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1 6:56pm 15/08/02

Internaut

Kas Katta stood on the bridge of his ship the Free Wind . The Hapen Nova slid gracefully through the stars, approaching Valndelheim.
It had been a long year for Kas, and He was now taking his leave.

**Two weeks Kas, then I need you back.**

That was what Mr. Vinda had told him not a week ago. Two weeks of leave. He had chosen Valndelhiem for it’s location close to the deep core, and for the fact that it was a nice planet.
The cruiser continued on it’s way, it’s large rear wings sweeping from the rear forward in a hook like manner. Kas tuned, and began to make his way to the lift. As he went he motioned for his second to follow.

Keep her in good condition number 1. I don’t want to come back and find that the new paint job is ruined.

*You will only be gone for two weeks sir, I hardly think we can get into much trouble in two weeks. All we are doing is some minor shipping.*

I suppose.

Leery in leaving thought the First Mate.

The lift sped down the decks, and cruised to a halt at the docking bay. The two passengers stepped out, and headed across the well worn and polished floor to the only Shuttle in the ship. Two tecs were looking it over, and they came to attention as the two highest ranking officers on the ship approached.

How is she Mike?

*Squeaky clean sir, you won’t have any trouble at all. We just finished the biometronic scan, which raps it up here for us.*

Kas nodded his approval, and stepped into the shuttle. With a press of a button it sealed it’s self, and Kas started the pre-flight check. Everything checked out, and he belted himself in.
Pressing a few buttons on the com, he broadcasted a message across the entire ship.

This is your Captain speaking. I am leaving now, and will be back in two weeks. You all be good, and don’t screw up two badly. As you know, You will be meeting Mr. Vinda at the end of my leave, and then picking me up. Make a good Impression folks. Katta out.

With that, Kas gave the thumbs up to the flight crew, and lifted off. Turning and moving forward, he eased the shuttle out of the hanger. He then slowed to a full stop, and the Free Wind sped away.
He looked across the large expanse of space, and at the planet in front of him. His leave was finally beginning, and he wasn’t sure if it was good or bad.

Kas

2 6:43am 29/08/02

Internaut

The Shuttle slid forward as the engines engaged. The deep core glowed bright behind Vandelhiem, almost obscuring it from view.
Traffic control was busy today, and Kas was forced to wait thirty minutes before he got landing clearance. Once permission was obtained, landing went smoothly. Pad fifteen, strip eight, level four. He parked the shuttle in the “mynoc” parking area, and wrote down the needed numbers for finding the ship again. He grimaced as a memory slid across his mind about the last time he had been here, and the four hours he has spent looking for his transport.

Kas strode swiftly through the busy and croweded port. Travelers from all across the galaxy were here, and he saw a few he didn’t recognize. Sithsnot, he couldn’t place most of them, and only a few jogged memories.

Out the fifty foot transpasteel doors and into the bright sunlight, down to a ground shuttle, and off to the router. Kas relaxed in the back of the transport. A weekend in the country, on land, with nothing to bother him. His head ached again, and he popped a pill. The headaches had been coming more frequently now, and he was beginning to worry about it.
“A man with no memory eh?” He could hear the doctor muttering to himself as he examined him. Although Kas should have been knocked out by the heavy dose of gas, some how he had stayed conscious through the whole thing, from the probing to the scanning. Unable to sleep, yet appearing so.

The doctors had found no discernible gaps in his memory, although they couldn’t see what it contained, they were sure that there was data there, somewhere in his brain.

“My best advice is to see a jedi master, and ask him to help you. If you truly have no memory at all from one year back, then he should be able to help you. Medicine is not able to read the mind, but jedi can. That’s the best advice I can give you, along with these pills. They should stop the headaches, as those are caused by abnormal pressure in the scull. Many people suffer from that.” With that the doctor had let him out, and sent a bill.

Kas sighed. See a jedi my foot. From what he had heard jedi

 Black Flash

Titus . . . . . . . titus . . . . . . do you not remember the da……. 

White flash

Kas snapped back up. The car had stopped, and the driver was looking at him. He payed, and hopped out, grabbed his bags, and headed for the hotel. Maybe he should see a jedi, the black-outs were getting more and more frequent as well.

Looking up, the worries were gone for a brief moment. The resort towered above him, in the middle of nowhere, three hundred stories duracrete, with a bronzed outside. It shown out above the plains, like a golden diamond.

If he could forget for a while, he would be able to enjoy this vacation.

