Across the Stars XI: The Tomb World

Nathan Carda was fond of Hyperspace.
Not the concept itself, exactly. He was fond of the experience, what it was like when you were traveling through it.
It was the only time when nothing could happen, and when nothing could be done. You were free from any expectations. No matter what was bothering you, there was nothing you could do about it but worry, and worrying wouldn’t get you there any faster, so what was the point? It was like being suspended outside of reality. Being in hyperspace felt safe, and quiet, and isolated. He spent most of this time reading.
The otherworldly swirl wrapped around their craft. It was alive, but silent, rhythmic, and calming. 

    “Coming out of lightspeed now, good buddy.”

Nathan leapt up from his bunk, scrambled into the co-pilot chair and buckled his restraints just in time. The deep cerulean of hyperspace faded away in streaks of light and the Lucky Star came hurtling to a stop. 
They had arrived.
Before them sat the sphere called Korriban, alone in the dark of space. The orange planet looked sickly, wrong, definitely what you'd call foreboding. Not that ‘foreboding’ had much of an impact on either of them. After the last few weeks, Nathan and Ozz were feeling pretty numb towards ‘foreboding’. 

“No readings of any ships nearby, much less an Imperial cruiser. Looks like we beat 'em here.” Ozz turned in his seat. “So, this is it, huh? This really our last stop?” 

Nathan took a deep sigh and nodded to his partner. 

“I’ve got a pretty good feeling, yeah.”

“Pah, good feelings got nothing to do with a place like this,” Ozz frowned. He gave his friend a worried glance. “You sure you wanna go down there? I mean, if you do, I'm there, naturally. I’m with you every step of the way. Just, y’know, figured I'd...make sure. Just double-checking. Not that I'm nervous. I thought maybe you'd be feeling nervous, so I just wanted to check on you. Do the nice thing, y'know. Anyway, you, uh...sure? ”

    Nathan stared ahead at the planet’s surface. He felt his eye twitch.
If he was honest with himself, their journey so far had him exhausted, and the wounds he'd received on Mustafar from the Vu'othh's cultists had only made things worse. But there wasn’t time to think about how much his arm hurt, or his leg hurt, or how he felt like he couldn't quite catch his breath. Nathan was focused on what had to be done and determined to see it through. 
They'd followed the writings of the ancient sith servant Balaam to nearly a dozen worlds, and everything led here. Supposedly, somewhere down on that dusty surface was a magic stone, an artifact that granted immortality. And the crazy Imperial officer Lt. Syfot was on his way here to take it for himself.
Nathan looked at Ozz, his constant companion. A pain in the butt, sure, but they'd come a long way. He noted the dark circles under the Iakaru’s eyes, but was cheered to see the eyes themselves were as fiery as ever. 

“I’m not excited about this,” Nathan admitted. “Not after Mustafar and our last couple stops. But you know we have to, Ozz. That creep took my notebook; the Imperials know everything that we do. They’re gonna be here soon. And if Balaam's Heart is real, and it's down there...well, if that Imperial kathock lives forever I'm going to die furious.”

“Yeah, yeah…Hey, remember when we were just huntin’ Imperials, before we got mixed up in all this magicky…forcey…nonsense? Those were the good ol’ days,” he reminisced, then he sighed and settled back down in his controls. “Alright, might as well get it over with. I’m bringing her down.”

Korriban was an old world, a solemn place, malevolent and strange.
As with the last few worlds they had visited--each of them vibrant with the Force--Nathan felt something in his gut during their approach. But what he sensed when they entered the atmosphere was different: this was not the violent push-and-pull of Mustafar, the war-dead wastes of Ossus, or the wildness of Dagobah.
Korriban was quiet. 
Korriban was weariness and emptiness. 

Korriban was a tomb. 
    
The Lucky Star dipped below a layer of dust-smoked clouds. Nathan adjusted one of his bandages as he stared out the cockpit canopy at the distant surface. “This has to be it, Ozz. I can just tell.”

