Private PLANESHIFT: Rishi Labyrinth

[Tilon Quill]

SCROLL — SIGNUP/OOC

LATE 902 ABY

The PLANESHIFT has broken every star map.
The legendary RISHI MAZE is colliding with the Galaxy.
Its treasures and mysteries have never been closer at hand.

A strange alliance of wanderers blasts off through the rains of KAMINO.
While each ship harbours its own motives, one dream unites them all:
Blaze a trail to the far side of the Maze.

But the stars have warped far, far more deeply than they know...​

​

---

• Tilon Quill flying the North Ridge (16 meters, long-range shuttle), outfitted with an Adumari Mk1 Scabbard hyperdrive ring (30 meters, supply)
  • Crew: "Elsie" Eldritch
  • Notable cargo: Healing Capsules, non-addictive psychedelics, M-Series astromechs, Krillium silk, aerosolized bacta, CeramiCote applicators
• Mercy flying the Hive Harvester (corvette, repair and mining)
• Okkeus Dainlei flying the Blue Lightning (45 meters, smuggler)
  • Crew: Apollo and Navi
  • Notable cargo: Hyperspace Momentum Capacitors, Microjump Capacitors, Jumpmaster 0.11 Elite Hyperdrives, Kyber Engines
• Jared Starchaser flying the Crosscurrent (26 meters, rescue/blockade runner)
  • Crew: Delila Castillon , Spark Finn
• Bido Roz’lyn flying an NC1000 X-Wing, outfitted with an Adumari Mk1 Scabbard hyperdrive ring (30 meters, supply)
• Shade of Decay flying the Ebion (200 meters, heavy personal transport, medical capabilities)
• Atlas Drake flying the Quasar Ghost (55 meters, blockade runner)
• The Kite's Roost (510 meters, logistics/supply and emergency shelter, medical capabilities)
• Pathfinders One, Two, and Three (350 meters, navigation, scanning, stealth)
• Chloe Blake , Choli Vyn , and Serenity Blake flying the Aurora Hawk (52, meters, navigation and stealth)
• "Cobalt" flying the Horizon (70 meters, combat freighter)
• Unconfirmed stragglers: Braze , Trextan Voidstalker , you
• Shared asset: Ally navigation system

---

KAMINO — BLASTOFF​

For hours now, Tilon had run exhaustive preflight in the pilot's chair, listening to slow mournful strings and watching rain sluice down the cockpit. Mournful but hopeful, he figured, if he was hearing it right. Centering.

"Quill to all ships. You've all got the data for our first jump to Wo'theth. Once we reach clear space, don't wait up — I'll hang back and jump last to make sure we all make it into hyperspace. Anyone blow a tire, talk to @Mercy."*

He tapped out the last few inputs of his preflight prep. The North Ridge with its oversized hyperdrive ring rose off the landing cradle and kept on into the rain.


*The mountainous, irreverent woman — some kind of quasi-Sith apparently; he hadn't asked — had come extremely well recommended, and her musclebound mining corvette had significant repair capabilities. It was also, as he understood it, one of the best places in the convoy to find a decent drink.

 

[Jared Starchaser]

The galaxy was a wild and weird place. With the galaxy being full bore into the Alliance, and the Foundation seeming to do their own thing, with no wars on the horizon, Jared was taking what jobs he could. And he was a Starchaser after all. Exploration trips was the family business.

With Coren out in his own thing, and Jorus just gone it was up to the next generation.

The Crosscurrent had undergone its repairs and updates. Including installation of the StarMapper Mk III, a prototype but still a working system. With everything going on? They'd need any advantage to go this way.

"Alright team. All systems go. Ally is coming online so we can track ourselves. You all ready?" The ships engines were roaring to life as it was taking off from Kamino, Jared looking to Dells and Spark, the latter he knew in a less than normal way, as he put in the coordinates.

Passing by the Kite's Roost and the three Pathfinders he was prepping to jump.

