Chapter 71
Tombraiding for profit and prestige
Part 3: Tomb of Marka Ragnos and Tulak Horde
Canderous lifted an eyebrow in question as the boarding ramp closed behind the next two refugees slash passengers on the Hawk. Alorei greeted him with a flirty smirk and the other a rather mousy girl of about eighteen, dressed in baggy and concealing clothing waved a hand at him. He vaguely remembered her as one of the many interns that the Republic group had brought along
"Canderous Aliit Ordo , may I present her royal highness, Viccy Organa of the royal house of Organa of Alderan." Elorei said with a bow to the girl, dropping the bags she was carrying
Alorei's smirk got wider as the girl huffed and tried to hide deeper in the hooded jacket she was wearing. For a moment Canderous wondered if Alorei was playing a prank as the girl by no means looked like one would expect of royalty in either dress or posture.
"Viccy Organa, meet Alor Canderous Aliit Ordo of the noble house of Ordo." She concluded
The girl looked at Canderous in confusion
"Did you not say you name was Ganim." She said, pointing at him
"Honey, just like you he can not use his real name here." Alorei gently said
"Then why tell him my real name?" Viccy demanded
"With the amount of Jetti aboard keeping a secret would be impossible, and coming out of a hot zone would have them on edge. So lying about a name would be a bad idea" Canderous stated, lighting a nicotine stick
"Hot Zone? This is a fairly temperate planet" Viccy querried
"A term used for a dangerous area of operations. And infiltrating the Sith Academy is a very dangerous thing to do. As Canderous said trying to keep a secret would result in both of us being tied down and interrogated in very short order." Alorei explained
Alorei threw Canderous a mock sultry look
"Not that being tied down could not be fun. But no rope, they tend to leave chafe marks."
Viccy turned a shade of red that clashed horribly with her blue coloured hair. She pulled the hood of her jacket closer to try and hide her blush
"So I am assuming Creevy was the distraction and she was your primary." Canderous stated
"Yes, having him around was a convenient smokescreen. No one would look for a princess when an Admiral's son was vying for the spotlight." Alorei replied
"Taking a bit of a risk there, assuming the Sith would not grab him for leverage." Canderous remarked
"His father would send the Sith an invitation to grab him if he knew where he was. Creevy wrote his son of a long time ago, not that it matters. Creevy bought some bad spice and will not be an issue any longer." Alorei said, studying her nails
Alorei looked over the area where several cots had been set up
"I take it we are not the only ones here wishing to hitch a ride?" She asked
"No, there are a few others. You will be bunking in the female dorms, one of the droids will bring you food. For safety we will be doing introductions when we are off planet. Till that time you are to stay there, also hand over any comlinks and any other communication devices."
Canderous produced a bag in which several comlinks and datapads had already been deposited. The two added their devices and Canderous motioned for them to follow him, Viccy looking around eagerly despite their being nothing to see at this time.
Terri looked at the trooper stationed outside the tomb of Marko Ragnos an amused smirk on her face. Said guard having delivered the warning regarding the rogue droid and then proceeding to try and hustle them.
"How many suckers bought the sound dampening stealth belt pitch?" She asked
"I am sorry, Mam. I do not know what you mean." The guard replied
"The belt is made by Aratech and not only has it been discontinued it is also ten years old at least. The stygiam crystal can only hold a stealth field for twenty minutes, the "sound dampener" unit you pointed out is the extra battery pack this thing uses as its crap battery life was one of the many reasons the series had been discontinued." Terri said amused
The guard stopped pretending and shrugged
"Had a few who bought them, not that they came back to demand their money back." He said
The trooper proceeded to lean against a wide chest high balustrade leading up to the academy. Terri noted that the datapad controlling a line of turrets facing the door to the tomb was carelessly slung on the balustrade next to him
"What is with the turrets? Did not see any at the other tombs." She asked
"This is the only tomb where turrets would be usefull. The crazy man in Horde's tomb could easily destroy them so no point placing some. And The other tomb did not need passive defenses. With the droid in here though…" The guard shrugged trailing of
Terri turned her attention to the tomb in front of her as they walked up the incline to the door. Scaffolding had been set under the door of the tomb, keeping the partially opened door in place and to make it easier to study the pictographs etched onto the door. Terri slipped Mission's tech visor on her face before leading the way into the tomb. Juhani followed her, her newly acquired carbine rifle held at the ready, Melissa following last pushing a hovertrolley. All three shivered as they entered the ante chamber. Several bodies were strewn across the floor, some behind hastily set up barricades, others clearly shot in the back as they tried to flee. It was not the smell of the bodies that caused their shivers. The tomb was flooded with cold, dark and viscous amusement. For a moment they felt like they were being studied before the feeling dissipated with what felt like contempt directed at them.
