MC: AOTE: Brothers in Arms

[Quist]

"Whereabouts on Hapes are you from?"

 

"The Northern regions," Noelle replied to Reibe. "Lots of mountains and valleys and the like. Really very beautiful."

 

"So, Noelle, have you ever done research similar to Conn's? Maybe you could help him with it."

 

She adopted a thoughtful pose. "I'm not so sure on the 'mind-altering' part, but my current project does have something to do with a new behavioral pattern study with a few drugs provided to us by an outside source for testing." She smiled. "I don't really think I'm allowed to tell anyone outside the company more than that, but since Conn's a former research head, I don't think that this one little bit is beyond anything he can tell you about ChandraMed."

 

Noelle turned to look at Conn. "However, if you need help with any testing or pharmeceutical research, I'm pretty sure that the company wouldn't be adverse to providing a helping hand to one of its former employees. I could ask Dr. Jalibinder, if you like."

[Rogue Nine]

Conn shot a glance at Beryl. "No, I don't think that'll be necessary, Noelle," he said. "Don't really want to trouble Dr. Jalibinder with anything that isn't related to the company." He paused, gathering his thoughts. "I would still appreciate your help, however."

 

Truth be told, he wasn't quite sure how to broach the subject of asking her to help them sabotage an intricate plan set up by the Empire and Beryl's own brother. He felt a little apprehensive just thinking about it, but he knew he had to figure out a way somehow. Running his hand through his hair, he turned back to Noelle and asked, "Hey, how do you feel about the Empire?"

[Quist]

"The Empire?" Noelle repeated, a little confused at the sudden change in conversation. "I'm not sure, to be honest. I've never really felt one way or the other about them. ChandraMed has a few contracts with them, but other than that, they have no real presence here, so I'm not too bothered by them."

 

She looked at Beryl and Conn askance. "Why all the questions?"

[JasraLantill]

((shorty JP w/Niner ))

 

Beryl let out a snort. "The Empire has no real presence here, huh?" she said rather snidely. She cleared her throat. "No real 'discernible' presence, maybe. Or, no real 'detectable' presence. Or, even no real 'official' presence. But believe me, Noelle, they're here."

 

She took a sip of her drink, and then looked at Sam, who seemed to be struggling to push something under the table. "Foot stuck?" Beryl asked sweetly. She slid her chair away from the table slightly, and directly afterwards, Sam let out a mighty exhale.

 

"Don't kick me again, Sam," Beryl warned her, her eyes narrowing dangerously. Before Sam could say anything, Beryl turned her attention back to Noelle.

 

"What we want to know is, if you had to choose, would you support the Empire or those who oppose it?"

 

Conn arched an eyebrow at the interaction between Beryl and Sam before turning his attention back to Noelle. "Now Noelle, I'm sorry for all the questions, but this is actually why I asked you to come here today. The Empire is not as harmless as it appears to be, so we really do need to know where you stand."

[Quist]

Noelle couldn't help but be taken aback by the brusqueness of Conn and Beryl's questioning. "Er, I..." she stammered at first, not quite knowing where to begin with her response. "I suppose I would really try not to get involved if I could help it," she finally answered. "They haven't really given me any cause to like them or dislike them one way or the other. Heck, we even worked for them indirectly at Sienar, Dr. Harlowe." She folded her hands in her lap. "What exactly are you trying to get at? Because I'm pretty confused right now."

[JasraLantill]

"I'm confused, too," Beryl said, giving Noelle a hard stare. "I'm confused as to why the Empire is shipping all sorts weird chemicals here, destined, of course, for the ChandraMed facility. Chemicals that when mixed together seem to make a lovely mind-altering cocktail that make people very suggestible, and very irritable, and very irrational, and sometimes even very violent!”

 

She paused, conscious that her voice had raised, and so glanced askance at Conn. “So I’ve been told,” she added. “And we want to ensure that these… experimental medications do not get mass produced or distributed.” She leaned in closer to Noelle. “And we want you to help us.”

 

At this point, Beryl tried to reach out with the Force to touch Noelle’s mind. What she wanted to do was feel for the girl’s possible intentions. But what she found was…nothing.

 

Beryl quickly looked across the table at Jana and Reibe. “Ok, enough playing around,” she snapped accusingly at Reibe. “I know I don’t have enough control, but I don’t like being patronized or toyed with!” And with that said, she pushed hard with the Force, sending an unsuspecting Reibe flying backwards in her chair and landing on the floor.

[Writer]

Almost immediately, Reibe sprang back to her feet, glaring across the table at Beryl. "Fool!" she spat. "What makes you think you're special enough for me to prevent you from reaching your goal?" Her eyes darted to Noelle for a moment and her voice softened ever so slightly. "No, Beryl. There is something else at work here... even I cannot see into that..."

 

"Reibe!" Jana hissed, snapping to her feet, sending her chair crashing backward. "Leave this table." She glared at Beryl. "And you, Beryl. If you cannot restrain yourself, perhaps you had better retreat as well."

 

Reibe stood still for a long moment, looking from Beryl to Jana and back. Finally, she raised her chair back to its original position at the table and stalked out of the room. Jana merely glanced at her retreating back before returning her gaze to Beryl. "What will it be, Beryl?"

