STAR WARS: RETROSPECTION- Initiation

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REXXXX
Somewhere in the Galaxy...

"How does she fair?"

"Well enough. Her wounds were awful... yet treatable. With the help of the droid, I've re-inflated her lung and applied treatment to the blast that collapsed it."

"Very good. Is she conscious?"

"Not yet, Master. She exhausted herself in the fighting. Her body wants for rest and will now be able to get it, since it is not struggling with the wounds."

"Hmm... I do not quite want her revitalized just yet."

"What do you mean?"

"Do enough to prevent any sudden turn in health. Do not grant her back her strength. She will earn it."

-

Welcome to "Initiation," a game from the Retrospection series. These games are meant to provide a fun plot based upon the backgrounds of player characters, while giving players themselves a chance to gain experience- both in points and in practice with the system. Once again, Retrospection visits upon the unhappy past of Rianna Xi, a former Jedi Knight.

Not long before, Rianna experienced a series of betrayals and intrigues upon the planet Bespin, from which her family had been abducted. She did not locate her family; instead, she only managed to confront one of Nume Rand's men. After, when confronted by Jedi Knights for her flight from Coruscant and her crimes since, she slew two of them- her former Master and her mentor's new Padawan.

With the murders on her hands, Rianna flung herself from a catwalk to escape justice at the hands of Jedi Knight Andro Fenris...

REXXXX
?

"Rianna."

You open your eyes. For a moment, the light is blinding. You feel disoriented, as if your heart is in your throat, as if you are falling...

"Rianna."

There is greenery all about you, collected from all parts of the Galaxy. Living vines twitching and crawling, blossoming flowers in a thousand shades, bulbous growths that pulsate lightly, thorny bushes that drip sweet nectar or awful poison.

"Rianna."

You are laying on cold stone.

Peach
Rianna will try and sit up, shivering slightly at the cold, and remind herself that she is not falling...

"What?" she asks, looking for whoever is talking to her. Does she recognize the voice?

She's mildly confused by and a bit weirded out by all of the plant life around...she doesn't care for jungles or anything that reminds her of them, for some reason.

REXXXX
You feel unsteady, even as you rise from the stone. The stone beneath you is not rough or unshaped. It has been hewn into blocks for a walking path.

You recognize this place... you are not in a jungle.

Peach
Rianna recognizes this place? Where is she, then?

REXXXX
Ah, of course... you are in the gardens of the Jedi Temple. How could have not noticed? You must be feeling really off if you didn't recognize it immediately. Not that you tremendously enjoy the gardens, but it was somewhere you are very familiar with.

You feel dizzy.

Peach
Rianna is rather confused, both at the fact that she didn't recognize the gardens, as well as why she'd even be there in the first place...let alone apparently laying on the ground there.

She's going to lean against something until the dizziness goes away, hoping that it does quickly. Is there anyone else there? She wants to know who was calling her, and maybe find out what's going on...

REXXXX
Supporting yourself on a stone plinth does the trick. Only momentarily, you learn when you try to walk again. It is hard to breath here. And very windy, despite being indoors.

"Rianna," the voice calls again, from somewhere in the garden.

Peach
Well, Rianna is stubborn and is going to try and find whoever it is that is calling her, though she getting more and more confused by this situation by the moment.

"Where are you? Who are you, for that matter?" she replies. Can she sense anyone else there?

REXXXX
"Rianna."

You walk gingerly into the garden, among the rows of small fruit-bearing trees and aromatic leafy clusters. The stone path is cool against your bare feet, and damp. Even so, your chest burns faintly; you struggle to breath as you walk.

"Rianna."

The voice is coming from deeper in the garden.

Peach
Why is Rianna not wearing shoes...?

She presses on, slowing down a bit as she's finding it harder to breathe.

"Come out! I'm losing patience..." she calls out again.

REXXXX
You press into the garden. At its center stands a great tree, a young tree from some alien forest where the trees grow thousands of feet. Sitting beneath it is your mentor, Myraline Kiros.

"Rianna," she says, beckoning with her voice. She does not move; she only looks toward you as you come from the brush.

Peach
"Myraline...what are you doing here?" Rianna says, pausing for a moment. "Why did you not answer me?"

REXXXX
"Rianna," Myraline says again.

