He will sigh with relief and look around.
You can not see anything. It is pitch black. You can feel the ledge you are on and you can feel the sloped passage you just came down.
Do you have a light source?
I dont think I have one listed. Can I attempt to reach out with his new found abilities to see if there are other minds here?
Jak lists off the hangar where the Owl is sitting.
He tips his hat and says farewell.
Upon their return to the ship, Renlo immediately makes for the galley, where he pours himself a glass of water and drinks it in one go, then pours himself another. "I hate being out there for too long. Dries me up."
I dont think I have one listed. Can I attempt to reach out with his new found abilities to see if there are other minds here?
As you relax and try to reach out with your mind, a dim light pushes through the wall and stops in front of you.
You open your eyes and see the small girl floating in front of you.
As if your eyes have been opened, you recognize the ghost... she was at the temple!
She drift closer and seems to reach into your head.
"You were there." The young Twi'lek states. "But you did not participate."[b]
It pauses, looks both ways and then continues.
[b]"You are guilty of inaction... however, I you have a gift to make things right and I am to be your guide for the next while."
The apparition pauses again and seems to be thinking or perhaps judging you.
"Now, you must get back to your companions and work with them to bring balance to the Force. This may not happen in your time, but you must play your part."
With that, the door to the cistern "whooshes" open and the dark of night can be seen. As you exit, there is no sign of the bandaged head beings you saw when you entered.
Upon their return to the ship, Renlo immediately makes for the galley, where he pours himself a glass of water and drinks it in one go, then pours himself another. "I hate being out there for too long. Dries me up."
Gotal, Renlo, Jak, Corven and Moroka
You are all back on the Owl's Gambit recovering from your exposure to the brutal twin suns of this dust ball. As the five of you sit around the lounge drinking water, talking about your various excursions and waiting for the "water" delivery to show up this evening a familiar face comes across the holonet news.
"This is Angeel Bertrand with your Imperial update." The beautiful news person smiles as her image shifts to the lower left corner of the display and a small inset video clip becomes visible in the upper right corner. The video of spooling in the inset shows a pitched space battle between the forces of Toonbuck Toora and the latest Imperial Navy Admiral to attempt to end the lingering CIS holdout. It is clear from the video that the Imperials are throwing a massive amount of firepower at the droid battle wagons. Angeel is describing the Imperial victory and the destruction of Toora and her allies. At the end of the clip she pauses and changes the inflection in her voice.
"As the Imperial navy concluded its victory over the former Sy Myrthian senator Toonbuck Toora and her allies, clear evidence of collusion with the outlawed Jedi order was discovered."
Another video clip shows a pitched light saber duel between a tall black armored being wielding a red light saber and a significantly smaller human female wearing Correllian clothing and bearing a green bladed light saber.
Gotal gasps... "Jedi Daco!"
The name no more than leaves Gotal's mouth than the black clad being plunges his crimson blade through the torso of the young Jedi.
Angeel continues with a more serious tone. "The Emperor was quick to note the clear evidence that the Jedi continue to try to destabilize the Empire in today's speech to the Senate."
The inset shifts to a glorious image of the Emperor speaking to the Senate and mentioning that the Jedi could not be allowed to stop the peace and prosperity that the Empire was striving for.
Dusk comes and there is a ping in the cockpit that indicates that someone has arrived with a delivery.
Jak checks them out. Four rough looking humans wearing pieces of CIS military issue gear are pushing a hover sled with 16 cylinders of "water."
One of the four stands slightly apart from his comrades and seems to be impatiently waiting for a response to his ping. He holds a data pad and as Jak looks him over from the cockpit, he punches the data pad again... obviously sending a ping again, as the signal in the Owl's cockpit chimes almost immediately after.
"The Empire is tying clips which clearly have nothing to do with one another together to weave a false tale together! This is not good, we need to meet with my contact sooner rather than later else it may be too late to stop the dark forces behind this coup".
Gotal shakes his head in sadness, "It seems this black clad figure is everywhere but he is given no name thus far.
While is Mos Eisley, there is one stop I would make, Renlo would you accompany me again?
Also, I hope that Donavaan is well. I should hate to have to search the Cantinas of Anchorhead at night to discover his whereabouts".
