Log:Knights of Ren: Do Not Go Gently
The forces of Light and Dark come together to save a world. A hero falls.
OOC Date: March 23, 2021
Location: Coruscant
Participants: Malik Ren as Self/GM, Aryn Cortess, Ban Iskender, Errod Zand, Jax Greystorm, Kasia Ashkuri, Sebek, Tamsin Cas, Tarq Najjic, Vhe Tenara, Zandra naMuriel, Knights of Ren, Jedi Order
[ Malik Ren (Mr)]
How it started:
The Jedi, in search of a way to stop the source of the Coruscant fires, made their way through fiery lower levels to the nefarious FO HQ/Superweapon... the Citadel! There, they met the waiting Knights of Ren, who engaged them in sassy battle!
How it's going:
The Force moves in corruption, aberration, and disaster, here.
No matter whether the Force user is attuned to the Light or to the Dark, it's clear that something is dangerously, grievously wrong -- a glowing crack has appeared in the hitherto impenetrable obsidian walls of the Citadel, and several unlucky First Order personnel have jumped to their deaths from somewhere above, rather than face whatever is inside. From a door at the other end of a narrow catwalk, a tech has stumbled out, speaking of catastrophic failure within the structure -- a catastrophe that, if allowed to occur, will take half the planet with it. Whatever means are necessary to prevent this destruction, it seems likely that the solution is now beyond the means of usual measures. Something will have to be done, by people extraordinary enough to do it.
If they can get along.
Malik Ren, no particular fan of Jedi, seems loathe to leave off fighting with Kasia in order to like... not fight with Kasia, but even he can accept that /everyone is going to die/ if they don't fix whatever's happening.
"It seems there is only one choice," he remarks behind the black and silver mask - bit sourly - and steps to lead the way across the catwalk, into the inferno! It's probably fine inside.
[ Kasia Ashkuri (k)]
Though Kasia seems disinclined to give up the fight with Malik -- because it's Malik and fighting with him is one of her hobbies -- but as much as she might be into the battle, she can't deny what is happening here either. She doesn't deactivate her saber, but she does begrudgingly lower it. "Looks that way." Shoulders squared, lips pursed with an acceptable level of irritation that Malik should be familiar with, she turns to move after him. Dumb, maybe, but look, she makes a lot of bad choices, she just seems really well put together so it's easy to miss.
[ Tarq Najjic (T)]
Tarq is moving at a determined shuffle to go find his lightsaber that Vhe Tenara had so rudely knocked away from him instead of striking him down. He has lost his helmet after Zandra naMuriel sliced it up, nearly taking him with it if not for a quick dodge and use of the Force. A lightsaber intersected with his shoulder in a way that most medical professionals would deem unhealthy, though the burn has already been sealed off by one of Tamsin Cas's hyposprays.
It has not been his day.
He takes a deep breath, looking back at the Master of the Knights of Ren turns away from fighing Kasia Ashkuri. "Not even chance to strike back for pride," he mutters.
He squares his shoulders and his stance, holding a hand out in front of him. The lightsaber leaps readily up from the ground and into his hand. With a flip of a switch, the crimson blade hums out, its crystal attuned to its wielder, shimmering. Then it resettles even as he does: Tarq Najjic has his groove back. He struts back to the catwalk and says from behind Kasia, "We are still cool, yes?" The voice is very dry.
[ Aryn Cortess (AC)]
Aryn Cortess arrives from the chaos of the fiery surroundings wearing the protective, if not fancy too, regalia of a Jedi mixed with an Alderaanian styled cape singed from the flames! It had taken longer than she cared to admit to reach her companions, but alas, she arrived all the same, and she was not alone (Ban). "The fires grow worse with an appetency to spread across this whole bloody planet. I speculate this must be its source, amidst the ambuscade no doubt. We should see where our strength might lend aid." Aryn shares a glance with Ban briefly before making her way closer. <<"Friendlies approaching..">> Aryn warns, though it was likely they felt their arrival all the same; IF it could be differentiated through the dark churning energy this place bolstered.
[ Vhe Tenara (Vhe)]
Vhe Lets her blade lower, the blue of it barely making a sound as she glances back at Tarq and finally after Ren. A grim sort of resignation settles about her but she merely nods, a simple acceptance of what they must do. She starts after the others leading the way, meaning to cross the bridge as she turns her head to regard Tarq as she matches his pace, her multitude of braids beaded and adorned swinging with every step. "We certainly can not fight this blaze with sabers." With that uttered she smooths her finger over the button of her own as the brilliant blade disappears, a soft swoosh of sound before she is clipping it back to her belt and quickening her step.
The burn scars along her neck begin to itch as a reminder of the pain that these fires can bring and they are walking right into the heart of it all.
[ Zandra naMuriel (Zan)]
Would you look at that? Malik Ren actually paid attention. She won't say he listened to her, because Zandra is quite sure the man made up his own mind. Naturally. However, she takes a moment, a quick meditation to center herself, taking a quick look around. "Aryn! We have to go that way - " A gesture with her lightsaber, which she then powers down, still keeping it in hand. "All of us. It seems we have - a bigger problem than each other."
If Zan sounds a bit bemused by this, well, it's because she is. Whoda thunk it, right? "Come on, let's go. I can't believe this is happening, but - " She turns to follow Kasia, because stupid idea or not, something obviously has to be done and she doesn't have any better ideas.
[ Jax Greystorm (Jax)]
Jax stands for a moment and letting a out a heavy sigh. He flexes his fingers for a moment. He closes his eyes for a moment reaching out and his saber returns to his hand. He looks down at the deep blacken slice of the handle. He makes a hmph sound as he snapes it to his belt. Jax shakes his head, "Looks at like this You've teamed up with the Sith in the past for the greater good. Just think of it like that." He stops for a moment, << Jax here you, Princess. We got something bad enough that the KNights of Ren are calling a truce. I heading into the Citadel. >>Then Jax turns and runs towards the citadel and into harms way.
[ Tamsin Cas (Cas)]
//Just// when she was getting an escape plan in place, Malik Ren decided he was going to wander off into the heart of the Citadel. Tamsin, who had been in the process of tearing up some pieces of the walkway with which to seal the crack, or at least hold it covered while the living made their escape turned off her effort as one might turn off a lightswitch, the steel ceasing its screaming, though what had been buckled and broken would simply have to remain so, as she stepped forward to follow the leader into the breeching place. Still helmed and fully covered, there was no way to gauge her response to the choice being made. But she walked with purpose and without delay, the chain whip held low and ready. Tools were useful things.
[ Ban Iskender (ban)]
Ban Iskender is unique among the Jedi in that he is attired not in the traditional voluminous robes of the Order, but in pale battle armor, an ornate green lightsaber ignited in his hand as the soldier hastens alongside Aryn to join his brethren in knightly combat- just in time to discover a new menace. Remarking dryly, "Indeed, your Highnesd. I daresay the looming doom o'er this world bears addressing. Have their ilk grown so accustomed to the destruction of worlds that now such is accomplished even by accident?" Having drawn within earshot of the stalled skirmish, his words are clearly audible. He adds aloud to his fellows, "Perhaps the sheathing of swords is a touch premature; even if Ren's Knight do not oppose us-" Big IF if true, "I suspect this edifice holds many guardians less cooperative."
[ Sebek (SE)]
Post-battle comes the ritual disrobing. Sometimes in comfort, other times in ANGER. This was one of those funky times. There was a loud clattering noise in the bowels of Coruscant, about a hundred metres below the assembled group of slobs and snobs, as a ruined raiment was flung into some trash, along with a helmet that had a giant slash across the snarling visage. This left a yellowy-coloured alien hissing in anger, holding in his hands a long mace/baton like weapon from what was possibly the wrong end. Behold the Knight of Ren! Behold the defeated! Behold Sebek of the Desert!
"INSECT!" he erupted, as a ruby-red beam burst from the emitter of the baton weapon and slashed open a large pile of detritus. "INFIDEL!" A second slash tore some rubble from a nearby building. Then he tried to grip the Force in order to really let out his rage... and promptly retched.
A minute later, leaving the mess of UNDESCRIBABLE behind him, the Falleen recollected his thoughts and quietened the raging turmoil inside him. His skin faded from yellow into the greens of calmness and self-control. "And thus our greatest tool is perverted. Fie be upon those who would take from us what is rightfully ours!" Tei Tenga hummed furiously in his hand, baying for revenge against She Who Cries. No. No, she did not cry. A new name was deserved, one of fury and power. "She owes us one more defeat, my blade. We shall grant her not this chance. But we must find her. And make her /suffer/." He spoke to the weapon like one soothed a crying child. "And yet before we must find the sickness in the heart of our power and excise it. Let us not tarry, Tei Tenga, and then at full might we can perform the greatest favour for our friend and /end/ her!"
