Log:Jedi Order: Black as the Pit

Jedi Order: Black as the Pit

OOC Date: February 1, 2021
Location: Kessel: The Pit
Participants: Jedi Order: Chani Tahn, Qutha Buvu Pah, Ban Iskender, Vhe Tenara, Rune, Kasia Ashkuri, Aryn Cole, Zandra naMuriel, Jax Greystorm, and Rey Skywalker with Ben Solo

Why would anyone want to come to the Pit, an asteroid mining station and waypoint for dangerous criminals being escorted to life imprisonment?

Dirty, dark, and filled with the most wretched lifeforms for several systems around, the list of reasons any rational person might find to visit are few. But here the Jedi are, following a man in black clothes through the corridors that alternate between barren and packed with life. "The terminal left behind on Sluis Van leads here," Ben says to the others in a quiet stretch of the station's corridors as they head deeper inside. "Whoever beat us to the next clue to finding the library was working here, in a section of the station called Cresh Seventeen." He glances up at a sign on the wall, plaque of metal coated in a layer of grime, and rubs at it with the end of his sleeve pulled down over his hand. "This is... Besh Twenty, so we're going the right direction."

"So, we've come here to try and glean from their research what direction to go next?" The question echoes through the pathway they travel, reverberating off the metal and carrying back down the corridor the way they came, as well as going forward in the direction they're going. Chani's boots scuff against the plating beneath at this pace, joined up with the numerous others as they are. Beside her, a blue and white BB astromech rolls, matched with her pacing in an effortless way. When they halt to view the sign, Chani's chin turns up, allowing her gaze to view it without straining to look up. The bridge of her nose wrinkles at the sign of the amount of grime needing to be wiped away. "How old is this place? The people here don't seem to take care of it well."

He would like to think he was doing well with understanding Basic but two words spoken by Ben make literally no sense to him. "Cresh and Besh? What are these things?" Rune asks as they walk along, visibly uneasy with the crush of technology and metal all around them. He hasn't been in a place like this before and it causes him to walk with his guard up, a hand never far from the metal cylinder clipped to his belt. The younger Ysannan glances down briefly at the adorable rolling droid, the corners of his mouth turn upward despite the unpleasantness around them. "It smells." Rune comments in agreement to Chani, his nose scrunching up at the odorous unpleasantness. Even so, the novice Force user keeps his head on a swivel, looking down each corridor they come to and preparing for any surprise should it come... and here, he does very much expect some unknown action to come.

Ban Iskender has chosen to wear pale grey armor in lieu of the ubiquitous hooded robes of his fellows, with a green half-cape secured above the gentleman's left shoulder. He gives a small nod to the summary of their seeking, commenting evenly to Chani's question, "Folk oft find it difficult to care for a place in which they do not wish to remain, mistress Tahn."

Trying to keep towards the center of the pack strides Qutha - wondering if robes and cloak were the poor choice, but would have dressing like a bumpkin been just as well? He should invest in some more neutral clothing sometime, but it's neither time no place to consider the foibles of fashion and its proper locations.

"I read on the way that this is a prison system. Kessel itself is a more a pit than this place is named. Thousands of indentured laborers, if not millions. They produce everything from spice to engine fuel cells... this is apparently one of the main trade points - too many people trying breakouts on the planetoid itself."

Adjusting how his cloak falls - hood off, it's dark enough already. Then Rune's question comes, "The Alphabet..."

Vhe watches as the grime from the sign is wiped as the designation is read. Her eyes shift down and around, giving the the space a long look. "And interesting place for the person to be considering what Kessel is used for." A faint observation as the Ysanna gives a turn and toss of her head to let the tails of the silk wrap around her hair fall back from her shoulder. The colors of the cloth rather brilliant and bold given their current surroundings. She sticks out.

A nod is given to Ban's observations, a silent agreement as Vhe chooses to remain somewhat quiet.

Once again Kasia's life spent on the Smuggler's Moon comes in handy, at least so far as her comfort level roaming around places where the stabbing risk hovers somewhere around 'high' and 'imminent'. All it really means that she doesn't /feel/ too out of place here. Even if she looks out of place, with her tidy outfit of flowing layers, a smattering of accessories, tastefully done makeup and a braided hairstyle that looks like it took a while to do. She eyes plaque as Ben swipes away the grime. "Do we have any idea where in that sector they were working?" The question from Rune wins a small smile from her. "It's the Aurebesh alphabet. Cresh is one of the letters."

"Such is the way of many forgotten corners of the galaxy," Aryn intones as she walks up and pauses beside Chani. The blonde wears a dark brown cape that suppresses the white and green of her tunic. The hood is not drawn up, which leaves Aryn's hair to hang straight and free, its length tickling the tops of her shoulders, had they been bare at least. It is not immediately clear if Aryn is armed, but she has the sort of posh poise and tone of voice that says this place is beneath her. It had truly been inadvertent, but Aryn idly makes certain her gloves are pulled on tight; or so the ticking tension of leather conveys.

