Ask Plot Ossus Ossus the Right Place?

[Hannibal Grayza]

Nothing could be easy, could it? The last excursion to an old temple on Tython had mostly delivered hints and directions to a general location on Ossus. Typical of a Jedi temple to be vague and unhelpful. Jedi never seemed to just keep their stuff in a box like normal people. Regardless, he'd grabbed a couple of different people this time while the others poured over the data from the last adventure.

The recently promoted Jedi Master was joined by Jedi Knight Vesper(@Logan), who he didn't really know but had seemed eager enough, and Jedi Padawan Riz'kacha(@WiffWaffs) who he'd taken up the training of after Nash's death. Vesper seemed to have a versatile array of skills and Hannibal believed she'd be useful here, and the adventure may give Riz a chance to hone her skills and learn a few things from the two more senior members of the Order. With any luck they'd find what they were looking for this time.

Hannibal wore what had become his usual robes and gloves, his practical loose pants tucked into a pair of combat. He has his two blasters and a pair of lightsabers, one his original and a new silver one just next to it clipped to his belt. He'd packed a satchel full of adventuring gear for the temple, including a couple flashlights. Jedi never brought flashlights for some reason or other.

The Catspaw touched down in a clearing among a smattering of brush and gnarled trees, the landing ramp crushing a small bush beneath it as it descended. Hannibal sighed as the engines coughed themselves into a low power state. He really needed to look into getting a new ship soon, this poor thing was getting beyond his ability to maintain it with all the flying back and forth he did.

He slipped from his chair and moved towards the ship's exit, waving the other two forward with a cheeky smirk. "Well, c'mon then. Let's go find some old Jedi stuff, yeah?"

 

[Vesper]

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Vesper had volunteered for this mission not because she really wanted to, but because she had felt that perhaps she needed a change of pace from her recent ventures. Despite being a Jedi and firmly proud of it, she hadn't really been doing her part recently in helping the Order in the ways she should have. The galaxy was.. changing, you could feel it in the Force. It may be time for Vesper to change along with it.

She'd mostly kept to herself while aboard the Catspaw, her eyes drawn to the view-port mostly, watching the monotonous colors of hyperspace slip by without interruption. Vesper wasn't familiar with either of the two Jedi who she was traveling with, but she was sure there would be time to become more acquainted when they landed. From what she understood they'd be heading into some kind of cavern system to find what they were looking for.

Feeling the ship shudder and settle as it began to land, Vesper could have sworn it almost sounded like the engines were breathing a sigh of relief.

"Speaking of old, your ship's sounding a little tired there, Hannibal. Might be time to lease something a little nicer, don't think it looks good for a Jedi Master to fly around in a beater." Vesper said, heading towards the ramp as well. She was joking of course and her tone would be easily interpreted, but Vesper couldn't help herself sometimes.

As she exited the ship, Vesper took a quick look around and did a mental check of her personal stuff. In keeping with the idea of change, Vesper had opted to wear something more Jedi-esque instead of her usual street clothes. She had her lightsaber, obviously, and opted to also bring a blaster. Not to mention your typical stuff like a comlink and small flashlight.

"Looks like there's an entrance into the cave system up there," She said, pointing up towards a ridge that was visible through the thin treeline. "Little bit of a hike though, unfortunately."

Vesper would start heading off in that direction, assuming none of her compatriots stopped her with a better option.

@WiffWaffs @Mr. Teatime

 

[Rizkacha]

The Twi'lek Padawan followed shortly after her comrades, donning her new robes in favor of her old armor. As much as she recognized its protective qualities, it hadn't saved much of anyone in the past. Not to mention that looking at it still brought back some unpleasant memories, let alone wearing it. No, for now she'd rely on her own training and knowledge to protect her. Of course, her bronzium lightsaber hilt swung at her hip, swaying with each step. She had a commlink and the essentials with her as well, having not been too prepared for what was going to happen here.

She offered the slightest bit of a smile at Vesper's jests, knowing that there was some truth to her words despite their light-hearted intentions. It hardly served a Jedi well if they couldn't get to where they needed to in order to help out, right? Master or not, ship maintenance was a skill that seemed to be sorely undervalued throughout the galaxy, "Master Grayza, I have read a small number of maintenance manuals in preparation for owning my own ship. Perhaps once we are done here, I can take a look at the ship before we take off again."

Her gaze shifted back to Vesper as she spoke, following her pointing finger to the ridgeline, "That does certainly appear to be our destination, yes. As for our distance, I believe that Master Grayza is attempting to allow for more exercise. He seems to keep a rather strict regimen for his students to follow, which usually involves physical activities." She was sure that there were other practical reasons for landing so far away, such as limited landing space and the like. She also knew that this was probably planned out by the Jedi Master, knowing that he likely was going to milk this for all of its teaching merit. Luckily for her, she was a bit more fit than when she had begun her training.

