Indiana Jones and the Sith Stone
Posted by: Darth Danno 02.13.08 12:01am

After much deliberation, and numerous attempts to get TC-10 back on track, it was determined that there were three primary spots of interest: The Jedi enclave, the ancient ruins that held the star map, and the crystal cave. There were also two secondary locations that were possible places to search; the grounds of Ahlan Matale and Nurik Sandral, two wealthy landowners who had an ongoing feud that spanned decades. The dispute at the time had to do with Mr. Matale accusing Mr. Sandral of kidnapping his son, Shen. The lands held interest because two of the four Mandalorian parties were found near each of their estates.

Indy decided that Zam should land the ship near the enclave; they would then head out from there to examine the surrounding area, and work their way back to the Jedi base. He thought that the deserted home of the Jedi was either the last place Malek would think of hiding anything...or the first.

Zam proceeded to bring the craft down to the planet's surface. The grassy slopes on the horizon became clearer as their altitude decreased. She brought the ship in low and fast, skimming so close to the ground that one could almost reach down and touch the grasslands beneath them. As they approached the landing pad, Zam suddenly pulled the Nubian up and away from the enclave.

"What's going on?" Indy queried.

"Somebody's already here," Zam replied. "There's a ship on the pad, could be pirates or scavengers. Best if we stay out of their way until we determine it's absolutely necessary that we need to engage them."

"I thought you could handle whatever came our way," Indy joked.

Zam found no humor in his remark and snapped back, "I'm not about to face off with anyone until I know exactly how many there are, what we're dealing with, and how much firepower they're packing. I was hired for security, not a suicide mission."

"What kind of a craft was it?" TC-10 asked. "Many pirates use specific types of craft and if I knew what kind of vessel it was, I may be..."

"This is not open to discussion!" Zam commanded. "We'll come back to the enclave if, and only if, all other options are exhausted. Even then, I'll have to do some serious recon to know what we're up against before we venture in there. I don't want to earn my fee post mortem."

TC-10 wasn't taking the hint. "Did you at least notice any markings on the craft? Perhaps any specific markings would help us shed..."

Zam turned in her seat and glared at the droid. "Unless you want me to open the back hatch and drop you out so you can examine the craft more closely, I suggest you go back, prepare for landing, and SHUT UP!"

TC-10 simply nodded, turned, and exited the cockpit. Zam then turned her attention to Indy. "Where to now?"

"Dr. Jones looked out at the expansive landscape that zipped past the front view ports. "Wherever it's safe to land, I guess."

Zam angled the ship in the direction of the ancient ruins. It was as good of a place to start as any, and she wanted to get as far away from the Jedi outpost as possible. She wasn't about to let on that she did indeed get a good look at the craft on the pad and recognized its markings all too well. It was a Republic ship, and considering it was sitting on the landing pad of a former Jedi base, she didn't have to think too long about who was really down there, and in her mind, they were much worse than pirates.

Jedi Master Tenuto was a human male with a sunny disposition and was well liked by all who knew him. His knowledge of the Force, the Jedi, and the Sith, not to mention his extensive studies into the history of the Republic, rivaled even those of Jocasta Nu, the chief librarian and archivist of the Jedi Temple. He was an expert with a lightsaber, trained directly under the guidance of Cin Drallig, the Jedi Temple's lightsaber combat instructor. Master Tenuto was considered Master Drallig's second in command, and also his field operative. When Master Drallig, also known as "Troll", wanted to test a Padawan or Padawan's skill away from the temple, to see how they handled themselves in somewhat of a less controlled environment, he sent Master Tenuto along with them to oversee things, and monitor their progress. This excursion to Dantooine was one such outing.

Four Padawans had accompanied him; a human male, a human female, a Zabrak, and a Bothan. The four were divided into two teams of two. Each had been given a different colored banner that they were to hide somewhere within a designated area. Each team's mission was to locate the opposing teams banner, and return it to Master Tenuto. Now each team had the choice of having both teammates out looking for the banner, thus doubling their chances for success, but by doing this, it also left their own banner unguarded, and open to capture. Or they could have one member out searching, and the other stay behind to protect their prize. The lightsabers they carried were for training purposes only, and weren't capable of inflicting any serious damage. The two teams had moved away from their master, out in opposite directions across the terrain, searching for a good place to conceal their banner. Each team had a comlink, and would let him know when they had hidden their flag, and were ready to begin the exercise. Once both teams reported in, Master Tenuto would give the signal to begin. He had just given the ok when he heard the engines of the approaching ship. He turned and watched the craft veer away from the enclave, and head off with great haste in another direction. The Force alerted him that there was more going on here than met the eye, and he thought it best to find out what was going on. He clicked on his comlink, and informed the two teams to abandon the exercise, and return to his location immediately. Without question they obeyed.

