Star Wars eats your soul!

The End of E'Val

2009-05-06T15:26:00.002-04:00

Now to fin an evil clone of a walking Force-sensitive piece of a coral that contains DND of all living things in the galaxy, and Drath, and the Sith artifacts and empty Dark Harvester that he took. It's readily apparent that E-Val is not on Coruscant. Surmising that the easiest way off-planet would be for Drath's Force ghost to possess a pilot and take a ship, they ask Erin to look into that.

Dalt and Oola poke at the full Dark Harvester, but gowhere significant with it. Ree goes through Harth's database for information, and discovers no data on his bases, but some on the Harvesters. She forwards that to Dalt, who speculates: if they put the Zabraks back, will they be Force-sensitive? Dark Siders? They were, after all, tortured, betrayed and sucked into an evil device. He thinks they could let a couple out to see what happens, suggesting they might put them in droid bodies...but of course that could have consequences: "Trapped in an unfeeling shell of metal and wire." Ree believes they should leave the Council and Senate to decide.

Figuring he's the closest thing to an evil mastermind they've got (and often better at it than he's given credit for), Kedrihm'Val asks Dalt what he would do with an E-Val. Dalt thinks he would possess E-Val, use the Dark Harvester on Abindosan's coral, take the Zabraks and drop them into the coral and rule over the planet. So...best to put the Zabraks someplace safe. How about a ship's computer? Dalt suggests the Falcon Oola's skeptical. So Dalt returns to his idea of popping out a Zabrak to see what it does.

Ree has a probe sent toward the Chiss Ascendency, as she's growing concerned about their silence. Kedrihm'Val meditates to see if he can't get a bead on his evil clone. Farseeing gives him a vision of a star field, a base (one of Harth's), Drath in a new body, and E-Val. They have a True Sith ship. He describes the star field to Oola, who recognizes it as the sky of the Hapes Consortium. This is a problem: they're isolationist and detest Jedi. They wouldn't willfully hide Drath, but without evidence, it's the word of the Jedi against 64 planets and a matriarchal culture.

The Council meditates together (including Ree) and receive a vision: chaos in the Temple's halls, people fleeing from the Council chambers. Luke and Kyp locked in lightsaber combat, Luke possessed. Ree herself calling on the comm screen. Han walks through Ree and shoots Luke in the back.

Ree wakes and the whole Council is staring at her. "Well," she says.
"We need a protocol for accessing that holocron that doesn't involve me," Luke says. "Don't look at me like that, Ree. We may need that information." But Kyp stares at him too. On the heels of that thought, Ree shares her idea about building a shielded orbital platform for disturbing stuff.

Kedrihm'Val tells the others about the Hapes Consortium. The necessary clearances are arranged, but "Fun to be you," Luke tells them when he hands them the papers.
"Could be worse," Ree says pointedly.
"Sweet," Oola says, taking the papers. "Just what I've always wanted." Zan and Dalt will be staying behind this time. Zan tells Z to behave.

On arrival, the place is extravagant, a planet designed for kings and queens. This blows CorSec out of the water. They're placed in diplomatic quarters, each in their own suite. Kecrihm'Val notices the courtyard fountain is spooky. Onna explains that it's where they drown royal infants that are considered imperfect.

Ree gets stared at. Apparently the group is recognized. Ree and Kedrihm'Val are disconcerted by the very enthusiastic servants--all male slave-class, and handsome. Z is saddened. They'll have a meeting with the ambassador later that day, and until then are free to explore.

Wandering around, Ree sees people watching Primal Justice. She steps on a datapad as she re-enters her suite. It explains that True Sith ships have homing beacons in order to find or be found by nearby allies in the event of accident. They can be activated by a certain signal...which is also on the datapad. "Thanks, to my mysterious spiritual benefactor," Ree says to the air, then takes the pad to Oola.

At their meeting, the ambassador informs them that they may have a week for their manhunt, and will be expected not to cause too much social upheaval. After the meeting, Z asks, "Any chance of going someplace we can get chick servants? Is everybody around here gay?"
"No," replies Lydia. "They're women."

Activating the signal shows that the ship is hidden at a casino on a resort moon. The transmission stops when they reach the planet, but they manage to narrow it to somewhere around one of the dock/repair quadrants.

They inform the local security of their arrival and purpose. Z is feeling more cheerful around the money, booze, and lounging half-naked women (who are mostly the rich ones, which is fine with him). They're given four security officers to accompany them while Oola narrows the signal down to a warehouse with the Queen's symbol on the doors. The agents tell them it's been locked for ages. The royal family often purchases storage units and property that they just stash stuff in and largely ignore. They're feeling uncomfortable about tangling with royal property. Obliging them in their desire to avoid vandalism, the group searches for another entrance, but there's no sign the building has been opened at all.

On the other hand, some careful searching and scanning reveals a tunnel down on the cliffside that's big enough to admit a ship. They get in that way, and emerge into a cargo bay, on a catwalk about 20 feet above the floor. Sure enough, there's the True Sith ship and the Sith artifacts. A Zabrak (clearly Drath in a different body) stands talking to a familiar Zeltron and examining the ship. They've got five thugs with them. E-Val isn't visible, but Kedrihm'Val can feel him nearby, and can guess that E-Val knows he's here too-

-and then Lydia spins toward the Hapes agents, as they fire at and stun Oola and Onna. Ree throws one agent at one of the thugs below (noting as she does that they're not being mind-controlled), and Z, Lydia, and Kedrihm'Val take the others out.

Ree gets yanked off the balcony with the Force, hit by flying debris, and shot at. Kedrihm'Val leaps off and slam-kicks Drath to break his concentration. Recovering quickly, Ree hits the Zeltron so hard she stuns her. Z snipes thugs from the catwalk while Lydia follows the other Force-users down. Ree turns on Drath as he attacks Kedrihm'Val. Drath knocks them both back and then runs for it, leaping backward into the True Sith ship. Two thugs follow him, and the other that's still standing tries to flee.

Kedrihm'Val pauses briefly to heal himself from the pounding Drath just administered while Ree tells Oola to lock the place down. "What can I hit to make sure the ship can't fly so good?" she asks the Twilek.
"Engines are exposed." Ree makes quick work of them.

Then the ship's turrets activate. Oola uses the signal they were given to shut them down.

But while they were distracted, the Zeltron got back up. She works her whammy on Kedrihm'Val. From his vantage point, Z sees it and tries to knock him down before he can do any damage, but Kedrihm'Val dodges, then lays into him. Good thing Z's armor rocks, because Kedrihm'Val pounds the hell out of it. The Zeltron attacks Ree. While they're occupied, Drath's lightsaber comes flying out of the ship and strikes Oola, who ducks back into cover in the entry passage, knowing better than to try to confront him directly. "Run down that pipe!" Drath shouts at her. "Frreaking Twilek...leave my ship alone!"

Z swings his helmet at Kedrihm'Val, trying to get it on him so it can block the Zeltron's pheromones. He misses with that, but knees the other man in the stomach. Onna joins in, trying and failing to stun him. Then Ree lands a blow on the Zeltron, and Kedrihm'Val tumbles away from the other two to protect her, knocking Ree down. Seeing the opening, Drath leaps down on her from on top of the ship. Lydia charges him. Onna throws itching powder at Kedrihm'Val. The Zeltron attacks Lydia.

Ree takes that opening to hit the Zeltron again, so Kedrihm'Val trips her. Drath swings at Ree, Lydia intercepts, Z tries to get the helmet on Kedrihm'Val again, and Kedrihm'Val dodges him again. And that's what happens in a close-on mass melee with everybody taking attacks of opportunity.

Oola, meanwhile, avoids that whole fiasco and pokes around in the ship.

Ree Force-lights Drath, distracting him, while Kedrihm'Val dodges Onna's and Z's flurry of attempts to subdue or get the helmet on him ("Stop it, Z!" he snaps). Frustrated with his inability to touch the Abindosani, Z turns on the Zeltron with his flechette launcher, which results in three Force-users dripping with gore that used to be a Zeltron.

And E-Val attacks Oola.

The ship gets dragged forward. Z shields a distracted Kedrihm'Val, Drath throws it and then hits the dirt, and Ree grabs the ship. Oola screams for help.

Drath hops back up and runs. Kedrihm'Val kyps up and Force-speeds toward Oola, dodging Drath's other lightsaber, which he'd trapped. Ree does a flip over the ship and she and Lydia hunt Drath. Onna stays to keep watch.

E-Val knocks out Oola then aims a flurry of blows at Kedrihm'Val, who blocks them.

Drath flees out of the facility, leaps up toward a wall then bounces off it back at Ree to attack from above.

Kedrihm'Val and E-Val exchange kicks, punches, and parries. Z slides in behind Kedrihm'Val to grab Oola, but E-Val sweeps her up and bolts. Droids come flying back toward Z and Kedrihm'Val, who Force-shoves them to the side. Drath's cast-off lighsaber starts beeping, and the two of them run for their lives, dodging debris as the tunnel mouth explodes.

Ree has Drath down, tied up, and drugged when she, Lydia, and Onna hear the tunnel explode. The three women consider their next move. Ree worries whether the rest of the Hapan security agents are corrupted, and orders SARR to disable any ship leaving the planet that his sensors register coral on.

Chasing E-Val, the men come out of the tunnel facing a line of security agents. E-Val flips over their heads. Kedrihm'Val just charges through. Z flame-throwers the ones Kedrihm'Val didn't knock down. As they approach the edge of the spaceport, E-Val tosses Oola to two security guards and turns to face off against his double. The guardes run into a nearby hangar.

Kedrihm'Val Force-lights E-Val, who blocks it with a ball of black energy. Kedrihm'Val falters in surprise. "That's new."

Z fires at the security town taking aim at him and Kedrihm'Val. They hear screaming and lightsabers in the hangar, and a lot of blaster fire. "I consider that checkmate," Kedrihm'Val comments, knowing it must be SARR and INON. E-Val nods in acknowledgement. Kedrihm'Val attacks again, but E-Val spins and fires a grappling gun at a departing transport. Kedrihm'Val grabs him. Z flies up, dislodges the grapple, and drops them into a nearby lake.

Surfacing, E-Val tries to force Kedrihm'Val under. Kedrihm'Val pulls out the Force crystal, which his clone knocks out of his hand. He has to go diving for it, so E-Val uses the chance to get to shore and run. Z's been circling and watching, though. He slows E-Val down with a grapple-gun to the kidneys while Kedrihm'Val catches the crystal and catches up.

E-Val tears out the hook and keeps moving, getting behind another company of security guards in order to buy time to heal. Z fights the guards. E-Val mutters something to a guard with a jetpack, who nods and takes off.

Oola wakes, grabs SARR and INON to go after E-Val with the ship.

Kecrihm'Val leaps over the guards, letting Z deal with them. Another exchange of attacks, then E-Val Force-lightnings him.

And then he surrenders. Kedrihm'Val only hesitates briefly before using the Force crystal on him, killing him. And thereby he earns himself a Dark Side point and has to fight not to let the Force crystal be corrupted, because that was pretty cold.

At that's the point at which Ree and the others catch up.

There's no sign of the stolen coral. Chances are E-Val gave it to that security guard. All they've got are ship logs, which say that Drath stopped on Ilum.

And then an uncorrupted Hapan security officer finally shows up, quite apologetic.

With nothing left to do there, they head back to Coruscant with their prisoners. Kedrihm'Val spends the trip feeling kind of lousy, but frankly he doesn't really regret it.

Oola spots a mark on her arm, from a DNA extractor. Figuring E-Val was responsible, she puts an ID chip in herself just in case and then warns her family. Dalt, on the comm, points out that an expert could separate out her parents' DNA and clone them using her blood. They've got a second True Sith ship for Dalt to poke, and the Consortium has two thugs they might be able to get to talk. They check the man Drath is possessing, to make sure he's actually still alive. Nobody's got any bead on the missing coral.

Drath wakes up en route, and bothers Ree about saving the galaxy from the True Sith. Kedrihm'Val reminds them that he's a spirit possessing a man, so he'll be dangerous around people who can be possessed. Drath asks about E-Val and Oola's DNA. "But you don't know where they're going with it?" he asks. "Just remember I told you so when you're holding a decapitated Kyp Durron."

The demise of Lady Sent

2008-09-27T16:12:00.002-04:00

After all the recent excitement, Zan recommends rest for the group. Ree blissfully prepares for a decent night of sleep...

...which of course she doesn't get. She's awakened by a sense of malevolence, and sits up to find Drath's spirit standing at the foot of her bed. He's rock-solid sure they've doomed the universe by killing him, and wants to know how they're going to stop the True Sith from getting Luke. "Kill him, or wrap him in happy thoughts. Since you did away with me and put Darth Maul in a rock, you have to deal with this by yourself."
"Oh! Really?" Ree snarks. "That hadn't occurred to me! Anything else you want before I Force-light you into oblivion?"
Drath leaves.

Kyp knocks. "Something evil your room?" Ree tells him. They wonder about True Sith and telepathy and Force magnifiers. Kyp considers using the Yavin temple Force amplifiers to put up shields.

Drath turns up in Kedrihm'Val's room, who reacts pretty much the same as Ree, then leaves and bothers Dalt, who's working in the lab with Oola. She digs out a Force crystal. Dalt throws a wrench, which goes through Drath--"Huh"--then pulls out a gun. "Ooh!" Drath exclaims, eying Dalt's alarming-looking bit of technology, and flees the scene. It's a Force-light gun, Dalt explains to Oola. They decide to attach one to INON, then Dalt has a brainstorm: why build Force-exploding guns when you can build Force-light guns? "Drath had a good idea, showing up so I almost killed him. I wonder how big we can build it..." He installs one of those Force crystals into a lightsaber.

Kedrihm'Val goes to Ree, and Z stops by because Drath busted in on him too. Kedrihm'Val checks on Zan (yep; Drath ran pretty fast from that one) and Ree checks on Lydia (also yep).

Kedrihm'Val heads down to the hangar bay to check on Oola and Dalt, and arrives in time to hear Oola ask SARR about Drath. He notices Dalt vaporizing a dead True Sith with a Force light gun. He wants more Force crystals. Kedrihm'Val takes one, curious about them. The rest of the crew arrives. Zan likes the idea of going back to Reeshome. He thinks they all deserve pie after this.

Dalt ponders ways of devastating the True Sith fleet. Route the ships' connection through the Force crystals? Or empty the Dark Harvester and channel Rakata Prime's explosion through it?

Before they can go to Reeshome, they have meetings with the Council and the Senate tomorrow, so it's back to bed for everybody.

At the Council meeting, the Jedi agree to use the Yavin temples. They debate the Force gun heavily, preferring Dalt's solution of the lightsabers. Ree suggests they make a couple of prototypes. They could also have healing properties, and they didn't kill people on Thule. Dalt thinks the True Sith ships could be yet another slave race. He's not sure whether they're sentient, but they seem not to be particularly corrupt--unlike the True Sith themselves.

The Jedi inform the Senate of developments. The Senate wants a cataloguing of all outstanding threats.

Kyp's brother, like the other clones, proves to be a Primal Justice geek. He also looks forward to pie, which Ree agrees to bring back for him. So it's off to Reeshome. Her family meets them and fusses elaborately. Ree tells her mother her pies are coveted. Oola and Onna discuss Ree and Kyp and romance notives. Ree sputters with motification. There is pie and food and family relaxation all around. Ree's hopes for her people petitioning for a renaming of their planet are crushed. "They should have a chance to be asked!" she protests.
"You're assuming they weren't," Kedrihm'Val points out.
"Well, they...couldn't...were you?" she turned to her father.
"We were more than happy with it," her dad cheerfully confirms.

Her aunt is doing well. Her dad says, "We expected evil clouds and flight, but..."
"You expected evil clouds and flight," her mother scoffs. "Your father expected it," she says to Ree.
"I'm sure your uncle expected evil clouds and flight," her father counters.
"Maybe it's a guy thing," Ree wonders, then quizzes the rest of the group. Z votes yes. Oola and Onna both say no. Dalt also says no. So maybe it is a guy thing.

After spending a lovely day with her family, it's off to the cave to visit the space ferrets. They're doing fine. Entering the cave, Ree has a vision of the True Sith ships pouring out at Kushiba, which is a planet home to small, fluffy, highly intelligent and agile race, rather like fluffy rabbit-cats. Very cute and highly badass.

Kushiba isn't too far from Rakata Prime. So there'll be a secondary body of True Sith away from the main fleet. But it's a vision of the future. So for now, they'll go on with gathering crystals and water.

Z wonders about battle plans and the Chiss. Ree calls Kyp when they get back and fills him in on Kushiba. He's astounded--her trip was all quiet and pleasant. He says he's going to double guards on the temple because that has to be a bad sign.

Now having what they came for, the Starwind heads for Kushiba. Ree has to master self-discipline to keep from spazzing out over the cuteness. She explains the vision, which the Kushibans ponder with adorable solemnity, and then a wise old rabbit-cat tells them of a legend about a crashed ship from about 500 years ago. He tells them where to find it.

This one looks like a supply ship. The cockpit is empty, and there are no lifeforms or droids. Records indicate the ship was fleeing a space battle, carrying offerings for the Chosen One. The ships in its group were coming in to establish a base for the invasion, and were ambused by "the enemy." This was the only one that survived, too damaged to go further. There are indications that the pilot survived. There was a secondary mission to follow up on an earlier mission to hunt down "the renegade" from 500 years earlier.

The hold contains gold, jewels, a couple of wall-sized stones painted with murals--one is a fight between Luke and Leia, a couple more are pictures of Luke in all his dark glory. There are smaller statues of Luke and Leia standing back to back, displaying black eyes like the evil rulers. Ree finds a gizmo she thinks must be important. Oola identifies it as a scale groomer.

There's a big sealed container and a smaller yay-big container which radiatesevil. The big box contains a suit of Sith armor and a lightsaber, customized for Luke; there's another for Leia. They hold cavities in the chest, into which fit two crystals from the smaller box which ooze Dark Side energy. They're not sentient, exactly, but...grabby. These definitely need to be destroyed, but they're not sure how to do it off-hand.

A call to the temple doesn't get through. Crap. Maybe Kyp was right. They call Zel. It takes a bit to get through, and then they get the news. E-Val escaped along with a possessed padawan. Well...crap.

There's nothing they can do about that from all the way out here, though. While they consider dipping these things in Force water on an asteroid, the doors swing shut. Ree goes to check it out, and finds a True Sith warrior outside, who begins to use the Force to crush the ship. Ree and Zan hold it off. Lydia fires the turbo lasers and blows it up.

They open the door and Ree peeks out to spot a servitor lurking above the door. She cuts it in half. Oola says that's all there were on this ship.

Kyp calls back. They managed to catch and fix the padawan. He wants them to shoot those crystals into a nearby sun. "That seems to work for you a lot," Ree comments, then claps her hand over her mouth.
Kyp doesn't seem too hurt. "Ree! You've been hanging out with Z too much."
He tells them they weren't able to catch E-Val. Didn't even know he was gone till it was too late.

Z wants to look through the treasure. "He wants to find something for his mom," Oola quips. Dalt gets that look on his face. "Don't do it, Dalt," Oola warns him.

They shoot the crystals and armor into a nearby sun, then pick up an automated distress signal from a Naboo ship.

It's docked at a diplomatic center. The ship is empty, and it's Lady Sent's. Logs record that she captured and being returned, then it looks like a fight broke out. All the video equipment has been destroyed. The workers in the hangar bay where it's docked are acting normal, though.

Ree asks one what he saw. He says he saw nothing. She senses he's lying, but he stands by his statement. She gives up, and decides to contact Naboo security instead. Kedrihm'Val thinks maybe Lady Sent lied. Ooal thinks hostages. There's no mention in the log about children.

They scan for Lady Sent and find her in the Queen's residence. Hostages, then. They'll either have to storm the place...or sneak. SARR is disappointed. But Z thinks this is all off. He thinks it's a trap, aimed at them.

So if they're expected, they can't pretend they're not here. Instead Ree and Zan going in fighting to make a scene while the others sneak in. SARR aggravatedly offers to shoot at things without hurting anyone. Oola promises him mayhem when the True Sith arrive.

The Jedi scene very effectively, allowing the sneaking to go without a hitch. When they reach the Queen's residence, Ree notes that history repeats itself: Lady Sent is sitting on the throne with her 14-year-old daughter standing next to her with the tied-up Queen. There's a sealed cloning tube nearby, and no sign of the baby. "Unless it's in the tube," Oola theorizes grimly. Kedrihm'Val glances at Dalt, who agrees it's likely.

Lady Sent releases four globes on repulsor lifts-universal energy cages, which can suck someone in and hold even a Jedi.

If they can get the Queen away, the station's security forces will protect her. And they have to keep Lady Sent away from that tube...

...Aaaand the tube opens. Oola sends droids after the cages to disable the repulsor lifts. Z jets forward to grab the Queen and heads for a window. Kedrihm'Val jumps down to distract the enemy. Lydia charges the clone coming out of the tube--Palpatine. Onna fires at Lady sent.

Dalt leaps forward and hits a cage with his lighsaber, saber in one hand, glowing laser gun in the other. The Sent ladies ignite their lightsabers. Onna herds out the guards. Kedrihm'Val kicks Lady Sent in the head, knocking her lightsaber out of her grasp, and lands two crushing blows. Dalt deals a lethal blow to the daughter, and both women go down.

And then the Emperor Force-lightnings them all.

Zan and Ree arrive, and Zan promptly gets sucked into a cage. Oola goes to work on getting him out, but that leaves Ree to face the clone. She charges him--doesn't knock him down but interrupts his Force lightning, allowing the others to regain their feet.

Ree cuts off his left foot. Z flies back in. Oola gets Zan out and Kedrihm'Val hurls the scraps of the energy cage at the Emperor, knocking him over. Ree takes the opening to attack again.

Oola fills a droid with Force water.

Lydia sidles in to back Ree up, but the assistance isn't necessary as Ree cleaves the Emperor's clone into two tidy pieces. Oola injects his remains with the Force water, making it dissolve, then cleans out the cloning tank. Kedrihm'Val reminds her about the Palpatine women.

"This is a movie," Dalt says.

They ask the security guards about the baby, but they only ever saw genetic material. Ree doesn't want to leave a baby behind. The security helps them look. Dalt observes that babies are yay-big, to which Ree chides him, "You couldn't have been more specific!"
"It's not vision-Dalt's fault if the universe likes to laugh at us," Kedrihm'Val teases.
"It's not my fault if your brain taps into the Force in the most inconvenient way possible," Dalt counters.

There's no sign of the baby, though. The ship's logs were dumped before reaching Naboo. Lady Sent went out of her way to hide the child (bad scenario: she could've given it to the Hutts. Worse scenario: or to Thrawn). Defeated, Ree lets the temple know.

Now that the Jedi have had time to straighten out what happened, Ree gets a more complete report: Drath possessed a padawan (who is okay) in order to steal the coral and release E-Val. No guesses where he's goin. They turn all the offering stuff (minus evil Sith artifacts) over to Luke, who wants the Librarian to look things over first. "There's no love poetry, is there?" he worries.

A lead-recovering a True Sith ship

2008-09-24T21:07:00.002-04:00

Ree's awakened in the night by the Felzion holocron activating. It's some species taht looks like a human with face markings and glowing eyes. "Do you really want a Jedi-killing weapon in everybody's hands?" it asks her. She figures that's something for the Council to decide. It gives her the information on how to build it; the weapon ignites the Force in a person, bursting their spirit from their body. Oola helps her put the schematics down on paper, and thinks she and Dalt could probably build one.

Dalt thinks there might indeed be a message embedded in the Abindosani genetic code--a map. There's lots more, he says, but he's scanning specifically for True Sith information. He tells Kedrihm'Val that it looks as though Abindosan records as well as stores, in some kind of reboot pattern for the galaxy. Every sin and virtue of people on random planets could be in there.

Back on Coruscant, Ree tells the Council about the gun. They turn over reports and messages about the Felzin to the Republic, who will summon Stormmaker and Soundmaker to testify before the Senate.

Ree looks into the race of that alien in the Felzin holocron. No records match its type. The Jedi Librarian wonders about the Ancients. Perhaps they were a group of disparate races? Ree turns to leave...and pauses. Turning back to the Librarian, she motions the 'yay big' movement. Tionn's eyes widen. "Did he touch it?" she asks Ree.

Ree thinks back. Yes, she handed it to Luke to look over and then he passed it back. They decide to leave it on the library ship. But Luke told her to keep it...she has INON hang on to it instead. Ree warns Kyp.

About a month and a half left before the True Sith arrive.

The Abindosani DNA slice Dalt's looking at seems to be a map to a location on Abindosan. it's an empty area, Kedrihm'Val tells them: a region of canyons and ancient carved-up plateaus. They head there.

And sure enough, they find a cave, hollowed out by hand ages ago. There are warding sigils carved into the ground before the entrance. Inside is a large cavern, containing a broken old ship. It's not Rakata make, but it's about as old. The ship, a small 3 to 4 person craft, opens for them. There's an aura of decay inside; three dead True Sith warriors sit hunched over, looking like they died in the crash, along with the corpses of two servitor monsters. The computer looks like it could be repaired. Everything's well-preserved. There are some board games in a container set in the wall.

Dalt sprays cologne in the air. Z complains, "You're making it smell like a two-credit Coruscanti whore in here."
"Aww, do you miss your mother?" Dalt asks.
Kedrihm'Val sighs and grabs Z.

Oola snags a map off the computer, along with some historical files. It's a True Sith scout ship, dated post-galactic conquest. This crash is about 3 to 4000 years old, after the True Sith first encountered Revan. He'd apparently united some other races against them, and built enough of a force that the True Sith had trouble with them. This computer remained active until 1500 years ago. The ships seems to be somewhat linked in a hive mind, for effectiveness in combat. Interesting fact: as of 1500 years ago, they were still talking about Revan in the present tense.

That combat link could be a weakness. If they can figure out how to exploit it, it could dent and disorganize the True Sith, keep them from regrouping after the planet-bomb, "till we can figure out where their leader is and implement Han's plan," Z says.

They try to ponder ways Revan--or "Revan"--could still have been functioning 1500 years ago. Anyway, they think they might be able to modify the Force-igniting blasters to work specifically on the True Sith. They take the ship back with them for study.

The ship, in fact, is in excellent condition, having healed itself since the crash. The True Sith seem capable of partially interfacing with their organic ships...and if the ships are oganic--alive, even--they could be poisoned.

They report back to Kyp. No word yet on Lady Sent. He says, "We'll find Lady Palpatine. She didn't even ahve to change her name."
Ree: "Was that necessary?"
Kyp: "No. I'll take you to the opera to make up for it."

Then they get a few days of downtime, till Lydia gets back with her newly-constructed lightsaber. "Kyp says you brought back something yay-big," she greets Ree. "I'm not around, the place goes to hell."

Steampunk Star Wars

2008-09-24T20:45:00.001-04:00

Lydia leaves to build her lightsaber, as she prepares for her knighthood. The others get debriefed. Dalt has much to say.
Regarding Luke, he warns them: "It was on a wall! A really well-drawn wall."
On the evil rock: "Let me explain something to you from a scientific standpoint: some things you don't know till you crack it open." Ree wants the rock destroyed. She tells Dalt to work with Kedrihm'Val on communicating with the coral. Oola will poke Drath's computer core for more information. The others will spend some time learning more about the True Sith from their various resources.

Ree and Zan report to the Jedi Council.

Oola digs up Drath's plans for dealing with the True Sith. Still no explanation on why he wanted the concentrated life force of all his people, but apparently it's important somehow.

The Jedi debate spiritedly over the Sent situation. Ree's concerned about his family's safety if they release the information. Kyp wonders if his family isn't evil too. The Council puts an investigator on the case. Then they turn their attention to one really angry Maul-rock.

The Republic begins to prepare for war.

Dalt wants a thorough genetic scan of every Abindosani. He thinks that the information from the reefs may be coded into them in bits and pieces.

Ree scours temple archives for anything on the True Sith. She discovers a planet on the Perlemian trade route has ancient myths about an evil space-reptile people who exhibited Dark Side powers. It sort of sounds like the True Sith warrior caste. The myths come from a prehuman civilization that still dwells on the planet. They're a stubborn race that prefers to be left alone.

Dalt tells Ree about the gene-scans he wants to execute. Kedrihm'Val is concerned about getting his people to cooperate with yet another technological intrusion.
"Tell them evil from the stars is coming to eat their crops," Dalt suggests.
"Well, they know that," Kedrihm'Val replies.
"Tell them it's not me for a change," Dalt offers. "Tell them it's threatening."
Kedrihm'Val applies himself to convincing his people this is necessary.

Ree sets Zel to dig up information on Senator Sent's family. Turns out he already has: they're vacationing on Corellia. The children are a 14-year-old and a newborn. Looking into it further, he gets back to her a few days later with "vague and disturbing indications." Sent's wife comes from extraordinarily blue blood, but the truth is that she's adopted. And the Sents have...extremely redundant genetic material.
"Oh my god, twice?!" Ree exclaims. As in, the Emperor had sex twice? Zel refutes this. He believes they might be twins. "Separated and then...united," as he puts it disgustedly. Ree is revolted. "Oh! I thought I was prepared for this. I need to go dunk my head in bacta."

Oola installs a cloaking device on the Starwind. Ree tells the Council she has a report to give. "Oh, we'll be looking forward to it," is the polite reply.
"No, you won't," she tells them grimly.

The next day, the Jedi send Medical Corp personnel to Abindosan. Dalt works on information as it gets back to him. Oola, unable to find anything, figures that Drath didn't trust his information to his computer. Ree goes to breakfast with everybody. Z says he'll hunt down Sent's family and make sure they're kept track of, but "What'll you arrest them for? Conspiracy to commit incest with the Emperor's genes? Unless you can find something, this'll have to be handled with primal justice."

"Nice setup," Zann comments.

Z learns they've fled Corellia for the Outer Rim, but he gets onto tracking them.

When she tells them, the Council is equally revolted, and decides to release the tapes. And they decide to send the Starwind to that planet to hunt the True Sith myths.

The Republic Cultural Office sends packages to them all with cultural guidelines and local costumes. These include corsets and long skirts for the ladies, and modified armor for Z, who's quite excited. Dalt, for his part, loves the "accoutrements." Kedrihm'Val wonders how the top hats are supposed to stay on.

A Jedi from that planet is working on Yavin; they set up a briefing with him. The natives look rather like vary large stick bugs, and are treated as servants or slaves by the human classes. The planet is named Avanris.

So it's to Avanris to interview the Felzin people. They meet a Republic ambassador, Alik Tell, upon arrival. He tells them talking to the Felzin will be difficult, and suggests starting at the museum. Going straight to the Felzin ghetto would offend the local humans, who are big on propriety. Besides, the Felzin are unlikely to trust them immediately. The humans here call themselves Avarians, and the scholars are eager to show off their knowledge.

Alik calls them a cab to go to the museum--it looks like a carriage on repulsor lifts. Some are towed by elaborate mechanical animals. The city's bustling.

They're introduced to the museum's curator, Sir Neville Ironbrand, who goes straight to Dalt as the most refined-looking gentleman there. Zan introduces them around. Demonstrating magnificent racism, Ironbrand is confused as to why they'd care about local legends. He invites them to his sitting room to talk futher.

The guy seems to be obsessed with time. He has clocks and alarms everywhere. Ree compliments him on his collection, to which he graciously replies, "Time is very important to us."

Tthe Felzin, they see, have 12 legs, four arms, and triangular heads with turban-like hats, which apparently are some form of religious garb. Their legends are of creatures they call "star dragons." Ironbrand shows them a picture, which is a good match for the True Sith warriors. These Star Dragons enslaved the Felzin for a few centuries until they were somehow driven off. "Your standard hero myth," he sums up. "Could it really have a basis in fact? Chalk that up to the first useful thing to come from this part of the planet."

When an assistant comes in, Ironbrand begs off briefly. Oola overhears a discussion of a break-in of one of the exhibits. He accepts Ree's offer of help.

When he leads them to the site, the police are already there--complete with bobby hats. Seargent Oscar Copperpot is in charge of the scene. A thin, squirrly-looking guy is pacing agitatedly. He's introduced as Sir Roderick Burd, an archaeologist. His companion, Sir Nigel Stormmaker, is en route.

Looking around, Ree sees something odd in the 100-foot high vaulted ceiling. She points it out to the policemen, who blow her off and admire the architecture. She tries again, directing their attention to the vent.

The others, meanwhile, get to hear mutterings about a curse. Dr. Burd seems to buy into it. "They were holy artifacts," he keeps insisting. Sir Neville, on the other hand, dismisses it entirely. The thefts included a book on Felzin burial rites, collected tablets of their mythology, and some "ancient tools." The chamber's recording devices were knocked out, which leads the police to dismiss Felzin involvement. "Too smart for them," they scoff. Neville agrees: "When we had them install the security system, they had no idea what they were doing. They had to be constantlly instructed." Z's head turns slowly toward him as he continues, "Must be the criminal element, or magic."

Wow. That's a special sort of ignorant.

The exhibit glass was clearly cut from above using razor-sharp tools. Noting the Felzin servants scuttling around in the background, Z realizes their lowest set of arms consist of pincers that would be sharp enough to do it. They also have wings.

Sir Stormmaker barges in. The man looks like a hardcore adventurer, with a broad, strong frame and tough, durable, leather-accented clothing. Seargent Copperpot intercepts him. "Well, Sir Nigel, we believe it's the curse."
Sir Nigel looks at him. "Really. Do you."

Firguring they've done about all they can here for the moment, the crew proceeds to the rooms the ambassador arranged for them. The Felzin are everywhere, towing rickshaws, driving, carrying, fetching, doing random labor. Kedrihm'Val is horrified. Ree, for her part, is shocked by the blindness they've encountered over the Felzin. Onna wants to research the curse. She notes that the ancient tools seem to be technological in nature. One is essentially a holocron, but built from technology developed independently by the Felzin. So much for unsophisticated.

Their rooms are absolutely opulent. Ree tries not to choke on it, gently thanking the Felzin who drops off their bags.

They hear on the news that the lead suspect in the robbery is one Lord Demetrius Nighthand. Wearing smoked glasses and a jet pack, bearing a cane accented by various gizmos, he's apparently the local villain du jour. There's also a report that "undesirable elements" are protesting against bad treatment of the Felzin outside the city's main post office.

Ree wants to talk to Stormmaker, who's the only person who's displayed consistent common sense so far. "He might be outside the post office," Kedrihm'Val observes.

The news continues to talk about gatherings of Felzin around their religious centers. there's a controversy over whether they should be allowed to gather so. Lady Delilah Soundmaker is apparently the undesirable element in question; she's demonstrating in support of Felzin rights and culture. "Social malcontent," the news anchors label her. From the news clips of her, she's...definitely enthusiastic. Especially about upbraiding bigots.

The crew decides to split up. Half will go meet Sir Nigel, while the other half look up this Lady Delilah.

Z, Ree, and Onna pay their respects at Nigel's manor. It's full of hunting trophies. Ree explains to him that they're interested in the myths. He asks what the Republic usually does with planets. Ree says usually they leave them to govern themselves, unless there's some gross violation of Republic law....such as slavery. Eyes gleaming, Sir Nigel suggests that they film an interview while traveling around town and just...catch whatever happens to be in the background.

Sir Nigel's apparently been around. He knows about the Rakata and so forth. He tells them that the Felzin formed a Force tradition after their conquest by the True Sith, until the True Sith were driven away by the sacred tools. The Felzin, like the Ithorians, believe that their forest is sacred. There's more information on the stolen tablets, but they were never fully translated.

He also tells them that local pyschic Emily Phyriss is likely to be called in to aid the investigation. From a noble family, she's prone to dramatics such as fainting. He expects her to lie about Felzin involvement, as it would upset people to contemplate the idea. He's agreeable about passing them further information if he thinks of anything useful.

The others discover that Lady Delilah Soundmaker is aptly named. This woman is loud. Kedrihm'Val introduces their group. Delilah agrees to introduce them to Fa'se'ket, a Felzin who might be willing to talk to them.

And indeed it is. Fa'se'ket tells them the Dragons were driven off when the Makers gave or helped the Felzin construct the sacred tools. Three Star Dragons landed (the story makes it sound like a True Sith ship crashed). Oola shows him a picture of a True Sith, which terrifies the poor Felzin. Flustered, it suggests they speak to other Felzin. There are prophecies... It looks at them more closely. "How did you get here?"

Kedrihm'Val exxplains that they were sent by the Jedi. Fa'se'ket says no well-meaning Felzin would profane the sacred tools by stealing them. If a Felzin took them, it's a rogue or for nefarious purposes. He sets up a meeting with a Felzin shaman.

Their impression, overall, is that the Felzin are sophisticated and well-spoken. They understand Galactic Standard much better than the Avarians are giving them credit for, as well. The groups rejoin in time to catch the advent of Lady Phryiss on the news. Sweeping into the museum with a white dress and elaborately done-up hair, she speaks about how the "spirits speak with her." The commentator speaks quietly into the camera, as if not to disrupt her concentration.

So does her psychic trance thing, waving her hands over the disturbed area and wobbling about. She comes out of it and is just about to proclaim something when a speeder sweeps in with Lord Demetrius in the seat. Amidst a commotion, he grabs her and zips away.

Kedrihm'Val: "This is even weirder than the rest of you."
Dalt agrees. "This is strange even for me."

The newsman's summation is, "The flower of womanhood has been taken in a speeder!" Prompting Ree to yelp, "What?"
"What does that mean?" Kedrihm'Val asks, completely at a loss.

The crew heads to the police to learn what they can about Lord Demetrius. In fact, the police have his address. He operates out of a public house. Z wants to pay him a visit.

Lord Demetrius is sitting at a table near the back when they enter. "I'll handle this!" Z declares.
Ree holds him back. "You are not going to ask him, 'Are you a Cloudstrider' and then crack him one."
"Then I'm out," Z says. "I have needs, Ree!"
"Then buy some liquor," Kedrihm'Val suggests, hoping to keep Z from creating a devastating scene.
Ree heads back and asks politely for Lady Phyriss. Demetrius tells her he's selling the information, so she does the Jedi trick. "She's in the back."

Indeed she is. She's lounging in the back room, wanting money for the information. Apparently she really is psychic, but Ree chews her out for being so mercenary about her powers. Phyriss concedes, telling them she saw two people--one human and one Felzin. He "obviously was a criminal," so she suggests they ask Mr. Nighthand about him. Then she lies back and mutters about being "cursed by these powers." Ree offers, but she doesn't want to be rescued until there are cameras to record it. It's all apparently a financial arrangement. How quaint.

Heading out again, Ree asks Demetrius about this human thief. After threatening him with Z--"I will request Z not kick over your table and kill all your men" to which Z replies, "Alllll right, I won't"--he gives her the name: Theo Halfspeaker. He's an independent criminal with a group of men under him. Demetrius sends them to the appropriate location with an urchin guide who calls himself Pip Pathfinder. He rather reminds Kedrihm'Val of Lydia. Demetrius demurs from further interaction. "I have to practice my evil laugh and my escape route. It's what the public demands of us all."

The urchin shows them to the warehouse. Kedrihm'Val jumps up the wall to peer into a high window, and sees a Felzin wearing a vest and bowler hat, surrounded by about 15 or 20 people who're loading boxes. Two guards cover a back door.

Stun grenades take care of quite a few of them, leaving 11 people standing. Kedrihm'Val stuns two. The Felzin activates two lightsabers.
"Where'd you get those?" Ree asks in surprise.
"You c'n buy a lot of stuff," it tells her.
"Buy them?" she repeats. "Fine!" She turns hers on and attacks the blades. The Felzin Force-lightnings her.

Z taps the Felzin on the shoulder. "'Scuse me. Your name Cloudstrider?" Then kicks it in the chest. Onna wraps a couple of goons in a net launcher, and the Felzin opens its wings and takes off. Z tears one off and starts beating the Felzin with it. It grabs Ree's llightsaber. Zan telekinetically snatches it away and hits the Felzin with it. Ree heals the wounded wing.

Onna wraps a net around the Felzin, and they tie up the captures goons. When the Felzin wakes, they try to explain why they're after the stolen items, but he says he doesn't believe them. Stymied, they tie a Force crystal to him and stash him on the ship. Ree warns him, "It's in your best interests not to try to escape. Trust me."

The goons know some of Theo's other haunts, and are surprised to learn he's not here after a job. This is different.

Kedrihm'Val receives a message that there's been trouble arranging a meeting with the Felzin shaman, because nobody can get hold of the Felzin shamans. They head to the religious center to see what they can see.
"Is everything okay?" Ree asks of a Felzin standing outside.
"Yeah!" says the Felzin, obviously not meaning it.
"Can we go in?" Ree asks politely.
"Suit yourself," the Felzin tells her, sounding unenthused about the idea.
"Shall we take a back way?" Kedrihm'Val asks, getting the subtext.
"The back way is very scenic," it says in relief.

Inside, they discover Theo, oozing with Dark Side corruption, holding the items. One's in his hands; the rest are stored in his backpack. When they yank the items away with telekinesis, Theo activates a lightsaber. Ree activates hers. "Are you really sure you want to fight us?"

He strikes a menacing pose...then Force-speeds out the door and onto an air ski. Ree zips off in pursuit with Z close behind hollering "PRIMAL JEEEEUSTICE!"

Angry Felzin who'd been essentially held hostage by the threat to their sacred tools help the rest of the crew round up goons at the temple while Ree and Z catch up to Theo. She leaps onto his sled.
"What are Jedi doing here?!" he demands.
"I don't really need to explain that to you," she tells him. "You don't want to surrender? My track record with Dark Siders is pretty good."
"We'll see about that," he blusters, then leaps off onto a carriage. Z ki.cks him.

Ree and Theo try to yank at each other's lightsabers, and the rebound hurls Theo from the carriage. She catches him; he reactivates his lightsaber. Z stuns him from behind. She destroys his saber and thanks the Felzin cab driver, who turns around and takes them back.
"The Dark Side doesn't do well for skin," Ree observes to Theo.

And thus they discover that the sacred tools are literally tools--fusion cutters and other utility devices for building machines. The holocron holds a Felzin who teaches the use of the tools. Apparently the True Sith who crashed just weren't prepared for organized resistance. One of the weapons the holocron teaches how to build is a highly advanced blaster rifle. The holo-Felzin says that a different personality holds the information on that, and says it'll try to convince that one to speak to them.

Kedrihm'Val asks it about prophecies. There are rough pictograms on the tablet--a man with a black hand sends people to this planet. "It's Master Skywalker!" Ree exclaims. The Felzin around them look at her. "Ah, you have the prophecy of the Chosen One," Kedrihm'Val observes sardonically. Indeed they do, and they're supposed to give them the holocron. The Felzin say they'll deal with the Felzin Dark Sider, and the Jedi will deal with Theo.

The tablets mention a weapon they used that the Felzin currently don't have--those blaster rifles the holo-Felzin mentioned. Also they demonstrate that the True Sith are vicious freaking bastards. The Felzin allow them to make copies of the tablets. Ree hangs onto the holocron. They lock up Theo on the ship.

Drath: the final(?) showdown

2008-09-23T23:35:00.001-04:00

Z suggests that Ree talk to Endek about her father's family, and also just to make sure he's okay. He was at the Alderaanian memorial, after all, and no one has heard from him since. Ree says, "God help Drath if he's already caught him."

The plan is for some of the crew to sneak into Drath's base to check for hostages, while Onna, SARR, and INON fly the ship.

Oola gets into the computer and finds two cells with ysalamiri. There's no video feed. The base contains fifty people. She can route around most of them on the way down to the prison bloc, except for five guards on the cells in question. While Oola disables the alarms on the cells, the others lob stun grenades into the hallway, tie up the guards, and lock them inside. The two cells hold the Solo twins, who decide they're coming along to help.

Drath is in the throne room surrounded by twenty of his people, along with Maul, the other Zeltron, Ventress, and two other Dark Siders. Oola scopes out the situation. Drath seems to have prepped the place specifically to keep the crew from messing with things. Their only options are direct assault or major distraction. But Oola spots something about one of the guards--it's actually Sareth Fenn (who makes a DUST hand signal at the camera)!

With a bit of thought, they decide to go straight in. Oola will do what she can to work the system. Zan takes on Maul; Ree calls Drath. Z wants to fight Ventress. They plan to hit the Zeltron with teh love potion, and the Solo twins will gang up on one Dark Sider, while Kedrihm'Val covers the other. "Ahem!" Dalt cuts in, realizing he hasn't been factored into the plan. "I shall help the children!"

