Exploring the Ruins

Chapter V | Episode II | 10/18/2019

“Why are you here?” The words came out slowly, drawn out, and in a horrible, husky, whisper-like hiss. And yet, the man’s… was that the right word for this creature? No, it looked more like a husk of something. That’s the word Twil would settle on. The husk’s mouth never moved. The words reverberated in his head, dripping with malice. While it’s obvious the husk was not speaking in the normal sense. It was clear, based on their reactions that the others heard the menacing question as well.

Still stuck in some sort of invisible stasis field, Twil could not move. But he found he was still able to talk. Hopefully, that’s all he would need to do. Even though the creature standing before them hardly looked like it was susceptible to reason.

“Hello!” Twil called out in greeting, “We were sent here by Master Suljo Warde.” Twil lied, hoping evoking the old Jedi’s name might gain him some trust with the husk, or at the very least, instill some amount of intrigue.

Unfortunately, it seemed to do nothing of the sort, nothing at all. The husk simply stood where he had appeared. Lightsaber in one hand, blaster in another.

“Why are you here?” The voice rasped again, somehow sounding even more menacing and ancient than the last time.

“We’ve been sent here to heal this place.” Twil replied, hoping that this half-truth might bring about better results.

The husk showed no change in his face. If Twil weren’t hearing the voice in his head, he’d almost think the creature wasn’t even aware of their presence. Sure enough, though, the voice continued.

“How did you find this place?” It hissed, slowly enunciating every word.

“A compass showed us the way.” Twil answered.

“Show me.” The voice said.

Before Twil could respond further, he felt the uncomfortable tight grip of the stasis field suddenly vanish. He and the others were finally free of whatever it was that was holding them.

Hesitantly, the Zeltron pulled out the compass, and held it outwards, being sure to keep a firm grip on it. Knowing what to expect, he felt the pull of the Force, attempting to wrench the compass from his hand. Acting quickly, he applied his own power to the pull, keeping the compass from moving. For the first time since meeting the thing, the husk’s face reacted, his ancient looking lips pulled down, ever so slightly into a frown.

“I’ve seen enough.” Zanroy said, mostly to himself. Igniting his lightsaber, the Human lurched forward, flying through the air. As he closed the gap between himself and the husk, he took two swings of his lightsaber. The first swing nearly cut off the arm holding the erratic red blades, while the second tore into the husk’s chest.

The creature let out a painful, ear splitting wail as it dropped to it’s knees.

Before Zanroy could act again, a blaster shot rang out, hitting the other hand of the husk, causing its own blaster to clatter to the ground.

“Do you yield?” Twil called out from behind.

Zanroy watched the husk warily. It glared up at Zanroy, and suddenly, the air all around him seemed to turn black. As if a pitch black fog had suddenly appeared, enveloping him. It was now Zanroy’s turn to scream in agony as this fog invaded his mind, causing immense amounts of pain.

Mercifully, the fog dissipated and the pain disappeared as suddenly as it had come on, as a second blaster bolt hit the chest of the husk, knocking it to the ground.

Zanroy quickly turned to see Idozzi, still leveling her blaster at the creature, but wearing an undeniable smirk on her face.

“Thanks.” Zanroy muttered.

This was Rath’s chance. If this place was what he feared, then this thing might hold some answers.

Rushing to the husk, Rath produced a syringe from his pack and began to draw blood from the creature. Only, there was a slight problem. The blood wasn’t blood at all. Rath watched with morbid curiosity as the syringe slowly filled sand-like dust.

“What the hell is this thing?” Zanroy muttered behind Rath’s back.

“I don’t know.” Rath answered, genuinely mystified, “But it’s still alive.” He added, watching the creature’s chest slowly rise and fall with shallow breathing.

“Not for long.” Zanroy said, curtly.

Before Rath could even move out of the way, Zanroy’s red blade swished past him, and cut the husk’s head clean off its body. Rath watched, almost expecting the body itself to completely disintegrate into dust, itself. But no such thing happened.

“Okay, so it’s not what I thought it might be…” Rath mused to himself in a barely audible tone, examining the newly acquired vial of dust in his hand.

“Can someone explain what is going on?” Idozzi interrupted his thoughts, “What was that thing?”

