Chapter 6: Enduring the Cold

Much to Nadia’s disappointment, Felix’s hunch was correct. They’d barely been on Coruscant a week (much of which Nadia had spent coming up with relaxing travel destinations) before they were called to duty once again. Well, Kayora was specifically the one called to duty, but naturally the rest of them were going with her. This time, they were going to the ice planet Ilum, which actually made Nadia exceptionally excited. Not for the weather, but for the fact that Ilum was the primary planet where the crystals the Jedi used to power their lightsabers were harvested. They’d get to see an actual part of the history of the Jedi. Nadia wondered whether there would be time to go find a crystal of her own, to help make her feel a little more connected to the legacy of peacekeepers and warriors she was now a part of.

That, however, would depend on how their mission progressed. Ilum was monitored by a small outpost of Jedi, and contained other temples and safe havens for any Jedi coming to attempt to get a crystal of their own. Outside of these activities, Ilum was fairly mundane in the galactic view. However, the Sith Empire had recently assaulted the planet, slaughtering the Jedi there and desecrating the temples. Intelligence had suggested that the Empire was harvesting the crystals for some other purpose, and Kayora had been tasked to find out what that was.

The Star of Ryloth landed at a Republic forward operating base, a small outpost that had been established by an advance recon team after the Sith invasion. As they all walked down the ramp into the hangar, Nadia couldn’t suppress a shiver, even though she had her winter gear on and it was almost certainly warmer in the hangar than it was outside the base. The steel walls around them looked like they were just a couple degrees away from freezing over, and there were small patches of snow dotting the hangar that had yet to melt.

“Please tell me that this is an endeavor I can support remotely,” Tharan groused, blowing into his hands to keep them warm.

“I had really hoped there’d be a longer duration between being stuck in the snow caves of Hoth before I ended up on another damn ice planet,” commented Felix.

Striding across the hangar as if the temperature didn’t bother her at all, Kayora tossed a glance over her shoulder. “Tharan, I’m sure I can find something for you to do on the ship. Let’s see what the commanding officer has to tell us about the situation.”

The rest of them followed their leader, several of them still grumbling about the situation. Nadia tucked her hands into the pockets of her coat, reminding herself to appreciate the relative warmth of the base while she could.

—

The base commander hadn’t been able to tell them much more than they already knew. Imperial forces had quickly overrun the Jedi who had been on planet during the attack, and now had control of several of the crystal caves. Some of the intercepted transmissions that had been decoded by the Republic intelligence operatives indicated that the Empire was working on some sort of stealth technology, but this ended up being confirmed by a very unlikely source: Darth Malgus, one of the more prominent Sith lords.

He had contacted them on an open frequency, looking imposing as ever with the lower half of his scarred face obscured by a metallic respirator, and informed them of the Empire’s operations and intention of building an entire stealth armada, powered by the crystals being mined on Ilum. He claimed to be helping them because of a personal vendetta against Darth Arho, the Sith in charge of the operation, which did align with how the Sith usually did business. Regardless of how much they could trust his intentions, the information that he provided them with was too valuable to discount, so they decided to take at least that at face value.

Since they had multiple objectives, Kayora decided it would be best to split the team for more efficiency. Felix, Qyzen, and Zenith would make their way to the Imperial camps, supported by a small squad of Republic demolitionists. There were a number of Imperial ships that needed to be destroyed before the stealth technology could be installed on them. If they managed to get off planet, they would wreak havoc on the Republic forces in orbit. Meanwhile, Kayora and Nadia would travel to one of the temples that Darth Arho was supposedly using as a base of operations and put a stop to his plans. Tharan, much to his delight, was to stay back at the ship and monitor any transmission activity, as well as staying in contact with the other Republic forces.

After they had returned to the ship to grab what supplies they might need, the two teams set off. As Nadia and Kayora began their trek through the packed snow trails, Nadia pulled her jacket tighter around her as she marveled at the landscape surrounding them. It was still obviously colder than she’d prefer, but there was something utterly mesmerizing about the ice and snow formations all about them. Giant rock arches completely iced over, snow dusting the top of them; icicles dotting the wall of a short plateau; frozen over lakes, dotted with snow drifts formed by the chill wind. The ice and snow also made everything bright and sparkling, sometimes almost too bright to look at. Nadia made sure her goggles were easily accessible; she knew about snow blindness, and would be extra careful if the sun broke through the thin cloud cover currently present.

