Temples and Terentateks (Antera)

[Celeste Leon]

A lone Z-95 Headhunter floated in orbit above Dromund Kaas. The paint was chipped and scratched and rust was visible here and there, but it was still working and reliable, so it worked out. Celeste Leon brushed a lock of hair from her face and frowned at the time. The other person she'd brought onto the job was running a bit late, which was moderately annoying, but there wasn't much she could do about it. She'd just have to wait, otherwise she'd be taking on the job alone which most likely would not end well.

She'd managed to obtain, steal really, a book - not a holorecording, but an honest karking flimsi book - that spoke of an old and powerful relic buried with a powerful, but unnamed, Sith lord. Apparently he was some great and powerful Sith that lost a duel blah blah blah buried with a powerful item that was probably worth millions of credits that she now wanted very much bad now. That said, she read something about the dead Sith guy that alluded to Sith Alchemy which usually meant a very nasty something or somethings may be inside, so she brought on someone to help out. Otherwise, she'd be a very, very dead woman.

So, with a frustrated sigh, Leon leaned back in the seat as best she could and settled in a bit for the wait.

@[member="Antera"]

 

[Antera]

Antera tried to stick to schedules. It was bad for business to develop a reputation for always being late, after all. Traveling through the remnants of the Sith Empire wasn't always quick, however. To her credit, she was only a few minutes late, and the YTA-1300 transport exited hyperspace and proceeded to the rendezvous in Dromund Kaas orbit.

When the lone, ancient fighter craft appeared on her scope, she activated her ship's comm on the pre-arranged frequency.

"This is Captain Antera of the Carcosa. Leon, is that you floating out there?"

She found herself tensing slightly with the anticipation of exploration. A Sith tomb on Kaas itself. The risks were immense, but the rewards... Well, who could even say for sure until they got down there?

Perhaps she'd even find a secret worth sending away for safe keeping.

@[member="Celeste Leon"]

 

[Celeste Leon]

"Yeah, this is Leon," she said into the commlink. "Run into trouble?"

As she waited for a response, she started powering up the Headhunter. It was an old, worn down piece of crap, but it was cheap and easy enough to repair or jury-rig to keep it going, so it wasn't too bad. She only really used it to go from point A to point B, so she wasn't dogfighting in it. And if she did... well, she'd just have to get creative is all.

@[member="Antera"]

 

[Antera]

"No, but I did have to take the long way around some. You got a re-entry vector ready? I'll follow you down as close to the site as this tub can get."

Antera turned her head to glance at some of the readouts and gauges on her console, making a few adjustments to the craft's energy management as she maneuvered the transport closer to the other craft, letting the Z-95 lead her down to their destination.

@[member="Celeste Leon"]

 

[Celeste Leon]

"Yeah, I'll transmit the vector to you. Hold on," She said as she hit a few controls on the console. The readout froze for a moment, but a resounding thump from Leon's fist got it rolling again. "Okay, it's transmitted. I haven't scoped anything out just yet, but from what I can tell, we're looking for a weird, orb shaped opening set into a rock wall or mountainside. Looks like a big open mouth or something from the sketches."

With that, Leon started down towards the planet on the vector she'd given. Hopefully, with two keen pairs of eyes looking, they'd find the bloody tomb entrance.

@[member="Antera"]

 

[Antera]

It took the better part of the afternoon, and the recent re-arranging of Dromund Kaas's surface didn't help matters whatsoever. Thankfully, however, with a rough idea of the coordinates and a slightly accurate map, the two treasures hunters did eventually locate their prize.

Maybe.

Antera certainly hoped it was the right blasted place after hiking uphill for twenty minutes, at least. The loader droid hadn't broken down either, which was another bonus. It would have to remain outside until they'd finished their exploration, but it would make the return trip to the Carcosa so much simpler than it otherwise might have been. Credits well spent.

Pausing to collect herself after the walk, the chiss looked up at the vaguely circular opening in the natural rock. Time and tectonic activity had shifted it from the sketch, but it seemed unlikely there'd be two places in the area that had been shaped into horrible gaping maws of stony fangs, even on the seat of the old Sith Empire. Out of habit, she took a quick inventory of what she'd carried with her. A pair of glowlamps, rope, grappling hook, an emergency ration (because some old habits died harder than others), her blaster pistol, her narrow-bladed vibrosword, and, of course, a sturdy satchel to carry out any smaller finds.

Her gloved left hand closed on the handle of the first glowlamp, thumb flicking it to life as she lifted it in front of herself. She turned her head enough to glance over at Leon, "Well. It certainly looks welcoming enough up close."

@[member="Celeste Leon"]

 

[Celeste Leon]

Leon adjusted the wide, leather belt she wore and made sure her weapons were secure. She then shifted the rucksack on her back to let it sit more comfortably. The expedition could potentially be a long one and might require some light labor to get around inside, especially after the Mandalorian invasion of the planet where the fleet dropped a large amount of asteroids on the surface. So in preparation, she'd brought plenty of tools and useful items along as well as a sizable amount of rations, plus a few more tools in the Headhunter along with even more food, just in case.

For weapons, she brought her usual. Her dual cutlasses and dual Thunderer heavy blaster pistols sat on her belt, one on each side of her waist. All were within easy reach and all showed signs of heavy use despite the amount of care all received.

Leon pulled a torch from the webbing on the rucksack and flicked it on. She walked around the mouth of the entrance while flicking the light over everything. The opening seemed to go some way further into the rock down a moderately steep incline.

