dark and shady employers but he also just feels more comfortable in such clothing. It’s earned him the ire of several more upstanding Jedi in the order but not much is going to change what works for him. The robes and traditional wear of the Jedi are nice but he doesn’t need to wear anything special, or denote himself a Jedi, he knows who he is and that’s enough. Kaylix doesn’t feel the need to prove or show off anything to anyone.



One eye has been replaced and enhanced after losing it in an assignment as a Padawan. He wears a Hi-sense artificial eye that mimics his organic one but doesn’t quite match the color. It’s plainly noticeable when light hits it in dark environments, or looking at it side on, as it has an artificial tapetum lucidum that glows a faint orange. The eye sports a range of features from UV, infrared, to low light vision, and telemetry for space flight. He can’t say he’s “fond” of the cybernetic eye but after losing the original it seemed only logical to go with anything that gave him a slight leg up. It isn’t top of the line tech either resulting in audible functionality, frequently heard whirring/focusing/or switching vision modes. His eyes also usually display the signs of sleep deprivation, strain and stress, and an emptiness that comes from having seen far to many bad things. 



Physically Kaylix is in superlative condition. Only once a galactic standard week or so does he abuse his insane metabolism and get some unhealthy food. Every other meal is strictly controlled to contain the perfect blend of protein, vitamins, minerals, and all the other important components to keep himself is top shape; meaning he often eats mush that looks as bad as it tastes. He works out twice a day if he can and when not out doing his job a lot of his time entails cleaning his gun, maintaining his lightsaber, meditating, and practicing saber forms. There isn’t one bit of him that isn’t in total dedication to the Order and his rank as Investigator.



Personality: Walk softly and cary a big stick has never been more applicable than to Kaylix Kitannen. He has taken the Jedi code at its core to heart and this often throws people off of what is presented to their eyes and ears. What people see is a big man strapped with muscle and a disarming smile. They see a handsome Zeltron ready to embrace fun, love, and appreciation for all the luxuries of life. His eyes sparkle and shine with humor, backed by an untamable zeal for adventure. They experience a man that is boisterous and never serious most of the time. And for all of his size, for all of his imposing physique, he doesn't push conflict but like most Zeltrons tries to steer situations into revelries and parties.



This may not be thought of as walking softly but in comparison to the man Kitannen hides beneath this alter ego he makes barely a whisper on his way by. In truth Kaylix boils down to a keen mind used to being in mazes of cover stories and the constant razors edge of living an extremely high risk lifestyle; and liking it. He has faith in his beliefs and the reason the Jedi exist which is the only way he can stay rooted and not get lost in the wider grayer web of galactic life. He operates away from the temple sometimes for many months on end, and even has gone a year without setting foot in an official Jedi temple. Because of this and his aversion to rely on the force many in the Jedi order don’t know him or don’t believe he’s a Knight, let alone a Jedi. None of that bothers him one bit as he’d rather be out in trouble, and cut off from help; surviving is where he thrives.



What does bother him are Jedi who think that because they wear official robes, polish their lightsaber to a shine, and conduct their business as affairs no common person need concern themselves in; or more to the point, bother with the regular people at all. Jedi have a tendency to swoop in, do their business, and swoop out like so many other government agencies that don’t deem it necessary to talk to people. There is a definite chip on his shoulder for Jedi, really any force user, that deals strictly with other force users. Usually his predatory approach of don’t bother Kaylix and Kaylix won’t bother you also keeps him from doing more than scowling at those he finds lost in their ideals, but occasionally the party in question has to be ‘educated on diversification’. He finds it extremely hypocritical of them and mixed with a surprisingly low opinion of himself it couples to make him the way he is. Through luck or by will of the force Kaylix has a persona to him that is definitely at home on the wrong side of the tracks; the more traditional Jedi usually think he disgraces the Jedi way. To fundamentalist Jedi and politicians he is wild fire with no one able to rein him in, a tank on the warpath. The more aggressive members of the order would readily welcome him if he didn't heartily eschew outright combat unless unavoidable. He does not play around with his job and every move is calculated to bring him the results he wants with the most effect and least resistance. A lightsaber sits concealed, passive, and docile until the igniter is pressed and then it tears matter apart like a Gundark would rip through paper; this is how Kaylix works.



His thoughts and actions despite his racial tendencies are made in extremely calculated and logical fashion, cold even. There is a uncomfortable similarity in the way a career criminal thinks and the way Kaylix thinks. It is because of his race and the constant processing of emotions into calm that he is able to be two different people at once. Outwardly he is a Zeltron carving out a life in the shadier business ventures of the galaxy. Inwardly he relishes knowing facts, putting himself in positions to get information, seeks new ways to learn, and keeps it all together with near perfect emotional neutrality. He likes intrigue and testing himself mentally and physically, he likes investigating and researching. Kaylix loves cerebral conversation and witty banter which makes him an excellent sharpening stone for the intellectual. He works with his fluid emotional nature every minute of every day to stay neutral in all things allowing him the openness to converse about such matters with younger Jedi or those experiencing turmoil. Personal beliefs and opinions he freely shares if he thinks the audience is open to opinion and is mindful not to shut out other ways of thinking either. His life is his job, and his job is his life, and the person he exposes to the world saves his life on the job. The person he hides from the world masterminds all of the small moving pieces.



Birth place: The happiest place in the verse; Zeltros.



Faction: Jedi

Rank: Knight, Sentinel- Investigator



Lightsaber: A cross guard saber. The cross guard extends on one side at the base of the ignited blade at 45 degree angle for only several inches. It is otherwise unremarkable and shows signs of significant wear and tear with the majority of the hand and a half hilt being wrapped up in a thick grip tape, and in places held tight by...more tape. The exterior belies the almost obsessively constructed interior and is as much for camouflage as it is functionality; mirroring his own life. There is zero nonsense about his weapon as each facet is thought out and forum functional. When this saber is employed during combat the situation is strictly lethal action only.



Color: Yellow with a white edge



Also carries an alternate primary weapon: Verpine shatter gun



The blaster was picked up from one of his first smuggling busts and has rode in it's holster on his hip ever since. The power required to fire the projectile at such speeds is high by anyone's standards and requires frequent power cell changes. With his current configuration the most he can get out of a power cell is fifteen shots; the cell housing could fit a larger cell but he won't be able to carry as much ammo, having to sacrifice one for the other in storage.



Practiced Lightsaber forms:



Shii-Cho- 5

Makashi

Soresu

Ataru-

Shien / Djem So 3

>>Sub-form Backhanded

Niman 4

>>Sub-form Jar-kai, or Dual Wield

Juyo-

Double Bladed Combat



Force-Sensitive Abilities or practices:



Malacia – The use of this Force power came from an inability to use the Force to directly harm individuals. This mental block to use offensive powers stems from an incident as a child where Kaylix was connected through the Force to an animal when it was killed. He can not, in any way, use the Force to harm people. Such skills as Force push or aiding in the power behind his punches and kicks simply will not work for him. Instead he found more passive avenues where he could use the Force.



Ionization- This also is a more passive ability which enables him to stall droids and machines, temporarily blind cameras, and short circuit communication devices. Not a master by any standards he only studied the ability to produce the minimal results he wants.



Detoxify Poison- Used in a life and death situation as a Padawan Kaylix saw the value in this skill and required himself to learn it to the best of his ability. Not often taken into consideration as a primary ability Kaylix needs this power to neutralize some of the poisons and other narcotics he has to ingest in his line of work. You can’t pose as a full-fledged junkie or drug buyer if you don’t sample the goods.











Telekinetic:0

Telepathic: 6

Body: 4

Sense:0

Protection:0

Healing: 4

Destruction: 0



Specialized Skills:



Commando Force Recon & Tier 1 military Training

Pilot’s license for civilian and commercial ships.

Multilingual –

-Mando’a (Intermediate)

-Bocce (Intermediate)

-Huttese (Fluent)

-Binary (Basic auditory understanding, non reciprocal)

-Smuggler Cant (Fluent)

-and passible Hapan (basic)



Zeltron Pheromones- It’s like B.O., with opposite results. People smart enough to know what’s happening can shake themselves free of the pheromones almost all of the time. The more one drinks or stops caring, the less likely that is to happen. It is a boon in his line of work and something he doesn’t, or won’t try to control or cap.



Zeltron Emotional Projection-

Zeltrons have the distinct advantage, and even severe disadvantage, of both sending and receiving emotions. Kaylix has managed to find ways of using this to his advantage as a Jedi but the racial ability has put him on the permanent watch list of the Jedi Order. A strong willed Sith could blast him with a particularly dense emotion that he wouldn't be able to block out or shut down; a fact he keeps at the forefront of his mind at all times. However, the ability to send emotions has also aided him ten fold in his investigations and the results are hardly contestable.



The specifics of sending emotions are easily explainable in that he just has to let the particular emotion swell and bloom, with a desire to share his state of mood with another close by (6 or 7 feet at most). He doesn't tend to do this too much as he views it as a breach of personal space and freedom. When it is used is in a crisis to a calming effect, bolster the doubtful with assurance, and occasionally when someone in the slumps needs a cheery pick-me-up. It has been used sparingly during duels but only when he needed the advantage despite his usual doctrine of combat.