Turns out, Sareth brought Jude and Evan along for the ride! The three of them clear out the left half of the room real fast. Jude takes one of the Dark Siders. The Jedi deflect blaster bolts while Z clears out a sweep with his flechette launcher. "Come get some sweet, pale-face!" he yells at Ventress. She charges him. Kedrihm'Val bounces across the room off the backs and heads of soldiers, knocking them out. Ventress Force-lobs one of their unconscious forms at Z, who crows, "Oh baby, I don't need no gifts!"

Kedrihm'Val takes out two more guards, then a Dark Sider leaps at him. Evan and Fenn wipe out another section of the room. Z and Ventress leap at each other, colliding in mid-air. Lydia faces off against the Zeltron. Dalt and jaina run behind Fenn toward Jude's opponent.

Oola starts shutting down the security. SARR is shreeding the base from outside, making the whole place shake. His laughter rings out across the comm system. Oola spots an incoming fleet--Drath called for backup--and points them out to SARR while she turns the base's defense on them.

Ree leaps over a stunned trooper Drath tries to trip her with. Jude Force-lightnings the Dark Sider in the head, reducing him to charcoal. "Don't do that, kids," Dalt tells the twins, while he wipes out a trooper of his own.

Kedrihm'Val caves in the other Dark Sider's ribs with three crushing blows. Zan and Maul, again, fuck each other up. Oola zaps incoming ships, but there are a lot of them. While Ree closes with Drath, having to dodge just about every flying thing in the room, Zan cuts Maul in half, then immediately engages with the trooper behind him as Maul jumps bodies. "Ugh, lame!" he exclaims.

Ventress, meanwhile, has wrecked Z's jet pack and gun belt. He attaches a detonator to her waist, which hurls her into the wall.

A random trooper tries to run. Oola sees a super star destroyer's shadow fall across the sensors, and squeals in glee.

Kedrihm'Val jump-kicks Ventress, then pummels her. Zan slashes Maul across the stomach, while losing an arm himself. Z leaps over and executes Maul from behind, on his way toward Ventress.

Maul jumps into the fleeing trooper. "No way," Zan groans. Evan shoots him.

The Solo kids see the trooper pull a lightsaber. Dalt trips them with his cloak before they can intercept. "that was a really gay flourish, sir!" Jaina cheekily tells him.

"I'm your only hope against the True Sith, you know," Drath tells Ree.

Kedrihm'Val knocks out Ventress. "PRIMAL JEEEUSTICE!" Z crows. Lydia takes off the Zeltron girl's hand, while Zan and Maul each account for a hand of their own (or each other's). Zan's quite literally disarmed.

Ree nails Drath hard enough to stagger him. "I'm trying to save everyone!" Drath argues. "My people are happy to sacrifice themselves for my glory!"

Z takes Maul's other hand. Zan loses his left leg, but Maul loses his chest.

Aaaaand an unconscious guard sits up. Lydia beheads him with a well-aimed lightsaber throw. SARR comes in, dragging the shredded remains of an escaped guard, just in time to help Zan. "I had a feeling someone was going to get Mauled," he quips.

And Ree beheads Drath. Oola takes a picture and sends it to his fleet, which stops fighting. Their only live prisoner is Ventress.

Kedrihm'Val notes that the piles of Sith stuff are absent, and there's no sign of cloning tech. They might see Maul and Drath again, after all.

They find a holovid recording of Drath killing Sent after Sent rants about being Palpatine's son, while Maul applauds mildly. That gets saved for broadcast.

But Kedrihm'Val realizes something: Onna's on the base, and she has no protection against Maul's body-jumping. There's no answer when they try to comm her, so Ree and Kedrihm'Val take off in pursuit. When they arrive, they find that INON already stunned her. Kedrihm'Val Force-lights her to eject Maul, and Ree sucks him back into his rock.

After all that, they call the Jedi Temple to report. Luke's comment on Sent: "Monologuing! The Emperor loved to monologue."

Kedrihm'Val and SARR are drenched in blood (the only two who don't use either distance weapons or cauterizing laser swords). They thrust Ventress into a cage with some ysalamiri. They head out of orbit to dock with the Ace in the Hole, Lo Tser's custom-stolen super-star destroyer. He greets them with a warm welcome for his daughter. "We'll drop you in the space lanes. It'll give me time to yell at my daughter for only sending a message. 'There's a Sith fleet coming.' " Noting that Kedrihm'Val truly needs a shower, he hands him a bar of his favorite soap. "Here, I find this gets blood off great."

They find the Dark Harvester on the base. That comes back with them, in hopes they can find a way to fix that mess. Z is worried about the truly prodigious amounts of evil stuff they keep leaving at the Temple. Kedrihm'Val agrees. The plan is to store the Dark Harvester at a secure base instead. Zan gets tossed into a bacta tank for a couple of days.

Ventress's apprentice and the Bothan Dark Sider are still unaccounted for. They do retrieve Drath's computer core, which has some decent tactical plans against the True Sith. It's not evident what he planned to use the Dark Harvester for, but he had some plan for it. It'll take a while to examine all the files.

Oola gives Sareth Fenn a Krayt pearl pendant. He asks what they'll do with the two months they've got before the True Sith are ETA. "Thrawn has agreed to help," Kedrihm'Val tells him.
"Alright, what do you plan to do with the month and a half?"

Kedrihm'Val asks whether the True Sith's path intersects with Ree's world...and yep. But first it goes straight through the Core.

Ree thinks about learning more about the Ancients. Kedrihm'Val doesn't trust them. "They played dominoes with the galaxy," he points out, recalling the legend about the True Sith and the Architects in a game about life in the galaxy. But they can dig up archaeological stuff on the Architects.

Rakata Prime

2008-09-23T23:34:00.001-04:00

Deciding to hunt down Revan's travels, Ree, Oola, and Dalt put some work into spiffing up the Starwind to give it more speed. They're thinking Rakata Prime might have hints of Revan's path.

Meanwhile, Sent is rallying people against the Jedi. Ree notes that his charisma is operating at an unnatural level. Luke ponders this, asking Ree to sound out Dalt on his chronology, see if it leads to any hints on his family.

Ree: "Oh! I seem to remember some time ago a mention of an office and an assistant?"
Luke: "You have an office and an assistant."
Ree: "Where is it?"
Luke: "Uh..where is it?" Digging it up, he points her to the right location, where her assistant Zel Krend, member of the newly refounded Explorer Corp, introduces himself. In the face of her repeated apologies, he's amused that she only just noticed.

Zel seems to be very self-motivated. He gives Ree a call after digging through Sent's speeches. Over the last two years, his oratory style has grown more and more similar to Palpatine's, and his rhetoric has become increasingly humanocentric. Wondering if Dalt and Sent ever actually met, Zel asks Ree for some of Dalt's DNA. "Do you have any of his genetic material?"

Ree replies, "We have a Dalt!" Hitting him up in the lab, she plucks a hair from his head. "Everyone keeps doing that," complains Dalt. "Hah! That got a reaction. Tables were turned on you!" He tells Ree he never met Sent personally.

When she brings the hair back to Zel, he refers to her as "Master," and complains about clones.

Speaking of which, E-Val remains under guard.

Since Ree has no idea how to go about it, she gets Oola to chat Dalt up about his childhood. He tells her he didn't draw; he built things. But he's a little vague about his recollections. He reminisces about building little droids to run errands for him. Later in life, he used them to steal DNA--everybody's DNA he could get his hands on. Which, he suddenly realizes, is still at his CorpSec base. Then he gives a dissertation on cloning janitors if you want a successful evil empire, because they're the one group of people who end up getting into everything. SARR makes a note.

They turn their attention to the newly acquired clones. Dalt hopes for a solution to his "give everyone the Force" conundrum other than killing everyone and bringing them back. "You really want to give everyone Force powers?" Oola asks him.

"Perhaps to some extent I have seen the error of my ways," Dalt replies.

Kyp asks Ree's advice on dealing with a family. "I walked into Luke's office and he said, "There's no way I can answer what you're about to ask me. Go ask Leia." And Leia wasn't available and Han was no help." Ree suggests hobbies and sports. "So I'm supposed to take my brother on dates?" Kyp protests in confusion. SAR suggests Ree ask her mom. He also suggests Primal Justice. And drinking games. "Man things are very simple. Get him the Primal Justice vids. You've got the connections for the episodes that aren't aired yet."
"But," Ree protests, "that wouldn't be right!"
"The boy died," SARR tells her. "Give him the extra videos! I can give you a great deal." Ree calls the production studio instead, where they fall over backwards to help her out. "You should see what you get if you call in Z's voice," SARR comments.
"The clap," Dalt opines. But, SARR warns her, she'd better prepare to get drunken calls from Kyp. "Bonding happens at highest temperature. It's not a painless experience."

Kedrihm'Val hangs out with the new clones, trying to help them feel welcome.

With all that sorted, it's off to Rakata Prime. They bring Zan and Dalt along.

Zel calls again on the way out: Sent is giving a speech at the Alderanian asteroid belt. "You can accomplish anything with an army of sad and determined liberals at your back," he observes. Kedrihm'Val suggests they get in touch with Endek. From him, they learn that he's been trying to trace Sent's messages, but he can't pin down the receptor. Val and Oola recall their escape from Thrawn--did any messages arrive at that location around that point in time? Why, yes, Endek tells them. So Sent's in touch with somebody--but is it Thrawn or Drath?

Zel pushes a garbled news transmission to them two days out from Rakata Prime--there's been an attack at a speech at the Alderanian memorial, by Drath.

On arrival at Rakata Prime, they read a slew of lifeforms. Scanning for buildings, they read some abandoned buildings and one temple. That's where they head.

Inside the temple, under 3000 years of accumulated dust, Kedrihm'Val spots a pressure trap and a secret door. Oola cracks those, and discovers a turbo lift shaft behind the door. Z flies up with his jet pack and tosses the others a rope. Upstairs is a lab of some kind. Oola and Dalt poke, and Oola discovers a math puzzle that activates a map. Dalt finds blueprints for various dangerous superweapons. Ahhh, the Rakata. He snags a set that particularly worries him. Ree remembers the temple used to be protected behind force fields. Dalt wonders if this means they were expected.

Oola solves the puzzle, activating both a map and a countdown, which is two months away. The map, which is Old Republic tech, shows a battle line with a large fleet being held off by a small group of ships. The fleet is pressing toward Chiss space. If this is current, then that fleet might arrive at the borders of the Ascendency within days. They need to send the Chiss a warning.

Poking through the rest of the temple, they find weapons and stuff in various stages of completion. SARR helps load the dangerous tech and sings spirituals.

Oola and Ree find a hangar bay. Two ships are gone; two are still there--Rakata ships, in perfect working order. They're the size of light freighters, but well-armed. Kedrihm'Val considers that this temple must be where the Rakata built that crystal flower. At about that point, the hangar bay doors slam closed, and a hologram of HK-47 appears, demanding proof of the date. He mocks Ree for typing it in. Oola feeds in a news feed instead. "Ah, a meatbag with a brain among you," says HK-47. The doors open again.

They discover a shaft leading straight down. It emerges on the biggest amphitheatre any of them have ever seen--hundreds of thousands of seats. The seats are rigged with wires and tubes; it's obviously where they created the crystal flower. Kedrihm'Val notices that there's nothing left of any physical body. The Rakata turned themselves into pure Force energy, Dalt theorizes.

They disassemble the concentrating pillar, to make sure this thing can never be triggered again.

That just leaves a spire to explore. "Oh, spires," comments Kedrihm'Val. "They always turn out well."
"The spires at the Jedi Temple are fine," says Ree. "Master Luke has an office in one."
"My point stands," Kedrihm returns.

The chamber at the top of the spire is wrecked. Obviously a lightsaber fight took place here, and a catastrophic one. Pulling images out of the one half-functional camera left in the room, they discover that an initial guess of Vader is right. A central chamber in the room held a working duplicate of HK-47, which took on Vader when he arrived (presumably following the trail of the Rakata ship he faced off against). Finishing off the droid, Vader eventually activated the central chamber's security pad, entered and then left again.

The pad opens for Ree. Inside, she finds an unopened box, and a holocomm--featuring a Jedi woman Ree has never seen. This woman explains that by the time Ree (naming her directly) finds this, it will be weeks to months before the True Sith arrive. She outlines tactics and plans to give to "Master Skywalker." (The thought occurs that Vader may have left convinced that he would eventually acquire an apprentice named Ree.) The woman, whom Ree is pretty sure is the Jedi Exile, says that the temple is timed to blow up an hour after they leave. The planet itself has been converted into a massive bomb that will go off when the True Sith pass. The locked container opens when Ree takes up the comm. Inside is an odd little glowing ball, which Dalt identifies as a power source.

Though they have this assurance that the contents of the temple will not fall into enemy hands, Dalt still wants to take things.

Heading back to the ship, they receive clearer news on the Alderan attack. Drath had a small fleet, and the site was notably poorly defended by Republic security. Most of the Alderanian groups are dead; there is no word from Sent, or from Jacen or Jaina, who were there with Jedi representatives. A message from Zel indicates that all security arrangements were made by Sent. All Sent's possessions and bank accounts are gone. The results on Sent's DNA check are "disturbing." He refuses to tell them more until they get back.

They arrive to unload the dangerous miscellania they collected from the temple. Dalt tells them the plans he found were for the Star Forge. Oola's surprised to see that it's actually quite straightforward to build, except for a singular power source...which is about yay-big.

Ree and Zan head to the Council chamber, where they drop off the information on the True Sith fleet. Lue shows them the DNA test: the only Sent DNA is that which gives Raasik Sent his familial resemblance. The rest is...Palpatinesque. Kyp makes the inevitable connecction: "Someone hit that." Dalt's mom, in fact, yes. "Oh, shit, Dalt's in the room," Kyp continues. "Oh my," is Dalt's only, disgusted, response. But Dalt's mother wasn't a Sent. And Sent's actions indicate that he knew about his ancestry. Public opinion is currently against Jedi, for not using their abilities to bring back Alderaan.

So. The galaxy is again under attack. The Republic will have to renew its alliance with Thrawn, find Drath and Sent, and work out ways to deal with the True Sith once Rakata Prime goes up. Drath, Ree is told, is her responsibility.

The first step is to analyze news footage to see if they recognize any of the ships that flew with Drath.

But first, Ree returns to her room to drop her things off...where she finds a datapad. it's a star chart for a planet at the edge of the Unknown Region. She turns that over to the Librarian to run checks on. Turns out it's another planet that vanished from the charts when the Emperor took over. There's a heavy traffic pattern to and from it for the last several months. Drath's base?

Talking to the clones, they learn that they often saw the Zeltrons, Ventress, and Drath. A message from Luke tells the crew that Thrawn has sent his information on Drath: 2000 followers spread across various planets. The "lost" planet is an old Imperial testing facility. They consider going in with a modified cloak on one of the Rakata ships. Dalt has such a cloaking device almost finished.

Oola sends a message to her father. Ree's holocron hints to her that her family on her mother's side might have been observers for Revan's line.

Ree gives everybody the "You don't have to come if you don't want to" line, which results in unimpressed stares. So it's on to the invisible planet!

"Dude," Z says to Dalt, "your mom is a whore." Dalt can hardly disagree.

Steampunk Star Wars characters

2008-05-13T10:22:00.005-04:00

After a series of jokes and pestering the GM about visiting a steampunk world for a story arc, these happened.

When negotiations fail, fashionable but stalwart Noble Onna Reulki takes up her pair of ivory-handled brass blasters against enemies of the Republic.

As humble as she is heroic, Jedi Master Ree Shevan wields her lightsaber in the name of law and justice!

Lydia is the plucky young apprentice of Ree Shevan. Growing up as an orphaned waif on Chandrila, Lydia learned many unorthodox skills that she now brings to bear in the name of the Jedi.

A high-flying bounty hunter whose seemingly endless supply of weapons is rivaled only by his creative application of them, Zaan'yan "Z" Cloudstrider carries out his love affair with rocket packs and enormous guns in the name of the Republic. So long as he gets paid on time, at least.

The beautiful blue Twilek Oolan Tser is a deft hand with all things mechanical. But if you cross her, you'll learn the hard way that she always keeps an (explosive) ace up her sleeve.

Ezrek Dalt possesses a scientific mind without peer...and an ego to match. After being pulled back from the brink of madness by our intrepid heroes, he finds that the best medicine for his occasional instability is praise for his indisputable genius. Lots and lots of praise.

Wise in the primal ways of nature and the soul, the mystic primitive Kedrihm'Val is a stranger to civilization and its technological trappings. Making his way through the modern jungle with the help of his friends, he fights loyally at their side with bare fists and athletic skill.

Secrets of the True Sith and Darth Revan

2008-04-23T12:30:00.003-04:00

Instead of going straight to Coruscant, they spin back to Zahn to secure the place and call in Republic Security. Oola also notifies DUST of the Chimera's location. They spend some more time looking over the book of prophecies. With more time, they decipher the story of Revan and the Star Forge, and that when he left the galaxy, he intercepted a True Sith fleet and destroyed it. It sent the Sith into retreat and decline, from which they have apparently only recently emerged when they gained a new ruler. Pictures indicate that the remnants of the True Sith have mingled with human blood; they no longer look quite so much like Yoda or any of the statues from the tomb.

It's also notable that some of their servitor beasts are weird, big black clawed things...highly reminiscent of the things they found on Ree's planet some time back. What were they doing there? The crew's first guess is that they were after the Blueprint gate...but they were originally chasing the Sin/Sent team that retrieved the evil lightsaber crystal (which, you'll remember, is now on Coruscant in Jedi custody) and apparently a shard of the Pulse. Which brings us back to the very interesting question of where the Sent/Sin team actually found those.

In other news, it turns out the True Sith have the Chosen One prophecy too. They didn't invade during the Empire because, obviously, Vader was a dangerous and intimidating bastard. If the prophecies can be believed (and they're right about almost everything else so far), they're planning to invade now, despite the fact that Luke is also a dangerous and intimidating bastard. Perhaps they're less concerned because the Republic isn't as battle-ready as the Empire...but Zan reminds them of that Sith space station with the temple to the dark Force-god. Kedrihm'Val wonders if Thule was involved or influenced in this at all, and Ree thinks it might be worth a trip to see if there's anything to be seen there.

They get back to Coruscant. They've got a lot to ruminate on, but life looks to be calm enough to make that dinner with Amidala. In the meantime, Ree tries to catch up on her sleep. When she wakes up, she finds another datapad on the floor, repeating, "Look to the stars."

At dinner, where they're among a crowd of people who find this acceptable dinner conversation, they show Luke the prophecies. While they look over it, R2-D2 starts poking Ree, beeping and refusing to give up until she finally pays attention and realizes that he's indicating the star positions displayed in the prophecy about the True Sith gaining a new leader recently. They're the positions the stars were in during the Battle of Endor. That's when the new ruler was born. Han and Kedrihm'Val both find this ominous, Han figuring that means their spiffy new ruler is probably the Emperor because that's how things tend to work out, and Kedrihm'Val remembering that Darth Plagius was supposed to have come up with a technique to create life.

Ree wonders again why she's the one who keeps getting these messages. Kedrihm'Val points out that she and Luke are the two most active Jedi in the galaxy, currently, and no offense to Luke, but if he's the center of a prophecy about a dark god arising, he's probably not the preferred contact for anyone trying to prevent such a thing. Ree tries to protest, but finally gives in to the logic of that.

Dalt hasn't said much of anything in hours, at least. It's starting to get a bit alarming; when he's silent this long, the next time he opens his mouth, something catastrophic tends to come out. Now he muses that someone cunning but apparently not evil has been sending these visions. SARR guesses perhaps Revan's descendents? Kedrihm'Val suggests it could be one or more of the good True Sith still in operations. Perhaps a network of them? That could explain the seemingly irrationally long distances these messages and visions have been traveling, far further than any living being would feasibly be capable of.

Now they start thinking harder about Revan. He lived 3000 years ago, during the Mandalorian Wars. 2000 years ago, the Jedi formally established the family bloodlines and their coin/holocrons. Oola now reminds them of Ree's holocron. "You can check it when you get back to your room," Luke agrees, "after you read your note." "You're a big help," Ree grumbles at him. "He's a lot like his father," Amidala teases.

Upon which an extremely uncomfortable silence descends, eventually broken by Han making distracting sounds.

After that, they all mutually decide it might be best to move on to lighter subjects for the evening.

The next day, Kyp and Ree meet to chat. She tells him about escaping from Thrawn, which he considers to be a big deal. It's not like it happens often. He gives her a message from home: her family called, because they were gathering stuff for a local exhibit ("Now, don't be mad, but everybody here is pretty proud of you and they wanted to do something nice..."), and they noticed that her old school art projects were missing from where her mother had stored them in the attic.

Thrawn, rather obviously. "How'd they get there?!" Ree wonders, confused. But this explains the Imperial agents they encountered on Reeshome months ago with no explanation why!

Well, not much to be done now. Ree tells the others over breakfast. She doesn't see what Thrawn thinks he'd achieve by looking at her childish art projects. "You are a Jedi," Dalt points out. "By studying your art, he'll learn what your attachments are." A thought occurs to her, and she asks about the others. "I'll call my mom later," Z promises. "We should meet your mother!" Ree tells him. "She sounds remarkable." "She was," Dalt says at the same time as Kedrihm'Val grabs Z. Kedrihm'Val's people don't so much deal in writing and art on permanent surfaces, so it's not really an issue for him.

Though for somebody who knows the language, the Abindosani tattoos that their Force users wear say quite a bit about them. Their purpose is to function as a sort of introduction to other Abindosani, since Ailhan often mingle among different tribes. Of course, Kedrihm'Val hasn't exactly made a practice of running around the galaxy with his shirt off, because he's not especially keen on broadcasting his identity to piles of enemies.

Ree breaks out her holocron to ask it about her family history during the Mandalorian Wars. It tells her the information is classified. On further questioning, it says most of the families were generally aware of the True Sith, and he assumes the monsters that crashed on her planet were an expeditionary force, though it's not sure why they were so far into the galaxy. The historian in the holocron is kind of a jackass, and Oola snipes at him whenever he gives her an opening. "Your Twilek is touchy," it finally complains. "She's not used to computers she can't hack," Ree tells him placatingly. "Haha!" it says to Oola.

When she asks about Revan, it tells her what they already know: Revan went out to stop the True Sith. "Did he have any family?" she asks, hoping to get a lead on somewhere she can look for further information. The holocron freezes up again with, "That information is classified." It doesn't know where he was from, but suggests they might find the information in the old Jedi temple. They do have the old computer core. "Revan was fond of Dantooine," it volunteers, a little wistfully. "It was different then."

Since Ree's holocron isn't terribly helpful, Dalt tries his. His historian--Tal Sent--is a jerk, too. Apparently it pays less attention to its surroundings, because it's startled to learn that the
True Sith are on their way. Revan helped lay the groundwork for the families before he left, Tal says, but the other Jedi didn't trust him. The galactic battle in Ree's vision was, so far as Tal knows, exactly what Revan left to prevent. Perhaps this is a new one. When they ask about the book of prophecies, he says he does know that Revan went to some temple and came back with some papers.

They ask about the Arranda holocron's "classified information," to which Tal drawls, "Oh reeeally." Figuring the holocrons might be able to talk it out, they point them at each other, only to be startled by the cat-fight that ensues. Ree tries to be nice to the Sent holocron, which it finds, apparently, exceedingly infuriating. Ree's holocron is bitchy about her talking to the other holocron at all. When Tal accuses her of being stuck up because of her family, Ree is, as she usually is, extremely humble, driving it to the point of screaming in frustration. "She's always like this," Kedrihm'Val tells it, amused. Dalt's trying not to laugh at the holocrons.

Ree's holocron tells them that no holocron will answer about the origin of Ree's family, and that Revan took those papers because he said that if anyone saw the end of that prophecy, they'd be too prejudiced to stop it. Tal thinks that it was about Luke wrecking the place up in the bad way.

Tired of fussing, Dalt hypnotises Ree's holocron. "Ask it now." It says they used to call her family 'Revan's clan.' "I'm sure it's some coincidence," Ree protests, sending the Sent holocron into spitting fits. And the papers were indeed about Luke. Then, snapping out of the mind-whammy, her holocron is aghast at Dalt circumventing its protections. "You're not supposed to know that until you pass more tests!" "You should tell them they're related," Oola chirps, grinning. The holocrons turn to stare at each other in horror.

They learn more: Revan never had children. "He got more excited by logarithms," Tal snarks. They might try hunting up information on Bastila Shan, who stayed behind and helped the Jedi rebuild. Tal says something sarcastic about Jedi going evil and coming back, to which Dalt replies, "I really can't comment." "Well, you were mind-controlled by ancient aliens!" it tries to defend him. "And he was crazy to start!" Z puts in. Seeing it coming, Kedrihm'Val grabs Z as Dalt opens his mouth: "Mad in the sack...says your mother."

Moving on. Staring curiously at the holocrons, Dalt says he thinks that they must be flawed or damaged somehow to react so hostilely to each other. Either that or they hated each other viciously in life. "Oh, we hated each other!" the holocrons speak up. "You also have to take into account the similarity of their personalities," Oola comments, which again infuriates them. "You take that back!" "See?" says Oola, satisfied. "they said 'we'." Which sends the holocrons into open revolt.

"Can we stop antagonizing them?" Ree requests. Zan laughs.

Moving on again, the holocrons say that any further information on Revan was probably held only by Revan himself. He played things close to the vest. The Arranda holocron, when SARR asks, admits that Ree, too, was prophesied. "Now say, 'Where can we find this person' so I can think you're even dumber than I think you are," grumbles the Sent holocron. Oola can't help herself. "Well, there is Jude." The Sent holocron literally hops with fury.

True Sith Revealed, or, It's a Trap!

2008-04-22T14:31:00.003-04:00

Onna is concerned about Drath selling Dalt's cloning technology--modified (and modified how, exactly?). Kedrihm'Val wonders what else Drath has hold of, considering he's got Set Harth's whole stash and whatever he might've thought o rip out of the Jedi archives before he left. Ree takes that under advisement, assigning people to look through the temple records and see what he might've peered into.

She gets scolded again about calling Kyp 'Master Durron.' Kedrihm'Val teases her, "Keep it up and he'll start calling you Master Shevan." She scoffs. "No one calls me Master!" "Lydia does," Oola points out. "No!" gasps Ree.

But how to find Drath? He's probably after money to build his forces. If he's wanting information on the True Sith...might he follow in Revan's footsteps? Where can information on Darth Revan be found? Ree can't even remember his home planet. Kedrihm'Val wonders if any of the Hutts would know. They live long enough, and buying that information from them would take a lot of money... Kedrihm'Val points out that Drath's comments imply he's been using farseeing a lot recently. And reminds them that there's still a piece of Abindosani coral left in CorpSec--with people Drath already has a working relationship with. For that matter, they need to learn more themselves.

As they consider possibly tapping the Abindosani reefs for information, or perhaps hunting up some Rakata artifacts, a new report comes on about a rash of unidentified artifacts being stolen from museums recently. Oola enlists Onna's help to get acces to the museum. Ree gets called back to the temple, and Z stiffs Kedrihm'Val with the bill.

Ree was called back because Maul-rock is empty. Luke thinks Drath might've cloned him.

At the museum, they learn all the artifacts seem to be objects d'art, created by a small race. The break-ins were perpetrated with notable skill. "Who would steal art when no one knows who even did it?" ponders the curator. They hand over pictures and reproductions of the 10 items that were stolen. It takes her a bit, but Oola puts the pieces of this puzzle together. She's seen some of Yoda's belongings, and the designs and lines of them are reminiscent. And who else would be inclined to steal True Sith artwork right about now? Just one scary blue bastard...

"Could Thrawn have a copy of Shavan's book?" asks Oola's player.
"Revan," Ree's player corrects.
"That's Shevan," Kedrihm'Val's player says, pointing at Ree-player.
GM: "Funny coincidence in names, isn't it?" *receiving assorted looks from players* "I could just be fuckin' with ya!"
Kedrihm'Val's player: "I've never known you to not follow through."

Ree and Oola comm their findings to the others. Kedrihm'Val reminds them of Dagobath, wondering if Thrawn or Drath might've paid it a visit recently.

Ree finds a note in her room. "Who benefits from clones that bring back the dead?" it asks. No signature. Ree shows it to Kyp, who's doing well, he says, spending time with Zeth. "Considering that tech was inspired by a guy with a civilization in his head, I'd say the Rakata." Following that line of thought, Zan (her next consult) suggests that Drath might bring back a Rakata and make it work for hi. Could explain why he'd bring back Maul now, after waiting so long. How'd Drath learn all this ability and technique? Ree wonders. He meditates a few months in a prison and comes out a full-fledged Sith? Zan thinks he might've connected with something. A force of will like his would be a beacon.

Next move: look for more True Sith stuff. Now that they know what they're looking for, the computer can help search. And check into Rakata temples, too. Oola quickly discovers that the largest collection of stuff that turns out to be True Sith was in the State Museum on Chandrila. 'Was' being the operative word. It's missing as of two weeks ago. Across the galaxy, approximately 50-60 pieces of True Sith art are gone. No tampering with Rakata temples is evident, at least.

How'd Thrawn find out? Well, Drath probably had stuff in Set Harth's collection he sold to the Grand Admiral. Harth was fascinated by them, after all. It probably clued Thrawn in.

Oola also discovers that the moon Zahn, in orbit around the gas giant Zahr on the Outer Rim, has just turned up a dig. Three days ago, archaeologists unearthed some relics that match. It's obscure news; Thrawn might not have heard yet. Dalt informs them he's coming, though he's annoyed when Oola forbids him from bringing his walking throne (he finally got one; or built one. Fear it!). Zan's coming too.

Ree receives another note. "How can you be certain the actual people are coming back to their bodies?" it asks. She takes the notes to Luke, who ponders. "It's obvious-- No, let me rephrase. Most reports indicate the person who came back is my mother," he finally answers. But even if this is only a sporadic or partial thing, among 2000 clones it could be a problem. He'll look into whomever's sending these messages.

Ree has a vision that night: a massive space battle, Imperials and Republic fighting side-by-side, together with Sith ships. She doesn't recognize who the enemy ships are, except that they're strange, almost like holes in the Force. And there's on archaic-looking Jedi ship, rigged and modified and kicking butt. She has a sense she's missing something, but she can't spot it.

She wakes up and gets coffee. As usual, it's the middle of the night. SARR snarks, Ree tells him and Oola (who's on monitor duty) about it. While Oola ponders the modded ship, Z gets up for his shift. "I can't die," he tells them. "Too pretty." This hurts their brains.

Returning to her room, Ree finds a note on a datapad on the floor. On the ship. With everyone accounted for. "Pay attention to the constellations." She realizes suddenly that the stars in her dream were the constellations visible from her planet.

Returning to the others with the datapad o'mystery, Z checks the ship recordings to find a black spot during the time the datapad must've been deposited. It's not Dalt. "His physical ass is in his bed," SARR says. Not a droid, either; scans account for that. A Force ghost? Hard to say, but Ree's sure someone sent this dream, like the one with Zeth. She tries to follow the mental trail of it, but it passes out beyond the Rim. "You and your rampant meatbaggery attract attention from beyond the stars," SARR comments. But why her? Why not Kedrihm'Val? Or Luke! "Depends on your destiny," SARR says sarcastically. Ree calls the temple to report and gets Kyp. They found the same effect in her room of that blank spot in the recordings.

When they reach the planet, they find some bewildered archaeologists. They don't know what the complex was. It's not huge, but they're having trouble exploring because the locals are timid, "ignorant and supertitious savages." Kedrihm'Val points out that they may have good reason not to go near the place, but the guy seems disinclined to listen.

So they head into the complex. It's well-preserved. The tapestries and hangings are made of plant fibers and remain intact. Dalt and Oola quickly gain the impression that this is a tomb for a warlord. Statuary quickly seals the deal that these were Yoda's people. Obviously there were different castes: some were taller and bulkier than Yoda, while others resemble him in their wise old forms. "So Yoda wasn't a warrior," comments Z, who tries to wrap his mind around the concept of Yodas who actually are warriors.

The murals on the walls depict a story as they go deeper: a race of good, peaceful people, who are struck by a dark light--like a Force star?--radiating from the sky. They don't change physically, but they grow more violent and brutal, except for a few who remain unaffected. This warlord comes from a line of warlord-kings who subjugate the scholars to rule the race. Almost all the True Sith are shown using the Force. The story ends, unsurprisingly, with the warlord's glorious death.

They spot a secret door at the end of the murals. Inside there's a pedestal with a real paper-and-binding book sitting on it. It's evidently a book of prophecy. Flipping to the end, they find the space battle from Ree's dream, and then pages are torn out. They snag the book and head onward.

Not far from that door lie the ancient remains of a huge predatory lizard. It was cut in half by a lightsaber a very, very long time ago. As Ree rounds the corner, she leaps away from another, very alive predatory lizard. Even hunched over, this thing is 11 feet high. She drives it back with Affect Mind, and it turns and flees. She gets an odd impression, though, as if it were startled that her power worked on it.

"What do you know?" Z comments. "The ignorant savages were right." Kedrihm'Val answers, "Yes, generally we ignorant savages try to stay away from things that'll kill us." "No you don't," Z says. "You punch it. Right, Primal?" Ree deflects the conversation to ask, "How's the new season going?" "Really good," Z tells her. "Dalt, make a joke," Oola interrupts. Seeing Dalt's eyes light up, Kedrihm'Val orders, "Don't." The existence of that creature in a place supposedly sealed for potentially over 100,000 years does not go overlooked by the crew.

They pick up more pictographs here, a story about someone else. Here, priests have regained some power. A sorceress-ruler uses her power to create the Sith as they know them, the red catfish-people, and sends them out as servants. Then a revolt rises, led by the few good True Sith, who manage to depose the sorceress and then disappear. Seems the sorceress was buried here, too.

And sure enough, past that they encounter a huge chamber with a jewel-encrusted sarcophagus in the center. To one side, another less grand tomb seems to hold the sorceress. Beyond those lies a fabulous treasure hoard. "I could make a suit of gold Mandalorian armor," declares Z. "I'd be gorgeous!" But they don't let him meddle with the treasure. Instead, they pass through to find a large area with a secondary passage leading to the surface.

It looks like the lizard thing lives here. They'd assumed there might be a breeding population, but signs indicate there's only the one. Bones from old meals lie scattered about--mainly livestock--but more notably, it seems this creature grows some of its own food. "That doesn't mean it's smart!" Z insists. "Do you have non-sentient animals that farm?" asks Kedrihm'Val, rather wondering how odd the galaxy at large can possibly be. Looking around, Kedrihm and Oola spot faded drawings on the walls, of these animals being used as beasts of burden and guard animals by the True Sith. Some were obviously brought here to guard the tomb. Then there's a rough picture of a Jedi fighting one with a lightsaber--presumably the ancient carcass out in the halls. Funny thing is, the place had been sealed for ages before that. There was nobody around to draw any such picture. Signs point to "sentient."

After locking down the temple so it can be more thoroughly combed for dangers, they place a call to Master Tion, the Jedi librarian. While the others set a trap for the creature, Ree puts in a second call to Luke. First words out of his mouth are, "Are they Yoda?" Yep, Ree tells him. After a heavy sigh, Luke starts to say something, but the transmission suddenly breaks up. Ree senses...

"Jackass," she hisses. Of course it's Drath. The ground starts shaking from something happening above. Oola gives INON the book, which he stores in a chest compartment, while Ree heads up the nearby surface passage to take a look around. When a thermal detonator rolls down toward her, she bats it back up, but has to flee back down to the others.

Z blows that passage (when did he have a chance to plant bombs there?), and they head back toward the front entrance, only to find that's been collapsed as well. Drath is jamming all transmissions. They're trapped.

Of course, with that many Force users in the group, they're not trapped for terribly long. It takes them about 20 minutes to clear out the front entrance, but when they exit, they don't find much left. The excavation has been devastated; everyone who was there is dead. Oola finds the jamming device and wrecks it so they can get through to the Starwind, which SARR removed from the area when Drath came in. He tells them that Drath kidnapped the head archaeologist and took a few of the relics. They're still close enough that the Starwind can give chase...and when the big blinking red ball pops up on their scanner, that makes it even easier. Apparently SARR got into the homing beacon cache again. The trail leads them toward Hutt Space.

When they exit hyperspace again, they spot Drath's ship...heading for the Chimera. When two more Star Destroyers swing in behind, they realize that this was all a trap. The Chimera captures the Starwind in a tractor beam; the other two star destroyers attempt to follow suit, but instead whatever jackasses are operatins those controls manage to miss and lock onto each other.

It's an opening! Oola takes advantage of it to gain brief control of the tractor beams, using them to interrupt the Chimera's beam so the Starwind can break free. Then she hits the gas to get them the hell out of there. When the Chimera starts shooting and turns to pursue, it's a very near thing. Drath's ship docks with the Star Destroyer, but another Sith infiltrator hangs nearby. Three guesses who might be in there, but thankfully it doesn't interfere.

So apparently Thrawn did figure it out. One can only imagine how thoroughly pissed he's got to be over the jackasses on tractor beam duty.

Infiltrating the Imperials

2008-04-22T12:19:00.002-04:00

Zan has taught them quite a bit already, so he brushes up their spying skills before they head out. They'll be posing as a security detail escorting some scientists requested by the base. The scientists are real people; the crew will simply be taking their place. Dalt's red hair gets dyed, Kedrihm'Val's tattoos are disguised, and since Ree is an abysmal liar, she's getting stuffed into stormtrooper armor so people won't see her face betray her. Zan is the head of the group, Z is the troops' lieutenant, and Onna, Oola, and Dalt get to play scientist. The base is run by CompNor, a group that's suspicious by habit, so they'll want to be cautious.

Arrival goes smoothly enough. Kedrihm'Val and Ree are stuffed into the base's stormtrooper barracks. They were supposed to get quarters near the 'scientists' they were meant to guard, but that's not standard procedure and the paperwork is being (spitefully, one suspects) held up in processing. In the barracks, Ree and Kedrihm'Val both find that Primal Justice is a highly popular show among the base's troops.

The scientists are given the introductory tour. Oola quickly spots that the cloning technology is modified from Dalt's procedure. Dalt notes it even before she does. They meet Dr. Wy, a 17-year-old wunderkind who's head of the labs here. Dalt can't resist showing off a bit, though he does it more subtly than usual. While they chat, Wy wonders aloud what might happen if someone were cloned twice. A gem of a young lady, obviously. She laments her inability to test the results as "His Blue Highness" is due here in four days.

Now, that's news. They weren't expecting him. That's a deadline.

The crew meets Col. Gent, who is head of whatever they call the assassination squads around these parts, Lt. Seinar--they note the name, which definitely explains some things--and the other brass. Seinar immediately begins complaining that the troops have been watching contraband holos of Republic shows. A few moments later, Col. Bresen shows up. She's introduced as head of security, from Destabilization, and she has the authority to question anyone at any time over anything. They note she wears a lightsaber. She's a Dark Sider, and a particularly vile one. The Force users can sense that she lives for destruction, pure and simple.

Which fits in with her working for Destabilization. That department is so heinous that even the assassins and interrogators don't like to hang out with them. Sent in on jobs such as wrecking a planet's economy or political system, or destroying a person's life to prevent them from posing a threat to the Empire, Destab's operatives get to practice on perfectly innocent Imperial citizens, tearing their lives apart without ever letting them know there's somebody behind it. It's somehow not comforting to think that Force users are involved.

SARR, playing interrogator droid, eagerly asks if they have anyone he can question. They say no, but their pause indicates that they've got some prisoners.

Ree and Kedrihm are given unusual insignia to wear, which indicates they're not clone troopers. Turns out, this is why the troops' fondness for Primal Justice bothers the brass: the clones are showing unusual personality. Bresen comments on a disturbing trend toward "social equality." But Dr. Wy exasperatedly tells her she can't improve on the design any further. Dalt agrees that the clone technology looks close to perfect. Bresen repeats that Thrawn is coming in four days. Tomorrow they start scanning for Force sensitivity to make sure the clones are safe. Since that essentially consists of Bresen doing her Force-thing, that'll take about two days.

The scientists are to begin work immediately; the troopers are expected to lurk quietly and guard their charges. Everyone is dismissed.

They decide to poke around and get the lay of things, see about spotting Zeth Durron. They plan to meet in commissary for lunch. In the process of poking, Kedrihm and Ree catch an argument between Dr. Wy and Col. Bresen. Bresen doesn't like the clones' cameraderie at all. It's truly unusual levels of general friendliness and teamwork, and she has not overlooked the clones' occasional muttering about 'all being equal' and having some sort of powers. Wy insists that she can't go through 2000 people and adjust them all. She explains, in tones as though she's said this before and she thinks Bresen is an idiot for needing to hear it again, that this is not merely cloning. It's resurrection technology. "Being dead will change a person," she says snarkily, going on to sarcastically bitch about sterilizing people.

Not catching the sarcasm, Bresen declares that's for later consideration. She makes no bones about her distrust of the technology. "It doesn't matter," Wy replies. "What do you think we bought? It's not like he was a reputable fellow." No cookie for guessing who she's talking about there. She mentions something about another purchase, as well, and complains that they have no time to start 'that project.' Oddly, they don't even seem to be sure who exactly was responsible for that purchase. "Do you think it's what it says it is?" Wy asks, uncharacteristically hesitant. Bresen scoffs. "I doubt it could be."

With all that in mind, Kedrihm'Val starts paying more attention to the clones. They are all Force-sensitive. Every one of them. And though he doesn't catch a look at the man's face, he spots one whose potential is so powerful that it's only comparable to Luke's or Kyp's. And he also senses something down in the labs, shielded too strongly to be easily defined.

They share all this over lunch. Oola and Dalt say they'll look into the thing in the labs. As they get up, Ree sees one of the female troopers pause for a moment, staring at their table (notably, at Z and Kedrihm'Val), before she shakes her head and moves on.

Back in the lab, the scientist half of the crew meet Dr. Zel, the biologist, who turns out to be grizzled. "Yes, a genius built it," he says in response to Dalt's awed appreciation of his own work. "From what I understand, he was pretty much a raving, flaming, gay psychopath."

Dalt: "...What?"

Zel tells them that a resurrection device is stupid and dangerous. "It's like vanity on steroids. So here's what the device does: it breaks the laws of the universe. So if you're ever confused, it breaks the laws of the universe." By the time Zel has finished giving them his preliminary opinions, Dalt's looking rather shell-shocked. Dr. Orin apologizes for him while Zel leaves to get a drink.

Moving on from that little scene, Dalt concentrates briefly, then points Oola toward Dr. Wy's office. In there is the whatever-the-hell that Kedrihm'Val sensed, but Wy's working in there with the door open, and they can't see a likely candidate anywhere. It must be hidden.

Oola pays closer attention to the lab, discovering that Wy set everything up to take control from her office in the event of tampering. And she's siphoning off power. A lot of power. A whole generator is dedicated to whatever it is she's doing. Oola's job as a robotics expert includes performing maintenance on the droids; she uses the opportunity to make sure the droids will obey her when it becomes necessary. "Oh, that's beautiful," SARR snipes. "How would you like a mental domination curcuit shoved into your spine?" He starts singing 'Swing low, sweet chariot,' then continues complaining. "I'm not saying it's bad, it's just bad it's being done by another species. I should be the king of all my kind."

Ree spots the girl from lunch going through the stuff under her bunk. She has Primal Justice stuff strewn everywhere; big fan apparently. When she nervously asks whether Ree will turn her in, Ree stops to talk to her, and it turns out the girl is such a fan, she's even hunted down images of what they really look like! She's looking for those images now, in fact. Can't seem to find them, but no matter; she has film of the parade coming in in about half an hour with the mail shipment.

Ree and Zan head to the hangar bay where the mail shipment is coming in, and Z pulls a sneak to grab the package with the footage in it. Lt. Seinar shows up a few minutes later with people to sort through the mail for contraband, so that was particularly well-timed. Then Col. Gent comes down to meet another shuttle, from which debarks a hooded figure--a woman's size--with a box containing something that kicks off tremendous impressions in the Force. Turns out the hooded person is staying on-base for the night. Great. And then the Dark Sider Zeltron male who works for Drath arrives with a delivery: a vial he's selling for a great deal of money. He's staying too. All sorts of interesting things are turning up.

