Chapter 70
Tomb Raiding for prestige and profit
Part 2: The tomb of Ajunta Pall
The heavy door of the tomb slamming closed echoed through the large hall the trio found themselves standing in. Several floodlights tried to beat back the gloom and darkness of the hallway but was barely holding their ground against the gloom. The walls they could see were covered in frescoes depicting the live of the one interred here, various Sith pictographs from a thankfully lost language littered the walls underneath the frescoes and made an almost modern artwork as the text covered the walls in places. Though as an art form it was unlikely to be considered as merely looking at the text had one feeling cold and discomforted.
Terri looked at her datapad before sighing and putting it back in her pocket
"No signal. So we are doing it the hard way, no quick access to information that might be usefull." She said
"Not the first time we have gone cave crawling with no information, but honestly I would rather go back to our one on Tatooine, it felt more welcoming." Melissa stated, checking her blaster
Juhani closed the lid on one of the crates they had brought along by hovertrolley, she passed the belts loaded with grenades to the other two before buckling on one herself. She shouldered her backpack and looked around the room
"Since this is my first time really doing this, where do we start?" She asked.
"You are not counting Dantooine then?" Terri replied
"No, that was just disappointing." Juhani remarked
Terri produced three headlamps and passed it out. She placed and switched on her headlamp and played the light around in a half circle. She stopped on spotting a field table and workbench.
"Start there to see if whoever carried that in left any useful data or notes. She said
"And if we are really lucky we might find a map." Melissa added
"So we just leave the trolley here?" Juhani asked
"Would be best to travel as light as possible for now, we should have everything we need in our backpacks." Terri replied, tightening her backpack straps
Terri led the way to the table and finding a lamp affixed to the desk switched it on. Three datapads laid abandoned on the desk, a fine layer of dust indicating that it had been some time since someone last accessed the datapads. Lifting the pads she passed one each to the other two before pressing the power button on the last pad. She wiped the dust from the screen using her gloved hand.
"Not password blocked, seems a bit careless for a Sith." Juhani remarked
"More than likely one of the civilian researchers or it could be filled with misinformation if it was from a student." Terri replied
"So we read it and consider it as incorrect till proven otherwise." Juhani nodded
"Mine is unlikely to be a trap, it is filled with what looks like geological reports and lab results on what looks like rock samples from the tomb." Melissa stated, scrolling through the files on the datapad
"I am almost afraid to ask, but anything interesting?" Terri asked
"No, seems like a lot of stone was imported from a place called Ziost if the reports are correct."
Juhani let out a shuddering hiss in surprise and both Melissa and Terri looked up at her.
"Ziost is where the Sith had their capital during the last hyperspace war, the planet is still listed as interdicted." She explained the unasked question
"That was two hundred years ago, why is it still interdicted?" Melissa asked
Juhani looked uncomfortable before speaking
"The master who gave the history lesson refused to answer that question. While the rest of my group crèche and myself were in our dorm room a padawan caretaker told us tales of Sith Alchemy and blood rituals. When the master found out the padawan was removed and we never saw him again. We heard rumours he was send to Agricorp as punishment." She said
"And I am guessing the master told you all it was space angel tales and to forget about it." Terri said
Juhani nodded
"Though while doing archive sorting as punishment from Vrook I came across an account from one of the leaders of the war. The report stated that they found several hundred dead in a Sith temple, the method of death was described as ritualistic. A further addendum to the report suggested the Supreme Leader of the Sith murdered his council before fleeing the final battle." She continued
"Sound like a typical Sith." Terri remarked
"It did not help him in the long run. He was hunted down by his brother and killed on a moon orbiting Yavin 4." Juhani replied
"I am guessing the brother was loyal to the Jedi and the council." Melissa stated
"From what I read I would guess so, but the information on the loyal brother was heavily redacted. I could find more on Exar Kun than him and that was not a lot either." Juhani answered
"Smells like a cover up." Terri stated
Melissa dropped the datapad back onto the work desk
"Not going to find anything useful in that." She said
