Private The Heart of Exploration

[Meridine Proxima]

Giaca. Until a few weeks before, she had never even heard of the forest world. It was uncolonized, with only a few explorers and pirates setting up outposts across the planet's surface. So, why had a planet with no natural points or resources of interest, no significant population centers or great achievements to its name caught her attention so fully? Meridine asked herself that question on a nearly hourly basis as the shuttle she had commandeered from the Brotherhood of the Maw armory began its final approach to the lush, green ball of potential uselessness.

Well, the simple nothingness that the planet offered was part of her interest. In a galaxy with countless civilizations spanning thousands of years, to find a world almost entirely untouched by the wider galaxy was something of a treat to Meridine. Having grown up on a spice smugglers ship her entire life, she had only ever seen the dimly lit corridors of an aging freighter, or the few times she had been able to disembark the overly populated and usually polluted spaceports smugglers used. Crammed shoulder to shoulder with foul smelling and usually quite rude aliens from a hundred worlds had never been Meridine's favorite experience, though any chance to get off the smugglers ship had been a cherished event. So hearing rumors of a world almost entirely without people or civilization on the edge of Brotherhood space, and with the ability to be given things for once in her life thanks to membership with the New Sith Order, she decided upon this little field trip.

The pilot of the shuttle was not as eager for this expedition as Meridine was, but the sleek black and grey explosive collar fitted around the rodians neck kept him as driven as Meridine, if not more so, to reach their objective. His presence was necessary for the second part of this expedition. One of the few points of interest on Giaca was the rumored ancient civilization listening post deep in the jungles of the planet. No official map existed to the temple's location, and only smugglers and pirates supposedly knew its location. Finding one of their kind bragging about this achievement had been easy, and “convincing” him to help had been even easier. Igniting her lightsaber alone had cowed him, and the collar had kept him civil since then.

Turning away from the viewport, Meridine glanced at the only other occupant of the shuttle, Darth Ptolemis standing to the side. While the thrill of seeing a fresh world had been Meridine's main focus, her compatriot from the New Sith Order had come primarily for the rumored listening station. Arms folded across her chest, Meridine inclined her head towards a small clearing that the smuggler was piloting them towards, the smoke of campfires visible through the trees. "What do you think we can expect from this man's...friends once we land?"

 

[Darth Ptolemis]

THE HEART OF EXPLORATION

Meridine Proxima

Equipment.

​

As the foreboding Maw ship sliced through the humid clouds of Giaca, all kinds of airborne creatures scurried away into the lush canopy of the forests below. Giaca itself was a remote celestial object that was expensive and dangerous to access, owing its secretive nature to a rare hypespace tangle that repelled most explorers. With the Force bent to one's will, however, everything seemed possible for the new apprentice.

The planet's temperature was comfortable for the average humanoid, its air fresh and breathable; yet the Force left a taste of dried blood in the mouths of those attuned to it. - In times long forgotten, war gripped these lands. – Stated the cryptic Orlov with eyes closed as rays of pale sunlight fell upon his jawline through the cockpit window, leaving the rest of his visage obscured by oily shadows; as if the Dark Side itself had intended to highlight his message, coating his words with poisoned honey. He swallowed the taste of death and cleared his throat. – Perhaps we'll find ourselves in conflict sooner, rather than later. – Said the grim figure standing straight at the back of the ship as he opened his eyes, the color of which was that of a hollow bone faded by a waning sun.

As they are approaching the clearing, he is digging into the on-board computer for information through one of the access panels on the wall, but the dense forest and the heat signatures of its diverse fauna mask the numbers of the smugglers. Yet is matters not. The two apprentices clad in inked shades wield something so profound, so terrifying… words cannot do it justice. But actions can.

Orlov hits a switch on the wall with a closed fist, initiating the opening procedure for the boarding ramp; tree leaves and thick heat immediately roar through the ever widening slit at the back of the craft. As the ship touches down, the Fondorian puts on his hood and turns back towards the captive pilot. – Leave the engine running. – He turns and walks down the moderate incline, his steps drowned out by the engine's noise, finally stopping right before the knee-high foliage to wait for his companion.

Preferring to walk his own way, Orlov is hesitant to trust the sinister woman, but knows that he is still an apprentice and requires crutches… for now.
​