Dev Shadows of Atrisia

[Junko Ike]

The next few days had them going around the different villages, finding others and mostly talking. Everyone was being treated well and Junko was taken to the estate of the Sena clan. An ancient line of warriors who had aided in the reclaiming of Atrisia and were renowned even having one of the children being elevated to a living legend among the people as one of the Emperors three generals. The household itself were welcoming and provided to her one of the finest they had gotten. An Imperial airship that had been commissioned for the lords and ladies of the court with the new edicts that were coming. The orbital rings were under construction and it would take some time but they were working to try and fix things for everyone.

They got onto the airship, the deck of it was oro wood and beautifully polished, with rails and repulsor engines that were silent. The deck hands in newer streamlined armors denoting the houses and clans they were a part of. With regalia and they all looked ornate as she got into the main cabin where the captain was set up with everything. "Welcome princess." The aging atrisian stood there in golden armor with sky blue pauldrons and a cape. He was much older but she knew he was part of the Atrisian navy at one point and had experience with crafts... hell most of th ones here did as the navy now had groundand space. With space being stationed throughout the system to protect iand give them full coverage of the worlds.

 

[Junko Ike]

The Imperial airship was decadent, different then most starships as it didn't need a massive engine to move. Repulsors would let it go quickly.enogh compared to ones that might use propellers. The deck itself had rails and cannons, railguns to be upgraded and decrease drop from gravity. Giving it a large sphere of coverage and they had a shield generator on it to allow for protection as well as the hull. Zero point reactors too empower the ship and quarters for the smaller crews that would be needed. Her retinue was given the main cabin that the captain had for guests and royals as she got to see it as a small apartment. Junko took her place and could see the islands from above as they were headed back towards the mainland and the mountains.

"It is very beautiful." The young Thuria said it while she was looking out and over the railing. A chilled breeze moving all of their hair in swirls before Junko spoke with a smile on her face. "It is, you might not have traveled much but we have an entire world to see from pole to pole... well they are usually frozen with lots of ice. So not the greatest places to go for a trip but to see the wonder of it all, to see the oceans frozen and what else we have with some of the domed cities that are like hot houses for others to preserve themselves. Or the hidden oceans and the island ruins." Junko said it and her eyes lit up with excitement when she was going around to see Phaidor and Kanna... even mara had stayed around with them for the time.

 

[Junko Ike]

The trip itself as they traveled brought a whole number of other things as well.. where they were looking, where they were able to get around the higher peaks and came across an ice field. Domed cities that had been created this far down served in the snow and ice to heat the residents. Grow plants and food for them and their ports were being converted for airships rather then ships. A small thing that would be worked on and they had accepted it because more then just new things they were working on the roads and buildings to modernize them with a classic feel. So they could look more rural with highly advanced technology making lives better and easier. Instead of industrialization of the world and building up... save that for space above.

The airship was touching down and she looked at the area they were landing as gravity struts were brought out. Pinions were fired and they clamped down to the rock beneath the snow quickly as it held the airship in place for them to disembark with a look at the peaks around them.Something there in the distance but they weren't going to get to close to it in case there was a danger. They would use one of the skiffs to head in over the ice with the force to empower it as she looked at some of the yovshin and her small group. They had some equipment now to try and protect themselves as well as proper clothing just in case. Junko moved towards the back of th skiff where theparasail lines were and focused the force itself to let her guide it towards where they had marked on the map.

 

[Junko Ike]

The group piled into skiff with two yovshin other sides holding one, a third in front on a gun designed for to be used and the three four females who wanted to come bundled in silks and furs that would keep them warm and protect the supplies in the lower deck of the skiff. Junko focused the force on the sail as she held the two ends and the little air currents around them she directed up. Much easier to twist the airflow then make an entire new one as it caught in the sail and they were off. Going from the ship across the ice and snow with the small ski for herself to stand on acting as a rudder until the jedi master got a feeling for the controls of it all. She was trying to check out some parts of it so they would be able to move and she couldn't hear the others.

"My Princess are you able to hear us?" Phaidor was speaking from the middle of the skiff as she held up a small headset and her hair was in the wind going every which way. "Yes Ican." Junko said it over the communications headset on her ear and under the face mask. The air wasn't deathly chilled like it would be at night but it wasn't exactly something you would want to be out in for a long time as the skiff went over a ridge and catching he wind hey went sailing as it picked up and the two tension wires in the front snapped taut letting them sail over a fissure in the ice that went down and they landed again on the snow with little sound. The structure loomed ahead and was massive with ice and snow on it but they could see it was white marble.