Peach
"I don't have the energy for this..." Rianna mutters, as she approaches the tree and Myraline. "What is it you want?"

REXXXX
Myraline is smiling as you approach.

"Rianna," she says. "My bane. My failure."

You smell scorched flesh.

Peach
Rianna stops, hurt by that.

"I am not a failure..." she snaps back. "I did the best I could..."

REXXXX
"Yes," Myraline says. "Yes you did."

The smell becomes overwhelming. There is a glow from Myraline's chest, and a charred hole clear through her; the work of a lightsaber.

Peach
"No...this isn't right..." Rianna whispers with horror, stepping back. "I didn't mean to..."

REXXXX
You watch as the glow begins to grow; the charred flesh spreads and Myraline begins to crumble to ash.

Peach
Rianna, afraid of what she's seeing, doesn't wait until Myraline completely crumbles away and instead turns and runs back down the path that led her here.

REXXXX
You turn to run. Your chest is burning furiously as you labor to breathe. You stumble and start to fall...

And then you wake up, gasping for breath. It is not so hard to breath now that you are awake. But you cannot see anything. It is pitch black wherever you are; there is no difference between closing your eyes and opening them.

Peach
This time Rianna will lay still for a moment, trying to get herself under control, trying to make sense of that dream...and trying to not think about the last things she remembered doing.

"Where am I," she states after a moment. Can she sense anyone else there?

REXXXX
Nope! You are completely alone in the darkness. And it is now that all those memories come flooding back to you. The last thing you remember is falling from the bowels of Cloud City.

Peach
She doesn't like this...nearly as much as she's not even sure how she's there, wherever "there" is. She should not have survived that fall...

She is also quite determined to not think about the things she did, as if she can pretend they never happened.

She's going to see if she can get up and find her way out of this dark room. She wants some answers.

REXXXX
You bump your head when you try to stand up. You have to crouch or lay down.

You are also quite aware that you are generally in pain.

Peach
Considering what happened, that's no surprise...

Is there room to crawl? Rianna wants OUT of there. She's not too fond of pitch blackness like that.

REXXXX
You have about a foot of space to your sides, and two feet front and back (when laying down).

Peach
...okay, she does not like that. At all. She's going to feel around for anything that'll let her out...

REXXXX
You feel that the walls of your cell are rough metal. It is slightly damp and cool.

Peach
Rianna, starting to panic slightly at being trapped, starts banging on the wall of this tiny cell, very much wanting out of there.

REXXXX
Your hands make dull thuds each time you hit the walls. These are thick walls.

Peach
What about the ceiling or floor? Any better luck there?

Also, does she have her lightsaber? Don't know how I didn't think of that...

REXXXX
Nope.

You are keenly aware that you are lightly clad when you try to feel for your belt. No lightsaber(s) though.

Peach
And Rianna likes both of those facts not at all...

Someone had to have put her there, and injured as she is, she's sure they'll come and check on her soon. She's just not sure how long she'll be able to wait patiently trapped in a tiny cell that, quite frankly, terrifies her.

REXXXX
You are not certainly how injured you are at this point. Time has certainly passed. How much, you are unsure. You don't like all this uncertainty.

Peach
Well let's see. Rianna doesn't know where she is, why she's there, who put her there (though she can make a good guess), how she got there, how she's even still alive in the first place, how long it's been, how much her injuries have healed...

...yeah, she doesn't like not knowing these things one bit.

REXXXX
That line of thoughts is going to put you in a panic.

Peach
Just being trapped there is going to do that! She's a damn fearful person, stuck in a tiny pitch black place with no idea what's going on...that's not a recipe for calmness at all.

And she's also quite certain that that's very intentional, too.

(hell, this is making me feel claustrophobic...)

REXXXX
If Rianna is not able to keep her calm, it will come to Willpower rolls to avoid panicking and hurting herself.

Peach
Rianna will do her best to try and stay calm, but she can't help but think about those things, as well as the fact that she hates waiting on anything.

On the other hand, it's distracting her from thinking about what had happened before she woke up here...

REXXXX
Focusing on something else may help.

Peach
Hell, Rianna will try to meditate. It's never been something she was much good at, but if it'll help, she's willing to give it a go.

