An Attempted Awakening Pt 4

An Attempted Awakening Pt 4
Date of Scene:	05 May 2025
Location:
Synopsis:	Chaos unfolds in the hangar when Thaarin's brother attempts to steal a ship and escape.
Cast of Characters:	159, Pike Windu, Cayde Alexis, Navi

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Athena (159) has posed:
As soon as Cayde and Navi make it onto the careening Longbeam, they'll feel the vessel swerve violently, perhaps throwing them off balance. Thaarin is right behind them, having commandeered a stationary speeder that had been parked off to the side to close the gap between himself and the Longbeam, since he's unable to utilize the Force to leap halfway across the hangar.

Once the two of them reach the cockpit, they'll see that Thaarin's companion had anticipated their arrival. He's standing, armed and wearing a wild, glazed over expression, his scarlet eyes gleaming. When Navi tries to go for the co-pilot's station in an attempt to shut the vessel down, he takes aim and shoots without hesitation.

Meanwhile, Pike will hear the commotion even from the infirmary level of the Temple, and if he heads to the lift, he may espy the chaos before he even arrives.

Pike Windu has posed:
    Pike steps out of the lift and watches in helpless frustration as the vessel careens through the hangar.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    As the other blue man starts to open fire toward Navi, Cayde immediately attempts to restrain him with the Force by pushing him away from the controls and hopefully causing his shot to go astray. If they can hold him down, perhaps then Thaarin can speak to him, and convince him to calm down...

Navi has posed:
Navi's lightsaber comes out in a literal flash of blue-white energy, deflecting the blaster shot into the ceiling in a spray of sparks from both blade and ceiling. "Cayde, can you do something about him before we crash again?" she asks, dropping into the copilot's chair, the lightsaber still in her right hand but no longer activated.

She grabs for the throttles with her left hand and hastily backs the engine power down to zero. Hopefully that will be enough to prevent any further destruction...

Athena (159) has posed:
Pike might be in the middle of feeling useless when he'll suddenly hear faint moaning coming from behind a stack of crates not far from where the Longbeam had been a moment ago. "...h-help...!" a wounded sounding voice cries out, clearly in pain.

When Cayde utilizes the Force to restrain the other blue skinned alien, he struggles violently at first, his shot going astray and therefore making it much easier for Navi to deflect it. However, since they're in a small enclosed space, the shot ricochets off the paneling and lands on an important looking console. Sparks fly, and a terrible smell fills the cockpit. Thankfully Navi is able to cut power to the thrusters before the Longbeam collides with another ship in the hangar...

Thaarin then arrives, weapon in hand but both hands raised. He starts trying to talk to his companion in a firm but gentle manner, in a language neither Cayde or Navi will recognize.

Pike Windu has posed:
    Pike is in action immediately. Hurrying around the crates, he searches for the source of the injured cry.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde frowns as the man struggles hard against his hold, focusing on maintaining it and hopefully without causing any injury. In spite of the sparks flying and the ship careening back down to the floor of the hangar, he manages to keep the crazed companion in place...

Navi has posed:
Navi winces at the stench coming from the now-smoking console as she hastily powers down the Longbeam's systems. "Been a while since I've had to do anything with a ship's consoles..." she murmurs, breathing a quiet sigh of relief as the main power shuts down with a metallic groan.

Standing, she puts her lightsaber away and raises her hands, letting Thaarin talk to his brother. "I sure hope our buddy Thaarin's a wizard-rated talker," she murmurs to Cayde.

Athena (159) has posed:
Pike may be dismayed to discover a young human boy, probably around Cayde's age lying on the ground, his expression glazed over with pain. His shoulder looks dislocated, and his leg has suffered a compound fracture. Blood is leaking out of the open wound and onto the ground beneath the boy's leg...

Thaarin's companion, at some point, stops struggling, but doesn't put his weapon down.

Perhaps he's calmed down... but there's something strangely resolute and grim in Thaarin's expression that's...unsettling.

After a moment, he turns to Cayde. "Release him," he says softly, in his accented in Basic.

Pike Windu has posed:
    Pike kneels down next to the boy. He assesses the boy's obvious wounds visually before gently probing the torso for internal injuries.

    "Easy, lad."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde hesitates, feeling unsettled by everything. He's so used to just knowing...

    He glances at the blaster that has not been dropped or even lowered for that matter, then back at Thaarin apprehensively, then at Navi as well, as if searching for her opinion.

Navi has posed:
Navi definitely finds that look unsettling, and guesses its meaning. She glances at Cayde apprehensively, then steps closer to Thaarin. "Thaarin, don't..." she says softly, hoping her tone is soothing. "We can help him. It might take time, but we can still save him. Please give us that chance..."

