From Gamorrean Rose

"Set for death twice? I never did find out what you and Captain Ploon were arrested for.."  Koi figures that it must have been something exciting if the First Order has two death sentences on the other members of the crew.  "But I think that would be nice. If we're going to look around this system, we might as well decide how we're going to do it somewhere pretty. And there might be someone interesting living here. Or some interesting plants."

Koi barely constrained her urge to wait for the scans (and Captain Ploon) to confirm it was (more or less) safe to go out on the beach. It was nice to even see green plant afternoon the desert. "Have you been the beach Wix?  Can you swim?"

The Jawa's head was a constant swivel. This was more life and diversity in one place than he had seen in his entire life.

"What 'swim'?" He asked simply. "Swim not Jawa word"

"Swim is..run or tunnel in water with your body." Koi suggests as possible definitions. "It can be very pleasant. Water partially holds you up so you feel light. But a large amount of water -- like the ocean -- can have currents, which are like a strong wind.  It can blow you off course if it is strong."

Koi smiles at AG, "Isn't this beautiful? Do you like to swim?" She asks, more than a little giddy at the prospect of meeting and befriending new trees, and new civilizations.

The soldier shrugged "I guess. Wasn't really a recreational thing for me. Just another aspect of training. It was something I was good at." He replied with a slight shift in tone. "Where and when it was available, I would select that as my physical test rather than a run. I think that's where I started getting a reputation for being unusual."

Koi listens thoughtfully, "My father said it's more interesting to swim in a lake or ocean, but people on Core worlds usually to swim in pools. It sounded like it was not uncommon, but I don't know if it's unusual." Given that the only soldier she appears to know is Oro, she doesn't have a good reference for comparison. She considers, "I suppose I don't mind running when it's necessary, but I don't..enjoy it..in the way some do." She makes the sour face of someone who has been on the receiving end of the 'jogging is the best, fun exercise ever' speech.

"Is there something that you prefer for recreation?"  She is quite curious, "Besides reading."

"I like music. I think" He replied, very unsure of himself "I mean, never really listened to it, but like the idea of it. There were a couple of missions where we did some interdiction ops, and I could hear some kinda rhythmic noise in the distance. Pretty sure it was music. Was always curious for more, but didn't want to break contraband rules."

A shadow crosses Koi's face for a moment. Every time she thinks she's understood the First Order's cruelty, it finds a new way to kick a platypuppy. Even with plenty of cantinas on Tatooine, and audio-recordings so prevalent that even the dustiest rim world has heard of 10,000 songs and composers -- AG barely knows what music is. But this is something they can remedy -- Koi's expression quickly turns thoughtful, "You're welcome to listen to my meager collection of music recordings any time, but Mel's library is much better than mine."

She confides, "Mel also has a great singing voice -- but he'll only sing if he's in a good mood.  Or a little drunk. But I love to hear it.  Would you like to ask him to play something over the ship's speakers?"  She isn't sure whether he wants to start immediately or figure it out over time. Captain Ploon said not to push him -but surely this counts as opening a door?...and maybe beckoning effusively..

"Thank you." He replied earnestly, looking around the area, his eyes fixated on Wix trying to come to grips with this world being so different from his desolate home.

"So...what now?"

"Well," Koi explains, "Captain Ploon and Mel will probably look over the scanner data from the other planets in the system and decide which ones they want to visit, and what they want to do there. Oro is probably doing a bunch of scans to make sure there isn't anything or anyone very dangerous in the area." Koi is pretty comfortable with other people make the large scale decisions.

"I'm hoping everyone has a chance to relax. I usually just wander around and see what the planet is like.Sometimes I find an interesting rock or plant, or go for a swim or climb. If I find something that I think I can cook up, I'll harvest some.
 Usually everyone is pretty tired of prepared food after a flight. After a bit or planning and such, we'll do an inventory and see if the ship or equipment needs any repairs, take some environmental samples if Oro and Mel find something interesting on a scan." Koi isn't the kind of person who has need to schedule every day, or cram it full of efficiently done tasks. It occurs to her that AG is probably a very pro-schedule person. By habit if not by preference.

She considers, "You're welcome to come exploring with me.  I'm told I'm not particularly talkative when I'm out in the wild, but if you want to stretch your legs and have a think, you might like it. Or I have a hammock on the ship, if you want to listen to the waves and wind."

"Ya, I guess I'll stick around with you. I'm an explorer now after all, may as well do some exploring."

"Alright, I'll grab a pack and my hat and let Captain Ploon know where we're going." Koi smiles, "Let's start by going along the beach.  Maybe something interesting washed up."

It's a quick detour inside the ship to grab some supplies and a comm for essentially a day hike.  Koi is so well organized, it's pretty clear that it's not her first time in the outback.

OOC: Time for a nice walk on the beach.. :D

There was something interesting for sure, but not immediately evident. There was a copse of tall spindly trees that had been broken near their base and splintered. Although the direction of the trees were scattered they all had the same origin for breaking point, from back to front, towards the water.

The strong presence of the force is in the same direction, beneath the waves somewhere.

As she warned him, Koi fell silent as they left the ship behind. Stretching for a moment, she fell into an efficient stride that seemed to leave little trace on the fine beach sand.  She looks near the base of the trees for any foot prints, and carefully walked around them to see if there was anything trapped in the fronds.

She didn't say anything, just tried to reason out why what was in the water smashed the trees.  Was there fruit in the branches?  A competitor?  She turned towards the water, and reached out with the senses, using the Force to get a better sense of the presence in the water.


OOC: Using the Force: 19

There were no footprints, except the ones caused by present company. The trees had been dead for some time now, so there was no fruit to take.

"Koi" AG called "Take a look at this" as he stands neat one of the trees struck higher, pointing upwards "theres shrapnel stuck in the wood of these trees."

Koi leaves off her rudimentary jedi meditation, and comes over to look at what AG found. "Can you see what it's made out of?" She asks, shading her eyes as she looks up.  If she need to get a closer look she'll climb up the tree and try to pull the shrapnel out.

"No telling specifics" he looked beyond the trees, and made an arcing motion with his hand "but if I had to take a guess, I think it's part of a craft. Something crashed here"

Koi tries to pull the piece of shrapnel out of the tree trunk. "Mel or Wix might be able to figure out what kind of ship this came from.  These trees look like there were crashed into..maybe a couple weeks or months ago?"  She looks ruefully at Koi, "If it happened a month ago, there could be survivors. But I am worried that they might not be friendly."

Although the trees appear thin and spindly compared to that of a forest tree, they are strong enough to withstand a climber. Taking the shrapnel out suggests the possible assesment you had may have been incorrect. There's some severe weathering on the exposed surface of the metal, contrast to the part that was embedded.

Holding the piece of the metal and refocusing, you can see that the Force element that you feel is associated with the craft that must have crashed here and embedded in the floor of the ocean.

"Oh. Shoot and branch." Koi sounds disappointed as she drops back onto the sand.  She holds up the piece of shrapnel to AG. "It looks like this has been here for a while. I'm not sure if anyone --except maybe a droid -- could have survived a crash into the ocean that long."

"Come on, let's show this to Mel." She starts heading back down the beach in an easy jog.

Melveleh had hiked the leggings of his coveralls to his knees and waded into the shallow water. Leaning forward, he combed his hands through the sand, looking to see any of sea life, no matter how small.

His attention was pulled away at hearing the shifting of sand by two pairs of human feet.

"Hey there, You two doing laps, or you find something interesting?"

"AG found this in a tree trunk up the beach. I think they crashed into the ocean." She waved the piece of shrapnel for emphasis before offering it to Mel. She was a little breathless and flushed from the run, but clearly bounding from place to place was a normal method of locomotion for the young woman. "It looks like it has some weathering on it, and the branches are starting to rot away. So I don't think it happened recently. Do you recognize the material? Or have any guess about what kind of ship it's from?" She confides after a moment. "It has an odd feel to me."

Melveleh studied the fragment carefully, feeling it in his hands and looking at the details.

"It's a composite of some kind." He said simply "too many variants to know exactly what. This looks like it belongs to something that was meant to be in the atmosphere, or the weathering would be much worse. Probably broke off a starfighter, or some other small craft. Probably not Imperial or First Order though. TIEs are all made out of the same material to make logistics easier."

In reply to Melveleh (msg # 23):

Oh. Koi said thoughtfully, relieved that the First Order was probably not crashed on the same planet. She wasn’t ready to rescue AG against the First Order. “Well, do you think we should find their ship? Koi asked hesitantly. I’m guessing it’s not likely they’re still alive, but maybe we can let their family know what happened to them. And, well, I didn’t get all the extra parts for the Rose on tattooine.  “

"Your prognosis is correct. I'm afraid that we won't find anything inside it but rags and bones. If we are able to find out anything about who was inside, provide some closure, we'll have done the right thing. If there's something inside that we can scrap or sell for some extra credits, we'll have kept the expedition going a little while longer."


Mel slowly starts walking in the direction you came from "That's of course assuming it didn't fall apart under water. Either way, getting down there and pulling whatever we can from the wreck could  be a challenge."

"Well, there might be a droid on the ship. A droid might survive..err..be fixable?" Koi's sounds a little doubtful -- despite trying to be optimistic."  She matches pace with Mel. "Should we tell Oro and the Captain?  They might be able to scan for the ship."  Koi glances at AG.  She doesn't necessarily want to let him know that she's a future jedi.  But the Captain or Mel should know that there might be a ghost on the ship. If only she had a chance to talk to the Jedi spirit mentor about everything that has happened -- she seemed to have a lot of advice!

"That's a good idea, but we'll leave the Rose where it is for now. I need the exercise, and Oro needs the challenge."

He looks over at AG "You've got a strong pair of legs, go get the others, tell them we're going deep fishing." He makes a short nod and takes off, running as best as he can through the sand

"Well, he follows orders well. I just hope there's something else in there." Mel said after the soldier was out of earshot.

"He was helpful in finding the shrapnel." Koi remarks a trifle defensively. She *likes* AG; he was brave to throw his life in their hands and try -- even when he clearly knows very little of the non-military world.

"Mel," Koi starts, and hesitates before forcing herself to continue. "Wix and I..can sense things. Like the Force.  And the ship on the bottom of the ocean is definitely strong in the Force.  I don't know what that means in a practical sense.  It could be a ghost, or an ancient relic on board. It could be friendly or angry. But it's definitely something out of the ordinary.  The Captain knows about me and Wix..but I'm not sure whether AG would be angry or unhappy about it."   She glances down the beach.

"You and the womp-rat can feel the Force?" He asks, his smile belying his unintended tone "That's great news, I think. I quite miss the Jedi. Who knows, maybe the little one can be the next Master Yoda." He chuckles at the seemingly incredulous thought.

"I don't think AG would know what to do with that information if you told him. He lives in a binary world, and you don't fit in either category of the Jedi or the Sith. I think learning that he is not just a hammer and the galaxy is not full of nails will do him some good."

"Yeah." Koi admits sheepishly, "Wix is a lot better at it than me. I don't mind.  It's nice to be able to sense the world and understand it a little better."  She feels lighter having been able to tell Mel.  His acceptance means a lot -- she admires him so much. And something about him saying that she is neither Sith or Jedi seems..right. "Master Yoda?  The great leader and warrior?  I think Wix can be a great hero, but I hope he doesn't have to fight so much."

She asks Mel, "What were the Jedi like? My dad had a few old children's stories, but knowing how hard it's going to be to help the Jawa..how could they do it?  Stop wars. Rescue people from terrible villains.  Why, my Dad said that a jedi could disable a whole battle station with a single shot." 

Koi crinkles her nose in disbelief. "I'm pretty sure that was a philosophical metaphor.  I mean, that couldn't have *really* happened. It's too unrealistic."

"I had only met a few, but they really were all that." He smiles as he looks up into the sky "You could not find a more honored and revered group in all of the Galaxy as the Jedi Knights. Comitting their lives to the defense of the helpless, a constant fight against the injustices of the galaxy, masters of secrets most of us could never begin to understand."

"When Sheev Palpatine informed the Republic had tried to perpetrate a treasonous coup against him, and began hunting all of the Jedi, I couldn't believe it. There was something that was being hidden. The worst part came later, when the untold masses believed the lies of the Empire, and began to help with their elimination."

"Your father's story is correct. Luke Skywalker, the Jedi Knight, was the one who was able to single handedly destroy the First Death Star, and was later able to defeat both Darth Vader and the Emperor himself. After some years had passed, he tried to recreate the Jedi Knights, but something happened. He failed, and now the Jedi Knights again seem to only exist in people's memories and imaginations."

His somber tone shifted again; Mel seemed determined to look at things positively "Still, this isn't the first time the galaxy thought the Jedi were extinct, only for them to return when they were needed most. Maybe you and Wix will be the next Jedi, and finally bring the peace our galaxy so desperately needs."

"I would like that." Koi says quietly as she looks out on the ocean and thinks about the..pollution that the Emperor left behind. And the incredible legacy that she is being asked to live up to.  Mostly it's herself doing the asking (maybe a little Wix and Ms. Spirit), and that somehow makes it harder. But she does want to try.  And she does sense somethings, even Ms. Spirit confirmed that her intuition was pretty good.  But she's not good with words and it is hard to explain the nebulous currents of feeling that she's just starting to sense. "I think the Emperor left a big mess..I don't have a good sense of it, but some of it is like salted or contaminated ground. Things can grow there, and it looks okay. But you have to treat the ground with special plants and water to make it really right again. Kind of like AG who need to learn to be person." She considers, "I think he could be an amazing person. But like the captain said, he'd have to choose it himself."

She searches her heart for a moment. "I have any chance of succeeding it will be because of you and the captain and Oro and Wix. I barely know enough to be a person myself. I don't feel like I know enough to help others very well yet. It's hard to see some much that needs done and feel like a baby who doesn't know what to do.  Or someone trying to repair a hyperdrive wearing thick mittens and welding shield. Having people who accept my being different and care -- not just as a future hero, but for bean-sprout, climb crab Koi. -- it makes a big difference. I don't know if I'd have the courage to try without out it.

She smiles shakily, as they come up on the blasted trees. "Well all that being said -- do you want me to see if I can sense the ship better? Sometimes if I sit down and concentrate I can suss out things more clearly."

"What? And ruin the surprise?" The question would remain unanswered as AG returned with the others.

He smiled at Oro and motioned her closer "We've got work to do there tadpole. There's a ship down at the bottom, and we're the only ones who can get at it."

"Finally." She exclaims as she approaches the water and begins to stretch her limbs out. "Wait, doesn't that mean that we're not the first people out here? If someone else has already staked claim out here, than we-"

"Easy there tadpole" Melveleh assured her "The ship is at the bottom of the ocean, so what do you think that means"

"Oh" She said morosely "I see. Good point." With a quick removal of her external layers, she and Mel descended into the water, leaving you to wait with AG and the others.

Koi watches Mel and Oro dive gracefully into the ocean.  Mel might not be the most graceful on land, but in the water he soars.  She smiles at AG, "I don't think Mel has had this much fun in months. It's not very common for him and Oro to be able to go for a real swim like this."

After they disappear, Koi wanders over to the dead wood and picks out a piece to inexpertly whittle.  Maybe she can make a bowl or cup or a spoon.  Something simple and useful anyway.

OOC: Koi is going to *try* to be patient and wait for Oro and Mel to report back :)
This message was last edited by the player at 21:54, Sat 02 Jan 2021.

AG was quiet, but acknowledged your response. He sat adjacent, brushing a stray twig against his pant legs in a rhythmic fashion, as he watched Wix run back and forth with the slow pulse of the waves. The Captain sat atop a warm rock with his datapad, crunching the numbers of different theoreticals.

Trying to keep dry and out of the others way, Wix ran up to join the others as he saw Oro-Qiebra and Melveleh approaching. Oro had a good start on Mel, and was moving at a much faster pace after both hit the land. As Oro stared straight at AG, he quickly rose to his feet, with an increased sense of dread.

"What? What is it?" He asked. As the distance was closed, Oro responded by launching a furious hooking punch with her strong arm, which caught AG by surprise and connected with his jaw. Her next punch was deflected, and the First Order soldiers instinctual training kicked in, fighting back. The two were equal combatants, but AG was fighting defensively; holding back to make clear, solid strikes to try and stop Oro, who wouldn't stop.

It wasn't until Melveleh had caught up that the fight stopped, as he used his superior size and strength to pull Oro away.

"Alright tadpole, that's enough out of you"

"What the hell?" AG asked, angry and confused.

"He has to pay! They all have to pay for what they did!"

"He's as innocent of this as you are. You know that. Now go walk it off, and get the Rose powered up so we can pull the ship out"

Oro responded reluctantly, shoving herself away to do what she was told, walking away without a word.

"Oro!" Koi yelped in surprise as she scrambled to her feet. She tried to find a way to pull Oro off without getting in AG's way. "Oro stop!" She yelled ineffectually.

She fumbled in her pockets for a clean, if crumpled handkerchief. "Are you alright?" She asked AG, handing him the handkerchief. Koi's expression is between worried, protective, and impressed. She gives him a searching look -- trying to sense whether Oro seriously hurt him. "Should I get a med-kit?"

"What happened?" She asked Mel quietly, her look is more solemn and serious. "Should I get an aquabreather, and go back down with you?"


OOC: Wow!
This message was last edited by the player at 19:46, Sun 03 Jan 2021.

"I've had worse" He said with a glare towards the ship. "Probably better to talk to him. Figure out what got into her." Pointing to Mel.

Answering the question "Better to just stay where you are, for now. Rose has a magnetic towing cable, we'll be able to pull the ship out from the bottom."

Mel paused for a second "Just, take it easy when you see what it is."

Koi looks wide eyed at Mel, and AG. She takes a deep breath, muttering "I have a bad feeling about this." That Oro freaked out suggests strongly that it's something to do with the war. Maybe even someone she used to know. Did she know someone strong in the Force?  Is it a slave ship?

Hoping the captain will chime in, Koi suggests quietly. "Maybe you could break it to us gently, Mel?  I think we've had enough surprises."

"Kids" Mel replied simply and in a somber tone. Wix had come in close to hear the story as well "It was a Jedi starship, with two kids inside. Padawans, possibly. The hatch wouldn't open as they went down, and than by the time they hit the floor of the ocean, the sudden pressure would have killed them instantly, so they were trapped."

AG's eyes got wide upon hearing and imagining what took place, but was deathly still and quiet, while Wix was scanning his little eyes between everyone, and the Captain had finally gotten up to investigate and listen in.

Koi looks stricken and surprised. There are -- or were -- more people like her and Wix. Recently.  And people were hunting them.  So..presumably the First Order knew there are more Jedi now.  Sure there were bad people other than the First Order that would hunt down children..but the First Order was definitely at the top of the list.

She glances at Wix sadly. "Whomever was hunting them..I don't think they crashed. They're probably still out there."


Noticing that AG is very, still she watches him for a moment.  Tries to guess how he's reacting to the news that there are -- or were Jedi -- that might have the information he sought.

OOC: Not sure if Koi needs a perception roll or not for this one.

"I wouldn't think so" Torin refuted "There haven't been ships branded with the Jedi Order since the end of the Clone Wars, when they were all marked for traitors" It was hard to catch, but the captain made a short look over to AG as well, as he continued.

"This was either a casualty inflicted by the Confederacy of Independent Systems, a Clone Trooper who betrayed their superior officers and the Republic, or the Empire who hunted down the last remnants of the Knights."

The Gammorean Rose slowly rose off the sandy beach, moving overhead and hovering as it released it's claw. The increasing noise of the engine and blowing of the wind would require shouting to be heard clearly. Sand blowing off the ground buffeted any and all nearby.

AG remained quiet, and wide eyed. His eyes focused on Torin, than Melveleh. His posture had shifted, as one about to run, but where he would run to on such a small island, who could say?

It was strange to think this crash happened so long ago. Although Koi herself was protected from the major battle because she lived in the fringes of the galaxy, there has still be a war for most (or all) of her life.  It is disconcerting to remember that it's really been going on for generations. Human generations anyway.  If those kids lived, they could have been grandparents by now.

And now maybe this ship would have some answers for AG about the Jedi and what happened when the Emperor betrayed them.

Koi glanced at AG and then back at Torin. "Wow, this is very loud.  I think I'm going to go further away from the beach.  AG, you want to come with me?"

May be the dunes and rocks would shelter them from the noise.  Maybe it would give AG a little space to set aside some fears.

He shook his head strongly in response "No," There was a slight pause as he tried to expand on his words "I, I need to see this. This had nothing to do with me, but still."

Blast, I thought I was being subtle Koi thinks to herself.

"Alright." Koi said quietly, her words quickly whipped away by the wind and engines.  Despite the ringing in her ears, she waits on the beach with AG.  She thinks he's right that there may be some difficult truths on that ship.  And she wants to be there to help, in case there is something she can do.  Koi suspects that AG will have to face whatever is on that she himself.  And -- as Captain Ploon would say -- she is not to meddle.  But in case she can be a friend to him, she stays by.

She takes a careful, deep breath and tries to center herself. It's difficult to focus on the quiet within when there is so much noise and motion on the beach. But I suppose I should get used to that too, if I'm going to be a Jedi.  Even if I'm not sure what that means yet. I suppose if it means helping, that's what I aim to do.

Koi watches the ship slowly rise from the sea, trying to just observe thoughtfully and wait calmly.  Do all Jedi ships have a presence in the Force?  Or is it the cargo?
This message was last edited by the player at 03:50, Sun 10 Jan 2021.

The sight of the starfighter being pulled from the bottom of the sea was a curious sight to behold as broke the surface after so many years, water, mud, and small pieces of debris falling back below. Small bits of marine life had evidently made it home, with barnacles on the ends and other signs of it beginning to transform into a small artificial reef. Combined with the carbon scoring of it being shot down, it's hard to see the majestic life this ship once had.

For all of that, it's not completely horrid. Through the grime and dirt, the logo of the Jedi Order could still be seen on the tailwing, albeit distressed and weathered.