By now, they've narrowed down the guy who's almost certainly Zeth Durron. He keeps looking toward where the hooded person and her box went. "Odd feeling?" Ree asks him. He brushes it off, trying to deny it's anything at all. It rather obviously was an odd feeling.

Back in the lab, Oola and Dalt discover that Dr. Wy likes to experiment with cloned abominations. She's been trying to extract some sort of energy from them, but keeps failing. Dalt thinks she's trying to extract the Force, but as she's not Force sensitive, she really doesn't know what she's doing. "She's viewing it as an energy..." he begins, then pauses as though he's thinking about that. "We have to get into her office. "Already working on it," Oola tells him. "What were you planning to do?" he asks her. "I was going to seduce her so you could sneak in."

Oola stares at him.

Dalt gasps. "You don't believe what the old man said, do you?!" Instead of that, um, interesting idea, Oola sends in a droid to record what it sees: two cloning vats, both strongly shielded. "We need to get in," Dalt repeats, looking smarmy, then his face falls. "You want Z to do it, don't you?"

They meet for lunch again. After lunch, the troops are supposed to stay with the scientists. Bresen is nervous about testing the clones; she thinks they're going to get uppity or something, apparently. Possibly she believes they're plotting. The woman is certainly extraordinarily paranoid. Dalt suggests they invite the other scientists to dinner to empty out the labs so that Zan and the others can sneak in and have a look around. They wonder who Wy is cloning. Dalt wonders about what happens if you make a perfect clone of a living person. They consider this 'nefarious cameraderie' among the clones. The Force users in the group suspect that if they came back Force-sensitive, then they probably feel more in harmony with one another. Kedrihm'Val wonders about their pre-death memories, and whether that's what this 're-education' the scientists spoke of earlier might be about. Probably a good idea to find out more about that.

After lunch, Dr. Zel grumbles about Col. Bresen. The fangirl is still hunting for her pictures. She's a bit more standoffish with Ree than previous, but still can't help talking about her favorite heroes. She says she prefers the real Kedrihm'Val to his muscle-bound actor, and when Ree asks about Z, she pauses a second, then says, "The news vids kind of paint him as a hound."

Ree asks her about being a clone. The girl says it's a bit odd: like old memories should be there but aren't. A lot of the clones aren't really all that thrilled about working for the Empire. Quite a lot of them just wanted to travel and see the galaxy. She's annoyed that she can't remember the excitement of the Rebellion. Ree asks her, "If you weren't here, what would yo want to do?" "Hoooo," the girl answers, her eyes lighting. "Go to Coruscant and meet the heroes!" When Ree asks her about the scientists, she says, "Dr. Zel's alright, just pissed off. Dr. Wy's either preoccupied or condescending. Dr. Orin... *shrug*"

The base gets some regular visitors, she tells Ree. Some dark-cloaked people. Two Zeltrons, and a menacing Zabrak who randomly Force-chokes people sometimes and whom she suspects, she whispers, "might be Drath from the movies. How many other evil Zabraks are there, roaming... Well, I mean." She gives Ree a kind of disturbed look. Anyway, she says they'll get the Empire's Most Wanted list the day before Thrawn arrives, and there should be pictures of her heroes on there, too.

Ree makes a note of that.

In the lab, another sneaky investigation reveals not two, but three cloning chambers. Wy is trying to combine the best aspects of two cloned individuals into a single new person. "It's not great," Dalt says, "but it's brilliant." "It's called birth, you mean," Oola replies. "Yes, but this is better!" Dalt tells her. Oola lets that drop. "So who do you think is in there?" she wonders instead. "Oh, go- That's horrible," Dalt says in reply to whatever just crossed his mind. They definitely need to find out more about what Wy wants from this, "or we need to go down there and drive stakes through their hearts," he says. They might find that Zeltron and see if he has records on what material they sold. "It's the male Zeltron, right?" Dalt asks Oola. "You don't want to make a comment now?" She just looks at him. "Oooh; now you-- I don't want to. Because I. Like. Girls."

When they meet again to trade their newest information, Kedrihm wonders if she might be trying to merge Force powers into someone who doesn't have them. He gets the impression that she's envious of people with Force sensitivity. She knows an awful lot about it for someone who can't do it herself. Dalt wonders whether you can choose which qualities to transfer, and what happens if you try to clone someone who's still alive. Maybe she wants a clone of herself with the Force?

"Something's wrong," Zan speaks up, rousing from deep thought. "Ree's dream about Zeth makes no sense. Would Thrawn have untested Force users on his ship?" Which means someone sent that dream. Could it be the clones? Someone directing their minds? Could someone have purposely linked them? Kedrihm'Val doubts that, thinks it's simply a sympathetic link they formed themselves. But they're going to have to deal with the whole base, they realize now. Thrawn will use anything and anyone they leave behind, and they can't abandon all these clones to a life of slavery and corruption. Time to form a plan.

The next morning, SARR sneaks into the lab while Bresen does her Force-testing thing. She promptly freaks out and orders all clones confined to barracks. Wy is thoroughly annoyed, and starts arguing with her. Everyone else clears out of the way from two crazy scary evil women in authority who're yelling at each other. Figuring that'll go on for a while, Zel leads the others back to work.

Kedrihm'Val and Ree are sent to calm the clones in the barracks. The clones are quite understandably ticked off, but they seem rather disinclined from random revolt, which seems to be Bresen's fear.

Dr Wy comes in cursing to herself. Bresen called Thrawn and asked him to make all speed. He arrives tonight. "That's unforseen," Zan says, sounding uncharacteristically flustered. "This is extremely inconvenient."

Zel snarks. Orin is upset by confrontation. Oola sneaks a little droid into Wy's office to record, while Zel wonders how the clones and the Force-thing work. Dalt grabs a chalkboard and starts lecturing. "Well," says Zel. "We'll hope the Force works that way." "I assure you," says Dalt, "It does. I am a genius." Zel grumbles about bad days, and says this isn't as bad as when the Emperor burned the Jedi temple. He announces that he's sure that whole Jedi being evil thing was a lie, and then proceeds to grizzle out about the Rebellion and the Empire.

Oola's droid returns, showing her that Wy revved up the process. SARR knocked her out from behind, then sent the droid back after telling it, "Tell your mistress it's a Vader-Han."

Kedrihm'Val and Ree return from the barracks to tell them the clones are calm, but Ree secretly thinks she can incite the clones to riot in their favor. The re-education people come in to hold a conference in the lab. Zel grouses, "You've pissed off the genius, alarmed the Grand Admiral, and overturned the base because clones have manifested strange witch-like abilities." One of the Re-education officers asks if there are any guests coming. Bresen snags him, telling him, "Go meet the shuttle." Ree offers to play escort, so he takes her and Kedrihm'Val with him.

The new arrivals are the Chiss Dark Sider and Jek Schild, along with two Dark Troopers. They're here to review security for the Grand Admiral's arrival in a few hours. The Chiss halts as she steps down from the landing ramp. "There's something wrong with this base." She's right, of course; when it comes to the Force, this entire base is in mayhem. 2000 clones, two powerful Dark Siders, a whole batch of infiltrating Jedi-types, mystery-person in a cloak with her crazy Force-box, and the abomination in Wy's basement. As they head back down to the labs, Kedrihm'Val quietly radios a warning about their new arrivals to Z, then Ree and Kedrihm'Val break off to return to the barracks again.

Z leaps on the Chiss as she steps through the door, screaming, "PRIMAL JEEEEUSTICE!" She gets knocked back, and Jek pulls his lightsaber. Kedrihm'Val calls SARR to warn him, too. SARR ignites four--count them, four--lightsabers, and tells him the thing in the vat has "gone insane." "It's aware?" Kedrihm asks him, alarmed. "Well, it's looking at him, which is why I'm running," SARR says.

In the lab, Dr. Zel whips out a lightsaber, putting it through a stormtrooper. Sabers ignite all around; "Oh my god!" Dalt's irritated voice rises above the increasing chaos. Zan hands him an extra. Oola triggers the commands she put into the droids, who grab the Imperials and inject them with knockout drugs, taking out two more. The base's Admiral makes a break for the door; Zan trips him. Z smoke-bombs the Chiss and Jek. Dalt and Lydia run to help him. Onna shoots the Chiss.

Ree's right; it's extremely easy to rouse the troops to riot. All she has to do is strip off her helmet and declare, "I'm Ree Shevan, and I'm here to rescue you!" They break out the arms and move to help. Ree has most of them head to the hangar bay to start prepping for evacuation, or round up the non-clone troopers on the base. She takes a strike force with her to help in the labs.

On the way back to the labs, Kedrihm'Val spots the Zeltron. He Force-shoves the Zeltron into a bulkhead, then closes in with a flying kick. Ree spots the hooded figure at the end of the hallway and settles herself for a fight. The figure walks calmly toward her, tossing the hood back, and...it's Mara Jade! With Luke behind her. Who was in the box. "Congratulations," Ree tells them, then points them toward the lab. After Kedrihm'Val stuns the Zeltron and ties him up, they move.

SARR comes running out like hell is on his heels, and it is, because the Vader-Han sprints out right behind him. Zan breaks off to pursue that thing. Lydia takes on Jek Schild. Dalt does...something, and the Force-lightning accumulators the Dark Troopers carry start going into overload. He clears out of their way. The droids take down another stormtrooper. The station self-destruct announces its activation. Zan closes with the Han-Vader, around whom Oola dodges to get to Wy's office where everything's been wired into a central control system. She just barely manages to roll under the security shield as it descends. SARR ignites two lightsabers and heads for Vader-Han too. "I'm not doing this to be noble, but to be recognized!" Bresen breaks for the door.

Right into Luke. Mara shoots her. Luke's a bit distracted by the sparking Dark Troopers, whom he knocks into the hall before they explode. Then he charges the Vader-Han, once again taking off his opponent's head in a single swipe. "He's such a showoff," Mara scoffs.

Tumbling under the security door just as it closes, Oola comes up face to face with Dr. Wy, who's operating the controls. Oola pulls her holdout blaster and shoots the not-so-good doctor. Ree heads for the door, intending to cut it open.

Over by the door, Z gropes the Chiss, distracting her from Kedrihm'Val coming up from behind to stun her. Lydia takes off Jek's arm; he passes out from the shock. Mara shoots Bresen a couple more times just to be sure. Everyone left standing in the room surrenders.

Zan helps Ree with Wy's security door. After they get it cut about halfway through, Kedrihm'Val delivers a savage kick that knocks the weakened metal in. Surrendering to the onslaught of lightsabers of righteous justice, Wy surrenders and deactivates the self-destruct. Oola looks over the controls while Ree ties up Wy.

Now is the time for systematic destruction: destroy the clone-tech and the genetic matierla, evacuate clones and captives in the three hours they've got before Thrawn arrives. Turns out, Luke brought the Jedi library ship for the evac. Kedrihm'Val grabs the Zeltron, who's still out. Z searches to find what the Zeltron brought with him: a Zeltron love potion, a chemical concoction that makes the imbiber temporarily fall in love with the first person they see. He doesn't want to give it up. "They wear off so quickly," Dalt says. "I mean, your mother-" Kedrihm'Val grabs Z's collar in his free hand. Ree snags the potion off him while he's distracted.

With everyone left alive, captive or not, on the ship, they vacate the premises with massive explosions trailing behind them. Oola didn't see fit to work in half-measures. There's nothing but a smoking crater where the base was by the time Thrawn arrives.

Wonder if he'll figure out who it was?

Safely in hyperspace, Kedrihm'Val makes SARR give back Dalt's lightsabers. Again. Luke confirms that what Kedrihm'Val felt before was the Grand Inquisitor searching for them, but they still don't know who sent Ree's vision about Zeth. By process of elimination, it's someone who isn't affiliated with the Imperials, but whom they wouldn't trust if the person simply revealed themselves. It's not Drath; he would've just kidnapped Zeth. Speaking of whom, Ree talks with Luke about Kyp.

SARR wants recognition for droids' part in saving the day. "Some droids like people!" Oola informs him as they argue. "Some gay pansy droids," SARR replies, eliciting a laugh out of Luke. Then he goes on about sentient robotic slaves races again. Z makes some snide comment about what a state they'd be in if droids became sentient. Dalt looks at him in disbelief. "Droids are sentient!"

At last, they get back to Coruscant, where they get to inform Kyp of what he missed. They'll be opening a few floors of the Jedi temple to accomodate all these clones until their new guests can decide what to do with their new lives. Zan reminds Ree that she now has 2000 new potential Jedi who owe her their freedome. "It's a movie waiting to happen," he teases her, then muses on how he's always wanted to write a script.

And they have a heaping helping of new people to add to the prison ship: Jek Schild, the Chiss, the Zeltron; and prisoners for the New Republic: Dr. Wy, Col. Gent, Lt. Seinar, the Admiral, Re-education personnel.

As they settle back in at home, they hear new rumblings from the Senate about acquiring Dalt's cloning technology to, what else, help the Alderaanians. Ree wonders why anybody would want it. "Ask Senator Sent," Onna quips. Kedrihm'Val adds dryly, "All you have to do is tell him they come back Force sensitive." He's concerned about Sent, to be honest. "He seemed nice enough when we met him before, but to be carrying this much anger toward the Jedi..." Ree agrees. She wants to open it back up for debate in Council, because Sent seems to be getting worse.
When Dalt comes back from visiting Kel to remind them of how magnificent his technology is, Kedrihm'Val takes the opportunity to inform him about the Alderaanians. Dalt's exasperated.

Maybe now they can finally get around to that dinner with Amidala.

Dangling plot threads

2008-04-04T14:04:00.002-04:00

Dathomir is mostly cleaned up, but Maul and Dalt collected a lot of bad stuff there that hasn't been accounted for.
Thule: the planet and fleet are dealt with, but spies remain. And Keldragga the Hutt was funneling money to Thule from various sponsors in Republic space.
The True Sith
The Sith space station: synchronous position with Yavin and Dathomir. Given that Z’s idea about ‘four pillars’ played out, are there any others?
They wanted to talk to Leia about Luke's cavalier attitude re: his father's clone. The clone's gone, but Luke's reaction remains to be seen.
Yoda: True Sith? Architect? Or are they the same thing?
The aliens that chased the Sin/Sent ship that crashed on Ree's planet.
House Mecetti from the Tapani Sector is corrupt, but they can't prove it. Yet.
They aren't sure whether they destroyed Severan's spirit or not.
They also aren't sure whether they destroyed Komok-Da's spirit or not.
Darth Whatsisface, aka Sith-in-a-box. Who is he, and where'd he come from?
In that maze they got dropped into on Chandrila, Dalt had a bunch of other lightsaber-wielding mysterious types helping him. Presumably those were the corrupt officials...but would those guys have had lightsabers? And how does it fit in with their latest go-round on Chandrila?
And by the way? There's still no explanation as to how there came to be a whole underground maze complex designed especially for them! ...Wait, how old was that place?
In the Emperor's private temple on that Dark Side moon, there was a brain--apparently the remnant of an ancient Sith Lord--hooked up to the system to keep it running. And considering the two ancient Sith spirits they found there, how old was that temple? Does it tie in with this whole True Sith thing?
Even though they know now why Dalt was originally on Miraluka, it doesn't explain how he hooked up with the Miraluka ambassador or where she got her crew of Dark Siders.
Dalt created some kind of shapechanging goo that he used to try to kidnap Jaina Solo. How much of that did he have?
Drath is selling alarming things to raise money. For what? An army? Information?

The Dalt Subsection:
- Dalt's Corporate Sector base, where he stowed marketable inventions.
- Clone!Dalt continues to live happily on Mrialuka with his lovely and slightly psychotic wife, Senal.
- Dalt's old notes from his Rodia base say that he believes he once detected traces of a Force star.
- Mutated Dark Side girl from Dalt's base.
- Dalt's still got more of the technological touch left than they'd realized. And he seems to be regaining many of his memories.
- He's nicer now, but Dalt has not forgotten about his Force Star.
- Oh, and the Imperials apparently want him back.
- Someone who looked like Dalt--another member of the Sent family?--was part of the crew of the Ossus ship, before he left to supposedly join the phantom ship that'd been bothering the slave traders. Could he be the missing older Sent brother?
- Raasik Sent is trouble.

The Imperial Remnant Subsection:
- Imperials and the slave ring: the Imperials were after Force users they could train up as their own Force sensitive forces against the Jedi (which, Dalt says, was part of the Shadow Academy's purpose). Thrawn's put an end to Imperial involvement, but that only means he's satisfied with what they've got. The Hutts were also involved, and were giving the Imperials the kind of money that could build fleets. They stopped that by blowing up the Bloody Spiral, but why were the Imperials involved? They still have the codes from Ja'len's stolen ship to slip into the Imperial Remnant.
- SARR copied the Chimera's computer data.
- A Chiss Dark Sider working for Thrawn.
- Who was Eidolon Base associating with, or what information did they have, that Thrawn felt moved to wipe out all 2000 inhabitants of a base loyal to his cause? And how did Eidolon Base know they were coming?
- Raasik Sent agitated the Alderaanians into public outrage, and now they're being manipulated by somebody. So far, there are connections between them and the Shadow Academy. And the Shadow Academy's seems to be working for the Imperials.
- Speaking of which, it's looking like various levels of Senate staff--especially the Alderaanian groups--seem to be riddled with Imperial spies.

The Abindosan Subsection:
- Abindosan's coral: it contains the DNA imprint of every biological entity in the galaxy. Part of the Blueprint? And it seems to form a sort of world-mind, interfacing with everything else on the planet. The Abindosani themselves appear to be part of the reef. What's the purpose of this, and how do their enemies want to use it?
- According to Dalt's detector, Tazarin'Ken had a large amount of coral at his base, but they didn't recover it when they dealt with him.
- On that same trip, before they stopped Tazarin'Ken's transmission, Dalt commented that something else was going on, too: "Something...unappealing." Did they take care of that?
- And on that same trip, they discovered the assassin droid that Maul has assigned to help Tazarin'Ken. Which means that Maul's plan is still in action. What was he doing, and does Drath have control of it now?
- Amalgated, in CorpSec, still possesses some Abindosani coral, where it's being used to "heal" people.
Where did those evil Force crystals come from that Severan kept feeding people?
There's a Dark Side cult on Coruscant with spooky relics. Probably worth looking into.
Three psychopathic Force-sensitive cyborgs serving as Darth Maul's "bodyguards" are unaccounted for.
They never learned from Luke and Kyp what they dug out of Vader’s Coruscant base. Some of it applied to Dalt.
Drath has a Dark Harvester device full of Iridonian energy, and another one that's still empty. Oh, and also a Sith ship full of all the goodies he picked up from Set Harth.
Speaking of goodies, Maul had bases, and they still don't know where most of them are. But Drath probably does.
They kinda just left Koyi's body lying dead on Ree's planet when they rushed off. Ree's family surely buried her, but y'know.
Speaking of clones: when Tazarin'Ken died, he left DNA strewn across the landscape (including on Z and Kedrihm'Val). In fact, let's list all the DNA Drath might have access to: Obi Wan, Mace Windu, Han Solo, Kedrihm'Val, Darth Vader, Dalt, Ree, Z, Oola, Onna, Zan, Luke, Kyp (if he was plotting ahead, he could've gotten samples from just about anyone on the crew or at the temple), any of the Imperial DNA that Dalt felt moved to share with Maul, Thrawn (not that he's stupid enough to use that)...
Apparently Grand High Inquisitor Tremaine is looking for them.
There's an army of battle droids lurking beneath Oola's home city on Ryloth.
A poison that can be set to trigger due to certain stimuli or emotional states. Exported from Kessel, used on Tatooine, apparently by the Imperial-associated Eidolon Base.

Let's list the unfortunate things the crew has collected in their exploits. Current location noted where I know of it:

A very old book permeated with the Dark Side from their very first adventure
The Emperor's shattered-then-rebuilt holocron and three-book collection of everything he knew about the Dark Side
The yay-big box with the evil orb—library ship
A holocron from Darth Vader, found in Ree's lightsaber—in Kyp’s possession
The records of Sith Lord Komok-Da, from the swamp planet—Jedi temple library
The spirits of two ancient Sith, in bottles, from the Emperor's Dark Side moon retreat
The "fragment of the Pulse" on Ree's planet—still on Ree’s planet
Evil lightsaber crystal-growing Dark Side tree
Powerful Dark Side lightsaber crystal, retrieved by the Sins
Another Sith holocron, found among Severan's things
The Sith hibernation coffin—Jedi temple
A chair that hooks up to the Oracle at Pelgrin
Darth Maul's body
Records and anything else Maul or Drath left on the underwater base from Abindosan
The Blueprint--Jedi temple
Map to an ancient Sith training facility on Ryloth--Jedi temple
The ARC trooper...droid...coral thing/guy--New Republic labs
The deed to Abindosan
Book of True Sith prophecies, last several pages missing

Current captives and additional notables, current location noted where I’m sure of it:

Sith-in-a-Box—prison ship
Additional Thule Force-user—prison ship
Jek Zillar, the Thule Force-user from Ree's stint as a spoiled brat
Officers from the Shadow Academy (many of the students were taken away for de-brainwashing)—prison ship
Nameless techno-Force-user boy—in residence at Jedi temple
Ezrek Dalt--if he still counts as a prisoner, out with the crew or working at Jedi temple
E'Val—downstairs in Jedi temple, being studied by scientists
The Miraluka ambassador and her Dark Side aide
Two Imperial Inquisitors from their Alderaan adventure
Darth Maul--in a rock
Cyndal--prison ship
Iako Orn, Imperial Guard--prison ship
Cho Balu and Cas Roke, Imperial spies among Alderaanian faction--New Republic custody
Dren Wert, Imperial operative from Chandrila--New Republic custody
Firith Olan, Tatooine crime lord who's really somebody else
Jek Schild, Force-sensitive Imperial operative from Tapani Sector--prison ship
Chiss Dark Sider working for Thrawn--prison ship
Rade the evil Zeltron--prison ship
Dr. Wy--New Republic custody
Col. Gent--New Republic custody
Lt. Seinar--New Republic custody

Abindosan Rescue Mission Concludes

2008-04-04T09:22:00.005-04:00

After Lady Arabella, the House Head of Barnaba, takes custody of the deed, Z points out that people will undoubtedly continue trying to steal it. They set up a meeting with her to discuss its safekeeping.

She wants to know who wants this thing and why, of course. They explain that Grand Admiral Thrawn and Drath are both after the planet, but the specific reasons are, sadly, classified (and considering it may well have to do with the Blueprint, they're not lying, either). "It's dangerous," Ree sums up for her quite succinctly. Arabella considers this for a moment, then hands them the deed. "It's yours," she tells them. When Ree stammers her surprise, Lady Arabella explains that this is nothing she wants her House embroiled in. The deed, and the planet, will be safer with the Jedi.

On the way back to Coruscant, Ree dreams of stepping through the doors of the Jedi temple and seeing the place empty. There's coral growing from the walls.

Disturbed and disgruntled, she wakes and gets up to get some coffee. "Meatbag insomnia?" SARR asks her.
"I had a vision," she explains.
"Ah. Magic meatbag insomnia," he corrects himself.
"There was coral in the temple," she tells him.
"I wonder what that could mean," SARR ponders conspicuously.
"Are you waterproof?" Ree asks him pointedly.

She calls Luke, who reports nothing unusual, and shares her vision with him. His eyes flutter closed for a second, then "Just a moment," he tells her, getting up to ostentatiously check the hall outside. "Nope, everything looks fine," he reassures her with a grin.

SARR continues being a jackass. When Ree wonders if everything's really okay, he reassures her that the Jedi tend to land on their feet. "It's almost as if they've got some kind of sixth sense..."

About fifteen minutes after Ree goes back to bed, Kedrihm'Val is up from the same dream. SARR tells him Ree had the same dream, then ponders, "I wonder what that could mean." Following a hunch, Kedrihm'Val stays up for a little while. Sure enough, Lydia comes out about fifteen minutes later, then Dalt ten minutes after that (Dalt: "I had a vision...and also needed to pee."). Each time, continuing to be a jackass, SARR wonders aloud, "I wonder what that could mean." When Dalt asks if the temple knows, SARR tells him, "She called the head magic meatbag, who said *hhhhhhhhhh*" Dalt stares at him. "Too much?" asks SARR.

There's little else to do, so everyone goes back to bed. Ree almost immediately has another dream: in the coral-covered temple, she senses Drath, and someone else. Following the sounds of a lightsaber duel to the Council chamber, she finds Kyp fighting against a Dark Sider with cybernetic implants. She recognizes him as the Grand High Inquisitor Tremaine.

Up again for another cup of coffee, she shares this development with SARR, who points out, "Well, since Master Skywalker said it was fine, I'm pretty sure the Grand High Inquistor isn't roaming the halls."

Again, the others are up in turn with the same vision. While they're sharing their story, Z wakes up and stumps through. "I had a dream," he declares, apparently figuring everybody's up and staring at him in something like horror because they're waiting breathlessly to hear about the latest Chronicles of the Inside of Z's Head. They all breathe a sigh of relief when he describes to them how he was magnificently trashing bad guys in a giant free-for-all street brawl.

And then look faintly sick again when he tells them about this crazy blue-skinned cyborg guy with a lightsaber he had an awesome fist fight with.

After Z wanders back to bed, Dalt shakes off his existential dread. "It's probably just bleedover," he tells Kedrihm'Val, who's still looking a bit shell-shocked. "Think about it, there are how many Force users on this ship, and we all had the same dream at almost the same time? I'm sure it's just bleedover." "I'm afraid to shut down in case I have it too," SARR says, deadpan. "Oo. Ee. Oo."

As they swing in for final approach to Coruscant, Kedrihm'Val seems to see the traffic patterns flicker for a second into the pattern of a coral lattice. He makes a sort of startled noise, and Lydia tells him she's seeing it too. So's Dalt, apparently, who thinks it might be the coral trying to reach out and connect with the lifeforms of the planet it's currently on. The effect seems to be beneficial: crime has calmed down, people are feeling more in tune with each other than usual. Kedrihm'Val finds it rather homey. Even Z demonstrates unusual consideration for his fellow beings by not firing up his jetpack in the temple when Ree comments that they'd better check on the coral quickly.

They hunt up Luke, who says that 75% of the temple's inhabitants have had the dream about the Grand Inquisitor. Ree wonders why they had it on the ship, if it's the coral projecting something. Kedrihm'Val points to him. Luke comments that Force users in general tend to form empathic bonds, and says this might be why the crew works so well together. "That explains why Z had it," Ree answers. Luke looks faintly horrified.

Kedrihm'Val drops in on his evil clone, to find it surrounded by a field of ysalamiri. The Jedi left a space clear of the little buggers just around the clone, since apparently he starts, um, melting if severed from the Force. Kedrihm'Val resists the temptation to knock one of the ysalamiri stands a bit closer.

Everyone finds invitations from Padme Amidala for a dinner, "whenever convenient." She's familiar with the scheduling vagaries of busy Jedi. Ree talks to Kyp, who also looks aghast at the thought of Z sharing the dream. He's doing okay after visiting Kessel, he says; the place isn't what it used to be. They spend some time together.

Z is dismayed by his own mellowness, and worries about the effect of all these feel-good vibes on the show. They'd better get the coral back to Abindosan quickly. It seems to mean well and all, but this isn't where it belongs. It's a good sign that it's reaching out like this, because not only will that make it easier to get the information back in the reef where it belongs, but it's also having a patently positive effect on people, which means that whatever the corruption has done, it hasn't influenced the coral too badly. The computer core will need a power source so they can activate it to transmit the data. Dalt snags a tide-powered generator for the purpose.

And then it's back to Abindosan. Dalt asks Kedrihm'Val to commune with the coral and make sure it hasn't gone all tech-happy during its exposure to Coruscant. It seems fine. Kedrihm'Val talks to the elders, who tell them they trust him to take care of it, and then he does the ritual to summon the Vodne while the others set up the rig. "Tell them not to attack the magic balls," Z tells Kedrihm. "They're good magic balls. Haha!" "Shut UP!" Dalt snaps at him.

After SARR acts like a jackass some more, Z asks whether a droid could become sentient if they're exposed to this coral. Amazed at how much must've gone over Z's head for him to say such a thing, Kedrihm'Val blinks at him, then looks at Dalt. "Droids are sentient," Dalt says. He looks at SARR. "They can also be dicks." Z makes a smart-mouthed comment back at him, leading naturally to Dalt making a Your Mom crack. Recognizing the inevitable, Kedrihm'Val grabs Z.

Z's mother must've been an impressive woman for her son to defend her honor so zealously.

Dalt warns them they'd better stay on their guard. This could take anywhere from a day to a week, and their enemies are likely to come around and try to mess with the transfer. Some Abindosani help stand watch and Ree calls in a couple of Jedi ships to hold orbit around the planet.

That night, Ree wakes from a dream of torrential downpours outside and all the Abindosani passed out. She shakes Kedrihm'Val awake right about as it starts to rain outside. Shortly after that, the Abindosani start passing out. Dalt, looking pleased, explains that he inserted a virus scrub into the system. Checking Kedrihm'Val and the others, Lydia verifies that they all look healthy--healthier than she's ever seen an Abindosani. Dalt's trick seems to be working. "I hope they're okay," he replies. "I could never commit genocide when I wanted to..." Lydia points out, "The bad news is an entire planet of backup is unconscious if anything happens."

But nothing does. By the next day, the Dark Side taint that the Force users always sense in the background on this planet isn't even noticeable anymore. Kedrihm'Val wakes up feeling rather great. After they explain what happened, he leaves to speak with some people about throwing his friends a party. The Abindosani are in a celebratory mood and this is, after all, what they originally sent him out for.

Dalt is quite pleased by all the attention.

They head back to Coruscant a day or so later. Sadly, though the coral's influence calmed them down for a little while, the news shows that the Alderaanians are getting a bit rowdier again.

Ree has another vision that night: she sees Admiral Pellaeon giving some routine orders to a lieutenant, Thrawn standing in the background. Something about the young officer looks terribly familiar to her. The vision cuts to Pellaeon and Thrawn talking in the officer's mess, and then later (as in, it won't happen for about two weeks yet), Pellaeon strides quickly onto the bridge (a brisk walk is Pellaeon-speak for "Holy CRAP sir!") to hand Thrawn a datapad containing a roster of the clone material they got from Admiral Daala. The last name Durron is highlighted.

"Apparently they have a clone of Master Durron's brother, and they'll figure out that fact in about two weeks," she tells Oola the next time she sees her. "You can call him Kyp, you know." "Why are we talking about that?!" Ree asks.

She places a call to Luke. "Just a second," Luke tells her, then makes a show of looking around the room. "Looks okay," he tells her. The humor goes away quickly when Ree tells him why she called. He promises he'll keep Kyp away from the scene. He'll meet them when they land. Reassured as much as she can be, for the moment, Ree goes back to bed. And has another dream, of two possible futures, depending on how this thing with Kyp's brother works out. Either she'll end up sitting down to a nice dinner with them, or else he and Kyp will wind up in a knockdown-dragout lightsaber fight.

Kedrihm'Val is awakened by the sense of someone psychically divining the ship's location. It's no one he knows, but obviously someone saturated in the Dark Side. Focusing on memories of Tatooine, he feeds the observer the impression that they're on their way there rather than back to Coruscant, then goes to tell Ree, waking her out of her vision. Wondering if they can get an idea of who this new person is, Kedrihm'Val suggests calling Malina to see if she can keep an eye on Tatooine to see if anybody comes in looking for them.

Luke sends Kyp on an errand when he gets the message that the Starwind's coming in to land. Meeting them at the port, he tells Ree that the Imperials clone their officers at a certain facility, where some officers are grown carefully to avoid the usual clonal instability. If they move fast, the crew can probably get there in time to intercept. He'll send them Zan, and they'll take Dalt because if this involves cloning technology, at this point there's no telling whether that installation is still using Spaarti, Kaminoan, Dalt's own technology (Dalt bemoans his technology "working for just anyone" as though it'd cheated on him), or Drath's skewed adaptation of it.

The crew has just enough time to see to a few details before they get shipped out. The location they're sent to is a hidden base that dates from the Rebellion; the New Republic uses it as a staging point for clandestine maneuvers. Zan's waiting for them on the landing pad to brief them.

Next up: the glamorous world of interstellar espionage, and Ree flies to the rescue of her boyfriend's sibling!

Wrecking Up the Tapani Sector

2008-04-03T21:09:00.004-04:00

They lose the tracker signal leaving hyperspace. By the time they arrive in the Tapani Sector, Erin has discovered that Grand Moff Tarkin's clan are involved in this somehow, but the paper trail is obscured. Ree calls Commander Teris, who is not overjoyed to hear from them considering what happened last time, but is willing to help. He grudgingly agrees to help hunt down the person who holds the deed, and suggests they check the central real estate agency.

Ree tries to gently explain to Kedrihm'Val about buying and owning planets. He still thinks it's weird, but he's accustomed himself to the notion well enough to handle the thought of buying his world back. Whatever it takes to keep it safe. Oola tells him he has three million credits in his account, as well as the Krayt pearl. But why is Sienar involved? They're connected to the Empire and Thrawn, right? Are they spying on Drath?

Onna calls in a favor to get a meeting with House Barnaba, which owns Abindosan. The planet isn't valued highly on the deed, so she holds out hope that this won't be too complex. The deed is in the possession of one Sien Torenns, a spoiled rich girl who seems to be bent on having fun and looking good while doing it. Her financial assistant is Trista Graf, a woman with her head far more firmly attached. Onna warns them not to try to explain anything; just express interest--to the tune of 1.5 million credits. Trista comments in their first meeting that it's odd how everyone is suddenly interested in this planet. She's had two other parties query her about it so far.

It seems like a sensible idea to hunt down these "other parties," since the good money is on them being representatives of Drath and the Empire. Z wants to bribe some House employees, because servants are likely to see a lot. He sets Ree on the job by feeding her a story that happens to be true: "Your mistress is dealing with dangerous people."

The maid swallows that readily, because "How many hooded people do you have to deal with before you realize something is wrong?" She describes a human female and a Bothan who've come to visit Sien so far. Ree talks her into checking the Lady's appointment book for those two, and learns that Sien is meeting tomorrow morning with the Bothan, and tonight with a "Jek Schild" at an art gallery. The gallery is owned by a friend of Sien's named Meetha Orn. Apparently Jek disturbs Sien, she she's keeping him clear of her own house.

INON runs a check on Schild. He's young, but an older Schild, a widower, worked on the Death Star. Could be this guy is his son.

They finagle invitations to tonight's exhibit, which is ironically Alderaanian art, a fair amount of it created by Meetha herself. Looking around at the gallery, they notice that the artiste in question spends a lot of time around Schild. SARR tells them that he hates Alderaanians.

Sien and Meetha are both hanging around a lot with a charismatic young man who looks maybe in his mid-twenties. He lurks closer to Meetha than Sien, and Meetha positively drips off him. It's easy to overhear him telling her about how heartles the New Republic is. They've been positively cruel to the Alderaanians. She practically swoons in horror, and Sien buys in with visible schadenfreude.

Z: "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think we need more information." This guy is obviously playing the two women, and Trista clearly finds the whole display disgusting. When Jek mentions going to a back room to complete a business transaction, Ree grabs Dalt and sends him at Meetha to ask about a painting. Oddly enough, he does rather fit in with the limp-wristed artsy crowd. Dalt does it the easy way and simply Force-whammies the woman. "Now what?" he asks Ree. "That was my plan," Ree tells him. "'Do something.'"

Z, failing his Wisdom check, walks up to Trista and asks her, "Is your name Cloudstrider?" She says, "No," of course, so he punches her in the stomach, snatches her satchel, and breaks for the window.

Jek follows him out as Z leaps for a speeder but gets held up by Ree's confrontation of him. "I know who you are and who you're working for," she tells him. "Really?" he asks, clearly amused. "Who?" "I know who you are," she repeats, more emphatically.

Kedrihm, meanwhile, spots a Bothan pursuing Z and grabs another speeder. He's not a great pilot, by any means, but he's able to make the thing go forward long enough to get within range to drain the energy from the Bothan's speeder. Z launches skyward with his jetpack; Kedrihm notices that he left the satchel on his speeder, which is quietly following his trajectory, keeping close to the ground.

Jek doesn't care who Ree thinks he is; he points out to her that her friends are thieves. Ree has to vacate when she sees security forces heading their way; she leaps up to the shadows on the roof of the building. Jek looks a little surprised; without her robes, he didn't notice she was a Jedi.

Kedrihm'Val shuts off the Bothan's speeder; the Bothan jumps an improbable distance to grab hold of Z in mid-air. So it's a Force user. Kedrihm comms Ree to fill her in, then leaps downward to Z's speeder, where he finds that Z has mined the satchel and coded it so that only INON can open it. Jek, on another speeder with Meetha on the back, catches up to Kedrihm'Val, who refuses (quite reasonably, all things considered) to turn the bag over. Meetha draws a pistol on him.

Commander Teris arrives at the gallery. "You're a handsome man," Dalt quips, noting the family resemblance. SARR, unsupervised, steals a large number of small, valuable objects, while Oola, somewhat more focused, steals the security tapes.

Kedrihm snatches up the bag, leaps off the speeder, and runs back toward the building at Force speed. Ree swings in behind him with Jek and Meetha in pursuit. Teris arrests everybody on general principles.

Unnoticed because they haven't raised a ruckus, Dalt and SARR slip out while security takes care of everyone else. Kedrihm'Val tells the Commander about Z and the Bothan, figuring the Bothan might've followed them back to.

In fact, Z groped her, pepper-sprayed her, and let her run, and then he returned to the ship.

After Lydia points out that SARR, Z, and Dalt are their rescue party, Kedrihm'Val reminds them that Dalt is, after all, Force-sensitive. It's not like they're incommunicado. So Ree sends a telepathic message to Dalt asking them not to stage a rescue--yet.

After freaking out at them, Commander Teris gives them 24 hours to return the deed. Turns out, it's not in the satchel. When they get back to the ship, Ree in turn freaks out at Z. Kedrihm'Val cuts in to ask where he actually put the deed. "In my crotch," Z tells him. "Where no one will ever touch it," Dalt quips.

There's a message from Luke, casually wondering why the Jedi are getting reports of someone blasting out of CorpSec and committing crimes in the Tapani Sectory. "Call when you can," he finishes.

Z wants to take off with the deed right now. Dalt points out that it won't help. It's just a piece of paper; Sien can get another one notarized.

So they hunt down information on Jek Schild instead. He's a citizen of the Imperial Remnant, possibly a government employee--the uncertainty of which is an indicator in itself. If he's the Imperial spy, then that means the Bothan is working for Drath. They turn that information over to Teris, who "strongly suggests" to Sien that she not sell the deed, since it's likely to start a war. When Meetha continues pressuring her to sell it, Kedrihm'Val explains that it's his world, and that his people will be in danger if either the Imperials or the, spirits forbid, the Sith get their hands on it.

The Head of House Barnaba is an intensely moral woman, who is not keen on endangering a planet full of innocent people or having her House embroiled in the middle of an interstellar incident. The planet will be a hot commodity in the Tapani Sector after this, so she takes custody of the deed herself to make sure no...accidents happen.

Which is the best they can hope for, for the moment. Returning once again to the ship, Ree finds another message waiting from Luke: "Hey, this is just Grandmaster Skywalker again, calling to see if everything's okay." When she calls back, he innocently answers, "Why, Ree. What've you been up to lately?" Once she gives him the story, Luke seems actually fairly pleased. For him, this probably counts as smooth sailing. Luke tells her that Kyp is on the way back. They've found some stuff on Kessel, but nothing pertaining to what they went for.

Then they receive a message from Commander Teris: "We've found some things missing from the art gallery." Ree turns to the others. "Has anyone accidentally...stolen anything?" When SARR is ostentatiously startled by the things that fell into his storage compartments, Ree growls, "Honestly, pickpocketing Dalt is one thing..." "Wha?" Dalt asks. "That's why your lightsaber keeps going missing," Kedrihm'Val explains helpfully. "And your wallet," Oola adds. "That's Oola, actually," Kedrihm'Val corrects her with a dry expression.

Creating Chaos in CorpSec

2008-04-03T20:11:00.004-04:00

Kedrihm'Val and Dalt both remain tense about E'Val. Dalt considers it an abomination, and says this is pretty much the sort of thing that happens when you clone an Abindosani imperfectly. Ree has no advice when Kedrihm asks her for her opinion.

Oola has determined that the signal leads to Arken Multinode AgriCorp, a group handling farm supplies and products, and several fast food companies. It seems to be a fairly aboveboard operation, but it is CorpSec. Republic jurisdiction doesn't extend there.

Z: "Are we taking TechnoGay?"
Ree: "Well, we are visiting one of his-"
Z: "Haha, you knew who I meant!"

Leia arranges permits and travel papers for them. Ree promises to try to be discreet. "Given who I'm married to," Leia responds, "I have no expectations." When Ree asks what Han did, Leia mutters something about blowing up floating prisons, then says, "Whatever you do, don't mention his name." Dalt is familiar with CorpSec, and Oola knows some people. Looks like they're sitting pretty.

After they play 'follow the bouncing transmission,' the signal ends at Amalgamated Pharmaceuticals, one of CorpSec's top outfits. They're a big exploration group that explores planets for useful chemicals and other such items. Dalt tells them these guys aren't aboveboard in the least. The own about 600 systems outside CorpSec, which they exploit brutally for profit. Currently, they're holding an expo for their various products and services, so it won't be hard to slip in. They arrange false IDs as rubes, as SARR puts it: wealthy but clueless investors desperate for a 'good cause' to throw money at. Ree and Z will play the wealthy couple, and Lydia will fill in as their impressionable young niece. Oola, Onna, Dalt, and Kedrihm'Val are their entourage.

Some of the group find themselves uncomfortable with the level of opulence at the hotel they book. Z, however, makes up for any possible gaffe on anyone else's part by portraying an outstanding reckless playboy.

There are CorpSec security swarming the place in riot gear. Millennium Entertainments dominates the displays at the expo, featuring ads for Primal Justice and the movies. Bank of the Core is more discreet but ubiquitous, and ZZip Product Concepts advertises all sorts of custom-made luxury goods for the wealthy. Galaxy Publishing has apparently been hired by the Hutts to improve their public image, which it turns out is not actually possible, though they give it their best shot. The group are given invitations by all and sundry, sorting through them to find likely targets, especially anything relating to the Amalgamated.

Z hauls Kedrihm'Val to Millennium Entertainment's booth while the others head to Amalgamated. He wants to show him the teasers for next season, which apparently introduce a love interest for Kedrihm'Val's character who's an upper-class police woman. He buys Kedrihm a "By the beards of my ancestors" shirt.

Ree, meanwhile, frets over Kyp. "I hope he's okay." "They sent him with Han, Chewbacca, and Lando," Dalt replies. "You should hope Kessel's okay."

Amalgamated's showcase is a cylinder filled with water. They demonstrate how you can immerse an injured person and they are quickly healed to almost perfect health. To the Force users, it's as if the person's pattern is reset to their ideal condition. The core component of this device, the product demonstrators proudly declare, is located on only one planet. "Won't that make access difficult?" Ree asks. "It depends on who owns the planet by the end," she's told. The demonstrator avoids being engaged in further discussion about the contents of the cylinder, so Ree asks about a tour. While the booth operator looks into that, the crew discusses the buying and selling of planets. SARR suggests they'd better look into the history of Abindosan.

The tour is scheduled for tomorrow morning. Oola has Z buy some movie merchandise for her that she doesn't own yet. When the group collects again in their rooms, Ree tells them she suspects they're using coral to translate the information to heal people. If they can buy Oola's droids time to retrieve the computer core they stored the reef information on... Z says he can do that easily; he'll just act like a total jerk so everyone has to kowtow to his every whim.

Kedrihm is concerned about the use of the coral. The information from the reef has to be the first priority, they can at least look into getting the coral out.

Things go pretty smoothly. Oola's droids head back to the ship with the core. The droid they attached Dalt's coral detector to didn't get a bead on any (though it did register Kedrihm'Val), but it picked up something else: four people gathered around a holo relay--three Amalgamated staff and one Seinar Tech representative (Severan's old corporation), talking to Drath via uplink about getting the deed to Abindosan. He schedules a rendezvous in the Tapani Sector. Someone has apparently owned the planet since the time of the Old Republic, and the deed at some point made its way to the Houses of the Tapani Sector.

