3764/Clenched Teeth Teamwork

Clenched Teeth Teamwork
Date of Scene:	04 February 2016
Location:	Void - Debris Field
Synopsis:	Called by a Jedi temple to ward off a Sith intruder, Jedi Revan and Kyle Katarn bring Maya and Mairead Sandilands, only to end up working together. There they find revalations about themselves and their actions through the Force...
Cast of Characters:	Maya, 414, 778, Mairead Sandilands, 951

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Nima Kairn (951) has posed:
    Deep in the Void, amidst the innumerable wrecks of ships both long obsolete and beyond the cutting edge, there were places where a person could make a home. There were still planets, of course, however little they were inhabited. One of these few planets in this part of the Multiverse happened to be one of those places with a small number of inhabitants; a world in the Outer Rim of grasslands and occaisonal mountains.

    The planet Lothal.

    On it's surface, only a couple thousand kilometers from the planet's north pole, a large mountain range dominated a area covered in snow. Not far from one of these mounds of rock is a Imperial Fury-class interceptor taking up space in one of the valleys. Closer still was a hooded and cloaked woman meditating as if these rocks held answers to something.

    Which... they do. The ancient Jedi temple held underneath had long since been mostly emptied by the Galactic Empire's forces after the Jedi had been destroyed. That said, it still remembered... and as the Sith tried to find her way inside, it began to send a resonance through the Force, calling out to any Jedi that yet lived...

Revan (414) has posed:
     The Force always seemed to follow those who were sensitive to its pull no matter where they were in the multiverse. This seemed to suggest that, as some philosophers had argued, it was indeed an intelligent presence, actively guiding those who could hear its call. Sometimes, even those unable to. Lowri Revan Shan could be in another universe entirely, one without a Force presence, and yet she could still hear its call...just as she did now.

     The Ebon Hawk blasted out of the multiversal gate connecting this version of the galaxy to an adjacent reality, setting down in a clearing near the ruined temple. It wasn't especially difficult to sense the presence of other Force-sensitives, particularly those strong in it. They would likely find their Dark Side presence within.

     "This looks like our stop," she quipped to her passengers. "Shall we?"

Kyle Katarn (778) has posed:
    The Force whistling in Kyle's ear was all the convincing he needed to join Lowri on this off-the-cuff mission of theirs. His sense is as keen as hers, as the soldier turned Jedi joins her aboard the Hawk. There's not much conversation of note to be had on the way, they're both focused too much on the mission.

    He follows Lowri down the ramp, already searching for macro-binoculars on his belt before scanning out on the temple. "This the place? Seems like it's hiding in plain sight from where we're standing."

Mairead Sandilands has posed:
    is looking out the window of whatever this ship is and is amazed at seeing space, "Oi this is amazing. Me family and friends would be jumping with joy at this," se mentions as she looks around. "How fast are we a going?" she asks as she looks at the ship before turning her face back to the window and at everything. To her, thi sis amazing, as she has never been on a ship that is traveling through space.

    "And I though me IS was amazing. This ship beats it hand down....." and she looks at Revan with a child-like smile as she follows the others and lands on the ground and smiles, "Dance with me Emerald Lady," she states as her IS Academy Uniform phases out and is replaced with emerald green armor with navy blue trim and golden yellow highlights. She looks around as she summons Ivar, her beam bow and looks. "I'm gonna go high and scout," she states to the group.

Maya has posed:
Maya did not know the name of the planet Lothal eixsint until today but here Maya is. She was prone to looting things but she also got certain things were best recovered to those who knew how o deal with them. So here she was tialing after Kyle and Revan as she makes ready to get off.

"I am ready to go."

Revan (414) has posed:
     The former Sith Lord couldn't help but grin at Mairead, while T3 swivelled his head curiously before resuming his maintenance patrol of the refurbished freighter. "I'll send you a datapad after we're done here," she replied. "It'd take to long to get into everything about the Ebon Hawk. Not too shabby for second-hand," she commented with a bit of cheer as she stood from the pilot's seat, affixing her twin lightsabers on each side of her belt before making her way to the ramp with a salute to Maya.

     "I imagine our friend is poking around in there," she replied to Kyle, frowning slightly as she regarded the temple as they made towards it. "No explosions...so whoever it is probably isn't interested in purging Jedi history. Might have a more intellectual sort on our hands."

     She nodded to Mairead briefly. "Goes without saying, just be careful. Even the more diplomatic of Dark Siders are dangerous. And whoever it is already knows we're here."

Kyle Katarn (778) has posed:
    "She might actually be more dangerous than the usual psychos we fight." Kyle points out. "Some Sith like purging our records, this one might end up using our own writings against us if she gets ahold of anything vital down there." He's pretty grim about this, having wished to be able to visit this world's Jedi installations without having to deal with Sith poking about. "Hopefully we can talk her down from taking everything and running, she seems willing enough to compromise on some issues at least."

Nima Kairn (951) has posed:
     As Revan's ship comes to land, Nima Kairn smiles very slightly under her hood. The area was a beacon to the Light Side of the Force, tis true, but it was empty now, forgotten. She can feel the touch of new life, Force-sensitive life, coming to approach. Her holocommunicator beeps; once it's out and set on the ground, 2V-R8 appears. He'd probably look a lot more harried if he weren't a droid.

    "Master, the Breaker's scanners have picked up another ship entering the area... Should we retreat?"

    Nima smiles softly and shakes her head. "Nonsense. This is perfect timing. Kindly tell Khem Val to come and join me in case our visitors are less than friendly."

