Mission &nbsp; [NJO Padawans] - A Cold Warning

Jem Fossk
Knights and Masters:

Corin Trenor said:
"You mind telling me what that was?" He asked Gabe with the faint incline of his brow. "It's no time to run off."

Gabe didn't understand why Corin got all of this responsibility. He wasn't that much older than himself and there were clearly older padawans around. Maybe being the padawan of one of the Council members gave you extra privileges or something. He was about to answer when the world shook. He didn't feel anything in the Force before the ice beneath him began to creak and groan. His eyes widened as he realized he was on all fours above a rapidly splinter. He rolled towards Corin and before he'd realized it the older boy had snatched him up by the collar of his coat and hauled him to his feet, keeping him close. The crack was no wider than his finger but it was long and there was no telling how deep it went.

Gabe kept his mouth shut and followed along with the others.

Thalia Senn · Jul 25, 2022

Padawan Horde:

Jem Fossk
Knights and Masters:

Corin Trenor said:
"So if no one's hurt and we can all continue on..." Corin half-asked to the lot of them and set his attention on Iris, the same healer that first asked about the state of them. Mission comes first, he callously reminded himself. "Let's move, Padawans."

Swallowed without a sound.

Thalia didn't have much of a chance to scream or shout before Ilum devoured her and the ice surrounded her. When she came to she was, again, surrounded by darkness. The whispers came, incessantly and demanding. Why had the chasm closed up like that? A rumble up above and the sound falling rubble told her that the shakes and shifts weren't done. Had a second, minor shake closed up the hole that had opened up beneath her? Her breath came in quick, short gasps.

"Fear is the enemy of any Jedi," her Master's voice played back in her mind.

"Yeah, well that was sailing through a Weeping storm, not trapped beneath six thousand layers of ice," she hissed at the absent Trandoshan. A small hand gripped her robes and panic spiked through her. She almost grabbed her lightsaber, the one they had let her keep because it hadn't been bled yet. But with her vision now better adjusted she saw the hand was human, and not only human, but draped in a very familiar set of robes. Another one of the padawans had fallen down with her.

"What are we gonna do?" The tiny voice said. Thalia relaxed and reached for her com but only found shards of metal and exposed wire.

"Chimera's breath," the curse rolled off her tongue followed by several others likely too harsh for the younger padawan's ears. She saw the fear in his eyes and she stopped the tide of profanities. Her hand ruffled the boy's hair.

"Do you have a lightsaber?" The boy shook, tears welling up as he presented the broken remains of his weapon. Another casualty of gravity. Thalia winced and forced a smile.

"Everything'll be fine," she said. "I still have mine." Calling on the Force for the first time in months she pulled her lightsaber from her belt and let it hover above them. With a snap-hiss the green blade illuminated the cave, its glow reflecting off of the ice and semi-frozen root system. She followed the roots with her eyes and realized that the roots had formed a sort of net above them, holding back a tide of boulders the size of cloudcars. Before the younger boy could see she wrapped him in a tight hug.

"We'll be just fine," she said again. "Now let's go find a way back up. Storms, Corin is going to give us an earful."

Sōla Taan · Jul 25, 2022

The Force blared a warning, like a sudden splash in a shallow pool. There came a deep, ominous rumble and the ground moved. Sola’s jet-boots flared to life as the ice rumbled and quaked and groaned. Beneath the drifts, yawning maws cracked opened in the frozen earth. Beneath the thunderous growl of quaking earth, there came a hum, high pitched and faint like a distant whine, and then a searing hiss of heated air washed over them.

Hn…that’s certainly not natural. The sound and the heat were reminiscent of engines firing up.

“Anyone hurt?” called out

Iris Arani . “Everyone good?”

There were a couple older padawans not far from her at the back of the group, and another near youngling like her. One of them, a tall blond woman named

Kara Jade , spoke up into the silence after the quake. But the other two…

Where’s Thalia Senn and the kid?

“What’s the security like on this planet, or rather in the area?” Kara was saying. “Could this activity potentially be caused by a third party?”

Sola spun around in the air, searching with her eyes, boots emitting a subtle roar. They were just right there.

“It could be,” said

Corin Trenor . “But whatever it is, it’s in there.” He pointed towards the mountain in the distance. “Comms are out, we’re on our own… So if no one’s hurt and we can all continue on... Let’s move out, padawans.”

