Private Babbling.... Bumbling.... Band of Baboons

[Junko Ike]

Atrisia V Rei'izu was a world that the Commonwealth and the Wukong were working on exploring. THey had well they had found the temple and the ancient mirror... the cloud deer were beautiful and Junko was excited to be here. Barca Djarin stood behind the princess as the large mandalorian was her protector in most cases and this was no different. THey traveled around the system itself while Shoma Ike went around the Commonwealth itself. Her Onna-bugeisha were moving around the aarea and securing it so that they could go and dock with the Oniwabanshū that was over them. Mitthm"ar"anuruodo Khan was in the bridge as the Atrisian admirals voice came over the interface for her. "Princess, we have a message from Jun Taoji.... he wishes for you to go to Exo with the princes. Your status and skills with the force he says will aid in the investigation of the planet."

The way she said it there was something more she imagined... the Admiral was many things and she worked with Admiral Beifong easily enough... they were also both perceptive compared to some of the others reading from shipboard com channels. If she suspected something more well... then Junko would ask her about it later and try to figure it all out. She was prepared for them to be able to head back as Barca was there with her... the massive mandalorian filling the runabouts cabin in her handmaidens armor that was redeveloped and painted over mandalorian knight's armor they would have. Junko had one of the best protectors in the galaxy after all and it had only cost them well they had fought in the arena and she had gotten a lifelong bodyguard who protected her in the hopes of one day beating her in the arena in a rematch.

"Well, this should be fun." She was in the ship and got a look from the woman as she adjusted the helmet with its hood. "I thought you liked your brother?" She said it and Junko took a moment. "Oh I love Shoma Ike he is like little fluffy atrisian puppy with bad teeth.... but no that secretary is.... well since our mother got promoted and Shoma was named heir.... he has been more weasel than anything else." That got a look and a nod as she seemed to understand and Junko looked at the large looming ship. She would likely be in a runabout to go and meet up with Shoma's ship... a benefit as she didn't need to bring her own but she would be able to bring some of her handmaidens if they were lucky. Junko looked at more of it when the runabout went into the hanger of the ship and they were greeted by well something new.

"Princess." The voice was there... the choushin had been grown yes and they had an AI in the ship that could project itself but now they had developed for each of the ships well a physical biot body. The Choushin Biot itself was quite strange but looked at her as it had chosen her Otachi would be able to join her when she exited the runabout and saw the purple haired biot. "We have the message from the royal palace and haave plotted aa course for your shuttle to meet the prince." The runabout Junko had come from was emptied out of the crew as it went into the gravity cradle and filed away. A new one being brought out for them as that one could be cleaned and prepped for the next mission that would be used. The choushin was there looking at her as she walked to one of the terminals, and her interface brought up the conversation with the admiral.

"Is there anything that might have been missed... I know that man is not the most pleasant." Junko said it as the chiss looked upon her and the woman spoke. "Not much, he seemed to make it more an order that you would go and help investigate rather than asking." That seemed to fit... he was pushy and Junko looked at him remembering well his interaction with Shōda and Shōwa who were well at the party. The man had not been expecting them to be well different as from Shri-tal. "We'll deaal with it if we can later.... my mother will likely slap him down should he well get overly ambitious." Unaga was not one with whom to mess and messing with her children was a bad idea as her and Shoma were important to her... aside from being adopted by the royal family.

"Understood." THe admiral was setting it all up for Junko quickly enough, and between the pair of them she would be out of the ship and then the system quickly. There was just the matter of what else they could need supply wise and Junko gaathered a few of the extra things like the new drones from sasori for the commonwealth and one of the portable survival kits that would go with her jedi princess robes... the most important outfit alongside her hairpiece, so she looked all sophisticated and pretty... looks were important after all as she and Barca filed into the runabout and they set off to meet up with Shoma and his lead ship the Xiaolong. THe bodyguard and Handmaiden well in tow but armored and armed to the teeth as her personal Cerberus War Droid was set up with the shuttle taking up a portion of the space.

 

[Shoma Ike]

E Z O
COLONIES REGION

[ attack on moonlight sonata ]​

Arms crossed, the Atrisian looked over the ruined landscape.

Perhaps this had been a market at one point. Or a busy street corner. Or even the campus of a university. Nearly a thousand years later, it was impossible to tell. Only bits of marble and asphalt remained to try and tell a story. A puzzle that was missing many pieces.

"I feel sorry for this world," the prince remarked sadly.

Behind him, one of the scientists from the Xiaolang heard the prince and seemed to consider his meaning. "Because it didn't survive the Plague?"

Shoma just shook his head. "No, not that."

