Chapter 3: Polis Massa Base

After Order 66, few Jedi dare to venture outside the shadows—rumors of the dark and terrible Darth Vader haunting even their waking moments. Yet, some Jedi find this life of fear unbearable. The Empire is always watching, and Vader himself is eager to confront any Jedi that might bring him closer to the whereabouts of his betrayer, Obi-Wan Kenobi.
User avatar
Shurijo
Admin
Admin
Posts: 13979
Title: Scourge of the Jedi
User Class: Sith Lord

Chapter 3: Polis Massa Base

Post by Shurijo » Mon Mar 08, 2021 4:45 pm

Jedi Master Tan's face changes to a curious expression. "First, let's check on the wounded technician. Walk with me, young ones." He says to the padawan and youngling. As they walk towards the medical bay, he says "Tell me more about these rocks. Were you able to bring any back to the facility?"

Tomas interjects, "I tried to carry one, but it crumbles when we touch it. When the technician picked it up, it didn't glow or break apart -- only when Jedi Knight Granite, Jedi Padawan Uri, and myself held them did they glow and turn to dust."

"I see," says Jedi Master Tan. "I'm not as well versed as the geological experts in the ExplorCorps, but I have heard of crystals that glowed when in close proximity of a Force sensitive individual. What was the color?" he asks. "And what preceded the lightning? As far as I'm aware, there should be no natural weather of sorts on this planetoid."

User avatar
RorytheRomulan
Level 12
Level 12
Posts: 1835
Location: US

Chapter 3: Polis Massa Base

Post by RorytheRomulan » Wed Mar 10, 2021 2:34 am

"The stones turn blue. In our brief encounter with the worm, dust swirled up from the boy and covered the sky. That was when the storm appeared." He turns to Master Tan, and lowered his voice in front of Tomas. "It was a scary situation for him. When I looked at Tomas, I thought I recognized a feeling. Then, I remembered my first open skirmish during the war."

Without saying so in the presence of the boy, Uri was trying to tell the Jedi Master that Tomas felt fear, and that this might have influenced what came next.

User avatar
Shurijo
Admin
Admin
Posts: 13979
Title: Scourge of the Jedi
User Class: Sith Lord

Chapter 3: Polis Massa Base

Post by Shurijo » Wed Mar 10, 2021 6:58 pm

When his actions is mentioned, Tomas looks down at the floor and says, "When the first rock crumbled, I tried to pick up another one like we did in the training room. I did pick it up, but it feel apart as it was moving."

Jedi Master Tan moves to place his hand on Tomas' shoulder. "It's okay to be afraid, but you cannot let fear drive your emotions. When you are in situations like this, you need to find peace. The peace will enable you to better connect to the Living Force."

Looking back to the Padawan, Master Tan says, "It appears we have a research task at hand. Master Jocasta Nu would have enjoyed learning about this. Padawan Uri, this gives us a good chance for you to work with Youngling Tomas to demonstrate that being a Jedi requires intelligence and study as well as simply being good at Force abilities. We must be well rounded and educated, so that we can help those most in need in many ways."

Arriving at the infirmary, they look through a glass window to see the technician resting in a bacta tank. Still puzzled, Master Tan continues, "I see there may be two different matters at hand and they may not be entirely connected. First, rocks that glow and turn to dust when a Jedi touches them is interesting and can be tested and confirmed. Other crystals have been known to glow, but perhaps due to the crystals' structures they can maintain their form. The rocks may have a weaker structure so once it activates, it is overwhelmed and breaks apart."

"Next, you mentioned the storm that appeared. It began as soon as Tomas picked up a rock, but also you mentioned that the technicians, yourselves, and Jedi Knight Granite also handled rocks afterwards. The storm may or may not be connected to the rocks."

"The storm may have been manifested by Tomas with his Force abilities, it may be a side effect of calling upon the Force that could occur independent of Tomas -- by any Jedi, or it could still be somehow related to the rocks. Each of these theories need to be tested and confirmed. Rocks that can detect a Jedi could easily be used as a tool against us. If the storm is related to Tomas or calling upon the Force, we should understand this and warn our fellow Jedi."

"The one thing that doesn't make sense to me is myself and all of the younglings have called upon the Force in training exercises within the facility for the last few days and I have not noticed any storms. Perhaps the facility is somehow insulated, or perhaps the storm is unrelated to the Force. These are things we must understand if we are to stay here. The storm may bring injury and harm to the facility and others, so we must understand the cause so we can prevent harm."

User avatar
RorytheRomulan
Level 12
Level 12
Posts: 1835
Location: US

Chapter 3: Polis Massa Base

Post by RorytheRomulan » Fri Mar 12, 2021 1:01 pm

"We can ask the technicians to gather rocks from where we found them, but they'll need to be protected from the giant worm. We were placing a sensor beacon near a large tunnel when it burst out of the ground."

