Caleb Rook, Jedi's page

I think we're done. Or at least I am.

"I informed your driver," Caleb mentions (loudly, as he must to be heard across fifteen feet (or twenty meters) in an open field) as he continues to approach the rifle-bearing possible-droid, "that if you shot again, I would disassemble you to prevent further bloodshed. Understand that just like you don't care about the people you're using as human shields, blaster bait, and target practice in order to acquire your one-person supply of medicine, I don't care about what you claim you would have done. I do care about what you have done. Your associate may be aiming at me, but your back is to them, and a half-step to my left and they'll be shooting at you, not me. You know the worth of my word as a Jedi; once all of you put away your weapons, and can be seen to have done so, then I will put away mine. I in turn know the worth of your word and values - that you have killed people today, and don't care that you have, and are in fact bragging about shooting people. Now, are you going to put that rifle away, and have your associates put their weapons away, or am I going to have to start becoming firm with the lot of you?"

Does Caleb look like a total idiot? Don't answer that question. Whichever answer you think is correct, though, he doesn't miss the jet-packing Errin soar into blaster-rifle range and plant herself; nor does he follow Garrett's 'authority', continuing to walk forward, though the slant of the walk is now towards AJTD1, not Garrett. He checks on the droid that's provided him with so much assistance, before turning and listening to the suspected droid yammer. "You didn't make a deal with us; you've made a deal with someone else. We arrived less than three hours ago, and instead of cutting a valueable-for-information deal, we've taken the time to figure out what's wrong with the distribution system, figured out how to distribute it so that it doesn't get stockpiled by the rich or stolen and sold on the black market, and then taken actual steps to get that distribution system in place. You, on the other hand, started this off with blowing up part of a base, killing any number of people who were simply doing their part to figure this whole thing out, stealing this medication, and shooting me."

Caleb gestures with his off hand at the cargo skiff. "I pointed out to your associate, just before I left him behind, that your insanely violent robbery will make it pure blasted-Alderaan hell to reassemble the resources necessary to properly distribute the rest of the medication and cure everyone on this benighted rock -- these three tons you've been trying to steal being a tenth of the amount we brought. You've shot me, shot my associate, killed at least a half dozen sophonts if not more, caused massive amounts of damage ... and now you say you aren't leaving here without what you came for."

Having satisfied himself with AJTD1's general cohesiveness, he turns towards Garrett, and starts walking towards him/it.

"What you came for, Mr. Mag-Foot, is not yours until you - and your associates, trigger-happy though the lot of you are - talk over the terms of acquisition. Shooting me is neither acceptable nor, as you're discovering, viable; talking with me is. You will note that despite severe provocation from both you and your associates, we've yet to do any real violence upon you; all I ask is that you act in such a way as to make any violence from either us or yourselves unnecessary. Please put your weapons away, and please ask your associates to do the same; then we can talk this out like sensible sophonts. Use violence against us and it will be turned back upon you; I must advise against you trying such. Let us talk, get help for these people, and who knows - perhaps help each other at the same time."

FYI, Move Object's range is 6 squares, which is why I was asking distances. If you're going to be by the cargo skiff, I don't think you're going to be in range.

As the cargo skiff swings wide away from where the annoying mag-footed sniper-rifle-armed individual was tossed off, Caleb glances towards the former destination of the stolen goods, then back towards the Mag-Foot. Seeing the training droid having stopped a good fifteen or so meters away from Mag-Foot, with his lightsaber powered down, he keeps an eye on the pair, looking past Kaldo to do so.

And then Mag-Foot pivots and, apparently unprovoked, shoots AJ in the arm, causing metal and sparks to fly.

Anger surges through Caleb's veins, frustration and fury at the circumstances - at the continuing violence being perpetrated by this person-droid-thing, the destruction and death at the center of the compound and - going by the surging crowd - likely the perimeter as well, his own injuries. His hand tightens on his lightsaber as he struggles against the flow of the Dark Side ...

Emotion, yet peace.
Ignorance, yet knowledge.
Passion, yet serenity.
Chaos, yet harmony.
Death, yet the Force.

Jedi, guardians of peace.
Jedi, defend and protect.
Jedi, respecting of life.
Jedi, serve not rule.
Jedi, know and train.

