Post by Stephen on Oct 13, 2015 23:14:27 GMT -5
Name: Taelros Anthir
Race: Arkanian
Age: 44
Birthplace: Arkania land
Allegiance: Jedi Order/Republic
Status: Jedi Watchman of Hoth
Rank: Master
Height/Weight: 6' 4”, 238 lbs
Appearance:
Well built and tall, Taelros' harsh features and grim demeanor make him intimidating to look at. His Arkanian heritage is on view for all with his stark ivory skin and shoulder length straight platinum hair pulled back in a pony tail. The tip of his left ear is missing and his left cheek and neck carry a long, well healed burn scar. Several minor burns mark his calloused hands. Taelros' body exudes power and function. His thick chest is well muscled but lacks definition. His arms are columns of sinew and rope. His legs are thick cords of muscle wrapped around heavy bone. Taelros prefers bone white heavy robes inlaid with thick fur while on Hoth. In more pleasant climates, he wears the more traditional robes of the order in the lightest fabrics he can find. He owns several sets of republic light battle armor, all unremarkable.
Personality:Patience and conviction are the twin crucibles on which Taelros was forged. Used to long, deliberate hunts, He's unaccustomed to the everyday nuances with normal social interactions and often suffers from being overly truthful or overly quiet. Taelros bonds quickly with children however, never tiring from repeated questions or the fickle nature of a child. He also loves animals, and surrounds himself with them when possible. Taelros is at his happiest when he is of help, and situations are morally black and white. However Taelros's skill set often puts him in muddier waters. He tries to fight his inborn suspicion though, and often gives people the benefit of the doubt.
Ships/Vehicles: Shuttle (Schutta scuttle)
Equipment: Single Phase Doublebladed lightsaber (cyan), utility belt, Scoped Blaster Rifle. All weather cloak
Stats: (Feeble, Below Average, Average, Above Average, Superior, Legendary)
Strength – Above Average
Agility – Above Average
Intelligence – Above Average
Charisma – Average
Force Stats: (Unskilled, Novice, Apprentice, Adept, Expert, Master)
Telekinetic- Apprentice
Telepathic- Adept
Body- Expert
Sense- Expert
Protection- Expert
Healing:– Adept
Destruction– Untrained
Combat Training: (Unskilled, Novice, Apprentice, Adept, Expert, Master)
Broken Gate : Expert
Blasters : Adept
Thrown Weapons : Adept
Heavy Weapons : Adept
Force Training: (Unskilled, Novice, Apprentice, Adept, Expert, Master)
Negate Energy : Expert
Beast Control : Adept
Other Training: (Unskilled, Novice, Apprentice, Adept, Expert, Master)
Survival: Expert
Repair : Adept
Sculpting: Adept
Stealth: Adept
Perception: Adept
Lightsaber Training: (Untrained, Novice, Apprentice, Adept, Expert, Master, Specialist)
Shii-Cho- Master
Makashi-
Soresu-
Ataru- Specialist
Shien/Djem So- Master
>>Sub-form Backhanded-
Niman-
>>Sub-form Jar-kai-
Juyo-
Double Bladed Combat- Master
Biography:
Taelros was born to proud parents Duriel and Patrice Anthir. More than just being proud of their booming baby boy, they were proud of their perceived accomplishment. Taelros was the first, and the last child conceived in Anthir Genetics with force sensitivity. One, however, was all they needed. Taelros was the new face of the company. An empty hope for all of those who wanted their child to have meaning, and power beyond their station. Duriel and Patrice passed him along to the order, receiving occasional pictures to be used in promotional materials. Eventually they were force to close down their Gene clinic when several children were born hideously malformed by the repeated changes to the “Patented Taelros Formula”. Their private finances however did not suffer and they happily retired to Druckenwell where they currently reside. The Taelros name is still synonymous with something too good to be true with some Arkanians.
The order accepted 3 year old Taelros happily, as they do all children and Taelros was no worse for the transition. The shuttle ride home was fascinating to the new youngling. These new adults wore no protective mask and only prodded him with needles once. When he arrived at the Dantoonian temple, his curiosity turned to bravery. He trailed behind countless jedi testing their patience with countless questions, until he was returned to his Fosterer. Taelros was less confident with his own age however. Just alien enough to stand out, but not alien enough to be cool, Taelros always perceived himself an outsider among his own, even with plenty of evidence to the contrary. Despite his gloomy outlook, or perhaps because of it, Taelros excelled as his classes, often serving as reluctant tutor to other younglings. He thought this his penance for being strange and disappeared after lessons to chase adults around the fountain with ever more questions.
As he aged, he developed very quickly. Naturally gifted doesn't apply, but Taelros had the best genes money could buy. He was strong and swift and smart. His voracious appetite for study consumed him. He spent hours in the temples unrestricted archives, learning of different worlds, flush with strange animals and plants. He loved the idea of unexplored planets, waiting for him. His occasional education forays into the Dantooine farmland became seasonal as he decided to help out every harvest season he was at the temple. His skill with farm animals grew quickly, and he could feel the tugs of emotion that lurked on the surface of their minds. Taelros loved the temple, and was never more at peace than when we as a child, roaming those halls and bugging those infinitely patient men and women.
Eventually he grew up, as all young boys do. And as he did, he was chosen to be a padawan. Verity Vyshaan was to be his Master. He had seen her, overseeing the training and on occasion listening to his questions by the fountain. On the first day with her, they sparred. Taelros knew as much as any youngling did at that point, perhaps a bit more. Vyshaan however, was devastating. The automatic flow of her fighting style, her overwhelming speed and strength, and her steadfast control were awe inspiring. Taelros had never wanted to be anyone but himself before, and her displayed left him humbled but otherwise unmarked. This happened once a week for the duration of his training, and never once did he land a blow on her.
Training continued unabated with almost without preamble. Taelros was to learn discipline from physicality. Every day his patience was tested. He was to repeat strikes endlessly. He was often given impossible physical tasks in the morning only to find her pleased at the end of the day by his continued efforts. Taelros remained undaunted, trying well into the night to lift unliftable rocks or break unbreakable objects. It was for patience of course. He understood this, but he also understood that he couldn't cheat the exercises and still benefit. So he tried into the night while she watched. Both of them keeping the fiction alive for his sake. Taelros had an uncanny ability to shrug off training saber strikes, rarely leaving with the telltale welts that sparring left. Vyshaan guided his hand further down this road, teaching him to use the force to absorb lesser burns. He trained with the stoves of the refectory, and soon he was scaring the scullions into fits, his arm fully alight.
Eventually he reached 14, and Vyshaan felt that this was enough for him to accompany her on missions. Her diplomatic bent made him and his training feel superfluous at times, but Taelros kept quiet and learned. She traveled between temples often, shaping policy as one would weave cloth. It was difficult to learn via immersion when every situation seemed dire. It was very much like learning to juggle when all you have is Faberge eggs. So Vyshaan worked and he keep quiet, the most serious face he could muster on his face.
That's not to say he was never useful. Taelros made an excellent page and confidant. He genuinely enjoyed the humanitarian outreach programs they helped foster, even as far as spending his extra time volunteering in a free clinic in the Dantoonian farmland. Thus his early padawan days were spent, split unevenly between training and long quiet trips abroad.
Soon his trials started in earnest. His trail of flesh was the first. A few months after his sixteenth birthday he went out with Vyshaan to work the Dantoonian clinic he frequented. A group of mercenaries, fresh from the starport docks were making trouble a few blocks down, and people were unable to visit. Vyshaan left to disperse the mob, urging him to stay with what patients that managed to make it in. While Vyshaan was away however, a second group struck, dead set on pillaging the expensive medical equipment and hard to find pharmaceuticals. They stormed in, smashing the door frame to splinters. Taelros met them in the waiting room, chromed iv stand in his hand.
The first attacker charged him, knocking him to the ground. Taelros pushed the heavy bar into his stomach with both hands and rolled backwards landing on top. He pushed the bar hard into his neck and raining right handed blows into his unprotected face until a heavy boot crashed into his chest and flung him bodily into the exam room. The second man was larger by a foot than Taelros, and heavily muscled. Taelros struck hard with the pole, smashing blood and teeth toward the walls. He held the larger man at bay for a few moments, but his attackers hands were swift and he pulled staff out of his hands and smashed it in half upon Taelros' head, driving him into the ground. He struggled to his feet but was lifted bodily into the air. He kicked hard into his attackers midsection, but his grip only loosened when Taelros was thrown hard into the cabinets on the back wall. Wood and glass shattered, scattering debris and chemicals across the room. Taelros rolled off the counter and on to the floor.
