posted May 28, 1999 09:27 PM              

My shuttle arrived in orbit around Dxun at 0400, standard time. From orbit, the world was nothing remarkable, largely green, a few large lakes visible, some areas with heavy clouds. I found it hard to believe what Master Majere had told me, that it was the final resting place of one of the most powerful Sith Lords who had ever lived.

I navigated my shuttle to the moon's "day" side, picking a landing site early in the local morning, unsure if I was meant to use my powers to pick an area, and beginning to feel slightly on edge. The feeling increased when I hit the atmosphere and began flying down - I was used to the tight controls of my TIE Advanced, the Black Sword, and the shuttle's bad handling was all too evident when I flew through a storm front. My piloting skills had not deserted me however, and after a few more minutes flying, I was low enough to pick a specific landing spot. I flew in a low zigzag pattern for about thirty minutes, looking for somewhere suitable. Eventually, I found a narrow river, with a wide plateau beside it. Thankful that I wouldn't need to use my lasers to cut though the jungle, I set down.

Reminding myself that I was only to take my lightsabre with me, I reluctantly unholstered my BlasTech and unstrapped my hunting knife. Even more reluctantly, I didn't take any ration packs or water bottles with me. This Journey was to be a test of my Jedi powers; if I could not succeed according to the rules, I could not succeed at all. I attached the lightsabre Master Majere had given me to my belt, opened the landing hatch, and went outside.

As soon as I had left the familiarity of the Imperial shuttle, I was struck by two things. Firstly, there was a faint, pungent, but somehow refreshing smell in the air. Secondly, even more so than from above, everything was green.

Green everywhere. The canopies of the most ancient trees, the leaves of the short grasses lining the river bank. I grew up in a city slum, I had never been in a forest before, much less one so rich. I began to strengthen my mental defences, I was being tested, and tested in an environment completely alien to the one I was at my best in.

Taking a deep breath, I closed the shuttle hatch, and walked away from it. I was alone now.

As I continued past the plateau along the riverbank, beginning to notice the sounds of life from the jungle around it, the smell grew gradually stronger. It began to bother me, especially as it was starting to remind me of something. I stopped, and began trying to work out what it was. I knelt down, and brushed the top layer of earth and sand away from the bank to see the rocks below. There were several red lines running through the rock, when I touched them, a bright red dust came off. Beginning to realise what it was, I cupped my hands and filed them with river water. Carefully, I tasted it, and spat it out immediately. I nodded my head in recognition. The read seam was cinnabar, and its dust was responsible for the smell. The river itself was filled with the substance, making it taste disgusting, and probably making it toxic as well. The dust itself would be dangerous in large quantities, and with a sigh, I realised that my Journey just became a great deal harder. I climbed up the bank, and angling myself away from the river, began walking through the rainforest.

The jungle quickly closed in behind me, and I found it difficult to be sure I was going in a straight line. The only life I saw was several large insects, and a few snakes on the ground - certainly no sign of the famed beasts of Dxun, and no signs of either the Mandalorians or the Sith who had been here before me.

I walked on for maybe ten hours, resisting the temptation to go back to the river and drink the polluted water, and trying to ignore the hunger I was feeling. By the time darkness fell, I was too bored to be worried by the uneventfulness of the day. I looked around for somewhere to sleep, and as I was without either a tent or any blankets to make a camp from, I instead climbed about five metres up one of the massive trees, and curled up into a large fork between two branches. Hoping that my newly discovered knowledge of the Force would alert me if anything came nearby, I slowly fell asleep.

I awoke the next morning shortly after dawn, but without a timepiece, I didn't know how long I had slept for. I clambered out of the tree, feeling very stiff and acutely hungry, and spent five minutes wiping the sleep from my eyes and stretching. Pointing myself away from the tracks I had left the previous day, I again began walking, trying to ignore my protesting muscles. As I travelled on, feeling very dirty and sweaty, the sun seemed to be brighter than the day before, and I began to feel almost delirious with heat and thirst. Reminding myself that I was no longer one of the weak crowd, but a Dark Jedi (albeit one in training), I continued walking, one foot in front of the next, over and over again, losing track of both time and distance.

