Typhojem's Steel: The Left Hand's Blade

[Yusana Fenni]

Aboard Shamira Karuto's Heavy Transport
Hyperspace, En Route to Korriban

Yusana lay flat on her bunk, which was no more than a small compartment with a light and a mattress. There were probably more comfortable beds elsewhere, but those felt more like luxuries the Echani'd been taught since youth not to indulge in, lest they spoiled her and sabotaged her austere upbringing. For now at least, this little space with its luminescent lighting would suffice. In many ways, it felt like home.

It had been 5 days since they left, and by now all 250 of her Zhabokas had found their respective buyers. They were now en route to that ancient homeworld of the Sith, going after an artifact that had haunted her since she first heard about it. Up until now she had decided to keep hush about the exact nature of the thing from [member=Shamira Karuto], but she suspected that at some point the youth would grow tired of the Echani's habit of circling hard subjects through fanciful mechanisms of speech. She'd removed her cloak hours ago, just before she tried to get some rest. It now hung from a hook at the base of her bunk, along with her holstered blasters, utility belt, Zhaboka and Baragwin Assault Blade. It was quite the load for an Echani to be carrying around, and Yusana intended to enjoy this little freedom of being unencumbered by all of that, at least for the time being.

She quietly turned to Sha, who was lying down on a bunk of her own on the other side of the narrow walkway. Not being quite sure whether the Togruta was awake, she allowed herself to smile a little. The Togruta was spirited, and in the past 5 days had become quite the warm acquaintance. She was quick to pick up on the subtleties of trading underground beyond the long arm of the law and the prying eyes of planetary governments, and for that the Echani saw it fitting to give her a small share of the profits - a small fortune in and of itself and no paltry amount.

"I wonder what the Force tells you now", she softly mumbled.

 

[Shamira Karuto]

Overall, there weren’t many perks better than a room to yourself on a long flight trip. In fact, during the design meeting’s planning for the Vanguard heavy freighter, a ship exclusive for the Order of Fire men and woman alone, both Tempest and Shamira pushed for a room exclusive to them alone on the ship, much like a captain’s cabin. It had personal refreshers as well. Quite a swaggy and nice area for the mistress’s and initiates.
Even with this in the back of her mind, spending the majority of five days flying on this ship certainly could sour even the most positive outlook. The only thing that kept her going without much complaining was the personal fresher. And, well, Yusana. Something about her made the Togruta want to be around her. She was such a joy, and incredibly knowledgeable about everything it meant to be a warrior. As well as the extremely complex under workings of the underworld, how to deal with cranky customers, and how to not get shot when a deal went south.
Well, she was always enjoyable to be around, except when she was dodging the end goal of this mission. Shamira didn’t really come on this mission to sell swords, even if the experience was quite enjoyable. She wanted to know what Yusana needed to be so ‘prepared’ mentally for. Selling swords didn’t exactly prompt that much preparedness. But whenever she asked the Echani what was going on, she always dodged the subject quite quickly. The Togruta needed to be able to tell Tempest soon what was going on.
She hoped she would get some sleep soon. Those thoughts had been racing through her head when she laid down to sleep. Hours later she woke up, turning over to see the white haired woman looking at her, with what looked to be a small smile on her face. Raising a brow, a tired smirk crossed her face as she looked at the woman. “You seem to be enjoying watching me sleep. Should I be worried?”

|[member="Yusana Fenni"]|

 

[Yusana Fenni]

As Yusana was quickly coming to learn, there was a big difference between Force Sensitives and the more common fare of people she was used to hanging out with. Typically the Echani legged around star systems with scoundrels and similar folk - mercenaries, sellswords, the occasional bounty hunter, smugglers, merchants, upstarts trying to make it big; pretty much anyone except trained devotees of any particular order. In her short life thus far she'd also yet to come to arms with anyone who wielded a lightsaber, let alone a trained adept of the Force. These people she tended to dismiss as mystics - and this one seemed to be no different.

