Dark Lords & Basements

Old Republic Stories

Dark Lords & Basements

---Jedi Temple Basement---

The Sith Officer who summoned The Dark lord nervously awaited his arrival. He had orders to alert The Dark Lord if anyone resisted interrogation, and his squadron had found someone, locked in the basement of the Jedi Temple, of all places. The Officer suddenly tensed up. He could hear the dull thudding footfalls that announced The Dark Lord’s approach. He straightens up, doing his best to give The Dark Lord no reason to be angry with him. He sees The Dark lord turn the corner, his black robes fluttering behind him, lightsabers strapped to his belt, a face-obscuring Mandalorian mask on his face.

The Dark Lord stalks up to the officer, his mask giving away no emotion. He speaks to the officer, his voice heavily modified by the helmet.

“Report, Commander.”

“Sir, while inspecting the Temple, we discovered a prisoner in the basement who was able to resist all of our interrogation techniques. I informed you as per your orders.”

The Dark Lord goes quiet, and the officer feared for his life, until The Dark Lord looked at him.

“What is your name?”

“Commander Alex Shepard,sir."

“You have done well, Commander Shepard.Take your men and report back to Korriban; you are all relieved of duty.”

The Officer salutes The Dark Lord, before quickly walking out of the building, pressing the homing device that would alert his men to reconvene at his signal. Several seconds later, his squadron pours out of the room, glancing warily at The Dark Lord as they pass by him.

The Dark Lord watches the squadron turn the corner and steps into the room as soon as the last man is out of sight. He scans the room, his helmet giving him detailed information on every aspect of the room. He spots the prisoner, still bound by Force Shackles, standing with his back against a corner in the only cell in the room, staring at The Dark Lord. He steps towards the cell, expecting the prisoner to recoil in fear as everyone else usually did, but the prisoner surprises him. He steps up to the bars, now face to mask with The Dark Lord. The Dark Lord examines the prisoner, before making his opening statement.

“You are a Jedi.”

The Prisoner holds up his shackled wrists and replies.

“Duh.”

“I see.”

The Dark Lord, having figured out that he was going to have a difficult time with this prisoner, steps away from the cell and towards the lockers on the opposite wall. He reaches out with The Force and grabs the doors, ripping them off the hinges with a gesture. Inside the locker farthest from the cell are the prisoners Lightsabers. He grabs both hilts and walks back towards the cell. He holds up the hilts so the prisoner can see them, and then examines them himself.

“Very nice. So nice, that I’m going to take one of them.”

The prisoner, who had been eying his lightsabers, glares at The Dark Lord, and then back at his Lightsabers.

“Make you a deal. You let me out of these shackles, leave me my crystals, and one of your hilts, you can take one.”

The Dark Lord immediately laughs, his laughter mechanized by the helmet.

“I find it very funny that you assume to make a deal while locked in that cage.”

The Dark Lord looks at the Lightsabers again, then back at the Prisoner.

“Deal.”

The Dark Lord grabs one of his hilts from his belt and raises it into the air with the Force, along with one of the prisoner’s hilts. He disassembles them with a thought, removing the crystals from both hilts. He reassembles the hilts, switching the crystals around. He grabs his new hilt out of the air and attaches it to his belt, guiding the prisoner’s lightsabers over to a table with his mind.

“Now for the second part of our deal.”

The Dark Lord returns his attention to the prisoner.

“Did you assume I would release you before the interrogation?”

“I was hoping you’d forgotten.”

“Not likely. We’ll start simple. What is your name?”

“You first.”

“You need know only that I am The Dark Lord of the Sith.  Now, what is your name?”

The Prisoner laughs at him, before taking a seat on the tiny bench in the room.

“Take off that mask you stole from some Mandalorian; then we can discuss names.”

---Dantooine Crystal Cave---

Deep in the Crystal Caves of Dantooine walks a lone Jedi, exploring the caves for rare or powerful crystals for his lightsaber. Having been walking for many hours with just his Lightsaber lighting his way, the Jedi sits down on a nearby rock. He lights a flare and shuts his Lightsaber down, tossing the flair at his feet as he does. He pulls the crystals he’d recovered so far from his pocket and examines them. Three blue crystals, two red ones, four green ones, and a single pink crystal. He collected it because he’d never seen a pink lightsaber blade and was curious.

