What a Piece of Junk

[Cassius Droma]

Nar Shaddaa

The streets were crowded as they always were, with the worst kinds of people one could imagine. There was more of a bustle than usual tonight, mostly because of the fact that it was raining. Bright and crackling neon lights reflected off of wet surfaces, and illuminated every nearby raindrop to give an almost floating, glittering appearance to the air. Poorly-placed heat vents pumped steam into the already humid air, wafting away as the nearest spacer walked casually through it.

Cassius Droma just barely managed to push through the crowd and to the bar where he was supposed to be meeting his contact. He looked a little more civilian, mostly on account of the fact that he had a slick black rain cloak that covered his entire torso and just past his waist, enough to cover his lightsaber. Pulling the hood off of his head, the water dripped off of him as he took a look around. The bar wasn’t as crowded as he thought it would have been, given the streets outside, but he figured he’d take it. It was musty, and splatters of water covered the floor from the patrons coming in from outside.

He spotted his contact in the back corner, where it looked like the lights had been purposefully dimmed. Cassius made his way over, spotting Ar’ekk at a nearby table, only making brief eye contact. He’d brought the more experienced Padawan along as back-up, not telling his contact about it, of course. He in no way, shape, or form trusted the Devaronian he was supposed to meet.

Sliding into the booth seat across the red-skinned, horned man, Cassius kept one arm casually on the table. There was an awkward pause as they both waited for the other to speak.

“So…” Cassius began, idly tapping the table with this fingers, “the item?”

“Yeah, I got it,” the Devaronian said in a gruff voice, too busy with the plate full of grubs in front of him to look up.

“And?” Cassius pressed. The sooner he was out of this bar and back on the Ebon Hawk, the better.

“Payment,” was all the Devaronian said.

Sighing and rolling his eyes, Cassius placed two credit ingots on the table. “There.” He was starting to get a little impatient. The Devaronian stood, placing the credits in his pocket in a single motion. Cassius stood as well, his hand hovering near his blaster on his thigh. If this man intended to take off without giving him the item he requested…

“Look, I hate to be this kind of guy,” the Devaronian shrugged, “but… the galaxy is a tough place to be, no? You gotta do what you gotta do to… survive, right?”

At survive, a Nikto from a nearby table stood and stuck a blaster point-blank at Cassius’s neck. The young Jedi froze, staring down the Devaronian. Quickly, he did a scan of the room. Nearly half of the bar’s patrons had hands on blasters, looking in their direction – even the bartender had his hand under the counter. They were all in on it, ready to pull out their weapons and kill Cassius if it came down to it. A blaster wouldn’t cut it here… he’d have to go for his lightsaber. However, he’d only been practicing with it recently, and hadn’t had much real-life combat experience with it. What he needed was back-up… and a distraction.

 

[Arekk]

NAR SHADDAA​

A Local Cantina, Red Light Sector​

Ar'ekk had been sitting in a scum-filled bar table by an approximate half an hour awaiting for the arrival of Cassius for a secret meeting with a contact he had which certainly did not bring any amount of trust to either of the Jedi. His appearance screamed the obvious although in a place like this he would resemble a local crime lord than a Force user although for Droma's knowledge the young Padawan had contacts in the underworld. As expected, the meeting did not go as planned just like he had thought it would go since after all this is Nar Shaddaa, the city known for being the center of illegal activities in the whole galaxy.

The young Jedi stood in his stable waiting for the perfect moment to assist his troubled companion, blaster to his head and a handful of deadly patrons waiting to shed blood in that same instant. Ar'ekk obviously knew they could be set up right there and then so he anticipated any possible trap by having the cantina's power system tampered by one of the Ebon Hawk's crew members who would shut the lights off at his command and give them the chance to fight, escape, recover the item or else. A single hand movement made by the more experienced Jedi made the whole building go in complete darkness, the Force being their only ally to see beyond the shadows. He grabbed his lightsaber and held to it tightly, the blue plasma beaming as bright as the sun making him a visible target yet not easy to put down, making an offensive run to strike down the Nikto holding a blaster against his friend's neck and severing his head like butter.

The fight ensued with a heavy blaster shootout inside the cantina, most of the patrons hitting eachother as they wouldn't be able to see anyone when blind firing.

