Star Wars: Echoes in the Void/The Haunted

'''Four Imperial fighter pilots stumbled onto a base. No one knew about it and no one needed to know. What they saw and heard were as real as their right hand, but to anyone else in the Galaxy, were merely echoes in the void. This is their story.'''

“We’ll be arriving at the facility in thirty seconds.” The captain shouted over the intercom of the large box-shaped shuttle.

''It had been three weeks since they left Naboo and already Rift’riv’alloto and his family were feeling anxious about the new assignment. Rift’riv’alloto, or Triv as he was commonly known as, had been an engineer on Coruscant for a major electrical company. He had been selected first hand to oversee the power supply for a new research facility the Republic had started up. He was told upon initiation that he was being assigned to a secret facility, and if he wanted to see his family ever again, he was to take them with him.''

''That was the sole reason he accepted. He would be paid fairly for his menial work and could still spend time with his family, something he was failing in. That was the reason he took the vacation to Naboo, but when the delegates approached him with the offer, he couldn’t refuse. His wife realized that and even encouraged him to pursue the occupation.''

''His wife was the sole reason for his existence. He loved her dearly and felt lucky to just be in her presence. He tipped his head sideways to look at her. Her hands were gently suspended on his resting daughter. Her dark hair fell from her head and brushed her blue cheeks. Her bright, glowing red eyes were sealed. She was exhausted from the travel. It had been three long weeks in the too-large-to-do-anything-in immigration cruiser. His eyes shifted back toward the cockpit as the intercom opened.''

''“Welcome to Starcon Station. Hope you have a pleasant stay as you work. Remember, the Republic’s survival is in your hands.” The intercom buzzed.''

''Triv reached over and gently rocked his wife. She came to and woke up gently. Her warm red eyes burned at Triv’s face and he felt calm about the next step in his life. In their lives as well as they, his wife and daughter, were required to come. He lowered his hand to wake his still sleeping daughter when his wife broke his path.''

''“Let’s not wake her, yet. This is the first time she’s slept the whole night through since we left Naboo.” Triv’s wife insisted.''

“That must be a good sign.” Triv replied, smiling intensely.

''He lifted his pack from the floor. It contained every registration form, passports, and other travel items to tie them over before being accepted into the station. A quick glimmer caught his eye and he picked up a circular Holodisc. It was a recording of their trip to Naboo. He treasured it dearly. It was the reminder that there was hope of keeping his family together.''

''An immense relief fell over Triv as he lifted his pack from the floor. He realized then and there that he had made the right decision in accepting the offer. He had been hesitant at first, knowing it would be a major step in his life – no, their lives. They were a family again. They would stay that way.''

Triv sat on the floor of the empty facility. His back to the door, and his feet extended out into the overhanging hall, he reminisced about when he first arrived at the facility. Back then, everything seemed real, everything seemed good, everything seemed right. Now – now, nothing felt real, or good, or right. It was just a dream to him now. No, it was more than a dream. It was a nightmare. A nightmare he was trying to end – and keep it that way.

Below him, on the Residential level, the stairwell door slid open. With no power, the squad was forced to open it manually. A menial job, but without it, it meant climbing down from the giant chasm in the middle of the facility. That would prove to be too dangerous and pointless as they would be stuck down there. With the door open, they stepped through.

Capt Carpo Vas went first, his pistol elevated. He knew if there was something behind the door, there was nothing he could do about it. Next came Ruin Malth, his pistol up too, and Riina Grim. Covering their six, Forge Lymn backed his way into the hall. It was clear. Forge turned around and joined the squad.

“What’s the stat?” Capt Vas insisted.

“We’ve breached the second level. We are approaching the Residential Area. Data is negative, save what we’ve learned from the inhabitants, who, are currently indisposed. Oh, and we’re trying to get a doll from a ghost who has already killed a person, and give to another man that is already dead. Did I leave anything out?” Ruin stated, nervous and quirky.

“We’re beginning to sound more like a commando squad.” Riina noted.

Suddenly, a bright blue flash struck through the squad. They were held incapacitated for a brief second as the shock of what happened sank in. When they were able to come to, they looked around for a source. They figured it was a bolt from power coupling, but there was no source. Then, they realized what it was.

