Ary the Grey

"Grandmaster." Aryian bowed, a deeper bow than he gave to most people. Despite the true reason that he came was out of an old sense of adventure coupled with raw boredom, he still held onto his honor and sense of respect.

"I didn't realize you were here, this is a bit of an unexpected surprise. Would you prefer an honest answer, or one more befitting of a Master of the Force? Truth be told, they are one and the same, but you may not understand or accept my raw honesty on that one."

Aryian paused a moment, chuckling. It had been too long since he'd sat back and watched the machinations of the galaxy at work, always amused at how things turned out.

"Heck with it, why not simply tell you both. The Force 'willed' me here. There's your answer from the responsible all-knowing but mysterious Force-wielding hermit. But honestly, people were going catatonic at my dojo, possibly something to do with the asbestos in the walls, and I figured it was high time for an excursion. I suppose I'm really here just to relax for a bit, and maybe help out a tad if I'm needed. That is, if I'm still welcome...last time I checked, Jedi Temples weren't in the habit of turning away pilgrims. Anyways...how have you been? I haven't really been keeping up with how either Order is faring amongst galactic affairs. Don't really read the articles unless I have to, or it's just a good read."

The Blur rocketed out of hyperspace, the Grey Master at the helm having the most fun he'd had in a long time, pushing the ship to its limits and performing all sorts of radical somersaults and flips and even a barrel roll or two, in homage to a small red creature who once found his way to the stars. After about thirty minutes of mindless nonsensical fun, he finally brought the ship around to come in for a landing at the Jedi Temple planetside. He ignored the air traffic control instructions, because he knew an air traffic controller very well, in fact the same bastard who decided that Aryian would come to Lehon, and the Master knew that they were all quacks anyways.

After he set down on the landing pad, Aryian meandered down the landing ramp, into the Temple. It was time to have a little fun, instead of being stuck waiting for forever for a response.

For the longest time, there was no response. Aryian realized he was walking alone. He turned, and made his way back to the man, who appeared frozen mid-step. The Grey Master sighed...often, he wondered if it was a curse, that all the people he spoke with would end up like this. Quietly, he slipped his comm frequency, written down on a piece of paper, into the man's hand.

It was high time he left Mechis, it seemed there wasn't much here. The droids would be here to tend to the dojo, and activate the defenses, if need be. There was more than enough in the libraries he'd accumulated from both Orders, as well as a small collection of holocrons from masters of old. Silently, he made his way to his trustworthy ship, and left Mechis behind him. It was time to stir up trouble elsewhere for the time being. Besides, almost a month of nothing was enough to drive most people crazy. As stars turned to lines, he tried to think of something else, possibly something funny or insightful so the post didn't look so bland, but quickly gave up on that, knowing that none of the other schmucks on this board was likely to read it anyways.

Aryian thought for a moment, but a moment was all he needed.

"No. And I have my own reasons. However, I'd be more than willing to teach you my technique, and provide safe harbor for you and your Alcazarins. Call me a sucker for noble ideals, but I am only what I am. Besides, I value what little of my soul I have left, and if my suspicions are correct, the technique should amplify your abilities tenfold with little downside."

And, after another moment's pause,

"And if you like, I believe you will find suitable candidates among the students who seek me out, if you'd like to solicit them."

Aryian caught the staff deftly, but it weighed heavily in his hand. He could feel something...more...to the staff, but what it was he couldn't place his finger on. If he were honest, he wouldn't know the first thing about how the staff worked without proper instruction. But, he still tried anyways. He managed to make the air colder, the basic principle of Force absorption he had learned and always used, absorbing heat as energy, but he knew it was only him and not the staff. He handed it back in short order.

"I can't. And I'm not terribly worried about the droid, but they do tend to hold grudges."

Aryian reached out a hand, forcing energy back into the droid's battery cells, causing it to power up and resume its duties.

"That does remind me of a technique I designed a long time ago, one that taps into the limitless potential the Force has to offer. Unfortunately, it also eats away at you physically and...well...spiritually, I suppose the best way to describe it is."

