Ilum

[Ary the Grey]

Ayrian's ship landed at the foot of the Grand staircase to the Crystal Temple, and the Jedi Master immediately disembarked, slowly making his way to one of the meditation chambers at the heart of the giant crystal. A few things had happened since Tattooine that had him disturbed. The first and foremost was the advancement of his disease, something he hadn't anticipated. Doing a stunt like he pulled on Tatooine made the situation worse, and in retrospect if he hadn't used the Force cycle as much as he did, a thing like this wouldn't have been a problem.

 

Second was his vision while he slumbered...two visions to be more precise, though they kind of blurred into one. One vision was of his old master and mentor, Ben'a Solo, and one of the prophecies he used to speak of. When Aryian awoke and thought about it on his ship, he couldn't remember any other Jedi speaking about it, or the prophecy located in any other text or script in the library. The second vision was of the future, of his destiny, and a explanation of what was to come. What he must do.

 

He reached the chamber sitting down and resting, extending his senses into the Force to gather what energies he could before fate caught up with him. The future could be changed, it was changed merely by looking at it. Aryian knew this well. And he would need all the help the gods could grant in order to change it this time...if he even had a hope of succeeding.

 

His eyes closed, instead of the normal meditation exercises he knew intricately, he began to simply quietly think to himself. It was a long while before he did anything else. He thought about the Jedi, the Alliance, the galaxy they fought to defend...his Wife, his unconcieved child...and the future they would share. Would he be there to help them? To be with them?

 

And for once in a great while the Jedi Master was unsure, and that led to fear. Not enough to overpower him, but enough to make him feel rightfully nauseous. He knew there was nothing to fear for himself...The Jedi had taught him that. But he was not a Jedi, not right now...he was no longer a soldier. He was a Husband. He was a Man. And he was afraid for those he loved. That was all he ever was, really. A simple man, gifted with the powers of gods...cursed to be burdened under its responsibility.

 

Something, a glimmering memory, the ones he had left anyways, came to the forefront of his thoughts. Something his very first master had said when they first met, Aryian no more than a orphan youth on Coruscant's streets. It had been raining, and several local bullies had stolen Aryian's most prized belonging, leaving him bruised and bleeding in a back alley. His master had lifted his chin up while using the Force to heal his superficial wounds and said three things:

 

"Live with Style, Love with Passion, Die with Honor. To accept these is to grow up and understand you don't need material things. Not as long as you have character and the will to grow."

 

Aryian grunted, a small smile spreading on his lips. Such a saying had so little to it, and yet the meaning was great. He closed his eyes again, wishing for more time, wishing for something else. He never chose to have the Force, and there were times he wished he were simply ignorant to its existance. But now, at the end of all things, he knew that it could not have been any other way.

 

A robed figure sat down next to him, silent, obeying a mental command, as Aryian began to transfer thoughts to them. After he was finished, it rose and simply walked out. He stayed another few hours like he was, sitting...thinking, before he too left, boarding his ship and taking off with a new destination set.

[Darth Furion]

The Chameleon, cloaked as always, popped into the Ilum system with matched speed and subterfuge. Part of him worried about how the Jedi would react to the sudden appearance of an unmarked, unknown ship landing on their planet, but it didn't matter. If they were what they claimed to be, Julio had nothing to fear. Right now, they couldn't see the ship, though some of the more powerful masters would be able to pick up on his presence regardless of the ships advanced cloak system. Closer to the planet he turned off the cloak and began hailing procedures, moving ever closer to the Jedi base.

• Guardians of the light, this is Chameleon Captain Julz, acknowledging hail. I don't seem to be getting a response, so I'm landing anyway.

Even if they responded, he'd pretend he didn't hear them and land anyway. They weren't going to tell him no until the could to it to his face. Or, they could blow him out of the sky, but that seemed rather harsh for Jedi. Landing neatly on the pat, the ship skidded a few feet as the landing gear found a patch of ice. What a horrible place for a base. It's so cold. You'd think if you were going to hide for extended periods of time, you'd do it in a place with a nice climate.

