War Never Changes, attn: cal, ori [Jedi: FaceYourFears]

When he’d been requested to go back to Korriban and search for the missing Archivist, Rena Vivack, Lysander had been quick to agree, despite the dangers that were presented on such a world. The missing Jedi was not only in potential danger, but could also become a liability if corrupted by the darkness there and not found. Of course, anyone who went to find this missing archivist could also be in trouble heading into the caves, so the Guardian had requested a couple of companions to accompany him on the assignment

The first was a Padawan nearing Knighthood—Callan Lash. Lysander hadn’t really gotten to know the young man personally before the mission, but he’d heard good thing from Master Garth and Shay had given him high marks for one of his latest missions… well, despite the fact that that particular mission had ended up with a couple of dead Padawans. That, obviously, hadn’t been Callan’s fault, and from what he heard, the boy had done his absolute best—better than best, even—to save those that he could. So yes, he trusted his fellow Onderonian well enough to watch his back, despite his less experience. Sure, he could have chosen just about anyone he wanted, but he was confident in his decision. Besides, one so close to Knighthood could use some experience against the darkness of Korriban.

The other was a more interesting choice, and one that Lysander hadn’t been entirely sure would take him up on the offer. The Mandalorian liaison to the Alliance was a peculiar fellow in his own right—he wasn’t like other Mandalorians and had made a decent impression on many people at the base, some Jedi included. Lysander also hadn’t gotten to know the violet clad man very well, either, but he did remember fighting alongside the tank of a man during the Assault on the planet they now headed towards. He was also someone the Knight trusted, despite the warnings some might give. Jedi and Mandalorians had never been much of friends. But he wanted to change that, at least on a personal level for himself, so he would start with the one called Orion. He had no grudge to bear, and since the Mando had accepted the invitation, apparently he was ready to move beyond ancient disagreements as well.

Of course, he still hadn’t gotten to talk to either of them much, even now. Sure, they’d spent quite some time in Orion’s M22-T Krayt Gunship together. But Orion and Callan were in the crew seats—pilot and gunner respectively--, and Lysander had volunteered himself to sit in the passenger area. It had originally been intended as a prisoner holding area on the ship, but as Orion didn’t currently seem the type for holding prisoners, it had been refurbished to (mostly) comfortably hold a couple of willing guests. The irony wasn’t entirely lost on the Jedi, but he had taken the opportunity to sit back, relax, and meditate on the upcoming mission.

Things had been mostly quiet, Callan and Orion not really taking the chance to get to know one another, either. Lysander sensed that there was something there keeping the young man silent, but he couldn’t pin it and didn’t bother to try. Whatever it was, they would move past it fast enough if they intended to survive. They all had to trust each other, or this was going to get dangerous on a level that even Lysander dared not imagine. Anything remotely near the Valley of Dark Lords was not to be taken lightly, not even for a heartbeat.

Being the more social sort himself, Lysander was glad when they finally touched down on the planet. The three men exited the ship, not lingering longer than it took to make sure it would be secure and there when they got back. Once they were on the dusty ground of Korriban, Lysander could feel the bite of the world even stronger than he had from orbit. This place was genuinely evil. He could feel it strongly, brushing across his skin like burning nettles. He grimaced and shook his head as he studied their surroundings. They’d have to walk a ways to reach the cave where Vivack had gone missing, and it was definitely a warm day here on the sunny side of Korriban.

He looked to the others, keeping his mood light despite the way this place just made him feel slightly ill. “Time for Guardians to save a Consulars rear yet again. Let’s not keep our archivist waiting, shall we?”

Admittedly, most Consulars could handle themselves, and Lysander knew it. And there was the fact that the Archivist might not have a rear to save anymore—they could well be far too late. But hope was best kept alive, so he wasn’t going to bring that up until it was inevitable.

Taking the lead—this was ultimately his assignment, after all—he worked towards the coordinates of the Shyrack caves. As much as he hated to admit it, the aura of this place was definitely getting darker as they drew in towards their target. He knew the other two would notice it, too, though the Mandalorian probably wouldn’t realize exactly why.

Orion daydreamed.

It was easy to do in here, with the vastness of space the only thing to be seen in front of him. It was odd to think, he thought idly as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his armored arms over his broad, armored chest, helmet sitting on the ground next to him, gray eyes clouded and distant, that out of all those stars he was seeing half of them were already dead. It took the light from those dead stars years to reach one's point of view if they stood still. That was how at different points of the galaxy, all the stars could look completely different.

People had gone insane mapping those stars.

Orion was really not much of a conversationalist, despite what his position required with him at the Alliance base. Though he was considerably less nervous about Jedi since he had met a few in person, he didn't really have much to say to them. When they had boarded his ship, the older one had said little and retired to the passenger section of the cyar'ika, though Orion had at least recognized that one. He had fought by his side on Korriban, and the silence between them was not uncomfortable.

