Interesting story.

[Hishamori]

Hishamori could honestly say the last time she had seen anyone from the old days or before the days of the evacuation of the old temples, was rather rare.

Mainly in the fact she had stuck to her side of the galaxy since the whole things had happened, and had rarely ventured off her current stomping grounds. That and she kept herself busy with simple supply runs, patrols, and managing an outpost that surprisingly sees a good amount of use from it being used as both a supply base and a kind of refuge for Jedi and rebels needing a break or a safe place to stay for a small while. The training facilities that Hish had set up also helped with that.

Hish was currently in her main quarters for the outpost, checking the new construction plans she had in mind in order to improve her little outpost, they were mainly defensive structures as the outpost had been steadily growing in size as time had gone by. It also helped that her outpost was able to house tons upon tons of supplies through the use of a underground storage area, so even if the outpost was found and possibly destroyed the supplies it actually held would be safe from the mayhem and could to be accessed.

Putting the datapad down, Hish looked out the window from where she was sitting to stare out over the little outpost she had set up. She honestly didn't think her little outpost would see very much action, but she had been proven wrong rather quickly in that assumption.

Now that she thought about it, she felt like she was forgetting something... was there anyone she was expected to be seeing today? Hish glanced towards the datapads that sat on her desk and noticed one mentioning about 'Jedi Master Kai'......... ohh force was she an idiot. Hish facepalmed as she just realized Kai was supposed to visit today, sighing in slight annoyance at her own forgetfulness, she stood up from her chair and headed over to the CQC for the outpost to see if he had arrived yet. She wondered how he had been since the last time she had seen him was during that one op that happened so long ago. Well once he arrived she could ask him, she had no doubt he'd have a rather interesting story to tell her once he did arrive.

@Ral Aran

 

[Ral]

Kai Sera's X-Wing dropped out of hyperspace over the planet Hishamori's had set up her little outpost on. It had been many many months since he had seen the Jedi Knight, in fact he had been promoted twice since their last mission together, and he thought it might be a good idea to drop in on her and see how she had been after the battle of Naboo. Naturally, Kai had been up to quite a bit since then. Training Padawans, fighting in battles, covert operations against the Empire. The whole lot. Since it had been a while, Kai thought he should see if there was anything he could do for the knight, or perhaps just see if she would like to have a friendly conversation to catch up and see what was new.

Piloting his X-Wing down to the planet's surface it didn't take the young man too long at all to find where the landing pad of the outpost was located. Once he did the Jedi landed his craft gently like a feather. "Arty, make sure the ship is all locked up before you unplug yourself, alright there old friend?" The droid whistled its affirmative response with its usual sass and Kai smiled, giving a quiet chuckle. "Excellent. I'm not sure how long I'll be, so get comfy."

Opening the canopy of his fighter the young, but fairly experienced Jedi hopped on out and landed on the ground with a light tap. Looking around, he quickly picked the tall female out. Waving to her, Kai approached, "Hello Hishamori! How have you been since we last spoke?" He asked, bowing once he was close enough and then wrapping her in a friendly hug afterwards.

 

[Hishamori]

Hish smiled down a bit towards the now Jedi Master and bowed back, before returning the hug and laughing quietly about the whole thing. "Hello to you too, Kai." Hish said with some amusement as she backed up and gestured him to follow her. "I have been rather well. Busy, but well. As you can no doubt see from some of things around us." Hish did a small gesture to some hauler droids and another small freighter ship at the other landing pad unloading and loading supplies onto the ship along with a few people overseeing the whole loading. "The outpost has steadily been seeing more people at it, even more so after the declaration of the council to wage war on the sith..." Hish paused for a short moment while stopping to look kai with a rather worried and somewhat exasperated look "Well less of a declaration and more of a statement that we'll be actively fighting them now, or at least as close as we ever going to get to it with our current numbers." Hish said with a small sigh, before continuing forward heading in the general direction of the command center. Hish then gestured toward a large building that wasn't very far from where they were. "That's the training center. Recently knights and their padawans have been coming here on a regular basis as my outpost is apparently quite safe and is adequitely equipped for training. Also having saved those records of mine and storing them there probably also helps." Hish said with a small grin as she referenced the fact she had saved several training manuals and lightsaber forms and techniques back when she was still a padawan, she found it rather funny that she had kept the copies around, but also sad that her rather at the time basic copies are now somewhat rare these days.

