Log:Clan Kora: Where Ghosts Haunt

The information retrieved from the depths of the Citadel proved well worth the danger. Among other data and a very valuable item attained, those hounding the Jedi Knight Tai's trail have been steered towards an unknown planet in an unknown system. Unknown to them, that is. The Jedi, however, are well aware of this place and its significance. A small cadre of Jedi and Mandalorians will venture to this location among the tall bamboo reeds and encounter the man they've been seeking. But will he have answers?

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Where Ghosts Haunt

OOC Date: January 5, 2023
Location: Ossus
Participants: Valeska Kora, Colo Nell, Jax Greystorm, Hadrix Kora, Aryn Cortess

--Valeska--

The coordinates were not exact. Either the information had gotten too corrupted with time, their decryption efforts weren't specific enough, or the original information was deliberately vague. Whatever the reason, the group travelled on foot for about an hour from the only clearing they could find. No paths to be seen to guide them through the hard, viridian bamboo stalks and low, sun-starved brush. Only some hand-wavey direction that feels more like meandering than marching.

<"Wondering if this is a historically large prank on Jinn's part, yeah?"> Valeska's boots tromp on the underbrush, the crunch of dead leaves adding to the symphony of wildlife chirping, buzzing, and groaning in the distance all around. <"'Ha ha. You got all this way. Enjoy the rekkin' mosquitos.'"> Said instects are flying around in vain; finding that Mandalorian armor protects from their bites just as well as it repels blaster shots.

That doesn't stop them from trying. Out of instict, Valeska waves her hand in front of her face with a disapproving grunt. <"I prefer the lakes of sulfur."> Following the stream means dealing with the pests.

--Colo--

Walking will never be entertaining, but it beats staying still, even if surrounded by clunky plates that don't look anywhere near as fashionable as his usual duds. Colo's at Valeska's side and still...adjusting to his armor. At the very least, it protects him from the wildlife that wants to make a feast of his flesh and blood. "<An -historically- large prank?>" He asks with some skepticism. No pranks have befallen the questioning Corellian just yet, but maybe this'll be his first if he tries well and true.

"<At least it doesn't involve jumping...>" He tut-tuts at Valeska and nods. To say he's paying attention to their surroundings would be a bit of an over-estimate. Moral support he can do. He leaves the bloodhounding to others, for the time being.

--Jax--

Jax wasn't blessed with armor for protection. He remains quiet for the moment listening, his hood pulled up to provide protection from the bugs in some way. He draws in a breath and surveys his surroundings. He's looking for something or someone, which he doesn't share at the moment.

He turns his head at the comments about the lakes of sulfur and prank looking at both Valeska and Colo. It was a fine time for the normally talkative jedi to go mums but he's decided to do that at this particular moment.

--Hadrix--

Moving ahead of the group, practically loping on all fours at times, Hadrix is hunkering at points to look at the ground. Helmet lifting to even taste a the fingertip of his gauntlet after touching something the big man continues on his trek, sending back over comms,

<<"We're following someone who isn't sure of their way and isn't hiding their backtrail.">>

Continuing forward, on a low-walk one might use more to avoid cross fire and artillery shrapnel, <"Jax, Aryn, can either of you do your... Hooboo jooboo on any of this? See if you can see who made the tracks?"> looking over his shoulder, throwing technical terms around.

--Aryn--

Ossus was the sun-blitz'd skeleton of a bygone golden age of Jedi and civilization. What once teemed with life and lush green was transformed to sand, rock, and the harsh climate barely contained within the dying ozone and atmosphere of the planet. This place existed as part of a 'circle of life', the proof of balance in the force, and a testament to the grit of survival. The Force was strong here, and Aryn could feel it abundantly with each step she took.

Others worried about the insects, or the weight of armor, but Aryn experienced another burdensome tale of her own as she listened to a song only few in the galaxy could hear. If the Force could convey emotion, Aryn assumed it would be melancholic. The ancient statues beaten down and damaged from the thousands of years of wind prove it was once more than it was, and through the Force, Aryn knew it to be true.

