"Next time," Luke muttered as he pushed the hovercart alongside Han, "you can be the Stormtrooper."

Han glanced at him from under his Imperial cap. "Hey, I'm not the one the entire planet is gunning for right now."

Luke grumbled moodily, but he knew Han was right. If he didn't have the helmet on, they'd all be imprisoned or dead right now. Didn't mean he had to like posing as a Stormtrooper though. But then he looked at the others behind him; compared to their predicament, this was nothing.

"Keep up, scum!" snapped Brogan's accomplice. "Anyone who starts to slow down will be dragged through the mud, understand?!"

It wasn't hard for Nailah, Kashvi, and some of the Talons to look like slaves who hated their Imperial oppressors. They shuffled out of the hangar in binders, doing their best to look angry, but defeated, with a pair of Stormtroopers right behind them. Zar had to have bandages wrapped around his left eye to hide the prosthetic, and all of their equipment had been placed in crates, along with Dendro and Tor. They couldn't take the risk of someone recognizing them. SN had been the easiest to deal with; the droid simply sprayed some paint on to disguise his normal paint job, and to the Imps, he was just another droid working for the Empire.

They marched to a massive turbo tank that was waiting for them; it was even bigger than the normal ones, which suited them just fine. Their allies walked into the tank one at a time, with Luke and Han right behind them, and then Brogan's accomplice dismissed the Stormtroopers. She entered the tank, closed the door, and said into her comm, "Everyone is aboard. Take us to the mountains."

The tank awkwardly lurched forward, but quickly began to pick up speed. Han followed the Imp up to the cockpit, leaving Luke and the others alone. Luke yanked his helmet off and took a grateful breath of fresh air. "I hate these things," he complained. "You'd think the Empire would give their people better gear."

As if in reply, Dendro and Tor slid the lids off their crates, and took the opportunity to stretch. "If this job doesn't pay off," groaned Dendro, "we're sending you back to Tatooine in this box, Bariq."

As Bariq retorted back at Dendro, Zar asked, "Can you get these off, Luke? I want to make sure Han's alright with Brogan's partner in crime, and see what we're up against."

Nailah began to open her mouth, no doubt with another insult, but Kashvi nudged her and gave her an uncharacteristically tense and serious look. The Twi'lek stared back, but sighed, and leaned back in her seat. Luke decided to pretend he didn't see that, and unlocked Zar's binders. Zar thanked him and they went to the cockpit. A pair of white armored drivers drove the tank through the base, with the Imp and Han standing behind them. "Try anything," the Imp warned them, "and I'll bring the entire base down on you."

Zar ignored her as he stared through the cockpit viewport. He didn't look happy, and as Luke looked outside, he couldn't blame him. Slaves of all different species were being escorted by troops, either to other transports, or to various construction sites around the base. AT-STs marched around as well, so if any slaves did try and revolt, they wouldn't last long. Zar sighed, and went back down, with Luke right behind him.

"How bad is it out there?" asked Tor hesitantly, as Luke plopped down next to Kashvi. "As bad as Wobani?"

"Worse," sighed Zar as he collapsed on his seat. "Haven't seen that many slaves since the Zygerria job."

This time Nailah couldn't hold it in. "I'm surprised. You actually sound like you care."

Surprisingly, Zar didn't fire back, he just glanced at her with his one eye, and then shut it. Nailah's eyes ran across his face, with mild curiosity in her eyes. "So…this is what you look like without the helmet? Not what I was expecting. How did you lose the eye?"

"He still has it, tailhead," grunted Ru. "Only has a few more surgeries to go, then he can lose the prosthetic—"

"Same as everything else," Zar interrupted, his eye still closed.