Fading from the emptiness they were looking towards, a blue glimmer began to appear. It was the Jedi they had met on the first level. He had joined them to guide them to the Residential Area – or so they hoped. His body language shouted hope, but there was something about him that reeked danger. They couldn’t put their finger on it. They figured that maybe he was one of the Lost Twenty rumored about.

Capt Vas had heard countless stories in cantinas spanning the galaxy. As a child, his family traveled constantly - a little too much for his taste. He was never in one place long enough to make any new friends, and just long enough to lose the ones he had gained during the flight to their new location. That was the reason why he joined the Academy on Coruscant. Listening to the stories of the spacers in the cantinas created a passion for flight and wanted to experience what they had. He left home the first chance he had and was finally able to make friends, close ones, and pursue his passion.

But he wanted to be free, just like the spacers from the cantina. The strict rules of the Academy began to grow on him. When one of his close friends started to feel the same way, they left the Republic Navy. They were smuggled out of their post and to a nearby planet where they could start their lives over. It was that friend, Mek I’mero, and he that started the squad he was in now. Originally, they were one team, called the Retribution and Tribulation Force, but when a political schism in the Republic split the galaxy, it reached the squad as well. They split off into Retribution Squad, which joined forces with the Galactic Empire, and the Tribulation Squad, which joined up with the Alliance to Restore the Republic. They grew distant and eventually out of reach.

The Jedi strolled up to them calmly. He nodded to each individual, acknowledging their presence. He then turned his gaze to Capt Vas. Their eyes locked in a trance. A mutual trust came over them. Any fear of the Jedi being evil left him. He was calm again. The Jedi’s gaze shifted to do the same with each personnel. Eventually, they knew he was friend not foe. He pivoted his head to look straight towards a door to their right marked R1. It was the first of five Residential Halls. It was by luck, or a predestined occurrence as Lymn believed, that there were exactly five of them, including the Jedi. Capt Vas motioned to the others to check the remaining halls, while he took on the first.

The others scattered as Vas took his first steps towards the door. He hoped it would not be too big a hindrance to open it alone, but he knew that he could not count on the others. They had their mission and he had his. It had been the way the Academy brought him up. “Everyone had a goal to accomplish, if you managed to stick around, you were probably in someone else’s way”, he recalled his drill instructors monotone, yet demanding voice. It was true in surface combat, which he had been trained earnestly for.

He jammed the butt of his rifle into the door, hoping to apply enough pressure that the seal would break. He knew it was a lost cause alone, but he needed to do something. He gave up quickly, resorting to instinct to get him through the door. Suddenly, he remembered the EMP setting on his rifle. It was something he had installed for encounters with rogue droids, namely astromech units. He hoped that the EMP would demagnetize the seal, allowing him to simply pry it open.

Vas stepped back, took aim, and fired one blast at the door. He heard the sealant release and an almost suction noise as air slipped through the miniscule crack. He walked up and placed his rifle on the ground. He pressed his hands firm against the cold, steel and lifted the door up slightly. He slid his rifle underneath, giving him a decent grip at the bottom to use. He squatted down, relaxed his muscles briefly, and tried again. He managed to prop the door open most of the way, before it was wedged into a secure location, prohibiting it from moving further up or falling in on him as he walked under. He picked up his rifle and took a step in.

Down at the other end of the hall, the final door was opened. Riina Grim stepped in, flashing the light beam from her rifle around the entrance. It led to another hall. Inside, it appeared to have five rooms, two on either side and one at the end. She walked down, noticing that the room was pitch-black. Is this the darkness I’m supposed to fear? It doesn’t seem that bad? Her thoughts deceived her. Though she could not see it, she was being watched. The non-shifting eyes of the dead stalked her as she crept down the hall. She noticed something she hadn’t before. There was a small indentation past the first door, one that appeared to lead to another room. She stepped further, more cautious than before. She waved the light into the room, only to notice that it was a utility closet. She dropped her rifle, but in doing so, something caught her eye. She raised it slowly to reveal a slowly decaying corpse. She jumped, startled by the grotesque nature of the being. Her eyes snapped shut, trying to block out the image. Her breathing quickened and her heartbeat peaked.

