Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.
Let's get to it.
Chapter 50- Home of the Sith
(January 27, 2051)
"And cutting to sublight…now!"
Ben pulls back on the throttles, and the Falcon drops out of hyperspace. And up ahead, out of the Falcon's viewport, appears the planet that is their next destination along their journey: Korriban.
After finding Philip's store of holocrons and other artifacts on Ossus, Ben and Rey had spent two days on the planet, going through the holocrons, tablets, and scrolls, taking inventory of all it and what knowledge they contained. Both of them had been very impressed as to the depth Philip had gone to in his collection.
After studying some of the holocrons, as well as documenting everything they could about what Philip had recorded of all his journeys during his one-man war on the Empire, Ben had proposed they take the same first step that Philip took in his journey. That being Korriban, the ancient homeworld of the Sith. If there was any place for them to begin gaining a real understanding of the dark side and the history of the Sith, it was Korriban. However, they were concerned. Luke had avoided Korriban on his own travels, and it seemed like Philip's journey to the dark side really began after he travelled to Korriban. They knew this was going to be a dangerous trip, but just holding onto hope that they would come out alright.
"Starting approach," Ben says, and they head for the surface, soon entering the atmosphere of Korriban. Ben is monitoring a map of Korriban downloaded into the Falcon's navicomputer. The destination he had set was the Valley of the Dark Lords, for that would certainly be where the greatest secrets of the Sith would still be hidden.
As they descend towards the planet's surface, they can hear and feel the fierce winds in the upper atmosphere. Even as they descend into the lower atmosphere, a dust storm is blowing. Ben and Rey are forced to rely mostly on the Falcon's sensors to ensure they don't fly into the ground or any mountains.
After a relatively long flight, they finally reach the end of the Valley of the Dark Lords. Ben reigns in the ship and carefully sets down. Once they feel the landing gear touch down, the two shut down the ship before they finally get up and head for the boarding ramp.
R2 has parked himself at the top of the ramp, waiting for them. "Stay here, R2. Watch the ship. If we ever don't come back in a few days, take the ship back to Naboo and request a rescue team," Ben says to the droid. R2 beeps in agreement.
Ben then turns to Rey. "You ready for this?" he asks.
"Yes," Rey responds.
"Good. Then let's go," Ben says, and the two disembark from the ship.
As the two leave the ship behind, both of them feel a chill run through them as they enter the Valley of the Dark Lords. This is where the dark side is strongest on Korriban, and they can feel an unearthly chill. A fierce wind is also blowing through the valley, kicking up some dust. However, the two press on.
The make their way to the far end of the valley, where some of the more recent tombs and temples lie. As they walk up to one of the temples, both of them feel a tremor in the Force. Both of them pause and look at each other before exchanging a nod and carefully entering the temple, both removing their lightsabers from their belts just in case.
As they enter the temple, they realize that it seems to be one built to house multiple tombs. Various passages lead out of the massive main entrance hall. The two look around for a moment before Rey says, "Which one should we go down?"
Ben looks around at the various passages before focusing on one. He can feel something beyond that passage. Something he's never felt before. He gestures in that direction and says, "There. Stay close."
The two make their way into the passageway. As they enter the passage, the chill increases, but they press on.
Finally, they emerge into a large tomb. A stone sarcophagus lies in the center of the room. Not too big. Not too much bigger than a standard coffin, actually. But intricately carved. And on the far wall, an image is carved on the wall. It kind of looks like a face, but not entirely. It looks very familiar, but Ben can't place it at first. But it doesn't take more than a few seconds for him to recall where he's seen that image before.
"Wait…" Ben mutters.
"What is it?" Rey asks him.
Suddenly, a glow begins to come from the top of the sarcophagus. After a moment, what appears to be light begins to rise from the top of the sarcophagus, taking shape into the form of a humanoid. Finally, it firms into a distinct shape, one that Ben remembers from his study. A tall man, concealed almost entirely in a thick black robe, with a pointed hood coming up over his head, and his face concealed by a very distinctive mask. A strange whispering sound seems to echo through the chamber.
Ben scowls at the form before them. "Darth Nihilus," he mutters.