The room went quiet. Nailah kept her eyes on Zar. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

The grey eye cracked open slightly, but Luke could still feel its intensity even from his seat. "I lost it like how I lost everything else," he said quietly. "Because of you Rebels. Got strapped onto an Imperial operating table thanks to your old pal, Saw Gerrera. Lost a lot of good friends, thanks to the Alliance throwing them right into a meat grinder." His eye grew so narrow and sharp, Nailah shifted in her seat. "And you Rebels took away the best thing that ever happened to me…all for the glorious cause. If the Empire hadn't already beaten you to the punch, I'm sure you would have done the same to my parents. Do us both a favor, Captain. After this is over, never hire us again, or the next time we eject you out in an escape pod, it'll be on a one-way trip to Mustafar."

He closed the eye and leaned back. For a few moments, there was nothing but the rumbling of the tank. "So how are we going to get out of here?" asked Kashvi, clearly wanting to change the subject. "Once we destroy the weapon, this…Voidbreak?"

"Voidbreaker," corrected Luke. "Well, we could steal a vehicle afterwards."

Kashvi gave a grim smile. "Don't worry, the Imps haven't made a ship or speeder that I couldn't hijack."

"And what if the worst happens?" asked Nailah, not taking her eyes off of Zar. "And we get cornered up on the mountains?"

Luke looked down at his feet. "Then we'll have to hope the others are able to send a ship to get us out of there."

A thud jolted Zar out of his small nap. He opened his eye in time to see Dendro and Tor reluctantly getting back into their crates. "Finally," he yawned. "Can't wait to get what we came for and leave this rock behind us."

Luke put helmet back on, and replied, "We got to get past the guards first."

They all field out to see the mountains towering above them, while in front of them, was another scowling officer flanked by a pair of troopers. "What's the meaning of this?" he growled at Brogan's accomplice. "We have no construction projects over here."

"They're not here to build anything," she replied calmly. "We recently cracked a Rebel prisoner; they told us that the Yucari may have hidden a temple or tomb up in the mountains. Moff Locus has ordered me to verify the prisoner's claims." She gestured at their group. "I thought it best to throw them into the beast infested jungle up there. I don't think we'll have a shortage of slaves should the animals make a meal out of them."

The fight had gone out of the other officer at the mention of Locus. He merely nodded, saluted, and walked off, his troops right behind him. Brogan's accomplice took half of their group to one waiting patrol transport, and Han took the rest to the other transport. Zar glanced at Luke, as the young Rebel walked alongside the female officer with the hovercart. "Will Luke be alright with that hag?" Zar muttered as discreetly as possible to Han.

"Don't worry," Han whispered back. "We did this before on the Death Star; kid's a pro."

"That bad, huh?"

Han frowned as they got in the transport. "Well…he's had practice. He should be fine."

They took off, and Zar was treated to a view of Slave Town…he had rarely seen such a depressing sight. Thankfully it didn't last long, before he knew it, the transport was already at the top of the mountains, and landed on the cliff next to the jungle. Han gave a decent impression of an arrogant officer as he herded them towards the trees. The jungle quickly swallowed them, and Zar couldn't see the transports, which suited him just fine. A little later, they stopped, and Luke and Han began to undo their binders. "I'll wait for an hour," said Brogan's accomplice, as she took off her cap and ran a hand anxiously through her neck length black hair. "But no more. If you make the smart decision and decide to leave, fine, but if not, then we never had this conversation."

Han nodded grimly. Once they had all their gear back on, they marched further into the jungle, and the officer vanished from view. "Hopefully that's the last time I pose as a Stormtrooper," sighed Luke, as he adjusted his orange flightsuit's sleeves.

"Han says you did this on the Death Star," grunted Zar, and he barely avoided knocking his helmet on a branch. "How did that go?"

Luke made a face. "It ended in a shootout and we nearly got crushed by a garbage compactor."

"I see," replied Zar slowly. "Han's bright idea?"

There was a thud and curse. They glanced back to see Han had smacked his head on the branch. "No," retorted Han, and he rubbed his head. "Her Highness was the one who pulled that stunt. Good thing she's not here to suggest any other ideas that could get us killed."