She spun again, drifting higher to get a better vantage, sure she was just overlooking them.

“If I can give my professional opinion,” began

Jasper Kai'el , “Worms don’t generally interfere with comms, and we’re not that far into the planet.”

But she wasn’t overlooking them. They were gone.

“Thalia and another padawan are missing!” she called out from the back of the horde, her voice made loud and booming by the Force.

Jasper Kai'el · Jul 25, 2022

Ilum
Tags:

Corin Trenor ,

Sōla Taan ,

Thalia Senn , Others…

Sōla Taan said:
“Thalia and another padawan are missing!”

Jasper’s attention was immediately focused on Sōla’s observation. He quickly scanned the area for where they may have fallen. His eyes caught sight of scratch marks in the ice next to one of the openings. Someone had tried to grasp on, obviously with little success.

“This one,” Jasper said, pointing out the gap in the ice. “I’ll check on them.”

The duelist kicked at the gap, breaking it open enough for him to slip down. With little hesitation, Jasper leapt down the hole, sliding down to find Thalia and the other Padawan. In that moment, it occurred to him that he could very well die doing so, so he called out to Pyf…

“PYF! IF I DIE, TELL LANA…”

It was no use. He was too far now for the rest of his sentence to reach the droid. Yet again, he would have to tell Lana about it himself, something which he was deathly terrified of.

Jasper plummeted in the dark for a while before a faint green light came into view. A lightsaber! As he landed, he rolled, allowing the force of the impact to disperse. The cavern was interesting, more so because of the frozen roots woven into the ice that seemed to be keeping the rubble created by the quakes at bay. The lightsaber light was off in the distance, giving Jasper a good idea of where to go to find the two lost Padawans. As he ran towards the light source, he found Thalia and another young padawan, who had seemingly been crying.

“Uh, hello there?”

Come to think of it, how was he going to tell the others that the two who had fallen were okay with the signal jammed? He hadn’t thought this one through at all.

Arlo Renard · Jul 25, 2022

Silas Westgard said:
"You seem to know Corin well from the sound of that description."

Kai shrugged, then turned to glare at Silas as the other boy grew stern and threatened him. <What is your problem? ‘If I have to deal with you both, I will’? Yeah, right. You’re just a kid like the rest of us. So stop talking like you’re the boss here.>

Silas started talking to

Ichika Masudo and seemed to forget about Kai. Then the ground unexpectedly began to shake. The ice cracked and hot steam blasted through the fissures.

Kai had the misfortune of standing directly on top of one of the bigger cracks. Disappearing into the chasm, Silas’ last question to Kai went unanswered.

Snow and ice rained down on him as he fell, narrowly managing to cushion his impact against the “floor” beneath.

Like the other three Padawans, he had wound up in a strange cavern made from ice and roots of some sort.

Roots, on an ice planet…?

While Jasper spoke to Thalia, Kai knelt down and closed his eyes. He opened himself up to the Force, feeling all of Ilum around him and the Padawans above.

<It’s not a razhak,> he said, targeting anyone within range who had an open mind. Though the others couldn’t see him, they could hear him. <And I don’t think these are roots down here. They look like wires to me.>

A machine of some sort seemed like the more logical explanation, though the exact nature of it was still unknown.

Jasper Kai'el

Thalia Senn · Jul 25, 2022

Padawan Horde:

Jem Fossk
Knights and Masters:

Her blade hummed as she swung it to whatever caused more ice and rock to tumble down into the dark cave, her arm pushing the other padawan protectively behind her.

Jasper Kai'el said:
“Uh, hello there?”

Her battle-ready scowl fell, replaced by a dumbfounded expression barely illuminated by her lightsaber.

"You're a real idiot you know that? Please tell me you at least have a comlink?" A voice penetrated her mind, one that did not belong, but one that was familiar. Uncomfortably so.

"Get out of my head Sithspawn," she hissed. Why they allowed the thing in the Order she didn't know. She'd touched its mind once. It really thought it was people, so much so that it had nearly killed itself trying to prove so. Regardless, for now, she'd have to deal with it being here, even if she didn't much trust it to watch her back. "You have a mouth, use it." Not only was it rude to penetrate someone's own thoughts, but it was also downright uncomfortable. Like it or not though, she was stuck down here with that creature.

