Mission Deep Rooted | Pt. II

[Tansu Treicolt]

CORUSCANT | UNDERWORLD
02:15:30 IN THE MORNING
...following the events of the shootout in the Senate Plaza
​

The upper levels of Coruscant were beautiful and every bit the opulence and splendour that constituted the twin’s conception of the galactic capital. And there’s been an exciting shootout with a senator within the first half hour of their arrival!

But deep beneath the lowest stratum of traffic, far under the glittering facades, was another view of Coruscant. One the twins hadn’t expected.

It seemed as though sunshine never penetrated the lower levels , which was a tricky concept to grasp. Daylight could always be counted on back home; nowhere escaped Concord's dawn. Here, the night seemed endless, and the only sources of light were flickering eon holo projections advertising unseemly goods.

And if Tansu looked up, it wasn’t the spectacle of cross-hatched traffic that steadily travelled through the upper level’s clear blue skies. Here, sky hoppers and banged-up looking cruisers careened dangerously through a thin miasmal fog. Everything about the lower levels had an edge of mystique to it that made Tansu feel overcautious. No natural light felt foreboding, as though every exchange here was meant to be unseen or clandestine.

There were a few glow sticks in protected wire cages set here and there on buildings, but after centuries of use they were so weak that they did little to relieve the gloom. The regular citizens, however, revelled in the shadowy façade of the dark passageways and narrow corridors. Many were unaccustomed to the light of day or didn't wish to be seen clearly.

Most citizens avoided the group. The only attention they got were from beggars who set upon them, asking for food or money, and the wary eyes of gangsters that seemed to constantly evaluate if the upper dwellers had any worth. For the most part, however, they remained unbothered.

The first entrance to the Enclave was a bust. The Atrisian noodle shop had collapsed long ago, and nobody had bothered to repair it. Or even move the debris. The closest alternative, according to their directions, was a tunnelled manhole a few blocks over. It promised to descend at least ten levels. The group found it, stood around in a cirlce, hmm’d a bit, made brief eye contact, and then wordlessly and unanimously agreed that a turbolift would be a better choice to access the lower levels and the other entry points for the Enclave.

It was this turbolift they occupied now. Wide enough for the descendents to stand in, but not wide enough for it to be comfortable. To add to the discomfort, the lift looked and felt ill-maintained. There were buttons missing from the panels, random umbilicals spilling out from where the emergency call panel had been installed at some point, and perhaps worst of all were mysterious substances pooled in each of the metal box’s corners. If anyone looked at the liquid too long, it might have moved.

The screen meant to dictate which level the passengers were on was nearly illegible. It was faded and the updates to the numbers were delayed. Squinting, Tansu had no idea if it said 4588 or 1300 or anything in between. It would have been just as useful not to have a screen at all.

After what felt like a few minutes of the lift taking them down, Tansu gave up trying to read what level the lift had them on.

“Just how many levels are there on Coruscant?” Tansu asked, and clutched Amos closer. She’d let him walk around without concern on the upper levels, but down here she was worried he’d get catnapped or step in something hazardous to his paws. Or get chased by another overgrown rodent. The first thing Amos saw below levels was a giant armoured rat, tried to chase after it, and gave up the instant he realised he was the prey in the situation. He’d hurriedly come meowing back to the group, anxious to shake his spiked pursuer. If things like that let themselves be seen, Tansu couldn’t begin to imagine the terrors responsible for the sounds in the shadows.

Suddenly, the turbovater’s repulsorlifts died and their entire world came to an abrupt stop. Unbalanced by the jarring end to their descent, Tansu stumbled back. Amos made a noise of discomfort and pushed out of her clutches.

After a beat of shocked silence passed, Tansu blinked. “Are we..stuck?”

The lift answered by sliding its doors open. It seemed to trust that it had dutifully arrived wherever it was supposed to.

Unfortunately, it hadn't—not entirely. When the doors groaned partly open, they revealed mostly blackness. Thick ropes of wires, metal pipes, rebars, concrete, and dribbling silt were all anyone could see through the half-opened doors. Only about at shin-height did the wall end, leaving the passengers with less than three feet to squeeze through and an unseen drop to their destination.

