Ask Heart of Darkness

[Tiye Kahina]

Destination: Ando Prime ​

Such an unassuming world. It really was nothing more than a snow-covered planet, situated in the heart of the Mid Rim. Despite its freezing tundras, Ando Prime was surprisingly inhabited with the capital, Elesa, being built off the backs of several mining corporations. Its size and scale couldn’t compare to other planetary hubs but some were admittedly drawn to the wintry world for periodically pod racing; the mountainous terrain and frigid weather made for some interesting obstacles. Ando Prime wasn’t always like this though. For a long time, the only inhabitants on the planet were the native Talid and the ancient Order of Dai Bendu monks. Remnants of their worship could still be seen, their broken statues lay littered amongst the planet’s jagged snow caps.

Under different circumstances, Tiye might have found such a landscape to be aberrant in its beauty but for now, her cyanic eyes were firmly fixed elsewhere. For much of the journey, she had searched tirelessly amongst endless streams of data records; the more she delved, the more she bristled. These had been copied directly from the Jedi archives, the organization should be pristine! And yet…

They’ve been tampered with. The data was corrupted, with some sections missing entire entries! Tiye was none the wiser till the initial alarm had been raised. Her ametuer internship in the archives was utterly upheaved when a strange alert began to beckon for Jedi action; though there was mention of Ando Prime, the surviving records stated nothing else. It made no reference to the beacon’s purpose, nor to its exact location, only that it was a duty inherited to the Order from the Jedi of bygone days.

Once more, the Hapan found herself pinching the bridge of her nose. Preserving and studying the records had been Tiye’s responsibility. She was answerable for this oversight. Perhaps that is why she petitioned so vehemently for the opportunity to join in the initial investigation.

Again, and again, I continue to fail the Order...

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@LouJoVi

 

[Crix Aran]

One thing that humans never seemed to think about was how lucky they were to have hair. Odd thought, sure, but it was something that they kind of just assumed every other species had. Those little hairs on the arms and legs? Really were pretty useful in keeping warm in cold environments.

Crix was half human and half Zabrak - and he took more after his zabrak side.

Which meant while the humans on the journey likely just thought was was cold, he was even more acutely aware of it. Muttering to himself about the cold even as they approached, Crix tried his best to act the part. He was supposed to be something of a respectable figure these days after all.

Fuck knew why.

As the ship was coming in for a landing, Red Lancer the pilot droid doing so with inhuman grace, Crix pulled on a big puffy coat and glared at Atias and Sebastian as his Padawan and friend just kind of watched as he seemed to layer himself up more and more. He pointed a warning finger at them both.

"One joke and I'm leaving you to freeze your balls off in the snow." he declared with a sigh, "Why can't you be like Luxor?"

The half-savage woman smiled at the use of her name as she helped Crix pulled a hat atop his horned head.

"Tiye we're coming in to land." he called out to the other Jedi, "Thanks Luxor."

The woman gave him a thumbs up - she did that a lot since Clove told her what the gesture meant.

@LouJoVi
@HoneyMagpie

 

[Atias Zaldreell]

For many, visiting Ando Prime could be considered boring. It was a simple tundra covered planet with some pockets of population concentrated around its cities. However, for Atias it was a great chance to explore more about the secrets surrounding the origins of the Jedi Order. After all, the Order of the Dai Bendu used to inhabit this world and they were considered one of the possible precursors of the Jedi. Who knows if they didn’t leave something behind that could explain more about their origins.

However, at the moment the last thing that crossed Atias mind was solving the mysteries surrounding the origin of the Jedi Order. The half-Morellian was struggling to not laugh while his Master covered himself with more and more layers of clothes that would maintain him warm in the cold of Ando Prime. If he continued this way, the Zabrak would soon look like a ball.

"No, Master! I would never make jokes about you." Atias said, while thousands of jokes ran through his mind. While he wasn't going to say them right now, he would without doubt talk about them with Sebastian later. The Padawan came to learn that the man wasn’t a bad person to be around after all. Luxor was more difficult for him, she was too silent for his tastes.

When he saw Luxor help Crix put on a hat, Atias couldn't hold his laugh anymore. "I'm sorry Master." the Padawan said, between laughs. The Zabrak couldn’t get mad at him, the scene was hilarious. He also didn’t make any joke regarding how he was dressed at the moment, this way he wasn't disobeying the older Jedi.

