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Star Maps (Part 4): Korriban III
🕑 Added 2025-03-13 13:53:11 +0000 UTC“Yes, I don't understand. Can you say it again, but this time in a way that is understood? I already have too many riddles with someone I know.” I said, without annoyance, but firmly.
He didn't respond right away. Instead, he stood watching me, with an almost disturbing stillness. His helmet concealed zero emotion, but the intensity with which he analyzed me was obviously noticeable. It seemed as if he wanted to measure every part of me, as if he was trying to see beyond my words.
"I saw the past because I was in it. I was part of the war that devastated the galaxy and brought about the extinction of the Jedi. I saw the future because, just as anyone knows day and night exist, I know the future… and that future is me. Darth Krayt. The new Sith Lord."
Finally, his voice resounded again in the gloom of the tomb, with a deep and authoritative tone.
His voice carried a palpable weight as he spoke her name, emphasizing each word with subtle gestures of his gloved hand. It was not mere arrogance; it was the certainty of someone speaking of an inevitable destiny.
I frowned slightly. “So, if you're a Sith Lord... does that mean you take care of this place?”
Krayt let out a sound that I didn't know if it was a dry chuckle or a snort of impatience.
“Yes... though more than a guardian, I am an examiner. I ensure that those who tread these tombs are worthy to walk in them and are not mere looters or purposeless thieves.” His tone hardened as he said this last, and I noticed a slight tremor of restrained anger in his voice. Clearly, the idea of anyone defiling this place was unbearable to him.
I was not surprised that he knew of the others' presence. If he had managed to move without my being able to perceive him in the Force, it meant his power was in a whole other league. This guy wasn't a phony. He was real. And he was dangerous.
“We came looking for an ancient relic we believe to be in these ruins.” I kept my tone neutral, but firm. “We're not here to loot, just to observe and analyze. When we're done, we'll leave in peace.”
He didn't seem immediately convinced. His head tilted just a few degrees as he studied me once again, as if trying to detect any signs of lying or deception in my posture, in my breathing, in the inflection of my words.
After a few moments of tense silence, he nodded slowly.
“I understand.” His voice lost some of its edge, but not its gravity. “However... if you wish to find this relic, I must first take you to my teacher.”
That did take me by surprise - teacher?
“Your teacher?” I asked cautiously. “Who is it?”
Krayt didn't answer right away. There was a brief silence before his answer came, as enigmatic as he was himself.
“That I can't say.”
I gritted my teeth. Great, more mysteries.
“But...” he continued, with a hint of approval in his tone, ”seeing as you have passed the test, perhaps I can take you to her and she herself can assess whether you possess the worthiness to tread this hallowed ground. We Sith care for only one thing: Strenght. If you prove you're strong enough, she will let you fulfill your mission...perhaps even help you.”
I held her gaze. “Does she know what I'm looking for?”
Krayt barely tilted his head. “She probably does. She's been here a lot longer than I have.”
I took a deep breath. “And what if I don't pass her test?”
Krayt didn't hesitate to answer.
“Then you will die.”
There was no threat in his voice. Only certainty. As if he was stating an unalterable fact, something as inevitable as gravity.
I was silent for a moment, letting his words weigh on my mind. But, in the end, the decision was obvious. I didn't come all this way to turn back now.
“I understand...” I replied calmly. “In that case, take me to your teacher.”
'After all, it's like my teacher says, don't waste potential resources, even when they don't seem like it.' I thought as Krayt nodded. He then made a slight gesture with his hand, indicating for me to follow him.
I did so, and began to walk silently beside him.
---
The darkness in Naga Sadow's tomb was suffocating, almost oppressive. The only source of light came from the flashlight Sabine carried in her helmet and the occasional glow of her blaster as she walked the corridors cautiously. There was no sign of the others. The separation had been necessary to cover more ground, but that didn't mean he liked it.
In his mind there was only one thought.
'Galen.'
With everything that had been going on they had hardly had time to catch up and it was that whenever they had a moment alone, they would rather spend it venting their tension through...activities rather than spending it on endless chatter, which at the end of the day, shouldn't matter that much either.
But they did.
While she kept those thoughts in mind, she felt every corner of these ruins radiate an unsettling feeling. Not the paralyzing kind of fear, but one that kept her senses sharp, always waiting for something lurking in the shadows.
And then, she heard it.
A wet, sickening sound, like slippery flesh sliding on stone.
Sabine turned immediately, her blaster already raised, and focused the flashlight in the direction of the noise.
Nothing.
She frowned and continued forward, but she had barely taken a few steps when she felt it again. A slimy brush, a presence moving in the gloom.
He turned again, this time more quickly.
A fanged mouth protruded from the shadows, accompanied by a pair of glowing eyes and a segmented body crawling along the ground with jerky movements.
K'lor'slugs.
A curse in mando'a escaped his lips as he stepped back and opened fire. Her blaster shots lit up the hallway in a red burst, hitting the creature that had been stalking her full on. A high-pitched shriek echoed through the tomb as the beast shuddered and collapsed, smoking.
Sabine exhaled slowly.
