You will be safe there…

[Connor Harrison]

Connor placed his hands on his hips, the warmth just about above comfortable to him on the landing platform. He looked at the murky entrance to the facility, taking in the worn piping, the framework and plated viewing windows that looked out over the planet.

Stepping forward as the girls gushed about ancient history, Connor took his lightsaber in hand and ignited it with that snap-hiss of the bright blue beam of energy and rolled it back and forward, the hum cutting the air as he turned to them.

”Imagine – one you hold dear, and have trusted for years in battle, saving each other from death countless times and knowing the others’ moves so well it’s second to breathing. Imagine it all comes down to one idea versus another in the end.”

With a small grin, he took steps forward across the pad, bringing his blade up, down, around and thrust outwards as if walking in footsteps of the past.

”If there was a place to clash between brothers to decide the fate of a galaxy, this place would be it. Hell itself – spitting out the angel and claiming the devil.”

Connor threw his arms out with a final swing of the blade, and stopped, letting it hang by his side before pointing to the facility.

”If the moment came for Obi-Wan Kenobi to choose between all his years as a Jedi and his years as a friend, then what better place to store a holocron than at the very centre where he made that choice, so others needing guidance and help could come and do the same at their own crossroads.”

[member="Corvus Raaf"] | [member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus listened to her sister talk. They were both historians and knew the significance of this planet and this site. And Kenobi was writ large – even if indirectly in some instances.

And she picked up when she heard that her sister’s probes had found something. The search was potentially a needle in a haystack, and for once Corvus was pleased by the augmentation to their journey of technology.

And then she turned her attention to Connor. He summed up Obi-Wan’s inner turmoil perfectly. A young man he’d known since he was a boy. One he’d promised his own Master he’d train to be a Jedi. One he saw as a brother. And one he’d seen kill Younglings and finally had to face and duel. His actions epitomised what it meant to be a Jedi – and the huge down-side that came with it.

“Except the devil turned out to be an angel after all,” she added. “But for him, Luke would have died. He was redeemed.”

And she nodded at Connor’s words…where better to hide the Holocron?

[member="Taeli Raaf"] | [member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor led the way through the steeple-shaped corridors, eons of scorch marks, blaster fire and other violent erosion had been painted along the walls. There was no light inside except from that that flamed from the planet through the large windows in what looked like a large control room; desolate and deserted.

”Taeli can you get your drones to see where this place goes – as in, does it go deeper to the core, or through a mountain? Where’s the other end, so to speak.”

He walked along controls panels, looking at monitors and holomaps with nothing operating on them.

”Corvy can you give us anything else form the journal about his cryptic wording? Can you feel anything from that holocron itself?”

He stepped up to the other side of the room, overlooking the outside of the facility over a violent river of lava as his eyes reflected the devil-like fire from outside.

”He wouldn’t have buried it…would he? It must be inside something to protect it. But what? A machine? A box?” Thinking out loud was getting more common these days.

[member="Corvus Raaf"] | [member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Connor Harrison"] [member="Corvus Raaf"]

"Sorry, got distracted by some stuff," Taeli said, apologizing to her two companions. "If he hid it anywhere, the drones will find it. Their sensors can penetrate a foot of metal, except for lead. It's probably in one of the safes that the old CIS council kept their valuables in while they were holed up here. Vader wouldn't have seen any worth in those, but they would be heavily fortified to protect the things within. Perfect place to hide a holocron."

Drones zoomed by overhead, zipping around here or there to scan the area. Her datapad pinged three times as they found three of the safes, one of them just a shadowy shape as she guessed whoever had it made had designed it with a sensor resistant metal. Clever really, possibly cortosis laced metal. Density suggested it was a very heavy metal.

"There are three safes identified," she said, pointing out where each was. "One for each of us?"

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus listened to her sister's wisdom. Corvus was an out and out scholar. The past was an open book to her. And she'd met others that were at the cutting edge of science. But her sister blended the two in a way that was invaluable.

"Distractions are allowed," she said, smiling. "And you're right, it is the perfect place to hide a holocron."

The drones had made a very long and tedious task possible in a fraction of the time. "So...three safes. One each. And I'm guessing there are no keys left lying around. And the safes will be resistant to sabers yes?"

[member="Taeli Raaf"] | [member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Having completed a lap of the large control room and returned to the Raaf sisters.

”There's more than one way to open a safe without a saber, Corvy.” He smiled and flashed his eyebrows.

He pointed through an arched blast-door that one of the drones had passed through.

”I'll take the one in here. And I guess general rules apply? Finders keepers, right?”

Connor slid away before they could answer, seeing nothing but two large view-ports with the fiery planet burning away behind it and another long silver table, possible a conference room, with the drone hovering at the far end. The hunt was on.

[member="Corvus Raaf"] | [member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Corvus Raaf"] [member="Connor Harrison"]

"I suppose he does need some money so he can fix that aging ship of his," Taeli giggled as Connor headed to the conference room safe. "He is right though, a lightsaber is not the only way to open a safe. You can crack it by listening for the tumblers if it's a rotation safe, you can use fingerprint dust and some silicon to make a replica thumb for a fingerprint scanner and so on. Or just use the Force, whatever works for you. I'll let you know what I find."

