Maul looked at the other in surprise, “You have ships. I thought you’re technology was lost and that you have progressed backwards.”
“We retained spaceflight. We just don’t leave our sector and involve ourselves on galactic matters anymore like our ancestors used to.” Yn explained.
“I see. How can you maintain your spaceflight technology? I scanned the sector in my ship on my way here and didn’t detect any foundries, not even electricity.” Maul bit the cooked meal and it tasted great.
“There are shipyards in our moons, underground and the shale rocks of our moons serves as a deterrent to even the most modern and sophisticated scanning technology the galaxy has to throw at us.”
“You have shipyards, how do you maintain them? I don’t think any of your worlds is that self-sufficient, who’s trading with you?” Maul pressed as he devours his food.
“We have droid foundries deep beneath this very land. We are founded by the Banking Guild and the Trade Federation.” Yn admitted.
“How could a mere old farmer such as you know all of these?” Darth Maul finished his meal and stood up and unclipped his lightsaber glaring at the other.
“I was once a General. I used to lead my warriors to battle, to war…” Yn’s red orb glittered in reminisce.
“You didn’t stumble upon me by happenstance Yn Nyrel. Who are you really? Tell me the truth.” Darth Maul growled and ignited only one end of his lightsaber.
“You can’t handle the truth about me Lord Maul, not yet. Lord Sidious told me you are not yet ready for such revelations.” Yn Nyrel slowly stood up, somehow he seemed to loom larger than earlier, his old age dissipated before his eyes and a young primed Adnaran now stood before him.
“You know my Master? What are you talking about?” Maul gripped his weapon in confusion and anger. He’s been tricked by his master again. Lord Sidious are in contact with the Adnarans after all.
“I feel the raw hatred in you. Use it, it is the way of the Sith.” Yn’s voice pitched deeper and had gone more resonating. The fire between them slowly flickered into fading light.
Yn Nyrel took something out from his tunic it was a long stick that resembles a dead preserved snake with exoskeleton.
Darth Maul was surprised to see a coruscating red beam lanced out from the end of the snake stick. It was a lightsaber after all.
“I am Lord Yn Nyrel. I am the King of the Adnaran. Grovel at my feet, Sith Acolyte.” Nyrel hissed and bared his needle sharp fangs.
“I grovel at no one.” Maul’s entire body tensed in readiness.
Yn Nyrel let out a bellow of mocking laughter.
“You dare mock Darth Maul, Dark Lord of the Sith.” Maul gritted his teeth and leaped, lightsaber spinning and blazing.
The Adnaran king was still laughing when Maul felt himself being tossed away in mid-air like a rock and landed several meters away.
Maul stood up at once and could barely see where Yn Nyrel was, the fire he made has already died and Maul was once again blinded. He can only discern those illuminated by his own blade. Of the other’s lightsaber he could not see at all, Yn Nyrel must have closed it.
“The time for fighting me has not yet come for you little apprentice. You have much to learn. The Staff of Vision I will grant to you. I left it perched atop the temple at the center of Aspacia. I have awakened my warriors and they guard it with their life. Fight your way through them, get the Staff and fight your way out. Only the worthy can take the Staff of Vision away from its maker.” Yn Nyrel’s voice echoed in the darkness.
Darth Maul frowned. Only the worthy can take the Staff of Vision from its maker. Its maker! Darth Maul’s mind raced, Darth Venomous was the maker of the staff. He was dead for thousands of years.
Maul scanned the pitch black night expecting to see Yn Nyrel emerging like a harbinger of death. But he didn’t show himself.
Yn Nyrel is Darth Venomous! Maul shook the absurdity of it but somehow it felt true. Then he turns his attention on what Yn Nyrel has said. His target was waiting for him up there, guarded by probably millions of warriors. Darth Maul calmed his storm and waited for the white sun to rise.
At dawn he will attack.
Chapter 17: The Order of the Sanctuary
Captain Panaka landed the airspeeder at the edge of the Kadalaran Archipelago on an island called Magga Cove.
Sabé and Panaka then helped the astromech droid out of the airspeeder and placed him on the ground.
“What now?” Panaka asked Sabé.
