Excavations [Open]

[Luther Lewis]

Lewis rubbed his eyes, trying to clear his head. A pale Eldorai with Black hair stood before him, holding a beautiful violin. A few pinches on his arm proved that she wasn't a fatigue-induced illusion. He then realised she'd asked for his name and he'd been staring at her agape for perhaps a whole minute. Flushed with embarrassment, he stood and performed a low bow.

"Lewis Roth, a Sith researcher hailing from Corellia." he paused. He didn't want to give the specter too much information, but realised he knew little anyway and it wouldn't matter if she knew. "I'm here investigating sites strong in the force, this area in particular seems the most prominent". He didn't want to admit he didn't actually know where he was at the moment.

"I've spent a few years researching techniques in the force, though I confess, this illusion is new to me. Who are you? and where do you hail from?"

While he listened to her response he did some stretches. Looks like he wasn't getting much sleep, so he might as well limber up for some exploring.

[member="Shae'an Vai Li"] - [member="Avin Starfire"] - [member="Saeryn the Bard"]

 

[Shae'an Vai Li]

"Certainly your company would be welcome, though I don't know what danger possibly exists in a 10,000 year old ruin."

The freighter crew went about setting up camp, so that left Shae and Avin on their own. With only the artificial light of a glowlamp to guide them, and the general state of the ship decidedly worse on the side passages than the main thoroughfares they had been on before, passage was slow and cautious. It was not, however, particular arduous, which left plenty of time for small talk. As a child Shae had been friendly but reserved, happy to open up to close associates or family but otherwise fairly quiet. Her training as a Sith had only made her more secretive, but she remembered well enough to fake a jovial attitude.

After ducking under a half collapsed overhead section, Shae turned and addressed a question to Avin as he now faced the same obstacle.

"Your planet, Imahalayan, I've never heard of it before. Is it a very busy place?"

Before them the passage twisted and turned, and the light of the glowlamp could only penetrate so far with the rubble and ruin.

[member="Avin Starfire"] | [member="Lewis Roth"] | [member="Saeryn the Bard"]

 

[RC 212]

[member="Lewis Roth"]

(OOC: Rolled a D4. You got a 2! Congrats!)

She grinned as the dice struck the floor. It was a four sided one and she let it do it's thing, guided by the will of the living force and the universe. It landed on an Eldorai Rune for #2.

"I Lewis Roth am a rare breed of traveller. I am Saeryn the Bard and fate has chosen you this day. I am to aid you in your travels as I see fit."

She paused, and then rosined up her bow, tapping a tune as the violin went back to her cheek.

"What do you require for assistance in your quest then? There is a song for every occasion. Choose wisely."

 

[Avin Starfire]

"The worst dangers are found in the least likely of places."

The journey up and through the dilapidated ship took a slower pace than expected, not that Avin complained at least he could keep his eye out for anything that might fetch a fair price or even better the artifacts he came here for. He expressed his movements in a reserved manner trying to push the front that he was indeed a classroom bound archeologist. The roof collapsed in towards the floor leaving a small route through. The girl swept through with ease leaving a question in the air.

"Imahalayan? No not particularly busy. It's an agricultural planet on the boundaries between dominion and first order space not particularly well know keeps itself to itself and whatnot. How about yourself where do you hail from? I'm guessing somewhere fairly well of."

Avin crouched down and awkwardly pushed himself through the opening following Shae further down the ever enveloping darkness that sat the ruins.

[member="Shae'an Vai Li"]

 

[Luther Lewis]

He hadn't felt nervous very often in his life, but [member="Saeryn the Bard"] set off alarm bells in his head and gave a shiver up his spine. She was obviously very powerful in the force, capable of much it seemed. She was an enigma, but fortunately it seemed she was on his side for now.

"Charmed to meet you, Miss Saeryn. I accept your blessing and ask for a tune full of energy, to spur me onward through these ruins."

He packed up his camp and secured the supplies back in his voluminous pack. He nodded to Saeryn and headed out.

He looked around the hanger. It seemed he was in a large ship rather than a mountain base. Curious, how did it manage to crash so deep in the mountain? He dismissed the question for now. Answers could be sought further in.

The hanger was at the bottom of the ship; Lewis could see an exit at the top, adjoined to catwalks. He could easily get up there using the force, but decided against it. He wanted to conserve his energy. Besides, he wasn't particular skilled at jumping with the force and he'd probably splatter against the hangar ceiling.

