Master Zeloai exited from the MOC, the familiar presence of previous allies radiating through him. A pleasant smile stretched across his face as he extended his hand to Raeii after his shuttle had left,
"Greetings, glad to see you're still intact."
His gaze traveled to Ben,
"Hello Ben, always here when action calls aren't you?"
He extended his hand to Raeii,
"I hope you've found your way around?"
Joshua exits from the Imperial Tank, carrying a crate filled with thermal detonators, dropping it to the ground and looking back up to see Terra's keyblade glider. He waves, flagging him to fly down.
The spartan looks back down to the crate, Sovereign walking to the Spartan, holding about a dozen empty equipment belts. He drops them on the ground right in front of the crate,
"May as well stock up."
"Well these things still confuse me, and I'd rather not blow myself up."
"No better way to learn than when you're constantly under threat of death."
After debarking from the shuttle, Ben approaches the MOC and greets Zeloai with a nod.
"I'd make for a really poor Jedi if I allowed the Empire to reenact the Sacking of Coruscant on this place, Master Zeloai," he says. "My friend here is Aqua, by the way. She's a Keyblade wielder like Terra, and she actually bested Jobak after he and I had struggled against him. To say that we're fortunate to have her aid would be putting it quite mildly."
He then catches sight of Terra and Angel flying towards the tank, and he immediately waves to the former.
"Hello there!"
Edited by IchigoMontoya on Jul 15th 2021 at 8:54:45 AM
"Your metaphor is fallacious. Partaking in cake, while obviously being better to consume a fresh and well-crafted one, is unnecessary. In addition, the actual quality of the cake, no matter how high, can only result in someone satisfied in having eaten cake. In contrast, life is... life itself. The presence of spirit in life results in several societal ills, and its absence directly enhances the efficiency of my society. Life without spirit is still life, still a continued presence."
"Besides. Without spirit, they don't care that they don't have spirit. It may be circular, but it's also true."
Edited by Rbade on Jul 16th 2021 at 3:35:52 AM
/\。。/\"Er, well, the Skyforge in Whiterun is of legendary quality. You may as well follow me there."
Bjarik resumes walking down the path home.
"And yet, in a similar circular manner, your very objective was self-contrary. Your utopian ideal - your ambition - could not have begun without what you call spirit. Spirit may cause chaos, but it also brings motivation like yours."
"Answer me this: does your world flourish? When all things do nothing except the purpose they are given, can they make new discoveries, advance technology... and, pardon for going there, but the idea of procreation without a romantic drive makes me sick."
Raeii nods and shakes the Jedi Master's hand. "I've been doing well, Master Zeloai."
Aqua is the last one to disembark from the shuttle, smiling and waving at the Jedi who she... really hasn't gotten the chance to 'meet'. "Greetings, Master Zeloai. We haven't had time to get acquainted, have we?" She bows respectfully.
Terra touches down on the ground and goes to meet up with Joshua.
—
Somewhere in his starfighter, Warrick listens to the transmission and slooooooowly reaches for the 'cancel' button.
Edited by KiriK on Jul 15th 2021 at 11:11:30 AM
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."Angel, now landed takes a few steps closer to everyone, before being suddenly confronted with the reality that she can't think of anything to say.
A few moments pass, and she decides to follow Terra.
A dread fills her heart. She has a bad feeling about this.
Maybe... not regarding what's about to happen, mind you, but just in general.
Yatta!"Many worthy goals require compromises on the idealistic level in order to be fully realized."
"Those entities whose purpose is to make new discoveries and advance technology continue to do so."
The last comment cracks his mask just a smidge.
"... I do not believe there has been much procreation. I doubt many entities either have such as either a requirement to function or as their express purpose in society. I might have to look into that. Thank you for pointing this out."
/\。。/\He turns to Aqua, her presence having a brief sense of familiarity to him,
"Were you at Whiterun by any chance?"
He pulls his hand from Raeii, giving Aqua the same respect with a bow of his own.
"I trust Ben's confidence, and I am glad to have your help Aqua."
He looks to Joshua and Sovereign,
"I assume you're no stranger to risky ventures?"
Zeloai walked into the MOC, the once spacious interior becoming cluttered with stolen Imperial supply crates.
