EyeUser: Arribacca
Message: 020513

The next fight’s winner has a guaranteed spot in the semi-final, and I am matched up against an Amanin martial artist. We stand at either end of the pit, he appears calm – a contrast to my previous opponents. Although quite tall at standing height, the Amani’s legs are actually fairly short. As the bell rings he immediately drops and curls into a ball, charging me from across the pit – with little time to get into defensive position, the Amani knocks me back into the wall. Impressive. While his initial attack was strong, his hand to hand combat is not as powerful. After a series of blows I manage to step behind him and elbow him back into the wall – he does not get up. Victory is mine.

These fighters have been hitting hard, and while the adrenaline may have been softening the blows for me during the fights, I am starting to feel the aftermath of the hits now that I am not in the pit. At most I have two fights to go before the end, it is time for the semi-final.

Entering the arena slightly bruised, I see before me a Mantellian Savrip – an impressively large beast. The crowd is roaring, they are looking forward to one of us going down – I must not let that be me. The Savrip approaches slowly meeting me halfway in the pit, lucky for me his attacks are just as slow and I am able to evade most of his attacks – the impact of his giant arms hitting the ground where I once stood shakes the earth around me. His natural armour is not easy to penetrate, and his ability to react to my movement is very impressive. It is a lengthy battle in which he throws me around the arena quite a number of times, but my elbow finally penetrates his neck, bringing him to a crawl, allowing me to deliver the victory blow. My body tingles and feels numb from the adrenaline – I bow and head back to the locker room.

As the sound of the crowd and adrenaline subside, my head begins to spin slightly – I lie down and rest. I close my eyes and fully relax my body. Darkness. Peace. Serenity. I sense my body’s natural chemicals attending to every injured muscle around my body – a warm sensation. My rest is suddenly interrupted by a presence in the room, at first I assume it is grandmaster Worgf, it certainly is too quiet for it to be technician Manco. I sleepily open my eyes to find the figure of Black Claw standing only meters from my bed. My body tenses for a moment, but I notice his body language is not aggressive. What is he doing here? All I can think of at this moment is how much rest my body needs before the next fight.

“What do you want?” I ask him as I rest my eyes once more. If he wanted to attack me he could have easily done it moments ago, I can sense he has something to say, but his timing is not great – for I am really in no mood. I have to stay focused on the tournament. Despite my obvious uninterested tone, he proceeds to tell me a story about some mobster named Gatto Nix – a slaver on the Twi’lek homeworld of Ryloth. Without much choice in the matter, I half listen to his tale, which mostly sounds like an attempt to justify the wrong doings of the gangster against the enslaved Twi’leks. While the story does sound interesting, something perhaps to learn more about in the future, I find myself wondering why he would share this with me now. My seemingly lack of interest prompts him to leave, to which I am glad – as I have only a short while before the final fight of the tournament begins.

This is it. The final showdown. While I have never met my opponent before, I am no stranger to his reputation. Iza Ghuul. A brutal and dirty fighter. Here we stand facing each other, the crowd giving us a sensational welcome to the arena, and for one of us they will give a heroic ovation. We stare each other down and with a ring of the bell, the final match begins. A burst of adrenaline shoots through my body as we both hover towards each other, eyes locked, I feel myself clenching my fists perhaps a little too tight. But it pays off, as he makes the first attack leaping foot first through the air at me, I bring my arms up and push back his kick with a forward lunge. He seems a little shocked and for a split second I see him struggle to regain his footing – without hesitation I continue my lunge with a series of deceivingly soft strikes followed by a quick hard elbow to his side throwing him to the ground. That was a great move Arri, and the crowd knows it, the noise level more than doubles.

