Private Aggressive Archeology

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Inanna Harth

Gatz had always thought that, if he ever made the trip to Tython, that it would be an educational trip where he learned about the Jedi's ancient roots as the Je'daii. He never thought he'd be going there to scuttle old archives so that the wrong people couldn't get their hands on millennia old information. Honestly the idea of destroying Jedi relics and knowledge seemed downright heretical, and certainly not something that the Jedi would traditionally do.

But then, neither he nor Inanna were traditional Jedi, were they? Every time Gatz thought on it, he found another similarity between him and his Master. And he wondered if it was really possible for the council to have predicted that much when they'd stuck her with him. It seemed ludicrous that the Jedi could be that omnipotent, but so far their decision had been nothing but vindicated.

He suspected today would be the real test, though.

Gatz brought The Red Night in for a landing near the ancient temple Inanna had supplied the coordinates to. R4 was next to him, putting the dubiously legal Scan-Jam package through its paces, letting them slip right under the noses of the Alliance and the Sith alike, all while undetected. It wasn't often that Gatz got to use his old smuggling skills in his new line of work, and it was rarer still for him to feel any pride in them. Today, though, they were coming in handy.

He might even prove useful for once.

Once they'd touched town, Gatz left his droid in charge of monitoring the radar and keeping them informed, and stepped out of the cockpit's sliding door.

"Well, we made it down without being noticed. But that won't last forever. The downside to jamming someone's radar is that, eventually, they realize they're being jammed."

 

[Inanna Harth]

"Well, we made it down without being noticed. But that won't last forever. The downside to jamming someone's radar is that, eventually, they realize they're being jammed."

Gatz’s voice pulled Inanna from her reverie. She had been thinking about her last visit to Tython. An old friend of hers had died in the Maw’s failed attempt at destroying the planet, and she had gone there to retrieve his body for burial. That was when she first met Amani at the refugee camp, and tried to ask Alicio out. But then the ghost of Carnifex or whatever showed up, and everything went to hell in a handbasket…

Now Tython was under attack by this Dark Empire, the heir apparent of the Maw. Some things just didn’t change.

“Thanks for the help, Gatz. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you,” she said, peering over Gatz’s shoulder at the landscape before them. Tython was notoriously vulnerable to flux, its weather dramatically affected by even a slight imbalance in the Force upon its surface. Due to the fighting between DE and GA forces, they were dealing with hurricane-level winds and rain, which made visibility difficult.

“We'll have to make this quick,” she remarked. “This probably isn't going to be easy, either. Well, it’ll be easier than being on the battlefield, but certainly no cake walk.” They would have to get into the ancient temple ruins, retrieve anything they could carry, and get out fast. Hopefully they had arrived before the Imperials had a chance to pick the place clean. “Are you ready?”

Gatz Derrevar​

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Inanna Harth

“Thanks for the help, Gatz. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”

Gatz blinked, at a loss for words. How... what was the proper response to that? Praise just wasn't something he received. As a Jedi youngling, a punk teenager, and as a smuggler he'd always just been seen as a problem. Always in trouble, never good enough. Nine, seventeen, twenty-five... it didn't matter how old he was, he was always just another failure in some way to someone.

Before Valery, he wasn't sure he'd ever received positive reinforcement. Even coming from Inanna—who was kind to a fault—praise felt foreign to Gatz.

"I, uh, you're welcome?" It was embarrassing how obvious his confusion was. "It's actually kind of nice to use my ill-gotten skills for something not self-serving."

No words could describe how good it felt to be useful for once, and not somehow in the way. Granted, the day was still young, but Gatz almost felt hopeful for a change. Plus, he hadn't almost died on their last assignment, like he usually did, so maybe things were actually starting to change for the better. What a novel idea that was.

But he dismissed those thoughts for now. They were on an assignment, time was of the essence, and Inanna asked if he was ready. Time to get his head in the game. Gatz quickly made for the cargo bay, assuming his Master would follow, and hit the button to lower The Red Night's boarding ramp.