"Ignore the mess, this tank was meant for troop transport, not rations and munitions."
The Jedi Master stopped at a stack of crates, pushed together to form a makeshift table. Scattered holopads were thrown across it, much to the chagrin of Zeloai. He grasped one in particular,
"The transmission gave minimal details as usual, and for good reason."
He paused for a moment,
"It would appear we found a solid location on Wrustoiz, an intercepted communication involving his transport from a dreadnought to... this."
An image of The Grip
◊ appeared from the holopad.
"I'm certain you've all seen it, this pad doesn't show even in the slightest just how massive this ship is. We've only managed to capture a few images of it, just enough to map out the shape of the exterior."
The image dissipates and Zeloai places the holopad back onto the table,
"The plan is to obtain an Imperial shuttle with proper authorizations, some uniforms, and to get our way into the detention deck and save Wrustoiz from his cell. Fortunately for us, the easy part is already being done for us."
Joshua looks at Terra,
"Well, if you're here there isn't much to worry about is there?"
"Unless you blow yourself up."
"Funny."
The Spartan's voice is dripping with sarcasm, gently placing thermal detonators onto an equipment belt he's holding.
"They're probably discussing details inside, better head in."
A blip in the sky begins to rapidly approach.
"She was, Master. That's where she saved Terra and I from Jobak, though you might not have recognized her in all the chaos."
Ben follows Zeloai into the MOC, looking around at the various supply crates.
"Oh, dear. Don't tell me the clones have managed to completely fill the cargo hold already. I thought this tank was supposed to be large enough to carry a herd of banthas."
His eyes then go wide upon witnessing the hologram of the Eclipse-class Star Destroyer.
"By the Force... That's no Star Destroyer, it's a kriffing space station. Laxin could probably obliterate the Republic's entire navy and destroy Coruscant with that monstrosity."
He takes a few deep breaths to calm himself as Zeloai continues speaking. When the latter Jedi brings up the plan to disguise themselves and save Wrustoiz via infiltration, he can't help but let out a sigh.
"I never thought I'd see the day when I'd be mounting a rescue effort for a Sith Lord," he remarks. "How can we be certain that these communications aren't meant to lure us into some kind of trap? For all we know, Laxin could have executed Wrustoiz by now."
PC!Megan allowed Bjarik to show her the way. He seemed quite familiar with the lands, and she respected his fighting spirit — as such, she felt no shame in deferring to his guidance for a while. Knowing when to accept assistance was a lesson that Oran Enpa Ols was still trying to help her learn, and she was, albeit slowly, beginning to understand.
The gods have decreed this to be the scene end
"The Stick has sentimental value. It's like an enormous, hideous teddy bear we can kill things with." -rikalousGalaxy Man sighs. "You're hopeless. And boring. I'm bored now."
He glances at Konngara. "Are you strong?"
The Sovereign takes another sip. "Reality will always be flawed in some way. Any kind of perfection is an impossibility, to be sought but never reached. With spirit, there is chaos and war, but also love and happiness. Without it, there is order, but at the cost of vibrance and... well, enjoyable unpredictability."
"Many great discoveries were made entirely by accident. If discovering things is a function assigned to creatures, can such accidents still happen?"
"Yes," replies Aqua. "I woke up during the battle and rushed to assist everyone."
Raeii muses on the plan. "I agree with Ben. This isn't Jobak's twisted sense of honor we're dealing with here. That being said, if there's no better way, I'll do my best, but it'll be hard to mask my cybernetics."
"Even if our rescue attempt fails, we could end up inflicting some major damage to that station-ship. There's no way something that large doesn't have some importance to them."
—
Terra nods and goes in. What else is there to do?
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."'Love' is a feeling of commitment and value towards an entity or concept. 'Happiness' is either a profound satisfaction or psychological pleasure. These are not entirely dissimilar from the positive feedback one receives from performing their duty or associating with those who are beneficial to oneself."
"Perfection is unattainable, but we can strive for something akin to it. I prefer to minimize risk and maximize efficiency."
"Reality is inherently unpredictable, even with an orderly society. Quantum fluctuation results in randomness, generating in every possible timeline of events through a multiverse. Orderly experiments often still have unintended or unexpected results."