 

For the first time in a long time, Julio took off his weapons, locking them in a chest on the ship, taking only Rose with him. Not really for protection, but more for comfort. Rose was always warm to the touch, no matter the room temperature. The unrelenting torrent of force weaving through the weapon was soothing at times. Julio positioned his cowl to hide a majority of his face as he walked down the boarding ramp. With a thought relayed through his neural implant, the door closed and locked. It was cold, so cold. He was glad he had exchanged those thin robes for the warm coat earlier. And it was far more elegant than the plain robes, and this was in some way a state visit. Hands clasped together in front of him, Julio began walking toward the temple interior.

[Ary the Grey]

A young Zabrakian woman, wearing the robes of an adept, walked from the shadows, one of the few keepers of the Temple when the bulk of the Jedi were not present. She approached the dark man, cutting off his advance rather abruptly.

 

"What is it you seek here? Just because we are allies of war does not make our factions on friendly terms. We of Ilum have long been wary of outsiders...So state your purpose, lest I activate the defenses on you. Not even a Sith master can withstand the hail fire you are standing right in the crosshairs of..."

 

She shifted her weight, allowing her robe to open slightly to show her lightsaber, one of the very few Adepts left allowed to possess one. Should she need to use it, she would, but the Zabrak woman long ago had learned more of Form Zero than most Knights chose to learn, and consequentially the lightsaber was more for show than anything else. If the Sith wanted confrontation, she would be ready, and would not present herself an easy target, in or out of combat.

 

Her eyes narrowed as what little command she had over the Force stretched out, trying to sense what he might do next as she awaited his response.

[Darth Furion]

Julio's eyes narrowed behind his cowl. The pretentiousness of some...

• Is that how the order is teaching you these days? Go straight to violence when a potential threat presents itself? What happened to a Jedi's love for life, or the Jedi's so called galaxy renown diplomacy? I haven't been here five minutes and you threaten to take my life just because I landed here? You don't know me or my motives, no matter how high and mighty you think you are. And thinking I came here for confrontation? You must think I'm stupid. Why would I come to a Jedi temple alone to kill? I'm a Sith, miss, not an idiot. Who's teaching your tactics classes? God. If you must know, I'm here to learn, much as you are. We may be on different paths, you and I, but really, who among us walk our very same path? Aren't all paths different? I'll ignore your death threat this once, but I will go about my business as planned unless someone of influence says otherwise. Now, take me to the Grand Master.

[Ary the Grey]

Her lip quivered once.

 

"Don't dare speak to me like that again. Firstly, you will speak with respect, and should you do so, you will be rewarded in kind. Had I resorted to violence, you'd have been dead already, so don't even try to play that card. And you must think I'm stupid if I'm to let a member of the Order known for slaughtering millions, not to mention the powerful enemy of the Jedi, into one of our most sacred grounds without a damn fine reason."

 

She paused a moment, shifting her weight back onto her other leg, backing down from her aggressive stance. This Sith was interesting...a bit idiotic, or at the least foolhardy, but still interesting.

 

"Besides, there is no Grand Master here. I am here to deal with newcomers, be them friendly or...otherwise. So for the time being, you'll have to put up with me, and I with you."

 

She nodded, obviously a bit more at ease now.

 

"My name is Freis. Now...what can I help you with?"

[Darth Furion]

A sly smile broke Julio's stern features. Now everything should be alright, barring any extremists begging for his blood.

• Excellent. My name is Julz.

He bowed his head slightly.

• As I said, I've come here to learn. I require access to your archives, on a limited clearance I'm sure. I'd also like to have the chance to speak with a couple of your masters, and a chance to spar with one or two of your padawans.

He could empathetically feel the hesitation in her. What he asked was a tall order, but he felt if was ever to become great, he needed this.

• I know it's a lot, but I promise you I will harm no one as long as they don't harm me. I will keep mostly to myself.