Fortunately for the two of them, the wind was fairly non-existent, which made the walk a little bit better. The officer at the outpost’s entrance had warned them of a storm that was moving in their direction as they left, but hopefully it wouldn’t reach them before they made camp that night. They expected almost a full day of walking to get to the temple, though they would stop a bit outside of it to settle down for the night. In the morning they’d move in and confront Darth Arho, assuming that he was still there. Or was there at all, given that Darth Malgus might have lied to them, though Kayora didn’t think that was the case.

“Maybe once we’ve dealt with this Darth Arho, we can investigate the caves ourselves, see if any of the crystals speak to us,” suggested Kayora, as if she’d read Nadia’s mind earlier.

“What do you know about the crystal caves?” Nadia inquired, chancing a quick glance at her master before focusing back on the snowy terrain in front of her feet. “I know that this is where powerful Jedi come to get crystals, but I don’t know much more than that.”

“It’s often seen as the last great trial a Jedi undertakes, somewhat of a final pilgrimage.” Kayora paused as she hopped over a particularly large mound of snow that had slid down onto the path they followed. “Once the Jedi makes it to the caves, and defeats any of the local fauna that attack them, they are to meditate in one of the central caverns. While meditating, the Jedi will feel a pull, and must follow that pull until they find the crystal that is calling to them. It is said that each crystal is attuned slightly differently, and that picking a crystal that aligns with one’s self is paramount to forging a legendary lightsaber.”

“Wow. That sounds … amazing,” Nadia said in awe, hoping desperately that one day she would be able to partake in finding her own crystal.

“Yes, I have long wished to find a crystal that truly was mine,” Kayora responded, a wistful tone in her voice. Nadia looked over at her master once again, and found her glancing longingly at a set of rock formations they could see in the distance, which Nadia assumed held some of the crystal caves they were speaking of. If they weren’t able to make it to the caverns while they were here, Nadia made a mental note to ensure they returned someday to fulfill both of their wishes.

—

They had trekked on for several more hours, making good time through the snowy terrain. Several times they had come across some of the wildlife, but luckily were able to skirt away from any encounter. They did happen upon a small Imperial scouting party when they crested a ridge, but made quick work of them, ensuring that their presence remained undetected, at least as far as they were aware. As Nadia finished covering the last body with snow, so they could better hide their tracks, she heard Kayora let out a sigh of annoyance.

“It looks like that storm the officer warned us about is coming upon us fast. I would guess we only have fifteen minutes or so before it starts to get pretty unpleasant out here.”

Looking at the sky, it had darkened considerably since she’d last checked. Ominous clouds were overtaking the sky, swallowing up the more mild cloud cover that had been present up until then. Nadia also noticed the wind was a little more biting than it had been, and didn’t really want to see how it felt once the storm got to them. She fell in step next to Kayora as they hurried along the path, keeping their eyes open for anywhere they might be able to hunker down and wait out the storm.

Ten minutes later, it had become noticeably colder, the wind cutting through their jackets as if they weren’t even wearing them. Nadia could feel her teeth chattering, and swore she could hear Kayora’s, though her master hadn’t said anything in the past several minutes. Balling her hands into fists inside her pockets, Nadia tilted her head down to hide her nose in the scarf she had donned. They were coming up on a large rocky outcropping, and Nadia prayed to whatever gods would listen that there would be a decent cave present. The snow that had started whipping around them obscured their vision, so it wasn’t until they were nearly upon the rocks that they could make out the dark shape of a hollow. Suddenly the wind was howling loud enough that they couldn’t speak without yelling, so Nadia just continued to trudge toward the hollow, hoping both that Kayora was heading that way too and that the hollow extended further into the rock to shield them from the storm.

Both her hopes were fulfilled. As she reached the ice covered stone, it was apparent that the hollow did extend much further into the rock, and Kayora was already halfway inside the entrance, gesturing hurriedly at Nadia. Ducking inside, they shuffled through a narrow passage before it opened into a larger chamber, big enough for the two of them, but probably not many more. The snow petered out at the entrance to the room, leaving the interior bare and blessedly dry. It still wasn’t particularly warm, but it was leagues better than still being out in the blizzard that they could hear raging.

Kayora sat down onto the ground, leaning her back against the smooth stone wall. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back, letting out a long breath.

“Is everything alright master?” Nadia inquired, rather concerned at the exasperation that Kayora appeared to be exhibiting. It was unusual for her to show such irritation at, well, any situation.

Eyes still closed, Kayora smiled briefly. “Yes, apologies. I’m just not a fan of the cold.”