"Ah," the scientist uttered, inferring he meant something else entirely. "That the galaxy forgot it existed then?"

The prince's head bobbed from side to side. Now that the scientist had mentioned it, that was legitimately a sad part about this world's story, but, "Well, yes. But also... no. That's not what I was referring to."

"What then?"

Turning his head, the prince looked over at the scientist as he stated simply, "Junko is coming,"

The scientist bristled instantly. "The Princess? Is coming here?"

Shoma just gave a slow nod.

No world was prepared for that level of economic havoc. Thankfully, there were no shopping malls for her to raid this time.

Yet.

For something as simple as a missing archaeologist, Shoma would have thought that his ship could have handled it.

Junko Ike​

 

[Junko Ike]

Shoma Ike

Barca looked at the princess as they were heading there. The coordinates were in the ship and well they still had some time as Junko was sitting there in her princess robes all prime and proper. The mandalorian wasn't confined and worried she mostly just paced cause anxious for something else to do rather than reread reports... also she was meeting the prince who was well Junko cared for him so if something happened to him on her watch it wouldn't be good... she would make sure he was safe even if it meant she would restrain him and carry him around in a blasterproof sack.... okay not really but she could do it these Atrisians were tiny.

"Your mind if racing a parsec a minutes Barca, just relax and allow yourself to breathe. We'll be there soon enough." She said it and looked up from her seat. Legs crossed as she wore the princess kimono robes for protection and her saber was on her hip. She was working on her hair as something sent a shiver through her body and down her spine. Junko looked over at the window towards the ship in orbit of the planet and they had made it. "We are here." The smile was on her face as the pilots were making sure everything was good... all scans and permissions given. Then coordinaaates of where they would be heading to meet Shoma.

Junko was looking upon it as she rose up and the shuttle touched down. She was moving and Barca moved alongside her opening the doorway for them to go out as she towered and provided the early cover. They were moving as a team and Junko stopped for a moment. her head turning as she narrowed her focus in the force and settled her gaze upon it.... upon him and her muscled tensed. The sensation of movement was there as she felt as light as a feather, swift and graceful while she moved over to go and find him. Stopping just short when she saw who he was with and her eyes narrowed, squinting for a moment.

"Leave us." She said it and motioned for Barca to escort the others away from Shoma and herself. "I must confer with my brother in private, we have a great many things to discuss and I was ordered to come and help him." She said it much more serious in her tone. Once everyone was cleared she moved over towards him and looked down only a little. They really had no height difference in these cases. She was prepared for anything and her hands came up to rest on her hips as she spoke. "Jun Taoji is an annoying trool of a man and if I wasn't absolutely certain it would be darkside actions I would have smacked him down long ago."

She said it and was serious.... that being said.... "but this endeavor that requires me to come and help you. That casts us siblings once again into the fray." She said it and brought her head up to look off into the distance. "We shall endure, and inspire and blady blady blah I really have nothing little brother. I wanted to be all serious and not just you know run up and embarrass you in front of your friends by squeezing those adorable cheeks and squeezing you in a hug." She said it and remained there like she was giving an epic speech but then moved. "Also... Iam toally prepared to take you shopping for new clothing. You are kind of common looking."

 

[Shoma Ike]

The Atrisian gave a slight bow.

Really, a series of them. One to acknowledge his sister as she entered the room. And the other to recognize the entourage she brought with her.

His bow to them was actually deeper. It took a lot to manage Junko. The suffering these people must endure deserved Atrisia's continuing gratitude for their labors.

"We shall endure, and inspire and blady blady blah I really have nothing little brother."

Junko had nothing to say? "Somehow I find that hard to believe," the prince remarked wryly.

"Also... I am totally prepared to take you shopping for new clothing. You are kind of common looking."

The prince just blinked. At first unsure of how to answer that, then held up one hand as he offered, "One thing at a time." After all, they were here to find a missing archaeologist. And there were no shopping malls. So he was safe for as long as they remained in the system.

"Do you know anything about this missing archaeologist?" Shoma inquired. "There's a rumor that the two of you were acquainted."

As he spoke, he gestured to a map behind him. "We think that she may have been exploring the ruins of a structure here," he explained, indicating an area of thick overgrowth.

"Initial indications were that it may have been a school, but her last message contained a statement that she believed it might have actually been a temple of some kind."

Junko Ike​

 

[Junko Ike]

Shoma Ike

She looked at him as he listed off some things and tried to get her to focus on the important things here. His mention of them having been involved, well... ah she looked at him and offered a smile and innocent look. "Ah well, you know Shoma, I don't like to kiss and tell." She said it and looked at him for a moment while she moved to stand next to him and put an arm over his shoulder like any loving sister would. "Luckily for you little brother, we never kissed on the lips that often." She said it with a grin and held her hand out as she brought up her kirano interface to share it with him and showed a few select images of the archaeologist in questions.