REXXXX
What will you dwell upon during your meditation?

Peach
Anything that isn't the current situation...

Rianna's still curious about the glimpses of visions she had seen, on Taneshla and Bespin. She still wants to know what they are and figures it'd be safer than working herself into a panic, and she doesn't want to admit to what she wound up doing on Bespin.

REXXXX
Certainly! What did you see in those visions?

Peach
I don't actually remember, beyond the first just showing her a glimpse of a red cloak.

REXXXX
Yes, you did see the red cloak. Where else did you see it?

Peach
The Crimson Queen wore one...and then Gallador threw it at Rianna.

REXXXX
Yes. So why did it appear to you?

Peach
Well, I know it was a glimpse of who she becomes... stick out tongue

REXXXX
Rianna doesn't know that.

Peach
No she doesn't. She has no idea why she saw that, or why Rand chose to hide that vision from her. She still wants to know what the actual vision was.

REXXXX
Why does Rand do anything to you?

Peach
Because he's been determined for ages that Rianna fall to the Dark Side and become his apprentice. He was probably hoping the frustration of not knowing what it was would make her do what he wanted.

REXXXX
Simple curiosity does not draw Force-Users to the Dark Side of the Force.

Peach
No, but he did apparently have a dozen other plans as well...maybe it would have given away something.

Also curious how he knew where she was from. I don't know if Rianna even knew that - somehow I doubt that sort of thing is public record.

Essentially, though, Rianna doesn't know why Rand felt the need to hide it from her. She's not entirely sure that the vision even existed in the first place - if you can hide a vision from someone, surely you can plant a bit of one in their mind? But, really, she doesn't understand why Rand does anything he does. Or why he was even so set on her in the first place.

REXXXX
It may not be public record. The Jedi Archives would certainly have that information.

It is clear that Rand is powerful in the Force enough to cast his shadow over others. You aren't certain that the Force works that way, or that even the most powerful Sith Lords were able to do that.

Though again, studies in Jedi Lore aren't your strongest.

Peach
Nope, something that Rianna is rather regretting...

And nope, she's not sure that it could work that way, but neither had she heard before of someone hiding a vision from another person, so who knows?

REXXXX
The ability of the Dark Side to cloud visions is something the Sith of old could do. You suppose it is no surprise that other adherents to the black ways can do it too.

So you think Rand was hiding something important from you? Something that he was doing?

Peach
It's quite likely - previous visions that Rianna's had involved pretty big and important things that involved her personally. I doubt things that happened on Bespin would have had quite the impact they had on her, had she been forewarned of what he was up to. If the Force had been trying to give her a glimpse he definitely would have wanted to keep that from happening.

REXXXX
Would knowing what was to occur on Bespin have changed anything for Rianna?

Peach
In some ways it'd be likely, yeah. Knowing what was going to happen would have made things less of a surprise for her, she would have been less likely to trust Zalt (and may have actually met with the Administrator when he wanted to see her), and quite possibly would not have wound up in the situation at the end where she decided to try and run and then everything went to hell from there.

On the other hand, Rianna tends to dwell on things and is fairly fearful and paranoid, and visions disturb her greatly...so who knows. Knowing what was going to happen could also make her so worried about it that she'd fail completely at trying to stop it.

REXXXX
Does Rianna believe that things can be prevented if predicted?

Peach
Well, she sure doesn't believe that things are set in stone and will always happen a certain way, so to an extent, yes. Not everything can be prevented but many things could be. Visions only show possibilities, after all.

REXXXX
What do you think you could have prevented with foreknowledge?

Peach
If she had known to not trust Zalt ahead of time, then the whole mess at the end may very well have been preventable, she thinks...

REXXXX
So you think that Zaltus, Captain of the Wing Guard, is wholly to blame for the murder of two Jedi by your hand?

Peach
Heh...no. But she feels like that had unstabilized her far more than it should have. She didn't want to kill either of them, after all.

Myraline's attitude did not help things, either...

REXXXX
So you are saying that Rianna did not want to kill the Jedi, nor did she want the Dark Side?

Peach
Of course she didn't! She'd been trying to fight Rand's attempts for ages, had not wanted to fight Ciira or Myraline at all...going to the Dark Side was about the only thing she wanted to avoid more than returning to Coruscant.

