SithLore

***Outpost Alpha-832, "Utopia"***
***Location: Classified***

OOC: This thread is for my base but I intend it to be used by any PC looking for some down time/training time. Due to its nature there's a fair bit of isolation, but there's also room for socialization--particularly if you bring your own crew. Just hop in and relax, what we've got is fairly well covered in the following post, if there are any questions message me--additions to the base are possible within reason and funding. Welcome to Utopia!


Rhoden walked down the length of the boarding clamp and stepped out onto the, now completed, base. He walked down the narrow corridor and stepped into a lift. The station--unlike most Imperial construction--was not a stark white, but was a sleek black. The interior was not a forbidding gray but was carpeted and well decorated with potted plants, paneled walls, and more aesthetic lighting.

Rhoden first visited the station operations center at the topmost level. Unlike most of the rest of the station this section lacked the aesthetic touches, the absence of carpet and a harsher lighting. The station personnel gave Rhoden a brief introduction and he proceeded.

Rhoden next gave cursory examinations to the labs and other systems which likewise traded aesthetics for safety and a professional environment. Following Rhoden’s examinations on those decks he took a lift down to the biodomes. Here he walked through the artificial terrain, the stone walkways winding through the trees, the scene suspended at midday through the lighting--despite which the biodome was roofed by transparisteel allowing visitors to gaze up into space. There were even artificial ponds and creeks. Leaving the biodomes Rhoden headed towards one of the holographic facilities--which was now being called a holodeck. Entering he opened a program he had enjoyed when he had the chance to partake in such leisurely activities: The Battle of Hoth. Observing rather than acting for once he watched as the holographic characters moved about firing, the graphical quality was rather good, and the artificial intelligence systems were reasonable. There could be no physical interaction, unfortunately, perhaps that could be remedied at some point. Shutting down the program Rhoden stepped out and met up with Jorvan and Haly, heading for the promenade connecting the main base with the main research facilities.

“It’s really quite beautiful, isn’t it?” Rhoden said, gazing out of the massive window which comprised the wall--the semi-distant galaxy glittering just outside--he brought his hand up and touched the window. Below his feet was a more private viewing area, furniture and droid service for refreshments. The rooms of which could be accessed via a staircase in the middle of the promenade which lead to the lower level, Rhoden thought the rooms would be popular dining spots. “Beautiful doesn’t even begin to cover this.” Haly said softly, “It is a… unique view.” Jorvan said.

Rhoden turned, “Right, we can stargaze later. Let’s finish our little tour.” he said, and he proceeded to the research facilities. Rhoden was too eager to complete the tour and spend some time alone to spend great time in the research facilities but he lingered longer than in other places, for he could not shake off his fascination and respect for the sciences. He took a turbolift back to the main base and headed for his quarters, where he had truly wanted to head from the start of the day.

The door slid quietly open and Rhoden stepped inside. There was a personal kitchen and bar, well stocked indeed. There was a section off of the bar where several droids resided to serve Rhoden in various ways should he call on them. Taking up one wall was a well stocked library of physical books of Rhoden’s personal choice, some were very rare copies of very old books, some were recent books simply printed on paper and bound according to his instructions. The lighting was dim, and there was a large fireplace--unfortunately it did not run on wood--art of various types hung on the walls, sculptures stood on pedestals. Some of the sculptures were replicas, but most came from the Carbine family. The lightsaber which had once resided aboard the Hydra now rested in its own indented area of the wall, the gold swirls glittering slightly in the light of the fire. Another wall was taken up entirely by a massive window, allowing perhaps an even more impressive view of the galaxy. The walls not taken up by books or windows were paneled with polished wood or with fake stone of intricate carving. This room was simply the living area, and adjoining kitchen. Rhoden climbed the small spiral staircase up to the heavy wooden door of the next level and stepped inside. There was a large bed, well adorned, more art, another fireplace, and two more windows. Another door, he knew, led to a well appointed refresher.

