Visiting a Dark Past (SJO/ORC v TSE)

[Amea Virou]

Nearby: [member="Loske Matson"]

Though not something she was expecting, the intrusion upon Amea’s mind came as a surprise but not enough to make her give any real visible reaction. You cannot hide. Amea had heard worse from professionals. Some were even dead when they had said it.

“Yep.” Amea spoke with a frown. “Means we’ve already attracted too much heat.”

Upon breaking realspace it was made even more clear how many it was that had signed up for this. It meant that whatever they expected to find was a big deal, either due to size or importance. Amea ran the numbers on what could have been expected to attract this much of a crowd. For runs like these the question wasn’t what one expected to find rather than what one might find. The target was clearly important enough to warrant this big of a crowd, which ideally meant they had identified what it was.

Ultimately leaving them only with the question of what that might be.

“I don’t know what we will find, to be honest.” Amea said and leaned back in her seat. “I imagine once we touch ground there will be a debrief, right? A camp of some sort? My instructions…”

She looked away and out the window. Didn't want to say too much.

“They didn’t necessarily include any third parties. I mean, had you not called I would have landed out of sight, snuck in as best I could, taken notes, and leave before they were any the wiser.”

“... Guess we could still do that, though it might be hard given the numbers.”

No, Amea really couldn’t drop the numbers they had amassed for this.

 

[Sol Stazi]

The Gang: [member="Coren Starchaser"], [member="Nida Perl"], [member="Cambria Zadira"], [member="Loske Matson"], [member="Amea Virou"], [member="Griet van Vliet"]
Equipment: Field Kit, GLX Firelance, Combat Scatter Gun, SSK-7 Heavy Blaster, GA Officer's Vibrorapier, Bandolier (Spare Power Packs, Thermal Imploders)
Nemesis: [member="Balfur Zaine"]


"Solid copy Hummingbird. Phoenix going comm silent, will contact you over shortwave."

Captain Stazi terminated their connection with [member="Yuroic Xeraic"] and the other Silver Jedi ships shortly before each starcutter rocketed out of hyperspace. The nimble craft made short work of the remaining trip on sublight engines and soon enough they were hurtling through Wayland's upper atmosphere. His harness began to strain against the turbulence of reentry. It took some effort to turn his head but out of his periphery the duros glimpsed another starcutter maintaining formation.

"Picking up some odd signal traffic!" the gunship's pilot shouted at Sol just to be heard, "There's activity planetside!"

"What about orbit?" he hollered back.

"Still no bandits! We're clear!"

"Proceed to the drop zone!" Stazi felt the gravitational forces level out into a rough jostle, "I'll go wake the kids."

It took all his poise and balance to hoist himself out of the gunship's copilot seat and stagger back into the passenger bay. They were no longer in a dive which was something but they needed to maintain their breakneck speed until the last possible moment. One look from the captain was enough to spur his squad of Partisan fighters into last minute preparations, but not everyone in the transport was used to following Sol's unspoken orders. He shoved a cumbersome looking backpack roughly at [member="Veino Garn"].

"Put this on," he ordered. From his tone this was not up for debate.

Sol checked the power pack on his firelance before strapping the rifle tightly across his torso. He donned his own grav chute then activated the bay's loading ramp and braced for sudden cabin decompression. Wayland's surface yawned below them, from their aft perspective Mount Tantiss was not yet visible but he knew their destination loomed before the zooming starcutters. The Silver Jedi were already approaching from the ground but Sol wasn't looking to walk in through any front door. Even if the Underground's intel on the mountain was outdated they should be able to engineer some kind of breach...

"Aim for halfway down!" Captain Stazi shouted so the Saarai-kaar could hear him, "There used to be an emergency hangar. That's our rally point."

Without another word to Veino or his troops the duros commando took a running leap and hurled himself out of the gunship just as they roared over mountain's peak and Tantiss at last was finally in view. Distant chute pods flared to life and Sol's terminal plunge transformed into a controlled descent.

 

[Kirie]

Location: Waylands Jungle, dig site B.
Faction: Independent
Objective: Oversee archeological dig
Tags: [member="Inquisitor Trellux"] ~ [member="Kaili Brand"] ~ [member="Reggie Faayare"] ~ [member="Yuroic Xeraic"] ~ [member="Kyra Perl"] ~ [member="Griet van Vliet"] ~ [member="Keva"] ~ [member="Joycelyn Zambrano"] ~ [member="Lex Del'Fino"] ~ [member="Syd Celsius"]

Staring into the Jungle, Kirie saw nothing stir in the impenetrable green dim. As the rain began to patter down and soak into the spongy earth, the young explorer turned back to return to her task. As she did, she felt the presence she had sensed before shift violently, wrenching her stomach as something powerful imposed itself upon her consciousness. The message passed her by, but it blew through the camp like a vengeful spirit and momentarily dazzled her senses. As she opened her eyes she found herself on her knees, kneeling in the dirt watching the bright blue glow fade from the Tartarine pendant around her neck.

