The hypothetical date for this thread:
Katunda
27 Nelona
12731
The hypothetical location for this thread:
(specific location up to the host!)
- Jedi Knight VN Ysadora
- Crimson Knights Sir Davish Tam
Thu, Nov 18th 2021 04:30
Edited on Sat, Nov 20th 2021 09:26
Katunda Afternoon Tea in Port Etmar
Did you prefer to have Vanya show up first to compare personal notes with "Reese" and then have Sir Tam stroll in once he has finished another task? Or do you want to start off with all three present, combining "sit down and discuss current events over a nice cup of tea and/or something much stronger during the 3 days" with "item #C: Vanya and Reese and the last known surviving Crimson Knight should discuss what skills/beliefs the KC's are known-for and why someone (Almon) wanted them off the chess board now."? I will follow your lead!
Out of character
My kingdom for the mention system to work here . . . .
Yes, a little one-on-one time first would be nice to be able to speak freely, to get your honest opinion of the Crimson Knights. In case something explodes before the tea is brewed, here're the most important details first: Breaking News: The Joyful Competition may be dabbling in the dark side. His grand scheme may actually benefit from Yours Truly learning the ways of the Light Side and subsequently getting kidnapped, installed into a device powered by both a light and a dark Mentat, and used to alter the universe, as in "Boom!" In theory, if Yours Truly instead could learn, buy, beg, borrow, or steal a power that "balances" the light and dark, then such a device might be rendered powerless. Before any sighs of relief are heard, such a device might also work with two components of a less mathematical and more theological persuasion plugged into it.
Out of character
Vanya, feel free to peruse KitKat's other posts and deep thoughts.
"Oh, D'Joy isn't 'dabbling' in the Dark Side," Vanya says in such a rueful tone that this cannot possibly be a considered response. She remembers some sort of vividly dismaying, extremely recent event. "D'Joy has his floaties strapped in place and he's dog-paddling earnestly toward the Big Kids pool."
As is so often the case with those who have not trained their minds in the glories of analysis, she then needs a minute to process the revealed data. She unfastens the gray cloak and drops it over the back of her chosen chair. She sits down. All this time, her attention remains mostly on the face of the man now calling himself "Reese".
"I may have misunderstood," Vanya says. This is almost certainly an understatement. Is it intended to be a confession or a warning? "Do you suspect that D'Joy has deviated from the Orange Catholic faith so far as to attend Church of the Force instead? And that he is trying to harry you into a parallel change of faith? Because--" She stops herself. Vanya raises a hand as if warding off a thrown brick. "No, sorry, that's me focusing on the wrong bit. My bad. So here's the thing: in my religion, we all alter the universe with every choice we make. Every day. And the ideal balance is," she glances to her left, toward the wall and the street beyond it, as if thinking of a particular person. Her attention returns to the immediate, and to KitKat. "The balance is never a static state. I think the Crimson Knights would tell you that balance between the Light and the Dark is what keeps the Force in motion. Or 'keeps the Universe in motion'. Same thing in different points of view."
Vanya shrugs. "I'm all opposed to putting living critters into machines as fuel sources, mind. D'Joy may be pesky but if he thinks he can destroy or, I dunno, expend one side of the Force out of existence, he needs his math checked. That's not how entropy works. And," she grins in delight, "I'm absolutely not going to aid you in learning how to commune with the Dark Side of the Force so that you can overbalance D'Joy's machinery. There are not enough peelable vegetables in the Galaxy for that sort of shenanigan."
Which would imply that it is indeed possible to commune with the "Dark Side" for just such a purpose, actually. Has such an overbalancing been demonstrated before? Likely so!
"But before my investigations partner catches up with us: Are we clear to talk? About stuff that should not be disseminated in the general populace? Man, how the hell are you doing?! I have not seen you since the latter half of 'Seven-twenty-six. Are they supporting the life you want over in your new position? I kept telling myself that if you wanted rescue, you would arrange a signal that even my dim signal receptor would pick up. But I couldn't help wondering, now and then."
Out of character
Ahhh, Jedi. So helpful. My theology says this device would not be workable, so instead let's reduce the problem to "People are not Duracells and the Force is not a finite resource, ergo the issue in front of us is how are we going to physically bust the Joyful Competition's little red wagon?" But Vanya's at least including by inference that she has had direct experience of Almon using the Dark Side of the Force either personally or at a single remove. And also she has concerns about eavesdroppers, whether technological or psychic or whatever.
