Public The Haunted Moon

[Kaia Starchaser]

Earlier​

The call had gone out, a ship carrying settlers making its way to the Outer Rim, and nearby to the Levant Outback had gone down. The distress call was garbled. There was no sound of traditional conflict, no laser blasts, no slugthrower shots. No traditional weapons, or blaster fire were being heard but still, there were the sounds of the crew in pain. The equipment that received it worked with the droids to do its best to clean up the transmissions.

“They came… beyond…”

“Appeared… no… no where…”

“Ships not… scope…”

“Desert– … oon…”

“Save us.”

“Save us.”

“Save us.”

The last line repeated, all but begging the more and more it went on, until the voice went dead, and the transmission restarted. By a few triangulations of Levant Outback Frontiers Corp ships, the moon was fairly close to the galactic rim, sadly not too far from the temperate world they were seeking as their salvation and new life.

The call had then gone out for rescue teams.

Any ships listening would be receiving the initial coordinates and description. Modified heavy transport. 1000 souls and equipment to begin a settlement on the Rim. Enough technical parts and technical skills to keep the vessel air tight and provide the settlers time to survive.

Or for the more unsavory, enough gear to make a small fortune to the right buyer.

The moon in question? Unknown. Unmapped. Presumed lifeless. Presumed ancient terraforming failure.

Present​

Kaia Starchaser had listened to the message one more time. She shook her head as the Zenith arrived outside the moon’s orbit. She could see a few other ships and was unsure where she was going to go with them. Even her ship, with its advanced systems was having a hard time penetrating the swirling not-atmosphere of the world. It was odd, wasn’t it?

“This is Kaia Starchaser to local ships, identifying self as part of rescue effort. Not here for a fight.” Hopefully the others were here for the same.

A world with no air with a layer of gas thick enough to cause advanced scanners an issue of penetrating to find where the ship had gone down. What she did see were a few small drones returning from the surface and another ship making its way towards the planet.

Pressing her throttle forward, she could feel it in the Force.

Save us… Save us… Save us…

That was what she was here to do, save the people and get as many out as she could. A Pathfinder frigate was on its way. She and her team would get in, and maybe work with the other people coming. As her ship got closer to the planet, the Force message started to become warped, and garbled.

With us… With us… With us…

And that was when it hit, as she got into the proposed area of the atmosphere, something from the planet was pulling her ship down. Scratch that, guiding it to the planet. All others would be feeling the same as their communication equipment was going dead, static. The kind of static where old spacers said you could hear messages within.


Welcome to the Haunted Moon. A rescue mission on a moon that clearly something extra-galactic has found its home on and doesn’t want people around, or maybe, once it learned how those people can add to it, definitely doesn’t want them to leave. Have fun, try to find the downed ship, watch out for the things that go bump all over this world. Tell a story, build off what others are saying.

 

[Darth Moskvin]

​

Location: Outer Rim (Unknown)
Gear: Staff of the Damned / Talisman of the Witch / Magical Gems / Bow of Immolation / Hilt
Familiar: Archimedes
Tags: N/A​

There are very few regrets I have in my undead life but learning to pilot a ship rests at the top of those regrets. Tinkering with magik, the dead, and alchemy I can manipulate; but blinking buttons and automated voices ordering me about in a cramped-up tomb is not my idea of passing the time. Thus, the loss of learning to fly a ship, though I can fly by other means. Naturally, as always, I was regulated to pay for services in the form of passage back to one of the Sith Worlds in the Outer Rim. Normally I just take what I want, kill what I don't need but sadly for me, I actually needed these mercs to remain breathing. My associates, if you will, had some backroom antics on one of the planets, no doubt looking to profit off the Sith's hard work; but even mercenary work can have its unfortunate layoffs. But something was starting to feel off. My hired pilots began pouring through the Force a sense of uneasiness and confusion, drawing me to investigate.