Taelros tried to rise to his feet, but was stomped into the glass by now both attackers. Wood and glass shredded his skin and embedded into his hands and forearms. He struck out, heavy handed and dire at the legs of his attackers, driving the shrapnel both deeper into his hands and into the soft tissues of the leg and thighs of his attacks. Blows rained from above but Taelros climbed them light blood soaked mountains with his mangled limbs, grinding the broken bones and glass into the groin, then stomach and armpits of his attackers. Blooded and scared, they fled the scene, dropping Taelros to the ground once more to scrape and tear at their ankles till they fought themselves free. Taelros crawled after them, making it as far as the door before blacking out.
Taelros woke up, much to his surprise, in the temple infirmary. His eyelids were too heavy to lift, but he could hear Vyshaan's quietly humming somewhere in the background. He drifted in and out of consciousness over the next couple of days. Eventually when he regained control of his sleep he had a long talk with Vyshaan about the fight. She understood the necessity of the fight, but felt he still had to feel the consequences himself. So he was heal the rest of the way naturally. Another, more effective test of his patience it seemed, but he was young and the young heal quick, so he was back to training by months end. When he returned, she had a gift for Taelros, a double sided training saber.
The new saber took work to attune to. The added concentration it took to effectively control both ends meant that he couldn't stop from burning himself when he messed up, and he messed up a lot. He took to training privately again in his free moments, just so he wouldn't disable himself in his weekly duels with Vyshaan. The added challenge and shame, coupled with his newest scars reminded him daily of just how much he had yet to learn. His redoubled efforts bore fruit, and soon he was able to handle a saber staff just as well with both ends ignited as with one.
Taelros strived in his training, and at the age of nineteen he took his trail of spirit. Deep within the crystal caves of Dantooine, he meditated for two days without food, water, or rest. Near the end of fasting he fell into a trance. He saw himself, muddy and unclear, draped with heavy stones and walking forward up a massive mountain. Heat blasted him, tearing his robes from his body and ice shattered on him, bruising and breaking his bones, but he walked on. Children lined the heavy ditch he walked, sobbing great rivers down the trail, and the waves broke on his chest, knocking him from his feet each swell, but he walked on. Great men in finest ermine poured molten gold and silver on him, tearing the flesh off of his bones, but he walked on. Women and men, Lascivious and bare threw themselves on his body, begging, but he walked on. Hawk faced men yelled his secrets to the crowds gathered, building rough straw dolls out of him and tearing him apart with their claws, but he walked on. Men and women in great cages were rolled by, begging to be set free, but he walked on. Fiery speeches ignited the very blood in his veins, calling him to action where others had failed, but he walked on.
Finally at the top of the mountain was a woman and a child. They had no faces, for no one would look upon them. Behind them lay a massive bronze cauldron engraved with the Jedi code. He read the code to them both, sobbing as the he held their hands. Slowly they tattered and burned, coming apart like wisps of ash from a fire. First the child, then the woman, until the great cauldron was full. Trembling and slow, it tipped, washing Taelros down the mountain on a great wave of blood and ash. He was dashed to pieces on the bones and ice of those who had failed before him. He awoke screaming. He walked back to the temple hungry, tired and truly afraid for the first time in his life.
His trail of skill would be last, so he began to pick up the pace of his training. Vyshaan agreed to spar with him twice a week during the two years and seven months before, and Taelros saw to his physical conditioning between. He took long runs through the Dantoonie savanna, often along side the wild animals. He raced the Iriaz when he could find them. While he never managed to outrun them, they would run along side him, trying to hide him in their herd. Sometimes he would wrestle the great kath hounds, grabbing their horns and trying to twist them to the ground. They in turn would try to pin him under their weight or throw him into the air. He honed his senses as he ran, listening to the murmurs of life around him.
When the day of trail of skill came, Taelros felt as ready as he could be. It was to be a refreshingly simple affair. He was to fight a newly christened jedi knight in a duel. Taric was eager and confident and Taelros was grateful for his cooperation. A point was to be awarded for a strike with a lightsaber to the torso. A point was to be awarded for knocking the opponent to the ground. A point was to be awarded for forcing your opponent out of the ring. Finally a point would be awarded for your opponent forfeiting the round to you. The first to ten points was to be winner, and each round would have a thirty minute pause between for recovery and contemplation. The first bout was at noon, and the trial would go on as long as necessary.
The first round Taelros broke his opponents nose with the cross bar of his lightsaber and marked him from collarbone to hip with his training saber. The second round, Taelros pinned Taric's hands to his side with a bear hug and suplexed him from the ring. Taelros ended the third round with a standing armbar and an elbow to the temple. Taelros pushed Taric's own lightsaber into his chest to end the fourth. The fifth round found both fighters disarmed and ended in a guillotine choke from the ground in Taelros's favor. After the fifth round, Taric asked for a longer than average break to compose himself and Taelros ceded to his wish.
The break lasted two hours, and brought changes to the duel. Only lightsaber strikes were to allowed for the rest of the duel, as had been decided during the break. Even on more even footing, Taelros won out. Taric had trouble following both ends of Taelros' lightsaber and hadn't the speed or strength of the padawan. With his final Trail passed, he was ready to craft his lightsaber and become a knight.
After he assembled the pieces for the case, he sent the pieces off to a machine shop to be electroplated in chromium and laser etched with the symbol of the order. While he waited for that work to be done, he went once more the caves of Dantooine to search for a crystal with Vyshaan. He went to the chamber where his trail of spirit took place. He had hoped to find his crystal there, but it was dull and bare. Instead he asked the kinrath to help, after several false starts, they brought him two thick cyan spindles. He assembled the pieces at the temple in a small ceremony and quietly, as Vyshaan cut his braid he passed into knighthood.
Taelros packed his things quietly that night, and left for Coruscant in the morning to present himself to the council. He spent the shuttle ride meditating, trying to keep himself centered as his life clicked into place. He had passed his trails, and judging by his test of skill, he was more than qualified to meet the dangers ahead. Bright eyed and eager, he stepped off the shuttle and into the temple at Coruscant.
The council had a task ready for him when he arrived. He was to find out what happened Ethan Coularm. Ethan was a padawan who went missing after failing his trial of skill. His master said that he was last seen walking the streets of Coruscant yesterday evening, trying to calm himself after his latest failed attempt. Armed with a current picture of him and this information, Taelros set off.
After wandering the nearby streets bothering pedestrians and shop owners for a few fruitless hours, Ethan tried to file a missing persons posting with CSF. They weren't as helpful as Taelros imagined they would be. They agreed to put someone out looking for him, but because he left the temple as a 22 year old adult, they had to treat it as a non crime. Over the next couple of days, Taelros found Ethan's holorecorder stuffed in a trash can, and a hotel maid who claimed she had Ethan check out of her hotel 2 days prior, but nothing beyond that. CSF however, was able to discover that Ethan had applied for and received two credit cards and had booked a passage on a commercial shuttle to Agamar.
Unfortunately the address listing on the credit cards led to an empty lot. So Taelros gathered his still packed bags and departed Coruscant for the outer rim. The only ship heading that way listed Agamar as the seventh stop of nine, but Taelros had no choice. He spent more than a month in flight, or in the startport stops they took along the way, but for the most part, he enjoyed himself. He ate the interesting local oddities and chatted with the locals at each stop. Eventually, he landed on Agamar.
The urgency of his mission had waned a bit in his mind with the month of impromptu vacation, but landing pushed it right to the forefront again. His renewed zeal earned him no progress. No one at the dock, nor within the Calna Muun police department had ever seen or heard from him. He left the shuttle registration number with the police and checked with the University of Agamar. The campus security had no more luck than Agamar police and Taelros left for his hotel room that night confused.