Observing the news images, Renlo shakes his head. "At this point, no matter what, it may be too late to do much about the situation. Senator Toora's forces likely represented the strongest military force outside of the Empire, and with his control of the Holonet, the galaxy will believe whatever he tells them." Looking at Gotal, he says, "I'll accompany you, but we'll need to keep our heads down - and you'd better be willing to fight if we need to, because Mos Eisley is a lot rougher than Anchorhead."
Getting out his comlink, he says into it, "Donavaan, come in."
Jak sighed as he watched the holo. He never thought he'd ever see the day that he'd feel bad for the Jedi.
"I'm - I'm sorry for your loss," Jak said awkwardly.
"We uh, we got a small stop to make before we can hit the black. Shouldn't take us more than a couple hours on the outside. Honestly, it won't cover our gas. But I don't want to cancel and burn a possible employer. We had another job lined up after that that paid 5,000 credits. But we can apologize for that, and say we had a - I guess, family emergency or something. She won't be happy. But it shouldn't hurt us overmuch."
Jak buzzes them in.
He walks to the cargo door and greets the arrivals. "Afternoon. Alright, load it up."
Corven watches the news and the video accompanying them intently, sighing softly as it ends with another Jedi dead. "That is the same armored figure I saw in a previous news report, the one I told you about."
Turning his eyes to look at Gotal, he notes the man's sadness; he was a member of the Order after all. "He seems to be going after those that survived the fall. But it makes me wonder? Are Jedi his and the Empire's only target? OR will Force sesitives follow?" He pauses briefly, thinking for a moment, before continuing to address the Umbaran. "Once our various... errands here are concluded, we should talk."
"A long time ago in the days of the Old Republic the Sith sought to wipe out the Jedi Order. For a millenia they were gone, defeated. It seems they have returned with a vengeance. The Order's focus on War it seems prevented them from clearly identifying their foes. I have lost many good friends these past days. As for whether they will target force sensitives, it is hard to say, they may well seek to rebuild their own old order and force you to their way of thinking..."
"I have a group I wish to visit in Mos Eisley, Obi... someone recommended I go there, an old man from Anchorhead".
"You may be correct, there may be no hope, if there is, the Galactic Senate is where we will find it right now.
We warned the CIS to retreat, unfortunately our please fell on deaf ears
Willing to fight? The Force allows me other ways to deal with threats that do not include violence. If I must though to aid you my friend, fight I will".
The noble, recognizing the youngling as one who died at the Temple, falls to his knees and begins to weep. I tried to stop them. I tried to stop them and save you and the rest of the little ones. There were too many of them and too many of you and they didn't listen to me, They shot at me, and now the voices won't go away. They are worse. Can you help me little jedi? I don't trust those people I am with, they lied to me. They lied.
Moroka watches the news report in silence, gathering every detail her eyes can absorb. The black figure sticks in her mind as she recalls the sound of a lightsaber blade plunging through flesh. The Order still fights, though: if Jedi are still dying, then Jedi still fight back.
She hears the conversations around her only distantly as her thoughts go back to the end of the war. Things might have been different. I could've stopped at least one soldier...maybe even gotten lucky and changed the course of a battle...
She finishes her drink and walks off to the hidden room, kneeling to meditate.
The hiss of a cargo ramp brings Moroka out of her reverie; she's surprised to find her hand at her back, touching her hidden lightsaber. She sighs as she stands, shaking her head. Alright, that's enough of that, girl. Can't wait to meet this friend of Gotal's...
Jak sighed as he watched the holo. He never thought he'd ever see the day that he'd feel bad for the Jedi.
"I'm - I'm sorry for your loss," Jak said awkwardly.
"We uh, we got a small stop to make before we can hit the black. Shouldn't take us more than a couple hours on the outside. Honestly, it won't cover our gas. But I don't want to cancel and burn a possible employer. We had another job lined up after that that paid 5,000 credits. But we can apologize for that, and say we had a - I guess, family emergency or something. She won't be happy. But it shouldn't hurt us overmuch."
Jak buzzes them in.
He walks to the cargo door and greets the arrivals. "Afternoon. Alright, load it up."
The men push the sled up to the cargo lift and in a few minutes, the cylinders are stowed.
"Take care of that water. You know it's gold around here." the lead human states with a crooked smile. He waves the datapad, turns and leads the delivery team away.
