Chapter 157: The Reaper Comes
Chapter 157: The Reaper Comes
- Ossus – 98 Days into the Clone Wars-
Aayla hadn’t known why the Force had tugged on her mind and soul, pulling her away from Izuku after Kashyyyk and drawing her to Ossus. Not, that was, until Master Morne arrived only hours after she herself did, looking grim and needing to speak with Master Bnar urgently. The urge to insert herself in whatever was going on had been strong, and both Masters had barely blinked, seeming to feel it as well, even as Celeste had outlined where she’d been. Of the Sith Superweapon that was being restored on Thule, one that she had recognized from her studies while she was still part of the Covenant of Shadows in her original time. A weapon Ood Bnar apparently knew by name all too well, the subtle dread radiating from the ancient Master not at all reassuring.
“Troubling, very troubling. You were correct to believe I knew of the weapon, Master Morne, though I’m not sure if anything I know would be of aid now. I am, of course, familiar with the Dark Reaper. It was the primary weapon of terror used by Exar Kun and Ulic Qel-Droma during the Sith War of my time. Unfortunately, how it was defeated is not known to me, as Ossus was attacked and I driven into stasis before Exar Kun was defeated, and I understand it took some time after that to find a way to shut the Reaper down.”
Ood directed a clearly curious look toward Master Morne at that, the reason for which became obvious to Aayla as he spoke again.
“I would have thought you to know more than I, Master Morne, as you were trained in the direct aftermath of that war. Indeed, you escaped off this very world in an evacuation ship as a child, did you not?”
Oh. It was really easy to forget that Master Morne had been alive, if just a child, back when Exar Kun was rampaging and Master Bnar had gone into stasis. The human Master didn’t have the same feel of raw age to her that made you instantly and easily connect Master Bnar to the same events. Unfortunately, despite the ancient Jedi bringing the point up, Master Morne was shaking her head in response.
“Unfortunately, that was a chaotic time, and the records of what exactly happened with the Dark Reaper were lost. I know only that Qel-Droma apparently turned against Exar Kun at the end, revealing to the Jedi some sort of weakness that allowed a Jedi strike team through the death effect radiating in the Force. Aside from that, almost everything was lost or deliberately obfuscated after it was taken apart.”
Surprise radiated off Master Bnar, as well as a sense of understanding.
“I see. Then you were correct in coming to me, though for different reasons than you believed. You see, some time ago I wished to discover what had become of the Sunrider clan. Curiously, they have resurfaced a number of times, as recently the last two hundred years in fact.”
Master Bnar’s face wasn’t one that showed bemused wistfulness easily, but it could certainly be felt by Aayla’s empathy. Something that made her really want to dive into just what could make the ancient Jedi feel that way, particularly accompanied by as much pure exasperation as it was. Still, that was for later, and he was still speaking now.
“That, however, isn’t the relevant point. As it happens, I was able to get an account from Master Yoda of Nomi’s daughter Vima, which was entered into a restricted section of the Great Holocron. The account identified her primary trainer as Ulic Qel-Droma…and included his final resting place. A large mausoleum built in his honor on the remote world of Rhen Var, as it happens. If there is anywhere a final holocron or imprint of the Force remains of him, it would be there. Though, of course, it’s location is going to be a new problem for you to solve.”
Aayla didn’t need the Force to see where this was going, or why she might have been called here to help. She sighed and voiced the obvious question.
“The world is within CIS space, isn’t it?”
Master Bnar’s crooked smile confirmed it before he actually spoke.
“It is. Ironically, it’s not all that far from us here on Ossus. It’s within the same Sector, in fact. However, after their failure to assail Ossus, I understand that the CIS has put firm blockades in place to contain us here. Meaning you’ll need to find another point to come in from, as well as a way to disguise yourselves.”
The disguise part wouldn’t be that difficult. Both Celeste and Aayla herself effectively specialized in undercover operations. Between the two of them it wouldn’t to that difficult to hide who they were, at least once they were within the CIS’s borders. Yet, those borders were being watched carefully, as evidenced by how difficult it had been for Celeste to get back out after sneaking onto Thule. It had taken her weeks to do, and something told her they didn’t have weeks to manage sneaking back in the hard way. Mentally puzzling over the problem, trying to remember what other systems were nearby, Aayla abruptly froze.
“Oh. Oh, that’s why the Force sent me here.”
The two Masters present both looked at her, clearly expecting an explanation, and Aayla sighed.