In the morning he received a call from the Agamar police. They had recovered the security footage of the shuttle landing and were waiting at the office for him. He watched the disembarking for hours, and from four different angles, but no one even close to being Ethan got off. 12 Duros, a rodian couple, a gaggle of older humans looking like they were coming back from vacation, and 3 gonk droids. He called CSF from the office and after a long explanation, asked if they had footage of the ship being boarded. They did not. He thanked them for their patience and booked a flight back to Coruscant.
The direct flight was much shorter, and he walked out of the dock and into the 1st Coruscant bank. Using Ethan's information from the temple, Taelros was able to convince them that Ethan's credit cards were being used falsely, explaining that padawans do not have apartments in the Undercity at full voice. Taelros then waited outside of the bank for the padawan to show. After two days, Ethan appeared, driving a brand new black speeder with tinted windows and wearing a three thousand credit suit with matching timepiece.
As he left the car however, Taelros felt a second force sensitive person in the car, sitting in the passengers seat. Taelros knew he probably had three or four minutes before Ethan fixed his banking error, so he took the most direct route to him. He turned his Jedi beacon transceiver on to the emergency setting and climbed into the back of the speeder.
A young woman in a dark hooded sweatshirt and matching skirt sat confused in the seat ahead of him. She twisted in her seat and eyed him with a confused look. “Excuse me, what exactly are you doing?” she asked, tense.
“I am a Jedi knight investigating” was as far as he got before a crimson lance of light tore through the seat back and into his shoulder. He squirmed away to his right and kicked her seat as hard as he could with both feet and the force. She pitched forward and head first into the dash, setting off the air bag in her face. Taelros scrambled out of the car and ignited his lightsaber, but she did not follow. A quick check noticed her stunned, still face first in the airbag. He sliced her seat belt off and dragged her from the car, taking a quick moment to stomp on her lightsaber until he felt it probably wouldn't work.
Ethan left the bank at the same time the jedi shuttle landed, which broke out into a very brief and ineffectual foot chase. Taelros dragged him back to the car, and he was loaded into the shuttle with the jedi response team and the mystery woman. The next day the disciplinary committee convened to decide what crimes had been committed and asked if Taelros wanted to sit in. He did not.
Taelros spent the next couple of months training with the younglings at the temple, and this became is defacto pattern. He'd go out on a high risk, or particularly trying mission, then he'd come home to Coruscant and train alongside the children. It was a calming respite from the real world, and it helped cement his convictions. This first time, he stayed for eight months before his next assignment found it's way to him.
Elaine Karthspiel, a Nautalan jedi who reached knight status before they were allowed to step down for personal reasons, had appeared as a person of interest in an investigation of organized crime on Metellos. Republic Domestic Security had contacted the order after a background search flagged her as a member of the order. Taelros was to find out what connection Elaine had to the Metallos underground and retrieve her if necessary. Without further preamble, Taelros left on a shuttle that night.
The RDS dossier was impressive. It had Elaine's known residences, friends, what transit she took to which stores, where and what she ate, and where she slept. Using this information, Taelros acquired several sets of civilian clothes, casual and loose and let himself get noticed by her. He rode the same train as she did a few times, letting her see and sense him. He shopped at a shop nearby to ones she would visit. He would never look or move toward her, and after these incidental contacts, he'd retreat back to the hotel he rented for himself. He was quite enjoying these impromptu shopping trips, there were always small shops with old nick knacks that he could get lost in for hours. He had bought his eighth curio when he heard a knock on his door. Taelros left his figurines and antiques lined up on the bathroom counter and answered.
Elaine silently slipped past him and sat at the edge of the bed her arms in her lap. Taelros, confused, sat in the chair by the window in silence. They both stared at each other for long moments before she broke the silence. She started talking almost impossibly fast, saying that this wasn't what she had in mind when she left, and that her husband was a legitimate business man back then, and that she didn't want anyone else to get hurt. Taelros just let her talk, hoping that the force would clue him in if she lied, but it was just as silent as he was. After she finished they both sat in silence again. He told her that she could always come home, although it might not be easy. She nodded to him and quickly left
Two days later, she met him again at his room with her child and a single bag. He took them to the spaceport and back home to Coruscant, leaving his clothes and mementos behind. Afterwords Elaine had to testify to the RDS about her husbands activities, but she got leave to the Agricorps and her child, Tavin, was admitted as a youngling. Taelros quietly returned to his routine, his mission complete.
He stayed at the temple for over a year, meditating, learning, and teaching. Vyshaan was often spent much of her time there as well, and they took up weekly sparring and training together again when they had time. She would talk to him about small inter order dramas and personal crises and Taelros would pretend to understand. He would try to tame the birds in the garden, bribing them with dried fruit if they were able to peck at her hair. It was an old routine with a new twist. They still weren't equals, but his new found jedi knighthood gave him more of a sense of self.
Soon though, Taelros started to catch dangerous undercurrents in Vyshaan's conversations. A padawan, Martin Travek, was starting to feel stronger than normal affection towards his master, Sara Lyst. She had advised reaching out to other jedi knights to talk to Martin, but she worried that nothing significant had been done. Taelros felt he had no right to intrude on another's training, so he simply kept an eye out.
Eventually his vigilance was rewarded, and he spied Martin storming out from the temple and hailing a cab, a large overnight bag in tow. Taelros ran back in and found Vyshaan, who unfortunately, found Sara. She lay dead on the floor of one of the training rooms, stabbed through the heart with a lightsaber. After calling CSF, they watched the security footage. The video was without sound, but it hardly seemed needed. After sparring, he presented her with a ring, and they argued. He eventually put the ring back into his robes and she turned and opened her locker. He starred at her for a moment, took the safety off of his training saber and ignited it into her back.
Taelros and Vyshaan called the taxi service after, and found that he had been given a right to the depths of the undercity. Amid the countless teaming life of Coruscant, finding a single jedi with the force was near impossible amongst the background noise. So they did not search for him, they searched for anger, grief, and confusion. They found it in spades. The very undercity screamed around them, but no where so loud as an abandoned recreation center.
They found Martin with an older man, both of them teeming with anger. The glare Taelros and Vyshaan received from the two of them was the only preamble before both men drew lightsabers and charged. The fight erased any confusion about the other man in the tide of battle. Martin fought frenetic, loud, and predictable, and it soon became hard to not kill him as the fight progressed. Eventually an opening happened that Taelros could take, and he cut the hilt of Martins lightsaber out of his hand. He dropped his own lightsaber right after, and tackled Martin to the ground, quickly achieving full mount and pounding him unconscious. Vyshaan fared well in her duel, striking off her opponents bottom jaw and hand before knocking him unconscious with a pommel strike to his temple. They dragged both back to the temple to await trial.
Taelros resumed his life at the temple uneasily, taken aback by the violence in his home. But soon the serenity of life in the temple took over, and life continued much as it did before. Years passed in study and training, and Taelros was quietly allowed to grow. He went to plays in the downtown area. He wrote simple poems about nature and took up sculpting. Taelros almost dabbled on a professional level, learning enough about each new hobby to not feel embarrassed by his skill and putting it aside. Eventually, however, the permanence of sculpting drew him. He could feel the ancient wear of centuries of hands, robes, and water dragging along the edges of the temple fountain. It was inspiring and humbling to release that stone had inspired and soothed more souls than he ever would.
On the eve of his thirtieth year, he was given another assignment. A representative from the Jal Shey had contacted Republic Domestic Security and told them that one of their members had left the tight knit order and was likely on Drukenwell doing something “worth investigating.”. The RDS was initially confused by this vaguely worded tip, but eventually complied. They were unable to locate the rogue Jal Shay member, but noted that Druckenwell was undergoing large unnatural market fluctuations. As a courtesy, they passed on the probe results to Jedi Order. After days of meditation and deliberation, The Council decided that this was worth investigating. They dispatched Vyshaan and Taelros together to Druckenwell, with orders to find out the veracity of the Jal Shey claims and calm any problems they might have caused.
Druckenwell swelled with the bustling chaos of commerce, and the ardent churning of the life within was almost overwhelming to Taelros. Vyshaan hit the ground running, suggesting they go to the floor of the great stock exchange and see if we could feel anything unnatural in the patterns. The force is fickle however, and Taelros was unable to sense anything, malicious or not, lurking behind the neon lights of the exchanges displays. The people however, were frantic and dismayed. Vyshaan left to investigate the embassies, while Taelros started with the hotel bars.
