IC Chapter 2: Lost In Ruins

[Anas]

It has been three days since the four of you left Lianna. While calculating the hyperspace route to Ossus, Xann encountered difficulties because there was no fresh data on the Holonet. To work around the inconvenience Xann employed a puddle jumping method to nearby systems in the Belderone sector before safely making the jump to the Auril sector and finally to Ossus.

Despite the lengthy travel time, you have arrived safely above the ancient jungle world. Several large continents cover the planet's surface along with two equally large oceans. Preliminary scans show numerous ruins and you also see overwhelming life form readings, though nothing specific as to their nature. Of particular note is complex located high in what the computer calls the Eocho Mountains. There is nothing else in that area for hundreds of kilometers except open jungle. You ultimately decide that the remote facility is likely the best place to start, and Xann brings The Legacy in for a closer look.

As you fly through thick clouds over the dense rain forests you can make out hundreds of brightly colored birds and other flying creatures inhabiting the canopy, but anything further down is obscured by the trees. It is not long before you make a pass over the ruined complex. All of the buildings have been charred black by fire and overgrown with vegetation. Numerous squat buildings surrounding the complex have mostly been crushed beyond usability, however a few remain standing. Larger structures within the perimeter have been reduced to their foundations, and there is no telling what they might once have looked like. In the center of it all is an enormous ziggurat, or what is left of one, and immediately next to it is a smaller pyramid. Both temples have part of a large transparisteel cube on their peaks, and from the general angles of the breaks it would seem that the smaller pyramid at one time rested inverted upon the larger, separated by the cube. Because the side of the ziggurat shared with the smaller pyramid has been crushed and all of the debris has gathered between the two, it would be safe to assume that the inverted pyramid fell in the destruction of the complex and caused the damage to the ziggurat.

A few towering trees protrude from the remains of the transparisteel cube on the ziggurat, and as you fly around the temple you notice that the northeast side has also been destroyed and has caved in. Xann makes a second pass around the complex, looking for a suitable place to land, and he notices a tram line that seems to have survived the devastation. Following it leads to a fairly large hangar set into a nearby cliff face. The bay doors are open, and it looks to be in good condition, if not somewhat of a mess. Deciding it is probably the only suitable landing spot, Xann brings the ship in and sets her down.

[dabocim]

Je'Koth begins muttering to himself as he sees the ziggurat. "It could be here. Soon I will finish what we started."

[IG44]

Xann turns off the ship's engines and grabs his rifle from its resting place against the console next to him. Though they seem friendly, and do not appear to be too dangerous, he does not trust them very much. The fact that there has been no talk of monetary compensation also troubles Xann. Caught up in the bustle on Lianna he had completely forgotten to bring it up. After readying himself he takes a gander outside at the rather large building in the distance, and lets out a sigh. "I suppose they're going to want my assistance, and it's better than sitting with the ship and waiting I suppose."

[embo33]

Glad to be able to get off the ship and away from her cranky companions, Glas Aon runs off the ship, and makes her way through the clutter to the main hangar door where a gnarled tree has begun to grow across one corner of the opening. Deftly grabbing some vines, she swings herself onto the trunk and scrambles upwards a few meters for a better vantage point to observe the landscape.

[dabocim]

Je'Koth walks down the entrance ramp, and follows Glas Aon to the hangar entrance where he gazes at the broken temple in the distance.

[IG44]

Xaan comes down the ramp, stopping short of Je'Koth, and places his hand on his shoulder. "Well, I hope that whatever you're looking for is here, because if I do say so myself it doesn't seem very logical to give you another bout of safe passage without a little compinsation." Xaan smiles at Je'Koth and walks past him, makeing sure that his weapon is properly loaded.

[dabocim]

Je' Koth says, "You'll be compinsated eventually, because when we go in that temple I bet something will try and kill us and then your compinsation will be your life. However, if you manage to survive I will pay you in due time, don't worry friend." and then he begins walking into the jungle.

[IG44]

Xaan smiled at his passanger, looking up into the tree to see the female climbing. "Anything interesting in your sight? I daresay if we meet resistance I would much rather not be ambushed at all."

[embo33]

Glas Aon says with a sly grin, "This is an oh so populated planet and I am sure they are about to ambush you and only you. However, in some company it is best to watch your back at all times, even with out suspicions of an ambush. Now in all seriousness, the only thing I saw was the empty tram line." She then hangs upside down in the tree, expecting the two sith to break out into an argument.

[dabocim]

Je' Koth says, "Xann come over here I think I found something. It looks as if somebody was here a long time ago. It looks as if they were running away from the temple."