 

[Junko Ike]

They got towards the structure and seeing it. the stone was solid... smooth and practically blended in with the snow and ice as there was small blue tints to it so it would look like a wall of ice from a distance but up close it was purely artificial. Junko was looking at it as the coat she had with furs was wrapped around her a little tighter and she looked for an entrance finally finding its doorway deeper down with a nod of her head. "It is here." She said it and they were moving to open int up as it seemed just the entrance had been covered up but not the interior as they made enough of a hole to tunnel through and start clearing from the other side. Th princess went in second after one of the armored yovshin setting up lights for them.

The small team getting inside and leaving one to watch the skiff with two deployable droids and a hardlight blind that would keep him warm. The interior was strange, ornate shelves on the walls lining it filled with pottery, gemstones that glittered in the low lights and touching a small basin it was filled with scented oils that they were able to ignite with a spark to illuminate the murals of it all. Depicting the people of Atrisian but from a time long before, the temple was part of something the did under one of the warlords.. an emperor before the unification wars. Before everything and it only sat in their legends and myths.... a place that relied on the sun and rotation of the planet itself. They had many atrisians serving the gods.

 

[Junko Ike]

She could see a lot more on the inside, with flames casting strange shadows across the stonework... with gemstones reflecting the light all around them and murals from Atrisias past that were interesting to read. Rarely had she seen places like this so well preserved but the remote location was something hard to find and if they weren't moving slower overhead from the airship they might not have seen it. She was looking at other parts of it and the many different gods of atrisia she coudl identify since they were consolidated into a pantheon smaller but more inclusive then many of the others. "This is all beautiful." The gemstones that were there in the murals she could see and looked closely at them... it was beautiful.

"Are they all gems?" Phaidor was there next to her as they stepped around and was looking at all of it as they kept walking through the rooms and halls. More murals, more areas that opened into apartment sized rooms able to look out into an interior garden that was beautiful and around the top of this pillar that was rotating slowly in the center. Jnko could feel the air was warmer but not hot... compared to outside and they were setting up hardlight blinds in a way they would have a pathway up to the outside that could be closed off and prevent snow or things from coming inside but wouldn't seal them inside. The air would be able to pass through the blind before they had dug out enough to pass through.

 

[Junko Ike]

Junko was looking upon the murals and she had an idea of what they might be able to see here. The mountain she recognized... it was from legends and stories. five peaks that rose like a hand into the sky for all to see... it was supposed to be one of the oldest and strangest mountains on Atrisia with mystical force energies all around it. Primordial energy that brought the strangest things to happen in front of others. She was making a mental note to go towards those mountains and see if the structures they had built that could be seen in the images. She didn't want to say this was factual but it seemed a very intricate image to just have things that were made up. They might be able to find more information or something that could be around and give the restoration efforts more power.

Junko though went deeper, into the central chamber but not entering the rooms, they hadn't been able to find one that was open in time to try and send a probe in to see how they were setup or if they functioned like the murals showed... they might be able to learn a little more about the construction if there were passages down lower into it all. but as she stood looking into it. The massive gaps between with walkways going down and bridges that connected to the stone. The bottom seemed to almost be mist and shrouded as the depth finders they had used seemed to indicate several kilometers worth of space going down to the base of the mountain itself. She stood there while Phaidor was around her looking down. "Can we drop a coin?"

 

[Junko Ike]

Junko turned her head and looked at the girl with a raised eyebrow. "No, what if there is something down there and it could harm them." She said it and looked around, they were trying to find some of the stuff and one of the chambers was just a chute that went down. The lights dropping down into the blackness as Junko touched it and one of the sides and it was metal but more then tha it was different. She looked at it as there was a series of coils going up all of it. Her mind raced and they were able to check it out with a scanner. "Get some power generator here... these coils are for an electromagnetic..." She trailed off and looked down again and up. There were locks spaced and an innovaive way to move. Insteadof lifts and pullies magnets that could last a lot longer.

"We got them." One of the yovshin said as they had it hooked up and were trying to find the right levels... the current brought it in and the wall seemed to glowas Junko put her hand on the stone. A panel slipped away revealing a small button and she pressed it as the sound of he magnets came to all of them. Then something was there and stopped... a lift made of metal and with a faraday cage around it. "Assuming this was at the bottom, that is pretty good time for getting up or down." She didn't think about it she moved into the lift and stood there with a look on her face seeing how the controls worked as Kanna moved quickly to get into the lift with her as thedoors closed and it was heading down into the temple or sannctuary whatever it was.

