Chapter 4
Ren put a finger over his lips and motioned for the group to duck down. "We're close." He whispered. There was no need for him to tell them. Like the temple on Remnant, the ruins were strong in the Force, a place where the light and dark sides mixed. Nora was silent but too full of energy to be still, shaking with excitement. The ruins were just visible through the trees, overgrown with vines and crumbling. Ren slid up next to a low wall covered with plant life and examined it intently. He ran his fingers along the top, coming to a halt at a small crack. He followed it down, and then pushed the vines and leaves away to reveal a small tunnel.
Nora rushed inside. The sounds of her crawling along, her staff scraping against the stone, echoed from the tunnel. The sound of her grunting followed by a series of bricks hitting the floor shattered the quiet. Ren peeked up over the wall to see if anyone had heard, but saw no one. "All clear!" Nora's voice emanated from the tunnel in what may have been the loudest whisper in history. Ren nodded and gestured for the others to enter.
Ruby scooted into the tunnel ahead of the others. The rest hesitated. "Come on, it's not so bad." She called back. Yang shrugged and headed in next, followed by Blake. Weiss, used to clean opulent surroundings needed a moment to work up the courage.
"Are you going?" Ren whispered. "If we just stand here they'll find us eventually."
"I…I'm going." Weiss sighed. She crouched down and peered into the darkness. She took a deep breath and crawled inside. It was far worse than she had imagined. The tunnel was thick with dirt and cobwebs. Insects scuttled around everywhere she looked. She wanted to scream but she closed her eyes and pressed on. After she crawled for what seemed like miles she sensed that the tunnel had opened up. She opened her eyes to find herself in a dimly lit chamber, surrounded by the others. A few moments later Ren emerged behind her.
"Too much for you princess?" Blake taunted. Weiss realized she was hyperventilating and trembling.
"That was…worse than I anticipated." Weiss said.
"Don't worry about it." Ren said. "I hate that tunnel too."
"Well, should we explore now?" Nora asked. "There's some cool stuff this way." She pointed down one of the corridors that branched off the chamber. The entire place appeared to be lit by torches. That meant someone had been there recently to light them.
"Have you guys ever been caught?" Ruby asked with obvious concern.
"A few times." Nora replied, oblivious to Ruby's anxiety. "Ren and I are really fast and the cultists are pretty clumsy. They never followed us into the tunnel. Besides, we're much better fighters." She started deeper into the ruins as the others followed. Ren took up the rear, watching their backs. He was clearly aware of the danger, even if Nora was not.
Their footsteps echoed through the ruins, the surrounding silence only magnifying their awareness of the racket. "You should have worn quieter shoes princess." Blake growled at Weiss. "Who wears heels at a time like this?"
"Quiet, you both need to get along." Yang snapped. "We'll all end up dead if you don't." The outburst shut everyone up.
They silently proceeded down the eerie corridor until reaching a pile of stone tablets. "Unfortunately I can't read any of these." Ren said, gesturing toward the pile.
Blake picked up a tablet, then another, and another. "This isn't what we're looking for." She said after sifting through the pile.
"The cool stuff is just over here." Nora called from further down the corridor. She picked up an ancient weapon and swung it around. She clearly had some skill, even if not with that particular type of weapon. More weapons were scattered across the floor or piled on decaying racks.
"This isn't it either." Weiss said. She was getting impatient and annoyed with Nora's perpetual cheeriness. "Is there anything else?"
"Well, we've never been down the stairs." Ren said. "Nora was too scared."
"We were kids!" Nora defended herself. "I'm not afraid now. Let's go." She led on through the winding ruins. Eventually the corridor terminated at a doorway. Light streamed through, coming from a hole in the ceiling beyond. The midday sun cast a shaft of light down a spiraling stairway that dropped deeper underground. Nora looked nervous but retained her exuberance.
