Private Remnants | Ord Providence

[Phy]

Ord Providence
Tags: Braze , Corin Kaze

Droid Body​

At the behest of Corin Trenor, the search for Jasper Kai'el was to return to his last known location: Ord Providence. Following a depressurization event triggered by paranoid clergy, the domes of the planet that had once housed millions of Godoan civilians had been reduced to wastelands of rubble and contaminated air. Clouzon-36 was a dense compound, one which increased the pressure of Ord Providence's atmosphere. As such, pressurized space suits were provided to the Jedi so that they may safely traverse the fresh ruins of Provinia, the once capital of the planet. As the Mud Duck approached the now abandoned planet, a transmission came in from the nearby moon of Sellia II, where the Godoan people had relocated to following the disaster.

It was the face of a familiar woman, the remaining elder of the high clergy Lunaria Atelle, who had betrayed her council to save her people. Braze would know her as the mother of his close friend, Loomi , after their particularly tense reunion during the crisis.

<I must offer my thanks to you again, Knight Kai'el,> she expressed. <I'm certain without your aid my people may have gone extinct... And there are certainly other personal matters that it likely isn't the time for. In short, I want you to consider this a repayment of my debt. I have transmitted your vessel all security access codes. The New Temple of the Goddess is full of high-security restricted zones. Those will bypass all measures and allow you free reign of the facility. Last we saw when patrolling the area, those mechanical beasts had all suffocated. Seems they were organic enough to breath. Still, I suggest you proceed with caution. Should any need arise, you may call upon us for assistance. Good luck, and Goddess watch over you.>

And the dark cockpit of the Mud Duck returned, no longer illuminated by the light of the holoprojector. Phy was snug in her seat, her mechanical arms wrapped around her artificial body. The struggles that Braze and Corin were soon to face in regards to the toxic atmosphere of Ord Providence was not a concern for her. After all, she didn't breath, and her body was made to withstand extreme pressure. It didn't stop her from being concerned for them, however.

"Well," Phyla began, her tone soft. "We're.. entering the atmosphere now... The domes shattered after they depressurized, so we can enter Provinia directly. You can... set us down in a clearing just before the New Temple of the Goddess."

A pause followed, and a rather awkward one at that.

"Do... you have any clue what we might be looking for?"

It wasn't directed at anyone specifically, being more open ended. Phyla was more wanting some kind of clear direction to latch onto. Seeing the green haze over the damaged city that had once been the capital of a civilization didn't exactly fill her with hope.

 

[Corin Kaze]

CORIN
ORD PROVIDENCE
TAG: Phy Braze

The years swam by in the distant dark.

He left the Jedi Temple once again, although this time he swore to make good on the promise to return.

Corin pulled at an area of discomfort in the spacesuit that only left his head exposed, for now. "No," said Corin, "But if you take me to where Jasper was taken, I might be able to find something. Depending on what I find, if anything at all."

 

[Braze]

TAGS: Phy Corin Kaze

Braze thanked the Godoan woman before signing off, then let out a quiet sigh as his gaze shifted from Phy to Corin. He didn't particularly want to come back here, this place, specifically, but it was what Corin had felt they should do.

He found a spot to set the Mud Duck down, not far from the entry point they'd marked.
"This is it," he said simply, and moved to seal himself fully into his suit. A few mechanical clicks followed, then the soft hiss of pressurization.

He transferred the codes to a simple data storage device now strung on a necklace, then made his way to disembark, taking the lift down to the loading ramp.

His boots padded through the rubble-laddened streets as he approached the main entryway. He moved steadily, weaving through the mess until he reached the last place he'd stood by Jasper's side.

"Here…" he murmured.

​

 

[Phy]

Ord Providence
Tags: Braze , Corin Kaze

Droid Body​

"Here…" he murmured.

"Understood..."

Phyla crouched down, scanning the environment. It was better than the alternative, which was thinking about how this was the last place Jasper and Braze spoke to each other. How soul crushing that revaluation was. The remains of Techno-beasts were scattered about as well, which had seemed to arise during Ord Providence's evacuation out of nowhere.

That's what was reported, anyways.

"I wonder if that Sith had anything to do with these," Phyla remarked with a frown. "He seemed a nasty fellow from the footage I saw..."

A black ooze of sorts littered the ground. Raw darkness, malice in liquid form, the only thing left after the air was fully contaminated. It appeared haphazardly spread, but if one looked close enough...

They'd surely notice a trail.