The younger one, however, Orion was considerably more wary of. The young man had barely spoken two words to Orion other than what was absolutely required to keep hostilities down, and seemed to regard Orion with a rather blank expression most times. Orion didn't much care what the young Jedi thought of him, so he ignored him for the most part, unless someone addressed him directly.

Orion could not answer why he was here, and why he was going with them. It had mostly been, probably, he had felt cooped up in the base again for the 9th time, at least. Orion was a warrior and an engineer, he was not a diplomat, but he served his duty well. What he was really confused about, was why he wanted to go back to Korriban. His stomach ached in ghost pain at the memory.

Orion had hated Korriban more than any other planet he had set foot on in his 30 years of life. It wasn't the heat or the appearance of the dry desert world that got him, oh no. He had been to Ordo before, and it was as hot as anything Korriban could cook up. No, it was the sheer wrongness of the place, the corruption of life as the galaxy knew it. There were a few dark places where the feeling of wrong collected, and warped anything and everything around it. Orion hated it there, he felt as if he was going to explode into a violent rage and attack allies as well as enemies, felt as if the corruption wove it's way into the very fiber of his being. He shuddered at the memory, skin prickling and going cold.

So why was he going back?

Perhaps it was because Orion felt he had something to prove. He hated fear, he had no use for it, and he would have rather it been a distant memory, but it wasn't, not for him. No, fear ate at him, fear controlled him, fear...

He didn't like dwelling on these thoughts. The navicomputer beeped, indicating that they were nearing their destination. Orion stood, picking up his helmet and donning it, snapping the air locks to the neck of his armor with a dull hissing sound. The HUD came up on his screen, bright and clear, and Orion breathed deep of the filtered air, and felt a little more like himself.

He liked it in his armor. It was easy, so easy to pretend that he wasn't flesh and blood at all, and just a machine of war. People change, lives change, galaxies change.

But war... war never changes.

They sat the ship on the cursed surface of the desert world, and Orion drew his attention to the facts at hand, ignoring the protests of his gut at being back here. They were here to find out what happened to a Jedi, and though Orion was no force user, he could bet that whatever had happened to her wasn't good, and she likely wasn't still alive.

Or worse, someone had said. What, exactly could be worse than death? He supposed it depended on the person. He was the first to step onto the ground of Korriban, and it was no less pleasant than he remembered. Orion couldn't place why this place made him feel like this, he certainly didn't understand, but he shoved it to the back of his mind.

It was just his cowardice getting the better of him, as usual. Orion would never be John Ischoron or Darin Rahl.

“Time for Guardians to save a Consulars rear yet again. Let’s not keep our archivist waiting, shall we?”

Orion tilted his head a tad inquisitively, as his filtered voice echoed from the vocalizer of his helm. "Does this happen often?"

That may have been said a tad sarcastically.

The Jedi wasted no time in putting them on the move, and Orion followed behind and to Lysander's right, scanning the area ahead of him with slow, meticulous adjustments of his head, on the look out for any sort of danger. Danger could have been anything from twisted monsters to sudden rockfalls, and Orion wasn't taking any chances.

"Tell me about these caves we are going to. I don't want to be caught by surprise."

The desolate desert world was foreign, yet oddly familiar to Callan Lash. During the battle...no...the slaughter of Korriban, Callan and the rest of his Padawan friends were left sitting back on Shedu Maad wondering what would happen. There were losses on both sides. The Order lost quite a few good people, and the Cultists were slaughtered like animals. Even the Mandalorians suffered losses, a fact that was most certainly not lost on the Ambassador to the Alliance. The massive Mandalorian was piloting his ship, while Callan and Lysander rode in the gunner's seat and the cargo hold, respectively.

Callan was only slightly familiar with Lysander Odakota. From what he understood, the Knight was on close terms with Nereus' Master, Shay Marin. He was an Onderonian, like Callan, a Guardian, like Callan, and seemed to share many qualities with the Padawan. In fact, the only major difference that Callan had noticed between the two of them, in his years as a Jedi, was the color of their lightsabers. Callan favored green over anything, while Lysander wielded a more traditional Guardian Blue.

The Ambassador, Orion, on the other hand, was a bit more of a mystery. All that Callan knew of the man was what Nereus had told him of their brief meeting. Not much of the information was positive. He'd been rude to Seras, regarding her beliefs, and that was something that greatly irritated Callan. He was very protective of his friends and didn't take kindly to others being rude or downright mean to them. Being the non-confrontational person that he was (for the most part), Callan had been silent on the issue. Until it came up, he would be perfectly civil to the Mandalorian escort.

As the ship landed and the docking ramp was lowered, Callan was hit with a surge of Dark Side energy, not unlike that of the Leviathan. Even thinking of that foul Sithspawn threatened to bring bile to the Padawan's lips. The memory of Sine and the others that were lost on Corbos still haunted Callan's nightmares and his daydreams. In fact, most of the trip over, the Guardian had spent in silence, remembering his fallen friend and sparring partner. The silver-bladed lightsaber strapped to his lower back was a constant reminder of Sine's lack of presence in the physical galaxy.

