Geppetto

[Jsc]

​

The Lost Ark
Biaan Wildlands
Ossus

It was an old spaceport. Reclaimed long ago by the high desert shrubs that surrounded it. It was also the most recent base of operations for the Blue Divers. A Republic based group of smugglers and traders who frequented this edge of the Rim. Gypsies and ex-pirates turned law-abiding business men. Well. Maybe? Old habits die hard, as they say.

Shaun pulled up on his motorbike and killed the engines. Just outside the wall that separated old starport from the grasslands beyond. This was supposed to be Republic soil. Friendly ground. So why did it feel so off to him? So empty. Hm. Must be nothing. Probably just the nerves again. He'd learned long ago never to say, I've got a bad feeling about this. Do that? And it doesn't matter what your doing. It always goes sideways.

He pulled out his phone and turned on the map. Yep. This was the place alright. Somewhere inside this massive old port was his "Geppetto". The droid maker who had started this whole mess. Now all Jay had to do was find him and finish it.

Shaun dismounted and pulled the key from the ignition just as his com started beeping,

"What's up Blue."

~/ "Heard you went to the old wildlands to check up on that lead Margo sent you. Find anything yet?" ~

"Just got here. Nothing so far. Just grass and desert as far as the eye can see."

~/ "All the same. I'm sending somebody out your way to help. It's been a long time since you've set foot on this specific Ossus. So, might do you some good to have a veteran around this time." ~

"Ha. Can I say no?"

~/ "No. And he's already on his way to you now. So... Just try not to get yourselves killed, yeah." ~

"Heh. Fair enough."

~/ "Good luck Shaun. Roberts out."

Shaun smiled and looked back at his motorbike. Well girl? So much for the solo approach. Let's see who turns up this time.

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

The Lost Ark
Biaan Wildlands
Ossus



Where trouble was, the Jedi Master was soon to follow in most cases. This just happened to be another one of those cases. A pack of smugglers that apparently went by the name of the Blue Divers had taken this spaceport for their own. They claimed to be businessmen... But he didn't believe it. He'd decided to try and investigate to the best of his abilities, and see what exactly was going on.

The Silvers hadn't said anything about it, of course. This would be a solo mission for him, most likely. Which was fine by Joshua, he supposed. When the Republic or Sanctum was involved, it was just taking orders and usually not good ones, all with agendas in mind. He'd heard something about a droid too... Apparently it was linked to something going on here. He hoped he could find it.

Hopefully.

[member="Jay Masaki"]

 

[Jsc]

Josh's com began to beep. Letting him know he had a message waiting. As it turned out, Silver Sanctum Apprentice Emma Prinn was playing operator today all the way out from Voss,

~/ "Master Dragonsflame. Message for ya from a one, Karen Roberts. She says that she has an associate she wants you to meet up with out in the Biaan Wildlands. It sounded related to your current mission so Coci and I figured we'd pass it along. I mean. Seeing as you're already out there and all that? Well. I figured it might be worth the look. Um. She says his name is Jay Masaki and that he's a Padawan with Republic Order. Anyway. I'm sending you his waypoint now. Take pictures and happy hunting ya'll. Voss Temple out."

And that was all there was to the text message. Alongside a waypoint that was conveniently just outside the Lost Ark itself. Right where Josh was going. Nice.

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

It seems he stood correct. He was being given orders. Oh well. At least they didn't go beyond what they'd given. "Got it" was all he sent back to the Jedi contact. That was all he needed, after all. Jay Masaki, they said the contact was? Alright, well he might as well kill two birds in one stone. And just like that, the Jedi Master would continue his journey, using the coordinates given to give him a more approximate read on where to go.

He supposed it couldn't hurt to get a little help in all this, after all. The more the merrier. So long as they were competent at their jobs, of course. Once he reached the Lost Ark, his gaze turned around the area, looking for this "Jay Masaki" he was told about.