Zan simply walks along quietly with the others, listening to the conversation, but not really adding to it. She's calm, and keeping a watch as well, but at the moment, she's curious about what they all have to say, rather than what she does. Each step continues forward, her gaze going to the markings on the wall as Ben speaks, and then she simply nods. Nothing to add, just quiet for now.

Jax was with the group and his venerable R2 unit flanked him. The jedi walked with a purpose but finds himself at the back of the pack. He turned to look both directions as Ben mentions that they are getting there but must make it to Cresh 17. "We have a way to go." He looks back this way and that. As Rune's question, Jax adds in on the answer, "Each door doesn't have a proper name, It's been assigned a letter and a number. When we reach the highest number in the designation code. It will start over with a new letter and the number one." It probably starts with zero just to prove Jax wrong.

Jax looks at Exine, "Have you been able to find a jack to use to obtain us any information?" Then he hmms. "There are several places like this across the galaxy, especially Nar Shaddaa."

Rey had bounded halfway down the Falcon's ramp before she'd been called back inside by the ever-diligent Wookiee Chewbacca. He'd thrust an old military green colored jacket at her.

"Did you wash it?" Rey asked.

'Raaaaaaarrww-a-a-all' The Wookiee replied.

"It smells, that's why." Rey retorted with an exasperated exhale. "I dislike wearing it, it makes /me/ smell." But she reluctantly reaches out to take the thing since the air outside from the station they were on clearly was cold as it rushes inside the Falcon from the open ramp.

The Wookiee growled out another response to the young woman, who sighed and put the coat on as she started back out of the ship to join the others. "I strongly doubt this jacket is going to be the reason people are more likely to leave me alone. The smell surely isn't a way of keeping me 'further safe', Chewie." She questions his Wookiee-logic on this, but yields to it for now... again.

A bit more deflated now, Rey leaves the ship in the smelly jacket... and catches up to the others as they delve deeper in to the station. For the time being, Rey remains quiet, her eyes looking over the others as they discuss their plan here thus far, her hands inside of the jacket and her white hood drawn up over her head.

The Pit makes Nar Shaddaa look like Coruscant by comparison. "We've come here to find them and take back what we can," Ben explains, heading into the next section of the maze of corridors and noting with some satisfaction that the nearest marker bears a Cresh. "We weren't able to get into everything left on the terminal, but the things we did find were..." He trails off, falling silent as they pass a lone Ongree stumbling by with glazed, vacant eyes staring out of their stalks.

"There are other groups aligned with the Dark Side aside from the Knights of Ren and the Sith," Ben states once the Ongree wanders past, checking another marker as they pass. Cresh Nine. "The Sith have as many admirers and imitators as they do enemies. I thought I ended one of them. Now... I'm not so sure."

The corridor opens up on a particularly foul passageway, the walls completely coated in iridescent corrosion, the lights flickering and frail. A mishmash of people mill about and pass through, most moving as quickly as possible to be on elsewhere. Curious eyes gravitate towards the group of Jedi; it's not unusual to see unusual groups, but these look... clean, which is unusual.

When the chamber exit opens, the zone beyond is much the same, but even more empty and more filthy, with less light. The floor is no longer solid, made up of grating through which some noxious scent drifts in visible trails. A small blazon on the tube-like corridor wall bears the marker Cresh Seventeen. Ahead, the path splits left and right, each tunneling off into darkness.

"Ooooh..." is Rune's response, truly surprised at the reply. It seems there are somethings the youth never knew and many he still has yet to learn. He continues walking along, as calmly as can be, his eyes now latching to each of these plaques they pass in an attempt to recall the letters as they change. "Curious." he states matter of factly, a tilt of his head and raised eyebrows accompanying the word. Shortly his nose becomes active again causing the former savage to sniff around in an attempt to locate the new scent... it might even be coincidence that it coincides with Rey's arrival.

"Which one did you think you had ended, Ben?" asks Rune, the search for the smell ended as the landscape takes on a more serious and disgusting air. The Ysannan squints at the random flashing of light, the blinking assaulting his vision almost as much as the general atmosphere here attacks everything else. At the fork in their path, Rune places his hands on his hips, hazel eyes looking from one direction to the next. "Which way?" comes the question he would assume most are wondering.

"You've some prior experience with this particular.. sect, sir?" Ban asks evenly of their black clad guide. Mild distaste colors his otherwise composed voice, either at their environment or the subject at hand. As Rune asks after Ben's possibly incomplete ending of some unknown villains, Ban says nothing further of it. The forked corridor pushes one brow subtly higher. "I daresay there are enough of us to divide, if we must."

The darkness makes the Zelosian hunch closer to the others in a mix of cultural and physiological aversion. Where the light gutters his eyesight ends, so the glow-rods on his belt are engaged to allow him to assure his own footing if nothing else. "And so they work in a place that mirrors parts of them..." a sad frown taking him and instinctively he tries to reach out and find someone whom he can touch for guidance, that he not become lost and blind. "Rot was prevalent, I suspect that be our best indicator for where to follow."