A sudden beeping from his pocket brings him out of his examination. He removes his communicator from his pocket and flips the hologram projector open, activating it as he does.A crackling image, blue and nearly translucent fades to life on the receiver. It was one of the Jedi masters from the Temple. The message kept cutting in and out, like the transmitter had been knocked out.

“All Jedi----report to---Temple.Urgent-----istance requ---Too many----Sith---others----dead---HURRY!”

The image suddenly blanks out. The Jedi snaps his communicator shut, stuffing it into his pocket as he gets to his feet. He runs towards the opening of the cave, summoning his Lightsaber to him with the Force. He ignites the blade, using its deep red glow to light his path. A Shyrack flies into his field of vision, its massive bat-like wings blocking his path. He charges at the flying thing and cuts one of its wings off, letting it fall to the ground. He rushes past it, leaving it to die. He pushes himself harder, drawing on The Force to make himself run faster, the world blurring around him.

A Kath Hound lumbers into his path from one of the offshoots. Having no time to dodge it, the Jedi swings his saber and slices off the creatures’ head before it could even see him. He hears the head flop to the floor just as he reaches the mouth of the cave. He rushes into sunlight and sees smoke off in the distance. The Temple was burning! The Jedi hops on his speeder and kicks it to life. He grips the throttle and pulls it to full speed, racing towards the Jedi Temple.

---Landing Pads---

At the Landing Pads, just outside the Jedi Temple, an X-70B Phantom-Class Prototype ship, its hull darkened from years of usage, touches down, having received the same distress signal.Its pilot lowers the walkway before the landing gear even reaches the ground. The ship powers down and hits the pad with a thud, kicking up dust and knocking a nearby protocol droid to the ground. The pilot of the ship jogs down the landing ramp. Dressed in scraps of Manadalorian armor sans helmet, mixed with jedi robes, the pilot was a rarity. He summons his Dual-bladed Lightsaber from his belt and pulls out a blaster, scanning the immediate area for any threats.He lowers his Blaster when he sees nothing but the bodies of younglings and the Jedi Council that had died defending them from the Sith.

The Mandalorian jedi continues up the path towards the temple, stepping over fallen Jedi and sith alike. He hears a lightsaber flare to life and quickly turns, raising his blaster, he squeezes off a shot, the blaster bolt bouncing harmlessly off the glowing red blade. The Mandalorian ignites half of his lightsaber, the blade glowing a vibrant blue.He takes a look at his opponent; dressed in all black and wearing a face-obscuring mask, he doubted he was looking at a Jedi.

The Mandalorian holsters his blaster, focusing on his Lightsaber.He draws on the Force to try and predict his opponents’ actions, but sees nothing. The Sith Assassin charges at him, sending out a burst of Force Lightning from his left hand, his Lightsaber raises in his right. The Mandalorian blocks the Sith’s lightning with his Lightsaber, bracing himself against the impact. He bats the lightning away; it was relatively low-powered. The Sith jumps at him, swinging his Lightsaber in a wide arc, only to have his blow parried by the Mandalorian, who grabs the Sith by his hood and uses his momentum to swing him around, slamming him against the nearby railing. The Sith drops his Lightsaber, causing it to power down, the blade retracting into the hilt. The Mandalorian releases his hood and kicks the Sith in the head, shattering his mask and knocking him cold.

The Mandalorian uses two sets of Force Shackles and some cable to hogtie the assassin and continues towards the Temple. The first electronic door opens in front of him revealing an empty hallway. He draws his blaster and steps towards the second electronic door, which should have opened it. The door doesn't budge. The Mandalorian steps up to the door and taps it with his armored fist. Nothing happens. He takes a step back and draws his Lightsaber, one of the blades flaring to life with a hiss. He stabs the glowing blue blade through the doors center and cuts out the locking mechanism. He powers his lightsaber down, the blade retracts with another hiss, and the door slowly grinds open.