Aryian stroked his chin for a moment, mulling over what Lucas was telling him.

"Al-cazarin? I'm afraid I'm unfamiliar with that term. What exactly is an Alcazarin? Some type of warrior or something?"

He wondered for a moment more before gesturing towards the innner halls of the dojo, beginning to walk deeper inside at a slow pace. There was no rush, anyways.

"As for why the Force brought you here, I couldn't tell you. There could be a simple reason, there could be many reasons. It could be as simple as someone being bored and deciding to have someone else bug an old man, or as intricate and complex as the theories behind quantum entanglement."

Aryian breathed a sigh of relief as the burden of his concentration lifted a bit, his 'batteries' becoming more fully charged from the one simple act.

"It is...greatly appreciated. I used to have armor that did something similar to that, if I had it now it'd make this lesson a lot easier. As it stands, however, this was destined to be a difficult one to teach from the beginning. But enough on my student..and please, it's Aryian. Here, all are equal except through knowledge, which is the purpose of this place. Speaking of, your implied philosophies intrigue me quite a lot, I have to admit, and maybe in a bit we can sit down and have an in-depth discussion on them. I am no longer a Jedi, similar to yourself, I removed myself from the Order for the pursuit of knowledge. When that knowledge altered my philosophies and insights on the Force to the point to where I could no longer call myself 'Jedi' for fear of corrupting their strict codes, I voluntarily left rather than teach my beliefs to their Padawans. Partly out of respect, I suppose, but also partly because I knew they would reject me in time, and I prefer to maintain friendly terms with those I associate with. But a Grey Sith walking my halls...I never thought I'd see the day."

Aryian signalled the servant droid over, instructing it to begin the repairs on Lucas's ship immediately, as well as throw in an upgrade or two if the spare parts were lying around. It was the least he could do for such a visitor.

Aryian looked upwards from the illusion for a moment, noting the presence in his dojo. Silently, without breaking the belief for Dahar, he left an image of himself behind within the illusion he still maintained, at some effort, as he slowly made his way to greet the newcomer. It took a good deal of his concentration to maintain such a complex illusion at range and still attempt to catch everything that was going on, but he would manage, one way or another.

As the Grey Master walked the halls, a droid quickly shuffled up, bowing shortly before informing him of the identity of his new guest, as well as his location. After a few moments, Aryian approached the man sitting on the floor by the pillar, bowing slowly. His presence shone bright in the Force, partially because of his use of it at the moment, but also because he wasn't holding back his raw potential.

"I am informed you are a pupil of Nurgle, Lucas, was it? I am Aryian. Welcome to my humble dojo. As the droid said, you are welcome to stay as long as you please while your ship undergoes repairs or well after, as long as you respect the truce of this place. Are you hungry? I can have the droids cook you up something, they've gotten much better recently on the finer points of a good nerf steak..."

It was clear he was focusing intently on something, as parts of his sentences were a tad...slower than other parts. That and the obvious use of the Force would have given it away. But, Aryian held no secrets. At least...not now.

Raynuk, tsk. Bit of a powerplay there, posting her actions for her. Yes, she posted some of her intentions in the post prior, but never assume and post others' actions for them. Ruby, an excellent way of dealing with it. I'm solidly impressed with the escape attempt, you not only rolled with the punches, but also countered magnificently. Both posts were written exceptionally well, but the sealing deal was Raynuk posting Ruby's actions before she made them.

Another thing was brought to my attention:

Link

She reached into her pocket. "Which I suppose is another good reason I got these." She tossed each of her fellow pirates a high tech comm device. It broke into two pieces. One was placed on a tooth. That was the activation device, which they could tap with a flick of a tongue. The earbud half was so tiny that it could be imbedded deep in the ear, deep enough so that any potential eavesdroppers would be thwarted. "Undetectable, and on a highly encrypted channel that rotates every minute. Could come in handy, especially when we arrange times to meet up together."

