I fully realize that you are a teacher Tersh, now is the time to act like one. The students need us to be a unified team, do not let your personal feelings for me cloud your thoughts or actions. We are almost to the landing pad, we shall what occurs next.
With that said, Syalara resumes his kneeling meditation on the floor of the lift, awaiting their arrival to the open air.
Tersh strolls calmly out of the meeting room, putting on his combat gloves while he does so.
Ignoring the frantic movements of everyone else, he pulls out his commlink and dials Verena's commlink that he had given her.
"Verena? This is Tersh. Please gather any other students you can find and meet me at the War Pig. Yes... that hunk of junk."
He smiles at the rest of them, then to the Master Jedi.
"Master Atharias, do you think it would be wise to issue a drill warning? That way we could easily contact the students and they'll think it's a normal drill until we can get them into the Pig."
Before Tersh leaves, Tyren looks to him and says ... I hope you meant the Deeprunner and not the War Pig.
Tyren calmly takes his personal communicator and calls Jillian. Jillian, ignore any calls to go to the Deeprunner. I want you to come to me in Master Atharias' chambers now. If you are questioned, tell them you have my authority, and that they have more people they must still find.
As Jodan leaves Tyren walks along side him, looking unhappy and fixing harsh eyes on him again he says ... You have some explaining to do Jodan. You're not telling us everything you know. What do you truly know about that child? What surprised you when you checked that datapad? We are being quickly thrust into an urgent situation and I want to know what you know ... now.
[sblock]Intimidate check against Jodan 1d20+7->[11,7] = (18) http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=795007
Tyren will also use Sense Motive against Jodan's answers 1d20+1->[18,1] = (19) http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=795026[/sblock]
EDIT: OOG - I forgot to add that I wanted to use Sense Motive.
"I will go check on my children, they are mostly together. If anyone should run across Pa'Hu, I would appreciate it if they were to round her up, and keep an eye on her. I will do what I can to gather any children I come across as well. If I could get some assistance in this, I would appreciate it." Milius finishes, before heading out to Decks 5 and 6.
Tersh snorts derisively.
"Personal feelings for you? You flatter yourself. You think I care that you got the job teaching what I wanted? Hey! I'm just thankful for teaching. I love history, and I can give the students some of my knowledge."
He grins. "It's the students I'm worried about, I'm just a bit edgy, that's all. I guess I fear for them. And don't give me that 'Fear is the path to the darkness schpeel'. There's two kinds of fears. Irrational, and rational. Everyone, even jedi, has a self-preservation fear. Ignoring that is ignoring what makes us sentient."
He stands behind Sylara. "Besides, I can act and defend these children if need be. Don't expect to preach at whoever this guy is... he's probably heard it all before. He's got a lightsaber, he's here uninvited, and that makes him a threat."
Milius listens patiently to the conversation while on the lift, and raises his hand for Tersh to be still.
"He is meditating now, and it would be a poor time for a retort. Leave that sort of thing to our meetings. I believe he was simply advising you to remain calm, however. Whatever conflict his words may have inadvertantly cauesd, now is not the time to discuss it..." Milius says from his meditative sitting position.
Milius tries to concentrate once again after the distraction, and send a message to his padawans while the lift comes up. His message will exlude Pa'hu.
"Students, this is a call to assemble. We will be having a brief meeting on level 12. This is mandatory. I will arrive shortly, so make sure to discuss your latest lesson until I get there." Milius will be careful to make it seem like a simple meeting as not to alarm the children. He then will send a second message directly to Pa'Hu.
"Child, keep your wits about you, and stay hidden if you can. We are arriving shortly. Above all, remain calm." Milius intones soothingly.
The lift seems to take forever to arrive at deck twelve. When it does, Aayla Youngblood tumbles out, a handful of the other students behind her. She quickly notes the assembled instructors waiting for the lift, and blushes bright red. "I--I'm sorry, Masters. It took me a moment to get everyone together," she says, gesturing to the students behind her as she casts her eyes to the ground in shame.
Aayla and the students with her are dressed in light athletic gear, and appear to have been engaged in some sort of sporting activity before they were interrupted. Kyra still clutches a small blue ball.
Aayla quickly leads the students down the corridor toward the Deeprunner, while Atharias calmly watches. Once the lift is empty, Tolark, Tersh, Milius, Sylara, Xual and Bri all board the lift.
As they are boarding, Sylara recieves an urgent message from Nor:
Nor said:
"Master Sylara, an unknown ship is up here and someone with a lit lightsaber is at its base. My ship is open and I sense pain in the area. When the students are safe your assistance, and that of anyone else you can gather, would be most welcome. I will investigate."
This message, combined with Tersh's comments during the ride upward, make it difficult for Sylara to concentrate on his meditation.
The lift stops first at Deck 7, where Bri rushes off to Sylara's office for supplies and Tolark quickly makes his way toward his own quarters. From the open door of the lift, the instructors can just see the entrance to Sylara's office, which stands ajar, a dim light coming from within.
Next, the lift comes to a halt at Deck 6, where two students, Meliah and Siri, are waiting. Both are dressed in casual bedclothes, and appear drowsy--probably napping at the time Milius contacted them. They quietly move toward the back of the lift, bowing to Milius as they do so.
A shirtless Gimto meets you at Deck 5, pulling Seitho behind him. Gimto looks tired--heavy bags under his black Rodian eyes--but Seitho seems calm and completely controlled, even slightly bored. The lift begins to seem little claustrophobic once Gimto and Seitho make their way in.
On Deck 4, Jilian is waiting impatiently, talking into her comlink as the lift doors open. "Yes, Master. The lift is full at the moment, but I will catch it on its return trip. I will be there shortly." Behind Jilian, Treela and Hale stand close together, nervously avoiding eye contact with any of the instructors. Their robes are rumpled, and their skin is covered in a slight sheen of sweat, as though they had been fighting. Further back, Hale's friend Jett grins sheepishly and looks at the ceiling.
