01 | video + action

[ontrial]

Who: Barriss + OPEN
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Marsiva
When: July 6, later

[ for all she really doesn't appreciate waking up somewhere entirely unknown, barriss handles it well. she checks for her lightsaber, then for any lingering effects of being drugged, and then for communication devices. ah. making sure it's not broadcasting, just in case, the green jedi spends her first few hours aboard the marsiva investigating what she can. it's not much, but methodically going through everything she can access makes her feel a little bit better, at least. she's solitary, for the most part, unless eye contact is made, as soon as it becomes apparent that none of these people are her captors.

nope, all kidnappees here.

it's only once she's established that that barriss goes back to the network, presenting herself for a clearly carefully worded message. ]

At this point, it's quite apparent that we're nowhere near the planet I was last on. In fact, this isn't known space to me. [ she sounds like that's a big deal. she may or may not have a good handful of star charts from home memorized, just in case. ] So we're captive, but why?

And more importantly, who does a person have to negotiate with to get back to Republic space?

[ she's pretty sure she can kick their ass if it means getting back to coruscant, she means. ]

Comments

video;

[forcesensitive]

[Something about this new arrival catches Finn's attention, and when she mentions "Republic space" it clicks for him. Someone else from their galaxy! So he clicks on the video feed, showing him with what looks like a forest in the background.]

If I knew that, I'd catch the first ship headed out there. But apparently, we get too far from the Marsiva and it teleports us right back, so we're stuck for now.

[ontrial]

Teleportation technology?

[ barriss looks part baffled, part impressed. and then she inhales and it's back to looking relatively neutral. ]

I guess that would explain how I got here. We got here, I suppose, by the sound of it. Are there natives to this galaxy?

[forcesensitive]

Seems like, yeah. Don't know if you can see it from the viewing platform up there, but we're in orbit around an inhabited planet right now. Most of the Fleet is down here on shore leave cause we just got out of three weeks in deep space.

[He pans the camera over to show a row of shops built around or into the trees and lots of happy, humanoid residents.]

[ontrial]

Oh. [ the planet had been spotted, but with no frame of reference for what it was, she hadn't thought much of it. ]

How thoughtful of our... hosts. Those people seem peaceful. Do they have anything to do with why we're part of this fleet, or are they just citizens minding their own business?

[forcesensitive]

Minding their own business. They've never even heard of us or the Atroma--the people who claim to be in charge. But we're probably in a densely populated sector or on a trade route, because they're used to travelers here.

As for why? [He shrugs eloquently.] The cover story is we're on some kind of holodrama, and nothing really contradicts it.

[ontrial]

I see.

[ and she needs a moment to process that, sorting through a few more sharp responses before she picks a reasonable one. ]

I thought a person had to be asked if they wanted to be on a holodrama. This seems more like bizarre news coverage.

[forcesensitive]

[Finn make a rude noise.]

They're not exactly big on consent with us.

[ video ]

[beardstrokes]

[ Oh. Well. This has the possibility of being potentially awkward. Still . . . he squints at the screen. She doesn't seem like the girl who blew up the Temple. Granted, that's what made it so hard to believe to begin with. Though his feelings on Barriss were not as complex as Ahsoka's or bitter like Anakin's. For him, Barriss represents his fight with the Council and those long hours of trying to convince them of innocence.

He sighs. Anakin would not be pleased and Obi-Wan had a sinking feeling he would be playing damage control once more. ]

Hello Barriss.

[ontrial]

[ she's starting to feel her conflicts with the jedi order weighing on her, yes, but they're still carefully guarded- as carefully guarded as they will be until anakin corners her, admittedly, but she's not to the point of needing to act on them yet. so obi-wan kenobi is still a good thing to barriss, a symbol of good that she would trust nearly as much as she would trust her own master. ]

Master Kenobi. [ a nod of her head stands in for her usual curtsey of greeting. ] I hope it wouldn't be rude of me to say that I'm glad I wasn't the only Jedi brought here.

[beardstrokes]

[ He tilts his head lightly in acknowledgement. Everything seemed fine . . . which means she came from an earlier time. ]

I think that's a reasonable sentiment considering the circumstances we find ourselves in. Are you all right?

[ontrial]

I am, now that I'm starting to wrap my head around this whole Fleet business. And yourself?

[ yes, this is more reassuring than anything. kenobi is stable, always, in her mind. and stable is good. ]

[beardstrokes]

I'm handling it. Better than most.

[ Ahsoka thrives. Anakin flounders. And Obi-Wan does what he's always done, keep the peace. While he has made small personal allowances with the depth of knowledge he know possesses of the future, he hasn't changed all that much. ]

You won't have to stay on the ship for very long at least. And there's a decent planet worth exploring.

[ He pauses, realizing that it sounds odd phrased like that. Like a vacation. Jedi don't have vacations. He lets it lie for now. ]

[ontrial]

Yes, so I've heard. Shore leave.

[ if she says it like finn did, like the clones would, then it's just another war thing and it's not really vacation. another war thing, they can handle. ]

I'm glad to hear you're doing well, though, Master. Even if you... [ ah, what's the word choice? ] Even if the situation is a tough one.

[ownassets]

There are different spaces?

[ontrial]

Well, yes.

[ in so many ways, now that it's apparent she's out of the galaxy that she knows. and if there are other times and other galaxies, that just adds a layer of complexity to it that barriss is still wrapping her head around. ]

But in this case in can also a colloquialism for what body of power controls planets and trade routes in a given system or larger sector of space.

[ownassets]

And the Republic control the one you're from?

[ontrial]

Yes. The Galactic Republic is a multi-planetary governmental body structured to, in theory, work in the best interests of all the many planets it represents, while permitting them to keep a large degree of autonomy. The Jedi Order, of which I am a member, has served the Republic as peacekeepers for as long as it's existed.

[ownassets]

Does it do that? Work in everyone's best interests?

[ontrial]

No, it does not. But it deludes itself quite well.

[frigidaire]

Yeah it'd be nice to know that stuff but none of us do. We're just here to be on some space TV show we know nothing about. People come and go but it's not like it's ever explained. So, uh, yeah. Welcome. It's pretty weird here.

[ Sorry for the sassy teenager. ]

[ontrial]

Thank you for the welcome.

[ this terribly-serious teenager doesn't drain her sass reserve often, so she has some stored up: ] I'm glad to know we're all in such high spirits here.

[frigidaire]

Uh, I mean it's the truth. No one really knows anything. I've been here a long time, too.

[ Isaac shrugs, almost like he hadn't registered her sass. He's not he sharpest tool in the shed. ] It's kind of creepy how they know everything about us but we don't know much about them. I mean, it's pretty weird.

[ontrial]

That tends to be the way with captors, unfortunately. It's part of having - and keeping - the upper hand. [ but kidnapping philosophy is probably not the best topic for anyone right now. ]

When you say you've been here a long time, though, just how long are you talking?

[frigidaire]

Uh, like, eight months? Maybe more, I guess, it gets a little blurry here. Especially on the ships. But yeah, I don't even know if they're bad guys or whatever, Atroma. I mean, we get food and travel places and they pay us but. You know. The whole stuck in space thing.

[ Isaac shrugs. ]

[ontrial]

It's not the stuck in space that bothers me, just not knowing where in space. [ and not being in control of where she is in space. just. not being in control in general. that's a little anxiety inducing. ]

But you said eight months or more. Were there people in our situation here before you?