The Valley of Golg, Korriban, Tuesday
Feb. 3rd, 2015 07:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
suitably_heroic"Well," Atton said, tapping the now-useless hunk of metal that was the Ebon Hawk's hull, "Welcome to the Valley of Golg, I guess."
The Valley was about as charming as the Valley of the Sith by the Academy: a giant stretch of sand, pretentious artwork carved into the rocks, and a prevailing sense of dread that spread across the sand like ink. Or maybe that was just Atton's imagination.
"My guess is whatever just knocked out all of the Hawk's systems is probably also what got to Visas," he added.
Brianna let out a frustrated noise. "I can sense her," she said, "and a great deal of menace."
"That's Korriban for you." Atton pulled away from the ship. "Better get walking, I guess."
Between the intricate statues carved into the walls were many entrances, some more elaborate than others. Entrances to Sith tombs. The most majestic was fairly close by, and Brianna nodded at it. "There?"
Atton shook his head. "No," he said, "That's Dathka Graush. He's more 'dead people walking', less 'knock out my baby's interiors with a weird digital Sith pulse'." He shivered. "Creepy, though."
They walked along the tombs, with Atton occasionally glancing down at the sensor he had brought while Brianna kept her eye on the various facades. Eventually, Atton came to a sudden stop, his gaze shooting up at the particular carvings alongside the entrance.
"This guy, on the other hand? Big on gizmos. Not so big on names people can actually pronounce."
"I don't recognize these carvings," Brianna said. She stepped in closer. "I have yet to run into any of these in my studies."
That got her a casual shrug. "Republic's only just started poking around this planet looking for information," Atton said, "And frankly, I'm not even sure that's such a good idea. This planet... this planet's better off in the same state Malachor's at."
He looked down at his sensor again. "Speaking of which, be careful," he said. "You see that shimmer over there...?"
"Force field," Brianna concluded. She considered the entrance for a moment, then slammed her fist into a particular section of the facade. There was a flicker, and then the notable sudden absence of a hum they had only just noticed. "No longer."
Yeah... if it worked like that. Atton frowned. "We hope," he said, picking up a pebble and tossing it towards the entrance. It shot through helplessly. "...Okay, fine. So much for elite ancient Sith technology." He slipped his sensor into his pocket and stepped through the door.
It felt... wrong.
Then again, this was Korriban. Didn't everything?
In front of him laid a long corridor, just wide enough to let through one person at a time. It dipped down into the rock, not so much a stairwell as a slope with rocks portruding from it every other step.
"Nothing here," he called over his shoulder. "For now, anyway."
Brianna joined him a moment later, and together they walked the length of the corridor. There was a turn, and then another turn, and another corridor that brought them even deeper into the rock.
At the end of that, a chamber--
"Oh, poodoo!"
--or rather, a ledge, which dipped down quickly into a vast expanse of lava. Atton's hand shot out for the wall and he gripped it tight, as if trying to cling to it, even if he did have another half-a-step of wiggle room.
"Apparently this tomb is in a state of some disrepair," Brianna observed, pressing herself against the wall.
"You think?!" Atton called back. He gestured towards some rocks, portruding out of the lava below. "I think we can make it if we just--"
Apparently the former Handmaiden had similar ideas, and no intention of sharing them. She shoved herself away from the wall bodily, Force leaping across to one rock, then back up to the ledge on the other side. She vanished through the exit there.
"--Fine, women and children first!"
Seriously, couldn't she have waited? For like a second?
He hurled himself across the lava with the Force, his feet skipping over one rock, then a second, then a third. His fourth step got him perilously close to the wrong side of the opposite ledge; he had to shove as much of his weight as possible forward to keep himself from stumbling down into the hot rock below.
"I hate Korriban," he muttered.
He hurried quickly into the next corridor, which was empty. "Brianna?" he called. The word echoed off the walls, pinging back and forth, but there was no answer.
He frowned.
There was a presence up ahead, but it wasn't Brianna. Rather, it was the one they'd been sensing since they got to the valley: Visas Marr's twisted-then-untwisted light, touched by the dark side but never fully filled with it.
She was close.
He kept moving, his guard up now. There had to be more traps here-- more rooms full of nasty things trying to kill him like Sith Lords liked to gather around themselves, whether they were dead or not. But he found nothing, just quiet, and the sense of Visas' presence growing closer with each step.
The corridor took another winding turn, then opened up into another chamber. A much smaller one, with more carvings covering the walls. There was a particularly large one covering the wall that Atton could see as he came out of the corridor. The candles in the figures' hands were lit.
