Chapter 8 -Act I- The Tomb of Marka Ragnos
Meditating off in a secluded part of the Valley of the Dark Lords, a way away from the Academy, was a girl with strange pink hair and eyes. In front of her, was a piece of cloth, something she had acquired from another acolyte. Her hands were cupped around it as if trying to block the sky from the fabric. The girl had been sat like this for quite a few hours, having gotten up at dawn to begin her ritual. Then, without warning, the piece of cloth smoked, suddenly alive with fire.
Feeling the heat upon her hand, she quickly opened her eyes and stared down at the small flame that was eating away at the cloth. Pride and relief filled her body as she proclaimed, "I did it!"
The pinkette immediately tried to calm herself down, having remembered that there was more she had to do. Once again, she forced her face into one of concentration, though, instead of having her eyes closed, she glared down at the small flame that was soon going to die. Reaching out with the Force, Louise began syphoning its energy into the flame, trying to keep the fire alive.
The fire did not change size, not large, nor smaller. Soon the fabric was nothing but ash, however, the flame continued burning, despite the lack of noticeable fuel.
Louise's face split into a grin as she began the final stage of the pseudo-ritual. She began to move her right hand in a grasping motion, using her left hand to continue fuelling the flame. At first, the fire did not react, just continued flickering at a stable size. Then the flame started to oscillate before the pinkette made a pulling motion.
Soon the flame was levitating in the palm of her hand. Louise wanted to jump with joy, but rational thinking told her that to do so, she would have to sacrifice the flame that took hours on end to set fire to. Instead, she limited herself to gloating to the air about her achievement, "Zerbst would be so jealous! The power of fire at my beck and call!" Now comes the difficult part, getting back to the academy.
Realising her mistake too late, Louise began the long and arduous challenge of walking through the valley to the pyramidal Academy.This is what I get for trying to be secretive…
Luckily, her journey was not hampered at all, only a few missteps causing minor issues. Eventually, she arrived at the large staircase that led to the mouth of the Academy. A quick look to the sky revealed that it was lunch time and that most acolytes and Sith were in the cafeteria, though not all. Glancing to the sides, she could see that a few acolytes double-take as they regarded the decently sized flame in her hand. She could even see a few Sith looking at her with unreadable expressions.
Eventually, Louise arrived at the cafeteria. A quick scan showed that her friends were. Moments later, she had arrived at the table her friends had apprehended.
"Hey, Lou… are you holding fire?" Her roommate questioned, looking at the burning ball with something akin to awe.
"How… how are you doing that?" Questioned another of her friends, Balek, if her memory served. He and his twin were gawking at the flames.
"It's a little-known ability that has been a pain in the rear for a few days. Pyrokinesis; the ability to generate and, more importantly, control fire." Louise said, moving the flame about in careful and controlled movements, aweing the twins even more.
"I have never heard of that."
"You wouldn't have. As I had said, it not very known. Not that I know why it's awesome."
"So how did you find it, oh powerful Fire Lord?"
"Harty har har." Louise replied dryly as she dismissed the fire and slumped into a vacant seat, "I found it in the archives, though, not much. On my homeworld, people could do similar things, so, I got curious and tried to find the extent of the Force."
"Do you think you could teach us?"
"Teach?" The pinkette echoed, "I don't know, it took me a few days to figure out how it worked, and a few more to actually create a flame. A few times the target would just burn without fire."
"Oh, okay…"
"Sorry but I wouldn't even know where to start teaching you. It's not something I have done before. I guess I could give you the instructions," mused the pinkette, amused by the excitement on the twins faces, "But, be careful. Fire is dangerous, don't play with it, especially alone."
"but you did." Her roommate pointed out.
"Well, yeah. I had fire safety drilled into my head at a young age." Louise replied offhandedly, remembering the first time she had tried to cast a spell. Back then, she was filled with hope that she was a mage, the explosion was held with reverence and proof of her noble blood. The second her family saw it, they assumed her affinity was with fire and acted accordingly.
"We'll be safe." The twins promised.
"Anyway, what are you guy's getting up to today…?"
The Deadline for completing her third trial was fast approaching, less than a half a month left. She spent time either in the library, researching the history behind Marka Ragnos' tomb and the holocron that resides inside, and learning martial combat from Lyira and an instructor. When Louise first came to the pureblood about wanting to learn how to fight with her hands, her roommate was surprised by the suddenness of it all, thinking the diminutive acolyte preferred to fry her opponents. But Lyira taught her anyway.
It had usually been just her and the pureblood, but during one morning when she was sparing with her roommate, the twins, Balek and Wydr, asked to join. Obviously, Louise was cautious around the two, but after a time, she warmed up to them. Soon, they started hanging out outside of the training room, joining the two roommates for lunch and escapades into the library.
