Beat the Retreat

[Armand Temi]

"Alright Daddy, it's time to haul jets!" said Abigail with the unbridled enthusiasm of a fifteen year old. She rose and stretched her long limbs, then grabbed her satchel, and still paying attention to where Draco was, boarded her new Star Skiff. Running into the cockpit, she immediately put on the commlink so she could talk to her father.

"The name of the ship is the Crystal Retreat. Any significance behind the name?" she asked, after pulling up the ship's primary data on make, model and history. Abigial was obviously unaware of the Crystal Heiress connection, and the fact that she herself was an heir to Kallisto Mining Company. She then activated the nav computer and began the launch sequence.

"Draco is there a mech or other type of droid onboard? Any AI to help me navigate? Or am I on my own?" It didn't seem like it, but perhaps on Ziost she would purchase a droid to help her or at least alleviate the boredom that would come along with a long space journey, especially if Draco was not close by.

Once the skiff's launch sequence was ready, she engaged the main thrusters and slowly backed the ship up from the hangar, paying special attention to where her father's ship was. Don't embarrass yourself by backing him, Abi. She wanted to show him that all of those piloting lessons paid off, so if anything she was flying extra slowly and carefully. She pressed her comm button with yet another question, but stopped. She was so geared up now she could probably talk his ear off with all of her concerns, but Abigail had been taught that the comm was not for idle chit-chat. It was good to keep the link free and clear of conversation to monitor any incoming transmissions from nearby vessels.

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

I watched her take off for the airlock at the mention of flying her own ship. I wasn't surprised, I had just handed a fifteen year old a brand new ship and told her to take the wheel. "Alright, give me a second to get navigation calculations and we will be on our way." I had to hurry to the bridge to avoid being left by the little star skiff, "Zoist. Stay near by just in case and pick me up when I call." to let them know what was up and I jogged aboard the sleek star skiff.

"Yes, its named after the Crystal Spires of Isis and the Retreat. It signifies your home and your homeworld respectively. I thought it would fit you well, but for now," I nodded to the pilot and he a button on the dash of the ship, "Let's fly discrete with a False ID. There should be a transponder on there somewhere." I had spent only a short time at the Crystal Palace and had never explored the world. The only reason I had been there in the first place had been to take Abi from Thais and leave, so I hadn't let Thais out of my sight much in my time spent there.

"And yes. There are a couple droids in concealed compartments, and there should be a TA5 somewhere around there with bodyguard and pilot protocols installed." The TA5 Droids were Hegemonic and ArmaTech combined projects, however they scared me. The one I had preformed experiments on turned out to be a psychopath that was more than capable of matching your average Knight, and thus this one was set up for regular memory wipes and had fail safes installed to prevent it from being capable of harming Abigail.

"And be careful, Abi." I said, clicking the comms off as we made the jump to Hyperspace, stars turning to bright white lights then the cascading blue tunnel of hyperspace opening up.

[member="Abigail Kallisto"]

 

[Armand Temi]

My home world, Abigail thought. This was yet another clue to her past, which Draco leaked out casually as though it was common knowledge. She quickly touched her datapad, and it sprung to life. She keyed in a couple of notes to research Isis, but later. She was about to fly a fast ship; playing detective with her ancestors would have to wait.

"Yes!" the brunette padawan said into her commlink. Draco could almost hear her fist pump into the air as she triumphantly celebrated the fact that she had droids to play with. When I get bored, the droids will come out, she said, her head swiveling around to look for the concealed compartment. Hm, wonder what else is in here? As soon as it was safe to go on autopilot, she was going to have a good snoop around The Crystal Retreat that was certain.

"Roger, Draco," she said as he instructed her to make the jump and be careful. She felt the rush herself, the stars blurring, her stomach dropping, and like her father, she'd entered hyperspace. Abigail wasn't that experienced with it, so when they jolted out of it a few moments later, it took her a minute or two to catch her breath.