“What I must do is to blindfold you and deactivate the droid because the location of the Monastery must not be discovered by people… and droids… outside the Order of the Sanctuary. Obviously I can’t do both if I am to lead you two there. I can’t carry the droid and at the same time lead you there blindfolded therefore I must ask you to make an Oath of Secrecy. As for the droid, we can wipe out his memories later.” Sabé said.
“Tell me about this Oath of Secrecy first.” Panaka took their thick fur coats from the airspeeder.
“It is a binding promise never to reveal the way to the Monastery even in the face of death.” Sabé explained.
“Alright I can do that.” Panaka nodded.
As Sabé make Panaka take the Oath of Secrecy, Artoo Detoo retrieves every data he has in storage regarding the Kadalaran Archipelago especially the maps. There were no records of any Monastery or mention of the Order of the Sanctuary in his database. He then extracted his sensor dish from his dome and made a wide arcing sweep of the area and recorded a live holomapping procedure.
Artoo compressed and compiled the new input data and compared it to the existing map in his memory and found minor changes mostly through the regular minute continental drift. He spotted one notable difference only from the new map. There was a structure by the center of the largest island on the center of the Kadalaran, its existence possibly erased from the official records long before the Time of Peace even began. Artoo logged in the coordinates and hid it in deep storage.
When Captain Panaka was done making the Oath of Secrecy, Artoo had long returned his sensor dish back inside him.
“There is a canoe hidden by the ridge down there, we will use it to get to Kaboola Island.” Sabé pointed down the slope.
“Let’s go Artoo.” Captain Panaka waved at the astromech droid as he started to follow Sabé on the descent.
Captain Panaka gunned the engines and they sailed across the cold waters of the Kadalaran. All around them, islands of varying shapes and sizes slowly sailed past them. Sabé sat at the front looking ahead and around her as if expecting something to leap out from the nearby shores and attack them. Artoo Detoo was perched at the center, his dome rotating constantly, taking in on the surrounding and occasionally making readings and scans for life forms. All he detected were small birds, critters and fishes.
A mountain loomed ahead and Sabé turn to address her companions, “The Kaboola volcano. We are close.” She announced.
The island proved farther than Panaka estimated because it took them half an hour to reach the shores. Moments later they were already walking through the snow covered forest of the Kaboola Island.
“Stay close to me, Captain set your blaster to kill. We are entering the panther region and they are violently territorial.” Sabé warned them.
Artoo let out a moan and huddled close to the two humans. Panaka kept looking behind him, aiming his blaster as Sabé took the lead with her own blaster at hand.
They have gotten halfway through the panther region when the first sign of the predators finally appeared. Up the crest of a hill to their right they heard the crunching of ice as several growling Kaboola panthers began to track their progress.
Three panthers came out of the other side and walked down the hill to stand behind Panaka some five meters away.
“Don’t engage them yet. Sometimes they just observe passersby, albeit as rare as such comes to around these regions.” Sabé whispered.
“And when they’re not
observing?” Panaka asked softly.
“They feast.” Sabé answered casually.
“They feast. Now I feel better.” Panaka rolled his eyes and fidgeted on his blaster.
“Just keep walking.” Sabé hissed. Artoo moaned silently and counted about a dozen Kaboola panthers already surrounding them, hidden. After a full minute of slow walk another three panthers came out from hiding and blocked Sabé’s path. The others exposed themselves as well and Panaka soon saw that they have been surrounded. The Kaboola panthers were larger than the narglatch and far more deadly.
“I don’t think they will settle for the observing part anymore.” Panaka muttered.
“Leave that to me.” Sabé took off her fur coat and took out her robes revealing her almost naked body in the cold. She was wearing a primitive tribal metal bikini similar to what Panaka have seen in his days on Tolan when he encountered the Hutts for the first time and saw slave dancers in revealing metal bikinis but Sabé was wearing a different one, it was both enticing and menacing. There was a touch of ferocity in the carvings and design. She looks more ominous than alluring. The pack leader sniffed and grunted at his pack and one by one they left them alone.
“What did just happen? They don’t like beautiful women?” Panaka asked and tried to make light of the situation.
