Shadows and Dust

[sonovabith 936]

A Gotal’s is generally considered one of the most unpleasant sounding laughters in the known galaxy even when genuine - doubly so when sarcastic. The bleating escaping Tok’s mouth at Yates’s suggestion they split up falls into the latter category, causing a wave of winces and sour expressions across the faces of his compatriots as it echoes off the metal walls surrounding the boarding ramp.

 

“You can’t be serious,” he spits. “We don’t know where we are. We don’t know what we’re looking for. We don’t know anything about the local wildlife.”

 

Tok strides closer to the human and shakes his head.

 

“Only the finest Imperial tacticians must be teaching at the academy these days.”

 

Another grating, harsh burst of laughter from the bounty hunter leaves the rest of the group thankful Tok has been endlessly dour in their short time together.

 

At the base of the ramp he cinches all of his armor’s buckles, checks his gear and gives a little shimmy to make sure everything is securely attached.

 

“No, we stay together. I’ll take point with Rin and Garon. Xaramis, you, Ren-Do and Yates take rear guard. The rest of you stay between us and be ready.”

 

Tok looks again at Yates and realizes the human is brandishing a flare gun. He rubs his temple and lets out a disgusted sigh. Reaching behind his back he pulls a blaster pistol he took off a fallen Stormtrooper when they were escaping the archeological vessel.

 

“Here, take this,” he says, holding the gun out to the human. “I imagine you’ll need something deadlier than really bright light.”

Edited November 29, 2016 by sonovabith

[Ulric dOrien 108]

The Gotal's tactics puzzle Sonya as much as his bleating pains her ears. "He is the one who should be most concerned with time and yet he opts for safety over speed." The groups arrangement was equally baffling. "Our rearguard will certainly talk anything to death long before it reaches us, if he were using Jedi tactics he would have put them in front."
Gathering up her courage she asks the group, "Is anyone good at avoiding the traps Kellen mentioned? Or spotting ambushes or talking to hermits who might be living in the ruins?"
She turns to the Gotal, "Tok, are you sure you wish to be in front? If you get killed, we won't have much hope of saving your family," As the group looks at her, she reflects that tact was one of the many Jedi skills she did not possess to her teacher's satisfaction.

Edited November 29, 2016 by Ulric dOrien

[Jedi Ronin 1,588]

"I should be able to spot traps pretty well" Kellen offered.  "And I agree with Tok.  It is wise for us to stay together."

 

Kellen made sure his damaged lightsaber was secure on his belt pulled his cloak in closer and took a position towards the front of the group, ready to go ahead...

[Kymrel 1,505]

Ren-Do frowns at Tok’s braying laughter and the derisive way he dismisses Iskander’s idea. He tries to keep his annoyance in check, even when the Gotal suggests that the Cerean Jedi Knight should bring up the rear of the group.

 

“I think I may have liked him better when he was sulking,” Ren-Do whispers at Rin, before stepping forward.

 

“While you are correct in your tactical analysis of the situation, it would not be wise to separate at this moment, I have to disagree with the way you want to arrange us,” the Cerean begins. As his new friends have now come to expect, he is just getting warmed up.

 

“It would indeed make more sense for me to be in the lead, in case we get jumped by anything dangerous, or ambushed by aggressive natives. And I belief Sonya and Garon might be our most able combatants, all things considered, so having them with me would make sense. If Kellen wants to be in the vanguard, figuratively speaking, I would welcome that as well. With your panache with your pistols I do belief it would be better to keep your talents slightly more in reserve behind us Jedi. Besides, if we are to save your family, keeping you alive is a prerequisite for our success in that endeavor.”

 

Ren-Do decides not to mention one other reason why he’d rather not have Tok leading the group. If they were to encounter natives he’d rather be in a position to make the call on how to proceed himself, rather than leaving that to the jumpy Gotal.

 

"So, now that this has been taken care of, shall we head to that structure over there?" he asks, pointing at the closest structure. "I'm not sure what I can sense from the Force, but perhaps if we get closer things will be made clear."

