After boarding Governor Koda Kendis’s vessel, the Bastion, our team departs on their mission. It isn’t long before the wayward souls finally reach their destination, the Phendrana Drifts. Koda, in his blue and gold glory, stands up and briefs everyone as the ship is landing.
“Everyone listen up, we’re here to scout out what we can of the Phendrana Drifts. Our sources have told us that the ice has stopped progressing into the plains and we need to find out why and use it to our advantage. We’ll have to continue on foot from here due to the cold atmosphere messing with any ship that comes near, so I hope you all packed another layer. Captain Olympia will stay with the ship and call for reinforcements if anything is to happen. If we run into any problems, we take it down effiecently, leave the heroics to me.” He smirked, “There’s a potential for vagabonds or pirates to be creeping about, if they’ve survived, so keep an eye out.” Koda grabbed his helmet off a crate and slid it on, sealing it with a hiss. “Any questions?” He asked as the landing platform opened, bringing a cold gust of wind in with it.
As if on cue to try and miss everything, Ellisyn exited the cockpit with her helmet under her arm and a smirk fading from her dark lips just as Koda finished his briefing. She walked over, her steps abnormally silent for her large frame and stood next to Koda, just a few inches shorter than him and looked at all the ships occupants
‘Why is everyone on this ship so freaking tall?’
Draca was, obviously, one to talk regarding that train of thought. Yet, as Ellisyn walked past him, he couldn’t help but be slightly intimidated by her.
Anders would kill him if he knew about that.
Still, Draca was a Jedi trained by a Sith of all things. He knew how to compose himself when necessary. He followed after Ellisyn and Koda, a brisk chill in the air sending shivers down his spine.
He was glad he brought his cloak.
“Hello,” Draca said, rubbing his arms before taking a slight bow. “My name is Draca. It’s a pleasure to meet you both.”
Since boarding the Governor’s ship, Savran Has had spent their time using their datapad to review what few details on their teammates had been provided: a Mandalorian and Governor of the Taldryan Republic, a vigilante who had made a name for herself terrorizing the criminal underbelly of Port Kasiya; a giant of a Sith, an explosives and computer expert and finally, a powerhouse of a young Jedi. A Jedi and Sith working together, imagine that. Of all the ways they’d seen the galaxy change, that was by far the most unusual.
Thus far, their work with the Brotherhood was limited to working with members of Arcona but credits were credits, and the Republic’s top brass had paid the Shani handsomely to secure their assistance on this mission. Stepping off of the ship’s exit ramp, Savi pulled the hood of their cloak over the ski-mask like accesory of their equite robes, both of which left visible only a sliver of their saffron-colored skin and the onyx tattoo ink that flanked their slitted, amber eyes.
“No questions as of yet,” they said in reply to Koda, stepping off to the side of Draca and taking a sharp inhale of the frigid air.
Koda offered Draca a handshake, “Glad to have you with us, kid. Follow my lead and we’ll turn out fine, maybe you’ll learn something along the way. We’ll watch your back.”
Aylin wondered again why she signed up for this task as she shivered under her extra sweaters, coat and hood. Glancing around she saw a few familiar faces, so at least she wouldn’t have to introduce herself to everybody.
“Why did it have to be this cold?” she muttered. Her little droid chirped and crawled from underneath the folds of her coat.
“I know, I know…” the Nautolan huffed and walked up towards Koda and Draca. “Hi,” she greeted them both.
Koda nodded towards the woman, “Seems like you’re out of place for your environment.” He joked, “Hopefully we won’t be out here long. We’ll get some hot food in you once we’re done, or at least a special heater.”
To Koda’s sudden surprise, Draca pulled him into a hug. “Thank you. I’ll be sure to help wherever I can. I promise.”
Elly chuckled at the young Zabrak’s sudden display of affection “Good luck with that one, brother.”
She then slid her helmet over her head, her hair still flowing down her back, and walked down the ships ramp into the cold. She put her hands on her hips and looked out across the landscape, ending up standing next to Sarvan
Koda stood there awkward and dumfounded, doing that uncomfortable back pat to Draca. “We’ll see what happens.”
