Star Wars: Shattered Galaxy

[PrinceOfShapeir]

Coruscant didn't just look terrible, it felt terrible too, like the trillion souls who had made their lives here before the toxic gases had extinguished their lives had soaked into the buildings and streets, their horror and pain echoing through the steel canyons.

As the six began to move towards the temple, the clanks of their boots on the metal surfaces seemed terribly loud in the conspicuous silence of the dead planet, faint red dust going up with each step. Even the wind had a terrible stillness. Only their footsteps, their breathing, their words broke the silence.

Not just a dead world. A tomb world.

The Temple lay open to them, the two great statues that had once been guardians of the gate now lay broken. This wasn't the slow decay of time - someone had come here before them and defaced the statues. One of the heads was still lying on the walkway, they could see where the eyes of it had been carefully gouged out.

 

[socialtangent]

The jump from the shuttle was an easy task. Kass landed solidly into a half-crouch before straightening himself out and standing back up. He brought his newly-obtained blaster carbine to bear and did a quick survey of the surrounding area. The stillness of this dead, desolate world was very quickly giving Kass the creeps. He had seen holos of what the surface looked like, but not a single one captured the true horror. Nothing moved. Even the air itself was still. Along the horizon, the once grand Coruscant skyline stood silently, reaching out into the lifeless sky.

Kass followed the group silently, the sounds of their footsteps likely the only noise this planet has known for decades. As they approached the entrance to the once glorious Jedi Temple, his instinct told him that something was terribly wrong. The feeling was reinforced when they came across the severed head to one of the tall statues standing guard outside the entrance. Its eyes were gouged out. Whether this damage was recent, Kass couldn't tell, but it definitely wasn't encouraging.

"Hrm". Looking into the head's empty sockets, it felt as if the thing was looking straight at him. Even without eyes the thing was creepy.

 

[Smagmuck_]

Joseph saw the stone head lying on the pavement. He found it oddly curious. He inspected it, and then walked around to the side with the face. He felt a sudden surge of shock go up his body. The eyes were gouged out; deliberately no less. He stopped and opened up a private Comm with the rest of the Team.

"Guys, hold up." He said, staring at the empty sockets. "Something isn't right here, I may still be a rookie, but when you see the head of a statue with it's eyes gouged out; you generally stop and wonder what the blast is going on." He kept staring at the sockets, he dazed out for a second or two then snapped back to reality. His heart rate monitor on his HUD showed his pulse quickening.

 

[CounterAttack]

Rec paid some attention to Knaake's words, though he had bigger things to worry about. Specifically, the constant but mild itching on the inside of his head. Thoughts that weren't his own crept into the edges of his mind; thoughts of fear, agony, terror and death. With a quiet hiss under his breath, Rec sharpened his focus and made attempts to shut out the invasive Force aura that seemed to encompass the entirety of the group's surroundings. Putting his mind to the task at hand - raiding the Jedi Temple for anything they could get - seemed to work.

"Quite honestly, Knaake, I'm not sure I would worry about that," he said quietly as he walked past the severed head. "Doesn't look like it was recent, at least to me. We should keep moving. It'd be better if we didn't stay longer than needed." Indifferent to the statue head's lack of eyes, the game hunter began to ascend the extensive staircase to the Jedi Temple.

Traversing the stairs was slower going than just walking flat, since they were damaged and broken apart in some places; at one point Rec had to navigate a path between two particularly large chunks of missing staircase. It resembled a walkway he had once crossed, between two trees on Kashyyyk, except this one was part of a staircase. And back on the jungle-world, he had been shot at constantly and was forced to stoop and double-time to avoid being hit. Rec highly doubted anyone would open fire at him, or the rest of the group, on a poisoned, dead world such as this.

 

[blaze96]

"Unfortunately we don't have much choice. We need to continue on, the most we can do is be cautious. Which is a good idea no matter what is going on." Prenlarr said. This place was interesting even with its truly disturbing feel. For some reason he still wanted to investigate this planet more.

"But we still need to go in there. if we take too long we don't know what will happen. If we do and something does happen we still won't be as surprised as we would be if the sith start shelling us from orbit."

 

[UnusualStranger]

Marcus instantly had alarms going off in his head as he saw the eyes gouged out of the face of the statue. He had been doing this long enough to recognize what meant trouble, and that statue head meant that someone had specifically been unhappy with this temple.

"Just because it is not recent doesn't mean that it doesn't mean something, Rec." Marcus said as he walked up the stairs with the hunter.

"Keep on your toes now, something was obviously pissed at this temple to specifically do that, and I would prefer to not be caught off by it. Prenlarr is right though, we need to get inside, and we need to be as quick as we can."