The sadness in the Conrad Hotel Bar was almost palpable, even without the force guiding you. Taelros sat at the bar, quietly pretending to get drunk and letting his senses drift through the bar. As intrusive as the process was, the relative anonymity of the errant thoughts and words separated him from the act itself, and he listened for days, filling notebooks with raw information. Of the twelve hundred sampled, only about 12% were actively into the stock market. Of them, the majority have lost money in the past two weeks. The sadness spiked to anger when the name Ephraim Lemm was mentioned. It was shaky evidence, but the force tugged Taelros along.
He met back up with Vyshaan at the end of the week, to share notes. She had noted that Performance Mutual, a local brokerage firm, had nearly tripled in size over the last 6 months. Taelros shared his week of work, and they went to Performance Mutual, in hopes to find their correlation. However, they were turned away at the door by security without explanation. Subsequent holonet research gleaned that they did exclusive, referral only business and had a 2 million credit minimum to become a client. There were no testimonials however, and they did not publish a list of clients or personnel. Vyshaan said she was going to call in a favor, and left Taelros on stakeout while she readied things. He watched the building for a month in total. There was very little janitorial staff, and the security would stay on sight for a week at a time before being replaced.
Eventually Vyshaan returned, with a new identity and bank account courtesy of SIS. She also had a set of used body armor and a well worn blaster rifle for him. She had secured a private referral to Performance Mutual, and he was to be her body guard. After going over the details, they went to their private meeting.
They were met at the door by security again, but with the proper passcode, they were allowed in without being searched, or even disarmed. They sat in a meeting room for a few minutes, as tension racketed up. They felt the Young Twilek man before he walked in, and eyed them nervously. He shook Vyshaan's hand and they sat. She went through her introduction, complete with demure smiles. Taelros remained silent, trying to exude a sense of calm professionalism. Suddenly, he interrupted her demanding to know why she was really here, the force pouring out behind his words. Vyshaan lied in perfect monotone, saying that her family would be bankrupt in five years if outside revenue could not be found. Taelros kept his face neutral and his body at parade rest. He walked over to her and smiled, touching her face as he spoke. He said that she'd leave her money with him and stay upstairs in his private offices till he could see her properly sorted out. The weight of the force still pushed behind his voice, even as Vyshaan stood suddenly, driving him into the air with an uppercut to the solar plexus.
The glass walls shattered as force wave erupted from Ephraim, launching Vyshaan and him into the main lobby. The alarm blared as Taelros rose to his feet. He didn't need to ask the plan, he was to stay and keep the guard off of her back, and she would deal with Ephraim. He wasn't sure which was the worst proposition. Ephraim ran up the stairs, with Vyshaan behind. Taelros took a knee next to a bench and shouldered his rifle. The force slithered from him into the floor and outward in a radius. He could feel the soldiers scurrying out from their barracks and quickly surrounding the main lobby. As they crept closer, Taelros began firing methodically. Bolts of energy tore through thin plaster walls and into unaware guards. Six dropped before they called to regroup. Each time they tried to breach the inner walls of the office waiting room, they were met with a hail of accurate fire from through the walls. Before they could decide on a better tactic, Vyshaan came down the stairs alone and they left without comment. The delivered their reports separately and retired to meditate.
The council gave them both additional down time after that mission to cleanse themselves of violence. Taelros spent time ice sculpting. If you struck hard and quick, you could cut ice with a lightsaber without affecting the other sections. He spent hours in a freezer, sizing up large blocks of ice, judging how best to strike them and then making singular dramatic cuts. It was an interesting test of his abilities, both of skill and perseverance. He did little sparring in the months that followed, submersing himself within his art projects.
Eventually after he was good and thirty, the council came back to him. Their operatives had run into dark jedi in the outer rim in increasing frequency. Few casualties so far, but there were enough occurrences to worry the council. Vyshaan and him were chosen to be one of the four groups sent into the rim to try and find the source of these attacks while keeping as low a profile as possible. They were requisitioned a vessel with a suitably unsavory name, and left that night.
The trip to the outer rim took weeks, so they sparred and played cards, and rented holovideos. Taelros found himself quite enamored with Halcyon 9, a star fighter simulation that he downloaded and subscribed to. Eventually they arrived at Dantooine. The temple was aware of the attacks but had no additional information. After some deliberation, Vyshaan decided on a course of planet hoping. They would travel from planet to planet on the rim, loudly announcing their affiliation till someone bit. Then they would follow them home.
Our first stop was Ryloth. Vyshaan brought our claim of Jedi outreach to the customs officer and Taelros mulled around the star port, buying oversized pastries. He felt his attacker coming before he saw him. A dark haired man with an unfortunate hair cut and an evil glower bumped into him, knocking the cinnamon roll from his hands and shooting him point blank in the chest. The hyper awareness and paranoia that being used as bait made Taelros over prepared and the bolt burned through his shirt but harmlessly fizzled against his chest. His assailant dropped his gun and sprinted away, but Taelros tackled him. They fought on the ground for a brief moment, before his opponent kicked free and ran off. That however, was enough time to plan the beacon on his opponents clothes. Vyshaan met him on their ship, and followed the signal into space. They were able to follow their hyperspace signature to Tatooine.
They had no idea if they had beaten their quarry to Tatooine, or if they had stopped her or continued on, but Vyshaan and Taelros investigated anyway. There was an aura of malice permeating the star port. Uneasy eyes watched them as they meandered from shop to shop. Taelros flagged Vyshaan down and told her he was going to check the ship, hoping that separation would cause something more overt to happen. Upon entering his bay however, he felt several life forms scurring about on their ship. He radioed Vyshaan and went toward the boarding ramp. He was met halfway however, by blaster fire. Taelros slapped first few bolts aside and then dove behind the boarding ramp, using the ship as cover. He kept running, taking cover behind cargo crates in the back of the bay. He ducked blaster fire for a few long moments before Vyshaan came bursting into the room, taking them from behind and rushing on to the ship. Taelros sprinted after her, striking down his confused attackers on the way.
On the ship, The situation was more dire. Vyshaan and Taelros fought back to back in the main cargo hold against four dark jedi. They learned quickly however that none of their opponents had trained against the saber staff and were quickly confused. Vyshaan and Taelros traded sides often, and this added confusion gave them all the advantage they needed. They had dropped the number to two, then squared off evenly. Vyshaan quickly disabled hers, and Taelros tagged and released his.
Vyshaan was quick on the comms to SIS, and had preliminary identification of them. All of them were native to tatooine, and all four were half Anzat. While she listened, Taelros watched the indicator light on his tracking device push through the Mos Eisley streets and into the desert. He called a speeder rental service up on his holo while she listened to the analysis.
They discussed the news on the ride into the desert. She seemed concerned that all of their assailants hasn't had any living fathers, nor any brothers or sisters. Taelros thought it was strange, but didn't comprehend the implication. Eventually they saw a large prefab housing unit tucked away from anything else. They dismounted their speeders and made the rest of the way on foot, keeping low to the sand.
Once they got closer, they noticed that a sandstone courtyard had been carved out in front of their compound, complete with a fountain that flowed sand. It was eerily similar to the temple at Coruscant. The main building was unlocked, and had little in furnishings. They stood at the edge of a round open room. Small cushions ran the edge of a large purple carpet in regular intervals. At the head of the room was a large stone chair bordering on throne. A slender Anzat sat on the chair, half circled by robed men. When Vyshaan and Taelros walked in, everyone turned towards them started slowly walking.
On a prearranged signal, two side door opened and children rushed in at them, training sabers at hand. It was obvious that they weren't there to threaten them, just to muddy their swings and get in the way. It was depraved enough to catch Taelros off guard. He faltered a moment, unsure of what to do. Their tiny blades tore his clothes and burned his legs. He lept over them and back toward the door, and they followed in a tiny herd. Vyshaan continued on to the throne. Force built up in Taelros, and he commanded them to go to their room. Their tiny minds were overwhelmed, and they dutifully complied.
Taelros rushed up to assist Vyshaan, who fought with desperate fervor at the base of the throne. Heavy wounds marked her body, be she fought either unaware or uncarring. Taelros rushed in and slid to her side, once again fighting back to back until their assailants fell. Three were left alive, The head mistress and two of her followers. Bloodied and nearly beaten, they dragged them back to their ship and returned home.
