Investigations of the Force

[Calos Erevan]

[member="Kal'n Drasco"]
[member="Nefertari Sovint"]

The small shuttle rocked back and forth as it flew through the darkened abyss known as space. Piloted by a soldier of the Republic, the shuttle held 3 Jedi, one knight and two padawans, all on an important mission. Beyond the shuttle loomed a harbinger of potential death, a large cruiser known as the Edge of Dawn. Once a large military cruiser, the Edge of Dawn had become a medical transport and science craft during the Plague years, with scores of infected being cared for and treated as humanely as possible on the ship itself. What was curious about the craft was the fact the ship itself had seemingly disappeared during the waning years of the Gulag plague. With its locator deactivated, the ship disappeared from all sensors, and was lost to time and memory. Archived away, its been over 100 years since the ship was last seen.

Its ominous size struck Calos first. It was a mighty ship, and one could see why it was converted into a medical vessel. Obviously, the ship itself had enough room and ability to carry thousands of people. Still, from what Calos knew of the Gulag plague, this must of meant a large amount of people probably passed on while being passengers of the giant medical vessel. Looking out the cockpit, Calos exchanged a few choice words with the pilot, as both were historyphiles. Apparently, the Edge of Dawn was not only a medical transport, but also a science ship devoted to combating the Gulag plague as much as possible. The idea of stepping onto the craft with that bit of knowledge made Calos a little uneasy.

Even still, the mission had to be completed. Calming himself, Calos turned to the other passengers. He had only recently met them both, and as such, was still learning about them. The leader of this mission, Jedi Knight Sovint, was a woman of great renown. Calos had heard of her endeavors with the order, and her being here actually calmed him. Surely nothing could hurt them with her on board? The other padawan, Kal'n Drasco, looked more determined then ever. Rumors at the temple were Kal'n was more experienced then other padawans, and this too made Calos happy. What could possibly go wrong with this mission?

Approaching the large cruiser, the trio stared as the hanger loomed before them. The pilot called for any type of communication but received none in reply. Slicing the hanger bay codes, the pilot was able to finally open the hanger doors and glide the shuttle in slowly. Once successfully landed, the shuttle powered down and the hanger closed completely. They were finally there. Calos reassured himself, patted his saber once and popped the door to the landing shuttle. Technology from over 200-300 years ago would be on this vessel, and Calos couldn't wait to check it out. He only hoped they were the only people remaining on the long lost cruiser.

 

[Kal'n Drasco]

[SIZE=medium][member="Calos Erevan"] [member="Nefetari Sovint"][/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Another mission. The joy that Kal’n had felt when he was first told that he had been selected for this mission was immense. The Padawan had gone much of his early years without too much excitement, as was to be expected he figured. But as he progressed, took his training into his hands and sought out Masters to learn from the Council placed him on more missions such as this one. The trust they were placing in him was growing. He hoped that it wouldn’t be too much longer before they believed he was ready to become a Knight, perhaps after this mission? He could only hope.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]The amount of information that Kal’n could gather about Edge of Dawn was surprisingly limited. He knew what the others knew having received the same briefing. He suspected that Jedi Knight Sovint might know more than she was letting on. Then again, Kal’n always seemed to suspect that Knights and Masters always knew more than they felt like sharing. He uncrossed his legs and rose from his meditation as they neared the vessel. Meditating was the last thing that he had wanted to do but he figured that’s why it was the most important, he didn’t want to be the one to botch this mission.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]“Master Sovint, I believe we are nearing our destination.” He spoke as he walked past her to get a better view of Edge of Dawn. The ship was massive, and as far as medical ships had gone it was the largest he had ever seen. He reminded himself that with the plague that had run rampant all those years ago such a thing must have been a necessity. He clicked his tongue against his teeth and shook his head as the pilot brought them on an approach path.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]“Sure is impressive.” He spoke to the other Padawan, Calos. “Wonder what we’ll find inside?” He felt his lips curl into a smile as he watched pilot slice one of the hangar bays and guide them. Slicing, a skill that Kal’n knew nothing on. Perhaps it would be something useful for him to learn after the mission, he made a mental note to check the Jedi Archives later.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]When the ship touched down Kal’n let out a deep breath. He didn’t realize that he had been holding it. He looked to Master Sovint as Calos opened the door, she was the Knight, he wondered if she would take the lead or if perhaps this was something of a test for him and Calos? [/SIZE]

 

[Nefertari Sovint]

"Indeed. We have arrived."
A medical ship...likely repurposed from something else. This vessel was far too big to originally be for that.