[member="Cassius Droma"]

 

[Cassius Droma]

The moment it turned dark was the moment that Ar’ekk and Cassius went bright. Anticipating the blaster being fired by the man next to him, Cassius swung forward at the waist, grabbing his lightsaber and activating it on an upwards swing, severing the man’s arm. The Nikto’s head was soon to follow, and with him down, Cassius moved to the left while he left Ar’ekk to take the right side of the cantina. He could feel the presence of the Devaronian slipping away. Unknown to Cassius, the shot fired by the Nikto had struck the Devaronian in the knee, leaving him to limp away.

For the time being, however, Cassius had to focus on the blaster bolts coming his way. He kept moving forward, spinning and juking to keep the enemy guessing as to where he was. As soon as he was in range, his blue blade made quick work on the henchmen. A severed leg here, double hand amputation there, he tried to keep it as non-lethal as possible. Veiere probably wouldn’t be thrilled to learn that two Padawan had blown through an entire bar of scum like an ion storm, but he could at the very least defend himself.

A stray blaster bolt whizzed right by his head, but a single upwards fanning sweep with his lightsaber took the last henchman down for the count. Looking at the destruction he’d caused, he couldn’t help but think that Master Jade would be secretly proud of him and his prowess he’d just shown with his lightsaber. It was possibly the first conflict he’d been in where he hadn’t instinctively used his blaster.

A high-pitched hiss sounded as the blue blade retreated into the hilt. Cassius kept it in his hand as he looked over to Ar’ekk. “He can’t have gone far – let’s go,” he said, racing out the front door and into the rainy underworld.

He just barely spotted the Devaronian running away from them through the crowd. Cassius started to move at a full sprint, only barely using the Force to help him along – Force-enhanced movement was a skill he’d yet to fully master. Anticipating the chase, the Devaronian tipped over a nearby food cart, spilling hot oil everywhere. Cursing under his breath, he could see that the crowd in front of him was slowing and bunching up. Looking to his right, he saw a string of lower buildings and signs – a path. He got Ar’ekk’s attention and pointed, hoping to lead him that way.

“Is the Hawk ready to go?” Cassius asked as they hopped onto the first building and began running parallel to the street. Once they had what they needed, they would need to get out of there fast. While there wasn’t a large authoritative presence on Nar Shaddaa, it wouldn’t be long before they were targeted by smugglers, bounty hunters, and Jedi hunters.

[member="Ar'ekk"]

 

[Arekk]

The Padawans displayed a deadly demonstration of courage and braveness inside the cantina, providing justice here and there by severing multiple extremities. Unlike his companion, Ar'ekk was aiming to kill everyone that crossed his sight as they would become a threat even when injured fatally so taking a chance wasn't something he took lightly. The complete darkness inside the cantina benefitted the Jedi duo in a major way so they could finally escape a certain meeting with death itself, multiple blaster shots going off and whizzing near their heads as they deflected the bolts with their lightsaber until they reached the exit. Ar'ekk displayed a much more experienced combat technique than Cassius, utilizing many tactics and movements acquired during the war time although the latter danced around with his lightsaber with an exquisite technique.

Rain poured heavily upon them when they walked out on the cold streets, the Devaronian being just a few meters away from them with a clear limp and his movements clearly limited because of such injury.

"Don't worry about the Hawk, she'll be there for us when it's time." the young Jedi shouted as he ran away to catch up with the running Devaronian.

Cassius would've lost Ar'ekk's sight for a few minutes until he came on the communicator informing something very useful,

"I've got your friend right here, by the big glowing Rodian hologram."

He held the Devaronian by his throat against the wall, the rain pouring down on them and the water on the ground reflecting the shiny lights of Nar Shaddaa. Smoke came out of many vaporizing machines planted in the walls of each establishment or apartment nearby, not a single soul in sight to bother them.

This individual got himself into a sticky situation.

Would he be spared or not?

[member="Cassius Droma"]

 

[Cassius Droma]

The Devaronian had taken a turn down an even busier street, and Cassius lost sight of not only him, but of Ar’ekk as well. To his surprise, though, the latter’s voice came over his comm just a few minutes later, just when Cassius had almost given up hope. He looked around to locate the landmark that Ar’ekk had mentioned, and saw the hologram was within eyesight. Making his way there quickly, he leapt down to the street level where the two were, using the Force to slow his fall.