Someone, or something was wielding the force with abandon, a great wave sending ripples through the channels of the void, the vast network she'd first seen weaving through the stars years ago. She'd never felt the Force disturbed in this way before, and as the echoes of the pulse faded, Kirie felt sick to her stomach.

Rising again to her feet, Kirie brushed the damp soil from her knees, disturbed and unable to shake the growing feeling that something was very wrong here.

Trying to concentrate, she closed her eyes extended her senses outwards, trying in her own rough way to feel for the pulse of life, the slow rhythm of the environment around her. It felt strange here, the already messy flow of energy and spirit further disturbed by something she couldn't put her finger on. It was as if she and everything else was falling into a deep well, with everything twisting turning inexorably into one vortex or another.

She let her connection drop, sucking in a breath of air as if she'd just surfaced from a dive. The jungle remained still. Nothing burst out to meet her.

Worried, Kirie cast a glance back towards the dig, and made her way back to her tent, removing her overalls to leave a tan shirt and a pair of loose-fitting pants of a light material. Rummaging briefly through her pack, she retrieved the bronze hilt of her saber, and, after a moments consideration, slipped a small blaster pistol into her other pocket.

Rationality told her she was overthinking, that there was nothing to be afraid of. The jungle remained as still and tranquil as it had when they'd arrived. Kirie almost laughed at her paranoia, but as she stepped out of her tent she look up to see an unknown vessel tearing across the sky, pulling out of a steep dive as it hurtled towards the mountain in the distance.

​

 

[Lex Del'Fino]

"You Cannot Hide"
The intrusive voice grated against his mind like a shrill shriek, causing Lex to wince in brief discomfort. The power behind it was potent, clearly distinguished from the general aura of corruption the planet was already giving off. They'd only just arrived, and the Sith were aware of their presence. Damn it. They should have expected this. This many light-aligned forces stuck out like a flame in the darkness within the tides of the Force. And while he was confident they'd yet to know their current location, it wouldn't take long for them to close in.

"You'd actually be surprised how common it is-" he said to [member="Kyra Perl"], "-but it's probably a living Sith on world, rather than that of a dead one. "And optimism is one thing, but don't be lax, Kyra. We're essentially in the Sith's home field. We aren't guests, but pests, and no doubt they'll attempt to exterminate us just as easily."

[member="Kaili Brand"] was smart. Lex was actually impressed by the Padawan's ability to read the situation and come up with a counter plan that quickly. Reminded him of a bit of himself, actually. "You're on the right track, kid. They still teach you all Concealment during training sessions, right?", he asked, looking about the group. "If you can, do it. He's right, we need to suppress our presence for as long as we can." Following his own advice, he held his hand to his temple, and focused. There were different methods of achieving the technique, Lex's involving letting his mind become empty, and incorporeal form that flowed with the tides of the Force, masking himself within it. The whole process took moments, and it was one of the few forms of mediation he could stand to practice.

"What do you two think?", he asked, looking to [member="Yuroic Xeraic"], and [member="Griet van Vliet"]. "Splitting off isn't that bad a plan. A Padawan to a Master. It'd make it harder to pinpoint where exactly we are, and easier to move once we get in."

Tags: [member="Reggie Faayare"]

 

[Veino Garn]

[member="Coren Starchaser"] [member="Sol Stazi"] [member="Nida Perl"] [member="Cambria Zadira"] [member="Loske Matson"] [member="Amea Virou"] [member="Griet van Vliet"]
==========

Veino raised an eyebrow as the Duros handed him a grav-chute. It was useful, but he really didn't need it. He'd jumped and fallen from larger heights before, but he decided to humor the solider. Maybe even tweak his non-existent mustache a bit. He shrugged and slung the thing around his back. It was heavy and threw him off balance. As the ramp dropped and the pressure whooshed from the passenger bay, it tugged at him.

He embraced the pressure and ran for the lip of the ramp. As the drop opened up before him, he hurled himself over the edge. Wind whipped at his robes as he fell and he angled his body to hurtle towards the middle of the pyramid, following roughly with the other members of the team.

He didn't bother activating the grav-chute. Instead, he felt his way into the Force and let it guide him. The structure of the mountain hurtled towards him and aimed for the middle, as Sol had said. As it hurtled towards him, he reached into the Force, and pushed himself away from the wall enough to drastically drop his velocity, and channeled it into his body.