Ultimately, she blames Rand; had he not made her so unstable with his machinations, she would not have wound up in a position where she could have fallen.

Also she does not yet believe (or refuses to) that she has turned to the Dark Side.

REXXXX
The problem with that logic is that it is patently untrue; nobody makes you go to the Dark Side, although they can maybe set in place situations where it is more likely for it to happen. But ultimately, you have to want it. Anakin chose the Dark Side because he wanted the power to save Padme. And for an in-game example, Gallagher rejected the Dark Side because, while it would allow him to stop Sienar's famine going that route, it would also turn him into an outlaw.

You make a Willpower roll as your mind tries to reject the fact that you have fallen to the Dark Side. Two successes is enough to stay calm... for now.

You are also concerned that your wounds are still hurting.

Peach
Still, Rianna fully believes that she would not have fallen had she not been manipulated the way she had been. To her mind, her actions were because she was out of options and had no other way to survive.

That does worry her, quite a bit...

REXXXX
Ah, well, that's the Dark Jedi in you talking. Of course it was someone else's fault!

If only you had some light to examine them.

Peach
It'll take quite a bit of doing before Rianna will admit to herself that she's gone to the Dark Side. For now she's convinced that she hasn't done so fully and still wants to fight it...even though she's really in no state to do so.

Yeah, if only...if only she weren't stuck in there at all. That'd be preferable...

REXXXX
Indeed. Especially as a rushing sound has started all around your casket.

Peach
Well that has Rianna even more worried...can she sense anything about what's going on outside?

REXXXX
Nope! Your wounds are too troublesome for you to focus correctly. Not to mention you feel as though you have been deprived of most senses! Aside from your own breath, this is the first thing you have heard since you have come to.

And now cold water is trickling into the casket.

Peach
Okay now she's going to start panicking pretty soon I think. She's going to try again to see if there's any way to get this damn thing open so she can get out of there before she drowns...

REXXXX
How do you want to search for an opening?

The cold water is starting to fill the casket! It splashes across your back first and dampens your hair. Some of your scratches start to sting.

Peach
She's going to quickly run her fingers along the corners to see if there's any sort of catch. The water's coming in somehow so there's got to be some sort of opening.

REXXXX
You can feel the small holes where the water is coming in.

And there does appear to be a groove where the casket closes!

Peach
Rianna is going to try and pry that groove open!

REXXXX
Raaaaaawr!

It doesn't budge. You aren't strong enough.

Geez, this water really stings!

Peach
It's probably not actually water...

And while there's not much room in there and she's not quite sure how badly she's injured still and thus not sure how well this will work, she will move so that she's kneeling and see if she has better luck trying to push it open with her shoulder, so she can put more of her weight behind it.

REXXXX
Actually... a Medicine roll tells you that this is diluted bacta. Oh.

You make a Strength roll to try shouldering your way out of the casket. You do not roll any successes. Nothing happens except you strain yourself.

Peach
You can still drown in bacta if you don't have a breathing mask though, right? Does Rianna have one? If so she'll put that on...

And she's still going to keep trying to get this open. She reeeaaally does not like this.

REXXXX
You do not!

The bacta solution stops flowing into the casket when it is half full.

One success on your Strength roll, which means your shoulder kind of hurts now. Not as bad as your gunshot wounds and lightsaber cuts of course!

But it stays closed.

Peach
Well, that's handy at least...though now Rianna is annoyed that all her attempt succeeded in doing was making her hurt more.

Where are these holes that the bacta came in through? Can she see anything through them at all? Or just more blackness?

REXXXX
More blackness.

Peach
Aaargh. Rianna hates that. She really, really does not like darkness. At all.

"Is anyone there?" she shouts, frustrated.

REXXXX
You have reminded yourself of your dislike of the dark! You pass the Willpower check and do not hurt yourself.

There is no response... for a moment. Then, a voice.

"You're awake."

You know that voice, and it fills you with fear...

Peach
"No...why'd it have to be you?" Rianna replies, wanting to run but being unable to do so.

Rand, I take it?

REXXXX
Yes.

"I saved your life, girl. I expect gratitude."

Peach
"You caused this!" Rianna protests. "Why should I be grateful?"

