"Welcome to Solemnace." An automated voice said through the Mantis' bridge speakers. "Please allow up to an hour for the entry gate to cycle before attempting entry. Thank you and have a wonderful visit to the Galaxy's greatest cultural repository."
"Why does it take a bleeding hour to get through a shield gate?" Rowan asked, his voice crackling through Cal's communicator.
The Mantis and the Cinnamon Wind were currently locked together. A jury rigged chassis loaded with hollow gas canisters disguising the spot welding that temporarily bound the two vessels together. To any but the most observant, the two ships would appear to be a single junker probably on a treasure hunting run into the Deep Core. Stopping at Solemnace, the last "core world" before entering the shallows of the Deep Core, for supplies.
"The entire planet is essentially a museum." Trilla said from her seat in the bridge. "Fitting that their planetary shield is as old as the Emperor."
Cal stood at the holo-display, staring at a holographic representation of Solemnace and the massive planetary shield encasing it. They'd spent the last week and a half sneaking through the minor hyperspace lanes to reach this old planet, and Cal was almost surprised that even with the wait they were making good time. Just another hour and they'd be on Solemnace's surface and on Kella's trail.
"Fair enough I suppose." Rowan grumbled. "But this is why I prefer books. Listen, I've got some last minute adjustments to make on the equipment, so I'll be signing off. Just have Greez take us in nice and easy, so I don't cut my arm off or something."
"Of course I will." Trilla said. "You're making my new light saber parts for me, and if you were injured before completing them I'd be oh so inconvenienced."
"Glad to be wanted I suppose." Rowan said before his feed clicked out.
"Engineers." Trilla lamented.
"Rowan's making you light saber parts?" Cal asked, stepping onto the bridge where Trilla sat watching space go by.
"Yes, I need a new light saber if I'm ever going to be useful again." Trilla said, pointing her ruined inquisitor's saber at Cal. "Plus, my kyber crystal was all but destroyed in our escape and even if it was intact I don't think it would answer me again once purified. So, I've commissioned parts from Rowan, made with the Phrik left over after his little "project" was sorted out. Perhaps I'll find a new crystal on Tython, since Illum is out of our reach now."
"About that." Cal said, leaning against the door way. "What do you actually know about the place? All I ever heard was stories that the precursor to the Jedi were founded there, and some whispers about the Sith order forming there too. Everything else was just the odd tidbits padawan come up with after lights out."
"It was never much more than a footnote in the archives when I was training, truly." Trilla said. "Though I'm sure we heard most of the same stories, but it's a place that not even the Emperor knows what to do with if my reading between the lines of Inquisitorial communiques is anything to go by. The entire planet is intensely tethered to the Force and can kill anyone who's not Force sensitive. Makes it difficult to exploit without a work force of Force sensitives or droid infrastructure, both far more expensive to develop than simply exploiting some of the softer targets in the Deep Core."
"Softer targets?" Cal asked.
"Oh you know, tucked away garden worlds, ancient ruins of the Rakatan empire, excellent hiding holes for Imperial ship yards and fortress worlds, and so many anomalies it's a wonder it doesn't drive some poor scientist mad." Trilla explained, a rare chuckle lighting her eyes. "There were even rumors that the Emperor has some sort of personal cloning facility tucked away somewhere, waiting with a batch young clones for the day the prune's heart gives out. How stupid is that?"
"Sounds a bit out there to me." Cal said, wondering if it was even possible to clone a force sensitive. "You think Rowan's angling for a kyber crystal? He seems like the kind of guy who wants a light saber just to sate his curiosity. I could cut so much metal."
"I heard that." Rowan said, a holographic version of him appearing on Trilla's console. "But yes, I do want a kyber crystal of my own. You have any idea what a blade like a light saber can do in the hands of a true craftsmen?"
"Were you listening to that entire conversation?" Trilla asked, her tone caught between frustration and admiration.
"Yes, you really need to upgrade security on your direct inputs." Rowan said. "My twins could slice their way into your system as it stands. Come to think of that, I need to call home and make sure the girls haven't driven Teek and Iro mad yet. Over and out."
