Private Clearing the Memory Palace

[Eloi Graix]

Clearing the Memory Palace

So much had change since he last visited the planet. So much was different. Unfortunately, the change did not all seem to be for the better. Perhaps he shouldn't have expected anything else, seeing as the Sith had been the masters of Ossus after driving the Jedi out all those years ago. While they had worked on the world's recovery - both in regards to its nature and the hearts and minds of its people, there was still much to be done. The old Master had dedicated some of his own time to personally help with the recovery efforts - while he lacked the capacity to do much physical work, the force was always a powerful ally and had been particularly helpful in rooting out corrupting elements.

This day, his intentions were to involve a couple Padawans in the efforts, hopefully teaching them a valuable lesson while also accomplishing something good.

Standing at the point where the grassy prairie met rock and cliffs, the Chagrian studied an old and partially destroyed building, etched into the cliff wall. It had been a smaller temple before the planet's fall. Now, it was infested by aggressive beasts and while they where predatory in nature, these had reportedly been particularly fierce. Upon arriving at the location, all doubts were removed from Eloi's mind - the Temple was tainted by the dark side.

While there were certain risks involved in the task he had planned for the Padawans, the elderly Master was confident that they had a good chance of succeeding. At least the instructors from the temple seemed to think that they were capable, and knowing that Padawan Brion had participated in the recent battles against the Sith, he also had good reason to believe that they wouldn't come to much physical harm. If worst came to worst, he was there and would keep his senses honed. Maybe it would be frowned upon by some of his peers - but Eloi was far too old to care much for that. What mattered was that their Jedi learned and got tested.

Throwing a glance up at the sky and then observing the shadow his body cast on the grass ahead of him, Eloi tried to estimate the time. Nobody was late just yet - but he did hope that they could get started soon. Meanwhile, he sat down on a rock, sparing his legs for the time being.

Tann Po'rah

 

[Tann Po'rah]

Her first mission! Tann Po'rah was ecstatic. She'd been waiting on a chance to do something actually Jedi related and now here she was about to do just that. Her combat boots touched down on the grassy soil of Ossus. Apparently this planet had recently been in Sith control. Now it belonged to the Silver Jedi. The planet seemed....cold. Tann didn't like it. The weather was warm and the sun was out; the wind wasn't even that bad. Yet she still felt cold. It wasn't the first time she'd felt this sensation either. But this was so much more than the one time her mentor had demonstrated the Dark power of the Force.

Tann was vastly under-dressed for how she felt. She was wearing basically a tanktop with ripped sleeves. It didnt cover much and what it did cover had holes in it. This wasn't for lack of care as it was a fashion statement. Coupled with her messy brown baggy pants, she didn't look the part at all of a Jedi Padawan. Strapped to her back was a vibrostick, a training weapon to mimic the weight of a lightsaber. Tann had never used a sword before, let alone a training one. She gave it a few swings when it was passed to her, but otherwise was brand new to the game.

Walking over from where the ship landed, she came up behind the Jedi Master. Tann moved to the side of him and leaned on her hip while she covered her arms like she was shivering. It was to note she didn't bow or even greet the man; Tann had not yet learned respect and the sense of propriety. "Why is it so cold here?" she would ask. "I feel like my skin is going to freeze."

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Clearing the Memory Palace​

The speeder was swooshing down the field at a high pace. Mathieu was not careless but with so little in terms of things to crash into on the grassy prairie that he could easily afford to go a little faster. It was not his own vehicle - it was a rental that he acquired at the spaceport where the shuttle had arrived. Still, it was better than walking all the way there, much better.

As he closed the distance to the destination, a frown spread across the Padawan's features. "I've felt this before" he mumbled, clearly rather disturbed by its presence. It was dark, unpleasant, just like it had been when he visited Yavin IV with his friend a while back. The young Morellian had fought in numerous battles when he was still a mercenary but none of them had affected him quite as much as when he first participated in them after having opened up to the force. The pain, loss and sacrifice, it had been hard to take it all in, and after his service in a number of battles, both against the Sith and the Bryn, he had to take a step back, to recover and once more centre himself. Part of him was unsure of whether he was ready or not - but if Master Graix was willing to call him here, he had to assume that it was with good reason.

