A Crystal Safari

[Jarven Zexxel]

Antecedent​

Jarven was skimming the Help Wanted ads when he came across something particularly interesting. It was a call for as many lightsaber crystals as one could find. Jarven used his mind to access the wrist node and the Holonet for all possible useful info, figuring out the where, what, and how of these crystals. He processed and logged the most crucial info into the storage on his wrist node so that he could reference it later. He suited and armed up in his usual outfit and loadout and made his way to the Handwave Express down at the spaceport. He had called ahead to Pilot that he was in need of his services once more. He explained that Pilot would be getting paid at a better rate and with bonuses and incentives because of the long term nature of his plans. He came to the landing pad with a handful of assistants and a speeder truck so that they could upload important equipment. Sure enough, Pilot was waiting there ready to get going.

"Thank you for agreeing to this on such short notice, Pilot. I hope the enticement of money is good enough to keep you happy."

Pilot smiled widely and said, "Oh, yes sir! It will do just fine. Always happy to serve the Red Ravens...especially since I was ALREADY getting paid well for my services. This assignment should help my plans for the future, sir!"

The equipment he was bringing along could each be carried easily by Jarven one at a time and he wasn't bringing the assistants. At this point, he just wanted to get it all on the ship in short shrift. They made their way on board, unloaded the equipment, and left Jarven and Pilot. As Pilot did the pre-flight check, lifted off, and flew into space, the two started chatting about Pilot's plans to court a nice young lady, be able to pay off his mom's nursing medical supplies debt, and still live comfortably. Jarven was excited for the young man. They kept chatting for an hour or so before Jarven went back to the hammock to catch some shut eye.

​

Dantooine​

When they reached Dantooine, Jarven interfaced with the nav computer and lore data to figure out the best spots to search. Something caught his attention in the long listings. There was reference of a VERY old Jedi Training Temple...Quite old. He was only able to find a name, a little history, a wildlife travel advisory, and a location. He set down outside of the Temple...well outside the temple. The place was CRAWLING with Kinrath. There would occasionally be a group of 5 adult kinrath that popped out of the crevices and quickly crawled back inside the vine covered ruins. Jarven figured that it was time for some extreme home and lawn care. He equipped a large flamethrower that had a fuel jet pack attached to his back. He carried that in one hand while easily toting a generator on wheels with his other hand. He had a long coil of extension cord around his shoulder and his tools around his hip. A sonic grenade and two toxin grenades hung off his chest.

The Flamethrower only required on hand to use, but for stability and long bursts, two was recommended. As he walked, Kinrath came forward inquisitively. If they came to close, he would raise up his arm and squirt a small stream in their direction, making them back off. He set up shop outside the what seemed to be the entrance. He burnt up the foliage covering the door, revealing the ancient door. He analyzed the door and searched for external maintenance panels. His ARC contact lenses and the recon packages in his helmet soon found a panel. He found a way to pry it open and did so. He started up the generator and hooked it into the emergency power conduit. Slowly, but surely, the door powered up. After figuring out the code, he keyed for it to start the opening sequence. The door was indeed ancient, so with groans of protest, it opened slowly. He stood back and readied himself in the middle of the doorway and two feet back. Light poured into the hallway before him and Kinrath hissed and took up a defensive stance.

When the door was opened all the way, Jarven and the Kinrath stood there at an impasse. Jarven hooked the barrel to his side, took the sonic grenade, primed it, and tossed it in as far as he could with his dominant hand inside of the compound. The sound and explosion was loud, harsh, and very much agitating for these creatures. The closest Kinrath started to walk towards him and kinrath started stirring within the temple and made their way to repel this troublesome invader. He tossed both of his toxin grenades down the sloping hallway and they released a cloud of toxic gas. What the gas didn't kill, Jarven's flamethrower started to kill when the Kinrath got within three feet of him.

The Kinrath were dying plentifully, but the welcoming party was only a fraction of the population here. The dead bodies of their fellow Kinrath released a chemical that drove the other Kinrath to a blood frenzy. They soon started to charge from the inner recesses, up the hallway slope, and towards Jarven. Jarven's flame sweeping wasn't doing enough, so he called for help from the Handwave. He held out for a couple more minutes, but he was running out of juice from the continuous streams of flame and the wall of kinrath was getting closer...