"Well then." Trilla sighed. "I know what I'll be doing for the next hour."
?
Two hours later…
Trilla and Cal stood in the Mantis' sitting room waiting on Rowan. They'd cleared customs with no trouble had to wait the better part of an hour for a docking space to open up, and now they were waiting for Rowan to show himself. He'd gone radio silent shortly after breaching their security, something that Greez and Trilla had spent the time taxiing taking bets on.
"I'm telling you that mountain of a wife of his is the reason." Greez said, walking in to flop down on the couch.
"Uh Greez, isn't there a ship for you to land?" Cal asked.
"Nah, this port's got so much money flowing into it that they have a tractor beam assisted landing protocol." Greez said, patting his head. "Hardly have to do a thing, just let the auto pilot bring her in nice and slow. Now, I've got a hundred credits that the horned giant has him "distracted", what do you say?"
"Two hundred says he's so obsessed with fine tuning the equipment she could splay herself naked across his work bench and hardly notice." Trilla said, offering her hand.
"You're on!" Greez said slapping his hand into hers to shake on it.
"Ye'd be surprised."
They turned to the Mantis' entry way where Rowan's wife, Reyna, stood. She was dressed in reinforced traveling clothes made of sea foam grey material reinforced with Phrik plating near the vitals. Thick copper bands were fastened to her horns and a custom heavy sonic rifle balanced against her shoulder. Standing beside her was Rowan himself, dressed in red trimmed armor that clung to his lean form with reinforced cloth over clothes that no doubt hid pockets and ammo slings. His legs up to his knees were wrapped in light weight leg guards and his arms were similarly encased in light weight full glove gauntlets. A pair of Phrik cast weapons, some kind of customized tonfas, one short and one long hung off his hips, completing the look.
"Well, aren't you two a pair." Trilla said.
"Thank ye, we do look mighty cute, don't we?" Reyna said.
"We look deadly, not cute." Rowan said before his wife snuck a kiss on the top of his head and he looked up at her. "Songbird, can you not make me look-"
He was cut off by Reyna planting a kiss on his lips and patting his cheek.
"No, I don't think so." She said, winking at him.
"Moving on!" Rowan exclaimed turning around. "I've got gifts for the two of you."
He hefted a beat up tool box out from behind him and placed it at Trilla and Cal's feet.
"For Miss Sunshine, a complete set of Phrik strengthened light saber parts." Rowan said, opening the tool box and pulling out a smaller case from the box before handing it to Trilla. "Should have everything you need to build a saber, customization options will cost you extra though."
"Thank you, but I can borrow some of Cal's if I need to." Trilla said, as she ran her fingers over the case. "I don't think I'll need much."
"A woman after my own heart." Rowan said, pulling out a set of gauntlets from the tool box and offering them to Cal. "For the Jedi, a set of Phrik gauntlets just in case you find yourself in a fist fight with a light saber."
"I don't remember you taking any measurements." Cal said, slipping one of the gauntlets on finding it to be an almost perfect fit. "Oh, that feels nice."
"I'm a stickler for quality." Rowan explained, as he rummaged through the box. "Be it a fresh kidney or a nice set of gauntlets, I aim to please the customer. Now, Miss Merrin this is for you."
Rowan pulled a pair of sheathed blades out of the box. One was a wide short sword while the other was a thin dagger, the former almost two feet long while the latter was only around a foot. Without looking, Rowan held both blades in one hand and offered them to the empty air to his left. With a flash of green, Merrin appeared and gently took the weapons from his hand.
"Thank you Rowan." She said, stepping back to examine the blades.
"Don't mention it." Rowan said, smiling at the night sister warmly before turning to Cal. "It's been added to your bill."
"Let me get my accountant right on that." Cal said, rolling his eyes. "So, I'm assuming we have some sort of plan?"
"We do." Rowan said gesturing to Reyna. "My beautiful wife has worked out where our target is and just how to get to it. Songbird, the stage is yours."
