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Post by surfersquid on Dec 25, 2009 22:53:16 GMT -5
"Yeah--I'm fine--" Kyla sputtered between coughs, watching as Ka's clawed hand touched her shoulder. She was sorely tempted to reach up and touch it to see what it felt like, but there were more important matters at hand. "Huh," she replied, casting her concentration about to try to find some way to sense the door Ka had mentioned, all the while staring straight ahead. Moving her head around was useless when she could see in every direction at once. "Okay, so let's climb," she said, sticking out her hands to feel the wall, trying to see if she could find any hand- and footholds.
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Post by Cy Skywalker on Dec 27, 2009 20:14:04 GMT -5
Ka scrabbled at the wall below the opening, but the mortared spaces between the stones proved too narrow and shallow for her claws to get any purchase. She looked up with bared teeth for a moment, then looked around. "Maybe one of us can boost the other up."
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Post by Jedi Master Sar Sha on Dec 27, 2009 22:25:33 GMT -5
Astrin frowned slightly as she glanced up at the opening. "I wonder if there is another lever up there somewhere. One that will give us easier access once you activate it." She shrugged. "Who do we boost up than?"
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Post by surfersquid on Dec 28, 2009 16:49:15 GMT -5
Kyla gave up her efforts to climb the wall and focused on the other two girls. Their Force signatures seemed to show that they were of larger stature than she. "I can go," she offered. "I think I'm the smallest, so I'll be the easiest to lift." She would find some way to feel her way around the opening and check for a lever or something, like Astrin suggested.
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Post by Cy Skywalker on Dec 30, 2009 0:47:23 GMT -5
"I'll bet I can lift you." Ka sized up Kyla, knowing that humans usually weighed less than the Tiss'shar equivalent; it was the lack of tail and lighter bones. "We can try...I'm going to have to touch you on the leg a bit; I'll hold my hands out and you can step on them. Then you can snoop around up there; if there's any problem the Force will let you know...right? And there shouldn't be anything dangerous up there--not if Master Skywalker sent a bunch of initiates."
Did her babble sound as nervous as she felt? Kyla was the best one to lift. But would she find the switch, or where the passage led? This would be easier if one of them could lift the other with the Force, but she had the most experience out of all of them and had only lifted small rocks.
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Post by Morndakiél on Dec 31, 2009 1:32:42 GMT -5
Tranner hesitated beside Kon, quieting his breathing as it seemed that the guard hadn't spotted them. He signaled the Twi'lek to back further into the jungle, then spoke quietly. "My Master's instructions were to scout out the Temple to see if we could pick off students easily, and it looks like we can't--not without a larger plan. If you have one...let me know. If not, I'm off to rendezvous with Darth Ruen, and you are free to come with me. She will surely find a place for you in our Order...or know where to find the resources needed to fix your ship."
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Post by Jedi Master Sar Sha on Dec 31, 2009 14:25:10 GMT -5
"Okay, Kyla it is." Astrin said. "It might be best, Ka, if you have your back facing the wall when you boost Kayla up. That way if balance is lost for either of you two, you'll have something solid to lean against. I'll try to help you keep balance though, okay Kyla?"
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Post by surfersquid on Dec 31, 2009 16:31:29 GMT -5
Kyla nodded. "Sounds like a plan. And yeah, I'm sure there's nothing dangerous up there. How dangerous could it be?" she ended with a chuckle. She spoke more out of naivete than any actual knowledge of potential danger. To her, this was all just a game, a delightful romp in the retrofitted ruins of a lost civilization.
She leaned against the wall, placing her hands on it and waiting for Ka to get into position and wondering if she would be able to see anything up there, or if it would just be more troublesome dead stone to try to navigate by touch alone.
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Post by Cy Skywalker on Dec 31, 2009 18:41:35 GMT -5
Ka said, "You're right, Astrin," and set her back against the wall. "Kyla, step up at this level," she tapped the other girl just below the knee, then held her hands out flat at that level. "I'm sure it's safe."
