The Ruin

"Speech"

"Radio or calls"

'Thoughts'

Shuttle above Khor Hazat

Marie looked out of the window on the bridge of the shuttle at Khor Hazat. The planet was lush and green, two big continents covering most of the planet. The water was deep blue, and as the shuttle descended through the atmosphere, passing by the Victory-class Star Destroyer, the green transformed into miles and miles of jungle, with a sparse collection of facilities and work camps spread throughout the planet.

A shiver went down her spine as she looked at the planet. There was something uncomfortable about this place. 'Why is it so uninhabited? I would expect some form of settlement, but all there seems to be is imperial facilities. Maybe Ribbons's people will be able to explain it.'

And that bad feeling only got worse as the imperial craft neared the moderate-sized temple that rose out of the ground. It was dark and empty, like a maw. And there was something worse below the surface, though she couldn't identify that any more than a vague sensation. 'It's almost like the planet is infused by the dark side.' The stone was dark and carved to look malevolent, hanging over the area like a threatening god. Trees and other plants that seemed to grow out of it looked dead, like they were drained of life.

The rest of the camp looked like pre-constructed base, with a large central building that acted as a command center, rising up to have a good view of everything. She had operated out of some of them during her career, which contained a medical center, prison cells, an armory and communication post. Adding to that security was five sentry towers around a large fence that penned in the sight, with just enough room for one trooper to stand in.

Around the building, which lay on the bottom left corner of the site, were large cargo containers, a few sentries around them. And to the north of them lay a line of tents and another pre-fabricated building, which looked like they were the living quarters of everyone who was here, the plain grey building for the troops.

And to her severe distaste, over one hundred laborers toiled at the site, more guards watching over them, several with whips in their hands. They wore nothing more than rags, though it looked like some had better coverage, wearing better maintained clothing. If she had to guess, these would be the people getting paid to do this, versus the prisoners and slaves that were doing the rest of this. 'Though were the prisoners being treated much better than the slaves? I don't know what these men and women did, but surely this is too much?'

She pursed her lips intently, an itch in her growing. There was naked injustice here, yet she was just as tangled in this web of cruelty and abuse. And if she didn't want to reveal herself, she would have to ignore it for now. The shuttle landed at one of the landing sites around the site, a sharp hiss as the pilot lowered the ramp, which Marie just nodded at, the pilots returning a quick salute.

She walked down the ramp as the pilot collected a manifest and request form, following behind her. Marie kept an even face as she was greeted by a purple-haired, androgynous figure, a pair of glasses sitting on the bridge of their nose, red eyes hard to read. They wore the same uniform as Ribbons, no weapon in sight. With a datapad in hand, the figure spoke in a friendly manner, "Greetings, Lieutenant Peries. We were told to prepare for your arrival. I am Regene Regetta, primary aide to Inquisitor Almark. I will guide you around, till you get a hand of the place."

Marie just nodded, and the pilot gave the manifest to Regene, who just nodded, "I will get men to do the necessary repairs. Thank you." The pilot walked towards the headquarters, leaving Marie alone with Regene.

The Echani just hummed under her breath, "Thank you. Do you have the powers, like your master does?"

"No, I am merely a normal person. My master prefers his assistants to able to hide from Jedi, just in case they ever detect that. Though I run the day to day operations, leaving the Inquisitor to be able to focus on the important things, so I don't tend to be in the field that often."

Marie just nodded, "You aren't his only agent?"

Regene just smirked, "No, he has a number of field agent he uses to gather intel before he acts. And I must say, you seem to be asking some very operational questions. Is there any issues that you want to talk about?"

"No, it's fine. I have just never really seen what the inner working of the Inquisition look like." She could see there was something in Regene's eye, like that aide knew something that she didn't. It bothered her more than she expected, but she had to maintain her cool. 'Which isn't easy with the casual dark side aura all over this place.'

The intelligence agent changed the topic, "When I was flying in, I saw that this planet looked mostly uninhabited. Is there a reason a lush planet has few living people on it, or no permanent settlements?"

