3 B.B.Y. – Vassek
***
The crew of the Pride of the Underworld were forced to fly through both the massive Vassek asteroid field, as well as the planets dense, cloudy atmosphere to finally arrive at their mysterious destination. Lyonel glanced out of the cockpit viewport, noting the craggily, pink landscape covered with a layer of soupy mist. As Muroi set the Pride down, Bannamu and Kroe gathered all of their necessities.
The rear ramp was lowered and Muroi pulled out torches for everyone, passing them around. “Bannamu will be in charge of the map, and I’ll handle the journal,” he said, tossing a bag to Lyonel. “You’re going to carry the lightsabers once we get them, since you’re clearly the strongest, and Kroe just gets to shoot at things like he always does.” The Drabatan gave Muroi a glance of disapproval and patted his gun, “I don’t like you giving the orders, fangs, but I suppose I can get behind that.”
They departed from the ship, and glanced around at the pink mineral cliffs spread out in every direction. Bannamu pointed towards one of the nearby mountainous rock walls, “the map says the entrance to the temple is there.”
“This does not seem like a location the Jedi would build one of their temples?” Lyonel said, evaluating the thick mist and dim light encompassing their surroundings. The Jedi may have been a fanatical and historically corrupt institution, but they still put value into their connection with “the light.” And this world was anything but light.
“We’re not here to ask questions,” Muroi said, reading over the journal as the group made their way along the base of the cliff wall, careful not to stumble and fall into the seemingly bottomless, misty void that filled the cracks near their feet. Lyonel wondered if there was water at the bottom, similar to Glee Anslem, and shuddered at the horrific possibility.
They walked past a short outcrop in the rocky wall and Bannamu stopped, crumpling up the map. “We’re here…”
He turned to his left and took a step back as they all realized there was an enormous, ornate doorway tucked away in the mountainside, it’s 30 meter high frame sporting a smaller door in the center agape just enough for humanoid-sized beings to enter.
The group looked at each other with nervousness, not know what manner of monster needed a door so large to access this supposed Jedi temple. Muroi started walking towards the opening, “you guys coming or what?” Kroe gripped his blaster slightly tighter and flashed a grin of nervous anticipation towards Lyonel, who just stared in awe at the gothic architecture. Never before had he seen a structure so intimidatingly foreboding, and he knew from experience that something was going to go wrong before long. He needed to keep a keen eye out if he wanted to live long enough to see his mother one last time. Why he had ever agreed to this in the first place, he now had no idea.
As the group began to ingress into the temple, they were met with a dark brown interior and a staircase that spiraled down into the unknown. There was even less light filling the bowels of the temple than there had been outside under the opaque skies. Fortunately, there were bulbous lights dotting the interior ceiling periodically, illuminating just enough of the path for them to walk without obstruction.
The stairs seemed to wind downwards forever, and Kroe groaned in boredom. “Just a little further,” Bannamu said as they continued their descent and Muroi flipped on his light to begin reading the first segment of the most recent journal entry.
“It looks like Tabbane wandered for a while before he was able to locate the ‘lightsaber storage room,’” he said, “but he detailed a shortcut he found on his way back. We just need to take a right at the end of the stairs and follow that path until we pass the statues.”
Lyonel still had a strange suspicion as he looked at the luminescent lighting. Why was there still power flowing in what was clearly an aging, rundown temple? And furthermore, how had Bannamu known they were almost at the bottom? It could have been intuition, or it could have been because he’d already been here before.
As Bannamu began walking down the passageway to their right, Lyonel grabbed both Kroe and Muroi on the arm. “I want to give your friend the benefit of the doubt here, but something isn’t adding up. Be wary of traps, he could be leading us into something.”
Muroi just laughed, “you’ve got to be kidding, Bannamu wouldn’t hurt a fly. He’s a Patrolian Have you seen how small and weak they are? What I’m more scared of is this “apparition” that appears in Kyp Tabbane’s journal. It would seem we’re not alone down here.”
‘Kroe looked from one furry man to the other and smiled. “Hey, either way, I get to kill something. I wasn’t exactly satisfied with those past few jobs over in the Roche belt… The last satisfying kill I’ve gotten was probably that Bivall doctor.”
Muroi scoffed and followed Bannamu, “you’re too cautious, Lyonel. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but for once, you should be more like Kroe. Just shut your brain off and let your instincts carry you.”
Lyonel pondered his Shistavanen partner’s words, but knew it would be hard to shake the thought of his mother from his head. It was already causing him to overthink things, and he began to wish his father had just not have contacted him at all. At least then he wouldn’t be so distracted, and could focus entirely on the more pressing matters at hand. He glanced down at the holopad clipped to his belt, but as he thought, there had not yet been a reply.
As they continued down the dimly lit corridor, they passed something that caught Kroe’s attention. He used the butt of his rifle to prod a corpse on the ground. It’s helmet rolled off revealing the skull of a gangly corpse.