The noble, recognizing the youngling as one who died at the Temple, falls to his knees and begins to weep. I tried to stop them. I tried to stop them and save you and the rest of the little ones. There were too many of them and too many of you and they didn't listen to me, They shot at me, and now the voices won't go away. They are worse. Can you help me little jedi? I don't trust those people I am with, they lied to me. They lied.
"I will help you as much as I can." The ghost glides over the ledge and seems to sit next to Donavaan. "First, you must calm your mind. YOU must calm your mind. Dimming your mind with drinks are not the same as calming. You must relax and realize that what you saw was not because of you... and there was nothing you could do to stop it. You would have only been killed too. You are alive. So use your time to help where you can."
With that the ghost winks out and you are alone looking out the star filled portal.
Jak cheerfully waves off the delivery men, closes the loading bay doors and mutters sarcastically, "Water. Right."
"Moroka, give me a hand with this package. I want to make sure we're not transporting a bomb."
"And where the hell is Donavaan? If that kid's getting wasted again, I swear..."
Calm my mind? Calm my mind?! How in the name of the Republic am I supposed to do that? I am no Jedi nor trained as one.
He kneels down. I used to see them meditate like this. and sitting crossed legged will attempt to calm his mind.
Jak cheerfully waves off the delivery men, closes the loading bay doors and mutters sarcastically, "Water. Right."
"Moroka, give me a hand with this package. I want to make sure we're not transporting a bomb."
"And where the hell is Donavaan? If that kid's getting wasted again, I swear..."
Jak and Moroka look over the cargo and ensure that it's locked in place. The manifest says water and some of the exterior markings indicate water. Signs on the cylinders themselves state :"Warning: Tibanna Gas, Use Caution while handling."
Tibanna Gas is used in the manufacture of blaster "ammunition." This is not for your holdout blaster or even DL-11 blaster... this is used in the manufacture of starship blasters.
Not a bomb, but something to be careful with.
Calm my mind? Calm my mind?! How in the name of the Republic am I supposed to do that? I am no Jedi nor trained as one.
He kneels down. I used to see them meditate like this. and sitting crossed legged will attempt to calm his mind.
You try to relax and try to let go of everything.
but you find that your mind is whirring. Perhaps you need some time to mull over what you've learned.
Moroka whistles at the magnitude of cargo the crew has just shouldered.
"Well, I have to gives Stigs credit for one thing; she's honest. One stray shot in here and the locals'll think a sun exploded..."
She gives the restraints a tug, testing the stability of the cargo. Satisfied that nothing's moving, she nods to Jak with a confident smile, patting the canisters. "Let's fly nice and casual; don't want to spill any precious 'water,' do we?"
And let's hope the Force does NOT have a cruel sense of humor today...but just in case...
Moroka nods toward the engine room. "I'll run a check on things while we wait, to make sure everything's humming nicely when we lift off. Just let me know before you warm us up for takeoff, would you?
She then heads toward the engines to run her inspection, removing covers to check parts for repair and cleanliness while taking care not to make a mess.
Gotal turns to Renlo, "Still no response from Donavaan?"
Jak nods at Moroka.
"Alright. Let's leave in half an hour. Let me know when she's ready to go."
The young noble will think over what he has learned about himself and what has taken place.
"Oh, wonderful," Corven quips after hearing Moroka's comments regarding their new cargo before turning to Jak.
"You seem to have the hang of this. I am assuming we may be expecting trouble despite what Stigs said about how simple this delivery is supposed to be? After all, this particular... water seems pretty valuable to me."
"This is Tatooine, Corven. Here, the water might fetch a higher price."
Looking at Jak, he says, "I haven't heard from Donavaan yet. Should we wait for him, or grab him when we get back?"
Jak rubbed the back of his head, looking worried.
"I don't like leaving anyone. For all we know, he could be in danger. Don't one of you Jedi-folk know how to sense one another? That's - that's a thing, right?"
"Meanwhile, Moroka and I will get this bird ready to fly. If he's cooling his jets in some bar, great. We'll go pick him up. If he ain't, well I'd rather go in guns hot."
Gotal smiles at Jak, "Now you want me to use the force!
A good idea, I shall reach out to him".
Use the Force
Gotal smiles at Jak, "Now you want me to use the force!
