Best Laid Plans

[Tryp West]

Bastion​

Imperial Historical Society Protected Zone​

Ruined Temple​

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Tryp didn't know what the temple was called. The name had been lost during the Four Hundred Years of Darkness. So much, really. Sometimes, Tryp felt like they knew less about their Galaxy than they had any right to, running along just the very surface of it like ants on the sand. Then again, like ants, Tryp supposed, some of them knew how to dig.

She'd gotten permission to open up a site dig at this particular location. She was conscious of the responsibility (how she felt about all of the artifacts she worked with however), and treated the site with the respect it deserved. Working alone, she left as much of it undisturbed as possible, carefully picking and choosing what parts to excavate and what parts to leave alone. She logged everything, cataloged everything....

Of course, it was more than that.

Currently gloved, wearing a long sleeved jacket and a leather hat despite the relative warmth at the dig location (she still hadn't figured out why that was yet), Tryp leaned over, using a brush to carefully remove a layer of sand and exposing it to the light of her lamp- probably the first light it had seen in five hundred years. A small statue of a woman, carved from black stone. Looking closely, she grimaced. Some of the details were.... disturbing. But this was a Sith site, and she had expected that much. It was why she had not yet used psychometry on this particular dig yet. Her job included finding out as much about this temple as she could- who had worshiped here, a name if possible- but she was careful, for her own sake, in how she went about it.

With a sigh, Tryp leaned back, wiping sweat away from her temple and leaving a smear of dust in its place.

She'd get there, she was just in no rush.

[member="Kobe Seren"]

 

[Lief]

There were so many places out there in the Galaxy that had skeletons buried beneath the surface. Hotspots of archaic knowledge, civilizations most had never even heard of... So many took for granted what they knew, what they had been told, yet much of it was truly speculation. Especially when you began to get further out in time, to those days lost to the Darkness.

What lay before him was a treasure trove of untapped potential, even from his perch far overhead he could feel the darkness pulsating through the area. Even now, regardless of how long these ruins had sat untouched.

Tablets excavated in the tombs of Aphoresis had spoken of a world known as Sartinaynian, a closeted world which for much of the Galaxy's history had been kept from star maps and the meddling of outsiders. It had actually been quite the task to trace its origins to Bastion, which was ironic given his Master's dominion of these lands. Part of him had been left to wonder if another world had existed within the system, destroyed eons ago... Instead it had been under his nose the entire time.

Imagine his surprise when, after days of scouting out the area, of getting a feel for the creatures which prowled around the ancient structure, seeking out the epicenter of the disturbance he felt throughout, another presence made itself known.

They were far from the cultural centers of Bastion. Out here wilderness reigned, and yet there she was. He had paused in his own venture, opting instead to watch the stranger who had set up an excavation site. So far very little had really caught his attention concerning the things she unearthed, yet as this more recent discovery was dusted off he could not help but find himself drawn toward it.

Head tilting slowly to one side, the man with many names contemplated his next move. Did he move closer and examine it for himself, or did he wait for night to fall when the risk of being discovered was lessened?

If I wait, then she may leave with it in her possession...

Pushing back from the edge of the outcrop he had been watching her from, he began to make his way down to surface level. Each step slow and calculated, as he formulated a course of action.

[member="Tryp West"]

 

[Tryp West]

Rocking back on her heels, Tryp turned the figure over in her hands.

"Record," she instructed in a firm voice. Internal cybernetics, triggered by the command and the tone, started doing just that.

"Ground level excavation, right side, central chamb'r, room cat'loged six-two-seven. Object logged, numbah thirty tree, as per location cat'log. Uncov'red a stone statue, approx'mately 14 cent'met'rs tall. Black stone, unknown or'gin, but looks like it matches native rock on preliminary observation. Female.... uh..... zabrak I t'ink, but wit' anomalies. Four arms, ta start. Small 'orns running in a pair o' lines from da for'ead back down da spine. 'Ands spread out, pose relaxed. Detail work on da piece is amazin', if kinda creepy. Pretty sure da belt she's wearin' is entrails fer a start."

She continued to recite details as she turned the piece over in her hands, noting everything she could see and deduce on a cursory examination. Every item that came out of the site was cataloged in that fashion, and later once she was back at camp she'd get the notes transcribed into something she could turn over when she was done with the dig site.

Tryp wasn't a force users. She was honestly grateful for that most of the time. It would have made it impossible for her to do this work and, for the most part, she enjoyed it. Sure, working for the Sith, on Sith artifacts was difficult. But right now, they were the ones paying the credits, and they were credits she needed. Tryp was a pragmatist. Sure, given a choice between working for the sith or not the sith, well, she'd choose not. But with the Core in chaos this was where the work like this was.

