Chapter Text
She didn’t remember Hunter pulling her from the water, but apparently that was what had happened - according to Griff, Amarihah and Ana who had regaled her with the tale when she had come to in the Palace medical bay. Hunter had been silent at her side, glaring at the royals the entire time. She couldn’t exactly blame him, given the entire situation.
She could blame him for punching Azrael in the face when he had appeared in their quarters, asking to speak with her. It was an overreaction, no matter how hilarious it had been to watch the Lord’s face as Hunter’s fist connected.
It had taken them a whole two days to settle things among the courts, and for her to report back to the Council with her findings, insisting that they send someone to monitor the situation closely. And yet, she still found herself exhausted from her near drowning experience as they prepared to leave. Apparently it had taken more out of her than she had anticipated. If it wasn’t for the men, she’d have drowned, after all. A fact she had told them many times, despite their insistence that it was nothing and she should shut the hell up.
“Yes, yes just don’t be long,” she muttered to the group as she settled down in the co-pilot's chair. The men wanted to go do some exploring of the city and she was happy to indulge them after the sh*t show of a trip.
They didn't even get out the ship door before she had passed out.
She woke slowly, her senses gently probing the space around her. For a brief moment, it was all unfamiliar. Then a horrible sense of dread came over her as she realised there was no one there. No one, except one person sitting quite near her.
Instinct kicked in immediately. Before they had a chance to realise she was awake, she launched herself on top of them, pressing her forearm over their throat with a threatening growl. If Dooku was back again, she would have no choice but to put an end to him.
They let out a sharp gasp.
Her vision focussed - first the swimming of red, then the dark hair around it.
She was straddling Hunter. Her knees either side of his armoured thighs, one of her hands halfway reaching for a weapon. All she could do was freeze, slowly drawing her arm back from his throat with surprised blinks. sh*t.
“Hunter?” She asked, her voice coming out breathy. One of his hands was curled around the back of her thigh, his free one placed against her shoulder firmly, keeping her back from her attack on his neck.
“Well, can’t say anyone’s ever woken up to me like that,” he said, his voice low and mirth dancing in his eyes dangerously.
“I -“ she couldn’t get the words out. She was straddling Hunter as he sat in the pilot's chair. “W-where is everyone?” She was still in shock, she was sure of it. She vaguely remembered telling the others to feel free to explore, so surely it couldn’t have been that long.
“Out getting supplies, probably causing problems,” he replied, his hand flexing around the back of her thigh. She swallowed thickly, trying to shuffle back but his grip was firm and all shifting achieved was the press of his armour between her thighs causing her to bite back a sound that should not be leaving her lips in front of one of her men - or on top of one.
Hunter's nostrils flared, his head co*cking slowly like a predator as he watched her. His hand dropped from her shoulder, fixing itself around her waist to draw her closer until she was entirely flush against him. Her heart pounded, heat rising to her cheeks and dropping to her stomach. Her breath caught and her core clenched as he shifted, his armour pressing in between her legs again.
“Everything okay?” He asked, his gaze flicking down her lips to her neck.
“Yes,” she whispered.
Everything felt frozen between them, and all she could do was stare, taking in every detail of his face; the way his hair flicked over his bandanna, the little scar above his brow, the heat in his brown eyes as he watched her in much the same way. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she felt his hand grazing up her back until it tangled into her hair.
But it wasn’t important. In fact, it barely registered because he’d used it to pull her face down to his and kissed her.
His lips were warm and insistent, moulding against hers as he used his grip to tilt her head to his liking. Her gasp of surprise was swallowed by his mouth, and she fell into the feeling, her hands moving between gripping his chest plate and cupping his jaw.
He was devouring her. The kiss was everything synonymous with fire, and when he tugged her bottom lip with his teeth demandingly, she automatically opened her mouth, allowing him to slip his tongue inside.
“Good girl,” he rumbled, and her body jolted in response to his raspy praise, earning her a low chuckle. No one had used those words on her and she was shocked at what they did to her, wetness pooling between her legs. He groaned into her mouth when she pressed harder against him insistently, her mind spinning from the lack of oxygen. It was a much better feeling than almost drowning. In fact, she could live like this for the rest of her life as he groaned into her, his tongue darting out to taste her bottom lip before slipping inside her mouth.
And then he stopped sharply, leaving her panting for breath on his lap with a small sound of protest.
“The others are returning,” he growled, the sound coming out throaty and full of frustration.
It took her a moment to process what he was saying before she removed herself from his lap and collapsed into the other chair. She pulled her fingers through her mussed up hair, her breath still coming out in sharp pants. “Right,” she gasped, swallowing down air.
It earned her an amused smirk from Hunter, but the heat was still in his eyes - as was the pure fury at being interrupted. “I’m not done with you,” he murmured. Her inhale was shaky, and she squirmed in discomfort as her core throbbed in desperation. Hunter’s nostrils flared and he jolted towards her before stopping himself with a half-restrained groan, eyes glancing to the doors as they slipped open and revealed the others.