Within spitting distance was the shattered buildings and solid wall of The Citadel, and it didn't take a genius (thank goodness, because one wasn't available) to determine that whatever was churning up the Force, it was coming from in there. "Behold, an opening," spaketh Sebek to the solid wall, before promptly making three rapid slashes into it. Then, with a slight amount of foot pressure, the wall fell and the Falleen made his way inside.
Alone in the heart of the wound, a hundred metres below help. This'd be great, right?
[ Errod Zand (EZ)]
Errod Zand is among them, already having given up on the fighting mostly due to the fact that his garments are still glowing in places from the heat of Zandra's lightsaber shearing through them. He had been out of the combat but found a second wind at the bottom of a auto-injector and now stumbles unsteadily towards the catwalk as well, intent on crossing it.
"And now we journey into the belly of that great destructor, the dark well of suffering unleashed upon this world turning back on those from whose hands it sprang. As though the passage of time were stored up and concentrated, the clock advancing unhinged by a thousand years every second as the fire burns away the present, revealing the future and inevitable state of this world and every other." Hollow eyes, wild eyes, haunted eyes, they stare wide from red lids, his ponytailed hair matted with sweat, his horseshoe mustache twitching with the odd muscle spasm, nostrils flaring to breathe in deep. "The air is suffused with the smoke of mortal suffering, and we breathe it like tabacc from a cig. The legacy of existence. The reality we have created." He moves ahead towards the crack.
[ Malik Ren (Mr)]
Inside the Citadel, the situation is Not Good. Shocking.
The point of entry is some kind of service hatch, and has delivered the Jedi and the Knights (except for Sebek) into the belly of the beast -- the terrible engines that make this place run. There are some open fires, but for the most part just an oppressive heat. And not /just/ heat -- a wrongness, the press of danger, the promise of doom. It sounds like something Sebek would say, the Promise of Doom! But nonetheless it hangs in the atmosphere so strongly that even the non mutant Errod can feel it -- the danger is so pervasive here that it approaches something like despair. Hopelessness. The temptation to give up, because the magnitude of the peril is so strong.
There are no guardians waiting for them inside the Citadel. Instead, the dim lighting flares with warning alarms, and there are some bodies collapsed where they failed to escape this place. The infrastructure, once tidy and severe in a typically First Order way, has clearly collapsed in places. Built as these things often are, there is a central chasm to this place, and around it, rings of stairs, lifts, crisscrossed with catwalks.
A horrible hum from below marks the Reactor -- perhaps the source of this problem, a terrifying monolith that glows with cracks as more and more pieces of its safety containment begin to shatter.
"Hello. Aren't you lovely?"
This strange little voice belongs to, of all things, a droid. A little seeker droid, damaged, so it's fallen on the ground. Its optical receptor glows and flickers dimly.
"I am V10, I am here to help you," the droid promises. "I am so sorry, but none of the usual personnel are here to help you. The fires have damaged the Citadel and the Upper Level Containment doors have been sealed. It is unlikely to be Effective. But it is Protocol, of course! I will answer all of your ques- ques- questions!" It's on the fritz, but it's trying.
Below, another ominous CLANG sounds as another piece falls off the reactor, and Malik Ren makes a noise that's easily 75% growl. "Get information out of that thing about what we need to do to STOP this, or throw it into a fire. I'm going down to hold as many pieces onto that mess below as I can. Don't follow and don't argue. Just shut this off, or we lose the Citadel." Vague wave. "And a few billion people. And some of my favorite restaurants." He slips away into the shadows, on a mission!
The Seeker droid speaks up again. "Surely you are looking for the switches?"
[ Kasia Ashkuri (k)]
Kasia's head turns to look back and scrutinize Tarq for a few brief moments. "We'll see. That can be sorted later." There might be some surprise that Tarq is here, that he's on the side he's on, but deep thought on the matter will have to happen later. When there's time, when they're all not about to die. Without another word or any clue as to whether Tarq will be denied his favorite party spot on Nar Shaddaa she turns and marches onward, the frown she was sporting only growing more intense. There's a moment where she seems to step after Malik as he insists that they don't, staring after the man for a few seconds before she turns to look down at the droid. Not being the best droid person here, she opts to search some of the bodies on the floor, rifling through pockets until she comes up with a small flimsiplast card. "I've got... some kind of codes here. Do we need codes for anything?"
[ Tarq Najjic (T)]
Tarq takes a knee next to the damaged droid. "Am not mechanic, or droid programmer," he mutters.
"V10, am Tarq Najjic. Am Knight of Ren; here to help. What is happening, and-" he looks down at the reactor. "How can we stop it? Must be way. What switches?" He bombards the droid with questions, deactivating his lightsaber as he does so, though he leaves it in hand. "Safe shut down?"
They have to succeed. Tarq needs to succeed. If he can't go back to the Pulse- he shuts down that line of thought: "If save Coruscant, must promise not to ban from Pulse!" he calls after Kasia. "How can we use codes?" he asks V10.
[ Aryn Cortess (AC)]
The tocsin weighed heavily on her senses, adding to the tinnitus Aryn already had. The capabilities to focus were challenged by all the sensory of their present situation. Normally, Aryn might comment on the opportunity to work with Lord Oran again, but he storms off in his way ever focused on the mission and delaying any niceties the highborn might exchange; it was custom afterall!
Amid the chaos, Aryn stops when the command to interrogate the droid is given. Her gaze follows Kasia's pursuit of other clues while she stands beside Tarq listening to his questions. Aryn's gloved hands clamp against her lower back in a patient, proper manner and she adds to the Knight's inquiry by asking, "Furthermore, what protocols have initiated that might hinder our progress to the heart of this calamity?" Aryn shares a brief look with Tarq, nodding before regarding the droid expectant of an answer.
[ Malik Ren (Mr)]
V10 is a little bit broken, but still seems to be doing its best to be helpful. It's programmed to be helpful! No one really taught it the finer points of why you shouldn't talk to Jedi or strangers... it'll just talk to everyone. Why would they be in the Citadel if they weren't supposed to be there?
"Oh, I'm so sorry, but you're very short on time! The reactor will melt down completely in...." calculating... "Ten minutes and thirty seven seconds! Catastrophic failure. Catastrophic! Remote shutdown has failed. The only possibility now is that all four Emergency Shutdown Switches be activated. Each one has a code. You seem to have found the switch codes. Lovely! That's very good of you!" V10 praises Kasia for corpse looting. "The damage is extensive! It may not be possible to prevent an explosion -- but if you can at least shut down a few switches, it will at least limit the damage."
To Aryn, the droid assures, "There are no protocols hindering you. Protocols are for safety! Safety first! But the infrastructure seems comp - compromised and I do not know what has become of the security. Poor lovely security!"
Helpfully, "Would you like me to upload the switch locations?"
[ Vhe Tenara (Vhe)]
"Yes, V10, we would like to download their locations. We should group off hand out the locations and reach them faster this way. Its the only way we can likely get to them in ten minutes. Tarq..." The offer is made as she waits for the helpful droid to aid them in their search for the only things that will end this disaster.
She removes her datapad from her belt and lowers down beside the droid. "I have this device for you to use." The Ysanna glances up at the rest
[ Zandra naMuriel (Zan)]
Zandra's eyes go wide as she comes out of that meditation, perhaps not as calm as she'd like. She takes a breath, murmuring to her self, "There is no passion - " No, she doesn't recite the whole thing, just the phrase enough to help her calm down. "In case it's not obvious," she calls out to everyone, "Time is running out here, we don't have much time." She shivers, and then doesn't say what else she's sure of, after that meditation, at least no more than in a whisper. "And may the Force be with all of us, for I don't know that we'll all make it out alive."
A deep breath, a glance over to Tamsin - armoured and helmeted as that particular woman is. Zan wouldn't recognize her if they ran into each other in a restaurant - well, anywhere. But they did try to create a shield together, of the support structure, even if Zan gave up on that task first. She nods once, acknowledging both their shortlived tk duel and their even shorterlived working together.
As folks get the codes, she waits, glancing around, but then taking a moment to meditate a bit more, a little deeper this time. She frowns briefly and then her face goes back to serene. She's now got a very thoughtful look on her face.
