Private The Artifact & The Experiment [NJO]

[Rayia Si]

Ran Serys Azurine Varek Everest Vale Xuko Pagoi Tyron Khan

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The cool scent of sap hit Rayia as the ship’s bay doors opened. Her tail buzzed with the vibrations caused by scurrying fauna, darting this way and that through the dirt. They discarded the berries they were eating almost immediately and abandoned them. Rayia could feel them retreating from the intrusion, pressing themselves away from the focus of observation. It made her think about what sort of cruelty had been committed here to make even the smallest of critters wary.

But then again, Rayia could smell it oozing from the soil itself. That acrid scent of iron. So chillingly biting at the nose. The scent of the Dark that she’d come to recognize from her own experiences. Rayia frowned, drawing the crimson cloak about her shoulders closer. If she was being honest, descending below ground didn’t thrill her. Call it an old superstition but the Felacatians of her tribe revered Illuna and the sun. Very rarely did her presence then reach underground. ‘That and well Cathar then had the Kiliks. I’ve had my fill of bugs and dirt,’ Rayia thought.

Try as she might however, Rayia dared not voice this hesitancy. As the group started to head out, the shorter Felacatian felt Ran sidle towards her. Though the movement was expected, Rayia’s tapered ear still twitched as Ran leaned down to speak to her. Any eavesdropper would be met with a dissuading show of teeth. And not Rayia’s humanoid kind. A smile impossibly full of fangs.

Evidently, Ran did not want the others to hear this. Rayia couldn’t say she blamed her. “Though my experience along the same lines was shorter, I believe I understand. I…” Rayia sought a suitable way to formulate her words before it came to her, “…have also been poked and prodded.”

Suddenly, Rayia’s nose twitched. The scent of freshly turned dirt and the shudder of vibration from a mound in the distance drew her golden eyes away from Ran and towards it. The mound rested against the split trunk of a tree, nestled between the fallen log and its splintering remnant. Puffs of earth were still billowing from the central opening, cascading down its sides like small rivulets. The likely efforts of the carapaced beings Raiya could feel swimming beneath her feet. “Uhm, I’d guess that’s a hive. What now?”

 

[Xuko Pagoi]

As his boots crunched softly on the earthy ground, Xuko took stock of his surroundings. It was as if the horrors that had been committed here had influenced the very environment. Trees surrounded the ship, their leaves' color somewhere between red clay and blood. Some of the trees were spindly and tall, and their branches appeared not unlike long, thin arms that stretched down from above- appropriate, given the leaves looked a little too much like hands themselves. A momentary shudder rippled down Xuko's spine as a sudden breeze picked up, sending the trees dancing eerily; as if they were reaching towards the Jedi.

Then, Xuko steeled himself. What kind of Jedi was he if he was afraid of a figment of his own imagination? He'd grown up on Iridonia, where most everything was trying to kill him- he wouldn't let this unnamed planet spook him. But try as he might, the Zabrak couldn't shake the sense of wrong that permeated through the very soil; the lingering echoes of the Dark Side. Xuko fell into step behind Ran Serys and Rayia Si , about even with Everest Vale , glancing back over his shoulder at irregular intervals lest something be tracking the Jedi.

As it was, the first challenge manifested ahead of the small party. A hive of some sorts, home to subterranean insects that Xuko guessed to be about the size of a Bogling- puntable, Xuko guessed, but also likely to be found in such large numbers that kicking wasn't a good strategy. The Zabrak glanced to the treeline to the Jedi's right and swore under his breath as he recognized another of the hive entrances roughly even with the party. A whole system...

"We will have to move with caution if we want to avoid a fight" Xuko said, quietly, The off-putting nature of the planet combined with the unfamiliar subterranean rhythms of the forest had meant that the Jedi found themselves inside the boundaries of a colony. He could just imagine the insects marshalling below, having sensed the Jedi's approach long ago... but if they hadn't attacked yet, there might still be a window to escape.

Ran Serys Everest Vale Rayia Si Azurine Varek Tyron Khan