It was times like these that Savran considered themselves lucky that Shani were an endothermic species. They felt the frigid air biting at their exposed skin, yes, but their rapid metabolism generated plenty of internal heat to keep them warm in this frosty climate. When the Firrerreo woman took her place next to them, Savi took a second to look the much taller woman up and down.
“Nice armor,” they said in Mando'a, regarding them for a little longer than they perhaps should before catching themselves and looking to the horizon. They removed their mask and hood, letting the large mane of feathers fall past their shoulders. As cold as it was, it felt good to feel the breeze flow through their hair.
Ellisyn clenched her fist and unclenched it while trying to keep her gaze forward. She disagreed with Koda’s idea of getting out of the gutters of Holmes, where she spent her nights, and going on this silly mission. Still, when he taunted her about being lazy and uncaring, her prideful nature took over and forced her to accompany him.
But alas, curiosity got the better of her. She looked to her side and down at Savran, rather surprised to see that they were a Shani, though she didn’t show it. She spent a few moments examining her feathers and features. Instead of being unsettled or unnerved by her, Ellisyn rather enjoyed the sight of a species mistrusted like her own.
She appreciated the comment, and instead of avoiding any conversation, she decided to humor Savran to satiate her own curiosity further. “I took a few liberties with the design,” she responded in the same tongue, her voice carrying a commanding and soothing tone through the tinny speakers of her helmet. “I considered your color scheme once before,” she crossed her arms. “I like it.”
It was no secret that the Shani had less-than-stellar reputation in the galaxy, and Savi themselves often used that to their advantage, leveraging it to intimidate others into getting what they wanted. As effective (and amusing) as that was, it was nice to meet someone who appear visibly uncomfortable upon seeing the mane of obsidian, canary yellow, scarlet, and emerald that were dead giveaways of their heritage. Never one to give out compliments without good reason, Savi reasoned that establishing some level of conviviality with their teammates would go a long way toward keeping them awry when their mission inevitably took a turn toward the violent. Plus, the Firrerreo’s armor did fit her well.
“I can tell,” they said in reference to her armor, briefly glancing at her again. “It suits you.”
When she mentioned liking the colors of Savi’s robes, they lifted a hand to rest on their hip. “I appreciate that. It’s effective at keeping me hidden at night, and fashionable in the daytime. Best of both worlds.”
“I’ve always been more of a fan of red than blue myself. Do you usually cover up your face?” Maybe it was the color of her clothes, reminding her of lovers past. Or maybe it was because she seemed fun. But she didn’t immediately hate Savi <@1056685516441006091>
“Oh, a fan of red, huh?” the Shani gestured toward their face with a playful wink, though their tone remained as measured as it had since they first spoke. “Depends on where I am and who I’m around,” Savi answered, “And what kind of attention I want to attract.”
Elly chuckled softly, deciding to take her helmet off, holding it under her arm “Masks, helmets, head coverings. They’re important. They help us protect the ones we love.” she smiled softly, thinking of her daughters. “I don’t much care about who sees my face when I’m on missions like this, people around herd won’t exactly spill my secret” she stepped in front of Savi and looked her dead in the eyes “You’re not gonna tell, are you?”
“That depends entirely on whether doing so would benefit me or not,” Savran answered, looking back at the larger femme with an unwavering expression. “Though, I doubt you’d be able to do anything about it if I did.”
A challenge, though a subtle one. The Shani had no intentions of giving any ground in this little game of theirs. Especially not to someone more than two centuries their junior. If there was anyone who’d acquiesce, it would have to be her.
Draca, completely oblivious to Koda’s discomfort at the show of affection. After feeling the gentle pat on his back, Draca released him, giving him a warm smile.
He listened in on the conversation between Savi and Ellisyn, though.
“I think we can agree that if we are going to be a team, we should behave like one,” Draca eyed Savi curiously, yet cautiously.
Aylin chuckled at his remark.
“This is mild to what I’m used too,” the Nautolan said as she tried to hide further into her clothes.
Siky let out a series of beeps and chirps as it looked around. “Yes, Ankira would have loved to be here, sadly she isn’t,” Aylin said with a sigh. “So… What is our plan? If we have one.”