I almost didn't notice the feeling until it was too late. It hit me like a physical force when I suddenly realised what the edginess in the back of my mind was - a Jedi danger sense. Something was nearby. I froze, and fell into a fighting stance, my right hand on my sabre. I looked carefully around, scanning every square centimetre of the jungle for signs of movement. Seeing nothing anywhere around me, I slowly stood upright, and began to walk forwards again. To be safe, I unclipped my lightsabre, and ordered myself to remain more alert. After another hundred metres of walking, the jungle closed in dramatically, and my visibility went down to no more than a couple of metres. As I continued, I became aware of some regular sounds in front of me, and I realised that something was stalking me. I tightened my grip on my sabre, and walked slowly in the direction of the sounds. Barely able to see through the mass of vegetation, my eye caught on something glinting, at about shoulder height. Focusing in on it, it took me a few seconds to realise what it was. Squatting on the forest floor in front of me, looking me directly in the eye, was one of the beasts of Dxun.

Swallowing slowly, I ignited my lightsabre. It was the first time I had done so, and I was surprised by the colour - white, unlike any I had seen before. I stared at the beast, it stared back at me. I couldn't see it clearly, just some grey skin, and the suggestion of bat-like wings. And, of course, its small red eyes, boring through my skull. I had no idea how to proceed, had it been a Rebel, and if I had my BlasTech, I would simply have opened fire, but with a lightsabre, it was a different matter, more personal, more intricate, more - bloody. I was about to move forward, when I saw an image in my mind - there was another behind me. My heart pumped faster. I was trapped by two of the monsters, with a weapon I had never used before, and with no idea how to kill them. "No, " I whispered. It was wrong. If I was to die, it would be at the controls of a starfighter, defending the Vast Empire, and not in an ancient and forgotten forest at the claws of two barely sentient creatures. As I felt my anger well up inside me, I charged forward, yelling an unintelligible battle cry. The creature drew itself up to its full height of more than two metres, spread its wings, and opened its jaws. A second before we were in striking range of each other, I shifted my weight to my toes, and jumped. Reaching out to the Force with every atom of my being, I somersaulted through the air, fast enough to surprise the creature, and twisted, so that I landed facing it. Now I was facing both creatures, and the upper hand was with me. Enraged, they let out a scream, and charged at me. I sidestepped the first creature, and with a wide double handed swing, I beheaded it as it drew level with me. Continuing the same movement, I spun around to face the second creature, and slashed it across the stomach, nearly cutting it in half. It fell to the ground, barely alive, and I stepped over it. I looked into its eyes, and with a final cry of rage, I plunged my sabre down into its head.

When the fight was over, I stepped back, shocked by the intensity of my anger and viciousness, and surprised that I had felt so focussed during the encounter. Knowing that my Journey was less than halfway through, I knelt at one of the bodies, and smelled it. The flesh seemed to disgusting to eat, even as a last measure, so I left the remains where they were, and continued through the jungle.

Although the jungle remained densely packed and overgrown, I was now more confident with my sabre, and frequently ignited it to cut my way through. As the day wore on, I met no animals larger than a few more snakes, and certainly no more beasts - perhaps they had witnessed my earlier encounter.

Despite my sabre, the trek was very tiring, and by dusk, I was ready for sleep. However, I could feel something pulling me on, like a voice calling that I could not quite hear. I was barely conscious, allowing my legs and arms to make their way, barely directing them, and no longer sure if I was waking or sleeping. Onderon was full that night, its reflected light complementing that of my sabre, and was my only real means of seeing enough to walk on, although my eyes were constantly flicking closed against my will. Eventually, I noticed that my sabre seemed to feel no more resistance from the undergrowth. I pulled my head up, and realised that I had reached the edge of the jungle. In front of me, no more than ten metres away, was the tomb of Dark Lord Freedon Nadd and Queen Amanda of Iziz. I stared at the walls of Mandelorian iron in amazement. It was too dark to make out any details, but the walls seemed to be covered with writing or a fresco of some kind. Suddenly too weak to keep my tired body awake any longer, I didn't even notice as my lightsabre fell out of my hand and went out with a snap-hiss. I staggered forward a few steps, and collapsed beside the tomb. I was asleep before I hit the ground.

