Act I: Sands of Time

[Tefka]

Luminoth - Throne Room
With The Architect, Queen Naala, and the Main Group

Vulpesen sat fairly shocked at the sudden change of scene. Keeping himself in a somewhat small profile, he moved forward ahead of the others and two the others. He gave a small cough as introduction then spoke. "Please forgive us for the intrusion your highness, but it seems that we've been flipped back to another time period." He doubted the king recognized him, but the others might be familiar faces and the situation was certainly unique enough to stick in one's memory. @[member="King Oa"] @[member="The Architect"] @[member="Queen Naala"]

King Oa took a minute to gather himself from the conversation he had been having with the Architect and turned to look at the Main Group.

"Intrusion? What is this nonsense, you have been invited here to counsel....."

The King took a pause.

"Time traveled again, have you? Where were you previously, this time?"

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

Alexandra spoke up in answer to @[member="King Oa"], "We were with your Wife and Daughter on the day this... giant arrived to your home, I apologize as well for speaking out of turn if i have." Alexandra paused and Glanced at @[member="Tamara"] as she hid in cover and nodded in understanding, before straightening up and pulling her hood back up. She walked over to Vulpesen after speaking, waving Tamara to follow if she wanted to.

@[member="Queen Naala"] @[member="Vulpesen"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

MAIN GROUP

@[member="Darth Vornskr"] | @[member="Vulpesen"] | @[member="King Oa"]

Tyrin did not stare in shock at the giant, metal man when he emerged from the sand. He was not impressed, nor was he intimidated. He was annoyed. Here before them, ye again, was another ridiculous development that was going to prolong their being here. What was that? He needed a medical facility? Who the hell did he think he was? That bumbling giant had probably just triggered an ecological disaster. There was no telling how long the sun could be blotted out for. Plants would die. Herbivores would die. Utter calamity. Tyrin could care less. Whatever transpired, it would have little effect on whatever contraptions had brought them to this time period.

Speaking of time periods, it was suddenly time to timewarp again. Whatever it was, there was a sudden flash of light, and Tyrin found himself in a throne room. Giant, Queen, King, and the rest of the lot. There was apparently an intrepid discussion going on. It would be rude to interrupt. It would also be rude to yank a gaggle of people from their place in the timestream and ferry them around like a band of hapless school children through an abridged history of an ancient Empire no one cared about.

A young Jedi boy was the first to speak. It was, of course, irrelevant and totally unhelpful in returning them to whence they came. Tyrin resolved to take the reigns of the situation once more the only way he knew how- by being mean.

"Silence, troglodyte." Tyrin hissed to Vulpesen as he shoved past the young Knight, intent in his purpose. Now he spoke to the King.

"I've had just about enough of this. Direct us to Mako and his gates so that we can be returned. The longer we remain, the more a threat is posed to the future. You may return to the paltry issues plaguing your insignificant holdings once you resolve this."

 

[Tefka]

"Father!"

Akala ran in to the throne room, teary eyed, yelling for her father @[member="King Oa"].

"You can't make him leave! Please don't make him leave."

 

[Tefka]

"I've had just about enough of this. Direct us to Mako and his gates so that we can be returned. The longer we remain, the more a threat is posed to the future. You may return to whatever paltry issues plaguing your insignificant holdings once you resolve this."

"I'm afraid it's more complicated than that - we've been over this before. While it is hypothesized that we could have been responsible for your coming here, the Infinite Gates have not worked since the arrival of our mutual friend here. Mako is my brother, and the creator of the first gate - but he has told us, time and time again, that what you ask for is not possible."

The King looked up at his giant, and back to Tyrin.

"I'm afraid, for better or worse, that you are stuck with us for the time being."

Oa noticed his daughter running into the throne room and sighed.

"I told you to remain in your quarters, my child. Where is the Praetor?"

 

[Tefka]

"Here, my King!"

Praetor Kaa, assigned bodyguard of the Princess Akala, was out of breath as he ran in to the throne room.

"She escaped in the night... and she's very fast on her feet."

He looked at the main group.

"We haven't met before...Praetor Kaa, of the 22nd Legion. Royal protection duty. Some circus we've got going here so far."

 

[Antares]

The scorching heat of the sand was gone. Replaced by a throne room. Fine. He listened to the supposed King and then to his daughter, was that Akala? The girl had been quite a bit younger before...It didn't matter, yet. "Who and what is the Praetor? Your General or your protector?" What a curious name. 'Praetor.'

It sounded military oriented. But this species, or whatever they were, were odd. His dark brown gaze found that of the Architect and he waited for the King's answer.


((Damn edit.))

