So NV RPG Epilogue: Vanguard of a New Era (conclusion)

OOG: are you bluffing?

 

OOG Axia's motivation is to save her mother and the others on her ship. She is interested in what possible resources the dead Emperor has at his disposal. As long as he keeps his word, she will keep hers, but to be Empress is not something she wants.

 

He does not stop the lightning you see engulfing your ship. Yet.

The lightning that was snaking towards you has stopped, however.

"Then give in to your anger, and strike me down! It is the only way to save your friends, and complete your journey to the dark side!" He is grinning maniacally. "Strike me down, and you will have all that you want!"

You see in the viewport smoke rising from your mother's body. You also see Kal suddenly appear in the doorway to the bridge, his eyes and mouth wide as he takes in what he sees. He seems to be holding something, and he seems out of breath, like he was running.

You know that to use the force in anger would be to once again step towards the dark side. Is this what the Emperor wants? Is the lives of your family and friends worth it?

 

"I will not turn, Palpatine. I will not consciously choose the dark side ever again. It's not worth it." Axia says and stands there.

 

"Then you will die."


Lightning flashes out from his hands, it engulfs you. It hurts beyond any pain you have felt, as if each molecule of your being was crying out in pain. You fall to the ground, and in the midst of your agony, you hear him cackling.

Roll listen.

 

Listen 8+2=10

 

You hear that vast, echoey voice again, coming from everywhere, but you can't make out what it is saying. It sounds apologetic this time.


You feel a sharp, piercing sensation in your chest. As the Emperor continues to attack you, you wonder if on top of it all you are having a heart attack. The piercing sensation feels like fire, and now it starts to spread outward from your chest.

Give me a fortitude save.

 

Fort save 6+7=13 grrrrrr

 

You try to fight the effects of the lightning, and to stay conscious. The fire spreading outward from your chest reaches your brain, and suddenly, your very reality shifts. In an instant, you are in two places at one time, first on the bridge of some ship with Palpatine, and then looking up at the ceiling of what you know to be the Crucible Thorn. The next instant, the bridge and Palpatine are gone, and you sit straight up from your lying down position, inhaling a huge gasp of air. You are on the floor of the cockpit of your ship, and a few feet away from you on his knees is the recoiling Kal, a look of utter shock and mild horror on his face.

You still feel the fiery sensation in your chest radiating outwards, but the agony of the Emperors Dark Side Lightning had faded out almost immediately, just the barest tickle. As you stare at Kal, neither of you saying anything, you hear the twisted voice of the Emperor in your head, slightly echoey, beginning to fade away... "Once you go down the path of the dark side, forever it will dominate your destiny..." The last thing you hear is him cackling.


You smell smoke, there is a haze in the air, and the lights are very dim. Something is wrong with the gravity, too.

"Axia? Are you... okay?" Kal ventures, eyes still wide.

OOG: Remember those DSP's I gave you, and you said you did nothing to deserve them, and I said just go with it? Yeah, don't worry about those anymore. Congratulations, by the way.

 

"Im fine Kal. Whats happened? Is my mother okay?"

 

Subtract 3 wounds, and cut your vitality in half, btw.


You notice Kal is staring at your chest (something he generally doesn't do).

"Uhh... you'r mother is okay, I think. You were the one I was worried about. A lot has happened..." He reaches towards you, then retracts his had, making a wincing sort of face. "Can I uh, help you with that?"

You look at your chest where he is staring. There is what looks to be a large clear cylinder sticking out of it.

 

Axia looks at the cylinder and think she should be feeling that or something. Axia leans back and braces herself. "Yeah, uh, Go ahead."

 

Kal stands and comes over, eyes wide but determined, and puts both hands on the cylinder.

"Okay, 1, 2, 3!"

He pulls, and you feel more pressure than pain as you watch the needle that was attached to the cylinder tug out of your chest.

"Sorry about that," Kal says, now more relaxed. "I thought I was going to lose you, it was the last thing I could try. I am glad it worked."

