Log:Jedi Order: A Bridge Too Far

Jedi Order: A Bridge Too Far

OOC Date: March 23, 2022
Location: Unknown Regions
Participants: Jedi Order: Nora Frayus, Aryn Cortess, Ban Iskender, Rune, Yuun, Jax Greystorm, and Rey Skywalker with Ben Solo

The turbolift ride up from the central main corridor was... uneventful. The lift was making odd noises here and there though as it went up through the spine of the Imperial Star Destroyer, a likely side effect of not having routine maintenance performed on it for a long time. But, it was still ascending!

As the lift ascends, Maz's voice comes back over the comlink too.

<"Jedi... the Imperial ships have seen us. Whatever it is you're doing in there, you best hurry! We're doing what we can, but we're going to have to ... fight. Again."> Maz sighs. <"Our Headhunters can only hold these war relics off for so long! Lets hope their pilots are as old as their ships.> Off com, she can be heard shouting. 'Yes, I know how old Headhunters are! I'm making a joke!'

Rey's voice can be heard responding to Maz, but then com silence....

The lift reaches the Bridge level, then stops. It buzzes a denial.

A computer voice speaks up. "You do not have access to this level. Please return to your previous level."

There is a quiet thud in the elevator shaft outside of the lift, but then... more silence.

Nora rides the lift with the her fellow Jedi on their way up towards the bridge. Surely it wouldn't be this easy, right? Though, perhaps, the relatively smooth journey to the bridge was some sort of galactic karma for the near death experience of simply boarding the star destroyer. She looks around to those that accompany her while shifting her weight from one side of her hips to the other. Her head cocks when she hears Maz speaking over comms, and she lets out a soft little cackle to herself. Amusement.

"Ohhh, my apologies, everyone. This is my fault. I was just thinking that this has been a bit too easy," she says. The lift rocks to a stop and then buzzes its denial. That robotic voice chimes in and Nora's cold blue eyes turn in its direction now. If it wasn't a computer (and had functioning optics sensors) it might very well have felt a chill from that gaze alone.

But it doesn't, so the point is a bit moot.

"Ah ha... hmmmh," she says, "Oh, do be a dear and let us in. We have come such an awfully long way, you see. And we simply -must- see this ship's stunning interior and bridge! Such a marvel of Imperial engineering!"

Aryn places a gloved hand out in an attempt to reach out through the force to will the computer to reverse its process. It is a technique she had only seen a few times in action, and it shows in her failure to conjure up the desired result, "Alas, I lack the necessary skill to will this door open, not the tools, though." The 'tools' she evokes is a curved-hilt lightsaber she unfastens from her belt. With urgency the crux of their issue, they might have to sacrifice subtlety to make progress. She glances aside to see who is near her and how close, and whether lighting a lightsaber was practical.

Ban Iskender warily eyes the turbolift around them as they ascend, as if just waiting for the moment when the aged system gives out and sends the lot of them plummeting down toward doom. Yet they reach the top, only to be thwarted however briefly by an automated lock. A dryly raised brow regards Nora sidelong at her quip and general Nora-ness. He too readies the ornate hilt of his saber, anticipating the immenent need for it.

Rune bobs his head to some imagined music as they ride up the lift, the music being interrupted by the communication from Maz. It's not a pleasant call, the small measure of urgency coming through even with the dull quality of the vocoder. He grips the black cylinder in his hand a little tighter, especially when their ride stops and demands them to go back down a level.

"I would rather not, machine." he replies, an eyebrow rising higher at the sound outside of their lift. "Anyone care to guess on what that thud was? Or are we just supposing it was something certainly not nasty and we need not worry about it?" Rune poses to the group, flashing a hopefully winsome smile to keep morale up. He did almost die in a crash to arrive here, he'd would rather move on and forget that portion as quickly as he could... a morale boost might be just the needed thing.

At the last moment, Jax step onto the turbolift to the bridge. He draws into a position at the back of the turbolift. His only response to joining, "Anyone else feel that there should be 40 year old instrumentals of 50 year old popular songs playing softly in the background? Find it mildly disconcerting there is none playing?" His hand silently going to pommel of his saber.

