Star Wars: Lost Souls

by BAPostma

Zeison Sha Warrior Foyi Imbuma has spent the majority of her life hiding her Force abilities on Yanibar, while training her sister, Tama, in secret. But when Tama is kidnapped by a sadistic serial killer, Foyi must venture across the galaxy, from the Smugglers' Moon to shadowy Point Nadir to the hostile jungles of Felucia, to rescue her sister. Cover Image courtesy of Wookieepedia.

15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Foyi and Rayf said little as the repulsortruck trundled along. Foyi continued to glare at any of the mercenaries that met her eyes, some of them with contempt in their regard, others with lust. Rayf contented himself by licking at the blood that dribbled from his torn lip, while the bruise on his jaw grew a deeper shade of purple by the minute. The pair of Ganks assigned to watch over the expedition's bait sat quietly, though by the way they moved, Foyi assumed they were carrying on some sort of conversation through the interior helmet comm channel. She ignored them and instead let herself sink into the Force, attempting to locate where Ak-vir was in this procession of thieves and murderers. Feelings of fear, avarice, excitement, and distrust were like palpable, physical objects hovering unseen within the Trast speeder truck. There were over a half dozen mercenaries housed within the metal belly of the vehicle, talking amongst themselves, reviewing equipment, checking weapons, and fantasizing about what they would do with their portion of unfathomable treasure. Some were even harboring dark thoughts of seeing how many of their compatriots they could kill in ways that would appear as accidents or unfortunate hazards of the job, so that their share of Fische's Legacy would be greater as a result. The Twi'lek Zeison Sha pushed past the churning sea of insidious surface thoughts, then expanded her awareness beyond the truck, to find another cluster of presences bobbing along ahead. It was in the midst of these presences that she found one familiar, the slimy, greasy personality of Ak-vir Vri, his mind occupied with sensations of anger and disbelief. He seemed to be in the midst of an argument with another presence she mildly recognized. She believed she could safely assume that this individual was Sho Sura.

Rayf glanced over at her to see a grin slowly spreading over her lips. "What's so amusing?" he asked under his breath.

Foyi suppressed the grin, keeping an eye on the preoccupied Ganks while whispering out of the corner of her mouth. "I don't think Vri and Sura are too happy with each other."

Rayf concentrated for a moment, and she could feel his existence within ebbing waves of the Force expand as he reached out across distance that was inconsequential to the limitless reach and power of the whole. He nodded, a slight smile twisting his battered lips into a smirk. "That could be used to our advantage. One thing I've found common about scum like these all over the galaxy; they're usually as willing to kill their allies as they are their enemies."

"We don't want Ak-vir dead," Foyi hissed irritably. "At least, not until he tells us what he did with Tama."

"Just saying, it's obvious through your ingenious antics with the auto-turrets, they don't trust each other, but I'm warning you, if we take advantage of this, it might come down to blaster bolts whether we like it or not."

"As long as it gets us closer to finding Tama, I don't really care what happens."

"And gets us not eaten by monsters that may or may not be imaginary," Rayf added.

"I wouldn't be too concerned about that, Moors."

"Are you kidding? 'Eaten by, well, anything' is right at the top of my list of 'things I should avoid forever'."

The rumbling of the speeder truck's repulsors began to fade in volume, and Foyi could feel the velocity at which they were hurling lessen as the vehicle slowed. They were nearing their destination, these mysterious Mines she knew nothing about, save for the half-glimpsed holomap she had seen in Sura's warehouse. She tried to recall the details of the map to her mind, but she had not regarded it as particularly important at the time, and so she could not dredge up any details regarding the layout of the subterranean maze they were about to be led into. Besides, Sura had mentioned that map was compiled from a multitude of possibly unreliable sources from previously explored territory, and the expedition would want to navigate out of that initial section as quickly as possible, moving into the deeper tunnels that had yet to be touched by modern sentient beings. She briefly wondered if there truly was a treasure trove of immeasurable wealth hidden somewhere in the tunnels they were about to enter, but forced her thoughts away from such notions. All that mattered to her was somehow getting Ak-vir to divulge what he knew regarding Tama's fate, and whoever this "Shepherd" character was that he had referenced.

The repulsortruck ground to a halt with a protesting moan of settling, cooling metal, and those inside began to stand. Rayf and Foyi remained seated until the Ganks stood and gripped their upper arms, hauling them roughly to their feet. The mercenaries in the vehicle had busied themselves with the crates and cargo containers in the center aisle, withdrawing bulky suits of pressurized fabrics and plated armor. The cargo containers housed a large number of vac suits and secondary oxygen tanks, pressure gauges, and patches for repairing suit ruptures. The thugs began donning the bulky suits over their normal clothes and sparse armor, though they removed their weapons and utility belts, which they then strapped over the bulging waists of their suits. The Ganks' grips grew tighter and more painful especially at this point, but neither Rayf nor Foyi made any concerted move to acquire any of these weapons.

When most of the mercenaries were sealed within their vac suits and were occupied slaving their comm signals, the Ganks undid the binders around the two prisoners' wrists, then filled their waiting arms with heavy vac suits. Foyi had never worn such equipment before, and had great difficulty putting it on properly, until Rayf offered his assistance. She felt a moment of panic as the fasteners on the helmet sealed with those around her neck. Cool, pleasantly-filtered oxygen began to fill the interior of that helmet, and she took a deep, calming breath, finding her inner center of peace. She twitched her lekku uncomfortably, for the helmet chafed against the appendages; the vac suit had most likely been designed for a human, or a near-human species without prominent head tails. She reached up with her clumsy, thick gloves to adjust the helmet, but now that it was sealed, it would not budge. She gave a sigh of frustration and sought that inner sense of calm again; she would just have to get used to the feeling of the helmet rubbing against her lekku, no matter how much they itched because of it.

She turned to check Rayf, who was just fastening the helmet of his suit about his neck with a familiar, practiced motion. He engaged the hermetic seals, then gave her a lopsided grin and triggered the helmet comm. "How ya doing in there, Foyi?"