With Archie perched as always upon my right shoulder; we headed toward the front of this confounded machine, ignoring the sounds of its belling throes of pain. I'm no mechanic either, but I would bet this ship had seen better days; perhaps I would offer my advice that they look to procure a more fitting ship for future endeavors. The captain of the ship, a short potbellied alien of sort, stepped out speaking gibberish about a signal, a moon, trouble; I wasn't really paying attention, I was finding his rants to be the most amusing form of entertainment on this trip to date. Trying not to get too involved in conversation, a topic of point I try to avoid with others, I inquired about his rants. He said something about the ship's nav computer was be overridden and by unseen forces we were being drawn to the moon below. I would have laughed had I not seen things in my life that would seem unbelievable to the close minded.

I peered out a side port seeing other ships arrayed about this moon, and then I felt something, something cold, dark and sinister. Now I was smiling at this. I turned to look at the moon itself, and for a brief glimpse I could swear by testimony that it was smiling back. That's when the ship went dead; lights out, systems down, the works. We were now at the mercy of this unseen force as the bold, brave captain earlier pointed out. He began barking orders to his small crew in preparation of a rough landing, then had the audacity to ask me for help, as if I was some Jedi or galactic hero who actually cared for his well-being and safety. Like little spider-roaches scrambling about, the crew prepared for the inevitable; and I prepared for adventure.

And then we crashed landed....

 

[Kaia Starchaser]

She was decent at tracking through the Force. One of the skills of a Warden and a Starchaser. Hyperspace, piloting, tracking, and using Light to brighten the world. Or blind someone, same same but different, right? Still, Kaia doubted anyone would need the Force to feel the foreboding essence of this moon. But if there was a chance of people still being alive down there? She would have to take it.

A team of Starchaser Enterprises new Search and Rescue crews were coming and she was just the advanced team. Or the unfortunate one who was ahead of everyone else due to her ship. Whichever it was, the dark haired Mirialan was more than confident with her ability to handle her ship and the technology she may need.

She even had a new experimental explorer's pistol on her belt. Not much for doing damage, but scanning and resource gathering? That it could do.

The Wandering Star was pulled to the planet and she was just barely able to fight it, to make it so the engines weren't damaged. But she did see Drifter reporting that the repulsors were inoperable.

Super.

"Well, get working on those. I'm going to head to the surface and see what I can find. Is there any scanner help?"

Drifter beeped in a negative. Then expanded.

"Right, EV suit… of course." She shook her head as she made her way to the equipment locker.



Darth Moskvin

 

[Darth Moskvin]

"Death Has But One Terror, That It Has No Tomorrow"​

​

Some of the crew ran frantically through the ship trying to assess the damage from the unplanned landing, whilst the captain and his first mate tried desperately to come up with a solution to our predicament. I can hear the first mate, a young female Twi'lek whose name I purposedly bothered not to remember, explain the atmospheric conditions of the planet to him. As for Archie and myself, we stood impatiently awaiting confirmation so we could begin our adventure. My curiosity was boiling over, waging an inner war to be released and wreak havoc. Whatever was out there, it called for me to capture it, dissect it, and unlock its mysteries, and not necessarily in the particular order.

The crew returned to their boss unloading more problems onto his shoulders with their various reports involving the state of the ship, and the expression on his face spoke volumes. Raising his voice over the others, he barked his orders sending them back into a scrambled frenzy before he stomped his way over to me saying, "The ship is repairable, but it will take time according to the engineers. I'm sending out a scouting party to investigate our nearby surroundings, you and your bird will remain..." With heighten speed I reached out and gripped his gelatinous throat with my right hand, drawing his face mere inches from mine as I responded, "We will not remain on the ship and stand around like cargo, Captain. We will join your little band of merry investigators and my dear portly little man, that is non-negotiable."

Feeling his flabby flesh wiggle under my grasp almost disgusted me as he attempted to pull away from my grip; only to discover he was trapped in a predatorial vise grip. Stammering as he spoke, he squeaked out his words through grated breathes, "You...don't...understand. The air...is not breathable...without...suit. You...tall....for any....suits...on...ship." I moved my face into position where the tips of our noses touched, seeing my own disturbing image reflected in his eyes as I replied, "The dead do not suffer the living's problems. I am going but Archie will remain here. See to it he stays safe, for whatever befalls his fate will surely be shared by you, my sweet pompous Captain."