“I don’t know…” Rath replied, keeping his eyes on the body. Examining it further only rose more questions. The skin was shallow and frail. As if it really could crumble to dust at the slightest touch. The clothing too, which he just now noticed, was incredibly threadbare. No, more than that, it was ancient. It was a miracle the fabric had held up as long as it had. Even the blaster. That was no modern weapon. Rath could tell immediately. The design dated back centuries, if not millennia.

“This… thing was ancient…” Rath said, loud enough for everyone to hear, but still keeping his eyes on the corpse. “We’re talking thousands of years old.”

“What?” Twil asked, obviously confounded, “How is that possible.”

Rath didn’t answer, but he turned his eyes towards the ancient lightsaber that was now in Zanroy’s hands; the Human was apparently dismantling it.

Twil let out a noise. Rath couldn’t decipher it as a sigh, or a grunt of disgust. But apparently he understood Rath’s current theory.

“Well, I don’t feel anything else nearby.” Twil said, “I think we’re safe to keep moving.”

“Right.” Rath replied getting back to his feet.

As the four continued to explore the ruins, for that is the only word that could possibly be used to describe the place, they found very little. Crumbling walls, floors covered in dust, broken bits of what may have been pottery. The place was devoid of anything of interest.

Nothing of interest, until Rath and Twil reached one side room in particular. In this room, there was a mural depicted on the wall. It was faded, and portions of it had crumbled away over time. But there was enough for Rath to study it. Study it, and remember.

In Rath’s youth, he spent a great deal of time studying in the Ascendancy archives. Of course, he could have spent his whole life studying there and still only grasped a portion of the knowledge held within, but apparently he had spent enough. He recognized the depictions on the mural. But only vaguely.

“They were human, or at the very least, humanoid.” Rath said aloud, causing Twil to jump slightly, after so much silence.

“What?” Twil asked.

“My people have tales of aliens, Humans and the like, that once lived in the Unknown Regions and had dealings with the ancient Chiss. I think this may have been one of those planets that they had settled.”

“Do you know any more?” Twil urged.

Rath glared at the mural and tried desperately to remember. While nothing else about the mural stuck out in Rath’s mind, their recent encounter did spark another memory. “Red lightsabers are usually associated with Sith, aren’t they?”

Twil cocked an eyebrow. “The Sith? You mean, like, the Jedi’s old enemy? I don’t know much about them, just what Elaiza mentioned in training.”

“But they used red blades, like Zanroy’s, right? You were so upset with him when you saw that lightsaber’s color.”

“Well, yeah.” Twil replied, “Red means that someone bled the crystal, gave in to the dark side of the Force to force the crystal into obeying the wielder.”

Rath shook his head, not terribly interested in the finer details of lightsaber creation, at the moment. “So, logically speaking, most Sith would have used red blades?”

“I guess… what does this have to do with anything?” Twil asked.

“Well… It’s just, I’m remembering some other things I’ve read about. Apparently, eons ago, my people allied with the Sith. There was a war, it covered the entire galaxy, and even bled into my Ascendancy.”

“Wait, you worked with the Sith?!” Twil interrupted.

“It was a long time ago Twil.” Rath shook his head, annoyed by the unnecessary overreaction, “Our existing records only mentioned that the Sith were powerful warriors that lived tens of thousands of years ago. That’s all I ever read about them. It wasn’t a topic of interest or importance to us, in the modern era.

“But seeing this. Seeing these ruins. And seeing that anciently old creature, who had wielded a red lightsaber, and was obviously gifted with abilities like you and Zanroy… I’m just trying to connect dots.”

“So, you think this might have been a Sith temple?” Twil clarified.

“It’s just a theory.” Rath replied, “But, if it is. We should be extra cautious. I doubt they’d leave a temple unguarded, even if they did die out centuries ago.”

“Hey, guys?” Idozzi’s voice interrupted, calling to them from another room.

Wasting no time the two rushed to where the voice had originated, only to find Idozzi and Zanroy staring at the skeleton of some sort of creature.

“What was that?” Idozzi asked, on edge.

Rath got closer to examine the skeleton and said, “I don’t know. But let’s be glad it’s dead.”

The creature was quadrupedal, it showed to have dangerously sharp, long claws on each foot. It’s mouth was nothing but a row of razor sharp teeth, with the two canine fangs that stretched out beyond the rest. This was clearly an animal built to kill.

