Chapter 4: Red Blades

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.
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Chapter 4: Red Blades

Post by Shurijo » Tue Apr 27, 2021 4:28 pm

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It’s been nearly six standard months since the "Great Jedi Purge" and your initial arrival to Polis Massa.

The near monthly arrival of the news courier droid revealed the following recent events:
On Caamas, a highly populated and marsh-covered Core World in the Cirius system, the citizens were loyal to Supreme Leader Palpatine and the Republic Senate, but refused to comply with Emperor Palpatine. The plane was subjected to a planetary bombardment. Rumors indicate that Bothan agents infiltrated the planet and lowered their powerful and heavily guarded planetary shields. The bombardment resulted in contamination and destruction of their world. While the planet was intact, all life was extinguished or fled the planet. Many citizens fled to Alderaan and provided first hand knowledge of the reports.
On Kashyyyk, the Empire invaded the Wookiee homeworld and began to capture Wookiees as slave labor.

"Reliable sources have stated that the Wookiees were allowing a band of rogue Jedi to use Kashyyyk as a base for rebel strikes against the Empire. The police action is believed to have begun with a demand that the Jedi be surrendered. Instead, the Wookiees resisted, and the result was a battle that left tens of thousands dead, including the Jedi insurgents, and perhaps hundreds of thousands imprisoned. On Coruscant, Kashyyyk Senator Yarua and the members of his delegation were placed under house arrest."
―HoloNet news
Without revealing his source, Master Divak Tan also revealed that he learned of other Jedi who survived the "Great Jedi Purge." He had suggested that the disparate groups should join together, but other Jedi Masters believe keeping the groups separate was the best chance to survive and continue the Jedi teachings. He spoke to the others, saying "Some of you might recall, Jedi Master Plett from the Service Corps. He was a renown botanist and a savant. I remember fondly of him carrying on conversations with birds and animals. I am glad to inform you that he is alive and is protecting a small group of Jedi at an undisclosed location."

* * *

Yesterday, Jedi Knight Janos, Jedi Shoshannah, and youngling Heldala returned from Iego. Spending her time in the laboratory, Shoshannah began work to decode the unique properties of the Reeska root in hopes of developing a cure for the deadly Blue Shadow Virus. Around the same time, Jedi Knight Granite and Jedi Padawan Urizen finishes scanning and mapping out one of the worm tunnels near the facility.

Today, all of the Jedi including the younglings have been brought together into the mediation room at the request of Jedi Master Divak Tan. The Jedi Master stands and speaks, "I am glad to see everyone here. The last few months have been difficult for many. We have lost friends and allies. We do not know who to trust. While some were gone, Jedi Knight Granite, Padawan Urizen, and youngling Tomas made a startling discovery."

As Urizen sat on the floor, Jedi Master Tan extended his arm. "Padawan Urizen will brief everyone on the details."

Standing up from his seated position, the padawan appears slightly nervous to be in the spotlight and stand in front of the elder Jedi. Meanwhile Tomas waves to him and helps boasters his confidence.

"While we were placing sensor beacons around the facility's perimeter, we discovered three things: a) a lifeform that survived the destruction of the planet and continues to live underground; b) rocks on the surface that are sensitive to the Force; c) violent and potentially deadly Force Storms appear on the planet surface when the Force was called upon on the surface."

Waving his hand to a nearby table, which everyone now notices contains a handful of rocks. The padawan walks over to the rocks and lifts one from the table. It immediate begins to glow and illuminate a light blue aura. A few seconds later, the rock disintegrates and turns to dust. "The local geologists named the rocks Kallida," the padawan remembers.

After Urizen gives his presentation, Jedi Master Divak Tan walks over and places his hand on the padawan's shoulder. "Are there any questions for the padawan?"

After waiting for questions, the Jedi Master continues, "At Padawan Urizen's request, the facility's benefactor canceled all future shipments allowing us to investigate the buyers. If these rocks are used by the Empire, they could identify the last remaining Jedi and younglings with the potential to become trained in the ways of the Force. The last shipment is scheduled to depart tomorrow. With aid from our benefactor, they have arranged a switch of these Kallida rocks for regular limestone rocks taken from Aldeeran. I cannot command you, but I believe it would be in our, and the Jedi, interest to investigate and possibly destroy any of these rocks before their Force sensitive natures can be exploited."
Feel free to post now. The XP for Chapter 3 has been posted to OOC thread. This chapter will be a full party adventure with everyone (hopefully) continuing on to investigate Mustafar...

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Chapter 4: Red Blades

Post by Muskrat » Tue Apr 27, 2021 11:09 pm

Shoshannah has two sets of questions:

"Do we know of any connection between these, for lack of a better term, Force-sensitive rocks and the Force storms on the planet's surface? What about the creatures living underground? What do we know about them? Are they Force-sensitive in any way?"

"So, we'll leave with the shipment of fake Kallida. What sort of crew normally accompany the shipments? It would be easiest if we could use that as our cover."

