When the World Holds Its Breath

[out_of_order]

WHO: Cal Kestis, BD-1 and you?
WHERE: Temba
WHAT: The storms, he does not miss.
WHEN: Event duration
WARNINGS: N/A
NOTES: Will go with tag prefs.


"I have a bad feeling about this..."

He'd sensed something, a nameless foreboding that he could only hope to brace against, yet deep down knowing it wouldn't be enough. The quiet was too quiet. The peace was anything but- but in a place like this was it ever really peace?

And then the bottom finally dropped, that stifling feeling of being cut off from the Force threatening to prompt panic. But he's been through this before. Others haven't. It's that thought that Cal clings to, as tightly as the little droid dangling behind him clings to his harness.

"You're going to have to be my eyes again, BeeDee. Keep me grounded," he says. The droid gives him a solemn hoot in acknowledgment of his duty.


i. Where are you going? Is your character seeing things?

ii. Where have you been? Cut-to being found and seeking out shelter. But watch out for them projections! Will it hit you or Cal? What happens next?!

iii. Cover your ears! The moon is screaming and this Jedi's psychometry's on the fritz! Does he catch a glimpse of your past? Check here for deets!

Comments

kind of ii?

[in_extremis]

The uncomfortable, echoing quiet came first, though the extent of it was not yet evident to Tony as he sat at the workbench, busy hands suddenly stilling as he was struck by the increasingly familiar numbness of a dulled sense. Recently, it tended to come with a static like an itch down his spine, and without that sensation he was left narrowing his eyes inquisitively, then touching the back of his neck like he could search for the source of the problem when Extremis didn't respond. Was Jon about to walk through the door again in some new, cold fury?

Without the appearance of the Archivist, Tony fumbled his communicator out of his pocket, feeling sluggish and clumsy already, only to find it cold and blank as well. As was the D.A.T.A. unit, still cracked down one side, but had been blinking up at him as he worked at its repairs, and now didn't raise a curious limb as Tony attempted a wakeful prod. Something wrong with the network then. That wouldn't do.

It was even quieter outside, away from the constant crackle of the fire, and where the chill of Tony's breath seemed to feed into the envelope of fog gathering thick around his shoulders. He frowned, hugging himself against a cold that ran deeper than his skin, and started up the road in a mournful jangle of the tools looped around his waist. This was going to be a long walk without the Iron Man to rely on.

"Hey, Red," and a single knock was the only warning Tony gave at the door to Cal's shop, letting himself in without waiting for an answer, eager to be out of the fog that felt like it was pressing into his ears and leaving his brain empty. "Something's up with the power, get your pants on."

[out_of_order]

The greeting he'd get wasn't exactly a greeting, and as Tony found Cal on approach towards the door once he'd stepped inside, he'd probably note that the Jedi looked a lot more startled to find someone entering than he normally should. It took him a moment before he processed Tony's words, the reason for his coming by, and even then it was almost too casual thing.

"The power?" he said, realizing how dull he sounded by it but he immediately shook his head. "-I think we've got bigger things to worry about than the power."

This was actually Tony, right? Apparitions shouldn't be able to open doors, although leading you on a perilous chase was another thing entirely. Cal hesitated, glancing over his shoulder at BD-1, the droid tilting his head at him and then at Tony before hooting an affirmative for whatever reason.

[in_extremis]

It wasn't so much Cal's surprise as the delayed reaction and echo that had Tony staring back at him, feeling like he had walked into the wrong building and intruded on a stranger. That fog had been disorienting. When he opened his mouth to answer, he stumbled, "Ah--," frown only deepening as Cal looked away for BD to...agree with him, like he needed a redundancy, then he glanced up at the ceiling at the grumble of thunder before he could actually say, "Yeah, sure, we all die some day and we probably all have some stuff to work out about our dads."

The thunder, the fog, the awful stillness, all of that was worth worrying about.

"But I can fix the power," Tony pointed out. At least, under normal circumstances. If this was all going to be a bigger problem, Tony would rather not have to deal with it blind, and would prefer if he could trust that there was somewhere well lit and warm for people to gather should these signals prove miserable.