His boots splashed the rainwater beneath his feet as he landed. Rising to his full height, Cassius harshly looked at the Devaronian, whose eyes were laced in fear. A small part of Cassius wanted to drive his lightsaber right through the red-skinned man, so that he could just search his corpse for the item he needed and be done with it. That wasn’t the Jedi way, though – that was the dark side, reaching out to him. Cassius shook the feeling away as he squared up the Devaronian.

“The item,” Cassius said. “Where?”

The Devaronian struggled under Ar’ekk’s hands. “Heh… you see… I don’t necessarily have it with me…”

Cassius stepped forward.

“But I can tell you where it is!” the Devaronian spat out, putting his hand up in defense. “It’s in docking bay ninety-three, next to the-“

Cassius shoved his hand into the Devaronian’s jacket, pulling out a small datachip. He held it up to the light, next to the man’s face. The Devaronian smiled sheepishly. Brow furrowing, Cassius pocketed it. Taking the three credit ingots as well, Cassius stepped back.

“We have what we need,” Cassius said. “Leave him.”

Cassius walked with Ar’ekk out of the alleyway and back onto the main street. Taking out the datachip once again and inspecting it, the young Jedi muttered under his breath, “I sure hope this was worth it.” He could take out his datapad and make sure that it wasn’t damaged, but right now, he just wanted to get off of Nar Shaddaa. The entire place emanated fear and anger to the point where it was almost palpable.

Soon enough, they reached the Ebon Hawk, and Cassius began walking up the boarding ramp.

[member="Ar'ekk"]

 

[Arekk]

Cassius had reached the location provided by the young warrior shortly after he told him through comms, falling upon the alleyway from a nearby building. The interrogation ensued and the Devaronian felt the need to lie to two Force users, not quite a very smart individual indeed although people like this would get slaughtered in Nar Shaddaa. He was lucky to be in the hands of two Jedi Padawans or really was he?

Ar'ekk continued to hold the Devaronian criminal by the throat and his cybernetic hand slowly crushing his throat as he held a tighter grip although not being lethal enough to kill him right there and then until Cassius would be done squeezing information out of this person, which eventually he did as he retrieved a datachip plus the stolen credit ingots.

Leave him. He felt the urge to leave no witnesses even more in a place like this where surely they would become targets of bounty hunters and whatnot should they release the Devaronian. Disregarding the order given by Cassius, he crushed the contact's throat which killed him instantly as the full force of his cybernetic arm pressed against his neck. He left him to rot in a rainy alleyway and away from the light so nobody could find him. The dark side continued to haunt the young Jedi Guardian who struggled between two paths as old war memories flooded his thoughts, flashbacks to friends and foes dying on the battlefield. Years after they continued to affect him, a dangerous road he walked along. Thin as ice.

"I hope it was worth it."

The Ebon Hawk picked them up shortly after, with him going straight for the cockpit and an eery silence invading the freighter's interior.

[member="Cassius Droma"]

 

[Cassius Droma]

Cassius had turned away for only a moment when a sickening snap called his attention. As the Devaronian slumped to the ground, lifeless, Cassius could only look at Ar’ekk. Weren’t they Jedi? Weren’t they supposed to be better than that? The man had tried to rob and kill them, yes. More than once, he tried to deceive them. Did he deserve to die, though? Cassius knew that the issue wasn’t completely black and white – if the horned man had lived, he would have more than likely sent any number of bounty hunters after them, endangering their lives further. Crushing his neck and leaving him in a dark alleyway to decompose and picked off by the scavengers, however… something about that just felt wrong.

The younger Jedi remained silent after his comment in the streets. They boarded the Ebon Hawk, and Cassius took the pilot’s seat, as he was apt to do. Taking out his datapad, he inserted the datachip, and was glad to see that it was what he had wanted – part of a map. It was only one piece, however, and they still needed to find the rest. Luckily, he had a lead as to where they could find the last piece: Vjun.

Finishing the last of the pre-flight checks with a little haste, Cassius lifted the Ebon Hawk out of the docking port and into the atmosphere above. As they broke the atmosphere and were nearing the edge of the gravity well, Cassius placed in the coordinates for Vjun. Just after he pulled the handle and they snapped into hyperspace, he sighed and took a deep breath.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Cassius said, still keeping his gaze forward. He was of course referring to the dead man they’d left down on Nar Shaddaa. Cassius might have been less experienced, yes, but he knew that wasn’t the way Jedi did things.