 

[Corin Kaze]

CORIN
ORD PROVIDENCE
TAG: Phy Braze

"It's possible," said Corin, his movements more sluggish than normal behind the protective suit. "I can't say for certain, this place could still be just as dangerous as it was then."

He read the files, watched the footage, listened to the recordings. What occurred here was nothing less than a mess, with Jasper left at its core. Now only hatred and fear were left to linger in the air, heavy like a stain.

He knelt down, examining the substance. It seemed splashed about at random, at first, until a closer examination revealed something of a trail. His eyes soaked up that darkness quite well, seeing it clearly.

"Come, this way." He waved for them to follow, as he himself followed the ooze. "Tell me again what happened here. This... ooze, what is it?"

 

[Braze]

TAGS: Corin Kaze Phy

Braze was trying his best not to let his emotions get the better of him.

That was, perhaps, why he was so markedly, so uncharacteristically quiet.

He padded after Corin's lead, but the way he moved made it clear: he was disassociating, slipping away from the memory even as it clawed at him.

"I... don't know. I didn't stay with him. I led the Padawans to safety while he fought with Lord Kalrath ..."
His voice was low, heavy. A sickening nausea had settled firmly in his gut.

And then came the haunting questions yet again, curling up from the dark corners of his mind.

Had he done the right thing?
Had he failed Jasper by doing exactly what he was asked to do?

"When I came back Aadihr Lidos and Azurine Varek were who were left. "

 

[Phy]

Ord Providence
Tags: Corin Kaze , Braze

Droid Body​

"Come, this way." He waved for them to follow, as he himself followed the ooze. "Tell me again what happened here. This... ooze, what is it?"

Phyla followed, listening in as Corin and Braze spoke. It was hard to listen to her adoptive brother speak in regards to what occurred that day. He clearly hadn't quite managed to move on from what went down. How could he? Phy wasn't even there and she couldn't stop thinking about it. About how unfair it was.

The Shard composed herself and crouched down to inspect the substance.

"It's alchemical in nature," Phyla stated. "I've seen a similar... bile flowing through the veins of Sithspawn. It's properties aren't known to me exactly, but it's certainly dark..."

Phyla's mechanical frame shuttered as she floated back up into the air away from the substance.

"Grandpa Dillon Kai'el said Kalrath had been keeping himself alive for thousands of years," she muttered. "I wonder if this was what he had been using..."

The trail continued deeper into the structure, up through the rubble...

 

[Corin Kaze]

TAG: Braze Phy

"It's a safe assumption," said Corin, clambering up through the rubble. "Kalrath is dead now."

Though, that never felt like a guarantee whenever it concerned Sith. A type of persevering roach, refusing to die. If this Kalrath turned out to be alive, somewhere, somehow, Corin could not rightly claim to be wholly surprised.

 

[Braze]

TAGS: Corin Kaze Phy

"That man acts purely out of spite," Braze muttered, not slowing his pace. "Wouldn't surprise me if what's left of him is still dragging itself down these halls just to prove a point... he might be 'alive' but he isn't living... He died many years ago."

Without further hesitation, he knelt to examine the faint trail, eyes narrowing as he tried to determine its direction. Once satisfied, Braze rose and padded off swiftly , following the signs like a predator on the hunt.

​

 

[Phy]

Ord Providence
Tags: Braze , Corin Kaze

Droid Body​

As the three trailed the black substance through the ruins of the New Temple of the Goddess, they would ultimately come to a collapsed balcony, a body sprawled out on a broken segment of stone. The husk was hardly a person anymore, little more than a skeleton within a pool of the dark bile and tattered robes. The legs, of course, were twisted machine parts, the remnants of a technobeast. All that remained of the Sith Lord Kalrath lay before them, a pathetic pile of waste that resembled oil more than any organic being. A heavy cloud of hatred and malice seemed to hang in the air around him.

"He decayed instantly," Phyla muttered, her stone core trembling within her. "A-analysis of the remains shows significant damage to the collarbone and spinal column where the skull is joined with the body... I... believe that Jasper likely broke his neck..."

Brutal. Then again, this wasn't really a person anymore. Jasper had always been clear that if someone is beyond redemption they were to be handled swiftly to minimize civilian casualties. Kalrath had clearly stopped being a man a long time ago. The Shard floated closer to the Sith's remains, eying something in his remnants. Using the force she picked out an object, the sludge he had been reduced to sliding off of the surface.

"Fascinating..." she whispered as she brought a cylindrical form to her hands. "Abyss compass... o-or similar technology at the very least. They were invented by Jedi to navigate the path to a place named Tanalorr. This one has markings engraved on the side in the Sith language. He must have constructed his own for... some reason."