    So while everyone was busy trying to scout for ambushes and the like, Nima remains where she is, even when the huge Dashade makes his way to his master's side. The beast grips his massive vibrosword with eager anticipation, his fang-lined mouth gnashing. <I smell the blood of Jedi scum,> the monster rasps. <I will feast upon them easily, little Sith.>

    This is what causes Nima to finally stand. That, and the fact that she could feel her opponents coming closer. "Do try to refrain from antagonizing them. We need them to open the path for us, after all." The Dashade growls quietly.

    When everyone finally arrive, Nima turns to regard them silently, still shrouded and cloaked. When they're close enough, she raises a hand in greeting--and warning. "Stop there if you please, Jedi. Know first that I intend no harm to you, so long as you cooperate with me." She motions towards the mound of rocks behind her. "Lord Vader's Galactic Empire has tried to strip this place, but I believe there are still artifacts of worth in there. Things that should be preserved, no matter their origin. You agree, yes? Then work with me and help me to save them."

Mairead Sandilands has posed:
    Nodding, Mairead smiles, "Aye, I will be careful," she comments to Revan as she takes flight, the thrusters on her IS activating. Once she is high enough up, she looks around as she spins, and spots something and zooms in, "I am getting something, looks like something or someone is just sitting there," she comments. "And as I do not know what ye or her can do, I will not move forward. Hopefully, she is polite like she was on the radio," she adds as she knows the only thing she has that will reach are her missiles, but she only has a limited number, but her IS can get more, it will just take time.

    Moreover, she is more curious as to this planet. "I am on another planet... Me mum and father will not believe me...." and she is super happy, like a kid in a candy store happy, and she is only 17 and probably the shortest, being 5'6. Decending down, she looks and stops behind the group, and watches as she looks at the puppy. "She seems nice," she mentions to hem. Mairead is not Force Sensetive, so she has no idea just how strong the Jedi and Sith are.....

Maya has posed:
Maya rifle is ready but she's not leveld it yet, it would look strange alien and possobly primative by the standards of the other's world, but those who can use the force might sense part of maya'a rifle is /alive/. Maya seems to be a bit uneasy as they come face to face with someone whose using the darkside. Her green eyes are wasy as she sizes Nima up for the moment. She's clearly wary but there's no fear in her.

Kyle Katarn (778) has posed:
    "We're not here to fight, Nima Kairn." Kyle says, hands nowhere near the weapons holstered on his hips as he approaches. That said, he's eyeing Khem Val warily while he speaks. "I think maybe a brief truce is in order, maybe even a compromise in who gets what out of this." He suggests, tone diplomatic as possible.

    He glances to Lowri for a moment, before continuing. "It's not worth causing a fight over what amounts to museum relics anyways, don't you think? We'd be better off just pooling our resources in figuring this place out together instead of fighting over it like a bunch of scavengers arguing salvage rights."

Revan (414) has posed:
     Pale eyebrows raised slightly at the Sith's rather unorthodox invitation before Revan smiled. "Oh my," she quipped with an almost musical lilt. "This was certainly unexpected."

     However, she sighed inwardly. Now she found herself wishing she had help onto Ajunta Pall's sword as a potential bargaining chip...but then again, the ghost of the ancient Sith Lord had warned her about how dangerous and insidious the thing was. It was probably for the best, and the fact that the Force hadn't warned her against spacing the evil thing seemed to confirm it.

     "True enough," she agrees with Mairead. "Rather unexpected, to be honest. Usually these things begin with violence."

     Her mismatched eyes flicked to Kyle briefly before returning to the rather unusual Sith apprentice before them. "Well, this sounds quite interesting~," she quipped with an oddly friendly smile. "For my part, I'm game. What do you propose?"

Mairead Sandilands has posed:
    Looking at everyone, Mairead listens as she blinks and asks, "Um, I do not see a temple....I see a mountain," she comments as she scratches her head with her right hand as she looks. "What is so special about a mountain?" she asks in her Scottish accent towards everyone.

Maya has posed:
Maya has her own feelsing on this, but it's not her world she'll keep a wary eye on the darkside user she does not say anyhing but she's clearly watching her intently as if trying to size her and her motives up. She does however keep with kyle for a moment and she smirks at him.

"My people are Scvangers, but we don't tend to fight or kill over salvage. It's bad business, in the long run."

Nima Kairn (951) has posed:
    Well, this was going better than expected. Unlike the Jedi from her galaxy, it seemed these guys were willing to play ball. Under her hood, Nima lets out a small sigh of relief. Whether she could take this many in the first place was debatable, even with Khem Val at her side. Better that this was done peacefully. As a means to facilitate what trust she has with them, she slips off her hood, shifting her lekku so that they're hanging in front of her shoulders. "I am surprised at you Jedi myself, but let us not stand on stereotypes."

    Khem Val seems far less than pleased, but he gives a grudging nod to his master before turning his red-eyed gaze on the others. <I know of Jedi treachery in ways my master does not. Do not test us, for I am always hungry.> The meaningful look he sends Kyle would probably make a lesser man's stomach turn. It's pretty clear what he eats, after all.

    Nima seems to brush off her companion's distaste and moves forward lightly, keeping her hands folded at her stomach. "Your eyes will decieve you, child," she tells Mairead. "They already have. Unfortunately, the temple knows what I am all too well. Only a Jedi can open the path ahead. With that in mind..." She steps aside and motions Kyle towards the rocks.

    Stretching out with the Force would bring the Temple to answer; if he's willing, it would just take a simple effort from Kyle to suddenly make the whole giant rock begin to corkscrew upwards for several dozen feet until a dark passageway rises to the surface to greet them.

Kyle Katarn (778) has posed:
    "The Force is capable of much more than you might think." Kyle asides to Mairead, before he begins to make his way towards the 'mountain' itself. This is something he's seen in ancient writings before, but never face to face. It's breathtaking, but nothing compared to what comes next.