They cast a shadow on the wall. A human-shaped shadow. Another few steps, and Atton could see what cast it. A figure in dark red and black robes, a veil thrown over her head, a candle in her hands.
"Visas!" Thank the Force, she was okay. "We've been looking all over for you-- what's going on?"
"There is another war waiting for us, in the Unknown Regions," Visas whispered.
Except that wasn't her voice.
"Visas?" Atton said, his voice suddenly shaking.
He took a step forward.
She turned, a blue face under a red-and-black veil, seeming alien, but her features unmistakable.
"You're a soldier. You of all people should understand," Meetra said quietly.
Atton's hand trembled. So did his face. "Meetra?" he said. "Meetra, where did you go-- why did you..."
Something. Something wasn't right here.
"He needed me," she said. "Like they will need you. Like they will need us. Hundreds of years from now, the war that slumbers in the shadows... it will come. You must understand."
Maybe it was a trick. Atton's foot, half up in the air for the next step, stepped back instead. "Hells," he said. "No, no, no, it can't be you, it's not you, somebody's trying to mess with my head."
Except it was her. It felt like her. The way she was looking at him-- she looked exactly like her.
"I need to go," she whispered, her expression... kark.
"No, I can figure this out," Atton babbled. "No, wait, what in space--"
"He needs me," Meetra hissed. Her eyes flashed, with a warning or something else, and then suddenly she was gone, Visas' robes crashing to the ground, then evaporating... evaporating into nothingness.
What the kark?
Oh. Oh. (Look at your hands, whispered ancient training. Look at your hands and count them.)
He stared down at his fingers. They were moving. Fluctuating. Five fingers, six fingers, three.
Just yesterday, he'd said it; recited it to Brianna like he was the voice of karking authority. There's about... oh, six varieties of gas that can snap through a Jedi's breath control. About three of those, you can counter with the right protection. We're lucky I made the right bet, there.
Jedi poisons. Jedi poisons weren't always about knocking out the target, more often they were about confusing it, about knocking it out of the mindspace they needed to see danger coming.
"E chu ta," he cursed. He barely got the last syllable out of his mouth.
It hadn't been long enough since the last time he'd gotten body-checked by a terentatek. He was far, far too familiar with the sensation, and the pain, and the sudden lack of control over the rest of his entire body.
He slammed into the cave wall, hurting; he was unsure if the cracking noise he heard as consciousness passed from him was the sound of his ribs, his lightsaber, or both.
[[ nfb, nfi, la la la. ]]
The Valley was about as charming as the Valley of the Sith by the Academy: a giant stretch of sand, pretentious artwork carved into the rocks, and a prevailing sense of dread that spread across the sand like ink. Or maybe that was just Atton's imagination.
"My guess is whatever just knocked out all of the Hawk's systems is probably also what got to Visas," he added.
Brianna let out a frustrated noise. "I can sense her," she said, "and a great deal of menace."
"That's Korriban for you." Atton pulled away from the ship. "Better get walking, I guess."
Between the intricate statues carved into the walls were many entrances, some more elaborate than others. Entrances to Sith tombs. The most majestic was fairly close by, and Brianna nodded at it. "There?"
Atton shook his head. "No," he said, "That's Dathka Graush. He's more 'dead people walking', less 'knock out my baby's interiors with a weird digital Sith pulse'." He shivered. "Creepy, though."
They walked along the tombs, with Atton occasionally glancing down at the sensor he had brought while Brianna kept her eye on the various facades. Eventually, Atton came to a sudden stop, his gaze shooting up at the particular carvings alongside the entrance.
"This guy, on the other hand? Big on gizmos. Not so big on names people can actually pronounce."
"I don't recognize these carvings," Brianna said. She stepped in closer. "I have yet to run into any of these in my studies."
That got her a casual shrug. "Republic's only just started poking around this planet looking for information," Atton said, "And frankly, I'm not even sure that's such a good idea. This planet... this planet's better off in the same state Malachor's at."
He looked down at his sensor again. "Speaking of which, be careful," he said. "You see that shimmer over there...?"
"Force field," Brianna concluded. She considered the entrance for a moment, then slammed her fist into a particular section of the facade. There was a flicker, and then the notable sudden absence of a hum they had only just noticed. "No longer."
Yeah... if it worked like that. Atton frowned. "We hope," he said, picking up a pebble and tossing it towards the entrance. It shot through helplessly. "...Okay, fine. So much for elite ancient Sith technology." He slipped his sensor into his pocket and stepped through the door.
It felt... wrong.
Then again, this was Korriban. Didn't everything?
In front of him laid a long corridor, just wide enough to let through one person at a time. It dipped down into the rock, not so much a stairwell as a slope with rocks portruding from it every other step.