"Suddenly I feel the urge for a shower." Juhani stated softly
Terri knelt down to a body and studied it for a moment before moving to another one.
"Blaster wounds. All of them were shot." She said
"Anything in the electro magnetic spectrum?" Melissa asked
"Large concentration up ahead in the next chamber, too condensed to see numbers." Terri answered
Melissa powered down the hovertrolley and the device slowly lowered to the ground. Opening a crate she pulled out several harnesses and climbing gear. Pneumatic guns followed next with several spools of microrope and anchorheads, several pulley and pitons also making an appearance. Last taken out were three grenade belts, the belts filled with mostly ion grenades and one or two thermal detonators.
After gearing up and triple checking each other they crept closer to the next chamber. Terri dropped to the floor and slithered over to a column. She barely made it to the column as a patrol of four droids marched past. Slowly she lifted the pneumatic gun and fired at the ceiling. The line spooled out with a slight whistle. Hastily she hooked up and walked up the column. Halfway up she pulled the rest of the spool up and waited.
Two droids came into view, lights from their guns played on the floor as they circled the column. As the droids joined up with their patrol and continued on their route she slowly lowered the microrope again and continued her climb. The pulling in her shoulder muscles an unsubtle reminder that she needed to spend more time in strength training.
Melissa was next up on the rope. Pulling her own pneumatic gun she fired pitons into the column creating hand and footholds. She edged to the front of the column overlooking the floor where a cluster of droids were holding a defensive perimeter with several four droid patrols moving around. Firing a last piton she clipped onto it and stepped onto the footholds and leaned slightly forward. Shouldering the pneumatic gun she attached a new anchorhead and microrope before taking aim at a distant column. Clipping on a carabiner she crossed the floor to the distant column to fire another piton in and properly secure the microrope before starting to make her way back. Terri had made her way to the foot holds and had now fired another two lines both angled lower than the primary rope.
The constant noise from the pneumatic guns had caused the droids to become agitated. Lights were played all around the room and four droid patrols circled the room at an increased pace
Melissa paused halfway across back to the primary column and clipped on another pully and guided a rope through it. Juhani finally force sprinted into the hall and made her climb, halfway up the column she paused and tied down. She started elevating a crate up from the doorway and guided it towards Melissa, Terri joining her efforts to keep the crate elevated. Reaching Melissa she slipped the rope though a loop and tied it down. The crate was now suspended to the pulley by the rope and Terri and Juhani stopped their efforts. Juhani made her way to where Terri was and clipped onto one of the descending lines and Terri to the second.
Both stepped from the footholds and hanged from their lines one hand keeping them in place the other hand holding an ion grenade. Melissa looked over at them and both nodded to show they were ready. Melissa started lowering the crate into the rear of the droid formation. The droids all facing towards the chamber they had sneaked in from. As the crate touched ground she pulled a transmitter out and clipped herself to the vertical rope. She pressed the transmitter
The droids spun as a whining noise filled the air, growing in intensity, Scanning the area they saw nothing. One tripped over a crate as it stepped to move to a better position. The whine reached a complete ear shattering pitch and the Assasin droid dropped to its knees temporarily disabled by the noise. The whine suddenly stopped, microseconds later a pulse erupted from the crate. Droids started convulsing as the electromagnetic pulse played havoc on their systems.
Terri and Juhani let go and slid down their ropes, dropping ion grenades as they went. Explosions following in their wake as the ion grenades destroyed the droids. Melissa slid down her line coming to a stop behind the Assasin droid, her lightsaber blade removing its head a moment later. A force pull and push had the droid body being flung deeper into the tomb.
