A visit to the Library.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Weeks after his visit with Master Laran, Wei finally finished reading all of her journals. It had been fruitful and informative. He learned so much about illnesses, wounds, bacta, and other treatements. In fact, some of the knowledge he had collated into a set of short notes on a miniature datapad. With the help of the quartermaster, he also fashioned a first-aid kit that he could wear slung over his shoulder. He could now perform basic first-aid for wounds, and alleviate symptoms for a handful diseases that affect a large amount of species across the galaxy.

The only thing he didn't get was information on his own problem. In fact, the only thing he had found was some basic knowledge on midiclorians (nothing he didn't already know), and something about a Force technique that had once upon a time been known amongst the ancient Jedi Order's Council to strip away a Jedi's ability to connect to the Force. The journal mentioned it had been performed on a woman known only as "The Exile," and referenced a historical volume that must have been destroyed along with the Jedi Temple at the end of the Clone Wars.

The Jedi Knight stood in his own room, leaning over his desk. It was a simple metal rectangular thing with two drawers on one side. He reviewed his notes, the list of items he would need for his task, then slung the first-aid kit over his shoulders. A second pack carrying the journals sat by the door. He picked it up on his way out. The Force Cripple returned the journals, then set out to find what he needed.

Well, and also who he needed. Normally at home with his handicap, there were times Wei felt vexed by his condition. Today was one of those days. Lightsaber Combat was something about which he had a breadth and depth of knowledge--and skill to match. However, there were times when a lightsaber became nothing better than a dangerous glow rod. This stood to be one of those times. With a lack of any real skill in other area of Force techniques, The Force Cripple found more often than not he had to rely on his peers to get by. Wei never did mind working with his peers, but there were times when he wished he had tried a little harder to diversify his skillset during his time as a Padawan.

In any case, Wei needed to do a job, and it wouldn't wait for him to practice the skills he had sacrificed. He had put in the call to the man he needed a few days ago. Now they were going to meet at the edge of the compound on the road to the Great Jedi Library.

"Jedi Knight Zeke?" Wei asked. "I'm Jedi Knight Wei Wu Wei."

[Zeke]

So.

Zeke ran his hands through his close-cropped black hair and tugged his jacket, mind flying through the cosmos as he awaited Wei Wu Wei. Since their arrival on Ossus, Zeke had built a metric crapton of temporary and permanent structures, using his primary skill, telekinesis, to hold parts together while others bolted, welded, and screwed them into place. The job hadn't been as taxing as he'd thought it'd be; he still maintained a great deal of his multitasking ability from his old shipping business, and his power had grown back to the old standard with steady practice through teaching. But now his Padawan was out there in the great wide galaxy undertaking a mission of personal importance, that he hadn't insisted on joining. He'd been prepared to turn his attention to resolving the tension with his family, and their recent arrival to the Order's Wheel and Ossus, but then the Rebellion had established the Republic--no, the Alliance of Free Planets--and like that, all was well.

Carol had achieved work on the Mon Cal homeworld, helping out the in the bureaucratic government chain that got the funds to the place where the people could be given the electricity and the etc., while Cassie had been accepted to a University on the planet with a full scholarship (it was the only time she'd shown excitement and gratitude to Zeke's new profession as a Jedi since they'd had to abandon the Sassy Wench). So now his family was lightyears away, communicating via Holonet and making it work over the distance, and Zeke suddenly found himself without work, or any greater purpose. He really owed a lot to "I'm Jedi Knight Wei Wu Wei." for the call. Oh, he'd arrived while Zeke was out in space.

"That's me. Pleased to meet you," he said. Wei's outfit was reminiscent of the Order's old robes, and he found himself caught flat-footed as he realized he didn't know how traditional Wei was with the values. Should he offer a hand to shake? A bow? Wei made no motion to do either, so Zeke just turned so he faced the same direction, looking out down the road toward the Great Jedi Library. He breathed in slow and deep, in through the nose, out through the mouth. "Let's do work."

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei nodded. "Yes, let's."

The Force Cripple pulled his datapad from a pocket and started looking through the information about the Library excavation one more time. "I don't know how much time you've had to look over the information, but from what the excavation crews have gathered, the Library is organized by floors. That is, each floor contains information on one, maybe two topics. Apparently we can't be sure, since it seems none of them are completely in tact. The lower levels, predictably, hold information the ancient Jedi considered dangerous or sensitive. That's where we're going."

[Zeke]

"Sounds like fun, fun, fun," Zeke groaned, stretching and feeling his dual lightsabers rattling against his ribs in his jacket's inner pockets. The pair walked as they talked, and Zeke rolled his shoulders and neck to loosen up a bit. Somehow, Zeke had thought they'd be trying to get stuff that was high up, not low down. But then, when your main purpose is to make things that are tall, you start to think in upward directions. He laced his hands together behind his head and leaned back a bit, stretching his back next and watching the clouds overhead.

"What are we looking for, and do we expect trouble?" Zeke thought it a canny question to ask. Typically the big bad danger had big bad protectors. Or at least traps. Zeke was sure they wouldn't find any creatures, but droids had been known to function for centuries without rusting or wearing out. There'd been a film series about a dashing archaeologist who regularly pitted his life against such traps and dangers for artifacts. Cassie'd had a crush on the guy, but Zeke thought him too much of a rogue and scoundrel to really like the character. "Had I ought to have brought some rope, or a whip, or something?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei smiled slightly. "No rope or whips. We might run into some droids, but so far the excavation team has had more struggles with rubble fallen down from the upper floors than with any sort of security. Mostly I need your help to investigate and move things without causing greater collapse or damaging whatever records might be surviving. As for what we're looking for, we're after some sort of records of a Force technique that was said to strip Force Sensitives of their power. I think it has something to do with this condition I have."