Elly barely suppressed a fiendish glare at the Shani, instead trading it for a more threatening grin, her sharpened teeth on display.
“Then I suppose it’s a good thing that the only benefit would be getting your ass kicked,” she said with mirth
“You’d try,” said Savi with a derisive chuckle, giving her a dismissive wave of the hand. The Shani wasn’t the type to waste time talking about what they intended to do, much preferring to simply act. And if the Firrerreo was insistent on testing herself for some reason that Savi didn’t know nor cared to know, then she’d quickly find that the centuries-old mercenary didn’t fight for fun.
When the young Jedi addressed them, Savran met his gaze and examined him in kind. “The jediit is right,” they said while regarding him with an expression belied their own curiosity, though it differed in the predatory aura they exuded–as if they were contemplating a potential meal. “The mission’s success matters more than any squabbles we may have one with another.”
They turned their head to acknowledge the Nautolan next, saying: “As for a plan … I believe that falls on the Governor here.” They lifted a hand to lazily gesture toward Koda.
“Step one is to find an entrance deeper into the drifts. Once we find one, we mark it, and then head on in. Hopefully our tech doesn’t freeze up on us. Also! Be mindful of what you touch, some formations could very well freeze you on touch.” He warned everyone
Freeze on touch?
“I’ve read stories of this, Force woven ice that covers those who touch it, though the books said that such abilities were nothing but myths and legends, but even those sometimes have grounding in reality…”
That was a troublesome revelation, indeed. Savi had heard of the very same stories that Draca mentioned, and they, too, had considered them nothing but stories told on late nights when on mission. “Even when you think you have a good understanding of it, the Force has a way of surprising you.”
Ellisyn slid her helmet back on and sighed, mentally chastising herself for letting her emotions get the better of her once again. She silently walked back to her brother’s side “So we can’t rely on tech or walls or the ground beneath our feet. Sounds pretty bleak if you ask me”
“Not entirely, but that’s where the fun is, eh?” Koda chuckled and walked down the ramp, heading up to some of the crystaline formations, “It’s like those old relic plunderer holovids, watch your step or toss something where you’re about to go and see if it freezes.”
“You watched too many of those when you were a kid” Elly said, knowing full well she watched them with him
“You are telling me that this ice could insta freeze you?” She asked again as she stared him.
Shaking her head she muttered again that she should have stayed home underwater.
Draca felt her nerves through the Force, rattling like a chain in the wind. He placed a hand on Aylin’s shoulder, and smiled.
“It’ll be OK. I’ll make sure nothing bad happens to you. We all will.”
“Best case scenario, you freeze instantly and don’t feel it at all.” Koda chuckled at his dark humor and carried on his way towards finding an entrance, “We’re burning daylight, people. I doubt many of you want to be out here once the sun goes down.”
Our wayward adventures begin their journey into the ice covered drifts. While some are caught up in conversation, too focused on the cold, or daydreaming, both Draca and Savi would notice that gusts of wind were pulling small amounts of snow down through a small opening in one of the large ice spires. Through deduction they determined that there would be at least some kind of entrance or opening there.
“What’s this?” Savran said to themselves, turning toward an opening in the pillars of ice. Following the path that the snow took while drifting across the ground, they kneeled toward the opening they’d spotted to have a closer look.
Savran looked around at the opening and found that it would be big enough for the group to climb through one by one. It would be no guarantee, but it was very possible that this entrance would lead them to their destination. Gazing through the entrance led far enough back that one would not be able to see a stopping point, it just kept going. The force users would be able to sense that it connected to a few other tunnels through the ice, some natural forming, some seeming to have been burrowed.
<@1056685516441006091> <@837236610684813342>
Draca peered through the opening, forcing himself to swallow the lump that formed in his throat.
No.
Now was not the time to be afraid.
Draca took a deep breath, centring himself. The Force would be hid guide. Anders had trained him well. He just needed to take a step forward, and believe.
Draca’s footsteps crunched in the snow as he grabbed one of his lightsabers. He activated the sapphire blade as it illuminated the entrance from within.
“We should probably stay in pairs, just in case. If the stories about the ice are real, then at least if there’s someone beside you, they can help.”