[member="Ar'ekk"]

 

[Arekk]

Ar'ekk took the captain's seat next to Cassius as the latter maneuvered the legendary Ebon Hawk by setting the coordinates on the astromap to Vjun. The datachip taken away from the now dead Devaronian only showed one part of the map but luckily the younger Jedi had the rest for them to continue the trip. It wasn't a strange thought but Ar'ekk wasn't thinking about the individual he just killed, it was justified in his mind. A criminal who nobody would miss left to rot in a dark alleyway in the slums of Nar Shaddaa, a perfect ending to a low life person whose only motivation was to rob from the weak for their own benefit. Disgusting, he thought.

Cassius referred to the previous action commited by Ar'ekk: murder. He knew the younger Padawan would feel uncomfortable when witnessing what the more experienced warrior had done to the Devaronian, not clouded by the dogmatic Jedi Code they followed.

"I know." he said in a cold manner, putting an end to the conversation right there. No more talks about the situation, that was it.

After years without being part of an order and following a code, Ar'ekk had forgotten what right and wrong looked like. He did his own thing to live comfortably after the war, where nothing but survival mattered. Only the bravest and the fittest could live through that hell, him being one of those lucky ones.

[member="Cassius Droma"]

 

[Cassius Droma]

A small frown crossed Cassius’s mouth as Ar’ekk made it clear he wasn’t going to discuss the matter further. The dark side is a slippery slope, was what the training holograms used to tell him. In all honesty, Cassius struggled with the Jedi Code himself, as he had only recently been introduced to it. His parents had taught him right and wrong, sure, but with the Jedi Order… things were so much different. However, part of Cassius was glad that Ar’ekk didn’t want to discuss it. Cassius was on his ship, after all. He didn’t want to get thrown off.

The trip to Vjun hadn’t been terribly long. Luckily, their path was fairly straightforward – most of it was unclaimed space, save for a small strip of territory belonging to the Silver Jedi, but they were friendly with them, so Cassius had no worries passing through there whatsoever. In the meantime, Cassius tried to look over all of the information he had on the artifact he was chasing down… unfortunately, it was still vague. A great amount of importance had been placed on it, however, and that was why it was so interesting.

“We’re coming out of hyperspace,” Cassius made Ar’ekk aware, slowly pulling back on the hyperspace handle and easing the Hawk back into realspace. There was a brief stutter as the sublight engines kicked back on – something that made Cassius sigh under his breath. Part of him was ecstatic to be flying a piece of living history, the ship that had belonged to Revan himself. The other part of him… “What a piece of junk,” he muttered to himself as he piloted the millennia-old vessel towards the gangrenous planet.

​

Vjun was a sickening world – the atmosphere had an ever present green hue that poured acid rain. As such, there was no planet life, hardly any animal life, and not much sentient to speak of, either. However, there was a man who lived here, a very wealthy, reclusive man, who owned a structure that doubled as a fortress. He had made a living as a head of a slaver ring, and now lived in comfy retirement surrounded by various trophies and trinkets he’d won from his trafficking victims.

Making sure that the dorsal shields were getting all the power they needed to deflect the acid rain, Cassius maneuvered low to the ground, sweeping through the canyons in order to avoid detection. Luckily, he managed to find a clearing just big enough for the Ebon Hawk to sit down outside of the fortress’s scanners.

“Alright,” Cassius said, getting up out of the pilot’s seat. He stepped over to his rain cloak, which he’d hung up to dry earlier. “I hope this is enough to keep the acid rain away long enough for us to get to the fortress.” It was mostly guarded by old battle droids and sentry turrets – nothing they couldn’t handle. There was, however, a sensor grid and deflector shield they had to get past… maybe one of the narrow rocky passageways could provide a way.

[member="Ar'ekk"]

 

[Arekk]

Vjun. What an awful planet they had just arrived to, even more than Nar Shaddaa the young Jedi warrior thought. Acid rain, depleted of life and a scumbag criminal that slaved people for money lived comfortably here. What a nice combination, right? Whatever they were looking for in this planet, they would definitely find it. As long as they didn't die during the search, that is.

The Ebon Hawk touched down near the canyons to avoid being detected by the planet's security, smart thinking by his fellow companion. Although the cockpit view offered a wonderful sight of the sorroundings, Ar'ekk couldn't feel nothing special about the place. It was void of life and that made things really depressing. He grabbed another rain cloak from the hanger near the weapon's cabinet and put it on, pressing the exit ramp button that would lower it down.

