Ask The Path to Balance: Humility

Izel Thral

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Izel's antennae twitched idly as she looked out the viewport at the approaching planet. Mon Gazza, a wretched hive of scum and villainy the likes of which were all too common in the lesser noticed parts of the galaxy. It was a world past it's prime, with the local Mining Guild struggling to compete with their rivals on Kessel by squeezing every last drop of life out of their workers. Crime was rampant, and there was a well-known smuggler presence in the ports. the Vratix and her Padawan could spend a lifetime here and still not solve all the world's ills. Which made it the perfect place to start their journey.

"Reach out and try to feel the people around you." She encouraged Isen as they approached the landing pad. "Feel their sorrow, the weight of the galaxy crushing down on them. And feel their perseverance. Their struggle to keep moving. Places like this see few heroes. Everyone just does what they need to get by. Let's see how long we can last..." The ship touched down and the ramp lowered, passengers of all stripes making their way out into the open.

The port was an unpleasant place, full of dry dust and noise. Streets were crowded with rough looking folks going about their business, miners and merchants, smugglers and thieves. Most of them were human, although there were some aliens mixed in with the bunch. As usual Izel stood out quite immediately, while her near-human apprentice would go mostly over looked. Their mission here was vague by design. Immerse themselves amongst the populace, learn whatever they could from whomever they could, gain perspective. And of course to help wherever they could, as a Jedi should help. By bringing peace, not violence. As they walked along the main street a scuffle broke out as a pair of men accused a loner of skipping out on paying them. One grabbed him, and the other punched him in the gut before pushing him to the dusty ground and spitting on him. They warned him not to dodge them again before walking off. Well... At least they'd have no shortage of things to do...

@Isen
 

Isen Ramm

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The padawan looked out of the same viewport, saw the same dusty planet dotted with the same dingy cities surrounded by many abandoned spice mines and others that were packed with overworked, underpaid miners that lived more like slaves. The young Kiffar had the same uneasy feeling as his Vratix master, but for a different reason. For Isen, he had fallen in love with Ajan Kloss and Yavin IV, forested bodies full of wilderness and plant and animal life living together. He had learned so much about life energy, and therefore the Force, simply by living in a place where he was surrounded by it.

Mon Gazza was no Yavin.

"Reach out and try to feel the people around you," Izel told him as they were preparing to land. "Feel their sorrow, the weight of the galaxy crushing down on them. And feel their perseverance. Their struggle to keep moving. Places like this see few heroes. Everyone just does what they need to get by. Let's see how long we can last..."

"Yes, Master," Isen responded. Izel may not have known it, but her words once again cut Isen. He was reminded how much he was concerned about himself, whether or not he would enjoy the planet, his surroundings. Master Thral, in her gentle way reminded him that a mature Jedi should be focused on the needs of others.

It was a reminder to Isen that he still had much to learn.

The two Jedi landed, and Isen was not thrilled with what he saw. Dusty, dirty. The view from above in the ship didn't do this place justice. It was much worse. As they walked, they passed two individuals ganging up on another with a stern warning before walking off and leaving him folded up on the ground. Isen narrowed his eyes, but steadied himself to keep walking. The immediate threat of the poor individual being smacked around was over, and he didn't know the situation besides.

Isen had never heard such cussing and swearing, seemingly at every corner and from every conversation. Unnecessary language that provided nothing to the conversation, but it seemed to be the culture to speak that way here. Isen didn't have to reach out to feel the fear and grief and anger in this place. It was rampant. The threat of violence hung over them like the dusty cloud that seemed to stay over the whole planet. He really wished he had his lightsabers on his hip.

As they continued to walk through the streets, intimidation was everywhere. Poverty was the status quo. Even though Jedi didn't dress in fancy clothes, and the padawan and his master were dressed appropriately so as not to draw attention to themselves, Isen in his plain brown robe over his normal, monotone brown and cream garb, he was afraid they still stuck out from the crowd because they were...clean.

Many humanoid Jedi walked either with their heads down or the hood of their robe covering their eyes and shadowing their face when they were out. Isen did not. His hood sat back on his head, showing his whole face, and he walked upright, his eyes facing forward, his face cold and ungiving. Stoic as always. The last thing he wanted people in this place to think was he was an easy mark. The last statement made by Izel came back to him. "Master, what do you mean by 'see how long we can last?'"


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Izel Thral

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Izel could tell Isen wasn't very comfortable here. But that was good. He would reach Knighthood soon and would need to be prepared for anything the galaxy could throw at him. Izel knew of his background even before becoming her apprentice. The boy had little in the way of real world experience, having spent most of his life amongst the Order. That was another part of why they were here.

"Remember that we come here as common wanderers of the galaxy." She told him as they walked along the street. the Vratix had to remain alert herself, so as to avoid any pickpockets and the like. Thankfully her large form dissuaded the common thieves from trying anything. And if they ran into more aggressive brutes, well, they had their ways of defending themselves. She only carried with her a plain wooden staff, the same she used before constructing her lightsaber, but she could still knock someone senseless with it. "We are not Jedi here Isen, we are just like them. Their troubles are our troubles. And we don't have the Order to take care of our basic needs. We're going to have to work to survive..."

Already the Vratix was scanning over the various buildings lining the streets, seeing where they might be able to start. It's something she hadn't had to consider in years as well. Before joining the Order she had been like all her other siblings, just another hand on her parents' farm. She knew how to work fields, how to cook and other skills of the household. Perhaps they'd have to move out further into the outskirts to find someone willing to hire them on for a time.

