Ruins in the Forest

[AriaDran]

The weapons shop owner held out his latest creation to his customer. Everything was exactly to specifications, painstakingly so. It had taken him nearly a week just to paint the sheath, let alone creating the rest of the vibroblade. It was in the form of a katana, though with a few modifications from the norm. The blade was nearly straight instead of the normal curve, and the handguard was shaped like a butterfly. The sheath itself had strange markings on the top, he had no idea what they meant - they were supplied by the costumer. The rest of the sheath was a light blue which fit in well with the partially light blue hilt, and had long stems running down it with flowers blooming at the end. The level of detail, added to the requested cortosis weave, made it worth quite a bit of money.

Why a man would want such a girly weapon for, though, he wasn't so sure. Perhaps it was a gift for a friend, or else - well, it wasn't his place to judge. All he cared about was getting paid for the work he had done, and he intended to do just that. And though the man looked like he might be one of those mercenary types, he did have a fancy suit on, and that set the shop owner's mind at ease. He didn't think twice about handing the sword over to the man so he could inspect it before completing the purchase.

The man walked out of the store a minute later, the katana strapped to his back. After a quick glance around to be sure noone was on the street, Saeryl let the Force disguise drop from that of her old master back to her own. She reached over and pressed a button on the wall and the door slid shut behind her, then concentrated a moment and shot an arc of force lightning blast into it to fry the circuits. That should easily buy her the time she needed to get away before anyone discovered the shop-keeper's body.

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Saeryl arrived at the jungle planet she had been sent to investigate a few days of travel later. She had spent the travel time finishing the construction of her new lightsaber. It was a simple silver design, and the blade was also white, or silver - depending on who you asked - and burned with an intensity she had never seen. Lane hadn't been kidding about the potency of the crystal he had given her.

As her craft touched down at the rendevous point she made for the exit, opening the hatch and looking around to see if Lane was there yet. He was usually the type to be early, but maybe travelling this far through hyperspace had screwed up his timing? She walked down to the end of the ramp and looked around the clearing, not seeing anything at first glance. His spaceship should be here if he was - uness he had chosen another clearing and then walked to here. She sighed and sat at the end of her ramp, then laid back against it and stared up at the sky, prepared to wait until Lane decided to show up.

(This is primarily a Luminado mission, but if anyone else would like to get involved for whatever reason, be it the NPC murder, you really like jungles, or any other reason, send me a PM. ^^)

 

[Moriarty]

"You're late," Lane said with a smirk, though it couldn't be seen through his helmet. His ship had touched down much further away from the rendezvous point as he had instructed, purposefully though. He didn't want to arouse suspiscion. This planet was uncharted and unexplored save for a few areas by the republic. Off in the distance, he noticed a republic outpost that was abandoned. There were rotting corpses all over it, making him simply wonder what could've happened to them. The scoring on their bodies when he looked through it made it obvious it was a lightsaber that killed them, each had a slash on their necks. The attack was made a long while back though. The faces weren't recognizable.

Lane walked up to Saeryl and surveyed the environment, cursors pointing out suspiscious objects in his Head Up Display. There were signs of a native life all around, but he didn't know what. Perhaps they weren't space-capable yet. He figured it was a new, primitive race of sentients.

"Find anything on your way to land?" He asked, finally looking at her.

 

[AriaDran]

"No, you're just early, as usual."

Saeryl grinned as she turned her eyes from the sky to look at Lane. She studied him for a few moments, the slowly sat up and looked around as well. She didn't have his HUD to tell her about the primatives, but she thought she could feel... Something out in the forest. Well, they'd have to be dumb to pick a fight with the two of them, right?

"Nothing out of the ordinary for a planet I've never seen before. I did see some ruins not too far from this clearing to the north. Want to start there?"

She made to stand, then pointed a finger towards the North. She le it hang for a moment, then let it drop back down to her side. She shifted the sword on her back, then brought her hand down to her new lightsaber.

"What do you think? I went with a fairly simple design."

