70: Ghosts and Nightmares
The Starry Night next left hyperspace near the many-mooned planet of Bogden. Located deep in the Inner Rim, along the Hydian Way, the planet nonetheless remained sparsely populated by galactic standards. The reason for that lay in its twenty moons, locked in a perpetual and somewhat erratically orbital dance. The complex and ever-changing pull of gravity conspired to keep the planet geologically unstable and ill-suited for any large-scale permanent settlements. Most of the population that chose to make this area its home did so on some of the more stable moons.
It was towards one of these moons, Kohlma, that Luna’s light cruiser now set its course. As the ship slowly made its way through the empty spacelanes towards the funeral moon, the alicorn stared out the bridge window and simply brooded. She recalled the words of Darth Vader.
“Once,” he had said, “the moon of Kohlma was home to death-worshipping cult, lead by a madwoman. They constructed a secret citadel on Bogden’s moon, from which they reached out to spread terror and mayhem across the galaxy. Their reign came to a close when my master deemed their destabilizations a loose end, and they were exterminated by his command. Their former base of operations fell into ruin, until I ordered it restored as a place of sanctuary. In reward for bringing me Skywalker’s apprentice, now I bestow it to you. If you are wise, you will use it as a place not just to recuperate but to sharpen your skills. Any living servants that you wish to keep should not be allowed there for long.”
“Why?” Luna had asked.
“Because it is a haunted place,” Vader told her. “Countless acts of ritual murder and torture, followed by the cult’s own annihilation, have left a shadow of dark side power hanging about the citadel. Echoes of victims and cultists, perhaps even lingering spirits, lurk in the shadows. They assail the minds of trespassers, tormenting the weak with visions of horrors past and promises of worse to come. The last organic overseer of reconstruction went mad and had to put down. Only droids dwell there now. But such a low-level mental assault should be little more than a training exercise for a true Sith apprentice. An assurance that you do not allow such skills to atrophy.”
The princess scowled beneath her helmet as her ship plunged through the storm clouds in Kohlma’s atmosphere. Bring Vader his old apprentice, receive a haunted citadel in thanks. No doubt the Sith genuinely thought that being continuously assailed was good practice, but must everything with these aliens be a test? Did they have no concept of rest, ease, or relaxation? How had any managed not to drive themselves mad?
The skies overhead were a deep grey when the Starry Night touched down on the mountaintop landing pad, but no rain was yet falling. Luna stepped down the boarding ramp accompanied by an honor guard of Stormtroopers, eying the complex skeptically. Her gift was a large, grey citadel built atop and into a tall mountain. Numerous domes and towers burst forth from the rock, some half-collapsed or evidencing disrepair, most refurbished with new metal and stone. Hovering black probe droids patrolled the exterior, while she could see heavier construction models working inside some of the dilapidated areas. Closer to hoof, a dull copper-colored droid with a long head and almost comically thin silvery limbs was making its way towards her.
“Greetings, mistress,” it said in a flat, mechanical monotone as she approached. “I am EV-T3R, supervisor to Imperial droid forces here and coordinator of reconstruction efforts. I was instructed by Lord Vader to expect you. Welcome.”
“I am Inquisitor Luna,” she announced herself. “I own this place and everything in it now. Is that understood?”
“Of course, mistress,” the machine said.
“And these are my men, Orphan Squad,” she gestured at the Stormtroopers. “And this is my ship, the Starry Night. I suggest you commit those name to your databanks.”
“As you will,” EV nodded. “Would you care for a tour of the facilities? While not all of the citadel has yet been restored to working order, we are more than prepared to offer all the amenities an organic could desire.”
“Yes, show me around,” she ordered. “I take it that there are tunnels connecting these buildings?”
“Oh yes, there is a considerable network of tunnels dug deeply into the mountainside. Some are interlinking between various parts of the citadel proper, others simply lead to empty chambers or underground mausoleums. All organic remains have of course been incinerated,” it said as though that were self-evident, “lest they introduce potential contaminants into the air.”