REXXXX
Rand does not respond and it grows quiet again.

Peach
"Let me out of here!" Rianna shouts.

REXXXX
There is a moment before Rand responds.

"I am not certain that it is safe for us to do so," Rand says.

Peach
"What do you mean by that?" Rianna snaps in response.

REXXXX
"Form your own answer," Rand says. "I will train you when you are willing to be trained. Right now, you are not willing, so you will not learn."

Peach
"Why would I want to learn from you?! I have no interest in the Dark Side!" Rianna says, trying again (likely futilely) to force her prison open.

"Just let me out of here...why did you even rescue me in the first place? Why not just let me die?"

REXXXX
"You have more interest than you are willing to admit," Rand says. "And what use would you be if you were dead?"

Peach
"No," Rianna says. "I refuse to believe that. And what do I care what use you think I have? I'm not simply something to be used..."

REXXXX
"No, you are not," Rand says, "but my sentence remains true. Dead, you are of no use to anyone, not even yourself. You are getting your chance to become great, Rianna. Greater than you could have been as a Knight."

Peach
"What could possibly be so great about this?!" Rianna replies.

REXXXX
"You will come to understand it," Rand says. "You cannot blame me for everything, Rianna."

Peach
"I don't want to understand - I don't want any of this! I want no part in your plans or anything of the sort..."

REXXXX
Rand meets that with silence again. And the silence lasts; there is no further response to anything that you say.

Peach
So not only is Rianna rather displeased with being trapped as she is, she's also freaking over the fact that Rand has her. Awesome.

REXXXX
That sounds like a Willpower check! You do not pass this time, and start to pound helplessly against the walls of the casket. You take 5 damage as you aggravate your wounds.

Peach
Rianna will try and calm down, before she panics and injures herself further.

REXXXX
You start to calm, then. Trying a Jedi method only makes you angry. At least you aren't flailing.

It is indeed unfortunate that Rand has you captive. You certainly do not feel that he is alone is watching over you.

Peach
Oh yeah. And Rianna is especially nervous about the fact that Vash is likely around, nearly as much as she is about Rand's presence. She highly doubts he's going to be willing to forgive her, and she's in no condition to do anything if he tries something...

REXXXX
And Vash is not the only henchman Rand has. Gallador and Tanic won't be far off. You wonder if Rand even has others that he has swayed to his cause.

Peach
Of the ones she knows about, she's less concerned about Tanic and Gallador. She thinks Tanic would likely leave her be, and Gallador's just weird. Vash has reason to want to kill her, though, and while normally he's not a match for her right now she'd be in serious trouble.

She's going to try to not think about if he has anyone else on his side...the ones she knows about are more than enough to worry her.

REXXXX
Your assessment about Rand's collection of miscreants is right; they are dangerous individuals who don't like you much.

Except Tanic.

Peach
Such a happy thought.

Still, if she can somehow get out of here and find Tanic, then maybe she'll be okay...

Though on the other hand she did play a small part in Tanic falling to the Dark Side as well, so she doesn't want to count on anything from him.

REXXXX
More than you could count on Gallador or Vash.

Peach
Oh yeah, definitely. Now she just needed to get out of there, somehow...

REXXXX
That would be great!

Peach
Rianna is going to check along the walls and corners carefully one last time, in case she missed anything, though she doubts it at this point.

She's fairly certain though that she's not getting out of there until Rand decides to let her out. At least the bacta will hopefully help her injuries some...

REXXXX
Nothing to find except where the lid of the casket meets the back. It is sealed tight. If only you were stronger!

You are feeling a little better. The bacta is diluted though.

Peach
Better yet, if only she had her lightsaber...

Rianna is definitely certain that every last bit of this was planned deliberately by Rand and that he wants her off-guard and weakened. Even unarmed she's quite deadly when in good health. Rand's group may be dangerous people who don't like her much, but she's not much pleased with him or his lackeys and she can be pretty damn dangerous herself as well.

Is she still not able to really sense anything?

"Rand, I know that if you're not there yourself, you've got some way of keeping an eye on me..." she says.

REXXXX
Your Force senses feel very cloudy. You felt somewhat cold when speaking with Rand, but that has faded.

There is not a response for some time. Eventually, a voice comes through.

