Spelunking in Ancient Tombs

“Now!” commanded Wes as he used the Force to lift some more debris out of the collapsed tunnel. Moores and Talrik quickly used their excavation equipment to grab the debris the Sith had moved for them. The three had quickly come up with a plan, with Wes lifting anything out of the tunnel, while Moores and Talrik would use the equipment on either side to quickly grab the debris and move it out of the way. This would allow Wes to remove more of the collapsed tunnel before he would need to rest from the exhaustion of using the Force so much. This had allowed the three to clear the rubble faster than the other groups who had a team of four.

“I think we’ve made some good progress, and you probably need some rest,” suggested Talrik, her clear worry of Wes showing.

“Ah come on now, Tal, he’s a Sith, he can handle it!” interjected Moores, who was happy with the pace the three were making.

“No, Talrik is right. I can feel my grip on the Force slipping. I need to rest to regain my stamina,” Wes told his colleagues. The three of them moved away from the tunnel and to the tent nearby. The tent had all their equipment needed to fully examine any artifacts the group would happen to find. They also had some food and water stored here, which Wes immediately helped himself to so he could regain his strength.

“Well, we’ve made good progress for sure,” Moores said as he looked at the new scans of the ruins on his datapad. “We’ve still got a kilometer to go but then we’ll hit some sort of chamber,” observed Moores.

“Well that’s good. Think we can get to it today?” asked Talrik while she looked at Wes.

“Hmm. I see no reason why not. After this rest we should be able to get those last pieces out of the way and get to that chamber. I must admit, I am curious to see what’s in it,” Wes told his coworkers, who both nodded in agreement.

“I wonder which Sith Lord built these tunnels and chambers. Could it be a secret place for a well known one such as Ludo Kressh or Naga Sadow? Or is it some unknown lord that we’re about to rediscover?!” an excited Talrik said as various scenarios raced through her mind.

“Well, there’s only one way to find out! Are you ready, Wes?” asked Moores as he continued to check over a few more things on his datapad.

“I suppose so. Let’s see who’s tomb we found!” Wes said in an upbeat tone as the three made their way back to the tunnel and got into their positions. Wes once again used the Force to move hunks of collapsed rock and other material up, out of the tunnel, which allowed the other two to grab it with their machinery. The three of them continued on until they finally cleared the path and were able to access the tomb.

“We did it!” exclaimed an excited Talrik as she hugged Wes and Moores.

“That we did. So, we should probably tell Lord Oswall that we finished, huh?” suggested Moores. Wes nodded in agreement.

“Why don’t you two go do that. I’m just gonna rest a bit. This takes a lot of you,” he said as he sat in a chair and grabbed a drink. The two nodded at Wes and left to go find Lord Oswall. Wes watched as the two walked away and waited for a few minutes after the duo was out of sight to get up and go to the now opened tunnel.

“Surely there’s no harm if I take a look around,” said Wes as he dropped down into the tunnel. He turned on the flashlight he grabbed from the campsite and began to journey down the tunnel. It was a short walk until he got to a chamber. He looked around and saw nothing really impressive. It looked like this was merely a connecting room to various corridors.

“Guess I’ll go down...this one!” said Wes as he chose the tunnel right of the one he came from. This tunnel seemed to be still intact as Wes traveled further and further down the tunnel. As Wes traveled further down the tunnel, he swore he could hear distant noises but they were sporadic and he wasn’t entirely sure that they weren’t just his own footsteps being echoed. A few more meters and Wes came upon a person long since dead. Only bones remained of the person, but it seemed his hand was pointing to some sort of drawing on the side of the tunnel. Wes gives the strange mural a good, long look. He seems some sort of creature, it doesn’t appear to be that tall. But what does stand out is its hair seems to be made of snakes and she seems to be riding what appears to be a small dragon. Under the mural a single word is scratched into the wall: DERP.

“Derp? What the hell does that mean?” asked Wes for a moment before he continued along his way. It was when he reached the next chamber, that he was sure he heard some noises. It was the clear clanking of metal upon stone, like if a droid was walking these tunnels. Wes could not tell where the noises were coming from, but he did look at the room he was in. There was another open tunnel to his left, which may be the source of the clanking noises. In front of him, however, was what appeared to be a console that most likely controlled the two locked doors behind it.

“Well let’s see what we can find out here...” decided Wes as he powered up the console to see what information he could find. Wes began to search the files in the console. A quick glance at the files showed there were old. “These files, they’re hundreds of years old. If these files are right, then this is the tomb of Darth Malak from the Jedi Civil War!” exclaimed Wes.

“Intruder sighted. Activating extermination protocols,” came a robotic voice from behind Wes. He turned to see an old Mark V Sentinel droid flanked by two Mark IV assault droids, all from the ancient Jedi Civil War.

“Well shit, this isn’t good,” Wes mumbled as the droids pointed their weapons at him. “Can’t we talk about this?” asked Wes as he backed up to put some space between him and the droids.

“Negative. Darth Malak’s orders were any that disturb his tomb are to be executed.