"Thank ye love, Our target is one of the displays in a spire housing a collection known as the Infinite Reliquary." Reyna explained stepping to the holo table and summoning the image of a tall spire. "Over three hundred floors of relics, knick knacks, and oddities from all over the galaxy's history. All of it owned by a right primp collector by the name of Trazen. He's got lots of connections with the Imps and the Rebellion if ye can believe the rumors. The man's obsessed with rare and unique knick knacks, especially anything related to the Deep Core and the pre republic era."
"Including Tython and the civilizations that used to rule the galaxy." Rowan added.
"How do you know he has this key?" Merrin asked. "Surely, finding a single artifact in a collection so large would be near impossible."
"Besides Cal's dream about my sister?" Rowan said, raising an eyebrow at the night sister before continuing. "Granny's known Trazen for most of his career, his ilk has been supplying the collectors in the Blackfire family tree for decades. That gives us a few ears in the walls."
"Aye, and one of those ears sang a sweet little song about how Trazen's been in a bit of a feud with another scholar, some professor who calls himself the Diviner." Reyna explained. "They've been stealing things from each other for the better part of fifty years, and if me leads hold true, Trazen stole our key from the primped professor's vaults last month."
"Are we just going to walk in and take it then?" Cal asked. "This Trazen guy doesn't seem to be the type to leave something like this on kitchen counter."
"Very astute of ye Cal." Reyna said. "That's why Rowan, Trilla, and I will go in to meet with Trazen. Lucky for me, Rowan knicked Granny's seal when we left Karro and that should get us a meeting at the very least. We'll be playing a plucky young trio of mercenaries with a hot lead on some buried treasure out in the Deep Core, all we need is a little seed money from a man of culture. Meanwhile, ye, Merrin, and BD-1 will sneak in behind us to find the key. Trazen's keeping it in a Tython display on the 66th floor, so it should be simple to sneak and snag it, got that?"
"That's the plan?" Cal asked. "Leaves a lot to chance."
"Considering that A. the entire Empire is hunting you and B. my sister may or may not already be on Solemnace, yes that is the plan." Rowan said, tapping a few keys and shifting the display to a blue print of the 66th floor. "Trazen seems to think that the key is just an old Tython paper weight, so the security is lighter than else where in the collection. BD-1 should be more than capable of splicing you into the maintenance elevator and deal with the alarms, isn't that right?"
"Beep!" BD-1 chirped.
"See, you're in good hands." Rowan said, before pointing at a duct running down the center of the spire. "Once you've got the key, get to this ventilation shaft and you can use to reach the freight tunnels the city uses."
"It's not the worst plan to be honest, especially with a thought out escape route." Cal said, looking to Merrin. "Think you can muster up another invisibility spell?"
"Well, you're not an entire space ship, but I think I can manage." Merrin said, wrapping her arm in his.
?
Trilla stepped into the lobby of Trazen's tower with Reyna and Rowan to either side. The lobby was a space larger than most Imperial mess halls and almost completely filled with displays of knick knacks. From antique blasters and vibro blades to clay pottery and bone carvings, thousands of years of galactic history was on display right before her very eyes. Most of it she recognized from museums that had once stood on Coruscant.
"Why am I taking the lead again?" She whispered at Rowan.
"You possess a certain arrogance that goes well with underlings used to licking boots." Rowan whispered back. "Just act natural and flash the seal at the receptionist, with any luck he'll prostrate himself then and there."
Trilla sighed, and clutched the Blackfire seal tight in her hand as she stepped forward. The displays formed a natural corridor to a receptionist's desk, carved out of what looked to be a section of a Kashyyk tree. Sitting behind the desk was a decrepit old man dressed in a faded Imperial archivist uniform, scratching something into a hand terminal. As they approached, the old man looked up and smiled at Trilla.
"Well hello there." He said, putting his hand terminal down. "What buisness do you young people have with the Infinite Reliquary today?"
"My name is Trilla Blackburn, cousin to Lady Moira Blackfire." Trilla said, channeling every drop of Imperial superiority at her disposal as she clacked the seal on the desktop. "We're here to see your master about an opportunity he'd be stupid to ignore. Send for him immediately, and have someone fetch us something to drink."