“Oh yeah? You gettin’ more of those ‘feelings’ you sometimes get, eh?”

“Oh, big time.”

“Why can’t you ever have feelings about, I dunno, the lottery, or how we hafta go to a really nice beach planet, or something?”

Mountains rose like teeth from the planet’s surface, an endless range beaten by sandstorms and winds. Nathan told Ozz where to put the Lucky Star, just outside a valley they could hardly see through the dust. 
Once landed, they prepared to leave the ship. The feelings had grown stronger. Nathan could only describe how he felt as 'wrongness', but he didn't mention it to Ozz. No reason to freak out him out any worse. 
Ozz was the one anchor against his growing dread. A single, smelly light in the dark. Nathan looked over at his friend and cleared his throat. 

“Hey Ozz,” he said. “We’ve come a long way, huh? Eh, listen, man...whatever happens…I…”

Ozz waved him off awkwardly. “Yeah, yeah. It’s...uh, it's been real, kid.”

“No, Ozz. I…” He wasn’t sure how to put what he was feeling into words. It was a rare occasion.

Ozz stuffed his blaster into its holster and made a face.

“Leave the mushy stuff for later,” he said. “We gotta focus up!” He grabbed his cloak, and smacked the toggle for the ship’s ramp. Tepid air and dust blew in from outside.
Ozz swept a hand out graciously, like a fancy butler. “Welcome to Korriban, sir. The most evilest planet in the Outer Rim. Hope you enjoy your stay.”
    
“Yeah, right,” Nathan snickered, but his voice sounded weak. He squinted out at the desert dubiously, and tromped down the ramp into the sand. Ozz followed close behind.

Dusty paths led them through an inhospitable valley. Steep rises on either side blocked them in, made them feel as though they were being herded like sheep, and neither could shake the constant feeling of being watched.
After a time the path opened up to reveal a wide waste, a flatland populated by rows of gargantuan statues.

"The old Sith must have built these," said Nathan, staring up at them.

"Hey," Ozz frowned. "I get it, I know this planet is...what it is. Let's not say that word, yeah?"

What hadn’t crumbled away looked humanoid, all of them hooded with their arms crossed and their heads bowed. Their hands and their mouths were hidden, no longer powerful or performing dark deeds. The statues were symbols that demonstrated the purpose of this valley. Symbols, Nathan believed, of death.
Nathan had learned firsthand on Ossus that death was not the end for the Jedi. The Sith, on the other hand, seemed to see it with desolate finality. The many rows of towering statues--characterless, featureless-- were a grim statement: the dead are only bodies. No wonder they wanted to delay their deaths as long as they could.

He liked the Jedi way better.

"Eugh..." Ozz shivered.

"Worried about the Empire?" Nathan asked.

"The Empire! Nah, not one bit. Not anymore. You and I have taken down loads of spies. They just talk big, that's all. Nah, it's not them that scares me. This place...it freaks me out. It’s not freakin’ you out?"

“No, it’s freaking me out,” Nathan confessed, then he grinned. “I’m just not whining about it.” 

“I’m not whinin’!” Ozz complained. “Geez, kid. Have a heart.”

Nathan’s grin quickly faded. The thoughts floating in his head had grown darker than they’d been in orbit. 

Crumbling structures stood along their path, old temples and pillars. The solemnity of the ruins seemed to chastise them both, as though the ancient builders were aware of their trespass and disgusted by their presence, their lack of respect. As though they were watched by a court who would decide their judgement. As though Nathan and Ozz were silly, insignificant nothings, dramatically misplaced against the hateful work of millions of beings, carried out over the long millennia. They did not belong here.
A storm picked up. The howling wind buffeted them with sheets of dust as they trudged forward. 
Nathan felt drawn by something, like a light he couldn’t see, somewhere ahead. 

    “Grab my coat!" he shouted. "We better not get separated out here!”

    “Don’t gotta tell me twice!”

