Life's Always Better, Down Where It's Wetter (Republic)

[Aeron Zambrano]

Mission Name: Life's Always Better, Down Where It's Wetter​

Mission Location: Naboo​

Mission Difficulty: Very Hard​

Mission Objective: Receive transportation from the Gungans to navigate the Naboo Abyss and uncover an abandoned holocron in sunken ruins. Destroy the holocron.​

Mission Slots: 2-4 Padawans, 1-3 Knights or 2 Knights and 2 Padawans​

​

@[member="Moroi Wareyasui"]​

Swimming wasn't really a strong suit of Asaak's. She hadn't exactly had a lot of chances to practice seeing as one of her previous homes had been grassland and the other a sprawling city. She wasn't a terrible swimmer by any means but it took a bit of flailing before she had been able to find a semi-graceful rhythm. For a girl so used to looking collected it was strange to feel so unsettled. It was even stranger to swim while breathing through a small bubble formed by the breather clamped between her lips. She was grateful to swim over a bit of an underwater cliff and see the city of Otah Gunga below. She had seen holos of the city but the images paled in comparison to the eerie beauty of the city. It glowed in the water, motes of algae blooming yellow and orange on their paths around the domes the Gungans lived within.

She looked over to see Moroi, certain of course that not only was he keeping up but leaving her in the dust. Swimming involved coordination and she wouldn't be surprised if he was taking to it naturally regardless of whether or not he knew how previously. She was also pretty sure that either way he was enjoying it more than the journey to Naboo in the ship they'd been loaned for the mission.

It was another few minutes of underwater silence before she reached one of the main hydrostatic bubbles. She hung beneath it for a moment before reaching up and putting her hand through the bubble, feeling air on the other side. The rest of her body followed suit and she was surprised when she appeared completely dry despite how long they'd just been swimming. It didn't appear as if any one was waiting for them or at least not where they had surfaced. It was a quieter area with little foot traffic despite it's proximity to the very center of the city. Slipping her breather in to a pocket in her robes, she concentrated and let the Force guide her, trying to decide which way they should be going. "It's this way," she said softly, unwilling to break the relative hush of their surroundings as she moved off, walking backwards and grinning a bit wolfishly at her companion. "So...if they agree to give us transportation, does your hatred of ships apply to watercraft too?"

 

[Moroi Wareyasui]

She had indeed gotten to know the young Padawan rather well. While he had no formal training or any real experience with swimming, especially not in a situation like the one they found themselves in now, Moroi was a natural at the physical activity. Perhaps he was simply good at mastering monotonous repetitive movements, who knows, but he had decided to keep near her during their journey down to the Gungan city. The boy had met a gungan once and...well...he was less than enthusiastic about going to a city full of them. But alas, it was his mission and at the very least he did have @[member="Asaak Tey"] with him. Her company was always welcome and in the absolute worse case scenario, she was a sociable and kindhearted enough creature to diffuse any unfortunate situations his sharp tongue and quick temperament might get them in to. It was a strength that the intrepid duo were undoubtedly going to need, unfortunately. Moroi was definitely not the diplomatic half of their partnership and he didn't need to be. He'd be able to rely on Asa to play nice with the gungans...hopefully.

Moroi treaded water, well, sort of, it's not technically treading water if you're underwater but all the same Moroi maintained his depth as he watched Asa tentatively approach the hydrostatic encapsulation of the gungan city. This was the one thing the boy was actually looking forward to. He had read about this contraption in the old holocrons, but he knew very, very little about them short of the described functionality of stripping moisture off the body as it passed through, but that description made no sense. Stripping away any moisture would strip away the oils on the skin that kept humans from shriveling up, so it must have some inherent mechanism for specifically targeting ocean water. It was fascinating. Moroi slowly followed his friend through the barrier before landing with a soft clop on to the floor of the empty room before withdrawing his breathing mechanism and stowing it away in his robes, his eyes still wide with wonder as they surveyed the hydrostatic barrier, barely registering that Asa was talking before absentmindedly following her as she took off. It was not until she turned back to him that he realized she was speaking to him and, surprise surprise, she was making fun of him again. Between her and Master Yinch, it was a wonder he had any self-confidence at all. The boy let out an exaggerated exhale as his shoulders slumped slightly, dejectedly forcing his words out.

"...Yes, but it'll probably be a reprieve, have you ever met a gungan?"

 

[Aeron Zambrano]

It was probably an overabundance of that softness in her that had her immediately retracting her statement even if the sudden stoop of @[member="Moroi Wareyasui"]'s shoulders wasn't genuine. She stopped her backwards walk, turning around and waiting to start forward until they were side by side. "Oh stop, you know I'm only teasing. But no, I've never met a Gungan. Why?" She had heard stories, short snippets that usually ended with exasperated sighs or mild annoyance. At the time she'd just assumed it was the individual being spoken of that was irritating but now she wasn't so sure.

It appeared she wouldn't have long to wonder. A tall, lanky Gungan came striding around the corner, peering at them with what seemed like annoyance of his own. "Finally! You'a two keepin' da boss waiting." And with that he was off, clearly expecting the two freshly arrived Padawans to follow hot on his trail. Asaak turned her head towards Moroi, understanding now why he was asking, dryly stating: "I see." She followed after their seemingly unwilling escort, politely forgoing the clarification that they had arrived with no escort to be found. Her hands were clasped in front of her, a habit she was picking up in training with Rasu. It made her feel peaceful.

As they were led through the city she wondered how easily the Gungans would agree to providing transportation. She knew the Council had contacted their leadership to tell them of the two Padawans being sent, but beyond that she wasn't sure what attitudes they would be walking in on. She hoped they were more pleasant than their escort.