Juhani and Terri dropped their pads as well shortly thereafter
"Only Dorak or Atris would find anything useful in there, so we are doing this room by room." Terri said
She noticed two large statues of robed figures standing beside a large opening at the far end of the hall
"I am guessing we start there. Chances are any rooms leading of the side from here has been scanned and searched ad nauseam." She said pointing
"And if it is a dud we can just make our way back here again and reasseses." Juhani said nodding her head
They made their way to the far end and walked through into another hall. This one was as elaborately decorated as the first one the main difference being thatmore Sith text lined the walls than frescoes. Melissa wiped an arm across her forehead, for a moment she imagined that the text on the wall had changed shapes
"Is it just me or is it getting really warm in here?" She asked
"No, you are right it is getting warmer the further we go." Juhani replied
"And it seems to be getting less dark as well." Terri commented
The three stopped dead as they encountered a stench in the air. Terri disgustedly grabbed her nose to block the stench
"Please tell me one of you two farted." Terri said
"No, did you?" Melissa replied
"As a lady I will not dignify that with an answer." Juhani replied loftily
"So I am taking that as a no then. Great! Dead people up ahead, yeah us." Terri said, throwing her arms up in mock celebration
Cautiously they moved to the side of the room and on reaching the next opening stopped. Terri risked a quick glance from around the corner and pulled her head back rapidly. Moments later a green bolt slammed into the archway showering them with dust
"Found the dead people but I can't see what is shooting at us." She reported
"I need to go back to the hovertrolley. I grabbed a rover drone when the quartermaster had his back turned while I was in the Academy stores getting our gear." Melissa said.
"Take your time, we are not going anywhere." Terri said, waving a languid hand
The little drone rolled forward, a flash of green came as motion was detected, the shot well over the drone. The drone came to a stop on the edge of a pathway leading to a chasm. The camera mount on its top started a slow spin as it recorded and relayed a live feed to a datapad being held in its controllers hand from the safety behind a thick wall.
Terri looked over Melissa's shoulder at the images being relayed from the drone
"How is that turret still functional? It looks older than some display turrets in the military museum on Coruscant." Terri remarked
"You can store tibana gas indefinitely and no one truly knows how long a plassteel barrel lasts before breaking down, but considering how old it looks it should not be able to power up." Juhani added
Melissa looked at the display as she tried to figure it out for herself. Spotting a readout on the side of the screen she tapped the icon and environmental information was displayed from the drone
"Fifty five degrees in there, I am going to guess geothermal generator." She said
An ancient droid limped into camera view and made its way to the turret where it prodded at where they guessed the control panel was before limping back to where it started from.
"Probably got racks upon racks of droids somewhere for doing maintenance, a constant power supply and maintenance would explain why the turret is still active." Juhani theorized
"That is all well and good but it still does not help us to get past the turret." Terri said
"Turrets." Melissa corrected
She pointed to a uniform dark spot on the datapad
"That is too linear to be a natural shape. So probably another turret." She pointed out
Melissa bit down on her thumb nail as she tried to think of a solution. She glared at Terri on receiving a slap to the hand
"No biting yourself. It is a disgusting bad habit." Terri censored her
Melissa lifted her hands in surrender before leaning back against the wall
"I think the key will be in how the turrets track targets. Obviously thermal is not going to be an option considering the heat in there." She suggested
"It could still be, the turret sensor could be programmed to pick up and fire on anything lower than the ambient temperature." Juhani pointed out
Melissa nodded in acceptance
"Second would be motion sensors, which could be why it fired on Terri and the drone. Or pressure sensors leading to the chasm. Probably a combination of the options, if not all three." She said
"Okay, so we are screwed on advancing for now, what is next?" Terri said
"How quickly can they fire?" Melissa asked
Terri nodded as she saw where Melissa was going with this
"If they fire slowly you can always try to run between the shots. Though the chasm is too wide for even a force jump." She said
Juhani pointed to the image on the screen of a statue on the edge of the chasm
"That looks big enough. If we could topple that we can use that as a bridge."
