Lord of the Foliage: Return to the Botanists Bay

[Hylocereus]

Hylo had first discovered that there was a fetish for carnivorous plants when looking for a particularly rare breed of plants on the infonet. The article had asked for a sentient carnivorous plant to help botanical hybrid research. Being a plant, being naive, and eating meat Hylo had responded nearly immediately. What type of plant breed did they want to make? The answer was a half human type of plant breed. Needless to say Hylo had been forced to flee from the residence almost immediately returning to the Green Tower on Coruscant.

The Green Tower Arcology was still producing food and now working at a substantial rate. Rare new breeds of foods stuff with larger and larger yields were being produced although to Hylo it was getting… boring. He’s already made the garden and just maintaining it wasn’t as thrilling as other projects he’d worked on in the past. You could imagine his excitement then when he received a research proposal. At first he was skeptical given his last encounter with botanical research but soon found himself in a rather complete laboratory.

Another few months passed. Hylo had lost contact with [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] in his travels. They had met a few times, dated, fooled around but nothing really came of it. Hylo decided it was time for him to grow up and prove he could be what Mara needed. Thus leading him to his job and self induced growth spurt.

Even with his new job he grew bored. So much more bored than found himself working with Damian Starchaser again. Of course he knew he owned part of the company and he rather enjoyed setting up textile farms for him throughout the galaxy but other functions were less appealing.

“Oh there is our resident expert,” the man said waving Hylo over. He was a thin man with feminine but aged features and thin blond hair. “We were just trying to decide what root vegetable Mar’vahn looked like.” Pointing at a frumpy heavy set man who Hylo knew did camera work for catalogs and helped with getting the lighting correct and finding locations. “I can’t decide between a turnip and a summer squash...”

Old Hylo would have thought this was perfectly natural. He did look like a sweet potato. However now he knew when someone was being insulted. Girls don’t like their brown eyes being compared to fresh soil, and people were sensitive about their weight.

“I thought you being the resident expert on all things foliage….” The man shrugged.

Roland Moorecock was a jerk but he made pretty things. “I’m not sure,” Hylo said stepping away. “But he looks like he’s slimmed down since last time you’ve played.” He nodded to the appreciative Marv’ahn before moving along on his way.

There was guests and he was wearing his little suit and greeting each in kind. That was until he heard something… or thought it. Edgar his potted Murakami orchid was communicating with him. Visions erupted in his head, there was a spaceship floating in the stars, his old home. The plants had taken over and were overgrown and untended. A ship was landing in the bay, answering the sirens call and then pain, terror, and death.

Hylo snapped out of the stupor and found himself. He knew instantly what had happened…. The killer sith creations onboard were out of control luring spacers to an untimely death with their sirens song of salvage. This was a problem. Hylo was resolved, a flower blossoming on embarrassingly on his head, he had to return to the Botany Bay.

For this mission the Lord of the Foliage would need an A-Team….

[member="Kaili Talith"] [member="Sal Katarn"] [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] @Anyone


OOC: feel free to join having received Hylo’s Summons to his vertical farm on Coruscant the green tower. OR alternately you could have heard news that mercenaries were being hired or know him through a friend of a friend or heard about the space vessels disappearing mysteriously and your character tracks back an expedition here. Whatever. Have a good time okay.

 

[Sal Katarn]

Coruscant

The place looked pretty, way up here, Sal thought. He stood inside a transparent turbolift, on his way up one of the skytowers to meet with the Principal. Below, Coruscant's cityscape glittered like a jewel. But further down, a lot further down, the lights flickered and the air smelled from the clustered homeless. Crime thrived down there, and up here. They were just different breeds was all n' Sal knew one of 'em better than the other.

He stepped off the turbolift and walked with a gait that seemed little different from any other fella's, unless you knew where to look. His right hand didn't move when he walked, always near the gun on his hip.

The hunter knocked on the door to the address he'd been given, wonderin' why the air felt so humid.

[member="Hylocereus"]

 

[RC-1047]

Coruscant

RC-1047 slowly walked through the empty street's of Coruscant, The clone hadn't really been doing anything as of lately, nor did he intend on doing anything, The Clone was rather more or say- just out of idea's to do.

That's when he got a notification on his comms, he read the message his shimmering eye's reading over the message with delight. The clone was excited! A quest? A mission- he hadn't been on those in a near damn long time! Casper read the address to himself before marching himself over to the such address.

The clone came to the door of where the address stated already seeing a figure at the door, he looked at his armor, His standard issued Katarn-Class Commando armor, though of course during the clone wars he had painted over it and such.

Casper decided to speak to the figure, "Eh- I assume this is the place- I'll just be behind you since you've already knocked" Casper said with a nod standing behind the figure now his weapon's slung around his back.

