Things Of The Past(Rhen Var)

[Sifa Tirel]

SSCSpace - Rhen Var; Southern Hemisphere ​

Sifa took a deep breath, the icy air filling her lungs and biting at her insides.​

​

She had never been to Rhen Var. A decade ago, when she had first joined the AgriCorps and the Jedi Order had been whole she had submitted a request with her Masters to go and see this world, explore its contents. They had denied her of course, telling her that Rhen Var was no place for a member of the AgriCorps. Logically, she could not have argued with them, and so she had not.​

​

So not in this, or any lifetime Sifa had not been to this world before. Yet when the opportunity presented itself, when she saw a chance, Sifa volunteered herself for a trip to this planet.​

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The Sith were gullible, or at the very least greedy. She had spun tales, told stories of artifacts and ancient ruins of the Jedi. She had told them that there was much to be found here, and to her surprise, they had believed her. The Sith had given her a ship and several hundred credits. At first she had thought it was a trick, a trap, but now she realized that perhaps it was a test. I she returned with something worthwhile, she would be reward, if not, she would be punished.​

​

It made sense really, it fit with how they thought.​

​

She would have done the same.​

​

A hand moved up and tightened the scarf around her face, a hot breath escaping through the cloth as she shook and began to wander through the snow. Rhen Var was an ancient world, old. It had many ruins, many wrecks. Over the centuries hundreds had explored and tried to claim what was lost, including those within the Old Empire.​

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Unfortunately, more often than not those expeditions did not end well, and it was that fact that had lead Sifa to where she stood now.​

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Her eyes wandered won the cliff face, creeping over the snows and latching onto a massive Imperial Star Destroyer half buried in Ice, precisely located where the Jedi Archives had stated it would be. Lost nearly eight centuries ago by a Remnant of the Old Empire, forgotten until found...by her.​

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The botanist smiled slightly, then slowly began to descend the cliffs.​

​

[member="Valiens Nantaris"] | [member="Thurion Heavenshield"] | [member="Coci Heavenshield"]​

 

[RC 212]

[member="Sifa Tirel"]

Rhen Var was cold but not overly so. Vassara's Glare Ice lightsaber crystal buzzed softly in her lightsaber, keeping her warm against the blistering cold. Where others would have received frostbite, she was still warm and toasty. Clad in an all white cloak, similiar to her Tusken Raider outfit, with fur about the cowl, black boots, Shotgun on her back; she wandered the wastes.

What she was here to find she was not overly certain of. There were many things in the galaxy waiting to be found, secrets from ancient bygone times. The winds whipped up a fierce gale, tugging at her cloak and making her eyes squint. Those icy blue orbs peered into the distance. Through the gale and unrelenting blizzard she could barely make out the form of a massive shadow.

This must be it then. She had wandered here on instinct, letting the force guide her way. A Useful trait, to Astrogate Instinctively it was called. To simply plot blind jumps, find new paths, and let the void work its will. This must be the culmination. Something prickled in her gut, alerting her to a nearby presence....

 

[Sifa Tirel]

[member="Vassara Raxis"]​

​

Sifa didn't hesitate.

The Star Destroyer was still half frozen in place, there likely weren't many exits or entrances that she could move in through, but then again she had a lightsaber for that reason. The snowy wastelands of Rhen Var weren't the most welcoming, and as she finally came down from the cliff side she found that she had nearly a kilometer still left to go. A sigh escaped her lips, and she cursed the odd weather patterns for not allowing her to move closer to the derelict ISD with her starship.

Her eyes cast towards the skies, darkened by black clouds and flurries of snow. She frowned, her head shaking from side to side as she wearily began to head towards the Star Destroyer. There would be a blizzard before the day was out, perhaps she would have to spend the night within the Destroyer.

That wouldn't be so bad...as long as she was alone.

