Private Black Marsh Files: Way Down Below

[Katarine Ryiah]

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Location: Jedi Temple on Coruscant - Hangar
Objective: Meet padawan and start mission
Tags: Aveline Cuiléin


Katarine was inside the hangar waiting to meet a padawan. The padawans name was Aveline Cuilein and hopefully she was a good pilot because Kat was a dreadful one and they needed to go to Naboo. The assignment had come in that morning and Kat had received the news she would be working with Aveline shortly after that. Although a padawan it looked like Aveline was close to knighthood, or at least thats what her file indicated. Kat was reading Aveline's file over a cup of caf while she waiting for the padawan. All around her the noisy hangar bustled with life as Alliance personnel and Jedi went about their business. It also looked like the padawan had some previous investigative experience too which was good, because that was the type of mission this would be.

Three years ago during the events of the netherworld crisis Black Marsh Prison had been destroyed and many of the prisoners had been released. Just a few weeks ago Katarine and Valery Noble had taken a trip to Black Marsh and discovered first hand that the place was a tomb. The issue was there were not nearly enough drowned bodies floating in that prison to account for all of the dangerous prisoners who had been locked up. Some of those prisoners were the most dangerous people in the galaxy at one time or another so it was essential they be accounted for. It would be up to Aveline and Katarine to begin the investigation and start putting the pieces together to find the missing prisoners of Black Marsh.

Kat glanced up from the padawans file to see if there was any sign of arrival yet.

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[Aveline Cuiléin]

Aveline's boots echoed through the corridors of the Jedi Temple as she made her way towards the hangar, the unexpected nature of the mission still settling in her mind. When she'd retired to her quarters the night before, she certainly hadn't anticipated a trip to Naboo lay on the horizon. A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one. The thrill of stepping out of the temple's comfort and into the unknown stirred an excitement within her.

The grandeur of the temple's architecture surrounded her, a constant reminder of the wisdom and history it held. Aveline had spent countless hours training within these sacred walls, honing her skills with lightsaber and the Force. Yet, there was a part of her that yearned for more than the controlled environment of the training grounds. The debacle on Arkania with Knight Kara Jade hadn't managed to dissuade her. It had been a test of her determination and resilience, a trial that left her with a renewed sense of purpose. Aveline had faced challenges and proved her mettle; she wasn't one to back down easily. Now, with the prospect of investigating the mysteries surrounding the missing prisoners of Black Marsh, a sense of duty and anticipation fueled her steps.

Arriving at the hangar, Aveline took a moment to compose herself. She adjusted her traditional tunic and felt for the hilt of her lightsaber, ensuring it hung comfortably at her side. With a deep breath, she entered the bustling hangar, where the air hummed with the sounds of starships and the chatter of Alliance personnel. Her eyes quickly sought out Master Katarine Ryiah, who seemed occupied with her morning coffee and some light reading.

Choosing not to disrupt the Jedi Master's concentration, Aveline approached calmly, walking the fine line between haste and poise. When she finally stood before Master Ryiah, she inclined her head respectfully, a determined gleam in her eyes.

"Master Ryiah," she greeted, her tone formal yet filled with an underlying eagerness. "Padawan Aveline Cuilein reporting for duty." Don't kark up the first impression, don't kark up the first impression

Katarine Ryiah

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

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Katarine glanced up from her file when she felt the padawan approach. She smiled at the woman before her, who was very close to knighthood. True Katarine didn't know much about Aveline yet but she could feel the padawans strength and could see her demeanor. This was not a green fresh recruit standing in front of the Jedi Master.

"Hello Aveline. It's nice to meet you. You may call me Kat." There was no sense to stick with formalities. Investigators hardly did things by the books after all.

"Thank you for agreeing to accompany me. I need a pilot for this mission and I was told you are an accomplished one. I am also eager to have another investigator to work with. I can brief you about the mission once we take off. Are you ready?"

Aveline Cuiléin​

 

[Aveline Cuiléin]

«Yes Mas- Kat» she said with a smile, her shoulders relaxing a touch. First impressions were a powerful thing, and Aveline already felt that she was someone she could easily work with. Professional, purposeful and pleasant.

«That sounds great. I'm good to go. I'll go get us set up in the cockpit then» she said, the last bit phrased like a statement but delivered with the tone of a question. She wasn't in charge, after all. «I can get us from A to B, no problem» she said with what she hoped was a carefree and friendly smile.

«I'm very happy I got cleared for this mission. I think I can learn a lot from this» and hopefully not kark it all up.

Aveline had a background as a fighter pilot in the old Silver Navy, having risen to the rank of X before she left the navy to focus entirely on her career as a Jedi. She didn't bring it up, not wanting to seem like a cocky know-it-all.

The young Padawan walked next to the Master, eager to get started


Katarine Ryiah

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

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“That sounds great because trust me you do not want me behind the controls.”

Katarine had been frozen and survived in stasis for almost a century so not only was she an abysmal pilot on old machines, but put her in front of these new ones and she automatically dropped twenty IQ points.