When her nerves calmed slightly, she opened her eyes and stared into those of the corpse. She was able to see familiar features. It was the body of the Jedi that was helping them. A blue flickered whipped behind her and she twisted around. Coming to a stop, nearly a two hundred and seventy degrees spin from the entrance to the closet, she saw the outline of a figure. She flashed the light at the head of the being, and noticed it was not a being at all. It was a RT-series cleaning droid. It jumped back in surprise.

“Dear me!” The droid exclaimed with a masculine tone.

“Serial and position?” Riina, still panting from nerves, inquired.

“I am RT-317, the head cleaning droid for this facility. May I be of service?” RT-317 replied kindly.

Her heart rate dropped, her nerves were gone, and her breathing eased. It was nice to have someone not dead in the facility. She smiled and looked at the cleaning droid. He was rusted and breaking down. His facial features were similar to that of a translator droid, only squarer. She could tell he had been working for a long time without personal maintenance.

“What…” She was cut off.

The faint vibrating beep, which she had ignored during the conversation with RT-317, suddenly grew loud. She spun around, looking in a complete circle around her, but she could not see anything. It was too dark to make out any faint figures. She began to think she had taken the wrong corridor and wished to be back in the dim light of the main hall. She reached down to her comlink, which was the source of the beeping, and called for Vas.

“Captain, I’ve found something you might want to inspect.” Riina whispered into her comlink.

“Grim, why are you whispering? Wait? Have you found the girl?” Vas wondered.

“Not exactly. There is something else here, but I can’t see anything to make it out.” Riina explained her situation.

“Turn on your rifle head light. Try to see what it is?” Vas suggested.

“I’ve tried. The range must too short for the light to take effect.” Riina replied, her voice shaking.

The beeping was still increasing, but she still could not see anything. She knew whatever it was, was closing in on her. She continued to spin around, eventually catching a glimpse of RT-317 in the spot light. Finally, the beeping remained at a constant tone. However, Riina had slowed down, figuring the light had not had enough time to rest on any one object. She made one final rotation and came back upon RT-317, where another figure came into view.

It was not a girl, rather a tall man. It was a human by appearance, and its eyes were burning red. Its steps towards Riina were slow, but steady. He was stalking her, keeping his gaze fixed on her. His grey tint revealed no further features, except for the contrasting eyes. He lifted his hand and reached out to grab Riina.

She was panicking. She wanted to open fire, like her training taught her to, like instinct was screaming for her to do, but she knew that it would merely travel through the spirit. She feared that she might hit RT-317, killing him, should she fire a bolt, but her position never moved away from the figures head. Her heartbeat was racing faster than when she did not know what was there, her vision was going, and she was having difficulty keeping her balance. She was on the verge of fainting, which she knew would not help her position. She fought the urge to just sleep.

The figures finger tips were just centimeters from her face when she heard an echoing whah sound and the hand retracted. The figure quickened its pace and turned around to look at RT-317 holding an EMP rifle. RT-317 fired one more time and the figure clenched in pain, or what appeared to be pain. He fired once more and the figure retreated through the wall to Riina’s left. She was still stunned, still on the verge of fainting, when RT-317 walked up to her.

“Ma’am? Ma’am.” RT-317 spoke.

That was the last thing Riina heard that day. The battle for conscious was over, and she had lost. She fell forward, into RT-317’s arms. He caught her and placed her on the floor. He examined her, scanning her body for any damage, and came to the conclusion that she had merely blacked out. He stood up and picked her body up the best his lean body would let him and started to drag her away.

Back at Vas’s corridor, he was trying to figure out what had happened to Riina. Her comlink was still open, but she was not responding. He gave up. He figured something had happened to her and abandoned his corridor. The door was open so he could still get back in whenever he wanted to, he reasoned. He took two steps back towards the door, when his comlink started to buzz. He picked it up to answer, but there was no one calling. He realized what it was. He turned around to face behind him, only to see a little girl staring up at him.

