Consecrated Earth: Rise of the Savant

[Orphen]

"Welcome to Raxus Prime... Where one Mans Trash, is another Man's Treasure..."​

Orphen, having taken one trip already to the enigmatic planet of Corellia, had no intentions of returning there for some time, the materials he had acquired there were rather standard, but as the materials were wedged firmly in the grip of sith space, taking too many trips to the destroyed world was risky, it would not be long before the Sith had Mining operations there to retrieve the ores and other substances which made up the vast surface of the planet... although, it was Orphen's hope that he would find something rarer there... at this time it was only the basic things he needed, the second best place in the Galaxy you could hope to find a rare gem... was Raxus Prime. The planet had a reputation for being able to find rare things if one only took the time to look, and though Orphen had not all the time in the world, he had enough to make a little trip. His skills as a slicer were only getting better, and he felt like he did not have the resources to be able to make it as a Jedi... yet. But he was getting closer, a few more components, a couple of more unique light-saber crystals, a few ion power cores, a higher grade of focusing lens, a supply of ultra-chrome and a few more little bits and pieces and he would be well on his way.

Orphen having placed his ship on auto-pilot on the week-long trip to the planet, sat in the back of his ship with his kit of more portable tools and began to work on something he had been since he left Corellia, two small silver disks were being outfitted with computer units and power cores... the assembly was relatively easy, made from cut outs of the titanium reinforced Alusteel which he had acquired upon the surface of Corellia, he had taken the substance to his workshop and made the disc mold, forged the discs and spend little time working the metal into a hard shape, cutting off the small portions which he would need to be flexible on the disc surface, fusing small ligaments onto the insides of them allowing the Disc to mechanically open slightly, though only enough to show and deliver its payload... The center of both disks was the beginnings of what would be a very small repulsar-lift pad, which would allow the discs to hover and move. Though it was taking him some time, he enjoyed the work, his hands moved automatically, and it seemed to be the only action in which his mind did not race at a million parsecs per second ... it came naturally, and thus, had become Orphens escape, and to a lesser extent, therapy.

The week came to a close and Orphen had managed to get some of the more annoying work done on the discs, moving back to his cockpit and flying over the surface of the world, he could tell from the moment he set his eyes on this place it was going to be more fruitful than he thought, but, at the same time, he could spend days here without really accomplishing anything...

"Well, here we are... "

He spoke lightly to himself, looking down at the planet as his small interceptor careened downwards, finding a break in the junk in which Orphen was able to make his landing, the dust cloud upon his landing expanded in every direction as the unmarked and unregistered ship landed without a hitch. The planet was often deserted apart from those who ran the junk industries here, as well as a small hutt cartel presence was usually around worlds like this, but, as it was an entire planet, it was usually impossible to police its entire surface. Though, as he landed in the expansive amphitheater, Orphen could not help but find this place familiar... Engaging his brain, the images came to him instantly, the words from the history books surrounding Kazdan Paratus all flowed freely through his mind as he recalled all of them within a split second, with prodigeous accuracy, remembering this place as it was recorded as the location in which the Jedi master had at one point attempted to create a new Jedi Temple... the words of the master had talked about how that the knowledge of the Jedi needed to be preserved, and that he had been working on 'fixing that in place' while it was possible that he indeed meant that the Jedi Temple needed to be built, Kazdan was a strange being, and several other of his quotes in the records, about the heart of the Jedi, and the Core of his project as well as others surrounding him led Orphen to believe that he was doing something else here, the knowledge of the Jedi order came from the Core holocron in the Jedi Temple. There was a Chance Kazdan Paratus had attempted to make something similar... no-one had ever truly searched the labyrinth surrounding Kazdan's fortress, other than a few traders who had no idea the gravitas of their find... and likely paid of it...

But Orphen knew better...

"If this is Kazdan's abode... and he was trying to build a Jedi Temple, the heart of it would have been further down... this wreckage..."

Orphen looked over to the side of the building, discovering what he thought he would find... Though the building had largely fallen apart due to the instability of its construction, it seemed to also stoop down, into an inevitable heart of the complex, though the entrance was difficult to find, it seemed that it was not a part of Kazdan's build, but rather the temple was built on top of some form of ship, perhaps a corvette or even larger, which had an entrance way on that floor, only revealed by age, rust and the weathering effects of time... Orphen could not help but begin to prize his luck, if it was true, and if Kazdan had been working on a Holocron in which to store his knowlege for this temple, it would be a fantastic find. However, there was a chance that it was trapped, or there could already have been people down there. Kazdan was intelligent... but he was also known to have been loosing his mind to paranoia, there was no way that any passage he had was not trapped in some way, in case of invaders, especially the likes of the empire or the sith... So, moving back outside to the amphitheater where his ship was, he began to plan his next move, deciding how he was going to enter, and if so, the precautions he would need to take...