Zar titled his head at Luke. He gave a small smile and shook his head in reply. Zar nodded back. Han really must have had a thing for this princess if he made such a big show of complaining about her. "Guys," said Kashvi suddenly; she had halted at the entrance of what looked like a clearing. "I think we found it."

They all filed out into the hollow. Despite the new plants and trees that had grown over them, they could still see some of the fallen trees that must have been knocked over as the ship had crashed on Yuca. As for the great mass in front of them…Dynas hadn't been kidding when he said that the Venator had been covered up. Sizable trees and a vast assortment of different plants and flowers had grown across it, even up close, it was hard to see the metal beneath the flora and grime.

"I really hope we don't have to dig under that thing," Dendro grunted, all four of his arms crossed in front of him.

Zar was about to suggest they keep moving, but Luke raised up a hand. "Wait," he said slowly, a strange look on his face. He looked around at the jungle; the others hurriedly copied him, and glanced around the jungle to see if they were being watched. Luke's gaze eventually fell back on the Venator, and he said, "We have to go in."

"And how would you know that?" asked Ru sourly.

Luke ignored him and walked along the side of the Venator. "Does he always do this?" Bariq asked Chewbacca. "We worked with one Jedi…well, a sort of Jedi…anyway, she acted like this sometimes too."

Chewbacca gave an irritated growl. Bariq shook his head. "Figures."

"Whatever you're saying," retorted Nailah, "stow it. Let's follow him."

They reached Luke as he stopped in front of a collection of vines or ivy hanging on the side of the ship. He grabbed them and pulled it away, revealing a large hole that looked like it had been bashed in years ago. He went in and they all went after him. Predictably, it was pitch black inside, so several of them turned on some flashlights. "By the Force," gasped Kashvi. "What I would give to have seen this in its prime."

They were in one of the side hangars; there were still some ruined starfighters and vehicles tossed around, but it looked like their inner workings had been ripped out, and converted into living spaces. Several old AT-TE walkers looked like some of the old stalls Zar had seen on Kaua…he winced as bittersweet memories came back to him, but he didn't dwell on them long as Luke said, "Look!"

Past the hangar entrance was the flight deck. A long and wide gash had been ripped into it. They shone their lights down into it, and past the Venator's insides, was a massive cavern. Zar could make out what looked like stone carvings along the wall. As the Rebels started to bring out their grappling lines to climb down, Zar made some sign language at Bariq. The Jawa nodded and bustled off. Nailah opened her mouth to ask, but Zar shook his head firmly, and pointed at the entrance. Bariq was setting detonators and other traps along it, and at other points in the hangar. Thankfully, Nailah realized what was going on, and nodded before she went down.

Zar waited until his friend was done, then once he walked over, hoisted the Jawa on his back before he went down the line. Once they made it to the bottom, they joined the others at the back wall. Zar had been right; a stone archway had been carved along the wall, and despite its vast age, he could see the figures on it. The Yucari, the Jedi, and those strange spiked aliens. "What are those things?" asked Luke, and he ran his hand across the carvings. "I've never seen a species like that before."

"If I had to guess," said Zar slowly, "maybe they're the Zavar mentioned in that message. Doesn't sound like they were pleasant though."

They all stared quietly at the carvings for a moment, before they turned their eyes to rest of the wall. There were no signs of a door, only more carvings, with a life-sized carving of one of the Zavar at the center, with what looked like a crystal in its hands. Before Zar could think of what to do, Luke walked to the carving, a strange look on his face, and put his hand on the crystal in the being's grasp. Zar frowned. "Luke, what are you doing—?"

The stone carving suddenly rotated, and with a massive groan, the Zavar split in half, revealing a secret entrance. A set of stone stairs led down…somewhere. "Well," said Luke uneasily, "that's not creepy at all." He gestured towards the entrance. "Want go first, Zar?"

Zar tilted his head at him, and Luke gave a nervous smile. With a deep breath, Zar took Luke up on his offer, and walked in. He heard the rest of the group follow him, their flashlights barely making a dent in the darkness as they descended.