Moments later another large explosion ripped through the tomb as the droids self destruct package activated. Terri and Juhani idly destroyed the last droids in their way as they moved closer to Melissa. All three pulled of their noise reducing headbands. Melissa prodded her ear with a finger a slight bit of tinnitus irritating her. Terri waved a hand indicating the piles of sparking and destroyed droids around them
"Will you now explain why we had to do all the climbing around instead of just elevating the EM generator to here and triggering it?" Terri asked
"We had to get above their visual range and arc. Like humans droids never look up, at most they would look up to forty degrees." Melissa started
"Elevating the generator might have put it in their visual arc and would have them firing on it causing it to trigger early." Juhani theorised
"Yes, And for the EM generator to be effective it had to be extremely close to them. Trying to rush them across open ground would have been suicidal." Melissa continued
Terri pointed to the third chamber
"Shall we see what Mister Ragnos was hiding in his tomb?" She asked
They gasped and dropped to their knees as an overwhelming presence filled the room. The previous contempt and malicious amusement now replaced with rage. Shakily they pressed up against the presence
"I do not think Ragnos likes that idea." Melissa ground out.
"I concur and raise it with a, we should leave right now." Juhani added
Picking the assassin droid head up, they made their way to the first chamber and the door to the outside. The sensation turned to mocking smugness. Stopping by the door Terri paused
"Girls, I do not like Ragnos chasing us out like this." She said mulishly
"Staying in there due to pride is also not an option." Juhani said.
"I know, but the insult can not stand." Terri said
She threw her backpack to the bottom of the ramp where the guard was leaning against a statue. Her hands dropped to her belt and she unbuckled it, before unbuttoning her pants and lowering the zip
"What are you doing?" Melissa asked
"Mister Ragnos is about to get a full moon, courtesy of yours truly." Terri said with a grin
Juhani's pack joined Terri's
"I am in." Juhani stated
Melissa shrugged
"Pissing of a dead Sith Lord. What can go wrong?" She said
Her pack joined the other two. The guard was now looking at them in confusion.
"Count of three?" Juhani suggested
Terri looked over her shoulder. She boosted her voice using a force technique.
"Ragnos. Up Yours!" she called out
As one the three bent over and lowered their pants. The mocking turned back to rage in seconds. The three were thrown forward by a sudden surge of force power and the scaffolding shattered under the push. The sound of the tomb door clanging shut echoed through the valley.
The three got to their feet and pulled their pants back up and made their way back to where the guard was getting to his feet.
"Are you three fucking insane?!" The guard shouted
"Something wrong?" Terri asked snickering
The guard started making his way to the Academy
"I am out of here. Stupid students mocking old Masters. I don't get paid enough for this shit." He muttered walking away
Terri turned and faced the now closed tomb. She lifted both hands in a one fingered salute at the door
"Can cross that of the bucket list now." She said happily
"What enraging dead Sith Lords?" Melissa asked
"Not just dead, any Sith lord will do." Terri said
"You humans are weird." Juhani remarked
"That did not stop you from giving Ragnos the old brown eye as well." Terri pointed out
"It simply means I have spent too much time around humans." Juhani retorted
They felt a warning in the force and looked around to see if they could spot the danger. Melissa pointed to the valley
"Incoming!" She called
Several packs of Tukata were storming closer. Terri moved to where the datapad to the turrets had been left by the deserting guard and tapped on the screen. She started tapping away and the weapons turned around from the door to face the oncoming horde.
"Pad was not locked?" Juhani asked
"Luckily , no. I wonder what is causing this sudden stampede of tukata?" Terri replied
"Did you forget we just mooned a Sith Lord?" Melissa asked
"Oh, right." Terri replied, slightly chagrined
Melissa jumped up onto the balustrade and unshouldered her rifle. Lying down on the surface she activated the scope function and aimed into the approaching packs. Holding her breath for a moment she picked a target. Exhaling she squeezed the trigger and a bolt lashed out.
In the approaching horde a tukata stumbled and caused several others to fall over its body, the ones that had fallen being trampled by the rest of the stampede. Another light flashed into the horde and another dropped repeating the pattern.
Terri and Juhani climbed onto the balustrade and knelt behind Melissa training their shorter carbines into the approaching horde. The turrets whined as the barrels swivelled to get a target lock before starting to chatter as the turrets started rapidly firing into the horde. Several tukata dropped forming a momentary barrier, several tried to jump over the bodies to charge closer before adding to the pile. A wave of plasma erupted as a thermal detonator was force propelled into the horde. The shorter harsher barks of the two carbines joined the chatter of the turrets interspaced with the softer whine of the sniper rifle.
