Things That Should Not Exist...

[Alkor Centaris]

"I sense a disturbance in the Force."

How many strange conversations began and ended with that single sentence? Since the dawn of time, Force sensitives had urges and strange sensations that pricked at their heightened awareness. None of those instances ever ended well, and Alkor doubted that this time would go any differently. His gaze fell on the galactic map that radiated from the ship's central terminal, and he considered the distortion that made itself apparent. "There is no planet here," the Corellian mused, "but a gravity shadow has been apparent for several hundred years, according to records. How does a planet just disappear?"

"Something to do with the Netherworld, generally," one of the other men piped up somewhere behind him. Alkor waved off the assertion dimissively. "Hey, there's precedence. Worlds popped in and out of realspace during that time..." his voice died down when he started to mention the temporal distortions that centered around the wicked Kwa Princess and her genocidal campaign. No one wanted to think about those times.

"There's only one confirmed instance," another of the Mandalorians chimed in skeptically. "And Keres I was recently scouted by the Alliance. What they found there..." He stopped for a moment and considered his words carefully. "...it wasn't normal, to say the least. If this were something on that scale, it's not something we would want anything to do with."

"I disagree," Alkor lifted a finger and placed it gently against the strange anomaly. "While it's true that we have no idea what to expect, fortune favors the bold. If we don't stake a claim to whatever is hidden in the darkness of space, someone else will."

There was a collective groan in the ranks. "This is in Clan Rekali's space," their navigator spoke up, "not too terribly far from Dathomir. The earliest records for this area predate the Gulag plague by over two thousand years, but they're not showing anything that would indicate a planet in the vicinity. I don't foresee this being even moderately rewarding, Centaris."

Alkor simply continued to peer at the star map.

"Fine," the navigator muttered. "That's fine. Alert [member="Alec Rekali"] that we're jumping into Dathomiri space, just so they know we're friendly."

The former Jen'jidai glanced to [member="Kurayami Bloodborn"] and smirked. "I know we were scheduled for a few test flights outside atmo, but we're going to have to put it off," he apologized, "I know it might not be anything, but it's worth looking into." His gaze moved toward [member="Anya Loma "], a newcomer to the Crusade and someone he barely knew to boot. "I know you're new to all this, but I'd like to ask for your cooperation," he said genuinely.

Something told him that what came next might not be the time of their lives.

 

[Anya Malvern]

Anya was simply listening while reading a book....ever since she learned about this...force and how to control fire with it she had a sort of awakening.....she was still a half crazy pryomaniac yet she started to crave more then causing flanes....she started craving knowledge about the force whatever she could kniw...that and further her base knowledge about things

So it was no surprise that she came along, something about space and the odd things of it got her interested that and she needed to socialize out of battle....somewhere where her mind wasnt...crazy

You have my full cooperation with anything we need to do" she said looking over her book gentky at him" by the way I am Anya if you don't know"she said and looked back down at her book
[member="Alkor Centaris"]

 

[Kurayami Bloodborn]

Kurayami said nothing as he heard Alkor's statment about feeling a disturbance in the Force. It was something that he had felt before, many times, he usually paid them less heed than perhaps he should. It registered with him though that this was a disturbance that was...different from the others somehow. How exactly he couldn't pin down though. Beneath his robes he wore his Mk.4 Expeditionary armor. It was tough enough to take a good beating but still allowed him enough movement to utilize his lightsaber if need be without restricting him.

He listened carefully as the crew responded to Alkor's musings about the sensor readings. He started to scan the Holonet and many other galactic databases for information regarding the events that they spoke of. There was not a wealth of information and that which he did find seemed mostly to be useless drivel, conspiracy theories, and baseless conjecture. Needless to say this brought a muttered string of cursing from the Corellian for a few moments. One had to admit some were rather colorful. To place his mind at a greater level of ease, he pulled the T-7 ion disruptor from his back and began to disassemble and clean the weapon. If this was necessary or not was debatable as the weapon looked pristine. AS he finished the maintenance of the weapon and slid it into the back mounted holster again he responded to Alkor.

"Yea, life has a funny way of throwing you curveballs at inopportune moments. Don't worry about it. As much as I love flying and all, I allso greatly enjoy exploration. Think my girlfriend may have rubbed off a bit on me there, you date a woman who was a Jedi archivist and also takes on random archaeological digs throughout the universe, yea. At first I was there as nothing more than a pilot and security, but I found what she was talking about fascinating. So if we are going to look for a lost planet from the Netherworld event I'm in. Whole heartedly."