So not only was he a soldier...He was a bodyguard. Interesting. His hand cupped his jawline and rubbed it thoughtfully. "Who is your Commander?" He asked, @[member="Praetor Kaa"].

@[member="King Oa"]

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

Alexandra sighed and glanced at the girl running in, talking to herself mostly as she spoke in a low voice. "Interesting, it seems @[member="Akala"] has grown even more, we must be several more years ahead of the last point in history. I wonder what it is that we are being treated to this time, dont you agree @[member="Vulpesen"]?" She glanced at him from under her hood, she would be a side observer this time, it seemed the former emperor wanted to be loud today. But then the Praetor arrived and addressed them, in turn Alexandra stepped forward and bowed again. "Greetings Preator Kaa, i am Alexandra, and yes, certainly a circus of immense proportions."

@[member="King Oa"] @[member="Queen Naala"] @[member="Tamara"] @[member="Praetor Kaa"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

MAIN GROUP

@[member="King Oa"] | @[member="Praetor Kaa"]

"What?"

Outrageous. Not only was their only means out of this mess apparently a dead end- but they had been over this before? Impossible. Outlandish. Then again, so was time travel.

"We most certainly have not been over this before. We have never even properly spoken! You spouted useless rhetorical questions when we first encountered you, then we were spirited off to when that thing crashed in the desert, and now we are in your thrice damned throne room!"

He gave the Praetor a glare for that circus comment. As if these noseless freaks had any ground to stand on in determining what was and wasn't circus material.

 

[Vulpesen]

A growl rumbled in Vulpesen's throat as the man pushed past him. "I'd hate to have you as an ambassador." As @[member="Akala"] came in, the shadow's face brightened a bit. "Well hello miss Akala. A pleasure to see you again. And in a better area might I add. the desert was a bit too sandy for my taste. And you're right it does seem to be a few years in the future." Turning his attention to the entering guard, Vulpesen nodded his his head in greeting. "Vulpesen Torrevaso, a pleasure to meet you Kaa." Once more the old man was grumbling and this time Vulpesen was growing annoyed. "Listen idiot. While were jumping in and out of time, they move on with life as usual and nothing seems to be broken thus far. We all exist after all. Besides, as he said, there is nothing he can do. Instead of hurling insults at people, how about you calm down, sit down, and stop trying to get us scheduled for an execution from a kingdom we weren't even alive to meet."

@Gerion Ardik @[member="Praetor Kaa"] @[member="King Oa"] @[member="Alexandra Cinthra"]

 

[Tefka]

Alexandra spoke up in answer to @[member="King Oa"], "We were with your Wife and Daughter on the day this... giant arrived to your home, I apologize as well for speaking out of turn if i have." Alexandra paused and Glanced at @[member="Tamara"] as she hid in cover and nodded in understanding, before straightening up and pulling her hood back up. She walked over to Vulpesen after speaking, waving Tamara to follow if she wanted to.

@[member="Queen Naala"] @[member="Vulpesen"]

"Interesting. You have been with us for nearly 9 years. But it seems your conciousness continues to jump from relevant moments for whatever it is you're here to do. Our first conversation was on my daughter's name day."

He looked to the Architect.

"But you quickly parted ways, opting not to further discuss your reason for being here. That day, you disappeared into the crowd. Despite my efforts to find your quite sizeable group, we could not. It was strange, but I believe this explains it."

Outrageous. Not only was their only means out of this mess apparently a dead end- but they had been over this before? Impossible. Outlandish. Then again, so was time travel.

"We most certainly have not been over this before. We have never even properly spoken! You spouted useless rhetorical questions when we first encountered you, then we were spirited off to when that thing crashed in the desert, and now we are in your thrice damned throne room!"

"I'm sorry, but we have. I expect that was merely a shadow of yourselves, however. Something to continue your reason for being here. When my wife met you in the desert, it happened to coincide with the arrival of the Architect - our guest here." He motioned his hand to the giant of a man.

"The first Celestial seen in a nearly a century."

He then approached the Main Group.

"Since that day, my wife brought you to me, and you have been all been living in my guest house until this very day. You seemed to have accepted the fact that there was not a way for us to send you back - and have since adopted our ways of life, living under my protection.

However, it seems whatever is prompting your travels - as we have yet to discover the reason or the means - wants you to witness relevant events to whatever it's end game is."

"Such as a day like today."

His facial expression grew worried, and he stared back at the Architect - who stood motionless.

 

[Tefka]

The scorching heat of the sand was gone. Replaced by a throne room. Fine. He listened to the supposed King and then to his daughter, was that Akala? The girl had been quite a bit younger before...It didn't matter, yet. "Who and what is the Praetor? Your General or your protector?" What a curious name. 'Praetor.'

