In Search of Pilon Dopler

[Adar Bolner]

PICKING UP ON AN UNKNOWN SIGNAL... A FRAGMENT OF A DECREPTED COMMUNICATION... CALCULATING ORIGIN... BRYX SECTOR, ANZAT SYSTEM. RECEPIENT... UNKNOWN.
COMMENSING DECODING PROCESS...

"...And so it shall be done my master. Everyone is eagerly waiting for your arrival. Our progress on... , and the final piece is being accembled right now."
"Perfect. All that effort is going to pay off, and the Jedi are non the wiser. Soon, we... and our revenge shall be complete."
"I must tell you, my master, that ordinarily we would not have made it in time. It initially seemed like an impossible task, but everything changed thanks to that man. He must be a gift from the Force, nay, the Dark side itself."
"Hmm? And who that might be?"
"Pilon Dopler."

PROCESS COMPLETE. TRANSMITION FRAGMENT DECODED SUCCESSFULLY. SENDING COPY TO [REDACTED], ALLIANCE INTELLIGENCE, DUE TO MENTION(S) OF "Dark Side", "Force", "revenge", "Jedi".

------------------A week later------------------

A transport ship was moving through hyperspace. Its destination was the planet Anzat, a planet not often visited by outsiders, mostly due to the inhospitality of its inhabitants, the Anzati. But something sinister was happening there. The Galactic Alliance informed the Jedi Coalition of an intercepted communication originating in the Anzat system. From what they could infer, some dark cult had a presence there, and were planning something big. It wasn't the first time non sith groups of dark sided force users tried to cause mayhem. Normally, this issue would have been dealt with in a few weeks, but something peaked the Council's interest. A name. "Pilon Dopler". An old Jedi Padawan, that was lost during a battle against the Empire. Everyone assumed that he was Killed In Action, but since they lost contact with him, his fate remained uncertain. Until now. This was either him, or someone impersonating as him. The possibility of this Padawan being alive and having fallen to the dark side was too great for the Council to ignore. Rogue or Fallen Jedi were nothing new, but they were still under the responsibility of the Coalition, whether they liked that or not.

And so, a team was assembled. Not many Jedi were available, so alongside with them a few squadrons of Antarian Rangers were sent. Adar Bolner, a young Jedi Padawan, was one of the available Jedi. From the moment he boarded the ship, he could be seen meditating in his quarters. This was highly unusual of him. Not that he did not meditate during the quiet moments of hyperspace, but he would spend time with the crew, especially if they were Rangers. Something was clearly wrong here, and his friend and Ranger Kilt Vindon had taken notice. He approached Adar clamly, and Adar, sensing his approach, exited meditation.

"How can I help you Kilt?" he said in a calm, stoic voice.
"I believe I am the one who should help you. You haven't left your room at all since we boarded. What's gotten into your mind?"
Adar let out a small laugh. "You are always so perceptive, even though you are not attuned to the Force. That is incredible."
Kilt got a bit angry and defensive "Well you Jedi don't have the monopoly on being a good person, or a good friend!"
"Hey, no worries. Just messing with ya." he paused, his mood shifting towards anxiety. "I am worried. A Jedi padawan, falling to the Dark side? Why? What happened to him? And if it could happen to him, could it happen to me?"
Kilt put a hand over Adar's shoulder. "Wow, take it easy buddy. If something happens, we'll be there with you. And everyone else is gone, I'll be here. You can hold be up to that."
Adar took a moment to feel that. His words, his tone of voice. They were truly genuine. He then remembered that he wasn't alone. Sure, the Force was his ally, but so were his companions and friends. He would not fall to the dark side. Not as long as he had them by his side. "Thank you." Kilt smiled, and then saluted Adar. That was his way of saying "you're welcome friend."

After that heartfelt moment, the two of them went to the main area of the ship, to socialize with the others while they were still on their way towards their destination. They all knew that once they arrived, they would need to focus on their mission. Adar hopped things would go smoothly, but the Force urged caution. And cautious he would be.

[Varn Badaash]

Anzat, Mid Rim, Alliance Space.

Red leaves danced in the cool breeze that flowed through the valley as the morning sun crest the mountains. It made for a very enchanting experience in combination with the light mist that blanketed the landscape. The valley was alive with small animals going about their daily routines of hunting and scavenging yet some avoided a particular spot in the valley, a long forgotten structure. The locals didn’t frequent this area much, a small town on the far side of the mountain was the only sign of civilization for miles, a perfect place for a handful of renegade force users to congregate.