"I prefer not to take that gamble, Rune. Though I would recommend that we find a way to exit the turbolift in a neat and orderly fashion as quickly as possible." Jax says as he stands there and then clips his lightsaber back to his belt. "Let me try." Then Jax produces a code cylinder from his belt's pouch. Then inserting it into the terminal. Then he types a few things, "It would surprise you how many people use Tarkin as their pass code after Yavin. Imperial propaganda."

It had taken some convincing to talk Ben into joining the mission, something about respecting his recent exile, but the finer points of galactic cartography had been elucidated quite convincingly by his counterpart and now he is here, riding in silence on the lift up to the bridge, occupying a corner in relative silence. Most of the corner. He's fairly wide.

"Why would it even go to this level if we don't have access?" Ben questions with a note of the rhetorical. The longer time goes on after the robotic voice informs the group they don't have access, the closer he looms to the control panel, and when Yuun fails to crack the code, his arm pulls back slightly, but Jax jumps in and the balled fist lowers. A dark look is cast towards the panel, but it seems to have been spared for the moment.

The lift doors open up and there it is. The beautiful bridge of a Imperial Star Destroyer. A small corridor leads right in to the open sprawl of the main bridge, with the criss-crossing pylons of windows that look forward out in to space, at the asteroids that are pinning the destroyer where it has been for decades now.

On the floor of that small hallway leading out of the lift area, TO the bridge, there are three Stormtroopers laying dead on the floor, and one Imperial in black with a large glossy helmet face down on the floor also. Whatever killed these men, did it from behind, like they were trying to get on to a lift before being gunned down.

There comes another small thud up in the lift shaft above it as well, and as the doors had split open, the computer voice speaks softly.

"Welcome to the bridge, Commander Puron."

Suddenly, outside, green lasers go flashing by the viewports, followed by a roaring Z-95 Headhunter, being chased by two TIE Fighters, one of which is spinning as it fires its cannons!

Nora lifts the edge of her tunic in a little curtsy as the doors open. Deep down, she likely knows that it wasn't her smooth-talking soliloquy that got them past the doors, but it certainly couldn't have hurt. "Thank you very much," she says, stepping into the bridge to have a look about. Part of why her diplomatic speech was so convincing is that she -is-, in fact, curious about the interior of this ship's bridge. She turns her eyes to scan the ship, vision drawn towards viewports. The sound of her heeled boots against metal grating sound off when her feet carry her towards the nearest bit of reinforced glass, and she purses her lips to watch as the TIE Fighter pursues the Headhunter and begins to fire.

"Ah. That would be our company, I believe. I suspect we should be retrieving what we came here to retrieve, and then quickly make our retreat," she says. Spoken like someone who forgot to read the assignment. Nora makes no immediate move outside of standing by the viewport. She simply stands there and fiddles with her fingers.

When the doors open, Aryn steps through the threshold and pauses on the other side to observe their surroundings. The noise coming from the lift shaft earns a suspicious look, but the Doctor in her prompts her forward to check the carrions strewn upon the deck. Having not a weak stomach around the dead, she rolls them with little hesitation and pulls out a datapad to conduct a medical scan. "Hmm, I wonder if the culprit responsible for these deaths still linger here, in the bridge?" Aryn makes herself useful and searches the dead, too.

Puzzled expression plain as day on his face, Rune lifts his lightsaber hilt and holds it toward Yuun. "Slicing?" he asks, clear that he expects to ignite the blade and saw through the machinery. Thankfully Jax spares him that humiliation by performing actual slicing and unlocking the turbolift doors. Rune lowers his lightsaber, at least a hair, and prepares for what awaits them on the other side of the lift.

Death awaits them as the doors open, however it is not their own. Rune gazes at the bodies of the Imperials splayed out on the floor, cautiously moving onto the bridge as the group fans out upon arrival, a nod to Ban as he guards their exit. The Ysannan starts at the flash of green outside, a smaller jump coming as the ships rocket past. The urge to assist in space combat grabs the young Padawan and he's drawn once more to the stars. With a thin lipped expression he represses the desire and moves to concentrate on the matter they're here for.

"What is it that we are looking for here? Something akin to what they went for in the droid bay or another matter entirely?" Rune asks as he peruses the old but still functioning displays.