“Well, let’s keep moving.” Zanroy said. There was obviously nothing in this room for them, just like all the others they had explored. The place was barren, dead. Aside form that one encounter when they first set foot in the place, there was nothing left for them here.

As Zanroy continued to explore, he felt the strange sensation of something suddenly slithering up his leg. looking down, he could see some sort of tentacle-like thing wrapping around his leg.

Without thinking, he quickly ignited his lightsaber and sliced at the thing. To his surprise, the tentacle evaporated into a puff of smoke.

“The hell was that?” He muttered.

His murmurings were cut short, though, as he heard Twil shout out to him, “Zanroy!”

He looked up, to see another man, similar to the first, standing before him, wielding a red lightsaber; along with four lizard-like dogs, snarling and baring their wickedly sharp fangs.

Idozzi, Twil, and Rath rushed up the other set of stairs, effectively flanking the other stranger and the lizard-dogs. Although this advantage did not seem to intimidate the man, another “husk” as far as Twil could tell.

Wasting little time, he rushed up the stairs. He would not try to reason with this one. Taking his vibro-rapier, Twil lunged at the nearest dog-like creature. The result was not quite what he was expecting. The blade certainly pierced the creature’s hide. It’s yelp of pain was evidence enough of that, but there was something off about it. The feel of it wasn’t what it should be. Even looking at the creature, it seemed to be phasing in and out of existence.

Before Twil could question the creature’s existence further, however, it retaliated. lunging forward, the creature attempted to take a bite out of the Zeltron. Acting quickly, Twil leaped out of the way, only for a blaster bolt to fly past him, striking the creature directly in it’s open mouth.

Much to Twil’s shock, the creature exploded into a pile of dust the second the blaster bolt made contact. Taking only a fraction of a second to allow surprise, Twil quickly turned around to Idozzi, to say, “Nice shot!”

“Look out Twil!” Rath yelled, hopping over the temporarily prone Zeltron, goo gun in hand.

Twil watched as Rath unleashed a powerful blast of bright green, acidic goo at the husk; who had, apparently, been readying to take a swing of his lightsaber at Twil. The bright green strands roped around the husk, much to its own surprise, causing it to fall to the ground, entangled in the burning, acidic slime.

Zanroy had just finished off one of the lizard-dogs, when he saw the third jump at Rath, it’s claws extended. He could do nothing as the creature tore into the Chiss. He winced slightly as Rath yelled out in pain.

Seeing the lightsaber of the husk, dropped to the ground after being entangle in Rath’s acid, Zanroy quickly reached out with the Force. Igniting it in mid-air, he hurled the blade like a javelin, destroying the creature, while just missing Twil and Rath in the process.

While the lightsaber had certainly done the job, Zanroy couldn’t help but feel like using it was a mistake. There was something off about the blade. Something dark. He felt a similar pull from it as he had from the holocron that had been stuck in R5.

“Twil, don’t touch that lightsaber!” He called out in warning.

“No prob-” Twil had tried to respond, but he was cut off as he suddenly began writhing in pain.

Zanroy wasn’t sure exactly what was happening to the Zeltron, but he had a strong hunch of what was causing it. He turned to face to husk, who was still writhing on the ground himself as the acidic goo lashed around his body continued to burn through him.

With a swing of his own lightsaber, the husk was finished, much like the first.

Beofre anyone could react further, though, the final dog-creature turned towards the far wall and ran, scurrying through a small hole that none of them had seen previously.

“Well. That works too. I guess.” Zanroy muttered to himself.

“Twil?” Rath asked, while busily stitching up his own wounds, grateful for the umpteenth time for the advances in modern medicine, “Mind if I ask you something?”

“What’s up?” Twil replied, recovering from his own injuries.

“Back at my base. You went into a trance. I’ve been around you long enough to know what that means. You saw something. You were convinced that I should accompany you here. What exactly did you see?”

Twil looked lost in thought as he replied, “I honestly don’t really remember. It was like… like when you just wake up from a dream. It’s all crystal clear in that moment, but then the memory fades almost instantly.”

“Great.” Rath said, rolling his eyes.

“I just know… I know that you need to be here. We all do. This is where we’re meant to be.” Twil continued, as if defending his vision.