Varn had managed to slip past the orbital stations using his old bounty hunter codes and landed on one of the lower peaks around the valley in question. Three days, that’s how long he’d been sitting tight, watching, observing. When the Coalition had received word about the darksiders, Captain Badaash was on assignment close by and was requested to scout and await for a Jedi led team to arrive. He’d done so, living quietly within his Pursuer class starship. He’d hiked the entire valley at this point, identified the temple and gotten a rough estimate on the numbers likely taking residence in the old temple.

“Good morning Ranger Captain,” the metallic voice of the Dashade’s robotic companion spoke as he exited his quarters. “If my calculations are correct then the Jedi led team should be arriving this evening.”

“Good, did the Seeker drone spot anything through the night?” Varn replied as he pulled some military rations from the small kitchen aboard his vessel.

“Nothing out of the usual. Some coming and going but nothing that would tell us exactly what is happening inside.”

“Alright, then we wait, the Jedi can’t get here soon enough.” Varn sat down and began to eat his breakfast. His dark eyes taking in the morning sunrise.

[Kita_Ikari]

♡Bryx Sector~Mid Rim~Alliance Space♡

Flying her YT-2000 Silverpelt, Silvanius had set out towards the Bryx Sector. Rumors had caught on among the Sith as a signal was caught about a strong force user long lost. Being among the sith, she knew that this user must have survived. She also knew from old files in the Sith archives that the location had been set upon a planet where a Sith temple once stood. And with this knowledge known, the young Sith apprentice wouldn't have been surprised to find them alive. The darkside had a way with keeping its followers going...even if they died apparently. They always came back one way or another.

She didn't know what to expect. If worse came to worse, she would have to battle a beast or something. Silvanius was ready for whatever happened on this mission. Her objective was to investigate these rumors and if it were found to be true, bring in the force user back to her Master Lord Tormentous.

Approaching the controls, she punched the coordinates into the system.
"Set and Locked."
Despite not being able to fly very well, at least Silvanius could put in some simple coordinates and check the status of her ship. The sith apprentice had purposely took the least used route in this sector, as she knew she could run into the Galactic Alliance or Jedi. She was risking coming out here on her own without any backup. But she felt the need to venture off at some point without assistance. Although the thought of this made her weary. A part of her didn't like to be unaccompanied. Most of the time she found herself needing help at some point. Something she wasn't to proud of, but it was unavoidable while she still was building her reputation and strength among the sith.

♡Anzat♡

As she began decending into the planet Anzat's atmosphere, she felt the energy of the darkside that lingered on this lush planet. Not as strong as most areas sith temples and their ruins remained, but enough for her to notice. The planet itself seemed rather peaceful other then this knowledge.

Reaching her mind out with the force (Force Sense), she began to observe the life roaming on the planets surface. Everything seemed normal. No one else was detected other then the wildlife. Still, Silvanius wanted to remain cautionary. If rumors were spreading around about this fallen jedi, then there was no doubt someone in the Galactic Alliance caught wind of this information.

"Keep the ship far out of the temples radius. I will have to travel on foot their so the ship isn't seen if we have anyone scouting the area." She glanced at the AI. "A place with lots of dense coverage from above would be the best option."

With the droids response of acknowledgement on her orders, Silvanius was already preparing for a potential showdown. With her Lightspear attached to her hip, she also brought her blaster, some smoke bombs, and donned on her customized silver bone armor and stun gauntlets.
"Its just as well. Can't take a bargain on being severely injured again... especially now that I'm on my own." she thought.

Even if no one was there, she would have taken every precaution herself to not be seen. So hiding a bit aways from the site was her best option. And if she needed to escape but couldn't walk that distance, she knew she could always call the AI to come get her.

Shortly after she had finished equipping herself, the ship had already landed into a denser part of the planets forest so as not to be seen from above should the Galactic Alliance enter the planets atomosphere. Silvanius hated to leave any stone unturned. Of course since she was still learning, she was bound to miss some details when still planning ahead in enemy territory. But part of her planning was also just playing by ear, which seemed to work in her favor many times on missions. Still, there was a chance things could quickly turn sour.

As the ramp lowered, her blue gaze observed the area before walking off into the dense forest of trees and foliage. Silvanius set the ship about 10 miles away from the ruins. Far enough to not be seen, but close enough where she wouldn't be to tired trekking the distance. It would take a couple hours by foot to get their for the average person, but she was a fast walker naturally and could cover the distance in half that time.

Already having ordered the AI to keep the ship locked and powered off, she wasn't worried to much as she began her journey to locate this fallen jedi and scout the area near the ruins.

[Emic Lai]

Anzat, [REDACTED] Valley, 0600L

Her black tattoos were warmed by the gentle touch of the morning sun, as she knelt motionless, under cover of the structure’s great stone awning. She was watching for any approach, as were Acre and Verigan, concealed on the second floor patios, eyes on both balconies for any motion. None had come across them yet. The lieutenant Dunwich was inside, shooting words with whatever weird cultist was the leader, and likely losing her patience very quickly, though she wouldn't show it.

