Act I: Sands of Time

[Orn'komad]

The insanity happened again, and Orn'komad felt like he was going to hurl.

When it was finally over, he stood back from the conversation, listening to everything he could catch. Nine years? The kriff? But if they had been there nine years... he checked his flask. Full. He smiled and took a swig. Well, at least my... whatever it's been for nine years still acts somewhat like me.
He looked the giant up and down, wondering what in the galaxy a Celestial was. He'd heard of them before, of course, and knew something about creation myths and Centerpoint and the Corellia system and blah blah blah... But they were just myths. They didn't actually exist.
Did they?

His mind fell back to the conversation, and the implications thereof. If they were only showing up for important events... perhaps it would be wise to listen. The idea that the King had called them here as advisers was amusing and troubling at the same, and briefly he wondered if he, or... his body? Whatever. He wondered if he'd been important or had actually done or helped do anything useful. At any rate, the fact that the King was troubled meant that he was not comfortable either. The fact that Akala seemed to have a connection to this Celestial was also worth noting.
Orn stood back and waited to see what would happen before opening his mouth.

 

[Tefka]

"What is a Celestial?"

"Until about two hundred years ago, they oversaw all civilizations within the Galaxy - where there was life, there was a Celestial nuturing, growing - helping build. Galactic leaders. We owe much of who we are today to the Celestial Domain. However, not all sects of civilization were particularly happy with their being here - they were viewed as superweapons, a strength incapable of being opposed. For reasons that still remain unknown, they left."

The King looked up at the Architect.

"Or so we thought. My friend here seems to be a renegade, the last of the last - which brings us to tonight and why I think your collective conciousness has been brought here today. I believe, as both Mako and my wife believe - you are here to witness turning points. Turning points that could have some significant impact on your future. Temporal rifts, quantum leaps, time travelling - the conjectures are there, we've always had them - but the unchanging belief has been that you can't change the past."

He turned back to the Main Group.

"If we are to believe this, then you aren't here to prevent something - you're here to witness it. Perhaps to acknowledge history so that it does not repeat itself - I'm afraid I do not know. I know not what events lay before you in your timeline... but I have reached a decision regarding mine."

The King of the Kwa Holdings Empire turned to the Architect and firmly planted his royal staff at his side.

"The Empire can no longer harbor you from your enemies. The threat has grown too great - I ask that you leave my people in peace."

He sighed.

"My duty is to my people, old friend. We've not the strength to save you. You must understand."

Oa looked to his daughter.

"I am sorry."

 

[Tefka]

"NO!"

Akala collapsed at the Architects feet, gripping his ankle. The Architect began to slowly decrease in size, though he still doubled the size of a normal man.

"You can't! You've condemned him!"

Tears began to form at the edges of her eyes as she looked up at her father from the ground. Utter disgust fell upon her face.

"MURDERER!"

 

[Tefka]

"If that, is a Celestial." He pointed to, @[member="The Architect"], "then what are you?"

"I'm a Kwa, just like most of everyone else here on Dathomir. Apologies, friend. There's absolutely nothing special about me - just a man serving his duty to the Empire. Everyone's got orders to follow."

The Praetor was enjoying meeting the new people until the King passed a verdict concerning the Architect.

"Oh sh-...kark. Princess, please."

He rushed away from Antares and moved forward to gather her off the floor to take her from the throne room.

"We must return to your quarters."

 

[Tefka]

Though the Architect shrunk in size, he remained emotionless. A thousand yard stare pierced the Main Group, but the Celestial being remained motionless, quiet.

 

[Antares]

-MAIN GROUP

"Save him from what?" He asked, looking to @[member="King Oa"]. "The Celestials have another sixty-five thousand years in the Galaxy." How could @[member="The Architect"] be the last of the last, if there were still tens of thousands of years for it's race to inhabit the Galaxy? "Who are his enemies?" His gaze looked between the Architect and King Oa.

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

Alexandra watched silently, she had no right to change history for better or worse, but she could not watch as the girl sat there like that. To lose your closest companion, your closest friend was something that destroyed a person and Alexandra could not bring herself to watch. A Part of her urged her to speak, to say something, but she did not have to look long as the Praetor removed @[member="Akala"] from the room. With her gone Alexandra spoke, a question directed to @[member="King Oa"] "Who is an enemy to the Celestrial and why did your daughter call you a Murderer. Who is it that can cause you to remove such a being as @[member="The Architect"]. I dont mean to interfere with history, but what is it that scare you so if i must ask Your Highness." She Looked at the Architect, confused why he was so silent, so accepting of this decision, what was it that this king had to fear that could harm such a man. She thought of something for a moment before extending her mind to Architect. 'Who is it the King is scared of.'

