Ask Spaceports, History Books, and Shared Interests

Things had moved rather fast from meeting the Nightsister to inviting her along on the trip to Jedha. Reikki had left to go track down her droid and Mallory had more than a few moments to consider her actions. Or rather, to avoid considering her actions.

She had instead decided to launch into a round of exercises to kill the time while she waited, changing into workout clothes and setting up in the middle of the small open area of the ship. She executed a sequence of slow, measured movements that her master had taught her, designed to open up the energy flow of the body. Her mind was focused on a scattering of floating wooden puzzle spheres that she held aloft with her mind while she moved. It had all been going well until Imp had decided to come out and play the role of questioning her choices for her.

”I'm fairly certain Reikki isn't a crazed axe murderer Imp.” A faint tone of irritation leaking into her voice as she responded to the droid while slowly moving through an exaggerated martial arts move. The droid beeped and whistled in his deep tone as he argued with her. ”Yes I'll ask her, though do you really think she would admit it if she was?” The droid tooted irritation in response as it moved along with her to remain hovering in front of her face as she shifted directions. She took some small measure of revenge by floating one of the puzzle spheres in his way, forcing the droid to push it to the side where it bobbed for a moment as she recovered control over it while he beeped his next issue with the situation.

”No this is nothing like what happened with Uchenna.” She scowled at the droid as he continued his tirade. At the mention of Uchenna, Chef perked up in the kitchen.

”Should I get started on the ice cream now?” His voice rang loudly through the enclosed space and Mallory winced as the puzzle spheres went clattering to the floor. She rounded on Chef.

”No ice cream.” She leveled a finger at Chef before turning to Imp. ”I know you don't understand human behavior patterns beyond what is tactically necessary, so trust me when I say this relationship is purely academic, O-KAY?” She was breathing hard now in frustration and wondering why she let all the droids around her speak so freely. This was exactly why people memory wiped their droids.

It was at that moment that she hear Reikki's voice and turned to see the nightsister standing there in the entrance. By the Force Mallory hoped that the younger woman hadn't heard any of that.

”Welcome back.” She said, reaching for a towel slung over a nearby shelf and dabbing the bit of moisture that had started to form on her forehead from the exercise. She looked at the small cat droid and swooned for a moment at how adorable the thing was.

”Welcome Marshmallow. I'm Mallory.” She introduced herself to the droid before giving the names of the two droids in the room to the catbot as well. ”Imp, be a dear and show Marshmallow were the charging ports are.” She said to the seeker droid with a bit of a scowl. She was still mad at the droid.

Hopefully that would get the paranoid and overprotective droid out of her hair for a few minutes.

”Do you have everything you need?” Mallory asked as she toweled the rest of her exposed skin before slinging the towel over her shoulder. ”We can be away shortly if you're ready to go.”

Mallory watched for a moment as Marshmallow leveled what could only be described as a scathingly disdainful gaze at her. He turned and shook his tail at her on his way out the door.

”So cute.” Mallory said before Reikki apologized. She waved off the apology and smiled. ”I'm sure he will.”

”Yeah the guest room, right over there.” Mallory pointed out the room before turning to head forward in the ship. ”I'll get us heading out.

The guest room was sparsely but comfortably accommodated for its size. A simple single bed set in the wall, a small personal refresher, a cramped desk table. There were a few paintings hung up on the walls, along with a few small floral pants and the glowing bee bugs that attended them.

Mallory passed through the forward parts of the ship on her way to the cockpit. Inside the cockpit was, you guess it, another droid. The droid turned to view Mallory as she entered.

”Mistress Mallory.” The droid said pleasantly as he turned to address here. ”What may I do for you today?”

”Hello Butler.” Mallory smiled pleasantly at the chauffeur droid. ”We have a guest on our ship for our journey to Jedha. I believe we are ready to depart.”

The droid nodded once and moved to take it's seat in the pilot seat. ”I will begin the takeoff procedure then. Is there anything else?” The droid asked, turning its head to look at her as he started to warm up the ship.

”That will be all. Thank you.” Mallory said, patting the droid on the shoulder before returning back to the main room as the ship began to rise. Reikki was already waiting and preparing for takeoff.