He heard over the comm, "Move out of the way, sir!" Jarven did exactly that and the hallway was soon lit up by small missiles and gatling fire. After no more kinrath came forth, Jarven deemed it safe for the ship to land. Jarven figured that there would be more of these creatures likely protecting a nest somewhere. When the ship set down, he traded his near depleted pack for a fresh one and continued forth.

Inside the base, Jarven's advance was a massacre. There seemed to be a small amount of Kinrath remaining. The ones he didn't get stupidly led him back to the point they were trying to guard. He watched two go into an open doorway which led to a seemingly dark room. He casually entered the room and looked around. It seemed to have been a library at one point, but it was bare...except for the natural phosphorescent lighting that was illuminating a hundred or so eggs. There was quick shifting in the darkness and Jarven quickly backed out. One last Kinrath horde came at him, but he kept backing away and used the hall as a choke point to easily roast them. They had gotten too close for comfort, but they were easily handled by this method.

Walking back inside, he tried to look for any possible shinies. Suddenly and to Jarven's shock, a large and differently colored Kinrath landed in front of him and screamed at him with malice, rage, and hatred. After Jarven realized that it was just another Kinrath, he shrugged and roasted the Queen before she could lunge at him. He hooked his barrel up to his belt and casually walked around the room, searching for crystals...There were none to be found. In his frustration, he punched his hand into one of the eggs. His hand clasped around something hard and roundish. Confusedly, he pulled it out with a sickening *Sschlop!* and looked at the curiosity. He used his other hand to clean it off and he found out that it was a decent sized gem that was two thirds the size of his own fist. Whistling to himself, he took it back out to the shuttle and placed it in a bag. He offloaded the flame thrower and equipped his Outlaw Shotgun and his Lil' Monster with normal rounds.

He took that bag and walked back inside. He spent the next hour crushing every single egg. There were many eggs, but not all of them had gems inside. Overall, he came out with about 54 Dantari crystals, having to have gone back and forth between the ship to deposit a full bag and get a new one. They all ranged from purple, pink, and yellow to blue, green, and red. However, they all seemed to be glowing from the inside with either a bright white or gold aura. It was a strange sight, but he took it in stride, chalking it up to just another mystery of the galaxy.

He walked out with the last bag of his findings and stepped on board. Pilot grabbed his attention with some news. "Um, sir? I was monitoring the area out of sheer boredom and noticed some strange activity near our position. You might want to check it out. I would suggest going on foot because I noticed signal sweeper signatures in the burst of activity. Be careful, sir. It's likely that someone knows we're here."

Jarven changed into his mimetic suit and re-equipped his weaponry behind his back beneath a small light bending cloak he wore over his back. He set off into the night and waited until he felt the time was right to activate the stealth.

To Be Continued...​

[member="Xander Carrick"] Word Count: 1,554

 

[Jarven Zexxel]

Dantooine Continued​

​

Jarven stalked forward, stealthily crawling over the terrain in hopes to minimize his risk of detection. Of course, there wasn't anyone in the surrounding area, but to Jarven, it didn't hurt to be cautious, especially since his body was used to moving on all fours. Eventually, he came close enough to what appeared to be a small covert encampment. He activated stealth and proceeded. When he got close, you might have thought that the encampment was abandoned. He walked around and around until he was on the opposite side of the encampment. Then, he could see holo screens set up at chosen spots to hide the amount of guards in the area. There were a total of 6.

Creeping through the camp, he heard two guards chatting away quietly with each other.

"Do you think Zalen's getting nailed for his slip up earlier?"

"Man, I don't WANT to think about what's happening to him right now...If you were ordered to shoot one of us, would you do it?" Jarven snuck up behind the man who had been asked the question.

The man slid his pistol out of his holster, held the barrel away from his friend, and sarcastically said, "Duh, of course I would. I'm just a cold-blooded mur---" He never finished the sentence because Jarven grabbed the man's gun hand, pointed it at the other guy's feet, and pulled the trigger. He quickly let go and scurried towards a nearby hill side. Confusion and chaos ensued as nearby guards tried to subdue the unfortunate one. He leaned against the hill side while they beat the "transgressor". Jarven REALLY wasn't sure about what to do at this point. Luckily, the Force moves in mysterious ways.