She started off towards the safe that was located in what had been the design room for the small droid foundry here. She suspected what she would find, which was okay with her. She had a feeling it wasn't her fate to find the holocron after all, but a completely unused plan ... yes please.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

So Corvus took the safe that the others had chosen not to pursue. It was a very, very old design and clearly relied on mechanics - some sort of tumbler system according to her sister's thoughts. So it could not be broken into with electronic wizardry. You needed to know the combination. Or have unlimited time to try every single combination.

Or be adept at rearranging molecules, take them apart and build new ones...bit by bit. So she knelt in front of the safe and entered Art of the Small.

[member="Taeli Raaf"] | [member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Standing beside a wall of black panels, Connor looked over them all, prodding and pulling them to find they were loose enough to prize apart. Dropping them to the floor, drone hovering over, he made quick work to get behind the façade cover to the safe at eye level.

Rubbing his hands together, Connor leant forward and did the obvious – try to open it. No luck. Then, sizing it up, he pulled a little more, applying great strength to prize it from the wall. No luck. Standing back, he chewed his bottom lip.

A little noise from behind him caught his attention, turning to see the others making their own way to their own safe to open it. He looked back at his, feeling the pressure of wanting to open his first, and to find the prize inside. Rubbing his fingers together, he toyed with an idea.

Looking back over his shoulder, there was little focus on him, so he moved forward and placed his hand inches from the combination lock on the silver safe. Engaging a surge of the Force in him, he pushed outwards to send an arc of Force Lightning into the safe, a powerful blast for a few seconds that lit up his face with purple light as it seeped into the safe and charred the edges.

He silenced the power, cupping his hand in his other and letting out a breath. Then, with his left hand moved to twist his hand at the smoking black lever and focused on pulling and turning it with the heat – harder…harder….harder….

SNAP

The lever came away in two pieces, a nice hold where it was with melted metal forming a perfect circle. Connor smiled and looked over his shoulder again, before turning and prodding into the warm hole to pull the safe open to reveal what was inside!

Nothing.

His shoulders slumped and his eyes closed. A sigh followed.

[member="Corvus Raaf"] | [member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Connor Harrison"] [member="Corvus Raaf"]

Reaching the safe she had chosen, Taeli immediately got to work on cracking it. Taking the time to examine it fully, she could see it was incredibly well made, especially to have survived in this condition for so many centuries. Running a chemical analysis, she had been right to assume it was made of highly protective metals, not that they were of any use here to her.

Pulling out a little gizmo of her own design, she set it on the safe's interface and it began running through every combination possibility for it. Sitting back while her gadget did its work, she started typing on her datapad a small note to herself about possibly setting up mining stations here for raw materials for her shipyards and droid foundries.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

It took a while, but by rearranging molecules, Corvus was actually able to change what was a rigid metal of a locking mechanism into something pliable.

Not precisely liquid, but less dense than it was before. She achieved this by making the surrounding area more dense, given the limitations imposed by physics and the fact she couldn't expand the lock inwards.

Finally she was done and stood up.

She closed her eyes and immersed herself in the Force. Opening them again, she pulled on the lock using the Ability. The whole safe shuddered momentarily before the lock mechanism started to be pulled from the surrounding metal.

With the sound of metal tearing, the lock sprang free, leaving a hole in the door. With trepidation, Corvus closed her eyes once more, grabbed the handle, turned it and pulled...

[member="Taeli Raaf"] | [member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

”Well. That was a waste of time.”

Connor sauntered into the main command room, flurries of reds and oranges shining through the viewport from outside. He dropped the charred handle of the safe and placed his hands on his hips, turning to nod into the conference room where he had just pretty much vandalized.

”Nothing from me ladies.”

It was only then he noted the Raaf sisters were in their own world, their own corner of the command centre, busying themselves with their own safes. It seemed rushing and being destructive was what Connor excelled at, with little to show for it.

”Hm,” he walked to the viewport and clamped his hands behind his back, ”don’t let us down, Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

Hearing a click of a safe, Connor turned away from the view outside to see who had struck gold, because there was a Force signature present that wasn’t any of their own.

[member="Corvus Raaf"] | [member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Connor Harrison"] [member="Corvus Raaf"]

Her gadget gave a small beep and a green LED flickered on, signalling Taeli that the combination had been found and entered. Smiling as she put her datapad away, she removed her gadget and opened the safe...

Sadly, there was no holocron contained inside, but luckily for her, there was something of equal interest to her. Inside were blueprints of a prototype droid from the old CIS on a new droideka design. Taeli had always been fascinated by the old droid and just the pure wave of destruction they could unleash. Well, that just left Corvus and Connor in finding the holocron here.

"But not a bad day for me either," she said, grabbing the plans and scanning them into her datapad and sending them immediately to the Aurora servers on Erilnar. Taking the originals just in case, and also for the historic value, she tucked them away safely in her bag and closed the safe.

