Mission: In The Name of Research [The Republic | TJO]

[Johnny Diamonds]

Johnny looked over to Darius, and stifled a laugh as the kid was more nervous than even *he* was around people he didn't know. Man, Johnny liked having Darius around. Made him feel like he wasn't the awkward one in the group, couldn't lie. Something about this kid made his teeth itch. He wasn't sure why, but he was usually spot on about such things, like hitting 7's on the one armed bandits. Still, Ava seemed to think him good enough to train, so that had to count for something in Johnny's book. But before he could even get further on this train of thought let alone say something witty, Corvus stood like, RIGHT next to him. Whoa...

Johnny looked over to Corvus, never letting his head turn. Dude, Ava was right. She's like, an 11. Just...wow, he thought. Man, he was usually pretty good at keeping his emotions in check when it came to this kind of thing, but he just couldn't help but smile warmly. She was just so...well, for lack of a better term; perfect. Ok, Johnny D. You got like, an objective here. Kiskla's counting on you. I know, I know, but try to keep your mind focused. Eye on the prize, dude. Eye on the prize. Leaning over just a bit, before his Master could respond to Corvus, he whispered quietly. "You could always give me a hand, if you want. Force knows i've got one hell of a job to do here."

Yeah, Ol' Johnny D was swinging for the fences here. Sa-winnnnng, batta!


[member="Kiskla Grayson"] | [member="Avalore Eden"] | [member="Corvus Raaf"] | [member="Darius Olar"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus looked at Johnny with a surprised look on her face. Computers weren't her thing at all - but if he needed some help, she'd do what she could.

"Let's see what the Grandmaster has to say first, but if you need a hand, just let me know.". Corvus smiled warmly and wondered if she'd said something funny as Johnny seemed to have some sort of inane grin on his face.

[member="Johnny Diamonds"] | [member="Kian Karr"] | [member="Kiskla Grayson"]

 

[Johnny Diamonds]

That grin on his face, it wasn't odd, or weird, or even uncalled for. Johnny knew full well how hard and uncaring life could be. Doubly so for a Jedi. He wasn't out there, for sure, but he was far, FAR from stupid. Some things just had to be acted upon, and this was one of them. The boy was utterly smitten, he was devoted yet he had no idea why. to him, Corvus was the end all, be all, and he really didn't want it any other way. He had hver he, or more precisely, he'd be her's whether anyone liked it or not. That was just how Johnny was, and no one save perhaps death itself would change that. It was just that important to him.

"Corvus, when it comes down to it, I need you like, all the time. You are the tops in my book, and nothing is gonna change that."


[member="Corvus Raaf"] | [member="Kiskla Grayson"] | [member="Avalore Eden"]

 

[Asmundr Varobalder]

Time flies when you're having fun!

 

[Avalore Eden]

ooc - Just going to help move things along a little. If anyone has an issue with it let me know, I'm happy to edit.


"Of course you do, those are the rules," Avalore returned to her Padawan [member="Darius Olar"] matter-of-factly.

At the word of Master [member="Zaren Bouqi"] the Healer nodded with a short glance to the curiously reticent [member="Veino Garn"]. Awaiting the Master's move, she followed his lead to make way for the shuttles that would take them to the surface of Reecee. She'd come equipped with a leather satchel containing various elements of Healer supplies, as well as those required for the mission at hand. It made the bag a bit heavy, but such were the trivialities of being a Healer. Everyone else would carry the heavy burden of being her protection.

[member="Flint Dexen"]

 

[Adele Adonai]

All the while, A'dele would observe the party of Jedi -- curious at their interaction. More so at the young Avalore Eden. A thoughtful expression would pass that energy that was Jedi Knight Ad'ele Adonnai, her attention drawn to the younger Jedi.

What manner of otherworldly presence she had would merely continue to follow and observe.

 

[Kian Karr]

Kian eyed [member="Corvus Raaf"] and [member="Johnny Diamonds"] as the two padawans seemed to be whispering amongst themselves. Kian had one secret he thought he kept quiet well.....he had a sense of humor. He'd been told before that he was boring...even emotionless but this was not the case. Stoicism came to Kian through years of training among the Baran Do and then among the Jedi, but he still liked to do small things here and there to amuse himself. If others found them funny, that was great, but mostly it was simply to make him laugh.

