Finding Belia Dar-who?

[Ophelia Solaris]

Ophelia leaned onto the control panel, staring out the blaster shield at the blue and green planet, her expression sour. “Are you sure?”

“Affirmative. Something is interfering with our instruments, making it impossible to find the temple.”

She turned, regarding him for a moment before spreading her hands apart and shrugging, almost in a submissive motion. “Guess that means we scrub the mission, Commander. I’m sure that when you explain to the Emperor that your instruments could not locate it, he will understand.”

Ophelia started walking away before he called out, “Wait.”

“Yes, Commander?”

She swiveled on her heel, smiling at him. Since her last encounter with Jeluvitas, she realized how much she needed to stop acting like a Kath Hound and relax. It would all unfold in its due time, she only needed to be patient. No more whining, no more childish antics. After all, it was acting pleasantly that threw them all off guard; she could sense their fear escalate with every gentle touch and word she uttered. And she loved it.

“We will continue looking,” he winced, “Shall we go planet-side, ma’am?”

“Why, yes, Commander. I believe that would be the right thing to do—what an intelligent man you are.” She pat him on the shoulder lightly, feeling his muscles tense as she did so. “Notify me immediately when we are topside.”

[Ophelia Solaris]

Steering clear of the Silent Desert, the Rift, and the Abyss of Ruh—three horrid features of the planet that Ophelia wanted absolutely nothing to do with—her crew decided it would be best to land the starship at the abandoned Jedi enclave and go on foot from there. She donned both her cape and the saber that she never truly learned how to use, deciding to take a small team of Imperial officers with her this time instead of going alone as she had on Ambria. There were far more dangers here on Tython, from gundarks to uxibeasts to the general terrain; she was only glad that terentateks were no longer sentient to the planet. Not to mention, she had never been to such a feral planet before—most of the places she had traveled were blossoming capitals and domesticated cities. As the boarding ramp slowly gaped open, she tapped her foot impatiently, her hands on her hips. Now that the time had come, she found herself to be extremely nervous.

Exhaling, she turned to the soldier to her right and nodded once before taking the lead down the ramp. As soon as her feet touched the terrain, her guard disappeared into the foliage, forming the perimeter, only two remaining just behind to her left and right.

“Let’s go, boys.”

[Ophelia Solaris]

Whacking her way through the lush forest foliage was not what she had expected when Darth Jeluvitas’ hand had first come to life, offering her a proposition she couldn’t refuse. Ophelia only hoped that her mission would not come to an early end by an ill-fated Force storm. Every now and then, she would reach out, searching for places where the Force was chaotic and powerful, to confirm there were not any storms nearby. However, they were relatively untouched. Nothing seemed to disturb their trek through the undergrowth, although she had a sinking feeling that they were being watched.

“Stop for a minute.”

She pulled out a sonar mapper from the pack at her waist, a hologram of the terrain springing to life as the machine sent out pulses in search of either large structures or sentient life. On the mapper, she could see small blips where her guard waited in the bushes.

And then a larger blip began pulsing on the reading. Her brow furrowed as it seemed to move towards them. “There’s a hostile about a klick away. Let’s try to avoid it if we can.”