Chapter 28
Illumination
A rather battered looking humanoid shaped droid stood at the bottom of the Whipclaw's ramp, pulling a repulsor dolly with his long arms.
"Greetings, I am BLX-5. I am looking for Madame Riella Masso."
"That's me," Ahsoka said from behind her armored mask, "I have a rather large package to deliver to the bounty office."
"Forgive me for asking, madame, but word among the other droids is that last night there was a fight on this tarmac. And one of the cleaning droids swears that he saw a lightsaber. Is this the Jedi who has been terrorizing the city the last few weeks?"
Ahsoka was taken aback, but decided that being as honest as she could within her Riella Masso bounty hunter persona would allow. "Yes. It was a former Jedi, Kan'to Kree. I followed a few clues until I found his lair, and I stole something that I knew he'd come back for. Then I set a trap for him here. Unfortunately, he was completely mad. Almost feral. I had to kill him."
The droid cocked his head and said, "An unfortunate turn, but I do thank you for making Yumfla a safer place. Where is the... package?"
The droid had an odd speech pattern, somewhat slow and he almost had a bit of a rural twang. Ahsoka said, "I'm in it for the money, but I guess it is nice to know that I'm doing something good. It's right up the ramp."
She moved aside and the droid pulled the repulsor dolly up the ramp. BLX-5 squatted down, and she could hear old, sturdy servos strain as he lifted the large box. With surprising ease, he levered the body box onto the repulsor dolly.
"Impressive. I was about to ask if you needed help."
"During my time working at the shipyards in Fondor I had high-gravity servos installed. While I am relatively versatile, lifting things is, if you'll excuse the joke, what I was made to do." BLX-5 walked down the ramp stiffly, but once he was on level ground he stopped. "Do you have ground transport, or did you wish to cross the spaceport on foot? The bounty office is on the far edge of the spaceport."
"We can walk. After that battle last night, I've got a few sore muscles that need stretching and moving."
Ahsoka kept her mask on as they walked. This was her first bounty to be delivered. For someone who might have a bounty on her own head as soon as the Empire realized their oversight, walking into a bounty office was probably going to be a little bit nerve-wracking every time.
The ride was bumpier than Mirian remembered. And windier. Her hair, despite being pulled back into a ponytail, kept somehow defying the oncoming air and whipping around her head and neck, seemingly trying to get itself caught in her mouth.
The last time she had been sitting next to a Jedi Master and driving this route, she'd still had a part of her hair pulled aside to make a Padawan braid, though.
Master It'Kla seemed to understand that she needed to prepare herself for what she was going to have to face. Other than asking for directions in a few places when the satellite tracking system in their rented speeder lost signal, he said little on the trip. Still, he was a warm and familiar presence, both in person and in the Force.
And Mirian was grateful for that.
Ylenic let her take the lead when they reached the ruins. As the two found their way through the darkness, Mirian found that she didn't mind the small scuttling rachnids nearly as much as she had the first time.
When they reached the large room where she and Master Shadaarwin had fought the gigantic rachnid, she could feel its presence. And it must have recognized her, because she heard it scuttling away through one of the smaller tunnels.
Finally, she made her way to the final room. Lying by the door of the room, she saw Master Shadaarwin's lightsaber. Part of the hilt looked burned, as if it had been singed by another lightsaber.
A few feet further in was Kan'to Kree's lightsaber, and the activation button appeared to have been torn off by a piece of crystal from the shattered holocron.
And a few feet further in were Master Shadaarwin's clothes, lying crumpled on the ground. Mirian didn't have to see it, she could feel it through the Force.
Master Tyria-Lotell Shadaarwin had become one with the Force. And in doing so, she shone a bright light in the center of this dark place. After years of reciting the mantra, Mirian Varos finally understood that there was no death, there was the Force.
Mirian kneeled down next to the place where her Master had given her life. "Thank you, Master Shadaarwin. For everything you have taught me. About the galaxy. About life. About the Force. And about myself. Everything has changed. I don't know what I'm going to do with my life now. But I do know that you helped me become who I am today. And I hope I can use that to make the galaxy a better place."
In the Jedi Temple, a funeral was a collection of every available Jedi. There were lights, and flames, and ceremonies.
Here, in this dark ruin that once housed a Sith Lord powerful enough to destroy lives thousands of years after his body decayed, there was only Mirian, a few words, and the light side of the Force holding back the darkness as best it could.
She stood and brushed the dirt off of her knees. "Let's make sure her sacrifice wasn't in vain. I want to find every shard of that crystal."
"If there were a Jedi Temple to return them to, I would take her clothing and personal effects there. Alas, there is nowhere."
"No. Leave them here. If another Jedi finds this place in a thousand years, I want him to see what Master Shadaarwin sacrificed here."
Ylenic nodded, "That seems appropriate, given the circumstances."
He held out his hand, and one by one he used the Force to pull the many shards of holocron crystal off of the ground and out of the walls. When he was done, a few ounces of Sith tainted crystal hovered above his open palm. Mirian held out a small pouch, and he dropped the crystals inside. At the very least, Mirian intended to make sure that Darth Nadir was never able to harm another living being.