Aylin hobbled after them, wrapping her arms around herself.
“Please no ice monsters…” she said softly as Siky lighted up a little to give a soft glow.
Seeing her distress, Draca removed his Jedi Cloak. The sudden shivers trembled down his spine, but that didn’t matter.
He wrapped it around Aylin, not giving the Nautolan a chance to decline it.
“There. That should be a bit better,” he smiled at her.
She looked curiously up at him as she held the cloak close to herself.
“Don’t you need it yourself? Or is your Space Magic going to keep you warm?”
“Not a bad idea,” Savran said to Draca, “You’ll be with me, jediit.”
Savran placed one hand on their hip while looking down at the entrance. “You can go first. I’ll be close behind you.”
Hearing the Nautolan’s comment about “space magic” made them snort in amusement.
Draca chuckled. “Nah, I’ll be fine. Space Magic, and all that.”
He didn’t know why, but for some reason, he had a very bad feeling about Savran. Regardless, he took another step forward…
“You can sense it, right?” Savran began, keeping an eye on where Draca’s lightsaber was relative to their own position. The man was a Jedi and as such could be expected to behave in certain ways, but Savi had seen enough to not put anything past anyone.
“This tunnel connects with several others in the ice.”
“It’s like echolocation, except with the Force. It’s like it’s… bouncing off of the walls. Not so much showing us the way as it is letting us know what’s there.”
Draca paused when he felt his fingers growing numb. That was never a good sign. Frostbite in these caves could be a death sentence.
He focused on the Force, hoping to use its energy to increase his temperature.
“While I appreciate seeing the nice gestures from everyone, freezing to death will only inhibit the mission.” Koda sighed and waited at the entrance for everyone else to enter before him, “Stay close to your dancing partners, and we’ll all make it out fine.”
“An apt description, Draca. Let’s hope this will lead us to our destination.”
They gestured for the Zabrak to move forward and followed suit once he’d traveled far enough into the tunnel. The biting air was already starting to nip at their extremities, prompting Savi to call upon the Force to raise their core body temperature. A gentle sigh of relief escaped the Shani’s lips when they felt warmth begin to spread over their body, like a fresh lit flame had been lit within them.
Elly eyed the divide in the ice “Are you going to fit through?” she looked to her brother with a smirk under her helmet
“Keep it up with the fat jokes, and we’ll see how long you’ll last, sister.” He shook his head, but he was chuckling under his helmet. “You’re the one who’s going to have trouble.”
Elly slapped his arm rather hard “I’ll have you know I’m back down to what I used to be before I had Lektra.” She defended herself, definitely not self conscious about the previous state of her abs
Draca attempted to do the same as Savran, only to fail on response.
He was regretting not having a cloak right about now. His teeth started chattering, his body becoming tense and rigid the further they went down. Was there ever an end? He certainly hoped so…
He reached out with the Force again, hoping to feel for an end, or at least an exit where he could warm himself up.
Koda quickly grabbed his arm, “I wasn’t calling you fat!” He climbed on inside.
Once everyone had entered the ice tunnels, our groups light began to fade quickly, those without the ability to see in the dark would begin to struggle, prompting Koda to turn on the flashlight attached to his visor. “Anybody seeing anything up ahead?”
Savi wouldn’t be able to tell directly where they were going, but had a good feeling of what tunnels to take, kind of like navigating a pen and paper puzzle. The tunnels that kept going and didn’t stop anywhere were a good sign to keep on going. <@1056685516441006091>
“Not exactly,” Savran answered through shallow breaths, “But I do have a good idea of where to go.”
Since Draca was ahead of them, they relayed the directions they were able to map out through the Force to him.
Ellisyn followed the group, distracted by her own thoughts and worries, trusting Koda to tell her if she needed to pay attention.
Draca glanced behind him upon hearing the second set of footsteps. He paused for a moment. “Are you OK?”
Aylin did not look like she was having a good time…
Our group kept moving through the tunnels for only a few minutes more, but then Savran would sense the very big opening ahead of them as well as some light seeping through from that exit. Once they reach the end of the tunnel, it opens up into what is essentially a frozen dome with large collums of ice spikes as supporting arms. In the center of it all, still partially encased in ice, was a large city and a glowing white-blue light from the center.