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As the ship was slowly brought down to the ground, it could be seen that, miraculously, the seal and glass of the ship had remained completely intact. The cabin where the two young padawans had died was completely dry and undisturbed.

Koi shivered as she looked into the viewing windows in the ship. She could just make out the small lumps on the floor of the cabin. It was a miracle that the ship's hull was intact, one that gave the ship the eerie sense of a tomb. More than a tomb, a graveyard for a galaxy wide tragedy. She glanced over at Wix and AG, disquieted by the prospect of disturbing the decades dead children.

I've got to stop listening to Mel's ghost-ship stories..  Koi approaches the airlock, looking to Captain Ploon for permission. Someone should know what happened to them, and they should have a proper burial under the sky and stars.

The Captain was right behind Koi, with AG and the others right behind him. Everyone tried to look inside, and although the glass was undamaged, it was too covered in dirt to see through. The captain gave the signal to open the hatch. Mel held Wix up on the shoulder to allow for sight.

The anticipation of foul air as the seal finally broke didn't occur. There was no scent of death and decay mixed with the less noxious stale air. In fact, there was no evidence of it either.

Where the two child bodies should have been, were just the robes and armor of padawans, outfitted and ready for a war they could not have understood. Stashed in small compartments in both the fore and aft, were lightsabers.

"I don't understand," AG said, loud and confused "If they went down in their fighter, than where are they? Did they escape? Was this a decoy?"

"So, the legends are true" Melveleh responded, going around the answer in his typical way.

"Among the stories and fables about the Jedi, and their connection with the Force, was that their long lives, penchant for evading death, and that it was basically impossible to ever find a Jedi grave. Some thought they were simply immortal, history clearly doesn't bear that out. Still some others thought that a Jedi, at peace in their final moments, would transcend death itself, that their bodies and their spirits would become part of the Force itself."

Mel chokes on his words a little "It was so dark at the bottom, and the windows so murky, I only saw vague shapes inside. Could have sworn I saw actual bodies. But this, this shows that those stories are true. These two young souls were able to become one with The Force, rather than starve or asphyxiate in the dark depths of the ocean."

He made a gentle tap against the outer hull, his optimistic streak showing through as ever "we shouldn't be pitying these two. We should celebrate, that they were so strong, brave, and fortunate. Our galaxy is lessened that such noble spirits were cut short."

Meanwhile, Oro was obviously trying to land the Rose quickly, as it struck the ground without grace or restraint. It wasn't long before she was seen running down the hatch, causing AG to grow physically tense and defensive.

Koi relaxed a little, a heap of robes was less frightening that the mummified corpses of children. "I don't know. I don't think so..unless they were naked." She considered that you could (if you were really cunning) make a pile of dirty laundry on the floor to fake that. "If it was a trick, it was a very effective one."  Children shouldn't need armor like that..

She considers Mel's explanation. It lightens the grim mood a little to think that the children were heroes..but it saddens her to think that children needed so much courage so young.  They shouldn't have had such grown-up fears.  "Is that good then? I'm glad they have a nice resting place in the Force. I remember a story where they evaporated into starlight when they died." She paused, embarrassed. "I thought it was just part of the story..

A part of Koi's brain suggests that the Force ghosts might have been waiting to be found before..letting go.  When the ship was brought up, they might have felt at peace and joined the Force. The idea makes the hair on the back of her neck rise -- surely this was just a coincidence. Surely it was just dark on the bottom of the sea.

"Does anyone see any signs of a grown up on this ship?  Or a droid?  Surely they wouldn't send children alone.." Koi asked as she looked around the ship gingerly, as though she were an unexpected guest who was unsure of their welcome. She doesn't touch the lightsabers -- at least for now. They seem really personal.

This philosophical consideration doesn't last long.  When she sees Oro running over she (sort of) casually moves between her and AG.  But she stands up straight, which is actually quite tall. "Hi Oro." Koi says brightly, and tense."Are we going to be peaceful for the rest of the day?" Jedi spirits help me, I don't know if I could stop her -- but if tries to punch AG again, I'm going to try.

OOC: Trying to have Koi get things sort-of-right in interesting ways. :)
This message was last edited by the player at 22:06, Sun 10 Jan 2021.

"Don't count on it" Her ire was palpable, and she clearly had no shame in it. She rushed towards the wrecked fighter, pushing AG out of the way to get a view. She was just as confused as he was

"What's going on? This doesn't add up. Were they able to escape after all?"

Melveleh motioned over, and the two had a small chat between the two of them to get her up to speed. As they walked, Wix hopped off the shoulder of the Herglic and onto the weakened frame of the starship. He looked into the cockpit while on his hands and knees, looking around before he started to point at the center console.

Koi scowled at Oro.  She was really being rude. Soon, Koi was going to have to say something.  But this was not a place for arguments.

She came over and examined the console, gently running her hand over the surface. "I sensed this ship in the Force from space, but..I don't want to break her."  She said quietly to Wix.

Being away from Oro's sour mood makes it easier to concentrate and really look carefully at the console.  It's an old design -- Koi's only seen a few pieces of machinary or parts this age.  Did Jedi design this themselves?  It's certainly more graceful than any of the First Order stuff I've seen.  But she focuses more carefully, looking for an odd compartment or key.  "But these are Jedi..if I was a jedi, I would have the ignition that could be turned on with the Force.." she thinks aloud.

Wix scooted closer to be able to get at the controls without stepping into the ship himself. Hanging upside down, he flicked a few switches and nobs.

"No power" Wix said simply, "Battery dead. If lucky, find port to charge it. Not lucky, break ship open, replace battery. Also try take computer out, connect to ship."

OOC: You have a few options, in order of difficulty.
Mechanics check to repair the corroded port.
Mechanics check to remove the computer system from the ship.
Use The Force to try to "feed" power into the ships computer System.

You also have a number of friends and allies with skills, and powers, that you could try asking them.

"Sweet leaves, Wix!" Koi exclaimed softly, "You're right, this computer is in decent shape considering everything." She lightly ran her hand over the console. It was eerie, but exciting, to think the ship's computer might be repairable.  It was hard to wrap her head around this idea of being a Jedi.  Heck, even talking about Jedi was illegal on a lot of worlds. And it was hard to come to peace with the idea that this fear around Jedi wasn't normal.  That Mel and others remembered Jedi as a good thing.  That it might mean something other than having a terrible secret that might get her killed.

"This is like seeing pictures of my dad from his university days."  She said to no one in particular.  She glanced over towards where Mel and Captain Ploon were explaining things to Oro.  Koi really didn't want to deal with Oro right now.  "Let's see if cleaning off this port works, and we can go from there.  But I want to see if there is anything else broken inside, before we power her up.  I don't want to damage any weak connections."

OOC:  Alright, Koi is going to try to repair the damaged port and use Search Your Feelings and/or Search Surroundings to see if there is anything in the computer that might break if they turn it on. While it would be cool for Koi to use the force to activate the computer, I don't think she's quite there..baby steps?

12:10, Today: Koi Sundar rolled 27 using 1d20+8 ((19)) = repair port
12:10, Today: Koi Sundar rolled 8 using 1d20+5 ((3)). = use the force. Ugh, should have taken 10.


OOC2: Sorry about the wall of text.  Koi is quietly Having Feelings

The charging port for the ship is on the opposite side from the fuel port, both on the bottom of the ship, meaning both have decades of dirt and corrosion.

Thankfully, in both cases, the ports themselves were constructed with protective barriers and seals. Moreso designed to protect them from ionization and thermal changes in the need of planetary reentry, they still mostly did their job here; keeping the internal systems intact. The outer components though had to be replaced completely.

Wix, with his short-sighted solutions to problem solving, had run off to the Rose in order to find replacement parts, and had quickly returned with the necessary parts, and the wires and plates from whatever component he pried this off of.

AG quietly spectates your work before asking a humorous question. "Should I go get a generator from the ship to power this up, or should I get Mel over here to help push?"

Mel is going shout a <i>lot if Wix tore this out of the ship when we have perfectly good replacement parts in the hold..oh Wix..</i> She sighs, but the parts are already off and she might as well use them.

AG's unexpected joke startles a laugh from Koi, and she pulls herself out from under the port housing so she can respond. "As much as I'd like to see that, I think the wheels are flat," she quips back with a smile "Let's try a generator first -- can you bring a current breaker too?  I don't want to blow a chip if something overheats."

<Orange>OOC: Take 10 to scan the ship with the Force? :)</Orange>

"Good call." He said as he patted the ship hull, heading away. You hear him call out to Wix "Come on there sand-rat, let's go find this thing."

OOC: You feel nothing of particular note. There's still the same 'shadow' you felt before, the remaining energy of the two padawans who were inside, but it is otherwise inert and unremarkable.

OOC2: Maybe look into psychometry as a power, when it's time for that?

The two returned promptly with the requested items, and thankfully this time not pulled out of the ship itself.

"What are you hoping you might find here?"

"Thank you." Koi hooks the current breaker up to the energy port first, running a low level current to look for fluctuations that might indicate a weakened connection that could break. Whatever data this ship had could be very precious, and Koi wanted to be careful.

She pats the hull, "It would take a miracle to get her flying again. But wouldn't that be fine.."

While it completes its scan, she explains her thinking. "Well, this is a Jedi's ship right? They should have information about why and how they were being hunted. From what Mel and the Captain were saying, it sounds like the Jedi were very..umm..politically educated." She looks aside shyly. "I thought it might give you some answers. I mean, it might have information about where they were going too, or other stuff..but we can figure that out later."


OOC: Apparently Use the Force can give you a heads up about super bad ideas :)  But yeah -- psychometry could be cool.  Especially when it comes to learning to use a lightsaber :) 

"Treason" AG responded simply, choosing to add to it after a slight pause "That's why they were hunted. The Jedi attacked Supreme Chancellor in order to claim control of the Galactic Senate and the Republic for themselves. They were defeated, and in retalliation the remaining Jedi were labelled traitors. The Grand Army of the Republic, later the Empire, was charged with hunting them all down."

For the propaganda training that he had been subjected to, AG spoke in a surprisingly neutral tone, as if he were reciting facts for a test.

"Like I said before, there's a lot about that line of events that doesn't add up, but I don't think this ship will answer those questions."

"What are you going to do if you find where they were headed? I mean, Torin still has his mission, or job, or whatever he wants to call it. Following this thread sounds like a pretty big distraction to me,"

He sat down next to you in the sand, watching you work "As far as distractions go though, this is probably one of the better ones"

Koi's hands keep up their methodical work, listening to the pitch of the beeps and replacing some very old circuit breakers before she started the generator. She has a careful rhythm, "Well, the more I listen to you, the more I agree that it doesn't make sense. I didn't have the fanciest schooling, so maybe this is just ignorant. But I'm pretty sure if someone killed..my dad's dean...they'd just get a new dean. The murderer doesn't get to be dean. Why would you think that if you killed someone, you'd get their job?" She sounds puzzled, although a little muffled by the ship's hull.

She grunts as the last fuse comes free and she can clean up the connections. Captain Ploon occasionally reminds me that if you don't see the other side of the story, you don't know the full truth. Maybe it's naive..but I hoped it would help you find some answers to have that perspective. Maybe they just have news vids from back then. Wouldn't that help?"  She sounds tentatively hopeful that even some first hand accounts would give AG some information.

Koi pauses at the idea that Captain Ploon might not want to explore where ever the ship was going."I don't know. I'm hoping I can convince him it's worth the diversion. Do you think it's worth it? Finding this ship is already pretty good, right?

She places the last, new circuit breaker in place. "Alright, that's all of them.  Want to turn her on and see what we've got?"

"Nope" He said earnestly with his hands up "You found it, you did the work, you get the honor of breathing life back into her. I'm just a spectator here."

Koi looks at the ship for a moment, May the force be with us..I hope this works.. she prayed silently. She turns on the generator.



OOC: Did AG just offer to come with her if she was going to go on an 'adventure' to a secret jedi hideout?"

OOC: If you want to find out, you'll need to inquire further. You know you've piqued his curiosity for the moment, at the very least.

There's a few beeps and boops as the ships computer turns on. It tries in vain to try and get the engines going, but those are beyond redemption. It's enough to corrall the attention of the others, as everyone hovers around.

"Heavy Helium, you got it to work Koi! That's fantastic."

Koi scuffs the floor and blushes, "Well I had help..and a lot of luck. Good thing those Jedi built sturdy ships." She says modestly, "It will take a lot more to get her flying, but I thought it might be a good start to see where she was headed and see if she had anything interesting in her data archives.."


OOC: Just like the Stan Rogers song :D
OOC2: It might take Koi a little while to work up her courage to ask him. :)

"Well, let's take a look..." The captain said, leaning in and working the controls. "I see they fired a distress beacon off shortly before crashing. I imagine that's lost its velocity and has dropped from orbit by now. Looks the system kept pretty good records, but most of it is blocked by firewalls and encryption, and that's not my forte.". He leaned back, leaving it to you, or to any enterprising individual who wanted to take a crack at it.

OOC: Either make a Use Computer check, or ask one of the others to have a go.

Koi runs a hand through her hair, "Does anyone know how to fix that?" She asks sheepishly. "I'm not particularly good at the programming part of ships," she admits.

"I could probably get what we need out of that system, but, you know..." Mel said, sadly.

Wix was quick to respond, crawling again on the hull of the ship, and being the first to enter the cockpit. He looked around in the space beyond the computer console that was of import at the moment. Seeing the robes that lay in the seats, he chose instead to slowly and gently fold them into neat piles into the aft seat.

"Sorry, tiny Jedi." He spoke very quietly "Please no haunt Wix. Wix tiny Jedi too, or want to be. Wix try to help. We go tell story of tiny Jedi to others."

His work completed, he sat in the front seat, hands at the ready, looking up at Mel.

"Okay, listen carefully." The Herglic replied "I can't understand you, but you can understand me."

Wix nodded silently in agreement.

"Okay. You're going to be my hands. Do exactly what I tell you, and nothing else, or else you might start the ships self-destruct sequence" Mel winked at the others as the Jawa let out a small startle and whose hands became rigid straight as the instructions began.

Koi smothered a noise that turned into a cough at Mel's wink. "Sorry, dust.." she muttered, covering her face to hide any expression that might give away Mel's game.  "Let me know if I can do anything to help?"

Levity aside, she paid close attention to Mel's instructions.  You never know, she thought, I might have to bypass some codes myself some day. Especially if I'm going to help AG find out the truth about the past.

The small ruse appeared to work, as Wix, unsuspecting of treachery, did not deviate from any of the instructions he received, and kept his attention exacting on what was occurring. Melveleh, for his part, had stepped behind the cockpit and leaned forward over the Jawa's shoulder, so that he could see the screen easily and relay instructions better.

"Well, it looks like we have answers, but a greater mystery unfurls." Mel says after a while, patting Wix on his tiny shoulder "There were other ships that entered the system with these youngsters. Another Jedi fighter, like this one, and two Republic fighters. They broke off before entering the atmosphere. The other Jedi craft headed towards one of the other moons, and was pursued, while these padawans were pursued and shot down here."

"Well, let's get going!" Oro responded in a near shout "We can figure out which of the other moons the Jedi went to, and we can find them and -" Her idea was brought to a quiet end, with the knowing touch of Torin

"Ya, okay." She responded defeatedly, giving another scornful look at AG "We should still find the other ship, or try to."

"Great job Wix!" Koi cheers in Jawa.

Koi winces at Oro's defeated look, and clears her throat to get her attention. "I think we should try to find the other ships. But it might be possible to find more information about what happened from this one first." She smiles wanly, and tries to shine some optimism into the situation. "They were magical warriors, and I got some weird readings from one of the moons.  They might have gotten away if they could hide their ship's heat readings in that moon with high geo-thermal activity.

Also..well, maybe the nav computer can tell us where they were going. Even if these ships didn't escape -- well, no one is perfect, not even the Galactic Empire.  Surely some jedi escaped.  Maybe this ship has a map to a meet up point."

She looks to Captain Torin, "Is it possible the nav computer has coordinates for lost planets?  From what Mel was saying, the Jedi were very trusted and umm..discrete..?"  Koi suspects there are other things, like codes to jedi-only channels or something.  But she's not sure how much of that is pulp adventure holo-vid material, and how much is real life. Mel considers a lot of jedi stories that she dismissed as fiction to be true..

She runs a hand through her hair, admitting sheepishly "I wouldn't mind taking a shot at fixing the engines, either. I know it's a long shot..well, it would be a miracle of the First Tree, for sure.  But.." she trails off in embarrassment, glancing at Wix.  Can the Force heal a ship? It would give Oro so much hope to see this ship fly.

"Nearest we can tell, sprout, this was their destination." Mel says. "I think they were hoping to hide out in an unexplored system and try to regroup. We could try and figure out which of these moons the other ship went to. It's at least worth looking into."

"That makes sense" AG piped in, having listened to the conversation so far. "If this was just as the Clone Wars ended, when the Jedi were supposed to attempt their coup, there wouldn't have been a place in known space that would have been safe. The Empire would be hunting them, the few systems in the Confederacy would still see them as enemies, and the prizes for capturing Jedi would have been too big for them to seek refuge in Hutt Space. They'd have to go to somewhere off the map.

He caught a hateful glare from Oro again, which he angrily defended himself against "Hey! Don't look at me as if I had anything to do with this! This is the reality of the situation they must have been in. You don't see me cheering the clones that shot these kids out of the sky, do you?"

"Oh.." Koi said quietly.  That was not a good sign.  Surely if there was jedi here, they would have seen something.  Or they would have felt them in the force -- and not just these poor kids.

She looks at Mel and AG -- both of whom seem to have some guesses about the likely outcomes.  "Do you think they knew where other Jedi might have been hiding..?" She suspects that the jedi were too careful to let other ships know where they were hiding.

Koi considers, "Let's go through the ship carefully. I'd love to try to get the ship working again, but if we can't -- I think we should save everything we can.  Even if it's not strategic. I think this ship is part of history that has been...lost. Some of my Dad's friends from university are Wookies, and they would complain a lot that history books were changed from when they were young -- to reflect ideas that the Empire supported. Maybe even some old stories or flight records would a small part of that history."

She looks at Mel thoughtful, "Even if we can't get this ship flying, maybe new ships could be made from her blue prints."

OOC: I'm guessing fixing the ship is out of the question?  :D
OOC2: If she can catch a private moment with Wix and the ship, she would like to meditate and see if she can read the past of the ship..maybe see if she can find a tiny clue.

"That's quite the project you're taking on. There's more in that ship to be replaced than restored. Would probably take a museum a team to try and get that going again. And, even if you did, there's large parts of the galaxy where you would be a target on first sight." Torin gave himself a slight pause

"But, if anyone can do it, I'm sure you and the rest of the crew could gather up enough elbow grease to get it flying again, and it's definitely worth the effort. Private collectors would pay a fortune for that, even with replacement parts, if that's what you wanted to do with it."

The optimist of the group piped in with a different approach. "It would be even more valuable than the credits, to the people of the galaxy. A Jedi starfighter, seen flying around the galaxy, standing up against the First Order and supporting the New Republic? That would instill hope in every known corner of space, and you can't put a price on that."

"Thank you,"  Koi said solemnly. "I appreciate you letting me and Wix and Mel give it a try. I know time is money, but do you think you can at least give us a few days to see how things are? I'm figuring that you and Oro..have other details to figure out about the other jedi ship and all anyway." Koi is getting better about predicting what Captain Ploon needs to figure out for a mission, but some times the deciding on a plan is still mysterious to her.

Koi adds, "I know it a long shot, and we might have to come back with more people and supplies, but.." she gives Torin a mischievous grin. "It would sure give some bad people cold frogs in their stomachs to see a Jedi Ghost ship, eh?"

She adds, more practically.."And it would help the double-bunking situation.."



OOC: I have no idea if this is possible, but it seemed like something that Koi would try.  I'm hoping if she and Mel and Wix all take 20 on Mechanics, use the force, force points..crying..we might be able to get it salvageable eventually.. :)

"I don't think you understand just how much work you're looking at, but I won't get in your way."

He extended his hand out for a shake of agreement "This rustbucket isn't going anywhere soon. Let's check out the rest of the system, and we come back for it when we're done. Feast or famine, the next plan was to return to Republic space. Bolt it down well enough, we can take it with us."

"I know it's going to be a lot of work," Koi said solemnly, but there was a brightness to her eyes and a bounce to her step that suggested that she was hiding more optimism than she would readily admit. "and it might not work out..but I feel like I owe it to them to try.

She shook Torin's hand firmly, "Thank you for let me.." she glanced at Wix for support, "us." She amended, "try.  I think it would be good for people looking for hope to see this part of their history, even if it takes a really long time to get her flying again."

Koi hesitates, and looks at Wix, and back at the Captian. "When do you want to explore the next planet in the system?"  She wanted to show she was a team player (and Captain Ploon was being more than reasonable..but the lure of spending some time exploring the ship was strong.

I don't suppose Koi can do some meditation rolls aboard the ship? :)  I imagine her mentor might have something to say about this whole situation.

"Things seem to have worked out in our favor." Mel said, watching as Wix hopped himself out of the ship, his work seemingly been done.

"It looks like our mystery ship went to the next moon around this gas giant we wanted to check. There's no outward signs of any sentient life here, and it has some great prospects. Maybe we get lucky and answer both questions at the same time."

"Alright."  Koi cocks her head, hoping Mel will explain about the prospects he means -- she's guessing it seems like a good place to hide some refugees.  But it could also be a mining resource for the New Republic, or a secret base. It seems like almost everyone could use a secret base these days. "Well, give me a few minutes warning about when you want to pick up the loading ramp, and I'll hop aboard."   She looks wistfully about the ship, "I wonder if there is anything we should bring with us..like a communication device.  It might pick up a signal that more modern ship would miss -- Wix taught me that on Tatooine."