The others could feel it too. There was great power down there. It was dark, darker than any in other parts of the ruins or on Remnant. "No sense waiting and worrying." Yang said. She began the descent, carefully making her way down the crumbling stairs. The others followed, Nora and Ren lagging behind. A pitch-black corridor branched off at the bottom of the stairs. There were no torches here. Apparently the cultists were just as wary.
"I can't see a thing." Ruby complained. She started to reach for her lightsaber, hoping to use it to cast some light, but Yang stopped her. Archaeologists did not carry lightsabers, and they were not prepared to tell Nora and Ren why they were really there.
"Don't worry, I've got it." Nora said. She walked to the front of the group and took a deep breath. She held out her hand and snapped her fingers. A ball of luminous energy appeared above her hand. Apparently she was a Force user as well.
Weiss walked to the side of the corridor, away from the others. She could sense a point where Force energy was focused. Indecipherable runes on the floor marked the location. She held her hand over the point, curious but cautious. "So you can feel it too." Ren said, walking up behind her. "I would leave it alone if I were you. The dark side is powerful and dangerous."
"Yeah, go on ahead, I need to investigate this." Weiss said. Ren shrugged and rejoined the rest of the group. Dark side energy of this magnitude was indeed dangerous, but she needed to face it. Being as closely tied to the Empire as she was, most people automatically assumed she was evil. Blake certainly did, and Ruby and Yang may not admit it but she suspected they did too. She was beginning to believe them. She had to prove, to herself if no one else, that she could resist the dark side. Weiss stepped onto the runes and dark side energy flowed through her. Her mind was filled with images of violence but also of power, domination. It called to her to give in and accept the dark side. It was tempting, very tempting. She struggled with every fiber of her being. It felt as if her mind was being torn apart. Finally she had enough. Weiss stepped away unbroken. She had resisted the dark side but was left feeling fear.
"Weiss are you okay?" Ruby asked.
"I'm fine." Weiss lied. "Let's move on."
Nora led on lighting the way. "Here we are." She said as the corridor opened into a large circular room. The chamber was bathed in unnatural light as if the very air was glowing.
In the center was a stone pedestal. Dark and light mixed there but the dark side was overpowering. Blake approached cautiously. She carefully examined the inscriptions. "This is it." She said as she placed her hand on the center of the pedestal. A blue glow emanated from her hand and seeped into the pedestal. There was a blinding flash, and then a holographic map of the galaxy appeared in the air. The map was incomplete, but one point was marked. Blake pointed to it. "That's our next stop." Yang recorded the data with her datapad.
"This is amazing." Ruby gasped in awe. "How does it work?"
"It's powered by the force." Blake explained. "You just need the acuity and to know what to do." She pulled her hand back and the map disappeared.
Nora stood nearby, her mouth agape. For a moment, she was uncharacteristically silent. It did not last long. "That was the coolest thing ever!"
"Now, the question is what we do with these two." Weiss whispered to Blake, Ruby and Yang. "We can't just leave them here. They've seen too much."
"We can't just kill them." Ruby protested. "They helped us."
"I don't think we have much choice." Blake said. "We can't risk the Republic or Empire picking them up."
"Maybe they'll join us." Yang suggested. "We could use the help."
"We don't even…" Weiss started.
"Behind us!" Ren shouted, cutting the conversation short. Looking back into the corridor from whence they had come, they could see innumerable red lightsabers. The glow from the weapons cast an unnerving light onto their wielders, the cultists. The did indeed look insane as Nora had said.
"I don't think running is going to work this time." Nora said. Strangely, she was smiling. She swung the staff off of her back, and with a series of clicks one end of the staff morphed into a giant hammer.
"Don't take any unnecessary risks." Ren told Nora. He bent then rapidly straightened his arms and a pair of vibrodaggers slid out of his sleeves and into his hands. With a chorus of battle cries the cultists charged.