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Hylocereus"] // [member="Sal Katarn"] // [member="RC-1047"]

Was that… A message from Hylocereus after how many years now? Kay looked at the message from her HoloPad for a second with a look of confusion. Mostly because she had forgotten that the Brat Pack had a holoMail group from all those years ago, and somewhat because he asked for her help on the matter. What that matter was remained a mystery, but the point here was that Hylo needed help and Kay was in no position to deny him that. In a sense perhaps it would be good to reconnect with the Brat Pack again, Kaili could certainly do with more friends at her side. No matter if they were old or new ones. And to have a chance to check up on Mara after the fight that Kaili had carried her out of would probably be a good thing too. Provided that she even came to the meet up with her ex-plantfriend or whatever in the first place.

So, there she sat in a chair around Hylo’s office. Amber eyes looked inspected her surroundings to take them in. All in all it could have been worse. A thought that she felt had once accurately described Hylo overall when they had grown up.

Smudges and spots of oil and dirt covered her clothes despite the fact that she had already tried her absolute best to clean them off. Life as a scavenger, as ironic as the calling to this very office made it, was something she had really just taken to on impulse. It was strangely liberating too. Reconstructing old tech to sell off or even give away for free was something she took great pleasure in doing and it was an even better way of learning more about the abilities that she had honed over the course of her entire life.

Which wasn’t to mention the friends and cultures it brought you to. Overall, a very good improvement to sitting on her butt all day, waiting for something interesting to happen.

She waited for the rest of the crew to arrive with a twirl in her spinny armchair.

Wait, someone knocked on the door! She gave Hylo a look and then the door. How exciting!

 

[Luther Lewis]

Morrigan breathed deeply, sucking the filtered air of the turbolift. She almost couldn't stand the press of people this time. But the agony had been worth it; she had finally found some plants! She had been homesick, missing Nagi and her beautiful jungle. She'd plucked the location from the mind of a passing Bith and had almost leapt with joy when she saw his memories, full of green. The lift's door opened, and she stepped into the corridor.

There were two people standing by the door, a tall man with withdrawn features and a smaller man with a sharp nose. Morrigan grimaced and shook her head, tightening her muzzle as she did so. She'd expected people, which is why she brought the muzzle. The black leather guard fit snugly around her mouth, the straps pulling her skin uncomfortably taut. She had even gone so far as to soak the leather with harsh chemicals. The acrid smell helped block out the intoxicating smell of flesh.

She waited behind the pair tapping her foot impatiently. They were waiting for something, probably following some strange Coruscant custom. She didn't understand; she grew up in the jungle. Why would you ever wait if you weren't eating, sleeping or ambushing prey? It made no sense to stay still like this.

She elbowed past the tall one, holding her breath so she wouldn't breath in his scent. The shorter one turned in surprise, but she ignored him.

Maybe the two were confronted by the door and were thinking about how to move pass the obstacle? They were fortunate then, for she had just recently learned how to unlock the seal on these mysterious doors. She pressed on one of the lights next to the door, just as she had for the turbolift. The door opened and she leapt pass the threshold eagerly.

"Where are the plants?!" She asked, her orange eyes a-glow with excitement.

[member="Hylocereus"] ~ [member="Sal Katarn"] ~ [member="RC-1047"] ~ [member="Kaili Talith"]

 

[Hylocereus]

[member="Kaili Talith"] spun around in her chair, but Hylo just stared at her face. "You have something on your face..." dark and.. soil? "Were you rolling around in dirt?" he asked. He rolled around in dirt, it was an enjoyable experience. But he was a plant. And then came a ringing of a door bell, he stood prepared to open it when suddenly without warning it opened up and a nagai asked where plants were. "I'm a plant!" Hylo said excitedly to her. "But you must know that if you're here for the job. Come in!" As he grew nervous so too did a flower sprout in his hair. Taking a deep breath he accidentally let loose a dose of calming pheromones. Feth, he thought consciously, boys aren't supposed to flower.... he resisted the urge to groan having long thought he outgrew this particularly embarrassing part of his biology.

Hylo reached out a hand and placed seeds into a nearby dirt patch. With a quick application of force he grew a small bush and tree producing a number of berries and fruits for the party to munch on. It was important to have snacks. "Snacks." he nodded firmly as if it were the most natural thing to see someone magic plants into existence.