There are no further words from him for now, only an attempt to acclimate and find landmarks, so to speak, that he can use like a compass rose. The lack of comment not a personal choice, so much as a sudden need to concentrate.

When two paths diverge and the group slows, Vhe has the sense to look behind them. They do seem out of place and she is not one to forget her life before all this. But they have a decision that is not clear and Vhe reaches out, trying to root out a direction for them but without particulars its like reaching in the dark. The Force answers her but there is no definitive answer when it comes to which way they should go and thus the advice of splitting up gets consideration.

"I can not sense something either way, can anybody else?" Hopefuly that someone might muster up enough intuition to keep the gorup at large together. Qutha's comment about rot has her considering.

Kasia's nose crinkles slightly at the odors coming from beneath the grate, trying very hard not to think about what they might be. Instead she tries to focus ahead, at the way the path diverges. She closes her eyes for a moment in an attempt to concentrate, which has her fall back from the group a little as they move down the corridor. "No," she answers Vhe as she hustles to catch up the short amount of ground she lost. "I blame the smell."

Aryn takes the measure of the air quietly, being dutiful and conscious of their surroundings. The datapad she often carries at her side is used to draw a sample of the nasty air, and she interprets the readouts before relaying, in her way:

"Take care in the air you breath. While not poisoned, prolonged exposure will have effects to your health. Those sensitive to such conditions ought take measures to protect themselves now. Label it an educated guess, but I do not suspect conditions improve beyond this point." Aryn fastens a rebreather over her nose and mouth, initiating the emitter to project her voice should she have need to speak. While some might prefer to tough it out, the health conscious blonde will not; there's no logic in doing such!

When one comes to a fork in the road, it's possibly time to pause and determine which is the path less taken. She too is caught up by that fragrant aroma, chuckling softly at some of the comments as the group explores. She concentrates, reaching out to the Force, and then shakes her head. "I think there are rodents here, but I'm not sensing anything bigger than a rat in the immediate vicinity," she calls out softly. "Well, other than us that is."

Zan also reaches for her rebreather, taking Aryn's advice.

Exine, Jax's R2 unit, gives Jax a raspberry and a quick beep, boop of 'I haven't found a terminal I trust to connect with.' Jax shakes his head fair enough.

"I've encountred a couple over the years, there's a group Zabraks ones that have given me a nickname. There was also a professor from a university. They're both still out there."

Jax steps to the great and he inhales and reaches out to the force then shaping and bending it to his mind as it flows around him to hear down the dark tunnel. That is the plan he had envison but the plane he enacted? Well the force had heighten his sense of smell. Not that he could identify or name the chemicals like Aryn could it did him no good. It overwhelmed him and he turns taking several steps back and to the side to Cresh 15 and there goes his lunch. He's a bit pale. "Give me a moment, I'll be fine. Do Not heighten your sense of smell."

Chani makes brief eye contact with Rune as he voices his agreement, but it's Lord Iskender that receives the majority of her attention. His comment leads to an astute descent of her eyes towards the plating, indicative that the weight of his offered words hit in a way that was measurable. Chani glances around further, pulled back hair flicking against the brown outer shell of her robe and tickling against the side of her neck whenever her chin turns in some new direction. "It doesn't seem like a nice play to stay," Chani concludes, looking at Ban as she speaks. Qutha begins talking and Chani's attention shifts towards him. "That's horrible." She's frowning, now, normally serene face contorted into a look not oft present. Aryn's words help ease that expression from her face, and Chani nods in agreement with the Alderaanian Princess.

At the noble's suggestion, Chani's hands gently brush aside the robe to forage for her own protective mask. It's fastened in place with ease. It seems her stunsaber isn't the only piece of equipment she's been practicing with for when the time comes.

Rey's hands stay in her pockets as she moves through the corridors and lets her eyes roam while the others seemingly do much the same. She glances toward Kasia when the woman speaks of a bad smell, which has Rey casually taking a few steps away from her out of a desire to not be the one that Kasia 'smells' and there-by making her uncomfortable. She's trying to be considerate, just incase!

Ben's words draw her eyes forward toward him. "Were they really Sith emulators?" She asks him. "Did they have access to any of their teachings?" Ultimately he probably knows where she's digging at. The notion that any measure of Force-trained threats they could be facing here.

Her eyes go to the others, and to their split destination options. "If splitting up helps, we've enough of us here that we should be safe in two groups."

"If they had a name, I don't know it. They followed a woman who was once a Knight of Ren. She spoke of something called the Beyond, when she wasn't taunting me," Ben answers with a dose of bitterness in his voice, frowning ahead at the dark corridor and the split pathway. "She thought it was a source of power one could reach. She was consumed with it. I thought when we killed her, that was the end of it." Wary eyes shift towards Kasia, then back into the corridor. "But whoever left that terminal is looking for it too. And if they find the library before we do... they might have the answer."

No one seems convinced on a path to follow, and so Ben points down the left corridor. "We go that way." Did he FEEL IT? "If there's nothing, we'll come back and go the other way." No.