Delila Castillon Spark Finn

 

[Kaia Starchaser]

Bulbous eyes.

A pilots seat.

The centrifuge ring of the Kite's Roost, a Starchaser Enterprises Sojourn research vessel tasked with heading into the Rishi Maze. Flanked by three Pathfinders. The three would be jumping two ahead of the Sojourn and one behind to keep the semi-sanctuary ship protected and guarded. She didn't have weapons herself but could still defend enough until lightspeed jumps.

Pathfinders were prepped.

"Kite's Roost is ready. Ally has done online. We will ruin any networking with the fleet."

A ship of the numbered and medics.

 

[Spark Finn]

Spark wore a hunter green beanie made from a fair-trade synthetic material that was marketed to be as soft and light as the belly of a Bespin cloud. Not like the current clouds dumping a deluge on their ship.

#hipster

The glow from several data screens cast their light across her speckled, pale face. That same hunter green material of a sweater #cozy hung on one shoulder and off the next. A bag of BBQ crips gripped tightly in one of her hands. The other pecking furiously on the databoard. This job came more as a favor to her old friend, Coren Starchaser . And it almost felt like #oldtimes, even with his son. #greenversionCoren2.0

"Alright team. All systems go. Ally is coming online so we can track ourselves. You all ready?"

"CRUNCH CRUNCH Read-RUNCH-y." She swallowed and reached for the steaming mug of cafe on her workstation. Silently reaching through the force, she let her senses drift over the tech on their ship and hop tentatively over to any ships next to them. Sensing out the technology, looking for awareness, and mentally plugging in. Curiosity got the better of her as she felt something familiar before she lost it just as quickly.

"What CRUNCH CRUNCH have CCRRUUUUNCH Kaia CRUNCHCRUNCH and your dad been up to, CRUNCHCHCHCHCHHH Jar?"

#chipstakepriority

 

[Mercy]

This wasn't Mercy's usual scene.

She was more about smashing things with her fists and not asking any questions whatsoever. But the Galaxy had turned upside down in the span of a fortnight. She wondered if it had anything to do with Velok, the young lad and her breaching the Black Wall on top of a hell train. That probably hadn't helped the space-time continuum.

Mercy liked to think she was part of the reason why dozens (if not hundreds) of planets were suddenly misplaced and found elsewhere. It really did wonders for her already impressive ego.

"Quill's got it right." Mercy said over the comms, broadcasting to all ships. "My corvette can fix up anything up to a heavy freighter with ease. Smaller corvettes... maybe with some jury-rigging."

She flipped a few switches and began to realign her ship to settle behind Jared Starchaser 's, cozy and all.

"We got the opportunity to see some sights few ever have in our Galaxy. Enjoy it. From here on out we are gonna be an exclusive group." More eloquently put than Mercy usually did, but she had accepted some responsibility with this operation. In return a hefty paycheck for keeping people safe and also the opportunity to build new connections to a satellite galaxy that was suddenly much closer than it had ever been before.

That made it worth it to Mercy to be on her most average behavior.

Tilon Quill | Spark Finn

 

["Cobalt"]

Tags: OPEN​

Cobalt's fingers skimmed adroitly across the weathered instrument panel. He operated the clumsy, obsolete controls with the automatic ease of long practice, prepping the Horizon for hyperdrive as he'd done a thousand times before. As he did, his mind began to wander.

Part of him wondered why he signed up for this. He'd heard about the expedition through the grapevine, and he had immediately lit up inside. No time had been lost on signing up. It was the blessing and the curse of his species. He needed to move, to see new things and face new dangers, about as bad as he needed food, water and air.

Another part thought that maybe he was trying to assuage a guilty conscience. He'd seen and done plenty he wasn't proud of, and would have a great deal to answer for when he stood before his ancestors someday. That last gig, though, had been a new one. A bridge too far. Maybe this was him trying to run from his problems, as always. To bury the memories under the wonders of the Rishi Maze.

