Private Eye Of The Storm

[Lief]

The enlarged cranium of the Cerean before them was more than a little bit distracting. Even for one of her species, it was abnormally long. Her eyes were slightly darkened, truth be told she looked as though she hadn't slept in a few nights, and one of her hands seemed to fidget with a thin slither of kasha crystal which was pressed into her palm.​

​

"They're not taking this seriously" she was saying, of her peers. Or, as she'd previously stated somewhere throughout her ongoing speech, more appropriately her superiors. "They think I'm crazy for worrying, but I'm telling you... This storm? It's not natural."​

​

Cyn Fizlan had sent word to the New Jedi Order of her town's plight, and given the rather mundane nature of it they had seen fit to ship off two young Padawan's to investigate Kalist VI and the aforementioned storm. A low lying cyclonic storm which had formed rather abruptly several miles north of the town of Aeylag. On the surface it seemed like a regular act of nature, and if not for Cyn's incessance they might well have sent nobody at all.​

​

Still, it would afford the students some diplomatic understanding if nothing else. Force them to engage with the denizens of the Galactic Alliance... Or something like that.​

​

Eliphas had not yet carried out a task for the Jedi without the aid of his Master, Starlin Rand . In fact, come to think of it, even then he'd barely done much of anything. Erakhis, Tython, but beyond that? Well this was certainly a first if nothing else, and he felt like he was melting under the pressure.​

​

His gaze briefly slid over to the other Padawan, someone he didn't really know a single thing about beyond his name. Corin Trenor ... Was it standard procedure to pair up two students who had never met? Was this an oversight? Or was it random luck? Obviously the boy had no way of knowing, nor was he going to balk at it. No, this wasn't about them it was about Cyn and Aeylag and the storm.​

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"Uh..." Inspiring a tonne of confidence with his words, or lack thereof, Eliphas turned slightly to address the Cerean. He fumbled mentally for something to ask, to help make sense of it all. "Do you, uh, have any meteorological data..? You know, to uh... See if we can track the point of origin?"​

​

Was that a dumb question?​

​

By the Empress, it felt like a dumb question.​

 

[Corin Trenor]

EYE OF THE STORM
KALIST VI
Lief

​

The Padawan stared at the Cerelean, both unsure of her and of himself. It was obvious, the uncertain nature to his features as she mentioned odd storm and her believed craziness. It was a comment that had not been favourable to herself, some of Corin believed those that said as much of her to be true in the moment. She seemed bothered but whether because of the storm of that same craziness, he failed to tell.

"Yes," the other of the two had said with as much confidence as the first. "Just need some information to follow, so we can see for ourselves and turn it in to the others." He cast a brief look across to Padawan Dune, his brow lofted.

"To the Order, that is." He corrected himself, eyes turning back.

On either side had been those so unfamiliar to him, the briefest of small chit-chat at their initial meet had been limited. So much so neither had known the most basic of details about one another. His time besides those of his own calibre had been small, always in the shadow of his Master instead. It was the case, at least, when the former was alive. Knight Kaze had a much less... hands on approach when it came to his student. It benefited Corin fine, for now.

But a Jedi on the Circle was no doubt needed if it all spiralled out of control.

 

[Lief]

The Cerean glanced between the two Padawan's as though they'd just been fused together to form one strange amalgamation comprised of two heads and four arms. "Meteo---" Evidently it took her another moment to realize what it was he was actually asking for. Her brows knitted together, then she gestured around at their admittedly rather primitive surroundings. Not mud-and-stick structures, to be sure, but far from the shiny, tech-fueled durasteel jungles they'd come to expect from Galactic Standard.​

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Certainly no Coruscant.​

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"We're a simple settlement" she informed them then, once she'd found her voice again, "We don't track such things..." In fact she seemed rather perplexed at the thought of doing so. "These are dry lands, if there's anything to worry of usually it's sandstorms... Not thunder, not clouds."​

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Slowly but surely more of the pieces of her puzzle of confusion were falling into place. It was true, while the landscape wasn't so arid as say Tatooine or the likes, it was dry. Deserts, the odd mountain, nothing which could justify the swirling storm clouds they'd witnessed as they came in to land.​

​

In that moment Eliphas was grateful that he wasn't the only one of their Jedi pairing that seemed to be fumbling over what to say and how to act. Though at the same time it was also a little, well, worrying. They couldn't both afford to fall apart at the seams, could they?​