[JasraLantill]

((Joint post w/Niner))

 

"Well, hell if I'm leaving!" Beryl snapped at Jana, as again, one of her hands began to tremor. "Nic said this was my show, Jana, so I'm staying right here! And if you don’t like it you can just... just piss off!”

 

“B, you’re being unfair and …,” was all Teser could get out before he, too, was tossed out of his chair with the Force.

 

“No, Berasmus is being unfair!” she told her brother, her eyes blazing with a sudden, pent up anger. “The Empire is being unfair! I’m being unreasonable!”

 

As he started to get up, she rose from her chair and started to walk around the table towards him. Her hand flew outwards and again he was shoved down to the floor, this time nearer the door that led to the outside balcony. “And irrational!” He was pushed along further. “And impatient!” The balcony door flew open.

 

Another strong Force push, and she had shoved her brother out the open door and onto the veranda that towered over a courtyard below. One more and she could send him plummeting over the edge.

 

Teser’s eyes widened with fear and he scrambled backwards trying to get away from his sister as Beryl continued to stalk towards him. “And I want this over with!” she continued. “I want him finished! I want all of them finished! This whole nasty project! Their drugs, their lies, their orders, their protocols, their whole rotten, stinking, festering, mind-altering Empire!”

 

“Beryl stop!” Teser pleaded. “Stop and think about what you’re doing!”

 

“I don’t want to think!” she growled.

 

“You don’t have to,” Sam commented, as she tackled Beryl from behind. Not expecting the attack, Beryl’s legs suddenly collapsed under her and she toppled to the ground with Sam on top of her in a tight bear-hug.

 

“GET OFF ME!” Beryl roared with rage.

 

But Sam only tightened her grip. “Doc!” she cried out for assistance. “I could use some help here!”

 

Conn was already at Beryl's side, syringe in hand. He'd reached for it when Beryl started raising her voice, but knew he couldn't approach her until she was distracted enough for him to do so. Sam provided that distraction. "Knew you'd gone too long without a dose," he whispered ruefully as he quickly swabbed a spot on her arm before injecting her with the needle. "Don't struggle, it'll only make things worse."

 

Even though she was trying, Beryl couldn’t control her rage and she snarled as the drug was painfully injected into her tensed muscles. “Ow, you son-of-a-kriffin-gundark…!” she cursed Conn. And then she felt her head begin to get fuzzy. “Oh, crap… don’t put me to sleep! I don’t want to sleep!”

 

"Shh," Conn soothed, slipping a small patch onto the injection site. "It'll be over soon."

 

And it was. Beryl was out in mere seconds.

 

Sam rose and then looked at her curiously. “So, does she have some sort of special hatred of you or something?” she asked Teser, who was standing now and brushing off his clothes.

 

Teser shook his head. “No, just the opposite.” He sighed. “I think, though, she’s just lashing out at me, because she can’t get to Berasmus.”

 

“I’m back! And I’ve got the….” Telk had returned to the apartment. Smiling and in a good mood as he approached the people in the dining room, his mouth suddenly snapped shut as he surveyed the scene. “Erm… problem?”

 

“Not anymore,” his twin Teser replied. “Conn and Sam have it under control.”

 

“Oh.” His eyes flicked over to Noelle, and he suddenly became tongue-tied. “I… erm, ….” He paused, then grinned. “Nice to meet you. I’m Telk Quitaan,” he introduced himself to her. “Teser’s brother.”

 

“Duh,” Teser said. “Noelle’s a scientist. Think she’s smart enough to figure that one out.”

 

“Right.” Telk watched Sam hoist Beryl up and over her shoulder in a fireman’s carry. “Erm… is she ok?” he asked, nodding at Beryl.

 

“I’m fine,” Sam replied, taking that Telk was enquiring about her well-being. “She’s really not that heavy.” She glanced at Conn. “I’ll just go and put her in her bedroom, doc. Won’t be long.”

[Rogue Nine]

((Joint post with Quist))

 

Conn wiped his hand down his face as he watched Sam cart the unconscious Beryl off to the bedroom. "Jana, can you please go look after her?" he implored the young Jedi. "She's bound to have those nightmares again, so see if you can make heads or tails of them."

 

He turned to face Noelle, who still sat in her seat at the table. He was surprised that she hadn't bolted for the door; he supposed that was a good sign. "Sorry about that," he apologized, quickly moving back to the table and taking a seat between Noelle and the door, lest she suddenly get the urge to leave. "I'm sure you've got a lot of questions, the most prevalent of which is probably 'what the hell just happened here?' I need you to hear me out on this, okay?"

 

Noelle said nothing at this, her expression was one of surprise, but not fear, as Conn thought. Instead, she actually seemed somewhat curious, judging from her posture: she leaned forward in her seat and looked up at him expectantly. He'd never been able to read her emotions with his Zeltron abilities; he just used to attribute that to not having knowing her for an extended period of time. He just hoped she'd be as understanding as he remembered her to be.

 

"Right, so Beryl told you about chemicals and medications being shipped to ChandraMed from the Empire. We know this because Beryl's brother is an Imperial Admiral who is overseeing these shipments for experiments he intends to conduct here on Chandrila. Experiments he's already conducted on Beryl. That's why she's the way she is now."

 

Noelle noted Conn's somber look as he explained the situation to her. "And the throwing people to the ground bit, is that part of the experiment in addition to the mind alteration effects?"