Unable to help herself, Nadia let out a laugh. She clapped a gloved hand over her mouth as Kayora looked at her with eyebrows raised. “I’m sorry, it’s just, well, it’s just funny that out of everything that you face, the thing that gets to you the most is the cold.” She giggled again before literally stuffing her hand into her mouth to stop any further noise.

Kayora let out a puff of laughter through her nose before shrugging. “We all have our weaknesses.” She patted the ground next to her, so Nadia took a seat, removing her glove from her mouth. They sat for several moments in companionable silence, both of them rubbing their arms to try and heat themselves up a bit. Nadia’s teeth had stopped chattering, but she was still uncomfortably cold; she definitely couldn’t feel all of her toes as she wiggled them in her boots. Glancing out of the corner of her eye, she watched Kayora wrapping her arms around herself tightly, a slight shiver still present in her body.

It was prudent to share body heat in these kinds of situations, a little voice in the back of Nadia’s mind said. This was not the kind of situation you needed to share body heat, another voice argued back. Sure it’s cold, but you are in a dry sheltered area, and once you get a little heat into your bodies you’ll be fine.

The voices argued back and forth until Nadia impulsively made a decision. Scooting over to close the gap between them, she pressed herself up against Kayora’s side. As she felt her master stiffen, she wondered if she’d made a critical error. She jumped in to explain herself before things got worse.

“We should huddle up to share body heat.” When no response was forthcoming, she continued. “I saw you shivering, and I’m still pretty cold over here too, so I just wanted to make sure neither of us suffered unnecessarily.” The silence stretched on so long Nadia nearly retreated in shame before Kayora finally spoke.

“That’s a good idea.” Nadia let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. Letting herself relax a little and lean into her master, she shut her eyes and listened to the wind shrieking outside their hideaway.

After close to an hour, which they had spent the first part idly chatting and the second part Nadia was struggling to keep her eyes open, Kayora finally shifted around to dig into her pack and pull out the camping supplies they had grabbed from the outpost.

“It doesn’t look like it’s going to let up any time soon, so we might as well camp here,” she said with resignation. She laid out a thin mat on the cavern floor and pulled out a couple thick blankets. “I had hoped we’d make more progress today, but that just means we’ll have a bit of a way to go in the morning before we confront Arho.” Tossing Nadia one of the small pillows, Kayora placed her own on the mat and laid down, not bothering to take off any of her outerwear since they were still somewhat exposed to the elements, and it was still damn cold. Nadia settled down next to Kayora on the mat, making herself comfortable as Kayora threw the blanket over the two of them. Their proximity caused a shiver to run through Nadia, which was easy to disguise as a reaction to the chill that still lingered.

“Good night, Kayora,” she said softly, wondering if her master was at all affected by the sleeping situation they currently found themselves in, or if it was just her.

“Good night, Nadia.”

—

Much to Nadia’s annoyance, she did not sleep for very long. Though in the grand scheme of things, it was probably better to get an early start; the sooner they took care of Arho, the sooner they were back to somewhere with running heaters. The first thing Nadia noticed when she awoke was that the sound of the storm was no longer present. It may have been what woke her up, given that the silence felt like such a stark contrast to what they had fallen asleep to the previous evening.

The second thing she noticed was that she was on her side with her face buried in Kayora’s neck. Her eyes widened in mortification and she slowly and carefully rolled onto her back, crossing her fingers that Kayora hadn’t been awake yet. It was only moments later that she felt her master stir, not quite long enough to ensure she hadn’t been awake for the unintended cuddle. Nadia braced herself for some sort of comment, but Kayora simply sat up, stretched her arms, and started preparing to depart. Pretending she had just woken as well, Nadia got out from under the blanket and got to helping pack up their bedding. She kept expecting something from Kayora, but all she received was a bright smile and an inquiry as to how she slept.

“I slept alright, not long enough though,” Nadia replied cautiously. Kayora voiced her agreement, then shouldered her pack and led them out of the cave. The storm had indeed subsided, the only evidence it had passed through some larger snow piles across the landscape. As they began the last bit of their walk to the temple, Nadia blew out a foggy breath. It looked like she’d lucked out this time.

—

They’d made good time to the temple, and the Sith forces there had been completely unprepared for their arrival. Quickly dispatching the outer guards, Kayora and Nadia fought their way to the inner sanctum of the structure, where they found Darth Arho waiting for them. He looked up at them from the communications console he stood behind, glaring beneath a creased brow.