 

[Moriarty]

"The sword's new. I like the lightsaber though," he said, once again, with an unseen smirk. "We can explore the ruins. I doubt we'll find much. I went through it earlier. Didn't go exploring it complerely, but there were several dead. Perhaps the Republic tried to set up post here years ago. Maybe the natives got a hold of them," he said. He then remembered the lightsaber scoring on the necks. He knew it wasn't some average war-related attack. Someone had been there, and single-handedly wiped out the base.

While he was thinking, one of the cursors in his HUD began to blink and move. He looked over and watched carefully. It stopped and remained still. He had the cursor zoom in on the spot, trying to get a better view. He noticed something... furry and large quickly move behind a tree. They were being watched, to say the least.

"C'mon," he said as he began to head towards the abandoned base. He was actually curious to know what happened.

 

[AriaDran]

Saeryl moved her free hand to the hilt of her new sword as it was mentioned, then dropped both hands back down to her side, smirking at Lane. She looked over where he seemed to be studying, but didn't see anything. She raised an eyebrow and looked back at Lane, then shrugged and walked with him through the forest, towards the ruins she had seen.

"A republic post? Yeah, that sounds like the kind of folks who would get killed by primatives."

She grinned over at Lane, though it faded soon as she looked around the forest. It was much darker under all these trees then it had been out in the clearing, and there was just something about it. She looked back to Lane and gestured at the surrounding forest.

"I've got a bad feeling about this."

 

[Moriarty]

"We aren't alone here," he said. He began to feel signs of life all around them. They were moving in, examining them, watching their every move. Whatever they were, they weren't going to talk without putting up a fight. Lane was prepared for whatever they could muster. They couldn't have been that advanced if they weren't ever discovered before.

"Be on your gaurd," he said. "I have a feeling the natives on this world aren't friendly to outsiders, and I've got a notion they most likely didn't kill everyone in the post. Each one had a lightsaber slash at their necks." He kept his head on a swivel, keeping everything within sight and hearing. Just as they neared the edge of the forest, he heard a loud stomp off in the distance, followed by two more. There was something out there, and it was big. He didn't exactly want to make its acquaintence.

 

[AriaDran]

Saeryl shifted her hand to the hilt of the sword on her back, but didn't draw it. Her other hovered near her lightsaber as they kept moving through the forest. She gasped at Lane's revelation, eyes moving to him and widening.

"A lightsaber? But how... I thought this planet was unexplored. For there to have been someone with a lightsaber here... well, there must have been a reason for them to come."

She stopped talking as the ground shook slightly and a loud stomp echoed through the forest, followed by a few more. She looked around quickly, trying to discern the source of the sound, but couldn't see what it was.

"I don't like the sound of that. Should we hasten to the guardpost?"

 

[Moriarty]

"I'm not entirely sure. I know this planet was previously unexplored, or at least wasnt explored in depth. But I do think that we should hurry to the post, yes," he said. He picked up his pace, leading her through the forest to where the post was. When the finally found it, he made sure there wasn't anything living moving around in it. Everything stood lifeless.

"I'll go in first," he said, slowly creeping into the base.

 

[AriaDran]

Saeryl hurried along with Lane, also not too keen on meeting whatever made such loud footsteps. It was probably large, so once they were actually in the base they likely wouldn't need to worry about it - until they eventually left the base anyways. She turned and surveyed behind them as Lane started to creep into the base, just to be sure there weren't any natives close to them anyways, then turned and crept into the base behind Lane.

She used one hand to feel along the wall, which she stayed close to, as they crep inside, the other drawing her lightsaber but not lighting it. It would save her the time of unclipping it if they came across something unsavory, or if something unsavory came across them. She kept her eyes open for the dead bodies Lane had mentioned, wanting to see their lightsaber wounds herself. Why would there be someone with a lightsaber here? It made no sense right now, but maybe after seeing the dead ones and figuring out if they were republic, hutt or independants some light would be shed on the matter.

 

[Moriarty]

The inside was dark, lights were flickering on and off, floor lights dimly lit each passage way. It was the perfect scene for a nightmare. Lane knew no Jedi powerful enough to cause this much damage, and he knew the Bogan wouldn't likely leave this planet. It could only mean that someone with a personnal agenda had come here, wiping out any witnesses.