There was a door which lead to a small closet-like room, inside of which was yet another door--a proper door--which slid open to reveal his office. There was another door to the room, through which others could enter. A large wooden desk held a terminal and several control panels resided in the walls behind the large leather seat. Two small plants sat to either side of the door, their pots sinking into the thick carpet. Directly across from his office, he knew, was the door which lead to a large conference room. Noddin his satisfaction Rhoden headed back into his quarters and down to the bookshelves, he pulled one off the shelf, and sat in a very large and comfortable chair where he could feel the heat of the fire.

He read for perhaps an hour or so before tiring. He set the book aside and stood, he turned on an old opera and let it play while he gazed out once more at the galaxy, sipping a cup of tea. His thoughts turned to the station, in all its majesty. He was more than grateful for his new position in the Empire, he brought rebel terrorists to justice and he now had a wonderful station from which to operate. He’d made new friends, the other Inferno Squad members, Ms. Mercado, and several of the scientists--Haly. He smiled to himself and returned to the chair, shutting off the opera. He stared into the fire for a few minutes before drifting off to sleep.

He woke with a start, and it was a moment before he realized the cause: his door had chimed. “Enter.” he called. “Rhoden?” Haly’s voice came as she walked into the room. He stood up, a smile playing over his face. “Haly, welcome! What do you think?” he asked walking up to her. She looked around, and a smile spread across her face as well. “I don’t think the Grand Admiral has quarters this nice.” she said quietly. “And books, a fireplace? Someone’s got delusions of grandeur.” she said, she began walking towards one of the bookshelves, dragging Rhoden behind her. She scanned the bookshelf and drug one off of it, Rhoden raised his eyebrows even as she lead him to a chair and pushed him down into it, squeezing in beside him. “The Art of War by Grand Admiral Thrawn?” he asked. She continued to smile even as they opened to book.

They continued to read for several hours, eventually setting the book aside and turning on a holodrama. It got later and Rhoden called for drinks--not tea for once. They fell asleep in the same chair and the droid cleared away the empty glasses and returned the books to their shelves.

Jorvan walked through the corridor. He’d just woken up and was heading for Rhoden’s quarters, they had agreed to run the Battle of Hoth scenario together. He reached the door and pressed the chime, no response. He pressed it again. Rapidly. He pushed a different button, “Computer, command override Jorvan seven-three-nine.” the panel beeped and the door slid open--to reveal another door, this one wooden. Jorvan pushed open the door and walked inside the dark room. “Lights.” he said. The dim room lit up and he walked around to look into the chair. Rhoden and Haly sat leaning against each other, asleep. An evil smile spread across his face as his lungs filled with air in a hiss.

“Commander Rhoden Garrick Carbine, report for duty!” Jorvan bellowed, the yell of a man who had acted as drill sergeant to many a shadowguard and--Rhoden thought--enjoyed the job far too much. “Damn it Jorvan!” he yelled as Haly yelped and jumped out of the chair. Jorvan, clearly holding back from full-on laughter responded, “0900 hours. Time to visit Hoth.” Rhoden continued to curse as Haly stepped to the side, her face growing red. Rhoden paused as he straightened his uniform which he’d not taken off yesterday, “Would you like to join us, Haly?” he asked. Jorvan continued his silent laughter as Haly responded “Y-yes. I’ll go get ready.” she said, exiting quickly and kicking Jorvan in the shin as she passed.

“Computer, run Battle of Hoth program.” Rhoden said, there was a beep in response and the door slid open. Rhoden and Jorvan stepped inside wearing the cold gear of the Rebellion. The door slid open again and Haly stopped short--wearing Snowtrooper armor. “Do I want to know?” she asked. Rhoden snorted, “Overwhelming force can be fun, I like fighting a tough battle.” he said. “Why because you keep running head-first into tough battles outside the holodeck.” Rhoden made a disgusted sound. “Just remember to set that thing on low-power.” he said, indicating her E-11, which only had power up to stun setting. “Maybe.” she responded seriously.

Rhoden and Jorvan walked off to their positions, as did Haly, they couldn’t distinguish her from any of the other Snowtroopers. Rhoden unfroze the program and the distant thud of a massive metal food carried to him. In unison the Rebel forces leapt up and readied their weapons, they began firing. Rhoden heard the distinctive zap as one of the anti-vehicle emplacements fired. Rhoden opened fire and dropped several advancing Snowtroopers, their own fire responding. Rhoden heard the even more distinctive firing of the bases massive ion cannon and heard through his comm, “The first transport is away, the first transport is away.” he cheered with the rest of the troops in the trenches. A cheer which stopped as one of the AT-AT’s fired and collapsed half of the frontmost trench.