Kaia Starchaser​

 

[Pal Veda]

“I still don’t get it,” Pal admitted, rereading the diagnostics report in front of him. “This says the engines are fine, the controls are fine, what am I missing?”

Beep boop! Brrrr! BB responded in binary, confirming what the captain already knew. Nothing.

”See if it’s the SLAB acting up. Maybe it’s malfunctioning and throwing off the atmospheric drive.” Even the astromech, faceless and expressionless, clearly displayed skepticism at the Idea. “I know, I know, but I‘m at a loss. Just try it. And run another scan for artificial gravity wells or tractor beams while you’re at it.” BB plugged back in to run more tests while Pal chomped on his toothpick, trying to come up with any other explanation for the current situation.

Like several others, the legendary smuggler had received the distress call from the settlers. Well, not directly, but he was in the vicinity when Aerin Denno forwarded it to him. Rescue and salvage operations weren’t normally his thing, but joining the Spacer’s League came with certain expectations alongside the benefits. Plus, like any other job, there would be credits at the end of this, just not as many as he’d like.

But nothing is ever simple. During a routine orbital scan, something had caused the Rubicon to . . . Well, something brought it down. The engines were temporarily incapacitated, the controls momentarily went haywire, and next thing Pal knew, his YT-2400 was landing on the moon with him and his droid inside it.

Now they sat here trying to figure out what the problem was, hitting dead end after dead end. Everything should be working, but nothing was working. This didn’t sit well with him, and the eery distress call that brought him here started to become even more haunting.

Beep boop! Beep boop!

The astromech’s course binary brought Pal back to the present. “What do you have for me, BB?” He read the data uploaded to the screen in front of him, still not sure what to make of it. “Well, it’s not just us. Looks like at least a couple of other rescue ships came down not too far away. Maybe they know what’s going on. I assume no luck in making radio contact?”

Boop boop!

”Yeah, that’s what I figured. Alright, I’m going to suit up and see if I can’t figure out what’s going on out there. You stay on the ship and see if you can’t figure out what’s going on in here.”

Kaia Starchaser Darth Moskvin

 

[Delila Castillon]

Solitude came to a halt mid-hyperspace flight. Woke her out of a dead sleep too, causing her to stumble out of bed and stub her toe. Skreech found it extremely hilarious, cackling at her as she cursed around the room, slipping boots on her feet and heading towards the cockpit. Bleary-eyed, she was trying to focus, looking out the viewport for any signs of distress.

Nothing. Just a distant moon. Or satellite of some sort.

Fingers danced around the controls, searching through the scans. More vessels were nearby, didn't appear to be moving quickly either. Dead in the water like herself? It was difficult to say. Maybe they got caught in some sort of gravity-well that wasn't mapped. As someone who didn't like to fly, it was difficult to determine what exactly was going on. Could be everything and nothing all at once.

Hand toggled the comm.

"Unknown vessels - this is Solitude. Are we stuck in a gravity well? Any clarity would be appreciated."

Now, toggling the comm invited a world of trouble, but one she had to take. Could be enemy unknown vessels hoping she was disabled and wanting to board her ship. Not that her ship was great. Or new. Or even in solid repair. Didn't mean folks wouldn't take it or hope there was more on board. All she was trying to do was get from one mercenary job to another.

At least she had enough weapons on board to go out swinging.

Pal Veda | Kaia Starchaser | Darth Moskvin

 

[Darth Moskvin]

"Death Has But One Terror, That It Has No Tomorrow"​

​

I felt absolutely naked without Archie perched on my shoulder, as if all my special bits were exposed for all to see, especially these lonely sods I was walking with. I wondered how long it's been for these mortal men to have felt the warmth of a woman, or man, or a mixture of both. Regardless of their dry spells, one unwanted glance and I will methodically begin removing internal organs in alphabetical order, but lucky for them they were wearing helmets to disguise their prying eyes. No murdering today, how sad.