    Nathan stumbled with every step, but he felt Ozz’s hand clutching him from behind, keeping him steady. For once, Ozz’s small stature and grounded build weren’t a joke, they were helpful.

    “Woah, kid!”

    He felt his footing shake and fall away. They’d run into the edge of a dried ravine. Ozz grabbed him under the arms and heaved him back to solid land.
    
    “Geez, another close one! No one would ever insure you, kid!”

    Nathan gasped for breath, his heart hammering from the sudden fall he never had to suffer. “Place could…use some…safety rails,” he groaned. He heard Ozz laugh, then sputter when sand got in his gaping mouth. 

That's when it happened: Korriban came for Nathan's spirit.

The sensitivity that had been stirring inside Nathan over the last few weeks had been an idle source of comfort for him, even while he did his best to ignore it, allowing it to come and go without ever giving it a really hard examination. He hadn't acknowledged that it was real, and powerful, and might change his life. Instead, he left it alone to grow, as the worlds they visited shaped it separate from any kind of managing or care, like an unpruned thorn bush. 
How would he know any better way? He had never been taught. 
He was untrained, childlike in his power. Defenseless.
Like a lidless, dilated eye, Nathan absorbed anything and everything he brushed up against, whether or not he wanted to. Whether or not it blinded him.
The foul aura of the Force on Korriban found him like a city without walls. 
The person-less darkness took him like sleeping prey.
Nathan felt the intrusion first like you feel a sudden burden, the weight of guilt or depression, and fog spread across his mind. His eyes would have widened if he hadn’t been squinting against the sandstorm. His body began to ache and shiver, and the strength drained from his limbs until they grew numb.

Ozz spun to look as Nathan's legs gave out and he fell heavy into the sand, like a deer finally succumbing to the arrow in its heart.

"Kid!"

Nathan's hand grasped at the dust. "Ozz! I--I don't know what's happening," he croaked. "I feel like I'm..." He groaned in pain. "L-Like something's...dying inside me."

"Well geez, kid, way to sugarcoat it! Maybe it's, like, evil magic! C'mon nerd, fight it!" 

"I would! I don't...I don't know how!" Nathan yowled. His body convulsed against the ground.
Thoroughly freaked out, Ozz looked behind them to judge the distance back to the ship. Nathan saw what he was doing and hurried to get his attention. 

"No!" he gasped. "No going back! We--We've got to keep going, Ozz!"

"Kid, are you serious? I just saw you crumple like a paper ball. What's...What's even happening!"

"I'll be o-okay! I can do this!"

"We don't even know what we're walkin' into, here! Whatever happened to 'safety first'? We're just gonna march up there, stare down Imperials and who-knows-what-else, while you're dyin' from this...stomach ache?"

Nathan winced. "I'm pretty sure it's not...a stomach ache."

"Whatever it is, you look...well, awful! Like you're coming apart at the seams!"

Nathan fought a coughing fit, looking up at his companion through watery eyes. "I d-do? Yeah, I kind of feel..." 
Frustration welled up inside him. They were so close! He couldn't be thwarted now! He felt helpless to fight back against whatever was happening to him. He didn't even know what it was. Was it the Force? Could this happen because of the Force? He didn't even know how the Force worked!
Shaking, he took out his anger on the dirt and bruised his fist. 

"Augh, I can't believe this! Stupid...p-planet!" Then pleading overtook his disappointment. "Ozz, listen, whatever this is...it can't stop us, not now! We're right at the end, Ozz! I can't..."

The desperation on Nathan's face was heartbreaking. Ozz watched him lie there, shivering and weak, with all the same fire in his eyes as usual. He watched the progress of the battle happening on Nathan's face, but it was clear he wasn't about to win. 
Ozz knew the kid wanted nothing more than to finish out this quest of theirs, but like this? 
He couldn't. He was deluding himself to think anything but. 