Emic had little patience for these dark side cult types, but at least it was a diversion from Sith nonsense. While they were still darksiders, they usually had much better philosophers than the ever-so-predictable Sith. The worldview was sound, but their execution could use some work.

She had arrived in much the same way as the unseen Ranger had; for all the authorities knew, a bounty hunter called Bricks was wandering about the planet, looking for some dangerous quarry. Her mission here was simple. The Dark Council had reason to believe there was something important, at this ruined building. She was to keep the cultists alive, and prevent anyone-- even Sith-- from gaining entry. This was something she could do; after all, she had the numbers, and the guts. For now, though, she simply sat-- and waited.

[Ashara Evanaris]

Anzat
The planet surface

Darth Kouldelka had come prepared she did not want to be unprepared; latched to either side of her hip she wore a vibro shiv, vibro sword and hidden in her combat boots was a a dagger and of course a whip and she just had  purchased a vibro Lance just in case she would encounter a jedi wearing her  light combat armour.

Koudelka was in search of an old temple that had once been the pinnacle of Anzat; to most sith it had been rumored that many sith artifacts had been hidden deep with the temple, it was her desire to gain as much knowledge as she could from  ancient sith artifacts. Knowledge is power was her core belief since waking up from a deep cyro sleep. She had only wished she had completed the requirements to build her own light saber, her only defense at the time being was her vibro Lance and possibly her whip along  with her wits.

She had an idea where the old temple lies, but most of it lie in decay. The remnants of the old structure was in severe decay from her point of view what was standing was weathered and not much remained, her only hope was that the tombs were still intact below the surface. All she needed was to find its entry way; which may be a harder task considering all that remained was ruble from the original structure. Night fall was approaching fast and widom told her to wait till morning. Understanding this slight oversight she perseeded to make her way back to her ship.

[Adar Bolner]

The ship finally landed, near the rendez vous area. The GA had aquired permision from the goverment of Anzat to allow Adar and the rest to land, but they weren't going to land in any official stations. To do so, they would surely invite unwanted attention. And that would of course mean that Pilon Dopler and the anyone with him would most likely escape. Adar had hoped that maybe the ex-Jedi Padawan was being kept captive, but from the moment they begun their descend he could feel a terrible and dark presence in the Force. It wasn't very intense, at least not yet, but it was bothering him constantly. But once he landed, focused on the mission. He had been appointed leader of this squad of a few Rangers, and he could not allow the dark energies to distract him from that.

A few people stayed back with the ship, to stay guard. The last thing anyone wanted was to be stranded here. Adar, Kilt and the rest went to meet with Ranger Captain Varn Badaash. As they approached his ship, Adar remembered that Varn cannot feel the Force, at all. How fortunate, as Adar feared that the closer they went to that dark place, even a common sentient would feel sick. But Varn should be unaffected, and that made him feel better. Knowing that should he fail and be incapacitated Varn would be there to help, lifted a big worry from his shoulders.

As they arrived, Kilt and the other Rangers saluted the Captain, while Adar did a standard Jedi greeting. A bow.
"Varn it is good to see you again." he said in a warm and calming voice. He looked around, like searching for something or someone. After an uncomfortable amount of time, he turned to Varn again. "Are we the only ones to arrive? I am pretty sure there was another squad assigned to this mission." Maybe they were running late, or they were never coming in the first place, It was all so sudden when Adar was assigned to this mission. Even the briefing was shorter than usual. So maybe he made a mistake thinking that another team was going to be with him. Just to be sure, he asked one of the rangers to go back and ask the ship team to inform him if any backup is coming. "I guess for now we are alone. But we better get going. You may not feel it, but that place..." he pointed towards the direction of the temple, without actually having seen it or heard any intel, "is getting more and more aware of us. The Dark it emits is getting stronger."

------------------------------------
Meanwhile
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"You sense it too, Pilon?"
"Yes, my Master. We have visitors. Light and Dark. Fools."
"I will inform the Master. It would be wise..."
"to finish up now whatever we can and leave. Leave this to me, my Master."
"Excellent."

What Dark, twisted Force energies may have emanated from the old Sith temple, were now made stronger and more intense. Soon, Jedi and Sith would be upon them. And thus they worked to finish whatever they can before then. And if they had to fight to slow them down, they would gladly do so.

[Varn Badaash]

The Ranger Captain sat patiently for the next few hours, continuing to watch the temple through his seeker drone, it continued to remain quiet. A few cultists coming and going but nothing exciting. About midday his espionage droid approached him with news that the Jedi vessel had pinged them and the team will be arriving within the hour. With that signal the Dashade geared up and stepped out of the vessel.

