Distractions

[Jacen Voidstalker]

For a planet that held ancient ruins Hyleea looked quite pleasant from orbit. Unfortunately they were heading to the edge of a bright yellow band that encircled the mostly green orb. That strip apparently held several ruins that had barely been visited in the last few thousand years. He doubted they would find anything useful, but it was the journey that mattered right now.

“So we're going to need a guide, but before that we'll need a translator,” Jacen explained. The computer was quite capable of carrying out an assisted landing on the planet’s single small spaceport so he held a datapad in his hands instead of the controls.

The Hyleeans had four legs, two arms, four eyes and no vocal chords at all. Instead they had scent glands on either side of the neck.” He made a little hum as if the next part was interesting. “Apparently they can hold a conversation of more depth and complexity than we can convey with words. Not only that but they can held five or six at a time. Each little parcel of information not only identifies the sender but the intended recipient. It's quite pungent apparently, with poetry and story being the strongest. Best we can do is identify who is conversing as he can't begin to unwrap the information in the complex molecules…” he continued to read. “They're quite religious. They're easily offended. And the only noise they make is when they're offended and it sounds very much the same as...flatulence.”

He looked up from the article he had been reading and raised one eyebrow. “How is your sabacc face?”

The shuttle rattled as it cut into the atmosphere but Jacen hoped to distract Aela just a little from that reality.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

"It'll do." Aela responded quietly as she looked out the viewport.

She'd never been to this world before, never even heard of it in fact. It's species was entirely unknown to her and their ways were something that in any other time of her life she would have found utterly fascinating. Right now however all she could focus on was the hope that they'd find something within one of the supposed ruins that lay on this world.

Consciously Aela knew that the solution to her problems would not come from and outside force, that they wouldn't stumble upon some magic fix that would make everything better. Still, she couldn't help but wish for the thought. The idea that something would just fall into her lap, that she would gain some sliver of knowledge that would lead her in the right direction. It was a stupid, and probably selfish thing to hope for, but she couldn't help it.

"I would be more worried about your stomach." She commented. "If the smells are really that bad..."

Aela trailed off. "Might want to plug your nose."

Her own sense of smell was quite good, and it worried her far more that she might accidentally throw up than keep a straight face.

The idea brought a brief smile to her face, though it disappeared as the ship ducked down beneath the bit of cloud clover looming over the planet. They swooped low towards the surface, cutting across the sky until a city carved into bare rock came into view. A few lights bloomed among the stone, and slowly the ship fell into a waiting hangar bay.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

"They probably don't even recognise facial expressions that well," Jacen mused. "Though...yes...they probably would notice if I chundered all over the floor in response to a simple 'hello'."

He flicked off a serious of switches and the engine noise reduced to a dull thrum. Soon the only noise from the ship were the groans and ticks of the metal cooling down after the descent.

It wasn't that easy being around someone who had reached a place as dark as he had visited so many times. He noticed how quickly the faint smile vanished, could understand just how that felt. He could no more walk away from this now than he could give up back in that catacomb.

Within a minute of leaving the ship he was stuck by the oddness of the city. It was the silence. There was no background noise of conversation at all. Just Hyleeans pausing before each other and the gill-shaped slits opening and closing.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

Aela stepped off the ship only a few seconds after Jacen. She felt odd in a way, not just because of the lingering dark that still surrounded her, but because of what she carried, or rather what she did not carry. It had been many years since she'd visited a foreign world with neither of her lightsabers, even more since she'd been completely unarmed.

She wasn't defenseless of course, she still had the force and her own training, but in an odd way she felt far more vulnerable than she ever had before. Everything seemed...off, and in truth she felt a spike of anxiety as she saw just how different everything was. The city before them was almost completely silent, only the soft skittering of legs echoing out. There was no yelling of merchants, no calls to people on the street, nothing. It was strange, off.

"This..." She trailed off as a rather pungent aroma struck her.

Her stomach did not turn completely, but she felt a small spike of bile in her throat. The stink that touched them was something akin to rotted nerf steak that had been sitting in the back of a cupboard for two of three days. The aroma was distasteful, though not enough to make one wretch.

Of course it only became worse when one of the Hyleeans began to skitter towards them, its head crooked in curiosity.

Aela took in a deep breath, a mistake she instantly regretted. Before the creature could come too close however she drew her face into a neutral, almost happy expression. Jacen may have been correct that they couldn't recognize the emotions of humans...but better to be safe than sorry.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

Perhaps the extra years had left him with a less sensitive nose than Aela but he managed to keep his composure. It wasn't entirely unpleasant. It was a mix of acrid scents that seemed to stick to the palate.

