Qondez Dusu

"Seems a bit unpredictable for this," Darkhanis Paveh said, while watching the pink-skinned near-Human performing in his Martial Arts class. Though he was definitely stylish and clearly had skill in the strikes and poses, his Force shield kept appearing and disappearing. Sometimes this worked to his advantage, but others...

Donbon curled her tentacles together, in thought. "It's true, that shield often prevents him from getting a hit in, though I've seen him use it to give his opponent a shove, or to block a solid blow. Obviously Jedi Dawe has suggested he stay for some further training during the Summer session."

"Do you think it will be enough?" The grey-skinned Zekiran quietly asked. "Do you think he'll be ready for field work after that?"

Anpine Donbon, the Twi'lek professor recently arrived to Carramba, pressed her brow ridges together. "When he graduates, perhaps, but he isn't ready for a full field position. Not one that involves direct conflict, anyway."

"What do you suggest we do to... get him ready?"

Donbon looked at her companion, and those two beyond him in the darkened room, and sighed. "One learns to be patient, in any form of Force training, Peridian Paveh. I think that, at best, it will happen on its own as he matures. At worst, however, we must be prepared to have him simply learn how to work around this power, rather than relying upon it."

"Opportunism is quite important," Lane said, "though it too is something that... cannot always be taught." He would know, the others realized. But then he had a billion years of experience to lend his own opportunistic behavior creedence.

"Then continue his training as far as he can take it, throw unexpected events at him, and reward when he deals with a situation well." Their Gryphon-Kin member said, a burr to her voice that sounded far too much like Lane's to be coincidence. "As long as he can master techniques, improvisation will come naturally - or it will fail him and he'll die."

Though not completely callous, that statement didn't seem to sit well even as it was quite true.

"He seems to thrive in many situations," Lane said, hopeful. "He's quite social, you know he has a following among quite a few of the students. Even if he is a bit frightening at times." He adjusted his tie, the room was too dark for anyone but Lamia Ravenquill to see his smirk. Her beak echoed it, as was appropriate for such interdimensionally-'related' folk in his family. They weren't blood relatives, but she was his doppelganger's child, and that was close enough for Lane to treat her as family. He thought of himself as an 'unapproachable badass', he'd been told he was, and that was quite a bit like Qondez Dusu's overt appearance. But Lane didn't like talking about children being killed. He also had confidence in this student on their screens.

Qondez was a Force Adept - not a Jedi, nor a Sith, and as such he had not been given a lightsaber to fling around. Dawe reminded those who seemed to keep expecting him to use one, that not all Force users needed a blade like that, to be competent in the field. It was a sentiment that Donbon echoed: she herself was also an Adept, and she knew that Dusu's abilities would be fine without having a lethal laser sword at his side. She suggested then, "keep him training as a close combat unit, but don't neglect his other fields. He's quite exceptional with those 'people skills', he would likely make a better public relations officer or communications expert than a mere combat unit."

"And there is Xuno, for combat, frankly," Paveh said, "and Aletta."

"Speaking of," Lane said, "how are they all getting along... together?" He waved his fingers and the view changed to a variety of classroom cameras, still displaying the 5th Period martial arts class taught by Lane's 'son' Wilson Carver, but also now filling with images of more sedate science, humanities, and math classrooms, along with quite active climbing and auto repair being done outside. "They have very few classes together, I notice."

"Qondez responds very well with Gams, he does defer to her in most ways, he'd make an excellent assistant leader. I believe they hashed that out in private," Paveh said, "but whether she wants an assistant, even I can't say."

"It's true, he is more approachable than she is, by a long shot," Donbon said, "but I think he's able to carry out orders well, and innovate his own. Perhaps..." she adopted a pondering look, as her tentacles drifted around one another, "maybe it's time he did a write-up on cooperative action... You know, for the school newspaper."

"With the names removed to protect the identities of the students, of course," Paveh suggested. "I believe professor Leland will agree to this, without ..." he glanced with a smirk over at Lane, "being nudged."

***

"There is always the possibility of danger, even in a controlled and monitored location like Carramba High School," Qondez spoke to himself, while he was investigating the scene of a strange incursion. "The campus is usually safe for day to day activities, but even those activities can spill out into the city when they go wrong." He paused, glanced around at nothing, and then added, "awry, when they go awry - better word for it."

He held a phone in one hand and hair tie in the other, fumbling briefly to get his long mane of silvery-white hair under control. He recorded the event as it played out that morning, along with several others from his own Journalism class. An alien invasion of sorts? Well that wasn't unheard of. As he wove between groups of students he noted where some were hiding, others were taking charge - and he recognized a few of both. He was the only one in the Journalism class that actively went into the area, rather than remaining at a safe distance. He gravitated toward the boy putting up solid sheets of rock to shield students from the 'spitter' creatures nasty glowing-white goop, seeing how he then spiked the ground to prevent them from approaching on foot.

The alien creatures came pouring out from the ground just north of the Caffetorium, in the normally-nice manicured lawn where most people had pleasant lunches planned. Insects, several different types but clearly all the same breed, which caused holes to open as they burrowed, and chittered loudly enough to attract attention from the entire campus.

He noted just by glancing at the area that this was almost the exact center of the school campus grounds, at least not counting the field and pool areas to the east.

"If they get into the buildings we'll have trouble," a slender human girl said to another who seemed to have a lot of cybernetic attachments. "You take the south side, I'll deal with the north." Qondez recognized the suit jacket and short skirt on the one girl, but not 'which' of those clone kids she was just on a glance: it wasn't Gams, but definitely it was one of her 'sisters'.

