Private Something in the Hills

[Kyyrk]

Kyyrk could only take bed rest for so long. Of course, it wasn't bed rest per say. But at Alessandra's insistence, he'd been confined to camp for some time. His wounds from Naboo were healing nicely, and Kyyrk was beginning to suspect that she actually drew some enjoyment from tormenting him about taking it easy. Today, he was out on a scouting run. Something about the hills near the camp bothered him. Not in a sense that they posed some unseen danger, but...there was something...off about them. He intended to find out what.

Kyyrk had left the canteen in a hurry, clearly geared to leave the camp. But unlike most, he traveled alone. He acted secretive, but also did not put a great deal of care into hiding his presence. Simply strapped his gear to his bike, and peeled out. Not exactly a master of stealth. But then, perhaps he was just ensuring that one specific person didn't have the chance to stop him before he left... Kyyrk rode in silence towards the cluster of hills, pondering what had happened in the previous days. Their new settlement was coming along nicely, and reports were already coming in about other planets nearby, most in the same system.

But that didn't still his heartache for Vylmira. His homeworld had well and truly died during the assault. A single colony barely able to sustain itself was no match against the armies of the Unmaker. Part of Kyyrk wanted to drop everything, and go on a one-man crusade to rid the galaxy of the Unmaker, and those loyal to him. But it would not return Vylmira from a barren rock. Kyyrk parked his speeder bike near an outcropping of rock, and turned to survey the area around him. The hairs on the back of his neck were tingling. There was definitely something here. He just had to find it. "Kyyrk to all patrols, there's something hiding in the hills one klick west of camp. Be on stand by if it turns out to be something hostile." No sense in waiting for harm to be upon him to find insurance against it...​

Aliza Vale

 

[Aliza Vale]

After chatting with Yusha for a while she had left the bar, intending to go find something to do, when she spotted a stranger acting all curious like and leaving town at speed. Given Aliza didn't have much else to do, and well, it seemed like he might be heading towards her ship, she decided to follow after him. Since she was on foot, and not exactly bothering to hide her mundane presence it wouldn't be hard for Kyyrk to realize he was being followed. The young woman was dressed as a spacer, with leather trousers, a jacket, and blouse that definitely looked like they'd seen some rough use. Black and red seemed to be the primary colors employed in her wardrobe, though she also wore a grey cloak that appeared to be of similar durability to the rest of her outfit, it served to break up her outline, and with the hood up, make her into a gender-less figure traveling through the desert surrounding the small town. She also wore a simple blaster pistol on her thigh, suitable protection for someone on such a rough and tumble world as Verun, without raising alarms that a lightsaber would. Given said lightsaber was hidden very carefully in her ship, and that her presence was suppressed, it shouldn't be immediately obvious that she was a Sith.

Eventually she made it up to the speeder bike that had taken off and looked around for it's rider. If she spotted Kyyrk, Aliza would fold her arms across her chest and consider him warily. If she didn't spot him, she would start to look around pretty obviously for him, since the whole point of following was that he had looked interesting to her. Aliza took a drink from her canteen breifly before hanging it back on her belt at the small of her back. The cloak was wonderfull for concealing additional gear she might have... handy that.

 

[Kyyrk]

Kyyrk was near by, looking out across the desert from his vantage point atop the rocks. He did not concern himself with Aliza, yet it seemed as if he knew she was there. Much the same as the woman watching him, Kyyrk wore a poncho that could conceal a good many things. But unlike her, his lightsaber was worn proudly on his back. A larger weapon, it looked to be a saberstaff judging by the size of the hilt. Kyyrk sighed quietly as his macrobinoculars dropped from his eyes. His gaze remained on the horizon as if he was expecting something to be out there. But there was nought upon the distant line.

"So tell me." Kyyrk addressed the woman, turning his purple orbs towards her. "Were you bored, or did someone send you to check up on me?" Kyyrk tucked his macrobinoculars into his belt, picking his way down the rocks back to the ground. As he drew closer, it became easier to perceive a slight glow to his eyes. By and large a feature drowned out by his bright surroundings. It seemed to pulsate, almost in time with his breathing. But it wasn't exactly that. No, his eyes seemed to glow because of some other source. His eyes wandered across the woman's figure, a well trained eye reading a multitude of stories from her appearance alone.