"Stay sharp. I sense something out there." the man said in a cautious tone, wary of a great danger within the path they'd go through.

As they walked out of the freighter, the air was awfully sulphuric if they were to smell it. Vjun was an acid giant so that made some sense but regardless, it was annoying to anyone trying to breath easily. Ar'ekk pointed towards the rocky path that lead to the forest and straight to the location Cassius had mentioned beforehand.

"This way."

[member="Cassius Droma"]

 

[Cassius Droma]

Cassius heeded Ar’ekk’s warning, trying to extend his senses past the alcove where they had landed. There did seem to be… something. Some sort of dark presence, perhaps. Not human, but… bestial. Was that possible on Vjun? With the acid rain and rancid air, he found it difficult for any type of life to live outside of deflector shields and environmentally controlled areas. Speaking of the smell, it hit Cassius harder than he thought it would as they descended the ramp. Already he was regretting not taking a rebreather with them.

Briefly, his hand was hit by a raindrop, and it actually had a burning sensation to it – the acid actually had corrosive properties. Best to keep the extremities under the cloak for now. As they made their way along the rocky path, Cassius made sure to hug the walls, where the rocks above would help block the acid rain.

A deep bellow could be heard from within the rocks, it seemed. Cassius stopped and listened, looking over to his companion for this journey. The dark presence. It was far away, but it was also in the direction of the fortress. They had to continue on.

Soon enough, they could see the fortress, tucked into one of the rocky spires, nearly obstructed from view. Every piece of its design was meant to blend into the rock – if one were flying over, they might not have even noticed it. It was still a ways off, but Cassius took the opportunity to do some visual scanning. Taking out a pair of macrobinoculars and looked down the rocky path towards the fortress.

“Not seeing much in terms of an entrance,” Cassius observed. There was a small hangar bay, but almost no windows, and no doors. No obvious ways in. “We might have to find a way to take down the deflector and go in through the hangar. Or somehow get past the shield underground…”

To their right, was an opening that Cassius hadn’t noticed before. Another bellow sounded, and it was pretty obvious that it came from the cave. Footsteps could be heard, slow, as if the creature was of a large size.

This was not what they needed right now.

[member="Ar'ekk"]

 

[Arekk]

"It's too dangerous if we try to take down their deflector shield. The least we want is having an army on our tails." he hinted to the other way and that's going underground. The deep bellow sounded stronger within the cave and resonated throughout its thick walls. Whatever was inside that place, it wasn't friendly. Ar'ekk and Cassius exchanged glances, wondering what they would find inside.

The young Jedi motioned to go ahead and enter the underground entrance to their side, considering the other option would be going guns blazing and expecting not to die outnumbered. Smart play, perhaps? They'd find no trouble within the cave since no life forms could survive in Vjun, perhaps they could be wrong. Life always finds a way.

"Be careful on your step." he indicated to his companion, the ground feeling way too slippery and had a strange texture of some sorts. It was dark inside so Ar'ekk utilized his lightsaber's plasma blade to find their way in the cave. The blue lightsaber crystal was brighter than your regular one, making them prone to becoming easy targets in darkness for any enemy or beast.

Something was watching them.

[member="Cassius Droma"]

 

[Cassius Droma]

Ar’ekk was right, but Cassius really wished he wasn’t. The safest way was to go through the cave and see if there was a way to enter the compound from underground. Cautiously, carefully, Cassius stepped into the cave, trying to keep his fear and apprehension in check. He tried to extend his senses outward, but found it difficult when he couldn’t see too much. Luckily, the rain couldn’t reach them here – good thing, too, as the acidic precipitation had actually started to slightly eat away at his rain cloak.

Withdrawing his lightsaber, he pressed the button the ancient saber, the blade slowly extending in a low hiss. The cave would only be illuminated a few meters ahead of them at the most, but it would be sufficient to walk through. It started to open up quite a bit after the entrance, and soon enough they were in a chamber with a ceiling so high that even Ar’ekk’s unusually bright blade couldn’t penetrate the darkness above.

They didn’t get far before the roar could be heard again, much louder than it was before. The rumbles began again as well, as if something was making its way towards them. Boom. Cassius stopped, putting both hands on the hilt of his lightsaber, ready to fight. Boom. He adjusted his grip – he could feel the creature getting closer, and he could also sense its hunger. Boom. Hunger from the lack of plant and animal life. Boom.