Arriving on the scene, Mathieu stepped out of the speeder. They were close to Sith space and having grown rather used to it, the large Padawan wore his heavy armour. Naturally, the hood was down but the outer robe was open, exposing the plates for all to see. He waved at both the Chagrian Master and his fellow Padawan as he approached and spoke with a surprisingly bright tone, considering how close they were to the tainted temple "Greetings Master Graix." and somewhat awkwardly continued "... and hello, uhm, you" as he realised that she had never met the other Padawan mid-sentence.

"What are we up to today, Master?"

Tann Po'rah

 

[Eloi Graix]

Clearing the Memory Palace

And now, the first one seemed to arrive. The elderly Chagrian squinted to see the Padawan more clearly as she approached - it was a green Twi'lek. A soft smile temporarily appeared on his lips as he realised that his eyes still had some ompf in them but it soon faded and was promptly replaced by his rather disciplinarian-looking resting face.

The Padawan was quick to fire off a question, completely missing both names and titles. But Eloi knew that this was not the time to alienate her, or to make her feel less than welcome. She was about to be tested in the strength of her will and of her character. It was enough of a challenge without him intervening to make it even harder "It is the taint of the dark side, Padawan" With some effort, the elder stood up and gazed over at the old temple before looking back to her "Allow your inner light to be your shield" he said, attempting to produce a kindly smile with mixed results.

He only managed to ask "What is your name?" before Mathieu arrived in a landspeeder. The Master grimaced at the noise it made. If Tann happened to mention her name when the speeder had yet to be deactivated, the Master would ask her to repeat it once more.

Appearing somewhat satisfied, Eloi produced a deep nod "Greetings, Padawan Brion" but grew silent as the older Padawan struggled with the other's name. It was all a learning process and if he could draw some joy from it, they were all better off. "You are going to clear the temple of the taint of the dark side." he said, nodding towards the building in the distance "This will be a test in two parts, on the one hand, you cannot allow the beasts to overrun you. On the other, you have to figure out how to remove the taint. Have faith in yourselves and in your training, but do not forget to draw strength from each other, you will both benefit from it." he said before allowing silence to take over, looking them both in the eyes as if to examine if they were truly ready for it.

Then, he raised a hand towards Mathieu's rental "I will be resting over there. Padawan Brion usually makes a few sandwiches and if he has any in there, I will be sure to examine his craftmanship thoroughly" he joked, looking to Tann with a glint in his eye and giving them both a nod before slowly making his way towards the vehicle. The two Padawans were on their own now. Of course, they would receive assistance in an emergency, for the Master would keep his senses honed. But in the end, his liberal method meant that they mostly had to rely on themselves now.

Tann Po'rah

 

[Tann Po'rah]

The taint of the Dark side. That's what the master called it. Just hearing those words left a chill to her bones. Tann shivered again as the master told her to let her light be her guide. Whatever that meant. He would then ask for her name to which she said, "Tann." However, it was drowned out by the sound of an approaching speeder. Tann would turn around to see who it was that had come. For the moment he was too far away to see.

The master would ask her to repeat herself to which Tann replied yet again, "Tann." She didn't bother giving her full name. She never did.

Turning back around she would get a better look at the man in the speeder now. Wow. He was ready for battle. Tann felt terribly under dressed. Here she was in just a shirt and pants and this Padawan was in full armor. Now she felt completely out of place and like she should not have even come here. The man would ask Tann her name, or rather stumble over hers, so she repeated herself for a third time now. "Tann. It means Hope."

Why she bothered to add that was beyond her. Maybe she just got tired of hearing her own name. Only her friends called her Hope. She really hoped he wouldn't start calling her that now. He hadn't earned the right. Maybe she should have just offered her last name too. Everyone always butchered the pronunciation since it was in Ryl.