"Please, just one more hit . . ." I stared up at the spice dealer, begging him with my eyes. I had been without spice for two days, and I was well into withdrawal. Every muscle was screaming in agony, every artery and vein felt like it had shrunk, squeezing and compressing my blood beyond belief. All that kept me from screaming was the knowledge that it wouldn't take the pain away. "Please . . . " I whispered, constantly blinking to maintain my focus.
He stared at the child in front of him, no more than thirteen years old. The look on his face was one of total contempt, but I didn't care any more, all I knew, all I could feel, was the unceasing need. He smiled a smile that would have made me feel sick, had I been able to feel any worse than I already did. "You want spice? That all depends on what you can give to me."
I began frantically rooting through my pockets, ignoring the screaming from my arms when I moved them. Eventually, I felt something metal. I pulled it out, and handed it to him. "This is all I have . . ."
He stared at the metal rectangle for a second or two. "Where did you get this?" he demanded.
"I just found it," I gasped back at him.
"Do you know what this is? It's the insignia of a Lieutenant Commander in the Imperial Navy! You have no right to this!"
I stared down at my feet in shame, and jumped back in surprise when I realised I was wearing black leather boots. I stared at myself, saw I was wearing an Imperial uniform. When I looked up again, I felt a little taller. I jumped back in shock again, and cried out. The dealer was now wearing the uniform of an Imperial High Admiral.
"You have no right!" he repeated.
"Sir, please . . . only one more dose . . . I just need one more to go on . . . no more after that, I promise you . . ."
I felt a cold wind behind me, and spun around. A figure was standing in the distance, dressed in black robes. "Give it up, Trainee Schnapps . . . the Vast Empire does not want you . . ."
"No!" I cried out, not even sure if I believed it. I could feel a cold sweat beginning on my forehead.
"Leave us, you insolent child, you pathetic addict . . . this is not your world . . . you think the Force cares for nothings like you?"
I stared at him in horror, feeling the betrayal and hatred build up inside me. I reached for my lightsabre, but it was gone. "Who are you?" I demanded.
My only answer was an empty, distant laugh, and suddenly I was blinded by a lightning bolt. I spun my head around, but couldn't see anything. A second later, a crack of thunder rolled, loud enough to deafen me.

I woke up with a yell. My heart was racing, my breathing was out of control. Another lightning bolt flew across the sky, followed by thunder a second later. It was raining hard, hard enough to hurt, and I was already wet through. Feeling a presence behind me, I jumped up and spun around. The clouds had obscured the light from Onderon, and I could see nothing. Squinting into the rain, still breathing heavily, I noticed just in time a sliver of light flashing towards me. I flung myself to the right, trying to avoid it. I felt a stab of sharp pain in my left shoulder where I was struck, and the force of the blow knocked me over. Panicking, and still feeling the dark presence behind me, I scrambled as fast as I could to the edge of the forest, concealing myself in the first line of trees. I stared out into the darkness, my eyes now well adjusted to it. I shook my head in disbelief - there was no one and nothing there. At least now it would have a harder time of seeing me . . .

Calming my breath and heartbeat, and focusing my will, I remembered another Force power I had learned about. I forced my eyes closed, and looked ahead of me. At first there was nothing, but after what felt like an age of concentration, I was able to reach to the Force and use it to see through. The whole forest glowed, apart from the tombs of Mandelorian iron, which were an eerie jet black. Silhouetted against them, and walking steadily towards me, was a Sith Warrior. In his right hand he carried a glowing metallic sword, and hung from his belt was what looked like a deactivated lightsabre. I looked in more detail at his face, focusing on the Force to gain a clearer image. Underneath his Sith helmet was a skull, the jaw dotted with black spaces where the teeth were missing, and the eye sockets long devoid of any inhabitants.

