While our ship was being dragged along the predetermined vector, HK released the buoy, and we began transmitting not only our experiences through it but also the route we were taking. Whatever Sith-made system had taken control wasn't anything like a tractor beam; it was overriding the ship's navigational computer, remotely piloting our vessel. It didn't feel like anything that would be done by a living being, because it was way too precise, probably the work of an automated system. Or a droid. It explains why or how they wiped the computers of our ship...
[Clarification: I am picking up distorted gravity waves washing over the area. Going in blind can rip apart even capital ships if they hit one.]
"No wonder that we need to be guided in," Vila muttered, "Damned Sith knew how to choose their lairs..."
"That's for sure..." I whispered back, agreeing, watching our inevitable arrival at the only habitable moon.
Well, we had nothing else to do but just sit back and watch as it guided us down in a slow, arcing descent, right towards the shoreline I had recognized. The hull groaned as we punched through the atmosphere and the cloud layers that were thick with charged particles and lightning strikes, causing significant turbulence inside the ship. After breaking through the last layer of the thick clouds, the dense, blue lightning strikes still kept flashing across the clouds above, but no rain was falling, making the rest of the descent much more stable.
Looking out the ship's cockpit, I had to say, the scenery itself, the whole picture it painted was.... beautiful. Yes, above us were thick clouds, but they ended where the ocean began, and above that, the sky was clear. From there, the blue giant dominated the horizon, and as its light hit us, it felt cold and piercing at the same time. It wasn't warm like most stars I was used to; it was more... sterile. As for the black hole, we couldn't see it directly, hiding at the other side of the star at the moment. But the blue star was not the only one up in the sky; another massive object covered the rest of the sky, half-hidden behind the flashing clouds: the gas giant we currently orbited.
It was a much more familiar presence, as our home was also on a moon, so I was used to seeing those kinds of things so close, but still... The whole planet, or moon in this case, felt weird, and probably because the Dark Side here was thick and much more... Hm... Visible. It was the type of... in your face, unlike how it felt in the Rakatan world. That was insidious, hiding and conniving, while this was more proud and confrontational, if I had to describe it.
"This place…" Vila shivered, shaking herself once, breaking the silence, watching another lightning strike cross above us. "It feels... wrong."
[Observation: Not even a droid would want to live in a system that can fall apart at any time. Addendum: The periodical bursts from the star or the black hole alone could wipe out this planet, stripping it of its atmosphere.]
"I know," I said quietly, looking at HK, "Please do not remind me of that probability."
As I was talking, the ship suddenly shuddered, and we flew over the ocean, making a wide U-turn, heading towards a specific spot.
"Are those... Landing pads?" Vila asked, noticing what I picked up on.
"Probably."
As for what they were, nothing but massive stone platforms that rose from the water, resisting the strong waves, being black and angular, breaking the ocean's wrath without any issues. And for sure, they weren't natural! The closer we got, the more we could see of the dozens of Sith glyphs etched onto their supporting pillars, probably reinforcing them more than any new alloy the Republic is capable of making. Finally, choosing one of the closest ones to the cliffside, the ship settled down with a final rumble, the repulsors whining down before cutting out.
"Well... here we are..." I stood from the pilot's chair, watching the cliffs, "This is exactly what I saw..."
"That's it?" Vila asked, looking towards the fortress, carved into the rock, having multiple balconies, windows, and whatever else, looking like holes, leading into the dark. Even if the Jedi of the old days had destroyed this place, at least in the memory that I saw, the ruins still remained, and who knows? If more of the droids had been left behind, maybe they would have had enough time to clean it up? Which was a frightening thought.
"That's it," I said, reinforcing my mind, "Let's go, we have to take a look! If Iowi and Jalo came here, maybe we can find some clues where they are now."
Going towards the hatch, I could feel how the pressure of the Dark Side began growing, becoming crushing, recognizing us as Jedi and already moving to hamper us in any way possible. It wasn't subtle about it at all because it pressed against my senses, hammering my access to the Force, trying to hinder me in any way, shape, or form.
"I hate this place," Vila grumbled, feeling the same thing, shaking herself once again to recover.
[Recommendation: We should expect immediate hostilities.] HK stated calmly as he checked his weapons. [Addendum: Ambush probability exceeds seventy percent.]
"True," I nodded, holding my saber at hand as I initiated the release, and the ship's ramp hissed open.
The moment it did, cold air slammed into us, making me feel the ocean's salt invade my nose and mouth, making me grimace. But I hadn't got much time to complain about that, because soon enough, in the strong wind, figures emerged from the cliffside, coming down on the rusted catwalks, four of them to be exact. At first, they looked like human silhouettes, but we all knew they weren't living beings. They were moving with the same precision as the droid we had fought aboard the ship, and the Dark Side around them was also very much the same. They probably recognized us differently, too, just at the same time, because each of them ignited a lightsaber, readying for battle.
"That may not be good..." Vila moaned, her orange sabers activating.
[Confirmation: It is not. Similar design lineage to DR-0N.] HK agreed, [Update: Actual shielding is active on them, I can sense their energy output.]
By then, they were rushing at us, and the nearest droid lunged without hesitation, propelling itself forward with a jetpack built into its legs, attacking me head-on. I barely had time to raise my saber before its red blade crashed into mine, the impact sending a shock up my arm that made my teeth rattle. Damn, they are strong! By then, Vila was already moving as she flipped over the second arriving droid, her twin blades slashing down in a crossing arc that should have severed its head, but as HK said... they had shields, so it skidded across an invisible barrier, sparks spraying as the runes on its chassis flared. Whatever protected them was made from both actual energy shielding and Dark Side-made reinforcement, which managed to hold off a lightsaber strike. Question was... would it be strong enough to hold out against more than just a slash?