 

Conn swallowed. "Yeah, about that. You see, Beryl is Force-sensitive. She's always been that way, it's not because of what her brother did to her. However, what he has done to her has made her so unstable that her self-control is a little haywire, as you just saw. Her ability to manipulate the Force certainly compounds the trouble when she does lose control."

 

"I'll say," Teser piped up, having taken a seat between Conn and Noelle, an icepack in his hand that he kept on his elbow. Beryl's Force-assisted shoves had banged him around. "She's never been like this before. Fiery and unreasonable, sure, but never to the point of endangering her friends and family."

 

"She did look quite disturbed," Noelle agreed. "And I admit I'm rather surprised and intrigued by her Force-sensitivity... I've never encountered someone like that before."

 

Boy, have you hit the jackpot, Noelle, Conn thought to himself. However, he wasn't going to tell her that they actually had four more additional Force-sensitive individuals in their crew, one of them even a runaway Jedi. At least not yet. "As I said before," he continued, "Her brother, Admiral Berasmus Quitaan, had experimented on her, filling her up with all sorts of weird drug cocktails that really screwed around with her mind. Thankfully, we were able to rescue her. She brought back evidence that the Empire has plans to introduce these same drugs to the Chandrilan populace." He pulled a datapad from his pocket and slid it over to her.

 

Noelle lifted the device from the table and examined the screen. "Clondex, symoxin...lesai..." she read the names off. "Some fairly common drugs here, some not so common."

 

"Check the formulas," Conn suggested.

 

She did so, tapping a few keys on the datapad. "These look fairly inert and innocuous," she said. "However, a few of these are a catalyst away from creating some potent chemical compositions. Not sure how they'd work without testing..."

 

"The Empire wasn't sure either, so they made Beryl their lab rat," the doctor said solemnly.

 

"How awful," Noelle said, a frown creasing her forehead. "How long was she exposed to this?"

 

"She was under her brother's 'care' for just about two months," Conn replied. "He was using her as a flight instructor. Normally, she wouldn't go along with anything he told her to do, especially given the fact that he'd basically kidnapped her. However, he was able to get her to do what he wanted by using these drugs. They apparently make her easier to control, more open to suggestion."

 

Telk snorted. "That's no mean feat with Beryl. She was never particularly warm towards Berasmus and she certainly didn't approve of him being an Imp. She would have fought him tooth and nail."

 

"I'm sure she did, at first," Conn said. "And she did manage to defy him in the end, since she was able to formulate a plan to escape. However, she wasn't counting on the side effects of being off the drugs. She's been off them for about a week now, and she's still going through withdrawal episodes. I don't know how to treat it, other than to sedate her when she gets out of control."

 

"As you saw, that's no mean feat with Beryl either," Teser chimed in, shifting his ice pack.

 

Conn pointed to the datapad in Noelle's hand. "The Empire intends to do to the people of Chandrila what Berasmus did to Beryl. Introduce their concoctions to the planet's water supplies and turn millions and millions of Chandrilans into obedient drones. Or maybe the Empire intends on making them completely dependant on these drugs, then snatch them away and watch as Chandrila tears itself apart. Whatever they plan on doing with these things, I know it's not good." He looked the young woman straight in the eye. "This is why I need your help, Noelle. This is why we need your help. We need to find a way to sabotage the Empire's plans and to disrupt their operations here. To do that, we need a way to get on the inside. We also need to fully understand this drug and how it works in order to help Beryl. You can help us do both of these things.

 

"You're our only hope."

[starmark2k]

Nic and Jeez were led down the streets flanked by the Kaldo thugs, once a proud and strong race they had been turned into refugees on the run from the empire who were mercilessly hunting them. In this respect they were like the Jedi a threat to the empire and hence eliminated by they could do anything to stop it.

 

The Kaldo were once a very spiritual people who remained outside of galactic affairs never joining with the Republic or any other empire or group in the galaxy, every war be it the Mandalorian wars of millennia ago or more recently the Clone wars they had always remained neutral never aiding or hindering either side. Their force sensitive never even became Jedi and instead became Clerics of the Kaldo Empire, the leaders of their people in politics, religion and military structure.

 

It was perhaps this neutrality that led to their downfall, as the Empire could not control the wilful species the Emperor sent ships to blockade the world and bombard the surface obliterating all life.

 

To most people knowledge the species, like the jedi, were extinct but they had also survived, fewer in number but still living. A single Cleric who commanded a warship full of Kaldo Warriors was away from the homeworld when the empire attacked and took refuge on Chandrillia.

 

After a short walk Nic and Jeez had arrived at a small building, a little more run down than what you would expect from a world like Chandrillia. Both Humans were led into the building and into a moderate sized room.

 

The room was dark, lit only by small candles scattered around the walls, barely lighting a lone man. The man wore robes and sat meditating with his back to the Humans. “So you have returned, have the prophecy all passed as I said they would?”

 

“Not quite, I want to know how to stop one of them.” Nic replied

 

“Prophecy in essence can not be changed.” The Kaldo Cleric informed not moving from his meditation position. “Am I not right Jedi?”