 

[Tefka]

-MAIN GROUP

"Save him from what?" He asked, looking to @[member="King Oa"]. "The Celestials have another sixty-five thousand years in the Galaxy." How could @[member="The Architect"] be the last of the last, if there were still tens of thousands of years for it's race to inhabit the Galaxy? "Who are his enemies?" His gaze looked between the Architect and King Oa.

"Perhaps they do. Perhaps they don't." The King turned to the man speaking from the Main Group defiantly. "Either way, I do not have the knowledge of the future to aid me. Only the present. Perhaps if you return, you might have some insight into how things are actually occurring."

 

[Tefka]

Alexandra watched silently, she had no right to change history for better or worse, but she could not watch as the girl sat there like that. To lose your closest companion, your closest friend was something that destroyed a person and Alexandra could not bring herself to watch. A Part of her urged her to speak, to say something, but she did not have to look long as the Praetor removed @[member="Akala"] from the room. With her gone Alexandra spoke, a question directed to @[member="King Oa"] "Who is an enemy to the Celestrial and why did your daughter call you a Murderer. Who is it that can cause you to remove such a being as @[member="The Architect"]. I dont mean to interfere with history, but what is it that scare you so if i must ask Your Highness." She Looked at the Architect, confused why he was so silent, so accepting of this decision, what was it that this king had to fear that could harm such a man. She thought of something for a moment before extending her mind to Architect. 'Who is it the King is scared of.'

"A band of barbaric warmongers who call themselves the Infinite Empire. They were nothing until a century ago. In the Celestial's absence, their power has grown...

As has their lust for blood. I have kept our friend here hidden in secret since he crashed here 9 years ago. He was already being pursued - it was only a matter of time until they found him. That time is now. We must give him up.

Despite how some of us," He looked at his daughter. "Have grown attached. The Empire comes first, my love. Before friends. Before family. Before love. The safety of our people is paramount, and it is my duty to ensure the longevity of that safety."

He turned to the Architect.

"You understand."

 

[Antares]

He continued to look between @[member="The Architect"] and @[member="King Oa"]. "You didn't answer my question." He said drily. "Who are his enemies, who would see him dead?" To him, it seemed the King just avoided his most important question on purpose. The Architect was going to die because of necessity...And the Architect has accepted it. Had the future been changed as well, when they time travelled? How could you tell?

And then he heard the King answer his question, by answering the other time traveller. "The Infinite Empire is a little early in bringing down the Celestials."

 

[Tefka]

"The Infinite Empire is a little early in bringing down the Celestials."

The King chuckled - a brief reprieve from such a gravely serious situation.

"For a man from the future, you sure don't seem to grasp much about what is occurring in the past."

 

[Antares]

"Perhaps the past has changed." @[member="King Oa"].

 

[Tefka]

@[member="Antares Windu"]

Suddenly, Antares was warped to a blank white room.​

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He stood alone.​

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There was no sound.​

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There was no life.​

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Nothing. Antares would find himself in a vacuum of blank white obscurity.​

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He would turn to see the teenager Akala behind him, as clear as she had been in the throne room.​

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"THE PAST HASN'T CHANGED. IT HASN'T! IT JUST HASN'T!!! PLAY YOUR PART."​

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She stamped her foot, tears streaming down her face.​

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Red streams of blood erupted up the walls, encasing the room.​

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A jet of fire emanated from the center of the room.​

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As suddenly as Antares found himself warped into the blank white vacuum, he would blink.​

​

And he would find himself back in the throne room, as if nothing had happened.​

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

"The Rakata... they are the ones after the Celestrial, they are conquerors, creators of weapons of dark power, you cant seriously think that giving up the Celestrial will save you do you? If their bloodlust is growing you must know that things will only get worse if you give into them... I apologize i shouldnt be changing history and should shut my mouth and let you do as the past demanded, but the Rakata will kill you all anyways to acquire your technology, like another group of Force Users in our time. Their former Emperor standing here now, ehh Tyrin?" She didnt look at the former Emperor, her words completely and utterly directed at @[member="King Oa"]. She knew what she was doing was wrong but she couldnt just stand here and let these people delude themself with false hope, she had seen too much false hope in her own time.