"Here is one where we were discovering a hot spring... oh and here we are at the palace with Xifang. She really enjoyed it when we rode around naked on his back through the water gardens." She said it and showed several more images as Barca looked at the two of them and didn't roll her eyes visibly but it likely could be felt... heavily. Junko looked at her and offered a wider grin though but she was listening to Shoma. "She is very good at exploring, this one time when we were pearl diving... she showed me she could hold her breath for." She said it and... "Well aa long time, like jedi training long but she isn't a jedi which is impressive and stamina she has a lot."

Junko nodded her head at her own assessment of Ahri as well she was thinking of what she could have been doing here that well caused her to go missing and a temple is a big thing but nothing she hadn't seen or handled before. "But we should be able to catch up to her, exploring a temple she will have left a couple of markers to find the way. Maybe some more information." She tapped her chin though while looking over at Barca. "Alright, lets do this... and you will like Ahri. She has a lot of ah personality." Junko looked at Barca as the bodyguard and handmaiden was standing there so Junko could emphasize the size of the womans chest.

Junko stepped away from Shoma though, as she was thinking about it and nodded her head to herself as if coming to an important decision. "Alright brother, we shall go, we shall venture into the depths and find Ahri, we will perhaps lose some people to cannibals temple goers who have remained hidden for centuries... or we might end up being worshiped as gods to whom they present virgins and riches... we will of course have to sacrifice Jun Taoji nobly for us to escape from them before we can be sacrificed to release our godly essence from the mortal shells but we'll use the distraction to take the riches and the girls with us and Ahri home."

 

[Shoma Ike]

At the sign of recognition on Junko's face, Shoma was hopeful that they'd get to the bottom of thi...

"Ah well, you know Shoma, I don't like to kiss and tell."

The Atrisian just bowed his head. A hand came up to pinch the bridge of his nose.

He felt a headache coming on. A princess-sized headache.

"Luckily for you little brother, we never kissed on the lips that often."

Nope. The nose pinch maneuver wasn't enough. Flattening his palm, the Atrisian prince settled into a full facepalm as Junko continued. By the time she'd dropped mention of bareback riding through water gardens, it had become a double facepalm.

"But we should be able to catch up to her, exploring a temple she will have left a couple of markers to find the way. Maybe some more information."

The hands fell away from his face.

That... actually sounded like useful information. "Right. Well. That was... a lot," Shoma offered in a matter-of-fact tone. He drew in a deep breath as he straightened back up and then motioned toward the door.

"We'll configure the scanners to look for trace markers," he commented, activating his own Kirano interface and making some adjustments before he pulled a scanner from a holster on his belt.

"Normally I would be opposed to a plan that involves a sacrifice play," he noted as he walked. Then added, "But if it gets rid of Taoji, then let's do that."

Junko Ike​

 

[Junko Ike]

Shoma Ike

She gave him a look at first but only raised an eyebrow. "I heard that.. I do have some good ideas... and a lot that usually are meant to end up in the nude but that doesn't discount that they were good ideas and besides Shoma if you must know." She said it and had her hands on her hips in a peter pan style pose. "I am older than you and handle the affairs of the palace on Atrisia. I have been overseeing the terraforming and construction efforts on a dozen worlds... advancement of our technologies to the point we are actually overselling in trade. We have flooded the market and are almost essential in selling to other worlds farmers. We don't need to buy out the competition, we just slowly convince them to use our products."

She said it with a smile on her face though as she was thinking about it and well at least he agreed to the whole sacrifice the space weasel to survive... not very jedi of her but.. well wait the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one... so that was going to be an important thing. THey had a fallback plan and Ahri was going to be found. "Plus Shoma... you'll like Ahri, she is kind of nerdy like you only you know... in that really hot way that can pull off wearing short shorts without underwear." SHe offered him a smile while walking and adjusting her scanner with the Ai that was built into it. The massive updates to the small device were well important.

"Now lets go."

 

[Shoma Ike]

"Plus Shoma... you'll like Ahri, she is kind of nerdy like you only you know... in that really hot way that can pull off wearing short shorts without underwear."

The prince just blinked.

Was that comment really necessary? Did it deserve a response? He felt like he should say something.

His mouth fell open, but there were just no words.

"Now lets go."

The prince held up a hand. Was he going to say something? Was he going to stop her? Was he going to prolong this any more? The answer was no. He was not. Letting the hand fall back by his side, the prince just shut his mouth and fell into step behind his sister.