[Quist]

Noelle glanced at the datapad in her hand, then at Conn's hard-set face, then back at the datapad. She hadn't really expected to run into something like this, especially not with someone like Conway Harlowe. Yet her she was, sitting in a room of what appeared to be rebels against the Empire, being asked by them for her help. Things were definitely taking a turn for the interesting. Part of her was thinking of how she'd be able to get out of this, but another part of her was intrigued. Noelle was a naturally curious person, and she didn't really see any easy way out of the situation she was in, so her choice was easy.

 

"Okay, I'll help you," she said, her voice light. Before Conn could register relief on his face, she held her index finger up. "But, you have to promise me no one from ChandraMed gets hurt. If it's the Empire orchestrating all this, then ChandraMed is just being used as a pawn and its employees shouldn't be held accountable."

[Rogue Nine]

Conn could barely believe his ears. "Yes, of course, that's fine," he said in response to Noelle's conditions. "I know people at ChandraMed still, I wouldn't want them to get hurt or mixed up in this. We'll make sure to keep them out of it as best we can."

 

Telk chuckled. "That was easy," he said, rubbing his elbow. "So where do we go from here, Doc?"

 

"Well, we need Noelle here to help us figure out exactly what we're up against in terms of these drugs," Conn replied, ticking off a finger. "We also need to get your sister back up and running, which should prove just as easy as Noelle's task." He checked his chrono. "And we need to figure out just what is taking the captain and Jeez so long."

[stingerhs]

"In essence," Jeez replied with a slight nod. "It is always better to dwell on the here and now, though. Although the essence of the prophecy is discernible, the particulars are often times open to interpretation."

[starmark2k]

"Not many ways to interpret 'A friend who values your life greater than their own and will sacrifice themselves so you can live.' is there." The Kaldo Cleric informed as he slowly stood.

 

"How do you know it's that one?" Nic asked.

 

"I felt the others come to pass." He replied turning around to face the two humans and revealing a tatoo on his forehead of an eye. "I like to keep an eye on you."

 

"Tell me how to stop it." The captain began to anger.

 

"You can't." The Force Sensitive simply stated.

 

"I won't accept that."

 

"Of course you won't Mr Raikellii, You’re stubborn and loyal.” The wise alien stated as he walked off to the side and lit a few more candles. “These qualities make you ideal for your destiny.”

 

“It’s Nic White!” He Corrected

 

“For now.”

 

Nic placed his hand on his forehead and began to rub his fore head. “You ain’t going to help me are you.”

 

“I never said that.” The Cleric smiled. “I just can’t help you with what you want me to help you.”

 

“Have I ever told you how much you lesf me off?”

[Writer]

Reibe had left the table when ordered and had gone to the room set aside for her. But when Sam carried Beryl into her room and returned to the table, Reibe left her own room and entered Beryl's.

 

"Hello, Beryl," she said softly, though she knew that her voice would not wake the drugged woman. "You and I have a bit of communication to do, I'm afraid."

 

She sat down next to Beryl on the bed and rested a hand on Beryl's forehead. "You've been having some rather nasty dreams, haven't you? While I can assure you they haven't been wholly my fault, they are rather necessary. You will not grow beyond this until you face them... and neither will Jana."

 

She sat as she was for barely more than a second before Jana entered, after having left the table at Conn's request to watch over Beryl. Abruptly, Reibe withdrew her hand from Beryl's forehead and Jana glared at her suspiciously.

 

"What were you doing?' she demanded.

 

"She's having a nightmare," Reibe answered, almost sulkily. "I thought I might try to be of some help, but she's not responding to my touch. Perhaps you can do better."

 

And as Reibe stalked out of the room, Jana moved to Beryl's side, murmuring, "Oh, Beryl..." Gently, she placed her hand on Beryl's forehead and whispered through the Force. Beryl? Beryl, can you hear me? It's Jana. Let me in. I can help.

[JasraLantill]

((OOC: Really long joint post with Writer. This is the first part. Will post the next part tomorrow sometime.))

 

Dreaming, Beryl frantically ran through the maze of the prison's dank dark corridors as voices screamed, growled, and snarled at her as she past the cells.

 

"Ryshana?! Sam?! Max?!" Beryl desperately called out for her friends, but there was no answer, just more accusatory shouts and groans of discontent and wails of pain as she passed by the cells in her frenzied search. "Conn?! Jeez?!"

 

Rounding a corner, she bumped so hard into an orange-suited trustee that she fell landing on her backside on the hard, uneven rock floor. She looked up. "Max!"

 

Max stared down at her with dark, pitiless eyes that seemed to bore right into the heart of Beryl's soul. "You know what they do to Force Sensitives here, don't you, blondie?" Max's mouth twisted up into an evil grin. "Food for Dr. Twerna's pets."

 

Beryl felt a waft of warm moist air behind her. Still sitting on her backside, she scrambled to her feet to face one of the fearsome reptilian creatures she, Sam, and Jeez had battled with outside of Twerna's facility in the prison. She cursed and screamed as it attacked her, raking its teeth across her thigh as she lept back to avoid its powerful jaws. In the background, Max was laughing cruelly as Beryl struggled to avoid the creature until...

 

A beam of powerful blue light swept across the width of the corridor, halving the creature in two in one fatal swipe.

 

"Jeez!" Beryl turned around to face the Jedi. "Boy, am I glad to see...." But the Jeez's face was stoic, completely devoid of any sympathy or recognition. She noticed the metallic jack at the back of his neck as he raised his lightsaber above his head to a striking position, and she started to back away. "Jeez?"