Bringing up the rear of the group, the short doctor tugged her hood higher up over her blonde head, hiding her eyes from the abuse of flying sand when the winds conjured a strong gust. Her cape was left to favor the direction the wind was blowing, often snapping and flapping. When Hadrix called to her, and her companion Jax, Aryn answered. "There are techniques to see such echoes. I suppose we would just need a frame of reference.." A vague response, but she walked forward to look at what the source of the question was about.

--Valeska--

It is a winding path Hadrix has them on. In fact, one might be curious if the Mandalorian is in his right senses as the group meanders this way and that. Valeska is /fairly/ certain she's seen that tree before but doesn't quite yet want to ask about it out loud. Maybe on the fourth pass she will say something. Instead she offers an incredibly helpful: <"This place is a maze being guarded not by monsters but by tiny little pesks."> One daring little bugger finds a space between her fiberweave and her vambrace. <"Ah! Feck me!"> She slaps at her guard and growls. <"Lola Sayu didn't have the BUGS. Only deadly droids and automatic turrets and drek, yeah?">

This place is a mix of bamboo and craggy rock. Indeed, a testament to how life can rarely be fully squashed out. But there is also a sadness here. A heaivness in the air like that of a hallowed graveyard. Even the predators that lurk in the reeds keep a distance but the ghosts-- the ghosts are here. Hadrix and Colo are following the tracks of one such ghost, finding their evidence in broken twigs and scattered leaves.

Jax and Aryn are staring down one quite literally. For phasing in and out of the bamboo is the vague form of a someone. A memory in the Force of a lifeform passing through here though mostly -- but not entirely -- masked from the Force as a whole.

--Colo--

One vocoder calls to another, but whereas Hadrix is more eliciting of opinions, Colo's crackles with a bit-off comment, half-finished before he can think better of it. "<Their hooboo jooboo? You can't really--."> He shakes his head and leaves it at that, promptly pretending that his communicator's on the fritz judging by the abrupt movement of his gauntleted hand tap-tapping at the side of his helmet. No, some things are best left unsaid around others, and so Colo chooses the past of most discretion. Better to divert his opinions towards other matters, like a laugh at Valeska's plight. <"Need me to get the spray?"> He unseriously offers. It's the crack at her expense that draws his eyes towards Aryn.

At first, it might seem as if he's about to offer a glib observation, but his studious eyes peer past her and towards a set of disrupted stones that he feels compelled to investigate. Within moments, he hoists a pair of rocks--or, rather, two halves of one that have been cut smoothly, cleanly in half. "Definitely not natural," He observes, and pushes them together to form one, unified whole to prove his theory. "What cuts this cleanly?" He quizzes before tossing them casually over his shoulder.

--Jax--

Jax had been looking a different direction as he hears Hadrix and Colo both address the jedi abilities. He still hasn't said much but there is a chuckle at Colo's comment. "Believe as you see fit Colo and never let anyone tell you the odds." He turns to look at the bamboo for a moment, His brow raising in a furrow and he pulls back his hood and looks to Aryn. "You see it too?" He asks quietly.

--Hadrix--

<"I said hooboo jooboo and I meant hooboo jooboo... Sorcery and all that."> motioning to the rock that Colo has pointed out, <"Lightsabers">.

One massive hand goes out to lightly 'tonk tonk' on the other man's shoulder pad before a <"Good work"> is said, following some of the trailcraft that the younger man has pointed out. Scuttling ahead like a bug to keep on the track, <"If we find camp remains I'll get optimistic though.">

Hadrix hunkers down at one point, helmet practically pressed to a bit of broken twigs by a print, head turning to scan along the ground.

--Aryn--

Aryn is submersed in the moment, drawing upon the influence of the Force to coax an echo from the ripples of time. It's a farfetched technique that requires a specific location, item, or disturbance to manifest what possibly could have formed it.

The chatter from the group begins to fade as Aryn stands beside Jax, turning slightly to stare off in the direction he does for a moment, then pack. A shade passes through her perception making her squint and adjust uncomfortably. Gloved hands rise up to pull back her hood before answering the Jedi Knight. "I do," She confirms.