Sifa frowned again, then tucked the scarf tighter across her face. Her march went at a steady pace, and she trudged across the massive ice plain at a steady rate. Five minutes went by, then ten, and then finally after what seemed like an age Sifa managed to reach an overhang of the massive Star Destroyer.

 

[RC 212]

[member="Sifa Tirel"]

The blizzards intensity was picking up now. Vassara crouched for a second, closing her eyes and letting the force reach out across the frozen wastes. Yes something or someone was here, but she could not be entirely certain. The force flowed into her like a soft stream, invigorating her strained muscles and tired legs. She was far from her target, and racing the storm.

With determination she rose, crunching through the snow at a steady clip. Each black booted foot sank into the drifts, making the trek laborious, tedious and tiring. If she hadn't had the force to call on, she might not have made it.

The meters rolled by beneath her feet, the frosty crystal formed a fog with each heavy breath. She was gaining and quickly. Up ahead the masive shadow suddenly began to take a more tangible shape. A Wedge shap.

"Star Destroyer. Out here?" She wondered aloud to her self.

The wind began to pick up, howling with the intesity of an explosives shockwave. The storm was coming

She treked on, just a few more minutes and she would arrive at the prow of the beastly relic.

 

[Sifa Tirel]

[member="Vassara Raxis"]​

​

Sifa moved beneath the bottom of the Star Destroyer, its huge triangular shape half sticking out into the air. The former Jedi stood beneath the back of the vessel, its massive ion engines pointing out towards the mountains just a few clicks away.

She did not see Vassara in the distance, the storm was coming in strong now, and the vessel was nearly a kilometer long, even on a clear day the other woman would have been less than a spec. They had come to opposite ends of the Star Destroyer, though perhaps they would meet in the middle. Sifa looked up, wandering over the frozen ice until she could reach up and touch the frozen hull of the Tyrant.

A lightsaber blade flared into life, a snap then a hiss as a bright blue beam of plasma sparked into being.

There was no hesitation on Sifa's part, no withholding, the burning blade was stabbed up and into the Star Destroyer. She gripped the long hilt of her lightsaber and cut a neat circle into the hull of the Star Destroyer, stepping aside and wrenching with the force to pull free the section of the hull that she had cut. A rush of cold air went surging passed her as the pressurized air within the Star Destroyer flooded out.

A cough tore through her lungs, her head shaking as the lightsaber was returned to the clip on her belt. She waited a moment for the edges to cool, then reached up and pulled herself into the Tyrant.

 

[RC 212]

[member="Sifa Tirel"]

The first snows came then. A flurry of destructive force slammed into the ground around her. More than anything Vassara wished to be gone from this place. But the Star Destroyer, and the presence...

Those warranted investigation. As the torrential blizzard unleashed it white-out across the plains she finally had reached the front of the Destroyer. As soon as she reached it she crouched under a nearby overhang, taking a brief refuge from the storm to catch her breath. She considered putting up a modular tent and crawling in her sleeping bag.

Yes that and her heater would feel soooo good right now.

But it was not to be. The force was calling, nudging her harder now. The feeling, the lust to explore this giant destroyer of worlds was taking over, crowding out everything else. In the white wastes a stark orange saber snapped to life, fogging in the cold air. Vassara growled, plunging the blade upwards into the metal plates.

A healthy combination of dry rot and weakened metal from the blistering cold allowed her to cut through rather easily.. The piece simply fell out, and a man sized hole appeared. The saber snapped back off, pocketed with a swift motion. The young spacer drew the force deeper into her core, tensing her muscles, and exploded upwards, clearing the hole.

She landed in a soft crouch inside the destroyer, dust exploding in a series of swirls as her black boots struck the deck...

 

[Sifa Tirel]

[member="Vassara Raxis"]​

​

Unsurprisingly, the ship was empty.

Sifa gazed around the dark, surprisingly warm, hallways. A hand began to dig at her belt, groping around until she found a small cylinder. A loud click echoed through the hall, and an almost searingly bright beam of light sprang into life. The Flashlight illuminated the hall quite well, showing a vast amount of absolute nothing.

