Star Wars Castaways

Anora Cole
Jungle

She watched Lorn vanish into the jungle and felt a strange mix of remorse and relief. The 10-96 was gone, ubt the worst of all mosnters on htis planet had actually been kinda friendly and reasonable and on their side, on-top. Now they were alone. An assault rilfe and a huntress, a kid, a stripper, an old man and a few handguns. They were screwed, their only chance of survival was hoping Lorn was that good.

"Girl, you take the rear, Count you stay with your girl, I take lead." She sighed and nodded to the others. "If we move fast, we will be there by nightfall. If we do not move fast enough,we will be dead by the same time, understood? So let´s go."

Tag: Ktala, SirakRomar

 

Cece - Celia
Jungle

Cece slowed down, coming to a stop as she caught up with the others. The woman Anora was quickly giving out commands.

"Girl, you take the rear, Count you stay with your girl, I take lead." Anora sighed and nodded to the others. "If we move fast, we will be there by nightfall. If we do not move fast enough,we will be dead by the same time, understood? So let´s go."

"Kay." Cece responded, as she began to move into position, moving once more to keep up with the group. She then looked over towards the Count. "Where are we going?" she asked softly. She needed something to keep her mind off of what Lorn was doing. Besides, if they got separated, she wanted to know which way she should go. Otherwise, she simply kept quiet, and kept as best a lookout as she could.



Tag: MyrialoKanz, SirakRomar

 

ooc: I think I hugged you like a hundred time, so I´ll add an eHug. Was our pleasure, bro.

The Stalker, Vars
Jungle

The Corellian was exhausted, tired walking through the heat of the midday sun. The jungle grew wet and hot at these times, torturing those not blessed with an according metabolism to take such heat and make good use of it. The Corellian . . . of course the Stalker did not call him that, because it did not know what a Corellian was, also his friend had called him Corellian at times . . . he had no weapon, only a white helmet he kept looking into, as if the world could be understood inside the helmet.

And then there was . . . the stranger. The stranger, hurt, injured and near death, his body covered with insect bites. Vars, they had called him earlier. A pilot of the crashed ship. He collapsed right in front of the Corellians feet and the Stalker quickly turned and fled. Two were one too many. It did not kill two. Only one, always only one.

"Help me." Vars could say no more, before his eyes closed and he came to rest right in front of Han Solo.

Tag: HanSolo29



Count Elzo, Lisa
Jungle

The Count tried to keep an eye open, looking around and always scanning the jungle. Quite a few of them had died by now, few had survived. He felt privileged to be among the living and painfully aware how fragile this privilege was. Lisa seemed absent, but allowed herself to fall back to Cece after a while to walk next to her. “Where is she bringing?” She suddenly asked with a hollow and broken basic, nodding to Anora.
In the front Anora could see nothing, but something was not okay. She could feel it. They were nearby. And the voices behind her could do little to hide the fact it wasn´t something she heard or smelled or saw that alarmed her. It was the lack of sounds. As if all creatures had fled.
Tag: Ktala, @Myrial





Asra Lesep, KD-777
The Planet Sorcant



The ship had been low on fuel and rations, when they had finally found the planet. Asra Lesep, their pilot, had quickly send out a probe requesting supplies so they could leave the planet at a given time. His two guests had been totally uninterested in such details. They left it to him to make sure the got back, what they were really eager was to get down there and explore the planet!

So he hovered the ship above the surface of what looked to him like a green hell of a jungle. And below the two figures climbed down the ladder to the surface. He would go looking for a place to land eventually. For now this had to do.

The droid was the last to leave and climb down the ladder. The medical droid felt what humans would have called fear, the continued concern for his continued existence. Fear because he had never been built for such adventures. “I am lost.” It mumbled, surprisingly this droid could mumble and finally reached the solid rock.

Elco Moss and his contractor, the kaminoan Scientist Tuon La stood near the river and watch the orange pollen of a million flowers float passed them nearby. It was a picture of irresistible beauty. But it had not been the reason why they had chosen this landing spot. The reasons why they had chosen the spot was a bit deeper into the jungle and hardly visible from above.

It were the ruins Elco had spotted from above. Long abandoned ruins on a world otherwise showing no sign of intelligent life.



Tag: GreyJedi, LordT

 

IC: Tuon La
Planet Sorcant, planet surface

It took a very long time, but she was finally convinced that the entire journey had become a logistical nightmare that could cost her far more than her meticulously built reputation; her life and that of her small crew were in peril, as their ship ran low on fuel and rations. The pilot, Asra Lesep, had wasted a probe requesting supplies, a probe that could have been used to enhance their chances to find the missing planet .

Thankfully, Sorcant decided that it wanted to be found and revealed itself.

Coincidence? No such thing.

Getting down to the planet seems to take even longer than the exhaustingly long trip it had taken to get to it, but it was only a matter of time before Asra took the ship down, and once he did, he was almost literally forced to let his two passengers down upon the planet's surface, so eager were they to stand upon firm ground.

Elco Moss was the first to descend.

Tuon La moved with languid movements as she took the first rung down. Of course, they made sure the atmosphere was breathable before ever opening the hatch, but now, she paused and took in a tentative breath, then followed by a deeper one.

"Ahhh."

The long necked kaminoan scientist was clad in an all white body forming protective suit, and once her feet finally touched the verdant ground beneath her booted feet, she smiled. Her head swiveled upon her neck from side to side as her large dark eyes regarded the sights and sounds of the world it took them so long to find. The was nothing other than a vast expanse of verdant batty before her, it was quite a breath-taking sight. With a pleasant expression etched upon her face, she looked down to Elco Moss and nodded in approval.

"This place…it's magnificent."

It wasn't a compliment. It was a fact. Her continued 'observations' during their arduous trip were now long forgotten. There were no more request for triple checking and cross-reference astrogation coordinates and the like. There was only Sorcant, and all the possibilities that came with it.

"I am lost." came the sound of a familiar electronic voice from behind the pair. It was KD-777, the medical droid. He had finally managed his descent upon the planet's surface.