Receiving emotions involves a whole different set of skills and control entirely. All the emotions float in his face like hundreds of tiny threads, and as an agent of light he is more sensitive to receiving than transmitting emotions. Good or happy emotions he can easily block out as he is content a majority of the time and they won't do much for him in the current state. Dark and decietful emotions take a good deal more restraint on his part and to wall himself off from. For the wide range of more powerful and consuming bad vibes he's found using a tried and true method that produces the best results. A form of mental conditioning commonly used among smugglers, bounty hunters, mercenaries and anyone who might come in contact with Force sensitive’s.



If the emotion he is picking up is strong enough to start breaking through that first layer of defense he reinforces the barriers on his mind by reciting star charts, military doctrine of the recon commando force he served with, or even replaying classic holovids from start to finish. Kaylix has accepted that he will always be....suspicious in the eyes of his superiors, and will attract the wrong crowd among his peers because they'll see a stereotypically emotion driven Zeltron. What they won't see is a total inner balance; which is fine by him. He will act on what he believes is right and follow his intuition and gut feelings no matter where they take him.







Attributes:



Physical Strength: 6

Intelligence: 7

Speed: 6

Leadership: 2
Unarmed: 4

Melee Weapons: 5
Ranged Weapons: 7


Bio:



A recounting of the most important moments in his life, not an exact chronological timeline.



The Wheels of Yesteryear



Opie Kitannen was the most miserable business man on Zeltros to deal with. “You go in and enjoy the first shot with him, then he’ll drown you with the rest.” Or so the saying went. A real-estate high rise king, he enjoyed easy, moderate success with the lower class renting and leasing in his five high rise condominiums near the spaceport. Getting the lion’s share of through traffic from the spaceport gained him a lot of people wanting to move in on his action and his response was to meet over drinks. This usually led to legendary blackouts even by Zeltron standards and a sudden churning in the gut if anyone involved saw him again.



It was through one of these famous blackouts that he met Noomi Zuromiskoo, a Zeltron Cafarel, while dealing with the man who’d hired her for the next two weeks. Opie was trying to dissuade a very determined Corellian engineer that there wouldn’t be enough business he could send the property owner that he could swing a lodging fee reduction for the Corellian’s business associates. Whatever possessed the two Zeltron’s to hatch their scheme no one could say other than perhaps greed, boredom, and a lack of social boundaries.



Several months later the Corellian engineer was informed via holonet that he had an illegitimate son on the way with Noomi. The Esterite was so fearful of the backlash his cultural upbringing would visit on him that he settled to keep the matter discreet. Opie and Noomi split the money but never really figured out what to do with the child they had made together to fool the Corellian. From the beginning it was clear the couple worked well as business partners due to near identical personalities; greedy, arrogant, and absolutely no sense of mortality. Opie happily left Noomi’s company when he failed to win their last fight and Noomi nearly stabbed Opie when she was unable to make him comply with financing a larger condo “for their growing family”.



When Kaylix came around he wasn’t shunned or forgotten. He had many caretakers in Noomi’s co-workers and Noomi herself was a surprisingly good caregiver but she did lack maternal instinct. The boy wanted for nothing. He had everything laid out at his fingertips for five years on Zeltros. He knew nothing of hardship, nothing of discipline, failure, commitment, nothing of dedication. A routine checkup in the doctor’s office one day included force sensitivity testing, he was handed over with as little fuss as possible on return of positive results.





People Are Like Stars, Some Are Bright and Some Are Dim



Even now Kaylix isn’t quite sure he needed some of the strictness administered by his foster care guardian but it happened all the same. Hardship began almost immediately with having to learn to share and with his infections emotions it was as much of a headache for him as it was for his guardians. Needless to say he spent a lot of time alone or equally as much learning how to meditate. Thankfully for all involved he was an easy student to teach, when he figured out how to apply what he had learned he did, and that was that…until he needed more control or more discipline. It took him a couple of years to get the hang of realizing that his jealousy and anger would pass, that if he waited and was patient he could look at the problem and then bring it to a grownup who could facilitate the clearing up of the dilemma. This method kept him out of trouble and was overall a much faster way of doing things. It took him a year longer to understand that in that time of cooling off the problem suddenly became less important to him and instead he learned how to avoid engaging in conflict by running off to do something fun with someone else. Of course the logic had no such scientific basis back then – it was just a yes, no, good, bad, I can have fun if equation.



He was gifted in seeing the way people interacted with one another, the way they treated him, and the way he affected them with one of his increasingly rare mood swings. Empathy gave him a unique viewpoint of his world. The other younglings and their bad moods would always tinge his own mood sour if not set him off as well. This annoyed him but it also bothered him because the teachers were always telling him to be mindful of his emotions as his feelings could bother people more than someone else’s feelings. If he didn’t like dealing with their issues he felt very bad for making other people sad and angry as well. The control grew in precision and his fundamental belief became a core pillar of his life – The Force guides, and people have their own personal lives. I am not a being who has the right to change and meddle with either. He knew that the Zeltronian traits weren’t directly linked to the force, and it wasn’t his fault for having them since everyone experienced them, but it wasn’t fair that they had to deal with issues he should be dealing with on his own. When asked by his instructors how he felt about it he could only come up with the words, “It’s not fair. I don’t like it.” Naturally they took this as a bad sign from an emotional race and lectured him on how life isn’t fair. Whatever, if the worst he had to deal with that day was a lecture he could suck it up and be lectured.



In his clan there was a Zabrak he’d grown fond of because they shared an affinity for animals and computers but the Zabrak was also one of the youngest in the clan, and smaller. The other younglings didn’t mean to push their weight around and bully him, most of the time, but Kaylix found meaning and a sense of accomplishment in being around to stop any such exchanges, intentional or otherwise. Soon all the kids knew that Kaylix watched out for people and Daleon, or Dale for short, was exceedingly smart but slow with the force. No one particularly begrudged Dale for that fact but they always gravitated towards Kaylix because they knew he ignored the instructors sometimes and didn’t put a cap on his good moods. Dale was somewhat hostile towards anyone who…well he was hostile to just about everyone for no reason. Kaylix was just the one who was able to look past the short temper.



Their friendship didn’t exactly bloom but the two were closer to each other than anyone else in the group. One day they were outside playing with furry bugs and Kaylix had managed to cheer Dale up enough to get the younger child smiling and even laughing a little, without influencing him, so thinking it would be a good joke Kaylix floated a bug up onto Dale’s head. The other boy thought it was funny at first but when he turned around the bug was still suspended in the air, he linked the look of concentration on Kaylix’s face and with a mask of revulsion spread his hands wide and clapped them together, smashing the bug between them.



Kaylix fell back, knocked off balance by the sudden ending of life he felt through the connection to the force and the wave of maliciousness he’d been slammed with from Dale. When he fell his head cracked on the hard concrete beneath him. The instructors didn’t find him until the next meal twenty minutes later, bleeding from his ears. He never saw or heard from Dale again after that but he still thinks of the boy as a friend and harbors no ill will. He helped Kaylix with another pillar of his beliefs. With the emotional and mental shock of the bye bye buggy event he half consciously, half subconsciously, made it near impossible to willingly cause great physical harm to any life with or through the force. He simply doesn’t want to deal with that kind of shock to his system again. If harm is to come to someone by me I will do it with my own hands, the force connects all beings; there is no reason or way I will corrupt that.



Intermission



Life continued on a considerably average pace for a Jedi youngling. If he wasn’t meditating Kaylix could be found in the library more often than on the training mats. The first information he devoured was about anything mechanical starting with speeder bikes, in detail, and then progressed to space worthy ships from the ground up. It didn’t take a terribly long time before the instructors took notice and gave the young adolescent some more data pads containing more sophisticated blueprints and information. When he buzzed the council towers on a speeder bike made from scraps and “liberated” parts any further access to physical vehicles was restricted without supervision.



They didn’t let him have a lot of access to spare parts after that and he resorted to the next best thing, guns. Again he devoured just about any information that had to do with projectiles. This wasn’t frowned upon per say but he knew it would end badly for him and stopped the data cataloging for a while when he knew he started spouting off advice and chattering with such armed guards. He then moved on to more appreciated areas of study by taking an interest in other languages. Even back then he knew he wanted to immerse himself in the criminal world and work to slow the tide of greed and corruption, so he started with something he figured would be useful given current political climates, Mando’a.

Following that came Bocce and Huttese, the Binary would come years later when he was embedded in a strip mining operation in an Asteroid field and spent hours per cycle with astromechs riding shotgun on his one seater strip ship.



By Violence of Action


Kaylix might have graduated to Padawn early if he did not expose one philosophical difference he and what appeared to be the majority of his instructors believed to be true. When he was training for combat Kaylix had memorized and practiced the forms of Shii Cho to their exact duplicates. He even went so far as to start giving pointers and co-created a practice group in their clan that met twice a week- that was until he was politely asked to stop teaching what he knew. He asked why and when he was told that he could kindle bad or sloppy habits in others since he wasn’t a master, he couldn’t find fault in their logic. To counteract this problem Kaylix pushed himself harder during training to understand the complexities of Shii Cho but would not fully commit to sparing. Instead he deflected, avoided, danced away, and only struck his opponent when someone flubbed a move and his training saber made contact accidentally.



