Vahrran and Jim

OOC:

Rules Notes:

Initiative:

The two fighters cut back around and open fire on you again, both scoring terrible hits on the your airspeeder. Your shields are almost completely down and you've taken some hull damage. A few more hits like that and you're toast.

"Affirmative," answers 92. Jim acknowledges your command by opening up on your tail. His shot does good damage; the unknown fighter is now smoking from its engine.

Vahrran fires off the rocket, doing terrible damage to the trailing enemy fighter. It looks like it's just barely holding together.

The undamaged fighters cut back around for another strafing attack on the artillery below. The badly smoking one aims itself at one of the cannons, putting what speed it can into a kamikaze attack. As it approaches the cannon, it begins shaking violently until finally it is torn apart by an unseen force. You experience a moment of vertigo-like symptoms during the incident but luckily the sensation passes quickly. You instinctively interpret this sensation as a disturbance in the Force likely tied to whatever tore the enemy fighter apart and get the feeling that it originated on the ground next to the cannon the fighter was attempting to collide with.

OOC:

Round 2 Initiative:

Vahrran barks, "92, shields!"

He steers the larty closer to the cannon in an attempt to bring the tailing fighters toward what he believes to be 'within range' of the Force that damaged one of them. While he does, something in his mind clicks, and he tries to will something out of nothing, like 92 seemed to do in the previous layer of the Dreamer's mind. What he needed most at this moment was to get those shields up. We must have more power, he thought.

actions:

The TIE Fighters in hot pursuit, Vahrran cuts down and over the artillery dodging the enemy's fire any way he can. He begins willing more power into the shields, which take on a slightly violet hue during the process. Jim manages to finish off Tie Fighter number 2, placing a well placed shot into the pilot's cabin and on through to the engine. It explodes in a satisfying shower of light.

While diving towards the cannons he sees 5 people quickly form into a vertical line (from Vahrran's point of view) while 1 other takes up a position 12 meters away. As the last one starts running towards you the others start forcing pillars out of the ground, each of which are formed at greater and greater heights. The one running then jumps between them, gaining more and more altitude until finally launching themselves with a great leap up and over your Larty.

It's only a few moments as she spins overhead, but you see a Mirialan woman in white robes and a red headband. When she sees you she winks and then is gone from conventional sight as you move past each other.

Mirialan Woman:

You follow what happens next on your sensors. The woman's leap takes her towards her target--the remaining TIE Fighter. Once she's made contact with the ship you lose track of her, but not a moment later the fighter violently lists to one side before righting itself just prior to impacting the ground.

Leveling out you find yourself on a straight path towards the remaining fighters attacking the airfield. Their attack vector foiled by your approach, they instead attempt to shoot the Larty but their shots are so poor you barely even have to dodge.

That's when you receive a hail from the remaining TIE.

Round 2 recap:

Round 3 Initiative:

Vahrran continues to focus on buffering the larty's maximum shield strength while 92 repairs, flanking the remaining sith fighters. Jim should continue his focused, singular targeting fire.

Before he opens a comm channel with the remaining TIE fighter, he asks 92 if she is RO-85, or someone else. When he does open the channel, he does not respond, instead trying to think of where he's seen that Mirialan before.

ooc:

"I'm surprised you didn't know her," says 92, "Who's mind did you think you were in?"

OOC:

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The wheels spin inside Vahrran's head for less than a second. If she were an enemy doppelganger, what would be the point? They would more likely shoot the larty and force it to crash in order to apprehend the meddlers onboard, not perform some advanced stunt to assist him. Then, in that moment, he considers the possibility of using his own Dream power to doppelgang, to avoid being recognized immediately. It's not easy being blue.

"Fascinating." He finally responds in Basic through the comm channel he opened, "The last time I saw you, you were in Force class, being taught by a little green man."

OOC:

"Got it!" exclaims 92, fully recharging the shields. Paired with Vahrran's buffing, the shields are becoming very strong indeed.

"Walking through a mind will do that, Vahrran," says Ria matter-of-factly over the com. "Cut around to heading 36.52 and we'll clear them from the skies."

Between the two of you you flank the two Sith Fighters. Vahrran misses with his shots but Ria is able to score a good hit, causing the enemy fighter to start smoking. Both sides pass each other and begin setting up for the next exchange.

Round 3 Recap:

Round 4 Initiative:

"Fire a burst," Vahrran orders as he maneuvers to gain the angle Ria directs him toward.

ooc:

Between the two of them, Vahrran and Ria are able to box in Sith Fighter 1, allowing Jim and Ria to take it out. Meanwhile, Sith Fighter 2 strafes the Larty with ineffectual fire, somewhat draining the airspeeder's shields.