"Oh, by the by, you might find my latest post entitled, 'Deep Thoughts' to be of interest."
After taking a sip of tea, he twiddles his datapad, making an estimate of the resonating frequencies of small metallic components used in small listening devices, (and considering the bio-mechanical insects), and sending out a signal that would cause them to vibrate to the tune of this music broadcast: [url]
https://youtu.be/9Q6YJ-r5SQs?t=96
"If we had a Crimson Companion who might be inclined to restore balance when unbalances happen, that might calm things down a bit if things get too Joyful."
Out of character
KitKat's "Deep Thoughts" post predicts that D'Joy will descend into the Revolving Temple as Vanya did, then aim the Infinity Gate at a destination of his choosing, then totally screw over his employer, you possibly could be a Sith-minded individual, who would then be cranky and perhaps distracted.
KitKat is hoping the Crimson Knights can interfere with D'Joy's plan to use the Infinity Gate even better than Vanya can, or at least help against a potential big ball of dark side that D'Joy might be bringing.
Computer Programming to Jam Listening Devices | 4d6,1d6
5, 2
Yes, I have been doing rewarding work for the home world, lately. Fun stuff. I'm glad to have opportunities to investigate items of interest to my Orange Catholic roots like uprisings of droids against their oppressors, while also investigating 100,000 year issues like the Chentavari Plex, Aw'akeens, and Eborreans.
"Oh, Say, Vanya. You mentioned something on the radio about mind-controlling alien things that you know how to disconnect? How does that all work? It is kinda headline news that got buried under the gunshots and explosions the other day. Is there an easy way to detect their presence?"
Oh, I meant to say earlier, "...his employer, WHO possibly could be a ..." Not what I said
"No worries," Vanya assures KitKat. "It's been a bit of a half-a-year for me, too. I appreciate that you're making some sense even if a word here or there does go wandering."
After the briefest of glances, Vanya decides that she wants to wait for later -- for a time when she won't have distractions or competing priorities, to sit down with KitKat's holoblog for an intense study. She nudges her datapad back into its designated pouch on her belt.
(She also decides to skip merrily past the whole topic of "droids rising up against their oppressors", and also to not take "Reese" on a sightseeing tour of the gaping hole in the ground by Dewback Stables.)
"Mind-control puppet parasite jobbies, that's a whole thing! And let me tell you up front, this is information I want to spread across all denominations of as many faiths as will listen. I think even the majority of bananacrackers Sith would be saying 'nope'. I think Darth Sidious would have trotted out the 'how very dare' line. I remember from time near a certain Abbess of our acquaintance that access to memories is a theologically important thing for your faith, so I dare to ask: Can you read my memories? Like. Directly from my head, while I'm reviewing them." Vanya hastens to add, "If not -- if that's Jedi Quest plot device malarky -- then after we get done here we can go find some Crimson Nova pirates. Possibly in jail. And then we can do some practical soul-saving on them! It'll be great. You can observe the first couple to get the idea, and then we can drop into their Guildhouse for a surprise inspection."
Vanya reviews a pleasing notion. "I have promised myself that if I can manage a certain number of surprise visits to the Crimson Nova, I will ask Captain Kolene to teach me how to make proper air cake, which is definitely not on the official Jedi meal plan. Anyhow. If I do a mental replay, can you eavesdrop? It's really easier to show this problem than to put words around it."
