Heart of Darkness

[Reine Bisset]

"So this is Korriban..." said the Miralukan as she gazed down into the valley.

Thousands of years of history, of heritage, had infused the planet with ages long passed. Generations of Force practitioners adept in the Dark Side lived, fought, ruled, and died here. The planet itself seethed in the power that had stained it.

No, not stained. Permeated. To those strong in the Force, the feelings of power here were strong. Those that could, took it. Those that couldn't, shied away from what they were not strong enough to comprehend. It was the way of things, of power.

Reine picked up her kit and started forward, heedless of any behind her, and started down into the darkness of the valley, if that was what one could call it.

It was more a canyon, a rift in the very rock of Korriban. Studded here and there were tombs, some massive and ornamented. Others merely holes in the rock. What was held behind closed doors and sealed vaults was unknown, but Reine was determined to find out.

It was a Republic world, this was true. One that the Republic guarded heavily, but for all their vigilance, they allowed occasional researchers to the surface. Not tourists, no, but scholars. She'd managed to pass herself off as a local, small time celebrity with more looks and cleavage than brains on a job to show the galaxy the evils of the Sith empires that rose and fell here. It was supposedly the beginnings of a celebrity documentary series and one that focused on beautiful women and handsome men more so than actual facts. It was propaganda, pure and simple. The others she'd passed off as holocamera crew and other individuals. Producers, guides, technicians, and the like. She cared little for them, but they served a purpose. The purpose of knowledge.

Or, at least, getting her to the planet to find it.

[member="Trayce Verati'is"] [member="Alexandra Cinthra"]

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

Alexandra, unlike the others that she would soon come across, was already on the planet and busy studying the ruins of old in great detail with the clone of herself, or rather the AI that occupied the said clone's body, working with her to record every inch of the walls without a single miss. It was a slow process, only sped up because of the photographic memory that Alexandra possessed and the computing capabilities of the AI itself, but it was a slow process none the less that had required sentry droids and a single wardroid to watch over Alexandra's camp when she slept and her full arsenal of two sabers, collapsible warstaff, and high powered pistol that came with the worry of a tukata attack. It always came to be prepared when she did something and now, deep in the ruins of the sleeping sith lords, was Alexandra taking a nap against a wall while Eve watched over her.

[member="Reine Bisset"] [member="Trayce Verati'is"]

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Reine Bisset"] [member="Alexandra Cinthra"]
Reams had been written on whether or not the Jedi Order had been composed of, and led by, idiots. Jorus had been known to wax eloquent on the subject himself, which made things awkward now that this particular Warden of the Sky had been invited to sit on the Jedi Council -- before, perhaps, being considered a Jedi at all. But one way or another, here he was, with two fresh Korriban transit notes in his datapad, one authorized, one not.

The new one was the clear one, ostensibly -- some newshound making a documentary. Whoever had let civilians down on Korriban without a Jedi present was in for a quiet word with a guy who didn't own a lightsabre or a scrap of brown burlap, but did kind of ride hard on anything to do with artifacts.

And let's face it. Nobody comes to Korriban for anything else.

The older one, a couple days old, was the trickier one. Jedi orbital stations had the coordinates of a camp, out in the open, droids patrolling it, as if whoever was chilling there thought it was just fine to mess around with the Valley of the Dark Lords. Anything that brazen generally required a Master, ideally a Council Master, to look into it.

He opted not to take the camp by force, no need to set things off by going head to head with the droids. Instead, he just circled it in a speeder until the master of instinctive navigation picked up a faint trail to - surprise surprise - the Valley and its tombs.

His speeder followed the trail at a leisurely pace, navigation instincts homing in on the unknown quantity.

 

[Bria Shadow-Tarkin]

Finding this all hard to believe that this once teaming planet of dark force users was now in the republic hands. This didn't set to well with her even those to some would be more then welling to go to war to get back what was last. Just what was last to the sith by not having this planet in their hands. So much knowledge could be gain, so much dark magic laid unused.

Using the sith magic that had at her finger tips she had put up a wall to create a image to project onto everyone. Her being nothing more then one of the low life camera man just trying to make a living for his family of four. Calming also with the mask of anything but her own force if one could even feel it from her was a clouded one not dark but not of pure light either.

On they went but for her she had been here many times in the past. It was more like a home coming, knowing what had been here hundreds and hundreds of years ago. The life that was around these tomb the learning that was taking place. The cities that had been build to hold all those seek knowledge now like this sand nothing no trace was left.

[member="Reine Bisset"]
[member="Alexandra Cinthra"]
[member="Jorus Merrill"]

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

[member="Reine Bisset"] [member="Bria Shadow-Tarkin"] [member="Jorus Merrill"]

Alexandra yawned as the signature of the Jedi master registered on her mind and she sighed as she looked at Eve who was busy organizing their findings and hadn't alerted her. "Eve, i thought i asked you to warn me when there was someone coming, you know its not nice to not listen too me." The AI looked up with a raised brow that was accompanied by the sound of a second yawning like noise, the Ashlan wolf who had recently become her companion walking over from where it had been laying as well. "Well, i guess we better get ready for our guest." With that she sat right back down and watched the entrance to the ruins she was currently in, it was a tomb and only had the one entrance after all.