Entering the command center, Hish gestured towards the table that had several chairs for Kai to sit, the command center also acted as mess hall, the upper floors being the command center bit, while the lower floor acted as a mess hall and some living quarters. "So you want anything or are you good?" Hish asked as she got herself something to drink, and a small snack.

@Ral Aran

 

[Ral]

"Ah, yes, I can see that! At least you've been keeping busy then," Kai stated with a smile on his face as he looked out at the droids on the landing pad. Looking back to Hishamori, Kai listened rather impassively to the knight, following her inward as she spoke, seeming rather worried about the council's declaration of war on the Sith. Really the declaration of war was more of a formality, a way of saying they were no longer going to stay in hiding as the Galaxy passed them by, and Hish seemed to realize that by her follow up statement. Looking to where she stated the training center was, Kai's grey eyes looked at it, nodding approvingly as the walked by. "Well, at least the Jedi have a safe haven to go to then. We always can use more of such places; places where we can train and work together to become better and spread out knowledge so it is not lost. It is a good thing you kept those records then, probably a wise move all things considered. Perhaps more Jedi should take after you." He offered her a polite smile as she led him into the command center.

Taking in the set up of the command center, Kai frowned a little at the odd design combination. Whatever worked he supposed. Looking back to Hishamori as she offered him a drink he shook his head, waving his hand casually through the air dismissively. "No, thank you though, I am quite fine." He said as he took a seat in one of the chairs. Inhaling, Kai watched Hish as she took a seat. After a few moments he spoke again. "So, what do you think the direction the Order is going, Hish?"

 

[Hishamori]

Hishamori sighed before looking at Kai with a rather sad expression "To be honest?" Hish said with a somber tone "While I'm glad that we are going to try and fight the Sith, again, to a point in open warfare. I'd honestly prefer we didn't. Not yet anyway." Hish sighed a bit, she seemed to be doing that a lot lately... sighing that is. "Of course us continuing to stall the inevitable is not exactly a great idea, especially when things are getting more and more intense and well with how the imperium is kind of fracturing at the current moment, there's honestly no better time for it." Hish said honestly. "However, we just don't have the numbers that we used too. We are lacking, heavily, in Knights and Masters, we have a rather gigantic pool of padawans, but not enough knights or masters to train all of them, and to further add onto that any training that is done is done in bulk, meaning that not many of the padawans we have are getting personal training from any of our veteran Jedi that help pass on the knowledge and teachings of our order." Hish said sadly with a rather sad look. "Heck, what masters we do have our part of the council and that's practically all of them. Meaning most of our veteran and oldest Jedi that have been around for a long time are just too busy to train the padawans. Our knights could train the padawans in their place and they are, but we sadly just don't have that many, and how many of our knights are actually from the time period of when the Jedi order was still standing strong with many many Jedi knights and masters, that were of great quality?" Hish said with a small shake of her head "Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that our knights are incapable or that they are weak by any means, but if you do the comparison to the knights of the past to the knights of now, the overall quality has gone down, but quite a decent amount" Hish said honestly "Heck even the overall quality of our Masters has gone down, from how they were in the past." Hish sounded rather frustrated with the whole thing as she talked about it, and who could blame her? Hish had become a knight during the old days when the Jedi order was still a power and force to be reckoned with, where the knights and masters could easily match if not beat the best warriors and masters the sith had to offer at the time, those times have now come and gone. It was no longer the case, If someone were to try and do a overall skill evaluation to Hish, they'd probably put her towards either being a really powerful and skilled knight or possibly even a Jedi Master in her own right; however, if they were to do that evaluation during the time of the Jedi order being pretty much at the height of it's power during the early days of the war, Hish would qualify for being at least a rather brilliant and good knight, but no Jedi Master.