After answering, her perception of time is returned to the present and she looks to the others for an answer. "The sand and rocks here have long lain fallow," She explains. "Something stirs upon this path, disturbing the ground before phasing out, then reappearing further down. I know not if this is something..esoteric, or if we are dealing with someone trained in ways of the Force."

"The vergence in the Force that constitutes Ossus has clouded my vision, I think. Like an unclear comm signal with too much disturbance."

--Valeska--

Following practical survival skills and those guided by the Force, Mandos and the Jedi both square in on the trail unseen by the untrained. Another ten minutes passes and there is another break in the trees: smaller than the one they landed in and this one is in the process of being completely reclaimed. Younger shoots dabble the perimeter, aiming to take back what they collectively feel is theirs. The only thing truly putting up a fight are the large chunks of stone scattered around like buckshot. Akin to the small rock Colo had found a distance away though many of these show signs of char along with their clean breaks. What didn't get washed off by the rain and time paint a violent picture. Some kind of explosion; a great power that sent these bricks flying from a central point and peppering to the ground in a frighteningly wide radius.

<"Just ruins? Is this a dead end?"> As they pass, Val stops to inspect a huge boulder split in half with a distinctive pattern burned into it. <"Huh?"> A fractal pattern marrs the stone, jagged and angry. Valeska traces it curiously with a gloved hand, puzzling over what could make such a mark. <"Weird. Doesn't look like a weapon or any kind of detonation I've ever seen, yeah? Not even a saber."> Val defers to the others around her with a brow furrowing.

--Colo--

There's a heavy sigh that only -just- triggers over Colo's vocoder before he answers both Jax and Hadrix with equal skepticism. <"I do, and I will. At least I don't believe in laser swords, Hadrix. Sorcery's right..."> Further skepticism will have to be held off for later, as at least Hadrix respects his investigative rockism. No craggy piece will be taken for granite while Colo is around. He tries his best to avert his eyes at the elder Mando's, er, scuttling though. The Corellian almost regrets not continuing to look along that direction as Aryn and Jax as they convene in their hoodoo jooboo. Mercifully, any skeptical expression is hidden beyond his helmet, though Valeska might just be able to see it just based on predictive abilities.

He doesn't linger long on that thought, nor on the trail of more strangely-smooth rocks. Rather, he pulls up behind Valeska and keeps close, keeps an eye on her as much as he does the rest of the path in search of...what? The boulder ahead carries some interest. He squints and trots up to it, more to see what Val's talking about than to cast new light on the investigation.

--Jax--

Jax smirks, "The laser swords are the easy part to accept. The other things are harder." The he steps out among the ruins. "These ruins are recent. Well more recent than the disaster that ruined Ossus." Jax says as he moves to step out among them. "The darkside is strong here. Something dark happened here and freshly." The Corellian jedi stands there for a moment, "But there is another here." He turns his head, "Hello there."

--Hadrix--

<"I remember Kylo and Oran doing similar with their hooboo jooboo. Once sorcery comes into play all logic goes out the airlock. It's skepticism until they can confirm it or it can be reasonably denied."> the frown audible in the big man's tone when he approaches the ruins, still partially crouched, on alert.

<"Ben Solo could do... interesting things when he wore Kylo's guise... Saw him do a great many things. Oran as well, to lesser extent."> pausing to look towards Colo, <"You would have likely known of Oran as Malik Ren."> clearing up that little bit, Hadrix moves a few steps further in on the faded trail and is down again like a hound sniffing a trail.

<"If..."> halting and leaning up, taking off after prints that begin marking on HUDs linked to his, <"Fresh tracks."> coming up short when Jax greets someone.

--Aryn--

Aryn grows quick as Jax picks up on the banter from the others, and any other thought she had about the manifestation was stored behind a neutral look. Resuming her spot at the rear of the group, she listened to Colo and Hadrix talk, pondering Ben Solo when Hadrix had mentioned the dark Prince's name.