As the last tukata dropped they felt a sensation of rage again, this time the sensation was more muted than their first encounter with it before it reluctantly faded, almost as if the will behind the sensation was beyond tired.
"That is right go take a long nap, you bastard." Terri called out, repeating the one finger salute to the door
"Good thing Zaalbar is not here." Melissa commented
"How so?" Juhani asked
Melissa pointed to the pile of dead and charred tukata carcasses.
"If he was here we would be trying to keep him from attempting to eat all of this." Melissa said
"I do not think even Zaalbar would attempt to eat these carrion eaters." Juhani stated
"We can take one back with us to test that theory." Terri suggested
"I do not think we need to tempt fate any more today." Juhani stated
She was confused as both Terri and Melissa hurriedly looked up into the sky on mentioning tempting fate with a sense of alarm.
"Was it something I said?" Juhani asked
"No, it is a human superstition to not tempt fate." Terri replied
"You are not human." Juhani pointed out
"It is a thing my other half's culture share with humans." Terri replied evasively
Juhani shrugged and decided to ask one of the other humans later for an explanation, not that it truly was important anyway
"Let us get to the last tomb and get this done." Melissa suggested
They jumped from the balustrade and made their way back to their packs. Terri shutting down the turrets before chucking the energy cell and tibana cartridge from her carbine. Melissa handed out two deuterium batteries to Juhani and Terri
"What is this for?" Terri asked
"Charged batteries for your lightsabers, the two of you were closer to the EM pulse than I was, your lightsabers batteries might have been drained by it."
Juhani triggered her blade and a wheezy snap-hiss emitted, the blade flickering weakly. Shutting down the blade she unscrewed the battery assembly on her lightsaber
"Thank you, I did not think to worry about the battery on my lightsaber. It usually lasts at least two weeks between charging." Juhani said
"Much the same." Terri said changing her battery as well.
"Are you not going to change yours?" Juhani asked Melissa
Melissa looked at the base of her saber and pressed an indentation, a blue green indicator showed
"Three quarter charge, I am good." She reported
"So that is what that attachment to your hilt is, I have always wondered what it was for." Juhani said
"I thought it was just an attachment to make gripping it easier." Terri remarked
"Just made sense to me to be able to see what was going on with my blade. Being able to see if there could be something wrong is useful" Melissa shrugged
Shouldering their packs they climbed over the pile of tukata and made their way towards the last accessible tomb. Melissa waved a hand at the segment with the tombs of the Lords.
"Is it just me but why are their so few tombs here? Should there not be a lot more?" She remarked
"A lot have their tombs on Ziost, not mentioning those that died on other planets. Not mentioning the tales of there being a third Sith planet" Juhani stated
"A third planet?" Terri asked
"That is what the tales say though no evidence of that has been found to my knowledge." Juhani replied
"Or knowledge of it is being suppressed." Melissa pointed out
"Possible, I think Exar Kun had a structure on Yavin four now that I think of it." Juhani continued
"Last Hyperspace war?" Melissa asked
"So we were told." Juhani replied
"So what do we know of Tulak Horde?" Terri asked
"She built an empire but did not aggressively expand, war only erupted once her apprentice murdered her." Juhani said
"And the Jedi of the time just let her build it?" Melissa asked incredulously
"Her empire was much more powerful and more advanced than the Republic at that time. Attacking was not an option at that time and the republic did not take the threat seriously, her apprentice nearly wiped out the republic and the order when he attacked. Not mentioning that the order was fractured in various factions as well."