“Oh they like beautiful women alright.” Sabé smiled and the ominous aura in her vanished in that warm heartbreaking smile. Panaka suddenly saw her as what she truly is, a very stunning young perfectly built woman.
Captain Panaka blushed and changed the topic taking his eyes off of her as Sabé took her robe and fur coat back on. “Why did they left?”
“The Kaboola panthers and the Order of the Sanctuary have this unspoken truce. We preserve them from extinction and protect them from occasional hunters and in return they leave us alone and allow us to slay one of their own once a year for the Scretin ink found of their gut. What I was wearing is our hunting armor.” She explained.
“I see, interesting ecology. Armor huh? Some protection, doesn’t it make you vulnerable to the cold?” Panaka nodded as they resume their journey to the monastery.
“It provides mobility, and there’s a thin invisible electrostatic shield generated from our hunting armor, it stings the beasts upon contact.” Sabé grinned.
Their trek led them uphill and by the time Sabé called for a stop they were already high on a cliff facing two hanging bridges. One has a steps spaced widely apart and the other was full and intact. Captain Panaka raised his macrobinoculars and spotted two guards each on the other end of the two hanging bridge, they were women wearing the same revealing metal bikini Sabé wore but these pair has a thick fur coat over their shoulders giving a little protection from the cold.
“One of yours?” Panaka assumed.
“They are the Guardians of the Bridge of the Righteous and the Bridge of Trials. Only a member of the Order of Sanctuary is allowed to pass the Bridge of the Righteous. You must take the other and carry the droid with you. Droids are not exactly allowed to pass the bridge, but he can serve as your burden for the trials.” Sabé pointed at the two bridges.
“What’s going to happen on the Bridge of Trials?” Panaka asked as Sabé began to attach straps on Panaka’s body and straps the astromech droid behind him. Artoo moaned in uncertainty but Sabé simple smiled at them both. The steps on the bridge were evenly gapped, each plank is separated from the next for about half a meter.
“The Guardian will ask you and for every correct answer you are allowed to take a step forward.” Sabé replied.
“And if my answer is wrong?” Panaka frowned.
Sabé cocked her head on the two guardians on the other side of the bridges. Panaka raised his macrobinoculars again and saw the two wielding bow and arrow and were aiming at him.
“I figures.” Panaka groaned. “What kind of questions will they be asking me?”
“Your journey through that bridge will bring peace in you if you get through it. Just be honest no matter what happens.” Sabé informed him.
“Somehow it’s not very reassuring. Very well, let’s get this over with. Don’t move much Artoo, you wouldn’t want me to lose my balance and plunge us to our death right?” Panaka sighed.
Artoo beeped a retort but the meaning was lost to Panaka as he finally saw what was waiting down below the five hundred feet drop, a rocky river with violent raging waters.
“I am ready!” Panaka called out.
“Do you blame your father for having you leave Naboo and learn on distant worlds instead of studying among your friends here on Naboo?” the first guardian shouted.
Panaka paled and gave a confused look at Sabé who was matching his position from the other bridge.
“How on the… how could they know that?” Panaka gasped at Sabé.
“They are both in a trance. They are sensitive in the Force and are drifting in the realms of our minds. Just answer with all honesty.” Sabé said to him.
“Yes, I blamed him back then but not anymore. I understand his reasons now.” Panaka admitted.
“Step forward.” The first guardian said but did not lower her bow.
Panaka obeyed and took one long cautious step on the next plank of the hanging bridge.
“In your years in Tolan did you refuse to speak with your father because of that gap?” the second guardian asked.
Panaka felt a lump in his throat, guilt started to build in his chest. “Yes, I was mad at him all those years I was away. I can’t help to think how much of my life was lost just because I need to follow his dreams for me.”
“Step forward.” The second guardian said.
“When you returned home did you deliberately ignored your father and lived alone in an apartment in Theed when you discovered that your love has married your brother instead of waiting for you?” the first guardian asked.
“Yes. I ignored him when I came back, refused to make contact with him. I didn’t know he was already dying that time and wishes to speak with me. I learned of his death too late. Too late to even say I am sorry.” Panaka shouted and felt buried pains resurfacing in him. He felt tears beginning to flow in his cheeks.
“Step forward.”