"Hardly." Tuon La retorted, crisply. " I know exactly where you are."

There was a river before the small group and orange pollen covered its surface. Tuon La looked on, delighted, immediately wondering what secrets they kept hidden to themselves.

"You know…" she began saying out loud, "We'll have to catalogue everything we find…eventually. But first things first."

At that last part, she looked over to Elco Moss, he who also knew the true value of secrets.

"Now where exactly did you see those ruins…?" she asked, in that tone he came to recognize as her being very interested in something.

Closing her eyes briefly,Tuon La took another deep breath of the air around them, before turning to check the few items she carried on her person, even as she waited for Elco's response.

This, this was the beginning of something that would change everything.

Tag: LordT,SirakRomar

 

Cece - Celia
Jungle

Cece fell into step behind the others, as Anora and the count scanned the area in front of them as they walked. The Twi'lek seemed a bit 'off', but walked silently for awhile. She then dropped back some, to fall into step next to Cece.

“Where is she bringing?” Lisa suddenly asked with a hollow and broken basic, nodding to Anora. Cece had just asked the same question herself. Cece shrugged, shaking her head to show she had no idea. Cece realized that the group was much smaller than when she had last seen them. Besides the one who had gotten shot, and that alien who had run off with the kid, what happened to the crier and the loudmouth?

More creatures?

Cece took a moment to look behind the group. She would do her best to make sure nothing snuck up on them. And while she didnt mind having Lisa next to her at the moment, she kept her eyes open. She knew there were six hunters behind them.. and possibly 3 or 4 in front, moving to cut them off. Though she SUCKED at spotting these hunters, it didnt mean she woudlnt try. She tried...really TRIED at trying to sense if anything was near them, as she scanned the jungle around them.


Tag: @MyrialoKanz, SirakRomar

 

Elco Moss
The Jungle of Sorcant

Elco was in his thrities, also late thirties. And he had come a long way here. From child prodigy to low-life archeology advisor aka treasure hunter. You did not fall any deeper. But no matter what, he had the bad feeling all of it, every second of life might have served the purpose of bringing him here. Journey´s end. It was so dramatic, he almost had to laugh. This was nothing special, was it? This was just another planet. Another ruin. Another set of dangers faced with another partner. An especially ill-suited one, this time. Scientist, female, kaminoan. By the Corellian Hells he did not even know this species existed. Long-necked-smart . . .

Anyway, he had a job to do and it was a job he would be paid plenty of credits for. He gave the jungle a good, long and concerned look. Jungles were always the most dangerous of all environments. Predators had to be quick here, to catch their prey before it got up the trees, it had to be hidden and silent. Sight was bed, wounds infected rather quickly and the air . . .

Elco took out his blaster-pistol and checked it, before turning to his contractor. "The ruins? South, I think I saw them south." He holstered his gun again and then looked up at the strange being with the long neck. What did he know, maybe where it came from contracts were sealed by one eating the other in the end? Possible. Though not likely. Otherwise they would starve to death, considering how little meat was on them.

"Which is that direction, just in case you wondered." He pointed South and started walking, ignoring the useless droid for now and just waited at the riverbed to make sure the woman was following. "We need to move quickly, something is telling me will will have damned quick changes in the day to night cycle." Looking up he though the sun had already moved. "And we don´t wanna be in the jungle when it´s dark."

With that he finally began to walk. "Asra, we have a walk, you keep hoovering, okay?"

The contractor did not care for supplies, but Elco´s worst nightmare was being trapped on one of those planets. He had found men who had shared that fate and their skeletons had always shown signs of bad conditions, starvation and the painful and slow death of nature claiming the weak.

No, he wanted to make absolutely sure he returned home to talk about this strange planet. A planet in the middle of nowhere.

A lonely place to die . . .

Strange, where had this thought come from?

Ignoring his obviously nervous ticks he concentrated to fing the damned ruins. The sooner has was done the faster they were on their way home. Pockets full of money. Enjoying Ukio nightlife.

Why did he have the feeling again, that it wasn´t going to happen?

"I actually do have a bad feeling about this." He mumbled more to himself than anybody else. "If this species could manipulate genetic structures, as you say . . . what of all of this life around here is not their creation?"

Tag: GreyJedi, SirakRomar

 

Lorn of Lorsai
The Jungle

He did not look back, he did not waste breath or energy to move except he had to. Cece would be fine, if she just did not get entangled in the eternal game of death that was the force. Ending and reinventing conflicts to let them begin anew. Like a bored God it pitted the force of light and dark against each other and seemed to register the outcome of each single conflict with little more than raised brow and a tired smile.

He had been a slave of this eternal war, even when he had not cared about it. Always had he followed his ideas, his plan, yet in the end he had always . . . always been drawn back into the conflict. The memory slowly returned, as if the expectancy to end soon would have intensified the process. He did not like those memories, he did not like who he was back then. What awaited him after his death? The screaming eternal madness of the Darkside. He as ready for it. It seemed to be . . . right.

With a leap, strengthened through the force, he was on a tree above and cowered there. He drew strength from his fear now, from his anger with a wasted live of violence. And the pain faded away.

The lightsaber in his hand he awaited the prey, that thought it was the hunter.

This time he would not defend anyone, he was prepared to kill. Kill ´em all.

Tag: SirakRomar

 

IC: Tuon La
Sorcant, Jungle

Fear. An extremely powerful and primitive emotion, fueled by ignorance and lack of reasoning. Knowledge, Logic and Understanding were useful fear mitigators, but was it possible to be fear proof? Perhaps it was something that could be genetically reinforced or even encoded.

Tuon La considered this briefly as she watched Elco Moss check his blaster pistol. Was he being cautious or fearful? It was hard to tell. Being cautious was good, it denoted an organized frame of thought, logical preparation to probable danger. Those who were fearful simply reacted to external stimulus and inevitably became victims of circumstance. Tuon La decided he was being cautions, otherwise Elco could not have survived this long doing what he did for a living.