Athena (159) has posed:
The young man whimpers. "It hurts," he says, "my older brother... you have to tell him..." Pike's assessment will reveal that it seems unlikely the boy has any internal injuries, but it's too hard to tell for absolute certain without any kind of diagnostic tool. "... what's gonna happen... our ship... please... Master Jedi..."

Thaarin shakes his head. He has a hardened look on his face and moves away from Navi, advancing towards his companion. He glances over at Cayde again. "Do it," he says, his tone even more firm this time. Then, more softly, he says, "Please."

Pike Windu has posed:
    Pike places his hand on the boy's forehead.

    "Shhh. One thing at a time.

    The Jedi turns his focus to the bleeding leg and begins silently uttering the Jedi Code.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    There is a tense moment as Thaarin insists yet pleads at the same time. Cayde stares at the other blue man with his weapon still raised. No, why did there have to be a fight? A fight that could put more innocent lives at risk? If he was going to do it, he should just do it now. Otherwise...

    He steps closer to the crazed alien and strikes him upside the head with his lightsaber hilt, hoping to knock him unconscious. The healers could try again, maybe there was something they'd missed. [Leave him...another chance] he signs.

Navi has posed:
"Thank you, Cayde," Navi whispers, too loudly to be missed, as Cayde resorts to a knockout blow instead of a lightsaber blade. "We're going to have to keep a much tighter watch on the poor guy... and maybe use restraints. But at least he's got a chance at recovering his sanity. For lack of a better word."

She moves to help Thaarin with the unconscious Less Tall Blue. "Let's get him back to the infirmary before he wakes up. The specialist may insist on him being restrained after this, but he's alive. There's still hope."

Athena (159) has posed:
The boy cries out in pain as the wound begins to close, twitching with agony, which may impede the healer's efforts. "...what.. what are you doing...!" he cries.

But as Pike is attempting to heal the boy, several Temple guards the specialist from earlier, rush over. "By the stars!" she cries. "What happened here?" She then begins to assist Pike in healing the boy. But then one of the Temple Guards grabs her by the sleeve aggressively. "You can't do it here," He hisses, "get him to the infirmary, -now-. When the constabulary arrives, you pretend none of this happened--"

But then they're interrupted, by the sound of sirens and flashing lights. It's too late, they were here.

Just before Cayde strikes him on the head and knocks him out, Thaarin's companion raises his weapon and aims it at Thaarin, intending to shoot. But thankfully, the young Jedi Padawan knocks him out before he can actually fire.

Thaarin won't get to respond to Navi, as they'll all become acutely aware of the constabulary arriving. Navi will notice immediately, and recognize that not just the constabulary is here, but also the security droids wearing BPIC badges. That couldn't mean anything good...

Pike Windu has posed:
    Pike ignores the arrival of the authorities. "He needs care. Let's get a stretcher down here."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Oh, stars.

    Cayde hastily starts trying to shove Thaarin and his brother into a storage compartment in the companionway behind the cockpit and shut the door. He could just pretend he was responsible for this...

    They weren't here, they were never here. The idea is projected to Pike and Navi, too--he'll need their help to corroborate this story. The whole thing is playing out in his mind. He'd been trying to see if he could repair the ship and had been experimenting with the fuel regulators. There'd been a surge, the engines fired up, the rest is history. It all made sense...

Navi has posed:
"You're taking a huge gamble, Cayde," Navi whispers, but she tries to assist Thaarin and Shorter Blue into the compartment. "But with the BPIC here, what choice do we have? I'm not letting them take Thaarin and his brother and dissect them! You'd just better hope anybody else who saw them is willing to play along!"

Only once the compartment is secure does she look back to Cayde. "Sorry for yelling at you... it's just part of the act. Hope you're good at looking guilty," she says softly, taking a deep breath. And then she raises her voice. "You /idiot/! Just what did you think you were doing in here?!"

Athena (159) has posed:
But the boy, seeing the constabulary arrive, suddenly seems to have a jolt of energy. "Forget me," he grunts, waving Pike away. "Make sure they know the perpetrator is still on our ship...! He ..." he winces, still in pain. "They can't let him get away."

Navi and Cayde will hardly have a moment to collect themselves when the BPIC droids and the constabulary start marching up the gangplank. "We have received word that a male humanoid charged with assaulting a member of the RDC is on this ship."

Pike Windu has posed:
    With all the authority he can muster, Pike shushes the boy and calls out for any to hear.

    "I need a stretcher over here now. This man is wounded."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde winces as Navi starts yelling, attempting to give his best impression of looking quite guilty of what she was shouting about. When the constabulary arrives, he approaches with his head down.