Suddenly angry at this creature that tried to deny me my place alongside Freedon Nadd, I stood up and unleashed a bolt of pure hatred towards the undead warrior. The pain the Force caused stunned him only for a few seconds, but that was all I needed. With my eyes still closed to aid my Force seeing, I sprinted into the clearing, and reached out to where my lightsabre had fallen earlier that night. With a slight but definite command, the sabre flew towards my outstretched hand. I ignited it and spun around just in time to block the blow from the warrior's sword. I tensed every muscle, trying to hold back the immense strength of the creature in front of me. My face contorted with effort, its face remained as impassive as it had been since its muscles finally decayed centuries ago. It was a losing battle. He was stronger than me, and pushing my sabre back slowly but inexorably.

Thinking fast what to do, I pivoted down and to my right. The warrior had been leaning heavily on my sabre, and the movement denied him any support. As he overbalanced and fell to its knees, I continued to turn until he was behind me, then rolled forward over my right shoulder, sabre still ignited. When I came out of the roll and faced him, he was still resting on one knee. Wary of a trap, I didn't approach, but waited for him to make his next move.

I waited too long. Moving his left arm almost too fast for me to see, he grabbed what I'd thought was his lightsabre and ignited it. The blade was impossibly long and curved, and as he flicked it towards me, I realised that it must be the legendary light whip. The whip wrapped around my sabre, and with a fluid motion of his wrist, the warrior sent it flying into the undergrowth. Before I had time to react, he flicked it out again. Sliding backwards on my heels, I avoided most of the blow, but he still caught me on my left knee, and I gasped with pain. Summoning my rage for the third time since my Journey had begun, I used the Force to sprint towards him as fast as I could. My swiftness surprised him, and as I made contact, knocking him to the ground, I let out a deafening Force Scream. The power hurt me considerably, but it hurt him more, and I was now too angry to notice my pain. Reaching to the forest, my lightsabre flew towards me once more. I rolled back to my feet, and spun round the ignited sabre. The warrior had risen to his knees, but my sabre felt no opposition as it cut through his neck.

I stared as his remains fell back to the ground, red Sith helmet lying on top of them. I finally opened my eyes, and became acutely aware of the pain I was in. There was barely enough light to see normally, and I realised the cold jungle rain was still falling. Careful not to further injure my left knee, I limped to the front of the tomb, and sat down in front of it. I closed my eyes, and tried to enter into a healing trance. However, the battle had left me drained, and I was unable to draw on the Force again, no matter how hard I tried. Instead, I simply pulled myself to the entrance of the tomb, and leant against it. Very weak from the fight, I quickly fell asleep.

"Very well, " the robed figure said quietly. He knelt at the ground, picked something up, and walked away.

I awoke in the morning to find the rain was now little more than a fine mist. Feeling infirm, I tried to get to my feet, but the pain from my ribs prevented me. Breathing in shallow breaths, I carefully ran my right hand over my sides. I could feel at least four broken ribs, which I attributed to the damage I received from my Force Scream the previous night. My right arm was caked in blood where the sword had struck me, but the wound was long since clotted. There was also a dull but strong pain from my left knee, and when I touched it, it felt burned. Gritting my teeth, I rolled onto my front and struggled to my feet. A few metres to my left, a pile of bones topped with a cloak and Sith helmet was the only sign of the battle. Unclipping and igniting my lightsabre, I carefully approached the remains. I knocked away the helmet with my foot, and kicked away the robe. Beneath the bones lay the sword. I stared at it in awe - one of the famed Sith swords, thousands of years old, but still as sharp and new as the day it was first forged. I slowly and painfully knelt down, and reached out to pick up the blade. As soon as I touched it, I flung my hand back in pain. I stared at the new burn marks on my fingers. I was only a Trainee in the Force; I assumed that the Sith sword was so powerful I could not even touch it. Looking through the remains, I could find no sign of the light whip. I sighed in disappointment, it would have been an amazing prize to return with.