Kas

3 5:13pm 23/09/02

Internaut

The days were long and sweet, filled with the relaxing scent of H'mlaile Blossoms, and long trips in woods and meadows.
For the majority of it Kas was able to keep his mind off of what had been happening at night. The dreams seemed to be less frequent here, and for that he was glad. He liked it here, this planet with it's tall trees and breezy meadows. The occasional canyon and mountain range broke the skyline up just enough.

In no time at all two weeks turned into three days, and Kas started to squeeze every last bit of enjoyment out of his vacation.

 Three days to see the rest this city has to offer, then back to duty.

Kas walked briskly down the street, attempting to ignore the street vendors, and thier wares. He had bought enough junk to last a lifetime, and he needed no more.
Or did he?
The last vendor he passed hadn't said a word, hadn't muttered a catcall, or even looked up at him. Kas turned around and looked at his booth. Small and shabby, squeezed between two other big and fancy booths, this one had no gaudy sign written in every known form of light transportation, in fact, it had no sign.
The vendor behind it looked odd, as if he was sleeping as well as staring at Kas the whole time. And above all else, the table had no items, only a small oblong box sitting in the center of the table, with it's cover closed.

Kas slowly stepped forward, and as he did, the owner of the booth looked at him more and more intently. The vendor was a short stout being, with no hair and a few inhuman appendages growing out of his head. The hung down just like flesh hair, and looked like worms.

"And what can I do for you good sir"

He had a gravely smooth voice, and absolutely the best looking set of teeth that the Admiral had seen in years.

 I was wondering, what do you have to sell? Your booth seems to repel other people from coming to it due to it's ... appearance

"I have only what you see before you, and when that is gone I will never come back to this awful world again. The fact that you were able to come forward and look shows you meet one of the criteria that is required to purchase this..."

His voice ended there and Kas looked at him inquisitively. Criteria to purchase?

 What do you mean, criteria. I have to  earn the right to purchas this box?

The alien looked aghast, "no no no, you misunderstand, Anyone who wishes to purchas this box what is inside may do so at their leisure, but ... not many wish to do so..."
His voice trailed off, and he peered into Kas's eyes deeply. The next thing that came out of his mouth sent a jolt of fear through Kas.

"do the dreams come only at night, or have they advanced to the day time?"

Kas's head swirled, and he practically fell backward, a fear so great surged through him that he literally shot out into the crowd. He wouldn't have stopped running until he reached the spaceport if not for the inconvenient act of tripping over his own feet, and falling head first into the mud. The crowd parted around him without a murmur, and kept on walking.
The fear left rapidly, leaving Kas jittery. What would cause him to become so afraid? He didn't understand it, but his mind had begun to work the problem over. Standing and turning around, Kas moved toward the booth and it's strange vendor again.

"Ahhh, the ability to conquer the fear, if only because you left to quickly. Very good. So, the dreams have moved to attack you in the daytime, haven’t they."

 Yes, the last one was when I first came here, but since then I have had none in the daytime, and vary little at night. How do you know about this, has the same thing happened to you?

"no, no. Thankfully not. I... Now, do you wish to purchase this box, or do I wait for another."

Kas looked at the box. A plain wooden box, around 200cm long, shaped like a coffin. The only decoration was the latch, which was carved so exquisitely that he knew the value of it would be worth more than his Hapen BattleCruiser. Glancing at the vendor, he knelt and placed his hands on the box cover. A throb of energy pulsed through him, charging him with static electricity, raising the hair on his arms, and sending a sweeping calm through him.
His fingers crept toward the latch, with every centimeter the charge of electricity built, and the calm deepened. The silence around him was deafening, no voices, no footsteps, no breathing. One thumb touched the latch, and the charge in his body doubled, the calm deepening. The other thumb touched, and the charge again doubled, with the calm deepening.
With one thumb slowly pushing up, and one pushing down, the lock slowly opened. Kas looked up at he vendor, to find him no longer there.

click.

whoosh.

The static charge left Kas in a nanosecond, spreading out like a bomb burst in space. For three clicks all living beings got a static charge, at unpleasantly high amounts.

The box opened , and inside lay a long cylinder, one end slightly bulged.

click.

The box was closed, and the vendor's hand lay upon the top.

"You have purchased the box, leave quickly. The evil that haunts you is building, and it has felt what you just released.

Go now, leave this planet, for it will not be able to withstand the fury you will bring upon it."