They continued to walk through the halls, which led deeper into underground passages and more destruction. This destruction was different, though. It wasn't any sentient, or native's doing. It was an animal. It had to be big, but in infant form when it came through. Perhaps it was still trapped in here as it would've grown too big to escape any of the larger chambers.

Lane stopped moving as he heard the whimper of a young woman. It came from the right as they reached a fork in the hallways. He switched his visor mode to nightvision to get a better view of what was down the hall. There were several chambers on both sides. The cry must've came from one of them. He quietly crept to each one and peered in, finding nothing until he reached the fourth chamber. Just as he predicted, a young woman sat curled into a ball, ration canisters and water flasks laying all around her. The room was almost too dark, save for the lights on the floor.

"Ma'am?" He said softly, not wanting to startle her. She jurked her head up and looked at them.

"You have to get out!" She said as tears began to stream from her eyes. "Leave this world! Hurry, before the Gorog tries to crumble this place in, and the Rancor tries to fit through the tunnels!" Lane's eyes widened. He took his helmet off and peered around the corners. When he was certain nothing was there, he spike the door to shut, something he could reopen later. He knew what kind of gigantic beast was making the large stomps in the distance and was surprised he didn't see it. The massive beast could fit at least one hundred Lanes' in his mouth alone.

"You said there's a rancor in the base? Where?" He asked. He had to kill it fast. Rancors were big enough, but a Gorog was like ten of them. He needed to kill it before it alerted the Gorog they were in there.

"It's trapped in one of the ship bays. It's too big to fit into any hallway, but it tries so hard to. Sooner or later, the gorog will hear it and find it, bringing the base down with it," she explained.

"How long have you been here?" Lane asked.

"A year and a half. I was with a republic search and rescue team, but the gorog found us and ate all of them. I was the only one left. My blaster didn't even catch its attention!"

"I knew something was wrong here when we landed. But why hasn't the republic listed this planet on the charts?"

"It was a secret base for Sector 13. They named the planet Kashyyk, and the natives were called wookies. They're big, hairy, bear-like humanoids that are more indiginous than civilized."

"We need to get you out of here, though. My ship isn't too far, we could-" Lane was cut off by a large bang that resonated through the whole base, followed by a loud roar. He hoped the Rancor didn't hear them. "We need to kill this thing yesterday. Saeryl, let's move," he said, looking over at her. He stood, put his helmet on and opened the door. The brown-haired, blue-eyed girl grabbed his arm as he started to walk.

"I'm coming," she said. Lane was going to stop her, but knew she wouldn't listen to him. He had a bad feeling about this.

 

[AriaDran]

Saeryl kept her saber out as they moved through the broken hallways, wondering what could have done this. This kind of destruction was nearly unheard of. She looked quickly as she also heard the whimper, also looking around quickly to try and find the source of it. She crept along behind Lane and was surprised when they found the woman.

She crouched near the door after it was closed, leaning against the wall inside the room. She silently lsitened to the two of them talking, taking in the story, A rancor and a gorog? This day just kept getting better and better. That explained the loud footsteps they had heard outside. She just hoped they could make it back to their ships without running into it.

Her head shifted as she heard the bang, then the loud roar. Well, it seemed the part about the Rancor was true, but something just didn't add up in her head. She slowly stood as Lane opened the door, but as the girl grabbed his arm she brought her own up, Lightsaber igniting. The silver beam cut through the air, intruding on the space beside the girl's neck, but didn't cut her.

"Wait, Lane. Something doesn't add up here."

She narrowed her eyes, studying the woman, then opened herself to the Force to see if she could feel anything odd about her.

"First of all, how does a Rancor stay alive for a year and a half without food. Second, why was it in the base to begin with. And third, can someone please explain to me how a Rancor uses a lightsaber?"

She kept her saber close to the woman's throat throughout her questions, a silent reminder that she shouldn't try to move.