Wasn't that exactly what they said in the holos before the attack came?
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Post by Demarion on Dec 31, 2009 20:53:55 GMT -5
Kon held up his hands after skirting deeper into the forest at Tranner's urging. "I have no plan. Take me to your leader... or something." He gave his crooked grin as he adjusted his backpack to sit more comfortably.
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Post by Morndakiél on Jan 1, 2010 14:34:33 GMT -5
<I know we planned to do different threads for different locations, i.e. the Sith Temple, in this RP, but is that really necessary with so few different plot lines going on?)
Tranner nodded. "Follow me." He smiled at Kon's flippant joke--it really was funny, although there was little humor about "his leader".
They picked their way back through the forest to the speeder that Tranner had left floating before he started scouting out the Temple. A few opportunistic fungi had attached themselves to the warm drive nacelles, and he peeled them off with one gloved hand and an expression of distaste. "Blasted jungle will eat anything that sits still in it for too long."
Before starting the speeder up he detated the holoprojector, sat it on the hood, and called Darth Ruen.
She appeared in blue miniature, a robed tower of a woman with an expressionless mask covering her face. The only distinguishing feature of her body that could be seen was the flow of long, silver hair. "Lady Ruen," Tranner said with a quick bow. "The Temple has guards in place at its entrances, but it may be possible to climb in through another route when the Jedi are not expecting us."
"Good, my servant," Ruen said.
Tranner didn't let her see him cringe. Had the old Sith been like this, all patronizing (matronizing?) to their apprentices? In the Imperial Inquisitors, it was clear how ranks were earned, and each young one fought to be better; Ruen seemed to think she had put him in his place and he would stay there. But that would change. He said, "I have a possible new ally for us as well, a..." what was he exactly? Tranner glanced at Kon. "spacer who crashed and is in need of repairs for an X-Wing. He may be of use to us."
Ruen said, "Bring him in, please." There was no welcoming in her voice.
Tranner said, "He is slightly Force-sensitive."
She was intrigued. "Maybe parts for his ship can be found in the Temple. If you wish to get there again, spacer, follow my acolyte to me and we shall see how you may be useful. Tranner, a distraction will be needed, and a plan, before our attack can begin. Return to me now."
"Yes, Lady Ruen."
The hologram flicked off, and Tranner replaced it in his slot as he eased into the driver's side of the speeder. When Kon got in he accelerated, soon finding an open road that he had hacked through the jungle with blaster and lightsabers. Within half an hour they passed the invisible security line around the Sith enclave.
It had once been a tower like the Temple, but none of that now remained. The road curved down into a half-moon shaped cavern--it was in the basement of this edifice that the Sith had made their place, there where running water could be installed. The speeder bay was warmly lit with blue lights and paved with tan stone cracked by the fingers of vines.
As soon as Tranner stepped out of the speeder, lights in a darkened corner flicked on and Ruen stood there with a corridor stretching out behind her, into the complex.
"Welcome." Despite behind the mask, her voice was not muffled. She approached Kon. "Welcome. A spacer, I hear, but I sense...something more." She sounded angry instead of pleased.
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Post by Demarion on Jan 5, 2010 13:06:02 GMT -5
Kon followed Tranner silently after that, making sure to keep up with the Sith. He helped him brush the flora off the speeder and waited patiently has he set up the holoprojector.
The Twi'lek watched the holo with interest, but didn't let his face betray it. A Sith lord (in this case, a lady) was never anything he'd encountered before and even this little robed figure was intriguing. She stood with power and authority and... condescendence? He detected a bit of that in her voice and -he didn't know if it was his slight force ability or his well-earned skill to read people- it reflected ever so slightly in Tranner.
The conversation was over and Kon got into the speeder, saying nothing throughout the ride but mulling over his options. Was going to the Sith headquarters a good idea? It was rather too late now, wasn't it?
