Chapter 38
The mystery of the cave
The bounty hunter was aware of Calo Nord fuming behind his back as he was loading his backpack onto his swoop bike. His longtime partner was already on hers and ready to go. He was unconcerned as he knew she was covering his back
"Never thought I would see the day when Kai Brendar would turn yellow." Nord rasped
"Resorting to name calling, that is a now low, even for you." Kai responded
"You are walking away from the biggest score of your life." Nord tried a new tact
"Carusa was right, money is only good when you are alive to spend it. And what you are offering is not worth dying for." Miara Brendar responded
"There is a fortune in Kryatt pearls in there." Nord tried again
Miara snorted in disdain
"And in front of the cave is certain death." She said
"Once they are out of that vehicle they will be vulnerable, we have the greater number."
Kai got on his swoop and looked at Nord
"The sad thing is you actually believe that." He said shaking his head
He turned to his sister
"Let's go. I see no reason to stand among the dead."
In reply she opened her swoop bikes throttle and exited the gulley. Kai tapped his earpiece and opened a comlink to his sister
"I have received word from our IGBG accountant. The last payments for Corellia finaly cleared."
"So you want to discuss retiring again." Miara replied
"There is a development opportunity on Arkaxia. Bandak has identified several opportunities that will be affordable for us without touching our primary investment."
"Why don't you tell me what is really on your mind."
"This is the third job that went belly up, four if you count almost going for that hunt on Taris. Going for smaller jobs we will have to do double to make what we normally do. Bigger contracts will get us killed. I believe it is time to walk away while we are still somewhat ahead."
"Damn it, you are right." Miara sighed
"So one of the plots available is right against the sea…"
Mission stepped away from the periscope and wiped sweat from her forehead
"That is another two gone, but I noticed a slow moving dust cloud coming in from the east." She reported
"Could be unrelated or it could be reinforcements." Terri mused
"Either way it is time to force the issue, sooner or later Nord will look for backup or some scavengers will join up with them for the carcass behind us." Canderous commented.
"Smoke them out with cannon fire?" Mission suggested
"The cannon is dead, apart from the repeater blasters all our weapons are non functional. And I need to take a look at the engine. We were a bit too close for comfort to the missile barrage" Melissa reported
Melissa pulled her blaster from its holster and quickly checked it. She holstered her weapon and slipped her helmet on before stepping from the vehicle
"Let us go then."
HK was standing by the hatch. The droid was covered in dust and his receptors was barely visible, as he turned she thought she heard a squeeking sound
"Ready for another bit of action?" Melissa asked
"Eager Affirmation: Of course mistress, killing your enemies is my pleasure."
"Remind me to give you an oil bath at the earliest opportunity." She said
"Delighted acceptance: I shall do so once we enter Anchorhead."
The six were spread out in a line as they calmly walked to the gulley where the bounty hunters were waiting. As they were coming closer the bounty hunters made themselves visible. Most were forming a line as well, though some perched themselves on rocks to get a height advantage.
On the edge of the line Terri noticed two standing with their hands behind their backs
"They are going to start with grenades." She softly said
"Nord's favourite tactic." Canderous shrugged
" Did someone remember to activate the camera's on the beast?" Mission asked
"Why?" Terri asked
"To record this moment of course. I am betting we are looking real baddass here." Mission replied
"Is that why you are swinging your ass like that?" Melissa asked teasingly
"If you have it, flaunt it." Mission replied airily
"Good thing we are far way from the cameras otherwise all we would see is butt." Bastila remarked teasingly
"Hey!" Mission exclaimed
They all shared a chuckle at Mission's indignation. The marked grenadiers were shifting their position
"Force jump on three." Bastila said
"One." Terri counted of
"Two" Bastila said
Three blurs of movement was all the warning the bounty hunters had before three figures were in their ranks, blades igniting on touching ground. Their numbers dropped by five in seconds, The grenadiers went flying as they were pushed away, beeping noises told them that their grenades had been armed. Two fireballs marked their demise. A flurry of bolts flashed as HK, Mission and Canderous opened fire on the ones not in the line. The thrum of lightsabers and screams filled the air as the force sensitives continued their close quarters assault.