"Wow," she said into the radio. "That's the longest I've been in hyperspace." Abigail felt a little dizzy, but she didn't want Draco to know.

"Ziost is up ahead."

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Whether she knew it or not, she was probably the superior pilot between the two of us. I had people fly me everywhere or I flew with fairly sophisticated Pilot Droids controlling most of the ship. Dogfighting wasn't something I ever participated in either. The only time I piloted in combat was when I was in a Drop Pod or a boarding torpedo, and both of those were meant to crash. "Your doing fine sweetie." I said reassuringly as she remarked about hyperspace. It was certainly the only time she had piloted a ship alone in hyperspace.

"I'll take one of the Aquila's to the planet. Keep this in orbit and out of sight." I ordered to the pilots as I left the small bridge of the corvette to slip into the small stealthfighter to get to the surface of the planet. It, of course had an R9 model to do most of the flying. If anything all I would do was pull the trigger on the guns. I needed to make a two seater to alleviate this issue.

"Alright, we can land in the wilderness, or we can go incognito in one of the settlements. Either way should be fine dear." Worst case members of the Primeval showed up and I reminded them of the loose alliance the Union and the Primeval had at the moment. Best case was no one of any importance ever realized we were here and Abi got to enjoy herself on the planet. "I'll just follow you in, alright."

Clicking buttons on the dash I pulled up the ship comm and spoke to the droid, "Put us on an escort flight with the Crystal Retreat." I regretted naming the ship that, but it was her homeworld, her mother. I couldn't keep them secret forever and it pained me to have lied and kept so much secret from her as it was. As soon as she separated from me and decided to go to Voss on her own, Crix would be getting a long overdue visit.

[member="Abigail Kallisto"]

 

[Armand Temi]

"I think we should visit New Adasta, the main city," said Abigial, quite stuck on the idea of exploring a populated area of Ziost. She also was aware that Ziost had a strong darkside presence, one that pervaded the cold, icy planet itself. Instinctively, she touched the Sith amulet around her neck, and a light shiver went through her spine. Look if this freaks you out too much, Daddy won't mind if you keep it in the ship, she thought, wondering if she should remove the piece of jewelry. But perhaps the amulet would come in handy for... whatever it did. In her distraction over the other presents, she'd already forgotten what it was supposed to do. Whoops.

Abigail programmed the launch sequence so that once they hit the planetary atmosphere, she would begin landing procedures. She checked her view screen, and Draco's Aquila was right there besides her. While the padawan knew she couldn't stay by his side forever, this is how it should be, for a little while at least. Father and daughter together on an adventure. And the best part about her new freedom, was she didn't have to go back to the Retreat at the end of it. As she relaxed back in her seat, letting the ship sail down to Ziost, she touched the lightsaber, now at her belt. Hopefully I won't have to use this when we get planetside, she thought.

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Since I was really just holding the triggers and there wasn't anything out on Zoist that would attack labelled civilian craft for no reason I was really just along for the ride. The droid piloting the ship did a fine job and I glanced over my weapons. Pistols were fine with a couple extra power packs and magazines, I had a trio of grenades, and then my axes and wrist weapons. I had left the Glove aboard the ship. It didn't sit well with Abi and I didn't want more Dark Side artifacts around her than she had to suffer. The one necklace was enough, and even then I doubted she would wear it often. That wasn't such a big deal, so long as she didn't get hurt.

"New Adasta sounds fine Abi. What is it you are wanting to look for on Zoist?" I asked. I was fine doing anything, even if it was just camping out for a few days or exploring ancient Sith Ruins for a little while, but if there was anything she wanted it might be better to go get it with her on her first time away from the Retreat without a few hundred Mandalorians watching over her. Her first time actually out in the wild without an armed escort or in the confines of a Jedi Temple.

"This is my first time on Zoist, so you will have to lead the way. I only know a little about it, and even that information is probably out of date." You didn't get a lot of reading time as a Mercenary, less when you were busy with so many other things at the same time.