“Storm troopers?” the Drabatan asked.
Lyonel examined the two armored bodies on the floor as Bannamu and Muroi kept walking. “No, these were a Republic Clone Trooper,” he said, realizing that Kroe’s people had not participated in the Clone Wars. He glanced around at the dark interior and gothic design of the structure, “but this is no Jedi or Republic installation.”
“I think we’re almost to those statues,” Muroi yelled back down the hall to the two mercenaries. Kroe stood up and started to progress again, but Lyonel took one more glance at the corpses. “Hey Muroi, did Tabbane mention anything about…”
Lyonel’s words trailed off as Muroi’s flashlight illuminated a set of very impressive statues. They depicted some kind of tall, warrior-like creature featured in different poses. There was one especially large bust in the middle of the room that depicted the creature holding up the severed head of another of it’s kind.
“Did Tabbane mention what? About the statues?” Muroi asked, responding to Lyonel, “if that’s what you wanted to know, then nothing much. He says there’s a bunch of different rooms full of them, but the one we’re looking for will have this massive effigy in the middle, so I guess we’re on the right track.”
“They’re Kaleesh,” Bannamu said examining the structure more closely and the two hairy mercenaries looked at him. He shrugged in defense, “what? I’m a treasure hunter, I know my history. These statues are still relatively new as far as artifacts go. In fact, this whole place reminds me of pseudo-modern Kaleesh architecture.”
Lyonel had to give the small Patrolian credit. Maybe he really was just genuinely interested in the artifacts after all. He wondered if they were getting close to their destination and leaned over to try and glance in Tabbane’s notebook. At that moment, however, Muroi closed it tightly and looked over at his Togorian companion, “I know I was joking about it earlier, but are you good?”
Lyonel glanced over at Bannamu who seemed enamored with the statues, prodding the back of one. “I’m only telling you this because I suppose you will need to know eventually,” Lyonel whispered to his Shistavanen teammate, “but I have some urgent business I need to deal with back on Togoria. My mother… she has fallen ill and I want to be by her side. I’m sorry if I seem distracted, but I am simply pondering some things.”
Lyonel knew Muroi’s powerful eyes allowed him to see in even the dimmest of light, and he didn’t want to give away just how much the current situation was beginning to eat away at him through his facial expressions. But the Shistavanen must have caught a glimpse, as his shoulders fell and he seemed to become distraught.
“Listen, man, I’m sorry to hear that.”
Lyonel raised his head and started to look around for Kroe, “don’t worry about me, you have no lot in my personal matters.”
Muroi shook his head, “no, I really am sorry. I wish I things could have turned out differently for you.”
Lyonel looked back at the wolfman, “just don’t mention it to Kroe yet. He may not even care, but I’m just not entirely sure how he will handle it. Speaking of Kroe…?”
Suddenly they heard the sound of grinding stone coming from behind the statue, in the same location where Bannamu had been crouched, and the floor beneath them rumbled and shifted. As it started to drop away, Muroi and Lyonel both instinctively leapt for the room’s central statue. In almost an instant, the entire floor of the ornate chamber had retracted, revealing some sort of lava pit far below.
“Hey, you guys have to see this-” Kroe said running in from the next room, his massive mouth dropping open. “What happened?”
Bannamu edged his way over to the door. “It was an accident! I didn’t mean it, I promise!” he yelled out to them, throwing his arms up in protest before running down the hall past Kroe. “Wait, where- what’d I miss?”
“Move, so we can jump across,” Lyonel barked at Kroe, who stepped back away from the doorway. Fortunately, Lyonel and Muroi both had incredibly strong leg muscles and inverted knees, allowing them to leap the three meter gap into the doorway with relative ease.
“Now I know how you feel every time you miss the excitement,” Kroe said patting the panting Muroi on the head. “Yeah…,” the wolfman said shaking the Drabatan’s hand away and glancing around, still clearly distraught, “where did Bannamu go? That little scamp.”
Kroe laughed unbothered, “What’s he gonna do, steal all the lightsabers? We have the bag, and I bet he isn’t even strong enough to hold more than a few in his grubby little hands.”
“I knew there was something off, I shouldn’t have let my guard down,” Lyonel said, mentally berating himself. “He’s been here before, he knows the layout. Is there any reason he would be trying to kill you, Muroi, or any of us for that matter?”
The Shistavanen paused his frantic movements to look down at his paws, “I mean, he’s not the most agreeable person in the world, but we did have a deal…”
“Not to speed up your deductions,” Kroe said, “but as long as we still have the book, I don’t think we have to worry. We can nab the loot with no problem. Plus, I want to know what Tabbane says about what’s in the next room?”
“I guess you’re right…” Muroi said, clutching the leather journal tight to his side.