The lanky Gungan led them to a central dome, the hydrostatic barrier touring high above them. A platform spread along the edges of the dome, home to several seats, all filled by Gungans of varying shape and size. In the middle sat a rail of a creature, his eyes narrowed at them in concentration, fingers lightly steepled beneath his snout. Asaak assumed this was "da boss". He waited until the two Jedi had been escorted to the center of the room before speaking, his voice so high-pitched Asaak wondered how his people took him seriously. She certainly had to try very hard and she was usually excellent at overlooking such things. "You'sa here. Speak," he said, a bored drawl. Oh, this would go so well.

 

[Moroi Wareyasui]

Before Moroi could assure her that his dejection was joking in nature, they were interrupted by their Gungan escort and he immediately demonstrated why Moroi was less than fond of this species. They were a strange combination of self-entitled and goofy that came off as more annoying that endearing and apparently @[member="Asaak Tey"] was beginning to feel similarly about their predicament. Moroi flashed her an uneasy grin which was followed by an "I told you so" shrug of his shoulders as the Gungan turned from them and swept off through the city. Moroi instead followed behind both Asa and the Gungan. Unfortunately for him, Master Yinch wasn't teaching how to be calm or pleasant or peaceful or anything that would genuinely counterbalance the "flaws" in his personality. Perhaps he knew that it was a lost cause with Moroi, or perhaps he just wasn't any better at covering up the very same flaws than he was. He was just as bad as Moroi in most of his prescribed deficiencies, but for the most part Moroi was reigning his rudeness in and not speaking as the Gungan led them through the city. There were a plethora of rude opportunities too, from mocking the creature's speech patterns, to mocking the city, to mocking its ears, there really was an endless list of bodily features he could quite easily be unkind about.

The list didn't get shorter when they were introduced to the "Bombad Boss." It took all of Moroi's self control to keep from bursting out laughing as the gungan leader asked him to speak. No voice that high demanded the respect of any respectable race and this was further proof that the gungans were far from respectable. The ends of Moroi's lips were curling dangerously in to a betraying giggle that eventually broke out in to a half chortle half snort. Moroi, demonstrating his growth, made a gentle gesture with his hand and, taking Asa's advice, imagine the girl getting gently pushed forward like a piece on a dejarik board, using the force to gently usher her forward and before the Gungan leadership. They definitely did not want Moroi to speak on behalf of the Jedi here, if he so much as took a breath he was bound to fall to the floor in a fit of maniacal laughter.

 

[Aeron Zambrano]

She knew he was about ten seconds from laughter. She swore she could almost hear the things that Moroi would like to say to the boss as his piercingly high voice filled the dome. She couldn't blame him - it really was terrible and she found herself wondering if Gungan society held to a hereditary monarchy instead of electing their officials as she had originally assumed. It was that or doing some unexpected and extremely heroic deed - she could think of no other reason the irritating amphibian held the position he did. She knew it was on her to slog through the niceties even before she felt the push on her back, the fleeting hint of pride at [member="Moroi Wareyasui"]'s increasing mastery fading quickly as she stood before the waiting Gungans.

Hands still clasped in front of she cast her gaze over the group before beginning. "I am Padawan Asaak Tey, and this is Padawan Moroi Wareyasui. I understand the Jedi Council informed you we would be coming --" she began, though she was stopped short by the squeak of the leader. "Yeah, but theysa wouldn't teleo us why." She wasn't annoyed by the ruler's interruption. She was sure it was a test, and not the last either. Although the Gungans had had a good relationship with the Jedi once she wasn't sure what the years had done to that particular understanding. However, she didn't need the Force to sense an ego rolling off the Boss. She tweaked her angle to appeal to that, to foster a sense that his decision was important, the deciding factor, and that the Council was treating him with respect. "Yes, I'm sure they would rather we explain in person so you could make your own decisions. We require transportation so we may enter the Abyss. The Order believes there is a dangerous artifact there and we've been sent to see that it's destroyed."

The leader narrowed his eyes, looking between Asaak and Moroi as if he'd rather be doing anything else. "Gungans isa strong. Wesa go destroyin this thing ourselves if it's bombad," he said, on the verge of dismissing them. Asaak was sure now that his pride was wounded by the some imagined slight on the Council's part. Perhaps he thought the Council considered his people too stupid to get the job done, or resented having two Jedi sent to his city at all. The words she would need came quickly, trying to patch up that wound and get her way.

"I have no doubts your people could handle most threats, but this artifact is of the Force. Only a force-user can destroy them. However, we can not reach it without your help. By granting us transportation, you are protecting not only your people, but the Galaxy. There may be secrets trapped within the artifact that in the wrong hands could mean wide-spread disaster." It was accurate, if exaggerated in the sense his impact would have. Although there was no way to know exactly what was within the holocron they were searching for it was not information the Council deemed fit to ever be learned. The Order would find a way down to destroy it one way or another and no stubborn Gungan would stand in the way of that. But she would allow him to believe it was his word that would save the Galaxy if it meant a smoother time getting there.

There was a long pause where she could sense the Gungan deliberating. "Wesa...provide a bongo. I must protect mesa peoples," he finished, an aire of superiority dripping in every word, flapping a hand lazily at a guard who seemed to understand he was being told to escort us to our transportation. "Good luck down there," he finished, a look on his face that said very clearly he wouldn't be sad if they had the worst luck imaginable. Asaak bowed before turning to follow the guard, turning to look at Moroi with just a hint of a smile. "I think that went pretty well."

 

[Moroi Wareyasui]

Moroi's existing battle against oxygen thankfully came to a quick conclusion once Asa actually got to work...and she was very very good at it. Moroi's eyes tentatively swapped back and forth between [member="Asaak Tey"] and the Gungan bombad boss and he couldn't help but marvel at her, and this time for the less obvious reasons. She was demonstrating a talent that he would never possess. Diplomacy was not a strength of his, he was too condescending, too direct, and too snarky, that was simply how his brain was hardwired. She was a master though, if Moroi wasn't specifically looking for it, he might never have noticed what she was doing to the Gungan. He wasn't sure if she was just that naturally talented or it was Master Gan's influence, or the more likely scenario of it being some combination of the two, but she played the gungan as if he were a flute. The subtle little shift in position to seem less aggressive, the polite and calming tone to her voice, and playing to the Gungan's ego and self-centrism to seemingly further elevate himself in to an even more prestigious position in his world, she knew exactly which buttons to press and how to make the gungan reveal them.