"The ruins? South, I think I saw them south." He said as he holstered his weapon, then added; "Which in that direction, just in case you wondered."

Large oval eyes regarded the shorter humanoid for a brief moment.

"Asra, can you confirm the existence of any structures south of our location, and if so, what's the distance?" Tuon La asked the pilot via communicator.

"KD-777, prepare six high-dosage sedatives, if you please, enough to bring down a Gundark."

Without missing a beat, the kaminoan scientist returned her attention to her 'cautious partner', who advised them that they needed to move quickly, as he did not want to be in the jungle when it got dark. Tuan La found no fault in his reasoning. "Agreed." she said simply, as she studied the nuances of his mannerisms and expressions. There was a whole other set of unspoken communication happening there. Fascinating.

Elco instructed the pilot to keep hovering as they walked.

Tuon La waited for confirmation from Asra for an exact direction before moving off. There was no point heading 'south' if they were just going to get lost. Once a specific direction and coordinate was given, Tuon La conceded to move forward.

For the long necked scientist, not stopping to take samples of fauna or flora was a testament of her present focus: the ruins. That didn't mean she did not have plans to record the plethora of wonders that were being missed during their walk. As she mentally catalogued some of what she thought as readily identifiable, or a variant thereof, Elco broke the silence and her reverie as he spoke.

"I have a bad feeling about this." he mumbled.

'Based on what'? Tuon La was about to ask, challenging his irrational statement, but was unable to as he addressed her directly.

"If this species could manipulate genetic structures, as you say…what if all of this life around here is not their creation?"

Tuon La allowed herself to display a pleasant demeanor, for she did like this question much better than his irrational, 'bad feeling'.

"The Exiles, you mean…." she said, her voice hinting at the esteem she held for the mysterious species.

"If they created this, then me must do EVERYTHING possible to recover such lost knowledge. The fact that we were able to find Sorcant, even when we thought we would not, is a clear indication of this. I don't suppose you can begin to imagine the implications of this knowledge, the great things we could accomplish. Whole species could be uplifted, improved, even saved from a genetic dead end…the genetic secrets that we would unlock could veritably lead us to a whole new…."

Tuon La looked down and saw that Elco didn't quite share her vision, which was not a surprise by now. Well, as long as he was able to accomplish his part of the deal, then he would receive his just reward, and perhaps more. As for Tuon La, her name would be foremost amongst both her esteemed peers and dissenters. The Secret of the Exiles would change the galaxy as they knew it. There was no reason to fear, but to embrace change, evolution, be it natural or scientifically induced.

"I can't say I share this 'bad feeling' of yours…." she admitted after her brief pause, finally deciding to speak on the matter.

"On the contrary, I look forward to this re-discovery. We can learn much from the past, and gain a brighter future by recovering lost knowledge. I do not understand your trepidation, Elco."

Tuon La did not disregard her partner's caution. She was counting on his experience after all, as she had none in these matters, as far as his particular expertise, however, she simply sought to understand his position.

As they continued, Tuon La was sure to check her datapad, just to make sure they were headed in the right direction. With Asra hovering above them, Elco with his ready blaster and the medical droid primed with high-dose sedatives, Tuon La felt quite confident they would reach their destination with none to little trouble.

Logically speaking.

Tag: LordTroepfchen,SirakRomar

 

Elco Moss
Jungle

He had to laugh, then he turned, looking at the droid and turning to the long-necked snobbish lady. His hand loosely on his blaster he ad that "I´ve seen more than you can imagine" look which you had after a few years in the business. "My trepidation? I´ll tell you something, you don´t understand them? Let me explain them to you, Ma´am." He looked around. Then slowly his look went up. Asra would pick up nothing, he assumed. It wasn´t that kind of a ship, it was a remarkable transport, reliable, actually chunk and available. But scanning through this green hell? No way.

He sighed again. "This species yu describe, that´s pretty close to what people consider Gods to be. Creators of life. The Exiles, well let me not start about who exiled them or why, but these exiled obviously were powerful beyond our understanding of power. They basically could do anything with life, right? That´s what you hope for, is it? That is the secret you seek so desperate. I understand, hell I would like to rediscover that. Yeah. But I got problems seeing that bright future, you know? Graveroobers like me think always a bit about the past.” He spit out on the ground and stepped one step away, spreading his arms. “And I don´t see any exiles around here, or do you? So what happened? What was so bad, so dangerous and so powerful to wipe out those god-like beings?” He turned around, before adding his greatest fear. “And is it still around?”

He could not help but smirk. “If it is that might explain a bit, for example why nobody knows this damned planet exists. Maybe it was found before, maybe they just did not leave.”

Without a further way he began to make his way into the jungle. The Kaminoan really bugged him. She had no idea about how things worked out there, but different from him she seemed to have all the academic honors in the world.

But his plan to frighten him a bit had worked a little too well. He was seriously nervous himself now.

Tag: Greyjedi, SirakRomar

 

IC: Tuon La
Sorcant, Jungle

It was now clear that Elco Moss was nervous about nothing more than unknown probabilities. There were no definitive records regarding 'The Exiles', so all he had to go on was conjecture and sensationalist conspiracy theories. Who indeed could 'exile' such a species? Well, no one. It was clear that they needed to work undisturbed. That much was obvious. Whatever they had been working on, was clearly a success. Sorcant's eco-system was self-sustaining. The planet was stable, rather than fallen into entropic throes, but this was something that could not be simply explained to someone who didn't want to see or hear reason.

Still, Tuon La needed Elco, so agitating him was a bad idea, no matter who was right or who was wrong.

"We can leave any time we please…" Taun La assured him, her tone confident. "As soon as we gather quantifiable data on The Exiles and their methods, we can be on our way. If we succeed here, you'll have credits to last you several lifetimes, you'll never need to visit another shrine or tomb ever again."

Tuon La let Elco mull that over for a moment.

"If you really thought we had no chance to find this place, or succeed, we wouldn't be here. I don't take you as suicidal, or a fool Elco, your credentials speak for themselves. No risk, no reward, isn't that what you said?"

