His sister stood up. "It is the item that allows his Dark Side Spirit to remain linked to the world of the living. We do not know exactly what his spirit anchor is; we only know that it is likely an item of strong personal significance to Daedon, and thus connected to him in some way. Beyond that, we know nothing, and can be certain of even less."
Jedi Master Caira Xard looked up. "Master Juri. Would you be willing to go on this mission?"
Navichan looked hesitant. A dim unease filled her; did she really want to risk her unborn child on a world deep in Daedon's territory? But finding the anchor was paramount to destroying Daedon's spirit. She had to, no matter what the risk.
"I'll go."
"I shall go as well, to help defend Master Juri," said Botani Ulte, a wandering Jedi who had joined the Order only a few weeks before. Botani knew she was with child, and he would do everything he could to protect them both.
"Good, good," Marsyas said. Edyn looked lost in thought, and Caira wore a look of concern on her face.
Seventeen-year-old Millennia Tolan raised her hand and sat up in her chair. "I want to go, too."
"Well," Caira said, "though you are not a Jedi, you are skilled in the ways of the Force. If you wish to volunteer, and Master Juri will have you, then you may go."
Navichan nodded. Millennia lowered her hand and sat back again, satisfied for now.
Botani Ulte looked at Master Juri, and then Master Xard. "If Daedon's spirit form appears, we will need some way to counter him long enough to escape."
"We should ask our new friends if they will help." Caira turned to Master Drega, co-founder of the Castigarian Jedi, the so-called Jedi Centurions.
Drega looked deadly serious. "The Sword of Light will be of aid on this mission. I will go, personally."
"It's settled then," Caira said with a tone of finality. "You should leave as soon as you are ready. May the Force be with you."
Botani Ulte's door chimed. "Come in."
"Umm, sir, umm, Master Xard wants to see you."
Botani looked up. One of the Twi'lek children stood in his doorway, carrying an expectant look. "Yes, young Padawan. I will follow."
The youngster led the Jedi Knight to Caira Xard's office, through the open door. Awaiting him was Caira Xard and the female Wookiee, Fror. Next to the Wookiee stood a protocol droid.
"Botani. The Padawan Fror has come to me with a request."
The Wookiee growled and grumbled for several seconds. "My furry friend here says that she wants a new master," the protocol droid translated. "She says that while Marsyas does a fine job, there is too great a language barrier between them."
Botani understood the Wookiee, even before the droid explained. He had suspected this might occur, but had hoped to deal with it after the mission.
He turned to Caira.
"I have never trained a Padawan before, Master Xard."
She smiled. "That is reason enough that you should consider it."
"What about Marsyas?"
"My son will understand."
Botani stood in thought for a moment. He was unsure. Could he? Dare he?
The Wookiee growled again. Botani understood. "You are right, young Wookiee," he replied. "We shall learn from each other." He turned back to Caira and nodded. "I shall take this Padawan under my wing, and train him as I myself was trained."
Caira smiled as only she could. "Bring your Padawan on this mission to Bakura, Master Ulte. May the Force be with you, both."
The team arrived on Bakura without incident; Drega's shuttle was well-masked, and had no problem penetrating the sensors on the planet. Hiding the ship in the wilderness, the team of five made its way to the city. Using techniques they had all been practicing, they shielded their connection to the Force, to hide their presence from the Sith. Hopefully, it would be enough.
"We should try to gather some information," Millennia said. "The people here might know something about his origins."
After a while, they learned a few things about Daedon's upbringing. Expecting to learn of some particular item he was known for while growing up, instead they learned of his father's tendency to take away any items the young Daedon would ever enjoy. The team was getting nowhere.
"Wait, maybe we are going about this the wrong way," Navichan said, as the team paused in a quiet alley of the city.
"How do you mean, Master Juri?"
"Edyn's files on Dark Side Spirits mentioned that particularly vain spirits could be attached to their own corpses."
"Maybe we should see if he was buried here," Millennia offered.
A quick search found a great family crypt, not far from the palace. The group stood several hundred meters away. They learned that Daedon had been buried in full Sith armor, but his lightsaber was not buried with him. Navichan reached out in the Force to see what was in the crypt.
Suddenly, Navi cried out in pain, as she was overcome by a wave of Dark Side energy. The Daedon family crypt was strong in the Dark Side, and re-establishing her connection with the Force exposed Navichan to its full effects.
Botani moved to catch her as she stumbled. She held her head for a moment, then cut herself off from the Force again. The effects subsided.
"Dark Side energy," Navichan said.
"This place, it is strong with the Dark Side. We should all keep our connection to the Force as limited as possible. Fror, Millennia, can you manage that?"
The Wookiee growled her acknowledgement. Millennia nodded as she gripped her disk-blade under her cloak; without the Force to imbue it, she was better off firing a blaster. Still, the disk-blade's presence in her hand comforted her.
"If we cannot reach out in the Force to check the mausoleum, we must enter," Ulte said.
