The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

[Ragos Terrek]

He heard his brother cry out to him and he tried to call back, his voice however stuck in his throat just as the spear had stuck in his side, puncturing a lung and taking breath from him. A second spear was driven into him and a third was bearing down on him. Fear and anger rose inside him like geyser, blinding him. His rage tore out of him in the form of blue lightning that shot from his fingers killing all the enemies that surrounded him.

 

[Ragos Terrek]

He awoke what he found out was days later, back home with his family. He had been healed by a local medicine man and cared for by his wife. “Ellisa, where is Dagos.”
She must of thought him sleeping, because she almost jumped right out of her chair when he spoke to her. After regaining her composure she knelt beside his bed and took his hand. He looked into her beautiful brown eyes and saw her strength as she held back tears. He smiled at her, tears welling up in the corners of his own eyes now. He knew Dagos was gone and it would be nothing but cruelty to make his wife say it. He wiped the tears from her eyes and kissed her hard on the mouth.

“I, love you.”

“I, love you to.”

 

[Ragos Terrek]

Weeks had passed and Ragos had healed up very nicely. The clan had moved on and for now were taking up residence in the shadow of one of the many mountain ranges. The land was fertile and they were near a fresh water stream, they may be here or quite some time. Ragos was glad for that his wife had just given birth to their second child and it would be nice for his kids to have a steady home for a while and while they may have found a peaceful place to live that did not mean there were no troubles.

Ragos was leaving with four other of his tribe to go search for a patrol that had not returned. He kissed his wife and children goodbye, promising he would be safe. Ragos an his men did not have to search long before picking up the trail of the missing patrol. He wasn’t very happy that the men were so careless but he was relived all at the same time.

 

[Ragos Terrek]

They followed the trail for maybe half a mile before it led them to the mouth of a cave. Ragos had seen caves before but the was something ominous about this one. It chilled him to the bone. Regardless of his unease, he would have to venture inside, so that is what he did. He and his men walked through the dark cave for nearly a mile before finding another opening in the back. Ragos could he the sound of crashing water and smell fresh air as they came toward the exit, finding a small grove surrounded by the mountains, with a small lake being fed by a waterfall. It would have been a beautiful place if not for the dark, dead twisting trees that were littered throughout the grove. On second glance, the dead trees, the water, the falls and the low light did give it a macabre beauty. Like this was the place death itself would call home.

“Fan out and search for our guys.” he commanded. His men obeyed splitting up to search the grove. He knew they felt the same way he did. There was something not right about this place.

 

[Ragos Terrek]

“Ragos, Over here!” one his men called out after a few minutes of searching. Ragos raced over to where the call had come and found all four of his men and the four others from the first patrol, sitting transfixed on the remains of a centuries old space ship. Rusted and decayed, it added to the graveyard like feel of this place.

Once he got close Ragos was able to see they were not staring at the ship itself but at a small pyramid shaped device inside.

 

[Ragos Terrek]

“What the?” Ragos for reasons unknown to him was drawn to the device. He reached a hand out and plucked it from its holdings. As soon as he touched what ever it was, he screamed out in agony. He could feel the spears being driven into him once again. The pain was blinding and deafening, he could make out the blurs of his men trying to franticly figure out how to help him. Emotion poured over Ragos. Fear, hate, anger, love, joy, despair. He felt them all to the extreme, it was as if he was being crushed under the weight of them.

 

[Ragos Terrek]

He was dying. he knew it. He had to be, or he wished he was. Where he had been assaulted by a constant wave emotion, he was now being assailed by visions. Only flashes of things he could not possibly understand. He saw symbols being burned into flesh, a sword made of blood red light, a figure in all black sitting atop a throne and that same figure killing all of his men.

When he finally regained his senses, he found himself on the ground covered in dirt, he stood and almost fell right back to the ground, he was so light headed. He looked around him and saw his men torn to shreds. Was his vision true? How could it have been? He vomited and proceeded to pass out once again.

 

[Ragos Terrek]

He awoke still in the grove. Hours must of passed as he looked up to find the sun and saw only stars in the sky. His men all dead. They were good men, how would he tell their families? He had no idea how they died only the ravings of a mad man. Is that what he was? Mad? On the ground next to him lay the pyramid, the cause of his insanity. If he showed this to his father, he would believe him wouldn’t he? No, how could he? Beside Ragos couldn’t even touch the device unless he wanted to risk going into another fit, but he couldn’t let anyone else have it either. It was his. He came all this way, this thing belonged to him.