"Yeah, thankfully."

The, for the first time in a long time for him, only human in the city gave a polite, small bow to the boss as he shuffled the pair of Jedi off and away, like he was trying to politely shoo away an annoying in-law. That worked for Moroi, he didn't want to be here any more than he wanted them there, but even Moroi was capable of shutting up for short periods of time and he most definitely did not want to ruin the work that Asa had already accomplished. Moroi fell in to step beside her as they were ushered toward the "bongo" which was apparently the Gungan's name for their underwater transport vehicle. Moroi's opinion, Moroi's very negative opinion, of their prospects in such a vessel was very clear on his face, but he still hurried toward the ship before the Gungan guard had the opportunity to see the displeasure on his face. Thankfully, he was somewhat familiar with the Gungan's technology and translating their designs to something practical was not very difficult and Asa would probably not have much trouble figuring it out herself and thankfully, Moroi would be able to keep the thing running.

It was then that the thought occurred to him, if Asa could so effortlessly manipulate a member of a rather foreign species, how easy would it be for her to use those tricks to manipulate someone who was physically attracted to her as well? By the time Asa would get inside the vessel and close the hatch, Moroi's head would instantly perk up from below the dashboard, the top of his head unceremoniously smacking off the dashboard and was immediately succeeded by a pained exclamation as his head wheeled around on Asa. His eyes were dangerously narrowed and full of accusatory suspicion.

"Hey...have you ever done that thing to me? Manipulated me like that?"

 

[Aeron Zambrano]

Asaak wasn't exactly thrilled about piloting anything named a "bongo" through the deep parts of Naboo's sea but upon seeing the craft she felt better about it's prospects. After all the Gungans had created an entire city that seemed to do very well and stay dry so she chose to be optimistic about their vehicles too. She would deal with any misplaced faith later if she had to.

She was caught somewhere between a shock of laughter and asking him if he was okay when she heard the twack of his head against the underside of the dash. If he was truly clumsy she rarely saw a hint of it herself and any moment such as the one she heard the tail end of always managed to bewilder her. But she was quickly distracted by the unexpectedly vehement expression on his face. She didn't usually think of it as manipulation. The word had a negative connotation in her mind. To her it was polite but strong suggestion, but of course Moroi was right. She was pulling strings. She just liked to think of it delicately. She grinned, shaking her head as she settled in to one of the seats and ran her fingers over the dash, trying to get all the read-outs straight.

"Well, first of all, I only work my magic on those I have to, and never those I care about," she said, pulling up a read-out by accident that was all in Gunganese, the "esas" and "yousas" almost making her cross-eyed with confusion. "Second, a creature like a Gungan is easy to sway. They're not the most intelligent and they won't notice me making a bit of a suggestion. You on the other...you're too smart for your own good. You know me, and you'd know if I was trying," she continued, turning her gaze away from the control panel to look at him with a bit of a grin. "But no. I've never tried that on you, and I don't ever want to." And it was true. She liked him just the way he was.

She turned back, getting her bearings and trying to power the engines. She heard a dull click as if the Bongo were thinking about starting and then decided no...it didn't much feel like traveling to the Abyss that day. She pursed her lips. It seemed that the Bombad Boss wouldn't exactly be making their lives easy - she wouldn't put it past him to have the malfunctioning Bongo offered to them on purpose. She looked to Moroi again, nodding in the direction of the underside of the dashboard where he'd smacked his head. "So can you do some fancy wiring or are we already stuck?"

[member="Moroi Wareyasui"]

 

[Moroi Wareyasui]

"That's exactly what you'd want me to think!"

Moroi's eyes skeptically followed her lips as she spoke, occasionally darting to her eyes and her hands for any sign of her magic mind bending voodoo before he sat back down in his seat. He of course believed her, at least in so far as believing that she truly did care about him and that his well being would always be her first objective, manipulative tactics aside, but admitting that he trusted his friend wasn't any fun...and she should probably already know regardless. Perhaps Master Yinch was rubbing off on him and not necessarily in a positive fashion, then again he was an inherently snarky person before he even met his Master, so perhaps he was just lousy.

When her attention shifted to the bongo however, Moroi suddenly became much more focused. If his routine maintenance check hadn't caught it, then perhaps there really did give them a defective transport, which seemed fitting given their general disposition to being an absolutely fething annoying species. An exasperated sigh left Moroi as the boy pushed himself off the seat and in to a very compact handstand before sliding past the seat and getting his head underneath the dashboard, trying hard to hook his feet around the awkward back of the seat and not having much luck and not wasting much time before equally exasperatingly calling up to [member="Asaak Tey"] with the desperate plea for help.

"Can you like...hold my legs or something? I don't want to fall and crack my head down here."

Whether she would be so gracious as to pin him to the seat and prevent the potential concussion that was looming, Moroi shifted his attention to the maintenance patch beneath the dashboard. It did not take him very long to find the problem. Whether he dislodged it when he smacked his head off the dashboard, further affirming that this was a lousy species, or if he had simply missed it on the first pass, the power coupling for the repulsorlift was improperly installed. Grunting gently with exertion, Moroi flexed his abdominal muscles and tried to pick his upper body up further to allow him to reach the coupling, attempting to jimmy it back in place and not doing so easily. When the boy finally got the thing attached, his body relaxed and his head dropped down, laying contentedly on the floor as he called up again.

"Try it now."