"Um." The old man said. "Well miss Blackburn, I do recognize your name and have nothing but the utmost respect for our relationship with your family, but Sir Trazen is bust with another client and I just can't interrupt his..."
"Pyotor!" A proud voice said through a speaker on the desk. "Where are the Acadian Vault items I ordered to be delivered to my solar?!"
"Excuse me." The old man said. "I am so sorry Sir Trazen, but I was in the middle of sending the order when I was interrupted by an associate of Lady Moira interrupted..."
"An associate of Lady Moira?!" The voice, apparently Trazen, yelled. "Send them up and tell them to wait in my smoking room and make sure I get what I ordered!"
"Of course Sir Trazen." Pyotor said, sighing as the connection closed with a click. "If you will follow me, Miss Trilla, I will guide you to Sir Trazen's smoking room. Please tell your associates not to touch any of the Sir's antiques on display."
"Of course." Trilla said. "Can't have the help smudging the décor, now can we?"
"So nice to see that there are still young people who respect proper protocol." Pyotor said, shuffling out from behind his desk to lead them towards a bank of lifts. "Protocol is what separates us from the savages who fight against the ordering of the universe. The Infinite Reliquary was built to preserve the histories and artifacts of the galaxy, so that those with a proper respect for order may enjoy them."
"They be enjoyed by not many others besides Trazen from what I hear." Reyna said, ducking to avoid hitting a chandelier with her horns.
"Sir Trazen is possessed of a certain...possessiveness when it comes to the exhibits that is true." Pyotor said, stopping before a lift control panel and keying in an access code that Trilla memorized. "But his dedication to the preservation of history is entirely selfless I can assure you."
"I'm sure it is." Trilla said, as the lift doors opened.
"Now, I must complete the order Sir Trazen assigned me." Pyotor said, bowing as he stepped aside. "Take this lift to the two hundred and ninety-eighth floor and wait in Sir Trazen's sitting room for his meeting to finish."
"Thank you Pyotor." Trilla said. "I will tell Sir Trazen of your good work."
"You are too kind." The receptionist said, shuffling away swifter than his age should have allowed.
Trilla turned back to the lift and stepped in. The moment her foot touched the floor every nerve in her body screamed as cold washed over her. Her eyes widened and bullets of sweat formed on her brow as an oppressive signature in the Force filled her perception for a single moment. But a moment was all it took, because she knew this presence. Knew it in her heart of hearts where her deepest darkest fears lay.
"Vader." She whispered.
?
Vader stood at the window, looking out over the city of Solemn and watching the light play off the planetary shield. Once, in another life, he loved to fly as close to the outer shell of shields just like this one. Let the planets gravity and the Force guide him over the surface, mere inches away from being crashing into the shield at any given moment. He remembered the feel of adrenaline in his veins and Asoka's voice on the comms telling him to stop showing off.
With thought, Vader banished the memory. Pressing the wounds in his soul until pain radiated out through every cell, darkness answering his call. Raw power replacing the melancholy of memory and pushing who he was back into the past. There was only Vader now, and Vader he would be until the day he died.
"Lord Vader, the items you requested have arrived."
Vader turned to face the broker. Trazen was a gaunt old man, his physical body kept alive through almost as many obvious cybernetics and rejuvenation treatments as Vader himself. He was a risk of course, any known entity in the Empire was a risk so long as Vader walked this path, but the risk was mitigated by how close he was to his goal. His Master was not a stupid man, he had usurped the Republic without revealing his true nature till the very end after all, but even he wouldn't' think twice of his moping apprentice buying knick knacks.
"It is about time." Vader said, approaching the table of artifacts. "My patience was growing thin."
"Many apologies Lord Vader." Trazen said, wringing his metal fingers. "My chief assistant is as old as some of the relics I keep on display. He is invaluable in archiving, but his speed left him many years ago. But enough with such trivial things, we're here to discuss buisness, yes? Come Lord Vader, and see what Trazen has brought you this day."