[ Jax Greystorm (Jax)]
Jax nods, "Giving us locatin of the switches is handy. Is there any difficulties access the switches with security or other obsticules?" He scratches his chin. "Will we need to have access codes or use slicing?"
[ Tamsin Cas (Cas)]
Once Tamsin was inside, the voice of the sputtering droid drew her helmeted head around, as she listened to what little it had to share with them. Tamsin, turning her gaze towards where Malik was wandering off, fell entirely silent, still, unnaturally so as she settled into herself, not seeming to be bothered by whether or not she was blocking the movements of people in and out. She stood so for long enough that it seemed she might have frozen that way, the way ones grandparents once warned that your face might stick of you made rude expressions. And then, just as suddenly, she was back to herself, and reaching for a datapad squirrelled away in her robes. Wherever she had been, she had been, at least partially, here. "I would suggest," she offered in her distorted, but imminently reasonable voice, "That we group ourselves so that each group has at least one skilled telekinetic, to allow for aiding in getting to the switches. V10, are the switches of equal priority? If they are arranged in order of priority, can you add those to your data download?" As Zandra looked in her direction, Tamsin nodded, but when she spoke, her voice was flat, without any inflection past the vocorder, "I did not expect a long life, even before this." And then, she looked to the group, "Who is coming with me?"
[ Malik Ren (Mr)]
"The codes will help you!" V10 volunteers to Jax. "You don't need to get fancy. Although I'm sure you could! They are protected, however... and the shields may not be functional. Perhaps literal slicing is needed? Ha--a! A joke!" ugh droid humor.
"All the switches are of equal priority! Not all of them may be functional. Please do your best! I suggest that you may wish to split up.... time is running out!"
[ Ban Iskender (ban)]
"It seems so, madame Ashkuri," Ban voices evenly to Kasia as she comes upon the to-be-determined codes. Codes are always useful, even older codes check out. V10's report of their sure predicament prompts a sharp breath through flared nostrils. Zandra's voiced dread that all may not make it out alive earns a dry quip, "None linger in such a state forever, mistress. Let us make good use of what time remains." A short nod to V10, "Yes, the location of the four switches, in all haste." V10's joke gets a terse sigh. "Automaton humor." A look aside, "I've little skill with terminals, but can protect one who is. Quickly."
[ Sebek (SE)]
The atmosphere in the Citadel was foreboding in the same way that water was wet. Sebek nearly retched again when he stepped inside. Now all he could think about how hungry he was, and there was no She Who Slaughters nearby with the antidote for this problem.
"Pitiful, my blade, how the peasantry fails such. One job was required, and upon failure they will pay with their lives." Philosophical Sebek talking to his angry sword was far less effective than Thoughtful Sebek who should probably ask why the place is falling apart, Problem-Solving Sebek who was interested in keeping this place from falling apart further, or even Self-Aware Sebek who could put two and two together and determine that big boom = no more hunts for u.
"Sickness seeks to sink its hooks into us. We cannot permit it," continued the Falleen in the small antechamber-like area he'd found himself in, which would be cozy if not for the clear violation of health and safety regulations by having a giant open empty space blocked only by a single railing taking up the back wall. "Imperial architects need to be shot. Consu-" CLAAAAAAAANG. That was /really/ /really/ /loud/. "Consumption is too good for them." Using the red blade as a torch, he headed towards the chasm, looked down, and fought back the vertigo. "If we are to abscond with our lives," sword's not alive, Sebek, "we must arise akin to the Firebird of Khm-Serta." So... stairs? Stairs.
[ Errod Zand (EZ)]
Errod looks more like a ghoul stumbled out of this hell than one of the rescuers come to stop it; his clothes smolder, he's leaking blood, he smells like death. "Ten minutes?" he chuckles dryly, eyes staring up at the vast space above, the sheer weight of the air and machinery and oppressive heat that makes the vision shimmer. "Might as well be an eternity. It's all the same. Ten minutes, ten years. If you're dead at the end what does it really matter how long the duration?" There's some other information relayed by the droid, but he's zoned out, having wandered to one of the ledges and staring over the edge at whatever lies below.
Eventually, he looks up, blinking a few times at the assembled friends and enemies. "We're all going to die, one way or another. Might as well die on our feet. Die fighting. One last time." Is that a pep talk? "Let's flip some switches."
[ Malik Ren (Mr)]
V10 is such a lovely droid, you guys. I can't believe none of you SAVED HIM to take him with you!! Was it the jokes? It was the jokes, wasn't it? At any rate, the Seeker faithfully uploads the locations of the four switches to everyone's equipment: Two are above their current level, two are below, each has an associated code, and the order is not important. They will not have to search and struggle to find the switches, but actually accessing the things may be difficult, especially if they are covered by some sort of shield.
Two teams set forth with all haste: One above and one below. Far below the others, the reactor has not lost any more of its containment pieces, but with every passing moment, its power threatens to escape both the mundane systems that keep it in check, and the telekinetic force of the man trying to keep it in one piece long enough for the switches to initiate a shutdown.
The sense of danger is unrelenting, and it seems a promise that people are going to get hurt.
MEANWHILE IN THE UPPER LEVELS
[ Malik Ren (Mr) | 20:59:16 ]
The intrepid group sets forth to the upper levels! Away from Sebek... good choice guys. Following the instructions from V10, they travel up disreputable stairs and catwalks to the location of the first switch -- there is, of course, a problem. It is separated from them by a huge expanse of broken, tangled, tortured stairs and catwalks. They cannot cross, they will have to climb, or leap, and if they fail? Malik is not going to catch them. He is busy. Even with enhanced movement, it seems farther than one can reasonably jump.
[ Tarq Najjic ]
The man in a black-and-purple outfit that positively sparkles and sways with his every movement pauses at the precipice, looks down, then stairs up and over. The end of one of Tarq's split capes has a burned end. "Tarq Najjic is adept at telekinesis, but would not say true 'master.' If pull out bits of platform, then could make path. Is long way, though. Will need more than my will alone." He holds out his hand, stretching his fingers once before taking a grip. "Help Tarq Najjic. Must get someone across." And he takes a strong sense and the beginnings of a grip upon a long section of catwalk that is below them.
[ Vhe Tenara (Vhe) | 21:14:13 ]
Tarq's choice of action once they reach the rather extensive gap is given a nod. "Some of us can hold items up for others, not all of us are likely needed to deal with the switch. I will stay here to help make sure whoever goes across makes it back." Vhe steps up beside Tarq and she traces her control of the Force outwards to grasp at some of the debris and pulls.
The Force answers her and she secures her grip with it. "I got it, I think..." she grits as there is complaint, groaning, creaking and then straining as she pulls upon some of the twisted metal. Its loud, grating and causes her nerves to shudder beneath the sound of it.
"Going to need more help. Jax!"
[Jax Greystorm]
Jax steps up at Vhe's request. "Vhe trust in the force." He says reaching out with his hand and the force. He takes grip of the same catwalk as Vhe and with a jerk of his hand he moves to pull it up to the right location. "Tarq, we all have our talents both in the force and not. You will find yours." He turns to look to Ban giving the warrior a nod.
[ Ban Iskender (ban) | 21:25:29 ]
Ban Iskender nods once to Tarq, "Indeed, sir. As you say." A slowly drawn breath as he commends the trio of bridge builders, "Admirably done, one and all." A short nod returned to Jax followed by a deft dash across the broken bridge of sundered steel, and he arrives at the first of the crucial safety override switches, a precise pass of his lightsaber removes the panel of durasteel that had barred access to the control panel. Now, for the codes..
[ Errod Zand (EZ) | 21:34:04 ]
"You had best find it in the next seven minutes or so," Errod rasps to Tarq with much less grace than Jax, the shambling, limping Knight using his chainwhip more as a cane than anything else, given the lack of railings to lean on. The bridge is assembled and he watches with scant awe, having seen this sort of thing more times now than he's frankly pleased with, but Ban seems eager to cross and Errod is not, so he stands back for a moment.
"Have you considered that the glitch in your genetic code, the mutation that gives you these abilities, that second mistake nature made in the course of our evolution... that drawing all of you here might be in some way an attempt to correct it?" Errod wonders aloud, leaning on his weapon. "That all of this might have occurred as a way to eliminate that flaw, drawing you in like insects to a lamp?" Doom-speaking finished, he lets out a sigh, letting his whip drop to the catwalk and stepping out onto the bridge he's just finished denouncing. "Let me fall if you like, I wouldn't blame you."
Quick steps, borne on the wings of that stim he shot up before coming in here, carry him over to the panel, and he slowly, carefully, taps in the numbers dictacted by the card Kasia had found. "Let's hope those haven't been updated in the last few hours." Then he flips the switch.
