Reaching Out to Firith

Once things seem stable on Damasa Kovani's island, everybody (including Green Coral) finds a spot on the beach to gather around the artifact and meditate. Vic Dantor retrieves an archaic power supply from Damasa's cave (where her hoarded equipment remains, a little worse for the wear thanks to the seismic activity on Sura Sindo) and hooks it up to the video monitor and recording gear for his own benefit and Brawln's.

Just as before, connecting to the artifact is much easier on Sura Sindo than it has been any place else, with no barriers or power surges to stand in the way. Soon Firith Mobak's image comes into focus, whether in the mind's eye or on the video screen. He seems less substantial than before, somehow. Standing off to one side of him is another Twi'lek - considerably younger, with pink skin, dressed in dark robes with a lightsaber at his belt. Nomi Amersu immediately recognizes him as Ryor, the entity she spoke to the last time she made a connection like this.

Nomi's face shows her surprise as she takes in Firith and Ryor standing before them.

"Ryor. I never thought I would speak to you again." She gestures to the others. "These are my friends. We are all on Sura Sindo with the intention of stopping Alashaa Sanu and the All-Furnace. But we want to save the Sindonese from destruction as well. We were hoping that with the ties the artifact has to the world there might be some insight for us here. Or Ryor, maybe with what you know of the creation of the All-Furnace you have some insight into how we can do that."

Ryor bows to the assembled Force users, pausing for long moments when his gaze falls on Green Coral. "My work is not yet finished," he says, the gestures of his lekku suggesting sadness mingled with determination. "I will do what I can to right the wrongs I had a hand in causing. But I fear that it may be too late for your friend's planet. It has been too late ever since the moment Lady Sanu became one with the Annihilating Force."

Vic is taking notes and does an image capture of the two entities.

He squats down next to Nomi and speaks softly (which is an option now that he’s not using his translator), "A little context here: who's the other guy?"

Nomi, to her credit, only jumps a little when Vic speaks to her. Her practice talking to and interacting with Somi Amersu and Nawah Masin while meditating has probably helped her in this regard. She speaks back into meditation, offering the explanation to the others there, knowing that what she says will come across through the speaker and recording.

"Oh! Pardon my manners. This is Ryor. When last we left the All Furnace and I was sunk into meditation, Ryor was the one that I met. He helped me to understand a little more about Alashaa Sanu - the things that I told you. He was not able to stop her when he was living, but wishes he had."

Efnir elaborates to the apparitions, "Then perhaps that experience will be useful to what we seek. We have learned that the connection to the Force can be both forged and broken. Nawah here was severed in the past and that connection restored. Nomi was connected by Damasa recently. We think these techniques could be used in some manner against Alashaa, or the All-Furnace and the Sindonese. While these forging and severing techniques have been used amongst us we do not know any details of how do to them, the possibilities, and the risks. We seek what knowledge we have access to in you, either direct knowledge or access to the Archives this seems to hold."

"If it were possible to sever her from her power completely, the Jedi of old would have done so already," Ryor says. "She chose to become one with the Annihilating Force. She can't be separated from it entirely, any more than someone whose life energy has rejoined the Cosmic Force can be resurrected. But to slow her down or contain her, to buy more time to find the right solution...it might work."

Firith steps forward, meeting each being's gaze in turn. "I can try to show you the archives. Where shall we begin?"

Nomi thinks for a moment before she responds. "Perhaps anything on those who have passed yet remain connected to the Force with the power to affect the physical world? Those who don't fully rejoin the Cosmic Force? And maybe even see if there is anything about Alashaa Sanu in there?"

Firith nods. "Let's begin."

Those within the meditation feel the sensation of being pulled forward as if by some tremendously powerful force. Then, all at once, a new and vast energy surrounds them. It feels something like the shock of hitting the water after diving from a high platform - the sensation of being so fully and abruptly immersed in something that it takes a moment to determine which way is up. Only here, the water is information - snatches of memory and records hurtling by at a dizzying pace, so many of them that it's difficult to know where to begin. Outside of the meditation, Brawln and Vic see lines of data scrolling rapidly across the screen, being captured by the system Vic has set up - though they're moving so quickly that it's hard to tell right now what exactly is getting recorded.