Foyi fumbled with the comm a moment, then answered sourly, "Fine. I don't think this suit was designed with Twi'leks in mind, though." She absentmindedly brought her cumbersome gloves up to her helmet, readjusting it as best she could, but it simply did not fit well.

Rayf tapped one of the Ganks on the shoulder, who was busy helping his compatriot into his vac suit, which he had insisted on donning over his tight-fitting armor. The Gank's featureless, helmeted head turned to regard Rayf, who asked pleasantly, "Hey, you got any helmets made for Twi'leks? It's for my friend."

The Gank merely stared at him, his presence going cold in the Force. He brought his blaster rifle up to bear, and Rayf stepped back, raising his hands. "Hey, just asking. No harm, no foul, right?"

The Ganks finished crawling into their envirosuits at about the same time everyone else on the truck had geared themselves up for the expedition ahead, many of them carrying a variety of blasters or sensors equipment. Supplies, particularly spare oxygen tanks, were loaded on a hoversled that up to this point had sat toward the front of the truck's cargo hold, and was now being directed to the door, which had yet to be opened. Foyi expected their captors to fasten the binders on their wrists again, but their Gank guards contented themselves with simply aiming their blasters and motioning them toward the door. Foyi took her first steps in the suit, and immediately understood why they had not bothered to bind their hands. She could barely move in the vac suit, as its weight and bulk reduced her movements to the speed of "slow" and her flexibility to "negligible". Escape would be a much more difficult proposition than she had at first assumed.

The door opened, and there was a rush of air as the atmosphere kept within the repulsortruck rushed out to the lower pressure area of the tunnel beyond. Foyi took a glance at the rudimentary HUD lining the interior of her helmet, Aurebesh lettering scrolling slowly by in her peripheral vision. The suit's readouts told her that the atmosphere in the tunnel outside was actually breathable, but the temperature was forbiddingly low. She did not know exactly where they were in the comet, or in relation to the rest of Point Nadir, but she assumed they were far enough away from the artificial gravity generators and atmospheric scrubbers of the shadowport proper that the expedition wished to take every precaution. After all, how could they spend their ill-gotten gains if they died from exposure to vacuum?

Foyi and Rayf were shoved out through the door, the tips of blaster barrels jabbed into their spines painfully, even through the multiple layers of the suits. They found themselves in a tunnel dark and cold, lit only by the lights attached to the helmets of many of the vac suits or the portable glowrods and flashlights carried by other mercs. The tunnel around the repulsortrucks was wide and roughly cut, showing scars from plasma mining, with rough, barely level ground. The speeder trucks had stopped in the middle of the tunnel, which curved out of sight both before and behind them, but the caravan had stopped because the tunnel ahead had narrowed to the point that the large vehicles could go no further without wedging themselves in the narrow confines. The menagerie of light sources playing across the jagged contours of the walls cast eerie, dancing shadows that pranced and contorted like the slathering, ravenous spirits of the dead. Foyi could feel the weight of the past and the comet itself, bearing down on her head with all the force of an immense, interstellar object. She closed her eyes for a moment, sinking into the Force, letting its cool, crisp waters wash over her, providing her comfort.

She jolted as the Ganks shoved her forward, further down the tunnel, Rayf stumbling beside her. She momentarily slipped on a patch of ice slicked across the stone floor, then stepped past a rough stalagmite that was more likely the product of sentient carelessness rather than natural chemical processes. Foyi glanced up to see Ak-vir Vri standing near the nose of the lead repulsortruck, his already imposing physical form made more so by the vac suit he wore. Through the viewport on her helmet, she could see that he still wore that awful striped bandana, and for some reason, that angered her more than a little. Beside him stood a similarly-equipped figure, though considerably shorter. Sho Sura looked almost comical in his bulky vac suit, which had been customized to species of his diminutive stature, though the obtuse nature of the suit reminded her of a Wookiee plush toy she had owned when she was a child.

The Ganks placed firm grips on Rayf and Foyi's shoulders, keeping them still as Ak-vir and Sura looked them over. Ak-vir looked less than happy that they were here, while Sura merely looked bored. The Weequay saw the darkening bruise on Rayf's cheek and regarded them both with a sardonic grin. "And here we be havin' our bantha fodder!" Ak-vir chortled. His slimy voice crackled through the comlinks of all those present, and most of the mercenaries gathered cracked equally sadistic smiles. "What say ya, boys? Should we be lettin' them two lead us? Give us some nice warnings wit' their screams they find any o' them monsters that're down here."

A chorus of chuckles, snickers, and calls of "Yeah!" and "Aye!" met his proclamation, the mercs' desire for blood being riled by the slaver's words. Rayf cleared his throat, taking a small step toward Ak-vir. "As much as I love leading the troops," he said in a nonchalant, mirthful voice, "I was just going to ask you, Ak-vir, if you maybe wanted to take a turn this time, what with you having the most experience with these...gentlebeings and all."

The Weequay snorted. "Wha's this? Don't wanna be eaten by imaginary monsters, sleemo?"

Rayf nodded. "Yeah, see, I'd like to avoid that. I didn't really have that on my schedule for today. And let's face it, Captain, you're just going to kill us anyway, whether we provide a tasty morsel for some creature down here or target practice for Zietta's boys. You might as well open our helmets now; sucking void's as good a way to go as any."

"As tempting as an offer that is, yes," Sura interjected before Ak-vir could answer, "I'm thinking we'll keep you right where you are for now. Men, move them to the front with me and make sure they know where they're going."

The Ganks pushed the pair of prisoners forward, moving them ahead of the ragtag line that was forming along the side of the repulsortrucks. As Foyi stumbled past the Gossam, she triggered her comlink, her eyes meeting the yellow gaze of Sura. "I hope Vri's walking up front with us too."

Sura's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Why do you care about it?"

"I just didn't think a smart man like you would keep your enemy behind you when you're all so close to the treasure."