Tann turned awkwardly to the side and crossed her arms in embarrassment. Her lekku seemed to droop more than usual. The master would then move right along and tell the two of their mission. They had to remove this taint from the temple without getting killed by whatever beasts lie inside. Great. Simple and easy. Tann had a feeling it would be anything but.

From there, the master went to the speeder to hawk over their lunches. Tann hadn't even thought to bring food. Hopefully they weren't in there too long. But how did one remove a taint? She didn't know the first thing about the Dark side of the Force. Aside from the fact it was evil. Hopefully Brion would know for he actually looked like he was supposed to be there.

Mathieu Brion ​

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Clearing the Memory Palace​

His fellow Padawan generously offered her name, ensuring that they could avoid similar awkward situations in the future. Mathieu produced a smile and a not before turning his attention to the Chagrian. It was not his first time listening to Master Graix go on about this or that - but it was rare for the elder to seem as patient as he did now. Maybe coming to Ossus was good for him.

Looking up to the temple as Eloi directed their attention to it, Mathieu took a deep breath. Perhaps it had been a peaceful centre of learning and harmony at one point - but here, it really oozed of the dark side. It really wasn't all that appealing to set foot in it but then, it was for the greater good. And if they would come out of it as better Jedi, then he was all for it.

The part about fending off the beasts didn't seem all too concerning to the young Morellian. At this point, he had seen combat on numerous occasions. Naturally, the idea of being able to calm one of the temple's current inhabitants down was appealing but if it was possible with the taint there was far from certain. Looking back to the Master, Mathieu nodded "Yes, Master Graix" Once Eloi started speaking of sandwiches, an amused smile grew on the large Padawan's lips "Treat yourself. Got a few different fillings this time, find one you like" he said, keeping a friendly tone.

And then, it was just him and the other Padawan. Looking down to her, he extended a hand for her to shake "I'm Mathieu" He smiled somewhat nervously before asking "So, have you got any experience in clearing out taints?" he asked, turning to slowly walk towards their destination. "I think this would be my first time. Usually when it feels like this, some Sith or a fallen Jedi is around - but you don't think Master Graix would send us in there if there was a Sith inside, do you?" It was clear that he was far from comfortable with the prospect of removing the dark side taint. While he had dealt with friends, either fallen or on the verge of falling, in the past, this seemed more subtle. Fighting off beasts was something he was far more comfortable with.

Tann Po'rah

 

[Tann Po'rah]

Tann would offer her hand back to the Padawan as he gave his name. "Nice to meet you." Although she was timid about this whole thing, it didn't stop her from flirting a little. She smiled and turned her head some, letting her lekku sway behind her.

"I don't, no." That was her answer to removing taints. The Dark spots within the air were new to her and the Twi'lek didn't know the first thing about them. She could at least recognize them. So there was that.

From there, Mathieu would turn to start making his way to the temple. Tann would follow, hesitantly. A Sith? Did he say a Sith? No. He said there shouldn't be one. "No...he wouldn't." Even she didn't seem so sure of herself. She hoped the man wasn't sending them in to die. She couldn't imagine her life being over so quickly. They should be safe. Relatively speaking.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Clearing the Memory Palace​

"It is nice to meet you too. It has been a while since I was last sent on a training mission like this" he said, apparently rather happy about being given the task. Most training so far had been less practical and sitting still listening to someone give a lecture in a classroom really wasn't the large Morellian's strong suit. Going out in the field, exploring or getting to do something hands-on, however, that was a way of learning which he enjoyed. But then, maybe that was also the reason why he had stumbled into so many confrontative scenarios during his time with the Jedi.

Just like him, Tann didn't seem to know how to deal with the taint. It was not an answer he was overjoyed to hear, naturally. But he also figured that it couldn't be all too bad. With a smile and a shrug, Mathieu let out an optimistic "I guess we'll both learn something today", choosing to see the bright side of things like he often tended to do.

