Ahch-To
Uriel turned the artifact over in his hand for seemed to be the hundredth time.
"I don't understand," he said to Adrielle, "You're the one with the other Harbinger, yet this one called to me?"
"Could it be that a person can only have one Harbinger?" Adrielle offered, "And why do you still have yours? The one I found just crumbled to dust as soon as I laid a finger on it."
"Could be the difference is because I was already attuned to the Force. But even then, I'm not entirely sure if this thing is bound to me. I mean, I don't feel any different." He gave it one last look before pocketing it. "Well, here's hoping Master Orrickos can shed some light on—"
He was cut off by the sound of an engine roaring. They both looked up to see a ship pass overhead.
"What in the…" Uriel broke into a run, Adrielle behind him, as they went in the direction of the ship.
"Who the hell is that?!" Adrielle asked as she ran, "I thought no one else knew about this place!"
"What makes you think I know?! I've never been here before!"
They made it back to the Mermaid where Reena was standing at the ramp.
"What the hell was that?" she asked breathlessly, "Didn't you say no one else knew about this place?"
"I love how everyone around here thinks I'm somehow the gatekeeper here!" Uriel exclaimed as he went up the ramp. "Where's Orrickos?"
Reena looked him straight in the eyes. "Something's come up."
They followed her into the ship, where Orrickos was in the cockpit, at the comms terminal. Just from the look on his face, Uriel could tell something grave had come up.
"Master." Uriel approached, as Orrickos closed the channel and looked up at him.
"That was Lieutenant Jysed, relaying a message from Dantooine" he said solemnly. "The Temple's under attack."
"WHAT?" Uriel and Adrielle exclaimed.
"It's… It's the Devourer."
"Phagos," Uriel spat.
"I don't think so this time. And I think you know who it might be as well."
Shock, immediately replaced by a simmering fury emanated from Uriel, which brought a chill to Adrielle, reminding her of their near accident in the cave.
He turned to Reena. "Get us out of here, now."
"Wait!" Orrickos cut in, "We...can't." It was clear that just saying those two words proved painful for him. "As much as I want to get back to Dantooine, the fact remains that there's now someone else, someone we don't know, who knows about this place."
As if on cue, the unmistakable sounds of a blaster discharge and bolt meeting metal rang out.
"Stang!" Reena exclaimed, "Just when I'd gotten it polished."
"It has to be them," Adrielle said.
"Get out there before they hurt the Mermaid some more," Reena ordered.
Uriel looked to Adrielle and his master, who both nodded and got up. They made their way back to the ramp.
Standing a couple meters from the foot of the ramp was a lone gunman clad in what could only be Mandalorian armor from the look of it.
"I'm here for Adrielle Lunan," the Mando announced, "The rest of you can leave." Phagos technically never said anything about killing his Jedi friends, she thought. Sucks for him.
Adrielle stepped back as Uriel and Orrickos ignited their blades.
Viah sighed. "It can never be simple, can it?" She pressed a button on her wrist console.
A blue energy surge briefly enveloped the Mermaid, and the ramp began ascending.
At once, she raised her blaster arm and began firing at Orrickos, who began deflecting, the dual yellow blades of his lightsaber spinning as an impenetrable windmill of defense, as Uriel began rushing toward her, failing to notice in time as the bounty hunter raised her other arm. A cable shot out and wrapped itself around Adrielle. Viah boosted her jetpack and ascended, pulling Adrielle out of the ship and out of Uriel's reach, still firing at Orrickos to keep him at bay, until the ramp had closed completely on him.
"Master!" Uriel called out before turning back to the Mando. He hurled his lightsaber upward, severing the cable—Adrielle landed hard on the grassy surface—then dodged the next several blaster shots before his weapon returned to him. He ran to Adrielle, freeing her with a quick swipe of his blade, as Viah landed in front of them.
. . .
"What happened?!" Reena shouted.
"It's a bounty hunter," Orrickos answered, "Mandalorian. I'm guessing Phagos's newest toy."
"Great," Reena growled. "I'm doing my best to override whatever lock that sleemo put on the ship!"
"I'll see if I can do anything from the engine room!" Orrickos volunteered as he made his way to another area near the rear.
. . .
Frag that damn jetback! Uriel thought as he continued deflecting Viah's shots.
If Viah could circle around to Lunan's side while keeping the Jedi preoccupied with using the Force to stay alive, she could swoop down and grab her. Unfortunately for her, the Jedi was smarter than she would've liked, as he continued to circle around Lunan, always staying between her and the target. So she switched up her tactic: she continued to circle around, but in an inward spiral. Eventually the Jedi's blocking ability would become diminished as the distance between them decreased.
Uriel continued fending off the blaster bolts. "Lunan!" he barked, hating that the hunter would undoubtedly hear their plan, "The next time you're between me and the Mermaid, run under there!"
Getting desperate, are we? Viah smirked beneath her helmet, as she altered her approach. She let up and flew toward the other side of the ship, letting loose a few mines on the top.