"Looks just homey," she said, just a hint of sarcastic humor flavoring the words. "Some curtains, maybe a nice table and chairs, and a couple of throw rugs and it'll be perfect."

She pointed the torch down into the blackness and was unsurprised when she couldn't see the end of the cavern.

"Looks like we've got a fair hike before us," she said bluntly.

@[member="Antera"]

 

[Antera]

"Because of course we do..." she sighed, shifting the weight of her own gear slightly before glancing down the ramp. It was steep, but with care it wouldn't present much of a problem to walk down. One arm keeping the lamp held at shoulder level, she started her descent.

The deeper they went, the more oppressive the aura of the dark side became around her. Kaas itself was almost permeated with the energy, and this Tomb was a particularly powerful nexus of it. She paused for just a moment and shook her head, clearing her thoughts and focusing inward.

Guess you don't really get used to this, she thought as they neared the bottom.

@[member="Celeste Leon"]

 

[Celeste Leon]

Leon made her way down with [member="Antera"] through the tomb opening. It was dark, oppressing, and generally an unpleasant place to be in. She figured it would be steeped in the darkside, but she couldn't feel it. The pluses of lacking Force sensitivity, she figured.

Eventually, they reached the bottom and a pair of huge, massive doors blocked the path. On either side the entrance teed off and ran perpendicular to the entrance path, though Leon's torch couldn't pierce the blackness beyond.

Shrugging at the inability to see down the two new paths, she instead flicked the torch up at the doors. They looked to be made of heavy stone and were carved with intricate designs that looked sinister to Leon and, admittedly, made her feel slightly nauseous.

"Okay, so, what do these mean and should we be aware of anything... nasty inside?" she asked, her tone even and calm.

 

[Antera]

The chiss took a few steps closer to the door, lifting her lamp and taking a moment to examine the scrawling inscription more closely. After a few moments she shook her head, "Beyond that really obvious sense of 'stay the feth out,' can't say I can make any sense of it."

She pursed her lips, eyes shutting for a moment as she reached out with her other senses, probing at the darkness that surrounded them both down here. There was power here. Strong power. The twisting and writhing of the dark energies present obscured details, but she could sense just enough to feel the pull.

She curled her empty fingers into a fist, squeezing her gloved hand tightly.

"There's definitely something here, though. I can feel it. And if I can sense it, it probably drew other things here too. We better keep both eyes open while we're down here."

[member="Celeste Leon"]

 

[Celeste Leon]

"Maybe it means 'keep out, beware of dog' or some such," Leon stated as a humorless joke, not knowing just how accurate those words would be fairly soon.

"Okay, so, we wanna open the creepy and very heavy looking door, or do we wanna explore one of these side passages?" she asked aloud. Leon didn't like the heaviness in the air as it was setting her on edge. She checked her pistols and cutlasses again, making sure all were ready and all were loose in the sheathes and holsters.

"Maybe there's a second way in? I'm not seeing a handle and where the doors meet is too narrow for a pry bar."

[member="Antera"]

 

[Antera]

"... Might be able to shove it open, but that didn't go so well last time. Let's see what we've got around the corner."

She nodded her head to the right, keeping the glowlamp raised. Something in her stomach twisted a little, and she drew her pistol. Better safe than sorry.

She took the lead, following the stony path, but only somewhat relying on her eyes in the limited light. There was so much more she could find, if only she could sense it through the nexus of energies surrounding them.

[member="Celeste Leon"]

 

[Celeste Leon]

Leon nodded and followed [member="Antera"] down the passageway. She popped the handle off the torch and hooked the glowlamp on the end to the front of her vest so as to free up her hands. She then pulled a cutlass in her right hand and one of her Thunderers in her left. It was better safe than sorry, especially in a deep, dark, forgotten, and very creepy Sith tomb.

As they walked, she hard then noises stereotypical of a normal cave. Occasional dripping, the wind at the mouth of the entrance, but strangely there was no sounds of anything living. No small rodents scurrying away. Nothing small, nocturnal, and flying scuttling around. Not even insects that made their homes in the cracks and crevices of the cave walls. Nothing at all. It set Leon's teeth on edge.

Suddenly, her ears perked up as she heard a faint shuffle and what sounded like a muffled scrape.

"Did you hear that?" she asked quietly, wary of raising her voice too much in the darkness of the tomb.

 

[Antera]

She had, indeed, heard the scrape. Her body tensed and her weapon arm jumped to the side, leveling at some unseen threat further down the cave.

One of these days. I'm going to find a tomb full of friendly kittens. One of these days.

"I've got a very, very bad feeling about this, Leon... keep your eyes open."

Another scrape echoed on the cave walls, closer this time. Antera clipped her glowlamp to her vest, and the now empty hand went straight for the hilt of her sword.

[member="Celeste Leon"]

 

[Celeste Leon]

At the second scrap, Leon had a heavy blaster pistol in one hand and her cutlass in the other. Adopting a low stance, she kept here ears and eyes open for noise and movement. Quietly and carefully, she flicked the safety off the Thunderer and slowed her breathing.

"Way ahead of you," was all she said to [member="Antera"] in the darkness of the cave.

Leon shifted to the side slightly to loosen her back muscles when she saw something shift ever so slightly. The beam of light twitched in sync with her body and she spotted a faint, brief glimmer of two, huge, glassy orbs in the darkness, well above her head and close enough to maker her very, very uncomfortable.

"Oh, Hell," she said a split second before the beast attacked. The bark of Leon's blaster pistol was her only follow up comment.