It sounded military oriented. But this species, or whatever they were, were odd. His dark brown gaze found that of the Architect and he waited for the King's answer.


((Damn edit.))

So not only was he a soldier...He was a bodyguard. Interesting. His hand cupped his jawline and rubbed it thoughtfully. "Who is your Commander?" He asked, @[member="Praetor Kaa"].

@[member="King Oa"]

"I am under the charge of the Royal Legion Commander Quagglon, who takes his commands directly from the King. We're a Royal Legion, so we don't see much battle."

The Praetor shrugged.

"You seem like you've seen some battle. You?"

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

"A Celestrial... like the thing that built the Centerpoint station near Corellia..." She looked up at the Giant, @[member="The Architect"], smiling and bowing to him as well. "I am honored to meet you old one, your creations i have read about, and am greatly interested in your people. I cannot fathom how you all can complete such marvels as you have." She looked at @[member="King Oa"] for a moment and spoke. "If you would excuse my intrusion, im sure he has reason if he is the cause for our shifts in time, and i apologize for all of us if we were intruding on an important discussion between yourself and your guest."

She looked at @[member="Akala"] and smiled at her. "Hello Miss Akala, it has been a while sense you last saw us, but only a minute for me, you certainly have grown since the last time we met. In case you had forgotten my name is Alexandra, i was going to sit with you while your mother went to see the Celestrial before we were brought forward in time."

Lastly her head shot to @[member="Gerion Ardik"], two simple words coming out. "Shut Up."
@[member="Vulpesen"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

MAIN GROUP

@[member="King Oa"] | @[member="Alexandra Cinthra"]

Tyrin did not hear the Jedi by this point, far more concerned with King Oa's dialogue and being put into a sated, attentive silence as a result. Nine years? Their consciousness being taken from one moment to the next? This was an immense game changer. If this were the case, then they weren't being shifted forward in time, they were being put into a vegetative state. Or perhaps they weren't, and their memories of those nine years were being wiped like some sort of common droid. If that was the case then... Had they even traveled back in time in the first place? What if this was all some sort of extended mental illusion, then? A dream? Now this was really starting to grate on his nerves, but the possibility that they hadn't actually been dragged back thousands of years into the past was marginally comforting.

Perhaps, then, it was time to stop harassing the royalty. Evidently they no longer held the answers Tyrin sought. They were as powerless to get this lot home as he was. Since that was a dead end, it was time to explore other means. In the absence of any other promising leads, Tyrin would have to settle for falling back into his first role as an aloof observer content to let the other peons muck around. Yes, that was it. Finally, he could take the time to simmer down, calm his temper, and gradually accept the fact he was stuck on this ride for the long haul. It was oddly liberating, especially given-

"Shut Up."

Tyrin's head slowly turned toward the washed-up darksider whose skill in the Force was roughly equivalent to an overripe fruit. He raised an eyebrow, almost as if saying "really?" An invisible hand formed by Tyrin's mastery of the Force fastened itself around Alexandra's neck. It would remain there until the oxygen deprivation eventually got her to pass out.

 

[Tefka]

Tyrin's head slowly turned toward the washed-up darksider who's skill in the Force was roughly equivalent to an overripe fruit. He raised an eyebrow, almost as if saying "really?" An invisible hand formed by Tyrin's mastery of the Force fastened itself around Alexandra's neck. It would remain there until the oxygen deprivation eventually got her to pass out.

The Architect blinked.

The grip around Alexandra's neck dissipated almost as quickly as it arrived.

 

[Antares]

-MAIN GROUP
-THRONE ROOM.

Antares remained quiet when @[member="Praetor Kaa"] spoke to him. He seemed respectful enough. He would indeed return it. And he did it with a sharp inclination of his head. "Some is correct." He said with another nod. There would be no point in explaining these battles, the alien wouldn't understand anyway. Too far in the past to know the names of planets from his generation.

"If that, is a Celestial." He pointed to, @[member="The Architect"], "then what are you?" He knew it was the Kwa Holdings Empire, but from what he understood the Kwa Holdings had been a slave race to the Celestials. At least he thought so, history beyond Yavin was backwards to him.

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

Alexandra felt the grip at her throat and choked trying to breath for a moment before rubbing her throat as the pressure was relieved. 'Note to self, remember not to piss off Sith Lords in the future...' A voice sounded in the depths of her mind before she looked at the Celestrial, this @[member="The Architect"] for a moment and gave a quick nod to him, not sure to be honest if he was the one that stopped it but she was sure the Sith hadnt just stopped.