Still, it had only been a job. He'd not enjoyed it any more than he enjoyed any other chore. One had to do what one could to keep bread on the table and fuel in the tank. This one would be different. A return to form. He was fine with killing when it needed to happen, but he swore it wouldn't become his job. He was an explorer and a scavenger first, foremost, and always.

"This is the Horizon. I read you, North Ridge. Standing by to jump on your mark, over." Came his response to the caravan leader's announcement. He didn't know Tilon Quill or any of the others well (or at all) but maybe that was for the best. Strangers were nice. They didn't know you, so they didn't judge (or usually even care). Who knew, maybe he'd make a few new contacts on this run. Scavs didn't last long without news of new claims. The ship's engines thrummed with their usual rattling noise. He'd not been able to find the source of that sound, despite many hours spent trying. Just another of the old vessel's many quirks. It was a hunk of garbage, but it was home. He'd trust no other ship to the unknown dangers ahead.

​

 

[Delila Castillon]

Years ago, Delila had gone on an trip to a companion galaxy to discover trade routes. Interesting experience, one that didn't exactly parallel this. Still, it was still something that came front of mind as they prepared to go. The experience was different this time - for one her roommate was a nerd who sucked down potato chips like water. Didn't know about that one, always smelt like barbeque. She was slowly thinking the blonde bathed in it.

"All ready. Let's go see why the universe is all squished. Something tells me its the damned Force users. Its always the Force users."

Jared Starchaser | Spark Finn | Mercy​

 

[Okkeus Dainlei]

Ship: Blue Lightning
Crew: Apollo and Navi
Tilon Quill | Jared Starchaser | Kaia Starchaser | Spark Finn | Mercy | "Cobalt" | Delila Castillon
​

A sharp tug was given to his fishing line as the last fish of the day was being reeled up.

Sitting in a fold-out chair was an aging spacer with quite the impressive cooler full of fish. Okkeus knew that he had enough rations on the ship to last him the entire trip and then some. But between him and the next pilot, those mealpacks only tasted good for so long. He also could not remember the last time he caught anything as fresh as this. The opportunity was not going to pass him now.

Once the line was reeled fully up from the hundred foot drop off the platform, Okkeus removed the hook and tossed the fish into the bin on the mound of ice. The sound of thrusters firing up all around him signified that it was time to pack up.

"Hey, you mind grabbing that for me?"

Standing beside him was a cyborg (maybe?) named Navi. The two of them had met a little while ago out on the moon Mezokara. Navi was out there study various astronomical events, while Okkeus was out there trying to learn more about the Ring of the Rapture. Both of them immediately hit it off because of their love for space. The man invited the cyborg on this voyage to the Rishi Maze, knowing that it would be a great adventure. Okkeus' droid Apollo was also flying along, recording the entire flight within his datalogs and maps for later research.

The recent cosmic shift across the galaxies caused great disturbances within the Force. No one knew why it happened, but all he knew was that hyperspace would never be the same. Maybe no answer would ever be found. But that would not stop him, or others, from trying to find one.

"Let's get loaded up. I think we're set to fly out soon."

Grabbing the chairs and his fishing pole, Okkeus made his way to the Blue Lightning, his personal starship. It had served him well for decades now, acting as his main ship for all of his adventures. Unfortunately, the age of his vessel was starting to show. After this voyage, it was time for a total overall. The ship deserved it. Once everything was loaded onboard and secured, the man dashed up to the cockpit, starting to preflight process. Other vessels started to take off around him. But there was no hurry. They were all in a convoy after all, so no one would get left behind.

Taking hold of the control yoke, the ship eased off of the landing platform and into the rain-filled sky. With a click of a button the landing gear was retracted, and the takeoff thrusters were disengaged. The main engines now took over propelling the Blue Lightning towards the upper atmosphere. Flicking on the convoy comms, the spacer sent out a quick message.