The group moved up closer. The area was quiet and deserted.
Navi walked to the large stone door. She put her weight against it and tried to push it in. It did not budge. She silently cursed the fact she could not simply use the Force to open the door, while the Wookiee walked up beside her and, with one quick lunge, burst the door open.
Inside it was dim. A feeling of unease, present to the group since coming near the crypt, grew stronger. The walls were filled with coffin after coffin. The group split up and began searching the crypt.
"This one was most assuredly the most recent coffin added," Botani said after a few minutes. On the end of the row, it was there, next to a few open spaces on the shelves.
The Wookiee growled. Everyone turned to face her. "What did you find, Fror?" Botani asked.
The Wookiee pointed towards the front of the crypt. There was an altar there, a stone slab large enough for a person. On the altar, small enough to be missed--were it not for the perceptive Wookiee--was a small piece of metal jewelry. It looked like a necklace.
Navi began taking holographs of everything in the mausoleum. "We can look these over later," she said.
"What about this...talisman?" Botani asked her.
She was unsure. Should they take it with them? Destroy it? They hadn't even tried touching it yet.
"I don't think we should touch it," she said. "It is probably dangerous."
"But Master Juri, what if this is his anchor?"
"Hmm. Then I'm not sure what we should do."
Master Drega of the Centurions, quiet until this point, spoke up. He had been keeping an eye on the doorway, but heard the discussion in the background. "Master Juri, do you want me to pick up the item?"
"Yes," she said, without hesitation. She wasn't sure from where in her that word had come from.
"The Centurions know no fear." Drega strode up to the altar, and picked up the metal trinket. He stood still for a moment, looking closely at it. "I feel no harmful effect from this object."
"Good," Navi said. "But I'm not sure whether we should try to destroy it..." she trailed off.
The group stood silent for a minute. Two minutes. Finally, Drega tossed the talisman back on the altar. "Frankly, I do not know how you Jedi ever decide anything. Should I destroy it or not?"
"Fine," said Navi. "Just do it."
Drega ignited his weapon. In one swift stroke he sliced the altar, and the talisman on it.
"There, it has been--what?"
The altar was sliced in two, directly underneath the talisman. The talisman was unharmed.
Navi sighed. They couldn't destroy it. "I think we need to leave now." She began walking out.
The Wookiee picked up the amulet, and growled at Ulte. He nodded. If they couldn't destroy it here, they should take it with them. If it wasn't Daedon's anchor, the Jedi could at least study it, and learn more about the Sith.
They left the mausoleum.
Awaiting them outside were four skeletal droids, some 30 meters away. Sith battle droids.
"Oh, crap!" Millennia said.
Before the Jedi could even act, they heard the snap-hiss of lightsabers behind them. Four of them, wearing Sith armor. They ran at the group of Jedi. The battle was on.
The four armored Sith charged Navi, Botani, Millennia, and Fror. Swing, miss, swing, miss, swing, miss, swing, miss. One took a passing attack at Drega as he ran by the Centurion, but Drega's uncanny reflexes allowed him to dodge it easily.
The Wookiee ignited her lightsaber and growled a question at Botani. "Defend yourself, Fror!" her master responded, igniting his own in turn. Botani reflexively adopted a defensive posture, ready to strike his opponent upon his opponent's attack. The Wookiee held her lightsaber in one hand and the talisman in the other, and, following her master's example, defended as best she could, dodging and weaving between her opponents' attacks.
Navichan pulled out her lightsaber and activated it in one swift movement, then sidestepped her foe's attack and countered, one, two, three attacks, battering down her foe's defenses.
The battle droids pointed their blasters at the group. Millennia cursed her lack of Force-imbued weapon, then stepped back from her attacker and pulled out her blaster. She fired at one of the droids, hitting it, knocking it to the ground, deactivated.
Just as Millennia stepped back, Drega charged forward. He leaped up into the air, doing a forward somersault while drawing his weapon, activating it with a loud snap-hiss. He landed behind the confused Sith, who turned around just in time to parry the attack, which came frighteningly close.
A sound came from the mausoleum. Standing atop it was another Sith, old and decrepit-looking. He had some sort of device on his arm, some sort of gauntlet, which he pointed at Botani Ulte. Suddenly, a blast of dark energy shot out of the gauntlet, striking the ground near Botani. Another blast missed as Botani tumbled to the side, and then he blocked a third with his lightsaber as he regained his stance. The other Sith continued attacking Botani with his lightsaber, slashing at him from the side. Instinctively, Botani parried the blow and counterattacked, a near miss.
Fror remained on the defensive. Her opponent attacked her, slashing once, twice, almost striking the Wookiee, who was beginning to look tired. A third slash from above caught the Wookiee unawares, striking her just at her collarbone.
Suddenly, Fror felt the talisman in her hand begin to vibrate. Somehow, the lightsaber stopped before slicing her shoulder. A surge of energy from the talisman filled her, and with shock, Fror realized that she was unharmed.