[out_of_order]

"That's not-" he started, falling silent at the rumble of thunder overhead.

His concern had definitely been elsewhere, and with Tony insisting on there being a problem with the power, Cal wondered that it had been knocked out, or if it was just some byproduct of what was going on. He really couldn't be surprised if it were the latter.

"Tony, I'm cut off from the Force." If this was a storm it was a very strange one, so he went with what he knew for certain, grim as such a fact was difficult to admit.

[in_extremis]

It sounded like Cal was about to argue with him again, which Tony was already rapidly losing patience with because they could deal with whatever the next problem was better when he could just connect to the network again, so he responded to his own name by interrupting, "Cal," both hands up, then freezing.

Okay, sure, that did sound like a bigger problem. The actual scope of what the Force meant was still beyond Tony, but this was a problem at least as big as Tony not being able to text anymore, probably.

Hands slowly lowering, Tony led with, "Join the club," to try to relieve the pressure, because most of them got on fine without the Force, they could handle this, and they could fix it. That second part was more complex, and Tony tapped thoughtfully at his chin, gaze darting between Cal and BD with concern. "It's a storm," he finally had to acknowledge, another rumble answering him as though to confirm. More must have been coming.

[out_of_order]

Confirmation didn't make the situation any better, but Cal nodded. Better they get that realized sooner than later, especially if this storm carried along with it the usual unpleasantries of previous ones.

"If comms are down I don't know how possible it will be to fix them with a storm going on, but that means there's no easy way to warn everyone at once, and there's a lot of people who haven't gone through one before." Even with all the warnings they might have been given, nothing really properly prepared anyone for a storm. Cal thought of Merrin, brow knitting in concern. He needed to find her.

[in_extremis]

Still impatient, this time more distracted and processing, Tony interrupted again, "Not until we try," because they might have been thrown into chaos when the network had gone out previously, but this time it seemed like they might have had a shot at repairs. It wasn't so bad outside the door, after all, just...unsettling, and if that wasn't going to last, this wasn't time to waste being immobilized by pessimism.

"Come on, we've got a few braincells between us, we can do two things at once," Tony instructed, tossing his head for Cal to get himself together and follow back out into the fog. "We make our way to the hangar, knocking on doors, make sure everyone's secure, recruit them to get a headcount in, and get any systems back online that we can. If we can get a ship in the air, problem solved, ground covered..." They did still have an obstacle to deal with once they got there, making Tony mutter, "...dammit, Poe...," but there were a handful of people that stayed with the ships. With any luck, one of them knew how to get them off the ground.

II - I'm thinking her getting jumped by the projection? if that's cool

[kree_soldieress]

She had arrived in a storm, or moments before it. And this was a worse one in her books. That one she had been able to seek good shelter in, even if her weapon had not worked. But this one? There have been ghosts, and they have not been kind.

Shelter had been her intention, seeking out the Community Center, or perhaps the ships, somewhere she could hole up and feel safe. But alas, in the deep fog she had gotten lost. Lost enough to feel turned around beyond the reasonable levels of her understanding of the city. No amount of patrolling daily had protected her from this, had seen her safe from being lost.

"Is anyone here?" she shouts, calling into the fog.

It's the brightness of Cal's hair that draws her toward him. That and the fact that he was not dressed as the projections were. This one, she hopes, is one of them. A He Row. Someone safe.

"Hello?"

fine by me!

[out_of_order]

The closer she gets the easier she'll make out the glow of indicator lights belonging to the little droid on his back. Cal turns towards the voice, BD-1 beeping as the Jedi starts towards the tall woman.

"Lauri-El, right?" he asks once he's a little closer to see her. Even with BD-1 confirming there's actually someone there, he errs on the side of caution, not particularly out of fear of Lauri-El but of whatever else the storm might bring. It's already been a strange one.

[kree_soldieress]

The lights do help. Do the projections have lights? No, that seems unlikely. So she is quite glad to continue closer.

"Indeed," Lauri-Ell says, frowning at him. "You are Cal, yes? And this is one of the storms."

