"Suddenly, I felt its tentacles wrap around my legs, pulling me down into the depths." Hunter, Echo, and Tech all listened in on Phee as she recited her story for the millionth time, this time she was telling Ketch and Bolo the story. Aurora was working on cleaning the glasses, keeping a distance between her and the boys. This hasn't gone unnoticed by them. "I had no choice but to fend off the Octomorph. Bare-handed." Ketch and Bolo gasped.
"This story changes every time she tells it." Tech stated.
Echo looked at Aurora, her back was to them. "Anyone know what's going on with her today?" He asked. The other two shook their heads.
"Vanquishing the creature, I swam to the coral cave." Phee continued with her story, "and do you know what I found?"
"What'd you find?" Ketch asked.
"What was there?" Bolo asked at the same time. "Spit it out!"
Phee shrugged. "Only the Grand Pearl of Novak." She casually said. Both the boys leaned back in awe.
"Those two will believe anything." Hunter said, looking at his brothers.
"She's annoying." Aurora commented. The three of them turned and saw her staring at Phee with her arms crossed. She was frowning.
"Are you alright?" Hunter asked.
"Whatever." Aurora rolled her eyes and walked away from them.
"Clearly she's not one for conversing today." Tech said.
"Mission accomplished!" Wrecker said, walking through the door. "One compressor, as requested." He laughed. Tech walked up to him and Wrecker tossed him the compressor.
"Nicely done, Wrecker." Tech complimented.
"That's not all we got." Omega said and dumped her bag out.
"This assortment, however," Tech said. "Could have been left at the junkyard.
"Easy, quick draw." Phee said, walking next to him. "Let the expert take a look."
"Meh, expert." Aurora mocked under her breath. Hunter and Echo exchanged a look, both of them confused as to why she was in a sour mood today.
Phee picked something up. "It is a manifold regulator." Tech informed her, "and a broken one at that."
"Thanks, Clone Obvious." Phee rolled her eyes. Something caught her eye. "Hang on." She picked up the object and opened one of the disks. "These look like coordinate markings."
"Coordinate markings?" Omega said, intrigued. Aurora turned around.
Phee waved her droid over. "Mel, take a look at this." The power droid wobbled over. She held the disk up and the droid shined a light through it. It glowed purple. "I was right. This is a compass. One from long before our time." Phee's droid beeped. "These coordinates are in the Kaldar Trinary System."
Tech was on his data pad and it beeped. "I have no record of that system." He said.
Aurora raised an eyebrow in question and put a hand on her chin. Hunter looked at her. "What is it?" He asked.
"There's something about that system that rings a bell." She didn't look at him. "Something about an urban legend and planets being destroyed, but I honestly can't remember."
"Because the best treasures usually aren't found on maps." Phee stated.
"There's treasure there?" Omega asked.
"Without a doubt." Phee said. "This compass is a rare find. You've got a good eye."
"Let's go check it out!" Omega jumped excitedly. "You heard Phee."
Hunter crossed his arms. "She says a lot of things."
"I can go alone and take the spoils for myself." Phee shrugged, "or we go together and split it 50-50." She put a hand on Omega's shoulder and handed her the compass back
"Please Hunter! What if there really is treasure there?" Omega begged.
"Yea, we're not on any missions." Wrecker added.
"It could be fun." Omega said.
"Last time we went after treasure, it didn't go as planned." Echo mentioned.
"You weren't working with a professional then." Phee said.
"A professional?" Aurora questioned. "Is that what you're calling yourself?"
Phee's droid, Mel, beeped. "What do you say?" Phee ignored her.
Hunter looked at Echo who shrugged. He turned to Aurora. "Well what do you think?"
"You're the boss." Aurora said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hunter watched Omega kick her feet up on Mel with Phee doing the same thing. He leaned against the Marauder. He noticed that Aurora has isolated herself again. Sitting on one of the cots with her data pad typing into it. He also took note of the despondent look in her eyes.
"How many uncharted planets have you been too?" Omega asked Phee.
"Too many to count." Phee took her feet off Mel. "That's why I need Mel to keep track of all the legends I've chased down over the years." She patted the top of the dome and Mel beeped. "That's the life of a treasure hunter."
"Don't you mean pirate?" Hunter chimed in.
"I prefer Liberator of Ancient Wonders." Phee said. Her and Hunter looked at Aurora, both expecting to hear a comment from her. Phee raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with your girl?"
Hunter kept his eyes on Aurora. She hasn't even looked at them, that sad look still behind her eyes. "I'm not sure."