Regene just hummed, "Well, according to our digging, this ruin is over four thousand years old, potentially even older. It went back to the days of the Old Republic. The Sith must have done some sort of ritual over that time, as the planet is infused with the dark side. That is why settlement was so hard." Regene tapped something on her datapad, then she continued, "The creatures here are unusually aggressive, and often threatened any long term settlements. And there are other lost remains, now covered by the vast jungles, that showed settlements in ruin. We aren't sure how, but I theorize the dark side gradually changed anyone that lived here for too long."

Marie kept a straight face, but a shiver went down her spine at the mention of the corruption of the planet. She hadn't learned much about the ancient Sith, or even the ancient Jedi. She strengthened her will as much as she could, even if there might not be someone who could detect her here. 'It's not worth the risk.' Marie just followed Regene as she guided them up the center of the base, moving passed cordoned off dig areas, "And what about the other sites on the planet?"

"Merely for gathering wood and other natural resources. They tend to come in and out every couple years. Companies often lose people to the animals and nature here. On top of the bad feelings pretty much everyone feels while they are here. I estimate that they will only be here for another year at most." Regene wasn't even looking at Marie, just guiding them to the ruin. Her eyes just seemed to casually look over the datapad, not even looking at the ground as they avoided the workers and guards that were strewn throughout the area.

Marie looked at Regene with narrowed eyes, "And how much longer do you expect to be here?"

"No more than a couple more months. This place has a much more concentrated amount of the dark side, especially to force users. Some of the workers even report regular nightmares. Not that the opinion of criminals matter." Regene spoke with a calm, collected tone, no emoting leaving her.

Marie's nose scrunched a bit at that, but otherwise rolled with it, "Have you been attacked recently? It seems you have relatively light security for an operation like this."

Regene stopped and turned around to look at the intelligence agent, "Besides some of the beasts getting a bit too aggressive, there has been no attacks on this sight. It was worse when we started, before the fence was setup. We even had to arm some of the paid laborers to help. But that's not important now, as our defenses are as good as possible." Regene had a confident smile on her face, and gestured to the now towering ruin, "This is what we were here for."

Marie took a deep breath, and shuddered as the aura radiating off the temple shook her to her bones. She knew the planet and site were baked in the dark side, but the epicenter was here. She swore she could hear the screams coming from it as she pursed her lips, looking at the aide. Regene's lips seemed to shift into a smirk, which Marie barely kept from growling at.

Regene kept her focus on Marie, "So, what do you think?"

"It's impressive, if nothing else. The fact it probably lasted thousands of years on a planet like this is important, I suppose. Were the ancient Sith this powerful?"

Regene chuckled darkly, "You have no idea. The old Republic buried this history, and Ribbons has been very interested in this subject. But let me show you inside."

Regene began to walk up the steps, Marie marching behind her, using all her suppressed power to keep her control. 'I hope Allelujah is having a better day.'

Orbit Around Khor Hazat

The Vagabond dropped out of hyperspace far from the orbit of the planet. Lyle didn't know what sort of orbital defenses, and as soon as he saw the imperial vessel sitting above the planet, he let out a breath. Him, Christina and Anew were on the bridge, Tieria and Allelujah in the gunner stations, and lastly Feldt was in the engine room.

Anew just nodded at the sight of the Victory-class Star Destroyer, "I'm not surprised he has one of these. Ribbons was paranoid about the security of this place."

Lyle looked at the woman, who was sitting in the seat next to his, "Was that there the last time you were here?"

Anew blushed slightly, "I remember the report said it was only a couple of Tartans. Ribbons must have called in some of his resources. Is this going to be a problem?"

Lyle just smirked, "No, not really. We can sneak in real easy and out, but it does mean we might get more dinged up if things get hot." He patched communications to Feldt, "Is the stealth drive working?"

"As much as possible. It's being fiddly like usual, but Haro and I have things under control." Feldt's voice was confident, and the beeps from Haro caused Lyle to chuckle.

"Good job you two." He let the communication drop, activating the stealth drive. The shields dropped as Lyle took a modest pace, gliding through space as he gave the imperial ship a wide berth. 'Just because we are invisible doesn't mean it's worth risking our hides.' He held his breath as he entered the sensor range of the ship, but no fire came from the vessel, and no TIE Fighters launched.

