Kurah and the Hidden Temple

[Kinsey Starchaser]

There was never a bone in the explorer's body that would be able to resist the call of discovery of the unknown. Kinsey Starchaser had found it. The entrance to the legendary hidden temple on Kurah. The planet itself had been tricky enough to land on un-detected. Vong made up the main population. And the Outer Rim meshed with Wild Space.

Even with the presence of the Outer Rim Coaltion - nothing was ever safe.

The girl took a breath upon the precipice of a large hole cut away from the rocky-earth. Fingers tightened around the line and gave it one last tug. Her pebble-drone booped next to her.

"I dunno Pibs. Tech isn't working great. Must be some interference from the mountain. Can't tell what life-forms, if any, are down there."

A bemoaning whistle.

"Don't be such a worry bolt. I'll be back up before you know it." Fingers lightly wrapped against the top of the droid's round head before boots stepped away from solid ground and hugged around the rope as she lowered herself into the slumbering chamber below.

Vong, treasure, pirates, friends, foes? Kinsey didn't know what lay below but she was sure gonna find out.

 

[Kaia Starchaser]

She had been working on some new technology for Starchaser Enterprises. And when Kaia says ‘working on’ she means ‘taking for a test drive.’ And today’s newest tech? A new long range hyperspace tracking device. What her goal with the device was, was to make something that could theoretically send location data forward,maybe to the Dawn Treader, or at least to some larger freighter or transport to come provide assistance.

Would be really good the deeper one went into the Rift and out along the Rim.

Short range tests were going a bit better, but the real test was to get deeper and further away. Her YT-2400 Pulsar had landed off on one of their worlds. But for her, she’dbeen taking the time to re-practice the Jedi way, in addition to her Warden life. That meant exploration and diving onto planets. She was lucky she could do what she wanted, and her career would move with her.

Keep food in her stomach and fuel in her ship. But it also meant she was treasure salving at times. Today, she had made her way out to one of the more remote stations, and with her modified Probot, Drifter, she was finding herself on a planet that was calling out about hidden temples amongst the Vong population.

She hadn’t really seen who was landing here, but it didn’t matter. She wanted to see if something like the Vong or a cave could prevent her transmissions…

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Kaia Starchaser"]

After a healthy descent, Kinsey's boot hit the rock layer of the cavern floor, below. Head swiveled, light strapped around her forehead casting the darkness into recognizable shapes. Shelves lined almost up to here she'd come down from. The hole above also cast a ring of natural light into the area. If she squinted, she could almost make out Pib's shape peeking at her from above. Maybe the red flash of its sensor.

The girl checked her wrist comm, frowning. The screen was blank. She wouldn't be able to receive or send transmissions from down here. Definitely some kind of disturbance.

She'd missed Pib's message that the droid had seen another space-craft landing not too far away.

Unbolting her rope-line, she crept forward, boots crunching on rocks, pebbles and dust.

Place looked like it was an ancient library - in times much past. Perhaps back when [member="Rune Shamalain"] was at his prime, before the Gulag plague.

 

[Kaia Starchaser]

Kaia was really excited to be testing this equipment out. Making space and exploration safer was all that Starchaser Enterprises were working on. The youngest of the family was the one who was most likely to help save the wanderer. A smile as she was looking at her gear, the dark haired hybrid was looking to her droid.

“Think you can get us down into the mountain a bit?” She was pulling equipment. She didn’t like being on the ground, but for now? She was going to have to be. A multi-tool that was an old Levantine Sanctum toy, she checked the charge, and hung it over her shoulder. A combination combat rifle and mining beam. She could make a deep cave this way. But first? She was going to do a little spelunking, just to get started.

Checking the knots, she nodded. “Alright Drifter, stay close.” She smiled as she let herself jump down, the rope directing and easing her drop.

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Kaia Starchaser"]

Kinsey's gloved hands moved along the dust-covered shelves. There were old scrolls still in tact. Old data-cards with a healthy-layer of dirt on 'em. The scrolls looked like they'd fall apart if she breathed on them. But still.

She felt like she could spend all her time just exploring this room.

But she wanted to go further and deeper in. Head tilted as she entered a narrow-corridor. Sounded like something else echoing further in. Other footsteps? Hand drifted down to the blaster strapped to her thigh.

 

[Mirvak]

Having landed in a not-so inconspicuous black ship a few kilometers away from the cavern entrance, the massive wolf flew out of the cargo bay mounted on the large speeder fit for his heavy frame. His hood flew off the top of his head, whipping in the wind behind him, revealing his scarred, terrifying visage. Reduced to hunting for artifacts for power, the Sith wolf was following a lead to an extraordinary temple that might help him in this quest. Expertly zipping over racky crags and through canyons, the wolf slowed as he came to the entrance to the cavern marked on his holopad. He dismounted the bike, and it levitated much more generously now with the added weight dispelled. The beast saw the evidence of others already here, and chuffed loudly, the hairs on his neck bristling. He reached into the small hold in the back of his speeder and activated two small, black, and circular black drones with three dull red eyes. They levitated alertly and chirped quickly to their master.

Mirvak looked over the edge, scowling heavily as he felt atleast one presence down there. He gripped the rope and began to make his descent, his two drones orbiting around him as he did.

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"] [member="Kaia Starchaser"]

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

@Mirvak @Kaia Starchaser

Well, Mirvak wouldn't sense Kinsey. Kinsey had a firm lock-down on her force signature. But he might smell her. She'd had some nuna eggs and crispy nercon that morning.

Mmmmm.

Boots crunched on gravel and sand as she left the library behind and wound her way down a narrower tunnel. Glowsticks attached to her vest cast her in an eerie, green-tinted glow. The corridor opened up into another chamber. Headlight moved with her panning gaze. Looked like some old ward? Laboratory?

 

[Kaia Starchaser]

Like her father, and really, her whole bloodline, Kaia Starchaser was an explorer, a wanderer, and one who never sat down too long in one place. She was still the type who needed a confidence boost, but for now? Her little trip here would work well. Planetside and everything.

Ew planetside.

But she needed to test some things out, and maybe the whole test would keep her mind off of everything else. Like the giant chasm. She was humming to herself as she lowered down further. She wasn’t focusing the Force, just the descent, and her grip on the rope. And she was idly trying to figure out where she had seen that one ship before…

[member="Mirvak"]
[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]