”The Bog Standard?” She said with a smile as she sat down. There was a gentle turbulence as the ship shifted from rising on repulsorlifts to thrusters as it shot up through the atmosphere. ”Quite the name,” Mallory said before cocking her head as she re-analyzed the words Reikki had said. ”We?” She asked cautiously. Not wanting to pry.

Mallory got the impression from Reikki that the subject of her sisters was not one that she wanted to linger on. Or discuss. At all. So Mallory left it at that. The hyperspace flight to Jedha took some manner of days, and it was spent in easy company, when it was spent in company. Though the prospects of socialization had its own allure, there was always the call of study and research that consumed the majority of Mallory's time. That and the novel 10,000 Light-years Away which served to distract Mallory's mind when it needed distracting.


”Very close.” Mallory nodded as the ship nearest the end of it's hyperspace approach to Jedha. As if on cue, the alarm signaling their imminent reversion to real space sounded and Mallory raised a finger as if to say, ‘yep, I was right’.

”It's an Arctic desert, so cold, very cold.” Mallory dug through a storage container and pulled out some cold weather gear for the pair of them ”So dress warm.”

A voice came over the inter-ship comm system as Butler spoke to them from the cockpit.

”Mistress Mallory, we are on approach to the planet but it appears we have been scanned. No further radar signals or communications have been sent, but someone knows we are here.” The droid's voice came in clipped, proper tones.

”Interesting…” Mallory said thoughtfully. Of course she knew the planet wasn't entirely uninhabited. But it was interesting. ”Keep an eye on that. And send any points of interest to my datapad.” Mallory finished. A few moments later the datapad on the table pinged the confirmation of a data upload.

Suited up in cold weather gear, Mallory was ready to embark far before they had even landed. It necessitated turning down the ships climate control so they wouldn't be uncomfortable during the landing sequence.

”No… well maybe.” Mallory responded to Reikki's question as she reviewed the radar ping that had scanned them. Nothing telling in that signal.

”Someone scanned us. Could be that somebody knows we are here. Or it could just be an old automated traffic satellite, though I'd rather think we would have received some manner of automated message if that were the case.” It was worrying, but not anything worth abandoning the expedition over.

Looking over the half destroyed moon, Mallory felt a cold shiver go down her spine for a moment.

”It is a shame about the destruction. I can't begin to imagine how much knowledge was destroyed in Jedha city.” She shook her head in disgust. This was why she could never respect the Sith in any way. ”There is still worthwhile artifacts and knowledge down there, but we are reduced to combing the desert on the far side of the moon for any of the remaining ruins.”

Mallory reviewed the coordinates that Butler had sent her. The Greystar had long range sensors and had picked up a few areas of seemingly man made geometry among the crags and dunes of the far side.

”I think this area with several possible hits is a good place to start, we can land here in the middle and sweep out in our search. Sound good?” She asked as she pointed out the area on datapad, if all was well she would give Butler the order to descend down to the surface.

”We will have to be on our guard, there are rumors of cultists and other scavengers still living down here on this rock.” She would say as the ship settled down and the landing ramp descended. A harsh, blistering cold blew up the ramp and stung her eyes as the cold daylight broke into the hold.

Imp settled on Mallory's shoulder as she descended the ramp out onto the cold desert sands. She gave him a small pat as the ramp raised up behind them. Mallory looked along the direction that Reikki pointed, peering through the puff of her own breath at the faint metallic shine of the rising wing.

”Good eye.” Mallory said with a nod before consulting her datapad. ”We will head there first, it will be a good vantage point.” She nodded before glancing at Imp on her shoulder.

”Scout ahead Imp. See if you can get inside and find out if there is a shipping manifest.” It wasn't exactly what they were looking for, but if there was valuable cargo aboard then it would be worth looking into.

They would begin the trek across the desert sands at a quick and steady pace. Mallory huddled against her warm clothing as the frigid winds threatened to cut into them.

”You know, it's strange being in a cold desert.” She said after fighting off a shiver. The sand shifted under their feet with each step, leaving a trailer of scraped foot prints behind them, only for them to be blown away by the wind.

”Yeah, it was always a cold and sandy dustball.” Mallory replied with a shrug. There wasn't anything special about the planet, not really. Except for its history as a hub of the ancient Jedi and various other religious groups. She eyed the cold and inhospitality landscape and chewed her lip for a moment.