 

"So am I, Thank you. I take it the ship is in sad shape?"

 

"Yeah..." he hold his hand out to help you up. "But we need to look at everyone else first. The last thing your mom did before she passed out was to make me promise to do everything I could to save you, before her."

You glance around, sure enough, just like what Palpatine showed you, you see bodies on the floor, and your mother hanging limp in her seat, still strapped in.

 

Axia rushes to her mother and checks her pulse.

 

Her pulse is strong, she seems to be simply unconscous. At your touch, she seems to awaken.

"Axiiaaaa...." she mumbles. Then with alarming quickness, her hand covers your hand, holding it tight. With sudden lucidity she intensly stares into your eyes.

Her grip relaxes, and she smiles. "Good girl..." she whispers, allowing her weariness to overtake her once again. "I am proud of you."

You hear the groaning of the others as they start to awaken as well.

 

"Were you there mother?"

 

"No, but I was able to farsee what was happening, in very general terms. I knew his odorous presence from before, I knew he was making one final attempt at revenge. I knew he had targeted you for some reason... maybe he thought he had the best chance with you."

Everyone has gotten up, looking weary and beat. Kal says, "How about we reconvene in 15 minutes in the dining area, and I will fill you in on what has been happening for the last week."

That last part got some murmurs of surprise.

 

"Week?"

 

Your mother even looks a bit surprised at that one.

"Yeah... a week." Kal says. "Lets go to the dining area, you all might want to sit down for what I have to tell you." He walks out, leaving all of you watching after him.

 

I help my mother up if she needs it and proceed to the dining area.

13+6=19 spot

 

You notice a lot of misc tools scattered on the floor in one specific spot, and parts of the console look like someone had been working on them.

You get to the dining area, and Kal is setting out some food and water for everyone. He takes a seat, not at the head of the table, but somewhere in the middle.

Once everyone gets there, and is seated, (and some are snacking, you realize you are quite hungry yourself), Kal begins:

"You remember that big bluish cloud with the electrical interference that rushed at us and surrounded us? Well, that's when this big shock hit, and knocked everyone out. Everyone except Master Tira, who was able to stay conscious for a little while before she conked out too."

 

I grab something to eat as well and sit at the head of the table. "Please continue, Kal."

 

"Well, Master Tira tells me that Axia is the one most in danger, and asks me to keep a special eye on her. I agree, and before I know it, she passes out too. I check everyone out, and everyone is unconscious, but stable. I figure, everyone will wake up soon, I've seen people knocked out before, and pretty soon they come to. The first day, I started checking out the ship, figuring out everything that is wrong, seeing if I can fix anything. Remember, I am expecting everyone to just come to. By the end of that first day, I am realizing that maybe people won't come out of this so quickly. I thought about moving everyone to the medical section, but then I couldn't keep an eye on them while I tried to fix the systems in the cockpit, so I left you all where you were.

Outside the ship was nothing but that blue cloudy nebula, with occasional lightning. The ship had lost virtually all power, and most systems had gone down. Luckily, we all could still breathe, and after a few hours I restored most of the gravity.

Remember that thing that my friend the Jedi Master Tech gave me? Well, after a couple of days, I figured it out. The little seed was one of those special force sensitive trees from that grove you talked about, Dyson. And the complicated electronic thing that came with it? Well, that turned out to be it's new home. It was an interface unit for the seed to grow in and communicate with. It was a verbo brain, but that Master Tech made a lot of improvements and modifications, and defenses too. Once I had the little guy in his home, All I needed to do was to find a droid to graft him to, so he would be mobile. Not a lot of droids on this ship, though, so I did what I could for the time being. Come on over and say hi."

There is a beeping, and from the corner, near some other equipment, a mouse droid rolls out. This mouse droid has a slightly larger chassis, with a small flat panel screen mounted on top. It beeps a couple of times, and on the screen it says, "Hello."