"Nothing here," he called over his shoulder. "For now, anyway."
Brianna joined him a moment later, and together they walked the length of the corridor. There was a turn, and then another turn, and another corridor that brought them even deeper into the rock.
At the end of that, a chamber--
"Oh, poodoo!"
--or rather, a ledge, which dipped down quickly into a vast expanse of lava. Atton's hand shot out for the wall and he gripped it tight, as if trying to cling to it, even if he did have another half-a-step of wiggle room.
"Apparently this tomb is in a state of some disrepair," Brianna observed, pressing herself against the wall.
"You think?!" Atton called back. He gestured towards some rocks, portruding out of the lava below. "I think we can make it if we just--"
Apparently the former Handmaiden had similar ideas, and no intention of sharing them. She shoved herself away from the wall bodily, Force leaping across to one rock, then back up to the ledge on the other side. She vanished through the exit there.
"--Fine, women and children first!"
Seriously, couldn't she have waited? For like a second?
He hurled himself across the lava with the Force, his feet skipping over one rock, then a second, then a third. His fourth step got him perilously close to the wrong side of the opposite ledge; he had to shove as much of his weight as possible forward to keep himself from stumbling down into the hot rock below.
"I hate Korriban," he muttered.
He hurried quickly into the next corridor, which was empty. "Brianna?" he called. The word echoed off the walls, pinging back and forth, but there was no answer.
He frowned.
There was a presence up ahead, but it wasn't Brianna. Rather, it was the one they'd been sensing since they got to the valley: Visas Marr's twisted-then-untwisted light, touched by the dark side but never fully filled with it.
She was close.
He kept moving, his guard up now. There had to be more traps here-- more rooms full of nasty things trying to kill him like Sith Lords liked to gather around themselves, whether they were dead or not. But he found nothing, just quiet, and the sense of Visas' presence growing closer with each step.
The corridor took another winding turn, then opened up into another chamber. A much smaller one, with more carvings covering the walls. There was a particularly large one covering the wall that Atton could see as he came out of the corridor. The candles in the figures' hands were lit.
They cast a shadow on the wall. A human-shaped shadow. Another few steps, and Atton could see what cast it. A figure in dark red and black robes, a veil thrown over her head, a candle in her hands.
"Visas!" Thank the Force, she was okay. "We've been looking all over for you-- what's going on?"
"There is another war waiting for us, in the Unknown Regions," Visas whispered.
Except that wasn't her voice.
"Visas?" Atton said, his voice suddenly shaking.
He took a step forward.
She turned, a blue face under a red-and-black veil, seeming alien, but her features unmistakable.
"You're a soldier. You of all people should understand," Meetra said quietly.
Atton's hand trembled. So did his face. "Meetra?" he said. "Meetra, where did you go-- why did you..."
Something. Something wasn't right here.
"He needed me," she said. "Like they will need you. Like they will need us. Hundreds of years from now, the war that slumbers in the shadows... it will come. You must understand."
Maybe it was a trick. Atton's foot, half up in the air for the next step, stepped back instead. "Hells," he said. "No, no, no, it can't be you, it's not you, somebody's trying to mess with my head."
Except it was her. It felt like her. The way she was looking at him-- she looked exactly like her.
"I need to go," she whispered, her expression... kark.
"No, I can figure this out," Atton babbled. "No, wait, what in space--"
"He needs me," Meetra hissed. Her eyes flashed, with a warning or something else, and then suddenly she was gone, Visas' robes crashing to the ground, then evaporating... evaporating into nothingness.
What the kark?
Oh. Oh. (Look at your hands, whispered ancient training. Look at your hands and count them.)
He stared down at his fingers. They were moving. Fluctuating. Five fingers, six fingers, three.
Just yesterday, he'd said it; recited it to Brianna like he was the voice of karking authority. There's about... oh, six varieties of gas that can snap through a Jedi's breath control. About three of those, you can counter with the right protection. We're lucky I made the right bet, there.
Jedi poisons. Jedi poisons weren't always about knocking out the target, more often they were about confusing it, about knocking it out of the mindspace they needed to see danger coming.
"E chu ta," he cursed. He barely got the last syllable out of his mouth.
It hadn't been long enough since the last time he'd gotten body-checked by a terentatek. He was far, far too familiar with the sensation, and the pain, and the sudden lack of control over the rest of his entire body.
He slammed into the cave wall, hurting; he was unsure if the cracking noise he heard as consciousness passed from him was the sound of his ribs, his lightsaber, or both.
[[ nfb, nfi, la la la. ]]