Kas

4 6:34am 29/09/02

Internaut

Kass stood still as the vendor shoved the box into his hands, and then hazed. The vendor, his stall, and all the stall's around began to shift, wiggle and "phase" in and out. Then with a pop they were gone. Kas stood on the rocky soil of Vandelhiem with an ornate box in his hands, gapping. The beautiful city in which he had spent the last two weeks of his life enjoying was gone. All about him were rocks, rocks, and more rocks. The rolling meadows that had been visible to the north were nothing but a dune sea, and the glistening lake was nothing but a canyon covered in a low-growing lichen.
Kas stood, mouth open slowly turning around, and around, and around. He might have continued on like that forever, if it hadn/t been for the figure that appeared beside him. The man was short and stalky, with a look like he worked very hard.

"Come with me good sir, we have a place prepared for you. Do not be surprised, this happens all the time."

All the time? Kas followed the man dumbly, clutching the box.
They walked slowly to the east, to a cave opening. There the man instructed Kas to sit down, as he went off into the cave to fetch something for him to drink. When he returned Kas had awoken from his stupor slightly, and was able to drink the alcohol that he was offered. One gulp and it was down. Big mistake.
Thirty seconds later a bucket of cold water slammed into his head, and he awoke with a start.

"Most people do drink it all in one gulp, and most end up laid out just like you." The man sat down, and continued. "You're wondering why you're here. Well, it's like this. You arrived on our planet in a shuttle. You park the shuttle in out lot, and leave. You breathe in the air, and become intoxified. The air around here is filled with hlor4, and it induces illusions of incredible power unless you are used to it. Most people inhale it, and simply move in with us. They seem to be living in their own little world, which infact they are. We allow them to live here, and eventually their body becomes accustomed to the hlor4 and they come out of their stupor. It's a great shock to them, so from the beginning that they arrive, we assign a bodyguard to them to make sure that they don't truly go insane.
You had one of the most interesting illusions I have ever seen. Probably the most powerful that has ever happened. two days ago I saw you take a swim in the lichen sea. Not my idea of fun, it's incredible that you didn't snap out of the illusion then."

The man stopped, and looked Kas in the eyes, then for the first time, noticed the box.

"Hey, where'd that come from! You didn't have that when you left this morning. In fact, you didn't have it ten minutes ago!"

Kas looked down at the box, and slowly released it into the hands of the man. With the deft hands of a craftsman the figure opposite to Kas began to examine it. For around one minute, Kas heard him muttering about "Incredible" and "how does it open" and "Gahhhhhh". After that time, the man gave up.

"I don't know what it is. There's no latch or hinges or seam, so it can't be a box, but it sure looks like one."

For the first time Kas spoke,

 It is a box. You open it this way

He lifted the latch that he could see plainly and the box opened easily. The little man spoke, "Well I'll be ... I sure don't know how you did that." Inside the box was the cylinder. Kas lifted it out slowly, it's weight seeming to bear him to the ground. The cylinder was smooth, it's top a flat indent with a shiny mirror inside, the bottom ever so slightly bulged. It was perfectly smooth, with no lumps, switches, indents or grooves. Kas moved it around, examining the whole thing, from top to bottom. The man got up, and, still wondering where Kas has gotten that thing, walked back into the cave.

His voice echoed out from inside:
"Your ship is waiting for you in orbit, and your shuttle is ready. They have called twice already, seems there was some trouble and they need you. We told them that you were not available, that you had gone on a camping trip. If I were you I would get back as soon as possi..b..gghkk....Ahhhkkk.....nunggg.....gahhhhhhh...................................."

Not a sound came from inside the cave. The box fell from Kas's lap as he stood up, peering into the darkness.

 Hey, you all right in there? Hey! Hello?

Kas

5 6:50am 29/09/02

Internaut

The silence was deafening. Absolutely deafening. Kas took a step forward, still peering into the darkness. His hands moved on their own, slowly moving forward, grasping the cylinder, bulge down.
He crept to the opening of the tunnel, breathing softly, peering forward. Nothing. He crept even farther forward, still peering.

Then he felt it. A snaky slither feel, coming towards his upperleft shoulder. He dodged, moving slightly to the right, and down. The largest slimiest thing snapped out of the cave almost faster than he could see, reaching more than ten feet past where Kas stood. Kas continued his dodge with a crouch, moving to the right all the time. The slimy thing stopped, and pulled back into the cave at the same speed in which it had exited. As it left it passed right over Kas, who was not moving down and to the left. With a pow the thing returned to it's apparent home. Kas stood, his dodge having made a complete circle.

