By the time HK, Vila, and I returned to our quarters, the atmosphere inside had changed, and I could pick up on some kind of... unspoken tension. But only for a moment, and if I was right, it was coming from Ben. Yet, when I tried to grasp it again, it was gone, as if it had never been there.
Looking at my Master, he stood at the center of the room, hands clasped behind his back, his posture as still and calm as ever before. But... It also made me wonder if we were now in trouble because we did not warn him that we were... well, going on a bit of exploring. Ooops... Gulping, looking into his eyes, I quickly relaxed, noting that he was not angry at all. Without any retort as to where we went and what we were thinking, he looked away from us, getting fixed on the viewport, where the swirling blues of hyperspace were twisting and turning like rushing water. For a moment, I felt it again... Tension... Yet, whenever I tried to grab it, it slipped away, and that was what unnerved me most.
"Had an exciting adventure?" Master Kyle Katarn asked with a sudden snort. In contrast to my Master, he looked like he was a storm that was ready to break free, making Vila suddenly flinch and hide behind me. He sat perched on the edge of the couch, arms folded, one leg tapping an impatient rhythm against the deck's hard floor. His jaw was set, his gaze looking at Vila and me with a clear indication that he was going to lecture us... A lot. When I felt it and watched how his eyes flicked to us, I caught the barest flicker of relief behind his 'angry' mood before his usual gruff demeanor snapped back into place.
Somehow, I knew that they already knew everything. But Vila, wanting to avoid a lecture right off the bat, suddenly stepped past me, speaking hurriedly.
"We found something!"
"Yes," Ben cut in with a soft wave of his hand. "We know."
"Huh?" Vila's lekku twitched in surprise, looking at me, and I could only shrug, showing I had no idea either, "Wait—you knew?"
He nodded once.
"Okay... I'm confused..." Vila harrumphed, crossing her arms, pouting.
"..." My mouth opened to say something, then closed again because if I asked for an explanation, I wouldn't get any. I just knew it. "Then... what do we do?" I asked instead.
"You do nothing besides staying close to Kyle and me," Ben said as he finally turned to face us again. There was a sudden authority in his voice, making me straighten up. "We will go into the unknown," he said simply. "All of us, as it is inevitable. But you two have to be on alert all the time and not leave our side. Understood?"
"Yes." We nodded, not arguing, well... not us.
[Query: Will this also mean I finally get back my parts? Or are we ignoring the main issue here?]
"Relax, Buckethead!" Katarn pushed off the sofa, arms flexing as he stretched. "We will look into that issue, too," he said, his voice gravelly but firm. "The Force didn't drag you this far just to bench you at the finish line, even if we try to. That is one thing I learned throughout my life."
[Statement: Meatbag nonsense.]
"Come on, you know that is not true!" Vila grunted as he looked back at HK.
[Explanation: I meant the fact that both of us know he won't help me reclaim what is mine and only postpones the action via fake meatbag prophecy talk.]
"Don't worry, HK. What is yours will come back to you," Master said as his gaze drifted back to the viewport. "I don't know exactly when or how," he admitted.
[Statement: I know exactly how. We go there and then take it out of the stasis we have found them in.]
"Not yet," Master said while shaking his head. Those will come to you after we arrive at our destination."
[Angered Statement: I–]
"That will be enough, HK." I cut in, stopping him from continuing. Even without my affinity, I could tell that my Master had seen something. Probably a vision granted to him by the Force. Looking at me, he softly nodded his head again.
"But I've seen something. A short vision of something dangerous... That is all I can say right now. Both of you must be alert at all times. Protect your minds more than you protect your bodies."
A chill traced my spine listening to him. Protect our minds... against what? Looking to my right, I watched as Vila's breath hitched, but she nodded nonetheless. She took him seriously, just as I did... So... we are about to help Vestara and her new Sith reach their goal... and whatever that goal is, it is dangerous.
"Stay with Master Katarn," Ben said, suddenly beginning to move. "Meditate until we arrive... Prepare yourselves."
And then he was gone, the door hissing shut behind him before either of us could ask another question.
...
....
...
Ben moved through the corridors of the Reborn like someone who knew exactly where to go and where he was needed, and nobody ever stopped him or asked if he was lost. Since that brief vision, he knew that there was a reason he was here and made to make this discovery. It wasn't an accident; he was only unsure about bringing his Padawan along on this dangerous mission... But it wasn't something that could be avoided, not anymore.
And there was one thing that gnawed at his mind more than anything.