She's sharp! She can sense me, Yusana thought as she let out a small sigh into her pillow. The young padawan seemed to be at ease - moreso than she herself was. Was it because of her training? The Echana surmised that perhaps all that meditation really could bring about peace of mind. Either way, it was hard to tell. About two arms' length separated their bunks, but there was an odd, yet strangely comforting presence about Sha. She seemed trustworthy, and more reliable than common folk to say the least. If she was serious about her training, chances are she also stood a better chance at not being fodder for the other less savory citizens of the galaxy. Someone like that could go places, she thought.

"I'm trying to to see how you drift in and out of sleep. Gives me a better idea if I'll be needing a dart to kill you or if a knife across the neck should do the trick", Yusana replied in an obviously jesting manner. A small chuckle escaped from her lips as her green eyes smiled - genuine humor that would perhaps be lost on those less familiar with the morbid Echani.

"I've still to tell you why we're heading to Korriban, Shamira. And yet you don't look nervous. I'm curious. Does the Force give you a glimpse of these things?"

[member="Shamira Karuto"]

 

[Shamira Karuto]

Raising an eyebrow, Shamira began to sit up in her bed, stretching her arms wide as she pulled up her feet and knees, free of the typical leather boots she wore, and rested her chin on top of her knees. The joking look in the Echani’s eyes caused the Togruta to smile wide, wiggling her toes to free them from their tight state. “well, if you really want to know, cut the back lekku. I’ll die pretty quickly. That’s why Togruta and Twilek are so protective of them.” Slowly her smile turned to a smirk, the younger of the pair speaking again in a joking mood. “You? You’re easy. Head, heart, lungs, a well placed strike pretty much anywhere knocks you out.”
Stretching out once again, Shamira slid off the bed to lay against the bunk on the floor. She spread out her legs so that her legs could get some much needed room. Tilting her head, the initiate shrugged at the question from the white haired woman, small smile peaking at her lips. “No..I am not strong enough in the force to know such things. Maybe someday.”
Shamira looked off to the side momentarily before turning back to her fast friend. Her grey blue eyes met green eyes in a moment of complete truth. “I am not worried because in these five days, you have become quite a nice friend of mine. And if I have someone I trust by my side, there isn’t a whole lot of dangerous situations that I feel like legitimately scare me.” Her small smile turned into a big grin, showing off her genuineness in her statement.

​|[member="Yusana Fenni"]|

 

[Yusana Fenni]

"Not a single lie in your words. I am honored."

Yusana couldn't help but nod; that stoic, steely and emotionless expression had returned to her face - the wishy-washy sense of shallow joy ebbing away to return her to the serene sobriety appropriate for the discussion. In truth the Echani felt the same, although at least orally she was much too challenged to become that affectionate. Her new friend was younger, perhaps greener, but not without principle. Even for one as morbid, cynical and chauvinistic as an Echani, that counted and weighed far more than credits.

By now the Echani also sat up, and moved to sit down by the side of her bunk - facing the Togruta. With a straight, deadpan stare she finally began to speak up about the true nature of their destination. "Alright, young padawan", she began with a small chuckle, "since we should be coming out of hyperspace soon I might as well enlighten you on our little escapade."

She clasped her hands together as her elbows rest on the top of her knees before continuing, her back lurched forward as her voice, sonorous and delicate, dropped to a discrete hush.

"Many servants of many orders, of both Dark Side and the Light, have come to this world, Korriban, to collect all sorts of baubles and petty trinkets. Fortunately, there's one little frippery they've missed out."

"A Sith Lord, of millennia ago, once used a Sith Sword instead of a lightsaber. Many say it was out of hubris, but I believe there's something more to it. These Sith Swords were forged with ruinous alchemy - supposedly they're nexuses of the taint of the Dark Side. I intend to retrieve it, so that we may see for ourselves if this Dark Side trinket is worth all that it's cracked up to be in the holo-books of libraries."

"His name, Ajunta Pall."