He was repeatedly confronted about his behavior by his friends and training partners, and asked several times by instructors if he’d rather focus on force principles. He adamantly stated that he loved the martial arts and didn’t want to leave at all. It was a guest instructor one day that pushed him to reveal his personal standpoint on combat. The Jedi pushed and pushed both verbally and during sparing to see just where Kaylix would break down and lash out; he’d been doing it with every youngling that day. Finally the Jedi called Kaylix out on his lack luster attacks. “When this is real you’ll die with an attitude like that.” Kaylix replied with a quiet, “This is not real.” The Jedi attacked and Kaylix countered and evaded again. "If you do not wish to swing your sword in self-defense then use the force to end the fight.” Kaylix was quiet in his words again. “I am defending, you’re attacking, I do not need the force for that.” “If you do not strike then I will see that you do not pass your training this year. You obviously need more time.” The Jedi was calm and collected but Kaylix could feel just a tinge of irritation in the man at his staunch denial to attack and pointing out that this was just training. “No, I do not need more time. I will pass.” “Show me.” The instructor commanded.



They dueled harder than the other youngling’s hand seen any other youngling duel. Kaylix’s determination to master and teach Shii Cho to his friends earned him a good level of competency with the art and while the Jedi Guardian was leagues beyond him in skill Kaylix was holding his own with the challenge the Jedi presented to him which was at the limit of a younglings skills. He waited quietly, patiently, drawing the Jedi in one evasive maneuver at a time. Just as his opponents attacks started to weaken in zeal and when the Jedi was going to call the match in a few seconds and see Kaylix take more study hours he advanced, a switch flipped somewhere in his demeanor. Kaylix took the aggressor side of the match for all he was worth despite the size and skill between the two. He bashed, lunged, jabbed, tried dirty tricks, didn’t leave any counter without an equal and opposite counter-attack. No opportunity was let pass by without trying to bring the Jedi down. He moved in ways that chewed up the floor beneath his feet, simple footwork, sure steps, confident strides that made the Jedi Guardian take retreating motions in fast order almost the whole duration; and if he wasn’t backing up Kaylix sure as Sith spit wasn’t letting him move forward. The floor was Kaylix’s in those handful of minutes and the Jedi was on his turf. His swings were unnecessarily strong for a sparring match. He attacked too swiftly with no apparent thought for openings in his defenses or of bodily harm. It was clear that if the Guardian let one swing through there was a definite chance it would cause him bodily harm.



When the Jedi upped his game to reestablish control over the floor Kaylix dropped form and strung one attack to the next that frequently needed him to let swings pass by or dodge them instead of countering them. It was strange, not wrong or illogical, just….a different way of fighting. He ignored doctrine that was put in place to ensure when a block was used it was done so because it would save life and limb with real lightsabers. Everything he did was to push a violent attack on the instructor, no backing down, no parrying, just attack. Attack! When he could have made a block he let it by as unnecessary and pushed the attack. Where he needed to dodge it became blocking then counter attacking. It was unpredictable as Shii Cho could be with a tilt in aggression that complimented his size for his age. However, he didn’t make random attacks as each swing was made with violent purpose and anyone watching could easily see that fact. His advance was wild and unhindered by the tame Kaylix they had all known before, playing to the strength of Shii-Cho but also so ferocious and constant that he didn’t allow its lack of single opponent capability to hinder him. He tossed in punches, kicks, elbows, knees, spinning kicks, backwards over the head strikes, he even cut his saber off once to avoid clashing and igniting it again nearly landing a hit on his opponent; anything that lashed out at the Jedi. He could feel the groove of combat easing him into a euphoric trance, that simple flow of controlling the muscles in his body and reflexes in his head; pure instinct. It felt good. But he could also feel his anger at not landing a single blow beginning to tinge his flow of emotion. With one last almighty overhead swing he bounced his training saber off of the Jedi’s saber to no avail – and he walked away. From the beginning he knew there would be no victory. There couldn’t be, the Guardian had years of experience under his belt along with mastering several saber forms. He was still just ten and a half.


“You could do well but you feed into your anger too much, youngling. You are dangerous.” “No Master, I am dangerous because I believe in violence of action, not actions of violence. To attack is to cause crippling or lethal harm, you wanted me to go there, I didn’t.”
The Jedi and everyone else was silent for a long minute and then the Jedi spoke.
“Explain yourself, youngling.”
“When I move to cause harm it will be because my life or the lives I am burdened with will be in mortal danger. To walk away from that requires one to become more violent than his opponent, whatever I can do to ensure survival I will try to do.”
“That was aggression and lack of control not what you are explaining you ignored doctrine and thousands of years of proven methods.”
“I apologize Master, but my attacks were not aggression, they were commitment and I chose to employ them as such.”
“You are also arrogant, you could not hurt me. I specialize in combat and your skills are not enough to match mine. Your problem is not doubting that you are immortal.” That wasn’t what Kaylix was trying to say but he let the whole thing pass by like a light breeze so he just nodded. “I doubt that, Master. Thank you for the lesson. I will take it to heart.”



It might have been that exchange that kept him held back or lacing the Jedi Guardian’s food with a diuretic and slapping a note to the man’s bathroom mirror that said, “I can hurt you. Open your mind.” Either or both are possible.



Back To Basics



The blow to all of his hard work and determination by being forced to retain his rank as something under a padawan, yet knowing the fact that he would be several years older and almost three times as big any younglings before he would be tested again was his first failure. He spent a lot of sleepless nights thinking about what he could be learning as a padawan, who his master might be, where his career might take him. It weighed heavily on his mind and more than ever meditation filled all of his free time. Reaching a level of only needing deep meditation for a majority of his resting needs, and only truly sleeping a handful of hours per week Kaylix turned into something of a night owl. He would walk the halls of the Jedi temple at night and the early hours of the morning when it felt as if the whole planet were sleeping. It was a time of the day he felt so alive it made his body tingle and buzz. He followed this routine of getting up to walk and patrol the halls and empty rooms for a month in which he made a silent friend in an elderly Jedi master that he passed by on his way to see the sunrise each morning. He wasn’t sure what the force did to him to prompt him to open his mouth but it changed the way he viewed everything.



“Master…” he said one morning, passing by the old man.

The old man stopped and looked at him. He was once a tall proud man with eyes like stars that weren’t strong enough to glow with their previous brilliant strength but still flickering all the same. His shoulders sagged inward like he carried a lot of weight on them, he’d let his belly extend a bit, and he bobbled along with arthritis in his feet. All of these things weighing him down and he still made time to stop and talk to Kaylix. It was moving to the younger man.

“Master, I seek your advice.”

“On?”

“….yes.”

The old man’s lips spread into an easy smile.

“I was wondering when you’d get enough momentum going to get up again. I see you walking around every night, restless. You’ve got wanderlust in you. Why aren’t you acting on it?”

“I do not have the privilege or right to serve. Yet.”

“Ah...you acted brashly somewhere along the way. Well then, find a camouflage that you can stomach.”

Kaylix did not understand the master’s words but he took them to heart, trusting the force would help him decrypt them later. “I acted on what I believed was right. But…maybe I could have had a softer touch…”

His friend nodded. “Do you think you failed?”

“No. I met all the goals set before me. I only…actually, I think I let myself down now that I look at it.”

“Good, there is no failure but only a lesson to learn and a fork in the road. I hope you understand that soon. You must do what is right for you first, and only you, or you can help no one else. This walking both of us do is for people my age who have nothing left to do other than second guess ourselves. I come through here every morning hoping I won’t see you again. Go and find another way.”

Kaylix bowed deeply for perhaps the first time in his life and ran off; his mind already racing with new plans. The old man would not see him again.



Reboot



Kaylix obediently restarted his training where instructors felt was fit. This time around however he didn’t try to move with the people around him but found his own way, his own path, a way he felt was right. Starting with what brought him down he attended the sparing matches every chance he got to brush up on any skill he’d lost and then consulted with a Guardian who pointed him in the direction of Niman. The values of Niman immediately appealed to Kaylix and he took to practicing them with zeal. It wasn’t long however that he found Niman couldn’t deliver the violence of action he believed in and returned for a second consultation. Several options were presented to him, all with strong warnings to not pursue them given his susceptibility to emotion. Ignoring the warning he researched each form in the Jedi archives for several weeks, putting as much effort into the decision he made as he did with training; ultimately he decided on Forum V: Djem So as its offensive capabilities would blend well with what he knew of Makashi and Niman. With his day effectively divided up into bulk sections of meditation, combat studies, Force studies, and only a marginal section devoted to Force applications he had the time to reach his previous level of skill with the lightsaber and then overcome it.



Any competition in his way was taken as a chance to improve on his skills, finding amiable ways to compete and advance beyond them most times. He wanted to make friends but not wanting to take the chance of being stuck in limbo or cut from the program he did what he had to in order to climb and shine, settling for contacts within the Order instead of friends. When it couldn’t be denied he was well adjusted and capable with combat despite hesitation from many on his choice to manipulate and dominate sparing matches they advanced him to the level of Padawan on his twelfth birthday.