@Isen
 

Isen Ramm

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That was certainly a curveball. They were going to live here. They would work, earn their keep, and live like the locals. The padawan couldn't say that he was exactly thrilled about the prospects of the plan, but depending on what the job was, perhaps he could turn it into training as well as a lesson that Izel intended it to be. That would be hard if he was working in one of the street shops pedaling trinkets or sweeping in a cantina. Whatever the case, it had to be more interesting than living on Jedha.

"Should I go inquire about working in the mines?" Isen blurted out. Working in the mines had some real benefit. It was hard work, but he was sure that the heaving lifting and manual labor would make him bigger and stronger. He was already filling out, but he wondered if such a job would might expedite the results of where he wanted to be physically.

Of course, the mines brought about their potential pitfalls. The workers were a rough and tumble type, no question. They weren't at all opposed to handling their differences with fists and clubs. They hated their jobs and their lived miserable lives. They were sitting on red all the time. But, Isen figured he could just keep his head down, do his work, get stronger, learn his lessons, and then head to the leg of the trip.

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Izel Thral

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Izel almost found herself doing a double take at Isen's suggestion. Working in the mines would certainly be hard work, perhaps a little too hard. It was quite the dangerous profession. Still... she had just said that's why they had supposedly come here. Was it really her place to try and direct him how to do this? He was here to learn from them, not her, and if he thought this was the best way to do it than this was the best way to do it.

"If you think you can handle it," She said, worried but willing to accept his choice. "I would hope you'd be careful though." As they passed by a street corner Izel tentatively approached a group of men sitting at a table outside a cantina. They looked at both her and her Padawan curiously, likely perplexed by the sight of such an odd pair. Izel cleared her throat before addressing one of the more put-together locals. "Would any of you happen to know if there's any work to be had?" She asked a bit awkwardly. Most of the others seemed to take one look at her and chuckle before returning to their drinks. The man she had picked out just thought a moment and shrugged.

"Depends on what you're looking for." He replied through a gruff but not hostile voice. "New line of spice was just found out in Zugga's Canyon out west. Mining Guild has started moving folks out there to set up an outpost and start digging. They'll need builders, blasters, farmers. And miners of course. That's probably your best bet." With that he would return to his drink as well. Izel nodded to them.

"Ah, much appreciated." She said before continuing along, turning back to her apprentice. "See? We've got plenty of options. Let's see if we can hire a speeder out that way..." With that she would start making her way towards the nearest speeder outpost. An entire town being built just as they were arriving? Lucky them.

@Isen
 

Isen Ramm

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A funny looked escaped Isen when his Master asked if he thought he could handle the mining job. He tried to hide his expression behind a small smile, but his brows probably told the truth. She followed up with a quip about him being careful.

"Of course, Master," Isen said.

He watched the conversation between Izel and one of the patrons about where they might find work. Looks like finding gainful employment wouldn't be hard. The mines would be open. They would also need construction workers and no telling what else to start a brand new mining outpost.

The young Kiffar wasn't exactly thrilled with the terrain of the planet, and the locals certainly weren't the friendliest he had run across. But, Isen enjoyed physical work. Granted, he had never had a "job" per se, but he put more effort into his physical training than anything else. He lifted heavy, ran, and never failed to volunteer with the heavy lifting around the Jedi Temple when things needed to be done. He knew this would be different. He wouldn't get to pick his schedule and the work would certainly be more monotonous, but he felt that his body could handle it. He wasn't exactly stoked about the heat and how he would undoubtedly be spoken to regardless of what job he ended up with, but it had to be better than trying not to doze off watching holograms of Jedi Masters teach about subjects that did not interest him.

On their way to look for a speeder, Isen said, "I wonder if we might get promoted soon since we're getting in on the ground floor, so to speak." Isen looked at her as they walked, "Should I even try, or are we just looking to toil and labor?" He was unsure if Jedi should even be concerned with position. He knew that he wasn't to be overly concerned with when he would be a Knight or when he would reach Master status for the sake of the title. But he wondered if this was different.


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Izel Thral

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Izel was glad to see Isen was throwing himself at this task 100%. She knew it couldn't have been the most inspiring sounding mission, and she was interested to see how well he would adapt to the monotony of menial labor. Somehow she doubted the Mining Guild with it's reputation would allow an outsider to advance quickly in their ranks, but there was no harm in trying, that was part of living like the locals anyway.

"Absolutely," She encouraged her Padawan as they entered the speeder outpost and she began arranging for transportation to the new mines. "Work as hard as you can and try to get as far as you can." She looked to her apprentice and put on a slightly stern air. "I'll have no cheating though. I don't want to hear about some kid using the Force to move rocks or something like that. We don't want the attention anyway." She was already planning for herself what she could potentially do for work. There was plenty of opportunity in a budding settlement.

The ride out of town would offer them a closer look at the local terrain. Hot, dry, rocky and lifeless. This was certainly no Ajan Kloss or Yavin. Nor was it like Thyferra or Kiffex. This was a miserable world, existing to break the spirit of those who tried to make a home here. They really had their work cut out for them.

"I know it doesn't look like much." She said to her Padawan as the speeder zoomed across the red landscape. "But there's light even here. It exists everywhere and in everyone, even if you have to dig for it. We need to find it, nurture it, help it grow. You'll see. There are those here who would make this planet great, if only given the chance."