Veino crashed into the mountain, dropping to a roll and letting the grav-chute fall from his shoulders as he rolled up to stand. The Jensaarai turned around to get a sense of where he was. No sign yet of the emergency hangar, but he had the readouts and the data to rally up with the Partisans.

 

[Reggie Faayare]

Tags: [member="Griet van Vliet"] | [member="Kyra Perl"] | [member="Yuroic Xeraic"]

The voice that spoke to them all through the force sent a chill down Reggie's spine. It made the Padawan more nervous but also more determined to make sure they worked efficiently to stay safe. Besides, there was something that made Reggie feel more fear than the voice that spoke to them. The way [member="Kaili Brand"] reacted wasn't unwarranted, but the quick change in his demeanor came to surprise Reggie. The glare that his fellow Padawan gave him was like daggers stabbing into him, like Reggie had done something wrong to his friend and he didn't know what. The speed at which Kaili suppressed his force aura was wonderful, but made Reggie wonder what he had been through to do it at a moments notice like that. Could just be his training, but doing so at a moments notice like that? It would take Reggie an extra two seconds to suppress his signature compared to how quickly Kaili did it. Reggie's facial expression went from worry, to admiration, to dead serious in a matter of two seconds. He held his friends gaze while he listened to [member="Lex Del'Fino"], still unsure as to why the other Padawan was glaring at him.

Reggie had concealed his force sensitivity like Kaili and Lex did, understanding how important it was to do so now. He was glad that Lex agreed with his plan. Now they just needed the OK so they could decide who would be with who. Now that they knew someone was hunting them, time was of the essence. It would only be a matter of time for their enemies to spread out and search for them.

 

[Griet van Vliet]

Allies: [member="Yuroic Xeraic"] [member="Kaili Brand"] [member="Kyra Perl"] [member="Reggie Faayare"] [member="Lex Del'Fino"]
Enemies: Sith
Equipment: In signature

"The question being: how to form the subgroups so that one of them is more likely to provide a distraction so that the other could face less resistance (but by no means none)?"

Suppressing a padawan's Force-signature was one thing but hers was much, much more powerful and would take much longer than Reggie to actually be suppressed. And a lot more Force-energy also. "Clearing" one's mind definitely was not a trivial task for her, especially since her mind was very active. The hard part of letting her Force-presence become incorporeal was emptying her mind without bursting it. Nevertheless, she had to admit that Kaili had a good idea and also that she took up Force-concealment a bit too late in her learning curve. But she knew for a fact that, if the enemy was some Sith entity, the enemy tended to focus too much on one and only one subgroup. And the results on Rhen Var were there: she was able to do essentially what she was sent to Mt. Tantiss for, without the Sith ever suspecting that she was actually salvaging Jedi artifacts in the vaults on behalf of an Aing-Tii auditing client. Now that her Force-signature was suppressed, it was time to get dirty on the surface any time soon.

 

[Zaine Balfur]

B a l f u r _ Z a i n e

---

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| Location | Planetside, Wayland
| Objective | Classified

The Nightseer Captain eased up against the tree he was perched atop of, glancing around as he scanned the area while awaiting a reconnaissance report from Harbingers Three and Four. Mount Tantiss was not far off from their position, and was likely one of the few locations on the planet that might possess something of value, either in personnel or technology. It would be their next move to investigate and secure the area once the scouts had reported back.

As expected it would not be long before a quiet set of beeps was heard in his helmet as he opened a secure line, " What have you got for me Three and Four? " There would be a brief pause before he received a response, " The way to Tantiss is clear, no signs of movement en route to it... " Another brief pause as Zaine raised a brow before speaking as he heard the audible pause, " Go on, out with it. "

" Looks like we aren't the only ones here Captain. " Zaine would glance up at the sky, scanning it before his scouts spoke once more, " Doesn't look like Mandalorians...Nobody but the Silvers would be this far deep into this sector. Should we inform the local troops? " Zaine would eye several small dots in the air making an approach for the mountain, " Negative. Remember, we aren't here. We'll keep them uninformed until the situation goes fubar. Maintain position, we're coming to you. " The comm would go silent in response as Zaine signalled for his troops to begin moving out. Given the nature of their upgraded Nightseer suits, they'd be able to cover the ground and get to Tantiss sooner than anyone would be able to expect. It appeared his superior was right on with their suspicion of there being more happening on Wayland than originally anticipated.

