Private Shiraya's Odyssey: THE LOST SISTER

[Briana Sal-Soren]

​

SHIRAYA'S ODYSSEY

THE LOST SISTER

The Force cries out! JEDI KNIGHT BRIANA SAL-SOREN has heard a desperate call through the Force, a plea for HELP in the unmistakable voice of her sister, BLAIRE SAL-SOREN, who has long been missing and previously thought to be devoid of the Force's gift.

Equipped with newfound insights and clues extracted from the memory core of SID, BRIANA, together with AIDEN RENNEK, CYBELLE ELYANCE, ERID ZODANA, and LOSSA DARCUHL, sets her course to unearth the truth about two pivotal individuals who may hold key information about BLAIRE: the enigmatic Kaminoan doctor, XIA LI, and a covert agent of The New Way, KORVEN SYLEX.

The search leads them to the planet ONDERON, whose dense jungles hold not just the secrets of ancient ruins, but a hidden outpost of THE NEW WAY, where dark experiments on the FORCE are rumored to be conducted.

AIDEN RENNEK and BRIANA SAL-SOREN spearhead the infiltration of the outpost, disabling security cams and neutralizing perimeter defenses to allow the team to slip into the facility undetected. Their goal is singular: locate the operative responsible for BLAIRE'S abduction and extract information on her whereabouts.

Meanwhile, LOSSA DARCUHL holds the fort aboard BRIANA'S ship, the VERÉ primed for a rapid escape and manning its weapons systems with SID by her side, monitoring communications and providing real-time intel.

On the opposite end of the facility, ERID and CYBELLE undertake the task of infiltrating the medical quarters, aiming to secure XIA LI or her records and any evidence of the dark experiments conducted within.

With BLAIRE'S fate hanging in the balance, they must trust in each other and the guiding hand of the Force if they hope to succeed.

Spoiler: Tag List

Lossa Aureus , Aiden Rennek , Erid Zodana, Cybelle Elyance , SID-10S "Sid" , FYI: Blaire Sal-Soren , Jaa Ardan , Brandyn Sal-Soren

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[Aiden Rennek]

"I have a feeling that getting out will be harder than getting in," Aiden said as he walked through the hallways of the outpost at a steady pace. They had already taken out much of the perimeter defenses, and inside, they encountered the occasional guard or security camera, but no coordinated response just yet.

Their little surprise operation had been a success.

"Once we reach the operative, I want to split up. I'll set up an overwatch position to cover our retreat." Just in case they called in reinforcements, or had more resistance waiting somewhere up ahead. With so many of his friends and loved ones at stake, Aiden wasn't going to take any chances.

Even if all these Jedi on the mission were far more capable than he was.

"Up ahead," Aiden said as they approached another set of blast doors. "Can you cut through?" He had explosives on him, but a lightsaber was a lot quieter.

Briana Sal-Soren Luric Ee'everwest Cybelle Elyance Brandyn Sal-Soren Blaire Sal-Soren Lossa Aureus ​

 

[Cybelle Elyance]

TAG: Briana Sal-Soren | Luric Ee'everwest | Brandyn Sal-Soren Blaire Sal-Soren | Lossa Aureus
EQUIPMENT: Petal Blossom | Green Lightsaber (Generic)

This place made her skin crawl.

They had the same ingress point as the others but Cybelle could feel the dark intent hiding beneath sterile surfaces and shining metallic floors. The air hummed with the foreboding pulse of machinery and not even the harsh fluorescent of the lights gave any reprieve. She was wearing the same nano-tech battle robes that she always wore, dark green, with a scale-like texture. They shifted with her when she moved and gave her slender form the appearance of an ethereal phantom when she moved.

There was a pit in her stomach.

It was not the hole in the world that she had first sensed when she'd been taken by the New Way but it had the same veneer. This mission was laden with personal stakes and profound sorrow that was only manageable with the hope that they might find something, some piece of information, that might lead them to Blaire Sal-Soren . Cybelle…Cybelle felt directly responsible for the loss of Teyla and Baros Sa-Soren regardless of how hard she'd tried to do her duty. There were so many things she should have done.

Locking Baros in the boot of his vehicle for starters…

But how could she deny a man who wanted nothing more than to save his wife from a terrible fate? How could she have known that the moment they entered the facility he would have done his utmost to leave her behind in some misguided attempt to secure her safety? He loved his son, enough, to want to see her with her head still attached but…It had been the wrong choice.

She snapped back to the present and nodded her head at Aiden Rennek with certainty.

"I agree. The faster we get what we came for and leave—The better."

For reasons that would be obvious to some, perhaps, not to others Cybelle wanted as far away from this outpost as possible. Duty overrode her personal issues and her mind quieted. None of the past mattered. None of it mattered.

She couldn't think about how she'd once been experimented on.

She couldn't think about Brandyn Sal-Soren in prison.

Only the present mattered.

"Heard."

