Aing-Tii homeworld [Friday, Fandom time]

[momslilassassin]

The Kathol Rift was easily the most beautiful spatial phenomena Ben had ever seen in his life, which in no way made up for how horrible it was to fly through. The properties that made the Rift so beautiful also turned every ship that entered it into a lightning rod and made flying the mechanical equivalent of riding a spooked ronto for days at a time.

It was exhausting (no thanks to the kriffing hallucinated spiders), even with three pilots and Luke calling on the new training he'd learned from the Baran Do sages to stop the Jade Shadow from short-circuiting outright and leaving them all to drift powerless in space until the breathable atmosphere ran out.

So it was a relief to Ben that the Aing-Tii finally made contact (via their ship--which hadn't been anywhere near the Shadow just appearing on their scopes) and directed them with very specific coordinates (down to the second they should jump) to a planet that Luke identified as their homeworld.

Ben read off the planetary specifics as Luke landed. "It's a little light on oxygen for us, but we won't need breath masks," he said, "and thank the Force for that. Who are we looking for when we disembark?"

Luke smiled. "They didn't say."

"Oh, good," Ben muttered. "More cryptic Force users."

Ender	"At least they're being cryptic up front," Ender offered, "instead of making us chase down their crypticness in a sea of omitted information." Though complaining about omitted information might have made him a bit of a hypocrite.
Ben	"Hopefully we can get off this planet without me having to fight any of the Aing-Tii," Ben said, pushing the button to lower the ramp. "Since they seem to be made out of rock, I don't think my chances are fantastic."
Ender	Ender refrained from making a comment about taking that up with Luke while they were all hanging around the cockpit like this. "Let's not go out there with our fighter brains engaged first," he said instead.
Ben	"Oh, I'm super open-minded," Ben assured Ender as the three of them walked out onto the surface of the new planet. "Okay. Anyone see our guide?" He saw...rocks.
Ender	"You said they were made of rock," Ender said, glancing around. "Which I hope doesn't mean we have to upturn every single one."
Ben	One of the rocks by the ship unfolded itself and fixed them with large, dark, unblinking eyes. Ben found it much more imposing than the holos has showed it to be, and glanced at his father.
Luke	Luke bowed politely. "I am Jedi Luke Skywalker. This is my son Ben and his friend Andrew Wiggin. Thank you for being willing to meet with us. We have come as requested to accept your challenge." Then they waited. The being didn't move.
Ender	"Maybe not the words they were looking for," Ender said, softly.
Ben	"How much do you want to bet communicating with him is the challenge?" Ben replied.
Ender	"I don't want to bet," Ender answered, "You should be able to keep your money. It's very likely that it is."
Luke	"And it'll be a fine challenge indeed," Luke added, "as the Aing-Tii communicate among themselves by tasting, smelling, and touching one anther with their tongues." As if it had heard and completely understood everything that had been said, the stone-still creature suddenly opened its mouth. Six thin, bright green tendrils shot out and flickered about wildly.
Ben	"Oh gross," Ben said.
Ender	"Do we really have to go through the whole routine about the shrubs on your head again, Ben?" Ender asked. Reasonably.
Ben	"I'm sorry, sentient haystack, were you speaking?" Ben replied as Luke sat down in front of the Aing-Tii and shut his eyes.
Ender	"No, the motion of my lips moving simply happens to coincide with the ambient noise you just heard," Ender said, looking towards Luke. "I take it he's trying to use the Force - I don't see any tongues."
Ben	"And there's a mental image that will scar me forever," Ben complained as he sat down next to Luke, who held out his hand. Ben paused for a second before taking it, then looked to Ender. "Want to see what we see?"
Ender	"Yes," Ender said, simply. He sat down as well. It wouldn't hurt, he reflected, to get some idea of what the Force was like.