It takes a heartbeat, then a second, for Depa Billaba's elegant version of the Jedi Code to flash through his mind, after which his grip relaxes. His blood still boils within him at the ruthless use of lethal force, but though the passion flows, his spirit holds to its core of serenity. He watches Mag-Foot walk to AJ and kick at the fallen lightsaber, after which AJ lifts his comm.

When his own communicator squawks, Caleb regards the situation, then sighs audibly. "Give me some distance from that thing, but stop the skiff. Stay inside. Please warn your short-circuiting droid out there that if it fires that rifle again, I'm going to have to disassemble it to preserve my people's safety. Then - please - see if you can't slow down the riot behind us; your people's actions are going to make it insanely difficult to distribute the rest of the medicinal spice, of which what you have here is a fraction. Maybe make them form an organized line, so they can be injected or something."

Once the cargo skiff stops, Caleb gets out, his lightsaber hilt still in his hand, but quiescent. The Jedi walks around the back of the skiff, coming into view of the killer maybe/probably-droid; without pausing, he continues to walk towards Mag-Foot and AJTD1 - walk, though, not jog or run. His pace is very steady, very deliberate - not fast, but not slow; just a walk, like anyone might if they have somewhere they're going.

You can Ready an action that is basically 'I shoot anything or anyone at all', instead of something a bit more specific? Not sure I like that sort of insanely broad allowance; typically, a Readied action is a specific or very narrow action, if/then style, a la 'If the speeder continues to go back, or swerves to hit me, I shoot it.' It isn't a general 360-degree-turret-version that's 'I shoot anyone attacking, or threatening, or coming from the base, or indicated by my teammates.' I can understand him shifting targets, from aiming at the skiff to aiming at the guy (droid, whatever) approaching him, but again if you're going to change the target of a Readied action, you should IMO have to re-roll - because you're changing targets. Pure defense is one thing - 'dodge if anyone shoots at me' is kosher, IMO. But if you're going to go balls-to-the-wall offense, it tends to need to be directed and, thus, specific, or at least very narrowly defined.

I'm not challenging the events, I'm just saying that this sort of open-ended Readied action is ... not any sort of thing I've allowed, would allow, or have seen allowed in a game before, and I'd rather prefer this sort of incredibly broad latitude was curtailed, even if it handicaps me.

In any case, moving past that. Just so I'm clear on events, Garrett was aiming his sniper rifle at the skiff, then turned and aimed it at AJTD1, and basically shot the 'droid in the chest at virtually point-blank range, right?

You ain't the only one.

I think you mean Kaldo!!

Caleb opens the door to the skiff and climbs in, his lightsaber deactivating as he does. The door closes behind him.

The swaying and the acceleration is tough to handle, but already being prone and with one hand holding on, Caleb looks up at the original theif of the cargo skiff and says in a voice that has just gotta be reasonable, "Turn around and take the skiff back to where you got it from." Oh, yeah, right. Like that's gonna ...

... happen?

Actually, no - I'd assumed it'd take him longer than a couple of seconds to a) hit a building or whatever I threw him into, b) stop moving, c) recover from the hit (if he recovered at all), d) get up, and e) line up and take a shot. Since this is all heroic stuff, apparently he can do all that, while I can't seem to barely do anything. I mean, I COULD simply state that since apparently he's still moving in my Force Grip, I use a Standard Action to bounce him around (which means he couldn't do anything) while I climb around and into the cab, but I said I threw him off, so hey.

I'd kind of rather not make the roll, because of the above expectation; I'd been playing nice because I want everyone to enjoy the game, I don't generally like PVP, I definitely don't know the system well enough to be able to make any decent arguments, which means I'm going to lose pretty much every debate available. (Like not being able to see or hear someone who is no more than a couple meters away, in a speeder cab that probably still has the windows open, etc. etc., but that's past.) So honestly, Caleb would have turned his lightsaber off.

However, as requested:

Deflect, UtF: 1d20 + 15 - 1 ⇒ (16) + 15 - 1 = 30

Well, then use it to toss Garrett off the darn skiff and into a passing wall. A 25 hits his Will Save + 5, thereby succeeding even if he manages to get all four limbs mag-clamped onto the skiff/containers.