“What a view.” Koda looked upon the city in front of them, “Who wants to take bets that that is what caused this mess?” He pointed to the glowing light
@here
Draca opened his mouth to speak, then shut it, then opened it again, then shut it again. He had no words. What could possibly be said about the sight in front of them?
“It’s… beautiful,” Draca said.
It was also eerily haunting. Draca looked around to see if there was any clue as to what happened here, or what this place was.
Based on what they were looking at, he would figure out that the cause of the ice had to have originated from around the light that Koda pointed out. This had to have been some ancient city that messed around with something and found out what happened, in this case, they got encased in ice.
“Ice like this doesn’t form instantly,” Draca pointed to the light above them. He deactivated his lightsaber, placing it back on his belt. “Either this place was abandoned, and the ice has formed rapidly overtime, or, and I think this is what it is, they were messing with… something they shouldn’t have been and got the entire place frozen. Does anyone see any… bodies?”
As grim a question as that was, it could give them some valuable insight into who was here when the city froze over, and how long ago it was.
Aylin slowly stepped further into the hall as she looked around and grabbed her datapad, scanning her surroundings.
“It’s like… a bomb kind of explosion, but ice cold instead of superheated…”
While everyone was focused on the ice structures, Savran would see that there was part of a large starship poking through what was the ceiling of the dome they were in. A long rappelling line was connected to it into the inner city, with three figures sliding down it.
<@1056685516441006091>
The mental map of the tunnels Savran created through their Force sense transformed from a narrow passage to an expanse more than large enough to house an entire city in its center. Flanked by colossal spires of ice that held the icy firmament aloft above their heads, the city stood as a relic of the distant past–an archaic presence bolstered by the thick ice that still encased it in places. They took in the sight in silence, directing their attention to the light emanating from the city’s center.
“Eerie is more like it,” Savi offered a correction while glancing at Draca from the corner of their eye. “As for bodies, no, I don’t. I’m going to see what I can se–”
They cut their sentence short after noticing movement above them. Adjusting their gaze to see what it was, they narrowed their eyes upon seeing the sleek grey metal of a starship jutting through a break in the ice above their heads. A hatch was opened on the side, allowing a long line of cord to descend into one of the innermost sections of the city.
Savran didn’t hesitate to draw their DC-17m, lining up the first of the three figures connected to the wire as they went. They didn’t fire, yet, but fully intend to if the Governor gave them the okay. “Three figures, eleven o'clock,” they announced to the rest of the group. “How should we engage?”
Koda quickly got up next to Savi and forced the barrel down “Don’t fire, not yet!” He said urgently, but not loudly. “We have the drop on them. They won’t know we’re here.”
“Maybe,” Savran answered while obliging Koda’s request, “But they could be Force-sensitive, for all we know.”
“And all of us here are trained to kill them, or are one. We can handle anything, but I don’t want to disturb the hornets nest per say.” He pointed to the ship, “There could be more in there.”
<@1056685516441006091>
Elly pondered what she could do for a few moments before tapping her brother on the shoulder “You have fun. I’m gonna go see what they’re up to.” And she started to sneaky sneak on over to where they were descending, using what cover she could to try and stay hidden
Koda was only able to get a step in when trying to stop her before she was swiftly gone, “Damn…” He sighed.
Elly was very quickly able to navigate over some ice, using the slick surface to her advantage to move without making a sound. She was able to get up onto a little ridge and use her helmets visor to get a better look at the three figures. Based on their appearance they were pirates or mercenaries of some type. Wearing dark colored undercoats with stone grey armor on top.
As far as Elly knew, the goal was to investigate. So investigate she would. She watched the three figures closely and waited for an opening to make her way over to them and their ropes. The moment there was an opening, she started to silently make her way over within earshot.
And as she made her way over, the dim lighting and the reflection of the light hid the fact that there was some warped ice underneath her. Elly took one wrong stepp and rolled her ancle, causing her to quickly end up on the ice with a loud thud. The figures quickly turned around and went to investigate, the leader of their small squad pulling out a blaster pistol from their holster.