Nailah did her best not to shudder as they climbed down the stairs; she wasn't going to give the Talons the satisfaction of seeing her shudder…despite how increasingly creepy this place was. There were more pictures carved into the walls, disturbing scenes of war, conquests, and unnerving rituals the long-gone species had performed. But at last, their lights hit the bottom of the stairs. Once Zar reached the last stair, he came to an abrupt stop, and held up a hand. He took what looked like thermal detonators out of his belt and rolled them across the floor. After a moment, they automatically rolled right back to his waiting hands. "Didn't detect or trigger any traps," he said quietly. "But that doesn't mean there isn't any. Be careful and don't touch anything. And don't freak out when you reach the bottom."

He walked into the room, and before Nailah could wonder what he meant as she followed him, something caught her eye, and she looked to the side. A grinning fanged skull leered at her from the wall. She made a strangled yelp and scrambled away from it.

As Nailah calmed down and got a better look, she saw it was another mutated skeleton, with another one in the opposite wall…but they looked different from the ones at the site. A different mutation? Either way, they freaked her out, and from the reactions of the others as they came down, she knew they felt the same.

To distract herself from the horrible sight, she looked around the room. It was fairly large, with slots in the walls…as if the place wasn't creepy enough already, other skeletons lay inside them. She tentatively examined them, and saw that unlike the first ones, these ones looked more natural. But then she saw their skulls; they had an odd surface, as if in life they had horns or spikes on the tops of their heads…and she realized what they were. "These must be the Zavar," she said out loud.

"Probably," said Zar's voice, and she looked around. He was in front of a solid sturdy door, his fingers roaming across its surface. "But the door is what concerns me right now. A lot of the symbols have been worn away and…" He broke off. "Luke, come over here."

Luke walked over to him. "What's wrong?"

Zar pointed to a set of lines in the middle of the door. "It says here that only the Force can open this door…which means you're our only way in. It also says that you have to use it on the Jedi symbol." His finger moved to two round bulges in the door, two of many more carved into the door. "We're going to have to gamble here. It's one of these two symbols, but I can't tell which one. Feeling up to it, Luke? I won't force you to do it if you don't want to."

But Luke looked determined. "No, we can't give up now. I'll do it."

He ran his hand across the two symbols. Nailah realized she had been holding her breath the whole time. The rest of the group stared at Luke with tense expressions. Luke himself started to sweat, but then, he closed his eyes, and the symbol his hand was over suddenly made a slow full rotation.

There was another sudden shift of moving rock and an unusual noise. Nailah looked up and barely dodged in time. A blue burst of energy shattered the ground where she had been standing. She dodged another blast and saw the source of the blasts. A crystal was in the ceiling, attached to some device, as it ran across the ceiling and grew bright.

More blasts sounded, and she saw the others dodging other blasts, but one clipped Dendro on the shoulder and he bellowed in pain. He turned his cannons on the crystal, and a few blasts later, it was torn to pieces. "Get that door open!" he roared. "We can't keep this up for long!"

As if to prove his point, more blue blasts shot out of the walls where the Zavar skeletons were, instantly vaporizing the bones in their way. Nailah shot at the crystals as best she could, but there were simply too many. For every one she destroyed, another took its place, and she constantly kept dodging the blasts—

Suddenly, the blasts stopped, and the crystals slid back into their original hiding places. Nailah looked back at the door, and saw Luke heave a sigh of relief, his hand over the other correct symbol as it completed its rotation. The doors slid into the walls, exposing a huge cavern, with several circular tunnels branching out in different directions.

"Sorry, guys," Luke apologized, a devastated look on his face. "I-I couldn't tell which one was—"

"It's alright, kid," said Zar firmly. "If you want to blame anyone, blame the architects' cheap work on the door."

"Let's just keep moving," Han told them, his wary eyes roving across the place. "Don't feel like setting off any more traps today."

