Chapter 4: Library
The Jedi were flying through hyperspace for a long while.
"Exar, how long does it take to get there?" Jo asked through the comm system, impatiently.
"We're going a short way beyond the outer rim. It's almost on the other side of the galaxy. Lucky for us, we're almost there."
Minutes passed, then they arrived at an orange planet.
"Don't tell me that's a desert planet." Aang said.
"Not really. You remember Atollon? It's kinda like that." Exar replied.
"Is it really hot there?" Jo asked.
"No. We'll be safe." Exar said.
"Good. A happy landing." Jo said.
"Um... You'll be happy to land." Exar said.
"Woah woah, hold up. You just said that we'd be safe." Aang chimed in.
"From the weather, yes. But the weather isn't the only feature of this planet. My people here are vicious, warrior-like beasts." Exar explained.
"Wait wait wait. This is your HOME?!" Jo freaked out.
"Yes. But don't worry, I have a plan." Exar told them.
"Ok, but you really should have told us first." Aang said.
"I have my reasons for everything." Exar said.
Aang looked over at Exar's fighter and saw him staring forward with a slight frown.
The fighters flew down into the atmosphere, speedily and swiftly. Exar pulled up so they could hide in the clouds. They waited for a while, and nothing happened.
"Is something supposed to happen?" Aang asked Exar.
"Supposed to, yes." He replied.
...
"Aang, we're gonna need to open our canopies for a second." Exar said. He opened his canopy and held up, what looked like a blue crystal shard. It was bright, and created a big blue aura that could be seen, lightly reflected on the orange clouds.
Aang opened his canopy and used the force to pull it to him.
"Is this a kyber crystal?" Aang asked.
"No, but believe me we'll need it. Here's the plan-"
The Jedi flew down to the surface and landed, and as they landed, they saw Zabrak warriors charging and almost falling over themselves.
"These are your people?" Aang asked Exar, clearly not impressed, but rather weirded out.
"Yes, but the warriors I knew were not as idiotic as this. And this level of idiocy means only one thing." Exar replied.
At that moment, the leader of that tribe stepped to the front of the crowd. Aang and Jo exited their cockpits and stood on the nose of their starfighters.
"What do you outsiders want?" The leader asked.
"We need access to your library." Aang replied.
"Only high authority has access to our library." The leader replied back.
"Really? I thought no one had access to it." Aang said, holding up the crystal. The Zabraks started freaking out. The leader rolled his eyes, then turned to them.
"QUIET!" He yelled, then turned back to Aang.
"Where did you get that?" The leader asked.
Then, Exar flipped out of his fighter and landed on the nose of his fighter. Then the Zabraks started freaking out again.
'I really have to do something about these bozos.' The leader thought, turning to the Zabraks again.
"SHUT IT!" He yelled, then turned to Exar.
"Exar Sunrider." He started, "How've you been?" He asked sarcastically.
"Better than I was when I was getting raised here, Heceowa." Exar replied.
"Wow, you've changed in such little time. And don't seem so surprised that I'm now the leader." The current Zabrak leader known as Heceowa Cometfire proclaimed. Heceowa had yellow and black tattoos and had dark-brown armor covering all except his head and hands.
"Change is good. I see you haven't changed a bit. I can still see 'sore loser' in your eyes. And I knew you were leader when we landed. This tribe has your name written all over it." Exar said.
"One does not simply change without changing their traditions." Heceowa said, "After Snoke died, we formed this tribe freely. You were one of our finest."
"Well because I changed, I have become more powerful and am capable of a lot more than you are." Exar said.
"Like what?" Heceowa asked.
"Distracting you." Exar said.
At that moment, Heceowa and his tribe heard doors opening. They turned and saw Aang and Jo entering their castle-like household.
"After them!" Heceowa commanded. The tribe ran after them, yelling.
"YOU DON'T HAVE TO YELL, THEY'LL KNOW YOU'RE- oh never mind." Heceowa strained, before turning back to Exar again.