When they arrive at the ruin site, Aryn separates from the group a bit to study the ruins. Being a scholar first and foremost, she had taken a peculiar interest with anthropology outside of her medical studies with the Arkanians. It's what brought her to the realization that they were standing on, "Graves.. this is a graveyard."

Pulling a glove from her hand, she placed her pale bare palm upon one of the blasted rocks and took in a sharp breath as visions of the recent past conveyed the utter destruction that transpired here. "Pain.. such.. pain. Unimaginable power..." She says aloud, rising back up and pulling her glove back on. Jax calling out to something has her spin in place to look his direction. Instinctively, she trusts her intuition to step closer to the other three in the event there is dark magics at play!

--Valeska--

Valeska is too busy looking at the massive rock that was cracked in half like an egg to offer anything even remotely useful in the search of this place. She runs her hands down one edge, finding it as smooth as glass -- superheated and glossy from whatever devastating hit broke it. Aryn speaks about graves and Valeska blinks before sloooowly going around to thee other side and <".... oh."> Indeed, there is an inscription there. Not all the pieces of ruin have them, but many of those scattered in the perimeter do. <"What--">

"Lightning." The voice comes from ahead of them as a figure reveals themselves from behind what little is left of some large, stone-made structure. The corpse of a building now eroding away.

A man in his mid to late 50's with an equal mix of sandy blonde and silver grey hair that would fall to his shoulders if it wasn't tied back into a low, messy ponytail. Large chunks of that hair still fall over his forehead and into dull blue eyes that gaze at the group warily if perpetually exhausted. Under the bush of beard that hasn't been tended to in at least five months, the man's jaw is tight and lips pressed thin in a resting frown. His clothes are plain: pale green tunic and light beige pants tucked into spacer's boots and a threadbare, taupe robe over it all. There is a belt tucked around his waist just slightly under the small bulge of a belly.

"Are you the reason I was called back here? You curse this scarred place by utteering the Fallen's name, and I curse you for it." He looks over the group with a disapproving sigh that he either cannot control or simply doesn't try. There is a dry quality to his voice like a arrid wind blowing through a desert wasteland. It is possible this man has literally not spoken for a long time. "I don't know any of you and I don't want to. Whatever it is you're after, I can't help you."

--Colo--

There's just a bare hint of a chuckle from Colo at Jax's retort. <"Sure, hard to deny a laser sword,>" He agrees, but doesn't touch the matter further. The rest of the small squad spread out and leave the Corellian to peruse the rocks, with middling success. As his gloved hand strokes over the odd designs evident in the outcropping, he manages to keep an ear out for the rest. <"Mh. Well, I'll try to keep my mind open. Eyes, too. In case of laser swords,"> He promises with laconic interest. Only certain, key words from others will jostle him free of his contented investigation, and one of them spills right free of Aryn's lips. <"A...graveyard?"> He asks, though it's more tremor-filled than he'd intended.

Colo rights his stance in the next moment, ramrod-straight so he can look towards her with a fresh curiosity and more than a little concern hidden beyond his helmet. <"What d'ya mean a--"> He never quite gets to finish his sentence before someone he definitely didn't see before then reveals himself and challenges them all. Colo jumps, because his nerves are already shot, and soon takes a half-body's worth of shelter behind the smoothness of the rock. He might not have learned much from his training just yet, but taking cover? That's instinctual for anyone that's used to avoiding pain.

--Hadrix--

<"If you're cursing me, then there will be others ahead of you. But refusing to speak a name for fear of it only lends it power. Familiarity breeds understanding and diminishes the strength born of mystery."> waxing that rare bit of philosophical, Hadrix stands to full height when facing the aged man.

A step forward, leaning even as if to sniff at the older figure.

<"Tai."> the frown in his voice, looking towards Jax at mention of history, head canting to the side but saying nothing to it, only turning to look back at the older man, <"I could put in to join the Guild after hunting you to this point.">

--Aryn--

Aryn was about to answer Colo when the conversation with the man began to transpire. Aryn, staying near the back, simply lifts her hood again and remains quiet. Her thoughts were tied to the visions she'd seen, so she intended to contemplate those for the time being.