To his speculation on what the cause of the taint might be, she also didn't believe that there was a Sith or fallen Jedi in the temple. Just as he produced a satisfied nod, Mathieu noticed how his fellow Padawan seemed a little bit more concerned than he was. Perhaps he had just stumbled upon the old Master enough times during his period of recovery to be confident that he wasn't that reckless. Leaning his head to the side as he looked down to her, Mathieu smiled softly "We'll be alright. We've got each other and..." the large Padawan trailed off as he threw a mischievous glance back at Eloi to ensure that they were far away enough before leaning in closer to her, whispering "Besides, Master Graix is close by"

Before long, the duo would arrive at the temple stairs. The building, etched into the cliff wall behind it would probably make anyone approaching it shiver. Claws clinking against the stone floor could be heard from inside and whatever light there was in the building came in from the outside, either through old windows or cracks in the construction. Humanoid skeletons could occasionally be found in various places, sometimes scattered after having been rubbed by beasts - all signs indicated that they had been there for a while. Archive terminals laid dormant, having run out of power a long time ago, they were now covered by dust - still, they did not seem to be broken, meaning that some of their data might yet be possible to recover.

Before reaching the top of the stairs, Mathieu stopped to look to Tann. "Are you ready for this?" he asked, keeping a soft tone, hoping that she wouldn't think that there was any prestige involved in the answer. In any case, he would let her take the lead as they climbed the final steps up to the entrance.

Tann Po'rah

 

[Tann Po'rah]

"It's my first mission," the Twi'lek would admit. "I've never done anything like this."

Her words made her feel even less confident compared to Mathieu. He looked like a Jedi. He dressed like one. he acted like one. Tann had a long way to go before she would reach his level. At least she knew she would be safe. Both with Mathieu to watch her and the master outside who was keeping an eye on them as well. It helped that the padawan saw the light in things. He had such a positive attitude about all of this. That was the one thing keeping her going at a time like this. She smiled again at him and nodded her head. Let's do this.

The two reached the stairs and would begin to climb. It didn't take long for her to hear the sounds of the animals inside. Clicking sounds. Gods it sounded like bugs. She hated bugs. They were so creepy. Yet, not as creepy as the barren skeletons lying about. Tann's skintone seemed to lighten at the sight of them. She wondered how long they'd been there. Or if the beasts within had simply gotten hungry. A gulp escaped her at the thought of what lie ahead of them.

Mathieu would ask her if she was ready for this. Tann wasn't sure. She reached behind her and pulled out the vibrostick and flipped the switch so it would light up. She took a deep breath to steady her hands then gave him a look. "We've got this. We can do this."

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Clearing the Memory Palace​

A first time mission? Maybe he should have questioned the old Master's judgement. It seemed like it was a risky mission for someone who was doing it for the first time. Just based on appearances, it was hard to assume that Tann had seen much combat. But then, Master Graix had told them to draw strength from each other - perhaps she had the inner peace that he had been so close to loosing after the battles of Voss, Velmor, Nar Kreeta and so many others. Her smile and nod indicated as much. It was something they would soon find out as they continued towards the entrance.

After he asked if she was ready, Tann pulled out her weapon, giving him an indication of what her answer would be and what approach she leaned towards taking in dealing with the threat that the animals posed. Mathieu nodded as he heard her answer "Glad to hear it" as he gently reached in under his outer robes to bring out his lightsabre. Not yet igniting it, he hoped that Tann would take the lead, but when it seemed that she wouldn't do it, he started climbing the steps again.

Stepping into the large hall by the entrance, it was hard not to notice how many of the smattering sounds stopped and suddenly, nothing in the room was moving except for Tann and himself. "Is it an... ambush?" he asked, somewhat confused as he had not at all expected such behaviour from mere beasts. Despite that some of the light from outside was seeping in, it was still hopelessly dark and after trying to look around for a bit without a light source, the large Padawan finally ignited his sabre, drowning their immediate vicinity in a familiar blue light. Three Laigreks quickly became visible, and as Mathieu dropped into a defensive Soresu stance, they rushed towards the two Jedi. "Watch out!"