[ Malik Ren (Mr) | 21:46:28 ]
Switch. FLIPPED! The team is killing it, guys. This is the dream team. They are the best at this. They got FLOATING BRIDGES they got STYLE and CODES and SEQUINS and as soon as they cut open the shield and throw that lever down, the Citadel seems to hummmmm slowly, as though power has been cut from some intense source that is fueling this nightmare. Six minutes to go. What if they succeed? What would that be like? They have a moment to contemplate their success, but only a moment.
The floor drops away from them completely, and plunges them into a tangle, a wreckage of stairs and catwalks, painful. But at least they're very close to the next switch... and didn't fall into the chasm. They can even see the other switch from here! So what if they broke some arms? Everybody's fine this is fine.
[ Tarq Najjic (T) | 21:58:25 ]
Victory! Sweet victor- wait, the Force is calling. It's saying-
Tarq grabs onto the nearest rail-less catwalk as the floor falls out from beneath them. Needless to say, his concentration on that bridge is gone too, but maybe that's for the best. Hanging by one arm, he looks down, then ignites his lightsaber. The red blade cuts a groove here, and a groove there.... and he has hand and footholds for his so-safe descent to the next level of ruined stairs and catwalks, which now has the one they were just levitating layered atop it. In less than thirty seconds he's rejoined everyone below, lightsaber still humming.
He raises the saber, using it like the most lethal laser-pointer that ever existed. "Are turrets," he identifies. They're near the switch, and have cameras for auto-targeting. "Droid warned of malfunctioning security." He stares at the guns, spinning the blade around with his wrist.
[ Vhe Tenara (Vhe) | 22:06:00 ]
The ground gives way at the most inopportune time or maybe that is the most opportune time considering the managed to deactivate the switch. Her focus on the bridge is gone and like the debris they let free from the Force, Vhe plummets. She collides, grazing along the edge of a support beam that is not so much supporting anything anymore save for itself. She slides along it and manages to grab hold of the rung of a catwalk - what used to be a railing.
She grunts, feeling some bruising but no actual damage for the long term. She narrows her gaze as she pushes up and Tarq's comment catches her attention, glancing towards him and then nodding.
Slowly she stands, finding her footing a little shaky at best.
Her hand reaches out, the Force an extension once more as she seeks out the wiring. "They are malfunctioning I think, they will shoot us but...I am going to try to make it a bit more difficult for them. I suggest all of you attempt at once...it will make targeting all the more difficult for the turrets..." She recommends. Though the Force is thusly on her side in an attempt to make the task the turrets will default too all the more difficult.
[ Jax Greystorm (Jax) | 22:14:18 ]
As the floor drops away, Jax gracefully slides down the side of a wall between the force and his own natural climbing ability. It was mostly the force but he still looks cool. "Hopeless, there are others with the mutation as you call it that are not here Such as the Sith.. It would survive. I am probably here due to the sense of duty instilled by my mundane parents and perhaps a few of their genetic traits that do not involve the force. They both have a desire to run towards danger."
Jax nods both to Tarq and Vhe. "Thank you." Then Jax brush back his cloak and in a fast movement draws a blaster pistol. A trio of blaster shots going down the range as one hits the target. "Hmm, perhaps I've gotten rusty."
[ Ban Iskender (ban) | 22:14:34 ]
Ban Iskender turns a level eye on Errod as the fatalistic Knight of Ren drones about doom, mutation, and proximity. "I say, sir, that should I be standing beside you when the galaxy in its insufferable humor takes you to task for tempting fate-" then, of course, is when the ground gives out beneath them. Ban and Errod plummet to a bone rattling landing beside one another. The nobleman draws a terse breath through his upended but intact composure, "Of course. I really ought have expected as much." Riding to his feet with a wince, and clearly favoring the left, he recalls his lightsaber and re-ignites it at the mention of malfunctioning turrets. Green blade raised before him in a perfunctory salute and settling into a ready guard as he advances.
...with a bit of a limp. Ow.
[ Errod Zand (EZ) | 22:26:22 ]
"We're in the belly of a machine designed to turn an entire planet to ash in the midst of it catastrophically /doing/ what it was /designed to do,/" Errod drones fatalistically, before the floor falls and he's forced to, you know, fall. He lands hard on one of the catwalks below, his chain-whip landing... somewhere nearby, and after a moment just lying there, drags himself up right with a grunt.
"I'm feeling much more positive about our odds of success," he grates, spitting some spit out and looking around for his weapon. Where is it? He spots the turrets while looking, and that seems, well, bad. "That seems bad." Where's his whip? Something red sticks out of the corner of his eye, and lo, there it is. Latching on, he drags it free and begins his shamble towards those turrets, walking even more unsteadily than before. It's starting to seem likely he may not make it out of here even if they shut it all down.
<Combat> Really confused security turrets (18731)'s attack misses Tarq Najjic at a 100 difficulty! (-24) <Combat> Really confused security turrets (18731)'s attack misses Vhe Tenara at a 100 difficulty! (-85) <Combat> Really confused security turrets (18731)'s attack hits Jax Greystorm at a 100 difficulty! (4)
- Damage: 13 wound and 0 stun.
<Combat> Really confused security turrets (18731)'s attack misses Ban Iskender at a 100 difficulty! (-144) <Combat> Really confused security turrets (18731)'s attack misses Errod Zand at a 100 difficulty! (-70)
[ Malik Ren (Mr) | 22:29:09 ]
PEW PEW PEW PEW, Vhe and Tarq were right about the turrets, but they're firing at a slower rate than they might have without Vhe's influence.. and the targets are pretty quick! It will take a moment to close upon them, but once they do...... those turrets are toast, and then they're just one switch away from --
Success?
Is that possible?
[ Tarq Najjic (T) | 22:36:17 ]
Is Errod Zand really just - walking towards his death at a slow shamble? "Errod!" Tarq attempts to interrupt, stepping lively to get in front of him. A caution that is warranted, though he's not there in time to deflect the bolt towards EZ, that still misses. He knocks away the shots towards Tarq himself in a flurry of SPANGs and flashes. "Is still mission!" And he arrives at the first turret, his first strike catching heavy armor, but his second and third stabbing more precisely right into two of the turret's barrels. He eyes the camera warily.
GAME: Malik Ren has given Really confused security turrets (18731) 102 wound points. It looks injured.
[»ATTACK« ( +46)] Ban Iskender's Lightsaber hits Really confused security turrets (18731). <167 WP/55 SP> [»ATTACK« ( +45)] Ban Iskender's Lightsaber hits Really confused security turrets (18731). <167 WP/55 SP> (110 Difficulty) [»ATTACK« (+105)] Ban Iskender's Lightsaber hits Really confused security turrets (18731). <223 WP/74 SP> (120 Difficulty)
GAME: Malik Ren has given Really confused security turrets (18731) 557 wound points. It looks dead.
[ Vhe Tenara (Vhe) | 22:39:09 ]
Vhe holds her position, trying to keep her footing so that she is not so wholly distracted by the environs around her. The heat causing her tanned skin to begin to pepper with sweat takes on a bit of a sheen. Her eyes flick open as the others move ahead and the Ysanna focuses on the targets to try to turn them about, keep them from firing again but it would seem she has little to worry about as the others make quick work of them, green and red saber flitting outwards admits the bolts coming from Jax.
She lets out a breath, her lungs burning some as she wets her lips.
[ Jax Greystorm (Jax) | 22:41:44 ]
A blast from the turret comes firing at Jax, the Corellian raises his left hand to catch the blaster bolt letting it course through him and then discharge into the ground. He seems just fine. "Tarq is right. We can debate after the mission." He the raises his blaster back and targets the turret snapping off another three bolts. Two of them hitting. "That's more like it. I'm fine Vhe."
[ Ban Iskender (ban) | 22:41:57 ]
"Indeed, it's almost as if one ought not have placed an instrument of mass slaughter on the Galaxy's most populous planet, in a transparent bid to destroy what one cannot control," Ban states with a sharp sniff in answer to Errod's observation that the Citadel waddling what it was designed to do. While speaking, his green blade turns aside a blaster bolt, and then he lunges on his healthy foot to strike the array of turrets. Which he does. A lot. Reducing the remaining automated defenses to slag and scrap, he clears the way for Errod.
