Toppling towers... and other interesting tricks (Wei)

[Katina Milor]

As the ramp lowered, Kat put on herbest professional smile and headed down the cargo ramp with herdatapad in hand. This was her third run to the delivery spot, but thefirst time she was wholly in charge. She had shadowed her mentor thelast two trips and this time Leana was staying on board as if shewasn't even there. She didn't want her presence mucking things up forthe girl.


This was Katina's show this time.


She watched as the cargo containersbegan to unload. Each one ticked off on the datapad. Once unloaded,she would make sure each pallet was in tact and match her counts tothe receiving handler.


Her brunette hair, just past hershoulders, was pulled back in a ponytail. Her aqua blue blouse hungpleasantly on her torso as her deep black leggings hugged her shapelylegs and were tucked into equally black boots of velvet with justenough heel to them to look dressy. She wore makeup, but it was hardto tell. It wasn't much, really, just some tint on her eyes and lipsto accentuate her already porcelain face. She moved more like adancer than anything else, her turns and stretched taking intoaccount the full length of her body with each move, almost like achoreographed dance.


As she moved about she also hummedsoftly to herself. The pitch perfect voice once in a while murmured aword or two as she made up the lyrics. The tune was in time to themotion of the crates and pallets as if her music was moving them.Though more than likely, their motion dictated her variances.


Things were nearly set, one more palletto go, when something happened.


She had bent down to use her scannerreader on a pallet when the final one coming towards the stackstarted to sway. The mover carrying it lurched suddenly. A cry ofalarm went up and the woman turned in time to throw her arm up as herpitch rose suddenly and choked off equally as quick into a gasp. Thearm would have been a useless gesture at the pallet that easily was afull half meter taller than her, but without explaination, thetipping of the monstrosity suddenly shifted and the huge stack fellaway, landing just inches to her side just as another worker grabbedand shoved her aside.


The chaos that ensued was finalyorchestrated for anyone who knew about hanger accidents. Everyone whodrew breath rushed to the scene to see who was hurt and those whodidn't, bots and droids, began maticulously moving debris and cargoso anyone trapped could be quickly extracted.


“WHAT!?” A man's voice echoed aboveher as she came up from under the man who had tried to save her,though it seemed it had been unnecessary at the last minute. As sherose and brushed her pants off, the voice of the hanger foreman wascut off as he saw her and her savior fit and well, and not flat as asweeper bot. “How did you? I mean, the pallet, it would have...should have... it was going to crush you!”


“I can't explain it, boss,” the manwho had bravely covered her body, at the peril of his own life ending,had things transpired differently, simply scratched his head shakingit. “It was coming down on her. I thought, maybe if I could havemoved her away, or arched over her, she wouldn't be crushed. But atthe last minute, the stack went the other way.” He seemed asbaffled as the rest of them.


“Maybe the cargo mover shiftedslightly and the load went the other way 'cause of it.” The bossshook his head trying to rationalize it out.


Kat merely shrugged, unsure how toexplain it herself. No one, including Katina, seemed aware that atthe moment the box tower was coming at her, a burst of fear and ofodd peace that her life was ending, had caused a surge of Force powerwith just enough panic driven power behind it to shove the tonnageaside so it would miss her.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei Wu Wei, Jedi Knight, approached them with his lightsaber drawn. Crippled as he was, he couldn't use the Force without the presence of a clear tone, or a hum of a certain frequency. He shut down his lightsaber as he approached. As the blade receded, so did his heightened awareness. He clipped the saber to his belt.

"Everything ok? No one hurt?"

Wei noticed the crates. "Ah, my supplies!" He turned to Katina. "Who do I see about signing over the cargo?"

Wei had seen the altercation take place. He had seen the girl shield herself and the pile shift over as her hands moved in front of her. He felt the Force move and then settle when his lightsaber sprung to life. It was not unsurprising that there were still undiscovered Force Sensitives out in the galaxy, despite the Order's competition against the Imperial Knights to find them and recruit them.

Many Jedi believed in the Will of the Force--that the Force made arrangements for things to take place. The notion was supported by the Jedi Code: There is no chaos; there is harmony. Wei believed the Force only really wanted one thing. Balance was the only goal of the Force, and would find that Balance with or without the help of Jedi. Wei considered it the highest duty of all Jedi to help the Force along. Clearly, the Force wanted Wei's help with this girl.