"This is the Blue Lightning, checking in and taking off. Y'all are lucky, not many people get to travel to another galaxy."

His statement held the same sentiment as Mercy's. He was grateful to have the opportunity to venture to another galaxy in his earlier years. And being offered the chance to do it again was one he could not turn down. No matter what cosmic shifts occurred.

 

[Atlas Drake]

Tilon Quill Mercy et al.​

---

Captain Drake of the Quasar Ghost burned his tongue on a cup of stimcaf. He winced in pain, mumbling a few huttese curses while he waited for his outdated navigation computer to ping a successful transmission of coordinate data. Heavy rain thundered against the canopy almost drowning out a series of wailing beeps.

"Your circuits are safe in here, Seven. Just a bit of stormy weather."

Seven was a BD series explorer droid at least in theory. Atlas had never met a bigger coward, but at least its phobia of Kamino's lightning was somewhat rational. It trembled underneath a glowing panel of pre-flight diagnostics where the flashes couldn't startle its photoreceptors shut. The poor thing was probably too long overdue for a memory wipe.

"Talk to me, Rama!" Drake shouted over his shoulder, "How's that hyperdive looking?"

From somewhere below, he heard an angry stream of anzellan babbling. His engineer Rama Tok was somewhat disgruntled ever since Drake had acquired an antique high republic starship and attempted to refurbish it. Their last survey ship crashed in some damn fool idealistic crusade to free Lothal from Imperial rule.

Pre-flight more or less checked out so Drake burned sky on unsteady sublight engines. BD-7 screeched louder than ever in binary until the Ghost somehow made it out of Kamino's atmosphere.

"North Ridge North Ridge, be advised," he sent Quill a transmission on their open frequency, "We'll be seeing lines just as soon as we finish up some final drive checks on the Ghost."

 

[Jared Starchaser]

Here they were, ready to go. The Crosscurrent was all warmed up, the crew was ready. There were chip crumbs all over the consoles. You know, the regular things about flying with people. Aside from Delila, Jared just had to update part of the ship’s hold to host some weapons. It probably wasn’t a bad thing, and for this trip, could be useful. He had his saber, and his blaster. But having more would do them well.

He did depend on the Force an awful lot as a weapon.

“See you out there Roost.” Jared commed over to the Mon Cal commander of the Sojourner, as Pathfinders One and Two leapt into hyperspace. Hopper, his BD unit came over to the pilot’s seat and twiddled something that definitely sounded like ‘vacuum droid’ and Jared laughed.

“I can help tow anyone to Mercy’s ship there too.” Jared called across. Yes there was stuff going on in his ship, but the chatter abroad was first, then that.

Looking back at Spark, Jared laughed. “Dad’s out doing his typical wandering. Trying to find where he fits in the Jedi. Kaia… she’s I think she said something about checking out Grek. I should return her comm.” Looking back to Delila, he shook his head. “Hey, its not all of us… okay, maybe…”

It probably was the Forcers. Was it because Jorus was gone?

“Race you out there Okkeus.” Jared laughed.

“Hang on tight, team.” And with that, the Crosscurrent went into lightspeed.

Call him impatient.

Delila Castillon Spark Finn
Tilon Quill Okkeus Dainlei Mercy "Cobalt" Atlas Drake

 

[Tilon Quill]

The North Ridge eased up from the stormclouds. The last shivering raindrops spiderwebbed to frost and burned away as Tilon hit the gas. The shuttle in its hyperdrive ring rose into low orbit and lined up for the jump. He hung back in Kamino space for the moment, though, to make sure everyone made the jump.

"This is the Horizon. I read you, North Ridge. Standing by to jump on your mark, over."

"Go on ahead, Cobalt, cut us a trail out there." With one of the convoy's fastest hyperdrives and heaviest weapons loadouts, the Horizon was just about as close as they had to an advance gunboat. Not like Wo'theth had hazards, but then again it was only the first waypoint.