Indicating a number of chairs with his hand he ushered the group into the room and sat them down. "You are all the best you are at what you do," he started up remembering a speech from a holodrama him and Mara had watched once upon a time. "And you showed up here today... so that's a plus." the holographic display shot into life an image of an old Ithorian Herdship, vibrant and green teeming with life. "This is the Botany Bay, it's a ship formerly controlled by a Sith Lord who had an affinity for plants." No need to tell them it was his mother. He wished Mara has shown up. A frown crossed his face as he considered his next words. "The plants on-board have been bred and warped and twisted into rather killer plantforms! I've recently been informed a number of trade ships have been lost in hyperspace around these coordinates." The Hologram shifted to a galactic map narrowing in on a nondescript area of space just outside of the current Sith Empire. "I believe our best chance at finding the ship would be to go here," the map continued to zoom, "to the moons of Iego. There is an old Sith Listening post there." although truth was Hylo was unsure of what defenses may have been in place at the station and what remained. For all he knew Pirate Assassin Jedi like [member="Kana Truden"], why Hylo now knew wasn't a pirate or an assassin, had taken over in the old Empires dispersal. "If we can gain access to their logs we'll be able to narrow down our search area. Then we find the ship and we prune it for salvage."

"Does that... does that sound good?"


[member="Sal Katarn"] | [member="RC-1047"] | [member="Kaili Talith"] | [member="Morrigan Lethani"] | [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

 

[RC-1047]

The clone didn't pay much attention the the people showing up- he was use to this, back in the Clone war's he was surrounded by many of his brother's before Order 66, he sighed as he remembered this, his pupils dilated as he did so, some of the PTSD tracking back to him as he did so- though he was soon bumped out of the moment when someone walked up to the door.

It seemed to be a girl-or woman, a muzzle around her mouth, he didn't look seeing as this was fairly- rude to do so, so he kept a straight face as she continued what she was doing.

When she opened the door- Casper chuckled- it had been a long time when he seen this before.

The clone followed in pursuit behind the woman slowly walking in as the man said. Casper sat down as the man instructed them giving a slight cough when he spoke.

The clone listened on to what the man said after he finished before speaking up.

"Ship Logs? We can get access to em with me- I'm fairly decent with Tech, Well fairly good with anything but piloting, Though you can leave combat with me" Casper said smiling behind his Katarn helmet.

"Does that... does that sound good?"

"Mhm- It sound's great- but I want to ask is there a pay to this mission? Either way- I'm fine without a pay- just getting back into action is what I'm looking for! Also should we introduce ourselfs? It would be better to get to know our team.." Casper said

[member="Hylocereus"]
[member="Morrigan Lethani"]
[member="Kaili Talith"]

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="RC-1047"] // [member="Hylocereus"] // [member="Morrigan Lethani"]

Had Kay been rolling around in the dirt? “What? No!” She exclaimed. “It’s oil, or grease, or something. It doesn’t seem to kind of want to get out of my hair, or my clothes, but heyo- that’s a scavenging, I guess.”

Anyway, as stated, the door knocked and Kay turned to look expectantly at it as in leaped an eager little girl. Who seemed very eager to get to the part where they helped the plants. Very, very eager judging by her overall approach to the subject. Hylo seemed just as excited, and under most circumstances now would have been the part where people usually went ‘Aww’ or ‘That is so cute’ but there was just the one thought on Kaili’s mind.

“Oh dear. There’s two of them.” She whispered in horror.

Hylo went on to debrief the team, yet… Had Kaili heard this speech before? She got a very weird sense of deja vu about it, but-

Ohhh Hylo. Yes, Kay had seen that flick. Regardless, the meeting moved on and they got to pooling their skills and see who could do what.

“Well, I am good at tech too.” Kay shrugged. “I’ve built a few droids, I’ve designed *a* ship, and I have a solid grasp on Technomancy.”

Humble brag. “I can help with tech.”

 

[Luther Lewis]

The plant-man started explaining some sort of mission. A look of confusion crossed Morrigan's face, until she realised this was probably the reason the others were here. She tried to keep her expression neutral while the man grew a plant with the simple touch. Amazing.

The man explained what he needed from the group, and while he talked Morrigan tried to think of way to escape. Joining other people, their potent scent combined with her affliction, had little appeal to her. She took a step to the exit when something made her pause. The plant-man mentioned corrupted plants attacking people.

A being twisted by the dark side of the force? To betray its very nature? That sounded far too familiar. Maybe these plants held the secret to her curse, and some sort of clue for a cure. It seemed far too convenient, but it was the only lead she had. She gulped at the fact of working in close proximity to others. This would be difficult.

The tall man (that she would eventually learn was called RC-1047) suggested introductions and mentioned something about payment. Morrigan straightened up and addressed the others.