“Of course,” Luna nodded.
The droid led her and her party across the lengthy landing pad, towards a durasteel door bored into mountainside. It slid open at their approach, revealing a dark hallway dimly lit by eerie blue lights. Luna made to follow the supervisor droid inside, but halted at a sudden premonition. At lightning speed she whipped around, crimson lightsaber flaring to life.
The move came just in time, her blade moving by instinct and training to catch and bat away several incoming blaster shots in rapid succession. Her eyes darted upwards, seeking the source and almost immediately finding it. A black probe droid, a gaggle of thin limbs hanging below its body, hovered high above the landing platform with a blaster rifle extending below its photoreceptor. Witnessing the failure of its initial attack, the droid attempted to back up. Luna was having none of it, reaching out through the Force to seize the machine where it was. Her Stormtroopers were returning fire as well, red blaster shots exploding into sparks against the droid’s hull. The alicorn exerted her will, and the probe droid crumpled as though a mere can squeezed by a giant fist. Then she let go, and the smoking, sparking machine plummeted towards the earth. It was dashed to pieces against the duracrete.
Luna’s eyes darted around, looking from one of the other patrolling probe droids to the next in rapid succession, but none of them moved to join in the attack. Indeed, they didn’t seem to have noticed anything unusual at all, continuing their patrol patterns as though one of their number hadn’t just gone rogue and attempted to assassinate an Inquisitor. When a good half minute had passed and nothing more happened, the alicorn shut down her lightsaber’s blade, though she did not put it away. Her head turned back to EV-T3R, whom she was vaguely surprised to see hadn’t even attempted to run away.
“My apologies for the unpleasantness, mistress,” he said. “But Lord Vader has programmed a select number of our droid pool to periodically attempt to assassinate any specified owners or guests within the citadel as a means of, and I quote, ‘preventing them from growing lax’.” The droid’s voice then matched the cyborg’s almost perfectly. “But don’t worry.”
“And why should I not?”
“We can always import more droids.”
Luna simply sighed.
“…and here are your quarters, my lady,” said EV more than an hour of wandering through dim, lifeless halls and chambers later. “We believe that they once belonged to the leader of the religious fanatics previously occupying this facility. Now they belong to the master – or mistress – of the citadel.”
Luna took a look into the broad room, easily three times the size of the one she had occupied back in Equestria. Located at the pinnacle of the tallest tower, its vast blue-tinted windows offered a commanding view of the mountain range beyond. Yet beyond a bed easily large enough to fit half a dozen sentient beings and a simple nightstand beside it, the room was all but barren. Simple stone walls were unadorned, the soft blue carpet showing no interruptions. It looked as though it had barely been used, if ever.
“Get your droids to installing a holonet transceiver in here,” Luna ordered without a moment’s pause. “Holding cabinets and cleaning supplies for my armor, and display cases for my trophies. And install some shelves, I may wish to add reading material. If I am to make this a home, I expect it to be properly equipped.”
“Of course, my lady,” the droid bowed his head. “I shall begin preparations as soon as we are finished her.”
“Then do so now, because we are,” she said without bothering to look at him. “Bring me what options you have available and I will select my preferences.”
“As you will,” the machine nodded, before wandering past the Stormtroopers and back the way the group had come, vanishing within moments down a flight of stairs.
“Gentlemen,” Luna turned to her white-armored troops. “I ask that you return to the ship for the duration of our stay here and inform the crew that they are to do the same.”
“Ma’am?” one man said.
“You are my men,” she said. “I do not wish you to be caught up in Lord Vader’s little game and die to no purpose in crossfire. Therefore, I ask you to vacate the premises, at least until I can root out whatever assassin droids he has chosen to implant here. I assure you I do not require any protection.”
Stormtroopers are trained, above all else, to obey, and these men were no different. However bizarre or uncomfortable the order seemed, they were still loyal, and moved to do as bid without complaint. It didn’t take long before the last of them had vanished around a corner. The blue alicorn turned around, walked right into her designated quarters, and closed the door behind her.