He'd lock his IL-25X to his back as he brought forth his IL-41D, looking over the versatile weapon system as he was getting ready to gear up for a more close and personal fight within the Mountain. It was time to hunt.


| [member="Kaine Australis"] | [member="Sol Stazi"] | [member="Veino Garn"] |

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Entering Wayland
Nova-class Star Cutter
Equipment: Coren's Lightsaber, Power 5 Blaster, GA Phrik Armor, plates on the chest, right arm, left leg.
[member="Cambria Zadira"], [member="Nida Perl"], [member="Veino Garn"], [member="Sol Stazi"], [member="Kaine Australis"]


Coming out of the Rim, Coren Starchaser was maybe the closest thing to Jedi leadership. He didn’t try to hide his desire to assist the Jedi everywhere, but with the recent reclamation of Sullust, he had been living firmly in the Coalition’s space, acting as close to a leader for the Remains of the Alliance as anyone else, but was also doing his best to keep the Jedi Covenant, what he called the wandering Jedi who were not a part of the Silver or Greens, in line, and accounted for. They were wanderers, Jedi on a mission. He was glad that [member="Cambria Zadira"] had agreed to come, and was only slightly nervous that [member="Nida Perl"] was on his ship.

“We’re almost there…” The Jedi General had gotten to his feet and tagged in one of the Home Guard pilots. He knew they were just about to arrive and stepped back to the team in the ship. Before he began to speak, he felt the Star Cutter revert to real space, and he could hear the chatter. “We’re at Wayland, but it doesn’t seem like our landing will be easy.” Maybe it was a connection to the former Alliance folk in other ships, or it was that Starchaser knew combat.

Most of the team were already loaded up with their gravchutes, but as Nida came over to Coren and asked what was going to happen, he grabbed a pack, muttering something very quietly about the pack being supplies and essential to her mission as the ship entered atmosphere, he knew the rest of his team, Partisans and Alliance Intelligence, knew what they were doing. As they got over the target area, he had delayed enough that the landing ramp was open. The real trick was the bit of telekinesis keeping the air from rushing around Nida’s head until he was able to back her up to the ramp.

He was fighting a grin on his face, but as he got the signal, he strapped a wrist top datapad to her. “The important thing is when this reaches 5000 meters. Because this will start blinking. And you need to hit it.” He said as he gave a wave and a light tap with the Force, pushing her out of the ship.

Taking a second to hold up one finger and spin it in a circle, a clear sign of ‘let’s move’, the Jedi Master leapt after Nida.

 

[Nida Perl]

Dorks: [member="Coren Starchaser"] | [member="Veino Garn"] | [member="Cambria Zadira"] | [member="Sol Stazi"] | [member="Kaine Australis"] too I think?

Nida nodded simply in understanding, quietly pleased to hear that they’d arrive soon. Her expression changed to one of unease when Master Starchaser didn’t seem to keen on landing the craft planet side. “I hope our landing will go unperturbed.” She already regretted opening her mouth when he’d rallied Nida and Cambria up, preparing to depart. Nida envied the Twi’lek’s cool composure, sensing her experience with this sort of thing. While she had plenty of ties to the Outer Rim, the Zeltron had not spent much time there.

She hastily fastened the pack to her back after Coren handed it off to her, eyes widening as he affixed a datapad to her wrist. The landing ramp opened, and Nida’s gut squirmed, denying what was about to happen until the very end. “What happens at 5000 meters?” She knew damn well what happened at 5000 meters, but her question went unanswered as an unceremonious force pushed her from the ramp and into the open air. Suddenly she was hurdling towards the surface, eyes squeezed shut and her life flashing before her eyes.

The child in her promised that she’d tattle on Coren to her mother, but she knew deep down that she wouldn’t do it. After the first few moments of freefalling, Nida managed to right herself and even sneak a peak at the mountain tops below, which was rapidly coming up on her. A pang of fear surged through her, and suddenly the datapad on her wrist was beeping. The feeling of falling was enough to keep her tense, but the will to not become a bloodied speck on the mountainside was even stronger. Nida slammed her palm to the wristpad, triggering the chute’s boosters and slowing her descent.

One humanoid missile managed to zip past her at a dizzying speed, moving so quickly that Nida briefly panicked when she saw him smash into the mountain, fearing he’d been turned into a pulp of blood and viscera. Instead, he simply rolled into a standing position, dusting the gravchute from her person as if it were nothing. Nida wobbled to the surface, stumbling as she was still getting used to the upward boost from the chute.

“A-are you alright?” The healer in her rushed over to the grizzled man, surprised to see that he was seemingly unharmed from the fall. Moreso, she realized that it was likely intentional. "That was a hard landing."

 

[Jegy Sesara]

​

Wayland​

The Temple of the Flow​

​

The soft noises of the critters around him would echo around the Temple of the Flow. It was an old establishment, created after Krayts time and somewhat lost once in a great while. The Sullustan had learned of this place after decades of searching and decided that if he was to die, he would rather die here. It was peaceful, serene. Not one person seemed to interupt the balance at all, the water nor the lily pads seem to care for what is happening around him or the galaxy. It was situated in a stable moment in time, here and now. The corruption of what had been left however could still be felt, but only to those who kept going up the stairs into the temple, feeling its corruption at its highest though it was the outside that was peaceful, that was bathed still in the Forces Flow.

