Checking the gates

[Brooke Waters]

Ok, so this was some lesson, yeah? Head on over to the Tapani sector, and see what you could find? That was some grade A bantha poodoo, if anyone had taken the time to ask Sav. No, but well, it didn’t matter too much. She was the student here, right? And well, the teachers she was learning from, they knew a few things about getting information. A few lessons from Sentinels here, and Shadows there. A consular and guardian to help balance her out. With all that, Sav felt pretty good.

And after all, she wasn’t supposed to be alone. And her primarily teacher… master… had mentioned that a call went out to certain channels in the Jedi network. He didn’t want her to go alone, but also, working with others, some who were not necessarily human, or within the New Jedi Order, was important. Being a well versed Jedi was what he wanted for her.

But to be a Jedi, that meant having to deal with other Jedi as well. And working properly with them. So, as was typical, she landed and was making her way towards where the Jedi Temple was reported to be. She wasn’t sure who she was going to run into here, but well, c’est la vie, as they said a long time in the future, in a galaxy far, far away. The blonde tightened her jacket, and looked around. First step, make contact with the Temple. And who was there. New Jedi Order or not.

[member="Lanter Kells"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Sav Elko"]

The Jedi enclave in Tapani space had never been the most popular or populous. Kells had bummed around a lot of temples, but this one hadn't even crossed his radar. Not until the disappearances, anyway: two Jedi Knights and their Padawans, pretty much the only Jedi living here. The rest had moved to Sullust or Svivren around the same time.

He'd spent a good half hour poking around the temple. The Force was out of balance here, in ways he couldn't nail down. He mulled it over on the front steps.

The Force shifted subtly, and he looked up to see a young blonde woman, obviously from a wealthy background. There was something about the face, or maybe the hair, that tweaked his poor-kid instincts, no matter how hot she was.

He stood up. "Looking for something?"

 

[Brooke Waters]

There were a few things wrong here. One, the Galactic Alliance had Jedi Sentinels and the like patrolling most of its worlds. And two, there was a temple here, but… the Force felt… quiet? There wasn’t much that Savannah could do, not yet, with the Force. Sure, she had the basics of altering the world around her with some telekinesis, but it seemed that sensing the world around her was something she was good at. Maybe that was why during the siege of Thyferra things got more interesting in her life.

Or, really, because there was a damned war going on. She was going to not let that happen again. Not if she could help it. That was why she didn’t complain, as long as she was able to dress how she wanted and fly what she wanted? She was happy. But here? No, something was… off.

Why else were they sending Jedi here? And you know, real Jedi, not some newbie with a stun baton? Not that she had seen any Jedi, yet. That’s when she heard the voice. Running a hand through her hair, she bit at her lip. “Yeah, do you know where the Jedi Temple is?” She had a camera in her bag she shuffled for. “Just figured I’d take some holos…”

Did that scream basic?

[member="Lanter Kells"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Sav Elko"]

He kept an eye on the hand in the bag, just in case.

"This is the spot." He gestured back over his shoulder. "Not much to look at, is it. The Jedi who lived here kept kind of a low profile. I'm Kells - I'm a Jedi Knight, just here to take a look around. Are you..." He eyed his datapad. "...Savnah Kelko?"

The rendezvous message had spelled her name correctly, at a guess. Nothing like getting someone's name wrong to learn who they really were, and how easy they'd be to work with. Assuming this really was NJO Padawan Savannah Elko, anyway.

 

[Brooke Waters]

If Savannah was going to pull anything, it’d be more that she would try to get close to the person she was talking to… this Kells, and pull a few punches. She could use a hold out blaster, because, well, who couldn’t? but she much preferred to fight. She was more trained that way anyway, even without the Force. But, she was hoping it wasn’t going to come to that. She picked up the camera and waved it as she finished her statement regarding holos, and kind of moved the camera around the block.

Tapani was… interesting, to say the least.

Looking over Kells’s shoulder, she nodded. “Kept a low profile…” She muttered. “Savannah Elko? That’s me. Yeah! My teach---master, well, one of them anyway, said he was going to see who else was in the area. I really just kind of showed up to the Alliance after the Sith hit at Thyferra.” Really, Sav? She was saying that outloud. She shook her head. “You didn’t need to know all that.

“Are you part of the Jedi that were here?”

Are here?