Her



The harbinger of the toughest years of his life to that point came in the form of a Togruta vixen that took all the confidence he had in his swordsmanship and vaporized it in the first thirty minutes of their companionship. She was not an ugly woman, rather a gaunt simple beauty, but it was clear she valued her career over much else. He couldn’t deny or stop what his genes told him, she was attractive. Kaylix found her skill with the saber attractive, her devotion to the Jedi, her unflinching truthful words…the last thing he considered were her looks but all in all, yes, she was attractive. At only five years younger than her there might have been some chemistry between them but it was denied by both out of duty and respect.



She harried him with training schedules and study curriculums that were so demanding on him he had no time to put into anything else. If the results he produced didn’t perfectly match what she expected of him she doubled the pressure on him. Kaylix couldn’t understand her crazed focus on what she was teaching him of which it seemed generic knowledge. He didn’t know then that she had studied his progress through reports and found a survivor. She knew he would do anything to keep his head above water. He knows that now and continues to put himself under such extreme expectations.



She was a Guardian so her assignments took her directly into harm’s way and after a year of making him stay at the temple to continue his studies, making him go above and beyond to strive to be field ready, they formed an effective pair. She could see his independence was what strengthened him and made him preform to his peak. He craved to be on his own and under his own power but still hadn’t developed the skills to teach himself yet. During down time she answered any question he had, gave advice, and frequently tore into him physically and mentally instilling a high standard of self-study and introspection; he would be subject to no one’s whims. Many times her lessons were administered from afar. She frequently left him to his own devices on how to accomplish a task she set before the young man. Sometimes the tasks could be accomplished at his leisure with a focus on paperwork and mental acuity. Other times…it was do or die, literally. Only once did she have to bail him out of trouble and that was because he couldn’t openly engage a stubborn security guard. When interrogated as to why he couldn’t get past the man Kaylix had to explain he tried the pheromones without success and no lies would work. It took a painful forty five minutes to admit he hadn’t learned any special force techniques and once the truth had come out she ripped him limb from limb, up and down, seven ways from the galactic core. She would learn him some Force.



If I Teach You Just One Thing…



The mental strain of learning Force techniques at his late age was taxing to say the least. He’d been adequate with all the standard basics Jedi need to know before heading off into the big black universe but he’d put all of his attention into what he considered to be more practical and useful, rather than things he couldn’t see or smell, taste, or touch. Not quite convinced of how the Force would get him past a security guard his Master demonstrated by snapping her fingers. He “came to” several hours later in their space ship in six inch stiletto heels and riding the astromech like a Tauntaun.
It was the first time he ever heard her laugh and though humiliating as it was he found the sound of her laugh worth going through the whole ordeal. 


She personally marched him back into the Jedi Temple and into the Jedi archives. She made him research as much history of the Force as the Archives had. She cut his rest time down by two hours before going to bed and after waking up, sending him back to research more. To say she was not happy with him was the most understated thing in his whole life. Eventually the time came though when she pulled him aside in the training area to ask him what he thought would be a good skill to start with. It was here he had to confess his inability to use the Force on another living being intentionally or unintentionally causing harm. He was bestowed several sharp cuffs on his ears for not being able to put his personal feelings behind him…and then she listened to his concerns. The root of his fears were a result of the incident with his friend as a child. He couldn’t say that he was mentally prepared to go through the severe waves of emotions he would feel that would also be enhanced by a strong, trusting, connection to the Force. Not to mention his Zeltronian gifts were a handicap in such an arena and he had to be careful about what he exposed himself to.



Up to this point in his life his meditations and connection with the Force had been as a refuge and surrogate counselor for his tribulations. He didn’t limit the flow of the connections but always allowed whatever raw current of the force into him, however much it was. It would be more work to train himself to control the flow of his connection at this point. It would be better to work around his problems and make them strengths instead. She understood his concerns and asked him what he might find acceptable. “What emotions do you think you can absorb and neutralize without risking your assignments, and your own mental state?” Kaylix though a long time about that one and finally decided he felt strong enough to ignore surprise, revulsion, embarrassment, and mild to moderate pain; she’d been beating on him long enough that pain had become an old acquaintance. “And of what you’ve studied do you think there is a skill that will cause those emotions?” “Yes, several.” “Now,” she said with a smile, “Cross reference those with something that would let you get past a stubborn guard.” His eyes flicked back and forth like he was reading, for only half a second. “Hurling. If he was hit with a sudden wave of vertigo and nausea he couldn’t stop me. Malacia would work but…it’s rare, not many use it. Using a Push and mind tricks do the same thing and also work on droids but…” “But what, boy?” “Those powers are invasive and no one is sure what kind of footprint they leave in their victims. Malacia has no side effects once the power wears off. I would be at peace knowing my use of the Force hasn’t tainted people with lingering harm.” “And you think this will do you good?” Kaylix shook his head. “Not on its own. I will need to augment it with something like Ionization that will short out a droid if I can’t get my hands on them first. Then I will be effective. I don’t’ have to master it, just short their optics or communication boards or servos.” “Why not destroy the droid?” “Despite what you think of them if you let a droid’s memory banks go un-wiped they develop quirks and personalities. They grow as individuals. I respect life in all forms, Master.”



He dug up all the information he could on the rarely used Malacia technique but he stood firm in his belief that he could not handle a more invasive use of the force without compromising his frame of mind and emotional control. It is his greatest limitation to not be able to rely on the force in desperate situations when something like a push or extra endurance might save his life. It is also his greatest strength because when other Force users find themselves helpless Kaylix usually has a more traditional way out of sticky situations. Kaylix never felt wrong in his choice of disciplines but he did feel like a burden for making his Master take time out of her schedule to guide him on something he should have figured out before joining her. He let her know he was sorry several times before she left him at the temple again to study on his own recognizance. He took the chance to study and learn and multiplied its effectiveness by splitting his time 60/40 with Malacia training and further extending his skills in Niman and Djem-So. It took him well over a hundred hours to even understand what he needed to manipulate with the force to begin to try using Malacia, and even then it took him several more days to actually find a way to apply it in real world physics. His start was slow to say the least; however, knowing what he was learning met his standards and needs. He was determined to learn it. When he could begin to use the technique he started on small animals that he could nurse back to a better state and while it took him some time to use it on a humanoid its come easier and easier to him each subsequent time.



His first use of it on a being his size was in a bar he and his Master were at while waiting for a contact to show up. Kaylix waved his hand and a fight that had been brewing across the bar was dispersed when the Bothan started puking up all the alcohol he’d drank that night and stumbling around getting it on anyone close by. His Master asked him who he waved at and he shrugged saying he thought he’d seen someone he knew. She put two and two together a few seconds later, affording him a knowing and approving smile. The technique he used to disable droids came much faster as he knew more about mechanical hardware and how it worked so he could easily direct the Force to ionize key components in computer and mechanical framework. He easily shorted out security cameras for a few seconds, fried communication transmitters, and froze the motors that allowed droids to move about. That was all he needed to know with that skill and he let it stay that way. His test was a repeat of the mission he’d nearly botched what seemed like years ago and he passed with flying colors. It was a crowning achievement for him and for the first time ever he truly felt like a Jedi. For his master it signaled his readiness to construct his own lightsaber.



Kaylix practiced every chance he got, always mindful that he was and could alter the natural order of things. Already possessing a cunning and intelligent brain Kaylix quickly grew to wield a good influence with his Jedi abilities but still never quite taking a liking to it. Somehow he felt wrong about it as if he was stepping into sacred grounds. Feeling bad for them wasn’t his issue so much as it was the fact he wasn’t good enough to do what he wanted without having to resort to the Force. It was, and is, just another thing to test himself against. He tried to use his powers on his Master once in a sparring match after he realized he could apply them in combat as well. There is a two inch crater on his left butt cheek to this day from where she kicked him for trying it.



Creation Of A Monster



She took him out into a void in space, where the nearest anything was hundreds of thousands of light years away and told him to focus and listen to the Force. He did as instructed. “When you feel it, tell me where to go.” Not able to completely do as she asked with the engines of their ship running slightly out of synch as they always did, which bothered his inner gear head, he sat down to meditate. There in the field of nothing in space he was able to find the deepest connection he’d ever had to that point. Not sure if it was the isolation and just being truly alone with the Force for once, or sharing such a special moment alone with his Master he couldn’t say; but he dove into the current he found there. So deep was his meditation he isn’t sure just where he told her to go but that she nearly had to smack him to break it when it was time to go hunt the crystal down.



While they were in the process of getting to the site his Master pestered him with the same question, “Why haven’t you constructed a saber yet?” Why indeed? Kaylix had an idea of why he’d put it off for so long but until he got the crystal he wouldn’t know for sure. She asked him almost twenty times before he shot a wave of irritation at her, something she heeded quickly as it was extremely rare he let things get him more worked up than just being pestered. It was another hour of silent walking before they reached a huge series of tiered escarpments that disappeared into the cloud layer far above. “It’s up there…” Kaylix breathed out in excitement. “At the top? The air is so thin up there, and those intermittent life signs on the way in were up there too.” “What did you have to do for your crystal?” His master rubbed her arms in the chill damp air. “I had to walk into a cave, grab it, and walk out. Can’t you do anything the easy way?” “That’s no fun, my bag.” She handed him a backpack then glanced up the rock face again. “That will take you days to go up and back down.” “Yes. I’d say three up for good measure, two at the top, and then two down. So give me a week’s time, in case I decide to take a zero day.” He synched the bag down around him tight and hopped onto the escarpment, clinging to it like a bug or lizard. “I’ll make camp here.” “No,” he called back, “Go home. If you’re here I have a way out if I give up. If not I don’t have a choice but to keep going.”