The Sullustan breathed in slowly, his eyes closed as he slowly took out an extremely old stone knife from its sheath. Turning it towards himself, he pursed his lips together as he carefully raised it up, aiming right where his heart would be, make it quick and painless as possible while also somewhat poetic. Breathing quicker, he would try to stab downwards onto himself but found himself unable to, panting as sweat dripped down his brow with his hands shaking, dropping the stone knife as it laid in the water before him, only a few inches deep. Shaking fully now, he started to scream as he felt the Force pour out of him, a wave of emotion that was a mixture of being Terrified, Sorrow, and Regret. Pounding his fists down, he poured his soul out to the Temple before him, not even looking at it as he teared up, crying out his own sins as his voice echoed near the Temple of the Flow.

"Damn you!!! DAMN YOU ALL! I have suffered for centuries of my own torment! I wanted to live to where I was old, to feel my regret fully and what I get is that I cannot age, I cannot die! No matter what I duel with, no matter what I try to die, you all won't let me get killed! What more do I have to do to prove my sorrows, my guilt and my regret for everything I have done! I have spent months in solitude at your graves, I have spent decades honoring your lives in statues, I have refused any form of emotional connection for all these centuries...what more do you all want! Just please let me die! Let me see all of you again! Please just...let me..."


At that moment, he broke down, looking downwards as he cried his pain out. Letting it all wash out of his body after centuries of torment, for everything that he had done. He felt the need to be here, to sit here and let himself finally become one with the Force, so why can't he?! What more does the Force want from him, what do you they want from him? The Sullustan never knew what was going on around him, the wars nor the religious fighting that could soon happen. He did not know any of it, blinded by his own outpouring of emotion and reflection of life. Perhaps this was the day it could change or perhaps, it is finally his final day, the release of his life he always been looking forward to, the last of the Inquistors, finally allowed to die.

 

[Cambria Zadira]

Arriving Wayland
Aboard Nova-class Starcutter-->planet side via free fall
w/ [member="Coren Starchaser"], [member="Nida Perl"], [member="Sol Stazi"], [member="Veino Garn"]...
Gear in bio
___

Cambria just shook her head as Coren rather hastily got Nida all decked out and ready for what was coming next without much of an explanation. Poor thing would get a baptism by fire on this one. Her own master had done that a time or two. Made one either sink or swim real quick. Hopefully the young Zeltron was adaptable enough to think on the fly... both figuratively and literally.

The Twi'lek Knight closed her eyes and sent a wave of reassurance and encouragement through the Force to the padawan and others, then centered her own self in the Force, wrapping the warmth and calm of the Light around her.

When the ramp began to lower mid-flight over their target and the pressure changed rapidly inside the cargo area, gold-speckled hazel eyes flew open with set determination. The blue-skinned Guardian pulled down a pair of goggles from atop the Twi'lek headgear worn, then the exotic beauty's headtails wrapped around her neck. Cambria watched thoughtfully as Nida and Coren made their jumps, well the former was more so out pushed by the later. She counted a three tick interval, then too leapt from the ramp as if doing a swan dive from up high followed by the other personnel that were accompanying the Jedi.

The exhilaration of the free fall was quite fun to experience, but the landing was less so enjoyable. Cambria hit the side of the mountain, then rolled coming up onto her booted feet with some grace. Even though the Force helped to soften the blow, it still was jolting to the body nonetheless, even as fit as hers.

She quickly joined the others, who were too dusting themselves off as well, all the while sensing the subtle oiliness of the dark side lingering about. It was unmistakable. There were Sith here already, somewhere...

 

[Elena Lowe]

The Sniper
Waylands Foothills
Enemies: [member="Coren Starchaser"] | [member="Veino Garn"] | [member="Cambria Zadira"] | [member="Sol Stazi"] | [member="Nida Perl"]
Tags: [member="Balfur Zaine"] | [member="Kaine Australis"]
Equipment: Type-51 Railgun, FO-S1 MK1 armour, P-23 Sidearm, Knuckle-plate vibroblade

The sniper settled in the dirt as the rain began to patter down, the gentle impacts of the drops making a silent chorus on her helmet. She lay, nestled in the tall grasses, perched on a bluff that overlooked the mountainside below. Drops rolled across her visor, momentarily blurring her view of the scope, but she didn't wipe them away, just laid still and allowed her vision to clear. She was patient, the sniper. One had to be in this particular line of work. Her uniform was a mess of mottled grey and green and brown, the armour plates slowly sensing the light, and shifting until her profile melded into the environment, minutely adjusting the temperature to fool scanners. Not invisible, not quite, but almost as good.