"Was it natural divisions or did Horde facilitate the divisions?" Terri asked
"History does not say, but logic would dictate that Horde would have had agents encouraging it." Juhani shrugged
"What I don't get is that there are obviously large number of dark side force users at any given time yet the Jedi insist in believing in the rule of two law. They keep on under estimating the threat continuously." Melissa said
"They captured a codex written by Darth Bane and has used it as a basis for dealing with the Sith, ever since." Juhani replied
"And never once thinking that it could be deliberate misinformation or that their enemies could evolve beyond that. No wonder the Order is frequently on the edge of extinction." Terri snorted in disbelief
"Stagnant just like the republic. Makes you wonder what is the point." Melissa added
The conversation petered out and they made their way closer to the last tomb lost in their thoughts. The last tomb had an entry cut into the tomb door. Shaking of their thoughts they concentrated on the task ahead. The first hall was brilliantly lit by various floodlights and multiple workstations and desks littered the floor
"Why do I feel like this is going to be a waste of time?" Terri remarked
"This tomb has obviously been investigated more than the others." Juhani stated
"But if it has emptied why would the old head of Academy flee in here and remain at large if there was nothing left to find." Melissa pointed out
"Good point, I do not see Wynn leaving the man alive out of compassion." Terri replied
"That he got away from Wynn proves he is much more dangerous than the information available would suggest." Melissa added
"Agreed." Terri nodded
Juhani pointed to a large device standing in the middle of the hall
"What is a full body medical scanner doing here of all places?" She asked
"Missing the scan bed though." Terri pointed out
"Scanning of a sarcophagus before opening it?" Melissa suggested
Melissa rubbed her chin
"Though with how the scanner head is pointed…" She trailed of
"Yes." Terri prompted
"Checking for hidden passages in the walls. It would be less destructive than echo location techniques or time consuming to tapping on the walls to check."
"Can you operate the device?" Terri asked
"Depends on the software maybe, would have been better to use a droid for it." Melissa said doubtfully
"Like an astromech droid?" Juhani asked
Juhani pointed to where several droids were lying in a pile
"They are the same models fixing one should be possible." Melissa theorised
"We will start scavenging for tools parts and components while you take a look." Terri suggested
Na hour or two later a barely functional droid limped over to the scanner and plugged in.
"Not like your usual work." Terri said pointing to the droid
"Too much damage and not enough parts and components even when scavenging for a proper repair, but it should get the job done." Melissa replied
The droid plugged into the scanner unit and the three stepped closer to the view screen. The scanner head slowly moved as it progressed along the wall. The screen showed a solid black as nothing was revealed, a much lighter patch of black showed for a moment before turning pitch black again
"Stop! Move back." Terri ordered
"Looks like there is a cavity."
Juhani walked over to the wall to search for the spot. They knew they were in the right spot when her skeleton superimposed on the lighter area.
"You got the spot." Terri called out
Juhani ran her hands along the wall and finally felt a raised section and a niche. She was about to push her hand into the niche when Terri stopped her.
"That is way we have a droid." She said
Juhani pressed down on the raised section and felt the section give way but nothing happened. The droid inserted its manipulator arm into the niche and made contact with an object. The droid screeched as its manipulator arm was sliced of. Terri focused on the object and tried twisting it with the force. A blade flashed down again but the object moved, a grating sound came but again nothing visibly happened
"Maybe twist the lever and press the section at the same time?" Melissa suggested, working on the droid
Having a pile of broken droids made replacing the manipulator arm an easy job. Terri and Juhani shared a look and tried again. Dust filled the air as a section receded into the wall. A careful force push had a door creaking open. Elevating the hulk of a destroyed droid in place had the door wedged open. Terri played a light on the interior. Involuntarily her hand dropped to her lightsaber as the interior was revealed.
Rows upon rows of niches lined the wall, all stuffed to the brim with mummified bodies. Stepping closer they noted that a bladed staff was laid across the chest of all the bodies and a short sword was laid at its feet. Terri lifted one of the blades, despite its size it was surprisingly light and rust and degradation free. Tapping a nail against the blade produced a ringing sound.
"Any idea what this is made off?" She asked
Melissa lifting another blade tapped it against the stone of the niche, then slammed it against the stone a moment later. The blade sank into the stone and took some doing to removed
"Pure cortosis would be my guess." Melissa stated inspecting the undamaged blade
"And the staffs are made from the same material." Juhani said, twirling a staff
Melissa lit her lightsaber.
"Only one way to test it. Juhani hold that staff still for a moment."
Her lightsaber sparked as she struck the blade on the staff and could not cut through the metal
"Yep, that is cortosis." She said, disengaging
Terri gave a low whistle after counting the niches as best she could in the poor light.
"Credit wise there is enough to buy a cruiser should you be able to gather everything here." She stated
"I am keeping this." Melissa stated
She held up a pair of daggers that she had taken from a niche. Juhani was tying a pile of staffs up and carried it to the door. The whistling of the droid filled the air.
