Maul: Legacy of Shadows

Chapter 5: The Exile

***Year 3,959 BBY***

The freighter ship hummed in a low power state, as Bao-Dur watched his general, Jedi Master Surik, walk through the towering entrance of the Jedi temple.  The statues of their ancient brethren stared down with stoic expressions. Shame filled every ounce of Bao-Dur, and the countless Jedi lives he sacrificed to win the final battle of the Mandalorian Wars would forever haunt him.

Hours dragged by, and finally Bao-Dur's friend and commander reappeared.  Her face was as expressionless as it always was, but he noticed her lightsaber no longer sat on her hip. Her blade was unique, a silvery blade that froze all opponents with its beauty, much like the general herself. Bao-Dur opened the docking entrance for her, and as she strode inside, he could sense that she was no longer a part of the order.

She simply sat next to him and gave a quick nod, indicating that her business was concluded, and she was ready to face exile alone. Bao-Dur wasn't even given a destination, and figured Surik didn't have one in her mind either, and that the Force would guide them to their new destinies.   As the ship began to ascend out of low orbit, Bao-Dur punched into the hyperdrive a random destination and closed his eyes, hoping the Force would allow them to redeem themselves in some way for their sins.

The hyperdrive began its high-pitched whine as the light of the stars began to stretch, space itself curving around the ship. Soon they were in a blue tunnel of light, unsure where their destination would take them, and neither had the courage to say a word the entire trip. Bao-Dur released the hyperdrive system, and space returned to its physical state once again, but their destination was as yet unknown to them both.

A planet lush with plant life and oceans stood before them, with a single orange sun, but the night sky was filled to the brim with local star clusters, indicating to Bao-Dur that they had ended up in the galaxy's Deep Core.   It seemed the Force was still with them, as normally traveling blindly into the Deep Core meant certain doom. Only the Unknown Regions harbored similar odds of danger with hyperspace travel, but stars were scattered and few and far between, laying at the edge of the galaxy.

Bao-Dur knew that only a few hospitable planets lay within the Deep Core, and most of their names were lost to time. Only the Empress Teta system was still a part of the Republic, the site of the Great Hyperspace War almost 1,500 Standard Galactic Years prior, and one of the few battles involving the rediscovered Sith species.  However, the planet before them showed no signs of civilization or Republic influence. There were no star ports, and scans showed the planet nearly devoid of all sentient life.

"On your orders General," Bao-Dur finally quipped, breaking the awkward silence that permeated their entire trip, beginning with their departure of Malachor.

General Surik merely closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, "take us down, let's see where the Force has brought us."

Entering the atmosphere was a relatively smooth affair and breaking through the clouds the two former Jedi beheld a planet of lush forests and mountain ranges that seemed to stretch forever into the distance. As they surveyed the planet, nothing seemed artificial, and both were confused about their destination, and why the Force would bring them here.

In the distance, Bao-Dur noticed what seemed to be a large structure, carved out of the side of a mountain. Rounding the ship to gain a better view, the pair came upon a large stone temple entrance, that led deep into the fog covered mountainside. Surprisingly, it even featured a primitive landing pad, suitable for small starships or other personal vehicles.   As the ship touched down on the planet, a wave of energy seemed to wash over the pair, and Bao-Dur felt the wind knocked out of him.   If Surik felt the same, her expression didn't show it, as she merely opened her eyes and rose out of her seat.

As the landing platform lowered, Bao-Dur couldn't help but stare at the empty lightsaber holster that sat on his master's hip.  He still held his, its weight having magnified since the incident on Malachor, as if it wanted to escape his company.   As they stepped out onto the landing platform, the air felt cool, with a soothing mist lingering in the atmosphere around them. The sun's rays barely penetrated the overcast sky, reminding Bao-Dur of Malachor's cavernous interior and making him feel uncomfortable.

A makeshift entrance into the interior of the mountain was carved in front of them, a stone archway that led to a descending staircase. Bao-Dur refused to walk ahead of his master, and painstakingly matched her every step, even as she slowed to appreciate the simple beauty of the temple's entrance. Finally, the pair began to descend into the depths of the temple and the walls were smooth and warm to the touch. Where the air outside felt humid but cool, inside the atmosphere was dry and warm. Bao-Dur got a slight headache from the pressure change, but as they continued, he noticed that crystals embedded in the walls began to glow, illuminating their way just as the light from the entrance finally reached its limit.

"Fascinating," Surik whispered as she studied the crystals and their luminescent glow.

No two crystals shared the exact same hue, as the colors ranged from greens to blues, and yellows to orange. Bao-Dur wondered if these could be ancient kyber crystals, the same used in modern lightsabers, but that would be a question for a future time, as the pair came upon a doorway, with two large stone doors blocking the entrance. The path stood a full twelve feet in height, and the doors each had a large circular stone handle that seemed timeless.

Surik said nothing as she simply gazed over every inch of the doorway, taking in every ounce of information she could before deciding to finally act. Gripping one of the handles, she attempted to pull and Bao-Dur noticed her right eye twitch as her body tried to force the doorway open through brute strength. Surik knew when something was futile, and it didn't take long for her to relax her muscles and let the handle go, allowing it to fall and slam against the doorway, creating a cacophony of sound reverberating through the stairway.

Surik stepped back, and Bao-Dur followed suit, unsure of his master's reasoning, but he wouldn't voice his concern out loud. As they stood for a few moments, the sound of dirt and dust falling began as a faint whisper all around them, and Bao-Dur could feel the ground shaking ever so slightly beneath his feet as the gigantic doorway began to slowly open before them.

A cloud of dust exploded from the opening, as though what lay on the other side was holding its breath for millennia. The room inside was a massive structure, nearly the width of the mountain itself, with massive stone pillars made entirely of dimly glowing crystals scattered throughout the cavernous room, at least a hundred feet in height. Every single pillar was a shade of either blue or red and gave the entire room a purple hue where their light met and clashed. In the center of the room stood a small altar, with an object sticking out of a stone slab.

Surik started to walk between the pillars, and Bao-Dur felt the pull towards a small set of shelves on the interior's walls on the opposite end of the room. The only sounds in the room were the footsteps of his master, as she zig-zagged her way between the pillars, her outstretched hand feeling the stone structures as she passed by them. Bao-Dur's focus remained on the shelves, and he began to make out stacks of parchments strewn about them.

Hesitantly, Bao-Dur reached for one of the scrolls with his prosthetic arm, one whose condition didn't seem as dire as the others. Gently unrolling the ancient parchment, Bao-Dur noticed the words transcribed across its surface were in an archaic form of Galactic Basic, one of the most common languages, and the one most humans counted as their native tongue. A quick scan of the work seemed to reveal it was an instruction manual on the basis of swordplay, even displaying rudimentary sketches of figures and stances, some worn from the passage of time. However, two words were used a great deal that were unknown to the Zabrak, Ashla and Bogan.

"Ashla," the former Zabrak Jedi whispered, using his prosthetic left hand to feel the writing across the face of the scroll.

Behind him the room began to change, with all the red pillars fading to a dull black, their light dying out, as the blue pillars were all that remained. Surik finally reached Bao-Dur's location, just as the room finished its uncanny reaction to his subtle whisper.

Without even seeing the parchment, or hearing what Bao-Dur had said, Surik looked the Zabrak straight into his eyes and whispered back, "Bogun."