[member="Shamira Karuto"]

 

[Shamira Karuto]

It was Yusana’s stoic mood that quickly brought the smile from the Togruta’s face. No longer was she in the happy, teasing mood she was in only seconds before. No, the atmosphere in the private room had definitely changed greatly. The Echani seemed more serious, like she was trying to convey the dangers of the planet through her speech. Even her little jab, calling Shamira “young padawan,” was not completely in jest. It had a darker, almost warning tone to it, one that she hadn’t heard during the duration of their travels together. The tone made her lean in on her knees, interested to listen to all what the woman had to say about the trials that faced them.
In both her time as a jedi, and as an Order of Fire member she had heard mentions of the tombs of Korriban. While she had never visited the planet herself, the stories, horror tales floated around the cantinas of Ashria’s Light aplenty. Going there on purpose didn’t seem like the best idea in the world.
Unless of course, there was a big, dark force infused sword, as a prize. That was certainly something that could peak the young forcers interest. Especially if they were to attain it.
Raising a brow at the mention of the well-known dark lord, Shamira tilted her head lightly in questioning movement. “Well, I know of such a name. He was mentioned frequently in the archives. But to my knowledge, there is only one sword for him.” The question was on the tip of her tongue, but she knew how it would sound. Arrogant, selfish even, and she didn’t want to come off that way to her new friend. “What are you getting out of this? And…what can I receive?” Her tone turned hopeful as she scooted across the durosteel floor closer to the white haired woman.

​| [member="Yusana Fenni"] |

 

[Yusana Fenni]

"Legend has it that the Force Ghost of this Sith Lord still wanders around that tomb. Supposedly, the late Darth Revan allowed him to ascend, but for reasons I've yet to come across in the holopads it seems his spirit still lingers." By now, Yusana had a mischievous smirk on her face, contrasting her deep-set eyes that expressed nothing but obvious enthusiasm at the idea of it all. "Some fool put the sword back on its mantle at the tomb's central chamber after it came into the possession of a certain 'Master Uthar', the archives say. Personally, I think it's a shame to watch such a wonderful piece of history waste away under the dunes and rocks of some bloody sand pit. I say, we change that. I say, we claim it."

Ah, you get me.

The Echani's eyes then glowed slightly at her newfound companions last two questions, as if the Togruta had gotten right to the heart of the matter - after all, any enterprise could be undertaken, but what fruits would it yield? It was as if Yusana was speaking to another Echani herself. "They say this sword holds some arcane magic. The Force? I've yet to really understand it. Initially I wanted that sword for myself, but I also hear this wandering spirit puts up a legendary fight for the craven and greedy wanting the tainted little bauble. If this turns out to be a fight worthy of an Echani, I'll let you keep the sword."

Yusana then grinned and sighed with a puff of her cheeks, one of her ghost white locks of her across her face swaying against her breath. Underneath that textbook hubris, she knew that if this was all true, a fight against the ghost of an ancient Sith Lord was one for the century, and it certainly did no harm to bring a friend along.

[member="Shamira Karuto"]

 

[Shamira Karuto]

That. That was not something Shamira had heard before. She knew the story of Ajunta Pall and his supposed ascendance, especially when pertaining to Revan. Being one of her favorite subjects of the archives, she had read the exploits the renowned forcer time and time again, and his conquests against the extremely powerful sith of old were among her favorite stories.
But this, this was something she hadn’t heard before. It wasn’t like she had gone out of her way to find the history of the sword in question, but it was still odd that in her studies, the name Master Uthar hadn’t popped up when the sword was mentioned in the texts. If he was such an important part of the history, why wasn’t he mentioned? Was it that they wanted the story to end a good way? So that perspective treasure hunters, like the Echani and Togruta would not believe the sword was any where near the tomb. It seemed plausible enough. Especially knowing how immensely powerful the sword might end up being.
Shamira’s eyes practically lit up when the woman mentioned, under the condition that the fight was worthy of Echani, that the sword would be hers to keep. That seemed like the ultimate joy. Even if she never used the sword in battle, the ability to, or even study the legendary blade would be payment enough for any injuries that might occur in the coming duel.
Her silver blue eyes flicked up to the woman, a nervous look crossing her face momentarily. “Are you sure you want me to help with this mission, Yusa? I’m not the greatest duelist ever. I don’t want to weigh down someone of your stature in the warrior caste, or worse yet, get you killed.” Frowning lightly, Shamira shifted to sit crosslegged, beside the white haired woman.