[ Errod Zand (EZ) | 22:47:48 ]
Errod just walks straight at the turrets, heedless of Tarq's concerns, fully intending to fight the things at close range himself before the Kuat native and the others intervene and destroy them before he has a chance to reach them. A shot goes wide from him, but this is nothing new; how can he be afraid of these mere sowers of death when the reaper himself looms so large over them?
Recognizing that his talents are not needed there, he diverts to the side, towards the shield covering the panel they need to interact with. The chainwhip in hand darts ahead with dizzying speed and pinpoint precision- at least, those are the signals his brain sends. What his arm manages is a sloppy facsimile, a bare approximation, but it seems to work, and the metal covering pops open, laying the keys bare for input of the code. "Hm." No time to be disappointed, though, and he starts keying in the next sequence.
[ Malik Ren (Mr) | 22:54:01 ]
The switches have been flipped! So a tech died, and some Knights and Jedi got a little broken... they're fine. They're fine. The oppressive sense of danger still hangs in the air, but now the sense through the Force is more that there is danger to /them/, and not danger to an entire planet-wide scale. V10 has been silent, his batteries depleted, but the countdown timer has to be close. The ten minutes are almost up.
The group has reconvened, but Malik Ren is not with them. The fact that he has not left the reactor means, likely, that there is still a reason to hold it -- that someone has to, or it's going to blow up.
A choice: Escape the inevitable blast, or go and potentially join him for it?
MEANWHILE, IN THE LOWER LEVELS
[ Entropy (ent)]
Down, down the team goes, following V10's location of the first switch! It was really nice of Zandra to save him. But he seems to have gone quiet... his batteries are low and it's getting dark! Sebek will probably be able to hear and locate the girls as they search, and the first switch looms into sight: But it's separated from them by broken catwalks, farther than one can reasonably jump. Malik will not catch you if you fall. He is busy.
Huddled on the floor next to the switch, a First Order tech is crying, curled into a ball. But alive...
[ Aryn Cortess (AC)]
Aryn has not yet come to swash her lightsaber. The decorative curved hilt still stay fastened upon her hip in view, with her cape neatly tucked behind it so that it might be drawn at a moment's notice. When they came to view of this scenario, Aryn briefly surveys what lay before them before calling out to the tech, crying. "Hale good person!" Called out. "Should you not desire a flashy tantivy to the grave, might we negotiate a moment and get you to aid us. Your cooperation will save lives, mayhap your own. Speak loud while we discern a way to get you free from your predicament."
[ Tamsin Cas (Cas)]
Tamsin, who was not one to make complaints, set off with the second group, descending further into the bowels of the citadel. Closer to danger, but, closer to Malik. No man left behind. It could not be said that she took her time getting down to the proper level, but she also did not throw herself down the hole either. So, soon enough, she was on her feet and looking towards the switch, "The gaps are too great. I can attempt to reconstruct the catwalk, so that one of us may make it to the other side, or I can attempt to lift one of you there, but many hands make light work." As she was speaking, Tamsin was working, focusing her will on raising a portion of the catwalk that was still attached.
[ Sebek (SE)]
Stairs. A staple of cardio and the bane of Sebek of the Desert, Flagbearer of Coret, Conqueror of the Sixteenth Deck, Consumer of Hounds, Wielder of Tei Tenga, He Who Hunts's existence. Thump thump thump went heavy footfalls on shaking stairs, Tei Tenga growling in irritation at the fact that it hadn't yet killed anyone today. He could hear voices, and they weren't the ones in his head that kept telling him to eat people and hand out sobriquets like lothcandy.
When he came to the top of this flight, Sebek became aware he was not alone. A friend, a meal... and Jeedai. His hackles raised almost instantly and his skin flickered gold in surprise and anger. "Cease speaking in tongues, flaxen woman. You confound us all!" he hissed at the small woman, before turning to face... "Behold, She Who Admonishes. Doom upon us today would result in a finale for the Spicy Beef and Rice Bowl." Priorities. He turned and focused his will on the bridge, dragging power out of the sickness and embracing it as a bloodsucker does prey. "Join your power with She Who Rages." Sebek didn't even know what they were doing, but it seemed like a good idea. "She is but one of my finest acolytes, worthy of aid and merit! Behold," and the bridge began to creak and stretch and start to take shape, "true power!"
[ Zandra naMuriel (Zan)]
Zandra has the little droid with her, she's figured out how to attach the little thing so it's safe, and Zan's hands are free. She looks, as Aryn speaks to the tech across the way. As Tamsin speaks, Zan nods her head. "A good idea. We should together be able to fix it enough to get across." Yes, the opposing sides can indeed work together ... or some of them can. She does move to add her help to the chore. She startles a bit as Sebek arrives, her gaze going his way, but then returns to trying to help with her own telekinesis.
[ Kasia Ashkuri (k)]
"If save-- if we save Coruscant and don't die horribly here, we'll see," Kasia replies in a tone that might suggest to Tarq asking further now is a bad idea. It's like asking your mom one too many times if you can get back your video game yet. Danger, danger. The praise at finding the code elicits a little smile from her, but it's short lived, and then they're moving on.
Moving on to something as unpleasant and dangerous. "This looks way too far to cross." Jumping isn't her greatest skill, even as a force user. She should use the treadmill more, but there are so many clothes draped over it at this point that she might just need to get a new one. "Right," she agrees, giving Tamsin a momentary side-eye as though trying to determine something. The side-eye shifts to Sebek, or HE WHO NOODLES, before it ends, and she lifts her hands to lend her support in drawing the catwalk back together. The frown slowly returns as she concentrates on the task. "Jumping might've been easier." It wouldn't have been.
[ Entropy (ent)]
Aryn's words have a surprisingly successful effect on the terrified tech. Her persuasive power is much greater than his fear... even though his fear was considerable. "What-- what are you? What are you doing? We're all going to die here," he says, in mingled awe and despair. He seems to have grasped what they're doing, however, and to be helpful, he reaches out with an analog key to raise the blast shield of the switch. This will save them cutting it open, and perhaps damaging the interior! "How are you--? How are you?" He doesn't understand the floating bridge thing, and he's afraid of Sebek. He swallows hard.
The switch is now ready for someone to cross the bridge -- but it's not quite there yet. They could tell the code to the tech and hope he does it right, continue their telekinetic efforts, or someone could make a daring leap!
"Please help me," the tech whispers.
[ Aryn Cortess (AC)]
Aryn sees what the others are doing and attempts to help, but the response from the tech and Sebek both cut through the focus required for such a taxing feat. She instead lowers her hand and responds. "It matters little who we are. The terminal that is set beside you; does it function? We need you to initiate the switch! Should you need the code, we can give it to you. Its activation is paramount to our survival. Can you help us?"
Resolved to help, Aryn holds her gloved hand up in an effort to help with the bridge, should her focus arrive at a point where she can cut through this cloud of fear and despair.
[ Tamsin Cas (Cas)]
Tamsin held her end of the Working, but it was rough going. Even one who walked closer to the Dark side than the light could not function well or easily under that oppressive cloud. But she would not give up. Perhaps it was the dire circumstances. Perhaps it was the knowledge that they were all that stood between the shutting down of the citadel and the death of a world. Perhaps, it was the appearance of her teacher and occasional dinner companion. Yes, that did buoy Tamsin's spirits. She was not alone. "I am glad to see you, Sebek of the Desert." As though this were just a walk in the park.
[ Sebek (SE)]
"Behold, She Who Rages. Competence abounds and Knighthood sees your approach." Was that a /compliment/? There was a furious whine as Tei Tenga was forcibly retracted, Sebek's other hand clutching the metaphorical neck of the failing railing. "I shall attend to it." His grip on the bridge slipped and his mind squeezed the Force into a vial of Oozle's Secret Stuff. With power overwhelming, he ran.
Normal jumps are more vertical affairs. Sebek's was not. Off at full pelt, he took one, two, three steps on the bridge before the Force shoved him aloft. Arms and legs flailing almost in slow motion, he hit the deck on his toes, turned with the momentum, and planted his hand on the ground to arrest himself. It was less a superhero landing and more of a one-armed push-up. Done. Up he popped and turned to the tech. "Cower in fear elsewhere, insect, else you stand in the way of your saviours. You!" he pointed across the gap to the golden-haired Jeedai. "Flaxen woman! Regale unto me your code!"
[ Zandra naMuriel (Zan)]
Zandra is really not having a good time with the tk, and of course, there goes Sebek the terrifying towards that poor tech. Zan actually doesn't stop to think ... much... she follows, taking a run where she can, following in Sebek's steps. It is heavy and dark in here, lit by the fires. She runs, clank, clank, clank, each step a little further, a little longer as she stretches out, and then she jumps for it, reaching with both hands, as if for someone's neck or some such. She almost misses the jump, scrabbling up quickly to her feet. She meant to do that, really. "Aryn, the code!" Whether it's her or Sebek or the tech, it doesn't matter; they do have another switch to get to.