It was pointed out to me that Emerald might have had this pass her search as she passed into custody. However, the post implies the earbud is visible, and despite being deep in the ear, in a thorough search (body cavity search), it would have been found and confiscated. I read this as it is undetectable to scanners and other comm traffic receivers, but not to the naked eye. Raynuk's actions as far as the earbud stand.

Capture attempt on Ruby failed.

In time, the NPCs may discover her escape route, but though several branching ducts, she could have gone anywhere, and the more time where she isn't found, the longer she has to travel anywhere on the ship, further causing your search radius to widen and become more ineffective as it draws in more manpower and resources to find one person on a very large ship.

I was going to post some stupidly improbable stuff like the guard attempting to stun her accidentally grabbed the wrong end of the baton, or that the hardwired garbage door caused an electrical cascade failure that triggered the fire response systems to spray foam retardant on everyone, but Ruby escaped pretty effectively on her own. Instead, she can manage to find a cache in her alcove consisting of the entire life's savings of one of the technicians, who is about to retire. I can't really think of anything else that wouldn't unbalance the situation severely outside of an obvious deus ex machina, so I'll leave it there.

SO BE IT. *Thunder boom*

The droid cocked its head, staring at Lucas quizzically for only a moment.

"Why, Master Aryian Darkfire. This is his dojo. He and his student are deeper inside. Have you not heard of this dojo? All are welcome here, Jedi and Sith alike, for learning and training. Master Darkfire intends to spread what knowledge he has among those who are willing to listen. Please, come inside. It is much more pleasant inside, and you are welcome to stay while repairs are made to your ship."

The droid beckoned, shuffling back inside the door it had come from. Inside, Lucas would find a turbolift that led deeper into the cliffside facility, past the roof levels and into the air conditioned real dojo.

A servant droid shuffled out of the nearest door to the landing pads, slowly making its way towards the Sith.

"Greetings, Lucaschisumaboardshadowfalcon. Welcome to Mechis. I must first apologize that Master Darkfire is not here to greet you in person, he is instead with another student at this time. I have been informed you have made an emergency landing, does your ship require repairs? Or perhaps upgrades?"

Okay, this is how this is going down. IE ate my post, twice. If you'd like to see the full reasoning for this, PM me. I'll attempt to re-type my ruling post with solid reasoning on why this works the way it does.

Emerald - capture successful.

Ruby - capture unsuccessful, with one caveat. Ruby's actions were a bit of a stretch, but Raynuk's forces are alerted to a hotwired door on the garbage level. You each get one more post, if Raynuk decides to continue his pursuit.

{OPERATIONAL PARAMETERS BREACHED. INITIATING SCANS.}

{SCAN COMPLETE. 2.7 NANOSECONDS. HYPERSPACE ACTIVITY DETECTED. ARMING ORBITAL DEFENSES.}

[ORBITAL DEFENSES ONLINE. TRACKING HYPERSPACE ANOMALY.]

{OBJECT DETECTED. SCANNING. OBJECT MATCHES TECHNOLOGY-CLASS VESSEL, GENERAL DESIGNATION STARSHIP.}

[ORBITAL DEFENSES TRACKING. CURRENT STATUS: STANDBY. AWAITING ORDERS.]

{RECEIVING SIGNAL. EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION FREQUENCIES. ANALYZING.}

"Lucas Chisum, aboard Shadowfalcon, requesting emergency landing. Possible frozen space monkey collision."

"Possible frozen space monkey collision."

"space monkey collision."

"space monkey"

{ANALYSIS COMPLETE. INCURSION IMMINENT. MULTIPLE HYPERSPACE ANOMALIES DETECTED. OBJECTIVE: DEFEND STARSHIP AND PLANET FROM INCURSION}

[ORDERS RECEIVED. COMPLYING AS REQUESTED. TARGETS ACQUIRED. FIRING...]