The Princess Royal.

May the gods have mercy on the people of Atrisia.

As the pair embarked a shuttle, Junko's entourage in tow, the prince took the co-pilot seat and began to pull up the logs that they would need. "Looks like the last coordinates were a small island or atoll about thirty-five kilometers off the coast," he remarked, feeding flight coordinates over to the pilot's console.

Once they were airborne, it was only a short while before the island came into view on the horizon.

"Initial scans indicate that the continental shelf has quite a steep drop here," Shoma remarked, going over the geological survey notes and verifying them against the scanners on the shuttle. "This may be an undersea volcano that's breached the surface, but I'm not seeing soil readings consistent with volcanic activity."

Was that good? Was that bad?

He didn't know. If it wasn't a volcano, then it must have formed from seismic activity. Was this area stable?

He'd rather deal with earthquakes than volcanos, but the fact that he didn't have a theory for how the island had formed was mildly curious to him. Perhaps once they'd located Junko's friend, he'd be able to more closely examine the soil and sedimentary layers...

Junko Ike​

 

[Junko Ike]

Shoma Ike

He looked like he had something to say... he looked and felt like he was preparing the monster of all comebacks and then he stopped, thinking better of it possibly... maybe... or he knew that she could counter him with her trap card and do it in the proper way. Laughing to herself internally as they went into the ship and he was leading the way she reached out with the force to search the area. Her senses expanding outwards and something felt strange as she looked upon it. There was more going on down there then just an island and possible volcano. "Hmm thhere is something down there but it is odd in the force. I am not certain."

She said it when she was checking on it and moved to look out the viewport itself. she looked down as Barca was preparing for what they might have to face. "I'll go and clear a path." She said it and moved towards the hold and the compacted war droid was able to be transported easily... then she was moving as the helmets faceplate closed over her handmaiden robes and she was moving onto the war droid as it dropped. The sound of wind coming but it used repulsors to fly towards the island and the droid opened up while she was atop it with her kelsang rifle in her arms. Then it was landing and Junko watched it as she spoke.

"Little brother if you can, get a mando bodyguard."

 

[Shoma Ike]

"Hmm there is something down there but it is odd in the force."

So Shoma couldn't explain it with science and Junko couldn't explain it with the Force.

...he honestly wasn't sure where that left them, in terms of formulating a framework of scientific inquiry. As a Jedi, he was used to some things not following the rules which normally applied to the physical sciences. After all, the Force was part of the universe and somehow defied any attempt to reason or classify it.

So what was this? A Force nexus of some kind?

Or something else entirely?

As he was nerding out over the data, it seemed that Barca had jumped out the back. With a war droid. As one does.

"Little brother if you can, get a mando bodyguard."

"Don't let the monks in the Xiwangmu Temple hear you say that," the prince deadpanned wryly, even as he took over the piloting controls and began navigating down behind the charging Mandalorian.

Once he had the shuttle on the ground, he popped the hatch in the back. Making his way from the cockpit, Shoma drew a utility belt from out of the equipment closets. Cinching it around his waist, he clipped his lightsaber and then holstered a small blaster there.

He'd just started for the loading ramp when it seemed an earthquake sent a mild tremor that prompted him to scramble to keep his footing.

Grabbing onto the side of the open hatch, the prince steadied himself as the tremor subsided. Pulling the scanner from his belt, the prince flipped the device open and began taking some readings.

"That was odd," the prince mused as he disembarked the shuttle.

Glancing back at Junko, he explained, "I'm not detecting any tectonic shifts in the sea floor, but I'm not certain this island is geologically stable."

How an earthquake was possible without a tectonic shift...

...well, it wasn't. And yet, here they were.

Junko Ike​

 

[Junko Ike]

Shoma Ike

She just had a wide grin on her face and didn't follow up his comment about the temple.. they didn't know the whole thing and neither did he... their fight in the arena had been well fun to Junko and Barca seemed to have enjoyed it even if she had lost but she wanted to win so she served and followed. There was a grin on her face though as the ship touched down and she was getting her equipment with her Princess Robes. The princess robes having the survival pack and her belt with a thigh pack. She had her saber gleaming as the White Lotus: Light of Atrisia blade was curved and polished bone from Dathomir. The princess then secured her hair so that it wouldn't go into her face or whip around as the tremors came.

She could feel them at first and then was moving to hold herself steady and Shoma with the force as they subsided and she thought she had felt something before... briefly in the moment of the tremor like a heartbeat or something akin to thoughts.. She was listening to Shoma and gave a nod. "There was something for a moment." She said it while she was moving towards the opening with a look at the island itself. "If the island is unstable then we should hurry.... Barca should be reporting in if there is anything at the site. We'll be able to head over there. She offered a smile on her face though while she stretched and was standing around in the open around of the ship. "Princess." The voice came over herinterface and She shared it so that Shoma could loop himself in.