“Did you secretly harbor a grudge against your own brother for marrying the woman you love?”
“I have. But when their son was born and I finally held my nephew Typho in my arms I felt ashamed of myself. She did waited for me and in her longing she found comfort and strength to the only other person she knows that shares her longing for me. I felt foolish to have thought differently of them both. That is why I am doing my best to forgive myself for that by being there for Typho as he grows up.” Panaka fought his sobs but it came out anyway.
“Step forward.”
“Do you blame yourself for your failure to bring Veermok to justice?”
“I did. I still do.” Panaka nodded.
“Step forward.”
“Do you swear with your life that you will never again let anyone under your care fall onto harm’s way as long as there is something you can do against it?”
“Yes.”
“Captain Panaka you have taken the Oath of Secrecy. Did you took the oath with all of your heart or you did it to get through with your mission here?”
“Yes to both.”
“Step forward. Welcome to the Monastery of the Order of the Sanctuary.” The two guardians chorused.
Captain Panaka gasped in relief for making it through and in awe at the looming temple before him that was entirely hidden from their vantage on the other cliff. The front of the monastery was carved out from the face of the volcano itself, the obsidian black rocks and the four massive statues standing at the entrance gave a touch of ancientness in the temple.
Thirty-one women emerged from the large metal blastgate and leading them was a woman no older than Panaka himself.
“Greetings Captain Panaka, I am the Lady Crystaé and the Head of the Order of the Sanctuary for eighty years now. W
elcome to our Monastery.” she introduced herself to him.
“Eighty? How old are you?” Panaka gasped as Sabé help him put Artoo Detoo down.
“I began my service at the age of thirteen. But let us not discuss the past, we are here to talk about the future.” the Lady Crystaé said and beckoned him to follow her back inside.
Captain Panaka and Artoo Detoo were both astounded to see the interior of the monastery. They were expecting to see stone hallways lit with torches but instead they were in a brightly lit hallway with high ceiling lit by a series of glow panels. The walls were of light blue paint over durasteel plating. Computer terminals can be seen every ten meters beside blastdoors that leads to side passages. Ahead at the end of the main corridor were four turbolifts.
“I thought this monastery was ancient?” Panaka gasped.
“It is, but you can say that we are up to date, Captain. Thanks to the past kings and queens of Naboo our place have been receiving a great deal of care.” the Lady explained as they took the third turbolift and began the descent.
“The past monarchs have been here?” Panaka asked.
“From the first King Jafan himself. My ancestor the first Lady of the Order of the Sanctuary was one of the most loyal friends of Naboo’s first king. We have been long providing Naboo with the best trained women to serve Naboo from Security personnel to pilots, from simple palace staff to the Royal Handmaiden. Some of the past Queens were in fact from our Order, although we stopped providing Naboo with our people when Veruna came to power. We decided to send a pair only every year that is why there is only Aluva and Sabé among the Royal Handmaidens, the rest of them came from the Legislative Program instead.” the Lady informed Panaka.
“We receive regular reports from Sabé about everything going on from King Veruna’s murder to this recent attempt to disrupt the coronation and assassinate the Queen.” the Lady Crystaé added.
“Then you must know about the Lady Crimos.” Panaka said.
“Unfortunately, yes. We know who she was, her past but after she left Black Sun our people have lost track of her until she resurfaced back here recently. You see, when she left the Jedi Order to become a bounty hunter, her path crossed ours and she stayed with us for almost a year, she wanted to stay but the darkness in her heart is too heavy for us, she is too violent when angered. The Order of the Sanctuary decided to exclude her. Our Force Adepts erased what little memory she has of our existence. We did our best to redeem her and vanquish the hatred in her heart but she was too consumed to be swayed otherwise. Based on what I have learned of her recent part in this cobweb of conflicts and schemes between the Trade Federation and the Chommell Patriots we can only surmised that either she has became a complete Dark Jedi or a Sith Acolyte. Then again some of us here argued that she could not possibly be involved with the Sith because that ancient Order has been long destroyed by the Jedi of the Old.” the Lady Crystaé explained.
Star Wars - Artoo Detoo: Droid of a Kind (Volume 1) Page 16