Out of nowhere, thousands upon thousands of frozen monkeys blinked out of hyperspace, which was impossible. It was impossible due to the fact that any object within hyperspace needed a hyperdrive to deccelerate out of hyperspace, due to the laws of inertia in space. Statistically, it was also impossible for a certain Rodian named Er'Quam living on Naboo to win the pangalactic lottery, but that didn't stop it from actually happening. The strange thing about the galaxy, any galaxy or universe, really, was that the impossible tends to happen all the time, except for the universe that the being who summoned the massive incursion lived in. In that particular universe, most of the impossibles that happened were never to him, except for the impossibly bad outcomes. Usually. Regardless, in this universe, speculation and extra-universe extrapolation aside, the fact remained that there was now an entire armada of frozen monkeys, nearly invisible against the complete blackness of the spacial background, now poised to flood and overwhem the planet and the very spaceship that had arrived just moments prior.

Frozen space monkeys were an interesting race, mostly in the fact that nobody knew how they got out into space in the first place. And obviously they were frozen and dead, yet somehow they managed to retain their shape in the vacuum of space, and were generally known (to those rare few who were witness to their presence) to commit seemingly malicious yet random actions. The fact that these events even occur is minor proof of the 'god is a giant arse' theory, for those people who even believe in a god, or similar being such as an invisible pink unicorn or flying spaghetti monster, his noodly power be praised. The amazing fact about the events unfolding above Mechis was that each and every monkey was set on a trajectory to incapacitate, destroy, or merely just splatter against in a disgusting manner and completely deface critical components of Mechis. Or rather, in the latter case, prominent public places of gathering or importance. Of course, there were practically none on Mechis, but still. They would have if they could have.

The orbital defenses lit up, various satellites and orbiting 'debris' jumped to life, sprouting all manner of weaponry and opening fire, completely surrounding the incoming spacecraft with an impressive display of fireworks, yet completely missing the spacecraft. It was likely the spacecraft wouldn't even be able to detect what was going on, and instead was likely to surmise that the defenses were just an incredibly poor shot, and with the subsequent transmission, a subtle admission of such an assertion. This, interestingly enough, was also an impossible event, as Mechis really had no such defenses as described at this point in time, despite the idea being really cool and interesting.

"{DESIGNATION LUCAS CHISM ABOARD SHADOWFALCON. WELCOME TO MECHIS. LAND AT THE COORDINATES TO BE TRANSMITTED FOLLOWING THIS MESSAGE. MESSAGE ENDS.}"

A set of coordinates to Aryian's dojo popped up on his console, which conveniently due to the rotation of the planet at the current time was almost directly in line with his current trajectory. Another near impossibility. But what most fail to consider is that nothing is truly impossible, more along the lines of improbable, and towels are much more important than anyone realizes and you should never leave home without one.

And so, without much fanfare at all, the Space Monkey Incursion's Battle for Mechis was resolved. The last thing the orbiting monitor camera saw before it shut off was a monkey arm slowly spiraling through space, prominently displaying the middle finger towards Mechis.

The man cried out in anguish as the heat and cold sensations took his body to new levels of pain. But this man was stubborn...he hadn't expected the Jedi to torture him, per se, but now that he saw what the Jedi truly was, more righteous fury welled up within him.

"Is this...all...nng...you have,...Jedi? I expected nothing...nothing less from...one of your kind..."

It was clear the man was suffering, and though he was holding out for now, his will would be broken in a matter of minutes. Aryian softly stepped forward, next to Dahar, watching the spectacle.

"Now you see it for what it is. It is sometimes a useful tool...but that is all I use it for. It is seductive, lulling you with a false sense of power, but that power, too, isn't true power. The real power comes from the choice to not use it until it is necessary. Just like a lightsaber."

Eyes never moving, Aryian spoke once more to Dahar.

"Share with him your burdens. Your pain. Break him, so he may see the light again."

