This adventure, like many before it, starts in a dingy back alley drinking hole where the liquor is cheap and the company is not the sort you want to keep at the best of times. Tonight, for whatever reason, the Sarlaac’s bite was empty. Not unusual for one of Orian’s dingiest establishments, but not even the regulars who visited to drown their sorrows were present. In fact the only patrons visiting the bar that night sat around one of the tables nestled squarely in the back of the room. What little light existed in the bar barely illuminated the four figures as they each sipped at their respective drinks. None really spoken though two of them once or twice exchanged glances, their expressions changing now and then as if having some form of private conversation. It was one of these men, a man dressed in the ornate armour, a resonating green crystal, mines from the planet of Dathomir, that spoke first.
“Well, that’s all there is to go by…” An almost exasperated sigh escaped Kojiro’s lips. “It’s not like I was the one who handed this information to us.” He gestured towards a datapad sat in the middle of the table and took a swig of his drink. “I mean, all this blasted thing says is:”
The Sleeper Awaits, Bound Beneath The Earth since the days of the High Republic, In a tomb long forgotten guarded by those who served, The knowledge of Immortality it guards, Secrets of the past it keeps concerning both the dark and the light, Weapons and power unlike any seen in centuries, A price you must pay for knowledge is not free.
“Then some coordinates, which as we have discussed lead to some wild area of Felucia. Not that there’s anything there but wild areas.”
He shrugged then and sat back, glancing across the three figures. Muz was there, as was the Consul and Sanguinis. Strangely all four figures had received the same information from a mysterious contact. Why it bad reached out to all of them was unclear. But for now it was up to the four to discuss what they planned to do with it, go hunting for lost knowledge that may or may not exist, or push it aside and enjoy their drinks before heading back to their daily routines.
Ashen stared blankly at the screen. It was always riddles and poetry with these sorts of things. Though at least this time, it included coordinates, which almost certainly meant that it was a trap. He straightened his back, black eyes shifting from the datapad to his helmet on the table in front of him, the short glass of Correllian spirit next to it all but untouched.
Felucia? The words scraped against the inside of their brains in silence. Who has contacts there? He paused, debating taking a sip as he considered. Even if it was a trap, the question remained as to who would be so bold as to think that it would work on them. What they had to gain. This was the true riddle.
As to bait, weapons, power, immortality. The usual. There were already countless rumors as to the actual outcome of the Rites at Antei, on Korriban, and how they had changed him. But Koji, in his seemingly endless…rot. Well, that made sense. The Consul, a ruthlessly efficient assassin, he would certainly not turn down the possibility of more effective weapons or more power. As to the Knight of Daragon, well that made less sense. Perhaps a little bit of darkness remained in him, behind those brown eyes and paler robes. Perhaps they hadn’t counted on his own return to Sadow Space, expecting a different combination of clan members to take up the challenge.
A mistake in their planning, to be certain.
Muz almost smiled.
DarkHawk read the intel report from his datapad screen with suspicious jubilee. Taking his eyes off the datapad momentarily he noticed Lord Keibatsu holding back a grin. The intel they just received was indeed quite intriguing. Duke Keibatsu scowled a bit as he continued to read over the intel. Professor Sanguinius always with the stoic expression read intently.
Taking a big drag from his cigar, DarkHawk blew the plume of smoke away from the table. “Felucia huh? Never been, despite my initial reservations, this at least garners further investigation. Anyone know of any assets in that area we could use?”
“I am unaware of the Inquisitorious working in that area as of late. We could run a query or shall we maintain a level of discretion amongst us?” Sanguinius added.
“I think for now, this stays between us. The four of us can look into this. No need to put the Clan on alert just yet. Back channel our Inquisitorious queries to Clan contacts and see what we can flesh out.”
The datapad drew his attention one more time. Weapons and power unlike any seen in centuries, that line in the cypher stood out to the assassin. His mind drifted momentarily. The sound of his own voice ran wild in his psyche. “What could it be? What secrets do the elders keep hidden? Acquiring power of the elders would give Naga Sadow supremacy over their dominion and beyond.”
The screen’s reflection danced across the assassin’s pupils. He studied the lines intently trying to make sense of it.
Controlling the tendrils of the Force, Lord Keibatsu’s voice entered DarkHawk’s consciousness as easy as a blink of an eye.
“Weapons or power?”
DarkHawk carried a devilish grin, “Both, my Liege”.
“Good…”
DarkHawk reached for his drink and quickly finished it off. “Koji, this is your OP. You had me at the Sleeper Awaits. I am in. The only question I have at the moment is this, whose ship are we taking?”
.
Sanguinius languidly raised his left hand, “I can offer my ship as it is most likely the least recognisable of them all.” He smiled at his fellow Sadowans who turned their attention to him. “However, I’m sure that whatever you decide, I’m sure from my previous experience that we’re bound to encounter trouble upon Felucia.” the Entar continued on, “Perhaps we should ensure that we have a way to request reinforcements or an extraction if things go awry?”
DarkHawk nodded to the Entar before taking another swig of his libation. “The Reaver is always available unless we need other means. For those awry situations, I suggest we stage fleet reinforcements a quick jump away in case we need support for a hasty evacuation.”
