Log:Jedi: The Red Hoods
The Arisnar mission continues
OOC Date: June 5 2023
Location: Arisnar
Participants: L'orera, Qutha Buvu Pah, Zev, Yuun and Rey as GM
Just a few minutes later, the Jedi stands face to face with the Red Hooded figures, some of them have spread out to investigate the fallen Blood Beetle corpses, Juria amongst them, taking samples from the remains.
The leader of the crimson hooded figures stands before Rey and the other Jedi. "We have had long standing agreements, specifically asking your people not to delve in to the cavern systems of our world." The male voice says from behind his armored face-mask. His covered eyes look over the Jedi, the two red hooded figures flanking him remaining motionless and silent.
"Who are you?" Rey asks, making it simple and straight forward.
"We are a detachment of the Royal Guard of the Empress. These caverns are under our watch." The man says back, his voice imposing, but not overly aggressive in the moment. A warm wind rushes through the cavern coming from where the Jedi had first arrived from. "There are grave dangers down here, for your people." The Red Hooded man adds.
Somehow, L'orera managed to not get eaten by giant bugs. To not fall or get lost in the dark of the cave. So far, so good. She holds her chemlight up, peering through the darkness, the green glow giving her green skin an eerie cast.
Still not enough to stop her from jumping and gasping as the masked figures appear.
She takes a handful of steps back, moving to lurk behind the, well, Actual Jedi in the face of these unknowns. Unknowns who identify themselves as working for the Sith Empress. Rera bites her lip and stays silent in the background. She lacks the authority and likely the skill to deal with these.
"So's... the dragon that came down yonder falls un'ner yer jurisdiction then?" No 'tone', accusation or otherwise, is in his voice when he speaks up. Focusing on his touch with the force to keep his sense of vision attuned to these caverns and to let his instincts reach out to be guided by The Force as it sees fit to do. "Y'all got any sort'a reckonin' on where it might-could be goin'?" mouth pulling into a frown.
Qutha remains where he stands, hands folded in the sleeves of his robes with his lightsaber held between them in a fit of caution now, looking from one hooded figure to the next, "We came t'Arisnar 'cause it seems a number've Sideos, eggs an' young is wakin' up... We came, t'h'ep..." looking to the assumed leader now, "S'only reason we's even in these caves right now."
The fight had been won, but they'd only had a moment before new figures had appeared. He had stepped back and moved into a defensive stance, his saber still humming as he keeps his stance. These guys aren't attacking outright, so he doesn't want to immediately assume they're hostile.
When it is determined that they're hot hostile, the saber goes away, but he looks back to Qutha for a second, before chiming in after him, "They've been tearing up equipment. We're not trying to hurt them or anything." He hopes they'll be able to understand the reasoning. Plus he hadn't heard anything about the caverns being off limits, even if the reason makes sense.
The two hooded men with Juria continue to mill about in the far corner of the cavern where one of the bugs had been thrown in to the cavern wall by a gust of manipulated Force energies. The hooded figures seem to be answering some of Juria's questions regarding the nature of the giant bugs themselves.
Rey spares a glance in that direction, before her face looks back to the three hooded men speaking directly to them. She glances toward those with her, and then looks back to nod once toward them, her face half illuminated in the light of the glow stick that Juria had passed her.
"We know of the restrictions, but these creatures have been getting closer and closer to our school on the coastline. We fear for the safety of our younglings, and had to investigate this. Years prior, when we first setup here, a handful of creatures similar to these attacked the school outright. We fought them off then, but now they seem... larger, and more aggressive. They breathe fire now too, no less... It would seem things are escalating, thus we have a even greater duty to investigate this threat to our people. We're not here to push borders."
The hooded leader stares without expression on his masked face, though he does spare a glance from Rey to the others who spoke. "The Sideosnarian hatchlings are rapidly aging out of their earliest stages of life. They're discovering who they are, and what they're capable of. We're here to ensure they do not grow beyond these regions, that they do not spread out past them... We--" He cuts himself off then as he looks to the darkness behind the Jedi, and stares deeply in to it. After a second he raises his free hand and motions for everyone. "Get down! Crouch!" He orders his people, and likely the Jedi too.
Rey seems surprised by this, but does as the red hooded figures do, and starts to lower down.
Out of the darkness behind the Jedi, a rushing sensation can be felt as another gust of wind rolls across the cavern, and overhead the thrusting of air down upon the heads of the Jedi can be felt across the corridor of rock and dust. A massive Sideosnarian rushes by above the figures in the dark, flying at a tremendous rate deeper down in to the tunnels, releasing a loud roaring shout as it passes over the group meeting in the dark...
