Private Somewhere in the Needan System.

[Shan Amadeus]

The moon was one of two satellites orbiting the Needan system. Star maps had it charted as ‘1-20N85’. Its atmosphere was breathable and its wildlife rich; but it was too small to be of any importance. Even the Empire hadn’t bothered to pillage it (yet).

It was beautiful. A quiet sanctuary with very little interference from the galaxy outside. The northern hemisphere was high with mountainous ranges and deep reaching caverns. One such cavern had an opening visible from above. It was like a short and stocky volcano with a glistening lake at the centre.

The lake was empty until a long, fluffy bird creature swooped in and perched on something just beneath the water's surface. It made a sharp trilling chirp and pecked downwards.

KLINK!

Its beak hit metal and the bird fell backwards into the water with a splash. The creature hurriedly returned to the air and disappeared.

***​

A few kilometres west of the lake, deeper within the caverns, was a pathway lit with makeshift torches. The walls were carved in aurebesh letters. Names, dozens of them. At the far end of the tunnel, a sweet smelling fog of steam was billowing out. The smell attracted a few blind cave dwelling critters who had started to crowd at the tunnels opening. Inside came a whistling followed by the soft tone of a man singing.

 

[Sigyn Vanir]

This planet, though pretty, was nothing. A nice sanctuary, but that's it. No settlements, no known resources. Not even a proper name was given to the moon. Which is what made it perfect in Sigyn's eyes.

She and a purple Twi'lek had been sent there by the Jedi, to investigate... something. Sigyn wasn't exactly sure. She had been travelling around a lot lately, so coming back to the Jedi and being sent on missions by them was a bit hard for the young Valkyri. But at least she got to visit beautiful places she hadn't heard of before, like this moon.

The two of them were close to a mountain-range, to the north of the moon. Sigyn would rather have them walk through the woods some more, perhaps try to hunt some of the animals. But there was something about these mountains that they had to look for.

"Sooo... what exactly were we sent here for?" she asked the Twi'lek. "I'm sorry, but taking and listening to commands is not one of my strong suits."

Mi'la Undari | Shan Amadeus

 

[Mi'la Undari]

Mi'la could never turn down the offer to explore an unknown planet. It was her one weakness; okay, one of many, but the point still stood. Being told of a world she knew nothing about immediately caught her intrest, though she wasn't sure what to make of her companion as of yet. She was a younger padawan, though her stance and pose suggested a more rebellious leaning in mindset. Then again, it was a bit too early to make judgement calls. She seemed nice at least.

A small rock caught her eye, and the Twi'lek tried to focus on it, trying to gain insight into its origins. She had heard about psychometry, read about it, and now she desperately wanted to learn it. Unfortunately, her attempts to replicate the technique resulted in nothing occuring. A smile sigh escaped her lips, as she let the rock tumble out of her hands, and sending it rolling down the hillside. She would figure it out at some point. Just not today.

She turned her attention to her fellow padawan, and gave a dissatisfied expression. "Wait. You missed the entire briefing?" She asked with a tone skepticism, to her voice, but dropped it with her follow up response. "We are here to take addition scans of the moon. Also, there were unconfirmed reports of a force ghost living in these parts. So that'll be interesting if it turns out to be real." She cast another look towards the landscape, her mind curious as to what this planet held. She doubted there was an actual force ghost though, after all, why would a force ghost be all the way out here? "It's nice here. Wish we could stay longer."

Sigyn Vanir Shan Amadeus

 

[Shan Amadeus]

A serpent lurked in the tree canopy. Its skin was translucent, camoflauging against the foliage as it slowly pursued the two Padawans from above ground.
The snake heard them talk unlike any other creature it had ever encountered. A vast vocabulary of complex sounds and clicking tongues. It hissed gently, trying to process the new audible sensations.

"It's nice here. Wish we could stay longer."

The snake flickered its tongue and attempted to parrot the Twi'lek's speech. "N-n-nice. Niiiiceeee, nice h-hh" it kept repeating the sounds with a whispery, raspy tone.

***​

Earlier That Day

A Chagrian elder worked over a pot of odd looking vegetables, boiling gently over an open flame. His surroundings were a dark, damp cavern with the only light source being the stove and a small assortment of candles. He sang softly in an alien language while he cooked.