“Ah she’s up!” Wrecker yelled and she offered him her best placating smile, her underwear uncomfortably wet now.
“Please tell me you didn’t get into any trouble?” She sighed.
“Have some faith in me at the very least,” Cody smirked. “Everything was fine. I think the Royals are still upset about what happened because no one would allow us to pay for anything.”
She scrubbed a hand down her face upon hearing that. She’d already told them a thousand times that she wasn’t angry or upset with them but the King and Queen were insistent in their fretting. Hells, they’d even tried to gift her some of the Crown Jewels to which she responded with an unimpressed stare before shoving them back into their hands. They should know better by now. She considered them friends, family. Making sure they weren’t under some sort of mind control by a Sith Lord was literally the bare minimum she would do for them.
“Damnit,” she muttered.
“Oh! Ana said to give you this!” Wrecker called out, tossing a small velvet bag at her. She caught it deftly, testing the weight in her hands. It was suspiciously light so she opened the little bag, peering inside to find a scrap of red fabric. Her frown deepened as she pulled what turned out to be two pieces of red fabric and it took her a while to recognise what they were - wrist and knuckle wraps for fighting. But, at a mere glance they looked identical to Hunter’s bandana.
“Oh for the love of…” she trailed off. Ana was back to meddling again, it would seem. She glanced up to find Hunter watching her with a curious gleam in his gaze, his eyes bouncing between the fabric she held and her face like he was trying to read her thoughts.
“Nice,” he said slowly, a small smirk crawling over his features, telling her he had indeed not missed the implications.
“Well, at least they’re not trying to sneak me more jewels,” she sighed, shaking her head and tucking the sparring wraps back into the little bag, tossing it to the side.
“So, where we off to next?” Wrecker called out, throwing himself in a seat and tossing his arms behind his head in a relaxed pose.
“Ah…” she trailed off, reaching for her datapad. If she was honest, she hadn’t even checked the dossier yet. She had been intending to do that, and catch up on Republic intelligence, while the others were out in the city but she had fallen asleep. “Oh…” she murmured upon reading the reports, comms and files that had come in while she had been recovering.
“Well that didn't sound good,” Crosshair commented idly, his signature toothpick rolling in his mouth in a way that only he could make appear apathetic.
“Yeah… I uh… I need to call Obi-wan,” she shook her head. The latest dossier had come from him and it was not what she had been expecting. It was also not somewhere she wanted to take the men; an ancient sith temple. Apparently the Council thought there was some kind of holocron of importance inside, and intelligence indicated the Separatists were after it.
“What is it?” Rex asked curiously, leaning forward.
“Something I’d really rather we didn't do,” she murmured. “Obi-Wan sent us a slightly off mission dossier… To go to a recently discovered Sith Temple in the Outer Rim to find a holocron of importance.”
“Oh… that is different,” Echo said quietly and she nodded in agreement. Different was one way to put it. Downright dangerous was what she would respond with.
“I need to check in with Obi-Wan… These orders came directly from the Council but I need to know just how urgent this is because this is not safe, especially if the Separatists are also after it. I'm not overly comfortable taking you all to a Sith hot spot.”
“Aw we’ve faced worse!” Wrecker yelled and she shot him an even stare. She seriously f*cking doubted that.
“Give me a moment,” she sighed, standing and reaching for her commlink that she’d pulled off her wrist earlier. With a sense of foreboding, she tapped in the long range comm for Kenobi and waited impatiently for him to pick up. Hopefully he wouldn’t be on the battlefield because this did not seem like something they could afford to wait around on.
“Obi-Wan,” she said as he picked up, thankfully not on the battlefield from what she could see.
“Lia, glad to see you’re feeling better,” he nodded.
“Thanks. Look, I just read through your recent dossier report. A Sith Temple? Really? I’m not comfortable taking the men here without another Jedi as back up,” she said firmly. It was the logical, strategic decision. If something happened to her, either from the sheer dark side force that would no doubt be hanging around or by other nefarious means, she needed someone who could get the men out.
“You’re all we can spare at the moment,” Obi-Wan sighed, shaking his head as if she was the one being ridiculous and not the Council for this mess of a mission.
“So the dossier is accurate? This really is that urgent?” She asked sharply.
“Yes. We do not know what is on that holocron but reporting suggests the Separatists are desperate to have it, most likely for Dooku’s own use. We cannot allow it to fall into enemy hands.” Obi-Wan was as calm and firm as ever but it didn't make her feel better about the entire thing.
