Hunt for the Fallen - Praadost II

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Aeaolen Kicka

Just a simple man.
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Commander Tan stood with his hands folded behind his back, he observed the endless blackness of space and sighed. “Captain.” A soft voice spoke behind him. He turned and saw a young female Lieutenant. “You must be new around here.” His eyes showed no emotion, it wasn’t if the Duros had eyebrows. “Lieutenant Britjess Hazlege of Coruscant, Captain.” The woman spoke softly and the Commander nodded. “We have made contact and they are friendly to the New Republic. We are approved to land.” The Lieutenant informed the Captain regarding their approval to land on Praadost II. Commander Tan had be selected by the New Republic to assist the New Jedi Order in tracking down the “Fallen” either Jedi who went into hiding or those who had fallen to the Dark Side due to Order 66.

Commander Tan looked to his side and a Zabrak stood beside him, his facial tattoos and spiked head were odd to even the Duros but Ril didn’t really care. “Master Remus—I mean Master Strax.” Tan looked to the Jedi Padawan who had survived the Great Jedi Purge and had assumed the “Imperialized” name of Evander Remus but his actual name was Aeksei Strax, a Zabrak who had served as a Jedi warrior and then become one of the dozen Zabraks in service to the fighting Iridonian mercenary companies. He did not want anyone to know who he was but now with the New Republic and becoming a member of the New Jedi Order he was proud to be a Jedi again.

His connection with the force was weakened due to his attempts to hide it and mask it from prying eyes of the Galactic Empire. “It is okay Commander Tan; I’ve had to get use to it too.” The Jedi placed a hand on the Duros’ shoulder and he felt a sense of calm. “There is a Jedi here. I can sense it.” Strax stated. Strax was a powerful sensory Jedi, he was a young Padawan with much skill prior to Order 66 and now, despite the distance of the Force, he remained intertwined with the Force like a long lost lover. “We will find him. Please, let’s make planetfall.” Strax nodded at the Commander. The Commander nodded and motioned for the Lieutenant to bring Strax to the landing area.

Commander Tan was joining the expedition down on the planet. Praadost II was a heavily forested planet that technically belonged to the Galactic Empire but the Empire was unlikely to be present at all. Initial scans show that the Empire had vacated the Praadost System shortly at the destruction of the Death Star II. Commander Tan had stopped prior to arriving in the hanger to depart to the surface and notified the political attachment from the New Republic that they were potentially going to make contact with peoples and that they should dispatch more ships and scout vessels. Representatives from the Ministry of Galactic Affairs were all but obliged to be needed.

As the shuttle departed from the Liberator Commander Tan viewed out one of the windows several smaller scouting vessels, reconnaissance droids, departing from the two Sphyrna-class corvette's assigned to Commander Tan's task force.

OOC: As a note Aeksei Strax is a future character of mine; I'm doing some set-up RP for him so that he can be written in the very near future.
 
"Alright everyone, buckle up; we're gonna try and make a landing." Korvas said as as the Ghinn Rast began to descend through the atmosphere of Praadost II. On the payroll of a certain Hutt to try and 'convince' a Jedi to avoid any potential governmental ties and come to work for someone who would actually appreciate their talents, the crew had piggybacked on some intercepted communications - courtesy of Eighter - that there was supposedly a Jedi in hiding somewhere on this planet.

"I don't like the sound of 'try'," Korvas's sister, Thena, said.

"The whole planet is basically a forest, and we're trying to hide, so we can't exactly get clearance for a landing pad." Myn the co-pilot explained as she flipped a few switches and typed instructions into a console by her seat. The easy part had already been done; emerging from Hyperspace on the far side of the planet from the New Republic and entering the atmosphere there. The harder part was staying low enough in the atmosphere to avoid being detected from the ships in space while staying high enough to avoid being scanned by anyone on the ground, but the hardest part was definitely actually getting the ship safely landed among the trees.

"Ikon shurrr-dahk." Tej said as he gripped the straps on his seat.

"You do, you're cleaning it up." Thena said as the whole ship began to shake as the tops of trees were clipped.

"Barrel roll in three-" Korvas began, but was cut off when Myn pulled the control stick and the ship spiraled prematurely before doing a very sharp crescent in the air to kill their momentum and dove under the tree line before hitting the ground soft enough so as to not damage the ship but hard enough for Eighter's braces to snap and send the droid bouncing down the corridor, beeping indignantly.

"Countdowns are wastes of time." Myn said after she got her breath back; the sudden shock against her safety harness knocking the wind out of her.
 
