Star Wars: Shattered Galaxy

[Smagmuck_]

Joseph dropped his helmet with a very noticeable clatter. He jaw hang open in amazement. It was a hologram of Luke Skywalker. The thing closest to the actual man in this galaxy for nearly a thousand years. He was very confused, he knew that the Late Jedi had given something to one of the other five. But that, that was not what he was expecting. He scrambled to pick up his helmet of the white deck and he haphazardly tucked it back under his arm.

"What is this? I don't even-" He spat out in confusion, tripping over his own tongue.

 

[blaze96]

Even Prenlarr in his ignorance of the force and the jedi, instantly recognized the appearance of the man in the hologram. Once he spoke his name it was confirmed though, this was the Luke Skywalker.

"Well this is certainly new. How often does one get to talk to the hero of the Rebellion? Or at least what is left of him anyway." He said as he nodded back out of respect to the hologram.

"Just how many former jedi's images are inside of there anyway?" It was the only question he could think to ask at the moment. He knew it was stupid but he wanted to know, the engineer in him wanted to know just how much was contained in such a small device.

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

"I can't answer that question, I'm afraid. From our studies of the Great Holocron, we've determined that it's storage capacity is incredibly high. In my lifetime, I spent hundreds of hours studying it, and never even came close to being able to grasp how much information is stored in it. Memory-personality imprints of nearly every Jedi Master dating back at least six thousand years, with all their accumulated knowledge and wisdom."

Admiral Cath's jaw droppped. "The amount of data...that makes the Obroa-Skai libraries look miniscule."

 

[ultrachicken]

Rana was angry that Marcus had foolishly decided to share the holocron's existence with Cath. Why the hell did he think it was a good idea to tell her about the holocron?

Rana stood for a moment while the rest of the sensitives stood around like slack jawed fools. The wonders of this high memory storage were lost on her, as her only concerns for the vast majority of her life did not involve computers. At least, not direct interaction with computers. She folded her arms, slouching, and tapping her fingers against her upper arm as she prepared an inquiry.

"A jedi named Vasera gave you... the holocron, to me," Rana informed the hologram in a matter-of-fact tone, "So she must have had a purpose for it. Do you know what that is?"

This is pretty nice, we have access to every jedi master for the past six thousand years? We may actually be able to survive against these sith, after all.

 

[UnusualStranger]

Marcus was more than surprised when he ended up seeing Luke Skywalker standing in front of him rather than the other Jedi. Though, it was some Force enchanted....thing. He saw the Admiral had been absolutely broken by the information that the Holocron seemed to hold more information than any other galactic database combined. Marcus wasn't here for a lesson on Holocrons, he was here to make some form of sense of everything.

If I'm meant to be a Jedi or some foolish destiny like that, I can learn all about these things after I figure out what I should be doing.

"Don't be foolish and rude at the same time, Rana. It's a bad impression to give Commander Skywalker." Marcus said over his shoulder, aware of the tone she was using. Almost like a child, he mused as he prepared his own question.

"So, six Force sensitives in a room, and a Sith battle fleet running around destroying space stations for the hell of it. In case you can't tell from our expressions, we are lost, lacking supplies, training, ships, credits, and even understanding of what we even are. History has a lot of stories of you facing Dark Jedi, Sith, and all forms of other chaos. Though unless you need to be brought up to speed, the galaxy is in poor shape. To put it simply, I figure coincidence stopped playing this game of Pazaak once we specifically ended up here, so now was as good a time as any to consult you on what we should even be doing at this point. So, any wisdom you can send our way, or should I just look for a way out of here so I can get back to salvaging?"

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

"The Sith didn't destroy your station for nothing, Marcus. They destroyed it to kill you six, Jedi Vesera, and destroy or capture this Holocron." Master Skywalker rubbed his chin. "Throughout history, the Jedi have never fought alone. Even in times of peace, we were supported by organizations like the Antarian Rangers, and the Republic and Jedi were allied more often than not - and when they were separate, it was a sign of bad times in the Galaxy."

He turned to face each of them in turn. "If you need supplies, ships, and credits, you'll have to look beyond us. If you do intend to follow the path of the Jedi, perhaps one of the nations of the galaxy can offer you assistance. None of them will have forgotten the time of the Jedi. As for training and knowledge, the minds within this holocron are intended to be able to train potential. It is not an ideal situation, a living Master is much preferable for many reasons. But it can and has been done."

Admiral Cath cleared her throat, having regained her composure. "If you do intend on attempting to become Jedi, I'm willing to support you any way I can. My discretionary resources are somewhat limited, but I don't think Kuat will notice thirty thousand credits vanishing, which should be enough to cover your financial needs at the moment. I can also have a shuttle you ferry you to any destination in Kuati or Neutral space within a thousand light years, except the Deep Core."