Per the orders of their glorious leader, Captain Whose Name I Failed To Remember, we were only supposed to march out no more than ninety-two meters from the downed ship, then walk a perimeter from our starting point back, then return to the ship. I could only assume by the damage of the ship, though repairable I had been told, we would be making camp for a few days. The perimeter was obviously for security purposes, which I didn't understand; this lot didn't have the proper weapon equipment like turrets and such to form a strong defensive perimeter. They had their blasters and rifles, and of course I have myself. Strange sensations washed over me as we hauled ourselves to the starting point of the perimeter, a feeling not shared with the others, but I suspected they were experiencing something judging by their body language.

I wasn't the first, nor the last, to see some figure standing out beyond the horizon. From our position there was no accurate way to identify what we were all staring at, but once again I was feeling that sensation. The best way to describe this sensation was like little, cold whispers being spoken directly into your soul. Then I realized for the first time, as we looked upon that mysterious figure in the distance, that these men were definitely feeling some kind of effects; for they no longer wanted to move forward. I grabbed the closest man to me and shoved him forward. We had orders to follow, though it's never been in my nature to follow orders regardless of who issued them, it was my curiosity that allowed me to remind this group why we were out here.

The more we drew closer to both our point and the figure out beyond, the more I began to sense an ominous presence drawing around us. Sensing a trap or a calculated ambush in the making, I unclipped my two hilts and held them at the ready. Then it happened, from below something broke up from the ground, snatched one of the crew members, and dragged him down; the planet's surface swallowing them both whole. The men, clearly spooked, began chattering gibberish in the wake of this event, and I looked out to the direction of the figure, who now was gone. My lips turned into a cold, maniacal smile, because today was going to be a fruitful one.

Kaia Starchaser I Pal Veda I Delila Castillon​

 

[Kaia Starchaser]

The dark haired, well, now with a streak of blue to it, Warden was more than happy to adventure, but not always more than happy to be on a planet. What she preferred was being in space, being out there between the stars. But part of what she was doing now? It seemed to be rescue jobs. And making sure that space was safe for everyone. And if there was a part of some of the inner colonist corporations that could see the Wardens as something of hope? She had to do it.

With us… with us… with us…

As Kaia was busy putting her EV suit on, just a little bit more expansive than the standard Levantine ExCon Suit but enough to be safe on the planet’s surface, when that infernal call came through the Force again.

“Hey Drift, how about that comms?” She asked. What she needed to know was if the other ships were coming this same way. She saw more being dragged down as she could get a glance out of the viewports.

The beeping came back and she just shook her head.

“Of course not.”

Checking her lightsaber was where it belonged, the dark haired Mirialan stepped onto the surface. She wanted this ship fixed and to get out, but there was a part of her that knew she had to solve what was happening on this world before she could get off this rock.

She looked and saw another ship coming down.

“Bzztt…. Solitude… bzzzt… well… be…. Bzzt”

So, some of the comms were working. Grabbing the handheld scanner, she was going to need that, as the Force was not her friend here. Too much darkness, too much weirdness…

And was that a real flying bat, or something spectral? She wasn’t going to wait around to find out. Marking her landing place on her map, and making it track her movements rather than any satnav, she made her first steps.

Delila Castillon Darth Moskvin Pal Veda

 

[Pal Veda]

With the Breath mask secured around his face, the line running to an oxygen tank strapped to his back, Pal lowered the ramp of the Rubicon and cautiously strode down onto the moon’s rocky surface. The sensors indicated mostly normal gravity and a pressurized atmosphere in which he should be fine, as long as he wasn’t breathing in the “air,” but those first few steps always came with a bit of uncertainty.

Dark and eerie was an understatement. This place was downright scary. “B-One!” he yelled back into the ship, voice slightly distorted through the breathing apparatus, “Come down here.”

”Roger, roger!”