 

[Aeron Zambrano]

She did, in fact, count his snarky retort as merely giving her a hard time. Moroi had given her ample - if veiled - signals he trusted her so she simply rolled her eyes at his continued suspicion, a little smile tugging at her lips.

She wasn't sure whether or not it was a good thing that she was so used to his colorful symphony of exasperation that she didn't hear him until he directly spoke to her. With typical optimism she decided it was a good thing - it had been easier to concentrate on quickly learning the controls, hadn't it? When she looked down and saw his legs wrapped around the base of the seat she reached down, clasping her fingers around his ankles and holding him in place. She tried to catch a glimpse of what he was doing but all she could see was the intent look on his face and his fingers moving quickly beneath the dashboard. And like that he was finished, once more mystifying her. Where she could at least improve on her combat skills and had come far, the inside of a ship looked like a giant pile of sand-snakes.

She let go of his ankles when he gave her the go-ahead, trying once again to power the ship and this time with much more success. It flared to life with only a few sputters first, the running lights shining softly out in to the dark water beneath them. She brought the Bongo down slow until [member="Moroi Wareyasui"] was clear of the dashboard, wanting to keep the imagined telling-off she'd get if she jarred him in to smacking his head in her imagination only. "So, you wanna play I Spy on the way down?" she questioned, picking up speed when it looked like his head was safe. "I spy with my little eye, something...dark blue." That should keep him busy for a while.

She'd managed to input in the estimated position the Jedi had for the holocron in to the bongo before they'd taken off and started following it's basic direction. The Abyss came on then quickly, the lights on the Bongo just barely illuminating the water around them. Just as she stopped wondering whether or not they'd run in to the creatures that were famed to live there there was a slight tug, as if something large had moved by fast enough to pull the ship slightly in it's back current.

 

[Moroi Wareyasui]

As he heard the contented hum of a working engine, Moroi managed to shove himself back in to a crouched position on the chair, relying heavily on his upper body strength to pull him out front under the dashboard. The boy turned and watched as she finished pulling out of the docking port and trucked off through the ocean. A soft grunt of exertion later and the boy flipped himself around and landed comfortably on his backside and looking out at their surroundings. He wasn't sure what it was, maybe it was because they still had to contend with gravity, or that there was actual color around them, or maybe it was just because he was with [member="Asaak Tey"] but whatever it was, Moroi was considerably more comfortable now than he was when they were on the hyperspace shuttle they took to get there. And it actually showed on his face, his eyes blissfully staring through the shuttles variation of windows like he was a child seeing color for the first time. It was almost disturbing just how different he was in two rather similar vehicles, the Gungans even modeled their Fighters after these Bongos. While he pretended that he wasn't much for childish games like I spy, the second she brought it up, the boy's eyes instantly began scanning around, urgently searching for the dark blue object in question. After a few minutes of fruitless searching, Moroi slumped back in his chair, which was then followed by the most bitter look that Moroi had ever, ever, EVER, given her, and there was a pretty long line of bitter looks preceding this one.

"You saw the fething water, didn't you..."

Before Moroi could finish properly telling her off for being beyond insufferable and some other choice adjectives rhyming with marker, he felt the gargantuan creature moving past them. Perhaps his practice was paying off or perhaps the creature was simply so utterly massive that he couldn't help but sense it. But sense it he did and the boy jumped up in small little bubble of space, leaving his seat to eagerly stare out Asa's side of the bongo as he watched the massive creature zoom by. Rising out of his seat, and disregarding proper safety precautions, proved to be a disastrous idea. When the backdraft of the creature rattled their vessel however, Moroi would not be able to keep his footing and as their ship lurched, he lurched as well, falling forward and his head bouncing off the top of the bongo above Asa before landing on her chest. Moroi of course stayed oblivious to it, his eyes still following the creature.

"What in the world was that...why didn't you spy that one?"

 

[Aeron Zambrano]

She couldn't help it - she laughed when she received that annoyed look. It was almost becoming a game at that point to see just how deeply annoyed he could look. He surprised her every time and that moment was no exception. She could just imagine the insults he was preparing to hurl. She was no stranger to colorful language but Moroi had managed to inject some new phrasing in to her vocabulary and she was just preparing for more when he flew past her to plaster himself against the window. The creature seemed to thankfully pass right by them, it's presence in her grasp of the Force growing smaller as it found somewhere else to - presumably - hunt. Thankfully it seemed a Bongo wasn't an appealing snack.

The creature's wake however stuck with them for a moment or two more, unbalancing Moroi to the point of losing his footing. Asaak wondered about the integrity of his skull sometimes - he seemed to hit his head a lot and she worried one day he'd knock it for a good loop and turn to look at her with his eyes crossed or something. Maybe she should start carrying a pillow around she thought, something to toss under his noggin whenever it seemed he might be in a dangerous situation. It was a nice thought though gravity seemed to have a similar idea as [member="Moroi Wareyasui"]'s head fell on her chest. She looked down, giving him a equivalent of raising an eyebrow though she didn't have one to raise. She thought she was doing a fairly good job of hiding the fact that her heart had picked up the pace quite a bit. "Maybe a sando monster. In which case we should keep moving." He had fallen over her arms so she was bent awkwardly at the controls, another laugh bubbling up her throat. "As comfy as this is, I gotta..." She took her arms out from underneath him, letting her fingers brush through his hair lightly along the way (because honestly, it WAS nice and had she not been trying to make sure they didn't steer in to a giant pillar of rock and die instantly she would have stayed in that position very happily), unsure of his center of gravity and hoping she'd moved slow enough that he wouldn't tumble to her lap and end up on the floor somehow. "...there we go."

They somehow made it to the tunnel system indicated by the Council without running in to the fabled sea creatures that Asaak had - of course - read as much as she could about before the start of the mission. All research showed there were a maximum of two Sando known to exist, and the odds of running across an Opee sea killer were low...but how much did they really know of this planet's Abyss?