With this in mind, Kian walked up, rather stealthily, behind the two padawans and then leaned down so that his head was directly between the two padawans.

"Are we ready!?" Kian said, making his voice as hard and stern as possible. He wanted to convey the appearance that he disapproved and was irritated by their not-so-subtle communications.

Rising back up, Kian turned toward [member="Kiskla Grayson"] and, unable to wink with the goggles on, sent a mental nudge of humor toward the Jedi Grandmaster. Kian didn't wish to deny the padawans their moment of good humor. They would be thrust into the horrors of war soon enough....and who knew what sorts of dangers they would face on this mission. It did no harm to allow them their moments here and there. As Jedi, Kian knew they would be ready when the time came for action.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus felt like a giggly Youngling, caught eating at the back of an astrometry class. Even though she'd actually done nothing wrong, she felt guilty. Any hope others would see this as the truth weren't helped by the fact that her face went scarlet.

In truth it had simply turned a deeper shade of scarlet as Johnny's words - so unexpected - had already caused her embarrassment. Boys and their hormones!

Bowing to Knight Karr, she flattened the hem of her robes with the palms of hands. "Ready."

Corvus fussed over the contents of her pockets - it was that or look at the ground.

[member="Kian Karr"] | [member="Kiskla Grayson"] | [member="Johnny Diamonds"]

 

[Uther Weiss]

((If you guys don't mind, then I would like to jump in on this. Before I saw this thread, I had been looking for a means to acquire some Voxyn samples. [member="Kian Karr"] , we'll just act like we haven't met yet.))

Uther sat by himself, humming an old Echani battle hymn as he checked his armor and weapons. They were on the hunt for Voxyn today, so he had come armed to the teeth, including phosphorous shells and a disruptor pistol. The used of such armaments were frowned upon by the Republic (if not outright illegal), but these were special circumstances. Apparently, the Voxyn were built like tanks, and then some, capable of feats like recovering from being crushed flat by a bulkhead, or still fighting after being dismembered by a lightsaber. So that's why he had the phosphorous and disruptor weapon, to inhibit their healing factor. On top of that, they were venomous, possibly capable of energy projection (sonic?), and worst of all, cunning. Troublesome buggers for sure, but he didn't think they were as bad some of the other Jedi made them out to be. They just lacked the proper tools to get the job done. That was part of the reason they were here today.

However, he wasn't really looking to kill Voxyn, as he also carried an anti-venom kit, bio-scanner, and some trapping gear. His top priorities were to collect samples to create more anti-venom for inoculation, and catch some live specimens. If these Voxyn were so deadly to Force wielders, then the Jedi should make lemonade out of lemons and field these things for themselves. If not the Jedi, then maybe another group like the Beast Riders of Onderon, or the Felucians. The Jedi would get something out of it, then so would the Voxyn as more and more Sith were popping up everywhere like weeds.

 

[Kiskla Grayson-Matteo]

[Moving this along further, apologies for all the delays on my behalf.]

Reecee​

The Praxeum itself didn’t breach the atmosphere as per the chauffeur’s decision — Right, [member="Caid Centurion"]? Likely wise, considering the enigmatic façade the giant, golden ships liked to promote.

The group of Jedi had been decided for efficiency and comfort considering the transportation to Reecee’s surface. All packed-up and ready to go, the individuals were filed into two separate M47 Illria-Class Dropships that had been prepared in the Praxeum’s massive hangar — combat-ready gifts from The Protectorate. The Praxeum would handle the access communications for the most part, unless something were to go amiss each of the shuttles had their own channels for flight control to contact.


For the most part, Reecee was a modern planet. It had been dominated by the Vong during their reign, but had been working with The Republic to rectify themselves once more and shake themselves free from that shadowy burden. They hadn’t been able to entirely bleach their stains however, and far from the city’s restored epicentre were the fragments of the system that had once been.