Phee shrugged and turned to Omega. "Wanna hear about the time I found the Blade of Zakata Par?"
"Yes, I do!" Omega leaned forward in her chair.
"It's an exciting story..." Phee started.
Hunter tuned her out and kept his focus on Aurora. What is going on in that mind of yours? He wondered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Marauder landed and Phee was the first one to exit the ship with Omega right behind her. Once Aurora stepped out, all she saw was the dead planet. The boys all piled out behind Aurora. She could hear Tech's data pad beeping. The group walked forward but Hunter gently grabbed Aurora's arm and pulled her back.
"What?" Aurora's tone was short as she pulled away from his grasp.
"What's going on? You have been off all day." Hunter asked.
"Nothing's wrong, leave me alone." She folded her arms.
"Nothings wrong?" Hunter questioned.
"Ugh," she rolled her eyes. "There's nothing you can do so leave me alone."
"So there is something wrong."
"Hunter, mind your own business."
Aurora turned and walked away from him. Hunter crossed his arms and shook his head. What happened to you? He thought and caught up with the group.
Phee knelt down to a burnt dead bush. Omega copied her. "I'm not picking up any signs of civilization whatsoever." Tech said. "Which makes sense, considering this land appears to have been razed and uninhabitable."
"Who'd wanna hide treasure here?" Echo asked. The compass Echo was holding onto started whirling and making noise.
"What was that?" Wrecker questioned.
"The compass just activated." Echo responded. The two girls stood up and Aurora moved next to Echo, away from Hunter. Hunter noticed this. The beeping continued on. Echo turned around, holding the compass up. He walked forward but the compass started to settle down. He turned around again and it started to pick up again as well. "It's telling us to go south." Echo said.
Omega snagged the compass from him. "Let's go!" She turned and ran south.
"Now she's got the right attitude." Phee commented. "Wait up kid."
Aurora rolled her eyes. "Whatever."
Omega was still ahead of the group with Phee close behind her. The compass's beeping was faster. Phee pointed forwards and the two of them took off running again. Hunter and Tech behind the girls and Echo, Wrecker, and Phee's droid behind them and Aurora was lagging behind everyone. The boys all noticed Aurora's lack of enthusiasm with this treasure hunt.
The compass was beeping rapidly now, Omega was near a cliff when the compass just stopped. She turned to Phee. "It's a dead end." Omega turned to the cliff. "Maybe we go around the mountain?" The rest of them caught up with the two girls.
"Or it's telling us to go inside it." Phee said. She pulled out her knife and walked up to the mountain. She wedged her knife in between some rocks and pushed the smaller boulder aside. Wind was blowing from inside the cave. She turned to Wrecker. "Big guy, help me move this."
Wrecker moved past everyone and up to the rocks. Without putting much effort into it, he easily moved the boulders aside. The rocks above them started caving and Phee nudged Wrecker and the two of them ran back to the group. Everyone looked as some boulders blocked the way but were quickly knocked down by another boulder revealing a doorway.
"Look! It's a secret entrance." Omega said. Phee walked forward with Omega trailing behind her.
"Oh! It is a secret entrance." Wrecker gasped.
They entered a circular room with stone slabs protruding from the walls. "Whoa." Omega whispered. The boys were holding up their flashlights while Tech tapped away on his data pad. Phee held her light up to the wall.
"Hunter, these etchings are easily a thousand years old." Tech said.
"Older. Much older." Phee added, She placed her free hand on the wall. "If I'm right, which is always, we are standing in the entranceway to Skara Nal."
"To what?" Echo asked.
"Every pirate out there's heard the legend of Skara Nal, and bounty hunters." Phee nodded to Aurora. "It traces back to the ancients." Aurora ignored her.
"You mean the jedi?" Echo asked.
"No. Older." Phee said.
"So, what kinda treasure's in there?" Wrecker asked.
"The Heart of the Mountain." Phee answered, as if she's telling children a story, "and we're going to liberate it." Phee looked back at the wall and everyone walked up behind her.
"Well pirate if you know so much about this legend then it shouldn't be a problem for you to figure out how to get us in." Aurora retorted.
"How do we get in?" Omega whispered.
"It's a pattern." Phee said and stepped back. "We need to align the symbols in the right order." She put her light down and grabbed the slab closest to the ground and started pushing, everyone just watched her. When she got it aligned she walked up to another one that was just out of her reach. "Some help would be nice." Wrecker walked up and grabbed the slab and started pushing. Once in place the cave started rumbling.