He didn’t even have to suggest the Fallen Spear. Everyone there knew the Autochthonian ship’s amenities and capabilities well. It was, after all, his own personal base of operations, no matter where he seemed to be in the galaxy. The variable of whether the stealth and comfort of the assault ship was worth the possible recognition if they were to be discovered remained in their minds. It was, after all, an obvious trap. He tapped his fingers on the bar before him, awaiting some manner of judgement call before he would decide to run with his best instincts. It was all too often that he would take command of any and all operations that he found himself in, and that was not his drive here. The elders of the Ancient Clan had teeth too, and without something to sink them into, they would dull.
The Fallen Spear: Bridge
After the non verbal permission from the Grand Master the party make their way to the local docks, boarding one of the Sadowan shuttles they made their way on board the Fallen Spear which at that moment hung in orbit around the planet. It was an odd occasion having non family members aboard the Dragon Kojiro mused as he led the way through the corridors. Nihilgenia soldiers snapped to attention as they passed cordoned off rooms or choke points. It seemed at times overly militaristic to the youngest Keibatsu, this was a family vessel after all but it was also the seat of the Lion, at least when in Space so it made sense.
The team approached one of the turbolifts and as it descended an almost heavy silence washed over the group. Muz he understood the silence. But Kojiro didn’t quite understand the Knight or Consul enough to know if they hated speaking as much as his older brother or were just the broody type. He mentally shrugged and led the party into the command room of the ship and upto a holotable. Fidgeting with a few buttons he managed to get the system on and a map of Felucia spun into view.
“So this is the planet of Felucia. A jungle planet inhabited by all manner of creatures and if I recall very few sentiments. The apex predators to my knowledge are the Jungle Rancor, which are not too dissimilar to the common varieties so I’d suggest we don’t pick a fight with them.”
A few extra buttons were pressed and the map spun and zoomed into a mountain range far out of any known potential settlements.
“Attached to the transmissions we received were coordinates which put what we are looking for in this general vicinity…which I am aware is a mountain range so doesn’t exactly narrow it down.” Kojiro shrugged and continued. We’re not overly sure what we are looking for, but if something awaits and sleeps it may be a complex of some sort squirreled away. We can send drones out to scour it when we arrive in system and see if anything comes up.“
Kojiro looked over at Muz "We could probably use Leena to help locate and scan but that’s upto her if she wants to come on an adventure.”
Kojiro kept the map of the planet spinning in spot before sighing “This is literally all we have to go on. Some mysterious thing full of mysterious things locked away. Seems a bit of a wild goose chase. But if it’s true. Then could be something we get out of this, for ourselves and for the Clan. Anyways, any thoughts on how to approach?”
.
DarkHawk processed what the Duke was suggesting, continuing to study the spinning map he paid attention to the areas Kojiro had pointed out as POI’s. “VP is aboard the Reaver with Ty. We can have him deploy the Probot in any one of those areas and start scanning and sending us recon info before we put boots on the ground.”
Leena lifted herself out of her lean against the back wall, where she was watching. Scanning a planet was hardly worth her talents, but then again, it would get her some fresh air and maybe find something cool down there. The boss was more than adept at handling the big damn beasties that could be down there, although she would have been happier if Ashia was along for the ride on that front. The woman had a way with those big beasts, as much as she did with him. She chuckled out loud before catching herself.
Muz slowly turned his head toward the sound, and the Twi'lek converted the chuckle intoa clearing of her throat, wondering if her earcones were as hot as they felt. “I’ll set up a deep scan to see if I can’t find whatever they’re tansmitting from. Should be fairly accurate as to location, unless…” She left the thought to hang for a moment. “…Well, unless there’s some space wizardry afoot.” She waggled her fingers to emphasize that as she let her gaze sweep across them all before receiving a nod from Muz. Sliding a spike into the console, she bagan to run her scans, lines of code playng out in the corner of the holo, reflecting off of her eyes as she worked. “You know, a probot could be good to see what they have going on that will complicate things anyway. Did you set it up for remote access?”
DarkHawk regarded Leena’s statement with a thoughtful nod, his eyes narrowing slightly as he processed the information. “Good thinking, Leena. Remote access to VP is already set up and operational,” he confirmed, his voice calm yet deliberate.
“We can take control of him here or via the Reaver. We’ll use it to our advantage. VP’s presence could give us a critical edge in gathering intel without exposing ourselves to unnecessary risk.”
He paused for a moment, folding his arms across his chest as he considered the possibilities. “First, let’s run a comprehensive sweep of the area VP can upload the data in real time. I want it to scan for any unusual energy signatures or transmission signals that don’t match known patterns. We’ll prioritize sensor dampening fields or any other indications of cloaking technology—they could be hiding more than just their location.”
DarkHawk’s gaze moved across his comrades, his tone taking on a decisive edge. “We should set VP to map out the terrain and identify potential points of entry and exit. If they have any defensive measures in place, like automated turrets or surveillance systems, we need to know about them before we move in. The more we can uncover remotely, the better our chances of planning a precise and efficient strike.”
With a final nod, he added, “Let’s ensure we have every tactical advantage before we make our next move. No surprises.”