Just as the words rolled off of Pah-Rei Wenpa's tongue, the droids marched
forward with the ominous noise of the clattering of their metal feet
against the metal deck plates covering the room's floor. Riv-Lyn Veers took
out his lightsaber hilt as well as he pulled Pah-Rei slowly back behind the
largest counsel in the room. He instructed her, "Stay right here until I
instruct you otherwise."
She nodded, "Of course, Master."
Each line of droids contained twenty robotic soldiers, totaling the Jedi's opposition to a large sum of one hundred eighty droids. Riv-Lyn backed up to stand next to his apprentice as they watched in awe as they lined up before them. After all of the red-shouldered security bots had lined up, the nine doors shut behind them with the added protection of a blast door for each. In an instant, each droids gun was trained steadily on both of the Jedi, ready to pull the triggers on the first ones that moved.
Pah-Rei observed grimly, "I see that we are outnumbered. Would you not confer with me, Master?"
The skeleton-like droids squeezed the triggers of their oversized blasters right before the Jedi took cover behind the control counsel, unleashing a sheet of hot lethal energy out to the opposite side of the room. Riv-Lyn thumbed the activation switch to his lightsaber and began to deflect any bolts that endangered him or his Padawan. Pah-Rei did the same as they both ducked behind the counsel and observed aloud, "Why do they not close in on us and destroy us? They are just standing there!"
"I see that whoever gives them their orders has learned their lesson about battle tactics in a battle with lightsaber wielding Jedi and mindless Battle Droids!" Riv-Lyn shouted over the sounds of deafening blaster discharges. Pah-Rei nodded and looked at the diagonally surfaced display of the counsel they were behind. It had control over the doors of the base and was fully operational; only it was being routed from another location. Confused, she asked her master a question, "Master, I have noticed that all controls in this room are being routed from another location. If this is indeed the control room, why would all of the commands be being sent here from another location?"
Riv-Lyn blocked a single bolt that came dangerously close to his head, "This is not the true control room, Padawan! Obviously, they were expecting our arrival! Can you try to open up that last door on our far left using this counsel?"
Pah-Rei skimmed the Aurebesh commands and then nodded, "I believe so! Yes, but I am quite sure that the real control room will try to block out my access!"
"Do it any ways! We will stand a better chance in whatever is in that room than in here!"
Pah-Rei did not argue. She began to punch in several keys while Riv- Lyn blocked every bolt that came within saber's reach. Pah-Rei exclaimed, "I did it!"
Riv-Lyn continued to cover her while shouting to her and pointed to the opening tenth door with a finger, "Go! I will be right behind you!"
With the assistance of the Force, Pah-Rei took off at a super fast rate of over sixty miles an hour. She ran through the door and moments later, Riv-Lyn stopped behind her. The door closed right after he entered the long natural corridor they stood in. Pah-Rei, out of breath, leaned up against the wall and listened to the droid's words, "They have evaded our attacks. We will return to the main hangar."
Riv-Lyn listened as the metal against metal of their footsteps faded away as the droids exited the false control room. Pah-Rei looked to him, "Where do we go now?"
After checking the door's controls that they had just come through, he pointed down the cavern, "We have been sealed off. There is no where to go from that room but here any ways."
Pah-Rei nodded and began following her master at a rater fast pace, "I see. Master, may I ask why you asked for more Jedi. We got interrupted last time I tried…"
Just as she said this, the buzzing of engines outside of the mountain base's caves made them stop dead in their tracks. Her eyes widened, "What is that?"
Riv-Lyn pulled Pah-Rei along as he began to run faster. He pulled out his comlink and thumbed the switch, "This is Jedi Master Veers to Radiant VIII. You must leave orbit around the planet! You are in grave danger!"
"My scanners are not picking up… Wait! Pull up!" a burst of static sounded. Riv-Lyn did not stop his near sprint, "Radiant VIII, respond! Radiant VIII?"
Pah-Rei halted. Riv-Lyn slowed to a walk and turned to her. She swallowed hard as she began to walk again, "Master. I am very, very cold."
"As I am as well, young Padawan. You are aware as the same danger that I feel. Be conscious of those feelings; they are the ones that will save your life in combat and even warn you of the upcoming danger."