[member="Abigail Kallisto"]

 

[Armand Temi]

Abigail docked in a hangar close to the city center which she noted to be situated in cold rocky caves just like her guidebook said. She donned her armor, grabbed her lightsaber and a blaster, and walked down the ramp of The Crystal Retreat. Everything she wore and carried felt so new and unusual, almost like the first day of summer camp on Yavin. But it was nowhere near summer on Ziost. She immediately shivered in the frigid temperatures, her breath puffing out in little clouds of steam in front of her. The Retreat was climate controlled; Yavin was warm. Abigail was getting quite a shock to her system from this cold weather.

She approached Draco's ship, still looking around wonderously at the hangar. By the maker, Abi, if you're slack-jawed over a docking bay, how are you going to be when you finally see something truly marvelous?!?! She waited for her father to exit, scanning her surroundings just in case. They were on a Sith-controlled world. Draco's Force signature would blend right in but Abigail's would be screaming intruder, intruder!

Still, she brought out her cracked datapad, the one thing that Draco hadn't replaced yet, and showed him where she wanted to go. "There is are ruins of a Sith temple on the outskirts of the city. The guidebook here says its been stripped clean for the most part by theives and salvagers, but maybe we can explore and find something interesting?" After tucking her datapad away, she shivered, her arms crossing tightly in front of her. "But first maybe we find some better outerwear for me? A fur of some kind?" Unlike a demanding mistress, Abigail was not asking for an expensive coat of fur. Just something simple to keep her warm.

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

The small stealthfighter landed in the hangar and Draco hauled himself from the cockpit dropping to the floor of the hangar with a thud, his visor rising to look up at Abigail making her way over to him. His eyes flashed down to her datapad and noticed the cracked screen. According to Tippi that she was going through about one a month these days. Such news didn't bode well for that new ship she had just been given, luckily it had excellent insurance and a decent main computer.

"Sith Temple sounds fun." He said, pulling his helmet off and clipping it on his belt to hang out of the way. "And yeah, I guess it is kind of cold. Let's go see what kind of furs they have for sale. We will see if we can find something you like and maybe pick up a new datapad to replace that broken one. Do you have your Credit Chip with access to the bank on Bothawui?" He asked, reaching into his pouch. Of course she didn't he still had it in his pouch, having forgotten to give it to her before they separated on the trip over her. "Oh, no. I have it." He said with smile producing the little black card. The card was tied to an account with her name on it on Bothawui with an absurd amount of credits in it, and a fairly high daily limit. "If it ever says denied, call me immediately." His voice wasn't threatening or warning, just informative, as though he wouldn't mind if she did have to make that call in the future. If any teenager was capable of spending several tens of millions of credits without noticing it was Abigail, but that was one of the reasons a father became absurdly rich, to make sure their little girl wanted for nothing.

Now walking he guided her out of the hangar and into the city walking beside her letting her look into all the shops and gawk at the merchandise there. He turned his mind inward thinking about the last time he had been shopping. Never.

[member="Abigail Kallisto"]

 

[Armand Temi]

Abigail was almost starting to feel like... well, like a Princess. Is this how her mother lived? Having access to endless amounts of credits, fancy starships, going on shopping sprees whenever she wished? Of course, the padawan could only guess that this was what royalty was like. Was the reality better or worse? And perhaps her mother had great wealth as well, and was this what attracted her father to her? She must have been beautiful. Frankly, Abigial didn't think she resembled Draco much, so she could only assume that her fair and delicate looks were passed down from her mother. Not that her father wasn't handsome, she thought he was very attractive in the way that a daughter adores her strong and capable father.

"Wow, how lucky did I get having you as a Dad?" she said in a joking tone. "And I'm sorry about the datapad." She tucked the credit chit away, first in her utility belt and then realized it probably wasn't too safe there, so she put it into her shoulder bag.