[member="Jay Masaki"]

 

[Jsc]

Masaki appeared out on the ramparts of the crumbling old wall. At least two stories above the grasslands and easy to view looking up. The darkly garbed Jedi walked over the balcony and gave a quick salute to the Master down below. Waving Dragonsflame to come inside and join him. Alas. There was no door and no entry on the ground level. Josh would have to jump up to the platform or find an old chain he could climb. Improvise an entry. Which was fine. Gravity was a Jedi's best friend.

Jay leaned against the doorway up top. Eager to see if his "backup" was as good as Roberts made him sound. Smirking as the other man had to exert himself to jumping and climbing. Ah, if only Zakk could see him now. How many times had Bannon played this exact same entry routine. He could hear him now, "Come on Jay. Just grab on and let the creature hoist you a thousand meters in the air. It's fine. You'll land softly." ...Ha. Good old Bannon. Always making you work for it. Safe or sorry.

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

It didn't take the Jedi Master all that long to recognize his contact from the description given, as he was staring at him from up above. Noting the salute, the Jedi would nod faintly and make his way over to the meeting spot, his expression serious, business-like. Unfortunately, that would involve jumping up to a platform. Or climbing. Whichever came to mind first. The Jedi let out a sigh. It was never easy, was it? But he supposed that if it was too easy, then it wouldn't be any fun either. But even just getting there was going to be a pain in the arse apparently.

Once he reached as far as he could go by walking, Joshua would close his eyes, relaxing himself as he would start to build the power of the Force up below his feet... If he could just propel himself, perhaps he could find a foothold. A handhold. Anything. And just like that, he would catapult his 6'3 frame upwards, and while he did not find a proper foothold, he would concentrate his power once again in the air, and use what angled part of the surface he could to kick his feet off it, combined with the power built up, in order to launch himself upwards, a little to the side in the process thanks to the angling, allowing himself to do the same on the next angled surface he could find. It involved a couple of side flips and some risk taking that could have very well sent him falling to his doom, but eventually, he would grab the first concrete surface he could grab in the air, and pull himself up. He'd finally made it to the top, and made his way over to the man, his expression as stern as it had been when he had arrived.

"Now that the acrobatics show is over, what's this all about?"

[member="Jay Masaki"]

 

[Jsc]

Jay smiled and gave the Master a slow clap. Oh yeah. That was how you do it.

"Nice. Haven't seen moves like in awhile. Roberts sends good backup after all. Pretty."

He pushed off the wall and smiled,

"Jay Masaki of Ossus. Padawan, I suppose. Ah! But you want answers, not introductions. Fair enough."

Masaki tapped the wall and nodded,

"Somewhere inside this hunk of iron here is a Blue Diver's smugglers base. And I think they're hiding a very specific terrorist amongst them too. The bomber known as Geppetto. Droid maker and metalworker extraordinaire. His calling card is to perfectly duplicate a Faction's servant droid then have that explode using barriadium and poison flechette. Big and flashy. Must have an ego, I suppose. ...Well. You know how it goes."

The Padawan shrugged. This wasn't his first rodeo either.

"We got a tip that his next target is the Jedi Temple right here on Ossus. And that it's going to be big. Really big. Mm. Tip also mentioned that the Blue Divers took a contract to smuggle him planetside too. Guess his visa didn't pass customs. Ha. Mmm. No solid evidence yet, of course. Just rumors. ...Still? Definitely worth a look. These smugglers are supposed to be on our side anyways. Bleh. And don't nobody like a traitor."

He scratched his head and nodded,

"It's... Not a big job, mind you. The Republic only sent a Padawan to check it out. Tips and rumors I guess don't really facilitate the importance of a real Jedi Knight, but. You know. Paperwork and all that. ...So. I appreciate Blue sending a professional. Even if we don't end up finding anything at all."

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

He felt as though the Padawan, as he found out he was simply a Padawan during his introduction, had intentionally chosen this particular meeting location as a test. Testing a Jedi Master, was he? It was an amusing thought, and Joshua had the idea to find some way, some how, to test the Padawan in kind before - or after - this mission had run it's course.