The Mandalorian kicks the door the rest of the way in, the metal creaking as it bends towards the wall. He rolls into the room, his pistol drawn and ready to fire. He spots someone dressed in black wearing a Mandalorian helmet running towards the back exit. The Mandalorian opens fire, the blaster bolts surprising his target, who barely manages to dodge them. His target turns toward him and waves his arm at him; a large table immediately jumps off of the floor and flies at the Mandalorians head. He draws his lightsaber and slices the table in half, the two parts falling harmlessly to his sides. He looks for his target, but sees that he has already fled out the door. He hears an engine power up a few seconds later, and then spots a small ship-to-surface cruiser take off right outside the back exit.

The Mandalorian curses, and then begins to search the Temple for survivors or stragglers. He finds nothing but bodies on the top three floors, taken down by either Lightsaber or blaster.He heads to the first level of the basement, his blaster drawn, lightsaber in his left hand. He turns into the main area just off the stairwell and spots a fallen jedi; his right arm below the elbow was lying a few feet away from him. The Mandalorian lowers his blaster and walks closer to the body. When it twitches, he runs over, turning the man onto his back, revealing a man with shaggy dark hair. The Mandalorian checks the man’s stump of an arm and finds it to be cauterized, a definite Lightsaber wound. He removes a syringe from his armor and injects it into the stump. Immediately, the man goes limp, the pain reliever knocking him out.

The Mandalorian checks his injuries, making sure he wouldn't die before he returned, before continuing to the second level of the basement. He spots someone in dark robes locked in the holding cell. The man shrugs off the Force Shackles that had been mounted on his wrists; they hit the ground with a heavy thud. The apparent prisoner flexes his wrists, before waving his hand at the bars, sending the entire wall of them exploding out of the concrete, slamming them into the opposite wall.As he begins to step out of the cell, the Mandalorian ignites his blue blade and gives the prisoner a warning.

“Don’t move. Return to your cell or I will be forced to return you.”

The prisoner looks at the Mandalorian and gives him a reply.

“Fair warning friend; I’m not a happy person right now. I’m in no mood to kick your ass.”

“Answer truthfully and no fight shall occur. Did you slaughter the inhabitants of this Temple?”

The prisoner summons his Lightsabers to him from a nearby table, clipping them to his belt once they reach him. He glances at the Mandalorian, who still had his Lightsaber drawn.

“No. They locked me in that cage a couple weeks ago. The Sith did this. Their leader just ran out of here, maybe you saw him. Big guy, all black, ugly ass helmet, damn strong in The Force.”

The Mandalorian narrows his eyes at the prisoner, contemplating his explanation.

“I did see him...but I also saw you throw off those Force Shackles. You couldn’t have gotten out of those by yourself. I think he let you out. I think you’re one of his servants. I’ll only say this once: throw your Lightsabers to me, and lie down on the ground with your hands behind your back. I’m going to re-shackle you. When I find someone who can confirm your story, I might let you out.”

The prisoner sighs, and then steps out of the cell, turning towards The Mandalorian

“If you can come put me on the ground and shackle me, then I’ll go with you.”

The prisoner clenches his fists at his sides as Force Lightning begins to crackle around them. The Mandalorian spins his blade around, stepping into the Djem So counterpart of the Form V fighting style. The two warriors begin to circle each-other, searching for an opening to attack. The Prisoner snaps his arms out towards the Mandalorian; Lightning explodes from his fingertips with a crash of thunder. The Mandalorian catches the Lightning on his blue blade, keeping it from harming him. He arcs the blade up, snapping the Lightning back towards the prisoner, who dodges out of the way as it slams against the wall, barely damaging the durasteel walls. The prisoner gets back to his feet, a slight grin on his face. He eyes the Mandalorians armor, noticing the symbol on his shoulder plate.

“A Mandalorian Jedi. Impressive. Most Mandalorians wouldn't give their children to the jedi. Orphaned, I bet, which means that armor, that’s not family armor, is it?”

