Wake Up

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

Soliael didn’t waste any time.

There were still plenty of storage units to check, and as Kira disappeared herself down the hallway Soliael rested for half a moment as he prepared to continue their quest of organization. He was just about to move off the throne like command chair when there was a light beep.

A frown pulled at his lips

The beep sounded again, and Soliael let out a sigh. “Ok.”

He reached over and tapped several commands into the controls, pulling up some of the data that the droid was apparently sending back. It took him a few moments to parse through everything he was seeing, and after he did Soliael felt himself be somewhat...stunned. A frown pulled at his lips.

“Lets…” He cut himself off as he keyed in the command for a video, the display in front of him changing within half a heartbeat. The former false god sat there for a moment, then pressed the comm-link on the armrest. “Honey. Come back here.”

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

It would figure that Kira wouldn't make it too far before her husband summoned her over. Amused, the petite Jedi Master gave a small chuckle. Now what? she mused, shaking her head at the silliness.

[ Are you trying to get me to work out more? ] her voice would tease through the comm. [ Coming back. ] she'd add after, laughing to herself. He either forgot a particular thing to tell her, or there was an update with the probe. Kira would like to think that he'd forgotten something, but odds were that the frustrating man didn't.

So it was likely the latter. That prompted a bounce in her step. In fact, she practically glided back into the bridge with a ear-splitting grin.

"What is it?" she inquired, bare feet crossing the cool floor on her way back to the throne.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

Things always went in an oddly surprising way.

Soliael had always thought that coincidence was attributed far too much when it came to things happening in the galaxy. Sure there were cases of random things happening, people tripping over a coffee table, a child falling down, half a million other different things, but the big things? The big things were almost always because of The Force.

It wasn’t just a thing that people could harvest and use to fight, it wasn’t just a thing for the twisting and corruption of people.

It was a guiding hand.

Soliael knew that better than most, he’d studied the force in ways that no one else had, and yet he was still somewhat surprised when it dropped something like...this, in his lap. The former False God looked up at the viewscreen, and motioned his wife to do the same. “It’s a temple.”

That it was.

There were beautiful stone archways, huge statues, and the trademark points of Jedi Construction from thousands of years ago.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

There were few moments that Kira would be struck speechless.

Aquamarine eyes went wide, and she gave a small gasp of wonder. Her hand came up to cover her mouth. It was an amazing sight to see. They were ruins, goodness could be well over centuries old just by the visuals. Quickly, the Lorrdian came up and try and zoom in.

“Any lifeforms??” her eyes were bright, the amount of excitement radiating from her infectious. The probe would scan around, getting an estimated date and making a generic scan for wildlife.

“No lifeforms… at least, not sapient.” as they both would observe the feed, it was obvious that no one had actually lived at this Temple for centuries.

“It could well over be hundreds of years old!” she exclaimed, then added in a low rush,” Maybe even millenia!”

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

“Probably older.” Soliael said simply.

There was no doubt in his mind that any ruins they found that were familiar to him were beyond ancient. The fact that they found something in the first place was unlikely, that fact that they found something like this? Nearly impossible. Yet the fact that he knew the architecture, that he saw the rounded corners and the perfectly chiseled statues...that wa sa big clue.

It reminded him of the temple that Aela had shown him photos of, the one that she had found within the deep deserts of that nameless world. It also reminded him of certain temples he’d found during his time with the Sith Empire, the ones on Ossus specifically. His lips thinned for a moment.

“We need to go down there.” He doubted they would find anything of note...but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to see it. “Probe won’t be enough.”

For one, it couldn’t sense the force.

Whatever was down there, he and Kira would have to check it out themselves.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"Are you sure it is Jedi?" Kira would ask, doing her best to try and get a closer look at any tell tale markings. There was a bit of familiarity to to the design, but with so many Force Organizations out there, it could be Jedi of it could be just another temple for some ancient god. The possibilities were endless.

"What are the chances that it was built by anyone within Rishi? Or even the Galaxy proper?" There she was again, her voice hitching up an octave. It was no surprise that when Soliael suggested they go get a closer look, the blonde jumped on it.

"Yes!!" She practically squealed, bouncing up and down much like a child. "We won't need any suits either!" Her forefinger went sailing over the datapad's display.

"Breathable air. No pollutants. Nothing to suggest any issue with microbial concerns."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

“It’s Jedi.” Soliael said with a soft, but forceful tone. He was no architect, that was true, but he was fairly sure of his guess. When Moross had still existed he had styled himself as the God of knowledge. With that had come a responsibility to simply...know things. It was odd, yes, but Soliael himself a repository for a great many details.

“The way the arch is made.” He pointed to the image. “Those statues, and the smoother construction.”

Soliael half drew a line over the picture. “It’s Jedi. Built a lot like the ancient Temples on Ossus, and it’s a lot like that Temple Aela found a few months back. The one that she called ‘the lost city’, where she got her lightsaber.”

That had been an interesting find to be sure.

