Open Reclaimed by Ice

[Ephiny Daivand]

Ephiny heard Gram try to explain what happened. She became apprehensive, what could have made the Vahla fall? The Archivist was going to ask him more questions about it when she noticed blood coming from the man's shoulder blade.

Before she could offer to heal him with the Force, Gram used his abilities to remove the snow. After it fell, Ephiny noticed a humanoid silhouette that disappeared seconds before the Vahla's lightsaber could hit them.

"What was that?" she asked more to herself than to Gram. She was starting to think that this place could be more than a simple listening post. Could it be one of the legendary Palpatine's vaults? Hopefully not.

Ephiny jumped as Gram said. The Archivist felt him use the Force to make her reach the platform where the outpost entrance was located. Then she saw the man jump in several pillars, to finally stop when his right hand finally clasped in the bottom rung of the entranceway. While he was trying to reach where she was, the Jedi noticed that Gram was in pain. She crouched to help him reach the platform.

"Let me heal your injury. I'm good with Force healing." she would say when Gram was finally with her on the platform. "I think that we will need all our strength to deal with what is inside this listening post."

@Iyan @Die Shize @Aurius

 

[Mikko Falco]

​

The creak of metal underneath footsteps announced the stalker's arrival inside the base. From below, Mikko saw the figure cross above the grilled floor panels. With one hand still tracing the cool walls, he quietly walked through the space to get a better view. It was a female. Now it was him who had eyes on this woman, but he had barely planned ahead for this situation. As she crossed over to the consoles, he realized that they'd both be put in risk if security measures were triggered. It was time to move.

The Jedi Knight quietly slid the panels above him away, and jumped from the hiding space. His feet hit the ground with a thud, but it didn't matter now that he'd be heard. With a hand outstretched, Mikko called upon the Force to hold the figure's arms in a stasis before she could touch the consoles. The stasis wouldn't hold for long — earlier he had been focusing his energy on keeping warm and he knew not to drain himself.

"Stop. Do not touch anything." Though he used a commanding tone, there was a hint of wariness in his voice. He didn't consider beforehand that the stranger could be foolish enough to walk in and mess around the machinery with no regard for security traps. Unless she belonged to Imperial remnants, which would be a whole other problem. He hoped for the former.

"Say who you are, and why you're following us," Mikko ordered, now more firmly. One hand was now wrapped around his lightsaber hilt as he advanced to the bridge above the lowered areas. If she tried anything, he would be ready.

@Die Shize @LouJoVi @Aurius

 

[Vayla Mirana]

Spoiler: Music OOC [Recurring]

There was a thud, then a feeling in the Force as the Force flew Vayla’s way to envelop and restrain her.

Yet, before either of those developments, there was movement from the floor, and that much Vayla had felt even as she focused on the consoles.

Force Stasis was a feat for any practitioner, particularly when the target was another Force-user. Well, Vayla was a Jedi, and though the outside world was cold and hard and cruel the Pantoran was used to it, and she used the Force on a daily basis when it came to ruins like these.

Out of nowhere, the Force flew, representing itself as an energy field seeking flesh and bone to embalm. It found Vayla before she ever considered finding keyboards with her fingers.

The Jedi Knight called back, reaching into the Force to break the bind, and break it did. It did not last long, had left with limbs freed, but the target was otherwise unmoved.

Instead of retaliating, Vayla stood still and calm, arms at her sides and her back to the voice behind her. And who are you, wanderer?

“You don’t sound like a Sith,” she mused. “Though it’s hard to tell these days…” Hard to tell friend from foe. “They’re like a virus… Fight back and it mutates, finds new ways to fight you—cold and hard and cruel…. I’m turning around now.”

The other Force-user, whether he was Jedi or Sith or something else, could attack her in the time it took to turn around but such was his gamble.

“I am Vayla Mirana,” the Pantoran introduced herself, giving her composed countenance to the man who commanded her with both tongue and hand. “It is not you I am following, sir, but the dark voice that called me here.”

She gestured toward the consoles, toward the room, toward the outpost, toward the mountain and the world and the universe itself.

"I can hear the cry of this planet calling my light," Vayla affirmed. “Shadows, after all, go where the light is dim.”