Marcus looked at the entrance of the large temple, as beaten and crushed as it was still held that odd feeling of a relic worth keeping safe. However, to keep anything safe here, he would need to get it off this planet, and away from it. Hefting the Beam Cutter, Marcus made his way forward towards the entrance, which while relatively open, didn't reassure Marcus that it was natural. In fact, it did the opposite, as a salvager knew that if the wreck was completely open, it meant someone else had been around looking for something. His gaze swept the temple carefully looking to see if there were any traps or even possibly other salvagers in the area.

But who would come here and do this? What is the point in destroying the place as it already crumbles?

 

[Smagmuck_]

Joseph thought for a few moments. Something was obviously off here; this planet was long abandoned, and these gouges look very recently. Maybe created a month or two before hand.

"Alright, I say we move ahead with extreme caution." He said. "I'll keep an eye up ahead with my Thermal Optics. If anything moves, I'll let you know." He flicked the safety of his weapon off switched his helmet over to Thermal, his visor went from a faint blue, to a faint orange and he unbuckled a couple of straps that anchored his VibroBlade to it's sheath.

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

As they entered the temple, it became clear that someone had come through and desolated the Temple. Statues of great Jedi Knights and Masters lined a long corridor, but they were all defaced in some way - some had the stone of their faces cut away, leaving a smooth, nightmarish visage. Others were decapitated or torn from their fixtures and cut asunder. But one thing was constant - the cuts were all smooth and precise, like they'd been made with a very precise weapon - not a vibroblade. Some kind of energy cutter.

Despite the vandalism, however, the interior of the Temple seemed mostly intact, albeit dusty and creepy. Under the dust, lights could be seen on the turbolift switches - even the power was still running, although the dim lights suggested it was on a low-power setting.

The aura of death and fear and pain seemed more focused within the Temple. Less mournful, more malicious, like a dark power was watching them from the shadows of the Temple, eager for them to begin the plunge the many miles down into the planet's crust, into the abyss where it lay waiting for them.

They should never have come here.

 

[ultrachicken]

This place has a worse aura than graveyard station.

Rana tread lightly on the crumbling floor, keeping her hands hovering near her torso, afraid to touch anything. Her blaster was cradled in its holster, because while the ruins were likely fraught with peril, she was expecting more archaeological danger, not rancors or whatever man eating beast would live here. Though someone had definitely gone at the statues with a lightsaber.

She stood still for a moment, waiting for one of her companions to take the next step.

 

[blaze96]

"I can't help but wonder what caused all this damage. Certainly even the sith wouldn't be this blatant if they were laying a trap for us. Almost seems like it was meant to be a warning for those who entered as opposed to a moment of rage before a trap." Prenlarr observed as he stepped further into the building. A large part of him wanted to simply turn back and leave never to return but he knew he had to press on. He did not move quickly or recklessly, staying with the others while still moving ever so slightly ahead.

If there was ever a place that would honestly feel haunted by its past, I am standing inside of it. Even now though I still want to figure out everything that happened here to leave such a dark stain. Surely not even the slaughter of the jedi would leave a place this foreboding in its wake.

 

[UnusualStranger]

Marcus was on full alert now, his gaze sweeping over absolutely everything in the temple, taking in every detail that he could see, making sure there were not traps or anything that he could spot in the now much more dangerous place. He could feel the cold of the place even through the suit...but he knew it wasn't the cold of the planet, it was a cold of a different kind.

It is a desecrated site. Someone else came here to intentionally harm the Jedi and any other traveler who dared. They hated the Jedi, and wanted to make sure it was obvious to any of those who came here.

Glancing about at everyone to see how they took in the new scene and feeling, Marcus felt it best to speak.

"Trap, test, or just the abandonment of this place being offsetting, we need to get moving. I don't plan on staying here very long thinking about this till it actually has something to do with why we are here. Be fearless, because we are supposed to be damned Jedi now, not cowering fools simply because the air feels off." Marcus said, waving to the others. While he couldn't claim to be the commander of any fleet, or even these people, this was a salvage job, and he was the salvager here.

Stepping over to the turbolift, especially cautious as this was perhaps the most obvious thing in the whole area, he looked it over for a time. It seemed to be intact, running on emergency power, but still functioning as a turbolift should. He thought for a moment, knowing that this was probably going to activate more than he wanted to. But there was little choice in the matter, and Marcus placed the Beam Cutter in the strap and took out his pistol instead. Cautiously, he tapped the button to call the turbolift, and took a step back, aiming for the door.

Steady Marcus. The building isn't falling yet, explosives are not placed, and nothing is chasing. Just need to worry about the world around you, and whatever is going on with that turbolift. C'mon you Force cursed piece of junk.

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

The turbolift hummed for a few seconds, then the doors slid open, a pleasant, jaunty tune coming out of the brightly lit, perfectly maintained lift. It seemed to invite them to step within and plunge deep into the bowels of Coruscant.