The smile was clear on his face as he had no need of the helmet after he had scanned the Holonet earlier. There was something about Clan Rekali and Dathomiri space, but he wasn't worried it was all standard procedure from what he could tell. As he leaned back a bit more in his chair the smile turned to a smirk when the woman spoke up, he didn't say anything in response, but proper introductions could be made later. Right now he just needed to let himself relax.

@Alkor Cetaris

 

[Alkor Centaris]

"Su'cuy," Alkor greeted Anya as she introduced herself, "it's good to meet you, ma'am. I am called Alkor Centaris, a representative of House Verd." He gestured toward the other Crusaders aboard and indicated their allegiance. "I command this humble contingent in the name of the Warmaster."

As the Corellian exile greeted and briefed the woman on his position and their intent, Kurayami spoke up and immediately the crew went dead quiet.

"Strictly speaking, we have no idea what caused it to disappear, or when," the Navigator corrected when Kurayami unabashedly mentioned the hated event and provoked several hushed curses from the crewmen. "And I somehow doubt that it was directly tied to that, since the records are intact from the last several hundred years." The astrogation specialist prodded the data port and cycled through several screens worth of information so that the CEO of Nubia Star Drives could get some idea of what they were dealing with. "There are several planets that records showed in the area that were affected when... she... arrived in our galaxy," he winced, not wanting to call Akala by name. "...but none of them were explicitly in Dathomiri space, curiously. Her status among the Kwa makes that highly irregular, given that it was the seat of their power for tens of thousands of years, before the Rakata came."

"Thanks for the history lesson," Alkor cut in, "but we're wasting too much time debating over the prospect and spending far too little on the surveying. I want two recon teams to scout ahead-" he started, vividly remembering the brief time he spent in the nether. If not for his training in the Force, it might have scrambled his brain. Should the Mandalorians come face to face with any such powers, they might not be so fortunate. "Make sure they're armed and armored, and don't let anyone wander off on their own. I want frequent updates on their conditions, and if there's any inclination that what we're dealing with might not be natural in origin, I want them pulled back immediately until I can issue further orders."

"Is there a need for that, sir?" one of the infantrymen delegated to his command seemed uncertain when he gave an order that seemed suspiciously over cautious. "We're not kids, here. We can handle a few Sithspawn, or Dar'jetii if the need arises-"

"Discretion in this endeavor benefits us, not the unknown," Alkor warned. "What we're dealing with may be nothing at all, but it has the potential to be something the likes of which you've never seen, vod," he spoke with a newly learned word of Mando'a to punctuate that his intent was not to besmirch their honor. "If the taint of the Netherworld lies before us, we must prepare for it properly."

"Lethal force, you mean," the man smirked.

"If necessary," Alkor confirmed.

[member="Kurayami Bloodborn"] | [member="Anya Loma"]​

 

[Anya Malvern]

S...su'cuy?" she was not familiar with Mandalorian words nor cukture....however if she was think of becoming one she might want to learn the words and language of the people...and with how she was Now it was perfect time" in any case it's good to meet you and house of Verd you say?....are they a good...clan...not saying they aren't just...curious maybe trying to find a place I can call a...well friends and such" obviously socially awakard in a way

She listened to the next man speak and noted how the crew around her seemed to curse him as she marked her book and sat it down listening in on this " Alkor if I may ask without danger what is this...netherworld...I briefing heard from people coming to my birth planet and...what I have heard is horrible" she said keeping her voice down so only he may hear her


[member="Kurayami Bloodborn"]
[member="Alkor Centaris"]

 

[Kurayami Bloodborn]

Kurayami's smirk never faded nor did his relaxed posture change. If anything he seemed downright entertained by the lecture simply because he had tied it to events where similar things had been recorded as happening. It was not such a massive jump to make a connection. The navigator may have been right in saying that the cause was unknown but for a speculative guess based on past event what he had said was not an impossibility as the crew seemed to think. The curses that were leveled at him from the others made him chuckle slightly. He understood it was not an event that many cared for, and from what he knew of it that much made sense.

"You are right in that we do not know the circumstances of the disappearance. Tell me though, why you are so against the possibility that it did happen within the same time frame? You say there are no records of it and that just because the records from the past bit are all in order. Why would that be such a smoking gun to make it impossible? The assumption I stated was made due to the fact that there were known similar events in other areas of the galaxy, making it a smaller jump than you seem to think. If I am right in my thinking, then it would be a simple thing to get records transferred to the area that would have covered the past several hundred years of major events. Just because they havent been seen doesn't mean someone there isn't looking out and watching."

Admittedly his words sounded less intellectual and more akin to the ramblings of a madman, but it was not an uncommon thing with Kurayami that he would speak his mind. If he was wrong then so be it, but it would be funny to see the navigator's face if he did turn out to be right. The very minute chance of such being the case made the thought that much funnier to him.