[member="Serian Loria"]

 

[Serian Loria]

Lost. That was the only conclusion he could make after his initial foray into the bizarre conglomeration that was this place. Raxus had been much the same in his day as it was now, except this time he’d had reason to explore it. He’d been reading a tome about a Jedi Master on the slow descent to madness, one whose creativity was name genius. The diminutive man had been quite the creator and, as he observed the tunnel he was in, he could agree that he’d been crazy. To protect his prizes from those that would claim them he has built this veritable labyrinth, it was rather impressive.

One would think he would have taken the time to plan, to study and, above all, make sure he knew where he was going, but he’d been too curious. The time period had held many wonders and, he’d already found any number of creative traps that he would have fun recreating. The master had been quite driven to provide any means necessary to deter and kill, something one might not normally attribute to a Jedi’s mentality. Unfortunately, he could remember which direction he had gone. He decided to walk a bit further, once he found a large enough space he’d set up camp and take a break.

He eventually found himself in a room, it seemed empty enough, save for what appeared to be the forgotten corpse of a previous explorer. He didn’t touch it however, the dead didn’t bother him. Thats when the floor suddenly dropped out from under him, causing the room to shift slightly as he fell. Outside there would be the sounds of something breaking, dust scattering and making a cloud. Serian on the other hand floated above the hole, fragments of all sorts of things hovering in the air above him. These shards could have been quite deadly, along with the dark pit below, but not for him this day.

A hole had been made above him and he could see sky, but then things started to shift again as, of all things, the building started to change. No doubt the layout would be different again and, he was beginning to suspect that the place he was in was a sort of ‘gatekeeper’ hiding the true temple below. He drifted upwards, taking the hole out, at least he’d been provided a way to leave for the moment. He stepped onto solid ground, right next to the hole, dusting himself off. He pushed some hair from his face and sat down with a chuckle, this was going to be interesting.


[member="Orphen"]

 

[Orphen]

Orphen, leaning up against his ship had been doing so for a few minutes before he felt like he had organised his thoughts enough to be able to progress into the maze which lay before him, equipped with his blaster, a light saber, as well as the grapple attachments from his pistols and the night vision optical setting from his visor he felt like he had a solid grounding to challenge the labyrinth and whatever traps and trials might be awaiting him within those ancient dead hallways. Kicking off his ship he began to walk in the direction of the junk temple, which was little more than a necropolis... it's towers and turrets long broken ooff from the caustic elements which rained down upon it, slowly eating it away into rust and powder without the personnel to upkeep the gigantic building... Taking a running step and leading with his right foot, Orphen bound up the stairs to the entrance, switching to the night vision option on his visor as with a single step he plummeted down into the depths of the tunnels, landing and rolling forward to route the momentum he fell with he rose to a single knee, his landing kicking up some of the dust and rust which lined the corridors, raising his weapon ready to attack anything or anyone who happened to show their faces here, his coat flailing behind him before settling low. Panning his shoulders he scanned the area in three hundred and sixty degrees before he had even thought to move forward...

His keen eyes observed the area before he noticed the footprints in the dust, while many of them had faded due to time and whatever little breeze wafted through these caverns, there was a single pure, almost untouched set which trailed off further down the hallways. It was at that moment Orphen realized that he was not alone in here, though, there was only the one set... Orphen stalked the narrow pathways, keeping a hawk like eye on the area around him, his mind processing everything that came across his path, the distance of the far away alusteel wall, and the acceleration in which it was closely approaching, the composition of the dust based on its colour pigment, the presence of the alusteel walls, detailing a compounded list of the possible agents and the amount of time it would take for this kind of breakdown to occur for each possibility. His thought process was consistently comprehensive, detailing every-possible equation that he could possibly apply to the area he was in, and the phenomina around him. It was not long until he came across other signs of life. Looking down, partway through the halls he saw the blasted apart remains of what seemed to be improvised combat droids, based on the scatter patterns of the droids, as well as the etchings on the steel walls and which way it seemed they were facing, they were a defensive force... blown backward by a high impact grenade or some other form of explosion...

But that wasn't all...

As much as it seemed at first sight that the droids had simply been overcome... but the white dust among the red here told a different story, several small spread out spots led Orphen to believe those who had attacked, although they had employed the grenade, it didn't stop the initial volley of the droids, the dust on the ground was consistent with his calculation for human or sentient creatures remains over time. The acidic content in the air combined with time would have broken down the skeleton over the course of a few years until it was nothing but the product of the hundreds of millions of tiny chemical reactions slowly eating it away to nothing, not even the steel they carried or the clothes on their backs, the acid in the air, and especially when it rained left nothing in its wake but a discolouration withing the patterns of rust around them... Such was a pity, but it could not be helped, the likes of them were more than likely over glorified grave-robbers which had come here to rob the spoils of war from the tomb of a dead Jedi. Such actions were not acceptable, and Junior, though it was a tragic waste of life, it was a boon in saying at least the prize at the end of the tunnel had not been disturbed by these men...