"I think it would be best if you two took the lead. You padawans know more of this Gulag Plague than I."
Stepping into the hangar, something certainly didn't feel right. An aura of pain and suffering permeated her surroundings. The knight had three lightsabers on her, and she was ready to draw at a moment's notice.

"I sense a disturbance in the force, stay alert."
Both of these padawans were interesting. Both seemed to have good amounts of experience too.
The quest was starting, one heck of an adventure surely awaited the party.

​

​

[member="Calos Erevan"], [member="Kal'n Drasco"]​

 

[Calos Erevan]

[member="Nefertari Sovint"]
[member="Kal'n Drasco"]

Calos nodded to both of them and strode out of the shuttle, his wits about him. The hanger lights were still off, with only the shuttle illuminating the darkened box they stood in. Flipping on a small light, Calos took a few steps away from the shuttle. The hanger was almost completely empty, save for a few older spacecraft that did not look even usable. Taking a deep breath as Calos looked around, he motioned for the other two to come forward.

He was not a fan of dark kill boxes where anything could jump out at any time, but his training as a Jedi prepared him for the worst. The air around him was pungent and almost moist, with a large amount of humidity, so much so that your clothes stuck to your skin. Shaking off his robe as much as possible, Calos looked to his two companions. "I imagine the auxiliary power is the only thing currently running this massive ship. We should probably reactivate the reactor if we want to get anywhere." Calos too felt a great disturbance as they wandered the hanger. Something was definitely wrong with this ship; almost like the thousands of lives lost were still here somehow. The trio approached a large bulkhead door that led out of the hanger and to the main corridors of the ship. Unable to budge the large door, Calos ignited his saber with a quick flash. A bright green illuminated the hallway as he plunged the saber into the doorway, the heavy metal slowly burning away. "I saw this in a holoreel once." They would soon be through to the other side, where long stretches of hallway would hopefully lead them somewhere they could turn the power on.

 

[Kal'n Drasco]

Kal'n nodded at Master [member="Nefertari Sovint"] words. He could sense... something as well, though it was impossible for him to pinpoint exactly what it was. Like an itch at the back of the head that just wouldn't go away, but was ever present. He looked about the darkness until [member="Calos Erevan"] managed to find and turn on the auxiliary lighting, showing them just how lifeless the place was. Kal'n thought it all a bit eerie.

He stayed behind Calos as the padawan led the way, bringing them to a large and sealed door. "Interesting." He said as he continued to survey their surroundings. "One would think that if there was an emergency these doors would have been open for a quicker escape." At a few paces behind Calos he watched as the man used his lightsaber to turn the door into slag.

At the moment Kal'n figured that there was nothing for him to do but wait and stay alert, keeping a look-out for danger with his normal senses as well as with the Force. "Master, what do we expect to find here?"

 

[Nefertari Sovint]

[member="Kal'n Drasco"] asked what they expected to find
"I would tell you, had I any idea. Still, it is certainly not every day one comes across a plague vessel."
The blue stone Nefertari had obtained on Rhen Var glowed from the chain on her neck; shedding some light, but just enough to light the area around the three.

In response to the padawan's comment about the door, Nef looked around and noted the several empty places where spacecraft would be.
"Perhaps they were open for that purpose. Look how empty the hangar is."

The knight stepped forward, igniting her main lightsaber. A pink blade plunged into the door alongside [member="Calos Erevan"]'s green. They would be in even sooner now.