[ Kasia Ashkuri (k)]
Well this isn't going quite as planned, but Kasia prefers the option of trying desperately to jigsaw puzzle the bridge back together with her mind than jumping. Others can jump, she'll watch and maybe try to catch them if they fall, but that's not needed. Whew. Her focus returns to the bridge that... does it look worse than before. "I've got the codes," she looks across the gap to where Zandra is, fishing the flimsiplast out from the front of her robes. It may have been tucked into her bra strap, ok, but it worked well and is still there. A moment is taken to squint at the numbers, and then read them off loudly, hoping that these numbers still work.
[ Entropy (ent)]
The tech screams as people start JUMPING! Aah! Scary people like Sebek! He darts out of the way as Sebek and Zandra land in, as they start talking about codes... but it's only Aryn he has eyes for! "I was here to update the codes when everything went to pieces," the Tech explains to her. "The one you have won't do you any good. Please help me. I'll help you. Then you help me. Okay?" Gently nudging Sebek and Zandra out of the way, he inputs the code, and lowers the switch. A hummmmm sounds from the Citadel, as though the evil power fueling this nightmare is diminished...
Six minutes to go, and they are not far from the other switch. The tech eyes their bridge, and demands, "Help me across. You have to help me now!"
[ Aryn Cortess (AC)]
She is pressured for the code, but Kasia steps in to provide it only for them to be informed the codes have updated. Kasia may hear Aryn nearby who mutters, "Mother above." She steps into the open then as the tech goes about entering the code, and when its confirmed and the switch initiated, Aryn is waiting in view to hopefully validate that the tech was coming along too. "Jump, my friend. I shall ensure your feet touch ground and you arrive safely to this side!"
And she did. An unseen power took hold of the man and lifted him across the gap to set softly down in front of the short, blonde Alderaanian. Her hand lowers, cupping about their arm to pull them further into safety. "We seek the other switch. Tell me, has the code for it been updated as well?"
[ Tamsin Cas (Cas)]
Tamsin, seeing that the code had been input, focused on doing what she could to help the jumpers to jump back. There was something almost like humour in that distorted voice, as Zandra would feel that phantom grip once again, "I will not drop you, but you will have to do most of the work." Tamsin could help, some, but she could not direct the movements of Zandra's own body. Only the Jedi could do that. She would simply try to respond to what she was given. "Hurry, Sebek of the Desert. I will not leave you behind!"
[ Sebek (SE)]
"Of loyalty and pride we serve the cause of Ren, but we cannot serve whilst /dead/! Proceed to our salvation, She Who Rages! I shall obtain my own liberation!" And this was the guy who gave the blonde-haired Jeedai flack for speaking in tongues. With the panel secure and the tech whimpering impotently, Sebek turned to the other Jeedai on the platform with him, the one that had bested so many Knights not so long ago.
"He Who Jests deserves a foe of your caliber. Run," the Falleen instructed, pointing one taloned finger towards the rapidly failing bridge, "and I shall bear you aloft. In time," Sebek's mind beat upon the barrier of sickness and fatigue, so that he may grapple the Force by its throat and consume its power for his own, "may he grant you the defeat you are owed."
Sickness, however, would win out. He could not maintain his grip upon neither the violet-haired Jeedai nor his second breakfast, so let us pray that He Who Leads was not directly below because another release of UNFATHOMABLE was launched down into the depths.
[ Zandra naMuriel (Zan)]
The switch is hit by the tech. "Thank you," Zan tells him with a smile. As Aryn calls to him, she nods, trusting that her compatriot will take care of the mostly innocent tech. So far as she knows. She blinks at Sebek's words, and then she says, "You'd best get yourself over to the other side too," she says crisply. Teamwork is the thing, and the Jedi don't leave anyone behind. She takes a breath, and starts over, though she steps on a part of the bridge that crumbles beneath her feet. This means she wobbles, frantically jumping, and not feeling Sebek's help, but instead Tamsin's. "This is not how I expected to fly," she mutters, but the Jedi pushes herself forward, awkwardly, wobblingly, and with a lot of help from that tk. She might get a really good look at the reactor below as she tumbles head over heals, only to land on the right side, on her knees.
[ Kasia Ashkuri (k)]
"You're going to be fine," Kasia tries to help in assuring the tech, but honestly being floated over by wizards is probably just too much for her half-hearted attempt at comfort. She's focused on making sure that Zandra makes it across safely, holding out both arms as though she plans on attempting a catch. She doesn't actually, and a catch wasn't needed, so her gaze turns to Sebek. "We need to move," she says, and that serves as the only warning she'll give before using that unseen force to yoink Sebek up off of his feet and hurtle him across the broken divide between them. It's... a little unsteady, and Sebek maaaaay bash into something along the way, but ultimately he ends up on their side alive, not dropped into the pit.
[ Entropy (ent)]
Teamwork makes the dream work!! Or the nightmare, in this case. Aryn's tech balks at the thought of jumping, but she's so persuasive! So he gives it a try, and finds himself captured by her... and safe! "No. This was the first. I didn't have time to get to the others... the others are all still old codes," he confirms, in between SOBBING. He's had a day, alright? "Even if we get them all shut down -- it maybe too late -- it won't be as bad, but after you've done all you can do, you /have/ to leave /immediately/ -- It's still going to explode, it just won't take the planet with it... but it might still take us with it..."
Tamsin grabs Zandra for the second time today, but this time, her telekinetic power is employed quite differently... escorting the Jedi to safety! Really, can't we all be friends? Just a bunch of Sith hating besties? It has merit right?
With everyone back on solid? ground, the group is free to run across dubious catwalks and stairs to the next switch! It's accessible this time... catwalk wise. Somewhat more disappointingly, it appears to be completely buried by rubble. They will have to clear it, either telekinetically or with their weapons, but it will take some work, and time is running out. If it's broken when they get there...? That doesn't bear thinking about. Thick iron beams and twisted staircases block their way...
[ Aryn Cortess (AC)]
"It is a risk we must take," Aryn confides in the tech. "Come, our path takes us further into this maze of catwalks." Aryn does not give the tech a choice in the matter. His fate would be the same as theirs, and she led him on by the arm until he walked with purpose and found his spine. THERE IS NO CRYING DURING CALAMITIES.
When they arrived at the switch, the group found the way blocked with a new challenge. "Time ticks down, we /must/ clear this path to the switch!" She bids, casting her gloved hand out and making a dismissive sweeping motion that marshalled her influence over the force to prompt a good deal of debris from their objective. The noise it made in being torn from its twisted state left her ears ringing, but upon Aryn's expression was stoic focus.
[ Tamsin Cas (Cas)]
Tamsin, seeing that Sebek was safe, in body if not in pride and spirit, moved to do as he had bid her do, and she was soon following the route V10 had given them for the location of the second switch. This time was no less infuriating than the first. The stone and girdings of the citadel had fallen, and now blocked their way. There was nothing for it but to clear the way, and Tamsin began to do just that. She lifted portions of the rock, moving them to other areas of the catwalk they did not need, rather than risking dropping them down into the core, or onto Malik, "Sebek, Malik is down at the core. I will go and retrieve him once this is done." Tamsin had put her foot down. At least for her, she was leaving with Malik or possibly not at all.
[ Sebek (SE)]
Y'know, you try to do something noble and heroic and generally practical because no one wants to die and then some bloody hero goes and ruins it. The fact that Sebek clipped his ear-less head on part of the bridge was only icing on the cake. "You were instructed to proceed!" he hissed, ignoring the pooling of blood collecting around his earhole ridge. There was a tearing noise as he ripped part of his ruined battle cassock and tied it around his head in like the weirdest kung fu headband ever, especially because of the topknot.
The Falleen moved at almost a run, Tei Tenga out and growling furiously as it bisected impediments in his way. At the end of the mad rush was the prize... buried under the trash. "Fetid," he hissed, and with no fanfare or bombastic proclamation he waded in with the red blade, slicing away rubble and clearing the path. "Yes. We must. The survival of He Who Leads is paramount to us. I shall accompany."
