Private Cabin in the Woods

[Reid Brimarch]

UNKNOWN REGIONS
OUTPOST BAR
Elpsis Kerrigan
​

Rumors brought him to this world.

Did it even have a name? Shaw wasn't sure. The locals were mostly vagrants, as paradoxical that might sound. Folks that drifted and then decided to settle here for one reason or another. The outpost was dozens of Imperial-grade prefab constructs smashed together, until it had a convenient shape. Some had dismantled their ships. Made them into comfortable abodes close to the outpost.

Apparently they had been tired of galactic conflicts after the First Order's fall.

Better to just pick a world. Settle down. Find a way to ignore all the chaos, instead just focus on yourself. All good and well until people started to disappear. First the ones that traveled far from the settlement. Then closer and closer. The forests to the North seemed to be the boundary line. There was already talk among the locals.

Maybe it was time to pack up and go?

"So, I am sure folks chat to ya a lot, why don't you tell me some more about what's going on up North in the forests?" Shaw drawled as he accepted his ale from the barkeep. This wasn't strictly speaking a Jedi mission. Not a Ranger mission either. But the Jedi Shadows had heard of the rumor and it made them think. This was First Order territory some years ago. The planet itself hadn't been part of any Imperial star maps however. Almost as if they had tried to erase it. Maybe the vagrants had accidentally stumbled across something dangerous? It could be, could very well be that.

So why not send Shaw to check?

What was the worst that could happen?

​

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

Reid Brimarch

A nameless planet on the furthest reaches of space. Far away from the many empires that sought to force their will upon the galaxy, no matter which ideology they claimed to espouse. Settlers had sought refuge her from the many wars that engulfed the galaxy at periodic intervals. This was understandable. After a while, it got tiring to find the right flag - Alliance, Confederate, Mandalorian or Sith - in the closet and wave it from one's window when the latest generation of occupiers came parading down your street.

Elpsis could sympathise with this. Her parents had villas and a moon-sized station. She had a cabin in the middle of nowhere. In her more sentimental moments, she thought about one day retiring to a simple homestead, growing cabbage, raising animals and teaching the occasional young one. She could shower good causes with the money from her trust fund. But there was too much to do in the interim. There was duty.

So here she was. "A blind girl, a rebel, a Rattataki and a clone walk into a bar," she spoke because she had brought her posse with her. Not all of it, of course. It had been decided that a platoon or squad-sized unit would not be appropriate for a mission of this nature.
"And the Pureblood was left behind," a blonde woman, eyes hidden behind a pair of shades, finished. She was the rebel in question.
"Thought you didn't like her."
"I don't," the rebel, whose name was Natalie, said honestly. "I can do without bloviating about how her red skin and invented lineage make her superior to everyone. But she's good at getting in the way of blaster bolts that want to hit me."
"Nyssa Vykaris is a good teacher and a strong warrior," the Rattataki, who was Rhea by name, insisted.

"Good at clubbing things. I wouldn't listen to the rest too closely," Natalie responded. Glancing towards the blind girl, she asked: "Anything new about your mother's condition?"
"Nyssa's a dear friend. And mother's still recovering. Dunno how long she'll be out of commission," Elpsis suppressed a sigh. "No sign of the queen who attacked her." They had been close, and yet the Sith had gotten away. It gnawed at her deeply.
"I can hit up my sources. No promises though," Natalie offered.
"You have my blade when she is found. I hope your maternal recovers soon," Rhea spoke up.
"Didn't take you for a fan."
"I am not, but she is your maternal." She gave Elpsis a significant look. "And I know what her attitude to my people is. I do not know what that of the other leaders is."
Diona - the clone - had been silent for most of the walk, but looked thoughtful. "In the Dominion, an incapacitated Grandmaster is often relegated to the sickroom and never heard of again, except for propaganda broadcasts. Sometimes, illusions or brainwashed clones are used for those. Your mother's second is more loyal than that?"

