Ahsoka

After a few months of hassling with bureaucracies of government change. and getting more involved in our ship repair and building corporation, and constantly being scrutinized by the Imperial interference it was obvious that the Empire was going to push us completely out of the assignment of supervising the dock and warehouse. 

So The Incorruptible crew were moving out. We all took shifts that were not obvious. different times on different days moving what we could into the ships that we salvaged and built to our new place on Kalevala. The other three only know about the building and yard. I have intentionally kept them out of the loop regarding what is under the building, after all as far as I knew it was just a big round room with nothing to it.

I was going to make one last sweep of the sealed area and take the last load. When something unexpected happened. 

As I approached the secretly locked doors just before I began to open it. I felt someone coming up behind me. 

"Hello Ahsoka, its good to see you again." I said as I turned around. 

She gave an inquisitive reply. "I've been better. How did you know it was me?"

"It has been a very busy year Ahsoka. It is good to see you." I responded. 

"I could use your help if you have some time." I mentioned as I turned, unlocked and opened the door with a wave of my hand. "Quick get in." 

After we got inside, I closed the door and faced her once again. Before she could reason out in her head and inquire I took the initiative. "After Darth Maul killed my Aunt / Mother .... " It took me about an hour of explaining and showing her my collection of light sabers how I can take them apart. I hurriedly explained what the four of us had tried to do to reduce corruption like she taught us and how we had to re locate because of the Empire. I was able to get all of this explaining done while loading all of my personal collections into the Reliable. Then I convinced her that she had to come along, which didn't take any time really. then we were off. 

It turned out that she was in hiding and on the run from her past. On the way to Kalevala she began explaining her plight. Choosing to leave the Jedi order after no one trusted her until she was vindicated after being falsely accused. She felt that the Order was not headed down the same path as she was and not a group to trust since they did not trust her. 

Needless to say she felt relieved to talk to someone since she left. It had been over a month of zig-zagging  from system to system so that no one not even Anakin would be able to figure out the route she took. 

As we approached the new place on Kalevala her demeanor had improved, and now became very focused on where we were headed. 

"What is this place?" she asked with some intensity. "The force is strong here."

"May be the force brought you here, so that we can find out together." the building's security system let us in and we landed not far from the doors  that covered the hole in the floor. 

As we got out, I asked if she was needing a drink, food or anything else or if she just wanted to jump in. she was already in the lift before she could answer so I guess that was the answer.

As we approached the engravings she turned to me and asked if I knew what they were.

I had spent more than a few hours staring at and meditating on the engravings. So I said "I believe that the symbols are for Knowledge for the top one, the second is the symbol for the force, and the third is the symbol for discipline, but so far the inscription has not revealed itself to me. Can you read it Ahsoka?"

"Your ability to use the force to interpret the environment around you is impressive for someone who has only been using it for a few months." she commended. "The text appears to be the same as it appears in the Jedi temple on Coruscant. Although the script is much older and the symbols are slightly different which is probably because they too are older. The text reads like a riddle. It says 'Knowledge, The force, and Discipline are attained through each other. You cannot gain knowledge of the force without discipline. You cannot learn the discipline of using the force without knowledge. Becoming disciplined in gaining knowledge shall lead to becoming more knowledgeable about being disciplined. The force is everywhere and is in everything.'"

"So, what does it mean?" I asked in a tone like a kid asks a parent why the sky is the color that it is.

"That is the riddle." she said. "Once you have that figured out, your knowledge of the force will be greater than many Jedi Masters."

"Who all knows about this place?" Ahsoka asked with sudden concern and intense sincerity.

"You are the only one that I have brought down here." I assured her. "Why? What is this place?"

"This, Korkie is a Jedi temple. a very old temple." she responded with awe in her voice. "Let's find out together what is inside."

"How do we do that?" I asked.

"First, you are going to have to get some training. I have read very little about how these temples can be accessed, and we cannot contact the order for help. SoI need to know what you can really do before we can take on such a task. But you were right earlier, the force brought me here, there is no doubt of that.?"

