It was nearly twelve hundred standard time when Telghar boarded the troop transport to the radiation bathed wasteland known as Tund. It was an outer-rim world, on the edge of the galaxy that was barely habitable enough to be called a planet. Being shrouded in radiation, poisonous enough to be able to kill the average human after a few brief hours of exposure, but Telghar was not human. Being a Trandoshan Telghar possessed a natural ability to withstand harsher climates, making this wasteland a new hunting ground for him.
After hours of study on the Sith that once inhabited Tund, Telghar was quite aware of the force presence on the world. It was dark, almost overwhelmingly so, being bathed in the death's of so many powerful force users over the last thirty centuries, so when he was asked to look for an ancient holocrom that could contain the teachings of ancient jedi, Telghar was happy to volunteer, knowing that his keen senses and ability to survive in the harshest of climates that he was best suited for this trek upon foreign ground.
It was almost twenty three hundred hours when the troop transport Telghar was on boarded with the small outpost that had been established on the planet's surface. He was greeted by a low ranking commander that had a permanent sneer to his face from taking the impact of a thermo-detonator years before, making his face an almost lifeless visage of grim impacts war can take on even higher ranking troops. "Greetings Jedi" Commander Deshi said with a slight bow. Telghar could sense the commander's apprehension in the commander's tone, not seeing many Trandoshan among the ranks of the Jedi, there was a feeling of putrescence in the air.
Hissing back a reply Telghar said "Greetings to you as well commander, it seems the scorekeeper smiles upon us this night", walking to the nearby window the Trandoshan placed his hand on the glass and peer out "I can sense darkness on this world, a darkness that is old, older then any I have seen in my hunt's".
Smirking the commander looked out the window, peering into the night. "Of course there is darkness here", the commander said reaching down for his datapad, "hundred's died here after all".
Looking back to the commander, the Trandoshan merely brushed off the comment, clearly realizing that the commander would not understand that the darkness he felt was the remnants of a long dead former King of Korriban, Adas. That this darkness in fact, would be the centre point of the trial ahead of him.
"Before you depart, I recommend that you equip yourself with a anti-radiation equipment, and some extra medical supplies, as well as a full ration's kit..." the commander trailed off as Telghar simply walked away clearly lost in thought.
Who was this king, to be so powerful in the force Telghar thought, the clacking of his claws berating the steel panel's on the floor as he walked, and what could be this ominous cloud of darkness that he still felt, foreshadowing his every moment, as he went to the barracks to find a cot to sleep in until the morning came to this planet. Telghar wasn't sure exactly what, or whom this darkness came from but he knew, in order to find this holocrom, he would need to face it.
The next morning, Telghar awoke at the crack of dawn, grabbing his vibrostaff and strapping it to his back, and reaching for his lightsaber, his master's words blasted through his mind. "Telghar, you will face an evil on this planet, one unrivalled by any I have sensed in my travel's, but remember, that no physical weapon can conquer this evil, only by remembering your training will you able to overcome this evil, remember that you are strong in the force, and that you will be able to overcome this as long as you remain within the light." Of course he had not meant that he needed any physical light, but that he needed to use the light side of the force to overcome this darkness. Dropping his vibrostaff back on his cot, the Trandoshan set out, into the barren waste that was Tund, towards the heart of the darkness, where he knew the ancient holocrom would be located.
Stepping onto the surface of the world, Telghar could smell the putrid stench of a dying world, everything around him was decaying, being battered down by the heavy radiation that was putrefying the very ground under him and polluting the air that pulsed in and out of his powerful nostril's. Snorting with disgust he started out running the surface of the world, charging ever closer to the darkness that encumbered his every step. Reaching the base of a large ruin, he stopped, looking around, he could see a slight shimmer in the air, almost like a forcefield, but it was unlike any he had ever seen. It blocked his normal field of view, so blinking he allowed his eye's for peer into the infra-red spectrum, and what he saw, was so utterly disgusting that he said a prayer to the scorekeeper to watch him on this hunt.
Looking into the forcefield he saw mounds of dead arthropod shell's, as well as the skeletal remains of a battle, fought long ago, reaching out his clawed hand, to try and pass through the forcefield in front of him, he suddenly felt a pull, but it was not a physical pull, it was more like something was beckoning his very soul to enter these ruins, calling to him, trying to get him to come into it's domain. He could sense the power of this entity and did not know exactly how to respond to such a feeling. But he knew that deep inside this ruin was what he was looking for. So setting aside his doubts, Telghar passed through the shimmering force field, and walked into the ruin's.
Stopping for a moment, Telghar realized that something was wrong in this place, that something had happened centuries ago, that had made this place vile, and distorted. Walking into the crumbling structure of what seemed like an old entry hall, Telghar saw what looked like a mirror sitting on a stone arch. Scanning the area for possible trap's Telghar proceeded to approach the mirror.
"GET OUT!" A voice screamed in his head, dropping him to his knees with the crushing power of the booming voice, "This is my hall", the voice roared, "No One shall disturb my slumber!" Then there was darkness.