"They are cheating even more!" Vila snarled, but I had no answer as I was fencing against a droid that used Form V, utilizing two-handed strikes, trying to overpower me.
At the same time, blaster fire thundered as HK opened up, too, his bolts slamming into the third droid and warping violently as the glyphs bent the energy of his shots away, scattering it across the platform in loud ricochets. Luckily, they weren't aimed back at us. At least that was something... As for the fourth droid, it was circling us, expecting reinforcements from the ship, most likely, focusing on the ramp for now. They were well programmed, that was sure!
Not that I had time to keep looking, because my own enemy, its blade never stopped moving, but the more I adapted, the more aggressive it became... but it didn't expect my hand. When I suddenly switched my grip, going from right to left-handed, and grabbed its red blade with my cortosis hand, it didn't know what to do when it flickered out of existence. Shielding or not, it was too close to dodge as I pierced towards its torso, feeling the resistance of the raw energy and the Dark Side coil, but I kept pushing, using the Force, finally overcoming its defenses and plunging my saber through its middle.
By then, its red lightsaber was back on, trying to slash down on me, so I had to pull out and step back, clicking my tongue because even with a hole in its chest, it was still functioning, albeit with much greater errors in its movements. However, one thing had changed; it was now counting on my arm, too.
"They're adapting!" I shouted, parrying another strike which felt less powerful now.
"And we're outnumbered!" Vila replied, ducking under a horizontal slash that scorched the air above her lekku as she was now attacked by two of the droids while HK was keeping the last under fire, not letting it get close.
I reached for the Force, trying to shove one of them back from Vila, but I had felt my power slide off its shielding, being distorted, swallowed by the runes etched into its armor, like how the black hole was eating that stupid star up in the sky. Damn the bastard who came up with this...!
"Kael!" Vila called, skidding to my side as we fought back-to-back, our sabers clashing against theirs, sounding like our own storm. "This is drawing way too much attention! I can sense more moving somewhere nearby and coming down here!"
"I know!" I yelled, locking blades with one droid while HK's blaster fire forced another to disengage, as he was covering my side from a sneak attack. "We need to finish this fast, or we'll be buried in the sea!"
By then, the lightning strikes above us had become a constant, flashing show just like our sabers, their thunder shaking my bones through my ears as the wind began to pick up, and a storm finally hit us with full force. All of a sudden, heavy rain slammed down on the platform like a bucket of water, turning it slick, the waves crashing harder against its sides, just as angry as the Dark Side felt.
Then, out of nowhere, a new thundering noise caught my attention, and I swear, I saw something flash through the air, hitting the droid I stabbed through, right in the head. Shielding or not, the impact was physical, shattering half of its skull, causing the machine to fall over, throwing sparks and twitching, before going offline.
"What the...?" I wanted to ask, but then I felt it... It was the Light Side, a flash of it. "Iowi!"
"I see him!" Vila yelled, and, true enough, I saw a figure on the cliffside to the south, further away, as a little dot in the distance. "How are we supposed to get there?!"
[Query: Can the so-called Force make us fly?]
"No, it can't," I grunted, but then there was another loud bang, and a moment later, I noticed a claw-like thing pierce the platform, with a thin, metallic wire connecting it to where he was... and then a handle whizzed down, throwing sparks thanks to the speed it was rolling down towards us. "But we have an emergency zipline! Go, go!"
"You first!" Vila yelled.
"I'm not arguing! Go!" I grunted, shoving her towards it, and Vila left first, no matter how loudly he protested.
Whatever it was made of, it was surprisingly fast, but I couldn't look because now I was fighting against four bastards, utilizing my Makashi to its limits. When I stepped to my left, pivoting on my heel to dodge a slash, HK fired a shot to shove back the second droid, while I was deflecting the third's strike, right into the arc of the fourth. Just so to bring up my right arm, catching the first droid's new swipe, disabling its lightsaber, aiming to sever it from its hand... and landing a hit, seeing the weapon sputter as I damaged it. Good. One less lightsaber to worry about!
[Confirmation: It's coming back.]
"We go together, or we die here, so I hope you aren't too heavy!" I yelled, and HK only gave out a sound that was like a snort.
When the impromptu zipline returned, we jumped off the platform, grabbing it, and I heard its motorized mechanism kick into gear as we began flying towards the cliffside.
"Oh shit... Hold on!" I yelled because I felt and saw one of the droids slash it apart, and we began 'flying,' crashing onto the cliffside as the metal rope was cut. Luckily, HK could easily hold on, while I wrapped it around my palm, stopping me from slipping off. Ouch. Another big luck was that we were not that far from the top... so holding onto it, we could climb the rest in the heavy rain and wind.
I felt Vila's hand grabbing me, pulling me up at the last part, worried but relieved at the same time.
"I'm fine, I'm fine!" I coughed, feeling my hands bleeding from the moment I held onto the rope, as it cut my palm apart pretty badly.
"We need to move!" I heard Iowi yell, pulling HK up, and then looking at me. He was disheveled, grizzled, with an unkempt beard, looking anything but like a Jedi. He was also wearing strange clothes and blasters strapped to his side, one almost as big as he was, hanging off his back, "The bastards are relentless!"
"We noticed!" Vila yelled back, over the howling wind.
"This way!" He began running, and soon I noticed a small, speeder-like thing that was old... super old. But it did the trick as we climbed in, and soon our panting group was away, heading into the dark under the raging storm, disappearing into it.