“Right.” Rath replied sarcastically, getting back to his feet, “Well, there’s obviously nothing here.” He gestured in the immediate vicinity, “This was the last room. There no other rooms to explore. No exits…” He trailed off, though as he looked back towards the hole that the dog had escaped through.

Examining it closely, Rath could tell that there was something to this wall. As if it wasn’t built at the same time as the rest of the temple. It was still old, impossibly so, but there was something off about it.

“Hmm.” He mused, pulling out his multi-goo gun. Setting it to acid once more, he drew out the shape of a hole, large enough for any of them the fit through, and waited as the acid quickly ate away at the old wall.

It did not take long before his work produced results. Beyond the hole, was a large open area, with what looked to be a gigantic crater, or hole of some sort smack dab in the middle of the clearing.

“I think I found something.” He called out to the others.

As the crew all reached the edge of the cavernous hole, they were at a loss of how to proceed. There was a path leading down into it, but it was dangerously steep. And knowing how this group handled environmental hazards in the past (visions of a rickety bridge flashed in his mind), Twil didn’t like their odds.

“Wonder how far down it goes.” Twil wondered aloud.

“Well, one way to find out.” Zanroy replied, producing a glow rod from his pack. Lighting the rod up, he chucked it down the chasm. A short time later, there was a small splashing noise. “Well, we know there’s water at the bottom, at least.”

“Didn’t sound very deep.” Idozzi replied, unconvinced about the safety of simply jumping in.

“Elaiza!” Zanroy shouted suddenly.

“What? Where?!” Twil asked, looking around suddenly.

“No.” Zanroy, said, “I meant. She sent us here. I wonder if she’s been here before. Maybe she’s even here now.”

“Hmm, it’s worth a try.” Twil replied, understanding what Zanroy was hinting at.

Joining together, the Human and Zeltron reached out with the Force, in an attempt to find their old mentor and teacher, Elaiza Ren. They knew here presence, they had been around it for so long, But they also knew that she was no where near this planet at the moment.

However, with their combined power and focus, the two were in fact able to pick up a trace of the old woman. An echo from the past. They could see the woman had been here before.

Knowing how important this was, Twil pushed the vision beyond just his and Zanroy’s minds, so that Rath and Idozzi could see what they saw.

All four watched as they saw a vision, an echo of Elaiza’s past. They watched the old woman follow the steep path downwards, into the chasm below, before finally disappearing out of sight.

As the vision faded, Twil could hear Rath mutter, “Cssah veb…” As he staggered backwards, almost falling, but catching himself in the process.

At the same time, Idozzi exclaimed, “What was that?”

“A Force vision. An echo of the past.” Twil explained, “Elaiza had been here.”

“So, that means we go down.” Zanroy said, but almost formed it as a question.

“Good thing I’ve got rope.” Twil exclaimed happily.

The climb down wasn’t as perilous as Rath had expected. But He was glad they had indeed climbed. The water at the bottom of the chasm barely reached their ankles. If they had jumped, they would most likely not have survived.

But now, there were new problems. They found themselves in a massive, dark cave, with many branching paths. It was anyone’s guess where Elaiza headed to from here. As far as Rath could tell, there was no more temple ruins to see. It was just natural rock formations. Or, as natural as anything could get on this forsaken, dying planet.

As he wandered, exploring the area, he could feel something wet and slimy crawling up his leg. He looked to see a tentacle, thick and slimy, writhing up his right leg, almost reaching his torso, now.

Pulling out his goo gun, he let another shot of concentrated acid fly. The glob hit its mark, sticking to the tentacle close to the base, closer to the ground. The tentacle immediately released the Chiss’s leg, and slithered back down beneath the water. Rath almost thought he saw it go underground.

Suddenly, the entire shallow lake began bubbling and rumbling.

“Uh, guys.” Rath began, “Get out of the water!”

As Rath and the others ran to the closet bit of shore they could find, they watched in anticipation for whatever was hiding under the shallow water, only for them to see hundreds of severed tentacles harmlessly float to the top.

Peering closer, Rath could see bits of green goo on many of the tentacles, and simmering in small pockets all across the now calm surface of the water. Whatever it was that was underneath them, it was apparently destroyed by the acid it brought back with it when it retracted the first tentacle.