User avatar
Shurijo
Admin
Admin
Posts: 13979
Title: Scourge of the Jedi
User Class: Sith Lord

Chapter 3: Polis Massa Base

Post by Shurijo » Fri Mar 12, 2021 5:30 pm

Tomas speaks up, "Masters, one of the men brought a rock back with him. He might have left it in the garage."

Nodding with the younglings comment, the Jedi Master, Padawan, and Youngling walk into the garage. When they get within a few feet of the table where the rock resides, Jedi Master Tan holds out his hand, "Hold."

Looking at the rock from a few feet away, all three notices it already has a slight glow about it which wasn't visible when they entered the room. "Step back," Master Tan. When the three take a step back, the rock stops glowing. "Interesting," Master Tan says.

From a distance, Master Tan holds out his hand and begins to lift the rock. As it rises a few inches above the table, it crumbles into dust. A quick and bright flash appears in the same location as the rock dust.

"What do you think, Padawan? As a Jedi Knight, you will often need to take incomplete data and perform analysis on the matter. Tasks like this might be life or death with the Empire chasing after us." Master Tan asks.

Looking down to Tomas, he says, "As a Padawan, you will need to learn to help your elders. They may not always have the information, or even the answers to your questions, but you will need to trust their judgement in matters like this."

User avatar
RorytheRomulan
Level 12
Level 12
Posts: 1835
Location: US

Chapter 3: Polis Massa Base

Post by RorytheRomulan » Sat Mar 13, 2021 1:34 am

Uri scrunches his brow. "The rock obviously has a strong reaction to the Force - whether it's in us, or affected by techniques. There were three Jedi together with the technician with the rocks, and there were a lot more nearby before the worm. Causing too many to blow up might have brought the storm. Until we can start experimenting with them with an emergency shelter or a lightning rod, we should keep our distance and treat them as unstable. The storm also scared the worm off. Maybe, if we could find a safe way to call storms at will, we could use them to keep the worms away."

User avatar
Shurijo
Admin
Admin
Posts: 13979
Title: Scourge of the Jedi
User Class: Sith Lord

Chapter 3: Polis Massa Base

Post by Shurijo » Tue Mar 16, 2021 4:05 pm

Jedi Master Tan nods, "Good. We must be careful when using the Force outside the facility. The worms may also feel those strong in the Force or might be sensitive to the use of the Force. From your briefing, the worms appeared aggressive until it had a strong reaction to the storm, or the cause of the storm, and immediately fled. It's possible the worms know more than we do about their planet. If the Force crumbles these rocks, imagine the effects of a hundred or a thousand Force Sensitive beings on the surface."

"Next, we must also find out if these rocks are being transported elsewhere. If their properties are known to others, it may be used against us and unprotected, Force sensitive younglings. We need to make sure the Emperor doesn't turn these rocks into detection devices."

User avatar
RorytheRomulan
Level 12
Level 12
Posts: 1835
Location: US

Chapter 3: Polis Massa Base

Post by RorytheRomulan » Wed Mar 17, 2021 11:26 am

Uri accepts Tan's reasoning. More and more, he settles into a feeling of normalcy in the presence of Jedi Masters. "Yes, I understand. That would be terrible. We should pay a visit to logistics. It'll be in their records. Before we do that, we'll have to ask someone what names they came up with for the rocks."

User avatar
Shurijo
Admin
Admin
Posts: 13979
Title: Scourge of the Jedi
User Class: Sith Lord

Chapter 3: Polis Massa Base

Post by Shurijo » Thu Mar 18, 2021 5:43 pm

Jedi Master Tan pats Uri on the back. It appears if Divak was going to say something, then he changes his mind. "I'll be in the meditation room, if I'm needed."

* * * *

A few minutes later Padawan Uri and Youngling Tomas arrive in the geology section of the archaeology and mining section of the facility. After describing the rocks to the geologists, they are lead over to a table where a stack of similar looking rocks are resting.

"These rocks are known as Kallida, named after the ancestral species of the local Polis Massans. We found no scientific results that says they are anything other than the usual organic sedimentary rocks. Their structures appear similar to common limestone and dolomite."

The geologist picks up one of the rocks as she turns it over in her hands. "You say there's something unique about these rocks?"

Unsure of what to say, Tomas looks over to Uri.

User avatar
RorytheRomulan
Level 12
Level 12
Posts: 1835
Location: US

Chapter 3: Polis Massa Base

Post by RorytheRomulan » Sat Mar 20, 2021 9:10 pm

Uri weighs the choice carefully in his mind, and then relents. "Yeah, they seem to have a strong reaction to the Force. We need to find out if any Kallida are being delivered offworld, and where else they're being kept on the planet."

Post Reply