Ben	Ben reached for Ender's hand and let his gaze soften and his breathing slow down, then felt a slight tingling from the shielding his father was extending to both boys. Luke, as always for Ben, was a bright, shining presence in the Force, and Ender, despite not being Force-sensitive, shone for Ben in a very specific way as well. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter, he quoted to himself as he searched in the Force for the being before them. He briefly wondered if the Aing-Tii was using the same technique for disappearing in the Force that he used himself. But if it wanted to communicate through the Force, surely he wouldn't be hiding from them, so Ben concentrated, thinking of the different ways other users of magic resonated in the Force at Fandom-- And then suddenly he was there, shining as brightly as Luke but in an entirely different way. His presence felt splintered, somehow, but by choice and design. It was as if Tadar'Ro's Force self was a sort of fabric, and he was permitting them to see and comprehend this. Or at least try to comprehend. Ben was feeling more than a little overwhelmed by the sensation.
Ender	Overwhelmed... wasn't the word for it. Not on Ender's side, at least. He had precious little experience with the Force - none, if you didn't count watching it in action at Ben's fingertips. The sensation of sharing this was both strange and utterly familiar, and he thought briefly of Karal and Altra, and longer of the Hive Queen, shovelling experiences into his mind. (Of Formics, digging their way into his brain in his dreams...) He didn't know enough of the Force to fully appreciate the difference between Luke and Tadar'Ro, but it made him look on the whole experience with different eyes. Being a stranger in a strange land already, it was just more to understand. (Actually, maybe he did appreciate the difference better, because it wasn't just Tadar'Ro he was differing from, but everyone, and thus they were the same.) He felt something prickling at the back of his head. He wasn't sure what it was.
Ben	Ben's breathing had sped up, and the air he was sucking into his lungs wasn't doing the trick, and the shimmering, many-stranded being that was Tadar'Ro had somehow gotten hold of him in the Force-- He hand squeezed Ender's almost painfully as he abruptly withdrew from the Force and slammed his shields up. He sat there on the ground, sweating heavily and trying to stop shaking.
Ender	There was a brief flash right before contact cut, where Ender could have sworn he felt the Hive Queen's presence bearing down on him. Then Ben broke it off, and Ender's mind was tugged immediately back to the here and now, reaching for Ben's side without thinking and tugging him over.
Ben	Ben's head tucked against Ender's neck for just a moment as he steadied his breathing, then turned to look at his father. Luke lifted his hand in a dismissive yet gentle gesture. "Go back to the Shadow," he said, gazing raptly at Tadar'Ro. "I'll be there soon."
Ender	Ender took that as his own cue to let go of Ben again, and get up. He would have chastised his own apparently-now-questionable reflexes, but he was entirely too distracted - he kept wanting to glance over his shoulder for something that wasn't there. It was also why he was following Luke's direction without comment, turning away while Tadar'Ro's six tongues flicked out towards the Jedi's face.
Ben	Ben made a little face, then turned away, blushing hard as he trudged back to the ship. He'd failed the challenge, and that was going to eat at him.
Ender	"What happened?" Ender didn't ask until they were well into the ship. The wait had been partly for Ben's benefit, but also for his own. What had that been? What was it, still? Was he starting to see things, or did her range stretch this far...?
Ben	"I got overwhelmed," Ben said softly, flinging himself into an oversized flowform chair in the recreation area of the ship. "Did you feel anything?"
Ender	"I could see it," Ender offered, rubbing at that point on the back of his head with two fingers. He sat down opposite Ben a few seconds later. "I take it it isn't like that all the time."
Ben	"Not at all," Ben said, closing his eyes and looking exhausted. "The Force doesn't push back. It just...is."
Ender	"The Aing-Tii didn't seem as... definite? Implaceable? Solid? As the both of you," Ender said, carefully. Not that he begrudged Ben his rest, but now that Ender's own reason to be shaken seemed to be wearing off, he was a little fascinated.
Ben	"That was definitely new," Ben said, opening his eyes again. "Different people show up differently--Karla is more distinctly blue to me, but she's not splintered like that. It was like Tadar'Ro was woven into the fabric of the Force."
Ender	He thought of the Hive Queen, speaking of their philotic impulses -- she spoke of webs between philotes. "Like parts of him were threaded along the web, so to speak?" Ender asked, opting for her vocabulary because it was the only thing he had.
