(NJO) (Noathi) Lesson l: The Force

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“Kriff!” Noathi swore in frustration. He sat cross-legged on his bed, and focused on the red and green wires in the jumbled mess of circuitry in his datapad, which was filled with holos of his mother, the strongest person he knew. It had broken when the Jedi Order’s ship crashed on Ator Hollos. He closed his eyes and envisioned the wires in his mind.

Noathi reached out with the Force and carefully took hold of the two wires with invisible fingers. He then began to slowly ease them together, in order to restore the electrical current. This tedious task was made even sl by the fact that he was trying to utilize a power that only now, was he being trained to use

A task that was second nature to him now became akin to fighting a Gundark. (Which they had encountered on the way back to the Godspeed. Thankfully he was assigned with protecting the camp. To be honest, he preferred humanoid-to-humanoid combat.The amount of effort that Noathi was putting towards connecting these two wires was evident by the sweat on his brow, and his rapid breathing, which was made louder by his respirator.

Trying desperately to keep a clear mind, Noathi nudged the wires a fraction of an inch closer together. Quick inhale. Quick exhale.

Images flashed in Noathi’s mind. A woman lying bloody on sandy ground. Rough scaly hands grabbed her. “C'mon, girly.”

A young boy screamed and cried as she was dragged away.

Quick inhale. Quick exhale. The gray walls of an Imperial training facility. Harsh white lights making it even more oppressive. A teenage girl this time. “It’s over. This won't work out, you're better off with someone else. Someone more… Loyal.”
Quick inhale. Quick exhale. An imperial government building explodes. Quickly running from the scene of the crime.

His breathing grew faster. Quick inhale. Quick exhale. This vision was different; Noathi didn’t recognize it. He saw a dark room lit by only a few candles and filled with smoke from burned incense. A young woman stood with her arms out to her sides. Her dark hair was pulled into a bun. What looked to be servants were dressing her in an ornate red robe. Others were drawing on the tan skin of her back and arms with quills dipped in violet ink. She began to turn around at the sound of a deep voice.

Noathi gasped and snapped into reality with a start. He abruptly lost his concentration and connection to the force. This resulted in the wires connecting incorrectly, and the datapad began to spark for a few seconds, until it exploded from the overload of electricity with a loud pop.

In response to the noise, Noathi heard footsteps quickly approaching his room. Jedi instructor Nokori Imani burst through the door.

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“Noathi! Are you alright? What happened?” Nokori looked down at the floor beside Noathi’s bed to find the smoking remains of the datapad. Her worried expression became a smile, and she let out a small chuckle.

“I was trying to fix it!” Noathi protested.

“Did it work?” Nokori asked, eyeing the smoldering device on the floor.

“I was so close! If I hadn't lost my concentration it would’ve wor…” Noathi began to stammer. But stopped himself, the evidence was against him, he wasn’t talking to incompetent imperial officers any more. With a sheepish look he replied. “No…No it didn’t. I saw images. Most of them were ones that I recognized for my time before the Jedi Order. But the last one, the one that caused me to lose focus, was new. A woman was getting into a red robe. She looked like she was getting ready for something important.”

“Noathi,” Nokori said, the smile gone. “What you experienced was a vision from the force. Those are not meant to be taken lightly. The way you interpret them can change the course of history.”

“Why is this happening to me?” Noathi demanded. He wanted nothing more to do with what he just experienced. He wanted to learn how to use the force to defeat the remnants of the empire. He didn’t want to be a cricking fortune teller.

“It may be overwhelming, but this is a safe place to share what the Force tells you. We can help you interpret these visions. The Force is a lot like your datapad: each part of the datapad is unique, and together they make up a larger whole. The Force has given each of us a unique gift, and we need to use that gift to help and sustain the galaxy. That's the purpose of our order: together we use our unique, individual gifts to benefit the larger whole.”

As Nokori walked out of the room she turned to Noathi and said. “Don't be afraid to come to us with any questions, we're here to help.” A thought occurred to her, and she added, “and go speak to Asa in the morning about the datapad. I’m sure the two of you can get it working again.”
With that, Nokori closed the door behind her, leaving Noathi to contemplate his vision, and all he had been told.