The Sith fighting her looked shocked as well. He stepped back and attempted to strike the Wookiee with the Force. The amulet hummed again, and she was unharmed.
The figure atop the crypt jumped down. He moved to Botani and drew a crimson lightsaber, attacking the Jedi from behind. Botani kept his defensive stance, focusing all his concentration on blocking both opponents' attacks.
As the Sith droids fired their blasters, Millennia dove towards the crypt entrance for cover. Two shots hit stone, one struck the inside of the crypt, barely missing her. She fired back, two shots, missing one and hitting another. The Sith droid fell. Two left.
Meanwhile, Navichan continued battering her opponent's defenses down, as he began stepping back, looking for better positioning. Suddenly, Navi's opponent slipped on a rock and lost his balance, and Navi's attack connected with the helmet of his armor. The helmet did not save him. Though it resisted the lightsaber, Navi sliced through it and decapitated the Sith with a well-placed attack. Not even pausing to watch him fall, she stepped over to the Sith attacking Fror and engaged him.
Fror stepped back, confused by the power of the talisman she held. She glanced at Drega. He was running towards the figure previously atop the crypt, after bisecting his previous opponent at the waist before anyone realized it.
Drega maneuvered behind the more powerful Sith. "Witness the Sword of Light," he said calmly, as the minor Sith Lord turned to face him. Drega attacked, and the Sith Lord parried one, two, three swings. The forth one came close, as the Sith Lord turned his body at the last second to avoid Drega's blade.
Botani stepped sideways, away from Drega's fight with the minor Sith Lord. He shifted his defensive posture, leaning forward as he attacked. His Sith opponent barely dodged one attack, then parried the other two. He counterattacked, and Ulte blocked one, two, three attacks, counterattacking after the last parried slash. This time, he felt his lightsaber strike the Sith armor, as sparks flew. His opponent was tiring; Botani need only keep his defenses up a little longer.
Navichan moved between the Sith and Fror, attacking. The Sith parried one attack, barely dodged the second, then blocked a third with his armored off-hand. The Sith counterattacked, but Navi effortlessly knocked each lightsaber strike astray, as they did not come close to hitting her. She slashed again, this time connecting, striking the Sith armor with three quick hits. Sparks flew as the armor absorbed the brunt of the hits, but it was enough; with a muffled groan, the Sith collapsed, unconscious.
Dodging more blaster shots, Millennia fired again. One hit, two hits. The remaining droids fell. She held her blaster at the ready, keeping her eye out for any others.
Botani's opponent attacked him again. The attack came close, but at the last moment, Botani raised his lightsaber to parry it. He was a master of turning his opponents' attacks against them, and counterattacked as he parried the blade. He missed. Perhaps he still had much to learn.
The time for defense was over. Botani shifted his stance completely, into a full attack position. He slashed horizontally, hitting the armor, and then whirled around, stabbing the blade under his arm through his opponent's chest, using the momentum of his spin to strengthen the attack. The Sith armor was not enough. Holding the lightsaber in place, Botani whirled back to face his foe and pulled it out. His Sith opponent collapsed to his knees, then fell down on his chest and lay still. He was dead.
The other Jedi watched as Drega continued attacking the minor Sith Lord. The Sith slashed at him, but Drega dodged the attack. Then, Drega stepped back and threw his lightsaber at the Sith Lord's head. The Sith Lord moved his lightsaber up to parry the thrown weapon, when Drega crouched low and pounced at the Sith Lord. At the last moment, though, the Sith Lord realized what he was doing and, ignoring the lightsaber, brought up the strange gauntlet to block the unarmed attack. Drega's lightsaber fell behind the Sith Lord, and deactivated.
"I have you now, Jedi," the Sith Lord said in a thin, raspy voice. "Fear me!"
"There is no fear," Drega replied. He moved into a Teras Kasi stance and focused all his energy into one strike. He hit the Sith armor, making a loud gong sound, almost like a bell.
The Sith Lord fell. His helmet rolled off his head; his face was bloody. The attack had damaged him through his Sith armor.
Drega walked over and retrieved his lightsaber.
"I think we need to leave now," Navi said. She began walking off.
The other Jedi followed. The shuttle was hidden not far from town; they could reach it quickly, and get off-planet.
"Are you okay, Fror?" Botani asked.
The Wookiee said nothing.
Edyn sat, examining the talisman. She was in the library, surrounded by those who had gone to Bakura to retrieve it.
"Do you think this could be the anchor?" Botani asked.
"There is little way to be sure. It is a protective talisman, a powerful one at that. You say it saved Fror's life?"
The Wookiee growled an affirmative. Botani nodded.
"The only way to know for sure is to destroy it," Edyn said. "But we may want to study it first."
"Very well," Navi said. "But be careful."
The other Jedi all walked out, leaving Edyn the artifact. She turned to the Great Holocron, and began to focus. Perhaps the Jedi of the past could once more help her understand the present.
The Great Holocron began to glow...