Rhoden and Jorvan continued to fire, even as the AT-AT’s rained death down upon them, snowspeeders roared past overhead and began their own assault on the walkers. The AT-ST’s were in range now, and two trenches were lost before one of the few remaining turrets could land a shot. “Fall back! Fall back!” the voice of the Rebel commander came over the comm, “Come on!” Rhoden yelled putting a hand on Jorvan’s shoulder. They scrambled over the back of their trench and began sprinting full tilt for the entrance to the base, as the other rebels scattered in every direction. Rhoden heard the anti-infantry cannons on the massive AT-AT’s fire--heard the screams as several rebels collapsed dead. They made it to the base, and ran down a hallway. It was only a brief time later when another voice came over the comms, “Imperial forces have entered the base, imperial forces have--” Rhoden and Jorvan stopped, looked at each other, and sprinted down another hallway entering a hangar. A YT-1300 roared over their heads and out of the hangar, they watched it go and turned again. Rhoden yelped, Darth Vader stood before him, the black clad figure turned and stared at them. One of the Snowtroopers raised their weapon and shot both of them. The program beeped and the holograms dissolved. Except for the Snowtrooper who had shot them.

Haly removed her helmet and beamed, “Yes! You lost!” she said triumphantly. Rhoden shook off old memories and cleared the skull-like helmet of Darth Vader from his mind. “You caught us by surprise, we’ve never seen this part of the simulation--besides we’d lost as soon as we ran into Lord Vader.” she rolled her eyes and they left the large empty room, taking off their heavy clothes as the environment returned to normal temperatures. “It’s amazing how far holographic technology has come in these past few decades.” Rhoden said. “I know, when we were kids stuff like this didn’t exist--and anything small-scale was just fuzzy distortions of light.” Jorvan said, “I remember playing with holograms when I was little,” Haly said, “They still had some distortion and a blue tint to them.” Rhoden smiled, “Now they look lifelike, and with facilities like the holodeck we can have interactions with them.” he said, shaking his head as if in disbelief.

They entered the mess hall, which was just as finely furnished and decorated as the rest of the station--with a view to match. Rhoden walked up to the counter where a smiling man handed him a plate, “We got good eatin’ today, Mr. Carbine.” he said in a deep, rich voice. He slapped some meat on the plate, followed by a heavily buttered roll, and some kind of vegetable. “Thank you Sevrich.” he said, smiling and heading off for a distant table. Haly and Jorvan followed, sitting down by one of the large windows. “This just seems too good to be true.” Haly said, looking wistfully out at the twinkling galaxy, “It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was just another cadet out there, thrown out into the world.”

Rhoden nodded, “It seems only yesterday that I sat in my comfortable home on Coruscant--my family still together and happy--my friends still alive. The Empire not around, or just getting started.” Haly looked at him, he realized he’d never spoken much about his early life with her, just explained his seeming youth--which he was overjoyed she had accepted without difficulty. “Even Morikin seems… well… not happy, but it came from a better time.” Rhoden said. Jorvan nodded, staring at his plate in deep thought--or perhaps wishing he had gotten some more sauce with his meat.

The rest of the meal passed in a considerably lighter mood, Haly walked off to her quarters and Rhoden walked into Jorvan’s. One wall was lined with pedestals and hooks on the walls, each one filled with items from Jorvan’s past--a large curved blade hung on the wall, a commando droid head rested precariously on a pedestal, several small banners hung from the ceiling. The window in his room, while large, did not take up an entire wall, the bar and kitchen were as extensive as Rhoden’s but lacked the luxurious detail. Rhoden noticed a large and wicked looking knife which appeared to have been warped by something, the blade separated from the grip. Rhoden climbed the stairwell, which was straight and grated, he looked around. The bedroom was not a separate room at all, but simply overlooked the main living area. There were comfortable chairs and couches up here, along with heavy rugs over a wooden floor. Rhoden saw, with a jolt in his stomach, a Shadowguard helmet with very distinct markings rested on a small shelf just above the head of the bed. He swallowed and turned, opening the door to Jorvan’s office. It was a carbon copy of Rhoden’s. He shut the door and turned to Jorvan. “Your room’s a history class.” he said. Jorvan smiled slightly, “I never had your fine taste, and most of the stuff I’ll be using in my off time is set up in other places.” Rhoden nodded.

