The Crystal Labyrinth

[Kit]

Troubling news had reached the Jedi Council; news that absolutely required their attention. The Battlemaster of the order had been tasked with organizing a response, and to that end, had summoned a team of Jedi.

They were due to arrive any moment now, to receive the details of what was required of them, and why.

Time was paramount, and the Battlemaster's expression sour. There seemed to be nothing but bad news these days.

 

[MolotovCocktailParty]

Wasn't it usually the Knights who got called away on missions? Sorn was not happy that he had to interrupt his training and his [st]stagnant[/st] wonderfully active social life to go on a mission. But it probably wasn't a bad idea to get practical experience, too, so all in all he didn't mind TOO much. Sorn just liked to complain.

Grumbling to himself, the tall Padawan wandered through the halls of the Temple, his brown robes swishing on the cool stone floor. His short, light brown hair was combed to the side to stay out of his face, and his single lightsaber was clipped inside his robes. After approximately ten minutes of wandering the halls, he figured out where he was and turned, slipping past a small gaggle of Jedi going the other way. After a further five minutes, Sorn found himself outside the room that had been specified; inside he found the Jedi Battlemaster.

The Battlemaster himself. That was unusual; this must be quite important. Usually the Battlemaster only got involved with affairs of war (hence his title) or those that would certainly require dangerous direct confrontation. For that, Sorn would be good; he specialized with his lightsaber, after all, but it was most curious that the Battlemaster had been called in for this mission, parameters as yet unknown. Most curious indeed.

 

[dskod1]

Fanai was so excited. 'my frist real mission, I hope I do good, I hope I make friends.' She thought to herself as she ran along on all floors. Nothing really distinguished her from anyone or anything so many people assumed that it was an animal running lose. As she reached the room of the battle master she stopped and helped herself up on only two legs. Waling in to the room she could barely contain herself. 'I am so excited.' she thought to herself. She could feel butterflies in her stomach as she walked next to the other padawan in the room. He size was so small compared to the jedi and if she weren't standing on two feet she would have been mistaken for someone's pet. She smiled and nodded to the battlemaster.

 

[Matt]

Christian opened the door of the chambers with a slightly dour mood taking over him, all he had been told was to meet the battlemaster of the order in the council chambers.

Now, that couldn't be for anything good and opened the door to the chambers with great trepidation and a slight feeling of horror as he went through his mind as to why he could be here. He was sure he hadn't done anything wrong....

Well fairly sure.

''Battlemaster Ausgustus, a pleasure to see you again and those robes look absolutely lovely on you''

That would do it, he was sure the subtle compliment would help.

 

[Crim]

Leon Kovik, a Selkath Jedi, had no sympathy for Dark Jedi. His old master had turned to the dark side, which had upset him heavily early on in his training. He'd progressed with his master, Mitya Ivanovah, than he ever had with his old master.

Fighting Dark Jedi wasn't new to him. He had been the one who killed his fallen master, pushing him into a conduit. Leon didn't want to kill anyone, but this Dark Jedi had what was coming to him. That's where the Dark Side leads after all.

Leon stood at attention as the Battlemaster spoke.

 

[Kit]

The Battlemaster watched grimly as each of the Jedi entered the room, a mixed bunch, in both species and ability, they would simply have to do. Despite being familiar with Knight Noble, the Battlemaster simply couldn't appreciate the man's... unique... style of familiarity.

There was simply no time.

"You have each been summoned because the Council requires you to do your duty."

He paused, deliberating on how best to present the task required of them.

"A Padawan disappeared recently, after being sent to Damind to retrieve a crystal for his blade. Our investigating team discovered that the caves themselves have become corrupt. Perhaps even lethal."

He didn't need to stress the danger here, one Jedi had already died.

"The Council is sending you to investigate the caves. You must find the source of the corruption, and destroy it. We cannot afford to lose a single source of crystals, you cannot afford to fail."

Augustus looked at each Jedi in turn. He hoped that they were up to the task at hand.

"If you have any questions, ask them now, time is of the essence, you will need to leave as soon as possible."

 

[MolotovCocktailParty]

Sorn rubbed his lightsaber. His method of solving problems was direct, unapologetic, and effective, if not particularly subtle. If there was an enemy, cut them down. If there was a victim, protect them. If there was an army, fight to the last man. But this seemed like it called for a lighter, subtler touch than his own. He would go, of course, and do his duty, but he couldn't help but wonder if he was really suited to the mission.

"Do we know what is corrupting the crystals, or even have a vague idea?" he asked aloud, needing to gather information. "Have any Dark Jedi been sighted there recently, or escaped from our holding cells? Have any other Padawans gone missing in the same system? Are there any Dark artifacts on Damind? Or perhaps a history of Dark Side association?"

Sorn pondered again, and then posed a second, simpler question to the elder Jedi.

"Can the crystals be healed?"

 

[Matt]

Thank the lord thought Christian at first, he hadn't done anything wrong but he quickly abashed himself after hearing of the death of one of the order, a crying and terrible shame in any situation.

''Indeed, how much damage are you willing to allow Battlemaster? We could end up having to destroy the cave which isn't a particularly nice situation too have!''

Christian pondered on the different things that could be causing the corruption, perhaps an old spirit of the dark side...Or it could even be a living being perhaps....Or the stars only knew.

 

[Kit]

A flood of questions was the Battlemaster's reward, almost all of them from one boy. He was pleased to hear Noble chime in as well. He frowned for a moment, dredging up both details, and then answers for the team.

"The level of corruption reported takes prolonged exposure, so whatever it is, it'll likely be within the caves, rather than nearby. Our best guess is a powerful Darksider, possibly a group of them. No ancient activity or artifacts would explain this. It has to be recent, so it has to be strong."