The fact that I noticed the crowd’s response was perhaps the first tell that sometime was not right – I should only be focused on one thing; Iza. I try and bring myself down on his prone position, but he is able to fight me off with footwork even at his apparent disadvantage. My continued attempts to strike at him when he is down prove unsuccessful, and somewhat frustrating – something he had clearly noticed in my form, and subsequently reacted to with a well timed scissor kick which sent me crashing to the ground beside him. Again I could hear the crowd burst into a roar, again wishing I had not. We both know the first one to get back up will attain a great advantage over the other. For what seems like forever, we both brawl with each other on our sides, each trying to get up while at the same time making sure the other’s attempt is not successful. His feet catch my arms in a series of precise blocks, until he suddenly uses one of my attacks to push himself away from me and in a split second, he flips himself up into standing position again.

I use the moment to try and get myself up but in a burst of speed he moves in and strikes me down back into prone position. My head bounces off the ground and as I look back up to check his position, it is already too late. He has already come in to follow through with a second swing, and the last thing I remember is the crowd’s immense roar and then… silence. Darkness. Peace. Serenity.

EyeUser: Arribacca
Message: 180413

Technician Manco and grandmaster Worgf wait with me in the GOMA locker rooms; the Jawa paces up and down while grandmaster remains silent by my side. An announcement comes through calling all fighters to the main arena. I find myself standing in a circle with all the other combatants, as the organisers perform a ritual commemorating the start of the tournament. I do not recognise any of the fighters, but I do spot Madame Khorash in the crowd – and she gives me a glance.

We are sent back to the locker rooms to wait for the pairing of fighters. The crowd is really getting into it, the whole place vibrates from the stomps and shouts. After half an hour of waiting an injured fighter is carried in through the area – the first match had finished. I hear my name being called on the speakers, it is time. I bow to grandmaster and head out to the pit.

Out here the crowd is more deafening than I expected, I let it drown out into background white noise as my opponent steps out onto the arena. A Bith boxer hops around swinging short jabs into the air in front of him. It looks like an act more than anything else, but I should not underestimate him. The bell rings and we both pace towards each other. I take a few swings at him but he seems to dodge them with ease. Thankfully I am able to keep him in a defensive state, stopping him from swinging back. After some clever footwork I successfully elbow his right arm – I hear a crack and he goes down. The white noise of the crowd amplifiers around the arena – the first fight is mine. I bow to everyone, and just before heading out of the arena, I spot Black Claw in the crowd. I point to him, what a pathetic excuse for a Wookie, then take my leave.

Technician Manco provides some kebabs for us back at the locker room to celebrate – who am I to refuse! But the celebration is short lived, I am soon called out for my second fight. On the other side of the arena stands a female Metahuman martial artist, not as bulky as the last opponent, I am betting she is pretty agile. My assumption was correct, as her swift moves put me in a defensive stance at the very start of the fight. She manages to get me in a stun which I use to my advantage, I stagger up and in one swift motion step around her and elbow her in the back. She is down for the fight, but I am still shaking off that stun she pulled on me. I bow to the crowd and return to the locker room.

I use my time in the locker room to refocus, during that last match I put myself at a disadvantage from the start – the opponents from here on in are only going to get tougher. Focus Arri. I am called for my third fight. One thing this tournament has is variety, on the other side of the arena is a greased up Gamorean wrestler. He appears to be doing some primal alpha ritual dance in an attempt to intimidate me, much like with the first boxer, I try to ignore the pre-battle act he is putting on – but for some reason I cannot. Perhaps from the adrenaline built up over the last two fights, I retaliate by parodying his dance back to him, at which the crowd goes crazy – and so does the Gamorean as he rushes at me with rage in his eyes. Blind rage it would appear, as he does not adjust for my side step which positions my elbow in the path of his upper torso – a big thud. His oily body keeps momentum and crashes into the arena wall behind me. The crowd’s noise level confirms my victory. Well played Arri, I was not looking forward to wrestling with that pile of grease.

EyeUser: Arribacca
Message: 040413

Grandmaster Worgf pays us a visit early in the morning, together with pilot Tyr and technician Manco, we sit around and discuss the GOMA. My crew agree to help with my training today, and we all follow the grandmaster out the door. We take turbo lifts deep down into the station, deeper than I have even gone before. We stop at some checkpoint, where grandmaster hands some papers over to a guard – and we are allowed through.