"Besides, we have no evidence that the exiles were, 'wiped-out' as you say. Perhaps they simply moved-on, once they were finished. Hopefully the ruins will shed some light on what happened here, so lets take it one stage at a time. We can review our strategy afterwards, agreed?"

Ignorance was bliss…and dangerous. And though they were both experts in their respective fields, that knowledge was not interchangeable. They needed each other.

Tuon La blinked several times. This was the equivalent of what passed for a sigh among more human looking species. This had to be the most disjointed partnership she'd ever undertaken, but no one else would take her offer, so this was it, and she had to make the best of it.

"This is your area of expertise, so I shall defer to your judgement."

There, she said it. Hopefully that would appease him somewhat.

Interestingly enough, Tuon La had prepared for such an eventuality and did rehearse what she might say, should her partner become 'skittish' at such a time. Her ambition would not be deterred by mere conjecture. Sorcant was now an undeniable fact, and closer proof that The Exiles did exist, and if that could be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt….

Dark eyes looked straight ahead and peered through the ever preset foliage. They needed to get to the ruins, and soon.This wasn't about verdant beauty, but the knowledge that placed it there. The key to the secrets of life.

Somehow, she needed to find a way to make him understand.

Tag:LordTroepfchen,SirakRomar

 

Vars
The Jungle

Vars had no pulse, no sign of life . . . well not any Han would probably have expected. He seemed very alive when his eyes suddenly opened and the broad trademark grin of it appeared on his face. Before Han could even realize who he was looking at fingers like iron clawed around his throat and drew him down to the bitten, half eaten face of Vars.

“Destiny is a trap, is it? And whenever you change your destiny, you end up trapped in an even worse prison. Believe me, I know everything about being a slave of destiny.” Vars spitted at him with a gurgling voice. “Do you know what you did to your friends? By altering your fate? Do you wanna know, Captain Solo?” He asked and slowly raised up, lifting Han from his feet despite all potential resistance. “Shall I show you what will happen to Luke and Leia and Chewie, hm? I know. You know? I know everything!”

Tag: HanSolo29



The Mandalorians
Jungle

Lorn waited and with every painful breath he felt them come closer. Their deadly intent resonated with his darkness, sending ripples through the force. Then they marched into the small clearing he had chosen to wait at. Six men, four on Mandalorian armor, two in a different full body armor. Another sniper was among them, they all had assault weapons and the two men with rifle flanked the main group of four who swiftly entered the clearing, signed to each other with closed fists and then began to move ahead. They passed right under the tree Lorn was waiting on.

But suddenly there was another presence. Dark. Glooming. Bend on destroying life even more than these six men. And it was nearby.

Tag: DarkLordoftheFins




The other Mandalorians
Jungle, too

The silence held for a moment and then a single figure stepped out of the jungle, silent, sneaking through the underwood, but obviously unaware of the nearby enemy. It was a Mandalorian in what appeared to be golden-brown armor, covered by the blood of it´s late victims, dried and brownish by now. He had not seen the four travelers, but it could be only seconds before he did.

Tag: Ktala, MyrialofKanz




Many years earlier . . .
The Ruins
Sorcant, Jungle

The reached the ruins unharmed. The junge appeared dark and gloomy around it, ubt seemed to be relatively harmless. No animals showed up. Only many of these strange alien wasps, that were as tall as a closer fist.






They seemed to be frightful though, flying away whenever they parted the grass before them. Only one tried to bite someone and it was KD-777, who was pretty save from bugs anyway. But when they finally reached the ruin it was smaller than expected, less majestic and very detoriated by the force of nature and the forces of nature and time. There was no sign the inhabitant had ever had high technology or even a higher culture. Only a small written tableau gave them any hint that intelligent life had been here. Moss was probably surprised he was actually able to read the alien language. But most treasure hunters knew Rakatan, nowadays, considering the prices their artifacts brought among collectors.

And then there was a whisper. Was it even a whisper? More like something, making it´s presence known in the head of Tuon La. It was unlike anything she had ever felt. A presence, powerful, not hostile. It just was there and that was all it probably wanted to be. There. For now it was enough.


Tag: LordT, GreyJedi

@ TSG, get ready to do your postings

 

Meset
End of Camp Two

They came, it was as simple as that. He fought with blade and cunning, they with numbers and size. In the end he fell, or rather was knocked down. The fight was over almost as soon as it began, only when one tried to bite off his head did he see an opening, one into which he thrust the remaining vibro dagger into one side of the jaw, and his hand into the other. The beasts hot fetid breath cloyed at him as it's teath rended into his cranial flesh, but without a functioning lower jaw the beasts attempt to end him merely caused him bleed. The spray from the beasts own blood coated his head, the wounded backing away.

And when he laid still a new beast took up his ankle and began to drag him away. Through a parting of the brush he spotted Solo, and also being dragged he spotted the girl. Carefully so as not to attract the beasts attention he unstrapped and tossed the caller for his blade into the path of the girl being dragged. If she was awake, she could snag it and perhaps find her own way out of this. As for him he knew what had come.

This world, this home of death, it had consumed many. It had taken away his rightful duty of killing his father, and it stood in defiance of the desert. With a soft prayer to the deity of his world he raised the razor to his own neck, "By my hand alone I die. I am the caller of my soul. I am the death of self. I am death. I am free. I am the end. I am the deserts totem." With that he jabbed his blade with repulsors on a quick burst, severing his own head.

TAG: SirakRomar

 

Elco Moss
Ruins

Elco found the ruins to be a bit underqhelming, but hell he was paid to bring long-neck here, not to throw the party. That was long-necks job, really.

The tableau came as a bit of a shock though. Rakatan. Was it that simple? Another Raktan colony? Well, an untouched Rakatan colony? By the Gods, the artifacts of such a place could make him rich, famous and very famous on the black market. He just needed to . . . he calmed himself down and began to translate the tableau, just in case long.neck did not know the basics of treasure hunting, which was actually what he expected.

