“Affirmative.”
“I’m aboard the Domelan transport. Can you give me coordinates for the base they came from?”
“Transmitting now. The transport originated from a cave not far from the landing coordinates we were given.”
“Are you able to scan inside the cave?”
“Negative. The planet has a high concentration of different types of ore that makes scanning difficult. I’m sorry.”
“That’s all right Benine. Am I correct to assume that communication will be affected as well?”
“Affirmative. I estimate once you are fifty meters from the cave entrance we will be out of comlink range. Shall I come with you?”
“No. Stay with the ship. Keep it as nearby the cave as you can without putting your self in danger.”
“I am an R2 unit, not a protocol droid. R2’s do not run from danger.”
Masro let out a laugh, “Your bravery is not in question Benine. I want you to stay with the ship in case I need a fast pick up.”
“Very well. Good luck.”
“Thank you,” Masro clicked off the comlink and continued to the cave coordinates.
Chapter XV
Masro stopped the transport two hundred meters east of the cave and climbed out. Odds are that the Domelans were already tracking his approach and it would be much easier for him to go the rest of the way on foot and avoid their sensors.
Masro’s reptilian physiology easily enabled him to traverse the rocky terrain. Using the Force to add some distance to his jumps certainly helped as well. As he made his way up, over and around the terrain Masro actually started enjoying himself. It was not often enough that he used these particular skills that his unique heritage enabled him.
Masro quietly made his a way to the top of the small mountain just to the north of the cave entrance. He was surprised to see the entrance was unguarded, or at least there were no guards visible.
Masro clicked on his comlink, “Benine, I don’t see any guards. Can you give me a quick scan please?”
“Scans detect no Domelans for at least three hundred meters in any direction.”
No guards. That is very odd, unless this cave didn’t lead anywhere important. Masro thought to himself. Or they are letting me in.
“It could be a trap. Please be careful.”
“My thoughts exactly Benine,” Masro replied as he clicked off the comlink.
Masro removed his lightsaber from his belt and with one Force assisted leap landed ten meters in front of the entrance to the cave. The cave it self was quite large, at least twenty five meters wide and twenty meters high. The walls of the cave were rocky and un-even. The cave was on a slight downhill slope, the further in he went the further underground he was.
Masro peered into the cave. Alconians have tremendous eyesight and see extremely well in the dark. Their large black eyes can even detect the infra red heat signatures of warm blooded creatures in the dark.
Despite these skills Masro still did not see anything or anyone in the cave. Making one last try before going forward Masro closed his eyes and reached out with the Force. Masro was rocked back by what he felt.
Hate. Anger. Deception.
Masro felt a lump in his throat. The Dark Side of the Force is strong here. Masro was not expecting to encounter a Force sensitive being here, much less one strong with the Dark Side. This mission just got a lot more complicated.
As he descended into the cave Masro could feel the Dark Side growing stronger. The feeling of hate and anger that he had felt during his battle with the Domelans was very different from what he was sensing now. Earlier the hate was not this powerful and very general, aimed at the Jedi Order as a whole. The feeling now was much stronger and it almost felt as if it was directed right at him. It almost felt, personal.
I’ve got a bad feeling about this.
As soon as that thought crossed his mind Masro realized that he was now surrounded. The Dark Side of the Force must have clouded his senses just enough to allow the Domelans to set a tap for him.
And I’ve walked right into it.
Continuing ahead Masro peered intently down the corridor, trying to determine the point of the Domelan attack. As he rounded a bend in the corridor Masro stopped dead in his tracks.
Twenty five meters ahead of him stood a robed figure. Masro could not make out any facial features, but he was quite sure that the figure was not a Domelan. With the hood up covering his head the figure looked almost Jedi like.
“I am Masro Fhin, Jedi Knight and Ambassador of the Supreme Chancellor. I am here in peace and have no wish to fight you.”
The figure still stood silent.
“I am here on behalf of the Alconians to negotiate a peaceful treaty with the Domelans.”
The hooded figure finally spoke, “The Domelans however are not interested in your peaceful treaty Jedi and regardless of your wish to fight, fight you will.”
Masro watched as the hooded figure waved his hand in a Force like gesture before turning and walking back down the cavern. This was the source of the Dark Side he felt.
Before Masro could take a step he realized the powerful feelings of hate and anger started to ease. As the dark feelings around him subsided Masro’s clarity in the Force returned. The Dark Sider was using the Force to mask the Domelan warriors from him. Now Masro realized what the figure had meant about fighting, he was now surrounding by dozens and dozens of Domelan warriors.
With their skin tone the Domelans almost blended in with the surrounding cave walls. Masro could see the warriors now that the mask of the Dark Side was not hiding them from him.
I’ve got a really bad feeling about this.
The hooded figure shouted, “Bring him before Lord Noe’ray, alive.”