Doing his best to shift gears from his miserable state of mind, Callan brought his attention to the present. He was in the rear of the trio, with Lysander leading and Orion in the middle.

“Time for Guardians to save a Consulars rear yet again. Let’s not keep our archivist waiting, shall we?”

I hope so...I sure couldn't save Sine. What's so different about his time?

Again, he ripped his focus away from the nightmarish thoughts of death and absence. He should rejoice for his fallen friend: he was now among the Jedi of old, revelling in the magnificence of the Force.

"Tell me about these caves we are going to. I don't want to be caught by surprise."

A question like that was just what Callan needed to get his mind off of things. He could explain something like that with relative ease, even if he was irritated with the behavior of the Mandalorian's Ambassador. In truth, he didn't know much about the caves, but he would share what information he did have at his disposal, and allow Lysander to fill in the holes.

"From what I know, they're a network of caves infested with Shyrack. No one has really explored all of the way through them, so we don't entirely know what to expect. There's a rumor going around that a large Dark Side resevoir is hidden somewhere inside."

Satisfied with his explanation, Callan fell back into silence, having no real issue in keeping up with the slightly larger men that he was with. At this point, he couldn't stand to fall behind, especially not with his Knighthood promotion so close at hand. When he took the Trials, he would need all of the positive feedback from other Jedi, and even Mandalorians, that he could get.

With his relapse into his own mind, Callan could not help but slip back into thoughts of Sine, along with all of the dead bodies that must have littered Korriban's surface after the bombardment and groud assault. Their cries seemed to call to him from the barren surface of the ground and the surrounding cliffs and caves. The etheral music of the Valley of the Dark Lords filled Callan with a sense of dread, yet a thrill of adventure at the same time.

The songs of the dead are truly the lamentations of the living.

"Does this happen often?"

The Knight smirked at that slightly sarcastic inquiry from the Mandalorian. He could appreciate that bite of humor and the fact that the Mandalorian possessed such an ability only elevated the large man in his eyes. Yes, Lysander was officially confident he had chosen good company for this excursion.

“No,” he answered honestly. “Though as a Guardian, I feel it my duty to give the Consulars as hard a time as possible, whenever possible.” It was a personal amusement, perhaps, but one he was firm on. He respected Consulars highly—he’d never be able to do what they did with the Force, not the levels they required—but that didn’t change the fact that it was ultimately the Guardians called in for the ‘dirty work,’ ie. saving a rear or two.

“If we find Rena, though, don’t tell her I said that. I think the amusement will be lost on her, no matter the state she’s in.” Getting lost in a Shyrack cave was the best possible scenario he expected for the archivist, and even that simple situation wasn’t likely to leave her in the best of moods. He knew it wouldn’t for him. Between the dangerous nature of everything and the general embarrassment that came from getting lost period, it wouldn’t settle well on a Jedi psyche.

"Tell me about these caves we are going to. I don't want to be caught by surprise."

"From what I know, they're a network of caves infested with Shyrack. No one has really explored all of the way through them, so we don't entirely know what to expect. There's a rumor going around that a large Dark Side resevoir is hidden somewhere inside."

As they walked and Callan explained what he knew, Lysander allowed himself to study the pair. It was harder to get a read on their personal auras with the interference of the darkside here on Korriban—it was like really bad static—but Lysander did his best to filter out the distraction.

Orion was, surprisingly, the easier of the two to get an emotional fix on. The Mandalorian didn’t seem entirely sure why he was here. That stood to reason, after all, he had no obligation to help any Jedi. Nor did he seem comfortable with the darkness of Korriban—a good sign, as he didn’t revel in it, like some might have expected the violent Mandalorian culture to do. But overall, he was very much focused on the task at hand, as indicated by the question he’d posed. Orion wasn’t going to be easily distracted and didn’t have anything apparently on his mind except for the task at hand, so Lysander knew he could rely on him ultimately.

Pleased, he turned his mental attention to Callan, whilst still listening to the boy’s explanation of their destination. Callan was far less focused than their Mandalorian counterpart. Not to say he was being neglectful of his duty, but his mind was somewhat elsewhere. He’d had a recent brush with the darkside and death in his life, so it wasn’t completely without explanation. The death of the Padawan named Sine was reportedly something that the young man hadn’t taken with any amount of triviality. Coming to someplace as dark as Korriban was was bound to drag up unpleasant thoughts. It was natural to dwell, but it was also dangerous…

With Callan concluding his short and precise explanation, Lysander nodded. Some Jedi might have begrudged the junior member of the cadre giving the explanation without full information, but Lysander wasn’t the sort. He was glad to see the young man willingly jump to the forefront and take what lead he could. A good, solid Jedi, that one. Not perfect, certainly, but even Lysander couldn’t claim such an impossible status.

