Ask The Insatiable Hungerer

[Maura Starwalk]

Spoiler

Legends tell of creatures that slither throughout dead space, forever in search of anything to sate their unending appetites. Their forms, camouflaged with the stars, never stop growing and can reach such massive sizes that they can swallow whole asteroids—or even small ships.

Reports of one of these creatures have suddenly sprung to the Jedi's attention. Massive, hungry, and destructive, it's been swallowing entire ships whole and disappearing thousands of pilots off the map. Survivors report that it appears somewhat like the space-faring Star adders—the proximity to Rattatak only further confirms the possibility—but the creature seems ravaged by some kind of corruption that is causing the creature to be infinitely more aggressive.

Find a way to subdue the creature, or find the source of its unnatural aggression. But be careful, because there is nowhere to hide in open space.

Their ship dropped out of hyperspace into the Trilon Sector, home of Rattatak, its moons, and supposedly the creature they were coming to investigate. A nebula colored the space before them, and dust clouds of blue, purple, and yellow billowed out in front of them. For now, their ship remained on the precipice. None of them could know exactly what lied within.

"Wow... it's beautiful!" The nebula really was a sight to see, and Maura couldn't get close enough (or any closer, with her face pressed against the viewport glass). "Do you really think there's a giant star adder hiding in there?"

Star adders already freaked Maura out a bit, though they freaked her out just as much as they excited her. How cool was it that something could live in space? She couldn't do that, that was for sure! The padawan reached into her pocket and into her bag of spicy, roasted rose petals, then shoveled a handful into her mouth while she continued to gaze out into the colorful nebula.

This is what she meant when she told those nuns she wanted to walk on the stars. Not empty black space. This.

tags: @Wit @Valen Pelora @ModernMarvel

 

[Tahiri]

Stepping up to stand besides the younger padawan, Tahiri stared out the viewport as well, chewing on the caff flavored ice pop she had picked up from the kitchenette to keep herself awake after having barely caught a moment's shut eye on the way here. "It's not space adders I'd worry about," Tahiri replied as she sucked on the ice pop, "there's a legend on Corellia, about a monster that even adders fear, their mortal enemy. Keep your eyes peeled, for if the mighty subtractor shows up, we're all dead."

She stuffed the ice pop back into her mouth to suppress the smile that threatened to betray her mostly serious delivery of the statement, and kept her eyes out on the vista beyond the viewport. Taking another big bite, she began chewing on the caff flavored ice, wondering how soon they'd be done with this mission. She had heard more than her share of crazy stories at the spaceports on Corellia, and she was convinced they were here on a wild goose chase. Very likely some idiot pilot had left their inertial dampener on while trying to jump to hyperspace, or plotted a bad course, or done one of a million wrong things that had destroyed their ship, and had made up a space monster to cover up for their mistake.

The Jedi would likely spend a few days looking for this thing, find nothing, and make their way back to Yavin. She was here because to qualify for one of the Jedi squadrons she had to put in flight hours on Jedi missions, and this happened to count as one. And one where the Grandmaster herself could attest to her abilities as a pilot? That was just too good an opportunity to pass by, even if it was on a wild goose chase.

@lizziie @Valen Pelora @ModernMarvel

 

[Brienna Lanaamer]

"For if the mighty subtractor shows up, we're all dead."

"Ooooooh," Bri raised her hands and wiggled her fingers, making a spooky sounding noise. "Sounds scary," she added with a wry smile, looking down at the two other young women.

The Knight wasn't exactly sure how she had ended up on the 'space adder' mission. She was not an expert pilot, nor possessed any sort of authority on astro-biology. However, she had a fair bit more experience than the two other Padawans and was always happy to help with Jedi tasks. Likewise, the idea of solving a puzzle that no one else had deciphered was appealing. Probably shouldn't be talking about experience when the Grandmaster is literally right behind me.

Bri had seen some strange things in the Galaxy. It was always capable of surprising, particularly when least expected. But, there was something in her mind that doubted the whole 'giant space snake that eats ships' story. It seemed....farfetched. There was documented evidence of the space adders existing, and if they were going to find any, it would be in the vicinity of Rattatak. Nevertheless, a doubt. Some piece of evidence in the mystery that was missing. Or maybe it is just a particularly esurient space snake, and I'm overthinking all of this.

Unlike the other two women who found snacks, Bri held a datapad in her hands, switching back and forth between information on the Rattatak system, and all of the research that had been gathered about the space adders. Previous reports did not suggest that the adders were overtly aggressive towards ships or sentient life. Until the Jedi started getting messages about something swallowing entire ships whole and disappearing thousands of pilots.

Bri's eyes raised from the tablet resting in her arms. The soft blue glow that illuminated her face was slowly dimmed by the nebula staring back at them out the window. Dust clouds of blue, purple, and yellow swirled, creating the most intricate and artful spacescape. A setting fit for a legendary space snake.

