Private &nbsp; Mission to Fresia

Jonyna Si · Jun 29, 2023

Jonyna seemed deep in the middle of observing a holocron, though one ear twitched as she listened in. "Don't let

Valery Noble find out." Jonyna said idly from across the library. "If any of the council found out, that'd practically be an act of war."

While that wasn't a certainty in her mind, Jonyna was sure some sith activity in the core would spark some sort of response. "You're gonna need backup if you're heading that way..."

The cathar hadn't looked up from her position, still learning about how to speak Wookie it seemed.

Elias Edo

Elias Edo · Jun 29, 2023

Without fail, poor Katie let her helpfulness clash with inconvenience. Elias found the source of the voice, a Cathar he'd not yet met before. She seemed preoccupied, studying a holocron, but he knew better than to assume she was indifferent. He grinned.

"Sounds like you expect there to be trouble," he said from the desk, eyes carefully studying the lines of scrambled data. He was hopeful that whatever the signal was, it wasn't nefarious. But if something were brewing in an ancient Sith site...

"Fresia's not been known to hide their intentions from the Alliance, but this transmission... it's suspicious, that much is certain. What do you propose?" Elias asked, stepping back from his terminal and crossing over to where

Jonyna Si was sitting. He offered a small nod as he joined her.

He considered sharing this discovery with

Valery Noble and the Council, but he wasn't really sure what he'd found yet. And with the Senate steeped in the quagmire of wartime politics, it would take months to green-light an official inquiry with Senator

Argale Thaste on the matter. As much as he disliked the lone wolf mentality, he felt this puzzle may best be solved by one Jedi.

Or two, perhaps.

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Jonyna Si · Jun 29, 2023

"We're jedi. Trouble follows us wherever we go." Jonyna smirked back. "With the Council locked in debate, I think it's best we deal with the problem before it becomes a problem. That takes stress off of the Council, and it gives more fuel against the sith if they need it. Something in their back pocket against a deadlocked senate." Jonyna had never been one for politics, but that didn't mean she was ignorant of it. She'd met Senator Organa and his daughter, as well as plenty of Rebel leaders. She knew the game, she just chose not to play. "If there are sith in the core worlds, they're criminals right?" She spoke as if that was obvious, given her understanding of what the sith were. Whether or not that was true was entirely up for debate.

Elias Edo

Elias Edo · Jun 30, 2023

“I tend to avoid trouble myself,” Elias commented, “but for our purposes, yes. The galaxy is not so naive to think the Sith have disappeared fully from our territory, and not so blind to pretend their will is anything but unjust.”

He smiled.

“I believe we’re well within our bounds to follow up on any traces of Sith activity in the Core. Even if it may turn out to be a dated signal with no cause for alarm.”

These truly were uncertain times. He missed the days when the mere thought of Sith didn’t stir the Jedi wild, but those were the very days that left them vulnerable to the Maw. And if left unchecked, it would cost them dearly when the Sith Order strikes.

They had to act now. It was the right call. He would ask for Valery’s forgiveness later.

“My ship is in the hangar. I’m ready to go when you are.”

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Jonyna Si · Jun 30, 2023

Jonyna just grinned, hopping to her feet. Her has what looked to be a katana on her hip, and a saber on the other. "Carry light, and you're always ready."

Part of the Cathar's mind told her that this was a bad idea. She's already lost once to a sith lord. Who knows what this place had. But she was always one to ignore that side of her mind. Bad ideas were her bread and butter. If anything, this was a chance to prove herself once more. Show the galaxy that Jonyna Si was ready to fight back the Sith.

Elias Edo

Elias Edo · Jul 1, 2023

An ambitious Knight, but Elias couldn't fault her for it. He went so far as to step away from the Jedi Order to join the Rebels when he was a Knight. To investigate a Sith beacon on a Core world was rather tame compared to the antics he got into.