/\。。/\"Unfortunately, yes. The clones can't seem to only gather what we need. But it does help to have a backup plan, on top of a backup plan. And almost an entire arsenal to arm ourselves should we need it."
Zeloai looks around the crowded tank for a moment,
"Although they can't seem to stop bringing more."
The Jedi Master chuckles briefly at Ben's comment on the size of the ship,
"It's comparable to Vaiken, yes."
Although once Ben finishes his thoughts, he stands in silence for a moment.
"We can't be, but we must trust the force when all is uncertain. Even if it is... clouded."
He looks to Raeii,
"An Imperial helmet should do you fine for cybernetics, and I understand the unease everyone feels. Although that hasn't stopped us yet."
Zeloai looks up as Terra and Angel enter, a relieved look briefly dawning across his face as the two enter. The holopad springs to life again, displaying the image of The Grip. He sighs for a moment,
"Perhaps you overheard, but I'll repeat it again. We intercepted a communication, believed to be a hole in their comms security by the presence of this new ship and its fleet. It indicates Wrustoiz is alive and is going to be transferred and held prisoner aboard this."
"We get aboard with a stolen shuttle and uniforms, find the detention level, and break him out. If all goes well, we'll have no need for any violence."
The Jedi Master briefly strokes his chin, Joshua entering the MOC from just outside. He muttered to himself, his massive structure impeding his movement through the stolen tank.
" I agree with her-"
He gestures to Aqua,
"May as well take a look around while we're inside, not too far in though. Don't need to end up having to rescue more than one helpless sop."
The Spartan looks down at the image projected by the holopad
◊, a brief feeling of dread sweeping over him. For a few moments, he reconsidered whether or not he wanted to continue.
It didn't take the spartan long to swallow his fear,
"Covenant super-carriers are bigger, huge target means we can't miss right?"
The rapidly approaching blip reveals itself to be an Imperial Shuttle
◊, and Sovereign notices very quickly. Another few minutes pass of the Clone staring up at the sky until it arrived. The shuttle slowly dropped, the whirring of the engines emitting a very loud cry.
The shuttle door opens, and two Imperial Soldiers exit. Sovereign reaches for his blaster when one moves to remove their helmet, a clone
◊.
"Just us, sir. Operation was successful, as usual."
Jedi Knight Izawano exits with the last disguised clone, very hard to tell apart without their armor.
"Rancor Squad wasn't at full strength."
He looks at the Jawa Jedi,
"But I suppose the little guy makes up for it."
Izawano nods, and continues to walk toward the MOC.
As for the rest of the clones, they huddle around their leader.
"I hope we've got the uniforms required?"
"See that's the difficult part..."
Edited by KrampusTheTherapist on Jul 16th 2021 at 4:16:59 AM
"I would feel much more at ease if the Force weren't so clouded. But as Master Raeii said, if there's no better option, I'll do everything in my power to ensure that our plan is a success," Ben says. "Let's just hope the clones managed to procure Sith robes and a mask. An officer or regular soldier carrying a lightsaber on their belt would draw suspicion, and I'd be instantly recognized without something to hide my face."
He looks at Aqua when she proposes sabotaging the Grip, and he nods in agreement.
"If nothing else, we could make destroying it somewhat less of an uphill battle. Provided, of course, no one catches us in the act. I doubt the Imperials would believe us if we claimed to be planting charges in order to help us better perform our routine inspection."
He glances out the window upon noticing the clones arriving with the hijacked Imperial shuttle, then shifts his gaze to Terra and offers him a smile.
"It's great to see you again, Terra."
Edited by IchigoMontoya on Jul 16th 2021 at 3:51:45 AM
"I see. Your world sounds fairly stable, aside from the reproduction part."
"If something went wrong - like, seriously, uncontainable-by-mundane-means wrong, what would you do? Would you try to fix the problem? Or would you try to start the whole thing over?"
Raeii nods to Zeloai.
"Of course," says Aqua. "We all stick together." She casts a pointed glance at Terra.
"Right. No running off to try and save the day myself."
