forgivetheinsubordination | IC Contact

FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org

Yes.

[Are you kidding?]

FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org

By blaster I take it you're talking gun? Or is this some sort of specific gun we're gonna need?

FROM: skywalker.luke@cdc.org

you call them guns too? it's such a strange name

FROM: skywalker.luke@cdc.org

any gun will do. or just projectiles. you can throw rocks if you want.

FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org

Prefer it to blaster. That's like calling your homeworld dirt. Or Earth.

FROM: vakarian.garrus@cdc.org

I'm a sniper. I'm not gonna throw rocks. Where'll I meet you?

FROM: skywalker.luke@cdc.org

only if your homeworld's a blaster

FROM: skywalker.luke@cdc.org

I'm outside the boxing gym. if you're a sniper you can fire on me whenever you're ready

[Any other replies won't be answered, because Luke has put his blackglass away to prepare. Garrus will find Luke sitting on the hood of a landspeeder parked outside the gym. He's sitting cross-legged, and the unignited lightsaber is lying before him. His eyes are closed.]

[He has no idea what that first response means, unless Luke's universe is another without Earth. It's entirely possible. It also means the joke fell completely flat. Oh well.

Garrus re-reads Luke's file as he heads over. Telekinesis, telepathy. That means Luke will know he's there, can stop the bullet with that, too, but he's still a little not sure about just taking a shot when he's ready. Yes, Luke said to. But just in case, once Garrus is in position, he calls out:]

In five!

[Maybe it's far more warning than Luke needs, but he's not going to risk it. Luke is no enemy. And then, five seconds later, Garrus takes the shot.]

[In truth, Luke thought it was funny-- he's also getting a little tired of hearing about this Earth place-- and was just being cheeky. Of course, he's from a place where text-based communication is rare, so his meaning doesn't always come through.]

[While Luke appreciates the intention behind the warning-- he can certainly guess at it, and understand why someone wouldn't want to accidentally shoot him in the head-- it does dampen the intended effect a little. Isn't that a good thing, though? Jedi aren't supposed to show off.]

[With a sigh, Luke stands, feet firmly in place on the hood of the levitating landspeeder. He holds the lightsaber, still unignited, and faces the direction of Garrus' voice. He's half way through a 'can you blame me' shrug when he hears the Force whisper in his ear.]

[It's coming.]

[Luke lets himself relax, trusting the Force entirely. His mind rolls back, and he feels it linking his reflexes with the currents of the living Force, until everything is simple, fluid action. It lasts for about ten seconds, but probably looks much faster, while, in Luke's mind, it felt longer: In one fluid motion, he ignites the lightsaber, waves his arm, deflects the shot, and retracts the blade. Depending on what kind of shot Garrus used (energy-based, or metal slug), he either deflected the energy to a spot of now-scorched pavement, or he cut the bullet in half.]

[He looks up at Garrus with a wide, guileless grin.]

Edited 2015-06-16 21:35 (UTC)

Damn.

[He's not sure Luke opened his eyes for that. Garrus considers the scorched pavement for a moment before shaking his head, impressed, and seeing the grin on the guy's face. Of course Luke's grinning. If Garrus had managed that, he'd be pretty smug too. Garrus drops down from the top of the truck he'd gotten onto for the shot and walks over to Luke while he puts the gun away.]

And that's... because of your religion?

[This would be the first time Garrus has ever seen something religious be actually useful. At all.]

Or not-religion. I wasn't quite clear on it.

[But if sitting around meditating could achieve that, Garrus might just be willing to accept that there's something else out there. Maybe. It depends on how much is ascribed to this other being or whatever it is Jedi believe in.]

I still dunno if I'd call it a religion. Religions have... gods, that kind of stuff. [Luke Skywalker, resident theologian. He sits down on the hood of the speeder, his legs dangling off the side. Things always feel a little brighter and sharper when he's let himself blend into the Force like that, and it makes him cheerful and easy-going. It's not like he's not these things to begin with, though, so the noticeable difference is negligible.]

Being a Jedi means you can become one with the Force... if you practice enough. Meditation is a part of that. [Lots of meditation.]

[The guy does seem pretty cheerful, or he has every time Garrus has noticed Luke. It's a little strange. Or maybe it's a facade. It doesn't really matter either way, yet. What does matter is that there isn't a deity, because Garrus likes not believing in them.]

The force.

[If this is another Fade thing...]