If he thought the first day was hard work the second day was the hardest day of his life up to that point. By the time the suns reached the middle part of the sky the first day he’d zipped up half of the first step. Over enthusiasm nearly did him in. Several hours after midday his legs were shaking and although his fingers were still fine his forearm muscles were completely burnt out. He had no grip at all and lost his handholds more than once which sent him sliding down the rock face; hugging it for dear life. Scars were earned that day. Just as the sun was going down he fashioned himself a body sling from a piece of spare rope in the bag and a tool he wedged in the rocks, sleeping like a standing mummy for most of the night. Rest came fitfully in the few hours before dawn, giving him time to think about the design he wanted. Plans came and went, at first he wanted a return to the roots of lightsabers and his designs mirrored the first models. Then they jumped to a more artistic kind of hilt with striking highlights in the metal colors.



As his second day wore on and the bodily pain he suffered intensified the hilts grew to resemble his suffering in curved forms with prominent protrusions on the emitter end that resembled old fortress battlements. The ideas he wanted to display in his design had changed so much from just a few hours before, and his progress had slowed while he sulked on the grueling task before him. Putting it out of his mind Kaylix stuffed his hand into a crevice to be met with a thousand pricks of white hot pain racing up his arm like lightning. Instinctively he jerked the hand back and stuck it between his legs where he could clamp down on the pain with his inner thighs. It was nearly a fatal mistake; the same shocking pain afflicted his legs in an instant which for a male was the worst place it could happen. While he clung to the rocks blinking away the pain his situation went from bad to near certain doom. His hand was going numb and the dulling sensation was ever so slowly creeping up his arm. Finally able to see straight he looked at his hand to see small plant burrs hooked into his skin, at least twenty of the little buggers. About four inches below the fork of his legs were maybe six or seven embedded in the material and skin on the inside of his thighs. Kaylix tried to slow his breathing and his racing thoughts. “No, no, nononono…what do I want? I want it to stop hurting. Okay.” Gritting his teeth in preparation he began rubbing his hand over the rock to debur the hand, he still screamed through his teeth despite that. Some spikes remained but the burrs were gone. “Legs will go next…” He looked up and saw that he only had another twenty yards to go. It could have been fast thinking or maybe just idiocy but he had to act quick.



From the pack he dug out the spike ended tool he’d hung from the other night and a roll of utility tape. Pushing his fingers around the tool and pressing them against the rocks to hold them shut he tapped his hand shut, then taped his wrist for support so it wouldn’t bend easily. In a mad dash Kaylix scaled the last twenty yards of vertical space by swinging his deadening arm up to try and stab the spike into a crevice that would hold his weight when he pulled up. Not every swing met success making it an agonizing thirty minutes. By the time he rolled over onto a relatively gentle slope that was the summit of the first step in the escarpment he couldn’t move his right arm, it was painfully numb, and his knees couldn’t be bent no matter how hard he tried. Looking down at them as if it might help he saw the dark spot, the toxin in the plants must have numbed his bladder as well. Great. Two things- no, three things had to be done before anything else. With his one good hand he retrieved a multi tool from the pack and tried to pull the burrs from his legs. Whatever the toxin was it was also affecting his vision and more than once he missed, clamping down on skin hard enough to draw blood. When that was done the second task was supposed to be removing the spines still piercing his right hand in places but seeing as how his legs went that wasn’t going to happen. Third task was supposed to be a fire, that wasn’t happening either.



Curling up into as much of a ball as he could Kaylix mentally readied himself for a long, cold night. Two hours after the suns went down it dawned on him that he couldn’t focus on getting through the night. Instead he had to focus on how to get up to the top of the next rock face. Obviously he couldn’t do it with numb limbs. If the problem in his way was the plant toxin he had to remove the problem, or…or he could process it! He’d heard stories from his Master about Jedi being tortured with poisons who could use the Force to neutralize the poison. What would make his body act this way? Easily passed through the blood stream, easily broken down, invasive…it was messing with his heart too. Every few seconds it felt as if his heart was going to pound out of his chest or there was a huge cavity where it wasn’t there at all. It had to be organic to come from a plant and he’d absorbed a huge dose for it to get past his Zeltronian liver. As the bitter taste swamped his mouth he mumbled it, while rolling over to lose his stomach over the edge of the cliff. “Alkaloid.” The numbness was turning into paralysis quickly at that point and a cold sweat was threatening to soak his clothes.



With nothing left to lose he buckled down on his wild and confused thoughts, delving deep into the river of the Force. Kaylix closed his eyes and focused so hard it felt as if he was pulling whatever muscle he used to connect to the Force. First he tended to his heart, without that he would die, so he envisioned a warm pulse pushing whatever poison was attacking him out and away from his blood pumper. It took a lot longer than he thought it would but he eventually got his heart back to a normal pace which put him in a tight spot, not lost in the woods as he was just a few seconds ago. The biggest issue was dealt with at that point and if he could do that he could do the rest. Throughout the process of pinpointing areas that were consecutively less critical he was racked by violent heaves and was thankful he didn’t have anything left in his stomach after the initial blow. Kaylix learned a valuable lesson on pain that day; let it run its course and just suck it up. Pain could only hurt him so much but the rest was a mental game and once he realized that he began to ignore the areas causing him pain and pay more attention to the areas being affected by other symptoms. It was a very, very long process and a skill he knew that he would have to learn even if he never used it again; he wouldn’t be brought down by chemicals. That was a little insulting.


The addition of an extra day to his time table turned out to be a wise decision. He was able to sit up at noon the third day and it took him until dusk to get up on his feet. That whole night he spent moving around on the first step on the rock face thinking about his first real near death experience. After having read hours of literature of battle and its effects on soldiers and some survival stories Jedi left behind he wasn’t experiencing acute mental stress or shock in any way. In fact he felt more alive than ever but not like the air tasted better or flowers suddenly seemed like a good reason to stop and enjoy the moment. No, he felt…resilient, assured, he would have said empowered but that would have given an name to an emotion he wouldn’t let himself enjoy. Looking up at the sky the moon was bright and full so he hurriedly plucked out the remaining spines still in his skin. The was no way anything was going to stop him now! He had the energy, the will, the self-assurance that he was good enough now more than ever to wield a lightsaber. That’s what had held him back! He didn’t think he was good enough but now, now with proving to himself he belonged here he felt as if he was worthy. Kaylix attacked the next level of the escartment with a strong sense of clean body and strong mind. As light was quickly bathing the top of the second rock face in golden orange light Kaylix was there, standing on the edge of his accomplishment to soak in the morning rays.



After that the crystal nearly screamed out directions to him on the short hike to a clear pool of water. It was a deeper pool than expected but he didn’t have to search around at all. He could see straight to the bottom from the edge of the water and made a hasty decent to the crystal formation. The water was cool and refreshing almost as if the universe was giving him a small reward for dealing with the poisonous plant. Clear as the water around him was the crystal formation at the bottom of the pool to which he reached out to pluck a shard from. The unexpected twist came when the large shard fell neatly into his fingers which he turned over and over, marveling at the connection he felt to it. It came in waves to his senses, like his own projections to others; strong, resilient, determination, purpose, duty, fearlessness, clarity, precise, and something he could only interoperate as “never stop”. 



With the shard in hand he sprinted over to his bag, ripping it open and dumping its contents on the ground. His master had given him some of the components from her first constructed lightsaber that had also been retired after it fell into some water. He’d also thrown plenty of spare parts into the bag to make any of the combinations he’d imagined on the way up. Now as he sat down in front of the pile he only began to realize just what he was destined to do for the Jedi. Kaylix knew that he believed in peace and balance, and that they could restore a more civil order in the galaxy. However the council had noted on more than one occasion he didn’t necessarily try to talk his way out of hostile entanglements. In fact they had made a point of telling him he’d acted too ruthlessly and they were troubled he didn’t feel wrongly about embracing such dark natures. No, he didn’t feel wrong about it at all, he also felt that he did things according to the way he interpreted the code; how it helped him see the universe. He knew he was…different than other Jedi but not truly alone among them. People knew he had no problems dealing with the unsavory and unglamorous jobs. That was fine, the galaxy had a friend in him that was scarier than their enemies. Part of a whole but separate, he knew what his saber had to be.


Something tugged at his soul, distracting him before he could even start gathering the parts he needed. It tugged and jerked, thrashing, almost slithering around to constrict. Whatever it was that woke up in him at the prospect of getting a lightsaber he didn't like it so he readily chased it down to remove it. Through level after level of increasingly deep meditation he hunted the brier ball of unease until he reached a place so deep in his consciousness he felt he could go no further. He'd never been that deep before and couldn't imagine what was down there other than himself. Just...himself. That's where the blackness was originating from, that bottom level, where it was only Kaylix. Could he really harbor such a tangled ball of darkness? A picture started to form in his mind's eye of a writhing ball of tentacles, bones, and awful. Flat black liquid dripped from the hovering ball in layers to create the rough outline of a man with hands that flamed with viral strands and sickness. It was a powerful image and mercilessly infectious. Kaylix could already feel his draw to control that kind of might.