"Thanks Jax." he says and once the doors open he walks in with the others. Looking down the hall, he sees the stormtroopers and the other officer. "I will leave the slicing to you then Jax, we should see what we can find and set the self-destruct and get out of here." he says as he starts to head down the hall. He's never been on one these capital ships and he's lost as he tries to look for the main terminal.

Jax takes the code cylinder, "Thank Commander Puron of Imperial Intelligence and I know right Ban? It just makes it's that much easier." He steps on the bridge and looks around. "We're probably going to need another code cylinder, so search on the lapels of any bridge officers you find or in any of the access terminals on the ship computers." He says looking around as he steps in. "And for killer droids."

Ben and Rune are on the same wavelength, to HELL with that control panel, but hey, the doors are open now. He steps out behind the others, still tracking sand from Tatooine in tiny particles that could be detected by forensics if a mouse droid doesn't clean them up first.

"This place has been trapped in a delicate equilibrium between two asteroids for years. We're here to upset that equilibrium," Ben reminds the others, striding onto the bridge like he owns the place. He's done it a million times before, after all. "Smaller than I'm used to," he notes, notingly, stepping to a place near the center and surveying it accordingly, looking out the wide viewports at the battle ongoing past their limited view, such as it is with the twin asteroids framing a band of black and stars above and below, through which Maz's fighters hurtle.

"That one," he decides, pointing at one of the terminals. "Most commands would be routed through the terminal in that position."

Not but a second after the last spoken word is uttered, that one of the ceiling panels suddenly flickers on the lift. Ban might have even seen it happen. Then, with violence and no qualms, a black spike jams through the ceiling of the lift, spearing its way down in to the pod that the Jedi had just exited! Sparks fly out of the ceiling, and rain down toward the floor where the spike lingers just a moment before its ripped back up in to the 'sky' above, with the sounds of wrenching metal, and falling debris clattering to the floor along with those sparks!

The lift shakes inside the shaft, and something can be heard thudding repeatedly against the interior walls beyond the now heavily damaged lift pod!

This happens on one extreme end of the bridge level, while something else happens on the other...

Directly beside Nora.

Red lasers now flash past the window, followed by a heavy burst of light, a TIE Fighter wing is severed and the rest of the ship flies in to the upper asteroid holding the ISD in place!

"It's beautiful.... isn't it." A voice speaks directly beside Nora's place at the windows.

"War."

A aged Imperial Officer has just appeared there, out of seemingly no where. His uniform is pressed, clean, like the day it was issued. But the man inside it? HE's ... old... his beard is long, white, and wispy.

He just stands there, his hands behind his back, as he watches the ongoing battle dramatics outside.

Nora is inspecting the back of her nails while the others inspect the ship when... something happens. A skittering and strange sound that crawls across the back of her head. It's a sound that's not like a sound at all. More like a... feeling that feels like a sound. It's a sign of danger. Her eyes turn towards the lift that Ban stands near to, and she opens her mouth to give that feeling a voice when something rips through the ceiling of it and pierces down into the floor. She doesn't jump. Or scream. Or shout.

Nor does she scream or shout with the sudden appearance of a man behind her, and his voice. His question is answered not with words, but with a quick flash of steel from the dagger she'd drawn from the little holster around her right thigh. Blink and you'll miss it. It's instinctual, after all. That same breath that was inhaled to warn Ban of something -wrong- is exhaled as she draws that dagger towards the man beside her's face. And there's no mistaking that Lady Nora is trying to kill the man.

The first swing misses. Perhaps he moves, perhaps he doesn't. But the next two are drawn back and down and in. Two quick thrusts into his ribcage and then a final push to place some space between Lady Frayus and the strange man that had appeared beside her at the window. Her heart beats fast and she exhales slowly out through her lips while glancing back towards the others.

Aryn's attention goes to the lift as something attacks it, piercing its bulkhead and CLONKING its way around its exterior. Rising up from her inspection of the long-since perished, Aryn does not mention her findings as Ben has already conferred them with the knowledge that this place is both old, and the carrions align with that declaration.

"That is going to be a real problem on our exit strategy. I have no knowledge of what that could be.." Said to Ban as she joins him.

Ban Iskender does indeed see the black spike tear into the turbolift from above. The swept saber hilt in hand is ignited with an emerald scream, and the soldier notes aloud as he steps beneath the torn out roofing panel eyes and guard held high, eyes narrowed again at the brief rain of sparks. "As might be expected, we must make haste," he advises aloud, dry and steady in tone as he awaits some new piece of this metallic menace to present itself. To Aryn, without looking to her: "Nor I."