“That was easy.”
But no sooner had she finished uttering those words than she felt it.
Vibrations on the floor. A slithering sound and multiple paws hitting the stone.
She turned the flashlight to the hallway in front of her... and found at least six K'lor'slugs emerging from the dark corners, their slimy bodies writhing as they advanced towards her with their mouths open, revealing multiple rows of sharp fangs.
“Great. Because one wasn't enough.”
Without wasting any more time, she drew her second blaster and opened fire with both hands. The shots lit up the tomb like lightning in the night, each impact scorching the creatures and filling the air with the smell of scorched flesh.
One of the K'lor'slugs managed to get too close and leapt toward her with its jaws open. Sabine reacted at the last second, spinning on her axis and throwing a vibro-sharpened knife from her belt. The blade plunged into the creature with a wet sound, digging into the base of its skull.
But she didn't have time to celebrate.
Another of the monsters lunged toward her from the ceiling.
Sabine rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the onslaught, and in the same motion activated one of her small-charge blasters, hurling it toward the center of the group of beasts.
“Karabast!” She cursed as she pressed the detonator.
The explosion was brief but intense. The rumble shook the tomb, and when the smoke cleared, the mutilated bodies of the K'lor'slugs smoked on the ground.
Sabine stood with bated breath, scanning the area with her blasters still raised.
Silence. Apparently she had managed to take out the creatures...for now.
She let out a snort. “This wasn't in the plan.”
But she wasn't done yet.
She put away her weapons and retrieved her knife, wiping the blade with her hand before continuing to move forward through the tomb, ready for whatever came next.
---
Maul strode forward, his senses sharpened by the latent hostility in the atmosphere. He had been to places like this before, Sith ruins steeped in dark power, but Korriban always had a distinct aura...the power of the dark side could be felt in every corner of the world, but to be in that tomb, it was as if he had been plunged fully into a pool filled with the invigorating energies of the Force...of the Dark Side of the Force.
As he moved forward, his double lightsaber rested in his hand, still unlit, but his instinct told him he would soon have to turn it on.
And he was right. For a guttural sound broke the silence.
Maul stopped. He didn't move immediately, but his grip on his weapon tightened.
From the shadows of the tomb, four pairs of glowing eyes flared like torches in the darkness. Then came the bodies: twisted, bony, with sharp claws and sticky skin. He'd heard of them before, though he'd never seen them up close, the Hssiss, also called Dark Side Dragons. They were a species of lizards, creatures that fed on the corruption of the Dark Side and now they had appeared before his eyes.
The first one jumped.
With a swift motion, Maul activated his lightsaber and spun on its axis, tracing a crimson arc that cut the beast in two before it could reach him. Its body fell with a wet sound, smoking from the plasma burn.
But the others did not stop.
The second and third lunged at once, one from the front and one from the side. Maul dodged the first with a nimble leap, spinning in mid-air to land on the back of the second. With a swift movement, he plunged his saber into the creature's spine, listening to the agonized shriek as the life force left its body.
The third gave him no time to react. Its jaw closed around Maul's arm, its fangs piercing flesh even through his tunic. A searing pain spread through his limb, but Maul did not scream. Instead, he let the rage take over, channeling the agony into pure aggression.
With his free arm, he struck the beast with the Force, sending it flying into the wall with brutal force. The sound of bones snapping was heard before the Hssiss collapsed, inert.
The last one, however, remained standing. Maul stared at it, his breath coming out in short exhalations.
The creature hissed, its instinct warning it that this opponent was not like the others.
But before Maul could attack it, the Hssiss vanished.
It had not moved. It had not escaped. It just... disappeared.
Maul frowned and cursed under his breath. He had forgotten that those damn animals had the ability to become invisible using the Force. Without realizing it, he had underestimated them.
He stood still, listening. His breathing slowed. In the gloom of the tomb, his only source of light was the faint crimson glow of his saber.
A sound to his left.
Maul spun just in time to see the claws of the Hssiss appear out of nowhere, descending upon him. He raised his saber instinctively, blocking the blow before the sharp claws could tear him apart. The impact knocked him back, but he managed to keep his balance.
The Hssiss hissed in fury and vanished again.
Maul took a deep breath. If he couldn't see it, he would have to rely on something else.
He closed his eyes and concentrated. Not on the creature itself, but on the flow of the air, on the imperceptible sounds, on the vibration of the ground beneath his feet.
There.
He swung his saber in a wide arc just as the Hssiss appeared at his back, trying to attack him by surprise. The crimson blade cut the creature in half before it could react.
The body fell with a wet sound, writhing in spasms before it lay motionless.
Maul extinguished his saber and looked at his wounded arm. It was bleeding, but the pain was already subsiding, his natural resistance and control over the Force mitigating the damage. He did not stop to inspect it further and continued on his way.
'If these creatures attacked me, it means I'm close, close to something.'
And he wasn't wrong, as a few meters later he realized there was something up ahead.
He moved with purposeful stride, his boots echoing on the ancient stone as he crossed a hallway flanked by weathered statues of Sith lords from the past. And then, he saw it.
