Chapter 26: Following the Trail

Twenty years ago, the Empire and Republic had fought over the remains of Taris, but for long as Mordivai was alive, it had been under Imperial control. That didn't mean that the planet was violence-free however. There were still pockets of stubborn squatters refusing to leave their run-down hovels, and the Rakghoul plague ran rampant in the remote wilds. Only bio-medical researchers, mining companies, and archeologists risked going there now. The deepest ruins of the ancient cities still held treasures, scrap metals, and enough disease to keep the virus specialists busy for decades.

Ciela had to be here searching for another of Lord Zash's elusive artifacts, and so once he arrived on planet, Mordivai went straight to the office of the Imperial Reclamation Service to see if they had any record of her arrival. He approached the first desk he saw, where a woman in uniform was busy typing away at a data terminal.

"Did a Sith come through here recently? Female, with blonde hair?"

"A blonde Sith came in this morning needing directions to Site Besh," the woman answered. "I didn't ask her name."

"Did she ask for any supplies? Take anyone with her?"

"No, my lord. She just mentioned that her job was very time sensitive, so she didn't stay long."

"I need coordinates to this Site Besh."

"Of course, my lord." The woman consulted a terminal and Mordivai slid his datapad across the counter for her to connect to. He waited, listening to the clacking of her keyboard.

She paused and glanced up at him. "One of our outlying sites was recently discovered to be occupied. You should be aware that there may be additional dangers out there besides the usual wildlife."

"What do you mean, 'occupied?'"

"Could be a smuggling operation trying to sneak artifacts out. They're no better than pirates and they'll be armed. Or it could be like what happened last year when we had that holovid crew show up."

Grave diggers and smugglers Mordivai could understand. Plenty of the artifacts here were worth money on the black market. But had she said a holovid crew?

"You had a holovid crew here?"

The woman handed his datapad back to him. "You ever seen the show, 'Ghost Hunters?'"

Mordivai shook his head.

"They flit around our sites trying to get vids of paranormal activity, and we shoo them out because they stomp all over the grounds and disturb the artifacts. Not dangerous, but they are annoying and could disrupt your work."

"This sounds like more of a job for security."

"Yes, my lord, it would be. But the difference is that this site really is haunted. It's why we haven't sent a dig team in ourselves yet. We need someone to deal with the dark side energies there. We've been trying to get Sith help for weeks."

"Haunted? Do you mean that there's a ghost at the site?"

"Sith ghost. Yes, my lord. It's been well documented."

Trust in the dead...the ancestor knows…

Mordivai wondered if this was a sign or just a coincidence. Pursuing this lead, however, would be a detour from his efforts in tracking down Ciela.

"How far away is this haunted site? Is it near Site Besh?"

"It's a bit to the east of Besh. You wouldn't get there until dusk, my lord, assuming you left right now."

Mordivai pondered this. Tracking down Ciela was his immediate concern, but maybe he could check up on the Sith spirit afterwards. "Get me those co-ords too. I'll see if I can check it out."

Deelia beamed at him. "Thank you my lord. We appreciate any help you can spare."

Mordivai went to requisition a speeder. As a Sith he could ask for whatever supplies he needed here with no questions asked. He put the co-ords to Site Besh into the speeder's navigation system and waited while it computed a route. When he grabbed the handlebars to engage the engine, a pressure swelled inside his skull, and he rubbed at his forehead, wondering if the humidity of Taris was going to give him a headache. He gunned the engine again and set the speeder to follow the planned route.

He made it out of the Reclamation outpost, but not much farther when the dull pain in his head returned and settled behind his eyes. The tried to ignore it, but the further he traveled, the worse it got. Coupled with this was a growing sense of unease. Mordivai glanced down at the thick vegetation he flew over, searching with his mind for the presence of wildlife, or Rakghouls, or anything that could have set off this internal alarm, but he found nothing out of the ordinary. Nevertheless, he couldn't shake the feeling of impending doom, and at last he slowed the speeder to a stop and looked around.

He cut the engine and was surprised to find that instead of silence, the forest was filled with a cacophony of sound. Birds screeched and chattered overhead, a multitude of different calls, but none of them familiar. In spite of all the noise, Mordivai realized that his headache had eased. He started up the engine and coasted forward. The headache sprang back to life, along with the feeling of wrongness he had felt earlier.