“Fine,” she sighed. She knew better than to try and argue against the Council by now. In her youth it had been all she had done, questioning every order, every text, every tenet. By now she knew that she simply did not agree with many of the decisions but stubbornly yelling in the Council chambers had gotten her nowhere over the years. Perhaps if they weren’t at war she would’ve argued more stringently but the fact was that they couldn’t allow the Separatists any kind of strategic advantage and Dooku had recently proven he was happy to dive to whatever depths necessary to achieve his goals.
She didn't bother waiting for Obi-Wan’s response, simply letting her hang up indicate her displeasure with him.
“We’re off to Yavin 4. The Isle of Kun to be specific,” she sighed, shaking her head. “I really should not be taking you with me.”
“Not a chance,” Hunter cut in. “You’re stuck with us.”
“Ha, clearly,” she smiled, setting her datapad down absently. “There are some things I need to warn you about though, at least to my best possible guess.”
“We’re listening,” Kix nodded.
“These… temples, they were way points for the force. In the case of a Sith Temple, it is a waypoint for the darkside which means that aspect of the force will be much stronger there than it normally otherwise would be. I don't know what that will mean, specifically, but it could be any number of things. We might get lucky and nothing will change, or we might not and we could be subject to… visions and impulses we wouldn’t normally have.”
“We could see things?” Jesse asked with a small frown.
She nodded in response. “Yes - things that are not real but for all intents and purposes you may believe them to be so. This is… risky, even for the Council. But the real risk lies with me. I’m attuned to the force, and whatever effects linger in this temple will likely affect me long before they affect any of you.”
“If that is the case, what would you like us to do about it?” Tech asked simply.
“Don't trust me,” she shrugged. “Don't trust what I say. Don’t trust what I do. When we get there, Cody will be in charge of the mission, not me. Do you understand? My orders are not to be followed.”
Looks of unease were cast about, but Cody stepped in with a firm nod. “Got it. We get in, get the holocron and get back out.”
“Exactly. We cannot afford to linger there, and this is, of course, the worst case scenario but I have to make sure you understand the risk before we get anywhere near Yavin 4.” She held off saying that if she turned violent they had to put her down. She wasn’t even sure they’d be able to, frankly, and she didn't want to put that idea in their heads. She liked to think that it wasn’t an option, even if she did know better. “Good, let's get ready to go. I’ll send landing coordinates to your ship,” she gestured to Rex whose lips were pursed in a thin line, no doubt already thinking over the mechanics of this new mission.
The men began to disperse, but the Batch lingered at her side as she stood up and began checking the coordinates.
“Crosshair?” She asked quietly, trying not to alert the other men as they filtered off the ship or began packing things up.
“Yes?” He rasped, crossing his arms as she glanced back to look at him.
“If it all goes south, if this is the absolute worst case scenario, I need you to put me down.”
“What!?” Hunter snarled, stepping in immediately with a glare so fierce she felt like she was being set on fire under a magnifying glass.
“Crosshair is the best shot out of all of you. I have no doubt that if I go completely insane, he’ll be able to make a clean kill shot,” she said evenly, trying not to let her nerves show.
“Absolutely not,” Hunter interjected.
“Done,” Crosshair replied at the exact same time, earning him a furious glare from Hunter.
“I can easily deflect blaster shots but if the others overwhelm me I should be distracted enough for you to get a good shot in if you put some distance between us,” she continued and Hunter lurched forward, grabbing her bicep roughly.
“Shut up. What the hell is wrong with you?” He hissed.
“Nothing. I’m simply preparing for every outcome,” she sighed. She needed to know there was a plan for if the very worst happened. “I seriously doubt it will come to that but let’s be honest, we really don't need another crazed Sith Lord in the galaxy.”
“We’ll find another way,” Hunter said indignantly. “You’re not to kill her under any circ*mstances and that’s a f*cking order!”
“Her orders outrank yours, Hunter,” Crosshair leered.
“Enough,” she interjected before Crosshair could antagonise his way into a fist fight. “I just need to know there's an ultimate backup plan. If he tries to shoot me for anything less then feel free to put him in the ground.”
“I still don't like it,” Hunter muttered and she leant forward, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder pauldron. His eyes flicked up to meet hers, amber in the glistening light that filtered through the viewport.
“I know. I don't either. It’ll be okay,” she said calmly, watching as his jaw unclenched and his fists relaxed at his side. Confident he wasn’t going to punch Crosshair, she dropped her hand but he caught it quickly.
“I’m serious. None of us are going to do that,” he muttered, turning her palm over in his fingers before hastily letting go as he seemed to realise his brothers were watching with keen interest.
“I am,” Crosshair singsonged like he was extremely pleased to not have to listen to Hunter.
“Crosshair,” she groaned, warning him with her eyes to shut the hell up. He only chuckled in response and if she had the energy she would’ve banged her head into the dashboard. “C’mon, it’s time to get going. We’ve got a long flight ahead of us.”
