Private Shining Crystal

[Vaylaar D'artagnan]

GEAR: Lightsaber | Jedi Robes
TAG: Ala Quin

The planet of Seron. A harsh, desert planet with consistent sandstorms and wildlife. The population consisted of nomads and those who wanted to live a "travellers" life, which leads to most people on the planet being people who know how to fight. There's only one reason why the planet holds any form of a population at all; the treasure held within the sands. It's not known why, but over the thousands of years that this planet has existed, it's acted as a final destination for many riches that the galaxy used to hold. Treasuries of ships, fortunes hidden in the sand, the population has been finding treasure for the past hundred years, and there's still no reported scarcity of what one could find here.

The archives reported of a similar interest to the Jedi; it is said that the planet once hosted a Jedi Temple, said to help train padawans and knights in unforgiving environments. It has long since been abandoned in the layers of sand, but the contents within interested the Jedi; it is said to hold a rare crystal simply known as the Aurorite Crystal, only a dozen or so existed during it's time but it is said to enhance the force capabilities of it's user. Vayl, along with another Jedi has been assigned the mission of attempting to track down and locate this temple.

Vayl himself is currently at a bar, in the city of Valtar. Built around a massive sandstone mesa with advanced shielding technology that helps bar against the wildlife and unrelenting sandstorms. This part of the mission is meant to be intel-gathering, ask the locals about details on the Jedi Temple... but one thing led to another, and Vayl is on his third drink, with a hand in sabacc at the corner. Things weren't boding well.

 

[Ala Quin]

When she decided to let the Force guide her to her next assignment, Ala had not really had any expectations. Perhaps that was her first mistake. She could have perhaps leant on the Force a little to pick a more pleasant location. Felucia was some place she hadn't been in a while. But another, dusty, sand swept world? It was something she had seen a lot. Experience was everything, and her previous experiences made her groan ever so slightly.

The Force wills as the Force wills.

The Master found herself repeating these words to herself over and over again. The mantra was not helping much. The bad disposition that had accompanied her on this mission was uncommon, but perhaps went along with the general sense of discontent and unease she had been feeling of late.

Her briefing had put her on to a Padawan, and reports were that he had been spending time in the cantina. Her suspicions were confirmed upon walking in, as she noted the individual in question, one Vaylaar D'artagnan , was at a Sabaac table. Right. Intel. Sure.

Her Force presence washed away with a mental swipe, leaving her a ghost to only the most perceptive of Force users. Walking over to stand behind the padawan, Ala held her finger up to shush the other participants and then proceeded to convey as much information as possible to the Padawan's opponents.

 

[Vaylaar D'artagnan]

GEAR: Lightsaber | Jedi Robes
TAG: Ala Quin

He kept playing and playing, believing that he didn't have to worry about his Jedi partner coming in anytime soon. His opponents looked surprise at first, before giving a light smile and continuing to face Vayl. "What? Too chicken to bet more in?" and with that, his credits were placed on the table. The numbers climbed and before he knew it, he lost twice in a row. Vayl threw down his cards in a rage at the table. "And there goes five hundred credits... great." he only sighed, standing up but as he turned around, he finally noticed her with his vision, being a bit surprised. "Oh, I didn't see you there. Who are you-" it only just occurred to him what had transpired. His smile going down.

"Master, you owe me five hundred credits- you know what, nevermind. They can keep it. Just don't mention this to the council in the reports, yeah?" A Jedi Padawan playing sabacc? He already knew his master is going to have a field day with him on that one. He beckoned for her to come along, taking seats at a new table in the cantina. "The drinks here are a bit... salty for my taste. You might like it though, I'm probably just going to stick to the water or something." but then with the idle chitchat out of the way, he leaned closer onto the table. "I've already established where the temple might be..." and with that, he brought out a rough map of the planet. The "X" marking the city of Valtar, which is currently where they are and with a few dozen miles away from it, a large circle is drawn out.

"See that? That's how much ground we have to cover. It'll probably take us weeks if we're lucky, if not months. I was trying to make credits so that we could hire some people to help with the looking, but... there goes that possibility." well, that's not truthfully what he was planning, but he just pined for any reason to make her guilty about making him lose five hundred credits.

 

[Ala Quin]

The fun of messing with the Padawan's elicit game of sabacc quickly faded into utter disappointment. She did not even try to hide her thoughts on the situation. She looked up, as if praying to the Force itself, before wriggling her finger in a follow-me gesture.

