Collan, Nightshade and Niil: Insomnia

[GM Craig]

[OOC: No, Jeremy never came with you. Sorry if that wasn't clear earlier. He was very content to leave the mystical stuff behind and go his own way.]

[Collan]

Collan's voice wavered a bit as he spoke, but it was strong and clear.

"That's a lot like what happened to me. I'd had sensations of things just out of the corner of my eye...shadows...noises where there shouldn't be any. I felt like there was someone on the ship as well. And then there was the unease and anxiety overlaid on it. It started almost immediately after our first training session, Ch'lana."

"I thought it was my imagination at first. Oh...and I've had an overwhelming sense all week of being in the wrong place...like I need to be somewhere other than where we are going. I still feel it even though my unease is gone."

"But I'm getting off point...I woke up hearing my name tonight. It sounded just outside my door and I was gripped by fear. I didn't know why I was afraid; just that I was and I couldn't shake it. I figure I was being manipulated somehow; that someone or something was in my head amplifying my natural feelings."

"Grabbed my weapons and followed the voice...which seemed familiar but I couldn't place it. It took me to Nightshade's room though I didn't know it but the figur that met me there was my father. I told him no; that I serve the Force, so he tried to kill me. In that moment I was somehow able to brrak through the fear and use the Force. It ended my vision but how it ended is important. The DarkSide shrivelled up into a wilted little kernel inside me."

Collan looked at Ch'lana and added, "The image of my father used the phrase 'that witch' so I was hoping you were behind my vision. But given that Dark Side flowed from me, I also wonder if the Dark Side was trying to tempt us."

"But all that aside...I know for certain now that my need to be somewhere else flows from the Force. I felt it strongly after the Dark Side was sent back inside me and it flowed from the peace of the Force in me."

He looked at Niil, "I wonder if your dreams about...this Organa being...are related. It seems odd we'd both have two dreams or visions."

[Niil Spaar]

Niil nodded. "Yes, Viceroy Bail Organa of Alderaan.  I had the honor of meeting him and his family in my younger years, even though it was briefly.  He's one of the most loyal Imperial senators, and very well-liked.  As for the dreams . . . I think the Force is trying to tell us something."

Niil turned to Ch'lana expectantly, waiting for the man's take on the matters at hand.

[GM Craig]

Ch'lana looks very concerned.

"I assure you such things would never be part of any test I might give you. This is very troubling. The visions you describe - hallucinations might be more accurate - seemed to use things from your backgrounds and fears you hold. I do not think this would be any external threat. I would have sense any such manipulation of the Force, and I senses nothing until you both called upon the Force to free yourselves from the hallucination."

He turns to Nightshade. "Nightshade, I do not think there is anyone else on board, but it is possible my senses have been deceived. Would you please search the ship for evidence of anyone else? We have been in hyperspace now for a week - if someone else is here, they have been here since we left, and would leave signs.

"Collan and Niil, go to the cockpit and run a diagnostic on the main computer and internal sensors. If there is someone here, they must have tampered with both systems to avoid detection.

"For my part, I will meditate on this."

The three of you split up, Collan and Niil heading to the bridge while Nightshade begins a thorough search of the ship.

It takes a couple of hours, but by the end of it Nightshade has found no evidence of any other sentient being on this ship, and both the internal sensors and main computer check out. Nightshade joins Niil and Collan on the bridge, and you wait there together for perhaps a quarter of an hour before Ch'lana joins you.

"What have you found?" Each of you reports your findings, and Ch'lana's frown deepens. "It is as I feared then..."

Ch'lana takes a seat.

"I believe there are two things occurring here, as Collan had surmised, and I fear one of them is my fault. We will get to the second one in a moment.

"There is a bond that forms between student and teacher, and that is even more true when both are Force-sensitive. What one does can have an effect on the other. Normally the Jedi were concerned about students exposing masters to risk, and guarded against that. But I fear that I have placed the two of you at risk, and so all of us. I should have known better. Demaia tried to warn me, but I would not hear anything she had to say.

"I have..." He stops, and starts again after changing tacks. "In the past, I have had trouble following the Jedi code. At times, I have let my emotions rule my actions. This is highly dangerous, because doing so opens one up to the Dark Side of the Force. I carry such stains and, I fear, though our bond as student and teacher, I have exposed you to this. The Dark Side acts on you, through me. My past failures put you at risk."

[Collan]

[ooc: is this a house rule?]

Collan looked puzzled. How could the Dark Side influence them through Ch'lana. It seemed strange...unless. Would prior failings make him a magnet for the Dark Side? And posibly have it attempt to influence him more?