"One question," Gatz asked, "are we scuttling what we can't save?"

 

[Inanna Harth]

Gatz seemed confused at first by her praise, then brightened considerably. When he spoke of his ill-gotten skills, she nodded in agreement. “I know the feeling.” But she left it at that, still not ready to talk about the worst parts of her past. There would come a time when she would be willing to share her full history with him—he might benefit from knowing he wasn’t alone in his struggles, and take heed to avoid her mistakes. But right now the risks outweighed the rewards on her end.

She followed him to the cargo bay, already sensing the presence of Imperials nearby. It would be nice to not have to fight for once, she thought with a grim smirk.

"One question, are we scuttling what we can't save?"

Blinking, Inanna’s brow furrowed. “Scuttling. That means destroy?” She was only nominally familiar with spacer terms. “No. It would take too long, and there’s no point. The Sith will probably destroy everything we leave behind anyway. And if they study these artifacts, well… maybe they’ll learn something.” She gave him a small smile before descending the ramp.

Cold rain struck her like shards of ice, whipped into a frenzy by strong winds. Whether the freak weather would get better or worse now that they were there to tip the scales a bit, she didn’t know. She was already making a beeline for the entrance to the temple. As she approached, she spotted the body of a fallen Sith trooper lying near the doorway. The corpse was fresh.

“Be careful of traps!” she shouted over her shoulder to Gatz.

Gatz Derrevar​

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Inanna Harth

Gatz wasn't surprised that Inanna could relate. Two hundred some odd years of life? He had to imagine she'd seen, done, and been many things in her past. He thought his life was storied? He figured his Master had some stories to tell. But, as interested as he was in that, it wasn't his place to pry. He knew all too well what it was like to have skeletons in his closet, and how desperately he wanted to keep them hidden there.

“Scuttling. That means destroy?”

Gatz nodded, and listened as she clarified that they were just here to save what they could. That suited him just fine. He wasn't too keen on the idea of book burning, or destroying millennia old knowledge. Sure, he struggled with focusing when it came to reading, but that didn't mean he wanted to torch an ancient library. At least, not unless he was really frustrated.

"Maybe they'll learn the value of peace and not being fanatical murderers. But probably not."

The harsh wind and rain wasn't much of a surprise. He'd felt some turbulence on the way down. And after Hoth, frankly, this weather almost seemed mild in comparison. No, what actually concerned him was the dead Sith trooper in the doorway. If what Inanna said was true—and really, he had no reason to doubt her—then the ancient Je'daii had left some parting gifts behind.

"Imps beat us again," Gatz shook his head, "at least there aren't lives at stake this time."

 

[Inanna Harth]

"Maybe they'll learn the value of peace and not being fanatical murderers. But probably not."

“Probably not,” she echoed sadly.

Cautiously, Inanna moved past the dead stormtrooper, keeping her senses open for traps. She could feel the presence of other sentient beings inside the ruins, but the entrance was locked. With a little applied telekinesis, she forced the door open, metal screeching in protest. Inside, she could see the still-smoldering remnants of an ancient turret. It had killed one of the Imps, but the rest had evidently destroyed it before moving on.

“It’s clear,” she announced to Gatz, gesturing for him to follow her inside.

Gatz Derrevar​

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Inanna Harth

Gatz decided to follow in his Master's footsteps, in the most literal way, as she led them through the temple. He figured that if she stepped somewhere and a boobytrap didn't go off, then it was probably the safest place for him to step as well. The destroyed turret and the second dead body didn't bother him—Gatz had long since been desensitized to such things, as screwed up as that was—but it was a little foreboding.

All the while, he could feel the presence of the Imperials deeper in the temple. Them being here filled him with conflict. On one hand, they were clearly trigger traps that reduced their numbers, and in turn made exploration safer for him and Inanna. On the other hand, Gatz wished they weren't here at all. Not because they were destroying ancient knowledge, but because he knew the two of them were going to have to kill them. Again.

