[Lunda Mae]

She rolled her eyes and said, “I am still here, and obviously the Council trusts us if they are not stopping her. So maybe she is the one that should recognize that instead of thinking they’re doing nothing.”

“But whatever, here I am.”

[Baesal Zyn]

"So...what is the plan, what do we need to prepare and how long do we have?"

She got her pad out ready to write everything down

[Layne Hoshin]

"The plan is my ship will transport Dr.Rexla, myself, and two others to the clearing nearest the facility. From there, a ground vehicle supplied by the doctor will take us to the facility. We could squeeze another in but it'd be a very tight fit I'm told. Fortunately, that's where the back-up comes in. I've secured the services of some members of the resistance. They have their own ship and transport. If they hang back as the main team comes in, they can maybe stealth in and provide a surprise for anyone thinking they're the ones springing a trap on us. One of you could hang out with them if the tight fit in the ground vehicle doesn't appeal. Of course, if I'm wrong and we don't need it, they'd be wasting their time but otherwise they'd get to play the hero in our time of need."

[Lunda Mae]

Lunda asked, "So who is trying to lay out a trap for us, or is this just general paranoia?"

"More importantly do you think Resistance fighters are ready to deal with someone who might be interested in Dark Side rituals?"

[Layne Hoshin]

"I don't know. The doctor maybe. Or Baras. I've felt him through the Force. Or the Wrath you saw."

She shrugged.

"The resistance fighters are just there for everything goes to shit. Ideally they stay out of things entirely. But if things go truly badly, a little extra firepower could make all the difference. Or an escape route."

[Baesal Zyn]

Baesal pondered the question

"Perhaps a jedi should be with the backup as a support in case of Dark Side shenanigans?"

[Tethys Carrack]

Tethys stays in the background, skimming through the contents of the datapad, as the padawans argue. Bickering (or, um, ‘deliberating’) about the will of the Force and the right course of action is a time-honored Jedi tradition, after all. It would hardly be fair to deny it to them. On this point, though, she has something to say that hasn’t been covered already.

“There is at least one dangerous character on-planet—a human calling himself Darius and claiming to be a Jedi. The Archives had no record of anyone by his name and description, but he has to have come by his lightsabers somehow. And his bad temper.” She sets the datapad down, tucking her hands back into the capacious pockets of her robe. “I can’t say who he really is or what he’s here for, but when you say there’s something here to interest the Sith... it would be foolish not to suspect he might turn up.”

[Niall Organa]

Niall listened to all of this, his expression steady, but his eyes wide. This was all a bit beyond him.

He cleared his throat. "Is there anything you think the Republic military can do to assist? Jedi matters and military matters are often separate, but not if this is as important as you say."

[Layne Hoshin]

"Too dangerous," she said, waving the suggestion away. "The more people know about this, the greater the risk someone gets in there and either gets themselves corrupted, killed by some left-over experiment, or simply runs off with something they don't understand so they can sell it on the black market. Not to mention the general panic that might be caused if people knew what the Emperor was planning. Keeping the numbers low means fewer risks and unforeseen consequences."

She looked at Tethys. "I have no doubt there are various Sith operatives on Bankor who would take an interest in this place. If they knew it exised. I don't think we really need to worry about every random Sith on the planet popping in to say hello. Knowledge of this place should be far beyond the means of any ordinary Sith to acquire. I only know about it because I assaulted a hidden stronghold belonging to the Voice of the Emperor, whom nobody had seen or heard from in years before I came along. And even then I got extraordinarily lucky in finding this info. If we end up facing any Sith, they're going to be rather special. Or very trusted agents of someone exceptionally powerful."

[Tethys Carrack]

Tethys nods. "What you've told us so far suggests the Sith Emperor already possesses whatever knowledge this place might be hiding, and we're just playing catch-up. So the plan is to get in, get the data, and get out without engaging? To the greatest extent possible, of course."

[Layne Hoshin]

"The place needs a thorough going-over. I don't think we can just get in and get out. And there could be other dangerous things there that we can't just leave for someone else to stumble upon."

[Tethys Carrack]

"If this trap you suspect is sprung once we've seen what we came to see, there's no need to stand and fight, though. Your Resistance contacts might not be up to a last stand against a party of Sith, but they should be able to handle an evac."

[Layne Hoshin]

"That depends entirely on what and who we're facing, and the circumstances. There's too many possibilities to decide that right now."