She banked to the side, following a tunnel down to a sudden and surprising antechamber. It looked ancient, carved out of the rock thousands of years ago. If there was ever a place to hide a Holocron, this was a good one. She lowered the Bongo to hover off to the side, letting it stand by as she pulled her breather from within her robes, looking around the chamber lit softly by glowing creatures growing along the walls. There were three tunnels, each fading off in to thick darkness. "I'm ready when you are." She was hoping that once free of the Bongo and wrapped in the silence of the water she might be able to feel the pull of the Holocron and narrow their options of which tunnel to follow.

 

[Moroi Wareyasui]

Moroi probably wouldn't have minded dying in their especially precarious situation, but he understood when someone was focusing on not dying. Moroi wasn't quite aware of his own "precarious position," until after she had shifted her arms from underneath him, letting the majority of his weight fall neatly in to her lap, making sure she brushed his hair along the way. He would never quite understand her fixation with it, he probably wouldn't be able to, but he definitely wasn't complaining. While her fascination baffled him, he enjoyed that there was something about him that she enjoyed so much. He was having trouble coming to terms with why it was so important that she enjoy his company, beyond friendship, but he was getting there, slowly. Their day together at the obstacle course had changed much about him in a very short window of time and as he was rolled on to her lap and in full realization of how close the two had gotten, he didn't turn away. Instead, he braced his hands against the side of the bongo and gently pushed against it, sliding his body further toward his seat until only his head was comfortably nestled in to her lap and he was pretty intent on keeping it there.

So he did. Moroi tentatively watched the tunnel ceilings as Asa masterfully wove her way through the ancient tunnels from the most relaxing pillow in the world and his face slowly shifted in to one of bemused concern. The markings on the ceiling were something he did not recognize, they weren't Jedi...they weren't anything he had ever seen before. He doubted [member="Asaak Tey"] would notice his concern, these tunnels were tight and she hardly had time to be studying his facial expressions, but with Jedi, you could never rule out what they might feel...and Moroi was feeling all sorts of concern. When she pulled the bongo to a stop and her hand snaked in to her robes, near his head, Moroi follow suit, placing the small metallic object in his mouth before, gently, vaulting his upper body off of her lap and in to his seat, landing on the cushion feet first before bursting upward, passing seamlessly through the Gungan hydrophobic shields and in to the cool waters around him. Focusing heavily on the force, before he was either crushed or frozen to death, Moroi created a small field around him, maintaining a healthy homeostasis around his body as he properly looked around the area, motioning for Asa to join him. Moroi was not as talented as his friend, he wouldn't feel the pull of the holocron until they were much closer to it, but even he could feel that he did not like this place, he didn't like it at all. Moroi unhooked the lightsaber from his belt, a loan from the council specificially for this mission. Normally, lightsabers did not function underwater, it required a special make and model to properly function in an environment like this and they would need them to properly protect themselves if they ran in to trouble, he imagined Asa would have been equipped similarly. Moroi shot a glance her way, not at all trying to hide his trepidation as he started to slowly swim further in to the tunnels, he'd have to rely on Asa to get through here and be ready to protect her if something nefarious came their way.

 

[Aeron Zambrano]

Though she hadn't been looking at his face when she'd been steering through the tunnels she'd felt his concern almost as clear as day. She'd been noticing that lately, mostly when she was very relaxed or conversely very alert, his feelings flowed over her like water. She chalked it up to knowing him well but in her more quiet moments when she had time to think about it there was no denying it wasn't just their friendship.

But it wasn't one of those quiet moments as [member="Moroi Wareyasui"]'s concern was well-founded. As soon as Asaak followed him out of the bongo the cloying sickness of the Holocron's influence surrounded her as immediately as the seawater. She swam to meet him as he beckoned her but had her eyes on the tunnels. She was glad to have him with her - they made the kind of team that it seemed could only be created on purpose and yet somehow just happened along. Her connection to the Force almost had her drowning in the Dark side's pull while she was sure he would be the first to respond to whatever dangers they might find. She felt safer - as safe as one could feel thousands of feet underwater in caves harboring a dark side artifact and possibly filled with creatures infinitely more adapted to the environment - with him at her side.

She came to settle next to him, pulling up in the water and closing her eyes as the last of the shell she was imagining around herself in the Force settled, sealing her off from the crushing pressures of the deep. She thought she heard...whispers. A quiet sound like skin against skin, hushed voices came from the tunnel on the left. It felt so obvious. She searched farther and more completely but could feel nothing that would indicate there was something else to look for. The tug in the Force was only in the direction of the whispers. It seemed that the Holocron's lost owner had not intended for his artifact to be taken without a fight if he'd made the path to it so obvious. No subtlety, just brute force.

She looked to Moroi, nodding her head in the direction of the tunnel to the left before heading in that direction, pulling the lightsaber she'd borrowed as well out to rest in her palm. As if on cue a long, low whistle sounded from far away. Whether it was an animal or a part of the defenses surrounding the Holocron Asaak couldn't be sure. Either way, she stuck close to her friend, swimming in time with him in to the dark.

 

[Moroi Wareyasui]

Moroi spun gracefully through the water, looking as comfortable as a human possibly could so far beneath the surface of the water as [member="Asaak Tey"] closed her eyes and focused on finding their destination. He couldn't help but allow a soft grin to befall his face as she concentrated, so determined and focused on her task. It was adorable in more ways than one, but even then he could feel the concern, the worry, rolling off of her as she zeroed in on this holocron. It seemed, by her disposition, that Moroi was not going to get lucky and find some kind of Jedi holocron hidden this deep beneath the water's surface. Of course, he didn't expect this to be the case from the get go, they wouldn't have been sent this far to destroy a Jedi holocron, they'd have been sent to bring it back intact. If they were sent so far away from home to destroy something, that meant that it was of the darkside and demanded the fanaticism to root out and destroy, even in these conditions. It was another aspect of the Jedi that Moroi struggled with, the fanatical need to demolish anything not aligning with the lightside of the force. It wasn't that he particularly enjoyed the darkside, he wasn't exactly a fan of violence and aggression, but it was more that the need to kill it, whether or not it was a genuine threat, was a little much for Moroi. He had trouble differentiating which side was really "evil" in that scenario and while he was told to trust the wisdom of his masters, and he really did try, he frequently struggled with it. At the same time though, Asa seemed to be struggling to cope with whatever she was feeling inside, whether it was the darkside nature of whatever they were looking for or simply the things defenses trying to overwhelm any force sensitives moving for the holocron, Moroi was not sure.

