The Valley of the Jedi. The legendary location of the final battle under the surface of Ruusan, between the Army of Light and the Brotherhood of Darkness. The battle ended in an instant when Lord Kaan’s followers detonated the thought bomb in a reckless move to with the campaign, proving the catalyst for the Ruusan Reformation. Joining within the cavern that would be the site of a dangerous ritual, the Dark Lords were vanquished along with Hoth’s followers; the resulting vacuum consuming the souls of Sith and Jedi alike to be tormented for an eternity.

Standing near the edge of that cave, the tiered stone steps that circle the valley greet intruders with an otherwise unremarkable passage into its depths. The ground is rocky and uneven, sloping downwards towards the center. Stalagmites litter the floor, small outcroppings of rock thrust out from the ground like huge stone blades. However, those formations pale in size compared to the chiselled stone statues encircling the Valley in perfectly concentric circles. The sculptures seem almost alive, as if the faces of the dead had been perfectly captured in the carvings, still holding traces of the doomed souls they represented.

Inside the cavern lies the echoes of those who perished in the thought bomb’s detonation. Within its deepest recesses rests an oblong orb that floats just above the ground. Encased within the dreadful relict are the souls of those who were consumed at the ritual’s epicenter. Uneasiness radiates from the artifact as the helpless cries and echoes enter the minds of all those who enter the cave, driving most to madness before meeting death on the surface of Ruusan.

Ryū walked down the slope of the valley towards the center room, using the Force to let his consciousness roam the valley searching for another person. He was told by the Jedi Council to meet a Lotus contact from Arcona and was advised not to trust them by his mother. Outside of that, the Grey Jedi knew little about who he was going to be meeting. As the teenager walked, he had to watch his footing so he wouldn’t trip. As he got closer to the chamber where the thought bomb itself went off, he started to feel chills; it was a nexus of Dark Side energy and the young man didn’t want anything to do with it.

Sensing someone nearby, he turned to the right to see a woman standing outside of one of the entrances to the chamber. She had hair that reminded him of the glowing embers, and skin that was almost as pink as his Rollmaster. A smirk appeared on his face when he saw what she was wearing, but he also wondered how she managed to make it down the slope in the tight dress and heels without messing up any of her clothing, or the hair that she meticulously did. Such a feat would be the envy of women everywhere in the galaxy.

“So, I’m here. Why such a remote location for the meeting?” asked Ryū as he drew closer to the woman.

“To get you alone,” replied the half-Sephi, in a calm voice, before motioning to her droid. A BD-3000 Luxury Droid walked intoout from the chamber with a datapad in its hand. As it approached the young man he thought the woman had just purchased the droid from how well maintained it looked. Ruby handed over the datapad to the Odanite and then took a couple step

Ryū took the datapad and scanned at what it said before the Force screamed at him in his head to throw the thing away as quickly as possible. Without thinking twice, he chucked the datapad into the air and drew his sabers. Moments later, the pad exploded, followed by a hiss as the sapphire and emerald blades of his two lightsabers ignited.

Ryū flashed a glance at the woman, whose expression hadn’t changed at all, before taking a step back as the droid attempted to grab him. He swung at the protocol droid with a pair of diagonal slashes, cutting its hands off and searing the paint job of its chest plate. He was angry now, and he wasn’t going to leave until he killed the woman. In his mind, he became spatially aware of both the woman and the droid, refusing to let them escape him now that the battle was afoot.

This is what I get for “borrowing” the Director’s datapad, Maenaki thought wryly as she stepped away from the smoking ashes of the ruined device. All that potential information - wasted.

“You obstinate child, you broke my favorite toy.” The Battlelord sighed, looking at her disarmed droid. Her placid expression remained as she tilted her head, releasing her electro-whip from her belt. Maenaki had not been prepared for the device to go off. Timeros must have programmed it to self-destruct should it fall into her hands. Clever boy. “And, if it makes any difference, that was not what I was expecting to happen.”

“You think I’m going to fall for some trick now?” the boy sneered, raising his weapons and stepping towards the fair rose skinned woman.

“Do you have any idea how much this dress cost? And why in the name of kyber crystals would I risk singing my hair? Do you think I put this much effort into these braids simply so I can burn them off?” The Scion never once raised her voice, speaking in a bored monotone as though these issues were trivial.

Ryū only glared in response, taking an aggressive step forward and forcing the Battlelord to take several steps back. His only warning of her sudden attack came from Maenaki, her ears twitching immediately before she struck, the crimson whip crackling through the air as he raised his sapphire and emerald blades to deflect the rapid series of blows. The Seeker was already moving in as he arched his lightsabers to go on the offensive. The first strike went wide, the Seltron side-stepping with preternatural alacrity. The second strike should have hit but the half-breed’s heel abruptly slipped from under her, causing her to stumble back to land partially on her side. The electro-whip was flung from her grasp, clattering to the hard floor and rolling behind one of the many stalagmites. The Savant steadily drove his blue blade down, directing the point at her exposed thigh.

Power Ryū read the tattooed word that scrawled across her leg as his green saber thrust toward her chest. The moments between heartbeats seemed an eternity to Maenaki, the boy and his blades were frozen in that glimmering space of time that her mind raced. He was fast and a capable fighter, but she was clever. It would have to be enough.

As the superheated plasma singed Maenaki's dress she exploded into movement, amplifying the strength of her legs and pushing away from the man with all the force she could muster. His blue saber slammed into her heel, its heat shearing it from her sole. She leaped to her feet, throwing an arc of blue lightning at his face as she scurried back. Ryū raised his green saber to protect himself from the cord of crackling energy, dissolving the bolt into nothingness. The Seltron took off behind a statue with supernatural speed, wrapping herself in the force and doing her best to hide her signature from the boy.

Maenaki panted with exertion, her body aching and the sole of her shoe still smoking. Her aqua eyes glared at where the arched stiletto had been and then she had an idea. One final idea. Something she preferred not to do until it was her last resort. The Battlelord held her position as the child’s weapons came into view, and she smiled sweetly.