"I am Morrigan Lethani, huntress from the jungles of Nagi" she said with a short bow. "I don't do well with...contact" she continued, unconsciously adjusting her muzzle. "But if you keep your distance, we will have no problem". Probably. She hadn't exactly spent much time among others. "These should do well against any foe" She pulled two Tehk'la blades from her sleeves, flipping them over and catching them by the handles. Happy that they were still sharp, she re-sheathed them into the guards attached to her wrists.

She strode past a woman with soft golden eyes, until she found a potted plant on a desk. It held a single bright yellow flower. She held it up to the others. "This will be my payment. In return I will help you with this hunt until the prey is defeated". Satisfied with her short speech; she sat cross-legged on the floor, slightly away from the others.

[member="Sal Katarn"] ~ [member="Kaili Talith"] ~ [member="RC-1047"] ~ [member="Hylocereus"]

 

[RC-1047]

The clone listened to everyone's introduction's, RC-1047 slightly stumbled, a four person team, Casper shook his head, his eye's dilated, A mental attack was coming RC-1047's way.

Casper caught himself on the chair's ledge trying not to slide down the chair- man he felt weak, this was exactly like his former team back in The Clone wars.

Casper continued to listen his ragged breathing evident, he slowed his breathing and tried to act normal but it was already evident the attack was obvious so he stood up and was going to do his introduction now.

When the Clone stood he felt as if all eye's were on him but he shook his head.

"I'm RC-1047 Codename Casper, Former Republic Commando or Clone Commando of the Galactic Republic, Or also I'm known from being from The Clone wars, My rank is Captain." RC-1047 grimacing at how he had to retell the tales of his Former life.

[member="Morrigan Lethani"]
[member="Kaili Talith"]
[member="Hylocereus"]

 

[Hylocereus]

Hylo nodded as people introduced themselves around the table. It was a good start. "Tech," he said nodding furiously. "Exactly. You and the captain can do the tech stuff!" he said to Kaili with a big old smile. "And Captain there will be pay. I have the credits to compensate you when the job is all done." Nodding furiously he then added. "So we get to the com tower, fight through the guards which intel says consists of a number of security droids. Then we get the data and get out of dodge before anyone comes to investigate." Although the Old Sith Empire was gone Hylo knew that old Sith weren't. There was no telling who knew of the old com tower. Besides it was still on the border of new Sith Empire Space and many old Sith were in the New Sith.... better to just get away quick.

"So who has a ship?" Okay Hylo really needed to buy a ship. His eyes went straight to Kaili knowing that being a scavenger she'd have to have a ship.


OOC: I figure with the holidays this is going to slow down for a bit. People are visiting families and all that you know? Anywyays I'm trying not to get too far ahead before Sal posts as I know he's out and about.
[member="RC-1047"] | [member="Morrigan Lethani"] | [member="Kaili Talith"] | [member="Sal Katarn"] | [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Hylocereus"] // [member="RC-1047"] // [member="Morrigan Lethani"] // [member="Sal Katarn"]

Two Techies, two crazies and then some kind of… Bounty hunter or something? He looked capable at least. Not that the clone didn’t, of course, but if there was one thing they sort of seemed to lack it was muscle. Hylo had brains when he needed to, Kaili had seen that once before when she was younger. Way younger, like, stuck-in-a-fast-food-parlor-with-a-Sith-Lord young. It was a long story and Kay had forgotten the bigger part of it, but she do remember the humiliation that she and her friends, including Hylo, had dished out.

Priceless.

“I have a ship, but don’t count on it to be able to do much damage to anything.” No need to mention the hardy shields though, right? “I think if anyone else has a ship, that would be ideal.”

Uneasy eyes set on the ‘Nagi’, was that what they were called?

“What about you, Morrigan?”

“Casper?”

“Blonde guy?”

“... Hylo?”

 

[Ipsy]

[member="Hylocereus"] | [member="Kaili Talith"] | [member="RC-1047"] | [member="Morrigan Lethani"] | [member="Sal Katarn"]

A low pitter-patter sound met Kaili Talith's question, followed by the appearance of a tiny fox who padded through the open door. A thick tail the color of desert sand swished behind her.

"Hello," the Amaran chirped. "I'm Ipsy. Did you say we'll be fighting some grody leaflings with a penchant for darkness? I would love to join the fight. My momma always said we should help those who can't help themselves, and plantees are always being trampled on by people and eaten by squirmies. When do we start?"

As she spoke, the tiny fox scurried toward the magicked tree and began munching on all the berries and fruits she could hold in her paws.

"These are yummy!" she exclaimed, her ears twitching in excitement.

"Have any of you tried these yet? They're very sweet, unlike the plantees you were talking about. How did you all hear about the wild leaflings, anyway? It definitely isn't something that's common knowledge. I only know because mouses like to eavesdrop, and they like even better to help me with adventurings and tell me what they hear."