Nor moves closer to the maybe Rak, and if it is him, says "Rak? Its Nor. What happened here!?!"
If its Rak (or a stranger) and he is non-threatening, he will move to heal him (heal other +10).
If whomever it is is threatening, then he will instead disarm him and then snatch his lightsaber via move object using force mastery to make it a free action.
He keeps a fair eye out on the ramps to both ships and will still attempt to get onboard the War Pig should the hatch look to close, or the ship look to lift
The moment Tolark opens the door to his quarters, he knows something has gone very wrong. He turns and sprints for the elevator, palming the access pad to call the lift. As the seconds drain by, he takes a moment to try and see his students through the force.
OOC:After the See Force roll, if I note some emination in the force threatening them, I'll force strike it away from them. I'll attempt to get to their level as quickly as possible, and hope they can hold out till I arrive.
Master Rak reacts to the sound of Nor's voice by coughing and weakly waving his lightsaber. Rak's normally reddish eyes are faded, their glow flickering, and a stream of reddish-black blood pours out of his eyes, nose and ears. Rak appears confused, prepared to strike out at anyone who comes too close.
As Tersh's voice booms across the landing area, Rak turns, distracted. Nor lunges forward, his gold lightsaber clashing against Rak's blue for just a moment before the weakened Jedi's weapon is forced from his hand. Nor reaches out with his off-hand and pulls the disarmed lightsaber toward him, snatching it out of mid-air. Rak seems startles for a moment, then falls to his knees, suddenly and violently vomiting up a stream of thick blood.
Master Rak feebly tries to say something. "...the stars..." he manages to gurgle, before falling onto his face. "...Ath...ari...as..." A tremendous roar of thunder drowns out the rest of Rak's last words.
A few paces behind Nor, Timone whistles softly, sounding both sad and nervous. A surprised shriek comes from the open hatch of the War Pig and Nor spins around just in time to see trembling young Pa'hu, clinging to the ship's ladder, her eyes fixed on Rak's broken corpse. Above her, still inside the ship, Tai and Rai Arnon whisper fearfully to one another.
* * *
A few decks below, Tolark tries to remain calm as he reaches out through the Force to contact his students. Both Treela and Hale are gripped by powerful fear, and both instinctively resist Tolark's attempts at communication. A moment later, the lift arrives, four students peering nervously out at Tolark. Meliah and Siri, still looking drowsy, stand at the back of the lift, while Seitho sits on the floor, eyes closed, seemingly unaware of his surroundings. Gimto rushes forward. "Master Tolark," the excited Rodain teenager exclaims, "Jett and Jilian are fighting!"
Tolark rushes into the lift and overrides the controls, sending it back upwards. At deck 4, the doors spring open and Tolark flies out. Jett and Jilian stand across from each other, awkwardly holding defensive positions, their lightsabers hovering before them. Hale and Treela are a few paces further down the corridor, turning to run as soon as they see Tolark arrive. "Treela, hurry! Master Tolark is here!", Hale shouts.
Jilian casts a quick glance backward. "Master Tolark! Please command Jett to stand down! We are in an emergency situation, and he must listen to authority!"
Jett turns to Tolark, a pleading look upon his face. "No! This isn't what you think, Master!"
* * *
"Tyren, Jodan?" Master Atharias calmly re-enters his chambers. "The other Instructors have left, and Aayla has led her students into the Deeprunner. I can sense fear and pain...and death."
"The Academy seems to be in the throes of panic, and Sylara explained little to me. I need you two to help me to understand what is happening here."
"Ah! That's right, master! You were out of the room when Nor translated the droid's message," Jodan says. "But perhaps instructor Tyren can explain it better than I can..."
* * *
OOC (Sylara and Milius):
You both sense what appears to be an absence in the Force--a sense that somehow the Force has been diminished or weakened in the immediate area. You're also both aware that this shouldn't be possible.
OOC (Milius):
In addition to the above, you also notice something much more horrfiying: when Rak dies, his life energy just vanishes--it does not rejoin the flow of the Force. Whatever killed Rak also appears to have severed him from the Force entirely.
Using his personal communicator, and speaking in a calm voice"Master Atharias please come to the landing pad immediately, there is a situation with Master Rak. Master Nor, did your astromech droid record the entirety of Master Rak's last words? I fear there is something quite sinister happening here, something is weakening the force around the academy here. Children, come down from the ship now. Did you see anything happen when Master Rak landed?"
Tyren listens to Jodan's words and nods to him. Tyren then turns to Master Atharias and is about to speak when Sylara's communicator cuts him off. Tyren waits for the transmition to end then continues ...