The path is fairly straight, the corridors in the Pit's bowels constructed, not natural, after all, though the pipes of various sizes that line the walls and ceiling lend some additional claustrophic irregularity to the space. Some drip ooze, some vent steam, and others gape to reveal thick ropes of wire. It terminates in a door, a simple portal closed by a sheet of rusted metal. The control panel hangs like a chad from where it's been ripped free of the wall. "If only we had some way to cut through doors," Ben remarks sardonically as he fingers the edge of the dangling panel. "Unless one of you has a better idea."

With the respirator on her face, Chani's voice is modulated through the internal receiver before spilling out the external speaker. "Sky can try getting through the door. If there's any kind of interface still available with it." She's less focused on the overall conversation of the group and now more focused on the door and whether or not it's possible to avoid having to carve through it with lightsabers. She motions for the blue and white BB unit to make his way forward. The head atop tilts back to get a view of the working space, and then, without much warning, two cables deploy from the droid and anchor into the wall above. The droid elevates as the spools wind up, elevating it to the panel. A compartment on the droid's rotund body pops open and it sets to work, both carving through what metal it needs to and then using its manipulating arm to connect power. Something hums in the wall. Lights, dim, but there, begin to show inside where the droid has been working. Sky warbles the power has been restored, though Chani herself doesn't understand the spurt of binary.

"Left is always right." states Rune matter of factly and he falls in line behind the big man leading the way. He takes care to watch his step, not wishing to step in something too foul that will follow them back onto the ships. There's only so much a person can scrub out of clothing and he's rather partial to this set, they're the first set of clothing he's had that didn't come from a live animal at some point. The Ysannan also watches the pipes above, dodging out of the way of an errant drip of some goo that splatters to the ground with a sizzle. "Again, I do not understand why the followers of the Dark Side of the Force do not actively seek out nicer locales... like the beach Kasia mentioned on that other nasty planet." He mentions, shaking his thick mane from side to side. Both in frustration and because he's certain something just landed in his hair. After the motion ceases, he pulls a part of his robes up to cover his face, breathing through the cloth as a sort of filter. When they come to the door, Rune watches the little droid do its thing. Once done, the young Jedi stares at it blankly for a moment before stepping to the side to allow someone with the technical know-how to push buttons. "I believe this is a job for someone else."

"Swift and simple seems fit enough," Ban begins to agree with Ben, before the universe itself recoils at the possibility, and Chani's more refined course of using the droid to bypass the metallic barrier yields great success. "Elegantly done," he congratulates the droid, adding a short nod to Chani for striking upon the idea. A gloves hand reaches to angle the dangling panel toward the sparse light for a better look, a small frown drawing his brows. An experimental tap of a button at random returns acted light. "The panel is functioning, but a passcode is required. Which among us is adept with such measures? For I am.. not."

Putting on his own rebreather, and even sliding on a wrist mounted blaster of all things, Qutha engages a tactical light modified to the weapon while keeping it aimed for a side wall or floor so that indirect light can keep his vision clear, at least out to a point.

"In the old stories of my people, the things of the Dark sought out what felt like kin to them, sometimes with a veneer of something pleasant. But only if they expected to be found there more than once, if at all." watching the droid working and then the others stepping up, he too moves in, shining his light on it.

"Wish this was something a bit more agricultural." frowning deeper as he peers close, "I mean... if these keys weren't in such terrible condition... or so covered in... I don't even wish to wonder. I apologize, something I saw in a holo once. THe most used keys, we would work with that, reduce the number of possible codes." shaking his head, "Nothing I can see, but maybe keener eyes?" the Zelosian turns those gemstone greens back to the others, both brows lofted now.

Vhe is not quick to pull on the rebreather but it is out in her hand as she watches Chani's droid companion get to work. First Ban and then Qutha do what they can Vhe steps closer, delaying the filtration of the air around her for a moment more. Fingers brush against the side of the panel so as not to interrupt the others, "A moment...maybe..." she is not so sure if she can but as the Force slips from her to connect with the panel as she begins to ease through its programming. A breath in and out as she exhales and finally finds what she is looking for. Like a little glinting beacon in the Force she coaxes the command free of the panel and the door slides open with that strained hiss of ill use and time.

She withdraws her hand, looking to Qutha and Ban before she quickly tugs on her rebreather, pulling the straps down over her head to secure it in place and tighten it down. She steps through with the others.

When the door opens, the space beyond is revealed.

The first thing that becomes obvious is the darkness; there is no light in the space beyond. But as their eyes begin to adjust in the time before anyone clicks on a saber or other illumination, shapes begin to materialize out of the gloaming, solidifying into the fuzzy silhouette shapes of the dark, grey irregularities swimming with visual noise.

The next is the floor, in the dim light tipping in through the doorway, looks clean, and when more light is shed, the whole area inside is clean. It has the look of a tidy research facility, or the look of what was a tidy research facility. Everywhere there is evidence of a hasty departure; terminal slots empty, holoserver stacks barren, their glowing memory cores removed. A portable holoprojector has fallen to the floor under a clean metal desk, and a number of items of food are left behind, their shrink-wrap packaging partially removed in one case and a few bitemarks still left in the nutribar.