____________________________________________________________
Kyric | Talin Treicolt | Dax | Damien Dooku
ATTN: Sinestra | Sahar | Brutalis
____________________________________________________________​

​

 

[Kyric]

"Only one way to find out," Kyric said, then dropped onto his chest. "This is usually pretty dumb, so only do this if it's life or death." He shimmied out through the small gap between the two floors. Halfway out, the kiffar's body bent down as the floor disappeared completely. "Well, that's unlucky. Please hold." He somersaulted forward into a smooth roll, tucked his knees to his chest, righted himself during the fall, and landed a perfect three-point landing.

Sadly no one could see him in the shadows.

He lifted a flashlight and activated it with a flick of his thumb. The light swayed from left to right, revealing overturned counters in abandoned cubicles constructed every ten feet. "I think this used to be some kinda Shoppin' Sector," Kyric called back after his cursory examination. "S'bout a ten-foot drop, so take it slow. Bend your knees right before impact and all that."

His light traced the passage of a few small rats through a nearby window, only losing them once they disappeared through a tiny hole in the corner. Nothing else moved. He couldn't feel anything. The only thing he could hear was the distant drip, drip, drip of forgotten pipes Kyric assumed responsible for the muddy brown streaks all over the floor.

Kyric detached the holoprojector from his belt and activated it. The Chieftain's map data on Coruscant proved impossibly accurate from the Kid's experiences, leading him to assume his father and BD-8 spent countless hours exploring their homeworld together.

The idea brought a smile to his face.

The distinct lack of data on this sector rectified that immediately.

Looks older than other condemned sectors. I'm curious how long it's been since someone's been here. Kyric strode a bit deeper into the complex. Worker droids stood in random groupings of two to three on every corner as if expecting an assignment. The slight distinctions between droid and organic left the kiffar uneasy as he studied them in the darkness. Their thin, geometric joints gave them an unnatural quality more akin to undead than the inorganic when viewed within the lightless depths of the Lower City.

Staring out into the darkness beyond his flashlight's reach, Kyric's hand hovered a fraction of an inch closer to his saber hilt. They were in uncharted territory. What he hoped to be an abandoned market could very well be a den of undeath or depraved Dark Side cultists, and Kyric could not be sure what was more likely.

"Enclaves, of all places," he sighed. "I coulda' brought them to a dozen different temples, yet they're huntin' for enclaves." His free hand slipped back into his jacket as he turned and waited for the others. "Unlucky indeed."
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Chaos Main Characters: Talin Treicolt | Tansu Treicolt | Dax
Supporting Antagonists: Sinestra | Brutalis | Sahar

 

[Dax]

"I have a bad feeling about this."

Dax grimaced as he watched Kyric disappear through the gap. Hoping either twin shared his reservations, his regard bounced between them. Their faces were about what he should have expected. With a sigh, his grimace gave way to a defeated, sulking frown. Quiet muttering followed, cursing this vicious cycle of wonder and peril.

"S'bout a ten-foot drop, so take it slow. Bend your knees right before impact and all that."

Ten feet down. His eyes strayed contemplatively from any particular focus, slowly bounding from place to place. That was about the length of his ship's boarding ramp, more or less. Suddenly it didn't seem nearly as bad, though it remained a complete leap of faith. What if Kyric was bad at estimating distances? What if he got lucky on the way down? Dax looked at the flickering control panel by the door, and his frown returned. There wasn't another way up or down.

Damn.

Dax removed BD-9 from his shoulder, and with one forceful exhale, dropped low and slipped himself through the gap. Weightlessness seized his stomach as he plummeted toward the ground. His knees bent in preparation, anticipation sending a surge to every nerve in his lower body. Impact forced his legs to bend further, gravity pulling his head toward the floor. Torquing his torso, Dax managed to eat all of what was meant for his head with his arm and shoulder instead. Resonating across the empty layer, the fleshy thud he emanated betrayed how hard he'd fallen.