“As it happens, there is a backdoor of sorts, that would take us to the Felucia System. Which is also in this Sector and enough of a backwater that it isn’t likely to be heavily watched. I’ll have to contact Mei to find out where the nearest Infinity Gate is, though. I know there is one on Tython we could use, at worst, but hopefully there’s an intact Gate somewhat more accessible than that. I have a feeling getting to Tython might take too long.”
Both Masters nodded at that. The Jedi Order might have mapped a new route to Tython, but there was a reason that such routes had been lost, repeatedly, over the planet’s history. The Deep Core, where Tython resided, was an absolute mess of shifting phenomena. The current route took a week and a half, at best, starting from Coruscant. From Ossus, it would take several days longer yet, as they’d need to use the Jump Gate back to League space then shift towards the Core.
Celeste spoke up with certainty in her voice.
“Your suggestion feels right in the Force. I have little doubt it is the right track. I will prepare the ship I’ve been using, if you contact Hatsume. You’ll get farther faster with her than I would.”
Nodding at that, Aayla and Celeste both thanked Master Bnar for his help, before parting to get on top of their respective parts of the problem…
… … …
- Lothal – 102 Days into the Clone Wars -
“Well, this is about as backwater as it gets while still being on a known hyperlane. Looks like it was pretty prosperous for agriworld, before the war at least. What’s with the League medical relief ships?”
Celeste’s question stirred Aayla from her attempts to locate the Infinity Gate on the planet through the Force. Mei had been able to tell them that the Gate was supposedly in working order via a remote system’s check, but not exactly where it was. Aayla admittedly had a fair guess, based on what she’d been able to pull out of the Ossus library about the world. It had actually been information added only in the modern usage of the library, copied from the semi-public sections of the Jedi Archives, but it had been useful. Vague, but useful.
Apparently a Jedi Temple had been constructed over an ‘underground Vergence in the Force’ some 3,000 plus years ago. If she were a betting woman, Aayla would place her credits on that ‘Vergence’ actually being an active Star Chamber whose Star Temple had been buried or destroyed. The Jedi had likely never even realized it was there or, if they had, had made an effort to conceal that fact.
“There was some sort of plague sweeping through the system. It’s under control now, thanks to League relief ships operating out of Dac. The local economy is a bit of a mess still, but the locals will likely be helpful given my connections to the League.”
They had, themselves, come through the Dac Jump Gate. While Mei had given them a half dozen Star Temples that were still active outside CIS space, this was the one they could reach the quickest, specifically because they’d been able to Jump straight from Ossus to Dac. As a result, it had taken barely three and a half days to reach Lothal, despite how remote it was. Though they would still need to find the Infinity Gate on the planet, now that they’d gotten this far.
“That might be useful, given I doubt this Temple is anywhere near a city. Do you believe you can call into the League presence here and get them to convince the locals to let us land outside the settled areas? We need the ship to go with us, if your description of your previous use of the Infinity Gates is anything to go by.”
Aayla immediately nodded, seeing the point and reaching for the comm systems.
“Right. I’ll get on that. Put us in orbit over the Northern hemisphere. That was about all I got from the public archives for a location, unfortunately. We’ll need to meditate to narrow it down from there. At least, unless the locals know something. I’ll forward a request through the League for any such information, too. We might get lucky and it’s a known curiosity for the locals.”
Celeste nodded and both of them proceeded with their own tasks, driven to focus by the firm presence of the Force telling them time was not their ally…
… … …
Less than two hours later they were setting down in front of a stone spire that had clearly been carved by sentient hands. Their finding the location so quickly had nothing to do with luck, and everything to do with the fact that someone else was waiting for them. A someone who had messaged them as soon as they reached orbit over the northern hemisphere, before they could do much more than leverage Aayla’s League contacts to get the locals not to bother them.
Specifically, the someone in question was Anakin Skywalker, who was standing near his Blade starfighter as they descended the ramp of the Starlight-class light freighter Celeste had been using to sneak around CIS space. Sadly, Celeste’s Shades of the Past had been outted as belonging to a Jedi who was specifically digging into Sith Business after Kamino. She’d left the modified Hawk-290 for Kina Ha to use, if needed, and swapped for the new ship with the help of connections she’d made entirely on her own. Meaning that, while less capable than her Shades of the Past had been, the Wandering Wind had absolutely no connection to anyone. Not even LIS, who is normally where Aayla would have drawn her own covert ships from.