“I see that Darth Malgus is still conspiring against me, though I am surprised he would stoop so low to enlist a Jedi in his service.” Arho spat the word Jedi out as if it left a bad taste in his mouth.

“We are not here on behalf of Darth Malgus.” Kayora stepped forward, lightsaber ignited, but held at her side, non-threateningly. “You have attacked a sacred Jedi site and killed many of my brethren.”

  “You are also destroying the crystal caverns in your pursuit for the power to destroy the Republic and its people, which we will not allow,” Nadia added confidently, moving to stand beside her master.

Arho laughed darkly, stepping out from behind the console. “I am not concerned with what you or your pet padawan will or will not allow. I will crush you, then after my fleet is complete, I will destroy Lord Malgus and have the Dark Council in the palm of my hand.”

“This does not need to come to violence,” Kayora warned, though she tightened her grip on her saber.

In lieu of a response, Arho ignited his own saber, blade hissing and glowing blood red, and launched himself at the two Jedi. Nadia dove to the side, spinning around and bringing her double-bladed saber up into a defensive position. Kayora deflected Arho’s attack, retaliating with a strike of her own. The tip of her blade nicked the edge of Arho’s sleeve, leaving a smoldering rend in the fabric. Growling, Arho threw up a hand, lightning erupting from his fingertips and carving a path through the air toward Kayora. The Twi’lek brought her lightsaber to bear, catching the lightning and absorbing it into her blade. Charging forward, Nadia threw a cross strike at Arho, interrupting his lightning as he was forced to divert his attention to block Nadia’s blade. Rotating her body with the arc of her attack, Nadia knocked Arho’s blade down with one side of her saber and used the other side to slice at him. Unable to block the strike, Arho dodged backward, barely avoiding Nadia’s bright green blade.

Arho let out a bellow of rage, turning to address Nadia, which left him open to Kayora’s  thrust, which caught him just under the left arm. Hissing in pain, Arho leapt into the air, letting out a burst of force energy that caused both of the Jedi to stagger backward. As soon as he hit the ground, Arho sped toward Kayora, apparently unable to decide which opponent was the bigger threat. Unfortunately for him, Nadia reached out with the force, nudging Arho’s shoulder just enough to knock him off balance. His forward momentum kept him moving toward Kayora as he tripped over his own feet, falling toward the ground. Bringing her knee up, Kayora connected with Arho’s chin with a sickening crunch, halting his motion and sending him toppling backward, swinging his lightsaber blindly in front of him as blood began to run down his teeth.

Spinning down into a kneeling position, Nadia swiped her weapon low, her blade connecting with the back of Arho’s calves. A sizzling sound immediately filled the room as Nadia pulled back her lightsaber, Arho falling to his knees, panting heavily.

“You’ll … never … prevail … “ he forced out through gritted teeth, before he threw his lightsaber at Nadia in a last ditch effort. Nadia effortlessly deflected the blade to the ground at the same moment that Kayora plunged her own saber into Arho’s chest, holding it there until his eyes fluttered closed. Deactivating her lightsaber, Kayora watched Arho slump to the ground before turning her attention to Nadia.

“Are you alright? She asked, looking her padawan up and down.

“Never better,” Nadia chirped brightly, stowing her weapon on her belt.

Kayora opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by her comm unit chirping. Shaking her head slightly, she answered the call. Felix’s image popped into view.

“Hey Kayora, hopefully you’ve dealt with Darth Arho, because we’ve got a bigger problem now.” 

Raising an eyebrow, Kayora shared a look with Nadia. “Explain this bigger problem.”

“We managed to destroy most of the grounded ships, but apparently Darth Malgus has taken the technology and is planning on making the stealth fleet himself. Also, he’s declared a new Empire, separate from the existing Empire, that will cleanse the galaxy blah blah standard megalomaniac stuff. Regardless, we’ve got a lead on one more stealth fighter that hasn’t left the planet yet. We need to hijack that fighter and use it to find wherever Malgus is basing his operations out of so we can quash this threat before it gets out of hand.”

“We will make our way back then.” Kayora and Nadia began heading back toward the entrance of the temple.

“We’re coming to pick you up at the temple,” Felix said.

“Looks like finding our own crystals will have to wait,” Nadia commented, trying to mask her disappointment.

“Also one more thing,” Felix said, appearing hesitant to voice what that one thing was. Finally, he continued.

“We’ll be working with the Sith Empire to deal with Malgus.”