"For krike's sake."

A labored grunt heralded slowly him to his feet. His right hand skipped across his clothes, summoning a small dust cloud. His left arm throbbed, stiff from the impact. Shoulder rotations ensured the ligaments were still in place. A lack of excruciating, mind-drinking pain told him nothing was broken.

"I hate elevators."

 

[Talsin Lota]

Gang: Tansu Treicolt | Kyric | Dax | Talin Treicolt
Non-gang: Sinestra | Brutalis | Sahar

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"Pretty sure you are not supposed to say that." He mutters as he crouched down and tried to follow Kyric's movements through the pitch-dark gap. It was impossible. Which made it more terrifying, but at least they weren't hearing Kyric being torn apart or have him scream. You needed to appreciate the little things.

"Doesn't it usually summon some horror show?"

Dax went next and it didn't sound nearly as smooth as when Kyric landed. He grimaced there and glanced up at Tansu. No karking way was he going to let himself be showed up in front of her.

"I will go next."

He settled on his side... and then rolled right through the gap. His hand immediately lashed out against the metal support beams, using the Force to make his grip sticky and basically attaching his touch to the surface. It slowed down his movements as Talsin slid down until his feet hit the ground next to Dax.

Quiet and poised.

"Mm, that wasn't too bad, was it?" Addressed to Dax in a cheerful manner. It was no wonder that Tansu wanted to punch his lights out every other day.

 

[Talin Treicolt]

“Don’t you poke at him.” Talin snapped. “Only cool when we do it.”

Annoyance was amplified by an uneasy churning in her stomach. Pallid skin was more than the harsh lift lighting. They had only had a taste of the lower levels higher up, and she didn’t think they needed to see much more. Nevertheless, the unknown was the only way forward. With a grimace, the blonde dropped to her bottom, then into the free fall. A hand caught a tumble that would have mirrored Dax.

“Ow.” She complained, shaking out her wrist.

Turning, a tsktsk called for their furry companion and talked him into the leap, making way for her sister. A wild grip snatched him by the scruff when he landed behind her. In this place, they were never like to find him should he get away. Talin pushed past the two boys to move towards Kyric’s flashlight. It was a blinding beacon in this pit.

“Gosh, it feels wrong to be here. Like ya know when you’re tippin your neighbors bantha and waitin’ for him to come out with the shotblaster? Except way less excitin’.”

A darting gaze looked both ways.

“Where d’ya reckon we go from here?”

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

Talin defended Dax from Talsin so she didn't have to, and everyone slipped out through the skinny space to the shadows below.

She exhaled and took a sparing look at the goop in the corner. It jiggled and she wanted nothing more than to be out of this tiny metal box. Yuck!

Kyric, Dax, Talsin, Talin, and even the cat, were all gone. She didn't like being last. Not at all. Not unless she reframed it in her mind as intentionally waiting, so she could pull up the rear.

Tansu imagined that if she poked her head out first, the turbolift would decide to continue its descent at just the right time and decapitate her. With that reasoning, it seemed going feet first would be the better choice. She made a noise of resignation, and shimmied to the edge of the elevator. Sliding out on her back until halfway, she kept her hands pressed against the upper part of the blockade. Silt responded to her pressure and dribbled onto her face and neck, and she had to turn to cough it out. Then she let go, and let her feet do the searching. It was only because of Kyric's light did she have any indication where the ground was, and bent her knees just before impact.

Still, she Oof'" through it, and fought against imbalance's pull, wobbling until she got her footing.

"Wish I coulda seen how all y'all looked after that drop." She muttered defensively, if anyone was scrutinizing her landing.

It was more than just dark wherever they were. All the shadows felt as though they had a mass of their own. This world's existence had bent and warped through time and screamed inhospitality.

"Someone comes out with a shot blaster here, I don't reckon they're shootin' just to scare down here." Tansu murmured, dusting herself off and reaching in her back pocket for some kinda glow stick. As if she had one. She didn't.