"That doesn't sound good." Hunter said. The rumbling continued and the floor below them started spinning. The entrance door slammed shut and a boulder started falling down.
"Aurora watch out!" Hunter called out and Echo grabbed her by the waist pulled her backwards as a boulder fell right where she was standing. Aurora gasped as she hung onto Echo's arm. The rumbling stopped.
"Booby traps. Now it's getting interesting." Phee casually said. Aurora let go of Echo's arm and moved away from him.
"Thanks." She mumbled.
"Of course." Echo said.
"You've just trapped us in here." Hunter scolded Phee.
"Relax. There's always a way out." Phee said. "We just have to find it. It's part of the puzzle." She walked over to Omega.
"Puzzle?" Aurora folded her arms.
Omega was looking at the compass. "Wait!" Omega gasped. "We're aligning the wrong symbols!" She climbed on the boulder and looked into the compass some more.
"What do you see?" Hunter asked.
"Some of the symbols are glowing." Omega said.
Phee laid her lamp on the rock. "Here lay the compass on my lantern." Omega obliged and everyone looked around. Wrecker gasped in amazement. Aurora saw some of the slabs were glowing. Wrecker grabbed one of them and started pushing. He got it into place and he and Tech pushed the bottom one into place last. The floor started moving and appeared was the exit and a new pathway. It was a corridor. "Mel, note the coordinates and wait here." The droid beeped. "Come on, kid. Time to go exploring." The two of them walked in.
Wrecker lifted his helmet. "Looks like we're doing this."
"My interest is certainly piqued." Tech added, following Wrecker, Echo nodded entering next. Aurora stood next to Hunter.
"This better be worth our time." Aurora said and entered the hallway. Hunter looked back and was the last to enter.
The group was walking down the hallways. Aurora was walking next to Echo. Phee and Omega were leading everyone. "So, what exactly is the Heart of the Mountain?" Omega asked.
"A rare crystalline stone." Phee said. "Some say it's the key to an ancient power, which makes it worth more than you could possibly fathom."
They kept on walking, Tech trailing behind everyone. "I have run a preliminary analysis of the minerals in those stone slabs." He said. "They predate the republic. Phee may be onto something."
"Hey tough guys. Want to pick up the pace?" Phee called back. Aurora looked up and she saw they were ahead of the group. She turned to Hunter and saw him reach for his blaster, he sensed something. Aurora carefully grabbed her blaster.
"Hunter?" Omega called out. On cue there was a low growing of a creature echoing in the corridors. Wrecker held his flashlight up and saw a hole. He looked away and when he did that a gray creature jumped onto Wrecker.
"Wrecker!" Aurora yelled. Omega ran up, firing her bow.
"It's drooling on me!" Wrecker said, fighting the creature from eating him. Hunter shot it in the head, but the creature knocked Hunter to the side. Aurora stepped forward shooting the creature. It lifted Wrecker up and Wrecker placed his feet on the ceiling. He started punching it and everyone held their blasters, afraid to accidentally shoot him. He ripped off one of his horns and the creature let him go and everyone started shooting it again. It scurried back into its hole, rocks falling in the way. Everyone jumped away right as the hole caved in, the group getting separated.
Once the dust settled, Aurora, Hunter, Omega, and Phee looked to the rocks blocking the way. Omega pulled out her comm-link. "Echo, Tech, Wrecker, are you okay?"
"We're fine." Echo called back. "But there's too much debris. We can't get through."
"The readings in here are not as clear, but I can track your position." Tech answered. "There are smaller side tunnels throughout. We will navigate a path and rendezvous with you at the other end."
"Good." Phee leaned over. "Then we'll keep looking for the treasure." She stood up and saw Hunter giving her a look under his helmet. Aurora had her arms crossed. Phee shrugged. "What? That's what we're here for. They'll be fine. Come on. Fortune awaits." Phee started walking away. Omega followed.
Hunter looked at Aurora who dropped her arms and shrugged. "Guess we're moving on." She turned and followed the other girls.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Further along the corridors they wandered upon another one. Phee was ahead of them. They heard the creature growling in the distance. "We need to keep moving." Hunter said. He pushed past them into the new area. Aurora was looking back the way they came.
Phee and Omega stopped. "Hang on." Phee said. Aurora turned around and walked up to the girls. She saw Hunter walking the hallways. Something was off. "This is too easy."