The Mandalorian attempts to ignore the prisoners’ taunts, but finds himself growing angry. He ignites the second blade on his Lightsaber, adding a red glow to the room in addition to the blue.The prisoner grins even wider, before motioning the Mandalorian forward

“You’re not a Mandalorian at all, are you? A real Mandalorian would’ve killed me already!”

The Mandalorian charges at him, his Lightsaber blades spinning wildly around him. The prisoner draws The Dark Lords Lightsaber and ignites it, the green blade flaring to life as he does. He steps towards the Mandalorian and raises his Lightsaber, blocking the red blade just in time. The Mandalorian sweeps at his legs with the blue blade, forcing the prisoner to jump over the blade.

He swings his Saber at the Mandalorian’s head as he falls back to the ground, but the Mandalorian blocks his attack with his red blade.The two Jedi attempt to overpower their opponent, their blades crashing together, a hot-white glow created at the point where their blades meet, the sound of the blades sliding along one-another, like the crackle of electricity, fills the room. The Mandalorian pushes the prisoner back, bending him backwards at the knee. As he does this, the Prisoner begins to chuckle. His words full of malice, the Mandalorian questions the prisoner.

“Something funny?”

The prisoner laughs again, bending back even further, before answering.

“You’re very good...but I know something you don’t."

“Yeah? What’s-“

Before the Mandalorian can finish his sentence, the prisoner uses The Force to summon his second Lightsaber to his opposite hand, igniting the red blade. He slams the second blade against the Mandalorian’s red blade, knocking him away from the prisoner, who rights himself, stepping into the Dun Möch fighting stance. He spins both blades at his sides, crossing them in front of him, before throwing the red blade at the Mandalorian, attempting to surprise him.

The Mandalorian knocks the flying Lightsaber away with a blast of the Force, but The Prisoners distraction worked. While the Mandalorian was dealing with his Lightsaber, The Prisoner deactivated his second blade, quickly charging up a burst of Force Lightning. He fires the built-up energy at the Mandalorian, blue and purple waves of electricity quickly slam into the Mandalorian, bringing him to one knee as the electricity courses through him.

The prisoner summons his thrown lightsaber back to him, the blade retracting into the hilt along its journey.After he clips it to his belt, still electrocuting the Mandalorian with his right hand, he summons the Mandalorians SaberStaff to him, ripping it from the Mandalorians grip.He immediately ceases the electrocution. Looking down at the still-kneeling Mandalorian jedi, the prisoner speaks to him.

“I warned you I was in a bad mood.”

Before he can say another word, he hears the ignition of a Lightsaber behind him. The prisoner curses himself for leaving his back to the stairs.The prisoner steps sideways, keeping an eye on the Mandalorian. He spots another Jedi, this one wearing gray robes, and what looked to be a shiny animal skin coat, and a large hat made of the same material, and he was brandishing an odd-looking gray bladed lightsaber.

“Don’t move.”

The prisoner shakes his head in annoyance, before responding.

“Don’t be so unoriginal Skippy. That one over there said the same thing, and look what happened to him.”

“Originality would be wasted on the likes of you.”

During his reply, the prisoner took his eyes off of the Mandalorian. Seizing the opportunity, the Mandalorian uses the Force to summon his Lightsaber back to him, igniting both blades as it reaches his outstretched hand. On an unseen signal, both jedi rush the prisoner, Lightsabers ready to strike. The prisoner rolls his eyes and draws his second blade; blocking both initial attacks.Before any of the three can execute another attack, a voice from the stairs draws their attention.

“Hey dumbasses!”

The three warriors look at the stairwell, and spot the injured jedi that the Mandalorian helped.

“The bad guys already left. You can all stop being retarded now and deactivate your Lightsabers.”

“He’s a Sith! I saw his Leader run out of here, then I found him in one of the cells, they did all this to break him out!”

“He was locked up because he sought forbidden knowledge. No Sith would be imprisoned here, you insufferable moron.”

The prisoner quickly deactivates his Lightsabers, stepping away from the two Jedi in one movement, allowing them to nearly cut each-others limbs off in their clumsiness. They deactivate their Lightsabers as well. The jedi in the animal skin speaks to the jedi missing an arm.