 

[Moriarty]

Upon hearing his padawans' words, he grinned proudly. She was right on every point. There wasn't any way the rancor could've survived that long on its own without help, and he did notice how she kept a mental block in her head. There was something deffinately wrong with her. He jerked his arm away and stood in the door space, unclipping one of his many lightsabers. A blue blade emrged with a his, creating a faint glow.

"You're right. You caught me. I've been keeping the rancor here all along, I caught it, beat it to tame it, fed it, and everything. It's my pet. I feed it anything I can. As for the lightsaber marks on all the dead bodies, not me. I can use the force, but my lightsaber was lost with the ship when the gorog attacked; that much is true," she said with a smirk. Lane only heard one thing that he knew would make that thing pissed at her while she cowered in a space that was hard to get to; she beat it. It would eat her as soon as it got the chance. He was going to give it that chance before he killed it.

"You're coming with us, alright. And your 'pet' isn't going to make it past this day," he said as he grabbed her by the arm roughly and shoved her onto the gounr in front of them. She fell and got up, glaring back at him. "Move, schutta," he said. She obeyed. "By the way, it could just so happen, you being a republic traitor and all, that you threw your lightsaber away after killing everyone here. Want to shock me with the truth?" He asked plainly.

"Read my mind, master Jedi, I'm not lying. The people have been dead since before I got here," Lane did just that. She was telling the truth, unfortunately. The funny thing he glanced at was that she thought he was going to kill it in front of her and walk away. That wasn't what he had in mind, however.

When they reached the tall chamber, they were well above the top of the beast. It noticed them, and violently slammed against the walls and ground. The room was well lit, unlike the others, and Lane noticed a pile of bones in a corner. The girl looked back at him, he eyes looking at them darkly. She grinned, then quickly threw Lane over the edge. He wasn't going alone, though, as he grabbed her ankle to pull her with him. He stopped the fall and dropped her softly, wanting her alive for the next part. She looked up, confused by everything that had just happened, while Lane moved further away from the raging monster. It did just as he planned it to do.

The rancor, in all its large monstrosity, ran straight for the woman in blind rage, stomping and shaking everything that could shake. The woman looked up and tried to get up and run, but was too slow. The monster grabbed her by the lower half and slowly brought her to its large mouth. "SAVE ME!!!" She yelled as it closed its jaw on the entire upper half of her body, making a loud and disgusting crunching sound. It then swallowed the rest of the girl whole. Lane pulled out his blue lightsaber, then his golden one. He would need his best to take down this beast, which laid eyes on him and began to charge directly at him.

 

[AriaDran]

Saeryl continued eyeing the girl darkly as she revealed the truth. She looked to Lane as he threw her to the ground and saw that knowing look in his eyes. She kept her lightsaber out and ignited as Lane led the way towards the Rancor. That look in his eyes - she wondered if he had known she was lieing, or if she was misreading the look. Maybe he was proud of her? She wasn't sure, but she could ask him about it later.

She stood to the side as they reached the chamber, looking down at the beast. She frowned at the pile of bodies, looking back at Lane just as the other woman pushed him in. She raised a hand, but as Lane grabbed the other woman and pulled her down to her hand dropped back down. She stood quietly once more, watching the girl get devoured. A smirk appeared on her face - it was just what she deserved.

Now that the beast turned to focus on Lane, though, there were other things to worry about. She wasn't sure if he wanted or needed her help, but she was going to give it regardless, but she would do so in a way that wouldn't be getting in his way. She flicked her lightsaber off and replaced it on her belt, then opened herself to the Force.

She brought her anger at the woman trying to trick them and then, much worse, try to kill Lane to the forefront of her mind. Nobody did that to her Master. If she wasn't dead, Saeryl would have killed her herself. She brought her mind back to the present and held her hand out towards the Rancor, unleashing a blast of Force Lightning at its head. She wasn't nearly powerful enough to kill the beast with it, but she imagined it would hurt enough to draw the beast's attention and hopefully give Lane an opening.

