We've Woken the Hive [ Saine ]

[Malok]

G E O N O S I S​

The whispers were...concerning.

From within the metaphorical backyard of the Sith Lord, rumors began to slither through the populous. Whispers of something vicious hiding within the shadows. Whispers of something that could challenge the peace that Darth Metus had cultivated. As his Confederacy stood at the precipice of entering the Galactic Conflict, it would not stand to have interior threats linger. No nation could ever hope to survive whilst fighting wars within and without. And thus, the Sith had taken it upon himself to personally investigate these rumors.

The source of which was upon Geonosis, the beating heart of his nation. According to the meager sums of solid intel available, there was a vicious congregation. A gathering of the warp-minded who had taken it upon themselves to bring havoc upon his people. At a national level, these threats were small - a speeder bombing here, a break in there - but they could quickly escalate into something far worse. Therefore, whoever these vicious mongrels were needed to be addressed with care. To use a heavy-handed approach would only serve to scatter them; and thereby worsen the problem down the line.

Thus did the Vicelord venture out alone, to the supposed source of these whispers.

An abandoned, Geonosian Hive.

Its history had been bleak for many years. Once upon a time, it served as a final stand for a Geonosian Queen who warred against her rivals. In her defeat, the Hive was seemingly abandoned: purged of all life by the victors. Yet, as time moved ever forward, this labyrinth of tunnels would act as a perfect hideaway for those seeking refuge. In particular, Sith fleeing the fall of the Old Empire, prior to the rise of the One Sith decades later. Though, by most accounts, those who had taken refuge here were long gone - most likely to serve under the reigning Dark Lord.

Thus, the question remained who had come to occupy this Hive-Temple? And what would motivate them to attack his people so viciously?

Under the cover of nightfall did the Sith approach. His speeder was brought to a halt a significant distance away so that he might approach, quietly, in the hopes of drawing undue attention. However. As he drew near to the Hive-Temple, he noticed that a single speeder was parked outside of the most obvious entrance. The Hive-Temple was far from truly abandoned. Darth Metus reached for his belt, plucking free his lightsaber before slipping inside. The entrance was, like all subterranean structures, pitch black and thus the Sith had to ignite his lightsaber in order to see.

His slow, cautious steps forward would announce his presence to the one who came before.

To the one who was exploring at the wrong place, at the wrong time.

[member="Saine Kela"]

 

[Saine Kela]

Sithspit...

The seemingly facade of the fiery coral mountainside shook suddenly, sending a wave of crumbling pebbles over the lone female clinging to its rugged surface.

Taking a deep breath, a svelte female figure clinging to a wall of rock moved her booted foot ever so slightly along the horizontal crevice of the irregularly rippled parapet in an effort to gain better footing before climbing onward. There was nothing about this harsh world that was inviting to her, and yet she was here, following some strange destiny beckon call.

Scarcely thirty minutes ago, the explorer had witnessed a brutal sand storm that wiped away all living and non-living things along its path. Now, deeming her surroundings to be relatively safe, she would use this window of opportunity to move onward and hopefully attain a foothold inside the ancient hive which also served as a temple of sorts. She could not recall its name at the moment, but that was immaterial. She had a map and a compass - and she had an indomitable will to guide her path.

There were bound to be artifacts here, Saine thought, her skin beginning to crawl with excitement once more.

She did not expect much by way of interference - unless it was from mother nature. Since she had landed on Geonosis, the archaeologist did not encounter any of the natives, but that could have been due to the remote location of her chosen harbor. Now, acutely aware of her every inch as she pulled herself upward, she wondered if any locals would be encountered once she had made it to the lip of the cave up above.

According to the records she obtained, the place caved in ages ago. There would be very little reason for any Geonosians to stick around, unless they had decided (for some weird and unexplained reason), to rebuild the place. Her earlier scans showed nothing of the kind, Seine reassured herself, but that did not mean the hive-temple was entirely vacant.

We will see, she smiled crookedly - then pulled herself up one more time, hooking her elbows upon the ledge of her anticipated objective - before her legs did the rest and she was now laying face down on the plateau several hundred feet above from where she had first started the climb.

Slowly, carefully, Saine lifted herself up and got to her feet, brushing off the sand and dust from her clothing. A moment later, she would be seen hiking down a long lost path, toward her desired destination . . .


---------------------------------
Two hours later ...

What goes up, must come down.

No amount of swearing would have made up for the rage she was feeling right now, Saine thought and just sighed instead, heading down a seemingly endless stone stairway the end of which could not be seen at this time. And yet, her readings and compass had kept telling her to keep going, and in spite of the anger welling up in her chest, Saine was determined to do just that.

If I did not know better, I'd say I am now below ground level, she thought grimly, holding tightly onto her glowrod to illuminate the abyss of darkness she had just found herself in. Before long, she would enter what faintly resembled an entrance, marked with several broken urns and turned over obelisks.

Halting for a moment, Saine paused in her footsteps as she thought she heard an echo of something moving in the darkness. The glowrod was of little use, outside of being able to see two feet in front of her. She walked onward, attempting to make as little noise as possible - when all of the sudden, she found herself nearly tripping over an unexpected obstacle that seemed to have rolled toward her without warning. Saine's body slanted forward, as she threw out her arms to maintain balance - then managed to pull herself back to a vertical position.

Pausing for a moment as she attempted to collect her scrambled thoughts that fed a threatening outburst of anxiety, the archaeologist slowly lowered her gaze (and her glowrod), to the untimely obstacle next to her feet.

The object was a bipedal figure, roughly 1.3 meters in size, apparently unconscious. If she did not know better, Saine would judge it to be a relatively rare species - a Rybet female, most likely. What it - she - was doing here, of all places, the young woman had not the faintest idea!

"Hey, you - hey! Wake up . . . "

Shaking the Rybet by the shoulders did nothing, as did dripping some water onto the alien's severely chapped lips. Having not the faintest clue as to where to check the creature's vitals, Saine attempted to do it as if she were checking them on a human. Dissatisfied with not being able to sense anything, she finally leaned down to place her ear next to the alien's chest.

Nothing.

Frak. I think she's dead. He? Ugh. It. Whatever!

The thought made Saine tremble just then, making the young woman wonder whether this was some kind of portent she should take into serious consideration. Still, there could have been a myriad of explanations for the alien's mysterious demise - and judging by the lack of wounds on the creature, it could have been something as simple as dehydration and shock, leading to premature death.

Now in a crouching position, Saine moved her hand gently over the amphibian's face lowering it down to close the eyelids, then drew to a standing position and carefully stepped around the alien, her mind made up. This was an isolated incident, and as undesirable as it was, it had nothing to do with her. She would keep going inward, ready to face the unexpected - disappearing into the chasm of darkness, moments later.

---------------------------------
[member="Darth Metus"]