@Isen
 

Isen Ramm

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A small smirk escaped Isen's lips, but was quickly corrected, when Izel warned him about using the Force. Why the thought certainly did cross his mind, Isen fully intended to use this time to strengthen his body. The young Kiffar had long studied his people- their culture, societal roles, history, and geography. He was well aware of the planets Kiffu and Kiffex, the homeworld for his people. Kiffex, Isen's home planet, was home to several prison colonies for the Republic. Isen's research indicated that many who served long sentences used the opportunity to do manual labor or workout. As a result, many of the prisoners became incredibly strong and physically imposing. This wasn't exactly a prison, though quite possibly not from it. Nevertheless, Isen was quite confident that the same principle would apply. With his natural athleticism and size, he wondered what he might accomplish physically if he really went after the hard labor with gusto. He knew that using the Force to move rocks and ore wouldn't do that for him.

"But there's light even here. It exists everywhere and in everyone, even if you have to dig for it. We need to find it, nurture it, help it grow. You'll see. There are those here who would make this planet great, if only given the chance," Isen's master told him. He believed it. The light could be hard to find, quite literally if Isen found himself in the mines, but he knew that the light was still there. It just needed a pathway through the rock. He figured people may work the same way.

Regardless, there was more than just learning how to humble oneself on this mission which was to see the galaxy as most of the working class see the galaxy. They also had a charge to flesh out some of the goodness to this little corner of the galaxy, to see it bloom stronger and wider. That may prove more difficult than twelve our days in the mines.

As they approached Zugga's Canyon, the filth and squalor in the town looked like the penthouse suites at the upper levels of Coruscant in comparison. At best, Zugga's Canyon could be considered an outpost. For those that wished to stay, and that was nearly everyone, they lived in tents that surrounded the two entrances to the mine that led into the canyon wall that had found what they expected was the same vein. No permanent buildings as of yet had been constructed accept for a small wooden and steel building that pribably held the foreman's office.

He could see where provision stands were currently built and others were in the process of being raised. The people here were either hardened or desperate for work. Neither was apt to make those here kind or compassionate. Hardened people were prone to violence as were desperate people. He looked at Izel and said, "I don't think making friends and making merry are high on the list of priorities here, Master."

Isen saw a long line of people leading to a tent with a sign next to it that said "Non-Guilders Apply Here." The padawan noticed that all sorts were in the line. Women and men, young and old, large and small. By the size of the line and the wide range of people in it, it must have been the one stop-shopping tent for the stragglers wanting a job. Izel seemed to be right about the guild controlling things here. They got the cream of the crop when it came to the jobs, and everyone else who wanted to get on board got whatever was left. Isen shrugged and said, "I guess our future lies in that tent."


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Izel Thral

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The mining town of Zugga's Canyon was about what Izel had expected. She had seen similar in the rural villages of Thyferra where she lived her early life, although those villages were a good deal less rough. Perhaps that was due to the Vratix having a generally more peaceful and cooperative nature than most other species. From the look of things there was a high demand for workers as well, which would serve their purpose just fine.

"I don't think making friends and making merry are high on the list of priorities here, Master." Isen commented. Izel clicked thoughtfully in response.

"Don't be so sure about that Padawan," She argued as they stepped off the speeder. "When people live hard lives they need to make light of things where they can. Try talking to someone, make a few friends while you're here. You really are too quiet for your own good." Isen's general standoffishness certainly wasn't the highest of priorities, but Izel did think it would be beneficial for the young Kiffar to be a bit more sociable. As far as she was aware he didn't casually interact with many in their Order aside from her.

As her apprentice suggested, people seemed to be congregating towards the 'Non-Guilder' tent for work assignments, and so the pair would move in that direction. The workers applying for non-guild jobs were a bit more diverse as far as species went, yet most remained humanoid. As it appeared they would be waiting in line for quite a while Izel quickly took to her own advice and tried to strike up a conversation, tapping the shoulder of the red Nikto standing in front of her.

"Are you new to Mon Gazza as well?" She asked in an upbeat tone, not showing an ounce of hesitation. "Izel Thral, by the way." She offered a hand. The middle-aged Nikto looked to the hand with bemusement, then to the Vratix's face, then slowly reached out and shook it.

"Rus Wirc..." He replied hesitantly. "And no, uh, I helped build one of the water supply systems for another settlement about six years back."

"Oh?" The Vratix asked with interest. "How does the Guild pay?" The Nikto chuckled, a grin pulling at the corner of his mouth.

"How do you think?" He replied amusedly. As the two talked the line slowly but steadily moved forward. Within about an hour they were inside the tent, with only a few more workers ahead of them. There was a black and grey haired human woman sitting at the desk inside with dark rings under her eyes and a hard expression on her face. As each worker stepped up she would ask for a brief explanation of their experience before directing them to speak with someone else, and in a few cases telling people to just get lost. Soon enough the Nikto stepped forward and was unsurprisingly assigned to the builders. As the woman demanded for the next person to come forward Izel looked to her apprentice and gestured for him to take the lead.

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Isen Ramm

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"Try talking to someone, make a few friends while you're here," Izel told her Padawan. "You really are too quiet for your own good."

Isen gave a sly smirk at that. It was probably true. He wasn't much of a talker, and he didn't do well in social situations. Still, he had seen how many of the padawans and initiates acted, and he thought many of them were full of false machismo and conceit. Some of them talked with authority as if they were the knights and masters of the orders. Isen would much rather be seen as the strong, silent type than the "all words, no action" type.

She seemed to prove her point by striking up a conversation with some gruff looking stranger in front of them. Isen felt his anxiety rise slightly at this bit of annoyance. Isen was very happy to see that his master took care of the small talk for him. As they made their way to the front of the line, Izel urged Isen forward when it was his turn to discuss jobs. The Kiffar made his way to the tired and rugged woman taking names and assigning jobs.