Telghar found himself standing in a room, it was unlike any room he had ever stood in before, it was made of old stone, the kind that was only found in the ruins of old, stone that had been carved for one purpose, to contain something..... Something Dark. Telghar looked around, trying to use his racial ability to peer into the infra-red spectrum, but blinking as he usually did, nothing happened. He looked down and saw that his hands were not his, but someone else's. Clad in ebon armour, he did not know who he was, but that he had to find something. But what he was searching for had become clouded, obstructed by something, it was as if it was on the periphery of his mind and no matter what he could not focus on it. He looked away from his hands and saw a mirror. It looked familiar, but he could not place exactly where he had seen it. Walking towards it, he looked upon his reflection and saw what looked like a man, clad entirely in Ebon armour. and a small square object hanging from a chain around his neck. This object was important to him, he would let nothing come to harm it, protecting it was all that mattered. It was everything and nothing all at once.
Closing his eye's he thought he saw a flicker, of a past life perhaps, or maybe it was just a figment of his imagination. It was almost of a flash of light, he couldn't make out more then that but he remembered hearing, "keep to the light", but there was no light here, just darkness, crushing, consuming darkness.
Blinking back to conciousness, Talghar looked around, he was... In the ruin's? He remembered entering, then seeing a mirror, but then he fell. Into darkness, and seeing an Ebon clad figure, and he remembered a name, Adas, he knew this name was powerful. That it belonged to someone great, but everything was so foggy. Looking ahead of him he saw the mirror again, he slowly staggered to his feet, feeling the pains of being encumbered by what felt like a thousand needles piercing his skin all at once, with a grunt, he sauntered over to the mirror and looked into it. He saw a face, but it was unlike any he had ever seen. Definitely not his face, but one of someone who was ancient. It looked, almost human, but distorted somehow, like it had been bathed in acid and fried by the sun. But somehow it looked..... Familiar.
"Adas", he said at last the word slithering out of his mouth like a snake, he didn't know this man, and he had never seen him before, but the man seemed to smile, cracked decaying teeth seemingly shimmering with blood.
"You seek my holocrom young hunter" Adas said his words echoing off the inside of Telghar's head, battering his senses, "You know where to look, I've already shown you after all, but in order to claim what you seek, you will have to accept that I have already won, and submit to my rule as king."
Suddenly all his senses seemed to clear, Telghar remembered why he was sent here, the holocrom. He looked to the mirror again and saw Adas cackling, laughing at something, the Trandoshan peered deeper into the mirror and saw that Adas was holding something. It was the holocrom! Reaching for the holocrom, Telghar's claws tapped on the mirror causing the image of Adas to ripple, like a distortion of water in a pond, it shimmered and vanished. Leaving a blank mirror showing the Trandoshan an image of himself. It was like, it had all been in his head, the image of Adas before him,t he voices, even the protruding image in his mind of a gnarled, mangled face that was protruding from his memory like a scar. Looking inward he tried to find the answer to this puzzle in front of him, "Keep to the light" he heard again, it sounded like Master Doru's voice.
Closing his eyes he felt for the force, feeling it fill him, he felt an overwhelming power like he had never felt before, it was like a vast army of force users all meditating in this once place, all keeping something hidden, but it was darkness he could sense all around him, and a glimmer, a glimmer of light. "Keep to the light" he heard again. Looking to the light, he saw something, almost like a cube, blasting radiance in a pit of darkness. He used the force to reach out for it, grasping at it's edge's, he pulled it free.
It was indeed a cube, but unlike any he had ever seen before, it seemed to radiate lightside energy. "Telghar" a voice whispered, "come to the light", it said, opening his eyes he peered into the mirror again, looking this time for a light instead of a person. He didn't know how he knew to look for it, but he knew he had to. That if he didn't find it, it would go out, and he would be lost in darkness forever. Searching he saw a glimmer out of the corner of his eye, spinning to his left he saw an ancient battle axe, rusted and pitted with centuries of pockmarks. and hanging from it, was a small box. he walked to the battle axe, and grabbed the box feeling a searing heat protruding from it. It was like grabbing flame, but it did not burn. Curious he attempted to open the box, but it would not budge. "Keep to the light he heard again."
Setting the box down, Telghar began to meditate, drawing on the deepest sources of the force, focusing, he reached out again, this time with the force. He grasped the box with it, letting it flow through him, into the box. Waiting for some sign, he sat there, not knowing how much time had passed, but knowing that only through the light could this box be opened. Pouring all that he was into the force, he tried again to open the box. He heard a muffled 'Click' and looking down saw that the box was open. Inside was a holocrom, picking it up he placed it into the pouch on his hip and turned to leave, feeling the crushing darkness once again flood over him.
With one last sombre glance at the mirror, Telghar walked out of the ruin's, was any of this real he wondered, or was it just some sort of trick. Some test that he had yet to see the meaning of. He did not know, but he knew that someone was waiting for this holocrom and the secret's it held, striding out into the wasteland ahead of him, Telghar wondered if he would ever understand why the scorekeeper had sent him through this trial, or if it was even the scorekeeper at all.
Getting back to the base he had landed on Telghar looked to the commander who was starring at him in disbelief, never had he seen such a resilient creature, "Are you alight Jedi?" he asked, looking him over quickly to make sure he wasn't injured. "You were gone for nearly a week."
Looking out at the direction of the ruin's, Telghar simply said, "Time is not always measured the same way." Without another word, Telghar walked past the commander and onto the troop transport motioning for it to take off back to the cruiser he had came in. A week in a day he thought, the force truly is a mysterious thing.