First Reply The Tomb Raider

[Allyson Locke]

//: Mission //: Sith Artifact Retrieval //:
//: Location //: Mindor //:
//: Target //: Information on Belia Darzu //:

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"Ahcho!" A sneeze echoed the nearly empty grassland. The wind blew the vegetation gently, which caused its pollen to scatter in the air and tickle the Corellian's nose. She wasn't aware of the sudden rise of her allergies. Grass didn't usually do this to her. "Ahcho!" Another sneeze echoed as Allyson buried her face into her elbow. "Fetching Chaos." She spoke to herself and no one in particular. As she stood in the middle of the field, she wondered if her usual allergy stim would quell her new grass allergies. ​

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Allyson dug into the pack that slung over her shoulder and pinned against her back. It was a good thing she usually carried a few of the stims. She had gotten into the habit while going on missions with Zaavik. Her mind wandered briefly to the Zeltron, he had grown up quickly, and she couldn't have been prouder to have known the boy. He would make a great Jedi - possibly be something better than her. A prick quieted her thoughts while a slender needle entered into the vein under the crease of her elbow. Air escaped through clenched teeth as the needle slid deeper into her arm. The auto-injector made things easy, and the cold burn of the medication chilled her vein, and her sense of smell returned. ​

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The stim emptied she shoved it into her pack. She probably could have discarded it somewhere on the planet but decided to stick to her paranoid habits. Leaving nothing behind meant no one could follow her or know that she had been on the surface of the planet. Allyson inhaled deeply; the scent of nature filled her lungs. It was a welcomed break from being holed up in a dungeon and the polluted streets of Coruscant. She had meant to sell her apartment - dump the living quarters and return to the life she had even before Kaili. ​

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Being out of any distinguishing uniform, no noticeable allegiances beyond her Corellian Bloodstripes. The break from the spy work for the Alliance was welcomed, especially after her capture of the Sith Empire. The leave of absence allowed her to work on the things she wished to busy herself with, staying far from the chaos that the Jedi, the Imperials, and the Sith continued to drag people into. She had done her due diligence against the Sith - it was time to focus on something else. ​

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It was okay to hang up the cape. The Spy reminded herself. She had run again, disappearing for a bit of time. Guilt began to bleed into her heart, and she once more convinced herself that it was okay. Fingers adjusted the well-worn leather jacket as she exhaled softly; her mission was hunting down information on an old Sith Lord named Belia Darzu. From what the archives had stated, she was why Mechu Deru was a thing - her name also showed up several times in the tomb that Taeli Raaf had given her. ​

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Such an odd gift, but Allyson had a feeling there was more meaning to it than Taeli just wanting to be nice. It gave Allyson a remaining gateway into the Sith Empire group of leaders. It went along with her plans. A hand slapped across her face as she snapped herself out of the planning. Alliance and SIA work was meant to be kept out of her mind. This was her vacation, her break from that mess. ​

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Allyson shook her head; she did keep in touch with the Agency - no need for them to think she was going awol. There was already enough suspicion around her, but maybe that was a good thing - she was a spy, she was meant to be alone. The thought made her think of someone else, but once more, she pushed it from her mind knowing that right now wasn't the time. ​

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Looking around, she searched for the cavern's entrance - she was supposed to meet someone, she wondered if they were running late. Pulling up her device, she made a quick call to the associate. ​

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"Nothing seems trapped on the outside, gonna head in." She left the message and then began working on the rope. It was old school, but there was something remarkable about it. Allyson looked down into the cavern. Inside there could be still some of the ancient techobeasts lingering down there. The thought made her uneasy, but still excited to study it. ​

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"Ew." The thought of wanting to do research made her stick out her tongue as she slowly began to let herself down into the cavern's sliver of an entrance.​

 

[Cara Dorniarn]

Allyson Locke

So it would seem dreams did come true--well, at least one. The tip came from a chef who swore she was the one who bought his last cheesecake, an event then gossiped about by a mechanic in a hovercar shop, then twisted into a boast by a salesman that even she used his dealership, which was overheard by Cara’s “business” associate who actually knew where the woman had last been seen. It was the first lead in months, one which Cara decided to investigate personally. Finally she would get to the bottom of the mystery that had been nagging her mind for months--no, years. The discovery of the individual behind the name that had haunted so many reports yet led to nowhere.

Just who was the enigmatic Allyson Locke?

Oh sure, there were those who claimed to know, claimed to be, or claimed to have even killed the spy. All of which proved to be either false leads or the ramblings of idiots, dispiriting most investigators to where they abandoned the hunt for easier game. There was an odd connection with the Confederacy of Independent Systems, but the likelihood of such a high profile individual being connected to a clothing line was hand-waved as simply improbable. It was a rather large galaxy after all, and unique names were a rare commodity. So after all the criss-crossing leads, grainy holopics, and compromised comm systems (the more illegal acts are kept redacted) the whereabouts of the Corellian were triangulated to the Taspan system. Cara confirmed it a third time on the Azure Star's sensors before touchdown on Mindor, the terminal seeming to answer the repeated query with a testy chime. Her gray fingers brushed against the console, the systems powering down with the slow touch as she turned away.

Cara had left behind any clothing related to government or position, having slipped into the basic outfit of any standard engineer. The yellow metal gloss of her arms were on display with the sleeveless shirt and vest, the latter almost covering the cybernetics of her neck as she zipped it to the collar. She stomped her right boot to get a feel for the new leather before walking a small circle to get used to their heft. She pulled the vibroblade from the back of her belt and nodded at its shine, but as she went to return it to its sheath she hesitated. She tossed it aside, the knife landing with a soft thud on the bunk. In its stead she grabbed a multitool, folding it as she walked to her desk for a holopad. Before the ramp of her ship could fully extend Cara hopped to the ground, activating the holopad while glancing about the Chagrian homeworld. A yellow dot ambled around the scan lines then stopped, but before Cara pinged its location the dot...vanished. Brow knit as her hand waved across the display to show the coordinates. Hitting the trail again only half of Cara was visible as she trod through the grassland. If one bothered to strain an ear they could hear the sea not too far away, a pleasant noise that may as well have been static to the engineer. Her eyes were focused on the digital compass, herself nothing of an outdoors person. So hyper-focused was Cara she didn't notice the pothole. With a startled yelp she stumbled forward and caught herself, but the same catch didn't happen for the compass. It struck the ground with a noisy clack then bounced in the air, rolling down the cavern's maw and disappearing below.

Cara straightened her back and cast a wary eye left and right, embarrassment flush on her face not from the stagger, but the undignified squeak she'd given. She cleared her throat then huffed, resuming her cold persona. With a few steps closer she found a length of rope which thread deeper into the cavern below. For a moment there was a whisper, something in the back of her mind both familiar yet alien. Eyes narrowed as she made note of the sensation yet continued onward, determined to satisfy her own curiosity--and ask a few questions in the meantime.