You will be safe there…

[Corvus Raaf]

Mustafar. Somewhere between the Hydian Way and the Ninth Quadrant. A fiery volcanic world where lava was mined.

Towards the end of the Clone Wars it was also the site of a very famous duel. Where Obi-Wan Kenobi fought his former Padawan Anakin Skywalker. It was where Kenobi made reference to Anakin being his brother. Which is why they were here. They were seeking the Holocron of Obi-Wan, the clues pieced together from his journal that Corvus and Connor had found on Tatooine.

At first glance this was an odd place to hide something. Especially a Jedi artefact. But what we less well know about the planet was that it once housed Jedi Temples and was the site of the Chu-Gon Dar cube.

If Corvus were Obi-Wan and wanted to hide a holocron, where better than this planet that would so easily be overlooked – and how better than to use something that was capable of transmogrification. They would be looking for something with a special Force auara – and were just about to land near the last known site of the old Jedi Temples.

And they, of course, were Corvus, Taeli and Connor. One had helped solve the mystery of its location and the other had help find the journal. It was therefore fitting they were both there should they find the thing itself.

Corvus had a broad smile on her face. Life didn’t get any better than this. Unless they met Ben’s Force Ghost of course. From when he was younger naturally.

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

 

[Taeli Raaf]

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

What better way to spend an afternoon than looking through an old Jedi ruin on a volcanic planet for an artifact they all hoped was there? Taeli couldn't think of one as they landed on Mustafar. She got to go on a treasure hunt with two of her favorite people in the galaxy, she was on a treasure hunt to begin with so that always made her happy, they got to possibly find a repository of ancient knowledge, and well she was just happy in general.

A broad smile that mirrored her sister's was on her face as she looked out over the lava rivers flowing across the landscape. In a way it was both peaceful and awe-inspiring to look at this landscape. She could even picture what that final fight between brothers must have been like as they fought their way over this landscape. It must have been a truly intense fight.

"So who else is excited?" she asked, her purple eyes gleaming in excitement. She had some thermal equipment so the heat wouldn't be a problem since robes could be absolutely stifling in heat like this, and yes one could use the Force to deal with it, but she would prefer to keep her reserves at full for that.

 

[Connor Harrison]

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6M8aPJG9_c

It will be a hard life.

Connor didn't really want to be here. If he didn't owe Corvus this continuation of their search for the damned holocron, he wouldn't have come. And with both Raaf sisters present, this was a situation the Silver Jedi didn't really want to be in. Why had he been so stupid?

One without reward, without remorse, without regret.

The fallout from Ziost was a brutal one - the outcome didn't matter when one had lost a Padawan, and what could have been so much more, to the hands of pirates and slavers. [member="Chastity Lunelle"] had been seen draped over the shoulder of the pirate Taung and taken into hyperspace after a botched rescue attempt by Connor himself. The pirates had failed to keep their word; blood was shed, damage was done. Connor retreated to save the lives of dozens at the expense of what could have been one.

A path will be placed before you. The choice is yours alone.

He had lost count of the days where nothing had progressed. The Grandmaster had forbidden more resources from the Silver fleet at this dangerous time, and Connor himself was without guidance where to go and who to seek, and if the recent invasion wasn't a warning that further assaults could be made on Silver Jedi territory, then a Jedi waging war against an entire cult was suicidal for everyone.

Do what you think you can not do.

En route to Mustafar after a rendezvous, he was quiet and in thought. To others, his usual broody self, but to the two who knew him better than most, there was few quips, cocky remarks or show of authority. There was something brooding under the distant stare out of the view port, the previous day's stubble forming over his jaw and his scratched and dirty armour bearing the results of his failure. Taeli spoke, but Connor didn't say anything straight away.

It will be a hard life...

His headache was coming back, and the heat was starting to become more noticeable - but he didn't know if that was the planet they were coming to or the swelling emotions bubbling away in the dark heart of the drained rogue.

...but you will find out who you are.

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

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Of course scanning from space was fruitless. The intense geological activity created natural interference that made technology useless. She had considered asking for three lava fleas to travel around the place but remembered Taeli's aversion to eopies and decided that they'd just have to manage on foot.

So they headed for the site of the old Jedi enclave. Oddly it was most recently a base for an off-shoot of the Brotherhood of Darkness. Corvus loved it when the subject got back to her favourite era of history. There would be no Blackguards now, but who knew what they might have left behind if you looked for long enough.

But the Jedi were not here for anything Sith - but rather for anything associated with Master Dar - and one thing in particular.

"I'm excited," she said, smiling. Connor appeared less so, but with two Raaf sisters to put up with, you could hardly blame him. "Ready," she said and lowered the ramp of the ship. Unlike her sister, she wore her usual robes, regardless of the severe heat they felt hit them as the outside air entered the ship.