But, through all this he could not shake the footprints which trailed on ahead of him, his nerves began to steel themselves for confrontation, stepping around a corner, for a moment, he felt like he watched a man turn around another in the far distance. Though he could not be sure that it was a man, or a trick on his senses, he could clearly remember something moving in the far away halls. Picking up his speed to a run he held his firearm before him in an almost militaristic style, keeping his eyes always ahead, and using his peripheral vision to keep an eye out on the halls around him for traps. Stopping when he came to a gaping hole in the floor which seemed to descend into the deepest recesses of the facility. Orphen could see the bottom of the drop with his visor, but, there was no way a human would be able to survive the drop without greivous bodily harm from the fall, junior would probably break his legs and his ribs on the landing though he probably would not die from the impact itself, it would be from the isolation, the starvation, and slowly giving into his injuries... cold, lonely, and desperate... A cruel death that no sentient being wanted to experience, was Kazdan Paratus that mad? Or was his hatred for the empire which had taken his friends and fellow Jedi from him that evil? Orphen could not judge, he was not there, he did not experience the order, though, he felt like all Jedi in this day and age, that if he were there, he would not have died, and he would have fought against the empire along the rebellion...

Moving backwards, Orphen looked over the gap, taking a running jump before vaulting over the hole, landing only barely on the other side and entering another combat roll, raising up to his feet as he broke out into a sprint. His eyes looked to the floors and the walls as he noticed a series of small raised platforms, hitting one as he ran he felt the pressure in the walls and below his feet change, hearing the loading mechanism as he spied the holes in the walls, all lined in a row at waist height, Orphen ducked low, lying face down in the dirt as the spear-like projectiles threatened to harpoon him to the walls, only barely missing as Orphen felt the wind on them ass the soared above his head... The bolts created an echo which resounded down the halls, and surely would alert the other person here of his presence... which meant now, whatever time Orphen had to find the prize at the end of this just narrowed. Pressing up against the ground with his hands, he began to run, sprint even, his eyes and his senses with the aid of adrenaline calculated and processed at incredible paces as he came around the corner... and there he was... in a room where the floor had seemed to give away, he floated up through a hole in the ceiling... Cursing under his breath the maze began to change around Orphen, the corridoor he was in shifted as the room strafed to a side, the re-arrangement seemed to ensure that the person in that room would not be able to escape from the hole ass Orphen stood in a hallway with stairs now moving down in the place of the trap-room...

Walking forward he removed his light sabers, jumping and igniting each of them, their golden beams planted each in turn burying them deep into the weak steel above him... spinning to cut out another hole, not a couple dozen meters away from where the man would be standing above them the brilliant light hewing through the lesser metal like it didn't exist, the two shoto light sabers having more than enough length to break through with a gearous buzzing. Landing and rolling to a side Orphen would avoid the falling piece of the roof he had carved out before leaping up through the makeshift port hole. Orphen's chest rose and fell as he observed the man before them, though he was not an efficient user of the force, he could feel 'something' from him, but Orphen was far from trained enough to be able to know what that feeling was, yet alone what it meant... Opening his mouth the small Jedi began to talk.

"Who are you? And what business do you have here?"

Orphen spoke with an amount of command in his voice, holding his two weapons to his sides, watching the man for any quick movements he might attempt to make...

[member="Serian Loria"]

 

[Serian Loria]

The archivist and stood when the younger man showed up. His thumbs were hooked into his pockets at his sides, but other than the occasional shift of his body he remained silent. Frankly he found this child rather rude, but there was no heat to it. He moved to brush some hair from his face, his lit ruby gaze flashing. “I don’t owe you any answers, don’t seek to hinder me.”

What, he thought he was going to be intimidated and follow his attempt at commanding him? This one was marked as a force user fledgling, he could feel that unique ‘flavor’ to his life energy. He on the other hand kept his force aura tightly concealed. He didn’t look to have any weapons, nor did he look all that intimidating. He hadn’t raised his voice, the kid would have made out the aristocratic mark to his speech. All it said was he was someone raised with breeding, though his worn clothing simply said he didn’t skimp. He had no real defining things on his person to place him as ‘I am this’.

So far he was just some dusty explorer himself that, might be here for the same reasons the younger stranger was. He didn’t attack, but it would be clear he wasn’t going to leave either.