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He drew in a short breath, and tried to quieten his mind. Her stares were unnerving though.​

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"Um, well, how long ago did it form?"​

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"Two days."​

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"And... How much has it moved in that time?"​

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"It hasn't."​

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Eliphas gawped at that. Then turned his head to look at Padawan Trenor. Blinked. Looked back.​

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"I'm sorry, what? It hasn't moved?"​

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She shook her head solemnly.​

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Empress... Why hadn't she led with that?! Eliphas fell silent, leaving room for further probing by his peer. Certainly it was a lot to wrap their heads around.​

​

Corin Trenor ​

 

[Corin Trenor]

EYE OF THE STORM
KALIST VI
Lief

​

Corin was taken aback at the mention.

His eyes narrowed as his brow shifted closer, more confused than ever before. He was no student of sandstorms themselves, but his scarce amount of information on them had told him that it was meant to move. It should be a wave, almost, to wash over these settlements and more. Let it be buried beneath the sands, even.

"I think this is worth some Jedi intervention then," he answered, his vision shifted across towards Eliphas. He said as much with so much brazen confidence, yet none of the knowledge as to how one does intervene in a motionless sandstorm. He wasn't sure how to intervene with a normal one for that matter. "Have there been any strange sightings coming from the sandstorm, has anyone gone close to it?"

 

[Lief]

The woman huffed, clearly agitated by something that had been said, and shook her head sharply.​

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"It isn't a sandstorm" she whined, like a child who wasn't getting their way. "It's cyclonic. Thunderous, rainclouds..." She made a fresh gesture, this time to one of the windows which revealed the desert beyond, "Does it look like there should be rain here? I told you, it's abnormal! But the village elders, they just..."​

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A groan of aggravation left her lips. She threw her arms up in defeat, then pressed her thumb and index of her right hand to the bridge of her nose. Exhaled through it.​

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"I sent out a scout, but he hasn't returned. Versa, he's a few years older than you are," she said pointedly, as though only just realizing how young the pair were, "But he's good at what he does. It... It doesn't make sense."​

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"Is he Cerean too?" Eliphas interjected, head tilting to the right, "With any luck, we can find him..."​

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She shook her head. "Mirialan."​

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Okay, so... The boy mentally tried to recap all of the new information. Immobile thunderstorm, missing scout: Mirialan. Likely late teens, early twenties..?​

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Eliphas took a step back, and hoped that his companion would follow suit. If not, he'd gesture for him to. Then he spoke with a lowered tone.​

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"Should we, uh, head out there ourselves..? See what's going on?" Maybe they should phone it in... But if Versa was in danger? Well, every minute could prove invaluable right?​

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Corin Trenor ​

 

[Corin Trenor]

EYE OF THE STORM
KALIST VI
Lief

​

He washed a bead of sweat from his forehead at the correction of his error, a face on his features that said 'of course' as the Cerean further added information on the situation. He recollected some details of his own, of the fact there was an immobile storm and a vanished man, if not teen. Jedi teens had another air to them then most others, this Versa was likely to fair much worse than the two of them.

Corin retreated back afterwards and turned in to answer in a hushed voice;

"If this Versa is out there, alone, then I think we need to head out there ourselves. Take too much time to wait on someone else." He remarked, of the mind not a second was to be wasted. But maybe it was wiser to at least mention something to someone before the two head out? Maybe.

"But maybe we should mention it to someone before we do, in case there is more to this. What do you think?"

 

[Lief]

Okay, so they were in agreement then. Good... Good.​

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He nodded his head to the notion that they should call back to the Order and let them know what was happening.​

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"We can always call while we head out there" he said, noncommittally, before looking back to the woman. She was wringing her hands at this point, eyeing them suspiciously as they held their quiet conference. Well, with that somewhat decided he steeled himself and drew a short breath.​

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Crazy. This whole thing was-- crazy.​

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"Okay," he said, louder now in order to bring the woman back into the conversation. "We'll investigate, and look for signs of, uh, Versa."​

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Her suspicion seemed to wane, even if only a little, at that statement. "Oh, you will? Thank you! Thank you..." Eliphas then watched as the woman began to mutter something under her breath, seemingly to herself. He caught snippets here and there, something about proving 'them' wrong, whoever they were. Another term was slipped in there too. Councilwoman.​

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Now it was the boy's turn to feel a little suspicion, though he kept his concerns to himself for now.​

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"Any chance you have a speeder..?" he asked instead.​

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Corin Trenor ​

 

[Corin Trenor]

EYE OF THE STORM
KALIST VI
Lief

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"Yes!" He said, a second delayed as he averted his attention from the soil beneath them in a swift motion. Lost in his own mind for but a moment, it had seemed. He tried to make sense of an immobile storm, one that refused to move, stuck somewhere; unnatural, Corin mused, as if man-made of some sort but there had been no use for one. Had there? Had there been a sinister secret, had it concealed somethi-. He wasn't able to see the end of that avenue.