Then, things began to shake. Dirt fell from the ceiling and the nearby creatures scattered away in fear. The stew boiled over and the Chagrian man felt something he hadn't felt since---

Outside, a shuttle broke into the planet's atmosphere. Shan didn't fear the noise like the creatures around him did, he knew it was no predator nor an earthquake. He always wondered if somebody out there would be looking for him. Those thoughts resurfaced all of a sudden and he muttered to himself "no...no, no, no,"

The wonder turned to paranoia. Shan pulled his lightsaber from a cavity within the wall and stowed it away inside his dirty robes. He stood at the entrance to the torch-lit tunnel and waited in the shadows.

 

[Shan Amadeus]

Mi'la Undari Sigyn Vanir

 

[Sigyn Vanir]

Force ghosts. Sigyn had heard about them, but never seen one. Though that wasn't unusual, as they were apparantly very rare. But it would be very exciting if they met this supposed Force ghost on this planet.

"It is quite nice here, yes," she answered the Twi'lek. "Could be a nice place to settle down, maybe have a small Jedi temple. But unfortunat..." She stopped midsentance, and stopped walking. There had been a sound she had thought she'd heard. A quiet raspy voice, coming from the trees. "Mi'la, wait. Do you hear something?"

Could this be the force ghost Mi'la had mentioned? It would seem strange for one to just be out in the woods on a planet like this. But who was Sigyn to judge the preferances of a dead force-user? It did not sound like what she thought a force ghost would sound like though. Too... alive. But at the same time, it sounded like it couldn't properly talk. No matter, Sigyn took her lightsaber from her belt, and held it ready to activate of something was to attack them.

Shan Amadeus | Mi'la Undari

(OOC: the late reply is because I was visiting some relatives on vacation these last days. But I'm back now, so posts should come out faster.)

 

[Mi'la Undari]

As nice as this planet was, she wasn't sure if building a temple would make it an ideal gathering place for jedi. Then again, people probably said the same for Kashyyyk not all that long ago. Maybe with a little time and reconnaissance they could get a small training course set up. There certainly could be potential here. She was going to give Sigyn a response, but halted as she too heard the strange voice. Her hand grabbed for the hilt of her saber, her eyes widening as her Lekku's tensed and curled about her neck. "I heard it too." The Twi'lek looked about, trying to locate where the sound might have come from, but found nothing. Was it a voice on the wind? A form that could hide itself from the eyes of the two padawans?

Her mind began to bounce with possibilities, each more wondrous than the last. Hopefully it wasn't a Sith Spirit, if that was the case they would need a sacrifice to placate it. Mi'la looked to her fellow padawan, her lips pressed together as her mind lingered on that possibility for longer than she would like to admit, but she eventually dismissed it. No, a Sith Spirit would attack directly; no need to terrify Sigyn with her assumptions. "Hello? Who is there?" She called out, her eyes looking for a sign of life, and her force senses seeking out something that might have been in hiding. She felt more curious than scared, but that wasn't anything abnormal. If whatever this thing was didn't kill her, she'd have another story for her journal.


Sigyn Vanir Shan Amadeus

 

[Shan Amadeus]

The serpent followed, it tasted the air with intermittent flicks of its tongue.

"H-hello, hello," it whispered again, repeating simple phrases.

It continued to slink through the canopy. A keen force sensitive would feel indications of curiousity, but not any harmful intent. However, the serpent's aura would be overshadowed by that of Shan. One would sense conflict within him, a confusing mix of energies that were specific to neither light nor dark sides of the force. Even Shan himself could not describe how he was feeling at that moment. It was as if the entire veil surrounding his world had been pierced.

While the Jedi were distracted, Shan had slowly emerged from the foliage that masked the entrance to his cave. He remained hidden, tracking their movements. He wondered if the explorers had made a mistake. In over two decades, theirs was the first vessel to ever land there. And for what, to scan the moon? When he heard talk of a force ghost, he looked at his own hands for confirmation. He was indeed real, but he certainly felt like a ghost after all those years of isolation. Then, he witnessed one of them draw a lightsaber. Shan clutched his own and began to feel the approaching Jedi presence. He doubted his own eyes and senses. It was a trick, he concluded. Be it of his own mind or the malicious will of another.

Closing his eyes, Shan reached out with the force to commune with the pair.

'You are much too late.'

 

[Sigyn Vanir]

'You are much too late.'