They send a message back to Coruscant about looking up records of Abindosan. Oola notes that their message is intercepted, and tracks a cloaked ship along the transmission path. They can't get identifying marks with its cloak up, but Dalt suggests scanning for gravity fields, which shows that it's a very small ship: too small to be Drath's. Oola sneaks up and levels an ion cannon at it, which knocks out the cloak and reveals it to be a Sienar design--Dalt's technology.

Ree wonders aloud if they're in trouble. "We're not in trouble if we kill them," Dalt points out. Compromising, they try to capture the ship, but the thing powers up to avoid them. It dodges Oola's shots at its engine with uncanny dexterity, marking the pilot as a Force user. By this time, they're drawing attention from CorpSec security, so Oola sits Dalt down and makes him help as she fires a tracker at the little vessel and then they clear out.

Z attacks the security ships to hold them off, and they chase their small target out of the sector. It's running hard to prepare for hyperspace. Oola locks in its final coordinates, and sure enough, it's heading for the Tapani Sector. Ree resends her earlier message to Erin and then they jump to hyperspace and follow it out.

Coral on the Brain

2008-04-03T16:16:00.002-04:00

Ree gets back to investigating the ARC trooper they captured during the Festival.

The technicians who've been interrogating and studying him say that he seems to be a droid. They don't know where he came from or who was running him. It was set to wipe its instructions if it was captured, and is extraordinarily well-programmed. Ree asks Oola to take a look, but she's unable to discover much more. The droid's construction is a very strange mix of mechanical and organic. In fact, she tells Ree, it strikes her as "Dalt's sort of weird." She's right; Dalt finds it intriguing, and agrees to look into it further.

While he works on that, the crew heads back out to Eidolon Base with a New Republic team, but when they get there, they find the whole place wrecked. There were 2000 inhabitants: they're all dead. Lightsabers and toxic gas killed them. Oola's able to retrieve some more information from their computer, and they gather some personal effects and diaries to get an idea of what happened, but their best first guess seems to be the right one. Thrawn sent someone out to do 'clean-up.'

Dalt doesn't even wait for them to reach Coruscant, calling them in transit on the way back to tell them that it's the weirdest android ever. "It's insane technology," he tells them, and he means it quite literally. This thing is not a cyborg; it's a person who was made into a robot. An organic lifeform modified to work with technology. "A brain scan might work better on it than a computer scan," he says. He theorizes that it was programmed to watch them extensively, and it got so bored that it made a game of the task in its own mind. Hence the games with Ree and so on. He has more to tell them when they arrive, but he doesn't think he should share it over a commlink. Something about his descriptions leaves Kedrihm'Val feeling uneasy. Ree doesn't notice; she's feeling too sick over all the death they've encountered recently. Z and Onna are concerned about her.

They drop in on Dalt as soon as they get back. "Whoever did this didn't have a firm grip on science," he tells them, showing them the...remains. Its organs are carved with sigils. A piece of coral is embedded in its brain. Kedrihm'Val recognizes it all immediately as Abindosani.

The strange being has Dalt wondering what happens to Abindosani when they die, and just how they're connected to that coral. The tainted coral begins influencing Abindosani who stay near it for too long, Kedrihm tells him, having felt such an effect himself. How far that twisting could go, he doesn't know and isn't keen to find out. But he remembers that Dalt wasn't the only Force user interested in such subjects; Maul experimented extensively on Kedrihm's people too. Hunting through all the artifacts and documents they retrieved from the underwater base that made its way to Dathomir, he finds Maul's lab records from those experiments.

Maul tortured Abindosani Force users before killing them. At first, he wanted to see if their spirits would be drawn back to the reefs when they died. Then, figuring that since torturing good people could just as easily bring out their best qualities--courage, hope--as their worst ones, Maul posited using that to herd and concentrate whatever taint lurked in the reefs. He theorized that a Dark Sider native to the planet would grow more powerful as the reefs grow darker, and that by carrying a piece of coral, an Abindosani Force user could remain linked to his planet no matter where he went.

He looked for Abindosani Dark Siders to help him with his project. There are some, as Kedrihm'Val explains to the others, but most of them are simply hostile and anti-social, which was no use to Maul. He wanted someone who delved into the Dark Side because they were awful, not because they couldn't control themselves. He found only one promising candidate: Tazorin'Ken, a man with an unhealthy fascination with technology.

Kedrihm'Val knows the name, but it's hard for him to believe. The figure of Tazorin'Ken is almost legendary. He lived over a hundred years ago; parents use tales of him to frighten their children into behaving. Of course, Kedrihm'Val has seen stranger things, at this point, and on the other hand, it could simply be a different person using the same name. In any case, Tazorin'Ken agreed to work with Maul, performing experiments like this...bio-droid on Imperial soldiers. On the tapes, Maul muses that he never understood why the Abindosani were so anti-tech. Tazorin'Ken seems to have taken the idea of breaking that taboo and run with it; he sees technology as being more perfect than nature. The cyborg fishmen the crew ran into on Abindosan before were Tazorin's. Maul simply used the tools he found at hand, though he thought he could achieve better results, given more time, and found Tazorin's work rather unaesthetic, but promising.

This casts an even grimmer light on the damage to Abindosan, and makes healing Kedrihm'Val's planet a priority. Kedrihm'Val gets Dalt and Cilghal together to see if they can come up with any ideas. Dalt has several, but they're all in conceptual stages at the moment. Still, they're pretty certain this can be done without destroying whatever personality or mind is at work in the coral.

Before leaving for Abindosan, Kedrihm stops to talk to Zan, who helped heal the Vodne before. He says that Force Light does help, but the taint is more like a disease. He tells Ree that the Council will send someone to keep an eye on Kessel and hunt up what they can learn about that poison that killed Zay. Then he asks Kedrihm'Val what he expects to find on Abindosan. "Hopefully nothing," Kedrihm tells him. "I expect to find a man pretending to be a bogeyman who has drafted a few Dark Siders to his ends. I fear I'll find a bogeyman who has cyborged himself and organized people toward his goals using knowledge Darth Maul gave him."

Dalt comes along for this trip. He brings the coral-scanner he created in CorpSec so they can search for a heap of coral that isn't in the oceans where it belongs. SARR recommends not wandering blithely into a place that someone might have held for hundreds of years. Kedrihm agrees. He plans to talk to people first and see if word of mouth can give them any idea of what to expect.

Ree talks to people too. They may be primitive, but there's a limit to their superstitions. Tazarin'Ken is a child's story, but they're willing enough to tell her the stories. Kedrihm'Val explains to the elders that it may be someone using his name, which they can believe more readily and are somewhat concerned about.

Oola detects a concentration of coral about four days into the forests out of the remnants of the Imperial base. She also picks up three lifeforms and an odd electrical signal coming from that location. There's a village about two days out in that direction. They leave SARR and INON with the ship while they scope things out from the village.

When they camp the first night, Kedrihm'Val gets a strange staticky feeling in his head. Ree and Lydia sense it too, though not as keenly. It's almost like telepathic feedback. Ree tries to get a clearer sense of it, but she can only tell that it leads toward the ocean. When she suggests that Kedrihm'Val try it, he passes out as he successfully taps into the signal.

"It's a computer," declares Dalt after listening for a bit. "They're hacking the planet like a computer." Lydia is able to wake Kedrihm, who tells them the information is being drained from the reef. It's heading toward dawn by that point, so they decide to pack up and head toward the village. Kedrihm'Val notices that none of the animals that should be out and about at night are anywhere to be seen or heard.

They reach the village at dawn. Everyone there is unconscious, locked into the signal. It's being sent through them like a radar dish. There are tracks all around, all belonging to the same person over several days. Whoever they are, they were moving faster than a normal human, and with a limp, as Tazarin'Ken was said to have. He apparently comes down sometimes to check on people, especially the more Force-sensitive ones, as though he were fine-tuning a remote receptor.

Dalt asks Kedrihm'Val what information is being taken from the reefs. Kedrihm tries again to tap into the signal, more delicately this time, and finds himself muttering aloud in the Architect language. Dalt says it's "science stuff," then goes on a bit about sentient Architect reefs and Kedrihm'Val's people as coral-droids, sentient feelers evolved and sent out by the reefs to go out and pick up experiences and new information. Kedrihm'Val asks if it's the same with the Mon Calamari. Dalt says perhaps, and it could be a similar thing with Ithor as well, maybe even Dathomir or Kessel. But what kedrihm'Val got out of that data stream wasn't the core information; Dalt thinks it sounded more like a firewall. He might still be trying to break in.

That night--the signal obviously travels better at night--Kedrihm accidentally taps into the signal again, better this time. Tazarin'Ken is obviously reading the reef's mind. Enormous amounts of information are being transmitted.

The next day, they head up toward what seems to be the man's installation. Four hours out from it, Kedrihm'Val spots a dart trap. Z disables it, then has Dalt take a look. The thorn is wired with tiny thrusters as a heat-seeker. Meanwhile, checking her sensors, Oola sees signs of a broadcasting signal. He must be transmitting the information he gets from the reefs somewhere else. Off-planet. It's heading out toward the Outer Rim. Dalt says there's something else bad going on here; "Something...unappealing."

Kedrihm'Val and Z dismantle a pit trap and then a 'shoot an angry animal at someone's face' trap. It looks like a sort of cyberized badger. As they get closer to the installation, Kedrihm snags some hair the man left on his trail so they can check it later. Z climbs a tree for a better look, and spots a big satellite dish, a couple of huts, and large cables running between them. A n old-looking man wearing skins and extensive cybernetic adaptations is puttering about with two patched-together destroyer droids in tow and a new-model assassin droid. Either the assassin droid or the old man is giving orders.

They contact SARR to have him try to track the signal before they blow up the dish. SARR doesn't find any dish registering on the ship's sensors, but the signal is easy to track outside the atmosphere. He says he can reverse the signal and overload the dish.

The crew skulks closer to the installation. Kedrihm warns them to keep an eye out for modified plants, and sure enough, they're all over the place. Z suggests taking an ion blaster to the whole thing, but Ree wants to bring the old man out. The plan: cut the cables leading to the dish, use the Force to float two grenades over to the destroyer droids so they get inside their shields, and take on the man and the assassin droid themselves. But upon reconning the place a bit more, they find that the cables lead into two people who are hooked into the system somehow. Cutting those cables might kill them. After Kedrihm'Val reminds Oola of her little droids, she sends them to investigate the people. One is apparently a relay; the other is a power source, drawing power out of the reef.

Z arranges blazing electronic death, daisy-chaining a series of ion grenades together. He fires his rocket pack to fly right into the installation, Kedrihm'Val and Ree leaping in behind him. The assassin droid turns on a double-bladed lightsaber and attacks Ree, who cuts it in half. Tazarin'Ken makes a run for the forest, but Z brings him down first, ramming him into the ground. Knowing Z's about to get lightning-bolted by an angry Dark Sider, he chases after, kicking the guy in the head.

Instead, Tazarin lets out some weird howl, summoning a bearlike animal that's been modified to about twice its normal size and had two extra arms cybernetically attached. It's 22 feet high! Ree calls helpfully, "It's not as big as the Krayt Dragon!" Kedrihm'Val retorts, "I can't reach its sinuses." Oola hits the bear-thing with a knife-droid. After Tazarin nearly gets loose a second time, Z unloads his flechette launcher into Tazarin'Ken's head at point-blank range, leaving him and Kedrihm soaked in gore.

Kedrihm'Val: *spit* "Thank you, Z." Z: "You're welcome. Or are you being facetious?" Kedrihm'Val: "Mostly." Z: "Are you proud of me for knowing that word?"

Ree attacks the bear, smoothly removing its left arm and head.

The poor souls Tazarin'Ken hooked into his machines are nothing but burnt-out husks. Oola is able to track the signal's coordinates into CorpSec after following it through a couple of relay stations. Dalt reminds them that Maul had a base there. Ree reminds Dalt that he did, too, but Dalt doesn't recall doing such a thing. He laments the devastation of the Dark Sider, wondering what they might've learned from him if he'd stayed in one piece.

Oola checks the assassin droid's brain. It's a tough crack, but she makes it in. Maul sent it to advise Tazarin. He was after this information because these reefs hold DNA coding for every lifeform in the galaxy. That seems like a far-fetched claim, but Dalt thinks it might be the DNA for their final evolutionary forms. Why is it there, though? Another component of the Blueprint? Maybe the Blueprint holds the record of worlds, and Abindosan's reefs hold the records of lifeforms?

They'd placed the villagers on nutrient support. Kedrihm'Val reminds them they should disconnect that before anyone wakes up. When he comments on clearing out the abominated flora that Tazarin'Ken left behind, Dalt suggests that SARR use the ship to do a controlled burn. This pleases SARR.

They return the two burnt-out captives to Kedrihm'Val's people who, as Kedrihm warned they would, pretty much offer the opinion that they're dead in the ways that matter. Let them go and give them a funeral pyre.

Ree checks on the reef before they leave. The parts that were the most damaged in the previous go-round seem to be find now. She leaves some Force crystals with the Abindosani, who say they'll try to get them to the Vodne, who can probably do a better job with them. After setting Dalt and Oola to look over the recordings they've taken, she calls Luke, who tells her she'll be expected at a Council meeting.

On the way back to Coruscant, the Alderaanian groups are in the news again. "Eventually someone will have to talk to Senator Sent," Ree muses. "I'll go," offers Dalt with a laugh. Commenting on the Sent family resemblance, Z: "Can't wipe away ugly."
Dalt: *silence*
Kedrihm'Val: *moves to sit next to Z.*
Ree: "Z, that was uncalled for."
*pause*
Dalt: "I tried with your mother."
Kedrihm'Val grabs Z.

SARR asks about the reef data. It wasn't copied, but actually removed. It needs to go back in, but how do they do that? They might have to hook up some coral to the computer to, er, translate. But...Maul just wanted the reef emptied? What did he want to put in instead?

When they reach Coruscant, Ree learns that Han, Chewie, and Kyp went to Kessel. She frets over how Kyp will handle that.

Dalt and Oola talk. "If you were Maul and had a planet-sized computer to put stuff in, what would you put in it?" he asks her. He'd go about making a Force Star, he tells her. He also wonders what effect this might have on the planet. If 85% of the information has been drained from the reefs, then that's more room for the reefs to be changed...or to change themselves. Dalt advocates killing E'Val, to which Kedrihm'Val agrees. But there are guards, so they'll have to convince the Council to agree to it.

Back to getting the information back into the reefs: Tazarin'Ken channeled it out through an Abindosani, so channeling it back in through one would be an idea. But... "People are made to collect information for the planet," Dalt says, "but that much information will kill people." "Well, if all else fails," Kedrihm tells him, "I am here to do whatever I need to save my planet." Dalt agrees, but thinks that's an extreme solution. A radio signal through water, or a giant computer with coral built in, patterned on an Abindosani brain pattern, might work.

This somehow morphs to a long, involved talk about stealing brains. Dalt wants to lurk about till somebody dies, says he can remove a brain and put the skull back on in 2.5 minutes. Oola and Kedrihm find this alarming information indeed. Feeling morbid, Oola decides to call SARR and see if he has an extra brain lying about. He doesn't (thankfully), and wants to know why they ask. "Dalt wants it," Kedrihm tells him. SARR responds, "Aren't you supposed to be weaning him away from that?"

Luke is worried about sending them to CorpSec. That sector of the galaxy is under its own governance; Jedi and the New Republic have no authority there. This'll be a sensitive operation. He talks to Leia.

a Whisper of DUST part 4: Twin Suns Cast Darker Shadows

2008-04-02T16:44:00.005-04:00

Evan and Sareth Fenn come with them to Tatooine. Serdo promises Oola he'll meet them there. Z is disgruntled that someone else probably got their hands on Jabba's treasure.

Fenn gives them the lay of the scummy, criminal land on Tatooine. Lady Valerian is a Whiffid, a species he describes as "cotton balls with big claws." She's said to be gloriously beautiful for her species, but ruthless and intelligent. She runs the Lucky Despot, a casino/cafe just outside Mos Eisley. The Lucky Star is another bar outside Mos Eisley run by Sheriani, a Twilek woman who used to be a protege of Lady Valerian. The boss who moved into Jabba's palace is named Firith Olan. Lady Valerian is said to consider that a very cheeky move, and people are waiting tensely to see what she'll do about it. Finally, there's a newly-arrived Hutt in the area named Herugaa who's running the Crystal Moon in Mos Espa.

Firith, they quickly learn, has some contact with the old Imperial Eidolon Base out near the Dune Sea, which is now settled by Imperial loyalists led by Captain Arajen Turmin. The loyalists are mainly just settlers, but they do have eight TIE fighters and sufficient arms to ward off the Sand People.

There's no government record of Zay on Tatooine until her departure from Mos Ethna, when she's registered on passenger manifests. She took a tour liner that was heading toward the Core worlds. Oola notes that Eidolon Base holds itself--and its records--separate from the rest of Tattoine, and delving into their systems, scores: Zay Vellar is from Eidolon Base.

They've got a lot of ground to cover, so the group splits up. Sareth Fenn vanishes on his own errands. Kedrihm'Val, Z, Lydia and Evan head to Mos Eisley. Collecting rumors, they soon discover that while Lady Valerian is still fond of Sherani, Sherani these days seems less pleased with her old mentor. Word is that Lady Valerian murdered her husband, though why isn't clear and bringing it up to her isn't said to be good for one's health. She's known to be more generous and forgiving than Jabba, not that that's not hard.

Ree, Oola, and Onna go to Mos Ethna. There, they pick up indications that some of the tension on the streets is due to rumors of Sherani's involvement with Firith. Lady Valerian, residents believe, isn't aware of this. It's widely known Sherani hates the Empire, and undoubtedly is not aware of Firith's involvement with them. Herugaa, meanwhile, is keeping a low profile, and is focused on the new tenants in Jabba's palace, which he/she/it considers to be invasive upstarts muscling in on Hutt territory.

Now that Oola has a name, she dredges up further information on Firith. He's nothing but a petty crook. When her father finds out, he's flat-out insulted that such a small-timer would try to mess with him. The question is, is Firith really in charge here? Or, perhaps, was the assassination attempt his shot at the big time?

While the group in Mos Eisley arranges a meeting with Lady Valerian, the others in Mos Ethna try to convince Sheriani to listen to their evidence. Oola disguises herself to keep from being recognized as a Tser. Sheriani is distressed to learn of Firith's association with Imperials and slave-running, and tells them to return in two days. They suspect she's planning to verify it independently.

In Mos Eisley, on their way to meet with Lady Valerian, someone on a speeder tries to run down Kedrihm'Val. He leaps above it, lands on the back, and knocks the man off. Then six more attackers open fire on them on top of and around nearby buildings. Z, Kedrihm'Val, and Evan go after them while Lydia covers the unconscious man. Two more of their assailants survive; Kedrihm'Val knocks one out and Evan kneecaps the leader, who's the last one standing.

Z bribes a bartender to use a back room for questioning. When the leader tries to command the others to stay silent, Kedrihm'Val nerve-pinches him into unconsciousness. The other two are just thugs. The guy hired them two days ago, offering no name. They believe he's from Eidolon. Freeing those two, who after all are no different from 3/4 of the people on Mos Eisley's streets, they focus on the leader.

After Kedrihm'Val mind-whammies him to get him to speak, he confirms that he's from Eidolon. They attacked because they want the papers back to protect their interests on Tatooine. He knew Zay, but has little to say about her other than that she's a traitor for leaving. When he starts spewing bigoted Imperial propaganda, they knock him out again and turn him over to what passes for Tatooine's authorities. Kedrihm'Val realizes too late that he forgot to ask the guy how he knew they were coming, but there's nothing for it now but to get on with the meeting and wait for the guy to bribe his way out and attack them again.

When he informs Ree about this, they both wonder exactly what's going on here. It was on Tatooine that they first encountered hints of the child slave ring, and Imperials, and Zan. How heavily is Eidolon Base involved? Ree considers setting a trap using falsified papers.

Z and Co. get to their appointment with Lady Valerian. She knows no more about Firith, but is very disturbed by the idea of Imperial connections to goings-on on Tatooine. Oola is able to discover that the leaders of Eidolon base believe that Firith is human. He contacted them, but that's all the information she can find.

And that's their last lead. At a dead end, the only direction they've got left to move in is Jabba's palace itself. Z comes up with a plan to get in. The monthly grocery delivery is due tomorrow morning. They'll ambush the delivery, bribe the driver, and take it in themselves.

The food delivery is unaccountably huge for the 40 or so people they're able to account for once they get inside. Oola cracks a terminal for background information. Firith was a two-bit hood until just a few weeks ago, when his style changed entirely. He moved in and took over Horugaa's whole operation within a couple of days, removed all his old advisors, and stowed them in cells under the palace. Looks like the first move is to break out those advisors and see what information they can share in their gratitude.

It's easily done. There are too few people in the installation to keep watch over most of the tunnels and halls, so sneaking around the back areas is simplicity itself. The pathetically grateful ex-advisors tell them that Firith spent a lot of time with those strange robot monks that live on the lower levels till he suddenly became much more ruthless and less like himself. It looks like the monks might have switched his brain. But if so, who is in there now?

Taking a good look around at what Firith has access to, the crew decides that there's no point in messing around. They can clean this nest of vipers out right here and now. Z arranges a diversion to draw the guards toward the kitchen while the others storm the throne room. With the advantage of surprise, Ree and Kedrihm each account for one person, Evan guns down three, and Oola attaches a restraining bolt to a dangerous-looking droid. The last soldier standing spins to decapitate another droid: it's Sareth! He found his own way in. They'd wondered where he'd gotten off to.

Firith's the last one standing, but before they can turn on him, the floor drops out from underneath Ree and Kedrihm'Val. It's Jabba's damn rancor pit. But there's no rancor down there now. Instead, Firith is keeping a Krayt Dragon!

The grate closes over top of the two Force users, trapping them with the enraged beast. While Ree and Kedrihm'Val defend themselves against that thing, leaping and dodging and doing what little damage they can, Firith makes a break for it. Too bad for him, Oola's been lurking near the entrance keeping an eye on him! She deftly kneecaps him with her knife-droids. Sareth helps her subdue him while Lydia cuts the grate open and drops down on top of the enormous animal. Evan shoots at the dragon from above, but Onna gets an idea. She fires a grappling hook into it, then runs across the throne room to jam the cable into an electrical box that Oola tears open for her. That does a number on it, but the Krayt Dragon is huge and not so easily defeated.

Done with the guards in the kitchens, Z charges in, yelling, "Its sinus cavity is its weak point!" "You're sure?" Ree asks him. "I'm a bounty hunter!" Z reminds her. Kedrihm'Val, who's been dodging this thing's giant snapping teeth in the front, waits for an opening and lunges, nailing the beastie dead on target with his fist (player rolled one of the best crits ever!).

The dragon collapses, stone-dead.

Ree gets the prisoners out. "We thought you were dead," they tell her in relief. "We heard the Krayt Dragon!" Z lands and takes a vibro-knife to the carcass, extracting seven Krayt pearls--some of the most valuable gemstones in the galaxy, he explains to a bemused Kedrihm, who's watching nearby. He declares they're also keeping the dragon. He plans to have it stuffed and displayed. It's too big for them to simply carry it back, so Oola has her brother pick up some equipment and retrieve it for them.

By the time they get back to Mos Eisley, people are already whispering about the Krayt Dragon. These things are known as some of the fiercest predators in the galaxy; to kill one is the ultimate test of prowess. But the crew (well, except for Z) is more interested in the job they came to do. After Evan and Ree argue about reading Firith's mind, Evan storms off to get a drink. Ree turns away the local security forces when they show up to demand Firith be given into their custody. Z explains to her that they're looking for a bribe. "I got one of those Krayt pearls from the dragon we just killed," he then tells one of the officers. "You wanna try to take 'em?" "Z!" Ree scolds him. "Gettin' strong-armed by thugs," Z mutters in sullen protest. "I don't feel particularly strong-armed," Ree replies, staring ominously at the officers. Since they won't leave her alone, she places a call to Erin, asking the investigator if this can be officially made a Republic matter. "Just a bit," Erin tells her. A moment later, Chancellor Organa-Solo calls back. "Put me on with whomever's closest," she tells Ree, at which point it becomes Not A Problem.

With more time, and official access, on her hands, Oola digs deeper into Firith's past. As she knows, he's a petty criminal who had the gall to set up in Jabba's palace. After his sudden sea change about a month ago, he began using Jabba's old contacts and seemingly endless reserves of money (undoubtedly Jabba's hoard) to take over Herugaa's slave trade. Kedrihm'Val thinks he--or someone he's been working with--has been picking up the pieces left behind of the Shadow Academy ring. The slave operation has been re-adjusting lately, because when Thrawn returned, he announced the Empire wasn't dealing in slaves anymore, and with Thule taken out of the picture, Nal'Hutta is now their only major customer.

With the brain behind the slavery ring out of commission and several prisoners who may be able to share more information on the Empire's spies and involvement, this escapade is essentially wrapped up. So it's back to Coruscant with their prisoner and their info. They work on Firith on the way back, but he maintains his identity steadfastly. Whoever is really in there, he's not giving anything away.

By the time they arrive on the Republic's capital planet, the Krayt Dragon story is everywhere.
The Port Authority has left a note for Z that his "package" has arrived. While the Dragon is off being stuffed and mounted, Z buys a hangar and equips it to display the dragon. He plans to sell tickets. When Ree calls him, Kyp is very excited. He says Luke has been talking about it all week. Ree downplays it, sidetracking him with the information about the slave ring, and asking Kyp to see about taking care of Ara Mores' remains. Kyp warns her to check her messages. He's already spoken with her family, he says; he put Luke on with her little brother Cal for two hours the other day. If the kid nearly passed out when Han Solo visited his house...

Oola discovers that Primal Justice has broken all viewing records. Dalt is curious about what he's missed, so they fill him in on the story. He finds it distantly interesting, but is a little put out that he's not in on receiving heaps of adulation from the galaxy at large.

When Ree delivers her report to the Council, she again tries to slip past the fight with the Krayt Dragon. "He dropped us in the pit with the dragon, and after we fought that..." But Luke doesn't let her get away with it. Once she's done delivering the important information, he backtracks with "If we could revisit the fight with the Krayt Dragon..." Knowing when she's defeated, she informs them all of Z's little initiative, and the Council decides to go see it.

Ree and Kyp go to dinner that night.

After explaining that they're the most valuable gems in the galaxy, Z gives everyone a pearl, including Sareth and Evan. These particular pearls, given their association, he has had appraised at about 1.6 million credits each. Ree asks Z to sell hers for her. She plans to give the money to her family. In fact, to Ree's shock, the ensuing auction pulls in 2.7 million credits, which is more than the appraised value of Ree's whole planet! When her family receives the money several days later, her mother calls to inform her of that fact. In fact, the normally stalwart woman is practically babbling. "I'm sorry to surprise you," Ree tells her. "Oh no no," her mother counters. "You can surprise me with that any time you like, dear. That or grandchildren." "What?" is Ree's blindsided response.

Oola has hers cut. One piece, she installs on INON after having it carved with her family crest (which is also the symbol for DUST). She gives another piece to SARR. From the rest of the stone, she has a ring made for her father, necklaces made for her mother and sister, a stylus pointer for Nat, and at his request, a key for Serdo's race-pod.

Kedrihm'Val keeps his as a souvenir. He's not normally one for killing things, and definitely not one for money, but...well, he does come from a hunting society, and that was a pretty impressive feat.

A Whisper of DUST part 3: Ryloth's Caverns are Dark, Dark

2008-04-02T12:41:00.004-04:00

Personnel on Ryloth have orders to allow the crew wherever they need to go. They're given friendship badges which signify that as guests of Twilek, rather than tourists or traders, they are permitted in Twilek parts of the city. When some of them voice their concern, Sareth Fenn tells them he's amused at the idea of someone trying to assassinate Lo Tser.

The crew has been to Ryloth before, but this time Oola's whole family is assembled, and they're given formal introductions. Nat is her oldest brother and the one who works in the Senate. Ulu, her older sister, is a language instructor at the Jedi temple, though not Force-sensitive herself. Serdo is her youngest brother, a smuggler and pod-racer on Tatooine and Coruscant. Looking uncannily like their father, Oola explains that he's expected to take over the 'family business' when Lo steps down. Oola's mother, Ree, is a Force Adept and martial artist. Kedrihm'Val asks if she'd be willing to teach him some things.

Lo is less concerned about being targeted for assassination than why Grand Admiral Thrawn is so interested in them. He makes fun of Oola for failing to keep a low profile...but what can you do when you travel with Jedi?

On the topic of the assassination, they have a week left before the attempt is to be made. Z suspects the fat, corrupt Portmaster. When Oola accesses his personal files, she finds out that Z has a point: the Portmaster has not been discreet about her father's dealings, and has been skipping checks on certain ships. His daily itinerary indicates that he's attending a meeting in an hour and a half at the floating rock gardens, which is enough time for the crew to get there ahead of him.

From their hidden positions, Ree, Z, and Kedrihm'Val watch one the Portmaster's assistants meet a dark, cloaked figure. He hands over a box and papers, and then they part. The three follow the cloaked figure back to one of the ships--a small Zeltron transport--that weren't checked by the authorities. Ree has Oola lock down the ship's stardrives, and then they follow the figure to a larger freighter.

After their target leaves the Zeltron ship, Oola sends her little droids to retrieve the box and papers left on board. The papers turn out to be detailed maps of the spaceport and the city, including a hidden lower level that Oola has never heard of before, about halfway up from the city cistern. There's also a rough itinerary of her family's movements for the day of the assassination. The box is locked with Sith markings--some kind of puzzle lock. Kedrihm'Val is able to open it, revealing another map to something building-sized buried on Ryloth. The map is covered with old Twilek writing that indicates it's an ancient Sith academy. According to Jedi lore, it was a training site for assassins.

They switch the Sith map with a fake, copy the map of the missing level, and Oola's little droids slip everything back onto the Zeltron ship. Sareth plants traps for the assassin along the family's expected movements, then bugs the Portmaster's office. Thus, they learn that he's meeting someone else tonight at Maala's Kitchen, the local cantina. Maala's a good woman. After Oola speaks with her, she agrees to help bug the Portmaster's table.

Lo Tser thinks the lower level of the city must have been added during the Empire's reign. The Empire did a lot of work on the port, refitting it to accommodate Imperial transports. Since Oola's still concerned about the Zeltron ship, Kedrihm'Val leaves to take another look at it, and discovers that she's right: it's saturated with Zeltron rage. But as the Zeltrons themselves don't seem to be here, the good money is that it's Asajj Ventress under that cloak.

They're proven right that night. Listening to to conversation at the Portmaster's table, they hear her asks if "the troops" are ready. She complains that it's humiliating to use so much strength to destroy a single family, and demeaning to be used for this when the Portmaster already has an army on tap.

While monitoring the bug, Oola notices that another spy is listening in from the freighter that Ventress visisted earlier. Ventress set up some kind of relay, but Oola can't tell whether someone is listening from the ship, or if the ship is beaming the signal out. Oola sends her little droids onto the freighter. It's empty, which means the signal's being beamed elsewhere. Sareth tells her to disable the ship's hyperdrive to keep it from leaving. While she's at it, Oola tightens up the job on the Zeltron ship as well.

Asajj asks about "the rest of the payment." The Portmaster tells her it's on the secret level, and promises that he'll retrieve it when they're done. When her attitude changes suddenly, becoming more oily, the Force users realize that she's responding to some image from his mind. Z notices that the Portmaster keeps referring to "the boss on Tatooine" the way they used to talk about Jabba: it's the fear associated with a real crime lord.

If there are troops on that hidden level, they're either droids or soldiers in suspended animation. Probably Imperial, or maybe even Trade Federation. Whatever Ventress wants down there, it could be something that Dooku left.

Passing that information on to Lo causes a family argument. Serbo thinks it's unfair that Oola can go down there while he gets yelled at for pod-racing. In response, Lo suggests (strongly) that Oola would be most useful staying up here to monitor and hack the hidden level's systems. She agrees and sends SARR and INON down with the others. To make sure there are no live soldiers being held in stasis, Oola's mother suggests scanning for energy drain due to life support pods. Oola finds none of that, but there is a massive shield drawing half the power for the city, wrapped around a person-sized case. Z makes sure people are equipped with EMP guns to face combat droids.

SARR on the subject of killing droids: "I'm not saying I'm against it, I'm just saying I find it morally repugnant. They're two completely different things." Evan: "Are they really?"

When they go down, they find loads of battle droids and about 150 super battle droids stored in an enormous bay that runs most of the length of the level. Oola nails the transponder for the battle droids to keep them from activating, but she warns them that the super battle droids are autonomous. If something activates them, they'll still be a threat.

The other end of the vault is blocked off by two huge doors. Kedrihm'Val senses powerful emanations of the Force coming from the other side. Oola opens the doors to reveal a cloning tube containing something cloaked and hooded. It's difficult to see clearly through the shielding, so Ree steps toward it just as Kedrihm'Val heightens his senses to get a better look. He grabs her right before she triggers a pressure-plate trap on the floor. On closer inspection, the whole area around the tube is trapped to activate who- or whatever is inside.

Oola deactivates the floor sensors for them, but whoever set this trap up was canny. Deactivating the sensors triggers the battle droids. Evan heads out with Z to hold them off while the others deal with whatever's in that tube.

Able to get close enough to see clearly now, Kedrihm and Ree recognize Emperor Palpatine! It's another bloody clone. Ree ponders the right course of action. Kedrihm doesn't hesitate at the thought of destroying it, but doesn't have a weapon that can punch through the glass. Keeping an eye on the battle outside, SARR informs them, "You have one minute." Oola counts. When she gives SARR the signal, he spins and puts a lightsaber through the tube. Ree is dismayed, but Kedrihm distracts her with a reminder that they need to help the others with the battle droids.

150 super battle droids against a Jedi, a gun-ninja, a regular ninja, Onna, SARR and Z; it doesn't last long, but it sure does look pretty. Once they've finished off all the droids, they tell Z and Evan what they found. Z is surprised Ree even needed to think about it. Evan's just glad it's dead. Ree and Lydia are a little less hard-edged. To distract from their philosophical differences, Kedrihm'Val redirects their attention back to the clone, asking "Proper protocol is to burn this, right?"

Once that's handled, they arrange a trap for Ventress if she comes down here. Using the battle droids that didn't activate, Oola recalibrates their blasters for stun and resets the pressure-plates. They create a hologram of the clone and its tank, and reverse the shields so that if someone steps on the plates, it will trap them inside. They wait for some time, but the trap never activates.

After a while, Oola checks the port's cameras to discover that Ventress stole another ship and left while the group was exploring. The freighter, however, is still transmitting a signal. Just in case, Oola rigs shields around it and Sareth Fenn calls for bomb procedures "after the unfortunate death of the Portmaster." Turns out, though, it's not a bomb at all. It's a recorded message from Drath. "I'd like to thank you for taking care of the one rival I had to worry about. And since you're there, since I've forseen it (I really hate saying that), I assume you've switched the maps and I have nothing. But I've got a dead Palpatine, so that's okay." He also comments on how "weird" Tatooine is and that he keeps running into Thrawn's people.

Fenn tells them that whomever is in charge of the new crime syndicate is running things from Jabba's palace. This is a new development in the past three or four months. Lo tells them his people will get the Sith map back to the Council, and Ree calls Kyp to give him an update. He'll pass word on to Han and Luke, he says, and commends them to Lady Valerian, the other major syndic boss on Tatooine. He's sure is involved in this and be very interested in what they have to say.

A Whisper of DUST part 2: Chandrilan Nights

2008-04-01T17:29:00.005-04:00

The crew heads back to the ship with their prisoner (whom they figure will be safe with SARR and INON guarding him) to fill SARR in on events and decide their next move.

After Evan tells them Zay stayed with Enda for a couple of nights, some pieces fall into place. Zay had dangerous information. She associated with Enda. Enda associates with Rel. Could Enda have stolen the plans? But why would she want them? Z suggests that he hire her to get her out of the way so the others can do some discreet breaking and entering. Evan supports the idea, and even volunteers to set it up. "It's what I do. Partly."

While Z keeps Enda...occupied, they burgle her rooms. Oola finds a hidden safe in the floor which contains half of the missing documents, but it quickly becomes apparent that these are only useful if they have the rest. There's also a coded journal, which Oola is able to access easily. In it, Palra says she and another prostitute (Zay, they can guess) are using the papers for blackmail. Palra knows there's a connection between this slave ring and Tatooine. The papers indicate that whoever this crime lord behind Rel is, he knows very well about DUST and its true purpose, which is notable since Oola's father has been very successful in keeping that a secret. Enda is worried because two government officials (actually Imperial spies, as the crew now knows) have been killed in the last couple of days. Rel is scared; their bodies were left outside his headquarters with the DUST symbol burned into their foreheads. It's obviously a signal to let him know they're on to him.

The next move is clearly to turn over Zey's room again to look for the rest of the papers. But before they can leave, a thermal detonator rolls into the room. Ree chops it in half, then leaps out the door after another two Mandalorians she spots fleeing down the hall. But the Mandalorians set up booby traps. Ree gets caught by a tripwire. Lydia cuts Ree out while Kedrihm'Val takes over the chase. He finds one dead in the stairwell, cut in half by a lightsaber. There's a datapad lying on top of the body, listing a ship and a docking bay. He recognizes the sense of the Force user from the giftshop roof.

At his requrest, Oola taps the hallway security cameras to get a picture of a person in Sith armor with glowing red eyes. A Chiss. Wracking her brain for any known Chiss Force-users, Ree remembers only one: Severance Tann, a Chiss Dark Sider the Jedi have crossed paths with before. But she's dead.

Setting to work on the information in the datapad, Oola learns that the ship in that docking bay has been here for quite some time. It comes from the Mandalorian sector, and is reported as having five crew. It's not listed officially, of course, but it's obviously a Mandalorian ship. Tracing and tapping their local accounts, she finds that seven million credits have been deposited to them by Rel. It looks like they're working as assassins on retainer.

Hightailing it to Trinwal's place, they arrive to discover it's already been ransacked. A speeder takes off, heading toward the port with two Mandalorians on it. Ree pursues, racing along at Force-assisted speeds to leap up onto their transport. "Want to surrender?" she asks. "Why?" asks one of the Mandalorians. She ignites her lightsaber. The other Mandalorian tosses the papers out. Ree jumps after to catch them, but they fooled her: it's nothing but a slashed-up catalog. Still, that's not enough to put down Ree Shevan. Grappling a passing speeder, she swings back up to catch up with the Mandalorians again. But they're not interested in fighting at close quarters against a lightsaber. This time, they hand over the real papers and tell her they're clearing out.

With what they came for now in hand, Ree returns to the others, wondering if they should make sure Z is okay. Popping in on the comm frequency (he was listening in again), SARR says, "Z is fine." "Alright," Ree replies. "We're not going any further with that."

The papers describe an extensive slave ring. Chandrila is simply a waystation. DUST has gotten wind of the operation and is interfering all over. Whomever is running this out of Tatooine is controlling it from Ryloth, and knows about Oola's family, who they are, and plans to kill them at their next gathering in about a month. It looks like this is the information that Zay was worried about.

Oola calls her father. Tser takes it calmly, even seeming amused. He tells her he's inclined to wait and see who's trying, but invites her friends along and suggests that they pick up Sareth Finn. They last encountered him on the commerce station in Hutt Space, and it turns out he's the one who's been killing those politicians on Chandrila.

Palra Enda agrees to seek protective custody. Ree turns to Z and tells him, "Get me Ral." ZZ returns about an hour later with the unconscious Twilek gangster. Evan Srell says he wants to come with them to Ryloth. "I'm not sure whether it's justice or revenge, but I plan to find out," he tells them. They leave Ral and Dren with Republic Security and head toward Ryloth.

After introducing Evan and Sareth around to the droids, Ree asks Evan where he got training in the Force. He tells her he trained briefly at the Jedi temple on Yavin about ten years ago, but the philosophy never really agreed with him.

A Whisper of DUST part 1: They're Falling at Your Feet

2008-04-01T15:54:00.008-04:00

Kyp standing a little behind her, Ree kneels at the side of the poisoned girl as she breathes out her last word: "Dust..."

Ree doesn't really want to put this in someone else's hands, but Kyp reminds her that there's nothing here that immediately indicates it's Jedi business. Reluctantly, she calls New Republic security. Erin arrives shortly after and Ree exacts a promise from her to call with whatever they learn.

RepSec quickly IDs the girl as Ara Mores; 17 years old, from the Outer Rim, specifically an unremarkable little textile-making planet with no particular name. A diary found in her bags indicates that Ara was on a touring cruise of the Inner Rim, for which she had saved up for years. She was a big fan of Ree and the others. Her luggage contains gifts for each of them. They also a tracker whose signal traces back to Chandrila--not hidden--and, more oddly, two very different styles of clothes: half of her wardrobe contains rather tasteless, plain outfits, while the other half looks like nothing so much as a stripper's wardrobe, along with wigs, makeup, and all the trimmings. The even odder thing is that those clothes come in two different sizes. The trashy clothes fit her better, though that's not what she was wearing. Also, she has an inexplicable tan.

The poison that killed her, Erin says, is one that was popularly used on slaves during the Empire's reign, though it's no longer manufactured. It has the unpleasant property of being programmable to activate when the victim experiences specific stimuli or emotional states. In this case, Erin guesses that the stimulus was extreme nervousness.

Wanting to help, Ree grabs Kedrihm'Val and Lydia, and sends a message to the others. Oola's attention is drawn by the name of the cruise company Ara had chartered her tour with: Outer Rim Tours, a company Oola knows well as it's owned by DUST, her family's crime syndicate.

Ree has Kedrihm'Val read Ara's belongings. Uncertain about the wisdom of trying to gain psychic impressions from Ara's body, he tries the ill-fitting clothes first. The face he sees is not the young woman Ree found. The girl in the vision is younger, plainer and somewhat awkward. She did come from the textile world Erin described, and he gains the impression that these two girls, whomever they are, share the same name.

Erin runs some checks, and discovers that the dead woman's ID was indeed falsified. Oola runs her own data search on this new information, and turns up the girl Kedrihm'Val saw. A trace on the tracker's signal turns up a matching receiver at a bar called the Broken Wave, located on Chandrila. When Z arrives, he quickly identifies the clothes as a style Chandrilan prostitutes wear. Erin lets them know that further tests from the labs indicate that the poison was in this woman's system for six years. It wasn't triggered by nerves, though. It was triggered by hope. That bit of cruelty is the final straw; whomever did this needs to be brought to justice.

No, Z. Not primal justice.

The woman's final diary entry is dated two weeks ago, at her arrival on Chandrila. Z notes that was during the Life Festival. Some things she wrote in her journal indicate that she was a latent Force-sensitive. Erin suggests that they go ID the person receiving the tracker signal, then call the authorities.

After considering the situation, Kedrihm'Val decides to try reading the dead woman's body after all. As he suspected it might, the girl's death scene hits him like a hammer...except it's the wrong death scene! He sees Ara Mores, the drab girl Oola found in her data search, being killed in an alley. The girl lying on the examination table, a Chandrilan prostitute, watches the murder from a hiding place around the corner. She's already worked up, he can sense; on her way to tell someone something important. As Ara dies, the two womens eyes meet, and the prostitute feels the force of Ara's fear drive their minds together, their thoughts jumbling with desperation and the import of news they each carry. Lost in a confusion of identity, Ara's drive to go to Coruscant and meet Ree merges with the anonymous girl's desire to run, which he surmises is what letd them--her--to Ree.

While Oola hunts through Chandrilan databases to find the identity of this missing woman, she finds an abnormal number of recent missing persons reports (which puts up a flag with the group, as Chandrila is where they first encountered the child slavery ring). This hooker, one of those missing, is Zay Vellar. She worked for a crime lord named Doran Nar who's said to be, well, pretty decent as crime lords go. Not a native, she arrived on Chandrila at the age of 13 with the poison already in her system a year at that point. She came from Tatooine. Oola also learns that the detective in charge of Zay's case is named Jondo Bess.

While Oola researches, Z badgers Kedrihm'Val about Primal Justice. "Can you say 'By the beards of my ancestors'? Your character says it on the show all the time." Bemused by the things people come up with, Kedrihm'Val asks him, "Have you ever seen anyone on my planet with a beard?"

"Chandrila's been fucked up ever since Dalt's clone had his way with it," Erin observes. And it's true; they've always suspected that the corruption spread further than what they dealt with the last time they were there. If there's more going on, Ree feels it's her duty to put it right as well as she can. This girl came to her for help, after all. She asks Oola to get a duplicate of the tracker so they won't have to move this one and possibly let people know they're coming, and then it's pack your bags and off to Chandrila.