[IG44]

Xaan looks down at Je'Koth, and frowns a little at the sudden interests at past civilization. "I'm sure that whatever these people were running from is either dead or has fled this planet do to lack of food." Xaan crouches next to Je'Koth to examine the area around the young passanger.

[dabocim]

"You are assuming that what ever it is was alive." says Je' Koth distantly, "I think that this may have been the explorer that found this crystal." He pulls a small crystal out of his pocket that seems to pulse and glow in the dim light, he continues, "In the temple over there, and in that temple may be what I seek."

[Anas]

Ool'yn walks down The Legacy's entrance ramp with an air of pompous entitlement. Looking around at the disheveled hangar bay he grunts with disgust. "Je'Koth, since you seem to have taken the initiative here, have you figured out how to get from this mountainside to the ruins? I think that might be more valuable information than anything the long-settled dust can tell you."

Ool'yn takes a few steps out into the hangar casually taking in his surroundings and memorizing the layout. You can never be too prepared.

[dabocim]

"There seems to be a trail here we can follow." Je' Koth says with increasing contempt.

[Anas]

"Yes, well, appearances are all well and good, but where does it lead? You certainly are taking your time." Catching sight of Glas Aon hanging from the tree at the hangar entrance, Ool'yn exclaims, "Get down from there girl! If we lose this carefree galoot," indicating Xann with a disrespectful wave of his hand, "who will keep the ship in working order?" Turning back to Je'Koth, Ool'yn says, "Check the stairs over there," pointing to a stairwell descending into the south wall. "Perhaps there is an airspeeder in a side hangar that we could use."

[IG44]

Xann stiffens a little, carefree galoot? He inhales and exhales deeply, closing his eyes so as to try and not to get ruffled by this alien's baffling comments. "I daresay Ool'yn, if there is any air of doubt on your side on my ability to act as an astute captain, feel free to say so. But judging by your actions on that last dusty rock we left behind since I've known you, stealth and subtlety aren't exactly your stengths, which seems to me far more important to appearing cautious rather than carefree when it comes to us... what did you say? Galoots?" Xann keeps his back to Ool'yn, staring at the temple. "And although it seems like it would be so much fun to stand here and argue over who's more incompetent, I think it would be much less counter productive if we were to go and search the surrounding buildings, and that tram line. We wouldn't want to meet up with any unpleasant surprises along our journey, now would we?" Xann puts his hands behind his back and makes his way to the edge of the hangar entrance, smiling slightly at Glas as he moves past her tree.

[Anas]

"I have neither the time, nor the desire to argue with you, Cerean, but I do agree. We must get moving," Ool'yn growls.

[IG44]

Xann grins to himself, "Indeed," he says. His grin wavers a bit. "Well then, if you agree with me that we have no time to chit-chat, then perhaps you would like to lead the way to that tram line." Xann turns almost completely around, and keeps his left hand behind his back, while he extends his right arm towards the trail, inviteing Ool'yn to go in front of him. "By all means." He raises an eyebrow.

[embo33]

Glas Aon lingers in the tree for a moment longer before jumping out of the tree. She then says, "The tram line seems intact, and I could not see the tram itself anywhere along the line. To me it seems like it would be worth while to search here for it, since it could save us a long trek. If its not here, we have only lost a couple minutes."

[IG44]

Xaan smiles at Glas, "Why, what a lovely idea Ms.Aon. might I recommend that I take Je'Koth and search that end of our little Hanger." Xaan points to the west side of the hanger, and wiggles his finger up and down while he talks. "And that Ool'yn and yourself search that end of it?" Xaan points his other finger towards the opposite side of the hanger, both fingers wiggleing up and down in a fashion that created a miniature wave on either side of him.

[dabocim]

"That sounds like a good idea Xann if we split up we can double effectiveness." says Je' Koth

[embo33]

Glas aon glares at Xaan and says, "Call me Ms. Aon again and I will make sure you regret it." She then starts to head in the direction that Xaan had indicated.

[Anas]

Ool'yn walks with Glas to the northeastern corner of the hangar, keeping silent, but noting every detail. Most of the dust covered crates are full of power cables and other supplies. Wrenches, hydrospanners, and other tools litter the ground near workbenches with long abandoned repair projects lying unfinished on top of them. Of particular interest in their little section of the hangar, the pair finds an access panel to the serviceways beneath the hangar.

"Most likely we'll find power relays and piping down there," Ool'yn says casually, uninterested. "So tell me, young lady, how did you meet Je'Koth? You two are a curious pair, indeed."