"Here lies evil, within this tomb we have contained death. Do not disturb him through your presence, nor shall you . . . " He raised his brow. Man this is a dialect, he thought to himself. "Stir his sleep through worthy sacrifice? Something like that." He ended the translation and looked at Tuon La. "Really, they seemed to hve buried quite a bad dude below this ruin. But if I would not be ver mistaken, these were not Masters of the universe, but probably more superstitious fools."

He enjoyed rubbing the unwanted truth under the Kaminoan´s nose. It gave him the feeling he was . . . better.

Tag: Grey, SirakRomar

 

Tuon La
Sorcant, Jungle

Tuon La suddenly paused with some hesitation at the sudden sight.

"xenohymenoptera apocrita." she whispered as she regarded the wasps. They were unusually large and looked quite lethal. To give them a wide breadth would be wise. One of them flew by suddenly, but it struck the medical droid, which was fortunate. There was no telling what sort of venom it contained, magnificent as it was. It occurred to Tuon La that a nest would not be to far way. Anything that could house wasps of such a size would be….

It was simply best to move-on rather than to finish that thought.

Tuon La wondered if Sorcant was influenced by a sort of 'giantism', but did not have enough evidence to make a conclusive judgement. Thankfully, they were soon at the ruins, which were quite unimpressive as ruins were concerned. The state of disrepair was quite advanced, with no signs of technology or civilization.Tuon La feared there would be little to recover here, that is, until Elco Moss spoke up. It would appear her trepidatious partner had found something, a tablet of some kind by the looks of it.

Tuan La came closer as he read the content aloud.

Rakatan. Why was she not surprised. Though she could not 'read' the tableau, she had studied enough history to recognize a few glyphs, nothing more. The tablet seemed to be a warning of some kind. Tuon La regarded the ruins as Elco spoke. Was this some sort of prison then? It certainly did not look like one, not that she would actually know.

"Evil?" she echoed. "According to who?"

Tuon La head turned upon her long neck. Something just happened, but she could not logically describe what.

"This is a scientific expedition, Moss…" she found herself saying, even as her eyes looked around for whatever had caused that inexplicable sensation. "We scientist do not believe in superstition, but we do recognize that superstitions are born from factual events. We just need to figure out what events birthed them…"

She could not detect anything at all. How curious.

"Elco….did you…" Tuon La hesitated, already predicting her partners reaction.

"Did you feel that? It seems someone else might be here."

She would find his answer quite interesting, but already thoughts were formulating in her mind.

Tag: LordTroepfchen,SirakRomar

 

Zelia, The Doctor
Jungle, Entrance

Almost there, Doctor, you are almost there . . .

There was something mocking, something malevolent in the voice. The Doctor was not so sure if he wanted to hand over the boy or be an ally of whatever this thing was. The only thing that was still driving him, expect it had been hours since he passed the point of total exhaustion was the idea of learning more about it. He had dedicated his life to explore the Vasa and this one was certainly greater and worse than any before.

“I am coming, don´t worry. I am . . . “

And suddenly he stood before a solid rock and in it was a huge gap, an opening, a cave . . . pitch black shadows seemed to make it impossible to look inside, but he needed no look inside to know he had reached his destination. Looking down to poor Zed he sighed. Should he really bring the boy into this hellhole, leaving him in the total darkness to be at the mercy of this sadistic entity?


“Counterquestion. Do you wanna life?” His own voice asked him this. Of course he wanted to. But the price, there was always a price . . .

He sighed to himself and stroked the hair of the boy gently out of his face. Probably he did not wanted to be alive that much. He had sacrificed a lot to stay alive. But a boy?

“Do you suffer from phantom pain?” The voice came from behind and he hurled around, dragging his blaster from his belt and letting the boy slide down. The Woman stood there, he black hear bound into a pony-tail now and her eyes filled with a feverish yellow, that seemed all too familiar.

“You.” He could only gasp this word, as she smiled. A smile so revealing that he could feel her ill intend in the air.

“Some species feel their limbs long after they lost it. I always wondered if you feel the arm I TOOK FROM YOU!” She spit out the words and her hands, til now behind her back slowly moved in fron of her body. A cylindrical object was in them. A lightsaber, much like the one Lorn had when he was fighting. It distracted the Doctor for a second, then the realization of what she had just said hit him.

“You can´t remember that. You should not be able to remember anything!” He yelled at her and raised the blaster. “Not a step forward or I´ll kill you.”

Zelia nodded. “Fair enough. I guess the boy is what our friend wants?”

“Yes.” The Doctor saw no sense in denying it.

“Why is it I should not remember? I remember pretty much everything. I remember I was here before.”

“Where you?” The doctor stepped back, but stopped as he realized he left the boy.

“Yes, I was.” Zelia replied cooly.

“That is impossible! IMPOSSIBLE!” The Doctor knew he was right, yet he felt helpless, because his logical conclusion seemed so worthless in such a place.

“But I do. I remember everything. Why is that? Why is it impossible?”

“Because . . . “ The Doctor sighed and slowly unrolled his metal tentacle.

“What am I? I am not Zelia, am I?” The Woman was quick to learn, he had to give her that. Lorn seemed to have no idea what he was.

“No you are not. You are a clone of her. A replica. Soulless, mindless, only able to know whatever knowledge I induce into you.” He assured himelf of that, but knew she had been blank, untainted by memory, yet she remembered thing she should never have . . .

“A copy.” Zelia said and smirked.

“Yes.”

“Like Lorn?”

“Exactly like him. You two are the first generation of a whole series of clones. Although I was told you two were rather more successful.” The Doctor felt a certain relief coming with the confession. He knew it was meaningless, because one of them would die here. He knew the woman well enough.

“I see.” That was all she replied and her face grew almost sad. “The original?”

“Long dead. For about a hundred years, I was told.” Unnerving in her sudden sadness he stepped back to the boy.

“I see.” Zelia only replied again and nodded. “I see, I see, I see.” She gave a sigh and then her golden blade hissed into existence. “You are my creator, I assume?”