"Look again," she said, raising her lightsaber to one of the roots near her. It was old, almost brown and dead, but it was most definitely a root. Taking a deep breath and hoping nothing attacked, she swiped, the burning root falling to the icy floor. The smell of burnt wood filled the air."I don't know of any trees big enough for this many roots on Ilum. Do you?"

Cailen Corso · Jul 25, 2022

A COLD WARNING
Cailen’s Training #3

Location: Jedi Temple, Ilum
Tags:

Valery Noble ;

Dagon Kaze ;

Silas Westgard ;

Iris Arani ;

Jasper Kai'el ;

Ariana Du Couteau
Soundtrack: Procyon

“There, that should do it,” Cailen said comfortingly as he finished wrapping a younger Padawan’s ankle. It was only sprained, but the unforgiving terrain and seismic activity could change that if the group isn’t careful moving forward.

Iris Arani said:
"Anyone hurt? Everyone good?"

Cailen heard

Iris Arani inquiry and instinctively began scanning the crowd for any other injured Jedi. Seeing that everyone was relatively safe, the red-haired boy stood beside his friend and let out a shallow sigh.

“Looks like everyone’s okay,” he said to Iris, eyes on the group. He began taking a mental headcount of the Padawans.

“One, two, three…”

Ariana was there, Jasper too. Gabriel… Corin…

“Seven, eight…”

He continued counting, but his heart dropped when he came up short.

“No…” he thought to himself. “No, count again.”

But the result was the same. The group was short three Jedi. Three of the Padawans were missing. But who? Cailen hadn’t met most of the others before today, and even then, the briefing was short and concise. They were on a mission, not a meet-and-greet. No time to get to know everyone. He turned to Iris, worry all over his face.

“Iris, we’re missing three people. I don’t know who, but I-“

He was cut off by Corin, who seemed disinterested in anything but the mission.

Corin Trenor said:
He raised and aimed an arm towards the mountain that housed the famed kyber crystal caves, "It's in there. Comms are out, we're on our own."

"So if no one's hurt and we can all continue on..." Corin half-asked to the lot of them and set his attention on Iris, the same healer that first asked about the state of them. Mission comes first, he callously reminded himself. "Let's move, Padawans."

Cailen’s fists clenched reactively, but he calmed down when he saw that others felt the same discontent with Corin as he did. Before he could protest, another Padawan announced Cailen’s discovery first.

Sōla Taan said:
“Thalia and another padawan are missing!”

Ariana Du Couteau · Jul 26, 2022

Ariana Du Couteau, Jedi Padawan
Location: Ilum, Crystal Caverns
Action: Speak to

Corin Trenor
Outfit (Minus the right arm)

“I could recommend a planet with both snow and summer beach spots.” Ariana muttered, while hardly one to spend lavishly, her family traveled frequently to many places of the Core.

Ariana followed the Padawan group out into the bitter cold, her helmet secured and as the HUD came up it informed her that the Temperature outside was dangerously low. With a slightly annoyed look she had the alarm turned off, and continued to walk alongside the group. The cavern entrance wasn’t too far from the initial forward base where they arrived from, but the way the door slowly opened and the cavern's rumbling left much to be desired in Ariana’s opinion.

The ground began to quake even more violently, and without a warning Ariana felt herself getting pulled back as the floor crumbled beneath her feet. She turned herself around and continued to move back onto hopefully solid ground, and quickly realized it was Iris who had saved her from an unexpected fall to the caverns below.

Ariana eyed the floor, sighing in relief she tepidly stood back up and looked around the rest of the Padawan group. “Thanks,” Ariana told Iris, giving her a comforting pat on her shoulder. The situation was rather fubar, but it was clear the dangers of the cavern were ever present. The planet reports don’t often have these kinds of quakes before. . . .but who knew, especially with the advent of the Netherrealm and other galaxy-shattering powers that were on display months prior during the Maw War.