"How did this place come to be in your possession?" she asked. 

"Let's talk about that over dinner." I suggested. 

The rest of the night and the next day we talked Ahsoka, Ah-Zhna, and I. 

We learned quite a lot. The reason for the warring between the old Jedi order and the old Mandalorian warrior worlds, was because of this temple. Although the Mandalorians apparently never found out about the temple. 

Only when an old wise Jedi Master made piece with an old Mandalorian interested more in knowledge than becoming the most powerful warrior got together, a plan came together. 

For the knowledge contained within the temple had to be protected from the obsessions of both extremes. 

That knowledge has been passed on to a very select group of people for the last 3800 years.

"The temple had to be hidden until it was forgotten." Ah-Zhna outlined "So it was."

  

  

Kalevala

While visiting Satine's home world of Kalevala I began wondering why Satine would ever want to leave this place. To voluntarily call the desert engulfed world of Mandalore home instead of this planet I will never be able to say for sure. All I can come up with is that it was out of duty. The duty that had always been inside her to make the world a better place. 

Regardless of the reason or reasons why she chose not to reside here on Kalevala, I am finding this world easy to find myself at home. I have never felt that way on Mandalore even though I have spent most of my life there. 

Amis and I came here to move / change operations. The the work operating and supervising the government warehouse slowed down considerably after the initial clean up, and increased Imperial presence. So we began looking into the design and building of new smaller transport ships. The custom variety. This was in addition to what we have been doing, making custom modifications and repairs to ships, it first started out doing things like upgrading weapons systems, and installing containment facilities for a bounty hunter by the name of Hondo Ohnaka that was hired by the new Mandalorian government to nab and transport some unwanted types out of Enceri. Apparently Hondo gave our names to to one or two of his acquaintances and now we are looking for a new base of operations. 

While asking around the area that Satine was from, I noticed an individual skulking about. A short (0.7 meter tall) humanoid with dark brown skin. bald on top, with thin gray hair on the sides. After asking a couple of contacts that I was given about some property options, I quickly grabbed the creeping little guy and demanded him to explain his intentions. 

He started stammering a bit, tripping over his own tongue, when I noticed that he was staring at the spot on my shirt that displayed the crest of the house of Kryze.


After a few seconds, it was apparent that he was harmless, so I put him down. I started to ask him what he wanted, but he interrupted me by demanding, in a low gravely voice, that I explain by what right I had to wear that crest. 

I explained "I am Korkie Kryze of the house of Kryze." 

Then I inquired "Who is asking." 

He stared at me for a while, just as I was going to walk away, he decided to talk.

"Ah-Zhna" he responded slowly. "Ah-Zhna is my name. Me you will follow. Something for you I have." 

Then he started to walk away. 

Amis was laughing more out loud than to himself by this point, so I had him go ahead and follow up on the leads we had made earlier, while I entertained my curiosity with this odd fellow. 

I followed Ah-Zhna for about an hour on foot until we came to what I am going to call his office for a lack of a better term. It was set up like a store front. There was a lot of what I would categorize as junk laying around. He led me me through the junk to what appeared to be a medical room. There was an exam table in the middle of the room, and a smaller table with three chairs around it on the far side of the room. "A seat you take." he instructed. followed by an invitation to have a drink. "Some water would be good." I replied. "you said that you had something for me?" 

"Of course, yes, yes, something for you. Get it I will."  

He handed me a glass of water and left the room. 

I could hear the clanging and banging of things being tossed aside when suddenly, I was scanned from a node that had dropped down from above the exam table.   

"Hey!?! What did you just do?" I demanded.

"Apologize, I must." Ah-Zhna exclaimed. "To be sure I had to be." 

"'To be sure' of what" I insisted.