We travel onward and deeper, down some stairs, where the air is beginning to feel thick and humid… and a terrible stench comes through – why has grandmaster brought us down to the sewer works? We hit a sealed door, technician Manco helps us open it. As if the stench could not get any worse, everyone covers their noses and mouths as soon as the door opens. We follow some platforms down as we now walked along a stream of sewerage waste, and hit a slightly larger opening with a larger pool in the middle. Grandmaster Worgf tells everyone to stop, and looks at me.

“Jump in.”

I stare back at him, he does not appear to be jesting. Given the amount of effort it took for us to get all the way down here, I do not think this is a joke – I comply and jump in. The putrid waste reaches my knees. I am not even thinking about the others at this point, simply trying to overcome the smell. After a few minutes it is less intrusive on my senses, and thankfully so – there is a sound and movement from within the murky liquid.

A small head with one eye pops out of the waste – a Dianoga! Technician Manco sees it too, and is quick to fire off a blaster shot. The eye submerges and in-place multiple tentacles splash out of the waste. Two of them grab onto me and pull me down beneath the liquid. I use all my strength to break free, thankfully I am able to fend the tentacles off. I re-emerge from the waste and gasp for air, laser fire echoing behind me. More tentacles appear.

They grab me into the water once again and begin to pull me away. It takes a little longer this time but I free myself from their grasp once again. Behind me I catch a glimpse of my crew mates battling it out with some sort of lizard creature, before noticing the Dianoga trying to swim away. I reach down to grab one of the tentacles beneath the liquid, it jerks and the head pops up again. A blaster shot flies past my shoulder and bounces off the creature. The waste is too slippery, and I lose grip of the tentacle. It swims away. Suddenly, there is silence.

Grandmaster Worgf calls out that it is over, and that it is time to leave. As I climb out of the pool of waste I can see technician Manco and pilot Tyr keeping their distance. I do not blame them. We stop by the decontamination unit before heading back to our quarters. I briefly speak to grandmaster about Black Claw, a name he has heard, but tells me to focus on the training. He is right, I should not allow myself to get distracted. I have one more test tomorrow morning, he tells me to reflect on today’s events and rest.

The next day we head down to the heart of the Eye, home of the station’s security. We speak to a Captain Ellup, who greets me rather respectfully for someone I have never met. Where as yesterday’s training was a test on my sense of smell, today’s training takes away my sense of sight. I am blindfolded and play a game of tag against a couple of Eye security guards. They are eager to hit me with their batons, but they lack any sense of stealth prowess. Not only are they clumsy but they also perspire under pressure – picking them out is easy enough. After the rather short encounter, we all thank each other and leave.

Grandmaster is pleased with my training, but before I step into the arena tomorrow, he says there is one more task to complete. I fight under my name, but I need an emblem – a symbol to fight under. Once this symbol is created, I will be ready to compete. It takes the rest of the day to complete, and is quite therapeutic after the week’s physical training, but I come up with something I am happy with. With my emblem complete, I retire to my bed, for my final rest before the tournament.

EyeUser: Arribacca
Message: 280313

I wake up to see a message has arrived from Grandmaster Worgf – today’s training is at the public gymnasium. I notice a deposit of 3000 credits into my account as well – a share of profits from the sold off gear we found on the Leviathon. Not a bad start to the day.

The gymnasium is fairly quiet, and I am able to find some equipment to help me aid my Wrruushi training. Hours pass as I practise my techniques, Grandmaster Worgf half looking on, half in a meditative trance of his own. It is perhaps mid-afternoon when somebody approaches the Grandmaster – it is Hagan, the livestock merchant. I continue my practising while they speak, and when they finish, Grandmaster stops me and tells me to follow.