Both sides set up for what will likely be a final exchange.

Round 4 Recap:

Round 5 Initiative:

As Vahrran's missile streaks away towards its target 92 begins to explain. "According to the new information my creator just sent me everything is proceeding according to plan. Making contact with some aspect of the Jedi Knight Ria Adonwe is essential for freeing her from her current predicament. I'll explain more after the battle."

Meanwhile, the Sith Fighter barrel rolls out of the way of the missile which is soon lost in the distance. Jim opens fire not a second later, managing to graze one of the wings. Ria finishes the job, nailing the cockpit with a series of deadly shots.

As the Sith Fighter explodes in a ball of fire she whoops in victory and turns the fighter around to fall into formation with you. Not a second later Vahrran feels a presence very close by, as if someone had brushed past him in a hall way, before a channel code for the com appears in his head along with the desire for him to enter it.

What would you like you to do?

Final Round Summary:

ooc:

She clearly doesn't want anybody but them knowing about this secure channel for obvious reasons, so Vahrran enters the code for the channel and closes the other. Of course, it could also be the gentleman who told me to use the Force earlier...

"I don't object to communication or information via the Force, but I find altering my mind absent of any internal or sensory stimuli without my consent to be invasive, please refrain from doing that here on out."

OOC:

Ria's voice crackles out of the com "Sorry about that Vahrran, I didn't have another way to do it and we needed to change to a secure channel. While I won't promise not to do it again, I will promise never to do it lightly or for no reason. I hope that is sufficient."

After a quick complimentary Perception check, you find that you believe her.

"Um, this is awkward to have to ask but are you the real Vahrran? You aren't some dupe one of the other Ria's made out of her particular version of our memories are you?"

Vahrran hesitates to answer, not yet at ease with his recent discovery. "If the names RO-92 and RO-85 have been repeated by the doppelgangers, perhaps this will convince you."

He focuses on morphing the appearance of the Laartie to change the paint design and color. Purely aesthetic, a minor change unlikely to hurt their chances of escape or draw notice by the adversary, since they already have the attention of the Dreamer.

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"It is you!" The woman laughs in joy, the relief evident in her voice. She begins talking a mile a minute. "I never thought I'd see you again Vahrran. What's the plan? Where are our friends? Did any of the RO's survive? I have a million questions. Let's land and I'll introduce you to the others. By the Force, I should contact the General. She needs to know!"

The com goes silent as she contacts this General person, whoever she is.

"That was weird," says Jim, being his usual self.

"Indeed," Vahrran comments. "We'll need to hear more of what she has to say."

Ria mentioned doppelgangers of herself sending copies of Vahrran. Has she seen her own clones? If she knows him, is it because she's grown attached through time spent with the first one or few fakes? Has she seen fakes of Dake and Ominae? More information is required.

As for the droids, There is even more confusion based on what they've told him and current facts. They serve to help people escape the illusion. The Dreamer seems to opposes this. So either the droids are helping people out of the kindness of their creator's heart, or they are trying to keep the Dreamer in the illusion. Vahrran does not blame them for their actions if the intent of their programming is malicious, but he is beginning to wonder how long 92 has been in contact with his creator. First it's strategically appropriate to avoid the Dreamer, now the creator just sent data about the plan including freeing Ria as well? He is taking into grim consideration the possibility that the droids' creator is not to be trusted.

ooc:

He will wait to hear back from this general or Ria.

OOC:

You follow Ria back to the airfield. As you approach you are contacted by the tower and coordinates are sent on where to land. Curiously, the voice from the tower is Ria again.

As you land, the ground crew is a mixture of species--mostly human, with a smattering of Sullustans, Twi'leks, a Wookie, and some Mirialans. Actually, scratch that, not Mirialans but Ria, plural. They are dressed in flight crew jumpsuits and are either very young or very old but they are all recognizably Ria. You are met by a teenaged Ria in a flight crew helmet. She looks to be around 13- or 14-years-old.

"Hello," she yells over the myriad noise of a fully operational airfield. Her voice cracks when she speaks. "Please, follow me."

Jim doesn't seem to have caught on yet. 92 smirks at you. "Lead on Vahrran." it says.

She begins leading you away from the noise and confusion towards a little 4-man speeder. She climbs into the driver's seat and looks at the lot of you expectantly.