Getting explosives on it is going to be difficult. You would have to cross open ground while under fire lay the charge and get clear well enough not be caught in the blast radius." Melissa countered
Terri studied the data feed for a while
"I might have an idea to counter that but we never tell the council how we did that." She said sighing
"Is it constant lectures on morals bad or getting an unpaid vacation in the Sanctum bad?" Juhani asked
"If it was up to Vrook and Atris definitely option B, the others might also be leaning to that option." Terri confessed
Terri pointed to the varied scattered bodies.
"Using the force we can essentially use the corpses as puppets giving the turrets a target. One of us can crawl closer and lay the charge at the base of the statue and while the turrets are mauling the bodies crawl back before blowing the charge. A force sprint should be sufficient to cross the bridge and get close enough to shut the turrets off or get into the blind spots before destroying them if shutting down is not an option."
Melissa picked through her rucksack pulling out a padded case holding detonators and three bricks of explosives. A second case holding remote triggers joined the first before a roll of sticky engineers tape joined the pile.
It took her a bare few minutes to set the charge up. Grabbing the charge in one hand she dropped to her stomach. Terri grabbed the back of her belt
"Who said you are going?" Terri demanded
"I am the logical choice. I am smaller thus giving a smaller target profile, two you know that I can crawl faster than you, Vandar had us doing it enough times for you not to be able to contest that. Three the two of you have more fine control of the force than I have." Melissa pointed out
"Stop using logic to win arguments." Terri groused
"Besides I have sufficient motivation to move fast not to get shot." Melissa grinned suddenly
"And why is that?" Juhani demanded
Melissa slapped her rump with her free hand
"My ass is so much cuter than yours, getting a blaster scar on it will ruin perfection." Melissa replied
"And who told you that fallacy?" Juhani lifted an eyebrow
"All the women who have admired it from afar and those that came close enough to touch it." Melissa stated
"Your doctor does not count, nor is the padawan you got drunk a reliable reference. And for all you know those who watched from afar could have been admiring another one of us" Terri objected.
Melissa huffed slightly at the rejoinder before the grin returned
"Fine, challenge accepted." She replied
"What challenge?" Terri asked confused
"Next planet we get to we are holding a best ass competition. And no girlfriends of yours will be on the judging panel." Melissa stated
Terri tiredly rubbed her eyes
"Bring a teenager along, they said. It will be easy and problem free, they said." She muttered.
Juhani merely grasped her shoulder in sympathy
"Let us get this done and hope she forgets about this." Juhani suggested
"And how are you planning on making me forget this?" Melissa asked
"Get you a new and expensive set of tools should to the trick." Juhani replied
"Hey. I am not as easily distractible as that." Melissa objected
"Keep telling that to yourself." Juhani snarked cattily
Terri gave a brief grin before reaching out to the nearest corpse through the force and lifted it from the ground. She felt the bolts impact the body before pushing the body forward. More bolts slammed into the body
"You were right second is a turret, fire rate is every six counts." Terri said with a grimace
She concentrated harder as more impacts kept holding the body up harder. Juhani closed her eyes and another body lifted. Not having to hold a barrier up constantly not so much of a task as the two switched off as to who took the bolts. A quick glance showed Juhani sweating as heavily as she probably was.
Melissa crawled as fast she could to the base of the statue. The unpleasant meaty thumps of laser bolts striking flesh much harder up close, not mentioning the smell of smouldering mouldering flesh. Reaching the base of the statue she took a quick glance around it to get a rough idea of where to place the charge to drop the statue correctly.
She placed the charge at one corner, Her hand had barely back behind the statue before a bolt slammed into the stone. She heard the whine as the detonator started to spontaneously charge from the energy backlash of the bolt
"Fuck." She screamed out
Frantically she looked around for cover. She spotted a shattered bench close to the archway, the rubble would barely give her cover but it was better than trying to run away fast or staying at blast point. Her breath rushed from her as she slammed into the ground after a force jump. Dust raining down on her as bolts slammed into the rubble
The charge went of and she was deafened, the percussion ragdolled her away from her cover, she felt herself impacting a wall before dropping to the ground again. Blearily she saw two blurs of movement and shortly thereafter two flashes of light.