Beginning to get used to the pain from my arm, knee, and sides, I stood up, and began to examine the temple. In daylight, it was even more impressive than at night. Its walls of dull grey Mandalorian iron towered over me, and the doors were covered in inscriptions in a script I did not recognise. On closer examination, I could see they had been written at different times. Some looked thousands of years old, yet it was still clear that they had been carved with great skill; other, newer, less eroded words seemed to have been simply hacked away. Wondering what kind of tool could write on the surface of Mandalorian iron, I found my eyes drawn to the faintly glowing Sith sword lying on the ground - it was said such swords could cut through anything.

There was an archaic handle on the main door of the tomb, and for a second, I was about to reach up to it - but I remembered Master Majere's words, and checked myself. "If you find the tombs, you are not to enter as you are not yet powerful enough to protect yourself from the horrors", he had told me. I placed the palms of both hands on the doors, and began to feel Dark Side power flowing into my arms. It was strangely warm, blood warm, not cold as I had expected. After a few seconds, I felt stronger, and the pain from my injuries was much reduced. I stepped back, and took an experimental deep breath - there was still a dull aching from my ribs, but nowhere near as agonising as it had been just a few minutes before.

Stepping back again, I bowed before the tomb, careful not to kneel, as my left knee was still very painful. Unsure of what to say, I was silent. Eventually, I spoke. "Lord Nadd, Queen Amanda, hear me." I looked up to the doors. "I may be weak now, but one day soon I will return. Remember my name, remember my face."

If I was expecting a tangible response, I was disappointed. After watching the unmoving doors for several minutes, I pulled myself to my feet and walked again to the Sith Warrior's remains. I examined them as best as I could, and discovered, carefully, that although the sword was still to powerful to touch, the bones, cloak, and helmet did not hurt me. I pushed the bones, helmet, and sword together with my feet, and covered them over with the cloak. I then dug a small trench around the pile, and tucked the edges of the cloak into it. I filled up the remains of the hole with soil, and firmed it to make sure that neither the cloak nor the artefacts it protected could be disturbed.

I quickly worked out the best way of transporting the sword back to my shuttle, and I headed into the forest.

Once I was about fifty metres in, and surrounded by jungle on all sides, I quieted my mind and focused on the creatures with a feeling of contempt. After a few seconds, I became aware of one sleeping in the forest canopy above me. Lifting up my head, I concentrated on the branches, and with effort, I was able to telekinetically snap several of them. The huge beast fell down through the forest, and was stunned when it hit the ground hard. The fall did not kill it, so I let my sabre do the job.

Next came the difficult part - I had to skin it. Concentrating hard, I used my sabre to cut from it's neck as far down as I could. I tried to scrape away the flesh, but both my fingers and my sabre were too clumsy. I looked around the rainforest floor for a while, and eventually found a rock, just small enough to hold easily. A few minutes work with my sabre had halved its size, but given it a sharp cutting edge. Carefully, I set to work on the beast with it. It was lucky that the skin was thick, because I was inexpert at the task, to say the least. Once I had removed most of the skin from its back and sides, and cut off the thin, leathery wings, I had a large amount of skin to work with. I rolled it up, slung it over my shoulder, and walked back to the tomb.

The cloak and remains were where I left them. I dug the small trench back out, and cleared everything away from the sword. Tearing a strip of skin about twenty centimetres wide, I carefully wrapped it around the hilt. I had to touch the sword to do so, but although I was able to use the Force to suppress the pain, there was nothing I could do to reduce the burning of my hands. Once the hilt was wrapped up in the skin, I was able to hold it without injury. I tied the makeshift hand protector in place with three very thin strips of skin, and then stood up with it. It was not as heavy as I had expected, and it was perfectly weighted - as perfectly as my sabre. I swung it experimentally a few times, and then held it close to my face to examine. The blade itself was remarkably smooth, the only mark being a thin blood channel bisecting each side. Even in the daylight, the blade still glowed, presumably because of the Sith magic used to create it, or simply because of the vast amount of Force energy that must flow through it. The handguard was made of a dull grey metal, and was intricately carved with hieroglyphs, most of which were coloured a deep red - presumably pigmented with the cinnabar that was abundant in the region. Set into the base of the hilt was a large crystal of cinnabar, a deep, blood red, that refracted what meagre light shone though it dramatically. It too was still shiny and new looking.