“That’s essentially all we know,” Lysander agreed verbally, not looking back at the pair behind him, keeping his visual focus on their surroundings. “There’s probably plenty of other nasty creatures about—all quite dark, all quite dangerous. I’ve not explored the planet much myself, and the reports I’ve read don’t have severe amounts of detail on wildlife. Basically, I’m afraid we’re going to have to take things as they come, and being surprised will not likely be an option to avoid.”

He hoped his trust that they wouldn’t lose their heads when trouble showed up wasn’t ill placed. Sometimes he thought taking someone he knew without a doubt in the galaxy would have his back—basically only Shay—would be wiser, but he was accustomed to that not being an option and would begrudge himself taking the easy way out every time.

He felt Callan’s mind begin to wander again, his focus going soft. They were getting nearer their destination and that wouldn’t do, so Lysander turned his head to look back at the young man and berated gently, “Callan, focus.”

“Though as a Guardian, I feel it my duty to give the Consulars as hard a time as possible, whenever possible.”

"A Jedi with a sense of humor, now I've seen it all." Orion said in an amused tone of voice, rolling his shoulders under his armor to loosen his muscles. Whatever was capable of taking down a Jedi somewhere in here was worth his attention ten fold. He was no slouch at being a warrior and a soldier, and though Orion wasn't even sure if he believed the Force existed, he had to admit that Jedi had some powers that he couldn't really identify. If they were worried about something, he had to be too. The tension in his shoulders and back didn't go away, but he used that pent up energy to scout for danger instead.

“If we find Rena, though, don’t tell her I said that. I think the amusement will be lost on her, no matter the state she’s in.”

All trace of joking disappeared from Orion's face, though they couldn't see it underneath his helm. A fellow Mando'ad would see it, but his people had years to learn to read people behind their t visored helms. He checked the straps and equipment on his weapon as he looked away slightly, wondering if he should mention it. The two Jedi no doubt knew this fact, but Orion wasn't sure if they wanted to admit it to themselves.

"She's probably dead." Orion said, his mechanical filtered voice sounding like it had no emotion at all. Still, it seemed like the place became darker the more he realized the danger they were willingly walking into. Stupid, so stupid, he should just turn around and walk away while he had the chance.... he shook his head violently, pushing the dark thoughts out of his mind. Now was not the time to act like a coward.

"From what I know, they're a network of caves infested with Shyrack. No one has really explored all of the way through them, so we don't entirely know what to expect. There's a rumor going around that a large Dark Side reservoir is hidden somewhere inside."

"Well I don't know about the Dark Side or not, but I do know that those Shyrack are going to be a problem. Sith spit, though, with two Jedi, we should be alright." Orion wasn't sure he believed in the 'dark side' philosophy of the Jedi, but there was no point in taking any chances. He regarded the young warrior slightly, and noted that Callan Lash's attention seemed to be elsewhere at the moment. Orion frowned, and wondered if he should address it, but turned his head away instead and decided to stay silent for the time being. Callan was a Jedi, and it was not his place to tell him to pay attention. That would be Lysander's job.

“There’s probably plenty of other nasty creatures about—all quite dark, all quite dangerous. I’ve not explored the planet much myself, and the reports I’ve read don’t have severe amounts of detail on wildlife. Basically, I’m afraid we’re going to have to take things as they come, and being surprised will not likely be an option to avoid.”

"My kind of fight." Orion smirked a little, pleased that all the monsters here was something he could fight, and not something to do with the mysterious Force. He took up the rear behind the two Jedi, relying on their senses to scout out ahead as he guarded their backs. They walked through a narrow canyon, and Orion turned his back to the two Jedi, walking backwards and placing his feet with surprising grace for the unusual position.

"At any rate, it's not the wildlife I'm worried about. I'm more concerned with whatever the Cultists left behind on this world." Orion spat out 'Cultist' with supreme distaste, feeling his stomach roll querulously.

“Callan, focus.”

Orion politely ignored that the Padawan was corrected. He was too busy scouting around the area. Even the Mandalorian could tell when they had reached the entrance, the big man smelled the cave before he saw the opening. It smelled foul, and the very sight of the narrow, dark opening in the canyon wall made him shiver in distaste and... fear. Fear was a useful thing, though, if channeled correctly. There was something odd about the cooler air flowing out of the cave, and Orion felt the overwhelming need to ignore the cave, to move past it somewhere else.

Orion was a stubborn thing, though, and stood his ground. The hair stood up on his arms and the back of his neck.

"... oh I can tell already this is going to be fun." He said sarcastically.

"A Jedi with a sense of humor, now I've seen it all."