"We'd best be off, then," he said with a grin. As luck would have it, Fresia was only a short jump away, and he was certain they could triangulate the source of the signal once the Tempest made landfall.

Then, they would search for answers.

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Jonyna Si · Jul 1, 2023

As they entered the ship, Jonyna couldn't help but be nosey. "Soooo...what's your gimmick?"

Elias Edo · Jul 3, 2023

"My... gimmick?" Elias echoed in confusion. He smiled, amused at his ignorance of the term. Hopefully it wasn't a negative one.

"Erm... I'm not quite sure I follow. If you're referring to my specialty, I supposed I'm something of an herbalist. I also served the Rimward Jedi as their Master Vanguard. That's something akin to the Jedi Guardians here on Coruscant."

He stepped through the Tempest's main corridor, not slowing his pace until he slowed to sit in the cockpit. He nodded to the empty copilot's seat beside him. The control panel was dated for a ship of this make, nearly as original as the day Elias acquired it, but he felt it gave the Tempest a special charm. He prepared the ship for takeoff while they chatted.

"What about you? What's your gimmick?"

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Jonyna Si · Jul 3, 2023

"Fire and swords." She said, puffing her chest a bit. "I'm the best swordswoman in the galaxy. Or at least....that's the goal." she sat down in the co-pilot seat, tossing one leg idly over the other. "Jonyna Si, by the way. I didn't get your name."

Elias Edo · Jul 4, 2023

"Elias Edo," he supplied, bringing the engines online and making a few more adjustments. He punched Fresia's coordinates into the navicomputer. His mind was locked on what may be the cause of the signals coming from the old Sith world, but he tried not to worry too much about what he hadn't even seen yet. Instead, he just focused on getting them there first.

The hyperspace jump was brief, given Fresia's proximity to Coruscant. Only time would tell, however, if that proximity were a boon or a curse.

The temperate world was soon within view of their viewport, its crystalline oceans and forested landmasses reminiscent of a big blue-green marble. It was difficult to imagine a Sith academy here, but he supposed they would benefit greatly from obscuring their fortress behind the guide of an otherwise beautiful planet.

"If the scanners are accurate, the source is coming from... here," Elias said, pointing at a sector map on the Tempest's holoprojector. The one he had on record seemed to indicate that nothing was here besides dense foliage, but their eyes did not deceive them so easily; Beneath the blanket of mist and vines sat an obsidian structure unmistakably Sith in design.

That was their mark.

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Jonyna Si · Jul 4, 2023

"We should land a good ways away. Swamp and forest is my specialty, and if we park the ship far away enough, that won't alert any sith in the area. Make it look like we're heading somewhere else on the planet." Jonyna suggested, chewing on a claw. "...do we have any indication from here what they could be doing? Radio signals, comms we could hack into? Energy output?" She was grasping at straws, trying to remember stuff that Hep had spouted off back in the day.

Elias Edo

Elias Edo · Jul 4, 2023

Elias nodded along to her plan. It was a strong move, especially since Fresia wasn’t strictly a Sith world. Many considered it to be a jewel of the Core. Any Sith population here would be small, tight, and highly alert. They would rely on the jungle to cover their approach.

But unfortunately, he had little to offer to answer her other questions.

“As far as I can tell,” he said warily, “there’s very little data on Sith activity here in the past. My archivist, KT-77, was able to find fragmented reports of an ancient academy of sorts. But it’s antiquated intel.”

Intel that predated the Rimward Jedi, recovered from the Jedi ruins on Sullust. He doubted it stood the test of time, if it was ever accurate to begin with. But the ancient structure that stood on the other side of the jungle was proof of its validity.

Too bad it never mentioned what exactly the Sith were up to all those years ago.

Elias brought the Tempest down in a clearing, nestling the ship a good distance from any long-range scanners that may have picked up their signature. He looked to Jonyna with sharp golden eyes.