"Kai'el..."

Phyla let out a squeak, levitating back away from the remains of the Sith Lord. Slowly the sludge began to build up around his bones, which then started to rise. What stood up from the sludge was a swirling mass of hatred, with an inky black form and red glowing eyes.

"The ghost... belongs to me... Her power... is MINE!"

A force bellow ripped out from the creature's inky maw, throwing back rubble and tearing the earth apart with it. Phyla braced herself as the shockwave pushed her back.

"I won't let you claim my voice..."

 

[Corin Kaze]

Braze Phy

The air was thick, heavy, choking with a malicious darkness. It was there, ever-present since the group had arrived on Ord Providence. Rather, what remained of Ord Providence now. Though the pressure continued to pile on, to become even more overbearing with time, as they descended deeper into the ruined remains of this temple. With the corpse of Lord Kalrath revealed to them, however, the source became known.

A presence, a poison. Corin had become more than well accustomed to the type, though none lay dormant in slick oil. More machine than man.

His mismatched eyes studied the remains, drinking in the darkness. The voice erupted with the Force, sending the surrounding ground hurtling into the air. Corin raised a forearm, shielding himself as a barrier in the Force came around him to cast aside the flailing rubble. He reached for his lightsaber, though had not grabbed it just yet.

A cursory glance to Phy was offered, stepping forwards. Braze might be a Jedi Knight, though little more than a child to Corin.

"This compass," he began, "Does it lead to Jasper Kai'el?"

Whatever else Lord Kalrath was concerned with, it mattered little to Corin.

 

[Braze]

TAGS: Corin Kaze Phy

Braze instinctively stepped back from the sith goo construct of hate before him raising his hands to release pent up energy of Force light in reply with out any hesitation. It seemed fitting considering it was one of the first things Jasper had taught him.

 

[Phy]

Ord Providence
Tags: Corin Kaze , Braze

Droid Body​

"This compass," he began, "Does it lead to Jasper Kai'el?"

"HE CAN'T HAVE IT!" the creature roared, sending out another burst of dark energy.

Phyla prepared to act, but had little time to do so before a wave of light spilled forward. It was Braze, using a technique that Jasper had surely taught him the basics of. It was almost eerie... They were so alike.

The lingering remnants of Kalrath's malice hissed and screeched, the ooze beginning to boil. His hatred, however, lingered and persisted. One foot after the other it slowly began to stomp towards the trio. It reached out an inky, semi-skeletal hand and reclaimed the lightsaber that he had fallen with, igniting the blade.

"Take him where it leads and I'll turn rip you apart over an eternity!" the essence of the Twi'lek Sith Lord hissed. "I will not permit it!"

The entity swung at Phyla, who braced her body for impact... but in never came. Instead the remnants of the Sith succumbed to the light. The darkness was burnt away, leaving behind only the ancient Lord's bones. No dark liquid remaining.

"Gosh," Phy muttered, letting out a stressed whirring sound. "I don't ever want to see that again..."

 

[Corin Kaze]

Braze Phy

His relationship with the Force is raw and untethered, much too close to the storm. He is unable to shake the darkness, able to accept it as a part of himself. The use of Force Light, however, wounds him; to even experience the residuals, as Corin did not, felt as if his flesh was beginning to burn.

A hissing breath forced itself from him.

Corin waved a hand and dispelled the effect it had on him, though the sensation lingered for a moment more. It was hardly Braze's fault, rather instead purely his own. The consequences of his life.

It took a moment longer to find the words.

"It leads somewhere," Corin idly mused, thinking deeply as to where that compass could lead to. Somewhere Jasper was needed, it seemed. "Wherever it is, that's our next stop."

 

[Braze]

TAGS: Corin Kaze Phy

​

Braze let out a heavy breath and looked over to Phy to see if she was okay. She seemed alright, so he shifted his attention back to Corin.
"Perhaps… if not, it's certainly somewhere he didn't want Jasper to go," he mused. "I don't know how that works," he admitted, eyeing the weird thing before glancing at Phy.
"Any ideas?"

​

​

 

[Phy]

Ord Providence
Tags: Braze , Corin Kaze

Droid Body​

"Perhaps… if not, it's certainly somewhere he didn't want Jasper to go," he mused. "I don't know how that works," he admitted, eyeing the weird thing before glancing at Phy.
"Any ideas?"