"But you're really acknowledgin' the corn," The saying was a family favourite — recognizing an observation that was by all accounts impossible to ignore. Corn stretched for miles, and were many feet tall on Concord Dawn. It was impossible not to acknowledge it.

"Hey," she said suddenly and stuck out an arm. Her steps stopped and she straightened.

"Y'hear somethin'? Hear that?" The cat meowed in response to the darkness. "Shht! Amos. Stop"

____________________________________________________________
Talin Treicolt | Dax | Talsin Lota | Kyric
Sinestra | Sahar | Brutalis
____________________________________________________________
​

 

[Brutalis]

This was foretold...

Brutalis had little patience for prophecies and the whispers of fate given by the seer and fellow Darkside Elite member Sinestra . He was a creature of action, fueled by raw instinct and the thrill of combat. Attributes that were doubly increased by the parasites attached all over his green scaled figure. Orbalisks. Yet, when word reached him of the arrival of the foretold ones, the new Jedi, his interest was piqued, if only for the opportunity to unleash his brand of terror upon them. I have never tasted Jedi before.

From the depths of a rather wide dark alley, Brutalis observed with a predatory gaze as the elevator shaft illuminated briefly with the arrival of the unsuspecting Jedi. His lips peeled back into a sinister grin, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth, anticipation coursed through his veins like wildfire. He cared not for their noble cause or their supposed destiny; all that mattered to Brutalis was the hunt, the thrill of the chase, and the fear he would instill in those who dared to cross his path. Yet still he had a mission to complete as well. The Jedi were to be taken alive and minimally harmed. They had a purpose according to the greater plan. This was a buzzkill for Brutalis, but also a begrudging challenge.

Positioning himself strategically in the heart of the alley, where the darkness was most suffocating, Brutalis awaited the arrival of those destined to cross his path. Obscured by the shadows and fixated on unsuspecting prey. From the depths of the dark emanated a wet, slopping sound, reminiscent of flesh being torn and bones being crushed. Something was chewing.

Enemies: Kyric Tansu Treicolt Talin Treicolt Talsin Lota
Allies: Sahar Sinestra

 

[Kyric]

“Gosh, it feels wrong to be here. Like ya know when you’re tippin your neighbors bantha and waitin’ for him to come out with the shotblaster? Except way less excitin’.” A darting gaze looked both ways. “Where d’ya reckon we go from here?”

"Hard to say," Kyric flashed his light into a second storefront, then over another decrepit and non-functional turbolift. "We need to look around. See if we can find another lift, or maybe a maintenance hatch. Each sector has at least a dozen ways in or out in the event there is a large-scale emergency." He peered back at those behind him and considered the gathered teens. Not one of them felt useless, but a faint chill running down the length of his spine made it difficult to believe some of them could be trusted in the depths of the unknown.

"Double check your commlinks," Kyric clicked the little device in his ear as he spoke. "Make sure we're all linked up." His voice sounded from the communication devices of those already prepared, a final warning to those who hadn't. "We're going to split up for now into three groups and search each sub-sector before moving on to the next. BD-9 should be able to transmit live map data to us as Dax explores, so we won't lose track of what's been searched."

The self-appointed leader of the group turned on Dax. Though the kiffar knew little about him, or Talsin for that matter, Kyric trusted the boy's familiarity with his droid. "Dax, you and Talin will search sub-sector 1A," he turned from them to Tansu. "You'll take your new tagalong," he winked at the Tetan, "and go check out 1B. I'll clear 1C, then we'll all reconvene and clear 1D together. I know that'll take the most amount of time, but it's also the most thorough, so I don't wanna hear a lick o' complainin'. Now get to work."

Kyric departed to his delegated workspace at that. He didn't want to give Talin any time to voice her dissent at being separated from her sister. It wasn't the kiffar's first choice given how well they did work together, but the inclusion of two unknown variables made it all the more difficult. So he chose to trust Tansu to look after her new friend and Dax to survive Talin's poorly-considered schemes.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dax | Talsin Lota | Tansu Treicolt | Talin Treicolt
Sinestra | Brutalis | Sahar ​

 

[Dax]

"Mm, that wasn't too bad, was it?"