He'd found an old rusty ladder at one end of the hangar. He began to climb, but the whole ladder detached from the wall and fell to the ground. He'd only climbed a few rungs, but managed to gather a few bruises anyway. Another, more sturdy ladder was at the other end of the hangar and he climbed it without difficulty. His next challenge was navigating the catwalks. They looked precarious and unsteady. Some sections had already fallen and others were hanging by only a single cable.

Saeryn had not yet climbed the ladder, so Lewis shouted to her from above: "We're going to have a problem getting out, Looks like the walkways are damaged". He shifted his weight slightly. "I'll try to find a-" The walkway gave out suddenly beneath him and he fell into the open air. He flailed and managed to catch the edge of another catwalk with his left hand. It was sharp, but he gripped tightly.

His hand became slick with blood and he didn't move to place the other hand on, fearing he would lose his grip. His left had slipped and he gripped tighter. He wouldn't be able to hold much longer.

[member="Shae'an Vai Li"] - [member="Avin Starfire"] - [member="Saeryn the Bard"]

 

[Shae'an Vai Li]

The Jedi squeezed through the opening with some effort, though whether it was due to his comparatively larger size or simply a lack of experience when it came to navigating through old ruins, Shae wasn't sure. Ahead of them the passage opened up somewhat, and as the moved forward both figures would quickly notice a distinct change in their surroundings.

"I hail from Naboo, I'm a student at the Royal University there." She launched into a detailed description of the campus and how magnificent it was. Of course Shae had only been to Naboo once, and then only briefly. Her whole backstory and even her knowledge of the university was half a lie, and half another man's knowledge that she had torn out of his mind via the force. She had not been seeking something as mundane as the organization of a university, of course, that had merely come along with the real meat.

Extracting memories was a complicated and difficult technique to use, much less master. Shae considered herself still a novice at it, at best. There had been complications aplenty, that had left her dazed for weeks in the aftermath. She was the lucky one, the man had not survived.

In contrast to the previous section of the ship the area they had entered into now appeared to be less damaged by the mountain. The bulkheads were mostly intact and there was little buckling or protrusions of rock and debris. Instead, however, the place looked like it had been gutted from the inside. Hatches were smashed open, old cables and piping hung haphazardly from the overhead and smaller, man-made debris lay everywhere, with everything coated in a thick layer of dust from having lain in one spot for thousands of years.

In many ways it resembled what a ship that had been boarded might look like, riven with violence from the inside.

"Now this is odd. It looks like this section survived the crash in good shape, but something happened afterwards. What do you make of it all?"

[member="Avin Starfire"] | [member="Lewis Roth"] | [member="Saeryn the Bard"]

 

[Avin Starfire]

Avin listened to the Student as they moved through the newer part of the ship. Naboo wasn't one of his most visited planets but he knew more or less of the long-running establishments in and around Theed.He examined the walls, blaster bolts? Possibly whatever had happened it left scorch marks many years ago. Any useful materials seemed to be stripped or in conditions unusable for much else. Strange the whole place gave off an eerie vibe and an ominous presence in the force.

He felt a disturbance in the force erupt from somewhere above him in the ship, fear though what and where was unclear. They weren't alone.

"Yes most strange, I would guess that any surviving crewmembers stayed in these more central areas to conserve power and hide from the elements though not so peacefully."

He approached a dusty looking box in the corner, it was clean in two a scorch mark running through the separation. Either someone had a love for plasma cutting storage containers or a lightsaber had seen some use in here.

"Come here what do you make of this? I don't think its a blaster bolt!" Avin Beckoned to Shae to inspect closer the marking.

[member="Shae'an Vai Li"] [member="Lewis Roth"] [member="Saeryn the Bard"]

 

[Luther Lewis]

Lewis would have laughed were he not moments from his death. This sort of situation was exactly like a holovid he had watched as a kid. An idea springed to mind, but it was dangerous. Considering the situation, however, Lewis decided he didn't have much choice.

He let go.

Swinging his right arm up, he formed large three foot ice claws around his fingers. The claws embedded themselves in the remains of the catwalk and Lewis screamed in pain. He hadn't time to focus his power to protect his skin and the jolt had injured his hands. He then formed another set of claws on the other hand and, much like using a climbing axe, crawled onto the catwalk.

He took in deep breaths and willed the ice to melt. His right hand now looked worse than his left hand. He groaned and stood up slowly. He had the power to heal, but hands were complicated. If he healed in a hurry he could could greater problems. Better to seek shelter, a place that wasn't collapsing perhaps. [member="Saeryn the Bard"] had disappeared as mysteriously as she had appeared. Lewis had little worry, however, and he was sure she could take care of herself.