Elpsis frowned. "Dunno her much, but yeah. Varkathras said Danton's solid, and that's enough for me. Anyway, let's focus on why we're here. Disappearances, lives at stake, the works," she said with an air finality as they approached the bar, which resembled the stereotypical establishment you'd find on a fringe planet like this. "Ask around. Try not to draw attention." And so the four-member, single-gender team entered. Based on outward appearances, they probably looked like mercenaries or similar.

 

[Reid Brimarch]

Elpsis Kerrigan

"Well, sir, what we know is that people fethin' disappear in there and nobody has been eager to get too close anymore. I also dun' think we need to talk more about it, since that scares away the clientele, savvy?"

Shaw was about to point out that the forests swallowing up more people would probably scare them away MORE.

Then Elpsis and her posse showed up.

The Force always shifts when more Forcers show up in a room. It's like a heavy room gets more heavy, static charge, power building up. It made his back hair rise up just a little bit. Enough that his attention shifted from the shifty barkeep and towards the .... okay, yeah, mercenaries. By the taste of it not Sith, so that was good, but other than that it could be anyone.

"Looks like y'all could conquer a whole town by ya lonesome," Shaw drawled good-naturedly, but not rising from his seat. Cautious? Oh yes, but not wanting to send a wrong signal here.

"-also here to investigate the mysterious disappearances?" That last bit got a small curse from the barkeep.

Exactly the response Shaw had been looking for.

Oh, it wasn't nice, but honestly people who were more concerned about their money source than making sure others were safe? Eh, Shaw didn't have to feel too badly about that.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

Reid Brimarch

Elpsis and her posse - though Natalie would dispute the idea that she belonged to anyone's posse - had entered the bar when the blind pyromancer's Force Senses prickled. The presence of another Force-Sensitive left ripples. Her senses homed in on a presnece, just before he spoke. Elpsis, being physically blind, did not see faces. But she perceived auras.

She turned her gaze towards the interloper. Elpsis was young, but vcious scars ran across her features. She had been offered treatment to get rid of the ragged lines, but they were a part of her. Just like her dead, milky-white eyes she had scorned replacements for. "I am, as a matter of fact. What's your interest in it?" she responded simply. She had never been the type to play coy. Rhea made no comment, but remained alert, eying the interloper somewhat warily.

"This ain't the place for that. Y'all wanna buy drinks, you come here. You wanna go chase ghosts in da forest, you go there and don't bother honest folks," the barkeep grumbled. This was clearly not his day.
"You do not care about your lost people's fate?" Diona asked disdainfully. "Your greed is disgusting."
The barkeep shrugged. "Look lady, I got mouths ta feed and bills ta pay. Folks know the risks."

Natalie raised an eyebrow. "Worried about your income drying up? I reckon this place used to be busier. Imagine how deserted it will when everyone leaves for greener pastures because no one has the pluck to deal with whatever lurks in the forest and the story keeps spreading. Starting all over again? Not easy." This probably annoyed the barkeep even more, but she was unfazed. "Oh, and some drinks please."

 

[Reid Brimarch]

Elpsis Kerrigan

Shaw studied the leader impassively.

No big widening eyes in shock or an involuntary gasp. Clearly this one had ... seen .... some chit. Pardon the pun, because it was way too hard not to take the opportunity. "Well, you see-" And then the bartender interrupted them all. Before Shaw could retort however? Natalie took the words right out of Shaw's mouth and his eyebrows rose.

"Well hot dang, lady, ya snatching the words right outta my brain." He murmured bemused to Nat, before turning his attention to the leader again. "I am here to lend a hand too."

A shrug there.

"Dun' care about the bounty much, jus' want to help, so maybe we join forces here? More efficient than working at cross purposes and make a silly competition out of it." Shaw paused the smirk he was about to perform to Elpsis. Mostly because lady was blind. Wasn't like she could actually see that white shine dropping her way.

Instead the grin was diverted to Natalie as he took a sip.

"What do y'all say?"

