Private What Wars Left Buried

[Meri Vale]

Meri listened as Novac explained how he had met his master, her flashlight sweeping methodically across the corridor walls while he spoke. The story was unusual, but she was beginning to suspect that most stories involving Jedi were unusual once one examined them closely enough. When he finished, she remained quiet for a moment, considering his words carefully before responding. "I think I understand your skepticism," she said thoughtfully. "People often attribute events to destiny because it is more satisfying than admitting that chance played a role. Although I suppose the difficulty comes from determining where coincidence ends, and meaning begins."

As they rounded the bend, her gaze drifted briefly toward the map before returning to the corridor ahead. Novac's comment about luck earned the faintest hint of a smile. "I appreciate your confidence," she replied. "Most people would be reluctant to volunteer another person for first contact with the potentially dangerous unknown." The dry humor lingered for only a moment before her expression softened slightly. Perhaps because he had shared something personal. Perhaps because the silence of the corridor encouraged reflection.

"My life was not particularly exciting when I was younger," she admitted. "I grew up on Panatha. My family was influential. Education was valued. History was valued. Appearances were valued. I was expected to learn, behave properly, and eventually become the sort of person other people expected me to become." There was no bitterness in her voice, only the calm observation of someone describing a life that felt increasingly distant. Her flashlight traced across a section of damaged wall as she walked.

"Then Panatha was destroyed." The words were simple and matter-of-fact, almost too simple for what they represented. "Afterward, a great many things that once seemed important stopped being important. Archaeology remained." She adjusted the strap of her satchel slightly. "When you lose a place, you begin to understand how much value there is in remembering one. That is probably why I keep ending up in ruins." A faint smile returned to her face. "Although admittedly the hidden chambers, ancient mysteries, and occasionally functional lightsabers do make the profession more interesting."

The corridor stretched onward into darkness, concealing whatever waited inside the room ahead. Meri glanced toward it before looking back at Novac. "As for your luck, I am willing to investigate first," she said, her hand settling lightly on her flashlight. "But if there is an intelligent murder droid in there, I fully intend to remind you that this was your idea." With that warning delivered, she continued forward, prepared to discover whether the next mystery waiting in the abandoned facility would be enlightening, disappointing, or deeply irritating.

Novac Lyrikal

 

[Novac Lyrikal]

Novac said nothing as he listened to her. It was a story to many places in the galaxy shared, entire worlds destroyed or left in ruin. "I can't say i fully share your pain but, I can share in the sadness of a lost world in a way. The ssithers homeworld of jatee was the location for the two near extinction events. The first we no longer have record of but it forced everyone underground."

He stopped for a moment, thinking of what to say. It wasn't often his people history was shared, mostly due to how little any of them left the world, if ever. "A man by the name of hegerty found out the planets star was going to explode, managed to get only one ex-imperial vessel and save as many of our people as he could."

taking a breath before continuing. "I never saw the planet myself as it was destroyed long before my hatching, but I still miss it somewhat. I think its more of a sadness for the loss of history and information. A entire species history wiped out besides what those who escaped knew...Uh my bad, kinda bringing the mood down aren't I."

With a faint smile novac said, "don't worry, if something goes wrong it'll be on me."

Meri Vale

 

[Meri Vale]

Meri listened quietly as Novac spoke about Jatee. The corridor stretched onward around them, ancient walls illuminated only by the sweep of their flashlights, but for a few moments, her attention remained entirely on his story. She understood more than he probably realized. Not the specifics of the Ssither people, nor the details of their history, but the shape of the loss itself. Entire worlds did not simply disappear. They left absences behind, places in memory where something should have been and never would be again. "You are not bringing the mood down," she said calmly. "You are describing something important."

She adjusted the strap of her satchel slightly as they continued walking. "I think people often focus on the loss of lives when a world dies. They should. That part matters. But there is another loss as well." Her flashlight drifted across the wall beside them. "Languages disappear. Traditions disappear. Architecture disappears. Stories disappear. Entire histories vanish with them." For someone who spent her life studying the past, the thought carried a particular weight. "In that sense, I think Panatha and Jatee are more similar than they are different. Neither of us can go home. Not really. The places still exist in memory, in records, and in the people who remember them. But the worlds themselves are gone."