Deciding I had learned all I could there, I began packing the warrior's remains away. I wrapped the sword in several layers of skin, worried that it might damage any of the other artefacts. I then placed it, the Sith helmet, and as many of the bones as would fit onto the cloak, before folding it in on itself, and tying it closed with more thin strips of skin. I made a rough cross harness with the remained of the skin, so that I could attach the package to my back. I slung it on, and turned to the tombs. They stood there, ancient and unmoving, apparently unaware that I had ever been there. I nodded at them, and turned to begin my journey back.

As I turned round, I thought I saw a dark, robed figure in from the corner of my eye, standing at the edge of the forest several metres away. When I focused on the area, there was nothing and no one there.

My return trip was largely uneventful. When I passed the body of the unfortunate creature I had skinned, all that was left was a rough pile of bones - obviously there was a lot of life on the world that was avoiding me. Smiling in satisfaction, I walked on.

That night, I was about to climb another tree to sleep in, but emboldened by my victory against the undead warrior, I simply lay down on the forest floor, almost challenging any local wildlife to object to my presence. None did.

My dreams that night were intense, but strangely comforting. I remember little of what happened, only that they were filled with Sith Warriors and hooded figures, Dark Jedi and Mandalorians.

When dawn came and I awoke, I could hardly feel the pain from my wounds any more, and the sensations of hunger and thirst were completely gone. I picked up my bag of artefacts, ignited my lightsabre briefly to check it could still function, and began walking again. I never needed to check my route was correct, or to look for the river that had been my original guide - I could feel my way back, and when I closed my eyes and used the Force to look ahead, I could clearly see the distant but ever nearing sanctuary of my shuttle.

Perhaps because I seemed to be feeling the Force more strongly, the journey back seemed to pass a lot faster than the journey out. I reached the plateau where I had landed well before nightfall, and I found my ship apparently undamaged. There was one visitor - a small beast, perhaps an adolescent one. I paused before I ignited my sabre, and concentrated instead. I reached out my hand to the beast. I knew exactly what I wanted to do, although trying to do it was like trying to remember a forgotten word. Suddenly, my connection with the Force became more solid, and I could make it obey my commands. As I stared at the creature, I took an all too real Grip on it. It squirmed for a few minutes, unsure even of what was happening to it, clawing at its neck. In less than thirty seconds, its trachea was crushed, and it fell to the ground, dead. I felt no remorse as I entered the open code on the shuttle landing hatch, and wearily walked inside.

It felt good to be back in familiar territory again, the walls a much-missed Naval grey, the controls of the ship exactly as I had left them four days before. I lay down my prizes and closed the hatch. I opened the ration box, and took out a new bottle of distilled water. I drank it quickly, my thirst and hunger returning now my Journey was over. With a long sigh, I sat down in the pilot's chair, and prepped the ship for launch. Five minutes later, I had left the Demon Moon's atmosphere. For a few moments, I considered going into a low-level orbit and scanning the surface of the tiny world - after all, there were still Mandalorian remains somewhere on Dxun - but I decided against it. Master Majere had instructed me to take only my lightsabre on my Journey, and to use the shuttle's sensors would surely be much more of an infringement than to use a blaster or a hunting knife.

I shook my head and smiled to myself, pulling the shuttle up and away from the moon. It wasn't long before I had left the system, and when I did, I plotted a course for what I now called home - the Vast Empire.

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Touch Not The Cat But A Glove

Wing 1 Wing Commander
Commander of Blizzard Squadron
Levy Officer, Vast Empire naval Engineering Corps
Elite Trooper 4 in the Vast Empire Special Forces
WC/LCM Schnapps_2000/Blizzard 1-1/Wing I/ISD-II Devastator/1stESF/VEN/NI
=A=[BRC(3 members)/CBV][TIE/A Black Sword]