“I expect to win next time we vacation on Hoth.” he said, shaking his finger at Jorvan “We would’ve won if it weren’t for you!” he replied, “She shot me first, you actually got a chance to respond!” Rhoden said, Jorvan rolled his eyes. Rhoden left the room and headed to the promenade. He spent the rest of the day reading a book on his datapad in one of the private rooms available there, the scent of mint and tea filling the room and sharpening his senses. He returned to his room and collapsed, for the first time, on his silk covered bed. He fell asleep within moments.

Rage had once more entered into her system as she sat in the room that was afforded her. Rhoden had promised that the listening devices were all deactivated, but Belfor had gone through and systematically removed them-- physically. To say her quarters were a mess, would have been an understatement. Belfor did the wash for her, but the bed was often unmade, and the walls had many a hole in them from where the droid had cut the devices out. There was no stench though, for despite the mess, hygiene was not one of Desade's many issues. No, her temper was. She had not received any word on Tarley for two months now, and she was beginning to get anxious. She wanted him gone. She wanted revenge for all he'd done to her, and the man she had, at one time, loved. No, not at one time... she still did. Her hand absently moved over Belfor's chest, touching the leather that had been stitched across him. Deckard died in her arms, and she had done her best to keep him with her. And now there he was, in the guise of a droid. The very tiny part of her mind that was sane wondered how Deckard would have felt to find out that he was being worn by a droid.

"Let us go and blow off some steam, Fear, I need to hurt people, the Grand Admiral would approve of us butchering any foolish enough to get close to Desade, but the Commander may take offense," she told the droid.

"Relief: That is correct, as these are Imperial citizens, they should not come to harm by our hand," the droid told her. Truth was, there was protocols in place in the droid that prevented it from harming Imperials. Just as there were protocols to try and keep Desade on task. She scoffed at the notion.

"And what does the Empire mean to Desade? I am here because the Grand Admiral wishes me to be, i am here because the Grand Admiral is playing a dangerous game with Desade, a knowing pawn, she is eager to see his plans, perhaps his end game, so long as he grants Desade hers," she said. Though there were a few other things she needed to do as well. She had an apprentice now, despite her meager abilities in the Force. But she had learned from a Master in his field. Granted it was just one of those data pyramid things, left, hidden away.. but with that, she had learned how to create something that amazed her.

It had been a few days since their arrival, the base was even fairly quiet. This was an isolated, secret location, no civilians as far as she saw... her path would be taking her toward the holosuites, her head turning to look at Belfor.

"Call my child to me," she offered. Desade was currently in that red dress she liked so much, tight, form fitting, with two long slits on either side to allow for movement, and to show off her long legs, in her hands was a long shaft of metal and decorative bone.

"Of course Mistress," the droid said, activating it's com system.

"Mistress Mora, Mistress Silence would like you to meet with her in the holosuites," came the droid's voice over the intercom nearest Mora.

The Void is quiet, calm, and comforting. The Void allows for dangerous emotions to emerge and to examine them carefully and thoroughly. In the Void the real galaxy is forgotten, troubles, worries, pain - gone.

A spark of terror appears, the Void unfolds it, making it a star, a blanket, a sky. It's interesting. Channels of energy travel along its expanse, swerving around fleeing rocks, gashing canyons, and burning islands. A map of terror itself. What happens, the instincts that kick in, the story. The sky of terror fades, taking all its traits with it, leaving nothing but the Void.

"Mistress Mora, Mistress Silence would like you to meet with her in the holosuites."