We leave the gymnasium and follow Hagan to one of his livestock sheds. The smell here is very strong and not very pleasant, but then perhaps my perspired fur after the gym session is not that much better. Everyone stops in front of a small bay with big quadrupedal creature inside. Grandmaster turns to me.

“Final task for the day. Get this animal to the back of it’s pen.” He turns to watch the creature. I look around for some food and try to feed it, but the creature sneezes sending the food flying everywhere – I am sure I hear Hagan chuckle from behind me. Perhaps I can ride it. Much to everyone’s surprise I lift myself up onto the creature. I attempt to control it, and the creature actually begins to move backwards, but alas it stops short. Stubborn thing this one.

Enough playing around. I step in front of the creature and softly put my hands up against its’ front – and then begin to push. There is some resistance at first, but the creature complies and takes the few final steps to the end of the pen. Grandmaster seems pleased, not just for the success, but for my various approaches to the task. He says training will continue tomorrow, and that I should rest.

As I make my way back to my quarters I spot a familiar figure in the market place crowd – Black Claw. Here for GOMA perhaps? That does not sound like something someone of his character would enter. With him, once again, is that trandoshan Org – from the Firecracker crew. How is he connected to Black Claw? Friend Vrinko knows Captain Talia quite well, I think I should speak to him about this.

I find friend Vrinko at his fancy apartment and mention my sighting of Black Claw and Org, I tell him I worry about Org’s involvement with that wookie, and perhaps even Talia’s safety. Friend Vrinko says he will have a word to her, but also brings up a good point about Black Claw – why is he here? Is Grandmaster Worgf safe? Leaving friend Vrinko’s place I attempt to track down the Grandmaster but he is not at his apartment. I leave a message at the front desk. I guess I will speak with him tomorrow. For now though, I can feel my muscles becoming tight, which means it is probably a good time to rest. I head back to my quarters.

EyeUser: Arribacca
Message: 140313

I meet Grandmaster Worgf in a garden a short walk from the market district, a surprisingly calm and comforting place – I should come here more often. After a small chat we make our way down to the Hive, where he leads me to a semi-secluded location.

“This is where your training begins.” he points up towards the darkness. “You must climb to the top. When you do, you will find yourself at the food market.” Sounds simple enough. “Oh and one more thing…” he claps his hands and three humanoid figures appear around us. “You must focus on your goal, and not give in to distraction.” With a bow he disappears back the way we came in.

The three figures are dressed in technician uniforms and with a blink of the eye, disappear into the darkness. I begin scaling the wall, the external pipes and fuse boxes making it quite easy actually. All is well until one of the technicians from earlier, appears up above me! How did he move so fast ahead? I cautiously keep climbing and as half expected, the technician leaps and jumps on my back – so this is the Grandmaster’s idea of a distraction? Another technician starts throwing objects at me from somewhere above – it is hard to tell where from, as the one on my back decides to cover my eyes with his hands. I do my best to remain focused, and continue my ascend.

The climb to the top is successful, however not without some disruptions. Grandmaster’s technicians made sure to keep the climb an interesting one, admittedly they were quick and cunning, utilising all they could find to try and stop me – including slippery oil! As successful as I was, I did feel my focus drop at one point during the climb, where I repelled one of the technicians off me quite forcefully. I confess this to the Grandmaster, with whom I am now sharing a kebab with in the market place, he nods, but still appears impressed at my result.

Grandmaster tells me to rest and prepare for another day of training tomorrow. As he leaves, I notice someone spying on me in the market place, so obviously that perhaps he wants to be seen? Or maybe he is that bad – he has a camera pointing at me in full view. I get up and order another kebab, not for myself though. I approach the spying man at his table, who appears to be in shock as I stand before him now, place the kebab down in front of him, bow, and leave. Time to rest.

EyeUser: Vrinko Dash
Log Entry: 010825

My return to Leveth was punctuated by the fortress of the intruder exploding in a giant ball of fire.