"Let's see if your skills have changed." Heceowa said, igniting his unique lightsaber. It was orange with a black core.
Exar ignited one blade of his double-bladed lightsaber. "Let's." He replied.
Meanwhile...
Aang and Jo sneaked into the Zabrak complexes and started running, trying to find the library and ended up with quite a few guards on their tails.
"What are we going to do Aang? If and when we find the library, we won't be able to put this doodad in place before we get stabbed." Jo motioned towards the increasing number of guards.
Aang looked around. And to his left, he saw a stairway.
"There," He said, pointing to the stairway, "Let's jump down, we'll get a bigger lead."
They turned, then jumped down the stairway. They fell about seven stories before needing to slow down. Aang used the force to break his fall, and Joe used his boot jets to break his.
"It'll take them a while longer to catch us." Jo said. "Those thorn-heads couldn't catch up to a gonk droid."
Right then, they heard gusts of wind. They looked up and saw that the Zabrak guards had dived down towards them.
"And I take it they're force-sensetive." Aang said, then they started running again.
Exar and Heceowa were having a speedy duel. Flashes of black, blue and orange were flying all around them. Then they locked.
"I'm actually impressed." Heceowa said.
"Overused line, but thanks. I have trained under Jedi for years. I am now a master." Exar replied.
"While you're bragging about being all 'Jedi' and stuff, I'm sensing sithiness in you." Heceowa said.
...
"Sithiness?" Exar asked, amused and unimpressed.
"Yeah it's the term I use when-" He saw Exar's face, then stopped. "Oh never mind."
"Anyway, yeah, from your point of view, I'm evil. People on opposite sides seem evil. So yeah, you'd sense the 'dark side' in me." Exar pointed out.
"No no, you know exactly what I mean. I sense the dark side hidden, buried within you. You want to let it all out sometimes, but you easily overcome it. I'm impressed." They pushed away.
Heceowa held up one hand and conjured a magik ball.
"Let me help you release it."
Aang and Jo came across and faced a network of paths.
"I have a plan." Jo said.
"You don't have to tell me twice. I think I know what you're thinking." Aang said, pulling up his comlink, "Keep your channel open and we'll meet on the other side."
"I was thinking lunch or something, but your plan works too." Jo said.
"Erickson and I should really try to fix that brain of yours." Aang said as they started running.
"Thought it didn't work that wa-"
"No time. We're splitting up." Aang interrupted him.
As they disappeared from eyesight, the guards came around the corner.
"Men, you know what to do." The leading one said.
They focused and used the force to detect force signatures. When they detected one, they followed it. After a barrage of turns, they ended up in the location they were led to.
"We know you're here. Why not put your skills to the test, huh?" One of them asked.
Aang was hiding in a cave in a wall.
"Jo," he whispered into his comlink, "They're in my area."
"So what? They're no match for you." Jo replied very quietly.
"Where are you!" Aang and Jo heard a Zabrak guard call.
...
"Jo, I can sense your feelings, what are you-"
"OVER HERE!" Jo yelled through the comm.
"Darn it Jo." Aang whispered before jumping down.
"Hello boys." He said.
...
"Not greeters huh? Well, let's get to the point." Aang said, drawing out his four lightsabers.
The Zabraks, with their thick, strong staffs, charged at Aang. But at that moment, darts came and hit them in their necks.
"Oh come on Jo, I was in the moment." Aang said.
"And I was in a hurry." Jo said.
"Yeah. Well now, let's find that library." Aang said.
They exited the semi-maze and ended up back in the hallways. They wandered around some more, then stopped cold in their tracks. Literally.
"Do you feel that too?" Aang asked.
"Yes." Jo replied.
"That cold can only mean one thing." Aang stated.
"Yes, winter." Jo said.
"Yeah wint- What? No. When a Jedi feels coldness, a cold shift in the force, that indicates a sith presence. We should hurry." Aang said, then they started speeding through the halls.