He scratched the back of his neck, "I came over on one, it should still be there on the outskirts of the town." If town was even the correct word to use, she hadn't lied at the modest mentions of this settlement. It was far from their usual locale, that was for sure.

Corin waved his hands in the direction, as if to motion for his fellow to follow him as his footfalls started once more. "It's weird, isn't it? Never heard of a storm that doesn't move. Have an idea of what it may be?"

He almost seemed excited to ask.

 

[Lief]

"Oh, sweet!" came Eliphas' initial response, momentarily forgetting the more serious tone that had been flaunted around the room during their conversations. A speeder would certainly make swift work of getting them to the storm's edge, wouldn't it? Note to self: invest in a speeder for Void-Drifter.​

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They turned their backs on Cyn and began to head out toward the speeder in question. His companion seemed a little lost in thought, though he couldn't really blame him for such. It was a peculiarity, wasn't it?​

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"I'm not sure," he replied, raising a hand to rub at his jawline thoughtfully. "A weather abnormality? But then, if she's right and it doesn't even usually rain here that doesn't make much sense does it? How can it keep raining, much less storming, without moisture..?"​

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Eliphas frowned, then reached for his comlink to dial up their mission-giver. "Here, let's give an update while we walk..."​

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Outside and amidst the small smattering of buildings, it was hard to tell that anything was really amiss at all. But true to her word, if one squinted toward the north there was definitely something a little different about the sky.​

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Corin Trenor ​

 

[Corin Trenor]

EYE OF THE STORM
KALIST VI
Lief

​

He reached the craft a the conclusion of Eliphas' own return. His arms crossed over one another, and a smirk found itself on both corners of his mouth for a second, even two, before the Padawan elected to say much else. "Should be one method to find out." Corin said, too thrilled for the stakes of the mission, the memories of the lost Versa vanished in the moment.

"Lead on," his eyes trailed to the vehicle, less familar once it came to the actual movements of the craft in a more hazardous environment. It was more sensible than it was cowardice to Corin, even if the latter idea had circulated within himself in the moments that followed. But the smile died on the vine, in remembrance of the lost man, sure to find him for himself.

"Best we move now before other troubles start."

 

[Lief]

True to his word, as they moved he relayed the information back to the Jedi who encouraged caution to the pair. Investigate, but if things became too dicey they were to pull back and wait for further instructions. Clearly what had initially been shrugged off as a nothing case was being regarded a little more heavily now.​

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But being that they were the only two on the ground at present, it seemed foolish not to let them look at least a little deeper.​

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They reached the speeder as he shut off the com, and therein he raised a brow.​

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"Hey, it's your speeder," he chuckled, despite the more serious nature of what was happening around them, "If anyone's driving, it's you."​

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Either way, regardless of who it was that ended up driving, the pair were soon well on their way. A shared somberness as they realized all at once that it wasn't just a matter of the strange anomaly, there was someone actually missing now. Someone they'd said they'd search for.​

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The swirling storm of clouds began to blot out the sky the further north they ventured, until it seemed as though the sun had been snuffed from existence entirely. Thin flashes of lightning acted as something of a light source, but beyond that the area felt murky and cast in shadow. Still visible, but as though someone had placed a greyscale filter over it.​

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Rain fell heavy, obscuring yet more of their view, and when another flash of lightning struck the ground beside them Eliphas shook his head. "I hope this thing'll absorb it if we're struck" he muttered. Still, just beyond was some sort of facility jutting out of the red desert rock.​

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It certainly wasn't in keeping with the village they'd come from in terms of styling or technology level, though. And what's more, it seemed to be toward the eye of the storm...​

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Corin Trenor ​

 

[Corin Trenor]

EYE OF THE STORM
KALIST VI
Lief

It was a harsh environment that Trenor and Dune had found themselves in. Corin found his vision so obscured from all the rain that descended on them in a most intensive manner as well as the sand that had been thrown into the air, a violent movement that was futile to avoid. It was not until his fellow Padawan made a remark that Corin elected to make a sound that was more than the hiss.