# In reply to VN Ysadora's:"No worries," Vanya assures KitKat. "It's been a bit of a half-a-year for me, too. I appreciate that you're making some sense even if a word here or there does go wandering."After the briefest of glances, Vanya decides that she wants to wait for later -- for a time when she won't have distractions or competing priorities, to sit down with KitKat's holoblog for an intense study. She nudges her datapad back into its designated pouch on her belt.(She also decides to skip merrily past the whole topic of "droids rising up against their oppressors", and also to not take "Reese" on a sightseeing tour of the gaping hole in the ground by Dewback Stables.)"Mind-control puppet parasite jobbies, that's a whole thing! And let me tell you up front, this is information I want to spread across all denominations of as many faiths as will listen. I think even the majority of bananacrackers Sith would be saying 'nope'. I think Darth Sidious would have trotted out the 'how very dare' line. I remember from time near a certain Abbess of our acquaintance that access to memories is a theologically important thing for your faith, so I dare to ask: Can you read my memories? Like. Directly from my head, while I'm reviewing them." Vanya hastens to add, "If not -- if that's Jedi Quest plot device malarky -- then after we get done here we can go find some Crimson Nova pirates. Possibly in jail. And then we can do some practical soul-saving on them! It'll be great. You can observe the first couple to get the idea, and then we can drop into their Guildhouse for a surprise inspection."Vanya reviews a pleasing notion. "I have promised myself that if I can manage a certain number of surprise visits to the Crimson Nova, I will ask Captain Kolene to teach me how to make proper air cake, which is definitely not on the official Jedi meal plan. Anyhow. If I do a mental replay, can you eavesdrop? It's really easier to show this problem than to put words around it.""Well, let's find out," Reese says with a little bit of a smile, "Is that a pair of 3D Binocs there? Let's interface them with this here..." Reese fiddles with his medical scanner glove, his datapad, and the "borrowed" binocs a moment. He hands the glove to Vanya, saying, "Press this to your temporal lobe. The neocortex and thalamus close to the senter are responsible for the imagination, like here I think," and dons the binocs tightly to his face. "Can I?"Out of character
Using the medical glove to read the imagined images and sound and transmit them to the 3D binocs. Piece of cake.Computer Programming roll 5D | 1d6,1d6,1d6,1d6,1d6!5, 5, 5, 4, 3
Sat, Nov 20th 2021 07:19
Edited on Sat, Nov 20th 2021 07:25
Vanya is amenable to experiment. Who knows, maybe Mentats figured out a mechanical way to read minds centuries ago and decided it was too obvious to mention? They are preternaturally accurate at being prepared for their patron's requirements, after all.
Vanya holds the front sensor plate of the medglove to the spot on her head. She makes a quick mental note to tell her former mentor about this before he next travels Cor Lane. She calls up a clear, much-replayed memory of a yard on Thyferra.
Aurra Sing drops from a crumpling, burning aircar
matte black sludge roils around her,
staining all it touches,
moving through matter the way dye spreads out from the whirling blades of a blender
Very like, in fact. If the blender's motor were housed not in the mind ... not in the center of Aurra's being ... in her right shoulder? Under the bulk of the muscle?
staining all it touches,
moving through matter the way dye spreads out from the whirling blades of a blender
What the fierfek are you? is an approximate translation of the abstract emotion that VN experiences in this fragment of a second.
The alien parasite fluoresces in day-glow chromatic rainbow colors. Its central lump opens a rudimentary proto-eye. It glares malevolence at the lightsider who perceives it. Its gangling filament tentacles pulse around the captured nerves of its host.
The energy field of all existence warps around, through, in response to this creature in a specific nautilan spiral pattern.
"No," the Jedi informs all of existence. She gathers everything she is. She focuses on the coruscating oily presence. She precisely identifies every microscopic boundary twist defining the parasite from its host.
The Jedi ... shoves.
A creature like a jellyfish version of a sea anemone rips out of the bounty hunter's shoulder. It splats on the cement wall.
The matte black sludge goes with it.
As the parasite withers, the sludge drains away through it. Destroyed? No. It followed a connection to a central hub elsewhere. Linear distance matters little in eleven-dimensional spacetime.
Outside memory:
"Did it work?" Vanya asks KitKat.
Out of character
If the GM rules against Plan Brain-Reading Device, Vanya has a Plan C!
# In reply to Paging Doctor KILLJOY's:"Oh, by the by, you might find my latest post entitled, 'Deep Thoughts' to be of interest." After taking a sip of tea, he twiddles his datapad, making an estimate of the resonating frequencies of small metallic components used in small listening devices, (and considering the bio-mechanical insects), and sending out a signal that would cause them to vibrate to the tune of this music broadcast: [url] https://youtu.be/9Q6YJ-r5SQs?t=96 "If we had a Crimson Companion who might be inclined to restore balance when unbalances happen, that might calm things down a bit if things get too Joyful."
A few taps on the screen activates the low-frequency emitter for the rubidium channel jammer. The table brings up a crude wireframe scan of the room in light blue lines, then surrounds the building in a faint green aura. The jamming signal will not stop a military grade listening device but more common ones should get nothing more than static.