On the other side of the hangar Je'Koth and Xann find much the same as the other two. Descending the stairwell, they come to find themselves in the side hangar meant for the tram. Luckily, the single-car tram is docked and appears to be in working condition. However, none of the switches on the control console appear to work, so any attempts to open the doors, let alone start the tram, are met with failure. The computer will not even turn on, and neither will the lights. It would appear that the facility has no power.

[dabocim]

"Xann, I think there should be some way to get power to this tram line. I'll bet Glas Aon would have some sort of idea how to restore the power to this facility." says Je' Koth. He then walks back to where they started so he can ask her about the power.

[dabocim]

As Je' Koth gets back to where they started he absent mindedly wonders if the new comer Xann could have gotten the power back.

[IG44]

Xaan ignores the Zabrak that leaves him. Looking around at his surroundings, he sees a panel on the wall that is slightly as-cue. He hurry's over to it and rips the panel from the wall. Seeing the jumble of wires that are now hanging out in the open, he curses slightly under his breath. Reaching out, he fiddles with the wires and circuits for a few minuets until there's a lard pop and a small jolt of static shocks the tips of his fingers. He curses again loudly and jumps back, but his annoyed glare quickly becomes triumphit as the sound of the station powering up sounds behind him, and cold electronic light flickered into life above.

[dabocim]

As Je' Koth is heading to find Glas Aon he notices the lights turning on around him he thinks to himself, well I guess that cerean might actually be good for some thing. He turns around to go see if the tram can work now that it has power. When he reaches the terminal he says, " Good job Xann." he walks in to the tram and notices the terminal seems to be damaged. He yells out the door, " Hey Xann come see if this tram will still work even with this damaged panel while I go get the others." He jumps out of the tram and walks to the other side of the station and says, "Glas Aon, Oo'lyn come on we are almost ready to get moving."

[IG44]

Xaan sighs and gives a slight grin as he passes Je'Koth. He runs to the front of the train and looks around for anywhere that a panel could be hideing the wires he needed. Seeing them by the controls of the tram, he quickly dashes over to it and prys it open very carefully. Now inside, he pulls a few wires out of the wall and begins to try to hotwire the tram.

[Anas]

As Xann is working on the tram, the lights begin to flicker, and a low whine fills the air as the hangar's power dies again. Ool'yn harumphs with disapproval as he and Glas walk down the stairs into the tram's sub-hangar.

"I'm sorry, but it doesn't appear that we'll be going anywhere anytime soon. Now, if you're quite done, I noticed some maintenence access panels in the floor on the other side of the main hangar. Why don't we go take a look? My guess is that the main power relay is somewhere in the bowels of this place, and no amount of jury rigging from up here seems to be helping."

[dabocim]

"Alright sounds like a plan." says Je' Koth sounding disappointed, " well good try Xann but there's probably just a short circuit down there that needs some repairing."

[IG44]

Xann lets the cables fall back to the wall, and lets a deep breath flow through his nostriles. "Fine... well just have to go that way and hope it works out. This old train isn't worth a damn anyway." He gives the train one last distastefull look and steps out of the door past Je'Koth. Stuffing his hands in the pockets on his cloak, he leads the way over to the maintenence panels on the other side of the hanger.

[dabocim]

Je' Koth runs after Xann shouting, "Wait up!" He starts walking next to him and says, "Do you think the tram is repairable, or should I start searching for another way around to the temple." He continues walking and scans the mountain side for a way across. He spots a patch were there aren't many trees and says, " If we can't repair the tram we'll just have to try to go through the forest to those trees up there."

[IG44]

Xaan nods curtly. "True. But first we should check out those maintenance panels over here, they might just lead the way we need to go." Xaan passes in front of his ship, running his fingers along the smooth surface, wishing they could have landed closer. He reaches the maintenance panels and tears off the cover. To his immediate dismay, there's an even larger jumble of wires here than there was back in the tram. He sighs deeply, and gets to work on the fray of wires.

[dabocim]

"That sounds like something you should check out Xann I'll go down below and check to see if there are any locals that need to be cleared out before we can start repairs." Je' Koth says he jogs over to the stairs and begins to descend them he looks around and decides to pull out is light saber just in case there are any critters amongst the wires and cables.

[dabocim]

Je' Koth walks down the stairs into the under belly of the station and begins looking around. He looks around and sees cables sparking every where from where they had been broken and now fraying. He walks down across the platform with his light saber in hand he jumps over a cable housing and continues walking. He climbs down a ladder he sees. As he is climbing he sees a sparking cable swinging towards the metal ladder. He begins to slide down the ladder so to avoid being shocked. He is nearly at the bottom when the cable hits and sends a small shock into his body. He falls off the ladder and lands on his back. He stands up and remarks dryly, "Well since I'm still conscious I'm assuming that their is very low power to this station." He sees the cable swinging back towards him. He activates his saber and cuts the cable making too short to cause any damage. He walks to the ladder and shouts, "Xann I think I may have found why we couldn't get the power back for very long!"