She was Agent Yves, or at least, that's what was on her file. Before she had served one master, now she served another. Loyalties changed, enemies too, but the job remained the same, and the sniper was very good at her job.

The spotter lay behind her, equally silent, and equally still, a rangefinder held up to his eyes, visible to her only out of the corner of her eye, and only thanks to the fact he was painted onto her HUD, for the spotter was as well hidden as she.

The sniper hefted her weapon, a long, malicious device from a munitions factory long reduced to rubble. Her type-51 was a relic of a time now passed, of service to a different master. But, as she'd said, the job remained the same, and the rifle had proved an excellent facilitator.

She let her eyes settle on the targets in front of her. Moments before a ship had come shrieking in, announcing its presence to all who would care to know, and from it had come hurtling the warriors, crashing to earth with thunderous boom or else landing with an unnatural grace. They were the ones the sniper sought. The rewards for such prizes were high.

The sniper intended to collect.

First, her sights settled upon [member="Veino Garn"], who'd rocketed into the ground with ferocious force, but as [member="Nida Perl"] moved to help the old man, her crosshairs found her head, the laser activating, painting a red line across the sniper's HUD as she zeroed in, readying herself to fire.

 

[Kyra Perl]

Location: SJO Ship
Objective: Warn big sis

Kyra's mouth opened and closed several times, her cheerful demeanor dissipating at the flurry of admonishment and intensity thrown her way. Her lips pressed into a firm line, the girl saying nothing. She stepped closer into [member="Yuroic Xeraic"] 's side, very consciously trying to chose him as the master she'd be paired off with. Beyond this decisions was a large amount of panic inside the padawan, who continuously felt projected forward into situations she wasn't ready for.


Suddenly facing a sith was at about the top of her "nopenopenope" list. This was suppose to be a field trip!


From her position she saw several objects fall fast out of the sky. Not objects, she realized belatedly-- people. The subtle pulse of the force she registered from them told her they were jedi. She stepped forward, brows furrowing as she watched them closely.

"Hey, they aren't masking themselves..."

A bad feeling churned in her gut-- a warning from the force that she struggled to decipher as she watched a pink form peel itself off the side of the mountain. "Nida...?" She breathed, confused on many levels. Why was her sister falling from the sky? But more pressing was the realization that if she could feel them landing, then... They were sitting ducks. The tug of the force made sense then— a vision flashing of someone being shot. She slammed her fist on the glass, as if that could reach her sister from across the distance.

"Watch out!"

Screw subtly, Kyra shot the warning out around her, rippling it through the force and across the mountain side.

[member="Kaili Brand"] [member="Yuroic Xeraic"] [member="Nida Perl"] [member="Cambria Zadira"] [member="Coren Starchaser"] [member="Griet van Vliet"] [member="Reggie Faayare"] [member="Veino Garn"] [member="Sol Stazi"] [member="Lex Del'Fino"] [member="Kirie Ito"] [member="Kaine Australis"] @tell your friends so i don't have to

 

[Anden Fancelo]

Wayland, Planetside, Near Mount Taniss​

[Objective]: Enter facility.​

[Allies]: TSE, [member="Keva"]​

[Opposition]: ORC/SJO, in need of enemy to fight.​

​

Spoiler

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hh1TwiVQgSI&t=1253s[/video]

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​

Wayland, a lush and semi-tropical planet. Carrying as much history as the deadly plants and animals it contained on it's surface. While it's history was known to perhaps some in the galaxy, Anden was not one of them. All that was known is that its Onyx's destination and it has their objective. His squad of Vestille's finest, now reformatted after the fall of Besh team, now accompany a chiss, one gifted with the force. The strike team of seven, were at the experienced sith's disposal. During their journey to the landing zone, the glorified cannon fodder remained silent. Some giving a glance to the chiss, though hidden as they wore their helmets. But no words were uttered.

Captain Fancelo sat at the ending of the seats in the dropship. His expression was obvious to read, he was filled with anger and a need to acquire vengeance. He yearned for the blood of his enemy to be spilled, the blood of a mandalorian. Once the LZ was close to being reached, he slid his helmet on and rose up from his seat. Securing and preparing his pulse rifle. With the strike team following, and preparing for disembark. The Captain gave a glance at the sith, noting her appearance, how she seemed experienced and yet not so much. For the armor she wore was just a little too big on her.