Mora's eyes fly open. For one puzzling moment she looks around her, wondering what this place is. That moment passes and Mora's memory returns. This is her room in Utopia, Rhoden's secret base where Desade is going to train her. Mora stretches and gets up from the carpeted floor in her deemed meditation corner. Since settling into Utopia, Mora has tried to adjust to the new luxuries but can't seem to shake her street-living roughness. She's tried to sleep in the bed, which is the most comfortable thing she has ever laid in, but finds it too comfortable and has taken to sleeping on the floor with the sheets over her. She's tried to meditate in a chair, but can't seem to slip into the calm Void and instead meditates in a corner of her room.

Mora walks into the side bathroom and splashes some water on her face. Sometimes while meditating tears escape her eyes when reflecting on certain topics. After drying her face she walks out of her room and up to the holosuites to find Desade in all her beautiful deadliness and her droid companion Fear.

Rhoden walked into his quarters, again humming to himself. It was a rather annoying habit, he thought, but the Other One had taken it up and he couldn't stop doing it. He smacked the side of his head again as though to clear the noise... a futile and frustrated gesture he really should have known would do nothing. In fact he thought the tune had become more prominent in his mind. He sighed.

-Begin Force Sensitivity Application-

Rhoden sat down in his quarters, not on a chair, or on his bed, but on the floor facing the massive window looking out on the galaxy--or whatever artificial image he might chose to show--cross legged. He slowed his breathing and tried for the meditative practices his brother had tried to show him, the ones Desade had told Mora. He opened himself up to what his brother had told him, and felt more at peace than he had in many years. Something clicked in his mind then and he no longer felt as though he was simply sitting in his quarters, he felt connected to the world around him. He felt peace, but also power, and with each beat of his heart he felt his lifeblood flow through him--heart beating away like a wardrum, yet Rhoden sat inexplicably tiny in a new universe. He reached inside of himself, sorting through the shards of himself--his past, his present, and the two conflicting mindsets which vied for power in his mind--and he found a bright spot, a spark, the little piece of himself he’d always denied out-of-hand. He felt it now, and for the first time in many a year there was a tear in his eye--one of great joy. He focused on the light and was disappointed when it vanished but then his vision opened up. It was there before him--the Force, he could only assume--as if a churning mass of water, a depthless ocean. There were objects and voices floating, some could be seen riding the waves as though ships, others turned on the surface, more still lay beneath the water surfacing or sinking further. He didn’t know what it meant, he knew only that it was there. And then a body surfaced, he was shocked and that alone almost ended things for him--it was his mother. He didn’t know if it was his own mind or the Force which brought her image to him but he leaned forward--and smacked his head into the transparisteel window in his quarters.

-End Force Sensitivity Application-
Word Count: 342/100

Rhoden bounced back as the image in his mind popped like a balloon. Cursing and rubbing his forehead with one hand he plunged his knife at the treacherous window--it bounced off without so much as a scratch--and stood. He composed himself and fitted a smile on his face, he walked out of his quarters--he would check up on his new friends.

She looked about her surroundings carefully. The black background, and green grid that ran the length of the room, having given her access may have been a mistake. But she scanned the technology before her, yellow eyes falling upon the terminal on the wall, she began to play around with it, until she got the desired effect. While the terminal didn't vanish, the rest of the room seemed to, resulting in a deep darkness that engulfed the room, stone walls seemed to rise up from the ground, a soft drip echoing in the background. The dark cavern was something she had been meaning to visit, but it was in Sith space, which was currently not something she could reach without Imperial backing. It was a personal mission.

She savored the cold dark, and sat, a soft light flickering off of pools of water, shimmering along the walls. In her lap sat a long shaft of metal and ornate bone. Beside her stood her guardian and protector, Belfor. The droid she referred to as Fear, with his two normal arms, and four spindly appendages giving it an arachnid appearance. Once she heard the door hiss open, letting her know Mora had finally arrived, her eyes opened, revealing the yellow gleam in the darkness, staring at her prize.

"Come, enter... we will begin now, sit and start with that breathing technique we taught you, open your mind and reach out, it is time to take what is yours," her voice purred in the gloom.