--Valeska--

Valeska's helmet turns to Colo, ready to confirm exactly as Aryn had deduced, but the voice breaking in pulls her completely away. She knows that voice. She has seen him on the holo left behind on Corellia. Played it over a dozen times or more. Even took it back to Dantooine to give to her mother where that message currently rests now. Yet here he is in front of them. <"Tai Jinn.">

The man known as Tai stiffens, eyes narrowed to slits yet he doesn't move from his place. Valeska doesn't approach but goes to remove her helmet so that she can get a good, long look at him. Part of her isn't convinced they actually found him. When her helmet disengages with a hiss of depressurized air, Tai's entire countenance change. From paranoid and standoffish to wide-eyed shock like someone who is seeing a ghost among ghosts. "Kodi!" He takes a desperate step forward before sense aborts any further approach and he staggers back. "No, impossible."

Those dulled blue eyes look to Jax, struggling to make sense of what he's being told. Names... names he knows. "Amber. Kent. Yeah... yeah." He rests a hand to his forehead, turning away from the group to rally himself. Fighting, struggling to find peace that so often eludes him now. Kodachi's name stabs the hardest and he turns back in anger. Not towards Jax.

But to Hadrix. "You know nothing of fear, Mandalorian. Nothing of loss. You come here to torment the poor souls with the name of their murderer. Their betrayer. Their own brother." Brother, brother, brother... Tai steps back from them again, pulling his anger back in and trying to control it.

Valeska takes in a deep breath and sighs. This is the man they are relying on? "Tai Jinn. Where is my brother?"

Brother, brother, brother.

--Colo--

Familiarity takes time to come to Colo. A fuzzy holo holds nothing on someone who's both not expected to be found and looks years older than they did when last 'seen'. Hadrix's name-checking jogs the young Corellian's memory more than anything and that, if nothing, also lures Colo from his hidey-rock. Bravery comes easy when there are others around that seem less afraid. It comes more rapidly still when Valeska dislodges her helmet and braves the intruder herself.

Colo's quick to rush to her side at that point, though he makes certain to keep his hands empty and visible. From there, he's nought to do but stand askew behind Valeska and listen. Tai's bubbling anger serves well to set him on edge, ready to do...something. What that might be hasn't even been arrived at yet, but Colo's prepared if the conversation twists towards what the rocks got.

--Hadrix--

<"They're dead. Their fear is over. They're gone, their torment is done."> one shoulder lifting, <"But don't talk to me about fear and loss. We've all had our bellyful at one point or another."> jerking his head towards Valeska, hands crossing before his belt with his right hand resting on his left vambrace's control panel.

<"See to your daughter who has scoured worlds for you and her brother. See to her whom is my sister. See to her who has thrived in your absence without your wallowing."> head lifting and helmet tilting to arrest jutting his chin out and avoid exposing his neck when he begins to rise on the balls of his feet.

<"Or if you wish you can attempt to silence me and I'll present you alive, if crippled, to your daughter."> a growl on the tail of his words and his muttering hot-mics, <"Di'kutla hut'uun jetii">

--Jax--

Jax holds up his hands, "Deep breaths.. We're not here to do anything but talk. Val wants to meet her brother. If that's possible." He frowns and grimaces as he reaches up and a bit of blood runs down his nose and he wipes it away. He looks like he just got punched by a Wookiee. Points for Colo and his whole this force thing isn't real. All it can do is cause Jax to have nose bleeds.

--Aryn--

Aryn remains silent, not wishing to impede on Jax's attempt at persuading the man to comply with whatever inquiries the party had. When the next gust of wind blows, it moved her cape revealing her hands clasped at the small of her back in a casual demeanor. Her head turns towards those speaking.

--Valeska--

The meaning of this place is as lost on Valeska as it may be for Colo and Hadrix. Though aware of the back and forth Aryn and Jax are having, Valeska's tunnel vision is pinpointed on Tai who is currently leaning against an unstable pillar of stones. "Stop asking, stop asking, please stop asking." Grief weighs heavily on the older man's shoulders, words striking him harder than any blade could.