She felt a pair of hands running over her body, noises came from afar almost as if through a curtain of water, the ringing in her ears making it close to inaudible. The bleary image switched to two faces before solidifying into one. She felt a stinging sensation in her neck. She bolted upright as everything rapidly cleared.
"Fuck that hurts." She snarled angrily
"If she can swear she is fine." Juhani said, relieve audible in her voice
Terri threw the spent adrenal stim towards the chasm
"What happened? I thought the plan was to blow the charge when we were behind cover." She demanded
"Spontanous charge up, somehow it should not surprise me that Mekel supplied that Sameron with cheap detonators." Melissa replied, rubbing her neck
Terri gave her a last one over before going back to the previous room and returning with the rucksacks
"Let us get moving before we get slow roasted here." She said
They came to a door with no visible means of opening it, the dull clanging it made when struck indicated it was solid throughout, cutting their way through with their lightsabers should be possible but time consuming nor mentioning running the risk of depleting the battery packs on said lightsabers, neither did they have enough explosives to breach it.
Terri paced up and down the walls trying to figure their next step. Juhani was looking thoughtfully at three pictograms, two to the side of the door and one on it
"I believe I have the answer." She finally said
"Go on." Melissa prompted
"I believe this is a test of force power. No one who can not use the force will be able to open the door barring risking destroying what is behind the door." She said
"So how do we open the door?" Melissa asked
Juhani pointed to the pictograms
"If my eyes are not deceiving me there are several directional markers hidden in the pictograms." She said
Terri took a closer look, surprisingly she did not get the same sick cold feeling she had received from looking at the preceding pictograms either.
"I'll be damned, you are right. There are directional markers hidden in it" She said
"Two up and one down." Melissa said
"No one up, one in and one out." Juhani replied
"Push pull and lift, the most basic of force exercises." Terri stated
"Could it be that simple?" Melissa asked musingly
" Considering most would try to use the most obscure force techniques to lift that door, yes. Sometimes simple is best." Juhani replied
Juhani lashed out with a force push at the left hand pictogram, there came a grinding noise as a square in the pictogram pushed in before pushing back to resume its previous position
"A time trail. And not one that can be easily done alone." Juhani mused
"Another problem for a true Sith as none will trust others enough to help them should they reach this point. Yet another way to secure the door, using their paranoia against them." Terri pointed out
Count of three?" Melissa suggested
"As good as any." Terri shrugged
Juhani threw another push, Terri pulled and Melissa lifted. The other two added their power to the lift and the door slowly grinded up. As the door reached the halfway mark two pins spring from the doorframe. Cautiously they lowered the door and let it rest on the pins. After a few brief tortured groans the door settled on the pins. The three watched for a few minutes longer to make sure that the pins held before stepping closer
"I guess this where Revan found the idea for the Kashykk temple." Melissa remarked
"There was something similar in there I take it?" Terri replied
"There was a timed section where you had to pull ledges from the wall and move along before they retracted." Melissa responded
"How many times did you have to restart?" Juhani asked
"Twice and then it became a matter of survival not to fall with how high you were from the fall. The fall might not have killed you but broken limbs were possible." Melissa answered
"And being alone with a broken limb would be a death sentence." Terri surmised
"Pretty much, unless Revan had a plan to revive another in the ones she incapacitated." Melissa said shrugging
"More likely she would have dropped the shields and let the local wildlife take care of those still unconscious." Juhani remarked.
They stepped through into another hot and humid hallway, narrow strips of flowing lava lit and heated the room. Blood red stones formed the walls with Sith hieroglyphs and pictograms carved into it
"Did this guy have a lava fetish or something?" Terri remarked
"Probably, but I could really go for a beer right about now." Juhani replied
"Not a bad idea at that. Maybe a bowl of ice cream or two to go with that." Terri added
"The question is what is the trap in this room?" Melissa said looking around
Kneeling down Melissa rapped her lightsaber hilt on the stone in front of her.
"Sounds solid." She said
Tapping the one next to it produced a hollow sound. Pressing down on it she felt it shift. A whistling sound came from above and the three stepped back rapidly. There was a clang of metal and a spark as a metal spike struck the stone. The spike ricochet and fell into one of the lava strips, the metal resisting the heat for a moment before starting to melt.