Omega held up her compass and Aurora saw markings on the ceiling. "Look, there are more markings." The girls looked up
"Get back here!" Aurora darted towards Hunter
"Wait!" Phee called, behind Aurora. Right as Hunter took a step and the floor crashed below him. He shot his grappling hook and Aurora quickly grabbed it. Phee wrapped her arms around Aurora's waist and Omega did the same to Phee. The three of them started pulling back. Hunter grabbed onto the edge and Aurora let go of the hook and ran over to pull him up.
Aurora and Hunter were kneeling on the ground. "Hunter, if you keep trying to die on my watch... I will let you."
They stood up. "Good to know."
Omega held her light to the ceiling again. "I think we need to find a way to walk across the ceiling."
"My thoughts exactly." Phee agreed.
"Is this a joke?" Aurora snapped.
"You're just making this up as you go." Hunter said.
"It's part of the fun." Phee said and Hunter groaned. "Loosen up, bandana. You're in good hands."
"We have almost died three times already." Hunter said.
Hunter and Phee all continued to argue, Omega was looking around. Aurora saw this and knelt down next to her. "What is it?" Aurora whispered.
"Over here." Omega whispered back, and she walked over to a slot and studied it. Aurora followed her.
"This reminds me of the time I tracked down the Belmont Diadem-" Phee started.
"I don't care!" Hunter argued.
The compass fit like a glove, Aurora and Omega looked over to the others still arguing.
"Ooh." Phee said. "Someone's in a mood."
"I'm only interested in getting us outta here in one piece." Hunter said.
Omega looked at the compass before placing it carefully in. Omega looked at her. "It fits." She whispered. Some of the tiles lit up white and the two of them stopped arguing. Omega turned the dial and the room started rotating. Phee and Hunter got out of the way. Omega tossed a rock and none of the tiles dropped. Their path was clear.
"All clear." Omega stated. She went to grab the compass but it wouldn't budge. "The compass. I can't get it."
"It served its purpose." Phee put a hand on her shoulder. "Skara Nal's reclaimed it."
"Skara Nal's reclaimed it." Omega gasped.
"So we have to navigate this death trap without it?" Hunter mumbled.
"Good thing you have me." Phee said, walking forward.
Hunter sighed and Aurora leaned into him. "I just hope our death is quick and painless." She mumbled to him before moving forward.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They stopped at a closed doorway. Hunter turned around and Aurora copied him. She pulled her blaster out of its holster right as three figures jumped into view. She saw it was the others. "You boys made it." She casually said and holstered her blaster.
"What took you so long?" Hunter asked.
"Phee thinks we're getting close to the treasure." Omega said and turned back around. The three of them shrugged and walked up to the group of four.
"What type of puzzle is this?" Tech asked.
"Don't overthink it, brown eyes." Phee said. She was examining the door and found a latch. "Sometimes a door." She pulled it. "Just a door." Once it was opened they all looked down at the very long drop. Phee shined her light onto a purple crystal. "There! The Heart of the Mountain." Phee jumped onto the ledge, then Omega, with Hunter close behind her. Aurora jumped down next with the others staying behind. Phee made her way to the crystal. Phee quickly studied the crystal before carefully turning it and removing it from its spot. Something rumbled and everyone looked around. Aurora turned to the others as the three boys hung from the ledge and the door slamming shut. Whatever they were in was shaking and started lighting up.
Whatever they were in lit up and Aurora realized it was a machine. "Oh no." Aurora whispered. She lost her balance and grabbed the ledge. Hunter grabbed Omega to keep her from falling. Whatever machine they were in started rising and the three boys started sliding down it. Aurora lost her grip and fell with them. She heard metal creaking. Whatever they were in, started moving forward.
"I suspect this is not, in fact, a treasure vault." Tech stated as he helped Aurora up.
"No kidding, it's a tomb." Aurora scoffed.
"Then what is it?" Omega asked.
"Good question." Echo said.
Aurora looked to the red glass windows. It sounded like it was firing. "What was that?"
"It just emitted a massive surge of energy." Tech said. "Whatever we are standing inside is highly destructive!"
"So what do we do to shut it down?" Wrecker asked.
Tech walked up to Phee. "If removing the Heart of the Mountain activated it, perhaps we must return it to its proper place to deactivate it."
Phee held the crystal to her chest. "Do you know how much this is worth? It's what we came for."
"That is what you are held up?" Aurora scolded. "We are going to die if we don't do something!"
"Can't you find a separate kill switch or something?" Phee argued.
"Our ship's out there." Hunter said. "If that thing destroys it, we'll be trapped on this planet!"
"All right. But you owe me." Phee said.