 

[Junko Ike]

They went down quickly and this low he rising mist as that was the only thing she could think to call it was like a semi warm vapor against their skin. Like being in a spa or sauna but it wasn't uncomfortable. The geothermal vents had been set up to tap power from the planet but it wasn't going to make it into a dangerous oven at least as the jedi master exited the lift and looked at Kanna who had just had to come with her. "You might have been better staying up there with them, it was more protective with the Yovshin." She was looking at her and Kanna turned to speak and look at her in the flickering lights of the geothermal taps as they walked around. "Maybe, but then I wouldn't have been able to get private time like this with you my princess."

Junko looked at the chiss atrisian and raised an eyebrow as she was able to see some more of her features. here wearing some of the furs and silks that they were in now. Since she was no longer destitute of clothing from being chained to a wall. She was wearing the tiger fur coat with her blue black hair curtaining her shoulders. Red eyes and light blue skin that looked like the sky on a clear day and a smile that always seemed to be tugging at her lips. Junko rolled her eyes though and offered her hand to lead her around while the other brought her saber out to light the way around them. The amber colored blade illuminating the stone work and she could see the stream of water that was being heated by the geothermal taps.

 

[Junko Ike]

Junko continued to look around and with Kanna the chiss girl moved near her, closer and closer until they were almost pressed together in the mist that was rising up but it worked... they wouldn't get lost don here at least and Junko was focusing on the direction for the two of them. Kanna seemed very refined in some ways and the jedi master moved them through the mist until there below she could see a set of stairs that led up to a room just under the central construction area. White marble and crystal pressed panes of glass that were fogged up but once she got them inside they were able to move around as she heard a sound. The mist moving aside and the large thing they had met was there with her.... "Did you run all the way from the ship?"

The thing was massive and had no nails or claws but it seemed to have run down the shaft they had been in and he seemed to be nuzzling the two of them. Junko looked at him and the ten legs, the folds of skin over and around his head... everything about him said puppy bu he was a beast... one yawn showed rows of razor sharp pointed teeth that would easily rend flash from the bone and she had seen how powerful those jaws could close with one of the ape like wampas... it was able to snap and tear. Junko moved with Kanna so that they had him near them as they walked and thanks to the beast they didn't walk into a crystal pane and hurt themselves. It came into the center of the room climbing up another shaft as the energy was going through the metal coils.

 

[Junko Ike]

"This one still has power." She said it looking at the lift and it was larger, going up the central construct they had seen as it loomed over them but it looked more like a vertical spit as the stone chambers slowly rotated... this seemed to go through each of them and back upt o the top which could be beneficial as she stepped in the Kanna joined her quickly. The two of them were then joined by the big beast and he licked her hands. "I don't think there is anything that shows as much affection as you.... and I have no idea what you are called but those massive teeth.... I am just glad you seem to like me as opposed to wanting to eat us." She got a nod from Kanna in agreement and the lift started to goup for them. Letting them see the interior of each chambers.

"What is it?" The girl asked and Junko was trying to think about it... the way one would have to get down here the hall of mirrors where they could get lost.. all of it and this said there was a way into the mysterious structure that towered over them beyond the pathways that opened once a year but oh this could be clever. She knew stories of secret prisons, secret temples with ways to get into places... to better have an illusion and. "I think this might be a secret entrance into whatever this is.. temple prison... it could have been made for meditation... a years revolution in seclusion and this was a means to reach it or it might have been some sort of prison... maybe. The murals were not that clear but we have a chance to learn a lot about the worlds past.

 

[Junko Ike]

"There is a lot, I tried to access the intranet of the planet and history has so many entries just by era going back." Kanna said it when they were looking at all of it. The lift stopping at one of the stone chambers and Junko could peer in. The rooms really did all look alike. They were sparsely furnished with a stone slab where one might be able to sleep and something blocked off that seemed like a refresher. Junko stopped the lift as it held there and pressed against the wall opening it and she waited to try and see what might be able to happen. The air within was simple enough and crisp... warm and then cool. A nice combination as i meant one wouldn't freeze or bol this far down and the stone slab looked like a bed kind of which made the idea of a prison stronger to her.

"Hmmm if this was a sort of prison whoever built it was smart or at least deranged... once a year they could make an offer for something if you were a political prisoner while using something like this to observe and mess with to make the experience as uncomfortable as possible. She had to admit to some of the dangerous intelligence behind the person. She didn't want to know much more about the one who built this place or for the real purpose but they might be able to use it and modify it for a jedi temple like area. The chambers could work very well for meditation and any number of different means that the jedi master could think of. A means to really let a jedi survive and meditate with the force instead of relying on the honor system.. if they made them into training rooms the rooms themselves could become much more powerful.