Ironically, the Mandalorian's statement brought Callan out of his mental funk for the briefest of moments. He let a smile onto his face and allowed the smallest of chuckles to escape from his lips. It had been so long since Callan felt happy enough to smile that the motion felt almost alien to his face. It only took a moment for his to return to his sober, quiet state.

It wasn't as if he enjoyed being down in the dumps and depressed. It was difficult for him to stay happy and cheerful after the horrible events on Corbos. Two Padawans had died, others had sustained serious injuries. Callan himself had only just had the sling on his arm removed. One of the more painful injuries was of the personal variety. Since the Padawans's return, Seras had been aloof and distant from Callan and he couldn't help but feel as if he'd offended her in some way. At this point, he wasn't sure if he could contain his emotions if he'd hurt her.

"She's probably dead."

Callan's eyes hardened for a brief second as he tried not to envision even more death in the recent weeks. It was terrible, death, but as Garth had told him many times: "Everything, everyone dies. Be happy for those who are priveleged enough to trasfer into the ether of the Force."

I wonder if Sine feels priveledged.

The journey that the two Jedi and the Mandalorian were taking seemed to be uneventful, so Callan allowed his mind to wander freely once again. He was weary. His bones ached with grief and loss. His mind continually wanted to revisit the scene in which Callan had attempted to give Sine's lightsaber back to his Master, Grozzaddik. In now way would he allow his mind to travel back to that moment. Watching the massive Wookiee deal with that kind of sorrow was somthing that Callan couldn't handle at the moment.

“Callan, focus.”

The reprimand was gentle, yet it was an order from one of a superior rank, so Callan was all-too willingly made to bring his attention to the matter at hand. Knight Odakota was perfectly correct. There was no reason for Callan's mind to be wandering now, not when they were within sight of the Shyrack caves.

"Yes Master. It won't happen again."

As they crept closer to the mouth of the cave, sweeping energies of the Dark Side went rolling over Callan in slight ripples, just enough to make him not want to be there anymore. The quiet tranquility of the few Jedi Redoubts and Temples that he'd lived in were in stark contrast to the tumultuous feelings and energies that seemed to permeate the very air around all of Korriban, and especially this cave.

"... oh I can tell already this is going to be fun."

As Callan stood side by side with the two older men, he felt, strangely, more at peace than before. Action was something that suited Callan's personality perfectly. All of the problems could be overlooked with the help of a bit of excercise and some good, healthy terror and danger.

"Try not to get too far behind, Ambassador. I'd hate to find out the hard way that you're scared of the dark."

With that comment, and a sly wink in Lysander's direction, Callan drew and ignited both of his bright green Guard Shotos to help give off some light. Smile slowly fading from his face, Callan began moving into the mouth of the cavern, hopefully towards a still living Jedi Librarian.

"A Jedi with a sense of humor, now I've seen it all."

Unable to help his grin, despite the relative seriousness of the overall nature of the situation, Lysander shook his head. “No you haven’t,” he assured the Mandalorian. If he thought a Jedi able to giggle was something worth shaking his head over, he didn’t want to know the other things certain members of the Order were quite capable of.

No, Lysander had long since discovered that a solid sense of humor and the ability to laugh at one’s self were necessary survival tools in the Jedi line of work. Get too serious about everything and you end up dead… or worse. Like ‘Buttons.’ It was for this fact that he was glad to catch the faintest flutter of lightheartedness from his Padawan companion. The boy needn’t spend the entire time moping or dwelling or whatever he was doing. And he’d rather have him die smiling than anything, if it came down to facing such trouble today.

"She's probably dead."

Of course, the humor couldn’t last forever. It was likely to be back, but Orion had drawn them back to more solemn spheres.

“Probably,” the elder Jedi agreed. He was no fool and knew it was entirely the possibility. “But let’s look on the bright side and not write her off yet. Jedi are resourceful enough by training, even when they are mostly just archive-dwellers.” No, he wouldn’t consider the Consular dead until he had undeniable proof of it. He was working on the assumption that she was merely lost to them temporarily, and until proven otherwise, he was conducting this as a rescue mission.

“Sith spit, though, with two Jedi, we should be alright."

The Ambassador’s doubt of the darkside made Lysander smile wryly to himself as the continued onward. Oh, he would learn. Here, he had no choice but to learn. While he was pretty sure Orion didn’t realize it, his connection to the Force was obvious to the Knight. He felt the darkness, surely. It was only a matter of the Mandalorian realizing that sensation for what it was. But all in good time—Mandalorians weren’t often fond of the idea of being Force Sensitive, and to bring up such here and now might very well be detrimental to the mission.

“Two Jedi and a Mandalorian,” Lysander corrected graciously. “I didn’t bring you along to be so much dead weight, Ambassador.”

"At any rate, it's not the wildlife I'm worried about. I'm more concerned with whatever the Cultists left behind on this world."