“Huh…” Rath said in mild surprise. “That worked well.”

“Well, should we keep moving?” Idozzi asked.

“Yeah.” Zanroy agreed, “I guess one way is as good as another.”

The former bounty hunter led the way, as they headed down one of the cavern’s many paths. It was anyone’s guess as to which path Elaiza might have taken when she had come here. It might have been nice if she’d told him or Twil about this place before, Zanroy thought to himself. If she knew where she was sending them with that compass, she could have at least given them a little preparation, or warning about the dangers they might face.

Zanroy’s irritations were quickly dismissed when he entered into a larger room. It had even more branching paths, and the floor seemed to be covered in some sort of sticky, purple glop.

“One way is as good as another.” He muttered to himself, looking at the branching paths, choosing one at random.

As he continued to lead, he felt something suddenly crawling on his shoulder. As he turned to look, he saw some sort of spider-like creature, which was roughly the size of a Hutt ball, crawling towards his face. Making use of the Force, he quickly grabbed the creature and flung it into the nearest wall. It splattered in an explosion of green goo, not unlike Rath’s preferred weapon of choice.

“The hell was that?” Zanroy asked no one in particular.

“This place just gets better and better.” Rath grumbled.

“Right.” Zanroy said continuing to lead.

He stopped short as he heard Twil let out a slight yelp, but was unconcerned as he saw the Zeltron mimic his own style of bug extermination, hurling the spider into a wall with the Force.

This continued as the four made their way through the winding paths. Someone would feel or see one of the creatures and either Zanroy or Twil would swat it away. It didn’t get any easier when they realizing they were travelling right through the creatures’ next. In every nook and cranny there were piles upon piles of eggs, causing the crew of the Sovereign to walk even more cautiously.

Unfortunately, they found that the entire ordeal was completely unnecessary, as they saw the paths round back towards the way they had entered off in the distance.

“Alright, let’s just get out of here, already. Try another path back at the lake.” Rath said, irritated, heading off to the entrance.

Twil watched as Idozzi and Zanroy followed. He had no intention of staying in this spider nest either, but as he stepped forward, his foot got caught in a particularly thick bit of the strange purple glop on the floor. This caused him to lose his balance and fall backwards, crushing a large number of egg sacs.

The others turned back to gaze at Twil in horror as all around the cavern was filled with the sounds of horrible screeching.

“Run!” Rath shouted, hightailing it out of the cavern, with Idozzi following close behind.

Being closest to the Zeltron, Zanroy reached out a hand and pulled Twil out of the crushed spider eggs, just as the path behind them began to swarm with an uncountable number of the creatures.

“Go, go, go!” Twil shouted, keeping pace just behind Zanroy.

As they reached the exit, back at the shallow lake, Twil turned to see that the spiders were closing in. Cursing under his breath, he pulled out a thermal detonator and chucked it at the cave entrance. Using the Force to guide the bomb, he ensured that the explosion destroyed as many of the bugs as possible, while also closing up that path so none of the surviving creatures, if any did in fact survive, could follow.

“Getting real tired of this place.” Rath said, shaking his head.

Twil just nodded in agreement, feeling extremely agitated himself. Noting the agitation had little to do with the most recent disaster to almost kill them, but rather with the cold, dead feel of the entire planet. Something wasn’t right here. And he didn’t like it one bit.

After exploring the cave further, the crew found yet another path to attempt. This one felt more promising, however, as they soon found evidence of actual architecture once more. Ruined beyond repair, and old beyond comprehension, of course, but architecture nonetheless. In fact, it looked nearly identical to the ruined temple they had been in earlier, Rath noted. He felt sure this path would lead them to where they needed to go. Even though he frustratingly still didn’t know why they were here.

It didn’t take long, though, for Rath to notice a key difference between this place and the ruins above. The walls and floors were covered with incredibly old, dried splotches of blood, and markings. Very familiar markings.

“There was a battle here.” Rath said, pointing out to the lightsbaer cuts in the walls and floors, and scorch marks that could have only been left by blaster bolts. “A massive battle.”

“Do you think it was Elaiza?” Twil asked eagerly.

“I don’t know.” Rath shuddered, thinking of that frail old woman being capable of such carnage. Remembering how she had thrown him against a wall, holding her lightsaber to his throat, in a time that seemed like such a distant past.

