Spelunking in the heart of darkness

[Will]

The planetoid before him was dead. A ball of cold, dark rock floating in the void.

Drifting, like him.

It had taken him half a decade to find this forgotten world. Records of it had been lost for almost two centuries. The Kanasur family had kept its location in a book, rather than relying on technology.

Naturally, that had been burnt... and the distrust of the 'fallibility of technology' had been the downfall of the Kanasur family mausoleum. Members of the family used to be buried here with their personal effects.

A treasure trove of artefacts saturated in the force.

The Jedi would want them. It had originally been Beric's plan to return these to the order, to enrich the knowledge of his fellow Jedi. But now, he would not let his family's possessions, his possessions fall into the hand of these betrayers. No, they would aid the Sith in their war against the Jedi, and now, the Republic.

''You are ready, my friend?'' Beric asked, turning to Augustus, the formal battlemaster. His greatest friend and ally, whom had also been thrown from the council.

''The vaults of the Kanasur will not be entered easily. My family left many traps to keep out intruders.

 

[Kit]

"I'm not afraid of dead Jedi, Beric."

Augustus didn't pause for a moment, he hadn't since he had started walking on Nar Shaddaa, and didn't intend to for a single second. His time was now, far too precious.

"Even if they spawned you, I highly doubt they were even worthy of the name Jedi... Let alone enough to pose a threat to either one of us, traps or otherwise."

He turned to regard his friend. The former Grandmaster had, to Augustus at least, fared far worse in his fall than he himself had. Augustus felt as if he had been unleashed, it seemed to him like Beric had suffered. And was all the stronger for it.

"I am ready to help you reclaim your birthright at any time, my friend."

 

[Will]

He smiled thinly. Augustus had always been brash, but their fall had unleashed him. There was no holding back for him now.

''You are wrong about my progeny, my friend. They were some of the brightest minds and strongest arms in the order. They were the best the Jedi could be. They were always seen as unorthodox. Always rose to power despite that. I simply followed the logical end to their path within the order.''

The ship shook slightly as it landed on the ground of the planetoid. Beric placed a helm on his head, sealing him within the suit that would allow him to breathe on the airless surface.

''The traps will all be well hidden, difficult to traverse, and, naturally, fatal.''

He opened up the airlock, leaping onto the planetoid surface, a small puff of dust rising slowly around him. He smiled to himself.

''We wouldn't have it any other way, would we, old friend?''

 

[Kit]

"Wise and strong as they may be, they were still but Jedi."

Augustus shook his head. Pride in one's family. Not something he could really understand any longer. His ties were cut, his bonds broken. To any of his ancestors, he was the worst kind of scum. To him, they were pathetic.

He attached the helmet of The Lions Coat sealing himself into the suit of armour, the large suit airtight, offering him protection against the atmosphere of the planet.

"I would actually prefer if your errands were simple, Beric, if the truth must out."

 

[Will]

Beric chuckled. ''But then there would be no thrill to it.''

He knew, that deep down, Augustus was looking forward to it.

Beric set off at a jog, servos whining in his ears, servos that would, of course, be silent to Augustus.

He looked back at his friend. Compared to Beric, his suit was ostentatious. He was cowled in the head of a roaring lion. Beric was attired in a simple armoured power suit.

As he moved swiftly across the barren landscape, he reflected. Since his embrace of the dark side, the artefacts were less...insistent than before. He could be alone with his thoughts again. It was something one took for granted, normally. Now, Beric treasured it.

Soon enough, they came before a metal plate in the ground, mostly covered in dust. Beric knelt in front of it, brushing aside the dust. A raven was inscribed in the plate.

''The first door. Simple enough. Brute force.''

He pushed into the raven sigil, exposing the ring surrounding it. He grabbed it, pulling it out on a length of chain. He heaved, strengthening himself with the force. With a groan, the door rose, exposing a shaft.

Without a look back, Beric leapt into the darkness, controlling his fall with the force.

 

[Kit]

Augustus followed his friend, easily keeping stride, his own armour more than a match for the simple armour that Beric wore. He watched in silence as the once-Grandmaster led them to an entrance, and completed the first 'test'.

Throwing himself down the hole, after Beric, Augustus allowed himself to freefall for a moment, before halting his descent moments before he impacted the ground.

Once his friend had joined him, he turned to face him, his face hidden behind a simple plate within his lion helms roaring jaws.

"Truly Beric, the difficulty of that first test proves that your ancestors were everything you said and more."

 

[Will]

''That test kept out those without the force to guide them. A simple test. Relax, you'll be tested enough.''

Beric strode forth into the darkness. It was so complete, that only the force could guide him down the path. It began to twist and turn, and branch. Beric stopped. He extended his consciousness with the force. There was no difference in the paths...

and yet...

The gift of shatterpoint showed a network of weaknesses along one path. They wove down one branch. So dense, a step would bring the roof in on the whole network.

''Right. Trust me.''

Beric moved right through the darkness. Making sure to always take the path that wasn't webbed with weaknesses.

 

[Kit]

Augustus followed Beric with a sigh, inaudible beyond his helm's interior. He was beginning to wonder just why his friend had brought him here. He couldn't really see the threat that Beric seemed so certain of, and frankly, he doubted that Beric's forebears were even capable of constructing such a trap as to genuinely threaten him.

Of course, he was unaware of Beric's careful navigation through the tomb, or the threat of collapse that one misstep would create.

He continued silently, save for the gentle hum and whirr of his armour.