It makes her unhappy, all this fog. It's like nothing she's ever seen before.

[out_of_order]

"Yeah, that's right. And I'm thinking it is. A storm, that is. It's a very strange one though," Cal confirms. "I'm used to things being a little more...loud." And wild. The last two he'd experienced had been on the chaotic side.

[kree_soldieress]

Loud? That seemed to be inviting trouble. And in this case it was doing so through a nearby footstep. Lauri-Ell turned her attention toward it. One of the vendors from the fair.

"I did not know they were around. Or that they could move."

[out_of_order]

Cal stops, inwardly annoyed at himself for not paying closer attention. He really needs to do better at things if he's going to be Force blind during these storms. Following Lauri-Ell's look, he draws in a sharp breath. BD-1 beeps in alarm.

"They're bad news. I don't know why they're still around, but we need to move, now."

He grabs for her wrist, just as Tony had when they'd first encountered one of the ghostly projections. Mostly he intends to prompt the woman to move rather than hope to drag her along.

II - TWO?!

[on_repeat]

"Aeon?"

His main objective to find Omega, to assist anyone else who might not know what was going on, to ignore the clone troopers that appeared at the corners of his vision and steer clear of any other strange occurrences that might try to harm him in some way, shape, or form -- were gone in an instant. No amount of mental preparation could have prepared Echo for this.

He thought she had gone a long time ago. Just like the others.

She was gone. They were all gone, back to where they were all supposed to be.

Except she wasn't. She was here, and he could see it was her. She was here...and she was walking away.

"--Wait. Where are you going?"

It's not safe.

He wanted to warn Aeon. Wanted to see her face. Wanted to be sure it was her.

Why did she come back? Why would she? Was she supposed to come back?

Answers. He needed answers.

What he didn't realize was that he had been following her for...who knew how long now, the dull shimmer of the dirt shifting where it was loose under his heels, the fog trailing after him moments after passing through another area.

He wasn't aware of the other humanoid figures trailing after him, their steps shaky and staggered, yet quick in their decision to close in. Determined to fall onto him when he least expected it.

[out_of_order]

Despite getting a better handle of what to expect of this storm, Cal nevertheless remains cautious as he goes through the city. Be on the lookout for those projected figures. Be mindful of the hourly screams of the moon. Always watch your back but don't neglect what's in front of you.

BD-1 beeped an inquiry, claiming to have heard someone. The Jedi stopped, listened. "That sounded like Echo," he said. Hurrying along, he finally caught sight of not one, but several figures, and only one of them was solid by reassuring standards. The particular way of dress that the projections favored was also a dead giveaway. Cal quickened his pace. "Echo!" he shouted, not caring if he drew the attention of the wraiths, but in fact hoping perhaps to do so. "Behind you! Do not engage! Run!"

[on_repeat]

It was useless. Every step he took toward Aeon -- or whatever it was that looked like Aeon -- the farther she got away from him. But she always waited, never turning directly toward him, the hint of a sly smile hidden the second she started the cycle over again.

Had it not been for Cal's shout, Echo would have wasted more hours chasing after her shadow. He blinked, and his helmet jerked slightly, almost as if he was waking up from a bad dream. Here he turned, looking to see where his voice was coming from.

But Cal's warning also came with a downside: looking behind to assess the situation only bought time for the shadows. Some of the spectres sharply whipped their heads in the young Jedi's direction, nearly twitching as they did. The others weren't fazed at all, speeding up when they saw the clone registering the danger in how close they've gotten, one of their arms flying outward to graze an invisible line across his chest.

A numbing sensation ran through him before he could even get a word out, reopening his eyes to the clone barracks doused in red light. Weapon in hand, tension ran through his arms as Rex stood a ways behind him, pistols held up and trigger-ready. Fives and Cody knelt in wait, their blasters also held high just in time for the door to slide open, revealing to their droid enemies that they weren't going down without a fight.

But as far as Cal could see, Echo had drawn his weapon before he was touched. His finger rested on the trigger of the blaster, same stance and all, a filtered breath taken before squeezing it off.