Imperial Navy Admiral Torchwick led his small squadron to Agamar. He was honored to be on such a prestigious and important mission, but he was not happy about the details. First of all, the Faunus Adam was the one telling him where to go. Even for something as simple as navigation, he could not stomach taking orders or even advice from a sub-human. The second issue was the size of his command. His ground forces were negligible, just one squad of troopers led by a minor Sith. At least he had been able to choose the Sith. His fleet was just as pathetic; in fact, fleet was a very optimistic designation. It was not even large enough to be a proper squadron. He only had two frigates and the ship Agent Schnee had been sent to Remnant aboard. He made Schnee's ship his flagship, giving it the name Melodic Cudgel. It was the smallest but by far the best equipped. It even had some stealth capabilities, and combined with its secure comms system it was an ideal command ship.
Torchwick's ships dropped out of Hyperspace near Agamar, and he was immediately in for a surprise. "Republic ships, dead ahead!" His comm officer announced with alarm. "Eight ships of frigate class or higher!"
Torchwick was in a terrible bind. His ships had no hope of fighting off the Republic flotilla, but to retreat would mean failure, disgrace, and likely death. "Hold off the enemy at all costs." Torchwick got on the comm himself. "We're making a run for the planet." Torchwick slid over to the controls and set Melodic Cudgel on a course for the planet and opened the throttles. If he could get into the atmosphere and activate the stealth systems, he would be almost impossible to find.
One frigate took up a blocking position and fired indiscriminately at the Republic ships. The other headed straight for the Republic capital ship at full speed without firing. The most immediate threat appeared to be the ship shooting back, so the Republic ships focused their fire on the blocking frigate. Its guns were silenced almost immediately. Gas venting from its penetrated hull sent it into a spin. The spin accelerated until the stress became too much for the ship's structure to handle. It shattered into several pieces just before the reactor exploded in a blinding flash that effectively obliterated all that remained of it.
The second frigate continued its headlong charge at the Republic capital ship. As it closed it opened up with all guns, pounding the capital ship as it began to take evasive maneuvers. It was too late. The frigate slammed into the Republic ship dead center. It crushed and shredded its way deep into the capital ship, leaving both ships dead. The capital ship began to slowly spiral, all control lost. Another Republic ship swept in to assist, but the capital ship erupted in a tremendous, blinding explosion, taking the assisting ship with it.
Melodic Cudgel burned into the atmosphere and streaked to the far side of the planet, activating its stealth systems along the way. With the Republic fleet left leaderless and in disarray, Torchwick could be relatively sure of remaining hidden. He still had the most important elements of his command, including his ground forces. There was still a good chance of success, so long as he could avoid future encounters with the Republic fleet.
As the cultists rushed forward, Nora charged to meet them. Her hammer looked as if it could not do much damage, as it was almost just a skeletal frame for a hammer head. Just before she swung it, the head of Nora's hammer glowed brightly as the space inside the frame filled with energy. Her mastery of the Force was impressive. Nora spun completely around and slammed her hammer into the lead cultist, striking him solidly in the chest. A combination of the power of her swing and a blast of Force energy sent the cultist flying backward and into his fellows, knocking many of them over like bowling pins. Their weapons were turned against them as their clumsy flailing sliced into each other. Still they did not relent.
The cultists surrounded Nora as she swung her hammer back and forth to keep them at bay. Ren lunged forward, plunging a dagger into the back of one of the cultists. Another turned to face him, slashing with his lightsaber. Ren deflected the blow, wrenched his dagger out of the first cultist and cut into the neck of the second. Soon he too was surrounded. The cultists just kept coming as if their numbers were infinite. Nora's wide swings and Ren's twirling stabs would only keep them back for so long.