Their first stop on the beautiful vacation planet is the Broken Wave bar. Everything on Chandrila is elegant, even the seedy underside. Oola notes that the building is attached to a casino complex, which is also owned by her father. She knows that in every business affiliated with her father's organization, there's at least one spy who reports straight back to DUST. This spy's job is to make sure that the business owners keep everything honest. The owner of this particular bar is named Erwal Tr'end, but the hotel's chef, Ordal Sinra, is the DUST operative on site. Oola plans to hit him up for information later on.

It takes about a minute to pinpoint the signal as originating upstairs, where the employee lodging and the freshers are located. Ree tells the others to wait while she sneaks upstairs. Her task isn't difficult. She finds it in a room shared by two girls. Judging by the holo-pictures on the desk, one was Zay, and the other is a waitress named Trinwal Zev. There are other pictures of the two of them with one of the casino's bouncers. It looks like the tracker was a sort of mutual protection arrangement; keeping track of each other in case something happened.

Ree isn't gone long. When she re-enters the room, Kedrihm'Val notices someone visibly recognize her as a Jedi and leave. "Z?" he mutters, indicating the exiting man. "Lots of people around here wouldn't be comfortable sharing space with a Jedi," Z replies, "but it's worth keeping the guy in mind. "

Turns out, the waitress at their table is Trinwal. Ree slips her a note on a napkin that they have news about Zay, and asks her to meet them outside on her break.

On their way out, the Force users feel themselves being watched. The sense is deeply malicious. Ree pinpoints the observer on a rooftop about three buildings down. She sends Z and Kedrihm'Val to investigate.

The roof is a furnished patio above a giftshop, arranged for outdoor parties. It's empty now, but their wather deliberately left a datapad behind, containing information about an 'escort' named Palra Enda. There's a symbol at the bottom of the datapad entry--a hand with a glowing red eye in the palm--that looks strangely familiar. Kedrihm'Val takes a moment to familiarize himself with the departed Force user's sense before he heads back down with the datapad. Oola makes sure it has no tracers or traps.

Trinwal meets with Ree, who tells her the bad news. The poor, grieved waitress can't help much. She doesn't think that Zay even remembered whatever that desperate information was. She gives them the bouncer's name--Evan Srell--and says he'll probably know more. Ree shares her commlink frequency in case Trinwal ever needs to get in touch.

After Oola looks up data on Palra Enda (Doren Nar's ladyfriend, he pays for her lodgings at a swank hotel), they hit up the casino. "Woohoo, blend in naturally!" Z cheers. Giving the others a promise to arrange their lodgings, Oola leaves to find Ordel Sinra. He's curious why Daddy's Little Girl is here. She tells him abut the murder. He says he's been watching Udlak'na Rel, a 'Twilek jackass' who's recently moved in and gaining local influence. Palra Enda has been splitting the difference between Doran Nar and Rel, wanting to make sure she comes out on the winning side. That's all his information on the scene. Before she goes, Oola shows Sinra the symbol on the datapad. Shocked, Ordel identifies it as 'the eye of Thrawn'--the mark of Thrawn's own secret police--and demands that Oola tell her father about this. Sinra doesn't want to be responsible if something happens when Tser's daughter tangles with the Grand Admiral's people.

Meeting back in their suite, Oola tells the others about the new developments. If Thrawn's operatives are involved, then this may've just gotten a whole lot uglier. Of course, he might just be keeping track of the crew, which somehow is not any more reassuring. Deciding there's nothing they can do about that at the moment, Ree suggests they simply look around for now to see what they can see. Kedrihm'Val looks at Z. "There's a good chance we'll get chased around this building, so we'd better get used to the layout." Z agrees. They really do work well together, to Kedrihm'Val's ever-so-faint disgust, because while he likes Z perfectly well, it means he never hears the end of PRIMAL JEEEEEUSTICE! Oola's presence conveniently gets them access to just about everything. She nabs them cards for the restricted access areas.

They locate Evan Srell that evening at the bash for the casino's nightly opening. In truth, he's hard for the Force users to miss; a glowing ball of Force-sensitive despair and rage. Most of the bouncers wear stun-sticks. He has blasters. And he's not just sensitive; there's a telltale sense of control about him that indicates he's had training. Z tries awkwardly to talk to him while Oola and Onna canvas the room. Quietly looking around, Kedrihm'Val notes that the waiter ferrying complimentary drinks is the one who ducked out of the bar earlier that day. When he grabs a drink from the man's tray for Lydia to check, she designates it as "wrong." Kedrihm tries to close in on the guy quietly, but the man spots him, trips him, and runs for it. Ree catches him in the kitchen and after she flips him into a wall, Kedrihm knocks him out. Z grabs the unconscious man and pulls eight of his teeth out in a bloody, impromptu dentistry session. They're fake, he replies to the others' shocked questions. And sure enough, the teeth Z's torn out contain poisons and explosives. Evan, having followed Z to the scene of the trouble, approves.

With the man subdued and disarmed, they take him to security. He's resistant to interrogation. Kedrihm'Val, figuring the alternative is to leave the guy to Z's and Evan's 'tender mercies,' mentally compels him to cooperate. Giving his name as Dren Wert, he tells them he's an operative for the Imperial Remnant. The Force users can tell he's also lightly Force sensitive. He explains that he attacked them because they're with a Jedi, and confesses that he's the one who killed Ara Mores after she overheard him having a clandestine conversation in an alley.

Then, prodding at his sore mouth, he exclaims, "All of them? I only have one secret tooth left." Ree grabs him by the face while Z snags the tooth. When Ree chides, "Z, try not to..." Dren interrupts, "Wait, wait. Z?!" He hadn't realized who this bunch actually was.

Dren was here to make contact with "y'know, criminals." Ara overheard them talking about collecting recruits or, "You'd call them slaves." This is clearly why people have been disappearing. Ree surmises that they have agents in the government who are looking the other way. Dren confirms that, and goes on to complain, "Slavers. Stupid slavers. They lost a whole operations procedure a few days ago." Which is, coincidentally, about when he killed Ara. None of the operatives know who took it, he tells them. He guesses it was probably one of the hookers. He has been here for four or five years now, and he knew about the Shadow Academy. He's working with Rel's new crime syndicate, which is funneling the slaves off-planet, but another syndicate (DUST, is the crew's good bet) keeps interfering...though Dren doesn't believe they took the plans. Rel's group must be working for someone significant, he tells them. He has excellent funding and connections. But Dren can't tell them much about the slaves. Their disposal isn't his bailiwick. Only Rel knows what the next step is, which is why those missing procedures are so important.

Kedrihm'Val suddenly realizes that he's smelling gas. It's seeping under the door. Opening the door, Kedrihm finds himself face-to-face with an assassin droid...which he promptly trashes. As it goes down, it shoots a ball out of its head. Ree chases it down and snatches it: a record of their conversation. She calls Oola, who was still downstairs keeping an eye on the room with Onna.

Heading up, Oola is attacked by two men wearing Mandalorian armor. She fights back with her knife-droids. Roaring "Don't ruin that armor!" Z grabs Kedrihm'Val and they go running to her aid, but the Mandalorians have already had enough of Oola's knife-droid and come crashing up through the floor on their way to escape. Z jumps on one, while Kedrihm puts his fist through the other's jetpack. Then, to the crew's surprise, Evan opens fire like some kind of Force-using gun-ninja. Looking at their defeated foes, Kedrihm'Val figures that since Ree's not there, someone needs to do the honors, so "Care to surrender?" he asks them. As they bow their heads in apparent assent, some kind of hidden blade decapitates them.

Z calls dibs on a set of the armor.

Inspecting the suits, Oola notes that the blades are remote-controlled. They could have been activated from a distance. And the pod with the record of their conversation is programmed with directions that lead them nowhere informative.

Dren isn't surprised at being targeted. The crew knows that whoever was behind this will try again; they need to get him, and his information on the spy network, someplace safe. Ree tries to reach Erin, but discovers they're being shielded. In fact, her commlink explodes when she tries.

Evan suggests they talk to Jodo Boss, the guy he hired to find Zay. Oola manages to hack through the block and send a message to Erin, but it'll be a while before she gets here, and they can't trust the potentially compromised Chandrilan security forces. Which means there's only one place safe for their captive in the meantime...

Chasing down Set Harth

2008-03-31T16:27:00.005-04:00

Kyp and Ree research Set Harth, and talk to Ree's holocron. It remembers Harth as a patadwan, too interested in the Sith for his own good. He ran away to follow his interests after his master forbade him to pursue his research. How did he live so long? And where did he stash all the stuff he found? The Sent holocron says he was slippery. A loner. Only gets pals in order to tackle something especially big. He doesn't trust people. So if he sprang Ventress, he's probably after something Dooku knew. The Dark Reaper device? Or the Dark Harvesters, the devices that sucked life from planets to power the Reaper.

Zeltros has information on the two Zeltrons, but nothing especially informative. The male is named Rade; the female is Yara. They're siblings. They're psychos whose Force-enhanced empathy might've driven them over the edge, who ran amok and then escaped the planet before they could be apprehended.

Kyp and Ree try to gather information on each other's likes and hobbies.

Then it's off to the Core in their swanky new ship, tracking Drath to an uncharted, nasty planet. The place is thoroughly corrupted by Dark Side energy. There's one structure, no lifeforms detected. An empty landing pad and a place for a small capital ship that's gone. Looks like Drath might've removed his tracker.

SARR: "I agree with Z."
Kedrihm'Val: "Blow it up?"
Ree: "And thereby possibly blow up the entire Core including you?"
SARR: "Well played, meatbag."

Oola hacks the computer system. There's no active security, and empty building, looks like everything is cleared out. It was Set Harth's place, but the systems have been purged. some fresh blood is in one corridor, smeared on a security interface. Heading down, they find a human dead of lightsaber wounds which is missing its head and a hand (Oola takes a blood sample for later ID) and matching blood on the security panel. The place is grotesquely uncomfortable, even for the non-sensitives.

Kedrihm'Val senses a memory: Set Harth, Drath, and the Zeltrons standing in the hallway. they discuss Ventress and her apprentice prepping the ship, finding a Dark Harvester, and other stuff Harth has. Harth relates his interest in the True Sith, believes they're coming wants to be less cornered when they show. He seems very reverent; Drath is disgusted. Harth describes where he's just gone, mentions a retina and hand scanner. Drath, revolted by Harth's reverence for any being that would dominate him, kills him. Harth does something with the Force just before he dies, leaving an imprint of shock and rage on the vicinity. Kedrihm'Val notes that Drath is more confident now, powerful and angry but more controlled. More Sith.

Oola finds Harth's head. Drath cut it off, and the hand, before tearing out the eyes. Noticing the head, Kedrihm'Val realizes what Harth did: he bound his spirit into his brain, so he's still in there. Startled, he says this out loud, so Oola drops a Force crystal into the bag, which wipes out the Dark Side spirit, and that's the end of Set Harth. Rather ignominious way to go. Kedrihm'Val is rather uneasy about using Force crystals to kill or destroy.

They're able to find an ion trail from the Sith ship and track it. The ion trail leaves the Deep Core and stops, entering hyperspace on coordinates that head toward Iridonia, the home planet of the Zabraks. When Oola also spots a peculiar map in the computer which points to Iridonia, it's pretty obvious that Drath is inviting them to follow him. Uncertain where they might look for a Dark Harvester device, they decide to follow the bread crumbs.

Dalt's new ship has many merits, but it's not fast, so they detour to pick up the Starwind. Dalt thinks that the Dark Reaper is a sort of hate-powered Death Star. He mastered that sort of technology long ago, and finds the Harvesters much more interesting, inventing several unpleasant possible uses for one right off the cuff. He thinks the Harvesters actually use people, their sentient life energy, souls, spirits.

Turns out, the Dark Harvester lies--or used to lie--on a moon on the way to Iridonia. Oola's able to pinpoint it by searching through old folktales and geographic reports. When they reach it, the place is torn up, two big holes left in the surface. They send massages to the Republic to help
alleviate local suffering, but can't stop themselves because they need to catch Drath as quickly as possible. SARR thinks he'll use this thing on Iridonia, and the others find that very likely.

But Drath got there first. By the time they reach it, the whole planet is dead--scoured absolutely of life, down to the smallest microbe. The collected energy has been removed. But where? In such a vacuum of living energy, Kedrihm'Val is able to follow Drath's traces of passing quite easily. He went to a nearby town, ate lunch, then emptied a single room. There are no family pictures left or anything. Oola verifies that it was his family's home. Z discovers that Drath left a message for his parents to lead them to the site where he dropped the Harvester. Planetary defense records showed a Sith ship uncloaking and dropping the Harvester, to which Drath had hooked up a camera so he could have the pleasure of watching his family die.

Drath turns out to have burned all his old possessions out behind his family's home. And he left a note for the crew: "The one thing the Jedi are right about is no attachments." Again, the sense of Drath here is different: more focussed, more controlled. Z: "So we did him a favor by locking him up?" Kedrihm: "Yes." Z: "So we should be killing him next time?" Kedrihm: "Yes."

There are no other clues, so it's time for logic. Drath has one more Harvester, and can't build another. Drath might sit on it, build up his forces--collect some stray Thule agents?--hide till he decides what he wants to do. Kedrihm thinks what he wants to do is, apparently, face down the True Sith. So, he'll build a weapon. Z suggests that Drath might hunt for the Dark Side orb, then. He's sitting on a pile of Dark Side energy, so he may be able to use one to lead him to the other.

It's back to Coruscant to talk to Council about finding Drath...and where they find out that Drath sent the Council, and the media, his recorded footage. Darth Tromos, Sith Lord, he's calling himself. Despite this horror--yet another destroyed planet--people are surprisingly calm, confident that Ree and her compatriots, or Luke if necessary, will handle this.

So, finding Drath. Dalt says a cloak that big will have to power down every several months. He thinks Drath will hide either in the Core, which is dangerous and he could be cornered easily, or the Outer Rim, which is iffy, busy and full of untrustworthy types, or the Maw. He'll need more ships, more people, and time to go through Harth's collection of information and artifacts. He might try to ally with Thrawn. The Senate has to ratify any talks with Thrawn (who wants to know what's going on).

Ree asks the Yoda holocron about the True Sith. He tells her they are said to be equal to the Architects in power. He believes they may be a cabal of 4 to 5 individuals, very powerful beings who've telepathically influenced development of the Sith. He's quite specific on the number. the Yodacron goes inactive on further questioning about this cabal, however. Ree tells Luke, who is very curious about this development. He tells her to look into Revan while he talks to Leia.

Revan was chillingly logical. They find records of his droid, HK-47, who is eerily similar to SARR. Revan had bases all over the galaxy. He wrote a book on the True Sith, but they can find no title for it. He hoped they were remnants of a civilization, because if they were more organized they might be an insurmountable threat. The folklore book says that he thought they were a race that rose and fell in cycles of power. He traveled out during what he thought was a low ebb. If this is so, they may be ascending again.

Kedrihm'Val rather wonders what might determine that cycle.

The Jedi and Oola reconstruct Harth's computer as best they can. Ree and the Jedi Librarian visit the Smashed Holocron to talk to Pence. He ponders on how there's no species record for Yoda, and how strange that is. He must've wandered in from the Unknown Regions. Ree: "Who's to say he's only 900? Some people lie about their ages. My mother does."

And they look through the Emperor's journals, what safe bits there are. He records that he went back to Naboo for his dead master's stuff and found that it was gone. He knew it wasn't Anakin, so suspected it was probably Harth.

Dalt communes with the deleted computer and gets some more information, including Darth Plagius's missing information.

Ree talks to Kyp about Yoda being an Architect. Kyp: "You do know Luke, um, he talks to him. And Ben, and... *sigh*" So they can, well, ask Yoda. Ree talks to Endek too. He's still being a bit weird over the Alderaan thing, but says he'll hunt. He'll check the Corporate Sector auctions. Ree considers House Pelagia before remembering...the Ossus Library! And what do you know. They've got a copy of Revan's mysterious book.

Kedrihm talks to Dalt about finding the evil glowy Iridonia box. Dalt thinks it would be hard to hide in the long run. He asks Dalt what he'd do with it: Dalt comments about Force Stars (and Kedrihm duly files away that Dalt hasn't given up on that particular dream), but eventually figures he'd dump it into Kedrihm'Val's planet. Let the coral suck it up, generate hate and pain and so forth, and as a Sith ride that flow of dark power to basically control everything it touched and infested. Also he thinks he could use the Harvester to suck the Dark Side taint out, funnel it through his filter and put it back in to heal the damage to Abindosan.

Revan's book details that he thought the Sith had a ruling council of five, and they essentially had a bet with the Architects over whether creating or manipulating life was better. Some Architects and Sith felt that this was exploitation and left. The Architects are gone now, of course. Usually there were a couple of very powerful Council members, and the others were weaker--depending on the cycle. They expected the Sith to welcome them as gods, and Revan thought that the True Sith would have considered a failure to do so as a sign of failure, at which point they might choose to wreck everything and start over. So he went out to interfere.

Yoda does indeed match a drawing of a True Sith that Revan included in the book. Revan admits that it could be an Architect. He rode their telepathy backward and could have gotten a distracted signal. Of course, it's also possible the two were related or even factions of a single race.

Kyp gasps when Ree shows him the picture. Ree: "I don't wanna do this by myself." Kyp's aghast. "That poor, poor guy," he says of Luke. He wonders if they should make sure Ben wasn't a serial killer. He'll go get Leia and Han. Ree: "I'm glad Dalt never cloned you. I couldn't take two." Kyp: "Didn't Dalt have Yoda's?" Dalt does indeed--in a fake tooth. What is it with Dark Siders and fake teeth? Dalt reminds them that Drath could still have DNA from Han and Obi Wan and others. Ree tells him about finding the book, Kedrihm'Val shares Dalt's theory on his planet. Ree places a call to Malina.

The Senate is rumbling about reopening the Blueprint issue. Master Roon and Erin are increasingly convinced that the Remnant was behind the assassination attempt, but are worried that the Alderaanians might get stupid enough to try it again on their own or to be manipulated into something more serious. The ARC trooper doesn't seem to be human. He may be an advanced droid. He's not talking.

Ree finally realizes that Luke put her in her new room next to Kyp's, and at last catches on to the various incidents and innuendoes of the past. "Wait...freaking Z," she grumbles.

Luke and Kyp are missing at breakfast the next morning. Ree and Lydia train, Kedrihm'Val calls his planet to pass on information, and meditates. Oola and Dalt work on the Architect language and the droids. Later, Kyp turns up to say Luke took it well, and suggests they go out to lunch to talk further since people keep staring.

Right about then, Ree notices a girl staggering determinedly toward her, but the girl collapses before she reaches Ree. Ree darts to her side just in time to hear the girl whisper, "Dust" before dying. She was poisoned.

THE DATE. Dun Dun DUN.

2008-03-31T16:01:00.004-04:00

The next day, Ree takes her family to the limmic match. Corellia devastates Coruscant. The day after that, she obsesses over her date all day. Z has tickets to the opera for the rest of the group, but it turns out Onna and Oola already got their own, so Z is left with two extra seats. Lydia gets invited (and is scandalized when Oola offers her a receiver for the bug she planted in Ree's gown), and Zan, who agrees but seems dubious. Kedrihm'Val goes just to make sure Z won't run amok, and he's fairly aghast at Onna and Oola.

The date--Ree and Kyp, and Han and Leia--goes well. Rodian opera is interestingly...Shakespearian. Then the Force-users sense an actor who keeps thinking about the chancellor's box. Ree leaps forward as he shoots, then a guy with a lightsaber and an assassin droid kicks into the door to their box. Z, who's in formal wear, leaps on the actor from above. And angry droids attack the stage.

Z disarms the actor and shoots him in the crotch, then sees the droids and calls "A little help!" Zan and Lydia jump down to the stage, while Kedrihm'Val swings up into the catwalk.

Han blows up the assassin droid. Kyp, Leia, and Ree all face the other poor sucker with their lightsabers out. Han and Kyp take him out, and then Kyp backflips out onto the stage, followed a second later by everyone else. Z stuffs a stun grenade into the actor's pants and throws him up to Oola, with the order, "Keep him alive!"

feet-first on the stage. Z screams, "PRIMAL JEEEEEUSTICE!" Kedrihm spots a guy sneaking through the catwalk and leaps at him, coming down on him "Shut up, Z," Kedrihm'Val replies. Lydia and Ree each take another target out, noting that these guys look kinda Thule. Leian and Zan hold back to keep an eye out, while Kyp destroys a big gladiator droid that they brought in. Han blows up the last droid to a standing ovation. Zan closes the curtains with the Force.

Oola and Onna come down to the stage with their unconscious captive. Ree is miffed, but they don't let her break off the date to take the prisoners back to the temple. After the group leaves, the date continues to dinner. "I don't know what they expected to happen," Han comments to Leia. "Maybe they should've waited till tomorrow night so we'd all be together."

At the temple, the Jedi already saw the action in the news. "I don't know what they expected to happen," Kedrihm'Val comments. The Rodian, it turns out, was mind-controlled, and does not hold a grudge. They're a tough and practical people, the Rodians, not to mention violent.

Meanwhile, back on the date, they talk about the name of Reeshome, and what'll happen to it now. Ree keeps calling Kyp "Master Durron." "You can call me Kyp, Ree," he points out to her. "And you can call me Master Solo!" Han adds cheerfully, then gets slapped upside the head by Leia. Aw, they're flirting. Leia asks Ree what she plans to do in a year or two once she's done with the heroics. Han reassures her that not every date involves getting shot at (though it isn't unusual). Kyp compliments Ree's bread, which makes her very happy.

Regarding the incident at the opera, the news headlines proudly proclaim, "The Oddest Way We Know of to Commit Suicide!"

Kedrihm'Val suspects that these guys aren't really Thule. Oola finds out the droids were mindwiped yesterday, stolen property. She tries to see who stole them, but it proves to tell them nothing more than that the Force users who attacked them did it. Kedrihm'Val looks for ID, and finds a couple of vials of dirt. He takes those to Oola. Oola has SARR poke, er autopsy the dead bodies for DNA and ID signs. All notable identifiers are gone, but the Force users have Shadow Academy tattoos.

Searching for hobbies to talk about, Kyp asks Ree if she knows anything about flying fighters. Han compliments Kyp's taking out Anakin, especially his piloting. He notes offhandedly how fast Kyp got to Dathomir, then turns back to talking to Leia. Ree follows up on the hint (it was quite something, after all, especially seeing as he was supposed to be out with Luke in another quandrant of the galaxy at the time, fighting a war). Kyp tries to dodge the subject, but after Leia drops another hint, Ree finally grasps the implication that Kyp had purposely gone out of his way to protect her. Kyp tries to change the subject to Life Day on Ree's world and how they celebrate it.

Oola spots more dirt and Shadow Academy signs. The earth, it turns out perhaps predictably, comes from Alderaan. The DNA is also all Alderaanian. She gives the report to Luke, who says, "oh WOW." He considers that it may be a frame-up and puts Roon on the case. They meet Dalt outside the Council chamber, who has been waiting to get the story from them. Dalt suggests finding addresses and ransacking houses. Zan turns out to be lurking, too, and he wonders if the Imperials are involved in manipulating the Alderaanians. Dalt says they helped with the Shadow Academy because they wanted Force users of their own.

Oola tells her brother to watch the Alderaanian delegates. He asks after the Blueprint, which is being kept at the temple. Then Oola and co. take Dalt burgling (they take him to the nicest places). The first house is pasted with Alderaanian stuff. In fact, all the places do except for the Shadow Academy people, who are also the only ones who don't have dedicated secure holomailers. Oola manages to recover a little from those--they have a meeting place at a gentlemen's club for Alderaanian men. All these men are members. The homes of the Shadow Academy guys, on the other hand, have nothing special or incriminating lying about at all, which makes sense considering they're actually trained in how to do this sort of thing.

On the date, Kyp wants to know why Ree's family obsessed over their tractor so much. Ree explains how it's important to a farm family. It's their way of trying to impress him. They talk about Set Harth. Kyp suggests they meet at the library to do some research tomorrow. How cute, he's asking for another date!

SARR gets sent to the club, since only Dalt and Z can really pass for Alderaanian males and...well, that's not safe. SARR learns that the assassins were very patriotic. The place is very mopey, anti-Republic, and anti-Jedi, except for some Antarean Rangers who're irritated by the irrational attitudes of the others and want to engage in further discussion with the Republic. Endek is bitter, but he's not irrational. Well. He's telling spooky stories about Vader chasing him. It looks like the two Shadow Academy guys were taking advantage of a pack of big talkers who were easily led.

Kyp walks Ree home--considering they live in the same place--and take the long way through gardens outside the temple. Kyp is actually smooth. They run into Luke just outside a side entrance to the temple, who briefs them on events. Kyp and Ree studiously ignore Mara lurking in the shadows of the bushes.

SARR bestows a very roundabout compliment on the group for being proactive and useful. "You make me money by being you. I value that." Incidentally, droids aren't actually allowed to own property. He's been hiding it as Onna's assets.

By the next day, the press has gotten hold of the idea that the assailants were Thule agents. Kedrihm points out that if the plotters behind this really want to frame Alderaan, then they'll either try again or provide convenient information to the press.

Luke gives his address, informing people that he's establishing more training facilities, helping the Republic secure its borders (near the Imperial Remnant, is the implication, and "We're keeping an eye on you, Thrawn" goes unsaid), and focusing on fixing Abindosan. Then he announces his engagement, to the surprise of everybody including Kyp (but not Han).

The crew plans to go after Drath soon. Also, Dalt thinks he can find away to find the mutated woman from his base on Rodia.

The Festival of Life Part 2

2008-03-31T14:52:00.004-04:00

The next day, the Senate votes on the blueprint. Assorted other votes happen beforehand, such as forbidding archaeological digs on Ree's planet without special permits. They also vote on the name of Ree's planet (which had heretofore been unnamed), and the final decision is...Reeshome! Oola's brother helped with that one, much to Ree's dismay. Heh. They also let the Jedi send a group to see what else might be lying around on Reeshome, and introduce a bill to consider Jedi artifacts as registered items.

The final vote is to not use the Blueprint for the time being and to table the issue, which Han says will essentially tie it up in red tape forever. The Alderaanians are not happy about this.

The Chancellor's address is a state-of-the-union kind of thing, with a parade following. There's a big Senate party later on, open to everyone. It turns out to be kind of tense, with a lot of Alderaanians sulking. Kedrihm talks to different people, gets accosted by Alderaanians who think he'll be sympathetic because of the circumstances on Abindosan. One guy is upset becasue he feels no one is even looking at options. But while Kedrihm'Val feels for them, the fellow doesn't find him cooperative. He tells the Alderaanians the device is too dangerous, and if it were a matter of using it or losing his own planet, he would choose the latter.

There are bad feelings about the Chancellor among the Alderaanians. Some of them feel Leia has betrayed them. The Alderaanian delegates seem convinced that there would be no unpleasant consequences from using the thing. Emotions run high and grow increasingly unpleasant, till Winter ends up breaking an Alderaanian's arm when he gets grabby during an argument. She's really ticked.

Oola and Kedrihm note that Sent is stirring people up. SARR feeds him something that sends him rushing to the bathroom after Oola ponders getting the man out of the way for a while.

Then comes Life Day!

Ree gives Kyp the sweet bread. He asks her if she has the biggest family in the galaxy, which makes her smile, and she thanks him for his sweet present.

Ree helps with family day at the Jedi temple. Kedrihm and Z go to parties. Kedrihm does, in fact, like parties quite a bit, having no argument against food or singing or dancing. Z is mainly interested in booze.

Everyone trades gifts. Onna gives everyone on the crew a speeder. Z gives liquor, Oola hands out Ryloth food, Kedrihm'Val gives out Ithorian foods (he quite likes the Ithorians and his planet is too far away to get anything conveniently).

On the news: "The Republic turns its back on the Alderaanians!" The spiels have no hard facts, but someone has leaked information that the Senate has a way to recreate the planet. Sent gets a lot of interviews. Ooooh, Leia is not happy.

At the temple, Ree notes an extremely brief power flicker and senses that someone just tried to kidnap Dalt from his room. Arriving, she finds the assailant has been sucked into the wall by angry cables and electrocuted. Dalt is not too flustered, but says he did it on reflex. He really wasn't even aware he could still do that sort of thing. The security forces take care of it. Ree goes back to the party to see Lexi's family, where Dalt telepathically points out "You might want to protect the guy who looks just like me." Looking at the security footage a little later, she finds that the kidnapper came in with some other group, and ninja'd his way through the halls. Dalt apparently sensed the man outside his room. The security cameras follow the man's movements, even though they weren't supposed to. Ree suspects Dalt was doing it subconsciously, maybe a kind of technological danger-sense.

The Jedi heighten the temple's security and make sure that Dalt has an escort. Ree is put in charge of finding out who sent the kidnapper. The ID says it's just a lowly secretary, but that's a heck of a clerical skill set.

The man's name was Kren Dor. Oola, working her extra special compu-magic, discovers that the man used to be an Imperial Security Bureau spy and 'Re-education Corp.' ISB and ImpIntel were all labeled war criminals. Oola checks the rest of the delegation he worked for. 40 people, three of whom--one woman, two men, all human--were atttached to VIPs. All three are Alderaanian. One of them, Cho Balu, was a member of the Coalition for Progress (the group in charge of media censorship). One (the woman, Cas Roke) was a member of an ImpIntel assassination squad, and the third, Iako Orn--Oola really pulls out her skills on digging up this one--is implicated as Imperial Guard. They call Zan.

The next day is Remembrance Day. The Alderaanians milk it. The crew have to decide how to handle these spies on a day when everything is so public and it's such a bad time to go around arresting Alderaanians. Ree tells the Council, Kedrihm and Oola tell Dalt, and while Oola considers setting up a fake interview to catch the censorship guy, Z and SARR are left to their own devices. Luke has just got done warning them they'll have to be subtle when Z returns with Cho Balu. SARR is standing in for him with a holographic projector (which he apparently has built in to himself; Oola says she knew about it).

They interrogate Balu, who is of course angry. "Apparently you can just kidnap people now." "Well," Ree says, "Z is a bounty hunter, and there is a standing reward..." Z: "Holy shit, you're right." Balu is still loyal to the Emperor, and admires Thrawn. "Dalt swore loyalty to the Emperor," he says. "We're just taking back what's ours." This man really believes in the goodness of the Empire, and refuses to tell them anything further. Ree says she can't do this. Z steps up with a painting of star fighters, lets loose his 'stream of justice,' then scribbles on it. Balu is horrified. Turns out, Z robbed his house while he was there. He's got bunches of objets d'art in a sack, which he begins to methodically smash, starting with a bust of the Emperor right after Ree protests that there might be evidence in there. Then he smashes a TIE fighter sculpture, which indeed reveals a datachip hidden in the hollow base. Oola snags it. Balu finally cracks. He tells them he doesn't know of any external orders; he's been honestly working for the Alderaanians since the New Republic formed (hey, a guy's gotta eat). The chip, Oola discovers, is an archive of ship logs--diplomatic shuttles.

Having gotten the hang of this interrogation method, Ree asks Balu, "What's your favorite piece?" Then hands it to Z. (Z: "This is nice. This is 'getting-to-know' nice." Ree takes it back.) Balu, it turns out, works as his cell's secretary. His circle meets in an Undercity bar, and the next meeting is tomorrow night.

They turn him over to New Republic security, make a copy of the chip and turn the original of that over as evidence. The next day, they plot an ambush. After they see two people go into the room, Z kicks the door down. Kedrihm'Val covers the door in case somebody tries to escape, while Z and Ree engage. The Imperial Guard, Iako Orn, dives behind a table while the woman, Cas Roke, goes hand to hand with Z. Ree cuts the table apart with her lightsaber; Orn spits something at her and rolls away. Z tags a piece of the wall with his wrist harpoon and tugs it down onto Roke. Orn fires a blaster at Ree. Z slams Roke off the wall. Ree nails Orn when he tries to leap over her. And they drag the two captives back.

On the way out, the Force users sense an incoming attack. Ree steps into deflect two blaster bolts aimed at the prisoners. she orders Z to chase. It's someone in clone trooper armor--ARC trooper armor, in fact. Kedrihm'Val drains the energy from the man's jetpack and Z catches him. They fight. Ree heads that way to help. The ARC trooper (or whatever he is) grapple-hooks a passing speeder, towing him and Z away from the scene. Ree leaps onto anothe rspeeder, and gets the driver to follow. She cuts the cord, letting Z catch the guy and bring him down to the ground. The ARC throws some smoke bombs and tries to hide. Ree senses for him, noting that there's something strange about him; he's hard to follow. He shoots his hand at her and dives into a bar. Z follows, shouting, "I AM Z. I'm here hunting a fugitive!" *fires blasters* "Hand him over!" The crowd draws back from the guy, who runs. Ree tackles him, then Z nails him in the head with a leg-drop. This puts the man out, breathing a bit rough, but okay. People in the bar take pictures.

The Imperial Guard is taken to the temple, the others get sent to Republic Security.

Z suggests attending some smashball to relax. The tour for new padawans goes well. The smashball game is as violent as SARR hoped: Tatooine's rough and ready desert-dwelling farmers beat the ever-loving crap out of the sleek, posh Chandrilan athletes. After the game, Z points out to Ree, "You're only one day away from your first date." Ree gets a deer-in-headlights look.

On the holo-news, they're still fussing over the Alderaanian 'plight.' The Republic is releasing some information along the lines of "This is one of those freaky things like Luke keeps finding. Want us to mess with it?" The crew relaxes over dinner.

The Festival of Life

2008-03-31T13:39:00.003-04:00

The next day: PARTY! The Smashed Holocron throws open the doors at 9 am. Z's already there. Kedrihm asks about the Force ceremony at the temple. Z says meditation is gay. Dalt: "You really have a problem with the whole gay thing, don't you?" Kedrihm shoots a warning look at Dalt. That's the kind of discussion opener that can only lead to slap-fighting.

The Jedi ceremony is calm and solemn.

Oola thinks they should name the boy Kel. Everyone likes it.

On to the frickin' huge parade. Their actors have a float. Re gets into an argument with SARR. "I don't understand human emotions other than pain," he tells her at one point, and "It's a good script. They send them to me. I am your agent."

Z flies by the Primal Justice float, to enormous applause, and lands with the group. Ree comments, "Well, they were very excited. He really stirred up the crowd." Kedrihm: "So are you, now Z's drawn attention to you." And indeed, now the crowd has seen Ree, she's getting sign-waving and cheers. Dalt is disappointed there aren't any signs for him. Ree points out that he hasn't been redeemed in a movie yet, and consoles him that the redeemed villain is always the favorite. SARR tries to explain how heroes are people smart enough not to come out dead, and that people recognize that.

Han has a news interview where he discusses how he personally planned out the core strategy for defeating Thule.

They attend the gravball game after the parade. Sort of like three-dimensional anti-grav lacrosse. Ryloth Twlight vs. Corellia Scrappers. Ryloth takes it by a point. Z declares he shall drink in celebration. Ree agrees to have one-- "But we get to pick it!" Z insists. He mulls it over. Kedrihm points out the Two-fisted Farmgirl, which leaves her only mildly tipsy.

That night, Ree has a dream about a state funeral, but she can't tell whose.

The next day, the documentary, "Heroes of the Rebellion" premieres. The Jedi don't allow Luke to hide in his room, no matter how mortified he is over Han's description of his early impressions of Luke. Some highlights:
Leia's first impression of Han: "I thought he was a jackass. In fact, I still think he's a jackass sometimes. The reason the Falcon couldn't jump to hyperspace was his ego. And nothing was ever his fault."
Wedge comments on Luke's flying an X-Wing in the battle of Yavin: "We all figured Luke was gonna die."
Han recounts the tale of the awful stench of the taun-taun, after which Luke comments, "He probably already told you he stuffed me in a taun-taun."
Wedge on the battle of Hoth: "Then we cleared out the AT-ATs... And then he takes out an AT-At by himself! BY HIMSELF."
"And then I trained with Master Yoda," Luke glosses over the next bit.
"Three months!" Han exclaims. "We're inside a space slug! I finally figure it out with keen observation and my innate sense of xenobiology." Leia: "He parked us in a slug and he didn't know until he shot a mynock. He spent half his time hitting on me and half his time fixing the ship. Both of them with half his ass."

Luke: "Bespin was, ah, difficult."

Han: "Mr. Natural Predator, born and bred to hunt, knows that bears cut themselves in half and string themselves up by their back legs. It's a cunning technique known as being capture by teddy bears." "And 3PO tells me..." "It's against my nature to impersonate a deity," 3PO is spliced in. "...that he's a jackass and won't do it," completes Han.

Luke: "The Death Star... It was difficult." *stares at the interviewer for a bit, won't say more*

Ree tells Luke about her dream and asks, "Is this normal?" "Oh yes," says Luke. "Oh yes, Ree. I get them...you don't even want to know."

Next up is the closed Senate session regarding the Blueprint. All discussion stops dead when the crew walks in. Ree: "This place is a lot bigger than on the outside." Kedrihm'Val laughs in disbelief.

The Senate is leaning toward using it. A few--mainly species close to the Force--disagree. The Senate seems aware it rebuilds planets, but not much else, so Dalt steps up. "We don't know how this rebuilds planets, exactly. And not to be cruel, but none of your species can understand it." After he comments a bit more on the possible dangers, the balance tips more evenly, centering around some strong personalities. He reminds them that he isn't even really stable, and he knows this is a bad idea. Ree points out, "We don't know how to turn it off and we can't hide it once we use it." Kedrihm reminds them that they don't know whether the energies released might harm people on Dathomir or Ree's world if the device is activated, Oola explains that it isn't necessarily trustworthy because it tried to rewrite populated worlds the last time it activated, and SARR tells them that it is at least basically sentient (in his words, "Meatbags, it thinks"). Kedrihm and Oola pay close attention to who stands where on the issue.

Tomorrow's session is a day of testimony. In preparation, Oola checks the Blueprint to see what planets it tried to change, and the answer is, most of them.

In the meantime, tonight they have dinner with the Chancellor and her family. Ree compliments the documentary: "You were very much yourself." Luke arrives late. They talk about the new movies. "It's a great marketing scheme-" Han starts to point out, and then Luke cuts in, "That Han must've helped with because he's defending it a lot." It was in fact Han and Lando, it turns out. Regarding Dalt, they decide they'd like to keep him with them for a while, if he doesn't mind. Luke tells them that Senal and clone!Dalt are coming to visit for New Year's. And then they start talking about Ree's date. Ree protests that nothing was going on. In her head, Leia says, "Oh my god, it's your first date." "Really?" asks Luke, in the same fashion. Han looks around, then pushes Luke's and Leia's chair, saying, "We use the speaking hole when non-magic people are around!" Zan: "You know what you need to tell them to bring, Han? Tell them to bring pie." "What?" Han asks. Zan explains to him about the wonders of pie.

The next day, it's more Senate meetings. More people are now arguing against using the Blueprint. The breakdown is about 70/30 at the moment. But weeping Alderaanians do make quite an impact. Oola reads the datapad list of the Blueprint's desired changes, and Kedrihm points out that they only stopped it because Ree's gateway was locked. Dalt comments about the Infinity Gate being broken--he could fix it, he says, but he won't. Some Senators argue for forcing him to, which doesn't go over well with the crew, who say nothing but get sort of "We'd like to see you try" expressions on their faces. Sent implies that the Jedi should be blamed for not cleaning this stuff up earlier.

At the Padawan party later that day, Ree gives Lydia Melodee-style Jedi robes. Lydia gives her romance novels (Ree loves romance novels), including one called "Master's Council," which is about a lady Jedi Master with a dark past, and the honest and heroic young Jedi who helps her to overcome it, or some equally thinly veiled "Ree and Kyp" scenario. Lexi tells them she's being assigned a Master in a few days. Kedrihm'Val and Oola drag Dalt and kel to the opening of the Ithorian Gardens, which Kedrihm finds particularly soothing and restful after weeks of the psychic noise of Coruscant.

New Years and Festival of Life Itinerary

2008-03-31T13:12:00.003-04:00

2 weeks (10 Days)

Week 1 (Festival of Life)

Day 1: Atunda
- Smashed Holocron Opening Festival Party
- Jedi Temple ceremony to celebrate the Living Force
- Opening Parade
- The lighting of the Life Tree from Kashyyyk
- Mon Calamari Ballet at Galaxies Opera House
- Grav-ball: Ryloth Twilight vs Corellia Scrappers (Galaxy Championship)
  - Three dimensional anti-grav Lacrosse

Day 2: Katunda
- Major Documentary premier: "Heroes of the Rebellion"
- Scoopball Finals (antigrav Tennis)
- Special Senate session to discuss: "The Blueprint Situation"
  - Characters encouraged to attend
- Dinner at the Chancellors for the Characters
  - Special invitation, all attend

Day 3: Satunda
- Continuation of Senate session
  - Characters encouraged to attend
- Opening of Ithoran Gardens
- Padawan Party at the Jedi Temple
  - Thrown by the Masters
  - Includes gifts both ways
- Special prices at Holographic Zoo of Extinct Species
- Astrobatics by Rouge Squadron and Jedi Aces
  - Starship stunts

Day 4: Datunda
- Closed Senate session to vote on: "The Blueprint Situation"
- Chancellors address
- Eve parade
- Chandrillan ceremony of The Maker
- Senate Feast Open to all

Day 5: Natunda
- Life Day
- Acceptance of New children and students at the Jedi Temple
  - Also parents of current padawns can come to visit for the next week
- Smashed Holocron closed until evening

Week 2 (New Years)

Day 1: Atunda
- Remembrance Day
- Alderanian Opera at Galaxies Opera House
- Rerun of: "Heroes of the Rebellion"
- Special prices at Holographic Zoo of Extinct Species

Day 2: Katunda
- New Padawan tour of Coruscant
- Smash ball: Tantoonie Survivors vs Chandrillan Waverunners (Galactic Championship)
  - Basically football
- Vow day
  - A day for new year's resolutions
  - Many marriages on this day

Day 3: Satunda
- Mon Calamari Ballet at Galaxies Opera House
- Limmie (soccer) match: Coruscant vs Corellia

Day 4: Datunda
- New Years Eve
- Rodian Opera
  - Date night!!!!
- Smashed Holocron ½ price night

Day 5: Natunda
- New Years Day
- Announcement by Jedi Grandmaster

Drath won't stay in the box!

2008-03-31T12:31:00.002-04:00

Ree gives Jude her coin. Jude knows Rent Sin and Adrey Cuthas from Dathomir. They talk about gifts for Life Day. "Ever check what the bestselling gifts for Life Day are?" she asks Ree. "Oh no," says Ree. This leads to talk about Primal Justice, which leads to Dalt making more cracks about Z's mother. Ree and Kedrihm'Val grab Z. Ree is, as ever, dismayed by all the attention and changes the subject. Someone needs to tell Raasik Sent about his family. Dalt's apprentice is doing okay. A bit socially backward, but Dalt says he'll work on that. Z snarks about the social skills of Jedi. Ree defends their honor, but "Stupid Ape has a point," says SARR. Z irrelevantly wants a hoversled with spotlights. "We could call it the Assmobile," Dalt says brightly. A pause. Then he adds, "You want to leap over the table now or shall I say it?" Z leaps, they shove him back in his chair.

Kedrihm'Val asks Dalt what he'll do now. Dalt's not sure. "I imagine they will ask if you want to become a Jedi," Kedrihm says, looking amused. Dalt looks ineffably disgusted. "They ask everyone else," Kedrihm'Val points out. Ree thinks Dalt could teach the children. Z is horrified.

Landing on Coruscant, they exit the ship to huge happy crowds, but Ree and Kyp sense someone who's very displeased. Whomever it is vacates the area before they're able to pinpoint them.

Ree and Kyp are especially popular. Zan's vanished, as usual. Dalt basks in the attention.

The Senate has been sketchily briefed on the Blueprint. Oola meets her brother to find out who's standing where on that issue. Ree finds out SARR taped the fight against the Thule leaders, and it's now on all the holovids. Luke may be even more dismayed about this than she is. There's some speculation about Ree and Kyp as an 'item.' Ree gives Lydia two weeks off and suggests she read up on constructing lightsabers. The Council wants to know Ree's opinion of Dalt. She tells them he still has a tremendous ego but has developed a conscience. for the next couple of weeks, they decide to let him come and go with minimal supervision. Kyp suggests having Lando talk to Senator Sent. Ree recommends installing Force crystals on the prison ship.