Once Lyle was confident that he was out of the sensor range, he let that breath out, and looked at Anew, who nodded appreciatively, "That stealth drive seems very useful."

The Corellian grinned, "Rebel command can be very generous."

"Didn't you say before you are mostly on your own out here?" Lyle blushed and looked away, causing Anew to smile, "You are very cute." That only caused him to blush a bit deeper, as he guided the ship to the growing planet below that, descending into the atmosphere.

Tieria's voice echoed from the gunner's station, "Can you two not flirt on the job?" Lyle just groaned at the annoyed tone, and he could almost imagine the soldier tapping his feet in annoyance.

Anew called back to him, "We won't be distracted." A grunt of disgust reached their ears, and even Christina couldn't help but giggle. The three people on the bridge chuckled a little as they cleared the atmosphere, Lyle moving closer to the ruin.

Lyle then opened a call to Setsuna, who was in the hallway near the exit ramp, "You're up soon. Be ready to move."

Boarding Ramp of the Vagabond

Setsuna grit his teeth as an unpleasant sensation filled his head. It was only getting worse as they got closer to the surface, Lyle finding a landing zone as close to the camp as possible. Setsuna could take deep breaths as he tried to ignore the sensation prickling in the back of his head. It was dark, pungent and left a bad taste in his mouth.

Allelujah chimed in over communications, his voice a bit strained, "Setsuna, this planet is laced with the dark side. We won't be here that long, but don't let its influence get to you."

Setsuna just let out a breath, "It feels so…cold. So…crushing. Didn't you say that the dark side is all the primal and base emotions."

"Yes, but not every place has the same history, the same use of the force. This place's history might have had a different reason for feeling this way. Sorry I can't tell you any more than that."

Setsuna responded evenly, "No worries. I can keep my head on straight till you guys arrive." A wave of comfort filled him, and he silently sent back his thanks to Feldt, forgetting for a second she could probably sense his unease. 'I know she's not the happiest I'm going alone, but at least she'll be safe here.'

The ship finally hit the ground, and Setsuna, wearing his armor and a simple vibrodagger and blaster at his side. He had instinctually gone for his weapon when he went to the armory, but had to remind himself that it was gone. He prepared himself as the ramp lowered, and the muggy atmosphere immediately hit him, the large swath of jungle readily apparent.

Lyle's voice echoed through his comms, "Now get going Setsuna. We'll be here for a few hours before we leave back for space. Just stay alive and be careful."

Setsuna chuckled slightly as he nodded, "Will do." He was about to take a step down the ramp when the door to the engine room opened up and a nervous Feldt looked at him, wrapping her arms around him as she pulled him in for a short kiss, her lips quivering. The Kiffar closed his eyes as he returned it, holding her close. As the kiss broke, he gave her a confident look, "I'll stay alive. I will come back."

Feldt bit her lip nervously, but nodded, "Alright." He pecked her one more time and left her grip, moving down the ramp. Setsuna scanned the environment, seeing the ship sitting in a small clearing. He knew the camp was to the east, and looking at the data being sent to him on his comm device, he had a few miles to go. It was still early afternoon on the world, so the sun was up, giving him a good amount of vision. Setsuna had no urge to try to navigate this unfamiliar jungle at night.

As he left the clearing and headed into the jungle, the ship closing the boarding ramp. 'No more safety for a while. But this won't be the first time that I had to do this.' Memories of his teenage years in the rebellion led by Ali filled him, bringing back bitter memories of victories washed away by the act of one man. Anger rose in his mind, and he couldn't help but let thoughts of revenge filter through him. Ali had gotten away with his crimes, and was still killing innocent people.

But Allelujah's words hit him, and he took a deep breath, centering himself. The mission was right now. Ali could be found and dealt with another day. Setsuna kept his eyes open as he traveled through the jungle, his force senses pushed to their limit. He could sense predators watching him, but staying out of sight as he cut his way through the trees and branches. Sweat poured down him, the Kiffar forgoing his usual outfit for something lighter underneath his armor.

His mind went through what his options would be when he got to the camp, but like what was highlighted before, they had very little on the ground intel. He would have to play it by ear, and gather as much intel as possible. And if possible, see if he could find where they were storing some of the blasting charges. He certainly could do something about that.