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Chapter 4: Red Blades

Post by RorytheRomulan » Wed Apr 28, 2021 2:08 pm

"We don't know for sure. I have a theory that, while we were fighting it, the rocks responded to our use of Force techniques, lightsabers, or just the proximity of three Force-sensitive beings, and crumbled right beneath our feet. I remember that the dust... collected, and rose into the sky, and just kept expanding, blotting out the stars, and then lightning came down, and that scared the worm away."

"We don't know much about the worms, but, I found old reports before we headed out, talking about non-sentient 'worm-like' creatures that burrowed below the planet's surface." He fumbles for his datapad. "They believed that the worms were native to the planet and survived its destruction, and that the vibrations and the noise from the mining gear kept them away. That was all hundreds of years ago, though. They lost several researchers and assistants in the first encounter. I never thought that they could be sensitive to the Force, but I guess they might be."

Uri doesn't know how the shipment crews are staffed.

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Chapter 4: Red Blades

Post by Shurijo » Wed Apr 28, 2021 2:35 pm

Master Tan smiles at the padawan's explanation and then goes further, "One of my far-fetched ideas is that somehow the destruction of the planet is tied to these rocks. If the planet's outer layer, or even core, was a continuous layer of these rocks and then a great Force event occurred, the planet's core could have crumbled like these remnant rocks. Of course, that's all conjecture. If these rocks have always been sensitive to the Force, then creatures that lived on this planet could have also evolved in similar ways. The Force could either attract or repel the worms, or have nothing to do with them. The fact that the locals haven't seen them in hundreds of years, suggest the Jedi may have attracted them."

"As far as the shipping crew, the party usually exists of two pilots, a supply chief who handles the invoicing and delivery paperwork, and some laborers who assist with the unloading."

An eager Tomas jumps up from his seat and turns to response to Shoshannah, "Master Jedi," the youngling says as he slightly bows to her. "There's something outside that is different than here. When I tried to throw the rocks using the Force, the Storm happened, but when I use my abilities here, a Storm doesn't happen. And.. And... the worm was huge, as big as a starship. I've never seen a creature that big before. And.. when one left, we felt the ground shake and I think a herd of them left the area as well. I mean the worm screeched real loud and then they all left right when the Storm started to form. Like Master Urizen said, the dust circled around me coming up from my feet and went into the air to form the clouds, and there was lightning, and thunder, and more lightning."

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Chapter 4: Red Blades

Post by Muskrat » Wed Apr 28, 2021 8:04 pm

Shoshannah looks interested. "When we find the time, we should explore the connection between the Force, the Kallida rocks, the storms and the worms. If we are going to use this as a long-term base, knowing these things may prove useful to us--and perilous to any foes who attack us here."

She sighs, rubs her forehead, and says, "For now though, I suppose we need to focus on the matter of finding out who has been purchasing the Kallida and destroying their stockpiles. It sounds like we could probably disguise ourselves as the crew, maybe making some excuse for being short-handed if necessary."

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Chapter 4: Red Blades

Post by RorytheRomulan » Sat May 01, 2021 11:53 am

Uri smiles at Tomas as he tries to impress the group.

" Why not join the current team and take the place of some of the laborers? We'll still need someone who knows who to talk to, and where to go. Whoever fills the supply chief role can keep them distracted. The pilots could even feign a technical error to stall for us if we need more time."

"Master Tan, what do the researchers know about this outpost? How are they equipped? Can they draw up a map for us?"

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Chapter 4: Red Blades

Post by Shurijo » Sun May 02, 2021 12:21 pm

Master Tan tries his best to answer the Jedi's questions, "The destination is only known to be a Mining Guild depot. In order to keep the facility off the records, the deliveries were made by a transport crew from Aldereen to Mustafar and not directly from here. Based on my interactions at the Temple, invoices and sign-offs usually happen on a datapad and then crews offload the items."

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Chapter 4: Red Blades

Post by Muskrat » Mon May 03, 2021 4:51 pm

Shoshannah says, "That's true--we could just join the normal crew. But I worry about putting them in danger."

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Chapter 4: Red Blades

Post by Othniel » Tue May 04, 2021 5:03 am

"I would be hesitant to destroy these rocks out of hand," Janos suggests. The idea of using a stone to detect Force sensitivity intrigued him, and he could immediately see both the benefit it could provide...and the danger it could bring. "At least all of them. They could be used in the future when we ourselves seek out new padawans to train, once it becomes safe to do so openly again."

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Chapter 4: Red Blades

Post by Shurijo » Tue May 04, 2021 1:56 pm

"As far as the crew, " Master Tan begins to answer Shoshannah's concerns, "our benefactor will allow us to replace the entire crew if needed, so they will not be put in harms way. Other than the loader droids which do most of the work offloading the cargo."

Master Tan smiles at Janos's suggestion. "I have always thought it is wise to put our trust in the Force rather than mechanical aids or, in this case, natural aids. There are still rocks outside on the surface. From my understanding, the buyer does not know the origin of the rocks or believes they originate from Aldeeran since that is where the transport departs on its delivery run."

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