As they walked along the cold Ziost walkways, walls of craggy rocks rose above them. The boutiques, shops and restaurants were basically carved into the mountains all around them, although some of them were positioned on tiered levels which wound around through the caves. What a unique landscape, thought Abigial. She all but dragged Draco into a store which had furs and dropped a couple thousand credits on a short fur shrug, one that would fit over her armor and provide her a little bit of extra warmth. She also picked out a matching hat.

"I'll get the datapad later, Draco. Now let's find the Sith ruins!"

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

He chuckled to himself as she spoke, "I wouldn't say lucky. But I can't say no to my little princess, never have been able to." He said in response. He spoiled her as best as he could while still looking out for her well being, keeping her prepared for her future and her own life in a dangerous galaxy filled with horrors and war at all times.

"Tippi used to scold me about spoiling you, but I couldn't help myself. I just liked the way your little eyes would light up when I gave you some gift or toy, or pet from some far away place and how happy you would look while you played with it." But that was only part of it. It also made the guilt of selling her mother into slavery under Crix subside seeing little Abigail happy with how things turned out. At the time it justified the act and helped him clear his wounded conscience. But now, even that wasn't enough. It nagged at him that she had grown up without knowing her mother or her heritage.

Her excitement bled through the Force. It helped put his mind at ease somewhat. "Alright. Lead the way." He could sense the Dark Side on this planet but he hoped that he could keep it at bay, keep it from disturbing her gentle mind.

[member="Abigail Kallisto"]

 

[Armand Temi]

Abigail's eyes still lit up when Draco gave her presents, but she tried to remember to be grateful, prided herself on it, in fact. Unlike her spoiled mother or wicked, womanizing father, Abi seemed to have turned out to be far cry from the stuck-up royal. In this case it was definitely nuture, not nature.

After she slipped the fur shrug around her shoulders, the hat tilted at a rakish angle on her head, she pointed to a map on her cracked datapad and said, "It's a short walk a couple of miles away from the capital."

The road south became less rocky, but no less frozen. She could feel the cold in the tips of her boots, fingers and nose. Any skin that was exposed was subject to the frosty blasts of Ziost wind that would chill even a Fire Breather. Soon enough they could both see the Sith Ruins. It wasn't much as the guidebook had said, but there was a distinct sense of foreboding as they came closer to the first set of decayed structures.

"There's an underground tunnel somewhere around here, catacombs maybe," said Abi, feeling a wave of Darkside energy pass over her. She bravely continued forward and didnt let her Dad know what she was feeling. Of course, she felt safe and protected with him, so why would she?

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

The icy road, the aura in the Force, the twinge of fear he was feeling just having his daughter be in this place so permeated with the Dark Side that bothered her. She was so sheltered, it was good to get her out in the galaxy at large, to let her experience this first hand under the watchful eyes of her father. But it still made him uneasy.

He pulled his helmet over his face, both as protection from the cold and to grant him his enhanced senses of the Force and Technology. The HUD lit up and all manner of life forms became tagged on the screen, analysis weak out in the wilderness, but some analysis was better than none. His zone of awareness increased, and his perception became stronger, his mind began to see things clearer as time slowed for him through the Helmets Force imbued prowess.

"Be careful sweetie." Now his instincts as a father took over. As much as he wanted her to take lead on this expedition the feeling and danger he could feel through the Force would not allow it. On her belt sat a small personal shield generator he clicked on, watching it flicker around her. Hopefully she was wearing that necklace as he doubted it would be physical attacks that she would suffer down here.

His own shield found his arm, and his axe found its way into his hand as he condensed his awareness from the massive zone to cover only a few city blocks. In this way his feeling from this small area was precise, and he could detect the subtle changes of even a concealed enemy sometimes. The catacombs, tunnels she wanted to enter worried him, but, he had never been able to tell he no, and he couldn't start now. "I have you sweetie, don't worry. Go ahead when you are ready." And with the subtle words of reassurance they entered the tombs.