He was sure of one thing however. With one swift pump of his arms, Moroi glided through the water and closed any distance remaining to hover beside Asa as she nodded, his hand reaching forward and his fingers interlacing with hers, giving her hand a gentle squeeze as he flashed the wide, goofy grin that she was no doubt becoming quite accustomed to. Regardless of their personal trepidations, they did need to push on and they did need to finish this mission, and the sooner they were done the sooner they could go home to their cushy and comfortable dormitories on Tython. Taking a nap was something Moroi was sincerely looking forward to at this point. Giving a gentle tug on her arm before letting go and swimming down the path she had indicated, Moroi did not have to swim long before the enshrinement's defenses started whirring. Before Moroi had much chance to react by...say...swimming the hell away, numerous, loud mechanical sounds echoed through their corridor and were quickly followed by a signature sound that neither of them could mistake as blaster fire rifled through the area. Quickly, the boy's lightsaber rifled to his hand and ignited, desperately trying to block the blaster fire heading their way, hoping Asa had a plan to deal with this because he wouldn't be able to hold out forever and if this was the simplest of the defenses, he was somewhat worried about what would come later.

 

[Aeron Zambrano]

[SIZE=10pt]Despite her worry for what lay ahead, she felt a smile come easily when his hand found hers. He always surprised her with little things like that and it erased the edge of trepidation from her thoughts. She felt more centered as the pair started swimming towards the pull she’d registered, letting her fingers tangle in his as he let go, playing with his fingertips for just a moment before being swallowed in the darkness of the tunnel. The calm he’d managed to bring back to her had come just in time – a blaster bolt swung past her head and she could feel the slight warmth in the water as it blazed by.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]She was glad for how close they were as his lightsaber ignited, the walls of the cave covered in the same scrawled symbols that she had noticed on the dive in. Combined with the shadows created by the bolts and [member="Moroi Wareyasui"]’s weapon it was a confusing tapestry and Asaak could barely make out the details of the walls, every crevice looking as if it might lead somewhere only to appear as solid rock when a bolt lit it up…which immediately gave her pause. There was almost no time, the bolts seeming to come faster as she pushed the Force out in a blanket, letting it mold along the walls, sensing for something she was sure would be there – and there! A small tunnel only just big enough to fit one at a time through its confines was right above them. [/SIZE]She reached out, wrapping an arm around Moroi’s middle and starting to swim up. She wanted to stay behind him without distracting him, trying to lead him to at least momentary safety without breaking his concentration. Once she’d reached the lip of the passageway she shot up, giving him enough room to follow. It seemed that whoever had chosen the place as a hiding spot had created multiple avenues to the final destination, more of the dark writing scribbled along the rock.

[SIZE=10pt]She wished she could speak then, thank him for the quick work and giving her the needed time to think – for protecting her. Instead she just started a list in her head, having faith that they would both end up back on Tython exhausted but triumphant and she could thank him then. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]The tunnel got no bigger once she was inside, and they would have to move one-by-one. It was not a nice proposition and it was made worse by the low groan of what sounded like an animal, the noise seeming to pulse through the walls as she started swimming in that direction. Whether the creature heard the blaster attack or was just having a bad day she wasn’t sure, but it got louder and more insistent the deeper they traveled. It was the first time she wished she wasn't so certain they were going the right way.[/SIZE]

 

[Moroi Wareyasui]

Moroi was running out of time. It wasn't that he was bad at deflecting blaster bolts or anything of the sort, but Ataru was most definitely not suited for it and it was even more difficult underwater. It was difficult enough to utilize the sense of precognition and reaction time to deflect light when he was in his natural environment, trying to swim, keep his place, and swing his lightsaber around was infinitely more difficult than just having to worry about swinging his lightsaber around. Not to mention that water was considerably more of a pain to move through than air was. Thankfully, he got lucky a few times, managing to bounce the blaster bolts back in to the wall mounted weapons, taking out a few of them and lessening the burden somewhat, but the weapons were getting closer and closer to hitting him with each shot, the boy barely being able to repel them. As he made a desperation deflection, the alliteration is strong in this one, and just barely bounced a blaster bolt a few inches from his nose, he felt [member="Asaak Tey"] wrap her arm around his waist and gently begin tugging him upward, toward the top of the tunnel. He had no idea what she was planning, but she usually tended to be rather clever and he didn't have any other options. Now, only having to worry about swinging his lightsaber around as he was tugged, Moroi had a renewed hope for defending himself in the corridor of death here. As her arm left, Moroi stole a glance over his shoulder and saw his friend shooting through a tight opening in the wall. Noting her plan, Moroi took one big swing forward to throw himself back through the water, deflecting on last bolt before he thrust himself up in to the tight opening, laser fire crashing in to the walls around him during his ascent.

When the proverbial dust settled, Moroi found himself in an incredibly tight passage way, not wide enough for the pair to move in anything but single file. Unlike Asaak, this was not much a negative for Moroi. If anything, he almost guessed that Asa secretly wanted him staring at her posterior and Moroi was not about to let her go un-obliged. Then again, he didn't really have a choice. Then the noise came. The sound of the blaster fired had finally grown to nothing but background noise before being replaced by something that Moroi was considerably more frightened of. It was animalistic, feral...and unless Moroi was imagining it...evil. They swam a little bit farther before Moroi stopped, letting Asa continue on a bit further, as he felt the water gushing against his backside, the small amount of current from air filling the tunnels before...

