Now, it is time to begin the next chapter. For those who have forgotten, the Moshae showed Kota and Ahsoka the Jedi Holocron the Angara found, and after reviewing its contents, the two Jedi request to see where it was found, and Ryder offers to take the Tempest with them.
So now, we're going to follow them in that regard. However, other forces are still at work, and we're going to get hints of what they're up to. But for now, let's just dive right in, shall we?
Disclaimer: I do not own anything that appears in this story.
Perhaps bringing the entire ground team on the Tempest to a concealed Remnant bunker on Eos was an exercise in overkill, but if their time in Heleus had taught them anything, it was that it was better to hope for the best, and be prepared for the worst.
The Tempest had landed a short distance from the bunker in question, where the Moshae guided them all to. There were a number of Angaran Resistance members present, but the presence of the Moshae and Jaal meant there was no trouble.
Of course, given how the crew of the Tempest were known to have been instrumental in helping everyone across the Cluster, it wasn't like they would have been barred off for long anyway.
Regardless, the two Jedi had more pressing things on their mind, like figuring just what was so important here that Master Archaezis fought and apparently died here for. It clearly had something to do with the Perversion, but beyond that, they couldn't tell any more specifics.
"Anything?" Jaal asked as the two Jedi stretched out with the Force.
"Nothing that stands out." Ahsoka said after a moment, shaking her head in frustration. "I hope this isn't just a dead end."
"It's unlikely." Kota said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "There's definitely something here. Something worth protecting."
"That is definitely true." The Moshae spoke up as she directed the gathering deeper into the bunker. "And it was something the Jardaan themselves were very much interested in."
The bunker led down to what seemed to be yet another research laboratory, though given the amount of Remnant constructs that had been left to guard it, there was something that they had considered important to guard, either from someone taking it or the subjects being unleashed.
The lab in question contained creatures that were apparently artificially created, yet weren't creatures that hadn't been created by the Jardaan themselves. There were two in the lab so far, and they were about as different as they could be.
"So, I'm guessing none of these creatures are familiar to you?" Jaal asked as they looked over the pods.
"I've never seen them before." Ahsoka shook her head. "We could ask Captain Neral and the Imperials, but I think they'll have the same response."
"If I may ask, what exactly is so special about them?" Kota said, genuine curiousity in his voice, causing the Moshae and SAM (who had been given access to the research) to start explaining.
The first was a pink floating creature that looked like a cross between a Hanar and one of those gas bag creatures from the Milky Way world of Eden Prime. It had six eyes and a few tentacles on its body, but that wasn't what made it so special.
"Then what does?" Peebee asked.
"It would be easier to simply show you." SAM said as a holoscreen popped up.
It showed the creature in question floating around a few Remnant structures, looking like it was on Elaaden given the landscape. A piece of Remnant technology lay broken in the sand, before the creature picked it up in one of its tentacles and inspected it.
After a brief moment of looking it over, what the creature did next stunned the entire group. In a movement that was almost too fast to see, the creature's tentacles split into thousands of microscopic cilia that took the Remnant structure apart and put it back together as if it was brand new.
Chirping cutely, the pink creature floated onward to find more technology to fix, before SAM paused the video feed for everyone. Vetra spoke what was on everyone's mind at that point.
"Well, that thing is both adorable and amazing." The turian said. "Are we sure we can't let it out? It would be useful on the Nexus."
"Discussions about that are ongoing." The Moshae admitted. "It would certainly be far safer than releasing the other one. The Jardaan ensured its stasis field has an internal power supply in the event of a power failure."
"They must really not have wanted it to get loose." Liam noted, as the group turned to the pod in question.
It contained what vaguely looked like an enlarged jellyfish, only minus the tentacles underneath and replaced with four mandibles instead. The creature's membrane was clear wth a greenish tint, and three red nuclei could be seen inside.
"What could be so dangerous about this thing?" Drack snorted dismissively.
"Besides the fact that it can apparently withstand starship mounted weaponry and was classified by the Jardaan as a bioweapon of mass destruction?" SAM asked rhetorically, drawing everyone up short. "Once again, it would be easier just to show you."
