Chương 245: Vault of the Sith
I don't own Star wars
"…That is a big door." Lidia declared as T2 'bwoooed' up at it. Flashing his light along the massive ornate door before us. There were no other paths, no other options other than turning around and throwing T2 across that gap again.
"…I could try punching it." I replied as she ran her hand over the smooth surface of the carven stone. It was twice as tall as me and four times as broad.
"As interesting as that might be to watch, I don't think that's the best option. Just one of many Sith ones… she put both hands on the door and closed her eyes. She went quiet, occasionally her hands would slide quietly on the stone.
After a moment that felt like forever, I drew my new 'flashlight' and raised it's red glow above my head to provide some semblance of light as T2 wobbled nervously. "Bwowo?!"
"He's not attacking me T2. Shush I'm trying to focus." I blinked at her, and realized that maybe holding a lightsaber in the air 'ready to strike' is not proper etiquette when standing behind a jedi. Regardless I needed the light and glanced around at the door looking for something. A lock, a hinge, something to grab or something odd about the door. I only managed to see grooves around it which only told us that it was a door of some sort…
Lidia, leaned forward almost pressing her forehead to it, pushing her unsurprisingly shapely backside out behind me. Even in jedi robes it was still obvious… I noted said backside before returning my attention to the door. Then the floor of the door as T2 wobbled around us. The hum of his treads echoing up the tunnel as he 'paced'.
I watched him for a minute as the seconds ticked away, then the minutes… Time continued to flow as we waited here trying to open a door that I'm increasingly starting to believe we should've just blown up…
…I miss Boomer.
"T2 please stop doing that." Lidia suddenly spoke as T2 froze, spinning his head and his eye light around.
"Bwoo!"
"I know it calms you down but I would like quiet. Please." She said as I glanced down at T2, wobbling on his treads again as I frowned. His sides scrapped the bottom of the door, along with some of the dirt that had collected over the eons…
There are grooves there… just enough for my fingers.
I knelt down as Lidia continued to focus. Hands on the door but I don't think her meditation was working. I slipped my fingers down into the grooves as T2 began 'chattering again'
"Beep-BEEP! Bwoo."
"I'm aware I need to eat. And sleep, and drink and I know you can't leave on your own. But we're here now and I need to… to…"
"Nnngh!" I gripped beneath the door, my muscles tensing as my teeth ground together, "NAaaarrgggh!!" my voice echoed in the labyrinth as I planted my feet and heaved!
…..Creeaak…
"Oh…" the wall rose as I hefted it up to my chest… then getting it onto my shoulders. "…Wow." Lidia smiled prettily as I stood up, straining under the weight as I acted as a support beam. The door was heavy, but nothing I couldn't handle. The weight wasn't the problem, it was where I could grab it. Now that I got it on my shoulders it wasn't much of an issue.
"…Bwow." T2 wobbled, before speeding into the room.
"T2-oh… Hold on Kal." She said, walking into the room… it was dark inside and I couldn't see. "…I need to… Ah-ha! Perfect! Don't move Kal." Out of the darkness a large cylindrical pillar, a little smaller than I was, hovered towards me and rested against the inside of the raised door opposite me. It wasn't completely smooth, it had been chipped, cracked and slashed but I quickly understood what she was going for…
I lowered the door slightly until it rested on the broken pillar before I slipped beneath it. It groaned slightly, but remained open as Lidia smiled in the dark. "Hah! Good Work." She declared before reaching for her lightsaber. "Now help me look for-" she froze as her lightsaber light up the room and for the first time since we got down her she looked concerned. "Oh… Oooooh no…" she breathed in awe as I glanced around…
…I'm not one for majestic views but despite the fact that this place was built by the antithesis of the Jedi and most likely cruel slave labor… it was a sight to behold. The massive room was bigger than our ship, as big as an amphitheater on Coruscant and that could fit thousands of people… And regardless of the comparatively tiny light of Lidia's saber it seemed to turn the entire room green…
We stood in the center of a smooth spacious floor surrounded by twelve feet tall stone pillars, one of which is now used to prop the door open How do I know they were twelve feet tall if they were collapsed? One still proudly stood despite another pillar leaning against it. But past those pillars Numerous stone stands stood around the circular wall of the massive room… the stands were displays: Robes, Armor, lightsabers… adorn with plaques at their feet in languages I didn't understand, nor did my translator… in between those displays were stone statues armed with two handed broadswords, some of them however were smashed like the pillars, some were missing altogether.