“Let’s keep it quiet. We don’t know what’s inside,” he said grimly.

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Jonyna Si · Jul 4, 2023

She unsheathed Liz in response. "I do quiet all the time. Swords don't make a noise. Blasters are messy, only carry one for emergency. You're lucky, Jungles are like my home turf."

As they got out of the ship, Jonyna was quick to scan her surroundings. Not just with her eyes, which seemed to adjust to the sun, but also her ears and the force, feeling out what was around them. "...we'll have a higher rate of success if we wait till sundown. Cover of night will give us some cover, and my natural camo will act better in the dark. If they have guards, that's when you'll have a change over. Unless they're droids..."

Elias Edo · Jul 4, 2023

A grin spread across his face. Elias was suited to the sea, able to navigate by the stars and orient by distant landmarks. But the jungle was not so different. He’d visited and trained at Jedi enclaves like New Cov, and recently survived a crash landing with

Valery Noble on an uncharted world in the Outer Rim. He was confident they would get the drop on any potential opposition at the ruins.

He waited with Jonyna until nightfall, all the while planning for what they may face. The data Katie had recovered was incomplete, lacking any formal maps or diagrams of the academy. All they had to go on what its rough coordinates.

When the time was finally right, Elias raised from the forest floor and brushed off his pants. He looked to Jonyna, giving her a nod.

“Want to take point?” he asked her.

“I’ve got your back, I’ll follow your lead.”

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Jonyna Si · Jul 4, 2023

"...no, you take point. You'll stand out more if they try and find us in the force. I'll hang back and flank around."

Elias Edo · Jul 6, 2023

Elias stopped a bit at her forwardness, but it was a trait he appreciated. It reminded him of his own mindset when he was a Knight. He wasn't familiar with Jonyna's skills in the field, having never worked alongside her before, but he supposed she had a point. He didn't argue.

The tall Genetian led the way through the foliage, navigating the jungle that stretched between them and the academy. KT's data fragments ominously named it the Temple of Pain, which Elias shared uneasily with his companion.

"The Sith pick such charming names for their properties, don't they? With names like the 'Temple of Pain,' I never understood how anyone could find themselves sympathetic to the Dark Side. Seems plain enough to me."

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Jonyna Si · Jul 6, 2023

Jonyna had taken a more vertical path, climbing up into the canopy above, seeming to glide through the trees with little effort. Elias Edo at one point could see her pull what looked to be a grind across a branch, as if she was skateboarding across it.

"Yeah, where I'm from, we don't exactly treat the Sith with much kindness. Anyone who calls themselves Darth Sidious doesn't earn much empathy from me...."

Elias Edo · Jul 7, 2023

He couldn’t help but grin. Judging by the way Jonyna handled the branches overhead, Elias was sure she’d love to visit Genetia or Kabal to catch some waves. Assuming Cathar don’t hate the water…

The jungle seemed to grow thicker as they closed on the academy. It was tempting to pull out his lightsaber and make quick work of the vines, but he knew it would draw unwanted attention. He kept his emerald blade close by, though, in case any perimeter guards were stalking the woodlands. They weren’t far, now.

Only a short distance more, and the trees began to let up. The fading light of the evening made it difficult to spot the obsidian stone through the trees, but Elias could just make out the ruins ahead. He slowed his pace and began his approach, carefully nearing the jungle's edge.

He looked for Jonyna above.

“What do you see?” he whispered to her.

From the ground, it seemed eerily abandoned. He wondered if the source of the signal was deeper inside.

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Jonyna Si · Jul 10, 2023

"I see....a big fuckin' door." Jonyna said, squinting at the massive set of stone pillars with statues on them, overlooking a door probably large enough to fit on Coruscant's temple doors. "Looks like a deflector shield over it as well. We'll need to get that down, but..." She frowned. It was never that easy, was it? There always had to be a wrinkle behind this kinda thing... "That's gonna alert whoever's inside..."

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