So we back in the mine, and it is Mashel time, time, time. Several times later, he offers a hand to you. "I'm getting pretty tired of being carted around. I miss simply walking."

I pocket my saber for the time being, and take his hand, giving him an apologetic shrug before kicking off the ground, flying into the air. Once I'm at a good height, I start scanning for anything of interest in the nearby area.

Cashel nods up. "Let's fight out way through one of the more medium ships. Shall we?" They all have decks on the top, a shield around them that people can pass through but air can't. It's handy. Like flying buildings... almost. There are gunners on the roof.

Shit, of course there are. Any way we can get onto the deck before we'd get shot? Or are we going to have to take out the gunners first?

Cashel swings his hand and a concentrated fireball bowls towards one, effectively destroying it. Only two more. "Try not to let us get hit." He suggests, far too casually for the situation as the beams of concentrated burning energy whiz past you.

I nod, but don't verbally reply, I'm now focusing solely on not getting shot down. I try and move a bit closer to the next gunner, so Cashel can have a clear shot at it.

Cashel swings his hand again just as a shot strikes the edge of his palm. The gunner explodes. One more.

"Shit! You alright?" I ask, sparing a glance at Cashel as I continue swerving out of the way of more shots.

He makes some angry noise you can't quite make out and kicks a leg towards the last gunner. A bolt of fire shoots out and it's gone.

Sweet. Alright, I make my way to the deck, as fast as possible. I set Cashel down and land next to him, pulling my saber out and turning it on quickly.

There aren't any troops up here right now, but you have no doubt that they'll be here soon. "Maia, do you know what Jedi are?" Cashel asks. He's examining his hand. (You do, for the record.)

I glance over to him, confused. I'm not very sure why he's bringing this up right now. "Yes, I fucking know what Jedi are. Why?"

"Focus on the flow of time around you. The movement through it." He glances up at you with a smile. "Deflect the shots."

Ah. Well, before we are actively getting shot at, I once again focus on time around me. I don't want to fuck this up and end up not being able to deflect anything. Does something still seem to up with my ability to do so?

You can focus on it, now, but if you try to actively manipulate it, it gets all funky.

Hell yeah, that's better than nothing, and should be helpful here. I look over at Cashel, nodding a bit. Oh this is going to be so fucking cool if it works.

Oh, it will. Three soldiers come out of the bridge and towards you, crouching down by the door and firing. Time to see if this shit really works.

Immediately I close my eyes, trying to focus on the flow of time around us and the flow of time only. I can feel the shots moving through time towards Cashel and I, which is good, I need to know where they are to know where they're going. I focus on the blast that’s the furthest along it’s path first, swinging my saber up to meet it in the air.

It bounces off the blade, ricocheting back and bouncing around before flying off into space. Just like in Star Wars.

Oh, hell fucking yes. Just like in Star Wars. Alright, now I've got a strategy. I focus on the next shots, deflecting as many as I can back at the soldiers.

They all bounce back, hitting the soldiers. You win. This is easy! Cashel hums in approval, glancing up. "Good job. It seems the battle is almost over."

I look back over to Cashel, smiling. "This is fucking awesome, holy shit." I turn my attention back to where those soldiers just entered from, does it seem like anyone else is approaching from that direction?

A couple more people come bowling out of the ship, but they look different. These few trolls are carrying big metal sticks and their uniforms are trashed, Baroness' symbol literally painted over on one and ripped off the other. Their face are dirty and they're grinning like idiot. "Shitt, dudee!! Gett backk insidee, let'ss pilott thiss thingg straightt intoo thee bigg onee!!"

Oh, now that sounds like a plan. I glance at Cashel, before nodding at the trolls. "What can we do to help?"

"I advise against this plan." He remarks quickly. "Especially since one of them just blew up, and if we did that, so would we."

Ah. Yeah, that would be a problem, wouldn't it. I nod slowly, turning back towards Cashel. "Right. Yeah. I knew that. Okay, well, what do you suggest instead?"

"I suggest we find others and figure out what the hell is happening down there." He points downwards and you immediately understand what he means. Over where you think the gardens are is a black cloud. It doesn't even look like the weird foggy dome that was there earlier.

"Ah." I squint at the cloud for a few moments, what the fuck? "Sounds good."

The miners scurry back inside and the ship jolts, rocking violently. You and Cashel manage to stay upright as you begin your descent towards the gardens.

I go back to looking at the cloud around the gardens as we approach, watching to see if anything changes.

It begins to disappear as you get closer.

"Huh. Whatever the fuck that is, it seems like it's going away now." I say, pointing at what's left of the cloud.

You set down in the gardens, near the now much clearer clearing that everyone else is in.

GARDENS