It was time to intervene. Ruby charged forward with tremendous, Force-boosted speed, lowered her shoulder into a cultist. He tumbled over and knocked down two others as he fell. A cultist charged Ruby from behind, but she caught him in a whirlwind of Force energy. The cultist flailed about helplessly as he was suspended and flipped around in the air. Ruby ended his dizzying ride by tossing him at another group of oncoming cultists. Ruby drew her lightsaber as a cultist rushed at her. She deflected his blow and spun around, encountering unexpected resistance, before landing a devastating punch to the cultist's chest. She turned to see what had slowed her spin. She was horrified to see a cultist sliced in two, apparently by her lightsaber as she spun. "I…I killed him." Ruby stammered.
"You sure did." Blake said. "Good job kid." Blake threw one of her lightsabers. As it boomeranged around the room it scythed through dozens of cultists, lopping off limbs and more. Weiss stepped up beside her and together they blasted Force lightning into the cultists. Those that were struck writhed and collapsed.
Yang leapt high into the air, landing in the middle of a group of cultists. She drew her lightsaber and blaster, defending herself with the former and picking off cultists with the latter. She was horrifyingly efficient, but something dangerous caught her eye. "Blake!" She shouted. "Behind you!" A cultist charged up behind Blake as she was distracted fighting the main group.
Blake turned to look but it was too late to bring her lightsabers around. The cultist, lightsaber held over his head, sliced downward. The lightsaber, with the cultist's hands still attached, sailed just over Blake's shoulder as Weiss sliced through the cultist's wrists. The cultist screamed and as he stared at the steaming stumps and Weiss put him out of his misery with a stab to the heart. "You…you saved me." Blake stuttered.
"Thank me later." Weiss said, still pressing the attack against the remaining cultists. Their numbers had been significantly thinned. Only about a dozen remained and though they may have been insane, even they recognized the hopelessness of their situation. The few remaining cultists fled, leaving their weapons behind as they raced to escape the slaughter. They were not pursued, the victors too exhausted and without a desire to kill them once the threat was gone.
"We never had to kill that many before." Nora said. Her emotion was harder to read than usual, but she did not seem troubled.
"They must have been protecting this chamber." Ren surmised.
"I…I…we…killed…so many." Ruby was in shock. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She had never killed anyone before. She had never even injured anyone intentionally.
"It's okay." Yang said, wrapping her in a tight hug. "We had to. They would have killed us otherwise."
"It gets easier." Weiss said, not really helping the situation.
"I'm not sure we should be looking at these cultists as people." Blake said. She crouched beside one of the corpses, examining the face. "There are clear signs of extreme dark side corruption. I'm not just talking about being evil. I'm talking about the kind that destroys the mind, leaving behind a shell of anger and hate. They haven't lived for a long time." She joined Yang in trying to console Ruby.
"Just exactly what kind of archaeologists are you?" Ren asked. His weapons were drawn and though his voice betrayed no emotion, his face was stern.
"I guess this charade isn't going to hold up anymore." Weiss sighed. "We're not archaeologists at all."
"So, Empire or Republic?" Nora asked. She seemed genuinely curious rather than angry.
"Neither." Weiss replied.
"So why are you here?" Ren asked. "What was that map?"
"The map leads to an ancient power buried by the Infinite Empire." Weiss admitted. "We aim to reach it before the Empire or the Republic does so we can prevent it from being used to devastate the galaxy. Neither faction can be trusted with it."
"Sounds fun." Nora said. "Can we come? Please?" She began begging and pouting like a child.
Weiss looked back to the others. Blake shrugged. "It's fine with me." Yang said.
"Do you even want to?" Weiss asked of Ren.
He shrugged. "It sounds like a worthy cause." He said.
"I suppose we could use all the help we can get." Weiss said.
"Yay!" Nora cheered as she jumped for joy. "We get to go on an adventure!" Her childlike enthusiasm stood in stark contrast to her hardened killing skills. Ren was an enigma, but he could certainly fight. How they ever got along was a mystery.
A sickening feeling overcame the entire group. "I sense a great disturbance in the Force." Blake said. "I sense many sudden deaths, nearby." They all felt it.
"It couldn't be what happened here." Yang said. "We need to leave now."