 

(( I don't know why the text is larger in the last half. I can't seem to fix it. ))

[Ary the Grey]

Freis smirked. Maybe all Sith weren't like she had known them to be. She waited half a moment, thinking, before responding.

 

"Very well, The library is this way, follow me. If you don't know the access codes, you won't be able to access the higher information, and any attempted intrusions are monitored specifically through the system. It is very secure, we learned long ago to adopt preventative methods rather than dealing with problems as they come.

 

As for the Masters and someone to duel, you'll have to find them on your own. I'm a little busy as it is, butyou may come to me for a quick spar if you wish. I will teach you what I know."

 

She began to walk, noting his footstep behind her. In moments they were in the library that suited the Temple, more computer archives than hard copy, small and efficient.

 

"If you need anything, ask. There is always someone tending the Library. But don't be fooled...we'll be keeping an eye on you as well. No offense...just precautionary measures. And if your serious about speaking with some of our masters...I believe most of them are on Gala at the moment. But expect a similar reception. Bye..."

 

She walked off, leaving him to his work. Silently, she carried a distaste for him, for all Sith...but for now she would quell it. Now was not the time.

[Darth Furion]

• Gala? Hmm...

As the woman turned, Julio faded into the quickly enveloping shadows, making his way back to the ship. This was not where he wanted to be. His place was among those potentially great, not these unlearned.

[CassandraKirk]

Nulmiri saw her master wandering around and ran out to meet him.

 

"Hi!" She practaclly popped up behind him. "How'd your...Well, what ever it was that you were doing go???" She asked, a big smile on her face.

[Scorp Jedi Knight]

He raised an eyebrow.

 

"To be honest it was quite alarming. If you havn't felt it in the force, then check the holonet. Other than that, we must now both return to gala."

 

He smiled. "I see you completed your lightsaber."

[CassandraKirk]

Nulmiri Smiled. "Yeah, I did, but I'm not exactly sure if I did it right...I can't construct anything, I'm telling you!" She shrugged than continued. "Oh well... But why do we have to go back to Gala?" She asked him.

[Scorp Jedi Knight]

He hesitated, a frown line forming on his face. He juggled what he should revel, and what the force had already reveled. The pain and loss of life that had sent terrible waves through the force, driving him nearly insane at one point. He opened his mouth to speak, paused, and then continued on anyway, deciding to be brisk, and not give her time to be shocked.

 

"There seems to be an extra-galactic race bent on destroying this galaxy. In a few separate engagements, they have destroyed the corellia system, taken center point, which was then used on one of the suns of tattooine, destroying that system. In between that time, they destroyed twelve other planets. That is why we must return back to gala. The Jedi are regrouping so we can assess the threat and make a plan of action."

 

He started back toward his ship.

"Meet me there; time is of the essence if what we have seen of this threat so far seems to hold out."

 

Returning to his own ship, he set it on autopilot, then blasted away from Ilum. He felt inspired, and he knew he would spend the rest of the trip creating certain items.

[CassandraKirk]

Nulmiri listened silently as her mast spoke, her eyes widening slightly as he went on. "Oh." Was all she said afterwards.

 

She didn't deny that there was a certain amount of fear in her mind. She watched as her master walked of towards his ship, and blasted off, completely lost in thought.

 

'Well, what can I do?! But what about my training?! No, stupid, there isn't time...Stop thinking to yourself, stupid, get to your ship!'

 

Shaking her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts, Nulmiri snapped back to reality and ran to her ship, bluckled herself in, and blasted off into space, and towards Gala.

[Jidai Geki]

*The Imperial Star Destroyer Vengeance drops out of hyperspace above the planet of Ilum. Its cargo- murder and mayhem.

 

A communications relay is dropped far out into the system, ready to relay any incoming transmissions and reply with the standard 'atmospheric interference' message should any transmissions be sent to the system.*

 

'Jam interstellar communications from the surface and the periphery of Ilum.'