"You are, as you stated." He said with a much more calm voice, as he slowly re-entered the room holding a data pad. He looked at me a couple of times as he reviewed what I assume to be the results of his unauthorized medical scan. After a few minutes of waiting, he took notice of my look of disapproval. Then he focused his gaze on me and queried. "Know, do you, who your mother is?" 

"How did you...?" I began to ask

" All Kryze, I know about." Ah-Zhna interrupted. My job, it is. "A good friend Satine was. About her death, sad it was to hear."

"your father, have you known?" he asked to change the subject.

"I didn't know about Satine until after she was murdered." I exclaimed. "Bo-Katan would not tell me who my father is even though she claims to know who he is."

"Of the Mandalore system he is not." he responded and began to grin. "Helps little I know this does, but something more about him I know." 

"Yes, what is it." I eagerly inquired. 

"A wielder of the force he is. A Jedi perhaps..."  He trailed off as if he realized something. 

"Well, what is it?" I prodded. "And how did you know my father was a wielder of the force"

"High enough to tell about your father, your midi-chlorian count is." He said after looking down at the data once again. 

"A Jedi Padawan helped your mother, not long before you were born." He explained "Your Father he could have been. Right the timing is." 

I must have shown my keen interest in learning more because he began to look very nervous. His voice cracked as he turned the conversation to why he brought me here. 

"With me you will come. Something very important I have to give you." Ah-Zhna blurted as he stashed the data in his clothing. 

I followed him out a back entrance to a speeder. After contacting Amis to let him know that I was going to be a while. I got in and off we went, not knowing where it was that we were going. 

After about three and a half hours later of crossing all kinds of terrain we stopped at a structure that was, I would guess to be  500 meters square by 100 meters tall at the corner of a walled off area of 1500 meter squared off area. The wall was 50 meters tall. What ever this place it is impressive. It would be perfect for what we were looking for. As Ah-Zhna and I approached what I am guessing to be the front gate, he took out the data pad that he had in the office. There are now two new lights on the top edge that are lit up. This was easy to notice since it is dark outside this time at night. He began touching, typing, and swiping. After about ten minutes a node protruded from the wall. scanned us and the area around us including the speeder. A door just big enough for the speeder opened. and speeder and all, we went inside. 

As we started to walk around I noticed the air was stale and it somewhat dark as the lights began to come on.  

Be careful, Ah-Zhna alerted me. As the lighting began to get brighter, He triggered a switch that began a process of opening huge sealing door that sat upon the floor. As I begin to look around. This immense structure is set up on top of a huge jagged hole in the otherwise flat ground made of a deep purple quartz. I didn't see any cracks in the stone outside the apparently cut out hole.  It looked like this.
 
It is 200 meters across at the large points (point to point) and 100 meters across at the smaller ones, but that is at the top it get larger the further down it goes. Which looks to be about 500 meters.

"Okay Ah-Zhna" I began. " What is this place, and why did you bring me here?" 

"Go to the bottom first we will, then answer your questions I will" he replied.

"Down?!?"  I thought to myself. "To what"

A lift lowered from high above and came to rest at the top of the giant doors. 

After we got in it lowered down to the bottom. There were lights set up in what opened up into a round room some 350 to 360 meters in diameter. The apparently perfectly round walls go up some 50 Meters then become the enlarged version of the jagged opening that tapers up.

At one point in the round room, there was what appears to be a rectangular opening 30 meters across and 30 meters high. next to the rectangular opening were three engraved images with old text engraved along the side.




I cannot make out the old text for now. 

"For you to figure out, this place is" he began to speak after seeing that I was taking it all in. "To hand over possession of this place to you is why you are here."

Before I could escalate the questions, he continued. "To Garethe Kryze, ten generations ago of Kryze, a promise I have made. This place to look after. The Kryze Family to follow. For you to find, help and guide."

For the next few hours we discussed the what, who, how and why although, all I can say for certain is that I am more unclear about all of this than when I started. 

but one thing that I do know is, we got our place for our new ship building business. And I got more mysteries to unravel.