    [Sorry sir] he signs, glancing over at Navi. [...it was me]

Navi has posed:
"Oh... good evening to you all. We've had some trouble with this ship, but things are in hand now, except for the repairs," Navi says, looking back as the constabulary and the droids arrive.

She turns a forbidding scowl on Cayde, resting her hands on her hips. "There was an accident with this ship while it was under repair. I believe Padawan Alexis was assisting with repairs when the ship's engines were suddenly powered on... he's not really trained as a starship technician, but I believe he wanted to help. I think he knocked another crewman off of the ramp, but he's not the sort of person who would deliberately harm someone... it was probably an accident, or maybe he was trying to get him safely off of the runaway ship. Anyway, I came aboard to get the ship powered down. That was just a moment before you arrived. Do you know if anyone else was hurt?" The last question is directed at the constabulary.

Athena (159) has posed:
The medical droids have arrived now with a hoverberth, but the young man scowls, then winces again. "No...! I'll... I'll.." he grunts in pain. "I'll live. But I'm not leaving until I see that sleemo being taken away in cuffs!" he says to Pike, blatantly ignoring his shushing.

"It was... you?" the constabulary says, staring at Cayde, disbelieving for a moment. Then he frowns, sighing, seeming willing to chalk it up to the midnight shenanigan of a pre-teen Jedi, but the droids are not persuaded. "Sir," one of the BPIC droids says, "and ma'am," it says to both Navi and the constable, "The story is outrageous. The report surely, would have specified the difference between assault and accident. Besides, we are bound by protocol to make a sweep, anyway. We do not know if there was anyone else hurt, and therefore, we must search the premises to make sure no one else was harmed." Then, before anyone can restrain the droid, it and two of the other droids start to make an attempt to enter the vessel.

Pike Windu has posed:
    Pike motions for the med droids.

    "Take him to the Infirmary. If he's uncooperative, sedate him."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde stares at the droids as they start doing their own thing. That wasn't supposed to happen, weren't droids to be subservient to their masters? He sighs, he'd been hoping that it wouldn't be necessary to manipulate anyone in this way, but it seems there is no other way. He attempts to enter the constabulary's mind. Would a low grade employee begin acting against his boss' word without even waiting for permission? Much less a droid against its master, then. Private property ought not to be searched without a warrant or permission given by the owner, anyway.

Navi has posed:
<Pike, I hope you can shut that poor guy up... he's complicating our trying to save The Blues here,> Navi says to Pike telepathically.

"If you feel the need, Sirs. I don't believe anybody else was aboard, but if you'll allow it, I'll assist you in your search," she replies to the insistent droids. Really, she thinks, why would an injured person, especially someone who cannot be moved, be hiding in a closet? Surely the droids will be thinking the same thing...

Athena (159) has posed:
"Excuse me?!" The young man says in disbelief. "I thought you Jedi were supposed to help, not -hinder-!" He tries to drag himself off of the mediberth. "BPIC Officers...! Please... please tell me you've found the perp...!"

But as Cayde enters the constabulary's mind, he may realize just how complicated this all is, and what a mess it truly is. The BPIC did not answer to the constabulary. They were an independent branch of the Jedha goverment, subservient only to Jedha's Department of Planetary Security. The constable does not like them, and thinks they operate with too much autonomy, but he has no power to command their droids. He'd only asked them along because the RDC volunteer who'd made the call had specifically requested for the BPIC to come, and though he'd been reluctant to ask them along, he trusted the RDC volunteers and had significant rapport with them. But when he'd arrived on the scene, and discovered that Cayde was admitting to fault for the entire thing, he began to wonder if the entire thing had just been some kind of grand misunderstanding. He reaches out and grabs one of the droid's arms. "Look, they're Jedi. They're our allies," he pleads. "Why shouldn't we take them at their word?"

The droid removes its arm from the constable's hand. "Our... allies? Sir, with all due respect, you're forgetting that the Jedi, for years, has made Jedha and many other worlds they deem convienent a dumping ground for undocumented immigrants and refugees. They rescue Outer Rim castoffs and relocate them thoughtlessly, breaking protocol and galactic regulations with impunity. The RDC volunteer who reported this wouldn't have asked for BPIC's presence if the perpetrator was a ... child Jedi. It makes no sense."

"Now, let me perform my duties. We do not need assistance," the droid says to Navi callously, "This vessel is small, and there are four of us. It would seem logical that your request to help is an attempt to divert us from whatever it is you are actively trying to hide," the droid says to Navi. Its optics narrow at the young Sephi girl.