[member="Orphen"]

 

[Orphen]

Orphen scowled at his defiance, it was not something which he expected to confront when a Jedi bore his light sabers, or when a force user did so in any case, Orphen had no idea who the man before him was, though he had noted the thread count of his clothing, noting its potential expense and deducing that whoever this person was, he was someone with an amount of money, which would then begin to make him think... why would he, if he had resources, be the person who was scouring this old, abandoned scrap temple unless he was looking for the same things which Orphen was... Which would inevitably cause the two of them to be in conflict, though, there was a high chance that deep in the heart of the temple, there was a room which had never had living people enter it since the time of Kazdan himself, which would likely mean that anything defending it would more than likely still be active, awaiting the unfortunate victim which would meander into the dark recesses of that particular abyss. Orphen, noting that the man had not taken any form of offensive or defensive position meant that he wasn't phased by the threat of violence, psychologically that meant there would have to be a reason for that inevitability... a preparedness, a power, or a confidence stemming from somewhere, but, Orphen could not sense any immediate source for that kind of confidence, though, sensing through the force was something he was notably bad at, and required vastly more training on the subject...

"Did you kiss your mother with that mouth? I asked you a question, for someone who wears fine clothing your etiquette seems to have dulled blunter than the bayonet of a tatooinan sandman. So, allow me to re-iterate... What is a traveler like yourself doing here in the booby-trapped depths of a forsaken Jedi temple? You don't strike me as the type who would make his career from grave-robbing, though, I hear that nobles can have all kinds of strange perversions these days."

Orphen wasn't happy enough to smile at the newcomer, his light saber still humming at his side idly, though he slung the second one back where it had come from... it was not a stretch to assume that Orphen had some form of an issue with the aristocracy, though it mostly came from him being imprisoned by Sith doctors, and before that living on the streets of villages in te outer regions, where it was people in power, who looked much like the man before him who preyed upon the lower class consumers who needed their products to survive... especially when it came to former soldiers who were addicted to bacta, Orphen had seen some pretty bad cases of the addiction when he was a child, and every time he saw it, it never got any easier.

Orphen stood stalwart, awaiting the enigmatic travelers' answer, knowing full well if Orphen heard the truth from him, he wasn't going to like a single word from it, but, if the man, on the sliver of an off chance had noble intentions here, there was a chance that the two of them would be able to team up to tackle what lay before them together, increasing their joint chances of survival, from how he had addressed orphen, the young Jedi didn't get the impression that him leaving in one piece was going to be an option, though, Jedi were always better equipped to deal with these kinds of people, like his handler had said a couple of times, everything he needs to handle every situation Orphen already had access to, it was just a matter of looking deep enough in himself to find it, so, he was sure he would be able to reason with this guy, even if his attempts to do so, so far had all ended up in the trash.

[member="Serian Loria"]

 

[Serian Loria]

All [member="Orphen"] would get in the way of response was a short, soft exhale of breath from the man’s mouth, not out of anger, amusement. His lips held a brief twist, just enough to know he had only just slightly smirked. “I already told you all that is really relevant, everything else is simply a distraction. Why is it so important?”

Obviously its because the younger man wanted to know, but that was a given. What he wanted to know was why did it matter? Suffice to say it was clear he had an interest in this place and clearly wouldn’t leave, that this simple fact meant they had eyes for the same thing. Whatever this force be damned place held. His lit ruby eyes looked over the kid, noting his stance and how he held his weapons. Trained, but not enough for though he was not much of a physical fighter himself, he knew flaws when he saw them.

He’d lose patience soon enough, it wasn’t in his nature to leap to conflict at the start and, he had power enough to send this one away without having to resort to bloodshed. Killing fledglings of any kind just wasn’t interesting. He’d rather spare their lives and let fate decide someone else was a better tool to end that budding potential. For now however he was willing to see just what this kid was going to do about him being here. He had always had a talent for pissing people off, especially the ones that were demanding. In this case it just seemed like it was a battle of wills, a test to see who lost patience first.

He wasn’t in the least bit concerned about the weapons. It wasn’t that he thought him not a threat, he was, it was simply because the odds were more in his favor. A fledgling can kill a stronger enemy with planning, but given how the situation was, there was currently none. He could just walk away and simply shadow him, wait for him to take care of any inconveniences, but he wouldn’t do that. A jedi master of such skill and creativity might have left something behind to guard his creations, more than some labyrinth. He wasn’t the type to simply use him as a guinea pig, he’d end up regretting it and he was really tired of regrets. As inconvenient as it was, but he had honor, sadly.

His best hope was to send this one packing, eventually.