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen watched the exchanged and placed his hand on his saber as he felt @[member="Gerion Ardik"]'s hostilities on @[member="Alexandra Cinthra"]. Luckily, the celestial seemed to have it covered and thus the weapon was hidden back inside his robes. "So what have I done in the past nine years?" He was mostly talking to himself, but it was a valid question. Without any jedi, he was fairly sure he'd have joined some sort of police force or returned to his rogue days. As he thought of his actions, another idea popped into his head. "If we've been here nine years... why don't I have seemed to age? At least, not to myself that is."

@[member="King Oa"] @[member="Praetor Kaa"] @[member="The Architect"]

 

[Satara Hawk]

She didn't get a chance to properly interact with her smaller group she had been or with the child before the loud voice came through. Her mismatched eyes focused to the distance quiickly. And then it was all gound. She heard the pop and her eyes saw nothing but darkness. Involuntarily, she blinked then and realized. "Not again," the Witch just muttered. By now she could tell what was going on. These jumps were getting annoying

THRONE ROOM - CITY OF LUMINOTH

When her eyelids went up again, Satara needed a moment for her eyesight to adjust before she could see King Oa, Queen Naala and and a large creature, all before she looked around and realized all of the group was here as well. And the King was raising his voice.

With the corner of her eyes, she noted something moving beside her. It was @[member="Tamara"]. While Satara didn't know just what she was doing, she offered a small smile to the girl before she was realized she was somehow placing herself behind her and @[member="Alexandra Cinthra"]. Was she hiding? It seemed like it. Satara chose not to ask. So far, she had understood Tamara was from this time and since she had met her in the future already, she wasn't sure how wise it was to interact with her too much. Though she was beginning to understand the things the two had spoken of.

A young man, @[member="Vulpesen"], spoke up then, only to have them learn they were here by invitation to counsel. About what exactly? The King asked if they time traveled again and Satara merely nodded. It was not the most pleasent of journeys. The female next to explained.

The voice of the man with whom she had previously agreed about the green skinned female suddenly spoke, no short of rude this time. But @[member="Gerion Ardik"] was right once again. Their presence here was a growing threat to the future. Every small thing that happened, what might seem completely insignificant to them right now could have affect on the future. But despite all that, the infinite gates seemed to have been not working? They were stuck with them because of it. Satara just sighed.

Loud voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts. A girl ran into the room and Satara realized that she was yelling at King Oa. That was Akala? Time was really rushing under them. Another man entered just then. The King had called him Praetor. @[member="Praetor Kaa"] as he introduced himself. Satara merely nodded in the man's direction.

But then the bombshell came in. @[member="King Oa"] said they had been with them for nine years. Satara's eyes wandered to the Princess. Somehow, she couldn't find that hard to believe when she sae the girl even though it was still a lot. In the desert, whatever had happened then, was infact the arrival of the Architect, their gest. Satara looked at the large man in the room while the King explained him further to be the first Celestial to be seen in nearly a century. This word, Celestial had been mentioned before, in the desert. Satara still knew not what a Celestial is.

Her head suddenly turned to the nearest people to her, which were @[member="Alexandra Cinthra"] and @[member="Tamara"] and, not wanting to disrupt the King, quietly asked: "What is a Celestial?" That word was foreign to her.

Apperently, since the desert, they had been living here as guests of the King. Why did she have no memory of this? What they had been doing here int hat time. Clearly, Akala had grown, so it wasn't even short amount of time. How was it possible?

Beside her, @[member="Alexandra Cinthra"] spoke of Celestials. And them building the Centerpoint station near Corellia before bowing to the giant, talking about creations she had read on. Truth was, she was growing more and more curious about this subject as she learned about.

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

Alexandra looked at @[member="Satara Hawk"] and lowered her voice so that the woman would hear and she would not disturb the current conversations. "Think of the Celestrials as the precursor to all that has ever been achieved, their technological and mental prowess was something to be marveled i could not have guessed they were as big as they were nor that they were humanoid in nature. Nor that they were mortal looking to a degree, that is what i find most amazing how it seems they suffer similar wounds as us, considering their appearance. We could be one of the few people in the galaxy to have ever met a celestrial and it is for that reason that everyone here should feel honored in having such an opportunity. Think of the knowledge and wisdom and oh so much history linked to @[member="The Architect"], it is something i would spend a life time wishing to learn and understand if given the chance." Alexandra was in heaven for all intents and purposes, she was surrounded by Kwa and a Celestrial, some of the oldest and most technologically advanced peoples in the known Galaxy to ever exist, and to make things even worse she was in a apparently pivotal point in history, there is so much to be learned of this experience.

@[member="King Oa"] @[member="Akala"] @[member="Queen Naala"] @[member="Vulpesen"] @[member="Tamara"]