Vakkler enters his classroom. Recording the names has made him later than he should be, but he calmly ignores this and sits at his desk. "All had best be seated and looking quite neat by the time I finish taking attendance. I have many duties, none of which are supposed to involve cleaning up messes."
Jiminy slunk into the classroom and took a chair near the back, glaring right back at Vakkler when the kobold looked like he was going to scold for being late.
Tamrin's datapad bracer starts flashing. After a moment, he sighs heavily and presses a button on it as he steps away from any other folks nearby.
"I'm here."
"This is homeroom, silly. You were assigned to Professor Relkav's homeroom class. Although if you keep making exclamations like that you're going to end up in detention," she added primly.
"Rockslides." Gustav repeated. I have just enough psionic energy for a Psychoport. he thought to himself. I'll call in sick. That's the ticket. He made a motion to leave his chair.
Which, of course, is when the professor kobold walked in. He slunk in his chair instead.
"Please tell me you have some explanation for why we're suddenly getting all kinds of energy signatures planet-side," Tamrin's former teacher asks, an edge of concern tinging her normally melodic voice.
"What kind of signatures?" he hisses as he ducks inside the nearest empty room.
Jiminy slunk into the classroom and took a chair near the back, glaring right back at Vakkler when the kobold looked like he was going to scold for being late.
Vakkler is indeed about to say something, but stops. Jiminy's glare is unusual, and it somewhat unnerves the kobold.
Vakkler only makes a note of the tardiness and moves on.
"Massive lifesign readings, and sporadic technological energy signatures. They showed up right after the massive magic spike that blew our main scrying sensors," the elven woman replies. "We're almost in range for a visual of the surface."
"My guess is you're going to see...us," Tam says, his voice sounding very old all of a sudden.
"How can we possibly.....stand by."
There is silence on the line for a moment, then swearing in the background
"What the hell just happened Tam!? The planet's surface had nothing, and now there are cities and people everywhere! "
Tamrin says nothing for a few seconds, then finally replies.
"My son Taron decided to play at being a a god, and found a way to unmake all the wards and protections on Agartha," he says through clenched teeth. "The world's reverted to its original 'shape', for all the galaxy to potentially see."
"He's just condemned all the life on this planet to die (or worse) if we can't find a way to keep the Empire from finding out about it. Though if the readings were as strong as you said, there's precious little chance of that now..."
"Wha.....why would he...how did he do it!?"
"He had help from some other powerful individuals, but I don't know anything else yet. I don't know what kind of sick deviants with no concern for sapient life would want to do something like this, but Taron somehow found them."
"The boy's betrayed all of us, and run away like a coward to leave us to our fate..." he says as his voice falters and he goes silent.
Fivain starts to answer, but Tamrin cuts her off.
"We need to get the system seeded with Aananda's gravitic mines as fast as we can. If any Imperial ships come in system, they cannot get a message out about it. Get the Harbinger's manufacturing facilities online now and get started. If you need to call in the other ships to help, do it."
"Tamrin, if ships do show up and find us here..." she starts to reply.
Tam yells into the communicator, cutting Fivain off before she can finish her sentence.
"My son may have abandoned us to the Empire's whims, but I'll be damned if we'll do the same."
"Get started. NOW."
"....Yes sir," she affirms quietly. "I'll keep you apprised of our progress."
The usually energetic Aananda looks tired and her eyes are red from crying. She checks off students as they arrive and directs them to sit on the bleachers. She gives Vai a weary smile when she arrives.
"You're the last one. Everyone else is present and accounted for....It's going to be okay sweetie. I'm not sure how just yet, but we'll think of something."
The connection goes silent, and Tamrin comes out of the room after taking a few steadying breaths (and punching the wall a few times for good measure).
Ephebe and Krays arrive at Keaton's homeroom well after everyone else. Ephebe takes a seat next to Fieri.
"Sorry we're late. We needed to take Vai to her homeroom first."
::Ryo, I've got all of the students assigned to my homeroom. If I had to venture a guess I'd say that we'll be able to account for everyone but Taron and his accomplices.::
::....And once we have them all accounted for....we have to tell them what's going on. That...that we're all on the surface and unwarded now.::
She covered her face with her hands as she tried to keep from crying again. The pain of Taron's betrayal was almost more than she could bear.
Seeing Aananda distressed did not help Vai, and she looked around the classroom, spotting Fei. She waved slightly, then saw Aananda cover her face. My turn.
