Chapter 3

Rye and Erickson packed for their trip. They packed flashlights (they're going to a cave), ration bars, and spare clothing; and they made sure to bring their lightsabers. They brought their supplies to a Republic shuttle. They were met by Bando and Ephraim shortly after.

"A shuttle won't be necessary. Only speeders; we will be going to Coruscant's underworld." Bando said.

"What'll be in the underworld?" Ephraim asked. Bando turned his head towards Ephraim; that told Ephraim everything. "Oh."

"There is someone, who has been to the cave, who is living in the underworld. We are going to consult him about the cave's whereabouts."

"You mean you don't know where it is?" Erickson asked.

"I have never been there. And I hope not to. I will help you discover the location; but from there on, I shall go no further. You will find your team on your own." Bando said.

"If we find our team dead, or if we find any of them missing, then you'll hear from us, the Chancellor, and the Emperor." Rye stated.

Bando took a couple steps forward, and looked at Rye dead in the eye. "I," he began, "answer to no one." Then he headed to the speeders.

"I don't trust this guy." Erickson said once Bando was out of earshot.

"But he's our only chance at finding the three." Ephraim said.

"You don't get a say in this, but I don't disagree." Rye told Ephraim, then him and Erickson.

"So what are we having this conversation for?" Ephraim asked.

"Is ther no other alternative?" Erickson asked.

"Bando is the only one who can help us at the moment. So that's a no." Ephraim said.

"So we need him to be our guide?" Erickson asked.

". . . Y-yeah; I thought I just made that clear." Ephraim replied.

"Guys?" Rye spoke up. "Could we?" He asked in a rush.

"Please answer, I'd like to get a move on." Bando said, startling the others a little.

'What's his rush?' Rye thought. "Yes, let's." He subtly agreed before they approached the speeders. Rye and Erickson shared quick concerned glances, but their unsettled feelings didn't go unnoticed by Bando.

"Woah, woah. Slow down. What are you trying to tell me? First off, are you alright? You never hyperventilate." Bennar asked.

'Of all the times he could've brightened up.' Calista thought. "I know who the sith is." Then Bennar calmed down. "I know who your sith is."

"Hold on, my sith?"

"The one you encountered on Kamino."

Bennar stuttered, trying to asses what she said. "W-w-h-hold up. What?"

"I'm pretty sure you heard me."

"Well, w-who is it?"

"We were on our way to the reactor on the Death Star, and a shadowy, black-clothed figure appeared near the orange Zabrak kid. I noticed something familiar about him, according to a description given to me; but I didn't have time to think at the moment. Then we were briefly captured, and the leader of the Empire revealed him to us. Then it came to me. He was the sith you faced on Kamino. And I had no suspicion that he was Ephraim Stromgald."

. . .

"Who?"

"He partners with Rye and Erickson. He has glasses-" She stopped when she saw that Bennar knew who she was talking about.

"Him?" Bennar mouthed the word; Calista nodded. "I was informed he wasn't force-sensitive."

"Well someone did a good job of covering up."

"Who was it that covered up? Was it Ephraim? Or the one who told you he wasn't?"

"Who lead everyone else to believe he wasn't?"

Bennar took this in.

"We need to do something about this before it's too late." Bennar said, hastily exiting the room. "Stay here, Cal. Things could get dangerous."

"Won't you need backup?"

"I took him on once; I'll do it again."

"What are you going to do? He's a good friend of the others."

"When the teen Jedi are recovered, we'll interrogate them." Bennar said before he closed the door behind him.

. . .

'When?'

"Guys?" Rye spoke up. "Could we?" He asked in a rush.

"Please answer, I'd like to get a move on." Bando said, startling the others a little.

"Hold up!" Bennar shouted across the speeder hall. He was aggresively stepping towards Ephraim, and the others bestowed concerned faces. "Is it true?" He growled at Ephraim, drawing out his lightsaber. A thin, yellow blade flowed out from his hilt; surprising everyone else except Bando.

[See chapter on Archive of Our Own to see image(disclaimed) of Bennar's lightsaber hilt]

Ephraim dodged the swing from Bennar, then Rye and Erickson intervened. "Wait your honor!"

"I shall not hesitate to kill this sith."

"Stop. Don't embarrass yourself." Bando said.

"This isn't right." Rye told him.

"What is? Do you expect me to simply arrest him and be all like 'the Senate will decide your fate?' "

"Not, really? Is that how we do things? We haven't had anyone to judge for a long time."

