Dear Jedi (Any Jedi)

[Jorus Merrill]

Dear Jedi:

I've been out of touch, living in the Outer Rim and Wild Space, and I don't have the first clue who to contact about things like this. That's why I'm making it a bit of an open letter through old Jedi channels. I've got what looks like a Sith artifact on my hands and it's kind of an unusual case.

The artifact is a black sphere made of ash and obsidian. I'm told it's the ash of the vratix dead from Thyferra, and Carnifex made it. Far as I can tell, it feels ugly but doesn't do much. Maybe it's just biding its time.

I acquired it, I kid you not, in a raffle. See, I attended a charity auction for Coruscant First, played card shark hard enough to dent the fundraiser, and my ticket won the door prize. Why far-right xenophobic Coruscanti political activists would have connections with Carnifex is an open question, and one you'll probably have fun with. Same goes for why they'd be happy auctioning a piece of genocide at a fancy-dress ball.

So anyways, I've got this thing and I feel strongly like two things need to happen. Thing one, the surviving planetary government of Thyferra needs to own it and decide what happens to it. I've had a chat with them - we go way back - and they've taken custody. They've also agreed to thing two: the Jedi need to figure out whether the ball is dangerous.

Right now, the artifact is in a safe deposit vault at a bank on Yag’dhul. The Thyferran authorities are fine with Jedi examining it and doing what's necessary, within reason. Keep me posted.

Cpt. J.Q. Merrill
S.S. Wretched Hive

 

[Fen]

Dear Jorus:

It quiets the heart to hear you are still among the living. And still collecting ancient[?] artifacts, it seems.

If this item was truly created by Carnifex, the Darth formerly known as Vornskr, former King of Panatha, real name Kaine Zambrano, the Iron Tyrant and Scourge of a Thousand Worlds, then I recommend launching this sphere into the nearest star.

Yours truly,
Korr

 

[Brooke Waters]

The word had come down from her Master that there was something up her alley coming their way. Coren Starchaser was garbage with most parts of the Force, and that included the whole realm of construcing artifacts with anything more than engine parts, and ones that could accomplish any feats. Savannah Elko, on the other hand, had been learning a great about the way the Force could influence the world, and more specifically, objects. That meant a lot of work for her, and the fact that her Master had remembered a bit about her? Namely that her homeworld was Thyferra, and she had the interest in artifacts.

The younger Jedi was on her way to Yag’dhul, in a ship constructed under the monitoring of Coren Starchaser. Granted it was one part for her own trip and touring around, and another part for Coren to completely understand the ship, inside and out. That way if anything did change, based on the amulets she was working with, Starchaser could monitor it.

Looking up at the screen, she was tapping through social media network photos and tsking. Laughing to herself at one of the images, she couldn’t help but type out a quick message to her friend. She had a few things that needed to be uploaded to the holonet as soon as the ship was reverted to real space.

Once the ship entered the black of space, she uploaded her data and approached the cockpit again. The kyber crystal that was around her neck, was glowing, she was working on connecting to it with the Force. The goal of this was to take a little bit off her trip, not much, but Coren had given her a bit of instruction on hyperspace travel, and instinctively navigating it.

Next stop, Yag’dhul.

 

[Zef Halo]

Ember remained reluctant of venturing anywhere in Galactic Alliance space after exiling himself from the New Jedi Order, he'd spent years in the Outer Rim completely estranged to his calling - that of being a Jedi, before a vision rushed him back into the affairs of the galaxy this time as a rather independent to any Jedi establishments out there. His differences with the practices of the different of the Jedi Orders of the galaxy had him put him in such a position.

But when Cpt. Merrill's message arrived on his holocomm a week prior, Ember knew he had a responsibility to learn more. He had learned the hard way that a Jedi had to constantly learn, especially when it concerned the dark arts. The Sith always seemed one step ahead. Perhaps this artifact that had come in the possession of the captain of the famed in the Outer Rim Wretched Hive could bear useful knowledge.

Or it could not.

There was always a risk but he had to give it a shot. If anything, the Jedi Knight trusted Jorus Merrill. His actions had turned him into a beacon of hope in the wild reaches that were the territories of the Outer Rim Coalition.

The borrowed light freighter landed neatly on one of the many docks of Dodecapolis, Yag'Dhul's capital. Donning the rather light and flexible vacuum suite, Ember exited the skiff. He wondered whether Merrill had deliberately left the artifact here due to the hostile environment of the planet.

At least there was gravity.

The Jedi Knight pondered whether he would meet other Jedi today, or acquintances he had made during his time in the New Jedi Order.

 

[Seamus Valik]

The man scanned the channels on his comms suite. Calm blue eyes moved along signals long since unused, at least by him. He stuck upon a signal, a man, J. Q. Merrill, a name he'd not heard since he was a padawan and the man had taught instinctive navigation to a bunch of random kids with little to do and less to hope for. He punched in the coordinates for Thyferria and set about the task of monitoring for more transmissions.

He leaned back as the old Starlight-class freighter made the jump to hyperspace. It had been a while since he had been to Thyferria but he was a licenced investigator in Alliance space. That should make the arrival less difficult. He was also fairly experienced with artifacts of nefarious nature. He had even once carried the dagger that was used to end the netherworld crisis and the strange being known as Akala. If that was anything at all.

His ship made it's way and he set his transponder to broad cast. There was no need to be clandestine in an area of space he was actually known, sort of...maybe. He path had led him away from the Jedi and into roads less travelled but they hadn't led him away from investigations. And this was that, if nothing else.