As the sun hit his helm the duraglass screen tinted and Varn scanned his landing site to make sure the area was still secure. After several more minutes a familiar Jedi Padawan followed by several Rangers stepped into the clearing.

“Welcome to Anzat Padawan Bolner,” Varn greeted giving a respectful nod before returning the salute to the Rangers. “You are the only ones to make their way to me at least.” Varn raised a hairless brow almost unnoticeably from behind his helm. “I’ve been dark almost the entire time I’ve been here, I was just informed to scout and wait for backup.”

The Captain took a heavy breath as he had to occasionally remind himself that the Force is a thing that others can just feel. “I trust in your knowledge on that subject.” His dark eyes looked across the rest of the Padawans team before returning his attention to Adar. “The temple is this way, it’s going to be about a two mile hike into the valley,” Varn briefly looked from the team. “MC, put the ship on security mode, we’re heading out.”

With that he turned and began to lead the troop into the red forest, MC eventually catching up and handing a data pad to the Padawan. “Greetings Master Bolner, this is all the data the Ranger Captain and I have gathered on the temple and surroundings, you can also tap into the live uplink with the Seeker drone watching the temple now.”

[Kita_Ikari]

Despite the fact it would be growing dark shortly, Silvanius found this time to be the best moment to search the ruins. Twilight was approaching, and the darkness would be the perfect moment for any sith to appear. Its when she could find most coverage for herself and where her target may make their appearance.

Halfway through to her destination, she stopped abruptly as she sensed someone approaching. Unsure who it might be, the young sith apprentice took refuge high in the treetops of the leaves for coverage.

Of course Silvanius wasn't one to act without caution. She had the idea of leaping on top of the person and take them by surprise, pinning them to the ground. But she was unsure what weaponry the person carried.

As Kouldelka came into view, the young Sith apprentice came to notice the vibrolance as well as her other vibro weapons. This woman wasn't unprepared. And it was obvious she carried the essence of the darkside with her. "She couldn't possibly be my target...could she?"

Tightly gripping the hilt of her saber, Silvanius leapt out from her hiding place, stopping a mere few feet out of range in front of Kouldelka's path. Igniting her blade, the silver light hissed to life, reflecting off of her Silver Bone Armor. Holding her lightspear and taking a defensive stance, she kept her blue gaze locked on the other Sith, attempting to read her movements as Jacobi and Warvanus had taught her.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?"
Silvanius didn't recognize this person. She hadn't seen her among the other Sith back on Moraband. And she wasn't going to let them pass by without confirmation of their identity. Especially if they were the intended target she was looking for.

Quietly she awaited for Kouldelka's response.

[Silas Karn]

The hyperspace docking ring erupted into view as the Sovereign's A-Wing reached the same sector that Silvanius had scurried off to. In yet another of Tormentous's many hiatus's it seemed the flock that he had nurtured was attempting to spread their wings. In such a lull and bereft of the myriad of self-invested experiments that had formerly demanded his time, Silas saw fit to tail the young adept.

The speculation and hushed murmurs that had carried the apprentice so far from home were of little interest for the High Priest. With no one to helm the reins that retrained the Sovereign's actions the serpent as his gaze fell upon Anzat. Detaching the lightless obsidian hued A-Wing from the docking ring a cold metallic voice broke and hours long silence. "Idaan is returned to your possession yet you depart immediately to haunt one of our own?" Silas only granted a vile grin in reply.

[Ashara Evanaris]

Well this was unexpected Koudelka pondered to herself, for one the lady Sith  had already ignited her saber, number two Koudelka had yet to construct one of her own. And another fact was she was more than likely more skilled than Koudelka was. That being said the Sith Maiden had always enjoyed a challenge but in instances like this one she had hoped she knew where her former master Wavernus was;he more than likely new the sith that openly challenged her. If it was her hope to get answers from her just by igniting her saber she was was gravely mistaken.

Unlike her counterpart Koudelka was not on a mission she was searching the tomb for answers. Wavarnus had often spoke of this place; the both of them were supposed to search the ruins for themselves. Koudelka was hoping she would find him unfortunately to her dismay she had come up empty. Instead she had found another sith.

Koudelka had yet to decide if she was a friend or foe. Assessing her movements as she fell into her defensive stance. She wasn't about to let Koudelka pass unless she  gathered knowledge of her identity. Koudelka wasn't about to let on she might have the upper hand. Fortunately she had her arsenal of vibro weapons, instead just as quickly as she ignited her saber her whip was fully extended; with the same fluid motion; her whip cracking, dancing in a serpentine formation.

A crooked smile creased the sith lips.

"I am a former student of Lord Warvanus surely you know him. We could play this song and dance
and get this over with." Koudelka knew she was over her head but welcomed the challenge with her over confidence.