The hill to his left rumbled open and out came an official looking armor clad man. He looked like leadership and he had just left some sort of door wide open. He slipped through the opening before it could shut and he was in some kind of tunnel. It carried on for a short stretch before coming to a door. This door was simple enough, he just opened it. As soon as he passed through, he pressed himself against the wall. A person soon walked nearby and noticed the open door. Muttering under his breath, he stepped forward to shut the door and leave the room. The room was big and desolate. It had 4 doors that lead from it, including the one he just came in. He waited until someone moved to the center door and walked through. Jarven also walked through.

Inside was a curious sight. There was a very long poorly lit hallway before them and a few dark figures silhouetted by a purple glow in the distance. Jarven followed the man and then stayed back from the group, watching what happened next. The men wore dark uniforms of sorts. They each had a curious mark of sorts on their clothing, a logo or signet of sorts, he wasn't sure. They all wore black helmets. The man who seemed to be the leader was wearing a trench coat with the occasional, fashionable, muted green stripes along it's curves. He was busy typing away at a portable terminal which was hooked up to an unusual machine of sorts. This machine was holding a purple crystal in a suspension field, although it was not like anything Jarven had ever seen before. It all looked VERY old.

He heard snatches of conversation from those who were scattered around. "Can you believe there used to be a Star Map here?...What was the name of it? Pontite?...It's not like anything I've seen before...Come on, we need to get the disruption field finished so we can grab it and go...."

The leader slammed his fists in frustration against the terminal. "Frell! We need to get this done and get out of here! Who knows if anyone saw our slip up and are on their way!!!"

Another man who's outfit suggested that of a second-in-command spoke up, saying, "Jedore. Do not panic. We've come a long way and we ARE close. We just need to get through this barrier."

A bark of sarcastic laughter came from Jedore's mouth. "Ha! Barrier, indeed!...What kind of fething moron creates and puts up a "morality" barrier!?!...Damn Jedi....." Jarven walked up behind the leader, extended his vamblade, and stabbed him in the back of the neck. A muted gurgle came from his mouth and only the second in command heard. He looked over and stared in shock at the blade that had sprouted from his commander's mouth. He retracted the blade, pulled out his Outlaw Shotgun, shot the man in the gut, and stepped back into shadow.

The other 3 people who were working nearby quickly ran over, their weapons drawn. The second-in-command weakly said, "Someone shot us!..." before he slumped over and tried to keep his guts inside, coughing up blood. He then started to crawl over to the machine, but Jarven didn't notice. The three others stood in a triangle formation, looking at each other in panic and confusion, each trying to yell over the other to find order, but only elevating the situation. Jarven came up behind one of them, put his left arm around his neck and grabbed the gun in his hand with his right. He then gunned down the other two before he put a bolt in the third guy's own head.

Now that the mayhem was over, he looked over at the suspended crystal. He deactivated his cloak and then he noticed that the grievously wounded man was standing up, leaking intestines, and was yelling, "No! NO!!! I've worked too hard!! You...You can't take it! It's ours!!" He pressed a button and an electrical burst emitted from a handheld device. He then tried to plunge his hand into the field...but it was stopped and repelled. His hand was held 2 inches away from the crystal and it was trying to push him back. The man desperately tried as hard as he could to grab it, but his strength gave out. He collapsed from exhaustion and blood loss. He wasn't breathing anymore.

Jarven walked towards the crystal and studied it. It was indeed beautiful. Morality barrier... he thought. Jarven reached his hand up and slowly stretched it out towards the crystal. His hand met the field, and it started to resist a little, but then it allowed his hand to go through and grasp the crystal. When he pulled it out of the field, the machine shut down. He tossed it up in the air a little and caught it. "...Huh! That's cool!..." He held onto it as he reactivated stealth and walked back out. He slunk up against a wall when the door opened and the rest of the team came flooding inside. He waited out the procession and slipped by them. He could hear the yells of exclamation and anger as he ran off into the night.

Jarven made his way to the Handwave Express and they were off to their next planet.

[member="Xander Carrick"] Word Count: 1,180