 

*Interstellar communications originating from Ilum, or its surrounding space, are promptly jammed.*

 

'Attention, Jedi; this is General Geki of the Imperial Navy. Deactivate defences and prepare to submit to the rightful heirs to the galaxy. You are forbidden, on pain of pain, from resisting this perfectly legal takeover. You have-'

 

*Geki checks his chrono-*

 

'I don't know, three days, give or take, to comply. If no response is forthcoming we shall presume there is some sort of horrible contagious disease loose on the surface and kill everything.'

[Darth Furion]

Julio stood next to Geki, looking out the window at the beautiful glow of Ilum. He was oddly unsettled. Normally his patience could stand out for a rather extended amount of time, but with the presence of such firepower surrounding him, he felt so destructive.

 

Perhaps we should land. Make sure they got the message.

 

Julio could see a grin on Geki's face and he knew Geki could feel his unrest.

 

You never know. They're comms may be out or something.

 

Julio checked the rigging under his left sleeve, readjusting it to be sure it was as ready as the rest of his gear. Little habits like this always made him wonder if he was OCD, always double tapping and what not.

[Ary the Grey]

Null

Edited January 19, 2008 by Guest

[Darth Furion]

"Imperial vessel, you are in violation of the truce between the Jedi by taking these actions, and as such should stand down immediately before reinforcements arrive and preconcieved plans are put into place."

 

Master Geki, do you recall signing any treaty? I certainly don't.

[King Kheldar vos Correlli]

I've looked into Jedi technology per request and have found no prior failsafe systems for the purpose of dealing with jamming in the manner indicated by Aryian's post. The alert to the other Temples is nulled and Ilum is jammed and isolated.

[Ary the Grey]

Null

Edited January 19, 2008 by Guest

[Dagon]

You can't randomly have a scout ship appear, that's OOC knowledge abuse. I think you're just going to have to accept that the Empire is getting the jump on Illum.

[Jidai Geki]

*Geki chuckles at the Jedi's predicament. They had absolutely no plausible way to escape from the situation in which they had placed.*

 

'Make your time, Jedi... make your time. Two days and counting.'

[Ary the Grey]

Null

Edited January 19, 2008 by Guest

[ObliviousKnight]

After cursing at the fruitless attempts to summon the rest of the Jedi Order to their aid, one of the anonymous Jedi Adepts rushed into the hangar and stole into the Starsword Jedi Starfighters. While he waited for its engines to warm and had the fighter's navicomputer plot a course that would take it near the Imperial Star Destroyer, the Twi'lek Jedi sprinted for a torpedo-like craft, the likes of which lined one wall of the hangar.

 

It was an unmanned starship, one of the contingency designs that the Jedi Grandmaster had designed for a crisis like this: when it was impossible for a capital ship or an outpost to communicate with the rest of the Jedi Order, but the enemy hadn't completely cut off the location from the rest of the galaxy. This craft was conventional technology--the messenger droid was a commonly used albeit expensive device, when compared to the Holonet--but this design was an improvement on the existing technology. The drone ship was essentially a hyperdrive and sublight engine attached to an array of communications equipment. It was obscenely fast and boasted acceleration powerful enough to crush the human skull into dust--but information was a far hardier passenger than any mortal species.

 

Once he punched a succinct message and hyperspace course into the ship's computer, the Twi'lek set a brief time delay of a few minutes.

 

Once that messenger drone launched, it was going to be impossible to hide the Temple's location--it was built for speed, not stealth. The fact that the Imperials didn't know precisely where the Temple was might have been their best defense.

 

It was... strange. The Jedi Adept knew that the last minutes of his life were probably counting down and his death was probably going to be more unpleasant with every second he remained alive (he'd heard about Geki's reputation), but he felt oddly at peace. He'd never expected that he would have to sacrifice his life for the Jedi Order, being a student rather than a warrior.

 

He had only minutes to set up his ruse, though, and every second he hesitated increased the odds of his failure. It was time.