Race: Arkanian
Age: 44
Birthplace: Arkania land
Allegiance: Jedi Order/Republic
Status: Jedi Watchman of Hoth
Rank: Master
Height/Weight: 6' 4”, 238 lbs
Appearance:
Well built and tall, Taelros' harsh features and grim demeanor make him intimidating to look at. His Arkanian heritage is on view for all with his stark ivory skin and shoulder length straight platinum hair pulled back in a pony tail. The tip of his left ear is missing and his left cheek and neck carry a long, well healed burn scar. Several minor burns mark his calloused hands. Taelros' body exudes power and function. His thick chest is well muscled but lacks definition. His arms are columns of sinew and rope. His legs are thick cords of muscle wrapped around heavy bone. Taelros prefers bone white heavy robes inlaid with thick fur while on Hoth. In more pleasant climates, he wears the more traditional robes of the order in the lightest fabrics he can find. He owns several sets of republic light battle armor, all unremarkable.
Personality:Patience and conviction are the twin crucibles on which Taelros was forged. Used to long, deliberate hunts, He's unaccustomed to the everyday nuances with normal social interactions and often suffers from being overly truthful or overly quiet. Taelros bonds quickly with children however, never tiring from repeated questions or the fickle nature of a child. He also loves animals, and surrounds himself with them when possible. Taelros is at his happiest when he is of help, and situations are morally black and white. However Taelros's skill set often puts him in muddier waters. He tries to fight his inborn suspicion though, and often gives people the benefit of the doubt.
Ships/Vehicles: Shuttle (Schutta scuttle)
Equipment: Single Phase Doublebladed lightsaber (cyan), utility belt, Scoped Blaster Rifle. All weather cloak
Stats: (Feeble, Below Average, Average, Above Average, Superior, Legendary)
Strength – Above Average
Agility – Above Average
Intelligence – Above Average
Charisma – Average
Force Stats: (Unskilled, Novice, Apprentice, Adept, Expert, Master)
Telekinetic- Apprentice
Telepathic- Adept
Body- Expert
Sense- Expert
Protection- Expert
Healing:– Adept
Destruction– Untrained
Combat Training: (Unskilled, Novice, Apprentice, Adept, Expert, Master)
Broken Gate : Expert
Blasters : Adept
Thrown Weapons : Adept
Heavy Weapons : Adept
Force Training: (Unskilled, Novice, Apprentice, Adept, Expert, Master)
Negate Energy : Expert
Beast Control : Adept
Other Training: (Unskilled, Novice, Apprentice, Adept, Expert, Master)
Survival: Expert
Repair : Adept
Sculpting: Adept
Stealth: Adept
Perception: Adept
Lightsaber Training: (Untrained, Novice, Apprentice, Adept, Expert, Master, Specialist)
Shii-Cho- Master
Makashi-
Soresu-
Ataru- Specialist
Shien/Djem So- Master
>>Sub-form Backhanded-
Niman-
>>Sub-form Jar-kai-
Juyo-
Double Bladed Combat- Master
Biography:
Taelros was born to proud parents Duriel and Patrice Anthir. More than just being proud of their booming baby boy, they were proud of their perceived accomplishment. Taelros was the first, and the last child conceived in Anthir Genetics with force sensitivity. One, however, was all they needed. Taelros was the new face of the company. An empty hope for all of those who wanted their child to have meaning, and power beyond their station. Duriel and Patrice passed him along to the order, receiving occasional pictures to be used in promotional materials. Eventually they were force to close down their Gene clinic when several children were born hideously malformed by the repeated changes to the “Patented Taelros Formula”. Their private finances however did not suffer and they happily retired to Druckenwell where they currently reside. The Taelros name is still synonymous with something too good to be true with some Arkanians.
The order accepted 3 year old Taelros happily, as they do all children and Taelros was no worse for the transition. The shuttle ride home was fascinating to the new youngling. These new adults wore no protective mask and only prodded him with needles once. When he arrived at the Dantoonian temple, his curiosity turned to bravery. He trailed behind countless jedi testing their patience with countless questions, until he was returned to his Fosterer. Taelros was less confident with his own age however. Just alien enough to stand out, but not alien enough to be cool, Taelros always perceived himself an outsider among his own, even with plenty of evidence to the contrary. Despite his gloomy outlook, or perhaps because of it, Taelros excelled as his classes, often serving as reluctant tutor to other younglings. He thought this his penance for being strange and disappeared after lessons to chase adults around the fountain with ever more questions.
As he aged, he developed very quickly. Naturally gifted doesn't apply, but Taelros had the best genes money could buy. He was strong and swift and smart. His voracious appetite for study consumed him. He spent hours in the temples unrestricted archives, learning of different worlds, flush with strange animals and plants. He loved the idea of unexplored planets, waiting for him. His occasional education forays into the Dantooine farmland became seasonal as he decided to help out every harvest season he was at the temple. His skill with farm animals grew quickly, and he could feel the tugs of emotion that lurked on the surface of their minds. Taelros loved the temple, and was never more at peace than when we as a child, roaming those halls and bugging those infinitely patient men and women.
Eventually he grew up, as all young boys do. And as he did, he was chosen to be a padawan. Verity Vyshaan was to be his Master. He had seen her, overseeing the training and on occasion listening to his questions by the fountain. On the first day with her, they sparred. Taelros knew as much as any youngling did at that point, perhaps a bit more. Vyshaan however, was devastating. The automatic flow of her fighting style, her overwhelming speed and strength, and her steadfast control were awe inspiring. Taelros had never wanted to be anyone but himself before, and her displayed left him humbled but otherwise unmarked. This happened once a week for the duration of his training, and never once did he land a blow on her.
Training continued unabated with almost without preamble. Taelros was to learn discipline from physicality. Every day his patience was tested. He was to repeat strikes endlessly. He was often given impossible physical tasks in the morning only to find her pleased at the end of the day by his continued efforts. Taelros remained undaunted, trying well into the night to lift unliftable rocks or break unbreakable objects. It was for patience of course. He understood this, but he also understood that he couldn't cheat the exercises and still benefit. So he tried into the night while she watched. Both of them keeping the fiction alive for his sake. Taelros had an uncanny ability to shrug off training saber strikes, rarely leaving with the telltale welts that sparring left. Vyshaan guided his hand further down this road, teaching him to use the force to absorb lesser burns. He trained with the stoves of the refectory, and soon he was scaring the scullions into fits, his arm fully alight.
Eventually he reached 14, and Vyshaan felt that this was enough for him to accompany her on missions. Her diplomatic bent made him and his training feel superfluous at times, but Taelros kept quiet and learned. She traveled between temples often, shaping policy as one would weave cloth. It was difficult to learn via immersion when every situation seemed dire. It was very much like learning to juggle when all you have is Faberge eggs. So Vyshaan worked and he keep quiet, the most serious face he could muster on his face.
That's not to say he was never useful. Taelros made an excellent page and confidant. He genuinely enjoyed the humanitarian outreach programs they helped foster, even as far as spending his extra time volunteering in a free clinic in the Dantoonian farmland. Thus his early padawan days were spent, split unevenly between training and long quiet trips abroad.
Soon his trials started in earnest. His trail of flesh was the first. A few months after his sixteenth birthday he went out with Vyshaan to work the Dantoonian clinic he frequented. A group of mercenaries, fresh from the starport docks were making trouble a few blocks down, and people were unable to visit. Vyshaan left to disperse the mob, urging him to stay with what patients that managed to make it in. While Vyshaan was away however, a second group struck, dead set on pillaging the expensive medical equipment and hard to find pharmaceuticals. They stormed in, smashing the door frame to splinters. Taelros met them in the waiting room, chromed iv stand in his hand.
The first attacker charged him, knocking him to the ground. Taelros pushed the heavy bar into his stomach with both hands and rolled backwards landing on top. He pushed the bar hard into his neck and raining right handed blows into his unprotected face until a heavy boot crashed into his chest and flung him bodily into the exam room. The second man was larger by a foot than Taelros, and heavily muscled. Taelros struck hard with the pole, smashing blood and teeth toward the walls. He held the larger man at bay for a few moments, but his attackers hands were swift and he pulled staff out of his hands and smashed it in half upon Taelros' head, driving him into the ground. He struggled to his feet but was lifted bodily into the air. He kicked hard into his attackers midsection, but his grip only loosened when Taelros was thrown hard into the cabinets on the back wall. Wood and glass shattered, scattering debris and chemicals across the room. Taelros rolled off the counter and on to the floor.