 

[Orphen]

Orphen frowned at the man, his silence spoke more words than Orphen would have liked, though a small smirk crossed the mans' face, it was at that blink of a moment that Orphen began to form a hypothesis about the man, creating a schema which he would begin to add up evidence in order to support or fail, Orphen believed the man was either a high class mercenary, likely neutral in affiliation, one who had fought against force users before and likely prevailed, it was not like a person to not react to the presence of a light saber with little more than stalwart confidence and guile. The only other option was that he himself were a force sensitive himself, which was beginning to make more sense the more Orphen looked at it, he didn't have white hair, meaning that he was not Echani, one of the few races Orphen would have accredited the chance of them being able to fight a Jedi in combat without a visible weapon and be able to hold their own, and without any visible weapons on his person, the chances of him being any form of merc was slipping, but if his weapon was the force, he could be a sith, or a neutral force user... these assumptions began to make more and more sense, while there was a chance a merc would come here in order to collect bounty of which to sell, the man before him did not seem to be in need of money, which meant that he might be here for the knowledge... knowledge which Orphen was desperate to attain, so, there was only one thing to do, pulling his focus on the force he focused on the mans' location, not using a usual form of force sense, but rather reaching his mind out for any technilogical equipment, visible or not that was on his person, and with the power of Mechu-Deru, he would do it.

"So, you're here for the belongings of Kazdan Paratus as well... It's unfortunate, but as a Jedi of the Galactic Republic, I've been sent here to collect that material for the order, I would ask you to make your alliances known, you've not attacked yet, you've shown you will not back down, and that you are remaining stubbornly tight lipped... However, you've also not attacked, which leads me to believe you are not necessarily hostile either... If you're a friend of the Republic, we could work together, but, if you're not, I want you to know that you will never so much as see a chamber of which can gain you the smallest insight of what you're looking for, so long as I draw breath."

Orphen was serious, his voice not wavering for a moment as he delivered his ultimatum, hoping for a moment that this man may just, if not with the smallest chance be affiliated with his own faction, something like that would be more than welcomed, but, Mechu Deru was a powerful ability, especially on a world filled with lost and abandoned mechanics, additionally, if the man before them did carry any weapons, with his own power over the spirit of the machine, Orphen was able to turn them against his opponent, perhaps something which even an experienced force user might find surprising, as Mechu Deru was not often a skill possessed or learned by those in the Jedi order... Orphen's visor was still continuing to compute everything it could about the man before them, subtle temperature changes, his stance, visible muscle tension, which there seemed to be little of... Who-ever Orphen was dealing with, knew how to keep his composure with the best of them, the boy only hoped that this confidence was something which was inherent and not warranted. Though, he had a deep and dreaded feeling in his stomach began to lend itself to the feeling that warranted confidence may just be what he was looking at here, his presence at the destination of a long forgotten Jedi Master was no doubt testimony to the man's resources at the very least, if not his own personal skills.

Orphen had lowered his weapons in an attempt to appear open to a democratic approach, remembering one of the greater piece of wisdom from his master, he remembered that the needing to use one's light saber was a failure, as it meant that he had already failed to resolve matters diplomatically, and without bloodshed. Though the epicanthix was young... he was determined to attain what he came here for,

[member="Serian Loria"]

 

[Serian Loria]

He could have been a statue for all anyone might see. Only the subtle shifts were seen and even then they gave nothing away. His association and then strong bond with [member="Raien Keth"] helped only to further teach him ways to hide the things he wished secret. When he made that bold proclamation about stopping him, he snorted. “Typical.” He sighed running a hand through his hair, then eyed the boy again. “Why do your kind always resort to absolutes for absurd reasons? Do you value your life so little that some dusty trinket has more value over it?” He shook his head “Utterly foolish.”

He had nothing on his person in the way of electronics. Not in his bag at his feet either. The archivist disdained being overly attached to technology outside the things necessary, in say, ones household. The fact was no one had yet given him a good enough reason for such and until he did, he would abstain. He started walking, mostly to study the fledgling and because he just tired of standing still. “You did make a correct assumption however… I do not normally set myself as an enemy to the more...altruistic factions, but I am neither an enemy of the opposite as well. I do walk the dark path, but I stand alone from either philosophy. However… I am not interested in staving off my curiosity for a mere fledgling. Besides, if I let you scurry in there, you’d probably die. I just haven’t decided if I should help you or not, one might think letting you meet whatever fate only just reward for a fool.”

He stopped after a moment and crossed his arms “Besides that, you are rather rude. Didn’t your master teach you proper manners when facing another? Instead of threatening me, you should have offered your name. Unless manners, like the galaxy, have spiraled into the refuse as well like so much already has.”