"North Ridge North Ridge, be advised," he sent Quill a transmission on their open frequency, "We'll be seeing lines just as soon as we finish up some final drive checks on the Ghost."

"I hear that, Captain. Slow is safe, safe is fast. Crosscurrent's made the first jump to Wo'theth," he said on the convoy's comm channel. "Starchaser flies at a decent one-point-oh so he'll be waiting for most of you when you follow. When we hit Wo'theth, you can get ready in orbit for the next jump or visit the surface, just keep it quick if you pop down. Also, just got word from Braze on the Mud Duck — they're held up and won't be joining us after all."

The North Ridge, the three Pathfinders, and that X-Wing ran at 1.0 too; the Blue Lightning ran at 1.5, and Tilon had no idea what kind of drives the Hive Harvester or Quasar Ghost mounted. The Horizon, Ebion, and Aurora Hawk would be naturally taking the lead at a blistering 0.5; they might even beat the frontrunners to Wo'theth. He did like a nice list.

 

[Spark Finn]

Spark frowned as she reached into her bag and came up empty. Back pressed lightly against the swivel seat she'd taken up residence in as those stars elongated outside their viewport. Wide-blue eyes looked to Delila Castillon and that comment. A light shrug that denied culpability.

Still mourning the lack of chips, her face brightened as she spotted a loner that had fallen in her lap. It was quickly scooped up and devoured. #CrunchCRUNCHcrunch

"Those other ships have some cool stuff." Her sense in the force continued to probe the tech and other systems. It was unclear whether she was talking to herself #veryhappily or sharing it with the redhead and Jared Starchaser . Most likely, she was showing a rare sign of extroversion and one might be worried if it continued.

"That chick right behind us has like a flock of tiny robots," she paused as if reaching out to something unseen. "A lot of them. The Horizon has some game tables, erm, if it manages to stay together. The Blue Lightning has a really intere- wow, you guys ever seen a brain sitting in a tank on a droid?"

#weirdandcool?!

Spark took another sip of her fair trade caf and studied the data that was coming onto the monitors before her.

"Did you bring any anti flying-jelly spray?" Spark wasn't planning on leaving the ship AT ALL during any of this. Unless something really piqued her interest. But still. Best to be prepared for the great outdoors #barf

#flyingjellyfishofWo'theth

 

[Shade of Decay]

What was, perhaps, one of the late comers of the fleet—shortly revealed that it wasn't so at all.

Minimally crewed, almost entirely run by droids and the will of its master, the Ebion had been drifting in Kamino's orbit under almost no power for quite a while as the rest of the expedition convened on and around the planet. Barely enough to keep it in a stable orbit, and maintain life support for the minimal crew that was present...and for the beating heart of the ship. It had been quiet, barely logging the arrival of the others, not hailing them nor responding to any comms as they arrived.

Silently waiting, a ghost floating above the unending storms.

As it drifted into distant view past Kamino's disk, however, the ship suddenly came to life; lights came on up and down the hull, and the thrusters roared to life as it approached where the rest were all exiting the atmosphere and preparing to jump. Transmitted coordinates were received, confirmation sent...

And as the Crosscurrent jumped, and the Ebion approached, nearly everybody within the fleet—sensitive to the Force's empyrean currents or not—would be able to recognize the unhidden darkness that radiated off the vessel. It came in waves, with confused, jumbled impressions behind it...repeating like breath.

Like a heartbeat.

As though the Ebion itself was alive.

As the vessel approached, the comms would crackle to life, struggling and distorting slightly as they did so, speaking forth with a voice that was undoubtedly that of a droid's vocabulator...yet carrying an all-too-organic cadence alongside. "On your mark, North Ridge." The ship went silent, before the voice spoke to Tilon Quill again: "We are prepared to render aid if anybody should already require it. Our fortune made extra supplies sound...prudent. Food, medical, and fuel. Including refined hypermatter, if it should prove necessary."