'Keep telling yourself that.' Bennar thought. "Doesn't matter. The sith needs to die."

"No he doesn't, your honor. He's making up for his actions by helping us find our students, his friends." Rye told him.

"His actions are worthy of death; therefore, he will die." He judged, freezing Ephraim. "When you get back, we will finalize it. Understood?"

'Now I know what that Inigo Jedi meant by what he said about him. I'm liking this guy a little less.' Rye thought. "Yes, sir." He mumbled with a shaky tone.

"Be off, then." Bennar said. "And I expect you to come back with them." He added, jabbing a finger at Ephraim, who simply nodded.

"I can't sense him." Aang said.

"Then calm down. You can't detect people easily when you're stressed out." Jo told him.

"Easier said than done. You have no idea of the stuff I've been through. You know I'm not young; you know I used a force-aided machine to make me young again. It's doing stuff to my mind, and it's painful." Aang explained. Then he looked at Jo, who had a seemingly disapproving look on his face. "What? What's that face for?"

"What do you know of my past?"

"As far as you've told me: that Ben Solo caused you to get your robot limbs. I know you've never known your parents; that must be tough."

"Mhm. Let me fill you in a little bit; I find it necessary now to tell you." Jo cleared his throat. "After I lost my limbs and my master, I was taken in by someone who was like my father figure. He took me in and later I got a job at a hospital with him. We were the best team the medical world had ever known."

"That's why you looked like a medical droid."

"Mhm. Then the First Order decided to get a hand in our business, and blew up most of our hospital. And the thugs that made it happen were also responsible for the death of... the one who I would consider my father. That's twice in my life I was traumatized; but I seemed to shake it off well, unrealistically."

"Then was it trauma?"

"Whatever it was, it was pretty scary; and that was just the first three chapters."

"I'd like to hear more, but I get your point. Now I know that it could be worse."

"With that on your mind, do you think you could relax a little? Let's find our friend."

"Maybe. I can't guarantee it."

"Do your best."

"Like I haven't been doing that."

They closed their eyes again and focused.

*snap*

"Got it."

'That was fast.' Jo thought. "Well which way?"

"I was told, wherever we decide."

"I don't think that's a good idea. We should stick together."

"No. If the force tells us to do something, then we need to obey it."

"Aang, remember what-"

"No. I'm following my instinct and the force." Aang finished as he got up and walked away. He used the force to find his path, and he set off. Jo didn't bother moving. He just sat. Then he sighed, and closed his eyes.

Becky summoned both Kaiyah and Ailurah to her quarters on Coruscant.

"What's up this time?" Kaiyah asked.

"Have you ever thought about the possibility that Erk has a doppleganger?" Becky asked.

"Oh. It seemed fairly obvious, but I never talked to him about it."

"Why's that?"

"He once told me that if something seemed really strange about him, that I shouldn't ask about it because it could be too much for my brain to handle."

"Oh do you really believe that?"

"Ephraim knows what he's talking about; if he thinks it could damage me, then I'll believe him."

"Oh Kat if only you knew."

. . .

"Of, what?"

"The human mind is capable of much more than you could imagine. Do you realize the technical marvels of today are only a fraction of what any brain can endure?"

"What do you mean?"

"There's always room for improvement. When one thing is accomplished, there will always be something that gets done to outdo the other. I'm saying: we might be able to figure out a way to do what Ephraim does."

"Hold on, is that really a good idea?" Ailurah asked.

"I sense it's the most efficient path ahead of us. If you end up dying, Kaiyah, not only I, but Ephraim will especially be in despair. If there could be more of us. There wouldn't be a worry about death."

"There might be consequences-"

"You're concerned for a sooner death. If we mirror Ephraim's actions, then we won't have to live a much longer life after he might pass."

"Becky, are you sure this is necessary?"

"Are you sure you'll be ready to live more of a life without him?"

'Woah!' Ailurah thought to herself.

"First off, we'd have to figure out how Ephraim did this. Are you guys with me?"

Becky had given them much to think about. Especially Kaiyah.

The older Republic team picked a speeder and made their way to the entrance of Coruscant's underworld.

"Roscoe, what level are we searching?" Rye asked.

"First one we come to." Bando replied.

They flew down to level 5127 and paid to park. They exited their speeder and looked around.

"You guys been down here often?" Bando asked.

"Not really. We've spent most of our time in the Republic on Kashyyyk." Rye replied as they began walking around.

"Well you should get around more often; get to know the people of the Republic world. Underworlds are filled with beings of many kinds of mindsets; mindsets due to strange or tragic happenings. I guarantee you will learn from them, as I have." Bando said.