"Question," asks Reyna, entering the MOC out of literally nowhere. "Would a distraction do you harm, or good? Because I might be able to ensure the Elder Dragons aren't sicced on you if you get caught, but I'm not going in disguise."
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to.""Mundanity is a social construct which I have defined out of existence. There is only things which are according to plan, and disruptions which may occur at various extremes. I would not deconstruct my current world unless it were to be practically torn asunder first."
Cyrus finishes his own cup of coffee and places it on the table. On a coaster, of course.
"I believe further discussion will get us nowhere. You are simply ideologically opposed to my vision. If it placates you, I don't intend to stretch my reach. Perfecting my own society is enough for me - the peoples of other worlds are free, in my eyes, to experiment and try to reach their own optimal states of humanity."
Edited by Rbade on May 9th 2022 at 3:59:14 AM
/\。。/\Hub Centralis, Mall
The Maximoffs
◊ are currently seated at a table in the mall's food court, discussing amongst themselves.
"From what I know about this Reyna woman, she doesn't sound like someone who'd ever agree to an alliance with Polyphemus. It seems more likely that Slayer is someone we've never even heard of," Wanda says.
"I hope you're right about that. And if you're really gonna visit that creepy-ass spirit world with Ninten again, you might wanna bring more than just that sword if your magic doesn't work there," Pietro replies.
Markarth
The Sons of Odin
◊ wander the stony streets of Markarth, conversing amongst each other along the way.
"For such an ominous-sounding prophecy, it's certainly in no hurry to come to fruition," Loki remarks. "I mean, are we expected to search every jewelry store in this bloody place until we find the Crown?"
"If only the Guardians weren't so bloody preoccupied with their ridiculous idea of politics," Thor says. "You would think both Dahrum and Navitus' other two artifacts being here would take precedence over whatever they're taking so Odin-damned long to discuss."
Edited by IchigoMontoya on Jul 16th 2021 at 5:05:10 AM
If they're anywhere close to a window, Wanda and Pietro will be able to see an impatient-looking Botar
◊ outside. Not impatient at them of course, he's not even looking in their direction.
It'd turn out to be Pilly
◊ who he's getting impatient at, with Pilly looking at something from behind a street lamp.
Pandora is walking through the streets as well, pondering over something as small parts of her eyes flash.
When she turns around the corner, she sees Loki and Thor in the distance.
"I remember them... are they not..."
Despite still feeling rather awkward about seeing former enemies, she wants to know. As such, she starts sprinting towards them.
"Erm-excuse me!", she calls out to them, hoping to catch their attention.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Upon noticing Botar and Pilly standing outside, Wanda taps Pietro on the shoulder and quickly points them out. The twins exchange a nod, rise from their table, and head outside to greet the pair.
"Is... something the matter here, Botar?" Wanda inquires, both hands in the pockets of her jacket.
Pietro, meanwhile, walks over to Pilly and attempts to get a look at whatever she's currently preoccupied with.
"You probably shouldn't keep the big guy waiting, kid. He might warp though space and time to surprise someone just to keep from getting bored," he remarks.
Coming to a halt at the sound of Pandora's voice, the brothers wheel around to face her.
"Pandora? My, what an... unexpected surprise," Loki says, raising an eyebrow. "You're looking well, all things considered. I suppose not having your mind poisoned helps in that regard."
"Oh... hello there. I'm assuming you heard what Loki and I were discussing just now?" Thor asks, offering Pandora a slight smile despite his surprise.
Edited by IchigoMontoya on Jul 16th 2021 at 5:34:45 AM
Angel stares at the holographic image of The Grip.
Her expression is unreadable.
"I think I'll be going with you. If that's alright, I mean.", she says, bowing politely. "I am... uncertain I will be able to be of any use, but I don't want to just... sit around and do nothing, either."
For a moment, she lets that statement sit, before looking at everyone in the stolen tank and realizing that, dang, she doesn't actually know like half of them.
"Oh! Yeah, I forgot to mention. My name is Angel. It's nice to meet you all."
Yatta!Botar glances at Wanda and Pietro.
"The little menace is at it again."
A confusing thing to say, but it'd become more clear in a moment. Pilly, upon hearing Pietro, suddenly motions for him to be quiet before looking back at what she was looking at.