"He's not my father," Valeska growls, aiming to attack with more words. "He's the one who abandoned my mother and took my brother. She remarried, yeah? To a /good/ man--"

"Jericho. I know," Tai says quietly, staring anywhere but at the group.

"Then you know why I'm--!" It's Valeska's turn to stop short, hazel eyes shifting with surprise towards Jax; a hand to her head and shaking it gently to get the bouncing voice out of her head. "Fine, fine. Drek, that feels weird, Jax, yeah?" Valeska finds Colo's hand and squeezes it, giving him a pensive glance. This doesn't seem to be going well.

Tai closes his eyes and takes in a deep breath, drawing into him the peacefulness that swirls around this place on the breeze. Enough to rally himself enough to pull away from the ruins that have been his sanctuary. "Valeska."

The aged Jedi regards Colo who is acting as the young woman's sentinel and then to Hadrix who is the armor. Then over to Jax, the negotiator and Aryn the respectful observer. From this group, his eyes drift away, centering on a stone that lacks the mos-coverages and wind-burnished look of the others around it. "He's here." Tai swallows hard, unable to approach it. "It's been a little over a year now."

--Jax--

Jax rubs his temples. "You're telling me." He falls silent and rubs his temples. Watching things for the moment.

--Colo--

Colo doesn't intrude. So used to coaxing people out of violence after they've lost at cards or simply seen him flirt with the wrong person, he also knows when not to speak. Jax has the right of it by his perception, and Hadrix too. Colo keeps his trap shut and just...listens. There's more than enough here to learn without rushing to add to the mix himself. He looks to Valeska for guidance here, considering her thoughts and voice on the matter far more important than some old man's, long lost to her. The very moment he sees her hand flash to her head, he twitches in place and lets an audible gasp rush through him before his hand finds hers. <"Val, are you...!"> The question dies the moment she squeezes and looks back to him, but the gambler's back on-edge.

It's fortunate the helmet hides his expression. He stares daggers Tai's way and his whole body language commits to the tension roiling inside him. Ready to rush the old man at a moment's notice, Colo's near-instantly deflated by the admission that they're all seeking. He sags in place, loses the tightness in his muscles save for the hand that lingers in Valeska's own, grips even stronger. His silence, then, speaks to his amazement as much as his look to Val does.

--Hadrix--

Silent again, looming like a thundercloud in ready stance. The glowing red point behind his visor locked on Tai though, flaring momentarily, a balor glow that hints at malice while his posture is a statue dedicated to readiness.

Not even a growl and barely even a stir of breathing he lets things stand as they will for the time being. But there is the ever present tension that radiates out from him. Ready to strike if the need arises, regardless of who the potential foe may be.

--Aryn--

Aryn turns to look when the man indicates the brother was here all along, giving a time frame to his passing. "I see, the pain you referenced. No parent should bear witness to the passing of their progeny." Said solemnly, be it a man teetering to dark or not, she understood the pain in some regard, recalling the death of her own brother at the hand of the man she was bid to marry. "My Lord-Father said such at the passing of my brother."

"My condolences, sir. It seems we are intruding upon the peace he could not find in life." Her guess was simply judging from the destruction and pain she felt in these surroundings.

"What measure of comfort might we offer in honor of the departed?"

--Valeska--

"No."

Shattered. Utterly shattered. Valeska's own wave of grief and confusion immediately coils like a snake and lashes out with pure venom with tears in her eyes. "You lie! You're a liar! All of you are! Doing and saying anything you can to hide everything! Tell me where he is! Where is he?!"

Shards of glass slice at Tai's psyche, suffering the barrage of insults and rage that he feels he deserves. He takes it, eying Hadrix and Colo specifically; sensing that triggering them could possibly give him an escape from the pain, the fight, the struggle. The lament pouring from Valeska pummels him, cracking an already fractured shield around him and breaking it wholly.