Jilian hits the lift controls, causing the doors to slide closed. "We'll take the lift when it returns, Instructors," she says, bowing slightly.
Xual exits on Deck 3, heading toward his student in the Meditation Hall. Verena meets you on Deck 2, and just manages to squeeze into the lift.
Finally, the crowded group arrives at the landing area, clammy mist lunging inward, causing the students to shiver. Sylara, Tersh, Milius and Verena emerge into the dark fog. The lift doors quietly close behind them, taking its remaining passengers back below.
The War Pig sits just outside of the Academy's access lift, and is easily visible. A soft light glows from the small ship's open hatch. Above, a terrible storm is beginning to rage. Thunder crashes and golden lightning illuminates the opressive cloud cover. Further in the gloom, a grey shape dominates the opposite landing area, only barely visable through the fog. A figure stands before this ship, its lightsaber wavering weakly.
As the Jedi arrive at the surface, each are suddenly struck by a grim feeling of a distrubance in the Force. There is a feeling of pain, of death, coming from the dimly-seen figure ahead, and something stranger beyond that: an oddness in the Force that is difficult to sense clearly.
Meanwhile, up above:
Nor swiftly patches his comlink through to Wayne, the War Pig's secret droid starfighter. After a brief crackle of static (the dampness and fog plays havoc with reception, even over short distances), Wayne's thick synthesized voice crackles over the line. "Yah?"
Nor quickly explains the situation. "Okay, boss! Blaster online, waitin' for yer order."
Nor then creeps carefully over to his ship. Whispered voices can be heard from the open hatch, then a sudden exclamation of surprise. The voices grow louder for a moment, and Nor can make out the word "Milius".
Nor silently moves to the far edge of his ship in order to get a better look at the mysterious shape on the other side of the landing area. It definitely appears to be a ship, a large one, red and grey. The figure standing in front of the ship's opened landing hatch is wrapped in several layers of cloth and holds a blue lightsaber unsteadily. The cloth around the figure's face is splattered with blood, and whoever it is appears to be heavily wounded.
A soft tone sounds from the direction of the Academy's access lift. A handful of Nor's fellow instructors and one frightened looking student, emerge into the wet gloom.
Meanwhile, down below:
Tyren said:
"You have some explaining to do Jodan. You're not telling us everything you know. What do you truly know about that child? What surprised you when you checked that datapad? We are being quickly thrust into an urgent situation and I want to know what you know ... now."
Jodan blinks, then takes a deep breath. Atharias' chamber is empty now, save for Jodan and Tyren, although the sounds of nervous students filter in from the corridor outside. "The datapad lists a 'location error' for three of the students. This worried me--there shouldn't be anywhere in the Academy that they could be without showing up on a global location check."
"As for Sol...he's like a mirror in the Force. When I looked at him, something was reflected back at me--a memory, an image of place I don't recognize... But there was something else there too, something like...a hole in the Force..."
Jodan seems reluctant to continue, but eventually relents under Tyren's pressuring. "It made me nervous. I didn't know how much of what I sensed was a reflection of myself, and how much came from Sol. I didn't understand anything, and I felt foolish. I was afraid to speak. I'm sorry, Tyren."
Meanwhile, on Deck 4:
"Do you think that Master Tolark knows?" Treela whispers to Hale.
"Of course he does!" Hale grimaces. "He came right into our minds while we were..."
"Is he going to kick us out of the Academy?"
"Worse. He's going to make sure we stay seperated forever."
Treela seems to be on the edge of tears. "Oh! What--what will we do?"
"I'm not sure. We have to get away from the Academy, Treela. Jett knows of some access tunnels that bypass the lift system, and there's some sealed lifeboats that we can reach from Deck one." Hale wipes the sweat from his forhead, staring off into the distance. "We'll take one of the lifeboats, and then...then we'll figure something out."
There is a soft rasping noise, and Hale turns to see Jilian, her magenta lightsaber extended. "I apologize to you, Hale and Treela, but I can not allow you to leave the Academy at this time." Treela whimpers, clutching Hale for protection, as Jilian moves menacingly forward...
OOC (Sylara, Milius):
Each of you may make See Force checks to try and discern more information about the disturbance in the Force that you're currently feeling.
OOC (Milius):
You were unable to get through to Der'oth. You recieve a sensation of heightened adrenaline from him, as though he were in danger. All of your other messages seem to have gotten through successfully.
OOC (Tyren):
Jodan seems to be telling the truth. He genuinely is confused and fearful. (Both your Intimidate and your Sense Motive checks were successful).
OOC (Nor):
You recognize the red and grey ship! It is the Voyaging Guardian, a cruiser belonging to Master Rak. Rak visits the Academy frequently, and spends most of his time patrolling and protecting the nearby star systems. You think that the figure with the lightsaber may be Rak, although you are not sure. Whoever it is, they appear to be on the edge of death--the pain you sensed is clearly coming from them.
Tyren's face changes from hardened back to neutral.
Thank you for telling me everything Jodan. I'm sorry that I had to be hard with you, but it's important that we are always truthful to one-another. Now that we know more about this strange situation, we can work together to over come it. There is no shame in your feelings of fear and confusion, it is natural to feel these things, but we will over come them together. Let us meditate on this and our current situation and see what guidance the force can give us.
With that Tyren will sit and meditate to try and attain the current will of the force.
Tersh whisper to Verena. "Get behind us. You need to see this, but I don't want you to get hurt, you're still just a student."
He walks closer to the figure.
"Who goes there, friend or foe?"