Near the end of the month, however, Louise received a response from Juyn. It was a simple letter, briefly explaining what Juyn and his apprentice had been up to, an apology from Rayne for her sister's antics, and an explanation to why she could not learn more about alchemy; it required money, supplies and her graduation from acolyte hood. Though, her disappointment was short lived when the Sith Lord managed to acquire some texts on pyrokinesis. Something that had overtaken most of her time.
"Me and my brother were just planning on getting some extra training in. You?" answered Wydr.
Before Louise could answer, Lyira cut in, "I think today would be a nice time to complete my trial."
Getting the hint, Louise added, "Yeah, I think I will too; that is, after lunch. Speaking of, have you guys finished your trials?"
"Our trials? Almost finished mine, but Balek apparently finished his, though, he's being quite tight-lipped about it," explained Wydr.
"Hey, I was told I had to be discrete!"
"Well, you did spend a lot of time in the prison."
"Wait, the Prison?" The pinkette asked, getting a nod in return, "You didn't happen to see a Jedi, did you?" she pressed further.
"Yeah, there was a Jedi, he was actually part of my trial." Balek explained reluctantly, "I had to befriend him, then bust him out of jail."
That explains it. Louise thought. She had been wondering where the Jedi went but feared asking questions would lead to a conversation she did not want to have. She did miss his presence, as he was always an interesting person to talk to compared to the Sith.
"Bust him out? Why would the Sith want a Jedi loose?" Lyira asked, voicing everyone's thoughts.
"They messed with his head, giving him false information." The beefy acolyte continued, "I had to gain his trust and get his equipment before breaking him out."
"Did you find anything out?" Louise pushed. She already knew that the Sith must have done something to his head. sometimes when she visited, he would act completely lucid, other times, he acted strangely. At one point, she told her worries to the Jedi. At first, he did not seem to comprehend, but as he thought, he became more and more wary of the other Sith.
"Yeah. Apparently, there was this acolyte that has been keeping him company." Said Balek, reminding the pinkette of the gossip, Montmorency, from her own school, though obviously less annoying. "Though, that was all he said on the subject. Felt really bad about not getting to say goodbye."
Louise let out a breath she did not know she was holding, quickly covering it by saying, "Well, as long as you completed your trial."
...
"The lower wilds are certainly cooler today," Louise commented, peering down from the skycar to the land below, seeing a small number of Korriban wildlife meandering about as several Imperial soldiers stood guard or otherwise patrolled the land.
"I always thought that Korriban was quite strange." Lyira added, "It is mostly desert, but is quite cool nonetheless. I guess the Dark Side could double as a freezer."
"What?" Louise questioned, looking at the Sith beside her with an expression of absolute confusion.
The pureblood seemed to realise what she had just said, her face twisting into one of incomprehensibly, "Sorry, I have no idea where I was going with that line of thought."
Before either could make another comment on the strange subject, the skycar landed. "I hope you had a pleasant journey," voiced the skycar droid in its usual mechanical tone.
Muttering a nearly inaudible 'thank you,' the two neophytes took an elevator from the skycar platform, down to the ground floor. It looked much the same since the last time they had visited, off to their left was the place Lyira had designated 'the Vet,' with several caged tuk'ata and few operating tables. And to their right was the wilds in all its dusty glory.
"Do you think we should ask around about Ragnos' tomb?" Louise inquired, gesturing to a nearby Sith Lord.
"Probably." Lyira replied, walking towards the Sith who was currently doing something with his datapad, "Excuse me, my lo-"
"I do not have time to talk to either of you. Far too much to do." The Human Sith said abruptly, cutting Lyira off, "If you are in dire need of information, Lord Renning is right over there." He said, throwing his thumb over his shoulder towards a large figure working in the Vet, before stalking off in annoyance.
"Okay… then." Louise said, perturbed by the abrasive Sith. "That was rude."
"Yeah." Lyira agreed, "Well, let's go talk to this Renning character." She continued, pulling her roommate towards the large figure working over an operating table, "Excuse me, Lord Renning?"
Louise's first thought when meeting Lord Renning was on of revulsion. Translucent ashen skin that seemed to pronounce his dark veins, hair that was white with age and eyes that seemed to glow a sickly sulfuric yellow. However, it was not his appearance what caused disgust in the pinkette, and if how Lyira acted, her as well. Both had gotten used to the sight from nearly four months at the academy. The cause of their revulsion was his smell. He had the sent that the petite could only describe as wet dog bathed in k'lor'slug innards. Had the Sith Lord noticed their reaction, he certainly did not show it, instead, his eyes darted between the two, a smirk pulling at his lips.
