Chapter 11
Author's Note: I have a prequel for this story ready to be posted (It's been ready for a long time); but due to its long (longer than my other stories) length, I will be uploading two chapters a day. (Had to let you know so you wouldn't get confused.)
"Merely his location. He's hiding in the Serenno system. We need you to come help search for him, before he decides to do something else."
"I'd like to, but I'm dealing with a bigger threat: three Jedi are looking for me and I have to stop them." Erk replied.
"Very well. When you're finished, meet me at these coordinates." Jayko said as he pressed a button from his end, and sent coordinates to Erk's end.
"Well can't it wait? If we all work together, we can take down the sith." Exar asked.
"I bet we could, but I have complete faith you guys can handle him." Rye replied, trying not to notice the expression on Exar's face.
"You simply need faith, Exar. Without it, Rye and I wouldn't have made it this far in our lives." Erickson added. And that gave Exar some hope.
"Besides, you gre up with Erk, practicing the same stuff as he did. That knowledge with ours can totally beat him." Aang said.
"Like I said before, you'd have to turn to the dark side to be able to perform stuff Erk can." Exar said.
"If we're leaving the Jedi here, we'll have to drop them off here." The pilot shouted from the cockpit.
"Time to go. We'll keep in contact, and we wish you the best of luck." Rye said as the trio stepped down from the shuttle and turned to Rye and Erickson as they lifted off.
"May the force be with you." Rye added, then the ships flew out of sight, and the Jedi turned and stared into the Jundland Chasm. It was interesting. A different chasm from what the Jedi were familiar with. There was a chasm somewhere else on Tatooine, but Aang and Jo hadn't been to this one. Surrounded by a sand-circle, this chasm was in the middle of the waste, being known only to the surviving ones who trained in the gorge lying directly in the center of the Jundland Wastes.
"Time to kill a sith. Exar, which way?" Aang asked.
"We should only go a mile or so, then we'll be there." Exar replied.
And so the Jedi trio ventured on into the chasm to the center of the wastes. The journey was difficult, for there was mostly rocky terrain as far as the eye could see. They had to help each other climb up and down mounting rock walls, and go across a short sharp-rock field. They mainly had Exar use the force to help lead the way.
"Exar, why do we have to go straight? Why can't we move around some of these obstacles?" Aang asked.
"Much like temples, this chasm is very tricky. If you divert from your path, you'll get lost." Exar replied.
"Like the Bermuda Triangle?" Jo asked.
"Yes, like the- what is that?" Exar confusedly asked.
"Not important now. Let's keep going." Aang said, walking forward.
The team shortly reached their destination as soon as they thought they might be lost.
"Guys, welcome to the Jundland Cavity." Exar said.
"So how do we get down there?" Jo asked.
"We jump." Exar said before diving down into the hole.
"What?!" Jo exclaimed.
"You heard him." Aang replied before jumping down, following Exar.
"Why in all the galaxy would I-" Jo cut himself short, then mumbled to himself, "Oh wait. I have boot jets." Then he jumped down. Being pretty much half metal, Jo fell faster than his teammates. He waved at them as he passed by them. A few seconds later, Jo used his boot jets to break his fall, and Aang and Exar outstretched their arms and used the force to break their fall.
"This hole didn't look as deep as it did when we looked down into it." Jo said.
"Indeed. Exar, lead the way." Aang said.
"That would make me feel better if I was actually the leader." Exar said, earning an elbow from Aang. "What? I'm kidding... Kind of."
...
"This way." Exar said
The team was on-guard the whole time, stalking around the orange halls of the catacombs. The walls were a red-orange shade with gray rock ceilings. Columns were carved along the walls from floor to ceiling. There were smooth wood doors in between every two sets of columns.
The team continued stealthily walking through the halls until Exar turned left and went into a door. The team followed him into the room, where Exar was looking all over for something. Then they spotted a shelf along the wall on the other side of the room. Exar opened it up and found a book inside. He gasped and quickly picked it up.
"What is it?" Aang enthusiastically asked.
"You want some information about the force, this book will tell you everything." Exar said, passing the book to Aang.
"But we should keep it hidden until the battle with Erk is over, and at least one of us survives." Exar said.
"We should." Aang agreed, handing Exar the book. Exar put the book back in the drawer.
"But if this is still here..." Exar started, then he exited the room, followed by Aang and Jo.
"What's going on?" Jo called after him.
"If not everything has been evacuated, then we might find some more helpful things here." Exar said as he turned left into another hall and took a right into another room, which looked like an empty weaponry room. The room was square, and was filled with all kinds of racks that used to hold weapons like spears and swords, and chests that used to hold shields and blasters. Straight across the room was a door that might as well be a wall. It was all empty, except for one candlestick-like stand that held a dimly glowing stone on it. Exar stared in amazement.
"What? What the force is this doing here?" Exar questioned.
"Exar! Is that safe?" Aang asked.
"Yeah." Exar answered quietly, soon realizing he probably couldn't be heard. "Yeah. Stones like this gave us Dathomirians special connections to the force and temporarily 'spiked up' our force-powers for a match. But why did this stone, of all things, get left here?
"Was there some kind of rule forbidding the taking of stones like these?" Aang asked.
"That was very straight forward." Jo said.
"Not that I remember, so that still makes me curious." Exar said.
"Oh no one forgot it." A familiar voice called out. Then the source of the voice, none other than Erk, stepped out of the shadows from the dark corner of the room and showed himself. "It was brought back." He added.
"Well you made it." Jo said, putting on a grin and a not-obviously-sarcastic voice. "We were beginning to think you weren't coming."
"Well here I am." Erk replied in the same tone of voice.
"How're we going through with this?" Exar asked.
"We'll do it the traditional way. Fuel on the stones and fight." Erk replied.
"Except you're not getting away." Aang said.
"Oh no one's getting away. Our matches were strict. The winners were taken to Dathomir II and put to service there. But the losers faced the consequences... and were killed." Erk explained.
"So, to the death, then?" Aang asked.
"Yes. Fuel up and we'll see who had the best teacher." Erk said before he disappeared into a black cloud that dissipated.
"Let's go." Exar said sitting down in front of the stone, motioning for the others to do the same. As the three sat down, they closed their eyes and focused on the force, then reached their hands out and touched the stone. Then their heads jerked up and their eyes and mouth started shining. Moments passed, then the glowing faded. The team stood and started feeling confident.
"I feel like I could take on any problem that comes our way." Aang said, failing to suppress a chuckle.
"Well guys. This may be it. What our lives lead up to." Exar said.
"We're totally going to survive this. I can feel it in my veins." Jo said, clenching his fist.
"You don't have veins there." Exar said.
...
"But I do have veins." Jo replied.
"Well then. Shall we begin?" Exar asked.
"Yes." His team replied.
The team turned towards and used the force to open the wall-sized door, and there, they were going to meet their match. And into view, came a roofed arena, where torches were lit every few yards away from each other. And a huge fire-lit chandelier hung above them, lighting up the dark room.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Exar said, almost sarcastically.
Less than a moment passed, then a door on the other side of the arena opened up and revealed Erk. He stepped up and sharp, determined gazes met the eyes of the contenders. The Jedi stepped forward and ignited their lightsabers: Exar's two blue lightsabers; Aang's green lightsaber, along with one of his double-bladed lightsabers; and Jo's two lightwhips. Erk stepped forward and ignited both ends of his black lightsabers. They stared at each other for a moment, then charged at each other.
And so began, a fight that would determine the fate of the galaxy.