Aeksei took a deep breath of air when they landed on the landing dock and Aeksei had stepped off the Sheathipede-class transport shuttle which had been apart of the complement of shuttles located on the Liberator. Aeksei sighed as he searched the force for the presence of the Jedi, it was faint but it was there. Aeksei eyed Commander Tan and nodded in the direction of cadre of officials coming towards them. Aeksei had prepared himself for battle, this was an Imperial world at the end of the day and one of the officials walking towards them bore a light grey uniform that was reminiscent of the Imperial Army. Behind Aeksei was several rebel troopers, he could sense a rise in tensions within the troopers and he folded his hands in front of him, his right hand faintly touching his lightsaber.

Commander Ril Tan, Senatorial Representative Nola Valen, a female Mon Calamari bowed deeply as the all-human cadre of officials approached them. "Welcome to Praadost II!" The frontrunner said to the Mon Calamari official who had stood at the forefront of the group. Commander Tan beside Aeksei, Rebel Troopers behind them, alebeit dressed up in their traditional blue shirt, black vest, white helmet, a diplomatic delegation. "Thank you. I am Senatorial Representative Nola Valen of the New Republic Senate." The Mon Calamari spoke softly, there was something almost soothing about her accent thought Aeksei. "Please let us not stand in the starport, please come this way with us!" The frontrunner motioned for them to follow. Commander Tan, the Senatorial Representative and her own cadre followed, the Rebel Troopers did as well. Commander Tan fell to the back of the pack and looked inquisitively at Aeksei.

"Go ahead Commander. I'm going to investigate more." Aeksei gave a soft smile to Commander Tan. "He's wearing an Imperial Army uniform you know...I'm all too familiar with them." Aeksei offered the intelligence to the commander. "Yeah...I realized that. Please keep your communicator open." Commander Tan responded. "I don't sense anything but desire for peace from him." Aeksei winked at the commander as the commander offered a smile and caught up the delegation. Aeksei was finally alone and he could focus, he turned and boarded the shuttle again, the pilots nodded at him and he sat in the middle of the floor, dropping cross legged and began to meditate.
 
Chi hadn't said a word the entire journey. Not to Strax, not to Tan, not to Valeb, not to anyone on the ship. Everything around her was still foreign to her, the Jedi, the New Republic, even just being away from her homeworld of Terminus. It had only been two months since Grandmaster Skywalker had taken her from her monastic life in that poor Pantoran ghetto. Now she was a Jedi, one who had barely managed to master lifting a simple pebble with the force, she hadn't even created her lightsaber yet. Chi had only been brought on this mission to broaden her very limited knowledge of the galaxy and to train her in the ways Jedi served the New Republic.

The shuttle down had been interesting. Chi had scrutinized the other passengers in silence. The two aliens made her uncomfortable, she had never seen a Mon Calamari before, and the Duros who were regulars around the Pantoran ghetto were known for their rowdiness, avarice, and dubiousness. She didn't trust either of them, but she tried to ignore her prejudices. Chi recognized the soldiers' uniforms from an old Imperial propaganda film discussing the Alderaanian insurgents and the reason for their planet's 'pacification'.

Chi watched silently as the New Republic delegation made its introduction to the Prassdost delegation. She noticed the apprehension of the soldiers, and even the jedi, from seeing the Imperial style uniform. When you spent most of your life keeping to yourself, and avoiding direct contact, it wasn't hard to be observant over your surroundings. When Strax returned to the shuttle, Chi followed him, knowing she had come to learn from him. Slowly she sat down behind him, avoiding eye contact, and easily phased into meditation, having vast experience with pray as part of the Pius Dea faith.
 
Praadost II, a jungle world not unlike that of Yavin IV and Kashyyyk. At least it would seem familiar, he thought. Tib sat grimly at the controls of his very own HWK-290, dubbed the Nightingale. She was an older model, but had been modified by the previous owner with a smuggling compartment and actual weapons for defense—namely a Dymek heavy quad-laser turret dorsal side and dual-laser turret ventrally. Between gloved fingers sat burning a sweet-smelling smoke that he and Chuundakka had cultivated in the forests of Kashyyyk. Rolled tightly with dried wroshyr leaves, it was something of a non-addictive mild relaxant. T’balan was still quite fresh to interstellar travel, though he spent at least a year running from the authorities as a child, and such required something to quell the nerves and vertigo that accompanied such predicaments. The Kiffar raised the rolled smokable to his lips, took a hefty drag and held it in his lung for several seconds before letting the smoke roll from his nostrils and into the open air of the cockpit.