"Work experience?" the lady asked without even looking up.

Isen hadn't really had to "work" before, but he didn't want to say that. And he didn't want to lie. "Mostly manual labor outside." That was sort of true. Whenever possible, Isen did most of his training outside, and it was laborious he reckoned.

The lady looked up, unamused. She did think it was possible. Isen's muscles were developing well, and while many of the people coming to her were struggling with the heat and exhaustion of the long wait in line, Isen seemed quite as ease. But he clearly was young...much younger than most of the people in the line. "Mmhmm. And what exactly did you expect to do here?"

"I would like to work in the mines." She just sort of looked at him absently, like he had said something stupid, so Isen added, "....as a miner."

"Are you 22 standard years? You don't look 22 standard years."

"Um, no?" Isen wondered what that had to do with anything.

"You have to be 22 standard years to start working in the mines unless you join the guild. And you can't join the guild until your 22 years of age." Ah, that's what it had to do with it.

"Why? I'm as physically fit as anyone you'll let work down there."

She sighed, as if she didn't want to have to explain. "It's not about your ability. It's about rank and file. They don't want people under the age of 22 working in the mines. Young people get promoted quickly because they don't require as much money to pay. The guild doesn't want anyone that young getting promoted to the higher paying jobs. Now, what else can you do? What about a hauler? You travel into town, load supplies on a transport and unload it back here for the builders and whatever else the guild needs."

Isen understood it, but he wasn't satisfied. He moved his across his hand discreetly and said, "You can probably make this one exception and let me work in the mines."

Her eyes sort of glazed over with those black bags hanging underneath them and she said, "I can probably make this one exception and let you work in the mines." She wrote his instructions on a piece of paper, tore it off the pad, and asked for the next person to take the spot in line.

Isen raised his eyebrows at Izel as if to say, "That actually worked?" and would step aside and wait on her to get her instructions.


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Izel Thral

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When the matter of age came up Izel suddenly realized her own oversight and nearly face palmed at her stupidity. Of course there would be rules regarding working age. She had never thought of it herself because when she worked as a minor it had been on her parents' own property and age hadn't been an issue. Obviously it would be different under these circumstances. But then it seemed the only reason the Guild was concerned with Isen's age was because they were afraid of him getting a promotion too soon, or ahead of their own members. That seemed much less reasonable to her, but rules were rules.

Or at least they would be, if Isen didn't use a mind trick to get his way. When the Padawan looked back at his master he would find her arms crossed and staring him down with clear disapproval. She never knew her apprentice to have a short memory. They had just had this conversation a little over an hour ago. Obviously she couldn't say anything here or she risked outing them both as Jedi, but she would still give him ample time to turn back and correct his mistake. If he opted not to, she would still just go ahead to be assigned herself. As much as she didn't like him using the Force to get his way here, she couldn't very well force him to undo his manipulation.

As the Vratix approached the desk the woman seemed to give her a look of disdain before asking the same question. "Work experience?" Izel folded her hands behind her back and stood upright as she answered.

"Five years in agriculture, primarily kavam cultivation. Cooking, house keeping and-"

"Sounds like a janitor to me." The woman replied dismissively as she scribbled on her pad, tearing off the paper and pushing it towards her before calling for the next in line. Izel stood where she was, somewhat dumbfounded.

"I beg your pardon?" She asked after a few moments hesitation.

The woman looked up at her and blinked. "I'm assigning you to custodial duties for the settlement."

"I just told you I have experience in farming-"

"And we already got farmers." The woman cut her off with a thin smirk. "Ones that won't eat their own crop." Izel reared her head back, completely astonished.

"What in the world is that supposed to mean?" She asked, starting to become offended.

"If you don't want the work there are plenty behind you." The woman said, not bothering to explain her remark.

"There aren't even any buildings here yet!" Izel said, raising her voice with frustration. "What exactly do you expect me to clean?"

"We got latrines." The woman answered with a smile. Izel suppressed a hiss, balling her hands into fists before snatching the paper from the desk.

"You're terrible at this. I hope you know you're only ensuring this place is less productive by not assigning people where their strengths lie." With that she turned and stormed out of the tent, cursing in Vratix. Around her some of the other workers began to snigger at the scene. Well things certainly weren't off to the best start. But then, they had come here to get a taste of what the galaxy was like for those without the Force.

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Isen got the picture that his Vratix master was not impressed with his use of the Force to land a job in the mines. Lesson learned. They were both given ration tickets to start their stay on the outpost at Zugga's Canyon. The rations were good for supplies, tents, and food. They were intended to get you buy until you started earning credits through your employment. Instead of buying two tents, Isen suggested they pool their rations and get one large tent. It would save a considerable amount of tickets which meant they were less likely to have to choose between basic necessities such as soap or bread. It also meant that Isen could get a "work shirt" and not completely soil the sleeveless undertunic that he had grown somewhat accustomed to.

Several days passed for Isen, and each day, he would come back to their shared tent, eat, wash up as best he could, and collapse into his cot. He would do as his master instructed, for the most part, about not using the Force. Sometimes, when he needed a little extra "umph" he might use the Force to swing harder to break into a node or to gain enough strength in his legs to lift things. He would never do anything that appeared impossible, but the fellow miners did marvel about the strength in this kid.