The droid had returned to the scanner and was scanning the wall. Looking at the screen they saw a segment showing up in grey
"A hall or something big." Terri theorised
"And hidden as well." Juhani pointed out
They approached the wall and searched for a clue as how to open it.
"Force lift." Terri suggested after a few fruitless minutes
It took all three of them to lift the heavy stone slab. A feeling of unease grew in them as they stepped into the darkness of the following room, reaching out in the force they felt nothing. The lights of their headlights revealed no threat either. Juhani stepped forward and there was an ominous click that echoed.
"Crap." Terri muttered
Several flashes went of ,blinding them, while they were staggered, confused and blind, a hissing sound filled the air. Soon they were all coughing harshly before slumping over one after the other
Melissa woke with a splitting headache. She shifted and yelped in pain as an electrical shock ran through here
"Watch out, force cage." A dry voice came to her
Focusing slowly she noticed the room she was in. Terri and Juhani were slumped in force cages of their own. A man stood in the cage next to her, he too was dressed in the Academy uniform. A half mask hid his face, long black hair obscuring as much as possible of his face as possible.
Several tables filled the area, artefacts were carelessly flung on top of one another in large piles. The air smelled of blood. Melissa took a chance and used Force sight. Terri and Juhani showed up in light blue and curiously enough so did the man in the cage, a dark red mark was visible in the distance. It stopped moving as if pausing and seemed to turn around
"Curious." The man remarked
"What is curious?" Melissa asked
"How does a force sensitive bounty hunter with no prior training know how to use Force sight." The man stated
"I read about it." Melissa replied
"Not in the Academy, only a Jedi would be taught that technique." The man replied
"And for a Sith you are curiously Light Sided." Melissa retorted
"So it seems we both have something on the other." The man stated, crossing his arms
Terri groaned and opened her eyes, she was motionless for a while before slowly getting to her feet
"Juhani, up! No time for a cat nap." She said
"Cat puns. At least we know you are back to normal." Juhani groused, leaning against the back of her cell
All four of them looked sharply to the side of the room as another presence made itself felt. An elder human male entered the room. Once brown hair were marked with grey and a fringe was combed over a large bald spot. His original eye colour unknown but currently sulphuric yellow. His uniform was spotless, not that the same could be said for his hands which were stained with blood. Casually he strolled into the room.
"Good, you are all awake. Eager for your lessons I am sure." He crowed
He ignored the fact that none had answered him as he strolled deeper into the room
"The four of you must be close to your trails to be allowed to venture in the tombs of those that has gone before." He continued
He stopped in front of the cages and took a parade rest stance. He appeared to study them for a moment, the yellow of his eyes deepened for a moment to almost neon yellow before he started cackling uncontrollably
"Priceless. The top students for the Academy is not aligned to the dark. What a fool you are Wynn." He gasped out between cackles
"Who are you?" Terri asked
"Does no one remember me? The true headmaster of the Academy." He snapped
"If I knew I would not ask." Terri replied
"The name is Jorak Uln. And you are too impertinent for a student by far."
Force lightning rippled across Terri and she bit down on her lip to keep from crying out in pain. The lightning tapered off and she leaned against the back of her cage, blood running down from her mouth. He started pacing speaking to himself
"But do I test them if they have no real interest or do I just kill the pretenders out of hand." He muttered
"What is this test you speak of?" Terri demanded
"Simple really, answer correctly and you live. Answer incorrectly and die in agony."
"How about option C, you die." Melissa
He may have removed their gunbelts before dumping them in the cages but he had failed to do a proper search. The newly looted daggers had been thrust into her boots and had missed being confiscated. Melissa jammed one into back of the force cage. Electricity ran along the blade, the special ability of cortosis came into play and started absorbing the electricity causing the containment field to fail. Melissa rolled forward and slashed with the second dagger
Uln howled in pain as the dagger slashed open his achilless tendon. The iron smell of fresh blood filled the room as he copiously bled from the wound. He staggered back, lightning forming on his fingertips. Melissa hurled the blade at the control panel next to the forge cages holding Terri and Juhani before the lightning enveloped her.
She screamed in agony and writhed in pain, her back arching as Uln kept on pouring lightning into her.