What is it? Is it some sort of calmness?

[That would fit with meditation, at least. He comes over and leans against the speeder himself.]

Uh, sort of. It's the natural energy of all living things. It flows through everything, everywhere. Jedi just train enough to... influence it. [Luke extends his hand, and a tiny pebble from the asphalt begins to rise from the ground, gently floating on the breeze as though it were a falling leaf. Eventually, it lands in Luke's palm.]

[He's explained this concept several times since he got here, and he's found it works best when it benefits from a demonstration.] It's sort of like luck, or fate. It let me know where the blast would land, and I let it move my hand... [The idea dawns on him just then, and he beams,] like I moved this pebble, and, well... you saw what happened.

The Force moved your hand?

[Garrus had somewhat been with Luke until that. Sure, okay, everything has energy, why wouldn't someone figure out how to tap into it? But it moving Luke's hand suggests more. Suggests awareness. And he almost doesn't want to ask more questions because the look on Luke's face is so bright... But maybe if they find a way to make it make sense to Garrus then it'd be even brighter.]

Couple of questions, if you didn't mind. First, how's it work with a rock when a rock's not living? Second, how did plain energy know to move your hand?

I don't mind. Shoot.

[In the past, Luke's seen explaining this sort of thing as an annoyance-- it's hard and involves a lot of metaphors and philosophical thinking. But now, after the constant repetition of the CDC, he thinks he's getting good at it. He sees answering questions as an opportunity. This is surely part of being a Jedi master-- it's something he'll have to do for his padawans, one day.]

[His padawans. He keeps grinning.]

Because I'm a living thing, that's how I was able to move it. [That's a simple answer, he thinks. Well, if he explained it correctly. Only time will tell, huh?] Another way to think of the Force is... luck. Or fate, or chance. There was a way to block your fire, and the Force let me see it. All I had to do was trust it, and be able to listen.

[There, Luke's not sure he explained it correctly. He kind of cringes, shrugging, and waits for Garrus' inevitable confused reply.]

[That is such a grin. There's some thought that's made Luke happy and Garrus has no clue what it is, but that's all right. Especially when there are other things he has no clue on, like what Luke is trying to clarify.]

So luck... moves rocks.

[It's not accurate and he knows it. But he's not sure how to ask any questions that won't sound absolutely stupid. He shakes his head.]

I'm sorry. Not following you at all. I mean, yeah. Okay. Luck can come into how you block fire. So that's unfamiliar, but I'll take it. The other... I'm still stuck on the rock. I don't think, or I don't wanna think, that there's a chance gravity's just gonna stop working, and that's what luck implies with floating rocks. I think.

Hmm. I don't think I'm explaining this very well. [But he's still grinning ear-to-ear; it doesn't matter if he falls down, this is practice for something in the future. The Force is in everything. That's why he keeps having to explain the Force to the people here.]

The Force can do different things based on what you ask of it. For example... I can use my lightsaber to block, and to strike, but it's still the same lightsaber even if it does different things. [He looks over to at Garrus with that same grin, though it's a bit pleading.] Does that make sense? The part of the Force that guides my hand is doing something different from the part that moves the rock, but it's all connected.

[The good news is that Garrus' fumbling around at least isn't bothering Luke. Is this maybe reminding the guy of something back home? Is he used to questions? ...Probably not the latter, as otherwise Garrus might understand by now.]

All right. So there's... the part that lets you do stuff because you're alive, and there's the part that tells you what to do to stay alive?

[Not like he'd shot to kill. Even with the invitation Garrus had been careful and aimed to minimize injury.]

And you choose what you want it to do. If you're focusing on messing with moving stuff, you're not asking it to warn you if someone's coming up behind you with a machete?

Sort of, yeah. [His expression brightens (more) as he sees Garrus is cottoning on.] The Force is big, and it's everywhere, all the time. The meditation is to train me to listen to it, above all the other noise of life. If someone really was coming up behind me with a machete, it would try to warn me, and if I'd trained enough, I'd be able to hear it.

[It's obviously more complex than he's making it out to be, and even now he wonders if he's underselling the principles. But it's a learning experience, so he'll do his best and try to be patient.]

[He tilts his head.]

So it does stuff without you asking it to, too. Is... Is it alive? Sorta? ...That's a stupid question. Forget I asked that.

[Luke's calling it the force, and he'd said natural energy. It's not going to be alive. Maybe this is another time when Garrus should stop trying to understand and take things as they're presented, like with the Fade and Roxas' world.]