She nodded and looked up once she heard the sound of flowing water. She picked up her pace as Riv-Lyn pulled her along. He turned back to her, "Hurry, Pah-Rei. We must disable this base before the other Jedi arrive, or else they will experience the same fate as Radiant VIII."
She nodded and began to sprint alongside of Riv-Lyn, "Of course, Master. I am out of breath. I apologize."
"Quite alright. It is understandable after what we have been through."
As they made their way down the slightly declining, twisting cavern corridor, the sound of the water current grew louder. Pah-Rei finally got to ask her question, "Master, why did you send for more Jedi? Is it the dark presence that is upsetting you?"
He nodded, "Yes, young one. I am unclear as to what it is, but I can feel it is clouding my powers. If you were as attuned to the Force as I, you would be able to sense it right now."
She furrowed her brow, "I felt it earlier right before I was attacked by the security patrol. I could swear I heard a murmur; a whisper that was saying something, but it was to quiet for me to understand. I figured it was just the wind outside." She stopped once again and her face lost all color. He turned to her and motioned her to follow him, "Come, Padawan."
She looked at him with her gray eyes and continued to walk. Her stomach knotted as she spoke in a hardly audible whisper, "Master, do you believe that the other Sith Lord from the Naboo crisis is here?"
Riv-Lyn grabbed onto her robes as she almost walked right into the blue water flowing out of an opening in the mountain that lay around a corner they rounded. She gulped and wiped the sweat that had appeared on her forehead after coming so close to death in the cave's river. She turned to her master and managed a nod of thankfulness.
Riv-Lyn sat on a rock that was up against the wall as Pah-Rei took a seat opposite of him. He nodded and said, "It is a possibility that the dark tremor is the other Sith Lord. I felt its presence while meditating. It is a creature so dark that it disconnected me with my meditation. It was odd because not even Master Yoda could break my mental connection to the Force like this. It would have had to be trained well in the dark arts of the Sith Ways. Or known my weaknesses."
Pah-Rei nodded and said wearily, "Master, I know I am not supposed to be afraid, but I am. I am very afraid. This mission is a lot more dangerous than I had anticipated. If the Sith Lord is here, we are in a lot of trouble. Now with the Radiant VIII destroyed, there is no probable way to return home."
Riv-Lyn looked down to her, "I overheard that last security patrol report that they were returning to the hangar. That will be our next objective to find after we destroy the droid control unit. Anyhow, we should really get moving. We are running out of time; the Dark Plague should arrive tomorrow night."
She nodded and looked the river running through the cave tunnel. She furrowed her brow and turned to Riv-Lyn, "Why is the water blue? It is indoors; the sky is not being reflected off of it."
Riv-Lyn to was puzzled by the mystery and turned to Pah-Rei, "It is obviously hiding something of great importance. Do you concur?"
Her eyes widened as she stood up, "The control room?"
He nodded, "That is my guess also. Prepare for a swim against that current. If you lose your grip, Padawan…"
Pah-Rei sat back down, "I really do not have the strength. Why can we not use our ascension guns? These rocks can serve as anchors for the line…"
Riv-Lyn took out his ascension gun, "There is only room for one line. Stay here and rest. I will go first to scout out the area. Once I return, then you may follow."
She nodded and watched as the man put the A-99 Aquata Breather in his mouth. After he fired the gun's grappling hook into the blue river current and anchoring the taut cable to the rock Pah-Rei sat on, he walked into the water and began his way to the bottom. Once he had disappeared, Pah-Rei found herself doing the one thing she detested most: meditating.
This time, she heeded Riv-Lyn's advice and began to focus all of her mental abilities with her physical, fusing them together as one force. She had never done this before and it was so overwhelming, she could actually fell the power begin to surge throughout her body. It was an intense experience, but a pleasant one. Or at least up to the last few chilling moments of her session she would call it that.
Everything went black in her mind. All of her Force abilities were cut off from her meditation link and she could hear the sinister voice that she thought she had heard earlier. It was a deep, bellowing voice that made her hair all over her body rise on their ends. She swallowed hard as it began to talk to her.