It mattered little, the captain wanted the mission done. The ramp descended, and Onyx began hopping out and rushing over to certain positions. Performing a small perimeter circling around the shuttle. Some members were laid into the soft ground, some taking a knee in a crouched position. Anden merely stood in the center, glancing around.

Once the sith departed from the dropship, Anden turned over and waved off the ship. "All out. Dust off, dust off!"

The dropship did so, and ascended back into the skies. Onyx then merged into a formation pointed over towards the mountain and began moving with the sith.

"Onyx 1-1, this is Razor 2-3, good luck out there, over."

Vaak, the communications officer of the team reached over to tune his long range pack. Transmitting in reply.
"Razor 2-3, Onyx 1-1, copy that, thank you. Out."

Vaak provided a nod over to Fancelo and the team followed along with the sith. Their guard held at a high.

 

[Keva]

[SIZE=11pt]Location: [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Wayland, approaching Mount Taniss[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Objective: [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Enter facility, investigate disturbance [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Enemies: [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]ORC, [member="Kirie Ito"][/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Allies: [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]TSE, [member="Anden Fancelo"][/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Keva was a blistering storm of calm, she always was: the girl was hard to denote from the various tactical droids and HRDs that dotted the Galaxy. Her response to the comms was swift and blunt, short confirmations for the most part. There was no desire to stay on this world longer than she needed to return to the confines of her frigid quarters with victory in hand.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Keva remained silent now that they were on the advance, she wanted to group into the current forces as quickly as possible: all logic dictated that sending in a small smattering of organic lifeforms into a presumably heavily guarded military facility would be suicidal. Now, a moderately sized group was still suicidal, but less enough that she was more than willing to play with those odds. Of course, she didn’t quite have a place in the command structure anyway. Old habits die hard. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Though abruptly, she stopped. The force called out to her: finally beginning to tap into her gift, the Sithling let her mind wander out into the surrounding jungle. She could feel it now, a life force: much stronger than the local fauna. Someone must be nearby.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“Lifeform detected. I am not leaving any room for chance, troopers: prepare blasters, set to kill. Do not fire unless necessary, we will storm and subdue them.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]A classic maneuver, but unfortunately: Keva had entirely neglected to consider if the troopers sensors picked up the same things she was feeling with her Sense. Already unholstering her weapons, it seems she wasn’t going to consider her misstep any time soon.[/SIZE]

 

[Anden Fancelo]

Wayland, Planetside, Near Mount Taniss​

[Objective]: Enter facility.​

[Allies]: TSE, [member="Keva"]​

[Opposition]: ORC/SJO, [member="Kirie Ito"]​

​

---

​

---

​

Through the marshy jungle terrain Onyx and the sith they escorted traversed. The troopers on point had their eyes practically everywhere as they advanced. Only for most of them to have their heads turn over towards the Chiss as she spoke.

"Lifeform detected. I am not leaving any room for chance, troopers: prepare blasters, set to kill. Do not fire unless necessary, we will storm and subdue them." She spoke.

Onyx turned their heads forward and didn't bother to configure their weapons or adjust further. Their weapons were already set. They continued on, glancing about. Their guard heightened further, as the man on point was slouched a little. Maxevan, changing the hold of his rotary cannon, taking hold of it from the top grip. And so the strike team slowly continued in their advance.

Anden kept his gaze over the very trees that surrounded Onyx and the sith. His helmet acquiring thermal signatures, and attempting to pick up whatever the 'lifeform' was.

"Keep moving and keep your heads on a swivel. I don't want any surprises." Anden exclaimed quietly on comms.

Acknowledgements were made on comms.

Though there was no lifeform to identify as of yet, Onyx continued with the sith. Caution was at a high.

 

[Kirie]

Location: Waylands Jungle, dig site B.
Faction: Independent
Objective: Oversee archeological dig
Tags: [member="Anden Fancelo"] [member="Inquisitor Trellux"] ~ [member="Kaili Brand"] ~ [member="Reggie Faayare"] ~ [member="Yuroic Xeraic"] ~ [member="Kyra Perl"] ~ [member="Griet van Vliet"] ~ [member="Keva"] ~ [member="Joycelyn Zambrano"] ~ [member="Lex Del'Fino"] ~ [member="Syd Celsius"]
Interacting: [member="Keva"] ~ [member="Anden Fancelo"]

A flicker of movement caught her eye, just as she was about to turn away, just as she was about to turn her attention away from the jungle. There was a glint of metal, reflecting off of some object in the hands of a humanoid figure made visible for a moment through a gap in the trees before being lost once again in the green. A blaster? She could only assume. Perhaps it was a hunting party of some sort, or even a mining crew heading into the hills, but she doubted it. Some sort of trouble was brewing, the ship she'd seen racing above was evidence enough. Once again, Kirie seemed to be caught somewhere in the middle. Typical.