The Hyleean looked between then both as if expecting a reaction. Then it conducted a wider sweep with its gaze and gave a nod. It turned and pointed towards a door recessed into the rock face. There was a sign etched into the rock above it.

"Translators?"

The Hyleean scrunched up its face in confusion. They could apparently understand basic for the most part - or at least around the port - but it wasn't easy for a species that had never evolved for oral communication. In this case Jacen couldn't sense if it had understood or not but it pointed again.

"Thank you friend," Jacen said with a short bow. He started towards the door.

"They seem friendly enough," his said to Aela. The pheromones definitely stuck in the throat. Putting some blockers in his nostrils might not do quite enough.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

She coughed slightly, clearly trying to keep herself from gagging on the scent of the air.

"Yeah." Her voice was flat, but oddly optimistic. The last time she'd gone somewhere with Jacen they had been shot from the sky by Sith. This time around things were already going better. She frowned for a moment and glanced over towards where the Hyleean had pointed.

"I wonder how often they get visitors." She mused. "Or if anyone can understand them."

She supposed that a few species might be able to. Zeltrons and Falleens used Pheromones, not for communication but still it was similar enough. The Jedi Master lingered at Jacen's side, unsure of what exactly their next step should be. The Hyleean had pointed to the sign but they couldn't actually read the sign. She frowned for a moment, shrugging and then decided that it it was best to follow the aliens directions. They were here to discover, to learn.

No reason to stay back and dawdle.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

Jacen slowed up as he approached the window. There were signs in basic in the window. He could think of many places he had visited where shop fronts had to fit the local aesthetic and perhaps this was one of them. As one of the signs said 'open' he stepped inside. There was music faintly playing. Behind the till was an elderly human woman.

"Huh."

Around the shop were news holos and food and water brands he recognised sold in Galactic credits. They were being sold for a criminal mark up. There was a pile of white dstapads with a sign above them.

"Ah, didn't order a translator before you arrived?" The old woman asked.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

For a moment Aela eyed the woman up and down. The prices around the shop were extortion at best, criminal at worst. A single bottle of water cost fifteen credits, and what looked to be a ration bar went for five. It was like being stuck in a starport commissary...which they actually were.

She frowned for a moment, glancing at Jacen before answering. "We did not."

No use lying. She was sure that the woman would charge them an exorbitant amount no matter what they said. This wasn't the time to play it cool. Better to be upfront about it and just pay whatever the woman negotiated, not like they were short on funds or anything.

"Do you sell them?" She inquired curiously. "Or just...supplies."

A flicker of what Aela could only describe as deviousness flashed across the womans face.

"Oh of course I do Lady...?"

Aela perked an eyebrow at the title, but answered curtly. "Talith."

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

"Those white datapads," the lady explained. "Will you need spare batteries. Not many power ports out at the old Whills site."

Jacen had been eyeing the unreasonable price of batteries when he turned sharply towards the woman. "And..."

"How do I know you're going out there?" She stifled a smile and offered him a pack of batteries. Just thirty credits.

Jacen gave a slow nod.

"Every few years or so I get a few coming through here looking for it. Just a guess. Most come better prepared for talking to the locals."

"They ever find anything?"

She shrugged. "Don't know. They only come through here on the way in, not out."

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

"Do they come out at all?" The Question was a valid one, assessing the danger that they would face.

Of course, the only answer that she got was a small crook of a smile. The expression was telling enough, and immediately caused Aela to grow silent. It was no surprise here. Aela supposed that all manner of treasure hunters came to worlds like this, seeking ancient rumors and hunting great riches. In a way it wasn't any different than what she and Jacen were doing, though of course they weren't going to ransack the tombs that they found, if they found any.

"You'll want weapons I'm sure."

Aela perked an eyebrow. "Whys that?"

It seemed that the old womans greed overcame her need for secrets. The slight smirk that had appeared on her face changed to confusion, her eyes glancing from Aela and then to Jacen. Slowly her eyes wandered back to the young woman.

"It's unwise to travel unarmed here. The Hyleeans Wouldn't harm a fly of course but the deserts...they hold something far more dangerous."

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

The very first conversation and it was about giving Aela a weapon. Jacen sighed. It wasn't the real issue. That was the danger that was apparently lurking out in the wild. They hadn't come here to try and force Aela to defend herself and risk losing control again.