 

[Moriarty]

The beast roared in raging blind anger as the lightning danced around its body. It glared up at her and attempted to shake her down from the ledge; the opening he needed. Lane sidestepped and did a role until he was behind the beast and then jumped onto its back, piercing the flesh with his laghtsaber blades. He let go just as quickly, though, as its long arms reached around to try and grab him. It turned around and was about to charge when Lane reached forward and let out a massive storm of force lightning onto the beast. The beast roared, not in anger, but in searing pain. Lane was thankful for the diversion, but didn't want to put her at risk any longer. Saeryl was too valuble to him.

The beast fell when Lane ceased the storm, breathing heavily and weakly. He walked up to the rancor casually, and placed a hand on its large head. He could feel the life draining from it and filling Lane. He was surprised. A little life in a massive rancor, was two lifetimes in a human. The beast then stopped breathing and closed its eyes as the last of its life flowed to Lane. It would rest in final peace. Lane used the force to then jump back onto the ledge where Saeryl was.

"We now know what to call the planet and whatever natives are here. Let's hope we don't have to fight them. There's still one thing that bothers me; she didn't kill the soldiers. Perhaps we'll find something else as we finish our search in here," he said. "The gorog, though, we need to avoid as much as we can. I don't know if I'm powerful enough to stop it from from crushing us. I could slow it down, but not for long. Your safety is my first priority," he said as he turned to leave the chamber. "Come." he continued to walk through the halls until they found a smaller training chamber.

He was shocked at what he saw; a Jedi he once knew. It was a girl, laying on the ground dead. Her body was still fresh, as if life hadn't completely left her. Her flesh, though, was charred. She was struck with force lightning. He quickly ran over to her and checked her pulse. She was truly dead. There was a saber slash at her neck, and then a hole in her heart. He only knew of one person who knew her. She was sent to stop him and bring him back just as he left the order, he remembered that day. They were friends, but not too close. When she left, he never saw her again.

Then, a revalation hit him. The saber scores, his friend lying dead here, he must've done all of this; Karasym. When he left, he heard the masters talking about his past and who he was. Lane didn't care except for the fact that he slew most of his former friends. His face began to fill with rage. He then reached out towards the cieling and let out a loud, enraged scream, releasing another storm of lightning at the cieling. When his anger was satisfied, he turned to face Saeryl.

"I now know who did this. He's gone, but I don't want to linger. This man would do worse things to you than you could imagine, Saeryl," he said. He looked back at the body of his former friend, now knowing why she never returned. His fist was clenched.

 

[AriaDran]

Saeryl watched as Lane dispatched the Rancor, and even made it look easy. She was impressed by his fighting abilities and his strength in the Force - he was certainly a great teacher to have. He would make her strong, she didn't doubt. She turned towards him and smiled as he jumped back up to the ledge, then turned to follow him.

She came to a stop as they found the body of the Jedi, but mostly due to his reaction. From the way he ran over to her body to check it for life, he must have known her. What an odd place to meet an old aquaintence. She wondered what this girl had meant to him - but obviously it was something, from the way his Lightning erupted into the ceiling.

She gasped, wondering if he wanted to make the gorog notice them, but then quickly brushed that thought aside. He was obviously angry, and then she found out why. Her eyes widened - he knew both this girl and the one who had killed her? This had to be more then just a simple coincidence. From the look of it, though, this girl had simply been hit by Force Lightning and then stabbed through the heart. While she imagined that Force Lightning probably hurt, the stab through the heart would end that pain shortly after. What was it that Lane feared would happen to her, then?

She studied him for a few moments, unsure whether she should try and say something consoling. That didn't feel right to her, though. Lane was strong, and he could deal with this.

"We should get going, then. It doesn't sit well with me. This seems almost... too personal to you to have been coincidence. Kind of feels like a trap, in fact."

She looked towards the exit, then back to Lane, and still couldn't help but wonder what it was he feared would happen to her. She couldn't help but shudder. Whoever had done this must be very powerful for Lane to be worried about it, especially after the display he had just put on in killing the Rancor. She hoped to never run into whoever had done this.