Ben	Ben thought about it, then nodded. "But there were parts that were missing, too. Sections he wasn't showing us, and that was what was giving me problems. When I feel someone dying in the Force, it's like someone permanently yanked out a string of the web--it's stomach wrenching. This was sort of similar."
Ender	"While every other Force presence is stationary and fixed," Ender guessed. "No tiny bits drifting off every which way." It was probably a good thing Ender didn't remember other-Peter.
Ben	"Right," Ben said, nodding. "The Yuuzhan Vong didn't have a presence in the Force at all, which was strange by itself--we've been taught that everything has a presence in the Force--but you could find them by searching for the vacuum."
Ender	Ender nodded thoughtfully, running it over in his mind. Finding the spaces where it reminded him of the Hive Queen's philotic impulses, and what philotic science had already taught them about interconnectedness. It made him wonder again how much these two fields intersected, with each other and with Karla's Darkness. But there was plenty of time to dig into that, he reflected, and got up. "Do you want some caf?"
Ben	"Please," Ben said, looking grateful. "I was thinking of putting on something mindless to let my brain relax."
Ender	"Tony sent us the latest installment in that series of racing movies," Ender said, as he walked into the galley to take care of the caf issue. "If you can rustle that up."
Ben	"Sounds good," Ben said, pulling the movie up and then positioning the screen so it faced the sofa before curling into one of the corners and shutting his eyes again.
Ender	Ender set the cup down on the table by Ben's head, though he didn't actually expect the Jedi to drink it, let alone finish it. He sat down on the sofa himself and looked at the screen. He wasn't really watching. He still felt like there was something over his shoulder. He just didn't know what.
Ben	"What's troubling you?" Ben asked a few minutes of silence.
Ender	"Stop peeking, Jedi," Ender muttered, reaching for his own caf, taking a sip. "That was just... new, that's all."
Ben	"Do you want to talk about it?" Ben replied. "Or try it again?"
Ender	"I might, at some point," Ender said, setting his cup back down. He looked at Ben. "But right now you don't look so well-equipped for strenuous activity. Take a nap or drink your caf."
Ben	Ben's head cocked toward the ramp. "Caf it is," he said. "Dad's coming back."
Ender	"Well. Then let's see what tongues he's been speaking in," Ender said dorkily, and hit the pause button on the movie.
Luke	Luke walked in and got a glass of water, gulped it down, and then dropped into a chair next to the sofa, looking worn out and quite mortal.
Ben	"Did you find a way to communicate with him in an acceptable way? Are we going to meet more of them, or are we going to be stuck watching more car movies while we head to the next possible clue?" Ben asked, feeling less like he'd failed when he saw how worn out his father looked by the same encounter.
Ender	Ender sat up a little, watching Luke with a critical eye himself. He didn't say anything, choosing to wait until more answers had been provided.
Luke	"Put it this way," Luke said with a little smile. "Get used to getting licked. They're sending us new coordinates any minute now, and we'll meet their entire council."
Ender	"Good," Ender said, with a quick smile that seemed careless, though he didn't quite feel it. "It's been such a long time since I conversed with rocks."
Ben	Ben snickered. "Karla and Tony would not be pleased to hear you talk about them like that," he teased. "How are they going to talk to us? What we felt...it wasn't exactly telepathy." And it was not something Ben was really looking forward to repeating it. "Tadar'Ro didn't seem to think it would be a problem when we arrived," Luke said, and Ben frowned. He knew sometimes you needed to accept the way things were, but sometimes his father was so cryptic.
Ender	Ender narrowed his eyes at Luke, running those words through the back of his head. "I'm sure they're capable of much more than what they've shown us," he said, affably, "We just haven't found out yet." The cheer in his voice was not completely genuine, but he was trying not to push it too far.