She seemed pleased.

We started to negotiate the terms of my reward.

I would gain the ability to control the ship. An entire Capital ship would be mine!
I would keep my free will and be able to leave the ship when I wanted.
She said that she would also be able to train me further in the Force.

All I would need to do would be to act as her host.

I thought of my master as he slipped into madness on Coruscant.
I thought of the Witch as he lived in his own filth, not even remembering who he was.
I thought of the Jedi intruder, fighting a hopeless battle, without reason, also not remembering his past.

Far better to spend what time I had left, gaining what power I could.

I agreed to Leveth’s offer and accepted her into my mind.

I felt some pain, but was filled with strong emotions and a sense of… power.

I suddenly found myself back in the crystal room. Talking to Leveth in my mind I sat on the control chair and was able to feel the expanse of the ship and how I could control it.
Leveth told me that the first thing I had to do, before we could start getting the ship back online was to do with the Witch. I had to deal with him.

I contacted my former crewmates and they were able to locate the Witchs life signs. I talked briefly with Leveth and she shut all the bulkhead doors between their position and where the Witch was, and she opened all the ones for me. With a last warning to the Gambit crew that the Witch has gone mad and was trying to destroy the ship, I made my way to his position.

Found myself in a darkened barracks room, the Witch huddled in a corner, crying.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, the glimmers of sanity had faded and he was a mad man again. I moved towards him, trying to calm him down when he started yelling at me. He levitated one of the steel bunks in the room and hurled it at me, I dodged aside and ignite my lightsabre, just in time to see him pick up a broken metal strut and start swinging at me.
I parried and he attacked me blind with rage, I hesitated for the briefest of instants before sweeping my light sabre across him.

As the light faded from his eyes I had another vision.
The witch as a young man boarded the Leviathon with his commando team.
They fought their way to the bridge where he faced the dark robed figure in the crystal room and there he found something he wasn’t expecting.

Was the intruder in the crystal part of the Witch’s mind, left behind to fight Leveth?

I’ll never know his story.

As he passed I felt a wave of cold anger surge through me, leaving me with a dark emptiness inside.

I quickly leaned forward and grabbed the crystal shard from within his robe as the Gambit crew arrived. I explained that he attacked me and that there was nothing I could do. Ari seemed to sense something, but shook his head and Manco looked at me askance, but let it lie.

It was time to go.

I told the crew that there was something I had to pick up and that I would meet them on the Gambit. While back at the control room I told Leveth to move the ship, and she assured me that she could contact me through the crystal as required.

I took one last look around the ship…my ship… and took my leave.

EyeUser: Arribacca
Message: 280213

Glad to be off that thing – that ship. We managed to collect quite a bit of cargo, but there was something ominous about that place. Friend Vrinko had disappeared with the Witch for most of the time onboard, and when we had finally reconvened, the Witch was sliced in half – at the hand of friend Vrinko. He acted in self-defence after being provoked he said, but the rest of us were not able to make it to them in time.

I escorted friend Vrinko back to the ship’s control room while the others returned to the Gambit to prep departure. The control room glittered with crystals, with a giant red crystal pulsing in the middle. Friend Vrinko mentioned something about the previous owner of this ship, but my mind was fixated on the pulsing crystal. Whatever darkness haunted this ship, it felt the strongest here. A deep hum began to sound louder and louder…

“Let’s go.”

Friend Vrinko snapped me out of my gaze and the hum almost all but disappeared. It was time to leave.

On our flight back to the Eye, we learnt that the ship we had been on was the Leviathan, an experimental Sith battle ship – that would certainly explain a bit. The Witch left his backpack here on the ship, I decide to have a look through before throwing it out, mostly rubbish expect for a piece of paper… a pamphlet for some sort of fighting competition – taking place back on the Eye. Interesting. It is called GOMA, the Galactic Open Martial Arts tournament.