A sigh of contentment escaped his lips, feeling the slight head-rush from the herb. Eyes narrowed on the blue swirling abyss of hyperspace. It was easy to get lost in the majesty and splendor of space, at least for one so unaccustomed to its sights. Grandmaster Skywalker had organized a mission to recover survivors of the Great Purge—of which he was one. His mother had not been so fortunate, however. Tib thought of her often, tried to remind himself of what she had been trying to teach him as a young boy. But it was more Chuundakka’s influence that guided him now. It had only been a few months since his departure from Kashyyyk on this grand adventure called ‘becoming a Jeedaii’, but he missed his foster father terribly. For two solid decades, Chuundakka had been the only company T’balan had---and the only real friend.

But soon enough his reverie was interrupted by the chirping of the navicomputer, altering him that they had indeed reached their destination just behind the rest of the vessels bound from Yavin on this mission of peace. Being a skilled investigator and hunter, T’balan had been assigned to the Praadost misson primarily for his skills. He hadn’t spoken much to any of the other Jeedaii, outside of his interviews with the Grandmaster. And besides, he was a man of action, rather than words. The blue swirling vortex of hyperspace began to give way to the big black void, the Nightingale lurched and shuddered upon its return to real-space. And before him was the planet Praaadost II. He noted a sensor blip on the far side of the planet, but thought little of it. Placing the Wroshyr smoke between his lips to puff, T’balan took the ship down into the atmosphere behind the New Republic shuttles that had departed their mothership and set her down on an adjacent pad.

He stood, patted his person for all the effects he wished to take with him—his sidearm, commlink and lightsaber, and departed the ship. The others were already well ahead of him. His face solemn, lips shut tight around his joint behind the several-day-old dark scruff that adorned his face. Impossible dreadlocks tied behind his head, almost where a top-knot would rest. The Iridonian he had seen around the Praxeum, but the Pantoran, Duros and Mon Calamari were new faces to him, though he wasn’t certain he could tell one Duros or Mon Cal from another. They were all small compared to him, though just about every species other than Wookiees were small when juxtaposed with T’balan. Most concerning, of course, was the presence of what appeared to be an Imperial officer. Tib clenched his jaw and fist tight reflexively before catching himself. What was it the Grandmaster had kept harping on about? Being mindful? That, right. “—come let us not stand in the starport,” came the words from the Praadastian delegate the moment he caught up with the group. The Republic troopers filtered to the back, prompting Tib to tower past them and shadow his fellow Jeedaii. Even now, he had trouble breaking his Shryiwook pronunciations of certain words in Basic. The others went back to the shuttle, presumably to meditate. Deciding to join his compatriots for a change, Tib followed them to the shuttle, sure to ditch his joint before stepping inside. Group meditation was far from desirable, though he knew it to be a necessary part of being a Jeedaii. Tib grunted quietly as he sat with the others, experiencing difficulty folding himself inside such a cramped space. And with a discontented sigh, the Furless Wook tried to empty his mind and commune.

His thoughts were loud, too loud for him to focus. The Empire, or what was left of it anyway, was still present here. The same Empire that killed his mother and enslaved his “brother-wooks”. If this was a mission in the name of peace, Tib was suddenly quite unsure about his own presence here. He was a hunter. A warrior. But a skilled investigator nonetheless. Be calm he urged himself silently. Feel the Force. Reach out. he willed inside of his mind. And soon enough he felt the timelessness of the abyss begin to wash over him, engulf him. Envelop them all. It was a struggle for Tib to not conceal his thoughts from the others, and an even greater one to actually commune with them in that state.
 
Aeksei opened his eyes to the newcomer, a fellow Jedi. He had seen him around the Yavin IV training grounds and Aeaolen was entirely sure that he was a Kiffar by his facial tatoos; something near and dear to the Zabraks as a species and a culture. It almost made Aeksei like the man more. Aeksei knew that he was raised on Kashyyyk by wookies, or at least that was the rumor that had been passed around. Aeksei couldn't care less truthfully, he cared that he was a fellow Jedi and a fellow Jedi warrior at that. Aeksei, who had been somewhat adept at sensing things realized that they had been meditating for several minutes and he stood up, welcoming himself back to the world.

Aeksei motioned for the unarmed Pantoran to follow him as he stood up and neared the ramp to exit the shuttle that had brought them down. "Stay with me...I think that we might not want you to be without a weapon in event things turn...conflicted." Aeksei winked at the Pantoran woman. She was an oddity to him truthfully, he knew she had some cult or monastic order background and that was the extent of it. Aeksei was selected as the Jedi liaison with Commander Ril Tan and he became familiar with the officers, soldiers and single other Jedi assigned to the mission...the newcomer was indeed welcomed as any more firepower was essential to the success of mission of conflict arose.

