Strangers In A Strange Land - 03
AverusBlack
AKA Aisling
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"You have farms."
Elise sounds surprised. Walking around the 'village' has been an interesting experience. Hey ring, how many different races are here?
There individuals from 17 different sentient species living here.
The people here seem... not happy exactly, but they're safe and have steady sources of food and water. It's the most alien place I've seen since I got here. Not everybody speaks the same language either, a few of the people we've met had no way to speak to anybody before the ring began doing it magic -
This ring is not founded on arcane principles.
- um. Okay, ring? I appreciate your input, you're very helpful, but when I'm inner monologuing like this it's because I'm trying to get my shit straight, okay?
Okay.
Okay. Cool. Glad we worked that out. I don't actually think you're magic, I'm just generalizing.
"Hey." I get a light poke in the shoulder and blink out of my thousand yard stare, turning to look at Pel. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Was thinking to myself, then thinking at the ring." That gets me a puzzled look. "Like Vera's ring? They can talk, sometimes."
"Really? Hers doesn't."
"Red rings are powered by rage. Honestly, I'm kind of amazed that there are Jedi here at all, I'm... still processing that."
"Obi-wan told me once that she feels strong in the dark side, but she doesn't act like any dark side user he's ever met."
"How does that parse? I always assumed the Force was just some kind of telekinesis."
"Tele-what?" Elise and Vera have wandered off, but the ring says they're not too far. Pel blinks and realizes it as she asks, then starts moving to catch up.
"Moving things with your mind. Telepathy. Stuff Force users can do, but more, there are varying levels of extremity from stuff Jedi can do to having a personal FTL travel through sheer power of mind."
That gets me an incredulous look, but she doesn't seem willing to dismiss it out of hand. As we pass through the farms in question - in reality, hydroponics bays - I can't help but notice there's a fair amount of technology, unlike back on Terra. "I'm a little more sure about you. Your friend feels a lot like Vera, but you feel strong in the Force in a good way."
"I'm definitely not. It's entirely the ring letting me fake it, somehow. I don't really understand it either."
"You said Vera's ring is powered by rage. What's yours, then?"
"Hope."
She hm's quietly as we walk. "I felt that. The tiniest ripple."
"The Force is effected by emotions?"
"Not in regular people, no. Can you take your ring off?"
"Um." I glance around, think it over for a moment and then decide my own hesitation is probably entirely me being stupid. "Yes, but I'm a little uncomfortable doing so. Very briefly, then."
Holding the ring tightly in my left hands fingertips, I pull it off my right hand just enough to break contact with the inside of the ring.
"How about now?"
"Can you try what you were doing a moment ago."
"I am a beacon of hope."
"Hmmm. Nope, nothing." I slip the ring back on. "And there you are again."
"That's really interesting. I have no idea how it's doing that."
Vera and Elise are arguing about something quietly, but I'm trying not to be nosy. "Pel, can I ask you something?"
"Yes, of course."
"Why is this place so different from the rest of Psyche? What's keeping it from being overrun?"
"Vera, mostly. Then people like us began showing up. A lot of spacefaring races get stranded here, any engineer who can figure out other peoples stuff is usually considered more valuable than money. On Psyche, expertise is currency and barter is usually supplies or technology. I've been here most of a year now. I was the first jedi to show up."
"Really?"
"Yes. Obi-wan didn't arrive until only a few weeks ago, when... something, happened. I think Vera knows but she won't talk about it. Whatever it was, a lot more of us have shown up since then. I'm the only padawan but we ended up with a master - Kenobi - and two knights. They're not in the safe zone, though."
"I hope they make it back so I can meet them at some point."
"Me too. The Nemesis controls most of the planet through force, some of it coercion. There's pockets of people hiding out or resisting the slave compounds but every moment we linger here, we're not helping them. I'd rather be out there too, but all three of the others won't let me."
"As someone who has fought that guy a couple times now, trust me, you wouldn't be so eager if you knew what you were in for. What I don't get is why. Every time I've spoken to him he acts as though he's not taking any of it seriously, even when he's fighting seriously. His personality is totally at odds with the whole fear thing. Darth Vader did it better."
"I don't know that Sith."
"He either exists far in your future, or isn't in your timeline or something. How big is the gap between you and Obi-wan?"
"About three thousand years, according to him."
"So... that..." I tilt my head a little. "Huh. Does Darth Malgus ring a bell?"
That makes her scowl. "Yes."
"Pretty sure I know what time period you're from, then. Somehow."
"Hm. You didn't explain how you know all this, not really."
"Imagine for a moment that your universe was fiction in my universe and that I was apparently obsessed with its stories, for some reason. I really don't know much more than that. When I think of your time period I get flashes of a video game I used to play."
"A game?"
"Easy, there." I lay a hand on her shoulder, projecting outward. "I don't really understand it either. I just remember things at random without context."
She takes a sharp breath when I begin waxing her hopes and the hopes of those around us. "What are you doing?"
"One of the things I can do with the ring is inspire the emotion in others. I know what anger does to jedi." I cut it out near the end of my sentence, removing my hand from her shoulder. "Did it help?"
"That felt..." She stops, looking a little distant. "I'd be grateful if you could do that again for me, some time."