This was war, and war was cruel. Logically, he understood that. But even so, Gatz couldn't help but wonder: weren't these soldiers just the same as those who served the Alliance? Men and women who were just trying to serve their country, and make the best of the life they had? The only difference was the political entity whose borders they'd been born within. Surely some of them didn't agree with the war, but served because good soldiers followed orders.

But Gatz knew it was pointless to ponder such things. The moment these Imperials spotted them—two Jedi—they'd open fire, because he and Inanna were the enemy.

So pointless.

"Master..." Gatz spoke slowly and quietly, as they stalked the halls of the temple, "do you think we'd make for passable Sith?"

It was a foolhardy idea, born of naivety. And it could only end in failure. But as a Jedi, didn't they have the responsibility to try and avoid violence, even here?

 

[Inanna Harth]

"Master... do you think we'd make for passable Sith?"

The question gave Inanna pause. She turned to glance back at Gatz, eyebrows raised. “You know what? That’s not a bad idea.

“You could wear that stormtrooper’s armor.” She pointed toward the corpse back by the entrance. “And I can change form to look like an officer.” Mimicking armor was much trickier for her, as it was made from synthetic materials rather than organic matter. But a cloth uniform was well within her capabilities.

Gatz Derrevar​

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Inanna Harth

Gatz had expected his idea to be shot down. Not because he thought Inanna was lightsaber happy, or anything like that, but because the chance of success was so slim and it would probably be more efficient to just walk in there and kill all the Imperials—which they might still have to do anyways. Still, despite the shortcomings behind his idea, and his doubt in his own plan, Gatz was relieved that his master was willing to at least try.

It was a Jedi's duty to safeguard life. That duty wasn't limited to just the lives of friends and allies.

“You could wear that stormtrooper’s armor.” She pointed toward the corpse back by the entrance. “And I can change form to look like an officer.”

"Okay," Gatz agreed, "I don't exactly see any changing rooms around, so... do you mind looking over there? And I'll look in the opposite direction."

If he was being honest, Gatz was curious as to what a Shi'ido shapeshifting looked like. But he knew nothing about Inanna's culture. For all he knew, watching her shapeshift was probably just as awkward as her watching him change, so he figured he ought to treat it with the same respect and severity.

But his insistence upon them turning their backs to each other wasn't entirely altruistic. There was something Gatz didn't want his master to know: his body was covered in fresh scars. They were his 'reward' for spending the last year trying to live a life in the service of others. He'd been hurt and almost killed on so many missions that he was more scar tissue than anything else at this point.

He looked like someone had taken three different corpses, and tried to stitch them into one man. It made looking in mirrors very... upsetting.

"Alright, I'm decent over here," Gatz called out a minute later, after he'd figured out how the hell the Imperials donned their armor, "are you ready to show me your best Sith face?"

 

[Inanna Harth]

Gatz agreed with the proposal. But he had a request.

"I don't exactly see any changing rooms around, so... do you mind looking over there? And I'll look in the opposite direction."

“Sure.” She didn’t care if he saw her shapeshift, but she would respect his modesty. Turning away, she began to change form. Colors melted and ran together over her body. New features appeared as if her face were made of clay to be molded at will.

“Ready when you are,” she said. Her voice had changed, aging and developing an Imperial accent.

"Alright, I'm decent over here. Are you ready to show me your best Sith face?"

When she turned around, she looked like a completely different person. An older Sith officer in a crisp gray uniform, hat perched neatly on her head, not a hair out of place. "You're certainly tall enough to be a stormtrooper," she remarked in approval. "Don't forget your standard issue blaster. It's probably best if I do the talking. Now, shall we join our 'comrades' deeper in the ruins?"

Gatz Derrevar​

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Inanna Harth

By the Force, he hated armor. It was so constricting and uncomfortable. And he wasn't even sure what it did! Gatz was almost certain that even small arms fire was enough to breach this silly getup, and so Imperial troopers weren't even trading mobility for protection. Though, he supposed that he actually ought to be grateful for that. It meant that, should things go sideways, he wouldn't have a hard time killing any real Imperial troops.