"So about the killing things...if it comes down to that are we really limited in how we do it or is that up to personal discretion? I mean my rifle isn't exactly known as a 'legal' weapon in any star system that I can think of what with it being an T-7 ion disruptor and all. I know you could care less about that, but just wanted to make sure that these fuckers ain't going to lecture me about how inhumane that is. I mean they already feel I need to get an impromptu lecture on galactic history, so why not ethics as well?"

[member="Alkor Centaris"]

 

[Alkor Centaris]

"Not to say the point's not arguable, bur'cya," the Navigator shrugged, "but I have my doubts. Someone would have mentioned it somewhere if a planet just went 'poof.' That's all I'm saying." He set the coordinates for the hyperspace jump and gave the all clear for the piloting crew to take them to lightspeed. "As long as we don't end up dead after all this, drinks are on me."

There was healthy laughter from the Mando'ade as Kurayami talked about how his weapon might be considered "illegal" by Republic standards. That had never stopped a Mandalorian Bounty Hunter from vaping a target, nor had it stopped people from smuggling various exotic weapons and contraband directly under Republican noses. If anything, they seemed excited by the notion of being able to see the weapon wreak havoc. "If the targets are what I expect they might be," Alkor explained in answer to Kurayami's question, "then you may need something nastier than a disruptor to deal with them. By all means, though, enjoy unloading the power pack to your heart's content. I'm not interested in leaving anything alive that's been through the Netherworld."

"If your gun's that big, mate, I know a few girls who would be glad to meet you!" the infantryman laughed at his own joke and a few of the others joined in until Alkor shot them a baleful look. "Right, right," he muttered, "talk less, work more."

"You're catching on," Alkor smirked.

His attention turned to Anya as he carefully considered her words. "House Verd is the direct family to Warmaster Isley Verd, right hand of Mand'alor. His is the will by which the Crusaders swarm the northern reaches of the galaxy." Truth be told, he was still new to all this and the talk seemed silly and excessive, but it was important that the girl got a good idea of what the right answer to her question was. "We do things a bit differently than the clans, but we're one big happy family at the end of the day. Well, that's how Ticon would have put it, I guess."

He sneered at the mention of Keira, who kept calling him "Vod'ika." Bah.

"If you like war, House Verd is the right place for you."

When her second question came in a much lower voice, he took a step closer to her and leaned forward so that his voice could only reach her ears. "Hell," he answered, "there's no better way to describe it. The Netherworld is not a place I ever want to go again, and I hope that I am not leading you to it's doorstep. If that is the case, though, I will do my best to make sure that none of you come to harm."

[member="Kurayami Bloodborn"] | [member="Anya Loma"]​

 

[Anya Malvern]

She gave a chuckle listening to the man talk about illegal weapons, I'd she was to go through customs each time her flame throwers would be removed and scrapped....that because they weren't safe definitely not safe on her at all....not with how she used them

Let's hope these targets you say hate flame based weapons bought all I got haven't spent my money yet to get anything good" she said as she gave a chuckle to the infantry man's joke yet cut it short as she looked to Alkor " well war is in my blood...raised around it and such...I'll highly consider it in fact give me till after this mission here and I shall give you a answer

With that she watched him leaned close and shivered at the word....even if she was a crazy pryomaniac she didn't like the sound of that place " don't make a girl a promise you can't keep " she said with a chuckle and patted his shoukder" I trust your word though



[member="Alkor Centaris"][member="Kurayami Bloodborn"]

 

[Kurayami Bloodborn]

Kurayami nodded at the words spoken by the navigator, he was right. And he did make a good point that it would likely be in records somewhere. Given that those hadn't turned up anywhere as of yet, he couldn't blame the man for being skeptical. It was just the way things felt around here, the flow of the Force itself seemed off in some way. Though well versed in the ways of the Force, he had no means with which to describe what he sensed around him or try to narrow down why things felt wrong. They just did.

"If we make it back you are going to be broke buying drinks for this crew, so first round maybe first two at best."

Good, his comment had had the effect he'd hoped for, it brought a bit of levity to the situation. Even he had to laugh at the comment the infantryman made. Alkor's comment brought a raised eye from Kurayami.

"So you mean to tell me a weapons capable of disabling starships and that rips sentients apart at the atomic level isn't powerful enough to kill what we would find there? Not so sure about making this a possible vacation spot for me and Raylia now. Damn it all Alkor, you just had to ruin that for me didn't ya? By the way soldier, my Twi'lek girlfriend is more than enough for me, besides she's never had any complaints."