They went into the cavern and the door sealed shut behind them. Bariq pulled a scanner out of his bag, waved it at the tunnels, and said something in Jawaese. "He says the left tunnel is our best bet," Kashvi told Nailah helpfully. Nailah noticed some cuts on her face, but Kashvi waved off her concerned expression and said, "It's fine, nothing serious—"

Bariq pulled a stim out of his pocket and offered it to Kashvi. "That's sweet of you," she smiled, "but I'll be fine, save it for later."

"Or offer it to the Besalisk who needs it," grunted Dendro, a massive annoyed frown on his face.

They went down the left tunnel. Nailah glanced back at their group; Bariq had given the stim to a grateful Dendro, and the others were engaged in their own hushed conversations. Nailah turned to Kashvi and gave her the most serious look she had ever given her. "Kashvi Yamuna, if anything happens to me, please…promise me you'll look after my family—"

Kashvi grasped her firmly on the shoulder, a surprised but determined look in her eye. "Nailah, you know you don't need to ask me that. Of course, I will."

Nailah sighed in relief and closed her eyes. For all her faults, Nailah couldn't have met a more caring and selfless Togruta. "Thank you," she murmured.

Locus looked down on the officer's body with a frown, just as the rain finally started to come lightly down. He had been too late. "Lord Vader," he grunted into his comm, "I found the officer who helped the Talons through Slave Town. Unfortunately, she took her own life before I could bring her in."

"No matter," replied Vader's voice. "What of the Talons and Skywalker?"

"We've followed their tracks through the jungle. Lord Vader, you may want to personally come here after this is over, because they seemed to have stumbled across a crashed Venator Star Destroyer."

There was a pause. "Very well. Tell your men to continue their search for the Talons and Skywalker, but do not disturb anything else in the Venator, if possible. I will want every part of it checked; it could potentially lead us to other Jedi who may have survived the Purge."

Locus motioned for his troops to move in. As the first moved towards the hole in the Venator, he replied, "As you command, my Lord—"

An explosion interrupted him and sent the Stormtroopers flying through the air. "What was that?!" demanded Vader.

Locus cut the transmission; he couldn't afford any distractions now. He activated his suit's front armor and aimed his cannon and arms at the hole. His scanners couldn't detect any lifeforms, but that didn't mean there weren't any traps waiting for them. He motioned at his troops again, and more of them carefully made their way inside, with Locus right behind them. "Nothing here," said the troops' commander, as they walked further in. "But it looks like this place may have served as a living space at some point. Several of the vehicles that survived the crash have been converted into—"

A blaster bolt went through his helmet and he collapsed. The other troopers fired in all directions in a panic. "Wait, you fools!" Locus roared at them. "You're just giving them more openings to—"

Another trooper screamed in pain and panic. Locus whirled around and recoiled. Tiny probe killers, one of the most lethal droids used by the Separatists, had popped out of the wreckage and swarmed across the floor like a swarm of Ahmuzen insects. One of the troopers was already covered in them as the nasty things went to work. Locus raised an arm and fired, blasting a good portion of the swarm away, but they just kept coming. "Stand your ground!" he roared at his troops. "Anyone who flees will face Vader himself! So choose what you fear more: these meager Rebel traps, or the Emperor's right hand?!"

The troops made the right choice and stayed where they were, blasting at the droids non-stop. As Locus raised both arms and opened fire, he swore to himself that he would make the Talons pay for this if it was the last thing he ever did.

Unlike his companions, who looked at the sight with their mouths hanging open, Han stared unimpressed at the sight. "What?" he asked in a surly tone. "You act as if you've never seen an underground waterfall before."

"I doubt they've ever seen one like this before," Tor countered politely, as his own eyes glowed with awe.

The tunnel had opened up to a stone bridge extending to another tunnel in the cliff facing them, and to their left, was a massive waterfall. But what was unique about this one, was that somebody, most likely the Zavar, had carved trenches and grooves into the rock wall. Not only that, but crystals of all shapes and sizes had been put into rock, and they all glowed with a beautiful light.