Vai gets up resolutely, walks to the front of class and touches Aananda's arm lightly. When Aananda looks up, Vai forces a smile and says quietly: "Don't worry Professor. Everything will be alright. I don't think I survived Aegythrax's torture just to lose here. We won't lose." With that, Vai gives Aananda the warmest hug she can manage without feeling clausterphobic.
Sitting off near the edge of a bleacher out of arm's reach of anyone else for safety's sake, Fei sees Professor Sunwake enter and take roll. Her demeanor is nothing like he has seen before.
At the risk of censure for disobeying her instruction, he stands up and goes over to his instructor. Bowing deeply, he quietly asks "Sabumnim? What has occurred that troubles you so deeply?"
Aananda smiles weakly as she hugged Vai back. "You're a good girl, Vai. Thank you."
She was starting to understand that haunted look in her mother's eyes all too well, but she had to at least try to stay strong and keep it together for her other children.
"We'll explain everything shortly, Fei. It'll be easier to explain it once to everyone instead of going over everything again and again."
"Yes, sabumnim," Fei replies as he returns to his seat on the bleachers, checking the soft green glow on his cuffs to make sure it was still safe to do so.
Vai blushes at Aananda's praise, and watches Fei go, but then looks back at the Professor. "After all that you and... the other Professor Sunwake... Ephebe and Krays.. Nasima. After all everyone's done for me, I have to help or I'd be... well, not very nice anyway." Vai bows her head slighty, returning to the bleachers. She picks a spot next to Fei and sits down.
Aananda takes a deep breath. Vai had come a long way in the short amount of time she'd been at Avalon. She was already becoming like part of the family.
"Okay, just be patient a little longer please. The Headmaster is going to make an announcement soon and it's important that you all listen carefully."
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Everyone has calmed down, the Headmaster's tired voice comes on over the PA system.
"Students, I am sure you all felt that massive explosion. This explosion removed ancient and nearly forgotten protections from our world, causing it to revert to it's original form. Illusions will appear before you to show the difference. As you can see, we are now on the outside of our world instead of deep inside it."
"Now here comes the part that will be difficult to grasp. Centuries ago, the original settlers of Agartha were dragons. There are three kinds of dragons, and the ones who created Agartha were looking for a place to hide away so they were not forced into the other's war. Together with their allies -your ancestors- and deities, they turned this world outside-in and layered it with wards to prevent it's discovery. The dragons of legend are not the ones who created Agartha, but the ones who were fighting the war."
"But now we are exposed again, these wards gone, and there is little doubt the warring dragons will fall upon us in droves to take over our world. Preparations and precautions are in place and more are being created even as I tell you about them."
"Rest assured, I will die before letting anything happen to you. I have already divined the outcome of this event and we will prevail. So please stay calm and any ideas you may have on how to help will be appreciated and considered."
Enre listens as the Headmaster starts to speak over the speakers. He than thinks to himself "Not my ancestors."
"So the that falling apart book was right." Oneiro thinks as he listens to the Headmaster. "If what I'm looking for isn't here on Agartha, maybe I can find it in this Empire..."
Jim thinks to himself: "Ancestors? Well, I guess Krueller could have been considered my father....In any case, we gotta figure out a way to shield the planet now."
"Wait....what???? None of that makes any sense to me."
Gustav was extremely puzzled by the Headmaster's explanation. Inside out? he wondered. And dragons! But wait. Did that mean the entire planet was like Hard-Holden, cut off from the rest of the world during the winter months? With brigands on the trade roads in the spring and summer. Or at the town gates, like Old Marqe used to tell the children on storytelling days.
Gustav wondered how he was going to make statues big enough to stop any brigands that came to Agartha from outside.
"Wait....what???? None of that makes any sense to me."
"Okay....so this is a sphere," she said pulling out a piece of paper and drawing a circle, turned backwards so she can draw on Jeran's desk so he can see what she's doing. "When the dragons and their allies made this world, which is a planet by the way....a big chunk of rock floating in space orbiting a star...er, a big flaming ball of gas...the sun, but bigger than the one you're thinking of....anyways, they put everything on the inside so it was hidden away. So from the outside all you could see was a small ball of rock. It was also bigger on the inside than the outside....like a bag of holding...a planet of holding? So...now it's turned inside out so that the rock is on the inside and we're all out on the surface," she said drawing little shapes along the surface of the circle. "Does that make any more sense?"