    He focuses deep, raising his hands towards the rock before reaching out towards it with the Force. After a moment of effort, with but the Force and his will alone, the rock begins to corkscrew its way higher and higher until it reveals a hidden pathway from deep bellow, a sacred and hidden temple used long ago by Jedi long since passed on to the next form of being.

    "I'd hurry, dunno how long I can keep this up." He mutters, only heading in when everyone else has gone first.

Revan (414) has posed:
     "The ancient Masters were rather creative," she commented to Mairead with a slight grin. "Using natural features was something they were quite fond of, even when it wasn't necessary to hide something. "

     Revan hadn't missed the Dashade before, but now she was openly curious. As disturbing as the creature could be for Force-sensitives, curiosity always seemed to overrule her better senses. "How interesting," she quipped, her smile never wavering. But they /did/ have something of a job to do.

     Letting Kyle handle the first part, the Guardian headed inside, remaining deceptively cautious. Even if their new-found Sith acquaintance was being forthright, it wouldn't be an ancient temple without its fair share of tests and traps.

     "I'm a bit of an oddity when it comes to Jedi," Revan admitted with a smile, waving her hand slightly as if to wave her strangeness away. "But that's neither here nor there. Is there anything about this particular temple that you know of?"

Mairead Sandilands has posed:
    Blinking, Mairead backs up, ".... What type of magic is this?" she asks as she has never seen a mountain corkscrew before. Lookign at everyone, she is freaked and scared. "I .... I um......" and she looks at Maya and th eothers as she gulps and all would pick up on the fear she has. . o 0 (Oh this scares me,) she thinks as she watches Revan head in and blinsk as she follows the Jedi.

    Lookign around, she realy wishes that Emerald Lady had a flashlight or something, but she looked around as she tried to see what this place was. "Should we even be here?" she asks as she looks over her shoulder.

Maya has posed:
Maya says "The force can be used to beffled the mind." Maya seems to be speaking from experiance on this She however is looking about now as if she expects something else. She looks back to Mairead for a moment longer.

"It's not really magic persay. My magic is forcing my will upon the energy of creation, this is ... something else. Look better we recover things here then they rot or be destroyed. My world losing portions of it's past cost us dearly a decade ago."

She gives Nima a bit of a look over for a moment.

"We'll see how this goes."

Nima Kairn (951) has posed:
    As the mountain begins to rumble upwards, Nima turns around and approaches as well, with Khem following close at her heels. Watching the entrance reveal itself is quite the spectacle indeed; once it's up and open, the twi'lek goes inside with an unhurried pace. Before they get too far she does reach under her cloak to draw her saberstaff's handle, but she doesn't ignite the weapon, and even makes a small show of it to Revan and the others so they would know she has armed herself.

    The path is incredibly dark at first, winding down and down for several minutes of walking. The further they go down, the lighter it gets, though it's still quite gloomy. "Indeed, the old Jedi could be clever," she says to Revan. "Unfortunately, they are also fools. Judging by the construction..." She reaches out to run her hand along the wall beside her while she looks closely. "This was made roughly a thousand years before the coming of the Sith Empire. Perhaps more, perhaps less. It is difficult to know without proper historical records, all of which have been seized by this galaxy's Emperor. I do not know what we will find, but there are always nooks and crannies that pass beyond view."

    The Sith, of course, can feel the fear and sense the thoughts of Mairead, and turns around with a dry smile and a similarly dry tone. "Beware, child. Fear breaks your peace. After all, emotion is a tool of the Dark Side." She even wiggles her fingers to emphasize herself. Spoooky. To Maya, she chuckles. "Your understanding isn't so far off. In this case, it is the energy of life. All life... and the things that life contains, 'good' or 'bad'."

    When they finally reach the bottom, what greets them isn't particularly majestic. A large, empty stone room with many columns, each with designs and words artistically chisled into them. Even to those who aren't Force sensitive, this place radiates a distant, forlorn power. Nima inhales the musty, dank air deeply and begins to move towards a door illuminated by light, but the moment she does...

    There's a faint sound of grinding gears and metal off in the dark, causing Khem to turn around and growl. <We are not alone here,> he grunts. Turns out, he's right. The temple wishes to refuse the Sith entry--and so from the dark corners of the room, many ancient droids shamble forwards. All of them are armed with either vibroblades or blasters. For her part, Nima doesn't wait for them to attack. She ignites her lightsaber and charges for a group of the droids.

    As soon as she moves, the rest start to fire, seemingly uncaring of who gets caught in the crossfire!

Kyle Katarn (778) has posed:
    Kyle listens to Nima's history lesson. Even if it's slightly biased, he can't deny he appreciates having a perspective from someone more familiar with this ancient stuff. Then again, Lowri might help balance this out with her own take on things if the lessons get too heated. "Fools, but you can't deny their craftsmanship."

    He's seen temples before, like on Russan or Korriban, both Jedi and Sith alike no less. It's never a dull moment in places like these, and Kyle is quick to draw his lightsaber when guardian droids appear with wepaons in hands. "No choice but to engage, let's bail her out!"

    His lightsaber jolts to life with a blue glow as he leaps into the fray, saber deflecting blaster bolts before slashing at the braincase of one of the droids with a neat, swift stroke.

Mairead Sandilands has posed:
    Mairead looks at Nima and she blinks, "How do ye know I am scared?" she asks as she loosk at everything as they decend. Silently to herself, she is praying as she walks and wonders why she is doing this. Once on the bottom, she looks and sniffs, "Gah, its dank down here," she commeemnts as she waves her hand over her face. Looking, she blinks as she hears noise and then sees the things and steps back, more scared, "Wha...what are those?" she asks as she sees Nima move and blinks as Kyle talks.

    Looking, she sighs and brings her bow up, drawing it back and takes aim. Once she is set, she releases the energy string and beam bolt flies out for one of the droids's head. "How many of these things are there?" she asks as she draws her bow back again and takes aim on the same droid and releases another bolt for the body. Hopefully these old droids do not dodge.

