Private Crystals no more

[Varloc]

ILUM

Varloc stood near the entrance of the temple and hole in the side of a wall, most likely made by someone taking crystals. The tall stonework towered high above. Recently he had worked with the ZU and GA to begin his work on uncovering and protecting this old temple. He had invited Leea Pandac to help and learn at this temple.

Acording to the archives, this temple was the home of multiple kyber crystal caves, most likely gone now. This location also was said to have old jedi artifacts. It is important to keep these things safe, so much could be learned.

Varloc felt the biting cold under his robes and armour, as a wind came from the rear. He looked over at his ship about 200 meters away and into the sky. His comlink then beeped, signaling Leea's arrival.

 

[Leea Pandac]

The planet of Ice and Jedi. That is what Leea knew Ilum as. She knew the world had a long and influential history, but to her, it was a planet of hostile frozen wastelands and dangerous chasms. Normally, a planet whose summer temperatures rarely broke freezing was a world the young Mirialan would actively avoid, used to more temperate climates. Nonetheless, Leea had come because there had been an offer which seemed a once-in-a-lifetime sort of deal. To explore a Jedi world, to touch their history, and perhaps even to rediscover some of what had been lost.

The transparisteel viewport was frosting over by the time the lander settled into compacted snow and ice. Leea had prepared in what ways she could, borrowing a winter assault coat and the accompanying under armor insulation from her battalion's armory, along with a few other pieces of equipment she imagined could be useful in her upcoming task. She felt like the heating was perhaps less effective than she had anticipated, already feeling a bit of a chill through the thick coat. Still inside the craft, she was under no illusions about the external temperatures.

She knew of the Jedi from legends and bedtime stories from her childhood, but the few that she had actually met were quite different in life. She had come to understand that there were different groups of Jedi with different names and beliefs, but to her all who wielded the enigmatic powers were Jedi. Leea was intrigued by these mythical figures, and having the opportunity to meet a member of the Jedi and to walk across one of their planets was an honor she could never have expected.

Stepping off the loading ramp and into the cold, Leea was buffeted by the wind and took a few steps sideways in surprise. She caught sight of her contact, Varloc and began wandering in his direction, waving her hand in greeting. She checked her chronometer, Good, not late. I'll need to reset the time though.

The young Mirialan was excited, and found it impossible to conceal the fact, her face broken into a big smile despite the cold weather. She spoke with a slightly winded voice, feeling like she barely managed to shout over the wind, "Hello sir! Leea Pandac reporting in!" She was looking forward to this time on Ilum, she could practically feel the history of the world in every snowflake and footprint.

She was under little illusion about her abilities to aid in the discovery of artefacts. Leea had studied a little of the field of Jedi artefacts on her trip to the world, there hadn't been much else to do. The majority of expeditions were lacklustre and rather dull, as far as she had come to comprehend, with discoveries being rare occurances that warranted great celebration. She also realized that most of the finds were accomplished be Jedi. Unaware of her own gifts, willfully or otherwise, Leea doubted that she could add much to the expedition. However, she had been given the opportunity and she was not about to pass it by.

 

[Varloc]

Tag: Leea Pandac

Varloc walked towards Leea, the snow crunched under his boots and the wind blew through his outer robes. She looked ready to do somthing, she carried gear over her shoulder and her armour blended with the crisp snow. On time, good. Are you ready? You look it.

 

[Leea Pandac]

Leea gave a short bow, uncertain what the protocol was with this Jedi about honorifics. She couldn't help but keep grinning as she pulled a pair of goggles over her eyes, slightly reflective they would hopefully keep the wind out of her eyes and whatever sunlight might reflect off the snow.

"Ready when you are sir!" If none of the previous indicators had been noticed, her voice was yet another give away of her anticipation. She wondered if they would be exploring a ruin or a dig site. She thought it would probably be more pleasant in a ruin, at least that way she would be out of the cold. Then again, she was ready for anything, or so she believed. Hey, what can go wrong? A Jedi is leading the way.

Varloc

 

[Varloc]

Tag: Leea Pandac

Varloc nodded and the lifted rocks out of the way with the force, he then entered. Inside multiple great statues of jedi loomed up against the wall. On the ground there are pieces of stone and rocks. Varloc looked up at the ceiling high above, which was now cracking and breaking. I think we need some more people.

He then walked to a stone platform, with inscriptions on the side. These inscriptions were covered with ice in some places and were beginning to disappear. You should work on this. These writings tell of the history before the jedi purge, so long ago. Clean them up and document them. I will go deeper. Varloc stood and walked down a tunnel that branched from the main room, leaving Leea alone.

Down the hall some way he came to a stairwell that went quite far down. He took short and cautious steps, for these halls were quite old and haven't been maintained in hundreds of years. Once he reached the bottom he walked down the tunnel, letting the force guide him.