Mordivai had heard the Jedi speak of the Force guiding one's actions, and he began to wonder if something of deeper meaning was occurring here. He readjusted the navigation controls to point towards the haunted site, instead of site Besh, and let the speeder lead him in that direction. His headache disappeared once again. This site would take him farther into the wilderness of Taris, and he would not be able to make it back in one day. It would pull time away from his goal of tracking down Ciela. But rarely had the Force designed to speak to him so, if that's indeed what this was, which made Mordivai inclined to listen. He stopped to comm Khem. Then he went back to the outpost for more supplies. Ghost site, here I come.

By late afternoon, Mordivai was deeply embedded in the swampy wilderness of Taris. The further he traveled, the more remote and abandoned the terrain became. Three hundred years ago, Taris had been a thriving metropolis, with busy speeder lanes, billions of citizens, and skyscrapers almost as impressive as those on Coruscant or Dromund Kaas. But then it had been demolished from orbit by a Sith lord, the Rakghoul plague had been released, and the planet had become a forlorn ruin. In his mother's time, the Republic had tried cleaning things up and had even encouraged adventurous citizens to relocate here. But the Empire had put a stop to that. Now the Empire was picking the remains of Taris apart like a vulture cleans a carcass, harvesting it for metals and artifacts, and using it for research and military testing. The Empire had outposts all over, tiny pockets of civilization in a primarily uncivilized world. Mordivai knew by the sights around him that he had now entered the true, untouched ruins.

It was beautiful here, in a strange, melancholy way. The setting sun cast rays through the metal bones of ancient towers, and moss and other vegetation dripped from crumbled walls. Swamps had swallowed up some of the buildings, so that they groped out of the ground like sunken ships in a sea of green. Mordivai passed by domed rooftops and fallen debris that looked like strange, man-made mountain ranges of rusted metal. More than once some overly large insect whirred past Mordivai's ear with a deep-throated buzz.

Mordivai knew he was getting closer to his destination because the presence of the Force was here as well. The darkness he had expected - a restless Sith lay entombed here after all - but the light was here as well, something Mordivai had not foreseen. As he drew nearer, Mordivai noticed chunks of fallen statuary, disembodied hands and feet, and blocks that had been carved to represent the smooth drape of robes. Mordivai slid his speeder to a stop.

The Jedi had constructed this place, Mordivai realized. Perhaps it had been a temple at one time, or a small academy. Mordivai stashed his speeder in some nearby brush and continued the rest of the way on foot.

His instincts were on target. Not much farther in, Mordivai discovered signs of recent activity, and eventually he came across a small transport ship parked headfirst into a thicket of vines and brambles. There were no signs of damage, so Mordivai surmised that the ship had not crashed but had been hidden among the vegetation deliberately. It was growing dark, so Mordivai chose his steps carefully, moving as quietly as possible as he approached the site.

There was a building, still in surprisingly good shape with most of the roof intact, even though vines had blanketed all the walls. Mordivai heard voices and decided to climb to get a better overhead view. The vines were rough and thick, but easily held, and the only real concern he had was watching where he placed his hands and feet to minimize debris from breaking loose along the wall. He made it to the top and scrambled over the crumbling roof to peer over the edge of the building's opposite side, careful to cloak his presence in the Force.

Down below a cooking fire flickered, and around it sat four figures. Jedi. Mordivai counted one Cathar, one Togruta, and two humans. By the looks of them, they were two Padawans each with their masters. Murmurings of conversation drifted up, along with the smoke from their fire, but Mordivai couldn't make out any words. They were busy cooking a meal. If he wanted to find this Sith ghost, now would be the time, while they were still preoccupied.

Mordivai crept backwards and maneuvered towards a hole in the building's roof. The gap yawned wide, and inside was only darkness. Mordivai probed within, but felt no presences through the Force, or living ones, anyway. Along the inside edge was a crumbling interior wall that he thought he could find purchase on, so he began the careful climb down.

It took him longer to descend than he had expected. The going was rough, and he couldn't see well enough to know where best to climb until he was already there, which meant he had to reverse direction several times and try again from new angles. He had the urge to simply jump directly down the middle of the hole - the Force would cushion his fall - but without being able to see what was down there, he couldn't risk it. He hung carefully from a ledge and swung his feet, trying to time his next planned fall to land on an outcropping of stone below. He released his hands and dropped.

"Hey!"

Mordivai mistimed the jump and bounced off of something as he fell, knocking his fall further off balance. He felt himself tumbling through the air and then he hit bottom, sliding through some rubble, dinging every sharp root and stone on his way down. When he at last settled to a stop and heard a familiar sound by his ear.

The buzz of a lightsaber.

A/N: Happy Memorial Day to everyone in America this weekend! Bit of a short chapter this week. Thanks for reading and as always, I appreciate your comments!