"There..." He announced, absent and excited fanfare and instead filled with a curious sense dread. It seemed there was a sinister motivation behind all of this, or so he first assumed. It was no coincidence that a structure so disimilar to all those in the area had been the one in the centre of the storm itself. He raced towards it, fearful of their chances amidst all this mess. "Maybe Versa noticed it, too. He could be in there."

It wasn't as if the two were able to find one man in the outdoors, anyways.

 

[Lief]

The other Padawan likely wasn't wrong with his observations. Had he been Versa, sent forth to investigate the storm, wouldn't he have been drawn to the strange structure? Especially one so obviously different...​

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His gaze tore away from the building to Corin, and a thought immediately came to mind.​

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"You uh... Have a way to defend yourself, right?" he inquired, "In case things go awry..."​

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Who knew what lay inside the facility, after all. Eliphas had his blaster and his saber, if nothing else he could hand off the former. It was filled with stun rounds, of course, but that was better than nothing.​

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Either way, they made their approach toward the building and the closer they got the worse the weather seemed to be.​

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That was until they reached the center.​

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There it was oddly still, oddly quiet...​

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"Maybe it's best we look for an alternate entrance" he muttered quietly, though no doubt anyone inside was already alerted to their presence due to the speeder. Still... It could provide them with something of a buffer.​

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Corin Trenor ​

 

[Corin Trenor]

EYE OF THE STORM
KALIST VI
Lief

"Of course," the Padawan remarked, an idle hand motioned to rest over his saber as he dismounted from the smaller craft, booted feet to crunch into the sand beneath them albeit entirely muted as a result of the storm that continued on and even intensified. If someone had been familiar with such events, it wasn't Corin. Neither Eliphas by the sounds of it, too.

He treaded forwards carefully, hunched as if to protect himself from the whipping winds and the sand that was carried on them. "I'm not so sure if there is another entrance," he said at first, eyes abound in search of something, anything. "It may be best to breach the front instead, I'm not so sure how much time we can afford to this, or Versa's life, if he's in there."
​

 

[Lief]

It was probably a stupid question to begin with, but better safe than sorry. Once the confirmation came, Eliphas felt a whole lot more confident about the whole thing. Sure they didn't exactly know what they were headed into, but at least they were somewhat prepared.​

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Right?​

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His mind drifted back to Starlin Rand 's brief lesson during their pitstop-turned-hellscape on their way back from Erakhis. Well, lesson was probably overstating it, he'd simply told the boy another rhyming pair to draw upon. They hadn't exactly had the chance to practice it, had they? Nope, they'd been too busy trying not to get murdered by Not-Eli! and the bird woman.​

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He opened his mouth to say the words, to show Corin some of what he could do, then faltered. What if he couldn't do it? Would he know if it had been successful? What if he'd just waste time, and cause them further strife? What if it just didn't work?​

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Mouth closed, spell no longer on the tip of his tongue, he instead nodded.​

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"Okay... Front it is."​

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Instinctively he reached for his saber. Better safe than sorry, no? Then he led the way toward the main entrance. Nothing accosted them on their way forward, no snipers trained on them, not even any alarms. No doubt the storm was enough of a deterrent to most, especially with how the lightning forked down so brazenly. It reminded him of Kashyyyk and the weather machines, how he'd charged the air with static of his own volition.​

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No way he could ever compare to the real deal though. But maybe.....​

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Before they could cross the threshold, Eliphas took a moment, back pressed against the outer wall of the facility, and drew upon the Force, reaching out into the atmosphere around them. Inhale through his nose, exhale, he tried to draw upon it, to alter what was happening around them. Whatever work he did toward ending the storm was returned in kind, and all that he managed was to tire himself out.​

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No luck.​

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"Yeah, that's not a natural storm" he mumbled, shaking his head of the fog that lingered from such a foolish attempt. "Come on."​

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The inside of the facility was eerily quiet. The only lights which remained active were set low toward the floor, a strange fluorescent shade that spoke of emergency lightning more so than standard. Yeah, that was the feeling the whole place gave. Like it wasn't exactly... active. His eyes narrowed, and a frown wormed its way over his expression. "Do you sense anyone?" he asked, trying to keep his voice quiet.​

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Corin Trenor ​