The spirit of the ancient Sith Lord inclines his head slightly to one side as he considers the two young Jedi before him. Again, they hear that indistinct whispering echoing through the chamber. The whispering lasts for a few seconds before another, more distinct voice overlaps it. However, the voice is speaking in a language neither of them understand. As soon as they hear the voice, it chills them to the core and almost sends both of them running in fear. The voice is guttural, echoing, and raspy. Later, Ben will describe it as sounding not only as if it's being projected from Nihilus, but also as if it is being drawn back inwards. Then, Nihilus laughs, a terrifying sound that sounds like thunder mixed with the sound of boulders falling down a mountainside.
Ben ignites both of his lightsabers, their blue and purple blades shining brightly. "Why call to us, Lord Nihilus. You are but powerless here. Your life is over. Your spirit cannot harm us," he spits at the ghost of the ancient Sith.
Nihilus only laughs again, and speaks to them again, but his words are once again in a mysterious language, which Ben and Rey assume to be some ancient Sith tongue. Certainly he knew Galactic Basic in his time. Perhaps he speaks in this mysterious tongue to mock them.
"You are powerless, Lord Nihilus. Why do you show yourselves to us?" Ben demands.
Again, the distant whispering echoes through the chamber. Then, in his horrible voice, Nihilus speaks, but this time in their tongue, "I hunger for power. I hunger for the Force." Then, Nihilus begins to speak again in his strange tongue. But now, his voice takes on a different tone. A more constant rhythm, as if he is chanting something.
"You hold no power over us, Nihilus. We hold power over you," Ben says. He then raises his hand, Rey following his example a moment later. Together, they immerse themselves within the light side of the Force before unleashing a great wave of power from themselves towards Nihilus' spirit. The ancient Sith Lord continues to chant in his language as their power struggles to try and contain his spirit. He then laughs before his spirit slowly fades away.
Ben and Rey are suddenly plunged into silence, and they realize how heavy they are breathing. The two look at each other before Rey says, "Perhaps we should get out of here." Ben nods, and the two hurry for the exit.
As they reach the entrance to the temple, Rey turns to Ben. "What was that?" she asks.
"I assume that Nihilus that given Nihilus bound his spirit to his armor to somewhat maintain a physical form, when he was killed, his armor must have been buried here. His spirit must have survived, bound to his armor, and now his tomb. He can still manifest his spirit, but cannot leave the bounds of his tomb," Ben says. He pauses, then says, "And I don't think that we beat him necessarily. He voluntarily dispersed his spirit."
"I've never felt a chill and fear like that," Rey says.
"I agree. Nihilus was more than just a Sith. I'm not sure anyone can really understand what he became, but whatever it was was unnatural," Ben says. He pauses, then says, "But the one thing he said in English…that is the ultimate goal of the Sith: pursuit of power and strength in the Force. Nihilus sought it in a very different way, but that desire is core to a Sith." He pauses, then says, "I guess, in a way, one of the ways we can understand the Sith is to understand how they undertook the actions they did in pursuit of this hunger for power."
(That night)
Ben takes a bite of his meal, looking into the flames of the small fire they've kindled. They had come back to the Falcon for the night for food and shelter before continuing their expedition the next day.
After their encounter with the spirit of Darth Nihilus, they had continued their exploration of the tombs and temples. They had discovered a series of tombs of ancient Dark Lords from the time of the early Sith Empire, including the tomb of Ajunta Pall, the first Dark Lord of the Sith.
As he thinks about their searches that day, he comes back to an idea he's had throughout the day. "I have an idea for our next goal," he says, drawing Rey's attention.
"What is that?" she asks.
"Most of the tombs we found today were of dark lords from the golden days of the Sith Empire. But I got to thinking…from our encounter with Nihilus, and what I said about hunger for power…that's what ruined the Sith Empire. I think we need to take a deeper look at how the Sith Empire came apart and fell. And I think to do that, we need to take a look at the Dark Lord responsible for it: Naga Sadow," Ben says.
Rey considers his words for a moment before she says, "I agree. Where do we start?"
And, I'll end there. I hope you liked this chapter.
So, the big reveal in this chapter. The encounter with the spirit of Darth Nihilus. In Legends, we know that Nihilus' spirit survived his physical death because it was bound to his armor, which was buried on Korriban. I have always found Nihilus an extremely interesting character, and wanted to showcase him here. I may refer to this encounter a few times throughout this story.
Next chapter will showcase their investigation into Naga Sadow. Until it's up, please leave a review, and stay tuned!