Edited November 30, 2016 by Kymrel

[Richardbuxton 7,319]

Rin chuckles a little at the quip from Ren-Do, the two arguing just becomes white noise to the Dressellians ears.

Looking through his damaged Macrobinoculars Rin thinks through the path he plans to lead everyone on That creek flowing down between those trees looks to be headed in the right direction, it will keep flowing toward the bottom of that valley. There is an escarpment along the southern end so we will need to move north, keeping that ridge line in sight. We should be quite close to both of those structures then. There's something in those buildings... but what is that drawing us closer.

"Hey, we don't have to split now, and if anything is watching they sure know what your both thinking. Look I can see a fairly simple path that will get us close to those 2 buildings. You can make up your mind about splitting up on the way... who is leading, who is at the back? Well I don't see anyone else offering to guide, so unless you want to keep going the wrong way I had better have a good view of the front. The rest I don't bloody care, just keep a lookout for predators."

Edited December 1, 2016 by Richardbuxton

[Jedi Ronin 1,588]

"I'm fine being the vanguard, a good pair of eyes and clear vision on our rear and flanks might prove useful."

 

Kellen made his way to the back of the group, ready to proceed.

[Ulric dOrien 108]

"'Trust your feelings' they told me. If I had done that, we would be on our way instead of still discussing who goes first." Trying to bring some order to the chaos she has sewn, Sonya says aloud "Since only Kellen has moved, we may as well stick with Tok's original plan. He seems intent on being in front. Rin can navigate us around dangers, thank you for speaking up. Garon will make anything think twice about having us for lunch. If Xaramis moves to the second row he can step up to talk to any possibly friendly types. Kellen, Ren-Do and Yates should will be fine as rear guard. We should get moving, before the kidnapper's patience gives out."

Suddenly realizing what she has done, Sonya turns to Ren-Do, "I am sorry Master Uvara, I believe we should listen to Tok. He has the most to lose if we do not succeed in our mission."

[sonovabith 936]

Sensing through his horns the unease coming off of everyone in the group Tok relents.

 

"It's okay, we don't need an order," he says genuinely. "Let's just get moving and everyone keep their eyes open."

[Prophyt 776]

The group agrees to move towards the three structures in the distance, aiming more or less for the middle one, and sets off. The clearing leads into dense temperate rainforest; conifers and other evergreens fill the woods. There is not much birdsong in the woods, but the chatter of small mammals can be heard echoing from all directions. Soon, the sight of the towers is blocked out by the canopy overhead. The path meanders to and fro through the needles. Only the best trackers would be able to keep heading in the right direction towards the towers...

[Richardbuxton 7,319]

With careful thought Rin begins to guide the group through the evergreen rainforest. He's careful memorising of the topography would serve them well, he begins look for the features that he had identified. Slowly they move through the underbrush, the soft crunch of pine needles beneath their feet.

"Keep moving up that gully, i'm going to climb up higher to get a better view from on top of that large rock" the Dressellian now in his element spends a couple of minutes, and a lot of effort, to get up onto the rock. There isn't much of a view, but enough to know there is a large clearing on the side of a hill just up from them all.

"Be dam careful you lot, we don't need any injuries here. There's a clearing up the hill a bit, let's head for that so we can get a better bloody view of where we are going" with that he leaps down and trots through the bracken and fallen logs of the forest floor, completely ignoring his own advice.

[Prophyt 776]

The clearing turns out to be a wide swath of land cut into the forest, devoid of any plant life taller than waist high grey-green grass. In the center of this large clearing stands one of the towering stone structures.

[Kymrel 1,505]

Ren-Do walks in silence, keeping his senses open. He concentrates on his surroundings, feeling how the Force flows through the surrounding grasslands, the small insects and mammals lurking nearby. If their mission wasn't an urgent one he's probably enjoy exploring the planet longer. "Well, let's take a look," he says in a quiet tone as the group moves towards the structure. "But let's be careful, we know nothing about the flora or fauna here."

[sonovabith 936]

As the group approaches the structure, Ren-Do's words of caution mirror Tok's thoughts.