 

"Like Jeez, you must comply," said a familiar voice from behind her.

 

She whirled around only to find Max gone and Conn in her place.

 

"I did," Conn continued, his expression indifferent as he lifted a syringe into her view and squirted out a few drops of clear liquid from the large sharp needle. "The Empire's really not that bad, Beryl, once you get used to it." He moved forward a few steps. "Now," he said, smiling wryly as he menaced the syringe in front of her, "this won't hurt a bit...."

 

Strong arms grasped her shoulders and she suddenly found herself shoved down to her knees and unable to move.

 

“Beryl? Beryl, can you hear me? It's Jana. Let me in. I can help.”

 

"Jana! Help me!" she cried out, and with a sudden and mighty burst of strength, she broke free from Jeez’s grip. As he was blocking her path one way, Conn another, she darted down the only other free corridor. It seemed that the faster she ran, the louder the screams and wails became until the corridor suddenly opened up into a large round chamber. It was dark, but she could still make out the barred prison cells along the walls. But there was no way out and she was trapped.

 

Suddenly, one of the cells lit up. It was a woman, dishevelled and heavily pregnant with child. "Why?!" the woman demanded. "What did my child do to you?! He was innocent! Innocent! Why should he be punished for something you did?"

 

"I didn't... I didn't know!" Beryl responded. "It wasn't my fault!" Beryl looked around. “Jana!” she called out. “Jana, where are you?!”

 

At that moment, Jana appeared next to Beryl with a startled yelp. Conn and Jeez thundered down the corridor behind them. Positioning herself between them and Beryl, Jana urged, "This is a nightmare, Beryl. It's a dream. Take control." A lightsaber appeared on her belt and she took it, lighting it and holding it in a defensive position before her.

 

Grateful that Jana had appeared, Beryl took a step backwards. “A dream?” she asked tentatively. “Wish him away?”

 

The blade was ice-blue and Jana frowned at it thoughtfully. Just as Jeez lit up his own saber and brought it down toward Jana, her saber changed to a vibrant green and she brought it up to block his blow.

 

"Take control, Beryl!" Jana shouted. "Don't let it control you. Wish him away! I can't hold him off forever... you've imagined him too strong!"

 

"It was your choice!" The woman in the cell started to shout again, distracting Beryl. "You chose! You decided! You sentenced us to death!"

 

"At least take your restrictions off me!" Jana protested to Beryl, landing a solid kick on Jeez's chest.

 

"Nuss made me do it!” Beryl replied to the woman, Jana’s request being ignored. I had no choice!"

 

Jeez stumbled backward and Jana managed just barely to lop off one of his arms.

 

"You chose to comply!" the woman screeched. "You’re weak! You gave in and complied and sentenced me and my unborn child to die in your place for your crimes! Murderer!"

 

"No!" Beryl backed away from the cell, holding her head in her hands. “No!”

 

Jeez grew a second arm, lightsaber still in hand. Jana grimaced.

 

“You are so messed up," she grumbled. "Beryl! Concentrate. Don't listen to the woman. Focus on me."

 

Beryl looked uncertainly between the woman in the cell and Jana battling Jeez. “Jana, what am I supposed to do?”

 

Jeez began his second attack aggressively, pushing Jana back.

 

“You need to take your meds, Beryl.” Conn had slipped around the back of the Jedi and was making his way towards her. As he flashed her an evil grin, his face morphed into that of the Imperial doctor Ferrana from the Carida Academy. He held up the syringe and waggled it at her. “Non-compliance is a punishable offense.”

 

“Jana, help me….” Beryl pleaded, backing up and looking extremely confused and frightened as Jana continued to battle Jeez.

 

“There’s no place to run, Beryl.” Berasmus appeared behind Dr. Ferrana, dressed in his Admiral’s uniform, face stoic, and piercing blue eyes that never seemed to blink. “Your friends can’t help you in here. You’re on your own.”

 

Jana chopped off Jeez's head. He grew a new one.

 

Beryl shook her head in disbelief as Doctor Ferrana and her brother drew closer to her. “Jana…?”

 

"Wish the syringe out of his hand!" Jana exclaimed. "Wish Jeez weaker! Wish me stronger! Wish Nuss away!" Jeez slammed her against the wall and she winced. "I can't hold much longer..."

 

Summoning up all her will, Beryl shouted at Jeez. “Leave her alone! Go away!”

 

Like magic, Jeez dissipated in mid-swing into a pile of dust. Beryl looked at Jana and then started to grin.

 

“Oh, that’s lovely, what you did just there,” Berasmus said. “You’re getting quite practiced at that, aren’t you? Destroying those that you call friend.”

 

Beryl’s grin slowly faded.

 

“I’m so very pleased with your progress, Beryl,” said a smiling Dr. Ferrana. “We’ll have to discuss this at our next session.”

 

“No! No more sessions!”

 

"This is your dream, Beryl!" Jana called out, panting heavily from her duel with Jeez. "You can do what you want. You can have what you want..." She flourished the lightsaber in her hand.

 

Beryl stared back at Jana dumbly for a moment, and then she reached a hand to her belt… and grabbed a lightsaber. She lowered her head, staring at Dr. Ferrana with malice in her eyes. “Lightsaber beats syringe,” she said. She flicked it on, and the red blade glowed like hellfire.