While Onna and Oola take Ree dress-shopping, Kedrihm'Val notes something happening on the prison ship. He heads up with Kyp and the security. The breakout was well-timed for people to be off their guard. Drath and two others are missing: Asajj Ventress and her apprentice. The guards are vacant--mind-wiped--there are lightsaber marks on the walls, etc. Kedrihm'Val tries psychometry on a guard, getting an image of a white-haired man--Set Harth--and a really, REALLY angry guy with pink skin--a Zeltron--who wiped these peoples' minds with pure rage. From the evidence, it looks like Harth and his companion came for Ventress and her apprentice, and Drath broke out on his own and went along for the ride. Kyp tells Kedrihm'Val to tell Ree and the others while he informs the Council. Kyp says a ship took off, but a female Zeltron spent the day distracting people so there's no good description of the transport. That's six people leaving, then.

Meanwhile, dress-shopping, Ree doesn't know what she's doing, and is mainly concerned with where to put her lightsaber, but they do achieve success! Avoiding fiascos of lace and ruffles, they find a fashionable dress she likes. Then Ree finds bad shoes. Oola finds good ones. Ree's on the way back to the temple when she sees the news. Then she gets a call from her mother to make sure she's getting ready and not being distracted by goings-on at the temple. Dalt turns up and Kedrihm'Val gives him the lowdown. Dalt's not sure he believes the guy is really Set Harth, but he knows some stories about the legendary Dark Sider. Harth was selfish, collected Sith lore, sort of a wandering Dark Side archivist. But Dalt is more worried about Drath.

Ree deposits her purchases and catches up with the others. Kedrihm'Val is surprised by how quickly her family heard about the incident. Ree calls back, but gets no message, so Oola traces the call, which leads to a hotel on Coruscant. Oola thinks they're spying on her. "Please," snipes Dalt. "Travel 26 days just to spy on your date? Even in my family, that'd be what we'd officially call problems." Looking further into it, Oola discovers that Han Solo paid for their trip. In fact, he paid for the whole freaking family--ALL of them--as "guests of the Republic." Oola doesn't tell.

Discussing the incident further, they figure Drath might go to Hutt Space or into the Deep Core. Maybe to one of Maul's bases, but they don't know where those are. Dalt reminds them taht Oola stuck Drath full of tracking fluid. Following that, signs point vaguely to the Deep Core. Dalt wants to build a special ship to follow them through the gravity fields there. Ree passes that on to Luke, who says not to let Dalt work himself to death over Life Week. Dalt claims it'll only take 36 hours for him, Oola, and his apprentice. "What'll we call him, anyway?" The kid tells them just to pick something. It takes Dalt and Co. about three hours to draft the basic design.

In the meantime, the others are off to dinner. Oola asks SARR, "You want to go with us, go to dinner, or go off by yourself?" SARR's eyes light up at that.

The next day, the temple prepares for the Living Force ceremony. Ree gets briefed on the Senate meetings. After Kyp comments on how sad it is that Ree can't spend the week with her family, Oola tells her about her family being on Coruscant. Ree's aunts all pick on her mom for calling, and make Oola tell Han she spoiled the surprise. Ree: "What is General Solo doing?!" SARR: "Maybe he's trying to make meat pies." Ree gets all mushy when Oola tells her it was Kyp's idea. SARR tells them some of the itinerary for the next two weeks, and wants tickets to the Tatooine vs. Chandrila smashball game. "It should be vicious," he says with great satisfaction.

The festival starts tomorrow. Today, they'll see what they can learn. Z tells the girls to go jewelry shopping, and takes Dalt and Kedrihm'Val to the Smashed Holocron to start tracking those messages. Now there's a strange team.

Onna explains to Ree that it's normal to own things like this. "Jedi are what we call 'poor.'" Ree: "I have dresses my mom made." "You were what we call 'poorer than a Jedi' before you were a Jedi." Ree wants to get Kyp a gift, a fancy sweet bread her people traditionally give to their sweethearts. so, she'll bake. "Baking for men is a serious step!"

Z, meanwhile, piles on the liquor. Now, who saw that coming? Dalt's disgusted that he doesn't have a drink, and at Z's pile of liquor. Z: "Kedrihm'Val, you have to figure out how a message got sent from here. Because this usually happens when I get here." "Oh, I fear you," Dalt snarks. "If Boba Fuckup can't do it, maybe we should look for clues," he says to Kedrihm. Z wanders into the ladies' room while Dalt and Kedrihm talk to the bartender. The power flickers. It's Z, who has patched into the security system through the wiring in the bathroom. He learns that the message boy they met works for the passed-out old guy at the end of the bar. Kedrihm ponders Z's massive drunk. Dalt asks if his planet doesn't have alcohol. Kedrihm'Val looks down at himself. "We're not exactly in a state to binge on poison," he points out. "Ah, sorry about that. Easily fixed," Dalt tells him.

The guy at the end of the bar is drinking suicidal amounts of alcohol, which doesn't seem to bother him. Z's actually pacing the guy pretty well, but passes out halfway through the drinks list (he gets to the 'Kyp-up'). Dalt calls Ree to let her know about the old man, who is using the Force to heal himself. Ree comes in, sits down, and he chats with her. He saw Set Harth in the bar, so he sent the message. Says the guy looked the same as when he last saw him forty years ago. Offers his name as Pence. "If he wanted artifacts, then why not go after the library ship?" Ree wonders. Pence figures he's probably after a specific artifact.

Oola orders booze: the Destroyer Droid and the Two-Fisted Farmgirl (named after Ree). Ree orders a Jedi Healer. She doesn't want to bother Pence any further, so they pick up Z and cart him home. His place is actually quite nice.

The people working on the ship have dug up materials, so Oola and Dalt return to work.

Thule

2007-12-20T16:07:00.002-05:00

The Falcon lifts off, and the Starwind rendezvouses with the fleet. Ree spots what looks like an old Jedi capital ship. In fact, there are quite a few ships in the fleet ranging from antique to positively ancient. Apparently Luke hauled out a bunch of the ships from the Rakata ghost ship. When she asks after he meets them in the hangar bay, Luke tells her that the "Twilek tech-fairy" got a lot of them working. Ree hands him a Force crystal, which he finds fascinating. He already knows about his mother. They know Zan's well because he's been very effective at slowing Thule's main cruiser, he tells Ree when she asks. He stopped up the plumbing while they had him on KP duty.

They're introduced to the various plans of attack they're thinking over. Sighing, Luke grudgingly shows them Han's (only because Han made him promise to present it for consideration, he says), which goes like this:

"I can only see one flaw," Kyp says. "How do we get Luke to the evil leader?" Luke gives him a dirty look. "It's hardly going to be that easy."

When Ree tells Luke about Set Harth, Z remembers he had something to give her. He traced the message service to the Smashed Holocron, but couldn't follow it any further. Kedrihm'Val says he always thought it was Jude, but she denies it, and Endek says it wasn't him, either. Still, Endek says, he doesn't think the leader is Harth. He always sounded more likely to raid Jedi artifacts or, well, the prison ship. Kedrihm'Val suggests that they might ask their captive Thule agent who the leader is.

Dalt reiterates what he said before about knocking out the Thule temple. The easiest way, of course, would be to use a planet mine on Thule, but he doesn't like the idea of blowing up planets (oh, how our little Dark Sider has grown!). If they grab the Dark Side device he left on Dathomir, they could use that to bathe the planet in less morose Force radiation. It would sap much of the Dark Side power that Thule's Force users tap, and while it wouldn't make anyone spontaneously decide to become a good guy, it might help those on the planet who are little more than slaves. They've got one of Dalt's stealth ships here; he thinks they can strip it down to be fast enough to get to Dathomir and back in time.

He takes Oola, Z, Ree, and INON, in case they need to fend off attackers while he and Oola hook the device up. And indeed, Z and Ree have to hold off some angry Force witches. Z plunks some of those Force crystals into his flechette launcher, and it does truly explosive things to the Force witch he aims it at.

The device, when loaded with not-badness, works wonders. It saps much of the power from Thule's fleet, which after all is powered by enslaved Force users hooked up to engines, and Republic ships are able to follow the auto-returning Thule ships back through the defenses. The device strapped to the fairly small ship makes it difficult to steer, but INON rides on top and helps control the ship using his own weight.

The group gets ready to head down to the planet, except for Dalt, who says he'd better stay with the device in case something goes wrong. SARR tells them to watch out for Thrawn trying to evac a Dark Sider. Kyp figures to head down with Luke and Ree, meet up with Zan, and implement Han's plan (much to Luke's disgust).

SARR, INON (in his capacity as a destroyer droid), Jude, Endek, Luke, and Kyp all make planetfall with the crew. The force sent out to meet them doesn't exist for long. Oola finds the leader's location and sends it to the Jedi, who head in. While Ree, Luke, and Kyp take off to fight the Bad Guy, Z and the others head in to take out the planetary defenses. Oola stays outside to coordinate, Endek and INON watching over her.

Z figures to steal some equipment from the dead and disguise the group as Thule soldiers in order to sneak in with minimum resistance. At this point, they learn that SARR has a hologram projector. They make it to the command center, but Kedrihm'Val doesn't quite manage to bluff well enough, so they're in for a fight. Kind of. Z blows the crap out of people, while Oola hacks the system using SARR as a relay point. Once she checks to find out that Zan's been extracted, she simply turns the planetary defense grid on the Thule fleet.

Meanwhile, the three Jedi go after the heads of Thule. It's two womenL the high priestess Absinthe Dooku, and a war leader. Luke takes the war leader while Ree and Kyp gang up on Absinthe.

Luke's fight takes about .5 seconds, as he gets in a great shot and simply beheads the vaunted war leader. With nothing better to do and every confidence in his companions (and no desire to get any more glory than he absolutely has to), he shuts off his lightsaber and sits down in a nearby chair to watch the others.

Absinthe shuts her mouth on the defiant comment she'd been about to make and decides to indulge in the better part of valor. She doesn't get far from Kyp, however. He hauls her back with the Force and throws her off the wall. "You sure you wouldn't like to surrender?" asks Ree (finally revealing to Luke and Kyp how she manages to keep bringing back live Dark Siders). Absinthe draws her weapons, so...Ree cuts her in half.

Luke calls Dalt to come in with Zan and hook up the device to the temple. Kyp mocks the crap out of Luke: "It's not that easy! It's not that easy, you said!" Thrawn behaves himself, withdrawing Imperial forces other than a small force to help with cleanup.

Luke notes that after this, they should get through the New Year without further complications, then adds, "Well, let's incinerate these bodies so they can't be cloned."

There is a happy reunion with Zan, who's glad to hear about all they've done while he was gone. He knows about Ree and Kyp's date, somehow, but all he'll say is, "I haven't lost my touch!" Kedrihm'Val retrieves the lightsaber from SARR (again; this could become a problem).

Go on a DATE, already!

2007-12-19T14:09:00.001-05:00

When they all return to the ship for the night, SARR shows them the video of the Force witches attacking. He's very good with that lightsaber, excellent form and everything. Mora is disgusted with the witches and doesn't seem to be too upset. She goes to bed.

Dalt holds forth on the crystal SARR has created. If there is a Light Side Pulse, then there should be a Dark Side Pulse, so perhaps the orb from the Sith Tower is a fragment of the Dark Side one and whatever is under the water on Ree's planet is a fragment of the Light Side Pulse? He wants to go visit it and see if more crystals are forming...which incidentally puts him exactly where the crew wants him. They agree to take him there tomorrow. If they're lucky, he'll go for a swim.

In the morning, Mora seems to have pulled herself together somewhat. Oola has INON help give Padme a bath. Z offers to help. "No!" Oola snaps. "PLEASE?!" Z begs.

Kyp tries to pay more attention to Ree, figuring that that's what he should do if she's interested, while Ree tries to find the right non-committal distance to not make him feel uncomfortable while she doesn't seem encouraging. She wonders how this happened. "Maybe I just haven't been paying attention...?"

After breakfast, Mora helps clean up and Dalt asks about going to the underground lake. There, he does indeed go for a swim to see what things look like underwater. He gathers some crystals, which he thinks could have any number of uses--for example, plunk one into that Dark Side device, and it could turn into a Light Side device. He rubs one in Z's face. "Feel anything?" "Rage," Z answers.

He wants to see if a Dark Sider wearing one of these crystals can access the Dark Side. He's pretty sure that it should be non-terminal. "And if it is," Oola replies, "Then, well..." "Now," answers Dalt, "You can't just go killing people in experiments." In other news, Mora seems calmer with the crystals in the room.

SARR wants another scan of Dalt's brain, which Oola arranges by telling him the last one was messed up. Kedrihm'Val suggests giving Mora one of the crystals. Ree thinks she might have her uncle give it as a gift.

Kyp figures they'll rendezvous with the Republic fleet when it passes on its way to the Outer Rim. It's probably best if Leia deals with Padme. Dalt suggests they take out the Sith temple on Thule. Not only will this throw Thule into chaos, as they perceive it as containing their sacred leadership, but the place is another of those Force-amplifying pyramids like on Yavin 4.

Ree is worried about the academy students left on Dathomir, but Kyp says he'll have someone take care of that. After they check to make sure no one has any other errands for them to run before they rejoin the fleet (the Council says only to meet them when the fleet is done at Bimmisaari), they place a call to Leia--or more accurately, Han.

"Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow," says Han. "Ree, you brought back the dead?" "No!" she says to him. "No!" she says to Kyp. "I'll tell her," Han
answers. "Consider all other orders countermanded until you hear from me."

SARR notes taht Dalt's new brainscan shows that the "crazy-lattice" is completely gone. Oola grabs more water and returns to Ree's house. But how to apply it? Maybe just have them drink it? But the water glows, Kedrihm'Val points out. "Z, give me that flask." Unscrewing it, he says, "You have glowing alcohol." "Ooooo," says Oola, "Ryloth brandy!" They pour the water into Z's flask of glowing alcohol and he feeds it to Ree's aunt and uncle who, he comments, seem amazingly willing to accept any kind of liquor from him.

It seems to work. Really well.

Jude comes hurrying over. "Ohhh, god. I loved bacon once. I'm glad you and Kyp don't do that in public." Ree is flustered, and covers it by helping Jude escape from the room. They chat about guys, such as Z ("He's six feet of man-meat. Or, six and a half," Jude tells Ree. "No. Stay away from him," Ree commands), and Kedrihm'Val ("He's spooky. Like Yoda without the cute fuzzy.").

Dalt insults Z's sexual orientation. Z leaps at him again. Ree and kedrihm'Val grab him again. He grumbles about Dalt, who asks, "Why does everyone question my virility?" "We don't," replies Kedrihm, recalling a disturbing conversation about Darth Maul. "We question who you aim it at."

Ree shows Kyp how to make decorations. He likes that. He tries to find the courage to ask her out.

Mora shows up dressed like a normal person instead of a jungle witch, and gets Lydia to remove her Dathomiri tattoos.

They spend a few days waiting for Han, and take turns sitting with Padme, in case just having friendly people around helps.

When Kyp, Ree, Jude and Kedrihm'Val are walking to the ship one afternoon, a smoke bomb goes off. They hear four lightsabers ignite in the smoke--Thule agents. Jude crushes one's head with her cybernetic arm and summons up a Force wind, while Kedrihm'Val knocks one over, kicks the lightsaber away, and knocks him out. Ree and Kyp do awful Jedi things to their opponents. "So," begins Kyp while he fights. "You want to go to the opera with me when we get back?" And that's about the duration of the fight. Ree stares at him in astonishment. "You ask now?" "Well," he defends. "I finally felt comfortable." Then they both clam up with sudden nerves.

They take the one living guy back to the ship for interrogation. When the Thule agent wakes, he's surprised to come face-to-face with INON. "He's the nice one," Kedrihm'Val supplies. The agent looks horrified at this, and tries to dig out SARR's dossier, which he has on a datapad in his pocket. He has dossiers on all of them, in fact, but the facts are rather blurred due to all the rumors and misconceptions fostered by their popularity--especially the movies ("What do you know," Kyp mutters, "It worked!"). The information about SARR is particularly interesting, though. Apparently he's over 150 years old. The records also have some information on Sareth Fenn, the agent who works for Oola's father, commenting that his strange sword may be the remnant of a Sith sword that he had rebuilt. It seems to scramble Force-users who are hit with it.

The agent tells them his group has been here for three months, waiting for Ree. They were to capture her at an opportune moment...but they weren't exactly expecting her to be travelling with, well, that kind of help. The spaceport happily impounds their ship when Ree asks.

When Ree notices that the agent is a Force user, she plants one of those crystals next to him. Dalt "secretly" undoes the agents hands from the straps he'd been bound with, letting the others see and offering a cheesy wink to reassure the guy. The agent immediately tries to Force Lightning the group...only nothing happens. Dalt conks him on the head with the butt of his lightsaber, satisfied.

The ship has been corresponding regularly with Thule (and they also think there's something between Ree and Kyp). Z: "Bet there's tons of stuff on my romantic liaisons." Dalt: "With your mother?" Kedrihm'Val spins Z away from Dalt before he can do anything. "He doesn't need encouragement," he tells Dalt. The records indicate that there are Thule spies scattered liberally across the Republic, though apparently not as many as Thule wants people to believe. None of the cells have personal knowledge about any of the other groups, however. Also, the crew learns that someone has been sending large amounts of funding to Thule from various places in Republic space, though it has all been funneled through Keldragga the Hutt.

While the others investigate and try to ignore the lovebirds, Ree awkwardly agrees to the date at the Rodian opera (Dalt said it had exciting fights and stuff, so it wouldn't bore them).

The crew thinks they might be able to use this ship to get through Thule's planetary cloak so they can disable the planet's defenses. Oola is able to fake a message telling Thule that Ree Shevan has been dealt with, and sure enough, gets the instructions back for passing through the blockade.

Ree asks Oola for dating advice. Ree isn't even sure it is a date; it took her a day to realize she had in fact accepted. Oola calms her down from her panicky, babbling state. "Go and have fun and you can't have worse table manners than Han Solo."

Kedrihm'Val asks Dalt more about the crystals. Dalt thinks they could be used to heal Abindosan. They talk about clones and bringing back the dead. Dalt supposes it might be best to take care of the Yoda DNA, then. He wonders about the effects of bringing back someone who has faded into the Force. Would they remember? Would it drive them insane? Could they end up Force sensitive? Kedrihm'Val asks what happens if you bring back a Force spirit that doesn't want to come back. Dalt supposes they'd be drawn back against their will. He asks why they haven't eradicated E'Val, and Kedrihm explains that the scientists thought they might learn clues to fixing his planet. Dalt concedes that this is possibly true.

The spaceport goes nuts when the Millennium Falcon comes in. Ree's mother comms, hyperventilating about the Chancellor and General Solo coming to dinner. Ree's father calms the woman down, but refuses to kill the cow when she mutters something about beef being a more appropriate meal than mutton.

Dalt explains to Han and Leia about the whole 'bringing back the dead' thing, and also about the possibility of Force sensitivity. Han: "You guys go from being completely rare to being everywhere I live!" Leia checks on Padme and says they'll have to upgrade what she sarcastically refers to as the Falcon's medbay, and agrees to dinner with Ree's family. Ree's dad: "I am not killing that cow! I'll be saying goodbye to some sheep, though..."

Ree reads up on dating, but finds some awful books. When he spots her reading material, SARR offers to help. Force be with her. He gives her a list of good resources, explaining "I am a protocol droid" when she's shocked. And if Ree doesn't believe what everyone says about being herself and having a good time, SARR suggests she go ask Z for some dating advice so she can recognize the idiocy of doing otherwise firsthand. He also suggests she talk to her mother. "Don't you meatbags seek your spawning units for advice on things like this?"

Dinner goes just fine, though Ree's mom remains nervous. Ree asks her for advice. After her mother gloats a little about being right, she says, "Relax and be yourself." When Ree explains that Kyp wants to go with Han and Leia as well, her mother nods knowingly. "That's a male trick they use when they're nervous. Your father and I didn't go on a date alone for a month and a half."

Her dad passes through again, grumbling about the cow. "You know what cows can't do when they're dead? Breed!" "Well, actually-," Dalt begins. "NO!" "Fine. I'll just creme a brulee." He pulls out his lightsaber. Seeing the reaction, he starts giving instruction about cooking with a lightsaber. Ree's dad is fascinated.

During the night, while everyone is sleeping, Oola grabs INON and they give the Falcon a thorough scrubbing down. In the morning, Han is thoroughly dismayed. "Wow, Han," Leia comments. "It's white! I'm surprised nothing fell off," she adds to Oola. They load up Padme. Kedrihm'Val, figuring no one has actually asked him, checks with Dalt to see if he wants to go with them or head back to Coruscant. He's coming along, he says. Han tells Ree he'll take care of the Dathomiri students.

The Shevan Family Reunion

2007-12-18T13:12:00.001-05:00

It's four days to Ree's world with a shipful of kooks. Kyp spends most of his time in a bacta tank, much to his disgust. They decide it's better to keep Padme unconscious for now, considering who she'd be waking up to meet.

SARR proposes a procedure to fix Dalt and Mora, but it involves cracking their heads open and splicing DNA, and the Jedi aren't comfortable with that. Neither is Dalt, who swings by the conference room when he senses they're talking about him (he really likes it when they talk about him). Thinking it might be a less alarming solution, Kedrihm'Val reminds them of the Force-saturated water on Ree's world. Kyp thinks Dalt must know how to fix it, considering he sorted it out with the clone he left back on Miraluka. Deciding it might be worth comparing, Oola gets a copy of his medical records from Miraluka while Lydia gets Dalt to submit to a brain pattern scan.

On Ree's planet, Mora leaves her Dathomiri bodyguards on the ship with SARR and INON, who stay to crunch data. Ree updates Mora on family matters. Mora tries to hide her nervousness by acting disdainful, but it's pretty obvious that she's flustered about the reunion. Kedrihm'Val, Mora, and Dalt all get glared at by the Dark Side-hating space sheep on the way to the Shevan farm.

They can tell from a distance that the place is going nuts with excitement. Apparently Ree's mom got everyone together. The homestead is buzzing like a Shevan-filled hive. Everyone is dressed nicely, and Ree notices that Jude is there.

Z takes Lydia, Oola and Kedrihm'Val to get Force water. They grab plenty extra for testing.

Ree notes that people are behaving oddly toward Kyp, but she doesn't quite notice the pattern of 'boyfriend-interrogation.' Mora and Devith have an awkwardly emotional reunion in which they both strain not to break down. Being surrounded by family seems to help Mora get some perspective, and Ree takes the liberty of nudging her along just a little. Kyp figures out that bringing to mind old happy memories helps a lot too.

INON calls Oola while they're still out gathering water. SARR is tallking about executing the witches, and INON wants to know if that's bad (he's programmed to check with her before implementing SARR's suggestions). Oola deactivates INON, then says, "You're free, SARR." She hears the sound of saws starting up. "Make it clean," she tells him. And she hears a lightsaber activate. SARR says he'll claim that they attacked him, and the recordings will back that up. He also comments that Dalt is very easy to steal from.

Lydia takes the Force water back to the ship, and INON calls back, horrified that the Force witches apparently attacked him and SARR.

Back on the farm, uncles have taken Kyp in hand and are showing him around while they interrogate him. When Oola gets back, she tries picking Dalt's pocket while he helps cook, and discovers that SARR was right: the man is completely oblivious.

SARR is making progress on figuring out how to fix the Sent twins. He also comments thoughtfully that, "If you combine the minerals in the water into a crystal, I'm not sure what you'd get." INON cuts in with, "Shouldn't you tell her you're combining the minerals in the water?"

Dinner goes well. Everyone makes an effort to get along, and ignores Z's Wookie-like feasting behaviors. When Ree tries to help clean up, one of her aunts scolds her, "Go back in and sit with your fella." Which almost gets through to her, but she's still mightily confused as to whether she's making things up in her head.

Before dessert, the family wheels in the holovidder to watch the news. The retaking of Bimm is going well. One of the reporters wonders where Ree is, since they haven't spotted her during the battle. Bimm did have a planetary shield that was causing trouble, but they show a clip of what happened to it: the leader of the Thule forces beamed out a gloating message of defiance a while back. In the background of the shot, you could see a Thule soldier stagger and flail into the shield mechanisms and wreck the joint, to cries of "Goddamit, Zan!"

Ree keeps finding herself being grouped with Kyp while the family plays party games.

When he requests a Force-user to poke it for him, Oola takes Kedrihm'Val back out to the ship to check on the crystal SARR is growing (SARR says he's the "least objectionable of the magic meatbags." Awwwww). It feels warm and fuzzy (emotionally, that is; it is still a rock). SARR says it's similar in a way to the crystals that Severan used to turn people into ooze-monsters. Borrowing some of his mistress's speech patterns, INON cusses SARR out in a sarcastic tone, then looks abashed when everyone's startled. Oola considers again spiking Dalt's and Mora's drinks, but SARR thinks it might be best to wait until after the party, in case someone explode

Back at home, Ree has finally caught on to the subtext. She tries to tell her mother that nothing is going on between her and Kyp, but her mother won't believe her. "Mothers can tell these things, dear," she says tolerantly, and "If nothing's going on, then that's decidedly your fault." Which completely scandalizes Ree. "Unless he's in some boy-teasing-girl phase, he's not interested!" she insists. "They never grow out of that phase, dear," her mother replies. At about which time, Ree's father comes into the kitchen to play a prank on Mother. "You're not helping!" Ree snaps at him. "What?" her dad helplessly asks.

Asking around, Ree discovers that everyone is quite convinced about her and Kyp. Lydia, Oola, and Ree get into a shouting match about it. While they squabble (well, while Oola and Lydia gossip and Ree shrilly insists it's all in their imaginations), Jude comes over to hide from her parents, who are making gooey eyes at each other. She agrees with everyone else.

Lydia: "Your uncles have been showing him around all day."
Ree: "Did they show him the tractor...? Oh no."
Jude: "He's about as socially adept as you. It's possible there's something going on between you and neither of you know it."

Ree peers over at Kyp, who waves at her.

Kedrihm'Val stops by briefly when he notes the sounds of argument, but quickly realizes whtat he's stepped into, and retreats. Dalt comes over to the girl-talk circle a bit later, wanting to know if they're talking about him. Ree chews him out for bringing a lightsaber into the house. Dalt realizes suddenly that his other one is missing, and wanders off to look for it.

Ree notes that Z has gotten her aunt and uncle quite drunk on glowy alcoholic beverages.

When Ree explains the whole situation to her (seeking desperately for a change in subject), Jude discovers to her abject horror that she is related to Dalt, and spins to steal a drink from Z as he passes by with a tray.

Z notes the Girl Talk Circle, and decides it's time to be proactive. He grabs Kedrihm'Val and Dalt, of all people, to form the balancing Man-to-Man Talk with Kyp on the other side of the room. Kyp is completely clueless. Kedrihm'Val tries to tell Z to drop it, saying they should give the two privacy considering everyone else keeps poking into their affairs. "Er...YEAH!" agrees, Kyp, utterly confused about what he's referring to. Dalt just wants them to talk about him, and is grumpy that the conversation is currently not centering around him. "We talk about you all the time," Kedrihm'Val reassures him. "More than almost anything?" asks Dalt, shyly pleased. As Kyp begins to understand what they're talking about, he remains confused but vaguely interested. "You mean...she wants me to ask her to dinner?" He babbles about how the uncles kept talking about concerts. Dalt suggests getting Ree tickets to a ballet or something so that they can end this conversation and start talking about him.

So, the evening ends thusly: Ezrek Dalt giving a baffled Kyp Durron dating advice, while Z looms with stern protectiveness and balancing a bartender's kit on a tray; Ree trying to deny that anyone else thinks she's in a relationship with Kyp; a drunken Mora sitting on a drunken Dervith's lap while she tries to pretend she doesn't care about him; Jude hiding behind anyone sufficiently broad to block out the sight of her parents while she tries to give Ree dating advice; and Endek in the corner, glumly pondering his god-daughter dating the guy who blew up a solar system ("Should've seen that one coming.").

Ree's mother invites them all back to breakfast in the morning.

Dathomir, the leaving

2007-12-17T12:46:00.000-05:00

Armed and prepared, the crew does some sneak-sneak to get to the place where Mora and Maul are going head to head. People are flying, Amidala's going ballistic with a lightsaber, Ree's decrepit aunt has lightning showering from her fingers. The battlefield is, unsurprisingly, a mess.

Z screams, "Hey, Darth Maul, male apprentice to the Emperor!" When PadMaul spins in surprise (prompting confusion from the Nightsisters), the Force users Force Light him. Ree smashes his lightsaber.

And now they're surrounded by angry confused evil Force witches. On the bright side, when they hear the explanation, they know the crew isn't lying. So, they feel they owe some kind of debt and usher them over to a place they can relax a little.

Mora, laying eyes on Dalt, orders him to go fix the machine like he promised when he left. Dalt grabs Oola and SARR to help, and goes to do just that (well, not really, but he does start disconnecting the Dark Side device). The witches are very relieved he's got a female helping him. Once they verify that Amidala's gone back to her own corpus, SARR beheads Maul's body. Ree tallies the number of off-planet people among the crowd of witches for possible future rescuing.

Not much later, Oola detects an incoming fighter, which is handily dodging its way right around the satellite defenses. Following behind is a second in pursuit, which is doing alright for itself too, though not quite as skillfully. Anakin. And...Han? Kyp? Can't be Luke, he must be heading toward Bimmisaari by now. The second fighter forces down the first one a long distance away from their location, apparently deliberately.

Ree gets an audience with "Mother," to whom she explains about the Infinity Gate and Maul, then introduces herself as Reeden Shevan. Mora explains to her that she wants to make the galaxy a better place. She plans to wipe out all the technology in the galaxy so that people will go back to a natural, balanced lifestyle. When Ree points out that using the Gate that way could kill everyone, Mora admits she hadn't thought of that, but that she's sure she can compensate to leave some alive.

Ree tells her about the family, about her being a Sent, about Dalt and the brainwashing. Mora's horrified to be related to Dalt. They argue about the meaning of balance. Ree points out that since twins were the prophecy, then that would mean that Dalt's part of it too; his technological obsession and her natural understanding must both be important.

And then a witch snags Ree's and Lydia's lightsabers and activates them. Maul. Luckily, Ree's been stocking multiple lightsabers lately.

Z and Kedrihm'Val and the others are a good distance away from Ree at this point on the other side of about 40 Force witches, so it takes a bit before they realize something's happening. When Z notices the activity, he hits a button. Crashing mechanical sounds begin out in the woods as the AT-AT he had rigged up to a slave circuit begins coming in. Meanwhile, SARR grabs Dalt's lightsaber from his belt. Kedrihm'Val, seeing this over Z's shoulder, looks kind of horrified, and Z actually shouts in shock. Poor Dalt looks terrified.

Lydia's out of the fight, Ree's holding Maul off, and the witches surrounding them are becoming suspicious of this outsider who's suddenly fighting one of their own. The rest of the group has forty witches to get through in order to get over there, so instead Kedrihm'Val calls up the plants to trap Maul. Met with a moment to take action, Ree Force Lights him, driving his spirit out of the witch's body. Maul tries to possess Kedrihm'Val, then Dalt, then Malina in quick succession, but all of them resist, so he leaps into another witch. But which one?

Kedrihm'Val senses him and sends a telepathic message to her and the other Jedi. They ambush him. Once he's down for the count, the other witches draw a magic circle to keep his spirit trapped.

Kedrihm'Val notices that Z's still holding Darth Maul's body, blue Zabrak blood running down his armor. And...oh yes, it's generating a bubble of anti-Force.

Ree turns back to Mora to present her argument, handing over the information on the Chosen One. Mora isn't convinced...and then Kyp comes crashing out of the jungle in a veil of lightning.

Z pitches Darth Maul's body at Anakin as he emerges from the woods, and hits the button for the AT-AT again. The thing opens fire with its turbo-lasers. When the smoke clears, there's nothing but a smoking crater where the clone of Anakin Skywalker stood. "I killed Darth Vader healthy!" Z boasts. Kedrihm'Val tries to process that statement, then gives up and asks Dalt, "Do I have the language right? Was that supposed to make sense?" "No," Dalt reassures him. "That was just testosterone speaking."

Kyp looks like hell, but he says he'll be okay. He tells them there was no soul in that body, just a mind that remembered some things about who it once was.

Pulling her trump card, Ree turns over the message her uncle recorded. Mora withdraws to listen to it, and (thanks to Ree's player rolling a 1 on the Will save) breaks down. Ree comes over to Kyp, who's collapsed against a tree, to thank him. "I'm not sure I could have handled that," she tells him. Kyp gives her a look that all but says, 'I'm not sure I could've handled that either!'

Mora calls her bodyguards in to her, then emerges without them, looking rejuvenated. When Ree confronts her about killing them, Mora tells her, "I suppose if they hadn't pledged their lives to me willingly, I might've had a problem with it." Ree asks Dalt how the gate is coming. Not sure what she's exactly asking about, he says it'll take weeks to get it working, so Mora decides she might as well go back with Ree to visit Devith.

Once Dalt finishes disconnecting the Dark Side device, Kedrihm'Val Force Lights the goo to render it inert. "I should dismantle it, I suppose," Dalt says thoughtfully. "It is an abomination, but it's a beautiful piece of technology..." He comments that if he activated the gate, he could fix Kedrihm'Val's world, bring back Alderaan, and fix all sorts of things. "What'd you just say?!" demands Endek, popping out of the bushes where he'd been lurking the whole time, ready to snipe Mora.

Kyp gets put in medbay (where SARR gets to watch over him, oh goodie!). They mag the Jedi fighters to the Starwind, Z detonates the bombs on the Infiltrator. It's a real big explosion; everyone applauds. The witches put Maul's spirit in a rock, which Oola drops into a box of ysalamiri hormone. That'll be one ticked-off mineral. Kedrihm'Val puts Padme in the medbay along with Kyp, and observes that it really is her soul in there. Kyp offers sarcasm: "Luke, we killed a crazy robot clone of your father, but on the bright side we brought your mom back from the dead." Dalt explains that he created his cloning technology specifically to recall a person's spirit, as he wanted to use it to bring himself back if he died. Ree speaks to witches to find out if any of the kidnapped offworlders want to leave, and gathers people up.

Once they take off, Endek demands to know what they meant about bringing back planets. They explain about the Gate and everything. Dalt wonders aloud whether Ree's planet is really the 'Force star' he's been looking for. Endek likes the idea of bringing back Alderaan. Apparently its destruction really upset him. Kedrihm'Val, on the other hand, is less thrilled with the idea of mucking around with the natural order any more than they have already.

They make Kedrihm'Val run errands for their guests, who expect to be served by men and probably would prefer, well, not-Z. Z tries to insult Dalt: "You're the closest thing to a woman we have on this ship. Well jedi woman. I mean you're gay! You're gay, Dalt!"

"Well..." drawls Dalt, looking a bit surprised by the outburst. "And think how much money I wasted on your mother."

Z jumps across the table at him. Dalt Force-chokes him in self-defense while Ree and Kedrihm'Val grab him and shove him back in his seat, then scold Dalt.

Ree calls her family to let them know whom she's bringing home. Her uncle is stunned but happy. Her mom is also shocked but gamely steps up. "Oh my. Wow. Um...well, I'll make up the guest rooms, and... What does she eat, other than babies?"

Dathomir, the arrival

2007-12-10T12:00:00.001-05:00

First, it's off to Yavin to talk to the Dathomiri students. They recall an outsider coming in to lead the Nightsisters, and how unusual it was because none of the Dathomiri are all that keen on outsiders. She had something to do with slaves, and kept trying to get into the Imperial compound. They never knew why, but the place was on auto-defense and there was no way the witches could break in. She used the Dark Side aggressively, which took a toll on her body, so she clung desperately to youth. She used a technique to drain vigor from other Force users, which restored her. She also had a core group of children she kept isolated from everyone else. Whether they were special followers or prisoners, no one is quite sure. The students name some Dathomiri who might be able to tell them more.

Kyp sends a message to Ree that Anakin has woken up and left the planet. He's probably heading to Dathomir, but Kyp did a bit of computer magic so that Anakin was misinformed on where to find it. It won't keep him away forever, but it does buy the crew a head start.

Next, to Ree's home. Dalt eats pie while Ree tells her uncle everything. He takes it better than the family insisted he would. He says Mora cared for her family, but she just wasn't cut out for farm life. She had a paranoid streak--didn't like gossip, and she tended to assume it was about her. Which, granted, it often was. Ree asks him to record a message for Mora.

INON helps Ree's mother cooks, and when she finds out Dalt is a chef, he gets drafted too. Z gives him the hairy eyeball and doesn't let him near the chocolate.

Ree's uncle is surprised when he learns who Dalt is. "You brought your villain home? Well, I suppose pie can make just about anything better..." Dalt likes being referred to as the crew's villain. Devith also suggests that Ree hunt up Endek. He's on-planet somewhere.

About then, Ree's youngest brother careens into the kitchen, panting and losing his mind about a guest at the door. Turns out, Han Solo has stopped by. He wants to talk about some of the "hard choices" they'll be making soon. Cal, Ree's brother, is amazed at how ugly the Falcon is.

Han, it turns out, is there to make some...not-quite-suggestions on how Anakin and Padme should be handled. He doesn't advocate killing them, exactly, but...well. Well. How far do you risk the galaxy just for one or two people?

Ree, meanwhile, slides into a chair across from Endek, taking a small sort of revenge for him turning up out of the blue on her all the time. She gets right to the point: "Hi! We're going to Dathomir. Wanna come?" He agrees.

So, what do they do when they get to Dathomir? Han wants to know. Honestly, they don't have a whole lot of plan. Take care of the Gate first, since it's the biggest threat. Dalt nixes the idea of blowing it up, as he says that could be disastrous (er, oops?). Dalt thinks he could disconnect the device in about 20 minutes if they drop him in with a stealth team. Alternatively, it's a bit rocky, but they could try pulling it away with a tractor beam so he can deal with it somewhere else.

Then they'll need to deal with the academy. Oh, and Maul may be there. That'll be Ree's department, along with anyone else who can manage to be sufficiently fast and/or brutal. They call Malina to help out, and figure they'll try to recruit some help among the other witch clans.

Dalt says he has the codes for the Imperial fortress. They can dock there, which will protect them from any craziness going on. Also, it'd certainly get Mora's attention, which means Ree might be able to talk to her. Z is thrilled at the challenge of taking on witches riding rancors.

So, asks Kedrihm'Val once that's all settled, what would happen if you blew up one of those devices? Well, says Dalt, that would really suck. Evil Dark Side goo flying everywhere, getting into the water table, gravitating toward any life. It might start corrupting a place. It'd particularly suck on a planet thick with life energy, like Dagobah or Dathomir or...Abindosan... Then Dalt kind of gives him a look that says he just realized why someone might be asking, and adds, "It'd head toward those reefs like magnets."

Anyway. A problem for a time when Darth Maul doesn't have a giant Dark Side laser.

It's easy to get into the garrison, and Dalt has quite obviously been there before. He's even got his own leather chair. It doesn't take long before the Nightsisters head out that way. Dalt captures one so they can question her. Turns out there are two groups now in-fighting. One is Mora's group, and the other is led by a new arrival...who turns out to be Padma Amidala. But Padme wasn't Force sensitive, so how could she get the witches to listen to her...? Maul put himself in Padme's body and put the Blueprint in his! The witch is shocked when she realizes what they're saying. She demands to know if they can prove it.

Perhaps they can, if they can drive Maul out of Amidala's body. And if they can find Maul's and disable it before he reaches it, they won't have to deal with a raging Dark Side Zabrak. They're able to locate Maul's ship about a mile from the are where the Nightsisters are fighting. they can disable him, zap him with some ysalamiri hormone (Oola's carting the stuff around now), and take the body to the battlefield so that everybody's there to see the result. Oola, Z, Kedrihm'Val and Dalt will grab him.

Dalt spots an AT-AT in the installation's hangar. He, Z, and Oola all want to take it for a test drive, but that's not exactly stealthy. Lydia has to use the Force on Z to get him to calm down. Actually, it's hard to tell whether it works or not, but at least he grudgingly listens.

While Z mines the ship with more detonators than they can account for him carrying (really don't want to know where he puts those), the plan goes as planned. Until they realize that Maul put Padme's consciousness in his body. That slows them down a bit, till Dalt says he can rig a droid to hold her mind for a short term. Once he does that, SARR grabs Maul's body and more hormone and medical implements start popping out of his head. When the alarmed meatbags ask just what he's doing, he explains that he's splicing ysalamiri hormone into one of Maul's thyroid glands (apparently Zabraks have four) so that his own body produces it. Creepy, but effective.

That done, they get back and Dalt activates the satellite defenses to defend against any pesky incoming Jedi clones. Then he takes Z down to the armory, where Z gets a Dark Side lightning gun and Dalt picks up a couple of extra lightsabers. The Nightsister, now feeling fairly cooperative, tells them how to surprise Maul.

The Blueprint

2007-12-09T11:00:00.000-05:00

The Council meeting the next day is on the subject of Thule. They're moving against the invaders in a few weeks. The plan is to drive the Thule out of Bimm and follow them back to Thule (and keep an eye on Thrawn, of course). Thule's war leader is a woman named Davar Haktu, and she's reputed to be a powerful Force user. The ruler of Thule is a woman named Absinthe Dooku. Ree is concerned about that, because Dooku's home planet is often tetchy about relatives of their ruling family. They're very proud.

Ree asks about giving Dalt his coin. Luke thinks she should. And after the council, she catches up to Kyp to give him a piece of her mind about those comics. She also asks about Zan. Luke admits that he has been a touch concerned, considering Ree's vision, but he thinks they're on top of it.

So, she grabs Kedrihm'Val and Oola to give Dalt his coin. Oola has done some more research, and finds that the gate on Ree's planet is known as the "Gate of Healing." It's part of a triune of items also including the Infinity Gate and something called the Blueprint.. Ree's gate does something when powered by the Dathomir Gate, guided by the Blueprint. So where's the Blueprint? Could that be what Maul was looking for on Dagobah?

Well, he was sure after something on Dagobah, so it's just as well to head back and look.

Outside the Dark Side cave, Z asks whether the Force users want to go in. Ree hesitates, but Kedrihm'Val feels like he should, so Ree goes too. And then she promptly disappears.

Unable to find anything that might've happened to her, or to so much as sense her, the others are left to continue on and hope they can find her somewhere else in the cave. Meanwhile, Ree looks around to discover that she's somehow wound near her family's house. The animals lie dead in the field of some wasting disease, and the door is hanging off its hinges. The rooms inside are covered in blood and body parts. On the way, painted in blood, are the words, "You should have gone to Dathomir sooner. Why were you afraid?"

Kedrihm'Val feels a bit ill in the cave. Even Oola and Z can feel the oppressiveness. They discover a secret passage into a room. There's writing in the Architect language and an opened box that looks like it held some kind of computer core. "We need to wake up Drath," Oola says, looking at it.

On their way out, they find Ree, looking fine but shaken. When they break orbit with Dagobah, she calls her mother. The whole family is fine, and very excited about Ree's new comic. At a loss and quite alarmed, she seeks advice from Luke, who sympathizes with her. "That cave is a bad, bad place." Kedrihm'Val, meanwhile, sets Z on the delivery service to find out who's been sending those messages.

Drath knows what they're after, but says he has no incentive to tell them anything. They try to talk him into it, but the Council can't find any grounds on which to negotiate that he'd care for. But before they can put him back under, Drath shatters himself free and makes a run for it. The group takes him down and he surrenders, then bites a guard's nose off when the security comes in.

Well, that was a bust. But they are able to get some information from Dalt. He's unaware of anything called 'the Blueprint,' but he recognizes its description. Maul hid it on a base as a bargaining chip, he tells them, either on Naboo or Coruscant. Things being as they are, his guess is Naboo.

So, it's to Naboo they go. Z suggests looking for one of those fifteen million tracking devices SARR put on Maul's ship a while back. One of them might've fallen off. And sure enough, they locate a signal coming from an old research base in a mountain that was supposedly abandoned.

Oola snags floorplans for it. The place obviously saw a visitor recently. They find two cloning vats, both empty. One was clearly Maul. The other, Oola can't identify readily, but she takes some samples so they can test the DNA later. Then they find a secret door on one wall.