It gave her time to think, and to catch up on intelligence filtering in from her contacts. It seemed the war was only ramping up, and the Separatists were looking for any and every way to undermine the Republic and its armies. It didn't look good, and a deep unease settled in the centre of her chest as she read. To say she didn't agree with the war was an understatement. She could understand why it was occurring but the simple solution had been rejected by both sides, spurred on by an over-confident Count Dooku who seemed to be revelling in the war and its chaos. It was a far cry from how she remembered him; calm, centred, principled. That was what a slip and tumble into the dark side did, she guessed.
Discomfort brewed inside her, worming its way through her body and mind as she stared at the dossier for their new mission. It didn't feel right. Why now? Why this temple? Who had commissioned it? Dooku had always been more interested in ancient temples out of the two of them, and she was beginning to wish she had listened more to his rantings and ramblings in the temple library back on Coruscant.
“You okay?” Cody asked, forcing her to startle and stare at him. She’d been so lost in her thoughts she hadn’t noticed him and Hunter sitting down opposite her.
“Yeah. Yeah. I just don't like this mission,” she said, sighing and cracking her sore neck.
“We can see that,” Cody mused. “You’ve been frowning at that datapad for the best part of two hours.” His raised brows said he was teasing but there was an underlying tremor of concern in his voice. She couldn’t blame him for that, but it did mean she needed to be far more careful with the emotions showing on her face.
“It’s fine,” she smiled lightly. “I just want to know as much as I can before we get there.”
“You’re not fooling us with that,” Hunter pointed out, crossing his arms. Damnit. She really needed to work on her leadership apparently.
“Ah, sorry. I’m still not used to having men under my command,” she sighed, shaking her hair out and slowly beginning to rebraid it at the side. Her fingers worked deftly, pulling the rest into a ponytail while the pair of clones stared at her expectantly. “These are the kind of missions I’d do by myself.”
“Tough sh*t,” Hunter shrugged.
“Clearly,” she smirked. “There’s just a lot of… unknowns about this and they are not tangible threats like battle droids or adversaries.”
“We’ll be fine,” Cody reassured her.
“Well, we’re going to find out since the Council won’t retract this mission,” she muttered, shaking her head at them. It was the first thing she had done upon sitting down - sending a message requesting for backup, or for the mission to be postponed. She had received a resounding negative from Master Yoda. Any other time his confidence in her abilities would’ve made pride swell in her chest, but this time it just left a sour taste in her mouth. How could the Council be so blind as to send her and a few men alone into an ancient, unknown Sith temple?
The rest of the flight was largely silent, permeated only by some light snoring by Wrecker and Crosshair who were apparently so relaxed about this mission that they were napping.
As they came in over Yavin 4, Hunter kicked Crosshair in the legs to wake him and it wasn’t missed by Lia that he did it a little too hard to be friendly. Something told her he was still pissed about Crosshair’s joy over being allowed to shoot her.
“We’re coming in now. I presume this Isle is that volcanic island I see?” Tech called out and she strode up behind him, leaning over the pilot's seat. “Yep… See the -”
“Massive building in the middle of the lake in that crater? Yes It would be difficult to miss,” Tech interrupted and she sighed at the ceiling. She really did not need the know-it-allness right then. “We’re going to have to set down on the edge of the lake and find a way across.”
“Sounds good, direct the others to do the same,” she said, retreating back into the ship to check her armour plates across her chest and forearms were strapped in properly. Her hand went to her drop leg holster to check her blaster was in place, and then her waist to check her sabers, though a nagging feeling told her physical weapons would not be of help here.
The moment she stepped off the ship onto the rocky beach she could feel the dark side like a punch to the face. She staggered back, rocks and pebbles scattering under her feet as she righted herself with a hand to her head. This was exactly what she had feared.
“Woah! You alright?” Hunter asked, his hand firm on her shoulder.
“Yeah… Yeah the darkside is strong here. I just need… need to acclimatise,” she gave him a weak smile that even she knew wasn’t very convincing.
“So how the hell do we get over there?” Fives called out, his boots toeing the edge of the water. “It’s too far for our cable guns and I doubt even you could make that jump.”
“We could swim,” Jesse suggested but Lia had stopped listening to them entirely by then. Instead, she joined Fives’ side where the water lapped at her boots and stared intently at the temple, and then the dark water leading up to it. She couldn’t sense anything in the water, but it would be a long, freezing cold, swim to get there.
Her eyes darted around again as she willed her brain to calm, to focus on separating the dark side’s influence out of her head. In doing so, she found herself staring directly down at the water and her lips parted.
Of course.
“There will be no swimming,” she announced, taking a step forward, and then another, and another, until she was a few metres out into the lake, stood on small stepping stones that appeared to lead to the temple shore. If you hadn’t known to look, you would’ve never seen them, and the purpose was clear: those who wanted to reach the temple would have to do so with their head bowed in a prayer-like position in order to keep their footing.