[ Zandra naMuriel (Zan)]
Zandra clambers to her feet. "Go," she agrees. "Quickly now." She runs along with, perhaps a bit behind, her knees feeling that landing. The place is loud and she's wishing she had ear plugs along with the rebreather. She's not out of breath when they arrive, though she might be grumbling at her own terrible jump. She arrives to find the debris moving every which way, except for on malik's head, and not on the switch. "The code?" she asks, darting in, as soon as the way is clear. Once it's recited, she'll type it in. Assuming there are no other impediments. She hears the comments, and that brings a frown to her face. "Him. And the other team. We need to all get out of here." Her tone is steadfast and quite obviously she means to make sure that everyone gets out, if possible. That sense of dread is back in her head, worrying about who isn't going to make it.
[ Kasia Ashkuri (k)]
"And now we can," Kasia answers Sebek with a smile. It might be just a little too nice. Not a whole lot though, because this situation is dangerous and picking fights now is probbly unwise. Also not jedi like, and she's trying to be better about that. They move, and she hustles along with the others. She helps to slash at the debris in the way, cutting larger chunks of things so they can be hoisted out, only once glancing down with maybe a smidge of concern for the man below. The call for the code has her whipping out the card from its hiding place again, where she reads off the numbers for Zandra to punch in.
[ Entropy (ent)]
This time is way easier! They cut through that rubble like nothing, moving it aside and slicing it apart! The tech is just staring in shock and awe and wonder, and in no time at all, they've hit the switch.... just in time for the world to fall out from underneath them. The floor fully falls and collapses, injuring Tamsin and Aryn...! But not as badly as the tech got injured. He has disappeared under the rubble, the heavy beams, only his hand and a bit of sleeve sticking out now, unmoving.
There is no crying during calamities.
They've done all they can do for the irreparably damaged reactor. All that remains now is escape....
[ Malik Ren (Mr)]
The switches have been flipped! So a tech died, and some Knights and Jedi got a little broken... they're fine. They're fine. The oppressive sense of danger still hangs in the air, but now the sense through the Force is more that there is danger to /them/, and not danger to an entire planet-wide scale. V10 has been silent, his batteries depleted, but the countdown timer has to be close. The ten minutes are almost up.
The group has reconvened, but Malik Ren is not with them. The fact that he has not left the reactor means, likely, that there is still a reason to hold it -- that someone has to, or it's going to blow up.
A choice: Escape the inevitable blast, or go and potentially join him for it?
[ Malik Ren (Mr)]
For those who search for Malik: He is not hard to find, down there at the reactor. It's fissured so completely now it looks like a glowing lattice, and it will not hold forever. Won't hold for long. Although the danger is still devastating and dangerous, powerful and cruel -- this is no longer a planet killer. They've prevented that. They've saved Coruscant -- all they have to do is save themselves, now.
Most of them.
His arms are outstretched, shaking, as Malik holds the reactor's containment casing together for just -- that scrap of time longer -- just enough to get them out. They have to get out. They're the cause, and they have to go forward, they have to go on. He can do it, he can hold this long enough. Just long enough for them.
[ Kasia Ashkuri (k)]
The group Kasia is with hustles their way back, leaving her glowing -- From sweat, not radiation. Hopefully. -- in a way she doesn't usually. "Let's go, we have to go," she stresses, but the insistence breaks off after a moment as she notes the figure absent from their party. Oh. There is a moment of realization before she leans out to try and catch a glimpse of the man that's missing. Whether or not she can it's hard to disguise the momentary impulse that leads her to turn and step, as though she intends to go find him, to help him, to die with him. A breath is drawn and she pulls back from it, both mentally and with a physical recoil from the idea. Her head shakes and she turns to look around at everyone else present. "We have to go now, or we are going to die, this isn't going to hold much longer and we need some distance." There is a gentle ushering made with both of her arms as though trying to herd those who don't want to out, but she doesn't force it, instead she starts to make her way out toward the exit.
[ Tarq Najjic (T)]
As Errod Zand puts in the upper floor team's last code, the sense of danger abates - slightly. "Vhe." Tarq pauses, then says with some reluctance, "Thank you for messing - with - turrets. Could have been much worse. Citadel internal defenses-" He shrugs. He's not disclosing anything confidential - one would obviously usually expect more from the defenses of any superweapon's beating heart.
Then they're all reunited - but they're missing someone. His brow furrows in concentration, then he purses his lips, meeting Tamsin's gaze, shaking his head slightly. "Cannot touch his mind. Errod, are moving slow already - get out now. Mutant superpowers will keep me safe," he says with a touch of dry humor, "And will be right behind you, so - hustle."
Bear in mind that Tarq Najjic has no authority over Errod Zand, or anyone else in the Knights of Ren. That does not stop him from trying to prevent their resident doom prophet from going down to find Malik Ren. Tarq Najjic then jumps a level down. The upper team is far lower than they originally were, but they still went /up/.
This Kuati is not an engineer, but he knows what a reactor looks like when it's dying. It's important to know these things when you were born to manage the biggest shipyards in the galaxy. He stares at the reactor. It looks like they really should be dead already, then back to the man who came into a prison cell and offered him the choice of power or death. "Malik Ren!" What do you say to someone who believes in you enough that he's sacrificing his life to save you. He takes a deep breath. "Tarq Najjic thanks you. The cause lives on."
He licks his lips once, then turns to head back up the stairs. He begrudges no one their moment with their master, but he is staying at the exit to the outside through that door and over the catwalk doing a headcount of Knights of Ren before he ducks all the way out himself. As soon as the last one is coming, though - the last other than Malik - he sprints like hell.
[ Aryn Cortess (AC)]
There is a moment of confusion during their escape. A span of disparity with what gravity had been seconds before and just now. Aryn is swept up in the chaos and that gravity, and fell, landing hard below and upon her back, before instinctively curling into a ball and folding her arms over her head. Debris lands all around her, and the dust and heat is thick. Unable to keep the spasm back, Aryn spits out a spray of blood and subsequently coughs as she tries to rise back up. With concerted effort, Aryn takes hold of something solid to pull herself to her feet so she can begin to find an exit.
She pauses to pay a glance behind her to see if the tech survived, but finds that he has perished beneath the fallen debris, crushed. A Jedi Master's holocron lesson plays back through her head as she considers their fate, and oddly, the presence still residing at the center of it all; Oran.
'Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force; mourn them do not; miss them do not.'
A subtle nod, perhaps an unspoken farewell, and Aryn stumbles off to escape.
[ Vhe Tenara (Vhe)]
"There was a cause greater than all of us," Vhe remarks back to Tarq, glad to be free of the upper tiers of the citadel even as the heart of it begins to bloom and start to burst. What allows them those very brief moments to speak or to catch their breath is Malik and there is a mixed set of feelings that cross Vhe's expression at the realization of this. A shake of her head is given as her eyes fall upon Kasia when she starts urging others out and leads the way.
"As Aryn says, the Force awaits and with such sacrifice he will never be truly gone."
"Tarq," there is a look to him, to perhaps see if he will leave as she herself begins to pick up the pace and head for the exit they had all walked in together through and leavint at least one fewer.
[ Zandra naMuriel (Zan)]
Zandra is uninjured, well not more than she was earlier by Tamsin and Errod anyway, and all in all, that's pretty inconsequential. Her knees might be bruised. She managed to find something to grab hold of, as the floor dropped out beneath them, and lands on her feet. This time, making it into nearly that superhero landing. She too glances at the tech, pausing to murmur, "There is no death, there is The Force." That phrase is somehow oddly at the front of her mind.
She looks to see what is going on, considers the situation. Let's see, Malik nearly killed her once. Nearly. There's no emotional attachment for Zan, but the violet haired knight of the jedi does have a begrudging respect for the strength of will - bullheaded stubbornness? - to hold the reactor together so long. "I am sorry," she says, letting that sadness that they can't all escape feel through her, and then be superceded by the knowledge that he /chose/ to go there. And to stay there. "A very big sacrifice - that will not be forgotten." There is no joy, no elation, not even relief at this point. Zan still has the little V10 tucked away to keep her hands free. "We definitely need to get out of here," she agrees, sketching a salute in the direction of the crazy man holding back the reactor. Not that he'll hear it or appreciate it, but "Thank you," she says, before she heads for the door, pausing on the other side of it from Tarq, counting everyone as they make their way out.
[ Ban Iskender (ban)]
Ban Iskender is favoring his left foot as the followers of Ren and the Jedi reconvene, with dread still looking and time running out. A swift visual inventory of those present is taken. The familiar faces and the unfamiliar, ending on Aryn. The Princess must survive, and he does not linger for sentiment before seeing her and the other Jedi out. He judges it, "A victorious day."