For a few steps, she was silent again, allowing the thought to settle between them before a faint smile returned. "Which may explain why we are both wandering through abandoned ruins looking for pieces of history." The dry humor softened the conversation without diminishing it. "Some people collect artifacts. Apparently, we collect lost worlds."

Her gray eyes shifted toward the room ahead, the darkness waiting beyond the next doorway. "And for the record, if something goes wrong, I suspect responsibility will be shared. I did agree to continue following you into the abandoned facility that may or may not contain escaped experimental droids." The corner of her mouth twitched faintly. "That seems difficult to defend before a review board."

Novac Lyrikal

 

[Novac Lyrikal]

Meri Vale

It wasn't often novac talked about this kind of stuff with someone else, it was nice thoughin a way. "The loss of life is bad yes, but I agree that many dont look past it. Its always saddens me to see history and languages lost. Though it's never truly lost if theirs at least one person alive who remembers it. History lives in the memory of those who live after all."

Smiling he said. "Collect lost worlds? Thats a wonderful way to think about it. Hm maybe thats part of the reason I fix up old droids from junkyards, bringing parts of the past back."

He took a moment to think before speaking, "Each droid does have it's own history, life, and memory. I always make sure their ok and able to be on their own before I let them decide what they wish to do. Many wish to stay with me, some go off on their own to make their own history. I've actually started working on a home for them and other droids who want to escape. Guess I'm helping them make their own history...Never really thought about it that much till now."

 

[Meri Vale]

Meri listened quietly as Novac spoke, her attention remaining fixed on him even as they continued through the abandoned facility. There was a sincerity to the way he described the droids that made it difficult to view them as machines in the conventional sense. He spoke about them the same way other people spoke about friends, students, or family members. Not possessions. Not tools. Individuals.

A faint smile appeared as he connected his work restoring droids to her observation about collecting lost worlds. "I think you may have answered your own question," she said. "Most people look at something broken and see what it used to be. You seem more interested in what it could become." Her flashlight drifted across the corridor wall as they walked. "That is not really preservation. It is a continuation."

The distinction seemed important. "Archaeologists spend a great deal of time trying to understand the past. You are helping pieces of the past build a future." The corner of her mouth twitched slightly. "Which is considerably more ambitious."

His description of giving the droids a choice drew another thoughtful expression from her. "I suspect that is why so many choose to stay." She glanced toward him. "Most beings value the opportunity to decide their own path. The fact that you give them that choice probably means more than the repairs themselves." After a moment, she added, "There are a surprising number of organics who do not receive that same consideration."

For a few steps, she was quiet before speaking again. "A home for them sounds worthwhile." There was no hesitation in her voice. "History survives through memory, but it also survives through people carrying it forward. If those droids are building lives of their own, making decisions, creating friendships, solving problems, and telling stories, then they are not just preserving history. They are creating it." A faint smile returned. "Which means you may be collecting lost worlds after all. You are simply giving them somewhere to live."

Novac Lyrikal

 

[Novac Lyrikal]

As novac listened to Meri Vale speak a smile grew on his face. He'd never really thought of it that way until now. "huh..guess your right. In a way it's sort of bringing the past back and letting it grow once again. I've almost lost count of how many I've pulled out of junkyards, fixed up, let them go throught the holonet to fill themselves in on whats happened, and then get excited to explore and be in this new time."

most of his crew where those very droids. Lost or almost fully destroyed then fixed up by novac and given new life. It was almost magical to see, if they had eyes you would most certainly see a sparkle in them. " Its also sort of collecting pieces of lost worlds, times, and history and putting them together to make new history. Honestly people disregard and are far to careless of droids. I've gotten calls from droids who wanted to escape their abusive masters or ones who felt they had no place in the galaxy just like organic beings."

He'd realize they'd just been standing here for a while, maybe not the best thung to do. "Anywho, perhaps we should see whats in this room. That murderbot could be wandering the halls," he said joking, "you know I probably shouldn't say that, might come true." he said with a slight chuckle.