The singular response from Cybelle to his request about the blast doors was met with her green saber flaring to life. She didn't know which one of them he'd been referring to, but, her saber worked as well as any of the others. She knew that hacking might take too long. Even with the intuitive nanites that she could release to disengage locking mechanisms. Sometimes…It was just easier to cut to the heart of the matter. She dug her lightsaber into the blast doors with a precise thrust and began making a hole they could pass through.

They would split up once they passed through, Cybelle, with Luric Ee'everwest as her partner.

 

[Briana Sal-Soren]

Outfit: XoXo | Equipment: Lightsaber, Echo Stone | Tag: Aiden Rennek , Erid Zodana, Cybelle Elyance , Lossa Aureus , Blaire Sal-Soren ​

She'd barely slept the night before, nor had she gone to hers and Aiden's bed, unable to sleep with knowing what they might find — or rather, the lack of whom they might find. Instead, Briana spent the majority of the night pacing the darkness of the corridors within their home, watching the dying stars until the sky eddied into light shades of crimson and lavender, the sun rising over the peaks of the Gallo mountains. The same as it always had since she was a child.

Her face had been pulled tight, arms wrapped around herself as she watched that singular constant.

Only there, in the silence of that morning, did she allow herself to wallow in the fear of what ifs and grief — but never while in the field. Never in front of those who were depending on her to get her job done and help get them back out alive. There was no place for those kind of feelings and emotions here, where they had to be able to trust in each others skill completely.

Even when the people she was standing shoulder to shoulder with, were the few remaining members of her own family and the mission had such personal stakes.

Moving with a silent grace behind Aiden, Briana's senses stretched out with the Force, ever vigilant for any shadow of the enemy or a whisper of a trap. She'd long ago cloaked all of those beside her in a shield of warmth and protection, using the Force to bolster their spirits and sharpen their focus before they'd ever stepped foot into the facility.

So far, things had gone off without a hitch — but Briana wasn't quite cocky enough to believe that their good fortune would last them forever.

With a nod to each of her companions, Briana went through the path Cybelle had cut away for them with a loud clang, first, before signaling them with the all clear. "We probably won't have too long now before we have company. I'm sure someone here will have heard that." she said with a nod, her voice imbued with quiet authority. "We'll rendezvous at the extraction point once we have what we need. Watch each other's backs."

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[Aiden Rennek]

Sometimes, Aiden felt blessed that he could not feel the Force. He had his own sense of fear and nervousness, especially when people he cared for were at risk, but he couldn't imagine what it must be like to feel a more vivid version of the darkness that lingered here. Or to feel the dread, the pain, the despair, and whatever other emotions rippled through that mysterious energy field. Perhaps they even felt Blaire herself.

He couldn't begin to comprehend.

The sound of Cybelle's lightsaber snapping to life drew Aiden's mind back to the present. He turned around, rifle at the ready, and covered their backs just to be safe. He trusted both of them to hold their own and to remain composed despite the stakes. But if their focus were to slip for even a moment, he'd be ready to help them.

"We're clear," Aiden said in unison with Briana once the door broke down. He perked a brow at her, then dipped his head and stepped through to scan the rooms on the side of the hallway. Clearing buildings wasn't something to rush, and he wasn't going to risk someone popping up behind them from a room adjacent to the hallway.

"Alright, let's get moving." Aiden nodded once more to Briana and followed after her. They were going to run into trouble sooner rather than later, and she was better up close than he was. So, Briana would lead from the front, and he'd cover her from right behind her with immense precision.

"Bri?" He asked as they walked. "Do you sense anything?"

Briana Sal-Soren Cybelle Elyance Blaire Sal-Soren Lossa Aureus
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[Erid Zodana]

He didn’t know this family beyond a brief interaction with Bastila Sal-Soren at the Enclave, but he knew that this mission meant a lot to them. He had only barely been able to convince the Knight in charge, Bastila’s sister, to let him go on this mission. Apparently, someone called Brandyn would have been preferred. Erid was sure Brandyn was some sort of superhero the way Briana had spoken, and his current partner had seemed to glaze over with his mention.

They had needed someone to partner with Cybelle, and despite Erid’s station as a Padawan he had had a lot of training from his infancy. His parents, bless them and their overbearing legacy, had been sure to train him in the ways of the Force. Erid considered his time as a Padawan as a formality. He would be a Knight soon enough. Perhaps even this mission would be taken into account as his trials. He would show them all.

As the outsider of the group, he simply nodded in agreement with the more seasons Jedi’s assertions. When affordance was made through a doorway, he dutifully climbed through without an issue. Moving ahead slightly along he and Cybelle’s designated path, he came to a T junction in the hallway, and slid his back along the wall to see down the opposite direction. It was clear, but there were cameras. He slid back to avoid detection.

”If they do not know we are here, then they certainly will if we step out into that hallway…”

He moved to the otherside and peered carefully down the hallway, and then ducked back as he noted the camera turning towards his position

”…but I do see a blindspot in the coverage if we time it right…we can make it through without being seen.”