Once we get to the Eye it is hard not to notice all the hype this GOMA tournament is receiving. We spot Areena Tana interviewing someone with a very large and strong build with GOMA banners all around. Technician Manco is very excited about this event – or rather, he seems very excited about getting me to participate – even friend Vrinko strokes his chin at the concept. All the promotions and hype seem to be working, as we all end up heading to the Octagon to register me into the competition. A great way to keep my mind off the gloomy adventure on that Sith ship.

And as if not enough surprises had made their rounds this day, upon returning to my quarters I am met with an elder Wookie. A Wrruushi grand master named Worgf – and he wishes to help me prepare for the tournament. I am as humbled as I am speechless.

EyeUser: Vrinko Dash
Log Entry: 010824

There was a moment of disorientation and then I found myself standing in one of the corridors of the ship.

Well not quite the ship.
It looked, newer, cleaner. I saw a robed figure disappear around a distant corner and followed. I suspected we were heading towards the bridge, though no matter how fast I moved the robed figure was always at the next corner. When I got to the bridge I stopped. Everything was working and there were people manning the consoles.
Well not quite people. They moved stiffly and seemed hollow somehow. I moved passed them, and no one tried to stop me.

Out the view port there was a battle raging. Fighters and transports like those we found in the hanger were engaging in an all-out war. IN the distance I could see what looked like a stone fortress though it was hard to tell.

Heading down the stairs again I walked into the crystal chamber and there, seated on the thrown was the robed figure. A human female.

She introduced herself as Leveth. She told me of the ship, of the crystal that was the Heart of the ship, the Crucible. She told me that one person could control the entire ship from the Throne.

And all that they needed to do was to act as her host.
That didn’t sound too appealing, though maybe there was a way to control the ship and her…
She required my help first though. There was an intruder in here who was battling her for control of the Crucible. I said I’d take care of it.

We walked back up to the bridge. There I focused my will on changing this hollow world I found myself in, by imagining a bulkhead door leading to a balcony on the side of the ship. It took some effort, but it appeared. Leveth seemed impressed, and I exited to the balcony.
Once there I had a hard time working out how to get to the fortress. I imagined a taxi from Coruscant appearing, to no avail. This balcony was actually pretty high off the ground. I wandered what would happen if I died in here…

I then had a thought that the more appropriate the change to this place, the easier it would be. I focused my will and one of the scout ships broke off from the battle and came down to pick me up.

I got in and gave orders to fly to the fortress and to avoid the other ships as much as possible, the pilots looked at me but set course. As we flew away I looked back and saw that Leveth was not in a version of her ship, but a fortress made to resemble it.
Halfway there I focused my will again and transformed the scout ship into one that the Intruder was using. There was a shimmer of matter and then we continued through the battle hidden as an enemy ship.

As we got closer to the Intruders fortress I could see that it did indeed look to be made of stone, and looked old. We were contacted by radio and I responded that I was from outside the crystal and wanted to talk to whoever was in charge. There was some consternation, though they eventually let us land in their docking bay. After docking I exited the ship and told the pilots to wait until my return. There were quite a few soldiers waiting for me, who acted the same as those in Leveths fortress, and they asked for my weapons. Fools. I gladly obliged and they escorted me to a meeting room. Once there I sat and focused my will again, and my lightsaber returned to my hip.

After a moderate wait, a robed, moustachioed figure with a lightsaber and blaster pistol entered the room, flanked by six armed commandos. He looked exactly like the holoprojection back on the ship. He asked who I was, and I told him. I was Vrinko Dash, from the real world who has entered the crystal on the ship. He didn’t seem to understand. He said his name was Orlando and asked what I wanted. I told him I was sent to talk. He told me he was trying to stop Leveth from spreading evil but he was losing this battle. In a year or two he’d be out of resources. He started to get angry and demanded who I was again. I tried to jog his memory by concentrating and creating a bust of the Witch, to see if he remembered him.
He reacted, but was still not sure. Strangely by seeing the Witch and Orlando’s faces side by side, I could see that there was a strong resemblance there. The Witch looked like an older version of Orlando. They could have been the same person, but my guess was they were brothers.