Sura grabbed her arm, halting her advance; the Gank directing her waited patiently as his employer lowered his voice and opened a private comm channel with her. "What is it you are saying, wormhead, yes? We are partners in this, always have been. Our trust is sound, yes, and you cannot convince me that Captain Vri would betray me."

Foyi shrugged, the movement awkward and exaggerated in her vac suit. "I'm sure. And of course, Ak-vir had nothing to do with how we knew where your secret warehouse was."

Sura let out a hiss of contempt, but she could feel the suspicion leaking off of him in growing eddies, not all of it directed at her. "Ak-vir would not reveal these things to you. You are but a mere yum-yum."

"But this yum-yum can be very persuasive. Turns out our dear Captain Vri can't handle too much pain before he starts spilling his secrets, along with more than a few of yours."

"And yet he did not tell you about the the female you were looking for, no? I find you hard to believe."

"Oh, he was going to, but Yuelo interrupted us," Foyi replied, keeping her voice calm, even as her mind was racing to keep one step ahead of the perceptive Gossam. "He can be rather persuasive too, and persuaded us to run before he had his boys put a few hundred blaster bolts in us."

Sura seriously considered that, mulling over her words. His helmeted head swung to look behind him, where the Weequay in question was conversing with the Zygerrian member of his crew. His attention was nowhere near his partner at the moment, and the words of suspicion that Foyi was sinking into the Gossam's ears. For she was drawing upon the Force, sending searching currents to the Gossam's consciousness, letting the Force alter Sura's perceptions of his partner. She found the suspicions the Gossam already harbored regarding Ak-vir, and she mentally tugged on those, worming them to the forefront of his mind so subtly, so naturally, he would be certain that the thoughts had occurred of their own accord. And even as her telepathic intrusions aroused his suspicions, she continued to exert influence over him in another way, making her words sound true, as if they were revelations that had not occurred to him before but explained a vast, unexplained aspect of his life. She was not looking at Rayf, but she could feel his approval like ripples at the periphery of her mind.

The Gossam glared at her, then turned and marched his small legs back to the Weequay. Ak-vir looked down at him to find a scowling, reptilian grimace through the faceplate of his vac suit. "Your prisoners bother me, yes. I'll keep everyone back here in line, make sure they don't drop the scanners, yes."

Ak-vir gave him a strange look, then answered with a shrug. He stepped past the Gossam, casting a suspicious glance over his shoulder, then drew to Foyi and Rayf's side, as well as the Ganks who drove them ever forward. Ak-vir made a hurried gesture at the Ganks, snapping, "Alright! Let's get this parade moving. Guests of honor first."

Both Rayf and Foyi stumbled forward as the barrels of blasters jabbed into their spines again, and so the expedition commenced. The tunnel ahead of them consisted of oblong contours and jagged protrusions, as if whoever or whatever had carved its way through the comet's crust had done so in the most expedient way possible, with no consideration for uniformity or structural integrity. The floor rose and fell at irregular intervals, occasionally split by thin ravines and fissures that made footing treacherous and unreliable. Foyi found it easier to move through the tunnel than she at first believed was capable in the inflexible vac suit, for the gravity here was far below standard, giving her a light, easy spring to her step. She hopped over one thin fissure so as not to catch her foot in it, and she found herself floating gradually to the floor of the tunnel again over the distance of a meter or more. The Gank behind her predictably slammed a hand down on her shoulder to keep her grounded, and to remind her not to try anything too adventurous with the low gravity environment and discourage escape. The lights on her helmet swept back and forth, revealing rough patches of rock and small alcoves where various minerals and ores had been extracted as the machines and laborers that carved the tunnel happened upon them. Occasionally, her light would disappear into deeper, dustier pockets of darkness, signifying tunnels both larger and smaller than the one they traversed branching off into further, unexplored areas of the comet. The Ganks provided the pair plenty of encouragement to continue moving forward, but Ak-vir, who walked only a few paces ahead of her, more than once directed them along a side passage, especially when the scanners used by the company picked up anomalies they found enticing. Sometimes, these side passages turned out to be dead-ends, at which point the line would turn about and snake back until they found the main passageway once more. Other times, these detours would curve back or forward, eventually rejoining with the original passage they had left. But sometimes these tributary tunnels would branch off into complex tunnel systems of their own, meandering through the deeper regions of the comet and into the darkness, the lights of their company reflecting off the dust their passage disturbed. Ak-vir, Sura, and their minions became encouraged when they found the remains of mining equipment and droids that had once been abandoned when they had sustained too much use or damage to continue being useful to the original owners and surveyors of the comet. Foyi even heard some of the thugs whispering assertions that they were walking in the steps of Salovan Fische himself, speaking the name of the long-dead pirate as if it were sacred.

Foyi tripped over a particularly thorny patch of rubble and broken ground, but Rayf's hand was there, steadying her and keeping her upright. She nodded her gratitude, then looked up to see Ak-vir had paused, his faceplate turned toward her. A wicked grin was splayed across his features, a grin at her expense. "Come now, little schutta. I don't want to get lonely up here, and I doubt your friend would be wantin' it either."

Foyi and Rayf slowly proceeded, the Weequay letting them get a few paces ahead of him. Rayf looked back at their captor as best he could with such limited peripheral vision provided by the helmet, though the white of his teeth could be seen in his jocular grin. "Wha's the matter, Ak-vir? Afraid of the dark? Need me to hold your hand? 'Cause I can, if I've really no choice."

Ak-vir glared at him, the anger and annoyance he felt in response to Rayf's very presence rolling off of him in palpable waves atop a stormy sea. "I find it befuddling that even when yer so clearly beaten an' within me power, ya still have the asteroids ta pick a fight. Ya know, one command, an' my men'll gun ya down like the womp rat ya are, scum."

"Oh, I ain't picking a fight," Rayf assured him flippantly. "I just know you aren't going to do anything. You're just a bag of hot tibanna gas; you spew a lot of threats, but you're really not all that dangerous."