In theory Hish could be one if she tried hard enough, but Hish admittedly never had that ambition. She wanted to be a powerful Jedi, but not a master. To Hish being a master meant you'd have to give up things that she quite honestly enjoyed, such as doing rather simple patrols and such, it was silly, but she did really enjoy the simple things in life. She also enjoyed teaching when she could, it was one of her most favorite things to do shortly after she had become a knight back on coruscant and in the temple of the Jedi's native homeworld. Of course Hish was aware of how foolish she was being with the whole thing, she would not lose those things and she would still be honored to be named a Jedi Master; however, a part of her just felt like she would not enjoy the experience. Instead she'd have probably found herself rather dissatisfied and rather out place more than anything had she tried going for it, and then become one. So she was a bit of an oddball she was very skilled and was quite powerful in the force, but she wasn't power hungry nor was she someone who wanted immense power, she was simply someone who wanted to have the power to protect people that she both cared about and would want to protect. Like the Jedi are supposed to do, uphold justice and protect the people of the galaxy, bring peace to everyone so they could live a carefree and happy life, and not have to deal with the horrors of war and tragedy. Sighing a bit as Hish realized she had gotten lost in her own thoughts and memories, she looked towards Kai with a what could only be considered a rather heart breaking expression.

"Sorry Kai... I didn't mean to possibly sound offensive or anything. I'm just.... depressed as one could say about all this." Hish made gesture in the sense of the order current state and where they seemed to be heading. "I'll fight.... and do what is necessary... But at the same time I just wish things could be like they were before the war, it would probably be boring, but then at least I could continue to teach padawans and young-lings the meaning of the order's philosophy, seeing the wonder and amazement dancing in their eyes as I explained it to them. The younglings giggling when I do something rather silly while I demonstrate how to use the force to do amazing things, at time silly things, and the padawans rolling their eyes in exasperation, but trying not to laugh themselves." Hish let out rather large smirk her eyes dancing with humor "I miss all of that." Hish's face turned went back to that heartbreaking expression, that looked like someone who was tired and rather somewhat broken "If someone were to ask me what I love doing the most, it would be teaching, fighting is nice... I guess, but I've never really been fond of it. I'll fight and I will do everything in my power to protect people and the ones I care about." Hish said this with a fierce and determined look. "But at the end of the day, I enjoy the thought and idea of teaching children and padawans the meaning of what it truly is to be a Jedi, and see them smile and see hope in their eyes, or determination to show the galaxy that they are 'true Jedi'" Hish said with some mirth and humor as she seemingly quoted after a padawan who had been really excited after her lesson came up to her and told her that. She had been surprised by the determination that young padawan had shown, but she had ended up smiling towards the end and telling him 'she had no doubt, he would' she still remembered him beaming after she had said that and then running off to join his friends, smiling the entire time. Hish realizing she got lost in her memories again, simply put her hand to her face and groaned in slight annoyance.

"I'm sorry. I'm being really negative and probably an ass... somewhere. And I keep wandering off into my head like a moron. So again I do apologize for that Kai." Hish said with a slight smile and slight tinge to her cheeks showing her embarrassment. That's probably the third time she's apologized... it was official, Hish felt like a complete and utter ass.

@Ral Aran

 

[Ral]

The Jedi Master remained silent as Hishamori started speaking. It would seem that the woman would have much to say, so Kai remained quiet as she spoke, patiently waiting for her to finish. Kai could tell that she had a lot to say even as she started; there seemed to be some heavy weight on her that he could sense through the Force, something that she needed to get off her chest. Steepling his fingers he watched Hishamori explain everything that she seemed to have a problem with, or the things that were getting her down. For a Jedi, she sure seemed to have a lot of issues. Around half way through her rant, Kai decided to stand up and walk around the table ponderously as he continued to listen, his hands behind his back. When she started to finish, he approached her, his head bowed, and a thoughtful expression etched on his face. Unclasping his hands from behind his back so they were at his sides he raised his head to look at her his body clearly relaxed, almost oddly so. "Ah, you're done? Good!" Kai said rather jovially as a hand shot forward and across the Knight's face with preternatural speed.