"What is a lapel?" Rune asks as he moves to search for a code cylinder. Whether or not he receives an answer, his attention is quickly diverted by the two separate, additional jump scares. As if the fighters roaring by weren't enough to have him on edge, the crash of the spike through the very lift they had been in sends his heart beat into the stratosphere. Not to mention the sudden appearance of what he can only figure is a ghost in an Imperial outfit.

At first, torn between the two different appearances, Rune looks back and forth between each one. His hand had unconsciously gripped the hilt a little tighter, thumb hovering over the ignition button, while he appraises their situation. He's certainly not the first to act though, Nora having driven a blade into the 'ghost's' ribcage a couple of times before she steps away.

Rune looks closely at the man, overworked eyebrow lifting as he examines where the puncture wounds would be, curious to see if he bleeds. "Um, hello." the Padawan states, free hand lifting in a palm out gesture of greeting to the fellow before he glances back toward the lift and the... whatever it was there that pierced the ceiling. The address may have come a bit too late, depending on the Imperial's state after he encountered a stab or two.

Yuun looks over to Rune and he smiles a little, and turns to look at him, "The chest area around here." he says as he places a hand on the right side of his chest. Yeah he did dress up once or twice to go somewhere a long time ago, though as he starts to turn around, he hears the stabbing and sees the flash of sparks, the dark skinned Jedi quickly reaches for his weapon, "Uhh...think we have company."

The old man enters and comments about the beauty of war, but before any further conversation can be had, the selfsame old man is being stabbed between the ribs. The damage has already been done by the time the danger is flaring up in Ben's mind along with the strokes of the dagger, and when his hand flies out it is to throw someone to the wall.

Not the old man.

It's Nora. His will reaches out and shoves her hard, bearing her off her feet and pinning her to the nearest bulkhead. "Hold. Your. KNIFE!" he shouts, with some extra emphasis on the last word that presses her head back against the wall.

He hold her there a moment longer, sudden fury sparking in his eyes. When his hand cuts down with a grimace, the pressure on her relents and the man in black turns towards the old man likely bleeding out by now. "He could tell us /everything/ we need to know," the words accompanied by stomping steps that ignore whatever is going on in the lift. "You want to be a Jedi, learn to control your temper better than I do or I'll show you the alternative," he snarls at the woman, finally directing his attention toward the old man and trying to get a read on whether he's already beyond communicating with.

the Imperial Officer turned in time to raise his left forearm up to block Nora's first strike. But he's too old, too out of practice to stop the others. She stabs him, twice. He falls backward, stumbles back and grabs at his chest. Blood starts to instantly coming out of the wound on to his gloved hand. He looks down at it, then up at her, as a look of shock and terror crosses his face.

"I thought... you'd come... to help." He whispers out at Nora.

The old man drops down to his right knee, then down to his left as he puts his right gloved hand down on to the floor and rolls on to his hip, until he's laying against the bulkhead beneath the window. His other hand clutches his chest as he looks over to the other Jedi, dark blood pouring out over his wounds, over his uniform, as he is having trouble breathing now, his lungs likely filling up with blood.

<"This is Rey. Bridge team. Check in? We've found the droid bay. We're hacking the terminals now. This place is... well... pirates would've loved it."> Comes the void of the Paragon on decks below.

Outside the viewports, a Z-95 is hit by the laser blasts of two TIE Fighters at once, and the poor starfighter is angrily engulfed in flames that tear the ship to shreds before molten gas spews out around the pieces.

The lift? it just goes silent, though the silence is broken after another shower of sparks fall from the lights.

<"We're almost done here."> Rey says further over the comlinks that anyone on the team may be holding.

"Help! A distant voice calls. "Aryn! Yun!" The voice shouts, but its very faint, very far away.