Heading back into the main room, she smiled at Connor and patted her bag.

"No holocron for me, but did find some old droid designs I can put to use so not too bad," she said, her purple eyes dancing.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

She was oblivious to the outside world. Her eyes and thoughts were only on one thing. The contents of the safe.

As the door swung open she felt it. The hit of the Light-side was wonderful and at the same time a small shock. She'd handled the occasional Holocron before - but nothing this...personal. Perhaps that was colouring her judgement.

She put her hands in and pulled out the Holocron.

Almost trembling she turned to face the others, now aware she was not alone. The design was basic, the crystal clearly a blend of blue and violet.

And as she stared into their eyes, the Holocron glowed in her hand. She felt the Force within it and gasped.

From it, an image flickered into life.

"Hello there. Master Obi-Wan Kenobi at your service."

For once, Corvus was speechless...

[member="Taeli Raaf"] | [member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Rolling his eyes at Taeli and her boffin head, Connor hopped down into the centre of room to see Corvus in his line of sight, and he didn’t see it at first, but looked down to her hand to see the holocron. She was truly the one destined to find it; so she should be, her whole life was modelled on the man who she practically held now in her hand.

For once, a key to the past was before them, and Connor’s mouth dropped a little in awe and he took a few small steps forward, beside Taeli and opposite Corvus and the image of Obi-Wan Kenobi. A Jedi who bore the look of how he imagined real Jedi should; the facial hair, the strong posture, the charming look and robes.

Connor was a far cry from this generation of Jedi, and he felt a pang of regret.

Swallowing, he looked at the image, eyes flicking up to Corvus.

”Can he hear us?” He whispered a little too loud.

To be honest, the Silver Jedi had no idea how a holocron of this magnitude worked – was it voice recognition? What is a simple recording? Was it something mystical through the Force that brought his being back for Corvus to question?

[member="Corvus Raaf"] | [member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Connor Harrison"] [member="Corvus Raaf"]

"You found him," Taeli whispered, coming up behind Corvus and seeing the gatekeeper being projected by the holocron. "You actually found him, oh Corvus ... this discovery is simply incredible."

She knew the basis of the holocron and its gatekeeper, but to actually see this one up close reminded her of another holocron waiting to be ... discovered in the depths of space that she had neglected. Might be a good idea to recover that sooner rather than later.

"To answer your question Connor, the gatekeeper is made by leaving an impression of one's personality and thoughts and presence in the capstone of the holocron," she explained, unable to stop the explanation from spilling out. "In Sith holocrons, that stone is kept in the top of the pyramid. For a Jedi one, I would imagine it's kept in the center. But one must interact with the gatekeeper to access the information contained within, and it can be just like talking and learning from the actual person."

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus was still in awe. To have studied someone for your entire life. Someone who loved only in history books. And then to meet them. To be the first person since the man himself to touch his Holocron? It was simply the thing of dreams.

"Master Kenobi. I am Master Raaf and this is Master Harrison and another Master Raaf, Taeli, my sister. I..we...have much to say, but appreciate your role here is gate-keeper. In time it would be good to learn your knowledge of the creation of Holocrons - but for now I am just so pleased to have located this Holocron. Unless..." she turned to face the others, "Either of you have a question?"

[member="Taeli Raaf"] | [member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

He didn’t stop looking at the image of the Jedi Master who had been dead hundreds of years, but was now – in some way – alive before them. He didn’t move, or acknowledge his own name, and it took a second for him to notice the dead air from Corvus asking them both if they had a question.

Questions? Connor had thousands.

How did one find their place within the Force?

Is the Light and Dark side of the Force really so obscure to each other?

What happened to Anakin Skywalker to turn him to the Dark Side?

Did he ever touch the Dark Side?

Could he still teach others now if they needed it?

Was Corvus Raaf ever going to see the good in him?

He shook his head. ”No, no, not right now.”


[member="Corvus Raaf"] | [member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Corvus Raaf"] [member="Connor Harrison"]

"Oh, just too many to ask right now, I'll need to narrow down the list," Taeli said, her eyes looking over the exquisite craftsmanship of the holocron. The gatekeeper was a dead ringer for what Kenobi had looked like after the Clone Wars, from she had seen in holos anyways on Lorrd. The fact they had found it at all was astounding and exhilarating.

"We should get going though Corvy," she said finally. "Mustafar, while outside the influence of a major power, is still not the most hospitable place. It might be best to talk with the gatekeeper in a friendlier environment."

Just to underscore her words, the sound of a nearby volcano erupting could be heard through the old facility.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus almost felt rude in shutting down the Holocron.

"Um...yes...right...yes. Later...for sure." She blushed and gave the Holocron a small bow. "Until next time Master Kenobi."

She pulled a black velvet bag from her pocket and placed the Holocron in it and pulled the draw-strings. "Something for the mantlepiece maybe?" She giggled and looked at the others. "Well come on then, we should get going..."

[member="Taeli Raaf"] | [member="Connor Harrison"]