"The Jedi are here, on Dathomir II. They are smart, powerful, and dangerous. Sounds like your level of involvement." A Zabrak said to the hologram, projecting the image of a cluster of black smoke with smoky yellow eyes.
"Oh I know they're there. I sensed them from parsecs away. I will be there shortly. Do not let them escape." The mysterious figure on the hologram said.
"They won't." The Zabrak assured.
Aang and Jo found themselves in front of a big, plain door.
"This has to be the library." Aang said.
"I'll say. This door's boring." Jo said.
"GUYS!" The team heard Exar call. They turned and saw him running towards them.
"Exar! What happened?" Aang asked.
"And what happened to Hecedora?" Jo asked.
"His name is Heceowa. And I disposed of him, shortly after he failed to put a spell on me." Exar said.
"Disposed how?" Aang asked hesitantly.
"I tied him up and lowered him down to the surface below these cliffs." Exar said.
"Nice." Jo whispered.
"Aang, the shard." Exar said. Aang handed him the shard.
Exar used the force to lift it up, above the door, and into a round, circular symbol that was placed above the door. The symbol was blue and looked like it was made from the same kind of crystal Exar had, except it looked like it had a piece taken from it.
Exar pushed the shard into place, then the crystal circle glowed bright.
"Now everyone, push." Exar said, lifting a palm and using the force to open the door. Aang and Joe followed, doing the same.
Slowly, the door started opening. It took a moment before revealing a very glorious sight.
"Now this is one heck of a collection." Jo said, in complete awe.
"Come on guys, I know where we can find answers." Exar said, and they started looking around.
The library was huge. It had many, many rows of shelves that reached stories high. Each section of shelves looked about four and a half meters long. Each shelf was made from a delicate redwood that was very smooth. The only flaw was that the whole place was dusty.
'What kind of wood is this?' Aang thought. "This place is very resourceful. It's a wonder the government hasn't invaded and taken it all for their own." Aang said.
"Oh they've tried. You should see our dungeon." Exar said, the sentence made Aang shudder.
Exar pulled out a scroll and called the team over.
"It should be in here." Exar said, flipping through pages, followed by him mumbling the contents.
"Aha." He said, then read through it.
"Ok. In the vision I got from Brett, I saw a him communicating with a black mist, one I recognize anywhere. Shortly after the Clone Wars, a new, secret organization was formed. An organization that consisted of dark force sensetives that took capabilities of the force to incredibly powerful, new levels. Aang, you've encountered one of them before. The one that called himself the Fifth Brother. He deserted the organization when the Empire came along. In the organization, there were some who grasped the dark side just like that." He snapped his fingers to emphasise. "And there were some who didn't grasp enough to receive their force powers. Those who did, became very powerful and were trained from there on. The others were not so respected. An example of the power received is... being able to camouflage themselves. For instance, camouflaging as a mist. The one I saw in my vision, I... I know him. His name is Sion II, calls himself Lord Erk. He has been an enemy of mine for a long time... Now that we have information on him, we should get going." Exar explained, then started running off.
"Wait." Aang said, completely frozen.
"What?" Exar asked, going back.
"You mean we're going up against possibly the most powerful sith to have ever existed?" Aang asked.
"Um. Possibly." Exar said.
"We're going to need a lot of steroids." Jo said.
"Shut it! Not now!" Aang shouted in the heat of the moment, then turned to Exar. "You've encountered him before. And he's still alive. You knew he was alive this whole time! You knew the sith were alive!" Aang started getting a bit angry.
...
"Yes." Exar replied. Aang recoiled.
"You... you kept that from us this whole time!" Aang exclaimed.
"I did what I had to do." Exar said.
"How is not telling us the answer to our nearly lifelong wondered question and key to our mission a part of what you had to do?" Aang asked loudly.