The repulsers of the dropship would activate as they skimmed beyond the well-lit areas of the city and the normal reception areas, and dipped closer to the ground; nearer a more ominous and blank feeling to those who were seeing with The Force, rather than the view ports. At this time, only the natural light from Reecee’s sun and the lights from the M47’s nose were illuminating the path they perused. Though, the closer the Jedi got to their coordinates, the darker it became and the deeper they wove into the structure of the abandoned realm.

A palm braced against the curve of the metal were it met with the viewport as Kiskla frowned deeply. Although this was a scene for the past, it was a scene to the present for Alderaan. It needed to stop.
“Start running scans as soon as we’re on the surface.” The blonde spoke, looking back at those who were more likely to be in-tune with the technology that was demanded for this ([member="Corvus Raaf"] / [member="Johnny Diamonds"]).

Finally, in a reasonably eerie area, the ships adjusted their patterns finally to stop on parallel sides of the perimeter — headsies to tosies so both sides were lit for the immediate exodus of the shuttles.

Precedent and impatience meant that Kiskla’s boots were the first to touch Reecee’s ground. Instinctively her gut wrenched — Vong had been the closest thing to killing her thus far; but here she was; probably going to make sure it didn't happen again. This was going to be a rough psychometric trip.

Areas of the former transportation route had been sectioned off, and there was some movement coming their way to meet them. It was the only thing she could sense in The Force, with all this dead space from the voxyn remnants.

"Ay, Jedi." An arm waved from the assigned scientist and overseer for the Reecee station. "'Bout time you made it out here. These things have been actin' up lately -- we'll show you the quarantined area."

"Tame?"

"Relatively -- good for samples."

Light eyes drifted indicatively in the direction of [member="Avalore Eden"]. Samples -- saaammplleess.

[member="Kian Karr"] | [member="Flint Dexen"] | [member="Zaren Bouqi"] | [member="Uther Weiss"] | [member="Adele Adonai"] | [member="Veino Garn"] | [member="Darius Olar"]

 

[Kian Karr]

Kian followed [member="Kiskla Grayson"] from the shuttle. He wrapped his charcoal grey cloak tight about him and folded his arms within the sleeves of it. Looking around, he stretched out with the force. The area felt so void of the force that it caused Kian's head to spin for a moment. Voxyn....the thought of those wretched creatures made his stomach turn.

Turning back toward [member="Corvus Raaf"] and [member="Johnny Diamonds"], Kian spoke up. "Anything?" He asked.

Then he turned back as the scientist approached the Grandmaster.

"Tame?" And Kian couldn't help but shake his head. The idea of those things being tame was not something he could envision. The scientist turned and appeared to be leading them toward the quarantined zone. The area where the Voxyn would be. Kian scanned the surrounding area as they went. It never hurt to be cautious!

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus was pleased the Grandmaster stepped into action-mode – the silence had been at best uncomfortable.

Filing into the dropship, she sat in the first available seat. En route she’d tried to apply logic to the situation. Sitting next to Johnny would give him the impression she was interested (which she was not) and sitting away from him would probably give him the impression she was interested (that seemed to be the way all boys’ logic worked!).

As they descended, the planet felt…strange. As if parts of it were closed off to the Force. Corvus surmised this was linked to the effects of the Vong – and her interest was piqued and revulsed in equal measures.

“Start running scans as soon as we’re on the surface.” And the Grandmaster was looking her way! She immediately deferred to Johnny. ”You take the lead and if you need anything, just ask.” She hoped that a techie asking for help from a non-techie was as likely as Rhen Var opening up as a beach resort.

As they disembarked, the empty feeling was as prevalent. One she’d not felt since her encounter with the Voxyn. Not a memory she trawled often – too much vomit and blood (all her own) for regular review. But she had thought about it – if for no other reason than to understand how she would fare better should the situation arise again.

[member="Kian Karr"] | [member="Kiskla Grayson"] | [member="Johnny Diamonds"]

 

[Johnny Diamonds]

Johnny was kind of out of the loop, one ear to the gathered, one eye on Kiskla. For now, he kept himself glued to his datapad, running scans of their surroundings. He noted the signature of the Voxyn, and nodded slightly as Kian asked if there was anything coming up. "Yeah, over that way, about half a klik." he said, pointing out northeast. He looked up for a moment, and sort of nodded to Corvus. He could somehow feel it, whether through her body language, the minutiae of her facial expressions, maybe it was the Force itself. but he could tell, he just got shot down harder than a Mando squeezing off a round at a womp rat. Damn. Well, JD, you sure know how to pick your spots. You got two option here; either go with what your feeling and leave her to it, or keep trying to crack that cold, icy exterior of hers. Your call, I'm sitting this one out. came the thought across his mind. He sighed lightly, and just concentrated on the mission at hand.