It spoke, "You will give into your emotions. You will give into your angers and fears, your hates and every temptation that crosses your life's journey. You will join me, and together can acquire any possessions we wish for! Come, with your powers combined with mine, we will be able to turn any others that wish to join us and rule the entire galaxy! I know deep within you no matter how hard you deny it, there is that dark past that is beginning to surface again in your life, as your Force powers grow stronger and more powerful! You may not remember it, but I know that it will be your start down the dark path! I know so very well!"
It laughed aloud and Pah-Rei's eyes snapped open. She was gasping for air once she awoke and was calmed by the Force powers slowly restarting their journey through her body. Wiping the cold sweat from her face and wiping off the sweaty palms on her robes, she arose with trembling knees to see Riv-Lyn's head poke out of the water. She gasped at his startling appearance but then sighed when she realized who it was. He looked up to her, "What is it?"
She felt tears form in her eyes and she wiped them away as she spoke, "It spoke to me! Master, the dark presence began to speak to me while meditating."
Concerned for her, Riv-Lyn climbed out of the flowing river and took the girl in his arms as he spoke, "What did it say to you?"
She slowly pushed him away and looked into his hazel eyes, "He told me to join him. He said that my past was going to take me down the dark path and together we would rule the galaxy." She looked to her feet and began to cry.
Riv-Lyn put his left hand on her shoulder and took his right hand and lifted her head up by the chin. Her gray eyes were sleeker than ever with the tears making them lustrously beautiful. He spoke gently to her, "I know that you would never turn to the Darkside, Pah-Rei. Your abilities in the Force will never let you fail as a Jedi." He wiped away her tears and pushed the brown locks of hair out of her face that had fallen there. He smiled at her, "Did you hear you correctly? You meditated without me telling you to?"
She could not help to smile. She nodded, "I even focused on my mental abilities. I have never felt so ready for anything in my life."
He smiled at her. She then looked back to her feet, "And I felt them being overpowered once the dark one began to talk to me."
He helped her to her feet, "As did I, but it lasts for such a short period of time that we do not even have to worry about that. Come on, I found an air lock below the water. That must lead to the control room."
She found her A-99 Aquata breather in one of the many pockets in her brown robes and placed the white mouthpiece in her mouth and followed Riv-Lyn into the water current. The water was cold against her skin as it entered the rip on her pants that Riv-Lyn had made earlier and made the black pants she wore cling to her leg. Gripping the heavy-duty line with clenched fists, Pah-Rei was able to make short work of the journey to the durasteel door on the river's surface.
Riv-Lyn passed his hand over the controls and the two entered the small chamber that would soon drain of all water. After the door closed behind her, a red light lit up that was placed on the ceiling and the blue water slowly receded down through a drain located on the center of the floor. Once it was down to their ankles, the two took out their mouthpieces and placed them back into the proper pocket.
"We will enter now, Padawan. I am sure there will be resistance from the base's crew, so be prepared for combat."
"Yes, Master," Pah-Rei responded as she removed the hilt of her lightsaber from her belt. Riv-Lyn once again passed his hand over the controls, this time opening the door that led to the suspected control room. Pah-Rei was flabbergasted when she saw the massive control room. The lights were dimmed and the room was empty. All of the counsels were on with the blue text on the counsel illuminating the room slightly.
Riv-Lyn's brow furrowed, "I am curious as to where the base crew went."
Pah-Rei looked down to the computer counsel that was in front of her and responded while reading the display text, "They probably fled after they realized we got passed their security patrols. I have located the droid control unit, Master. This confirms that the droids are online and have been for over a week."
She felt his wet robes rub against hers as he spoke, "I will let you disable them. I will locate a layout of the base for future reference."
She nodded to him as he walked away, "The droids are disabled, Master. I will attempt to reprogram the security protocols so that they will not attempt to reactivate them from another location…"
"How ingenious of you, young one. It will not do you any good, however."
Pah-Rei recognized the sinister voice as to the one that belonged to the dark being that she and her master had sensed earlier. She pulled out her lightsaber hilt but awaited Riv-Lyn's approval to activate it. Riv-Lyn turned and his jaw dropped down in amazement as he saw the seven-foot tall, black furred Wookie that was dressed in a brown, synthetic leather combat suit. The alien species turned his blue eyes to Riv-Lyn and it formed a smile and said, "If it is not my good friend Riv-Lyn Veers. It has been a long time, has it not?"