He found the meeting a little inappropriate as he had his rifle pointed at her forehead, while her grey eyes burnt an image of pure innocence in his head. He immediately moved his rifle away from her head, switched off his comlink, and knelt down in front of her. For some reason, he was not threatened, not frightened, not faint in the least bit. He felt as if he had just found a lost girl and was filled with compassion. He even forgot about Riina, his own comrade. He looked at her at eye level and smiled.

“Are you lost, little girl?” Vas wondered, knowing that in fact she was lost.

“I can’t find my parents. I want see my parents. Can you help me find them?” The little girl asked, in a soft, sweet voice that captivated Vas’ heart.

He was so distraught over this lost girl. She was so innocent, yet died either because no one knew where she was, or was the sudden victim of an atrocity so hideous he did not want to think of. Either way, it was up to him to get her back to her parents, or parent. He knew where one was. Triv was just one level up. He reached out his hand in guidance.

“I know where your father is. Take my hand. I’ll take you to him.” Vas encouraged.

She took hold of his hand the best she could, as she was just a spirit. Her hand was cold, but not freezing. It felt as if he was back in the void of space, piloting his fighter without his gloves on. Vas stood up and started to walk towards the exit. When he reached the doorway, her hand slipped through his. He realized the coldness was gone and turned around. The girl was just standing in the doorway, right at the edge where it enters the hall. She was not in the hall, however. Vas walked up to her.

“Come on. This way.” Vas insisted.

“I can’t find my parents. I want to see my parents. Can you help me find them?” The girl spoke again, and turned around to walk back into the corridor.

Vas could not comprehend that she could not enter the hall. To him, it did not make sense. He was giving her the chance to see her father again, and she would not follow. He watched as she walked back to where she originally stood and stared out the doorway. He walked in after her and walked up beside her. Her gaze never shifted from the doorway, until he was within inches of her and even then he only got a quick glance from her. Something had her worried, too. Vas looked at her then looked down the hall. It still did not make sense.

“What is it?” Vas wondered.

“The hall is bad. Very, very bad.” The girl iterated.

It suddenly made sense. She feared the hall because whatever happened to her came from there. She could not go through there because she was too scared of what else might happen. He looked back at the girl, remembering Triv’s words: “My daughter, she kept something with her all the time. It was a Mon Cal doll. She adored it.” If Vas could find the doll, he would be able to get the same thing done, without scaring the girl to – death? He found the thought amusing for a second, but remembered the severity of the situation and continued looking at the girl.

“Nothing will come through that door to hurt you, I promise. Your Mon Cal doll, do you still have it?” Vas insisted.

The little girl nodded in response. She did not speak much, unless it was about her parents and wanting to see them. Vas looked at the floor, then back at the girl.

“Can you show me which room is yours?” Vas wondered.

The girl nodded again, and started to walk off in the direction of her parent’s quarters. It was the third room in on the right. Her steps were elegant, almost as if she was floating on air. She glided through the doorway, leaving Vas alone on the outside. He lodged the room door open the same way he pried into the hall. Since the door slid to his left, he managed to wedge it open just far enough for him to fit his body through. He looked in the room.

It was dark like the rest of the facility. Also like the facility, there was this horrid stench lingering in the processed air. It smelt of decomposing flesh and he figured that there was probably a body lying nearby. He flashed his light around the room.

He was taken aback when his light scanned over a rotting body. He had figured there was one there; he just had not hoped to find one. He slowly walked over to it, almost expecting it to leap out at him. As he approached it, what recognizable features remained became apparent. The body had been male. His hair had been pulled back and a significant scar stretched across the face, from cheek bone to lower jaw on the right side. The body was draped in well known clothes. It was obvious that the body had once been a Jedi. In fact, it was the Jedi that was helping Vas and his men. At that moment, the Jedi appeared. He slid in behind Vas and stared down at his own body.

“I don’t know how it happened, just that it did. One moment I was helping the girl, the next I was one with the Living Force. I can only assume something attacked me while I was in here.” The Jedi explained.