"Joshua DragonsFlame, Jedi Master - but I'm sure your contact already told you at this point, or you wouldn't have accepted" He half-joked with a small smile in the midst of his own introduction. "But alas, yes, let's get this over with, shall we?"

The Jedi Master would listen to the briefing and nodded his head. So he had been correct in his research in terms of suspicious activity, by the sounds of it. He nodded in response. "Sounds like it adds up with my own notes and research. A terrorist, huh? We can't have that, can we?" Joshua would remark, chuckling just a tad as he stretched his shoulders casually.

But his joking nature vanished the moment he mentioned the reasoning behind the investigation. Bombing the Temple on Ossus? Did they not realize how many children were in there? No, of course they didn't. All they saw were Jedi. Joshua let out a sigh and nodded again. "Then we need to get in there and deal with this. And if the rumour is true, find and deal with him before he can get anywhere near the Temple. I'm not letting anyone be endangered by this" He spoke flatly. Why had they only sent a Padawan on a mission like this? But now it made sense as to why he'd been tasked with providing backup. The Silver Sanctum may not be the same Silver Jedi he'd joined, but they were still a group of Jedi, and he wasn't going to allow some terrorist to kill them off.

"Kark the paperwork" He spoke flatly. "They're foolish if a rumour like this only merits sending a Padawan. If the terrorist is possibly already on the planet, then something needs to be done immediately" Joshua would add, looking over at him. He obviously wasn't impressed with the decision. Not that he doubted he was capable, but something that could potentially be this dangerous required more then just a Padawan, rumour our not. And if it turned out that there was a terrorist hiding here after all? He was going to give Thurion a piece of his damn mind.

"When you're ready, let's head out" He remarked. His entire demeanour had changed in an instant. He was all business.

[member="Jay Masaki"]

 

[Jsc]

Jay could only shrug as Josh voiced his frustrations with how the Republic handled it's paperwork. Was it really such a surprise that Ossus had a problem with it's priorities? Masaki kinda figured that was just "business as usual" at this point. Meh. Whateverz. He was the Padawan here. Best to just shut up and move along.

"This hallway here leads along the air coils and up to the upper decks. From there we should be able to spot any activity inside the walls. Now. usually I'd say, try to keep up? Haha. But I have a feeling you'll do just fine. Oh. ...And welcome to Ossus Master Dragonsflame. It's gonna be a bumpy ride."

Smirking and hustling along to the door, the tall man gave a wave for Josh to follow.

___

There was a breeze along the upper decks as they emerged from the interior. With only the blue sky above to limit them, Jay felt pretty good about the hike it had taken them to get here. That the Force for Jedi stamina. Whoosh.

"Good climb. We're here."

The Padawan took a moment to take in the sights and sounds of the upper deck before moving on. Like the top of a dam it was mostly a freeway of clutter. The grasslands had recovered this concrete monstrosity too. Whole trees sprouted up from the dark surface of the walls and sign posts were left torn asunder. It had been a fair spell since any car had traveled this wide road. This was a Great Wall to nowhere.

"Check it out. Look's like we have company after all."

A smuggler's trooper carrier was rushing in from the north. Skirting the wall and coming to a halt not but mere earshot from the Jedi infiltrators. Masaki took to cover and gave a nod.

"Look's like we'll have to move past this group to get to the Crows Nest further up the road. From there, we should be able to see signs of a smuggler's base. It's the tallest peak I noticed on our way in. ...And, if it works for Assassins? It should work for us too? Heh."

Ah. But where was Ezio when you need him. Jay smiled and peaked out from cover,

"So. You're the Master. How do you want to sneak past these guys? I see... Mm. Six scouts. Simple raider gear. Nothing special."

The trooper carrier buzzed past overhead and Masaki nodded to the sky. Best not to alert the Divers to their presence just yet.

"You're call. Dragonsflame."