 Get your slimy hide back to where you came from, and give me the man

Apparently whoever was in there understood basic, because there was a gargling grunt, and the limp dead body of the short man came flying out. Kas ran over to him, but it was too late. His neck had been snapped, after his voice box had been ripped out. Kas looked him with remorse. He stood, and looked around. If what this man had said was true, he had spent the last two weeks following Kas around this desert waste. As he was looking around, he squeezed and rotated the cylender in his hand.

Pop, shoom....a soft hummmm fills the air...

The cylinder seemed to extend, lengthening its self to almost a yard. It emitted no light, and was almost totaly transparent. The only way Kas could tell that there was something there was the ripples in the air around it, they were almost frosty, it seemed to be cooling the air around it. He moved his hand to touch the new extended part, but stopped, remembering what he had seen Ren's saber do to a slab of duracrete that day he had been showing off. They had spent the next afternoon replacing the floor in Ren's garage. Kas moved toward a large rock hanging partially over a ledge, and swung at it. The blade's hum increased marginally, and Kas swung in a complete swipe. Rats, he must have missed.

Well, maybe not.

The rock gave a crack, and half of it fell off. Leaning over the edge Kas examined the cut.  Ahhhhh! COLD! The rock a foot away from the cut was cold enough to hurt. Kas picked up a lichen leaf, and touched it to the cut. The leaf disappeared, stem and all, leaving Kas to examine his now very cold fingers. The moment he stopped thinking about the cylinder, it shrunk again, turning to a simple heavy cylinder.
After examining his hand, and determining that it was all right, Kas again peered over the edge to the cut on the rock. No wonder it hadn't fallen all the way. The rock was larger across than the blade was long. The blade had only cut a swath three quarters the way across. The rest had... frozen and cracked...

He looked at the cylinder again, trying to figure out how he had ignited it. He squeezed, rotated, shook and twisted. Nothing. He was interrupted in his work by a gargling sound from the cave behind him. Turning, he felt that same slimy feel, and ducked the blow aimed at his head. The moment he stopped trying to physically light the cylinder, it lighted. He took advantage of the new length to block the return trip of the slimy projectile. He swung up and to the left, hitting it cleanly. There was a loud defining scream as a four foot section of slimy mass fell to the ground, cut at an angle from the velocity that it had had.
Standing, Kas looked at the thing.
Wait...
It was a tongue. There were taste buds all over it. A creature with a tong this size must be enormous. The blade had shut down when he stood, but ignited as Kas turned toward the cave. It seemed to know when it was needed. Normally this would have sent Kas to thinking, but not today. Today was just too weird. As Kas moved toward the cave, a hollow cavernous voice emitted.

"At long last you return to us. We have waited so long."

 Come out, now. No tricks, or I'll take your head off. Was he able to do that?

"Yes master, I come."

The owner of the creepy voice emerged. Tall and brawny, he was unlike any species Kas had ever seen. His head looked like a Twi'lek, but his body was humanoid, with a large amount of fur. He was also the owner of a long Tail, almost a duplicate of the two tails hanging off of head. He was light skinned, with dark body hair. He spoke again.

"It has been a long time master. Almost two hundred years. It is good to see you again. Although it was not necessary to injure the guardian in such a way. Now he will need to be sent to the infirmary for his weapon to grow out again. You seem to hurt him every time you arrive here."

 I don't know who you are. Who are you?

The man stood still, looking Kas over. His eyes swept up and down, looked at the cylinder in his hands, the grunted.

"So you have had a bump on your head. Come with me good sir, and we will fix you up with some stew quickly." The man passed his hand over in front of Kas's face, and suddenly stew sounded good.

Kas

6 7:07am 29/09/02

Internaut

Apparently the cave was only dark on the outside. As Kas followed the strange man in, it gradualy got lighter, and the air seemed to get fresher. The man skillfully led him throughout the maze of large boulders, and cracks. The cave was filled with them, as well as the ever present lichen. Looking up, Kas saw that the place had vaulted ceilings, and appeared to have been exquisitely carved at one time or another. He stopped once and began to examine the carvings on the left side of the cave; They were extremely exquisite, and they appeared to chronicle some sort of war here. There were thousands of them, all up and down the sides. He would have stayed longer, but his guide had mentioned stew, and he was waiting patiently. Kas new better than to make your host wait, and besides, stew sounded really good now.
They continued on, the Tall man in front, his three tails waiving in synchronization with his steps. The deeper they got, the more and more interesting and less cluttered the cave got. It gradually widened from 10m to around 25m, and the whole time the carvings continued along the side. Then came the doors. There were 5 of them, all at least two feet thick, and all made of immense slabs of stone.
Only one set was closed, and this the man opened easily, by grasping the center handle on the seam. He pulled, and both doors opened without a squeak. He motioned for Kas to enter, and this he did. The area he entered nearly floored him. The roof was over five hundred meters high, and was well over a click long. If Kas wasn't mistaken, he could easily house his ship here, if there was a door large enough. And even more incredible was the fact that the whole place was well lit, with thousands of torches along the wall, going down and up.