    As she fires her two shots, she is hit in turn fromt he droids and a three digit number appears infront of her. . o 0 (375/400 on shield energy.... Might have to get closer,) she thinks as she readys another shot.

Revan (414) has posed:
     The tall white-haired woman didn't appear to take offence to the comment, shrugging. "Age and experience can lead to wisdom, but they can also lead to stagnation," she replied cryptically. Perhaps she spoke from personal experience...? "That can be said of anyone, however."

     She seemed to listen even as she studied the walls with a critical eye as they passed, and whatever thoughts she had she hid well. But then she smiled again. "Ah. Perhaps from the early era of the Republic, then? Not quite as stark as Korriban...not that the Valley wasn't without its charm."

     Rather than frown with disapproval at the Inquisitor, the Guardian's smile never seemed to waver. "Ah, but in truth it is only allowing emotions to rule you, rather than rule your emotions," she quipped. "After all, when you're gripped in a panic, it's just a little difficult to move and form strategies effectively, wouldn't you say?"

     Nevertheless, Revan was mildly surprised at her understanding of the Force. Not that the Sith couldn't be philosophical, but too many saw the Dark Side as a shortcut to power. The truly dangerous ones understood the true dual nature of the omnipresent power. "You could call it the soul of our very universe," she added. "It flows through everything...even things generally not considered alive. It flows through the very rocks and trees of every world in our galaxy."

     Unfortunately, whatever deep philosophical debate the two might have been able to have -- which admittedly Revan would have been more than happy to entertain -- was rudely interrupted by the sort of ancient defence droids she was well accustomed to. "Ah well," she sighed. "It wouldn't be a proper ancient temple exploration without millennia-old murder droids," she quipped as she drew her lightsabers. "Such a nostalgic feeling.~"

Maya has posed:
Maya shrugs for a moment.

"The Emperor was very keen to exterimate any force using tradations from what little I know."

Maya doesn't feel fear here, but she's clealrya ware that Nima could be dangerous. "What I draw upon is simply is, how you employ it is what matters."

She moces aheaed but pauses for a moment as they get the warning they are not alone she sees the droids and she opens fire on them. Her rifle spits out solid slug rounds with a road amd sends shell casings everywhere as she moves to engage them. Her off hand however is holding a card that's got a blue fire leeching from her body into it.

Nima Kairn (951) has posed:
    Mairead's emotions and thoughts are pulsing like a beacon, turning Nima's smile into a wry one as she turns around again. "I know many things. You'd do well to learn to guard your thoughts. Were I a less scrupulous Sith..." She lets the implication hang. And really, she's not wrong--a more violent Sith might've torn her mind to shreds, or at least tried.

    The Inquisitor nods along with Revan's observations, but eventually pauses to get a good look at the other woman. She's been to Korriban?... "Stark it may be, but the artifacts that continue to be pulled from the tombs to this day are fantastic. Wonders of the ancient Sith... provided you don't run into one of their ghosts along the way." She should know all about that. Though at least her spirit ancestor had been willing to hear reason...

    Thankfully for everyone involved, there's a lot of cover here, what with all the pillars. Of course, with each blaster bolt and vibrosword swing, they were destroying precious history on the walls. Not that the droids seem to care. Kyle's target clearly can't defend itself against the lightsaber; braincase and head melt under the lightsaber's assault. Another two jump him from behind one of the pillars, one with a vibrosword trying to impale the Jedi onto a pillar, the other using another pillar as cover to fire from.

    Mairead's bolts find their targets; these droids are far too old to dodge and evade properly, and they both drop. That said, if she wants to get closer, now's the perfect time! Three droids are coming, two armed with blades while the other shoots from afar. Maya gets much the same treatment. It seems that while these droids aren't very cutting edge anymore, they're willing to swarm to get their work done.

    Revan doesn't attack quite yet, but that doesn't stop the droids from taking potshots at her. Two blaster wielding droids in cover and a third charging with a blade! That'll teach her to stand still in a fight... right?

    Nima and Khem, meanwhile, are working fairly well together. The Deshade ends up getting tagged by a couple blaster bolts, but he snarls and viciously cleaves the heads from two blade wielding droids in front of him. Nima focuses more on those who are distant; the air fills with static energy as she reaches out with her hand to blast a stream of lightning at a distant droid, frying the poor thing. A couple blaster bolts fly her way, but she deflects them both and throws her lightsaber at the source. The saberstaff cleaves through both pillar and droid before returning to her.

    Good news, though, their numbers are getting thin!

Mairead Sandilands has posed:
    Looking, Mairead sighs as she thinks and the bow phases out and a hilt phases into her right hand. With a thought, the hilt ignites like a lightsaber, but it is more a beam blade, broadsword size and she rushes forward and has her shield up, takign hits and keeping an eye on her shields strength. . o 0 (325 ..... 320) and she sighs, "Those blasters have some power," she mentions as she gets in close and puts her IS' features to use.

    Emerald Lady is a close-quarters Is and this allows Mairead to move fast and the beam broadsword is swung at the main body of one of the vibrosword units, while she pivots and swips form shoulder to hip of the other. She is still taking hits from the last droid, and she moves behind a pillar to use as cover. "Loch Rain," she says outloud as a shotgun phases in and the beam weapon phases out. For now she waits to move as she looks around. "IS everyone ok?" she asks.

Kyle Katarn (778) has posed:
    Kyle's senses don't fail him, as he sees the sword wielding droid coming a mile away. His free hand reaches out towards the charging droid, before he sends it flying off with a simple Force push. The droid will be shoved up against a pillar, and should that be successful Kyle will push again, this time grinding the droid's chassis against ancient stone with enough force to shatter concrete alone.