"I've had worse," Dax claimed, shoulder rolling beneath his grasp. No mind was given to Talin's attempts at defending him.

"BD!" his voice echoed up the unlit elevator shaft. Outstretched hands awaited the BD-units descent. After a beat of anticipation, metal met waiting digits with a muted clunk.

<Ten feet was a slight underestimation,> BD-9 chirped while placed on Dax's shoulder.

"Doesn't matter. We all made it."

<Optical sensors detect signs of discomfort among sixty percent of our current party.>

"We're fine, BD. Trust me."

Another grimace crawled across Dax's face when the creature the twins called Amos yowled into the featureless distance. Squinting, he tried to make out anything their pet might have been affronted by, though to no avail. That bad feeling he'd mentioned on the lift crawled its way back under his skin, commanding the hairs on his neck to stand upright. This time, the feeling of impending trouble was practically supernatural.

At Kyric's request, Dax produced the small communicator from his pocket and began fidgeting with the dial. Quiet echoes of Kyric's voice along with a flashing blue light confirmed their link.

"Dax, you and Talin will search sub-sector 1A."

Dax's regard shot up with an intelligent; "Huh?" A double-take went between Kyric, the Twin, and back to Kyric again. "You want me to go with her?" Despite their moment of bonding back on the ship, Talin was still the crazy schutta that had stuck a blaster in his face over nothing. Not to mention nearly getting him killed up on the surface. Considering the alternatives didn't really give him much to protest with. Kyric was the only one who could go alone, Talsin was a stranger, and he imagined Tansu was likely wary about his possession to the point she'd refuse.

Damn.

"I—" Dax stammered nearly eight syllables before conceding; "Fine." A pointed glare quickly locked onto Talin. "Just promise me you'll keep it in your pants unless it's absolutely necessary," he remarked crudely regarding her blaster-happy tendencies. A deep breath once again allowed him to push forward through a barrier of reluctance. "Come on."

____________________________________________________________
Fellow Chaos Protagonists & New Guy:
Kyric Talin Treicolt Tansu Treicolt & Talsin Lota
Let Me Live Pls:
Sinestra Brutalis Sahar
___________________________________________________________​

 

[Sinestra]

Meditating on the cold floor of the Massassi Temple on Yavin IV, Sinestra swooped into the fathomless ocean of the Force for answers; signs to guide her in the quest of reshaping the galaxy. And soon enough, in the depths of the ethereal, the coalesced shadows began to part. One by one, the shades took shapes before morphing into silhouettes, each having a single distinguishable feature: a burning, fiery head of hair; a pair of dichromatic eyes; a Tetan purple mantle; and then two were identical--both with a stalk of corn over one ear. Behind them, lights flickered over the rain-drenched streets and alleys of Coruscant's underbelly.

Sinestra stepped out of the shadows and her vision materialized before her eyes, bar for the silhouettes. A sprawling patchwork of dull megablocks and rundown buildings, bound by dingy streets winding around in chaotic twists and turns--often ending nowhere, like worn threads knitting it all together from a total collapse. Though there were no clouds above, the soft pitter-patter of rain hummed over the horizon; the source of precipitation was trapped moisture bursting through cracks and crevices on unmaintained, colossal pipes carrying water on the levels above.

She shuddered. Not from the acrid chill in the air, but from memories pouring uninvited. As gloomy and as hopeless as the Coruscani underworld was, Sinestra remembered it was here, in this unclimbable chasm of darkness, where an eternal legacy was first forged; a blade of beaming hope cutting through the shadows here and eventually beyond the stars, a weapon of the Light. The Sword of the Jedi -- Ryv Karis. She had read the datacrons, chronicled mostly by Auteme , some by Bernard of Arca, telling the tales of the Sword and the fledgling, at the time, New Jedi Order. The Order she once called her own and these same heroes she once sought to emulate.