He gave him only confirmation on his assumptions, but didn’t give him anything else. It might become rather maddening, the enigmatic ruby eyed man still, for now, was in total control. All @Orphan succeeded in doing was getting insulted and, getting nothing terribly useful. More to the point, Serian’s vitals didn’t change, he still remained perfectly calm. Irritated by his foolishness he might be, but there was nothing the younger man could glean for an advantage. All it proved was that he was in command of himself, something that only hard discipline could give.

 

[Orphen]

Orphen smiled, it seemed that this man did have a mouth to speak with, finally saying more than a sentence, Orphen put his light sabers away entirely, though, of all the things the man could have said, fool was the one which caught Orphen off guard, the repeated instances where he referred the Padawan as foolish made Orphen angry, it was Orphen who had studied this place to ensure that he would be fine going in, it was Orphen who knew he had the tactical advantage here due to his skill in Mechu Deru, like Kazdan, this fortress was at the mercy of his own fingertips if he wanted to flex power, the man before him may have been stronger, but any energy cells within the complex below them of the long scrapped droids, the mechanisms in the fortress itself were potentially at Orphen's control. Orphen, as always had, be it conscious or subconscious an active calculation of the area, mapping escape routes and stratagem of how to deal with outsiders from droids to bandits, contingency schema on top of schema in case of redundancy and through all of this, it was the man before him claiming Orphen to be the foolish one... Biting his tongue, literally for a moment allowed the tingling sensation to distract his over-active mind from focusing too hard on his anger, pain was helping to stabilize his own mentality, and in many ways his own confidence from running wild, one of the boy's many flaws, though the fledgling comments rolled off the boys' back, giving him information on the man rather than being an effective insult... The way he used the term was the same way one would when they were surely confident, which meant that in not so uncertain ways that the man he was facing down was a trained force user, perhaps beyond the point of a Jedi knight, to the point of a master, a Jedi knight could still lose to a competent Padawan if the youngling was smart and knew how to play his cards right, but this man seemed to have none of that caution... Orphen added that to the Schema.

"I'll allow the foolish comment to slide and move on... ... ... It depends on your opinion of the term 'rude', I asked you who you were and what you were doing here and you cast me off... so, if you consider me rude Mr, it seems hypocrisy runs through your blood as thick as the force. If you look at this logically, I asked a question from my position of societal authority as a member of the jedi order, which is a fair use of said authority to an unknown subject, of which you had a chance to respond civilly... you chose not to... you have no means to assume I would not have been civil in return if you had been co-operative with my initial questions... So, balls in your proverbial court Sir. But I tell you what, I'll do you a favor and take the moral high ground here, I go by the call-sign Savant, I'm a slicer, new to the game, but I'm pretty good if I say so myself, I know the model of ship this labyrinth is built on top of like the back of my hand, though how it has been edited, i cannot say, but I know every detail on Kazdan Paratus that I had access to within the Jedi Order. "

Orphen stood in place as the man began to walk, smirking as he explained his situation and how he might be useful, but giving no information about himself that he had not already provided, not through his clothing as his civilian ware was neutral, the kind you could buy at a reasonable price from any market, not through his mind due to his racial affliction. The person before him wasn't to know Orphen's other persona as Blood-knight within the one sith and the Hutt cartels. Orphen hoped that the man before him would come to reason, working together they had a better shot at getting through this place, and Orphen somewhat had a map to the area, though he would not do very well with any of the heavy lifting, he had intended to somewhat improvise when it came to any of the more active traps in the heart of this place. But, as far as Orphen knew, where they were looking for was the bridge to the ship, which was a few levels down and to the south east of them, if there was to be a heart of the area, it would be there... but they would need to go through the cargo area... the wide open space was perfect for a large scale trap... thought that information, Orphen would be withholding, he didn't want to run into the situation where he would outlive his usefulness.

So, your move...

Orphen folded his arms, his light-sabers back behind him but his blasters to his side would be more than able to move to if the moment arose. Though he was giving the man a chance, Orphen wasn't letting his guard down.

[member="Serian Loria"]

 

[Serian Loria]

His reward was laughter, he couldn’t help it, the remark about the Jedi being superior in society was funny. He sobered, shaking his head “Jedi being superior…” He sighed smothering the urge to chuckle “Almost eight hundred years ago you were barely recovering from Palpatine’s foolishness and now? Now some fledgling is claiming the Order is ‘superior’. You lot still speak so arrogantly, but then the same foolish arrogance is rife within the other set as well.”

It didn’t matter how long ago it was, some things never changed. “Your manner upon your arrival is what I consider ill mannered and rude. You leaped in, weapons drawn, making demands and threats of a person who, had I been anyone else, would have simply swatted you down. More importantly, you knew exactly why I was here otherwise I’d have been somewhere else. I still think your questions pointless, but…” He gave a slight dismissive shrug “It matters little now.”

He looked up at the sky, then back at him “My name is Serian Corsair Loria, former Sith Lord and one of many Archivists to the Fringe.”