He paused.

"We haven't held any Dark Jedi in years, let alone on Damind. Similarly, any Dark Artifacts would have been there for decades, so that wouldn't explain the recent corruption. The caves were fine a month ago."

He sighed. Could the crystals be healed? He had asked the Loremaster, and the best answer he had received was a tentative maybe.

"We are hopeful that they can be healed, though only time will tell if that is possible. Our hope is that the crystals will heal themselves over time, once the source of the corruption is removed. That means that we want the level of destruction kept to a minimum, so that we can at least study the Crystals, as they heal."

Or as they don't, he thought to himself.

"Now, unless there is anything else you wish to ask?"

The implication was clear; time was important. Every passing second let the corruption spread further, take root more fiercely and surely damn the crystals more thoroughly.

 

[dskod1]

Fanai merely nodded to the battle master. She than smiled and put a thumbs up at him.

"I am ready battlemaster."

She had no real questions for the man. She was excited to get her first mission and even more excited to be facing an actual opponent. There was doubt within her however, a doubt that she was not ready for such a task, a doubt that may as well lead to the teams demise if she isn't careful. She did not show it however and only showed her happiness and confidence.

 

[MolotovCocktailParty]

Well, that wasn't much help. Oh well; this could be dealt with when they got there. Sorn hoped that the crystals could be healed, though; if the Jedi actively participated in a cleansing ceremony, who knew what might happen? The Force worked in mysterious ways.

Sorn also nodded, repeating the words, "I am ready." He would stand, as he always had and always would, as a guardian of the light, a direct barrier between evil and innocence. He would have it no other way.

 

[Matt]

''I am most certainly ready battlemaster, please lead the way and though I hate to ask in such situations I presume you would like me to stop the padawan's scrapping there knees and losing there lunch credits?''

Christian gave the two padawan's a beaming smile to help placate his words, he really had no other way of asking if it was him who the battle master wanted incharge of the mission, ranks were not important in situations like this, it was who would be best for the mission.

Atleast that was what he thought...

 

[Crim]

Leon was confident. Not overconfident, but the sort of reassuring confidence you get when you study for as long as possible before a test. He said, "I am ready, Battlemaster." He saw some students popping knuckles (this really bugged Leon, since he didn't have bones, only cartilage) and others trying to seem more than qualified. Leon, however, acted normally. This wasn't a competition between the padawans.

 

[Kit]

The Battlemaster nodded to Knight Noble, whilst wordless the implication was still clear; the Knight was to lead the team. Thanks to the lack of clarity for the mission, specialists had to be held back, so leadership fell to experience, and in this case, that was to be Christian Noble.

"Then leave, there is a shuttle waiting to take you to The Will, where you will procure direct transport to Damind. The longer you wait, the worse this mess becomes."

The Battlemaster then gestured for the Jedi to leave. He simply couldn't emphasize just how little time there was to waste.

 

[Crim]

Leon patted himself down.

Lightsaber? Check.
Grappling hook? Check.
Rations? Check.
Comlink? Check.


He stepped on the shuttle quickly and got comfortable.

 

[MolotovCocktailParty]

Sorn had already made sure that all three of his lightsabers were present. He certainly did not want to be in a situation where he wanted one and could not use it. Therefore, he was as ready as he could be - Sorn really just needed his weapons, and he was set for just about any mission. In that interest, the older Padawan followed Leon back through the corridors and into the waiting shuttle, clambering in next to his fellow mission-goers and taking the seat opposite their somewhat eccentric, sarcastic team leader. He immediately leaned back and turned to look out the window. Damind was two hours away by hyperspace; he may as well have a view.

 

[dskod1]

Fanai checked to make sure she brought everything. She had a puch strapped over her shoulder and brought her training lightsaber. She hoped there would not be a lit of fighting but if so she needed something to defend herself with. She ran on to the shuttle.

"Shotgun front seat"

She shouted as she ran in and quickly jumped onto the front seat. She jumped on the seat's backrest and looked back to see anyone else who would enter

 

[Matt]

Christian bowed deeply to the battlemaster before turning sharply and walking onto the shuttle, he wasn't going to enjoy the journey he thought as there was quite an age gap between himself in his late twenties to the other jedi who all seemed so young.


Well, he would have to make sure nothing happened to the young ones.

 

[Crim]

Leon fastened his seatbelt, a measure of safety often overlooked. Jumping out of small vessels is overrated and the need to do so is very rare. Chances are that if the ship was to crash, the people not flying around the inside of the ship would survive.

The belt slipped out of his hand the first time. Dammit, he thought. Thus was the curse of aquatic species. He then decided to examine his lightsaber for the billionth time. It was a customized saber that worked underwater. It was also a dual-phase lightsaber, which is very hard to make.

Leon was hoping to make some friends here. Probably not going to happen, given that he's shy, but the Force makes a great friend. Leon decided to meditate.

 

[MolotovCocktailParty]

Pfft, seatbelts. What good were they anyway? Sorn was forcibly reminded of a seat belt's many uses as the shuttle took off and accelerated, throwing him first backward and then forward as it banked toward the Will of the Force, in low orbit. Perhaps seat belts were more useful than he had previously given them credit for. Oh well; until they got to Damind, this was mostly an exercise in patience.

Sorn looked around at his fellow mission-goers; he saw one of the Padawans meditating and generally being antisocial, while another was some sort of odd creature that Sorn had to resist the urge to pet. The final occupant was a Knight, a few years older than Sorn's twenty-one years of age, who probably thought he was getting a babysitting job. Sorn just hoped he wasn't the type for stupid, unnecessary heroics. He wasn't sure about the others, but his training (while he did have a Master) was mostly independent and he could definitely take care of himself.