Dust clung to the air, and a hint of biting cold ravaged through the empty halls. Sifa let out a sigh, the formed Jedi beginning a long trek down the spine of the ship. She knew that what she wanted was likely kept in some kind of secure vault on the ship, it was just a matter of finding that vault. The easiest way would be to find a map, and where better to find a map of this ship then the bridge?

In theory even after several centuries she should be able to get back up power running. Star Destroyers held systems in place for eons, and the cold would only help.

 

[RC 212]

[member="Sifa Tirel"]

A glowstick racked in her hands, orang light bathing the insides of the room. She appeared to be in an maintenance shaft, which made sense, since sensors were the only real thing of use to affix to the tip of an Star Destroyer.

The air in here was stale, almost as if it had not breathed in a thousand years or so. Vassara could smell rust, mixed with musty smells. There was mold growing in some sections and the odd thing was, some places weren't even cold. Almost as if the ships still had half power.

"Odd." She said, holding the glowstick high, to avoid the glare. Her boots landed softly as she moved down the access way towards a bulkhead. She could feel the other presence here now. It was much stronger in close proximity, though it was still very cloudy and dull. Something was amiss here.

Her hand extended, force flowing out to manipulate the locking mechanism on the door. With a loud creak it forced open, door swinging ajar with a bang. Vassara cringed, pressing her lips tight. That was way too loud. She still hadn’t a clue where she was. Her energy was low, the force had tired her out.

Instead of Instinctively Astrogating the ship, she reached into her pack and drew out two metallic spheres. Her own unique invention. Scanner Droids

 

[Sifa Tirel]

[member="Vassara Raxis"]​

​

It was cold.

She supposed that much should have been entirely obvious, but as she began to ascend the stairs of the bridge tower she couldn't help but feel a chill enter her bones. Perhaps there was some damage to the ventilation up here, or perhaps...perhaps it was something else. Her eyes slowly followed the beam of light, a prickling on her skin leading her towards the south of the Star Destroyer, the prow.

Her lips tugged into a frown, her head shaking as though she were denying a piece of knowledge. The beam of the flashlight stopped for a moment, and Sifa halted on the top of the staircase. She turned her body ad closed her eyes, remembering things she had been taught at the academy. Her head cocked, and slowly she frowned.

Eyes folded open, and red and yellow shifted up towards the staircase.

An uneasiness fell over her, and quickly she began to ascend the steps at a faster pace, taking two of at a time instead of just the one.

 

[RC 212]

[member="Sifa Tirel"]

A moment to breath, to just relax. That was all she needed. She had made her way farther into the ship now, carrying the droids in her hands. When she arrived at the general living quarters of the now long dead crew she was elated. Bunks! And the heaters here were still somewhat semi working. The room was warmer than normal.

Vassara set down her pack, and stripped off her cloak, throwing it on a nearby bunk to defrost. With one hand she clicked both switches on the droids and sent them off throughout the ship. They would follow any path, automatically pinging sonic pulses throughout the vessel to get an accurate readout of what was where.

Vassara stripped off her boots, and then her jacket, going down to her dirty white tank top. From her pack she fished out her mobile heater and fired it up, letting her toes and fingers thaw out. While the droids mapped it was time for a little mediation. To get those force juices flowing, and maybe break the barrier of this place.

She hopped onto a nearby bunk, crossing both legs indian style. Her gloved hands dropped to her lap and she let go of everything. Herself, the mission, her thoughts. It all began to drift away into nothing,her mind becoming still like a pond on a cool summers day without wind nor stone cast into it....

 

[Sifa Tirel]

[member="Vassara Raxis"]​

(Sorry for the wait, was seeing if others would join )​

​

There would be no rest for Sifa, no sleep. She had come here with a mission. She was well rested and the warmth of the Tyrant was slowly animating her again, pushing away the cold and giving her an odd pep In her step.