”Needs more contrast. Maybe somewhere with more cliffs or crags in the background. Preferably with a sunset or rise behind it.” She said in response to Reikki's question. There wasn't anything particularly interesting about the current view, just dunes on dunes.

”My goal is to get a set of paintings featuring the impact crater, from different locations around the rim.” She said as they walked, closer to the downed ship. She could already picture it, a series of paintings as an equidistant ring around the impact. Now that she thought about it it was quite the project. Would Reikki really be willing to wait around Jedha with her for that long? Or would it be better to return later after delivering the nightsister back to civilization.

Imp was long gone by the time they reached the downed ship, the droid no doubt scouting inside. Mallory watched in disguised awe as Reikki simply floated up to the hole before dropping down inside. So cool.

Mallory took a little bit longer, clambering up the side of the ship until she reached the open viewport, aiding her ascent with a few force enhanced hops. She jumped down, flicking out a few signs to momentarily arrest her momentum before she hit the ground. She followed the faint green flicker of Reikki's magic to the console.

”Imp, come to my location, we have a console.” Mallory spoke into her comlink. A few buzzing tweets came through and Mallory nodded.

”Imp is restoring emergency power first.” She informed Reikki. After waiting for a few moments, the panel lit up with a faint glow, and the emergency lighting strips on the floors, walls, and ceiling of the Imperial ship lit up with a flickering faint glow. A moment later, Imp was floating down the hallway to them and plugging into the console.

The droid worked for a few minutes before beeping out an explanation which Mallory translated.

”He says the ship was a transport bringing a research team and excavation gear to an old ruin nearby, but it never made it.” That was good news, it meant whatever lay nearby hadnt been plundered by the old Empire. ”Imp, stay here and catalogue the gear in the hold. Maybe some of it is worth something. We'll keep going to the ruin.”

The droid tooted in protest but Mallory was already picking her way back up and out. Her imagination was rife with the hypothetical wonders that they might find in the ruin and she wasn't waiting around to catalog a dusty old imperial ship.

Mallory eyed Reikki with envy as she levitated past her up and out of the downed shuttle. Much easier than climbing up the upright walls of the ship and jumping from hand hold to hand hold. Mallory’s breath billowed in foggy puffs from the cold as she breathed hard against the biting chill.

”Yeah. Good for us.” She said heavily as they started the rest of the way to what appeared to be an obelisk-like tower structure, slanted slightly, the protrusion of some long sand submerged building.

Mallory walked up to the ancient stone. She laid a hand on it, almost reverently tracing the line of a detailed piece of stonework. All these years and stone still stood.

”This architecture, it predates the Jedi of the Republic.” It was something of an awesome moment for Mallory as she swept her eyes up the spire one last time before following Reikki down into the darkness.

Mallory crouched on the lip of the window through which they had gained entrance to the structure. Looking down, she saw Reikki standing on a narrow stairwell. True to her word, a flickering green glow illuminated the stairwell and shadowed the depths below where it wound down the interior of the tower.

Mallory found her spot and jumped down, crossing her fore fingers in twist and with a crook of her thumb she slowed just before she touched down.

”Thanks.” Mallory said before starting the winding route down, picking her way down the crumbled and sand slick stairs. The air felt dusty and she eyed the walls warily, not entirely unaware of the fact that one wrong move could easily bring thousands of tons of sand pouring down on them.

”Let's try not to cave in the walls. I don't favor this place as my tomb.” She said ominously. The flickering green light didn't help things, casting a spooky green glow over the heavily shadowed walls of a larger room as they came to a looming open door at the bottom of the stairs.

”Let me.” She said as she raised both her hands and performed a quick two handed gesture. A small ball of light appeared before her hands, growing in illumination as it floated into the center of the room. The shadows disappeared and revealed what appeared to be some sort of ceremonial chamber.

Dust caked carvings of robed figures covered the walls, the paint that no doubt once highlighted the carvings long since faded away. There was a circular platform in the middle of the floor, decorated with images and symbols in a circular pattern around a central artwork. A peaked roof with a strange window set up that likely channeled sunlight once. discs lining the ceiling in a pattern that indicated they might have once been mirrors. And a large double door at the other end of the room.