Atlas Drake might feel the uncomfortable sense that some great focus had suddenly shifted to him as the comms went silent again.

 

[Okkeus Dainlei]

Ship: Blue Lightning
Crew: Apollo and Navi
Tilon Quill | Jared Starchaser | Kaia Starchaser | Spark Finn | Mercy | "Cobalt" | Delila Castillon | Atlas Drake | Shade of Decay
​

A light-hearted chuckle was offered at Jared's response.

He knew the kid was a Starchaser, though he had little interaction with him. Perhaps the two of them would chat more on this journey. All of the Wardens needed to stick together, especially after the passing of Jorus. The ripple would be felt in the Force for a long time. Maybe permanently. No one would know for sure. He knew there were other people who were strong in the Force on this journey. A few aligned with the light and a few aligned with the dark. There was an uneasy feeling that he got from the low-flying vessel ( Shade of Decay ). Okkeus was not quite sure what it was yet.

Reaching down towards the control lever, the spacer punched the stick forward, causing the ship to lurch into hyperspace. In terms of lightspeed travel, he did have one of the slower vessels on this trip. A new hyperdrive was something that the Blue Lightning was in dire need of. Some of his cargo was various pieces of hyperdrive technology. The plan was to supply them to the people of the Rishi Maze, granting them access to the main galaxy. But maybe one of them would be set aside for his ship. He was doing the heavy lifting, after all.

Both Navi and Apollo were starting to work on various things around the starship, such as preparing the rooms for the long journey. They had a little while before they reached Wo'theth. On the upside, that would be another planet that Okkeus could check off of his travel list. As a child, he naively had the dream of visiting every single planet in the galaxy. Now that he was much older, the impossibility of the task weighed in. Nevertheless, he was going to give it his best shot to visit as many as he could.

Leaning back in the captain's chair, the man peered out at the blue and white swirl which laid before him. Some of his recent studies have involved Hyper-Rapture; a supposed form of madness that was obtained from staring into hyperspace for too long. Okkeus had only ever experienced it once, as a boy, when he was just curious what would happen if he stared deep into the hypnotizing array. Turns out it led to many visions that were too difficult to understand. But now, he had a chance to study them and see if he could make any sense of what he saw.

Back on Mezokara, he studied Hyper-Rapture and its effects on people. The Followers of the Rapture were a secretive group obsessed with finding out the meanings of the visions. While his visit was short, the man gained some valuable info about what all of it could mean. Even more so now, with this cosmic event sending the galaxy into a spiral.

 

["Cobalt"]

"Copy that, North Ridge. Initiating jump." Cobalt flicked the switch without further ado, and the Horizon snapped away into hyperspace.

The trip wouldn't take long, as he figured it. Not with the drive the Horizon had. He'd stolen it off some senator's personal transport some three years back. Probably wasn't intended to work on a ship like this, but then, the Horizon was full of features its long-dead manufacturers could scarcely have dreamed of. He kicked his dusty boots up on the instrument panel, half-shutting his glowing eyes. Maybe he could catch a quick nap on the way.

In these moments when he could sit still and do nothing, the exhaustion tended to catch up to him. He was young by his species' standards, barely out of his teens by that of humans. It sure didn't feel like it sometimes, though. Some of the bumps and bruises from the last job were still sore, and he was feeling them in the Horizon's ancient, creaky pilot's chair.

He'd kept his tone with the others curt and professional so far. Cobalt knew he wasn't here for his good looks or personality, but for his skills. Best to blend in, take his cut, and part on good terms, assuming he lived. When travelling untouched territory, that was always a big assumption. While his species could enjoy fairly long lives in theory, most never saw their forties. He figured he was unlikely to be any different. Maybe this trip would be it. Too slow on the draw just once, and he'd be in the big junkyard in the sky.