    Then he dives behind a nearby pillar, using it as cover as he draws his blaster, training it upon one of the droids firing upon him before squeezing off a shot or two, the hefty pistol kicking in his grip.

Revan (414) has posed:
     The mismatched eyes closed with the same oddly cheerful smile as Revan held a single finger up. "Ah, but at least some of the killer droids and old ghosts are gone, right?"

     Not that she had anything to do with that, nope.

     As for the droids attacking her? Things are about to get very unpleasant very quickly.

     Instead of attacking with her lightsabers directly, she simply extends her arms forward and unleashes what could only be Force Lightning, something more than capable of frying even ancient circuits. Worse still, the bolts chain, striking one droid even as the electrical bolts leap to the closest droid over.

     Out of the corner of her eye she catches the work of the Sith Inquisitor -- an Assassin, given the double blade -- and makes a few mental notes. Her smile turns a little dangerous then. "Hmmm," is the only thoughtful sound she makes as she suddenly leaps at a droid which somehow evaded the lightning strike, a signature move of a Guardian. Which...don't typically talk like a distorted mix of a Consular and Inquisitor and use the Force Lightning of the latter.

     This might be the /weirdest/ Jedi ever seen.

Maya has posed:
Maya wonders how long these droids have been with out maintance, the fact they are still operational at all is a testiment ot thier quality and the skill used in making them.

"I prepare to avoid such things, they tend to swallow souls."

Maya quips back to Nima as she keeps fighting she sees there's a lot of them and her rifle opens up, a bit revealing aome sorr of energy weapon mount which fires a heavy concentrated beam Maya rakes across the droid formations as she tries to keep them out of Melee. Oh May does not like melee at all.

Nima Kairn (951) has posed:
    The team handles itself well against these ancient automatons; as each go down, they are not replaced, and the room grows slowly quieter with each droid that falls. Eventually all was still except for the last twitches and sparks coming from the ruined droids. Everyone was fairly impressive... but Nima watched Revan's display with the most interest, bordering on awe. Such a display of power was incredible... and completely against the Jedi Code. As she recalled, even the use of Force Lightning was banned...

    Mental note: WATCH THIS WOMAN. In her she just might find something truly intruiging...

    Once everything is clear, the Inquisitor deactivates her lightsaber and scowls at the ruined colemns. "Such a waste," she laments quietly. Still, no time for sadness. Immediately, she turns towards the lighted door. "Khem, stay here. The rest of you come. Beware... This temple's true defense isn't droids or weapons. It is far more insidious." And then she's in, and the dark beyond the door swallows her.

    Everyone who follows will soon find that they've lost everyone else they came in with, and the door shuts definitively behind them. They must walk along the paths alone... Supposedly. Nima's pace is unhurried and she isn't concerned... until she hears plaintive cries over the sound of a lash. She turns immediately... to see herself, younger, tied to a pole as a cruel master left scars that would never fade upon her back. "Your illusions have no power over me," she hisses darkly, but slowly her eyes begin to change color, taking on a sickly yellow hue. But it's when the torturer took her off of the pole and started bringing her to a small outbuilding. What will happen there... "NO!" She roars, raising her hands, hatred and rage coursing through her veins as she desperately tried to destroy the thing that haunted her. Lightning explodes from her hands, but there's nothing there...

Nima Kairn (951) has posed:
    MEANWHILE...

    Kyle's path is similarly quiet and uninterrupted for a time, but eventually he'd start to hear something. Talking, it sounds like. Something about overgrown Tyranian monkey-lizards. Eventually, he'd stumble into a chasm. It's too wide, and the ceiling too low to safely jump across. There was Tavion... and Jan underneath her. "On second thought, Tavion," came a familiar voice from everywhere. "Kill her." The Dark Jedi is only too happy to comply. Jan cries out to Kyle in fear and horror, only for her head to be brutally, mercilessly removed by Tavion's blade. Yet again, he failed to save her.

    Revan's trial isn't so gory. Suddenly she's walking beside Malak again, the younger Jedi's face terse. "We have found it, Master," he says. And so the source reveals itself--only it doesn't. A black, malignant cloud in the vague shape of a man is in it's place. Malak tries to strike at it, only for him to fall to his knees as his mind is shattered. It feels as if the darkness turns it's gaze upon Revan, and it begins to force it's will against hers, breaking her down again...

    Mairead's passage is peaceful... until it isn't. Slowly the sound of buzzing fills the cave, growing louder and louder with each passing moment. Bugs. Lots of bugs... they come out of the walls and ceiling, from the floor, thousands of biting insects and vibrating wings that cover her like a hot, buzzing blanket...

Mairead Sandilands has posed:
    Mairead sees the Force Ligthning and just blinks and jawdrops as she is hit in the side of the face by a blaster shot form a droid. It was her own stupid fault cause she has never seen the Force used and to her it is all magic. The shot did knock her back to stop being amazed to being sore (275) pops up as she looks and cocks the .60 cal shotgun and takes flight as she heads for the droid firing on her. Seeing it, she pulls the trigger and fires off a round at the droid.

    After hitting the droid, she lands and rubs her cheek, which has a small bruise. "Oww..... That hurts." she mentions as she looks around. "Is that all of them?" she asks as she cocks the shotgun again and waits looking around. As she hears Nima, she loosk at the others and gulps, "what's in there?" she asks simply as she looks at the darkness and closes her eyes as she says a prayer to God and does the sign of the cross before she walks and she murmurs to herself Psalm 23 as she enters.