"I've seen you two around, have you finally come to see my experiments?" The Sith Lord greeted, gesturing to the dissected tuk'ata that lay atop the operating table behind him, "I trust the sight of a messy operating table doesn't disturb you."
"Not at all, my lord," Lyira answered at once.
The pinkette's answer, however, was a little later, as she tried to ignore the terrible smell around her, "…They could use some scented candles."
"They do tend to smell worse on the inside, but you get used to it." He replied offhandedly, "I suppose you are curious as to what I am doing?" at that, the duo nodded, less about being curious, but that it would not hurt to find out, "To understand the Force and its mysteries, we have to seek out our answers from everywhere; including inside these beasts." He gestured to the creature again, "This used to be a living tuk'ata; I am sure you have made yourself acquainted with the species?" Another round of nods, "On the surface, they are nothing special. But I alone can see this creature is an expression of pure Dark Side energy; aggression made manifest."
Louise considered his words, then thought back to her research into Alchemy, seeing a correlation between the two, "They were created by the ancient Sith with Alchemy, so I would say you are correct." She said, her tone betraying her interest in the subject.
"Yes, yes! Exactly." Lord Renning praised, happy to have found another being who was as interested as he, "This is what I am doing here. Using this knowledge, I dissected hundreds of these beasts, each one showing a direct connection to the Dark Side." His tone began to become more boastful as he continued, "I stand at the dawn of a new frontier, but find myself thwarted by the very beast that brought me here. My most perfect specimen, a mutant tuk'ata, escaped into the tombs before I could analyse it!"
Once again, The pureblood was the first to respond, "We could help."
The pinkette could only give her roommate a look of confusion before the conversation continued without her.
"Yes… perhaps you two were brought to me through the will of the Force." He mused, "Acolytes like yourselves, delve into the tombs on your trials. You could hunt down my prize and retrieve its perfect brain. My apprentice, Malora," He pointed over to a sour looking girl standing by one of the tuk'ata cages near the entrance to the wilds, "She saw which tomb the mutant fled to. Find out what she knows, assist me, and you will be rewarded."
"Yes, my lord." They both said at once, though Louise sounded more reluctant than anything. Great, now we get to run around the wilds. Yay!
"Before you go, take this." The large Sith said, grabbing a backpack from a nearby workstation, "Inside are some tools to remove its brain and a container to carry it. You've found a great calling in my service. I trust you appreciate that."
"Yes, my lord." The roommates said once again, bowing respectfully. Louise took the bag from the Sith, finding it unexpectedly light, before sliding it onto her back. Then, both girls headed off to talk to his apprentice.
"Seeking Lord Renning's lost pet, are you?" Malora said once they drew near enough. Immediately Louise felt her dislike for her grow. The apprentice was a tan woman, tanner than the pinkette and Renning combined, with dark hair and dull blue eyes surrounded by purple makeup, "Don't waste your time. That fools research is pointless."
"Any reason for that?" Louise asked defensively.
"Renning deludes the Dark Council into believing he's advancing Sith knowledge." The apprentice explained as if it were obvious, "The truth is, he's wasting the Empire's time and resources dissecting mindless animals. But, if his experiments were discredited, he would be banished; and I would be rewarded."
"And you are telling us this… why?" Questioned Lyira.
"You both are going into the tombs, looking for the mutant?" Renning's apprentice asked, receiving two nods in reply, "Hunt down the creature, kill it, and bring me its brain. You might need to lure it out with something, but once you have finished that, give it to me, and I'll take care of the rest."
Louise did not know what 'I'll do the rest,' meant, but she knew she was not going to sabotage a Sith Lord's research, especially if it was interesting. But, that did not mean that the apprentice had to know, "Do you know where it went?"
"Yes," Malora responded, pulling a datacard from her pocket and handing it to the pinkette, "The creature should be in one of the many offshoots of Marka Ragnos' tomb."
Both girls made a surprised 'hm'. I guess we don't need to run around the wilds after all.
"Do you happen to have any information you could give us about Marka Ragnos' tomb, that could… you know, keep us from dying a horrible death?" Lyira asked, getting back to the subject that started the little mess the roommates found themselves in.
"Hmm, not much to say, really." Malora said, "There are a few tuk'ata packs here and there, they mostly keep to themselves, unless they are hungry. As for the tomb itself? Well, if you have not heard, it's practically gushing with the Dark Side. Many of the soldiers and slaves sent to excavate the tomb ended up insane. Though it should be okay for you, I've seen many acolytes around there."
"Sounds fun," Lyira replied dryly.
Louise grunted, repositioning the bag on her back pointedly, "Well, we better be off."
...
So… you mentioned your homeplanet, Halkeginia?" Lyira said, breaking the comfortable silence that had descended upon the two since they left the Vet.