Tann Po'rah

 

[Tann Po'rah]

It wasn't that Tann didn't want to lead......ok well maybe it was. She was no fighter. She (assumed) she could handle herself with a blaster. But this sword was a whole different story. So she would let Mathieu take point. She followed just a step behind with her eyes peering into the darkness. Sadly she possessed no such dark vision and thus could not see anything. That was until Mathieu ignited his blade and a blue hue lit up the entrance. Tann visibly jumped at the sound. It spooked her something good.

The next sound was Mathieu shouting at her to watch out. Tann panicked. She gripped her blade tighter and held it up over her head. IF she'd been any closer to the Padawan she would have hit him across the head on accident. Thank the Force she was shorter than he was. Tann looked ahead of her and saw the three Laigreks and shrieked. What ugly creatures. She knew it had to be bugs. The three of them came right for the two Jedi. Tann took a step to the left so she wouldn't hit Mathieu then swung the sword with as much might as she could as if trying to hit a thrown ball. With as big of a target as the bug was, it would take a lot for her to miss. She wacked the creature right in its arm and shoulder joint. The whole thing spun and fell to the ground as it stumbled over from the pain.

"Die!" she shrieked loudly.

Tann bent over the beast and dropped the blade from overhead into its side. A loud and audible thud was heard as she broke into its shell. A zap followed after the thud from the electricity coursing from the baton to the hide. Again she repeated the blow, using all of her strength to bash the thing. A third time now she raised her weapon and brought it down upon the Laigrek. She then took a step to the side and swung the blade diagonally to its face making sure that it was out for the count. She then swung the baton the other direction to its head again then repeated the process until she was finally convinced that the thing was no longer moving. All the while, she forgot completely that there had been three of them....

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Clearing the Memory Palace​

Mathieu felt fortunate that the pests didn't attack as coordinated as sentient beings would have. Instead of attacking at the same time, one was faster than the other. But as he swung his blade towards it, the laigrek suddenly stopped its charge and swiftly avoided being slashed by his sabre. The other one never lost momentum, however, and was still charging at its mark. Mathieu didn't allow the momentum of his swing to cease either. Instead, it continued in 360 degrees and met the second laigrek midair as it jumped towards him, effectively cutting it in half, rendering it dead before it could cause any harm. Maintaining the momentum, the large Padawan kept his blade in motion while taking two fast steps towards the first one and making a swing to its head as it lashed out for a bite

The ordeal had only taken a few moments. When he looked over to Tann, she seemed to be unharmed - but to claim that she was doing well may not have been entirely accurate. It concerned him that she was so afraid and it reinforced his belief that it could lead to dark actions, seeing as how she shrieked for it to die and kept beating it after it was already defeated.

Keeping his blue sabre ignited in his right hand, Mathieu slowly took a few steps closer to her, being careful to not be hit in the process as he had been at the beginning of the encounter. "Tann" he said, keeping his voice low and soft "Tann, it's alright" he continued, slowly putting his large palm on her shoulder, letting his arm wrap across her back "It's dead" Soon, when her beating stopped, the room would grow quiet - any careful clicks would hardly be heard as the calm hum of the lightsabre would drown it out.

"Look. Master Graix told us to draw strength from each other, right? So if you need me, whatever it may be, you can come by and pull at my arm or something. We'll watch each other's backs, okay?" he kept a friendly tone throughout. He had never really been in her position before - but then, he knew that it wasn't all too many who had the same background as him either. "We have to avoid letting fear take control of our actions. And if you feel like you're close, you can lean on me. It's wha-"

The sentence was cut short as another beast appeared in front of them while another jumped them from behind. The Morellian had failed to notice either of them in time and used the force to push the one at the front back while the other one managed to get in close - but it bit down as his heavy armour, failing to even make a dent. Removing his hand from her shoulder, Mathieu then proceeded to raise his leg to the point where he could take hold of the laigrek behind its head with his hand before hurling it to the same location that the previous one was pushed to, both a few metres away from Tann and Mathieu.