In the near distance were ruins and the unmistakeable shape, even in disrepair, of a Jedi enclave.

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

 

[Taeli Raaf]

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

"Go on ahead, sis, we'll catch up in a sec," Taeli said as her sister walked down the ramp out into the fiery environment. "I need to grab a few more things like my scanning drones. I suspect we won't be able to find this holocron by just using the Force so we might need more scanners. Connor, can you help me with those?"

Walking back to where the equipment she had brought was stored, she handed Connor several small spheres while waiting for her sister to be out of ear shot. There were some things that needed to be done privately.

"I know what happened after Ziost," Taeli whispered, handing him some more equipment. Just some rudimentary scanners and possibly a laser drill. "Do you want to talk about it?"

When she had heard his Padawan had been taken, Taeli had started going over possible plans to help him go save her. Some were better than others, and she was leaning towards a certain one that had the greatest chance of success. While the girl held his heart, which was painful to her but she carried on holding a candle, she wanted Connor to be happy. She could see the signs of brooding there, not his normal brooding anyways. No, this reminded her greatly of Saleucami.

 

[Connor Harrison]

As the voice of Corvus spoke out, and the ramp lowered on the ship once they had touched down, the stifling heat and humid air swept in, wafting over the trio immediately. It didn’t take long for Connor to pull the strap from his armour on the neck, gauntlets and waist to undo it. While he wasn’t about to weigh himself down with the armour un-necessarily, he assumed there wouldn’t be lightsaber wielding Sith down here. If he died, he died.

The armour clanked to the floor, two gauntlets followed from his wrists, and he fixed the utility belt back around his trousers and black vest. While Corvus moved down, Taeli used the moment to hand him some tools after his blade was fixed to his side. The scars on his right arm evident in the dry air flowing in, the redness of each mark a reminder of the past. Even his hands still bore small areas of scalding from his experimentation with the Dark Side.

Connor looked at Taeli as she continued to busy herself in his affairs.

”No.” He took – or did he snatch - the cutting tool. ”I’m fine.”

The answer was blunt and ended her involvement. He turned away and moved though towards the ramp, where Corvus was stood outside. He didn’t know what to expect, but he didn’t expect much. But it was the right frame of mind for him to be in where he felt he could do anything without consequence.

The pillars of the enclave seemed to absorb into the terrain around them, the heat smouldering around the air and the stone showing signs of natural weathering. Each breath was warm, and it felt like the air was being burnt away by the second.

”Time for you to ask Mr Kenobi where he left this thing then, and how we can find it.”

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

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus headed off alone. Her emotions were stowed away for now - she needed a clear head - and had to accept she'd miss the subtle nuances that her natural empathy would allow. So she simply left Taeli and Connor to collect the gear as she looked around.

She sensed something. Was it a Sith presence? It was hard to tell and her focus was on the holocron, not the neighbouring area. But the Force would warn her if there was something to be concerned of - it always did.

So she glances around for a likely first place to look and almost jumped when she heard Connor's voice. She'd had a long chat with Taeli after Ziost. About a good many things. Who knew what and who knew who knew what was a subject that was hard enough to say, let alone comprehend. So Corvus left it unsaid and smiled.

She waved her arms expansivlely. "Here...probably. We're looking for something with a definite Force Aura bot nothing usual. I know that's not much to go on, but we've ridden a Krayt Dragon and played baby-sitter to a Hutt. This should be child's-play. No pun intended of course."

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

 

[Taeli Raaf]

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

Sometimes, she really wondered why she put up with him ... sometimes. She had essentially offered to help him get back his ... she wasn't going to say it, but he had been curt and just dismissed it to follow her sister outside. Oh, he could make her blood boil like no other ... except for Solan but that was always out of annoyance at him.

With a humph, she grabbed the rest of the gear and placed it in a heat-resistant backpack because she really didn't want this stuff cooking outside or burning up from cinders touching it. What a party of people they made indeed. Following the two, she kept quiet as her scholarly mind took control and observed and analyzed everything around them.

"Ridden a Krayt Dragon, you failed to mention that, sis," Taeli said, putting her glasses on and scanning the area. Reaching into her pouch, she deployed several probes to map out the area and to search for possible hiding places. "Well ... as long as the volcano doesn't erupt anytime soon, we should be fine."

 

[Connor Harrison]

Staring over to the enclave, and the decaying fortresses and defenses that he assumed once surrounded it, Connor nodded, hands on hips, as he saw the drones move out.

”I doubt the volcano will erupt soon enough. Look at the enclave, and the ground – no sign of distress or fresh set lava. I think we’ll be ok, and I would like to think those that built this place wouldn’t have done so near an active volcano.”