Boom... boom…

Boom.

A large, mutated rancor, nearly twice the size of a typical beast of its species, came into their light. Yellow-green mucus hung from its twisted brown snout. Beady black eyes sized up the two men, knowing that they would be a tasty meal. Three- fingered hands gripped at open air, ready to hunt. With a loud screech, the beast stated its intent – it wished to feed.

Immediately, Cassius went to the right, using the Force to hop on various rocks, gaining elevation. Reaching a good height, he launched himself at the rancor, holding his lightsaber high above his head. Stabbing downwards, the blade went directly into the beast’s shoulder. The rancor roared and began to shake, nearly hurling Cassius off.

[member="Ar'ekk"]

 

[Arekk]

The blue lightsaber plasma reflected brightly on the Rancor's face as it tried to grab Ar'ekk with its gigantic hands and claws. He moved away from his grasp quickly and lounged in the creature's direction, striking the lower part of its body. The two Jedi would begin a coordinated attack to quickly neutralize the gigantic beast that had endangered their lives for that moment, clearly not expecting such a monstrousity to be hidden in a cave like they found themselves into.

"This is just what we needed. Hopefully this won't drag anyone's attention!" He shouted back at Cassius while he continued to perform as many offensive attacks as possible.

It'd take them a lot of concentration and bravery to kill the giant Rancor who seemed to have gotten weaker as time passed and the Jedi continued to attack its weakest points, staying out of reach to avoid being digested for centuries to come.

"We'll have to be quick about this. Looks like it's dying."

And he was right at some extent as the Rancor let out many roars that demonstrated utter pain and suffering. Their brush with death would be over in just an instant, hopefully there wouldn't be any other similar creature waiting deeper in the cave.

[member="Cassius Droma"]

 

[Cassius Droma]

With the rancor being attacked from two angles, it was no surprise that it was having trouble keeping up and defending itself. Ar’ekk was attacking the legs, and Cassius the back of his shoulders, trying to weaken it. The younger Jedi likened it to rodeo riding, something he was never dumb enough to try, unlike the members of his old squadron. They’d ridden some sort of mechanical beast in a rusty old cantina, laughing as they fell off. Cassius swore he’d never make himself look like such an idiot.

Now he wished he’d had. It would've been decent practice.

After stabbing the rancor for the fourth time in the upper back, hoping to hit some sort of vital organ, Cassius was thrown off, and his back hit the cavern walls with a thump. He winced as the pain shot through his whole body, but luckily it faded to a dull ache into a matter of moments - there didn’t seem to be any type of long term injury. At least, none that he could feel yet.

Ar’ekk stated that they would need to quicken their pace in slaying the beast, and Cassius nodded, his arms already aching, but his heart still in it. Spinning his lightsaber into attack position, he leapt into the air once more, letting the Force soar him higher than he would have normally.

“Go for the heart!” he yelled, knowing that if he went for the brain, one of them would inevitably get a kill shot.

Cassius thrust down, plunging his blue blade into the dark maroon of the beast’s skull. The rancor howled in pain, arms shaking as the neurons and synapses in its brain began to malfunction. If there was a time for Ar’ekk to make the final strike, it would be now.

[member="Ar'ekk"]

 

[Arekk]

Their combined strength and agile movements could mean succeeding against the hungry Rancor that wanted both for its evening's dinner, one performing aerial attacks and the other aiming for its most vital organ of all which was the heart. Being careful of not getting stomped by the creature's feet, Ar'ekk launched several offensive swings and lounges to deplete the beast from all its stamina by striking the legs and lower side of its body. Cassius had already been trying to slice the Rancor's skull so the opportunity was there to finally kill tthe beast.

With one single attack, the young Jedi warrior penetrated the Rancor's heart and put an end to its reign within the cave. Hopefully there were no more similar creatures inside that would harm them because that would mean a great amount of bad luck. Its body fell on the ground with a loud thomp and the cave shook from all sides with rocks falling everywhere until it finally stopped. An eerie silence and darkness invaded the cave.

"Let's take a moment to rest, shall we?" He said as sat on the sand. Most of his energy got depleted during the struggle and his lightsaber acted as the key element to recover his strength.