The other catwalks held, thankfully. He reached the exit for the hangar, whcich comprised of a large blast door. Without power running in the ship it was unlikely to open. A ladder to a maintenance hatch was nearby, and would take him up into the ship faster anyhow. He winced as he grabbed the rungs of the ladder; this would be a tough climb.

Only a few minutes had passed, but it seemed like an eternity to Lewis. It was a few degrees warmer in the maintenance shaft, so he decided this was a good time to use his healing power. He focused and watched as the cuts and brusies fixed themselves. He broke off the power and a wave of fatigue swept over him. For the first time he wished he hadn't studied such demanding force techniques. He had never felt so tired.

He crawled along the maintenance tunnel at a slow pace. The shaft sloped up, which Lewis was grateful for. He couldn't handle another ladder. It was hard to say how far he climbed, somewhere between one floor to twenty.

He was considering napping where he lay when he heard voices below him. They were coming from a nearby grate, which Lewis approached. He leaned on the grate, trying to make out the voices. He pushed his ear closer and the grate gave way. 'Not again' he thought. He hit the ground hard and rolled sideways.

He looked up with watery eyes and could just make out two humanoids nearby. Alarm bells went off in his mind and reflex caused him to try to spring to his feet. His body reminded him how tired he was halfway through the manuver however and he flopped down ungracefully and passed out.

[member="Shae'an Vai Li"] - [member="Avin Starfire"]

 

[Sky'ito Yumi]

-In orbit about to land

"Weik, so I'm finally here" Though the planet had little public data available her father and his old ties to the jedi had given enough information to point her in the right direction. It had taken longer than expected and was delayed from arriving sooner, despite growing up in an traveling family she still had much to learn on space exploration. That didn't matter now, all the did was she had arrived, though her choice of ship (a refurbished eta-2 Actis) might not have been the best for long distance journey, "Im going to need a bigger ship for long halls".

Disengaging from the hyperspace ring she started a slow decent to the planet, from what little she knew about the planet it was a force nexus strong in the light but still hiding small amount of the dark side. She could be wrong but it was on of the place she always wanted to explore when she had first learned about it, besides she need a break from all the bounty hunters she had run into recently. Turning her attention to her astromech, "R9 see if you can find a landing are of some form, chance are other more well infromed than me have found this place, and if they have landed so can we".

As R9 started a quick search for any active ships she reached out and felt through the force, though to far away to feel any inderviduals she was able to sense the planet strength in the light side. A beeping nose from the astromech drew her attention, "an active ship, seems someone kept there engines on just in case, see if you can land us near to them". The short flight was smooth and soon she had landed next to [member="Avin Starfire"] ship, looks like its being auto piloted by a droid. Getting out she unloaded pasts her speeder (a 74-Z) and used the force to slowly assemble it, she didn't care for the moment if the other ships astromech had alerted is owner, chances where there archeologist and would know that other would arrive.

"Stay here R9, contact me if anything happens, and not fighting with the other ship too" Gathering food stuffs, wrapping up herself in her cloak, face wrap she mounted her speeder and made her way towards the area where the force was the strongest. After a bit of travel she happened upon a camp site, dismounting she inspected it and what remained. 'looks like its fairly new only a day or so old at least I'm not by myself, who they are on the other hand, hmmmm".

[member="Lewis Roth"]
[member="Shae'an Vai Li"]
[member="Saeryn the Bard"]

 

[RC 212]

[member="Lewis Roth"]

She could not interfere directly unless it was to save his very life. the Code of the College of Lore forbade that much. But when he passed out it was a suitable enough emergency that she nodded and dropped down from the great height, using the force to break her fall. Her cloak billowed behind her as she dropped, making her appear a gargoyle or perhaps another creature of nightmare.

Again her violin came up and she set the bow to the strings, playing an ever increasing melody. The force swirled through the room as her incantation, powered by the notes took physical form. Her violin wreathed in green flames this time, that swept up and down upon the wounded explorer, coating his injured limbs.

"Ash becomes bone
Bone becomes flesh
Ash becomes bone
Bone becomes flesh
Put all the ligaments,
To a flourishing test.
Rise and fight
Rise and fight
Rise and fight
Wounds take flight."

His bones began to grow at a rapid pace, mending the torn and savaged ligaments, and flesh to them.

The music might draw him back awake, it might not.

But for now, he would surely live.