Shaking breath, he raises a hand towards Colo specifically and for the briefest of moments, something begins to tighten around him. Feeling or searching. It pinches at the arms, the shoulders, the back--- ah ha. It clasps upon the blaster and is just about to pull when--

It stops. His clenching hand releases and his arm drops limply to his side. His eyes fall now to Aryn who speaks in a voice that smooths over the darkness trying to swallow him whole. "Yes." Barely a breath, a whisper. A heartbroken plea. "Those who killed him; they took his son. I... I can't go after them. I'm not strong enough, I'm not strong enough." Jax and Aryn would understand the strength he lacks is not in his body but in his mind. There are flashes of him hunting those kidnappers, of killing them yet not finding his grandson.

Though they cannot see the visions, the Mandalorian trio are not left in the dark. It is all spealled out in Tai's voice, in his body language, in his face. Valeska, who was about to charge the man in full, is quelled to listen; shaking with a cauldron of emotions she cannot begin to sort out.

"A horrible planet called Hissrich," Tai continues weakly. "Please. He's only a child."

--Colo--

Right. Keep 'em talking. Colo understands that strategy even if Aryn's words do seem more earnest. It takes him a couple of moments of self-calming instincts to realize she -is- being earnest and that almost--almost--lures his eyes back to the strange woman accompanying them and speaking reason to the unreasonable. But then Tai reaches out with that wayward arm. Nothing's in it, but Colo's never trusted empty hands that are as fast as any card sharps around the tables he plays at. That's probably why his body feels tight, why his hand flicking to his blaster feels a subtle movement. Just his own nerves causing it to quake in its holster, right? Right.

Skepticism wins out, but so does caution as he refuses to draw down on the old man before he's given a -real- reason to. Colo reaches out again, this time to keep Valeska's palm near his own and to help hold them both back for the admission that comes. <"Hissrich."> He intones, repeating to commit the place to memory. They've got a lead.

--Jax--

Jax moves to stand with Aryn and the old man. He listens quietly. In a moment the tale of the grandson is mentioned, Jax looks tried and pale. The weight of the galaxy on his shoulders. "What is the boys name, and do you have any holocaptures of him? Able to give us a description?"

--Hadrix--

<"Yes, anything to be able to identify and find him. We'll retrieve her nephew and you can wallow here in your misery... dar'runi."> the viciousness of his tone turning his already growling voice to ice cracking. The finality of his final word, in Mando'a having a derision attached to it as had been there with the word hut'uun.

A hatred for the named, for having been called such.

--Aryn--

Aryn nods her head with understanding, allowing the others of their number to inquire upon the specifics of this son. Growing quiet once more, she turns her attention back toward the direction the old man had indicated his son was all along. Thoughts of her own brother surface and she feels emotions beginning to climb up. She draws in a steady, deep breath and turns her gaze back on the man, wondering what possessions he might have left that could convey the likeness of this missing kin.

--Valeska--

Valeska gives up on pummeling the old man, instead turning fully into Colo and hiding her face on his shoulder. Not crying. No, crying can come later when everything can pile on at once and she can start to process it all. She says something quietly that only picks up on the comms for Colo and Hadrix to hear: "I'm too late."

Instead of seizing a means to his own end, Tai has found a sliver of hope to cling to. Such a thin, fragile thread sharp as a razor. "His name is Mathias. Four years old. Sandy hair, blue eyes, pale skin. You'll know him by the shape of his eyes. Runs in the family." He dares to glance over towards Valeska but only gets a view of her back. Perhaps for the better.

Hadrix speaks with acid and it burns right through to a man who is mostly just trying to keep himself barely on the light side. This might be his last chance to find that foothold. "Our son," he nods towards the grave a few yards away. The last bit of information before Tai withdraws physically and emotionally. "If you find him, take care of him. You're the only family he has left."

He offers a nod of mutual understanding to Aryn, sensing her own reveberating feelings of loss. To Jax he offers: "Give your mother my best." Hadrix is regarded with a cold acceptance, not understanding the term but the meaning behind it not missed in the least. Then there is Colo and Valeska. Tai rubs at his beard, thinks to say something, but then simply stares at the pair a long while before taking a step back and disappearing into the shadows of the ruins.