Calo Nord found himself the lone survivor in the group, his hands held to his throat as he was lifted by an unseen strangler, his blasters lying by his feet. Moments later he was dropped to the ground. A pair of armoured boots came into view and he was pulled to his feet.
"Time to end this mushroom." Canderous grimly stated
Calo felt himself being flung to the side and one of his blasters landed in front of him. Getting to his knees he saw Canderous handing his rotary rifle to the Mandalorian girl. He scrabbled for his pistol and swung the barrel up. He felt the blow in his chest and his strength fading. The overly heavy blaster fell from his hands as numbness spread from his chest. Looking over her saw Canderous holstering a blaster pistol
"The hut'uun did not have the honour for a fair fight." Canderous spat in contempt
Calo wanted to smile. He will have the final laugh. Moments later he was flying away again. His body was still airborne as the dead man switch activated , triggering the baradium grenades he carried as his last resort.
The six stumbled slightly from the concussive effect of the explosions. Melissa idly stooped and picked up one of Nord's blasters, before pulling the second one closer with the force. She handed them to Canderous
"Your trophies, buir."
Canderous took them and touched his forehead to hers and handed one back to her
"Thank you, Ad. This is much your victory as it is mine"
Melissa nodded and stuffed the blaster into her gunbelt. Looking up she saw HK and Mission was already scavenging the bodies. She reached for her weapon as there was movement from the gulley. A bounty hunter stepped into view, her hands raised. She felt a wave of lust.
"Of course it had to be a Zeltron." She thought
She looked over her shoulder and Terri waved her forward a grin on her face, Bastila had her back turned. Melissa was willing to bet that she too was grinning her head of. Sighing she walked closer. Somehow the Zeltron managed to drop her overcoat while her hands were raised, revealing her tunic. Melissa had seen swimsuits that covered more than that tunic.
"Please tie me up, miss Jedi. I have been a terribly bad girl." The Zeltron purred
"How about you just leave, we have no quarrel with you." Melissa suggested
The Zeltron ran one hand over her body stopping at her crotch.
"Do you not want to search me for hidden weapons at least, you never know what I could have stuffed in here." She asked, licking her lips, sultrily
"I am pretty sure."
The Zeltron pouted and slowly bend forward to grab her coat.
"Next time you are on Nar shadaa leave a message at the Horny Virgin for Medea Salsan. I can show and teach you a lot of things." The Zeltron offered
"I am sure of that." Melissa replied.
The Zeltron turned and walked away swinging her hips, the rear of the tunic covering even less than the front. Melissa left out a shaky breath.
"I bet I could bounce a credit on that ass." Mission said enviously.
"Just what is it with Zeltron's fascination with Jedi?" Canderous asked
"The force is like an aphrodisiac to them, the stronger the wielder the bigger the attraction." Bastila explained
"Huh." Canderous grunted
The vehicle coming from the east became more visible. The distinctive shape that of a sandcrawler. Terri pulled her macro binoculars and focused on it.
"Looks like the one we left in the wastelands, probably filled to the brim with Jawas now." She reported
"Great. Yet another fight and it is not even midday." Mission grumbled
Terri lowered the binoculars
"Only if we want it to be a fight. They are scavengers and we have something to trade." She said
"What do we have to trade?" Bastila asked
Terri flicked her thumb at the carcasas
"That. If they get us the pearls they can have the meat."
"Pearls?" Mission asked
"They swallow stones to help with their digestion as the stones break down and the elements mix with the digestive juices a pearl is formed, the pearls are highly sought out by jewellers." Canderous explained. " Though we have to keep some of the meat, I have often wondered what Kryatt dragon steaks taste like."
Melissa chuckled
"I actually found a recipe for Kryatt meat." She stated
"Your buir?" Canderous asked
"No, I found it in the holocron. Seems Beren loved the meat so much he dedicated a section to recipes in the holocron."
"Better call in the hawk then. Furball would ensure we get some good cuts and we should be able to load quite a bit of meat." Canderous suggested
"Not mentioning securing any pearls we find." Terri nodded
Melissa turned to HK.
"Find its midden and check if there are any pearls in there." She ordered
"Disgusted acceptance: Of course mistress. Send the droid to do the most disgusting job."