Vas, hearing what he said, walked over to the body. He examined it closely, tipping it side-to-side, tilting it forward and propping it up against the wall for a better view. Finally, he concluded what had happened. He turned around and looked at the Jedi.

“You were shot from behind.” Vas stated, standing up.

This thought disturbed him. It meant there was something living in the station still and his team was out there without that knowledge. He wanted to communicate with them, but was got up in the girl once again. He strode over to the girl and leaned in to talk to her.

“Where did your family sleep?” Vas wondered.

The girl pointed over to the far side of the room. There was a lone, manual door on the far end, past the gathering corner and kitchen. Vas turned to look at the Jedi, who appeared to be reminiscing of when he tried to help. Vas walked over to the door and pressed his ear against it. It was metallic, meaning it would have resonance from any sounds inside. He listened in carefully, and finally heard shuffling. He raised his rifle. Whatever was in there must have been there since the Jedi was killed. He set the charge from EMP to full and leveled it with his line of vision. He slowly reached his hand out to touch the handle.

His movements were swift and sudden. They were done with precision and accuracy. From the moment his hand touched the handle to the moment he apprehended the thing inside, he was a machine, working with perfect proficiency. The door flung open and Vas pressed his rifle up against the skull of the being inside. When he heard a distinct tink sound, like that of metal tapping metal, he was shot back to reality and realized he was aiming at an unarmed droid.

He searched around the droid diligently; figuring there had to be a weapon. He gave up the search when he could not find one. He grabbed hold of the droid and dragged him out of the room. Throwing him against the love seat couch, knocking it over and whatever was on it off, he started interrogating the droid.

“Tag and place?!” Vas shouted.

“Sir, if I – ” The droid tried to speak.

“Tag and place!” Vas repeated.

“RT-897. I’m a cleaning droid for the facility.” The droid replied.

“What were you doing in the room?” Vas insisted, waving his gun at the droid.

“I saw the body and thought I should do my job. I was stuck in there when the power went out.” The droid fumbled for an excuse.

“The door’s manual. Why were you in there?” Vas demanded.

The droid appeared to sigh. It sounded distressed, if a droid could be that.

“The girl – she was – my friend. She would stand and admire me, as you sentient’s say. She was such a precious little thing. I was saddened when I saw her body in that room.” The droid stated.

Vas was not sure if it was a lie or not, but it was convincing enough to not make him want to shoot the droid. Vas turned to the Jedi and gestured for him to watch the droid, even though there was not much the Jedi could do if the droid ran. Vas returned to the room and peered in. There he saw the little girl’s body lying on the ground, with a seared wound near where his right lung would be. Her body looked so pathetic lying there, lifeless; Vas was immediately filled with compassion. It broke his heart that even the innocent had befallen victim to whatever happened in the facility.

He looked around the room and noticed on the bed was the stuffed Mon Cal doll that the girl had cherished so dearly. Vas judged by the position of the doll, that it had been flung, possibly as the girl retreated into the room for safety. He picked up the doll and noticed underneath it, a recordable holodisc. He picked it up. The label read “Naboo Vacation”. He slid it in behind the doll and walked back out of the room. He walked past the droid, who was still sitting on the ground. He walked past the Jedi, who was still watching the droid. He walked up to the girl, who was still staring into the darkness.

He knelt down and looked at the girl eye-to-eye. Her focused turned from the emptiness to Vas. He looked at her for a brief second then lifted the Mon Cal doll up into her line-of-sight. Her eyes widened, a smile grew on her face. He had not seen someone look so happy, so pleased, so safe, since he had left their station near Eriadu. The girl reached out to grab the doll, but withdrew. Her smile dropped, her happiness faded. She looked at Vas and softly said.

“Can you help me find my parents? I want to see my parents.” The little girl stated.

Vas was stumped. He was not sure how to get her to see Triv or her mother without her leaving the hall and he knew that Triv would not move from his spot. He brought his hand up to his head when suddenly it hit him. The light tap of the holodisc gave him the idea. He raced over to the hologram viewing set and looked for an insert. Once he found it, he slid the holodisc into the slot and let the set play back the video that was burnt onto it.