 

[Antares]

It was all a trap, he realized when his always half-closed eyes opened up to see the blank white room. But he couldn't keep them open forever, and when he turned around to see @[member="Akala"], and blinked, she was gone, and he was back in the throne room.

He looked around to see if people had seen anything. Should he accuse the King's daughter? It wasn't his place...But @[member="The Architect"] would die if he didn't do something. The Infinite Empire was rising...Dozens of years before it's time. He had to.

"@[member="King Oa"]." He said, and he walked up close to the King, as close as he would be allowed that is. "Your daughter is a threat. You should keep her close, at all times." He said, and he glanced back to the Main Group. "Your daughter is the reason for all of this."

It would probably be best to not mention what he had seen, all the blood, Akala behind him, screaming. "Your daughter will kill you, Your Majesty."

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen listened to the exchange. His time in Zarro's home had left him as something of a historian and the first empire was something that had stuck fast in his mind. "It seems as though we have indeed entered a very large turning point." He turned his head to @[member="Antares Windu"]. "Its early now, but wars and falling empires do take time. I'm afraid that this is the start of it all. The galaxy as they know it will change to become our future." He changed subjects, speaking now to @[member="Alexandra Cinthra"]. "As for changing the future, that is impossible. The force will always redirect its flows to the one true path. I suspect our actions are similar to flow walking which would make this quite safe for the future. Considering that this isn't a danger, then perhaps its a warning. But, the Rakkattan empire went extinct long ago. So that leaves us with the question of, what are we being warned of?" As he spoke, his words were changed to something of a rambling. They made sense but it was fairly obvious that his musings were him thinking out loud.

@[member="King Oa"] @[member="Akala"]

 

[Vorhi Alestrani]

Main Group, Throne Room, Listening to Lunatics
Vorhi, Bad Luck, Hunting for a Beatrice
I don't knooooow--
I've got this tune stuck in my head.

@[member="The Architect"]

Saint be blessed, the time jumps were annoying. More annoying was the big one, the apparrent Celestial (another weird myth) answering to "Architect" was overwhelming his head a little. It was like watching the bleeding sun, but made of force energy. He got up slowly. He groaned as the big guy shrunk down, and stopped Gerion from choking Alexandria. Good on both accounts, but a little of his power leaked out, showing how much he was holding back. He slowly rose up and furrowed his brow, nodding towards Akala, acknowledging that Anatares was right--Akala was the center of this happy little Hutt show. Still, Oa was unhelpful. Of course they were sent here to bear witness. Even all of them together hadn't the strength to change the course of things. They were moths next to a bonfire here.


"Tell me, Architect," he said, calmly. "If we are here to bear witness, why did you act so surprised at our presence? What did you know that showed our presence to be so strange?" He said calmly. Every detail mattered, and his shock at their being here mattered even more. "How did you know we weren't suppose to be here?" He said, shaking slightly. "Sorry for looking at the ground. Your visage is a bit...intense for my vision, as I'm sure you can understand."

 

[Orn'komad]

Orn'komad tried to process all the new information as the conversations flurried around him. His memory of galactic history was admittedly sketchy, but he did seem to recall the Rakatan. If he did remember the Kwa Holdings, it was as a mere footnote of what the Rakatan had conquered. "Well, at least the Infinite Empire doesn't seem to live up to its name. Yet," he muttered under his breath.

He thought back to the desert, the memory of mere minutes as opposed to the more years that had apparently elapsed. @[member="The Architect"] had spoken then, had asked the group why they were there. He briefly considered asking him what he had meant, but thought the better of it. The Celestial had stood silent since they had arrived, and his voice alone might do significant damage to the throne room. Not to mention the fact that there was a teenage girl hanging off his legs. He wondered what the Architect had done to earn the ire of the Infinite Empire. So many questions that will likely not be answered. Pity.