Nora's breathing is growing a little quicker now. Her eyes are widening as she realizes exactly what she's done. Her eyes turn towards her dagger and she drops it with a loud metallic clang. Those eyes return to the man whispering out towards her. "I'm sorry," she says, but it's all too little and too late. She takes a step towards him, but before she can close any further, she feels something grip her tightly and force her against the bulkhead. There's a forceful exhalation of breath from her lungs at the impact, and she stares towards the former Knight of Renn toward... ally... in a look of fear and confusion. There's not much she can say in response. Not until his hand flicks away and she collapses down onto her feet. For a moment. Then she collapses further down onto her backside for just a moment, until she's able to push herself back up.

"Mind -my- temper," she says, and pushes past him towards the man that had fallen to his knee. "His wounds are grave," she calls out, "Aryn! Someone! We need medical help!"

Aryn turns from the lift when Jax calls her name and her eyes widen, "I think it prudent we find a way to leave before we trigger self destruction--" Aryn is witness to the events that follow and the color has left her cheeks. Unable to truly digest everything, Aryn surges forward only because she recognizes the call for medical, a triggered muscle-memory reflex from serving the Resistance in just that capacity.

Moving to the officer's side, she shows no hesitation in splitting his uniform to look over the wounds, his blood getting on her gloved hands. Pulling one glove off, she places it to the man's throat, but she recognizes a death rattle when she experiences it. "He is beyond my skill in medicine. Unless one here possesses such skill in the Force to preserve his life, one beyond my own capabilities in healing, he will pass on."

Rey calling on the comms has Aryn pausing. She doesn't answer immediately because she spots a code cylinder on the Captain's jacket and pulls it free of the uniform, tossing it to Jax. "The other code, I presume.." She says, then lifts her comm device. <"Our means to escape looks scuttled, but we may possess the answer to the station's destruction. I will inform you shortly on our action..">

The young Ysannan Jedi is at a loss for what to do. He's unable to heal thus useless to the man on the ground, whatever attacked the lift has gone silent so no need for defense, he doesn't have the second code and is unable to set the charge on the ship... instead he just stands around looking at Nora and Ben with wide eyes after the altercation occurred.

He finally puts voice to concern, "What do we do?" Rune asks after the distant call for help registers to those gathered. "And who is that?" asked with a motion toward the wherever that voice appeared from. The explosion of the Z-95 on the other side of the transparasteel window nearly echoes his thoughts on the situation at the time, quickly spiraling out of control with an explosive end.

Yuun doesnt' see the spike anymore and he glances about to check to make sure everyone is ok. Though as he does he hears the voice call to him and Aryn. Yuun is about to say something to Aryn, but when she is called over to help the old man, "I wish I could help." he frowns as he sees teh down man and looking to Nora and Ben. He sighs and as he does he hears his name and Aryn's. "What?" he asys as he starts looking around trying to see where this person who called him is.

Jax catches the code cylinder from Aryn. As there sharp comments coming around the room, "This is NOT the time. Lets get out of here first. We fight that thing while angry and divided. We won't make it. That's what it wants." Jax then enters both code cylinders. Then enters in the pass words, "Alright I'm in the system. Give me the word and I'll finish the sequence."

"Perhaps you can find space to moralize when you're finished murdering old men in cold blood," Ben replies tartly to Nora as she moves around him, standing inertly over Aryn and the dying man. He turns sharp eyes on Ban. "Next time I'll stand aside and let her stab whoever she pleases, thank you for correcting my judgment." He's running hot.

Speaking of which, the man glances over to the terminal he'd indicated earlier when Jax makes his announcement, pacing that way. "Set it to blow. There's got to be escape pods in the vicinity if it comes to that. We can ride those out. Unless they're missing." The frown has not left his face. "I knew this would be a trap."

The Imperial Captain stares at Aryn. His eyes are upon hers, as she cuts in to his uniform and makes her final assessment. He reaches up a hand to lightly touch gloved fingers to the side of her face. "It's good... to see..." His hand lowers back down, and his eyes go empty.

He's one with the Force now.

<"Kiddo. You and yours better get a move on. We're running out of pilots out here. Good news is? We got your escape route open. Looks like they've been carving a tunnel out of the interior of this thing for who knows how long. All we had to do was locate it, and tap in to that tunnel. So get a move on! They're launching more fighters! We won't hold out here much longer!">

As Yuun moves to check on the lift, with the others still near to it, there are no more noises to be heard out in the lift shaft, the lift itself is still operational, just with a big hole in the roof, and more sparks occasionally spewing out of the severed electrical lines.