OOC: Oh, and we a definitely bringing the lightsabers, right?! :) :) :)

OOC: We'll get there, don't you worry

"So that's what was going on." AG looked at the Jawa with an initial look of scorn and anger "He was the sabateur. At least one of them. By using seemingly obsolete technology and frequencies, we completely missed everything he was doing."

His tone broke to a chuckle "That's pretty smart. Credit where credit is due. You've got a tactician's mind. You don't know the number of people you pissed off."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:25, Fri 29 Jan 2021.

"The sensors on the ship aren't so narrowly defined as a military system. We should be able to detect nearly any unnatural radiation emanating from the planet. If anbody's home, they're using a means of communication beyond our means to detect it."

Koi flinches and looks guiltily at Wix for giving away one of his secrets. "Sorry!" she groans softly in Jawa, "I should be more discreet." She doesn't think that AG will hurt Wix on purpose, but it was still really rude.

She looks less certain than Captain Ploon regarding his confidence in the ship's sensors.  Koi looks thoughtfully to Wix. While not using telepathy, it's is probably easy for Wix to guess that Koi thinks the Jedi might be able to leave a message in the Force if they wished to be *very* secretive.

Or maybe they just had radios..

"It okay. He friend now. Wix think so at least." Wix looked around a for a moment before extending his tiny hands as everyone else was making their way to the ship. How he had gotten it out of the ship without anyone's notice was a small mystery, but not noticing the actions of a Jawa seems to be their strengths.

A lightsaber, pulled from the wreckage.

"Wix hope Tiny Jedi don't mind. We use lightsabers, Tiny Jedi live on."

Koi is startled that Wix was so light handed, woe to anyone who overlooks him " I don't think it's a coincidence, I think it's a responsibility.." Koi doesn't think the Force controls everything. But this feels like..a lesson. Something to grow in to. Or maybe I'm just getting big-headed..

After a moment she admits, "I'm a little frightened to have the responsibility of fixing what they did not have time to do. It seems like using a lightsaber should be different than using a blaster.  And I would use either to defend you or our friends for sure." Her words are halting, as she doesn't have a good vocabulary for the spiritual training that she has barely undertaken.. "But I don't understand yet how to use a lightsaber differently..like the Spirit did."

"Did you get one too?" She asks, "I think it's the right size for you and well..I'm sure they'd be glad to know you."


OOC: Okay fixed! :)

Did Wix a lightsaber too?
This message was last edited by the player at 20:09, Sat 30 Jan 2021.

Wix nodded as he revealed the other lightsaber, holding it very carefully in both hands.

"Wix have one too. We learn together. Jedi masters of combat with lightsaber. Ghost Jedi spend years training. We no time, no teacher. Unfair to compare." He moved the weapon around in his hands, carefully analyzing the components to make the outer casing. Carefully, he pushed on the trigger, igniting the blade in a shimmering blue light that matched the clear sky and the water. The distinctve noise also took the attention of all the others, who stopped in their tracks heading aboard the ship to see Wix with the weapon of the Jedi.

Koi looked at the lightsaber she was holding carefully. It wasn't any heavier than a camp knife, and about the handle was about the same size. Unlike her camp knife, the lightsaber seemed to radiate a quiet potential. As though her intuition would know that it was a item of power -- even if she had never seen it before.

Did one of the children make it themselves?  Or did a teacher make it for them?  She wondered reverently as she examined it. Either way it was clear that a lot of care had been put into the making of this weapon. The taper around the laser aperture was crenelated with a rounded taper like the calyx of a flower. Long before she was born--and maybe before her father was born--someone had tried to wrap the handle, but it had mostly worn away. It might be beautiful, but it was clearly a weapon that had seen regular use until it's owner crashed.

There seemed to be an intuitive way to hold it one hand with the aperture pointed away from her. It was simple push the delicate switch from that position.  A quick hissing rush and a sunny yellow blade appeared. "I expected it to be heavier."  Koi said quietly, not noticing that she instinctively shifts her weight for better balance. "But look, it's just like spring sunshine.."

She turns towards the ship to see everyone staring at her and Wix.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:17, Mon 01 Feb 2021.

"Be careful, you could poke an eye out playing with those things." Cracked a joke as he motioned the two of you to get moving "Or a hole in my ship. Now let's going."

Mel had a beaming smile at the sight before him, before following the captain's orders, while Oro and AG had stunned faces, stagnant in place.

Koi gave the captain a sheepish smile, "Hear that Wix -- absolutely no turning on the lightsaber while we're on the ship.  If we want to poke some evil-doer's eye out, we have to do it outside."  She grins at the captain.

Koi deactivates the lightsaber, and holds it carefully while getting on the ship.  Normally she'd put it in a pocket, but she isn't sure how to make sure it won't accidentally turn on.  She doesn't want a laser injury to the butt if she sits wrong.

She looks askance at Oro and AG, "Are you okay? Didn't you see the lightsabers on the ship?"  Koi was expecting a strong reaction from AG, but Oro surprises her.  Wouldn't she be happy to see the ancient artifact was in good condition?


OOC: I feel that that was foreshadowing right there..Chekov's ocular injury?  :D

OOC: Not on purpose, just reinforcing Torin being Space Dad.

"Well ya, but..." Oro stammered her way through as she tried to piece things together "I mean, I guess this explains. How you saved us, how you knew where the ship was. And it makes absolute sense why you're here on the mission, but..." She finally got her words out

"Koi, are you a Jedi?"

"I.." Koi hesitates, but she can't lie to Oro.  Oro is her friend.  And she can't leave Wix the burden of being a jedi himself. All I can do is the right thing in front of me -- and that means being honest. "I could be."  Koi admits, "Maybe..with training. I can see a little in the Force, but I could find you and Mel and the Captain because we're friends. I don't think I could find a stranger."

She looks ashamed. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything sooner..I wasn't sure if it was real or luck. If it was just luck, I didn't want all of you to think I was stupid or crazy. And being right.." She looks purely unhappy, It is so dangerous for people to know..and you are already so brave, I didn't want to put you in more danger."

I can only imagine the struggle for the ship's thermostat..:D <3 weird space family

"Oh shut up" Oro replied, trying to contain her emotions in. She walked over slowly, and gave strong, passionate hug "You're braver than any of us, doing what you're doing. We're with you until the end."

By the time the hug broke, AG had quietly walked aboard the Gamorrean Rose, leaving you with Oro and Wix.

Koi fiercely hugs Oro back, with a little, hiccuping sniffle of relief.  Koi really hated trying to hide things from her friends. And having their support is like putting down a heavy pack at the end of a long hike. "Oh Oro," she sighs, "I'm so glad you'll tell me when I'm being dumb."

After she releases Oro from the hug, she wipes her leaking eyes on her sleeve.  She looks at Wix, and says to him in Jawa. "I think your secret has escaped too, Wix. I hope that is okay."

Wix nodded and patted on Koi's leg "Okay. Wix heard farmer saying, share among Jawa's. Good saying. 'No part of secret found in family.' We family, even big bossy Herglic"

"No touch this, Wix. Exactly how wanted, Wix. Everything in place, Wix" Wix headed into the Rose with his tiny arms extended, mimicking the much larger size of Mel. "Mel nice, but picky"

Koi hides a smile, she likes both Mel and Wix very much.  But they are as different as water and eggs. "He is picky, but he's a good teacher. He must see a lot of potential in your skills that he is being so picky. It helps me to be organized when I have a complicated or overwhelming problem, though. I'm not sure I would have been able to help fix Mr. Diggity without his teaching. "


She pauses, "I'm glad that we're like family, Wix. I miss my Dad, but I always wanted brothers and sisters."

OOC: I'm ready to go to the next planet. :D
This message was last edited by the player at 00:44, Fri 05 Feb 2021.

OOC: Heading there, but first....


The crew of the Gamorrean Rose reassembled, the ship took off from the moon and headed to it's next destination, another of the moons of the gas giant.

In a quiet moment aboard, you heard a faint but familiar voice

"You are not the only Jedi"

Ms. Jedi! Koi thought happily. With youthful enthusiasm asks, "Did you see the ship? Isn't she beautiful? Those poor children though..are they at peace?"

But she quickly gets her wayward thoughts to focus at this incredible new information, "more people like us?  Is it Captain Ploon?  Or AG?" She guesses, although she's not sure how AG would like that.

After a deep breath she manages something like calm, "Oh..you probably meant people in the galaxy..Is it a good idea to find them?" Koi feels very lucky to have the support of her space family. But not everyone will be so lucky.

"It is necessary" The voice responded, as the physical spirit of the ancient Jedi appeared again "A great evil has been defeated, but without the Jedi, the First Order can not be defeated. The Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic have always had a symbiotic relationship, when one is strengthened, so too is the other. There are many hands trying to recreate the Jedi order, including the one who defeated the Sith in their home. Other helping hands, are closer than you may think."

Koi is quiet for a moment, as she contemplates the Spirit's words. Some of them make sense -- it does seem like Oro is happier having a jedi around.  And it *is* a little like Koi is a helpful mushroom living at the base of a great tree.  If only helping people was as simple and easy as being a mushroom!

But Koi isn't sure what the Spirit meant about other Jedi being closer than she thinks.  Is there one on the planet?  Maybe a survivor from the Clone Wars? That would be very interesting!

Koi sighs. The spirit said 'helping hands' are closer..not jedi..well, it will be good to have help. Maybe even some help with the ship or the lightsabers.

This kind of philosophical puzzle was not part of her education. But there are other jedi..which we will need to find?

"I definitely think we could use some help, but can you teach us too?  I know I have a lot of things that I don't understand.  And I'm sure it's not any easier for a lot of other new jedi." She pauses, "It seems like using a lightsaber is easier than being Captain Ploon for someone who needs it.  But I don't know how to do either."

OOC: Thinking is hard some times. Koi isn't good at philosophical puzzles. :D

"Open yourself entirely to the Force, and fully put your trust in it. If you are able to do that, you will learn everything that is necessary."

The ghost of Bastila Shan motions to the deck of the ship to both sit down.

"You will need to be careful in these next steps of your path. Your actions will have great impact and precipitate into the future, for better or worse, and possibly forever. A single act can have devastating consequences, no matter how well intended. That lesson was taught most painfully in my own time. Some Jedi were reckless and in their attempt to end one war, fell to the Dark Side and began a new war, one that nearly destroyed The Jedi."

There was a slight pause "I too, succumbed to the Dark Side and the lies of the Sith, for a time..."

Koi sits beside Ms. Shan, feeling solemn and trepidatious at the Jedi's warning.  Koi is already deeply concerned about making a mistake -- one that leads to people getting hurt.  She feels her ignorance -- both in matters of the force and experience -- keenly.

"How did you come back from the dark side?" Koi asks carefully. If anyone can fall to the dark side, surely it would be very worthwhile to find a way to help them recover..

She laughed gently and smiled, looking at the floor briefly "Yes, that. It's been so long since I've told this tale, it's become somewhat embarrassing. The thing that brought me back from the dark side is the same thing that caused so many others to fall into it, including the Jedi who betrayed his order and helped create the Empire. What saved me, was love."

Koi echoes with obvious puzzlement, "Love..like romance?"  She sneaks a glance at AG, even though she isn't sure why.  Maybe it's because this is new, even weirder information about why the Jedi were hunted down..or something.."A jedi betrayed other jedi for love and it created the Empire?  AG said that the Jedi tried to kill the emperor..but a lot of the details don't make sense.  Did the Emperor try to hurt his girlfriend or boyfriend?"

"Why would romance make people fall to the dark side?  I can kind of see.." she speculates hesitantly, "that you might want to be a better person when you're in love..people are generally nicer when they're in love, right?" Either way Koi is listening with every atom of attention.  Love is even more mysterious to her than space.  Like Oro, the Spirit was clearly a Jedi and Woman of the World, and has more teachable experiences than how to use a lightsaber.


OOC: Koi doesn't have much experience with romance..maybe the force can help her? :D It's fun to play a clueless/shelter character

"The Jedi was married in secret, and against the rules of the Jedi Council. He was plagued by nightmares that he would lose her, as he had about losing his mother. He could not confide in his master, or in any of the Jedi. He sought console in the Supreme Chancellor, Sheev Palpatine, who was secretly a Sith Lord, orchestrating galactic events to his favor. Palpatine promised he would save the Jedi's wife, if he became the Sith's apprentice."

"The Jedi tried to do the right thing, and alerted the Jedi Council, but the desire to protect his wife was too strong, and he betrayed them."

Koi listened carefully, but often when talking to the Spirit -- he answers seemed to grow more questions. "I can understand that the desire to protect your family is very strong.  It was hard to lose my Dad. I was angry with him for leaving me for a while. But.." Koi pauses, "my Dad wouldn't have been my Dad if he didn't act as he did. Even if it caused him to die in the forest fire.  The kind of woman who marries a Jedi in secret, could not be a stranger to dangerous situations."   She pauses, "I can't think that she was happy with his decision."

"Why was marrying forbidden in the first place?  Was it the same when you were a Jedi?" Koi asks, a little unhappy to think that she couldn't marry someone, some day.  She hadn't given it much thought, but one day she might..think it was nice.

"The prohibition against marriage ties into many of our most fundamental principles. Powerful emotions have led many a Force User towards the dark side, and love being one of the most strongest emotions felt among all living things. With love frequently comes jealousy, lust, fear, arrogance, and other emotions that are heightened in someone trained in the Force. The rule is there as a safeguard, and one that has served us well, despite our baser desires."

"Beyond that, it reinforces our commitments. A Jedi is selfless, rational, and the stalwart defenders of the galaxy. We must have no loyalty beyond our loyalty to The Republic, to the Jedi Order and the Council, and to The Force."

Bastila took a deep breath, as she reflects on her past. "The rule was in place in my time as well, and I paid dearly for violating it. Just as I had used the force to bring him back from the Darkness and as the Dark Lord of the Sith, so too had he saved me, and in this we both fealt that the Jedi Order's prohibition of love and marriage was a mistake. The Council discovered what we had done and an agreement was made. They would not publicly speak against our marriage, and Revan would not try to convert or convince others of what we understood to be true. We were, for all intents and purposes, banished. Revan believed there was still work to be done, and journeyed into the Unknown Regions alone. He would not tell anyone where he was going or why, and left me in Coruscant, still pregnant with our only child. Revan would never return."

"I hold no regrets or resentments. When Meetra Sutrik returned from her Exile, I helped her rebuild the Jedi Order from the brink of extinction. When we had done so, we had changed that rule, but it must have been reintroduced at some time."

Koi thinks about this revelation quietly. It sounds like the jedi of the past had good reasons for this revelation.  And it would be harder to be impartial with a family and romance...but I'm not sure I would have been able to find my friends in the Force without love..

After a moment of thought, "I don't think it would be right for me to tell someone whom they could love or not. Or that they couldn't marry. Maybe it would be alright for a wise jedi council-being, but it would be an arrogant thing for the likes of me to decide."  She shakes her head, like she was trying to clear gnats from her ears.  It was a subject that would require much reflection, although Koi's instinct was that she shouldn't seek to interfere with anyone's personal life so much.

Anyway, she had more immediate questions, "Are the jedi out there like me and Wix? Or are there..older jedi? It's a hard thing to find these..empty robes. Did anyone survive?" More practically, Koi thinks that finding more jedi will have to wait until they find a bigger ship.  Even with a friendly crew, space in the Gamorrean Rose is getting tight.

"There is at least one. A Jedi known by Rey, she redeemed one of the Sith and together defeated the Emperor in Exagol, and together saved the galaxy from apocalypse. If there are others, like the Jedi who trained her, they are cutting themselves off from the Force so as to not be found. If the Jedi were to be known again across the galaxy, they would surely rally to the Order, assuming any yet exist."

Bastilla begins to stand on her feet "You are wiser than you realize, the company you keep is testament enough to that. I can only guide and advise you, Padawan. I can't make you do what I wish. I cannot even make you listen. If the Jedi Order is to be rebuilt, it will be your hands."

Koi smiles, a soft twinkle in her eye. It is easy to imagine that in a kinder time, Koi would be a gentle counselor or healer. "I would be a fool not to listen, and twice a fool not to love such wonderful friends.  Beyond that I don't claim much wisdom."  Koi's smile fades, her deep grief and trepidation shows. "It takes a hundred years to grow a tree, and not even a day of bad work to destroy it. And the emperor, the first order, have done decades of bad work -- not only the Jedi order, but whole planets, whole generations of history and people, torn out by the roots. Oh, m'am, if only it were *only* the Jedi Order that needed to be put right.."

She shakes her head again, as though she could dislodge her troubled thoughts so easily. "Ah..if I think like that I'll never get anywhere. One step and one handhold at a time." Koi gives the Jedi a watery smile, "but I'm very glad if you have a spare handhold or two..and it helps to hear about how things have been. It gives me an idea of what was tried before and why. And it helps to know others asked the same questions before, even if we come to a different answer."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:06, Tue 09 Feb 2021.

"Even with the Force, you are still only one person in an infinitely large galaxy. Do not be discouraged, and do not feed into impatience. The smallest deeds can create profound effects, for good and for ill."

"You are well on your way to becoming a Jedi. The Force will be with you Koi, always." She says with a smile as her astral form drifts into nothingness. In her absense, a quiet and unnoticed presence quickly becomes undeniable.

AG, silent standing in the doorway, observing everything.

Her connection with the spirit feels peaceful, but intense.  Koi suspects that the spirit communicates with telepathy as much as speech in order to make her explanations  more precise and give Koi more context.

But as a result, she's not sure how long AG was standing there.  Or how much of a lunatic she appears right now.

"Umm.." Koi says eloquently, not sure how much of her communication with the powerful Jedi spirit was visible to other people beyond Wix.

"I don't suppose you also heard her?" Koi asks hesitantly, trying to gauge if AG is angry with her.  Or just angry in general.  Or frightened.


OOC: Well, I probably should have asked before if Bastilla's spirit is physically present and how much of that conversation Koi was having in her mind. I'm guessing it looks pretty weird either way. :D

"I did" He said, barely constraining himself "I wasn't around for all of it, but I heard enough."

"Jedi"

Koi sighs, AG's anger seems to blast her skin like the Tatooine sun. She doesn't bother getting up. While Koi realizes that AG's acceptance was probably too much to hope for..she hoped for it anyway."I'm not sure it's what I would have chosen for myself, but a lot of people seem to need a jedi. So here I am." She gestures plaintively, "I don't have the cruelty or cowardice to say that I won't try. Or at least try to be what they think a Jedi is."

"You have to be kidding me" He fumed "After everything they did, supporting and defending a corrupt Republic, ignoring laws they proclaimed to defend? Time and again, they betrayed every value they pretended to uphold, so why would you want to follow them?"

Koi reined in her instinct to defend Wix and the Spirit vehemently. She tries to encourage AG to be more fair in his assessment, even though his condemnation stung. Koi has tried so hard to be a friend to him! Could he not show a little optimism?!. "Well, the only Jedi I know are Wix, and the Spirit you just saw.  And Mel remembers the Jedi as good people, and I know he is a very good judge of character.  Captain Torin also has good opinions of the Jedi, and I can't imagine anyone fooling him. "

"I know individuals have made mistakes -- the spirit I was talking to has been very humble about her mistakes. But often she was put in difficult situations with no straight-forward answer, or she had limited information at the time. She did her best to help people, even if she sometimes turned out to wrong later."

She searches for the right words, "All the bad opinions you have about Jedi, seem to come from the Emperor and the First Order." She hesitates, "I know you hold that history in high esteem -- but I'm not as convinced that it was a fair assessment.  Certainly you seemed as surprised as us that the jedi that were hunted after the Clone Wars included innocent children. Does it really seem impossible that the Emperor would blame his political opponents unfairly?"

Koi looks tired, "I know it's going to be hard to live up to the idealistic idea that Oro, Mel, and Captain Ploon have of the Jedi.  I'm going to do by best to be the hero they think that person is.  It might not be historically accurate or realistic. Sweet leaves, their idea of Jedi might be straight out of a holovid. But I don't want to let them or Wix or you down."

"Can you at least give me the benefit of the doubt that I'm trying to do the right thing?"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:48, Sat 13 Feb 2021.

"Mel remembers what he saw of them as a child." AG retorted sharply "His judgement is clouded by nostalgia and anecdotes. The entire history of the Jedi is that of cataclysmic errors in judgement followed by tradgedies that span the entire breadth of the galaxy, followed by unrecoverable suffering."

AG's face turns red as his stare intensifies, making a pair of solitary steps closing the distance. "You do have a point though" He says quietly, begrudgingly as he starts to hang his head a little "My understanding of the Jedi can be just as biased as Mel's. Maybe even more so. And, if it's your Jedi ideals that spared my life when you should have killed your enemy, than I supposed I have that to be thankful for. This still feels like a mistake, and I'm just waiting for my chance to prove it."

Koi gives AG a wan smile, "Oh it's probably going to get me horribly killed.  So, yeah -- I suppose I already made a catastrophic error in judgement.  But hopefully I can help a lot of people before that happens. Perhaps rather than waiting for me and Wix to make a mistake, you could help us *not* make bad mistakes?"

She hesitates, but after a tentative look, "A lot of what the Spirit tells me about history..well, they're not perspectives that I've heard before. It seems like the Jedi order has changed a lot over the centuries. And she seems to know a lot about the end of the Republic as well. It makes me think that a lot of the history we know is not what it seems. Maybe these wrecks can give us some first hand accounts of these Jedi's lives and decisions."

"Convincing Oro to spare your life was just the right thing to do. I don't think it necessarily takes a Jedi to do the right thing. But there are problems that *do* need a Jedi. Angry ghosts, for instance."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:45, Sun 14 Feb 2021.

"Angry ghosts? You're on your own for that one. Dealing with Oro too. You know, she's got a pretty good arm on her. You know for a...fish"

The ship's pulse shifted down as it reduced and speed, entering the atmosphere of the new moon.

"No rest for the wicked I guess. You ready, or you need time to...meditate, or whatever you Jedi do?"

