Treasure Hunt

Fan's smaller ship landed in a hanger on a dusty planet followed close behind by the white and purple Diversity.

She and Dyna walked out into the medium built area, with grey houses and grey streets criss-crossing the brown and white dusty place. The golden astromech droid followed the two females who were walking out.

"Exactly, why are we here?" Dyna looked around as she followed Fan.

Fan looked like she was hesitating but the blue humanoid decided to share. "Because of this," Fan produced a hologram recording of the scroll she had failed to procure.

"I've never seen that language before." Dyna analysed the symbols.

Fan quickly deactivated the holo-disk. "That is because it is not Basic, it is an ancient language."

"Oh!" Dyana felt a little awkward at being so openly untrusted.

"Urgh! Why are we on this stupid rock?" Buck said appearing around the corner.

Fan turned her nose up in disgust at the sight of Buck. "Oh, you're still following us? I thought you would have stayed at that dreadful planet with the rest of your kind."

"'The rest of my kind?'" Buck's tone sounded annoyed. "What do you mean by 'the rest of my kind'?"

"Oh, you know, the beings without any brain cells to rub together."

Buck was about to retort but Dyna shot him a pleading look to just let it go.

"Tell me, Shorty," Buck looked to the golden droid rolling next to him, "Is your owner always this annoying?"

The golden droid made a few buzzing and beeping noises.

"I don't know what that means but I'll take it as a yes."

/

The group were walking to a bar, until Buck grabbed both Fan and Dyna and forced them behind a corner.

"Uegh, I urge you not to touch me, sir!" Fan said as she freed herself from his grasp.

"I wouldn't touch you if I had a choice," Buck hissed. "Look, that man over there!"

They looked at a man in the distance, walking into the local bar.

"That-That man!" Fan recognised the man who had outbid her for the ancient scroll. He still wore a strapless eyepatch over his left eye and had a gun holstered at his hip.

Randall looked around, causing them to flinch behind the wall, lest they be seen. He narrowed his one good eye before he proceeded into the bar.

"This is bad." Fan remarked more to herself than anyone else. "I thought that man was just a dumb collector but to have followed the scroll this far..."

"What do you want to do now?"

"We need to collect more information," Fan answered Dyna. "That's probably what one-eye is doing. We need to beat him to it."

"Wait, your going to go?" Buck said, stopping Fan's march forward.

"You have a problem with that?"

"He'll immediately recognise you with that beige cloak on." Buck pointed to Fan's attire.

Fan self consciously closed the cloak over her bluejacket and skinny white pants.

"And anyways, she'll definitely know you as the thief who plagiarized his scroll. Dyna and I collect information."

"Fine," Fan relented, "that is a better plan."

"But we can't leave Ms Fan here alone."

"We can't!
"You can't!"

Buck and Fan said at the same time.

Buck looked at Dyna and decided he would question her further, at least not now.

"I'll go at this alone." Buck turned around and headed for the bar.

"I'll send Shiny to assist you."

"No, don't send that rolling scrap with me."

Shiny whirred and beeped aggressively.

"Ah, bite me, droid!"

/

Buck walked into the bar. It was filled with humans and a few other species of the galaxy. He looked around until he saw Randal, sitting at a bar stool, talking to an old man. Buck walked to them and sat beside the old man, who had his back turned to him.

"Roblan!" Buck placed a few credits in front of the barman . A moment later, the barman gave Buck a steaming azure drink, his ordered roblan. Buck took a few sips while listening to the conversation beside him.

"...a thousand people were killed and their remains, bones and souls, were embedded into the walls," the old man said.

Randall's eye suddenly looked at Buck but he was already looking down at his drink. His eye wandered back in front of the old man who was taking a sip of the drink Randall had bought for him.

"Can you tell me where I can find the place where all this happened?" Randall asked the old man.

"Okay but I'd like to remind you, it is an old ghost story, so there may be no truth in it."

Randall smiled. "Trust me, sir, stories as old as the one your describing usually have a lot or some truth in them."

"Alright," the old man said sceptically. "There are three places where rumours say this happened: The Ferlons Family mine, but the Ferlons have since moved off planet since the minerals ran out; the Death Peek, which is in the east and the sand froest."

Randall, who had a device in his hand, Marked out the places the old man said on the digital map on the screen. "Thank you sir." Randlall got up while digging through his jacket. He threw a few credits in front of the old man, which the old man quickly pocketed.

Buck remained seated for a while, draining his drink, before he got up and left. Outside he met up again with Fan and Dyna.