"Taking a guess there should be a safe sequence to move across the floor." Terri said looking over the lined pathway
"Only there is no hint as to what the sequence is, all the stones look the same." Juhani replied
"Let us see if the trap resets." Melissa said
Force pushing against the stone had the stone depressing but no spike being dropped
"This is going to take a while if we have to check every stone." Melissa pointed out
"Or we could use an augmented sprint to cross, the passage is not that long." Terri suggested
"I think the builders anticipated that option, doing that is more likely to trigger a master trap." Juhani said, shaking her head
"Care to explain?" Terri invited
Juhani waved a hand across the room.
"I think it is more about the Sith code or more accurately their mentality. A Sith is all about easy solutions or gaining power quickly. Force rushing across a trapped passage would be something they would do." She pointed out
"And trigger enough stones you trigger the master trap and thus your impatience is what kills you." Melissa said following the idea
"So how do we test it?" Terri asked
The three looked around the room again trying to see if there an alternate path. Melissa rubbed her chin
"Obviously one of us walking on it is not going to be an option nor is force pushing the stones to set of traps before it triggers the master traps." She said musingly
"That option does not sound healthy to me either." Juhani remarked
Melissa snapped her fingers
"When you disabled those turrets did that droid come out again?" She asked
"No, we destroyed the turrets and came back to check on you." Terri answered
"So where did it go?" Melissa asked again
"I think I see where you are going with this, we find the droid, see if we can reprogram it and have the droid setting of the traps." Juhani stated
"Yes, why risk ourselves when there is another option?" Melissa replied
"Back to the furnace then." Terri said
Terri and Melissa held back as Juhani as their best available tracker, scouted around the destroyed turrets. The Cathar girl made her way to what looked like segment of rough stone after peering through the thin layer of dust on the ground
"The track ends here." She reported
"A hidden door then." Terri suggested
Juhani triggered one of her lightsabers and struck the blade into the stone. The blade pushing through quickly without resistance. Cautiously pushing her hand against the wall had her had disappearing into the wall. She pushed her arm in deeper till she met resistance. Taking a deep breath she stepped into the wall to face a steel door. Stepping back the wall shimmered before taking the appearance of rough stone again
"An illusion, going to need a breach charge. There is a door but no visible controls." Juhani reported
"Good thing they forgot a cleaning droid to sweep the floors." Terri said jokingly
They were standing on the far side of the turret waiting for the breach charges timer to run out. A far larger than expected explosion ripped through the air. Disgustedly Melissa handed a credit chip over to Terri
"Like taking candy from a baby." Terri crowed
"Would not know, never had any as a child." Melissa replied
"Playing the orphan card again? And I know you are lying, Bonita told us how they used you as a distraction when there was shoplifting to be done and how more often than not you wound up being given candy by the shop owners or bystanders when you played little girl lost." Terri said with a snort
"Bonita really needs to learn to keep quiet." Melissa groused
Terri looked at Melissa expectantly, twirling the credit chip in her hand
"Are you not forgetting something?" She prompted
"Fine, you were right, the door was a trap as well." Melissa said with a sigh
Melissa led the way to where the illusion was slowly resetting itself. Terri opened a pocked on top of her utility vest to secure the credit chip when she looked down at the chip
"Hey, you paid with a Sith credit. You know this going to become worthless" She called out
"You never specified what currency. Better spend it fast" Melissa called back
"You are a dirty cheater." Terri retorted
"Nope, always read the fine print or did you not learn your lesson from Gaddon?" Melissa replied
"She got you there. I believe the saying is you can not cheat an honest man." Juhani chuckled
A line of droids shuffled their way to the chamber, The trio stood well to side of the antechamber as the first droid stepped into the room. Three steps later it was skewered and the droid dropped to the ground sparking, the second droid fell as it failed to clear the first one. A quick force push had the two disabled droids pushed to the side before the third could ad to the pile up
"Dumb droids." Terri said sighing
"What did you expect they are barely above binary droid level." Melissa remarked
Idly Melissa pulled one of the dropping spikes closer before it could skewer a droid. Taking a look at it had a flash of anger crossing her face
"This beskar. Where did these bastard steal it from?!" She exclaimed
"Not necessarily stolen, you know beskar has been found on other planets. The Arkaxis system is a good example." Juhani pointed out
"And it is not that Mandalorians has the right to claim all beskar ore reserves are theirs." Terri added
"If that was the case the Ubese would have sole claim to cortosis ore." Juhani continued
Before Melissa could respond the floor in the chamber dropped and the line of droids started going up in sparks and explosions as the lava caused their destruction. The three watched the macabre show as the line of droids continued on to their doom one after the other. At the far end a grilled mesh had dropped down blocking access to the next section, a skeleton still impaled on some spikes
"Okay that would have been bad if we were on that walkway." Terri said with a gulp.