“Best we find a safe way to reach them, if we try to force the issue we might get the rest of ourselves stuck.” Ariana spoke, noting how another Padawan, Jasper was his name, had done just that to find the others. “-Staying together is key. . . “

There was a wave of concern, and Ariana worried that a split with the remainder of the group might begin to grow if the concerns weren’t addressed. She quickly moved towards the leader of their Padawan group, “-Hey Trenor, Corin. We have half the group present, the other half lost.” Ariana explained quickly in a low voice through her helmet.

“Whatever we may find in these caverns; will be that much more difficult if we don’t remain together.” She added, “-It’s not optimal to continue without making sure our exit is secure and that the others who fell below are accounted for and safe enough.”

||

Gabriel Pryce |

Inyak Yash |

Jem Fossk |

Thalia Senn ||

Corin Trenor · Jul 26, 2022

Mission comes first.

In those details, there was a certain mention: all of them come back. Even if it slowed them, slowed them to a halt, let whatever it was remain free for a moment more. He never wished to make the hardest of calls, but Corin remained all too able to. Even still.

Corin turned across to face Jem, the same faint scowl across his features. "That's not news to me." He remarked sternly. It was no secret to Corin, and neither did he much care for it. He was callous, abrasive, disconnected. He never stuck around to hear her answer, if there was one, and he carried on towards where the two had fallen in and another had dove in after them. Foolish as it was, it was done now. He had no intentions to leave them behind, else face the wrath of the Jedi Masters that doted over their favoured students.

He knelt down beside the hole in the snow and ice in order to examine it. Corin slid his backpack off of his shoulder and allowed it to settle in front of him, and his head rose in a bid to face them all. "Everyone, we'll have to tie the rope from the climbing gear together. Either long enough to get them up, or us down."

"Iris," the Padawan faced the other, "Comms are out, but you're close to Bamarri. His telepathy, can you connect to that from here? If not, then we're climbing in after them."

Iris Arani · Jul 26, 2022

Iris flashed Ariana a brief smile. It was good neither of them got hurt. She'd say more, but there was so much already going on around them.

Cailen Corso said:
“Iris, we’re missing three people. I don’t know who, but I-“

Three? .. No, four. Iris's gaze shifted down as she scanned through the colors where she could. Four. Kai, Jasper, Thalia. .. Another she didn't recognize, but full of fear. Her eyes narrowed for a moment. Already the group was split up, then? She closed her eyes, reached through the colors. Kai was the easiest to reach, for sure. <Kai what's going on? Do you have the others around you? Are you okay?>

She cast a glance to Corin, simply nodding her head. It wasn't exactly how that worked, but this wasn't the time to try and correct him. Not if people were hurt down below.

"Cailen, Silas, gather up any injured and see to their wounds. I don't think anyone is too hurt, but start moving everyone to the side and onto more solid ground." Who knew when the next part of the floor would give out? She paused, turning her gaze to Corin again. So long as that was fine. As much as she thought of him as a jerk, she wasn't trying to undermine him.

Ariana Du Couteau

Corin Trenor · Jul 26, 2022

Too busy tying several lines of rope together, Corin hardly noticed when Iris handed out orders. His brief acknowledgement existed in the form of a nod.

Iris Arani

Cailen Corso · Jul 26, 2022

A COLD WARNING
Cailen’s Training #3

Location: Jedi Temple, Ilum
Tags:

Valery Noble ;

Dagon Kaze ;

Silas Westgard ;

Iris Arani ;

Jasper Kai'el
Soundtrack: Procyon

Ariana Du Couteau said:
“Best we find a safe way to reach them, if we try to force the issue we might get the rest of ourselves stuck.” Ariana spoke, noting how another Padawan, Jasper was his name, had done just that to find the others. “-Staying together is key. . . “

“Right,” Cailen acknowledged. They had to work together. Have each other’s backs, just like the Masters said. It’s the only way if they want to find their missing friends.

Iris Arani said:
"Cailen, Silas, gather up any injured and see to their wounds. I don't think anyone is too hurt, but start moving everyone to the side and onto more solid ground."

Cailen nodded to

Silas Westgard before he started ushering the Padawans to the edges of the chamber. The floor here was noticeably thicker, and hopefully less likely to cave in if another tremor strikes their position. Satisfied the group was safe, he focused on their leader, who was kneeling beside one of the pitfalls.

Corin Trenor said:
”…we'll have to tie the rope from the climbing gear together. Either long enough to get them up, or us down."