"You've been on Coruscant?" Ephraim asked.

"In my many travels with Geoff." Bando paused for a second, then continued. "He and I learned tons about the force, and monuments of force users thanks to people living down here. Monuments like the cave. People-"

"Wait wait wait. The cave is a monument?"

"It was a monument. It was like a temple. As time faded, so did it. But the power within still remains. The cave is like a maze; mazes are carved into the cave to lose those who would strip it of its resources and power. Only those who are force-sensitive can find their way around."

"What do they find their way to?" Rye asked.

"Knowledge."

Rye became unsettled at that moment. "If the knowledge in that cave left people in distorted conditions, then our team is in more danger than we realize. What more do we not know about that place?"

Bando stopped. "Master Jedi, we do not always gain the answers we seek. Your team has been mislead into thinking the Master killed you, and seek revenge. They know they can't match the Master with their own basic powers, so they may seek knowledge on how to defeat him otherwise to avenge you. But of course the force will know as well as we do, that you aren't dead. So they won't gain any answers."

"But how will we defeat him?" Erickson asked.

"We understand him. We get to know him. That's why I'm here." Bando replied. "I know enough about the dark and the light side, so I have the power to defeat him. I can safely access the dark side to uproot him."

"Exar says there's no safe way to do that." Ephraim said.

"You of all people should know otherwise." Bando replied to Ephraim. "You were one of the dark side, yet now you are innocent. How did one manage?" He said somewhat sarcastically.

"It... wasn't, exactly a direct connection to the dark side." Ephraim answered, slightly suspicious.

"Were you or were you not of the dark side?"

Ephraim was curious about the questioning, and his hesitance to answer let Bando know he ought to let it be. They went onward, but Ephraim used his force bond with Rye to communicate with him. 'Rye, did you get all that?'

'I might've missed something. What's on your mind?'

'I have a feeling he knows the answers to what he's asking, and much more. He needs to be questioned as soon as possible.'

'Alright. But know that I got some questions for you as well.'

'Oh I suspected as much.' Ephraim stopped as they found themselves in front of an alley.

"Crazy guy hides in an alleyway. Seen it." Ephraim said.

"If that's what you know, then the stereotype will break." Bando said before they entered the alley. "These people hide from attention, and have to be called out." Bando created a small ball of light, and it expanded and shone throughout the alley.

"That's kinda new." Ephraim said.

They heard rustling around the alley, and looked around. They saw something on the wall moving, but couldn't figure out what. It looked like the wall itself was moving. Then they saw a figure come out from the wall. It looked like he was made of the wall, then he turned mostly invisible. Rye, Erickson, and Ephraim furrowed their brows at this strange figure.

"Yeah, I get that a lot." The figure said.

"I am Bando Roscoe. We are here to learn the location of the cave of secrets."

. . .

"Why?"

"We need answers of our own." Bando replied.

"The cave is a cursed place. They don't give you answers, they give you nightmares."

"They?" Rye wondered.

"The beings inside the cave. They don't take anything lightly."

"What happened to you?"

"People had always frowned upon me for my deformation; I was bullied when I was young, and I was tortured for my wrong looks. I was tired of it, so I learned, and I searched. I searched for a place of which I could isolate myself. When I found that place, I came across the cave. I explored for the sake of isolation. I wanted to disappear. I felt no acceptance anywhere else in the galaxy, so I left. Then I met the beings. I told them I didn't want to be looked at the way I always was; then they did this to me."

"They made you... invisible?" Ephraim asked.

"They made me unseeable." The person replied.

Ephraim sighed. "If I had known you sooner, I could've helped you." He said.

"How so?"

Ephraim focused, then disappeared into a cloud of black smoke, then camouflaged himself into the smoke misting into the alley.

"I heard only a special kind of people could do that."

Ephraim suddenly appeared behind him. "How could you know that?"

Ephraim heard a brief, short yell and saw some trash bins suddenly knock over. "The cave beings told me. I did learn, but it came with this consequence." He then heard.

"There are other ways to literally blend in with the people. I could possibly still help."

"Ephraim." Bando said rather harshly. "Could we continue?" Ephraim remained quiet; Bando continued, "Do you remember where the cave is?"

"I don't. But I know one who might."

"How do you know someone else who has been there? You wanted to isolate yourself, so you made it come across as though you were alone."

"How do you think I learned about that desolate place?"

. . .

"Do you know where he is?"

"I know hardly anything about him, but I think I can help."