"Ohooooh no." Lidia Sheepishly, gazing up at the rising room stretching out higher and higher like steps…
There were HUNDREDS of small triangular and square devices, now reflecting red in Lidia's green light as she stared in both awe and concern.
"…There… there are to many." She breathed. "This… I didn't expect there to be so many it would take me years to safety look through them all!" she stared at me apologetically. "…I have no idea which is the one that Master Knox needs…"
"…What is he looking for exactly?"
"History." She said frankly. "History of the Voices. Documentation, genealogical references, dental records… something to prove his theories." She replied disappointedly. "…But I can't look through Hundreds of Holocrons for that Kal." She scowled and sighed, "…Who knows what I could end up seeing… Dark Jedi lies, cataclysmic battles… such things that would be… well, 'unpleasant' isn't the best word but I'll go with it." she approached wall, gazing at the ominous glowing devices.
"…I could end up relieving the worst moments of my life. Again and Again. I could be tortured mentally with visions of my death or the death of those I know…"
I glared at the walls around me. Approaching one as Lidia continued to speak. One closest to an intact stone man standing vigil beside a suit of ancient armor that oddly looked more like a slave bikini… but with spikes.
I stared at one of the triangular glowing devices… reached out. And grabbed it…
Whatever I expected… Nothing was surprisingly on a low list of things. I held it in my hands, it was cold to the touch and surprisingly heavy. It might make an interesting paperweight. But I felt no ominous whispers or uncontrolled desires. It just glowed…
"Kal put that down." Lidia spoke suddenly as I glanced over my shoulder at her. She didn't look concerned about my safety. Oddly bored, or maybe even a little frustrated. "Try not to touch anything until I can figure out what's what."
"You said that that could take you years." I replied as she nodded. "
"…Yes…" she knelt by one of the fallen pillars. "I DID say that until I saw these. Bring that light closer please." I returned with the lightsaber, and on the stone pillars were, to me, very elaborate scratch marks. Symbols or runes might be the better term, but I certainly couldn't read them. "…Darth Rockal. Darth… Car'Nage…" she glanced around behind the pillar. Frowned, then flexed her fingers. "Okay. Hold on." She returned to the center of the pillar Circle, took a breath, and sat down. Crossing her legs.
I watched her curiously… then the pillars started to rumble. "…Wow." I replied as the crumbled pillars started to rise from the ground and spiralled around us.
"Bwoo!" T2 Started to float, but I put my hand on his head and pushed him back down. "…Bwoo." He seemed to be thanking me but I was too focused on the pillars settling back together like puzzle pieces… towering over us now all except for one…
Parts of that were being used to hold up the door after all.
"…Woooo…" she said, looking tired. "Better." She got back up. "…Alright. These pillars are a guideline, and index…" she ran her fingers over the ancient letters as I held up the lightsaber. "…Oh…" she fell backward as I caught her on one arm. "I-I'm alright… I'm alright." She replied, but slowly got back to her feet. "These were heavier than they looked." She eventually stopped running her fingers over the words. "These" she pointed past the pillar towards the rising wall of holocrons. "Are historical battles." She walked over to another pillar. "Running her hands. "Apprentice Trial records…" then another pillar looking particularly chipper. Then finally another, freezing… then tapping the pillar from top to bottom.
"….Here! she tapped the very bottom and ran up the steps of the holocron holders until she reached almost the very top. Then hesitated reaching down hesitated again just before she touched… then grabbed it. "…This one. Is the one master Knox would want."
"What is it?"
"Genealogical records." She said quietly, holding the horocron like it was some sort of ancient relic… I guess it technically was. "A… genetic data of the History of Voices. With this we could potentially find their descendants and study their history: as well as prove that the Voices existed in the first place apart from a few ludicrous rumors…" she held the holocron, gazing at it studiously before wrapping it in a cloth, and stuffing it into a pouch under her robe.
"…So what are the rest of these?" I asked, looking at the Holocrons, stopping on a row of them that weren't even glowing.
"Oh…" she skipped down the steps, smiling at me as she ran her hands over the various pillars. "Fighting styles… torture methods. Force techniques… these though…" she stopped at the pillar behind me. "These are… these are empty…" she frowned at that. "That's curious." She added, approaching me.