​| [member="Yusana Fenni"] |

 

[Yusana Fenni]

The white-haired Echani turned her head to the side, her eyes rolling close to the edge of their slits as Yusana trained her gaze on her Togruta friend once more, this time with an expression almost of belief, or disapproval. It was one thing to be humble, but not to doubt when the thing at hand was already pretty much inevitable. Nevertheless, Sha's honesty and transparency was refreshing, and the Echani broke out into a small, hushed chuckle.

"In the past few days you've stared Mandalorians down and walked away, stood toe to toe with Iridonians and didn't lose any of your fingers. I think you'll be fine. And if I'm wrong, let us not welcome ourselves to doubt." The Echani simply smiled and with her gloved hand patted her friend on the thigh - a friendly attempt at reassurance. "I'm not going to lie. I am sure it's going to be a hell of a fight to get it. But if we keep our heads together, I am sure we'll figure something out."

Yet deep down, Yusana had to fight quite the struggle to keep herself from doubting her own abilities and conviction at the same time. While she tried to comfort the young padawan, she too couldn't escape the simple truth that they were about to go head to head with one of the most feared personalities of the Dark Side. That is, if this phantom apparition was true and did appear. But why tempt fate and come unprepared?

The Echani sighed. "We should be jumping out of hyperspace now."

[member="Shamira Karuto"]

 

[Shamira Karuto]

Being grey skinned was certainly an advantage for many reasons. Tear streaks didn’t appear as easily. It was quite wonderful to look at. And unless Shamira was very hot under the collar, her blush wouldn’t appear on her cheeks.
The words from her Echani friend, however, seemed to do the magic trick practically instantly. Praising words from her friend turned the Togruta’s cheeks darker almost instantly. In all honest, without any hint of modesty, Yusana’s stories were true about the padawan.
During their first stop, their mandalorian buyers hadn’t been too happy about the ship delivering their weapons being different than the first one described. To keep suspicion away from them, they had shown up not wearing armor. Yusana had recognized them to be mandalorian’s, but with Shamira’s inexperience, the Togruta didn’t know how dangerous the buyers were. When they had gotten frisky, and with a mixture of bravery and stupidly, all 5’10 of the girl stormed up the grizzled man and stared him down. Her ferocity, along with some motions that Yusana made behind her back, the men backed off and left without a fight.
The Iridonians were on their second trip and nothing too heroic happened. Shamira had been dumb and managed to knock over the aliens food at an diner. The huge alien stood tall over the small togruta, but with once again, a mix of bravery and stupidity, she stood tall.
Feeling a gloved hand on her thigh brought her out of her thoughts, snapping her attention back to the other woman. Shamira nodded meekly, blush still dark on her cheeks, before the gruff, grizzled voice of Captain Porter came over the intercom. “Coming out of hyperspace above Korriban. No site of any Silver Order ships. Looks like we’re the only ones here.”
The padawan pulled away from Yusana’s touch to stand, walking over to her boots to slip them on. She looked over her shoulder at the woman as she pulled on the deep red, knee high battle boots. “Well, whether or not I’m holding you back, you’re taking the lead in the tomb.” Shamira stood straight, hands on hips, ready for the Echani to lead them out.

​| [member="Yusana Fenni"] |

 

[Yusana Fenni]

"Naturally. You dying would not serve me", Yusana laconically replied with a grin as she got up and strapped her boots on before heading to the large transport's bridge with Sha. As they stood where they were, the golden surface of Korriban came into view - with its mountain ridges and canyon peaks. From high orbit it seemed like little more than a lifeless rock, but those who were acquainted with it knew far better.

Initially Yusana said nothing, choosing silence as the most appropriate way to pay her respects to the sand-blasted hellhole that they were about to land on.

Korriban - you could study a thousand holobooks and still not understand its intricacies, at least beyond its dark history that had been bastardized time and time again in every lecture, treatise and historical journal every written. This planet ceased to be the major trade lane outpost that it was since the days of the Old Sith Empire, and while commerce here was now reduced to a few brave smugglers and syndicates who did business with the colonies on the planet's surface, treasure hunters still frequented its valleys and ruins in search of treasure, glory, or such things.

Of course, they were generally unsuccessful. It was never that simple.