Another screen appeared, this time showing the creature in the lush jungles of Havarl. It chirpped cutely, before spotting one of the creatures who would become wraiths and lunged toward it with a skreeing sound.
Everyone's eyes went wide as the creature latched on to the larger being which roared in agony. The roar abruptly cut out as all the color drained from it, leaving the larger creature as a frozen husk.
The creature floated by several similar husks of animals, all frozen in either fear or terror before coming across an Eiroch. The larger being roared and leapt at the floater with its mouth open, swallowing it whole.
This proved to be a mistake as the Eiroch roared in agony before being drained of color itself, becoming another husk. The jellyfish like creature broke out of the husk, which promptly disintegrated, before flying off to search for more food.
"Jesus Christ." Scott muttered as the video paused. "I can see why the Jardaan wanted that thing caged."
"I'm surprised they didn't put it down." Drack said, crossing his arms.
"Probably because it's so rare." Vetra countered. "It would definitely be worth keeping alive, if for no other reason than to figure out how to defend yourself against something like that."
"Indeed." The Moshae nodded. "We've only done preliminary scans of the actual records, and while most of it is corrupted, that seems to be what the Jardaan were searching for."
"I don't even understand." Cora shuddered as she looked at the stasis pod and the creature within. "What was it even doing to those creatures?"
"Unknown." SAM replied. "The Jardaan believed it was devouring some sort of energy, but they were unable to determine the energy in question-"
"It was consuming their very life." Ahsoka explained with a shiver. "Draining the essence of their life force right out of their bodies." That explanation sent a chill up everyone's spines as they looked to her.
"You're sure about that?" Peebee asked, not feeling nearly as bubbly as normal at the moment.
"Fairly certain." The blind Jedi Master sighed. "It matches the descriptions we've heard in similar circumstances."
"So you've seen something like this before?" The Moshae asked.
"We've heard of it." Kota clarified. "Of similar things happening, at least. Normally this would be something done by the Sith, but that," He gestured to the creature in stasis. "does not feel like something created or tainted by the Dark Side."
"Yet it's no less creepy." Liam said in response, shivering at the sight of those creatures being drained of their life. "Honestly, I'm not sure if that's better than what the Kett do."
"So, there were only two in this lab so far." Sara noted, looking around at all the stasis tanks. "But from what I can gather, they seem to have been prepared for more than that?"
"There are records suggesting that they had more specimens." The Moshae confirmed, drawing up an image of a black insectoid creature, with an elongated head and razor tipped tail. The large bug like creature strangely had aesthetics that looked like an Angara. "But we are still trying to recover data on what happened to them."
"But we are certain that these creatures were not made by the Jardaan?" Jaal asked, drawing a shake of the head from the Moshae. "Perhaps they were the creation of their Adversaries, then?"
"It's not unlikely." The other Angara admitted. "Unfortunately, it's still inconclusive."
"As fascinating as this all is," Drack interrupted, his tone at odds with his words. "It doesn't really tell us anything more about the Perversion and why that other Jedi was out here."
"He's got a point." Sara admitted as they all continued to look around. "This is all cool stuff, but we could have gotten all this on the Nexus. Did we really need to come all the way out here?"
"Perhaps." Ahsoka walked up to the stasis pod holding the jellyfish-like creature. "I'm definitely sensing something unusual about this place..."
She reached out with the Force... and saw Master Archaezis. A quick glance around showed that this was definitely a vision, as no one else was in the room save for the Zabrak Jedi Master and the Togruta Jedi Knight watching.
"They tried so hard to escape. To flee." Archaezis ran his hand over the pod with the dangerous creature. "Maybe they succeeded in hiding elsewhere in this galaxy. But I doubt that will be enough to stop what's coming." He chuckled with a mournful tone. "The Jardaan and their Adversaries are so wrapped up in their little conflict that they will not be able to prepare."
The Jedi Master sighed and walked away from the pod, sealing the room behind him. Suddenly, there was a shift, and Ahsoka found herself among a conflict in a similar bunker. She did a double take when she realized the combatants were familiar.
Kett and Yuuzhan Vong were fighting each other in a similar bunker, with even the same setup of stasis pods. Ahsoka was quick to notice a second of those jellyfish like creatures, though there was no sign of another pink being as well.