The last bit was punctuated with a laugh, but his mind was already working on other ways to kill the beasts if it came to that...or whatever it was they would run into.

[member="Alkor Centaris"]
[member="Anya Loma"]

 

[Alkor Centaris]

"I'll be blunt," he said with a shrug, "I've no way of knowing if I can save anyone, let alone watch their back. My general role in combat is attacker, not defender." With that said, Alkor's new beskar'gam did take away from his immense natural speed, but it offered him a great deal more in the durability department. He was still learning the basics of the HUD and getting used to utilizing it in lieu of his Force enhanced senses, but it would take time to ween himself off the old habit. It made him feel like as much an addict as his mother had been, and that thought caused his stomach to turn. He kept his gaze focused on Anya now and managed a half smile. "But you don't need to worry. I've said I will protect you, and that means I'll do everything I can to make that happen. Regardless of whether or not I die in the process."

Death had always been an eventuality to Alkor, and nothing had ever incited him to fear it. When he talked about the possibility of his own end, he did so with an unspoken understanding that he was signing a waiver with his words. Anya's life came before his own, since she was still a conscript and had not embraced the Resol'nare yet. Even he was still a learner in that regard, but someone newer than him deserved to be kept safe like one's own kin. That was what the others would have done in his stead.

"You don't have any armor," he told her, "so once we land, don't go running off on your own."

"Are you getting soft on her, Alk'ika?" One of the older warriors said with a laugh. "Do you think keeping her safe will make her want to polish your kad?"

Alkor stared blankly, unsure of what the insult had meant. After several blinks, he narrowed his gaze and smiled thinly. "Don't worry about them," he told the girl, "they like to talk more than they like to fight."

"Oi, what was that?" The grizzled man took a step forward. Copaani mirshmure'cye, vod?"

At that point, Alkor was well and truly lost. He shook his head a bit and grabbed his buy'ce, then pulled it over his face. The HUD came online and he looked down at Anya through his T-visor. "Get ready," his mechanical voice encouraged, "we're about to jump."

He glanced toward Kurayami and tilted his head slightly. "It's not that you shouldn't consider it tourist friendly," he replied after the man complained, "it's more like if you intend to make it a frequent dating spot, you should probably invest in better armor than Jedi Standard Issue for your ladyfriend." He plucked a datapad from the desktop and sifted through several antiquated files left over from his exploits as an Assassin on Muunilinst. The flagged details about Sithspawn would probably register with things Kurayami knew of, but hadn't dealt too terribly much with. "This sort of thing," he explained, "is the least of what the Netherworld can do to people who are exposed to it. If wherever we're headed was exposed to it at any length, we may as well be fighting daemons."

As he said this, the Navigator called out that they had exactly a minute before the jump. Everyone was encouraged to hold on tight or strap in. "They're not the friendly kind, either."

[member="Kurayami Bloodborn"] | [member="Anya Loma"]​

 

[Anya Malvern]

She gave a chuckle at his words and listened a she nodded then gave a snile....half crazy one at that matter"I think the matter is that you give me someone looking to harm the people here you'll be dragging me off their charred corpses that will come from what I can do

With that she Simply gave a laugh and shook her head such a crazy she was tendencies to go on rampages yet look at her being social then again maybe that was good she was reaching out with others name making friends time would tell

Don't worry I don't plan on being to stupid unless told....I'm hoping to get some awesome armor soon...whenever thag may be"

She looked to the men who were laughing at the banter and rolled her eyes...if she wasn't on their side she'd of at least lit them information fire just a little...however she couldn't do that and just simply shook her head

She gave a nod and strapped in" ready when we jump sir" she said as she took a breath in....she really didn't like hyper space yravel....but such was life

[member="Alkor Centaris"][member="Kurayami Bloodborn"]

 

[Kurayami Bloodborn]

Sithspawn. The word reminded him of Kessel and the failed attempts at the creation of such things. It also reminded him of those that had succeeded and the power they had demonstrated. He scanned over the files quickly before slipping his helmet on and transferring the files to his HUD. a few more corss references to Sithspawn and he was reading through massive amounts of data. If this was the least that the Netherworld could manage, well it made him glad that he had at least said goodbye to Raylia before heading out on such a quest.

"You know how difficult it can be to fit a woman for armor Alkor? I tired to talk her into it one time, let's just say that she prefers the traditional robes to such a degree that the armorer gave up. And that was him trying to work with hides, leathers, and other lighter materials. So good luck there. But if it's full of Sithspawn and their ilk, then I have no want to visit any longer than I absolutely have to. Sithspawn and daemons? Bring it on."