Ozz gave a heavy sigh. "Kid...Look, I don't know..."  He saw Nathan's face scrunched up to argue, and cut him off. "Kid! Listen! I can't have you dying on me. For one thing, you think I wanna do this on my own? I don't know if you remember gettin' stabbed by those creepies on Mustafar, but goin' solo ain't exactly worked out for us in the past. We gotta get you back to the Star."

"No!" Nathan shouted, summoning a modicum of remaining strength to do so. It was a waste: just as quickly it slipped away from him again, and his voice dropped to a hoarse groan. "No. Ozz, please. This is too important. Remember what's at stake! Please...promise..." 

Nathan's eyes flickered closed. 

"No!" yelled Ozz, and he hurtled to his side. "Kid! Hey, kid, stay with me, alright? Don't go towards any lights!" 

Ozz scrambled in his pack for the medkit, the old one they couldn't find back on Yavin. His fingers found the stimulant, which he withdrew and mashed into his friend's leg before thumbing the trigger. He had to keep him from shutting down.
Nothing happened. Panic was rising in Ozz's stomach. 
He ran a quick vital scan with a cracked old biomonitor. What it said shocked him: the readout said that, physically, the kid was fine. 

That couldn't be right, could it?

Ozz stared doubtfully at the screen, his eyes sliding over towards Nathan's unmoving face. The panic in his gut was receding. 
Maybe this was a magic thing, he thought. Like, a magic sleep. Maybe the kid will be alright.

An unsettled frown established itself on Ozz's wide face. A decision was working its way through his brain as he came to terms with what was going on, the situation they'd landed in, and what he'd have to do. Not a single fiber of his being wanted it, but somehow, he knew he'd do it anyway. 

"What are ya thinkin', Ozzie?" he whispered. 

How'd he get caught up in all this? When he agreed to work with the human in that restaurant on Targonn, he'd been saying yes to a money-making opportunity, one that so far had been a bust. He was working with the guy that got him fired. He had saved his life. He'd been saved by him, too. And now he was carrying his burden, in more ways than one.

Now that they were divided, they were weak. The wasteland swelled up like billowing smoke, vast and exhausting, howling and mocking the lonesome Iakaru.

Ozz watched it defiantly. The decision made its way to his conscious mind, and purpose bubbled up out of his confusion.

They'd come this far, he thought. He might as well see it through.

Gritting his teeth, he reached down to bundle his friend in his own cloak. He could hook him to the harness on his backpack and carry him the rest of the way. As deserted as Korriban seemed, maybe they'd find someone who could help, a hermit or a village or a castaway. Otherwise, he'd find the magic stone, and they'd get off this garbage excuse for a planet and find a real doctor.

"Geez, crazy times, huh..." he muttered to himself. "Don't worry, Nate," he told his companion. "I'll take care of everything. I've got ya. I'll get the heart...thing."

He hoisted the young human up on his shoulder, grateful for his own sturdy legs, and that he, like all Iakaru, hid deceptive strength in his stocky frame. Held on by cables and straps, the lanky young human was situated on his back.

"Boy, I'm glad you're skinny, otherwise this'd be--hrngh--impossible."

The valley lay before him. It had been foreboding before, and didn't seem any more welcoming now that his dying friend was laying across his back. 
Ozz winced and licked his lips. 

 "Come on kid," he said to the unconscious Nathan. "Let's finish the job, ey?"

And he trudged forward into the wastes.

Nathan's spirit was prey for feeding, fresh meat upon which to feast. What fed upon him could be named by no creature of the galaxy. 
Everything inside of Ozz, every instinct he'd honed, every life experience that had shaped him, every conscious strategy that had worked for him before, it all pushed him to flee to the ship. What other option was there? Wander through the wastelands until they find what Nathan came for? He had no compass, no map, no inner "feeling" to guide him. He was a negotiator, a conman, someone who navigates people, not hazardous terrrain. There were no people on Korriban, there was nothing but mountains and dust. 
And yet, for the sake of his friend, and what his friend had collapsed trying to do, the Iakaru trudged onward, Nathan on his back, every heavy step an effort. He had a loose plan: get somewhere high where he would be able to see a path ahead. 
Two hundred metres of walking and Ozz had to take a moment to rest, reeling from the burning strain he felt in his muscles. Deceptive strength aside, Ozz hadn't done much stamina training in the last few decades. He looked at the path ahead--a steep, rocky path winding up a mountain. even from here, he spotted loose stones and waist high ledges he would have to clamber over, and the aching in his thighs seemed to flare. For a tiny moment, he considered dropping Nathan and freeing himself from the dead weight. He shook his head to dispel the thought. He was committed. There was no stopping now. 