"We owe you bantha-shit!" Aurora said. Phee went to hand over the crystal but stopped, they all heard growling. Aurora pulled her blaster out. The creature from before came back and everyone started shooting it. Phee jumped back, dropping the crystal.
"You deal with that! I'll get the stone." Phee yelled and slid down to where the stone was.
Aurora looked at Hunter. "Make sure she doesn't steal it!" She told him and he nodded and followed her down the ledge. Aurora turned her attention back to the creature, blasting it. The machine took another step and Aurora lost her balance. The creature snarled at her and started running towards her.
"Look out!" Wrecker yelled and charged at the creature body slamming it back. Wrecker helped her up.
"Thanks Wrecker." Aurora said and they started blasting the creature again. The machine powered up and fired, everyone lost their balance. Including the creature. "Where are they with that stone?" The creature charged forward and tossed Echo. Aurora looked at the window. "Wrecker think you can throw it out the window?"
"Of course I can!" Wrecker went to grab its leg but the creature kicked him backwards into the window, cracking the glass. It started charging at Omega but Wrecker recovered and grabbed its tail. "Aurora!"
"On it!" Aurora slid on the ground, shooting the window and she slid by. It shattered and Wrecker swung the creature right out of it.
The machine shook again and Aurora grabbed Wrecker's arm to steady herself. "Tech, do something!" Wrecker yelled.
"I am trying!" Tech yelled. "But nothing is working!"
"We need that kriffing stone!" Aurora yelled, still holding onto Wrecker. Aurora turned her head and could see out the broken window. "Uh! It has eyes on our ship!"
Hunter and Phee climbed up. "Tech the stone!" Hunter yelled and threw the stone at him. He almost caught it, but it clattered to the floor. Tech and Omega picked it up and jammed it into the slot and turned it. The machine powered down and the crystal started glowing. They heard explosions throughout the machine. The crystal now melting.
"What the..." Aurora gasped.
"Hang onto something!" Hunter called out and grabbed Omega.
"I gotchu!" Wrecker yelled and grabbed Aurora's arm. Aurora gladly held onto the big clone. They all jumped down but the creature was still falling. The group huddled together and the machine slammed into the ground. Aurora lifted her head up and Everyone slowly got up and started walking towards the broken window.
"This puts us at 0 for 2 in treasure hunting, even with a professional." Tech stated.
"We did find the Heart of the Mountain." Omega added. "The legend was real."
"Now that's the right attitude." Phee smiled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The group was walking back to the ship, the clones had their helmets off. Hunter spoke up. "At least no one can ever activate that thing again." Aurora was lagging behind everyone again. Wrecker noticed this and nudged Echo who snuck a glance behind them. She was looking at the ground.
"So what you're saying is, it's a good thing we came after all?" Phee questioned. Hunter rolled his eyes.
"Sorry about Mel." Omega said.
"This happens all the time." Phee shrugged. "That's why I keep Mel's memory stored on my ship's data bank. I'll have her rebuilt before we head to the next adventure."
"Amazing!" Omega said in awe. The group paused.
Echo moved next to Hunter and nudged him. Hunter looked at him and Echo nodded behind them, but everyone noticed Aurora moved past the group and climbed on board the Marauder. "I still don't know what's wrong." Hunter told Echo.
"She's sad." Phee stated. Echo nudged Omega and the rest of them moved to board the ship. Phee and Hunter stayed.
"Of course she is." Hunter looked at her. "We all see it but she won't tell us what's going on.
Phee shook her head. "Do you know anything about women?"
"Excuse you?"
"You are probably wanting to find solutions to her problems. It's clear she doesn't need or want that."
"If it's so obvious then why don't you tell me what's wrong."
"She doesn't need solutions, what she needs is for someone to listen to her."
"We listen to her."
"No." Phee shook her head. "All you boys just try to do is fix our problems. Just shut up and listen to her and just be there, don't force anything from her. Women are not that complicated."
"Is that all?"
"Taking her to a familiar place helps too, a comfort zone. Do you know of any?"
Hunter thought for a moment. "I do."
"Take her there then."
"What about you?"
"Eh, just drop me off on a nearby system. I usually find my own way." They started walking. "Oh and Hunter?"
"What is it?"
Phee had a sly smile. "Holding her and stroking her hair will get you those brownie points you so clearly want."
Small A/N: hello! Due to the holidays I'm posting this chapter a little earlier today and also because I don't think I'll be able to post on Sunday as per usual, but I'll be back to regular scheduled post the following week. Happy holidays and I hope everyone has a wonderful new year! 😊