[Baesal Zyn]

''You went to the Voice's hidey hole, right?'' she said to Layne ''What was the defenses there? Maybe we can get an idea''

[Lunda Mae]

“I doubt we are going to have time for a thorough going over, which takes people with specialized skills. Tethys is right we get the information whatever it is and get out of there, if possible make it so no one else can ever get in there,” Lunda said to the group.

“The Emperor already knows whatever he needs to knows from here. We are playing catch up, at best. At worst we are going down a path best forgotten.”

“I say we go with Tethys’ plan, get in and out. The more time we spend in there the worse it will be, that place must steeped in the dark side. I don’t care where you were trained we are not prepared for that kind of evil. Once we do this, we get the information to the Council. That’s the only way I am helping, Tethys, you have to agree that is the right course,” she said looking to her superior.

[Layne Hoshin]

"You're free to walk away," she said, looking at Lunda. "If the mere thought of touching the Dark side frightens you so much, you should leave and hide somewhere you'll never ever have to face it. The rest of us can handle it so you don't have to get your hands dirty. But if you want to make a difference... if you want to learn how to face evil... then you can't turn away from it."

She pulled out the blade of woe... an ancient and broken blade, little more than a hilt with a dark metal shard sticking out of it, and placed it on the table. Perhaps the Jedi present might feel the dark side energy it was soaked in.

"I've been in constant contact with the Dark side since Korriban. It causes a strain. But it can be done without giving up the light. And yes, the place we're going will be much worse than this. But a child afraid of falling will *never* learn to walk. And anyone who fears the dark so much that they'll run from it, will never be able to shine a light there."

She paused a moment, taking the blade and strapping it to her side again.

"We don't know what we'll find inside. Maybe it *is* as simple as you want it to be. Maybe we can get in, get out, and be done with it before nuking the place from orbit. Or maybe we can't. We won't know until we see for ourselves. It makes no sense to commit to either path right now. We'll figure it out when we get there."

She shrugged. "As for whatever we end up with, *of course* that information goes to the council."

Layne watched Lunda, briefly considering letting her get a reply in first but deciding instead to turn to Baesal and her question. Lunda can take the time to consider what Layne had said.

"Well, there were seperate internal security system, but we somehow managed to disable most of them. Except for powerful lightsaber equipped droids. Barely survived, somehow. Not that the Voice herself couldn't murder us all just by looking at us, when she finally showed up. She was far more powerful than any Darth, and I can only imagine the emperor being far more powerful still. Of course, she's not a threat anymore, I think."

[Lunda Mae]

“I didn’t say run, I said we should get in and out. As long as the information gets to the Council I am in, I don’t like acting without their knowledge that is how we lose our way,” she responded.

“I feel better knowing the Jedi Council will be involved.”

[Tethys Carrack]

"None of us want to spend longer in this place than is absolutely necessary," Tethys says, with what she hopes is a reassuring half-smile at Lunda. 'Reassuring' is not exactly one of her core competencies, but sometimes it works. "We'll treat it the same as any other venture that could be dangerous. One plan for optimal circumstances, contingencies for others."

Turning back to Layne, she asks, "How big is this facility, and how old? We may as well consider our search plan in advance, even if we can't know exactly what we will find. Is there anything you remember about this... ritual you saw on Korriban that gives some clue about what we should look for?"

She gives the broken blade on the table a look that suggests she's just eaten something unpleasant but is too polite to spit it out. "And what is that thing?"

[Layne Hoshin]

"It's big. Taking all the structures into account, we're looking at several square kilometers. But we're probably only interested in the central pyramid structure. As for how old, I don't know precisely."

She looked down at the broken blade, now back at her hip instead of the table. "This is nothing. Just an old souvenir I showed to prove a point."

There was a shrug before moving on. "And as for the ritual. I doubt it's the exact same ritual. Darth Zash used it to strengthen her connection to the force by draining the life out of one of our fellow students. Unbeknownst to her, it turned him into a force shade, which attacked me in the desert before telling me everything and begging me to end its suffering. If you want more details on how the ritual itself worked though, you're better off asking someone else."

She glanced toward Baesal.

[Baesal Zyn]

Baesal caught the glare and raised her shoulders as a show of ignorance

''She did not explain how she did it...but it seems that a conduit is needed.''

She taps her finger on her pad

''I suggest we go there at the earliest time possible''

[Layne Hoshin]

"Agreed. That just leaves the matter of who sticks with the backup."