Trazen stepped to the table and clapped his metal hands together, switching on a light built into the surface of the table itself. Vader looked over the collection of objects on the table, most were assorted pieces of ancient armor some even so old that it was made of stone with several kyber crystals of varying sizes mixed among them. The center piece of the collection was different however, it was a mask forged in an ancient Mandolorian style with a scratch running down the left part of the mask, and as Vader reached out to touch it he could feel that it was an anchor in the force. Not of light or dark, but somewhere in between like the divide where two seas met but could did not mix.
Let us hope that this mask is less troublesome than the last. Vader thought to himself as he withdrew his hand.
"These are acceptable." Vader said, looking up at Trazen. "I will take them all."
"I am glad that you find my wares pleasing Lord Vader, but these artifacts were very difficult to acquire." Trazen began, totally unafraid of the Sith lord in his presence. "I would expect payment in kind for the effort expended in acquiring these delightful objects."
"Of course." Vader said, opening his hand and pulling a large case from the grasp of storm trooper standing at attention by the door and placing it on the table.
He released the latch and opened the metal shielding to reveal glass case within containing a cracked stone mask.
"The mask of Darth Momin, the Sith's greatest architect and scholar." Vader said. "A soul after your own heart, and the final missing piece to your exhibit on the great Sith thinkers I'm told."
"Oh Lord Vader…." Trazen blubbered, practically drooling at the sight of the mask. "This will do nicely, very nicely indeed. The mask of Momin himself in exchange for what I have gathered is more than a fair trade in my eyes! Come, let us toast this glorious day."
"No." Vader said, ordering his two troopers to load his new possessions into a transport crate. "My buisness is done here-"
He trailed off as a reverberation in the Force caught his attention. It was slight, barely more than a ripple in the wider energies around, and his faulty cybernetics certainly didn't help as he tried to find it again. Vader pressed a button on his respirator, flooding his lungs with a burst of pure oxygen and reached out to the Force around him. Sure enough there were two familiar signatures in the Force, and three more he didn't recognize.
"Kestis, Suduri, and friends." He said as his perception shrank back to his physical form. "How the Force weaves our paths, eh?"
"Lord Vader, is something the matter?" Trazen asked, as a high pitched beeping started in one of his earrings.
"Allow me to guess, Trazen." Vader said. "One of your exhibits has been breached."
"Yes, the Tython exhibit on the 66th floor." Trazen said, checking a holo display on the wall.
"How fortuitous." Vader said, what counted for a laugh wracking his chest piece. "Lieutenant! Tell the men to lock down any and all exits to this spire, and call in the local Imperial regiment. I want every floor of this spire swept for intruders, two Jedi with the possibility of two more."
"Yes sir." The lieutenant said as his comrade kept to packing Vader's purchases. "What will you be doing, sir?"
"Hunting." Vader said, igniting his saber and pushing past the lieutenant as he walked towards the door.
?
Something was wrong. Cal felt it in the Force as he and Merrin rode the maintenance elevator up to the 66th floor. There was an aberration in the flow of the Force around them, but he couldn't quite recognize what it was through Merrin's cloaking field. His grip tightened on Merrin's hand as the elevator's door opened and they looked out across a huge room, stuffed to the brim with display cases. As they stepped out into the room, Cal saw a trio of KX security droids a dozen yards or so ahead of them making a slow circuit through the displays. He also noted that the droids had heavy stunners and what looked to be tractor beam generators in place of hands.
"Trazen must not want to risk damaging his collection." Cal whispered as they took cover behind a display. "Good, makes for less trouble if we're discovered. BD, can you get us a picture of how many patrols there are on this floor?"
"Beep boop." BD-1 softly chirped as he hopped down slice into a maintenance panel.
"While he's doing that let's get eyes on the key if we can." Cal said, scanning the room.
"According to this schematic it is next to something called a Tho yor replica." Merrin said, checking the small schematic in her free hand. "Should be at the center of the room."
She pointed to a model of a pyramidal shaped ship with eight smaller displays circling it, with grav lifts keeping them off the ground.
