Public Weekend Treasure Hunt 34: Eaters of the Holocrons (OPEN)

[Delila Castillon]

"Hey Dells, got a comp-spike? This damn lift won't go up and I'm ammo dry..."

"Yeah, let me just reach in my back pocket and pull it out." Sarcasm dripped with each syllable.

It was clear that perhaps her nephew should have stayed on the ship after all. Maybe flying instead of being out here on the ground. In no short order had had managed to toss rocks, run wildly into danger, and drain his battery all in one fell swoop. The only upside : enough of a distraction from the Jedi so they could work more freely.

Alarms were blaring as she blasted the lift controls, suddenly lurching up.

"Dante, do you think before you act?"

Dante Castillon | Jared Starchaser | Valery Noble

 

[Dani Stellaris]

<<I… I am not … there has to be another way?>> She knew there were many in the ZINO organization that were more than happy to be a bit more aggressive, and she could be aggressive but she had other ways beyond violence. <<I have other ideas for how I can help.>> She sent into the White Current. She could easily make it so people wouldn’t even recognize that she and Gwen were here…

<<What if its in metal…>> She could maybe catch a ride, and do a snatch and grab. But the Force here was so thick, so dark. But Dani had a few ideas to get the Holocron Eaters distracted..

Until that.

The alarm. The call.

Dani screamed out, in the Force and in voice. The darkness was rising, and she acted instinctually. Falling into the Force, she pulled the immersion and the blasters were missing her, not by much, but by enough. She was scared, and it was clear in the Force.

Gweneth Zarari

 

[Kole Eckttor]

The grizzled man was awoken from his nap by a small pinging sound emitting from his control panel.

"Dammit!"

The old man dropped down behind a fallen tree as the turret fire began to decimate the surrounding area. He was too old to be out here. Too old to be risking his life for some crazy mission. Right now, Kole should be lounging on the Niamos beaches, getting lost in the sweet taste of a fine brandy. Life was supposed to be peaceful. But too much history was becoming lost within this galaxy. Though his age had nearly caught up to him, the old man was going to do everything in his power to preserve what he could in this galaxy.

Shakily, Kole lifted his head ever so subtly above the log. The Corellian Sunset was thankfully parked far enough away to not get struck by any of the blaster fire. But he still wouldn't be counting his credits quite yet. Those Holocron Eaters were not holding back on their assault. Whatever they were doing here, whatever they were protecting, they did not want anyone else getting to it.

"Alright deep breath, deep breath. You got this. Think of the history you're saving."

With one final breath, Kole stood up and made a mad dash towards the nearest hut. Bolts of energy ripped past his head. One made contact with the bottom edge of his jacket, thankfully not hitting any skin. If what he heard was true, those creatures inside were destroying precious history for their own personal gain. Those things belonged in a museum, not for individual collections. He was doing all of this to make sure that it was saved. Jumping with all of his might, Kole dove into the doorway of the hut, blasterfire grazing the outside walls.

Letting out a sigh of relief, the old man laid on the floor. A groan escaped his mouth as his shoulder tingled with pain. That would be dealt with later. But for now, the old man had to figure out where they were storing everything.

Dani Stellaris | Gweneth Zarari ​

 

[Dante Castillon]

"Dante, do you think before you act?"

Shrugging as he stepped past the closing ramp, he was nicked in the shoulder, and his jacket began to smolder. Cursing, he swatted at it to put out the flames. As the jacket went from dancing scarlet topped to smoldering grey wisps, he eyed his aunt sheepishly. He wasn't dumb, and as the plan played out, he noted the flaws. It wasn't that he couldn't see the issues with is plan from the outset, but... In his short number of years, he had come to rely on the unseemly amount of luck and long-odds he could pull. He said as much to Dells as he slipped behind the controls and flared shields to life and began systems check hurriedly.

"It isn't that I don't care, Dells... Things just always work, and so I get in that habit. But I need to learn to think better. I'm sorry."

With a grimace at his jacket still smoking, he raised his eyes to his aunt and arched the brows as he looked at the damaged garment. It was a indicator of what his aunt was upset about, for sure.

"In the future I'll try to mind tactics more than just winging it."

Muttering, he keyed the ignition sequence again and sighed as the ship's engines whined, they lifted off the ground a few meters, and then sat back down. Killing all but the shields, he retried the ignition sequence. The reactor sputtered, and he nodded.