Could he even accomplish that level of control and power? The liquid rippled back from a mouth it had previously concealed and continued to flutter away from the face, his face, and then slurped back into it's gently swirling mask. "Yes." Kaylix stood in shock at what was standing there before him. It was what he'd ignored his whole life. He had always overlooked the odd tugging in his consciousness when he had a moral choice to make. Until that moment in his life there had always been someone around, another Jedi or another from his order. Now, however, he sat alone on a planet he'd never been to before as the only sentient being in hundreds of miles if not the whole bloody rock. He was very alone. "Do you fear me?" Asked the blackness. "...No." Stated Kaylix in a voice that sounded too calm for the situation. "Do you fear what I am?" "No." The liquid would always ripple away enough to reveal the face but when he laughed it dripped off his head and shoulders exposing severe scarification, dark symbols inked into his skin, and a physique cut from steel. "You are curious, as always. Ask me anything." The liquid covered the face again and the form stepped forward leaving a bubbling pool of bacteria where it had stood. "No. I want you gone." "If you are alive then I am alive. We can not both exist forever but I can." Kaylix opened his mouth and then paused. Immortality. The chance to see what the universe would be like 100 years from now, or even 2000. That thought pulled him several steps closer to the blackness. 

The man laughed again and this time he could see a silvery metal eye replacement. "You lost an eye, can't be that great." "No. No, no, it's not all I lost. I lost the chains of morality and guilt. I lost all hesitation. I lost the burden of someone else's rules. I. Am. Freedom." That appealed to him too. The ability to step out of his door in the morning and out into a universe where he could do anything he wanted. Anything! They drew a couple of steps closer still. "You have nothing left to offer me. Power, immortality, freedom, those are things I want." "Yes." The form reached out an arm to rest on his shoulder. It felt like a thousand thousand ants walking and biting on his skin. "I want to get there on my own." "No!" The hand ripped down Kaylix's arm leaving boils and sores in it's wake. "I will earn my way to what I want. You are too easy and easy is weak." "Weak?!" The form slung a glob of sludge across his abdomen that began to eat away at his flesh. The pain felt real but Kaylix had already puzzled this one out by now and if he solved it everything would go away. "If you are the answer I should not be fighting." It flung more black sludge at him. "If I am resisting then you are not my answer. I have measured you with a life I lead and you have been found wanting." The form began to scream and charge him. "You are just one future," his voice rose to drown out his attacker, "you are not real and you have not happened yet. You have not come to pass and are no reality I suffer right now. If you are neither my past and not my future either, nor my present, you are no fear I recognize. I am not afraid of you." The form stopped its onslaught to look up into Kaylix's eyes. "You're afraid of me." The ball of hate came crashing down over both of them in a wave of searing pain. His eyes snapped open to what he knew was real but he still couldn't quite quell the urge to yell it out. "You're afraid of me!"  



He was waiting for his Master right where they had parted ways seven days ago when she returned. She didn’t say anything when she saw him just glancing at the escarpment and the top, and then back to him. “Did you find it?” Kaylix shook his head answering with quite words as he always did. “I found my life.” “Show it to me.” She demanded but he didn’t move. She knew his beliefs when it came to lightsaber combat and knew that unless his life was in danger he wouldn’t ignite. Walking over she deployed her blade and brought it down over his head in a slow, lazy arc. The yellow saber burned with a hot white outline, thrumming with life. She looked at it, eyes widening a little. “The hilt is…simple.” She cast a critical eye at the common durasteel tube the components were encased in and the minimal shroud afforded to the emitter. “Simple components, common parts, simple fixing. Never out of the fight.” She smiled at him, laughing for only the second time in his apprenticeship with her. “Shrewd and wise. I can feel the precise construction. It exemplifies your duality in more ways than one. The color…” For a split second she looked heart broken, perhaps because she wanted him to follow in her footsteps, or maybe she knew what life was going to be like for him. “I will be a Sentinel. My life is for the galactic collective of common people; those who have no power to help shape their destiny.” She nodded again. “This blade of yours is strong, demanding, and uncompromising. Be mindful of how it is wielded, should it be used poorly...”




Kaylix had to break eye contact with her for he couldn’t look at her during his next admission. The blade was cut and he let his arm drop, limp by his side. “The council is right. I am…a liability. Even though I don’t feel these conflicts of emotion I act like, like a-“ He struggled for the right word and unable to find it. “It is possible that I may contort the code to, no- I may contort around the code to meet my needs. It is impossible for me to say with any certainty what I would do at any moment. I have principles and a code but my path is laid out behind me, not in front of me.” She reached out and snatched his chin, wrenching his head up to look her in the eyes. “What did you see, up there?” “Nothing. I saw nothing, vast reaches of blackness. Vast, Master. This saber,” he said wiggling it in his hand, “would be the swiftest route to ranging the dark side.” Her cold fingers slipped off of his skin but he could still feel them clamped on his face. “And, are you scared of this?” Maybe he should have thought about it, standing there before her. Maybe he should have delved into himself to double check. Two things were certain however, one being when Kaylix was sure of something there was no two ways about it. The second thing was up there as he scaled the rocks with the pain and the poison he wasn’t going to let himself die, no matter the cost; he believed in the absolution of that willpower. “No. But I am scared for the people. This saber is my easiest access to the dark side through its connection to the force, with the power I could wield with this I would become a monster. I don’t’ know what my future will bring but so long as I have the will to choose I know my conviction in my duties and the Code will guide me when no one else can. That is the best I can do, Master.”





The Objective



Through the years they were together a deep bond grew between them, as it does many such relationships. She was a sister and his best friend and….something else to him, though he can never accurately describe it. What he was to her only she knows, but she was protective of him in her own way. They were together for a long, long time. Kaylix was pushed before the council several times and deemed ready by his Master for the trials of Jedi Knights. The council however had reoccurring issues with his lack of remorse on several occasions and minimal empathy given to others, the last particularly concerned them given he can receive and send emotions. If it wasn’t that they didn’t like the “do what it takes” attitude he has on his assignments. After each meeting with the council he and his Master would spend hours talking about his mental state and the way he perceived the world. Over the years they were together she had become accustomed to his way of explaining more complex thoughts and feelings through emotional projection and perhaps that’s why she was seemingly the only one who understood his point of view. In the end she found an assignment that was as good as the Knights trials to throw him against. If he completed his mission the council could not deny him, if he didn’t…he would be dead.



“The Objective” was the only name the two ever used for the mission Kaylix was assigned and it took him 5 years to run the operation to its completion. At times he was away from his master but no more than he had been before, the challenge this time was acting like they didn’t know each other. Something that proved very hard to do given they’d grown so intertwined that they didn’t even need to speak to each other to understand what the other was thinking or going to do. They’d made an exercise of it even, during space flights they wouldn’t talk to each other and still have to do all their normal tasks. It changed from an exercise to habbit, to way of life. So having to really detach himself from her constant companionship and advice was a sudden shock to his system.



The Objective came about when they uncovered a massive cache of Republic supplies and military grade ordinance in a warehouse connected to a political terrorist group. There was a leak in Republic security selling top grade premium resources to terrorists. They laid out the plan in one 24 hour rotation.



Kaylix “enlisted” in the Republic Army the next day. He was never actually enlisted though his alter ego was. Danny Jah-Rentius was an up start, former mercenary, funny guy, and Zeltron party animal. Kaylix was in relatively good shape at the start of his military stint but the Army turned him into a walking muscle, and good on them for it too. He promised his Master that he wouldn’t over use his force powers which might make him stand out from the pack so she expected him to get by with the bare minimum of Force usage. Kaylix didn’t use any Force power at all which made him scramble to keep up with other stronger, fitter soldiers in the top 20% of his company, which is where he had to be if the plan was to work. She had no idea he wasn’t using the Force for the first three years but when she did find out it was one of the three occasions she didn’t bash his brains in for disobeying orders, she approved. His master announced her intentions right away to higher command. She would supervise the training of a company of Republic Soldiers and escort the upper echelon of their number into a Jedi-centric task force. As a supervisor and consultant she was allowed to remain with the company through their training.



Training was rigorous but fun and engaging for Kaylix. At last he was in an element where he could put to use all of the knowledge he’d learned as a Jedi and what the Army was teaching him. This was his game, the long play, undercover operations and investigations where he could go with high risk/high reward methods. It blended everything he believed in. Look, watch, adapt, gather information, research, follow each thread to its end, and then finally act in escalation until the result is reached. He truly did love the assignment. As an alleged former mercenary he quickly made recon commando in a much shorter time than anticipated and quickly started doing good in the galaxy. True he’d been with his Master doing just that for years by that point but now she wasn’t around to help, it wasn’t her mission he was helping on, and it was all done with just raw grit and willpower.



Times weren’t easy in those years, not for his soul and not for his emotional state anyway. After entering recon division he questioned his path with the Jedi almost daily. Did he really need to be there? He was here, in the Army doing good right then. Would the Jedi lose anything if he left to serve the military? Would he lose anything? Always he returned to meditation and connecting with the Force. It proved an anchor for him in the turbulent river of climbing the chain of command in the military. In the end it was that peace of mind and total calm he allowed the Force to fill him with that came from believing in the Jedi pillars that kept him in the Order. Through his military career he remained in the top 12% of his units, making Captain in a total of three years.



