Breaking into the Jedi Archives (Open)

[Gyon Banex]

The ICE spike wasn't cheap.

Gyon had put a down payment on the slicer program by putting a local spice hustler six feet under the ground. A hit for cash. Something so mercenary and cold. Gyon knew the mark was guilty as hell. He was just a bit clever at using due process as an umbrella. Now, he was worm food. Gyon considered justice served, and it fueled his own motives. The slicer was a shady character, but he was pretty firm in his assurance that the spike could disable nearly any electronic security system, for at least a while.

With the bell off the cat, Gyon had some breathing room.

Across the distance, it was closing time at the Jedi Archives. He could see the extreme wings of the building wink into darkness, as the various students and visitors made their exit. After an hour, the activity in the building had drawn to a standstill. If there was anybody in the building, he couldn't see them with his macrobinoculars at this distance.

The time had come for Gyon to act. He tapped up the Archive main line on his comm, and as the automated message started up, he popped a small dataslip into his comm, and activated the program. Like a rush of novacaine into the vein of the Archive's digital flesh, the ICE spike began to ensnare the security systems in simulated infinite probability loops. For a few minutes, it would keep them busy in the boring tedium of synthetic status quo. Far in the distance, the outer perimeter security camera stopped in its traverse, staring off at nothing.

Gyon sprinted to the door, his black-clothed profile crouched low among the shadows.

[Ki-Adi Kindo]

It must have been one of those nights. Not being able to sleep was irritating, especially when you were a Jedi. This profession required all the rest you could get. It wasn't too bad. This gave Ki-Adi the opportunity to enjoy a quiet walk through the vacant corridors of the Jedi complex. He found it comical that something so busy during the day could be so tranquil at night.

As the Jedi Knight continued his walk, something came to his mind, something he wasn't even thinking of- the Jedi Archives. It didn't take him long to realize it was the Force that brought this to his attention, but why? The Archives had just closed for the night, after all, who would be there this late?

Ki-Adi wasn't about to question the Force. He knew better than to do that. He immediately turned around and headed for the Archives at a strenuous pace.

[Morgan Evanar]

Morgan bowled Kindo over when he rounded a corner, datapad in hand. At an even two meters and a hundred ten some kilos, he barely noticed the physical impact of the smaller Jedi Knight against his frame. He also tended to sneak about without thinking about it, smearing his presence indistinctly in the Force.

"Oh my." he pulled the smaller man to his feet. "Sorry about that, I was reading. No one except maybe Firgin is here at this hour usually, and not usually in this wing. Can I help you with something, Knight Kindo?"

[Ki-Adi Kindo]

Kindo swiftly sprung to his feet and brushed off the minor pain of his fall.

"I'm not exactly sure, Master Evanar. I was taking a late night stroll when the Force warned me of something in the Jedi Archives. Aren't the Archives closed at this hour?"

[Figrin D'an]

Figrin dropped two large books onto the table, the loud thud they made echoing throughout the archive wing. The only other sounds were the low clapping of boots on the floor, and an occasional exchange of conversation. To their knowledge, they were the only ones still in the Archives.

"I managed to find two more reference tomes," he called down the hall. "I'll flip through them and see what I can find."

The research table was already filled with open books, some very old and worn pieces of parchment, and a couple of data pads. Paper was strewn about the floor and table, some cruppled into balls, others riddled with notes, and notes about notes. The Jedi Master sat down and started paging through the first book, running his fingers lightly across the pages as his eyes moved quickly, scanning the text.

"Are you having any luck, Ryla?"

[Ryla Relvinian]

"Why exactly do we keep reccords of every Corellian operetta preformed by the Jedi Community Theater?"

I sighed to myself, pushing a lock of stray black hair back behind my ear as I strode slowly up an aisle, mumbling under my breath.

"And since when did we have a Jedi Community Theater, anyway?"

I heard Figrin's voice coming from one of the tables that we had strewn out our work upon, and poked my head out from around the stack of books on ancient Gungan Etiquette (Chapter One: Proper Actions Concerning Use of the Tongue) and grinned.

"No, but have you seen some of the stuff in here?"

[Gyon Banex]

On the other wing of the Archives, Gyon jimmied open one of the access doors, making his way quickly toward the restricted computer archives. He ducked and dodged around terminals and kiosks, careful to stay out of sight. Eventually, he made it to the terminal he was looking for, and tapped in. He didn't have much time, so he had to do his work quickly.

His fingers moved in a blur across the keyboard as he worked his way through the system. Under the restricted volumes search, he typed in a name:

:>KELIA BANEX_

The search would take a minute or two. On edge, Gyon looked around for signs of anyone approaching.

[Morgan Evanar]

Morgan nodded. "Unless you're a Master or have special permission, yes. Besides, Master Relvinian mentioned something about doing research tonight. The Archives are in good hands. I think we should both get back to bed, no?"

[Ki-Adi Kindo]

"I guess you're right. Maybe I'll be able to get some rest this time. Good night, Master Evanar."

Kindo felt reassured knowing that two Jedi Masters were there to keep things at bay. They could more than handle themselves properly if anything were to transpire. He turned around and began heading back to his quarters in hopes of finally getting some sleep.

[Figrin D'an]

"I know," he called back, "it borders on lunacy. The other day I stumbled upon an unabridged copy of Corellian Institute's old report on Hutt mating customs... the binder was about 30 centimeters thick, and I think it diagrams... I feared for my mental health to actually look, though."