“I lead the team.” The Doctor allowed the gun to drop, it was useless anyway, he assumed. Instead his metal tentacle hardened, the tip of it extending into a deadly sting. “I oversaw the project for my Master, yes. I am your creator.”

“So what an honor.” Zelia almost laughed out in her cruel way. “To meet my maker.”

And then it happened incredibly fast. His tentacle shot forth, an instinct, not a conscious command. But Zelia was not there anymore. She had leaped aside and catapulted herself forward. How powerful she was, how fast, gracious and deadly. The Emperor would have been so proud.

That was the Doctor´s last thought. He only dimly realized the hum, the burning feeling and that his last thought had been the pathetic thought of a slave.

“I´ll bring him the boy. You are no longer of use, my Maker.” Zelia hissed right into his face. The tentacle dropped and Zerr stared at her face, now directly in front of his. How had she closed the gap so fast . . . “There are more.” The Doctor´s mind threw out this last thought, unsure what it had been he had tried to say and then it was all lost in darkness.

The Emperor would have been so proud . . .

And as Zelia allowed the blade to vanish, it left a whole where Zerr´s heart had been. And the body of the Doctor collapsed before her feet. A copy. She was a copy, yet she had overcome death. She had prevailed, returned in form of her distant memories. No wonder they had been so strange. It weren´t hers. It were Zelia or Lorsai´s memories. Imperfect, long gone memories.

Slowly she turned to the boy and smiled, as she picked him up.

Yes, you are worthy. IT whispered into her mind.

“Yes, I am.” Was all she replied and she slowly turned and began to walk into the unpentratable darkness of the cave.

“I am.”

Tag: SirakRomar (in Season Two, I guess)

 

Elco Moss
The Ruins

Someone else? Elco´s hand returned to his blaster and he looked around. There was nobody else. Nothing. Only the droid and them and these stupid rocks.

"Evil according to those who build this temple, tomb, whatever it is." He spoke out his thoughts loud. Long-nack was right, evil was a strong word. Superstition or not, something had frightened the architects of this ruin. But that had obviously been a long, long time ago.

"No, I actually feel nothing." He cooly remarked. "Listen, these things can happen. But if you already begin to hear voices, maybe you should return to the ship. I guess I´ll try to find a way to get into the tomb. Looks like that´s what this here is." He smiled dryly, the idea of Rakatan artifacts lying below made him a very happy treasure hunter. The only question was how to sell his little export to long-neck. Hopefully they would find that genetic mircale machine, so she would be busy.

"It actually looks like the days around here do not last long. So it would be much safer for you, too." He added that argument, doubting it would convince her.

He hoped it would. She had payed him a lot, but this looked like it could make him much, much richer. And his loyalty always had a price.

Tag: Grey, Sirak

 

Bronwyn Navarr
Near the Camp

Fire ripped through Bronwyn's arm. The sound of her wrist breaking underneath the creature's teeth turned her stomach; the lush green of the jungle swam in front of her. She struggled for a moment before hearing the bones crack again. Another wave of agony seared through her arm. She stopped and remained limp for a moment before deciding to do something that she knew was going to turn out well... or really badly. She swung her legs up with as much force as she could muster, hitting the creature's pale chest.

For a moment it clenched tighter onto her arm, sprouting new tears of pain. But then it released her arm, the mangled flesh dropping to the ground. She stood up as quickly as possible. Her eyes crossed with the effort; she staggered backwards as best she could, trying to get away from the beasts. Her arm offered no help in steadying her against the tangled trees and vines; it was far beyond repair. She gripped it instinctively and ignored the burst of pain that followed.

The beasts were in a pack ahead of her, the only way out was backwards. She didn't know where she was, though they hadn't dragged her too far. Her steps were quiet, cautious; far from how horrified she truly was. The beady black eyes watched her every move. Bronwyn's mind raced.

When will they charge again?

She wanted to look to her sides, wanted to make sure they weren't surrounding her. But she couldn't bring herself to give the beasts the opportunity to attack. The crunch of the fallen branches beneath he feet startled her, the sound renewing the throbbing pain in her arm. Her breaths were heavy, the normally cool air felt like heavy smoke as she struggled to control her panic.

Bronwyn continued her slow backpedal until the beasts seemed a safe distance. And then she spun around to run the rest of the way, closing her eyes against the vertigo. The clearing looked like it was metres ahead. The light beckoned her, away from the creatures which had been eerily silent. She didn't dare look back though. It would only make the fear and disorientation worse.

Finally she burst through the foliage into the camp. The pain was waning now, though she couldn't tell if it was from the blood loss or adrenaline. Bronwyn averted her eyes from the arm that dangled by her side and instead searched for any of the others. She had only seconds if the beasts had been following her. As she struggled to decide her next direction, she noticed a vibroblade laying just a stride away. With no owner to be found she figured it must have been Meset or Han’s. The low growl of the beasts not far behind her made her jump, and she lunged for it; her mind no longer preoccupied with its previous owner.

The cool handle gave her a sort of reassurance, but it was brief at best. The pain of her arm had grown with her sudden lunge; the throbbing was almost unbearable at this point. Bronwyn scanned her eyes over the clearing. The way to the water was nearby, it seemed the only option. But the blurred vision didn’t make it easy to find the path she had seen Eliza and Han take just hours earlier, the same path she had walked before. The camp was empty save for a few forgotten articles from the struggle. She wondered what had happened to Han and Meset, though the thought was short-lived. Another blood-curdling roar echoed in the dense foliage behind her and she ran for what she thought was the water’s edge. Bronwyn hoped it would be.

She stumbled through the terrain, the rocks catching her feet which were heavy with fatigue. The beasts were inaudible, but that wasn’t comforting as they had made no sound with their first ambush. She let herself glance back for a split second. It was a mistake.

Bronwyn tripped forward, her body colliding with the hard ground and resulting in a harsh thud. Once again she struggled to get up. Her head and legs now ached from the fall. She moved to wipe the caked mud from her face, succeeding in only creating a smeared mixture of dirt and blood on her face. She blinked. Once, then twice, trying to get rid of the ghosts in her eyes. Her feet didn’t want to move, she was unsure if the buzzing in her ears was simply the result of the trauma or the sound of the rushing stream.