 

[Smagmuck_]

"Ma'am," Joseph started. "Might as well make this formal as it is, so I'm going to request an Honorable Discharge if I'm going to continue on with this." He said. He reached over to his left shoulder and disconnected the left shoulder pauldron with his rank insignia, he disconnected his duty belt and removed his Holo-Tags. He placed them on the clear desk. "I'd also like to request permission to keep the armor if it isn't too much to ask, Admiral." He thought about what he was doing, he did have some regrets. Like not being able to do enough to save the Jedi, or to save that squad of troopers that had gotten slaughtered while he evaced a wounded man. Suddenly, the scale of the loss hit him. He suddenly wanted to seek revenge, all regret left him and a calm determination over took his mind.

This is either the smartest thing I've done, or the stupidest. This better be worth it.

 

[blaze96]

"It isn't as if I have anywhere else to go, and I would like to see where this leads. Consider me a jedi in training. So where should we go to train, I mean it would have to be somewhere under heavy guard probably. Not like we can go to some uninhabited planet if the sith have already found us once, right?" Prenlarr said after mulling the idea over for a bit.

An engineer turned jedi, this is quite a day for me. Hopefully this will prove to be a good idea as opposed to a quick death.

 

[UnusualStranger]

Marcus did not like where Luke ended up taking that discussion. He was being specifically hunted. That did not sit particularly well with him, as he had dealt with smaller bounties before. He had a distinct feeling that the Sith would not be so easily killed, or payed off.

"Well......I don't know of any better way to deal with a Sith than to be a Jedi. Hell, it's probably not much more different than being a salvager anyways, right? Course, I guess it will be odd taking instructions from someone who isn't physically there..." Marcus replied to Luke, still somewhat processing what the Admiral had said.

"........Uh.....well.....Admiral, that is actually quite fantastic. I mean.....really really fantastic." Marcus began, not exactly sure what he would even say to that. He had been rich before, after some particularly successful salvage jobs, but for thirty thousand to just be dropped on him was unheard of.....though, that was only five thousand each, but it was something.

"However....I can't even think of a place where we would all be welcome to sit around and train, ESPECIALLY with a Holocron. In fact....I can't think of anywhere we can go where a Holocron wouldn't be a huge target for Hutts, pirates, thieves, and just the galaxy in general. Jedi is great and all....but with no where to go, not sure what that means for us. "

 

[ultrachicken]

Rana shot an angry glance at Marcus, annoyed that he would reprimand her for such a petty reason. Last time I checked, great men did not care for pointless pleasantries. And foolish? How was my question foolish?

"As I mentioned earlier, it would be suicidal not to get training when I have evil warriors trying to kill me. Count me in," Rana stated, "And I won't say no to those credits, admiral."

With the exception of this infuriating nautolan, this could turn out to be a great day. Then the girl realized that she hadn't met up with Vasera again.

"But the question needs to be asked: what happened to Vasera? Did she not make it off the station?" Rana asked, anxious.

 

[socialtangent]

More mystical nonsense from the Miraluka. The sudden appearance of the hologram of the long-dead Luke Skywalker. An offer of credits and transport from Admiral Cath. This day was getting more and more bizarre. Kass had absolutely no desire to be a part of this grand quest that the others seemed to be a part of, and he didn't like how he was grouped in with these people. Despite this, he wasn't an idiot. The Admiral was offering money and free transport from this blasted asteroid field, and the Emperor's black heart only knew that he wanted to put as much distance between himself and this place as possible. So, for the time being, he would have to travel with this group of would-be Holovid adventurers.

"Free money? Free shuttle? Hmph. Anything that isn't here, I'm fine with".

 

[CounterAttack]

Bypassing the comments of Rana and Kass, Rec addressed Marcus directly. "May I make a suggestion? If we intend to learn the ways of the Jedi - the offer of which I will certainly accept - then as you said, we need a place where we can be undisturbed for a decent length of time. I offer my homeworld, Tatooine; I spent many years trekking the deserts, living aboard sandcrawlers and in the lairs of krayt dragons. Most people would not dare to traverse the expansive deserts unless they were well supplied with provisions: we could easily obtain food and water from my home city to last us a long while."

Venturing into the desert was risky in itself, Rec knew that much from his own experience. But it seemed like a good idea since no-one else had come up with anything yet.

 

[UnusualStranger]

Marcus looked at the hunter for a time, mulling over the idea of going to possibly the closest planet possible to a sun. The idea wasn't exactly favorable to himself...though he hadn't been to his water bound home in some time, it didn't mean he happily enjoyed going to where it was hottest.

But...he is right. Tatooine is the middle of nowhere, relatively undisturbed, unwanted, isolated, and if it's his home, he would know the land well.

"That...is a fantastic idea actually Rec. Though not exactly my...first choice in wanting to visit, I can't think of anywhere else which is relatively untouched or not visited. Though, I hope you are a fantastic hunter, as I would prefer to not become target practice for some Sand People, or a krayt dragon meal. Unless someone has a better idea?" Marcus said in agreement.

That was actually...much easier than I thought it would be. Maybe this whole "Jedi" thing won't be as much a pain as I thought it would be.

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

"Why is it always Tatooine? For a planet that's supposedly the darkest spot in the universe, it does seem to crop up more often than I'd expect. Seems to breed Jedi." Luke seemed to talk to himself for a moment, then turned back to them. "I would suggest a different strategy, at least for the moment. The Sith are for the moment beaten back. They may not be aware of your survival. I would recommend taking advantage of this. There is one thing you will need to fight them, as much as your training. The Lightsaber. Most of the components are fairly common materials, but you will need something more difficult to find."