Following the path further in to this second set of ruins only showed even more evidence of a battle long since concluded. Wherever they were heading, the fighting worsened. This gave Rath a small semblance of hope that they were indeed on the right track this time. And a small sense of dread, that whatever the previous occupants had been fighting over had already been claimed. Of course, there was only one “prize” in Rath’s mind, and it was not something that could be so easily taken.

As they continued, the crew found themselves in what could only be described as some sort of mausoleum. Thick, heavy, stone sarcophagi lined the walls. The writing on the tombs was in an ancient dialect. Rath did not understand the wording exactly, but it felt reminiscent of ancient texts written to honor the dead.

Ever the opportunist, Zanroy decided to check one of the tombs. Using the power of the Force, he flung the heavy stone lid off the coffin, only to find that the box was completely empty.

“Why would it be empty?” Twil asked.

“Grave robbers?” Rath offered, “This place is ancient. Plenty of time for some thief to find his way here, eventually.”

“But, why bother putting the lid back on?” Twil asked, still perplexed.

“Good question.” Rath replied, unable to provide a logical reason.

Venturing further into the tomb, the crew reached a crossroads, once more. There were multiple paths available to them. And they were at a loss as to where to go.

While Twil and Zanroy debated on which path to take, something caught Rath’s attention out of the corner of his eye. Two objects glowing impossibly bright, in stark contrast to the rest of the dim, dank ruins.

“Guys, do you see that?” He interrupted.

“See what?” Idozzi asked, peering into the darkness.

“That light.” Rath said, pointing towards the source of light.

“Rath, I don’t see anything.” Twil answered.

“Same.” Zanroy replied.

“It’s right down there. How can you not-” He cut his question short as it suddenly donned on him, it wasn’t “light” he was seeing, it was “heat.” His Chiss eyes could see in the infrared spectrum, whereas the rest could not. “Come on. There’s something down this way.” He said, leading them down a side corridor.

“I’m still not seeing anything.” Twil said, as they followed him down the large hallway.

“Just wait.” Rath said. Before he could continue, though, he felt the unmistakable sensation of the floor panel below his feet slide down a solid inch or two. Realizing what had just been triggered, he shouted, “Get down!”

All four reacted instinctively, as they dropped to the ground, just in time to avoid a wall of spikes swing past their heads.

“Everyone alive?” Twil asked, as he carefully got back to his feet.

A chorus of affirmative murmurs followed, as the rest followed suit.

“I will say this, this place keeps ya on your toes.” Twil said, attempting to lighten the mood.

“Yeah, yeah.” Rath replied, annoyed, continuing to lead the group down the hall.

Eventually, the four entered a small room, with two sarcophagi, placed within. On top of the tombs, however, was something much more interesting. And altogether impossible in a place like this. Upon each tomb, sat a light blue kyber crystal.

“No way…” Was all Twil could utter as he stared at the rare gemstones.

“Careful, Twil. It could be another trap.” Zanroy interrupted wearily.

“Hmm.” Twil thought aloud, “Think Elaiza might be able to show us the way?”

Zanroy nodded, understanding immediately. The two joined together again, reaching out with the Force, attempting to pinpoint Elaiza’s energy, attempting to see where she had been and what she had done. It did not take long for their efforts to bare fruit. The two Force users saw the old woman stride into the room. She placed the kyber crystals on the sarcophagi, then walked towards the back wall, and disappeared through it.

“Hmph.” Twil replied, opening his eyes. He walked to the wall that Elaiza had gone through, but found it to be quite sturdy.

Twil and Zanroy had tried a number of things with the wall and the crystals. Nothing seemed to work. They were at a loss of what they were supposed to do.

“We’re obviously on the right track.” Twil complained, “We saw her here.”

“Maybe we’re not supposed to do what she did.” Zanroy offered.

“What do you mean?” Twil asked.

“What if she left these here for us? What if we’re overthinking this?” Zanroy continued.

“What are you talking about?” Rath interrupted, “Would she have even met you when she was here last? Those visions you keep having could be decades old.”

“All I’m saying is that kyber crystals usually only have one use: to make lightsabers.” Zanroy continued, “Maybe she sent us here to make lightsabers.”