Vestara. Once, he trusted her with his life and then with his heart. Even after everything that happened, he still believed he could, if everything came down to it, trust her. Yes, he could. But the vision suddenly made him realize that the word trust could lose its meaning wherever they were heading. As for why? He didn't understand that part yet. One-half of him did not want to go. He wanted Vestara to turn back, too, but he also understood that Vestara was right. If whatever was calling out, it would keep doing it until someone actually came. It would have been better if they had been the first to come along, as they had the power to face it, and Ben believed in that fact.
So, once again, here they were, bound by the Force. Right at the end of his thoughts, the door to the navigation chamber slid open, and there she was, waiting for him.
Vestara stood at the center of the chamber, draped in robes the color of a starless night, edged with crimson-like threads and symbols. Her lightsaber hung at her hip, but her hands were empty, and her posture was relaxed and serene, just like a Jedi's... Just like how it was when both of them listened to Luke's teachings in the past.
Yet Ben knew better.
That current calmness was not entirely the truth. He could feel the tension simmering beneath her skin, the way the Dark Side still flickered around her. It wasn't exactly what one could call evil... but it was unpredictable. Exactly how it was when she, for some reason, refused to join him and Luke when everything was over... for why he refused to become a Jedi.
"I'm ready," he said simply, gazing into her eyes.
"I know." Her lips curved, and she smiled genuinely, heartfeltly. "We can do it, just as we did in the past. It will feel nostalgic."
"Maybe this time around, you will come back home with me," Ben said as the chamber darkened and the navigation array flared to life. Holograms burst into existence around them both, showing star maps, gravitational tides, and the twisting path through the untraversed part of this sector. At its center, a cluster of black voids pulsed ominously, each representing a black hole, while a single thread of light pulsated somewhere between them, yet it was faint... barely noticeable.
"Maybe you will join me instead," Vestara answered with her own smile, and then her eyes turned to the pulsating path. "We've mapped the trail as far as we can. But it can't be stabilized with only one side of the Force. The final alignment requires us both." Her gaze locked onto his. "Dark and Light. Only then will the way open."
Ben stepped into the circle opposite her while she explained, and the floor beneath them glowed faintly the moment he did so, the air thickening with the presence of the Force. Then, he could feel the flow of Dark Side energies coming up from the stasis chamber below, where HK's dormant parts still floated, with the remnants of Force resonance imprinted onto him by his creator.
With perfect synchronization, Vestara and Bem closed their eyes... Then, they reached out, both with a hand and with the Force. It immediately surged around them both, and for someone else, it would be shocking to witness. Both sides of the Force, working in harmony and in tandem... It should have been impossible. Especially because Vestara's presence was akin to fire. It was burning, all-consuming, relentless, and powerful. Yet, facing it was Ben's own presence, which was the ocean itself. It felt deep, steady, and unyielding. They clashed, twisted, then merged, the tension between them forging something greater than either alone, as if the two were always meant to be one. And maybe it was... as both sides were of the Force.
For a heartbeat, the Reborn shuddered, its hull groaning as if reality itself resisted, making the ship tilt while traversing hyperspace, something that should have been impossible. If not for Vestara's early warning, her people may have thought they had entered into the pull of one of the black holes... but no.
It was simply her and Ben taking control of the ship, letting their minds flow freely, and following the guidance of the Force. They navigated the Reborn through the thin, safe passage, making minute changes to the ship's course as they passed through the gravitational pulls of the infinitely dense stellar objects, getting closer and closer to their goal.
Then, after an unknown amount of time—
The stars bent.
Hyperspace collapsed into a single, searing line, and the ship lurched one last time. For a terrifying instant, Ben felt the universe hold its breath. Then, silence—not just actual silence, but the silence of the Force.
Outside of the Reborn, the system unfolded around them like a dream-given form, something out of an ancient fable. Wherever they looked, stars glittered gold and a cold hue of blue, their light softened by thick, swirling nebulae that floated around the system they had entered into.
Reading the immediate scans, they entered a star system with a binary star, one large, blue star and a smaller, red-colored companion.
And orbiting the two in a stable orbit... one, single planet.
After the first readings, it was extremely lush, verdant, and alive, with jungles covering the land and deep, blue oceans stretching from side to side.
On the surface, between the endless greenery, massive rivers carved through the land like pulsating veins, while mountains rose above the tree line, some of them spewing smoke as they turned out to be active volcanoes.
"Can you feel it?" Vestara exhaled beside him, her voice barely above a whisper. "It's beautiful."
"I can feel it," Ben nodded, his eyes devoid of the same wonder, and instead, they were alarmed. That silence he felt was gone, yes... but what it was replaced with wasn't feeling like the actual Force. Something was... off.
The beauty they were seeing was the first deception of the Dark Side; he was sure of it. Somewhere beneath that emerald canopy, or maybe below the sapphire oceans... something ancient stirred the moment they arrived.
And, whatever it was... There was no way out of here until they faced it.