 

[Meri Vale]

Meri found herself smiling as Novac spoke. There was an unmistakable enthusiasm in the way he described each repaired droid discovering the modern galaxy, as though every restoration became a new beginning rather than the end of an old story. It was difficult not to appreciate someone who cared that deeply about things most people overlooked.

"I imagine that must be quite a sight," she said. "Waking up decades, sometimes centuries, after the world you knew disappeared." She considered it for a moment. "Most historians would give almost anything to ask someone from the past what their life was like. You seem to be giving people from the past the chance to ask questions about the future instead."

His comments about abused droids caused her expression to sober. "I have never really understood why so many people dismiss them," she admitted. "If something can think, learn, remember, and make choices, then treating it poorly seems... unnecessarily cruel." She glanced toward him with quiet approval. "The fact they know to call you says quite a lot. Reputations like that are usually earned."

When Novac mentioned the murder droid again, the corner of her mouth twitched upward. "For the record," she said, "I would appreciate it if you stopped predicting increasingly alarming possibilities. Your success rate is beginning to concern me." She adjusted her grip on her flashlight before looking toward the unopened room ahead. "Although, statistically speaking, perhaps you've exhausted your supply of accurate guesses."

She stepped toward the doorway, her light cutting through the darkness beyond. "Let's hope the next discovery is something pleasantly mundane." A brief pause followed before she added dryly, "Ancient financial records, for example. They are considerably less likely to chase us down the corridor."

Novac Lyrikal

 

[Novac Lyrikal]

"It can be kind of jarring for some of them so I have to help adjust sometimes. Luckily I've gotten pretty good at it though.' he remembered a few times where droids who already had developed personalitys got fixed up after being deactivated in a junkyard for ages. It was..difficult to help them at first, but nowadays novac had a good method to helping them.

At her comment of people dismissing droids he said, "One reason, probably the biggest reason, is because their machines, made of wires and metal. Many think that their merely tools, others refuse to believe that something built can be like us organics. In a sort of 'a machine can't be human,' kind of way. I've found that those people can often be less human then the droids they look down on."

When she mentioned his predictions novac couldn't help but chuckle a little, "Let's hope your right and I have run out of predictions. Some old records would be much nicer."

Meri Vale

 

[Meri Vale]

Meri nodded thoughtfully as they walked, her flashlight tracing lazy arcs across the walls. "I imagine it would be," she said. "Going to sleep in one world and waking up in another would be confusing for anyone. Especially if everything familiar had disappeared while you were gone." She paused for a moment before adding, "Having someone there to explain what happened probably makes the difference between feeling lost and feeling...welcomed."

His explanation of why people dismissed droids earned a small frown. "It seems like an oddly convenient definition," she observed. "If someone decides another being is 'only a machine,' then they no longer have to think about whether they're treating it fairly." She looked ahead into the dim corridor. "History is full of people deciding someone else mattered less because they were different. Usually it says more about the person making the distinction than the one they're describing."

A faint smile returned as she glanced sideways at him. "For someone who repairs machines, you spend a surprising amount of time reminding me why people are interesting." It was meant as a compliment, and sounded like one.

When Novac mentioned also hoping his predictions had finally run their course, Meri gave a quiet laugh. "Let's test a different kind of prediction, then," she said. "Behind the next door we'll find neatly organized records, intact shelving, and absolutely nothing capable of chasing us." She reached for the control panel beside the door and looked back at him with the hint of a grin. "I think those are much safer odds."

Novac Lyrikal

 

[Novac Lyrikal]

Meri Vale

"I've heard of some people who where around during the clone wars and for one reason or another are around now. Frozen or whatnot. Unlike them droids can at least download information. However I've learned if they download to much at once they kind of," taking a moment to find the word, ""Go a tad mad. To much information at once or whatever."

Ather comment he smiled back, "People can be at times. I mean if this place is here I'm sure there where quite some interesting people who built or worked here."

As she was giving her own prediction novac leaned against the wall. Turn out there was a loose wall panel which novac found out about by accidentally hitting it with his head, knocking it off the wall, along with the thick dust layer on it causing him to sneeze.