Master, it seems you are needed above so I will go with you while I explain.
Tyren looks to Jodan and says ...
Jodan, would you please stay here with the students so they have at least one instructor with them. Hopefully that will be calming to them. I will help you sort out this problem as soon as possible my friend.
Assuming Master Atharias wants to go, Tyren will walk with him.
It started, Master, not long ago, when Master Nor's droid came in screeching about how there was a large astreoid headed for our location. That is the point when you left the room. This worried many of my fellow instructors and that is what promped the move to send all of the students into the Deeprunner. With a bit of investigation, it was found that the "large asteroid" that was reported was actually many smaller meteorites that posed little if any danger to the academy. It was decided that the students should still be brought down to the Deeprunner, just in case there was danger. Master Nor went to his ship to make sure that there was real threat. As Master Nor left Master Jodan used his datapad to ascertain the location of all of the students in the academy. Three students locations came up unknown. Tai and Rai Arnon are two of them ... Tyren says shaking his head with displeasure but that did not worry me much because they are always finding new places to escape from their studies. The other missing student is Pa'Hu. At this point all of the intrusctors ran off for some reason or another, but Master Jodan and I didn't. Master, I'm sure you noticed Master Jodan's strange behavior at the boy Sol ... Tyren looks around to make sure that only Master Atharias will hear this part, his face hardens somewhat as he continues I noticed it as well, and I was upset because I knew that Master Jodan was not telling us everything. I had to pressure him before he would tell me the truth, but he did. It seems that when Master Jodan looked at Sol, some memory was reflected onto him. Master Jodan didn't know if it was his own memory or not, but the experience did frighten and confuse him. That is why he didn't want to speak of it. I intend to get the bottom of this matter though. If you are not too busy, then perhaps before you leave you could help us. If this is not possible, I will understand. Tyren takes a deep breath and lets out a sigh That is everything that I know up to this point, Master. Did you happen to glean anything of our situation that might be helpful to us during this short time we were seperated?
OOC: If there are any students nearby when Tyren speaks of Jodan, Tyren will use Telepathy to communicate with Master Atharias for the rest of their conversation. If there are no students Tyren will speak aloud.
Tolark barks at Jillian, "Authority does not come from the blade of a lightsaber, Jillian. You and Jett will both power down your weapons, or I will take them away from you." He then turns to Hale and Treela and speaks in a calmer voice, almost comforting, "My students, I am not angry with you, nor will I punish you in any way. I would like to speak with you about it, but such a thing would be better done, I think, with more privacy, just between the three of us. For now, I must beg your assistance with more immediate matters, and I beg you to trust me on this."
Tolark turns to the two students with their blades lit. "Well?"
OOC:I know Jillian is a much better fighter than Jett, so there is something odd about all this coming to a physical confrontation. I ready an action to force strike them if they try anything funny.
Using his personal communicator, and speaking in a calm voice"Master Atharias please come to the landing pad immediately, there is a situation with Master Rak. Master Nor, did your astromech droid record the entirety of Master Rak's last words? I fear there is something quite sinister happening here, something is weakening the force around the academy here. Children, come down from the ship now. Did you see anything happen when Master Rak landed?"
A worried looking Nor nods at Sylara, but instead of immediatly replying, or addressing the stowaway students, he kneels down by Rak and attempts to heal other before it is too late, and somewhat cryptically says, "Your not weaing a red shirt today Rak." Only after that, does he answer Sylara, "Possibly..." and adds on a descrption of Rak's condition.
Turning his head to Timone, "Did you happen to get a recording from master Rak?"
He then notices in what appears to be surprise that he is holding two lit lightsabers and absently turns them off and puts them away in exchange for his comm. He broadcast comms the students that usually hang around him, "Derryl, Roos, Threesa and Vassa, please come to the War Pig immediately. If any question you say it is on my authority and that its urgent." He looks at Sylara and then back at the comm, "There may be something wrong the force so please keep that in mind. Be careful, stay calm and avoid any possible conflict if you are able."
He then patches back to Wayne and says, "Stand down for now Wayne."
Waiting to see what the children who stowed away on the War Pig have to say. If they are hesitant add, "I am pretty sure you were not attempting a joy ride. So why not tell us what happened?"
OOC: heal other +10, take 10 if its approprite, and burn a force point assuming he can and it will make a diff. Have not had a chance to read fps work yet. Same limits apply to burning a luck/1 day ability if the roll is poor (<40%)
Tersh's eyes widen as events unfold.
"Nor, was that really necessary?" He walks over to Master Rak. He leans down next to him and turns to Nor. "What the hell were you thinking? The man was wounded! You probably did more harm to him taking his weapon than the feeble old master could have done with it!"