Plasma bolts flew, and most of them were unintentionally aimed at the Jedi.

[out_of_order]

Things would have been much worse if Cal hadn't already experienced it for himself and known what to expect. He had his lightsaber in hand, ready to try and fend off the projections. But it would be a lie to say he hadn't felt at least a little on edge once he saw Echo had brought his weapon out.

Everything happened in rapid succession, those strange figures breaking off between him and Echo, taking advantage of the clone's hesitation while the others found a new target. Cal's lightsaber was ignited the moment they swept for him, and he swung at them, watching as they wavered, flickered upon contact. They didn't disappear however, and Cal thankfully hadn't lingered in the same spot to find that out the hard way. He turned his head just as blaster fire sizzled past his face, bringing his weapon up to deflect other shots as they came his way.

"Echo!" he shouted again, but he had a feeling he wouldn't get much of a response if Tony and BD-1 couldn't even get him to snap out of it.

[on_repeat]

Cal's voice was lost, washed away in the noise and chaos Echo created from memory. He kept firing, breaking away for cover against the battle droids that poured in from the entryway.

The upside was that he forced some of the spectres to steer clear of the constant stream of blasterfire, temporarily suspending their actions until he stopped.

What mattered most to Echo in the moment was that he stuck to the plan. They were the heavy hitters up front. The cadets were backup, and they were doing the best they could in their position.

But the droids kept coming.

He could barely hear the other clones in the heat of battle. He was too busy being shot at when he briefly caught Rex yelling after Ninety-Nine as the droids relentlessly pressed their attack. But the next time he took cover, he saw the deformed clone fall after being struck by the same merciless red bolts that flew past him and the others.

"Ninety-Nine! NO!"

It spurred him to fight harder. Fight longer. He had lost too many brothers.

He didn't want to lose any more.

[out_of_order]

"Hang on BeeDee- we're going to get in close," Cal said. He couldn't let himself be caught by the projections, but he wasn't sure how long such instances would play out and trap someone in them either. Taking advantage of Echo's suppressive fire, he charged right into it.

His lightsaber sent shots bouncing away from him when they got too close, and he kept it moving as he wove his way past the lingering ghostly figures. Echo's pained shout made it clear that it would be cruel to let him ride the rest of it out any more than he had to. The Jedi twisted around the swipe of another projection, catching a blaster bolt as it burned past his arm. With a hiss of pain he threw himself into a roll to evade the renewed stream, BD-1 tucking close into his side until Cal was out of it.

"Sorry for this Echo..!" Cal said, coming out just past the ARC Trooper's side. He wasn't sure if repeated contact with the ghosts would make things worse, but he knew no other way to get rid of the extra heat as they'd swept after him and slammed into the ARC Trooper instead.

It was only then that he leaned forward in his crouch to kick out a foot at the back of Echo's legs.

definitely backdated to the event beginning, eventually iii might be nice? idk i'm freestylin

[noch]

Cal had warned her about the storms when she'd first arrived, how they took away one's powers. At the time, it had been an unsettling thought, the idea of losing her magick. But it was so long ago now—almost a year, even—that she'd almost forgotten about the warning until the fog and eerie stillness rolls in, taking her magick with it.

It doesn't happen in any way she can really explain. Her magick—her power, her intrinsic connection to Dathomir and her sisters—is just gone, a piece of her spirit missing, the part of her that is cosmic and infinite. It's always been there, and now it's not. Unsettling isn't enough.

One of the more adverse problems of not having her magick is that she can't locate Cal anymore, by any means. Only slightly less adverse is that she actually has to walk to get to his workshop instead of teleporting—made significantly harder by the thick fog and looming emptiness, even with her well-honed familiarity with the city.

But it's the first place she knows to look for him, so that's where she goes.

*starts beatboxing*

[out_of_order]

It's strange that something so intangible can leave such a palpable impression with its absence. Being without the Force was like everything else was suddenly somehow muted. It was a loss of a sense or a limb, but at least it was something he was at least slightly prepared to deal with, if only due to previous experience. That was the only upside that Cal could see, and the reason he dared venture about the city during the storm. There were others who were not familiar with these things, and even the veterans could be caught off guard.