[member="Abigail Kallisto"]

 

[Armand Temi]

Abigail hadn't removed the Sith amulet yet. It still hung around her neck, underneath her clothing and armor, the metal a little bit cold against her clavicle. Draco activated her personal shield, and she stepped back for a moment, not used to it, but quickly recovered and kept walking. Pretty cool, she thought. Should I be thinking this is cool? Or should I be more scared? She began to feel calmer realizing her father knew exactly what to do. It made her quite hesitant to really want to fly off somewhere without him. She had so much to learn!

The catacombs entrance was made of duracrete and stone with an iron gate that stood in their way. Abigail inspected the lock which was rusted away. Peering down to the ground, she saw faint footprints in the frozen mud, but they didn't seem fresh.

"That's a good sign, right?" asked Abi as she slipped through the gate. "It looks like no one has visited here in a while."

But maybe there was something to fear, and that's why this hallowed ground was so avoided by Ziostians.

"It's very dark," she whispered, sticking a gloved hand into her satchel. She had a glowtorch in there somewhere, but it was tucked away amid her makeup, trinkets, credit chits and McYoda wrappers (for they could get McYoda delivery on the Retreat). This bag needs a good clean-out, she thought, finding the small light and shining it in front of them. The light startled a bat which swooped down for a moment and then fluttered away, making Abigail gasp in fear.

"Don't worry, Daddy. It just startled me," she said, trying to reassure him that she wasn't terrified. But she was a little bit frightened, there was no denying it.

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

It wasn't a good sign. Only one set of foot prints. No prints leaving the cave, and they did look old, weeks, maybe months. Which meant nothing had entered since the being that made them had entered, and nothing had left since. Draco doubted that they were made by whatever presence he could feel looming at the edges of his perception, but he figured that presence was the reason the last person hadn't left. Her jumping at the bat put him at ease, for only a moment, and a moment was all it took.

<He feels your fear Abigail. He is darker than you realize.> Nagging in her mind, Draco caught the tail end of the telepathic message the presence was planting in her. Not good. <There are mass graves dug by your father's hands.> Thoughts of Contruum entered his mind, even Balmorra, Geonosis, Amar, Obredaan, Tanaab, Brahka. The spirit was not wrong, but it was either omniscient or in his own mind. The mighty barriers of an experienced Mentalist and Telepath slammed shut forcing out the presence's subtle influence. But the action was too late. Abigail would see flashes of those massacres, particularly Amar, where the Amarians were butchered by the hundreds by her father under the orders of the Sith. Were they thoughts from her own sub-conscience, or injected by a dark spirit.

It was lucky the seals around the ordeal with Thais were ever present, Draco's own attempt to lock them away and forget having protected them, or else those might too have been shown to his daughter. His reaction to the mental probing was swift and he built a barrier around her mind as well to keep more influence from piercing her mind, and with any luck, she might not believe the things she saw to be true. "Sweetie, be calm. There is something much darker than bats in this cave." <HIM, HE SPEAKS OF HI-> The tiny voice in her mind screamed, being cut off before it could finish. "We need to find what and where and get rid of it." Draco could feel the tiny web of darkness cast over his daughter. "Whatever it is, its trying to bind to you, to get you to ferry it from this place." The last bit was a guess, but why else would it go for her and not me. It needed a weaker host, but it needed someone stronger than the last victim.

[member="Abigail Kallisto"]

 

[Armand Temi]

Abigail heard a strange voice. At first she thought it had come from Draco, but she noticed through the light of her glowtorch that his lips were not moving.

<He feels your fear Abigail. He is darker than you realize.>
<There are mass graves dug by your father's hands.>

"What?" she asked aloud, but softly. She was tempted to cry out for help, the voice was that eerie and threatening, but she didn't. All of a sudden, the young padawan felt that she could not let her father down. Here they were, on Ziost, on their first adventure together, and already she wanted to jump into his arms and tuck her head into his chest, the way she did when she had nightmares as a child and he happened to be visiting. But it wasn't just the voice - images of frightened raccoon-like creatures struck down, executed by a number of soldiers and Sith, came unbidden to her.