He stepped toward @[member="King Oa"]. "Your Majesty, are you sure this is wise? The Infinite Empire may be after this..." He paused for the briefest of moments, "...man, but that is precisely why he needs sanctuary. Your daughter is right - if they are after him, surely sending him away is tantamount to an execution." He lowered his voice and leaned in slightly, looking meaningfully at @[member="Akala"] still hanging onto the giant's leg. "And with all due respect, your Highness, are you sure you don't have another motive?" He returned to his previous position without breaking eye contact and crossed his arms. "If you are right, and we are here to witness the pivotal moments of this history, please do not take it for granted that we are here now. The very fact we are means this must be an incredibly important decision, both for your Empire," he looked to the queen and the girl on the floor, "and your family." He liked the King - he seemed a decent fellow, even from the impressions he had gotten in the hour or so he had known him, and Orn desperately wanted to warn him about the impending domination of the Infinite Empire. But that'll probably change the past too much. Time travel is so wibbly-wobbly.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

@[member="Moira Skaldi"]

About to continue the kind of commentary that had relegated them to a white room a time or two already, Jorus paused, mouth half open, as King Oa began to answer questions. His mouth slowly closed as he listened, and listened, and listened some more.

"Hold on a sec," he said to Moira. "I'm gonna try something. If this is really all about the girl, and we got negative mess from crossing her idea-wise last time...I wonder what'd happen, or how she'd react, if someone was capable of helping in this fake world or this past or whatever. That, and...well, feth, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. Gimme a sec."

He strode to the forefront of the crowd, up where @[member="Vorhi Alestrani"] was asking his questions of @[member="The Architect"]. He spared a glance for Vorhi; last time they'd seen each other, Jorus had unloaded an eight-gauge of cortosis dust into the dude's breastbone.

"Architect," he said in a quieter moment, "if we've been here nine years, you might know a little of me by now. I don't know how things work or what, but this much I can pretty much absolutely promise you, barring stuff you know that I don't. You or the King or someone get me a ship big enough for the both of us, doesn't even have to be hypercapable, just enough to get us into orbit, and I can get you out of the known galaxy, way the feth out of the Infinite Empire's reach, to places they'd never dream of. Not a thing I offer lightly, as I'd like to get back to my wife and kid as quick and simple as possible, but I know a little of what it's like to get hunted. If there's any way I can lend a hand, I will."

 

[Satara Hawk]

@[member="Alexandra Cinthra"] answered her question, describing these Celestials as precursor for all that had ever been achieved, creatures whose technological and mental prowess was something to be marveled. Satara noticed a lot of awe in the woman's posture as she described the Celestials. Almost as if they were a sort of deity to be worshipped.

And it seemed @[member="King Oa"] had always picked up on her question and began explaining himself. Satara looked to him as he explained them to oversee all civitilizations some two hundred years ago. Where there was life, Celestials were helping it, teaching it. Superweapons in the eyes of something.

Clearly, the Witches had devised their own history since the time of Allya. But what the female beside her and the King were describing, the Dathomiri had began to see nature, the Force and even Allya. Before her, there was darkness and slavery even if there was a form of like on Dathomir. Now Satara could see there was so much more they had been missing out on knowing.

The King called the Celestial in their presence a renegade and their presence here no more than witnessing turning points but not to change anything. "The past cannot be changed either way." Satara just said, understanding what the King was saying. And she understood all too well what the King was telling the Celestial as well. His duty was to the people, to Dathomir. That much even the Kwa and the Witches did have in common, despite their different times of exisance.

But @[member="Akala"] seemed to be against it, clinging to the @[member="The Architect"], screaming at her own father. Satara blinked then, realizing the Celestial appeared to getting smaller while she held him.

The enemies was the Infinite Empire. Satara remembered what was written about those. A vile race, one that shouldn't have been on Dathomir in the first place. The way their history had written, it had been their the Infinite Empire had become so powerful though lots of missing from their scrolls about the subject. However, she did remember one thing and that was that their history noted their arrival not for at least another fifty thousand years. Could it be that they were that off? When @[member="Antares Windu"] suggested the odd years as well, Satara thought about it. "We could have been off in some our the history writing...," she suggested as an alternative. History also told the Infinite Empire rising from the knowledge given from the Kwa. The King had made no note of that. "@[member="King Oa"], do you know how the Infinite Empire came to grow so powerful?" It was mere curiosity at this point. As the King had said, they couldn't alter the past but it would answer her doubts about what they knew and what they were witnessing.