"Ah excuse me. I was going to say I like yours much more."

 

[Meri Vale]

Meri nodded thoughtfully as they continued down the corridor, her flashlight drifting across the walls before settling ahead once more. "I'd like to meet someone from that time," she admitted. "Not a famous general or politician. Just...someone ordinary." She smiled faintly at the thought. "Imagine the history they could tell you. Not the sort written in textbooks, but what people actually worried about, what they laughed at, what they thought the future would look like."

She considered his explanation of information overload and gave a small nod. "That actually makes sense." Her curiosity immediately took over. "Knowledge is useful because it has context. If someone woke up knowing thousands of years of history without understanding how one event led to another, I imagine it would feel less like learning and more like...waking from a hundred dreams all at once."

The sudden clang of the loose panel made her jump just enough to betray that she had not expected it. She looked over in time to watch the dust cascade onto Novac, followed almost immediately by his sneeze. The corners of her mouth lifted despite herself.

"Bless you. I appreciate your commitment to testing the structural integrity of abandoned facilities," she observed with complete seriousness. "Although I believe most archaeologists prefer using slightly less...personal methods." She stepped closer to the fallen panel, her light playing across the opening it had concealed. "Still..." Her smile grew just a fraction. "You do seem to have an unusual talent for discovering hidden things accidentally."

Novac Lyrikal

 

[Novac Lyrikal]

Meri Vale

Novac rubbed the dust off his face, looking at the fallen panel with a slightly embarrassed smile.

"Well... I guess I did find something hidden. Not exactly the method I would have chosen, though. Although I guess that makes it a more memorable discovery."

"wonder how long this was here while the place was in use without anyone knowing."

 

[Meri Vale]

Meri stepped closer to the fallen panel, crouching to study its edges rather than the dust coating it. Her fingertips hovered just above the metal without disturbing anything, her eyes following the seams where it had once sat flush with the wall. "If it stayed hidden while the facility was operational," she mused, "then either it was intentionally concealed...or everyone who knew it was here simply assumed no one would ever lean against that particular section of wall hard enough to find it." The thought brought the faintest smile to her face. "History has a surprising habit of depending on very ordinary accidents."

She looked up at Novac, amusement still lingering in her expression. "I think you've discovered more hidden compartments today by accident than most archaeologists find on purpose." Her gaze drifted back to the opening behind the panel. "Although I would appreciate it if the next discovery didn't require you to headbutt ancient infrastructure. It seems...difficult to reproduce as a research methodology."

Novac Lyrikal

 

[Novac Lyrikal]

With a slight chuckle, "II think both my head and nose would appreciate me not finding secrets the same way either."

Looking in his flashlight illuminated the entire small space. Inside was a small cubbyhole in the wall containing a few things. Three datashards and a bag. Opening up the bag Novac saw about 5 restraining bolts.

Putting it back he plugged one of the datashard into his datapad. After reading through it for a little he said, "Well then, turns out some who worked here was going to try and steal some droids and sell them to this guy, don't know who, probably wouldn't even if it gave a name. But they where going to use the restraining bolts to steal em."

Meri Vale

 

[Meri Vale]

Meri couldn't help smiling at the mental image of Novac discovering hidden compartments by accidentally walking into them. "For the sake of your continued well-being," she said with dry amusement, "I think we should consider that a successful experiment and avoid repeating it."

As he examined the contents of the cubbyhole, she leaned in just enough to look without getting in his way. The restraining bolts immediately caught her attention, though it was the datashard that held it. She listened quietly while Novac summarized what he had found, her expression growing more thoughtful with each sentence.

"That would explain why someone hid it instead of destroying it," she observed. "If they intended to come back later, there would have been no reason to carry evidence around with them. A concealed compartment is much less suspicious than a bag full of restraining bolts." Her eyes shifted briefly to the small cache before returning to the datapad. "It also suggests the theft never happened. Either whoever hid these was interrupted, changed their mind, or..." She paused for a moment. "...they never had the opportunity to return."