"Why?" I asked picking one off the step and examining it.
"Why would they keep empty Holocrons?" she asked, "You don't just have those you make them as you need them." She said curiously. "That's fascinating…" she said excitedly.
"…If you say so." I tossed it in the air, and caught it.
"Bwoop?" T2, left to his own devices, had been rolling around examining the various stands and equipment… passing a particularly long sith robe, too long it draped on the floor like a curtain. It caught in his treads. And he pulled it over… The stand topped over easily and crashed against the stone statue… "BWOOW!" the droid sped away quickly as I caught the holocron and slipped it into my pocket without thinking…
We turned in surprise just in time to see the statue… move.
Its head slowly turned to face up, it's eyes lit up with sith red light as it drew the stone broadsword off it's podium and raised it threateningly, stomping towards us.
"Oh dear." Declared Lidia surprised as I popped my claws and charged between the stone guardian and a squealing T2.
"Raargh!" I hurled myself at the Guardian, my vibro claws easily sinking into it's chest as it raised a stone fist and SLAMMED it into me. Punching me to the floor. I won't write that off, it hurt like hell and briefly stunned me. "NNGH!"
Unaffected by the deep gashes in its chest and the noticeable spark of torn droid parts inside it gripped the stone sword and raised it… even if I wasn't stunned I don't think I could just catch that it must weigh over half a ton.
However.
"KAL! THE DOOR!" Shouted Lidia as the Guardian paused and struggled, Lidia holding her hands out using the force to keep it off me. "Run to the door!"
I rolled away as she squirmed slightly to the door. I got up, grabbing T2 under one arm and Lidia under the other as I dashed to the door. "Ahha-ahhh-aaah!" she laughed in disbelief as I slid under it. But the guardian stone droid thing was still chasing us, crawling under the door, ominously slow. As Lidia focused… and pushed the stone pillar propping the door back into the room.
There was a sickening CRUNCH. As the door dropped onto the droid with enough force to smash it's upper body clean away… how the hell did I lift that in the first place? It twitched and sparked as I put down the Jedi and the droid, approached the guardian by gripping it's head… and tearing it off.
"…Well I didn't expect that." She noted, clearing her throat. "…Excellent work Kal…"
"Pretty sure you did most of it." I said as she just winked at me. "Not even sure why I needed to come along."
"Don't be silly Kallus Jedi aren't invincible. I might never have opened the door without ruining it, or escaping that droid guard without injuries… it might have taken me ages to map this labyrinth without Rattletrap's help.
"Bwooo!"
"It would've taken you ages to make such a device and you know it." she replied firmly. As she took a breath, "…Now. Let's get out of this dark place I miss the fresh air. How long have we been down here?"
"No idea." I replied.
"Bwoo-beep."
"…T2 says almost 16 hours." She replied surprised, I was as well.
"We've been down here for 16 hours?" I blinked, "That doesn't seem right."
"…Time flows differently when you're unaware of it." She replied, beginning to talk again as I followed her back the way we came. "I once met a man who spent three days in a hollow asteroid and thought he actually spent 5…" and other such bits of trivia she told me to pass the time.
...…
"Hmmn-hmmn…" Rattletrap hummed as power ran through the ship. Lala and Nerri played pazaak as Oriana kept a vigil from the cockpit. The creatures did indeed stay away from their light path but they were out in the darkness she was certain. But Rattletrap didn't really care… he was busy.
He tapped away on the keyboard watching the screen hooked up to the 'sleeping' X-E as she 'slumbered' on… occasionally, his words and letters would be deleted, or replaced… or completely whiped away like someone shaking an etch-e-sketch. He raised his hands, slapped his head, and pressed it against the glass. Sighing to himself…
He didn't move… he didn't think. Almost twenty years he's been trying to fix his beloved droid and nothing he could think of was working… there was nothing mechanically wrong with her. It was all mental… all programming…
He sighed again…Dolly was good to him, supportive… but it was getting to a point now that he couldn't keep focusing on the past. Maybe it was time to put X-E into the proverbial scrap heap… maybe a nice display box memorial? Something tasteful, something nice… Maybe Roland would like to hold onto her? Just so he could try and move on in peace?
…Maybe one more long night of programming? A few extra anti-virus programs…
Or maybe deep down he hoped there was something in that maze's vault that could restore the loyal droid…
A Sith trinket broke her, maybe a sith trinket could fix her.
End
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