 How...how...how do you light those...all the way... He motioned up.

"It is not hard, we do it like so."

The man picked up a small stone. "Say this is a hot coal" He pulled his arm down, and then up, lofting the stone into the air. It flew up, and up, and up. Then, instead of falling like it was supposed to, it began to dart from torch to torch, almost moving too fast for Kas to follow.

"That is how we do it. It takes only ten minutes or so when five of us work at it in the morning. Come, we are almost there."

They again walked off, down the center of the enormous hall. Kas peered at the walls from where he was standing. Did his eyes deceive him, or was the walls here carved also? He looked at his guide, who seemed to read his mind. They drifted over the hundred meters to the side, and there Kas's suspicions were confirmed. The walls here were also carved. And even more exquisitely than of those in the tunnel. These carvings seemed to chronicle an enormous war of some kind, as there were thousands of little men running toward each other. Each man in the carvings were a meter high, and were each done with incredible detail. Looking around, Kas could not see any duplicates. He looked at his guide for an answer.

"No, there is no war detailed here. These are the resting places of our ancestors. Each is hand carved, in his own likeness. After the carving, the body is burnt. There are over two million carvings in this room, each done at a different time. It is the resting place of the chosen."

 I see. How old are these?

The first are over twenty thousand years old. They began the moment this fortress was begun. Come, we will tell you all about it later. Right now," His hand passed over Kas's face again "We have some stew waiting for you."

They continued their walk, this time along the side of the gallery, as Kas now thought of it. He looked at each of the carvings that he could, fascinated by the significance in their motion, in their direction. They were all facing down toward the end of the chamber, hands raised. What he had first thought of as warlike expressions were really... he didn't know what they were, but they almost looked adoring. The carvings were staked on top of each other, in rows. It looked like the entire building was covered in them, from top to bottom.

They had walked a quarter click down the gallery, and Kas had already seen hundreds of carvings. All faced toward the other end of the gallery, but Kas couldn't quite make out what was at the end. His stomach grumbled, and his guide laughed a short loud rumble. He looked down at Kas, smiled and then stopped.

"You really be hungry, this way."

They stepped to the right, and into a small door in the side of the gallery. This tunnel didn't have any carvings of people, but it was exquisite none the less. A short walk brought them to another door, which they opened, and entered.

Kas

7 7:21am 29/09/02

Internaut

The entered from the tunnel, into a smaller room, also well lit, and well lived in it seemed. Fourteen bunks lined the wall to the east on both sides of the door they had just entered. A roaring fire was lit in the north wall, surrounded by large kettles. Down the center of the room ran a large table, surrounded by ... 12 other beings. All of them had body hair, but none of them had the tails that the one Kas had followed in did. They were all eating, and only looked up long enough to acknowledge that the two had entered.

“fellow Mar’hutes, I present Kas Katta. He has had a bump on the head, and needs some stew” The man turned, and bowing slightly, continued. “Master Katta, I have been ever so rude. My name is Marcus, and I am the leader of these people. We are the Mar’hute, and we have protected this land from the miners of the surface for over five hundred years. What you have seen coming in here is but the beginning. We will begin to explain, but first you must have some stew. Please, sit down…”

Kas sat, at the end, next to one of the other … Mar’hute’s. He glanced to the side at him, then continued his eating. Kas placed the cylinder on the table, where it landed with an unexpected clunk. One of the Mar’hutes glanced up at the clunk, and stared, food slowly coming out of his mouth the wrong way. His two table partners angrily turned to him, complaining that he was splattering all over them, when they noticed that he was staring at the stranger. They followed his gaze, and then also froze, staring. In under ten seconds all but the leader were staring at the cylinder. The leader Marcus came up with Kas’s stew, and sat down opposite to him, placing the stew in front of Kas.

“There, eat. Pay no attention to them, they have not seen a stranger in years.”

Riiiight thought Kas. They didn’t look at me when I came in, but they seem to be very interested in the cylinder. He turned, ignoring them, and began to eat.