Sudden, there's a loud thump from the closet where Thaarin and his companion are hiding...

Pike Windu has posed:
    "We are helping. And you have broken bones and have lost a great deal of blood. It's amazing you haven't passed out. The Jedi are here. The authorities are here. Relax."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Ugh, well then Cayde supposes he will have to deal with this himself. At least that 'child Jedi' comment things easier it came to blows. But for the time being, he simply retreats behind the cockpit, and reaches out with the Force as subtly as possible, using it to hold the door to the storage compartment shut so that if BPIC tried to open it, they simply wouldn't be able to without inflicting serious property damage.

Navi has posed:
"Don't be so reckless with your assumptions, Tin Can Man! I am NOT a JEDI! I am a Novice of the Shining Brotherhood! I just happen to be /working/ with the Jedi because /someone needs to keep a proper eye on them/, since they're known to play so fast and loose with the rules! So I suggest you don't impugn my honor so casually, especially when I offered my aid in good faith!" Navi retorts, whirling to face the droid directly, hands still on her hips, looking into the droid's optics quite directly.

She winces at the thump, but doesn't look away from the droid.

Athena (159) has posed:
"You haven't caught the perp!" the young man cries, as he starts to be ushered away by the med droids, who force him back onto the hoverberth.

Thankfully, the droids leave Cayde alone, to slip away to somewhere unseen.

"Well I suppose I cannot stop you from doing whatever it is that you want," the droid says blandly. "So I suppose you can help search but do not get in our way, or try to advise where we should or shouldn't look. Do you understand?"

But before Navi can respond, the sounds of blaster fire puncturing the thin plating of the closet door can be heard. The smell of burnt metal fills the air and the droid immediately pushes past Navi, taking its weapon out and rushing towards the sound of the blaster fire. "This is BPIC," the droid shouts. "Show yourself or we will enter forcibly!"

"What the kriff!?" the constable cries, following the droids. Meanwhile, Cayde might receive a blistering headache from trying to keep a door that's being shot closed.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde winces when the blaster fire hits the door. However, he drops the hold and instead rushes to stand stubbornly in front of it. If they wanted to open it, they'd have to go through -him- first.

Navi has posed:
"Normally I have a lot of respect for our hard-working droids. But in your case, I'll make a very notable exception," Navi retorts. But she has not time to say any more, since things get very chaotic right then. She is pushed aside by the droid, sending her stumbling into the side wall of the hatchway, and needs a moment to recover her balance as the droids and the constables rush aboard.

"Cayde, /don't/!" she cries, seeing the holes in the door. "What if another beam comes through that door?"

Athena (159) has posed:
When Cayde suddenly puts himself in immediate danger, the droid's optics widen. "MOVE!" it cries, and grabbing Cayde by the arm, yanks him aside and dives to the left just five more blaster shots pierce the closet door and then blow it off its hinges, now that Cayde is no longer holding the closet door shut.

Unfortunately, the droid that was directly behind the BPIC droid who'd just saved Cayde's life takes the brunt of the hit, and collapses to its knees sparking.

But just before it goes down, it manages to open fire on Thaarin's companion, who has just burst out of the closet.

And one of the shots hits the tall blue alien square in the chest, at nearly point blank range. A sizzling hole is burned right through his chest, just before he crumples to the ground, his upper body smoking.

"/Shit/!" The constable cries. "I thought all BPIC droids defense mechanisms were programmed to stun by default?!"

"They /are/!" the other droid protests. "Unless... unless there's threat to life and our programming deems stun to be ineffective," but they sound uncertain.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    It all happened so fast, and the crazy blue man went down. But...how could the droids just automatically start shooting to kill? Since when were they authorized to forcibly move a human? How would they know stunning would've been ineffective in this situation??

    Anyway, he immediately gets to his feet after being knocked aside and rushes in front of Thaarin, drawing his lightsaber in case they start trying to shoot at him, too.

Navi has posed:
"Point those karking blasters somewhere else!" Navi snaps at the remaining droid(s) as Cayde jumps in front of Thaarin. "You've done enough damage for one day!"

"Relax, Cayde... the droid was trying to save you from getting your back shot out, not trying to assault you. They're programmed not to let sentients get hurt, even if it results in their own destruction," she adds to Cayde, before he can ignite his lightsaber.

Only then does she move to check on Thaarin's fallen brother. A check for breathing and a pulse find nothing, and she sighs sadly. "He's dead..."

Athena (159) has posed:
"D-Dammit!" the droid whispers angrily, when Navi reports Thaarin's companion is dead.