"I touched down at the research camp, there is a lot of stuff tossed around but no signs of blood or violence. More wind and rain." She seemed to pause and the sound of her repulsors launching her into the air as she scaled the war droid and was shifting the perspective of her interfaces camera to show the camp from above. Junko looked at it and overlaid it as a hologram from her interface orienting the pair of them to the camp from the larger trees that could be seen but also the beacon. The beacon helped while she was moving with her eyes shifting. "Over there." She tapped the overlay to indicate one of the tents that was partially in the trees. "It looks the most secluded but still have a view of the camp and lots of shade. Ahri would have put herself up there."

She looked at Shoma as Barca nodded. "Acknowledged, I'll check and secure the area for the two of you." She said it and disconnected while Junko was looking at Shoma for a moment. "Best estimate is case this island is going to fall into the sea?" She said it and well there was a chance it haad pockets of something making it lighter then all the rock and everything else... A feat to be sure but there were stranger things and that was why it wasn't on a tectonic plate. "If we go for wild theories.. I am saying some new super gas that makess this island lighter and buoyant but something AAhri did while digging might have ruptured and released some of it and it is not leaking out like a small knick or seive." She said it with a smile though while setting the course aand taking off they could talk on the way.

 

[Shoma Ike]

"If the island is unstable then we should hurry."

Shoma looked over at his sister. With a nod, he tucked the scanner away as the pair started toward the secluded area that Junko had pointed out. "Right," the prince uttered, as the two started off.

"Best estimate is case this island is going to fall into the sea?"

Shoma looked back at his sister and then gave a slight nod of his head as he mulled over that question while he listened to Junko's theory of a geothermal pocket.

It was possible. But it could also be that the continental shelf was experiencing a collapse. "Based on the shift we encountered and the lack of corroborated seismic activity, I'd say hours. Maybe twelve at most," the prince theorized aloud.

They'd need to move fast. Get in, try to orient themselves to the ruins, and then find the archaeologist and get out.

As the two began to move into the camp proper, Shoma's eyes were drawn to the strewn rocks and bits of ruins that were visible around where the team had made camp. Stooping down, the prince reached down to pick up the shattered remains of a tablet that had been left behind.

His eyes narrowed as he started to scan over the broken fragment.

"I don't like this," he remarked, holding out the fragment for Junko to inspect.

The writing was Sith.

Easy to recognize, when Atrisia had ruins and relics and bad memories of its own bearing the same writing.

"So we've got a Sith Temple falling into the sea," the prince remarked wryly.

That could explain why there was nothing natural about the island. But it also meant things were likely far more dangerous than they appeared.

Junko Ike​

 

[Junko Ike]

Shoma Ike

SHe was moving and when they arrived the investigation started. Shoma went off and Junko went off on her own to the tent and opened it up. The first thing to hit her was the scent... not horrible but she knew it well. "Jasmine and vanilla... lovely you haven't changed." She said it and was moving as she looked for anything that might have been there from Ahri Tanaka Aphra who was always around. She found her interface smashed and touched it while trying to search for anything that might have been left intact. Junko could see more and she looked at the pings from her interface. "Use intrusion systems and download whatever records you can."

She said it to the onboard AI with her interface when she was checking on more of it and the different information in the booked areas. She came across some equipment for Guan Yu in a bag that could be seen and snickered. Memories of it sure but also a means to relax and blow off some steam or frustration by shooting your friends with water guns was... well sometimes it was needed. She heard something and if they only had twelve hours then they needed to look and couldn't waste time... well maybe a little as she checked the bags and drawers to confirm one or two things. "KNew it still going commando." She nodded to herself in satisfaction cause needed something lite and not serious a small moment.

She moved out when she felt something and stopped looking at Shoma as he was showing the writing and she knew what it was... her body sstiffening for a moment ass the chance that Ahri was in a sith temple where usually there was some form of ssithspawn or darkside creatures left to defend... worse there was the chance of spirits trying to retake a body. Or they were just haunted to screw with your head and make you do horrible things... really sith temples were the worse. Junko was looking at more of what they were doing here... so far there didn't seem to be much on the island or the planet that would attract them which could be good it could mean something small instead of major.