"Yes," The pinkette replied noncommittally.
"Well, I thought you had been a slave to the Empire." The Sith said tentatively, "You don't talk about your life past that point, not that you talk about your enslavement that much either."
"I was a slave to the Empire, though, only for a few months," Louise replied, feeling bitter at the reminder of her enslavement. "And if I am going to tell you about it, the first thing I will do is clear up a misunderstanding. The Planets name isn't Halkeginia, I gave it that name in a panic, it's just the name of the continent I hail from. But it's so primitive, no one has ever bothered to explored the entire planet. While we do know the planet is round, no matter what those idiots say, we haven't really needed to name our planet. We do have one, though it isn't really flattering."
"And that is?"
"Terre," Said Louise with a grimace, despite knowing that no one spoke Halkeginian.
"That doesn't seem too bad."
"Well you might say that, but I don't think being known as the girl from planet dirt is very flattering," Louise grumbled, thinking back to Lord Juyn's objections to the name.
"Wait, what?" The Raven-haired girl chortled.
Louise sighed, "Our planet's name, when translated into Basic, is earth."
"Why didn't you just name it Terre?" The Sith asked.
The urge to slam her palm into her face was overwhelming, but she managed to hold it at bay, "As I said, I panicked." Louise replied, "I told him our planet's name was Earth, he told me to give it a better name, so I panicked! Halkeginia was practically my whole world, so I chose that."
"I guess I can't be hard on you for choosing that name. Anything else you could tell me about your home?"
Grateful for the change of topic, Louise said eagerly, "Halkeginia, the continent, is split up into multiple different parts. You have the Brimiric Nations, the Holy Land, the Lands to the East, and Rub'al Khali. Beyond that, is a mystery to me. I was born in the Brimiric Nations, specifically, the Kingdom of Tristain. Albion, Romalia, Gallia, Tristain and, begrudgingly, Germania all belong to the Brimiric Nations. Oh, there's also the Grand Duchy of Guldenhorf, while they may say they're an independent country, Tristain holds the real power."
Lyira nodded her head in understanding, then asked, "So, why are they called the Brimiric Nations?"
"The religion. The only Religion." The pinkette answered, "Brimir, the Founder of 'Magic,' granted onto the nobility control over the four elements, earth, water, fire and air. In return, the nobility have to care for the commoners, those without magic."
"Reminds me of the Sith. Are you a follower?"
"Had you asked me that a year ago, I would have said yes. Now though?" Louise said, sounding suddenly very exhausted, "I don't think so. I fail the one test that had mattered to me at that time. Then I wake up enslaved to an Empire that I knew nothing about. No amount of prayer or anything would protect me, that is until it was discovered I had the Force, something, by the way, that would be considered 'heretical' to the Brimiric faith. Suddenly, with the Force I was free. So, yes, I cut ties with that… and my homeworld for that matter."
"You okay?"
"Yes… no. I don't want to talk about it. It's quite personal."
Sensing that the topic was a sensitive one, Lyira tried to comfort her friend, "Cheer up, okay. I'm here if you ne-"
"Kark! Get down!" Shouted Lyira, throwing herself into the pinkette, tackling her to the ground just in time as blaster fire whizzed harmlessly overhead. Once the blaster fire subsided, the girls made a break for it, crawling aggressively to one of the many out cropping's that littered the Lower Wilds.
"Who's shooting at us?" Louise hissed once the sounds of blaster fire diminished.
"You willing to take a peak?" The Sith said in a joking manner, though any humour was lost on the smaller member of the duo.
"What!? No! My hair is pink!" The petite girl protested, pulling on a lock of her hair for emphasis, "I am pretty sure this planet has never even seen this colour!"
"Eh, true." Lyira said with a roll of her shoulders, "Though, if I die, I am haunting your arse!" the Sith pulled out a small cylindrical object from her belt, something Louise knew to be an advanced version of a spyglass or macrobinoculars according to the empire.
"I bet you would enjoy that!"
Ignoring Louise's barb, Lyira peaked over the outcrop, scanning the area with her spyglass. After a few moments, the pureblood crouched back to the ground, clipping the macrobinoculars to her belt, "They're soldiers, I would assume they're the insane fellows that Malora warned us about." She explained, "I can't see another way around, we're going to need to fight if we want to complete our mission."
"Do you see any way of getting close without being blasted to pieces?" asked Louise anxiously.
"Yeah, though, you're going to need to be quick." The Warrior replied, her warblade already in hand.
The inquisitor nodded, unsheathing and activating her own weapon, feeling the invigorating rush that came with the runes. The next second, Lyira had burst from cover, sprinting across the field, Louise following at a distance. The blaster fire started up once again.