"Wow," Bri muttered, gaze transfixed.

@lizziie @Wit @Valen Pelora

 

[Alexandria Voran]

She stared with her arms folded. Her eyes fixated on the nebula. Alex had never put much faith in ghost stories, but swirling cosmic clouds reminded her entirely too much of her last encounter with a myth. The Eternal’s Mask. Her lips formed a hard line while she looked on. Reports of the missing ships was concerning. The Morellian Jedi assumed mundane piracy was being reported as mystical beasts. Such tales were rarely true…most of the time. No one knew better than Alexandria Voran that some tall tales contained the truth. She had seen all manner of nightmare come to life. Staring out into that nebula suddenly made the story of a monster seem very real. Something was out there. She could feel it…watching her as she looked out. Alex shook her head and went to find the other.

The doors hissed open just as Tahiri was teasing Maura. The Grandmaster stepped up beside the collection of Jedi. “That sounds like a volunteer to spacewalk, Tahiri.” Alex raised one eyebrow. Her head turning back to the viewport. “We should move closer to Rattatak.” The feeling in her gut would not go away. Trouble. “Those ships have gone missing. Whether by ancient creatures or raiders, it’s our responsibility to find out.” How she wished it was raiders. “Which means we are entirely too exposed out here.” Alex was not the best pilot. She knew her limitations.

“One of you take the controls, the rest of us will prepare to disembark.” She tried to keep the concern from her voice but was not entirely successful. “We should hurry.” Her strength was not boundless. She had no desire to measure herself against a creature capable of swallowing starships. There were some battles worth avoiding.

@ModernMarvel @Wit @lizziie

 

[Tahiri]

Tahiri's eyebrows shot up on hearing the Grandmaster's voice, deciding that the best course of action was to keep her mouth shut and not risk getting herself into more trouble. So she stuffed the ice-pop back into her mouth and sucked on it quietly as Alex spoke.

On hearing the Grandmaster's instructions asking someone to take control of the ship Tahiri found little doubt in her mind, this was one aspect she was confident of, and she knew that she could pilot the ship as well as anyone else in the Order. Maybe it was a padawan's overconfidence, or her Corellian blood shining through, but she didn't really consider any other option as being the right one.

"On it," she said as she moved to head for the bridge, "might wanna strap in." With that last warning she was gone, vanished down the passage that lead to the bridge, and pretty soon she was strapped into the pilot's seat and the ship began moving. They were still a ways from Rattatak itself, maybe a few hours flight away at sub-light speeds, but the Grandmaster had seemed to want to investigate closer to the planet. So Tahiri opened up the comms to broadcast on the ship's PA system as she did some quick calculations.

"Executing micro-jump." She pushed the ship into hyperspace a moment later, giving the others barely any warning, before jumping them out just as soon. Though it last but a second or two, the quick jump brought them much closer to Rattatak, the planets and moons now barely visible through the bridge's viewport and the one the other Jedi were standing at.

"Want me to move in closer, or this close enough?"

@lizziie @Valen Pelora @ModernMarvel

 

[Brienna Lanaamer]

The door hissed open behind Bri; she didn't need to turn to know that the Grandmaster had entered behind her. Alex may not have known it, but she radiated calm and poise. The Knight could feel her presence in the Force. Who am I kidding? Of course she does.

“That sounds like a volunteer to spacewalk, Tahiri." A light jest, but no noticeable hint of humor. More of a statement of fact than a joke.

"We should move closer to Rattatak. Those ships have gone missing. Whether by ancient creatures or raiders, it’s our responsibility to find out.” Unsurprisingly the Grandmaster was right, and it appeared she shared the same hesitations that Bri did.

“Which means we are entirely too exposed out here. One of you take the controls, the rest of us will prepare to disembark. We should hurry”

Bri could fly a ship, but it was not a skill that considered herself in expert in. If necessary I think I can probably... Her own train of thought was interrupted by Tahiri's enthusiasm.

"On it. Might wanna strap in"

The Knight turned her attention, but only caught the back of Tahiri's head running down towards the bridge. She looked toward Maura, and then back at Alex.

"Guess that means we're on spacewalk duty," she commented, with a sideways nod of her head. Being slightly unfamiliar with the ship, it took a few attempts in opening closets to find where the spacesuits were kept. As she opened the storage panel, Tahiri's voice crackled over the intercom.

"Executing micro-jump."

Lurching forward momentarily, the ship then came to another halt a few seconds later. Bri stumbled backwards slightly, before grabbing hold of an open handle to steady her footing.

"Want me to move in closer, or this close enough?"

Bri looked towards Alex, as she started to slide her legs into the tight suit.

@Valen Pelora @Wit @lizziie