It took a few seconds for the girl to hear what was being played, but as soon as she did, her gaze lifted. The glowing white light from the viewing set illuminated the room. Remembering that the power was down, Vas figured the set had its own power supply not attached to the facility’s grid. She slowly walked over to the set, where she saw her and her mother. The shot spun around to reveal her dad behind the camera. In the background, the beautiful rolling hills of Naboo, with their grassy plains, swayed back and forth in the wind. They were eating lunch by a waterfall.

The little girl did not let her gaze shift from the hologram, except to give a quick smile to the droid who was still sitting on the ground. She watched as her and her parents enjoyed the last vacation they would ever have. She sat down on the singles chair and watched the whole video. Once it was done, she looked over at Vas, smiling. He had accomplished his goal. She got to see her parents for the last time. He started to speak when suddenly, the girl jerked back. His first thought was that she was seizing, but realized how absurd the thought was. He stood back and watched.

He noticed the droid peak its head over the couch to watch as the girl jerked back and forth. Eventually, she stopped with her head up, staring straight at the ceiling. A bright white flash shot out causing Vas too look away. His visual receptors in the helmet could not take that intense a light and shut off. He looked back at where the girl used to be and when his receptors came back online, she was gone. He did not bother to look around for her. He figured she was finally at peace.

He walked back into the room and picked up the girl’s body, placing it in one of the beds. He tucked her in and placed the Mon Cal doll right next to her. It was his way of morning for her, and giving her the respect she deserved. He walked back into the room and looked at the droid. He held out his hand to help it up. It looked confused at first, but returned the gesture and grabbed hold. Vas lifted the heavy weight to its feet and sighed.

“I’m sorry for not trusting you there.” Vas apologized.

“It is understandable. You wanted what was best for the girl, as I did, and you saw me as a possible threat. I would have done the same thing.” RT-897 replied.

“To prove your worth, I need you to do something.” Vas insisted.

“For what you did for Imbr’itn’alloto, I give you my full service.” RT-897 replied.

“Thank you. I need you to go out to the main hall and tell my men that there was someone aboard this facility that decided to go on a killing spree and murder Triv and his family. Can you do that?” Vas wondered.

“Your statement had been recorded to my memory, sir.” RT-897 stated and started to walk off. Vas looked at the Jedi and nodded. The Jedi faded into the black and Vas looked down at the Jedi’s body. He was going to give him a funeral as well.

RT-897 walked back through the halls and into the central corridor. As he exited, he noticed RT-317 placing Riina on the duraplast floor. Once Riina was on the ground, RT-317 looked up at RT-897, focusing his visual receptors on the droid. Shortly after, Vas filed out of the hall and noticed RT-317 with Riina, unconscious, in his hands. He reacted quickly, snapping his rifle to his shoulder and falling to one knee. He had a clear shot at the droid’s right temple, which would normally either render it “blind” or take out the motherboard. But the shot was blocked when RT-897 stepped in the way.

“Move!” Vas shouted. The echoing of his voices resonated through the halls, warning the other two members of the squad to come to his aid.

“No, sir. With all due respect, sir, that is my higher authority, as you say. I cannot allow you to shoot him, it is against my programming.” RT-897 explained.

“Higher authority?” Vas wondered.

“Yes, sir. We cleaning droids were given ranks in and among ourselves, to distinguish who would clean the lower levels, and who would discuss with the meat – uh, sentients, sir.” RT-897 responded.

“Who gave you these ranks?” Vas inquired, curious as to why droids were being distinguished among each other. He was always under the impression that all droids were equal. He knew there were different classes, such as battle, maintenance, cleaning, and astromech, but never that some were held higher in their own circle than others. It spooked him.

“The Director of this facility, sir.” RT-897 replied proudly.

“But, unfortunately, the Director is dead.” RT-317 spoke up.

“You, silence.” Vas ordered RT-317 to be quiet.

“You - ” RT-317 attempted again, but was cut off by Vas.

“What is the status of my team member?” Vas ordered.

RT-317 hesitated. If he had been human, or any other sentient being, one could have told for sure that he was getting irritated with Vas’ persistent degrading of his integrity, but only if he was a sentient.