Koi winces, "Don't call Oro a..bad name" she warns him. "I'm just starting out with this Jedi magic stuff. Keeping Oro from breaking your jaw would require a big miracle. And we don't have *that* many medical supplies on board, you know."

"Meditate? I'd settle for 5 minutes in a row with no one shouting." Koi scoffs good naturedly. Her smile fades and she looks worried that AG is still angry with her. "Are we okay? Do you feel alright about having my back if something weird happens on this planet too?"
This message was last edited by the player at 01:05, Mon 15 Feb 2021.

"Jedi ships in the ocean, force-sensitive Jawas, working along the resistance on an exploratory mission for I don't even know what. This has been nothing but weird since I came too. But, I've got your back. I've got all your backs."

The ship engines went to a low hum as it finally landed on the alien surface, the hatch lowering automatically

"Even the Fish"

"Koi, AG, you have to come look at this!" Mel called out from the hatch. The shift of the bright sun was always a shift compared to the dim artificial light of the Rose, but it was still an incredible sight

Koi gives AG a tremulous smile as Mel calls out.  Introspection forgotten, Koi scrambles to her feet and bolts out of the ship into the new planet's bright sunlight. "Look at those trees!" She exclaims, shading her eyes against the bright sunlight. "Are those birds or big insects?  We should get a closer look.." Koi insists, ready to enthusiastically explore new worlds, seek out new life, and new civilizations...even if the latter was a social flock of birds.

She blinks to try to get her eyes to adjust to the bright sunshine. "Where should we explore first?" Koi asks, trying to look at everything at once.

OOC: Almost sounds like you were trying to describe Star Trek there for a second.

"At this point, any direction will work. Let's just remember why we're here. We're looking to see if this place is habitable. It sure is pretty, but if there could be a civilization here, why isn't there one already? There's gotta be something we're not seeing here."

"Could be monsters," Koi suggests optimistically. "I'll grab my exploring gear," she goes back into the ship and picks up her pack -- she didn't have a chance to use her gear, let alone unpack, on the last planet.

"What do you think, Wix?" She asks as she tucks her lightsaber into a pocket, "does any particular direction feel lucky?"

Wix looked around in circles a few times, trying to get a sense of this whole other world he was on. Eventually, he pointed in a direction, upwards towards a ridge at the edge of the valley.

"Up. Go up, see more land, find whatever looking for."

Koi pauses and tries to feel the world around her in the Force -- just like Wix is probably doing. A part of her yearns to sit quietly and soak in the hum and song of the planet in the Force.  But after the recent revelations about her being a Jedi -- she probably she should try to act normal.  At least for a little while.

"Sounds like a good place to start," Koi agrees.  "Who is coming with us?" She asks the group, probably someone is going to stay with the ship, just in case they need someone to rescue them.


OOC: Can Koi please do a quick "sense life" check with Use the force?  Just in case there is some ominous music playing in the background..:)

Yes you can, we'll have that be an extended notion of Search Your Feelings, which you can do untrained..

Koi raises her face to the breeze as Captain Ploon decides who will accompany her and Wix on this scouting trip. A fresh breeze is one of things she misses when she's in space. It settles her thoughts and lets her awareness drift through the planet's life web.  Each planet has its own unique presence in the force, and Koi often perceives it as a mix of textures, sounds, colors, vibrations, and sometimes, even tastes.  She suspects her mind is attempting to understand sensory information and mysteries it can't quite comprehend. Maybe it will be clearer some day, but today it's enough just to receive the information and let her intuition guide her.

 The abundant life here was amazing, to be sure, and with the practice you've had, you can begin to feel it through the Force as you can see it with your eyes.

Under careful meditation, the Force was able to show what the ships sensors could not. You could not just feel the presence of life, but beyond that. There were thoughts here, emotions. Signs of an existence beyond that of simple beasts, too numerous and distant in order to make out anything specific, at least for you.

"I think we should bring a gift and a translator..just in case." Koi suggests thoughtfully, "we need to make a good impression."

Despite her mature words, Koi feels a thrill of excitement. These people may have some terrific stories and ideas.

"Translator? Koi, what are you talking about, there's noone here..."

As he spoke, Wix had already started moving in his recommended direction, bidding the rest to follow with his tiny hand.

Koi glanced back at Captain Ploon, "I..umm..it's a hunch?"  Her expression is dismayed as she realizes that Wix is disappearing into the lagoon. "Wait for me Wix, there could be house spiders, or saw lizards!"   She hurries after her impatient friend.

Wix was not deterred from his journey, but thankfully, his small legs on uneven terrain made it easy to catch up. As you went, so did the others.

"I guess this is where we're going," He said. "Until we know more about the threats out here, it's too dangerous to go it alone."

Koi quickly caught up with Wix, nimbly picked a path over moss-covered rocks and around the marshy tidepools.  She relaxed once Wix was in arm's reach, and carefully scanned her surroundings as she kept pace with her short friend.

It may have been a little premature to relax. The area was lush with life, including a number that appeared to be scavengers, or predators. What appeared to be a small pack of quadripedal creatures were slowly approaching you, Wix, and the others.

"Hold up," Koi said quietly, and gestured to the four-legged hunters. "We're being stalked." She watched the animals for a moment, calmly scanning the nearby rocks for other animals that might circling them. After a moment, she extended her senses with the Force, trying to sense whether there we more of them hiding near by, and what they wanted.  "I suspect they may be defending their territory or looking for food. I'd rather not hurt them, if we can avoid it."

Well use the first Survival check for you

The group heeded your advice and tried keeping distance from the creatures. Wix, particularly stuck close. Although he was used to be the smallest life form on the planet, being so seemingly outnumbered was worrying to him. The animals were still hostile, with their loud barks, but weren't pursuing.

"Man, this could make for a long day. I don't think we'll be able to make so much as two steps around here without enroaching in something's territory."

With a open connection to the Force, Koi's voice had a dreamy quality as she split her attention between the clamoring orchestra of life around and AG's observation. "In the short term, it does take a little more time to try to avoid conflict. But any conflict is potentially expensive both for them and us. Most animals are wise enough to avoid or minimize conflict when they can -- a death of a pack member can mean that pups starve, after all. Since most social hunters need a large territory to have a reliable source of food, they often have an understanding that sometimes one must pass through another's territory to follow their food source.  I am hopeful that if we show respect for their resources and rules, they will let us pass without fighting."

 After a little while, she adds calmly, "Besides, if there is civilization here, they will surely judge us by our behavior. Would you really want to work with people who's first reaction to a small threat was violence?"

"I'm probably not the right guy to answer that question." He said with his hands raised "wasn't taught to play well with others either way. I mean, you guys are trying to create a colony or whatever right?" He asked as he looked towards Torin and the others "Going to have be a fair amount of hunting going on to make this place habitable either way. May as well start now and make our own jobs a little easier."

Koi stiffened for a moment, and gave AG a look of profound disappointment, "First, it's deeply unethical to kill innocent beings in their own home simply because it's easier. This is their home, they have a right to exist here. Second, your assumption that killing these hunters would make this place more habitable is flimsy. It could just as easily make it *less* habitable if they are keeping the population of plague-bearing reptiles or venomous rodents under control." Her voice is pitched low, so as not to alarm the watching pack hunters, but the clipped tone conveys that random killing --even of animals -- is abhorrent to the gentle scout.

She takes a deep breath and tries to calm her emotions. "Wix," she says softly, "Can you keep your senses open -- I'm a little off balance."

Wix stuck out his arms at either side, moving about playfully, seemingly oblivious to any part of the conversation that wasn't directly to or about him.

"Wix understand. More life here than Wix see whole life."

"Look, I get what you're saying, kind of" AG retorted "But aren't you setting the standards rather high? I mean, what are you looking for than? A place that can technically support life but doesn't actually have any? Sometimes you have to choose the least worst option."

"I am," Koi says with exasperation, "but the 'second best' option is finding a native population that would be willing to peacefully co-habitate with refugees.  And the third best option is finding a planet with a population that will essentially ignore beings on our time-scale and size. Like a bunch of deep sea people that don't care about the surface or sentient lichens. Fighting is a distant fourth or fifth.  I'm not a military expert, but I'm guessing that most refugees are not going to be soldiers, and might be frail, injured people or children. How can a hostile colonization in a planet they know very little about work in their favor? Not only ethically, but because there won't be very many soldiers to defend their settlement in the long term."

"If we can't find a peaceful way to exist on this planet for a few days, chances are it's too dangerous for most people to live here long term." Koi visibly deflates, out of energy for this morbid conversation. She awkwardly feels like she is making jump to jump from what she's gleaned from the Spirit, and what she feels is true in some inchoate way when she was connected to the planet's life with the Force. But all of those spiritual jumps are tiring. She glances at Captain Ploon. "Anyway, that's what I think."

Torin raised a hand in surrender. "Hey, don't look at me." He replied, though not in a defensive tone "I'm just a surveyor. Collect information about new and exciting places, sell that off to the Republic with a promising payday if we find something worthwhile. I don't get to decide whether this moon is colonized or not, and if it is, I don't get to decide how that is. That being said, you're both right in your own way. Someone smarter than me has to make that decision. I just want to help them make the best decision they can."

The conversation was cut short as the animals nearby began to loudly scurry, and the earth beneath you began to rumble. Turning around behind you, a great beast was charging ferociously in your path.

"Scatter!"  Koi yelled, waving her arms to indicate either side of her. "Go to the side -- big guys like this don't corner well!"  Koi picked up her pace, and made a split second calculation:  without breaking stride she picked up Wix and yelled/thought desperately through the Force - grab my shoulders!- to her short friend.

Hopefully her heard her. Or at least got the point as she swung him on to her back. Koi glanced towards one of the huge trees.


OOC: If Wix objects, she'll take direction -- but right now she doesn't want anyone to get smooshed.  And she's most worried about Wix since he's vertically challenged

Wix moved in a hurry and did exactly as instructed. His tiny hands latched tight to your clothes in fear.

Not everyone had been so quickl. Torin and Mel had gotten the hint pretty quick. Oro on the other hand had seemingly frozen in place in panic. It wasn't until the last minute that AG, looking behind him, had sprinted to push her out of the way. Them both stumbling, they both found themselves in the awkward position of AG laying on top of the other as the beast ran past, continuing on its past course.

The two confrontational soldiers didn't move, despite being conscious. Neither spoke or looked directly at each other, as each tried to find something to say in this predicament.

And yet, this was not the immediate concern. That, would be what had caused the beast to charge.

A large group of sentient biped aliens, the locals, had chased into fleeing that way, towards the tree.

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/d5/c...6ecada2778e9a673.jpg" data-lightbox="images-msg-148">https://i.pinimg.com/564x/d5/c...6ecada2778e9a673.jpg" alt=''>

OOC: You're just going to have to use your IMAAAAAGINATION a bit from here, and think of different ways that this species might appear, either with their eyes, skin colors, horns, etc.

Koi stared at the large group of natives, there must be more than twenty of them...  Giving her brain a rough shake, she realizes someone should do something. And with a moment of chagrin -- she realizes it probably should be her.

She and AG look the most like the natives, and between the two of them, Koi is probably the least threatening. Although a bit tall for a human, she is shorter than the average native, only has a holstered blaster visible, and Wix is clinging to her like a weird child.

Also, AG is a little..preoccupied at the moment.

"Hello, we come in peace." She says calmly to the group, spreading her hands to show that she isn't holding any weapons.

OOC: How many (roughly) are there?

OOC: There are at least two dozen of them, probably more.

There's a number of voices that respond, none of them decipherable. One steps forward and speaks for the rest. Like the others, there is nothing in her words or in her grammar that can recognized as Galactic Basic, or any other commonly spoken language.

They do not attack, but either from them grasping their weapons, or the sharpness of their words and tone, they aren't exactly friendly either.

Seeing them was enough to bolster AG and Oro both out of their awkward state and onto their feat, pulling in along side you.

"Welp, now what do we do?"

"I don't suppose anyone actually brought a translator?"   Koi asks quietly.  She strongly suspects the answer is..no.

"Koi" she says, gesturing to herself.

Moving slowly, she draws a picture a sandy area of ground with her finger, trying to depict her and their leader meditating together to try to understand each other's thoughts.

https://www.autodraw.com/share/COA1JHNMG284

Hopefully this isn't insulting or going to get me romantically involved with anyone..and I should have paid more attention to those drawing books my Dad tried to get me interested in.

"Tsareevah" The leader pointed to herself, understanding at least that much. Was she saying her name, the name of her tribe, her people? Who knew? It was least a start. The strange woman had little or no concern for personal space, putting her hand immediately on your back to point your eyes and face directly towards her interest and cocern.

The Gammorrean Rose.

Speaking loudly and indicpherably, she kept pointing at the starship.

Koi tried to listen to the native's thoughts as she spoke, hoping the Force would give her a boost on understanding Tsareeveh's language. "That's our..flying house.."

Koi tries to make another drawing showing them all living in the flying house.  She pauses for a moment to think how to show that it goes from moon to moon, but thinks a pictogram for space travel might be a little difficult.


OOC: Should I try to draw the flying house?
20:12, Today: Koi Sundar rolled 7 using 1d20+5 ((2)).
...no duo lingo for Koi, I guess

There was a looming shadow over you as Tsareeveh watched your attempt at drawing. You felt a strong grasp on your shoulder as she pulled you up, to look face to face. She had attempted a different mind of communication, gesticulating her hand wildly, almost like a bird.

As she did, a few errant members of her group had actually begun running towards the ship. Torin, ever prideful of his ship, tried to cut them off, shouting as he went.

"Wait! No! Do not go in there!" The attempt at communication was pointless, but it was all he really had.

Koi glances to Wix, and takes a deep breath. "Stop!" She shouts once, trying to use the Force to convey her meaning.

OOC: Okay, I lock my door when I take my dog for a walk..so I kind of assumed the Torin or Oro would lock the ship on an unknown planet. Is this not the case?
This message was last edited by the player at 21:18, Sat 27 Mar 2021.

The Force can bea  curious thing, especially for the untrained. Rather than a message of Stop being broadcast telepathy, the verbal command expanded further than your lungs would normally be possible, and caused a degree of pain to everyone in the vicinity.

OOC: Effectively, Koi unintentionally used Force Scream, but without the Dark Side hit that would come with it.

The unnaturally and painful effect caused all the locals to be on their guard, weapons drawn and pointed at you. Wix, trying to be the protector, draws his lightsaber and ignites it, causing further commotion.

"Jediiiii"

Koi looks as startled as anyone at having shouted that loud. She touches her still-vibrating throat, Well..at least they aren't trying to get into the ship..

Koi holds her hands out peacefully, but the looks she gives Tsareevah is exasperation.

"Captain, Oro..or someone.could you please try to ease your way past them and retreat to the ship?"  She suggests quietly, her throat aches a little. At least they can lock the doors.  If things go really badly, they can fire some warning shots. Koi really hopes it won't come to that.

Even natives with spears on planets in the middle of nowhere know about jedi..and I'm not sure they like them.

"Wix" she says softly, "stay on guard but lower your lightsaber.." She makes it clear the she is addressing her friend for Tsareevah's benefit.  When/if Wix lowers the lightsaber blade, she gestures to the leader, trying to convey "I got my warrior to stand down..can you do the same?"

OOC: Ah yes, the less famous Force Shouting..used by annoyed Jedi moms everywhere..double sonic damage if they use your middle name
This message was last edited by the player at 15:28, Sun 28 Mar 2021.

Wix looked at you and lowered his hands with his weapon, but still kept it ignited.

Tsareevah looked closer and saw the lightsaber at your hip as well. Her hands moved from either of you, and than to the sky.

"Jedi! Jedi Master Apoca!" She shouted to the others, who all came around to see.

Speaking quieter, she spoke further words in Basic, but words spoken seemed strange and slow "I am Jedi Master Apoca...."

Koi nods her understanding, watches Tsareevah to try to figure out whether she understands basic (and perhaps hasn't spoken it in a long time) or is just repeating words that she's heard someone speak before. Her gesturing at the sky and yelling her own name seem..very odd.

Ever the optimist, Koi hopes the strange leader does understand them. Oh, it would be so nice to talk to another Jedi.  Koi tries to relax and sense Tsareevah in the Force. I could get a sense of Wix being..like me..maybe if I can sense the same of Tsareevah, I will better understand what's going on.

Koi responds softly, "This is Wix, we're both..learning. We would like to be peaceful. Would it be helpful for my friends to get a translator?"

OOC:
16:03, Today: Koi Sundar rolled 19 using 1d20+5.  Is Tsareevah a jedi? (Force Sense).

OOC: Tsareevah is not Force Sensitive; she seems indistinct from any other person you've met, at least in that regard.

You do feel a strong pull of the force though, in a location, more than in a person. It seems distant, over the ledges that contain this marshy grassland.

The crowd gets louder as they huddle around you, and it isn't long before Tsareevah grabs you by the arm to lead you....somewhere. There's cheering among the group, and maybe...dance?

A few of Tsareevah's people have picked up Wix and carried him in the air. He's thankfully turned off his lightsaber, but based off his wiggling, is at least a little fearful.

AG and Oro have likewise been rounded up, pushed and pulled to be near you. They seem to be leading you towards the nearest tree. As you get closer, you start to see that the building itself has structure

https://i.pinimg.com/236x/43/f...61e64e686617e206.jpg" data-lightbox="images-msg-160">https://i.pinimg.com/236x/43/f...61e64e686617e206.jpg" alt=''>

"Hey, I haven't had this many hands on me since I took leave on Zeltros..." He let out as a joke. "You're the Jedi, you have any idea what's going on?"

Koi looks calm, but serious and watchful. She doesn't even smile at AG's joke. "Well, it sounds like a Jedi Master was here and alive at some point. But I don't sense another Jedi in the force now..just a place. "  Koi tries not nod towards the grasslands where she feels a strong presence in the Force.

"I don't think they mean us harm..but I'm finding everyone a bit unpredictable right now. It sounds like there was a Jedi master here, but I think they died or left. But they lived long enough to make an impression.."   Koi isn't sure whether she's happy about that or not. But at least she's kept anyone from being shot or stabbed right now.

OOC: Did Mel and Torin escape to rescue us later? 

"I don't imagine it would take them much to make an impression on these people. things, whatever." Oro piped in "You pull that mangled droid of yours out, they'd probably think it was a god..."

As you continue to make your way, you see that the locals are perhaps more ingenious than their technological primitiveness would suggest. Another small group were busy carving up the beast that had nearly run over you and your friends not long prior. They must have trapped or tricked it by getting it to run and charge in this direction.

"I don't think Mr. Diggity is ready for that kind of responsibility. Also, I think he has some weird programming where he goes berserk for reasons I can't figure out. So please don't suggest it."  Koi feels very nervous that Oro or AG might do something 'funny' and start some kind of horrible culture war.  It just hovers in her mind now, like a nightmare she hadn't had yet.

"Also, they seemed to slay that huge..creature..pretty easily.  So please don't start a fight. These people are clearly very experienced with the technology they do have. I am hoping we can figure out where this Jedi master is..or was.  Maybe he can help us convince them to help any refugees."  Koi watches the people carefully, trying to figure out who is in charge, what the honor..and make sure Wix doesn't wander off.

OOC: where are they taking us?

"If he was here, wouldn't you be able to sense him or somethin?" She asks.

By this time, the group has reached the base of the tree, with numerous homes and structures built. As you are brought towards it, there's a greater attention around you and your friends. The crowd grows like snowball down a hill, seeing the new and strange visitors from the stars. Repitions of the phrase "Jedi Master" are heard from those at the periphery. Curiously, a few other words and phrases catch your ear.
Jedi have been betrayed.
Do not travel to Coruscant.
Their celebratory tone is a direct contradiction of the words.

Being led a few stairs near the base, you are met by what appears to be an elder among the group. The horns along his head have extruded further but are worn and brittle, the color in his face having turned much more pale. His attire was of crude animal hide, but colored with pigments and designs that the others did not.

In the middle was a cloth belt, even older than it's wearer. Attached at the side, was a lightsaber.

Koi tries to school her expression into one similar to the celebrants, but she feels a chill as she parses the words of the native's song.  The Jedi Master must have been here for some time..at least a week..to teach the song to these people. She listens very closely -- in case there are any additional messages beyond the urgent warning. "Maybe. But he had -- has -- a good reason to hide. If a Jedi Master doesn't want to be found.." Koi whispers to Oro.

When the elder approaches, she searches her memory for any ritual gestures she has seen the Spirit make.  She will try to wait for a cue from the honored elder, but if he is obviously expecting her to say something she will go with a simple, "May the Force be with you, Wise one."

The elder seemed feeble; building up in the tree, away from all the threats below is likely the biggest reason he's alive. Still, he tried his best to move unassisted. Tsareevah stood next to him, her hands held up above her waist as the two of them spoke. As he slowly made his way, the rest of your crew were brought in as well standing side by side, which proved a little difficult for Mel, who was worried that his size and weight may challenge the integrity of the floor.

The elder patted each of you, with has hand, stating "Jedi Master" to each of you. Having reached you last, he pointed outwards to the horizon, and made a similar motion that Tsareevah had, using his hand to mimic the actions of the Gamorrean Rose.

As the elder makes his way towards them, Koi tries to sense any other presences in the Force. It's a long shot, but maybe the Jedi Master left more than one clue.

"Yes, we also came from the sky." Koi agrees solemnly. She indicates herself and gives her name as "Koi" and then names each of her companions in turn. Koi pauses, hoping that the Elder will give his name.

"May we visit the holy place?"  Koi asks.  She makes a drawing of a star over the plateau where she felt the force.  And then she adds a picture of herself (a stick figure with hair) sitting in meditation next to the holy place.

If they know a Jedi, surely they must know what meditating is...

20:57, Today: Koi Sundar rolled 16 using 1d20+5 ((11)).

The elder held onto your arm as he slowly allowed himself to sit, groaning as he went, motioning for you to do the same. He pointed in the same direction as you, with a jubilant chuckle. He touched the lightsaber at his side, than pointed towards yours. "Jedi Master"

"Sund" He said with a smile, putting his hands on his shoulders "Musa Sund."