Jumping between outcropping to pillar to outcropping again, the duo covered ground quickly, heading towards their goal: a large courtyard littered with the runes of what was once one of the great entrances to Ragnos' tomb. Soon they were in range to attack. The first man to fall by Louise's hand -a lowly officer- died by blunt force trauma.
Lyira followed up her friend by impaling someone who looked suspiciously like a slave if the shock collar was anything to go by. Luckily, Louise was too busy to notice.
Both of the acolytes continued to decimate the congregation of insane slaves and imperials. At one point, Louise found her training saber ineffectual against the more heavily armoured opponents and took up a blaster pistol from one of her kills. It had been a spare of the moment thing, and it had paid off, as the diminutive girl gunned down the mad men with skill uncommon in most Sith. Following in her friend's footsteps, Lyira took a vibroblade from one of the workers and joined in.
Soon, enough, the only two left standing, were the acolytes. "Since when did you know your way around a blaster," Lyira asked surprised.
"Since now," the roommate answered cryptically, looting a gun holster off a nearby soldier. "You know, back on my homeworld, we only had muskets -they're a type of one shot only gun which shoots small metal balls."
"Really?"
"Yep. Many of the nobility find them uncivilised and look down upon them for their clumsiness and limited uses, but with this kind of weaponry?" Said Louise, waving her newly acquired blaster, "A revolution would be a viable option."
"Sorry to hear that."
"While many of the nobility are kind or at least indifferent to the common folk, there are some who treat them badly and get away with it." Louise explained in an indifferent tone, "Count Mott, for example, is one. He would take female commoners, often young and attractive, back to his mansion to work as his mistresses; without their consent, of course. Treats them like property, like slaves." She added bitterly, "Don't be sorry.'
"Anyway, let's move on." The pinkette said suddenly, not letting her roommate continue the conversation.
"So, what do you want to do first?" Lyira asked, shifting tone, "Tuk'ata or trial?"
"Trial," Louise replied, pulling free her datapad and checking the waypoint on the map she had acquired, "That tomb over there."
"Same," Lyira said, checking her own datapad.
As they drew near the entrance to their goal, the two found themselves blocked by a human acolyte. "What are you two doing here?" She asked with a no-nonsense attitude, eyeing them both suspiciously.
"Our trials," Louise replied, returning the suspicious look towards the neophyte.
"Your trials?" The acolyte chuckled, bringing the attention of three acolytes, "You two don't belong here. You see, this tomb is a safe haven to outcast, exiles and failures." The second she finished her sentence, she and her friends leapt into action, weapons at the ready.
Lyira and Louise leapt back, avoiding several simultaneous attacks, and unsheathed their own weapons. Training sabers clashed as they split into two groups, one attacking the pinkette, and the other to attack her raven-haired friend. The two acolytes may have been outnumbered, but the exiles were outmatched.
The sentry was the first to fall, her stomach a smoking mess of flash-burnt flesh. The next died due to missing his head. The third was electrocuted to death, and finally, the fourth was impaled.
"Do you think we will find more inside?" Louise questioned, glaring down at the outcasts.
"Only one way to find out," Lyira said, walking deeper into the tomb, leaving the pinkette to catch up. Surprisingly, they ran into little resistance, that was, until they reached the central chamber.
"Intruders!" One of the more aware outcasts shouted, alerting the other ten acolytes in the room.
The duo did not even have time to curse their luck before they were drawn into combat once again. However, unlike with the exiles before, they were putting up a fight. The roommates spend more time dodging and parrying attacks, leaving them to get overwhelmed at points. Though this did not mean that none of the failures died, they just died at a slower rate.
At one point, Louise's left arm was paralysed, disabling her ability to use her blaster. With a cry of anger, Louise returned the favour, flinging her arm out, training saber forgotten by her side, and unleashed a rage-fuel force push laced with lightning, slamming her attackers into a wall.
Swearing, Louise turned to try and help her roommate, only to find that she was in a bad position. One of the three remaining exiles had hit her in the leg, debilitating her movement. A training blade was raised, only to come down towards Lyira's head.
"No!" Louise shouted. A flash of purple lit up the room and that failed acolyte screamed in agony before being impaled by Lyira. The other two soon fell to the floor, crying in pain as their nervous system was assaulted by the Force. Though, unlike their friend, their agony did not end until much later. The smell of burnt flesh soon started to perforate the air, as the two exiles' skin began to blister and crisp. Then, reaching out with the Force, the pinkette manipulated the lightning, turning it into a blaze.
Soon, only the heavy breathing of the two acolytes could be heard.
"Remind me not to get on your bad side," Lyira said cheerfully, once she had caught her breath, leaning on a container she had crawled over to.