[member="Lanter Kells"]

 

[Damian Starchaser]

It felt odd when Damian began wearing a suit so much, and yet now that he was without it he felt... naked. It was strange the things you got used to. The temple in Tapani space wasn't particularly large and indeed was smaller still when considering its inhabitants, still it was closest to Damians last job. A weapons smuggler was trying to sell a stolen drone and Damian had managed to trick a local drug cartel into finding it. He was sure the Alliance would be none to pleased with that, but it got the job done. One Experimental weapon off the black market.

Intelligence gained from the mission needed to be relayed. Organization of the cartel, members and their jobs, the place of origin for the arms dealers.... All the information he'd gained from the mission could be key to future dealings. That is what brought him here. The temple had an information center where he could send the data off, and that what brought him here...

Of course as the pretty blond approached he might think of a reason to stay... no! That was a Marek thought, and [member="Marek Starchaser"] was a Jackass. Sighing a bit he walked up to the pair prepared to back up Lanter should he need it. He has experience with girls he doubted his fellow Jedi did and knew that the darkside could come in even pretty packages.
[member="Sav Elko"] | [member="Lanter Kells"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Sav Elko"] [member="Damian Starchaser"]

Kells stood from the steps and dusted off his butt. "Nah, I've never been here before. I took a look inside for a while. There's something off about the Force, out of balance. I'm betting however those four Jedi disappeared, the Dark Side was involved."

As another blonde showed up, Kells looked back at the datapad. "You Damian Starch? Dispatch said you're looking to use the Temple's comm terminals. It's all locked down but your Jedi codes should work fine. Not sure where you're bound, but we could use an extra pair of eyes when you're done. Something fethy went down here."

 

[Brooke Waters]

Sav could feel another person approach. She wasn’t sure why, but he felt familiar. Odd, that bit. Still, she just kind of waved it off for the moment. The more interesting thing, she figured as she took a holo still anyway, was that the Temple was quiet. There was one here but… the Jedi weren’t here? That could not be good. Still, she tossed a look to blondie.

She was trying to behave, but well, it wasn’t always easy. She had a life of luxury, putting aside her own wants, to do her job? This was new territory to her.

“Yeah, can you try to get in?” She… didn’t think to remember her own code, not yet. Going back to Sullust was just her shouting ‘I’m a Starchaser student!’ and she got where she needed to go.

[member="Lanter Kells"]
[member="Damian Starchaser"]

 

[Damian Starchaser]

Damian lifted up his watch and patched into the communications device in the temple. It took a few swipes and botton presses before his report was brought up and scrolled through the information being absorbed by the temples computer systems and transfered to the coms to go out with the next wave os regularly schedules messages. "And information disseminated. " The report sent he looked over at the dark skinned man and fair haired woman and cracked a smile.

"Alright," he said as the holographic display blinked in and out of existence. "So now that I'm done with that," Looking at the group he reached out a hand, "Damian Starchaser, you said you needed some help?"

[member="Sav Elko"] | [member="Lanter Kells"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Sav Elko"] [member="Damian Starchaser"]

"Nice watch. Very nice. Okay, here's the situation. Two Jedi Knights and their Padawans went missing from this temple in the last few days. The rest of the Jedi here - there weren't many - left for Sullust or Svivren to be on the safe side. Local authorities blame obscure radicals, but I'm pretty sure the Dark Side was involved. This sector has a bit of a Dark Side history - an ancient group called the Mecrosa. Jedi files say the One Sith might have poked around at their legacy a few years back. Our goal is to find the four missing Jedi, figure out if they're still alive, rescue them if possible, and take down the people responsible. Clear as mud?"

 

[Brooke Waters]

Blinking, she watched the newcomer. Some watch, huh? Chewing on her lower lip, looking on in thought, not really at Damian’s wrist, but at the temple, she was curious. Could they even get inside? Didn’t really matter at this point, did it? She had met up with some people she was hoping to run across, a pair of Jedi, and Knights by the word of the first and look of the second. Maybe this sightseeing tour was going to get educational.

And it was immediately being that. Before she could even comment on Starchaser’s last name, Kells was speaking. He had this down. “Dark side? We really need to stop it then…” Sounding just like her teacher, and like someone who’s homeworld was just ransacked. “Read about the Mecrosa…” Right, Sav, stop talking.

“Yeah, do we have any supplies here? I’ve got like… y’know, a stun baton? A hold-out would be nice.”

Or a ship, yes, a ship.