She nodded, "Of course, Master."
Each line of droids contained twenty robotic soldiers, totaling the Jedi's opposition to a large sum of one hundred eighty droids. Riv-Lyn backed up to stand next to his apprentice as they watched in awe as they lined up before them. After all of the red-shouldered security bots had lined up, the nine doors shut behind them with the added protection of a blast door for each. In an instant, each droids gun was trained steadily on both of the Jedi, ready to pull the triggers on the first ones that moved.
Pah-Rei observed grimly, "I see that we are outnumbered. Would you not confer with me, Master?"
The skeleton-like droids squeezed the triggers of their oversized blasters right before the Jedi took cover behind the control counsel, unleashing a sheet of hot lethal energy out to the opposite side of the room. Riv-Lyn thumbed the activation switch to his lightsaber and began to deflect any bolts that endangered him or his Padawan. Pah-Rei did the same as they both ducked behind the counsel and observed aloud, "Why do they not close in on us and destroy us? They are just standing there!"
"I see that whoever gives them their orders has learned their lesson about battle tactics in a battle with lightsaber wielding Jedi and mindless Battle Droids!" Riv-Lyn shouted over the sounds of deafening blaster discharges. Pah-Rei nodded and looked at the diagonally surfaced display of the counsel they were behind. It had control over the doors of the base and was fully operational; only it was being routed from another location. Confused, she asked her master a question, "Master, I have noticed that all controls in this room are being routed from another location. If this is indeed the control room, why would all of the commands be being sent here from another location?"
Riv-Lyn blocked a single bolt that came dangerously close to his head, "This is not the true control room, Padawan! Obviously, they were expecting our arrival! Can you try to open up that last door on our far left using this counsel?"
Pah-Rei skimmed the Aurebesh commands and then nodded, "I believe so! Yes, but I am quite sure that the real control room will try to block out my access!"
"Do it any ways! We will stand a better chance in whatever is in that room than in here!"
Pah-Rei did not argue. She began to punch in several keys while Riv- Lyn blocked every bolt that came within saber's reach. Pah-Rei exclaimed, "I did it!"
Riv-Lyn continued to cover her while shouting to her and pointed to the opening tenth door with a finger, "Go! I will be right behind you!"
With the assistance of the Force, Pah-Rei took off at a super fast rate of over sixty miles an hour. She ran through the door and moments later, Riv-Lyn stopped behind her. The door closed right after he entered the long natural corridor they stood in. Pah-Rei, out of breath, leaned up against the wall and listened to the droid's words, "They have evaded our attacks. We will return to the main hangar."
Riv-Lyn listened as the metal against metal of their footsteps faded away as the droids exited the false control room. Pah-Rei looked to him, "Where do we go now?"
After checking the door's controls that they had just come through, he pointed down the cavern, "We have been sealed off. There is no where to go from that room but here any ways."
Pah-Rei nodded and began following her master at a rater fast pace, "I see. Master, may I ask why you asked for more Jedi. We got interrupted last time I tried…"
Just as she said this, the buzzing of engines outside of the mountain base's caves made them stop dead in their tracks. Her eyes widened, "What is that?"
Riv-Lyn pulled Pah-Rei along as he began to run faster. He pulled out his comlink and thumbed the switch, "This is Jedi Master Veers to Radiant VIII. You must leave orbit around the planet! You are in grave danger!"
"My scanners are not picking up… Wait! Pull up!" a burst of static sounded. Riv-Lyn did not stop his near sprint, "Radiant VIII, respond! Radiant VIII?"
Pah-Rei halted. Riv-Lyn slowed to a walk and turned to her. She swallowed hard as she began to walk again, "Master. I am very, very cold."
"As I am as well, young Padawan. You are aware as the same danger that I feel. Be conscious of those feelings; they are the ones that will save your life in combat and even warn you of the upcoming danger."
She nodded and looked up once she heard the sound of flowing water. She picked up her pace as Riv-Lyn pulled her along. He turned back to her, "Hurry, Pah-Rei. We must disable this base before the other Jedi arrive, or else they will experience the same fate as Radiant VIII."