The Echani turned to her companion, now with that stoic calm having returned to her face. "We're headed for the Valley of the Dark Lords, but I think it unwise to land anywhere near the old Sith Academy or Dresdae, its nearby colony."

"I think we're better off making for the far end of the valley. On the bedrock just short of the open dessert. We should be able to make our way undetected from there."

[member="Shamira Karuto"]

 

[Shamira Karuto]

Shamira couldn’t help the sly smile and a roll of her eyes at the statement, but she still followed Yusana up to the bridge of the Vigilance. There, a grey haired man sat in the captian’s seat, nodding to the pair of warriors as they entered on his bridge. Through the view screen, the red sands of the planet Korriban could be seen, covering everything. The rock towers stood tall among the surface, and the cracks in the earth showed off the numerous valleys that littered the valleys surface.
Captain Porter looked the white haired woman as she spoke of a landing area, nodding at her suggestion. “With how unfriendly some of the locals can be, I believe that your reasoning would be the most logical step.” Nodding to the ensign of the ship, the rodian nodded back and began to maneuver the ship towards the entrance to the Valley of the Dark Lords. The ship flew low, attempting to keep the ship out of any sensors from the local enemies.
Shamira tapped the Echani on the shoulder, motioning for her to follow the Togruta to the ramp. “There’s a few survival packs already set up near the back of the ramp. We should both take one in case we get stuck in one of the caves.” Grinning wide, Shamria tossed one of the packs to the other woman, before slinging one of the other ones over her shoulder.
A soft thud signaled to the rest of the ship that they had landed, and once the padawan felt that, she punched the button on the side console and the ship’s ramp descended. Whipping sand started to instantly make its way up the ramp of the ship. The Togruta frowned lightly, pulling up the bottom part of her scarf to cover her mouth and nose. Turning to look at the Echani, Shamira raised an eyebrow and nodded. “Ready?”

​​| [member="Yusana Fenni"] |

 

[Yusana Fenni]

"Always ready", Yusana replied with a smile as she pulled up the hood of her own Fiberweave suit, and wrapped the lower half of her face with a black, steelcoth scarf. As the burning sand, scorching dry winds and hellish sunlight of Korriban came pouring into the transport's bay, the Echani stepped forward and out into light. What greeted her, save for the howling winds of the desert, was utter silence.

As she turned around, with her feet planting firmly into the course sand beneath them, she saw only the orange rock formations just a few steps ahead that would lead up into the mouth of the Valley of the Dark Lords. Even from down here she could already make out some of the ruined pillar and column formations that once elegantly guarded this sacred resting place of the Sith. Before taking another step forward, she turned to Sha, and now having to raise her voice a little more to be heard over the winds, said, "Tell me, does this place tell you anything? Whisper anything?" Yusana wanted to be sure - she wasn't about to climb headfirst into what was essentially a nexus of Dark Side energy.

"There should be a pathway upwards", she began as she squinted her eyes to get a closer look at the rock formations ahead. "There", she finally said with arm outstretched and finger pointed at what looked like was once a staircase, but was now just barely passable steps with sand-blasted edges.

A soft sigh escaped from the Echani's covered mouth as she removed her tremor sword from its sling around her shoulder. Here goes nothing.

[member="Shamira Karuto"]

 

[Shamira Karuto]

Shamira’s first thoughts of the planet were certainly not nice ones. At all. In fact within the first few moments on being this dustball resulted in her quickly realizing why it had been generally abandoned. The sand whipped around her mercilessly, and the heat from the blazing sun did nothing to help the feeling of utter temperature increase that came from stepping outside of the air conditioned ship. It all blended together very quickly into a quite forgettable, hot, and annoying atmosphere within a few minutes of walking. The Echani’s foretold blade would have to be worth this. But what she knew of the old dark lords, it would be.
The one saving grace of this planet was it’s ruins, however. While they were pasted with the red sand that engulfed the planet’s surface, statues, pillars, and even some foundations still stood out among the harsh landscape. Her attention was pulled from those by Yusana’s question, to which she shook her head slightly. “No, but I wont discount the possibility of it happening to me very soon.” She turned back forward of that, not wanting to invite any more danger than there already presently was. Being possessed by a sith spirit didn’t sound like the most fun way to spend time on Korriban.
As soon as a staircase was mentioned by the Echani by her side, Shamira’s eyes went searching for the hidden stairwell. Once Yusana had found it, and started towards it, the little Togruta was quick to follow. Unclipping her lightsaber from it’s position on her belt, the pair began to ascend the great stairwell to their eventual destination; the Tomb of Ajunta Pall.