Ak-vir's hand dropped to the DL-44 strapped to his waist, but he did not draw it. Foyi watched the exchange with interest, calling upon the Force to feel the charged emotions in the atmosphere between them. Rayf was correct, of course; Ak-vir definitely held murderous feelings toward the both of them, but for now, he did not feel fully compelled to shoot them dead. Instead, his surface thoughts revolved around the fantasies he envisioned for himself should Fische's Legacy be found, a grudge he still held against his Gossam partner for the fiasco with the auto-turrets, and colorful mental images of both Foyi and Rayf being torn about by shapeless monsters the he hoped lurked somewhere in the darkness ahead. She got the impression that he did not actually believe the volume of fables and legends of monsters that guarded the Mines of Point Nadir from the intrusions of explorers and treasure hunters, but his sadistic nature greatly enjoyed the possibility that they would be available to execute the pair of Force-sensitives who had plagued him recently.

"Quit antagonizing the poor man," Foyi said to Rayf in a sarcastic tone. "He's been through so much recently, he could probably use a break."

Ak-vir stepped closer to her, coming to her side and glaring blasterbolts through his faceplate. "No thanks being to you, jeedai scum."

"It's unfortunate for you that I'm not a Jedi, Ak-vir," the Twi'lek answered with venom in her voice. "A Jedi would have treated you a lot better than I did...than I plan to once I'm out of here."

Ak-vir snorted. "Oh? And you're gonna escape how, little wormhead? You can't make one funny move without any o' mine or Sura's guards shooting ya both dead. Ya ain't getting out o' this alive, anyway ya look at it."

Rayf gave a knowing grin, as if he knew an advantageous secret unknown to the Weequay. "Maybe not by ourselves, no."

Ak-vir step faltered for a moment, his helmeted head facing the two prisoners. "And yer thinkin' yer gonna get help, is that it?"

"Possibly," Foyi answered for Rayf, playing off the deception the two of them were fabricating. Both of them were accessing the Force now, sending out subtle waves that converged on Ak-vir's mind, raising his suspicions and his hostility, while beginning to redirect those feelings away from the pair of prisoners.

Ak-vir, unaware he was being manipulated in such an invisible and indirect manner, leaned closer, his dark eyes narrowing. His voice dropped low, though the actual level of decibels in their comm channel did not change as it adjusted for his change in tone. "The auto-turrets...ya had somethin' to do wit' that, didn't ya. You an' Sura."

Foyi could not contain her alarm, suffusing the Force with it, but she received a soothing emanation from Rayf, assuring her that the conclusion that Ak-vir had jumped to was the result of a Force suggestion on the human's part. In context with the deception that Foyi had begun cultivating with Sura, stringing Ak-vir along with such an implanted mental suggestion did not make much sense. She was about to say something to deny their association with Sura, to steer Ak-vir along a different line of thought, until she realized the secret brilliance of Rayf's insertion into the plan, as well as the enormous gamble he was taking. Rayf was merely trying to turn Ak-vir's full hostility and skepticism upon his partner, just as Foyi had directed Sura's misgivings toward the Weequay, banking on the assumption that the pair of them were such violent, nefarious, and suspicious individuals by nature that they would not simply talk to one another and compare the differing claims of Foyi and Rayf. Her mind raced for a few seconds before she snagged on a way they could seize this opportunity and further deepen Ak-vir's suspicions. She nodded. "Sura's confidence in your abilities to find Fische's Legacy has waned of late. He came to us for help in finding it...it's why he didn't want you to kill us. It's why we're the supposed bait of creatures that don't exist."

Ak-vir had the presence of mind to continue walking, though his gait was slower as he tried to make sense of the supposed betrayal levered against him by his partner. Both Foyi and Rayf were deep within the turbulent seas of the Force, ripples becoming waves that battered the walls of the Weequay's consciousness. "Tha's...tha's what you was doin' up on those shelves...you was messin' with the controls of the auto-turrets!"

Rayf gave Foyi a glance, to which she shrugged. "Sure," he answered nonchalantly.

Ak-vir's hand struck out and caught hold of the front of Rayf's envirosuit. "Why? Why're ya workin' wit' Sura?! I thought you was lookin' fer that lil' schutta I gave to Yuelo!"

Foyi had to suppress a grin as new information regarding Tama's whereabouts inevitably leaked out of Ak-vir's excited and turbulent state. Rayf patted the Weequay's gloved hand in a mocking gesture of comfort. "Sure, Ak-vir, that's what we claimed. But we already know all about your deal for child slaves with Yuelo, and frankly, we don't care what kinda sick interests you or that Hutt are into..." And as his sentence trailed off, both Foyi and Rayf, in tune and concert with each other's feelings, assaulted Ak-vir with overwhelming sensations of guilt and shame.

They knew success when Ak-vir's expression twisted into a grimace of anger and denial, feeling an irrational desire to justify himself to the prisoners. "No no no, ya both got it wrong, ya murglaks! I'm jus' the scurrier here; I get the younglings when Yuelo requests 'em, an' he only does that when that creep 'the Shepherd' puts in an order. Always girls o' fourteen standard years, an' boys o' twelve. Don't ask me why, I dunno." He snarled into the comm channel. "But that don't matter none! Why did ya attack me? Was it on Sura's orders?!"

Rayf held up his hands in mock surrender. "Looks like we're pure transparisteel to you, Vri; there's no use hiding any of it from you. Yeah, we were under Sura's orders to kill you, make you think that we were just an outside party interested only in the side gig you've got with Yuelo and the Shepherd. But actually, he knew he didn't need you anymore, so we were paid you get you out of the picture, considering you already know too much about the treasure and this expedition as it is. You see, we're the only essential proponents of this entire endeavor; you're just an accessory, a redundancy, now."

Ak-vir lessened his grip on Rayf, disbelief, paranoia, and bristling anger pouring off of him in waves that rippled across Foyi and Rayf's minds. "An' wha's makin' you two so damned important, eh?"

