Brief Briefing

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

OOC/ Figured this'd be more fun IC.

IC/

[member="Julius Sedaire"] [member="Gabriel Sionoma"] [member="Lilin Imperieuse"] [member="Kira Vaal"] [member="Meeristali Peradun"] [member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

In the guts of a ship, en route to somewhere deadly, a double handful of Jedi and close-enoughs surrounded a holoprojector.

"So here's the secret," said Mara. The projector displayed a wireframe of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, destroyed close to a decade ago. Sections of subbasement blinked rapidly. "Some of these secure storage areas held holocrons, and a few had hidden security protocols."

Curving lines sloped down and out, rapidly, then shallowly, like a high waterslide at an amusement park. Each was easily a couple of kilometres long, and each terminated in a small, blinking icon in the Coruscant undercity.

"These are called drop vaults; they were Grandmaster's-eyes-only, or near enough. The valuables were put in capsules and sent down the chutes, to a safe landing in small, camouflaged phrik bunkers. This is how my father recovered the Great Holocron and the Tionne Solusar holocron; this is how Grandmaster Darron Wraith survived the Temple's destruction. He rode a chute all the way down to a drop vault. Now, recently, a friend and I sneaked onto Coruscant and verified that the drop vaults haven't been discovered yet. We believe that because we found a Sith holocron that the Jedi used to own, one that everyone forgot entirely. The holocron, the drop capsule, everything was intact and pristine, hadn't been dusted since the fall of Coruscant. Not a whiff of observation or detection on our way out, either. So our way should be clear. We believe the chutes are intact right up to...here."

The top portion of the projection changed; the Jedi Temple vanished, replaced by the promenade and statues and temples that comprised the so-called Valley of Lords. The curving chutes stopped at the foundation of the Valley.

"We're talking about a climb up a near-frictionless pipe, barely wide enough for your shoulders, straight into the teeth of a Dark Side-tainted Force nexus -- one of the strongest in the galaxy. Fortunately, the chutes were built with durasteel braces at regular intervals, so magnetic hand- and kneepads will get enough purchase. I tested it last time I was there, and didn't have any problems. That said, I didn't go all the way, just enough to verify that there are service hatches where we can stop and rest. Alternately, if any of you are trained on Razorhawks or similar low-profile flight gear, we might be able to rig something faster than a climb.

"Once we get to the Valley's foundation, we start cutting. It's a nasty approach, but it'll get us into a high-security area without dealing with any kind of perimeter. That's assuming you folks can keep up with me on speeder bikes through the undercity on the way to the drop vault.

"Space will be tight. No heavy armour, no robes, no big packs, and eat no beans whatsoever. Any questions?"

 

[Liliane]

The mission Lilin and some other Hounds, as well as some other people from the Galactic Alliance were going to while invading Coruscant sounded simple in theory. Yes, what Mara talked of was definitely not Lilin's thing per se, but she thought she would have to do that for the Alliance. The underground and dark grim small spaces were not her favourite things, she had to admit. But this sounded a little bit intriguing.

She was an avid listener -- she tried to catch every little detail and study the holoprojection as much as she could so that she wouldn't end up making mistakes at the battle. Well, yes, she would definitely make them, but she could prevent most of them if she did homework.

"How come the Sith haven't found them?" Lilin was curious. She didn't know if she was supposed to ask that, but she just had to. At least to her, it sounded weird that the base of the Sith wasn't properly investigated by the Order. These chutes really had to be hidden well or they just didn't really hold much importance to the Sith, she guessed. "I mean, are they really hidden so well?"

The Jedi Master didn't really know Mara personally. She knew a lot of the Covenant's folks had spent a lot of time with her when they were younger, but then again, she didn't know a lot of the people whom the Taliths befriended with, so there was nothing surprising there.

Her eyes moved to the projection of Coruscant, looking at the blinking lines and points on it. It would be a crazy mission, she knew that. But to attack from a place that was practically completely unexpected... well, that really was something. The heart of the galaxy really was full of unseen and weird surprises, so they could really shock the One Sith with that.

[ [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] | [member="Julius Sedaire"] | [member="Gabriel Sionoma"] | [member="Kira Vaal"] | [member="Meeristali Peradun"] | [member="Jacen Voidstalker"] ]

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Lilin Imperieuse"]

"A few reasons, on top of the ones I just laid out The Jedi Temple was destroyed during the fall of Coruscant. Everything down to a certain depth got wrecked. That depth more or less corresponds to the base of the Valley's foundations. The Sith scooped out a huge amount of wreckage to lay those foundations. The drop chutes would have been just a handful of crimped pipes alongside hundreds of water mains, sewer mains, and ventilation shafts.