Han shrugged. "Okay, the crystals are pretty. I've seen better."

"Sure," said SN drily, as he sprayed his normal paint job back on. "After a few bottles of Corellian Ale, I imagine."

Han glared at him. "I've spent so much time with Goldenrod, I had forgotten how annoying you were."

SN glanced at him with those massive silver eyes. "C-3PO I assume? R2 has told me quite a bit about him." The droid lowered his gaze. "I wish he hadn't stayed with the other Rebels. He was much better company than you and the hairball."

Chewie growled a threat at SN, which the droid ignored. "Let's keep moving," said Zar. "No telling when the Imps might show up."

They turned away from the waterfall and finished crossing the bridge into the other cave. "How much further do you think we've got to go?" Luke asked after what felt like an age.

Han felt his frown deepen. "I don't know, kid. But I have to tell you, seen my fair share of strange places, and this one is shaping up to be one of the creepiest—"

He stopped as the exit finally came into view. A few minutes later, they walked out of the tunnel, and this time, even Han's jaw dropped.

Below them was a huge stone city, separated from them by a vast raging river. Even from their position up above, they could see the city glittering with light, and they knew that there had to be crystals embedded in them too. And at the center of the city, was a temple made of a strange black stone, if what Zar had told them was true, the weapon the Empire was after. The Voidbreaker.

"So, are we really going to cross that bridge?" asked Ru, in a depressed tone. "The one that looks like it'll collapse if we so much as put a toe on it?"

Han glanced down. He had been so distracted by the city he had missed the bridge that connected their side to it. And Ru hadn't been exaggerating; while it was still intact enough to get across, the bridge was missing several chunks here and there. "Guess we really don't have much of a choice," Han grunted.

A set of stone paths had been carved out of the carven wall, and they zigzagged down all the way to the bottom. They walked in silence, not knowing what to expect next. As they reached the cavern floor, the roar of the river hit them like a fist. They stared down to see where it flowed to, but the cavern was so big they couldn't see it. "Who first?" asked Bariq sullenly. "I don't think I've got the stomach to—"

Luke walked forward, looking nervous, but determined. Han felt a grin tug at his lips. Typical of Luke, always had to be the fearless hero. "Careful, Luke!" moaned Kashvi, her hands clenched together.

Eventually, Luke made it to the other side. A long stone wall protected the city from the waves that sloshed up from the river, but there was an open gateway in front of the bridge, and Luke halted just inside it. He waved a hand in encouragement, and with a feeling of deep reservation, Han stepped onto the bridge.

Thankfully, he too had made it to the other side without incident, but he sighed in relief as he joined Luke. "We're getting a drink after this," Han told him. "My treat."

One by one, the others crossed the bridge, until only Zar was left. He slowly made his way across the bridge, and his visor kept darting towards the river, as if he was afraid something might come up and snatch him. When he was more than halfway across the bridge, after he had skirted around one of the holes in the bridge, Nailah shouted, "Come on, Zaram! Take any more time and the Empire will catch up to us!"

He glanced up at her—

—and the part of the bridge collapsed, and took him with it.

"ZAR!" screamed the Talons, and they rushed forward.

"Don't fall off the bridge too!" Han ordered them as he and Luke charged after them.

They leaned over the railing to look for their friend, but there was nothing but water. Then a flare shot up from the river, and thanks to the illumination, they saw a line attached to the bridge, and Zar bobbing up and down in the river. The Talons cheered as Zar pulled himself along the line. "That is one lucky barve," Han sighed, and he clapped a relieved Luke on the back.

Something burst out of the water, what looked a ghastly pale white tentacle, and wrapped around one of Zar's arms. Zar's scream could be heard even above the river. "I'm coming, Zar!" bellowed Tor, and he dove in before anyone could stop him.

"Tor, you crazy fool!" Han bellowed. "Get back here!"