For a moment, no one moves or says anything. Except for Thaarin, who drops his gun and collapses to his knees next to his fallen comrade, cradling his dead body, expression mournful. He looks to Navi. "Thank you," he says softly.

The constable is shaking. "You lied," he says to Cayde, "why did you lie....! I believed you. I thought..."

The droid stands up slowly, then goes over to hoist the sparking, lifeless BPIC droid onto its shoulders. "I'm leaving," it says. "And I'm going to go back to Planetary Security and file a report that says that the individual reported to have assaulted the RDC member was no longer on site when the constabulary and BPIC arrived. And if anyone comes around trying to ask questions, they will be led to a dead end because none of you will be here, or have anything to say about what happened tonight."

"You never lied to the constable about your blue skinned friends, or whoever else you brought planetside who is undocumented, because they were never here. And the BPIC droid I'm carrying right now was damaged when the ship malfunctioned and crashed into the west wing of the Temple Hangar. None of -this- ever happened. I hope I've made myself clear." And with that, the droid and its remaining companion march out of the vessel.

Navi has posed:
"It's a long story, Constable. If the BPIC hadn't been here with you, we would've leveled with you from the start, and maybe all this could've been avoided. Anyway, the dead man was unconscious and suffering from a severe mental issue from long-term torture that occurred before we ever met him, and he didn't speak a word of Basic, or most common languages. The Jedi were trying to restore his sanity before he woke up. I don't know why the Temple didn't contact the BPIC when we arrived, but the damage was already done... and we weren't about to let that man and his brother be dissected like lab rats just to please the BPIC's sensibilities. Not when he had any chance at all of recovering. We'd already been advised by some of the citizenry that the BPIC might very well kill them if they got their hands on them," Navi explains sadly, shaking her head.

"But I guess he woke up before he could be cured and tried to steal a ship to get away. I wasn't witness to all of that, but clearly he didn't know that the ship wasn't nearly fully functional. I'm not even sure he meant to hurt the RDC man; he may have just bowled him out of his way when he rushed up the ramp. He was clearly in full fight-or-flight mode, and he chose flight. We had him in custody when you all showed up."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    When the constable accuses him of lying, Cayde just gives him a wide-eyed, innocuous look as if he doesn't know what the man is talking about. He was just trying to protect his friends from being arrested or killed or Force only knows what else. After all they are undocumented so they have no protection under the local laws here whatsoever.

    He puts his lightsaber away though, once the droids finally leave, nodding at Navi's explanation. [I protect my friends] he signs.

Athena (159) has posed:
"Fine, I understand that," he says in response to Cayde, "but the BPIC doesn't kill people," the constable continues, shaking his head. "Sure, they might make a lot of morally questionable arrests, but they don't kill people, or use cruel methods to interrogate undocumented immigrants or refugees." He sighs. "Why didn't you just explain all of that up front? I could have arrested him, evaluated his sanity to be in question and then handed him back over to the Convocation's mystics so that they could arrange to send him to a reputable ward, where he'd be safe and comfortable."

"And yes, while BPIC is the organization that often ends up sending undocumented workers or immigrants to refugee camps offworld, I could have argued jurisdiction and let it all be handled by the local constabulary."

"He shouldn't have died. You ... you shouldn't have lied. This all could have been avoided. I--" He stands up, shaking his head. "Nevermind. Just nevermind." He then exits the ship, rubbing his temples, sighing.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde sighs, watching the constable leave. Sure, that's exactly what would have happened...no, he's pretty certain BPIC would've carted them off to some labor camp, or worse. And sure, they don't kill people--except literally just now.

    He then turns to Thaarin, putting a hand on his shoulder in an effort to comfort him.

Navi has posed:
"That wasn't what we were told. I'm sorry we didn't have more trust when we should've. Thanks for trying. Sorry we complicated things enough that you couldn't save the situation," Navi replies, shaking her head.

She watches the man and his people leave, then turns and hugs Thaarin tightly. "I don't know if we had any chance at saving that poor brother of yours, Thaarin. Maybe you were right all along," she says sadly. "We tried. Maybe we did some stupid things, but we really did try our best, and we really did want him to get well again. I'm sorry things turned out like this." She'd probably cry if she didn't feel so numb inside. The tears will probably come later.

Athena (159) has posed:
When Cayde places a hand on his shoulder, he lays his comrade on the ground and hugs the padawan tightly, suddenly.

And then Navi embraces him too, and he returns it gently. After a moment, he steps back, and stares deeply into Navi's eyes affectionately and longingly, giving her a sad smile and brushing a strand of hair from her face. She won't need the Force to tell that there's so much he wants to say but just doesn't know how to say it.

Then he breaks free of her embrace and exits the vessel...