Koda stayed still but was ready to leap in at a moments notice, “Don’t open fire unless things get hairy. She can handle herself, and we don’t want to give away our number.” Those who are force sensitive would notice that Koda was strangely calm for his sister to be in danger, calmer than he had been the whole time they were on the mission.
Elly quickly scrambled to her feet, her eyes daring back and forth for some kind of cover. With nothing close enough for her to hide behind she decided to do the only sane thing and dash towards a rope and start to climb up it in hopes of not being seen. She didn’t want to exactly get stuck inside their ship but she didn’t have much choice
Draca heard the command, tapping into the energies of the Force to get a feel for their enemy. Whether they were Force Sensitive or not could answer some questions…
Elly quickly started climbing up the rope, climbing it at a surprising rate. Luckily for her, the figures’s helmets obscured their vertical vision enough for them not to see her, but they would see the rope wiggling…perhaps a distraction is in order.
Draca wasn’t able to sense any direct force connection from the three figures but there definetly was something in the area radiating a force signature.
<@837236610684813342> <@301514304845381632>
They might not had been Force Sensitive, but there was definitely something in the air.
Screw what Koda said, Draca was not about to leave Ellisyn to her fate. She was a mother of two, for crying out loud!
Draca launched himself forward towards her location, his footsteps crunching in the sun.
Aylin had different plans, she would stay hidden where she was and sent out Siky to the other side of the open space. If they wanted a distraction, they would get one. Once it got there, the little droid made a high whistling sound that echoed through the cavern. Some of the of the hanging icles started to vibrate dangerously, but the droid stopped in time to keep them from falling, hopefully.
Savran blinked while watching Draca rush ahead, his feet crunching on the ice as he went. In his eagerness to be the hero, the fool had neglected to ensure that he moved quietly enough to preserve the element of surprise. Koda was right; that there were more people on that ship was a real possibility, and dragging more members of an unknown unit into a firefight would make things more difficult than it needed to be. Both Draca and Ellisyn came off of as too sure of themselves, and Savran wasn’t interested in risking their neck for a bunch of amateurs who overestimated their own abilities–especially the former, who couldn’t even follow simple orders.
“So much for that plan,” they said with a scoff while training their rifle on the group, waiting for their opportunity to fire should the situation devolve into open combat.
The whistle from Siky pulled the attention of the figures away from Ellisyn, but towards where the group was.
Draca was able to keep himself a little steady as the snow quickly turned more into ice and slid around, but he was able to close the gap on the three individuals quickly.
“Why do things never go to plan?” Koda sighed as he pulled his hammer from the connection point on his jetpack, “Cover us if anything goes south.” He said to Savran as he activated his jetpack and disregarded stealth. The three figures all drew their weapons, but before the leader could fire off a shot, Koda fired out a fibrecord and pulled the blaster from their hand before slamming into them with the full momentum he had built up, sending the two of them sliding into an ice formation.
Ellisyn turned to look at all the commotion down below her and shrugged. At least now nobody was looking at her. Since she was already a ways up the rope she decided she might as well keep climbing and do some snooping
Draca leapt up, leg stretched out, spinning in the air. His ankle landed with a thump into the snow as his target backpeddaled away from him.
It seemed they were well trained. They went on the offense, but they lacked the Force’s forewarning of imminent danger. Draca spun, his leg stretched out into a spinning kick. His foot cracked against his opponent’s jaw, rendering them unconscious.
As Draca’s opponent fell to the ground, Savran pulled the trigger on their rifle that was aimed at the final foe. But alas, earwax, the shot whizzed past their target and slammed into the back of Koda’s beskar, the bolt ricocheting off into a wall and sending Koda down to the ground from the force.
The final foe raised their blaster up to Draca’s head and was about to pull the trigger, would he survive if he’s shot? Will he be fast enough to retaliate? Or will there be some heroic intervention? (Tune in next time to Drifting in the Drifts Z!)
Elly sighed, already too far up the rope and on her own little side mission to abandon it. She unclipped a flash grenade from her belt and tossed it down towards Draca to try and give him an out.
The flash grenade fell quickly, going off right before hitting the ground. All of those who were looking in that general direction were blinded by a giant flash of light, causing the pirate to misfire their blaster away from Draca.
