Ronin whipped around to see his master, who looked pretty good, considering the landing they had just gone through.
"Master Yothalt! You're awake! And alright?"
"Yes, thanks to your landing, no doubt. However, alright might be a strong word."
"Yeah, about that... I'm afraid your blind jump almost got us killed!" Ronin exclaimed.
"You're right, apprentice. That was foolish of me." Master Yothalt surrendered.
"Master? Are you sure you're alright? You haven't been acting like yourself since you heard those recordings... And you're always sure of yourself."
"Not always, apprentice. I am no stranger to mistakes. And the blind jump was one of many."
"Master, I think that was more than a mistake; we almost died back there."
"I realize this, Ronin. And I am sorry. I fear the dark side has clouded my senses and may have even influenced my foolhardiness."
'What do you mean, master?"
"The more I listened to those recordings, the more I could feel myself drifting away. I lost myself for a moment there. But I am back now."
"I thought it was a Jedi on those recordings telling you what to do."
"In the sense of the word, yes. But I am not sure the Jedi who sent the distress beacon was alive when they sent it, nor where they fully aligned with the light."
"But then, how did they send it? That's not possible."
"It could be if they were in the Temple of Souls when they sent it."
"The Temple of Souls? I've read about that in the archives. I thought it was a myth?"
"And it still could be. However, we have never found proof of its existence or evidence for the contrary. The temple is said to lie somewhere on Malachor, which only deepens my suspicions of this distress signal and its possible relation to the temple. We must track down that beacon and find out for ourselves. If the Temple of Souls does indeed exist, It could be a serious threat to the Jedi order, not to mention the entire galaxy, If the wrong person stumbled upon the temple."
"That sounds serious," Ronin said, bewildered as he slumped in the pilot seat.
"It very much is... Contact the Jedi council and report to them of our situation."
"I can't. The comms array got knocked out from a passing Neebray in the Nebula."
"I see. I must meditate on this. Start repairs on the ship and get R-5 working on that old astromech again. If we cannot track the beacon from here, that droid might be our only way of finding the Jedi and the temple if it exists."
"Yes, master."
As Yothalt turned away to meditate, Ronin stopped him.
"Master?"
"Yes?" Yothalt said as he turned around once more.
"What makes you think the Jedi died when they recorded that message? And how could you understand it through all of the shriekings?"
"The dialect being spoken was an ancient Sith tongue, ur-Kittât. Or, at least, it was a rough version of it. It sounds like a chorus of shrieks to people not fluent in its tongue. It is an archaic form of language, one that was developed here in Malachor. Regarding the Jedi from the holotape, I could not sense any life force in the speaker's voice, which should be impossible. But somehow, the Jedi could still speak, which is quite concerning."
"How do you know how to speak ur-Kittât?" Ronin asked.
"That is something to be discussed for another time. Now, I must meditate on our situation." Yothalt said as he walked down the transport corridor, wires sparking from behind the walls.
As Yothalt left. Ronin gazed out the window, only to be met with the dark, soulless colors that resided on the barren planet.
"Looks like I've got some work to do," Ronin said as he pushed himself off the pilot's chair and walked down the hallway toward the storage room. His footsteps echoed across the ship's floor, resulting in a resounding twang that vibrated through the walls. Ronin pressed the button on the side of the entrance to the storage room, and the door slid open, revealing a jumble of items scattered about the room. In the corner of the room, Ronin noticed R-5 in his charging pen, securely locked to the floor.
"R-5, you can demagnetize now." Ronin chuckled.
R-5 beeped in a way that seemed to say, "I knew that," and opened the door of his charging stable and rolled over to Ronin as if to ask what his orders were.
"Hey buddy, I need you to continue repairs on that T-series, alright?"
R-5 nodded his body, rolled back to the charging cage, and took out the old astromech, which was dinged up from the rough landing. R-5 immediately removed his blow torch and began welding the mech back together. Ronin stood there, a little stunned; as usual, he would argue with him on anything he told him to do, but now he went to work with no complaints.
"Must've banged his processor in the landing," Ronin chuckled as he walked back towards the cockpit.
R-5 leaned back and beeped as if to say, "What?" But Ronin had already left the storage area. A minute later, Ronin was at the front of the ship, repairing the central console.
Several hours later, Ronin had finished with repairs in the cockpit and was about to begin repairs on the engines when he heard a loud clang from the store room. I wonder if that's the old T-series! Ronin thought to himself. Or R-5 was being stupid, which was a likely possibility. Either way, Ronin got up from under the cockpit's controls and jogged over to the storage room to Find R-5 chasing the barely functioning T-series astromech around the storage room. The rogue mech rolled right toward Ronin. Ronin caught it and stopped the droid in its tracks. The droid bleeped and dinged in a flurry of sounds that was too fast for Ronin to comprehend.