"I..." Phyla muttered before recomposing herself. "Let me interface with the device. I'll see if I can't extract any data from it."

The shard stilled her consciousness, letting it reach out to the compass that they had recovered. As she suspected, since it had come from a source equally as adept in the force, the device was more than attuned to telepathic connections. She let the contents within interface with her mind, processing everything with the aid of the droid brain in her mechanical body. Her eyes seemed to flash as she did this, almost as though something were being reflected within them.

"Firefist," she stated, "That is where the compass points to. It marks a point within a... well, a cluster of black holes. Records on routes through the companion galaxies are slim, but a recent survey has found that many of those lanes have shifted now that those companions have made contact with the galactic disc. Arriving at this point may prove... difficult."

Phy frowned a little more.

"Oh... there are records within as well... should I read them to you now, or shall we return to the ship first?"

 

[Corin Kaze]

Phy Braze

"On the ship," answered Corin brusquely, eyes abound their surroundings. The corpse of one risen Sith was enough to dissuade him from allowing the other two to overstay their welcome as well. "Best to be done with this place, if we have our answers."

 

[Braze]

TAGS: Corin Kaze Phy

Braze stood there, his 'jaw' tense, eyes fixed on the compass in Phyla's hand. Firefist.... a cluster of black holes. His fists clenched at his sides. The words replayed in his head like a distant echo. A void. A place where nothing escapes.

"That's… where he is?" he murmured, the words heavy and tight in his throat.

His gaze dropped, the ground beneath his boots feeling unsteady, like it might open up and swallow him whole. Jasper. Somewhere out there, caught in the pull of black holes, maybe trapped, maybe....

Braze swallowed, a sharp, audible click.

"Okay," he said, forcing his voice to steady. "Then that's where we're going."

He took a slow breath, then turned to Phy and Corin, eyes hardening, resolve setting in like tempered steel. " Phy… read everything. Every single thing on that compass. If there's even a whisper of where he is… we're finding him."

His gaze flicked back to the darkened ruins, to the place where Kalrath's malice still seemed to linger, and a chill ran down his spine.

"And if he's not there," Braze muttered under his breath, "then I'll keep going until I find him."

With that he padded back towards the path they came.​

 

[Phy]

Ord Providence
Tags: Corin Kaze , Braze

Droid Body​

Phyla drifted back to the ship, following behind Braze and Corin. Her mind lingered on Braze's words. He was driven, if anything, but it was a drive that she herself didn't know if she could ever attain. Perhaps it was for the better that he was leading them along and not her. She'd have cracked under that pressure a while ago.

When the boarded, Phyla drifted her way to a perch and sat down, focusing on the compass. After a moment, she began to speak, reading out the contents for Braze and Corin to hear.

"First Compass Log, Twenty-Seventh Log of 629: Directive active immediately, no further logs to be recorded on the Compass. Origins for this technology are Jedi Scholars, intention for hiding valuable locations. Lord Kalrath has determined such a measure to be necessary. Note for the context of the matter for future servants: Compass A299-B relates to project A299, the second addendum to the project to be created. Project saw experimentation on subject GHOST for means of extension of the natural lifespan. Subject was deemed to be most valuable to project results due to significant blood relation to Lord Kalrath, as a finalized process is to be conducted on himself. Results of A299 saw the complete destruction of the physical form of the subject. GHOST retains cognitive thought and has assumed a gaseous form. M-count within this gaseous compound has been recorded to be abnormally high. Subject is observed to not need sustenance or sleep. Subject within three days of completion experiences mental instability, which leads to containment and deaccession from Facility Aurek. Present location is within Anomaly 9446. Origins, as theorized by his grace, are Celestial in nature. Three black holes with a small star system in the center of the cluster, hyperspace anomalies restricting movement in and out of the sector. It is felt that its location within the companion galaxy will decrease the likelyhood that subject breaks containment. Further research, as dictated by Lord Kalrath, is the harnessing of subject for purposes of energy extraction. Personell lacking twenty-five years of necessary simulated training are not authorized to travel to this location. Failure to comply may result in demotion, disfigurement, biological modification, or public execution. Mandetory: All droids to observe this data must be slated to have their memory wiped within the hour."

The shard whirred as the log came to a close. It was all the compass had with it. There was a great deal to unpack here, especially in regards to that... subject. The angered specter of Kalrath had said something about it, she recalled. It seemed that matter was for harnessing its power...

Chills at the very notion of blood relation caused her artificial body to shudder.

"That's everything..." Phyla affirmed. "We... should get going then..."