Indiana Jones and the Sith Stone
Posted by: Darth Danno 05.14.08 12:01am

CORUSCANT. The remaining Jedi Council members sat around the holographic image of Mace Windu, listening to him report on his findings on Dantooine, trying to ascertain what had happened to Master Tenuto and the Padawans.

"I'm at the old enclave," Mace began, "and there definitely was some big explosion here recently."

"From a thermal detonator, perhaps" Eeth Koth queried.

"Much bigger, perhaps a seismic charge." Mace responded. "The top of the enclave looks to have been sheared off. There are pieces of wreckage everywhere. I examined a few, and it definitely appears to be the Republic cruiser."

"No sign of the Padawans?" Ki-Adi-Mundi asked.

"None. I'm just wondering if they managed to escape this carnage... "

"Or were they captured?" Adi Gallia finished his thought.

"Exactly." Mace replied. "I don't believe they've been killed."

"Sense their deaths... " Yoda interjected, "I do not."

"I'm not sure what else I can, or will find here," Mace said. "Unless anyone has any other suggestions, I'll simply return to Coruscant, and hope Master Honj will find time and a way to contact us."

Just then, the Council received word Master Qui-Gon Jinn was outside and wished to speak with them on this very matter. He was allowed admittance, and he reported that they had indeed just received word from Master Tenuto. They learned he was on Kashyyk, but couldn't say why. He said the Padawans were safe and on Polis Massa. He finished by saying he would report in again when he felt it was safe to do so.

"If the Padawans are on Polis Massa," Depa Billaba said, "perhaps they were injured. Their Masters must be informed."

"What kind of trouble do you think Master Honj is in?" Ki-Adi-Mundi wondered.

Mace chimed in with "Serious trouble."

"I concur." Yoda added. "Very serious and committed to the Order, Master Tenuto is. He would not be so mysterious unless he felt it absolutely necessary."

"He knows we transmit on a very secure line," Even Piell commented. "Why couldn't he tell us what's going on?"

Yoda contemplated the question a moment before replying. "When Master Tenuto contacts us again, ask him, we will. For now, Master Qui-Gon, go you and your Padawan will to Polis Massa and retrieve the Padawans. Bring them back here, and perhaps shed some light on this situation, they will." He then turned his attention to Ki-Adi-Mundi. "Inform the Padawan's Masters that their charges have been found, and are being brought back here. Any more than that, do not tell them. Wait until we can determine the younglings well being with our own eyes, we will, before divulging any more information."

"What would you like me to do?" the light blue image of Master Windu asked.

"Go, you must, to Kashyyk. With the Wookies Master Tenuto may have left a clue to this mystery. Find out what you can, and report back when new information, you have."

Mace nodded and ended his transmission. Yoda then addressed the surrounding members as Ki-Adi-Mundi rose to go about his appointed task. "An approaching darkness, I sense. The likes of which we have not seen nor felt in a millennia. What it means, I know not. Meditate on it, I will."

Aurra Sing wasn't happy to have left Dantooine without taking out the Jedi first. Fortunately, with the tracking device still in place, she had another chance to find him and finish the job. Tracking them to Kashyyk, she landed her craft on the forest world under cover of night. Landing some distance away to avoid detection, and retain the element of surprise, she walked, climbed, and swung her way into Rwookrrorro village. She made her way through the sleeping community, staying downwind of the Wookie guards so they couldn't smell or hear her approach. She didn't want to have to kill any of their kind unless it was absolutely necessary, or unless she was being paid to. She continued on until she saw the landing pad with the Jedi craft still perched upon it. She couldn't sense the Jedi's presence anywhere close to here, but that didn't matter, all the easier to plant a bomb on their ship. Rig something up to the hyperdrive, so the minute it was engaged, the Jedi Order would be picking up the remains from across the galaxy.

Quickly scanning the area, making sure no Wookies were currently doing their rounds in the immediate vicinity. She snuck up to the boarding ramp of the craft, which had conveniently been placed in the down position. Casting a glance behind her to be sure she wasn't being followed, she crept aboard.

She let her eyes get accustomed to the darkness before venturing up to the cockpit. Detaching a small tool kit from her belt, she bent down and immediately got to work at rigging a bomb. Aurra was in the middle of disconnecting some wires when a mini HoloNet Transceiver sitting in the pilot's chair clicked on. It took only seconds for the bounty hunter to draw her sidearm, and upon seeing it was only a hologram, she tensed even more. A miniature version of the Jedi stood before her, shimmering in the blue light emanating from the Transceiver.

