Private The Great Unknown

[Silas Westgard]

Location: GHOLONDREINE-β
Objective: Retrieve the Holocron
Tag: Cailen Corso

Along the dunes of Gholondreine, a speeder was making swift progress to a cave entrance that had been located in the sands. Two Jedi, Silas and Cailen had been tasked with retrieving a Holocron hidden out of sight and mind for hundreds of years. They had been warned the cave structure had the ability to nullify the force, rendering their powers useless. And as well as that, it was certainly possible that they weren't the only ones who knew of this location by now.

In short, the pair of them had to be cautious.

Slowly but surely the speeder came to a halt next to a hole, one of which led down into a pitch black abyss. It matched the description of what was supplied as well as the coordinates that had been given to them in their brief. This had to be it, and from the looks of things, there were already some footprints leading into the dark unknown. Silas turned off the speeder and lifted his goggles to rest on top of his head, casually looking down to examine the tracks just below their feet "It appears someone has got here first" the knight said as he looked into the distance "How curious, there doesn't appear to be any transport nearby..."

Silas jumped off their transport and walked over to the hole itself. He couldn't hear anything, but that didn't mean they had gone deeper into the cave system. Turning back to face Cailen, he smiled slightly and motioned for him to join him.

"What's your guess, a local who got scared or some treasure hunters who have bitten more than they can chew?
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[Cailen Corso]

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Tags: Silas Westgard
Location: GHOLONDREINE-β

“Treasure hunters,” Cailen shot back without hesitation. Not only was it the more likely scenario, it was also the most exciting. From what he understood of Gholodreine’s past, very few people stayed around to call it home. He doubted that the sparse pockets of scavengers eking out a life here would care - or even know about - a Jedi holocron.

Treasure hunters, though? Definitely.

Cailen grinned, clicking on the glowrod hooked to his vest and bathing the entrance of the pit with a warm amber light. He tried peering inside, but there was no visual indication of anyone near the entrance.

“I doubt they walked,” Cailen said, examining the tracks. If they had, the winds would certainly have blow away their footprints by now anyway. “They were probably dropped off by someone. Maybe we should hide the speeder?”

The dunes were dotted with ancient rubble and old Imperial scrap. They could easily conceal their speeder behind something if they were willing to spend the time.

 

[Silas Westgard]

Location: GHOLONDREINE-β
Objective: Retrieve the Holocron
Tag: Cailen Corso

"Correct, the nearest settlement is miles away. Which makes me think they've done the same thing and hid their transport" He said in agreement as he walked back to the speeder and prepared himself to push the speeder out of sight "We will put it a few dunes away to the east. Make sure to remember that if you're in need of a quick escape and I'm not with you" hopefully that wouldn't need to happen, but it was never bad to be safe on these kind of assignments.

"Come help me with this, we don't want to waste any more fuel than we should and it will help build up your strength."

Smirking to his pseudo brother, he waited till he was beside him before causally pushing it in the direction of the dunes "It shouldn't be too hard with the two of us, nothing compared to the machines I have to drag across the floor at the homestead" Silas said as they made good progress with the speeder looping around from the side "You should drop by sometime and come train with me, it's better than any gym and quite than any Coruscant you could ever have" ​

 

[Cailen Corso]

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Tags: Silas Westgard
Location: GHOLONDREINE-β

Cailen wasted no time in helping Silas move the speeder. There was no telling just how long the could-be treasure hunters were down there, so every second mattered. Once it was behind the dunes only a short distance away, Cailen nodded and looked to the cave entrance.

“I’d like that!” he said. “Assuming we don’t get eaten by a primordial sand worm or something.”

It wasn’t a well known fact on account of how easily manipulated it could be, but Cailen had developed an acute fear of the dark. He wasn’t entirely sure when, but he strongly suspected that it stemmed from his harrowing experience on Ravaath with Valery Noble a few years back. They were separated from each other in the basement of an abandoned hospital complex and subjected to the terrors of a mind-altering Sith demon… something that still gave him chills to think about.

Cailen forced the creature’s image out of his mind and tried imagining Silas’ homestead instead. “Maybe I can come over sometime soon?” the boy suggested. “If that’s alright with you.” He didn’t want to come across as presumptuous or annoyingly eager, but the thought of hanging out with Silas away from sand and Sith and primordial worms was exciting.

He followed Silas’ lead, moving back to the entrance. Standing over it, Cailen breathed in a deep breath and looked to his brother. “I’m ready if you are,” he said. His smile was kind, if a bit nervous, but Cailen was brave. They’d be okay. Probably.

 

[Silas Westgard]

Location: GHOLONDREINE-β
Objective: Retrieve the Holocron
Tag: Cailen Corso

"Well yes, and that"

Silas giggled at the thought of them being gobbled up by a worm and began to head back to the entrance with his brother. Nodding without hesitation, it was clear the knight was more than happy for him to come by at any time "You are welcome at all times Cailen, just make sure to let me know when you're coming over first though" He said with a smile. Even though it was used by the Jedi for recovery, it was still his home to live in. Everyone needed their privacy, and Silas was no different.

Coming to a halt momentarily, he made sure Cailen was ready before heading into the dark abyss. Silas unclipped a small torch from his belt and aimed it down the rocky passageway ahead "Remember our powers are useless in here, if needs be we will need to rely on our physical ability if we're unfortunate enough to bump into anyone alive" he said quietly as he kept his eyes on the route ahead of them.

"Treasure hunters can be nasty work and most times they do not act alone. Be cautious, do not trust a word they say"
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[Cailen Corso]

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Tags: Silas Westgard
Location: GHOLONDREINE-β

Cailen nodded. He was familiar with the treasure hunter type. A gang of them were active in Hurikane when he and Valery Noble visited to collect his second kyber crystal. They were sneaky, deceitful, and, in some cases, desperate enough to kill.

Luckily for Cailen, he wasn’t alone. Most scoundrels were afraid of the Jedi because they didn’t understand the Force, or because they mistook the Order for enforcers of Alliance law. They likely wouldn’t know that the cave have Force-nullifying properties, something that the Knight and Padawan could use to feint superiority by default if the hunters weren’t Force-sensitive themselves.

“Let’s go,” Cailen said with a nod. His boots crunched sand and stone as he stepped down the rocky path, eyes adjusting to the darkness beyond the glow of Silas’ torch. He had one of his own, which he used to scan their periphery as they descended.

Already, Cailen could feel the effects of the Force-nullification. It was similar to the fatigue one felt after several late nights studying lightsaber forms, except it hit all at once instead of building day by day.

 

[Silas Westgard]

Location: GHOLONDREINE-β
Objective: Retrieve the Holocron
Tag: Cailen Corso

The tunnels were silent to the point where they could only hear their heartbeat, a stark difference from what both Jedi were used to back on coruscant or other tightly packed planets. Silas wasn't very fond of situations like this, not because he was paranoid of the dark but because of how it removed the force. Without it, they were stripped of their greatest ally and the lookout against any approaching danger. A thing like that would make any small thing ten times worse.

"Keep your eyes peeled for any traps, there were indications tha-"

However, before he could finish his words the light from his torch caught something only a few steps away. Pinned against the wall was the body of a treasure hunter, impaled by a metallic like spear that had gone through his stomach like butter "As I was saying..." the Jedi said with a sigh as he carefully went to the body and respectfully closed the man's eyes so he could examine it in peace "I think we can both agree we don't want to end up like him, correct?" he said with a brief look of concern to his companion. Then, briefly nodding to the floor he indicated a pressure plate that had been activated.

"We know what to watch out for now. They are easy to miss by yourself, but considering there's two of us we have no excuses"
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