"Any weapons you find in there is yours to do with as you please. I suppose the hunters that challenged it should have had some interesting weapons." Melissa added a sweetener
The droid looked happier at that and moved rapidly to the cavern. Mission looked at Melissa.
"Not that I think having him searching through crap is not amusing but why?" She asked
"At some point any reptile using digestion stones excretes them. Something that size would probably have excreted several stones in its life. Propably some large pearls. Even if the pearls are broken they will still be valuable."
The air was filled with the whine of approaching engines and the shape of the Hawk became visible, the blockier shape of the Satin Claw catching up to it. Sand was kicked up in sheets as the two freighters touched down. The sandcrawler was bellowing smoke as the Jawas pushed the engines to the maximum to get there quicker.
Once the sand has settled Melissa turned to Mission
"I bet Zaalbar is standing by the loading bay door with a bib around his neck and a knife and fork in hand." She said
"No bet." Mission snorted in laughter
The final deal was that the Jawas would process the carcass in exhange for most of the meat and a fifth of the pearls found and if any eggs were found they were the sole property of the Jawas.
Moments after the deal was truck the massive carcass was swarmed by a blanket of Jawas. Quickly they stripped the skin and started tanning it for leather. Zaalbar had abandoned the comfort of the Hawk to make sure that the best cuts of meat found its way to the freighters. The second cargo hold of the Claw was quickly filled to the brim and the rarely used refrigeration coils were set to maximum. The Beast was loaded for transport to a newly purchased plot of land on Arkaxia. A reluctant Juhani stepped from the Claw shortly before it lifted off. She found the others sprawled in the refilled life raft, after stowing her gear she joined them.
Melissa looked to where the Jawas were working on the skin
"I wonder what Kryatt dragon boots would look like." She said
"You can always buy several square metres and have some made you know." Bastila remarked
"A body suit would also be nice." Mission said thoughfully
Melissa's comlink chimed and she pulled it to her using the force. Looking at the id she noticed it was HK. She opened the link
"Found anything yet?" She asked
"Gaurded answer: It is best if you observe it for yourself, mistress."
"Stand by. I am coming."
The cavern was extremely cool after the brutal heat of the suns. Melissa followed HK's signal to the rear of the cave. A large pile of white stones stood to one side and another pile of broken armour and weapons next to it. From the smell HK had found the midden. The droid was waiting attentively by a pile of rocks. Melissa noted a boot sticking out from underneath the pile. Walking closer she noted that HK had cleaned the head and chest from the debris. On stopping the droid handed her an id card. She read the name and sighed
"Get the back pack and any valuables. Then find something to wrap the body in" She ordered
She waited several minutes before opening Terri's comlink channel.
"Having fun playing in the cave?" Terri asked
"We found Bastila's father." Melissa reported
"How bad?" Terri asked, humour leaving her voice
"Looks like he was flung against the wall and debris killed him, the body is relatively still intact."
"We will be there in ten minutes, do what you can to make him as presentable as you can."
"Standing by."
Bastila was leaning on Terri as they approached the blanket wrapped bundle. Juhani was a few steps behind them. Slowly she sunk to her knees and touched the blanket. Melissa gently took her hand as she was about to pull the blanket back
"Remember him as he was not as he is now." Melissa said.
Bastila pulled her hand back. Melissa handed her a datapad
"His journal. He kept track of you as best he could. It is the most accessed file on this pad."
Bastila pulled the pad to her chest, a lone tear running down her face. Terri knelt down next to her and embraced her. Melissa stepped back and motioned for Juhani to step over to her. She whispered in Juhani's ear and the woman nodded.
They stepped to the middle of the cave and lit their lightsabers before slamming the blades into the cavern floor. The cut an oblong shape before lifting the mass of rock from the cut. They repeated the process till they had excised a decent shaped grave. They stepped back as Bastila levitated the bundle into the grave. Melissa unbuckled her gun belt and dropped the holstered blaster in the grave
"May this weapon protect you on the next adventure." She said
Bastila dropped her lightsaber in next
"From the daughter who found you too late and who will miss you every day." She stated sobbing
Juhani had walked over to the pile of dragon pearls and levitated five to the grave and lowered them
"May the riches of your hunt buy you the comfort you need for the next great hunt."