"Also, the Coruscant Underground had a contact who infiltrated the One Sith not long ago. He looked into the site and found no suggestion that the Sith ever stumbled on the chutes or the vaults. The vaults are made of phrik; they would have been stripped out and melted down if they'd been discovered.

"And don't forget that the whole thing runs through dense Coruscant stuff - centuries' worth of contradictory construction. Sensors don't have a prayer of picking up the chutes or the vaults.

"It's also worth noting that these were built by Grandmaster Je'gan Olra'en, a dick and a top-tier White Current master. The drop vaults are hidden by permanent illusion that's too subtle to be detected by the derivative crap the Sith call White Current. That's what he told my father when he sent him after the holocrons, anyway.

"There are other reasons, but those are the main ones."

 

[Kira Vaal]

What had she got herself into?
Three days ago it was all about how any attack on Coruscant would see the death of all of them, now Kira had volunteered for a singular mission right into the heart of the demonpit itself. Crazy how ideals could change.
The holoprojector had displayed everything that was necessary to understand the task at hand. Mara having finished out the briefing with her own insight into what was in theory relatively easy.

Her previous experience as an adventure, salvager and self-confessed treasure hunter made her feel like she had the skills necessary for what was being asked. Crawling through spaces no bigger then your head, while trying not to loose your way or indeed your life was something of a norm for the young Vaal.

“If the stronger climbers move up first we can set up some rope runs to get everyone up with speed, issue being…” She pointed at the tubes themselves. “It’ll be loud and may take us longer then just having everyone climb.” Her opinion was probably not needed, but one thing she had learnt in her time at the Underground was no matter whose opinion it was it was worth listening to. “Although I’m intrigued by the Razohawk idea, if we can get ourselves up without physical means it’ll mean more energy when we get up top.” The idea of a valley worth of sith worried her, especially as even with the element of surprise this could very well be a suicide mission.

She gave Mara a quick smirk. “Don’t worry I can keep up.” If there was one thing she knew she could do here it would be the speeder element.

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] | [member="Julius Sedaire"] | [member="Gabriel Sionoma"] | [member="Meeristali Peradun"] | [member="Jacen Voidstalker"] | [member="Lilin Imperieuse"]

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

And now came Jacen's moment of shame. He couldn't get straight to the admission so started with the details.

"Where are we getting in to the underworld? I know you said no robes, but neither the citizens or military tend to stop those walking around with lightsabers and black robes. Especially when, if challenged, those people can demonstrably use the Force."

Jacen paused, but only briefly. Just long enough to point towards one of the wire frame chutes, but not before he could delay the admission.

"Myself and Gabe are going to split off here. There's a training camp near the base of the valley, that's our first goal."

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

"The speeder bikes, the climbing gear, the Razorhawks, and the initial inroute - that's all courtesy of the Coruscant Underground. I'll have them set you up with a local guide or lookout when you split off. They've been prepping for this day for years. The Valley is actually a heavily monitored tourist location. The Underground gets lone unarmed people in there all the time.

"As for disguise, we won't need it for long. We land, we get into the undercity, we get on speeder bikes and we go for it. Most of the time, we're going to have Cthons for company, not Coruscanti. Still, robes and such might help for the little while that we're in public, as long as you famous faces wear masks or something. Just be prepared to ditch everything for the climb.

"Bottom line, the approach should be straightforward and quick. The Underground has a ton of experience getting people to destinations in the undercity. Things kick off when we start climbing at the drop vault."

 

[Gabriel Sionoma]

Tight spots. Why did it have to be tight spots? Gabe would rather free fall from the inner atmosphere than crawl whatever distance it was through slick chutes. He pictured flailing about as he lost traction and slid back down, flying through into the storage containers. Truth be told, it likely wasn't much different that the escapade he and Jacen encountered in the bowels of Sullust. Where he had made his promise, so long ago. At least, with all they had been through, it felt like decades.

"Not everyone in Coruscant wears sith robes and the like. Though I suspect with the incoming fleet, they'll have some sort of curfew set up. That being said, I'll need to be hiding this..." He pointed at his face. It should be relatively obvious that among their members, his might be one of the more infamous mugs. Given the position of Wrath and all. Despite having both eyes intact and obviously less insidious expression, it never ceased to amaze him how often he was recognized by those who had never interacted with Reverance. "We may be able to pick up some discount wardrobes from the training camp."

For some reason, he felt nervous. More nervous than normal. Coruscant wasn't just some planet, it's where everything began. Where he sat, idle, watching as the Emperor was killed by his apprentice. How he had assumed the mantle of Hand only to rise to Wrath in the Manarai Mountains. He had history in this place and despite that, he would do his best to avoid it. Looking around, he steeled his nerves and checked the paltry allotment of gear he brought in preparation for this infiltration.

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"] | [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] | [member="Kira Vaal"] | [member="Lilin Imperieuse"] ​