The vision seemed to blink forward as the jellyfish creature was suddenly no longer in its pod, and it set itself upon the Kett and Vong alike with reckless abandon. The creature completely ignored any weapons from either side as it began draining the life out of all of them, leaving nothing but frozen husks behind.
Suddenly, the viewpoint and environment shifted again to outside the bunker. This time she was on a far more barren surface, on a moon she didn't recognize. She could see one of the Vong's asteroid shaped vessels hovering over the surface, with the wreckage of a Kett ship in the distance.
The asteroid ship abruptly turned gray and lifeless and started falling to the ground. That was when the vision ended, and Ahsoka found herself back in reality, with the others looking at her in concern.
"You had another vision." Kota said. It wasn't a question.
"Yeah..." The Togruta took a second to take in what she saw. "So... I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I think one of the Vong ships is no longer going to be a problem."
"And the bad news?" Cora deadpanned.
"That's not the only one of its kind." Ahsoka pointed to the jellyfish creature. "And thanks to both the Kett and Vong, it's loose on some barren moon."
"You saw the Kett and Vong?" The Moshae asked, looking alarmed and curious. "Were they allies or enemies?"
"Definitely enemies." Ahsoka shook her head. "Look, at the moment, it's good we have one less Vong ship to worry about. All the same, I would recommend putting out some sort of alert."
"I will ensure the Initiative and Angara are alerted." SAM reported, while everyone else felt a mixture of relief and concern about what Ahsoka had said.
"Let's just hope they can't fly in space." Scott glanced back at the stasis pod before turning to Ahsoka. "What about the Jedi? Did you see anything about what happened to him?"
"Nothing that was exactly helpful." The Togruta sighed in frustration. "I just know that Master Archaezis was here."
"Did he say anything?" Cora asked. "Or do something that might have been significant?"
"All he said was that nothing would be able to stop what was coming." This drew a few groans from Drack, Peebee and Vetra.
"As much as I hate to admit, this is starting to feel like a waste of time." Liam had to agree.
Before anyone could say anything else, alerts appeared on everyone's omni-tools, sending a wide band warning through all frequencies. This wasn't just isolated to the Initiative, as the angara's own equivalent pinged a similar warning.
What was in the message made everyone's blood freeze.
"The Kett are back."
...
Goyle knew there was a problem the moment Kandros' omni-tool pinged, especially when the turian's eyes went wide and he immediately dismissed himself from the interrogation. This, combined with the uneasy looks the guards were giving each other, did not bode well.
Kandros had been constantly grilling her with questions, which she had easily deflected, but in spite of that, he had refused to give up. So to see him leave now was not exactly a good sign.
Still, in the grand scheme of things, it was good news for her. It meant that she had a chance to enact her plan. Kota had been right when he suspected her of having another trick up her sleeve, and it was the fact that she had hard coded a number of Initiative systems to her genetics.
Even SAM would have been hard pressed to isolate and remove them, and that's only if he knew they were even there. There was a reason that she had scrubbed all the data on her computers before they could access it.
One of those hard coded back doors included the doors to the cell that she was in right now. She still had to deal with the guards outside, but thankfully, they had a shift change and had swapped out Stormtroopers with some of the militia.
All she had to do was wait for the right moment.
...
"The Kett have arrived in force. We will have no hope of standing against an armada that size."
"Fortunately, we don't need to. Once the Initiative, Angara and Imperials are distracted, we will be able to make our way into Meridian."
"We should just destroy this Vault network. It is a blight among this galaxy."
"And so we shall. But first, we must get inside Meridian. Once we do that, we can use it to destroy the network all at once."
"Then what are we waiting for?"
"An opportunity."
And so, hidden in the depths of space, concealed among the tendrils and recesses of the Scourge, the last remaining Yuuzhan Vong ship waited for an opportunity to strike back and bring this cluster to its knees.
One thing was clear: this was the beginning of the end.
Yeah, pretty much. In case this chapter didn't make things clear, we are definitely heading in to the story's climax. The return of the Kett should be proof enough of that, but the Yuuzhan Vong and the Benefactor still have their own roles to play. Plus, I still have a few surprises left in store for the upcoming battles.
With all that said, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and reviews are always welcome.