​| [member="Yusana Fenni"] |

 

[Yusana Fenni]

As fate would have it, the valley was a ghost town, with not a single archaeologist out and about for the time being. Apparently the high winds and blowing sands were but the aftermath of a sandstorm that had rolled through the region for the past day or so. Or, alternatively, it could also be the case that no more research grants were being given, as most of the tombs had already been defiled in the name of sordid sciences of all kinds. Of course, a few remained. That was why they were here.

The sand felt hot to the touch and warmed the underside of Yusana's boots as she and Sha finally trekked their way to the dusty, ancient door that guarded the passageway into the tomb of the Sith Lord. They'd passed a few others on the way here - Yusana's textbook knowledge of the Valley of the Dark Lords allowed her to single out a few on their way to this one - Naga Sadow's, Marka Ragnos', Ludo Kresh's, all once mighty and powerful Sith. How ironic, then, that now only their tombs of stone and mortar remain of their legacy. The Sith today could hardly be called a legacy - most were emotionally undisciplined brats wielding lightsabers who, like the Jedi, relied on the Force far too much for their own good. The mere thought was enough to cast a sour expression on the Echani's face.

"Strip any Sith or Jedi or their connection to the Force, and what're you left with?", Yusana mumbled as she stood in front of the door, next to Sha - who would have been just within earshot to hear her over the wind. "Children. Helpless younglings who cannot face the galaxy without their trusted crutch. It is right that they be cut down, divided, scattered, conquered."

"I will drink their blood for power."

[member="Shamira Karuto"]

 

[Shamira Karuto]

The steps made the Togruta’s breath’s slightly labored by the time they made their way to the Valley of the Dark Lords. While some might find the whole area creepy or off putting, but Shamira found it absolutely fascinating. She had only ever read about this whole area in holobooks. Few pictures of it existed. Yet she was walking in the middle of the Valley, surrounded by tombs on either side of her. Some were caved in, and some had durocrates with what she assumed to be archeological tools inside them. She was allowing her Echani friend to lead, since in her studies, the exact tomb locations within the Valley wasn’t one of the parts she studied thoroughly. The tomb they finally stopped out was just like the rest, yet the door seemed to be still sealed. The explorers to the planet must have either skipped or not bothered with this tomb. That made Shamira slightly hesitant to enter.
It was Yusana’s outburst that brought her back to reality quickly. What she had said had slightly started her. Grey-blue eyes looked to the woman, raising a brow at the final part. The musings were barely more than a mumble, but Shamira still heard every word.
It wasn’t as if she was totally wrong. Her musings did have a point. Madness hadn’t overtaken her friend or anything. “I believe I agree with you to a point. I don’t wish to kill all of them, but you are right about so many force users becoming dependent on it.”

​| [member="Yusana Fenni"] |

 

[Yusana Fenni]

The Togruta's own interjection started Yusana slightly - the Echani hadn't counted on Sha hearing her own rambling, but she did. It wouldn't be the first time her philosophical banter raised eyebrows, but needless to say it was a more canderous side of her that she'd rather be kept to herself. She simply turned to also look at Sha, her brilliant green eyes meeting the Togruta's bluish grey. Not a word was said in reply as the Echani simply nodded in acknowledgement, and turned back to the sand-blasted door. Now was not the time for discourse - there would be pauses for that later.

Yusana stepped forward, and on a third, large step jumped up and thrusted the end of her Sith Tremor sword into the door, immediately activating some mechanism and turning the gears by the side to slowly open it. As the dark mouth of the tomb opened up to the two, the smell of limestone and stagnant water insidiously welcomed them with open arms. The Echani's eyes squinted at the odor, her grip around her sword tightening as her battle precognition twitched with trouble.

"Shall we?", she asked Sha as she began to enter, at once her sharp Echani sense taking over as they moved into the dark. A few steps in, Yusana toggled a small device on the lapel of her suit, which activated a small but strong flashlight.