Rera listens. She's at least good at that. It'd be easier if she could read facial expressions, but body language and tone are going to have to do. As the hooded figure explains the situation, the Padawan keeps her expression neutral.
At least until he shouts.
Without thinking, she drops prone to the ground, covering her head with her hands like it's some kind of air raid drill. Which it kind of is. She at least manages not to yelp in terror.
"Bother."
Hunkered in the wake of the Sideo's passing, the rush of air in its wake and the dust raining down from the sound of its bellows, the Zelosiaan considers current options. Head shaking, frowning and resigned to just keeping quiet now regarding the hooded figures, Qutha keeps himself situated now with a hand resting on the ground for balance, at least momentarily, before he simply sits. Cross legged, his hands resting in his lap, with his attention in the present and future at the same time. Eyes on the leader of the hooded figures but unfocused at the same time.
He isn't quite set where he is - more poised but 'comfortable' while he waits now. Head canted to one side as if listening for another to come in the wake of this most recent.
The lepi's ears go straight upright the moment their guide warns them to get down, doing so and getting down, pulling his cloak up over himself to make sure that he's fully concealed as the creature soars past. He continues to hold his position, remaining concealed. Even after it has passed, he isn't sure if it might not be alone. They have encountered these things in pairs before, after all. Better be safe until the locals that know this better when it's safe.
Yuun has been keeping back a little bit, his eyes on their surroundings and the hooded figures. The Jedi Knight was keeping the appearance of calm, his ears pricked as the conversation continued. Taking in each red hooded individual and the entrances and exits, he looks to Rey for a moment as she speaks with the leader.
Hearing the call out to get down, trained and many missions and experiences, Yuun doesn't hesitate at all. Dropping down quickly, Yuun keeps his wits about him as he does, trying to track those around him.
The massive beast disappears deeper in to the cavernous tunnel with only the distant sound of its shouting bellows echoing off the rocky walls around the group left in their crouched state. Rey had dropped down to the floor of the cavern, with her metal hand clutch one of the rocks in front of her for support as she looked up to see the tail of the creature vanishing in to the dark...
The sounds of pebbles settling in the dusty tunnel quietly make-up the after-effects, as the red hooded men start to rise back up to their feet, and Rey stands up in mirroring of their actions.
"We're only after answers, and the safety of our people." She tells the three hooded figures before their group.
The men themselves clutch their swords, each sword still glowing with a bright hue to their edges, much like a lightsaber, but only the edges of the blades clearly energized while the rest of their swords remaing a glossy obsidian hue.
The crimson hoods confer with one another, speaking in an unknown language. One of them seems to be getting progressively more agitated at what is being discussed, but eventually he falls silent and steps back again.
The Leader looks once more Rey, to Qutha, and then nods once. "In the name of Empress Adrastea, you are permitted to follow us. It is in your benefit to see what we're doing here." He declares before he starts to turn, stopping half way, he motions to his group, and the other crimson hooded figures start to trek deeper in to the tunnel, joined by their others members now as well.
Rey spares a glance to her companions, conferring without words. She turns then to follow the crimson hooded figures, her hands at her sides as she speaks again. "These creatures, are they actively hostile with you?"
"We are doing everything in our power to make sure they are not... with mixed results." The Crimson Hooded commander speaks back as he starts to lead the group in to the dark...
What comes next is an hour of walking, an hour of exploring the darkness of these caverns, with multiple branching tunnels being found at intersections, some heading upward back toward the planet's surface, while others seem to only delve deeper downward, the downward direction being where the Jedi are lead.
The fact that these five are from the Sith Empire worries Rera. A lot. What if this is just a ploy? What if there's a Sith Lord down in these dark depths? That they came here to lie in wait for Jedi so they can be captured and turned or killed?
It's a bit of a stressor.
Still, she follows silently, not trusting herself to say anything during the long, dark walk into the despths of what could just be a void. She'd almost rather be on Nar Shaddaa.
The fact that these five are from the Sith Empire worries Rera. A lot. What if this is just a ploy? What if there's a Sith Lord down in these dark depths? That they came here to lie in wait for Jedi so they can be captured and turned or killed?
It's a bit of a stressor.
Still, she follows silently, not trusting herself to say anything during the long, dark walk into the despths of what could just be a void. She'd almost rather be on Nar Shaddaa.