Her hand flew to her eyes instinctively. She wished she could block out the unwanted thoughts and visions. And then without her even trying, her mind went back to normal. But Draco knew. He was warning her now.

"What is it?" she asked him, trying to put on a brave face, but her expression was a mask of terror. "Bind to me?"

Her hand hovered over her lightsaber, but she knew she wouldn't be able to use it in such close quarters. They would have to go further into the catacombs, but there was no way, no how, Abigail was going first.

"Daddy, what is it? And why is it telling me that you killed these Amarans?"

Of course, the padawan did not believe it. It would take a mountain of physical evidence for her to mentally convict her beloved father of any crimes.

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

He could only assume it was the spirit of some long dead Sith, that happened to be trapped in this place. He had read about a young Jedi Knight similar things had happened to on Yavin long ago, no doubt she knew that story as well, during the Age of Myth when Luke Skywalker was Grandmaster of the Jedi, hundreds of years passed.

"Look at me Abi." Draco said, crouching down, holding her head in his hands so she was forced to look at him. "Look at me. You are going to be alright, I'm hear and I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you, okay." His words were trying to reassure the young girl, but they betrayed the worry and sheer terror he was feeling in his heart.

"I need you to focus. I am trying to shield your mind from him, but I need you to help me okay?" He was almost just asking her in a state of panic, that if she could just relay to him she was going to be alright his fear could subside despite the dark tendrils creeping into her he was seeing through the Force. He could stop the mind tricks, but nothing else that was slowly happening to her. <It is too late.>

Then she spoke about Amar. Things had been different then, he was a different man now. But it still stung like a knife to the chest when she asked about it, fear in her eyes. He released her from his grasp. "What happened on Amar was years ago, sweetie. I was different then. It was before I had you." His voice wavered. "I need you to follow me into this tomb, and we are gonna kill this thing alright." He gently tried to take her hand and lead her deeper into the pit, feeling the dark presence further down.

[member="Abigail Kallisto"]

 

[Armand Temi]

When Draco took Abigail's head into his hands and anchored her there to gaze into his eyes, she knew this was serious. Why did I recommend we come here? she thought. It seemed like a game at first, but now We are in deep poodoo and it's all my fault.

She tried to naturally block out this unseen threat, but her Force powers were not strong enough. The padawan wasn't even sure what to focus on. Her father? The surroundings? What she had been taught on Yavin? There is no emotion only peace, she thought.

<It is too late>

Her blood literally ran cold when the foreign voice implanted that thought. There is no ignorance, only knowledge. Yes, knowledge will help me! She would deal with Draco's admission over Amar later, because obviously the mental intruder had been right to some extent.

"What is this thing and just exactly how do we kill it?" she asked.

Abigail took her father's hand quite willingly, even after all that she had heard. She didn't sense any fear in Draco except a slight tremble in his voice. But he determinedly led her deeper into the catacombs, where the corridor began to slope.

Eventually, they came to a set of winding, stone stairs that descended into a steep, foreboding blackness.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

He was basically in a state of panic, but he forced it down deep into the recesses of his mind and shielded his mind from probing. He needed to try and keep them both shielded from the influence of the mysterious spirit, but he was having trouble assisting her. She was still young, and forcing out the influence of a Mentalist was difficult, trying to force out some kind of spirit was even harder.

He could feel her fright, draining into the Force as she struggled up the courage to follow him, taking his spare hand. “Sweetie, I don’t know. I’ve never dealt with this before, but if we leave, it will follow you.” That much Draco was certain of. The way the dark tendrils had latched on to her, the way they probed at her defenses, the way it followed her.