They arrived after a while, and the woman who was in the holoprojector was waiting in the bay, still looking proud, even with a mask on. Kon got out and she walked up to him, not sounding too welcoming.
He bowed slightly, his lekku twitching at the force tension in the air. There was no point in lying. "I'm a smuggler, My Lady, among other things."
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Post by surfersquid on Jan 6, 2010 14:18:22 GMT -5
"Can do," Kyla said in reply to Ka, lifting her leg and feeling Ka's hands beneath her boot. "Okay, go," she said, trying to grip the wall with the toes of her other foot and holding her hands above her head, ready to clasp onto the ledge. She just hoped she was tall enough; she was small even for her age. At least that made her easier to lift.
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Post by Morndakiél on Jan 7, 2010 1:27:21 GMT -5
Darth Ruen began to pace around Kon as Tranner stood to the side with his arms folded. "The truth--good. A smuggler of things you would rather not have discovered, aren't you? But those re the concerns of the mundane world."
And suddenly she pulled out a lightsaber hilt and pressed it unlit against his chest. "Do you think you are ready to step out of that world? Do you really want to join us, smuggler? Answer truthfully, but know this--it is dangerous for me to allow those who know about us and are not loyal to live."
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Post by Jedi Master Sar Sha on Jan 7, 2010 15:58:40 GMT -5
"You're almost there!" Astrin encouraged excitedly from below. She could see Kyla's hand hovering just below the ledge. "You've almost got it, just a little more and you're there."
Astrin moved way from the wall next to Ka to stand behind the rising padawan in case Kyla's grip slipped. There was a flicker in the Force, as if suggesting something would indeed happen once Kyla reached the upper ledge, but as to what Astrin couldn't interpret. Whatever it was hinting to, it wasn't danger. Astrin waited to see what would happen.
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Post by Cy Skywalker on Jan 8, 2010 0:39:41 GMT -5
Ka hooked her fingers around Kyla's boots and boosted the other girl into the air, pushing her over onto the ledge. When she could let go of Kyla's feet, she did and looked up. "How is it?"
She knew she should let the other get her bearings--especially when she was working with the Force instead of her sense of sight--but couldn't wait to hear. She bounced on the balls of her feet.
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Post by Demarion on Jan 8, 2010 16:31:05 GMT -5
Kon stood stalk still at the threat of the lightsaber. The weapon had damaged him before, and he had been terrified they would again. This 'Darth Ruen' woman was good at intimidation, he'd give her that. She had him significantly frightened into joining. But to what end would it serve? Kon could agree with her, and live, leaving his cozy lifestyle behind, or he could say no, and die.
Well that just wasn't fair now, was it?
The Twi'lek remembered the stories that Sith were usually not fair. Oh, how he never should have asked for help from Tranner after all. But now was no time for self pity, he had to make a decision.
"If I were to join you, ah, My Lady, then what... What would have to change in my, ah, lifestyle?" That might have been poorly worded, was Kon was terrified of the finger laying on the lightsaber's ignition switch.
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Post by Morndakiél on Jan 10, 2010 13:59:31 GMT -5
Tranner paced around them as Ruen spoke, the weapon never wavering but her grip on it relaxing. She thought of how she had been threatened--and rejected--by the Sith. An extended lightsaber was only a metaphor for the threat of failure that existed in one's mind every day.
And she knew he was worried for his current life. "Oh, you could still travel around. But you must spend some time with us; weeks, a month. We will provide for you and train you in the Force." Make you addicted to it. "Its sweetness will overshadow any other addiction...will make you feel useful and useless, a fish swimming beneath the waters of the universe...for a time, your 'lifestyle'-- "a tip of her head served as quotation marks-- "will be restricted to this planet. But when training is over, your world will be returned to you larger than it ever was.
The Sith live on cruelties and machinations, young one, but also on a power you can have never imagined."
***
She's sinking claws into him with her words, Tranner thought, and he wondered how he himself had escaped their hold.