[IG44]

Xaan hears Je'koth yelling at him and runs down the stairs to go and meet him. Hearing him yell about figuring it out, he sees the cable swinging over his head, still red hot from the saber, and the other half on the floor just a few feet away. "With our luck you've just sliced the cable that we need to make the power insure us its company." He says to Je'Koth, and pats him on the shoulder as he passes him. "But we wont see 'till be venture forward, now will we?" Xaan grabs hold of the ladder's rungs and begins to hall himself up onto the level that lingers above them.

[dabocim]

"Xann, wait the cable was already damaged I was simply stating that many of these cables have been destroyed down here, And I don't think saving just one would have helped." Says Je' Koth. he continues impatiently, "but there is a hub over there where all the cables originate from." he points behind the ladder "Maybe we can get some cables working."

[IG44]

Xaan Whips around and runs at je'koth and back hands him "BITCH!!" Then xaan turns to run but is stopped by an army of 30 jawas, maybe more. He looks the first one in the eye, who lights his tortch, and speaks with determination. "Oh it's on."

[dabocim]

Je' Koth gets up and runs past Xann back handing him in return. While rushing past Xann, Je' Koth whips his lightsaber out and slashes through the torsos of two jawas. After slicing the two jawas he turns to Xann and says, "You're right BITCH, it is on"

[IG44]

Xaan looks up at je'koth with the furry of a thousand suns, and says, "Oh no you did not just start this shit up!" Springing to his feet, and breifly runs past je'koth. Then, placeing one foot on the smokeing Karcas of a jawa and leaps backwards towards je'koth. Pulling out his blaster, xaan shoots 4 jawas simaltaniously, then spins in midair and delivers the back-hand of the century to je'koths right cheek. "WHAT NOW BITCH!!!!" He yells in triumph, landing on the ground as je'koth slams into a wall 30 yards back, sending cracks up it.

[dabocim]

Je' Koth pulls his head out of the wall unfazed, And throws his Sabre at the jawa swarm decapitating 4 and piercing 4 others through the heart. While his sabre is at work he flies towards Xaan and delivers the back hand of the millennium to his left cheek sending him down through 8 floors of solid durasteel.

[IG44]

Xaan pulls himself up out of the cracked floor and throws his ruined shirt asid, revealing a stunning 6 pack. Then, he thrusts a thermal detenator streight up through the holes made by his nemisis's backhand of power. He starts leaping through the giant ship sized holes, just then the detenator explodes, sending 11 flameing jawas spiraling into the air. Walls start explodeing all around him. Je'koth looks at the detanators blast as xaan flies through the blast, hand drawn back. Xaan's Back hand of awesomeness lands on the very tip of je'koth's nose. The power of the back hand sending je'koth hurtling back into an awefully convinient line of exacly 5 jawas, knocking their heads clean off and lodging je'koth into a t-rex sized crate of dangerous exploseives.

[dabocim]

As the pile of explosives, unsurprisingly, explodes Je' Koth throws his sabre at the ground in front of the cowering Jawas. The result is a devestating earthquake that sends 20 jawas off the cliff. Then je' koth Flew at Xaan and back handed him so hard that he'll only feel it in about two weeks. Xaan flew backwards and slammed into 5 jawas sending them to their doom. Je' Koth then pulls out an imperial repeater and fires a charged shot at the jawas vaporizing 7 Jawas.

[IG44]

Xaan regains control mid flight and swings his feet toward the incomeing wall. A hurying jawa runs infront of the wall just as xaan reaches it. Xaans feet make contact with the jawas torso, the jawa explodes in a shower of blood and xaans feet make contact with the wall, cracking the whole wall. Then xaan launches off the wall into the air, destroying the entire side of the building with his take off. As he luaunches directly over je'koth, he pauses for a split second in mid air, then sticks out his hand and starts spinning in a torrent of awesomeness, propelled downwards. As the backhand tornado lands on je'koth's left cheek, a sonioc wave as result of the back hand errupts from je'koths cheek, instantaneously vaporizing 62 of the surrounding jawas. The force of the impact sends je'koth streight out at a weird angle and through several walls, only breaking the speed of his fleight slightly when he plows into an unaware jawa, leaveing only bloody brown boots behind.