Keeping close to Corvus for a moment, he spoke lowly, perhaps too low. "Yeah, I think I get it, chicadee. Never needed help before, don't know what possessed me to start asking for it now. Do your thing."

And with that, Johnny seemed to accelerate ever so slightly until he fell in right behind the Grandmaster.

The boy felt heartbroken at the moment, but it'd pass. He hoped it would...


[member="Kian Karr"] | [member="Corvus Raaf"] | [member="Kiskla Grayson"]

 

[Kian Karr]

Kian glanced over at [member="Corvus Raaf"] and shrugged to the girl then watched @Johnny Diamond rush ahead to be near Master [member="Kiskla Grayson"]. Kian couldn't help but let his mind wander for a moment back to Dorin....back to a time now lost in the past. He was young, maybe 10 or 11 years of age, and while the time had passed, the memory was still clear. Seeking sanctuary in another's home during a sandstorm Kian had been struck by the beauty of the families youngest daughter. He remember the acceleration in his heart and the touch of her mind to his.

Shaking away that though, Kian took a few quick steps until he was beside the young man and he placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Believe it or not, I understand your frustration." Kian said, hoping he was being helpful, "unrequited affection can be an painful thing. However, we are on a mission." Kian said, not saying it sternly but rather warmly and cautiously. "Things can happen very very fast on missions such as these....it would be best if you had your wits about you. Take a moment, collect your thoughts, calm your mind."

As Kian said this he squeezed reassuringly on the young man's shoulder and then slowed his pace, allowing Johnny to speed ahead and reflect on what he had said. Kian returned to the back of the pack where [member="Corvus Raaf"] was and signalled for [member="Uther Weiss"] to keep up with the group.

Kian eyes scanned their surroundings as they walked and he reflexively placed his hand on his lightsaber hilt. Something felt odd to him. It wasn't anything that he could pinpoint....but he just had a sinking feeling in his gut....and though Kian was not necessarily the most worldy or experienced of Jedi...he had learned to trust his gut. Following the Grandmaster, Kian decided he would have to keep his guard up.

 

[Uther Weiss]

As Uther worked on activating his recon droid, he couldn't help but chuckle as he overhead Karr's conversation with Padawan Diamonds. Poor kid, but striking out was just part of the game.

He hadn't been formally assigned to any group, so he just followed Karr out of the ship as he knew him best, with the recon drone not far behind. Once they were outside though, it zipped away from him, gaining altitude until it was out of sight in its orbit center around him. It fed his HUD and datapad information muxed together from its various sensors. By way of Karr, he heard mention of the Voxyn being (relatively) tame. He wouldn't hold his breath on that assessment. At best, he didn't expect them to be any better than an animal you saw at the zoo. But if they were wild, then at least they wouldn't have the benefit of specialized Vong training.

[member="Kian Karr"]

 

[Caid Centurion]

"Captain, all transports are away, flight deck supervisor is reporting red deck status."

Caid gave the OOD a brief nod of his head as he double-checked a number of systems readouts in front of him. Remaining seated, the dark-skinned officer flipped through a number of pages on one of the multi-function displays before speaking. "Alright. Break for high orbit, give me geo-stationary above the location of the glowstick brigade. We monitor communications and activity on the ground."

"Aye, Aye Captain."

As the bridge crew received and acknowledge orders from the Deck, Caid turned his head to glance at the Executive Officer. The man was also a Captain by rank though only recently advanced to such. "Prepare to execute the drill."

The Executive Officer smiled thinly and gave a subtle nod. "Ready when you are boss."

[member="Kiskla Grayson"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus was aware she was dawdling and picked up the pace - but all the while kept her connection to the Force at the front of her mind. She wanted to know the moment they hit a cold-spot - where she wouldn't get any advanced warning that something was wrong.

