A Decent into darkness

1

The surface of the planet was silent, the redish desert sand crunching like glass beneath his boots. The ruins shield him from the sun, casting him in an odd coldness, the ruins themselves seem to whisper dark tales of war and destruction and as he brushes his fingers across the runes in the stone that coldness settles into his bones. As glowing yellow eyes scan the surroundings, the silence is only truly broken by his Astromech bumping into his leg as she reminds him yet again what a terrible idea this is. "Relax R3."

A strange rumble, sending a tremble through the Force, makes Slip pause. It felt big, maybe a ship? He cautiously puts on his helmet, booting back up the HUD. "You didn't tell the others where we were going right, Ardrie?" He asks. "Negative." She grumbles.

Just as his focus is drawn to something not too far off moving the sand, whatever it is bursts out and it's big. Some kind of worm-snake type of creature with a lot of legs and sharp teeth. It's hunger radiates through the Force as it let's out an echoing screech and starts very clearly coming towards them. "I'm not fighting that right now, Ardrie-" his Astromech was already way ahead of him, much further down what was once likely an alleyway. "Fair enough." He starts running after her, even if he WANTED to face an unknown creature unprepared R3 had his lightsaber. Call him a bad Mandalorian for avoiding a fight but he's highly motivated to stay alive for his kid's sake (the kid's age is irrelevant his point stands).

It's not long before he starts scaling between walls, using the force to make R3 move faster ahead of him. A large cloud of dust and stone follows very closely behind them as walls slowly change to pillars and it becomes slowly more impossible to stay ahead and not risk this thing completely tearing apart the ancient site. So much for NOT fighting the creature, but he actually wants ruins left to investigate weather he has to be a ghost to do it ... R3 can at least apologize for him if it comes down to that. "Ardrie, my lightsaber! Now!"

Somehow the Droid does hear him over the commotion and DOES toss it back at him, although forcing him to leap and grab it mid-air. This is a bad idea, not that it's an idea at all but if it was, it would be a bad one.

Just as the blue blade ignites, before his feet even touches the ground, the creature dives towards him, tendrils reaching out to drag it's prey to it's hungry maw. The moment he makes the first move to attack a surge of familiar excitement pumps through his blood.

________

Slip was sitting in an office chair he found, staring at the wall of large broken glass tubes.

The lights had finally ceased flickering, bathing the white and grey room in bright lights. He lifts his hand to find he's holding a glass shard, its edges pressing in his now ungloved palm. He traces it for a moment before turning in the chair and placing it onto the table.

Part of him wonders if he had vode. Not the ones he got after his buir brought him home, before that. Did he have batchmates like the clone troopers did? For a moment the wall flickers, being replaced by tubes that were whole, humanoid shapes floating in an oddly colored liquid within them. Only to flicker back to the previous broken and empty state. Slip sighs, leaning back to listen to the sound of thunder and waves crashing against the walls from the outside. Eyes locked onto one tube in particular.

Sometimes he wishes he could just... crawl back in and pretend he never existed to begin with... but not today. What would Vulpine think if he knew his buir's state of mind? ... he hopes the kid never sees this part of his mind. Or finds out what he's doing for that matter.

____________

His conscious mind returns with him sitting with his back against a wall in a much darker and more inclosed space, his only light source being R3's light that's she's shining onto him while giving him a good scolding. He was holding his helmet in his hands and it was, much like the rest of his armor, covered in dirt and green... he thinks it's blood. R3's words are long lost on him since he didn't catch most of it to begin with and anything else is diminished by one fact "Ni su'cuy." He breathes. The memory slowly fades back into his mind and he cackles at the realization that not only is he alive but he WON!

The sound echoes through the dark empty beyond. He pushes himself to his feet, lighting his lightsaber to use the blue glow as another light source. Soon they find more runes and artwork, but it's the statues that makes him realize: they FOUND it, the temple he was looking for.

R3's protests and the sound of his footsteps bounce off the walls. The force pulls him forward, one step after the other, he breaks out in a sprint.

They run into much smaller versions of the creature from before but they were dealt with quickly, barely registering as a thought in his mind as he ascends some stairs. He can't even hear R3 calling out to him as he passes several more rooms and passing through others. He finally slows down, finding himself in a faintly lit room. Enough that he can put away his lightsaber and walk with ease. The force pulses excitedly, encouraging him.

The room appears to have once been a library, an old archives room, having similarities to the library at the Jedi temple. But it was empty. Abandoned like the rest of the temple. Part of him wants to joke and say this is a look at Sparker's (the Head Librarian/Archivist's) worst nightmare.

That cold is back now. Then he sees it. Laying on the ground, forgotten, left behind, discarded. He knows it's a holocron, the patterns on it's surface is familiar as he bends down to trace them. But it's not like the cubes he's familiar with, no, this holocron is pyramid shaped. He picks it up. That cold settles deep inside him, wrapping around his bones. "Is this what I'm here for?" He whispers, the holocron starts to give off a faint red glow. The force sings in confirmation, though... a much... darker tone... than he was used to.

He should ask Sparker about this.

.

R3 was already waiting for him at the ship. He reminds her again to not tell Vulpine or the rest of their crew about this little trip to... what did the Force call this place? Korriban? Most importantly Mister Luke and his council didn't need to know either.