Objective: Curious Creatures
Location: Stardust Melody > Esau’s Ridge
Cassius Droma had no idea just how much he had missed his beloved Stardust Melody until he was flying her again. His trusty droid T-4D4 had kept her well cleaned and oiled while he was gone, and only flew her occasionally to shake the dust off. In the cockpit, the controls were shiny and the lights were as bright as they had always been. That’s where Cassius was now, keeping track of their progress through hyperspace, the flickering blue waves of the other dimension dancing light across their faces.
He’d been gone for quite some time. Although, he had realized something rather strange when he had returned – not as much time had passed for the rest of the galaxy as it had for him. When Gianna Aegis had made the perilous journey to the high mountains of Ando Prime to collect him, T-4D4 had informed him that only a few weeks, almost a month, had passed. Cassius could have sworn that it had been several months.
Regardless, the time had come for him to return. The Galactic Alliance had fallen, and dark forces were creeping into every corner of the galaxy. Cassius had found his purpose as a Jedi – to wander wherever the Force led him, to help those in need, and to track down and study artifacts from the Force. The Knight Aegis had agreed to help finish his training, as his time on Ando Prime had been cut short.
Cassius had hardly been back a microsecond before he was being volunteered for an assignment from the Silver Jedi. A pair of Jedi investigators had disappeared on the planet Tholatin after reporting some strange behavior from the locals. Naturally, with his psychometric abilities, Cassius was asked to go. Before he left, however, he made sure to pick up Inaya, the girl he’d saved from a life of servitude on Circumtore. A small part of him had felt guilty for leaving her behind at Silver Rest at such a pivotal point in her life, but the pull of the Force to go had been too great.
Now it was business as usual, but Cassius felt different, was different. Stronger, more secure in the Force, a better handle on his emotions, anxieties and insecurities.
Inaya suddenly referred to him as ‘big brother’. Quirking his eyebrow and smiling ever so slightly, he stole a glance over his shoulder at the younger girl. “Just about,” he said, facing forward again. “Watch this.”
At just the right time, Cassius pulled back on the silver hyperspace handle, and the ship snapped back into realspace as smooth as ever. Marbled in yellow and orange hues, the planet Tholatin floated against the dark backdrop of outer space. Plotting a course for Esau Ridge, the YT-1000 gracefully went towards the planet and into the atmosphere. Flying through the rocky canyons, the small town soon came into view. On his radar, he saw a Silver Jedi corvette, the Lightfoot, nearby. Flicking a switch, he sent a transponder signal to the ship, just to let them know he was here.
After getting clearance to land, the Stardust Melody touched down on one of the landing pads, steam billowing from her underbelly. From the cockpit, Cassius could already see little blue furry creatures dotting the town. Furrowing his brow, he said to his droid companion, “Tee, let’s keep the deflectors up so none of those things get on-board and into the circuitry.”
“Way ahead of you,” T-4D4 metallically muttered through his vocabulator, a hint of disgust in his voice. Cassius could already tell that his tall friend would not like the little creatures that awaited them.
Cassius ushered Inaya to follow him as he headed for the boarding ramp. “How has Kashyyyk been?” he asked. There hadn’t been a lot of time to catch up on the trip over since it had been rather short, so he figured he’d ask now.
As they stepped off of the ramp, they’d be greeted with a rather eerie calm from the town. The most noticeable thing was that there were the little blue creatures everywhere. In the street, on top of roofs, in trash receptacles, everywhere. One of them crawled up to the group coming off of the Stardust, so Cassius got a better look at it. They had light blue fur, with long ears that stuck out on either side of their tiny heads. Their eyes were completely black, and tiny bone protrusions that could be the infancy of horns dotted their foreheads.
T-4D4 groaned. “Disgusting things, aren’t they?”
Just then, a human woman came by and scooped up the little creature in her arms, but seemed as if she didn’t hear the droid’s derogatory statement. “Such cute little things, aren’t they?” she cooed at the creature, and it nuzzled its head into her chin.
“We’re from the Silver Jedi,” Cassius would have extended his hand in greeting, but the woman seemed a little busy. “Could you tell us where the Supervisor’s office is?” The woman said nothing, as she was completely focused on the little animal in her arms. “Ma’am?” Cassius asked, and the woman finally looked up. She seemed to look through Cassius rather than at him. Although her mouth was in the form of a smile, her stare was completely blank. “The Supervisor’s office?”
“Oh, it’s over there, I think…” the woman dismissively waved behind her, and then slowly walked off with the little animal in her arms. Cassius looked at her for awhile, eyebrow raised, completely perplexed.
As they made their way further through the town, they would find the rest of the townspeople in a similar condition: content and happy coddling the small blue animals, but otherwise completely vacant in demeanor. Cassius kept caution in mind as he made his way to the Supervisor’s office, hoping to see the other Jedi along the way.
[member="Inaya"] | [member="Gianna Aegis"] | [member="Mutaak"] | [member="Josh DragonsFlame"] | [member="Allyson Locke"]
