Session 24: The Infinity Path, Part II

General Summary

Day 10, Morning As the three padawans step through the portal, they immediately appear on Khomm on a high suspended platform in the abandoned factory they saw in their vision. Before Rosk 5 or anyone else has a chance to even notice their sudden and inexplicable appearance, Rin, acting purely out of instinct to protect Lyshea, runs toward Rosk 5 and slams him with the power of the Force. As Lem draws his lightsaber and prepares for battle and Tomla assesses the situation, Rosk 5, unfazed by the attack turns to confront his bitter rival. With their presence now made known, all hell suddenly breaks loose. First, the sound of a disruptor pistol rings out. Before Lem can turn his lightsaber to deflect it, Ro Mibb's expertly aimed shot hits him hard in his side, wounding him badly before the real battle has even begun. Carefully aiming her next shot to finish him off, Ro fires again at Lem, but he's ready this time. He deflects the disruptor shot and redirects it at Rosk 5, who had just staggered backward after being shot point blank by Rin, narrowly avoiding disintegration. Realizing the dangerous predicament in which he has placed himself, Rin runs behind a nearby pillar. Seeing what the saber-wielding Jedi had just tried to do, and with his preferred target out of sight, Rosk 5 fires his heavily modified rifle at Lem right at the same spot where Ro had hit him earlier. Fortunately, the Force is with him, and Lem deflects that shot as well, avoiding what would have been a killing blast. In response, Lem runs toward the incensed clone, and at the last moment, dives into a roll and coming up behind Rosk 5 swinging his lightsaber. The saber fails to find its mark, however, as Rosk 5's extensive military training allowed him to anticipate the move, and he brings the barrel of his rifle into focus with Lem's face. Just then, Rin regains his nerve, steps out from behind the pillar, and throws another invisible blast of energy at his nemesis, injuring him and knocking him to the ground. On the other side of the platform, Tomla notices two A-series assassin droids closing in on their location. One of them begins firing from across a narrow chasm between two walkways. The Ithorian, wrench in hand, uses her considerable prowess in the Force to lift the droid, pull it slightly toward her - and then drop it down into the abyss below. Seeing this, the other droid AND Ro Mibb begin firing at Tomla as she quickly takes cover behind nearby factory equipment. Feeling his wounds and seeing the tide of battle turn against them, Rosk 5 reaches into his belt pouch and pulls out a small cylindrical detonator. Before either Lem or Rin can react, the clone depresses the button, causing a sudden, violent cascade of explosions to begin sounding throughout the factory. Fighting his battle instincts, Lem realizes that they need to rescue Lyshea and Rosk 1 before they all die a fiery death. He leaves Rosk 5 and rushes over to Lyshea and cuts her free of her binder cuffs with his saber and picks her up. Tomla picks up on Lem's cue and picks up the unconscious Rosk 1 and begins to head toward the exit. Not knowing when he will have another opportunity to end this rivalry, Rin ignores the explosions around him (as well as his Jedi training) and fires his blaster into Rosk 5 as he lays on the floor, defenseless. Absorbing the shot into his armor, he fumble at his hip for his grappling hook and fires it blindly at the ceiling. It connects and he begins ascending out of the blast. Blinded by their rivalry, Rin aims his blaster to finish him off as he continues upward, but suddenly comes to his senses and realizes that if he takes the shot, he will both succumb to the dark side, and likely not have enough time to escape the factory as it begins falling down around him. As the building explodes around them, their walkways falling from beneath their feet and their final fate becoming clear to them even as they continue trying to run and climb their way out of the exploding, flaming debris around them, suddenly portals open up one by one and Dorsk 82's hands pull the padawans and the their allies back into the Star Temple. Lem, Lyshea, and Rosk 1 are all very badly injured. Dorsk 82 takes Rosk 1 to the medical center in New Bendu as Kyp Durron uses the Force to heal Lyshea of her most serious wounds. Tomla insists on taking the Zeltron back to The Mynock's Wing for treatment by Bonez, while Lem goes to the settlement. Rin decides to go with Tomla and Lyshea to the ship, and Dal Konur follows. Back on the ship, Rin is still dazed from the encounter. His former Master does his best to ease his emotions and suggests that they meditate together. Rin reluctantly does so, and as he does, he focuses his mind on where Rosk 5 is at the moment. A vision slowly comes into focus of the bloodthirsty clone at a terminal on a ship somewhere. On the screen, he can just make out a few words: clone, memory, and "Force". Sensing his internal disharmony, Dal talks to Rin and helps him to return to a calm and mindful awareness of himself and the Force. He also talks to him more about why he, Kyp, and Dorsk 82 have come to the conclusion that their ambitious plan is the best hope for the galaxy, which Rin finds very convincing. At the medical bay in New Bendu, Lem gets treatment for his more immediate wounds. He tells Kyp that he thinks that they should discuss the Star Temple with Master Skywalker. Kyp, without emotion or judgement, simply questions Lem as to what he thinks that Luke would bring to the situation and what he thinks someone who has spent his life consolidating and rebuilding the political power of the Jedi and aligning it with the largest political organization in the galaxy, which happens to be run by his sister, would do with such information. When Lem doesn't respond, Kyp reminds the padawan that he has known Luke most of this life, and he knows what Luke would do - take the Star Temple and turn it over for the use of the Jedi or the New Republic. With that, Lem takes his leave and heads back to the ship to meet with his friends. Kyp takes Vass Manduc with him into the settlement. Finally back together, The Initiates meet to discuss, being careful (Rin overly so) to avoid eavesdropping by Dal. Rin says that the former Jedi's plan has some merit and that they should hear them out, while Lem and Tomla are adamant that the don't trust them or their intentions. Tomla and Lem convince Rin to at least try to find Master Skywalker in the Force to see if they can reach him - or so they think. Rin pretends to focus on locating the Jedi Master, but Tomla can tell that he's not actually making an effort. Realizing that it's up to her if Rin won't help, Tomla closes her eyes, focuses her entire mind on Master Skywalker, and is able to eventually send him a mental image of the Star Temple. Soon after, Dal joins them to discuss the situation, resuming his familiar paternal role in the group. He reminds the group to keep the Star Temple secret so that political forces don't attempt to take such a powerful tool from them by force. He also convinces the three of them to at least stay on Selvaris with them for a while, if nothing else to act as passive observers and advisors for their plan so that they can better evaluate it's feasibility and worth for themselves. They also agree that when Lyshea wakes up, Tomla will explain the situation, as well as begin more directly mentoring their Zeltron friend in the ways of the Force. Near the end of their discussion, Dal explains that he has been contacted by Kyp and asks that they all return to the settlement as Rosk 1 is awake and has some concerning new for them all that they should hear in person. Tomla stays with Lyshea on the ship with the others all head to the New Bendu medical bay. Once there, Rosk 1 explains that not only did Rosk 5 and Ro Mibb kill all of the other members of The First Born, but they downloaded all of their research on the the appearance of force sensitivity in clones, as well as a lot of their stores of genetic material. There's no doubt that he fully intends to attempt to create force-sensitive clones and train them to be under his command. Kyp says that this represents an opportunity to put their plan into action on a small scale. They can use the Star Temple to stop Rosk 5 and prove to The Initiates of their intentions and how they can stop power-hungry individuals from amassing and using power over others. Meanwhile, back on the ship, Tomla receives a sudden and powerful voice in her head. It's Master Skywalker, and he simply asks, "Where?", with urgency. When she tries to respond, Tomla fails, and realizes that she is somehow being blocked by someone unknown through the Force...