But she was distracted.

All she wanted to be was a Jedi. She didn't have to be the best, or the bravest, or the cleverest, or any superlative for that matter. Just...well just a Jedi - and be treated as such. She made a mental note to speak to the Grandmaster about her current situation when the time was right.

[member="Johnny Diamonds"] | [member="Uther Weiss"] | [member="Kian Karr"] | [member="Kiskla Grayson"]

 

[Avalore Eden]

Completely and blissfully oblivious to poor ol' JD's situation, Avalore Eden was content to do her own thing within her own group. Leading in the presence of a respected Jedi Master was certainly not her deal, and so the Healer awaited word from [member="Zaren Bouqi"] before disembarking from the dropship, [member="Darius Olar"] in tow.

"Stay close," she said to her Padawan as she rummaged through her ruck-sack for a literal glow stick, pulling one out she cracked it on and held it up, peering into the growing darkness as the remainder of her group ( [member="Veino Garn"] | [member="Flint Dexen"] ) filed out behind them. Brown eyes scanned ahead and then back towards the Grandmaster's brigade, already meeting with a local, and nodded at [member="Kiskla Grayson"]'s motion. She stepped forward to the Scientist, lowering the light-rod to greet him, "don't suppose you have handlers ready," if not, she had a perfectly good Padawan to put to the task, hah, "I don't exactly have the greatest animal magnetism."

Generally she tended to get pee'd on, that was the highlight of her history of owning pets.

Unless of course you counted Felacats, then apparently her magnetism was pretty strong.

"Lead on," she indicated and patted her bag handily with a short glance back at her assigned squad of Jedi before following.

 

[Darius Olar]

Still without a clue as to what they were actually doing here, why they were here to begin with, that mastered ability to block out everyone was perhaps used at the worst moment in time but alas, he had waited obediently by his Master's side as they disembarked from the dropship, well Darius had always wanted to travel away from Ossus, he wasn't sure if this was what he had in mind originally but it was better than nothing. Nodding to Eden as she asked him to remain close, he pinched the bridge of his nose and did a once over of himself, letting out a sigh of relief to know he didn't leave his lightsaber hilt behind on the Praxeum Ship thing.

Rubbing the back of his neck as he took his first step on the world, he didn't stand idle for too long before having to catch up with his mentor, it was an odd thing, to be the muscle, to be the only lightsaber wielder in this sort of Master-Padawan situation, she was a healer and he could only imagine the worst scenarios if it came down to both of them requiring to fight for their lives. Looking to and from the local and [member="Avalore Eden"], letting out another sigh, well, he knew he was going to be doing all the heavy lifting if need be or you know, the dangerous things. "What are we meant to be doing here, exactly?" He whispered quietly to Eden, semi-expecting her to lash out on him for not having listened or well, paying attention until this very moment.

 

[Kiskla Grayson-Matteo]

(Sorry, not getting notifications? Weird!)









"The activity was that way, Master Jedi." The touch point directed Kiskla's attention over her shoulder and beyond the nose of the transports. "We tried investigatin' but after a certain point we scientists only dare go so far."

The blonde Jedi nodded. "My team will look into it. Are there any other locals that come out here? Maybe supporters of the Voxyn?"

The scientist shrugged. "Some local militia was seen out here-- but they didn't fire at us. Maybe we turned back too early. I'd keep an eye out anyways."

"Thank you." At that, herself, [member="Johnny Diamonds"], [member="Corvus Raaf"], and [member="Kian Karr"] would peel from the other group and into the foray of the area beyond the shuttles toward the force-dead shadows.

Then the local scientist peered at Avalore Eden and her curious request. He indicated for [member="Avalore Eden"], [member="Veino Garn"], [member="Flint Dexen"], [member="Zaren Bouqi"], and [member="Darius Olar"] to follow him toward an area in the reserve that had billowing plastics and electric screens erected to set up a minor quarantine area.

"We have security detailing surrounding this contained area -- there are twitched every now and then but for the most part rather tame. Good for sample collecting methinks-- we just haven't had the equipment. Or bravery."





[member="The Hydra Queen"]