All right. So you meditate, a lot, and because of that you can hear things that other people can't, because of the Force. And you can block stuff. This something you can teach people, or is it just for people from your universe?

It's not a stupid question. [Luke smiles, and his voice is fond and reassuring. Why would it be a stupid question?] I don't think it's alive, because that would mean... that it can die. I think of it as possibilities, potential, that sort of thing. So, of course, the potential possibilities that matter more to me are the ones that I hear.

[Luke considers the question.] The Force is strong in my family. We have natural skill with it. Other people... it's a very rare skill; I don't know if it exists outside my universe or not. I'd like to think it does, but I haven't seen anyone with it here.

[The possibilities are endless, after all, but the Force is grander, larger, truly infinite.]

[He's... pretty sure it was still stupid, but at least Luke's friendly about it.]

Not surprised. That it's rare, I mean, and that you haven't seen anyone with it here. Seems to be the way a lot of things go that we see here. Maybe an asari could feel it, but ours left months ago.

[How many months had it been? Everything's blurring together and it doesn't really matter, the exact number.]

Wish I could learn all these things I'm being exposed to, but at this point I pretty much expect it to not happen.

[No matter how handy it would be to have warning when some weapon is headed his way.]

How long did it take you to learn how to block things with your laser sword?

[Deliberate teasing, again. This time, though, it's in person, which means Luke can likely hear amusement in Garrus' voice.]

[No such thing as stupid questions, as far as Luke's concerned, just stupid answers. Which means, of course, that Luke's in the hot seat comparatively. He doesn't seem too bothered, but he was never someone prone overly to nerves.]

[So he laughs, gentle and good-natured. He should have never told him about the 'laser sword' thing, but now that he has, well... that's life.] If it helps any, I wish I could teach you.

[His smile becomes only wistful at the thought of his training.] It was one of the first things I learned. My master made me put on a helmet with the blast shield down when I did it, so I couldn't see anything.

[Definitely the very friendly sort. The realization is a little sobering; Garrus doesn't know that this place is going to be easy on the guy. Then again, it's not exactly easy on anyone.]

That... sounds like it could have gone pretty bad if you were a poor student. I mean, at least your head would've been safe, but...

[He doubts a teacher really would have hurt his student right off the bat. That wouldn't create any sort of trust.]

Good teacher? Master, I mean. I can see the change in your smile.

Oh! Oh, no, it was a training droid. [Luke laughs at the miscommunication. Ben would have never fired a blaster on him. Ben would have never fired a blaster to begin with.] The worst it did was sting me.

My teacher? Oh, he was the best. You might have met him! [The idea hits him suddenly, and it's clearly an exciting prospect.] He called himself Obi-Wan Kenobi when he was here.

Edited (what an unfortunate typo) 2015-06-25 23:03 (UTC)

Obi-Wan?

[He casts back in his memories, bringing up a face after a few moments but not really any sort of conversation beyond general nods as they passed each other. Garrus feels a little guilty as he shakes his head, even if it's not like he'd done something wrong by not meeting the guy. It's just that Luke's clearly hoping, here, and Garrus can't answer that hope.]

Sorry. Saw him around, knew him by face because of the files, but didn't really... talk to him. Sorry about that. Think he came in when the ship was pretty busy, and then things didn't seem to stop much after that.

[The first time he recalls seeing Obi-Wan is during the attacks on the ship. The last... he's not sure, but Macha was pretty busy.]

Yeah, Ben Kenobi. Obi-Wan. [It always seems so oddly formal when people call him that...] He was my first teacher.

[Luke doesn't seem very phased by Garrus' lack of familiarity.] Not everyone could have known him. Honestly, I'm surprised as many people here did! He was a hermit; on Tatooine, we used to call him the old wizard. [He smiles, laughs softly, clearly fond of the memory.]

He had the ability as well. He couldn't have taught just anymore. [Luke shrugs apologetically.]

Hermit.

[A beat, a reflection back on the face he'd seen from time to time, before Garrus shakes his head.]

Not surprised that he was. I mean. Not saying that he's... uh, don't mean that wrong. But he seemed to keep to himself, had a face you'd associate with a human her-- I'm gonna stop before I dig myself in a hole.

[Garrus reaches up and rubs the top of his head.]

Seemed nice, though. Never heard anything in the rumor mill against him, if that counts for anything.

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