His obedient battle droid, B1-D1, came marching down the ramp, blaster rifle in hand. “I want you to stand guard out here. If you see anything that isn’t me . . . Well, you should probably shoot it. Got it?”

”Roger, roger!”

Yeah, yeah, roger, roger, I get it. Pal took his own blaster in his right hand with a flashlight in his left. “Suck it up, Captain,” he said aloud, gathering his courage and adventurous spirit. Then off he went, heading toward the direction of the nearest ship showing up on their scanners. His wrist comp seemed to be working, so that was helpful, but he did not want to rely on it given the interference he had experienced on his way in. Every fifty meters or so, he made a mark on a tree or rock to make sure he could find his way back if things went sideways.

Slow moving at first, he picked up the pace as his comfort level grew. This ain’t so bad. He figured he was about a kilometer from his ship when he heard it. A SCREEEEECH! that sent shivers down his spine. Pal spun around, eyes searching frantically for the source. “What the Sith was that?” he muttered under his breath, heart pounding.

There! He caught something in the distance, seeing the movement out the corner of his eye. It stopped in its tracks in reaction to his flashlight shining on it. Some sort of creature, possibly humanoid? Gray? The eyes shining back at him were unnerving. They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, but was in truth barely a couple of seconds. Then it turned and bounded off, out of sight in an instant.

Pal gripped his blaster a little tighter, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.

Kaia Starchaser Darth Moskvin Delila Castillon

 

[Delila Castillon]

Quietly waiting, Delila looked around the cockpit, as if something was going to magically happen. Skreech was perched up on the copilots chair, looking around as well. It was unusual for the monkey-lizard to be this quiet. Which, in her eyes, meant that something wasn't right. Even in the most tense of times Skreech always had something to say.

Nothing but static on the comm.

"They didn't hear us Skreech. Or are ignoring us. Vessels certainly seem dead in the water.....so are we...."

The old redhead wasn't sure which way to turn. There was no crew on board. If she had Xin and Brak then boarding the vessels would be a great option. One of them inside the ship while the other two investigated. Wasn't going to happen. It was a wish she had time and time again but things tended to change and plans always didn't go the way one wanted them to.

"Let's drift on closer. Do a drive-by. Get a feel for the neighborhood. Can't hurt right?"

Pal Veda | Darth Moskvin | Kaia Starchaser

 

[Darth Moskvin]

"Death Has But One Terror, That It Has No Tomorrow"​

​

The gibberish of the men slowly faded and was followed by them running back to the ship, which bore a sigh from deep within me. Surely whatever took their fellow crewman may or may not have any problem ripping through the ship. Then I thought of Archie inside the potential metal mausoleum and through the Force ripped a com link from the waist band from one of the fleeing boys. I turned it on, explained to the Captain my intentions, chided him for hiring cowards, and reiterated to him more darkly than before his sole purpose was to ensure Archie's safety. Formalities concluded; I turned toward the horizon where the mysterious figure once stood and began taking long strides in that particular direction.

Whatever was on this planet didn't want to be found, or rather it wanted to be the one thing that found you. From time to time, I would feel a ping in the Force, catching darting shadows moving through rock clusters or rocked hills, as if these things were playing a game. Unfortunately for them, I too love playing games, the kind that end in murder, mayhem, and splashes of blood painting walls and floors. It seemed to me that these things weren't interested in attacking me, as if they were an advanced scouting party sent to keep eyes on me; this new predator that walked calmy and unafraid upon the surface of their planet; and all the while this sensation kept it's pulsating continuous.

As I reached the plateau of a hill, I spotted a ship below with a figure walking away from it. This planet, it seems, was collecting ships like a collector, but for what? Was this planet alive, acting as a Mother to draw people down to feed those things, her children? I began to laugh at the notion of such a theory. The galaxy is full of strange, mysterious, and exotic worldly goods, but it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility if this was a real possibility. In any case, I needed information, so I began walking down the hill in the direction of the oncoming figure.

Kaia Starchaser I Pal Veda I Delila Castillon​