Scanning the treeline where she'd spied the figure, Kirie watched carefully for other signs of movement. Armed or not, nobody with any sense would tramp through the jungle alone.

Her judgement proved correct, as another silhouette briefly darkened the space between the trees of to her left, sending goosebumps prickling across her skin. Seconds later, the full figure of a soldier came into view, clad head-to-toe in armour and appearing alert and searching for something, or someone.

Crouching down low, Kirie peered at the man from between a pair of boxes, her breathing rapid and her chest tight. He wasn't far away, perhaps fifty metres from the camp. It would only before seconds before he, and whoever he worked for, spotted them. Whether that would actually mean anything for them she wasn't sure, but Kirie wasn't really looking forward to finding out.

The rest of the team, numbering four in total, were still underground in the dig site. Kirie knew she had to warn them that there was something serious going on, but the space between the camp and the dig site was open and without cover. Perhaps she could make it safely in a dash, but she'd almost certainly be seen. Fear and caution kept her rooted in her position.

She cast a glance behind her, at the tarpaulin where the guts of the radio lay, broken and disassembled. She had no means to call for help, not that she'd know who to call. They were cut off.

Kirie sucked in a deep breath, her eyes fixed on the soldier ahead, watching and waiting.

 

[Loske Treicolt]

​

Loske had considered routing to a separate LZ from the crowd. The atmosphere of Wayland was now privy to several Coalition vehicles. There was also a very large battle cruiser in orbit. An Empire ship.

Her fingertips twitched, aching to zip over and engage it - but S.S. Blue was no match for a ship of that fortitude. Frank worked to cross reference the coalition channels, trying to sort out what their reactions were to the looming vessel. Additionally, this was a group of Force users... they would have probably all heard that mental salutations.

They’re silencing their comms. Frank announced.

Her eyes lulled into a roll. Jedi would put the best stealth pilots out of work, just because they could read each other’s minds. Battlemeld, she thought they called it. She closed her eyes. While she couldn’t read people’s thoughts from afar, she’d learned to garner a general sense of a room. General direction and intent. It was enough to understand the original rendezvous point from the dossier hadn’t changed.

Staying in orbit wasn't an option, and the rest of the Coalition ships had apparently landed, or at least gotten close enough to planet side to no longer be in range of her radar. She did her best to trace the last origins of their beacons and triangulate a landing zone from there. It may do them some good for some distance.

Atmosphere breaking, thruster adjustment, tree jumping and tipping later, the landing gear of S.S Bruno touched the damp soil of the jungled planet. Bits of branches slide down the curved windshield of the ship, and dumped into the cockpit as the window slid back and ramp slid out from the front of the ship.

"Whelp. Away we go, I guess." Loske commented, unbuckling herself to rise. She pulled a jacket over her shoulders and jaunted down the ramp to the luscious zone outside. Frank, dutifully, stayed with the ship in case of emergency. From the belt strapped around her hip, she pulled out binoculars and levelled them to her eyes, peering through the digitized landscape for life form reading "Do you have comms with anyone?" [member="Amea Virou"].

 

[Amea Virou]

Interacting with: [member="Loske Matson"] // Anyone who decides to be in range of comms.

The descent felt final somehow. Wayland was a planet known to be dangerous. To go here without note on what to expect should have put Amea on alert, yet this felt about as routine as it got. Maybe it was because she was traveling with someone, or maybe it was because of the numbers. It was hard to quite figure out what it was. She should have been nervous, she should have worried that despite not having any information on what it was that she was trying to — well, raid — the information had been lacking. It was clearly important to the Sith, but why was not something Amea was quite aware of.

As they touched ground she let out a deep sigh to clear her mind and unbuckled. This was it then. Time to see what had thrown her mind into such as state of contemplation. Amea knew the ORC was here and the SJO. One of them she considered as someone who could make better use of whatever was held in this ruin, and it wasn’t the crew dressed in robes. At the very least the ORC were as likely to sell it as they were to hand it off to someone who wouldn’t keep tabs on it. Said person would then 'accidentally lose it', and see the artifact drift off into the hands of unmarked and harder to trace collectors. In all honesty she preferred that, just this once.

“I was going to head in alone, remember?” Amea chuckled as she withdrew her commlink. “But sure, I can radio and see if anyone is around.”

The actress cleared her throat and broadcast on all channels.

“Uhm, hello? This is Stacey, and I am like totally lost right now. I was hoping there was anyone, like out there? .. Over? Do I say over? Uh, I think… It's over? ... Over.”

She gave Loske a look, a smirk and a shrug. No need to let the others actually know who she was after all.

"We should probably start making our way over." Amea said with a content smile at her display and headed towards the mountain.