"Hi Rianna," says Tanic over the comm.

Peach
Rianna feels some relief that it is Tanic that responds, though she's not sure if she can trust him at all - she's no idea how much he's changed since joining up with Rand, after all.

"Tanic...what is going on? Why am I in...this? For that matter, how did I even get here?" she says, trying to hide how nervous she is.

REXXXX
"I can't tell you that," Tanic says. "Not yet. How do you feel?"

Peach
"Why not? Why can't I know?" Rianna asks. "And...not very well. I need to get out of this!"

REXXXX
"I can't let you out," Tanic says. "You'll try to run or fight. You're in no condition for either thing."

Peach
"Don't you think I know that? I remember what happened at the end there, and I'm not stupid," Rianna snaps in response.

REXXXX
"You're not stupid," Tanic says. "You're certainly emotional and brash. We all are, when we first... you know. I've treated your wounds as best as Rand will allow. He's concerned you'll try to flee. As am I."

Peach
"What do you mean, as best as he'll allow?" Rianna asks. "And what do you care? What does anyone care?"

REXXXX
"I don't want you dead," Tanic says. "If you try to flee, you'll die. The game has changed. We're all you've got."

Peach
"I don't believe that. None of this I want...I threw myself off that catwalk because I'd rather die than be brought back to Coruscant and then I wound up even more trapped than I would have been there!". Rianna replies. "Please, Tanic, I helped you before, help me now and let me out of here. It's just making things worse..."

"Did Rand also do this to you?" She asks after a moment.

REXXXX
"Yes," Tanic says. "Though not because I was injured. I came willingly, remember? And you won't be taken back to Coruscant... not ever. You're free now."

Peach
"I was there, remember. Rand only saw you as a prize...same as he saw me. He cares for nothing but what we can do for him, and that's not something I want to be a part of. You witnessed him try to kill me even while he was trying to sway me to his side, and that was far from the first time it happened!" Rianna says. "Nor do I believe that I'm actually free, seeing as you're all so determined to keep me here..."

REXXXX
"You're free from your destiny," Tanic says. "You and I weren't going anywhere with the Jedi Order. You hate him now, and that might not ever change... but you're going to do much greater things, now that you're out."

Peach
"Somehow, I'm not seeing that as very likely..." Rianna mutters.

REXXXX
"It is going to be hard to see right now," Tanic says. "But it gets better."

Peach
"I'm also rather doubting that," Rianna replies. "When will it get better? How, for that matter?"

REXXXX
"It just does," Tanic says, a little more sharply than before. "I have certainly grown in power since joining Rand. His knowledge of the Force is great, and we need guidance.

"At least... until we can overcome him."

Peach
"I don't care for guidance from him..." Rianna says.

"I am...intrigued by that, though. Overcome him?"

REXXXX
"He is clearly not a good person," Tanic says. "But we can learn from him what we need to become more powerful ourselves... and then we do not need him. Do you understand?"

Peach
"Oh, I know in more ways than most how much he is not a good person..." Rianna replies. "I think I understand very well."

REXXXX
"We are not... all that great either, I admit," Tanic says. "He is worse."

Tanic does not sound very sure of himself, and you faintly sense his fear.

"Can I convince you to play along? For my sake, if not yours."

Peach
"I've met Vash and Gallador, remember...I took Vash's hand. And I know that he is far worse..." Rianna says, though she's getting worried. "I...think I can...if I can get out of here."

REXXXX
"Okay," Tanic says. "You need to sell it, though. I cannot vouch for you and then have you wreak havoc instead of joining in. Otherwise, I will be held accountable. I cannot have that. I hope you understand.

"Also... Vash has not earned his hand back, yet."

Peach
"Join in with...what, exactly?" Rianna asks uneasily, still not wanting any part of this and not believing that she belongs there.

"And what do you mean, he hasn't earned it?"

REXXXX
"Our training and the group dynamic," Tanic says. "And you will see. You defeated Vash despite him turning the odds against you. Rand is not pleased with him for that."

Peach
"I suppose I have little choice in the matter?" Rianna says with a sigh. "And I'd defeated him before. Did they really think me so weak that he would have actually had an edge there?"

REXXXX
"Two defeats is too many for Rand," Tanic says. "So will you submit? At least for now."

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