Another harsh blink and she dragged her feet forward, pushing through the pain and trying to take her mind away from the jungle.

Anywhere but the planet, she thought. Anywhere but here.

Her pace was painfully slow as she tried to navigate through to the other side of the foliage. Every step was a trek; every root or stone an enormous mountain. But the sound kept her going. The water rushing, knowing there was somewhere safer than where she had been. Away from the beasts.

She finally made it to the bend she recognised from her earlier walk, the river greeting her with its babbling current. Bronwyn forced herself to take the last few steps to the water’s edge. She collapsed to her knees, quickly looking behind her one last time to check for the creatures.

Before she succumbed to the fatigue that had taken over every muscle in her body, she took a breath and began to inspect the gaping wounds on her arm; tenderly inspecting them and fighting through the nausea she felt with each wave of pain. She tore the hems from her already mangled pants with the vibroblade, wrapping them around the worst of the wounds and tightening them to stanch the significant blood loss.

When she had finished she focussed on the sound of the flowing river. Unlike the jungle, the twisted, grotesque world around her, filled with violent creatures, the water was peaceful. She relished the sound, what she thought to be some sort of escape from the hell that surrounded her. And once again, she realised with a jolt of fear, she was alone in it.


Tag: SirakRomar

 

Tuon La
Sorcant,Jungle

He felt nothing. Tuon La blinked three times at her male companion, not surprised. It would seem that 'ambition' was indeed the only trait they had in common. Better than nothing.

"Your concern for my safety is noted, but I said nothing about hearing 'voices'. Besides, I did not travel this far to run back to the ship at the first sign of unusual activity."

Tuon La turned to regard Elco directly.

"We shall explore this place together. I have no interest in trinkets or ancient cutlery. You know what I seek, anything else is yours."

It was a small reminder of their agreement. Tuon La would not be so easily dissuaded by a few inconveniences. She was just as committed to her scientific ambition as he was to feeding his greed.

"KD-777, please provide us with frontal illumination." she instructed the droid. Before moving on, the tall scientist used her datapad to take a quick scan of the tablet and record what writing was inscribed upon its surface. Mentally, she did note that stone inscriptions were either the makings of a primitive culture, or those without the means to leave a message in any other way.

"For a being who claims to have had a 'bad feeling' a moment ago, you seem quite eager to forge ahead, an idea I agree with. As you said, time is of the essence. Let's see what we find shall we, do lead on…"

No longer was she the naive and eager scientist. No longer would she allow herself to be defrauded, by friend or foe. There were too many beings she had 'trusted' before, who surreptitiously found themselves taking full credit for her discoveries and stealing her research. No, this…this was her moment. Elco was welcomed to his treasures, but if they found anything at all significant to her research, she simply couldn't trust anyone else with it.

It was only logical.

Tag: LordTroepfchen,SirakRomar

 

ooc: Lost my post! therefore a short one, but with input by SirakRomar to move us forward.

Anora Cole - Jungle - Sorcant

Where are the other two? That was the question. Anora took aim at the man, signalling the others to find cover. But killing him was easy now, where were the others though? Would they kill another two of them in return with the same ease? If so they would loose the battle. These guys were too good to fight them with equal numbers. Anora doubted she could take out even one in a fair fight.

Then she saw the Mandalorian lean against the tree, stare into hteir direction. Was he . . . hurt!? Yes, there was an opening in his ride side and blood was coming from it. He had been shot or hit by something. The man waited another second, then he turned and began to run away from them into the woods. A few more seconds and he was gone completely. Was he alone? Where his partners already dead? Spread around? Fleeing, dying?

Slowly, cautiously Anora raised up and when no shot killed her turned to the others. "Cece." She waved the girl towards her. "You got a map? Bring the others to these coordinates. There you will find help. I will make sure the guy does not follow us." She looked up and dragged the rifle to her body. "Ever again." With a nod she prepared to leave. "If I don´t meet you there by nightfall, the people you find there will know what to do." Anora added and handed the communication set over to the girl. "They will know you are with me, when they see this." She simply added and then looked into the direction of the Mandalorian.

Tag: Ktala

 

Cece - Celia
Jungle

She saw it. One of the hunters. Only one. It was so tempting. She froze, waiting for Anora to give the word. Cece knew that if she suddenly took a shot, the noise could alert the others. But where were they? Cece stayed crouched down low, scanning, when as she saw Anora taking aim, and singling for them to find cover.

Cece could see there was blood on the hunter's armor. Then suddenly the man stared into their direction. He seemed to be holding his side. The man waited another second, then he turned and began to run away from them into the woods. Cece stared, and wondered if Anora was going to let the hunter go. Slowly, cautiously Anora raised up and turned to the others. "Cece." She waved the girl towards her.

Cece walked over towards Anora. "You got a map?" The woman asked her. Cece did her best to not give a flippant remark. She knew better, as she kept her face neutral. WHO the frack has a map of an uncharted world?!?! Instead, Cece dug into her pouch, and pulled up her datapad. She showed it to Anora who continued on. "Bring the others to these coordinates. There you will find help. I will make sure the guy does not follow us." She looked up and dragged the rifle to her body. "Ever again."

Woah. Cece simply nodded in understand. She just hoped Anora didnt run into the other hunters as well.

With a nod Anora prepared to leave. "If I don´t meet you there by nightfall, the people you find there will know what to do." Anora added and handed the communication set over to the girl. Cece took the set, and carefully put it under her poncho. hooking it on, so that she woudlnt lose it. "They will know you are with me, when they see this." She simply added and then looked into the direction of the Mandalorian.

"Ok." Cece finally spoke up. She looked at her datapad, after punching in the coordinates she had been given. After getting a heading she looked over towards the Count and Lisa. "Let's go." she told them, as she moved forward. She pointed in the general direction that the datapad have her. "That way." she told them. Cece looked over at Anora and gave the woman a firm nod of the head, before she turned and began to lead the others in the direction she was given. Cece only hoped that these 'friends' of Anolra were not trigger happy. Or anything else. But compared to what they had seen so far, could it be any worse?