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Post by Jedi Master Sar Sha on Jan 10, 2010 19:13:14 GMT -5
Astrin watched Kyla reached the ledge and be swallowed up by the opening’s mouth. “Do you feel anything?” Astrin called up. As if in response, there came a deep rumble emanating from the room itself as if giant stones were shifting. Whatever Kyla had done, a new doorway yawned open at the other end of the room. Astrin took a quick step back trying to get a glimpse of Kyla. “Kayla are you…”
Her question was cut short as a portion of the floor sank beneath her boot heels. Just as she glanced down, the plate clicked and parted in half causing her to fall into the awaiting blackness. Astrin could hear Ka yell something, but her call fell silent as the plates sealed once more.
Astrin could feel herself slipping on the semi smooth rock and tried to find some kind of gripe though she found none. She tried using the Force as Kyla did, to feel her surroundings but this also did little more than offer her a blur of unintelligible gray streaks. She gave up the effort and let herself slide blindly through the darkness.
Through most of her descent she’d felt nothing but dry bare stone, but it was now obvious both by the smell and feel that the tunnel had access to water. A half second after the thought registered Astrin felt herself skid out into a small low-lit cavern. Shakily rising from the floor she saw there were several spring feed pools surrounding her. The light sources were artificial lanterns so someone had been down here before her.
Though the dancing ripples of light reflecting from the pools were beautiful, Astrin felt it best she try and find her way back up to the surface. She wove between the pools and unlatched one of the lanterns. Hopefully Ka and Kyla were having better luck than she was.
***
The nurse was quaking piteously as the tip of a knife bushed against her throat. “Where did you take the girl?” It owner asked against her ear. In her fright the woman couldn’t find any words, but that didn’t seem to anger her assailant. “Ah…you thought she’d best fit in with the Jedi. Interesting…” He chuckled behind her coolly before dropping his voice to a menacing whisper. “Mention my presence to no one. If you do it will be the last thing you tell anyone.” With that, the presence vanished into the shadows in which he’d come.
***
Slipping his blade back into its sheath, the assassin entered his ship once more. He had his target’s information and location, now he just had to report. He sat down in the pilot’s seat to activate his com-link. A human form took shape and the cloaked figure lowered his head respectfully. “Hello Father, I’ve found HHIR-9/20. She is at the Jedi Temple on Yavin IV.”
The man in the holo image smiled. “Well done, Epsilon. Bring your sister home, its time we give her a…proper training.”
“Yes, Father.”
“Oh, and Epsilon.”
“Yes?”
“Take two of your brothers with you. I have a feeling your long lost sister will not be alone. If they are Force sensitive, which will most likely be the case, you know what to do.”
“Yes, Sir.” Epsilon replied letting his hood fall back onto his shoulders, revealing his white hair and deep crimson eyes. “We will not fail.”
The man pinned Epsilon with an intense brown gaze. “For all our sakes, Epsilon. I hope not.” The image faded away into thin air, leaving a sense of dread upon Epsilon, though he knew it shouldn’t have. Dismissing the feeling as nothing but nerves, he opened a new link to his waiting brothers. “Phax. Haidric. We have a new target.” Epsilon sent the coordinates. “We leave as soon as possible.”
“Under stood. We’ll meet you there. Haidric out.”
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Post by Demarion on Jan 10, 2010 20:09:29 GMT -5
Kon was intrigued, to say the least. Power was what he had always wanted in life. He never accepted it, however, since he wanted to travel, to explore, to steal and smuggle. The promise of space-faring with strength in the Force backing him up was most interesting, but there was a problem.
He was lazy and selfish.
He didn't want to train, he wanted it now. He didn't want to be marooned on this kriffing rock in the middle of no where (alright not no where, he thought, but almost). The Twi'lek might be lazy, but he was smart. He knew that no matter how much he wanted everything immediately, he wouldn't get it, and there was no use complaining about it.
"I think," Kon grinned in his lop-sided way, "I like the sound of that."
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