The men followed her with grumbles of annoyance and she couldn’t blame them. It was… arrogant to design a temple in such a way. By the time she got to the last step and looked up, she could finally examine the temple in all its glory. It appeared to be made entirely of the darkest possible obsidian, sucking in all the light around it. The only gleam of colour came from what appeared to be Corusca gems studded and inlaid in patterns around what she could only assume was the entrance. Those alone were worth a goddamn fortune, and she couldn’t imagine they had been obtained for the building ethically.
With a glance, she checked that all the men were on the shore too before placing a tentative hand on the temple door. There was no handle, no electronics or key codes, just a slab of obsidian laid slightly further in than the rest of the building. A door meant to be opened only by a force user. Unfortunately for whoever built it, one had found it.
The door gave way with an ominous rumble, stones cracking and falling as it slid to the side, and with a deep breath and an indication helmet-lights would be needed, she stepped inside.
The whole place was suffocating her and she only made it a few steps in before she keeled forward onto her knees, sucking in air as deep as she could.
“Lia!” Hunter yelled, crouching beside her. She held a hand up to indicate she was okay but that didn't stop his fingers coasting across her body to check for injury as the men shuffled, weapons raised.
“I’m… I’m fine,” she gasped out, trying to even out the darkness bombarding her. “Just needed a moment.” She struggled to her feet, feeling heavier than she ever had in her life, and then looked around. Directly in front of her was a statue of a man and she edged toward it curiously. He appeared to have been human - tall with slicked back dark hair and some sort of semi-circle type etchings on his forehead between his brows. Her gaze drifted down the statues body and she crouched cautiously, dusting off what seemed to be a plaque.
“Exar Kun,” she murmured.
“Bless you?” Fives joked and she snorted in amusem*nt.
“That was his name. Let’s try not to make fun of the Sith Lord in his home, hm?” She grinned.
“That was a Sith Lord?” Echo asked her, disgust peppering his tone.
“Yes, it would seem this is his temple.” And what a temple it was. She was certain there must be others on Yavin 4, but this one had been his pride and joy, a remnant of his deeds and of long forgotten history. She traced her fingers over the walls detailing his crimes, presented as if they were something to be proud of.
“Can you read that?” Someone asked Tech.
There was a long pause. “No… It would appear whatever language that is in is not in any databases available to me.”
She smiled a little, knowing that must have pained him to admit. “It wouldn’t be,” she informed them quietly. “This is an old Sith language, dating back to the Old Republic thousands of years ago.”
“Can you read it?” Rex asked.
“Yes,” she murmured. “It’s not well recorded or well studied but I spent a lot of time in the Temple library as an apprentice and came across enough texts.”
“What does it say?” Tech asked, shouldering his way to the front of the group.
“This part here depicts Kun’s hunger for knowledge about the Sith when he was a young Jedi, and how he fell to the darkside due to his anger and distrust of those around him,” she paused, deciphering piece after piece. “The next bit tells us how this temple was made. After he fell to the darkside, Kun came here and enslaved the local Massassi tribes, convincing them he was a god, and forcing them to build temples in his name.”
“Sounds like a charming fellow,” Jesse muttered.
“Then there is more here depicting how he fought another fallen Jedi, only to take him on as an apprentice. Some of the wording is lost, but it appears the apprentice was captured by the Council and Kun invaded Coruscant to free him, fighting and killing his old master in the process and…”
“And what?” Hunter grunted.
“And… if this is accurate then Exar Kun was the engineer of the double bladed lightsaber. How curious,” she murmured. And it was curious considering what they had seen of Maul in the past decade. She wondered if the Zabrak would be jealous of Kun or whether or not he’d seen him as an aspirational figure.
“What happened to him?” Kix asked as they traversed deeper into the haunting old temple.
“It doesn’t say. It appears his apprentice betrayed him near the end after he forced him to kill his brother. After that… there is nothing more recorded. Something must have happened to him - either he was killed or forced to abandon this place,” she sighed, choking a little on the rock dust lingering in the air. For somewhere that had been left abandoned for so long, it sure didn't feel stale inside.
“What the hell is this!?” Wrecker exclaimed as they came out into a room that had one large door on the other side and nothing but an expansive drop into nothingness in between them.
“Great,” she muttered.
“We can’t get across that,” Fives groaned, shaking his head and making his helmet shift a little.
“Hm,” she hummed noncommittally, crouching down and dusting her fingers over the ground at the edge of the dop. “It’s a test.”
“I’m sorry, a test of what?” Cody asked. She couldn’t exactly blame him for being sceptical.
“Even the Jedi temples of old had tests in them - of fortitude, strength, patience, resilience, so on and so forth. Sometimes they were just training grounds, other times you could not access the temple until you completed them. It appears we’ve just found the latter,” she smiled as she stood and dusted her hands on her pants.
“That’s great and all but how do we get across this?” Rex gestured broadly to the black hole in front of them.