Ben	"Let's go meet some flow-walkers," Ben said with actual enthusiasm, heading into the cockpit to set the new coordinates. In a few hours, they were touching down near habitations that were recognizable as cities, but also clearly designed to blend in with their environment. Luke pointed out several pieces of equipment designed to pull moisture from the atmosphere as they descended. Ben's face turned pale as they touched down. "There are a lot of them," he said finally, "and they certainly leave an impression." They lowered and met Tadar'Ro again. He was holding a long, cylindrical metal object in each hand and hand a flat circle the size of a fist affixed to his chest. "Bets on that being a microphone?" Ben murmured to Ender.
Ender	"I wouldn't bet any money against it," Ender replied, just as quietly. "Clever monks..."
Ben	"Is this how we speak to you?" Ben asked, putting one of the microphone bits to his mouth. Tadar'Ro's head bobbed. "Yes," he said in a completely human, masculine voice. "We tended one of your species. His knowledge of your language enabled us to create this device so that we might speak with you." "How does it work?" Ben asked eagerly. Tony would kill to know this kind of stuff. "We communicate through pheromones," Tadar'Ro said. "It took time but the device is able to analyze the pheromones and find corresponding words in Basic. Now. You are expected. Follow." He turned and began walking across the rocky ground at a brisk pace, heading for the a narrow tunnel through the sheer stone face. Ben found himself having to break into a trot and the thin air was making the run harder than it should have been. He glanced over at Ender to see how he was managing.
Ender	Ender was managing fine, thanks - he still kept to a fairly rigid exercise regimen after all these years, and it was coming in handy right now. He kept his breathing at as close a level to 'regular' as he could, and moved onward. He glanced back, but didn't say anything. He had nothing to say, and it felt like wasting breath.
Ben	Finally they reached the other side of the tunnel, coming to stand before a long, long line of motionless Aing-Tii, standing like stones and fixing the three strangers with large, unblinking black eyes. "They will say something to you. Respond with the phrase, 'As Those Who Dwell Beyond the Veil will it.'" Ben nodded, knowing from their studies of the Aing-Tii before they arrived that they worshiped a group of deities they called Those Who Dwell Beyond the Veil, traversing the galaxy on their behalf to collect valuable artifacts and do...something with them. The reports had been vague to the point of useless on that part. "It's going to be a lot of tongues."
Ender	"I'm sure after the first couple of tongues, you'll get used to it," Ender snarked back, quietly. (He could very occasionally manage dirty jokes, thanks.) But then his eyes were locked on the first Aing-Tii, ready to listen.
Ben	What the Aing-Tii said was not in words: it was a feeling they embued into the Force as they licked each face. Some of them were not at all pleased they had visitors here. Ben bowed to each of them and murmured, "As Those Who Dwell Beyond the Veil will it," with all of the courtesy and respect he could muster. He was taking Ender's words to heart and wasn't going to be the one to do anything to disparage another culture. Even if it involved getting licked by many, many, many tongues.
Ender	Ender had no Force-sense to speak of, but the spot at the back of his head itched when confronted with the Aing-Tii - and there was something about each alien's bearing that said something, somehow. He just couldn't put it into words, or sense, or anything like it. He spoke the words with honesty and understanding, and he didn't really have to muster anything to get to that point. He would enjoy a sanisteam when this was over, however.
Ben	After the ceremony was concluded, Tadar'Ro lead them to a dwelling that had clearly been made by a human and was surprisingly cozy inside. "This must've been made by the smuggler Yoda sent here a million years ago," Ben murmured in an undertone to Ender. "Jedi may stay here, if they wish," Tadar'Ro said. "Perhaps during the day," Luke said. "Your atmosphere, while tolerable, is not ideal for us." Tadar'Ro nodded, not seeming surprised. "Such is acceptable. Sit. We will speak to you of why you have come...and what it is you expect for find here."
Ender	Ender took a seat at that invitation, expectant eyes fixed on Tadar'Ro. "Thank you for receiving us," he said, lightly, and then fell silent, knowing that this was Luke's purpose first of all and it was his initiative to take. Unless he started acting as he had with the Baran Do - Ender wouldn't sit by this time.
