Darth Tyrant: Fallen Peace

Chapter 5

"Right, you are my young Jedi." The old man seemed to chuckle. "This is the temple of an ancient war-torn race, known as the Jeraku'ru." (j-air-a-koo'roo)

"What happened to them?" Astrie was now hooked. Maybe the Jeraku'ru were why he was there.

"They built an army of droids to protect them from the invading forces of the Sith. After they drove them out they hunted the Sith. Any knowledge of this planet died with those who had it. Eventually, one Jeraku'ru gained the knowledge of the droids. He took them over and controlled them. The Jeraku'ru fought their own creations till they won. They pushed the body and the droids into a tomb."

"Then why do I see them?"

"Let me finish young one. Now, where was I, ahhh yes. The Jeraku'ru had an era of peace. They wrote their findings in that temple over there. Where they worshipped some, some, deity of water, earth, and sky? After maybe 25 years of peace, another war broke out. Proof that war is inevitable, and we must prepare for war, not peace."

Approaching the temple door now Astrie could fully see the disaster. "How did the droids escape? And why are they all over the place?"

The old man pushed his face towards Astrie. His eyes seemed to glow an orangish-yellow. "Someone came here and refund the knowledge to control them, with the cost that he was bound to this place. He cleansed this world of all the Jeraku'ru."

The mist seemed to clear slightly. Inside was only darkness. Entering he turned around to see Hail with a torch.

"You weren't going to enter without light, right? Strange, ghastly things live in there."

Astrie fell quiet and ignored him. Coming to a wall he ignited his lightsaber. The blue glow illuminated the room. Far more than the torch did.

Upon gazing at the large wall he recognized some writing. It was a strange form of galactic morse code. The symbols were dashes, dots, and crosses, written across the wall.

The language was old, but not incomprehensible. It was time his "gift" came into play. Running his hand against the smooth black wall, Astrie could not only see the white writing, but he could also feel the emotions of the writer.

"The man was in a panic," Astrie said pointing at the end that seemed sloppier than the rest. "He was writing this not knowing what was to come. The words, they seem to stop, then continue. He was constantly pausing to glance, further into the temple?"

Astrie paused. Glancing into the temple he felt the fear the writer had. No wonder the author of this script was afraid. Gazing into the dark void of the temple he reached a moment of realization.

"This is no temple."

Astrie glanced around looking behind him he only saw a torch in the ground where the old man had stood. The looming dark void seemed to move. From the darkness, two dull orange lights gleamed. They slowly got brighter and brighter until, standing before Astrie, was a shadowy outline of a human. The only seeable feature where the glowing gold eyes.

"Come, join me and walk to my grave. There you will find a weapon powerful enough to destroy the empire."

Astrie stood in fear. "Who, who are you."

"I am who I've always been. I am who I will always be. I am who I am. I am Hades!"

Astrie was shot with fear as the entity loomed nearer. The being cast no shadow, but only a faint outline of him could be seen.

"What is this weapon!?" Astrie shouted with confusion.

The thing smiled bearing yellow crooked teeth. "Knowledge"

Astrie felt compelled to walk away. Either because of the presence of the shadow or because it was the right thing to do. Fighting his first thought he took a step.

"Yes, join me for a walk, to the alter. There you will find the knowledge you seek."

Astrie took another step.

"I promise you. There is nothing to fear."

Just then Astrie realized that he was losing this battle. He took a breath, then recited the first line of the Jedi code. There is no emotion, there is peace. The fearful face became one masked with nothing. Astrie's face became, yet again, emotionless.

Now walking towards the darkness, he strode. His neutral face was consumed by the darkness. He pondered one question. Where was the old man? Did he run, did the shadow get him? And the last of those questions he dared not to ask.

Walking further and further in the dark he then came to what felt like an open room. He looked around, gazing through the force, trying to obtain any feeling of the place he could. Though after all his efforts he felt peace. He could feel calmness, not happy or angry, just coolness.

Opening his eyes the shadow monster was gone. Most likely an illusion. He told himself. There directly in front of him was a pyramid. It glowed a flaming orange colour.

Just before someone grabbed his shoulder from behind Lorn turned around igniting his aqua blade. The blue light lit up the room revealing Old Man Hail behind him.

"You shouldn't have come this deep. The Specters will get us. We must leave."

Astrie was too quick to react and did not even notice the quivering in Hail's legs. "That's a Holocron. A device for keeping knowledge." The crimson-orange glow through the glass-like pyramid was mesmerizing, almost, alluring. "It must be mine!" And with that final phrase, his first trial would be proud.

Hail sighed, "Well, if you must have it, grab it, and leave quickly. But power comes with a price. Just as knowledge is power."

The last words would have made Astrie shiver but he was too mesmerized to hear them. Reaching out with the force he grabbed it.

The walls around them shook as one of the lifeless droids powered on. Strange, mysterious blue flames produce from the eyes and chest cavity. The steel hilt ignited two, topaz yellow blades, one from each end. The two ends swirled with a majestic dance. Astrie now felt the force flow from around him, into the droid.