"Just old systems, I think if we re-route a few things to bypass a couple primary buffers, it'll be good. Xin showed me how in case our ship ever had this problem. It'll burn hot and need watched, but she'll make it home.. Can you man the guns and buy some time?"

Delila Castillon

 

[Delila Castillon]

Clearly the holochess lessons were slow to take. More than a game, it was vital for Dante to learn to think ahead, plot his next moves. Granted, her nephew had only been on the boat for a short while and in reality, there was only so much she could do to impart her wisdom. Judging from the scorch mark down nicking his shoulder, hopefully some of that wisdom was start sinking in.

Not that she had been any better at his age. At least he seemed to be listening to Xin.

"I can man the guns. Might be wise to re-route everything but shields, life support, guns, and the vital systems. Keep it way for the duration of our time in the ship."

Dells disappeared down the the gun turret, bringing it online. Its clear the vessel needed some attention in terms of maintenance. An experimental test of the turbolasers at a row of explosive barrels against a far wall proved they were operational with a spectacular fireball. All they needed to do now was get underway.

Dante Castillon

 

[Gweneth Zarari]

Location: Outskirts of the Village
Objective: Uncover the deed pods
Tag: Dani Stellaris Jend-Ro Quill

Equipment: Gwen's attire, Echo stone, carved luck charm, wooden quarterstaff, slingshot

Gunfire opened on us and I responded quickly, it appeared that the fight had come to us and any idea of a stealthy insertion would be minimal. <<If you could make us somehow invisible, that would be brilliant about now>> I responded as I bounded about dodging blaster fire. I concentrated on the force and roots erupted from the ground beneath the gun emplacement, ensnaring the gunner and knocking his weapon off of the tripod before wrapping around and squeezing it, rendering it inaccessible. My Wilder training was coming in handy and my master was helping me learn more skills that would help me fight whilst sticking to my preference of not killing. I saw one of the squid masked warriors come out from behind a hut nearby me and activate his lightsaber. "Shit!" I snarled incoherently. But instinct took over and I left into the air, shifting back into my kiir form and swinging my wooden quarterstaff at him.

I never wanted to practice blocking a lightsaber with my crude wooden staff before despite knowing how, you only got one chance to get it right, and this was it.

Our weapons clashed and the attacker's lightsaber stopped dead against the wood of my staff that I was channelling the force through. "I've never done that before... impressed?" I joked to the cultist before whipping my staff round for a counter strike. He blocked me, but I was able to get the other end of the weapon in and it cracked against his head, staggering him and forcing him to drop his weapon entirely. "What are you doing with the seeds!" I snapped loudly and angrily at him as I spun my staff and brought it round, hitting his upper arm and breaking it. I was a good fighter but an inexperienced force user, I was succumbing to the darkness in the air and I was finding it harder to hold back my violence. He could see that and I was sure I saw smugness in is eyes behind that filthy mask.

He babbled something at me in a language I didn't understand, so I pushed him backwards with a telekinetic thrust and the roots from the ground grasped up and restrained him, perhaps hey suffocated the injured man, perhaps they might drown him in the swamp, i was too blinded by the darkness to stop to care.

"Fight it Dani!" I shouted to my friend as I felt her fear, before running again towards the encampment where the squidheads had our precious target.

 

[Valery Noble]

Sorgan

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsabers
Tag: Jared Starchaser

Well, this was escalating quickly.

Between the cultists and their strange powers, the alarm, and now turrets rising from the ground, Valery saw no reason to hold back any longer. All their hopes rested on defeating these cultists now, and reaching the vault whether it was open or not. A Jedi Shadow always had a way in, and she had her methods of breaking down bulky doors too.

With a series of quick deflections, Valery covered herself against incoming blaster fire, but her real focus was on helping Jared. Each on their own, they'd be able to stand up against these people, but together, she knew they'd be so much stronger.

Charging forward, Valery seemed to be on a straight path for the cultist who had drawn out a peculiar set of chains. She knew it'd draw attention for her to do this, and that's exactly what she wanted. A white bolt flashed towards her, and so did several of the chains, but where they should have made impact, they cut through nothing but air instead.

They were not the only ones with mysterious tricks — Valery had phased through their attacks, and now stood far closer than they would have liked. With a sweep of her blade, she struck across the cultist's back, before puncturing her second blade straight through the heart.

"We take them on, together," Valery then told Jared, before blinking. "...actually, I don't think I caught your name yet? I'm Valery," she said while she flashed him a smirk.