"Lets just hope it isn't some long dead sith lords tomb cared for by his followers trying to resurrect him." She said it and looked at the writing though as the interface was working to translate it with the database that they had and it was directions. "It isn't aas impressive as a spell or something... more procedures and ritual for a chamber in the temple. Looks more like a..... we'll need to find more maybe." She said it and wass looking though. "Barca can you see anything that looks like ruins?" She said it and the mandalorian was in the distance looking at things. "Yeah I can see something, there is a area near the mountain that goes in and it has a trail... lots of things moved to flatten the grass and clear brush."

Junko nodded and had the location on her interface while she was check over it more. "There isn't much here Shoma... if she is anywhere it might be within the temple or along the way." She said it and was going as her thoughts went around with everything else, The risk was bigger as the stakes raised and she anted to run while walking into the forest searching the trees now. "Princess, there is something you are going to want to see." That wasn't what she wanted to hear... that never ended the fun way. She looked at Shoma. "That is never said like that when it is good news... then it is you aren't going to believe this is happening, bring the holocam."

Junko was looking at it and moved her hands around for a moment when she was looking over at Shoma and nodded but hurried gripping her hands neaar her belt for her saber just in case as she saw Baarca and she moved to join her and looked around." What is... i...." She looked up and could see the tree with most of the research staff from the camp. The waters cascading down but the entrance to the temple given a fresh effigy in the front of it at least... cause that was always good and fun and. "Oh this is just going to be a treat isn't it." She said it to herself and was prepared for anything but she would have to look it over. "We'll head in, Barca... please get them down if there are sith spirits in there then me and Shoma can deal with them."

 

[Shoma Ike]

A waterfall?

"That is a lot prettier than a Sith ruin has a right to be," Shoma quipped dryly, as he followed behind Barca.

They were wading through water and getting rained on. He should have known that it was only a matter of time before Junko turned this into a wet t-shirt contest.

Or wet beskar contest in the case of Barca.

As the pair entered behind the Mandalorian, Shoma took out his scanner and traced a path up along the walls. "Looks like initial carbon dating is giving me an estimate of two thousand years," the prince remarked, before he tucked the scanner away again. "That would place the construction sometime around the Sith Wars," he added, as they followed on inside.

Removing a light from his belt, he shone it up on a beam overhead. A whitish series of something chalk-like seemed to be spread across its surface. "There's also fossilized corral here," he added, the confusion apparent in his voice.

"This must have been submerged before," he reasoned aloud.

That didn't seem to make sense. An island that rose and fell above the water?

Junko Ike

 

[Junko Ike]

Shoma Ike

She looked at Shoma as he was pointing things out and the waterfalls were something interesting.. and what he said. "Submerged... but it is." She said it and she knew a lot could change over time but an island existing, being submerged and rising again in a few thousand years was." She looked at Shoma as Barca was off and covering them. Furthermore, she and Shoma would be able to head in and she moved going behind the falls as she found a place to grip and climb up. Getting to one of the higher levels as she helped Shoma rise up and nodded. "This place might be old but traps are always working." She was prepared for a fight or at least for them to run as she moved in retrieving from her robes the glow rod and using it as the orange light cast off of it and was soft on their eyes but illuminated the areas of the temple.

She stopped though as the walls were different then normal stone. The sheen on them was water but more as she sniffed her fingers for a moment. "There is something strange on the walls." She looked at it and went into one of the first chambers looking at more. Torch sconces were burning and she snuffed the light itself while looking. The reverberation of noise though had her crouching and she motioned with her hand for her brother focusing on concealing them and she wrapped the pair of them in the immersion of the white current... her eyes tracking and looking towards the area where the sound was coming from. She followed it and looked in as figures with torches were leaving.

Junko paused as she stood there. Looking at the room and she went towards the center of it. Where the torches were drawing attention and she expected a statue, sstone, coral even... wood sure but not... that. "What is...." She said it and moved forward to see what it was... it could be stone... carved from some forgotten art with the force.... but no art, no force skill could mimic that perfection of form. Junko watched more of it as she was moving forward and she was unblemished by something. "What dark power is this?" SHe said it and could only guess as even her clothing was perfect... silks and jewels. The Atrisian woman sitting there with stillness.

She went up and the woman looked familiar... that she was Atrisian was the other curious thing.. her pale skin and dark hair. The lightly golden hue in the torch light. "Where did they." She said it and was searching for anything but dind't touch the statue.... it was a statue right? She wasn't certain about that.. she needed to know and she wanted to find out but just grabbing it would be something as she looked at the ears with piercings. Decorational yes and her legs smooth and long. Junko looked around and listened through the force as she could feel life around her from Shoma and the ones who had left but also.... there.