Terri dropped two MRE's
"May hunger never find you on the road." She intoned
Unnoticed by them the rest of the crew had arrived. Canderous and Carth knelt next to the grave
" A promise from fellow fathers to look after your daughter to the best of our abilities." Carth stated
" To the death if need be." Canderous added
Mission looked down into the grave
"I have nothing to give but thanks for your daughter. You raised a wonderful being in the short time you had with her." She simply said.
Melissa and Juhani lifted the first piece they had cut and lowered it onto the hole they had carved. Bastila had collapsed into Terri's arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
HK pointed to the rear of the cave. Melissa frowned as she recognised the form of the star map but then she followed the direction of the droids finger, She barely made out a square shape on the cave wall. She nodded as she got the message the droid was trying to relay, the square was too neat to be a natural shape.
Dawn found Melissa standing in front of the square. Faint pictograms were still present on it, the forms depicted were humanoid and mostly male as "attachments" to the figures indicated. The figures appeared to be in supplication to something but that image had been destroyed
She took several steps back and extended her hand reaching out to the force and pulled on the surface. Rocks grated as she pulled on it, dust scattered in the air as she moved the square. She dropped her hand after a moment. The square was halfway out of the wall. Taking a deep breath she repeated the process and pulled the heavy block free
"Nicely done." Bastila complimented her
Melissa turned around. There were dark rings under Bastila's eyes and her eyes were bloodshot. Signs of a tormented and sleepless night. She pulled Bastila in for a hug. After a moment Bastila tapped on her armour as the hug was getting a bit uncomfortable.
Bastila pointed to the open hole.
"What is this?" She asked
"I believe this is what your father was looking for. HK had copied the files on the datapad and I found a reference to a hidden tomb on the Tatooine file."
Melissa took Bastila's hand.
"Do you want to finish your father's adventure?" She asked
"I…we already have a mission. The Star Map is over there." Bastila deflected
"And it can wait till we are done." Terri stated
She too hugged Bastila
"This is for you, if you want we can finish his work. Have the adventure he would have loved to share with you." Terri prompted
Bastila nodded. Melissa pulled out her datapad.
" The first references were found fifty years ago in a cave on the far side of the dune sea by a group of anthropologists. Well their records were found as their last entry indicated they were going to contact the Sand people and we can imagine how that went. Your father found another two sets of cave paintings and triangulated the position to here. He suspected the other caves were temples." Melissa read from the notes
Terri pointed to the hole in the cave wall
"You believe that is a way to the tomb?"
"Only one way to find out." Melissa grinned
An hour later the three were back with heavily laded backpacks. HK was busy setting up a fire position in the middle of the cave. Several Jawas were standing at the mouth of the cave and Melissa assumed was glaring at them with HK having driven them off earlier. She dropped the first marker at the entrance to the hole. Terri tapped her headset
"Rover one to Hawk. Do you read?"
"Read you five five, radio check every thirty." Carth replied
They followed a roughly hewn passage down into the mountain, Terri rolling out a neon yellow cable as they went, every fifty feet she would shoot a piton into the wall and clip the cable to it, every three hundred feet a chemical light would be added
"How long do those light last?" Bastila asked
"Supposedly thirty six hours." Terri replied
Twenty lights later the passage started to even out and a faint light disturbed the darkness. They stepped into a cavern. The light was coming from lichen covering the walls. The cavern was approximately hundred metres wide fifty in breadth and twenty tall. Statues stood in front of two dark openings. The statues were fifteen feet tall and female. The detail were so immaculate one could be forgiven for wanting to see them take a breath. The naked figures had a hand raised in a stopping motion. A stone altar dominated the centre of the room, broken pottery littered at its base. The pictograms on the altar were perfectly preserved.
Melissa took a recording while slowly walking around the altar. She pulled her rifle from her back and carefully prodded the steps before stepping onto one. She repeated the process on every step till she reached the top and could look into the altar. The recess was blackened inside and what appeared to be a white powder lined it. She started as Terri spoke behind her
"I do not think that is ash." Terri pointed to the powder
"Probably bone fragments" Bastila spoke
They stepped down from the altar steps and approached the closest statues. Playing their torches on the openings they were confronted by smooth wall a cartouche in blue and red inscribed on it, blue being the dominant cover. The second recess had a similar cartouche with red being dominant.