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

Reid Brimarch

The barkeep muttered grumpy things to himself. Perhaps he had figured that he was fighting a losing battle - especially since out of the five people he was arguing, four seemed to sellswords of some sort. Elpsis could indeed not perceive facial expressions. Truth be told, she did not even really see faces, which meant that she did not know what any of the members of her present posse actually looked like. She saw shapes and auras.

For the briefest of moments, Elpsis glanced towards Natalie. Then she gave the stranger a nod. "Come over here." With a gesture of her hand, she pulled up a seat. "Name's Elpsis." She quite deliberately left out the 'Kerrigan-Alcori' part. "That's Natalie, Diona, and Rhea," she indicated the members of her group. Maybe they could start a girl band or something. Elpsis would be a poor choice for lead singer though. Thanks to the torture she had endured on Tephrike, she had to speak in a low voice, otherwise it would hurt her throat.

"You're Force-Sensitive. Are you affiliated with any group?" the woman called Diona asked him directly. She was a tall woman and looked several years older than Elpsis. She had a sturdy, muscular physique and short-cropped blonde hair. Her expression was stoic.

 

[Reid Brimarch]

Elpsis Kerrigan

He settled himself down in the chair Elpsis indicated.

Studying each of their faces as she did the introductions. Giving them all a nod, one by one, before offering another grin. "Pleasure making y'alls acquaintance. Shaw Vynos, that be me." The only one offering his last name too. Mostly because he had picked it himself. The streets weren't known to give you a first and last name charitably.

So the name you picked for yourself?

Damn well be proud of it an' then some.

Shaw leaned in a bit better as Elpsis spoke. Coarse voice, like she had been garroted or something, and not in the fun way either. Before he could ask however, one of her companions asked something of him first. So much for a free action, when you are thinking. "Oh, yes, that I am." Nodding there, before leaning back again, relaxed. "I am a Jedi Knight, currently attached to the Galactic Alliance's Rangers." The information was given freely. Mostly because it wasn't the full truth.

The fact that he was a Jedi Shadow? Embedded in a structure that gave him far more room to navigate and investigate?

Well, that was a need to know basis.

"Don't worry though, I won't be lecturing y'all on the virtues of the Light. What about y'all?" They weren't Sith, or overtly Darkside, but that still left a pretty big range of things that they could be into. "And are y'all only into it for the money, or ya interested to solve the thing too?"

There was no judgement in that last question.

Shaw simply needed to know how much he could rely on them in the long run.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

Reid Brimarch

"You're a long way from your...Alliance," Diona remarked. The Jedi she was used to were those from the Dominion of Light. A government she now recognised to be evil...and yet what she had heard and seen of many of the 'space' Jedi had not impressed her much or seemed plain bizarre to her. If reports were to be believed, there were even space Jedi who consorted with and fought alongside Sith. Blasphemous. It had also been difficult for her to wrap her mind around the fact that the space Jedi were so...fractious.

"A Jedi who just wants to help the lost and forgotten and not oppress anyone? How strange," Rhea said. She looked at him with unadulterated suspicion. There were bad memories there. Of an extremely repressive Jedi theocracy.

"Long as we're on the same page, anyone's colour scheme is their business," Elpsis stated in a quiet, but authoritative voice. Her expression was guarded. "The job is to locate the source of the disappearances and put a stop to it. And to find the missing and bring them back. If there's no one left, we settle for making sure no one else suffers their fate and their people learn what happened. "Since we're putting cards on the table," - many of them, at any rate - "I'm here to get the job done. Someone's gotta, after all."
"I'm less 'altruistic', but I get paid by the hour, so," Natalie interjected in a deadpan tone that made it difficult to discern whether she was being serious or not.

 

[Reid Brimarch]

Elpsis Kerrigan

A shrug.

"I ain't doing my job right if I am close to it all the time." Shaw drawled bemusedly. True for two reasons- Shadows weren't meant to operate in one place for too long and as an attachment to the Alliance Rangers he often traveled about. Had to police the Galaxy, or something like that. It was a bit more nuanced than that, but people these days didn't have time for that anyway.

The next statement made him tip his head back and laugh.