Zam landed on a flat plain not far from the Rakata ruins. The four exited the ship, Indy carrying the few pieces of digging equipment they brought along, as all Zam was willing to carry was her long rifle with the high powered scope. Trying their best to stay out of the paths of nearby Kath hounds, they made their way across the grassland until they reached the site of the ruins, and discovered the trek was for naught. The ruins, or what was left of them, were nothing more that a flattened pile of rubble, and from the looks of it, things had been this way for quite some time.

"Perhaps Malek destroyed the ruins at the same time he razed the Jedi enclave." TC-10 commented.

Indy shrugged, "whenever it happened, it doesn't look like we're getting in there any time soon."

"Look at the bright side," Zam said, "If we can't get in there, it's a good bet whatever we're looking for isn't in there either."

Indy couldn't disagree with that logic, so they decided to move on to the crystal cave, which turned out to be in pretty much the same shape as the ruins. Though it wasn't apparent weather this destruction was caused by man or nature, either way, it was another location they could check off their list.

Next they headed to the Sandral estate, which was in much better condition, and in fact, was still inhabited. The same was to be said of the Matale grounds. They didn't know if the properties were occupied by actual descendents of the feuding families, not like it made any difference either way.

"Well," Zam asked, "Should we go in? I'm sure the current owners wouldn't mind if we looked around a bit, and even if they did, I'm sure I could persuade them to rethink..."

"I don't think this...Malek, would hide whatever it is we're supposed to find here, in a place that anyone could accidentally come across it. I feel these two locales are too high traffic for his purposes. I say we take our chances at the Jedi enclave."

Zam got very defensive. "How can you be so sure we'd even find anything there? I don't want to risk my neck taking on a bunch of cutthroat pirates over a simple hunch." She then turned to TC-10. "You! Why don't you prove your worth on this excursion, and come up with a viable next place to look on this miserable rock."

"Well, Master Jones does seem to have come up with the next most likely place to search. Perhaps if I knew exactly what it was we were supposed to loc..."

Suddenly, Zam had an idea. "Wait a minute! There were four groups of Mandalorian raiders down here at that time, right? One was by the Matales, another was near the Sandrals, where were the other two?"

The droid had to think a moment. "Let me see, oh yes, there was a third group by the grove, and the fourth was..."

Indy interrupted her. "Grove? What grove?"

"That's where Revan, working with the Jedi, first encountered the fallen Cathar Jedi Juhani. She went there after striking down her master. Revan was able to bring her back to the light, and she even went so far as to accompany him on the quest for the Star Forge."

Indy smiled, a former home to a fallen Jedi, what better place to find a clue. "I think it's time we visited this grove."

As the four headed off, Master Tenuto and his students watched them from atop a far ridge with the help of a set of electrobinoculars. He had tracked their progress from the time they had approached the Sandral estate. Everything he saw gave him more and more questions, and he wasn't sure how to go about getting the answers.

"Where are they going now?" the Zabrac questioned

"Who do you think they are?" the Bothan queried.

"Something about this doesn't feel right, Master." The human male commented.

"What should we do?" The human female added.

"Students, students, please!" Master Tenuto implored. "I understand we all have questions, none more than myself. I believe the oddly dressed human is being held against his will. I also recognize the lavender clad individual as a bounty hunter, and if she is indeed the one I'm thinking of, quite a dangerous one at that. I want you four to return to the ship and await my instructions."

The Padawans all voiced their displeasure at his command, but Master Tenuto quickly silenced their objections. "Listen, if it came down to where I had to engage this bounty hunter, unfortunately you wouldn't or couldn't be of much help. Your lightsabers aren't able to inflict much damage, and your current skill level is no match for a bounty hunter of her caliber. You would be more of a hindrance than help. I couldn't afford to divide my attention between her capture and your safety. Now I want you to return to the enclave and wait for me there. Any further disobedience will be reported directly to your individual masters upon our return to Coruscant."

The Padawans continued to grumble, but headed slowly back the way they had come, back toward their ship still sitting on the landing pad. Master Tenuto turned his attention once again to the four, whose shapes were getting smaller and smaller as they made their way into the distance. He still had no idea what his next course of action was to be, but he had faith that the Force would guide him appropriately, and some opportunity would present itself in time. With great speed and stealth, he rose and followed after the mysterious foursome...

Darth Danno