"Could be two tombs, one male one female." Terri suggested
"Possibly, but we have no way to check the supposition." Bastila replied
"The seals seem intact so that is a promising sign." Terri continued
Melissa whistled from the end of the cavern
"Found something" She called out.
In the darkest corner Melissa was playing her light across another square shape.
"Possible back door or a priests entrance." She suggested
" You are operating on the assumption that the other sites were temples then?" Bastila asked
"Yes. I am guessing their priest should have had a way to maintain the facilities." Melissa replied
Terri dropped her backpack and pulled a com relay from it. Sttting the unit up she contacted the Hawk. Reception was fairly good considering how deep underground they were in a rock formation. Carth answered on the second call.
"Still okay on the top side. We moved the Kryatt pearls you found in the cave onto the Hawk. The Jawas are still stripping the carcass no pearls found so far." He reported
"They haven't tried anything?" Terri asked
"No Zaalbar and HK are keeping a very close eye on them. Mission was asking if she could join you."
Terri looked at the other two who nodded.
"Send her down. Make sure she has packed for a week. Oh and send T3 as well we could use its sensors"
"Found anything?"
"So far a few statues and what could be a sacrificial altar or funeral pit. Sending you the images we captured so far."
"Want me to forward them to Dorak?"
"Not yet. We are going to set up camp now"
"Don't get eaten by the undead down there." Carth joked
"Thanks for that image."
Terri stopped the call and looked over the cavern. Melissa was setting up a tent they brought and Bastila was kneeling by the foot of one of the statues. Walking closer she noticed Bastila was carefully brushing across the surface with a fine brush clearing away at the base
"Where did you find the brush?" She asked
"It was in my fathers backpack." Bastila replied.
Bastila wiped away some dirt and stopped as she revealed writing at the base of the statue. Brushing more away the writing kept on repeating itself.
"What do you make of it?" Melissa asked
"A warning perhaps. Or an invocation." Bastila mused
"Let us not speak an invocation in an unknown language." Terri remarked
"Afraid we will unleash the ultimate terror onto the galaxy if we do?" Melissa teased.
An hour later Mission and T3 arrived, they were made aware of their coming as their arguing had been echoing down the passage for a while now. Mission gratefully dropped her backpack and looked around the cavern. She whistled as she saw the statues.
"Those alone make coming down here worthwhile." She remarked
"Whats news from the top?" Melissa asked
"Massive dust storm heading in. Carth has parked the Hawk in the dragon's cave. It is a tight fit, he reckons if he extends the front shields he should be able to close the cavern off completely, but it will use a lot of fuel, so hopefully the dust storm wont last long. Oh. and the Jawas finally found the pearls, we got another sixteen of different sizes. With the Hawk blocking off the cave the Jawas are preparing to move away." Mission reported
Melissa fired up the portable generator and yellow light started mixing with mainly green luminous light of the lichen. Mission looked around the cavern
"Shouldn't there be like pictures and stuff on the wall? I was told the cave walls on Ryloth are all decorated " She asked
"Since we don't know anything of the culture I am not sure. We cannot apply our cultural preconceptions here." Bastila answered
"Or it could be covered by the lichen." Terri suggested
T3 warbled questioningly. Terri turned to it.
"We need you to record and relay all the images on the altar to the Hawk and then scan the possible entrance Melissa found. Thermal, electronic and use echolocation if you can. Then do the statues, all the scans you can and record everything"
The droid warbled and whistled
"I am perfectly sure it is safe for droids down here." Terri soothed it.
The droid gave a disbelieving warble and trundled away. The smell of food started filling the cavern as Melissa was cooking over a camping stove. Mission lying on her stomach in the tent entrance
"I wonder if it is like this on Ryloth?" She remarked
"From what I understand most of the core had been tunnelled out and filled with cities and towns. There are very few surface structures from what I have been told." Terri replied
"Because of the close proximity and unusual radiation form it is sun, I assume." Melissa remarked
"Also the planetary rotation plays a big role. You have six months of brutal sunshine and eight of complete darkness during the rotation." Terri added
"Probably lucky I did not grow up there then. Though for some reason being down here is comforting." Mission stated
Melissa dropped the spoon she was stirring the food with into the pot and softly swore.