From there it only took a few words from his Master and a flash of his résumé to the right officals to have his application to Republic Special Forces approved. Things only got tough for him during SF training and selection just like it did for every other man and woman there. The lack of empathy the council worried about saved the mission in that year. He committed everything he had every day to outstrip the competition and it worked too well. He had to be brained once or twice during a 48 hour pass by his Master to remind him of the Objective. After that he flubbed the next few exercises which put him solidly in position to bring up the rear of the top three recruits for SF.



Training and graduation into Republic Special Forces Division signaled it was time to put the end game plan into action. For the previous four and a half years Kaylix had worked sources and blabber mouths on his way through the ranks. He discerned the leak of Republic weapons was coming from a Tier 1 outfit. Following a few solid leads he requested assignment to one of them and his Master got him hooked up with the Unit. It took a long time to negotiate the minefield of politics within the Army and the Senate while he was also supposed to be on active duty but with determination he and his Master got permission to conduct the sting after determining the leak was coming from within the Unit.



The Objective ended in a primal fight that forced him to blow his cover and use the Force to save the members of his Squad from the traitor he’d exposed and the traitor’s mercenaries. The fighting dragged out for almost forty five minutes in some of the most violent exchanges he’s ever been in. He lost his left eye in the fighting and considered himself blessed to get out with losing just that. The eye was replaced with a biomechanical enhancement that looks almost as good as his other eye. The cumulative result was, as promised to him by his Master, the Councils admission that he’d completed his great trial and was at long last advanced to the rank of Jedi Knight at 30 years of age.



In the six years since then he’s done much of the same work, in much the same manner and finds no reason to slow himself down. He truly enjoys his work albeit lonely at times. Immediately after the ceremonies his Master met him on the steps of the Jedi Temple embracing him in a fierce hug. It was the first time she’d made contact with him in a manner other than disciplinary. They stood there together for a very long time sharing wave after wave of emotion built up over their twelve year journey together. Maybe it was an unusually good match between student and teacher, maybe it was Kaylix’s ability to speak volumes with one projection that bonded them so closely, maybe it was chemistry they never spoke of, but whatever the reason was the two had become something more than just Master and student. On some level there was respect, another contained awe, and yet another held love despite the strict codes they both believed in. They pushed away committed and respecting each other’s duty to the Jedi Order, they walked away from each other right then and there. She didn’t look back, he knows because he did.



Kaylix doesn’t talk much about her, his Master, and will probably never see her again. He couldn’t find her if he wanted to which he suspects she had planned all along; her name is a suspiciously fuzzy spot in his memory. Occasionally he can be caught starring off into space in down time and odds are she’s on his mind.



RP Sample:



Crazy old bat, she would go and shove one of her tests on him like this. Testing his wits, ppffhh, what a load of Sarrlac sh-….he stopped just about everything he was doing save for breathing to think and untangle the web of methodical madness his Master had put him through. She knew! She’d known the whole time! He almost laughed but instead he glanced around with practiced secrecy. The special forces operators around him were in the first seconds of checking their own weapons, a practice he’d fallen into habit of and easily followed suit. The woman had battered him with training even before they met. A list of requirements and knowledge to be memorized had shown up on his terminal a few days before their first meeting. Anxious, he’d done as asked but their first meeting was akin to an ewok wrestling with a Wookie; she’d pulverized him with a wooden dowel rod on the training mats. It was a total slaughter and then she’d made him repeat her message verbatim.

He clamped down on a smirk when he visualized the look on her face when he quoted the missive perfectly. Since then however she’d battered him with training in blocks of material and practical knowledge; switching the two every few months. She forced him to produce “serviceable” results with the current curriculum which took up all of his time but also meant he didn’t have any time to keep up with the opposite aspect of their training. He’d spent entire nights awake studying the scholarly aspects when she was tenderizing him in sword play and force application, and frequently pushed himself to the breaking point keeping up with the martial when she was cramming literature and theories into any orifice he had. She put responsibilities on him that she knew he couldn’t ignore, or let slide without serious consequences. His training was very old school.



“Hey Preach, c’mere and gimme a double.” The man nicknamed Preacher meandered over and double checked Kaylix’s communications and armor. The loony woman had him figured out alright. She’d known he wouldn’t be a protégé of anything but he would give her admirable marks in everything all together; she knew he wouldn’t suffer a failure in one area so another could shine. Her games of making him flip flop from one thing to another, constantly making him scramble to keep up, producing serviceable skills all around were exactly what he did excel at. Preacher thumped him on the shoulder and then tottered around, shyly looking over his shoulder at Kaylix. “Do me?” He asked in a feminine voice. Kaylix looked down to see his waist belt loose and lower armor in need of adjustment. This time he did smirk. “Why do we call you Preacher again?” “Remember that rodian on Ord?” “Ha ha ha, yeah, I remember now.” As he was reaching to yank the armor into sensitive parts unknown the door to the ready room blew open coming off the tracks. She walked in...clutching her lightsaber in her white knuckled hand. Her newly painted pink lightsaber. “Who?” The word hissed through her teeth like an acid cloud, scalding, and making all the men flinch. Kaylix knew it had to have been Shakey right away but immediately saw his opening. “What? I’m partial to pink!” He said defensively. The other ten or so men tried not to laugh and many had to look away or risk exposing the toothy grins on their faces. As per his race he was a shade of red, almost the same as many Caucasian’s but still…pink. “Zeltron.” She made it sound like such a swear word. “My office.” She spun and stormed out but Kaylix slowed enough to turn towards his squad and make a typical male assumption of what was going to happen when he and the woman were alone. The others couldn’t hold the laughter in any longer.



“I didn’t think you’d go to this extent to secure our meeting.” She said calmly, peering down at the saber dispassionately.

“I wouldn’t. It was Shakey. This was just a-“



“Perfect chance to get away, yes. Well done. Are you ready?”

“Yes, Master.”

She looked up at him through her eyebrows, or lack thereof, and dropped her hand to her side. Her voice held that hollow tone to it. The tone that bespoke of absolute seriousness and focus. “This isn’t training any more, boy. One of those men out there is the leak and he will try to sabotage this meet and get all of you killed. If you fail, you’re dead. Are. You. Ready?” Each of her last three words brought her one step closer to him. When she stopped talking he could feel her breath on his skin. Kaylix just shuffled on his feet.

“Good. Who do you want with you in your fireteam?”

For the past few months Kaylix had been planted in a squad of commandos during their initial training in an effort to try and find the source of leaks to terrorists resulting in ambushes on Republic patrols along smuggling routes. The hitch was that Kaylix was undercover, meaning the rest of the men didn’t know he was a Jedi Padawan; and it had to stay that way. In those months not only had he picked up all the commando training but he’d also gotten to know the men of Delta squad. Now he glanced past his Master to the stack of personal files and nodded to them. She merely sauntered over to them and laid one rusty orange colored hand on the stack. “Who?”

Kaylix flicked a glance at her and then let his eyes go flicking about here and there, up and down, like he was looking at a holo feed. “Burton.”



“Smart,” She said nodding, “his marksmanship won’t go amiss, I’m sure. Who else?”

“Krytal.”

“Why?” She thumbed to his file and flicked it on.

“Natural leadership skills. Cool head under fire. Superior tactician. I’ll need him to take credit for the actions leading to the discovery of the leak..and…I, well I’m not one to tell anyone what to do with their life.”

She nodded again and rolled her finger in a gesture for him to continue. She wasn’t happy with his lack of leadership skills but he’d more than made up for it by admitting he had no skill for it yet, at least.

“Abogado.”

This time she cracked her blank mask in favor of complete confusion.

“He’s a bull Rancor, good soldiering aside, he cuts like a falling asteroid!”

“Noted. But just in case I can’t enact my plans before this goes south I need him in a position to render as much hurt as he can. His distraction will allow you the time needed to flank the exposed rat and deal with him. If it goes sideways I’ll probably die but between you and Abo, the result is still a success.”

She stared into his eyes. One and then the other, searching. “I like the way you think, boy. I really do. Shrewd and plenty of back ups. What you need to realize, though, is that it is high time you take on the weight of what your job entails.”