Gatz wasn't sure what to make of the fact that he considered easy killing to be a 'good' thing.

“Ready when you are,” she said. Her voice had changed, aging and developing an Imperial accent.

The change in voice jarred him. His neck snapped around, almost convinced that an actual Sith had spotted them in the middle of changing, and that their plan was a bust. But there was only an older Imperial woman standing in the same spot Inanna had been moments ago, and so clearly that was Inanna.

"I didn't know you could change your voice too," Gatz admitted, "but then again... I don't know jack shit about Shi'ido, so I guess I really shouldn't be surprised by my own ignorance."

At his master's behest, Gatz scooped up the fallen trooper's rifle. Just some basic rifle, not even as impressive as the black market arms he used to smuggle back in the day. But it would do in a firefight, if they did end up getting into one. Plus, it sold the role he was trying to play: just some dumb grunt to Inanna's Sith Officer. With luck, he could just stand there at attention while she talked their way through the rest of the temple.

"Wait, before we go," Gatz took his lightsaber off of his borrowed belt, and tossed it to her, "stash that wherever you stashed yours. Somehow, I don't think it's standard issue for a Stormtrooper."

 

[Inanna Harth]

Inanna couldn’t help but giggle at Gatz’s shocked reaction to her change in voice. “Oh, we can change much more than just how we look. Voice, scent, pheromones—everything but what’s on the inside.” Certain bio-scanners could pick up on differing internal organs, revealing a Shi’ido’s charade. But they were unlikely to encounter any Imperials toting such high-detail scanners here in the ruins.

"Wait, before we go," Gatz took his lightsaber off of his borrowed belt, and tossed it to her, "stash that wherever you stashed yours. Somehow, I don't think it's standard issue for a Stormtrooper."

She caught the lightsaber and held it behind her back, where it seemingly disappeared. “Okay. Let’s get going.”

Inanna led the way deeper into the ancient temple, continuing to monitor their surroundings and watch out for traps. Eventually they passed through a narrow stone corridor to a new chamber—the library. Flickering blue lights filled the shelves, the data stored within them barely sustained by a failing power source.

“Halt!” a modulated voice ordered. Inanna stopped in her tracks, coming face to face with a pair of stormtroopers left to guard the entrance. Upon seeing her uniform, they quickly relaxed, though they weren’t completely without suspicion. “Apologies ma’am, what’s your business here?”

“I’ve been sent to check on your progress,” Inanna answered. “Where is your commanding officer?”

Gatz Derrevar​

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Inanna Harth

It was actually kind of scary just how much Shi'ido could alter themselves. Inanna could, literally, be anyone she wanted to be. There were so many ways that power could be used for ill, and it was so easy for something like that to go undetected. How many places in the galaxy had bio-scanners that weren't hospitals? Probably only the most secure of locations. As long as places like those were avoided, Inanna could do anything she wanted, as anyone she fancied, and get away with it...

Suddenly, Gatz was very grateful that his master was a good person. He could only imagine what he'd have done with her biological advantages, had they been in his hands during his sordid past.

Shaking his head free from those thoughts, Gatz followed his master with a posture that was just a little too stiff. Like a soldier permanently at attention, trying not to incur the wrath of the superior officer in front of him. He was no master infiltrator, but he figured his movements fit the role he was trying to play.

“Halt!”

Gatz gulped.

Come on, please don't make us fight you. He pleaded silently, just buy it, and let us move along.

So far, their charade seemed to be working, if with a bit of garnered suspicion. The worst part was that there was nothing Gatz could do to help his master. If he spoke, he'd be a Stormtrooper speaking out of turn, which might look unprofessional enough to blow their cover. There was, quite literally, nothing to do but stand at attention and hope his master had this covered.

He just really hoped Inanna had a lot of practice imitating people she wasn't. Given her species and subset of abilities, he figured there wasn't a reason to worry, but he also didn't want to just assume she was a good actor because she was Shi'ido. That seemed like speciesism.