If the odor assaulting Kasia's nose is coming from Rey's coat, she hasn't figured it out yet. She might Space Amazon her some perfume or some nice soaps if she figures out the source is Rey, however. So be ready for that. When Ben speaks, she listens carefully, meeting that look that's slanted in her direction. A faint frown follows, gaze turning ahead as a path is chosen. "Works for me."

When they arrive at the door that's looking more and more like a wall, she steps nearer to take a closer look at the panel, but Vhe has it covered and so she steps back to level her gaze on the door instead. It's dark, and being a person who didn't remember to bring a flashlight, she pulls out her lightsaber and activates it. The room is awash in a pinkish glow, and with that light she steps tentatively inward, eyes lowering to the abandoned holoprojector. "Doesn't seem like they've been gone very long. I don't like that they always seem to know we're coming."

The hatch opens, and Aryn withdraws a small item intended as a weapon mod but utilized as a handheld flashlight.

CLICK--on

She shines the light inside and calmly moves into the darkness of the room without much regard for potential danger. She moves along a few tables, shines the light over the surface of the tables and other instruments. Seeing such lab equipment in a place like this seems wildly out of place. It takes some perusing before Aryn crouches down and takes hold of a massive holoprojector; it's the size of a steering wheel, give or take, and she calls it out. "I have found something, I think." She sets it on the table for others to have a look. Not necessarily inclined to hacking such items open to reveal their secrets, she leaves it to the better trained among their company.

Zan is with the group, and she steps in, and then stops. Blink blink. Blink. "Wow, this is dark, but - " She blinks again, and then there's Zan closing her eyes as the flashlight goes on. Even though it's not a lot of light. She takes a breath, and shrugs. "If it were me, there'd be a - " She turns to look at the side of the door. Or rather at the wall beside the door. And then she says, "Aha! Everyone, watch your eyes." She hopes. She flips the lightswitch on, and if she's really lucky, the lights work.

Jax pulls his rebreather in place after his issues with his lunch. The device making an overly loud rythmic sound involving a hiss. His voice several octives deeper as he steps into the clean room. "Most impressive." Then he reaches up and adjusts his rebreather and the sound is gone. his voice sounding like him. "Sorry. I think my nephew was playing with it. Most impressive, I wasn't expecting a clean room." He crosses the room and reaches out to the force as he touchs the desk. Then proving that the force is less Jax's ally but more the Frenemy that likes to pull ball up as Jax goes to kick it. "This desk was used by somebody to work on some type of report." He audible sighs through the rebreather.

The lights flicker on, working better than any in the station have since they left the landing berths, and for a moment, it seems they've stumbled into a repeat of Sluis Van: arriving too late at the scene, only to recover more clues. "Too late. What is this, the tenth time?" Ben remarks bad-temperedly, scowling around the room. He wanders over towards the holoprojector Aryn found and picks it up, turning it over in his hands to examine it more closely and setting it down again.

When he does, the device suddenly springs to life, a blue hologram shooting up into the air and casting the room an icy tint. The figure that stands above it is dressed in a long, dark robe, hooded, face concealed by a flat mask with intricate, contrasting colors, though it is impossible to say what color they are due to the hologram's overriding blue.

"Congratulations, Jedi. You have found my research facility." The voice is a woman's, clear and undistorted except by the transmission. "Did you really think I would stay here after you chased me out of the temple? Twiddling my thumbs until you arrived to steal what is rightfully mine?" The question drops. "Whatever you think you know, you do not. Whoever you think you are, you are not. You have toyed with forces beyond your understanding, and you will fear the Beyond."

The transmission or recording cuts, the figure vanishing into thin air as a panel slides back on the far wall, revealing a transparisteel viewport into the blackness of space, and Kessel's anomoly within it: the Maw. Opposite, another panel reveals nothing of interest, just the outside of one of the tubes the corridors of the station run through to get here.

A shudder runs through the walls and the floor, the door sealing shut. There's a sudden feeling of separation, and then... a creeping sensation of weightlessness, as the station wall begins to drift away.

The door whisking open with an audible hiss of working servos brings with it the barely perceptible caress of a breeze playing across Chani's face. She's glad for the respirator. Stirring the atmosphere around here is not likely a good thing. As happy as she is that Sky was able to help with opening the door, she's not as happy when it actually opens. In fact, she's unnerved. The darkness is so thick that Chani thinks it looks more like ink than it does a lack of light. More unsettling is how that floating abyss seems to move at the edges of her peripheral vision. Light spilling in from the corridor helps, and then Aryn's flashlight suddenly illuminates the room as a hole, chasing back shadows and showing off the far walls. "It's creepy. Right?"