He shook his head, closing his eyes fully and trying to catch a few quick winks before the ship emerged from hyperspace. Thinking about the end wasn't conducive to a restful slumber, however, and it took him some work to drift off.

​

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

Trextan had only just dried off. He had taken a trip down to kamino. It had seemed exciting, the chance to see cities that rose up from the endless oceans. Instead he had underestimated the cold, fine rain that seemed to penetrated to his bones.

"Everyone is heading out," Trextan said.

He was listening to the chat on the open comms. Chloe had explored the maze before. Before it had slid into the galactic disk. Planeshift they were calling it. Jacen had told him about half the galaxy vanishing into the nether world. He had never expected to see such a strange event.

The stars streaked out to infinity as they jumped to hyperspace. Trextan glanced over his shoulder at Choli Vyn . There had been a small truce since the vault ship.

"We know anything about.. Woseth? Wotheth? That's an annoying name to say."

 

[Atlas Drake]

Tilon Quill Mercy et al.​

---

"Understood, North Ridge. Quicker we pass through the Wo'thi system the better, far as I'm concerned. Heard stories its haunted space. Probably just tall tales but something out there has folks pretty spooked."

Drake shivered and rubbed his temples trying to massage away some kind of phantom pain. It felt like someone had just walked over his grave. Ignorant superstition left him clueless about the Elbion's uncanny interest, nonetheless. Here sat a man who had once asked Jared Starchaser to 'do the magic hand thing' and been successfully mind tricked more than once.

"What? No, we don't have time for that!" he interrupted the half-incoherent anzellan babble of his engineer, "Put the kriffing hyperdrive back together stoopa! E chu ta! Me keepuna wermo..."

After a few more colorful phrases in huttese Atlas tried some more caf. Might as well make one last inspection. Flickering lights half-illuminated many reasons Rama Tok had to be justifiably upset about this purchase. Retrofitted was a far too generous in describing what he could afford to replace. Some of the Quasar Ghost's components were still a thousand years old. Compared to the larger bulk freighters and mining barges she didn't have much to offer this expedition except more guns and cargo.

BD-7 nearly tripped him in their hurry to catch up and not be left alone when Captain Drake left the cockpit. The little droid hated ghost stories almost as much as it hated Kamino's weather.

 

[Tilon Quill]

"Understood, North Ridge. Quicker we pass through the Wo'thi system the better, far as I'm concerned. Heard stories its haunted space. Probably just tall tales but something out there has folks pretty spooked."

"Good to know, Captain." It wasn't. 'Haunted' could mean far, far too many things. When Tilon stretched out to the future, he didn't feel any immediate disaster, but then again he hadn't at Yavin either, and Yavin had been bad. "We've got a couple of good options for the next jump past-"

WO'THETH

By the time Tilon hit realspace, most of the convoy was already there, scattered across high orbit or coming together or heading down for a brief trip planetside. Nav data and hyperspace jumps weren't precise or crisp these days, not since the Planeshift and certainly not in the Unknown Regions.

"North Ridge to all ships. We've had advice to keep our time here short - the surface has small instances of everything from Rakata tech to ghosts to Otherspace rifts. The local guilds down at Larkarth Spaceport are trading us some nav data updates and we're looking at three possible next jumps, let's call them red, blue, and green.

"Red is a red dwarf star, low background radiation, we'd get good scans of plenty of systems ahead. There's an Ebruchi supply station in an asteroid belt. Red is a lot farther into the Maze than we are right now, and that supply station would be a pretty good fallback point for repairs and reliable shelter.

"Blue is a blue giant star with massive overlapping asteroid rings and diffuse gas giants that have ripped each other apart. By reputation, it's a watering hole for spaceborne life forms. There've been sightings of what might be a family group of Vantasanth Leviathans - huge, rare, sapient, dangerous, reclusive.

