21st Transmission [Video/Written/Action] (Forward Dated to March 17)

[thefinaljedi]

[Well it's about that time of year, when the weather begins to shift and it's beginning to get to the point where cultivating and preparing to for planting season is becoming a necessity. And to get all this started, Luke needs your help. He opens up the journal and smiles at the camera.]

Good afternoon Luceti,

For those of you that don't know me, my name is Luke Skywalker. For the last couple of years I've been tending to some of the farmlands outside the village, trying to build up emergency stores as well as bringing a bit of self-sufficiency to the enclosure. And as some of you may know, within the last year both Nami and Applejack have both departed, leaving the orchards near the farmland untended. I've been tending to them as best I can, but the vast majority of the help I had with the work has also returned home.

In the interest of better utilizing the space I'd like to request the help of anyone willing to volunteer their time with a bit of manual labor. I'm afraid it's simply not going to be possible to manage it all by myself, and any help would be greatly appreciated. It's beginning to near the planting season, after all. I'm happy to offer whatever services I can provide in exchange.

[There's a pause, and he seems to look somewhere off camera.]

On a related note, if there's anyone who knows anything about building irrigation systems, I'd appreciate any advice.

Thank you for your time, and may the Force be with you all.

[Shutting off the feed, he sends out two private messages.]


Written, Filtered to Loki
Loki, I know this is much less interesting than musical theater and cookies, but I was hoping I could get your help with a bit of magical work on the farm.



Written, Filtered to Trafalgar Law
Law, I figure we should probably revisit some of those supply caches and check on them. Possibly restock and take care of a few other things down that vein.

Comments

[thefinaljedi]

Thank you, Mia. [He can't help but smile.] It really is. I'll admit I'm a little surprised at just how many volunteers I've got. It's much more than in the past, and that's good for everyone. We'll hopefully never need these supplies, but after the invasion and when we played host to Kin'cora, I'd rather be safe than sorry.

[frost_jewel]

What we really need is an agreement about being peaceful with each other when two enclosures come together. ...Though I don't believe the others like us very much.

[thefinaljedi]

An unfortunate truth, there, but I do agree. I know from experience that Kin'cora has several enemies of mine from home. At Vaskoth we managed to find a tentative peace, working together, but I can't say the same for anyone not from my world.

And I can't really see any side being open with another. Not right now, anyway.

[frost_jewel]

[Even if she expects it to come up, hearing about Vaskoth again, thinking about it again, hurts more than she would ever admit. It leaves her quiet for a while, eyes closed.]

One side must decide to be...the bigger person, so to speak. To not give in against it.

[thefinaljedi]

[Luke observes that silence as well, trying to blot out some of the horrors that start to creep back. Childhood boogiemen, indeed.]

Of course. I mean to, but it's still a charged situation. One we'll have to play by ear.

[frost_jewel]

If only you and I could determine how things go, that would work. We are at the mercy of our fellow villagers in that regard, though.

[Vaskoth really does not bear thinking about on her more fragile days.]

[thefinaljedi]

[Luke definitely agrees there.]

True enough. I do hope that we can come to some sort of compromise. Set aside grudges like Lt. Devlin and his men.

After all, the real enemy is the one outside the enclosures.

[frost_jewel]

Everyone would love to believe that, yes. [Her sigh is a tiny one.] Sometimes I find myself thinking...what we must look like, to them. Just as misguided and obsessed with the incorrect solution as they are to us.

[thefinaljedi]

[Luke shifts a bit, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.]

Honestly, as much as I'd normally be inclined to try diplomacy, I know Obi-Wan tried to talk to the General himself and it went nowhere. It's been my experience that fanatics and people who want to survive are the kind that fight the hardest, and unfortunately that's the situation we're in. The survivors against the fanatics.

I wish it wasn't that way. But unless something changes...I don't see a way to avoid it.

[frost_jewel]

I don't know that name very well. Is he a diplomat of some kind? [Surely Luke has talked about him before, but Mia never really met the man and can't speak to his character or methods.]

Our alternatives are few, even if we appear as fanatics for our own purposes.

[thefinaljedi]

He is, and my first teacher. During the Clone Wars in my world he was known as the Negotiator.

And that is the unfortunate truth. Survival is, at times, the only thing that matters.

[frost_jewel]

Well, we have some measure of peace and quiet now. What do you intend to do with it, besides farm work?

[Mia isn't all too experienced in farming - and she doesn't know quite how time-consuming things like that are - but Luke always has more things on his mind.]

[thefinaljedi]

Well, besides farm work I've been spending time with my parents. Something I never thought I'd have the chance to do.

[And even if Anakin is a troubled young man, he's still Luke's father and that means a great deal to him. Meeting his mother, though, that's beyond his capacity to express in words.]

[frost_jewel]

Your parents are here?

[Given the rest of his sentence, they are not there in the time he is from, and Mia sympathizes. She would not wish Luceti on her parents but she would very much wish them into her company.]

[thefinaljedi]

They are. Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala Skywalker.

[And silently, Luke's grateful that this seems to be news to her. He'd thought Anakin's disaster with the washing machine exploding on camera was something everyone saw.]

[frost_jewel]

Do they know who you are?

[thefinaljedi]

Of course. [He laughs.] Anakin knew right away, and Padme figured it out quickly enough. There's a bond there, with family.

[frost_jewel]

[Something strikes her there, something about family that she ought to remember, but it runs away from her every attempt to bring it to the front of her thoughts. Granted, she has her own issues with the last of her family, too.]

There is, or there should be. I'm happy for you.

[thefinaljedi]

What about you, Mia? Now that there's some quiet time, what do you plan to do?

[He is grateful, really. Growing up with his uncle in charge hadn't really been a bad thing, but...he had often wondered, even well into his adult years, what his parents were like before Palpatine. And now he was getting firsthand experience.]

[frost_jewel]

Pray it continues.

[Truth be told, she has little work to do when nobody is off getting hurt somewhere, and she prefers it that way. She still has students, and there are plenty of books to read and always something new to learn, and that will content her.]

I have been learning to work with my Psynergy and the spirits of Luceti at the same time. The things I can do are more powerful that way, but it still takes a lot of concentration.

...May I ask you something else?

[thefinaljedi]

[Luke nods, smiling. He understands combining spirits with power from home, something he sometimes does.]

Of course, Mia. What's up?

[frost_jewel]

When we were helping Ion with his illness, you used your abilities to...to show me the problem in a way I had never experienced before.

[Something feels so unsettling about this question, but it's been on her mind for a very long time now.]

Can that be taught?

[thefinaljedi]

[Luke thinks back to the incident, and it takes him a moment to remember...but after a moment he scratches his chin.]

Delving? I...think I could? Your powers have a lot of similarities to mine, and if I couldn't teach you exactly how I do it, maybe I could help you adapt your own to a similar use.

[frost_jewel]

Well, if you are willing, then I would like to at least try.

[Ordinarily she wouldn't ask, it feels very bold on top of being unsettling, but- but in that moment, she could see so much, whether or not she understood all of it right away...]

[thefinaljedi]

Of course. We could try working on that next time you're at the clinic.

[He's more than happy to at least make the attempt. It might be beyond their ability to adapt...but then he's noticed a lot of supernatural abilities are compatible.]