He closes his eyes for a second. "I am sorry. It was the only option you could have made, though I think it would have been better if I had. Nevertheless, I commend you for your quick thinking." He gets up and turns to Verena. "I believe the danger has subsided. You may return to your room if you wish. We shall have no studies today." He turns his head around and looks at the other teachers. "Unless, of course, I hear any objections? The children are rattled and could use a day of rest. We should probably get them out of the ship and back in the academy."
Atharias listens carefully to Tyren's explanations. "I believe the droid is merely malfunctioning. Have Nor check his ship's systems for an independant verification. I suspect he'll find that there are no asteroids heading toward us. Bri told me--" Atharias shakes his head. "No. We will deal with that later. Clearly this situation with Master Rak demands our attention more."
"Rak has long been a friend of the Academy. He has been of great help to me in organizing and preparing for the gathering on Masu. He shuttled the other instructors off-planet earlier today, and had planned to return for me tomorrow, after I'd put the Academy in order. Something has obviously gone very wrong."
A moment later, the lift arrives at the surface, and Atharias calmly steps forward. A strong rain has begun to fall, and the wind makes it almost impossible to see anything.
Nor and the other instructors have carried Rak's body under the shelter of the War Pig, out of the rain. If Master Atharias feels any grief or rage at the loss of his friend, he does not allow himself to show it. He ignores the rain as he kneels under the fuselage of Nor's ship and examines the fallen Jedi's corpse.
Sensing Nor's emotions, Atharias looks up at the young pilot. "Do not feel troubled, my friend. Rak had clearly suffered some very serious internal injuries. The fact that he held on for so long is a testment to his close ties to the Force."
"It is strange," Atharias muses. "His organs have been crushed--but there's not a mark on his skin. I cannot fathom what power could have done this to him..."
* * *
"You are right, Master Tolark," Jilian says. "I--I believe my emotions must have overcome me." Jilian stands down, deactivating her lightsaber. She shakes her head in confusion. "I feel...odd, Master Tolark. Allow me a moment to compose myself." Jilian falls to one knee, her hair falling across her face.
Across from her, Jett gulps nervously and deactivates his lightsaber as well. He watches as Hale and Treela keep running down the corridor, heedless of Tolark's words. "M-master Tolark," Jett stammers, "m-may I have permission to go after them? I-I think they're scared of you for some reason, but I might be able to talk to Hale, get them to come back. Is that okay?"
* * *
Nor's students respond to his call quickly. Vassa is in Sylara's office and reluctantly agrees to head to the ship, pausing only to ask if she should bring Bri and 'his weapons' along with her. Derryl seems out of breath, but indicates his intention to rush to the ship as soon as possible. Roos is in the control center one level below and hurries to join Nor as soon as he recieves the message. Threesa, unfortunately, is all the way down on level 12, in the Deeprunner, and it will take her a few minutes to reach the surface.
After dealing with his own students, Nor turns to his three little stowaways: young Pa'hu and the mischevious twins. The twins seem reluctant to talk, but poor Pa'hu is on the verge of tears, rambling almost incoherantly. "i'm so sorry we came to help bri 'cause he wanted to fix timone and then timone ran off and bri ran off after him and i wanted to go too but then tai said he wanted to look around or maybe it was rai and then there was this pig and i just wanted to...wanted to..."
Rai suddenly steps forward. "It's not her fault, Master Nor!" "Yeah," says Tai, "She just hadn't seen anything like Puumba before, and she was curious." Both of the trouble-making twins appear surprisingly defensive of little Pa'hu.
Ahead, the storm begins to increase in intensity, gold lightning now frequently crackling through the sky and illuminating the landing pad like strobe lights.
* * *
OOC (Nor): [SBLOCK]Your Diplomacy check was a 25. The children are fully attentive and cooperative, and are starting to calm down now. They say that they heard some noises while they were inside the ship, but they thought it was just the storm. Timone tells you that he did manage to record Nor's words, but that he'll need a computer with a very strong processor to filter and refine the recording. Timone also persistantly keeps reminding you of the incoming asteroids--he seems uncannily fixed on the subject.[/SBLOCK]
Tolark nods, "That would be good Jett. I suspect something is unduely enhancing emotions about the academy. Perhaps you should mention that when you find them. I will wait here for a short time."
Tolark turns to Gimto, "Take the rest of these students to the Deeprunner, and be careful."
Tolark carefully kneels opposite of Jillian, and opens his mind to the force, carefully sifting it's eddies for a source to the day's madness.