Damage: 6d6 ⇒ (2, 4, 4, 1, 3, 3) = 17

SO not going to argue this one out. If the GM says I couldn't've seen him, I'll not have done it, and I'll do something else.

Kaldo and Garrett have been talking to each other the entire time, and not by communicator. Sight is the only possible issue, and 'looking behind you' remains as much a necessity for speeders as it is for cars, or how is Kaldo seeing the speeder bikes catching up to him?

The swaying and the acceleration is tough to handle, but already being prone and with one hand holding on, Caleb looks up at the original theif of the cargo skiff and says in a voice that has just gotta be reasonable, "Turn around and take the skiff back to where you got it from." Oh, yeah, right. Like that's gonna ...

... happen?

There really ain't much you can do with a laden cargo skiff to shake off unwanted passengers - not if you want to keep your cargo in place, anyhow - but rock yourself sharply to the side, toss in a bang on a rock that you might (or might not) have meant to hit, and unwanted passengers just might lose their grip and go tumbling into the dirt.

Ow!

All us fleshy types, tin man. ;)

A curse comes from the human hanging on with one hand as the skiff goes slaloming back and forth, but despite a clang as he hits the side, the counter-swerve to try to shake him off only serves to swing him back up into place. "Hey, watch where you're driving this thing!!"

Despite hanging on with one hand, Caleb deflects the swinging rifle butt with a perfectly-timed but apparently-wild swing of the radiant sapphire bar. Knowing full well that the rifle-equipped droid is a) most likely his attacker, b) immune to mind tricks, and c) his current greatest problem, the Jedi says firmly, "Sorry, you're not the droid I'm looking for," and with another gesture of his lightsaber tries to telekinetically pick the droid up and send him off the skiff in turn - by preference into the wall of a passing building.

Sorry for the delay - still have to look up every single step of everything, and even then hope I'm doing it right. :P :)

A flash of light comes at him as he leaps from the door; the roguish fellow makes a perfect spin and flick of the scintillating blue lightsaber, but by the time the blade is in line of the blaster bolt, the thing is already inside his guard. He stumbles in pain for a moment as his hip is clipped by the bolt, but despite the shot he continues to move, arcing to chase down the floater with all their medicine. (Well, probably not all, but let's face it, it's a big chunk of goods.)

Reaching out to the Force, he lets it flow through himself, springing after the skiff; its pause to pick up the sniper gives him the opportunity to leap forward and onto it. "Mind if we talk about this?" he asks mildly, though his 'saber is still active, held in the classic cross-body defensive stance.

Yah, my mistake - posting in a couple hours.

No offense, but you might ... want to wait for the GM to adjudicate the results of the previous actions? Not to mention the other actions of the rest of our team ... ?

Suddenly, a sandy-haired chap in plain clothes - not in the uniform of the local CSA mooks - bursts out the door, a lightsaber activating in a sapphire blue snap-hiss as he emerges, moving far faster than a person has any right to do.

A sniper ... His eyes looking a little unfocused, Caleb does a swift scan through the doors. The fellow working on getting the skiff going is of course spotted, but if he were a sniper, where ...

"You know," he says conversationally, "subtlety and hiding is all well and good, but when it comes down to it ... a Jedi should be a Jedi. I'll stop the fellow at the skiff." Shifting his pistol to his left hand, he extracts his lightsaber with his right ...

... and with a sudden burst of speed, he charges out the door, his lightsaber activating in a sapphire blue snap-hiss as he goes, ready to swat away any incoming blaster fire.

There is a time for contemplation, and a time for action. Though Master Wolf always urged peace and serenity through quiet meditation on him, Caleb had always found more peace in working with his master's 'loaner' lightsaber. There were, he knew, Jedi whose meditation trance was clearest when found in the martial movement, and so he practiced such, to Master Wolf's troubled view. The clarity of his contemplation during moving meditations only grew when he'd built his own lightsaber. For him, action was contemplation.

Pushing open the door he's next to, Caleb unlimbers his blaster ("Rather have my lightsaber in hand, but ... ") and starts to head towards the exit. Mentally, he reminds himself:

There is no emotion; there is peace.
There is no ignorance; there is knowledge.
There is no passion; there is serenity.
There is no chaos; there is harmony.
There is no death; there is the Force.