"We'll be fine thanks," Jacen replied. He had one of the datapads in his hands. There was a large grip button on one side and when he squeezed it a small fan whirred. Excellent, he thought to himself. A vacuum cleaner to suck up words. "What dangers do you mean?"

---

The wind whipped up a cloud of grit that he had to shield herself from. The noise of those tiny granules striking her mask were quite loud on the inside of that plastic shield. She pressed in regardless. Across the next dune she could see the ruins. People came and visited and left empty handed. It seemed they had done so for millennia. But she had found its purpose. In an old forgotten tome she had discovered a reference to something ancient and powerful. Just one word in the text had reminded her of another. She had studiously linked together a chain of four journals to put together that description with this place.

The anticipation had her nerves on end. Perhaps it had been long destroyed and she had done all that work for nothing? But perhaps that machine had laid dormant and unnoticed all this time.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

"Wyrms."

The old woman began, Aela immediately perking an eyebrow. She did not make a habit of fearing beasts. Her training with her Oma on Onderon, her time on Dxun, and the explorations she'd done on Thrall had been more than enough to put her on good terms with Nature. Yet as the old woman continued to speak Aela couldn't help but feel a bit of...doubt crawling through her.

"Raiders, Bounty hunters, Treasure seekers."

She looked at Jacen, then at Aela.

"Not to mention...the ancients."

Aela perked an eyebrow. "Ancients?"

They had heard of no such thing before coming here, but then again that was no surprise. They hadn't had the time to do proper research aside from what little Jacen had dug up. She had wanted to ask her father, but probing too much into these things sometimes created an odd sort of feedback loop from him. She frowned for a moment, puzzling out just what the old woman could mean. The elder gave her a wry grin, slowly moving back behind her counter.

"Silly legends really. Talk of things moving through the sandstorms. Stone statues coming to life."

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

Jacen got the sense that there was some truth behind the words. It was mixed in with an attempt to gain the attention of the tourists, probably to try and sell some more equipment. Jacen raised both eyebrows at Aela when he wasn't in the shop owners line of sight and took the datapad to the till.

"I've got spare power packs and some blasters in the ship," he said. "Might be best you do carry one just to be sure," he said to Aela. On one hand it wasn't what they had come from. On the other he didn't want her to be left defenceless if they did get into any bother.

"Any guides around the port?" He asked as he counted out credit chits.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

She was about to open her mouth and tell Jacen she had about as much experience with a blaster as she did advanced quantum physics, but a glance at the old lady caused Aela to bite her tongue. For some reason she felt an odd sort of curiousness from the woman, as if she was expecting them to tell her more. That feeling made Aela shut up faster than anything else.

For some reason she didn't like the idea of divulging secrets to this woman, however small they were.

“You'll find them easily enough once you use the translators. Though I wouldn't be so eager to leave the settlement if I were you.”

The woman's tone continued to sound pleasant. Her eyes were now greedily locked onto the credits that Jacen was counting out. Aela frowned for a moment watching as the old woman extended a hand and took the small stack from Jacen. The young Jedi Master noted a small tattoo on the elderly woman's wrist, three sharp lines that reminded Aela of claw marks backed by what appear to be some sort of column. She frowned for the moment.

”Let's do that then.” After they grabbed Jacens blasters.

She got an odd sort of feeling as they left the store, almost as though they were being watched.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

"What an odd person," Jacen said as they left the store. The entire encounter had been strange but that could have been for a lot of reasons: she might have been losing her faculties with age, or just unused to conversing in basic. He sensed worse, but didn't want to trouble Aela with it.

"You know we don't have to go out there," he said. "This is a culture that's kind of unlike anything I've ever seen. We could just head for the capital city and take it in?"

Whilst that would amount to him taking her on a holiday to try and settle her nerves he felt that even the risk of danger hanging over them wouldn't be the best thing for her. For all he knew the woman had been talking gibberish and the old ruins were perfectly safe.

"Maybe we hit up a guide before we make a call."

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

She frowned.

A part of Aela was still somewhat unsure of what she was even doing here. Back home she had planned on going on a trip like this on her own. Self discovery was important, but in the end she had realized that the urge to go on her own was a dangerous one. There was no telling what would happen on a trip like this, and in her current...state of mind things could go south rather quickly. The young Jedi Master frowned, glancing around her and taking in the air.

"No." Her voice was soft, but her lips curled into an expression of disgust. Not because of what Jacen had said of course, but because of the aromas that hung around in the air. The pungent pheromones seemed to cling to everything.

"I don't think so." She said as she looked at Jacen. "Sightseeing won't make me feel any better."