"Greetings!" Master Tenuto began. "This is a pre-recorded message, so there is no need to trace it. I knew someone would continue to monitor the devices hidden in this craft and come looking for us. If not you, then perhaps Professor Jones' mysterious benefactor from Coruscant, or the bounty hunter that brought him to Dantooine. Nevertheless, we are currently far, far away from Kashyyk on a craft devoid of any homing or tracking devices. You are welcome to try and find us, but be warned, we will be ready, and use everything at our disposal to stop you. Another word of caution though, the weapons of this ship have been rendered inoperable, and I made sure this vessel will require quite a bit of work before it would be flight worthy again. My best suggestion would be for you to return to the craft you came in, but first you must get by the group of heavily armed Wookies currently surrounding the Nubian. I'd wish you luck, but lying isn't a Jedi trait." With that, the Transceiver clicked off, and the image disappeared.

Aurra Sing glanced out the front viewport and saw the Jedi was telling the truth. The craft was surrounded by Wookies, each one having taken up a strategic spot of cover around the ship. Bowcasters and other varied Wookie weapons were pointed in her direction, waiting for her to make the first move.

"I guess killing Wookies has become absolutely necessary." She said to herself as she brought her rifle to bear.

Indy, Honj, and TC-10 flew through hyperspace in their newly acquired craft. After all, there were no longer any Trandoshans left on Kashyyk who would be needing it.

"Great idea you had there Indy," Master Tenuto commended. "Anyone who comes looking for us will only find the Nubian deserted, and some very angry Wookies in our place. I just wish we could have stayed to help them against whomever may come looking for us."

"I'm sure they can handle themselves, they seemed to do okay against the Trandoshans. Besides, who knows how long it would be before somebody actually shows up looking for us? I'm presently more concerned with where we're going, or how exactly you figured out where to go next?"

"Well, as you know, there are only three worlds left to visit: Tatooine, Korriban, and Manaan. Now, finding nothing in the canister on Kashyyk meant to me that the next planet we're to visit has nothing to offer, except whatever Malek has left us to find, of course."

"Okay, but look at our possibilities! Tatooine is nothing but sand. Manaan is nothing but water... "

"True! But I feel that if we were to travel to either of those places next, there would have been some sand or water found in the container."

"If Malek had put any water in there, it would have no doubt dried up by now."

"Good point. But I strongly believe our clue to visit Manaan will be something that would survive the test of time. Malek thought all this out too completely to not take into consideration that water evaporates over time. I'll bet our next stop is neither of those worlds."

Indy shrugged. "That just leaves... Korriban."

You are correct, sir! It was once home to a prominent Sith academy. Now, all that remains are the tombs of the ancient Sith Lords who resided there long before the time of Malek and Revan, nothing there anymore but ghosts. Kind of like what we found in that cylinder."

Indy cast the Jedi a skeptical glance. "I didn't see any ghosts come out of that thing when we opened it."

Honj rolled his eyes. "It's a metaphor. However, if you think our findings from that tube indicate we should head somewhere else before Korriban, I'd be more than happy to entertain your suggestions at this time."

Indy simply shrugged. "You're the expert. Korriban seems as good of a place to go as any."

Honj nodded. "Even though we're heading to what is now, primarily a graveyard, the dark side is still quite strong there. We must be careful not to fall under its influence. It must not cloud our judgment. We must be ever vigilant, that especially goes for myself. We're to be pilgrims in an unholy land."

Indy smiled as he remembered his father saying the exact same thing when they traveled into Germany to get back his dad's Grail diary. There, he came face to face with Adolf Hitler himself, and rather than coming out of that encounter battered, bruised, or worse, he walked away with his dad's diary SIGNED by the dictator! A smile crossed his lips as he recalled the meeting. If he could come out of that situation with such good fortune, anything Korriban had to throw at him would surely pale in comparison.

Little did Dr. Jones know how wrong he would be.

***When I write, I try to make sure each weekly segment is a good size, meant to be read in one sitting. I want each chapter neither too short nor too long. Now I know when I originally started this tale; I said it would end before the new Indy movie opened. Now here we are, the film opens next week, and we're just getting to the good part. That being said, I hope you'll continue to stick with CC.com, Indy, and myself as we continue his adventures through the galaxy far, far away in search of the mysterious Sith stone, and I guarantee this will all be over by the time "The Clone Wars" animated movie opens in August. Thanks to all for your continued patience, understanding, and support. See you next week!

Darth Danno