The beginning of this informal meeting was chaotic, as this 'Musa Sund' did have his full attention on you. Tsareevah had come in behind you, and the two were whispering. There was a gentle kiss on her forehead before she departed, quickly and loudly shouting. The whole village above, below, and around you seemed to come alive like it hadn't before with all sorts of ambient noise.

"Keida Tsareevah" He smiled as he pointed out the doorway that she had just exited.

There is no force sensitivity in him, but there does seem to be something unusual in the room, a thing, rather than a person.

Torin looked behind him, closest to the door, to get a sense of what was going on.

"These people don't seem to think we're Jedi. Not really. Still, this could be perfect. If the mission is -"

"NO" Melveleh stepped in immediately, seeing where his boss was going "That crosses too many lines. You would really exploit these people's trust, to say nothing of their misunderstanding? What happens when they figure out the truth?"

The elder's gesture to sit down seems more than a little like Ms. Bastilla, and Koi happily sits with him.  She tries to feel his presence and energy, it hopes of understanding him more clearly.  It's a little hard to embrace the peace of the Force with Captain Ploon and Mel arguing, but Koi does her best.

"Is Keida Tsareevah, Musa Sund child?" Koi makes a motion of holding a baby to hopefully add some clarity to the unfamilar words.  She tries to pronounce them as Musa Sund did.

OOC: 13 on Use the Force..trying to listen to feelings, and hopefully some feelings or mental images might help Koi figure out what they're saying.

Musa Sund smiles and points at you repeatedly at your pantomime. He than motions back to the door you came through, and several others of the tribe rush in, bringing a large amount of freshly cooked food, served on the enormous leaves from the tree they inhabited.

One can only guess as to some of this, but a portion of it does at least look meat-ish; likely the beast that had been killed earlier, or one of its friends a few days prior.

Although the appearances are a little odd, being of a strange world, the smells are a different matter.

As the last one portion of food was put down, something caught the attention of AG. It caused him to quickly move to his feet, though he moved much slower towards the door, as if not wanting to disturb someone.

"I think I hear...music" He said to nobody in particular. Curious, and investigating, he walked out the door, alone, and was quickly carried away in the celebrations that had begun outside.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgvBQ-uTKPs

Melveleh had eyed the food hungrily, and it didn't take long before he was the first one eating, trying to get small tastes of everything despite his large hands.

"Crossing a line, are we?" Torin asked bemusedly, as he slowly followed suit, meeting a positive reaction from Musa Sund. "If they're treating us this way because they think we're Jedi, than this is exactly what the mission asked for."

Though not saying anything, both Mel and Oro snapped to look at their captain. You can feel the beginning of some strong emotions from both of them, though each of them are different.

OOC: Make a Use the force check to see what's going on.

Koi is just getting the hope that maybe her pantomime interpretation is correct (and hopefully she's not offering to give someone a baby) when she is distracted by the argument between her Captain and Mel.  "I hope that whether or not we meet the Galactic Universal definition of Jedi, we are here to help them if they need it." Koi ventures quietly, "helping us would be a big risk for them after all."


As for the meal, Koi adds less certainly, "I don't think we should offend their hospitality. At home, it was a big deal if you refused to share a meal with someone without a good excuse. Hunting seems to be a communal experience for them."



OOC: Phew! Finally, the Force is giving me a tap with the clue-saber: Use the Force 20 using 1d20+5 ((15)).

It was the captain's feelings that you could read most easily, as they were also the most clear. A certain confidence, even smugness, that he was doing the right thing; that this was exactly what his true mission was.

Wait, what?

Deeping further into his mind, you find hidden truths. Finding a planet that was hospitable for refugees was a mission, yes, but it was a cover story, plausible deniability should anyone start asking questions. The real mission was to find somewhere to build a Jedi academy. Was this why he was so willing to take you in after saving his hide, and the rest of his crew, or it something else? That's harder to tell.

Melveleh felt conflicted. Knowing what you know now, you see the heart of it; he knew about the mission too, the real one, and had been comfortable keeping silent about it. He rightly suspected the truth would reveal itself, and was conflicted about whether his silence was the right course of action. There was also a sense of betrayal; enjoying the hospitality of a species that was naturally warm and friendly was one thing, but to use this as a means to build an academy of some kind because they're only vaguely aware of the word Jedi was grossly immoral in the Herglic's eyes.

Oro-Qiebra mostly felt afraid. This wouldn't be the first time she's seen the two of them argue, and this time there wasn't a game of pazzaak or a cold drink on hand to settle things down. She was trying to mentally measure the distance from here to the ship, in case they started fighting, or worse, if the fighting spilled out into attacking the locals, and she didn't like the math.

Koi can't help but feel a bitter sting of disappointment in Captain Ploon. He was being unfair, and frankly exploitive. Bringing refugees here was one thing, but setting up a base here..well, that was unfair.  Like the Jawa on Tatooine, these people *lived* here.  They deserved to know what they were getting into and have a voice and place in the decision making.

Unfortunately, Koi's disappointment needed to take a backseat to the more obvious truth.  This situation needed a jedi.  Someone who would be fair to everyone.

It looked like that person was going to be her.

She took a deep breath and tried to open herself to the Force. Not with a specific goal in mind, just being..open..and  see what was needed, to hear the vibrations in the voices around her as she felt the tree beneath her feet, and understand the native people's needs.

OOC: Use the force: 15...not sure if there is a force point available, but is there a way to use one?  Koi is trying to bring a just a peaceful solution to this problem

Your points reset when you leveled up, and you haven't used any yet. Unless a feat, power, talent, or other some-such thing says otherwise, Force Points must be declared prior to the roll being made.

There is no Power that necessarily dudes what you're thinking of, although Battle Meditation is close to that conceptually. If this is something you think you may do repeatedly, we can work together on making this a thing.

The situation calmed down, quietly. Mel and Torin had dropped their glares at each other and ate in earnest. Oro remained somewhat nervous, but not for her own safety, but concern started to shift towards AG, wondering what he had been up to.

In the concern of the ensuing drama and energy in the room, there was someone who had been missed up til this point, someone who was comfortable and even preferred to not be noticed.

Wix. The ever curious Jawa had seemingly avoided any real attention and scurried to the far side of the room, and had found something curious. Whether he sensed the same thing you did, or just Jawa intuition, he had reached into one of the primitive boxes made from the branches and twigs of the tree, and removed something all together not of this world.

"Utini!" He let out as he held it above his head, bringing everyone's attention to him. Musa Sund does not seem particularly bothered by what occurs, and in fact lets out what sounds like a small laugh as Wix walks over and hands it to him. It's shiny and metallic, a component to a larger device. After the old...person...gives Wix a gentle pat on the head, Wix hurries over to rejoin the rest of you.

Koi sighed, she might swim in the ocean of life that is the Force.  But when she wanted something specific to happen, it was like trying to catch a moon in a net. People are complicated.  She admitted to herself, Maybe there is something simpler I can try to us in the right direction..

"What is that?" Koi asked, pointing at the mysterious component. She tried to touch it with the Force, to see if she could sense anything of it's purpose. But hopefully, even if the Force didn't have an answer, Musa Sund could explain something..?

With a little fumbling, Musa Kund pushes a button on the device, turning it on. It's a holo-projector recording.

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/00/3...e01e30c348490ab6.jpg" data-lightbox="images-msg-180">https://i.pinimg.com/564x/00/3...e01e30c348490ab6.jpg" alt=''>

"This is Jedi Master Apoca Shkind. I am recording this to report dreadful news. I hope that this message is able to be received quickly enough to save someone. Too much has already been lost..."

The Jedi took the longest breath possible, trying to keep himself contained.

"The Jedi have been betrayed" He stated "The Clone Army is attacking the Jedi, by the direction of the Supreme Chancellor, Sheev Palpatine, who now has exalted himself to the position of Emperor."

"Something didn't seem right. There were too many coincidences that brought us into this war, and the Republic and the Jedi both were all too happy to accept an army that nobody could explain how and why they were already present. In whatever short amount of time I have left, I want it to be known that I was against our involvement from the start. Jedi are peacekeepers, we are supposed to prevent and end wars, not wage them! And now, I sense my failures are complete, as I failed to protect my padawans from danger." through the blue tones of the holorecorder, one can still see tears down his face "they had more potential than any students I had prior, enough for me to defy the Council to train them both. If defying the code in order to participate in this war is forgivable, than doing so to hopefully create more Jedi must be passable."

"Do not travel to Coruscant. I fear there is no chance for us. There is no path forward that we may take victory from the clutches of darkness. We have been soundly defeated, the Jedi and the Republic, swept away from the face of galaxy in one motion, by an enemy none even knew was there. Hide, disguise yourself, and survive. If you can, find those you may be able to train to become Jedi, in a hope that there may yet be a brighter dawn after the oncoming darkness. Failing that, we must do as we have always done. Serve the people of this galaxy, fight the injustices that we can, help those who cannot help themselves."

Jedi Master suddenly drew his lightsaber and ignited it, using the blades to reflect incoming blaster fire back to their origin, and the recording cut from there.

Koi's breath catches at the recording, as though she could catch the echo of his grief through decades that had passed since his death. How brave he was to keep trying to save what he could.  We should show this to AG...maybe it would help.  I think Master Apoca Shkind would like that.


"May I see it?" She asks quietly.  Koi plays the recording again, looking at it more..strategically.  Trying to recognize anything in the background that might give her a clue about where it was recorded..was it recorded here?  On the steppe?  Or somewhere else entirely?

After a moment she reaches out to the holo-recording cube with the Force.  Taking her time, she tried to see if there was a hidden catch or second recording.  That seems like the kind of clever thing a Jedi Master would do..

The inspection of the device itself did reveal something, not a secret compartment created by a clever Jedi Master, but an inscription, etched into the underside with some kind of rare metal, created by a Jedi Master, who perhaps may have been more sentimental and emotional than others knew. The bright golden color of the metal in the inscription matches some parts of the lightsaber held by Musa Kund. The inscription itself is in a language you don't recognize, nor the alphabet.

"Well, damn." Mel said quietly after the recording finished. "I met him once, a long, long time ago." The big guy left it at that, and started to stare blankly at the floor. Feeling sympathy, patted the Herglic on his large back.

Oro got up and sat next to you as you inspected the video over and over, like you, silently looking for clues, or perhaps just curiosity.

The recording distance of the holo projector was short, meant mostly to capture the person speaking and little, if anything else. On multiple watchings, one can see that the blaster fire he was repelling came from above him, rather than in front or equal level. Meaning it was possible he was either at a low elevation, or that it was fired from a fighter or some other aircraft.

There a few shots that are avoided by the Jedi, rather than deflected, and that tells a curious story as well. Specifically, what is not there tells a story. There's no debris, no disturbed environment, not even a sound of impact, suggesting the blasterfire went past Apoca's feet and kept going, suggesting he stood before a cliff or some other sharp change in altitude.

"Can you read the inscription?" Koi asks Mel, once he has a moment to compose himself.

After a moment of thought, Koi speculates. "I think he might have been on this planet when he was attacked. I think the fight may have taken place on those cliffs. If he left any other puzzles for us to uncover, they may be there. It sounds like he was intending to teach, he might have..books or something."

She gives the Captain a resolute look, "I know you'd like to enjoy your secret mission in private.  But I would strongly recommend getting a translator from the ship and being honest with these people. First of all, this planet is clearly dangerous and you will need their help to set up any kind of base here.  Second, duped people don't make good allies. Third, I think they will help -- and probably know more about this planet than anyone. I suspect that the Jedi Master helped them. And they are clearly brave to hunt such large creatures. Why sneak into a party when you could just as easily get an invitation?"

Koi turns to Masa Sund, and draws in the sand a picture of the plateau in the distance..one with the Jedi master on top of the plateau.  Then a second picture with  her and Wix walking up to the plateau. "Jedi master went up here and didn't come down? Do you know what happened?" She asks with the first picture. "Can Wix and I go up there and see what he saw?"

"I can take a look..." He says, sticking his hand out. Taking the recorder, he looks over it carefully.

"It reads like poetry" He said after a quiet moment of study.

"Though my eyes gaze from the highest spire, with my feet above the brightest star, my heart will always remain in Varykino"

There was a brief pause as his eyes narrowed in confusion "This is written in Gungan..."

Musa Khun nodded in agreement to your question. He unhooked the lightsaber from his side. With this spare hand he pointed in the same direction as before, where the focus of the force is strong. He than pointed towards himself, than hovered one hand flat over the over, starting from a large distance, shrank down small. He than proceeded to point to the inscription, than finally held the lightsaber tightly across his chest. Extending his hands to you and Wix, he than motions again towards the cliffs where you feel the Force most strong.

With all of the concentration, Koi eventually figures out that the Elder is confirming her guess about the Jedi Master's final battle. "We go tomorrow morning?" She draws a picture of the sun(s) rising..at least the one she thinks will be rising in several hours..and her and Wix walking towards the plateau.

"Do you have any idea where that is?" She asks Mel and Captain Ploon, wrinkling her nose. "I don't think I've ever met a Gungan. Don't they live in underwater cities?"

OOC: Koi has no idea where this place is :D I'm not sure if she knows any Gungans or not or anything about Naboo -- would that be a life science roll?  Or galactic lore?

OOC: Life Sciences would tell you about the Gungans and their biology, and at higher successes may tell you how the ecology of their world informs Gungan society, but it would take Galactic Lore to tell you about Varykino.

"That doesn't sound so weird to me" Oro said, finally piping in. "You know, speaking of homes, I just had a weird idea. These folks have probably never seen the inside of a ship before right? Would only be fair to show them our home after them welcoming us into theirs...right?" The question at the end gave away her uncertainty, her hope for approval and satisfaction from the others in a moment that still has tension.

"I think it would be a good idea to show Tsareevah and Masa Sund."  Koi agrees with a smile, "but I think taking everyone would be a bit..rowdy.  Especially since I think there is some recreational pharmaceutical imbibing outside."

Koi looks startled, as though an inspirational lightsaber hummed to life in thoughts. "Oh! I wrote a school paper about Gungans, they are amphibious people with a from Naboo, right? I think they have largely cartilaginous skeletons."

OOC: Apparently Koi knows a lot of fun facts about Gungans. :)

"That's correct. They're the natives of the planet, and the most populous species there, but the power and the attention is given to the Human ruling class..." Mel went out of his way to look at the Captain, noting how this story could match the theoretical one if there was a civilization here. "The two people used to be a lot more at odds with each other, but they seemed to mend whatever rift they had before the Clone Wars started. I don't know how exactly, but I remember hearing a Jedi was involved. Maybe it was our old friend Apoca here that something to do with it."

Koi considered this, "Maybe we should visit Naboo and try to find out if they know anything about this. I get the feeling the Master Apoca was a resourceful person. I don't think any of his Gungan friends would still be alive, but their children or grandchildren might know something."

"I think Wix and I should go see where Master Apoca held off the storm troopers.  The force is strong on that plateau." Koi adds thoughtfully.

She listens to the singing and celebratory yelling from around the tree city. "I wish I could understand the language."

"I as well" Torin replied quietly, still looking out the window to the festivities below "This is the constant challenge of first contact. Even a translator and protocol droid has difficulties in times like this."

"I feel I owe you an apology Koi." He extended as he shoved his hands in the pockets of his long jacket "I wasn't prepared for this. There's so few parts of the galaxy unexplored, I never thought that we'd be responsible for interacting with new sentience. Fate, it seems, is at least merciful, as we seemed to have found one the more agreeable species in the galaxy."

"Tellya what. We're scheduled to head to the Republic Capital to give our report. When we do, I'll make sure we get a translator droid, and we can try to find the Senator for Naboo, see what they know. Sound good?"

Koi pauses and listens to Captain Ploon intently, and as she looks out on the celebrating people it reminds her of the Java people from home. The gentle evolved avian people are very different from these warriors, but something about the light on the leaves, and the joyful arboreal community remind her of her far away friends. "I appreciate that, Captain. I think it would help. And maybe they can talk to Wix and we can find a way for the Jawa to organize. Or find a general who can..It's apparently very easy for native people to lose their political voice. But a Senator from Naboo -- according to Mel -- would have experience with that kind of delicate diplomatic problem.

After a moment Koi confesses. "I'm very frightened for our new friends. Can you imagine if the First Order found this planet first?"  Koi rubs her arms as the thought of this planet stripped to feed the First Order war machine left her physically cold. "I hope mercy continues to shelter them. I suspect that some of that mercy was dearly bought by Master Apoca..but I don't know how long it mercy will last."

Koi looks outside again before turning back to Torin with a little smile, "Maybe I should try meditating.  Apparently it's something Jedi do to become wise, and yeah..I feel like I'm suddenly trying to wear some very big robes."

"I can. There's a few entities within the Republic that aren't much better. The Mining Guild would pick this clean, if left to their own devices. That's why we're delivering our report in person. Need to know basis, strictly."

"Of course," Torin quipped, "They would be even better protected if certain things were omitted. Wouldn't be the first time I've falsified a government report, though it would be the first time I've lied me way out of a paycheck. That goes for all of us..."

Koi smiles, "Thank you..I know may not be in Master Apoca's league in wisdom or skill -- at least not for a long time. But I feel he entrusts these people to us. There were so many he couldn't save, but I hope that it would give his spirit peace to know he saved so many here."

She considers for a moment.  It would be nice to fix up the ship for flying -- she itching to fix up and fly the neat little fighter -- but she doesn't want Captain Ploon to lose out too much. Everyone has a family to look after or wants to have a better future for themselves. She wants to be fair to Captain Ploon too. These people are worth more than even the best ship. "If you want, we could bring the crashed ship back -- say it knocked us out of hyperspace, and we don't know where it's from. If you give it to the Republic..well, I'm sure they'd give you something for it -- at least some prize money. Even if she doesn't fly the engineers could make something similar, or have bragging rights of recovering something of the Jedi past. I'll still try to fix her up, of course."

OOC: can I take 20 on a Force meditation roll?

It's difficult to see a smiling Kel Dor behind his breathing apparatus. "Give yourself more credit. You're certainly better suited for this than any of us. You'll be a great Jedi in time, I have no doubt of that. Far better than a business partner" He let a small chuckle as he patted your shoulder.

Looking through the window, you can spot AG-0525, who has fully embraced the native spirit. Having taken an attempt at a primitive drum and not done especially great, he had done far better in some form of group tribal dance, where the specific motions were less important. His shirt was missing, and muddy dark brown hand-prints were on each of his chest muscles.

There was still a crowd outside the door, a group far more interested in the alien visitors than in the festivities. A familiar sound in any language on any world came through, as a group of three youngsters had pushed their way into Musa Khund's room and immediately started playing with Wix. The Jawa was all too happy to have somebody his own size for once, even if words were impossible here.

Embarrassed, their parents filed in to grab them, but not before Musa directed them for other tasking, having pointed at Oro, Mel, and Torin. The three of them are slowly led out of the leader's room, and the rest of the onlookers escorted away, leaving you to finally have some peace and quiet, as well as some rest.

OOC: Take that 20, either through meditation or a restful night's sleep.

"It's true -- I've no head for business." Koi blushed a little at the accuracy of Captain Ploon's words. Growing up so far from civilization made her used to a relatively simple life. Most of the luxuries everyone enjoyed in ports didn't really appeal to her. She didn't care for drinking -- most strong drink gave her a headache. Dancing was fun, but handsome....company..just made her blush and stutter. If they got paid, she usually did some exploring, tried some local food, or listened to some music. Most people would tell her a good story for free.

In truth, she had enough practical skills to barter for a lot of the little things she wanted. A few hours of work in a repair shop or a promise to take a delivery to the next town over, and someone would let her borrow a speeder.  Foraging for some herbs or mushrooms during her hike might earn her a home-cooked meal (and a pinch on the cheek).  I think I still have a pack of Mama Luca's hangover cure..  She reminiscences, as she watches AG dance.

She sneaks a glance at Oro to see if she's watching.  "Maybe you should join him Oro...I think you could teach them some moves.." She says innocently.

Even as she admires the fun everyone has outside, she is glad for a little time alone in the quiet heart of the tree. There is so much to think about, so much has happened. Grief for the poor Jedi children, the reflected hope from Oro, AG's anger and curiosity, the solid sunshine of Wix's friendship and dizzying wind of his impatience. She sits with her back against the warm wood and lets other people's feelings seep away from her.  It takes a little longer to let her own worries go for the night, but the tree at her back seems to absorb them like it would absorb water from the ground.

If the worries were..mean..I don't know if it would be good for you. She thinks to the tree, but my worries are part of my caring about your people, my friends, and even you beautiful tree. I think its good to care." After that thought, she lets herself just listen to the symphony of life around her from the slow heartbeat of sap within the tree to the small flickering creatures in the highest branches.  There is something reassuring about the fact that her own life is small -- just one more bird singing in the forest.

OOC: cool. :) tried to make it sound naturalistic and pretty.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 18:54, Sun 09 May 2021.

Well count this and everything up to this point as your 4th notch towards being fully Force Sensitive.

Stretching out with your mind and your feelings, you can sense so much more than you could before. You could see the birds higher up in the trees. You could differentiate individual members of this new species by how their unique presence in the force, rather than the vague blur you would have seen even a few weeks prior on Tatooine. The life you feel stretches out even further, to the primitive animals and beasts that roam this vast moon. The relative calm and peace of it all does help you move deeper into a trance-like state, and it is here that you delve deeper in the Force than you knew possible, pulling you away from your body, and the moon.

You see a vision, of a harsh, scarred world that is known nothing but chaos, war, and death. You descend, slowly, down a dark, vorboding chasm. Despite not being physically present, you hear, feel, cries of agony, torture, mixed with the laughter and vengeful, vindictive glee of those inflicting it.

Beneath all the surface, you sense something buried beneath the suffering. Hope, love, caring for someone special; the desire to make right so many wrongs of the past.

