章節 98: Chapter 98
Arriving at the cave the Ewok Elder told us about, everyone began searching the vicinity for any signs of recent activity. Finding small animal tracks all over the place, strangely nothing came within ten feet of the cave entrance. Using the Force to check the cave system beneath our feet, neither Anakin nor I could detect anything below us.
"Well it certainly strange that no bats or bugs are in the caves below, but that might just be normal for this planet. Its possible the monster is already dead already.", Anakin remarked, "How do you want to do this, Victor?"
"Whether the thing is alive or dead, we should still bring back proof that the threat has passed. That means we must go into the cavern system and find it.", I stated, "Luxion, dispatch drones into the cavern system and begin mapping it out. We will head in fifteen minutes afterwards to give them time to work."
<My apologies, Master, unfortunately I cannot comply with that order. I already attempted to send drones down, but they lost communication after going twenty feet in. The bedrock and soil's composition is interfering with radio communications.>
"That is unusual, we have never encountered a problem like that before. I suppose I will need to upgrade our communication equipment to compensate for instances like this in the future.", I said, adding it to my long list of things to do, "Since that is not an option, we will have to manually search the caverns ourselves. Maybe we will uncover where exactly those two kyber crystals came from. I really doubt that there are only two crystals on this world."
"Yes, and if we find a large quantity of kyber crystals, this world will fall under the Jedi Order's jurisdiction! That means the Ewoks and other people that call this world home would be safe from harm.", Mylene commented, desperate to render further assistance to the cute teddy bears, "If you were not interested though, we could just move this world into our nation's territory."
"Hang on a moment, let us not get too ahead of ourselves. The Jedi Order will do what we can to protect the world and the people that call it home.", Anakin said, knowing how rare world's with kyber crystals were, 'I am certain the High Council will agree once they examine the two crystals we found. Since Ahsoka and I have never seen crystals like them before, they could be a completely undiscovered crystal type!'
Patting Mylene on the back, I was proud to see she had picked up on that tidbit of information during our earlier discussion with the High Council. Using their desire to control the flow of kyber crystals was a brilliant move on her part, I expected nothing less from my fiancée. Turning our collective attention to the entrance, Mylene and I cast the spell Candlelight before proceeding inside.
As we entered the cave, we immediately noticed a rut in the floor roughly fifteen feet wide. Clearly worn down by something large over millennia, this confirmed that the locals had been telling the truth. Cautiously following the rut further into the cave, when we reached the back wall, we discovered a large unnatural tunnel that led further underground. Having Luxion scan the anomaly for further information, I added additional mana to my spell to further increase its illumination.
<Master, my sensors indicate that a highly corrosive substance and some unknown items were used to cut through the rock. I can also confirm that whoever dug this did so from the backside, not the front.>
"Thank you, Luxion.", I replied, "Given the minimal technology the locals have, the most likely explanation is that the monster gnawed its way through the rock itself."
"It sounds outrageous, but then again the universe is a wide place.", Ahsoka commented, poking her head into the tunnel, "Master Anakin, since this is likely a new species, should we take back a DNA sample?"
Nodding his head in agreement, the five of us continued into the tunnel and began a slow descent into the earth. Dropping almost two thousand feet down, the tunnel finally leveled out and led into a massive cavern. Discovering hundreds of other similar holes all around the area, it was clear that the monster had been quite busy. Tossing a Magelight into the cavern to illuminate it better, we found piles of ancient skeletal remains covering the floor, but nothing else.
"Maybe it died in one of the tunnels. We should start checking them out.", Roxanne commented, about to step into the room.
"Before anyone steps into the room, we need to examine the ceiling first.", I stated, holding her back, "If you will notice, there are no ruts in the floor of the cavern."
Taking a closer look at the cavern floor, everyone realized that I was indeed correct. Knowing full well that things do not just vanish, that left only one option. Poking our heads into the room, we found an enormous, singular stalactite fixed right in the center of the space. Having Luxion scan it for vital signs, he detected a very faint audible heartbeat inside, but the scanners showed nothing.
"So advanced sensor-arrays and the Force cannot detect this thing, that is troubling.", Anakin remarked, "To my knowledge, this is the first time the Order has encountered something like this. Instead of taking a sample back, we will need to take the entire corpse back. The High Council will want to examine how it shields itself from the Force in the event the Sith get ahold of technology similar to it."
"On our homeworld, there are monsters called Gargoyles that possess the ability to turn themselves into stone. I have never been able to detect them with Force when they are in that state. This creature is probably in that same species of monster.", I replied, examining it closely for a moment, "As for killing it, I think we can all agree that fighting down here is not a great option. Depending on how the fight goes, it could collapse the ceiling on us and make a break for it. Our best bet is going to be using explosive to collapse the other exits and force the creature to fight us topside."
"Agreed, but how are we going to remotely detonate them?", Ahsoka inquired, "Radio communications do not work here."
"The old fashion way.", I chuckled, pulling a large spool of wire and C4 out of my Storage.
Using the Force to place the explosives on the ceilings of the other tunnels, I wired them all together and began feeding wire out as we made our way back outside. Once we were safely outside, Mylene cut and stripped the wire back. Looking back at us to confirm we were ready, all of us gave her the thumbs to do it. Striking the exposed wire with a Lightning Spell, a large explosion violently shook the area as the C4 went off. Immediately following the detonation, an ear-piercing shriek came from inside the cave as Anakin, Ahsoka, and I all detected a large life sign below us.
"Oh boy, that thing is not happy!", Ahsoka laughed, watching the creature begin to move up the tunnel, "It should be here in two minutes."
"Since we do not know what the monster's capabilities are, we should attack with a variety of weapons. Anakin and Ahsoka will use their lightsabers, Mylene will use magic, Roxanne will use her Energy Sword, and I will use laser and repulsor blasts on it.", I stated.
Agreeing to my plan, everyone ready themselves for the unexpected. Crawling out of the cave two minutes later, the hideous monster revealed itself to us. Having the appearance of a purple slug, it possessed five different mouths with four of them affixed to the end of tentacles. Lashing out at the open air with its tentacles, it did not seem to notice us suggesting the creature was blind and relied on movement, sound, or vibration to track its prey.
Opening fire on the creature, while the other three rushed forward, I began blasting it with a repulsor gatling gun while Mylene attacked it from underneath with Earth Needle. Piercing through the monster easily, the blood that sprayed out began dissolving the Earth Needles and everything it splattered on. Jumping out of the way before it could touch them, Mylene began to profusely apologize to them as her attack could have left them with terrible burns.
"I should have taken into consideration that other fluids in its body were acidic as well. My sincerest apologies!", Mylene said, raising earthen walls to shield them.
"Do not worry about it! Our attacks would have done the same thing, and there would have been no dodging it that close.", Anakin commented, genuinely relieved they had not directly attacked it, "Ahsoka, pumble it with debris. That is our safest option."
Sticking to ranged attacks, the slug attempted to retreat into the cave, but Roxanne refused to let that happen. Racing up the side of the rock, she dragged her sword through the stone above the entrance allowing large chunks to fall and seal the escape route. Jumping off the wall and into a tree, Roxanne began taking potshots at it with her laser pistol. Trapped and with no cover to hide behind, the beast soon fell silent and gave up the ghost. Walking up to the creature, I attempted to stow it in my Storage to confirm it was dead. Disappearing immediately, we gave each other a high five and quickly returned to Bright Tree Village.
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