"The mind of the dreamer makes war on itself." That was what RO-85 had told them. Maybe they'd found the right aspect of the dreamer by choosing to help the Jedi forces. Choosing to get involved at all may have forced the creator to send new data, and we do want to help Ria.

This teenage girl had better be leading him to the real Ria he met with and their general. He needs to meet with them, and only them. And Jim, and RO-92. He couldn't risk letting them out of his sight.

He gets in the speeder. As it takes off out of earshot of the clones, he says to the young version of Ria piloting it, "If I even suspect that this is a trap, I will shoot you and walk the rest of the way." She's not a real child, there are tons more like her here at their base. He thinks about saying more to this effect, but decides against it. Coercing an imaginary person by leveling with them on the truth and grim details isn't worth the risk that it would draw the attention of...something, anything that wanted to keep him here, to kill him.

Do any of those old women look anything like the one that trapped us in an illusion when we first came to the temple and tried to kill us?

"Eep." She says. Her eyes go wide in fear and she isn't paying attention to where she's driving anymore.

OOC:

I'm gonna grab the wheel and keep it from bumping into anything. Thankfully we're not being chased, or in combat.

"Concentrate, we cannot delay. If you crash, we'll have to get out and walk anyway, and we wouldn't want to waste the impeccable timing of your betrayal."

She takes the wheel and puts on more speed. She occasionally looks over at Vahrran, the nervousness and fear clearly evident on her face. Jim, who mostly couldn't hear the exchange due to the roar of the speeder's engine and ambient airfield sounds leans forward and asks, "What's going on, everything okay?"

Vahrran laughs inside. As coolly as he can, he answers, "We're in the middle of a warzone between the past and future versions of two sides who are skirmishing in the present, in the same space. One of those versions is an army of nightmares with teeth and claws as long as my arms, and everyone at this base is twins with one of two halves of the military occupants, and about my age in [dog] years or vice versa." Careful, say nothing direct or any clear mention of the dream or of clones. Draw no attention. Huh, are we there yet? "Is all that 'okay?' I am not 100% certain." Words so dry they're dying of thirst.


It is unfortunate that Vahrran is not a convincing liar. Hopefully it will not matter.

Jim sniffs. "That makes some things clearer and explains the weird sure enough. But if that is so, then where are we? This don't look like any part of Caamas I've ever seen."

The girl turns down a duracrete road and drives towards a group of reinforced bunkers. She's trying her best not to draw Vahrran's attention again, but it's obvious she's listening.

On the way you pass a staging ground on your right and you see more Ria-s summoning in heavy armored tanks and soldiers to man them. The woman are dressed in a variety of ways, most in Jedi Robes but here and there you see the occasional armored warrior Ria or a Ria in civilian dress. The soldiers themselves wear a variety of armor, some archaic and others futuristic. What archaic armors you recognize are from historical records dated prior to the Ruusan Reformation.

OOC:

"Thousands of years in the planet's past, and thousands of years in the future, by my logic. Put them together, and only the facts you remember serve as a reminder that you are still on Caamas. What you see or hear will not help you figure out where you are."

Thousands of years into the past these time-weathered enemies fought, and just as far into the future, for all they know. Although a remarkable and life-saving reform, the Ruusan Reformation was about as useful as a piece of chalk used to draw lines on a playground to end a violent power struggle between children. He wonders if what he sees are the events of the past and the future colliding in a seer's mind, turning it against itself out of sheer magnitude. Vahrran comments absently, "Words on a piece of paper are only as binding as a clever tongue can make them. Either side here would sooner tear through the parchment to strike a blow. What we're seeing affirms Order 66 as clear proof that the Ruusan Reformation was indeed a vital, but temporary solution. Their war cannot end peacefully, and the Empire will not allow anyone to remain neutral."

"So we are still in an illusion? Hmm, did we ever really wake up?" asks Jim.

"I told you, you are still lying on the ground back on your Caamas trapped in this illusion," says 92, "Except you've finally noticed its not so much of an illusion anymore, is it? Ria is a powerful seer, she doesn't see time the way we do. Now mix her with a monster like The Dreamer, to whom time is a suggestion at best, and the barriers between time and space are meaningless. Do you see now, Vahrran, what you are up against? What our reality is up against? It devours her and comes ever closer to devouring all of reality."

The young Ria pulls up to a specific bunker, though it has no markings of any kind. The only thing that gives it away as a command building is the constant stream of officers and soldiers coming in and out on various errands. Resting against the wall, arms akimbo, is the Ria you saw earlier, white robe and all. To make sure you spot her, she begins waving her arm and shouting your names, smiling the entire time.