He decided to continue around the Caffetorium counter-clockwise, since he'd started at the Humanities building and had been on his way to his fourth period Interrogation class with a stop for some snacks at the big Java-cup shaped building. "Generally we get passes to be late to our class when things like this happen, and it doesn't look like this incursion is going to be wrapped up any time soon." He passed the wide walkway north of the Humanities class building, and noticed how the Earth Bender was dressed: he was heading into the Magic Studies campus area when all this went down.

"You're really good with the defenses," Qondez said, loud enough to be heard over the weird shrieking of the bugs, as well as the continual shouting and screams of the students themselves. Xuno Hong glanced at him, gave a broad smile and a thumbs up. "Where do you think they came from? We're right next to the Magic Studies building?"

"They aren't magically summoned," Xuno yelled, "they didn't come from there."

"They're really well organized, do you think someone's commanding them?" He prodded. "Might be a Super-training exercise going wrong?"

Xuno glanced around at the various creatures, and shook his head. "No, they're not organized like us, they're a hive mind, see that big one? It's giving the orders."

Qondez watched that large creature as it galloped around the area, its companions scattered just before it got to any given spot. "So they're just animals, on instinct! But why are they here?"

"I got no idea, you should get clear!" Xuno nudged the ground and Qondez scuttled around farther north, his back to the Magic Studies building. From that vantage point, though, he could see those two girls from before had split up, but the brighter cybernetic one was easily visible near the Math building was pointing her hand around. Then he saw that she was painting spots on walls (did she have a paintball gun?) and shooting portals onto them with her other hand. She urged those kids that had been behind Xuno's earth shields to duck into them, appearing farther away from the action and reasonably safe for the time being.

He noticed another student, one he'd frequently enjoyed lunches with and had fun confusing people thanks to their names sounding alike, Conradi Signet, who leapt across the Humanities building's first and second floor window awnings apparently looking for a way to get closer to the action. What he might do was a mystery, until he outright vanished to visible sight.

"And there's one good way to use a power," Qondez said, "he's possessing one of these... creatures, moving around and attacking them from their own ground. What he's going to do after that power wears off, I don't know... Someone should get in there with him."

Very shortly that problem was solved, in the form of Aletta, another of those clone girls, who strode in like she owned the place. Well, 'strode' was a bit of an understatement, she literally leaped off the higher Humanities fourth floor balcony after she saw Conradi vanish. "They're working in tandem now," Qondez said, "when one's magic fails, the other's fists come up."

Still moving north-west, finally clear of the Magic Studies area and closer to the Library where he saw Beata, the clone who worked with Neive to secure the buildings, and she was busily punching in codes to the security pad on the side of the building. "The lockdown windows have been deployed thanks to her quick moves," Qondez said into his phone, "and it looks like one of the others is getting folks to remain calm inside the Cafetorium itself." That would be Deely, the fourth of the clones... but where was the third?

As if on cue, Gams appeared with a bunch of other students, along with their instructor, Wilson Carver. Qondez recognized him of course, he had the Martial Arts class with him on Odd days. This one though... this was a much more serious group than he trained with in that class. "It's the Deselection class, ready to prove they know what they're doing..." He described in brief as the group of assassin students took down bug after bug, working their way around and whittling down the aliens until there were only two of those big ones left, galumphing around the grassy area and kicking up clumps of dirt as well as parts from their own smaller ant-like kin that had been blown to bits. Xuno, Conradi, and Aletta stood at the center. They looked a bit winded, grateful for the brief lull.

Parts of the bugs still twitched, and Qondez realized there was not two ... but three of those big Guardian things trundling quickly toward the pair. He knew this because it had run directly past him. "Get down!" He yelled, and concentrated his Force powers on the large critter. It was hardly a workout for him, he could easily lift all three of them.

In fact... he approached with his left hand outstretched and his right still holding his phone, as the three large critters screamed in confusion with their chittering mouthparts clattering around. The two in the center of the carnage looked like they were trying to run, their four pointed legs pawing at the air, while the third squirmed around now at an angle that meant it wouldn't be able to run even if it fell to the ground.

"Yes!" Aletta cackled, "that'll do nicely!" She jumped straight at one of them, straddling it (how was she getting away with that in a pencil skirt?) and literally beating it to death with her bare hands. And she looked awesome doing it.

Xuno had approached, and though he could barely spare a glance, Qondez muttered to the phone that the Earth Bender was able to smooth out all the upturned turf, it hardly looked like anyone had even been walking on the grass after he passed over the battlefield. He impaled the second insect on a large spike, which then reverted back into its own pristine grassy mound.

By the time Deely got out of the Cafetorum to check on her sisters, it looked like Gams had shot a hole in the last monster with a tiny little gun, which then disappeared back into her smartly cut jacket. "Weapons are not really legal on campus but... apparently we have some special permissions..." Qondez said, simply. He let the carcass of the insect drop to the ground, and flipped his long hair back over his shoulder when eyes went toward him. He bowed, "you're welcome," he said, laughing.

***

Of course, the transcribed report read a little more like a newsroom blotter, with the occasional [redacted] obscuring names or appearances. Otherwise, the Journalism instructor, Keith Leland, gave it a stellar grade, and made sure that the images that had been provided to him (from dozens of students as well as the local camera feed) were properly grainy-and-blurry. Couldn't have specific students faces coming up on searches, after all. They never did quite find out why a sudden influx of off-world creatures, Antlions ostensibly from the Vort Homeworld, had burrowed up through the grounds, but no charges were ever filed because no one could locate who might have 'let them in'.

"Nice work, not-dad," Lamia chuckled, joined by Lane, as she and the other MIB instructors read the uncensored version of that same article.