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

(Ugh, I've lost this stupid post twice now)

He knew that this was "business as usual" for the Republic, although he had originally assumed that this was a Silvers mission and not a Republic one. But that didn't make it anymore stupid. For something this potentially fatal and capable of, even as just a rumor, putting at risk thousands of Jedi lives, this was an incredibly boneheaded decision on their part. A suicide bomber wasn't something you sent one student after. It didn't matter their skillset. They wouldn't have - or shouldn't have - even sent Joshua as a Padawan back in the day to a mission like this if they had a brain in their heads.

But he was here, at least. At least someone had the brain to make sure that this mission was done - and done right. He nodded to the quick briefing, heh. He was pretty sure the Padawan had been testing him... He made a mental note to make sure he tested the Padawan somehow in exchange - either before - or after this mission was over. It wasn't fair to finish this without paying the Padawan in kind, after all.

------------------

Finally, their climb had ended. For real this time, hopefully. Or at least until they had to climb down, but the climb down was generally easier then the climb up. When he thought about it, why hadn't they taken some kind of small, quiet air transport? That technology existed. But... He supposed they were just too cheap to send it their way, and so they had to take the hard way. They really were lucky they were Magic Ninja Space Wizards, or this would have taken them hours for the climb up alone.

His eyes gazed upon this strange wonder. It was as though a civilization had been overrun by nature - a battle between man and nature that nature had won handedly. Most likely though, it was probably just a case of the inhabitants not bothering to take care of the place. It was like a head of hair... Don't take care of it, and it grows out, wild and all over the place.

But it looked like they didn't have time to explore.

The Padawan would alert him to having company, and he would follow him to cover, deciding that the Padawan had likely at least taken to a bit of scouting before they'd arrived, if he knew the cover spots well enough. As Jay would outline the situation, he thought it over for a moment.

"I'm not sure, but it's probably best we remain undetected for the time being. It'd cause us too many problems if we're seen for now. If we can find the bomber and verify it... Well, no need for stealth after that"

"How much higher ground do we have? Using the Force, we can get to higher areas of access then regular beings rather easily, without risking detection. If we're quiet, we can slip past from above to get to where we need to go"

[member="Jay Masaki"]

 

[Jsc]

Telephone polls, Satellite dishes, loose wires, and Cell-phone towers. Mmm. Nah. Not much high ground for awhile. There really wasn't much higher ground to speak of all the way up here. Much like a dam overwatching a great lake, when you were at the top. Well. You were at the top. Haha. However, the idea of passing by the scouts without them noticing was interesting to the Padawan. That might just work. If they got creative.

"I don't think we're going to get much higher than we are now. However, I did notice some wide sewer grating back near the door. Considering how we climbed up from the inside? I'll bet that massive piping we saw below runs along this entire stretch of road here."

He shuffled around behind the car he was using for cover. Peaking out and looking around.

"Yeah. I see something. Bingo. Got it. ...Look. If you can buy me a minute or two? I'll lift that grate up over there and we'll sneak by these guys by going underneath them. Just... Make some false noises or something? Maybe a bird call or... Bah. Nevermind. Who am I kinding? You'll think of something. Just buy me some time yeah."

Jay winked and slipped past the car and out behind another one. Dipping and ducking underneath an old array and then back out again behind a concrete barrier. He only needed a minute or two to get their escape plan ready. Josh would just have to think of a way to buy them that time. Already six curious figures were approaching at a casual pace. And, oh great. They seemed to be looking for them already.

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

The Jedi Master would gaze up, examining their options. Damn these eyes, he was right. The idea to try and take the high ground to go above their opposition didn't really hold much water. They'd have to save that idea for later, he supposed. There would be plenty of time to take the high ground and then dive into a cart of hay before they were done here.

But apparently this little Paddie had an idea.

He listened to his idea with an amused interest. Distract them? He supposed that he must have meant the guards that were coming. Great.

"Bird? Sure" Josh responded in amusement without hesitation. He could play this game. So once Jay would leave, Josh would peek behind the cover.... And start making bird noises. If any of them peeked behind, he was gone. Where was he? Who knows?

[member="Jay Masaki"]