"Green is a forest world, unknown what species have a presence there, but there are definite signs of hyperspace traffic in the area. Downside is we have no idea who or what we'd run into and neither do the locals. Upside is they might have nav data for deeper into the Maze.

"Those are the options we're seeing right now, and we've got a bit of time at Wo'theth to think about it. Looking for all ships' take on whether we should go with red, blue, or green."

"Elsie" Eldritch Mercy Okkeus Dainlei Jared Starchaser Delila Castillon Spark Finn @Bido Roz'lyn Shade of Decay Atlas Drake Chloe Blake "Cobalt" Trextan Voidstalker

 

[Tilon Quill]

OOC: Feel free to weigh in on the question of the day in this thread and/or in this poll.

 

[Chloe Blake]

In the Aurora Hawk
Outfit: x | Equipment: x x x x x x | Tag: Trextan Voidstalker
NPC'd as needed: Choli Vyn Serenity Blake​

The controls hummed under Chloe's fingers, old but loyal like a well-aged Skipray that still knew how to run a blockade. The Aurora Hawk had flown her through slicer storms, ghost routes, and near-spatial collapses, but this… this Rishi Labyrinth now had a kind of wrongness to it that made the back of her neck prickle and with the recent cosmic changes, space didn't just bend out here, it danced, like some drunk doing a jizz-box jig without the beat.

Her jaw ticked as she leaned forward, fingers dancing over nav-sensorsm squinting past the shimmer of warped stars. Gravity eddies pulsed around them like breath, and the nav data stuttered with a kind of defiance she hadn't seen since the hyperlanes near Kathol.

"Well, I'll be spun," she muttered, frowning as the sensor console tried and failed to triangulate a stable vector. "Never seen the Drift misbehave like this before…"

The quiet behind her shifted with bare feet on deck plating, a soft step, and then that voice. Young, wondering, and bold enough to ask what most grown folk were scared to think.

"Are the Gods upset at us then?"

Chloe didn't look back right away. She didn't need to. That voice was hers. Serenity, Ren, barely twelve cycles and already flying like a second-generation star-rat. Same sharp blue eyes, same furrow in her brow when she was tryin' to understand something bigger than the maps could show. The Warden gave a slow smile, cocking her head just enough to meet her daughter's gaze.

"Maybe," she said, tone light. "Or maybe the Nine Hells are just feelin' playful today."

Ren frowned. "That's not funny."

Chloe chuckled under her breath.

"No, but it is Corellian. You know what we say, 'When the stars go mad, follow the shine.'" She reached out and tapped the console lightly. "And there's shine out there somewhere. You just gotta keep your eyes open and your instincts sharper."

The jump signal came through, blinking green across the display.

Chloe sat up, motioning toward the co-pilot's seat, spouting an Olys Corelliesi endearment, "Alright now, min larel , just like I showed you. Hands steady, light grip. Let the yoke feel you."

Ren slid in beside her, a flash of a grin on her face like she was about to win her first barrelling match through Coronet's back canyons.

The Aurora Hawk surged into the white, chasing the fleet like a stubborn sky-hound. Starlines stretched, then snapped, and then reality peeled like a fruit rind as they crossed into Wo'theth.

Everything shifted.

Chloe sat back, staring at the planet below. It didn't feel like any system she'd jumped into before. The stars were wrong, and so was the pull of space itself.

"Well," she breathed, eyebrows lifting as she stared through the cockpit glass. "Ain't that somethin'…"

She gave a crooked grin and elbowed Ren gently as the option for the next jump was relayed. Red, blue or Green, glancing at Trextan and Choli as they talked amongst themselves. There was a knowing in her eyes one that only prompted another faint smile over her lips.

"Right then, so, we'e got three options now. Thoughts before we provide our feedback?" she had her own ideas; if blue would lead them to the Leviathans, perhaps they could contact them and ask questions of the wandering space fairing beasts, maybe they had information to relay on what was going on out in the black there.