 

[The End Narrator]

Aaralyn looked down at her gloved hands as she rode beside fellow Master, [member="Jorus Merrill"], she clenched the leather gloves tightly and un-clenched them. Things were a little bit different for her since she returned, she felt things more than she had before, it didn't matter if it was hot or cold, dark or light. It was as if the whole experience had expanded her mind and unearthed a whole new level of the Force to her. Her amber hued gaze would lift from her lap and over to Master Merrill and his concentrated gaze into the horizon as he maneuvered the speeder with effortless ease. The man was a genius when it came to navigation and just overall sense of direction, it would be something she'd have to learn from him.

She thought she had met him once before, a while back, but it was one of the memories she couldn't recall. @Boloon Murr had managed to assist her in recovering some memories but not all and maybe it was for the best. The core of her memories were established and the foundation of her fighting skills and knowledge of the Force was there but who she was was a mix of both old life and new. She found the combination to be comforting, an experience worth the knowledge and at the same time, uneasy.

She spoke up finally, her voice soft but still audible over the wind rushing through the open speeder. "Where are we headed Master Merrill?"

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Aaralyn Rekali"] [member="Alexandra Cinthra"]

In answer, Jorus pointed at the entrance to a tomb. His speeder decelerated, pulled in behind a pylon, and he disembarked. This was where he'd tracked the older of the two visitor crews, both by footsteps in sand and by the Force navigation that was pretty much his only serious skill. Loaded for bear, with Rekali at his back, he stepped through the door.

The unauthorized visitor had company -- a little blue foxlike creature, and a twin. Plaeryin bol eyes flicked back and forth between Eve and the sitting Cinthra, and he frankly wasn't sure which one to address when it all clicked.

"You, lady, are a known face. You appeared on the Ossus temple's security holocams with your helmet off, you got arrested during a terrorist shindig on Naboo -- now if only I could remember your name." As he spoke, he unshouldered a massive double-barrelled break-action shotgun, and slotted in a piezoelectric shell and a gadolinium-based shell. Should they be necessary.

"Drop all your weapons." The shotgun snicked back together with a sound like finality.

 

[Lina Ovmar]

Eleena hated Korriban. She hated the people she was with and she hated this mission. There was nothing of value here anymore, what had been was long gone, looted before the Empire got its hands on the rest of it and stored it away in archives, only to have it stolen. It was a waste of time. The moment she'd gotten her stamp of approval she'd slipped away and found herself a happy ledge on top of the world. It had taken a good while to climb up the monument above the tomb but thew view was worth it.

It had some dark ethereal beauty about it, that much could be said about the valley. She watched the ants crawl into the holes beneath and the dust cloud rise up and grow in their wake. This was another reason why this was stupid, the republic were not likely to leave this place unwatched. Something in her backpack trilled. "Shut up." she muttered at the gemini droid. It had been singing happily in her bag the moment they'd touched ground. She'd no idea what'd gotten into it.

She waited until two more ants slid into the hole beneath before beginning her descent. No doubt they would need her soon.

Fools.

[member="Jorus Merrill"] [member="Aaralyn Rekali"] [member="Alexandra Cinthra"] [member="Bria Shadow-Tarkin"] [member="Reine Bisset"]

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

[member="Jorus Merrill"] [member="Aaralyn Rekali"]

Alexandra looked at the two of them as she was threatened with the gun and smiled all too softly as she looked at Eve. "Keep doing what you were doing Eve, no reason for you to stop for my guests." She stood slowly and spread her arms, as if welcoming them to the tomb rather than surrendering yawning as she did though. "Welcome, and if i may say it is a pleasure. You are Jorus Merrill no? A honor to finally meet a high up Jedi that hasn't betrayed their order or just ran off without a trace... Dragonsflame in particular. How can i help you today, my name is Alexandra Cinthra and i am glad to answer anything you ask or help with anything you need." She let her body bow as an arm crossed over her chest and one arm behind her back, a sign of respect for the two of them. Daeda, the emerald colored Ashlan fox came up to her as if confused by her actions when the man had asked her to surrender instead of act... well what would be considered normal for Alex.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Alexandra Cinthra"] [member="Aaralyn Rekali"]

"After Ossus, you're in our files as a member of the One Sith. Whether that's true or not is up to you to clarify. Put your weapons down on the ground, and then we can talk. Fair enough?"

The shotgun didn't waver.

 

[The End Narrator]

Aaralyn lazily exited the speeder and stood beside Jorus, her hands remained at her sides, both sabers untouched. She watched the woman before her, a one [member="Alexandra Cinthra"] a bit cautiously. A slender eyebrow would raise as she motioned with her right hand. "I think it's in your best interest at this point, don't you?"