Jedi are the guardians of peace in the galaxy.
Jedi use their powers to defend and protect, never to attack others.
Jedi respect all life, in any form.
Jedi serve others rather than ruling over them, for the good of the galaxy.
Jedi seek to improve themselves through knowledge and training.

He hopes, as he pauses in cover inside the door leading outside, that reminding himself of the Code will keep him balanced in the Force. The exhiliration of the fight with the pair of swoop gangers disturbed him. Reaching out with the Force, he tries to sense where the various people are, as well as their attitudes.

Yup! Though a post from you might be good. ;)

I don't think so, not as bad as Gunnar - that's why I read the previous stuff. Caleb is a little paranoid, and more than a little confrontational; lightsaber-focused, he tends towards the famous 'aggressive negotiations'. But with Mao off doing forward prepwork, Quen Pah having been frozen for over a hundred years, and TJ being, well, a droid, Caleb IMO should obviously feel it's up to him to take the lead and provide direction, especially in this lawless sort of environment.

I like to think this is how Caleb would have been written if the priors had really thrown themselves into writing. ;)

Caleb looks a little disgusted. "Not our ship, Lieutenant Commander - YOUR ship. You know, the Corporate Sector Authority dreadnought Resolute on which you serve? Not the Shadowfire TL-1200 transport we came down on; you take our medical gear from that ship without some truly excessive compensation, soldier-boy, you'd best believe we'll start having problems, you and I." He strolls to the entrance of the mess hall as he speaks, pausing there to glance each way down the halls outside - whether to check for eavesdroppers or just to check for an escape route is questionable at best. It might be notable that he, at least, did not get dressed in CSA uniform - though the badge-pass he was given has gotten tucked away into one of his several belt pouches.

Turning back, he continues. "Now that you know part of the problem with getting people resistant to this thing, you can start solving it - with your resources, not ours," and here he gestures to Quen Pah and the teaching droid. "These ... are your people, are they not, Lieutenant Commander?? Get YOUR people moving, not OUR droid --" he looks at AJTD-1 and frowns a bit, then shakes his head; 'ours' as long as they're all assigned by Master Wolf, right? "-- and then you can come with us to find this lost little Hutt, and incidentally get the rest of the people on this planet helped as well, instead of kicked to the curb by your human supremacist Sergeant. I'm headed back out to the skiff; Quen, AJ, let's go. Gunnar, we'll give you five minutes to kick your CSA goons into line before heading out; if you take any longer, then you can take lots longer, 'cause we'll be gone."

About to head out, he gives Gunnar a long look down and up. "And lose the holotank commander uniform - again. Likely as not to get you lit up like Alderaan, where we're going."

Caleb thinks about the processes the Sergeant has been talking about, the ways he's familiar with about short-circuiting them, and how to do it to make it both relatively secure and much more fair, but without a biometric scanner of any sort, there isn't much to be done; this really is a Force-forsaken backwater. "Vryce, I'd say we have two targets. First, find a decent medical scanner somewhere around here - maybe you can get one dropped from the Resolute? - and a tag imprinter. That'll allow the sergeant here to link the tags with a bioscan, so that people can't steal them and use multiple ones; cross-reference each new tag with previous scans so you don't have someone coming in and getting multiple tags, and then make sure that the wearer of a tag matches his ident bioscan each time they come in."

He shrugs, and says, "Corporate Sector Authority has to look at this as an investment, not as a bottom-line loss. If you all your workers and all your customers die, you can't make anything at all, you know? Save them, and their labor and business puts you in the black -- in three months, six months, a year, whatever. Lose them and the world, though, and you have no way of making it out of the red at all.

"Second is finding our wayward Huttling. Nothing says we can't do both at the same time - though I doubt your racist CSA compatriots know anything about him, which means the 'aliens and riff-raff' in the northern section of the city are the people we'll have to talk to."

He pauses, then grins. "My kind of people - or at least they used to be."

Catching up on reading; glad to be here. Q for the GM: In regards to Caleb's lightsaber, I honestly have no idea where the original Caleb got 'superior accuracy' from, or what its affects are (or why he has +6 to damage; I can account, maybe, for up to +5, but I'm shaky even on that). Can I revise the lightsaber build, using the various crystals from the Jedi Academy Training Manual? (Might have used a sigil crystal for a +2 damage bonus ...)