 

[Moriarty]

"If there is a trap, then we had better move quickly. The man who did this is more powerful than I could dream of being. He would be able to kill a gorog with ease. I don't feel his pressence anywhere, but I'd rather not wait to find out," he said. He walked towards the door and peeked around the corner, making sure the coast was clear. He had an uneasy feeling, as if he was being played. An abandoned base with a rancor beast and a crazed woman that owned it, then this. He would rather face the gorog head on than face Karasym.

When they got near the exit, a large stomp from the gorog shook the entire base, signalling that it was closer than before. At least it wasn't on top of them. "Listen to me. When we get to the clearing where your ship is, you run to it and take off. My ship is in the opposite direction. I'll hold the gorog off if it gets too close. You run, am I clear?" He said, making sure she obeyed him. He couldn't shake the feeling a confrontation with the beast was inevitable.

 

[AriaDran]

Saeryl stared at Lane, dumbfounded. He could take on a Gorog without skipping a beat? Yeah, if they ran into him they were pretty much screwed then. She shook her head and followed him out, also suddenly in a hurry to get out of this place. Something just wasn't right, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was. Maybe they should have kept that girl alive and asked her a few more questions? No... she had told them all she knew, she was certain of it.

She stopped as they reached the entrance and they heard the crashing footstep. It was definetly getting closer, and that was bad enough news without thinking about what else could go wrong. She looked at Lane and frowned. How could she just run and leave him to fight it himself? She might not be able to do much, but she could at least distract it like she had the Rancor, perhaps?

"But..."

She stopped when she saw the look in his eye. He was serious. She clenched her free hand into a fist and slowly nodded.

"Fine, but if you go and get yourself killed, I'm never going to forgive you."

 

[Moriarty]

Lane pulled her into a hug, and then kissed her forehead. "I'm coming back. I still have much to teach you. The mission was a success. Good job, my young padawan. Now, these next steps are crucial. I'm going to take its full attention and lead it away. After ten minutes, you head straight for your ship and take off. Orbit the planet and wait for me. If I take longer than twelve hours to a day to get off this... Kashyyk, go back to Svivren and tell them I'm missing. No matter what, I'm coming out alive. I promise," he assured. He inhaled deeply and let out the air, gripping his golden lightsaber hilt tightly. This was probably the craziest thing he had ever done.

 

[AriaDran]

Saeryl returned the hug briefly, what he was saying had her at a loss for words. She closed her eyes, then opened them and nodded, looking out over the forest.

"Alright. Ten minutes."

She moved her hand to her lightsaber nervously, not really planning on using it but just holding it made her feel better. She would turn her head again to look at Lane, nervously waiting for him to leave. She really didn't like the sound of this plan, but she wasn't sure what to say. It wasn't her place to doubt his plans, anyways. She sighed and resigned herself to standing there. This was going to be a long ten minutes, she could tell.

 

[Moriarty]

Lane ran out of the base without warning, only to stop as he saw the giant, capital ship-sized gorog standing over him. He wondered how it could even see a speck of dust like himself compared to that thing. He snapped out of his stance and made a full sprint more into the base and away from that entrance. The beast followed, attempting to catch up with Lane who was moving much faster than any creature his size was capable. He was thankful his strength was in his speed, or this would've never been possible.

When he was far enough away from the base, he decided to trick it up, keep it interested in him before he went for the kill. The beast let out a roar that would make the rancor seem like a human infant. He was far enough away from Saeryl, though. She would make it safely away.

Lane turned to face the gorog, igniting his golden lightsaber. For a second, the beast looked as if it were smirking at him. He was surprised; the monster could reason slightly. He was right to believe his saber would do any damage at all, so he summoned as much anger as he possibly coud and let out a storm of lightning more powerful than he had ever done in his entire life. The lightning bounced across his entire body, even scoring Lane's armor slightly.

It wasn't near enough, though, as the beast only growled. He did some damage, but only enough to piss it off. Lane was thinking quickly as he began to dart away from it again. The beast followed foolheartedly. He didn't know how he was going to be able to kill the gorog, except to steal its life force, but even that would take days to do. That would more than enough time for it to squash him like a bug.