For those on the inside, the experience is overwhelming and a bit difficult to parse. None of the Force users here, even those with the advantage of having studied at the Jedi Temple, have ever delved into the Archives before. Vesper Syl'tine, certainly, would be well aware of their voluminous nature, Zernvik Akawoi having mentioned how easy it could be to get lost in them. He's starting to think now that this might not have been entirely metaphorical. Nomi's initial query has returned a staggering amount of information - the Force users think they see recordings of Jedi teaching techniques that might have been intended for a holocron at one time, written histories of ancient masters, travelogues and journals...In the moment, it's hard to say what any of it might mean without trying to narrow it down.

There is much that Efnir would want to look into, but with limited time he focuses on some old Master's Force abilities, since the loss of millennia of knowledge and practices with the Force would be lamented most. Nomi focuses on Alashaa Sanu, trying to find any data about her that might be in the archives.

Brawln becomes curious if any Wookiees ended up subject to this state of "dead but not quite actually dead" - but he's distracted by his last brush with undeath and thoughts of what it would mean for him if the Mirror was stuck in the in-between, so he's not particularly useful in finding anything. He says something aloud, which HC-7 translates as, "Brawln believes that due to his race's rarity outside of Kashyyyk and their long lifespan, Brawln believes that looking for Wookiees specifically might drastically lower the data output from the archives."

It’s also worth noting that while Wookiees do have some volume control, there's no such thing as whispering in Shyriiwook. So while he’s likely softer than usual, it's still normal-ish speaking volume for him.

Vic begins trying to filter the incoming information by search terms, but is struggling with his google-fu; he just doesn’t know what to look for. Thinking hard for a moment he searches “force+severing” and tries to begin capturing information related to that.

Nawah, who has been quietly listening most of this time, meditates and focuses on looking for any ways of weakening the influence of the Annihilating Force in an area in hopes of finding another way of weakening Alashaa Sanu's influence.

Those who sought specific knowledge from the artifact and the archives cling to their questions like bits of driftwood being tossed about in a storm. The torrent of information narrows around them, becoming more focused but just as intense, and they briefly despair of being able to hold on to any of it. Then Brawln's voice, interpreted by HC-7, cuts through the chaos and reminds everyone of the recording Vic is no doubt making. They don't have to understand it all right now, just make sure they keep their attention in the right place so it brings back what they want. Those who didn't already have a topic to focus on, like Somi and Vesper, spare a thought for Brawln's question in the hopes of allowing him to learn what he's looking for.

Then another voice echoes in everyone's mind (or, in Vic and Brawln's case, through the speakers). "Welcome back." It's Alashaa Sanu, of course. The heavy darkness of her presence seeps into the gathering, seeming to tinge everything with red light. "There's so much to learn in these archives, isn't there? I've been enjoying their contents myself. A pity it won't last." The recording of some long-ago Jedi Master that Efnir is studying abruptly crumbles away before his eyes. "And that some of it isn't reliable." A few words in the document Nomi is looking over switch positions in such a way as to completely alter the meaning of the sentence. The sense of threat and foreboding only intensifies as Sanu speaks.

Vic’s initial reaction to her presence is to begin putting up anti-intrusion defenses around what he is working on, but stares in horror as she sweeps right through them. Cursing in Skakoan, he yanks the physical connection to his data pad hoping that she’s not managed to corrupt his captured data. The speaker is still connected, but Vic and Brawln have lost the visual interface for the moment.

Brawln puts down his bag of popcorn, walks over to the screen and gives it a gentle but pointed thump on the top of the screen. He lets out a quiet growl. When that doesn’t do anything, he starts to tap on the sides.

HC-7 walks over to Vic, points at Brawln and whispers, "Terribly sorry, but I'm not entirely sure this will end well for your monitor. It seems Brawln has gotten quite invested in what’s happening in the artifact."