The harsh torture seemed to try to bury and extinguish these feelings, and it felt as though it were working. In a last final moment, you see the individual on whom the torture is inflicted, and you immediately bolt awake.

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/a7/3...c2d4968bc65cce69.jpg" data-lightbox="images-msg-197">https://i.pinimg.com/564x/a7/3...c2d4968bc65cce69.jpg" alt=''>

Koi gasps, leaping to her feet before she is entirely conscious. The scent of blood and fear seems to linger -- even if she saw them as a..ghost?..spirit? Did they see me? She sighs and moves to a window, letting the night air soothe her. After the distant screams faded from her mind, "you idiot," she said quietly looking up at the night sky, "how am I going to get you out of there?" It might not be possible.  But at least at the moment, it doesn' occur to Koi not to try.

She ran a hand through her hair, trying to remember details -- anything about where her spirit went -- and writing down what she could on a data pad or even a scrap of bark.  How many moons did she see? Any landmarks that might identify the planet? Any sense of distance? How many prisoners? How many voices?  Did she recognize any languages being spoken? Uniforms or livery? A spaceport?  It takes a couple of deep breaths and determination -- but Koi tries to be as methodical as possible. Captain Ploon, Mel, and Oro would have questions. And I should tell them about this in case..something happens to me. I'm pretty sure no one else knows about this evil..Sith? prison. And it's probably something that the New Republic needs to know about.

Koi sensed that it was important whether person sensed her or not. Whether he knew that he wasn't completely lost..but Koi wasn't sure if he could hide her from his captors. That was a frightening idea, so Koi set it aside -- she would have to ask the Spirit about that latter.

OOC: Well...that quest has a high CR.. :D  Super cool!!!
OOC2: Could Koi take 10 or 20 to remember details about the prison planet?
OOC3: I am vibrating slightly with excitement :D
This message was last edited by the player at 01:10, Thu 13 May 2021.

Ya, it'll be a long time before we get to that point, assuming the game even lasts that long, but hopefully this will be motivation for us both, and a way to help develop a longer, slower plotline.

You don't need to take a 10 or a 20 to remember. If you care to elaborate from what I provided later, you are free to do so, but broadly speaking, there was little to remember. At the very least, even someone with a secluded history as yourself would recognize that the individual was wearing the mask of Kylo Ren. As the previous military leader of the First Order, he would have been prominent in any newscast anywhere, though this would also certainly be the first time you've seen him without a helmet.

As the immediate shock of the vision wore off and you started to pull yourself more into the here and now, the comparitive quiet of the tree village was almost haunting. Nocturnal birds and beasts could be heard in the distance, but all else was still.

A much smaller surprise than what you had just experienced was seeing Tsareevah awake, watching over the elder Musa Khund.

In the silence, and with everyone else being asleep, you begin to have a passive sense of her thoughts, and from it, a small gleam into their language, a few words at a time.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:10, Fri 14 May 2021.

Koi let the uncomfortable insights of the force fall away like a bad dream for now.  These people need help..and I need to listen.  If she could make sense of the language, she could explain things honestly and help Tsareevah and Masa Sund make a fair decision for their people.  She closes her eyes for a moment to help keep ripple her own thoughts quiet, and let Tsarevah's thoughts drip into her mind like dew from a branch.

Each word precious and Koi concentrates so thoroughly on collecting each hint, that she is oblivious to the silent approach of dawn or her stiff limbs.

[Language unknown: "M nc herne ad stoer" ]She said, and for the first time, you comprehend. [Language unknown: "Hatlatman fo prus vorntered."] Musa Khund was starting to experience a coughing fit, and Tsareevah was providing some kind of drink to help ease it.

OOC: How much of the language does Koi understand now?


Koi sits next to the elder, "I'm sorry it took so long. We had -- and have--so many enemies." She hesitates trying to choose the right words, "Master Apoca hid you from them, with great love and magic. But now things have changed, I will help as much as I can."

[Language unknown: "Atiicaman?"] She asks worriedly, but quietly. She slowly moves to sit next to you, trying to keep quiet [Language unknown: "Ast wheicanot strastrat vir ble?"]

[Language unknown: "Un eau." ] Koi says carefully, [Language unknown: "ta ngine la, I ofad tic th anhoalnt wa hoshe eetio acsa. Thfi astvertio Urpl uldin. Elto metra hist e ilceplri mi."] She pauses and makes a gesture of frustration, explaining galactic politics is beyond her rudimentary language. [Language unknown: "ososou roec sanareund."] She pauses to try again.[Language unknown:  "P n son te ro. Ilie iveus po anmi ndth?]

She looks down at the floor for a moment, unsure of how to answer.

"I have all that I need. Grandfather" pointing to Musa Kund "is old, and becoming ill. I do not know how to lead like he does when he goes. But, he reminds me always that because we can never know the future, we can never really be ready for it. We try our best to prepare, and figure it out as we go."

Koi considers for a moment, and holds up a leaf. Her words are halting as she tries to pick the right words to explain what is going on. At least explain enough to infer why Jedi Master Apoca was hiding their planet. [Language unknown: "Ou und t ivewitcon, staherovente, avedayour. Riac e ouson ca. Chplna el u nawas istidi it omeli p ho. Es whtewe, esons nole, itha acwa..Tonc urteho thlo k un ioha ckacth. Pe thelarort. Aschin pro. Set les."]

[Language unknown:  "Siouas, n ll korounint." ]She points to the mountain, [Language unknown: "Ers dind p ectartlar ngstwh? Thoratear siitbe pr hiiclo icandetio."]

After a moment, Koi adds, [Language unknown: "He urtast wa ou Witaveforshevir?"] If Tsareevah will permit it, she will gently touch his hand and try to feel a way to strengthen his life force through the force. Or are at least see if there is anything more than old age wrong with the kind elder.

OOC: Koi Sundar rolled 25 using 1d20+6 ((19)). Not sure if Force healing or Share life force is a thing, but Koi's willing to take some hits. The Elder is nice and likes Wix.
OOC2: It's kind of interesting to have Koi's path shaped so much by which die rolls she is manages to make :)

So, there is a Force Power Vital Transfer, which with your success normally would allow the target to heal 4x its character level, and you would take half as much damage (rounded down), though this could be prevented by the use of a Force Point.
This is also a Light Side power, meaning that it cannot be used if you have any Dark Side points to your character, which you do not.


[Language unknown: "Pa Romdayant Hotiad ekhepa nd tho e u alaier. Ekchev Isisecacmi adlimo. Lounwhroul fi ss herni ca blewitder il An Nacaof Wiwiho adei. Preere-prowas ststos virconlat tihou witca earis pro. Eiutlero redof io pre derantsom andundtra. Ulna Ousbleour Yinlatard eenhissan ss itna butvorset atanca, rom ngwh onspe asurie n intruters men korec. Ted m ri her res ceeen asttheandica ho t llevre. Staforstiseteen wileau'mantin ho oveis a fi. Icame Oulencstr Evesanhis whievereaest n antnt rutle ssmota, latsethis m nd ngsssi ch a il meesad. Fisan me dicapo wa. Mi isck oul eino us at trach rom, lato Fi ckal nclomi. U din urelo ithan, terortsti weth o ng fiienc..."]

As you place your hand on his chest, Musa Kund begins another small coughing fit, which seams to ease much more quickly and peacefully this time, without any of the liquid medication from his granddaughter.

"I agree." Koi says carefully, "But I do not know what that reason is. I hope that if I visit the plateau, Master Apoca will have left understanding for me." She pauses, "Tsareevah come, or stay with Grandfather?"

OOC: Sounds good :)
OOC2: I'm good for Koi to start heading to the plateau whenever. Just let me know who is coming along, and who is sleeping off a hangover. :D

[Language unknown: "E a il estoerthiyin whst Causmecene en of vorntende. Popesa haun elnoul evion wh poinwi eewa thocomcon, she p us stmi hiil nebeth a no ugh, pr Ck tich unas sheameyin ing pr comprewhi traiveresati."]

She had a small, awkward smile [Language unknown: "Ithderain. Esieof ereandter m ilsiil res aresetone a hinaet Lenti. Sonbutrea, roou m hepa ho ad..."]
This message was last edited by the player at 13:26, Fri 28 May 2021.

The morning wasn't a slow and easy creep like it is in space, or back home. These massive trees were home to a number of species of exotic birds, primates, and other creatures using height for safety from the predators below.
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/f8/f...ae9b65cadb47949c.jpg" data-lightbox="images-msg-210">https://i.pinimg.com/564x/f8/f...ae9b65cadb47949c.jpg" alt=''>

 Most of them awoke before the dawn, and while none of them were particularly loud as an individual, the community awakening together disrupted sleep for the sentients below. The locals, for what it's worth, were seemingly used to it, and awoke with their neighbors without protest or complaint.

The same could not be said for the crew of the Gamorrean Rose. Wix, who had slept in the same room as you, seemed as chipper as ever, though it was difficult to read emotions underneath that dark hood. The Captain, Torin Ploon, looked to be shaking off the slumber, but was at least in decent shape. Melveleh was grasping at his shoulders and his back; these spaces clearly weren't built for Herglics in mind, so he likely had to work out a kink that he developed while sleeping in a bunched up state.

And than there was AG and Oro, who both looked thoroughly disheveled. AG more so.
"Man, I feel like I just went through Hell Week again. I don't know how they do it, but these guys endurance is on another level."

OOC: Hell Week is a slang term among military personnel, usually for the hardest period during either boot camp or an extensive qualification period, like Rangers.

[Language unknown: "Howilo ha ortmenble mensonove.."] Koi insists, a yawn erasing any sense of jedi grandeur. [Language unknown: "Teus Hausri Tedandhasvor us fiven pre a icpate saei red inee koromerut reaatewhe.."] A mischievous crinkle of her eyes confirmed that it was a joke, perhaps convey the sense that both she and Tsareevah were young women trying to live up to the wisdom of their elders.

--------
The morning chorus comes very early -- it takes Koi a moment to realize that the songs aren't quite right for home.  She looks rumpled in yesterday's clothes, but quietly pleased with her progress. "Well, I am hoping to hike up to the plateau, but if you and Oro are too tired, maybe you can stay with the ship. I suppose someone should?"

She glances at Captain Ploon, "I'm not sure what I'll find up there."

"Never said anything about being too tired." Oro piped in "We don't split up the team, no matter what. Besides, we've already spent too long in ships just getting here, and it's going to be another long trip getting back to the capital when we're done. Enjoy this while we can."

AG's face distorted suddenly on hearing those words. Actually stepping foot in the home of the New Republic wasn't something he ever expected to do, espcially not in a friendly capacity; if it ever would have happened, it would have been as an invader. The look disappeared quickly, as he contributed as well.

"She's got a point there. There's too much interesting stuff around here to spend all day cooped up in the ship while you and the Jawa have your fun. I can sleep when I'm dead."

She glances at Captain Ploon and AG.  This would an easier conversation without AG freaking out. And he was already a little freaked out.

"So.." Koi starts nonchalantly, hoping to gloss over awkward details about her revelations in the Force. Like learning a language overnight. "I talked to Elder Musa and Tsaarevah, and from what I've understood, Jedi Master Akoda was very much worthy of any story Mel has told me. I would not be surprised if he..did jedi magic..to protect this planet." Koi decides that specifics about yanking enemy fighters out of the sky with the force is..unnecessary and would cause alarm. "I'm concerned that if we found it, those protections have been disturbed. I think it would be prudent to have someone scanning for any signals from our ship.  And maybe someone here to coordinate..things.  More practically, I think Elder Musa wants to come up the plateau, and he might need a ride down. He's really old, and he was coughing a lot last night."

"Jedi can use The Force to do a lot of things there sprout." Mel, previously quiet, chimed in "I don't think they can use it to cast spells. At least, not that I'd ever seen" He added with a shrug. "Still, the Jedi Master must have done something important for these people to be remembered so well for so long."

"If he needs help getting up or down, I'd be more than happy to help him. What kind of signals do you think we should be searching for? Far as we know, the Rose is the only piece of technology in the system."

She looks at Mel askance for a moment, she was surprised that he made an assumption that they already knew wasn't accurate. "We already know there are at least two other ships here -- Master Akado's and the once that brought the soldiers he fought.  And the ones that brought the little Jedi on the last planet."

Koi sighed, "I don't know if a 'spell' is the right word. But aye, Master Akoda did something important. I don't know what he did though. At least not all of it. I can perceive a hint of things in the Force, and make a guess.  But it's like seeing a shadow in the water. *Something* might be happening, or has happened.  But I don't have a name for it."   She considers, "Right now that shadow is..murky but big. The Force is strong here..and yet, this place has gone unnoticed. Despite powerful, evil beings being skilled in the Force being around for decades...and yet..we are here. Not only are we here, but Master Akoda *promised* these people that the Jedi would come back."

She looks over the land, beautiful and strong, fierce and loud, and gentle as the love between a grandfather and his grown child. All the things life should be. And the First Order would kill them -- she knows in her heart that these warrior would fight to the last person. "Sometimes a shadow in the water might be the only warning we have. I would be glad to be suspicious and wrong. If I'm being a worry-bird for nothing, I will buy everyone a drink and you can tease me as much as you like.

I just don't want anything bad to happen to these good people.  They remind me so much of home. If someone could keep a look out for anything dropping out of hyperspace on long range sensors..or any thing that disturbs your water, or looks odd. I'd feel better about this plan."

"You heard it" Torin added "First round's coming out of Koi's cut. Don't worry, we'll have The Rose on standby, sensor pointed outwards for anything weird." He looks out the window to his ship.

"If we're the first people to land on this moon  in over 50 Galactic Standard Years, than I don't think another will come right behind us. I'll be the lookout for you though, let you focus on the work in front of  you. Give me time I need to  figure out how I want to write this report."

"Thank you." Koi sighs, a crease of worry on her brow smooths itself out. "I'll keep my com on.  But I'll be glad to be bored.  I could use a nice walk."  She puts her lightsaber in her pocket, and her hat on her head.

Getting moving was a challenge. Not because Musa Kund or Tsareevah, but everyone else. Seems like the entire clan...tribe...family, everyone living in this massive tree were still fascinated by the alien guests and the spiritual importance they meant. While the festivities of yesterday have died down, there was still plenty of people who just wanted to get a good look at their new guests. Even listening to the requests from the Chief or his granddaughter proved insufficient, so Melveleh had to resort to impolite pushing people of the way in order to get back down on the ground, grimacing the entire way.

Getting back on land, Torin returned to his ship with a short farewell, and the group followed the elder's guidance towards the ridge. With his age and slow gait, the rest of the group's pace was halted as well, but Musa was none the wiser; a beacon of positivity...mostly

[Language unknown: "Ompoth, k ame on hisdi adshe ekiema Pr ratus wi ncaiur usomel k sa. Iswh terri ateillset. P eidinehoicck trniss k us o din ivad icaherichiou, ectichill i ngla ai toill."

"Priv latpo ho venkor-encnotrut inwich ushone tr omeiouard, m ss tabeofol traterwhetha sskor ta."]

[Language unknown: "Ou le Teno reant ilreac" Ma  naplouhe "et, earomederint tha at he lindayhas a onwewh il reshe st el unmomo oeranyion hou et."]

OOC: No worries, I expected that a new scene might take a little extra effort to set up.


Koi endured that curiosity of Tsareevah's family (tribe? city?) with as much gracious patience and friendliness as she could muster, despite feeling as though she was fighting with her impatience and frustration.  She had little chance of sorting through so many minds for insight into the native language and culture. How uncomfortable it is to be the Chosen one.    She thought to herself -- possibly even loud enough for Wix to hear her.  Whether she liked it or not, this was important to them -- and it was only polite to respect their culture.

Once they are finally on their way, Koi resists the urge to hurry Musa Kund, and makes a quiet gesture for silence when anyone tries to hurry their pace.  The exchange makes her..wistful for her own father.  And something about his jokes about escaping seem a little bitter-sweet, as though he is carefully making happy memories for his granddaughter.

If possible with their comms, Koi will try to take a picture of them together without them noticing.

After letting Tsareevah endure some teasing, she does take pity on her and asks them both,[Language unknown:  "Outhi tin ninc witatilar u iounan?"]

[Language unknown: "Iv k ereterformen" ]She replied as she made short jab into the dirt with the butt of her spear.

[Language unknown: "Laatpl sa ng sili entproyin eveis ut of p os, di hata to on ter wewebe se res beseng, e traainain it n k tioandous. Me ouca andntibut ssch stito, se ainkorate pldiio, virredoer hape antich-tiough, tedhatwit nalar romstione, ho ec o ev alof urtaos dericalin. I bleth oreei il ionna lo moich ut inme eveoutare."]

Koi is thoughtful for a moment, and doesn't hurry to fill the silence.  In part, it's because she's scrambling to piece together the unfamiliar words in this new language -- but hopefully it just looks stoic and wise. [Language unknown:  , "Ingul. Trfi n on to has trmait. Eauad ul. O wer n maat omeant'witvor. Di wilta i ous..en meecitto eing..e urena ch Ek ta."]She smiles sadly at Tsareevah and her grandfather.  Koi knows that sometimes she will not be able to find a peaceful solution, and it will hurt her heart.[Language unknown: "Estma strundlat cail alheinte pl latr fiev, onsthiwhe m ev essll. All andoneive nehare estncewhe aldi orederble?"]

"There are. Travel between them takes multiple days to travel between them. It is dangerous, and few do it frequently."

Musa, chiming in with embarrassing humor "Speaking of, whatever happened to that trader fellow you were enraptured with? You know, when you and him were found that one time by the lake together..."

"Grandfather! Please!" Cutting the story off there, and causing him to chuckle. His bemused laughter shortly came to an end as the group approached the hill, making the way up to the ridge. There was an attempt to carve a road or a path into the hill. Though it provided even footing, it did nothing to help with the angle. Tsareevah instinctively came close to help him, to which he gently pushed her aside.

"At least let me try to get up before you coddle me."

Koi glances at Oro and quietly translates, "They mentioned that there are other tree villages, but they are several days apart and travel to them is considered quite dangerous.  But it sounds like they are friendly to each other."

She glances around to make sure Musa isn't paying attention, and whispers to Oro, "can you pretend to trip or something so that Elder Musa has a reason to help you?  I think he's more ill than he would like to let on, and could use some support -- but he doesn't want to worry his granddaughter."

"What? No," She replied incredulously, as she looked over at the elder native "He seems fine. I'm sure he'll ask for help when he needs it"

Mel rubbed his fingers through your hair as he moved ahead, walking immediately behind Musa

"Thanks Mel,"  Koi muttered softly and stifled a sigh.  Even before she became aware of the Force, Koi and Mel were the ones who woke up because there was a subtle change in the pitch engine's hum -- and went looking around for the problem.

At least Mel was looking after him a bit.  He was strong enough to catch Elder Musa if necessary.  The slow pace seemed to invite conversation. After a moment Koi asks Oro, "What did you do last night? It sounded like I missed a party."   After a moment she adds, completely innocent of any innuendo, "Did any of the warriors show you his spear?  Apparently everyone is quite good with their spear, because they use them a lot."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:20, Sat 10 July 2021.

Oro's face was frozen in a stunned gaze

"Koi...I don't know what to say" she stumbled for her words "do you hear the words you're using? Are you really asking me THAT question?"

"Well, there is no need to be snobby about it. Just because it's different than what you're used to." Koi sniffs, completely misinterpreting Oro's shock as some kind of blaster-superiority-complex. "It's just everyone here is apparently a skilled spear warrior with admirable stamina - according to AG at least.  I thought you'd be interested in getting to know them better."

She pauses, looking concerned. "You aren't self conscious, are you Oro? I mean, I know you can't practice wit a spear very well on a small crowded ship, but it's like riding a speeder -- right? You never forget."

Koi adds with an air of earnest helpfulness, "If you want me to talk to anyone with you, just let me know okay?"

"Are you serious?" She asked, incredulous "Can you really be this naïve and unaware?"

"Your dad was a farmer right?" She asks, speaking more quietly "Are you asking me whether the locals sowed their seeds in my fertile ground? If so, the answer is, beyond any doubt, NO"

"Actually my dad was a botanist...oh..oh" Koi pinks about the ears, "I never took you for a monocotyledon, but I suppose I should be more open minded. I'm sorry if I was teasing you more than I though I was. Er." Koi runs a hand through her hair, "Most of my peers growing up had cloaca and they didn't really have the same metaphors. I get mixed up."

"If you're not interested in them romantically, you could have just said..I haven't asked about..umm..biomechanics, but they do have a tradition of romance." Koi sounds and odd blend of exasperated and wistful, despite her salacious teasing.  Bold in allegory, Koi was rather timid when it came to asking someone to dance.

She gives Oro a sidelong glance, and murmurs. "I didn't want to be too serious, but the information about their people is correct. They are all warriors..their lives are too dangerous to be otherwise. I thought it might be common ground." Koi looks intensely sad for a moment, and glances back towards where the 'Rose is parked. "aren't we all fighting something ten-fold our size -- and far too often?"

Koi pauses to look over the scrublands below, it really was a lovely climb.  It was worse taking a moment to savor the iron-tang scent of the dust, the patchy mosaic of earth and plants, and slightly cool breeze. The village tree seemed like a neighboring island of green. "They seem happy to be friends, but it's hard to start the conversation that would make us more than a curiosity."

"We could take a lesson from them I guess." She mused in response "With the constant threat of the Empire, the First Order, and the rest, you'd think we would all be trained to be warriors by now. If we were, maybe we could actually win this war."

"Sorry" She said with a weak smile "Not the conversation you want to have, I'm sure. Just weighs down a lot. If we don't do something to end this all, and end it soon, this place won't remain a paradise for long. If you want to talk about making friends, you should try AG. I spent most of the night trying to keep him out of trouble. He kept the party going longer than I could, so who knows what he got up to?"

"If he got intimately familiar with the locals, more power to him I guess. He's finally finding out what enjoying life means, rather than just taking it."