"Millions of blind sheep die for a righteous cause? They will be the spark in the dark that immulinates the path for others to follow. Try as you might, Master Jedi, I don't see a downside. And I've seen the depths of depravity that your precious government brings...your so-called 'hard way' will be a walk in the park, a pittance I'll pay to ensure the future of my people."

The man spat towards Dahar before sitting on the floor, turning his back. Aryian, standing out of sight, had a slight grin, hoping Dahar would be too caught up in the illusion to remember the Grey Master controlled everything, including the man spitting. Then again, it was only an illusion...

Quietly and patiently Aryian waited.

Aryian followed them through the corridors, various soldiers passing them, none of them noticing the Grey Master. A few stopped briefly to salute Dahar, but it was a cursory sign of respect as they hastily contiued down the corridors, off on their various duties. Finally, they came to the holding rooms, and Aryian followed Dahar in.

At Dahar's statement, the man smiled smugly. He knew he had the upper hand, and even though it was a Jedi the militant rats had called in, there was no way he was showing his hand easily.

"You want to help me? How about getting me a blaster. How about helping me to put an end to these murderers."

The man's accent was Corellian, thick and hearty. He still wore a half-cocked grin as he leaned against the wall, crossing his arms.

"Arrogant Jedi. You can't help me. You won't. You can't even help yourself. You close your mind to the suffering of the people, choosing to help when it benefits your precious Order, while the rest of us are left to rot with an oppressive boot on our foreheads."

The man was quite obviously a political idealist, one of the worst kinds of terrorists. Negotiating with him would likely be difficult, and only waste time until the bomb went off. Of course, that could have easily been the man's plan.

The visage of the old man smiled faintly wider as the question was asked, and with a small pause, he responded, squinting past the glasses resting on his nose.

"I am the representation of the amalgamation of all thoughts and experiences of Master Saius Bao, a Consular and member of the Jedi Council. Master Bao believed his experiences would be best carried on in the form of a holocron, and created this vessel as a testament to his achievements and knowledge in his various studies of the Force. I was created to answer a multitude of questions covering a wide range of topics, and to answer questions based on the level of skill in the Force the one asking the question possesses."

His face blushed a bit, genuinely glad to have answered a question after so long.

"Is the answer to your satisfaction?"

As she set it on the table, the runed ball seemed to glow a bit brighter in the Force.

"Hello. I'm Master Saius Bao. How can I aid your path to knowledge?"

The voice came from behind her, from the faint visage of an elderly man, not quite a hologram, but rather some trick of the Force. No doubt the sphere and the sudden appearance of the man were connected, but the smiling old man would give away no secrets unless he was asked.

Which was, of course, what he was designed for.

A droid approached Ariana as she entered the cafeteria, holding out an ornate crystal-looking sphere that was inlaid and layered with various metals and designs. Very subtly was a presence of the Force attached to it, something she would barely be able to see.

"Mistress, Master Aryian wished you to have this. He also said to tell you it would help in the next stage of your training."

Dahar nodded, and the Force grew turbulent as Aryian drew heavily upon it, projecting an illusion into Dahar's mind. Instead of removing himself from the room or trying to mask his presence as was usually the goal, he remained. The dojo itself, however, was radically different. The room was easily recognized as the main tactical/briefing room of a MC-90a heavy cruiser, and instead of sitting on the circular seat in the middle of the meditation room, he now sat on the holographic viewing table.

A junior lieutenant hurried in, fumbling with what looked to be a hastily fabricated dossier, the flimsiplast sticking out of the folder like a bad hair day. The nameplate on the lieutenant's chest identified him as Lieutenant Junior Grade Hogans, and the patch on his shoulder indicated he belonged to fleet intelligence. In no way did he notice Aryian standing a short distance away.

"Sir, I'm sorry for waking you, but this is a priority one op from command itself. The enemy somehow managed to smuggle in a baradium bomb. A big one...planetcracker-class."

Dahar would be able to see the blood in the man's face drain as he spoke those words.