<"We're on our way back. Qutha says he saw a spider-bot. I believe him. We found a whole room of them down here. Be on your guard!"> Rey's voice warns to everyone on channel.

"Ban," Nora says and offers the man a gentle shake of her head. Nora's eyes linger on Ben a moment or two longer, lips thinned, but silent. She turns them to the old man whose last breath leaves his lungs and she lets out an exhale of her own just after. Only she's able to draw in another shortly after. She reaches for her dagger and picks it up from the floor. The weight of its grip in her palm, she briefly closes her eyes and tries to reach out to the Force for any sort of... answer. Guidance. There's nothing but the sound of skittering strings in her skull. In response to the emptiness, she lets out one final huff and tucks that dagger back into the strap on her thigh.

She rises back to her feet and moves towards the lift where Yuun has moved to investigate. Her eyes narrow at the sparks that drift away from severed electrical lines, only occasionally glancing back over her shoulder to the dead man that's blood remains on her knife.

Aryn is no stranger to death, or witnessing it. The moment passes.

"Do as Mr. Solo commands, the rest of you, let us find a means of escape be it the lift, should we brave it, or the escape pods, should they exist. Ban, have you any notion of that thing in the lift now?"

Aryn lifts her comm device. <<"We are triggering the self destruction sequence now, then we ascertain a means off the bridge. Will check in once the sequence is started. Aryn, out.">>

"It's troubling *sir* that you think menacing her with the dark side is-" Ban begins before Norah interjects. A terse exhale and sharp nod acknowledge Jax's 'not the time' input. He risks a short look aside to the terminal on the turbolift interior. "There is still power to the lift. It may yet function." He is definitely still on guard.

Ban Iskender adds to Aryn, "Nay. There is no sign of it, at present." He remains on guard, though.

A few moments were spared for the life that was lost, the messy haired Padawan watching as the huddle over the old man slowly grew thinner. Maz's transmission brought him out of whatever musing he had been moving into, hazel eyes shifting to the turbolift they entered from. "That may have been the spider-bot carving open the roof." Rune mentions, motioning toward the punctured ceiling inside the lift.

"We should get a move on." comes the next mention, motioning to Jax as if he needs his words to complete the sequence. From there, escape... leave the Star Destroyer to its fate and regroup with the other Jedi in the droid bay. "Hopefully leaving this ship will be easier than getting aboard. Cannot say I fancy repeating the events of arrival." At that, Rune joins the others gathering to leave, his hand coming to rest on Nora's shoulder with a firm squeeze before it falls to his side once more. He offers her a tight lipped smile of hopeful reassurance for the dreadful turn of events on the bridge. At the infighting, Rune casts a glance from Ban to Ben, his lips drawing even thinner at the exchange between the two men.

Yuun crouches down and looks down not seeing anything, there is a hole in the lift but he sighs. Glancing back at the others but opening himself up to the Force, he does hear what's going on behind him, and at this time Yuun stands up, "The lift still works and Knight Jax is correct." he says his voice calm but strong. He nods his head to Ben and Aryn, "We do need to go, we can take the lift, we just need to be on guard." he says this Yuun moves from the lift to look at everyone, and he watches Nora and Ban and gives a nod of his head, he looks towards the lift waiting on the others so that they can leave. He felt the life of the old man pass, and Yuun bows his head, "May you rest in peace and become one with the Force." he says.

"Drop it now. I'm sure this mission will be discussed at length among the knights and the Paragon." Jax says looking at other and anger seeping into his words. Then Jax starts up the self destruction sequence. "There. It's done." He says leaving both code cylinders in place. Then turning to march across the bridge towards turbolift.

Ben has finished with the discussion, not continuing it as he elects instead to move back the way they came towards the other man. "I don't trust this," he says of the lift, putting a tentative boot inside the sparking canister filled with the scent of burnt silicon.

An explosion outside the viewports washes the bridge in orange light for a brief moment and is then extinguished, reminding the team what the destroyer will do when its countdown is finished, and he steps all the way in, gives the floor an experimental stomp, and nods to the others. "Safe enough for a final ride. Like this whole deathtrap."

Once everyone is inside, the doors require some coaxing to close, but once they're mostly shut it finally consents to stutter to a start, protesting all the way down to the escape route as the clock winds down with them.