Foyi sidled up beside the Weequay, a vicious grin on her face. "Our Jedi magic, Ak-vir. We can find almost anything we'd ever want, just by using our magic."

Ak-vir's dark eyes blanched, meeting Foyi's intense gaze with a look of apprehension and wonder all mixed into his paranoid grimace. "Tha's...that's impossible..." he muttered into the helmet comm.

"You know what else is impossible, Vri?" came Rayf's response, as if on cue. "My friend here reaching into your chest cavity and causing spasms in your heart and lungs, and choking the life out of you...all without ever laying a finger on you. You remember that, dontcha?"

Ak-vir visibly swallowed, the memories of the rough treatment he had met in Foyi's hands arising in the surface of his mind. Foyi capitalized upon this by continuing Rayf's ridiculous assertions regarding their Force abilities, adding, "And that's only one of the powers I have, Ak-vir, and you haven't even seen any of his magic at work yet. He's better at the whole 'treasure-tracking' bit, and I help him where I can. Me...I'm just better at making young, healthy people have unexpected coronaries. Sura finds our abilities quite helpful to him and his organization, a lot more helpful than you've ever been, which is why you see us here, now, leading the expedition."

Ak-vir leaned close to her. "Can...can ya sense the treasure now?"

Rayf answered for her, affecting a supremely confident and bemused air. "Faintly. We're close now...though you might like to know that we're going the wrong way."

Ak-vir glanced into the darkness of the tunnel ahead of them, his helmet lights barely illuminating a fork in the tunnel several meters from their position. His intense gaze came back to glare at Rayf and Foyi in turn, and his voice dropped to a whisper. ""Wha's Sura payin' ya?"

"Our usual fee, plus an equal share of the treasure," Foyi answered. "Why, you offering us more?"

Ak-vir chewed his bottom lip for a moment, then glared at them again. "What say I ferget 'bout you tryin' ta kill me back there in the interests of me being the first ta know when ya find the treasure instead of Sura. Ya do that, you'll get yer usual fee, an equal share o' the treasure, plus Sura's share, which, being one o' the leaders o' this expedition is being alotta creds. He won't be needing it for much longer once ya find me Fische's booty."

Rayf and Foyi turned to each other, pretending to consider the offer, though both of them knew what the other would answer long before they gave a verbal reply. Foyi spoke for both of them, affecting her best conspiratorial smile. "Alright, Ak-vir. You've got yourself a deal. But if we're not seeing Sura's portion of the treasure, be sure you'll have to deal with the nastier aspects of our powers again."

Ak-vir's glare narrowed further, unaccustomed to taking threats without responding in kind. "Deal," he replied. He then looked to the Ganks, who had been following the trio behind, keeping a half meter back, though their weapons were still raised and aimed. The Weequay switched comm channels in his helmet, then spoke to the Ganks directly. "You two can be relaxed fer now. I got these two under control."

The Ganks looked to each other, and while they said nothing audible, Foyi could feel the suspicion arcing off of them. They seemed to consider whether to comply with the man who was not their direct superior, or perhaps they were unhappy with being too far from the only two people in the group they were allowed to kill readily. But finally, the Ganks dropped back, putting more than a meter and a half between themselves and their charges, apparently grudgingly content with leaving Ak-vir in their direct charge. And while Sho Sura, several meters behind them in the midst of the company, had not seen the lengthy and furtive conversation that had taken place between Ak-vir Vri and the two prisoners, he certainly noticed the guards he had assigned to oversee them dropping behind. The Gossam's voice crackled through the general comm channel slaved between their various vac suits, his words laden with suspicion. "Something wrong with the prisoners, Captain, yes?"

Ak-vir answered in a nonchalant tone, one so convincing, Foyi almost believed it herself. "Nothin' at all, Sura; these karkin' nerfherders beat up on me earlier, an' I wanna find out why, is all, fer we feed 'em to the creatures or Zietta's boys or whatever other problems are down 'ere wit' us."

Sura did not answer as the troop continued moving at a more brisk pace, approaching the fork in the tunnel. Foyi could feel the suspicion rolling off of the Gossam in waves, suspicion that was turning to abject hostility and surface thoughts of murdering Ak-vir with a blaster bolt in the back before the Weequay could do the same to him. She focused her attention forward, moving with a more confident gait as she got used to the weight and limited range of movement provided by the vac suit. She felt her body tensing, anticipating an opportunity, any opportunity, that might be used to escape their predicament, though she forced herself to remain patient, to find her interior peace and to reside there, being mindful of the Force, allowing it to act for her, to merely be the instrument for its will. They soon found themselves at the fork in the tunnels, and she gave Rayf a glance, indicating that it was his prerogative on which route they should take, as it had been his idea to convince Ak-vir of the "treasure-finding" applications of the Force. She just hoped that the opportunity for escape would come long before the Weequay discovered how bogus those claims truly were.

Rayf gave Ak-vir a surreptitious gesture, indicating that they should take the passage leading to the right. Ak-vir did not acknowledge Rayf's motion, but did direct the company to the right. Foyi strained her senses, trying to get an impression, or possibly even premonition of what lay ahead. But there were no uses of the Force that allowed one to seek and locate treasure, or any inanimate objects not directly tied to the Force in its most fundamental nature. Her senses merely gave her a vague impression of moving down hill, as well as a growing sensation of claustrophobia. She took this to mean that the tunnel would be narrowing ahead, but her feelings in this manner could mean practically anything, including the possibility that she was becoming as anxious and paranoid as the thugs around her. Even the mercs working for Ak-vir and Sura could sense the heightening tension between the supposed partners of the endeavor. She could feel their anticipation rolling off of them and muddying the waters of her extrasensory perceptions.

Foyi stepped a little closer to Rayf and activated a comm channel that would go directly to his helmet and none other. "So," she began with irritation suffusing her voice. "We have 'treasure-finding' powers now."