The climb to the bridge wasn't easy, the massive tower was huge, and there was a reason that one generally had to use turbolifts in order to get around these ships. Yet as she took the steps two by two, jumping up the staircase as fast as she could, it became obvious that she more than intended to do this quickly.The faster she got to the bridge, the faster she could turn the power back on. That was what was important, the power. She needed to find that vault.

It took her the better part of thirty minutes, and finally she came to a landing at the top of the bridge tower.

Her breath was ragged, and her hands tightened into fist as she leaned against the outer door of the bridge, her head pressing against the cold steel in order to sooth herself. She shook slightly, then pulled the lightsaber from her waist. The blade ignited in its bright searing blue, and then plunged into the blast door.

Sifa let out a sigh, and waited for the metal to begin melting.

 

[RC 212]

[member="Sifa Tirel"]

The droids kept moving, mapping the vessel. Their little photoreceptors took recordings and pictures for Vassara. Meanwhile she was engrossed in the force, fully in the throes of a deep meditative state. Her sense began to expand outwards,as if they were a massive bubble that grew and grew. The Glare Ice crystal was vibrating with the waves of the force even harder, making a small sound from her saber hilt somewhere in her jacket.

She could begin to feel the other presence now. Was it a he or she? No definitely a she. Vassara reached out, isolating that one little corner of the ship, and focusing all her attention it. She was struggling to keep her mind clear. So many questions were trying to bash down the gates, but she held off, allowing them to flow like a river into her mind and then out the other side.

Sifas signature was becoming more vivid. Vassara could begin to discern a general feeling of emotion from her. She could feel a fatigue in the woman’s body. If Sifa was mindful enough, she would feel Vassara. Casting about, trying to search her way into her mind and soul.

 

[B'arin Fett]

(Void, I interrupted rudely)

 

[Sifa Tirel]

[member="Vassara Raxis"] | @B'arin Fett​

​

Oh yes. It was there now, in the back of her mind, in the prickle that ran across her skin. Sifa could feel someone, moving along the halls, sensing their way through the Star Destroyer. There was no question in her mind now that someone was here, that someone else was poking through the Tyrant, perhaps searching for they very things that she was here for.

That was why she moved faster.

The blade sliced through the blast door, and finally the hydraulics that kept the locks in place melted. The door shrugged, lifting for half a second before quickly dropping away into the ground and walls of the Star Destroyer. Her lightsaber fell away, her eyes closing for a moment as a wall of dust fell from the bridge itself.

A cough racked her body, and the searing blue blade of the lightsaber disappeared. Sifa's shoulders rolled, and slowly she stepped onto the bridge.

There were bodies here, dozens of them. Some wore Imperial Uniforms, others Stormtrooper armor, and still some had more casual clothes adorning their decaying corpses. Her eyebrows perked, and suddenly Sifa found herself wondering exactly what had happened upon this ship. Her lips thinned, though slowly she pressed forward and moved into the inside of the Bridge.

 

[RC 212]

[member="Sifa Tirel"]

A datapad on her arm beeped and Vassara's eye's flicked open, distraction breaking her link. It was time to go do a little investigation. She rose, feeling slightly refreshed and re donned her gear. Tying those boots up tight, re shouldering her pack and the cloak was drawn tight around her again. She appeared almost as white ghost, stalking the halls.

The general direction she had felt the girl was on the bridge. Still to tired to Astrogate her way there by instinct, she flipped open the data pad, and checked the map. The little icon in relation to where she was flashed, and she hit the zoom out button, giving her wider view of the ship. It seemed she was not that far from the staircase that lead to the bridge, about a hundred meters of hallway away, and several hundred meters up. There was suddenly a sense of urgency within her to get there. A feeling in her gut, an omen of the force perhaps?