A good idea, I shall reach out to him".
Use the Force 1d20+13
You reach out through the Force to locate Donavaan and urge him to return to the ship.
You easily locate him off in the distance. He is located in the desert about 30 km from the ship.
Donavaan crawls out of the cistern and looks around, gets his bearings and sets out on his hoverboard. A few times, he hears the calls of beasts in the distance and adjusts his course to circumnavigate the encounters... it won't do to try to face the owners of that voice alone; this planet is home to the infamous Krayt Dragon.
After about 30 minutes, he arrives back at the Owl's Gambit and pauses to look at the beautiful lines of the vessel. He is lost in his thoughts as the clambers back up the ramp... is he going to stay, can he learn from the Force spirit of the little girl? Can he stay sober long enough to make the lessons worthwhile? Can he learn to trust these people? He silently enters his room and locks the door. He needs time to think.
This is ok.
Gotal smiles at Jak, "Now you want me to use the force!
A good idea, I shall reach out to him".
"Well, don't get me wrong. It's still creepy. But you gotta do what you can with what you got, you know."
Jak watches Gotal close his eyes for a moment, and tell him that Donavaan is on his way.
Jak smiles uneasily and turns away to finish his flight check. He hesitates and then turns around to ask Gotal, "Uh, that thing with Jedi controlling people's minds -- that's -- that's not real. Right?"
"Alright, campers, we're making a pit stop at Mos Eisly. Shipping out in 5 minutes. If anyone has any particular objection to this, now would be a great moment to voice that opinion. Otherwise strap in."
Gotal shakes his head, "No it is not, we can make suggestions to those who are weak minded but full mind control I have never heard of. Our enemies in the Sith though, they may well be able to access such dark powers. Hopefully, we can bring the might of the Republic down on them before this Empire completely solidifies it hold on Galactic Power"
"Let us make haste. Renlo and I have an errand to run in Mos Eisley as well. Then we shall come here to claim your credits. Thereafter, I wish to rendezvous with my contact in the mid-rim, Renlo has discovered the exact coordinates. From him we may well be able to secure more legitimate jobs and we shall get a true sense of whether my hopes for pushing these Sith out of power are within our grasp..."
With a surge of power Jak expertly guides the Gambit off the landing pad and angles the nose skyward.
Although Mos Eisley is several hours travel by land, it is a short half hour flight through the atmosphere.
Herds of Bantha and Dewback are spotted here and there and a couple of times, beings with fully covered and bandaged heads stop and shoot at your ship; their long rifles sorely inadequate to pose any threat to the ship.
Jak calls for landing permission and is quickly given coordinates to land at the space port; docking bay 94.
Moroka, you notice a slight fluctuation in the sub-light drives.
During the half hour flight, local news shows the arrival of a Republic cruiser and a dagger shaped vessel. The shiny capital vessel makes the older republic cruiser look rather insignificant.
A local Zabrak anchor is speaking about the arrival of an Imperial presence tasked with helping keep the peace.
There is another quick snippet that shows the tall being clad in black armor and a cloak.
Gotal & Corven hear the anchor mention "Lord Vader" and the "Emperors special envoy."
There is a small snippet about "pirate activity" on the increase among the outer rim planets.
Moroka furrows her brow as something in the sub-light drives shows errant behavior. Odd...we haven't had this ship THAT long...
She calls up to the cockpit as the ship moves in for a landing. "Jak, everything all right with the controls? I'm seeing something strange in the drives back here..."
Must be some sand in the exhaust...
She pulls out her tools and prepares to look more closely once the ship has landed.
Observing the arrival of the Imperial presence, Renlo says, "We may not want to stick around her very long."
Jak blinks when Gotal mentions "suggesting" things, as if that was normal. But rather than address it, Jak makes an excuse about checking the flight controls.
"My life is very different," he says to himself later.
***
Jak frowns as he makes a textbook landing.
He answers Moroka, "Yeah, something felt off somehow. I barely noticed it at first, but it was definitely something."
Helping Jak shut down the ship, Renlo looks at Gotal and says, "We'd best be off. Do we want to invite Donavaan along? Might make him feel a bit more included."
Gotal nods to Renlo, "Certainly".
Heading down the corridor to Donavaan's room, Renlo knocks on the door and waits for an answer.