It was clear that he was confident, perhaps overly so, but he had a reputation to uphold as a Corellian. Sarcastic, cocky, and a damn good pilot. So far he hadn't failed at any of those so perhaps that was where it came from, or maybe it was just an act. Anyone's read was honestly as good of a guess as they would get from the man himself. When the order to strap in came, he made sure that the harness was tight and he tried to relax and keep his mind off the impending hellscape they would be visiting that was possibly populated by daemons and Sithspawn.

[member="Alkor Centaris"]
[member="Anya Loma "]

 

[Alkor Centaris]

"You've got guts, kid," the Navigator called back to Anya as he gripped the holodisplay and stared hard at the spatial anomaly. He didn't like this at all. His jaw set firmly in a long frown as he considered what Alkor said about what the Netherworld was capable of, and he shook his head. "I can't say I agree with sending any of you headlong into this insanity," he continued, "least of all a girl who hasn't even got a clue about what it means to be a Mando. But rest assured, ad'ika, if you come back alive, I'll get you fitted for that armor you want yourself."

"Verd'goten, right?" Alkor grinned as he recalled the word Zef had used for his exploits in Terentatek hunting. "Seems to be a hot trend among the newcomers to House Verd, running headlong into blasterfire woefully unprepared." His voice was warped and his expression distorted by the helmet, but the humor made it through to his intended audience. They just smiled.

"Is'ika doesn't do anything halfway," the Navigator responded without missing a beat.

"Neither do I," Alkor responded as the hyperdrive thrummed and the ship started to to shiver with anticipation. Moments went by quicker than they could comprehend, and the ship began to rip through reality at incredible speed. As a Corellian, lightspeed was nothing new to Alkor. It was different with armor, though. His body felt heavier as the forces at work moved him. He was more aware of the rate of motion than he had ever been. For the sake of a field test, he had the HUD scan the anterior of the ship for motion. It sent back an error that caused his visor to light up bright red and a warning that the system could not compute the incoming data.

Well, at least I know better than to try to comprehend hyperspace travel with my own two eyes.

It wasn't impossible. Forcies did it all the time. Alkor was just trying to divorce himself from that way of thinking. It's not impossible with the Force.

In the end, that ought to make it impossible. I need to be able to do things without it. I need to learn to be free.

[member="Kurayami Bloodborn"] | [member="Anya Loma"]​

 

[Anya Malvern]

She gave a smile to the navigator as she listened to him talk as she adjusted around half eager to see this place and not ready at all for hyperspace travel......though she wondered what was there.....from what Alkor had described nothing good and nothing Nirmal came out of it....probably meant she had free run" I'll hold ya to that hey if we make it I'll pay half the round only three first one though

She then looked over to Alkor and listened as she gave a chuckle and a wink" for what I do Alkor running head long into any type of fire is just what you do on a daily basis "she said as she finally settled in letying a breath out

When she felt the ship start to lurch forward she closed her eyes then felt as the ship took off feeling the firce push her against the chair as she kept her eyes closed

[member="Alkor Centaris"][member="Kurayami Bloodborn"]

 

[Kurayami Bloodborn]

The feeling of the ship accelerating to lightspeed was a familiar one to Kurayami. It brought a slight smile to hims lips as he relaxed in his seat, enjoying the feeling. He had lived on board ships for many years and as such was more than used to the sensation of hyperspace flight and the oddities which it entailed. Surprisingly during this time he was completely silent, something that he was not often known for. The reason for this was simply because of the reading he was doing on Sithspawn, Kwa, and the Inifinite Empire. That much information was a lot to sort through, though having helped Raylia on a few after dig reports and detailing the condition of everything found down to the most minute details had prepared him for such things.

Taking a break from the reading for a few minutes he shut off the HUD, leaving himself in complete darkness. During this time his thoughts drifted through many different places. Mistakes made resurfaced twinges of guilt that he had thought long past pulled once more at his emotions, precious few intact memories of his family and Corellia, the beautiful planet he had called home. The unanswered questions that still made sleep an elusive thing many nights. These things and many more flitted through his mind as they continued on their route through hyperspace towards the anomaly. His mind rarely knew complete peace, but even for him this was a bit much. Perhaps it was the darkness that he felt around himself, and that within himself, which brought these long past things unbidden to the surface.

He shook his head slowly. The why didn't matter in this case, the only thing that mattered was getting through this alive and getting back home. That was all he had to focus on, as long as he reminded himself of who was waiting for him he knew he could manage to find a way home. At least that is what he kept telling himself over and over in the silence.

[member="Alkor Centaris"]
[member="Anya Loma"]