While the ship approached the ground, Atias heard his Master contact the Knight that they were going to meet on Ando Prime. Until the ship landed, the Padawan would continue laughing at how Crix was dressed. He wondered how the Zabrak would move in the snow, perhaps rolling like a ball.

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[Tiye Kahina]

Collecting the last of her supplies, Tiye moved to join the others. Though not privy to the original punchline, the Hapan quickly picked up on the source of their hilarity. Crix’s attire. Try as she might, Tiye couldn’t suppress her own bout of chuckling; giggles escaped her when her fellow Jedi added yet another layer of puffy protection. Zabraks were such a hardy people, she never thought the cold would be the thing to lay the great Crix Aran low. Still, he had the right idea. Temperatures outside were below freezing and, with an encroaching snowstorm ahead of them, an extra layer or two certainly wouldn’t hurt.

The vast winterlands that lay before them almost seemed ready to swallow them whole; bitter winds and howling gales tore through jagged frost caps, their wailing spanning for miles. The sting of each gust was like a slap in the face, forcing Tiye to hike up her scarf even further in an attempt to shield most of her exposed face.

As uncomfortable as it was, the young knight stood stiffly and surveyed the area. The beacon was triangulated somewhere in this vicinity, though the worsening weather was making its fixed locations difficult to triangulate. They could abandon the mission and wait out the storm but Force knows how much time that would waste; the Jedi of old placed that alarm for a reason. They couldn’t neglect its immediate investigation.

“This is our map. We need to find an entrance.” She practically had to shout over the roaring of the winds. The others might not even be able to actually hear her but they could certainly determine the gist of it given the holomap she presented from a mini projector. There was an ingress somewhere nearby, with the location itself likely leading them underground. They needed to look for a mouth of some sort, or perhaps even a cave, and preferably quickly.

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@LouJoVi

 

[Crix Aran]

"You guys suck - if I lose a finger due to frost bite I'm going to sue."

What a ridiculous claim... as if either Tiye or Atias actually had anything worth suing them for. Still, he did a couple of stretches in his get up before deciding that, yeah, it could work for now. He had to use a bit more effort than usual but it beat the hell out of the other option as far as he was concerned.

Could Jedi regulate their internal temperature using the Force? Absolutely.

And the second something took their attention they were back to freezing, typically without much in the way of appropriate clothing because they'd relied solely on the Force. Crix trusted and believed in the Force - he'd not have lived this long if he didn't - but he didn't think that was an excuse to be sloppy.

"Put on a jacket, Atias. That's an order."

Gods and Force above but he sounded like the kid's Dad or some shit... fuck he felt old now.

Hearing Tiye was already becoming an issue with the wind so he called out to Sebastian, who threw him a trio of in-ear com links. He handed one to Tiye and one to Atias before attaching his own, speaking clearly but without shouting now that they had com-links actively assisting with that bit.

"When we get to the area between a few possible candidates, we can pulse using the Force, as a group, to shift the snows so we can gain access." he recommended as he strode against the winds, "It'll only uncover it for a few minutes at best in this weather but it'll be enough to show us which is the way in. Come on!"

Stepping through the snow, Crix began to build the Force within himself as he spotted a couple of the ingresses around the landing area that could be good candidates - they just needed to clear the field to get a better look.

@LouJoVi @HoneyMagpie

 

[Atias Zaldreell]

Atias laugh increased after he heard Crix’s threat of suing him and Tiye. The other Jedi had arrived here and also had started to giggle with how the Zabrak was dressed. “Master, you should be more concerned if you will be able to walk with so much clothes!” he said playfully, still with the image of the Knight rolling through the snow as a ball of cloth.

When Crix ordered him to put on a jacket, Atias’ laugh increased. It made the Zabrak look far older than he was. “Ok, Master!” he said between laughs, before walking to grab it. Once he did it, the Padawan returned to where the other two Jedi were. By this point all the laughter had already died.

The boy picked the comlink that Crix offered to him and paid close attention to what the Zabrak was saying. Then, he stared at the map that Tiye was showing to them. The Padawan didn’t expect that entering these old temples could be so problematic to the point of needing the three to shift the snow.

Although, with how the wind was strong and the snow had no signal to stop falling, it was no surprise that they could have some problems. Atias felt relieved for having taken his jacket, he felt freezing in this place. He could have laughed at his Master, but he probably could use some more clothes to stay warm.