He had nothing for me; he couldn’t even remember who he was or why he was here. And he was losing the battle.

I reached under the table to my lightsaber and started to prepare myself for battle. One of the commando warned Orlando that I was armed, I’d forgotten about those puppets. Orlando only had a brief moment to wonder out loud how that could be when I focused my will again and walled off our side of the meeting room from the commandos with two bulkheads. I stood up, trying to delay Orlando so that I could be ready for battle, but he attacked.

He drew his lightsaber and attacked. He stunned me momentarily before I could ignite my own blade and then we started to trade blows. He was good, and no matter what I did he was able to block every strike. He paused for a second, then the walls I had constructed disappeared.
‘Kill him’, he cried and the commandos opened fire.

I parried and deflected every shot, taking out one of the commandos in the process. I couldn’t last long though, so focusing on a single strike I lashed out at Orlando.

And struck his head from his shoulders.

As I had thought the commandos stopped what they were doing and stared blankly around. I put away my lightsaber, just as the Fortress gave a mighty heave, it began to break apart.
I made my way back to the docking bay and hopped back into the scout ship.
‘Get us out of here!’ I cried and we flew out of the collapsing stone fortress and made our way back to Leveth.

For my reward.

EyeUser: Vrinko Dash
Log Entry: 010823

The Witch and I went down the stairs to where the power source was located. It was also where the centre of Dark Force was emanating from.
We came to a doorway, which was covered by a red force field. There was no sign of a control panel, but reaching out with my senses it felt like it was being powered by the Force. I held out my hand in an attempt to disrupt the flow of energy and was able to weaken it long enough for the Witch and I to pass through.
Inside was a large round room bathed in crimson light. In the centre of the room was a pedestal on which a large geode of red crystals pulsed with a blood red intensity. There seemed to be a holoprojection of a robed, seated figure near the crystal, its bright blue intensity sharply contrasting with the crystals light.
Overlooking this was a small platform on which a vague outline of a throne-like chair covered with another stronger Force-Shield. And on this throne sat a robed figure.
I sent out my feelings, trying to determine if there were any other life forms in the room. There was, though not the seated figure, but the crystal itself.
I walked up to the crystal and transparent shards crunched beneath my armoured feet, it looks like the crystal had been damaged.
The Holoprojection was remarkably clear and crisp, although it did not respond to any of my commands.
As I approached the throne the Witch started to lose it again and had a far away look in his eyes. He was holding his crystal and it looked to be a perfect match, a missing shard of the larger object.
The figure on the Throne seemed to be still and I reached out to try and disrupt this barrier as I had the last. It took a little while though I finally managed to lower it slightly. I reach in and drew back the hood on the figure, only to be greeted by a cadaverous smile. This, possibly human female, had been dead a long time. I reached in again to search their remains and managed to find a light sabre. It looked quite old and when I switched it on, it didn’t work. Still maybe Manko could get it working.
That’s when I heard the voice.
A female voice asking for help.
I looked around and tried to focus my feelings and could hear her voice more clearly. She wanted my help. In return for power.
I sent the Witch out of the room to get the others, he could pass through the Force Field at will it seems, maybe because he has the shard. He could not bring the others in though. They left to explore more of the ship and the Witch didn’t come back in. I was able to converse more freely with the voice and she told me that we could talk more easily face to face. It took me a moment to understand what she meant. I then reached out a hand to the large collection of crimson facets and the room disappeared around me.

EyeUser: Arribacca
Message: 310113

An interesting start to the mission; we do not actually know where we are going. Everyone is on-board the ship, and the Witch and friend Vrinko both ‘meditate’ to try and find our destination – they also decide to do this right in the middle of the cockpit with some glowing rock between them. I share some awkward looks with the rest of the crew – at one point NAN-3 walks in only to turn around and leave after a quick analysis of the situation.