The entrance is a doorless arch and only light only penetrates a few feet inward. Tok pulls his scanner goggles down over his eyes and, striding closer, instinctively his hands drop to his hips and he draws Morra and Janna from their holsters.

He pauses just outside the entrance and looks to the others.

"No sense in hesitating, let's see what we've found," he says, giving the archway a final glance before stepping inside.

Edited December 23, 2016 by sonovabith

[Prophyt 776]

The hum and crackle of an ancient forcefield alerts Tok almost too late of its presence as he steps into the archway. One of his horns sparks against the electrical field, zapping him lightly. The mechanics of the field must be hidden in the archway stones somewhere, but time and settling have reduced the efficacy of the electronics.

[sonovabith 936]

"Ungh," Tok grumbles, recoiling back from the force field. Being careful to avoid the opening, he begins running his hands over the bricks surrounding the entrance.

"There must be some mechanism here somewhere to deactivate the field. Anybody see anything?"

[Kymrel 1,505]

Ren-Do helps the disgruntled Goatal examining the force field. "It is strange that the force field is still up when the structure seems so old," the Cerean comments. "They must have a good power source in there. Either that or the building isn't as abandoned as it seems."

 

As he speaks he picks up a small stone. "Let's see if this is a dome, enclosing the entire building, or just a fence," he says as he lobs the rock in a high arc towards the building.

[ColonelCommissar 1,243]

Xaramis too inspects the doorway, noting the structure of it.

 

"Look at the structure. Odd, there seem to be two...gah!" he cries out suddenly as a local insect rushes into his eye as he looks up. A moment's struggling frees the intruder, but he is hardly happy to have had the altercation at all. "There are two keystones. What do you make of that?" he asks the crew in general.

[sonovabith 936]

Tok squints at the top of the arched doorway, swatting a couple more of the strange insects as they light on his cheeks.

 

"Garon, can you give me a boost," the Gotal asks. "I want to take a closer look."

 

The hulking Besalisk nods and uses his upper pair of arms to lift Tok up, bringing him to eye level with the keystone. He squints again then pulls his scanner goggles down over his eyes and sees it.

 

"This is definitely a button," he calls down to the rest of the group. "You want me to push it?"

[Kymrel 1,505]

"Eh..." Ren-Do begins. "No, I don't think that's very wise. Are there any markings around it? Can you see any sort of mechanics?" Then, not quite trusting the impulsive nature of Gotals, he takes a prudent step back, and then another, making it look like he's backing up to peer at a different angle at the structure.

[kaosoe 7,573]

Garon grunted and folded his hands in order for Tok to step in to it. With ease and help from the Force, the Besalisk hefted Veltok to eye level of the Keystones.

 

Pain seared through his hand. He had almost forgotten that he had been injured during the confrontation with the Holocron. His hold on Tok became shaky as he endured the pain. In his moment of suffering, Garon sensed something. It was a calling he had sensed only once before.

 

"Guys!" he grunted through gritted teeth. "I think this is it. This is the right place."

[ColonelCommissar 1,243]

Xaramis, ever the cynic, raises an eyebrow in scepticism.

 

"Are you sure? What makes you think so?"

[sonovabith 936]

The combination of trust in Garon and desperation to finish this side jaunt and be reunited with his family is enough for Tok.

Without allowing for additional discussion or asking for final assent, he reaches out and pushes the button.

Edited January 26, 2017 by sonovabith

[Jedi Ronin 1,588]

Kellen braced himself, his eyes darting around, and his senses reaching out through the force...

[Jedi Ronin 1,588]

Kellen looked down at his boots.

"I'm sensing concentrations in the Force all around us, but particularly strongly below us.  And there's some sort of darkness clouding my perceptions.  At least we know we're on the right track."

Kellen shifted in his stance, hoping the ground didn't fall away beneath him.

Edited February 8, 2017 by Jedi Ronin

[Prophyt 776]

The button depresses with a slow grinding noise after Tok pushes it. With a crackle and a snap, the ancient force field shuts off. The grinding noise of the strange button echoes through the strange structure.