 

[Junko Ike]

Junko was thinking about much much more of it as she went back into the lift. There was a lot more they might be able to discover as the lift rose and went higher and higher into the central structure. Coming out where they were able to see the very top and it looked down. A prismatic glass that seemed to look up at the sun and reflect it down deeper and deeper around the structure. They had seen little slits that would reflect and rebound the light in to illuminate and create a day and night cycle for what they had been doing. The jedi master looked around the central apartment as this seemed more like a wardens room. Furnishings, reports that were rotted and dust now. Junko could see more around them with a nod of her head.

"Not a bad place if you are prepared to observe and hold people, if we can convert this into a jedi temple we might be able to really train some spiritual leaders." She was thinking about it as they managed to open the door and star heading down into one of the gardens. The others were there and Junko walked up towards them hand in hand with Kanna as she embraced each. "It is good to see you, we've made a few interesting discoveries about the place." Mara looked at her and spoke as she raised an eyebrow seeing Kanna. "We discovered a few things as well, there is a map of the region with several locations that we could find and check out." Her red eyes made mo movement but she wasn't entirely blank in her mental thoughts as the jedi master matched her raised eyebrow with one of her own then was walking to meet the others.

 

[Junko Ike]

"Yes." Junko asked it seeing the chiss officer and she shrugged. "Whatever happened I do hope the two of you are smart about it. Impropriety is a thing that tarnishes houses here and elsewhere." She looked at them and Phaidor and was coming up to see her. Thuria stood there with a look on her face but she rushed over to stand and make sure there was no dirt on the jedi princess with a cloth and some silks. Junko looked at her trying to fuss over her and didn't say anything but she was trying to check ont he others who were imposing a display of the map they found with the map of the area and current ones. To layer and try to mark different locations where they might be. "We are finding a few places that might be worth noting"

Junko was impressed seeing them and Tawakagi one of her Onnabugeisha who fought on Shrii-Tal and Atrisia and Sakura had survived to become the captain of her personal guards... skilled and dangerous even if sh had only taken over because of her husbands death. She had one of the other recruits that they had gotten from the islands. A young pale skinned half twi'lek, half atrisian soldier who was good with her blades. They were coming with her as Junko moved seeing and peering at more of the map. "Then we'll have a small part o go and search them while calling in some of the other droids. Should be able to start laying out pathway and roadway modules to at least connect and form a landing area for airships and shuttles to bring science team."

 

[Junko Ike]

The idea of bringing teams in here was an important one and she could imagine that with all of the work that she was making for the Imperial center of science it would go a long way towards either endearing her to them or they would be annoyed at having to add another place to their list of investigations. She knew all of their works were dedicated towards making the lives of her fellow atrisians better as reconnecting with the colonies was a top priority then it was establishing secure routes between the planets that left some room for expansion but they were not conquering the galaxy... no they were just making it easier to travel between worlds from here to the unknown regions and the far off outer rim territories like Eisei and Asobi system.

Junko was checking out more ofit here and there now on the map as she plotted a course that could use the skiff and she went to one of the apartment sized rooms where they had gotten furs and sleeping silks set up for the group and it was a group now. With Min, Phaidor, Kanna, Thuria, Mara and herself under guard they had a chance to lay there and Junko was surprised when several pushed a little closer to her under the silks overlapping them. She could look up and see the stars from the prismatic glass that caught and reflected the moonlight around them but it went through the walls themselves where they hadn't pu up the silks and blankets to obscure the light. Junko closed her eyes and she could feel the force around herself here in the snow covered mountains.

 

[Junko Ike]

Junko continued to dream and she listened to the force her mind drifting and she found herself flying above the snow. The chill wasn't there, the moonlight painting it all as a silver blanket of snow and reflected light. She stopped seeing something in the middle of the field.... a pillar of ice and snow that as she got closer glowed and vibrated with the sounds of music where she could check it all out. The jedi master was allowing the force itself to guide her as she came down and stood there in the ice field trying to remember the way that they had found themselves here... if it was real she might be able to find it and see where they could go. She was trying to find something distinctive as the sound of music came to her.

Then she was awake and her mind racing as she had seen something out there... something buried deep and going towards that map they had made as she stood there and Phaidor was near her. The dark skin of the islander compared to the pale of the jedi. "What is it my princess." Junko looked at her and there under the sleeping silks and furs were a number of the others starting to wake up as two of the warmer parts of it but she spoke. "i had a dream of maybe a vision and i showed me something." She said it and Min came into the room as she looked over at the jedi princess and spoke. "Apologies princess I heard sounds and came to make sure you were okay." Juko looked at Min and she spoke. "It is okay Min... I want the skiff prepared there might be something out there for us to find."