She nodded and began to sprint alongside of Riv-Lyn, "Of course, Master. I am out of breath. I apologize."
"Quite alright. It is understandable after what we have been through."
As they made their way down the slightly declining, twisting cavern corridor, the sound of the water current grew louder. Pah-Rei finally got to ask her question, "Master, why did you send for more Jedi? Is it the dark presence that is upsetting you?"
He nodded, "Yes, young one. I am unclear as to what it is, but I can feel it is clouding my powers. If you were as attuned to the Force as I, you would be able to sense it right now."
She furrowed her brow, "I felt it earlier right before I was attacked by the security patrol. I could swear I heard a murmur; a whisper that was saying something, but it was to quiet for me to understand. I figured it was just the wind outside." She stopped once again and her face lost all color. He turned to her and motioned her to follow him, "Come, Padawan."
She looked at him with her gray eyes and continued to walk. Her stomach knotted as she spoke in a hardly audible whisper, "Master, do you believe that the other Sith Lord from the Naboo crisis is here?"
Riv-Lyn grabbed onto her robes as she almost walked right into the blue water flowing out of an opening in the mountain that lay around a corner they rounded. She gulped and wiped the sweat that had appeared on her forehead after coming so close to death in the cave's river. She turned to her master and managed a nod of thankfulness.
Riv-Lyn sat on a rock that was up against the wall as Pah-Rei took a seat opposite of him. He nodded and said, "It is a possibility that the dark tremor is the other Sith Lord. I felt its presence while meditating. It is a creature so dark that it disconnected me with my meditation. It was odd because not even Master Yoda could break my mental connection to the Force like this. It would have had to be trained well in the dark arts of the Sith Ways. Or known my weaknesses."
Pah-Rei nodded and said wearily, "Master, I know I am not supposed to be afraid, but I am. I am very afraid. This mission is a lot more dangerous than I had anticipated. If the Sith Lord is here, we are in a lot of trouble. Now with the Radiant VIII destroyed, there is no probable way to return home."
Riv-Lyn looked down to her, "I overheard that last security patrol report that they were returning to the hangar. That will be our next objective to find after we destroy the droid control unit. Anyhow, we should really get moving. We are running out of time; the Dark Plague should arrive tomorrow night."
She nodded and looked the river running through the cave tunnel. She furrowed her brow and turned to Riv-Lyn, "Why is the water blue? It is indoors; the sky is not being reflected off of it."
Riv-Lyn to was puzzled by the mystery and turned to Pah-Rei, "It is obviously hiding something of great importance. Do you concur?"
Her eyes widened as she stood up, "The control room?"
He nodded, "That is my guess also. Prepare for a swim against that current. If you lose your grip, Padawan…"
Pah-Rei sat back down, "I really do not have the strength. Why can we not use our ascension guns? These rocks can serve as anchors for the line…"
Riv-Lyn took out his ascension gun, "There is only room for one line. Stay here and rest. I will go first to scout out the area. Once I return, then you may follow."
She nodded and watched as the man put the A-99 Aquata Breather in his mouth. After he fired the gun's grappling hook into the blue river current and anchoring the taut cable to the rock Pah-Rei sat on, he walked into the water and began his way to the bottom. Once he had disappeared, Pah-Rei found herself doing the one thing she detested most: meditating.
This time, she heeded Riv-Lyn's advice and began to focus all of her mental abilities with her physical, fusing them together as one force. She had never done this before and it was so overwhelming, she could actually fell the power begin to surge throughout her body. It was an intense experience, but a pleasant one. Or at least up to the last few chilling moments of her session she would call it that.
Everything went black in her mind. All of her Force abilities were cut off from her meditation link and she could hear the sinister voice that she thought she had heard earlier. It was a deep, bellowing voice that made her hair all over her body rise on their ends. She swallowed hard as it began to talk to her.
It spoke, "You will give into your emotions. You will give into your angers and fears, your hates and every temptation that crosses your life's journey. You will join me, and together can acquire any possessions we wish for! Come, with your powers combined with mine, we will be able to turn any others that wish to join us and rule the entire galaxy! I know deep within you no matter how hard you deny it, there is that dark past that is beginning to surface again in your life, as your Force powers grow stronger and more powerful! You may not remember it, but I know that it will be your start down the dark path! I know so very well!"