They boarded the ship and Kat waited patiently while the padawan set them up. When they were on their way safely it was time to talk mission details.

“Alright so Black Marsh Prison was previously a secret under water detention center where the galaxies most dangerous criminals were kept. The Gungans ran the facility and not many knew about it. Over time it went to ruin after the Empire took over so much of the galaxy. Luckily all of the prisoners there were stored in carbon freezing because they were highly dangerous, so even with the prison being ignored the prisoners did not suffer neglect.”

Well she supposed that depended on your understanding of neglect. Katarine had dealt with long term carbon sickness and it was no easy task.

“Or what I should say is they at least didn’t starve. In fact nobody knew they were even down there until the netherworld crisis on Naboo a few years ago. The event destroyed the prison and many of the prisoners were released from storage. Some perished but others are unaccounted for. The issue of course is we need to figure out roughly who we are looking for and who is already in the morgue. This won’t be an easy tasks since so many of these offenders are over a century old. Their crimes may not be fresh in the minds of the Naboo or Gungan population. “

Aveline Cuiléin

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[Aveline Cuiléin]

Aveline went about her business professionally, and when Kat was ready to give the mission brief she listened attentively. Her brow rose at the words 'Gungan-run facility', but she didn't interrupt. As Kat continued, Aveline thought she could see where this was going. A forgotten prison with carbon-frozen dangerous criminals? She had a feeling someone had found this prison, and she had a feeling those prisoners weren't that cold anymore.

"Kark" she let out, forgetting herself for a moment. Her face reddened. She always had a bit of a loose tongue, but she'd hoped the navy-swearing wouldn't come out so soon in front of the Jedi Master. She had an apologetic look, then tried to move on. "At least that's a clue, them being a century old, I mean. You would think they would stand out. How do you think they'll most likely reveal themselves?" She imagined stepping out of that prison would be like stepping into an entirely new culture. There were too many alien species, too many planets for people to raise too many eye brows over people acting strange over cultural differences, but these people were hopefully the kind people would expect to fit in... And when they didn't, it'd seem strange. Then again, they were high risk prisoners, not exactly the model citizens to begin with. Kat was right, this was a pickle.

Aveline, of course, did not know how uniquely qualified Kat was for this question.

Katarine Ryiah

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

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Location: On Ship
Objective: Discuss Case
Tags: Aveline Cuiléin

Katarine considered the question for a moment. What would an escape of the prison do? Well when Katarine had woken up there she had been dying of hibernation sickness. She had spent three years at Theed General Hospital recovering and learning how to walk again after such a long time in stasis. She doubted anybody could come out of a century long sleep and not have some sickness, but it was possible that the hospital didn't know who to look for. So many were already sick and injured from the netherworld events it would be possible to blend in. Of course the escapes would be confused. Katarine had been very confused. It is possible they wouldn't go to the hospital at all for fear of being arrested. They may not know how much time had passed.

"I think we should start at Theed General and see if we can't look at patient records. After such a long hibernation It would be natural to be sick but I also think it's likely the prisoners wouldn't go to a hospital. They may be forcing someone to take care of them at home. We should start looking at medicines that have gone missing, or caretakers who haven't showed up for work. What are your thoughts?"

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[Aveline Cuiléin]

Aveline nodded with Katarine Ryiah 's assessment. "That sounds smart" she didn't feel like she had much more insightful to add to that, but then a thought struck her. "Once I get the autopilot running, I can go over files of descendants still on Theed. Maybe I can find out if any have gone missing or have any reported odd behaviour connected to them. Do we have any data on where the prisoners used to live?" She wasn't sure they'd have records dating that far back. Many of the structures likely wouldn't even be standing, but it seemed like logical places for them to seek out if they wanted to stay clear of hospitals.

Aveline's main expertise lay with starfighters, but most other crafts were simple to handle and came natural to her. She easily took them out of the hangar, and broke out of the planet's atmosphere. Given what Katarine had said so far, she began plotting the hyperspace route to Naboo.

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

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Location: Aboard Ship
Objective: Plan Investigation
Tags: Aveline Cuiléin


"The Council sent us everything we have on the known criminals that were in Black Marsh. Some of them did have regular family lives but not all of them committed there crimes on Naboo. Some of them just ended up on Naboo after the Gungans agreed to let them be held here. I think looking into descendants is a good place to start. I also think we may need to visit the Gungan cities below. There is probably some lore that they know but do not share with us surface dwellers."

She figured the Gungans were a good place to start and then they could also start checking for medical records of any unknowns that turned up during the netherworld, in case someone did stagger into a hospital. Mostly what she was hoping for is some type of idea about who was in the prison. Once they had somewhat of a list they could start monitoring the galaxy for a repeat of crimes. A lot of these people were ritualistic and so she doubted their patterns would change. It was a compulsion and thus hard to do so.

"Have you ever been to see the Gungans below?"

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