Private Held in the Currents of the Force

[Lyra Ventor]

Lyra visibly relaxed at that, some of the tension leaving her shoulders as she wrapped her hands around the anchor line and glanced up toward him.

"Well that's reassuring," she said, relief threading openly through her voice. "After everything we've run into today, I was preparing myself for another conversation that ended with the words giant spider."

Carefully testing her footing, she began climbing toward the opening, trusting both the anchor and the Jedi who had attached it. Even so, her eyes continued darting upward every so often as though she expected something unpleasant to suddenly emerge from the shadows.

"I think this mountain may have permanently altered my definition of reasonable caution."

A faint smile tugged at her lips as she continued upward.

"And I know the galaxy is full of mysteries," she continued, glancing toward him once she was closer, "but most of mine used to involve strange hyperspace readings, malfunctioning sensors, or figuring out why an engine was making a noise it definitely shouldn't have been making."

Her hand found the edge of the opening, and she pulled herself up the last stretch.

"Now apparently I'm exploring hidden ruins inside spider mountains with a Jedi Master who keeps finding secret passages."

There was warmth in the observation rather than complaint.

"It's certainly been more interesting than my usual maintenance schedule."

Once she reached the upper level, her gaze swept the area automatically before settling on Syn again.

"Still," she admitted, "I'm very grateful that this particular mystery doesn't currently include something trying to eat us."

As she pulled herself up, Lyra glanced back down toward the workshop below, momentarily checking that their tiny guide hadn't disappeared into another vent while they weren't looking.

His continued stream of annoyed commentary drifted up from below, which at least confirmed he hadn't abandoned them yet. For all his complaints, the little mechanic seemed just as invested in solving the mystery as they were.

Syn

 

[Syn]

Lyra Ventor

He looked down at her while she was coming up and offered a hand with a nod of his head. "It is refreshing for the moment. This valley is strange but knowing it is accessible from the galaxy itself is making it easier to bare and think. If I can get above the interference and the force energies then I can channel and reach out to Alema." He said it as she was able to get up and moved around leading towards the window or vent... he wasn't certain but the slats letting light filter through and down into lines on the floor were what he had. The jedi masters hand touching them. "It is steel and reinforced but that could be for the weather as much as for possibly mechanical parts to automate it."

 

[Lyra Ventor]

Lyra accepted the offered hand and pulled herself the rest of the way up, taking a moment to brush dust from her palms before looking around the chamber. The filtered light spilling through the slats painted pale lines across the floor, giving the room an oddly peaceful feeling despite everything they had climbed through to reach it.

"I'll admit, knowing we're not trapped in some impossible pocket of the galaxy makes me feel better too," she said, following him toward the opening. "Getting stranded is one thing. Getting stranded somewhere that shouldn't exist is an entirely different category of problem."

She reached out and rested her fingers against one of the metal slats, testing it lightly before peering through the gaps toward the outside.

"Reinforced steel makes sense if this place gets storms," she mused. "Especially if whoever built it wanted airflow without exposing the interior. Though considering everything else we've found, I wouldn't be surprised if it opened and closed automatically at some point."

Her eyes followed the frame, studying the joints and mounting points with a mechanic's curiosity.

"Honestly, that's becoming a theme around here. Every time we find something strange, it turns out somebody engineered it for a reason."

A faint smile tugged at her lips as she glanced over at him.

"Which is considerably less stressful than discovering it's another species of giant spider."

Syn

 

[Syn]

Lyra Ventor

"Isn't that the purpose of building. to have a reason?" He said it while looking at her but he turned to look back at it as he was moving and the reinforced steel of the window with its slats as the light was coming through was heavy but he was checking it for the moment. ONly testing it a little where he would be able to use it and hold it steady. "If it helps, the oxygen here on the world is not high enough for multiple giant species of spider. Their lack of internal organs means they can't get as much with the low oxygen. Even with the forests here, they are mostly concealing the mines that they had as well as this place. SOmeone or something once wanted to have this hidden away. LIke an observatory."

 

[Lyra Ventor]

Lyra followed his gaze toward the reinforced slats, watching the filtered sunlight spill across the floor in pale bands while she considered his explanation.

"How do you even figure something like that out?" she asked, genuine curiosity slipping into her voice. "Most people look at giant spiders and stop at the giant spider part. You somehow end up calculating oxygen density and biological limitations."

A faint smile tugged at her lips.

"I swear, your version of 'having a look around' involves solving three mysteries and writing a research paper before the rest of us catch up."

Her attention drifted beyond the slats for a moment, taking in the hidden valley and the structures concealed within it. The observatory theory certainly fit better than most of the alternatives she'd imagined.

Then another thought occurred to her.

Lyra glanced back toward the opening they had climbed through.

"Actually..."

Her brow furrowed slightly.

"Should we go get the little guy?"

The question sounded entirely reasonable to her.

"Because leaving our guide behind while we wander into another unexplored section of a mysterious facility feels like the sort of decision people regret later."

She folded her arms loosely and looked down toward where the Anzellan had last been seen.

"Besides, he's been living here longer than we have. Which admittedly isn't difficult, but it's still more experience than we've got."

Syn

 

[Syn]

Lyra Ventor

"Creature gigantism is a dangerous aspect, the risk of running into something is always real and under water it is much worse but traveling means knowing what the risks will be in many more situations." He said it as the explanation but was moving now when he could check over a few other parts. He was moving though and looked at Lyra. "Whatever there is though we'll fight it, we have each other and we have motivation." He said it while there at the window frame but was testing it to push it out. If they could make it a hole rather then a window then automatic closing wouldn't matter nearly as much he was hoping at least.