It laughed aloud and Pah-Rei's eyes snapped open. She was gasping for air once she awoke and was calmed by the Force powers slowly restarting their journey through her body. Wiping the cold sweat from her face and wiping off the sweaty palms on her robes, she arose with trembling knees to see Riv-Lyn's head poke out of the water. She gasped at his startling appearance but then sighed when she realized who it was. He looked up to her, "What is it?"
She felt tears form in her eyes and she wiped them away as she spoke, "It spoke to me! Master, the dark presence began to speak to me while meditating."
Concerned for her, Riv-Lyn climbed out of the flowing river and took the girl in his arms as he spoke, "What did it say to you?"
She slowly pushed him away and looked into his hazel eyes, "He told me to join him. He said that my past was going to take me down the dark path and together we would rule the galaxy." She looked to her feet and began to cry.
Riv-Lyn put his left hand on her shoulder and took his right hand and lifted her head up by the chin. Her gray eyes were sleeker than ever with the tears making them lustrously beautiful. He spoke gently to her, "I know that you would never turn to the Darkside, Pah-Rei. Your abilities in the Force will never let you fail as a Jedi." He wiped away her tears and pushed the brown locks of hair out of her face that had fallen there. He smiled at her, "Did you hear you correctly? You meditated without me telling you to?"
She could not help to smile. She nodded, "I even focused on my mental abilities. I have never felt so ready for anything in my life."
He smiled at her. She then looked back to her feet, "And I felt them being overpowered once the dark one began to talk to me."
He helped her to her feet, "As did I, but it lasts for such a short period of time that we do not even have to worry about that. Come on, I found an air lock below the water. That must lead to the control room."
She found her A-99 Aquata breather in one of the many pockets in her brown robes and placed the white mouthpiece in her mouth and followed Riv-Lyn into the water current. The water was cold against her skin as it entered the rip on her pants that Riv-Lyn had made earlier and made the black pants she wore cling to her leg. Gripping the heavy-duty line with clenched fists, Pah-Rei was able to make short work of the journey to the durasteel door on the river's surface.
Riv-Lyn passed his hand over the controls and the two entered the small chamber that would soon drain of all water. After the door closed behind her, a red light lit up that was placed on the ceiling and the blue water slowly receded down through a drain located on the center of the floor. Once it was down to their ankles, the two took out their mouthpieces and placed them back into the proper pocket.
"We will enter now, Padawan. I am sure there will be resistance from the base's crew, so be prepared for combat."
"Yes, Master," Pah-Rei responded as she removed the hilt of her lightsaber from her belt. Riv-Lyn once again passed his hand over the controls, this time opening the door that led to the suspected control room. Pah-Rei was flabbergasted when she saw the massive control room. The lights were dimmed and the room was empty. All of the counsels were on with the blue text on the counsel illuminating the room slightly.
Riv-Lyn's brow furrowed, "I am curious as to where the base crew went."
Pah-Rei looked down to the computer counsel that was in front of her and responded while reading the display text, "They probably fled after they realized we got passed their security patrols. I have located the droid control unit, Master. This confirms that the droids are online and have been for over a week."
She felt his wet robes rub against hers as he spoke, "I will let you disable them. I will locate a layout of the base for future reference."
She nodded to him as he walked away, "The droids are disabled, Master. I will attempt to reprogram the security protocols so that they will not attempt to reactivate them from another location…"
"How ingenious of you, young one. It will not do you any good, however."
Pah-Rei recognized the sinister voice as to the one that belonged to the dark being that she and her master had sensed earlier. She pulled out her lightsaber hilt but awaited Riv-Lyn's approval to activate it. Riv-Lyn turned and his jaw dropped down in amazement as he saw the seven-foot tall, black furred Wookie that was dressed in a brown, synthetic leather combat suit. The alien species turned his blue eyes to Riv-Lyn and it formed a smile and said, "If it is not my good friend Riv-Lyn Veers. It has been a long time, has it not?"