“Perhaps this is a test of patience for you,” she smirked, waving her hand in the air. “Give me a moment would you?” When the men went silent, she reached out in the force, attempting to sift through the heaviness there but nothing appeared to be out of place. There was no creature down below, and no structures to lift. With that, she turned her gaze to the ceiling and grinned a little. “We need to walk across the ceiling,” she pointed upwards to where the curved expanses curled and twisted with ancient symbols.
“Has this place gotten to you so quickly?” Crosshair rasped.
She rolled her eyes in the direction of his helmet and lifted her hands, focussing purely on the symbols she began to use the force to twist and turn them until they slowly began to line up, each section glowing an ominous red as they connected. When she was finished, she waited a moment, hoping to the stars that it did something and she didn't just look absolutely insane for nothing.
After perhaps a little too long, a loud hum cut through the room, and where there was once a black expanse, there was now a blackened bridge that ebbed and flowed in the light from above.
“What is that made of?” Echo asked cautiously.
“Some kind of matter,” she murmured, testing the toes of her boot on the bridge. It was very solid, and very real so she took a few more tentative steps out onto it. When it didn't give way, she jerked her head at the others to follow and took off with careful movements. The sooner they were off the damn thing, the easier she could breathe.
She was just happy the thing hadn’t collapsed under any of them but she’d been watching carefully, ready to catch them with the force if it came down to it. If she was honest, she expected more trickery out of a Sith Temple but maybe the creator wanted them to get across. She didn't trust anything when it came to this place.
When Lia managed to get the door to the next room open, Hunter had to catch her by the waist. Apparently his senses had caught her imminent weak legs before she had even clocked it herself. Next to her, Crosshair’s fingers twitched on his rifle and she gave him a sardonic smirk, shaking her head at him. “Don't get trigger happy on me now, Cross,” she chuckled, feeling a little weak.
“What is this place?” Cody murmured, and she stared at the expanse of a room in front of them. It was almost like a museum, with little pedestals set with items and artefacts. In one corner was a bookshelf, piled messily with scrolls and books as if they had been hastily discarded after reading.
“Touch nothing,” she warned sharply. “We don't know what any of this is.”
“Well, we found the holocron,” Rex said dryly, pointing at the pedestal at the far end of the room. He was right, the golden-crimson glow of the cube was a beacon in the darkness, floating just above the plate it sat on as if it was beckoning, begging for someone to take it. Surrounding it was a shimmering glassy forcefield that was visible even from where they stood and she swallowed a little at the sight.
“C’mon,” she jerked her head at the men who had not dropped their weapons back into their holsters. She would’ve been thankful if it wasn’t for the fact that she was almost certain now that they would be of no use to whatever darkness lurked in the never-ending shadows of the room.
She picked her way forward, the humming and buzzing in her head growing with each step she took and every breath she took. Something about what laid with the holocron felt dark and she suddenly realised that no one had f*cking told her what was on the damn thing that was so important. A tug in her mind had her warring over whether they should pull out of the temple and comms the Council before retrieving it but she also did not fancy the idea of coming back in here if she didn't have to.
“Hm, that is most unusual,” Tech commented, leaning forward. “It appears nothing like any ray shielding system I have ever observed.”
“Can you get it down?” Rex asked warily.
“I am not certain. Unlike a rayshield, it does not seem to be connected to any kind of power repository. In fact, it is unclear how it is even operating.” Tech’s reply confirmed even further to her that this was no man-made phenomena.
“Dark magick,” she muttered, mostly to herself.
“Come again?” Cody replied, his voice a sharp rumble.
“It’s dark magick, ancient…” she repeated, well aware she wasn’t answering his question. She couldn’t answer his question because she didn't know exactly how or what was going on.
“Well, whatever it is we need to break it to get that holocron,” Jesse stated.
If only it was that simple, she thought to herself. “Stay on guard. I’m going to try and break it,” she said, hovering a hand over the rippling glow. Connecting to the force here felt different, enticing in the way that some predators were enticing to their prey, drawing them closer, making them feel safe until they pounced. Even knowing that, she struggled to keep herself from plunging head first into the feeling.
Somewhere, she could hear her name being repeated but she couldn’t respond if she wanted to. She was trapped. Something had dug it’s claws into her, crawling and snarling it’s way up from the dark hole it had been confined in.
“LIA!” Hunter roared, practically in her ear. A bright red glow emitted from in front of her and she blinked for just a second before being blown backwards. She hit the stone floor roughly, skidding on her side until she collided with one of the pedestals. Around her, the men were in various states of disarray, peeling themselves off the ground and grasping for their blasters.
That was not what she was concerned with, however. Her focus was solely on the figure sat casually on the steps leading up to the holocron. No longer was there a glowing energy field around the holocron. It was as if the man had materialised right out of it and she recognised him immediately.