 

[Tann Po'rah]

Thank the Force that Mathieu was more on top of the fight than she was. Her back had been turned to him and the bugs. If they were more intelligent they could have taken advantage of her back being turned. Mathieu would use the same timing to come up from a safe distance and calmly get her to stop. She looked at him and blinked twice in confusion then back to the bug.

"Right...Sorry."

Tann sighed and lowered her blade. Had she gone too far? No. It was a bug after all. They had a tendency to stay alive even after their bodies were crushed. She had to make sure it wasn't going to move again. If only she had a weapon like his. She might not have gotten so violent with it. Her hands were shaking from all the adrenaline pumping through her system.

Her Padawan friend would remind her of the advice the Jedi master had given them. She nodded listening to him as he offered his help to her. Her lekku bounced with the sway of her head. He continued to sooth her until the laigrek came out from the darkness behind him.

"Look out!" she shrieked.

Mathieu's reflexes were quick and effective. He Force pushed one of the bugs behind her while the one behind him bit down into his armor plating. At the position she was in, she couldn't swing her blade around to knock it off of him. She backed up and turned around to see the first one he'd thrown. Tann was about to go after that one when her own instincts took over. She quickly dodged to the side as Mathieu threw the second one roughly in her direction.

Tann would swing her blade with one arm into the back of the bug as it flew by her. It spun an extra turn and landed painfully in spasm from the electricity. Tann grit her teeth then and grabbed the sword with two hands to once more bash the creature as hard as she could. She got the laigrek in its neck and the head fell off with one swing. The rest of it rolled over itself and bled into the floor.

Standing back up straight she would look at Mathieu as he finished off the first one that had attacked them. This time she didn't let her guard down. She turned her back to him and looked into the darkness while listening to the sounds for the next round coming after them. With minimal clacking she figured there were only another two. However she only saw one. Tann rushed for it and swing upwards in a diagonal to crush his arms and connect the blade into it's chin. Did bugs have chins? Mandibles.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Clearing the Memory Palace​

Her instinct was good. Managing to both sense that the bug he threw was near and managing to swing at it mid-air. It seemed more controlled than how she had handled her blade a few moments ago too. It was something which impressed him as she seemed to learn and adapt quickly. But he couldn't stand around pondering on her development all day - brushing the thought aside, he rushed forth as she did. Upon arrival, the beast had already recovered, but once again, cutting through it with his lightsabre was not much of a challenge.

Throwing an eye over to her, Mathieu was about to commend her for how much cleaner and painless her last actions were but the now familiar tattering sound was coming closer. At first, the large Padawan remained still as he waited for the last couple of Laigreks to approach. But then, she rushed off towards one of them with a swing. Not hesitating for a moment, he followed, hoping to ensure that the second one wouldn't attack her while she was still dealing with the first one. Not feeling all too creative, he dealt with his foe much in the same way as the others.

"The entry room is all cleared out" he said, merely stating the obvious. "Are you feeling alright?" he asked, turning look her in the eyes "You have not engaged much in combat, have you?" The question was purely based on his observations on how she handled the first one. Hopefully, they had established enough of a relation for her to feel like she could be honest with him.

Moving on, he brought his sabre high, trying to light up a larger area "What do you make of this room?" Mathieu looked around "The signs of combat don't seem to be very significant. Might just've been the Laigreks chasing off some looters or something. It's a bit odd to have archive terminals at the entrance of a temple, isn't it?"

Tann Po'rah

 

[Tann Po'rah]

There was but one laigrek left and Mathieu would once again clean it up with little effort. Tann was nearly out of breath and he seemed like he'd barely broken a sweat. Mathieu would ask her how she was and she gave him a nod then said she was alright. He then asked her if she'd been in much combat and she wasn't sure how to take that question. He seemed almost to mock her with those words, but hopefully he didn't meant it that way.