At the first spoonful, a blow slammed from the front of his head, knocking him a full four feet back, sending him sliding across the floor. A voice hissed from across a void, burning through Kas's brain, into his heart.

 Welcome home "Katta"

The black passed from his eyes, and he sat up. All were standing looking at him with reverence, some with fear. The one that had been sitting next to him was holding the cylinder in one hand, looking at Kas. He spoke.

"Prove yourself Pu'ti. Call it to yourself, light the blade."

Kas looked at him, then at the cylinder. "What did he mean "Pu'ti", and call it to myself?" Kas thought. He couldn't ignite unless he was holding it. Upon that thought it promptly ignited in the man's hand, making him jump. Kas started, he hadn't done that... or had he.
Call it? It floated to him, turning, sliding into his hand. The blade disappeared, and Kas stood.

Marcus? Marcus? What happened?

Marcus came forward with Kas's stew.

"Here, have more stew. It will help you to remember. Pu'ti."

Kas took another spoonful, and again the voice called from the void of his lost memory. The room went black, and he felt himself falling.

 So you made it home "Katta". It seems we have some remembeing to do. Pu'ti.

 What is this Pu'ti stuff? Who are you? Where are you?

Kas stood in the center of a black void. His hand grasped the cylinder, and all around him was black. A weak light had formed around him, lighting the floor ever so slightly. The voice continued from all sides.

 I am what has been Pu'ti. I am the generations that have gone before, and soon you will join me. You are Pu'ti, the leader. You are the present, in mind only.

 Show yourself coward! Let me see you. 

 That would not do Pu'ti, unless you wish to join us already.

 Join you? Who are you? Where Is this? Why are you keeping me here?

 You have no memory of your past, is that not correct?
You are the Pu'ti, the leader.
The men you saw are the Mar'hute.
They are the keepers, the protectors.
The place you are in in body is your domain, on your planet.
Your race is of the Mar'hute.
But you are the Pu'ti, the leader, the origional, the first, the forever.
You are old.
You have had more names and pasts than we care to mention.
We are the past of you.
Presently you are Kas Katta, that is the name you have chosen for yourself, that is your identity.
Our origion is not known.
The first of us ceased to speak long before we came.
He is here,
but will not tell us of the past.
The planet you are on is our home,
the palce you are in is the home.
The gallery is Mar'hute, their resting place.
You did not see the end of the gallery,

look now.

The light around Kas increased, and grew, brighter and brighter, blinding him. His eyes opened, and he saw wood. The fire roared in his ears, and he turned. He was lying in one of the bunks, all alone in the room. Sliding out of the bunk he looked around. No one was here, so he moved to the door. His hand automatically moved to his side, looking for his shard. It was not there. There it was. It floated to him, and he locked it into place.
He stood still with his hand on the cylinder. shard, that what it was called. shard, "Blade of Ice". He frowned. He was beginning to remember.

Kas

8 7:23am 29/09/02

Internaut

Kas strapped his shard to his belt, somehow it stayed there, even though there was no hook or magnet on the thing. He walked out through the open door, and into the Gallery. There was no one about that he could see. The Gallery was lit well still, the torches hadn't burned down a bit. He heard voices at the end of the gallery, so he headed down that way. As he went he studied the carvings on the wall. They were very well done, all portraying a man or woman with raised hands, and a ... well, it looked like a humble look now. every now and then he ran across one with the tails that Marcus had, but not too often. The voices grew louder, and he glanced up. There were the men he had seen before, all seeming to be working on something on the wall. He quickened his pace, and soon met up with them.
He stood to the side, waiting for them to notice him. He studied what they were doing...they were carving in the wall! The face looked frillier... yes, it was. It was the one who had challenged him to prove himself.

What happened?

They turned, and bowed, which he returned. Marcus spoke.

"When you fell the second time, he... he took the shard. It killed him."

Kas looked at the thing on his belt. It seemed to 'hum' with consent.

I am sorry. I do not understand yet what has happened here.

"That is all right Pu'ti. You should go to the end of the gallery now. That is where you were headed, was it not?"

Yes.

He turned, and continued on his way. Drawing the shard, he examined it. How had this "thing" killed a man. It didn't have a mind of it's own.

Are you sure of that?

Maybe not. He neared the end of the gallery, still looking at the cylinder, or shard as it was called. He glanced at the wall, the carvings had changed slightly. These people were ... different somehow. More... regal... in some way. He stopped to examine them more closely. They had a softer look to them, and all looked like they possessed great power. Turning, he gaped. Before him was an enormous statue. How he could have missed it before was beyond him, but there it was. It stood 50m in height, and was in the likeness of that of a man. His left hand outstretched, his right grasping a . a .. a shard. The shard. The man looked …. . Kas stepped back to get a better view.