They would find out soon enough. Cece moved on.



Tag: @MyrialoKanz, SirakRomar

 

Kilre
The Ruins

"Chanda waba wap tata!" The voice disturbed the two arrivals in their discussion and without any of them noticing they saw an alien behind them, one ofr a species Tuon La had never see. Neither had Elco, but he knew what they had looked like and was probably surprised to see one alive. A Rakata stood there, in primitive robes speaking to him in his ancient tongue of his people. Elco could reads Rakata, that was one thing, yet the tall Rakta in simple worn-out robes spoke fast and probably even with a dialect. Understanding it was something else entirely.

"Chanda waba wap ta!" He repeated. elco slowly developed an idea what the stranger was saying. And the Rakata stepped closer, dragging his robes tightly around his body. "Wo wana wana?"

Tag: LordTroepfchen, GreyJedi

ooc: all others later, waiting for Fins big post.

 

Lorn
Jungle


The presence was nearby. Lorn had to act fast. If any dark presence wanted to kill him, so be it. His death had always been a certainty. But he had to buy the others time, room and security . . . he had to kill the Mandalorians.

And that was what he intended to do.

His first attack was simple, effective and quick. A lightsaber slashing down, while he fell amidst the main group. The orange-golden blade cut right through the first of them, parting his body into two from one shoulder to the opposite hip. A second of silence. Only the hum of his blade. Then the dance began.
Lorn allowed his fear to rule his body, giving in to the feeling of anxiety. Darkness, as always, welcomed that invitation and with yellowish eyes and seemingly free of all pain he turned around, twisted his upper body and avoided a quick-draw shot from the Mandalorian right behind him. He had been quick, but trying to get some space between him and Lorn would have been smarter. The lightblade already was there, before Lorn could think of attacking, guided by the force. The head was severed and catapulted away. A step, a slash, blocking a shot, carefully Lorn made sure the two flanking warriors never got a clear firing lane. And while he danced, his blade broke the rhythm and sliced through the third Mando´s blaster, leaving it a gleaming piece of useless crap. This one played it smart though, doing what Lorn had least expected. He shot anyway, this time with a wrist-laser Lorn had overseen. The shot hit Lorn´s shoulder and the pain returned. Gasping out he managed to obey the forces command to dodge, as the beskar blade of the fourth Mando slashed over his body. And the sense of danger screamed in his mind. Lorn stumbled forward, diving below the second slash and with the force pushed the Mando aside. He stumbled right into the shot meant for Lorn and Lorn in return called the blaster of the collapsing Mando to his hand and returned fire. Both shots hit, the force had guided his hand.
A second there seemed to be silence. Only Lorn, the armored man who was not a Mandalorian trying to get a clear shot and a swordswinger. Lorn turned his head slightly to see what the armored guy was doing and the swordswinger used that little lack of attention and attacked. Lorn´s hand raised automatically. He would not die, not by this man´s hand. And blue lightning left his fingers, like the hiss left his mouth. It hit the charing man and forced him to his knees, where he spasmed in pain, before collapsing to the ground the moment Lorn stopped electrocuting him.

Exhaustion entered his body, the force left it, but Lorn turned his lightblade and stabbed it down, impaling the man´s head. Five dead Mandalorians, left only one more to kill. The flanking armored man. What had he been up to . . .

The beeping sound of a grenade answered that question and with a spasm of anger the grenade followed the hand of Lorn, as it waved towards the jungle. The explosion almost ripped Lorn of his feet and he stumbled to the left. Looking up he finally saw the armored man leaping forward. The thrown knife hit Lorn before he could react. The force had finally reached it´s limits. Or had his anger? The blade entered his body right above the stomach. A cry of agony came from Lorn as he collapsed to his knees and felt the burning pain spread all over his torso. Looking up, he saw the Mandalorian had quickly drawn his gun and the shot came to fast for the weak muscles of Lorn and the exhausted power of the force to reflect it. It hit Lorn´s shoulder, sending his lightblade flying into the jungle and him to the ground.
This is it.
The thought came naturally and without bitterness. Lorn felt no shame of being defeated, no regret of the decision he had made.
Coughing he lay on his chest, but managed with his still working hand to turn himself to the back. At least he wanted to see the enemy. Above him, through a cloud of pain, the armored man appeared. Lorn could feel his anger, too. After all he had seen five brothers die. He would retaliate for this. Against Anora and the others, against Cece.
The thought gave Lorn a bit of his strength back. Just enough to move at all . . . his muscles used this power only to cough. Blood spread from his mouth over his chin. The lung, the dagger had pierced the lung.
The Mandalorian raised the gun over his chest to his face. “What is your name, warrior?”
Lorn wondered why he wanted to know, but managed to smile. “Lorn of Lorsai.” He answered and closed his eyes.
“Good fight, Lorn of Lorsai.” The aim of the Mandalorian shifted a bit, so he aimed right for the brain. Lorn felt death, death nearby . . . and it felt strange.

"Time to die." Lorn whispered to himself and kept his eyes closed, awaiting death.


Tag: SirakRomar

 

Elco Moss
Ruins, Jungle

"What do you know? A Rakata, by the Gods. They are almost extinct, I was told. Almost dead, all of them!" He looked to the Kaminoan and grinned. "Sorry, but looks like your great race of Gods were only a few herd-breeding Rakatan. They did that kinda things, I saw their stock, or the ruins of a farmhouse of Rakatan´s who used to have a stock to cross-breed." He shrugged and his hand returned to his gun, as his enthusiasm slowly vanished. Rakata were strong, agile, aggressive. Easy to forget when you consider them merely legends. But one should not forget.

"Stay a bit back, perhaps. These fellas can be quite edgy."

"Chanda waba wap ta!"

Elco raised his brow. "My Rakata isnß´t that good, but I think he declared we are presents from the God, or for the God, it´s hard to tell."

Tag: Grey