"No," she replied honestly. "I have not.

With combat done, Tann could catch her breath while her fellow padawan looked around the room with his glow stick. Tann muttered to herself how much she hated bugs. It was just barely loud enough for Mathieu to hear if he were listening to her

Answering his question she'd reply, "It's gross. And not just the spilled guts. There's something in the air here. That's the Dark side right? This cold depressing feeling? It makes me want to ball up and sob.

Tann would stand up straight and walk over to one of the terminals he mentioned. She clicked away opening up the data points to see what all she could recover. "There isn't much left. There's some sort of.....code here blocking me from getting in. I'm sure I could break it but I'm not much of a slicer."

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Clearing the Memory Palace​

For a first-timer, she was doing pretty good. "You learn fast, then" he said, sending her a friendly smile. He, on the other hand, had seen plenty of fighting. Both during his time as a Mercenary and then after becoming a Jedi. Maybe Master Graix had something on his mind when he paired the two of them up. What Master Graix thought couldn't be made to matter too much, however - for they needed to think and act on their own, even if it would have been more comfortable to lean on the old Master. "If it gets too stressful, try taking a step back. I can keep us safe for a while, and at that point, it might be better to try to recenter yourself and find your inner peace instead of continuing to fight."

It was not a noisy room so even when she muttered, the other Padawan heard her. A short lived smirk appeared on his lips but he looked away. The comment wasn't meant for him and while it was concerning that she already spoke of hate, he hoped that it was merely a casual use of the word rather than actual hate. For now, he wouldn't bring it up with her.

He agreed of her description, although it was more emotional and less investigative than what he had hoped for. Still, she seemed to be onto something as she described it - the presence made her sad. Not angry, irritated or hungering for revenge, but sad. Mathieu nodded "I think it is" before digging a little deeper to see if he could feel what she felt. While it was vague, it was there, and with that, he let out a simple "and I agree with you."

She was quick in taking initiative to investigate the terminals. While he thought that they laid dormant, Tann had managed to identify them as not being dormant - a fortunate event, seeing as they could now make use of them. Normally, Mathieu would need to do some guessing and rely a bit on luck in her position, for he was not quite as gifted with computers. But then, she offered to do it, prompting him to give her an approving nod "By all means. Got any records, videos or something that can help us figure out what happened here before it went dormant?"

Tann Po'rah

 

[Tann Po'rah]

"Thanks," she replied when Mathieu complimented her.

She would nod at his next comment. There really wasn't a reason for her to fight. Mathieu clearly had the experience and the better weapon to handle these things. Tann was only wearing herself down. It would only be a matter of time until she made a mistake and hurt herself. Then what would they do? Committing to that idea, she decided to let him take the lead from now on and not get involved with whatever else came at them. Hopefully it wasn't more bugs; even if they were easy to get rid of.

It took some digging, but eventually Tann got through the framework and managed to draw up a holovid for them. The video was full of static, so it was hard to get a good grasp on what was going on. Still, there she saw them. Hooded figures. They were talking in some gross and vile language that sounded like they were summoning demons. Tann didn't recognize the language. But every now and then someone would cheer and the rest of the masses would do the same. There were a good thirty or so of them in total. Tann surmised it was a war party. It felt like they were on the eve of battle and ready to strike. Tann looked at Mathieu to see what his take on all of this was.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Clearing the Memory Palace​

He watched with interest as she wrested control over the terminal and the data it contained. A troubled look appeared on the Morellian's face as he watched the video footage she managed to dig up. "What's this" he mumbled as it started playing with his troubled appearance growing more grim as the video went on. The language was just as unfamiliar to him as it was to her, but he was still unaware of how much or little she knew and consequently asked "What did they do? It looked.... it looked bad"

It was hard to put a finger on what was wrong with them - sure they seemed spooky and gave him the same impression as many dark siders, but that was not enough to truly make a good judgement on. At least when it was just a video. Unfortunately, it ended before they could see what had actually transpired, making it hard to make a final call on whether it was the cause of the dark side corruption or not. "Their robes looked dark, black or some kind of dark crimson. Maybe some are still around" he said, leaning up against the wall which the terminal stood against "Got anymore information for us on that thing?" his eyes pointed to the archive terminal.