    "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his names sake ...." is the last thing heard as she is swallowed up in the darkness and she stops as she looks aorund and walks on down the path. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." she continues as she looks around as she hears noise... "Oh lord, ye are with me..." she says with her scottish accent and starts to back up, but hits the wall and tuns as they start crawling on her, "Get them off .... GET THEM OFF!!!!!" she screams as she covers up and summons Loch Rain and begins to fire off the shotgun as fast as she can. Tears are rollign down her face as she is freaking out and once she is out of rounds in the shotgun, she rushes forward as the IS's thrusters fire and Emerald Lady knows Mairead is in trouble.

    IS' are AIs that are linked to their pilots, and so Emerald Lady does what she is to do, protect Mairead and so there is a flash as an energy shield appears around Mairead and this shhield can keep things form Mairead as the IS moves, only the triple digit number is counting down. (274 ..... 265 ..... 250) and the count is dropping in groups of 12 to 15 digits as the shield draws upon the IS's own power systems. Right now the IS is working to get Mairead to a safe place and is actually forcing Mairead to flee form the bugs...

Maya has posed:
Maya says "I have bad feeling about this."

Maya however contiunes onward with the group lowering her rifle at this point. Maya pauses for a moment at Nima.

"They seem to."

Maya would be heading back she knows it's best to leave somethings be but if the temple is throwing another test at her? She was about to have to deal with such a test. For her however it wasn't her old fears it was naother fear. A man, clad in biotech armored appears before her, a darker shade of blue hair and way of carrying himself that would remind one of an Imperial Moff or Sith Lord.

"Your just like me. You will see it sooner or later, that's how it ends."

Maya pauses staring in shock, is this a trick of the multiverse.

"Your dead, you died in Selena's arms's Doskais."

The man smirtks, there's no doom or gloom but a dmaned blade is slung across his back.

"Am I? You seem to be on the path I was just furhter. Your better then them, your of Kyra's own blood. You are no mortal and yet you deny this fact."

Maya backs up and she mutters something in a lanauge that's never been spoken in this world before.

<<You are a ghost, a shadow, of a man who repented..."

"You speak the tongue of Babylon well enough but you know what your fate is, sooner or later you will need to size control, the very power I set half the world on fire to try and obtain. You can only run from what you must be for so long Decendant of Marduk and Kyra."

Kyle Katarn (778) has posed:
    Kyle whistles in surprised awe at Lowri. "Didn't know you could still do that." He admits, eyeing the remains of droids torn apart by that storm of lightning. He's not even aware that it's a Sith power, all he's known about it is it was something he saw a Jedi do once or twice. Admittedly, they were Dark Jedi but you get the idea.

    He's been through these trials before, mostly when he was searching through old ruins or going through his trials to earn back a lightsaber on Yavin IV's temple. It doesn't prepare him for a brush with the past, though, as he hears himself up ahead. "What the Hell...?"

    He jogs further down the cavern before he finds himself seeing himself held at bay by a massive lizardlike humanoid.

    And then he hears Dessan give the order. All he can do is reach futilely before screaming in horror as he sees the woman he loves decaptitated just like that, dropping to his knees, "NO!"

    It's practically on reflex, even if some part of him urges him to press on knowing it's an illusion.

    It still feels like the first time, and hurts like it too.

Revan (414) has posed:
     "They don't really swallow souls in our galaxy," Lowri explained as she gave a good shove through the Force to the droid closest to her. "But they do tent to hit pretty hard, so caution is a good rule to follow!"

     Her smile for Kyle was not much different. "I try to keep up with my skills," she quipped before her expression dropped, becoming serious. She couldn't help but echo Nima's regret. Though her talents tended towards those of the Guardian, her mindset was quite solidly that of the Consular. Revan would have been perfectly content to simply study the mysteries of the past and of the Force...but evil demanded to be fought, and she made her choice long ago. "No use dwelling on what's been lost," she said with an uncharacteristic seriousness as she moved forward...

     ...Only to stop as the group are enveloped in their personal nightmares.

     Revan inhaled and exhaled slowly. Just knowing this was an illusion wasn't enough. Her persistent regrets over Malak and the horrors they had faced beyond the Outer Rim were not things which could simply be dismissed by endlessly reciting the Jedi Code. Not when what she had dragged Alek and their followers into led to unimaginable tortures.

     Her scream reverberated on the rock walls, as forgotten memories suddenly surfaced, along with all the pain of their torture. It was impossible to tell what was physical and what was the anguish of knowing she was the one who lead them all into the pit of hell.

Nima Kairn (951) has posed:
    Trapped in her illusion, the Inquisitor steps forward slowly to the body on the floor. She'd hit nothing--she knew that. But the body remained until she roughly kicks him over. The man groans in pain, only to be silenced when Nima ignites her lightsaber and stabs it 'through him'. "You cannot make me change my decision!" she snarls. "I have chosen the dark path. I will not be pushed from it by mere conjuries!" And so the man fades...

    Desann's lips twist into what might've passed for a smile normally as Kyle goes to his knees. "Look at you, broken and wailing. Your future lies in the Dark Side, Kyle. Accept it and join me.. Or join the remains of your partner." And to rub salt in the wound, across the chasm Tavion thoughtlessly kicks at Jan's corpse until it's finally sent into the deep black below.

    Unfortunately for Mairead, the onslaught doesn't end. Every blast kills hundreds of bugs, but thousands more take their place. Not even the thrusters are fast enough to keep them away. They bite and crawl about, feasting on her absolute fear. Even if she makes it back to the door, it refuses to budge. Not even a blow from a gun seems to dent it...

    The vile cloud of black energy makes a noise roughly similar to laughter as it forces it's will against Revan's crumbling own. <You will return to the lands of your birth,> it whispers in her mind, like vile tendrils of oil in her brain. <There you shall make war. You are the vanguard...> And deep within the blackness came the mask... Revan's mask. The cloud moves forward and tries to force the mask on her, seal it so she could never take it off again...