"What's your name, Miss?"

[Katina Milor]

As the folks around her asked everyoneif they were ok, she smiled and nodded. She wasn't aware how closeshe had come to being crushed. As a light saber hummed to life thensilenced, Katina's head turned towards the man who called out overthe others.


“I'm fine.” She smiled and nodded.“Thank you, Jedi.” She wasn't familiar enough with ranks to evenattempt a title with her thanks. As he nodded to the supplies, nowbeing cut from the webbing they had been wrapped in to be placed ontransport pads, she laughed. “Yes, they are your supplies. I amsorry they fell. But I know they will be intact. I saw to the packingof them myself" When she had discovered this delivery was going to be wholly her baby, she had made a swift visit to the manufacture and packing plants to see to the logistics and the integrity of their product line. The company had prided itself on its flawless record, but she wasn't naïve enough to think someone wouldn't want to sabotage that just to see her fail. She was the youngest to rise through the ranks and knew that had rankled a lot of feathers along the way.


She stepped from the clutter and chaosnow ensuing around the pallets and held her datapad towards him. “Yousee me.” She nodded to his query about who to see about thetransfer finalities. “Katina, Katina Milor, Sir.” She brushed anerrant strand of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. “Ifby chance anything is damaged, I can be sure to send you replacementsas soon as I return to Corellia, Sir.” She was not making excuses,merely reassuring him she had every intention of making sure theircontracts remained in tact.

[Wei Wu Wei]

"My name is Wei Wu Wei," Wei said as he signed the pad. "Dilithium batteries are hard to damage. That's why they make great power sources for lightsabers! I don't think it'll be a problem."

Wei shook Katina's hand. "Corellia is a nice planet. My family is from Talus, the smallest of the Five Brothers. We used to make trips to Corellia for business. Are you native to the planet?"

The long-haired brunette woman might have been from Corellia. Lacking the ability to always attune to the Force and read a person's intentions, Wei had considered learning how to read body language like the Lorrdians. Like many small, far-away goals in the life of a busy man, he never quite got around to taking lessons. Oh well. He had the Forge to worry about for now. He'd just stick to that.

[Katina Milor]

Katina smiled as the man introduced himself. It was true, the batteries were pretty hard to damage, but she wanted him to know she was responsible and would replace anything that did get damaged.

“And why I want to assure you that should anything be damaged, we will be happy to replace it.” She doubted her mentor, tucked in her room on the ship, would agree, but Kat didn't care. She was responsible for the repoire so she would see to it that it was a good one.

As Kat watched him mark off the various items on his datapad, she shook her head. “No, but I don't know where I was originally from. I was brought to Corellia when I was two and raised up in a children's home till I was about ten. Then a couple on Corellia adopted me and since my new father worked in the factory, I followed in his footsteps.” She realized then that one of her hair combs had come out in the earlier escapade and was laying just under one of the pallets. She held a finger up. “Sorry, just a moment.” She then got down on her knees and reached as far under the pallet as she could. The comb was just out of reach by about a finger's width.

Frowning, she tilted her head slightly to allow her body to press closer to the stack and reached. Despite it still being out of reach, it suddenly seemed to either slide to her fingers, or her fingers lengthened just that last inch. Either way, she pulled it free and held it up for him to see. “Wouldn't want this caught in a ship or droid by accident. Safety first, right?” She pocketed the cracked comb and smiled. “I don't want to intrude on your inventory. If you will excuse me, I will see to it that none of the containers were damaged in the fall, excuse me, Jedi Wei.” She nodded respectfully and stepped away to talk to another man who was helping organize two humanoids and three droids who were picking up and restacking the cargo that had fallen.

As Kat nodded, apparently pleased with what he said, she moved around the stack they were rebuilding, as well as the scattered ones on the floor, to make sure none were damaged. Once more alone and unawares, she started humming to herself again. Her pitch and tone true to an old lullaby she had often heard as a child. Occasionally her voice would drop a word or two, though hardly coherant in the cacophony of the hanger.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei smiled and nodded as she excused herself. She must have been recently promoted or allowed to make this delivery without close supervision. She was eager to impress, and trying very very hard. His father would have called her "keen." It was a good word for young people like her. Wei considered his own father, life at the furniture factory, and wondered how much he and Katina had in common. It might make a good starting point to address testing her for Force Sensitivity.