A groaning noise came from the chamber. Cautiously they made their way to the door way and looked in. Dust was dropping down as the roof was slowly sliding apart The mesh was slowly lifting up and a new walkway was being lowered from a gap in the ceiling
"That is our shot." Terri declared
She force jumped onto the lowering walkway and sprinted across to the far side. Melissa and Juhani followed moments later. Terri threw herself forward and slid from the walkway to drop under the lowering mesh gate into the next room, Juhani and Melissa joining her as the walkway dropped into position and the roof slid back into position. The grinding of ancient gears almost overwhelmingly load
"I think it is safe to say we will need another way out on the way back." Terri said lying on her back, breathing deeply
"No, really?" Juhani said getting to her feet
A serious of explosions followed as the line of droids continued on their suicide walk and another walkway dropped down into the lava flow
"How many droids were in that room again?" Juhani asked
"Two hundred or so." Melissa replied
"Might as well get a move on, watching the droids is just getting really sad now." Juhani remarked
"It stopped being amusing after the first ten, like you said this is just pathetic." Terri commented
Darkness awaited them in the next room. The three headlamps barely doing anything to dispel the dark. A golden gleam caught their attention. They came across a set of embossed doors. The images engraved on the doors was of two cloaked figures holding a hand out in a stopping motion.
A trio of force pushes had the doors being forced back. Red crystals lit the room bathing it in a harsh red light. A Black stone sarcophagus was dead at the end of another walkway. The thing that drew their attention the most was the Force Ghost standing at the foot of the sarcophagus
Slowly they made their way forward, unlit lightsabers in hand. The figure turned around
"Who disturbs my rest?" The figure spoke before fully facing them
They did not answer and the ghost kept on studying them
"Your auras are too light for Sith and too dull for Jedi." The ghost said musingly
"We are grey Jedi." Terri replied after being nudged by the other two
She shot an unimpressed look at the other two for nudging her
"So you are of the Bendu. Strange that you would make your way in here then."
"Just as strange as you, you do not look nor sound like the force ghosts we have come across. And what is this Bendu you speak of ?" Terri replied
"The Bendu is what we called those who walk in the middle being neither dark nor light." The ghost stated
"You are curiously placid for a Sith Lord." Melissa said
"In the centuries I have been trapped here I have had time to reflect and found that my goals and live was a lie. I wish for this existence to end, all I want is to join her in whatever comes next." The ghost said tiredly
"Her?" Juhani asked
"My apprentice, my reason for falling from the Jedi way, my wife, my only love."
"What was her name?" Terri asked
"Lostris Pall and I was Ajunta Pall. The Alchemist as I was called by my enemies."
"You created the Tarenterek?" Melissa snapped
"A flawed experiment that should never have been made. It was but a stepping stone to another creation."
The three flinched as if struck
"Another creation? A stepping stone to what?" Terri demanded
The ghost pointed to a hallway to their left
"If it really interests you it is in stasis in my lab or what was my lab before this facility became my tomb."
"What is keeping you from moving on? You said you were trapped." Terri asked
"Another apprentice created a device that caused the user to regenerate by sleeping in it or so she claimed. I was a fool and stepped into the trap."