But man, did he hope stereotypes won out this time. Because the archive was right there, and it'd be a real shame for this to snowball out of control right now.

 

[Inanna Harth]

The stormtrooper hesitated a moment, then said, “Right this way, ma’am.”

Inanna released a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding and followed the trooper through the stacks. Rather than the musty odors of dust, mildew, and aging parchment, the archives were sterile. At most, they smelled of old plastic.

Eventually they reached an area that might’ve once been a “front desk” for the library. A raised platform now held an Imperial officer, his uniform matching Inanna’s disguise. The officer looked up from his datapad at Inanna and Gatz. “I never received word of any inspection, if that’s what this is,” he said.

“It’s an impromptu check, sir,” Inanna replied. “Your not knowing about it is the point.”

He looked skeptical. “What is your name, ma’am?”

“My name is not important,” she said, using the Force on him. Inanna wasn’t very good at mind tricks—in fact, she was rather bad at anything involving the mind. But if she could at least convince him, they might get out of here without any bloodshed after all…

Gatz Derrevar​

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Inanna Harth

It took all Gatz's strength not to sigh in relief. Which was a good thing, honestly: the stupid helmet he was wearing had a microphone embedded on the inside to project his voice, and any heavy breaths would probably come out as garbled static. It was just one more thing that would have looked unprofessional, and therefore could ruin their facade. But at least the Imperials couldn't see the sweat beading down from his brow.

“My name is not important,” she said.

Uh, what? What was Inanna doing?! That was a terrible way to convince the Imperials that they were—

"Your name is not important..." the Officer droned on, before shaking his head and adding, "very well, ma'am. I'll order my men to clear out, and give you room to conduct your inspection."

Oh. Right. The patented Jedi Mind Trick. Seeing it in action sent a cold shiver down his spine, which Gatz did his best to repress.

The man stood up from his stolen desk, and began to make his rounds through the archive, pulling Gatz's 'fellow' Stormtroopers from their duties. Only a few moments later, a squad of troopers shuffled past them, following the hoodwinked officer out of the room, and leaving Inanna and Gatz on their lonesome.

For now, anyways.

Only when the door slammed shut behind them did Gatz rip his helmet off, which had already become uncomfortably warm.

"I can't believe you turned my half-baked idea into a functioning plan." Gatz let out a long sigh. "Okay, these guys are probably going to get impatient if we take too long 'inspecting.' I know we're here to pull as much from the archives as we can, but where do we start? What are we prioritizing?"

 

[Inanna Harth]

It was a gamble… but it paid off. The officer relented, leaving them to complete their “inspection” of the archives. Inanna immediately went behind the desk, checking to see if the ancient computer system was still operational.

"I can't believe you turned my half-baked idea into a functioning plan."

She glanced up at Gatz, who had removed his helmet, then shrugged. “I enjoy stealth missions as much as the next shapeshifter.”

The computer was busted, failing to respond to her attempts at gaining access. She gave up on that, turning her attention to the rest of the room. “It seems like the central computer is offline, so I wouldn’t worry about files. What we will need to do…” She paused, checking around the corner to make sure no one was listening. “...is figure out if there are any hidden passages leading to a vault or other secret stache. That would be where the important, dangerous stuff is kept.

“Open yourself to the Force, and start searching for anything unusual.”

Gatz Derrevar​

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Inanna Harth

He supposed that, considering Inanna could literally take any form she damn well pleased, his idea was less 'half-baked' and more 'typical Tuesday' for her. Gatz had been genuinely concerned that they wouldn't be able to pull this off—and if he'd been on his own, he certainly wouldn't have. He was really beginning to understand why Jedi so commonly worked in pairs. Not that he hadn't gotten it before, but now he had field experience that backed why it was such a good idea.

Inanna moved to the terminal behind the desk, which Gatz hoped would give them a starting point—only to have that hope immediately dashed. That was par for the course for him though: nothing was ever easy in his life.

"Of course the computer is offline," Gatz snorted quietly, "it wouldn't be fun it things went our way."