[member="Lanter Kells"]
[member="Damian Starchaser"]

 

[Damian Starchaser]

Damian nodded at the Jedi. Good very professional. "Right so do we have any leads? Evidence?" Pursing his lips he considered the implications. Jedi weren't easy to take down in general, and given the near constant warfare in the galaxy they were more martially trained than ever and yet someone or something had killed or absconded with two knights. Even if it wasn't a darksider it would have had to have been a dangerous individual. "high probability its a darksider," Damian said, "And I trust our new friends instincts but we shouldn't jump to conclusions. Lets let the evidence take us where we need to go." Pausing he considered for a moment. "Now I've got a ship on a pad," he jerked his thumb in the direction of his Santhe Challenger, "and some supplies, and if they left anything in the temple I can get us in."

[member="Sav Elko"] | [member="Lanter Kells"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Sav Elko"] [member="Damian Starchaser"]

Kells prodded the door, which opened. "I just spent half an hour going through it. Nothing obvious stood out. Far as resources go, I've got a Jedi shuttle, a lightsaber, a couple of blasters, and a toolbox. That's about it.

"Now, leads or clues, that's something else. I found it weird that blame got put on obscure insurgent groups right away without any hard evidence. If I was a Darksider, and if I'd just kidnapped or killed four Jedi, I think I'd tweak a mind or two, sway the investigation, give myself some time to go to ground. My bet is, we dig far enough into local security, we'll find someone who's been influenced by the Dark Side. More likely, we'll get noticed and maybe kidnapped ourselves, which would be really handy."

 

[Brooke Waters]

Sav’s eyebrows rose. “Oh, its open. Silly me.” She laughed and shook her head. “Yeah, I guess I’ve only really seen Sullust, wouldn’t know if anything is out of sorts, personally.” She looked between the two Knights. “I’ve got my ship, a few blasters… but before we go, y’know, chasing, someone, I guess it might be better to have that instead of the baton.” She took the baton out of her bag and flipped the retracted bar in her hand once and then twice.

But if it was investigation… She could help with that. A bit of computer hacking, was how she got through university. Though, local security would be something else. “Maybe we can see what the local buzz was about.” She stepped into the temple. Looking around, she saw a holonet terminal. “How long ago was the capture reported?” And if she could get onto the local holonet, there had to be some message board squealing about what they say.

“Wait, captured… are you two expected to check in?”

She was, but that was because Jedi training wheels still.

[member="Lanter Kells"]
[member="Damian Starchaser"]

 

[Ivlyn Mecetti]

[SIZE=11pt]Ivlyn had gotten the message late, but there was no way that a few adepts would try to take on rogue masters of the Mecrosa Order, right? Hopefully. That’s why she had to be quick. Entering hyperspace from Nyssa on a ship with several adepts, some knights, the Master Rolla, and herself - a Knight of the Mecrosa Order - had been easy. Preparing herself for facing former comrades? Not so much.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Then she realized that the adepts hadn’t developed the skills necessary to truly identify users of both the dark and the light from pure Jedi. That was unfortunate. She supposed she noticed when the felt the presence of Jedi at the Pelagon Temple from orbit. Like the grand and majestic Pelagon Jedi Academy, which was much more [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px]sizable[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] than the temple, it once provided a plentiful amount of Jedi and stood as a testament of Tapani architecture, but now it was abandoned and [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px]desiccated[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] by that emptiness.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]The Force felt strange as she approached quietly alongside her fellow Mecrosa Order members after landing a bit away. They propelled themselves forward using Force speed, hidden from being sensed in the Force, seen with eyes, or heard with ears by that useful Force Concealment that their order practiced. When Master Rolla was certain that the rogues weren’t here, they revealed themselves - visibly and audibly, at least.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Rolla’s force bellow shocked Ivlyn out of her thoughts.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]”I am Master Rolla of the Mecrosa Order. With the radicals gone, and only us remaining, we request permission to enter your presence rather than stay out here. Is permission given?” His voice radiated not from him, but from… everywhere. It was as though Rolla himself weren’t actually speaking, but was manipulating sound waves to insure his position stayed a secret should the Jedi prove to be hostile. Paranoia was a Mecrosa trait, after all, especially when dealing with people that didn’t know whether they were friend or foe.[/SIZE]

[member="Sav Elko"]
[member="Lanter Kells"]
[member="Damian Starchaser"]

 

[Damian Starchaser]

Damian heard the voice from nearly nowhere and... checked his watch. the lifeform scanner detected the intruders location and sent up a signal on its face. "Approach and be recognized." Damian issued a standard challenge while he pretended as though he didn't know which way the intruders would come. With a subtle motion he attempted to show his two new friends his watch lettings its holographic display shine on his own body which was superimposed between himself and the invading party.

