Private Hail to the Seer || Adras

[Darth Nefaron]

TAGS: Catarina Talen Vizion Trozky
Location: Adras
Objective: Explore the Prison World


The distress signal had only been active for a standard hour.

It was nearly impossible to make out, but a terrified voice spoke in hushed whispers.

"Adras penal coloy 212 calling for... anything! The guards are dead, or they've been taken-"

The message cut out for a time before the voice returned once more.

"-Cult, they are in control now. Either you throw in with the crazies or they-"

One more, a little more than static. Then a final cry.

"-They let something in. It's... WAIT! PLEASE!-"

The transmission was cut. Adras fell into silence.

​

With the fall of the Galactic Empire and the turmoil of the following centuries, the already unimportant planet called Adras was left to rot, long overtaken by the far more inviting and profitable worlds in the surrounding systems. Adras is a world of shadows, a seemingly eternal darkness settling over the world and those few who called it home, many doing so without choice. While the major cities had long been emptied of life, the old detention center had been expanded over the years, turning from a simple holding camp into a vast complex for various prisoners from all over the Outer Rim. Most were little more than common thugs who had been busted on their home worlds for petty crimes such as thievery or the smuggling of spice, but all that mattered to them was that they had been shipped off to Adras to serve out their sentence, their years long interment spent mining or in the refining of basic minerals found beneath the surface of Adras.

Several systems removed from the maw of the Sith Empire and the light of the Royal Naboo Republic, Adras was not particularly valuable in any sense of the word. IT was a dumping ground for the forgotten scum of the galaxy. But for an entire world to fall into dead silence? That was the work of a greater power than a simple uprising. Yet there are no ships in orbit, no great fleet coming to claim the world for one side or the other. It's just dead air and seemingly endless darkness.

No one is coming for the prisoners.

Only the brave. Only the foolish.

Yet the facilities' main landing pad remains lit.

It's calling to those who wish to venture into darkness. ​

 

[Catarina Talen]

Tags: Vizion Trozky Darth Nefaron

​

"I'm still skeptical, Vizion." Deep in hyperspace, Catarina contented herself by tending to her plants. The Song of Kirima's garden was one of the few luxuries Catarina kept entirely for herself - for no purpose or benefit besides her own joy. The flowers she cultivated were all fickle - they bloomed rarely, died easily, and required constant care. A bit like people, in their way.

"People are quick to paint the people shooting at them as monsters. Or madmen. Sometimes an uprising is just an uprising." Her voice was soft, always, and just a bit melancholic, in the moment. She stood, and brushed the soil from her robes. "With a place like Adras, it was bound to happen sooner or later." She frowned, just a bit.

"I'm more worried they'll try to shoot us down than turn us to the Dark."

Adras was odd, of course. The Shadow didn't deny that - otherwise she wouldn't have been bothering to investigate, and the Order wouldn't have approved two Jedi for the detail. It was nothing short of miraculous for a penal uprising to manage a total frequency blockade, or destroy every comms array on the planet, or whatever they had done.

A high-pitched beep interrupted both Catarina's train of thought and her rambling - an indication that the Song was soon to exit hyperspace, and she and her comrade would be free to do more than simply speculate.

 

[Vizion Trozky]

SOMETHING AMISS
SONG OF KIRIMA
ENROUTE TO ADRAS

That this mission had the approval of the council was his doing, as a member of that very council - such investigative concerns fell under his purview. That he himself came as the second member of this two-knight operation was simply following an itch.

The constraint of serving an Order at large made him long for the narrower focus of an investigation, and he took what assignments he could, when he could.

Vizion had taken up a lean against a bulkhead within the Song of Kirima, while idly watching the other Knight care for her plants. Some marginal plant knowledge came to him via the needs of various missions over the years, but he'd never entertained the thought of cultivating them.

Her skepticism got little more than a vague hmm in response. He'd played back the broken broadcast more than a few times - Republic Intelligence monitored frequencies in the southern regions, recording many things for analysis, and had flagged that one for him - and that nebulous something had stuck with him.

Along with the noises he'd been able to tease out, layered as they were with the final cry of the message, that gave him pause. He'd seen a lot over time, heard a lot, and the rhak-skuri he and Briana Sal-Soren had faced on Giaca a couple of years back was his point of reference for ugly things. That could have gone badly. Very badly.

He wasn't sure what that something was without more information, but it was most likely a problem in a similar vein.

“I don't--” he started, until he too was interrupted by the beep, “we'll find out soon enough what this really is,” he resolved, pushing off the bulkhead to go seat himself for the landing. “Reserve your assumptions and keep your eyes open, senses alert.”

Catarina Talen​

 

[Darth Nefaron]

The approach to the facility was silent.

Not attempts at contact.

No signs of a massive uprising.

The facility's power was still on. It's perimeter secure.

But the ship was permitted to land. A landing pad was assigned to the ship's navicomputer.

​

For a facility that apparently experienced a mass uprising, very little seemed to be disturbed. The landing pad was neat, and droids still went about their normal procedures as if nothing had happened. Most of the prison shuttles remained in place on the other landing pads, so none of the prisoners had attempted to leave via starship. Yet there was one oddity that remained: the gate that led deeper into the prison was wide open, and the security system deactivated. There were no signs of a battle to secure the gate, but if one approached the entrance, they would notice a disturbing sign of what could be expected inside.

Blood.

Human. It began at a point and went in a line deeper into the facility.

As if someone had crawled out and was violently dragged back in.
​

When the crew of the ship debarked, an old protocol droid approached, its grey paint job having been chipped over the years of service. The number 212 was printed in white on its right breast, signifying it as a long-term resident of the penal colony.

"Welcome to Adras! I am LC-12, Starship controller for Penal Colony 212. I cannot see your ship logged on our records, so I assume this is your first time on world. Unfortunately, most staff seem preoccupied with a developing situation deeper in the facility. Not to worry, though, all perimeter systems are fully functional, and we have not had an escape attempt in two standard years!"

The droid glanced between the pair, seemingly attempting to ascertain their occupation.

"Might you be... bounty hunters? I'm afraid we are quite full on prisoners at the moment and are unable to pay for any additional labor-"

The droid paused again, seemingly receiving some sort of update from a central control computer.

"I stand corrected, two slots just opened up!"

TAGS: Catarina Talen Vizion Trozky ​