Koi chuckles, Don't be too hard on him Oro. He's being very nice about the fact that I'm essentially the worst monster he could imagine." Koi's tone is light, but there is a quiet note of sadness. Sadness for herself (some of the things he thought of jedi were unkind) and for AG. She can't imagine not being allowed to listen to music, read whatever she wanted, or even go for a walk. After a moment, Koi adds matter-of-fact, "also he's very hung-over. It just seems like kicking a fellow when he's down to tease him too much when he's still paying last night's tab."

She gives Oro a side-eyed look. "How much trouble did he get into? Do I want to know before the Captain finds out? I'm kind of curious, but I'm also realizing that ignorance is a bird that is hard to catch again once you let it out of the bag.

"I couldn't tell you. He  hadn't gotten in too much trouble before I tapped out. I was trying to keep him from drinking. What might get them drunk could kill us. But, that didn't seem to work out. Last I recall is he was trying to participate in some group dance. I told him not, that didn't work. I told him to keep his shirt on, but he thought  it best to go native. I think they tried to paint his chest. Things are hazy after that."

Oro looks back at him "I doubt you would get more details if you asked him, but I think that he was able to leave the village without being chased and hunted is a sign that if he did get into any trouble, it wasn't real trouble."

Koi smiles, "As much assurance as we get, huh? I stayed up pretty late, and everyone seemed to be having a good time. There was definitely chest painting. Even if AG accidentally joined their clan, It's safer in the village than a space port. So I'm glad shirts could be loosened without having to look over your shoulder, you know?"

She hesitates and then asks, "you like him alright, then?"

"Couldn't ask for a more agreeable sworn enemy, I guess. I still don't trust him. He behaves well enough when he's stuck with us, but what does he do when he gets to taste real freedom? Maybe he sticks around, maybe he goes back to the First Order, maybe he goes and works for the Hutt's, I don't know."

"For whatever it counts, I will say that if luck had worked out differently, and he was one of ours, we probably could have been friends."

"I hope he stays." Koi admits, "I know it will be hard for him..when we have to report. But I think you are a good team."

Koi pauses,"I think I might ask Tsareevah to teach me spear-fighting after we get back. Will you do it with me?"  After a moment she adds, "not for sexy reasons. Just for stab-bad-guy reasons."

"I don't see us staying that long for it  to be useful" Oro said with a shrug "Course, you learned a language with a nap, so who knows what you might pick up with your Jedi stuff, but I think I'm good."

"If I've gotten close enough to an enemy to need to stab them, something's gone very wrong."

No sooner had she said that Musa took a stumble going up the  hill. Mel was there to catch him from completely falling. While still being defiant from relying completely on help, his spare hand held tightly to the Herglic's arm.

Tsareevah made a quick glance at you before looking at the remaining distance to climb, and hurried close, walking just behind.

Koi let out a breath she didn't know she was holding when Mel caught Elder Musa. She was grateful that Mel trusted her and stepped in -- even when she couldn't explain herself clearly.

She didn't feel...agile...enough to catch the village leader with the force. A true Jedi Master would have probably lifted him gently with the force, but like my dad would say -- it's easier to bring an umbrella than stop the rain.   She glances at Oro, but he never said that it could be hard to convince people to bring an umbrella. Thank all flowers for Mel!

"Come on," she said to Oro, "Let's keep up -- the sooner we get to the top, the sooner Elder Musa can rest."

The hillside got noticeable and sharply more steep. Musa Khund held tightly onto Mel the whole  way as his breathing became more labored along the way.

"You don't need to kill yourself to prove a point, grandfather!" Tsareevah said with a tense voice.

"Bah!" He responded, waving her off with a free hand "You don't understand, this is something I must do."

"There is noone alive who doubts your honor, you stubborn fool."

"All honor is fleeting" Musa responded as he stopped walking. He looked behind him, to see you and the entourage, but more to see how far he had gone. "I needed to do this for myself." He gives a solid slap against Mel's arm, who correctly guesses the signal. Using both arms, he picks up the elder alien off theground completely and walks up the remainder of the way. With the additional weight, even the Herglic struggles a bit with the hike, and trying to finish sooner to get it over with, tries to hasten his pace towards the top. It's difficult to keep up with him, even for the two soldiers who are trained for endurance.

By the time you reach the top, everyone is breathing heavy, except the natives. Putting your hands on your knees to help get more breaths in, you don't immediately notice the Republic ship crashed into the mountainous terrain, matching almost exactly with the fighter you now have in your possession aboard the Rose.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:53, Wed 11 Aug 2021.

Undignified, Koi concentrates on sucking wind and fleeting promises to herself to do a better job keeping in shape while on the ship. Apparently dodging stormtroopers isn't a good cardio work out. "Can I be carried next? You're in really good shape Mel. She pants in Mel's general direction, 'or is now a good time to mention that we can use the comm link to call the Captain for a ride down."

After she manages to catch her breath, Koi takes a long drink of water, pushes the sweaty hair out of her eyes, and looks around. After a minute she sees the crashed ship, but remembering the holo recording, she looks around for signs of the stormtroopers remains as well.

"Was this where you met Master Akoda?" She asks Elder Musa softly.

"Yes" He replied slowly as he looked around the area "When I was much younger. Younger than Tsareevah is now." He had his feat under him again, taking deliberate steps.

"It was such a strange feeling. I was scared, more afraid for my life than I had been on any hunt I had ever been taken on. And yet, curious and amazed. The God's themselves had come down to stand among us, and this one, this Master Akoda, saved my life..."

Koi is quiet as she listens, and doesn't speak afterwards in case Elder Musa wants to reminisce more or just contemplate this event.  After all, Koi herself has plenty to ponder.

She still isn't sure if Master Akoda died here. His crashed ship suggests yes...but she isn't in a hurry to underestimate someone who pulled Tie-fighters out of the sky.

"Is it permitted to go to his ship?"   She asks.  If it is, she climb over to the wreck.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:14, Sun 15 Aug 2021.

There were two large black marks on the mountainside, above the summit where you are currently at. Both have remnants of crashed Republic starfighters as the centers, which have broken apart and scattered across the side over the many years.

Master Akoda's ship is likewise a crumpled mess. There are still scars along the terrain of the summit where the starfighter skated across the ground into the mountainside, where it crumbled up around the nose. The cabin of the starfighter was well built and protected the Jedi Master from the collision, and enough to allow him to escape.

Koi figures out that this is probably where Master Akoda fought off the people trying to kill him. Unless someone stops her, she starts climbing over to the wreckage of the jedi's ship.  It has probably been picked clean of anything useful or decorative by now.

And there is definitely nothing left of the Old Republic ships.

She sits down for a minute to sort out her thoughts. I'm pretty sure Master Akoda never left -- at least not in those ships.  So why is the Force so strong here?  Did he perish?  Is it possible he is here, still alive?

If he's alive, he would be very, very old..but Koi isn't sure what's possible with the Force. Regardless, there is a strong Force presence around here. Maybe if we find that, we will know more.  Taking a few deep breaths, she tries to meditate.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:50, Fri 20 Aug 2021.

What pieces and components didn't fall or break off in the original crash were largely still there. The locals, given their limited tools, had little means of taking much of anything off, and what could pried off, generally wasn't valuable or useful to them. There's generally very little sign that this place had been disturbed at all. The scorch marks from the turbo lasers were still there, even after decades of rain and wind, and possible visitors. What's interesting is that the series of scorch marks take a sudden stop.

In the meditation the strong presence of the Force seems to cloud over everything else outside it. The more you find peace and calm, the presence seems to less spread but more confined, as if it was concentrating to a specific point. For a moment, it seemed as if it disappeared alltogether.

"I wondered if there would ever be a Jedi who would come looking for me..."

Koi pauses, trying to think of a kind way to break the news. Even ghosts have feelings, and Master Akoda was -- and likely still is -- someone who cares deepls. "I'm sorry Master Akoda," she ventures hesitantly. "Things went badly for a long time, and knowledge is scarce. I'm afraid I have more inspiration than training.  But I think the Force put you and this place in our path."

You hear a startled voice from AG "uhhhh, KOI!"

Opening your eyes, you see the voice has taken shape into a body as well, as the aged Jedi Master, as a spirit.

"There is nothing for you to apologize for, padawan. If anything, I owe an apology to you, to all of you" He said, turning to the rest of the group. "The Jedi Knights failed at the most crucial moment, and the galaxy has suffered generations since. I was the most critical of the Jedi against this war, but even I did little to speak up once the conflict was upon us in earnest. I feared that if I spoke too vocally, and even separated myself from the Knights entirely, I would be looked upon the same as Count Dooku, that traitorous reprobate. Little did I know how right I was, until it was too late."

The ghost moves from his positions and sits on a large rock nearby, smiling "Still, despite all that occurred, there is a Jedi here before me. There is hope within the galaxy still, and that is all that we need."

"It's alright AG, he's a friend."   Koi opens her eyes, and smiles at the Jedi master. "Well, there are at least two of us, Wix should be nearby."


She adds after a moment, her voice calm -- almost laconic "There are other Jedi. But I'm pretty sure there are evil Jedi as well..umm..Sith, I think they're called."  Koi looks away for a moment, she may be calm but she is a also deeply worried.  The Force has laid a lot on her.  Especially given what she saw in the Force last night.

Wix had hid behind Melveleh until his name came up, than slowly revealed himself.

"Come here my little friend" Master Acota replied, waving his hand to have him come over "The Force truly works in remarkable ways, to see a Jawa searching to become a Jedi. Nothing would have given me more joy than to have trained you myself." He looked down for a second, thinking on the other concern

"Yes, the Sith are the servants of the Dark Side, and the nemesis of the Jedi Knights" He replied with a deep sigh "We had thought the Sith extinct, only for them reveal themselves as they killed Qui-Gon Jinn, one of our greatest Jedi, and one of my old friends. We couldn't discover the greater threat until it was too late."

"The Galaxy stands again upon the precipice. Both the Jedi and the Sith are thought to be gone forever. Each has members still, trying to rebuild and turn the tide. This has played out before, and each time the galaxy has nearly destroyed itself in the conflict. I fear there is not much more fuel for this fire. I believe that whichever comes away the victor, be them Jedi or Sith, will defeat the other forever.

"I'm very glad to have met Wix. He is generous, brave, and decisive. And a very good friend." She gives the Jedi Master a wry, affectionate smile, "he kindly puts up with my methodical ways."

Koi sighs, running a hand through her hair. "I have seen things that suggest that we are on the back foot by comparison. Especially when it comes to resources and training. I think that we may have more inspiration in some ways, but I hadn't seen a lightsaber until a few days ago. Perhaps my..ability to listen..is it's own equal power, but I do not think I can avoid all fighting. It is a concern."

She pauses, "I know the Jedi *used* to have places to gather. Is there any chance that any of them remain? Can you teach us to fight?"

"That is a matter for the living. I do not know, but I may be of help..." As he points towards his broken ship. "There should be a database still in there of where the Jedi Training Academy's were before we were betrayed. They may stand as little but testaments to a former age, and they could all be rubble, destroyed by the Sith or the First Order to assure we do not return."

"There is someone else in the Galaxy searching for the academies of the Jedi Knights. Someone strong in the Force. The victor in the Battle of Exagol. If you can find her, she may train you to fight. She is receiving help, from someone with a different form of power. I believe you will find them in Chandrila, the seat of power for the New Republic."

Koi blinked hard, feeling the axis of her priorities whirl as though she were asteroid bouncing off the hull of a capital ship. "Yes, that would be very helpful.  Thank you."

She hesitates, but her instinct tells her the vision was important. And the one in the vision could still do much harm if he isn't rescued. "the Sith have another..jedi..I suppose in a prison.  I don't trust this prisoner, but I don't think I should leave them. Is there a way to contact them without endangering everyone?  I already fear that our presence here is..noticeable to our enemies."   It is easier to risk her own life than endanger her friends. So much easier.

She looks aside, "I'm sorry -- I think Elder Musa has waited a long time to greet you again. I'm being thoughtless. You are much loved, you know."  Koi pauses and asks Elder Musa and his granddaughter. "[Language unknown: Verhernti ent ckie o rat checck?  Ekoer usofnd e ntwhol ek il, pr ei hial...ereken anwepr."]

"Telepathy across great distance is a very difficult thing. Even the greatest could martial only a few words with those they knew personally well. Finding this poor soul is in your best interest, I'm sure, but be patient. The Force will reveal a path to him, one only need to open your mind to see it."

The spirit of the Jedi Master smiled and stood seeing the elder "I did not expect that I would see you again. Last I saw you, you were a little child being curious and exploring his world."

Musa Khund and Tsareevah were both slow to come towards, incredibly shaky by seeing an actual ghost.

[Language unknown: "O, Ho lowit. Ic ure ou ni. Resterthe ee wi ev ble E astkoress ileelo si ioueaurat. Di M tiodi icaon rieebe N earreaenc thaingout, pr andonsoveain prtha ckous p omfo-anhi wi olai o rut teur..."]
This message was last edited by the player at 20:46, Fri 27 Aug 2021.

 Do languages mean anything after you die? How terrible that Musa Khund has been carrying this guilt for so long!  Koi thinks to herself, "I am so glad that I listened -- and remembered how important Master Akoda is to other people. It is easy to feel the importance and weight on your own mission, and forget that others may have a heavier burden."

Koi isn't sure if the Master Akoda needs a translator, or if they can understand each other. If it's needed, she unobtrusively translates for the Spirit and Musa Khund. Even if she keeps her voice calm, tears start to gather in her eyes.

"I do not regret what happened. The sacrifice appears to have informed you well, and turned you into a great leader. The Jedi have survived their darkest days as we see by our mutual friend, a Jedi in her own right."
Alpha turns to you
 "You have fulfilled what I wish my padawans could, but having become a Jedi means you have only succeeded in the first challenge. Walking the path of a Jedi is a lifelong challenge, but one you are worthy of. There will always be more to see, more to learn, and always those to help."

"Aye," Koi drawled, she ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "I see things I..don't know if I should see, but the Force shows them to me.  My feet find my way to those who..need help.  And Wix certainly found me when I needed help too!"  She smiles with a sad bitterness, "but I fear I don't know enough to be any good. It's like standing at the edge of a forest fire with a very small bucket." But what can she do?  She has to bring what water she has. The galaxy might burn, but not without her trying her best to put out what fires she can.

It's a relief to say the words aloud to someone who surely understands.

"Master Akodo, are you doing something to protect this place? Hide it from the bad folks like the Sith?"

He laughs for a short moment, and covers his mouth "Forgive me. I possess neither the knowledge or the strength to do such a thing. This place is protected by obscurity and conflict. Resources spent on ending life are resources that can't be used for encouraging and benefiting life. I led my padawans to this system because there was no reason for us to be here, and except for the soldiers trained to hunt us down, no one has been here since."

"I fear young Jedi, that once the veil of this place has been lifted, it cannot be placed back. This moon, and others, are dense in wildlife and could be mined for other resources. Sith and Hutt's alike could use our mutual friends as slave labor, being unable to fight back. This place must be protected, and that burden falls to you, Jedi."

Koi crumples under the weight of the responsibility that Master Akoda laid on her. The Jedi Masters were supposed to be capable of miracles -- Mel said so! If he wasn't powerful enough to protect these people -- how could she hope to succeed? She closes her eyes and take a few deep breaths as she struggles against sheer panic. Her heart feels like a bird trying to smash its way out of a cage.

The idea of Tsareevah being enslaved makes feel like her stomach has been thrown into a gravity well. Or if I mess this up, they could be oppressed for centuries..but I can't think about that. Master Akoda is here now, and Mel and Wix and Elder Musa.  We have to come up with a plan.  One that will make sure they are respected allies. Or a good plan to hide them.

After a long minute she opens her eyes, and straightens her shoulders. She addresses Elder Musa and Tsareevah,[Language unknown: Te wilthiica, chen Perili Onatpr i artesssta li olpo lesoerare ave saei inart hoinee. Hoasul minomo li ectoutwhi ne, st theiti, haosin ainwe ratestles, haill hidies, ant siand a wa.  Se espr te daythistienc acthwa set ove sta toek estoulnti Leseet Peelne. Ck ouain escon nghat neom seinbe com nteardble peica ndeichshe k wancof as ivli ousit ai evhas on naet ive hatwi esis et witproure.  Stred k whesfi ess sasiar-aiwi *illtioone* moli ndome andng, dipro ad mi an elon elpoha na was m un nceionsta fo ce.  Ss hi at icrena sa m tratno thder dinrutthaain.]  She looks unhappy,[Language unknown:  "P i reaoerica io wesind nt our stiom. Pa m ntiicanot ersna iv ven elssrehe, nti Om comntesta esbe ioos eenesswhi art shehouiou aciodi menst. Ut tedei outhaswas ai ndse si honot pr arewitugh moes e ugh m ardwheive, ngar Om bero K comevewil weni ul sonatistipre stday al os an hipa Essane Tefodi eauntecon. Ck ceas si tinbe ou ev nt E kor, po liul ore nte oshaat no wilno viriouort ess ted ckasas utulho ouwi et butameave potho u.  Ri sta utie n o areectout n ekal aveprover m urrat sisalo, K ha illeveeau k p o.  An la acal e o virvirstitho ng on ontic, Pa yin ni all."]

She looks at Master Akoda with resolve."If I'm a Jedi, I have a right to protect their planet, right? How can I make sure they get to make their own decisions about their people? I don't trust government types not to..cheat them..because they don't have blasters and ships.  But you've done this before, right?"  Koi asks boldly, steeling herself to fight and triumph in the arena of diplomacy.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:49, Sun 12 Sept 2021.

"This reminds me of a young scoundrel I knew. Was amazed at the wisdom that came out of the mind of one from his background."

"He said 'Jedi, decisions are made by the ones who show up.' How clearly he saw and condensed what Jedi and politicians alike spend their whole lives trying to understand. If these people are to be afforded the chance to speak and fight for themselves and their home, than they must be given the opportunity to speak and be heard, to be in the room where it happens, as it were."

Koi listens closely, and can't help frowning at the truth in Master Akoda's advice. "Of course, I'm sure we can teach them several decades of galactic politics in a few weeks." She grouses with exasperation, "There is a lot I don't understand and I've been flying with Captain Ploon and Oro for months."

She runs a hand through her hair and translates for Tsareevah and Elder Musa, [Language unknown: "In osic nanimi pehees esnce Ek Illthostiame, ent ounatilat m ofica us iorosi k ne howime ou oneoerine almota trill lo mennteons chas outounwer po osstr Ri. San ndloer chivss kor a at ad wh o ithol linois io nt notthoine o hersetere Heran.  Lar thu neut ashi anyrutprefor ss pris cackfi wa undthuder i ore ivathe hineneeiil. Som Wheresive Outherany asheilla llss om m cass, ha eshope ngble sti ngasma ek ee illaie i si iswaer mi ast sa. Ate thiardsta any dayichoul ilckat hehi stchwa elast."]

Koi adds, hoping to assure them that they would not be without friends and help on this strange mission. [Language unknown:  "I trol procomoer ith eve aleemofi ek thutertic ereromoul m nareee haismi son we ughardanyera, menoon osnaha ortwh eausi ailailaree alear antaee wasel e redi uslamipric.  Adet Ic path ecomisat. Lo onsareven str erch ureeng stadfo p her stithuhou, nt u sidiat he unfotami ni icatiooer. Ol ei lo ti mesan oumo p pre ateicance erasomwas saniououl. Omewhiome usin k chitre ac t?  I k omdipl wastinate fo nillpa bleat k etlllo a tra thuthithe?"]

Musa Khund immediately begins to look towards his granddaughter. Aware of what that look indicated, she shook her head quickly.

[Language unknown: "U. Hisstiwilstiwhi int. Is ilchwi."

"Entha whro wi evulpe reaionpro Ounoreerehas."

"Eiun el he meiere Urof? Dicaic t aint chisla estproent! Ul la se ntomat!"
]
[Language unknown: "Whi la te she conro t ol nghis" ]He replied patiently [Language unknown: "Ardstaday bemosi lamoma he encsonichout diasch erard pellar con. Ec ca ect ing o attipl lamica, entivetha wasintave ere ratwh ournotomehissti om en m."

"Nd, m di astar adcaat enttioent? Liadat illdi, ni me thueented lowend but amedaytho omeoulcom? Ti icllto me miure heoul Wh str lehoar tio seriof?"

"Ouran lesantter diriin et t al"] He replied, still smiling as he sits on a rock [Language unknown: "Ain k n anfor."

"Et iouousich ardoveeve bleoerwil!"] Tsareevah responded sharply, quickly escalating her mood while Musa stayed calm and collected [Language unknown: [Seiltiha Om: "Mopr our, ou preun kortiohat, utcele le ai en wereretho ou nte eise in e som."

"N ek lar neliet sonreaing pl m il. Are e po a ri ll?"

"Rom!"]] She said as small tears came from her eyes [Language unknown: "Vereraday Com theev ratsanven p te heroutove!"] Her emotions ran high, she barreled towards him and embraced him tightly in a hug.

The normally chatty and invasive Jawa had been quiet and merely observant this whole time, had finally inserted himself in, tugging on your leg.

"Wix no understand alien talk. Wix do understand goodbye..." He reaches into pockets of his filthy brown robes and pulls out two identical objects. Being in Jawa hands, they were predictably covered in dirt and had a few dings, but these video comlinks appeared to be in workable shape.

"Master Jedi" Mel spoke up as well "You're asking us to do an awful lot. Politics isn't an arena for the amateurs, and you're teaching her to swim by pushing her off the boat. We'll do everything that we can to help these amazing people, as well as help rebuild the Jedi. You have our word."

"And, I'm glad I had the chance to see you again."

Koi steps back to give Mel a moment of privacy with his old friend, and to give Tsareevah and her grandfather a moment to come to terms with their difficult paths. It may be a brave new beginning, but goodbyes are hard -- especially when you are so well loved. When Wix tugs on her legs she is starting to look a little sniffly herself.