“Yeah? Maybe that’s true. Who are you, anyway?”

“I could ask the same of all of you.”

The prisoner sighs and rolls his eyes once more.

“You people take too long. The Mandalorians name is Bardan Bralor, last of the Bralor clan, raised by Jedi. Funny. The one with the nice hat, I call him Skippy, he likes it, but he tries to hide it. But you...I don’t know you.”

“Course you don’t, I transferred from Coruscant a week ago. You had been imprisoned for three days when I got here.”

“I didn’t hear a name in that excuse.”

“Hmmm....so you didn’t. Al-An Sunrider, at your service.Anybody know just who in the hell did all this?”

“I was hoping you did.”

“Not a clue. I left my quarters this morning, walked right into a big guy in all black, with a Mandalorian helmet on. Friend of yours, perhaps?”

“I didn’t recognize the helmet. Its either custom-made, designed after our own, or he stole it from a very old and nearly extinct clan.”

“What about you Cowboy? You seem to fit the profile of Sith Grunt to a T.”

“I would never follow a Sith....or a Jedi, for that matter. I was out collecting Crystals to bribe the Council with. I wanted access to some forbidden knowledge of my own.”

“I know his name.”

The three other Force Users turn to stare at James, who had been silent and slowly backing away until that point. Now, leaning against the wall nearest the stairwell, he speaks again.

“We had a bit of a chat before he sensed your ship landing and bolted.Fucker took one of my Lightsabers, but left me one of his. Even traded crystals. Weird. I’m getting off track now. He said his name is Darth Reavan. Mentioned it was a take-off of Revan, didn’t say why. He wanted to know how to get into the Forbidden Archives. Seems to be a popular destination.”

His head suddenly snaps to the left, his eyes out of focus, staring at something beyond the walls. Without moving, he asks a question.

“Anybody else feel that?”

The crack of Thunder and Lightning can be heard, as well as wind roaring around the Temple. The four Force users rush up the staircase, continuing to the main floor. They open the main doors and survey an intense demonstration of the power of nature. Several tornadoes had touched down and were now tearing through the plains of Dantooine, ripping trees up by their roots, hurling entire packs of Kath Hounds against the mountains. It had begun to rain as well, flooding the shallow creeks and narrow rivers, overrunning many paths with water. The clouds had been stained nearly black, with purple electricity crackling around them constantly.

“The Dark Side created this storm. We have to dissipate it. If the four of us work together, we should be able to do it.”

“Yeah, you take care of that. Since everybody’s dead, the Forbidden Knowledge has just become Public, so, if you gentlemen will excuse me, I have information to pillage.”

James strolls away, heading towards the Archives. The Jedi in the nice hat immediately follows him, muttering something under his breath as he goes.

“Looks like I get to keep the crystals.”

Bardan and Al-An watch as the two questionably gray Jedi left them, before turning to look back at the storm, and then at each other.

“Those guys are dicks.”

“Quite. Shall we give it a go anyway?”

“Might as well.”

The two Jedi close their eyes and reach out with The Force, attempting to latch onto the dark energy surrounding the clouds. After several minutes in silence, Bralor opens his eyes.

“This is stupid. I don’t even know what I’m supposed to be doing. I’m going to my ship and getting out of here. You got a way off the planet?”

“Nope. I was dropped off, supposed to stay here for several years. Guess I’ll need reassigning."

“You’ll come with me then, can’t have you running around minus an arm, wouldn’t be able to call myself a Jedi if I left you. Let’s go then.

“What about the two bookworms?”

“They’re dicks. What about them?”

“We can’t just leave them here, like you said, we are Jedi.”

Bralor sighs, looking out at the storm and his ship longingly. He turns back to Al-An and curses.

“Damn it. You’re right. Come on, let’s go find them.”

---Jedi Archives---

James and his new ‘friend’ Skippy step into the Archive room, still on their guard, wary of anyone left behind. They quickly search the room and find it empty. James steps behind the main desk and starts pressing buttons at random. A feminine electronic voice quickly cries out at him.