“You can come out now,” she said to the empty room. “We are alone for the moment.”
“And I am glad of it,” said a familiar voice from behind her.
“Hello again, Dooku.”
She lay bound tightly to heavy metal slab for time beyond time. About her danced hovering black spheres. How many? Three? Four? Five? She could no longer tell. Her body was beyond exhausted, by all rights should have collapsed into a merciful state of unconsciousness a long time ago. But the burning chemical cocktail that flowed through her bloodstream kept her awake, forced her to stay perfectly alert to every last mote of agony.
Everything was pain. Her delirious mind could no longer make sense of anything else, but the pain was crystal clear. Every last nerve ending throughout her body, from her head down to her toes, screamed out in simultaneous, unending agony. Neurochemicals continuously injected into her system kept every last throb as fresh as the last, her mind unable to so much as dull the pain.
One of the floating black spheres came closer, extending a small probe crackling with electricity towards her face. Another floated towards her neck, a long needle extended. She struggled weakly, but her restraints were too many and far too well-built. Chemicals and electricity wracked her flesh at the exact same moment, and she let out a horrible scream on the physical and metaphysical planes alike. Her spirit cried out through the Force, willing desperately for someone, anyone to hear, to help her…
On Dantooine, Twilight Sparkle’s eyes snapped open. She sat bolt upright, her body covered in a slick, cold sweat. She looked down at trembling hands, and she wondered…
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Hmm. Was that Ahsoka at the end? And Twilight received her call for help.
Oh shiii... Twilight's going to try to free her? But Vader is there...
Noctis is now in a place fitting her. I wonder how she plans to protect Equestria and make everything right from there.
Just as planned... Hold on Ahsoka, for Twilight will come and rescue you!
Hmm, with how Luna acts towards her troopers, methinks they're possibly gonna grow more loyal towards her, or at least I'd like to think that. She's not exactly a horrible commander to them, so... who knows?
Good work.
the moon of Kohlma was home to death-worshipping cult, lead by a madwoman
went mad and had to put down
shall begin preparations as soon as we are finished her
1. Was home to a death worshipping cult, led.
2. Went mad and had to be put down.
3. Here.
8745209
Free her or be forced to mercy kill. Pretty sure Ahsoka would prefer death over what is going on now. And would further drive home to Twilight that sometimes...you just can't save someone no matter how much you want. The best you can do is help them as much as you can.
So, Dooku returns. I’m interested to see how his conversation with Luna goes, and what he thinks of all that has happened since he last interacted with her.
It seems that Twilight has heard Ahsoka’s plea for help. I do hope that she will come to rescue the Togruta, and soon.
8745544
I am afraid her chances of success will be weak, for Vader will not allow anyone to take Ahsoka away. And if Twilight meets him face to face, he might sense she, like Noctis, is Equestrian. Not only will her life be at stake, but her relatives and her people might then be in peril...
8745775
True, but, knowing Twilight, she’s gonna try anyway.
8745775
= Celestia goes Boom?
8745814
Well, we know how Star Wars punishes pointless, arrogant heroics like that, don't we?
Thank you for the update.
Twilight may have gotten Ahsoka's plea, but if Ahsoka really is in close proximity to Vader, Twilight will be WAAAY out of her league. I don't care what she learned from that holocron, it won't be enough for the likes of Vader.
So Luna now has a literal Lunar citadel on one moon of a planet that has many moons? ... Does Vader actually have a sense of humor? Because I swear that strikes me as him having a little personal joke.
8747063
Yet, the Force might be with her, like It was, in the movies, with these soldiers who managed to get the first Death Star's plans to safety in Episode 3.5, and like It was with Luke the 2 times he faced Vader.
8746783
The way you italicized Star Wars makes me think you're being sarcastic, but it being text makes it hard to tell.
Are you being sarcastic right now or are you referencing what happened to Luke in episode 5 or Anakin in 2?
I'm going to be so full of joy if Twilight rescues Ahsoka. I can definitely see them becoming friends.