"Ch'lana," Collan started, "How can the Dark Side attempt to ensnare us when we've barely learned anything about the Force?"

[Niil Spaar]

Niil watched Ch'lana intently as he spoke, a concerned look on his face.  Once he was finished, Nill spoke up.  "Demaia may have tried to warn you, but she also saw it vital that Collan and I come with you.  And I don't think it coincidence that Nightshade just happened to be in the Bladesea area when we went looking for you."  Nill gave the shinobi a nod, and added, "I'm not suggesting that you had another motive for seeking me."  Niil paudes, then shrugged.  "This may sound odd, but I think you were meant to be here, with us - in particular, with Master Ch'lana."

He then looked at each person in turn.  "I know that despite all I've been through, I'm still pretty well a kid and have a hell of a lot to learn.  So I hope you won't take offense, Master Ch'lana, when I say that perhaps we can all be students and teachers to each other here.  People can fail and make mistakes, but it takes someone with integrity to freely admit to them.  Even more so to learn from them.  I think I can speak for everyone else here when I say that I still put my faith in you."



OOC:   Aaargh!  Simultaneous post again!   

[Collan]

Collan smiled and then it faded. Another thought occurred. The Dark Side was trying to recruit Ch'lana, which is why all the deaths that happen around him. The Dark Side was manipulating others to commit the deeds and thus draw Ch'lana into a spiral of depression and anger.

"And Ch'lana...you may not like this, but I think the Dark Side is trying to find a way to push you over the edge. That would explain why all those deaths happen around you. It's not the Emperor, it's the Dark Side manipulating him to harm beings. It just happens to be where you are."

"So...we just have to figure out how to get the Dark Side's hooks out of you," Collan's youthful hope shown through at that last. All problems are solvable to the young and Collan was no different. He was confident there was a way to help Ch'lana.

[Nightshade]

Nightshade looked askance at the Jedi and his two pupils.  He was, of course no stranger to the concept of Unmei, or fate, as they would call it, and this Force of theirs seemed like it dealt strongly in such terms.  However, like any man of action the concept that his future was foretold and set in stone did not sit well with him.  Why act at all if everything is already decided.

But then how did one explain what had happened up to this point? Was it possible for this many coincidences to occur by chance?  The Shinobi liked to think he had an open mind, and therefore had to have this philosophical struggle inside his head.

While this storm of ideas raged across the landscape of his consciousness, he externally kept his peace listening to see how their discussion would pan out.

[GM Craig]

Ch'lana frowns. "We'll have to table this discussion for the moment, because there is something else we must address. There have been far too many co-incidences related to all of us. Some of it I can put down to Demaia's meddling, but not all. Too many things are lining up. It does seem that the Force is trying to arrange things in a certain way. Both Collan and Niil feel they need to be somewhere. That could be a message from the Force, but the two of you are not skilled enough to hear it. From the urgency you describe, we may not have time to teach you. So let us conduct an experiment, and give the Force opportunities to speak to you in ways you will understand."

Ch'lana turns and activates the navigation computer. "Collan, sit here and concentrate. I want you to look at planetary system records. Keep your mind open, and let your instincts guide you. Do not try to control the process, just let it happen. Niil, you will watch over his shoulder. Let your mind wander, and see if anything catches your eye. This may take a while, but the Force is sometimes subtle and often cannot be heard by those new to it."

Ch'lana gets up, and Collan sits down at the console. He starts absently flipping through the planetary records in the computer. Nill sits in the next chair, watching as well, and the two of you settle in for a long, boring slog as Collan starts flipping through system. He is on the third system when Niil quickly reaches out and grabs his hand.

Niil's brow furrows as he stares at the screen.

As Collan looks at the screen, a feeling of certainty grows in him as well. Both of you are certain that this is where you need to be.

Horuz.

[Niil Spaar]

Niil tapped a finger against the screen.  "There. Horuz.  I'm as certain of it as if it jumped out and smacked me upside the head."  Niil nodded to himself, and looked expectantly to Collan and Ch'lana.

[Collan]

"I feel it too," Collan intoned, trying to keep his mind as clear as possible, hoing for additional information from the Force.

"We need to be there...but why? The Viceroy?"

[Niil Spaar]

Niil shrugged, mystified.

[Collan]

"Guess we'll find out," Collan said, "Ch'lana...it's your ship, but we need to go to the Horuz system. Can you take us?"

[GM Craig]

He nods. It's the other side of the galaxy from here, but we're not far off a major trade route. We'll be close to twenty days in transit."

[Niil Spaar]

Niil exhaled.  "I suppose we'd best get to work on our training, then."  Niil thought for a moment, then added.  "What do we have on the database about the Horuz system?  Anything that might stand out?"