"Did you burn lunch again?" Mission commented
"No I forgot to bring the drone I was working on, it would be ideal for a scout unless we want to use T3 for that."
T3 whined in protest and sped of to scan the furthest statue
"I don't think it liked that idea." Terri grinned
"Considering it would be the first to find traps I also would not like to be the scout." Melissa shrugged
"Are we likely to find any traps?" Mission remarked
"Not sure, best to assume it is trapped though." Terri answered
Melissa looked back up the way they came, fishing out another spoon from her pack she went back to preparing the food.
"I will quickly run up and get it, if only to stop T3 from cowering behind the statues." She said.
"Or have HK bring it down." Mission suggested
"Or I could do that."
The newly completed scout drone hovered forward to what they had started calling the maintenance door. Playing a strong light over the wall a hidden niche was revealed, the size slightly larger than a hand.
"HK, you are up." Terri said
" Suffering acknowledgement: Of course, endanger the droid. It will be my pleasure."
The droid stuck its arm into the hole and grasped blindly in it
" Find anything?" Bastila asked
"Acknowledgement: There seems to be some sort of lever in place. No forward or backward motion possible. Conclusion it must be turned lateral."
"Turn it to the left." Mission suggested
The droid turned its arm and grinding noise followed, the square in the rock face pushed slightly forward. Terri reached out into the force and pulled on the square, the heavy moved to the left on hidden hinges.
"Okay, HK you are on door duty. Unlock it again if it closes behind us." Melissa ordered
"Whining protest: Mistress, I would be more useful than that inferior drone. Let me accompany you."
"That inferior drone is replacable, you are not. Besides you are our insurance policy. If something goes wrong you will be the one to come get us." Melissa soothingly said
"Disgruntled acknowledgement: Very well, mistress."
The four stepped into the passage preceded by the drone lighting up the area. Therewas the hiss of the pneumatic launcher as Terri fired a spike into the wall and attached the neon yellow cable. They walked for several hundred metres, marvelling at the artwork on the walls before they stopped at a landing with a descending staircase. Torch bracket lining the walls, the torches it once contained having degraded to dust. The wall in front of the staircase had a large pictogram right in front of the staircase.
The pictogram was that of a man tied to a pole and various dark shapes surrounding it, Unlike the cave paintings outside in the main cavern this was more realistically drawn
"Stipper bar ahead?" Mission hopefully stated
"More of a final warning I think." Bastila mused
Melissa send the drone down the stairs and projected its camera view onto the wall. The staircase stopped at a small alcove to a large square room. The room was filled with crockery pots and what could at one stage have been storage containers, the contents now a black mulch. Thermal readings failed to reveal anything.
"Storage room perhaps?" Terri suggested
"Then why the warning?" Melissa shook her head
At the far end of the room was another passage and ascending stairs visible.
"What is that smell? Smells like something died." Mission complained.
"Does that drone have an enviromemtal package?" Bastila asked
"No, why?" Melissa asked
"The room is a trap, a gas trap." Bastila explained
"Methane?" Terri suggested
"Possibly, more likely carbon dioxide" Bastila answered
Mission scrunched her face in confusion
"Explain please?"
"The containers probably contained lime stone and other degradeable items. Pour something acidic onto it and it will break down into a gas that is heavier than air and cause a pocket of toxic gas. No person will be able to hold their breath long enough to cross the room. The moment you pause to breath you get gassed." Bastila explained
"Assuming it is not methane, if it is methane an open flame will trigger an explosion." Terri added
"So use a rebreather." Mission shrugged
"Rebreathers most likely did not exist when this place was built, the torch brackets suggest it was from a barely civilised society, not even pre industrial probably." Bastial explained
"So the traps are based on the technology of their time. Quite an impressive trap then." Melissa nodded
Melissa sealed her helmet and stepped onto the staircase
"Only one way to find out." She said
The environmental alarm in her helmet started pinging even before she was halfway down the staircase.