Rayf's voice was light in tone, though she could feel the uncertainty leaking off of him. "Hey, just following the plan. We make it up as we go."

"The plan was that I make it up as we go along, and you follow my lead."

"I don't remember discussing this."

"It was implied. Keep up."

Rayf sighed. "Very well, oh fearless leader. Please enlighten me as to your plan for getting us out of this mess."

"Improvising? Remember? Trust the Force, and take whatever opportunity presents itself."

She could hear Rayf grumbling something under his breath, but the comm channel did not allow her to pick up on what was being said. She chose to ignore him, trusting that he would continue to do his part and remain inventive and capable, as he had proven on multiple occurrences in the short time she had known him. As the tunnel began to slowly but inexorably slope downhill, plunging deeper into the bowels of the comet, Foyi risked looking back at the mercs trudging behind them, receiving extrasensory perceptions of their captors, while scrutinizing their weapons, gear, and capabilities. The mercs constantly looked back and forth, their lights playing across the jagged, pockmarked walls. Most of the mercs that were not carrying scanners, sensors, datapads, and crates of mining equipment were openly displaying their weapons, a mixture of blaster pistols and rifles, including the occasional slugthrower, and even a disruptor rifle, carried by the Zygerrian. None of them were paying too close attention to the prisoners, trusting that Ak-vir and the Ganks trailing behind were capable of dealing with whatever issues Foyi and Rayf might attempt.

She returned her attention forward when Rayf tapped her shoulder. She activated the comm channel they shared once more, then asked irritably, "What?"

"Stretch out ahead of us with your feelings, and tell me if you're sensing the same thing I am."

Foyi did as bidden, submerging herself into the Force and sending the waves she made out into the darkness ahead, as if the Force itself was flowing in an invisible stream along the tunnel's contours, searching inquisitively as to what may be awaiting them. She deepened her concentration, stretching further, narrowing her focus to just ahead of her, blocking out the emotions and presences of those directly around and behind her. Her questing waves, when devoid of the distractions provided by those around her, found success when they encountered the soft ripples of distant emanations. She reached out with her feelings, her concentration and consciousness coming into crystallized focus as those ripples became presences removed by great distance and sentience. There was a large cluster of creatures somewhere down the tunnel's length, their rudimentary thought processes dominated by basic survival instinct and primal, instinctual urges. Whatever awaited them in the tunnels ahead were animals of some kind, though they belonged to a species Foyi had yet to encounter, and so she could surmise little about them, other than they were overtaken mostly by predatory instincts, and they felt hungry, as if they had not eaten in an inordinate amount of time. There were an alarming number of the creatures, huddled in a group that was almost as large as the one marching toward them. So the legends were true; there were creatures calling these Mines home, and judging by their insatiable hunger for raw flesh, they would be most happy to greet the expedition members, though the latter would not derive the same joy.

Foyi let a small grin play across her lips. They had found their opportunity.

Ak-vir, who had noticed the mostly nonverbal interactions between the two, saw Foyi's sardonic smile and stepped closer to his side, as if he believed the bulk he had on her would serve to intimidate her and provide him with answers to his yet-to-be-asked questions. "You've sensed somethin', haven't ya?"

She kept the smile on her face as she turned her faceplate to regard his. "We've found something alright. Something shiny and worth a cruiser's load of credits."

Greed lit his dark eyes, and he subconsciously licked his lips. "Where?"

"Keep leading us along this tunnel," Rayf interjected. "If we need to make any course corrections, we'll let you know."

Ak-vir nodded, but then he fingered his heavy blaster pistol at his belt. "Ya better not be lyin' ta me, yeah?"

"If we are, you can kill us," Foyi replied confidently.

The expedition continued down the tunnel, which narrowed considerably before widening again, opening up into an intersection of four different passages leading out into the darkness. By this point, both Rayf and Foyi were focused upon the cluster of creatures beyond their view, like bright beacons on the farthest reaches of their extended perceptions. They could not lose their way at this point, even if they tried, for the presences of the unknown animals were as prevalent to their senses as the beings moving about them. Foyi and Rayf pointed to the rightmost tunnel simultaneously, and Ak-vir led the group toward that tunnel. Foyi could feel the suspicions of Sura growing, but they were still directed more heavily toward the Weequay. The tunnel they had chosen was more narrow than any of the mining shafts they had traversed so far, forcing the expedition to continue with two sentients abreast at maximum. The walls closed in tight enough that they actually had to crouch through several areas where the ceiling had lowered, as if the comet itself was pressing down upon them, forbidding them from progressing further. But they were determined, and would not be denied their hopes for treasure, and even condensed their formation to single file when they needed to.

Then, as the presences of the creatures Rayf and Foyi were leading their unwitting captors to burned brightly in the Force, the tunnel opened suddenly into a wide cavern; whoever had dug the tunnel had broken through the wall of a natural cavern. The cavern was almost a dozen meters across, though their lights illuminated only a portion of it, revealing a cavern floor broken by haphazard ridges and fissures, streaked with patches of ice. They could feel the unseen creatures skittering through the darkness, using the stalactites, stalagmites, and fluctuating terrain for cover as their scrutinizing, hungry gazes watched the procession filtering into the cavern. Ak-vir looked to Rayf, who nodded his affirmation. The Weequay made an encompassing gesture toward those behind him, calling through the general comm channels, "Alright, this be lookin' like as good a place as any fer a pirate to be hidin' his booty! Spread out an' look fer caches, boxes, cargo cylinders, anythin' that looks like it might be holdin' treasure! I've got me a good feeling 'bout this cavern, 'ere."

Foyi sensed an imminent crisis coming to a head before Sho Sura emerged from the rest of the group and approached his partner, his features severe. "Alright, Ak-vir, I've had about enough, yes. You've been ignoring my calls on the comms for the last hour, leading this expedition wherever you seem to fancy, no matter what the sensor readings are saying. So far, we haven't picked up anything on scanners that indicates this would be a good place to find Fische's Legacy. What has you so certain this is the place to be?"