@Iyan
@LouJoVi @Aurius

 

[Gram Van Alasdaire]

With a sigh, the Vahla accepted the Jedi’s hand and steadied himself to his feet on the rungs of the overhang. The thing was ancient, he was surprised it wasn’t starting to buckle. Then again, it was also likely their mysterious strangers were maintaining the place, as well as guarding it. For who? Gram couldn’t tell.

“Go for it.”

Whatever it was Ephiny was doing, it was starting to work. A Force Heal, she called it. Not his first time hearing of such things, but he had never attempted such a feat. Both because he was not versed in it’s application, nor suited to use it with his skill set. The broken skin began to prickle, then began to feel as though it was being boiled. For a moment only, until there was no pain at all - the wound was slowly closing itself.

“…Only if those things get to Mikko… before we do…”

Collecting his lightsaber from the platform’s edge, Gram punched the green cylindrical button to the door’s edge. The outpost opened with a hiss, revealing a dark and militaristic interior. Though ancient, the architecture was clearly Imperial in design. Though which Empire was hard to say - most Sith of times past seemed to prefer their unique architecture. As he began to enter the complex, Gram’s vision blurred. He shook his head, returning his surroundings to focus with a scoff. The wound may have been closed, but his body was still adapting to the pain. His chest was heavy, and he felt disoriented - such things, hopefully, would clear in time. Pausing, the Vahla raised his index finger to his mouth. In the silence, he heard the faintest echo of a voice in the distance. A female voice, seemingly alone in the wastescape of the abandoned outpost.

“This way.”

Gram did not pause. He did not stop. Despite the sealed injury, despite the unknown terrain. Until finally, the unlikely duo came into the open of a tiered chamber. Mikko was below them, advancing on the bridge with his hand at his hilt. Opposing him was the being in white, now hoodless. Looking over at Ephiny, the mystic motioned downwards and across. Meaning that she would stay here, he would move to the other side. As he moved, Gram could hear snippets of a conversation. The being was finishing the last of her words, an ominous phrase.

…Shadows, after all, go where the light is dim.

As the words left her mouth, the Vahla would drop from the second story, gentle sailing until he struck the ground. The metallic thud could be heard behind the woman - she had turned to face the Jedi, unarmed. With that in mind, the Vahla elected not to attack immediately. He instead leveled his weapon, calmly waiting for Ephiny to join them. His saber hissed to life, both hands on the hilt - the blade dipped low in a guard around the right side of his waist. He did not need to announce his presence.

The hum and silver glow would be enough.

@Iyan @Die Shize @LouJoVi

 

[Ephiny Daivand]

After Gram accepted her offer to heal him, Ephiny approached the Vahla and carefully touched the place that was hurt. Now close to it, the Archivist could see how much blood was coming out of the wound. Thankfully it wasn’t much, but still it probably was painful. The Jedi closed her eyes and focused the Force on the wound, soon it started to heal.

After the wound was totally closed, Ephiny saw Gram pick his lightsaber and open the door. He was right, they needed to find Mikko before the thing that attacked the Vahla. She followed him inside the building, paying attention to her surroundings. If it was a normal situation, the Archivist would stop and take pictures of the architecture, but something in this place wasn’t right. “Gram, did you know the stories about Emperor Palpatine’s vaults and observatories?” she was whispering to her companion, afraid that any loud sound would attract an enemy “Do you think that this building could be one of them?” she was apprehensive that this might be the case. She had read the stories about how Darth Sidious had collected various artifacts from the dark side and stored them in secret places throughout the Galaxy. So many artifacts in the same place were dangerous and highly corruptive.

Ephiny stopped talking when she saw the Vahla raise his index finger to his mouth. She wondered what was happening and started to look around, trying to see if there was something approaching. However, she soon understood why Gram wanted silence. Now she could hear a faint voice, like a whisper, coming from somewhere.

Gram identified from which direction the voice was coming and guided the Jedi there. When they got closer to the source of the voice, Ephiny noticed that it was female. After some minutes, they arrived in a chamber where the owner of the voice was. Mikko was also there.

After Gram jumped to face the strange the Jedi did the same, landing beside the Vahla. She picked her lightsaber for her belt and activated it, its two green blades appearing. "Who are you?" she said to the stranger, while holding the saber defensively.

@Iyan @Die Shize @Aurius