"Weird as feth, eh? Well, look, I figure the closer I follow the Code's spirit the better off I will be. Like you said, since we putting some cards on the table. I don't do murder, won't kill unless someone needing to be put down... think Zambrano grade scum of the Galaxy. Don't expect me to go for the kill, if the situation requests it on the field, when we there."

A shrug there. "Just figure we ought to be as straightforward with each other as possible from the get-go."

He didn't judge folks who had it otherwise.

Sometimes someone needed killing. Shaw got that, understood it, but he wouldn't partake in that kind of chit. Too many people already thought they could be judge, jury and executioner all wrapped up in one.

Pointing towards Natalie. "Nothing wrong with wanting to be paid. Job's a job, but yeah." A nod to Elpsis. "Gotta get the job done first. Can't have more people disappearing, cus' we half-arsed this. Our tavernkeep friend wouldn't enjoy having more clientele disappear, right buddy?!" Over to the 'keep, who just grunted annoyed.

Maybe not smart to aggravate him too much, but Shaw was all out of karks to give.

"Shall we then?"

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

Reid Brimarch

"What a strange Jedi you are," Rhea remarked. Her tone was not belligerent, but betrayed some confusion. No Tephriki Jedi would say they would not kill an enemy. Even to her it seemed bizarre. She would not show mercy to agents of injustice. Yet the man did not have the look of a squeamish hippie, and he seemed earnest in his words.

"Long as you help out, and don't throw yourself in the line of fire or try to cut our guns in half when we start shooting fine by me. My rules are simple: no charging in like an idiot, clean kills, no needless suffering"

"If there's a conspiracy behind this, we will need people to question," Diona affirmed. Dead men told no tales, after all. Generally, she amended, remembering a certain wood elf ghosttalker. The apparent Jedi's words gave her fodder for thought, though unlike Rhea her expression remained stoic. On Tephrike, the Jedi were one bloc united by one code, save for the cowards who consumed mushrooms in the forest and healed Sith. But out here in the stars, there are a myriad interpretations, she thought. Most do not, however, have any sense.

Her first instinct would be to say that the failing lay in the lack of any centralised controls...except Tephrike had had those in spades and they had spawned a slave state dotted with charnel pits. Did the failing lie within the Jedi or was there something about their teaching that was fundamentally flawed. She pushed those thoughts aside. Duty demanded her unrelenting focus, not idle speculation. She could only remember her sins and do her duty.

"Yes. And if someone's behind this, they're not getting away scots free." Elpsis nodded curtly. She got up from her chair. "Let's get moving."
"Just a moment," Natalie spoke up. "Finishing my drink."
Elpsis gave an exaggerated sigh. "Just that one. Don't want you to aim as 'precisely' as a Stormtrooper."
"I'm better at shooting and holding my liquor than you," Natalie pointed out, before drinking right from the bottle. "Right, I'm ready." And with that the group left the bar before the barkeep could lose all his clients.

 

[Reid Brimarch]

Elpsis Kerrigan

A shrug there.

"Pretty sure you gotta be a little bit strange to take the Jedi job in the first place." Shaw offered back easily. Celibacy, a constant external sacrifice of all your wants in the face of the public good, no personal possessions, celibacy.... mostly celibacy, really. It all came down to the simple fact of no attachments to anyone ever.

Shaw understood that.

Perfectly.

It was easier to do your job, when you weren't constantly worrying about your emotions turning you into a sadistic sociopath. "Oh kriff no, as long as yar guns are aimed at the bad fellas, ya can shoot all you like. I don't force my beliefs on others. Hell, most in my Order do think killing is jus' fine." A sniffle of the nose there. Clearly disagreeing there with them, heavily. "But eh, I got enough nightmares clinging to my fingers owned by others, to try and make a few of my own." Cryptic statement, but then again... they saw the marks on his face. Kiffar. It wasn't a secret these days what some of them could do. Not everyone, no, but if one of them said that?

Clear as day.

Psychometry was a chit and a half.

Try and walk a mile without touching anything, because you might be transported into a nightmarish memory of someone stubbing their toe. Or even worse than that.

