A new day, a new template! Let’s do it!

[Rolling… Luke Skywalker successfully acquired.]

‘Yes!’ I was jumping for joy. Getting Luke would be a big gamechanger.

‘But, wait, is this canon Luke or legends?’

[Canon.]

‘Dammit! We were this close to greatness!’ 

I pout for a moment.

‘Well, maybe after I complete the template I can learn new force powers. But, anyway, let’s look at what Luke can do first.’

[Roland Cooper

Active Template: Luke Skywalker

Completed Template: Mystique 

Active Abilities: Lightsaber combat (seven forms), Force Powers (Control, Sense, Alter), Expert pilot, Marksmanship. 

Stored Abilities: Metamorph- Adaptation, Enhanced Physical Attributes, Accelerated Healing, Toxin & Disease Resistance, Decelerated Aging, Psychic Defense, Enhanced Memory.

Shop: $1000

Inventory: None]

‘Interesting. The Force Powers aren’t defined. What does that mean?’

[To be a Jedi Master one must first learn these from three themes first before broadening their mind to the Force and all its wonder.] 

‘Alright, Obi-Wan, let’s settle down.’ 

I needed a plan going forward. 

For the template:

1. Meditation: feeling the Force within and without.
2. Use Force Powers
3. Lightsaber training: using the training saber I bought for $200 in the shop I would practice Forms I through VII.
4. Take flying lessons. 
5. Go to a gun range instead of taking and using other people's guns.

For daily life:

1. Hang out with friends.
2. Learn coding.

2.5 Invent famous phone games (like Candy Crush or Temple Run). 

3. Go to College. 
4. Find a place to live.

That last one is important. I don’t want to start meditating and hover over the ground then Kitty barge in and find out. 

I’d still visit, of course, but I needed space. 

===

Now for practice. Let’s go in order.

1. Meditation. 

There are many things to focus on during meditation. 

There’s actual meditation: feeling emotions and letting go of them (for Jedi) so as to connect easier and more deeply with the Force.

Then there’s feeling the force: an easy but also unwieldy task because of the size and nature of the Force.

There’s constructing a lightsaber: which is not for novices and is more about knowing how to accomplish a task so meticulously that it becomes done without thought.

And there’s meditating on Time. The most arduous task that puts the user through visions of the past, present, and future. 

It is recommended to master these four in order so as not to strain oneself. 

With Luke’s template all of these came easy to me. Even the Force visions; they let me know about some upcoming events like Stark and Hulk.

=

For Force Powers, there was also an order to follow.

1. Control: Opening one’s mind to the Force through abilities centered on one's own body and self. There are three main abilities: tutaminis (energy absorption), curato salva (healing one's own self), and altus sopor (increasing one's focus on the Force)
2. Sense: Allows one to immerse themselves in the environment. To complete this step, one must use the Force as an additional sense and be constantly attuned to its undulations.

There are four main groups: prima vitae (life detection), tactus otium (Sense Force), tai vordrax (postcognition), and projected telepathy.

3. Alter: Involves manipulating objects, influencing other beings, and affecting the environment. Core techniques are telekinesis, affect mind, and Alter Environment. 

Each power marked a progression of not only my skill but my title. From learner, to Padawan, and finally Jedi Knight. To be a Jedi Master I would need to master (heh, get it) one of the three powers, and to be a Grand Master I would need to master all three.

=

Lightsaber training was a whole ordeal on its own. 

As stated before, there are seven forms:

Form I: Shii-Cho: A simplistic style that focused on disarming an enemy. Used against multiple enemies.

Form II: Makashi: Quick, elegant, precise, and graceful; this style focused on a single opponent. 

Form III: Soresu: A purely defensive style; Soresu practitioners focused on analyzing their opponents and avoiding fatigue. 

Form IV: Ataru: A Force-centric style that focused on acrobatic and aggressive lightsaber combat and required great room to attack from all directions.

Form V: Shien/Djem So: Focuses on quick transitions from dedicated defensive stances to all-out attacks. The Shien variant emphasized blaster redirection, and practitioners could utilize a reverse blade grip. The Djem So variant taught users maneuvers for saber-to-saber combat and blaster deflection.

Form VI: Niman: The most balanced of all styles; this form focused on offense, defense, and the using of Force-centric powers. 

Form VII: Juyo/Vaapad: The most aggressive and unpredictable form, and therefore the most controversial, it was a combat style with a history of the Jedi High Council forbidding it and later allowing only select users to practice the style. It was a style considered both physically and emotionally exhausting. 

The Juyo variant focused on aggressive assault and a mindset that drew upon anger and negative emotions to fuel relentless assault. This mindset caused many users to fall to the dark side of the Force or close to it.

The Vaapad variant, developed by Mace Windu, similarly drew upon anger and passion, but required the user to not give into them. This style is characterized by rapid, frenzied strikes and powerful blows. However, it was not as reckless in nature as Juyo.

There was also a dual/double bladed style: Jar'Kai. But as Luke didn’t practice that, and because I don’t have two lightsabers, I will not. 

=

Flying classes I took with Angel. The X-Men had the Blackwing after all.

He was very nice and also appreciative of my involvement in helping him escape the Morlocks. 

He was also surprised that I only took four months to complete the course.

“The minimum amount of time is usually six months, but Scott took nearly a year,” Angel told me. 

=

The gun range was fun.

The stress of when to pull the trigger and the knockback from firing really makes one's blood start pumping. 

Of course, the larger weapons also played a part in it. Which I used because I was not familiar with them. 

You never know when it might be useful. 

= 

Besides all of the work I did, I took time to hang out with friends. Kitty, Rogue, Jubilee, and Kurt. 

Once a month we had a karaoke night.

Then there were holidays, where I found out enough information to give them all unique gifts.

Kitty received a photoshopped picture of her and Colossus in wedding attire. 

As a joke gift (even though I could tell she loved it).

The real gift was ‘The Princess Bride’ novel. A classic that is about true love (highly recommend). 

Rogue received an authentic record player and ‘War of the Worlds’ on vinyl. 

She was weird like that.

Jubilee received a journal/diary and a book about wondrous sights and places to visit around the world. 

She’s a very adventurous person who has stated once or twice about traveling the world.

Kurt received a polishing kit for his sabers and a book written by a famous fencer.

He’s big into it, and that’s all I’ll say.

All in all, they were happy with their gifts. 

=

January of 2009 is when I started my college years. 

This is when I started to learn coding. 

Sort of.

You see, due to how the college education system works in the USA, I need 120 credit hours to graduate. Which means 40 classes in 4 years, 5 each semester, and about half of those 40 are for general education purposes (math, science, english). What’s more is that I started in January, which means the intro courses that you’d see in the Fall are not there. 

I really created a pickle for myself. 

=

Finding a place to live turned out to be a no go. Mainly because I had no money of my own, but also because nice, private places to live in New York City were expensive. So, yeah, it all came down to money. 

‘I really need to up my game making skills or get a job.’

But, anyway, that was 10 months of hard work and dedication.

[Template: 87%]