"That does not explain why you are still here." Juhani pointed out
"The device is the reason my spirit has been trapped here. It acts like a force field that interacts with the force."
"How do we shut it off ?" Melissa asked
"Do we really want to unleash this onto the universe?" Juhani countered, pointing to the ghost
"He might be Sith, but nothing deserves to be trapped for eternity like this. If we leave him here how are we any better?" Melissa responded
"She is right, freeing him is the right thing to do." Terri said firmly
"Thank you for your mercy." Ajunta said
"To get back to my question do you know how to shut it down?" Melissa asked
The ghost pointed to a throne set against the far wall. Three swords were lain against it and then to a slot in front of the sarcophagus
"One of those is the key to disable the device. All three of the swords were used by me at one stage or another, though I do not know which sword she keyed to the mechanism."
Terri rolled her eyes as she moved to the throne.
"Yet more hoops to jump through, why does that not surprise me." She said.
Carrying the three swords to the sarcophagus she laid them out on the ground.
"So one of these three." She said
" Be warned my apprentice wrote a message on the inner lid of my sarcophagus. Choose the wrong sword and the field expands and it will trap you for eternity as well. If you choose to step away now I will hold no anger towards risk is one I would not dare for another."
Melissa pointed to the middle sword. It was a dull grey and heavily chipped, the blade had seen some heavy use in its time
"That one. It is made from Beskar. That is the one" She said
"How do you know that for certain?" Terri asked
"The piece missing on the top, it is too clean to have been broken of in combat. It was cut of with precision." Melissa stated firmly
"You sure?" Juhani asked
Melissa threw her a glance
"Are you seriously doubting a Mandolorian about a beskad?" She asked incredulously
"Good enough for me." Terri shrugged
She lifted the sword and pushed it into the slot. A green pulse covered the sarcophagus. The ghost of Ajunta Pall moved back rapidly
"Finally I am free." He exclaimed
"And hopefully we have not doomed the galaxy." Juhani muttered
The ghost started to fade
"To the left of the throne is my personal treasury and my escape route to the surface is behind a fresco on the far wall of the treasury. The room to the right is a deadly trap do not enter. To key to destroy my lab will be found at the end of the passage."
A blue light started shining through the ghost and gaining in brilliance
"Lostris! I am coming my love."
A final flash and the trio were the last living beings or semi living for that matter in the room
"What was with that blue light? He had a slight red edge the whole time." Melissa asked
"I think he found redemption at the end." Juhani said solemnly
Terri led the way to the left hand archway of the throne, the two unused swords already stuck in her backpack.
"Let us get out of here and back to the Academy. Hopefully whatever we loot here will be enough to convince Wynn to replace what equipment we are going to lose by destroying this place." She said
Wynn was staring enraptured at the two blades in his hands, for a moment he believed he could feel the power of the previous wielder still flowing through them
"Was there anything else you salvaged from the tomb?" He asked, not looking away from the blades
"No Master. The master trap triggered when we picked up those blades. We barely got out." Juhani stated
Wynn finally looked up from studying the blades.
"What form did the final trap take?" He demanded
"Magma. A massive load of magma. If someone tries to go in there now they will be cooked within several steps and when that magma settles in a decade or so at minimum the only thing you will find is obsidian." Terri reported
Wynn looked disappointed before looking back at the blades
"You have done well to recover these. If you were telling the truth about the traps then we have lost an opportunity to study an old master." He said
The three realised that despite their warning Wynn was likely to mount an expedition to reopen the tomb. Sharing a glance they shrugged, knowing nothing they said will stop it from happening and the loss of life it would entail.
Seeing Wynn was not approachable now or for the foreseeable future Terri turned her attention to Yuthara
"Mistress, I am sorry to report we will need to re supply again. We have unfortunately lost everything not on our persons while making our escape."
Yuthara gave her co conspirator a nod
"You may access the stores of the officer academy, this Academy will not replace your losses. Come to my quarters with me and I will give you the necessary pass to enter the academy and to requisition what you need." Her tone was sultry but her eyes were cold
"Thank you Mistress." Terri replied, bowing deeply.