 

[Calos Erevan]

[member="Nefertari Sovint"]
[member="Kal'n Drasco"]

While slicing through the heavy blast door, Calos looked at the both of them, yelling over the sound of metal melting violently. "The question remains; What emergency caused them to flee from the massive ship?" Once both Jedi had melted enough of the door, Calos lightly hopped over the melted slag. The hallway before them was dark, the lights having burned out long ago. The ship, massive in size and scope, creaked like an old wooden house. Moving forward, Calos held his saber close to him, its beam illuminating the corridor in bright green.

"Plague ships like these housed thousands upon thousands of people. Quarantining planets was difficult enough when cities have populations over 10 million. They would ferry the infected onto these massive ships, where volunteers could take care of them. Past Jedi would care for the sick and the lame, but as you both know, the Gulag Virus was extremely deadly." As they moved through various corridors, the trio made their way towards the main reactor room where the entire engine system remained. It would've been shut off when the gigantic starship entered stasis mode, which is why it drifted through the stars for so long.

Entering the reactor room was easy enough. A large engine lay before them, complicated and immense in both size and construction. Dust caked the machine as Calos looked at it in awe. The ion reactor had been shut off for a very long time, but looked operational still. Restarting it meant the ship's main power would finally start, and the trio would be greeted with lights and automatic doors. Making his way to the control panel, Calos activated its aux displays and looked at the readouts. "The ship is incredibly old. Almost from the start of the Plague itself. The systems are ancient, practically useless today." Typing in the commands needed, Calos looked up as the reactor slowly rumbled to life. Lights flickered around them as the ship was fed power in a constant stream, and soon, it sprang to life in a surprising way.

Smiling, Calos looked around the room as the lights finally finished their flickering and stayed still. It was nice not being in the complete dark. Within seconds of the drive powering however, a sickly roar could be heard throughout the ship. Whatever made the sound must've been massive and definitely was deeper in the ship. His smile faded, Calos turned towards the other two Jedi, his saber reignited. What could possibly still be alive after all these years? Suddenly, the sound of scratching and clawing could be heard on the blast door leading into the reactor. Something or someone was banging on it over and over again, growling at the door itself while it continued its assault. Prepping himself, Calos left the panel and stood beside the other two. "I have remote access to the door itself. Should we stay here or open it?"

 

[Kal'n Drasco]

[member="Calos Erevan"] [member="Nefertari Sovint"]

Kal'n stood to the side, waiting patiently as the two used their lightsabers to turn the door to slag. While he was waiting Kal'n thought over what he knew about the plague, which really wasn't much, other than that it was incredibly effective. Were they in danger now? That thought had occured to him more than once on the trip. They didn't know what was on this ship, and yet they were sent to investigate. Part of Kal'n thought that this ship would be better served by being guided into a star. However, the greater part of Kal'n wanted an answer, would bravely (or foolishly) go further for the answer.

As Calos stepped forward through the hole and into the darkness beyond Kal'n moved to follow. He was careful to avoid the hot edges of the hole. The darkness, it was oppressive. The air, it was thick and stale to Kal'n ... was it polluted with the virus as well? He kept this thoughts to himself, wrapped in his own questions as he followed along not saying a word. Kal'n was content with Calos leading it seemed his fellow Padawan was the most eager of the three.

Entering into the reactor room Kal'n moved to inspect the controls and screens himself, he watched them power up as the ship groaned and shook to life. The roar brought Kal'n crashing back too the hear and now, the snap hiss of his lightsaber in his left hand was instant. He looked about and then at the door where the scratches and growling were coming from. He reached out with he Force to see if he could feel the life forms.

"Whatever they are, I can only assume that the rumble of the ship roused them and alerted them to our presence." He looked around the room to see if there was another way in and out. "It might not be wise to fight what we do not know. Are the ventilation shafts or another way out? What about the cameras...can we see what they look like out there?"

 

[Nefertari Sovint]

After letting loose a Gunganese expletive under her breath at the sound of...something banging on the door, Nef was surprised that some being was still alive on this ship.
"Turning on that reactor must have woken up someone or something in stasis."

She stepped forward and cut a small hole in the door with her lightsaber...something unnatural was on the other side. What exactly was anybody's guess.
"Well, retreat is not an option right now. I would suggest opening that door, who knows how narrow the duct work gets? I do not know about you, but I do not not fancy getting stuck in a centuries old ventilation shaft. Carbonite was bad enough."