“She is merely – unconscious – sir.” RT-897 explained, “She was attacked by a Wanderer when she fainted.”

“A Wanderer?” Vas inquired.

“Yes. They are a group of spirits that wander this facility, haunting it. There are five documented ones, thus far.” RT-897 replied, knowing Vas was more likely to trust him than RT-317.

“What are the other kind?” Vas wondered.

“There is only one other kind. They are the Stationary. They remain in the place of death or near their place of death.” RT-897 explained.

“And this is documented?” Vas asked.

“Yes.” RT-317 responded, “I can retrieve the documents for you, so you may review them.”

“How long have you been here?” Vas requested.

“A long time.” RT-897 replied, solemnly.

Forge and Malth returned from their halls to see Riina on the ground. They looked at Vas for any confirmation or order of attack. He stared them down, telling them that everything was, at the moment, alright. He motioned Forge to come here. Once he was over, he whispered into Forge’s ear.

“We have a situation, here. He have our word to keep to the Jedi, and our word to keep to Triv. Also,” His pitch lowered so only Forge could hear, “the people of this facility were murdered by rifles. No gases, no saber cuts. I’m assuming it was a droid rebellion. Don’t trust anything these droids say unless they provide hard evidence for it.” His pitch rose. “I need you to take this doll up to Triv. That completes one of our objectives in our promise to him. We just need to find his wife’s body to get that ring.”

“Triv’s wife?” RT-897 asked aloud, “She was headed to the power room, where she thought Triv was.”

“How do you know this?” Vas wondered.

“I passed her in the halls, two floors down, the same level the power room is on. She was the one who told me to come up here and watch after Imbr’itn’alloto. However, you can’t gain access without a security card. The security network is on a different power line than the rest of the facility and is constantly on. Once the security lock is released, it should not take long to pry open the door.” RT-897 responded.

“I can go verify.” Malth replied.

“No. I need you to help me carry Riina into the hall here. Forge, you take this doll up and show Triv. Also, tell him our situation. Chances are, he’ll have a security card. We’ll search in the morning. Move out!” Vas ordered.

Forge immediately reacted and raced up the stairwell to find Triv. Once he reached the next level, he turned around and saw Triv sitting on the floor in the exact same position he was in earlier. He seemed so hopeless, so lost. Forge knelt down in front of him, and Triv’s eyes slowly rose to meet his.

“Triv, good news. We found your daughter. She gave us this.” Forge said, holding up the doll. A shimmer passed through Triv’s eyes as they lit up at the sight. A faint smile appeared on his face. It almost appeared as if he was crying. Triv lifted a limp hand to touch the doll, but his fingers slid through it as if it did not exist. His glow was gone. He slumped back into his hopeless state.

“And my wife?” Triv wondered.

“That’s where we’ve run into a problem. Apparently, your wife went looking for you just before whatever happened here was unleashed. She was, allegedly, last seen in the same level as the power room. However, it’s under security lock. We’ll need a security card to get through. So, I need to ask you a sensitive question: where is your body?” Forge explained.

“I am a ghost. My senses are gone. But, for helping my daughter, you have gained enough trust. My body is in the Cargo Docking Bay on this level.” Triv explained.

“Triv, I have another question. Do you remember how you died?” Forge asked.

Triv’s mind flashed back to the day he died. He did remember, for the most part. He didn’t remember who, or when, but he remembered how. It was a blaster bolt to the chest. By the expression on Triv’s face, Forge could tell that Triv remembered.

“For that, you have yet to gain enough trust.” Triv spoke as he came to, his eyes fading black as he spoke. Forge nodded farewell and left Triv alone, to ponder the day he died. He returned back to the lower level and retreated into the hall where Vas was busily setting up a base of operations. After hearing of the Wanderers, he wanted to take the utmost precautions. He arranged for each member to a period of time where they would watch after the others. He signed up to take the first round. Day one in the facility was coming to an end, and the web of events that took place to give it a haunting eeriness was starting to unravel. The question was, were they prepared to handle the horrors that they were about to find out.