 

He climbed into the cockpit of the X-Wing-like starfighter, and diverted all discretionary power into the Starsword's mighty sublight engines and shields. He needed to get as much distance between himself and the Temple before he made his escape attempt, and then... he needed to be able to dance through the fighter screen that the Star Destroyer was bound to launch. Powerful though the ship's weapons were, flight was far more important than fight in this situation.

 

And to be perfectly honest to himself, he didn't expect the flight part to work out too well, either.

 

Go.

 

Having only a few minutes before the messenger launched, the Twi'lek wasted no time in flaring his fighter's sublight engines, diving for the snowy surface of Ilum immediately after the ship cleared the Temple's hangar. He kept an eye on the timer that he had set in the cockpit, concentrating primarily on flying as closely to the floor of the mountains that the Jedi Temple was set in. He continued that plan until only a minute remained, then...

 

Then he nearly caused himself to black out when he jammed the control stick of the starfighter to his breastbone. Immediately, the surface of Ilum leaped away from his craft.

 

If the Star Destroyer hadn't already detected him by accident when he was following the terrain, they were bound to detect his solitary starfighter when it bounced from the surface of Ilum and rushed for space at a velocity that even a TIE would have been hard pressed to match. The Twi'lek hoped that the Imperials were making the most likely assumptions. Perhaps this single starfighter was being piloted by a desperate man who thought that he could break away from the invasion force? Maybe it was even piloted by a deserter, some noble soul who had finally seen the light of the Imperial Truth?

 

"Star Destroyer Vengeance, I request an escort to your ship. I know I won't be missed for long..." He was certainly afraid enough to make the nervousness in his voice genuine--and every second the Imperials wasted on him bought more time for the Temple.

[Dagon]

Can you show me the post where the unmanned fighters were establiblished on Ilum? Searchy came up blank.

[Jidai Geki]

(OOC: a brief search turns up no corroborating posts for your 'unmanned messenger ship' gambit, OK, and so I've asked Chad to look into it. I must say that, OOC, the Jedi are taking this less than graciously.)

 

IC: 'Unidentified craft, we have given no clearance for any craft to leave the surface. Return forthwith or you shall be blown into infinitesimally tiny pieces. '

 

*Geki turns to a nearby officer.*

 

'Deploy all TIE craft now. Anything leaving the atmosphere is to be destroyed at once. We can't take any chances, they may have some previously unanticipated technology which could conceivably have been prepared for the eventuality of communications being blocked and yet allowing for the absence of an interdictor, I don't know.'

[ObliviousKnight]

Can you show me the post where the unmanned fighters were establiblished on Ilum? Searchy came up blank.

 

((They're not fighters--they're basically messenger droids, a relatively common technology in the Star Wars universe. And I intended for them to be an emergency gambit, like I described. I'll admit it, I'm guilty of not posting the existence of each and every thing that I've thought up, but the messenger droid technology is pretty prevalent in the entire Star Wars universe. A high-tech, secretive organization like the Jedi Order is bound to have some, even if they're just generic droids.))

[Darth Furion]

Julio watched Geki at the helm, confident and collected as he gave commands. As the TIE fighters left to intercept the fighter, Julio motioned for an ensign to give is chair up so he himself could command the fighters.

 

Beta, move to intercept incoming vessel. If they don't comply with Master Geki's commands by the time they're in firing range, shoot them down. Gamma, Zeta, and Omega, Spread out and create a net in case others try to leave. Alpha and Beta, make a line at five and seven behind Gamma and Omega. If anyone gets through their line, you will try to funnel them toward the Vengeance.

 

If they could send one fighter, they could send more. They'd best be safe to sent the bulk of the fighters to create a fence between the ISD and the planet. That, and they could send fighters off to look for help in all directions. The fence of fighters should catch them before they could leave the system.

 

'Sir, we've got an unidentified object.'

 

Gamma, intercept unidentified object. Alpha, move forward to cover Gamma.