Ala Quin had been a Jedi for approaching 815 years, if you ignored the 800 years of cryo-sleep. Sure, it was not the greatest degree of experience as far as far as years, but she had crammed a lot of experiences within that short time. This Padawan was not unlike others that she had met. And it still surprised her that they passed the vetting process. She could only trust the Order saw something in him beyond the surface level. Ala was the last person that would give up on someone...something he should eventually grow to appreciate.

She dismissed the whole verbal dump with a wave of her hand. The mission briefing had given her most of the information that he had just imparted. Holding his eyeline, she held a soft warmth beneath and veneer of motherly authority. For one still so relatively young by appearance, her eyes spoke of the lives she had lived, and those she had loved.

"If we are to go into the desert together," she said calmly, in a volume high enough for only the Padawan to hear, "I need to know I can count on you...I do not...need a drunk...at my side."

Any attempt to evade eye contact with the little Jedi Master would be met with a persistent recalibration to maintain it.

Vaylaar D'artagnan

 

[Vaylaar D'artagnan]

GEAR: Lightsaber | Jedi Robes
TAG: Ala Quin

​

A drunk. How insulting! Weren't Jedi Masters going to be wise? This next part made him chuckle a little bit, deciding to break the news to her. "If you think three drinks are enough to break me, you must be a lightweight master. Zeltrons have two livers, trust me, I'm fine." it's odd. He would never act like this around his own master Zhea, but it's almost like he's testing this new person. A master in their own right, he wanted to know how patient they'd be, and whether or not she'd deal with his shenanigans at all. All though Jedi Masters were often like robots to him, some displayed personality, even if it were subtle. He wanted to know what hers was, would she crack?

Regardless, he seemed ready to go. His cloak on his belt, his lightsaber- wait, where's his lightsaber? "Did I bet my lightsaber away?" and as if to intentionally scare her, he switched sides, and revealed it out of the other side of his belt. "Kidding! Right here. I know, we never part with our lightsaber." and with that, he holstered it back in.

"So, Master. Since it seems like you have an idea of what we need to do, what's our next step?"

 

[Ala Quin]

Lightweight?

She offered a quick motion of her hands as if to convey the words can-you-not-see-me. "Zeltron. Noted. I did pick up on the pheremones. Don't worry. I am not at all swayed by them, you offset them well." She smiled sweetly.

The gag about the lightsaber was met with raised eyebrows, and then a slight tilt of her head. Yeah, this was going to be a long mission. But. He could grow.

"I feel obliged to say that your lightsaber is as critical as any appendage that you might have," she said, knowing it was just rote master-talk.

"I am happy for you to take lead. You have done the ground work. But I was hoping that we could have speeder transport out to the supposed location...I really don't care to walk the whole way."

Vaylaar D'artagnan

 

[Vaylaar D'artagnan]

GEAR: Lightsaber | Jedi Robes
TAG: Ala Quin

​

When she motioned towards herself, he waved it off. "You're fine Master. I like short girls anyway." just saying that casually as if there's no issue with it.

Well... he didn't expect to be called out like that so easily, but he shouldn't of expected anything less from a Jedi Master. When that second line came however, he chuckled, even going as far as to place his hand upon his chest. "Master, so vulgar!" pretending to act like an innocent padawan, but he knew exactly what she meant. He cut the jokes aside however when the topic of their actual mission was brought up, acting a bit surprised. "I'm usually the one being put on a leash, but if you're letting me take lead..." he teased it, almost like he's going to suggest something entirely bad until he fixated back on the map again.

"The standard speeders won't do. If they don't crash into the constant hills or boulders that stand in the way, the sandstorms or wildlife will take care of the work for you. The locals have a specialised speeder, better elevation, a special alloy built to withstand the sandstorms in the worst case scenario. We need to get our hands on those if we want to make quick work of this mission. Unfortunately, because of all the treasure-hunting everyone wants to do, they're a sort of... commodity here. They're worth their weight in literal gold around here. To the point there's even a black market for it." and with that, it followed towards his next suggestion.

"So how about this... we do our civil duty as Jedi, look out for any criminal wrongdoers, follow back to their base and "commandeer" any Seron Speeders they have. Or if you're the moral type, return it back to their original owners, but ask them to use the speeders as a repayment." despite his attitude and lack of care towards the responsibility of what it truly meant to be a Jedi, he did scope the locals out, the environment and how things worked around here. It meant he has potential, he just needed to be guided towards the right path.