This time in his own head he could hear the voice at the edges, unable to see in, but able to relay messages to his brain. <You have no idea what you are doing.> It wasn’t wrong, the sarcastic, almost mocking tone seemed to know. Draco’s only hope was there was some physical object that bound the spirit he could destroy, or some way to force it to manifest so he could slash at it with his alchemical axes. It was becoming more and more apparent that wasn’t going to work here. Maybe, just by some stroke of luck Abigail could cast the spirit off of herself with my help.

Or if Draco had greater command of summoning Phantoms he could simply butcher this entity with a horde of them or a Smoke Demon might work. All of those things required time and effort. And there wasn’t enough time for any of that.

“Abigail. I just want to say I’m sorry.” Less than a day away from the Retreat and Abigail was in serious danger. “Zoist was my idea, and I should have known better. When we get out of this, I will make this up to you. I promise. If its the last thing I do.” Guilt was spurring him, but he couldn’t tell her more than she already knew.
The cold dark, stone staircase spiraled down deeper into the catacombs, and with each step Draco was able to tell they were definitely going in the right direction. At the base of the stairs there was a small room, where the darkness clung to the walls so thick the lamps on Draco’s helmet and shoulder did not cut all the way through despite the small size of the room. Other than the sarcophagus up against the back wall there was but one thing in the room.

​

[member="Abigail Kallisto"]

 

[Armand Temi]

Abigail's young mind was like a sponge for the determined Sith Spirit. It just settled right into all of the porous crevices and quietly made a home. And as Draco confirmed - and the spirit had predicted - it did feel as though the time to block the spirit out had fully passed.

"It will follow us," she said, realization setting in. "No Daddy, you will not take the blame for this! I was the one who wanted to go to Ziost!"

The padawan felt truly helpless and had no idea what to do. She didn't feel any different. Perhaps like a bad dream, once they left he catacombs this would all be over with and both of them would be okay.

But they couldn't leave yet. They needed to continue moving forward. Abi saw it too. The sarcophagus. It was the kind of container she had read about in the Retreat history archives. Sith Lords would sequester themselves off in these containers without light or even oxygen and use their own Force energy to sustain them. But somehow, she was pretty sure this sarcophagus was used for something else... something less alive.

"Draco, I'm scared," she said finally, admitting the terror she felt. "Is there anything I can do right now to help you?" She knew he would have a plan. He always did.

Didn't he?

[member="Darth Vulkan"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

The obvious plan would be to brute force his way out of the situation, killing everything with a pile of explosives, and bolting out as fast as possible. That wasn’t an option here anymore. “Abi, I know you’re scared, but I need you to focus and calm yourself. Find your center and hold onto it, don’t let anything in. No emotions or thoughts, calm and in the present. It can’t hurt you if you can block it out.” Any Jedi Master could have asked their padawans for the same, but Abigail had never been in any real combat before, certainly not a battle of wills against a hateful spirit. The spirit hung in the air, above the sarcophagus, leering at us with hateful eyes of coal.

The plan was simple, destroy the sarcophagus and hope that would fix the problem. It wouldn’t, but it was the best plan he could come up with on such short notice and his closeness to the situation.

He breathed in, taking a deep breath and pulled his hand from her grip, reaching into a pouch. Maybe, like all his previous problems, this one could be solved by a well placed thermal detonator, he thought. Beneath the walls that protected his mind from the influence of the sith spirit his mind swam, trying to take in the subtleties of the room as he approached the ancient stone and steel. It wasn’t heavily ornamented like Draco assumed it would be, but it was fairly plain.

With a grunt, Draco shoved the lid twisting it so that it sat open and he could peer inside. There were ashes, some dust, and heavily decayed bones, so ancient they seemed to be falling apart simply from the change in air pressure.

<There is nothing you can do.> The spirit twisted in the air, pulling itself up to the ceiling.

Maybe, maybe not. Draco dropped the little detonator, beeping into the sarcophagus and quickly sealed it shut, running back to Abigail to scoop her up and carry her around the corner of the staircase.

[member="Abigail Kallisto"]