Bzzzzzt. Bzzz-THWAP! Narman Losa pulled his hand away from the side of his neck, the stringy viscera of a crushed insect still attached to his palm. He wiped his hand on the knotted trunk of the tree he was using for cover before raising his macrobinoculars back to his eyes. His target laid several hundred meters ahead, the largest and central building in a sprawling complex of structures. Though the jungles here on Y’thal were dense, the proprietor of this particular compound had cleared large swathes of the foliage all around the perimeter. Large cannons were positioned atop the buildings, with smaller automated turrets spread throughout the property. A myriad of security and combat droids patrolled between the structures. Narman scanned for an entrance point and his macrobinoculars finally landed on a narrow dirt road protruding from the jungle. A single hovercraft transport trundled toward the complex, the second he had seen within the last hour.
‘Perfect.’
Noiselessly, Shanree moved up alongside the man and put a hand on his shoulder. He didn’t remark on Narman’s smart start of surprise, “Good. It seems you’ve found the place we’re looking for. Giant temple, armed guards, middle of a jungle– just like we were briefed.”
Shanree adjusted a strap on his chest rig mindlessly as his eyeless face examined the scene before them, “It’s a bit more heavily guarded than we were lead to believe it would be…”
He could help but let disapproval enter his tone, believing he’d have done a better job to recce the place. This was just typical of the shoddy work that the Office of Secret Intelligence provided.
Although completely encased in Sith Armor the jungle was still a nuisance to get through and prolonged Morax’s journey to get to the meeting spot. The never-ending lush of plants and trees that blanketed the planet frustrated him to no end. If only he had taken the deal from The Iron Garage on that sweet AT-AT he had been eyeing, he’d have been at the temple already with treasure in hand, victorious. But two-hundred and seventy thousand credits was a bit too steep for even him.
“Frack this, why do I always get sent on these blasted missions no one else seems to want to do?”, Morax cursed as he hacked his way through the dense jungle of Y'thal with his lightsaber. If any Sith spirits were watching him now, he’d imagine the disgust on their faces at him using his lightsaber to cut through the overgrown obstacles before him.
A lightsaber is an extension of your body, not a tool to be used to cut down overgrown plants the Anzati chuckled to himself, briefly forgetting his ordeal.
He finally reached a clearing, seeing two figures ahead of him. They were unfamiliar to him, though they pledged allegiance to Clan Taldryan. Morax was a bit disappointed that Cassandra wasn’t there as he knew she was assigned to the mission as well. A familiar face would give him comfort on this strange planet.
His approach was all but stealthy and the two figures ahead had heard him coming before he cleared the outer brushes.
Walking towards them as they turned, he hailed them. “Magistrate Morax, at your service.”
He took note of what laid out behind the Taldryanites, and the Anzati sighed. This won’t be easy he thought to himself as he looked back to the two men standing before him.
“That looks like our best point of entry,” Narman remarked as he turned to acknowledge the two arrivals. Though he had yet to work with either of them in the field, it was not an entirely unfamiliar situation; the Lieutenant Colonel had gotten to know many of his peers in the heat of battle. He clipped the macrobinoculars to his belt and pointed down to the road, where the hovercraft transport was now passing through the checkpoint at the entrance of the facility. “We can intercept and commandeer the next vehicle.” He stood and brushed some dried foliage from his trousers. “Are we expecting any more additions to the team?”
“This should be everyone,” a female voice spoke through a deep voice modulator as she approached from the forest as well, from a different direction. Dressed in simple white robes with dark grey and gold accents with pink secondary colorings, reminiscent of a Jedi’s robes but with subtle differences. Particularly with the cloak, with its gold adornments.
On her shoulder, sat a sleek black raven that had just come down to perch from above the jungle. A dark grey hood covered her head, preventing anyone from immediately identifying who she is, moreso obscured from the black breathing mask that covered the lower half. “at least, if the mission parameters were correct.”
Narman slashed at the dense foliage, clearing enough space for the squad to continue its quick but cautious march across the jungle floor. Every few feet he would steal a curious glance back at the last arrival. Only they had chosen to keep their identity hidden, and while Narman had his suspicions, it wasn’t his place to address. As they pressed on, the terrain began to decline, slowly at first but becoming steeper near the edge of the clearing; the Doctor could now see the dirt road between the swaying leaves.
She followed behind them quietly, keeping thoughts to herself. The raven on her shoulder kept glancing around, though similarly remained quiet instead of its usual nature of making caw noises.
Though she had not planned on being here, and Ood had asked her to come and assist, it was only on the request of the Council that she was here. At the moment, she wanted little to do with the Republic. Already she had established herself as a hermit away from everyone, with nearly no one aware she had even returned to the Caelus system to begin with.
As they made their way through the jungle, it wasn’t long before they reached a large open field with numerous platforms encircling a larger one in the center with a massive cache.