 

[Junko Ike]

Min was looking at her and waited a moment before Junko motioned her to go off. She had her orders and what they were going to do it wasn't like they were just rushing off blindly after anything no they were.. you know going after some obscure force vision that might or might not be able to be taken literally in the sense there was actually something out there a jedi princess such as Junko would be able to find.... makes perfect sense... and maybe or maybe not she had been drinking a little to much. No she knew she hadn't been drinking... the sake barely came out and they didn't make special brand teas compared to some others. The jedi master stretched herself out where she was going and got dressed in a different winter kimono and her equipment.

The others were around her and Junko made sure each was in more fitted clothing for exploring and being out int he snow and cold for a longer time. Without full face gear and internal suit heaters.. the temperature regulating skylar would have to do and their nice comfortable robes. "Come on now lets get going." Where they were going it wasn't exactly easier the entrance that had been carved was mostly secured now and operational compared to how it had been and the jedi princess nodded in approval as some of the landing ships had been brought in to deploy droids and biots from orbit. They were working and studying the area to try and find anything that might prove well more information about the area.

 

[Junko Ike]

When they finally got outside the sun was high and Junko could see it.. she doubted now that it would be dark for awhile as from what she understood of some in the north they only had a small handful of hours of sunlight at times a week and the rest of the time they were just enjoying endless sunlight. Junko stretched out in the winter morning and Phaidor was coming to all of them while they sat there for a moment and. "Here some banana milk with chocolate." Junko raised an eyebrow but tasting it the flavors were delicious and it was like a desert but it was nice and warming in the cold itself. She sat there looking at what they had to do. "So we will get the skiff ready and the head out where we have been searching around.

Junko waited a little while longer as they all loaded up and someof the equipment they had brought in like the drones would be much more helpful in this case. She wasn't going to risk getting them lost out there searching for maybe nothing at all. She still wasn't sure but using the holographic map that they had made from the old one, current view and drones she had several locations and what looked like where she had been. A long and wide area of nothing according to the sensors... just ice as far as one could see and it was massive almost like a frozen lake but nothing was reading large enough bodies of water that would or could have been there. Junko took her place at the back of th skiff and was prepared as she others got into their seats and they kicked off.

 

[Junko Ike]

The wind was sharper this time around as Junko could feel it in her cheeks when they moved across the ice. Going through a canyon as the rocks jutted up and wrapped around like a snake. Coming over a hill as she focused to hold the sail in one hand with the two holds and the skiff with the other using the wires that were taut from the gravity sending them sailing over a gorge that went down further. The sounds of the wind coming as Junko looked over it and adjusted landing down on the ice to keep their speed up... she twisted and turned standing on the single ski in the back of the skiff acting like a rudder. The area seemed to whisper in her mind and come back to her as she knew this place she knew where she was moving around when it opened up into a large open area.

She was letting the force whisper into her ears... the buzzing in her head as she looked up into the sky for a moment and it all seemed so blue with the distant rings of the orbital sections falling across them. Making areas of shade in deep bands that would move around and allowed Junko to see some parts of it. The center of the massive area rising up in a pillar that she stopped the skiff in front of. Around them crystals glowed under the ice as they resonated with the force and she sent out one of the drones for the others to see. Where they were all checking around and getting out of the skiffs passenger area. They were searching around the pillar and Junko squinted against the light that was reflecting off of it.

 

[Junko Ike]

Junko continued to walk around the pillar with a look on her face. She touched it and even through the gloves it felt warmer then most. The crystals in the ice were also something she hadn't been sure of but she could feel the energy flowing from them. it was like a font of force energy that she could feel everywhere and it wasn't the darkside like so many things on this world... here it reminded her of Rhen Var and pulsed of the lightside of the force. That surprised her as she gazed more and more into the ice when she felt soemthing trying to stare back at her. "There is something here...." She could feel it in her mind and pulled out her lightsaber for a moment sensing where to insert it as the blade activated. She slid it into the ice and the sound of it melting as steam started to come up from the water.

The process didn't take long and the saber came into a gap... a chamber that was empty and after making enough space the jedi master moved back looking at who was there... what was there as she could feel it in her mind. Something was singing and pushing at her as finally she could see it. A white kimono, white hair that grew across everything in there.. the pale skin from not being exposed to the sun and Junko moved to her side sitting down and looking over the woman who was there. "Hello." Something was different about her though as she seemed to have been left here and dead for all intents and purposes as Junko checked her pale skin and it was cold to the touch but she could have sworn there was someone watching her.