 

[Leea Pandac]

Leea followed Varloc into the decrepid Jedi temple. This Jedi was more like what the Mirialan had expected when she thought of the term Jedi. Expressing power and accomplishing feats far beyond what could be expected of any singular person. It was easy to mistake them for divine beings. Leea didn't see it that way; she understood Jedi had power but had not really contemplated where it came from.

She looked around at the crumbling statues and cracked walls. She wondered what the place would have looked lke back before it was abandoned to the elements. Looks quite ostentatious, even now. I wonder if they ever thought this would happen, they temples being left to collapse. She took a moment to breathe in the air, it tasted the same as the outside, if a little staler. More than that, the atmosphere was heavy with memory, as if the Jedi's presence had permeated the place such that for the rest of time this would be a place recognizable as being a stronghold of the Jedi.

Snapped out of her reverie, Leea responded with a silent nod to Varloc's assertion. She agreed, this place was quite large for only two peolpe to be exploring on their own. Even with her limited knowledge of the field, Leea was certain there was too much ground to cover if they were to discover all or even most of the secrets this place had to offer.

Directed towards a stone with inscriptions, Leea responded, "Alright. Be careful down there." Then as the taller man stepped away she busied herself with preparations. While specialized equipment was both difficult and expensive to come by, Leea was nothing if not resourceful and had managed to wrangle together supplies that seemed like they could be useful to her in this situation. She smiled to herself as she stood back a moment, surveying the carved work and pulling a datapad from her pack. She was learning a lot just from Varloc, let alone these ancient texts. A Jedi purge? What could have accomplished something like that. It seemed such a question would have to wait for later. For now though, she was looking forward to delving into a history before that event.

"Let's see what you have for me eh?" She tapped at the datapad for a few minutes before getting to work with slowly and carefully melting the ice around the etchings.

 

[Varloc]

Tag: Leea Pandac

Varloc continues to walk down the tunnel. Finally he comes upon a large ice cave. It stood a hundred meters tall and a few hundred long. Large pinnacles of ice shoot from the floor, and streams of light come from a place that cannonot be seen. But there was a dark feeling, he walked to one of the ice pinnacles and placed his hand on it.

The cave went dark, and he saw armoured soilder in white cutting out crystals. But not any crystals, kyber. He recognized the soilders as stormtroopers, though their armour was of a very old model. They took the crystals and put them in containers and took them down the hall. He knew who these soilders must be the ones that caused the great jedi purge to happen. And then as quickly as it had come, the vision was over, and Varloc found himself alone.

Varloc then headed back up to Leea. Once he got their he saw her working with the inscriptions. He walked past her and sat on the ground and thought.

 

[Leea Pandac]

It was a slow process, but Leea was patient. This stone and its inscriptions had existed for countless generations, she imagined they could wait an hour or two. With what gentleness she could manage, she massaged chunks of ice out of the first glyphs. Taking a holo for records, the Mirialan sat down and started transcribing the letters directly. It was in Aurabesh, she was thankful for that, it meant she understood at least half of what she was typing. It was a tedious process and though the data was interesting, Leea soon found herself quite bored. Not that she allowed boredom to stop her, the Mirialan continued dutifully in the process of clearing away the ice and copying the history frozen beneath.

The cold kept her aware, kept her uncomfortable enough that she couldn't easily have been lulled into a stupor. One portion complete, Leea took a break, reading over what she had written. Only then did she allow herself the pleasure and time to study and contemplate the history written down.

It appeared that the stone contained accounts of Jedi entering into the caves to collect crystals. The one she had transcribed spoke of a young Jedi who had spent weeks in the caves after a ceiling collapsed. Leea could understand why the story had been carved into stone, it was a tale of triumph in the face of adversity. Carving through the ice with a vibropick, the 'Padawan' managed to break through a thin wall into another cavern system that traversed several kilometres below the surface before emerging at another temple. It was a heroic story that merely reinforced Leea's belief in the Jedi's superhuman nature.

Leea returned to work with renewed vigour. She was once more thankful to be out of the wind, the cold in here was at least tolerable without he wind sheer. Nonetheless, she found herself often breathing into her hand after touching the ice. Unaccustomed to the numbing she felt, Leea began to slow as she fought to her extremities warm while still working. After a few sessions of melting the ice, taking holos, and typing what she could into a datapad, Leea found she had a pattern that seemed to work. It was relaxing, some might say mindnumbing. It was only during a quiet moment of using a small heater to warm away ice that she realized there was another sound in the temple. It sounded like distant voices. She couldn't understand them, but she was certain they were speaking about the caverns below the temple. At first, Leea strained to hear the voices more clearly, guessing they belonged to another archaeological team or treasure hunters. However, it soon became apparent it was neither of these and Leea attributed them to an overactive imagination without much in the way of audible stimulation. She pushed away the voices, forcing herself to focus on the task at hand.

Varloc would find Leea in much the same position she had been in when he left. She was rubbing away ice, some of the last pieces to be found in the entire stone. Leea noticed the return of the Jedi and smiled as she spoke while still working, "About three-quarters down, at least of what I can reach. Find anything down there?"