 

[Dani Stellaris]

The Current was her protector. It was a blanket. It was the sea. It surrounded her and everyone around her. But she knew how to cut through it, how to ride it, how to swim. That was what it was to be a Fallanassi. You swam. You swam and used it, but you did not apply it in a way to drown others. That was the Dark Tide. The antithesis of her White Current. They used that to poison, and drown. What she concerned herself with was protecting and using the Current to save herself and others.

Feeling the call from Gwen, it shook Dani from her hiding, from her escape. It cracked into her mind and she reached out. The gun emplacements were firing and she found Gwen, her friend. It wasn’t easy to find her. She was in the fight, in the waves of the Dark Tide from the Raskava.

Another moment and she knew what she had to do. Pulling into the Current, she grabbed for Gwen and herself and yanked, pulling them both below the Current, rendering them invisible.

“Move. They locked the door… They’re after the Jedi.” She could feel the intention behind that pair.

Gweneth Zarari

 

[Jared Starchaser]

The Cult was active now. Jared and Valery got the attention they were looking for. And with the Force? It was going to be something to keep up with the darksiders. His father was the Sentinel of Sullust, a name used in hushed tones and circles of the Sith Order. But Jared was not his father. He did not hold only to the Light, but he didn’t play in the Dark. He found the aggressive and odd approaches.

Witches, Jensaarai, Fringe groups many didn’t know. He was here to fight.

The Hunter was a logical follow up to the Sentinel. He was trained slightly with the Jedi but was a Protector of the Jensaarai, working with a Shadow though?That was a real treat. Jared was taught to make himself the center of attention, to hunt down the dark side but also make them hunt him. What he knew of a Shadow was that they lived there, in the shadows, in the darkness, away from the actual dark.

The squidface was speaking for the Knowledge and began firing at Jared. With Valery moving through the attacks, Jared had a different approach.

Calling on the Force, and Magick, his hands glowed blue, and he took the blaster bolts and turned their trajectory towards the starships and their landing gear. One, two, three. A move, and another Force pull, Jared pulled one of the Devilsquid masked men forward and through space, landing him within lightsaber range.

“Jared.” He said to Valery after the dispatch.

Valery Noble Dante Castillon Delila Castillon

 

[Dante Castillon]

Hands flew over the consoles with only a bit of trepidation and hesitation. Xin had found an apt pupil in Dante, and Dante had for once listened intently to the lessons at hand. Smiling, he took his aunt's suggestions, and drained everything he could to the shields but the engines, forcing them to a steady hard burn as the old ship creaked out of dock and began to rise, taking fire. Hissing slightly as his wound reminded him the price of his over-confidence, he sighed.

There would be a talk later. Might not be a long one. But he would have to apologize to his aunt. And make sure he slowed it down. Luck ran out eventually, or so the throbbing in his side said. But he couldn't help but grin at the helm of his new ship as it positively zoomed away without much difficulty.

Let the heroes take care of the mucky muck. That was there job. Dante was here to look out for himself, his loved ones, and when he could, the little guy on the Fringe.

Delila Castillon

 

[Valery Noble]

Sorgan

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsabers
Tag: Jared Starchaser

"Pleasure to meet you, Jared," Valery said, and as soon as she stood with him, her tactics shifted again. Valery had given up on the life of a Jedi Shadow many years ago, when the Alliance was in need of visible leadership. That shift away from the Shadows into the spotlights had taken her to where she was today, but everything she had learned was still a part of her.

Now, all of it would be useful against these unpredictable foes.

"We should start moving towards our actual target," Valery said after yet another cultist fell to their blades. "We need to reach the vault before they can set up defensive positions, or leverage it against us." From hostages to simply threatening to destroy it all, she wouldn't be surprised if they tried manipulative tactics.

Especially now that their numbers were diminishing.

 

[Jared Starchaser]

A smirk on his face, the Hunter was watching the organization of these foes. “Same.” He said, in a clipped voice. He didn’t want to be closed off to her, but she was a Core-word leader, ad he saw how that ate through his father. Aged the man faster than any life on the Rim. Still, having the extra saber hand on this world was nice. It was why he and Kaia stepped away from even the Outer Rim Coalition leadership.

They couldn’t work as well as they preferred.

“We will need to move quick.” He nodded. A grin to his face as he waved a hand as a blue flash engulfed him, more liquid than smoke as he blinked from where he was to a area closer to door. But it was clear when he reappeared that it wasn’t as far as he wanted to go.