“Anakin…Knight Skywalker, actually! I see you finally got rid of the braid! Congratulations!”
Anakin smiled broadly at Aayla’s greeting. While they weren’t exactly close, Anakin had never forgotten that it was Aayla who had stuck her neck far out for his mother. Not to mention chewed out the High Council in their own chamber for their handling of his situation and snuck him the high-security comm he still used to keep in touch with his mother even now. He was grateful to her in a way that came across easily in the respect with which he addressed her, despite being well aware she was no longer technically a member of the Jedi Order.
“Master Secura…and Master Morne, I believe? You were the one that discovered the Clones, right?”
Celeste nodded, though to Aayla’s empathy she didn’t exactly feel happy with having been so easily recognized. Not because she had any issue with Anakin, but because that notoriety had complicated her ability to move through the CIS, hunting the Sith. She’d been able to find her way to Thule, but even that had been because she’d failed to penetrate deeply enough into CIS North to attempt assassination of either Sith. She could easily disguise herself sufficiently to bypass most security…but not the sort that Palpatine and Dooku surrounded themselves with.
“I was involved with that, yes. Though Master Kina Ha was the more important actor in properly resolving that particular crisis point. Can I ask just why you’re here?”
The question was abrupt, but Anakin didn’t seem to mind, shaking his head.
“I’m hoping you can tell me, actually. When I went through my Trial of Insight, I was unexpectedly presented with a Force Vision of this place. It took a fair bit of effort to track it down, actually, and I still don’t know why I’m here. I was scheduled to return to leading deep penetration raids on CIS supply lines before the Vision derailed things.”
Aayla and Celeste looked at each other, holding a conversation with just that glance, and it was Aayla who sighed and explained. Clearly the Force thought they needed Anakin here…and they just might. Aayla genuinely wasn’t sure she could remotely activate an Infinity Gate like Izuku had managed on Tython. Even he had needed a boost from the Mantle of the Force to pull it off, though admittedly it also wasn’t the sort of thing he normally did with the Force in the first place. Still, if Anakin was here…
“The Sith are working on a Superweapon. More accurately, they are reassembling an old Sith Superweapon originally created some 5,000 years ago. The Jedi were able to disable it after it was used by Exar Kun during one of the Sith Wars, but for unknown reasons couldn’t destroy it outright. They and the Republic of the time tore it into pieces and spread the pieces out to keep anyone from reassembling it easily. Dooku and Palpatine have had time, unfortunately, and have managed to almost entirely reassemble the Dark Reaper. They are planning to use it against the Republic.”
Anakin had stiffened, face turing grave and eyes glinting with determination at Aayla’s description.
“And the key to defeating it is here on Lothal?”
Celeste shook her head and interjected.
“No. We are hoping it’s on the world of Rhen Var. The Jedi responsible for letting a Jedi Strike team get through its defenses was buried there, and it’s our best lead to figuring out how it was done. Lothal merely has the means for us to shortcut past the CIS lines to a planet near Rhen Var.”
Anakin looked confused at that, so Aayla attempted to explain.
“There are a set of seriously ancient Gateways, called Infinity Gates, that can let a ship move instantly between distance planets. The League’s Jump Gate technology is based on studying them, in point of fact, but some of the original Force-powered Gates are still around and functional. One of them should be somewhere below or near this Temple, while I know for a fact that there is another on Felucia that’s in working order, as I’ve used that one before. That will get us into the right Sector, quite near Rhen Var in fact, using a path no one should be watching closely, as Felucia is a complete backwater.”
There were several long seconds where Anakin just stared. Then he cracked a smile.
“So this is what it feels like from the other side. When someone outlines a completely insane plan with a straight face! Usually I’m the one on your side of the weird Force adventures. Well, clearly the Force wanted me here for something, so lead on, I guess?”
Aayla snorted but couldn’t deny that she’d always ended up on these sorts of weird Force-guided adventures, even with her original Master. Just as Anakin had, from a few of the things she’d heard he’d gotten involved with over the years.
“Right. Well, I think you might be here because I’m legit not sure I can pull this off on my own. I’m really more of a physical Force users than the esoteric stuff, and how this worked the last time we did it was pretty far into the esoteric side.”
She went on to explain everything she could remember about using the Infinity Gates before, hoping that the Force knew what it was doing sending Anakin to help out. He wasn’t exactly subtle, and they’d been hoping to sneak through CIS space undetected...