The holosuite is cloaked in darkness, stone pillars reaching to the hidden ceiling, and the sound of water drops hitting puddles filling the emptiness. Mora shivers, walking into the center of the cave. She sees two glowing eyes in the darkness and the silhouette of Desade sitting with her droid, Fear, beside her. The sound of her footsteps echos in the room. Mora sits opposite of Desade, facing those eerie yellow eyes.

(Force Sensitivity Start)

Closing her own eyes, she breaths deeply, the familiar calm of the Void replacing the cold cave just like any other meditating session. She hangs there for a moment, basking in the comfort of this meditation world. Then Mora pushes. The Void shrinks and fades away leaving her exposed. Before Mora the world swims with white and dark grey light, she feels the power rushing through everything and now her. The overwhelming sensation makes Mora feel like she is going to explode. Yet that overwhelming power is sustained by a sense of peace, and the ever churning flashes of rage, lust, fear, and dark pleasure. Mora takes a shuddering breath. When she releases it a sense of control enters this swimming mass of grays. The churning slows and seems to hover, surrounding Mora. She is in a cocoon of powerful peace. Her tense body relaxes and her mind clears. A low hum emits from the Force and fills the space once more. The grey ocean rushes back to that head-pounding swirl and all the powerful emotions hit Mora all at once. She gasps and opens her eyes abruptly. Her breathing is ragged and sweat covers her face.

(Force Sensitivity End)

Mora looks up to see those same yellow eyes still staring right into her.

"Power," She swallows the lump in her throat, "flows through everything."

Rhoden entered the area which housed the quarters for Mora and Desade--it was empty. He moved on, taking the turbolifit down to the holosuites. He paused at the door and smiled. He had no illusions about fooling Desade, but perhaps the girl. He keyed the door open--thankfully not even the doors had been bought cheap for Utopia--and it slid open silently.

Rhoden stepped forward in utter silence, vanishing into the convenient shadows of the room. He drew close to Mora and spoke quietly, "Hello again, Mora." he smiled, "Once Desade has finished here dinner should be ready." he gestured back from the way he came. "As you have noticed the station is rather well appointed--we can dine with the others, or we--the three of us that is--can take dinner in one of the private rooms on the promenade. The view is stunning."

She felt Rhoden's entrance, and scowled as he moved to interrupt Mora's meditation.

"Silence doesn't try to achieve peace, but she does ask the Commander to not interrupt while we are learning," she chided.

((Sense Force User - Start))

This was the perfect time for her. As she watched Mora, her brand new apprentice, her eyes focusing solely on her as she delved into the Force for the first time, intentionally. She focused on her essence in the Force, that spark of life, and listened. Studying her for that briefest of pulses. She knew there was a way to detect a Force user, and she was examining the girl now for something that would help her identify the tell tale markers. Something in her essence changing? No, nothing would change, she already had the ability to harness the Force. No, nothing would change, however, it may strengthen.

She closed her eyes and drifted into the Force, touching upon their signatures. Feeling the life emanating off of them, but she pushed deeper. She was intimate with the Force, and now she'd become intimate with these two in a similar fashion. She touched her mind against Mora first, a gentle caress of Dark, foreboding energy-- that was it! She felt a spark of energy that flitted through the Dark, but also touched upon the light. It moved in the space between. Of course, neither of them had taken to the Dark Side.... yet.

She touched upon the spark she had come to love, the Force that flowed through the air, and through all things. She felt it as it weaved in and out of Mora. Her mind touching against that bright spark in her mind. She took note of how the Force wove through Mora, and as she expanded her sense to take in Rhoden, it also passed through him. In her mind she saw it, like a tapestry of light and dark, interwoven with grey. And at each apex, where the strands of sparks met, it pulsed with promise. A small purr escaped her lips as she saw the connections.

She took a deep breath and focused on the shape of the pair before her, the few interactions she had with normal people, had been few, and often resulted in their deaths. How could she differentiate? She had never seen it like this! But then, she'd never seen what Argus or that Hunter looked like either. Her mind wrapped around them in a Dark embrace. She could feel the pulse of power, something yearning to be shaped and allowed to grow. She focused on the pulsing power in Mora at long last, her lips, now painted violet, turned slowly upward, into a small smile.