It was a nice thought, but Aela knew herself better than that. Walking around a new culture was fascinating, sure, but it would only serve as a distraction. She wanted to, needed to, attack the root of the problem. Of course in her current state she wasn't exactly sure what that root was, but it was what they were here to figure out.

At least that was what she thought.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

"Probably plenty of places within a short jump that would be nicer for sightseeing anyway. Somewhere with fresh air. Let's go and get some gear," he said. They were only a short walk from their ship. Their ship was almost in view from the shop.

Now that they had a translator the apparently curious residents of the port were keen to come and breath questions all over them. Each was answered politely as Jacen made a poor attempt at not laughing at Aela's increasingly pale face. He didn't tell anyone they were Jedi. Whilst he didn't know if they were even aware of the Order he didnt want to risk someone bringing a problem or a dispute to them to settle.

Back on the ship he started to rifle through what supplies they had. He'd only brought a few things with him. In truth it was the standard supply gear that had been on the ship before he'd taken it. Aela's family was providing most of the exploration equipment. He returned from one cabinet with an NN-14 pistol neatly wrapped in a holster.

"That should do," he said, trying to not make much of the act. "You should be fine though." He returned to deconstructing a light rifle and stowing it away in a bag. He had his handcannon on his hip and lightsaber tucked into his jacket. However neither would be much use of they were attacked by raiders from a distance.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

Aela held a small blaster in her hand, frowning at the weapon with an extreme displeasure. She had used a blaster once or twice before, her Uncle Camerona had even tried to train her with the weapons, but in the end Aela hadn't done all that well with them. Her aim was always off and every time she squeezed the trigger she hesitated. For some reason a lightsaber or sword had always come much easier to her, but Jacen had been right.

She needed something to defend herself if they were going to go around wandering and she supposed if it had to be something it was better than her weapon of choice. After all there was a chance she could fall and-

Aela forced herself to squash the thought. "I don't like it."

The young Jedi master said as she slipped the weapon back into it's holster. She knew how to wear the blasted thing due to her time undercover, and she managed to wrangle the weapon onto her thigh after a few moments of fooling around with the small straps. After she had the blaster secured, she glanced up at Jacen and frowned, glancing towards the supplies that she herself had brought.

After their return from the Rishi Maze, her mother and father had brought back years worth of supplies. Rations, backpacks, even weapons. Everything that Aela and Jacen could have asked for were all found above The Freya which had been neatly stashed in orbit above Borleias after her father had returned the ship from the Satellite galaxy. The two Jedi Masters had cherry picked the best of the supplies and brought them with, though Aela had organized most of it. Two backpacks were ready in the corner of the room, waiting to be plucked off the ground.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

"I'm not expecting you to have to use it,” he replied. He found her distaste at the weapon amusing, but reminded him not to let it show on his face. “It should do just as a deterrent. That glare you reserve for the novices who repeatedly misbehave should do the trick though.” Jacen had no idea if she actually had such a look, he couldn’t recall, but he was trying to lighten the tone before what he had to say next.

“We’ll see what the situation is,” he said as he bent down to take the straps of one bag and swing it over his shoulder. “If it really seems dangerous we’ll consider our options. I mostly think that was bluster. Probably has a deal with some local guides to set them up with tales of dangers beyond. But something does feel a little off. Could be something, could just be breakfast,” he shrugged.

His expression changed to one of confusion. “I wonder how we actually go about finding a guide. I don’t imagine this thing has much range. Think it’s impolite to shout? Hmm.”

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

"There are signs." She stated simply as she slipped on her jacket. The heat outside was blistering, but the material of her coat was meant to regulate temperature both ways, some fancy thing designed by Vanir Technologies. "I suppose the translator can probably just tell us what they say."

Though obviously they'd have to figure out how to type things in instead of just shouting words at the contraption.

"Or we ask around until we find someone." The natives here had all looked alike to her, something she felt somewhat speciest for thinking, but it was true enough. Aela imagined that they would probably go through quite a few of the locals before they actually found what they were looking for. A shrug rolled over her shoulders, one last glance cast around the ship to make sure they didn't leave anything behind. Then without another word she wandered to the backpacks and scooped up the one colored in light blue.

"The guide will only be useful for a short while anyway." She reminded Jacen. "The ruin we found in the book was said to be hundreds of miles out, unexplored."

That was the point after all, going somewhere that had been practically forgotten. "I doubt the Hyleeans look back fondly on the Jedi and Sith wars that happened here."

Even if it was thousands of years ago.