Sigyn spun around as she heard that sentance, and activated her lightsaber. Someone was nearby, that was for sure. Regardless, she could see no one. Only feel a presence. It could be the rumored force ghost, of course.

"Do you see anything, Mi'la?" she asked, as she tried to scan the area around them through the force. She could definately feel something close. It didn't feel like danger. Not iminent danger, at least. It felt like it was threatened, and torn. Like it despised the pair of Jedi, but was also curious by them. But Sigyn couldn't pinpoint this presence, only that it was close.

"Show yourself!" Sigyn said out in the air to the unknown being. "We are Jedi, and we are not here to harm you." Her voice felt hollow, though it might have only been in her head.

Mi'la Undari | Shan Amadeus

 

[Shan Amadeus]

Shan watched the Padawan's green sabre come to life. He could not comprehend it, was it a rescue or an execution? Had they known of his existence at all? He emerged from the dark and lit his own weapon. Shan was now shrouded in crimson red light. He held his saber down in an open position.

"You'll come no further!" he said, his voice wavering.

Amadeus knew better than to judge one's alignment by the colour of their blade. The two Jedi were so young. He began to doubt that they knew who he was at all. The Order had forgotten him one way or another. It was more likely that the Jedi Order he had known before, no longer existed. The girl claimed they weren't there to harm him, yet her weapon was ready. Shan felt cheated, only more lies and trickery.

"Then lower your blade, child," he hissed defensively, "why are you here? As executioners? You've been watching me...haven't you! Tired of waiting to watch me die, they sent you to finish the job, didn't they!"

Who 'they' were wasn't clear. It wasn't clear to Amadeus either. This was the first time he had encountered another being in decades. He feared them, guilt swelled within him. He began to reconsider the peace he'd made in himself, if this is all it took to frighten him. He sought clarity in the force but received little.

 

[Mi'la Undari]

She heard the voice this time, not spoken, only heard within her head. "No, I don't see anything." Unfortunately her companion ignited her weapon, perhaps not the best way to communicate that they came in peace, but little could be done now. It was then that she spotted it, the red blade was a tell all sign of what was standing before her; well, not really but it certainly brought things into prospective. This had to be a dark jedi. Seeing the man was arming himself for combat, Mi'la could only think to ready herself as well.

Of course, the real sign that he was a dark jedi was the tangent that followed; dark siders always loved going on rants for some reason. Mi'la steadied herself, moving to her Makashi stance, as she locked eyes with the stranger. "If you think you will accomplish anything with threats, you are incorrect. Please put down your weapon, and we will do the same." Mi'la glanced back to Sigyn, mouthing 'put it away', knowing that they were dangerously close to engaging in a fight with this man. She didn't know who he was, nor how powerful he could be. Either way, having a lightsaber ready to go here and now wouldn't help anyone. They outnumbered him, they would just need to rely on one another to step in if something went badly. Her eyes looked back to the stranger, as Mi'la would shut off her saber, though she kept it in hand. "We came here to investigate this planet, and see if there were reports of a force ghost. We certainly did not come here to kill you." There was an awkward pause as she scratched the back of her head with her Lekku. "So, I'm Mi'la, this is my fellow Padawan Sigvyn. Who are you?" Hopefully the situation would have calmed a bit by now, and if not....well Mi'la had her saber in hand for a reason.

Shan Amadeus Sigyn Vanir

 

[Shan Amadeus]

Amadeus stared them both down for a moment, but eventually deactivated his weapon. The Twi'lek was right, he certainly wasn't going to accomplish anything. If they had come to kill him, sending two young girls wouldn't have been very ethical.

"You...don't know," he said, "I thought..."

He relaxed a little, though he was still wary. "My name w--is Shan Amadeus. I was a Jedi like you, once."

"That was another life, though," he guestured to his lightsaber before stowing it away.

Without much warning, Amadeus moved towards the two of them for a closer inspection, "padawans?"
He couldn't quite believe it. The Jedi Order still stood, the rest of the galaxy had carried on as normal. All the chaos he had witnessed and contributed to was long since past. His old accomplice had insisted that if Amadeus even thought to step out of line, that the Jedi would kill him too. For so many years within his own head, it felt like the entire world was against him.

Shan's tone shifted, "well, you ought to come for supper."

The man gestured towards the dimly lit cavern behind and began to swan off back to his hovel inside.