"She moved and could hear the slow beating of a heart that got quicker when she dropped the concealment and stood over her. The pounding in her chest could also visibly be seen. She sensed it and she felt it as she spoke. "It is okay, we are from Atrisia and here to help you." THe womans eyes opened quickly and she was scared... she was almost ready to cry out before launching herself at Junko and wrapping her arms around her as she dried. "They... they came and took us.... the others are.... They wanted me to..... we need to get out of here."

 

[Shoma Ike]

The chamber defied belief in ways that made Shoma question what he was seeing.

Jedi 101. Your eyes can deceive you. Don't trust them.

Except, unlike most Jedi, Shoma's solution was to pull the portable scanner from his belt and let it be his eyes. But the readings he was getting were contradictory at best.

"What is..."

Glancing over toward Junko Ike , it seemed that Shoma and his scanner weren't the only ones confused about the walls, the structure of the walls, the writing on the walls, or anything else about this topsy-turvy physical impossibility of an island they seemed to have landed upon.

When the... Statue? Person? Statue-Person-Thing woke up, all the prince could think was: "Well, that escalated quickly."

A rumble precipitated a sudden earthquake. Steadying himself as best he could, Shoma could make out the sound of rushing water just moments before a deluge began to pour in from the path they'd taken into the temple.

"The rate at which the island is sinking just accelerated," he noted, glancing at Barca and then over to Junko.

"We're not leaving that way. And this chamber is about to fill with water."

 

[Junko Ike]

Shoma Ike

She was going to snicker looking at Shoma when she felt the shift and holding the girl close steadied the pair of them as the sounds of water came. Barca standing there with them and Junko spoke. "Barca help her." She said it and passed the girl who looked at them. "The... the island it is... they said something was waking up." The princess looked at her and thought about it. "That could be a lot of things... darksiders would likely mean sithspawn or worse." She looked at Shoma. "You are the nerdy science one... I know the force... how bog would something have to be to shake an entire island" She asked it and was moving thinking of something that they would be able to do.

Barca taking the girl and picking her up so that they would be able to move and she gave Junko a nod of her head... Junko looked at Shoma and motioned that they could go deeper into the temple... cave... place thing. There wasn't much choice but could be worse. "THink of it like this little brother... now we have a whole new story to tell when we are with people and you get to totally do that thing where you talk about how awesome you were to impress your crew." She nodded with that and was moving as the atrisian girl was still babbling with her head in Barca's shoulder. She was in a state compared to them but she was alive... alive was good.

"Looks like we are going deeper." She was ready for it though and Shoma might be an over analytical nerd wanting to use his scanner on everything and avoid the fantastical but he was family and as a bald man once said family is important. The smile on her face though as she waas going in deeper and enjoying the sense of adventure was well worth it. "Oh this is getting interesting." She said it going in deeper and deeper following the chanting and feeling of the surrounding force energies. The hallway opening into another chamber only this one went up and down. SHe was looking at it and the statues of cragmoloids.

SHe was looking up and went to the edge looking down. The chanting rising up from the lower levels but above the sun was filtering through. She could see more as the light refracted through various gemstones high above and even more off golden surfaces. "Hmmm Barca take her up. Once you get through that window make sure she is safe on the ship and come rejoin us." THe mandalorian debated leaving Junko but she already had one arm filled with the woman and nodded. She could start climbing as the repulsors of her robes were letting her get up. "Meanwhile little brother we get to go down.. we need to find Ahri cause if they are doing to her what they did to her assistants she might not be so lucky when the water comes in."

 

[Shoma Ike]

Shoma frowned.

"I'm detecting several life signs below us, but... the readings are inconclusive," he remarked, tucking away the handheld scanner as he moved to join his sister.

Nodding toward one of the gem-like objects, he added, "These gems must be scattering the signals." Turning to watch as Barca led the afflicted Atrisian out of the cavern, the prince remarked, "There's no telling what we're going to find down there."

The prince seemed to lapse into brooding, murmuring as if to himself as he mused, "If the scanner's output was getting bounced around, chances are that our comlinks won't function for..."

"...we need to find Ahri cause if they are doing to her what they did to her assistants she might not be so lucky when the water comes in."

"If my scanner isn't working, my ears are. However many cultists are down there, there's too many of them," Shoma remarked quietly, as he mulled over a solution in his mind.

What was the Corellian expression KISS? Keep it simple spacer?

"We'll need some kind of disguise in order to blend in."

Junko Ike ​

 

[Junko Ike]

Shoma Ike

SHe was looking at him and she well she would use the comlink but she was used to the force and communicating with it in cases like this. She was looking down and hearing the chanting as Barca left and looked at Shoma... then down as she was tempted but moved her hand to her belt so that she could get the grapple and set it there to climb down. "Well we are going to have to go down there one way or another... if we are going to sneak we need to know what we are sneaking around in." She nodded her head to it and motioned for them tos tart heading down when she secured the grapple and dropped down the tower itself.