“Wise of you, Ambassador.” Korriban wildlife was bad enough—the darkside taint alone was worse. Anything actually concocted by the Cult? Even worse, definitely. “Just remember to keep your wits about you, boys, and we’ll make sure we all get back home in one piece.”

He knew they both knew their parts and how to keep their heads about them, but as the little leader of this escapade, he felt some semblance of responsibility for them and wasn’t about to let either of them get themselves hurt or fall prey to negligence.

"Yes Master. It won't happen again."

Letting it go at that, Lysander felt assured that Callan would do as he said he would. Choosing not to worry himself over it—or, on this rare occasion, worry himself over being called ‘Master’ by anyone—he said nothing further, allowing Callan to take his silence as proof that he trusted him to that.

Right in time, too, as they came upon the obvious entrance to the cave network. The place literally reeked of the darkside and Lysander literally had to dial down his Force perceptions to handle it. It threatened to overwhelm and it required spirits as strong as the three gathered here to overcome the need to just turn around and walk away. There was no doubt in the Knight’s mind that things could go very wrong today if he didn’t handle this carefully. He knew his weaknesses, especially his emotional ones, and he knew it was dire he keep them in check throughout this mission, or the darkside would carry him away on them.

"... oh I can tell already this is going to be fun."

“Plenty of fun,” Lysander stated, more dark in tone than his previous lighthearted statements to Orion. Fun wasn’t the word, and he knew Orion knew that. Challenge, was more like it. This was going to be one big, huge challenge, even with all three of them putting out their best efforts and skills. Not for the first time, Lysander was ever so grateful he hadn’t opted to take this assignment alone.

"Try not to get too far behind, Ambassador. I'd hate to find out the hard way that you're scared of the dark."

Glad for the quip that drew him out of the ‘oh so serious’ state of mind he’d fallen into, he shot a grin back at his fellow Jedi, and then gave an apologetic sort of shrug to the Ambassador. He was far too amused by the idle jab to reprimand Callan for it as of yet, and he hoped Orion took it in good nature. But he didn’t linger long on the thought as they moved into the cave.

Callan did the smart thing and lit his ‘sabers, giving light to the damp, musty cave. Lightsabers didn’t make the most ideal source of light, but they did the job. And in a cave system on Korriban, it was far better an idea to have your ‘saber in hand than a glowrod. Following the same idea, the Knight drew his own lightsaber off his belt, though he didn’t ignite it. He let the green glow be their light for now, but he kept his weapon in hand as insurance against trouble.

((What do they run into, if anything? Do the Jedi sense trouble or any human life within the maze of tunnels?))

The trio makes it only a few yards into the cave before the first frenzied Shyracks bear down on them. There are a half dozen of the pests in sight along with the corpses of several more and of at least two Tuk'ata. Lysander can sense the dark energies that have set the Shyracks into such a violent state but beyond that the Dark Side has blinded them to the rest of the cave's secrets.

“No you haven’t,”

Orion looked at the wicked smile that Lysander had on his face, and raised an eyebrow. He started to open his mouth and then closed it again, his expression thoughtful, though they could not see it through the helm. To them, it no doubt looked like he was staring. Orion was going to ask what exactly he hadn't seen yet from the Jedi, and then decided not to. It didn't seem like a good idea to get into a battle of wits with a Jedi Master. Orion was not stupid, but he wasn't that interested in vocalizing his opinions in words. He smiled sardonically at himself.

"I dont' even want to know." He finally declared, before shaking his head and turning his attention back to Callan.

“But let’s look on the bright side and not write her off yet. Jedi are resourceful enough by training, even when they are mostly just archive-dwellers.”

Orion looked at Lysander with a peculiar expression, one that may have been sympathy or pity. Orion, in opposite to Lysander's optimism, had little doubt that their ally was dead, or she would be once they got there. There was something about this place that said that it didn't let go of it's prizes easily. Orion got the eery feeling that maybe this was a trap set by the cave, to draw in more prey to it's clutches. The skin on the back of his neck and back rose into goosebumps. It reminded him of a peculiar plant on Dxun, he had seen it eat an entire cannok once by releasing the scent of a cannok's young.

The cave was the plant, and they were the Cannok.

"Everything, everyone dies. Be happy for those who are priveleged enough to trasfer into the ether of the Force."

"I don't mean to tread on your ideals, Padawan," Orion said the word 'ideals' like it was poison, though his tone was overall realistic and not at all hostile. "But no matter where you go, you're still dead."

He shrugged, turning his head back to the cave entrance. Callan had temporarily seemed to lighten up a tad, but Orion had a feeling it wouldn't last long. Orion didn't really see the need to ask the boy at this point what was bothering him, it wasn't his problem. As long as the Padawan didn't slow them down, Orion wasn't concerned with anyone's personal problems. Including his own.

“I didn’t bring you along to be so much dead weight, Ambassador.”