# In reply to Paging Doctor KILLJOY's:"Well, let's find out," Reese says with a little bit of a smile, "Is that a pair of 3D Binocs there? Let's interface them with this here..." Reese fiddles with his medical scanner glove, his datapad, and the "borrowed" binocs a moment. He hands the glove to Vanya, saying, "Press this to your temporal lobe. The neocortex and thalamus close to the senter are responsible for the imagination, like here I think," and dons the binocs tightly to his face. "Can I?"
A second after Vanya presses the glove against her head where instructed, ghost-like images appear on the 3D glasses. No sound, only short snatches of images that move in and out of a soup of white fog.
The holographic reproductions are complex, straining the glove, tablet, goggle connection. But Vanya’s thoughts, or memories, are clear enough to follow and understand. As she recounts events, they play across the goggles with clarity demonstrating the details of the events. Yet, again, with no sound.
It’s a success for the experimental, cobbled together arrangement. But it also brings to mind the question… given how protective the Bene Gesserit order are over ‘memories’, could this be considered ‘eavesdropping’? If not blasphemy to their order?
A curious question indeed…
Davish walks in and hesitates for a moment. Old skills of information gathering take over as he watches the unusual scene. Vanya, with a medglove pressed to one side of her head and wires trailing down to a datapad in front of Reese. Then there was Reese with a pair of Binocs strapped to his head. Binocs that also sported its own collection of wires down to the datapad.
Nothing seemed to be ‘up to code’ about the configuration. But the arrangement did shout ‘Outlaw Tech’. The only flaw was that no one there was an Outlaw Tech. At least openly and officially one.
The Crimson Knight crossed over to the table carrying two cups in hand.
“Well, this looks fun!” He set the cup of caf down in front of Vanya. “Some fresh, brown water, nicely steamed?”
Vanya immediately sets down the glove.
"I love you so much," she tells Davish. "How was your Katunda? Did you get hold of Sir Saphor?"
Out of character
Vanya's Plan C was going to be "let's see how well I still know KitKat!" and a roll on Projective Telepathy. Let's be glad she did not have to test that one!
# In reply to VN Ysadora's:Vanya immediately sets down the glove."I love you so much," she tells Davish. "How was your Katunda? Did you get hold of Sir Saphor?"
Davish sipped his caf then nodded.
“Katunda was good. I got Saphor over the holonet. He and Jedi Mez’zazo are keeping busy trying to drive off Black Sun and the Bloodsmiths from the Monorick moon colonies. When they’re not busy, Saphor is still checking for any signals from other Crimson Knights.”
He sighed.
“So far, no dice. So far just myself and Saphor seem to be the only Crimson Knights at large.”
Davish leaned closer to the table and studied the mad science in progress.
“So,” he said to Reese. “Picking up good signals?”
Out of character
Projective Telepathy to a Mentat? If you had tried that, I might have slid a Mathematics skill of a die or two on you afterwards! Or a craving for Glymph Pie!
"Well, that... happened," Reese said, pulling off the binocs and disconnecting the cables, "It certainly happened. So, just shove them. Good advice," he left the implication that one had to have the right kind of 'fist' with which to shove them, or basically, 'if you suspect them, call a Jedi'.
He took a long sip of mellowfungus tea since all his favorite tea leaves did not grow on this planet.
# In reply to Paging Doctor KILLJOY's:"Well, that... happened," Reese said, pulling off the binocs and disconnecting the cables, "It certainly happened. So, just shove them. Good advice," he left the implication that one had to have the right kind of 'fist' with which to shove them, or basically, 'if you suspect them, call a Jedi'. He took a long sip of mellowfungus tea since all his favorite tea leaves did not grow on this planet.
Davish shrugged and sipped his coffee.
“Something like that. Shove or pull. The worms are symbiotic and attach on their victim at the neck-shoulder.” The Crimson Knight tapped the nape of his neck, then the point where his neck met the top of his shoulder. At least from what I saw.”
The knight grinned.
“So, just to make sure we’re on the same page. Hi. I’m a spy. The name’s Sir Davish Tam, Knight Errant of the Crimson Knights. You’re Reese? Yes? Or is there another name I’d remember you by?”
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