The question is meant to keep the others talking. She doesn't like the prospect of facing the room and having to contend with the silence. The combination of the two would probably make her skin crawl. Aryn says she's found something. "Come on, Sky." The BB unit descends from its place on the wall and detaches its anchors before rolling alongside the Naboo woman. She steps in, robes sweeping about her legs and boots shifting to step around the trash rather than step in it. Once look around the room is all it takes to see its mostly stripped. The thing Aryn puts on the table? It's no small piece of equipment. "What's the chance this thing has the information we're looking for?" No sooner has she asked the question than the thing pops up and Chani recoils, physically drawing back and sucking in a sharp breath at the same time. Wall panels shift open. The compartment separates. And the Jedi? They begin drifting towards the Maw. "If we all focus, maybe we can bring ourselves back to the station!" Chani tries to do just that, closing her eyes and focusing on the Force, it's presence, and calling on it for aid now.

"I believe that would confirm them as the Beyond." he quips, a moment before the room's walls slide open and it undocks with the tube they had just entered. Rune stares at the departing station for a moment before scratching his head, everyone's feet lifting from the ground almost simultaniously. "I am not learned on many things, but I do believe that this is bad." The first thought that comes to his mind is, 'we should probably pull ourselves back over to the station.' and he tries to do exactly that. Unfortunately, the Force doesn't seem to want to be with him specifically, the younger Ysannan now floating in the room, arms stretched in a futile manner toward the departing safety of the station, his Jedi robes billowing about his form. The only thing that moves is the sweat on his face from exerting his concentration.

Ban Iskender had entered the room shortly after Aryn, remaining within arm's reach of the princess and quietly drawing his lightsaber. First Kasia and then Zandra prevent any need for him to ignite his own blade. Green eyes narrow slightly as the laboratory's lights hum to life, and shortly thereafter the projector presents a luminous blue image. "We are not who we think," he echoes the taunt, dryly. A short sniff is his comment in the moment before their sealed chamber begins a gravitational drift.

The movement of objects is not among Ban's strengths in the Force, and ad he reaches an empty hand toward the ever more distant corridor. A friend Mars his composure. A steady breath in and out, and the soldier steadies himself, eyes going closed, he reaches out with his mind and senses anew, but once again the fingers of his will can grasp nothing.

Before any source of light can shine in, all that he can see is the hazy bar from the doorway and even that is cut into patchwork like camouflage paint edged by light absorbing black. The urge to suck in a breath is nigh overpowering. To shrink and wilt.

FLY YOU FOOL

Eyes bulging and mouth distinctly dry despite the condensation inherent within the rebreather. Phrases are rising to his thoughts. The codes in the texts Rey has pointed out in the temple. The phrase Bizz has babbled before. Snatches of stories from a world where the sunset is the embodiment of fear. But he's been given a weapon against his people's most ancient and prevalent enemy - but when Zandra just turns on the lights, unlike others, he doesn't shield his eyes. In fact, his body instinctively moves, a photonastic response to the sudden illumination. Then there is the hologram, the message and then instinct when he feels himself lifting from the floor.

"OH! Oh bother!" attempting to turn, reaching out from the corridor they had left, but concentration becomes foregone, when he starts to pirouette like the silliest core-worlds show-dancer. Robes beginning to billow out, like a great ugly, brown, flower. Also ironic.

"OH BOTHER!" voice a little higher as he can't find his center and his chlorophyll runs cold.

Vhe is startled when they suddenly start to shift - unfamiliar with the figure in the holo recording. She is nearer to the door having stepped to the side so as the room shifts and rumbles finally freeing them of the artifical gravity that is part of the pit she blinks as she starts to float and her hand reaches up to forestall her going any further upwards in case she nears the ceiling. Chani's words cause her a moment and she turns about, doing the best she can and gives up with nothing to come about with - it does not matter.

"Qutha, it will be okay..." she says. Serene. One with the Force. Peace and intent on picturing connecting two places once more. Vhe's wielding of the Force is quick, fluid and grasps like some oustretched hand to hold onto their previous location and begin to help bring them back. The ease of the force brings with it a peaceful expression that spreads across her face, eyes closed as she lets herself just feel the points of connection rather than try to see them.

"Why do they always say that," Kasia complains quietly about some element of the message they were left, but before she can add to it gravity has given up on them and suddenly she's lifting off the floor. There's an inelegant 'AAA' sound from her as she finds herself tipping to one side, lit saber still clutched in her hand. She's quick to toggle the saber off and stow it back at its place on her belt, then reaches out both hands to steady herself against the nearest wall. Steady as much as one can steady when down isn't really down anymore. Once she regains her bearings her focus goes in the direction of the station, one hand stretching out like she's trying to physically grab hold of something, though there isn't anything for her to grab. At least not with her hand. "I'd definitely like to revisit this tropical beach mission idea."

Weightlessness was its own obstacle to focus, but pair that with a station that had detachable pods, one of which they were in and released, AND they were near the MAW cluster. Mother save them.

"They mean to cast us to oblivion!" She announces, flustered and uncertain of what they should do. A creeping sense of claustrophobia inched into Aryn's conscience and her breathing began to pick up. Her eyes were frantic, searching for a means by which they might survive this. She steps closer to Ban just as Chani announces a sound strategy. It was something.