Then he felt his awareness grow as the Force reached into his mind and pointed the young woman out to him. Her voice reached into his ear and triggered whatever it was that locked his power and set it free. The Force brought the sound to the forefront of the cacophony in the spaceport, and brought along with it a clear signal that this young woman had the gift.

Wei handed off the datapad to an assistant, along with directions to get them shipped along to the forge. He crossed the yard and got Katina's attention. "Actually, I do need to speak to you and your supervisor about something very important--not the cargo!" he added quickly. "Nothing is wrong, and you're doing great! It's just that, I think you have a gift. Hurry along and get whoever is in charge. This is kind of complicated and I'd rather explain it just once."

[Katina Milor]

A gift? Did she forget something in the manifest?

Katina bit her lip when he requested her supervisor, but relaxed when he said it wasn't about the delivery. Figuring he wanted to alter the current standing order, she nodded. "Yes, Sir. I'll get Ms Leana. One moment, please"

After several unsuccessful minutes of trying to convince her supervisor that there was nothing wrong, Leana exited the transport and headed directly towards the Jedi, an apology already falling from her lips. "Jedi Wei. A pleasure as always. I'm sorry if something wasn't up to standard." She was pointedly ignoring Katina who was now silently standing behind the imposing woman.

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Everything is quite up to standard, ma'am." Wei said with a smile. "However, there was an accident today that would have been very bad for Katina, except for one thing; she can use the Force."

Leana's eyebrow lifted in a show of incredulity.

"It's true! The crates fell as though they were pushed out of the way at the last minute. Also, I can sense her presence in the Force. I understand she is your employee, and she will need to finish her job, but if Katina wants to try, I would like her to be tested, and see if she can be trained as a Jedi."

[Katina Milor]

As Leana's eyes went up, Katina's jaw dropped. “Wait, a Force user? A Jedi? I'm just an ordinary girl!”

She had always believed the Jedi and Sith came from parents who were Force users. Granted, she never took into consideration that she was adopted...

She bit her lip and looked to the supervisor.

Leana managed to recover enough to look to Katina and keep her voice steady. “Have you turned over your manifest, Ms Milor?” There was a sudden formal tension in her voice. It was the first time in two years she had been referred to her last name by the woman she had thought was her friend.

Realizing her life was about to change, she straightened her shoulders and nodded. “Yes, Ma'am. Jedi Wei has the inventory data and the cargo has been accounted for. I was merely making sure there was no damage, which there isn't, and we are done here. We can go when you are ready.” She figured the woman would tell Master Wei that she would send Katina back when they were done with their rounds. After all, she still had one more delivery before they headed home.

“Good. Then go pack your things. You will not be continuing.” She then looked back to Wei and nodded. The smile she had didn't quite reach her eyes. “You have permission to test her however you desire.” Without another word, the woman turned on her heels and headed back to the ship.

Katina nodded and murmured to the woman's departing figure. “Yes, Ma'am.” She then turned to the Jedi and smiled. “I guess I am yours. I hope I am not a disappointment, though. I can't think of what makes you think I have Jedi abilities, though. My parents worked at the factory. Well, my foster parents aren't.” It sounded silly once she said it.

“I can get my things now, if you want. I mean, if you need, I can come back later.” She stopped and wondered if she was rambling again. She did, sometimes, when nervous.

[Wei Wu Wei]

"I have time. Go ahead. The cargo has to be loaded and sent to the Forge anyway, and that will take time. When we will check your Force Sensitivity."

A short while later, Wei and Katina sat in an open field. The Jedi Knight held in his hand a small datapad that flashed images across it. A speeder, a cup, a starship of some sort, and a bantha. He made sure Katina couldn't see the images.