Louise, on the other hand, was not so cheerful, her breathing becoming more haggard. "I… I thought you were going to die." She said, walking unsteadily towards her downed friend, before collapsing just in front of her.
"Hey, I'm still alive. Paralysed, but fine." The Sith said, hitting her unfeeling leg in a joking manner. Though it was obvious her attempts at lightening the mood were not working.
"But you could have!" Louise replied, her voice breaking slightly. A stray memory of her mentor laying motionless amongst rubble flashed before her vision.
"Come here," Lyira asked comfortingly.
Finding no reason not to, Louise complied, shuffling closer to her friend, "Why?"
"So we can wait for the paralysis to wear off." Her roommate replied in a tone that suggested it was obvious, leaning her head on Louise's shoulder. A feat in its self, considering the size difference.
As they waited, Louise summoned her blaster and training saber. But other than that, time passed in silence, both acolytes just enjoying each other's company despite the smell of burning flesh. Soon feeling began to creep back into her arm. Wiggling it, Louise found that she could now move it. Her roommate followed her actions, bending and straightening her leg.
"Well, I guess we can continue our trials, then," Lyira said, pulling herself up from the ground.
"Yeah," Louise mumbled, picking herself up as well.
Checking her datapad, Lyira pointed to one of the archways to the side of the room, "mines through there."
"Mines there," the pinkette said reluctantly, pointing to the archway on the opposite side.
"We'll meet up after we're done?"
"Yep. Good luck." the pink-haired girl said after a moment.
"I don't believe in luck." The Sith replied haughtily, waving goodbye before heading down to face her trial.
"Don't die," Louise murmured.
With that, the pinkette walked into the holocron chamber. It was large in size, about as big as the entry hall of the Academy, however, most of that size was taken up by the pyramidal monument in the centre. Mostly made from stone with several carvings, with a tip made from glowing red crystal encased in metal, reminiscent of a holocron. Twisting around the monument was a skeletal staircase that was obviously put in by the reconstituted Empire, centuries after construction.
A flash of movement showed that she was not alone in the chamber, several shyracks were hanging from the scaffolding and the roof, occasionally shifting. Disgusting creatures with fleshy eyes and sucker mouths making them seem like flying leeches. Louise was pleased that she had been alone when she first encountered one, knowing she would never have lived down her high-pitched scream. Not that half the Academy did not hear, tombs are, as she had found, very good at amplifying sound. Though, shyracks, unlike the other big mouths of Korriban, are incredibly weak.
Sheathing her blade, Louise pulled free her newly acquired blaster pistol, deciding to give it a try. Getting into the correct stance, the pinkette aimed and begun unleashing a volley of plasma fire towards them, hitting most of them with near masterful accuracy. Eight shyracks ten shots.
Once her blaster was safely holstered at her side, the pinkette walked up the staircase, towards the tip of the monument. There she stood, gazing intently at the tip of the pyramid, several ideas coming to mind. Finding one that could work, Louise quickly got into a meditative position and began to recite the Sith Code, "Peace is a Lie, there is only Passion. Through Passion, I gain Strength. Through Strength, I gain Power. Through Power, I gain Victory. Through Victory my chains are broken; the Force shall set me free."
Moments pass as Louise waited for any sign that her idea worked. Nothing.
"Alright, maybe the opposite might work." Getting comfortable, Louise tried to think back to what sir Dorjis had said about his meditation. "There is no emotion, only peace. There is no ignorance, only knowledge. There is no Passion, there is Serenity. There is no Chaos, there is Harmony. There is no Death, there is the Force" As she intoned those words, she tried to let go of her emotions and clear her mind. She repeated the code twice more, trying to get to that peaceful state, yet nothing came of it.
The image of mentor and friend both dying always lingering on in her mind.
Shooting off the floor with a growl, Louise began pacing around the platform aggressively, her mind racing, trying to figure out how to open the thrice-damned monument. "Perhaps it requires a sacrifice?" she mused aloud.
Pulling a small utility knife from her belt, Louise held it against her palm before hesitating. I really don't want to do this. A quick adjustment later, and the blade of the small knife was now on the tip of her finger, "I really don't want to do this…"
Alright, just count to ten. She encouraged mentally. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine… nine point one, nine point two… With a swift motion and a cry of pain, Louise cut her finger. Walking towards the massive monument, she dripped a small amount of blood on the crystal. Hissing slightly as her finger panged in pain.
Her results: nothing but a cut finger.
Growling slightly, Louise renewed her pacing, though this time she had her finger in her mouth. After nearly ten minutes of thought, an idea popped into her head. Walking over to a nearby shyrack corpse, the pinkette pulled out her blaster and began to focus her mind.