Suddenly her ears began to ring and her vision to double. She placed her hand on the cold wall beside her for balance, her shoulders lurching forward under an unforeseen weight. Echoes from the past, of the Sword and the Light, reverberated through the ethereal, lashing out in defiance against the darkness of her intent, of the new future she sought to forge. The past clashed with the future, seeking to keep out of her reach the figures from her vision. Sinestra fell down on one knee, her head swimming. I can not fail. I must not.

She seized the trembling fear, turning the weakness into strength. Into anger. Rage, rage against the helplessness, against weakness. The fury combusted the dark side into a powerful explosion pulverizing the echoes back into the spacetime tear from which they had emerged. With a labored breath, Sinestra stood back up on her feet. As despondent as the Coruscani underbelly was, she knew well that the roots of the New Jedi Order ran deep here.

Adjusting the hood over her head, Sinestra lunged from one roof to another, guided by the Force. There was no future if she could not seize the present. She had called upon others among the Elite -- Brutalis and Sahar -- for this quest, and the three had split in different directions. The order, naturally, had come from the Emperor; the Dark Side Elite were only as tight-knit as the Emperor commanded them to be. The dark side rewarded individuality and competition, the strong over the weak. Each one of them strove for their own ambitions and to be the Emperor's Chosen.

Her shadowy figure darted by a worn-down sign: sub-sector 1A.

Kyric Talin Treicolt Tansu Treicolt Talsin Lota Dax

Brutalis Sahar​

 

[Talin Treicolt]

scooby doo adventure crew: Dax Tansu Treicolt Kyric Talsin Lota // badeyes: Sinestra Brutalis Sahar

Dax's crassness was met with a string of her own, a slew of curses and jokes about what his kin thought about the thing in her pants. Begrudgingly, she did trail behind, following Kyric's instruction. Crumbling edifices and billowing smog engulfed them as they emerged from the plaza, but her gaze remained fixed on Dax's retreating figure, eyes narrowed with a mix of disappointment and defiance. A flicker of hope had blossomed in her heart back on the ship, but it withered on the vine in the face of the darkness ahead.

As their companions' footsteps faded into the ether, Talin found an empty crossroads when she glanced back, the silence heavy as a bale of hay on a weary mule's back. Instinctively, she reached out along the roots that connected Tansu and herself. But where once there had been a lush garden, now there lay only barren soil, her sister's presence snatched away like ripe fruit plucked by an unseen hand. An ivy of apprehension choked attitude. The distance between her and her partner was closed with a long stride.

"Hey, reckon I'll flick this here switch for a bit o' light," She warned. A blue glow encompassed them a few moments later, its low hum offering reprieve from the oppressive silence. "Worse than a bat midday. Man, I sure hope we ain’t stuck down here for a while. Aunty A is gonna kill me and Tan if we don't catch that shuttle in a few days. Well, I guess she can't kill us if we already d-"

Nervous rambling was interrupted by a darting shadow in the corner of her eye. Freezing, her gaze snapped left. An empty streak laughed at her panic. Had she imagined it? A quiet thud a moment later assured her she had not.

"Chit. What was that? Amos? Didya get lose, buddy?" Horror stricken, Talin turned to Dax. "What if it is Amos? Oh gosh, what if it's another person stuck down here?! We gotta check it out."

 

[Talsin Lota]

Talsin breathed out in relief at not being paired with Talin Treicolt

He didn't really know Tansu Treicolt that well, but anything was probably better than her sister. They didn't really have a lot of luck together. First the initial meeting at the marketplace. Then the collision that destroyed his speeder and caused him to spend a few nights at the hospital for a concussion and broken ribs.

The confusing part was when Talin didn't leave with Dax as Kyric suggested and instead her sister left? W-wha... and Tal turned around to squint at... Tansu Treicolt ?

"You told me your name was Talin!" He hissed at her quietly as he took her by the elbow and tugged her with him in the direction that Kyric had divided them to. "It's a good thing I didn't call her Tansu yet! I would have looked ridiculous."

"But I am sure you would have enjoyed that."

Tal said with a groan as he unclipped his saber and pulled out his own flashlight. It was way too dark here.

"Any other land mines you left for me that I should know about?"

Sinestra Brutalis Sahar