Taelros tried to rise to his feet, but was stomped into the glass by now both attackers. Wood and glass shredded his skin and embedded into his hands and forearms. He struck out, heavy handed and dire at the legs of his attackers, driving the shrapnel both deeper into his hands and into the soft tissues of the leg and thighs of his attacks. Blows rained from above but Taelros climbed them light blood soaked mountains with his mangled limbs, grinding the broken bones and glass into the groin, then stomach and armpits of his attackers. Blooded and scared, they fled the scene, dropping Taelros to the ground once more to scrape and tear at their ankles till they fought themselves free. Taelros crawled after them, making it as far as the door before blacking out.
Taelros woke up, much to his surprise, in the temple infirmary. His eyelids were too heavy to lift, but he could hear Vyshaan's quietly humming somewhere in the background. He drifted in and out of consciousness over the next couple of days. Eventually when he regained control of his sleep he had a long talk with Vyshaan about the fight. She understood the necessity of the fight, but felt he still had to feel the consequences himself. So he was heal the rest of the way naturally. Another, more effective test of his patience it seemed, but he was young and the young heal quick, so he was back to training by months end. When he returned, she had a gift for Taelros, a double sided training saber.
The new saber took work to attune to. The added concentration it took to effectively control both ends meant that he couldn't stop from burning himself when he messed up, and he messed up a lot. He took to training privately again in his free moments, just so he wouldn't disable himself in his weekly duels with Vyshaan. The added challenge and shame, coupled with his newest scars reminded him daily of just how much he had yet to learn. His redoubled efforts bore fruit, and soon he was able to handle a saber staff just as well with both ends ignited as with one.
Taelros strived in his training, and at the age of nineteen he took his trail of spirit. Deep within the crystal caves of Dantooine, he meditated for two days without food, water, or rest. Near the end of fasting he fell into a trance. He saw himself, muddy and unclear, draped with heavy stones and walking forward up a massive mountain. Heat blasted him, tearing his robes from his body and ice shattered on him, bruising and breaking his bones, but he walked on. Children lined the heavy ditch he walked, sobbing great rivers down the trail, and the waves broke on his chest, knocking him from his feet each swell, but he walked on. Great men in finest ermine poured molten gold and silver on him, tearing the flesh off of his bones, but he walked on. Women and men, Lascivious and bare threw themselves on his body, begging, but he walked on. Hawk faced men yelled his secrets to the crowds gathered, building rough straw dolls out of him and tearing him apart with their claws, but he walked on. Men and women in great cages were rolled by, begging to be set free, but he walked on. Fiery speeches ignited the very blood in his veins, calling him to action where others had failed, but he walked on.
Finally at the top of the mountain was a woman and a child. They had no faces, for no one would look upon them. Behind them lay a massive bronze cauldron engraved with the Jedi code. He read the code to them both, sobbing as the he held their hands. Slowly they tattered and burned, coming apart like wisps of ash from a fire. First the child, then the woman, until the great cauldron was full. Trembling and slow, it tipped, washing Taelros down the mountain on a great wave of blood and ash. He was dashed to pieces on the bones and ice of those who had failed before him. He awoke screaming. He walked back to the temple hungry, tired and truly afraid for the first time in his life.
His trail of skill would be last, so he began to pick up the pace of his training. Vyshaan agreed to spar with him twice a week during the two years and seven months before, and Taelros saw to his physical conditioning between. He took long runs through the Dantoonie savanna, often along side the wild animals. He raced the Iriaz when he could find them. While he never managed to outrun them, they would run along side him, trying to hide him in their herd. Sometimes he would wrestle the great kath hounds, grabbing their horns and trying to twist them to the ground. They in turn would try to pin him under their weight or throw him into the air. He honed his senses as he ran, listening to the murmurs of life around him.
When the day of trail of skill came, Taelros felt as ready as he could be. It was to be a refreshingly simple affair. He was to fight a newly christened jedi knight in a duel. Taric was eager and confident and Taelros was grateful for his cooperation. A point was to be awarded for a strike with a lightsaber to the torso. A point was to be awarded for knocking the opponent to the ground. A point was to be awarded for forcing your opponent out of the ring. Finally a point would be awarded for your opponent forfeiting the round to you. The first to ten points was to be winner, and each round would have a thirty minute pause between for recovery and contemplation. The first bout was at noon, and the trial would go on as long as necessary.
The first round Taelros broke his opponents nose with the cross bar of his lightsaber and marked him from collarbone to hip with his training saber. The second round, Taelros pinned Taric's hands to his side with a bear hug and suplexed him from the ring. Taelros ended the third round with a standing armbar and an elbow to the temple. Taelros pushed Taric's own lightsaber into his chest to end the fourth. The fifth round found both fighters disarmed and ended in a guillotine choke from the ground in Taelros's favor. After the fifth round, Taric asked for a longer than average break to compose himself and Taelros ceded to his wish.
The break lasted two hours, and brought changes to the duel. Only lightsaber strikes were to allowed for the rest of the duel, as had been decided during the break. Even on more even footing, Taelros won out. Taric had trouble following both ends of Taelros' lightsaber and hadn't the speed or strength of the padawan. With his final Trail passed, he was ready to craft his lightsaber and become a knight.
After he assembled the pieces for the case, he sent the pieces off to a machine shop to be electroplated in chromium and laser etched with the symbol of the order. While he waited for that work to be done, he went once more the caves of Dantooine to search for a crystal with Vyshaan. He went to the chamber where his trail of spirit took place. He had hoped to find his crystal there, but it was dull and bare. Instead he asked the kinrath to help, after several false starts, they brought him two thick cyan spindles. He assembled the pieces at the temple in a small ceremony and quietly, as Vyshaan cut his braid he passed into knighthood.
Taelros packed his things quietly that night, and left for Coruscant in the morning to present himself to the council. He spent the shuttle ride meditating, trying to keep himself centered as his life clicked into place. He had passed his trails, and judging by his test of skill, he was more than qualified to meet the dangers ahead. Bright eyed and eager, he stepped off the shuttle and into the temple at Coruscant.
The council had a task ready for him when he arrived. He was to find out what happened Ethan Coularm. Ethan was a padawan who went missing after failing his trial of skill. His master said that he was last seen walking the streets of Coruscant yesterday evening, trying to calm himself after his latest failed attempt. Armed with a current picture of him and this information, Taelros set off.
After wandering the nearby streets bothering pedestrians and shop owners for a few fruitless hours, Ethan tried to file a missing persons posting with CSF. They weren't as helpful as Taelros imagined they would be. They agreed to put someone out looking for him, but because he left the temple as a 22 year old adult, they had to treat it as a non crime. Over the next couple of days, Taelros found Ethan's holorecorder stuffed in a trash can, and a hotel maid who claimed she had Ethan check out of her hotel 2 days prior, but nothing beyond that. CSF however, was able to discover that Ethan had applied for and received two credit cards and had booked a passage on a commercial shuttle to Agamar.
Unfortunately the address listing on the credit cards led to an empty lot. So Taelros gathered his still packed bags and departed Coruscant for the outer rim. The only ship heading that way listed Agamar as the seventh stop of nine, but Taelros had no choice. He spent more than a month in flight, or in the startport stops they took along the way, but for the most part, he enjoyed himself. He ate the interesting local oddities and chatted with the locals at each stop. Eventually, he landed on Agamar.
The urgency of his mission had waned a bit in his mind with the month of impromptu vacation, but landing pushed it right to the forefront again. His renewed zeal earned him no progress. No one at the dock, nor within the Calna Muun police department had ever seen or heard from him. He left the shuttle registration number with the police and checked with the University of Agamar. The campus security had no more luck than Agamar police and Taelros left for his hotel room that night confused.
In the morning he received a call from the Agamar police. They had recovered the security footage of the shuttle landing and were waiting at the office for him. He watched the disembarking for hours, and from four different angles, but no one even close to being Ethan got off. 12 Duros, a rodian couple, a gaggle of older humans looking like they were coming back from vacation, and 3 gonk droids. He called CSF from the office and after a long explanation, asked if they had footage of the ship being boarded. They did not. He thanked them for their patience and booked a flight back to Coruscant.