Now that Masro knew that the Dark Sider wanted him alive and brought before Noe’ray he saw his way out of having to fight and potentially maim or kill a lot of Domelans.
Masro held out his lightsaber in the palm of his hand, “I yield.”
One of the Domelans approached Masro and took the lightsaber from him, “What we have heard is true. The Jedi are cowards.”
Let them think what they want. At least they will live to think another day.
The Domelan that took his lightsaber turned and walked back to his position, “You should not have surrendered your weapon Jedi it would have given you a fighting chance. Attack!”
Half a dozen Domelans attacked at once. Masro tried to use Force blows to strike at them before they got to him but there were too many and in seconds he was in the grasp of three warriors.
The power of the Domelans was evident in their grip. One warrior held Masro by the left forearm. Masro tried to pull his arm free only to discover that he would break his arm before he could get it loose. Domelans held him by each arm as another approached carrying a Domelan battle axe.
He did say alive didn’t he? Masro thought as the warrior raised the axe above his head. The warrior then turned the axe and swung so that the flat part of the blade struck Masro in the head, knocking him unconscious.
Chapter XVI
As Masro slowly regained consciousness he found him self lying on his side on a cold, hard rock floor. He tried to look around but his eyes were having trouble focusing and his head was pounding from the knockout blow delivered by the Domelan warrior. Dried blood covered half of his head from the gash left by the battle axe. Nothing a bacta patch won’t fix.
He batted his eyelids and squinted as he tried to clear his blurred vision.
Still groggy Masro rolled from his side onto his hands and knees. His hands were tied together in front of him by a heavy rope. He rose to his knees and as his vision cleared he took in his surroundings.
The vast darkness told Masro that he was deep underground. On each side of the cavern along the wall was a row of torches that provided the only light. The cavern was massive. Much larger in height and wid
th then the cave he was captured in. The walls of the cavern appeared to be very smooth, as if the cavern had been formed by years of flowing water. Off in the distance he could hear running water, probably one of many underground streams that formed the caverns.
After a quick visual survey it appeared that Masro was alone in the cavern. He could not see anyone, but that did not mean they weren’t there. Remembering back to the cave when the Domelans were hidden amongst the rocky walls he closed his eyes and tried to relax. Masro took a deep breath and held it for a count of ten. He slowly exhaled and repeated the process twice more.
Relaxed Masro concentrated on the Force. He felt the Force flowing threw him. He remembered his early training with Master Yoda.
“A Jedi’s power flows from the Force,” Yoda instructed. “Feel it strongest you will when you are relaxed. Calm. Centered.”
The memory of the small Jedi Master brought a smile to Masro’s face. Masro always retreated back to his training with Yoda and Yareal in times of need and it had always helped him. He knew that he was sent on this mission because he was the only Jedi that was right for it and he would not let his Master’s down.
Masro steadied his breathing, taking long deep breaths and slowly exhaling all the air. He opened his eyes and looked, not with his eyes, but with his mind. Using the Force he could feel the world around him far better then he could see even with his keen Alconian eye site. He could feel the flames dancing on the nearby torches. A small rodent scurried quietly along the cavern floor.
And then he could sense a Domelan hiding in the blackness. Then another. Then a third and a fourth. There were Domelans all around him.
The Force allowed him to view the cavern as if viewing a painting. Masro now knew the layout of the whole cavern around him. He could “see” every nook and cranny. He knew that to his left the cavern grew smaller into an uprising corridor. Back to the surface. He knew to his right the cavern grew even larger. He could feel a fast moving underground stream ending in a waterfall that fell for well over a hundred meters.
He also knew where every Domelan around him was hiding. Directly in front of him he knew there was a Domelan sitting on a throne in the darkness. And then there was something else. Something he could not see. Something hidden behind a blur in the Force, a dark spot on the painting. He could feel that it there in front of him, just to the right of the throne, but who or what it was remained hidden from him.
Un-deterred Masro continued his steady breathing and then just as he had reached out all around him with the Force he pulled it back in. He then reached out again, but this time with more direction, more purpose towards the blur. He concentrated on the area blind to him before. He pushed with the Force, trying to fight his way threw the haze.
Something is resisting me. Pushing back.
Masro tried to push harder. “No, there is no try.” He remembered again Master Yoda’s teaching. “Do or do not.”
“Yes Master,” Masro said to him self.
Masro pushed harder at the blur with the Force. He could feel the power behind the blur pushing back. Do or do not. Masro eased up just slightly and then instead of the steady pushing he had been doing this time Masro hit the blur with one massive Force blow. The power behind the blur was not prepared for this and the blur disappeared and Masro finally could feel what was behind the blur.
Hate. Anger. The Dark Sider. An Alconian?
Chapter XVII
The presence of the Dark Sider was already a surprise to Masro, but the Dark Sider being an Alconian was a completely unexpected. Who is he? And why was he here with the Domelans?