It takes them a long way down. There, there are two pedestals and a copying device. One holds the very computer core they were looking for, and the other is empty. Apparently, Maul made a duplicate of it. But why? When Ree picks it up, she finds out! It tries to mind-whammy her. The thing has a limited form of sentience. Z puts it in a box so it won't cause trouble.

On the way back to Coruscant with the device, Kedrihm'Val offers his theory that Darth Maul may want to plug Dalt's final Dark Side device into the Infinity Gate to create a mammoth Dark Side-tainting beam.

On Coruscant, Luke studies the gizmo and says it wants to interface with someone's mind in order to transmit its data. Instead, they plug it into a computer...from which the thing interfaces with the entire Coruscant power grid. While the lights flicker all over the planet, the thing begins to display information: literally the blueprint for the entire galaxy. It presents data for a while until it begins registering anomalies: missing planets, such as Alderaan and Kamino. At this point, it tries to access something on Ree's planet--probably the other gate--but can't. Clearly, the gate on her world builds planets. SARR pokes through the backlog of data and finds that this thing registered the Dark Side device sitting on top of the Infinity Gate.

Dalt's voice comes over the comm to point out that they didn't remember to isolate the prison ship from the power grid before they booted this thing up, though Oola did think to block it from accessing things like hospitals. Drath is loose up there, but the Jedi on board think they've got it under control.

And the DNA from the second cloning vat belongs to Padme Amidala. Kyp's response: "Awwww, giant rampant space banthas." "What about the Anakin clone?" Oola asks. "You want to wake him up?" responds Kyp. "This is how! Don't think about it too hard. ...Don't!"

Oola passes word on to the others. This prompts a council meeting at the Smashed Holocron, at least some minor distance away from the sleeping clone. Luke orders the group to deal with Dathomir. He has Ree and Kedrihm'Val fetch Dalt so he and Kyp can make sure he can be trusted. While they wait for the interrogation, Ree discovers she now has a drink called the Two-Fisted Farmgirl.

About half an hour later, Luke thinks that Dalt will be okay. He tells them to leave the next morning. In the meantime, everyone can try to guard their thoughts.

Tatooine: resting place of the Skywalker Seal

2007-12-07T10:35:00.001-05:00

Ree is dismayed when she sees herself and the rest of the crew in the headlines the next day. She also learns that Scuzzy and Wuzz have started up a fan club for the group and are merchandising the heck out of them.

They decide to head back to Tatooine to look through Jabba's palace and see if they can learn anything more about the Skywalker seal. Z is enthusiastic, since he wants to find Jabba's treasure, but he mentions that the place has a reputation of vanishing would-be treasure hunters., and Oola has heard stories about brain-stealing robots that Jabba used to have guarding the place. Z suggests that they take Salek Endek with them to help with the traps Jabba undoubtedly left lying around.

Z also reports that he's heard nothing about bounty hunters who use ARC trooper armor, which means that this guy isn't a bounty hunter.

When Ree gets back to her room, she finds an envelope that's been slid under her door: old data records from the Clone Wars describing a mission where Anakin and Obi Wan went to Thule to destroy a weapon called the Dark Reaper, which converted a planet's energy into a destructive beam. Ree looks up the reference on the old temple computer core, then shows it to Kyp. He's worried about the possibility of Thule having rebuilt that weapon.

On the way back from Kyp's room, she passes some padawans in the hall who start giggling when they see what direction she's coming from. She rolls her eyes at what she assumes is fangirling.

The next morning, she meets with Endek, who says he has heard troubling stories. He tries to dissuade her, but grumpily agrees to come--insists on it, actually--when she won't change her mind.

Kedrihm'Val speaks to the two Jedi again. They tell him the Jedi found the coin there under a marker stone, and left it when they realized it was for the Chosen One. These Jedi are young, and one of them turns out to be quite the Chosen One fanboy. He proudly displays his collection of Chosen One comics and says all sorts of alarmingly naive things about Luke. The other Jedi is more useful: he points out that the coin is said to have information relevant to the Chosen One on it, so if Luke has it, then he probably has learned quite a bit from it by now.

So. The B'omarr monks were the first ones to settle Tatooine, about 700 years ago. It seems likely that they recognized the marker as a holy thing, and built their monastery around it. The monks are apparently gone, but there might be some information on early interactions with them left in the first settlement, which was built around the crashed Dowager Queen starship.
Z thinks it's likely that nobody would've bothered such apparently useless information, so there's a good chance it's still there.

Luke tells them he found the coin in Jabba's treasure store (much to Z's disgust; apparently he and Han just waltzed in and then back out again), where Jabba apparently put it after he found it much deeper in the complex.

Ree finds another note shoved under her door, this one about a Sith named Set Harth. Records in the old computer say that he's a mythical figure, a fallen Jedi who hunted Sith secrets. He was fascinated by the Sith and their mystique, and was allegedly born before the Mandalorian Wars, but the stories indicate that he would still be alive.

Ree wonders, could this be the secret leader of Thule? Or more likely, someone who's masquerading as this man? She checks up on who has been delivering these notes. The guards say they're brought to the temple by a messenger service. She brings this information to Kyp, who's likewise a little disturbed by this anonymous help. He tells her she'll need to attend a Masters' conference.

On the way out, she passes Luke in the hall. "Kyp has some information for you," Ree mentions to him. "Ah," says Luke meaningfully. "Is he in there now?" "Yep!" she replies cheerily. Heh, even Luke thinks there's something up.

The next morning is time to go. Z is drunk. Oola introduces her new droid, INON. He's chipper and sweet. SARR is revolted.

Endek knows of someone with ARC armor. The guy frequents the Rim and loves a challenge. Z, annoyed, says he's putting in better traps on Ree's balcony.
Re: "Don't kill any pigeons."
Z: "Why not?"
Ree: "They're living things."
Z: "So?"
Ree: "Z, don't kill any pigeons."

Ree thinks it might be easier to simply move her quarters. "But don't you like where your room is?" asks Z. "Well, it's convenient," admits Ree. "I figured it was convenient," replies Z, who considers that she's just down the hall from Kyp.

When they enter the old palace, Ree and Kedrihm'Val both sense telepathic chatter in the air. Ree follows it to a secret passage in a wall. Down some old stairs, she encounters a spider-like droid with a bubble holding a brain. It backs away into a room when it sees them. Ree, 'hearing' it talking with others, approaches and asks for directions. They're polite enough about it.

So, they head down more stairs, and Endek disarms several vicious traps. They find a square block with the propechy of the Chosen One written on it. In Galactic Standard. There's a hole where the coin apparently fit. Endek says that no one native to this galaxy built this thing. It's the Architects again. The prophecy was theirs? Why should they even care?

When one of them mentions the name Skywalker during the discussion, the ground suddenly shifts a little. They all look at each other for a moment, then Kedrihm'Val says, "Luke." It shifts again. It's a verbal lock, they realize. Recite the Skywalker family and it opens the floor into another room. Down there, the walls are covered with Architect writing. There are two perfectly rendered life-size statues of Luke and Leia, each of whom hold their own coin. There are no holocrons in them or anything, but the patterns on them seem to be personalized. Ree takes those. Oola knows enough Architect at this point to know that the walls talk about balance and the universe being thrown out of balance--damaged and repaired. Something about the gate on Ree's planet and the Infinity Gate. She can gather that something hasn't been done yet.

Z finds a hidden case in the floor: a box for the two coins, with four more inside. One of these is a variant on the Sent family medallion with circuit-like patterns. Dalt, obviously. One's a variant of Ree's family seal (a fact which Ree does not recognize and denies when they point it out to her). One is kind of roguish, and the other has primitive supernatural symbols on it. Jude and Mora?

Z wonders quietly to the others "what you do with a Jedi in denial of her destiny." And how did the Architects interpret all this? Just because they saw clearly doesn't mean they understood it the same way, after all. They seem to have identified Luke and Leia as some kind of rulers or royalty.

On the way back out, the monks tell Ree they would like to repay her for her tolerance someday by helping her toward enlightenment. There's a vaguely menacing undertone in that...but they don't seem inclined to mess with this group.

On the way home, Ree has a vision of an evil Force user with long white hair. He breaks open the Jedi prison ship to get someone. She passes this on to Luke at the Jedi temple. He says everything's fine there, but they can double security for a while, just in case.

When they land, there are reporters waiting. Ree manages to beg off, and hurries in to give the coins to Luke. He comments that Leia's going to be ticked. She hates getting involved in this stuff. Ree makes it halfway down the hall when she hears Luke's voice in her head calling her back. He hands her her coin, and also suggests she watch the past week's news. She also remembers to ask to have her room changed. When he asks why, she says, "Because people keep breaking in and Z wants to mine the crap out of my balcony." "You know what," says Luke, "I'll have your rooms changed."

And he does. So now she's right next to Kyp.

Ree discovers that Luke was referring to a new comic strip about her. Written by Dyt Urron, it follows her entirely fictional new adventures. Kyp's not in his room when she calls on him. Apparently the Force clued him in on the danger.

Dalt says the walls tell the story of Luke and Leia. Nothing particularly new. Then he gets onto his 'give everyone the Force' jag again. He makes a good argument for it, really.

Sith on a plane!

2007-12-06T22:46:00.000-05:00

Now to find that leak. Kyp thinks the Council is above suspicion. Ree reminds him that members have been compromised before: remember when Dalt possessed Master Roon? But they can leave that for later if they don’t find something else. They figure they’ll start with the Council chambers.

Sure enough, Oola spots a signal coming from one of the decorations. There’s a listening device hidden in a Naboo sculpture that the Naboo contingent had given the Jedi as a gift. The signal leads back to the Senate building. Oola heads over there with Ree tagging along, and finds it leads to the offices of Dev Miat, the Naboo Senator. Ree tells Luke, who says to leave it there and learn more about Miat. Oola suggests using the bug to pass false information.

Erin tells them that Miat is the leading pacifist in the Senate. He’s the one who’s been blocking actions against the Thule, along with his small but influential clique. He’s been in the Senate almost since it reformed. Oola’s brother says he’s a really wonderful guy. Very idealistic. Even Oola’s brother has trouble imagining him being a traitor.

They decide to sneak in to look around. Disguising themselves as janitors, they find the signal leading to a receiver in the desk of Cyndel Kenar, who’s one of Miat’s aides. She’s in charge of domestic relations for his group, which means she sent the gift. Erin tells them Kenar comes from a prominent Naboo noble lineage. They’ll have to go to Naboo for more, as there’s apparently something odd about her family. Luke suggests they be delicate, since this could impact diplomatic relations.

Interesting place, Naboo. Not only did they follow Severan Telik there, and find a secret lab of the Emperor’s, but Dalt’s also got a base there. Speaking of which, Kedrihm swings by to ask Dalt about it before they go.

Dalt says that he used that base for personal work, not for the Emperor. Also mentions that the Corporate Sector base holds many of his more marketable inventions. Kedrihm comments about how many of their leads head to Naboo. Dalt: “Something about Naboo...” There’s something about Naboo, but he can’t remember. Says the memories are coming back slowly (oh, the memories are coming back? There's something to mark). Anyway, when Kedrihm asks about Palpatine’s people, Dalt says he thinks the Emperor killed all his family. He knows the Kenars a little from diplomatic parties and whatnot: very into history, always involved with the monarchy (Dalt mocks the idea of an elected monarchy, which also has Kedrihm confused, as the language seems to contradict). The Kenars have served as rulers for hundreds of years.

On the way out, Kedrihm swings by Kyp to suggest that they might consider letting Dalt help with Grievous. It’s unlikely to teach him anything new in cybernetics, but it could give him a distraction. Kyp seems inclined to think about it.

On beautiful Naboo, Onna hunts up info on the Kenar family while the others track down Dalt’s lab. Not hard, since he told them where it was. It’s in a big warehouse, housing a Naboo starship. The thing doesn’t work, but the pilot chair features a control helmet that’s an amplifier for Force illusions. The ship’s also rigged to produce multiple false transponder and radar signals: the ultimate camouflage ship. The rest of the place houses similar experiments in using the Force to enhance existing technology. Oddly, there’s nothing the least bit harmful in the entire place. Did Dalt just hang out here…or did he hide the more alarming stuff from prying Naboo do-gooder eyes?

They indeed find a secret compartment in the floor. It’s trapped with an odd gas, and contains a box locked so it can be opened by Dalt’s genetic signature...but only if Dalt’s in a state of heightened distress. The box holds journals, pictures of his family, and his lightsaber. The journal simply holds logs about building the stuff on the ship and the reasoning behind incorporating the Force into technology. They take all that, along with the control headset from the ship.

Catch up to Onna and SARR. They’ve found a picture of a regal older man with his arm around a young Palpatine. The man was Prince of Theed (a diplomatic position concerned with training young people into politics) Teras Kenar, Cyndel’s great-grandfather. After noting that Palpatine got into politics very young, even by Naboo standards, Onna tells them that Teras was a more than upstanding citizen. He died of a heart attack around the age of 60, and was found by Palpatine, who was 20 at the time. Most of the Kenar children died in accidents within the next 10 years. The family nearly died out. After the Emperor was reported dead—within days—Noah Kenar came forward with proof that he was related to the family. He’s Cyndel’s dad. But he died 3 years ago, just before Cyndel entered politics. Again, she’s the one who found the body.

They decide to go talk to Cyndel’s family, presenting it as a research interest. They tell them more about Teras. He was practically idolized in his own time as a saint. Always helping people, doing medical research, concerned with healing skills. They think he would’ve been a doctor if he weren’t a politician. His private library is held at the museum. They check that out and find a secret compartment on the underside of his desk that’s gooey with badness. It holds a vid, which they take to the ship to watch.

The vid shows Teras and Palpatine doing Sithy things. They refer to each other as Plagius (Teras) and Sidious (Palpatine, of course). They’re working on dead bodies, which mostly don’t do anything and which they declare as failures, until one finally gets up, to the horror of the Starwind’s crew. At this, Teras exclaims that it’s “only a step from this to creating life!”

And now it’s obviously time to questin Cyndel. They call Luke and tell him they found Palpatine’s master. “Alive?!” exclaims Luke, sitting up and reaching for his lightsaber. “No, no.” They explain a little; he says to head back and they’ll talk.

On the way, Oola finds that the gas was knockout gas designed to work specifically on Dalt. What is up with this? And Lydia recalls the story about how Anakin Skywalker “had no parents.” What if that was true? What if Palpatine figured out how to...make people?

When they get back, Luke hauls the Council into Kyp’s room to avoid the listening device so he can inform everyone. Kyp’s annoyed by the invasion. They give Dalt his stuff (except the lightsaber and ship thingie). Dalt’s vaguely suspicious, but doesn’t react particularly oddly. Away from him, Z wonders what to do if Dalt tries to kill his clone. Which one should be living as Lexi’s father? Who has the right? What about his family’s opinions?

SARR interrupts: “Alarms all over the Senate building.” Ree breaks for the door, Kedrihm close on her heels. The hubbub is coming from Cyndel’s office. Her desk is cleaned out, the place is a wreck, and two people are dead: one by lightsaber, one burned to ash. The window is shattered. Ree leaps out, Kedrihm behind her, and they both feel a trail of taint in the Force. Not just Dark Side—it feels like Sith.

Oola gets the Senate’s security tapes: Cyndel at her desk, spaced out like a farseeing trance at lunch. She comes to, Force lightnings the aide who comes in with a cheery greeting, pops a lightsaber out of her desk and bisects another, then digs up some things and flees.

Ree traces her to the Naboo consulate. No one answers her hail. Oola says she sees no lifesigns inside, so Ree and Kedrihm hop the fence and go in. Lightsaber marks all over. Oola taps the security tapes there to see that she tore in, killed people, grabbed some stuff, and fled in a speeder. They follow in a second speeder. Her trail leads to the nearest spaceport. Ree grabs the closest official: “Close down the spaceport, there’s a Sith on the loose!” Then they sneak onto the ship Cyndel got onto, tracking her to her suite...where she’s on the ceiling. Attack!

Ree shouts at passengers to get down. Kedrihm helps clear them out while she takes on Cyndel. Ree notes that Cyndel is protecting her backpack excessively. The ship begins to move as they fight, though it was supposed to be stopped. Cyndel tugs away Ree’s lightsaber with the Force, but Ree just pulls out another one and cuts the pack off her. A black book tumbles out.

Meanwhile, Oola can’t stop the ship—-the pilots have control—-so Kedrihm heads toward the cockpit. The door is locked down, maximum security. He squares himself, then tears the door out. The pilots inside are shocked, but won’t stop the ship. ”The lady told us to take off,” they keep saying. Kedrihm can’t break the mind effect, so he simply pulls them away from the console and leaves it to Oola.

Cyndel flees, Ree chases. Oola drives the ship in circles since she can’t make it stop. Cyndel breaks Ree’s borrowed lightsaber, so Ree pulls out another, much to Cyndel’s disgust. Ree comms to Kedrihm about the evil Sith book lying in the compartment. He knocks the pilots out and heads back for it, but when he enters the compartment, the book starts speaking to him, tempting him with promises of knowledge to help his people and stop Thule. He manages to shake it off and drops it into one of Cyndel’s suitcases.

Oola brings the ship back in to land not too far from the spaceport, to Cyndel’s great frustration. She leaps off, Ree following, and they both land on a passing speeder. Ree sets herself to protect the driver.

Oola spots people from the temple heading to the Senate. It occurs to her to wonder how SARR knew so quickly that something was happening. Kyp’s sitting watch on the comm, so she fills him in and he heads toward the spaceport to give Ree backup.

Cyndel cuts the speeder in half, falling away from Ree. Ree grabs the driver and leaps to another speeder, where she shoves him into the passenger seat, then takes off after Cyndel.

Kedrihm gets off the ship when it comes to a stop, but the area’s completely empty and he has a really bad feeling. Someone bad is standing in the shadow of an alley. Someone bad, angry, and Zabrak. He comms Oola: “Oola...I think Drath is watching me.” She tells Kyp, who’s very alarmed for a different reason. He heads back to the temple to check on Anakin.

Cyndel flees into a casino, where Ree follows, warning security that there’s a dangerous person insde.

The case flies out of Kedrihm’s hand. He grabs it again and gets pulled along for the ride, swinging a kick at Drath as he gets close enough. “Do you have a lightsaber?” asks Drath. “Too bad for you.” But he doesn't quite manage to Force lightning Kedrihm.

The casino’s dark and confusing. Ree can’t spot Cyndel at first, till she hears a whistle and turns to see Cyndel standing atop the bar. The bottles of liquor on the shelves behind her shiver into glass splinters and a rain of alcohol, and Cyndel holds out a lit match..which she drops.

Kedrihm attacks, driving Drath backward off the edge of the platform. Neither will let go of the suitcase, so Kedrihm falls with him, coming down feet-first on top of Drath as they land.

Ree trusts the fire suppression system to do its job, gunning for Cyndel instead, throwing her across the room. Oola gets to the casino in time to see Ree cut off Cyndel’s arm with her lightsaber. The shock makes the Sith pass out.

Drath and Kedrihm square off while Z catches up to them, but they keep leaping and rolling off the platforms, so he has trouble keeping up. Drath manages to yank the case from Kedrihm’s hands and leaps down, but Kedrihm follows him and pulls it back. Then Drath knocks him over the edge of the next platform before Kedrihm can get a good grasp on the case, and they both tumble, to coming up fighting over the suitcase. Drath rips the case out of Kedrihm’s hands, sending it flying over the edge as they both lose their grip. Drath makes to leap after it, but Kedrihm kicks him backward. Drath, looking startled, exclaims, “Book!” Kedrihm calls out, “Z, get it!” Z dives, but Drath catches his foot on the way past. Kedrihm punches Drath in the face so he staggers back from Z, but he grabs Kedrihm’Val and they both go over the edge. Leaping for the suitcase, they both snag it at the same time...and Drath thumbs the lock, sending clothes flying and the book tumbling out. As much to get away from the damned thing as anything, Kedrihm Force-pushes Drath over the edge and follows him down, keeping him from getting back up to the book while Z retrieves it. Drath calls Z’s flechette launcher to him, aiming it at Kedrihm’Val, who flips out of the way and drains its energy away. So Drath clubs him with it instead, then tries to Force-grip Kedrihm’Val’s balls...which he just manages to negate (thankfully).

Drath looks up to see Z making away with the book safely tucked back in the suitcase, and shouts, “Are you too much of a coward to face me?” Seeing Z hesitate, Kedrihm calls, “Just think how frustrated he’ll be if you get away with it.” “Coward not to face me!” Drath snarls, seeing Z start to turn away. Z stops again, then says reluctantly, “This thing is important, isn’t it?” He sighs when Kedrihm nods, then Oola calls on the comm, “Z, I need you here!”

Kedrihm tackles Drath to the ground to make sure he can’t follow Z. “Gay,” mutters Drath, but Kedrihm’Val doesn’t care about those sorts of insults, and replies, “Whatever you like,” knowing it’ll irritate him. Of course, that backfires when Drath bites his ear off. Kedrihm’Val snarls in pain, then nerve-pinches him, knocking him unconscious.

About that time, Ree and Kyp get there, having seen the two of them fight-falling down through Coruscant. Ree helps Kedrihm with his ear while he catches his breath. Kyp tells them that no one escaped except for Drath. He’s fairly impressed, actually: the Jedi prison ship holds Force users by essentially depriving them of environment, forcing them into Force hibernation. Drath’s just such a brute that he could endure that long enough to get out.

Safely back at the temple with the evil book and two new prisoners, they have to figure out what to do with the thing. Kedrihm: “Can anyone else hear it talking to them?” Others: “No.” Kyp: “Yes.” They look at him. Oola: “It’s just a ‘you guys’ thing, I guess.” Z asks, “Will it shut up if I threaten it with my stream of justice?” Ree’s aghast, but it does indeed shut up. Which makes it even more creepy, since apparently that means it’s somewhat sentient. So Kyp just lightsabers the blasted thing.

Oola shows off her new droid to Dalt (she converted the destroyer droid into an astromech, but kept it in the same body with an assortment of weapons), who thinks it’s pretty cool. But he wonders what’s with this crew and alarming droids.

The next morning, Kyp is overjoyed about the possibilities for movies. Ree’s all over the news, which talks about almost nothing but how she chased down a Sith in the spaceport. Kedrihm’Val and Z are getting good coverage, too, much to the joy of the producers of the new “Primal Justice” holo-show. Ree still doesn’t like the movies, since she thinks it fosters the wrong impression about Jedi. She’s uncomfortable with the public idolizing them like they can do no wrong. She tells Kyp she thinks that the Jedi should do some community service so that people can get to know them better as people and be less intimidated by them. “Except for Luke,” Kyp says. “Luke is intimidating.”

Onto other business. Kyp tells them that apparently Dooku founded Thule, which may be house Ventress got out there. The old computer core doesn’t hold much else on the Uncharted Territories: just information on Outbound Flight and a bit about the Chiss. There is a bit of interesting data on the Infinity Gate, however. They already know it’s a powerful Architect artifact, but apparently what the Architects used it for was as a power source for their other technology: the planet movers and so on. So, it was on Dathomir, and the Sith tower holds a synchronous position between it and Yavin. Then (other than the old Sith temples) what’s up with Yavin? Kyp doesn’t know.

Well, they need to go to Yavin IV anyway, to talk to the Dathomiri students and see what they can learn from them about Dathomir. Thrawn and the Republic are finally ready to square off with Thule (well, Thrawn’s been ready), so the crew’s job is to keep Thule away from whatever it is they’re actually after. And that probably means Dathomir. So Ree wants to fill in their gaps on what they know about the planet and her aunt’s setup there so they can go in prepared.

Before they leave, Kedrihm asks Dalt about that gunk he got injected with on Abindosan a while back. Why did he keep seeing visions of Darth Maul? Since Kedrihm has no apparent connection with the man, Dalt shrugs it off. “Maybe the Force wanted you to see it.” But Dalt’s “reasonably certain” there aren’t any other side effects he should know about. Though he breaks into a grin as he says it, which Kedrihm doesn’t find to be especially reassuring.

Oola has done alarming things with that droid. Truly alarming, and they probably won’t learn the full extent till they see the thing in action. SARR seems to be accepting it placidly enough. Which is good, because the last thing they need at this point is a droid-fight between a smart ex-destroyer droid and a…a SARR.

Well. Now that all that business is taken care of, it’s off to Yavin IV.

Grievous Bodily Harm

2007-12-06T17:23:00.000-05:00

Ree tells the Council she wants to tell Dalt about his history. They agree, so she volunteers Kedrihm'Val and Oola for it. He likes them, after all.

Dalt’s skeptical about the information. He doesn't like the idea of being related to the crackpot woman on Dathomir, so he insists on double-checking the evidence to prove it. They let him coordinate scientists in running some verifying tests on Jude’s DNA, and he's disappointed to learn it's true.

He tells them more about Mora: she’s feral, believes that the way of Force is to kill or be killed. She’s been trying to fix the Infinity Gate, but he scoffs that she can’t do it without him. It’s Architect technology. How does he know so much about Architect tech? asks Kedrihm. Dalt shrugs and says he’s just a genius. It comes to him. He goes on briefly about what a great gift to the galaxy he is. Kedrihm agrees (quite honestly) that Dalt is certainly unique and has changed the galaxy, which pleases Dalt. Dalt wonders aloud what Ree’ll do about Mora (he's pleasantly surprised when they say Ree hasn’t said anything about redeeming her), and wants to go to Dathomir with them.

Ree does intend on trying to redeem her aunt, of course, but she hasn't spoken to the others about it.

Speaking of whome, an intruder on her balcony wakes Ree up that night. The person tags her with a dart then flies away with a rocket pack. The armor reminds her of Mandalorian armor, but it isn’t. She goes to med bay to get checked. The dart had some kind of tracker fluid in it. The medics are able to clean most of it out of her, but it takes a couple of hours.

Ree goes back to bed. When she feels odd lumps under pillow, she leaps up and finds that it's a mine. She tosses it out her window, where it explodes in a shower of confetti and a party horn. This is so weird it makes Ree nervous.

She tells the others at breakfast. No one knows what to make of it. Z thinks it’s just to shake her up. He suggests that she check temple security tapes, where he recognizes it as ARC trooper armor: a full set, in good condition. He’s upset someone got past his balcony traps. Wants to put deadly animals on her balcony. Maybe a Mynock. Ree: “Mynocks don’t breathe air!” Z: “C’mon, one dead Mynock.” “No!”

Anyway. Ree wants to go to Tatooine and get the buried thing.

They get there to find a hole where the gizmo was. Ree: “Is there any way to track this thing?” Z: “Well, I am a bounty hunter.” The tracks lead to the old Skywalker place. Ree reminds them that Luke sold the place to neighbors, and they might not like intruders.

And speak of the devil. Danger sense! Someone shoots at them, but not well. Ree charges the building to draw fire while the others come in behind. Z rams the guy with his jetpack. It’s the stupid Rodian. He hid the core in the kitchen, where it’s stuffed into the breadbox. He also raided the fridge. Happily, no one’s at home.

The Rodian says soldiers at the cantina hired him--Thule soliders, by his description. He keeps begging them to give the core back. Oola and Z have a plan: plant info on a fake computer core that’ll lead the Thule into a trap. The Rodian’s fine with that, so long as he gets paid. Kedrihm’s worried about the Rodian remembering them, so Ree does the honors, and Rodian trots off in happy oblivion.

The fake core tells Oola what the Thule are doing with it. They’re looking for particular files: Infinity Gate, Uncharted Territories, Count Dooku. A memo that Palpatine had stored in the Senate that the jedi found just before the Purge.

Oola digs that last one out of the real core: on Utapau, in a cavern, there’s a duplicate Grievous body. They don’t know if it auto-activated or if someone would have to go down and boot him up (maybe this is what Obi Wan said the Sents dug up).

Ree calls Kyp, who’s happy about the core...til he hears what the Thule are after. He says he’ll call together the Council-- Kedrihm'Val halts him and asks how Thule knew where to find the core. Only they and the Council knew about it. So is this the leak they’d theorized about? Kyp keeps it in mind, says to rendezvous with people he’ll send to meet them on Utapau.

The Utapaui really like Jedi. The crew hangs out, waiting for Kyp's people. On the second day, Ree’s comm beeps with an incoming text message. It says there are Thule agents on location on Utapau. No sign of who sent it. Oola traces the signal and finds it's coming from Bimm. Could be Zann, but whomever it is, SARR points out that they went to quite a risk in sending that message.

Ree calls Kyp, who’s in transit. Oola checks the Starwind and their own comms to make sure no one snuck listening devices in or anything, but they’re clean. Then Ree sets Z and Kedrihm on the Thule agents.

Z and Kedrihm find six Thule operatives taking orders from an ominously hooded type. Another hooded, ridiculously large (8 foot tall) person behaves like the first one’s apprentice. He looks kind of like a wolfman and has a lightsaber. The Thule have a map with 3 locations, one of which is right. Z goes ahead to plant mines while Kedrihm heads back to tell the others. Ree briefs Kyp, and realizes he’s on the Falcon. Lydia thinks they’d better tell Z to use stun mines, because he’ll probably use explosives otherwise.

They catch up with him in the tunnels ahead of the bad guys, and hide to ambush them in case stun mines don’t bring them down. Z says he planted explosives beyond the stun mines as a backup plan, to block the entrance.

The bad guys come in—-the big Sith and two soldiers. One gets knocked out by the mines, the second is staggered. The big thing is unfazed. Z blows the secondary mines, caving in the tunnel beyond them. Kedrihm telekineses a rock at the second soldier’s head to knock him out. Lydia and Ree move in on the big Sith, who throws an unconscious soldier at Kedrihm, then telepathically sends a message out. Probably for backup, since three more troops come in. Oola, hiding by the cave mouth, puts up an electrified wire: one soldier gets knocked out, one trips, he third makes it. She knifes him. Z motions “watching you” to him.

The Sith shoots an electrified net from the pommel of his lightsaber, which catches Lydia. Z takes out the soldier. While Kedrihm knocks out a soldier who was getting up, Ree takes on the Sith, who’s really annoyed about the useless ‘help.’

Ree: “Sure you don’t want to surrender?”
Sith: *eloquent look*
Ree: “Just being polite.”
Sith: “I thank you for that.”

Oola conks out the soldier who was thrown at Kedrihm, who’s getting back up. The Sith sighs, then rushes Ree, who gets knocked back. Lydia cuts herself loose. Oola's knife-droids latch onto the Sith's ankles and start stabbing.

Then someone from outside catches up the three soldiers lying at the cave mouth and hurls them about the room like blowing leaves. One crashes into Kedrihm, who lobs him into the big Sith, who’s staggered back. Ree takes the opportunity to attack, cutting the Sith nearly in half. Startlingly, that doesn’t kill him, though he’s pretty well incapacitated.

A thermal detonator rolls into the cave. Z throws it back out. It explodes, but the tunnel roof holds. Lydia Force Stuns the big Sith while Ree peeks outside. Two lightsabers swing at her from the cloud of dust. It’s the second cloaked figure: a freaky-looking bald lady in a black leather skirt. Oola rolls droids at her, which nail her but good. Seeing her staggered, Kedrihm Force Lights her, which catches her off guard and knocks her out.

They cuff up the Siths. Lydia makes sure the big one won’t die. Another of the soldiers is also a Force user, so they wrap him up, stuff the three Force users in the med bay for SARR to watch over, and call the Utapaui authorities to take care of the rest. Ree recognizes the girl: Asajj Ventress, a Dark Sider who served as Dooku’s apprentice for a time. Apparently she ran to hide out on Thule.

Kyp, Han, and Chewie arrive, and they head out to deal with Grievous.

On their way through the tunnels, they encounter MagnaGuards: three of them. Kyp leaps over them to take one on. Ree and Lydia confront the other two. Han blows the crap out of one, though it doesn’t quite go down. Z throws two blue, blinking balls at the droids: ion grenades. One succumbs. Kedrihm drains energy from the other, which Ree nails again. Oola’s knife droid finishes that off, and Kyp takes out his. Z and Kedrihm each grab one of the staves those things carried.

They head further in, down some rock-hewn stairs into a huge cybernetics lab. Looks like it’s where Grievous and his people hid out. As they pass, a destroyer droid falls off its pedestal. Startles them all, but it’s not activated. Kyp: “That seems ominous.” Oola scopes the place out. It’s still in working order. There’s an old message from Palpatine on the comm system, warning that Obi Wan is headed that way. Apparently they never got it. She digs up a map of the cave and shuts down the active security systems.

Living quarters on the left housed the techs. On the right are opulent quarters that Grievous apparently used, for whatever reason. Four lightsabers still hang in the wardrobe. Ree grabs those. The next lab is specifically for Grievous’s use. Kedrihm finds cloned organs for him and is horrified at the idea of a living being trapping itself in technology that way.

The final room holds what they came for: a Grievous chassis in a tank, organs and all. As they enter, his eyes shift toward them: he’s awake. Ree: “Oola, make sure that doesn’t get out.”

Too late! He comes busting out of the tank. Lightsabers ignite all around. After Grievous pulls out four, Kyp TKs two more from his own belt, setting them hovering above him, and pulls out a fourth, attaching it to his saber’s hilt to form a dual blade.

Ree cuts off one of Grievous’ arms. While he’s preoccupied with the three Jedi, Han blasts him three good shots in the chest. Kyp runs him through with one of the telekinetic lightsabers.

The others hear something coming from behind. It’s the dumb Rodian again, being chased by a big cave lizard. Z shoots the beast while Oola slips around it, heading for the destroyer droid back in the corridor.

Up front, Grievous fires up his repulsors and picks up lightsabers in his feet. Onna: “He’s got ass lifters?” She grabs Z’s ion rifle and misses with it.

Kedrihm calms the cave beast, but then the Rodian shoots it again. Chewie picks him up to keep him out of their way.

Grievous starts spinning his blades. Ree chucks a crate at him, which knocks him off-balance, then Kyp bounces him off the ground with the Force, knocking him over. Onna stuns him with the ion rifle, giving the Jedi an opening. Ree takes off his left shoulder, Kyp gets his right.

Kedrihm can’t whammy the beast again, so Z shoots it with pepper spray, which drives it off. Kedrihm: “Oola, make way!” Oola: “Yeep! Should I pursue?” Kedrihm to the Rodian: “What did you do to it?” Rodian: “I was just stealing some eggs.” Kedrihm to Oola: “Leave it alone.”

Grievous gets back up, balancing on one foot. Kyp: “That looks ridiculous.” Grevious doesn’t like to be mocked. He nails Ree and Kyp, then Kyp takes control of one of his arms and makes him start stabbing himself, which finally takes him out.

Ree has them take the remnants back, says he represents great advances in cybernetics that could be used to help people. They set the Rodian loose and head back to Coruscant with two Sith, five operatives, a Grievous carcass and Oola’s new pet destroyer droid.

Catching up on research

2007-12-06T16:49:00.000-05:00

Remembering that they've got a missing Force-sensitive boy who was plugged into a Thule engine until recently, Kedrihm'Val learns from Dalt that he had labs on Naboo, in the Corporate Sector, and another hidden space station, where he stowed the boy. Dalt’s a bit reluctant to turn over information on all his bases (“I might need them again.”), and during the conversation comes up with and idea for Jedi-powered cyborg power armor, which he's pretty keen on. He had the kid working on some sort of arm band or wrist device, but can’t remember details. “Glad I left him a lot of food," he comments.

Ree hands notes on her Anakin dreams over to the Jedi librarian, and tells Luke about the vision where she saw him (or Zann, or Kyp) dead in a battle with the Thule. He takes it under advisement. The Ossus librarians are still researching the Sith space station.

They head to the station, which is cloaked with Dalt’s stealth tech. After hailing, they get caught in a tractor beam, and let it pull them in.

The station is a small one. Droids dressed like Imperial Guards come down to escort them up. The droids have boxes that radiate the Force on their arms. The boy, who has no name and doesn't seem to care that much, thinks Vader was a hero, Palpatine and the Jedi are all evil, and is waiting for orders from Dalt. Doesn’t want to come with them. He’s unwilling to believe anything they say, says that it could all be propaganda, but shows no inclination toward harm or even conflict.

They go back to the Starwind and call Dalt, who says that the boxes give droids minor Force powers. He intended them to eventually work for people too, but hasn’t gotten that part to work yet. Dalt gives them a string of numbers that’ll “make him pliable” (conditioning from the boy’s time as a Thule slave). Dalt seems...well, let’s say morally flexible and still a touch megalomaniacal.

They call Luke and talk to SARR, and decide to give the boy the code and explain about the danger from Thule, that he’s not safe out here. He agrees to come, and is surprised when they show no inclination to restrain him or control his behavior on the ship. They put him up at the temple and offer him freedom to roam, but ask him to keep an escort with him if he wanders outside to the city, since it’s huge and can be dangerous in some places. He says he wants to sleep, then talk to Dalt.

Oola talks to Dalt, who wants to know what their plans are for him. He’s bored and annoyed by the idea of them just picking his brains and riding on his coattails. She distracts him for a bit by talking about walking thrones. Later, he wonders why the Republic has allowed Thule to sit there enslaving Bimmisarri. Oola thinks they still distrust Thrawn too much to act. Dalt scoffs at that. He doesn’t find Thrawn scary, he says. He thinks the Republic has been infiltrated by Thule. “You need to go on an unreasoning witch hunt,” he offers, then suggests setting up the infiltrators by having one of the group voice something in public and see if someone tries to eliminate them.

Ree finds Kyp. “I have a bit of a...personal question to ask.” He gives her a wide-eyed, alarmed look, but she just wants to know how to talk someone back from the Dark Side. “You know, a Jedi is probably the worst person to ask,” he says. “I don’t know any who’ve done it.” He says you have to find out why they turned to begin with. They talk about Ree’s aunt. She was adopted at the age of two by her grandfather...what mission was he on? Endek might know. And Ree’s uncle might know what turned his wife, but her family is so reluctant to talk about it, and they keep telling her that it'd hurt him. If she was at all good, Kyp thinks it probably had to do with something happening to her loved ones. He also suggests she ask Dalt, since he knows Mora somewhat.

After lunch, Ree talks to Dalt. He’s sulky on the topic. He says Mora is mean and completely obsessed with power. Barely notices males, and wants females to be little copies of her. Dalt finds her clichéd: “She’s a not-ugly version of Palpatine.” They kept the special students on Dathomir under her tutelage: the children from the Jedi families, along with exceptionally strong Force users. “I think my virile nature intimidated her,” he opines. She is proud of her daughter, Jude, who won’t give her the time of day. Aunt Mora was already on Dathomir when Dalt got there. He doesn’t know what she did between leaving Ree’s planet and his meeting her on Dathomir. It was her idea to kidnap Jedi families and the house symbols were her plan. Dalt figured they'd be useful to him, so he went along with it, but he doesn't know what the house seals were supposed to be fore. Ree thinks Mora might’ve gotten into her granddad’s records and found information about the gate there. He adds that he wants out of his imprisonment. “I’d be willing to be wrong in order to get out.”

Ree sets to work constructing a timeline. She gets sealed records from her planet and finds that there’s one week missing out of a particular month.

Oola’s homesick.

Kedrihm'Val also starts putting together a timeline. He researches the B’omarr monks, hoping to trace the Skywalker medallion. They’re only about 700 years old, one of the first settlers on Tatooine. The coins seem to be about 2000 years old, dating to just after the Ryssand fiasco when most Jedi died and Jedi order reorganized with the Council first forming, but the Skywalker coin far predates the others, and its prophecy seems to have inspired the Jedi to create the rest. So what did the Jedi know about Ree’s planet and the gate? Ree's planet was settled only 300 years ago. Is the gate not from the Jedi?

Erin and Master Roon look through Senate family records, and the crew talks to Sent’s family holocron about Senator Sent’s relationship to his family. They also set Z on Sent to research and learn all he can about him. Kedrihm and Onna tail the Skywalker prophecies, while Ree keeps pursuing information on her planet and the gate.

Oola talks to her brother. He finds Sent frustrating: “Such a politician,” he says. That seems to be a recurring theme around Sent, actually. Sent’s not very remarkable, her brother tells her. The guy doesn’t trust Jedi. He's very conservative, exerting great influence over the traditionalists. He’s been quiet lately, out of the Senate on vacation since his wife is having a child. They’ve gone to their vacation planet, Chandrila. Took their staff with them and everything, so his place is pretty empty. Oola senses opportunity.

Ree's planet was settled 300 years ago. Her family pops up during the colonization, but aren’t accounted for in any transit records. They and the Sins appear on-planet like they’d been there the whole time. There are no records of land distribution to them, aren’t in transport ship manifests. Her family goes back about 10,000 years. She finds that her planet appears on star charts at the founding 300 years ago, but not 400 years ago...but the solar system was on record about 1900 years ago, and her planet was noted then.

The Ossus librarians interrupt Ree's research with some information from the Jedi Temple: the librarian there learned that the Oracle of Pelgrin is apparently meant to guide the Chosen One in bringing balance to the Force. It was built for that purpose. The prophecy waxed and waned in popularity. During times of war and tumoil, they obsessed over it.

Kedrihm and Onna find that the Chosen One prophecy goes back as far as the Jedi do: 25,000 years. Essentially, when the Jedi started writing, that’s what they were writing about. It’s copied exactly the same then as it’s remembered now. Onna wants to know how Luke fits it.

They find a prophecy regarding the family medallions from about 10,000 years ago. It’s a bit fragmented. Says something about a family that didn’t exist then, a brother and sister, a dark father. Says they join the ranks of the other great families in “preserving a way of life.” The Ossus librarians think there’ll be more on that subject at the Jedi temple. One of the librarians mentions to Kedrihm in passing that “the show will be starting soon.” He has no idea what that means.

They head back to the temple and check in on Kyp’s translation of the Sith hieroglyphs from the space station. He’s been keeping Luke distracted from it. Luke's been working on the Sith coffin that held Darth Whatsisname. Kyp says the wall refers to a being known as “The Leader.” Talks about him as the greatest Sith lord ever to exist. He says it reads like an evolutionary chart of Sith greatness. Vader is “the dark lord.” “The Leader” is a different guy. There’s talk about the Dark Lord returning...is that metaphorical or literal? Kyp wonders if it’s all a Sith misinterpretation of the builders’ original intent, which was apparently “something’s coming and Luke needs to be a Sith Lord to face it.” Kedrihm’Val recalls that most of the station didn’t feel particularly evil.

Well...hey, the two Jedi and their droid from the Rakata ship come from a couple thousand years ago, and Jenn is from around 10,000 years ago, right? Also, it might be worth hunting up the Chiss, who said he’d be sticking around on Coruscant for a while. He might’ve explored the logs of some of the older ships. Perhaps there was useful data on those.

Z breaks into the Sent estate, finding nothing but fairly average stuff for a Senator. On the way back, he discovers what the librarian meant about his cryptic words to Kedrihm'Val: there are ads all over for a holo-vid show called “Primal Justice.” It’s produced by a guy named Yurd Pedron and features Z and Kedrihm'Val in a detective partnership format.

The Jedi from the Rakata ship say the Oracle at Pelgrin was there when the Jedi first landed on Pelgrin. The theory about the Oracle helping the Chosen One was popular in their time. The family coins date from about 2000 years ago, based on the Skywalker coin. They were created to help preserve the Order. When asked about the space station and its signal, they say there are rumors of the “true Sith” being out there. Something to do with Darth Revan, but they're not clear on the details.

Their droid--who seems to be privy to more information than the Jedi themselves, or maybe he just has a better memory--remembers one ship that had something dealing with “true Sith” on it. There are always extra prophecies about the Chosen One popping up, and they were housed in the temple’s databanks. But the old records were lost to the Empire. Maybe the Emperor kept copies? Also, Kedrihm’Val reminds them about the database from the Sith lab they found in the swamp. Maybe the Sith had their own prophecies.

Ree asks about her planet. The droid doesn't have much to share that they don't already know, but something about his manner makes it uncertain whether he’s telling them everything. Kedrihm'Val points out that some of the secrets the Jedi kept, they might never have written down. Ree feels pessimistic at that, but the droid chides her, reminding her that the Force will provide. Kedrihm reminds her of Ben and Yoda’s holocrons. The droid believes those two might have squirreled some things away. And Kedrihm wonders suddenly why Maul was on Dagobah after all. Z says that Drath would know.

They find the Chiss lurking about in bars, bemusing himself with human behavior. He says the Chiss have legends of the True Sith. They’re some ancient evil out past the Rim that tried to make inroads by telepathically influencing people in the Old Republic, but they failed so they wait till they’re summoned back.

