Of all the missions that Vahliri had undertaken recently as a Champion, this was certainly the strangest to date. For months now, officials all through the Empire had been left perplexed after completely losing contact with the Imperial Research Station known only as IRB-009. Situation deep within the Utegetu Nebula, the station was managed by the Imperial Research Bureau - while the work they conducted there was kept highly-classified to all but the highest ranking Imperials. Thus, it was especially alarming when the station had disappeared without a trace - all communications coming back at static as the entire station seemingly vanished into hyperspace.
For all intents and purposes, the station had erased itself from the face of the Galaxy - as if it had never even existed at all. Until less than one week ago.
Just as abruptly as it had vanished, IRB-009 had resurfaced within the Utegetu Nebula once more - its distress beacons engaged to be picked up by Imperial relay stations and near-by vessels. After numerous attempts to communicate with the station had gone unanswered, a team was finally dispatched to investigate the matter in person - consisting of Vahliri, a contingent of soldiers and the Acolyte that had been assigned to accompany her. They had no idea what they would find when they arrived, but their objective would be to report back whatever had happened to IRB-009 and its team of scientists.
Hours passed before the blur of Hyperspace finally began to still - the stars solidifying into singular points on the horizon as their shuttle dropped into the system. Vahliri was seated within the cockpit and behind the controls of the ship, manually guiding their shuttle during the last leg of their journey. The half-Annfyn was adorned in her signature black-and-red Sith robes, while her black hair was tied back into a half-up-half-down style. The curved hilt of the woman’s lightsaber hung at her hip, while the air around her was ever-so-sweetly scented with the perfume she always wore.
Almost immediately, Vahliri’s eyes were drawn towards the Gas Giant that dominated the horizon - as well as the dark silhouette of the Research Station just up ahead. From the outside, nothing appeared visible wrong with the station - no catastrophic eternal damage or critical failures to note as they previously suspected. Which, of course, made the entire situation weirder.
After a few moments, Vahliri finally glanced towards the Acolyte sitting across from her - regarding him for but a moment before speaking. “Open a transmission with the station. If we don’t get a response.. We’ll move next to board.”
@Braden