“Open yourself to the Force, and start searching for anything unusual.”

For all of his struggles with the higher mysteries of the Force, reaching out with his feelings was simple enough that even Gatz could do it easily. He made a slow circle around the archives, letting the Force flow through him. He could feel his master doing the same, her presence like a warm flame on a cold night. The others who had excused themselves, the Imperials, were like little embers incapable of blooming—alive, present in the Force, but forever closed off to it.

It was like immersing himself in—

Hey, what were those marks on the floor?

"Ma'am," Gatz tried to sound professional as he called out for Inanna, in case anyone beyond the door could hear him, "I have something over here."

Right in front of a bookshelf on the backwall, holding only books and no electronic storage devices, Gatz spied scratches on the floor. As if something had scraped over that exact spot a hundred times, and managed to do it in the same exact way every time. It reminded him of the marks that could often be found near smuggling compartments on a spice freighters, where the bulkhead would swing open but scrape against the floor—something Gatz was all too familiar with.

"I think... I think that bookshelf can be swung open."

 

[Inanna Harth]

"Of course the computer is offline, it wouldn't be fun if things went our way."

"I like a little challenge," Inanna remarked.

Within a few minutes, Gatz made a discovery: scratches along the floor indicating something being dragged over the same place. A hidden door. The culprit seemed to be an otherwise innocuous bookcase.

"Stand back," Inanna commanded. She began using telekinesis to pull the shelf forward. It put up very little resistance, swinging open easily—to reveal an ancient but still functioning turret.

"Look out!" she exclaimed as it opened fire.

Gatz Derrevar​

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Inanna Harth

Gatz had the dumb brute idea of just yanking the damn shelf open with his bare hands. His master, however, stopped him by using her head and just using telekinesis. It was funny how the power of the universe itself was at his finger tips, and he still rarely thought to use it. He supposed that, despite all his time with the Order, he still didn't think like a Jedi.

And as it turned out, Inanna ripping the shelf open telekinetically saved his life.

As soon as it was open, an ancient turret—like the one that had killed the man he'd stolen this armor from—fired on him. Gatz threw himself to the side, red hot blaster bolts narrowly missing him as he tumbled to the ground. If he'd swung that shelf open the manual way... he'd be dead. As it was, they still might be if they didn't do something about the damn turret.

Gatz reached for his lightsaber, only to remember that he'd tossed it to Inanna. He was armed only with a blaster rifle, and no cover with which to hide behind so that he might get a good shot on the ancient machinery.

That left only the Force.

He didn't have Inanna's prodigal talent for telekinesis, but he did have a decent grasp on the skill, and a lot of raw power. He closed his eyes and focused. The turret was still out of his sight, but he didn't need to see it. Not when he already knew where it was, what it looked like, and could feel the oscillations of energy it gave off.

Gatz curled his fingers into a fist, and metal crunched as easily as tissue paper. In seconds, a proud old piece of Je'daii technology was rendered nothing more than a crumped ball of rusted metal.

He blew out a tired sigh, and turned to Inanna.

"...why does everyone and everything we run into try to kill us?"

 

[Inanna Harth]

Gatz managed to jump out of the way in time to avoid being lit up. His quick thinking destroyed the turret, crushing it with the power of the Force. Inanna didn’t even have a chance to think to toss him his lightsaber, the whole encounter was over so quickly.

"...why does everyone and everything we run into try to kill us?"

“Well, we are dressed up like Imperials…” Inanna joked, peering inside the hidden door. It was dark and foreboding, but she sensed no more immediate danger.

Handing Gatz his lightsaber, she activated hers, using its glow to illuminate the interior of the vault. It was a small round chamber lined with shelves. Most of the items on the shelves were broken or aged and rusted to the point of being unusable. But a few of its treasures remained intact. Her eye was drawn toward a holocron that still glowed green even after countless centuries.

"Take what you can carry," she whispered, reaching out to grab the holocron and store it away.

Gatz Derrevar​