"If you guys knew, the news would spread and paranoia would spread, the government would find out and we'd be restrained." Exar said.
"Our mission was to find out if the sith existed, and you've known the answer this whole time. You practically made it a secret!" Aang was pretty much yelling at this point.
"Secrets have to be kept for the greater good." Exar said, turning away.
"Who's greater good?" Aang asked.
"Our own." Exar replied.
"Really? Considering the situation you're currently in, I'd say it was for your own. I dare say, because you kept the answer to our mission a secret from everyone, that you're with them!" Aang said.
"I can assure you that I am not." Exar said.
"And what do you think the masters will say about this?" Aang asked.
"With how far it's come, this stays between us." Exar said.
"Oh now you're planning on keeping more secrets from them? What do you think that says about your dignity, more importantly, your loyalty and allegiance." Aang questioned.
"Any of that of mine doesn't matter as much as our safety does." Exar proclaimed.
"We'd have been safer if we knew about the sith sooner."
"You can't be optimistic about this. If we were to encounter Erk sooner, we wouldn't have been ready. We would've been dead."
"You don't know that. You know of my experiences in the past."
"You don't know of his experiences. He is more powerful than any of us."
"Exar! It's now because of you that the galaxy is at stake. If you told us about the sith sooner, we may have found out more about him and his plot and possibly delayed it in time for us to advance and defeat him!"
"No matter what decisions get made, things always turn out well. Haven't you learned that?"
"Maybe not this time Exar. This may cost us, some of the most powerful protectors of the galaxy, our lives."
"I don't mean to interrupt this cheerful conversation, but... we've got company." Jo butted in.
"We'll finish this later." Aang finished off with Exar.
The team ran to the door and listened, trying to determine how many soldiers were there.
"That sounds like a lot." Aang said.
"Or they just have a lot of legs on each body." Jo said.
"So what do we do?" Aang asked.
"There," Exar pointed to a brick wall on the other side of the library, "We can push through a brick and a chain reaction will follow. We can make our escape from there." Exar said.
"Anything else?" Aang asked.
"No. Not that I remember." Exar replied.
"Good. Let's go." Aang said. Then the team ran to the wall.
Exar pushed a large brick out of place, then, as he said would happen, a chain reaction of falling bricks followed. They ran through and found a stairway, which was outdoors. They ran down for a while, but when they reached the end, Jo grabbed onto Exar and Aang right before they fell down a cliff.
"It's dangerous to play around the cliff, kids. Be careful."
"I'm decades older than you!" Aang pointed out, rather frustrated.
"And they took that away. Clever." Exar muttered.
"Anything else?" Aang asked, crossing all four of his arms.
"No. Joe, fly us up to our fighters." Exar said. Joe complied.
Jo activated his boot jets and flew upward, and the team found themselves at the other end of the complex. Jo flew all the way to the other side. But only to find a black, ominous ship in front of theirs. The ship resembled an M3-A Scyk Fighter, only the wings were lenghtened and sharpened a bit for a more-deadly use. It's black paint coating was very, very dark so it could blend in with space and nighttime. Jo flew down to the platform, dropping Aang and Exar, making them all land in a line. When they landed, they saw the cluster of black smoke.
"Lord Erk." Exar recognized him, immediately.
The smoke formed a human shape, then disappeared, revealing a ninja-like figure.
"Well Xavier, I'm surprised to see you in one person again. And in one piece." Erk said.
"Xavier?" Jo almost laughed.
"Can it, Jo." Exar whispered to Jo, "I'd say the same since you have to reside in smoke." Exar said to Erk.
"Very funny. But bantering isn't what I came here to do." He said.
"I get the picture," Exar said, igniting one side of his double-bladed lightsaber, "Let's dance." He said.
"Ooh, I love dancing." Jo piped up.
"Can it, Jo!" Exar exclaimed.
Erk cracked his neck, "This'll be fun." He said. Then he ignited his double-bladed blacksaber.
Then they charged...