Just then, a low sound could be heard is Iron scraped against stone. The large Padawan, clad in heavy armour seemed to have enough weight to make the local physical archive bureau move. Mathieu quickly stood back up straight, completely failing to notice a sliver of a larger hatch which was hidden underneath the bureau. "Oops" he said, throwing a quick glance at it before looking back to Tann and down at the terminal.

Tann Po'rah

 

[Tann Po'rah]

Mathieu would ask her what it was she found and Tann would respond, "I'm not sure. Some sort of old recording. It's the only one I could pull up." She then answered his next question by guessing once more. It felt like she was grasping at straws. "I don't know. It looks like some sort of gathering. Almost...Like it feels like they're preparing for something."

Mathieu took a guess as to what he thought but Tann wasn't so sure about it. "No....this is old. You can see here by looking at the floor and the walls. There isn't any of this grime. The plants and dried roots. None of it is in this clip. Whatever this was, it happened long ago. Plus, didn't your master say the place was abandoned? The whole system was supposedly taken over by the Order. None of them would be lying around after that....right?"

Tann nearly jumped then as Mathieu leaned his weight on the terminal and made it slide. The recording vanished and the screen went back to having static before blipping out into darkness. "Well. Great. You broke it."

With a purse in her lips of disappointment she would get down on her knees and try to figure out the solution as to why it had lost power. There weren't any lose wires or anything to be seen. So she really wasn't sure what had caused the blackout. It's power core inside must have been drained. Or any number of things honestly. But Tann wasn't about to go digging around trying to find the solution. She gave up after a minute and stood back up.

"Well. That's busted. Now what?"

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Clearing the Memory Palace​

Slowly nodding, Mathieu couldn't do much more than to agree with her. "They weren't really talking, were they? All that chanting, do you think it was some community activity? A ritual perhaps?" he let out a chuckle "At this rate, it might just be our imaginations that sets the limits" with a soft shake of his head.

Tann continued explaining that it seemed like it was a very long time since the recording was made. He nodded along but realised that, maybe he should have been more clear in how he formulated himself, for they were almost speaking past each other. Still, it was hard not to take note of how very observant she seemed, taking in all the details and relevant information which could otherwise have been so easy to glance over and miss. "If we happen to stumble upon their robes, it might mean that they were the last occupants of this place before it was abandoned. And if we don't... well.. If we don't, then we don't know much more than we do now"

It was hard to not feel bad as she accused him of having broken the terminal. It seemed like it was an accurate accusation too, all things considered. "It looked just like a shelf or wall" he said but cut himself short before continuing. The Padawan's broad shoulders fell as he let out a sigh "I'm sorry. I should have been more careful." Only when he accepted that he had messed up could he hope to move on and improve in the future. As the Twi'lek Padawan looked for a fix, Mathieu remained standing - while he had some competence in regards to the hardware, he was fairly sure that she was better at computers and even if he found what had broken it seemed unlikely that they would have the parts and the tools needed to fix it. Needless to say, he failed to notice the hatch.

Upon being asked the question on where they should go next, the Morellian looked to the two corridors connected to the room. They seemed to be parallel to each other and just go further into the mountain. Judging by how far apart they were, it was easy to assume that there were rooms in between them. "I suppose we can push on ahead" With that, he started to slowly move towards the corridor to the left, only stopping if he noticed that she wasn't coming with him. "I hope there won't be more Laigreks in here" his whisper just barely reached her as he kept pushing forth.

Tann Po'rah