Nomi frowns, not angrily, at Alashaa's intrusion. "I'm not surprised you are here, but you should know, this place is not meant for you." Nomi responds. As she does this, she attempts a barrier against the Dark side of the Force - just as she and Efnir did for the corrupted lightsaber - for the artifact. She does not attack Alashaa, she wishes no battles to be fought here for the sake of the artifact and keeping peace. As she does this, she opens up her mind to the other Force users around her as well as the Firith and Ryor echoes, showing them what she and Efnir did and encouraging them to try and help her. Efnir continue to bring up information, somewhat randomly but trying to find things that may be useful to know, but if Alashaa destroys is less important. The goal is to distract her, keep her attention on those things rather than on what the others are doing.

Over Brawln's protests, Vic yanks the cable out of his datapad and quickly starts to verify the data. There's a lot of it, similar in volume to the bad old days of the data breaker, but the majority of what he has is complete and intact. The few corrupted bits seem like more of a consequence of the hastily interrupted connection than of anything Sanu was doing.

Inside the artifact, Nomi raises a barrier as her energy subtly encourages others to do the same. This plus Efnir's attempts at distraction seem to prevent harm from coming to anyone. The protective wall that had previously kept the artifact's contents at bay rapidly reassembles itself, and the Force users soon find themselves back in the white space with Firith and Ryor. "I'm sorry," Firith says. He looks small and alone in a way he never did in life. "This is beyond me. She is beyond me."

Something moves in the Force users' peripheral vision. It's Green Coral, practically vibrating in their spot in the circle, their skin cycling through swirling patterns in red and yellow as their arms wave wildly. When they speak, their voice is as monotone as always, but it's impossible to miss the energy behind it: "But now I know how to save my people."

When the meditation circle ceases straining, things get quiet, and Vic realizes the immediate danger is over, he stops panicking and starts casting about for another solution, as he’s unwilling to risk the data he'd collected already again. Vic lays a hand on Brawln's arm and says softly, "I don't want to miss anything either. Maybe I can get our connection back." Recalling that Green Coral has a similar terminal with them, he steps absentmindedly toward that part of the circle and abruptly ducks a flailing arm. Vic looks up and is mesmerized by the kaleidoscope of colors as he tries and fails to interpret any of the concepts flashing by. When they speak, Vic snaps up the tablet and hurries to connect up the visual link again.

Nomi smiles at Firith. "She is beyond us all, Firith. But the good thing about this is that we can work together as a team. Those who adhere to the dark side are alone, even as they try to work with others."

Nomi turns to watch the excited Green Coral and asks them, "Can you tell the rest of us how?"

Vic gets the display working again just in time to watch Green Coral's explanation. They speak rapidly and intently as if rushing to get the words out while everything is fresh in their mind, their skin swirling and flashing through a rainbow of excited colors.

"I wanted to know what your Jedi learned of my people. I was afraid...that we became what we are only because of what she did. That my people were evil like the All-Furnace is evil. But we're not. We existed before Alashaa Sanu ever came here. So we can exist after her, too."

Green Coral twines a few of their arms together in a complex braid as the hue of their skin shifts to a thoughtful greenish-blue. "I saw another vision when I communed with the All-Furnace. It didn't make sense then, but it does now. The energy of the weapon sped our evolution up. We still need a source of energy to survive. But it doesn't have to be this source of energy. All we need is a big fusion reactor. Somewhere to hold it, and all of us. We can leave this terrible place behind. My people can live! I only need to figure out how."

Green Coral deflates a bit, skin colors turning a little more dull and sullen now, as they perhaps realize the magnitude of what they're proposing. But the Force users in the meditation, and their friends outside of it, perhaps find themselves recalling the enormous Star Destroyer in orbit of Sura Sindo, and the sizable fleet of other Imperial ships accompanying it...

"Don't lose hope, Green Coral." Nomi says as they start to fade. "There is a large fusion reactor in orbit around Sura Sindo right now. Getting it and your people on it, might be a bit of a difficult task, but if we have their help, I am sure a plan could be devised. You are very smart. If we give you enough information about the ship, the people manning it and the weapons we'll have to overcome, I am sure you can work out a course of action to take. We might be able to get that data with the log-in we have from Seth Iscandar."

Green Coral perks up a bit and looks as though they want to say more to Ryor or Firith, but the mediation turns into a swirl of darkness before they can. A rumble runs through the ground beneath everyone's feet as a low roar is heard, building in volume. Something is coming...