He paused, possibly for effect. "Adegan Crystals. They can be synthesized, but that would take time and equipment you don't have. Mining them likewise. But there are caches of them to be found. One of which is only a few lightyears from here."

"And where is that, Master Jedi?" Admiral Cath leaned forward.

"A bunker on Coruscant, underneath the Jedi Temple, along with some other things that may prove useful. Records, weapons, tools."

 

[socialtangent]

"Coruscant? You want us to go to Coruscant?" Kass asked the hologram of Skywalker incredulously. "Blast that. I could list off a whole bunch of ways we'll end up dead if we go there". He faced the others. "In fact, why are we taking directions from a hologram? I don't care if this is supposed to be a hologram of Luke frackin' Skywalker, I'm sure as hell not about to set foot anywhere near that place".

 

[Smagmuck_]

"You do have a few bodies capable of dropping a Bantha at nearly a hundred and fifty yards." Knaake said as he extended the stock of one of his blasters with a sharp metallic snap as it slid into it's locking position. "If we did procure some sets of armor and extended tanks for exploration and penetration of the Jedi Temple, and some serious fire power to go along with it. We should be just fine. Given people don't screw everything up." He thought, he'd rather be on a hostile planet with everything trying to kill him then go back to Tatooine, not that he had anything against the Miraluka, it's just he really hated that excuse of a rock.

 

[UnusualStranger]

"Alright you two, stow it." Marcus grumbled, mulling over the prospect of simply going to Coruscant. He wasn't sure if he should be excited or worried.

"Let me put this as simple as possible. It's a dangerous, somewhat crazy idea. Coruscant is a Sith spawned haven now for....things. The surface is downright infectious with more junk than I care to count, and people tell stories of...things living on the surface. Things that sometimes will not die easy. The suits would be easy to come by, but reinforced suits were never the biggest issue. The biggest issue on that planet are all the defenses that are still active on the surface, the automated ones with multiple backups, and the possibilities of the Security droids still running around shooting those that don't present a damned ID that doesn't exist any more. So, surface wise, its probably the most dangerous place to simply land on in the galaxy, let alone do anything on." Marcus recounted like he had done the story a hundred times before.

"However....with all that danger comes some really nice stuff. And I mean if we manage to get down to the surface and make it to the Jedi temple, we could just grab random things and easily make a 40K profit on each item. Or better yet, find some Jedi records to help our sorry, poor Jedi selves out. Personally, I think its something we should seriously consider, since anything from there would be downright....amazing to have in our possession. And besides, Luke has a point that if we don't try going to these more dangerous places now to get things we could use....like say, some lightsabers, Holocrons, or other toys, we won't get another chance when the Sith are breathing down our necks." Marcus finished, still mulling over what he should really think of going to the dangerous bacta mine.

Coming back with anything, from files to materials, would make me quite rich. Rich enough to easily buy an actual ship! Or at least some better weapons and armor, maybe even a proper shield to boot. Would have to grab a decent amount for that...but then, it shouldn't be too hard to find some computer to download files from....

Marcus sat silently now, mulling over all the business perspectives, as well as the risks he would be taking getting all that Jedi stuff for himself, and any extra files for someone else to sell. It was a proposition he never thought he would consider. Then again, he never thought he would be part of a large team.

 

[blaze96]

"Not to mention you are free to do as you wish. For my own best interest though I will go. He's a master jedi, and even if we aim to never run into the sith again chances are they will find us. Judging by their greeting I would like to at least be armed with knowledge and a lightsaber when we next meet. So when are we leaving, the longer we stay the more danger we put ourselves in." Prenlarr said as he looked around at the others.

"Oh, i'd like to get some better tools and spare parts from this ship while I am here. Just because coruscant is a wrecvk doesn't mean something down there can't be repaired to our benefit."

 

[ultrachicken]

Rana, too, was unsettled by the thought of traveling to Coruscant, but was prepared to.

"The Sith may not know for certain that we've survived at this moment, but they will find out. And if anyone here is okay with facing down sith without so much as a lightsaber, be my guest. But I actually plan to survive this," the Duros announced to no one in particular, "I'm in."

She leaned back against a wall with her arms folded, allowing herself to relax a bit. After spending many stressful moments in the same room as Cath, the loosening muscles felt heavenly.

"I'd like to get something from this ship while we're here, too. I need a decent weapon," Rana reluctantly informed the admiral as she dangled her pathetic knife in one hand, "Because right now, this is all I've got."

 

[Smagmuck_]

"Don't worry." Joseph said, reassuring the one named 'Rana'. "If there's really one thing a few others and I know, it's how to lay some bolts down in a hurry. I'm sure we could get you something of stature." He looked around, and eyed the Miraluka. "You, what's your best operating range with a blaster rifle?" He asked. He quickly had a plan coming together in his head. "Master Skywalker? You wouldn't happen to have the schematics of the target building?" He asked.