Cybelle Elyance Aiden Rennek Briana Sal-Soren Lossa Aureus

 

[Briana Sal-Soren]

Outfit: XoXo | Equipment: Lightsaber, Echo Stone | Tag: Aiden Rennek , Erid Zodana, Cybelle Elyance , Lossa Aureus ​

"Yup. There's definitely something—or someone—up ahead," Briana answered as they continued to push their way down the corridor that was surprisingly... pristine. The floors, the light panels, the dataports... none of it was like any of the other bases she'd infiltrated in the past; for one, it was severally lacking in any dirt, fallen leaves, and intruding tree roots, which was notedly odd. Given reports that The New Way was in disarray since the death of her father... she would have expected the conditions of the facility to be in a state of neglect, dilapidated...not this strange level of orderliness.

Either reports of The New Way's disbanding were grossly exaggerated, or someone with deep pockets had a renewed and vested interest in whatever was taking place here. This wasn't the image of a dying organization on its very last legs, and it would undoubtedly spell out trouble for the rest of them. Something to keep in mind, the next time she saw her brother.

"Be ready to engage hostilities. And Aiden? For once, let's try to do this quickly and quietly, hm? We don't want to alert the whole facility." The brief, thin curve of a grin flashed over her features in her poor attempt to try and break some of the tension, her eyes holding his with a look that could have moved mountains before averting her attention back to the task at hand.

As much as Briana believed in their capabilities as a team, the gravity of the situation and the ever present danger lingered in her mind. More so, when the person beside you meant everything.

But... those were fears she didn't want to lend a voice to. They had no purpose or utility— and regardless, they didn't matter now. They were already here.

They just needed to make sure they got back out.

Coming to the end of what had seemed like an endless corridor, the sterile silence was suddenly broken by the sound of voices that steadily grew louder as they approached. Briana gestured to Aiden, signaling him to take cover in the nearby alcove while she pressed herself flat against the opposite side of the wall.

Reaching out through the Force, Briana could ascertain that there were... two guards? No, three. Likely patrol guards.

She didn't want to have to kill them, and leaving a trail of bodies would have one of two effects, create a diversion for Cybelle and Erid to give them enough time to get into the medical facilities without much interference, or make it harder for all of them to get the information they needed and get out and potentially lose Korven Sylex in the process.

The voices grew louder, their window of time shrinking smaller and smaller by the second. Briana took a deep breath and passed a glance towards Aiden before stepping out into the corridor with a confident stride, her presence commanding yet non-threatening. The casual banter of the guards died in their throats the minute they saw her, "You there! What are you doing here?!" They reached to raise their rifles.

Briana was quicker.

Raising her hand with fingers splayed, the guards' movements ceased as if they'd hit an invisible barrier, their rifles slowly lowering back down.

"It's okay that we're here. You're all very relieved to see us and want to tell us where Korven is," Briana said, her voice imbued with the Force, compelling yet gentle.

The guards blinked slowly, their minds clearly clouded by her influence. "Korven? We don't know where he is right now," one guard mumbled, his voice distant. Briana's eyes narrowed, but she maintained her calm demeanor. "Where can we usually find him?" she probed further, her tone steady and hypnotic as the Force wrapped around them.

"In the command center," another guard replied, his voice just as distant. "He spends most of his time there."

Briana nodded, listening intently as they went on to point her in the direction they needed to go next, offering Aiden a subtle glance before waving for him to move. "Thank you," she said warmly, maintaining her mental hold on the guards. "You won't remember speaking with us or seeing us. You were just discussing your rounds." The three of them nodded and continued on.

That took care of at least the first obstacle.

 

[Lossa Aureus]

Location: Onderon, Ship
Equipment: Wayward Robes
Accessories: Bracelet, Echo Stone
Weapons: Lossa's Lightsaber, Turmoil - Lightsaber, Concealed Blaster
Tags: Briana Sal-Soren Aiden Rennek Erid Zodana Cybelle Elyance

The whine of the pilots chair leaning back filled the small room as the Zeltron got comfortable. A slow click of her tongue as she was allowed to accompany her cousin as a pilot. A job she would have normally been overjoyed about given Bri's abilities as a pilot and being trusted with one of her ships.

But this was a concession made to keep Lo safe and secure while granting some freedom outside of the constant study she was doing on the Aureus estate.

Sid was nearby, but remaining surprisingly quiet for the moment as she began to slowly and rhythmically click her tongue with each slow rock of the chair. The two sounds meshing together in some tormenting way as she heard the soft whir of servos and metal shift well behind her.

"Are the sounds you are producing necessary?"

Her eyes closed as her lips curled up into a devilish grin.

"Keeps me from thinking too much. Worried about Bri is all." Her answer not getting anything snappish in kind. She kept up the routine until another barely there whir of servos and metal brought her back from the soothing actions.

"The silence is unsettling." The droid grumbled.

"Better than hearing a lot of Blaster shots." Came the reasonable side of thinking, going back to rocking as the droid settled beside her.