Ak-vir considered his question for a moment, though the deep concentration of his mind suggested that he was not contemplating a reply, but rather a course of action. The Weequay took a step toward the Gossam, and both of them had their hands resting on the hilts of their blasters by now. "The treasure's here 'cause their jeedai magic's tellin' me it's here." When Sura gave him the most incredulous expression a Gossam could manage, Ak-vir merely met it with scorn and a look of triumph. "Tha's right, Sura; I know all 'bout yer deal wit' these two. Hows ya had them try an' kill me so ya wouldn't haffta share Fische's treasure wit' me or me boys after they found it with their jeedai powers. Well, I'll let ya know, they was easy to turn, an' they tells me that the treasure is 'ere." His DL-44 was suddenly out of his holster, the barrel pointed directly at the Gossam's faceplate. "Well, here's me not needin' you, 'partner'."

As soon as Ak-vir had pulled his blaster, every weapon in the expedition left its holster or was shouldered. Vri's men aimed blasters at Sura or the Ganks the Gossams employed, and Sura's Ganks brought rifles to bear on the Weequay and his crew. In the space of a heartbeat, the only people in the room who did not have a weapon trained on them were the prisoners Foyi and Rayf.

Sura kept his clawed hand away from his hold-out blaster, but his voice dripped with anger and venom. "What in the eternal blue blazes are you talking about, Ak-vir? Are you some kind of stoopa? Those two don't have any kind of Jedi magic; the Jedi are just a myth! And I've never spoken or seen them in my life before today, no!"

Foyi and Rayf were now slowly edging away from the cluster of angry mercs and hot blasters, even as they continually buffeted their captors' minds with the Force, assaulting them with heavy suggestions and conflicting, emotional responses. Sura was not done speaking, angrily accusing Ak-vir based on suspicions that had been implanted by Foyi's manipulation. "In fact, you yourself admitted you had met them before, no? And then they just so happened to show up in my secret warehouse the same day you show up for this treasure hunt! You've been in league with them all along, and are merely blaming me for your underhanded maneuvers to try and justify shooting me now." He drew himself up to his full height, which was not particularly impressive, though he managed to remain threatening. "You should know, if you don't stand down, my Ganks will gun you and all your crew down like the sneaky nerfherders you are, yes."

Whether the entire quest for treasure would have ended upon the blasters of each other was a question never answered, for all of a sudden, one of the Houks in Ak-vir's crew started screaming. All eyes whirled to regard the Houk, who was in the midst of a macabre dance as he attempted to rid himself of the thick, corrosive substance that had inexplicably covered his vac suit. Smoke was rising from his body in great wafts as the acid hungrily ate through the material meant to protect from similar hazards, but seemed powerless to stop the erosive liquid. Even as the others watched in horror, their eyes were drawn to a ridge of stone and ice slightly above the Houk, where squatted a creature that was screeching soundlessly, as they could not hear exterior noises through their helmets. The monstrosity was a large arachnid about the size of an average human male, but consisted of a hefty thorax covered in plates of natural armor. Arrayed equidistantly around the fat body were five spindly legs, and at the front leered a horrifying, spider-like head containing five beady eyes and a mouth consisting of an equal number of beaks, clacking open and closed. Its beaks were still dripping with the spray of acid it had exuded, and it suddenly lunged forward, its forelegs reaching out to stab deep tears through the unfortunate Houk's envirosuit and into his flesh. His screaming through the general comm channel became higher in pitch and more frantic as he was lifted bodily to the waiting jaws of the monstrous spider, its beaks closing around his helmet and scrabbling for purchase.

And even as this gruesome sight transfixed the company, more such creatures sprang from the shadows, dropping from the ceiling and floating down toward their quarry in the low gravity like hawkbats diving upon unsuspecting duracrete slugs. The mercs cried out in unison and began firing their blasters randomly, lasers stabbing up into spiders; the creatures retaliated by spitting large splashes of acid across their suits. The cavern almost immediately devolved into a bloodbath of laserfire and acid, of vibroblades and stabbing claws.

Foyi and Rayf had distanced themselves from the company simply because they could feel the myriad spiders moving upon the group from the darkness, and so they were already a few meters away before the battle for food and survival began. Seeing the entire expedition embroiled in their fight, Foyi reached out a hand, the telekinetic grip of the Force answering her commands. The Zygerrian's disruptor rifle was suddenly torn from his grasp, a second before he turned it upon one of the spiders which then throttled him, seeing he possessed no more weaponry. The weapon slapped into her waiting palms and she whirled to the side, already aiming the rifle at the spot on the ground where one of the spiders would land. The green bolt of energy that sprung from the barrel's end contacted the ground the same second the spider's legs did, and like a miniature seismic charge, the bolt went off, ripping the spider to shreds in a shower of armored plating, ichor, and acid. She then shifted her aim to fire past Rayf, who, in tune with her motions in the Force, dropped to the ground as the green bolt whizzed through the space where his body once was. The bolt met another spider's charge head on, and the spider was practically split in half lengthwise by the force of the resultant blast.

Rayf sprang upward, putting the Force behind his movements even as he let the low gravity carry him aloft, up to one of the stalagmites. He clung to the protrusion, then crooked a hand, and a blaster rifle dropped by one of the mercs in the process of being devoured by an arachnid flew to outstretched fingers. The weapon's hilt had barely slapped into his palm when he whirled his body about the stalagmite and fired in Foyi's direction, the blaster bolt slicing through the face of a spider that was attempting to throttle her from behind. Foyi sent her appreciation through the Force, then urged him to get moving, to find a way for them to escape this deathtrap they had led their captors into. Most of the spiders they had sensed in this nest were busy tearing apart and consuming the mercs, though experience with dozens of fights and withering blasterfire was beginning to thin their numbers. Even so, several of the spiders had broken off from the main foray and were approaching Foyi and Rayf, believing the lone targets the easiest to take down.