Kyle Katarn (778) has posed:
    Kyle's heart races, both in grief and in fury. It'd be so easy to just give up on the light, but at the same time...

    "No." He says coldly. "You can kill me, but you'll never destroy me. I've lost Jan once before..." His lightsaber springs to life. "She'd never let me fall, not even from losing her." Shaking still, Kyle forces himself to stand before assuming a fighter's stance, lightsaber raised in hands as he stares a defiant glare at Desann's apparition. "And I'd never forgive myself if I sank to your level."

Mairead Sandilands has posed:
    Looking as they start biting her and she screams even louder and hits a wall, "Gotta get them off.... gotta get them off," she repeats as she starts batting them away as fast as she can. "Help me....." she says as she keeps at it and looks. "Please lord help me...." she adds as she looks around and works to get them off. As she bats, they keep coming back; more and more and she cannot do much and slowly she sinks ot the ground. "Please make it stop. please make them stop," she says as she cannot bat the insects away any more.

    Emerald Lady is still holding the energy shield, which she drops as the numbers read (210) and the shield drops as Emerald Lady cannot do anything right now. The IS sits and inside Mairead's mind a voice is heard 'Face it.' and Mairead looks for the voice. 'I am with you. Face it.' the voice says again as the IS speaks to her. 'You are not alone.' she says as Mairead looks and nods, "O...ok," she says as she slowly stands up. "I ha..ave to face this...." she states as she looks at the insects and closes her eyes as she puts her hands together, and begins to repeat Psalm 23 over and over and over as she prays for strength that she does not have.

    After this, she is gonna be on edge for a while due to this scare.... That is almost certain.

Revan (414) has posed:
     The worst part of the nightmare was just how seamlessly it integrated her into itself. Where other Jedi might be tortured with visions of loss of control or the deaths of comrades, she was tortured with the Dark luring her back into it as if she had been born from it. Revan had chosen the Light, but her philosophy was Grey...and her path had been born from the Darkness. And it was the Darkness which promised her answers, a way to save the galaxy. How that could be defied all logic, all Jedi and Sith understanding of what the Force was.

     Just blindly reciting the Jedi Code was useless...but perhaps the more useful parts could help.

     "There is no emotion, there is peace." That was one of the worthless parts. Her attachments with her friends -- both in her home galaxy and in the multiverse -- were a strength.

     "There is no ignorance, there is knowledge." Right, that was a good one. Knowledge was a beneficial thing, and even the dark secrets could be revealed to someone wise enough not to be influenced by them.

     "There is no passion, there is serenity." That one was a bit on the proverbial fence. /Controlling your passions while being in love, *that's* what they should teach you,/ the voice of one of the wisest Jedi she had ever known had said. She had yet to find anything to contradict that sense of balance between emotion and peace.

     "There is no chaos, there is harmony." Another marginally useless one. Chaos was the natural order of the universe; but the sentient mind sought order. They key was to strike a necessary balance.

     "There is no death, there is the Force." Finally, she came to the important part. Death was inevitable, yet the Force was what bound the very universe together, something the Sith Code also recognised. Which in turn lead to what would have shocked everyone.

     "Peace is a lie, there is only passion." Like the first part of the Jedi Code, this was rubbish. Passion itself was a force of nature, destructive and in need of proper control. Peace was possible, if one understood the natural order.

     "Through passion, I gain strength." She would have substituted "attachments" for "passion"; she had only been able to get as far as she had from the strength her friends had given to her. She never would have even made it off the Endar Spire if Carth hadn't saved her ass. /Carth.../ she thought, though she forced herself not to fall into despair thinking about him and how much she missed him.

     "Through strength, I gain power." Now we were getting to the heart of understanding. Strength by itself was useless.

     "Through power, I gain victory." Ah, now we were approaching actual wisdom. Just being powerful meant nothing.

     "Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall set me free." At last, the place where the Jedi and Sith Codes connected: true freedom and wisdom in the Force. Everything came down to that, trusting in the omnipresent power which guided everything, the source of all knowledge and wisdom...and perhaps even human emotion. The Force....

     Her hand came up suddenly to force the mask away. "That is a part of me," she admitted. "But that isn't all of who I am. I...I am part of the Dark. I can't deny that. But I am the Light, too. I..."

     And at last, Revan admitted the truth to herself. "I am Grey. I am the place between the Light and the Dark."

Maya has posed:
Maya stares the phantom before her down she looks at him her green eyes narrowing.

"I am that but I am also Maya the junker and wanderer. That is whom I have chosen to bem thats who I'll always be. I know what I am but that does not change Who I am."

Maya stares the Phantom down.

"You are by blood and combat the Empress and you still refuse to claim it? You could change their culture for the better."

"At what cost in blood? The price is too high and I'm aware of my own failings, I'm unfit to rule."

The Specture pauses for a moment looks at her and doesn't say a thing as they fade away in a mist and Maya's eyes snap right open at this point.

"Very well, but one day you will have to face the further costs of your linage..."

"When the time comes I will, but today is not that day and you insult the man who found repentance for his sins before he died."

Nima Kairn (951) has posed:
    And so, all faced their trials alone. Nobody was there to aid them in their suffering, and yet everyone found their own way of moving beyond the horrors that they were witnessing to grasp at the calm serenity. They seized hold of courage and truth against their torments... All but one. They passed the trial of this temple, at least. All it took was a blink, and suddenly the world was shifting, changing...

    Opening their eyes would reveal that they were once again in the room of many colemns, Khem Val leaning against one of the pillars as he stared hungrily at all three Force sensitives. In fact, they hadn't moved from where they had been standing after the last droid had fallen. Probably pretty confusing for the people who didn't know the Force!