The knight took a second hilt from her belt, it was cylindrical with a diagonally scalloped handgrip made with small power cells.
"Ready when you two are."

​

[member="Calos Erevan"], [member="Kal'n Drasco"]​

 

[Calos Erevan]

[member="Nefertari Sovint"]
[member="Kal'n Drasco"]

The scraping and clawing at the door had become worse, as chattering and screaming erupted from the other side. Whatever was on the other side was definitely not humanoid, and monstrous in its overall goals. Looking around the room, Calos took a deep breath. "We will need to fight our way out of here. Keep close to one another. Don't let whatever it is swarm you." His usual demeanor completely changed, Calos narrowed his eyes as the door slammed open from the touch of his datapad. His saber in hand, the young Padawan was ready to defend his new friends from whatever lay beyond it.

Monstrous creatures erupted from the doorway, all humanoid in appearance, but slightly twisted in their own way. Unable to move too quickly, the creatures burst through the door and attacked the trio viciously. Biting and clawing, the creatures wore old uniforms that were tattered and bloody. Their faces were twisted creations, with large jutting teeth and protruding claws. Those with any history of rakghouls would easily be able to identify these beasts as similar. The creatures were small in force, but even still, their onslaught was terrible.

Calos moved forward with his blade, cutting down the first few with ease. Keeping close to the duo he missioned with, Calos made sure to be more defensive then offensive. "Don't let them bite or claw you! Gods know what type of diseases they carry!" The beasts fell easily enough to lightsaber attacks, as the smell of burnt skin filled the room. Once the duo could clear the small squad out, they could finally leave the room.

 

[Nefertari Sovint]

-hiss-
Nefertari ignited her second blade through one of the humanoid beasts.

She utilized her extremely limited knowledge of Form VII and cut through several, clearing out a good portion of the hoard.
Given the offensive standpoint of Juyo, one broke through to the knight and bit down on her left wrist.

Nef winced, while her cybernetic was metal, it still had feeling. The bold ghoul soon burst into flame from pyrokinesis.
good, no chance of infection she thought

There were a few left, it was time to move into graceful, defensive Shii-Cho.

​

[member="Calos Erevan"], [member="Kal'n Drasco"]​

 

[Kal'n Drasco]

[SIZE=medium][member="Nefertari Sovint"] | [member="Calos Erevan"][/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Kal’n clicked his tongue against his teeth, he was slightly annoyed. He disliked combat, well... more accurately, he disliked it when the odds were stacked against him and the enemy was unknown. The ship was large and Kal’n didn’t think the ventilation shafts would be too small. Granted, they wouldn’t be able to fight in them, but there were other options. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Despite his outward hesitance Kal’n was not the senior Jedi here, he was still a Padawan and he would do what he was told. He grabbed one of the two lightsabers on his waist and ignited it, its light blue light bathing his face. If he was to fight then he designed to let himself have no reservations about it, he could contemplate his actions later, if he survived.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]“Very well.” Was all he said in response to having to fight their way out. Instead he did his best to let go and let the Force flow through him as best as he could. “Perhaps we should use the door as a …” Too late, the door was opened, the flood gates were released and creatures of some sort came rushing at them with a reckless and mindless abandon. In the Force Kal’n could not sense any thoughts from them, on basic urges, animalistic urges at that. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Kal’n was about to suggest that they use the door to stem the flow, where it would be impossible to be surrounded. But that was no longer possible. Kal’n stepped and turned slightly, hoping the Knight would come in and fill the gap to make a sort of triangular back to back to back defensive position. Kal’n fell into a Soresu stance, he stayed on the defensive, his quick minimalistic strokes severing hands and arms as they came close, followed soon after by the creatures head once he learned that slicing off a hand did not slow them down.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]The smell of burnt flesh filled his nostrils, the sound of the creatures mixed with the hum of the lightsaber and his own deep rhythmic breathing. In the heat of combat, surrounded by others, Kal’n had found a place of center. A place where he did not think, merely acted as the Force guided his strikes.[/SIZE]