A hidden chamber, different from the rest of the tomb. The inscriptions on the walls were older, the air felt denser and much more permeated with Dark Side energy.
Maul entered and the darkness enveloped him.
And then he felt it. A deep, whispering voice. He listened to it as an almost ghostly spectral presence appeared before him, with a being he had only known from the ancient papyri.
Maul's eyes narrowed.
“Impossible.”
---
[STARKILLER POV]
The walk was long and silent. Krayt didn't say a word as we went deeper and deeper into the tomb, and I didn't try to start a conversation either. I knew that any questions I asked would probably be answered with riddles or half-truths, if I chose to answer at all.
However, I couldn't keep my gaze from straying to his armor. I had never seen anything like it before. It was not the typical armor of a Sith or a Mandalorian warrior. Its surface seemed organic, as if it were alive somehow. Its irregular contours and overlapping plates gave it an alien look, almost as if it had fused with his own body.
“That armor... what is it?” I asked finally, breaking the silence.
Krayt didn't pause or turn his head. There was only a brief moment in which he seemed to consider my question before answering, his voice echoing in the gloom.
“A mark from the past.”
He said no more. His tone left no room for further questions, and for some reason, a part of me didn't want to insist. Something in his answer, in the way he said it, made me feel that that was just a small part of a much bigger story... but that would be for another time.
So I simply walked, keeping my wits about me, my senses sharpened for any hint of danger.
The air grew thicker as we descended. The darkness seemed almost tangible, as if an invisible presence was trying to crush me under its weight. It wasn't just the corruption of the Dark Side permeating these ruins... it was something else. Something ancient.
Finally, Krayt stopped.
In front of us stretched a vast chamber, its ceiling barely visible in the gloom. Huge pillars, worn by time, flanked the entrance, covered with Sith inscriptions that I could barely make out in the dim lighting. There was an altar in the center, surrounded by a faint spectral mist that writhed as if it had a life of its own.
And we were not alone.
My gaze was immediately diverted to the figure on the other side of the chamber, near the altar. I recognized him on the spot.
“Maul.”
The zabrak looked up, his expression inscrutable under the dim reddish illumination emanating from the altar.
“You finally arrive.” He said in his usual tone, cold and calculating.
Before I could respond, a distinct presence filled the chamber. I felt as if the air had turned icy. So much so that I unconsciously shivered a little because of the chills.
The shadows around the altar trembled, distorting as if reality itself was warping. And then, a silhouette began to materialize. First it was a mere ethereal flash, a figure shrouded in spectral light. Then, with each flicker, the contours became more and more defined, until a woman of majestic bearing rose before us.
Her robe flowed as if made of smoke, and her eyes shone with an amber glow, filled with unfathomable knowledge. Her presence was suffocating, not just because of the dark energy surrounding her, but because of the invisible aura of authority that emanated from her.
She needed no introduction. I knew who she was—anyone who had studied even a little about the Dark Side knew who she was.
XoXaan.
One of the first Sith Lords alongside Ajunta Pall. A great master of dark alchemy. And a vestige of the Sith Order’s earliest days.
The question was: What was she doing here?
My jaw tightened as I instinctively adopted a combat stance. But I made no reckless move. Not yet.
Krayt stepped forward, inclining his head slightly at the spectral apparition.
“Master.” He said, with an almost imperceptible reverence.
XoXaan’s spirit scanned the chamber, observing us all as if she could see beyond our physical forms, as if she were examining our very souls.
But something about this disturbed me immensely—something that made no sense.
“How is it possible that you’re here?” I asked, frowning. “Dark Side users cannot become Force Ghosts. Their very nature condemns them to fade into nothingness.”
XoXaan’s specter turned its attention to me, and though her face bore no clear expression, I felt a sort of malicious amusement in her presence.
“What the Jedi believe they know about death is as limited as their understanding of the Force itself child,” she whispered into my mind, making me jump a little. “The Dark Side does not grant immortality… but there are other means. Still, everything comes at a price.”
Her answer clarified little, but I hadn’t expected it to.
Before I could press further, Maul intervened impatiently. “We are not here for lessons on death. We came seeking something.”
XoXaan shifted her gaze toward him, and for a moment, she seemed to study him with particular interest.
“Always in a hurry… like the Sith of my era. They fail to understand that above all else, the greatest power comes from knowledge.”
I gritted my teeth. I didn’t want this to turn into another word game with no clear answers.
“We’re looking for a Star Map,” I said, cutting straight to the point. “We know one is hidden in these ruins. If you truly possess so much knowledge, then you must know where it is.”
XoXaan’s spirit fell silent for what felt like an eternity.
“You seek a fragment of something far greater,” she finally murmured. “But knowledge is not given. It is earned.”
“Let me guess,” I said in a dry tone, the voice distortion of my helmet masking it. “We have to prove we’re worthy.”
A sensation of cold approval slipped into my mind.
“Let us see if you are worthy.”
Her declaration was neither a shout nor a roar. It didn’t need to be. Her voice seeped directly into my mind—a chilling whisper that froze me to the bone.