“Exar Kun,” she said slowly, clambering to her feet. He tilted his head in acknowledgement, and upon closer inspection, it appeared he wasn’t really there. His figure shimmered and flickered and for a moment she thought he was a holo if it wasn’t for the fact he was reacting to them directly. Was he some kind of spirit? A ghost? She didn't even know that was possible and the sinking feeling in her stomach grew heavier as they stayed locked in their stare off.
“Finally,” he drawled. “I am free.”
“Are you?” She asked quietly, nodding slightly to the way his arms flickered. He was oddly handsome, for an evil warlording sith spirit.
“Freer than before, young Jedi,” he mused, his voice rich in its timber, calm and easy. He had the kind of voice one wanted to listen to, no matter what they said.
“I am not that young,” she said.
“No? Younger than I, I’d wager. What year is it?” He asked, still apparently entirely unconcerned even as the men raised their blasters. She knew they weren’t stupid, surely they could see that their weapons would do nothing against someone without a corporal body.
“20 BBY,” she replied tentatively. Kun didn't appear to be put out by this, only co*cking his head at her thoughtfully.
“I see. And why are you in my temple?” He queried.
“We are… looking for something specific,” she wagered, not entirely certain she should be telling him they wanted the holocron directly behind him.
It didn't matter. “Ah yes, the holocron,” he hummed. “I am only surprised it took so long.”
She stared at him silently. He was just a spirit, surely she could just walk right past him and take it. Her feet shuffled forward a few steps and he raised his brows, sighing melodramatically like it was the stupidest thing he’d ever seen.
“What are you willing to give for it?” He asked simply.
“Why must I give anything? You’re not real,” she said.
“Oh I am very real,” he hissed, a menacing tone taking over his voice. “Just because I no longer possess a body does not make me any less real.”
“Right,” she said, swallowing down the lump in her throat. Her head was absolutely banging now and she blinked furiously in an attempt to alleviate some of the pain. Kun only looked amused at her efforts, tilting his head at her silently.
“Give me what I want, and you can have the holocron,” he said, his voice turning back to that soothing lilt and she found herself almost nodding at his request before halting, her chin jerking of its own volition. What did he want? She wracked her brain desperately, trying to figure out the little puzzle he’d presented her.
“Come now, give me what I want and you can have the holocron, complete your mission for the Sith knowledge,” he hummed. Somewhere in the back of her mind, that revelation surprised her. The Jedi had sent her after Sith information, Sith practices? Why? Was it only to keep it out of the Separatist’s hands? Dooku’s hands? What was on it? How powerful was it? Could she… could it be used to win this war? Her mind spiralled at the thought and she almost smiled. She could end this inane war with that sort of ancient power. The Separatist armies would be decimated, not even Dooku or whoever his Master was would stand a chance against her.
No more war. No more fighting. The Council would have to listen to her after all these years. They would have to heed her advice, follow her leadership. There would be no… no opposition.
She took a shaky step forward and heard something click to her side. Right, her men. Crosshair had his firepuncher aimed straight at her, the safety off and his finger twitching on the trigger. What was he doing? Did he not want to end this war? He could be free. They could all be free if they just let her do this. They could have whatever lives they wanted. She’d be able to ensure it. Everyone would listen to her. Everyone. The Council, the Senate, the Chancellor, the Republic.
“Lia,” Hunter’s voice said warningly, his face a colour of emotions. Why did he look so pained? Surely he wanted this too? She’d never have to worry about kissing him, or anything else. No one would be able to tell her it wasn’t allowed. No one could stop them. Didn’t he want that?
“Lia,” he repeated, his eyes burning into her and for a moment she forgot about Kun in front of her. All she could do was stare into the darkened amber that seemed to be pleading with her to listen, but to what?
To… Gods, what was she thinking? Her head snapped up and in a swift movement she tossed one of her lightsabers directly at his head. It cut through him, just one moment of utter shock on his features was all she got before he went up in crimson dust that settled on the floor like droplets of blood.
Lia just stared, panting a little in the exertion that came with having her mind invaded. It had happened so subtly, like the soft stroke of fingers on the petals of a flower. She hadn’t even felt it happening until she was seconds away from falling to her knees in front of the spirit.
“f*ck,” she croaked out, scrubbing a hand down her face. “I’m okay.”
“That was f*cking terrifying,” Fives said, his voice strained as he stared at the red pile that was left of Kun.
“Yeah… Yeah can’t say that felt good,” she managed, cautiously approaching the altar. Her hand reached out but she paused before touching the holocron. If this really was information on ancient Sith powers and practices, should she be touching it? Hell, should she be taking it back to the Council in the first place without knowing exactly what they wanted to do with it? She was all for the pursuit and respect of knowledge but this was downright dangerous, especially if the Council intended to keep it. This war had already proven that the Temple library could be easily infiltrated.