… … …
- Felucia – 104 Days into the Clone Wars –
“Whew…that was a hell of a rush. I’m really hoping we don’t need to use this thing going back the other way.”
Aayla winced as she passed Anakin a drink, the younger man looking pretty kriffing wiped out. Understandably, unfortunately. It had turned out, after most of a day of investigation, that the Jedi hadn’t ever gone deep enough to discover the remains of the Star Temple. Without the equipment to dig down under the Temple even farther, Aayla had needed to talk Anakin through connecting to the Star Chamber controls without having ever seen or experienced them.
A gestalt meditation where she was able to pass her impression of them to him had helped, but he’d still needed a level of brute talent and power that Aayla was fairly certain she couldn’t have duplicated. They genuinely had needed him there in order to move the Wandering Wind into the Pocket Dimension that was the still-intact Star Chamber. Aayla had been of more help actually activating the Gate once they were inside, but she was about ninety percent certain she couldn’t have moved the ship into the Pocket Dimension on her own, even if she’d managed to connect to the Chamber in the first place.
“Even if we have to use it to get out, the control chamber here on Felucia is fully intact, so you wouldn’t have to do it the hard way. We only needed that method because something had outright buried the Lothal Star Temple under a kriffing mountain.”
Anakin looked so visibly relieved at that, that Aayla couldn’t help but laugh a little. He threw the empty drink bottle at her head, only for her to easily catch it with the Force.
“Laugh all you want! That was hard. Like trying to thread a blind hyperspace jump through the Maw Cluster hard. If I’d had a better idea what I was connecting to, it wouldn’t have been so bad. But as it was…I’m honestly a little surprised I pulled it off at all.”
Aayla nodded but actually wasn’t as surprised as Skywalker himself was. She’d always felt it was a crying shame that he seemed so obsessed with lightsaber dueling and straightforward combat applications of the Force. The natural affinity for ‘hearing’ the Force and letting it guide him his ridiculous midi-chlorian count gave him should have made him far better at handling all the esoteric Force powers. Something she was pretty sure was true, given what he’d just pulled off, and it was more than a little maddening that no one had pushed him down that path.
“Well, rest up for now. We put in a passive listening post here a while back, so I’m going to tap it to find out what local conditions are like. Once we know that, we can use the control room to put us down somewhere outside the Sarlacc and work on how to explain where we came from. Hopefully, no one is looking and we don’t need to explain at all.”
Anakin blinked, staring at her in confusion.
“Sarlacc? What Sarlacc?”
Aayla grinned, having held back this little tidbit on purpose.
“What, didn’t I mention? This particular Star Temple is hidden inside the largest recorded Sarlacc in existence. In point of fact, there are some signs that it might be the first Sarlacc. Specifically engineered to protect the Star Temple, with idiots throughout history having skimmed off piece of it to grow them on other worlds.”
Ah, there was the mix of horrified confusion she’d been waiting for. Grinning and channeling a bit of Zavra Energy™, she half-skipped away from Anakin to get in touch with the listening post Mei had insisted on installing here years ago…
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
A/N 1: Chasing down information on the Dark Reaper is almost as annoying for me as it is for Aayla and Celeste! Seriously, for all that it features in both canon Clone Wars, old comics and a video game, there's very little actual detail on the thing. I'm being forced to make up almost as much as I pull from actual lore -_-. Several bits are lore accurate, though. Including the fact that Nomi's daughter was trained by Ulic, entered a record about that to the Great Holocron, and his burial site.
A/N 2: Lothal is not explicitly listed as having a Star Temple. It's a reasonable assumption, though. Particularly if you consider the fairly bullshit 'world between worlds' in new Disney canon. Replacing that nonsense with a Star Temple seems reasonable. This, also, is something I'd placed a hook for a long (seemingly) time ago with the introduction of the Star Temples AT ALL. I always planted that with the intention of it being a way for a small group to unexpectedly bypass battle lines. Though I will freely admit that I didn't have the EXACT use pinned down. Only that they would be used that way much later in the story ;-).
A/N 3: *sigh* Yes, I had Anakin tag along. I may not like him very much, but this version is at least tolerable, and I know a lot of people want him involved in the story to some extent. Since this particular adventure is right up his alley (he was involved in the Clone Wars Dark Reaper Crisis), I figured it was the right place to have him join in for a bit.