Drawing the force into herself Vassara took a deep breath, and began to breath deep, flooding her system with oxygen. then she broke into a full sprint, moving at rapid pace through the halls. Her orange saber sprang to life, black hilt held loosely in her palm. Each time she ran into an obstacle she simply sliced through it, knocking doors and fallen beams aside with power kicks.,,,

 

[Sifa Tirel]

[member="Vassara Raxis"]​

​

She wondered how they had died. Had it been the cold? No, that was doubtful. The Star Destroyer despite being buried in ice was still rather warm, at least warm enough that more than a few hundred people could easily survive. Had it been lack of food? Also doubtful, most ISD's carried enough supplies to last years.

No.

There was something else wrong here, something that Sifa couldn't quite put her finger on, something that seemed...wrong.

Her lips thinned, but her head shook from side to side as if denoting that it didn't matter. Her steps carried her quickly into the bridge, moving towards the central console. A dead body hung over the thing, a blinking light showing on one edge. A rough hand pulled away the skeletal corpse, letting it fall on the ground beside her. Her hands wiped away the dust, and almost immediately the console sprang to life.

Sifa smiled, her hands darting across the electronics, pressing button after button. Slowly a rumble shook through the Star Destroyer, and suddenly all over the Tyrant lights began to activate, doors began to open, and systems came online.

 

[Sifa Tirel]

[member="Vassara Raxis"]​

​

The power came on in phases. First the bridge sprang to life, then the reactor core, then the engines, then the life support. It all sprang to life, crept slowly, the reactors as it turned out had been cold, but fuel had remained within them. The ice that had frozen the Tyrant into place had preserved it, and whatever had caused the crash had apparently not taken the Star Destroyer entire offline. The ship sprang to life at an even pace, lights flickering on, doors powering up, every system slowly coming to life.

Sifa stood on the bridge, amazed as dusty screens and ancient consoles began to illuminate themselves.

"What the hell." She whispered to herself. There was confusion in her features, a clear sign that she didn't understand. The Star Destroyer seemed to function, its engines were fine, its reactor was whole, every system seemed to read in the green, and yet the Tyrant had crashed and frozen itself into the ice of Rhen Var for nearly a thousand years.

Why?

Her lips pursed, her fingers fidgeting over the screen in front of her. More of the dust was removed, and slowly more readouts began to flicker across the screen.

 

[RC 212]

[member="Sifa Tirel"]

Vassara had reached the stairs quite quickly. As the lights whirred to life and the ship slowly snapped to life she felt a deep disturbance in the pit of her stomach. Something was deathly wrong here. There was a darker presence afoot. With the propulsion of the fore she managed to reach the steps and began to bound them two by two. Her force sense was all gone now, every bit of might transferred into her singular purpose.

Reach the bridge, find out whose here.

 

[Sifa Tirel]

[member="Vassara Raxis"]

She could sense something coming closer, could sense power slowly reaching towards her. Sifa shifted on her feet, moving from one to the other as she drew her lightsaber from her belt. The long-handled hilt slipped into the crook of her fingers and stayed there as she gently played the pad of her index across the cold dallorian alloy.

Her lips thinned for a moment as she danced the digits of her other hand over the control terminal. "Now let's see."

She said to herself as she looked over the ships schematics. With one eye she spotted the vault, located centrally within the ship along with several defenses. She noted that cutting into the vault would be simple, and with no one else to guard it there was no worry of someone stopping her. She nodded slightly, then swiped away the map of the ship and pulled up the security operations located on the Tyrant.

Most things were still powering up, but she had door controls. A smile tugged at her lips.

"Come now friend." Sifa said as she pressed a few keys. "Let's see how dedicated you are."

She smiled one last time, then pressed a small red button on the edge of the console. Suddenly an alarm klaxon blared, and the security procedure for the bridge began to activate. Blast doors within the stairwell would slam shut, and Sifa's guest would find herself some new obstacles.