She could be picky or she could be paid.

It was a pretty straight forward call on her part.

There was a pause in the recitation of details on the statue, not long but noticeable to someone paying attention. Then it picked back up. Reaching over, Tryp pulled one of the small cases over, using a tool to hollow out a space in a brick of foam that the statue could fit snugly in.

Someone was behind her, a bit aways. It wasn't much. The sound of sand between shoe and stone maybe. Or a spare breath. Something.

Slowly she settled the statue into the case. She didn't stand up from where she crouched, didn't look up from her task.

"Ya could jes' say 'allo," she said conversationally. "Not gonna bite. Might ask ta see yer permit ta be 'ere doh."

[member="Kobe Seren"]

 

[Lief]

Her words struck him before she came into view, blocked from sight by the various outcrops and ruins which scattered the dig site.

She was... Meticulous. Something about that trait only piqued his interest further, and where he had previously been seeking out the relic she now had contained within a case he found that she was the more curious of the two women in the vicinity. Especially when her words addressed him almost directly, despite his quiet approach.

He lifted his head, just enough to catch her scent on the wind, and closed his eyes for a long moment. Of course he found no excuse to respond in likeness, nor did he step from beneath the shadows he had found himself lingering within. Instead he waited, senses tingling as he breathed in the area around them. It was intoxicating, even now. Even after days of circling the spot it had more mysteries to unearth. He longed for an excuse to be drawn from the darkness, to step among the ruins rather than remain an outsider standing on the very edge.

Blinking back to sight, he directed his gaze skyward; though the day was still incomplete this area of the world seemed perpetually gloomy, almost as though the contents of the site held sway over the weather which preceded it. The ground was marshy, moss lined rocks and pieces of the structure that still remained erect, the air felt... Stagnant. It was disgusting, really, yet it had its allure regardless.

A slow exhale through his nose was the most clear evidence of his presence there; he realized that had he wanted to remain more or less a phantom, a figment of her imagination, he could have, and yet he had compelled himself into forming reality to her supposed paranoia.

Yet still he remained in place, happy to merely observe for now.

[member="Tryp West"]

 

[Tryp West]

Without getting up, without turning around, Tryp had no idea who- or what- was somewhere behind her. Heck she wasn't even sure where exactly the person was. Just that when someone spent as much time alone in ruins as Tryp West did, well- you learn to tell when they aren't as empty as you thought they were.

She stayed there, still but not frozen for a minute. Then, she shrugged and got back to work.

"Suit yerself," she said, the smile carrying over to her voice.

Whistling, she settled back to her task, gloved hands carefully handling the small statue and settling it into its case, nestled into the foam. Closing it with a snap, she pulled a marker out from behind her ear, tugged the tap off with her teeth, and scribbled a bold 33 onto the top. Humming around the marker top, she recapped it, tucked it away again, and spun the lock channels.

Standing up, she stretched, arms over her head first, then hands at the small of her back.

"Oye dis job gits 'arder and 'arder ev'ry year," she muttered genially with no real complaint to the tone.

"Ya drink caf? Gonna make a pot."

Casual, relaxed. She still had no idea who she was talking to. Or if they'd even answer. But still, Tryp didn't make caf without offering.

[member="Kobe Seren"]

 

[Lief]

He ought to have moved, the moment that he witnessed her placing the relic into the case, yet she continued to intrigue him.

Kobe could not help but think he had made the right call by opting to simply observe the woman instead of keeping his distance. She was an odd little thing, one who showed no signs of concern or fear at the presence of a soundless individual watching from the shadows. How many others could say the same?

No doubt she was used to working with men such as he. That she was within a IHS zone spoke volumes, so few were inducted into the society and fewer still who did not have some sort of ties or reputation. Not that he knew of, anyway.

With the small statue now locked away, Kobe's purpose here was over. At least, partly. There were still other relics which could be sensed humming within the earth, buried deeper no doubt. It was no true loss to him, anything which was sent back to the association for inspection could be called forth if he presented a good enough reason, and being that he had connections to the God-King of Panatha himself he doubted it would be too difficult to pull those strings.

The question of caf drew him from his thoughts, and he tilted his head to the left ever so slightly in curiosity. Oh she was intriguing alright, casual yet focused all at once.

Though he knew she could not see it he shook his head. Only now did he opt to step forward, barely within the light yet enough to be observable if she so chose to look. He wanted to know more, who she was, her name, her origins, but even when his lips parted in apprehension no words tumbled free. Instead he frowned, and glanced over the woman in an attempt to find some sort of identification, or some greater hint of who she was.

[member="Tryp West"]