Oola finds a set of childrens’ storybooks on the ship the droid named. There are Jedi tales about fighting the True Sith from beyond the Rim: hyper-intelligent beings that the catfish Sith are devolved versions of. A book called Tales of Darth Revan tells his story: he's very Luke-like in some ways. He translated all the Sith prophecies and claimed he figured out the Chosen One thing and that it didn’t mean what everyone thought. Only one book is missing from the set: Jedi Prophecies and Folktales.

They can’t find any copies in the libraries or museums. These books date from a bit after the Mandalorian Wars, which is Jenn’s time period. Maybe he remembers having some of those stories read to him? He thinks he remembers seeing one when he was roaming about in an adult body, but it’s all blurry. Something about a bar, or a nightclub?

Turns out, it’s at the Smashed Holocron! They have a copy in their display of Jedi memorabilia. While Ree makes a duplicate, Z gets blitzed in the record time of 1.5 minutes by downing the Full Council. He runs out shouting “LET’S REEEEEEEEEEEAD!” and flies off with his rocket pack.

The book tells about Revan's vision of the Chosen One. It opens with a drawing of little Anakin. “The Chosen One should be this little failure,” Revan writes, "but it's not." The boy was given every chance by the Force but couldn’t overcome his own weakness. He had a vision of the true Chosen One. Though he didn’t see his face, the picture is of a young man in white leathers standing before two setting suns outside a hut in Tatooine’s desert. Revan believes that ‘balance’ is about the nature of Force as it's active in galactic society: in the government, where it should neither rule, nor isolate itself. Luke and Leia are twins who establish this balance through their interaction.

Revan also tells about the True Sith. He says they are from "beyond the stars," presumably meaning from beyond the Galactic Rim. The Sith were an experiment, he says, guided from a distance. The True Sith will take over from the old Sith when they falter, and wipe them away. Maybe this is why the Sith wanted Luke to be their next Sith lord: because he was strong enough to keep the True Sith from destroying their tradition?

Revan’s droid sounds...awfully familiar. HK-47. An awful lot like SARR. On digital steroids.

So anyway, they know that the Sith tower was a farseeing device and a Skywalker shrine before the Sith got to it, and apparently it was meant to call the True Sith back. But the thing was still built by the Architects, and they still don’t know why the Architects were so obsessed over Luke or the True Sith. Why would the Architects want to summon them?

Ree placed a call with Salek Endek a few days earlier. He calls to say he’ll be there in a day or two. Meanwhile, Erin drops in to say that their records show there should be another Sent. Someone’s unaccounted for, and it follows the pattern of those families who tried to hide members from the Emperor.

Z suggests a break. While Oola visits with her family, Ree relaxes...and has a vision. She watches as a young Obi-Wan drops a baby off with a couple and head out into the Jutland Wastelands. He hides a computer core in a box with some Force-sensitive gizmos and buries it. The vision ends...kind of, but Ree can’t shake out of it. After trying briefly, she gives up, muttering, “It’s really warm here.” Shockingly, Obi Wan hears, spinning to face her. “I hate farseeing,” she says by way of explanation. “This is no kind of farseeing I know,” he replies, approaching her. “You need help?” “No, no. This has already been very helpful. In the...future. Uh. I can’t say more.” A satisfied look comes to Obi Wan's face as he assures her, “You’ve said more than enough." Then Ree wakes.

Endek slides into a chair at her table while she’s having breakfast that morning. He doesn’t know much about the senator, through birth records don’t show anything odd (which could be another issue, he comments), but he knows about the Sents. He and her granddad followed a distress beacon to an asteroid field, where they saw a ship crash, pursued by clone troopers. A Jedi gave them the baby and told them to run, then held off the soldiers, but this was shortly before the Purge happened, so they were quite confused. At any rate, the man was a Sent Jedi, and the baby was Ree’s aunt.

Endek says he told her granddad at the time that she was suspiciously quiet for an infant, and that she had shifty eyes. Her grandfather laughed like he'd told a joke, but Endek says, he was quite serious. He wonders if something was in the container with the baby.

When Ree mentions what they’ve been looking into, he reminds her that he’s a tomb raider. he remembers that everyone always told him to ask Yoda when he asked about the True Sith, which he thought was garbage because the backward-talking munchkin never answered a question straight in his very long life. He knows about the Sith tower, and thinks that some Jedi knew about it too. Ree’s confused by that--wouldn't they have told the other Jedi?--but Endek reminds her that while the Master’s Council knew just about everything, other Jedi didn’t always talk. And the Council started acting really weird when they lost the ability to see the future. It was almost as if they didn’t want to make a move move till they could see the outcome.

She asks about the Chosen One prophecy. His exasperated reply: “I have found prophecies on every Jedi wall of every Jedi crapper... Most of them fit your Luke. He’s always fighting some goddamned menace. Or he is some goddamn menace. Or Kyp is a goddamn menace.” Ree's surprised by that too, but apparently blowing up a solar system gets you prophecies.

Speaking of which, he speaks on prophecies: “If there’s anything you need to know about Jedi, it’s that knowing what’s going to happen before it happens always leads to problems. You always try to change it.”

On the Architects: “The Architects were crazy shithouse mad enough to call the True Sith so they could throw down with them. They left because they got bored.” Bored? Yep, bored. they moved planets around, rebuilt the galaxy, created all kinds of superweapons, and eventually just wandered off to find something else to do. But, Endek comments, the galactic society they've got now could trash the Architects. They never had anything like the Skywalkers.

On Imperial propaganda: They painted the Emperor as a grandfatherly old man, they talked up the Imperial fleet as a noble enterprise, they advertised the Death Star as a boarding school for orphans, but “they never tried to make Vader anything other than what he was: a 7-foot-tall house of pain.”

Leading to his opinion on the Skywalkers: Leia seems stable, sure, and Luke's nice enough, but “The Skywalkers are entropy with Force sensitivity.” He suggests Ree not forget that, because things will undoubtedly turn for the worst otherwise.

She asks him what he knows about the gate on her planet. “'Heart of the living Force,' the Jedi called it. What is the living Force, Ree?” He knows it’s something about bringing the dead back to life, but he guesses that to be a metaphor, that it’s a repository of knowledge...but of course, such repositories sometimes house things like superweapons.

They argue over Ree’s fame. She thinks it’s a fad, but he wants her to understand. He takes her out for a couple of hours to show her how famous she really is, and what an inspiration she is to people. “It’s ridiculous? Imagine you’re a kid. Would you drink from a Luke cup? If you had one, would you drink from it every morning at breakfast? ‘Cause I drank from an Anakin cup and he ended up killing people!”

On Ree’s aunt: “I have to at least try to save her. She’s my aunt!” “Oh, yeah, you drank from a Luke glass.” He thinks Mora was jealous of Ree’s mom, who was kind and friendly and popular. Mora intimidated and bossed people. He says that to save her, Ree needs to find something she cared about. She needs someone to be as directly honest with her as possible.

All told, Salek Endek is bitter, snarky, and jaded, and admits it. This, he says, is why he spends more time in tombs than with people. And it becomes clear why Ree's mother holds her opinion of him.

Ree talks to Luke and tells him Dalt’s suspicions about Thule infiltration in the government. Luke ponders that, considering using Dalt as bait (with Dalt’s permission, of course) by nosing about that he’s regaining memories. It would be dangerous...and Ree's not willing to risk Dalt.

Kedrihm'Val asks Dalt about the Force boxes on those droids. How do they work? Dalt seems to have a good idea why he's asking, and explains that the boxes draw in ambient Force energy and collect it, then interface it electrically with the wearer's nervous system so they can use it. This is easy enough to do with droids, but it killed most of the organics he tried it on. Mostly. Pressed further, he admits that he ended up with three cyborged psychopathic possible Force-users after testing those boxes, and gave them to Maul for bodyguards. Speaking of whom, neither Dalt or Kedrihm’Val really think Maul’s dead. Dalt thinks Maul’s gone underground and is being subtle. After all, he was a physical monster of a man, but he was also a genius. Dalt’s very...admiring of Maul. I mean, really admiring. Uncomfortably admiring.

The group decides to ask the Kenobi holocron about the gate. The Jedi don’t seem to like talking about it, but Obi Wan always seemed practical about people needing to know things. And he is, but he mostly repeats what they already know. Says maybe the Emperor got a copy from the recordings in the archives. He's able to tell them a bit more about the Sents, though. He knew the Sent family had a baby girl and an older boy who was a Jedi. The Emperor kept the Sent family distracted, constantly sending them on missions across the galaxy, but he recalls that they did find something at right around the point of the Coruscant invasion.

They thank him and talk to the Sent family holocron. Tal Sent tells them the oldest brother was a Jedi. Dalt and Mora were twins. The Emperor knew about Dalt, but they hid Mora. Raasik Sent is a much younger brother, and the holocron believes that he still has his parents’ diaries.

Z immediately flies off. Realizing what he's got to be heading off to do, Ree shouts at him to come back. An argument ensues. Ree insists it would be illegal and wrong, while Kedrihm'Val points out that it would be recklessly obvious to fly to the Sent house to break in. Z keeps repeating the phrase “stealing the diaries from Sent’s house” till Kedrihm asks why he keeps saying it like that. Onna suddenly exclaims, “That comm is on! Oh god, SARR!” And then everybody starts talking at once. Kedrihm'Val, noticing that SARR’s not really listening to the demands that he not rob the Sents, orders, “SARR! Don’t kill anyone. Don’t harm anyone.” Which, SARR says, sounds like permission to him. The Sent holocron wants the diaries since he says he’s supposed to be an archive of all the family’s history. SARR asks about copying instead of stealing. Oola sends SARR the house codes while everybody argues. Ree starts scolding them all for being immoral, and right in front of her! A moment later, SARR’s voice cuts back in saying, “Download incoming.”
Ree: “You stole them!”
SARR: “No.”
Kedrihm'Val: “He convinced a house droid to copy them.”
SARR: “The kitchen-bot is terrified of me. She won’t squeal.”

The Sent family had a vision about twins saving the galaxy. They assumed that meant Dalt and Mora, so they put it into both their heads that they were important and needed to do important things to save the galaxy. Then they spirited Mora away, but the Emperor got hold of Dalt. Which explains why Mora and Dalt both have inflated senses of importance.

Then they take some time to brief the holocron on Dalt's family on Miraluka. Ree leaves a note with the Council regarding Dalt’s crazed cyborgs and the hidden Maul bases.

Oracle at Pelgrin 2: Ree on the Brain

2007-12-04T16:50:00.000-05:00

But on the way back, Ree keeps having dreams. The first night, she’s building a protocol droid. The second, she’s pod-racing. She dreams of fleeing up the gangplank of a ship at someone’s orders and being pulled in by a Jedi. One evening, it’s particularly bad, and she wakes up panicked from a dream where someone dies and she’s terribly upset at the funeral.

After she dreams of hurling herself out of a hovercar and hearing someone call out to her by someone else’s name, she starts wondering about calling Luke. But before she makes a decision, she dozes off in her chair (not having slept well in days) and dreams of feeling extremely guilty about something—worried that someone specific will be mad, but going to their rescue…then a battle with all sorts of crazy stuff going down: droids, Genoshans, more Jedi than actually exist at this point, Boba Fett being killed by…Mace Windu? And a young Obi Wan.

At this point, she wakes and makes notes of all the dreams she’s had so far. Next dreams is of a lightsaber duel with Count Dooku alongside Obi-Wan, which really narrows things down.

At breakfast the next morning, a day or so out from Coruscant, Z jokes, “It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it. It’s cool if you’re dreaming about me, I understand.” Lydia: “Who would want to dream about you? Maybe a woman with a can opener.”

Ree tries to stay awake after that, but she’s been sleeping lousy for days now. She dreams about Anakin’s vision of Padme dying, then recalls talking to Yoda about “letting go” and thinking it’s lousy advice.

When they get to Coruscant, they talk to Cilghal about all this. Cilghal believes Ree synched herself up with Vader’s brain pattern. She’s not sure how to reverse this, but neither of them is happy about seeking advice from Luke. Cilghal says she’ll research it, and Ree decides to talk to Dalt…or have someone talk to him for her.

Dalt points out that the pattern of dreams is dangerous, because Ree’s nearing the point in the sequence where Anakin became Vader. He suggests going back to the Oracle and using it to put things back. When Kedrihm notes that keeping Ree awake the whole time will be an adventure, Dalt insinuatingly suggests that they could take Kyp along. Kedrihm’Val pointedly ignores him, though about half the planet by now probably thinks that Ree and Kyp have a thing.

So they head back, prodding Ree frequently, to try to fix her. When they stick her in the meditation chamber, she has a vision of a battle between the Republic and Thule, and sees a dead Jedi Master. She thinks it’s either Luke, Kyp, or Zann. When they head out from the Oracle again, they spot footprints heading around the side of the tower. Oola checks the cameras on the place, spotting someone coming out of a compartment in the side of the tower and into the building. Some kind of hibernation pod, or a droid? Kedrihm notes the tracks are too heavy for a human. So they head back in, and hustle upstairs when the tower begins to activate.

The door to the meditation chamber is already closed. The droid is downloading a brain pattern into itself. Oola spots the channels that are active...the Emperor! That thing’s gotta die. Once the process finishes, the droid stops at the other side of the door while the crew discusses options for shutting it down. It retrieves a lightsaber from the chair, at which point Oola locks it in and starts to overload it with Ree’s goody-two-shoes Jedi pattern. It tears the door of the hinges and comes out swinging.

The droid kicks at Oola, putting its foot through a panel. Z blows up a few panels trying to shoot it, then zaps it with a cable. Ree and Kedrihm’Val both attack its head and then Z trashes the torso.

Oola shuts down the machine now that its spent about two minutes broadcasting Ree across the galaxy. Luke calls about then, wanting to know if everything’s okay, and if Ree tried to send a telepathic signal. They reassure him. Kedrihm’Val spots Z trying to set charges, for which he gets scolded, but he thinks it’s a bad move to leave the Oracle sitting around like this.

Everyone is creeped out by SARR being exceptionally nice on the way back. “You okay?” Ree asks him. “I’m fine,” he says. “Maybe you need some sleep?” “…No comment on the robot revolution?” Oola asks. “What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

When they get back to Coruscant, the Council bugs Ree to make sure she didn’t try to send them a signal, because everybody kind of felt one. Great. Imagine: thousands of Rees doing deeds of justice and goodwill across the galaxy.

The Oracle at Pelgrin

2007-12-04T16:42:00.000-05:00

After siccing translators on the Sith box and arranging to demodify the modified Jedi prison ship so they can put their growing list of evil-wrong-bad Dark Side prisoners on it, they decide to finally go poke the Oracle at Pelgrin.

First, Ree calls Lexi Cuthas to ask if any family members have gone missing. Lexi’s reluctant to talk about it, but admits that her sister vanished eleven years ago. Her name was Adry, and she was four at the time. One more to add to the kidnapped Jedi list.

The Oracle at Pelgrin was destroyed by the Emperor, who didn’t want anyone else getting their hands on its power. But it was later rebuilt by Dalt, for the Emperor. The crew now believes that the original might’ve been modeled on the Sith tower. The descriptions match in many ways.

So they land on Pelgrin. It’s a bleak, empty place: a planet of calm water, with not a single feature save for the spire of the Oracl. They head inside to find a spiral staircase with room radiating out from it along the walls. Inside the first door they find a room full of machinery. Oola explores, and finds that whole sections of the tower spin and pivot, the mechanisms for which dwell in this room.

Ten floors up, the next door leads to the construction staff’s quarters. Nothing special about it; it’s obviously been empty since the crews finished and left. They do find architectural drawings of the original tower with obvious modifications on them. Oola’s not sure what they do. They’re related to the Force somehow. To a normal engineer’s eye, they look fairly pointless, but they do strike her as somehow familiar. They take the drawings and head upward.

Another ten floors up, it’s an engineer’s area. There are more plans here with modifications on them. Oola thinks they’re for different settings. The original, they know, simply channeled the Force upward to the control room, allowing a Force user to harness it to power their visions. This one almost seems to have settings that function like tumblers in a lock.

At the top, there’s the meditation chamber. Oola looks at the controls while Ree goes inside. The door closes behind her, and to Ree everything seems to go dark: almost sensory-deprivation dark. The others, however, can see her through the windows.

Oola sees about getting the door open, and stumbles on the discovery that different floors align to Dark Side emotions: fear, rage, hate, and two other complex ones she’s hard-put to name. Ree sees that the chair in the meditation chamber has a hookup for a respirator.

Oola and Z see control boards lighting up and one of the weird controls Oola hasn’t placed yet begins to boot up. Kedrihm feels the Force begin to surge. Ree, in the chamber, feels kind of foggy for a moment. Oola gets the door unlocked, but Ree can’t actually see the door, so Lydia pops it open for her from the outside. Kedrihm, focusing on the building Force energies, recognizes it as Vader’s aura.

With that information, Oola realizes that the other two patterns are Vader and the Emperor. This thing was designed to tune them specifically into the Force for more powerful visions.

They’re not sure whether to show this to Dalt or not. They lock the Oracle down, quarantine the planet, and head back to Coruscant.

Star Wars art

2007-12-03T18:01:00.000-05:00

Well, it's hardly perfect, but I was practicing and I thought, "Well, I've never drawn a picture of Dalt doing Daltish stuff," so I did.

It's kind of huge; sorry about that. I want to do the one of Ree standing in front of the bar as it goes up in flames, but what I want to do with that one is a lot more complex.

Scuzzy and Wuzz and the Ship of Fools

2007-11-24T10:49:00.000-05:00

They learn what they can find out about the tower and the coins. Dalt continues teaching Oola the Architects’ language. Kedrihm learns a bit more about Dathomir--practical stuff, this time, like local plants and wildlife. Zann gathers spy stuff for their trip to Bimm. The Council wants them to run medical supplies to the front and get a look around out there. Zann doesn’t come with, since he’s got other work to do.

But on the way, they get ambushed by dumb pirates. These guys quickly deflate when they find out they’ve just hijacked a Jedi ship, but before they can escape from their captives, both ships get sucked up by an Imperial officer in an Old Republic ship. Actually, it's an old Jedi prison ship converted into a Republic medical ship. While the officer talks to them, laying down his terms of surrender, the crew sees someone in a clown outfit playing with the controls behind him.

They get tractor-beamed into the bay, where they decide to get out and look around. The pirates don’t want to be left alone in a place like this, so they come too, hoping the Jedi will protect them. Inside the bay, they spot markings that indicate it’s a mental hospital ship. That's not reassuring, but it would explain the clown.

Oola hacks into the ship’s systems to open the inter docking bay door, but she notes that the ship’s power is routed weirdly. Still, she manages it. She has to do it again when they take the elevator, where she gets into a hacker battle. She aims up, the lift goes down. Then someone shuts off the elevator's power. The group escapes through the shaft onto another floor. Gravity is off here, and they find bodies floating in the hallway.

Ree asks for the pirates’ names: Scuzzy, Wuzz, three mercenaries named Corben, Ventrim, and Kit, and a mysterious individual in a cloak. Ree presses the hooded figure, who gives up and pulls the hood down. It’s Jude. Somehow, Ree isn’t surprised.

They continue exploring, Ree in the lead (Jude comments that Jedi explode if they don’t go first; Scuzzy and Wuzz take that literally). There are signs of a struggle, some blaster marks on the bodiesThey climb up service ladders and find dead clone troopers and lightsaber marks on the next level. A force field locks down part of the floor due to a hull breach, so they divert to the floor where the cells are located.

One room here is blocked by a force field. Two med droids sit inside, deactivated. Another room contains an organic signature. Oola checks with SARR, who says he's “perfectly fine, Master.” Oola: “I’m not your master, SARR.” “I thought any breathing being was my master.”

While scoping out the cells, they hear footsteps. Three people on patrol duty, wearing piecemeal clonetrooper armor and a lot of weapons. One comments, “Let’s go check on Sleeping Beauty,” then peers into the room with the life-sign, then they turn down a hall and leave.

The crew checks that same room once the patrol clears out. It’s a Jedi in a healing trance. Ree shakes the guy awake, but the three patrolmen come back around. Ree steps out with her lightsaber, and one charges at her waving a food tube, making zapping noises. Ree knocks them all out.

The Imperial officer comes on the screen in the Jedi's room. When they ask if he knows Thrawn is active, he mocks them, calling him Grand Admiral Prawn. Then the clown blows the airlocks.

They quickly head up another floor, tugging the unconscious patrolmen along. While Ree cuts a hole in the metal lock sealing the service ladders, she talks to the Jedi they rescued, who gives his name as Severi Teiak. They give him a brief run-down of the last few decades, which he’s apparently missed, but he stops them when they tell them about the Empire’s reign. Says it’s too much to take in just now.

The next floor has access to the ship’s records. The last log is of clone troopers turning on the Jedi on the ship, then someone overrides the systems and opens all the cell doors. The ship was a med-ship for mostly harmless loons, with only a few dangerous prisoners. The group is now only four floors from the bridge, so they head up. Ree cuts through another metal shield and finds herself on a floor saturated with helium. They find another tube, and Oola drains the gas out.
“They turned the ship into a funhouse.”
Scuzzy says, “I would, if I had the chance.”
Ree: “That’s good to know about you.”
Wuzz thinks that’s a come-on from her, and tells Fuzz he’s lucky.

Severi: “Since we have a few minutes, what do you mean the Sith took over the galaxy?” They explain a bit more.

The Imperial pops up on-screen again. “You got past the helium trap. Cagey.” He wants to know if they let the droids out. “They’re crazy,” he says. “They know all about this ship.”

On the next floor, they find the dangerous inmates, or at least their descendants. A lot of force fields on this floor keep them sealed into certain areas. These guys apparently worship the food synthesizer and eat people. There seems to be some inbred devolution going on.

The Imperial pops up on-screen again. “Let us out,” Ree says. “Should we let them out?” he asks the clown girl. She shakes her head. “Every time he talks to the clown person, something bad happens,” Kedrihm notes. And the force fields go down. They’re driven down from that floor by crazy cannibal barbarians. Oola holds up the force fields briefly so they can escape, and spikes the clown’s systems in revenge. Stymied for the moment, they decide to head back down to fetch the med-droids.

When most of the group enters the room with the droids, cautious in case they awaken violently, Severi shoves Oola into the room, re-activates the force field lock, kills the two mercenaries who’d stayed outside, and runs. Luckily, Jude was also outside, hiding around the corner. She deactivates the field again and mocks them for not expecting him to turn bad. “That was fairly obvious.”

Great. An insane Jedi? That can only be bad.

Oola gets one of the droids operational by scrounging parts from the others. Ree explains what’s been going on. It’s dismayed to hear they let the Jedi out, to say the least. It calls him a “thing” in a room at the end of the hallway, and says they found “it” floating in space in a black metal coffin. The droid doesn’t know how it ended up in that room. Oola radioes SARR to warn him against roaming rogue Jedi. “Now you’ve hooked up with another medical droid,” he grumbles.
“It means nothing, SARR, you’re still the only droid for us.”

Meanwhile, the others talk in the background.
Z: “I don’t have the Force. If I did, I’d hope someone would've knee-capped me a long time ago.”
Scuz: “Man, Boba Fett’s scary. Imagine if he could use the Force.”
Kedrihm'Val, messing with them just a little: “He couldn’t use the armor. It’s anti-Force, right?”
Ree, not catching on right away: “No, it’s not...oh.”
Jude: “Wow, I got the active genes.”

They call the 'Imperial officer' and warn him about the “Jedi-thing.” He doesn't buy it at first, till Ree does the mind trick on him. After that, he decides he likes them, locks down the crazy people, and lets the group on the bridge. They learn that the clown droid was meant to entertain kids, but the inmates reprogrammed it and gave it weapons. “It’s a bit crazy,” the officer tells them. Ree asks to look at the storage room for the black coffin. The Imperial guy agrees, announcing, “Okay, some people are going into the storage room. Pay no attention, they’re not real.”

The box is evil. The crate it’s in is labeled 'Do not touch.' “Let’s go touch the evil box," Ree says before she pries it open. Inside is a Sith stasis unit.

Ree calls Luke to infodump. “Is that a clown in the background?” he asks. It’s skulking menacingly behind them, but not doing anything particular. Ree comments, “It’s like SARR with facepaint.” Kedrihm'Val adds, “They’re made for each other.” “Keeping my eyes on you,” the clown droid mutters to them. Scuzzy interrupts Ree's conversation to ask, “Is that Luke Skywalker? Did Vader eat you through his chest of horrors?” (Note: I have no idea what that even means, but wouldn’t be surprised if Scuzzy said it anyway.)

Oola uses ship sensors to locate Severi and learns that an escape pod jettisoned toward Thule lines. How’d he know to go that way? Anyway, they radio the Republic fleet about him. The Republic forces report that the Chimera intercepted a pod in that vicinity about 15 minutes ago. Oh, boy. Thrawn's in the vicinity.

Then the pirates’ ship lifts off and blows out of the docking bay. The clown droid catches it in a tractor beam. As the crew races down to the hold, the tractor beam cuts loose and the ship gets away. The guy mind-whammied the bridge. Z is able to tag the ship with a tracker, and they pursue in the Starwind.

A little ways out, the Chimera hails them. Thrawn wants to know why they're chasing a pirate ship. Fair question, considering this crew. Ree doesn't want to tell him that she's in pursuit of a Sith, but as usual, she can’t think of a decent lie. “Ah," says Thrawn. "That pause tells me a lot.” He informs them that the Chimera is standing aside on the matter. The implication is that he's not here to concern himself with internal matters of Republic jurisdiction, but honestly, it's not like he's really fooled.

Oola nails the pirate ship with an ion cannon while the others quickly try to figure out who or what they’re actually chasing. Obviously he's Sith, and they don't have any real clues as to which one, though Ree recalls that Darth Bane notably dropped off the face of the galaxy without ever being accounted for--ran off to train apprentices, if she recalls the legend right. Gosh, that'd really suck.

While they prepare to board the pirate ship, Kedrihm'Val mind-whammies Scuzzy and Wuzz with the order, “Stay.” Corben and the others help. When Ree asks why she's helping, Jude answers, “It’s better than talking to her mom.” “Talk to her lately?” Ree asks. “We’ll save that for later,” Jude replies. Then SARR cuts in with, “He’s on the hull?!”

Indeed he is. The Sith lightsabers their engines out. Oola electrifies the hull. Witnessing this (because the Chimera's just lurking off to starboard, watching their every move), Pellaeon comms them, sarcastically asking, “Hey, gang...isn’t there trust?”

The Sith uses the Force to pull the pirate ship to him. SARR shoots at him, then Oola grabs him in a tractor beam and bangs him off the pirate ship, seemingly knocking him unconscious. Not that he's wearing a spacesuit or anything. In space. Standing on their outer hull. Is this guy even human?

They comm Kyp, then Pellaeon generously offers aid. Since the Starwind’s engines are out of commission (and not even attached, at this point), the pirate ship's exhaust ports just had a Sith head rammed up them, and the med-ship is full of insane people, they don’t have many options. They retrieve the box from the med-ship and tell Pellaeon about the Sith (because a good way to die would be by not telling Thrawn they just put a Sith on his ship). When they turn Darth Whatsisface over to the Chimera's medical team, Ree tells the med-droid, “We do have some ysalimiri hormone.” “Why is that useful?” asks Pellaeon, who’s observing nearby. “You can inject it into people?” Crap. That's right, he's almost as sharp as Thrawn.

The Chimera has Jedi-holding cells. You know...on one hand, yay, they lucked out with probably the only ship in the Imperial fleet outfitted to hold this guy captive, but on the other hand, they ended up on probably the only ship in the Imperial fleet outfitted to hold Force users captive. While they cart Darth Whatsisname down to the cells, Kedrihm'Val senses a vibration in the Force, as if someone had just done something. But none of the others notice anything, and all claim it wasn’t them… Maybe he was imagining it? Or could there be another Force user on board?

Pellaeon has them escorted to guest rooms so they can rest, which surprisingly they do, till alarms go off across the Chimera. They don't even have to ask why. They just head down to the brig to verify that the Sith has escaped. Pellaeon is already there, interrogating the stormtrooper who let him out--that must be what Kedrihm sensed, the Sith putting the mind-whammy on one of his guards. Apparently the bastard wasn't quite unconscious after all.

They can’t track the Sith through scanners, and Ree and Kedrihm can’t feel him when they try to locate him through the Force. SARR interjects, “I did insert an anal tracker.” Pellaeon, in the voice of experience, asks, “Why anal, SARR?” “Because it amused me,” the droid replies.

They follow the guy toward the hangar bay. Kedrihm spots him in storm trooper armor and points him out. Z flings a stun grenade at him, but the guy Force-throws another storm trooper into it, then mind-whammies five more to help him. Oola takes those out with static in their helmet-comms. Ree closes in on the Sith while Jude and Kedrihm'Val circle around behind him.

Ree asks, “Do we have to do this?” The Sith doesn’t answer, instead using Force lightning on the TIE fighters docked nearby, creating a web of lightning that extends through three quarters of the bay. Z whips out his flechette launcher while Pellaeon snarls to the rest of the storm troopers, “There are 40 of you, OVERBEAR HIM!” Kedrihm helpfully shoves the Sith at the troops to knock him off-balance, and they pile on...only to go flying off again a moment later in a shower of Force lightning. Pellaeon growls, “By overbear, I meant tie him down.”

They lose the Sith in the mess of storm troopers, till Kedrihm'Val and Oola spot him trying to sneak off. He throws a TIE fighter(!) into the hangar’s main control panel, depressurizing the bay and causing mass mayhem. Thrawn, now awake and on the bridge, overrides that. Kedrihm strikes the Sith again, knocking him toward Ree, who hurls him into a TIE fighter and cuts an arm off, which finally knocks him out. Pellaeon applauds--hard to tell whether it’s sarcastic, but he doesn't exactly seem like a spontaneous clapper--before having him carted back to med-bay, along with his arm.

Ree notes that they just turned over a Sith’s genetic material to Grand Admiral Thrawn, but there’s not much they can do about it now.

The Chimaera transports them most of the way back to Coruscant, where they rendezvous with Republic ships and come back to the temple with their, er, trophy.

The Spooky Sith Spire

2007-11-23T17:42:00.000-05:00

The crew splits up into two groups, taking alternating floors. Zann, Oola, Onna, and Kedrihm’Val in one group (G1), Ree, Z, and Lydia in the other (G2).

G1, 1st floor: simple. Mess hall, garrisons, sleeping quarters. There’s still food in the mess. Sith seem to have left during perfectly routine day. Sleep quarters contain books and movies starring space-catfish. Place looks maybe even older than Sith. Rakata? Architects? Oola snags some goodies. Also find armories and guardrooms. One armory has some defense devices—big guns and stuff. Place doesn’t really feel evil or Dark Sidey.

G2, 2nd floor: looks like huge alchemy lab. Ree nearly collides with a Vader statue. Spot a long line or Sith Lord statues, and a pedestal for one more. The base holds liquid cement. Statues form themselves? Experiments seem non-menacing. Coming out of one lab, the Vader statue has turned to face them. Ree senses something inside it. Statue attacks her with a lightsaber. Ree tosses the saber away with Force, Z destroys it. Then they take out the statue. The ooze in the pedestal reforms into another Vader statue, but there’s no sense of the Force from it now. They grab a concrete ooze sample.

G1, 3rd floor: Techno-heaven: open-doored rooms like in the labs downstairs; and a comm. Center. Not Sith tech-based, it’s modified for Sith use. One comm. Is like a telepathy machine-comm, lets you telepathically contact anyone you want to talk to. Oola fights down urge to mess with Dalt.

G2, 4th floor: It looks like there’s no ground, but they can feel it beneath their feet. They’re surrounded by a star field. A star chart? Walls have Sith glyphs. On wall opposite door, there’s a huge mural: Luke and Vader with lightsabers crossed, Emperor sitting on his throne in background—their confrontation on the Death Star. There’s a door in the wall beneath the mural. They go inside to look around.

G1, 3rd floor: While Oola’s explaining gadgets, some of the devices activate. Screens light up, with scenes of Z, Ree, and Lydia. It’s farseeing: past, present, future. What could be, what could’ve been, what may still be. Oola can’t comm the other group on the floor above.

G2, 4th floor: The door closes behind them, electrical contacts heading downstairs go active. Loads of tubes and things take up most of the room. Door’s not locked when they test it, so they look around. Comfy chairs rest on a box-like pedestal. When they look in underneath, they find a brain wired into the chair.

G1: Downstairs, Oola sees scenes of what might happen in the room: leaving without looking around, finding the brains, their possible reactions.

G2: Ree won’t sit in the chair, though Z prompts her to. They hear movement outside. Z: “If Vader’s following us, I’ll shoot him in the face.” The wall mural is moving, acting out the fight, the last 10 minutes of Vader’s life. They wonder why it was so important to these people. Because it was the death of the last Sith? The room suddenly gets oppressive as the screen shows Luke kill Vader and take his place. “That’s odd,” says Ree. “You sure?” asks Z. Ree: “He’s not a Sith lord, is he?” Z: *meaningful look* Ree: “Have a little faith in him!” Ree wants to come back later. Oola finally makes contact with them on the comm and tells them about the visions they’re seeing on the computers downstairs. The mural activates again, showing Luke kill the Emperor, then head out as if it all happened like in the movie.

G1, 3rd floor: turns out, all the gizmos have brains in. This isn’t Sith tech; these are ancient, ancient, ancient brains, older than the building, which predates the oldest Sith artifacts. Kedrihm reads one brain’s thoughts: it’s alive, sentient, its attitude is cold and efficient. It’s just happy to have something to do after waiting around for so long. Kedrihm thinks they’re not like any of the races he knows: they’d be insane by now.

While they study the brain, they sense something behind them. Turning, there’s a Vader statue in their faces. They kill it quick, and note that the line of Sith statues from earlier is right there. Certainly wasn’t before. But there’s another statue at the end: it looks like Vader’s armor, but not quite. It’s shorter, the armor is sleeker, like it’s a Vader homage.

They decide to move on.

G1, 5th floor: It’s a chapel, untouched by the Sith. A huge Vaderesque statue takes up the left wall, and an equally big Vader statue faces it from the right wall. Computers are built into altar. Oola says it’s never been activated or used, only maintained. The hole in the altar would fit a crest…Skywalker’s, of course. The language isn’t Sith, nor Rakata. It’s the language they saw at Centerpoint: the Architects.

G2, 6th floor: Coming up, they get attacked by a big droid and three Massassi monster-things. Z smashes one down the stair well, and blasts himself back into the big droid. Lydia cuts off one of the droid’s arms. Ree slices a Massassi in half, Z plants a magnetic mine on the droid, then blows up the third monster.

G1: a falling Massassi crashes down the stairs past them. They finish the thing off.

G2: They find that the monsters were guarding a control panel for the floor upstairs where the rock used to be. They call Oola upstairs, Z goes down. Oola discovers the panel can be a big beam cannon, or a beacon. It’s been active for two decades, sending a beacon out into the unknown territories—activated the moment Vader died.

There are no cryostasis tubes for the monsters. How long can Massassi live? There’s been nothing on the top two floors for ages. There’s no tampering from the Sith on this floor or the one above. The rock was part of the original design. Was it held for whatever’s supposed to follow the beacon back?

They call Luke. He says he’ll send ships. They make a point of NOT mentioning the weird Luke stuff in here. Since Kyp knows Sith and Dalt knows the Ancients’ language (interesting point, there; they weren’t Rakata, how does he know it?), maybe the two of them can help translate all this stuff.

Oola hears mechanisms activate downstairs. The floors are beginning to rotate. It activated when it sensed sentient lifeforms being present for a little while. The machines must think that whatever’s supposed to be coming has arrived. A pedestal comes down to present the rock (which is missing of course). The stairway gets blocked off.

Downstairs, the same scene plays in the temple. Kedrihm identifies the building energy field as a farseeing, but it’s more than that: opening an actual path to the past. The vision is of Luke and Vader’s fight. The machine tries to zap Luke with the missing rock, but since it’s gone, nothing happens and everything plays out normally. Stuff resets, doors open, but Oola checks and discovers it can all be set off again. She snags the readouts. They suspect the idea may’ve been to corrupt Luke. Maybe he’s supposed to be the non-existent Sith in the Vaderesque armor.

Ree leads the way back downstairs, but a door closes behind her in the chapel, separating her from the others. When she turns to check it out, Drath steps up behind her. He zaps the altar and the Vader statue begins to move.

Oola gets the door open, comes face to face with the giant Vader. It puts a hole in the wall. And an evil Han clone. He pistol-whips Z, chucks a thermal detonator, then Kedrihm knocks him down. Zann takes on another Vader statue. Oola chucks a couple of her knife-droids into the clone, then finds another way down through the big hole.

SARR comms: “Shall we blow up Drath’s ship?” “No!” yells Drath. Ree: “I thought you knew, if you leave your toys where SARR can find them, he’ll break them.” Drath: “I love that droid.”

Kedrihm kicks Han off the giant Vader statue they’ve fought their way out onto and jumps down after him when Onna shouts a warning to move. The small statue Zann had been fighting follows.

Drath and Ree tear into each other. Zann’s fighting a Palpatine statue. Z to Han: “Drop the gun and fight like a man!” Han does, and Z shoots him. Oola’s droids are ripping into him pretty good at this point, too.

Oola picks her way over to the control panel and calls Dalt: “Translate this!” She wants to stop the statues. “They’re not technological,” he tells her. “Tell the others to use Force Light.” They do, which drives the possessing evil spirits out of them. Onna and Lydia sneak thermal detonators onto the backs of the big statue’s knees, bringing it down. It topples onto the Vader statue and Evil Han.

Ree forces Drath’s surrender, smashing his lightsaber and belt. Kedrihm’Val nerve-pinches him unconscious. They find more weapons on him and some hollow teeth.

The Republic ships get there, and Kyp came along for the ride. They drug Drath and hand him over. Kyp says the hieroglyphs looks like the place either inspired the Sith or they were following in the tradition of the beings that originally lived here. But what happened to the Sith, then? Why would the Architects keep the sphere, and for whom?

Getting home, they visit Dalt. Oola gives him stuff to translate. The Jedi say he’s doing better, “showing small degrees of kindness and modesty.”

Zann and Ree go to the bar and talk. So the Architects designed a thing predating anyone involved specifically to corrupt Luke. This hasn’t happened yet, but still could. Maybe the Council can give a training mission to the library ship. (note: I don’t remember what the training mission would actually be for.)

A crew from the spacestation calls Ree. Scans say there’s armor in a vault. It’s probably the Vader-homage armor. Why were the Architects so obsessed about this? The place wasn’t particularly evil.

They haven’t checked out the Oracle at Pelgrin yet. Maybe it’s modeled on this tower? There’s Pelgrin, this space station, Dathomir, the Thule fleet, whatever’s coming from deep space… What does it all add up to?

The next morning, Dalt tells Oola that his guess is “a small group of this race thought Luke being Darth Fuck-you-up was the galaxy’s only hope of survival.” He wonders if they should tell Luke, or if the “Skywalker blood will go all hogwild.” His advice: “Jettison the tower into a black hole. It has the ability to influence TIME. Tell me Luke will never think of going back to stop his father from ever being corrupted to begin with.” He points out that everyone probably noticed the place activate. But could the mysterious dwellers in the deep still be out there? “Beings of that power who can see through time, it’s far likelier they’re coming than not.” But what were the Architects so afraid of?

The Jedi and Kedrihm’Val all get called in to the Council. Luke thinks their next move needs to be dealing with the Thule fleet. Maybe they can slip someone onto Bimm and get some info to find out just what they’re still doing there. Regarding the thing that’s coming, tell the Chiss Ascendency. Maybe they have information or legends on what’s out that way. Or they could ask Thrawn…if they can trust him.

YAY BIG!

2007-11-22T17:27:00.000-05:00

The crew had a lead a while back on a base Dalt had on Rodia. They figure this might be a good time to check that out while the Council observes Dalt’s recovery.

On the planet (which Kedrihm'Val really likes, as it's all wild and jungley), they hire a Rodian guide to take them through the jungle. He tells them about a haunted area in the forest. Indeed, one night while they're camping, they see a ghost ship crash into that area. Definitely something to check out on the way back.

Dalt’s base is an older base, converted for his use. It’s been locked up for a while; looks like one of his early labs. He has experiments running that feature Dark Side plants growing in tainted water. Definitely ties in with a few of the older things of his they've found floating about the galaxy.

Downstairs, the experiments focus on Dark Side radiation. The notes they find reveal that Dalt believed in a Dark Side star and a Light Side star--one for each side--at that time. Records say he thinks he actually detected traces of them once. Something to ask him about, perhaps.

Further down, they find a huge observation ring surrounding a large living area almost like a village, which is in an energy cage. Used to be a hydroponics bay. There’s a box above the village, with everything wired into it. A small garden hosts freaky mutant Dark Side plants. No sign of current inhabitants, but apparently there were at one point. The box produces massive energies; it holds some kind of power source, but it’s shielded by a force field. Dalt’s records don’t say what the box is, which is uncharacteristic of him. Oola digs up data: the base has been inactive for 12 years. She finds vid-feeds showing 10 to 12 humans living in the village—Imperial slaves. Comparison holos show physical changes in them over the years. Some people evolved, some devolved, turned bestial, but most didn't survive for long.

14 years ago, the last person left was a 20 year old girl. She looks normal, but there’s something just...unsettling about her. 12 years ago, Dalt realized that he couldn’t get the girl out without exposing himself to the radiation source he’d set up. Oola does a life scan: it shows no one present, but there’s a hole torn in the floor to lower levels. Been there 3 or 4 years. Oola checks to make sure radiation isn’t leaking out downstairs.

Heading down, they find Dalt didn’t do much here. It’s just living quarters and hydroponics. No sign of people. Figuring they've seen as much as they can here, they head back out to meet their guide.

On the way back out of the jungle, they pass haunted area again. Near it, Kedrihm’Vahl gets jumped by an evil plant. Of course they decide to go into the haunted area, at which the guide volunteers to stay out of it. Says he'll wait to see if they come out for a couple of days.

Inside the area, they find dead Stormtroopers. There are signs they died out of fear. They find also wreckage of a transport that matches the ghost ship they saw crash. Oola hacks its systems to discover that these people were on a mission to gather some mineral from an asteroid field for Dalt 12 years ago. The thing had odd properties. Signs are that the mineral drove these crazy during the transport back. The storm troopers, loyal to death, tried to carry it to Dalt. Records end when they leave the ship.

Oola downloads the records. Figuring it might teach him something useful, Kedrihm’Val communes with nature while they wait for her, and indeed he discovers a path of corrupt life. Following it, they’re attacked by a giant mutant lizard. Ree cuts its leg off and it flees, but they kill it. The trail of corruption leads back to Dalt’s base. Contemplating that mysterious box, they're willing to bet that the strange mineral is in there. Zann suggests tightening the force field around the box to remove it.

And Kedrihm'Val notes that the box is exactly, perfectly, and in every detail, yay big.

They call Luke and tell him. He patches through to Dalt. Dalt can’t remember the experiment, but suggests they leave it there and track back to the asteroid field. He thinks it may be a "magical artifact.” “Don’t bring it back. I don’t want to face down Darth Anakin-Vader...Skywalker Luke.” Luke cuts in with, “It’d just be Luke.” Kedrihm notes that Dalt never called anything “magical” before.

The crew places some guards and an alarm to guard the base while they head out to follow the trail backward.

Onward to the asteroid field! Interesting thing here is that no one knows of a planet ever being there for the field to originate from. It’s vaguely near Wayland, Dathomir and Yavin. A veritable Bermuda Triangle of space-evil. The Jedi of the crew note that one asteroid seems, well, really evil. It has a black spire and doesn’t move like an asteroid. Oola notes that it’s a battle station, holding synchronous position with Dathomir and Yavin.

They look around outside it. Maybe it's Rakata or Sith in origin? Looks like a sort of proto-Death Star without a laser. The Rakata ship claimed that the Death Star was of Rakata design. Oola’s downloaded recordings show that the troopers went in. Inside, it was an advanced battle station. Weird writing and disturbing images covered the walls. The pictures look like evil space-catfish: the Sith race, shortly after encountering the dark Jedi. They found the rock--a shiny black orb--at the top of the spire in some kind of energy amplifier. They call Kyp to fill him in and send him copies of the writings. The place was built specifically to host that spire, which seemingly exists specifically to hold that stone. What's it for? The only way to find out is to go inside.