[member="Cassius Droma"]

 

[Cassius Droma]

As the rancor howled its last, Cassius withdrew his saber from the head of the beast and leapt off, flipping and twisting so that he would land facing the rancor. He didn’t land as much as he miscalculated his flip and his legs buckled as he hit the ground. He grunted again as his already somewhat injured back smacked against hard cavern floor. His lightsaber hissed back into the hilt as Cassius laid there for a moment, wincing in pain.

He definitely needed to work on his acrobatics.

Cassius sat up, and nodded as Ar’ekk suggested they rest. Holding his lightsaber in a loose grip, he looked over to the slain rancor, his breathing slightly labored. That had been… crazy. If someone had told Cassius six months ago that he would kill a rancor with another Jedi by driving a lightsaber into its skull, he wouldn’t have believed them. But lo and behold, there was a mutated rancor, face down on the cavern floor, wounds still smoking from their blades.

“What do you think caused it to grow so big?” the academic in Cassius began to wonder. “It can’t have been eating too much around here. There’s hardly any life at all. It had to have some sort of food source…”

Or maybe that particular rancor species had adapted to the point where the acid rain helped sustain it rather than harm it. It was a terrifying prospect, to be sure. Reaching out, Cassius couldn’t feel any other dark presence like the one they had just vanquished. It looked like they were in the clear… for now. All that was left was to find a way into the fortress to retrieve the map.

[member="Ar'ekk"]

 

[Arekk]

"I have no idea. But I'm sure this whole mess could have drawn an army over so we better go quickly." The young Jedi warrior countered back.

The cave's exit was just nearby and they had to continue through the dark yet safe for the time being hole as the cavern continued to rumble for unknown reasons, it felt like the ceiling would come down on them anytime soon. When they stepped outside, the acid rain would continue to hit their cloaks and cause the same dangers as it did before. With a good minute's rest, Ar'ekk and Cassius had their breaths back and could continue through the deep forest.

"Where to now?"

The sorrounding area was breathtaking with the fortress taking over most of the panoramic view they had once outside the cave, heavily blended in with the area to make sure it wasn't spotted quite easily by any enemy. An stealthy approach would be key for the successful retrieval of the much needed map that Cassius required and for the continuity of their operation.

"It's time to move, we can't stay here any longer."

[member="Cassius Droma"]

 

[Cassius Droma]

“We continue on,” Cassius said, when the masked Padawan asked him what their next destination was. As they emerged from the cave, Cassius took out his macrobinoculars and peeked through them. They now had a different view of the fortress they hadn’t seen before, and from this new vantage point, Cassius could see a weakness in the deflector. There was a small hole created by rocks that wasn’t covered by the shield – it looked just big enough for them to fit through.

Ar’ekk urged him forward, and Cassius agreed, holstering the macrobinoculars for the time being and moving as silently and quickly as he could down the path to the fortress. Soon enough, they were right next to the hole in the deflector shield. It sparked and hummed as it lapped against the rock like a wave on the shore. Carefully, Cassius squeezed through the hole, and he was on the other side of the shield, just like that.

There was no telling if they would be picked up on sensors, so they had to move fast. As the owners of the fortress didn’t have any reason to believe anyone could get past the deflector, the hangar bay door was open. Cassius kept low as he quickly stepped inside of the hangar, becoming enveloped in darkness with every step he took further into the building.

A surprising lack of resistance greeted them as they made their way into the main part of the fortress, but soon enough, they could hear the unmistakable gear-shifting and clanking of battle droids patrolling the halls.

[member="Ar'ekk]

 

[Arekk]

Ar'ekk and his Jedi counterpart squeezed their way through a weakness in one side of the fortress and luckily for them it lacked an amount of security that would make it difficult to enter the premises. Surely, not everything was going to be great as a squad of droids patrolling the sorrounding area stepped into their path and halted their movements. Hiding in complete darkness, the young warrior stood behind Cassius with his lightsaber at reach in case things went ugly. The sounds of wildlife and loud thunderstrikes disguised their footsteps as the toxic rain continued to pour down everywhere.

It was possible for them to squeeze path this security checkpoint if they remained quiet and went about their business stealthy enough behind a large container that covered the sight of anyone in front of them to avoid being detected. Once inside the hangar, to their left was a half-open door that possibly led towards the interior of the fortress although it remained unclear if that certain area was protected heavily and if there were any cameras that could track their movements. Even then, it was worth the try.

"Through here." He whispered.

[member="Cassius Droma"]