"For that you die, Jedi whore." Uln snarled
He grunted as a blade was slammed home into his neck and the lightning tapered of. Terri ripped the blade free and struck again and again. Uln slowly dropped lower. Terri continued stabbing till Juhani grabbed her hand
"Terri. Stop!" He is dead."
The blade clanged as it struck the floor as Terri dropped it. She rushed forward and pulled a spasming Melissa into her arms. Juhani moved to where their packs had been dumped and ripped a few medkits from it. She loaded a hyposyringe with a muscle relaxant and another with a pain killer before rushing over to where Terri was still holding onto Melissa.
Melissa sagged in relief as the medication took effect and she started closing her eyes.
"Just a little nap." She muttered as Terri was brushing her hands through her hair
"Not now lazybones, we have work to do." Terri replied
"Nap now." Melissa inisisted
Terri turned to Juhani
"Get a stim ready." She ordered
"Stop! A stim will kill her." The man spoke
Terri and Juhani gave him their full attention. With a sigh he swept his hair back and took of the half mask
"Knight Arc?" Juhani asked amazed
"Here I am known as Shearden. As to the stim, with the amount of electricity she took a stim will trigger a cardiac arrest. A force heal is the only thing that will help her now." Arc spoke
Terri nodded and pulled Melissa closer before taking a meditation pose and entering a force Heal trance and pulling the injured girl in with her. Juhani moved to the control panel and deactivated the cage and the knight stepped out. He looked at Juhani
"What are you doing here apprentice?" He asked
"Knight now and I could ask the same." Juhani replied
He gave a disarming smile
"Fair enough, are you willing to wait for your companions or will I need to tell my tale repeatedly." He said
"I can wait but it better be a good tale." Juhani replied
"Fair enough, would you by any chance have any food with you? It has been a few days in the cage and Uln was not a gracious host." Arc shrugged
"MRE's only I am afraid. Sith MRE's." Juhani stated
"Then hunger is a better option." Arc replied
Juhani smirked before throwing over a candy bar she liberated from Terri's pack
"Be thankfull that both my sisters in all but blood have a sweettooth otherwise that would have been your fate." She said
Arc gave an over exaggerated bow
"My lady, I shall never forget your kindness."
He sat down against the backrest of the force cage and opened the bar.
"Since we are waiting, what news do you have of the enclave? It has been a while since I left." He asked
"Expelled and blacklisted you mean." Juhani replied
"A matter of opinion. You say expelled I say creatively self discharged."
"Thanks to you all of the apprentices and padawans got week long lectures on appropriate behaviour, decorum classes and endless lectures on the dangers of attachment." Juhani replied bluntly
"Good times." Arc smiled
"I did not get to the worst, Vrook giving a lecture on the inappropriateness of Jedi copulating with another." Juhani said
Arc shuddered on hearing that
"I am surprised you have not beaten me yet. No one should have to suffer through that."
"Revenge is a dish best served cold I am told." Juhani said with a smirk
Terri woke the sound of laughter, she felt stiff and held a heavy weight in her arms. Blearily she wiped her eyes and looked at the sight before her. Juhani and the unknown male were lying on their side chatting away, a pile of wrappers attesting to the fate of her and Melissa's candy supply
"So there I was, Vandar looking at me as I was trying to hide in the fountain. I knew I was busted." The male spoke
"What did you do?" Juhani asked between giggles
"I looked at him and said "Master I am sorry to report that my new meditation technique does not work." Vandar just looked at me and said "Pants needed they are for mediation." Then he walked off."
Juhani howled with laughter. Terri straightened and let Melissa lay down in her lap
"I take it you know each other then." She said
"Alexai Arc, Terri Cazor. Alexai was my crèche minder at the enclave. And one of the worst influences we ever had" Juhani introduced the man
" You did not need my guidance to misbehave if I recall correctly." Alexai replied
Alexai threw Terri a sauve smile while smoothing back his hair while standing up
"I have to say that I have rarely met such a ravishing knight as you before." He said, voice seductive
"A charming knight, did not see that coming." Terri replied dryly
"My lady you wrong me." Alexai stated
"Alexai, her girlfriend will hunt you down, Quit while you are a parsec behind." Juhani told him
"Damn, struck out again."