[member="Ryan Korr"] [member="Sav Elko"] [member="Ember Farseer"] [member="Jorus Merrill"]

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

//PRIORITY TRANSMISSION FOR
Captain [member="Jorus Merrill"]

--begin transmission--
J, you know I'm usually the first to say that history survives only because objects of the past allow us to understand the present and how we got here. Which may or may not be relevant to the future, as everything we think we know about the past is colored by strata of biases, perceptions, and ill-conceived notions that we know what we're talking about when we discuss what people a literal bajillion years ago were thinking this time a Hutt-ton millennia ago.

As many times as that ol' witch Jocasta made me copy Yoda's holocron by hand, I'm sure he'd have a different perspective on this, but I can't feel that the best answer is to GET RID OF IT.

Full stop.

All caps.

Bold.

GET RID OF IT.

Bury it in the core of a gas giant. Shoot it into the event horizon of a collapsing neutron star. Have [member="Julius Sedaire"] fart on it after having some of those greasy gorba melts from CoroNet City... you know, the ones from that food truck outside the space ports west exit, assuming the environmental protection laws haven't declared it a violent eco-terrorist group harboring weapons of mass destruction.

But I digress...

Trying to understand this thing is laudable, but having it somewhere that it can be touched by people is a recipe for a lot of different possibilities. Most of them bad. Especially if the people touching it are Force sensitive. For the love of the Force, encourage the Thyferrans to put this where it will be of no use to anyone.

//s//
SJ
--message ends--
//MESSAGE ENCODED PRIORITY BY XANTHA, S J/HNID CD-001-4j23A4ytK
//AUTHENTICATED BY CORELLIA DIGITAL/J64 HOLONET COMMUNICATIONS MANAGEMENT

 

[Zef Halo]

His wrist datapad beeped and reminded him of something he had forgotten about. Ember wasn't dealing with this completely alone. The Coalition had informed him that they had hired the services of a private investigator on this as well. The Jedi wondered how well the investigator knew about Force artefacts. He did not underestimate a man he did not know's skills, but the Jedi still wondered.

Ember backtracked to the docks in his vacuum sealed suit, tracking the broadcast through his wristpad. The thing led him to a dock where a ship had just landed.

The P.I.

Outside of the platform the Jedi Knight remained patiently waiting for the investigator to disembark so they could begin their quest to solve mysteries.


[member="Seamus Valik"]

 

[Seamus Valik]

Seamus tossed his small pack over his shoulder and clipped his lightsaber on his belt. He was in Alliance space now, the lightsaber would act as well as any badge for the duration. His did a last check and grabbed his former Master's holocron and stuffed it into his bag then headed down the boarding ramp to make his way to this artifact. He had handled a few in his time with the Jedi. Psychokenesis, was one of his few talents and his superiors had made use of him on several occasions when he was young. He was sure it would be just as useful now. especially if the artifact was recently constructed.

He stepped off his ship and noticed there was no port authority to check his ship, instead there was just one man. Seamus walked directly over to the waiting humanoid and gave a nod.

"Seamus Valik," he said by way of introduction, "I'm going to take a wild guess that you're waiting for me and not a bevy of dancing girls? If I'm wrong I'm sure that they'll be along shortly but not from this boarding ramp."

His eyes flicked to each side and he was glad to see that no street thugs or toughs were waiting around to jump him. Wild guess said that the Alliance had got his message that he was arriving. But then, he'd been wrong before.

[member="Ember Farseer"]

 

[Zef Halo]

The investigator came down the ramp of his ship with an air of confidence around him as Ember observed him. The face looked familiar but very vaguely and the Jedi waved away the familiarity thought as just a mistake.

"Ember Farseer." The Jedi Knight smiled nodding before he grinned at what Seamus said after. "Unfortunately, it is you I am waiting for indeed." Ember blinked for a moment. That wasn't really something he'd usually say but that Outer Rim sarcasm was starting to stick on him. He was spending a LOT of time with the Coalition and even the Underground. Manners get picked up usually quickly when you adapt to a new social circle.

He turned around and headed forth towards where the vault with the artefact was. The closer they got, the more congested it became with Givin shuffling around going about their business. Fortunately for the duo, the vault wasn't that far from the docks. A five minute walk, at most.

"You've received Captain Merrill's transmission, right?" Ember rhetorically asked and added aiming to learn more about who Seamus Valik actually was. "I've inspected only a few Force-connected artefacts and I am told you specialize in that, so have you got any preliminary thoughts on what could have Carnifex created." The name rang darkly in the back of his head. The Sith Emperor.


[member="Seamus Valik"]

 

[Seamus Valik]

He paused a moment and squinted minutely at the man.

"Unfortunate, indeed." He said calmly, "but with a name like Farseer I'm sure you'll find a way to look passed it."

He fell in line with the man and listened to his questions. The idea was quite odd to be honest. Seamus had some doubts as to the seriousness of an artifact that was acquired at an auction. Logic told him that if it was a powerful means of augmenting the force or even a minor boon the Sith would be to greedy to part with it. So, if they let it go to an auction of all places it would likely be corrupting to one degree or another. It was highly unlikely that it was anything good if he was any judge, which he wasn't really, but whatever.

"I have some experience and a few tricks up one sleeve or another." He replied, "If it was indeed Carfinex who made it and he let it be acquired at an auction my guess is it has a corrupting influence or he can track it. My last run in with him and the reports I've read paint him as extremely self-absorbed, delusional sadist and I doubt he'd let anything of value slip away unless he had something to gain."

They made quick progress to the site where the object in question was being stored and Seamus motioned toward the door.

"Lead the way." He said "I'm just an unfortunate tourist, this is your circus."


[member="Ember Farseer"]