Ancient Artifice/Chapter 4

Brown. Brown, as far as the eye could see. The Twi’lek had reached the deluded point of boredom that her mind had begun to craft shapes and words out of the inner wall of the storage crate she was hiding in.

It had been several hours, and it seemed the red-skinned raiders had no intention of leaving the temple they had constructed all those years ago. Dija could not see them, but she could smell them, and hear them, and both senses led her to believe that the bodies of her former comrades were not in a recognisable state anymore.

She could sense the primordial rage building, brimming, almost reaching breaking point, but never getting there. At least, she hoped it would never get there.

Usually, she could hear the meaningless commands of the predators from time to time, but all had been silent for around half an hour; that, in combination, with Kullias’ slight claustrophobia rearing its ugly, demented head, did not fill her with confidence.

Then the sounds returned, but of a different ilk to the previous ones. She heard sniffing.

What were they doing? It was as if they were searching for something – or someone.

Or, maybe, they had felt a presence nearby and aimed to detect it?

She hoped not. She really, really hoped not.

It took hours for the Reclamation Service to finally arrive. Despite being rendered unable to leave the cavern due to the large rock trap obstructing his pathway to freedom, the boisterous engines of the ship could be heard from miles away.

Another half hour, and he heard voices. Stern ones, mostly male, and the cocking of guns. Smiling, he knew they would not be needed. He turned at the sound of moving rock to see the gargantuan boulder inexplicably being lifted into the air, and quickly ducked as it was sent flying to the other end of the cave; he heard whisper birds shrieking in response to the action, as the chamber swiftly filled with a dozen soldiers, and another. One he had not seen before, and the only woman.

She was old. Older than anyone Delof had ever seen, but seemed to wear her mottled, wrinkled skin with pride. Her yellow-tinted eyes scoured the room, and the permanent scowl that made up her mouth belied the first thing she said:

“Congratulations, lieutenant. Lord Vader is sure to be most pleased by your discovery.”

A mix of emotions ran through Terallo’s head. Her apparently sincere message gave him confidence that he had made the correct choice, but also made a point that he was not significant enough within the hierarchy of the Empire to warrant a visit from the Dark Lord of the Sith himself. Perhaps that was what she had intended to deliver all along, anyway.

The few black hairs peppered throughout her grey locks, styled into a simple bun common among female officers, matched her dark robes. Delof noticed a lightsaber hung at her hips, though he doubted she had to use it to instil fear among her troops.

She slowly waltzed towards him, with all the confidence that her station would afford her.

“My name is Inquisitor Wupera Kavos. I serve Lord Vader and the Emperor as an agent working for the Reclamation Service. We truly appreciate your help in uncovering this holocron, and I thank you most of all, but you simply know too much of its contents for us to allow you to continue living. My sincerest apologies.”

Delof Terallo had no time to think before the inquisitor ignited her weapon, revealing a deep purple hue to it that gave an almost regal countenance to her aged face, and stabbed it sharply through his midriff. He collapsed to the floor and doubled over, blood slowly trickling from his abdomen.

Kavos returned her lightsaber to her belt as her subordinates carefully placed the Sith holocron into a durasteel-refined container and swiftly disembarked from the area. The dark side agent gazed over the chamber and noticed R5-C3 slowly trundling over to its master’s dying body.

“You, astromech droid,” she addressed the confused companion, “Your master may have perished, but your servitude to the Empire will continue. Follow me.”

As the inquisitor exited the cavern with the droid in tow, the astromech rotated its headpiece to view its ally one final time and took note of Terallo’s uniformed chest still rising and falling.

Perhaps there was hope of his survival.