He’d have to work on that spell. His green saber intercepted a bolt or two as he threw a shard of ice at one of the Raksava who were going for the gun controls. “Keep up, Jay.” He said, adopting an old High Republic slang for a Jedi. His next few steps brought him to the door controls as his droid plugged in. Turning to the firing from yet another Raksava, Jared held his saber up to influence the other to reconsider.

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Sorgan

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsabers
Tag: Jared Starchaser

"We will need to move quick."

Valery's lips parted to speak, but before a single word had left her mouth, Jared vanished. Her fiery gaze narrowed and she used her senses to follow him with a bit of a look meant for him. His father clearly hadn't taught him proper manners, but she'd have to forgive him for now, and focus on the mission at hand.

She could get him back later.

"Couldn't you just teleport straight to the door?" Valery asked with a smug grin, when he told her to keep up. She joined him, her two lightsabers ignited to cover him while he sliced into the door. She wasn't going to tell him a thing, but she was terrible at slicing and other tech-related things.

Luckily, he had it covered without her needing to ask.

"I've got you covered. Get that door open." Valery stepped forward, raised a hand, and a ring of flames ignited around the two. It didn't set anybody ablaze, but it created a barrier for the cultists to go through and obscured their vision too. They'd have to get closer if they wanted to fight, and that's where Valery was at her best.

 

[Jared Starchaser]

The Blue Coral Divers had taught him a little bit of their magick. The magick is based on water, and ice, and storms. It gave him a power similar to the Sith, with their lightning. He was… tempted to use it, but more in a defensive and movement fashion. He was not going to use it as it caused him anxiety. He knew that the Force was a tool, but with who his father was? It was going to cause more problems if he was to be seen using that.

Someday. He knew that the Witches gave him some knowledge for teleporting as well as a modification of Force speed.

“Maybe some day. Learning a few things from around the galaxy.” He laughed as she grinned. Being raised by a Sentinel who did have a good handle on tech related items, Jared knew his strengths and knew a droid would be the best choice in making sure things got handled properly. His blaster was in hand as his droid sliced the door.

Opting to switch to his bow, he fell into the Force, pulling back on the blue energy string and firing a shot into the fire, at one of the cultists, but missing. Looking back, his droid had almost full green on the back of its head. He took another shot out as the door opened up. “Ladies first!” He shouted to Valery, swapping back to his lightsaber.

Valery Noble

 

[Delila Castillon]

She arrived with a paltry medkit in hand, eyes squinting in the emergency lighting. The vessel seemed shaky, as if too many bolts were loose. Judging by what she could see in the dim lighting, Dante was in for a world of repairs, cleaning, and more repairs if her brief assessment was to be a judge. Yet it was going to be his and it was acquired in much a similar manner to the Saegassum.

"Not much in the medkit, but it'll do."

Kit tossed in the co-pilots chair, Dells folded her arms and looked at Dante.

"So, what are you naming this junk pit? I'm sure you're happy to have a vessel of your own now. Not going to leave us right away are you?"

Dante Castillon

 

[Valery Noble]

Sorgan

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsabers
Tag: Jared Starchaser

"Well, it'd be nice if you could teleport me along next time." She wasn't actually angry or upset, but just felt like poking at him a little. Only until the cultists caught up though, and flames were needed to keep them away. Through the flames, Jared tried to take down those who dared approach despite the heat, but she suspected it would take them some time. For now, they were mostly blindly firing through the intense fire, and the few bolts that did actually reach target were promptly deflected.

Soon enough, Valery heard the sound of the door opening behind her, and rolled her eyes at the comment that followed. "Such a gentleman," Valery said with quite a smirk, as she turned around and sprinted inside.

"We got some up ahead, too!" It made sense that they kept a few guards close, but she hoped to take them down before the others caught up. Taking them on was no problem, but being sandwiched between two groups was something to avoid.

 

[Jared Starchaser]

It would be nice if he could move someone else like that. He’d seen the Witches do that, but he hadn’t mastered their ability to affect others in such a way yet. Word was that there were potions and other forms of formulas to create affects beyond what one was capable of. Ways to make the mind focus, and bend the Force. “I haven’t been taught that skill yet. Something high end for the Witches.” He shrugged as he passed that off.