"Please, call me Orion." Orion said with a wince, fairly clear in his voice. "I'm ill suited for the title." He stared at them calmly, chosing not to respond to Lysander's jest. The humor of the situation of two Jedi and a man of the Mando'ade working together would not last long in this place.

"Try not to get too far behind, Ambassador. I'd hate to find out the hard way that you're scared of the dark."

Orion watched the Padawan take point with an amused expression, putting away his blaster rifle and taking out his beskad instead, for the close quarters combat inside the cave.

"Oh to be young and stupid again." He said, without aggression, and followed the two Jedi in. He was considerably more cautious than the Padawan was, and was expecting an attack. What else could they think with the big glowing rod infront of them saying, 'come here and get us! We're mmmhmmm good' to everything in the cave. Orion shook his head with slight disgust. If it were he, he would have snuck into the cave and tried not to attract attention, or would have at least gotten the element of surpise in.

He supposed that was the price of bringing along the two Jedi, though, and just decided to deal with it as best he could. As with that, he shoved the nausea and discomfort out of his mind for the moment and concentrated on the task at hand.

It did not take long.

They came upon the bodies of two animals first, and Orion came onto point with considerable alarm. He kneeled to dip the tips of his gauntleted fingers into the pool of blood.

"They're still warm, the..."

Orion reacted before he thought, when the angry flock of creatures bore down upon them. He threw himself at the two nearest to the center, leaving the Jedi to fight the rest.

((Does he take down the two Shyrack? Do they get any blows on him? Any more Shyrack show up?))

Orion cuts down the first quickly and cleanly but the body of the Shyrack becomes entangled in his arms as it falls from the air. Orion's a veteran warrior and needs only a moment to free himself but in that time he takes several glancing blows across his armor. It seems the Shyrack's natural weapons are no match for Beskar, he could probably take a nap amid the frenzied creatures and not take any damage.

Callan, as the vanguard, finds himself surrounded by the remaining four Shyracks. Having his lightsaber already ignited he is able to keep himself healthy but Shyrack are dangerous in numbers and he lacks his companions iron-plating. What kind of Jedi lets the kid take all the damage Lysander?

The witty banter and conversation between the Mandalorian Ambassador and Callan's ranking superior was not lost on the Padawan, but he preferred to not center his mind on the words between the two older men. He needed to focus on the hunt that was currently forming itself in front of him. There was a missing Jedi Archivist in a cave that absolutely reeked of death and the Dark Side. Callan felt not only his Force senses being shut down, but even his physical senses seemed stunted by the darkness that permeated the air. Perhaps the cold that he had been feeling wasn't in his head after all...maybe this place had some kind of living energy of its own. After seeing the Leviathan, Callan was loathe to rule out any possibility, plausible or not.

As the men moved a bit further into the cave, Orion seemed to notice something important near the bodies of a pair of Tu'kata. It was clear from the corpses of the goat-like animals and those of the winged Shyrack, that there was some sort of fight (or slaughter) that had taken place among the native fauna of Korriban. While his pair of lightsabers remained engaged, Callan crept closer to the armored back of the large Mandalorian in an attempt to better see what he was doing. He'd dipped his gauntletted fingers into what was obviously a pool of blood. Apparently, the gloves could sense heat, as Orion quickly offered,

"They're still warm, the..."

The Ambassador was cut short by loud screeching, akin to hundreds of tiny nails on an obnoxiously loud chalkboard. A millisecond later, the flapping of a dozen wings met Callan's ears as he was knocked off of his feet by group of the flapping creatures. It was obvious that they were also Shyrack, and had more than likely killed the animals that they'd stumbled upon moments before.

Just as quickly as he was knocked down, Callan sprung back to his feet, green blades flashing brightly in the dark cave. He was surrounded by the crazed animals, but he found it difficult to discern exactly how many were attacking him. Certainly more than two of them, but no more than five or six. The emerald blades that ran the length of his forearm and a bit further were swung through the darkness, attempting to find purchase in the dank flesh of the Shyrack.

The Padawan's mind was too focused on the battle at hand to see how the Ambassador and Lysander were fairing. Hopefully they were still in tact. Orion had his armor and Lysander was a very able Guardian. Callan was confidant that they could take care of themselves, so he focused his attention on killing the beasts that were trying to make a meal of him.

((How does Callan fare in the fight?))

Callan can feel his lightsabers cut through the flesh of shrieking shyracks but it's impossible to tell how many he has killed. Any space he attempts to carve in the attacking wall of flesh is immediately filled with new enemies. For the moment it is all he can do to avoid being struck by the flurry of claws and teeth. He is forced to back against the wall of the cave and can make out nothing of his companions.

"I don't mean to tread on your ideals, Padawan. But no matter where you go, you're still dead."

It was interesting, how the two ways of living were similar and yet so different. Both the Jedi and the Mandalorians were very accepting of death, but for entirely different reasons. The fact that Orion would insist on pointing out that ‘dead is dead’ made that chasm clear. Lysander was quite convinced that you continued to exist, and ‘dead’ was merely a state of mortality. Hard to explain, almost impossible to prove. It was either something you understood or you didn’t, or you did and yet rejected it.