That's better.

Before them stood a long pathway flanked by statues of Sith acolytes on bent knee. Here and there small rays of light would pierce through cracks in the rocks above and illuminate the deathly hall, at the end of which stood a second door.

"The tomb must be behind there", Yusana said as she kept walking, albeit at a much slower pace now.

[member="Shamira Karuto"]

 

[Shamira Karuto]

The sudden thrusting of her sword into the door startled Shamira greatly, especially since she had no idea it was coming. Yusana’s sword didn’t exactly look like a key, not had she mentioned at all the other capabilities of her weapon. But it certainly was interesting that that certain sword held the capability of opening a thousands of year old tomb. Shamira would have to get one of those for herself eventually. These thoughts ran through her head as the massive, dark maw of the tomb was opened to the two invaders, pebbles falling from the cracking doors as they moved for the first time in hundreds of years. The padawan was surprised the doors even still moved after all this time. She had thought they were going to have to cut their way into the tomb.
Taking a deep breath, she responded to the Echani’s inquiry as they both began to enter the place void of practically any light. Following with Yusana’s lead, Shamira switched the flashlight attached to her backpack on. Even with these two sources of light, the tomb still held dark. The statues of acolytes that lined the walls told of a different time, ones where the followers of the old sith teachings numbered into the hundreds of thousands. And the grip of the dark side was strong through the galaxy, one ravaged by war.
Yusana’s slower pace and words brought her back swiftly to the present, as she nodded and twirled her lightsaber in her left hand. “I suppose so. As ready as I ever will be. Will your sword open that door as well?” The Togruta motioned to the sword in her friends hand to emphasize her point.

​| [member="Yusana Fenni"] |

 

[Yusana Fenni]

Yusana said nothing as the two walked down the dark and damp hallway. There was a time when the torches that stood watch over this place were lit and constantly attended to by devout acolytes, retainers and all sorts of proponents of the Dark Side. Those days however, and perhaps for the better, have long since passed. Now only puddles of rank water and the occasional falling trails of dust were the only inhabitants of this ancient tomb.

The Echani chuckled, and for a brief moment looked at her vibro before turning to Sha. "I wish this thing was that cool, but sadly no. I just knew the hinges to the front door required a jolt of motion to activate." Her eyes kept scanning around the area, wary of anything that might suddenly spring up. Probably unbeknownst to Yusana however was a minor detail - this section of the tomb once housed security droids, but were all destroyed when the last person came in here - Darth Revan.

As the two reached the end of the hall, the Echani turned again to the Togruta. "No parlor tricks for me here", she said with a shrug as she tapped the large stone door with the tip of her vibro-blade. "How about you try?"

[member="Shamira Karuto"]

 

[Shamira Karuto]

Well that was a disappointing explanation. Shamira was expecting some large, drawn out story about how the Echani had stolen the sword from another sith tomb, and now held within her hand, the key to each and everyone of the tombs in this valley, making her the most powerful grave digger to ever go after the artifacts hidden in the walls of the sith burial grounds. Instead, it was much less impressive. But it still made the mood a bit lighter, with the padawan’s lofty expectations being dashed.
Frowning lightly, she nodded as she prompted if she could open the door. Pulling her lightsaber from her belt, the blue blade was ignited and the room was practically flooded with the blue hue of the blade. Taking a deep, slow breath, Shamira slowly leaned back, pointing the tip towards the center of the door, before plunging it in deep.
It wasn’t necessarily hard work, but cutting a hole big enough for both of them to slip through was a long term job. She began cutting the hole clockwise, making sure it was fully cut before moving the blade on. Thankfully for her, with how old the door’s stone was, it was easy cutting. It was only a few minutes before a hole was sucsesfully cut. Flicking off her blade, the redish tint of molten stone now lighting the area around the door. With one forceful push, the circular piece of stone was pushed through the door, landing with a thud on the other side.
Turning back to the Echani, the Togruta bowed swiftly, winking at her. “After you, m’lady..” her grin betrayed just how excited Shamira was for this whole experience to really kick off.

​| [member="Yusana Fenni"] |