Now curious about what Kroe had found when he had wandered off, the trio made their way down the short hall and into the next chamber. This room was much larger than the rest, and featured a number of doors lining it’s cylindrical wall. In the center of the room was the skeleton of one of the largest creatures Lyonel had ever seen.
“What do you think it could be?” he asked, walking close and noticing another old corpse wearing the same armor as the other clones. Kroe just shrugged and pointed his rifle at it, pretending to shoot it in the head. “We have monsters this size back on Pipida, too. Maybe this is what’s haunting the halls and had Tabbane so spooked,” he said, laughing.
Muroi did not seemed amused, and he looked down, flipping trough the book. Lyonel did not know why their companion had suddenly grown so agitated. Did he know something about Bannamu that they did not? Were they in imminent danger?
“We need to keep moving, there’s one more chamber up ahead before we reach what Tabbane called ‘the vault.'”
Kroe was now on top of the massive beast’s remains, and slid down, weapon still in hand. “I thought Lyonel wasn’t the fun one of the group, but what’s gotten into you, buddy? In fact, what’s gotten into both of you?”
Lyonel looked at Muroi and then back down at Kroe, giving him a reassuring, toothy smile. “There’s nothing wrong, but this place is keeping us on edge. I admire your unwavering attitude, but now that we know this place is lined with traps, it is best we all stay cautious.”
Kroe’s smile quickly faded and he grunted, “I was just starting to have fun, too. You guys better not be keeping any secrets.
You know I can be cautious, Lyonel, but I’m never going to freeze up. If Bannamu or anyone else tries anything funny, I’m shooting them on sight. Then you and wolfy won’t have anything left to worry about.”
Lyonel just continued to grin, “of course not.” His worries still weren’t entirely in this place, however, and he kept getting a sinking feeling every time he tried to think about how to tell Kroe he was going to be taking a leave of absence. Usually Lyonel was great at planning, but this was something he just could not force himself to think about in advance. He knew if Muroi and Kroe took up work on the other side of the galaxy, or he ended up having to stay and support his father or sister, this may be their last mission together. And that sense of finality was making Lyonel sick.
The group followed Muroi through the passage indicated by the journal, and after traversing yet another dimly illuminated hallway, they reached a door. Lyonel realized this was the first closed door they had encountered, and wondered if Bannamu had set a trap for them behind it. “Be careful,” he said, pointing Muroi towards the door controls. He and the Shistavanen both drew their blaster pistols and leaned up against the wall.
Muroi pressed the controls and the door slid open, revealing a room that was actually fully illuminated for once. Lining the inside of the room were racks upon racks of droid parts. Lyonel didn’t recognize the model, but they had a very menacing appearance to them. “Maybe we were wrong? It would appear that this was once a CIS installation,” he said glancing around, prepared for Bannamu to jump out at any moment. “The dead clones would seem to add credibility to that.”
They all had their blasters drawn as they made their way through the storage room, passing through the droid fragments suspended by cables from the ceiling. They stopped at the door on the other end.
“This is the room,” Muroi said, sniffing the air intensely, “I don’t smell Bannamu anywhere.”
Lyonel knew if anyone was able to detect the smelly Patrolian criminal, it was Muroi and his extraordinarily keen senses. “Just in case he is inside, we will file in one at a time. Kroe, you lead, and try to hit him in the leg on sight.”
Kroe winked at Lyonel, “in the leg… got it.”
He looked at Muroi, “you cover this door the moment we get in. If the room is empty, I will begin to grab the lightsabers, and if there’s another door on the opposite end of the room, Kroe will need to cover it. Once we have the sabers, I’ll cover the door and you can chart us a new path. I doubt we’ll be able to make it back through the statue room. We just need to hurry, because I…” He trailed off, and almost thought about glancing back down at his holopad again.
“Because you what?” Kroe asked, both curious and confused.
Lyonel sighed, “I’ll tell you in a moment. First, we need to clear this room.”
This time, Lyonel punched the door controls and Kroe rushed in, checking the room for any form of a threat. He ran to the opposite end where there was another door, this one wedged ajar.
“Cover me,” Lyonel said to Muroi as he left the Shistavanen by the door to collect their prize. Laid out across two tables were rows and rows of lightsabers, while a third table in the center of the room was covered in strange strands of hair. The Patrolian had been telling the truth after all.
“I guess Bannamu was right, too bad…” Lyonel looked down towards the corner of the room and noticed a dead body, much fresher than the others, and still holding a lightsaber tightly in his lap.
“Is that-“
At that moment, Bannamu jumped out from behind one of the large, spherical light fixtures hanging on the wall and tackled Kroe to the ground, knocking his large blaster aside.
“Kyp Tabbane? Yeah…” Muroi said as Lyonel spun around to face him.
“But it can’t be, unless…”
“Unless what? Unless I lied?”
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