It struck quickly. The current suddenly reversed, and hard, sucking the pair backward through the tunnel like they were being flushed down a latrine. More struggled for a moment before gaining control of himself, if the pipe turned, then he wanted to be as limber as possible to avoid injury. Forcing himself to relax, his fears soon came true. Not long after they passed where they came in, the sounds of blaster fire apparently being neverending, Moroi's body was sucked through a bend, his body smacking off the curvature of the pipe before being forced down and through the pipe once again. Moroi was subjected to this for another minute before the suction sound of air and water managed to reach what was still working of his ears. A moment later, the boy was spit out of the pipe and shot in to a large, terrifyingly expansive cavern. The boy, having been shot from the roof of the cavern, was flung down with the mass of water toward a large, apparently sentient made platform. Focusing on the force and using it to cushion his landing, Moroi still smacked hard in to the platform, barely managing to avoid serious injury but still enjoying a health amount of pain shooting through his body. Adrenaline shooting through his system, his eyes scanned where he came from, rolling on to his back as he scanned the ceiling. Their's was not the only pipe the cavern roof was littered with them and multiple different flush points littered the ceiling. With the water from the tube still crashing down on him, Moroi's head rolled to the side...and he saw something he was not enthused about. At the end of the platform, was a half eaten skeleton, bones seemingly crunched by a powerful maw...and then that powerful maw roared behind him. Moroi's head rolled back, trying to gain his bearings. The pipes were there to flush out intruders and recently killed intruders and send them here...to feed this...thing. A pair of menacing yellow eyes glared at Moroi from the shadows as its form slowly came in to view...a form that Moroi assumed was only a legend.

 

[Aeron Zambrano]

[SIZE=10pt]As she was sucked backwards, she grabbed for the walls, attempting to find some purchase that might stop her from being whirled down in to the depths. But the current was too strong and she found herself dragged along, ending the struggle the moment she realized she wasn’t going to get a hold of anything. Despite letting the water take her where it would she slammed against a fork in the tunnel, catching a glimpse of [member="Moroi Wareyasui"] going one way while she was swept another.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Oh, NOT good.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]She didn’t have much time to think about it though as with a sudden roar of sound the tunnel dumped her unceremoniously to the ground. Thankfully she’d been able to call the Force around her to block the worst of the damage though it still took a considerable amount of convincing to get her diaphragm to contract and let her breathe again after her wild ride through the tunnels. As she leapt to her feet after a moment’s pause her eyes raced over the cavern, the rusty smell of old blood amplified in the moisture of the air. She felt relief when she spotted Moroi at the other end of the platform, glad she had not been carried too far away from him through the tunnel system, when waves of movement hit her montrals. Something huge was in there with them, and feet away.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]When the creature moved from the shadows, mouth open and revealing rows and rows of sharp teeth, Asaak thought for a second the Huttcor had come to life. However that idea quickly seemed somehow appealing compared to the horned, clawed, toothed, armored monstrosity that thundered from the dark. The second it revealed itself she reached a hand up, pouring all her energy in to the Force and imagining lightly touching her fingers to the creature’s brain, just softly enough to exert influence without revealing that she was doing so. Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep. Nothing happened. No matter how hard she pressed the monster was still dragging itself from the shadows. She was no Knight but she’d gotten to a certain level of power with suggestion. She should have at least caught its attention but it didn’t even seem to be bothered.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]If the creature was immune to the Force she needed to think quickly. Moroi would be quicker with his saber and she would try to give him the chances he needed. She was fast and light on her feet – if she could draw the creature’s attention so it would turn its back to Moroi he would be able to approach to exploit a possible weakness. If the thing had any. “Wow, you are UGLY!” she called, her voice echoing off the chamber’s walls. Look here you idiot, forget about the guy over there. The beast turned in her direction, hunching down and looking angry as Asaak ignited her lightsaber to tempt it further.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]It moved quicker than she would have thought for something so large and it took all her agility to spring backwards, hoping against hope that her infinitely more skilled companion would see a hole in the thing’s armor while it was distracted and she still had distance between herself and it's reaching claws. Whatever this thing was, she thought she saw ancient recognition it its beady eyes when her saber reflected in their depths.[/SIZE]

 

[Moroi Wareyasui]

Moroi heavily pushed himself off his back, landing with an oomph on his stomach as his eyes leveled on the creature. It was what he was afraid of. He never believed he would ever see an actual Terentatek in person and he never really wanted to. He was afraid. Those three words held more gravity than it might have seemed. Moroi was never afraid, in fact most of his reputation through his Jedi career involved him being utterly immune to fear. He was THE cocky little poohead and he didn't afraid of anything. But the Terentatek...this monster...this was something entirely different. He wasn't even sure if this was fear that gripped him, it had been so long since he had ever experienced the feeling, but as he lay there, soaked to the bone, staring up at the monstrous creature from his belly, he was terrified. It would appear that the terror that gripped him was unique to him as well. [member="Asaak Tey"] had no problem jumping to her feet and in to action. Moroi would be proud if he wasn't so preoccupied with that whole terror thing and the accompanying self-deprecation that followed. He didn't need many more reasons to admire Asa, but that didn't stop him from letting some creep through. Without hesitation she sprung up off the ground and rushed at that...at that monster and Moroi...the "brave" one was cowering in a puddle of what he was going to pretend was all tunnel water.

