Hearts of Kyber

[Kira Bac]

When the Guardian leadership told me I could take some time away from active duty, they neglected to mention that this only meant for providing operational support for the war. Outside of that, there were still many routine tasks to do on Jedha. We were new here, at least in terms of a constant, active presence, and while we'd had a temple for some time, that still needed to be supported. So did the Jedi who lived inside its walls.

This was a day that I was assigned the task of going deep below the city, into its very heart, to recover a swath of kyber crystals that the Guardians believed they'd discovered. No one really knew what was in most of the catacombs underneath the city. There were suspicions that some dangers might lurk beneath. That wasn't an unreasonable assumption when one was walking through unexplored caverns.

I didn't care for the idea of an adventure, and I'd hoped to not find one. But I would've been lying if I'd said I didn't relish the opportunity to at least do something of value. I thought if I could trick myself into thinking I was doing something substantive, maybe that would help me rediscover whatever it was I'd been missing since Ilum.

I knew I had a partner for this assignment, but no one told me who it was. I'd gotten to our rendezvous point earlier than I needed to, so I checked the supplies I was told to bring: mining tools, small explosives for mining, climbing tools, water, small amounts of food, and, of course, my lightsaber. Everything I might need to go for a climb and blast through rock.

 

[Andraste]

Kyber. Crystal. She only read those two things about this mission and signed up at once. Alais had embarrassingly lost her lightsaber on one of her very first missions. As a result, she was temporarily banned from going on missions by herself. It was bad enough that she was already treated like a child, but this latest punishment had left her with a sour taste in her mouth. Determined to save herself further embarrassment, she decided to go into a mission that would allow her to find a crystal to hopefully help her craft a new saber.

She hadn’t even seen who she was working with on the mission or what kinds of dangers lurked ahead. All she knew was that she was already late and making a horrendous first impression, “Okay just say you got lost and um…” She couldn’t even come up with a good enough excuse on time as she quickly shuffled towards the meeting point. Alais kept her eyes glued to the datapad, trying to read up about the mission last moment. It had just occurred to her that she hadn’t actually read what the objective here was and had been entirely concerned with nabbing a crystal for herself.

Her feet quickly took her where she needed to go, though her eyes remained down. As a result, she came quickly striding in around a corner and collided directly with the poor girl that was inspecting the supplies, possibly sending her diving into them. Alais slowly lowered the datapad, her eyes wide with horror. Forget about being late, she had caused things to go from bad to horribly worse, “I’m… oh jeeze..” She reached a hand down to help the girl up, her face bright red and burning, “I’m so sorry.. I’m Alais Drast… er… I think I’m your partner for this mission…” She chewed nervously on her lip, glancing from the girl to the box she all but shoved her into, “Ehehe I see you’ve um… found our supplies..”

 

[Kira Bac]

I had just completed my inspection of the explosives when, out of nowhere, the girl came around the corner and bumped right into me, sending me flying into the supplies. My face landed barely an inch away from the explosives. I heard a dull buzzing as I looked at them. I knew the girl was talking, but I couldn't hear her words. At least, I couldn't make them out over the tinge of panic that gnawed at me. The last time I'd seen an explosion…

But I knew I had to stand up, and so I did and brushed myself off from the dirt. For the first time I was starting to see that even a simple mission was going to be difficult, on some level. I didn't expect to be taken back to that day, to those feelings, but there I was, lying on the ground like a puddle of fear.

"I, uh... I'm Kira," I finally was able to say. "Kira Bac."

I'd heard her name and the word supplies, but that was about it. At this point I didn't really care about the first impression she'd made. I knew it wasn't her fault that I was panicking. She was clumsy, but we'd all been there at one point or another. I just wanted to go.

"The caverns we need are this way," I said as I started to walk forward. "Try not to touch anything."

 

[Andraste]

Alais had expected to sense surprise and a whole range of emotions, but she also felt sheer panic. The girl was oozing strong emotions that went beyond a simple accident of being nudged or bumped. Alais said nothing of it, keeping that in the back of her mind as Kira introduced herself. She wasn’t pleased with the first impression, just as Alais expected.

Alais followed quietly behind Kira, intending to keep her hands to herself. She looked all around as they made their way up to the mouth of the cave. There was a bit of climbing involved to get to the entrance, and she let Kira go first before hoisting herself up to head into the caves. Carrying all the supplies was slightly strenuous already.

There was a chill in the cave, the air damp and cool. Alais hugged herself as she entered, taking the scents of the earth all around them. She couldn’t spot crystals just yet, but she could tell the cave system was large with different levels. Alais had to allow her eyes to adjust, reaching down for a glowrod and lighting it. She leaned in close to some of the walls, “Hey! There are runes and markings here! Wonder what they mean..”

 

[Kira Bac]

When we reached the mouth of the cave, my thoughts were still fixated on what happened with the bombs. Not so much on the idea of an explosion, but on the circumstances surrounding what happened. The girl was starting to irritate me. Deep down, I knew better. She wasn't doing anything wrong. But her bubbly curiosity was something that was a bit overwhelming for me at that moment. I didn't want a sightseeing tour. I just wanted to get the job done and get out. Whatever feelings I had about a normal assignment and getting back out there were lost as soon as I tripped before.

And when she asked about the runes, I snapped.

“I don’t c-”

But I also caught myself. I hung my head. I was embarrassed by what I nearly finished saying. Hopefully she saw that. I didn't want her or anyone else to think I was a bad person.

"Sorry."

The least I could do was make it up to her and try to indulge in the curiosity a bit.

"I've heard some people say that markings down here were from early Jedi. That they were here in the earliest centuries of the Jedi Order. Probably for the kyber crystals. What do you think?"