Dasturn looked wounded from orbit. The city sprawled beneath their descending ship in a jagged smear of rusted metal and dim lights, towers packed too tightly together as if the planet itself were bracing against collapse. Scars from old bombardments still marred large areas as well as craters never filled, structures never rebuilt. Decades had passed since the war with the Duskborn, yet Dasturn still wore it openly, like a reminder no one had bothered to bury.
Kiera watched it all in silence from the cockpit viewport, her cloak pulled close around her shoulders. This wasn't the Dasturn described in sanitized Republic briefings. This was a world that had been bled dry and left to survive however it could. No wonder they hated Korath.
The ship touched down in a crowded industrial district far from any official spaceport. Steam hissed from broken pipes along the streets, mingling with the smell of fuel and unwashed bodies. Half parted out labour droids worked throughout little shops along the streets, steam and electrical wires hanging out loosely. Crime wasn't hidden here, instead it was openly present, deals conducted in alleyways, armed sentries posted in doorways with little care in the world.
"Stay close," Selyne murmured, already pulling her hood low.
Rynn said nothing. She hadn't spoken much since they entered the system. Kiera had not expected her to come after the news they had learned and yet here she was. She had to admit that having Selyne with them was comforting. Someone who seemed to have intimate knowledge of the planet.
As they moved through the streets, Kiera felt a familiar beep on her wrist link. The tracker had alerted her of its updated location. It pulsed faintly, projecting a hazy regional outline of Dasturn's surface. Not precise, in fact extremely broad, however somewhere on the planet. It had remained stationary for several hours and Kiera worried that maybe they had caught on. However she had to remain hopeful it would generate a lead.
They walked a few steps behind Selyne, the hum of the city filling the space between them. Kiera glanced sideways at Rynn, taking in the tight set of her shoulders, the way her gaze stayed fixed ahead.
"Are you okay?" Kiera asked quietly. "You don't have to be here. Not with... everything."
Rynn scoffed softly without looking at her. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm fine."
Kiera hesitated, then tried again, lowering her voice further. "I just meant—if the Duskborn really are operating again, and knowing what they did—"
"Don't," Rynn cut in.
The sharpness of it caught Kiera off guard. She slowed half a step, turning slightly toward her. "I'm not trying to pry," Kiera said quickly. "I just wanted you to know I—"
"I said drop it," Rynn snapped, finally glancing at her. Her jaw tightened beneath the hood. "You don't know anything about that."
The words weren't shouted, but they hit just as hard. Kiera stopped herself from responding, forcing her expression neutral. After a moment, she nodded once.
"Alright," she said quietly. "I won't push."
They continued on in silence. The unease lingered, settling heavy in Kiera's chest.
The Senate chamber lay at the heart of the city, an aging durasteel hall that had once been magnificent and now felt more like a den of predators than a place of governance. Armed guards lined the walls, their watchful stares following Kiera, Rynn, and Selyne as they were escorted inside.
Selyne slowed at the threshold.
"I'll remain here," she said quietly. "My presence in the chamber won't ease tensions. It may only sharpen them."
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Star Wars - Shadows Of The Outer Rim
Adventure*Original Story* Far in the distant outer rim, during the old republic era, a cluster of planets in the Vandors Reach System face a rising threat. Political corruption, a civil war between two planets and a rising crime syndicate put the milli...