Luke	"You know why we have come," Luke said, sitting on the mattress of the bed in the room. "I sense that not everyone here is as welcoming as you, Tadar'Ro. Can you tell me why?" Tadar'Ro considered, then nodded again. "It is best you know. You are less likely to give offense." Ben made a soft snorting noise, thinking back to Dorin. "You have said you studied what Jorj Car'das brought back of our people," Tadar'Ro continued. "Then you will know that for long and long, the Aing-Tii have believed that certain things are done a certain way. We deeply respect the Force, but do not use it. Not the way other so. To us, it is a thing to be respected and experienced. It is not a tool, a weapon, for us to use to make the universe what we wish it. "We believe we are being guided. Events are not predetermined, but they flow, gently, to a certain place, in a certain moment. So we have believed for long and long. But over the last few years, a Prophet arose and spoke of many things." "Do you believe in him?" Luke asked. "Do you think he prophesies truly?" "It is such a strange concept, to prophesy," Tadar'Ro replied, sounding confused even through the microphone device. "To think that events are firm. Like stone, rather than like wind and water and thought. And yet--he has seen things, and they have come to pass."
Ben	"Coincidence or misinterpretion," Ben said immediately. "People hear what they want to hear. Keep it vague enough and a prophecy or prediction'll fit pretty much anything."
Ender	The Aing-Tii philosophy that Tadar'Ro described - the original one - was one Ender could respect. It made him think again of their time with the Baran Do, and the accusation that the Jedi were a militant organisation. It had made sense then for them to say that, and moreso now: this acceptance of faith was more befitting a monk. It was soldiers who thought of things in terms of tools and weapons, and acted like it. "There is often a kernel of truth in it," Ender said, "But it's hard to determine where, and it's rarely so obvious. What did the Prophet speak of?" Time, in what little chance he had to really examine the subject thanks to Fandom's whims, seemed maleable-- like Tadar'Ro's wind and water.
Luke	"They were very specific," Tadar'Ro said. "It could be, as you say, coincidence. Or it could be foreknowledge. The future is not unknown to my people." Not to flow-walkers, it wouldn't be, Luke thought. "Could it be that the Prophet simply has had good luck, or good judgment, in determining which of the possible futures will come to pass?" "All these things you say, we have thought of already," Tadar'Ro replied. "And yet it is hard to discount what we have seen. As I have said, the Prophet told us many things that later did come to pas. Specific, accurate things. In fact, everything he said...happened. Except for one final prophecy: he foretold the coming of Those Who Dwell Beyond the Veil in his lifetime."
Ben	"I bet that went over really well," Ben said dryly.
Ender	"A powerful promise," said Ender, which made about the same point without sarcasm. "It must have brought great uncertainty to the faithful."
Ben	"It has indeed," Tadar'Ro replied, "especially because the Prophet became one with the Force a few weeks ago and we have had no sign of the coming of Those Who Dwell Beyond the Veil." Ben grimaced slightly. "So it's been made apparent that he wasn't infallible, then." "His death has thrown my people into an uproar," Tadar'Ro said. "We have divided--we who never have schisms or even disagreements that were ever anything more than trivial. Now there is anger sown, and accusations of deception, or worse. We are tearing ourselves apart."
Ender	And all anyone had to do was throw a philosophical rock into this little cage. It was so... predictable, really. Ender ran it over in his head, nodding quietly. "You've lost your communal purpose," he said. "And I imagine some of you will be thinking: 'we're already making outsiders of each other. Throwing more outsiders into the mix won't help.'"
Ben	"You can touch the Relics," Tadar'Ro said, his voice reverent. "We are forbidden to do so, though it is our sacred calling to find them and bring them here. It is through these items that we can perhaps determine the will of Those Who Dwell Beyond the Veil." "They are...of these beings?" Ben asked. "We believe them to be, yes." "But you can't touch them." Tadar'Ro nodded again. "It is blasphemy. Only infidels may handle them freely without offending Those Who Dwell Beyond the Veil." "That must make it difficult to study, if you can't touch them," Ben said instead of his initial thought of "this is really dumb."