[starmark2k]

The Cleric had led the two humans out of his meditation chamber and into the entrance lobby ofthe building him and the other Kaldo refugees had come to call home.

 

"Your friend whoever they are will die, that choise belongs to them and not you." The Cleric explained. "But once they have made their sacrifice you will have to begin the journey of your ancestors legacy."

 

"And when exactly are you going to explain this legacy?" Nic asked still annoyed from before.

 

"I can only tell you what you are ready to hear, however as I doubt you will return to this place after the forth Prophecy is forfilled perhaps I should skip that part." The Kaldo leader informed. "In the Galaxy there is a person, a Key to the Force, one who is a nexus between this world and the strongest powers the Force has to offer."

 

"I'm no key." Nic abruptly interrupted.

 

"No you are not, you are mearly the one who is to protect and guide it."

 

"Protect it from who?" Nic asked.

 

"The sith, Zealots and the Order of Traya."

 

"The Order of what?

 

"Traya, Ancient group of sentient being that beleive the force is curse upon the Universe, one that must be vanquished and they believe they need the key to do this." The Cleric explained with Urgency in his voice.

 

"Okay and why do the sith want this key of yours?"

 

"It is said the key can be used to grant a power equal to that of a God, the power to create the universe or destroy it anyway they see fit." The Cleric continued still urgent.

 

"So i find this key and protect it against the ultimate evil in the galaxy... one problem i don't know where it is."

 

"Find the Chimera and it will lead you too her and it's protectors."

 

"Chimera?... what?... You speaking in Riddles now."

 

"Your destiny and that of the Key are intertwined, chances are you met it or dreamt of it and just not realised." The Cleric Explained. "Once you find the Chimera it will show you key... Leave now but once prophecy is past please return, there is much more you wll need to know."

 

With that Nic led the way out of the building and onto the city streets, night had fallen a while ago and only the moon shined light on to it now. Nic breathed heavily and turned for the direction to head back to the place they were staying. "Let's get home, do what we came to do and then leave... Quicker we get off this world the better" he told the jedi with him.

[JasraLantill]

((OOC: Ok, here's part two of the jp nightmare sequence with Writer.))

 

Now that the doctor had come into the picture, Berasmus turned his sights on Jana, who was coming at him with her lightsaber. Big surprise. He ducked behind a massive piece of ship wreckage, which had appeared rather conveniently for him... and a number of Stormtroopers appeared in the same way and began firing on Jana. Now that she was part of the dream, she had a limited amount of control and was able to conjure up her own cover.

 

"Cheat!" she yelled across to Nuss.

 

"You're a Jedi," Nuss called back. "Or something like it. Do you really think I'm going to chance standing against you?"

 

"Not really..." Jana mumbled. Faceless soldiers appeared around her and began firing on the Stormtroopers. One by one, they were picked off; one by one, Jana's soldiers fell as well. Finally, Nuss called for a cease fire. The numbers on both sides returned to what they had been.

 

"Perhaps we can come to some sort of arrangement between us," Nuss called. "This is getting us nowhere."

 

"You must think I'm an idiot or uninformed," Jana shot back. "I know what you did to Ryshana..."

 

While Jana dealt with Berasmus, Beryl moved towards Dr. Ferrana. “No more injections!” she growled.

 

“You need these, Beryl,” he replied, waggling the syringe in the air. “Think about how controlled it makes you feel. How it eliminates your anxiety, your guilt.”

 

Beryl paused, then shook her head. “No, it makes it hard to think.”

 

“You don’t need to think. You’re a soldier. You follow orders. You don’t need to think.” He smiled at her. “It’s better that way. No one wants an uncontrolled ‘Jedi’ running amok in the Galaxy.”

 

Angered by the doctor’s comment, she took a swipe at him with her lightsaber and he deftly jumped back avoiding it. And then he produced his own saber.

 

Beryl took pause. It wasn’t Dr. Ferrana she was battling now. He had morphed into Dr. Twerna. Her fury rose and she launched into a full force duel with him.

 

Reibe Vailar appeared out of nowhere, dressed up in a full Imperial Admiral uniform. "I've always thought that both Ferrana and Twerna were fools, but Ferrana makes a brilliant point. No one wants an uncontrolled Force sensitive running around, making life worse on the whole... but he fails to see the other side of the coin." She stabbed Twerna with a syringe. He gurgled and collapsed.

 

Reibe stepped effortlessly over his convulsing body and drew her own saber. This saber wasn't anything like what Beryl had seen her use before. It was longer and looked far more menacing... especially when she flicked two switches and burnt-orange blades extended from either end. "The other side of the coin is this... you will never learn control unless you have a teacher. Jeez cannot teach you.

 

"He is too 'Jedi'. Ryshana could not teach you for the same reason. I cannot teach you, for I am neither. The Imperials need you. With training, you could overthrow the Emperor... which is something that desperately needs doing." She nodded slowly and began to methodically attack Beryl. "I will take you to Vader. He can prepare you."

 

By some odd twist of the dream, Beryl and Jana were aware of one another’s' conversations, and in a split second, their positions in the dream were reversed. Beryl was ducked behind cover opposite Nuss, and it was Jana's vibrant green blade that blocked the blow from Reibe.

 

"I will not let that happen," she snarled. Reibe's mouth turned up in a twisted grin.