"Good eye." Cal said, kissing her on the cheek.
"Boop Beep." BD-1 chirped.
"What did he say?" Merrin asked, barely containing a giggle.
"Two patrols of three droids each." Cal explained. "Once that one passes we should have around five minutes before the other patrol makes it to this section. When they're out of sight BD-1 will jam the-"
A loud crackle from his communicator interrupted him and the lights in each display shut off with audible clicks. The patrol ahead of them stopped their slow circuit and began scanning the room before their gazes flicked to the elevator. For a moment, Cal thought they were looking at them and gripped Merrin's hand tighter as he reached for his light saber. Only for the sound metal buckling to interrupt his reaching.
Cal turned and saw a figure standing in the remains of the elevator door, retrofitted clone commando armor hugging tight to her body and a thick black cloak draped over her shoulders. She held an unlit light saber in one hand and some sort of long shield coated with octagonal crystal plates, each glowing with a soft orange light. The newcomer considered the room with silent contemplation, the hint of a visor barely visible beneath her hood.
"Halt! You are trespassing in a restricted area." One of the droids said raising its stunner. "Surrender for immediate questioning."
"How about you make me surrender, Clanka." She said, a mad chuckle on her lips as she activated her light saber, flooding the room with crackling light the color of steel.
"Intruder has failed to comply, initiating suppression protocol." The droid said, as all three fired stunner blasts at the women.
She raised her shield and the crystal absorbed the blasts, pulsing dark orange as each ring collided with her shield. Blue black tractor beams lashed out from two of the droids while a third continued firing its stunner, the beams latching onto the shield and pulling the Jedi towards the droids. The Jedi let go of her shield and pivoted on one heel, opening her palm and grabbing one of the torn elevator doors, combining momentum and her control of the Force to send a chunk of the door spinning at the droids.
"Halt! Do not resist any fur-" The droid was cut off as the door sliced through all three and slamming into a display of Tythonian dinner wear.
"My patrol's down." The Jedi said, pulling down her hood and flipping up the visor on her half helmet. "Keep the jamming up until I have the key in hand. Over and out."
As Cal took a good look at her, he realized that this woman had to be Kella Blackfire. Despite having two eyes, she was the feminine mirror of Rowan's features. His pretty features cast in predatory beauty on Kella's face. This woman was a true Jedi knight from her aura alone, and based on how she'd taken down those droids she was one in training as well.
With a flick of her wrist, Kella extinguished her light saber and then reached forward, drawing her shield back to her arm. It clicked into place and after Kella made sure it was secure, she began walking towards the displays. The quiet confidence of a trained warrior apparent with every step forward.
"This is Kella, yes?" Merrin asked as they watched the armored Jedi stroll towards the displays.
"Seems like it." Cal replied. "I can see why Rowan's afraid she might try to kill him."
"Yes, she enjoyed destroying those droids, didn't she?" Merrin asked.
"I think she did." Cal said, not knowing if he could really blame her for all the times KX droids had tried to wring his neck. "Should we go say hi, you think?"
"You go say hi." Merrin ordered. "BD-1 and I will stay behind. Out of light saber range."
"Weren't you the one talking about saving me earlier?" Cal asked.
"I meant what I said, I will save you." Merrin said, patting his cheek. "If you need saving. Now go and talk to the Jedi."
Cal rolled his eyes and stood up to step outside of Merrin's cloaking field. He walked out into the main pathway and raised his hands in the air. Kella stopped walking and ignited her light saber without turning around.
"If it isn't one of the boys of my dreams." She said, turning around to level her dark green eyes at him. "Are you working for that scavenger who stole from me and then blew up my ship? Or are you just nosy?"
"If we're thinking of the same guy then I'm told he didn't mean to do that." Cal said. "At least not to you anyway."
"Well now, that makes it all better." Kella said, rolling her eyes. "Give me one reason I shouldn't run you through right here and now."