He continued to page through the book on the table, although with little success. His eyes were starting to burn from fatigue... they had been at it for almost 12 hours, stopping only for meals... how many pages of text they had perused, he had no idea.

"I don't know about you, but my mind is screaming for a break," he spoke up again, rubbing he eyes. "Maybe we should get something to drink, and brainstorm how to come at this differently."

[Ryla Relvinian]

"Oh, by the Force!" I shuddered at the thought of the aforementioned tome. "We teach children here, for crying out loud!"

I walked back to the tables and sat down, studying a chart I had found. I was thumbing through pages of a large book, looking for one perticularly elusive variable when Figrin made his suggestion.

Nodding in agreement, I looked up. "Yeah, I think that may be a good idea. I'm just not finding what I need at the moment. What do you want to do?"

[Gyon Banex]

He could hear conversation in the distance, appearing to get closer. Crouching low behind the desk, Gyon waited for the search to conclude. It was running through the archive database at massive speed.

Eventually, the search concluded:

NO FILES FOUND_

It was like a slap in the face to all the effort that had been made so far.

"Sithspawn."

He was so certain that the Jedi would have the answers he was searching for. Now, he didn't know where to go...except to get out of here.

[Figrin D'an]

"Let's take a walk over to Yog's," Figrin said nonchalantly. "It should still be open, and the tea and coffee carafs are always kept warm. We can be back at this in about 30 minutes, and maybe we'll think of something new in the meantime."

He folded a loose piece of note paper in half and placed it in the book he was examining, marking his spot before he closed it's heavy lid. Quickly, he organized a few items on the table, just to make it easier to get back on track when they returned.

"Are you ready to go?," he asked, walking towards the book row where Ryla was working.

[Ryla Relvinian]

I put the book which I had been reading back on the shelf, unable to find exactly what I needed.

"Yeah, I'm ready, let's go. I could really use a cup of tea tonight."

Smiling at Figrin, we walked through the section we had been working in and out into the main research tables that were surrounded by the more current research, normally used by the padawans. As we reached the door, however, a movement in the Force caught my attention, and I stopped in my tracks.

"Did you feel that? I thought the Archives were empty except for us tonight."

[Figrin D'an]

"I thought so, too," agreed Figrin. He had felt the same odd sensation.

The two of them looked around carefully, scanning with their sight and the power of the Force. Figrin could only sense a fleeting glimpse of a life signature besides their own. It seemed to fade in and out of his perception.

"If it is someone, they're concealing themselves quite well. I barely read them, much less tell where they are."

He turned to Ryla.

"Maybe someone's cat got loose," he suggested. His own sensing ability was limited. He chose to defer to his companion's judgement.

[Ryla Relvinian]

The signature was indeed faint, but as I focused in on it, I caught a slight wave of... something. It might have been an animal, but something about it just didn't set right with me for some reason.

"I'm not sure myself. If it is someone, they must be focusing very hard to block their presence. We better check, just to be sure."

[Gyon Banex]

Gyon eased his head to the side of the cubicle he was in, getting a vantage of the immediate area around him. Assured that it was clear, he bolted to the next covered area. How much time had passed? The security system would be active any minute!

[Figrin D'an]

"Alright, we'll make a quick sweep," agreed Figrin. "You take the left isles and the study cubes, I'll take the right ones and the research rooms. Meet back her in say... 10 minutes?" Ryla nodded, and the two split off in different directions from the entry hall.

This section of the archives was nearly completely dark. Figrin made his way down the rows of data storage only by the little light given off by the occasional terminal he would pass. They were all set to standby mode, but would light up when the built-in motion sensors detected someone approaching. The Jedi Master peered deep down the isles as he walked, a metronomic precision to his steps. All seemed quiet and undisturbed, even in the depths of shadowed corners. He still could not sense any presence clearly other than Ryla.

He shook his head a little, wondering if this was some sort of prank, perhaps someone playing with their fatigued minds. The thought continued to play in the back of his mind as he began searching the first of the private research rooms.

[Ryla Relvinian]

I nodded and turned to go, letting my mind search out as best as I could. Picking one particular Force signature out in a crowd had never been my best ability, but in the near stillness of the archives, I could feel two distinct people in the area.

One, obviously, was Figrin, since he was heading away from me. I could sense in passing that his mind was just as focused on searching the area as mine was, so I shifted to the other presence.

It was decidedly male, and focused on searching... and hiding, it suddenly occured to me. As a precaution, I drew my saber from my belt and proceeded only after putting up a subtle force barrier that would make me harder to detect. Something in my senses told me that it was not a trained Jedi, and that further heightened my caution.

I rounded a corner with as much stealth as I could muster. A non-Jedi in the archives didn't sound like a prank to me, and I had made my way down a far aisle and up to one of the study cubicles before I saw a flutter of movement only a meter ahead of me.

There was someone in here. I took a deep breath and sprinted around the corner, saber now at the ready...

[Figrin D'an]

Figrin continued to wander between the research rooms, though the effort be in vain. He could sense nothing in the immediate vicinity. Most of the rooms had been clearly unused for some time... a thin layer of dust had settled on the bare surfaces. Those rooms that had been previously occupied had been tidied and organized, giving no indication of hastened use.

The Jedi Master rubbed his eyes, and gave a little yawn. He had been awake for far too many hours, helping Ryla with her research. He was glad to do it, of course. She had helped him in the past, and they shared many common interests in their scholarly pursuits. Even he had his limits, thought, of just how much droning, verbose text over which he could pour.

There's no one here, he thought. Maybe Ryla could use some help....

He turned and began to walk back towards the main hall.