 

"Back down, Jana," she sneered. "Your time with Vader shall come soon enough."

 

"I'll kill you if you touch her!" Jana screamed, launching a furious attack on one she had once viewed as a mentor. In allowing her emotions to get the better of her, Jana had unwittingly been drawn into the dream even deeper.

 

“Do you see now?” Berasmus called out to Beryl. “See why I was trying to protect you? I don’t want you to get involved with Vader.”

 

Beryl recalled the cold, chilling feeling she had felt when she had met Lord Vader some months earlier, and her mouth grew dry.

 

“If you think, you’ll give yourself away,” Berasmus continued, while Jana and Reibe fought. “You’ll end up just like him. Just take the meds, follow your orders, and you’ll be safe. Only I can protect you, Beryl. Not Rayne, not your friends. Trust me.”

 

“Trust you? You killed Ryshana, Nuss. I can’t trust you!”

 

“You trust Reibe? She who would hand you in to Vader? Follow your orders.” He paused. “What color is the square, Lieutenant?”

 

Something snapped in Beryl’s head as she remembered the tortuous 'test' with the colored squares her brother had subjected her to. All was clear now. She looked at her lightsaber. “It’s red, sir!”

 

With that, she rushed towards Jana. But not to help her. To attack her. “All Force Sensitives must be destroyed!”

 

Jana sensed her coming and spun around Reibe, putting the Sith Hunter between the two friends. Jana's green blade clashed against Beryl's red one at Reibe's waist. With a strangled gasp, Reibe disappeared. Realizing that Beryl wasn't stopping, Jana set about defending herself. Slowly, the room darkened until there was no light. Nothing but the blaze of furiously clashing lightsabers. Finally, Jana's voice came out of the darkness. There was a nervous edge to it.

 

"Beryl, snap out of it. Beryl, are you listening to me?"

 

“I’m sorry,” Beryl panted between strikes. “You have to die, Jana. There can’t be any more Jedi. No more mystical, Force users. It all has to stop.”

 

"Does that mean you'll kill yourself too, Beryl?" Jana shot back, always defending, never attacking. "I'm your friend, Beryl. I have been since I've known you. I will be until our ways part, if it comes to that.”

 

“Friendship has nothing to do with this. People have to follow the rules, follow orders, do their jobs. Force Sensitives operate outside the rules. They have to be eliminated.”

 

"What are the rules?" Jana prodded softly. "What orders?"

 

“Detect Force Sensitives,” Beryl repeated tonelessly, “report their activities to the proper authorities, eliminate them if they are a threat to the Empire.”

 

"And what of you?" Jana asked. "When they're sure they've got all the Force Sensitives corralled or killed, what happens to you? You're Force Sensitive too, Beryl."

 

“We all have to die, Jana.”

 

Jana stubbornly pressed, "Why?"

 

“Why?” Beryl was breathing harder now. “Because….” She broke off the fight and backed up a step. “Because….” She rubbed her forehead as started to pain her to think. “Order. Things will be a mess without order.”

 

Jana did not attack. "The Empire tried to force order on all of us," she said. "It's by Imperial action that the galaxy was made more chaotic. The Jedi were once respected. Then the Emperor came along and they were made to run." She paused. "Is that the sort of order you want? Order where any ounce of free will is crushed and we're all mindless drones, obeying the will of the Empire?"

 

Beryl shook her head as if she was trying to rid herself of the thoughts within. “Can’t think, can’t think, can’t think… hurts, hurts, hurts,” she repeated over and over.

 

"Then wake up," Jana whispered, shutting her lightsaber. "Wake up, Beryl."

 

Suddenly, Beryl felt a gentle hand on her shoulder and realized she was lying down.

 

"Time to wake up..."

 

And though it was Jana at her side, hand on her shoulder, Beryl could see when she came out of it that Jana was not fully awake yet either.

 

“The Imps can't do what they did to me to anyone else, Jana," Beryl said, groggily rubbing her eyes. “I have to stop them from distributing that drug. No matter what it takes." She paused. "Even if it kills me.”

[stingerhs]

"Agreed," Jeez responded to Nic. "There's an odd stirring in the Force that I can't quite place..."

 

As his voice trailed off, Jeez concentrated for a moment. He could feel something as if it was just over the horizon, but every time he tried to reach it, it seemed to be just out of his grasp. Letting go of it, Jeez then concentrated on the here and now and was bombarded with a sense of urgency.

 

"Well, I'm sensing that trouble is waiting for us when we get back. I have a feeling that Beryl wasn't very well behaved."

[JasraLantill]

The dinner dishes had been cleared away and everyone was now sitting in the living area. It had been more than an hour since Beryl had been carried out of the dining room unconscious, but now she returned, head held high and walking quite purposefully, with Jana in tow and Reibe smugly following a few discreet paces behind the pair.

 

Beryl gave Conn a look, not scathing, not angry, but definitely one that said 'thank you, but don't ever drug me like that again', and then she sat down on the arm of one of the plush couches. Jana sat next to her, and Reibe took up a post near the door way. Beryl exchanged looks with Jana, and then her gaze settled on Noelle.

 

"Ok, I’d like to apologize, to everyone, for my impromptu psychotic interlude," Beryl began. “But thanks to Conn’s speedy intervention, I'm feeling much better now. More... focused. More... calm. More..."