The Padawan removed his pack, withdrawing a length of climbing rope he had inside. He held it out for Corin to take, mindful of the chasm beside him.

Kara Jade · Jul 26, 2022

The young woman audibly cursed when it became apparent a number of their own had been caught by the quake, disappearing into the depths beneath them. Kara looked around with a weary gaze, unsure what part of the floor was safe or not. Even the slightest wrong step, or heavy foot could cause a domino effect that cracked more of the surface beneath them.

“I agree with Couteau, we need to tackle this from a safe spot. Not to mention, we have no idea if the hole they fell into caved in behind them.” Meaning it was going to be difficult to use the same spot to reach them. Plus, trying to reopen it might cause more local disturbances around them.

Nonetheless, she reached into her pack and pulled out her rope, handing it over to Corin and those that were focused on binding them together.

Kara followed the redheaded teen, taking small and careful steps until they were close to the chamber’s edge. At the very least, it felt more solid beneath her boots. But it didn’t ease the tension she felt in her body.

There was an eerie silence that fell, as much as it could with the constant chatter amongst the other Padawans. A thought crossed Kara’s mind, and her gaze snapped over to where Corin was kneeling.

“Trenor…did Master Kaze mention how much time there is between each quake?” She hoped that was a known variable, otherwise trying to rescue their fellow Padawans was going to get potentially tricky.

Valery Noble |

Inyak Yash |

Jem Fossk |

Thalia Senn |

Gabriel Pryce |

Ariana Du Couteau |

Sōla Taan

Thalia Senn · Jul 26, 2022

Padawan Horde:

Jem Fossk
Knights and Masters:

Kara Jade said:
“Trenor…did Master Kaze mention how much time there is between each quake?”

As if on cue, the ground began to rumble. Not nearly as strong, the shake was more like an echo or-

Thalia looked up, a hole of light from where the brazenly foolish blonde padawan had cut through and realized with a groan that he'd cut right through the vines holding the boulders and earth in place. She didn't have time to argue with either of the two Padawans that fell in with her.

"Run!"

She grabbed the little boy's hand she had initially been down in the pits with and ran for the only exit. She could only hope the other two followed as a torrent of ice, rock, and earth began to tumble and the vines holding up the sky retracted into the walls, slithering away like snakes.

Above ground the spot where Jasper had cut his way through cracked and shuddered as it caved in rapidly, snow, ice, and stone crashing down into the pit below. If they weren't sure about a cave-in before, the second more disastrous one would answer that. Boulders as big as pod racers filled what had once been a gaping cavern.

Jasper Kai'el · Jul 26, 2022

Ilum
Tags:

Thalia Senn ,

Arlo Renard ,

Corin Trenor , Others…

Thalia Senn said:
"You're a real idiot you know that? Please tell me you at least have a comlink?"

“Y-yeah, I have a comlink,” Jasper frowned. He wasn’t going to address the first question. He already knew the answer.

Jasper pulled out his communicator. Static.

“W-well,” he continued awkwardly, “Something seems to be interfering with the signal even further down here. Master Kaze was already really choppy up top. Let me see if I can find a work around…”

The girl had called Kai something he wasn’t expecting. Sithspawn. It wasn’t hurled like an insult, but a fact. There was a certainty in her tone that couldn’t easily be faked. Of course, she told him to get out of his head, something a lot of people seemed to dislike.

“You can talk in my head if you like,” Jasper whispered to the padawan. “I don’t care.” Suddenly, his face lit up. “That’s it! Your telepathy! Can you use it to speak with someone up there?”

Without warning, the ground began to shake again. The vines retracted into the walls suddenly, allowing the rubble from above to spill down into the cavern below. They didn’t have any other option now but to run. Could he have caused that? Jasper had only kicked away a bit of rubble. He had made sure not to draw his lightsaber as to not risk the integrity of the ice. Perhaps Ilum was just that unstable.

There was little time to talk about any of this. They needed to move.

Justice Lesan · Jul 26, 2022

T R A I N I N G D A Y

Location: Training Room
Wearing: xxx
Weapon: xxx
Arm: xxx
Tag:

Valery Noble |

Inyak Yash |

Jem Fossk |

Gabriel Pryce |

Thalia Senn |