As for her leading in, it was more that she was the Master, and he was … not. He hadn’t followed a Force tradition. He had his saber ready but felt she’d be better. He was going to have to move and do a bit of a strike. The want to use the Force in the new ways was hitting him hard, the feeling of using it was getting to his mind.

It felt easy, seductive, wonderful, but he knew it had to be used in the proper sense.

“Lets take them down.” He said, coming around a corner, and yanking the blasters out of their hands. Some didn’t seem to be the actual holocron eaters. Their numbers were smaller. “Gotta get deeper in, I think they’ve got something big down here…”

Valery Noble

 

[Gweneth Zarari]

Location: Outskirts of the Village
Objective: Uncover the deed pods
Tag: Dani Stellaris Jend-Ro Quill

Equipment: Gwen's attire, Echo stone, carved luck charm, wooden quarterstaff, slingshot

I felt the most strange sensation as Dani Stellaris yanked on me and her force power wrapped around me. The gunfire that had been tracing me stopped and i saw guards looking dumfounded working out what had happened, looking around, snapping their guns behind, awaiting the inevitable teleportation that would not come on this occasion.

"They cant see us can they?" I asked curiously, I was concentrating, trying to formulate a plan that would get us from here to there, being invisible was extremely helpful. "can you keep us like this as we approach?" The seed vault wasn't far, but it was below the ground. "The buildings here are mostly wooden, what's the chance they bothered to installing underground metal walls?" I raised an eyebrow and my face twisted as I shifted into a new form, that of an Aelid. Growing in volume and coiling on the ground around my friend, I was now more wormlike and thick hair the colour of my own kiir form hair covered my body. I looked at Dani and opened my mouth, now communicating telepathically. <<I can go alone, or you can get in, it will be a bit of a squeeze as I'm pushing my luck already getting this big.>> Dani was a naturalist, there was a chance she would accept my strange plan. But either with or without the other girl inside me I would head under the soft ground and take us straight to the wall of the vault. I was hoping for a thin barrier, at worst I expected wood panelling. But we would have to see and adapt to whatever we found.

 

[Dani Stellaris]

She really wished she was racing.

But there were seeds, and they could benefit so many worlds beyond just Belazura. There were other worlds. She could get these to Vooltroo or Hoku and they could spread them around. She could bring them on her travels. Spread them the galaxy over.

But first, they had to get them. With the changeling nearby, perhaps they could.

She held her and Gwen in the Force, in the White Current, hidden from view but still present. It all depended on how honestly someone trusted the Force over their own eyes and sensors. “We should be moving, but the sensors won’t pick us up. If one of the devilsquid masked guys looks, like really looks? They may be able to find us.” Dani was woefully out of practice.

“I don’t think they could get it installed in the swamps. Sorgen is far away from somewhere with industry, I noticed.” Not that Dani was the pro of this galaxy.

“Clear a path. I can hold it with the Current… or keep up. I will need you to get us in and out, but I’ll follow. Can’t strain both of us…” Dani nodded, ready to go, tightening her grip on at least one of her bags. She could call her ship eventually, but first, lets have a product to transport.

Gweneth Zarari

 

[Gweneth Zarari]

Location: Outskirts of the Village
Objective: Uncover the deed pods
Tag: Dani Stellaris

Equipment: Gwen's attire, Echo stone, carved luck charm, wooden quarterstaff, slingshot

I nodded to my friend, I had confidence in her. I reared up and then plunged down under the ground, kicking up a spray of mud behind me. In this form my senses felt really strange, I couldn't see, it was pitch black from the engulfing dirt, everything was wet and cloying but I tunneled quickly. I could however feel my surroundings, I could feel where the creatures above the ground were and I could feel where the structures ahead of me were. It took just a minute or too before encountered the wooden slat walls of the basement. A couple of thrusts with my head and crunch, the rotting wood split through into the empty space.

I shifted back to my Kiir form, it was dark in here too, they hadn't expected visitors to get in. I routed around for a moment finding the lights. "Bingo!"

<<Dani, i've found the seed canisters, I think i can carry a few out, but I'm not sure how many of them, there is no squidders in here, not even sure they know i'm down here." I let out a grin and reached for the first canister to line them up. Dani didnt wish to be carried in, but perhaps that was better, I could use thar capacity to carry these out. <<How are you doing out there?>> I couldnt hear much, only being able to connect. I fiddled with my good luck charm as i worked trying to get everything ready.

<<I think i'm about ready in here, shall I head out to your ship or can you teleport to me or something with thar current?>>