"Our technicians have been unable to defuse it, and it's even been EMP-shielded. Obviously we cannot mobilize all our ground forces in time for an evacuation, much less the civilian population. We did catch their men in action, two of them. One Human, one Rodian. They're in the holding cell down the hall and not talking. I understand you're here on a mission of diplomacy, Master Jedi, but we were also informed of your skills in getting people to talk. We have..."

Lieutenant Hogans checked his timepiece.

"...just under one hour."

Kesh

Astrographical Information

Region: Wild Space

Sector: --

System: Kesh System

Orbital Position: 5

Moons: at least 2

Grid Coordinates: Q-1

Physical Information

Class: Terrestrial

Atmosphere: Type 1

Primary Terrain: jungles, mountains, large ocean, plains

Points of Interest: Baron Kern’s estate; a strange planetary magnetic field limits hyperspace travel and offworld communication signals

Societal Information

Indigenous Species: Keshiri

Immigrated Species: humans, Wookiees, Ithorians, Rodians, Twi’lek, Weequay

Primary Language(s): Galactic Basic, Keshiri

Faction Affiliation: neutral

Defense Rating: Level 3

JediRP Canon History: Kesh is the dominion of Baron Kern, a Sith Lord. The Keshiri worship him as a dark vengeful and wrathful god, and he has a estate deep in the mountains. They are as yet unaware of Kern’s defeat and death at the hands of his former Jedi Master, Skye Organa.

((Summary compiled by Amidala Skywalker. Thank you!))

A good and well-thought out question.

"I control it. I embrace it, but I do not let it control and consume me. I feel anger like I feel joy and sorrow. They are part of me, but they do not embody me, they do not represent my will and intent. Sometimes it can be good to utilize your anger and frustration. The times may be few, but unlike the teachings of the Jedi, I will not deny that the scenarios do not exist. However, if you intend to be a force for good, I would suggest you self reflect often and ensure you are not falling too far towards the Dark Side. It can be seductive, and it often seems like the easiest option, but it is not always the best. Wisdom helps to balance that, and even the most powerful and venerable Sith were wise in their own right."

Aryian moved closer, sitting on a nearby bench.

"If you will permit me, I will join minds with you, and create for you a scenario. There is no right or wrong way to handle it, only self discovery."

After his morning routine, Aryian found Dahar waiting for him, something which mildly surprised him. Normally the Grey Master was the first one up, his many years of combat duty conditioning him to wake before the dawn. At the least, it showed him that the Jedi was ready and serious. His mind, however, was turbulent and unfocused, not what he'd expected.

"Are you ready?"

"I see."

Two words meant infinitely much between the two standing on the parapet.

"The only answer I can offer you is experience. You must have experience to define that line for yourself. But remember: just because I walk that lone does not mean I am better than another Jedi, that I am any more effective in my methods or that I am stronger for it. It did change me; it gave me perspective. That is all. If you still wish to walk the path you've put yourself on, I will help guide you as best I can. It is not an easy one, and forever more you will question yourself on whether or not it was the right thing to do. And for that the only advice I can offer is to blindly trust in yourself, and trust in the Force. If you are still here tomorrow, we will begin at dawn. I am sure you have some thinking to do."

With that, Aryian bowed, and left Dahar to his thoughts. He began to walk back to his room, a bit of rest sounding nice right about then, as long as nobody else bothered him on his way back to his bed.

((Sorry man. I'll try to be more active with you from now on. Had a lot on my plate this week what with my wife getting here and all.))

"Well, I am living proof. It is like a poison, and you will bear the pain of your actions in your own memories. But righteous fury can burn through the most formidable opponents with relative ease...In short, it is a double-sided sword. As to your answer for my question, the real question was whether or not you could make the decision. Many find they can't. If you can, then the potential is within you to walk the fine edge I walk."

Aryian shifted his weight, not saying exactly what he thought, but enough nonetheless. If the person who pulled his strings wasn't such a lazy fartwad and actually did his job correctly, it would be highly likely that Aryian's mind would have been a little clearer and his words more precise.

"Anything else you wish to know?"