"I can give you three." Cal said. "One, I'm a Jedi, my name is Cal Kestis and I was a padawan when the Purge happened. I'm on a mission that could change the balance of power in the galaxy, and as a side benefit, secure artifacts and records of the Jedi."
"So you know how to use that light saber then?" She asked, gesturing to his saber.
"Yes, reforged it on Illum before the Empire seized the planet." Cal explained, taking a cautious step forward.
"Let's say I believe you." Kella said, allowing Cal another step before gesturing for him to stop. "What's your second reason?"
"That scavenger is the other boy from your dreams." Cal said. "His name is Rowan Blackfire, but you might know him as Kathis. He's your twin-"
"Don't finish that sentence!" Kella yelled stepping forward to bring the tip of her saber an inch from his throat. "Kathis Blackfire died in our childhood bed, holding my hand while he burned alive."
"Search your heart Kella." Cal said, noting the slight tremor in her left as it gripped the saber. "You know I'm telling the truth. I swear on my life force, as one Jedi to another, that your brother is alive and he's been searching for you. Now the Force is bringing you two together, no, bringing all of us together."
"But he...he died." She muttered, the warrior replaced by a lonely little girl for a moment before she found her resolve. "What's your third reason I shouldn't just end you now?"
"Me." Merrin said, materializing behind Kella with one of her new blades pressed against Kella's throat. "Lower your weapon."
"And here I thought my girlfriend was exotic." Kella said, deactivating her light saber and lowering it to her side. "You can withdraw the claws, I believe you. Well, I believe you enough not to take a hand off, yet."
"I thought Jedi were supposed to hate violence." Merrin said, withdrawing her blade.
"You're not supposed to enjoy it." Kella said. "Hating it is optional. So Cal Kestis and his mysterious paramour, I suppose you're after the key as well."
"Yes, Rowan seems to believe it can open a door on Tython." Cal said, watching her closely as she clipped her saber to her belt. "He believes the secret to mastering Hyperspace is behind it."
"Oh he does?" Kella said, a smile teasing at her lips. "Good to know my brother's not a fool then, maybe the Force is bringing us together with a common goal."
"Yes, he wants to use it to subvert Imperial control." Cal said, as he turned to the displays. "Thinks that we can use it to create safe spaces all over the galaxy, even beyond it."
"He'll be disappointed then." Kella said, as she walked forward to a display containing a suspended pyramid made of smooth black crystal. "Because behind that door is a weapon so powerful that its builders sealed it away rather than use it against the Rakata, even as they were committing galactic genocide."
"What?" Cal asked. "It's a weapon?"
"Yes, a weapon that even at a fraction of its power nearly smothered the High Republic at the height of its power." Kella said, flexing her fingers and pulling the pyramid through the glass to smack into her palm. "With it, I will destroy the Empire and the Sith. I'll do what our forbears could not, and once and for all bring balance to the Force."
?
"Move! Move! Move!" Rowan yelled as he fell through himself through the closing blast door.
He rolled across the cold concrete of the freight platform and came to a stop at Reyna and Trilla's feet. Before he could catch his breath, a beeping thermal detonator came flying in through the opening to land on Rowan's chest. Trilla grabbed at the detonator and managed to throw it threw the door just as it closed, muffling a loud bang and the screams of storm troopers.
"Th...thank...thank you." Rowan huffed.
"Don't mention it." Trilla said, retreating to the edge of the platform to stare at the inert transport cart.
"Why by the rings of Hellar is the entire fucking regiment coming down on our heads?!" Rowan grumbled as Reyna helped him to his feet. "Trazen's has expensive shite, but this is a bit much."
They had retreated to the freight transport terminal after a platoon of Storm troopers battered down the doors. Trilla had been near catatonic throughout the chase and only the spire's security going down randomly gave them the opportunity to run with Trilla hoisted onto Reyna's shoulder. Rowan thanked the Force for whatever had shut down the security, and cursed himself for not thinking of trying it himself.
"Vader." Trilla said, clutching the stump of her arm. "They're here because Vader is here. He ordered them to be deployed once their alarm was triggered."