No wonder it looked firmiler, it was him.

You see? This has been here for more millennia than anyone knows. This is a planet that possesses great power in the air. In the rocks. In it's people. The Mar'hute are dying, almost none are left. You have been absent, and they are dying. The outsiders are mining out the planet, taking away the air, and the rocks. What the outsiders call "hlor4" is really part of you. It has been getting weaker and weaker, and the Mar'hute can not live without it.
Katta, you must take back this planet, you must drive out the outsiders. The Mar'hute need you, the planet needs you. We cannot force you to, but we promise that the nightmares will go away if you do.
Katta, you are the leader of the Mar'hute. You could be the oldest creature in the galaxy. You have never died, you have always triumphed. Your shard is part of you as well. We are your memories. The longer you stay here, and live on the planet, the more you will remember, and the more whole you will become.

C4 sith hunter

9 6:27am 04/10/02

Internaut

OOC: Entering in to this story with events from this previous thread.

pub33.ezboard.com/fswalli...=479.topic

IC:

The droid C4 and Zed Nine had taken their investigations into the terrorist bombings to a back water planet that had recent reports of magicians lurking about the planet. C4 him self thought nothing of it. But the Law droid Zed-nine thought other wise. There were instances of people on the planet reporting seeing beings that flew through the air with out a repulsor unit.

They were marked as insane or simply folk lore. Of which this planet appears to be rife with. Legends of ancient wizards and gods perferat the planet.

The Star saber class ship serves to carry the trio of droids to the planet in question. The star saber had a docking bay that managed to hold their respective ships the Law patrol craft that was Zed's and the Modified trillion aggressor that was C4's.

Zed stood on the bridge with the Bounter hunter droid. "C4 did you manage to get docking clearance?"

The droid turns his matalic head in the law droids general direction. "Of course, The Endor is docking under the Name of Mr. Sablacan. A human bussiness man in a VC subdiary."

Zed spun on his matallic heal, bringing the weight of his trench coat to bear and snap like a wipe in the air. Of witch their was little on board. Only enough to keep basic systems working at optimal abilities. The ship was built for humans not droids. So all of the equipment work best in an atmosphere.

"You used a fake name to get us on planet?!" He sounded insulted.

"Yes we are going into enemy territory So we have to be sure that they do not see us comeing." C4 responds.

The law droid feels his logic circuts turning. He knows that the Crab armored droid is right. But breaking the law is breaking the law. It is againest his programing to think other wise.

K7-9 the Dog like guardian droid barks at the two from behind. He has been having some problems with some of the R2 and R5 units that survice the ships systems. The head strong droids and the Dog like droid had been getting into some predicaments. The droids wanted to work in peace but the curious droid dog went with his dog like instinctual programing and explored the ship getting in the way of the little cylyndric droids. They at one time tried to dismantle him for getting in their way. But they ceased that behavior once they found out that the droid was carriing a live belly laser. The dog almost fried the internal circuttry on two of them before Zed got Kseven under control.

The ship came to a landing at the space dock.

Kas

10 8:00pm 04/10/02

Internaut

So, oldest being in the galaxy, got a load of devoted servants, a planet that lives off of my brain waves, and a group of crazy people living in my brain. Oh, can't forget the ice saber. And I can't be dreaming, because... well...
He lighted the shard with a thought. It's almost totally transparent blade crystallized the air around it, humming quietly. He lifted it, and then stabbed it into the ground with all his strength. It penetrated the age old stone with ease, and cracks began to form all around him, spreading up, and down, away and forward. He withdrew the saber, and examined the damage. A small hole less than a millimeter across perforated the floor, and all around it was a network of fine spider hairs. Larger cracks had formed up to 15 feet away, and all were from the intense cold.
His feet ached already, and he moved off of the cold spot. It was still cold enough to burn the skin right off of your hand.

 you have got to be kidding me. This can't be happening.

He looked up, at the huge statue in front of him. A statue of himself, looking commanding and regal. The shard in the statues hand matched the one in Kas's exactly. The face, and the body structure matched Kas exactly also. He stood there looking up for several minutes, searching for some difference in appearance. His hand rubbed the back of his neck, easing some of the tension that raced through his body. As he rubbed, he felt the scar on the back of his neck. It spread from the top base of his skull down the middle of his back, to the middle of the small of his back. It had been there for as long as he could remember, almost like a spine. The doctors had said it was most definitely a scar, and they were puzzled on how he could have survived a wound that most certainly would have split his spine from top to bottom.
On a hunch he began to look for a way to climb the statue. There was nothing around, no way to get up.