"Did you learn anything?" Fan asked.

"Only bits and pieces," Buck answered.

"Don't worry, we weren't expecting much," Fan said. "It is you we are talking about here, after all."

Buck groaned but otherwise ignored Fan's comment. "He seems to be investigating some weird horror story about people being killed to build a temple."

"That sounds promising," Fan said.

"Okay, so I mention a mass murdering cult and that piques your interest?" Buck looked questionably at Fan. "Exactly why are we here, Fan? What are we hunting?"

"Why would I tell you that? I owe you no explanation."

"I'd beg to differ," Buck said. "I helped you escape at the auction house when you were thieving, so I'd say you owe me at least an explanation!"

"Buck, please." Dyna tried to calm him down. "I'm sure Fan will explain things in due time."

"Hmm, this girl is smart." Fan smiled at Buck. "She must be the brains and you... the dumb muscle."

"Well this dumb muscle is the one that got your information," Buck pointed at his chest.

"I could have done that on my own."

"You?" Buck laughed at this. "I never knew Jedi were so funny."

"Everyone, quiet!" Dyna said, making both of the fall silent. "While we're bickering, eyepatch is getting ahead of us. I suggest we call a truce and continue on."

"Fine. Let's go." Fan led the way followed by Buck, Dyna and Arthree.

/

After asking around, they located the three places the old man had mentioned. They were now walking along a road with mountains on either side.

Fan, who was leading the way, stopped. "From here on out we'll have to go off road. The Felorn Mine is to the east."

Fan climbed up a rocky surface, followed by Buck and Dyna. Arthree butted against the rocky edge but could not climb up.

"Arthree, traversing this landscape would take too much significant energy from you," Fan said.

Arthree whirred and beeped.

"Wait for me back at the ship," Fan said. "I'll join you there later."

Arthree beeped and hummed a few more times before swivelling around and rolling away while the three bipedal humanoids continued on.

Buck looked ahead and once he was sure Fan was out of ear shot if he whispered, he spoke to Dyna.

"Dyna, what's with being passive around this woman?"

"I'm not being passive," Dyna denied.

Buck raised an eyebrow and shot Dyna a sceptical look.

"Okay, okay, maybe I am... a little." Dyna looked at Fan's back. "But please, Buck, bare with it for a while. We need her."

"Hmpf, speak for yourself."

Dyna smiled. "Alright, I'll speak for myself. I know she's rough around the edges but I think if we get to know her better, she'll be easier to deal with."

"Did the Force tell you tha?" Buck smirked.

Dyna giggled as she playfully punched him in the arm.

There was a loud explosion and their training instantly kicked in, they crouched while hiding behind rocks. Buck looked out at Fan, who had not done the same.

"Ms Fan, what's going on?" Dyna called out from her hiding place.

Fan looked back at them as a cloud of smoke rose into the air. "An explosion."

Buck and Dyna came from there hiding place to look at the site where the explosion happened. Dyna looked at the map on her holo-disk. "The explosion happened where the mine is."

"What are the odds?" Dyna said.

"I would say improbably low. It looks like eyepatch is a step ahead. We have catching up to do." Fan walked ahead.

/

Dyna and Buck approached the old temple by darting and diving into cover. The temple was surrounded by rubble and was basically falling apart. Buck and Dyna slowly made their way closer, hiding behind a big boulder.

Buck slowly peeked out.

"What do you see?" Dyna asked from behind him with her pistol drawn and ready.

"No one is visible."

"Do you think we've been spotted?"

Fan strolled past their hiding spot. "What are you two doing?"

"Well, if it we weren't before, we are now." Buck sighed as he and Dyna exited from their hiding place. "Have you know tactile knowledge at all?"

"There's no one here," Fan said, not tearing her eyes away from the symbols displayed above her holo-disk.

"There are plenty of places where someone can hide!" Buck slammed his forehead in frustration.

"Hmm? Yeah." Fan absentmindedly said as she continued on inside the temple entrance, which was more of a big hole.

"This place doesn't look very stable," Buck remarked as he looked around.

"I imagine its not," Fan said, looking around the old crumbling temple. In the big passageway they were in, there were bronze pillars on either side, acting like guards welcoming them in the collapsing structure. "From the scripture of the scroll, I'd say this temple is very ancient."

"Well, you all seem to know a lot." A voice behind the three said, causing them to whip around.

Standing behind them was Randal, with a blaster pointed at them and his eye narrowed angrily at the three.

"I knew I was being followed," he said. "Now, you're going to tell me why, or I'm going to blow all your brains out."