"So pleased t'see y'us... s'been s'long. Where y'been since I's been gone."
He's been singing under his breath for much of the hour, tempos matching to his bootsteps - but if there's method to it he hasn't spoken such aloud, but the pattern has been at the end of each he has allowed ten paces before beginning a new one. Mid-Rim and outer rim sorts of tunes, work songs or the sort one hears in a podunk, nowhere town tavern at the end of a work day. Though he does allow for one question, amidst the musical odometer, "So's... Wharcher been tryin' t'keep them from gittin' hostile witcher?"
"What were all them words we used t'shout."
His saber still rests in one hand, the energy blade retracted, his eyes unfocused and his movements more instinct than anything with the manner that he moves over or around potential obstacles with a dreamy sort of pace in Qutha's movements.
"I am, the Great Des-pi-i-ser. I hold m'self, besi-i-ide her... I's of'n hope f'fi-i-ire... I am... The Great... Despiser."
Zev doesn't know the song Qutha is singing, but he doesn't think he'd be singing in a situation like this. Still, it's not a bad song. The lepi walks along, keeping an eye on the red hooded figures, "What kinds of things have you done to try to keep them from being hostile?" He wonders, as he looks at one of them, "I mean we tried talking with them and got fire spit at us for our effort. So I'm just kinda curious what you've managed."
Upon seeing movement, Yuun slowly starts to get up, making sure to check around them again from where he is, the Battlemaster eyes the Empresses people, seeing their weapons and analyzing where they are to them, Yuun doesn't move to take his weapon in hand. He looks up to Rey and he gives a nod of his head back to her.
He too wasn't liking this himself, his senses attuned to the force and his eyes scanning to make sure there are no other members of the Empress here. You can only be so cautious he tells himself.
Throughout the trek through the dark tunnel, Rey listens to what the others ask of the Red Hooded guards, the guards themselves walk in a line with the leader back closest to the Jedi contingent. He looks back over his shoulder at them as they speak. "We're raising them." He responds about what steps they're taking. "We're trying to get them accustomed to our species, to trust us, to know that we're not their enemies, and not to fear us." He explains.
Rey sees the worry in the faces of her companions, even if those faces are lit rather poorly by just the dim light of the glow sticks that had been passed around.
"These men are with the Arisnar Empire. They serve the Empress and Emperor." Rey explains softly, her voice echoing quietly around the cavern as they move. "The Empress, Adrastea, gave us permission to setup the Skywalker Academy on the coastline seventeen years ago. It was with Leia's aid, knowing these people, that gave us an in with their Empress. Leia, and the New Republic, aided these people shortly after the Battle of Yavin."
The Leader of the Royal Guard had been listening, and spoke up as well. "That's right." He says. "The New Republic came to our aid when we needed it most. The Sideosnarians attacked from their homeworld... with a technology we couldn't counter at the time. It was the leaders of your people, good leaders such as Leia Organa, that we were able to push back that infiltration force from forever overwhelming Arisnar, and decimating our culture. They came for their young, who have been awaiting their eggs to hatch within these tunnels for a thousand years."
The group reaches a series of smaller tunnels that the Royal Guardsmen lead them down in to, now much more claustrophgobic within tunnels barely large enough to accommodate the travelers.
"You chose a hectic time to establish a school here, but your Princess Leia was very adamant that this was the right place for it... I'm not so sure she was right." The Leader of the Guard spoke finally before the group turns down one more cavern tunnel which has a clear opening at its end, that the entirety of the Royal Guards are spreading out in to.
Rey glances around at the others, and holds her glowstick up to shine as much of the light as she can for everyone to step carefully through the rough terrain of the tunnels they're traversing through, up to the very end of what seems to lie ahead, an open chamber of some variety.
When they pass through it, they'll be inside another massive chamber, this one lined with light sources that send columns of white light up and down, across back and forth through the cavernous tunnel... and all across its floors and walls are giant ridged eggs, thousands upon thousands of them stretching in every direction within the massive space of rock and stone.
The Mirialan, oddly, doesn't seem too disturbed as the tunnels get narrower. The enclosed space doesn't bother her at all. The benefits of basement living. The history lesson is filed away. Taken in, processed and tucked into the back of her mind for further examination later.
Now is for the massive chamber. Golden eyes widen as she takes it in. All of the eggs. So many. Legions.
"By...by the Force..."