But with his years of practice, even on an unfamiliar world, he reached the camp, staying in the shade and cover of the jungle. Like Anew had stated, the fence had went around the camp, besides where the steep side of the mountain created a natural barrier. 'There's no way they wouldn't catch me climbing that.'

His secondary concern was the fact that there were guard posts, with a man in them, leaning casually as they took in the jungle around them. One of them was even looking down onto the camp. Setsuna could see the vague look of a main gate, but that was probably well guarded. And he wished he had the skills to be a true infiltrator and convince them to let him in, but that was beyond his skillset.

He scanned the fence, and ran through a few ideas in his mind. The fence definitely looked electric, but maybe he could do something about that. He just needed to wait for the right time. Closing his eyes after putting on some rubber soles, he let the force flow through him and guide his actions. He could feel the darkness creeping on the edge of his senses, but it didn't seem to try to get to him. It almost felt like it was watching him, stalking him. Not a like a person or an animal, but some god-like being that permeated everything on this planet. An all-seeing eye.

He shuddered but ignored the sensation, trusting his feelings. Deep breaths left him as he waited for minutes on end, feeling the life around him, the people walking through the camp. Despite the dark corruption, the force flowed through everything here. There was a strange beauty to all of this, but before he could get any further, the force told him to act.

He opened his eyes and saw that both guards were looking away from him, moving fast up to the fence. Pulling out his dagger, he used force speed as he plunged the dagger into the fence, cutting at it just enough to let him make a crouching hole. Electricity flowed through him, but with the rubber soles on his boots, it had nowhere to go, leaving an uncomfortable but tolerable sensation.

He grit his teeth as he cut through the fence, using the force to move it out of the way as he slipped his dagger back into his belt. He lowered it to the ground gently and crept through it, using the force to try to put it back in place as best he could. Hopefully the guards wouldn't notice, but he was going to put distance between him and the hole.

The Kiffar moved to find some cover, finding a bunch of supply crates he could hide within. The were reasonably well organized, and he quietly hid in them as he took in the sights. There were workers all over the area, some large gatherings and other smaller. They were digging or working at something, but it looked back breaking all the same.

The guards seemed tense, but it was hard to tell with their helmets on. He scowled as he saw some of the people wore a collar around their neck, one of them falling to his knees as an imperial officer held a datapad. It wasn't the first time he had seen the imperials use a shock collar. 'Just like back on my home world. If I can take out the control system, then the guards have no power.'

He looked at the imposing ruin, a dark presence emanating from it, even with his suppressed powers. It was like a dark heart, beating a steady and ominous pace. 'And we are going to have to go in it.' Strangest of all was the fact there was something calling to him deep in the temple, but he couldn't tell where, just that something was in there. But he took a deep breath and looked towards the command building reluctantly, knowing that there would be the armory and other important facilities.

He knew he would have to be cautious moving around, and would have to find a safe, long term spot to rest and avoid detection. That would be his first goal. He could see the imperial sentry barely miss him hiding in the crates, and knew that he couldn't stay here for long.

And as he began to move, his elbow hit the top of one of the crates, a small sound echoing. He held in a breath, but after a minute, no one seemed to investigate. Carefully looking up, he saw the crate contained a number of large explosives, obviously used for less military functions, and more for excavation. But an idea formed, a small smile appearing on his face. 'I think I can do something with this.'

Bridge of the Vagabond

Two hours after Setsuna left, the ship took off again, headed back into space, stealth drive running. Lyle looked down at the planet as it became smaller and smaller. 'Good luck Setsuna.' He had faith, but he hated the gut feeling of just leaving him down there.

He looked at Anew, who nodded and spoke evenly, "I have my clearance and can claim I commandeered this vessel for my use. Regene shouldn't question me too much."

Lyle just nodded, "Then we better hope you and Christina working on our IDs gets us in the clear." He looked into the endless void of space, hoping that all goes well. 'Though knowing our luck it's going to go all to hell.'

Author Note

And we come to the end of the chapter! We have now reach the ruin, and both Marie and our team will have to meet again. The drama will certainly be fun, and I'm going to enjoy the next couple chapters. See you guys next time!