The weapon had turned out to be several millenia old, one of the first lightsabers ever crafted. To say that Soliael had been surprised was an understatement. This Temple was much the same way, he hardly expected to find something like this out here. “It’s definitely Jedi.”

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"I wonder what happened here then..." Kira's voice would drift off, wonder still bathing her face. Excitement soon replaced it, as she bounced up upon her tippy toes and gave him a quick press of her lips on his cheek.

"Well, come on!" she told him, practically bursting with renewed energy. A smack of his butt came next, encouraging him to get going. All of a love tap really, for she was quick to turn and head back towards their suite.

"We'll need to change and see what we can take down with us!" at the very lease, they'll need some standard gear. The place may be isolated but that didn't mean it wasn't dangerous. Or that the foundations were stable.

Her blonde ponytail bounced as she headed off, practically dancing with each step.

"And a camera! We definitely need to bring a holocamera--..." her voice trailed off, already turning to move out of the bridge.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

He stayed for the time being, his flowing over the image ahead of him. "I wonder."

There weren't a lot of reasons Jedi tended to abandon their homes. There were a few causes that he could list. Climate disaster, Sith, governments forcing them out, and that was really it. Generally when Jedi inhabited a place they made sure that it was somewhere they could stay over time. This planet didn't look like it was experiencing some sort of climate disaster, nor did it appear like there had ever been any sort of great government here.

That left Sith.

With only the drones images to go on Soliael couldn't have guessed whether or not there had been a battle in the Temple below, but it was the most likely option.

He frowned for a moment then slowly stood from the throne like captains chair, his head shaking from side to side. There was no point in trying to puzzle it out now, especially since he could do the same in just a few hours alongside Kira. He wandered after his wife, still considering why something like that could be here, and more importantly, why it had been abandoned by the Jedi of old. There were always questions, he was just afraid of what the answers might be.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

In their suite, Kira was already taking off her clothes. Not that they weren't suited for everyday wear, just that she needed something a bit more sturdy and comfortable for trekking over ruins. The temperature said that the area was rather temperate, if a bit cooler than what they were used to on Borleias. The higher the altitude the thicker the jungle became.

So the Lorrdian decided to wear a short sleeve shirt and a pair of shorts. A good pair of hiking boots along with socks would keep her feet from becoming too irritated. In a pack she could stuff a jacket and a change of clothes.

"What else should we bring?" He'd hear her cry out to him from the closet.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]


“Not too much.” Soliael said as he pulled a thermal shirt over his head. “The lighter the better.”

He doubted they could get the shuttle very close to the ruins. There was a lot of jungle surrounding the stone structures and he didn’t want to risk crashing into anything.

“We’ll have a bit of a hike.” It would have been simpler to just crash through some of the trees and ignore the conservation effort of it all...but again his wife would very likely object to the destruction of random life forms.

Besides, he didn’t want to risk damaging any of the structure anyway.

He’d already laid out a small backpack and stuffed it with half a dozen different things. Compass, scanner, exploration drone, a change of clothes, water, and of course some rations. All in all it hardly took up much space, but when they were on the surface of the planet he was sure they’d need all of it at one point or another.

“Flashlights.” Soliael pointed out. They could use the force, but...well that might trigger something within the ruins.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"Flashlights?" Kira repeated, eyes widening a bit. A finger came up to gesture, "I think I saw a few down below." she added, giving him a quick grin. Running past him in a blonde rush of excitement, she'd call out, "I'll go get them!"

This was great, Kira thought, practically skipping to the lowerdeck for one of the storage rooms they'd recently cataloged. It was a rather curious thing. A Jedi Temple of all things?! One wondered what exact type of Order it was. Who were the occupants? What happened to them? How did they get here? So many unanswered questions.

A few minutes later, Kira returned with two flashlights and had also stopped by the galley to fill up canteens of water. "Got them!" she said with a bright smile, moving up beside Soliael to pack the items into their bags.

"A hike shouldn't be too bad. I'm just curious how long the day-night cycles are. It would be fine hiking with sunlight, but once night comes, we won't know what to expect."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

"Shouldn't be too different I think." Soliael said with a shrug. "Provided there aren't any night time monsters."

That was a very real possibility, and actually a pretty good explanation for why the temple would be abandoned.

The idea was of course complete conjecture, though pretty much everything was at this point. Yet Soliael could imagine a planet where during the night, horrible beasts that ate people crept out from beneath underground burrows. That would be reason enough for the Jedi to leave the planet, though for some reason the former False God doubted that this particular theory would end up holding any real weight. It was more likely that they simply abandoned it at one point, dwindling numbers making a temple out here difficult to maintain.

"Don't worry though, I'll protect you." He would too.

As if an emphasis of that declaration Soliael slipped his gloves into the pack, the two shield emitters on the back still looking like new.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Kira gave a laugh.

"Should we wager on who would protect the other more? Winner picks the prize?" the Lorrdian would tease, her eyes twinkling in devilry. It was a silly wager, but it would make for something for them to tease the other with throughout their exploration. That was one thing that Kira discovered when she first took padawans and taught the younglings. If you made it a game, it became fun and time would pass by more quickly.