Ender	Which was very tactful of him, and Ender might have let him know he appreciated it if doing so wouldn't be even more tactless. He didn't have quite such thoughts himself, after all. "And all the more important," he said. "You must not have the chance to study them often. I imagine opinions are divided about that now, too, with this promise of the return of Those Who Dwell Beyond The Veil hanging in the air."
Ben	"You see truly," Tadar'Ro said. "We have not had someone to touch the artifacts for many decades. I have deemed you worthy to do so. If I had not, you would not have survived your challenge." Well that was cheery, Ben thought. "And in return for helping you with your artifacts, you'll teach us what you taught Jacen Solo?" he asked. "Like flow-walking?"
Ender	Honestly, Ender had counted the minutes until Ben finally gave in and brought that up. His eyes flickered immediately, not to Ben's, but to Luke's face. He chose not to speak up, because it might deflect attention away from Ben getting his answer-- because being told he wouldn't or shouldn't get it would do nothing but breed resentment, and he wasn't so sure this wasn't something Ben had to do at least once.
Ben	Luke's head had whipped around to stare at his son, but Ben continued before his father could interrupt. "I think it's important that we learn all we can, Dad. I think if Jacen knew something, some skill, some technique--we should too. We're trying to retrace his steps, after all. Find out if it was during this journey that he started to go dark."
Ender	"Have you had any experience with flow-walking before at all?" Ender asked. Of Luke, mind you. He was not getting in the middle of this one.
Luke	Luke opened his mouth to speak but Tadar'Ro beat him to it. "We will accommodate your request." Ben tried to hide a huge grin. Luke felt disquiet stir in him but didn't say anything. "We wish you to feel that our side of this agreement is fully honored," Tadar'Ro continued. "Our word is dear to us. We will not willingly violate it for to do so shows contempt for Those Who Dwell Beyond the Veil. It is why we do not readily interact with other species. But we will hold you to the same standards. You must do your very best to comprehend our ways, our culture, our faith. And you must use that comprehension to help us find our way back to a true path--wherever it may lead us." "We promise to help you to the very best of our ability," Luke said, choosing his words carefully. It was entirely possible--even probable--that the three of them wouldn't find anything useful.
Ender	"If to comprehend you is what you ask of us," Ender added, quietly, "I'd like to speak to you and your like from time to time. I don't have any knack for Force teachings, but comprehension is always a goal worth pursuing." Thank you, mr. Messianic Archetype.
Ben	"We had noticed your lack of Force skills immediately, but such questions would be appropriate," Tadar'Ro decided. "It is approaching the time when we rest. We will begin the sharing at first light. Do you wish to stay here or return to your ship?" The ship had a sanisteam and a place where, presumably, his father would explain why he was so opposed to Ben learning to flow-walk, so he wasn't surprised to hear that they would be returning to the Jade Shadow. As soon as Tadar'Ro departed--after giving permission for them to examine the items that had been left by the smuggler--Ben held up his hand. "I know what you're going to say, Dad. But he said it was all right."
Luke	"I didn't," Luke replied.
Ender	No, seriously, Ender really didn't want to get in the middle of this. He used several years' worth of practice at Fandom to fade into the background, glancing aside at the scenery, even if his attention was still on the Skywalkers. Ben's plan had an air of stupidity about it, but also inevitability. He didn't really need to watch this fight to know how it was going to fall out. To know it wouldn't be resolved right here and right now.
Ben	"I know," Ben said, "and thanks for not putting your foot down. I kind of feel like I need to do this. Like the Force is guiding me this way." He knew it was an argument that would never work with Ender, but on Luke, it held more weight. "I can't explain it better than that." He glanced over at Ender and noticed his friend doing his best impression of being furniture. "Let's grab the datapads that are around here and see if Car'das left us anything useful to learn. Hopefully it's not all ramblings about getting him away from the rock creatures with the tongues." Which was going to feature prominently in his emails to Tahiri, Karla, and Tony.

[OOC: Adapted from Christie Golden's Omen and preplayed with the spendiforous endsthegame. NFB, NFI, OOC welcome!]