He flicked his eyes up to the mountains in the distance, the forks of lava coming from the distant volcanoes was an eerie sight. Couple that with the pockets of belching gasses from the terrain by the rivers of lava, this truly was what hell must look like. A handful of mines could be seen up and across from them, a few automated droids doing what they had been doing for weeks – months – years before.

Connor began to walk forward in no rush towards the enclave, navigating the rubble on the ground and keeping his senses alert. There was something in the air, but he wasn’t sure if it was the joined auras of three strong-minded Force users, or the residue of some hidden evil or danger lurking further.

”Hopefully this will be a case of get in, find it, and get out. Although if anyone wants their head smashing if they try to stop us then they’ve picked the wrong day for that. Trust in the Force, Corvy, remember? I’ve got your back, and the bookworms.”

It was strange being around both Raaf sisters with so much history to him, but not as strange as he had been worried about.

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

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus smiled. "You remember that Dragon's pearl I gave you for your birthday?" she said to Taeli. "Well that was the Krayt Dragon I rode. As ever, it seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Connor here struck the killing blow and our Tusken friends helped out too. But that was a lifetime ago." Already it was clear her focus was on the task ahead. She was driven at the best of times - and now was no exception. She scoured the land looking for any aberrations in the Force - any strange auras. But found none.

Undeterred, she started walking quickly towards the old Enclave. "Come on, we'll find nothing standing here."

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

 

[Taeli Raaf]

'Well someone is moody, eh Corvy?' Taeli thought to her sister over their bond. Connor needed to lighten up and actually enjoy himself here, as hard as that would be. He also needed to free the stick that he was currently nursing, it had to be hard to walk being that uptight and angry. She would be patient and wait for him to actually ask for help. Men ugh.

"Always an interesting twist to your stories, you two always get up to shenanigans huh? Anywho, let's get a searching then," Taeli said, flicking her bag open and scattering a handful of the spherical probes into the air. They immediately began scanning the immediate area for any hidden areas within their sensor range, moving outwards and zooming around. Pulling up the tracking program on her datapad, she smiled at her sister and Connor.

"While my little friends scan, we should use the Force to look for absences where the holocron might be hidden in the Force or for little ripples that shouldn't be there from the environment."

 

[Connor Harrison]

Watching the small drones fly away, Connor brushed his hand over the warm rock as he passed by and stepped up into one of the large pillared domes. 6 large slabs help up the scorched roof above him, and he turned on his heel looking out over the desolate, hellish landscape that bubbled, steamed and burnt.

He knelt, one hand on his knee and the other on the stone below, as if feeling for something. A presence. A tremor. Anything. He wasn’t going to mess around and be the one to typically look inept – it was time to act like who he was.

”The enclave isn’t the place for a holocron. It’s too obvious,” he said, looking down at his hand. ”Kenobi wasn’t stupid. The holocron can’t be anywhere he could never expect a new hope to retrieve it. You come this far, you’ve already shown you’re worthy. It’s just where to actually find it.”

He stood and folded his arms, looking at the two Raaf sisters.

”Did the journal mention anything about his…his hopes or requirements for the holocron and it’s important? Any covert clue he’d give to those who were looking about what they would have to do to find it?”

He turned again, looking around.

”It’s going to be somewhere isolated, but right in front of our eyes at the same time. We need to prove to him we are worthy enough to hold his information in our hands. Why here? Why this place?”

Connor was starting to over-think, to ask himself questions that Kenobi would have asked himself before coming here. His fingers drew small circles on his chin as he contemplated. He hadn’t thought this hard about anything in a while.

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

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus gave a mental shrug at Taeli's contact. 'I don't know if it's about him and you. Him and me. Him and someone else...or just him and him. But I suspect he'll snap out of it.'

Of course she had been wrong in the past and if she was currently driven, he was positively flying.

As she watched the probes fly in all directions, Corvus went through what they knew again. "The clue was it was hidden where he had memories of eating fruit. Which was an obvious link to his recollection of his brother. Except we know he didn't have a brother. It was farseeing. The one person he saw as his brother was Anakin. And here is where he admitted it. So it's the right place for sure. Or the right planet - I just know it. So if not near here, then where?"

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

 

[Taeli Raaf]

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

"He could possibly have hidden it where he admitted to Anakin that he was his brother-but-not-really-brother," Taeli pondered. "Although that might be a hard spot to find, it was just the bank of a lava river somewhere out here ... unless we had something more concrete to go off of to narrow the search."

Pulling up a separate window on her datapad, she started searching for where the old and original Techno Union mining station had been. The final chapter of the Clone Wars had been done there, and it was supposedly where the duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan had begun. Finding the remains of that might narrow the search pattern down and give them landmarks to go off for ... hello there.

"What's left of the old Techno Union station can be found near a large lava river and a lavafall? I don't know a good word for that, but that was where the fight between them probably took place. The old enclave might be too obvious, but we should look anyways."