The direct flight was much shorter, and he walked out of the dock and into the 1st Coruscant bank. Using Ethan's information from the temple, Taelros was able to convince them that Ethan's credit cards were being used falsely, explaining that padawans do not have apartments in the Undercity at full voice. Taelros then waited outside of the bank for the padawan to show. After two days, Ethan appeared, driving a brand new black speeder with tinted windows and wearing a three thousand credit suit with matching timepiece.
As he left the car however, Taelros felt a second force sensitive person in the car, sitting in the passengers seat. Taelros knew he probably had three or four minutes before Ethan fixed his banking error, so he took the most direct route to him. He turned his Jedi beacon transceiver on to the emergency setting and climbed into the back of the speeder.
A young woman in a dark hooded sweatshirt and matching skirt sat confused in the seat ahead of him. She twisted in her seat and eyed him with a confused look. “Excuse me, what exactly are you doing?” she asked, tense.
“I am a Jedi knight investigating” was as far as he got before a crimson lance of light tore through the seat back and into his shoulder. He squirmed away to his right and kicked her seat as hard as he could with both feet and the force. She pitched forward and head first into the dash, setting off the air bag in her face. Taelros scrambled out of the car and ignited his lightsaber, but she did not follow. A quick check noticed her stunned, still face first in the airbag. He sliced her seat belt off and dragged her from the car, taking a quick moment to stomp on her lightsaber until he felt it probably wouldn't work.
Ethan left the bank at the same time the jedi shuttle landed, which broke out into a very brief and ineffectual foot chase. Taelros dragged him back to the car, and he was loaded into the shuttle with the jedi response team and the mystery woman. The next day the disciplinary committee convened to decide what crimes had been committed and asked if Taelros wanted to sit in. He did not.
Taelros spent the next couple of months training with the younglings at the temple, and this became is defacto pattern. He'd go out on a high risk, or particularly trying mission, then he'd come home to Coruscant and train alongside the children. It was a calming respite from the real world, and it helped cement his convictions. This first time, he stayed for eight months before his next assignment found it's way to him.
Elaine Karthspiel, a Nautalan jedi who reached knight status before they were allowed to step down for personal reasons, had appeared as a person of interest in an investigation of organized crime on Metellos. Republic Domestic Security had contacted the order after a background search flagged her as a member of the order. Taelros was to find out what connection Elaine had to the Metallos underground and retrieve her if necessary. Without further preamble, Taelros left on a shuttle that night.
The RDS dossier was impressive. It had Elaine's known residences, friends, what transit she took to which stores, where and what she ate, and where she slept. Using this information, Taelros acquired several sets of civilian clothes, casual and loose and let himself get noticed by her. He rode the same train as she did a few times, letting her see and sense him. He shopped at a shop nearby to ones she would visit. He would never look or move toward her, and after these incidental contacts, he'd retreat back to the hotel he rented for himself. He was quite enjoying these impromptu shopping trips, there were always small shops with old nick knacks that he could get lost in for hours. He had bought his eighth curio when he heard a knock on his door. Taelros left his figurines and antiques lined up on the bathroom counter and answered.
Elaine silently slipped past him and sat at the edge of the bed her arms in her lap. Taelros, confused, sat in the chair by the window in silence. They both stared at each other for long moments before she broke the silence. She started talking almost impossibly fast, saying that this wasn't what she had in mind when she left, and that her husband was a legitimate business man back then, and that she didn't want anyone else to get hurt. Taelros just let her talk, hoping that the force would clue him in if she lied, but it was just as silent as he was. After she finished they both sat in silence again. He told her that she could always come home, although it might not be easy. She nodded to him and quickly left
Two days later, she met him again at his room with her child and a single bag. He took them to the spaceport and back home to Coruscant, leaving his clothes and mementos behind. Afterwords Elaine had to testify to the RDS about her husbands activities, but she got leave to the Agricorps and her child, Tavin, was admitted as a youngling. Taelros quietly returned to his routine, his mission complete.
He stayed at the temple for over a year, meditating, learning, and teaching. Vyshaan was often spent much of her time there as well, and they took up weekly sparring and training together again when they had time. She would talk to him about small inter order dramas and personal crises and Taelros would pretend to understand. He would try to tame the birds in the garden, bribing them with dried fruit if they were able to peck at her hair. It was an old routine with a new twist. They still weren't equals, but his new found jedi knighthood gave him more of a sense of self.
Soon though, Taelros started to catch dangerous undercurrents in Vyshaan's conversations. A padawan, Martin Travek, was starting to feel stronger than normal affection towards his master, Sara Lyst. She had advised reaching out to other jedi knights to talk to Martin, but she worried that nothing significant had been done. Taelros felt he had no right to intrude on another's training, so he simply kept an eye out.
Eventually his vigilance was rewarded, and he spied Martin storming out from the temple and hailing a cab, a large overnight bag in tow. Taelros ran back in and found Vyshaan, who unfortunately, found Sara. She lay dead on the floor of one of the training rooms, stabbed through the heart with a lightsaber. After calling CSF, they watched the security footage. The video was without sound, but it hardly seemed needed. After sparring, he presented her with a ring, and they argued. He eventually put the ring back into his robes and she turned and opened her locker. He starred at her for a moment, took the safety off of his training saber and ignited it into her back.
Taelros and Vyshaan called the taxi service after, and found that he had been given a right to the depths of the undercity. Amid the countless teaming life of Coruscant, finding a single jedi with the force was near impossible amongst the background noise. So they did not search for him, they searched for anger, grief, and confusion. They found it in spades. The very undercity screamed around them, but no where so loud as an abandoned recreation center.
They found Martin with an older man, both of them teeming with anger. The glare Taelros and Vyshaan received from the two of them was the only preamble before both men drew lightsabers and charged. The fight erased any confusion about the other man in the tide of battle. Martin fought frenetic, loud, and predictable, and it soon became hard to not kill him as the fight progressed. Eventually an opening happened that Taelros could take, and he cut the hilt of Martins lightsaber out of his hand. He dropped his own lightsaber right after, and tackled Martin to the ground, quickly achieving full mount and pounding him unconscious. Vyshaan fared well in her duel, striking off her opponents bottom jaw and hand before knocking him unconscious with a pommel strike to his temple. They dragged both back to the temple to await trial.
Taelros resumed his life at the temple uneasily, taken aback by the violence in his home. But soon the serenity of life in the temple took over, and life continued much as it did before. Years passed in study and training, and Taelros was quietly allowed to grow. He went to plays in the downtown area. He wrote simple poems about nature and took up sculpting. Taelros almost dabbled on a professional level, learning enough about each new hobby to not feel embarrassed by his skill and putting it aside. Eventually, however, the permanence of sculpting drew him. He could feel the ancient wear of centuries of hands, robes, and water dragging along the edges of the temple fountain. It was inspiring and humbling to release that stone had inspired and soothed more souls than he ever would.
On the eve of his thirtieth year, he was given another assignment. A representative from the Jal Shey had contacted Republic Domestic Security and told them that one of their members had left the tight knit order and was likely on Drukenwell doing something “worth investigating.”. The RDS was initially confused by this vaguely worded tip, but eventually complied. They were unable to locate the rogue Jal Shay member, but noted that Druckenwell was undergoing large unnatural market fluctuations. As a courtesy, they passed on the probe results to Jedi Order. After days of meditation and deliberation, The Council decided that this was worth investigating. They dispatched Vyshaan and Taelros together to Druckenwell, with orders to find out the veracity of the Jal Shey claims and calm any problems they might have caused.
Druckenwell swelled with the bustling chaos of commerce, and the ardent churning of the life within was almost overwhelming to Taelros. Vyshaan hit the ground running, suggesting they go to the floor of the great stock exchange and see if we could feel anything unnatural in the patterns. The force is fickle however, and Taelros was unable to sense anything, malicious or not, lurking behind the neon lights of the exchanges displays. The people however, were frantic and dismayed. Vyshaan left to investigate the embassies, while Taelros started with the hotel bars.