"I'd be happy to."
Elise sounds surprised. Walking around the 'village' has been an interesting experience. Hey ring, how many different races are here?
There individuals from 17 different sentient species living here.
The people here seem... not happy exactly, but they're safe and have steady sources of food and water. It's the most alien place I've seen since I got here. Not everybody speaks the same language either, a few of the people we've met had no way to speak to anybody before the ring began doing it magic -
This ring is not founded on arcane principles.
- um. Okay, ring? I appreciate your input, you're very helpful, but when I'm inner monologuing like this it's because I'm trying to get my shit straight, okay?
Okay.
Okay. Cool. Glad we worked that out. I don't actually think you're magic, I'm just generalizing.
"Hey." I get a light poke in the shoulder and blink out of my thousand yard stare, turning to look at Pel. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Was thinking to myself, then thinking at the ring." That gets me a puzzled look. "Like Vera's ring? They can talk, sometimes."
"Really? Hers doesn't."
"Red rings are powered by rage. Honestly, I'm kind of amazed that there are Jedi here at all, I'm... still processing that."
"Obi-wan told me once that she feels strong in the dark side, but she doesn't act like any dark side user he's ever met."
"How does that parse? I always assumed the Force was just some kind of telekinesis."
"Tele-what?" Elise and Vera have wandered off, but the ring says they're not too far. Pel blinks and realizes it as she asks, then starts moving to catch up.
"Moving things with your mind. Telepathy. Stuff Force users can do, but more, there are varying levels of extremity from stuff Jedi can do to having a personal FTL travel through sheer power of mind."
That gets me an incredulous look, but she doesn't seem willing to dismiss it out of hand. As we pass through the farms in question - in reality, hydroponics bays - I can't help but notice there's a fair amount of technology, unlike back on Terra. "I'm a little more sure about you. Your friend feels a lot like Vera, but you feel strong in the Force in a good way."
"I'm definitely not. It's entirely the ring letting me fake it, somehow. I don't really understand it either."
"You said Vera's ring is powered by rage. What's yours, then?"
"Hope."
She hm's quietly as we walk. "I felt that. The tiniest ripple."
"The Force is effected by emotions?"
"Not in regular people, no. Can you take your ring off?"
"Um." I glance around, think it over for a moment and then decide my own hesitation is probably entirely me being stupid. "Yes, but I'm a little uncomfortable doing so. Very briefly, then."
Holding the ring tightly in my left hands fingertips, I pull it off my right hand just enough to break contact with the inside of the ring.
"How about now?"
"Can you try what you were doing a moment ago."
"I am a beacon of hope."
"Hmmm. Nope, nothing." I slip the ring back on. "And there you are again."
"That's really interesting. I have no idea how it's doing that."
Vera and Elise are arguing about something quietly, but I'm trying not to be nosy. "Pel, can I ask you something?"
"Yes, of course."
"Why is this place so different from the rest of Psyche? What's keeping it from being overrun?"
"Vera, mostly. Then people like us began showing up. A lot of spacefaring races get stranded here, any engineer who can figure out other peoples stuff is usually considered more valuable than money. On Psyche, expertise is currency and barter is usually supplies or technology. I've been here most of a year now. I was the first jedi to show up."
"Really?"
"Yes. Obi-wan didn't arrive until only a few weeks ago, when... something, happened. I think Vera knows but she won't talk about it. Whatever it was, a lot more of us have shown up since then. I'm the only padawan but we ended up with a master - Kenobi - and two knights. They're not in the safe zone, though."
"I hope they make it back so I can meet them at some point."
"Me too. The Nemesis controls most of the planet through force, some of it coercion. There's pockets of people hiding out or resisting the slave compounds but every moment we linger here, we're not helping them. I'd rather be out there too, but all three of the others won't let me."
"As someone who has fought that guy a couple times now, trust me, you wouldn't be so eager if you knew what you were in for. What I don't get is why. Every time I've spoken to him he acts as though he's not taking any of it seriously, even when he's fighting seriously. His personality is totally at odds with the whole fear thing. Darth Vader did it better."
"I don't know that Sith."
"He either exists far in your future, or isn't in your timeline or something. How big is the gap between you and Obi-wan?"
"About three thousand years, according to him."
"So... that..." I tilt my head a little. "Huh. Does Darth Malgus ring a bell?"
That makes her scowl. "Yes."
"Pretty sure I know what time period you're from, then. Somehow."
"Hm. You didn't explain how you know all this, not really."
"Imagine for a moment that your universe was fiction in my universe and that I was apparently obsessed with its stories, for some reason. I really don't know much more than that. When I think of your time period I get flashes of a video game I used to play."
"A game?"
"Easy, there." I lay a hand on her shoulder, projecting outward. "I don't really understand it either. I just remember things at random without context."
She takes a sharp breath when I begin waxing her hopes and the hopes of those around us. "What are you doing?"
"One of the things I can do with the ring is inspire the emotion in others. I know what anger does to jedi." I cut it out near the end of my sentence, removing my hand from her shoulder. "Did it help?"
"That felt..." She stops, looking a little distant. "I'd be grateful if you could do that again for me, some time."
"I'd be happy to."