"Well spoken, Chani. I add my strength to the others for this endeavor." Aryn raises her gloved hands, both stretched out in front of her, and closed her eyes. A strained effort seemed to lock her arms in a constant flexing motion as she tried to marshal her power of the force to join with the others and manipulate their departure to reattach to the station.

Sweat beaded along her forehead as she maintained her focus, unwavering because their lives depended on this! The fear of being trapped still remained, but Aryn set it aside for purpose and action. She could be afraid later, but she had to be alive to do that.

Zan is pleased that the lights work, and she starts to look around while the others explore. Ben's finding that hologram brings a blink to her face, and then a sigh, as there seems to be one of those evil doers' monologues. At least until the dark woman finishes her speech and things lock up and separate. "Oh. Oh! It's a trap," she says, resigned, worried, a little frightened. This mostly to herself, but at the idea brought forward, Zan reaches out to and with the Force, finding her telekinesis and striving with all her might to bring their little suvival pod back to the station. She lends her aid to the others trying, concentrating enough to knit her brow, even as her feet leave the ground. The ship-born Zan automatically adjusts though for changes in the gravity, at least for the moment, not making any large movements. "Together, everyone," she urges, just loudly enough to be heard and to be encouraging. "We can do this - together." Her concentration is such that she doesn't see the spinning tops in the room, just single mindedly focuses on the station and their pod, and bringing the two back to being one.

Jax begins to float with the rest of them and the room. He though finds himself now floating upside down crossing his legs as if he's on the ground. "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." He says quietly as he reaches out with the force to assist the others. His connection with the force guiding him. Sweat begins to bead up on him as he continues to speak the jedi oath quietly.

With her eyes searching over the room, Rey looks to the source of the voice, and like the others reacts when their section of the station is ejected. Her hands come out of her smelly jacket's pockets and she feels her booted feet lift up off of the deck plating. Zero Gravity... she's not a lot of experience with this per-se.

Experience with rising meditation? Yes, but little with actual space physics floating.

She's not far from the bulkhead when the gravity is lost, however, so her left hand reaches out to grab hold of a partition in the wall while her right joins the others in securing and slowing their floating-away pod.

She looks over to her fellow Jedi, listening to their words spoken, before her eyes go back toward the station that they were just ousted from...

Concentration, experience... peace.

Rey releases the partition with her left hand, and lowers it down toward the ground. She pulls herself back to the deck, her tippy-toes touching down, followed by the heels of her boots... Her other hand remains outstretched, aiding in their shared pull to return them to the station.

Unlike the harmony espoused by the senior Jedi, Ben is a microcosm of emotion. The annoyance and irritation at the transmission/recording itself are written all over his face, brow furrowed and lips turned down, and when it cuts out and the room first starts to drift, he barely notices, a hand reaching out to grab the holoprojector and- floating. Floating away. He blinks, feeling himself beginning to lighten.

A hand reaches down, stubbornly pulling the floor towards his feet, refusing the humiliation of being forced to drift by this stranger, and the other hand reaches out towards the station, his frustration bubbling through him as he binds his will to the side of those corridor tubes, reaching out with his feelings to pull them back.

The combined force of the Jedi's connection is strong, but it's not strong enough just yet; the research chamber drifts subtly closer to its origin on the station while beyond the back viewport, the thin veil of gases disturbed by the Maw's pull looms in the distance, too far to pull aggressively against them yet but their sure destination otherwise. "More!" Ben barks to the others, the itching of sweat breaking across his forehead. "You've got to /pull now/ or we're all dead!"

Floating motionless with her robes in limbo and her hair fanned out as if she's stuck in water, Chani tries to do nothing but focus on the Force and the effort of pooling her strength with the others. It works, at first. And then she opens her eyes to see the Maw drawing closer to them. It makes her heart jump up into her chest, and her grip on the Force falters. Starting to breathe rapidly, Chani closes her eyes and tries to center herself, but that's not helping at all. She can't center herself. The mental image of them being crushed into nothingness is too pervasive in her mind. She doesn't give up, but she's failing, flailing about mentally and physically as if this will somehow help her override the fear and aid the group in saving themselves.

Perhaps it's the panic in Ben's and Qutha's voices, or the chanting from Jax, the serene calm possessed by Rey, or even the reassurances by Vhe, Kasia, Aryn, Zan, and Chani... or maybe Rune was finally tired of failing to find the Force in things. Whatever it was, both arms snap out in front of the young Jedi and he lets loose a guttural roar, fingers clenching on outstretched hands as he summons control of the Force through him and feels the tube in his grasp. Sweat beads lift from his face to float in zero gravity while the moniker of 'savage' falls heavily on his shoulders once more, the man named Rune looking ever the wild creature that was found on Ossus.

Ban Iskender cracks one green eye open to side-eye Ben at the Solo's demand. He draws a breath in through closed teeth, but stills himself rather than answering aloud, and redoubles his efforts to draw them back toward the foul station where no one wishes to remain, but a handful of Jedi very much wish to return. A slow exhale as sweat beads on his face, unspilled. Closer.. closer.