Which turns out to be Varik
◊ in the distance, who's minding his own business. He hasn't even seen the people looking at him yet.
"I'm looking at that guy over there.", Pilly whispers. "He looks really hot!"
Botar groans.
"Every now and then, she gets what Ninten calls 'a childish crush' on some random boy she sees. That lasts a few days, then she's back to normal until she sees another one.", he says.
"My crushes are not childish. They are pure and beautiful!", Pilly says to Botar before looking back at Varik.
"I truly fail to understand how your kind's 'romance' works. Every time I think I understand, I see something that just confuses me again. Regardless, I'm waiting for her to be done looking at him so that we may return to the base with this week's groceries."
"It... makes it easier to think clearly about everything, yes.", she says to Loki, unable to stop herself from sounding awkward. It's easy to see that she isn't proud in the slightest about everything that happened. There's also a sense of relief though. She may not have expected that they'd be willing to talk to her at all.
She then looks at Thor.
"I have not actually. I apologize for interrupting your conversation.", she says with a tone of honesty unrelated to her awkwardness. "I won't use up much of your time. You are both divine in nature, correct? I wish to ask permission to scan your divine energy for a moment."
She taps one of her eyes for a moment.
"Allow me to quickly explain. After we started... attacking this place... we have been able to track you and your allies through your exposure to the strange aura the thieves of my box gave off. I believe its remnants of the aura of their curse that I have heard of, the curse that prevents fallen people from reviving in this world.", she says.
"Well, for all of the staff's capabilities, it never was able to help me clarify what exactly that aura was made of. An aura that can force beings to stay dead in this world... I wanted to find out how it worked and what it was made out of. So I started running a program. The program seemed to be lost with everything else when my fortress-"
She goes silent for a moment, very uncomfortable with bringing up how everything ended.
"Regardless, only recently did I remember that I backed up some running programs in my own system, just to be safe. The program for deciphering that aura is also still within me, and I figured that... well, I know I cannot ever make up for my crimes against the people of this world, but I hoped to be able to help in some way regardless. If I were to discover the secrets of this curse's aura, perhaps we could find a way to remove it completely, and thus take away an enormous risk for those fighting the thieves."
She crosses her arms.
"I have been running the program within myself again for a couple of weeks now. However, the only result I have found so far is that the aura seems to be divine in nature. Since you are both divine beings, if I remember correctly, I request permission to scan your energy and see if it matches. I do not suspect that you have anything to do with the thieves, but if the auras are similar, it could help come to a conclusive result much faster."
Edited by DevilPsyco on Jul 16th 2021 at 3:28:03 PM
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Wanda can't help but chuckle when Botar expresses his confusion.
"I'd explain how that and everything else about humanity works, but then we'd probably be here for even longer," she replies. "Does your species not have romance?"
Pietro glances first at Varik, then turns his attention back to Pilly.
"I think I've heard Thor and Loki talk about that guy before. Real loner type. Come on, kid, he's not worth making Botar wait forever."
Thor and Loki listen to Pandora as she speaks, briefly exchanging looks as they do so. Once she's finished, they answer her request with a simple nod.
"I see no harm in this little experiment of yours. At least it doesn't involve being dropped into a strange ride just to enter a laboratory," Loki replies, drumming his fingers against the pommel of his sword, Nightbane. "Thor and I know an... eccentric scientist who once had a base of operations in this realm. You had to be there."
"Before we begin, I'd just like to say one thing. Pandora... I forgive you for your part in that whole ordeal. You didn't deserve to be manipulated into nearly destroying your own people, and as someone who knows exactly how it feels to lose one's mother, I truly am sorry for all that you've lost," Thor says, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder as he looks her in the eye. "If there's anything I can do to help you make amends, you need only let me know. And you have my word as a Son of Odin that Navitus will never cause a travesty of that magnitude again. Loki and I will make certain of it."

Ben can only stare in complete and utter shock when a Republic shuttle actually arrives to pick them up.
"How the kriff?"
After a moment, he takes a deep breath in an attempt to calm his nerves before following Aqua and Raeii onboard, using the Force to carry his speeder bike inside the ship.
Edited by IchigoMontoya on Jul 15th 2021 at 7:32:09 AM