"Raisin' 'em... likely gonna make they's parental groups as tetchy as not lett'm git in t'git to they's chillun's." the zelosian muses, lips pulling into a line, curious more than worried as the information is relayed. "Wouldn'nit make better sense t'try'n git in contact with the rest've'm an' see about negotiatin' gittin' they's littl'uns to 'em, without the big hubbub?"
No irony in Qutha's tone, he wasn't very familiar with all of the relations between Arisnar and the Sideos. Quieting some as he looks upon all of the eggs that are threatening to hatch soon.
"Mos' folk, whether its in good intention'r not... They's gonna see raisin' they's youngin's akin' t'kidnappin' em. But ifn' a peace accord kin be met, by showin' 'em y'er happy t'give they's kids to em, safe'n sound... Might-could solve some'a thems problems. Curren' an' future."
How deep this place goes, Zev couldn't even have begun to guess. As they step into the cavernous chamber, his eyes scan up and over across everything. His face lights up into a big smile, "This is so cool."
He'd never seen anything like this in his life, wishing he'd brought a way to capture an image of this.
The walk does help him as they move, and as the conversation starts and information about the Emperor and Empress. Yuun shakes his head as all of this starts to come out in the open. He spent most of his training with Ax and Jax and hadn't heard much on this. Yuun shakes his head a little.
He looks to the others and then out around them as they descend deeper into the cavern, his own eyes widen as they continue, "If you're trying to show them that we're not bad, or you're not bad, maybe we can assist in this, if possible." he says as he looks at their leader, then to Rey. As they come into the egg chamber, Yuun's mouth drops, a smile creeping on his face, as this is fascinating as he turns around and looks around at what he see.
The Royal Guard, and the Jedi, end up on a rocky balcony poised on the edge of the massive tunnel's wall. The dragon eggs line the tunnel itself on all sides of the balcony, with this point offering a rather breathtaking vantage to view the unhatched eggs. Those columns of light that come from portal light systems brought in, doubtlessly by the Guardsmen, provide the ambient illumination needed to view the literal fields of unhatched eggs that dominate this underground space.
The Guards spread out around the balcony, some viewing the eggs, others looking to the Jedi as though they've seen this sight many times before. The Leader of the Guards stands just to the left side as the Jedi stride in on to the balcony viewing area. He looks once out to the tunnel, then back to the Jedi. "You're assuming that the Sideosnarian people are willing to talk. Are willing to listen. Are willing to even see a delegation of our people without re-igniting the war." He pauses for dramatic effect, his masked face hiding his physical features entirely. "They're not." He dryly ends that thought.
Rey looks to the Guard Commander before back out at the tunnel, she steps to the edge of the rocky natural balcony to look out over the tunnel that visibly stretches onward for miles, with the lights showcasing that it is just endless eggs, endless unhatched Sideosnarian dragonkin. She gently shakes her head as the implication of what these all hatching would mean for this world, for their Academy. She looks back to the Guard Commander then.
"As Yuun said." Rey starts, motioning to the Lightsaber Master. "We'll help. Our people... the Jedi, we have training to speak to creatures not of our own species. We can link our minds, our thoughts, to creatures such as this. We did it back at the moisture machine where we first encountered the two in the field near our school. If allowed, if permitted... we could help you. We could offer the ability to speak and learn from the Sideo who have already hatched, and perhaps they could foster in the next who wake with a new perspective on our people, on your people... to end conflict before it could break out."
The Guard Commander doesn't respond to this immediately, he instead just seems to mull it over, as do the others with his red hooded contingent who share looks between one another and their Leader. "The Sideosnarians..." The Guard Commander starts. "They're not ... capable of 'kindness' as we might understand it. They are as savage a creature as you can possibly find in this galaxy."
Clearly they remain unconvinced that the Jedi can help.
This is staggering. It's gone from comfortably enclosed to staggeringly massive in an instant. Rera takes a step backwards, almost seeming like she has vertigo. She probably does, honestly.
They can communicate with them. It's been done. To what end, it's hard to say. Still, it's worth a shot. It's better to try and fail than to not try and perpetuate the cycle of violence.
"Th' mos' common words of minds unwillin' t'make attempts. Ain' matter ifn' its the first, fifth, seventieth, or thousandth..." Qutha's frown is audible, even if the shadows of the cavern obscure his features. "Even ifn' the attempt fails again, they's must always be the attempt. Otherwise darkness wins over. Even ifn' peace cain't be attained... it needs t'be tried for."