She looked thoughtfully around the forgotten corridor, imagining it bustling with technicians and workers rather than lying silent beneath centuries of dust. "It's strange," she said softly. "We spend so much time searching for grand discoveries that it's easy to overlook things like this. Someone's abandoned plan, a hidden compartment, a handful of restraining bolts..." A faint smile returned. "Sometimes the smallest stories tell us the most about the people who lived here."

Novac Lyrikal

 

[Novac Lyrikal]

"You know, part of me always liked these types of discovery's more in a way. Seeing the little things, the day to day. What people where doing, how they where living their life. The little things."

Checking the other datashard it seemed to be some info on the droid models they were going to steal, just basic information, nothing special. putting everything back in the cubby.

"Well anyways shall we see what hte next room hold for us," he said as he approached the door, opening it he waited for a moment to make sure it was safe and gestured for her to follow

Meri Vale

 

[Meri Vale]

Meri watched as Novac returned the datashards and restraining bolts to the hidden compartment before sealing it away once more. His comment lingered with her longer than she expected. The little things. It was an idea she understood well, though she had rarely heard someone else put it into words quite that way.

"I think I do too," she admitted, her voice carrying easily through the quiet corridor. "Everyone gets excited about discovering the throne room, or the treasury, or the place where history says something important happened." Her eyes wandered over the aging walls surrounding them, imagining them alive with workers instead of silence. "But the kitchens, the workshops, the forgotten storage rooms..." A small smile appeared. "That's where people actually lived."

She glanced back toward the concealed compartment one last time. "Someone probably hid those datashards thinking they'd be back before the end of the day." There was something quietly melancholy in the observation. "Instead, years pass... then decades... sometimes centuries. Eventually all that's left is a tiny decision frozen in time, waiting for someone else to stumble across it." Her smile softened. "It's strange how ordinary moments become history simply because no one came back."

When Novac opened the next door and paused to make certain it was safe, Meri waited patiently beside him rather than trying to peer past. Once he gave the all clear, she nodded gratefully and stepped through after him, her flashlight sweeping carefully across the unfamiliar room. "Lead the way," she said with an amused glance in his direction. "Though perhaps this time we'll try discovering things without introducing your nose to any more walls."

Novac Lyrikal

 

[Novac Lyrikal]

"I think I'd prefer that." he said in reference to his nose finding more dust then it should.

Looking around the room his flashlight revealed a decently sized break room. Old vending machines and cooking areas lined one wall, what ever food was once here has probably been eaten by rodents by now so there wasn't a smell of rotting food. In the middle of the room a large rectangular table and chairs all around where caked in dust just as everything was.

The fact a break room was here made noavc think. Taking a look at thte downloaded map "Thought so, theres a production floor not to far from here. pretty big to."

Meri Vale

 

[Meri Vale]

Meri lowered the beam of her flashlight from the old vending machines and swept it across the break room once more. Dust blanketed everything so evenly that it was difficult to imagine anyone had worked here at all, let alone enough people to justify a room this size. Her attention shifted back to Novac as he glanced at the downloaded map with such confidence.

A curious smile tugged at her lips.

"How can you tell?" she asked, stepping a little closer to look over the map without crowding him. She studied the layout for a moment, trying to see whatever had stood out to him. "I mean...I can see the rooms, but I don't think I would've guessed there was a production floor nearby just from finding a break room."

Her eyes wandered around the room again, lingering on the long table and the rows of chairs before returning to him.

"Is it the size of it? Or the layout?" There wasn't any challenge in her voice, only genuine curiosity. She always enjoyed hearing how someone else pieced together clues. More often than not, they noticed details she had overlooked, and every explanation became another way of learning to see the world a little differently.

Novac Lyrikal

 

[Novac Lyrikal]

"Well nearby break room isn't the main thing. Look at the size. Huge rectangular room, connects to another long room that goes to the left, can't see what's past there but I'd say a production line, convers and what not, is fairly likely. Also there's a lot of smaller hallways connecting to it. Would make sense for a production area to have a lot of ways to get there" Novac said as he pointed to a few hallways on the map.

Novac stopped for a moment and thought, *that little hidey hole could be there so they don't have to transport stuff so far either

Meri Vale