Foyi fired a few disruptor blasts into the morass of mercs and spiders, then turned and fled, the low gravity making her short strides great leaps that carried her across the cavern in seconds. But the arachnids knew how to benefit from the low gravity as well, and they were right on their heels. The Twi'lek dropped into a clumsy roll, feeling the spray of acid at her back before it was even released by the lead spider. The glob of acid arced over her flailing limbs and impacted the cavern wall, splashing and melting the stone in ragged scars. She turned over on her back only for the lead spider to scrabble atop her, its forelegs stabbing downward, aiming for her faceplate and her torso. She swung the disruptor like an unwieldy club, letting the Force guide her defense and anticipate the movements her enemy would take. She managed to block heavy claws, knocking them aside, then kicking out with her feet. The motion was slow and hampered by her vac suit, but the impact was enhanced by the Force, her booted feet connecting with the spider just beneath the beaks, sending it spinning end over end through the cavern. She struggled to her feet just as two more spiders reached her with their claws, but the Twi'lek shoved her hand forward and let the Force become a wave running through her arm and erupting from her palm with the force of a tsunami. The telekinetic push was augmented by the low gravity, sending the spiders spinning away like missiles.

Rayf landed beside her, having dropped from the stalagmite above. His voice was calm and serene, and he was a bastion of light and solidarity in the Force, almost as if the battle around him served him as a means for him to attain inner peace he was able to share with her through the burgeoning connection they were developing. "Foyi! I think I've found our way out of here!"

She did not hesitate to follow him as they did an awkward hopping sprint across the cavern, their bobbing lights illuminating the gaping opening to another tunnel leading from the cavern. Both angled for it, Rayf taking the lead, while Foyi looked back over her shoulder to make certain they were not being followed. No spiders were pursuing them, but she did see a single figure that had broken from the ferocious melee to lope across the rough terrain in short leaps and bounds, his blaster pistol coming up to take aim. Foyi could not see the face through the helmet's transparisteel at this distance, but she could feel the man's presence, and knew it to be the loathed Ak-vir Vri, bent on revenge for her deception. He squeezed off a trio of shots, but the blasterbolts went wide due to his bouncing run, spattering the rock beside the tunnel's opening. Foyi ignored it and dived through the opening, Rayf's hand fastening on her shoulder and hauling her into the passage.

Foyi stood, about to offer her gratitude, when she was suddenly bowled over by another body clad in a bulky vac suit. She struggled to right herself, kicking out as unfriendly limbs tried to level a blaster at her. A blasterbolt went off, but it went wide again, and the flash gave her a direction to aim her kick, her boot connecting with a hand clenched around a blaster pistol's hilt. The body struggling with her, the form of Ak-vir, contorted around that hand as the pain that shot through his arm caused him to lose his grip on his DL-44, the weapon spinning away. Foyi swung her disruptor rifle, striking the man's faceplate and shoving him off of her. The Weequay cried out through the general comm channel as he slammed against the wall of the tunnel. He pushed against the wall to get upright again, to locate his lost blaster, but went stock still, slumping against the stone as he realized that Foyi had slammed the barrel of the disruptor rifle in his gut.

Foyi could feel the darker waters of the Force rushing in her ears, the black desires demanded by vengeance tantalizing in her mind. Her finger flexed on the trigger guard, her entire body quivering as the Dark Side rushed into her like a torrent, a voice shouting within her mind and her spirit to take her well-deserved revenge, to blow the scum at the end of her weapon to so many pieces he would never be recognizable as a Weequay, much less an individual. She looked down through Ak-vir's faceplate and licked her lips at what she saw there, the delicious expression of fear contorting his features and soaking his aura in the Force. She could almost taste how sweet his death would be on the back of her tongue, and his naked fear only served to heighten her bloodlust, to beg her to pull the trigger.

Her finger was just curling around the trigger when she felt a glove set upon her shoulder, the sensation coming from a great distance, as if she had become almost completely detached from her body and physical form. But with that hand came a soothing, calming presence, light gracing the churning storm and white-capped waves broiling within her. She turned slightly to see Rayf standing beside her, his hand on her shoulder. His expression was calm, serene, only slightly tinged by deep concern. Concern for her, concern for Ak-vir's life. Concern for her soul. He met her gaze, then said simply, "Foyi. It's alright; let it go."

Foyi returned his regard, the rage and anger bubbling within her core calming, the waves crashing about her consciousness slowly becoming a gentle, warm sea. She looked back to Ak-vir Vri, the man who had kidnapped her sister and sold her into slavery, and for the first time since she had seen his face, she felt only pity for him. For this was a man who would never know true companionship, joy, family, or anything in life that was truly worth living. She could do no worse to him than what he had already inflicted upon his own soul. The anger faded, Foyi took a deep breath, then triggered her helmet's comm channel at the same time she reached out to the Weequay's terrified mind, immersing herself in his surface thoughts and feelings. "Do you know where the Shepherd has my sister?" she asked in a calm, collected tone.

Ak-vir shook his head. "No, no, no I dunno. I only get my jobs from Yuelo...Yuelo would know how to be findin' the Shepherd."

Foyi sighed, having sensed no deception from the Weequay. What he said was true, or at very least, was what he believed to be true. She reached out to him with a wave of the Force, stretching out her hand to touch his faceplate even as she mentally bid his mind to rest. Ak-vir's eyes fluttered, then his head slumped to the side as the Force sank him into a deep sleep. He slumped against the tunnel's wall, lost to the waking world. Foyi stepped back from the Weequay, taking in a quivering inhalation, then glanced through the opening back into the cavern. She could no longer see the flashes of blasterfire, though there were still shouts, orders, and expletives coming over the general comm channel, suggesting that ultimately, some of the mercs had survived the nest of vicious arachnids. She turned to Rayf, who gave her shoulder a comforting pat, and merely said, "Let's find our way out of here."

As she moved past him to proceed down the tunnel, Rayf smiled, responding with a cheery, "Sounds stellar to me."