"Woah, slow down, little guy. It's all right. Now, what's your name?"
The little droid beeped that he was T-73 and the droid of Silas Dymo, Jedi Knight.
"Sorry little guy, I've never heard of him."
The little droid beeped again.
"I don't think he's alive anymore."
T-73 let a low bloop and hung his head down.
"Do you know where he was last?" Ronin asked
T-73's head bolted up, and he let out an excited beep.
"You do? Where?"
The droid whistled in response.
"Fifteen hundred klicks west of here? Are you sure?"
T-73 beeped in affirmation.
"Huh. That's pretty far from here. I'll see what my master thinks. R-5, stay with T-73 and see what else you can fix on him."
R-5 whistled a positive response and got back to working on T-73.
Ronin walked over to his master's quarters. Master Yothalt did not like being disturbed, but Ronin assumed this would be an exception. Ronin's assumption proved right upon informing his master of the information the droid had given them.
"fifteen hundred klicks west, you say? That'll be quite a journey. And a waste of time if the droid is incorrect."
"Yes, but master, I sense the droid is right," Ronin replied.
"Well, Ronin, we are here and alive thanks to your quick thinking and action in response to the results of my mistake. Perhaps it is time I let you lead the way for a change."
"Thank you, master. Did you get anything out of your meditation?"
"No, nothing. The dark side is too strong here." Yothalt said gravely.
Ronin shuddered a bit.
"I'm sorry to hear that, master. I'll prepare the speeders for departure if you can get all the supplies ready," Ronin said with a bow and hurriedly rushed over to get everything ready for their journey.
Ronin returned to the storage room to find R-5 testing circuitry on T-73. Ronin looked around the room until he saw the hatches for the Undicar-class foldable speeders, releasing both speeders from the ship's hold. One was severely damaged from the crash, with several pieces missing. The other was banged up, but it appeared to work.
Meanwhile, Master Yothalt went to the medical pad and grabbed emergency rations, supplies, and a big self-deploying tent. Yothalt put all the stores into two self-sealing backpacks and carried the rest into the speeder packs. Yothalt walked into the storage room, where he found Ronin tinkering with the two speeders.
"Oh, hey, master! One of the speeders got pretty shaken you in the crash, and I don't think we'll be able to take it. This one is pretty scuffed up but more than functional." Ronin said, gesturing to the speeder closest to him.
"Good work, apprentice. I have all the supplies needed, although we will have to forgo a tent if we only take one bike as it's too much weight for one bike to handle along with the two of us."
"Sounds good; when should we leave?" Ronin asked.
"What do you think, padawan?"
"I think it'd be good to leave right away. It's nearly noon, so we should still have a good amount of what little daylight we get here. At least until nightfall arrives."
"Good answer. Now, let's get going." Yothalt said as he turned toward the shuttle's exit, waving his cloak behind him.
Ronin grabbed the speeder and dragged it to the corridor to follow his master. Remembering something, he turned around.
"R-5, continue repairs on the ship. She probably won't be ready for light speed anytime soon. Just focus on getting the comms back online and the sublight speed booster functioning. Contact us when you fix the Comms. And T-73, you're going to lead the way for us." Ronin said with a slight smile.
T-73 zipped right over to Ronin's side and followed him toward the exit hatch.
Yothalt pressed the button near the ship's exit, causing the platform to descend toward the planet's surface slowly. The tip of the exit platform collided against the surface with a resounding clang. Upon lowering the forum, a bitterly cold wind rushed through the shuttle, causing Yothalt and Ronin to shiver.
"I forgot to check the temperature beforehand, but it looks like we may need our heavy winter gear. I'll grab the coats. Ronin, double-check the supplies to see if we have everything. Yothalt said as he left to retrieve the coats.
Meanwhile, Ronin was loading the bike with all the necessary supplies; Ronin placed T-73 on the head of the speeder bike as a rudimentary compass. Ronin originally had T-73 magnetize to the surface of the speeder, but after noticing that it interfered with the speeder's controls, he opted to strap him to the front instead.
Yothalt returned with two heavy coats and a sealed body liner from the storage room.
"Put this on," Yothalt said as he threw the liner and coat to Ronin, which Ronin caught.
"You'll need it if you don't want to freeze to death. There is a reason that there is no life on Malachor. It is said that on certain areas of the planet, the temperature gets cold enough to freeze the blood inside you." Yothalt said with a warning finger.
"I'll make sure to seal my liner in that case," Ronin said.
"Be sure to seal your rations and water in the pack. The pressurized environment in the packs should protect the rations from the elements." Yothalt said.
After having sealed and packed everything, the two were ready to leave.
"Do you have everything you need, Ronin? We will be gone for over five rotations.
"Yeah, I should be good. Now let's get this thing loaded."
With everything ready to go, Ronin and Yothalt hopped onto the speeder and took off into the bitter cold and darkness of Malachor.