Isen worked hard, and he kept his mouth shut. While other miners, particularly the members of the guild, would take extra breaks or work lazily, Isen pushed himself to get as much work done as possible. The foremen loved him and praised him often in front of the other miners. His colleagues in the mines, they didn't like it at all. They often said that Isen made them look bad, that he was working too hard. They questioned his age and whether he was old enough to be in the mines at all. He was cussed out harshly by one of the older miners for trying to work through his break. Isen determined that he would take his full break from then on. If for no other reason, just to keep the peace. The other miners, particularly the guild members, were quite afraid that by Isen working so hard, the foreman might start expecting that same level of work ethic from the rest of the miners. To the members of the guild, that was too big of a risk when it came to negotiating terms of employment.

The padawan was the youngest one there, the most polite, and the hardest worker...by a long shot in all these categories. After two weeks of working hard every day, one of the "guildies," or members of the Miner's Guild, told him that if he didn't slow down and quit making the other miners look bad, he might just suffer an "accident" in the mine. Isen was in mid swing with his pickaxe when the man said this to him. The Kiffar did not finish his swing. He turned slowly to the guildie who had five guildie buddies behind him staring at Isen.

Isen bore a hole through the leader with his eyes. "I can't afford accidents. I'm not a member of the guild, so I don't have insurance."

The guildie, a large Nikto stepped up on Isen and put a finger his in chest and said, "Then I suggest you be extra careful."

Isen looked down at the finger and then back to the man's eyes. He wanted to stay calm, but also did not want to this miner to get the impression that Isen was afraid of him. "Noted."

As the guildie and his mates turned around, they didn't get three steps before Isen was pounding into the rock with his pickaxe harder and faster than before. The metal against rock echoed through the mines. Perhaps it was an unnecessary show of defiance, but the guildies noticed it for what it was. The men swiveled back around and power-walked to Isen. Isen could feel the ripple in the Force, could feel that the man was throwing a punch. Isen reached out with his left hand and caught the man's fist. He was using the Force to do so, but he felt needed to make a point. "Please don't do that," Isen said calmly. The other guildies stopped, a bit perplexed by what they had just seen.

The Nikto ringleader pulled his fist away and looked back at the group, he threw another punch, which Isen ducked under and popped up to give him a high sidekick in the chest. He was lifted off the ground and tumbled backwards. Another guildie tried to land a body hook, but Isen stepped inside it, continued his spin, and delivered a back elbow to the man's face. He crumpled like a paper in a bonfire. One man used Isen being tied up to deliver a hard straight just below his eye. It stung like fire, but Isen delivered a soccer kick between the legs and then a knee lift to the man's stomach as he was bent over. He fell face first into the dirt. The young Jedi turned to the other two, calm, stoic as always. "Is it necessary to continue?"

One of the two men started backing up. The other was helping his friends off the dusty floor. They shook their heads that it wouldn't be necessary. Reprisal was a concern, but if Isen got to work early enough, he could pick a spot closer to the foreman. The foreman stayed closer to the surface, so it would be hotter work, but he doubted that anyone would start a fight with him in front of the boss.

That night, Isen would come back to the tent, a shiner under his eye. He was tired enough to want to go straight to bed anyway. With any luck, he might beat Izel to the tent and get turned in his cot so he could hide his cheek. If not...he'd have some explaining to do.


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Izel Thral

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Izel's work wasn't as strenuous as that in the mines, but it was considerably more revolting. Day in and out she labored at keeping the camp as clean as possible and all it's utilities functioning. Not to mention with the limited amount of water she had precious little opportunity to bathe. It didn't pay particularly well, and and those around her did little to try and clean up after themselves. She hadn't worked so hard in years, but she kept at it along with the other custodians, and eventually they even started to get on top of things, rather than scrambling to keep up.

Many within the camp looked down on them, especially the guilders. Those in higher ranking positions seemed to go out of their way to make her job more difficult. Izel avoided confrontation though, instead taking everything with a carefully crafted chipper attitude that only seemed to infuriate them more. On others her efforts seemed to have a more contagious effect, and she found her number of friends in the camp growing. When time allowed, she would stay out to eat with them and talk. She heard stories of people coming from all across the galaxy's mid and outer rim, of countless different experiences. She herself kept to telling only stories from when she was a teenager, so as to avoid accidentally letting out the knowledge of who she truly was.

She talked with Isen too when he was not too exhausted. She would ask him about his work, and if he was learning anything. He was certainly making progress in the mines, although she couldn't help but feel the Padawan was still a bit to inwardly focused. He seemed to care only for his work and nothing else. She wondered if such an outlook would see him having difficulty understanding the perspectives of others, as was the whole point of this journey. So whenever she could, she would encourage him to come with her to eat with the friends she had made, or make some of his own.

Then one night she noticed a black eye upon his return. He tried to hide it but the elder Jedi confronted him soon enough, leaning in to get a look at it as he tried to turn away. "What is that?" She asked concernedly, before standing up straight and crossing her arms. "It's from one of those guilders isn't it?" She asked with mounting anger. She knew enough about her apprentice to know he wouldn't have gone seeking trouble out. And she was quite confident in assuming whoever had given the shiner to him was faring much worse off. Still, this was going too far. She wouldn't tolerate those self-important fools assaulting anyone, least of all her Padawan.

@Isen
 

Isen Ramm

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So much for sneaking in and getting to bed before Izel saw the shiner on his eye. At first, he thought she was mad at him, but when she said, "It's from one of those guilders isn't it?" the padawan let loose a sigh of relief. Still, the way she was looking and acting, he was almost afraid to tell her the truth. The guildies may have thought Isen roughed them up. Izel looked like she was ready to throw some haymakers herself. But, Isen knew he couldn't get away with lying. He wasn't too good at it, and Izel would have figured it out anyway.