 

Without a word the fighters moved into place. Soon the unmanned craft was intercepted and summarily shot down.

 

Gamma and Alpha, back to you previous positions. Stand guard. Ensign, where are these craft coming from exactly.

 

'We picked up the Fighter here.' He said, pointing to the screen. He knew Julio wasn't likely keen on military jargon, so he tried to keep it respectful while avoiding confusion. 'And the droid came out here.'

 

I want deep scans of those two areas. Thermal, infa-red, the works.

 

((OK, you posted the droid launching minutes after the fighter. When we sent TIE fighters out to intercept the fighter, they would already be in place to catch the droid before it could hit hyperspace.

 

I edited something in to clarify my actions.))

[Onderin Starlisk]

A small ship manned by technicians appeared from hyperspace, dispatched by the Rebel Alliance to investigate the failed comm system check to Ilum. They were loaded with just the sort of equipment that would be necessary to repair a damaged comm array. It was standard procedure to make sure the comm systems remained fully functional.

 

"What the--" the captain of the vessel said as they came out of hyperspace on the outskirts of a system beseiged by an Imperial Star Destroyer. "What's the Empire doing here?"

 

"Didn't we sign a treaty at Mechis III?" another officer asked.

 

The captain scoffed. "Since when has that ever kept the Emperor from stabbing us in the back? Get us out of here. We just need to make a quick hop out and we'll be able to comm Gala."

 

The ship wheeled about and made a blind hop only a few seconds (that is, a few lightyears) away. "Alright, make the comm."

 

The ship had only been in the Ilum system for about ten seconds.

[Darth Furion]

((Two problems here. One, the Alliance wouldn't have any reason to check on comms on a Jedi held planet. And you don't have any reason to check them even if you had a reason to fix them. You don't have a reason to send a comm to Ilum, meaning you don't have a reason to find out the comms aren't working. Second, you can't go to a planet and leave it in one post. We do get a response after all.))

[Ary the Grey]

((

((Two problems here. One, the Alliance wouldn't have any reason to check on comms on a Jedi held planet.

 

The alliance supplies troops to man every Jedi base, there just isn't a surplus of them. They also run all comm stations at Jedi facilities. You expect Jedi to put their training on hold to sit at a desk and listen for transmissions?

 

And you don't have any reason to check them even if you had a reason to fix them.

 

Between comms for an entire planet? That we have three buildings on? You can't tell me someone casually tried to inquiry about something on one channel, got static, switched to another channel, got static, etc. EDIT- Keep in mind, as per all radios and communication devices, static is not the normal sound. There should be crystal clear silence, especially on advanced technology like the Comm transciever. Static is used to jam specifically for that reason. If you hear static, there is a problem.

 

You don't have a reason to send a comm to Ilum, meaning you don't have a reason to find out the comms aren't working.

 

You don't need all that much of a reason, any tiny blurb would pique someone's curiosity after comm channel after comm channel failed to work. Since comms are, oh gee, an important part of a facility, i.e. if they're down it could be easily invaded, it only makes sense to me that they'd want to get them fixed asap.

 

Second, you can't go to a planet and leave it in one post. We do get a response after all.))

 

We most certainly can. I don't see an interdictor. You can respond to our presence, but if we were too far away for you to do something when the ship pulled out of hyperspace, you wouldn't have been able to do anything anyways.

 

So basically I see that you guys are trying to hardwall us complaining that everything is OOC abuse, no facts have been posted, etc, etc. When in fact, if you consider the number of operations the Jedi and Alliance perform together every day, and the amount of NPCs involved, it very easily plausible. Sure, it wasn't detailed exactly to the letter T, but you can't tell me that the Sith or the Empire has done EVERYTHING like that in the past either. So I'm calling shenanigans.))

 

 

A frozen monkey splattered up against the shields closest to the bridge on the ISD, butt first. Sadly, it was incinerated, but still the moment was amusing. Someone far away, somewhere else in the galaxy would have certainly found it most amusing.