Kira bent down, taking the datapad with the probe's information.

"Now as for a day and night cycle..." blond brows furrowed under the slash of her bangs. "Not enough information yet." but odds were if they let the probe do the work along with their own explorations, they would find out soon enough.

"As long as it isn't anything like Big Red." that was a direct reference to the massive creature that Soliael had fought under the caverns at Exocron.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

"It'll be fine." Soliael said with a shrug. He highly doubted that anything would pop up in the middle of it night, and unless the night cycle on this planet was incredibly fast, they should at the very least have several hours before they had to worry about it. With a hand he swept up his pack, Kira doing the same as they headed towards the aft hangar bay. There was a drop shuttle there that would allow them to dip down to the surface of the planet.

"Why would I need to do a bet?" He asked her as they wandered through the ship. "I still have three Millenia."

That was a bit too much of a stretch, but again he said it with so much confidence that it was hard not to believe him.

Of course to Soliael most of this was all just a game. Even if there were creatures down there he didn't really feel any danger. There were few things that could make Soliael truly afraid, and most of them had long since disappeared. It was simply his nature. He had grown up with an air of power, and the addition of the force had only added to that. It was easy to say that he was an apex predator, and even when wandering into new environments...well it was difficult to cause him concern.

"Come on Lazybutt." Soliael said poking his wifes side. "Lets get planet side."

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"You do not have three millenia, Devin!" she shouted out at him, but it was said without venom. A roll of her eyes and the woman slid her pack straps over her arms and onto her back.

"One week!" she insisted again, aware that her husband would likely toss in another three years, claiming she had agreed to it. It was a back and forth arguement that wasn't taken seriously. Well, maybe Devin did. He enjoyed being right.

They reached the aft hanger in a few minutes, the shuttle that they would take just off to the right. It was amazing to consider just how large the Freya truly was to house all of the shuttles, speeders, and everything else that they would need. In the past, they used to have the Crusaders traveling with them. Back then, it was a little less lonely. Now it was just Devin and her.

With the shuttle's hatch open, Kira was the first inside. She would, after all, be the one to pilot. No way she was going to have Sol do that.

They'd end up crashing before they hit atmo!

"Alright," Kira said, moving up towards the front of the shuttle.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

"Three hundred million years." Now he was just being ridiculous.

"You better take the helm." That much was already more than obvious. "I'll see if theres any other gear on the shuttle that we can take with."

The shuttle, much like the rest of this entire dang ship was completely unexplored by them.

He was sure that it likely had all sorts of goodies aboard, especially since it was one produced directly by Kuat Drive Yards. He patted his wife on the butt and sent her on her way to the cockpit with a wide grin, clearly not expecting any back talk about his three hundred million years comment.

The shuttle itself was small, at least compared to other transport. Just two sections, a back and then a front where the pilot and co-pilot would sit. In the back there were half a dozen lockers lining the wall on one side, then a small acceleration couch on the other, nets hung from the ceiling, each one holding some sort of blanketed mesh that was likely used for disguising the ship once it had actually landed somewhere.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"I was already going to do that!" Kira cried, laughing over her shoulder as she shot a puff of hot air up on her bangs. She should really consider trimming them, but she hadn't the time.

"For every year you add to that, that's one year where you get to do what I want!" she tossed out as she sidestepped and slipped into the cockpit of the shuttle. Arms slipped her bag off her shoulders, dropping it to the side.

"Alright," she said to herself, slipping into the sea. Flying was no biggie for the Lorrdian. She was no ace, but she could handle a shuttle just fine. Within moments the engines were giving a soft rumble and the hatch at the rear went sliding shut.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

"That's fine, I'll serve them after you serve yours." He said so happily as he opened the first locker with a big smile, only to immediate lose it.

There wasn't really much to look at.

Of course the shuttle wouldn't be stuffed with...gold or anything of the sort, but he'd at least expected something exciting. Instead he found three sets of thermal, body suits that were meant to be worn on cold weather world. A sigh escaped his lips. For once he'd just like to find something neat, not weapons or weather drones. Of course, this was all standard equipment and he was sure that he would be thankful for it if they ever needed it, but still.

Was it too much to ask for something exciting?

"Don't get too crazy." He said as he felt the shuttle lift off. "Put us down somewhere clear."

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Adjusting the small earpiece mic by her mouth, Kira gave a laugh. Her voice would now feed into the over head comm.

"Let me remind you, buster -" her fingers went curling around the piloting yoke, guiding the shuttle into a small hover. "That out of both of us, I'm not the one prone to getting too crazy." the sass in her tone would not be missed. Her nose gave a scrunch and lips went curling back in an ear splitting grin.

A few more toggles were flipped. Sensors came online and a small image of the planet below popped up in a hologram.

"Maybe you should make yourself that charm you gave Nohei. Might come in handy if you ever had to fly." Of course, he'd simply say that he could just blink them out of there.

Although one never knew what would happen if either might be cut off from the Force then.