@Logan @Mr. Teatime

 

[Hannibal Grayza]

Hannibal grinned at Vesper's comment, following her down the ramp. "Oh, you bet. It's old as hell. Sucks Jedi don't get paid, eh?" he replied, stepping out into the Ossus weather. He looked up at the ridge Vesper pointed out and clicked his tongue. He hadn't landed closer because he frankly didn't know how stable these caves were and had no intention of sinking his ship into the crust of a planet or burying what they were looking for. Not too much travel to get up there. They'd manage.

He turned to Riz and raised an eyebrow with a smirk at her mentioning of reading manuals. "Riz, dear. The Catspaw has been rewired, modified, and generally tinkered with to keep flying there's no way it matches any manual you've read. It's a big metal shoe with an engine in it at this point for all anyone knows." He laughed and then got to moving up the ridge just behind Vesper. In truth he hadn't planned for 'training' per say by going up the hard way. It would be more accurate to say this is what the training is for.

After all, if a Jedi has to use the Force to do everything they'd quickly exhaust themselves. It's a lot less effort to refresh oneself with the Force than to jump all over the place when it isn't necessary. So, they walked. It wouldn't take too long to get to the ridge itself. Hannibal looked around. Shrubbery, grass, and a drop that lead underground. Neat.

Hannibal retrieved his flashlight from his satchel and clipped it under barrel on his RSKF, turned it on, and shone it into the cave entrance. Looks like a cave. Smells like danger, though. At least Hannibal would describe it as a smell, but they probably wouldn't get it.

"I bet there's traps. There's always traps." he commented, looking at the cavern floor. No footprints, solid sandy stone. "Into the underdark, I guess."

@Logan @WiffWaffs

 

[Vesper]

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"The good thing about traps is if you run into them, you know you're going the right way." Vesper quipped as they started into the cave. "No one ever sets up booby traps to protect things not worth finding."

The light from Hannibal's flashlight could only do so much to combat the dark, it seemed. Their footsteps echoed hollowly off the stone walls as they moved in further and Vesper could tell that they were going down by the way the air seemed to change. Rather swiftly too from what she could tell. The humidity in the air was noticeable despite the overall temperature being cool.

Vesper had a habit of keeping time in her head, something she had always been somewhat good at and had aided her numerous times in the past. By her count they'd been traveling deeper into the cave for about thirty minutes and given the clip they'd been moving at was relatively swift, Vesper figured they'd already gone a couple miles by now.

She was just about to comment on how it was curious they'd not encountered anything at this point when she stepped on something that broke under her foot with a loud crack. Looking down, she noticed it looked like a bone of some kind. Small, maybe arm bone. Definitely looked humanoid.

"Well, that's not promising." She said, kneeling down to inspect the debris laying around a little more closely. The remnants of the rest of the bones and such were strewn about haphazardly, and Vesper could make out what looked to be dark splotches splattered on the walls and ground. Looked like old, dried blood but she couldn't be sure.

Taking a glance at Hannibal, Vesper let out a sigh as she stood back up. "I remember reading that many of the caves on Ossus are home to kirruk. Reaching to her belt, Vesper unclipped her lightsaber hilt and held it firmly in her hand. There was no sense in not being prepared at this point. "Lets hope we only find one or two and don't stumble into a whole herd."

Lets hope the thing that we're looking for is worth it.

Vesper decided to keep that part to herself. They were already in it this far, it wasn't like they were going to turn around and go home.

@Mr. Teatime

 

[Hannibal Grayza]

So in they went, stepping through the caves lit only by a flashlight. "A fair point." he replied simply to Vesper's assertion. One didn't usually leave traps behind to guard the unimportant. The last place that'd be looked through had merely held coordinates to these caves on Ossus and hadn't really had any traps. So the more trouble the better, maybe?

Time passed as they walked in relative silence, only the boots on stone and dirt breaking the monotonous silence. Right up until a cracking sound echoed through the dimly lit cave. Hannibal looked down as Vesper did, then swept his flashlight around the area. More bones and old stains. Wonderful. His flashlight was already shining from underneath a blaster pistol, but he still drew his original lightsaber hilt from his belt nonetheless. He'd rather have it ready and not need it when it came down to it.

"I'd rather go with none, but I like your version too." he said as he moved forward again, carefully edging around the bones on the floor. The moist, humid air mixed poorly with the smell of old bones and made the place smell like dust and death in equal measure. Hannibal definitely wasn't a fan of it, but he couldn't let himself get distracted. His senses were on edge. The bones didn't seem new, but it still implied something at some point used the caves as a home. He wasn't optimistic enough to think they wouldn't run into something.

He kept his flashlight shining forward and angled down at the ground, keeping a look out for what he was stepping over as well as for any signs of relatively recent movement. At a crossway his instincts guided him right, his flashlight moving towards that corridor and shining down it. He was getting some inkling of danger nearby, but nothing obvious seemed to present itself. Keeping his senses alert he started to move down the new corridor, hoping this little field trip wasn't going to take days. [cbox3]

@Logan