 

[Connor Harrison]

Transfixed by the planet, it’s danger and awesome natural landscape, Connor stepped down from the pillared dome and hooked his hands behind his neck like a makeshift pillow.

”Come on, this planet is fit for nothing except mining. If there was a holocron here what’s not to say it’s been mined and or sold off already, or even cooked to a crisp in the molten lava from some unstable seismic quake?”

He sighed, thinking again, and turned.

”I heard that a Star Destroyer crashed into the planet years ago, like the one on Jakku. Now that is something I would love to explore the remains of. If ever construct a holocron I’m gonna stow it away inside one of those.”

Glancing back to Taeli, he swept his hand out.

”Let’s try your Techno Union station then. Maybe there’s a place in there that is more secure than out here. And as for this brother talk, with Anakin, I doubt Obi-Wan would hide a holocron in a place that meant so much to him shared with a Sith Lord…but then, I guess a Sith Lord wouldn’t want to come back to a place as emotionally unstable for him as this. Hm.”

On with the outward thinking again, arms still hooked behind his head.

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

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus laughed. "Let's be clear, Obi-Wan wasn't always the best at hiding things. He hid Luke with his uncle. Next to a grave of Anakin's mother. I mean, if Anakin had ever returned to visit the site, he'd have detected him in a heart-beat."

"Just sayin'," she added before smiling at her sister. "Right, this old station it is then. Why not? It's the best lead we have, and then the crashed Star Destroyer...and then...well, we'll think of something, right?"

She linked both Conner and Taeli's arms. "Come on you two, we're having fun, right?"

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

 

[Taeli Raaf]

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

"I'm having fun at least," Taeli said, smiling at her sister while sighing internally at the brusqueness Connor was displaying. Honestly, that man knew no bounds when it came to brooding and simmering. If he could just stop being stubborn or accept help, he might be in a better mood at least. Well, treasure hunts always brought her happiness.

"The old station isn't too far from here, just over a few ridges to our east," Taeli said, pointing in that general direction. "Two of my probes are already moving to inspect the ground around it for any traces of hidden spaces."

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor gave Corvus a funny look, but didn’t fight her linking arms. She’d certainly taken to “linking” now, and she was very chirpy. Probably just another iron curtain around her internal struggles or worries. They began to traverse the gravel terrain and erected walkways across the unstable ground and even over a few small forks of molten lava.

It was slightly nerve-wracking trusting foundations and walkways built for the miners that would withstand heat and weight. They moved swiftly and with purpose, and Taeli kept them moving with the location of the probes. Connor saw nothing of his crashed Destroyer, which was a shame. He was enjoying being linked, he had to admit.

”I’m not getting any sign of life from this place. It feels very synthetic.”

He stepped off a walkway to see a large landing pad in the distance jutting out from the black scorched rock, and a small building beside it that seemed to lead into the planet and through the rock. The walk would take them down a narrow stretch towards the landing pad, dangerously close to the edge of a pool of lava beneath, glowing warm reds and oranges and bubbling away like something from the netherworld.

”Well it’s not very BIG, is it? Unless it goes deeper through.”

Reaching up, he patted Corvus on the hand.

”Oh, and yes I’m having lots of fun, don’t you worry about me.”

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

 

[Corvus Raaf]

For once Corvus was along for the ride. It was nice to not be the one leading from the front for a change, so she walked and enjoyed the company — as humours seemed to be improving.

Taeli seemed in good spirits and did her thing with technology that Corvus simply accepted — not having any real understanding or inclination to learn. A brain could only hold so much information after all.

And Connor was definitely coming around — but as they approached the old station, Corvus felt the goosebumps appear on her arms. Despite the heat, she was really being affected by the location. It was here that Obi-Wan had that fateful conversation. Where Anakin and Padmé argued and where the greatest duel in history started. Of course the last part was just an opinion. But it was true none the less!

“Can’t you just feel the history,” she said as they walked. “It’s..it’s…it’s…awesome.”

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

 

[Taeli Raaf]

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

"It was the final redoubt of the CIS during the closing days of the Clone Wars, they fled here after my dear sister's favorite Jedi came to Utapau hunting a Confederate general named Grievous, the facility was built into the mountain," Taeli explained as they walked down to the landing platform. Breathing deeply, she couldn't help the smile on her face. This was where it had begun, she was almost certain of it. There was a feeling in the Force here.

"This is completely awesome," Taeli said, agreeing with her sister. A ping from her datapad broke through the ambient sound, and checking it, she smiled a bit. "The probes found something deeper in the facility, not sure if it is our holocron, but ti's something at least."

Running over to the door, she could see furrows in the metal where it looked like a lightsaber had gone through it in the middle of an intense duel. Placing a hand against it, she almost wished she could flow walk into the past to actually just watch this iconic duel.