Finally they emerge from their trance, and judging by the manic reaction the Witch has upon waking up, they have the co-ordinates we need. While pilot Tyr punches in the numbers, friend Vrinko takes me to the side and tells me to keep an eye out on the Witch who he says can be a bit unpredictable. I nod in agreement. Although, I am not so sure the Witch is the only one I should be keeping an eye on during this trip.

The journey is not very eventful. Our strange guest makes a bit of a mess here and there, seems like more of a threat to himself than anyone else to be honest. After about three days of travel we come out of hyperspace, I rush over to join the others in the cockpit only to see… nothing. Empty space. Pilot Tyr does a scan of the area but finds nothing, meanwhile the Witch and friend Vrinko enter another trance inside the crammed cockpit. I think I hear technician Manco sigh.

Suddenly the Witch snaps out of his trance and points eagerly into the empty space in front of us. As pilot Tyr begins to fly around, I let the crew know I will man the turret – if only to get out of this room for the time being. Friend Vrinko does so too. I get into the turret seat and my heart skips a beat as I see an enormous ship right in front of us – where did that come from? Perhaps the Witch is not as crazy as he appears. An interesting exterior design of this capital sized vessel, not like any I have seen before.

We fly around looking for an entrance, there are some closed hangar doors – but we need to manually open them from the control panel on the ship’s exterior. Technician Manco suits up and does the job, the doors do not fully extend however – the Gambit can barely clear the entrance. As great a pilot as we have, both friend Vrinko and myself decide to exit the turrets before we fly in – just in case. A dark hangar bay with floating ships and debris awaits us inside. Technician Manco once again swims through space to find a way to get power going inside this capital ship. IC4U follows him out to do some recording.

He gets a bit of a shock when a lifeless corpse bumps into him while slicing a control panel, but eventually gets the environmental and atmosphere systems turned on. Another startling moment for the whole crew as the ships and debris once floating inside the bay suddenly come crashing down as gravity takes effect. Unfazed, the Witch exits the Gambit and walks up to a door leading further into the capital ship. We grab some suits from a nearby supply room, I find a grenade which I take, and begin to make our way to the bridge room.

We come across many bodies with odd insignias, which technician Manco identifies as an old republic symbol, lying through-out the rooms of the ship. This place feels like it has been abandoned for decades. The Witch seems to be leading the way, staying ahead of the group and stopping only for locked doors. Both him and friend Vrinko seem on edge. We make it to the bridge room door and suddenly a strange sensation falls over me, I cannot describe it, a presence I feel but cannot see. Both the Witch and friend Vrinko must feel it too, because they both pause at that exact moment. Technician Manco asks openly what is going on, but no one responds. We open the door and head into the bridge room.

It looks like a pretty ordinary bridge room, circular with a staircase going up and down near the centre. The room is littered with corpses however, more than in any other room we have seen thus far. Instinctively I collect all weapons lying around and place them on our hover cart. Friend Vrinko and his strange friend head downstairs, the others head up. I hesitate – and follow the crew upstairs.

The room has more control panels than I am used to seeing, technician Manco jumps between them for a while then settles on one with a monitor nearby. He brings up detailed floor plans of the ship. Pilot Tyr thinks out loud looking for some sort of cargo hold or supply area, hoping to find something of value to loot. I feel more determined to find out what happened on this ship, its history – and those answers I would probably find through the ship captain’s logs. I note the location of the captain’s quarters on the floor plans and begin to head back down to the bridge room.

Pilot Tyr and technician Manco follow me down and as I am about to head back through the corridors to the captain’s quarters, Tyr calls out asking if we should check on friend Vrinko. I look back at the staircase and hesitate. I remember the strange sensation I felt just outside the bridge room earlier. I also remember promising friend Vrinko I would keep an eye out on the Witch – and more importantly, told myself I would watch over friend Vrinko as well. Yes. Yes we should. I lead the others down the staircase.