Isen told her the whole story about how the guildies thought this upstart kid was making them look bad, he went of his way to show them that he would continue working hard, and how it all went downhill from there. He made sure she understood even how polite he was by asking the guy to "please" not throw anymore punches. Granted, Isen said it stone-faced and the intent was to intimidate. Turned out, he had to force three of these dudes to eat mud, but it worked itself out.

"Don't worry about me," Isen told her. "I have a plan of action to not get into anymore confrontations. I'll make sure to get their early and pick a spot to work near the surface. The guildies like to work as far below the surface as possible. I'll stay near the foreman, and I'll be fine."

He was pretty sure that would work. He knew there were some decision points in the story that could be dissected and better choices made. Isen did his part to escalate the situation. He recognized that. He went out of his way to make the Nikto ringleader look like a fool...twice. The Nikto had almost no choice but to throw a punch at Isen in order to save face.

"I know I shouldn't have made the Nikto look bad in front of his friends." Isen said. "He may never have thrown the first punch if I had waited for him to walk off before I got back to work. I'll be more mindful going forward, Master."


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Izel Thral

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Izel sat back and listened quietly to Isen's explanation, taking it all in. At it's conclusion she could only sigh with defeat. "You try to be a pacifist and people go out of their way to push you harder to violence don't they?" She remarked with a shake of her head. "You certainly did your own part to escalate the situation, and I expect you to think more carefully in the future as opposed to just trying to look tough." She looked away, antennae twitching as she thought.

"However... Just avoiding them isn't going to resolve this either. You've made some enemies. They'll come after you again whenever you're alone. We don't want to have that hanging over us..." She clicked thoughtfully before looking back at her apprentice. "Why don't we invite these guilders to dinner? Sit down and discuss things like civilized beings?"

She greatly doubted Isen would want that, but this was a point she couldn't allow him to keep missing. This test was about more than just experiencing the hardships of others. It was about learning better ways to overcome those hardships. Ones that didn't require beating people up. Sure Isen had fought in self defense, but he likely wouldn't have needed to had they resolved matters with their words. And talking didn't always help of course, but it would do them well to try and understand these miners better, rather than just intimidate them into leaving them alone or give them a wide berth. If Isen was able to make any headway with the guilders, Izel would go about preparing a meal for them the next evening.

@Isen
 

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The Vratix had the right of it. He would not want that. He also knew better than to protest. He hated to look like he was whining, so more often than not, he just kept his mouth shut. He paused for a long moment wondering how in the heck he was going to walk up to guys he just pounded into next week and ask them if they wanted to come over for dinner. His jaw locked and he sighed. "Yes, Master," Isen said. "I'll try."

The next morning Isen got to work early as usual, and as he said he would, he selected a working location near the surface and near the foreman. Nobody would try to pound him in front of the foreman. Not even guildies could get away with beating up the non-guild help. Non-guildies were cheaper labor, had no insurance or benefits, and were willing to do the more dangerous jobs in hopes they could get fast-tracked to guild status. The worst kept secret was that the foremen actually preferred the non-guild help over the guildies. They were much easier to manage.

The foreman didn't ask questions when Isen walked past him with a shiner. Miners were a rough and tumble group and often got plastered and into fights off the clock. He just assumed the youngster was picking up their bad habits. Isen picked a place to start working that the Nikto and his crew would be forced to to walk by in order to get to the lower levels where they could do as little work as possible. As they passed by, Isen tried to wave to them, but the Nikto brushed past him, bumping him shoulder to shoulder. The ringleader only took a sidekick to the chest. The human that caught the back elbow and the Nimbanel that took the kick to the nads and the knee to the stomach walked wide to avoid him. The other human and the Vodran that picked the bodies up off the floor passed by last.

Isen coughed and said loudly so that others nearby would hear, "Hey! I'm talking to you!"

Many miners turned to see what this was going to be all about. The Nikto turned around slowly and snarled as he gripped a pickaxe so tightly his knuckles started to turn white. He started walking back toward Isen and the others grabbed one of the many tools along the wall of the mine. Isen dropped his own and while there was still some distance between them, he said. "Do you want me to provide dinner for you tonight?"

The Nikto's growling face quickly turned into a confused contortion. "What the hell did you ask?"

The Vodran said, "Did he ask if he could provide us dinner?" He started laughing. "Who talks that way?" The others started laughing as well as many of the nearby miners who had walked over to watch the show.

Isen ignored it and said, "I'm inviting you to dinner." He nodded to the rest of his crew. "All of you, of course."

The Nikto pointed the finger of his free hand at Isen. "What are you playing, kid? Are you making fun of me?"

"I'm not. I'm trying to bury the hatchet," Isen said. "And, I've been thinking. I don't agree with you, but I understand you. I think I have an idea that will give us both what we want. I would like to explain it over dinner."

One of the humans snickered and said, "Yeah, and who's going to cook it you?"

"No, my ma..my roommate will cook it." He almost said master. In this crowd they would take that to mean he's a slave, and he couldn't explain it anyway without giving the truth away. "She is a very good cook. I mean, maybe what you all in the guild gets for dinner is better than the slop I can get with rations, but if you want to pass up a hot meal and keep butting heads, that's up to you." He knew it wasn't, but one of the reason that Isen always performed well in the negotiation simulations was precisely because he showed that he was willing to drop negotiations and leave the other party in a markedly worse situation than the status quo.

"A hot meal" the Nimbanel asked the Nikto. "When's the last time you had a hot meal, Deej?"

The Nikto grunted and looked at Isen. "You want to tell us an idea that you think we'll agree to and we get a hot meal?"

Isen just nodded.

The Nikto grunted again. He didn't want to accept, but he also didn't want to turn down a good meal...something that was more valuable than credits at this outpost. "Fine. We'll be there tonight. Tell me where."