“That hurts, you prick!”

James jumps back in surprise, not expecting the archives to have an AI Hologram.

An image digitizes on the Holodisc attached to the desk. Through the haze and static, James can make out the form of a woman. She stares up at him, an annoyed look on her face.

“You’re not the Archive Master.”

“Pretty sure he’s dead.”

“Oh. Who are you then?”

“His replacement. Now, show me the file labeled THX-1138”

“Loading File…”

The woman disappears and is quickly replaced by a middle-aged bearded blond man wearing black. He begins to speak, but before he can finish his message, the Temple begins to shake. Bits of the ceiling begin to fall to the floor, cracks appear in the walls, and as James downloads the recording from the Archives, as well as as much of the Archives as his Datapad would hold, the floor begins to crumble. He retrieves his Datapad and vaults over the desk, just as it falls into the room below. He doesn’t see his new ‘friend’, so he simply yells as he runs out of the room.

“Oi! Skippy! Time to go!”

Having retrieved what he came for, Skippy follows James out of the Archives and back to the main hall, just as Bardan and Al-An are leaving the building. Bardan turns towards the two of them and asks a question.

“Either of you got a ship?”

The two look at each other, then back at Bardan, before replying in unison.

“Nope.”

“Fine, you can hitch a ride on mine. For a fee.”

“Whatever, the whole place is breaking apart, move!”

The four Jedi flee the Temple, just as the entire structure begins to collapse. The ground begins to crack open under the Temple, bigger and bigger, until the Temple itself is swallowed up by the ground beneath it. The two halves of the ground slam back together, kicking up an immense cloud of dirt and dust, leaving nothing but craggy plains in its wake. The Force Storm quickly dissipates around the Jedi, who had augmented their speed with the Force, using it to outrun the destruction, and are currently boarding Bardan’s ship. As He begins the launch sequence, Bardan asks an obvious question.

“So….where are we going, exactly?”

“Coruscant.”

“…..Why?”

“That’s where the main Jedi Archives are.”

“And you think “Darth Reavan”, as you called him, is going there. Why?”

“Because he told me as much.”

Al-An, seeing the look on both Bardan and Skippy’s faces, he intervenes.

“Perhaps you should elaborate a bit.”

“Very well.”

---1 Hour Ago, Basement Sub-Level, Jedi Temple, Dantooine---

“Take off that mask you stole from some Mandalorian; then we can discuss names.”

The Dark Lord holsters his Lightsabers, before taking a deep breath, this too being mechanized by his helmet. He reaches up and snaps the release from his helmet. He puts his hands on both sides of it and pulls it off of his head, a slow hiss is heard as oxygen escapes the airtight suit. The Dark Lord lowers his helmet, holding it in one hand, showing his face to the Prisoner. The Prisoner stares at the man before him. Green eyes, short black hair, almost too black. No marks on his face, no facial hair.

“Fuck.”

The Dark Lord narrows his eyes, before asking a question.

“What?”

“I have no idea who you are.”

The Dark Lord rolls his eyes and responds, putting his helmet on as he does, changing his voice in the middle of a sentence.

“Of course you don’t. No one does. That’s why I obliged you. Now, your name.”

“You first.”

The Dark Lord was losing his patience.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t just kill you and be done with it.”

The Prisoner grins, he knew he was getting to The Dark Lord.

“Because I know something you don’t”

The Dark Lord grabs The Prisoner’s Lightsaber that he claimed for himself and ignites it, stabbing the blade through the bars, holding it near the Prisoner’s neck.

“Which is?”

The Prisoner eyes the red blade, before answering.

“My name.”

The Dark Lord says nothing. He deactivates his Lightsaber, returning it to his belt. He stares at the Prisoner, who stares back at him.

“My name is Reavan.”

The Prisoner chuckles.

“You think that’s funny, do you?”

“A little bit. It sounded like you said Reavan. Funny way to pronounce Revan, ain’t it?”

“You know your history. I was indeed named after Darth Revan. My makers were unaware of the true pronunciation. They were...simple people."