Over the years as the Jedi and Sith warred, knowledge was often seized from both sides. It was quite possible that the man had heard his name before, he’d been a former archival head back in his previous era. His name and, quite possibly the things he’d restored and translated, might even have, centuries later, ended up where the younger man had read them. There was accounts of Sith from the past, again his name and even brief descriptions could be recorded. He had been quite infamous for luring Jedi to the Dark Path merely because of his words and views.

He was exactly as he had been, his manner and approach still the same. One of few Sith in that time that was just as likely to help Jedi as kill them, though his name wasn’t tied to any fallen Jedi. A man more interested in knowledge than glory, amenable enough to work with his ‘enemy’ and, in his own way honorable. His eyes were the telling feature that could quite easily mark him from that long dead time, that is even supposing his name was known at all. “My help isn’t free. I haven’t decided if I want the treasures within, I mostly did this to test myself against the remnants this dead Master left behind. I am sure there are tomes left behind, among other things, but its the value you hold that interests me more. I heard rumor that the Jedi will allow people within their libraries, is this true?”

That more than anything would be the reason he had an interest in @Orphan . Whether or not it was true, the padawan could be the one who got him in. His only desire was access, simply because he’d never had the chance before. He really had no interest in turning Jedi from their ways.

 

[Orphen]

Orphen slanted his eyes and cocked his head to one side, not sure what the person before him was going on about, at first it was the petty insults, the man's tongue seemed to be somewhat refined, he spoke basic well, but Orphen could not begin to calculate the reasoning why he had jumped to such a stupid assumption, though, it could not be helped, while Orphen genuinely had no love for the Sith Order what so ever, it seemed that the experiments which had led him to this development had made him better off, the Epicanthix reveled in his own intellect, so much so that he could not help but smile at the Sith's rebuttal, inflating Orphen's ego further than it perhaps needed to be as the Jedi Saboteur folded his arms and waved away any remark of insult, chuckling under his breath for a moment before he sighed heavily. Walking back to the hole which looked down into the building below them, it seemed that while they had bantered the labyrinth had re-arranged itself once again, revealing a path which led further into the complex, Orphen hoped that this would be resolved quickly, because, as it began to look there was only an increasing chance that another re-arrangement would close the path and they would have to find the long away around, or have to cut through the facility which, in the end, would do them more damage than good.

"Well, If the Shoe fits...

we Jedi may always seem to be loosing, yet, conversely we always seem to win while at our weakest... I'm no statistician... well ... actually, I am ... but if a weak opponent beats you, that implies you, are weaker....

Anywho!

Serian Lora, it's nice to meet you, I don't think I made any threats, though, I did take precautions, this is a dangerous place, I'm sure you'll understand watching your back and covering your bases, being a former Sith Lord and all you should be used to it, and I am too, I am not a moron after all... but at least it's good to know some Sith seem to have enough sense to leave that draconian order...However, I don't know where you learned your common, but in the Republic 'societal authority' and 'superiority' are not synonyms...But look, I will gladly find you a thesaurus later or perhaps even tutor you personally in basic common until your heart is contented, but it seems that for now, opportunity has presented itself... And as for the Jedi library, only an associate of the Jedi order is allowed access into the archives, basically, you would need to be a Jedi in some way, shape, or form. You'd have to take that up with the masters..."

Orphen looked down the hole, and looked back to [member="Serian Loria"] , catching the former Sith lords' eye and jumping down the hole, silently and wordlessly offering the Lord to come along, or he could stay here at his own wish... beginning to move down the corridor before it decided to change again. Orphen switched his visor back to night vision, hoping that the visor would be able to pick up the subtle grooves in the ground, roof, and walls in case they managed to move through any trapped areas. While the Jedi doubted that there would be anything as rudimentary as pressure plates which caused the walls to begin to press in, the late Master was known at that point in time for developing a deep seeded paranoia over the end of the Jedi order and the madness which being driven into hiding under the iron fist of palpatine had done to his poor mind. Orphen had to attempt to expect everything, which was beginning to take a rather large toll on his forcus, his thinking mind not being able to keep up with his processing brain as he was beginning to overburden himself. If Serian wanted to answer him at this point, he would have to follow Orphen deeper into the recesses of the maze, which, Orphen was sure would not be an issue for the master.