Without the network to contact people, it made it harder to keep track of people. Cal was worried about where Merrin was, but as he knew she'd usually knew where to find him, he made it a point to make frequent returns back to the workshop- homebase.

It's just between these trips that Merrin comes to the young Jedi's usual haunt, perhaps to find it disappointingly empty.

[noch]

Disappointing doesn't really begin to cover it. Because here she is, standing in his empty workshop, wishing he were here to a degree she hasn't had to contend with before. Wanting to make sure he's okay, wanting him by her side for this. Maybe that shouldn't be so surprising, all things considered, but she'd spent so long effectively alone, relying only on herself, that facing the stark reality of how much she's come to rely on Cal, how much she worries for him despite all his capability...

At least she can take some small consolation in the fact that Beedee is sure to be with him right now. Less helpful is the lack of power, which means that she can't try to gauge if he's been here recently by how warm the tools are. If there are any other potential clues here... well, she has no idea, because she's never had to track someone down the mundane way.

In fact, she's starting to realize how much less equipped she is without her magick. That's something else to contend with—later. First, she has to decide what to do next. But if he isn't here in his workshop, then there are any number of places he could be instead, and the city is big enough to require lots of searching—not to mention the risk of them missing each other in the fog.

While waiting here and doing nothing isn't her favorite option, it's probably the best one she has right now, to see if he turns up. More often than not, she comes to his workshop to find him—she just has to hope she will this time too. Sighing, she takes a seat on his little cot, leaning her back against the wall and settling in for a wait.

Half a day, she decides, fixing the timeframe in her mind. Not hard to keep track of when the moon keeps screaming on what seems like an hourly basis. But she'll give him half a day to show up, and then she's going to go look for him, fog be damned.

[out_of_order]

In hindsight maybe he should have left a note. There's a lot of things he hasn't thought about until too far to do so. There's also a lot on his mind. He can't help but dread when the moon might start wailing again. What happened then seemed to be ten times worse than what he'd experienced in the caverns, and the whiplash in going from Force-blind to overflowing was exhausting.

Merrin would thankfully not have to wait half a day. It's little over half an hour before the sounds of footsteps can be heard coming through the workshop doorway. He hadn't come across very many out in the city, Tony being the exception as the two had set out together with the initial intent of restoring the network. Cal hopes the absence of others wandering around means they're keeping their heads down or maybe even managed to avoid the storm somehow.

BD-1 precedes him, wandering into the backroom, beeping in surprise before skittering over to the cot where Merrin is. Cal's quick to follow then, upon hearing the droid's excited chatter. "Merrin!" He looks as relieved as he sounds, crossing the space in several strides.

[noch]

Yeah maybe you should've Cal!!

Regardless, she rises to her feet when she hears the door open, cot frame creaking under the sudden shift in weight. Seeing him in the doorway, her relief is instant and palpable—and she moves quickly to meet him halfway, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. There's more relief—because he's real, and not one of the specters calling to her from the fog.

"You're okay." It's part-statement, part-question. Because he looks alright, but... he lost his connection to the Force too. And he has plenty of specters of his own out there. Then she pulls back slightly, just enough to search his face, and adds a little more mulishly, "Where did you go?" She was worried!

[out_of_order]

Come to think of it, do the Nightsisters even write in Basic? Note writing might have been a whole new complication they hadn't thought of.

Suddenly Merrin is there in his arms, and he hugs her back in turn, just as much a confirmation that there are no phantoms between them. He looks just a little tired, but with the Force out of reach, he's been as taut as a bowstring since the storm had first made itself apparent, feeling like he has to always be on the alert, all the more so when out in the city.

"Looking for others. Looking for you." Cal reaches up, brushing the side of her face and the bangs that fall there. "It's different than the other times, this storm. Some might not realize what it is. Are you all right? You weren't waiting long, were you? I tried to make sure to come back and see if you'd come here, in between looking through the other city sectors."