“Fucking idiots is more like it. Well then, “Reavan”, you’ve proven yourself to be quite the giving Dark Lord, an interesting trait to have for someone in your line of work. Since you’ve been such a nice interrogator, my name is James Khaal.”

Reavan stares at him for a moment, before saying a single word.

“Fuck.”

James narrows his eyes, before asking a question.

“What?”

“I have no idea who you are."

James begins to chuckle, softly at first, but it slowly rises into full-blown laughter. Reavan quickly joins him. The two men quickly snap the laughter off, now wary of the other.

“No matter. I’ll look you up in the archives.”

Reavan begins to walk away, but James calls to him.

“Dude. You forgot something.”

Reavan turns back around and sees James holding his still-shackled wrists up to his line of sight

“Oh. Right.”

Reavan walks back to the cell, removing his lightsaber from his belt and igniting it as he does. He scores the edge of the left manacle, then deactivates his blade.

“You should be able to struggle out of those in a couple hours.”

James, with a roll of his eyes, sarcastically replies.

“Gee, thanks.

As The Dark lord returns to exiting the room, he feels a strong presence arrive on the planet, near the entrance of the Temple. He looks at James over his shoulder.

“You feel that?”

“Yep. You might want to run. Mandalorian Jedi, very powerful, very hardheaded.”

“I’m sure I could kill him, but-”

“But you’re not going to waste the effort.”

“Damn straight.”

The Dark Lord climbs the stairs at a quicker pace, leaving James to free himself

---Present---

“…And then you came lumbering down the stairs making wild and highly inaccurate accusations.”

“That still doesn’t explain how you know he’s going to Coruscant.”

“Sure it does. He didn’t get the chance to check the Archives, since you ran him off. He still doesn’t know who I am, so he’ll go check the full Archive on Coruscant.”

“What makes you think you’re special enough for him to go all the way to Coruscant and break into the Archives?”

“Let’s find out together, shall we?”

James inserts his datapad into the ships display, and then presses several buttons. He accesses the file he attempted to check in the Temple, playing it on the main console. A transparent blue-toned image of a blonde bearded man dressed in all black materializes into place. He begins to speak, his voice rapidly changing pitch, like he was following music only he could hear.

“One last breath; the fourth winds blow,
Better raise your ears.
The sound of hooves knock at your door.
Lock up your wife and children now;
it’s time to wield the blade.
For now you've got some company!

Horsemen are drawing nearer;
on leather steeds they ride;
they’ve come to take your life.
On through the death of night;
With the Four Horsemen ride;
or choose your fate and die!”

You've been dying since the day you were born
You know it's all been planned
The quartet of deliverance rides You have been dying since the day you were born
You know it's all been planned
The quartet of deliverance rides
A sinner once, a sinner twice
No need for confessions now
'Cause now you've got the fight of your life

Hear the cry of War;
Louder than before;
with his sword in hand;
to control the land!
Crushing metal strikes;
on this frightening night;
fall onto your knees;
For the Phantom Lord!

Victims falling under chains,
you hear them crying dying pains!
The fists of terrors breaking through,
now there's nothing you can do!

Gather 'round young warriors now;
Saddle up your steeds;
Killing scores with demon swords!
Now is the death of doers of wrong;
Swing the judgment hammer down;
safely inside armor, blood, guts and sweat!

All that is, was and will be.
Universe much too big to see;
Time and space never ending;
Disturbing thoughts, questions pending;
Limitations of human understanding!

On through the never we must go…
On through the never, out to the
Edge of forever we must go…
On through the never, the never comes!

The leather armies have prevailed,
The Phantom Lord has never failed!
Smoke is lifting from the ground,
the rising volume metal sound!

Hear the cry of War;
Louder than before;
with his sword in hand;
to control the land!
Crushing metal strikes;
on this frightening night;
fall onto your knees;
For the Phantom Lord!

Fall to your knees…
…And bow to the Phantom Lord!”

The hologram fades away, leaving the four Force Users in silence. Skippy breaks the silence.

“What the fuck did that mean?”