 

“Sane?” Teser suggested, adjusting the ice pack that he held on his elbow.

 

Beryl turned to look at her brother. “I was going to say more mission oriented, but, yes. More sane.” Her eyes flicked to the ice pack. “And I’m sorry for losing control and trying to push you off the balcony. I wasn’t really trying to kill you.”

 

“Oh? Well, do me a favour, B. Warn me next time you do try.”

 

“Ok, let me rephrase that. I was trying, I just wasn’t ‘intending’ to kill you. And, yes,” she answered before Teser could ask the question, “there's a huge difference between 'trying' and 'intending'. Look, I said I’m sorry, you seem to be fine, bar a few minor injuries, so let’s move on to the reason we’re here, shall we? The mission, remember? Infiltrate Chandra-Med, eliminate any Imperial research material or drug supplies, and destroy any means or facilities to distribute their ‘cocktail,’ in particular any nearby water treatment facilities.

 

"Now," she addressed everyone present, "if all that can be done without hurting, maiming, or killing any 'innocents', then I'm all for it. But, I want you all to know that I'm hell-bent on completing this mission, whether or not it kills me or anyone else. If the Empire can mass medicate an entire population into submission, then we might as well just turn ourselves in now.”

 

She glanced at Noelle, and then looked at Conn. “So, is she helping us or not? Because if she’s not, then she’s not leaving here until we’ve done what we came to do.” She flashed Noelle a quick, but disingenuous smile. “No offense, Noelle, but I’ve only just met you and despite you being an old friend of Conn's, that doesn't mean that I can trust you.”

 

"Oh, that's a nice thing to say to your guest," Sam piped.

 

"I'm sorry to be so blunt, but that's just how it is," Beryl replied. "I'm sure Noelle understands. And if she doesn't, well...." Beryl frowned suddenly then and looked around the room. "Where are Nic and Jeez? And why are they not back yet?"

[starmark2k]

Nic s smiled at the Jedi and let out a short laugh. “Is she ever?” he shook his head and began to walk with Jeez back to the penthouse where they were staying.

 

It didn’t take them long to get back to the pent house where them and the others were staying courtesy of one of Beryl’s brothers. As they approached the building Nic once again turned to Jeez. “Erm... can we keep all the stuff we heard between us, I don’t want to freak anyone out anymore than they already are.”

 

He didn’t wait for a reply as he thought that the secret would be safe with the Jedi, he knew Jedi could keep secrets from his experiences with them and hoped Jeez would be the same. Nic continued into the building and headed up to their suite, open the door. “I’m ho...” He stopped mid word when he saw the women in his vision before him, he stared at her with mouth open slightly in shook. From someone else’s perspective it could be misinterpreted.

[JasraLantill]

And from Beryl's perspective it looked like Nic was smitten with the new arrival called Noelle. Her eyes narrowed and a surge of jealousy welled up from within her.

 

First Conn, now Nic?, Beryl thought. Noelle certainly seems to get around. Miss No-Force-Signature isn't that pretty, is she?

 

She wanted to do slam Noelle and Nic against the wall, but with Jeez there in the room as well, she took a deep breath instead and tried her best to focus.

 

Still, she couldn't resist being catty. "Gee, Nic, I'd introduce you to our guest, Noelle, but it looks like you two already know each other already." She then looked at Jeez. "Jeez, this is Noelle, Conn's friend at ChandraMed. She's going to help us break into the lab tonight." She glanced at Noelle. "Although she hasn't definitively said 'yes' to our proposition."

[Rogue Nine]

"You haven't given her a chance to, Beryl," Conn stated matter-of-factly. The Corellian pilot seemed to have bounced back from her 'episode', well enough to start getting down to business. Conn knew she could be quite driven when she wanted to be, but there was definitely something different about this drive. "Noelle has agreed to help us with our mission, provided that no one at ChandraMed gets hurt, something that I fully endorse. So there's no need to be snippish."

 

Conn glanced over at where Jeez and Nic stood in the doorway. Nic seemed to be staring at Noelle strangely, probably the shock from seeing her for the first time. "What have you guys found?" he called out to them, hoping to snap Nic out of his daze.

[Quist]

"It's all right, Dr. Harlowe," Noelle said in response to his defense of her to Beryl's pointed remarks. The Corellian's demeanor had changed, she was more brusque and to the point now. Noelle was just happy that she wasn't tossing people around and freaking out.

 

She turned to Beryl. "Ms. Quitaan, please know that I do intend to help you through with your endeavor. Your brothers and Dr. Harlowe were very convincing in their arguments and helped me understand that the Empire is doing a great evil here. I cannot stand idly by while they carry it out if I am able to do something about it." She smiled gamely. "I am at your disposal."

 

Just then the door to the room opened and admitted a pair of figures. She recognized them as the two men that she had passed in the elevator a few hours before. Obviously they were part of the crew, so she waited until someone introduced her.

[starmark2k]

Snapping out of his own glare at the attractive young woman he now knew was Noelle, Nic stepped over looking at her apprehensively. “I’m Nic White.” He said holding his hand out to her. Things had just taken a strange turn for him, if it wasn’t bad enough he had to deal with the fact someone was suppose to die, now he had to deal with meeting a girl he had dreamt of. “I’m sorry but have we met? I mean, before this.”