"You're not one of ours." His gaze rose to meet the woman's once more, and he extended a hand in greeting. "Kyyrk. One of the survivors. You visiting, or just new enough that I haven't met you yet?"​

Aliza Vale

 

[Aliza Vale]

Aliza tilted her head slightly and smiled, taking a step closer, she murmured calmly. "Curious... more than anything." To be honest she was a bit like a cat in that way. Looking towards the horizon. "What's got you distracted anyway?" Pausing long enough to allow him to respond before she looked back to him with pale blue orbs. As for her appearance, she seemed rather relaxed and unremarkable. Aside from the obvious curiosity of a spacer lingering planet side needlessly. Maybe she was in a bad spot? Or perhaps open to being recruited by whoever he was with. Who knew.

"No, I'm not... but who is yours anyway? And... survivors?" She looked noticeably nervous with that remark. Perhaps understanding the possibility of danger in the wings from his words alone. Granted, it was a spacer's reaction to danger, a sith would probably be much more... enthusiastic than she apparently was. After listening for his response for a while, she murmured. "I'm new around these parts. I was told there might be work for me here, so... here I am." Shrugging and spreading her hands to motion to her own unimpressive figure self deprecatingly.

 

[Kyyrk]

Kyyrk's eyes narrowed ever so slightly as she inquired as to what survivors he referred to. But the look vanished as fast as it had appeared. He turned to the speeder bike near by, and unstrapped a backpack from it. "The Southern Campaign. Once a super nation known as the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Turns out, when you mess with Gods, they tend to get angry." He turned back to look at Aliza. "Naboo was hit only a week ago. It was our final stand." Kyyrk glanced back towards the settlement, nearly a spec in the distance. "Well. Their last stand." The group he had just claimed membership of, he now referred to as a thing of its own A disagreement of some sort? Perhaps.

"I was once a Knight of Obisidan. A force order, same as the Jedi or the Sith. But...not near as many politics." His gaze was distant. And his tone suggested a long and storied history with both organizations. "Didn't spend near as much time moralizing on the applications of the Force. Instead, we chose to apply it. To use our powers for the benefit of others. And, some of us, ourselves." There was a touch of reminiscence in his words. Laced with...was that failure? Sadness? It was hard to tell. The man's voice was full of expression, yet it was difficult to discern exactly what he meant.

Kyyrk stirred to life once more, turning to look at Aliza and offering her a quick smile of apology. He then turned back to the hill, gesturing towards it. "In answer to your first question, this...thing." He made an exasperated gesture, and let his arm fall back to his side. "Something about it...irks me. Something...in the Force. I think there's something buried here, and I am to find out what..." He mused in silence for a moment, before turning to glance at Aliza with a sidelong gaze. Though he asked about a hypothetical, his true intention was easy enough to discern. "Tell me, what's the going rate for spacers on subterranean expeditions?"​

Aliza Vale

 

[Aliza Vale]

Aliza blinked in surprise at his last remark, pondering for a moment before shrugging. "I don't know... Usually that's not my arena, I suppose it depends on what skills you would actually be utilizing." Seems she based her rates off difficulty of the job perhaps. She turned to face the hill and tilted her head pensively. "So, basically... something only a minor portion of the population in the galaxy might be able to interact with?" Her nose wrinkled in uncertainty. "I'm not really sure how a spacer can help you sort out whatever is disturbing you then? Unless it's something maybe a blaster bolt could manage? But I hear you Force User types have skills and weapons far beyond merely energized tibanna gas' destructive potential at your disposal so..." She trailed off with a shrug, obviously there was some sort of disconnect for her.

"Anyway, I'd love to come along and see what interesting things there are on this planet, I'm not going anywhere unless I get some sort of freight contract or some work along those lines, might as well be useful." She took a step towards the hill and peered at it as she tilted her head. "We could go poke around now to see what size team you'd need? Unless you think that would be unwise..." Ideas along the lines of booby trapped vaults in the valley of the Sith on Korriban might be what had her adding the qualifiers there.