So, instead of picking the holocron up, she slashed a saber down and shattered the thing into a million little pieces.
“What are you doing!?” Cody yelled as she blasted fire at the pieces left, melting and shattering them further so that they could never be put back together again.
“Jedi business,” she muttered.
“But… our orders were to retrieve the holocron and deliver it to the Jedi Council…” Echo trailed off, staring at the little pieces left.
“I know,” she said.
“Then why did you just destroy it?” Rex asked.
“Not all orders should be followed,” she breathed deeply. “That holocron was too dangerous, and we have no idea what the Council intended to do with it - good intentions or otherwise. I’ll wear the blame for this.”
“We don't even know if Kun was telling the truth about it!” Cody growled and she shook her head immediately in his direction.
“I could feel it, okay? It wasn’t good. The things someone could have done with that knowledge… It’s better off dead and forgotten.” That was one thing she was certain of. Some things needed to stay buried. “Lets get the hell out of here.”
“Sir yes sir,” Crosshair snarked.
“Don’t sound so upset you didn't get to shoot me,” she smiled.
“Lia, do you not remember?” Hunter asked her slowly and her smile morphed into a frown.
“Remember what?” She murmured.
“Crosshair did try to shoot you when your eyes went yellow and those black marks started appearing on your face,” he explained, his voice a little strained. Her fingers immediately went to her face, feeling out for anything different but he beat her to it. “They’re gone now. They left when you destroyed that thing.”
“How… what?” She breathed. How did she not remember Crosshair shooting at her?
“You were talking to that thing for nearly 15 minutes, Lia,” Rex said softly. “We couldn’t get close to you, so Cody ordered Crosshair to take the shot when you started towards Kun.”
“Crosshair doesn’t miss,” she said, her voice breaking a little. How weak was her mind that she had been so completely enthralled.
“Someone interfered,” Crosshair snarked, jerking his head at Hunter.
“It was a premature order,” he replied, and despite his helmet she could feel the glare he had levelled at Commander Cody. “I knew you could get free.”
“f*ck,” she swore. “f*ck, Hunter. You should’ve let him take the damn shot!” She was panicking now. What would’ve happened if she hadn’t broken free? She could’ve killed them all.
“Not a damn chance,” Hunter snarled, leaning forward and towering over her threateningly.
“I gave you an order!” She nearly yelled.
“And the Council gave you an order so it looks like neither of us are following them today,” he replied firmly. He wasn’t budging on this and she felt her cheeks flush, swallowing nervously at the command in his voice. His helmet tilted in response and she could feel his satisfied smirk as she uncharacteristically backed down.
“Fine… Let’s just get out of here,” she murmured, rushing from the room.
Being outside was a blessing she hadn’t thought to appreciate earlier. It felt so good to be breathing fresh air, and to not be trapped under the weight of the temple above her. Silently, she hopped back over the stepping stones wishing she could blow the whole temple to smithereens. It might make her feel better about the holo call she was about to make to Obi Wan.
The men were quiet too, their apprehension echoing throughout the Marauder as she sat down and swivelled the chair towards the long range comms panel and threw in Kenobi’s code. She waited and waited and waited until he finally picked up, his arms crossed and his face as pensive as ever.
“Thalia, have you retrieved the holocron?” He asked, not bothering with introductions.
“No, I haven’t,” she replied.
“Has something gone wrong?” He continued, his brow furrowing in concern.
“No, we found the temple just fine,” she sighed. “The holocron was destroyed.”
“Destroyed?” He asked.
“Yes, by me.”
“Thalia I am going to require more of an explanation for the Council than that,” Obi Wan said firmly, his hands tightening on his forearms. So, she explained, in painstaking detail exactly what had happened, watching his frown deepen and lines form even further with every word she said. By the time she finished, his face was like thunder.
“The Council will not be happy, Thalia,” he said.
“I know,” was all she replied. She did know. They would be furious she had circumvented their orders and taken matters into her own hands. Still, she stood by her decision and had no plans to back down from it any time soon. She would not be taking punishment for doing what she thought was right in the moment, especially with lives at risk.
Obi-Wan sighed loudly, shaking his head. “I’ll relay this to them,” was all he said before shutting off the comm and leaving her with deafening silence, only cut by the shuffling of the men in the ship.
“So… that went well,” Tech commented and she nearly laughed aloud. He wasn’t wrong, it could’ve gone worse. Then again, she was yet to face the ire of the council. Considering that, and having her head f*cked with, she felt like they deserved a bit of a break so she leapt to her feet with a mischievous grin and headed towards the control panel.
“What are you doing?” Kix asked loudly.
“Impromptu shore leave,” she replied over her shoulder.
“Um, can you do that?” Echo asked cautiously.
“Sure I can. I mean, if I’m currently in the business of pissing off the Council I may as well milk it for all I can. You boys ever been to Canto Bight?”