Gaze out upon the eggs in their endless marching, a breath lifts wayward curls of hair over his brow, back down over his eyes and another sends them up again in a useless cycle before he finally reaches up to swipe the locks out of his eyes. "So's, as Miss Rey says, use us, n'our abilities. We's kin communicates wit'em... we kin act as ambassadors of a kind. Ain' Arisnarian, ain' Sideos... But we's has vested inn'erest in both, reckon."
The zelosian nods and the hand without anything held smooths down over his tunic and brushes a bit of clinging dirt from his thigh, "We're agents of peace... n'if we fail... we kin at least says we made the attempt."
"If that really does turn out to be the case, then we'll protect our people." Zev says, as he listens to the explanation from the guard, "But you have to at least be willing to explore all the options before."
They're at least trying to convince these people that it can be done. It seems like they're always trying to convince people they can help these days.
The Jedi continue to plead their case as possible sources for help, and as they do so a series of small avian lifeforms fly in front of one of the distant spotlights, ten or twelve of them fluttering their wings as they sweep through the 'sky' of the tunnel chasm. As they progressively get closer to the balcony where the Jedi and Royal Guardians stand in conversation, it becomes clearer that they are some kind of cave-bats.
"The light of the Jedi has been out for many decades." Rey says, glancing to Rera as Yuun asks her of her status. She looks again then to the hosts who have shown them here, and told them of this situation. "We are striving to return that light, to help in causes just of this nature. We're here to help, and ask that you let us try."
The Guard Commander is silent for another handful of moments before he lifts his sword up, over his shoulder where he sheaths it down behind his back. "You don't need to convince me." He tells them all. "You need to convince the Empress. I'll see to it she knows that you're aware of all of this, I'll tell her you're interested in a possible way of helping. I cannot promise she'll allow it, however, as this situation is our problem, and it is not something we care to share with outsiders of our star system."
The other Royal Guardians begin to sheath their weapons as well, before one at the far right speaks up. "Incoming. Step back!" He orders, as the rest of his group does just so, stepping back off the balcony's edge toward the cover of the rocky wall beside the balcony's entrance.
Rey looks back to the extensive tunnel, seeing only a shadow before it is rushing across the space in front of the balcony area. It is another of the hatched' Sideosnarian dragons. It rushes through the air, it's body passing through the columns of light that wash over it showing off its tanned scaly form, the massive creature's wings beating hard as it flies past where the balcony resides. It's mouth opens up, as it scoops the cave-bats up out of the air, swallowing every last one of them like they were morsils of food just waiting to be consumed!
A rush of wind washes once more over the Jedi as the Sideosnarian passes by, heading between the spotlights as it continues its flying trek through the huge chasm tunnel system.
The Royal Guard commander speaks up a few moments later. "Come with us, Jedi... We will see you returned to the surface." He states in a calm voice, his visor watching after the Dragonkin that flew by, but he turns them to the Jedi, then back to the small tunnel where he strides back in to the shadowy confines.
Yuun looks to the Commander of the Empress Guards, he listens to him and as he speaks and he looks back out at the massive egg cavern. Yuun closes his eyes as he feels the presence of the dragonkin, and he braces against the force it brings with it as it flies through. He watches the massive creature as it moves through the cavern and how it attacks as it eats the cavern bats. Upon hearing Qutha, he agrees but doesn't speak at all, he looks to Rey then to Rera and Zev. He looks back over to Rey, and the COmmander and he nods his head.
The Jedi are lead through the dark caverns for another hour until they come to find themselves in another large chamber. This chamber, however, is filled with a underground lake and multiple falling walls of water that spill down in to it. Surrounding the lake's rocky short is a smooth rock floor with multiple starfighter-looking vessels parked upon it. Each ship has a second seat inside its cockpit, and each one is offered to the Jedi to ride along with a member of the Royal Guard. The individual ships take flight, but are soon splashing down in to the underground lake itself.
The Jedi are there-by taken on an underwater journey through flooded caverns, twisting and turning through different pathways until they emerge out in to the ocean itself. Underwater sea-life floats around the ships that dart through the dark waters until they burst out through the surface and come up toward the coastline, where they are soon to land to release the Jedi back on to the Stardust Coastline.
It is nightfall by the time the Jedi arrive, and the Skywalker Academy rests just a half mile to the south, visibly peaceful in the calm starry night.
"We will deliver your message to the Empress in Amaranthine City." The Guard Commander states from his starfighter cockpit. "We will send you word on what she decides, Jedi. Should the Sideos return, contact us directly." He says before his canopy seals shut and one by one the ships jump back in to the sky, one by one crashing back down in to the ocean where they disappear beneath the waves.