It was strange, that it sat there as it did. She glanced around, seeing no guards or sentries. Maybe the platforms on the ground housed turrets inside.
“Alaisy, go. Check.” she quietly said as the raven flew into the air and began encircling the large area from above.
“Where did the security droids go?” Narman inquired aloud to the rest of the team as he watched the raven lift off and fly over the complex. He paced down the edge of the property, careful not to cross over the threshold, as he eyed the different structures for clues. Though what lay within the cache at the center was unknown, the Lieutenant Colonel felt a pull towards it. There was something he needed in there, certainly. If one of his teammates gets there first, he might not get what he needs. Narman shot one more side glance at his troupe before stepping onto the property, heading straight for the center cache. Beneath one of the outer platforms, a panel slid open and an ominous red glow of a droid peered out from within.
“Seems they’re right here,” Morax mumbled as he ignited his lightsaber. He could feel an ever so slight presence tugging at his mind, not his nor any of the group members’. It seemed to originate from, what seemed, the center of the complex.
He had delt with objects before that warped and twisted the mind. A flashback of the Anzati fighting his own Apprentice as he was overcome with the urge to kill. This was the first, and only, time Aexod Burgoo had bested him in one-on-one combat. He felt a surge of pride jolt through him, but that was quickly replaced by sadness. He hadn’t heard from his Apprentice in years.
Morax refocused himself on the droid that showed itself and prepared for a not only a foght against the droids, but a possible fight against the ones he had come here together with if the item they were after was malignant.
Narman heard the hiss of a lightsaber igniting behind him, looking over his shoulder but quickening his pace. Did the Magistrate intend to cut him down and take the bounty for himself? There was a pressure in his mind, clouding his judgement, directing all his thoughts forward into the center of the complex. When he turned his head back around, Narman realized he was mere feet away from a security droid. It had a sleek black body, a bright red glowing eye, prominent even in the midday sun, and a heavy blaster rifle, which was turning to aim directly at him. Training took over and he dove left into a somersault, narrowly avoiding a volley of blaster fire.
She had felt it as well, and no sooner than the droid was firing did she extend her arm and raise it into the air. Her other directed a white-bladed lightsaber that spiraled towards it, taking its blaster arm straight off.
With a flick of her finger in a circular motion, it spiraled around the droid and dismantled it piece by piece. Hands, lower arms, lower legs, upper arms, upper legs, torso, upper chest, before finally slicing its head in half at the end.
It was strange though, as she finished off the droid. There was a…feeling. A feeling of something pulling her, though she was unable to ascertain specifically what. More like a nagging feeling than anything else. With the droid down, she moved towards the center of the complex where the chest was and knelt down to open it.
The contents made her eyes widen, something that didn’t make sense. Several of the weapons there, rifles, blasters, she recognized from her position within the Regent’s office. They were prototypes that they had been working on. Some even classified and experimental, but all with the telltale markings upon them that gave her the knowledge they were of Thranese origin.
But also, amist the weapons, sat a strange looking potted plant. She felt something coming from it, that nagging feeling she had felt earlier, almost like it was telling her to take it for itself. She cocked her head sideways a bit, mildly confused. In kind, she felt almost as if the plant was just as confused as she was. But a sentient plant? That made no sense at all.
The Anzati took a quick glance at who could only possibly be Cassandra, judging by their Force signature he was familiar with. She seemed to hesitate when staring down at the contents of whatever lay in the chest she had just opened. Morax kept his guard up in case they were attacked again by droids, but he found it harder to not want to slice open Cassandra’s back. It would only take a flick of the wrist, split her open and deal with the others.
He shivered and shook his head, trying to keep these thoughts out of his head. It was a losing battle and he began to make his way towards the chest, to see what she had and take it for himself.
“No!” Narman heard his shout echo off the platform adjacent to him and realized he had spoken out loud. “These Jedi with their lightsabers, always thinking they own everything. They must be working together.” He continued, mumbling under his breath as he closed the gap between them. An unusual amount of sweat was pouring down his face, and he had to loosen his suddenly tight collar. The Lieutenant Colonel reached down and retrieved his blaster pistol from its holster, lowered the barrel at the two Jedi currently looking into the cache, and released a flurry of shots in their direction.
Cassandra quickly stood up and whirled around, her hood falling from her head to reveal herself as her lightsaber snapped to her hand. Its brilliant white glow appeared as it ignited, re-directing each of the shots away from the group.
She pulled her quantum saber from her lower back and telekinetically sent it flying straight into Narman’s forehead. As the hilt struck, Narman was flung backwards and onto the ground.
Morax stood there, blinking, as she turned her gaze to him and sent the saber spiraling around and into the back of his head as well which caused him to faceplant onto the ground.
With a sigh, she closed the cache and shook her head.
“So. Maybe it is a sentient plant. Makes me glad Ood isn’t here, could be a unusual conversation…”