The trigger was pulled, the shyrack was shot and a small flame burst into life. Moving quickly, Louise fed the fire making it depended on the Force instead of the creature. Taking the small fire in hand, she began to over feed it, making it gain in size until it was just larger than her head. Once the ball of flames was stabilised, the pinkette pushed out with her hands, sending the fireball flying.
Upon hitting its mark, the flame exploded, dissipating into nothingness. The reliquary did nothing.
A frustrated scream tore through the tomb. "Why won't you open!" She shouted at the pyramid. Hate and anger began festering and growing as the glowing red crystal seemed to stare her down imperiously. Suddenly, Louise felt the strange impulse to lash out at something, anything, preferably living. However, as there was nothing living in the cave anymore, the acolyte instead struck out at the object of her rage. Tendrils of purple-white hate shot from the hands of the pinkette, slamming into the reliquary with a roar.
Too enraged to notice, the red crystal began to pulse at an increasing speed. Soon the torrent of electricity died down, leaving the pinkette out of breath. Glaring up at the monument, Louise immediately lost all train of thought.
She had been planning on having a few choice words with the pyramid, but instead, she found that the crystal had opened up, revealing her prize. Tulak Hord's Holocron.
Louise continued to stare bewildered at the small information repository before her mind clicked. "Was that all I had to do?" She questioned to nobody.
A growl escaped her through as she glared at the holocron. A second later and it was summoned from its pedestal and into her waiting hands. The cool metal sent a shiver down her spine as she examined the information repository. A flair of desire called for her to open the holocron, to learn its dark secrets, but the diminutive acolyte squashed it down, storing the holocron in a pouch on her belt.
Louise then left the chamber, annoyed about the simplicity of opening the reliquary. It appeared that her roommate had already finished her trial. She was pacing around the chamber, weapon at the ready. Upon seeing the pinkette, she sighed in relief. "Was that screaming you?" she asked with concern.
Louise replied with a sigh of her own, "Yes."
"Did you get it?" The Sith questioned further, knowing that something was, or had, bothered the pinkette.
"Oh yeah, don't worry I got it." The petite acolyte answered, patting a pouch holding the artefact.
"Then what was the scream for?"
"The stupid thing only responded after using lightning on it." Louise groused, "That being said, I only found out that it could be opened that way after exhausting my admittedly small list of things I could try. Even bled on the damned thing!"
"Where'd you get the blood?"
"Cut my finger. It hurt. It hurt a lot."
"You're not used to pain, are ya?"
"No, I'm just not used to purposely cutting myself!" She said in defence, "I mean, I did wear a shock collar for quite a bit." Louise added on bitterly. "So… how'd the fight with… what was it?"
"A very old Terentatek." The sith answered. "The beast of Marka Ragnos. It was quite a fight, though, I admit that it mostly consisted of me running away… Oh, pro tip, get them in their eyes." she supplied.
"I'll keep that in mind the next time I see one." Louise replied dryly, "So, now all we have to do is take down a mutant tuk'ata and… we're done!"
"Uh, I can't wait until we get back! Don't get me wrong, but I am getting real sick of tombs."
Together, Louise and Lyira left the tomb of Ragnos and headed towards the offshoot where the mutant tuk'ata hid. Once inside, the duo were confronted by a number of K'lor'slugs, mostly larva and hatchlings, though there was a peculiar looking broodwatcher. "It looks like the beginnings of a nest" Louise commented once they dispatched the annoying creatures.
"I know what you mean," Her partner replied, picking up one of the smaller larvae by its tail, "Bait?"
"you're carrying it," Louise said immediately.
Lyira huffed, slinging the creature over her back, "Well, if you're going to act like that, then you get to remove and carry the brain!"
"But… but… Lyira!" the pinkette spluttered, "I-I've never removed a brain before!"
"Then this will be a learning experience." Her roommate said with the air of finality, "You never know if you might run into a time where you need to know how to remove a brain."
"Fine! I hope its blood stains your clothing."
"Oh no! I'm tripping!" Lyira joked, pretending to trip into the pinkette.
"if you get blood on me, I will fill your bed with sand!" The petite acolyte threatened, backing away from the swaying slug.
"Fine."
Soon they arrived at a dead end, the further chambers blocked by rubble. Though, there was an opening that the girls could crawl through, neither of them wanted to be in position for their prey to pounce. "I guess we set up shop here," Lyira exclaimed, slamming the larva into the centre of the chamber.
"I guess so. What should we do to pass the time?" Asked the pinkette.
"We could play slaps." Proposed the Sith.
"Slaps?"