"I think we have a sizable group here...I think we can venture off." Aeksei stepped off the shuttle. Something troubled him about the Imperial, or what appeared to be an Imperial official or officer attached to the group. Thousands of Galactic Empire officials, Imperial military officers had been granted amnesty underneath the program run by the New Republic but to brazenly wear an Imperial uniform still...that was peculiar. Aeksei knew that something was incredibly off about the middle aged Imperial, but he couldn't quite place the Force on it. Aeksei had brushed his robes off, they were made of basic cloth, a cream colored simple pants, brown boots, and a dark colored robe covered him. It was something of a traditional Jedi garb but it provided him the freedom of what he needed to do. "I have a feeling that we should actually all stick together and join the rest of the delegation in that meeting...something about that Imperial makes me both uneasy and as if there is something about him that I can't place my hand on..." Aeksei turned his eyes to the Kiffar. "Kiffar--" Aeksei paused. "What is your name? It escapes me." Aeksei spoke in a somewhat confident, staunch tone.

[mention]Chi Tenro[/mention] [mention]Sanjuro[/mention]
 
When Aleksei had complete his meditation, so had Tenro. If there was one thing that had been beaten into her, sometimes literally, it was to follow the lead of her authority. She followed him off the shuttle, and kept her eyes to her feet. The man had made her uncomfortable when he had winked at her, she had not had direct contact like that often, and her social anxiety made it that much worse.When the Kiffar wasn't looking, she stole a glance of the Kiffar. Tenro only recognized him as non-human by Aleksei mentioning such. The curious tattoo did intrigue her, but she returned to her normal gaze at the ground.

As the two talked, Tenro stood silently behind, not making a sound or moving a centimeter. Instead she focused her attention on Aleksei's lightsaber. She had seen other Jedi have them, even use them. So far she had only done basic training with a wooden stick, she hadn't created her own, and only used one once before. Tenro had never had any weapons training in her past, the few militant members of her cult were human, they didn't trust rimkin with weapons. In total honesty, the thought of harming others apprehended Tenro, but she knew it was vital to becoming a Jedi, and for all she knew, that was all she could become.

As her stare drifted from the Jedi's weapon, she thought about what really interested her in the Jedi Order. Learning the tenets of the force, becoming one with something far greater, being a full part of a spiritual order, things she could never be as a member of the Pius Dea cult. Tenro hoped to heal and help those in need or invalid, something that felt integral to her life. But first, she had to endure her first ever mission.
 
“T’balan Kas,” he boomed in a pleasant baritone in response to the Iridonian. Tib smoothed out the long overcoat draped over his broad frame. Far from traditional Jeedaii garb, but it was practical. “I believe you are called Strax.” It wasn’t a question in the least. “And I believe you to be correct; so long as there is an Imperial presence here, we can expect treachery.” Tib noted the Pantoran’s total lack of weaponry, and considered offering his sidearm to her, but thought better of it, as the weapon had a hair-trigger, and the secondary-fire-mode switch had been filed down a bit to allow for ease of switching between modes. It was a weapon for someone who knew how to handle it, not just anyone, professional sharpshooter or not.

Although he did have his bowcaster slung around his torso. A quick flourish, and it was un-slung from him and offered up to the small Pantoran, barrel pointed at the ground. “Always use two hands,” he added. “She kicks like an angry Bantha.” Walking into the unknown without being prepared was foolishness in his eyes. Being prepared was perhaps tantamount only seconded by patience. T’balan’s thoughts drifted, slightly, toward the meeting being held between the delegates. Tib knew all too well the power of words. Even the slightest escalation could lead to an all-out blaster fight in the middle of the conference room.

Such scenes were grisly enough without having to add psychometry into the mix. But, T’balan was never one to pass up a good mystery. And he was more than happy to allow Strax the lead. He might have been a good investigator and fighter, but he was no leader. He turned his gaze back to the Pantoran. “I expect her back by the end of this,” T’balan added. Like most all of his possessions, that bowcaster had a special significance; he and Chuundakka had built it. It was T’balan’s first caster, and it had survived many seasons of the hunt with superior reliability.

But they had conversed enough by now—more than enough and time was wasting away as they stood with their mouths agape on the starport. The building beyond that held the conference sat before them, ripe for entry for their prying ears. But what answers awaited the many burning questions running through the novice investigator’s keen mind? Only the Force knew, and only time would tell.