With the plan made, Atias followed his Master through the snow. He would occasionally walk away from the Zabrak, trying to find something that they could use as an entrance. While he searched, the Padawan thought that he really should have brought more clothes like Crix.

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[Tiye Kahina]

Whilst keeping her companions in her line of sight, Tiye began searching her own section of snow. At first, it seemed like a hopeless endeavour. Snowdrifts littered the entire area, with whiteout making it difficult to distinguish much depths. Mound after mound was tested and checked but none of their efforts bore fruit. Temperatures were plummeting, with snow soon turning into sleet. If things got any worse, they'd have to return to the ship.

The coordinates aren't wrong. It has to be here...But where?

Seeking shelter, Tiye moved towards one of the planet's looming statues, its sheer size and scaleable to withstand much of what Ando Prime's had to offer. Cracked, with missing fragments, only the legs and torso remained standing. It was enough for Tiye to make use of, the solid stone shielding her from much of the gales. Despite her winter weather gear, the cold was starting to seep in; its insulation was only able to do so much. Much longer out here and her fingers would go numb.

Moving to walk across from one leg to another, she used the earpiece to call Crix and Atias. "We're running out of time. Do you think we should head for cover-- Eeep!"

One minute, Tiye was standing, the next, she was sunk up to the waist in snow. What seemed like solid ground was actually an indentation filled with fresh, soft snow. She struggled at first, trying to free herself from the snow's burying depths but the more she struggled, the further she sunk. The Hapan almost panicked until finding her feet found a solid stoop. Actually, there were several of them. Stairs, perhaps?

"I can feel steps!" So excited by the find, she didn't even mind the fact she was now buried up to her neck. A rather comical sight, given how happy the Hapan seemed. "It's a passageway! This must be it!"

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@LouJoVi

 

[Crix Aran]

Stupid Padawans making him feel old and responsible for them like some kind of parent...

Crix moved out into the snow, making large tracks through it as he walked with sweeping steps. He had some experience on such terribly cold planets in the past and that was why he knew to move through the snow rather than stomp through it. Totally different and his method took up a lot more energy and got him a lot wetter than Tiye's own method of wandering through the snow, however, his method?

Didn't end up with him disappearing into the snow drifts.

Pulsing with the Force to check the area around him, he sighed a little bit as he received the message from Tiye and began to head over to her.

"Atias - with me. Looks like Tiye managed to stumble across the entrance."

He didn't tell his Padawan that the Knight had basically fallen into the entrance - no reason to give her any kind of complex about the whole thing. As he approached he used the Force again, snow moving as he approached to uncover the stairs that Tiye had begun to feel. Reaching out with one hand, he held Tiye steady in place before Pulling huge amounts of snow out from around her, leaving her standing on suddenly bare steps.

Crix eyed the steps leading down into a darkened passageway and his eyes narrowed.

"... I have a bad feeling about this."

@LouJoVi @HoneyMagpie

 

[Atias Zaldreell]

Atias stopped looking around when he heard his Master say that Tiye had found the entrance. “Nice! I'm going after you.” The half-Morellian was grateful for this search not having taken so much time. He wanted so badly to leave this snow. The half-Morellian felt as if he was going to freeze at any moment.

The Padawan followed the Zabrak through the snow toward the place where Tiye and the entrance were. The snow seemed to be becoming deeper in these parts. Atias could feel his feet sinking here, needing some effort for him to avoid it happening.

“I think that we should have brought some snow shoes.” he murmured to his Master, while once again using strength to pull his right foot out of the snow. “Do you know? Those that people use on those frozen planets.” Atias always thought that they were funny looking, but they seemed to work to avoid falling in the snow.

And talking about falling in the snow, Atias was surprised when they arrived where Tiye was. The Hapan was deep down in the snow, with only her head out of it. “I think that not even snow shoes would have avoided that.” the half-Morellian didn’t dare to approach the woman, leaving his Master to do the rescue. If their walk toward here was a signal of something was that he would also end like her.

Once Crix finished using the Force to remove the snow from around Tiye, Atias could see several stairs going down a dark passageway. “Well, this is going to be an adventure. We only need to be careful.” he answered his Master’s comment. The Padawan only wanted to get out of this snow, even if that meant them going down under the ground.

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