"It is methane." She reported back.
"Copy that. Good thing we no longer use open flames."Terri remarked
She walked down the stairs and into the room and up to the ascending staircase, halfway up the alarm stopped pinging. The first thing she noticed on the walls of the landing was a repeat of the warning pictogram on both walls.
"Definitely a warning." She muttered
The other three joined her and removed their rebreathers when she indicated it was safe to do so. Melissa pointed to the pictograms.
"Considering the double warning here I think the traps are going to get more elaborate now." She stated
"Whatever is in here must be very valuable then." Mission remarked
"That would depend on what they considered valuable." Terri answered
They followed the passage till another massive room. Oblong shapes stood in formation across the floor and against the walls. Melissa fired two flares and lit up the cavernous room. By rough count there was at least five hundred oblong shapes. Cautiously Bastila approached one of the oblongs. Pulling the brush from a pouch she started dusting of the stone. A drawing of an armoured female became clear on the surface. The stone on its side revealed another female form, however the faces were painted differently
"I think theses are graves." Bastila said
"Eternal guardians?" Melissa suggested
"Or highly valued individuals of their society." Bastila nodded.
They moved through the hall of graves and stepped into another passage. The ground was sloping down sharply.
"And we have our next trap." Terri remarked
"The artwork." Melissa replied
"Yes. Clearly inferior to what we have seen before." Bastila concured
"Wait I get it, not going to leave good work in a spot where it is going to get damaged, right." Mission stated after a moment.
Terri played her light down the passage.
"Now the question is, what form does that trap take?"
Melissa send the drone ahead. The light revealed nothing as it descended the slope with floor abruptly levelling out. She send the drone down the transverse passage and turned it around with a frown on her face. As the drone started for the ascend Terri pointed suddenly
"Stop. Can you tilt it slightly?"
The roof had several indentions in it, bringing the drone closer revealed it was handgrips. Extending a manipulator Melissa tested the handgrips. The third and sixth pulled loose easily as did the ninth.
"So the floor is unstable and every third rung is loose." She commented
"I think there is something more. It just feels to easy" Terri remarked
"So how do we test your theory?" Bastila asked
"By me springing the trap. Even without the force my speed and agility is above baseline human." Terri replied
She sprinted forward, twentyfeet down the slope a section of floor dipped as she stepped on it. A grating noise came then a booming thud as a square stone dropped behind her and started sliding in her direction. She leaned into the force to speed up a bit before leaping forward for the handgrips. Swinging herself forwards she heard the thump of the stone hitting the floor and ominous crackling before the floor dropped away. Dropping onto a landing she turned and looked down into the chasm below. Firing a flare from her pistol revealed no toggled her comlink
"I am across, send the drone back to see if the trap had reset."
Melissa pulled the droid back, there was a square hole in the ceiling, more ominously they heard the sliding of stone.
"It is resetting, run for it!" She cried
The three ran and jumped for the handgrips, an echoing thud came as the trap reset waiting for the next challenger. Sending the drone back running all of it sensors they found a section that showed as hollow using echolocation. Melissa dropped a marker on it
" What I want to know is, how did the primitives build traps that are still functional?" Mission demanded
"Even better how did they tunnel and excavate this place? Even the best construction droids would struggle to be this precise, and they did it without machines." Melissa stated
"Maybe the anti droid lobbies have a point, machines make you dumb." Bastila joked.
Terri looked at the artwork on the wall and let out a breath
"Seems we are safe for a while the regular artists work are back."
Mission pointed to the spool of cable on Terri's belt
"Did you cut it of before running the gauntlet?" She asked
Terri blanched as she looked at the dangling spool.
"No, I think the rock must have snagged it as it fell and cut it."
"It could have just as easily dragged you down with it." Bastila stated
They paused as they heard a strange sound coming from the passage ahead.
"That sounds like running water." Bastila exclaimed
"On Tatooine." Mission replied incredulously
Cautiously the stepped forward towards the distant doorway. Stepping through the stopped in wonder as they faced the only natural wonder on Tatooine. An underground river. The far side was a solid rock face. Bastila looked at her companions
"Looks like we are going swimming." She said