 

[CounterAttack]

Rec was mildly confused by the sight of the turbolift's activation and the doors opening. The temple still has power after all the damage inflicted on it? Bizarre. There must be more to this place than it lets on. It didn't help him that the aura of fear, pain and death had compounded now that the group was inside the building; such things clearly had less of an effect on the others than it did on Rec. Without realising it, he had become somewhat jumpy; when shadows flickered in doorways or broken windows he had turned quickly to look at them, making sure no-one was hiding from the armed group. Naturally, he saw nothing that could even possibly have a glimmer of life around it. The place felt so strange, so... empty, compared to the masses of lifeforms aboard Graveyard Station.

The game hunter cautiously approached the turbolift, eyebrows furrowed as he heard the music emanating from hidden speakers. He stopped short of actually entering the small space, however. He had no idea where it would take its passengers. Something was up. And he didn't like it.

 

[UnusualStranger]

Marcus stepped with Rec, trusting his eyes as he did so. He didn't know if Rec could actually see through the walls with the force....or however his kind saw. But if the hunter seemed to give the all clear, that was good enough for Marcus.

"Hah....It is always odd how when they make backup systems to the entire turbolift, to the point in which even the music still plays." Marcus said, trying to lighten the mood in the dead place. He doubted it would help, as he didn't feel any better, but it was an attempt at least.

"We will not get where we need to walking around here. Unless you see something worthwhile, its time to go." Marcus said with a shrug, cautiously stepping ahead of Rec into the turbolift. He knew this was likely reckless, but they were not going to get to the deeper chambers climbing, and this turbolift was their only option at the moment.

Let us get on, go down, get what we need, and get out. Salvage steal, quick and painless.

 

[Smagmuck_]

Joseph slipped into the Elevator. Checking the groups rear to make sure that they were not being followed by whatever hag inflicted all those disturbing gouges in the statues. He activated his thermal optics. Still cold, nothing was following them. Good. He turned around, there was a very annoying tune flowing from some hidden speakers. He visibly cringed and hit the sound dampener's in his helmet. The music was blocked out. He pinged his Motion Sensor, it showed clear except for six friendlies. He unsheathed his blade from it's cover on his chest and began to fiddle with it as he waited for everyone else. It was well balanced, maybe a half gram heavy on the hilt. And it was razor sharp. If anything was going to attack them, it was either going to get blasted to a crisp, or cut to ribbons.

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

Once they were all aboard, the turbolift doors slid smoothly closed. Marcus punched one into the elevator controls, and then the turbolift began it's plunge down the skyscraper.

Then, far too soon for even the fastest turbolift to drop over a thousand floors, they came to a stop, the doors sliding open on a section of the temple that was wrecked and looted, but clearly not subterranean, or even more than fifty or sixty floors down. The thin sunlight could still be seen.

Marcus pressed one again, then twice, then a third time. On the third try, a voice came from the speakers. "You are attempting to access a restricted zone. If you are a Jedi Master, please speak your name and access code."

 

[UnusualStranger]

Marcus sighed, annoyed that the security systems for this were still up and running as well. Luckily, he wasn't going to need to tamper with the high security of this Jedi area....well, hopefully at least. Pulling the Holocron out of the compartment, he looked over the device. Definitely the most important thing in their possession.

"Alright, I hope we get someone who can get us where we need to go on this lift. Otherwise, going to have to get to breaking a few things." Marcus muttered, looking over the others in the lift.

"Anyone have extended knowledge of older security? I get the distinct feeling disabling something meant for important bunkers is out of my league." Marcus said, just hoping that the Master in the Holocron would be able to get them moving.

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

A bizarre, insect-like creature emerged from the holocron, it's forelegs tipped with hands. It seemed to have a thick, resilient shell that shifted smoothly with it's movements like a suit of armor. It was not wearing anything, but had a belt wrapped around it's midsection with a pair of lightsabers and other tools on it.

It chittered for a moment, then a mechanical voice came from the Holocron. "Good evening, pupils, I am Skzhikl, designer of the Vault." After introducing itself, Kzahl turned to the door and made bizarre clicking and chittering noises for nearly a minute. When it finally stopped, the elevator beeped.

"Access code accepted. Welcome, Master Skzhikl."

The turbolift continued it's plunge.

 

[blaze96]

"If we need to I can figure out the system with relative certainty. With the age of the system I don't know anything. Luckily the complexity of technology only grows with time so it is entirely plausible that I could figure it out given a little time." Prenlarr replied as the elevator continued down.

"Hopefully the relatively clean slate will instead allow me to simply use consoles as opposed to having to take everything apart. It would be enjoyable but not necessarily practical."

 

[Smagmuck_]

"I have a bad feeling about this." Knaake said. He had this sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. It could be anything, from whatever he ate last, to why the statues were defaced in such a disturbing manner. He sheathed his knife and shifted nervously.