Colby pulls you away from Ord Coridari while Barker tries to make Vera-Kin comfortable despite her grievous wound and her flailing cries.
On the other side of the planet, a large assault ship- the deceased Arneth's- jumps to lightspeed.
-
In the weeks following, much happens.
Firstly, Ord Coridari is a mess.
The super-volcano that erupted devoured one of Ine's quarters- the section where the miners lived. Debris and ash showered upon the city for nearly a week. Thousands died... but it ended the riots and brought the city together. Miners laid down their arms and took up their tools to dig out the buried while the soldiers organized the evacuation. Help was brought in from nearby worlds after you alerted a Republic outpost on Ord Janon.
The Republic mourns General Hirget- the long-time leader of a loosely-Republic world, better known as a valiant hero. His death is a tragedy for the planet, and his murder by Dark Jedi assassins becomes one of Palpatine's reasons for some Bureau he is trying to push through the Senate...
Akro, the leader of the Mining Guild on the ORD, is also hailed as a martyr. The miners on Ord Coridari have honored his memory with festivals in other Coridarian cities.
Astrune's death by your hand holds little repercussions- she owned several mining corporations across the Galaxy, but their repressive attitude toward their miners was looked upon with disgust by most civilized planets. The media paints her passing as the end of an era; Rianna receives some thanks for that.
The instatement of Major Bradox has the Senate in uproar, however. An inexperienced leader, he is maintaining martial law even after the disaster has ended. He has withdrawn from the Senate until further notice and asked to sign an agreement that bans Jedi Knights from visiting the world. It causes worry that he will become a military dictator, but little to be done. The people love him; he has brought them out of the disaster.
Nothing is heard from Rand and Vash; Arneth is dead.
Colby goes on a long vacation without telling you or anyone else where he is going. Barker returns to Kashyyyk for rest.
Vera-Kin undergoes surgery to reattach the sinews and nerves in her shoulder so that she can use it again. The surgery is a success, but Vera-Kin's ear remains mangled. Recovery takes weeks. She is heavily sedated for much of it, to prevent her from damaging the stitched muscles.
Rianna is laid up to heal her stab wound, of course... and the Council is unsure how to feel about everything.
Well, other than bored and restless from having to rest to heal her wound...
Mostly, angry with herself. She thinks that she should have been able to handle the mission in general better, and blames herself for the disaster on Ord Coridari. Yes, she did stop Rand from setting it off on Coruscant, which would have killed far, far more people, and the device is now destroyed and of no danger to anyone, and yet...she can't forget that it was her actions that caused everything to happen there.
She certainly dislikes and fears Rand much more than she did before, and is rather disturbed at how easily he was able to play with her emotions and his repeated insistence that she was going to join him.
She's still upset with Vera-Kin for hiding why she was there from her, and almost afraid of what the Jedi Master's going to say about her.
And she's also worried about what the Council's going to say and probably trying to avoid Myraline (but is likely unable to).
The Council bears in mind that Rianna prevented a much greater tragedy in attempting to destroy the Geometamorpher- it is just a shame that her first and only attempt at doing so did not work. You are positive that your shot should have destroyed it... but then again, it survived being submerged in lava after its first use. It must have had some sort of shielding or been composed out of metals intended for such heat and impact.
Speaking of which, Myraline can fill you in about what this thing was, using her contacts with the Jedi Archives. The Geometamorpher was a device designed by the Sith to do exactly what Rand intended to use it for- create volcanoes by sending out energy signatures that disturbed and increased pressure below ground. It was a super weapon. Rand finding it made it a reality, since it was only used once on Ord Coridari.
Aside from her explanation, Myraline has not bothered you much about the mission. She only checks to see how you are doing and chats with you about her missions. But you cannot help thinking that she put Vera-Kin up to shadowing you...
Rianna's simply glad that the thing definitely did not survive this time, if the explosion was anything to go by...it still may have gone off, but at least her attempt at destroying it did eventually cause it to be ruined.
And yes. Rianna is definitely sure that Myraline is the one that put Vera-Kin up to going along with her...and the fact that Myraline is largely leaving her alone only strengthens her feelings on that.
Vera-Kin will be contemplating what to tell the Council about Rianna's mission. Overall, she thinks that everything that happened was completely unfair to Rianna... but she did lie about her vision to the Council and that caused problems. Vera-Kin's assessment is that Rianna just needs to be able to feel that she cn reach out to others, as she obviously distrusts people. Vera-Kin also feels partly responsible for that, now.
You're not sure if it was destroyed, but it definitely was not in the best place when the volcano happened. There is no way to be sure; it took thousands of years for the device to be found by the miners after the first time.
True. I suppose it could have survived that. However, Rianna doesn't think it's very likely (considering the damage done to it before it went off) and even if it did survive, it's not going to be seen again for a very long time...
Vera-Kin is going to ask the Council to keep in mind that Rand was relentlessly manipulating or tormenting Rianna, and that she reacted well to it all despite all the horrible things that happened.
However, Rianna had some unstable moments that worried everyone... Vera-Kin is going to mention that Rianna has developed a certain mistrust for (fear of?) her elders that needs to be hammered out. She told no-one of her vision until after she had started to crack, and her stubborness to stop Rand did not particularly help...
She thinks Rianna needs some time off to work on her flaws before they get worse, and also recuperate from the mission in general.
She will also warn the Council that Rand wants to destroy the Order and start anew, which is disturbing. Vera-Kin is greatly unhappy that her old Padawan has gone down such a twisted path.
Vera-Kin's comments and analysis of Rianna have been noted... meaning her part in this story is done. She has carried out her assignments- to watch Rianna closely, to help Rianna unravel Rand's plot, and to determine Rand's nature that he has fallen to the Dark Side. She has been of great help to the Council, and now goes on her way. A Solitaire never stays in the Temple long.
For Rianna, things are far less cheerful. Vera-Kin has advised the Council to consider sending her on a lengthy release from duty, to receive counseling and participate in remedial training exercises to help with her... flaws.
Myraline wants to discuss Vera-Kin's role in the mission.
"I didn't put her up to it," Myraline says. "I have been worried about the violent nature of the missions you've been pursuing, and I simply wanted her to watch over you during one."
"I don't think I can believe that," Rianna replies to Myraline, looking away. "I know that she was there because the Council thought I was becoming unstable. Why would they think that?"
"Rianna, I never managed to rein in your impulsive behavior," Myraline says. "It was becoming apparent in your reports that you were acting brashly, especially after Reecee, and now again on Ord Coridari. Your actions cost so many lives... it is problematic. A Jedi should value life."
"And do you think that pleases me? I'm the one that has to live with what I've done! If you could even imagine how all of this has made me feel..." Rianna replies, trailing off in mid-sentence. "I know you wished that I could have been more like you. But I'm not. I never will be."
"I know," Myraline says, a hint of sadness in her voice. "Vera-Kin... told me about your vision. How it ended. I have had the same vision, at least in part, and that is why I fear for you and have tried to help."
"...she told you about it. But of course she did. She thinks that I have a hard time trusting people, and is it any wonder? I get told that I should be more open with people, and when I try to, I instead get told off for hiding things. Things I'd rather not share get told to others. I get lied to about the motivations of others," Rianna says, rather frustrated. Her rant stops when Myraline shares that she's had that vision as well.
"If that was the case...why didn't you just tell me?"
"I didn't want you to worry," Myraline explains. "I hardly knew that you had already had the vision yourself. Visions for you are... uncommon, after all."
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Feb 24th, 2010 05:08 AM