 

[Kyyrk]

Kyyrk chuckled as he shouldered his pack, and looked up the hill once more. "More than you would think, young one. More than you would think." Most beings could touch the Force, even if they did not realize it. Or so Kyyrk believed. He didn't have anywhere near the data to prove this theory. Just a hunch that luck wasn't a random act of chance. Kyyrk began walking towards what appeared to be a rather insignificant part of the hill, but it looked like it may contain something akin to a cave entrance...

"And be that as it may, there's a weapon that non-sensitives can wield with equal precision. Knowledge. By and large, I find spacers are...good at ingenuity." Kyyrk walked in silence for a moment, then paused at the ridge they were heading towards. "And usually have few qualms with...questionable ethics." He glanced over his shoulder at her and shrugged. "Take a Jedi, or maker-forbid, a Sith in here, and what happens if we find something...useful?" Kyyrk shrugged. "Some people are far more likely to just take a nice wad of credits in exchange for never speaking of the matter again."​

Aliza Vale

 

[Aliza Vale]

Aliza tilted her head before chuckling. "Well I assume the Jedi would want to nationalize whatever interesting thing you found for the sake of peace, and the Sith would probably take it and turn it to her own ends?" She smiles gently before setting out after him and saying. "So basically the plan is... walk in, poke around, hope that whatever guards this place doesn't bite our noses off and then return home with something groundbreaking?" There was amusement there, and also a bit of playfulness. Apparently her interest was piqued...

As for brains and cleverness, well those where things Aliza prided herself on having in plenty, so she gladly followed him towards the hill, one hand sliding to the blaster on her hip, while she scanned their surroundings for anything threatening, like hidden turrets popping up to burn them down or something else equally unpleasant. "So, Kyyrk, is this your usual mode of entertainment on the weekends? Find something potentially dangerous, dispel it's mystery, rinse and repeat?" Going off her tone of voice the thought was amusing to her, the way she followed him so easily made it seem like she might just be a kindred spirit in the exploration department.

 

[Kyyrk]

Kyyrk shrugged. "Something to that effect, yes. Though frankly I'd be impressed if we did find something groundbreaking. Probably just a trinket of sorts." Not that he was downplaying any potential danger. But he suspected that a mere trinket was all they would discover below. Something that resonated with the Force. Kyyrk rested a hand against the lip of the opening, and peered inside. He scanned the passageway for a moment, then stepped down into the darkness.

Kyyrk drew his lightsaber and ignited it, holding it aloft to illuminate their surroundings. He did not need it to see, but his companion certainly would. "No, hardly entertainment. This used to be my job. In a way. Most of it was administrative in nature. Cataloguing and archiving things brought back from expeditions such as these. But every once and a while, I'd get the opportunity to go into the field myself. Before the war took all my attention elsewhere..."​

Aliza Vale

 

[Aliza Vale]

Aliza looked towards Kyyrk curiously, so, he was a librarian of some sort, or perhaps a guardian? If he had been Sith she would lean more towards Sorcerer like herself, or perhaps inquisitor, but well... anyway. "So this supposed trinket, are we hoping it's a map of some sort, or perhaps a library of sorts? I imagine physical goods would be much less useful to you than knowledge of this sector?" Meanwhile she had slid her blaster free of it's holster and held it at a high ready beside her right shoulder. Ambidextrous? Yes, but she still preferred her right hand, as such since she strode to Kyyrk's left, that was the sector she allocated to herself and continuously scanned as they descended into the depths of the planetary surface. Best not to be taken unawares after all, particularly if this was a place for Sith spirits with nothing better to do. Aliza suddenly shivered at the memory of one very ill advised trip she'd once taken to the valley of the lords on Korriban...

Aliza seemed to grow smaller, and quieter the further into the depths they descended, a itching between her shoulder blades, purely paranoia she knew, since she'd closed herself off to the force since arriving at Verun, not danger sense it the least, but she still kept glancing behind them anyway. "Why didn't we wait for additional backup again?" She asked in a cheery tone, definitely not worried in the least about prospects of force guardians of whatever stripe accosting them, nope, not at all. Never mind the nervous energy she was throwing off with every step deeper they went.