Deep breaths, deep breaths. It's going to be fine. It's going to be fine. He's spinning. His hood has wrapped up and almost goes over his face - to place him weightless, spinning -and- in the dark. He can't remember the words, where to focus himself - the fibrous bundles of cellulose that make up so much of his muscle tissue flexing spasmodically as he turns still, floating higher until he hits the ceiling and rebounds.

"Vhe?!" cling to the voice that spoke to him, "Vhe can you catch me!?" he keeps his voice from going higher, but he's sweating now. Do Zelosians smell like nectar when they sweat? Tonight on Galactic Geographic.

When Ben declares they need to try harder, Vhe grunts and loses some of that focus she had before. The peace becomes somewhat spotting and turmoil rolls about as worry creases her brow. They can do it. Breathe. It takes her a moment but the struggle begins as she lsoes the fluid motion of her previous attempt and pulls upon the pit as much as she draws upon the room. SHe loses it somewhat again when Qutha calls for her and her head turns, hand bracing her as she reaches out still with the Force but redirects some of it towards the Zelosian. Just a nudge.

He starts floating towards her and with a hand wadded up in his tunic she directs him towards the ground which sends her towards the ceiling in opposing shoe of physical force. Once he starts to float down she pushes off the ceiling and back towards the ground, drifting but not too quickly so that when they finally reconnect she won't break her ankle.

Kasia doesn't have quite the degree of annoyance on her face as certain other people here who shall remain nameless, but it's present. She likes her floors staying floors, and her head to not bump into ceilings. This isn't how things are supposed to work! She keeps one hand up to help fend off running head first into anything unpleasant, while the other remains outstretched toward the station they were parted from. It's not easy work, and the frown she was wearing turns into something closer than a grimace as she truly tries to master this invisible force and use it to tug them back to the station.

Like Rey, Aryn brings herself back down to settle upon her feet, anchoring herself. This divides Aryn's focus, because she is not as attuned or as powerful as Rey. Despite this fact, Aryn maintains her grip, and at Ben's insistence for more power, Aryn begins to tremble as she forces herself to push beyond her means to provide more power. It's utterly exhausting. She does not scream. Not yet. Live first! We must live!

Zan can hear Jax repeating the Jedi Oath, and the sound is soothing, helping her to stay calm. For the moment, it's concentrating on that PULL, that necessity to bring their floating room to the station. Now, as Ben says. "Working on it," she comments, aware that he's likely just as freaked out as they are. Likely. She can here poor Qutha, for sure, but Vhe hopefully can give him a hand. "There is no emotion," she murmurs, possibly in tandem with Jax, though not intentionally. Just trying to keep her own cool. She continues twith that telekinetic grab and pull, a slow laborious hard bit of effort bringing sweat to her forehead. "There ... " They can do this, together. "Is" Zan is certain they can, her conviction helping her stay focused and not get distracted by the gaping maw that is trying to suck them in. They CAN do this. "Peace."

Jax finds himself exhausted from the first attempt to pull. The jedi's telekinesis weaker than most the other senior members of the order. He lets out a breath adn instead of straining himself. He can hear other joining him in the oath. So he continues to speak the words of the oath, helping in what little way he can His mind reaching out to try to calm itself from the fact that they are nearly lost and feelign the tipping point of the success of his fellow jedi.

Perhaps its a creature comfort to even put the focus on returning one's self back to the deck plating whilst also focus on keeping yourself from floating off in to space... but anything that helps one feel more relaxed in a moment of needful concentration helps, right?

Rey holds herself against the deck, as many of the others do, they work as a unit to focus on the shared task, and as they seem to be gaining success at drawing themselves back to the station, Rey's eyes sweep over her right shoulder to look sideways at the others.

"They've made a mistake, attempting this move against us." She says, calmly, her few loose strands of hair still floating about the sides of her face as she looks forward again and dips her chin just a little, her dark eyebrows furrowing as they work together for the last amount of return direction through the Force and its binding flow.

"Well done, everyone." Rey states quietly.

Slowly but surely, and then all of a sudden, the chamber is dragged back to the station, docking against the corridor tube from whence it came and reconnecting with a hiss as seals reestablish. Mostly reestablish. Look at this place, things don't work that well. The artificial gravity field resumes with a thump, everything that had drifted loose clattering back down to the floor.

Picking up the holoprojector from where it fell on the floor, Ben looks it over with a frown, free hand smearing across his forehead to wipe away the prickling sensation still lingering there with the pink flush. "Why can't anything ever be finished?" he mutters darkly, turning the device over to inspect it more closely. "Look around if you must, but I don't trust this place any longer. We should go." Tucking the projector under his arm, he glances at the others. "I'll need help with this. There might be more data locked inside it." Something clouds his eyes, and he blinks, pursing his lips for a moment. "You all did well. But we should go."

The door slides slowly open once the pressure levels are semi-stable, leaving the Jedi free to ransack the place for intel or beat a hasty retreat, but stepping through the door does not feel like a return to the time before; it is a step deeper into this new web of mystery.