Isen gave him the location of his and Izel's tent and completed his shift as he always had. He rushed home faster than normal to tell Izel that she better get started on supper and to prepare enough for the whole crew. He would give her whatever help she needed to get it all put together.

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Izel Thral

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Izel could tell Isen wasn't comfortable with her idea for an olive branch, and made sure to let him know she appreciated his cooperation. It wasn't easy being so friendly to people that had just attacked you. The next day she was able to use some of the good will she had built up with her fellow custodians to have them cover for her while she cut out of work early. They didn't seem to appreciate her making friendly with the guilders, but she implored them to have some faith. Given she always seemed so unflappable compared to all the other non-guilders working in the settlement they actually took her word for it.

She took a trip back to the spaceport and bought the best ingredients she could afford with what little she had. Thankfully it didn't matter all that much. Even for those with money, there were thin pickings on Mon Gazza. Their meal would consist of some small native reptiles and a creative assortment of spices. Izel roasted them, and put the rest into a soup. Given the limited resources it wasn't her best work, but it smelled good and tasted decent, and was still leagues beyond what they were getting at Zugga's Canyon.

Obviously their tent wasn't enough to accommodate the whole group, so Izel set them up to eat around the firepit outside. Thankfully the night was cool and clear, a more pleasant environment for their peacemaking attempt. When the Nikto Deej and his crew hesitantly approached Izel stood and spread her arms wide, welcoming them as though they were family. The appetizing aroma from the meal wafting over helped to calm their nerves somewhat.

"Ah! You must be our Guild friends!" The Vratix started amicably. "Come, sit, make yourselves at home. My name is Izel, and you already know Isen..." The Nikto looked between the two Jedi suspiciously.

"Deej..." He replied, and moved closer to sit with them, as did his cronies. After some awkward introductions the Vratix continued as she served each of them their helping.

"I heard about your little squabble." She said as she sat down and picked up her own food. "I think we all have enough hardships to worry about here without killing each other don't you?"

"If your friend doesn't want any trouble he should learn his place." Deej snapped, shooting Isen a hateful glance. "We've been here longer than any of you outsiders, we've earned our keep. Last thing we need is for you to ruin a good thing." There were grunts and nods of agreement from the others, scowls starting to form. Although there was some sense of conflict in one of the humans and the Nimbanel as they looked longingly at their food. Still it seemed none of them were willing to start eating until their leader did. Izel took notice of that and sat back in a relaxed position.

"Well we certainly don't want to cause trouble." She replied calmly. "That's why we're treating you. Eat. It will help calm your nerves." The Nikto looked at her and gave one more frustrated glance Isen's way before quietly taking a bite of his food, and pausing a bit awkwardly as he seemed to like it despite himself. After that his friends eagerly started to eat as well. Already the one human and Nimbanel seemed to be softening, although the others looked determined to stay angry. Izel looked towards her apprentice with a twitch of her antennae, clearly in high spirits. She said nothing to him, but her expression conveyed the thought: See? They can be reasonable.

@Isen
 

Isen Ramm

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Isen caught himself looking at Dreej incredulously and snapped himself out of it, but not before Dreej saw it. "What's your problem? You seem to have a lot of them."

"Ruin a good thing?" Isen asked. "You think I'm a danger to ruining a good thing?"

The Nikto snorted. The others of his crew started to get antsy. They mostly looked down at their plate or bowl and continued eating. "Yeah, you."

"You call what you have a good thing?" Isen looked and motioned to Deej's bowl. "You traded your pride by meeting with me for a bowl of warm soup. You barely have enough credits or rations to buy simple things like soap and you sleep in a tent in the desert. You have no place to live. You pitch your tent in hopes that the windstorms at night don't blow it to kingdom come and leave you holding your cot like a hitching post." Isen shook his head. "You don't have a good thing for me to ruin. And what's more, a lot of it is your own fault."

Deej stood up in anger, and Isen lifted his brow at him as if to silently say, "remember that kick to the chest?" To be honest, Isen had forgotten his Master was there around the campfire. He had activated his big boy britches. The Nikto's crew stood up and put their hands out and said things like "settle down" and "let's be good guests." They probably wanted to be able to finish their meal. It was significantly better than what people at the outpost typically had to eat. Deej was seething and he pointed at Isen. "Who are you to insult me? Who are you to say that what I have is good or it isn't? I have more than you! I'm in the guild! You're at the bottom of the ladder! Whose fault is that? Hmm?"

Isen ate and listened as the Nikto was burning. When he finished, Isen swallowed and wiped his mouth. "I'm a drifter. I have no desire to climb up the ladder. I'm just passing through. I'm here to learn. I'm here to work on maturing my body and to get stronger. I'm here to help people when I can."

"Help?" The Nikto yelled. "You call this bowl of soup 'help'? You're an arrogant little kark, I'll tell you that!"

Isen sighed and said, "It's simple economics. The guild has negotiated poorly for you because the guild's work is poor." The Nikto was getting worked up to yell again, but Isen cut him off. "Am I wrong? You hate me because my work is not poor, and it highlights just how poor your work actually is. Is that not true? Your position is that you suffer because I work too hard. Justify that morally."

The rest of Deej's crew looked at their leader and sort of shrugged. They realized the kid had a point. "You know the guild doesn't get much work done. They do little work over a long period of time. You can't get paid more because the miners don't produce enough of their product to for the parent company to make a larger profit. The more ore you mine, the more the company sells. The more the company sells, the more credits it have. They more credits the company has, the bigger their budget for paying the miners. Until the guild gets on board with increasing production, you're going to keep eating cold sludge and being happy to have just enough rations to drink yourself into believing you 'have a good thing.' So, it's not all your fault, but your mindset that prevails throughout the entire guild is at fault. You have that mindset, so you have to take ownership for your part in that fault."