    "A test to show the perils of the Dark Side, to show the events that would cause someone to fall," says Nima, and her voice is dripping with anger and sarcasm. Even though things have changed, her eyes still glow yellow. "Congratulations--you have all passed. I didn't... but I think this place understands now that I will not chain myself to the Light so easily. Khem! Follow." She starts off for the lighted door again, the Deshade following quickly afterwards. This time, when she walks through, the darkness doesn't immediately eat her like last time. The path is clear.

    It's also a lot shorter this time. There are rooms for training and meditation, but everything has been stripped bare. That said, there's a small sense of something calling... leading to a storeroom deep in the complex, half-buried in debris from an explosion. Without hesitation, Nima seizes hold of the Force and starts roughly pulling the rubble away. "Aid me," she grunts to the others. With all of them together, it should be cleared fairly quickly and safely.

    Inside are a pair of geometric shapes stuffed into the dark corners of the room. One is blue and gold, made into a cube. The other is red and onyx, made into a pyramid...

Maya has posed:
Maya Snapes out of it and takes a deep breath as she looks over at Nima for a moment.

"So you chain your self to the Darkness? I see."

Maya doesn't comment further as she moves ahead into the place, she notices the place has been stripped, she pauses at Nima nad moves to get her back into moving it, she'll even end up using one of those strange cards to sememingly control and fling some of the wreckage out of the way.

"What ... are these....? Kyle? Lowri?"

Mairead Sandilands has posed:
    Looking around after opening her eyes, Mairead blinks and stumbs back and leans agaisnt a pillar and just looksa round. She covers her face and starts to silently sob as what she just went through. "If that was a test," she starts. "I do not want to go through another one," she finishes as she sighs and is now not in any good shape. She looks at her hands, and they are shaking slightly as she stands up fully and wraps her arms around her. "Wh....what kind of a test was that?" she asks them as she follows the others through the door and looks as she helps moving the rubble as best as she can.

    Her face is red, mainly around her eyes, she steps back, "What..." and she looks at Maya as Maya got the question out before she did. "What Maya said," she asks him as she looks at the two objects and thennotices the number to her left, (210) and she looks. "How did it get that low?" she asks herself as she does not want to think about the hell she just went through.

Kyle Katarn (778) has posed:
    What the hell? Kyle looks in confusion as the apparitions of Desann, Jan, and Tavion just disappear before he realizes the obvious. "...oh."

    His lightsaber switches off, and Kyle frowns. Was he really still so fragile regarding that whole mess that the mere reminder was enough to get him on his knees again. How easy would it be for him to go over the edge if Jan had died for real, would he have still been caught on his warpath across the galaxy looking for Desann?

    It doesn't matter, he supposes. The illusion was just that, Desann is still dead, Jan's alive, and Tavion's irrelevant now. Kyle sighs, shaking his head before he eyes Nima. "I think that much is obvious." He says to the Sith calmly, after a moment is spent to recover his composure. "It's a test of the spirit Mairead." He says, regarding the Scottish girl for a moment in a neutral tone. "The way of the Jedi is a long and hard one, not everyone can stay on the path."

Revan (414) has posed:
     Lowri shook her head slightly, as if to clear the last of the illusions form her mind. Eventually, one grey and one deep blue eye focused on the Sith. "I'm not so sure about that," the Guardian admitted. "I doubt it would have allowed a Grey Jedi to pass if it was so simple."

     For the first time since she had left Telos, she admitted it. She was not, as she had insisted, a pure servant of the Light...at least, not the way the more rigid Jedi defined it. Jolee would probably make some sarcastic comment at this point, if he only knew.

     But that was all she said on that particular matter, she began peeling away rubble through the Force. "Basically," she added to Kyle's reply. "Many times, the Dark lures you through your own personal regrets. Even the best and purest of intentions can lead to evil actions. The key is to realising what path you're on."

     When she finally laid eyes on the artefacts, however...

     "...Well," she quipped, eyebrows raised slightly. "Roll me in Bantha fur and call me a Wookie. This is quite the surprise."

Nima Kairn (951) has posed:
    Maya's snide comment doesn't earn much but a quiet shake of the head from Nima. "Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall set me free," she quotes simply. "I am free from all of my chains. All of them." For a moment, she feels the scars on her back twinge in pain as the memories of her past freshly churn in her mind. "I am a slave to neither Sith nor Jedi. Whether or not you agree with my path isn't my concern."

    Mairead's not really looking so hot, though. In what might be a crowning moment of surprise, the Sith moves to her and places a comforting hand on her shoulder. There's even a small, comforting smile on her face. "Be at ease. Once you are gone from this place, you won't have to return. What you saw is your own business."

    Grey Jedi. Khem Val makes a loud noise of what might be disbelief. A glare and a silencing motion from Nima stops him before he says anything unwise. "What is important is your will, woman. The titles are all finery and dressing-up. Though at least you had courage enough to admit it."

    Once they've gotten inside the room, Nima immediately goes for the red and black pyramid, lifting it carefully, studying it with a look of marvel on her face. "Finding a Sith holocron by itself is a treasure. Finding it and the other..." Well, shit. Now was the time to start dealing. Did she really feel like alienating these people so quickly after meeting them?... "These items are of great value and should be preserved. I have the sense that you won't allow me the Jedi's holocron even if I could better store and catalogue it. You should let me have it... But I know you won't. Call it my payment for your help, I suppose."

    The holocron is slipped into a pouch dangling from her belt with extreme care, and she starts making her way towards the doorway. KHem follows close after, of course, but both stop at the doorway as Nima spends a moment thinking. "We will see each other again, and it is likely that we will be on opposite sides. In those times I will endeavor to destroy you if I must. In other times... we'll have to see what shall come of this, I suppose. Say hello to your Masters for me."

    And with that, she brings her hood back up to cover her head, a spectre of darkness in the dank and dark tunnels of this Jedi ruin. To leave, and return to the stars...