The tower of the cragmoloid was a place she had never thought she would call it and touching down at the bottom she was greeted with the sight of... nothing. a throne yes but it was all straight back and tusks... clearly not for them but she approached it and looked at the ground as the glow rod she had illuminated the area. She could still see the ground and hear the chanting but it was still deeper in when she crouched looking around. "It is facing a wall.... with nothing on it." SHe was checking it and didn't sit down but motioned for Shoma to join her while she looked around and turned off the glow rod. The crystals that were scattering their signals capturing the light.

"Well that is." She moved and looked at it as it was ridged with fractals allowing the light from above to refract through it as she could see more of it and raised an eyebrow checking more of it. "I have seen things like this before... it was in a sith observatory... which order was it...." She tapped her chin as there had been a lot of them.... it wasn't being ditzy as much as trying to remember before she stopped and snapped. "Ah yes it was them... Maya's boyfriend was a fish guy claiming to be a lightside sith and he wanted to show the girl his lightsaber." SHe said it as that was her personality... a jedi knight and eventually master who dated various sith..... vigorously.

"THe temple they took up in used crystal patterns like this it refracted the light from openings down into the depths. THey didn't know who made it... they barely seemed to know how to do much more then talk... a lot of talking... like not even the intimidating talking like all they said was the same thing about the darkside making them stronger but.... they were beaten by the silver watch." She said it and she looked at a few of them while going back to the throne and checking parts of it. SHe touched the throne though while looking at the bottom and it shifted on a plate when she waas looking at it. "Oh.... oh .... Oh Shoma look puzzles... we have puzzles."

She was wondering if there was going to be riddles... or water puzzles. Maybe even a light reflection puzzle.... she could see it now and looking at the throne clicked into place she was able to see it just right. The direction opening an area while Junko continued to walk and the chanting got louder and louder until she could see the room and looked on. Black robed figures with masks that were tall.. like massive and towering over various women who were in the center. "Hmmm this could be tricky." SHe said it and moved back looking at Shoma and debated whaat they could do. .... they could do the old two people in a coat thing.

No that wouldn't work they needed to be able to walk in there and get around... or at least know where those girls were being taken... that meant they needed to do the real undercover disguise.... they needed a master crafted outfit." SHe was looking at Shoma and nodded moving back into the chamber and opening her back as she could look at it. "Alright, we need to infiltrate them and find out where they are keeping those captive... we won't be able to follow them back but we should be able to sneak around." She nodded to herself aand took out some of the materia they could use to alter and set up their outfits.

"So we get changed, we infiltrate and rescue the others." SHe said it while present the altered Master Disguise outfits to Shoma.

 

[Shoma Ike]

"Ah yes it was them... Maya's boyfriend was a fish guy claiming to be a lightside sith and he wanted to show the girl his lightsaber."

An eyebrow arched upon the prince's forehead. Fish guy. Lightside Sith. Wanted to show her his lightsaber. If one were to ask him phrases that he wouldn't expect to hear today, they might have been met with any one of those. To have been in the same sentence was a truly remarkable spectacle that one could only truly appreciate with the realization that, for Junko, this was utterly normal.

"I have several questions," Shoma uttered, holding up a hand as he pondered where he might begin. And then asked himself if he even should utter the question aloud. Did he really want answers? Were some things better left unsaid?

But, also, wanted to show her his lightsaber. Was this supposed to be a euphemism? Were some Force Sensitives compensating for a shoto? Was this a thing?

And, if it was a thing, then what did that say about Jedi who wore their lightsabers in rather public displays?

"Oh.... oh .... Oh Shoma look puzzles... we have puzzles."

The prince's mouth hung open, the arm waivered in midair, as both his face and hand went through any myriad of expressions before he finally let the matter drop.

They were in a Sith temple, that was crashing into the ocean, in pursuit of women being abducted by a cult of the Dark Side. Clearly, there were a number of priorities one could consider in application of the present circumstance. Lightsaber euphemisms were likely not one of those priorities.

Yes, it still bothered him.

"So we get changed, we infiltrate and rescue the others."

The prince just blinked as he looked at what Junko Ike had handed him. "Why is it a skirt?" the prince asked.

It was the first question that came to mind. But then he realized there was another that was actually more salient. "Why did you have two of these with you?"

Did he have a better idea? No.

Was he really expecting an answer that would satisfy him? Not in the least.

"I feel like this was your plan all along, whether we found Darth Cultist or just some Squib with a poor disposition," Shoma remarked, as he started to change into the disguise.