The rest of the crew fell completely silent and sat down. Deej was breathing slower and was clearly thinking about what Isen had to say. He really hated being lectured to by a kid. He finally blurted out. "I can't change the mindset. I'm one person. We're one crew. We could bust our tails from the time we clock in until the time we clock out and it won't change what miners get paid."

"I know that's how you feel, and I doubt you will change," the padawan said. "I will not change either. I work hard because it's the right thing to do. I'm paid to do a job, and I do it the very best that I can. I will continue to outwork you and outproduce you every single day if your mindset doesn't change."

The Nikto started getting worked up again. "You told me today that you had a plan that you thought I would agree with. Sounds like your little plan is to change nothing. Why would I agree to be happy with that?"

"Because I'll join your crew."

The Nimbanel dropped his spoon as his jaw dropped. The rest of the crew was just as shocked. Deej stood up and roared. "What? Join my crew? Are you insane?"

Isen put his plate to the side and wiped his mouth with an old cloth- the closest thing he could find to a napkin. "I'll work hard. I'll pull out more ore than seven or eight guildies combined like I always do," Isen said. "But, I'll only credit myself with the minimum quota and I'll let you and your crew divvy up the rest evenly."

One of the humans leaned forward and said, "You'll let us take credit for your work?"

Isen nodded. "I'm not here for praise or to impress a foreman. My intention is to do the best work that I can for the company that pays me. I don't care who gets the credit. My conscience will be clear. My spirit, my mind, and my body will be better for it. You can't put any amount of credits on that."

Deej looked at Isen with a wary eye. "What kind of trick is this, boy?"

Isen shook his head. "It's not a trick. My goals can be reached with or without promotion and higher pay. But, if, as a crew, we all worked hard together and the entire crew's production outpaced every other crew by a substantial margin..." Isen shrugged a bit. "I suppose the entire crew would get recognized and probably promoted up that ladder you're so fond of. Maybe you would get enough rations to stay in the temporary housing structures they just finished. You guys may be too good to put forth that sort of effort though."

The crew all started looking at each other wondering if that was even possible. "But, short of that, I'm only requesting a scenario where I can do my work and everyone here be happy with the optics."

The Vodran looked at Deej. "What'ya say, Deej? I've seen worse deals made for sure."


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Izel Thral

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"Isen..." Izel started quietly, trying to warn the Padawan against causing more trouble. But she was quickly drowned out by the shouting of the angry Nikto. More surprising, as the conversation went on it seemed the young Kiffar was actually swaying the miners to his way of thinking. Izel's antennae twitched, the Vratix sitting back and listening intently as the debate progressed. By the end of it, her apprentice seemed to have gained the upper hand. Like all the others Izel looked curiously to Deej for his response. The Nikto made a show of mulling it over perhaps a little longer than it actually took him to decide.

"I say these two are completely insane." The Nikto growled as he looked between the Jedi. He then looked directly at Isen. "But... If you actually do what you say you'll do... That'd help us a lot... You've got a deal." He would then spit in his hand rather crudely and grab Isen's, giving it a forceful shake before quietly returning to his meal. Immediately a weight seemed to be lifted off the group as everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief and dug in. From there things were generally easy-going, even cordial. Some of the guilders seemed willing to get on quite well with the Jedi after the tension had been broken between them. After they left Izel would look to her apprentice with a mixture of pride and shock.

"Well that's not the way I would have done it..." She said with a hint of amusement in her tone. "But I suppose there are many different ways to skin a Loth-cat." She began to gather the used dishes to be cleaned. "You'll be killing yourself working for all of them at once. I'm curious... what exactly is your intention going forward with this?" She knew they were there to help and learn, but her parents had always taught her to work smarter, not harder. She was interested if her Padawan actually had a plan, or if he was just going to brute force his way through this new challenge. Of course either way that was his decision to make and she wouldn't judge. There were no wrong answers here. Only tedious ones, apparently.

@Isen
 

Isen Ramm

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Happy to get Izel Thral's approval, Isen offered a smile. She asked what his intention were going forward. It was a great question. His initial intention was to just keep the peace. He wanted to be able to continue to work hard in the mines to build his physical body, to get stronger, bigger, and build stamina during grueling labor. His mind was originally set where it always was- combat readiness.

Isen didn't intend to speak as he did to Deej, but when the Nikto said that Isen was threatening to ruin a "good thing," the padawan just couldn't take it. The people working in the mines, heck, nearly everyone working in this outpost, did not have a "good thing" to ruin. It just ran all over Isen, and he probably shot his mouth off more than he should. However, as he spoke, Isen realized that there could be more at stake than just Isen's physique.

"I don't know if it's possible, but I hope these miners learn some self-respect," Isen said. "They act tough like they think very highly of themselves, but they have no self-respect all. If they were willing to work harder and fight for better wages, they wouldn't have to live like..." He motioned his arms around. "like this. I feel like it's been like it is for long, they don't even realise the potential they have to improve their lot."

He started to help her with the dishes and and the cleaning. "The problem is, even if I could get Deej's crew to work as hard as they could, it wouldn't change the state of things. They're just a drop in the bucket. They'd get promoted probably, but the rest of the miners would keep doing the bare minimum and they'll just keep getting paid the bare minimum and living in tents out in the middle of a dust storm."


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