“Well, I wouldn’t put it past the psychotic old bat to send us to a dying planet in the Unknown Regions for something so inconsequential.” Rath said, shaking his head.

“Wait, Zanroy, you may be on to something.” Twil said, suddenly excited, “Elaiza said I needed to heal places and artifacts that had been corrupted by the dark side of the Force. What if those crystals are here so we can fix this?” He then produced Elaiza’s lightsaber, which had been corrupted by Zes Codiscious ages ago.

“It’s worth a shot.” Zanroy said, eyeing the wicked blade.

“I think you should do it.” Twil said, offering him the hilt.

Zanroy thought to protest. That saber had indeed been corrupted, and every time he used it, he could feel the power of the dark side flowing through him all the more. But he was a changed man now, and wanted nothing more to do with that evil power. All the more reason for him to be the one to fix it, he supposed.

With a heavy sigh, and a nod, he took the hilt from Twil, and, using the Force, held it in the air, attempting to dismantle the hilt and expose the poisoned crystal within. Try as he might, though, the hilt refused to disassemble properly, it was as if it was fighting him, refusing to be cleansed in any way.

Things weren’t going well. He knew that if he failed, the lightsaber would be beyond repair, but he refused to give up. As he struggled against the crystal, suddenly a pair of mechanical tentacle-like arms appeared before him, and assisted in the dismantling with pinpoint precision. Accuracy he could never have hoped to achieve himself.

Before he could blink, he found the hilt parts in one hand, and the corrupted crystal in the other.

“Thanks, Rath.” Zanroy muttered to the Chiss, who was now standing before him, his extra mechanical arms extended from his pack, gently hovering in the air, almost as if they were watching him.

“Looked like you needed a hand.” Rath said, shrugging.

“Right.” Zanroy replied, dejected. He then turned his attention to the kyber crystal on the sarcophagus. Taking it in hand, he once more called upon the Force to move the pieces together in the air before him.

It was ironic that Rath had so easily dismissed Twil’s earlier lecture of lightsaber building, when it might have come in handy now. He knew nothing of this sort of thing. But Rath did know how to build and how to fix. And just like before, he could tell that Zanroy was struggling. He seemed to be so focused on the crystal, which was glowing even brighter than before, that he seemed to be missing the obvious problems with the actual assembly of the hilt. Rath couldn’t be sure, of course, but he suspected that Zanroy might cause the whole thing to blow up if he continued the way he was going. Not wanting to intrude on what Rath assumed should be a private moment, he decided he had no choice.

Reaching in once more with his mechanical arms, Rath made the quick, vitally necessary adjustments to the structural building of the hilt. And apparently just in time, too. As he finished, Zanroy opened his eyes, and let out a huff.

“I was so close.” The human muttered in a barely audible whisper.

“You okay?” Rath asked, legitimately concerned.

“Fine.” Zanroy replied, shaking his head, “It’s done. Thank you.” With the lightsaber in hand, he held it out towards Twil.

“Whoa, are you sure?” Twil asked.

“It’s yours.” Zanroy said slightly dejected, offering the hilt.

“Thank you.” Twil replied, taking the hilt, cautiously.

“Thank Rath.” Zanroy said, shrugging, and pocketing the other blue crystal for himself. “We’ll still need to do something about the corrupted one though.” He said, handing the corrupted kyner crystal back to Twil.

“Right.” Twil said, pocketing the crystal absentmindedly. He couldn’t take his focus off the lightsaber. He had borrowed Zanroy’s before, but it felt nothing like this. This felt lighter in his hand. As he ignited it, the blade shone brighter. It felt like it had more power to it. It felt… right.

“That’s a good color for you.” Rath remarked, jokingly, eyeing the light blue blade, which was almost a perfect match to the Chiss’s own skin.

Before anyone could say or do anything further, though, the wall that had perplexed them all, suddenly melted away.

As Twil and the others made their way through the new pathway, they found themselves surrounded by a river of lava. And Twil suddenly understood exactly where they were now. When they had arrived at this horrible planet, there was a large, violent gash torn into the planet itself. That was where they were now.

As if that wasn’t enough to put the Zeltron on edge. Among the rivers of lava, across a precarious bridge formed naturally with igneous rock, stood a lone, shadowy figure.