A loud clap would echo through the otherwise empty control room as he retracted it back into his robes, the palm would sting from the slap, but it would be worth it once he started speaking. His grey eyes would flash aggressively and his body language would switch to one that said, Sit down, shut up, and listen to what I have to say, so the knight wouldn't think to attempt some sort of strike back. "Do you have your senses back now? Anyhow, now that you've aired your grievances, Hishamori, I hope you're ready to move forward with your life as a Jedi. You don't need to apologize for how you feel, but I don't want to hear of a knight wallowing in a depressed pity-party, moping about an outpost wishing they could have the 'good old days'. Attitudes like that are infectious. You don't think the Council wishes we could stop being in hiding, to teach and go about our jobs as peacekeepers? When the most excitement to be had was going to settle a dispute or round up some ruffians? You're not the only one who feels this way, my dear. The simple fact is that we can't all only be teachers all the time, the Galaxy needs us to be more than that. I'm currently teaching several Padawans and integrating a redeemed Sith into the Order as a Knight, and I still manage to take them out on assignment and show them what it really means to be a Jedi. I have longed believe the field is the best classroom. Do you want to teach? Then take a pupil and put them into a situation where they will be tested; they can only learn so much with a safety net. The Jedi don't need teachers now, Hish. We need Jedi who will act, who won't hide away because they don't like something. How can we defend peace and justice and the Galaxy if all we do is hide and teach? When there is no peace to be had the Jedi must become a Peacemaker, a Peacebringer. A Padawan taught that to me recently, a girl I met while on assignment over the border. If you sincerely think that the quality of knights and masters has gone downhill, then we need only look to those who have been teaching them for the blame. I'm sure Master Ghess and Master Gil would be interested in your thoughts, though; have you shared this opinion with them? Or perhaps Master Raythe?"

Kai paused as he grabbed the bridge of his nose and pinched a moment to breathe as he looked away. His words were harsh, scathing even. But there was a good reason for that. Hishamori wasn't a youngling, wasn't one of his impressionable Padawans. She was a grown woman, a Knight. She needed to hear what he had to say and endure what he meant by it. "If you want to do what you love the most, Hishamori, you must fight for it, because now is not the time for teaching. Now is the time for action. The only way we return to the 'good old days' is forward. It's the future we must look to, not the past; we can't get caught up in what was when we have to plan for what will be. If we want there to be Padawans to train, then we must do something to ensure that they will be able to train in peace, that they will have a future that is worthwhile and not lost in the bloodbath of another Sith war." Looking back at the Jedi knight he continued, "I like you Hishamori, I really do. But I want to see you stepping our of your comfort zone and taking risks. I'd like to see you taking a Padawan and doing more for the Order. The only way we diminish this pool of Padawans is by making them Knights, and we can't shelter our Knights if there is to be a war."

Turning around, he took a few steps away. "Do you know what I did, Hishamori? Do you know why the Council made me a member?"

@Hishamori

 

[Hishamori]

Hish didn't even flinch when the slap made contact, she merely stared at Kai with a rather unimpressed look and let him say what he had to say. By the end of it Kai's speech, Hish was out of patience. She didn't really mean to sound insulting, whether the Jedi have fallen in quality or not, was not up to her to say nor decide. It was just her opinion that they seemingly had in some ways. It mattered little at this point she said what she had wanted to say, and now she was being insulted and treated as if she was a one would say 'a man child' or woman would probably be the better term.

At Kai's last question Hish had enough. "No I don't." Hish said honestly before continuing "And I don't care. How or why you got your position is none of my business nor is it actually important to this discussion." Hish said with a calm expression, and rather neutral tone, that had some bite towards the end. "I'm aware it is the time for fighting, and I will fight, regardless if you had said anything or not about the whole subject. Am I trying to undermine the councils decision? No. I actually agree with it, we should fight. My only grief as one could say, is that we just don't have the numbers that we used to, and whatever we do have are not that well experienced fighting Sith. Does that mean I think we shouldn't fight just because of that fact? No. We should still fight, because regardless of what condition the Jedi order is in, the Sith are still out there rampaging through the galaxy and practically destroying it. I'll fight... I'll see if any padawans are interested in learning under me personally and go from there. If any aren't, or already have masters, then I'll simply just fight." Hish said with a small shrug, talking in a clam tone the entire time.

Leaning back in her chair Hish went back to drinking her juice, and simply just ignored the somewhat red throbbing mark now on her cheek. After finishing her juice she stood up and put the cup in the sink. Before turning her attention back to Kai "I apologize to have bothered you, Master Kai." Hish said in the most monotone voice a person could probably ever hear from her. "I hope you enjoy your stay and are able to relax. You can walk around the base if you want, but that's up to you." Hish said in calm and professional manner now instead of just a monotone. She no longer really wanted to talk, but if Kai still wanted to talk to her, either it insult her or whatever it was then she'd deal with it. As far as how she felt about the whole thing, She now regretted even talking about her problems and now just wanted to move on and not bother kicking a dead Bantha (dead horse reference).