He had already started up to follow Elpsis, until they all paused in their track, because Natalie wanted to finish her drink. Bemused glance her way. "Steady the nerves, eh? Not a bad idea." He snatched up his own ale glass and slammed it over in one go. An exaggerated ah there, before they all exited the bar to the (assumed) relief of the barkeep.

After paying, of course, they weren't animals.

"Y'all got speeders? I was planning on walking over there, but this posse seems to have that technological edge going, hm?" Open-wide grin there.

He glanced around as he waited for a response.

The 'village' or outpost seemed deserted. Wasn't the case, of course. The ones with the Force could sense it. The life still around them, but currently hiding in their huts and ships. Some of them staring at them through thinly-veiled windows or viewports. Others prepping to leave entirely, having no hope of a resolution for their safety.

"Folks losing hope here already..."

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

Reid Brimarch

"Don't need it for nerves. I shoot better after knocking back some shots," Natalie quipped as they made their way through the village. "Hey, Blondie, the shiny, happy people of the Dominion didn't have booze, did they? The 'peons' can't have fun things that might distract them from goose-stepping."

Diona was taken aback by the question, then shook her head. She disapproved of 'Blondie'. "No, it was forbidden for being sinful," she responded simply. "The Arbiters often broke up illegal distilleries. In the army we observed temperance in the breech. Hard to enforce...with everything that was going on," she trailed off. Personally, she had turned to the needle, not the bottle. It had made it easier to forget and put herself in a state of numbness so that the memories could not hurt her.

"The Grand Inquisitor liked to bribe senior officials with liquor and other rare items," Rhea chimed in. "Sometimes he plied them with it at banquets so that they would forget themselves and reveal compromising thoughts. Not that it helped him in the end," she said darkly. For a brief moment, her yellow eyes met Elpsis' milky-white ones.

"'All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others'," Diona quoted quietly. "It is a line from a book. It uses allegory to criticise conditions back home. The author was arrested, and returned a year later, begging 'forgiveness'."

Made the bastard die too quickly, Elpsis thought. She had, in fact, incinerated the Grand Inquisitor in question. While the reminiscing went on, she gave the newcomer a nod. There was the here and now to focus on. "We have some. Should be room for you. We're best doing the actual tracking on foot when we get to the forest." Her eyes travelled across the settlement. People had not packed up and left, but were huddled in their homes and ships, too fearful of what lurked in the dark to step out. If conditions deteriorated further, people would undoubtedly try their luck elsewhere.

 

[Reid Brimarch]

Elpsis Kerrigan

"Do you? That's fascinating, maybe more people should get drunk before a war." A pause there as he thought that through. "Maybe the wars would end before they start then too."

A shrug as they walked up to the speeders.

It was up to Elpsis to decide how many of them actually existed.

Regardless of he'd whistle once seeing them. "Dang, y'all well-outfitted for a bunch of mercs." Crouching down next to one. Petting the side of it, while luckily wearing his gloves. Who knew how many critters they had crashed into during their drives? Best not to think about it. "Classic Firemane tech, one of the best, that's for sure." He drawled, while glancing up at them, some measure of calculation entering his eye.

Then rising up and dusting his hands off.

"Well, I cannae drive a speeder without crashing 'em, so who wants a passenger?"

Regardless of who said yes, hopefully someone would, Shaw would get onto one of the speeders. Soon enough they would be on their way.

Off to their destination... a dangerous hunt!

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

Reid Brimarch

"With a cheesy name. What was it again? Fireracer?" Natalie remarked dryly. Firemane did like to slap 'fire' or 'flame' on as many things as possible. Order of Fire, Firehome, Young Flames, Firetruth - the list went on and on.

"It's either that or elf goddesses with them, isn't it?" Elpsis glanced at Shaw after the Jedi divulged his speeder driving skills or lack thereof. Elpsis herself was not a great pilot - especially givenher blindness. But she could manage driving a bike on the ground. It was more a lot more difficult for her in space, where objects appeared and moved much faster. "You can ride with Diona and me."