"No stopping now," he panted. He craned to look back over his shoulder. "You're gonna owe me for this, Nate."

Ozz adjusted his unconscious cargo, carefully chose an open spot to place his foot, and took the first painful step up the mountain. 

20 feet. He felt the muscles burning in his legs. 

50 feet. He was starting to lose feeling. Any reaction from his nerves was turning to pain. The burning was constant now, and only got worse as he pushed on. 

60 feet. Sweat and tears seemed to boil off the leathery skin of his jowels.

Just choosing a place to step was a life-or-death decision; twice already his foot had slipped as loose clay gave out under his weight, and he had to throw himself towards the mountain to keep them from tumbling off. 

The ledge narrowed. The constant pain put him on the verge of panic, so Ozz forced himself to avoid looking down, forced himself to ignore Nathan on his back. He took several deep breaths, muttered to himself, and forced his foot forward.
The ground cracked. His eyes went wide as he felt himself tipping over, the path disappearing under him. He only had one option, and it was the one he took: he fell backwards instead of forwards, hoping Nathan's weight would keep them from sliding off. His feet dangled in the air over the new gap in the ledge, and Ozz watched despairingly as rock and dust crumbled and slid down into a billowing cloud.

The pain, and stress, and loneliness broke him. He shouted as loud as he could, an animal howl that reverberated off the canyon walls. More soil broke away and slid down beside them. Noticing this, Ozz quickly shut his mouth, and chose instead to vent via a slurry of muffled curses.

Ozz unhooked Nathan from his pack and stumbled against the wall, trying to catch his breath. He looked down at his friend and wondered how they got here. On a cliff in a wasteland. No hope.

A shifting of dirt. Two dark shadows appeared in the storm-blown sands, the shapes of men. Someone else was here. 
Ozz was taken by surprise. He fumbled at his holster, but one of the warriors swiped at him with the tip of a spear and he recoiled, hands in the air, backing away.

"Hey, hey! We come in peace!" he gasped.

The two warriors looked like malnourished animals, wearing rags and brandishing their weapons with deadly intent. They glanced down at the unconscious Nathan, and then at each other. There was just a moment of hesitation before they attacked. Ozz frantically jumped at his last opportunity.

"Hey, hey, no!" he practically screamed, before consciously dialing it back. "We're just, uh, simple travelers. We don't mean any harm! Hey, watch it!"

The two coiled, ready to strike. The point of the spear drove Ozz against the cliff wall. Desperation boiled in his gut. They couldn't die now, not after that kriffing climb!
His voice pitched up.

"Hey, listen! Stop!" and there was something in his manner that made him seem dangerous, like any cornered beast. The warriors watched him with empty eyes. "We've come a long way to get here! This kid needs to see something, this old Sith artifact thing: Balag's, uh, Barla..."

One of them stepped forward with spear raised, forcing Ozz back against the rocks. The other eyed Nathan. Ozz's heart hammered in his chest, but he finally recalled the name of what had brought them here.

"Balaam! Balaam's heart!"

He couldn't have hoped for better. The words had an almost magical effect on the two warriors: they froze, stepped back, and stared at him.

"Yeah, Balaam's Heart!" Ozz gasped in relief. "That's why we're here. Do you fellas know what it--"

The butt of the spear smashed against his forehead, and Ozz tumbled--unconscious--to join his friend.