“Goodie.” Elly mumbled to herself, continuing her own climb. As much as she didn’t want to leave everyone high and dry, she had her own assignment
Savran took another shot only to miss again. They really need to spend more time working on their aim. Just when it looked like Draca was going to have his head opened by the assailant’s blaster, a flash grenade went off, forcing the Shani to avert their gaze.
“Dank ferrik,” they muttered to themselves while shutting their eyes.
Draca’s iris’ burned. The Force didn’t warn against anything that didn’t cause physical harm, and unfortunately, that meant flash bombs too.
Draca covered his eyes with his arm, listening carefully to the sound if blaster fire that rang in his ear.
Savi was right, dank ferrik indeed…
Koda finally managed to get back onto his feet. He looked around and saw that everyone was dazed, including the last pirate. He stopped his way on over and sucker punched them in the side of the helmet. They were knocked unconscious and would definitely have some dain brammage. He looked up the rope and waited for his sister to see him before giving the thumbs up and a hand signal only the two of them would know. To continue on their missions.
Ellisyn returns the gesture, also flipping Koda off in the process in a joking way before sneaking deeper into the ship
Draca glanced around. “Is everyone OK? Is anybody injured?”
On the bright side, that brief skirmish had warmed him up. He wasn’t cold anymore, but the chills were replaced with concern for those around him.
Aylin crawled from behind one of the ice pillars and nodded slowly as she got up. “Yeah… more or less. Can we go?”
“Aye, right as rain. Ellisyn is going to investigate the ship, best to leave her alone to do that. If anything goes wrong, I’ll get a signal. Otherwise, let’s keep moving forward.”
“Shouldn’t we wait for her?” Savran asked after hopping down to where the others were, slinging their rifle across their back. “If something does go wrong, our chances of helping in time decrease the farther away we get.”
It was certainly an unorthodox plan, especially the part about leaving the woman to explore an entire ship filled with unknown hostiles alone. There was confident and then stupid.
“My sister knows what she’s doing. She’d just get mad at us for getting in the way. She has a way for getting herself into trouble, but she also has a lot of experience getting out of it. Our family always had us running drills.” Koda started to make his way towards the frozen city
The Nautolan shrugged slightly, “If his sister is as stubborn as Ankira, she knows how to survive there on her own… like all Mandalorians do.”
With that she started to follow Koda and rubbing her arms in hopes to get a little warm again after sitting still when hidding.
Once she entered the old ship, Ellisyn’s path would be dimly lit by emergency lights, the red hue outlining the corridors before her. She could go left and head down towards the tip of the ship hanging over the frozen city, or head right and make her way towards where she assumed the bridge would be.
<@301514304845381632>
The main group continues on further into the city, they were expecting to find more of the mercenary types out and about, but all they found was abandoned equipment. Those who looked around would be able to tell that the equipment was left there in a hurry, not something set down and left to remain there. Mining lasers partially broken on the ground with half melted ice beside them, frozen-over-half-eaten ration packs, and a plethora of space heaters that were running low on power.
“I wonder what happened here…looks like people left in a hurry.” Koda looked around, climbing up an old set of steps to get a higher vantage point.
@here
“Whatever it is, we must be cautious…” Draca followed Koda up the flight of stairs. He had a distinctly bad feeling about this…
Draca and Koda make their way to the top and look over the area, with the higher vantage point they would be able to see a giant ice crystal containing the bright glowing object, around it seemed to be some kind of blast wave, causing it to look like some kind of arena…but based on the bodies and material strode about, it seemed more like a den than anything.
“What in the blazes is that…?” Koda asked out loud
Draca was speechless. Nothing Anders had taught him could have prepared him for that.
“I… I don’t know. Should we investigate? I’ll defer to your judgement, sir. You’re the one in charge here.”
“Keep your wits about you, but we should defiantly go check. I’d recommend turning on that laser sword of yours.”
Draca grabbed his weapon, keeping his wits about him. He’d be foolish not too, whatever was responsible for this might, somehow, still exist.
Snap-Hiss!
The cerulean blade sprang from the hilt as Draca gave Koda a firm nod.
“OK, let’s go.”