It was as simple as that, she wasn't [member="Jorus Merrill"] and this lady didn't know her, maybe Jorus did but this lady didn't. It would be in her best interest to talk and tell her partner to have a seat as well.

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

[member="Jorus Merrill"] [member="Aaralyn Rekali"]

"Being a Sith and working for them is two different things... i see your point though. Eve, hold onto my sabers for me..." She turned and uncliped the sabers from her belt and gave them straight to the AI before she turned back to the two jedi masters and unclipped her warstaff, extending it to its full length. "This is sacred to me, handle it with care please." She lifted it through the force and let it glide slowly over to them, stopping infront of him just long enough for him to grab it, at that time Alexandra's hold on the weapon would end and she would bow again. "Now, how can i help you?"

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Alexandra Cinthra"] [member="Aaralyn Rekali"]

He didn't take the staff, just guided it toward the ground with his off hand and took a step back to keep it away from him. He cracked the breech and replaced the piezoelectric shell with one marked blue, then resumed aiming the gun at her.

"All right, then. A few questions for ya, Cinthra. I can see yer willing to explain yerself, so let's get to that. What're you after in this tomb? Who recruited you for the Ossus job? Who recruited you for the Naboo job? Who's yer twin here?"

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

"I am after knowledge and history, the very fabric of life and the force is contained in history and fills these tombs with a life that is long past in its cold grave. I am not talking of a Sith spirit but of knowledge itself and the force, how the force breathes life into everything and even the history and the past. You see, i have come to learn that the Force is every bit as sentient as you, me, and any other creature in this galaxy, a being that is far greater than can be explained and must be respected and shown more care and respect than either the Jedi or heavens forbid the Sith ever have shown it. Have you ever asked the force for help?" She looked at him for only half a second before she continued to speak.

"As for the Ossus and Naboo Jobs, the Naboo one was when i had... something controlling me... i can't explain it to you but i can promise you that the hold of what had caused me to do that is long gone and what is left is me, and only me. Ossus was the fact that the Sith have something i need though, and without it im... broken... reach out and tell me what you see." With that she left herself open, at first she would simply be a beacon of lightside energy, not a hint of dark energy in her, but if he delved instead of finding even a small tinge of darkness in her he would find not it but a utter void, a nothingness that literally left Alexandra in a state that was akin to having her very being torn and broken. "I cant feel hatred, anger, fear, and even sadness comes hard to me, those feeling... those emotions were taken from me ironically by the sith and an wanted them back, so i fought for them... then and now when they call on me. As for my 'twin', shes more akin to my daughter rather than a twin, shes an AI i put into a cloned body or myself that has taken to calling me mother even though she really has no need to. That satisfy your curiosities?"

[member="Jorus Merrill"] [member="Aaralyn Rekali"]

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Alexandra Cinthra"] [member="Aaralyn Rekali"]


Cinthra would feel no delving from Jorus, no attempt to sense the nature of her heart; he didn't have that sort of skill. "Gotta understand, Cinthra, this ain't about my curiosity, this is about my job, my responsibility, my duty. I mean, you gotta understand I need to take you in, yeah? And you'll come quietly, answer a few more questions?"

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

"That depends on if i will be allowed to leave, you dont understand my problem my friend, and i can tell that much. But i will answer your questions, whether they be here or be in after i came with you. My question first is simple. Do you plan to cut me off from the force?" Her expression got deadly serious and her reach on the force slowly expanded from her as the web that her aura took the shape of began to grow and touch the walls around her, she wanted to be safe, and she didn't want to cause any harm but she can be cut off from the force, it would damage too many things.

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

 

[Lina Ovmar]

Eleena touched down lightly on the sand, the speeder was fifty yards from her, the two Jedi with their backs to her as they questioned one of the fools. Eleena inched closer, keeping to the shadows and seeing what she could over hear. Couldn't be one of the sith, a fight would've broken out by now. She caught Jorus's voice and froze. She decided it was suddenly a better idea to be anywhere but here.

Turning away she moved around the corner, once clear she broke into a sprint that would carry her across the Valley. "Miho to Bisset." she called, pressing her fingers to the comm link in her ear. "Two Jedi are in a speeder, are questioning the tag along. One of the Jedi is Jorus Merrill. I strongly advise we do not engage and get this done sooner rather than later."

[member="Reine Bisset"] [member="Alexandra Cinthra"] [member="Jorus Merrill"] [member="Aaralyn Rekali"]

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Alexandra Cinthra"] [member="Aaralyn Rekali"]

"Not my department, not something I know how to do, not my responsibility to figure out. My job's to take you in, you'll be treated well an' kept safe until we're done with our questions."

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

"But not released... you know i have a very important schedule to keep and i would ask that you not impede me, these ruins are very curious and if you would allow me to finish my research then i will come with you, but this is important that i truly understand the force through history." She looked at the shotgun and sighed though, knowing without him saying yes she would sooner or later be stuck with doing what he said else be shot, sadly.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Alexandra Cinthra"]

"There are things more important than one soul."