"Go anywhere near the vessel and I'll blow the mines!" she called out as she landed on the top of the Mermaid. "My beskar will probably leave me a bit fried, but nothing a little bacta can fix. Can you say the same for your little dress, Jedi?"
"I'd probably look better in a dress than you ever could, schutta!" Uriel spat back as he gestured Adrielle behind him, backing away from the Mermaid, all too aware of the cliff edge they were getting closer to.
Viah jumped off the ship and began walking toward them, letting off a couple test shots with her blaster which Uriel predictably blocked.
"It's either me or the fall," she said, "Believe it or not, killing you, any of you, was never in the assignment. So why doesn't the klepto coed behind you just come with me, return what she took off from Obroa-skai, and we can leave here and hopefully I'll never have to see any of you again?"
Uriel masked his surprise as he glanced back at Adrielle, who from the look in her eye also caught it: this Mandalorian didn't know a thing about what the Harbinger was really about. Uriel's eyes quickly darted down in the direction of his own person before looking at Adrielle again. She got the message perfectly.
"Fine!" Uriel called, as he extinguished his lightsaber and stepped aside, making a clear path between Adrielle and Viah. He mouthed the words Focus before looking back at the hunter.
Adrielle slowly walked toward Viah, stopping a few feet in front of her. Viah continued pointing her blaster at her.
"Show me the relic."
"Relic?" Uriel said from behind her; Viah focused her gaze on him.
He reached into his cloak and withdrew the Harbinger he'd found in the cave. "You mean this thing?"
On cue, Adrielle, who'd been thinking of absolutely nothing other than this precise moment, widened her eyes and shot out her hands toward Viah, who went flying backward, hitting the Mermaid hard. She wasn't sure if it was her imagination or if she actually heard an angry female voice curse loudly from inside the ship.
Uriel followed up by leaping into the air, using the Force to pull the mines off the ship…
Along with the shutdown device.
He landed in front of her, his lightsaber on again, and began raining blows upon the hunter, who began blocking with her beskar gauntlets.
Viah calmly blocked the blade coming at her, confident in the integrity of her armor, until she saw the opening she wanted. She quickly extended one arm, letting loose her flamethrower, forcing Uriel to jump back and allow her to power her jetpack again and take to the air while firing on Uriel.
Only to be caught and immobilized midair despite her jetback's boosts.
What?! She continued shooting at Uriel, who blocked deftly, until she was sent plunging down onto the ground, unable to move. Stunned, she looked around her and noticed the Drowning Mermaid's ramp down again, and the older Devaronian Jedi standing with his arm stretched toward her.
Uriel approached her, holding the shutdown device. "Clever," he admitted, "Temporarily locks down all electrical functions, but deactivates after a certain amount of time to ensure no actual damage to systems. Perfect for scavenging tech and ship parts from your prey. Now I wonder…"
He bent down, and planted the device right on the center of Viah's back, then reached for her wrist console, and pressed the button.
Viah let out a cry as the energy pulse enveloped her for a second and all the systems in her armor, weapons, and jetpack shut down.
"You tell your master, next time he wants something from us, he can come take it himself from our corpses, if he has the strength and the courage."
Orrickos relinquished his hold on her as he turned back to go up the ramp. Viah seized the opportunity and leapt forward at Uriel, who easily dodged and slammed the butt of his lightsaber into the side of her helmet (which he imagined without its systems was now a far greater hindrance than help) hard, not holding back for confidence in the beskar. He took Adrielle and they followed Orrickos up the ramp.
Moments later, the Mermaid took off.
The Drowning Mermaid
"Are you alright?" Orrickos asked Uriel and Adrielle.
Adrielle nodded. "Yeah," Uriel replied, "Who was that? And how did she know about this place?"
"My only guess is she was contracted by Phagos," Orrickos answered, "As to how… I wouldn't be surprised if that shock in the Force when Adrielle touched the second Harbinger was enough of a lead for him or Judecca to go on for locating us."
"Is it safe just leaving her?" Reena asked.
"She's Mandalorian," Orrickos explained, "Even if she knows, she's not obligated to tell Phagos anything about Ahch-To, and chances are they don't know just how crucial this world is. In their mind, the ancient Jedi probably hid the Harbinger in some dead end planet of no importance until Adrielle came and took it."
"It wasn't me," Adrielle said softly.
Uriel produced the Harbinger from his cloak. "The cave. It spoke to me… tested me. I guess I passed… just barely."
Orrickos could sense something pass between Uriel and Adrielle, but chose not to pry; what happened down there would be for them alone.
"What matters is we have two now," Orrickos said, "But now we have an even bigger problem." He looked at the pilot's seat. "Shy'reena?"
"I've inputted the coordinates," Reena assured him, "We're heading back to Dantooine."
The four of them watched the stars stretched into streaks, as they made the jump to hyperspace.