"And before you have any ideas, Melissa is a minor." Terri said firmly
"When are you all going to accept that I am an adult." Melissa complained from Terri's lap.
"When you stop getting yourself hurt and rushing in by yourself." Juhani said firmly
"Ditto." Terri added, giving Melissa flick to the ear
"She is the little sister then I take it." Alexai said
"Yes." Juhani and Terri stated
"Not going to warn me off ? Threaten me as the older sisters job dictates." Alexai asked
"No need, you do not have a chance." Juhani said airily
Terri fixed him with a stare.
"Juhani may know you, and the fact she is relaxed near you is a good indicator but it will take more to impress me. Now Juhani called you knight. What are you doing here?"
Alexai sat down again and looked her straight in the eyes.
"I am here looking for the little sister of my old master. She is somewhere in the officer academy and getting into the Academy was my only way to try and get to her." He said seriously
"That explains the mask and hair dye." Juhani commented
"The mask also modifies my voice. Everyone else is under the impression I am a helium breather, had to pretend quite a few times to be suffocating when someone tried to unmask me in spars." He said
"Start at the beginning." Melissa said, not moving from Terri's lap
"Getting kicked out of the enclave is where I would start." Juhani said unhelpfully
"You just want to ruin my reputation so that little sis will not get interested." Alexai complained
"Keep telling yourself that." Juhani smirked
Alexai settled himself and leaned back against the backrest of the force cage
"Very well. I left the jedi shortly after being knighted after a difference of opinion with the council." He started
"Is that what they call it now. Getting caught shagging another new knight on top of Vandar's chair in the council room." Juhani interrupted
Alexai rolled his eyes
"Fine, I had serious issues with a lot of the rules I was supposed to abide by, attachment being one of them."
"In other words he is what did Carth call them, a corndog?" Juhani said
"Horndog." Terri corrected
"Anyway, after a closed session it was decided by myself and the council that our paths should diverge on a permanent basis. However I kept in contact with my old master on a very frequent basis. Against Council proscripts she tracked down her birth family and made contact with them. She found she had a little sister an autumn child I believe they call it, there was an age gap of thirty years between them."
"That is quite an age gap." Melissa commented
"True, they met infrequently and then the worst happened. Their parents contracted talaxian fever and the medication was ineffective with them. So she became the legal guardian of her sister. Needles to say the Jedi council had hissy fits of note and my master resigned from the order to take care of her sister. However she had no idea how to deal with a teenager and well Jedi training does not even begin to help with that. They got into a huge fight and the sister ran of and joined the Sith forces out of spite."
Alexia shifted in place
"Then my master got a message from her sister in which she apologised. She said she realised she made a mistake, however she can not get out of the situation she got herself into, being assigned to the officer academy here for training. My master would have come to get her herself."
"But she is too well known and would not make it to the front door." Terri predicted
"That and that she is currently the leader of the resistance against Sith occupation on Crandor. As her second in command I was not as well known and I volunteered to come get her."
"But the two Academies do not interact unless there are very specific circumstances." Terri pointed out
"True but graduating at the Academy allows a student to select support staff among the military students before starting service to the empire. A perk very few use or know of."
"But that would mean you need to be the one chosen for the trail." Terri pointed out again
"The trail is only for the one being selected for advancement to the Malachor academy or being kept here as an apprentice of the master of the academy. The top ten is passed and allocated to the Sith fleet or where Malak wants them. The ones you saw at the execution was the last two graduating classes." Alexai corrected her
"So you were pushing for the top ten, grab her and disappear, that was your plan?" Terri asked
"In a pod, yes. And I am almost at my end goal. Now what are the three of you here for?"
"Looking for a map in the tomb of Naga Sadow." Terri answered
"So one of you three have to be the top student." Alexai stated
"Yes. And fair warning I think Wynn is suspecting us." Terri replied
"Here is the deal. I will help you get to your goal. In return you help me get my masters sister."
Terri shared a look with her companions
"You have a deal. Who is the girl we need to rescue?"
"Her name is second lieutenant Ameli Paig. I have a holopic in my room I can show you of her."
"No need I know who she is. So does Terri." Melissa stated
Terri got a devilish smirk on her face
"So with that settled shall we start to plan the destruction of the Sith academy in the tomb of one of it creators?"