"Ok, one way to gauge Force Sensitivity is to play a small game. I can sense your potential already: but I want to see whether you can access that potential. I'm sure you are excited, so I want you to do a breathing exercise with me. When you are comfortable, close your eyes and breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Just even, normal breaths. Pay attention to it. Listen to the air as it enters and leaves your body. The rhythm of your own breathing will bring calmness of body and mind. Then, you will be able to listen."

Wei set the example. He sat in a comfortable position; legs crossed in front of him, back straight, hands resting in his lap. Eyes shut. Breathing easy, in through the nose, out through the mouth.

[Katina Milor]

Katina had gotten her items and joined the Jedi as quickly as she could. She left a comm message to say goodbye to Leana, but she doubted she would ever hear from the woman again. She hadn't wanted to see Katina succeed, so Kat figured she was probably happy she had her route back. But then again, the woman hadn't held her back, so she felt bad for leaving her.

With her bags joining the last part of the shipment to the Forge to get later, she now sat across from the Jedi and closed her eyes. She breathed as she was told and soon her head filled with all kinds of doubts, worries and fears. She bit her lip and felt her brow furrow. But as she forced herself to concentrate on her breathing, she began to finally relax.

In.... she smelled the grass, heard the nearby critters and sensed the movement of other nearby things in the grass
Out... she felt her arms grow heavy, then light as she relaxed her muscles one by one
In... an almost eerie calm settled on her mind and she began to sense something else
Out...

Maybe it was how relaxed she was, or perhaps it was her ability to memorize and place things exactly where they should be. Whatever it was, she tilted her head slightly one way then the other, and a soft smile played on her lips as she thought, *It's as if I can almost see him sitting there.* She knew nothing of mind speech and wouldn't know how to project or receive actively if she did, but if there were someone nearby able to hear surface thoughts, her relaxed posture and state of mind made nearly every mental comment an audible one to those able to hear.

It took several moments for the young woman to settle, but soon her breathing and body were calm and she was able to sense Wei, the sun on her body and the wind blowing high enough over their heads to not be a bother, but strong enough to stir the leaves in the treetops.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Katina settled in, and Wei put a small comm receiver in his ear, then set his commlink to produce a clear, pure tone through the receiver. The tone fed into his ear and allowed his mind to stretch out towards hers. He smiled when she picked up her surface thoughts. ​This was good.

"The datapad I have in my hands is set to display 4 images in a random pattern. I want you to tell me what the images are as they appear."

Rancor. Ship. Speeder. Cup.

[Katina Milor]

Katina frowned a moment. How was she supposed to know what the images were?

But then she realized it was a test. That's what he was finding out.

Taking a deep breath, she took another moment to relax once more. Once she was relaxed she began to wonder how she was going to reach out when...

Ranc.....shi...sp...p

There was a soft whisper like the wind moving through an old abandoned structure.

Rancor... ship.... spee... p....

"Rancor...." She half whispered as if speaking would silence the voice. "And a ship..."

Katina frowned as her lip once more slid between her teeth in disappointment that it wasn't coming easy. Surely such things didn't, but it didn't keep her from wishing otherwise.

"A speed...a speeder?" She listened a bit harder and her last word was almost a query as if she were certain she was getting it wrong. "A cup..." She shook her head. Surely it wasn't right. She had no clue where the cluster of objects came from in her own mind, but the fact she had spoken them out loud almost made her want to laugh. If he were testing her to see if she had Jedi abilities, wouldn't the images have been of light sabers, Imperial soldiers or the Republic Seal?

Figuring she had failed, she shook her head and though her eyes remained closed, her relaxed posture was slowly receding once more. "I am sorry, that's all I get. An odd combination, don't you think?" She tried to laugh but it sounded more forced than her natural laughter in the hanger earlier that day.

[Wei Wu Wei]

"That was in fact the proper sequence. Let's do it again."

Wei refreshed the cycle.

Cup. Ship. Rancor. Speeder.

"Tell me what you see."

[Katina Milor]

It surprised Katina that she had gotten it right. With a bit more confidence, she relaxed once more and stilled her mind.

This time the words came through clearer, and even had a feeling to them. "It's almost like I can hear you..." She smiled thinking that was silly. But then, Force users had abilities most people thought impossible.