That left Natalie and Rhea to steer the other vehicle. The speeders in question were modified landspeeders roughly similar to an M-68, though with slightly improved passenger capacity. It did not have a Factory submission, but then Factory was optional. With Elpsis behind the controls of one of the speeders and Natalie behind that of the other, quartet took off towards the forest of doom that was apparently so cursed that the locals - or at least the barkeepers - had invoked damnatio memoriae. It certainly looked foreboding.

 

[Reid Brimarch]

Elpsis Kerrigan

"I think it was 'Firedancer', something about dancing like fire over the transit ways. The commercial was quite amusing." Shaw piped up again, supplying that nugget of information that nobody really asked for, but amused him nonetheless. "Much appreciated, ma'am. At least it's a three sitter, rather than having to get comfy right against each other, eh?"

That twinkle in the eye, but the voice had no depth behind it. It didn't seem, at least, that he had any real interest in the carnal ways. Especially considering they were all quite lovely in their own damaged, war-torn self, so that might have been a surprise.

No lingering looks, or stolen brushes that could be written off as an accident.

Nothing at all.

As they settled down Shaw let himself glance around as they traveled. The way the houses made away for planes and hills, while the forest kept growing larger in front of them.

"Certainly looks scary and horror-vibe enough!" Shaw tried to shout over the winds blowing around them. They were in a hurry after all, so it would be a quick trip. About a hundred meters separating them, the Jedi Knight felt it, however. Something in the Force. It felt like... well... honestly it felt like quicksand suddenly filling around you.

A sense of dread.

"Y'all feel that?"

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

Reid Brimarch

Shaw's professional attitude and lack of lecherousness or flirtations were much appreciated. Regardless, the two speeders had soon left the houses behind them The forest kept growing larger and larger. For a while, everything was normal. Then there was a palpable shift. A sense of dread and fear was in the air.

"Me, too," Elpsis confirmed. There were no voices whispering about doom and woe, just a feeling that something was very wrong. Diona's jaw tightened. "Reminds me of Palmyra," she said quietly. She had never been to that accursed hellscape - and was grateful for it - but she knew comrades of hers who had been stationed and been driven mad by it.

Those few who came back were never the same. Some had to be quarantined in asylums because they had become a danger to themselves. Because even after they left, the nexus still kept its grip on them. The feeling grew more intense, like somethng dark and alien was crawling over her. I am no Jedi anymore, but my vow remains. My duty is unfaltering. When darkness closes in, I must be the flaming sword, she thought.

Of the three Force-Users in the group, Rhea's powers were the weakest. The Rattataki was taken back to her training with her late, unlamented Master, the Grand Inquisitor. "You are still full of fear, Padawan. A true Jedi does not show fear. She must be a vessel of the Light. You want to serve the path of righteousness, don't you? The only path that will allow you to destroy the Sith?"
"Yes, Master," she said, trying to control her breathing and not let her fear of what she knew was to come show.
"Know that I take no joy in this, Padawan. In all things, I only have your bettermind as a Jedi at heart." Then he unleashed his power upon her, assailing her mind with naked terror and fear. Her body shook as she struggled in vain to withstand the assault.

I must not run from my fear. I will let it pass over me and through me. And when it is gone, I will still be there, Rhea quietly repeated this to herself like a mantra to steel herself.

Natalie, having expected some sort of Force voodoo, had slipped on a neural band after leaving the bar. She always carried ever since that fateful duel with the Witch-Necromancy Matsu Xiangu. The device kept the feeling at bay...somewhat. It still felt like something was crawling over her head and trying to burrow its way in. She winced "Elpsis, my my instruments are giving me crap. Sensors aren't working, nor is navigation."

"Ours are the same," Diona spoke.
"Stop and disembark," Elpsis decided. As the speeders slowed down, her comm suddenly beeped. Confounded by this, she took the call. However, there was nothing but static on the other end. "Yeah, horror movie vibe," she remarked and shut the comm down. However, for some reason, static still came out of it.