[ Jax Greystorm (Jax)]
"There is no end there is a the Force." Jax stops for a moment bowing his head in what appears to be reverance. It was actually the Jedi knight reaching out to the Master of Ren far bellow. 'I know we've had our debates. In the end you did what's right and saved a planet and the jedi. You chose the light. There is no death only the force. I will make sure people know your sacrfice and your choice in the end. Goodbye Oran.' Then Jax looks to the other jedi. "It's time to go." Then moves to leave.
[ Tamsin Cas (Cas)]
There was the world beneath their feet, briefly, and then the world was gone, and Tamsin freefell down a level, the sound of her body hitting the rocks audible, even above the ending of the world. She lay there, stunned, for a moment, head ringing where it had taken a good bashing inside her helmet, before she pushed herself up, rolling, first to her knees (not a superhero landing), and then to her feet, "We must get Malik." She was hurt, yes, and sick, yes, but bound and determined. If she noticed the fate of the tech...okay, let's be honest, she hadn't. Even when the group had reconvened, she was no less pig-headed, no less focused. What good was saving the world, if she allowed the one who had given her her purpose in it to perish, alone and unseen? No. For once, Muun's Daughter did not do the logical thing. For once, Tamsin did as she would do, as she ran back into the belly of the Beast to find Malik Ren. Tamsin cast her helmeted gaze towards the Jedi, "You hate us, would see us all dead, if that was what was required to have your way. But he is dying, will die, for you, all of you, and everyone on this world." And then she was gone. As she ran, she thought as hard as she could. Not knowing the trick of it, really, but hoping that if she willed it hard enough, word would reach him. 'The work is almost done, Malik. Hold on.'
When Tamsin finally made her way to the bottom, she dashed across the rubble strewn floor, seemingly ignoring the reactor and all of the danger it posed. The figure standing against that power was all of her focus. Tamsin knew she could not hold the reactor. She knew she could not take Malik's place, giving her life for his. She had raw power, yes, but not the skill to do what needed to be done. Her logical, doctor's mind knew this was the only way, knew, without needing to scan or measure him, that even if she saved his body now, the reactor had already done its work. But there were things, now, more important than logic. Tamsin stepped up to where he was standing, reaching out to unclip the lightsaber from his belt, that piece of his soul that lived ever outside of his body, and, if she had any say in the matter, would live on after all these Knights she knew now, herself included, were dead and gone. "I hear the sounds of hoofbeats on the green earth," she offered, apropos of nothing, save perhaps to Malik himself. "Thank you. For saving me." For he had, and not just this day. "Now, I save you, and I will carry you with me, always." And then Tamsin turned, glad for the mask that held her face hidden, as she forced herself to depart the core, to leave behind the one who had made her everything she was and had shown her all that she could become, to live the life Malik had given his to preserve.
[ Sebek (SE)]
And there goes Sebek's meal. Curses. That, however, was second-hand to the conundrum that befell them right now. How To Rescue He Who Leads Without Really Dying.
"Flee, Jeedai! You are permitted only to die at our hands and architecture will not rob us of future battles!" the Falleen ordered, his impromptu cassock fabric bandage/headband flapping in the whatever-passes-for-breeze-in here protecting his head-wound. One day he'd have to pay back She Who Admonishes in kind, that was the law. He was pointing towards the nearby stairs that led to an /awfully convenient/ hole that Sebek had cut not ten minutes and thirty-seven seconds ago! Oh and the front door was nearby. That worked too.
But that was not where he was going.
There was not a warning against what She Who Rages was doing. Why would there be, when they were so alike in intention, momentum, and direction? "Upon an eon ago, She Who Cajoles informed me that the title of Ren must be transferred while the Ren lives. Should He Who Leads perish, thus there is no Ren, thus we are no more. And thus when I say his survival is /essential/, you behold the gravity with which I regale," the Falleen explained as he hurried closely along with the rest of the acolytes. Whether or not She Who Cajoles had misled him, that was up for debate, Sebek was not the smartest cookie in the toolbox. "If we must take his place," in one way or another, the mad Falleen had realized, "so be it."
When they arrived, the situation was grim. Very grim. "Doom befalls us here..." he hissed out quietly, before regaining his composure and lifting up his hands ready to apply his own twisted interpretation of his will to the crumbling reactor. But even so, his grip was slipping. The sickness was strong here, it was like being blind and deaf and numb and it took everything for Sebek to not coat the floors in something horrible. "No. No no no NO NO NO NO NO NO!" Green flicked to yellow, to deep orange, and finally beet red as the Falleen lost his mind. "I damn thee, Citadel! I damn thee, First Order! I damn thee perpetually! Thrice damned and done!" WHUNK. Property damage as his fist collided with a wall, and some of the redness faded. "Twice now you have bested me. Twice you are owed defeats I can never collect. Your purpose must remain. I will find you, He Who Leads, and if I must consume your corpse to inherit The Ren then /that/ is what shall be done! I will rend all in my way until this is done!" And with that, he turned, cloaked in fire and fury as he began to make his escape, broken beyond belief.
[ Errod Zand (EZ)]
His vision is fading, spots swimming across his field of view as Errod struggles on, leaning hard against his chain-whip for support, leaving a trail of scratches and dents in the metal flooring in his wake. He heads in deeper, towards the source of the heat, towards the death that awaits.
His face is haggard, long hair unkempt, his body crooked and sagging, like a gnarled tree finally bent too far by the storm. The cauterized gouges left in his torso by Zandra's saber are cracked and bleeding. Every step is unstable, balance ruined by the fall from the catwalk, legs stiff from the crush of rubble.
The wild light in his eyes has faded, replaced only by a deep weariness as he looks up towards the reactor, glowing, fever-bright, and back towards the man he's followed into the darkest darks, Malik's shadow stretched tall behind him. "It always ends this way," Errod rasps, his chain-whip a third leg. "It always had to. It always will. Again, and again, and again. Nothing is ever over. Nothing is ever finished. There is no closure. These patterns will simply repeat. And when death comes, it is as though we never lived at all, or maybe that we never died. Fixed in this loop, every decision our own but inevitable. Had to happen. Always /would/ happen."
He looks back to the glow, and it is hard to look and hard not to. "The paradox of free will, the illusion of choice. I've never found comfort in that before now." How long do they have? It doesn't matter. "The honest man in me would stay. But I have never been an honest man." With this apology, he shuffles out the way he came, at a pace that suggests he is past caring if he actually makes it out. Either he will, or he won't: it always ends this way.
[ Malik Ren (Mr)]
Tarq says the cause will go on. That's what matters. That's why he's done this. Is that a tiny bit of tension ebbed out of Malik's frame? He won't admit to it. Easier instead just to answer his thanks. Distantly, and rasping through the vocoder, but still that Coruscanti voice -- "Remember everything, Tarq Najjic."
Ban judges it to be a victorious day, and despite the solemn thoughts of Kasia, Zandra, and Vhe, is that really untrue? This is an absolute win for the Jedi. Malik's motives for saving this team are not /good/ ones, not by the definitions that normally follow such things... but it's still a sacrifice. A noble sacrifice, to save a war machine and the darkside sorcery that goes with it. It's complicated. Maybe it always was. He was always going on about that... no light, no dark, only the choices you make. And it's still so, there at the end. Complicated.
Tamsin is able to collect the lightsaber from him, that distinctive weapon that was just like him, pristine on the outside and everything complex hidden away inside. "Fail until you don't, Tamsin Cas, but never cease the attempt. Now go." And then Sebek! Poor Sebek, poor brilliant and brutal thing, poor monster run aground on rocks he wasn't equipped to understand! All those colors -- it would break his heart, if he could look at them. "Sebek of the Desert, Flagbearer of Coret, Conqueror of the Sixteenth Deck, Consumer of Hounds, Wielder of Tei Tenga, He Who Hunts," Malik speaks to him softly. "Don't eat me. You couldn't handle it. Teach the others, please and thank you."
Errod receives a promise, in a voice strained, failing now from the exertion.
"All of this has happened before. All of this will happen again."
Are they gone?
They're gone.
Jax's voice in his mind is so strange, that last one little jarring note, familiar and alien, and Malik's concentration slips. His tired mind slips to a strange place, once upon a time under sun on a Coruscant that wasn't burning -- riding a guaralara he loved, Oran remembers it, and then everything is bright, white light.
---
The explosion is nothing like what it could have been, although it is tremendous -- the upper levels of the Citadel are still safe and intact, with all their power and secrets, Coruscant is not cataclysmically destroyed.
For the first time in many, many months, there is no fire burning here, and everything is quiet.