"You mean the Emperor's lap dog, Vader?" Rowan asked, kissing Reyna's hand before going over to the platform's control terminal.
"I mean the most powerful Jedi killer alive!" Trilla insisted. "He's not some two bit inquisitor or assassin, Vader will kill us all if he finds us. We need to get Cal and Merrin out of there now!"
"Once I slice into the freight system I can get that transport rig running and we can be on our way." Rowan said, pushing his eye patch aside and plugging a cord into the slot where an iris should have been. "Besides, from what I hear we'll hear the wheezy bastard coming."
"You can hear a hurricane coming, but it doesn't stop it from tearing your house down, now does it?" Trilla said.
"Ooh love, ye should write that one down." Reyna said, as she slapped a bacta patch onto a burned bicep. "Perfect for yer lexicon."
"Sure thing, Songbird." Rowan said, wingeing slightly as the mechanism in his false eye and the cybernetics where his optic nerve used to be activated. "I'll put it on the list, maybe I'll publish them one day and have a galactic best seller on my hands."
Rowan ignored her kissy face in response and activated the slicing suite in his eye. It took a moment to break the encryption, surprisingly old by Imperial standards, but when he did Rowan had access to the bare bones systems for the entire spire. Chewing his lip, Rowan uploaded one of his favorite toys into the source code, a hydra of digital nasties born from the fruit of the deadliest slicer dens in the galaxy. Only, his hydra was stopped in its tracks, not by the spire's security system but by another slicing suite already hijacking the system.
"So, you're who I have to thank for shutting down security." Rowan muttered as he sent a request through the system to activate the freight transport.
**Request accepted** a command prop said **Lovely little bug by the way**
"The thick plottens." Rowan said, disconnecting his eye from the terminal and turning to the others. "Alright, there's someone else hitting the spire and they are much better at slicing than I am. Trilla, be a doll and get Cal or Merrin on the line, and tell them to move their asses."
Luckily for Trilla, a grate in the ceiling broke open and two forms fell through. Cal and Merrin rose to their feet, covered in what had to be years of dust and lent, as a third person dropped through the vent. Rowan froze as he got a good look at the newcomer, a young woman dressed in modified clone commando armor with dark green eyes and features the feminine mirror of his own. The world stopped as the two locked gazes, nearly twenty years of separation and subterfuge between them like a chasm.
"Kella." Rowan muttered.
"Kathis." She whispered back.
He reached forward, hand trembling, and held his breath as Kella removed her left glove, revealing a hand covered in very old burns. The twins stepped toward each other, their fingers meeting and without hesitation locking together in a vice grip. A connection, either through the Force or through blood, thrummed between them and Rowan could feel Kella's mind as if it was an extension of his own. As if she was an extension of himself he'd simply forgotten.
"I dreamt of you." Rowan whispered. "Every night for twenty years, I dreamt of you."
"I thought you were a ghost haunting my dreams." Kella said, reaching up with her free hand to trace the edges of his face. "They told me you died and all I was feeling was your residual presence in the Force. A coping mechanism of a mind too young to process grief."
"The Jedi lied about many things."
Rowan froze at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, and his stomach dropped as he turned towards the voice. Standing there in the shadow of the tunnel's maintenance walkway was a figure dressed in all black armor, radiating menace. Trilla raised her blaster and fired, only for the figure to raise a hand redirecting the bolt into the wall. Though Rowan couldn't see the man's face, he knew he was smiling at the fear on the young woman's face.
"Second sister, good to see your aim hasn't suffered from your injury." Vader said, stepping forward into the dim light of the platform.
"Rowan, can we move?" Cal asked, igniting his saber and taking a guarded stance.
"The transport needs another five minutes before it's fully activated." Rowan said, drawing his tonfa blasters from their hip holsters.
"Five minutes?" Cal asked, staring at the monster standing before them. "Sounds doable."
"Aye." Reyna said, aiming her rifle at Vader's chest.
"Six on one makes for good odds." Kella said, igniting her own saber.
"Those odds are-" Vader began, igniting his saber filling the platform with hateful red light. "-acceptable."