There was no point in getting a philosophical argument with the Mandalorian, so Lysander let it slide, as did Callan. There was time for such discussion, but that time was not now, let alone here.

"I'm ill suited for the title."

“I understand that, Orion,” Lysander allowed. Indeed, while he was sure that Orion was Ambassador for good reason, it took a certain person to want to be called that. Orion was not such a person. Lysander wasn’t, either. If he were in Orion’s boots, he would have requested the same. Titles were impersonal and formal. There was a need for both at times, but not here and not in most places Lysander preferred to be.

“I won’t be upset if you return the favor,” he decided to inform him casually.

Inside the system of caves and tunnels, Orion approached the carnage of tentarek bodies and some shyrack as well. It was the first sign of danger, and certainly not the last. Lysander thought about calling Orion back from the bodies, but it was already too late, and he wasn’t in the business of babying the Mandalorian.

"They're still warm, the..."

The danger Lysander had felt pending spiked even as the purple clad warrior spoke. A small flock of shyrack descended, and Orion reacted instantly, killing a couple even as the rest closed in on Callan and his lightsaber.

Lysander was largely ignored in the initial attack, but he wasn’t going to be ignored for long. Callan was putting up a noble fight, cutting down the shyrack that fought for his blood, but some more were coming from the nearby tunnel branch, replacing the ones Callan eliminated faster than the boy could keep up with. While the surge of numbers wouldn’t last forever and Lysander was sure the boy could handle himself eventually succeed on his own, the Knight wasn’t about to just sit back and watch.

Taking all of this in in an instant, Lysander reacted quicker than thought. For the moment, he kept his lightsaber in hand but turned off. Reaching out with the Force, he grabbed at the flurry of wings, grabbing as many of the twisting bodies as he could and slammed them into the wall opposite of Callan. Hopefully many would be rendered unconscious, and the rest would at least be stunned.

With that maneuver out of the way, Lysander’s cyan blade sprung to life and he moved in to finish off those he hadn’t managed to grab out of the air. The colors of green and blue mixed, casting the stone walls in an underwater hue.

((Does Lysander attempt at incapacitating the majority of the swarm work? Is he able to finish off those that are left with the help of the other two? Does anything show up, or is it calm again?))

((Through his skill in Force Pwnage, Lysander manages to incapacitate or kill the majority of the swarm. The rest decide the best move is to get as far away from the man with the shiny stick as possible. All is calm once again.))

The boy was better in battle than Orion had thought of him, but it was about what he had expected from the Jedi. He may not agree with the Force, or their philosophy, or well... anything to do with Jedi, but he had never denied that they were reliable and capable fighters, able to take on far more enemies than a normal man. When they chose to fight that was. They seemed to be always be trying to find reasons not to, it was baffling. Orion did not search for trouble (most of the time), but he never hesitated on fighting when it found him. The Jedi were odd birds indeed.

Though Orion was in no danger from the wicked claws (he was wearing armor that could resist a lightsaber for a short time), he took the battle no less seriously. The two companions with him had no such armor on, and the animal's claws would hurt them with their Force or no. Not that they seemed to need his help.

It was over in a very short time between the three of them, though Orion paused for a moment when a horde of Shyrack went flying past his head to land into the opposite wall, and turned to regard Lysander for just a moment. The Jedi held such power, why did they not use that power? For a moment there was a little bit of anger and confusion mixed in with the natural emotions of battle. Why were they out there fighting, dying, when the Jedi held such power?

Bah, he'd never understand Jedi. He took out a blade and wiped the blood off of his beskad, sliding it back into it's sheath after making sure blood wouldn't gum up the blade. Orion had fought creatures before, some far more dangerous, and yet he was far more wary of these than any other he had met, including the Zakkeg. With even that creature, they were just animals: their motives were no darker than survival. These, though, just felt wrong, horribly wrong like putting your foot in a boot expecting nothing, and finding a spider inside.

Orion would be glad to be rid of this place.

"Well that was a fun little warm up." The uncomfortable feeling of the place did not show in his tone of voice or body language, despite it no doubt being obvious to the Jedi by now. By the Manda, he hated Korriban.

"Are there many of these creatures in these caves? They're easy to dispatch, but they will slow us down in large numbers, and your archivist may not have time. If she's still alive."

Orion touched the side of his helmet and activated the thermal vision of his HUD, scanning the surrounding areas for heat blooms or signatures. He had heard that the Jedi could sense beings nearby, but Orion saw no point in placing too much in their highly vaunted 'skills'.

"I should lead the way if you tell me where to go. See, this heavy stuff can be handy."

((Does his thermal vision pick up anything unusual? Any heat blooms to avoid?))