Stretching his arms as he began to walk, the cave around them began to get darker, the steel walls expended onwards as far as the eye could see until there seemed to be a port at the end of the hallway, remembering the schematics of this class of ship, it was likely this was one of the old elevator shafts, something which he would be able to use in order to move deeper into the area. Orphen began to focus on his connection to the force, reaching out to the machine and feeling out its various mechanical infrastructure. Feeling his mind wrap around it, he could feel the familiar pressure of the power putting weight on his mind and body, the feeling of warmth as the force flowed through the veins of the teenager, using his hands as a means to focus, he envisioned himself prying the door open with his hands, moving his hands to his chest, palms facing outwards with his eyes closed, he thrusted his arms to either side as an affirmative action, using it as a point of reference, like a command as the force surrounding the mechanics reacted to the power the boy wielded. Sighing, Orphen smiled, moving to look down the long hole, scratching his head as he looked down at the 50m drop, sure that he would not simply be able to drop down the full length of the way.

Hmmmm, how to get down there...

Orphen pondered aloud.

 

[Orphen]

After some pondering it seemed that Serian did not trust the Jedi enough to act, which, was his right to do so, this neck of the woods was dangerous to begin with, so, without wasting too much more time, Orphen ran into the opening, knowing that there was more than enough traps further down the line to be able to deal with him as well were he not sure footed. So, taking to the fleet, Orphen ran ahead, knowing full well that Serian may be further back, or have found another way to get ahead of him, but, whatever the action, Orphen was moving towards his location, the bridge of this sunken ship, though he needed to move through the docking areas to get there... Running down, his visor pointed out several pressure pads on the ground which were linked to blasster traps on the way, the subtle grooves as well as the sensory capabilities of his own Mechu Deru, allowed him to more or less follow the footsteps of Kazdan into his own lair. The techniques were useful, and it ended up sharpening the Jedi's mind on the way down, always being ready for another trap, though, with the materials that Kazdan would have been working with, Jedi master or not, there is only so much of a corvette class ship that you could gut out and turn into your own death-trap, though, that was before Kazdan was hunted down and killed by a Sith working for the Dark lord of the Sith at the time hundreds of years ago... Orphen only hoped that this place had not been walked before.

Though, it was not long before the place began to change again, and a wall ahead of Orphen, which he needed to go down was getting smaller, breaking out into a run, Orphen attempted to reach out with his Mechu Deru in order to stall the wall as he charged towards it, with little avail, as it seemed that the changing hallways reinforced each other, it was like trying to lift an entire flagship and push against it, it was simply not going to happen, so, instead Orphen needed to focus on his speed, getting there only in the nick of time, he dived through the gap and rolled out on the other side, finally in the docking area, from here he was able to see a ladder to an over watching area, from there, there would be a hallway which led directly to the bridge. Taking a run, he approached a ladder and climbed quickly, knowing that if he hung around here there was likely some kind of guardian which would awaken and fight any intruder once it recognized them... but, Orphen was not going to hang around for it, when the long, cinematic rumbling began, as something large began to rise up in the center of the room, Orphen climbed the ladder and ditched it, leaving it to whom ever wanted to deal with that.

Reaching the overlook, and running from the rusted war droid, Orphen made his way down the hallways, until he finally found his way to the bridge, within there was something which he was surprised at, there was a holocron, that much was certain, but, it only seemed to be half made, and much of it looked like it was salvaged from the area around it. The Size of the holocron was much larger too, more like the size of a soccer ball than something which would fit in the palm of you hand, which probably stood in testament to either the amount of knowledge which had been accumulated by Kazdan, or the restrictions of his materials at the time, in needing to use a junkyard for the spare parts. Reaching out with both hands, Orphen lifted the surprisingly dense object up, and, looking around,, began to head down the main corridoor, a direction of which he had not come, to ensure not walking back into the beast which blocked the way back, once again making sure to dodge the taps on the way back. Though the holocron was half done, with a few repairs, whatever information was on it, would be able to be accessed by the jedi order... which was the real goal here.

knowledge.

taking this alternate path back, Orphen, with a couple of handy grapple hook shots, and waiting 2 hours for one of the walls to change, had made his way back to his ship, entering it, and placing the holocron on the seat behind him, clipping it in with a seat belt and lifting off once and for all, saying goodbye to the junk planet after all. On his way back, once the flight was stable, he moved to the back of the plane and used his tools to repair the most of the holocron back into good working order, though it still looked a sight of a mess, Orphen managed to begin to access the information, listening to the words of the Jedi master, who, it seemed, at the time of making this was only beginning his descent into madness, he was paranoid, that was for sure, but, it seemed that at this point he was not too far gone... which was good, at least he was trying to make a new Jedi temple in order to train the new blood... it was a noble goal, and he almost had too, though, Kazdan paratus had fallen to lunacy, and in so doing, the dark side of the force, in some ways... whihc was a shame, but, at least with his holocron, Orphen would be able to learn some of his skills through any training he provided.

Smiling to himself, Orphen placed the jet on autopilot, and cruised on the rest of the way home, hoping that he would see serian once more some day.

[exit thread.]