"Oh Wix, you're so clever!"  She exclaims quietly, happiness lighting her expression. "What is the range on them?" She gestures for him to come over to Tsareevah and Elder Musa with her.

"While it's not the same as home -- my friend Wix has far-speaking and far-seeing tools."  She smiles at Tsaarevah, "you can send your words to him, and admonish him from a far. I know you are precious to each other." She gives Elder Musa a smile, "Let us show you how to use them, so you will be able to tease her from time to time."

Being used to pantomime to communicate beyond his indecipherable language, and technically adept, he's able to easily show the two how the devices work. Tsareevah and Khund are amazed by the technology when a shimmering blue representation of themselves emanates from one of the comlinks.

In the corner of your eye, you see AG who has been unsteadily silent this whole time, staring at the ghost of a Jedi Master.

Koi meanders over to where AG is, giving Mel a little time to talk to an old friend. Mel must have lost a lot of friends in his long life, and it was special that he got a chance to talk with one of them again. We all need a little jedi magic to take care of our hearts right now. It's easy to get lost in the grand plans of saving a planet.

"How are you?" She asks gently, "I know this is a lot to take in."

"Ya, you could say that." He starts "Am I seriously the only one here that's freaked out that we're talking to a ghost? And a Jedi ghost at that?" His attention swings sharply, from the ponderous to the accusatory.

"And what about you? Hmmm? He calls you a Jedi? What do you have to say about that?"

Koi smiles faintly, "He's spent his entire life caring about people, being a good person. Death is hardly enough to change that." She adds, "It helps that he's not the first ghost I've met, or even the second.  Just shows you can get used to anything, I suppose."

She sighs at AG's accusation, "What would you have me say?  That I'd let the Hutts come along and enslave these people? Strip mine these planets into slag? They welcomed you as a brother -- or a friend -- last night. They trust you. If you wanted, they would give you a home here. They'd fight to the death to protect you from your enemies. They have so much in common with you. Would you really just sit by and let some awful slavers creeps burn their homes, and take their children to be in a rich Hutt's zoo?"

She shrugs, watching Mel talk to his old friend for a moment. Koi admits, "Being a Jedi isn't how I saw my life going when I left home, but it would shame me to the last wisp my ghost to let these people suffer and do nothing to help them. I may never have Master Khund's resolve or his daughter's sense of leadership, but I admire them, and cherish them. Master Akoda is right -- I wish he wasn't, because it scares me to the bones -- but only a Jedi has the authority to help them. At least any authority that the New Republic would recognize."

She narrows her eyes, pushing back at AG's misdirected anger a little, "And don't tell me The First Order would be better -- they let whole planets get blown up.  Never mind how they've treated any alien they've come across. These people are warriors, they're not going to live under the First Order's heel. And why should they? They've governed themselves for thousands of years -- no one has a right to take that from them.

Maybe this is idealistic, but the galaxy doesn't deserve to lose the beauty of who they are for anyone's ambition or greed."

OOC: buying a house is so stressful. :(
This message was last edited by the player at 21:26, Sun 26 Sept 2021.

"Has he though?" AG retorted immediately "You think because you found the children he brought into a war and abandoned for his own life, and met his ghost, that you think you know his story?"

He takes a stern look at the old Jedi for a moment, pointing at him for a moment "Don't mistake him Koi. This man still fought in a war. He's still killed people. Killed more than I have, I'll bet. Except I didn't have a choice, I walked the only path I was given, just like the clones soldiers he lead into battle. Except he had a choice. All of the Jedi had a choice, and rather than letting people express a voice of dissent, to try a new way rather than deal with centuries of corruption, they fought on, so that the voices of peace and freedom oppressed people into war!"

His face had quickly and severely reddened "It's not about these people, it's about him, and all the other Jedi! Their sanctimonious hypocritical behavior has led the galaxy to the brink of destruction more times than we can count. How can the Jedi fix any of the galaxy's problems, when they're the ones that caused it?"

He turned towards the ghost "Coup or not, Jedi, your legacy is nothing but lies built on a foundation of failure and betrayal, and look at where the galaxy is because of it!"

Master Akoda was strangely unphased by the young man's outburst, even moving with his hands for him to come closer.

"Truly my boy, I am sorry that the Jedi Knights failed. We failed you, we failed the Republic, and we failed the galaxy. We are all imperfect beings, so despite our best efforts, the Jedi Knights will always be imperfect as well."

"You expect me to be satisfied with that?"

"It's the truth" He replied simply "Whether the answer satisfies you is in your hands, not mine. You are a singular thorn, like some of my past apprentices. Youthful passion and idealism conjoined by an immutable curiosity and drive for answers, that not even the First Order could crush out of you, despite all of their efforts."


The rebellious storm trooper's rage quieted as he listened, perhaps listening more intently now than he hever has in his life.

"Your life through the Force is clouded, as I'm sure there's moments of your past that even you do not remember, like the day they captured you."

Jedi Master Akoda's voice grew louder, but spoke more slowly, more grimly "The First Order killed your parents in cold blood, without question, without hesitation, and without reason. They even killed your older sister, who showed impossible bravery in running towards the enemy to try and give you a chance to escape."

AG's face grew white, his eyes wide, as the words bring everything back. "You cried the entire night, begging for the Jedi Knights to come and rescue you, along with other abducted children. You only stopped after grown men trained to kill beat you within a breath of your life." Seeing the exacerbated look on his face "How long your mind must have run from that memory, after being indoctrinated to believe that we were evil."

"I'm sorry young man, as sorry for your loss as I am my two padawans. The Jedi couldn't save you because, there were no Jedi left alive. We heard your voice through the Force, and it pained us all. If you do not trust me, than trust this remarkable woman. Help her on her journey to rebuild the Jedi, better than they were in my time, so that somewhere, there's one less scared child crying in the dark."

At first, Koi was relieved when Master Akoda responded. It was hard to argue with AG. He held the Jedi responsible for so much -- too much. At times he seemed to hold them to standards of moral perfection, insight and ability that no mortal person, no matter how good, could ever meet -- while at the same time decrying their universal corruption.

One of the revelations that Bastilla Shan gave her is that even Jedi are limited by the information and resources they had at the time.  The Force can give you great insight, but even a great hero doesn't know everything and makes mistakes. Being a Jedi means you try to help, but you are still only one person. A person that gets tired, or frightened, or hurt -- just like anyone else.

She winces at his accusations towards Master Akoda, who Koi generously assumed was trying to draw the Clone fighters away from his apprentices to protect them. Even though he failed, he tried.

But something about the tension in the air kept her from speaking up. Master Akoda was a soldier, and maybe he can reach AG in a way that she can't.

She was not expecting Master Akoda to know so much about AG's past. Koi can feel her sweat go cold at the news that the Order made AG an orphan before he was made a stormtrooper. But his anger and feelings of betrayal makes so much more sense. I knew that the Order raised soldiers from a young age..but I didn't realize..

Koi tries to give AG a minute to come back to himself.

"I'm sorry AG, there is a lot I can't answer, and a lot of bad that I can't reach to try to change it." Koi says quietly, a fringer drawl creeping into her voice as she surreptitiously wipes away a tear. "But these people are right in front of me, and I can try to help them. I hope you'll help me. Even if you're mad at me for being a jedi."

AG looked at the alien ground for a moment, breathing in deep before making a sudden shift to looking straight into your eyes "You saved my life when nearly anyone else in the rebellion would have killed me. You trust me when nobody else would, or should. That's very much the Jedi way, I suppose. And, I can't really blame you for the mistakes of the past, much as I might want to."

He looks at Akoda for a moment "I don't know if I'm really ready to trust in the Knights of the Jedi Order. What the ghost says about what happened, that the Galactic Civil War was a trick from the start to gain power would be hard to believe, but it fills in the holes. Regardless of the past and who said what, I know I can trust Koi Sundar, Jedi or not." He extended his hand forward as a sign of good faith.

Meeting AG's gaze is like walking into a gale, or a brick wall. All that certainty and passion -- even if it's more for an idea than Koi herself -- it's a power to be reckoned with.

Some people feel that they can read something of a person's soul in their eyes, and if there is anything there that can give AG peace..how can she mind?  He's known so little. And showing his anger, arguing with her is a kind of trust.  He's showing her his real thoughts -- one's he'd be punished for in the past.

She takes his hand, her smile blooms tentatively like the very edge of dawn. "Thank you AG. I..your trust means a lot to me. I don't know if I'll be a great Jedi, but I hope that I am good person -- and a good friend."

"Best I've ever had." He replied. He looked down at your legs, where Wix was loitering defensively.

"Don't worry, I'm okay with you being a Jedi too, you little womp rat."

The diminuitive would be Jedi was unusually silent as he watched, seeing the other two comrades approach.

"Well, know that we've gotten that all out on the table, it looks like we're all set to leave. Fair?"

The group nodded in agreement.

"Good. AG, I'd like to borrow you for a second, some last second preparation." As the two walked away, Oro-Qiebra, the most quiet of the bunch, leans in to speak quietly. Her hushed volume struggles to contain her excitement.

"My sister can go eat krill. Whatever spec ops stuff she's doing doesn't compare to this. I got to meet a dead Jedi! And I'm helping two other Jedi! And who knew that tall dumb and handsome had that kind of history? The little boy inside would probably worship you, from the sound of it."

Koi sighs as AG walks away, "I appreciate your patience Wix -- and being ready to poke him in the shin." A lot of Wix's adversaries were going to die surprised. Which made for an effective warrior, but it must be annoying to be called names and underestimated.

"We should ask Master Akoda if he knows the name his parents gave him. I don't think he'll want it yet. But some day he might."

Koi smiles at Oro's glee: her sister is terrifying. She heard a story that Oro's sister once ripped a guy's arm off while arm wrestling. Supposedly by accident.

At least Oro isn't trying to surreptitiously shoot AG and push him off a cliff. Koi chuckles,  "Tall and Handsome, eh? I'll be happy with at least 50% less angry arguing...with me at least. I'd bet a cake to a credit that he'll argue up one side of any New Republic ship and down the other. I think keeping him out of fights is beyond a reasonable expectation, but I hope you'll keep him from being shoved out an airlock."

Koi has noticed that AG is handsome (and funny and brave) - as much as she's trying to ignore it. AG has been through a lot, and well..he probably needs a friend more than someone to kiss. At least from her.

"After dealing with sibling rivalry like mine, dealing with him should be easy. I'll take his idealism over moaning about regs and procedures any day." She took a moment to walk away, looking over the vast landscape below.

The Jedi overheard your question and shook his head. "I'm sorry, Koi, but much of his identity is clouded to me. Especially powerful moments or events can pierce through the veil of time and distance, but little else is there. I would be cautious trying to uncover his past. He is taking his first steps away from serving the Dark Side, and the answers you both seek may only lead him back towards it. Revenge is never a substitute for justice, but that could be his path, unless sheparded by calmer voices."

"Caution, and discretion, young Jedi, in all things. In the past, we were lambasted for being too reticent, too unwilling to take action until we were sure of the consequences. In the Galactiv Civil War, we rushed in to save the Republic, and to lead the Clone Army, to the ruin and detriment of all that we cared about. If nothing else, learn from our mistakes."

"Yeah..It's hard to have so much taken from you and no way to get it back. I have to trust that AG's idealism will come on top. But I had to ask, cause if I found I had a family like that, I'd want to know." Koi sighs running a hand through her hair. In some ways the First Order is almost like the fire that killed her father -- a destructive force that you can't reason with. But worse, because people chose to make it that way.  A forest fire is at least impersonal. "I'm going to do my best, but..I'm not smarter than a hundred Jedi. I'm lucky to have Oro and AG to keep me humble and Wix to be cleverer than I am. But how do I know the right thing?" The last is more of a rhetorical question, and an unhappy one.  Not even a Jedi can control the reaction of others.

Koi stands and dusts herself off. "Alright, let's see how I can get this database out of your ship. Even if things don't go as planned, hopefully this will help a lot of people. And I'm all ears to any advice.."

"I don't know you didn't ask for it, but my advice would be to leave it to the professionals" Mel piped in, having swooped the Jawa up in his arms as he made his way to the ship.

"Alright friend. This is delicate work that my hands can't work. I need you to listen very carefully and follow my precise instructions in order to get the necessary components out without destroying them. Can you do that?"


"Utinni!"

Mel looked over to you "I'm guessing that means yes. You should and the other tadpoles should start heading back. We'll be right behind you, have the captain come pick us up on the way."

"There aren't any professional that want this job.." Koi grumbles good naturedly. She tries to hide a pang of dismay, and even jealousy, as Mel brings Wix over to help him get the data from the Jedi ship. Once Mel would be asking me to do such a pleasant and interesting job..  She turns away with shame, I can't do everything. And I volunteered for this. even if I would rather be investigating a cool ship. It's childish to have such selfish thoughts..Wix deserves a turn too." she rebukes herself silently.

"Back to the village, everyone?" She suggests with a cheer that she doesn't really feel.

Your old friends nod in agreement and rise to their feet. Seeing this, Tsareevah and Musa Khund inherently follow suit.

"May the Force be with you, Jedi" With these final words, the ghost of Jedi Master Akoda fades away.

The descent down moves quickly, as it is far easier on the elder.

"Glory of days is this!" Musa proclaims loudly "I feel years younger than I did but a few hours ago"

"That's because you're going downhill grandfather. The journey home is always easier than the expedition from it."

The old native laughs "There is some wisdom in these words, but you still do not understand. A burden that has been on my shoulders for most of my life has been finally lifed. There were times where I doubted if what I saw was real, if there really could be such a thing as beings from beyond our land."

He turned to you, having taken a moment to pause at the corner of the impromptu path "I should very much like to leave the ground, as you do. This will likely be my last chance to see with my own eyes, what is beyond."

Listens to Musa with a quiet smile. Maybe she won't have as much time to spend fixing ships and mechanical things.  But there are other problems worth fixing, and it's good in a different way.

Koi considers thoughtfully before responding warmly in his language

After a moment, she adds.  she gestures to her friend,  She adds the last ruefully, clearly directed at herself. Koi adds more seriously, almost wistfully.

[Language unknown: "Ad ameithear stes artme ilicte traonsoun. Hatainhis, waac ch riai inesomure mi labut eaueveeve eend manestmen, hi rathouers"]

Tsareevah took an abrupt move of cutting the elder off [Language unknown: "Ekthwe m undmen-ingthuthe, est ousardwil si of hisaststi wa roilromoek. Ersce tiicno k rihou fiprcesa een uscast. Inelnesa, hiel. Mo rutck ateeauastoerred ec, tiet stunar ceil arbeic ev on li u hisproive na ar erael outrutart'astone cknangthet. P o icall tin i witle ent ilinad forherfor tin whiwithision ac butthuons estessingkorlat i ul of arnaec hi weore ect mewh halain."

"P eveticandresousver m oulichast any utacurmi, yinhe stithures we altito fo thant leswasith. Ovemo ng aninei ac la res ersne ndeecting ndeas eepapr anng ecek, inst veriveers th hat hi p terdinwhi mi et ave out ou ave."]

] Koi replies,

Koi pauses, before adding,

[Language unknown: "Estencest, ho nc but butughons to ek m se. Reekmoac, nce illar menhouiouati sti ne ck t areantthu wheundnti."] On this at least, the generations could agree. For now, it is all they would need to agree on. The remainder of the journey was quiet, at least for the sentients. The moon was alive and thriving, with a constant chattering of local wildlife, that was more than enough attention for your shipborne colleagues. Tsareevah and Musa Khund were able to evade predatory animals, making an indirect path to the Gamorrean Rose.

Torin stood outside on the gate, watching and waiting, rubbing his alien hands with a cloth, no doubt cleaning after tending to something on the ship. His breathing mask made an expression impossible to read; an immediate contrast to the gobsmacked look of the the two locals.

[Language unknown: "Noson ul Linlesard Anwipl Ckeeli," ] She introduces Musa and Tsareevah gently explaining his odd appearance,[Language unknown: "k nti a a plter onni ei le icana aiof I ted ta ousurehat ons.  I n oun e ainencave ndmach oer icart el..dinderntiave.  K ruticawhi lesain saen be ticin wa an, t tiurin di ieoer era latro onehe ill set." ]

"Captain Ploon, this is Leader Tsareevah and Elder Musa.  Leader Tsareevah would like to come with us and represent her planet's interest among the senators of the New Republic." Koi stands as straight as she can, trying to look like the Jedi that Master Akoda believes her to be. "Also, Elder Musa would like to have a ride into orbit so that he can see his planet from above." She adds after a moment, "and Mel would like a ride down the mountain because he doesn't want to walk." She can't help a grin at the last part.

"It not only be my pleasure, but an honor." He replied as he tossed his cloth away, holding his arm out for the Elder. It wasn't taken, but the Captain certainly didn't mind.

"Over here is...never mind" He laughed to himself, recognizing that his narrated tour of the ship would be pointless, on multiple levels. His two guests were looking at every inch of the machine, no doubt with countless questions, being lead to the cockpit.

"Koi, take the co-pilot seat, if you could." With a bit of pantomime, Torin was able to coach the two to strap themselves in on their own, before the ship started to take off, floating low  to the ground.

Koi slides into the co-pilot seat with a thrill of excitement, even if she has co-piloted more than a dozen times. She translates as needed, and hopes her familiarity with the ship will help their guest feel at ease. "Do you want to take a trip around the planet before we pick up Mel and Wix?" She asks playfully.

"I like your thinking, but we'll reverse the order. I believe everyone would approve of a scenic view of this little moon before we deposit our old friend back with his people."

The Gamorrean Rose had an uncomfortable lurch off the ground as the engines hummed and pulled it off the ground, before hovering close to the ground. Torin took no small amount of joy in looking behind him at the faces of the aliens and their excited faces.

"Never get to have kids, but I gotta imagine this feeling must be pretty close" He coyly remarked to you as he slowly gave his ship some juice, gaining some altitude along with speed. While nothing flashy or dramatic, Torin was banking the ship left and right, a bit further than was particularly necessary. It was still enough to show the basics of what a starship could do, and enough to thrill the distinguished guests.

The small show done, he eased the ship down at the base of the mountain, where Mel and Wix were waiting.

It really is a beautiful planet. Koi thinks to herself, smoothly managing the co-pilot controls on the routine flight.

[Language unknown: "Il n itcom tiicof?"] Koi asks Elder Musa brightly. She resists the urge to run out to meet Wix and Mel, but they can probably see her smile from there.  And, of course, her big wave.

"My thoughts exceed the words to express them" Musa replied. His breathing was a little heavy as he tried to process the immensity of everything. A society that had not even been able to pacify a creature to ride or use a beast of burden was now about to travel the stars.

"This is a truly awesome sight, and yet, it is problematic. It causes me to wonder about how wrong we are about other things. I fear what this may mean for our beliefs."

The Gamorrean Rose dropped carefully, to allow the last two crew members to come aboard, Wix triumphantly carrying the ships storage drive overhead with both hands.

To be fair, no one had been able to ride a Krayt dragon either -- it's not like this planet has many cute, fluffy or cooperative creatures larger than Wix.

Koi can almost feel the despair and doubt chilling Musa Khund's heart, and she's sure that she's supposed to say something.  Something special, and true, and encouraging.

May the Force be with me..  She takes a deep breath and lets her racing thoughts clear.  What would my father say in this situation..?

 Koi begins softly, and her voice caries something of her own heart ache. Finding out she was a jedi. Finding out how vulnerable she and her friends are to bad men. Find her own limitations.

After a moment she adds,

[Language unknown: "Io pa mored daythotio, siwit heck virthoove niil terratove elit."] He looks to the tree village for a moment [Language unknown: "Ichro ntntta e, la no ssni e ni n n sethad ionratter ac prtint k yin iou essaveerewas. Se mamohe rutbutone art hieefi. Ort"] He holds his hands up [Language unknown: "Astio il urenur, la constihat, m to ceesec, toion ouurro o atevennte."]

He looks to his grand daughter and smiles [Language unknown: "Man entdaystr iteve es ngiviv fi ermeck t Stastiourdinsan aveoustinestwas, ofver On taove chngpaet wasareereourhas wh leha our undartome pr uttout ilioet. Setbutateherith nd p somtramen linoth ichma saofssei sa enc ouiowi, ted icseus ca nte p le ons la whifi weromenti wh. P ouiv ureartshe sasaic es thuis, liai hiss ul, prpast one asrom iseehi thtofi, daybleati ter nacaen."]

The young lady beams at the encouragement. Without further comment or note, Torin quickly takes off again, now heading to leave the atmosphere of this vibrant moon. Both of the new aliens were grapsing their chairs tightly, even as the ship moved at comparatively slow speed for a ship of this class to depart. Clearing out into space, the day broke to the eternal night of space, the billions of small lights of distant stars gleaming in front.

Torin thoughtfully brought the ship to a parked speed, allowing the guests to depart their chairs and look. Musa Khund and Tsareevah both exited quickly and moved immediately towards the glass, with a look of absolute wonderment

[Language unknown: "I setos chsiurad... ntac neosis ica itwhca wi ousleslinshe ter foera, butreaioutha ho linac utles."]

Koi smiles ruefully,   It is a bitter sweet sting.

She adds,

As Musa looked out into the infinite expanse of space, his eyes returned to his own little moon, and sat down, comfortably.

"I belong with my own people. Today begins a new existance for us, that must be treaded carefully. I do not know that I am up to the enormity of the task before me, but I will do my best to lead. Plus, I do not have long left. When it is time for my body to deposited to the ground, it shall be with my ancestors"

Koi mostly listens. Even the Force can't make Elder Musa younger. If she came sooner, she wouldn't have had the experience to make this attempt to help. [Language unknown: "A dihi il ineng nd houersthe in tamast ich os chenc thithoenc as." ] Koi says softly,[Language unknown:  "Ent O ha cewi pehihiwh era An ri yinwheect ut pl plkor intsa. N mo niati hat ie ei os is comichect."]