"Yeah. It's a reaction time game. I'll show you how to play." Moving off to the side, Lyira sat down on the ground, motioning for her companion to sit in front of her, "So, what you do is you put your hands together like this," Lyira put her hand's palm to palm, then pointed her fingers away from her body. Louise copied her motions, "with the tip of your finger touching the tip of mine." Once again, the pureblood moved her hands so her fingertips were touching Louise's, "One of us is declared 'it' and it is there job to slap the other person's hand, like this." With that, Lyira slapped her roommate's hand.
"Ow! Don't have to hit so hard." Louise cried, cradling her slapped hand.
"Boohoo. Your job, or the person who is 'not it' has to move their hand out the way." Lyira continued, showing how to dodge a slap, "If I hit, I am still 'it,' if you dodge and I miss, then you are 'it'. Got it?"
The petite pinkette made a noncommittal sound in her throat, "Sounds simple enough."
"Thanks. Rayne taught it to me." Boasted the Sith, before her face turned mischievous, "Still not forgiving you for telling her that, by the way. So, what better way to get revenge, than to annihilate you at a game of slaps!"
"Oh, no." Horror dawned on Louise's face.
Lyira continued grinning, "Oh, yes."
The next ten to twenty minutes were taken up by the sounds of flesh striking flesh and the pinkette's cries of pain. The pureblood was not giving her any leeway in this game. Quite a few times had Louise successfully dodged a slap, but her glory ended either immediately or in the next slap or two.
By the time their prey arrived -signalling its arrival with a ferocious howl- Louise's hands had turned an impressive shade of red, not that the pain had gotten in the way of battle; Lyira had given a short and concise introduction of turning pain to power, and the game of slaps was an excellent teacher. Unsheathing their weapons, the duo got ready for a fight.
Out from the opening in the rubble, a large tuk'ata crawled out, bearing fangs and striking with its claws. For a second, the two thought the creature was stuck, but with a mighty push, it flung the rubble out of the way, freeing itself and the rest of the chamber.
It the moments before it could make another move, Louise had already fired off a volley of blaster bolts, pelting its coat with balls of super-heated plasma. A roar of pain and anger tore from its mouth as it pounced towards its pink attacker. The pinkette dodged out the way, holstering her blaster and getting ready to strike at the beast. But before either could make their next move, a red blur made itself known.
With a powerful strike, Lyira sliced along its flank, cutting passed its thick skin. Another attack cut across its face, through its eye and hacking into its large teeth.
The tomb flashed to life as a barrage of electricity struck the beast in its side, disabling it momentarily. The pureblood, capitalising on the opening her friend had made, buried her war blade deep into the creature's neck. It kicked and clawed, trying to kill its aggressors before it succumbed to its wounds. Soon, the creature lay dead.
"Well, that was easy," Lyira said, looking at the dead beast before her.
"Yeah." The pinkette agreed, "Though, I was hoping that it would have been stuck under the rocks. It would have made it easier."
"True, true. Well, go on. Open up its noggin." Said the pureblood, giving the tuk'ata a light kick to its side.
"I have no idea how to remove a brain!" Louise replied simply, crossing her arms in defiance.
"Neither do I," Lyira said unhelpfully.
Cradling her head in exasperation, the petite girl groaned, "Then how do you expect me to remove its brain!"
"Carefully?" Lyira supplied.
Louise looked up at her roommate, who had the most serious expression on her face, and said, in a tone of defeat, "You're no help."
"If I gave you my war blade, do you think it would help?" Lyira asked, holding out the aforementioned blade towards her roommate.
The former noble and slave looked between the large dead creature and the excessively sharp blade before releasing a deep sigh, "Immensely."
What followed was a very choppy surgery that consisted of decapitation and whittling down the head until the pinkette could remove the brain properly. Luckily, the war blade made the bigger works easy and the vibro knife made the more delict simple. Unluckly, it was an incredibly bloody mess, despite the creature having several other wounds elsewhere. Once the brain was removed, all it took was to put it in the jar. The duo left the tomb feeling enlightened; they both now knew how to remove a brain, they both knew that they would be terrible surgeons, Lyira learned that Louise was skilled at complaining, and they had learned that a tuk'ata brain was actually quite small.
All in all, it had been an informative detour.
...
"You have the brain at last!" Cheered the beefy Sith Lord, taking the plastic container containing the brain, "Wonderful, and it's in good condition too. I trust it wasn't too much trouble?"
"It died less than five minutes into the fight," Lyira responded casually.
"Of course, both of you are extensions of the Dark Side's will." He said distantly, mesmerised by the brain, "Now, I must continue my research at once. Great discoveries await!" He placed down the brain jar, and took out his datapad, "Now, on to your rewards!"
A quick transaction involving identifications later, and the two found a decent amount of credits added to their accounts. With a quick bow, both acolytes left the Sith to his work, ignoring the glare of seething hatred that a certain apprentice was sending their way.