Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or anything Star Wars related.

PART FOUR

Tomb Raiders

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The air seemed to grow colder as they descended the set of stairs. They seemed to go on for hours and Padme's legs were beginning to get tired. She felt chilled to the bone; a tight knot of apprehension forming in the pit of her stomach. The deeper they got into the heart of the Sith temple, the more nervous she became. She could tell that Sabe was visibly shaken and their guards were growing timid as well, but she never spoke a word of it. She wasn't going to let something as inane as fear get in her way. Whatever rested down below, she would find it. Nothing was going to stop her.

At last, after what felt like an eternity, they reached the bottom of the staircase. Padme stopped and pointed her light straight ahead, but nothing could be made out through the darkness. Building up her courage, she stepped forward and soon found herself in a long, narrow tunnel lined with various doors and passages. Sabe and the guards followed her, shining their own flashlights around to inspect the area.

"Look at this," Padme spoke up, approaching the nearest door. "There's writing."

Moving aside, she waited a moment while Sabe intently studied the strange symbols.

"We're in a burial chamber," Sabe explained after she had finished translating. "This is a tomb. Here lies Darth Tyranus, Dark Lord of the Sith."

"What about this one?" Padme asked, shining her light on the markings of another door.

"Here lies Darth Maul, Dark Lord of the Sith," Sabe read. "Have you ever heard of either of them?"

"No," Padme said as she thoughtfully looked the writing over. "I wonder what kind of artifacts are inside…"

"I'm not sure I want to find out," Sabe retorted.

"It was Sith tradition that they be secreted with their weapons," Padme continued as if she had not even heard her friend. "But they were also known to have been buried with other possessions if they so desired."

"What kind of possessions?" Sabe inquired, furrowing a brow.

"I don't know," Padme replied. "Anything, I suppose."

"Shall we move on?" one of the guards interrupted the conversation, clearly on edge.

Padme reluctantly pulled her gaze away from the door and glanced down the tunnel. "Yes, there is still much to see. This way."

Leading the way yet again, she made her way through the catacombs, fascinated by her surroundings. Being so close to so many corpses of the ancients was almost overwhelming. Ancient remains had been discovered before, but never so many all at one time. She had spent her life researching and examining the Sith, but now to be so close to them in person…it was enough to boggle the mind. She couldn't believe that she had been the one to uncover something so extraordinary.

After several minutes of walking, they finally reached the end of the tunnel. At the end was a large, round door with intricate designs carved into it. It obviously held somebody or something of great importance. It too was marked with the same writing as the rest of the doors, but there was much more on this one than the others.

"What does it say?" Padme asked.

"It says…destroyer of worlds, conqueror of the stars," Sabe interpreted, lightly brushing her fingers over the unique symbols. "Here lies the master of masters…Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith."

"Vader?" Padme repeated. "Strange that he sounds so important, yet his name is not familiar. I'll have to check the archives."

"It looks like he was some kind of Sith royalty," Sabe commented.

"The only royalty ever documented were Darth Sidious and the Black Knight," Padme replied, curiously scrutinizing the writing while a wide grin appeared on her face. "Do you realize what we've found? We have to get in there!"

"How?" Sabe questioned. "We can't get this thing open by ourselves."

"No, but we can get help," Padme responded, still in a state of awe. "We can use the droids when the others get here."

"Well, for now I vote that we get back to the surface," Sabe suggested. "We can't do anything until they get here and this place is starting to creep me out."

"You've never liked the dark," Padme remarked with a soft chuckle.

"And you've always liked it too much," Sabe countered.

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