 

[Ragos Terrek]

He reached out and picked it up, this time nothing happened, no fits, no visions. He sighed in relief. He studied the small pyramidal device, it was covered in strange markings, some of them were the same markings from his visions. How curious. At the top of the pyramid sat a small cracked black crystal. Ragos took the crystal between his thumb and forefinger and as he did something appeared from the device. He could not make out the shape of what ever it was, but it seemed to speak to him in a language he could not understand.

“What do you want?” he asked it.

 

[Ragos Terrek]

“You.” it responded this time in basic.

“you want me?”

“Yes.”

“What do you want with me?” Ragos must be crazy, carrying on a conversation like this.

“Help.” it responded

“You want me to help you?”

“I, will help you.”

“Help me with what?” how could some hologram help him?

“to keep them safe.”

“Keep who safe?” this thing made no sense

“Your family.”

“They’re in danger?”

“Yes.”

“How will you help me?”

“New Crystal.”

“You need a new crystal?”

“Yes.”

“Where do I find one?”

No response. The holographic blob was gone and now Ragos knew he was mad. But he could not shake the feeling that what he heard was not only real, but the truth. His family was in danger and this thing, whatever it was needed a new crystal to help him.

 

[Ragos Terrek]

Ragos stayed in that grove for hours. How was he supposed to find a crystal for a device he had never seen before? He had no idea where to even begin. His head hurt from the frustration. He knew very little of the galaxy outside of his planet and for the first time in his life that fact upset him. He did know one off worlder how ever. That was his only option, to try and make contact with a man he hadn’t seen in years who could be dead, unreachable or unwilling to help. It was better than nothing, he decided and left for the one space port on world.

it took him little under half a day to reach Pelek Baw and the space port located there. it wasn't a very big port and still it was practically empty. Haruun Kal was not a place many people came to and even fewer left. Ragos stood at a communication terminal and scrolled through the holonet database to try and find the contact information for the man he sought.

"Ah. there." Ragos dialed up the man hoping he would get a response.

[member="Joran Del-Finn"]

 

[Joran Del-Finn]

Joran Del-Finn was aboard his ship just having left Dantooine. He still wore the same suit he wore to his grandfather’s funeral. He should change, but it seemed like much more effort than he was willing to give at the moment. He scrolled through his messages hoping Valturla had found him a job actually worth doing, force knew he could use the credits.

Valturla had nothing. Not even a lousy escort job, it seemed Joran would have to make inquiries else where if he was hoping to find work. As he went to pull up his contacts list his comm went off.

“Haruun Kal?” he asked himself out loud, who the hell would be hailing him from the middle of no where? He answered.

[member="Ragos Terrek"]

 

[Ragos Terrek]

The call was accepted, though no voice came from the other end. “Captain Del-Finn?” Ragos asked uncertainly. He hoped he had called the right person.

[member="Joran Del-Finn"]

 

[Joran Del-Finn]

“Aye. Who, the hell is this?”

[member="Ragos Terrek"]

 

[Ragos Terrek]

“My name is Ragos Terrek. My father and I helped you out a few years back.” Ragos and has father Ergos, had given the captain a place to rest for about a week. Ragos never did know why, and when he asked his father about it, he said it was because they were good people. He hoped this debt would be enough to get the man’s help.

[member="Joran Del-Finn"]

 

[Joran Del-Finn]

It was true enough, Joran had been in a spot of trouble and needed hiding. of course it wasn’t like they did it out of the kindness of their hearts. Joran had threatened to take his youngest son and turn him over to the empire. They paid well for strong force users and the boy was a natural. After that the man had been more willing to comply.
He hadn’t thought it would leave fond enough memories for one of them to give him call. “So, what?”

[member="Ragos Terrek"]

 

[Ragos Terrek]

“So, I thought, you would want to return the favor.” Ragos did not like the man’s attitude but he needed the help, this was his last chance, his only chance.

[member="Joran Del-Finn"]

 

[Joran Del-Finn]

“Boy, I don’t return anything.” the kid was calling to ask for help? For free help? Joran couldn’t believe it. “Listen kid, you want my help, you give me details and you give me credits. doesn't matter which order.” Joran didn’t work for free.

[member="Ragos Terrek"]

 

[Ragos Terrek]

No time to argue. He had practically agreed to do the job already, just tell him what you want and he will get it. But how to explain it?

“I, found something but I need something else.” he measured his words carefully. “I, need a small black crystal, about as large as the tip of a finger.” he hoped captain Del-Finn would know what he was talking about and not need to ask to many questions.

“I, can pay a thousand credits.”

[member="Joran Del-Finn"]