This newcomer, this 'Master' Rolla brazenly declaring themselves part of a Darkside order to three Jedi. This was either some sort of power play or else the utter stupidity of it astonished Damian. Then again so many groups were trying to throw up a pretense of civility and good conduct now a days there was no reason this group wouldn't be trying the long con like the Sith Order at Korriban not to so long ago. Still he prepared himself for any confrontation that might come.

In his possession he had both his lightsabers and a trusty stun blaster, and some explosives that he nearly always kept on his person. Along with the offensive use of his wrist chronometer he felt secure in his abilities to defend himself. Heck he had less when he blew up the Sith Emperor [member="Darth Carnifex"]. Less equipment, less experience, and less training in the force. Grimacing his only concern became his two companions. He'd never worked with either of them and knew that he might have to jump in to cover one or both should things get out of hand.

[member="Lanter Kells"] | [member="Sav Elko"] | [member="Ivlyn Mecetti"]​

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Sav Elko"] [member="Ivlyn Mecetti"] [member="Damian Starchaser"]

Kells glanced at Damian's watch - feth, but he needed to get one of those - and came down the steps. His new position put him in front of Sav and Damian, looking out at the area where most of the invisible Mecrosa would be.

"I'm Lanter Kells of the Jedi Order," he said at normal levels of volume. "If you've got nothing to hide, come meet me here at the bottom of the front stairs, and let me see your faces."

 

[Brooke Waters]

So, there was someone listening. That was an interesting bit of news. Sav was smiling at herself, as she looked up from the terminal. It didn’t seem like something to smile about, but maybe it was that nervous energy? Not like she had any kind of latte recently. Still, something was happening, and she had some Jedi with her! How lucky was that? Well, not all that lucky, considering she was on the Jedi path. She was listening to the voice.

Mecrosa… she had heard that word before. One of her teachers, she thought. Still… what… ok, what Damian? She looked up at him. Yes, they knew he had a fancy watch. Oh… scanning? Huh, she was going to see if she could buy from them.

“I’ve heard that word before…” She whispered to Damian, as Kells was doing the Jedi-make-a-stand thing. He seemed to know what he was doing.

[member="Lanter Kells"]
[member="Damian Starchaser"]
[member="Ivlyn Mecetti"]

 

[Ivlyn Mecetti]

[SIZE=11pt]Ivlyn motioned for the adepts to stay back. She knew the price of letting those a little too inexperienced go into dangerous situations. One wrong word and this could go very badly, especially if these Jedi were the more hotblooded kind. Ivlyn had met a few hotblooded Jedi. Generally it was considered a bad idea to give the hotblooded the kind of power that a Jedi could wield against their enemies, but they did have their use.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]So, she, the rest of the knights, and Master Rolla did as would be expected of a group that held no ill will. Rolla stood before the Jedi first, then Ivlyn and the knights. Ivlyn pulled the helmet off of her Charon carapace.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]”I am Ivlyn Mecetti, Duchess of Ark’ghou, and the occasional representative of the Tapani Federation when the other ambassadors are busy. I do apologize for our lack of organization as a Force order. It has caused problems for nearly a decade now. We would very much appreciate your help. I suppose that I should get to the point rather quickly, now.” Ivlyn said, speaking for the entire group. She brushed some of her crimson hair out of her eyes.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]”There is a rot growing in the Mecrosa Order, and it includes some of our most capable members. It must be excised.” Ivlyn said, hoping that the Jedi would understand their situation rather than lashing out.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]

Spoiler: Tags

[member="Sav Elko"]

Spoiler: Tags

[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt][member="Lanter Kells"][/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt][member="Damian Starchaser"]

[/SIZE]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Ivlyn Mecetti"] [member="Sav Elko"] [member="Damian Starchaser"]

Kells' eyes tightened as several Mecrosa appeared from thin air.

"You need to understand we're hesitant. The name Mecrosa has meant Dark Side for a long time, even in the last handful of years. Doesn't mean we're not gonna listen. Does mean we're starting from square zero when it comes to trust."

He folded his arms. "What do your internal problems have to do with our four missing Jedi? If you know anything about where they went or got taken, now's the time to spill."