 Marcus! Come here please.

In a moment the man arrived, breathing slightly louder than before.

 Do you think you could lift me to the top of the statue? Or maybe just the shoulder?

"It would take several of us to do that master, but it can be done. Or you could just hop up yourself. That is what you used to do when you needed to address all of us at once. I will get some of the stronger ones, and we will lift you."

The man left, going into a door at the side of the Gallery. The door shut, leaving no trace that it had ever been there. Kas looked at it, and then walked forward. He touched the wall in the way that Marcus had, and a door opened. He moved his hand, and it shut. He moved to the side, and pushed on the stone. Nothing happened, and nothing happened when he pounded on the door. Stepping back, he pursed his lips, and thought.

 This place must be filled with doors, passages and catacombs. The doors are hidden, the only one I've seen besides this one is the one that leads to the Mar'hutes sleeping room. If ...

The door in front of him opened, jolting Kas out of his reflection. Marcus appeared with three other men, all sporting the fuzzy hair/fur that they all seemed to have. Marcus motioned for them to stand under the statue, and they all came. The four Mar'hute circled around Kas, and joined hands. The bowed their hands, paused. Then the raised their joined hands, and Kas found himself hurtling through the air, straight up. He cleared the 50 meter statue easily, going up at least 70 meters. He began to fall, but his speed slowed down smoothly, allowing him to land upon the head of the statue easily. He stood still, catching his breath before looking over the edge of the head down to the floor.
The Mar'hute were separated now, and all looked up at Kas. He motioned his thanks, and shouted down.

 That was incredible!

Shouting was a mistake, for the moment he opened his mouth the sound seemed to amplify a hundred times. The Mar'hute winced visibly, and Kas heard his voice reflect back at himself from the other side of the gallery. It was indeed loud. "This statue must some how have a PA system built in" he thought.

 Sorry

They nodded their assent, and stepped back so as to see him better.
Kas moved back, looking at the hair of the statue, combed in the same manner in which he did his. He walked the perimeter of the head, before noticing that it would be easy to slide down to the ear on the left side, and from their move out to the palm of the outstretched hand. He sat down, and eased over the edge, down to the ear. He planted his foot securely in the lobe, and then took the drop down to the shoulder. From there the footing was easier, as the shoulder appeared to have been built to walk on. The stone folds in the robe the statue was wearing were smoothed, and there was a meter wide pathway all the way up the arm. This pathway couldn't be seen from the ground, so it must be so some one could walk on it. No duh, its' for walking. Well...
He walked out along the arm, feeling less and less secure as he did so. The height was tremendous, and there was nothing to break his fall if he did fall. If this had been outside, he was sure that he would have been blown off. Progress was made though, and soon he was standing in the palm, which was not smoothed out. He looked around, and down at the four Mar'hute on the ground. He decided to test the sonic capabilities of this room, or statue.

With a whisper, he spoke.  Hello? Can you hear me? His voice barley above a breath, and they nodded.
Slightly louder, he spoke.  How is that possible? How could you hear me. They looked at each other , and seemed to converse among each other. Then the three other Mar'hute gathered around Marcus, and lowered their heads. Their hands lifted, and Marcus shot up, up and closer to Kas on the hand. But this time it was different, he would not clear the statue as Kas had; he barley made it.
Marcus came up, right next to Kas, his three tails waving in the air, as his velocity began to reverse. Kas reached out and grabbed his hand, pulling him on to the palm with him. Marcus let all his breath out in one whoosh.

"I didn't think they would be able to make it up here. Thank you for pulling me on."

 No problem. Now, what can you tell me about this ... sound amplification ability that this statue seems to have.

"It's not just the statue. It's the room as well. You created it, don't you remember?"

 No, I don't. And I still don't think it is me. This statue is thousands of years old, and I am only 28 standard years old. It couldn't possibly be me. And... I have proof. Look

He turned, and pulled his shirt off, his back to the Mar'hute.

"Sir, the statue also has a scar just like that. You have had that scar longer than this planet has been in existence. I have only lived for four hundred standard years, but I have studied the ancient writings, and have read the carvings."

Kas stood with his shirt off, unbelieving for a moment. How could this statue have the same scar that he had?

 Show me.

>>>1234