Kaylix didn’t say anything but just let the emotion of curiosity tinged with confusion emanate from his body to where she could pick up on it. She laughed her beautiful, full, rich laugh he’d only heard a handful of times. “That fearless curiosity and your habit of chasing after it are going to get you into trouble. Kaylix this is your trial! This is just a taste of what you will do. The effects of the events in the next few hours will ripple through the lives of everyone even remotely involved in this operation for good or worse; and what those ripples do to their lives will be the result of your success or failure. You’ve been held back a bit because of who you are, how you see the universe and the Force. I saw that in you immediately and forgive me but I didn’t try to correct it. That ripple has forced you to watch your entire group of friends graduate to full Jedi Knights years ago. Whatever happens, whatever you do, and whoever it affects from this very day forward, you’re responsible for it all. Do you understand? I’ve watched you grow and taught you myself and I still don’t understand how you…


You are a balanced force user, nestled right in the center of all the other's, it's a Jedi like you that tends to baffle everyone else, and hold things together, while tearing things apart in our perceived worlds. I'm sorry but it's people like you that are excluded and demoted in the Jedi Order. You can see from many angles, giving you an easy advantage over the narrow minded Jedi out there, you see good and evil in every being, and believe that balance is what could hold the Jedi together. You do not see the darkside as a threat, but a largely unexplored territory, you see they pros and cons of both dark and light. You change your style of action too widely and too often in order to gain variety and try to keep on an even spine by allowing minor evils and straying from the code at times; you feel you must chose things for yourself. A balanced code is easier to stick to, and relieves the pressure of guilt. You are truly neutral and chaotic all at once. The Council will not like this, and it worries me too. I’ve seen you duel when you channel your violence; you’re like a Gundark bent on tasting blood. And I’ve seen you abolish the same volatile thoughts and feelings in the blink of an eye, cutting yourself off from temptations as easily as closing a door. It’s disconcerting for other Jedi to see someone like you, beholden to what makes us strong and weak at once swat it around like a bug in a storm. The path you walk is unclouded but easily strayed from if your discipline and commitment waver. Remember that. ”

Kaylix leveled a glare at her. “You never gave me a speech before...” His tone was wary and suspicious.


Any outward emotion or hint of compassion on her part vanished in a split second. “That is because I’m kicking you up to Squad Command for this mission. Say I put you in charge because of the stunt.” His apprehension had been well warranted.

“Fine,” he said taking it all in stride, “I still want to see the files.”

“Why?”

“I need to memorize their service numbers. If they don’t come back, I’m not forgetting them.” She quietly, gracefully, handed over the stack of info pads. She smiled watching her pupil commit the numbers to memory; she had known the talk about responsibility hadn’t been needed, not really. He let a wave of appreciation wash from him in silent thanks. That was a luxury he allowed himself, the ability to communicate with force sensitive’s through Zeltronian traits of projected emotions.

“I’m glad you’re taking Krytal, Kaylix.”

“Why?”

“Because you couldn’t lead a blind man out of a one way alley at high noon.”

“Thanks. Just don’t sell my tool box while I’m gone. I mean it. I don’t care how much room the boxes takes up on the ship, don’t sell them.” They exchanged a few more witty barbs before he hustled out to the other men and explained the situation before they deployed. Somehow the healthy dysfunctional relationship between his Master and he made him feel better. She probably knew that. She probably knew every thought he had before having it. She probably knew which boot he put on first that morning. All he knew is that she represented safety, complete confidence, and that she had taught him all she knew how to. That alone made him fearless.

The op went off without any major issues. The leak was arrested and in custody of the authorities before noon the next day. Without a major issue by her definition was no one getting killed but in reality there had been a serious hostile exchange of blaster fire and having his left eye sizzled out by a ruptured engine coolant line. It was bad enough to warrant Kaylix blowing his cover and using the force to gain an upper edge in the fight. When questioned why he’d relied on the force immediately when a little sword play would have done he revealed he’d left his saber in the tool box, on purpose, to add a little more security to his cover; a strong dose of do or die works wonders. He’d caught hell for that but more of a verbal tongue lashing than anything. She always appreciated his willingness to forego normal Jedi doctrine in favor of doing things the normal way and “healthy commitment” to the cause. He knew she would like that, the crazy old crone that she was.




::I'd also like to ask if anyone is using Tom Hardy or Chris Hemsworth as avatars for their characters:: 

[Rugs]

Quick note: Lightsaber points are 1-5, rather than 1-10 x)

[sofaking]

Feb 5, 2014 9:23:52 GMT -5 Rugs said:

Quick note: Lightsaber points are 1-5, rather than 1-10 x)

Noted, changed. I even made notes in my original copy to remember that lol. 

[Anna]

Hmmm well, I finally read it all, and here's my opinion of things:

First, I think your body should move from 4-3/2. The only real experience he has with that is cleansing his body of toxins, and that's pretty much the only thing he's ever done in regards to that. That's enough for me to say he's below average...but I think a 2 is a little below where he is, and a 3 should be fine imo. Again, with healing, I'd say the same thing, that's all he's really done. I'd say a 3 is good for that too.

I'm okay with his telepathic abilities being 7 because of his inherent abilities and ability to use specialized force powers, but others might want it to be a 6.

The other thing is that I'm not really sure if you can get away with not having a trial. I haven't researched it by any means, so you might, but I believe all Jedi need an actual trial to become a Knight - that doesn't mean you can't use some of the things in your bio as trials though - for example, his trial of flesh might be finding his lightsaber crystal, his trial of skill/insight his spec ops where he loses an eye, etc. The only thing I think you're really missing is a trial of spirit.

The only other thing that caught my eye was the little sequence with building the lightsaber. I think it's plausible that a near Knight -might- be adept enough to clear the poisons from his body so I'll leave that alone, but I find it unrealistic to paint your lightsaber as 'a monster that could fall to the darkside'. After all, it's the hand that wields the lightsaber.

[sofaking]

Agreed on all accounts. When I put this together I had a much different sequence of events and while it fit the reqs it didn't feel organic and character specific at all. So tossing the cookie cutter out the window this is what came out of the oven. Wasn't sure exactly where the detox would come in on the force powers so I hit both of them and figured someone would help out with that bit. As referenced in the sequence the "monster" lightsaber bit was written late at night and going back over it I can see how it was executed wrong; didn't mean to brand the saber specifically. I'll get to it and move a few bits'n'bobs around to try and cast a different light. 

Thanks for the read! I'm never really happy with my stuff until I hear other opinions, lol. 

[Rugs]

Alright, few quick hits:

I'm not certain how old he is when that altercation with the older Jedi in his Youngling years happens, but you might want to move that into his early padawan days. The Jedi have a pretty strict timeframe to follow, and if he's not a Padawan by the time he's 12, it's off to the Corps.

Secondly, did you check to see if the lightsaber's alright to use? I have no problem with it, just wanna be certain before I let it move forward. If not, I can check on clearance for you.

Also, the trial scenario you whipped up was interesting. It's normally not strictly required that you detail all the trials, depending on the rest of the bio. But, you've got skill and probably courage in the long undercover job, and flesh in his multiple maimings. Only really missing something to count for spirit (we don't do insight), so if you could have some matter that forces inward contemplation, you'll be golden.

Stats: I'd say drop the 7 to a 6, especially given his delayed beginning with learning about the Force.
For Human and near-Human species like Zeltrons, 7 is the max limit for strength, so an 8 won't work there. I'm also not really certain a 7 fits; he seems physically fit, so a 6 would probably be fine, but not quite as strong as he could possibly be, or there wasn't much emphasis on it, anyway.
Same for intel. I'm sure he's smart but I'm not sure it's that smart. I'd say bump one point to a 7.


Oooooother than that, didn't see much that stood out as in dire need of attention. Kudos

[sofaking]

Apologies about the delay in reply. Had an un-planed excursion that took me off the grid until early this morning. I'll get to this tomorrow.

Thanks for the checks and points.

I dug around about the cross guard hilt and couldn't find anything that nay says it, in all the literature I could find (i even went into the bloody table top games/rules to look) and there wasn't enough I could see to clarify why or who would use one. SO since I suffer from a bad case of the literals and have contracted severe immersion somewhere I'll be changing the hilt type to plane jane. I'll have the changes up sometime tomorrow afternoon or evening.

[Rugs]

No worries. Just gimme a heads up whenever you've made changes and he ought to be good to go

[sofaking]

Changes made.

Bumped the numbers back to 6's and 7.

Made mention of his age being 12 when making Padawan and 11 during the confrontation with the Jedi.

And I started to do just a simple trial of spirit but it turned into more bricks in my wall of text as usual.

[Rugs]

Neato-deato

One last thing, and I should've mentioned it the first go 'round but it slipped 'cause I'm Human and/or forgetful.

If you could list his proficiency with the langauges (basic, intermediate, fluent, etc) with these languages, that'd been ballin'

I'm gonna go on and give you approval and trust you to do that, but don't make him fluent in every language please x)

Annnnyway, 'pproved. If you could be so kind as to pop in here and post his status, whether he's looking for a student or not, that'd be grand.

Practiced Lightsaber forms:
Shii-Cho- 5
Makashi
Soresu
Ataru-
Shien / Djem So 3
>>Sub-form Backhanded
Niman 4
>>Sub-form Jar-kai, or Dual Wield
Juyo-
Double Bladed Combat

Malacia
Ionization
Detoxify Poison

Telekinetic:0
Telepathic: 6
Body: 4
Sense:0
Protection:0
Healing: 4
Destruction: 0



Specialized Skills:

Commando Force Recon & Tier 1 military Training
Pilot’s license for civilian and commercial ships.
Multilingual –
-Mando’a (Intermediate)
-Bocce (Intermediate)
-Huttese (Fluent)
-Binary (Basic auditory understanding, non reciprocal)
-Smuggler Cant (Fluent)
-and passible Hapan (basic)

Physical Strength: 6
Intelligence: 7
Speed: 6
Leadership: 2

Unarmed: 4
Melee Weapons: 5
Ranged Weapons: 7

[Squee]

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