He couldn't sit there any more, he had to react, and as she darted off to the side, drawing the monster's attention, Moroi forced himself to his feet, his legs trembling slightly, before kicking off and darting behind the monster, his soggy presence going unnoticed. Thinking quickly...sort of, Moroi removed the external, heavier robe that was standard amongst the Jedi, and dropped it in to his free hand as his lightsaber snaked into the other. As the monster was rounding on Asa, all her attempts to influence the creature with the Force failing rather spectacularly due to their very nature, Moroi kicked off the ground and leaped straight at the back of the things head. Fear did little to improve his sanity it seemed. The young man landed on the back of the creatures head and quickly flung his robe forward, drooping the waterlogged and already heavy piece of clothing over the creature's eyes and hoping to obstruct its vision. Immediately the monster began thrashing in place, desperately trying to unhook the cloth from its tusks and eyes as Moroi pushed off the creatures shoulders before delivering a hard slash to the creature's back on the way down...yielding nothing. The monster's hide was think, dangerously thick, and the shallow cuts this saber was capable of weren't going to bring it down. Moroi tried again, aiming for a hopefully thinner portion of the hide and violently slashing his weapon at the creature's calf and finding some measure of success. It wasn't a thick cut, but fortunately it was enough to hamper the creature's movements ever so slightly. Unfortunately...it didn't do much to hamper its other leg. As soon as Moroi's slash finished, the thrashing monster flung it's large leg back and caught Moroi in the side...of his body. The young man was thrown, reverse punted squarely across the room and violently bouncing along the ground before landing uncomfortably in a heap on the floor. Struggling mightily to get up.

 

[Aeron Zambrano]

Considering what an insufferable bookworm she was it was strange that Asaak couldn’t even hazard a guess as to the creature looming towards her. She would study almost anything from plants, animals, history, Force theory – and yet nothing came to mind. Had she known she might have been suitably scared but as it stood she knew nothing of the Terentatek’s fearsome reputation – Jedi Killer, Sith creation, a creature that thrived in the Darkest of places.

As the thing leaned over her, claws flexing and rank mouth opened wide to devour her, she looked up in time to see [member="Moroi Wareyasui"] on its…head? Had they not both been on the brink of death she could just imagine tugging absently at her lekku in anxious exasperation – was he insane?! (The jury was still out.) But a creature like the one they were pitted against seemed to require insane measures and as Moroi whipped his robe out over the monster’s eyes she realized what he was doing. She had a split second where she wondered if he thought of that on the fly or if it had been the first thing he thought upon seeing the creature. It didn’t matter – either scenario was impressive – and she flipped backwards, once, twice, just far enough to be out of the way as the beast started flailing its arms around to try and remove its blindfold. She raised both hands up, throwing her power in to the Force again and yanking down on the robe, thoroughly lodging it on the thing’s horns to buy them some time. It looked like something was eating through the material of the robes which suggested that the thing was poisonous on top of everything else…and then she started to feel afraid.

When Moroi went flying, his body hitting the ground in what seemed like an awfully final manner, she felt panic crawling up the back of her neck. She clung desperately to Master Gan’s words. Fear and excitement lead to mistakes.

She took her chance the second she saw it – as the beast flailed back and forth, taking big stomping steps as it clawed at its face, she darted forward to sprint right between its tree trunk legs. It picked one up just as she was passing beneath it, its whole body rotating above her so the leg would be in front of her when it came down. She dropped to her knees and let her momentum carry her forward, hoping against hope that making herself shorter would allow her to eek past without being flattened. She was lucky – right up until the last moment when the very edges of her robe were caught underneath the thing’s foot. She came to a sickening halt, hearing something pop loudly in one shoulder. She suppressed a scream. She was sure the monster could smell her even above the sickening cloy of old blood and seawater but she wasn’t going to make it any easier for it to track her by giving it sound to work with when they had the advantage of its momentary blindness. She was about to shimmy out of the robes when it moved again, still rotating in some kind of circle as it clawed at itself. She rolled up on to her feet just in time to avoid being smashed under its other foot, sprinting on light feet over to Moroi.

She clung to her arm. It was definitely out of the socket but she could have Moroi reset it. She was infinitely relieved to see he was working on getting up and she held out her good arm to help him. “Are you okay?” she shot out quickly, half hoping for the snarky “Does it look like I’m alright?” retort she fully expected. That typical rudeness would make her feel better, and she needed that comfort in the last few seconds before the monster finally tore the robe from over its eyes.

 

[Moroi Wareyasui]

"Karking swell, you might not know this, but I absolutely love getting donkey kicked through a sewer by a foot the size of my body. Never been fething better."

Moroi tentatively took her hand, pulling himself to his feet with her help as he tried to clear the cobwebs from his sight. The Terentatek was still thrashing about, trying to wrench the soggy and sticky robe from its face. The boy's eyes zeroed in on it, trying to rationally think out how to kill the thing. Force powers weren't going to work and Moroi couldn't cut the thing, so [member="Asaak Tey"] probably wouldn't fare much better. They needed something, some way to kill the thing. Moroi's eyes drifted for a moment to the girl's shoulder, noticing that she didn't come out of their little encounter completely unscathed either. A small grimmace came to his face, angry that he hadn't been able to protect her, his legs still trembling slightly in fear, fear he could not afford. His eyes rested on her unfavored shoulder as the resolve inside him began to solidify, his determination outweighing the sense of dread. Moroi quickly got to his feet, gazing back at her with a smile as the plan formed in his mind, the familiar smile forming on his face. He knew how to kill the Terentatek.

"Push me. When I give you the signal, push me!"

Moroi didn't bother to explain, didn't bother to justify, didn't give her a chance to protest the suicidal, reckless plan. They didn't have another choice. Moroi pivoted on one foot before taking off toward the monster, his eyes all the more resolute as his lightsaber ignited beside him. The creature heard his footsteps, turned toward him and bellowed as the robe flapped forward from its thunderous roar...marking Moroi's target. One more stride and Moroi's knees bent hard before rocketing him upward in to the air, still a sizeable way away from the monster, as he tucked his knees in to his chest, making him self as compact as possible. His voice then called out, level, stable, not a care in the world. He knew this was crazy, but crazy was their best shot.

"NOW!"