Questions will have to wait. I need to free my hands. Masro reached down for his lightsaber, only to find it missing. A quick check revealed his comlink was gone as well. Not that it would help me this far underground.
Suddenly a lightsaber blazed to life next to the throne. The green light showed Masro that the Dark Sider was holding his weapon.
“Looking for this Jedi?” the Dark Sider asked.
“As a matter of fact I was. If I could just get it back then I’ll be on my way,” Masro replied.
The Dark Sider laughed and extinguished the blade, “Ah, the famous Jedi bravado. Or should I say Jedi cowardice.”
“The cowardice of the Jedi runs deep in our history,” the deep voice bellowed from the Domelan sitting on the throne next to the Dark Sider.
Domelan warriors approached the throne from each side, each carrying a torch. The cavern grew brighter as they lit the array of torches around the throne.
Still on his knees Masro stood up, the pounding in his head, which had subsided with his relaxation exercise now returned twice as bad as before. He staggered slightly before righting himself. Add concussion to the injury list.
“My name is Masro Fhin, Ambassador of the Supreme Chancellor. I am here to.”
Masro was cut off mid sentence, “I know who you are Jedi and unless you are here to surrender to me for the Alconians we have very little to discuss.”
Masro bowed, “Lord Noe’ray I presume.”
“Yes Jedi, I am Noe’ray. Lord of the Domelans. My people have lived in dishonor for far to long at the hands of the Jedi. The Jedi Yoda abandoned us long ago because he felt we were nothing compared to the Jedi. He killed our Lord and then left us. Now I will avenge that dishonor and then we will take what should be ours. We will take Alconia.”
As Noe’ray spoke Masro could sense the hate and anger in Noe’ray increase. But it was not Noe’ray’s own anger. It was different. Stronger. And directed at Masro. There was also something else. Masro could sense the Dark Side in Noe’ray. The Dark Sider was using the Force to project his hate and anger into Noe’ray. The Domelan was being manipulated by the Dark Sider.
But why?
As Noe’ray spoke again Masro watched the Dark Sider.
“You will battle the Jedi,” the Dark Sider whispered.
“You and I will battle Jedi,” Noe’ray said.
The Jedi mind trick.
“You will strike down the Jedi and avenge Ja’kan.”
“And when I strike you down Ja’kan will be avenged.”
“Your people will regain their honor and will rule.”
“And with my people’s honor restored we will rule the system.”
Masro used the Force to clear Noe’rays mind of the hate and anger projected from the Dark Sider, “I have no wish to fight you Noe’ray, and the only dishonor here comes from your Alconian advisor.”
“What dishonor?” Noe’ray demanded.
“He has been manipulating you. He has been putting his thoughts into your mind and influencing your actions. It is an old Jedi mind trick.”
Masro could feel Noe’ray fill with anger. This time it was his own anger and there was no presence of the Dark Side. He turned to the Dark Sider, “Does he speak the truth Malka?”
Malka?!
The Dark Sider clapped his hands, “Very good Masro. It did not take you long to figure that out. A shame you have not yet figured out who I am.”
“I wouldn’t say that, brother,” Masro replied.
Noe’ray stood from his throne, “Brother? What is he talking about Malka?”
Malka pulled his hood back and turned to Noe’ray, “As he said, this is my brother Masro, Jedi Knight.”
“If he is your brother why draw him for me to kill?” Nor’ray asked.
“And why manipulate this whole conflict just to get me here?” Masro added.
“Why revenge of course,” Malka replied, “Revenge against the Jedi and Alconia.”
“Revenge for what?” Masro asked.
“For the Jedi leaving me behind and the Alconians sending me away,” Malka answered.
As Malka spoke Masro continued to work at his bindings. Keep talking.
Malka continued, “When we were children the Jedi Yareal Poof landed on Alconi
an suffering injuries from a mission. Our parents were kind enough to take him into their mom and tend to his wounds. While recovering he discovered that Masro was proficient in the Force and convinced my parents that he should be allowed to train at the Jedi temple and serve the Republic as a Jedi Knight. They reluctantly accepted and Masro left Alconian. Being the older brother I felt that it should have been me going away, but when I asked Yareal to take me instead he said that I was not strong with the Force and could not become a Jedi. But as you can see now that is not the case. I do feel the Force. And I can use it.”
“And the attacks on Alconia?” Masro asked, still working on his binds.
“Ah, Alconia. As I grew older I learned that my hate and anger made me stronger in the Force. I could make others obey me. The Council began to fear me and my abilities. One day one of the Elders confronted me about my actions, and I killed him. The Council banished me from the planet. I came to stay with the Domelans and waited for the right ruler to come along that I could use against Alconia. So now I will have my revenge on the Jedi for abandoning me and then I will rule the planet that did not want me either.”