Video [Filtered to people from a galaxy far far away.]

[hadthehighground]

[He was gone for a week. A WEEK. And he comes back to find Anakin an emotional mess and a certain Sith Lord mentioning something about thoughts becoming reality on the network a few days ago. What incredible timing this all had. Considering Anakin's state, he decides it would be a good idea to check in with others who were probably affected.

The filter includes: Anakin, Padme, Leia, Luke, Kanan, Ezra, and Rex.]

It would seem that fate has terrible timing. I just came back from a brief trip overseas, and I see that I missed out on quite an event. Is everyone all right?

My apologies for not being here to help.

Comments

video;

[senateur]

[ Exhaustion has been a close companion of Padmé's since her return home. Usually she hides it well, using makeup and performance skills to cover the signs — she bothers with neither at this moment. ]

I'm not sure that any of us are all right, but we're all still here. That's what matters.

video;

[hadthehighground]

[Seeing her in such a raw state is a bit jarring. He hadn't seen that since... well. Let's not think about that.]

That is what matters.

[Any easy thing to agree to and yet, he can't help but be concerned.]

Can I bring you something? Tea perhaps?

video;

[senateur]

[ It feels like she's rarely in anything but this state anymore, her life taking one harsh turn after another. Her time out in the galaxy should have prepared her for this, but... No, nothing could have prepared her for any of this. ]

I'd like that. When you have the time.

[ She feels and sounds distant, distracted. It's hard to focus after everything that's happened. ]

video;

[hadthehighground]

[A part of him wanted to rush over right at that moment, but he knew what wasn't exactly practical.]

Once I unpack and make sure the kitten is attended to, I'll come.

[And Anakin too, but he's not going to go into Anakin's state at this moment.]

[Text]

[faithfulson]

[ Luke's response is brief, and it's... just a thumbs up emoji. The worst part is even that is a lie, but he's not about to get into everything that happened to him over a communicator. ]

[Text]

[hadthehighground]

[Emojis are weird. Obi-Wan stares at it for a moment. The lack of actual words though is very telling.]

Luke. Would you like to talk? I think it’s about time we did.

[Since they haven’t in awhile. The last time being when he was in the hospital. You can’t hide behind that tiny picture of a dismembered fist with a thumb pointing upwards forever, mister.]

[Text]

[faithfulson]

[ It's a moment before a reply comes, and it's still... really short. ]

sure

[ Yeah, he's not okay. ]

[Text]

[hadthehighground]

[Its something at least.]

Are you at home?

[He will have to juggle things a bit but he is going to go to Luke. Whatever happened here must have been pretty terrible, and he would do what he can to help.]

[Text]

[faithfulson]

[ He's answered by a set of GPS coordinates; not Luke's house, but the crystal cave in Maurita Falls, hidden behind one of the waterfalls. ]

[Text] -> Action

[hadthehighground]

[Ah yes. He knows where that is. Obi-Wan remembers it well.

He doesn’t reply on the comm again. Instead, some time later, the man himself steps behind the waterfall and into the cave. Instantly he feels more at home than anywhere else on this planet. While he couldn’t see them, he could hear the kyber crystals singing through the Force. The presence of the semi sentient stones was a comforting one. It’s no wonder Luke chose to come here.

And speaking of which, Obi-Wan could sense him here. Stepping further in, he called out.]

Luke?

Action

[faithfulson]

[ It's a little hard to see Luke at first; despite the faint glow from the kyber crystal cluster -- which seems a bit bigger than the last time either of them had been here -- the darkness of the cavern and the fact that Luke was wearing black didn't help until he moved. He was curled up on the ground, his head resting against his knees until he moved, looking up at Obi-Wan. ]

Hey.

[ He stood after a moment, revealing he was wearing his clothes from home -- as close to Jedi robes as he had been able to get back home, never mind they were all black. Luke managed to hold his gaze for a moment, before he glanced away, absently rubbing a hand against his side. ]

...sorry, I...

[ He what? Just got off work and got tired of pretending to hold himself together? ]

[Video]

[prophesiedone]

[Where does he begin? He can't form words quite right and he rests his head against his hand, gritting his teeth.]

You couldn't have stopped it.

[Video]

[hadthehighground]

No, I suppose not.

[It seems to be a recurring theme. Being unable to stop the suffering of those he cares for most.]

But I should have been here.

[Video]

[prophesiedone]

Don't add that to everything else, Master. No one knew our dreams would become so...vivid.

[Even the good ones cut deep in his case.]

[Video]

[hadthehighground]

You’re right.

[Despite his feelings, he wasn’t going to argue on this. It wasn’t about him anyway.]

Once I take you to Japan, we can hopefully put all of this behind us.

[Video]

[prophesiedone]

So you settled on Japan? I'll get ready and at least learn proper greetings.

[Diplomacy is a thing even when everything feels chaotic.]

We will.

[Video]

[hadthehighground]

I did. Mount Koya more specifically. That’s where I was to make sure it was suitable, and it is. This is just the place we need.

[Probably the closest thing they could find to a Jedi temple here on earth.]

video;

[kanyounot]

Ugh.

[ Kanan looks tired, scrubbing a hand down over his face. ]

It's for the best you missed out on it. I feel at least partially responsible. I... reluctantly agreed to help out with the little experiment that lead to all this, I feel like I should've tried harder to talk them out of it.

Re: video;

[hadthehighground]

[It probably was fortunate that he missed out on all this, and he knows this. It puts him in a position to help those that were here. Even so, there’s a pang of guilt.]

What happened, exactly? I only saw what the Sith posted.

video;

[kanyounot]

Cassandra - one of my housemates - and some friends of hers are convinced that Atropos poses an existential threat to this world, and they think the only way to prevent this world from ending is to contact Atropos and try to negotiate.

I'm not as convinced, and I pointed out that every time someone tries to contact Atropos or mess with Porter technology, at best the plan fails and at worst a lot of people get hurt. I couldn't talk them out of it, so I offered to help them, to at least try to prevent as much harm as I could.

Anyway, long story short, the plan failed, and people got hurt. We tried to link minds to communicate and all we got out of it was some useless gibberish. Ronan Lynch's powers, I guess, went haywire - as far as I can tell, what the Sith said was true.

video;

[hadthehighground]

I see.

Luke’s own attempt to reach this Atropos was disaster enough. It seems to me that if people are going to keep insisting on contacting it, a better strategy needs to be made. And one that doesn’t include people who have powers that can have such wide ranging effects should something go wrong.

video;

[kanyounot]

I agree, though personally I think the whole thing is best left alone. In my experience, there are some things we're just not meant to comprehend. I'd argue the greatest existential threat to this world is probably ImPorts messing with powers they shouldn't. We upset the balance here more than it already is, and it only causes harm.

video;

[hadthehighground]

Oh yes, I concur. Though as you have already discovered, our opinion is not exactly a popular one. The best we can do is try to mitigate the situation for whatever the majority decides.

[Obi-Wan looks and sounds weary at the very idea. But he is no stranger to managing damage control.]

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[merging]

I'm okay. [Which is true. The dreams were nothing too bad, other than Maul.] But thanks for checking in, Master Kenobi.

video

[hadthehighground]

[Obi-Wan takes a moment to study Ezra through the feed, but doesn't detect any dishonesty. So he assumes that Ezra is indeed telling the truth.]

Of course. I'm glad to hear that you're all right.