Misplaced In The Force

Chapter 3

 The snow crunched under my feet as I made my way through the snow away from my speeder. I sent out calming energy through the Force and the Snowfeathers parted and let me pass peacefully. I barely used the Force anymore and I tried to hide from it most of the time. There had been a few random moments when I had gone into the base to get payment or pick up an order that the troopers wouldn't deliver to the cafe and I had felt dark Force signatures amongst the First Order that I couldn't pinpoint.

I knew that it wasn't wise to advertise the fact that I was Force-sensitive. Especially after watching the only Jedi school in the galaxy burn to ashes and our Master disappear into the night never to be heard from again. So for years, I had been alone in the vast reaches of space as I tried to find my own salvation and protection from the evils that lucked in the star system.

Making my way deeper under the cliff I heard a noise similar to a speeder and turned around towards the direction where my speeder sat. The wind had picked up and snow swirled in the gusts as I watched the world behind me disappear into a blanket of white. Disregarding the noise of the howling wind I turned back towards the cliff and moved forward.

It only took a few hundred meters before I found the small entrance to a cave. Ice had expanded over the years and closed what had once been a vast opening. Pulling the pickaxe from my hip I started to chip away at the ice until I had a wide enough gap that I could fit through easily and run back out if I encountered one of the two predatory species that still dwelled deep in these caves. The only dangers out here in the wild were Asharl Panthers and Gorgodons. I prayed to the Maker that I would not encounter either one of them as I continued my search through the ice.

Decades ago the doors to the Jedi temple stretched high into the sky, peaking into two points with a large circle open near the top. The doors that sat at the base of the large stone sat at the top of a set of steps lined with monuments to the Jedi Order. Luke had looked long enough to realize that over the last half a century the ice on Ilum had expanded at a rapid rate covering the entrance to the temple and its steps.

I heard the Snowfeathers behind me as they made a ruckus of noise far behind me. Paying them no mind I traveled deeper and deeper into the cavern until the terrain slopped up slightly. Marching up the slope I pulled my extendable walking staff from my waist and dug it into the ice. With the aid of my staff and my pickaxe, I made my way to a blockage of ice. I could tell that it was thin since I could see the glow from the tactical light that was attached to my vest shine through to the other side.

I swung my axe and the ice shattered, falling to the floor like raining crystals. Stepping through the opening in the ice I looked around the large stone room. It was perfectly preserved as if no one had been here in a century.

"Holy shit!" I squealed out loud to no one as the room ahead of me opened up before me. "I can't believe it."

I had found the lost Jedi temple of Ilum.

Artifacts were scattered around the room as I made my way forward. Looking up I could see the large crystal that hung from the ceiling coated in a sheet of ice. The round room was covered in ice from floor to ceiling and some of the hieroglyphics were unreadable. I made my way further into the room until I could see the tunnel that lay beyond.

"Fucking hell." I gasped as I took it all in.

So many emotions were running through me that I didn't know how to organize them. I had finally reached the discovery that I had sought out for years since I got to Ilum. Now I had to traverse the interior terrain until I found the caves that sat underneath the temple. My end goal was clear and I took a deep breath as I secured my footing and crossed the room.