((Sense Force User - End))

"Excellent, I see you've begun your journey as well, Commander, please, sit... and we'll begin to expand your minds, the Force is much like our eyes, our ears, our fingers and tongue. With it we can see, hear, touch, and taste a myriad of sensations, but like any other muscle, you need to train that... once more, close your eyes, and reach out, don't try to leave this room, but feel the crevices, the nooks, the crannies. Listen to that phantom call, and feel the dark energy all around me, and this room... the caverns this place is modelled after resided on a Sith world, and is teeming with the Dark Side, here... not so much, a shame. The Dark is Silence's friend, but do it, listen.. and reach out--" she purred.

((OOC: Woot! Guess this is fast becoming a training thread, if that's so, you guys can both try for Sense 1! For 400 words, at this level, your power won't be that great, so let's just stick to the room, and learning how to utilize the Force to sense the area around you, that'll also open you up for your first two powers, Sense Force Disturbance and Sense Life (control and alteration only open you up for one power each), we'll have to wait until you've been approved your sense 1 before we can apply for the powers, but we can still get them written up, if you haven't gotten them by the time we get to those posts!))

Mora wipes the sweat off of her forehead and gets her breathing under control.

(Sensing Others Beginning)

She closes her eyes once more. All the feelings of the Force once more slam into Mora like a wall. The rushing wave of grey light is dizzying, the power is head pounding, the peace is relieving. Mora grabs at that sweet moment of calm and wraps it around her. The dizziness goes away along with the pounding head. She breaths a sigh of relief and her whole body relaxes once again. Mora sits in that bubble of peace for a moment, focusing on herself and the relief.

Then Mora opens up her mind to the room around her. It is filled with a current of grey light, sparks of white flash in and out circling black patches like a kid teasing a friend. The whole beauty of it is calming. Mora pushes her focus to Desade. A blanket of dark light encompasses her silhouette, almost sucking the grey and white into it like a black hole. Mora reaches further and waves of cold power flow out. The feel is light and silent. It twirls in the air painting it with dark light streaks. The darkness pulses with emotions. Rage, envy, fear, confidence. Mora notices sparks of pure black dotting the blanket. Focusing on those sparks she can feel the control racing like blood, fueling the whole body. Strands of darkness join together creating thick cords that circle her little bubble of peace. They seem to stab at the bubble, trying to break their way in. She quickly pulls away from Desade and her dark energy. The only thing keeping Mora in this second vision is the peace surrounding her, keeping the overwhelming power at bay and if she let that power in her concentration would break. Maybe in the future she would be able to endure the Force's raw non-empathetic embrace. But for now she holds on tightly to that sense of calm and control.

Turning to Rhoden, Mora reaches out once again. His silhouette is quite different. The blanket woven of grey light with sparks of light and dark racing through it. She delves deeper to find a wave of inner turmoil. The grey light races around itself, light and dark clashing against each other almost as if it's trying to tear itself apart all around a steel hard power. Mora shudders at the feeling. Rhoden's essence seems to pulse with unhinged, on-the-edge, unsettling energy. She focuses on those sparks of light and dark, racing around and around. They seem unstable, producing rage interlaced with calm. Peace filtered through chaos. Disturbing paranoia weaving around control. His whole being seems like a patchwork quilt made of contradictions laced together with the barest of thread. Suddenly a dagger of dark light flashes out of him and stabs into Mora's bubble of calm. She retreats back to her own body with the speed of a scared mouse.

Mora draws back away from the others' pulsing silhouettes of power and settles into her peace bubble.

(Sensing Others End)

(Later (Mora, Rhoden, and Desade))

The smell of food is overwhelming and Mora's mouth begins to water. She walks to a table in the corner and sits down with her tray of food. The cafeteria is abuzz with talking and laughing, the other residents of Utopia talking with friends and eating their own food. Mora looks away and out the window showcasing the glittering stars of the galaxy. She ponders the endlessness of it, how easy one could get lost and never be found.

Shaking those thoughts from her head Mora returns her attention to her food. Without really considering what it is, she digs in with her fork savoring the taste of a warm meal. She tries to control her speed, not wanting to seem like a messy eat, and successfully does so.