The sadness in the Conrad Hotel Bar was almost palpable, even without the force guiding you. Taelros sat at the bar, quietly pretending to get drunk and letting his senses drift through the bar. As intrusive as the process was, the relative anonymity of the errant thoughts and words separated him from the act itself, and he listened for days, filling notebooks with raw information. Of the twelve hundred sampled, only about 12% were actively into the stock market. Of them, the majority have lost money in the past two weeks. The sadness spiked to anger when the name Ephraim Lemm was mentioned. It was shaky evidence, but the force tugged Taelros along.
He met back up with Vyshaan at the end of the week, to share notes. She had noted that Performance Mutual, a local brokerage firm, had nearly tripled in size over the last 6 months. Taelros shared his week of work, and they went to Performance Mutual, in hopes to find their correlation. However, they were turned away at the door by security without explanation. Subsequent holonet research gleaned that they did exclusive, referral only business and had a 2 million credit minimum to become a client. There were no testimonials however, and they did not publish a list of clients or personnel. Vyshaan said she was going to call in a favor, and left Taelros on stakeout while she readied things. He watched the building for a month in total. There was very little janitorial staff, and the security would stay on sight for a week at a time before being replaced.
Eventually Vyshaan returned, with a new identity and bank account courtesy of SIS. She also had a set of used body armor and a well worn blaster rifle for him. She had secured a private referral to Performance Mutual, and he was to be her body guard. After going over the details, they went to their private meeting.
They were met at the door by security again, but with the proper passcode, they were allowed in without being searched, or even disarmed. They sat in a meeting room for a few minutes, as tension racketed up. They felt the Young Twilek man before he walked in, and eyed them nervously. He shook Vyshaan's hand and they sat. She went through her introduction, complete with demure smiles. Taelros remained silent, trying to exude a sense of calm professionalism. Suddenly, he interrupted her demanding to know why she was really here, the force pouring out behind his words. Vyshaan lied in perfect monotone, saying that her family would be bankrupt in five years if outside revenue could not be found. Taelros kept his face neutral and his body at parade rest. He walked over to her and smiled, touching her face as he spoke. He said that she'd leave her money with him and stay upstairs in his private offices till he could see her properly sorted out. The weight of the force still pushed behind his voice, even as Vyshaan stood suddenly, driving him into the air with an uppercut to the solar plexus.
The glass walls shattered as force wave erupted from Ephraim, launching Vyshaan and him into the main lobby. The alarm blared as Taelros rose to his feet. He didn't need to ask the plan, he was to stay and keep the guard off of her back, and she would deal with Ephraim. He wasn't sure which was the worst proposition. Ephraim ran up the stairs, with Vyshaan behind. Taelros took a knee next to a bench and shouldered his rifle. The force slithered from him into the floor and outward in a radius. He could feel the soldiers scurrying out from their barracks and quickly surrounding the main lobby. As they crept closer, Taelros began firing methodically. Bolts of energy tore through thin plaster walls and into unaware guards. Six dropped before they called to regroup. Each time they tried to breach the inner walls of the office waiting room, they were met with a hail of accurate fire from through the walls. Before they could decide on a better tactic, Vyshaan came down the stairs alone and they left without comment. The delivered their reports separately and retired to meditate.
The council gave them both additional down time after that mission to cleanse themselves of violence. Taelros spent time ice sculpting. If you struck hard and quick, you could cut ice with a lightsaber without affecting the other sections. He spent hours in a freezer, sizing up large blocks of ice, judging how best to strike them and then making singular dramatic cuts. It was an interesting test of his abilities, both of skill and perseverance. He did little sparring in the months that followed, submersing himself within his art projects.
Eventually after he was good and thirty, the council came back to him. Their operatives had run into dark jedi in the outer rim in increasing frequency. Few casualties so far, but there were enough occurrences to worry the council. Vyshaan and him were chosen to be one of the four groups sent into the rim to try and find the source of these attacks while keeping as low a profile as possible. They were requisitioned a vessel with a suitably unsavory name, and left that night.
The trip to the outer rim took weeks, so they sparred and played cards, and rented holovideos. Taelros found himself quite enamored with Halcyon 9, a star fighter simulation that he downloaded and subscribed to. Eventually they arrived at Dantooine. The temple was aware of the attacks but had no additional information. After some deliberation, Vyshaan decided on a course of planet hoping. They would travel from planet to planet on the rim, loudly announcing their affiliation till someone bit. Then they would follow them home.
Our first stop was Ryloth. Vyshaan brought our claim of Jedi outreach to the customs officer and Taelros mulled around the star port, buying oversized pastries. He felt his attacker coming before he saw him. A dark haired man with an unfortunate hair cut and an evil glower bumped into him, knocking the cinnamon roll from his hands and shooting him point blank in the chest. The hyper awareness and paranoia that being used as bait made Taelros over prepared and the bolt burned through his shirt but harmlessly fizzled against his chest. His assailant dropped his gun and sprinted away, but Taelros tackled him. They fought on the ground for a brief moment, before his opponent kicked free and ran off. That however, was enough time to plan the beacon on his opponents clothes. Vyshaan met him on their ship, and followed the signal into space. They were able to follow their hyperspace signature to Tatooine.
They had no idea if they had beaten their quarry to Tatooine, or if they had stopped her or continued on, but Vyshaan and Taelros investigated anyway. There was an aura of malice permeating the star port. Uneasy eyes watched them as they meandered from shop to shop. Taelros flagged Vyshaan down and told her he was going to check the ship, hoping that separation would cause something more overt to happen. Upon entering his bay however, he felt several life forms scurring about on their ship. He radioed Vyshaan and went toward the boarding ramp. He was met halfway however, by blaster fire. Taelros slapped first few bolts aside and then dove behind the boarding ramp, using the ship as cover. He kept running, taking cover behind cargo crates in the back of the bay. He ducked blaster fire for a few long moments before Vyshaan came bursting into the room, taking them from behind and rushing on to the ship. Taelros sprinted after her, striking down his confused attackers on the way.
On the ship, The situation was more dire. Vyshaan and Taelros fought back to back in the main cargo hold against four dark jedi. They learned quickly however that none of their opponents had trained against the saber staff and were quickly confused. Vyshaan and Taelros traded sides often, and this added confusion gave them all the advantage they needed. They had dropped the number to two, then squared off evenly. Vyshaan quickly disabled hers, and Taelros tagged and released his.
Vyshaan was quick on the comms to SIS, and had preliminary identification of them. All of them were native to tatooine, and all four were half Anzat. While she listened, Taelros watched the indicator light on his tracking device push through the Mos Eisley streets and into the desert. He called a speeder rental service up on his holo while she listened to the analysis.
They discussed the news on the ride into the desert. She seemed concerned that all of their assailants hasn't had any living fathers, nor any brothers or sisters. Taelros thought it was strange, but didn't comprehend the implication. Eventually they saw a large prefab housing unit tucked away from anything else. They dismounted their speeders and made the rest of the way on foot, keeping low to the sand.
Once they got closer, they noticed that a sandstone courtyard had been carved out in front of their compound, complete with a fountain that flowed sand. It was eerily similar to the temple at Coruscant. The main building was unlocked, and had little in furnishings. They stood at the edge of a round open room. Small cushions ran the edge of a large purple carpet in regular intervals. At the head of the room was a large stone chair bordering on throne. A slender Anzat sat on the chair, half circled by robed men. When Vyshaan and Taelros walked in, everyone turned towards them started slowly walking.
On a prearranged signal, two side door opened and children rushed in at them, training sabers at hand. It was obvious that they weren't there to threaten them, just to muddy their swings and get in the way. It was depraved enough to catch Taelros off guard. He faltered a moment, unsure of what to do. Their tiny blades tore his clothes and burned his legs. He lept over them and back toward the door, and they followed in a tiny herd. Vyshaan continued on to the throne. Force built up in Taelros, and he commanded them to go to their room. Their tiny minds were overwhelmed, and they dutifully complied.
Taelros rushed up to assist Vyshaan, who fought with desperate fervor at the base of the throne. Heavy wounds marked her body, be she fought either unaware or uncarring. Taelros rushed in and slid to her side, once again fighting back to back until their assailants fell. Three were left alive, The head mistress and two of her followers. Bloodied and nearly beaten, they dragged them back to their ship and returned home.