She heard the words and while her hesitation wasn't as great this time, it was still there. She wondered if she was hearing him, or merely wishing to. "Cup... Ship..." She frowned concentrating a bit harder. "Rancor and speeder?" This time she opened her eyes to see if anything had changed. Something inside her had, though she couldn't say what.

There was an odd stillness in her. "I didn't know such silent existed, or that stillness like this would feel so good. It's funny how something so simple can be almost unnerving in and of itself." Coming from Corellia, she had known nothing but the city edges and the factory. Silence was the hum of a ship as they traveled through space, but even that wasn't truly silence. This was something completely different and the experience of it alone left her wide eyes like a child on holiday in a sweet shop.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei nodded to himself. That settled it. She was in fact Force Sensitive.

"Yes. What you are experiencing is a level of peace that Jedi everywhere strive to maintain all the time, no matter what. And here, you are introduced to the first element of the Jedi Code. There is no emotion: there is peace."

Wei paused to consider his next words. "A Jedi must have the most serious mind. The deepest commitment. Jedi don't crave adventure, excitement, or fame," he said, borrowing from a lecture he'd heard from Master Yoda long ago. "It will take all your discipline to maintain that feeling of peace during tense moments. You may have to lay aside everything, even your life, for the sake of Balance in the Force, and by extension, the galaxy. Is that something you think you could do?"

[Katina Milor]

Jedi... a level of peace that's constant...

“Wait... are you saying I am a Jedi?” The surprise and loss is evident on her face. “I mean... I never gave any thought to it.” He said it would take discipline to remain calm and cool headed in the face of adversity and tense moments. She had done that. Many things happened in the factory, and some were sudden and violent. She knew she could maintain her composure in moments of crisis. She had proven it many times over.

“You say I may need to give my life for the sake of someone else?” Katina didn't even have to pause to think about it before her own head nodded clear and concise. “If my life was for the greater good, and not a selfish or sacrificial one for someone elses' gain, then yes. I could do that.”

Her whole life she had wanted to do more, be more and be part of something bigger than herself. It seemed whatever was guiding her had a mind of its own about how that would be accomplished. Suddenly she smiled and shook her head. “If the Force has a will of its own, I just hope it knows what it's doing.” She hadn't the foggiest clue what he meant about elements of the Jedi Code, but something told her she would soon enough.

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Very well. We will get you settled in directly. But for now, I want to know if you have any questions at all about the Jedi Order? Any at all."

Wei knew Katina had a talent, and seemed to be a calm woman from the outset, but he figured it wouldn't hurt to allow her to ask questions and see what developed from them. He had run across a good many Padawan who would burst out with "What? Are you sure? I didn't know about that!" It would be good for her to get her most urgent questions answered now, before she suddenly found herself wondering if she was the kind of Jedi material she thought she was.

[Katina Milor]

He was telling her her destiny, yet was asking if she had an queries.

“Why are you a Jedi?” She asked. While it never occurred to her to ask any other question, it seemed an obvious enough one to her. It was something that she was curious about. She was being granted a chance to do her heart's desire, so she knew why she would be one.

She shifted her sitting posture to be a bit more comfortable and brushed an errant strand of hair from her face. Soft eyes looked at him as if weighing and measuring him like she had just undergone. Then something else crossed her mind. "And what made you think I was?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Well, I was brought to the Jedi as an infant, back before the Clone Wars, when it was typical for Jedi to find Force Sensitive infants and offer to train them. At first, being a Jedi was all I knew. I couldn't imagine being anything else. After the Clone Wars, I got to experience life as a civilian, and I have since then discovered all the small ways the Dark and Light make themselves manifest. I chose to take up the mantle of Jedi again to put an end to the Darkness brought by the Empire and their Imperial Knights."

Wei studied Katina even as she studied him. "I thought you had the potential to be a Jedi because you are able to interact with the Force on an instinctive level. You are evidently patient, calm, and even-tempered. That kind of attitude will help you in your training. A Jedi is not something you are, even from birth. It's something you become. I think you can become a Jedi, with training."

Wei stood and offered her his hand. "Come on, let's get you registered and kitted out."

[Katina Milor]

Katina and Wei continue in PADAWAN PREPARATIONS (https://theholo.net/forum/showthread.php?57269-Padawan-Preparation)