Wei held up the hilt of his lightsaber. "For as long as I can remember, I've only been able to feel the Force as most Jedi do when exposed to sounds of certain frequencies, such as the low hum of a lightsaber. I'm trying to see if there's any connection between my condition and this technique."

[Zeke]

"This is a thing, which is a thing that can be a thing that I can do," Zeke rambled as he tried to picture what this section of the Library might look like and not imagine how the Force could be stripped of an individual. He'd not entered the Great Library yet. Most of his time was spent in quarters, in the common outdoor areas between buildings, in the new buildings, or out in the surrounding forest. He'd had no reason to come out here. He'd never really been an intellectual; he'd had other Jedi companions for that. He'd studied what he'd wanted and left the rest to historians. Jocasta Nu had been a favorite Jedi of his; her ability to calm her mind and focus laser-sharp on something marveled him. He'd always been pacing, jittering his legs, drumming his hands when trying to study. The stillest he'd ever been with a book or holocron had been when he'd hung himself upside-down telekinetically to read something.

"So, why would this be the key to fixing your Force connection?" he asked. "This technique wasn't actually used on you, was it? It sounds...terrible."

[Wei Wu Wei]

"I've been like this since birth, so I wouldn't know. Really, if I can determine how the technique works and what's involved, there's a chance I could learn enough from it to see if I can set myself right."

Wei shrugged. "Apparently you can't see midiclorians under a microscope, so I don't even know if this is related to them, or something else. I mean, Jedi have been using the correlation between midiclorian count and Force sensitivity to recruit new younglings for a long time, so it makes sense that I would have been sought after despite my condition. I mean, if the midiclorians in my blood were malformed or stunted, that might be what's happening. But if the doctors or Jedi were able to see that on a microscope slide, then they might not have taken me to be a Jedi."

The Force Cripple sighed. "During the Clone Wars, there was no time to investigate: all Jedi focus was on the war. Then, my condition was actually useful. However, things are different now. I'm not sure that my condition can be used to my advantage anymore."

[Zeke]

Zeke gave Wei a friendly nudge on the arm with his elbow. "Don't worry. I'm conventionally Force-sensitive and absolutely nothing I could do in the Clone Wars has been of any advantage since they ended. I couldn't even re-arrange my old cargo ship's hold by telekinesis without raising suspicions. Ultimately, the only thing I learned during the Clone Wars that was of any use was logistics, and after I earned up enough to cash to hire extra help, I got someone who was even better at it than I was." He couldn't help frowning at the indirect mention of Carol. He missed his wife very dearly, and he realized that part of his feelings of...direcitonless-ness...here on Ossus stemmed from not having her or his daughter to take care of, and vice-versa. He blew out a vexed sigh of his own. This wasn't about him, it was about Wei.

"Don't know a thing about midichlorians though, except it sounds like a holocartoon gone wrong. Never paid it a lot of mind, myself. If you can use the Force at all, and train your ability to channel it, you can get stronger and overcome midichlorians. People beat Anakin Skywalker in duels all the time and he was supposed to be up to his spinning starfighter in them. Honestly, I'll bet it's a mental or a spiritual block. Like how sometimes a Jedi can't use telekinesis without making physical motions. I don't want to patronize you with over-simplified answers, given this is something you've struggled with since you were a Youngling, but...I don't know. I'm sure there's something."

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei shrugged. "If only." He had received advice like Zeke's in the past, but the same proof always won out against it. He grabbed his lightsaber.

"You know how most people who are not Force-sensitive have little presence to our Force sense? But people who are Force Sensitive do?" Wei pressed the ignition plate on the lightsaber. "Notice a difference?" he asked with a wry smile.

[Zeke]

Zeke found his breath and shut his eyes. The path was straight and direct for several meters, so he had no fear of running into anything. Wei seemed no more present in the Force than the various animals hiding in the foliage on either side of him. When Wei ignited his lightsaber, his presence in the Force grew so suddenly that Zeke actually stepped a few paces to the side, opening his eyes as a stone skittered away upon meeting the toe of his boot.

"Notice a difference!" Zeke swore. "It's like you suddenly appeared from nowhere. You'd be indistinguishable in most circumstances from the other life surrounding you." He paused, stepping back to diminish the distance between them again. "And you didn't get any use out of that after the purge? Vader could've stood shoulder to shoulder with you and never known who you were. Here, lemme try something."

He drew his two sabers and turned them on. Wei didn't seem to get any stronger for the additional sound, so he waved the lightsabers rapidly like drumming, to see if the waver in the sound would affect him, then crossed the two blades, listening to the crackle and sensing at Wei. Then he insolently reached across and touched his blades to Wei's to see if the additional interference would throw the man's connection into imbalance. "Huh," he said at the result, disengaging the weapons and spinning the inactive hilts in his hands.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei bore Zeke's experiment with amusement. When the other knight put away his weapons, Wei did too.

"Yeah, actually it did help me avoid Vader. Long story short, I kind of faked my own death. My lightsaber was on display in the town hall for months before I could finally replace it with a replica. Anyway, nowadays the Empire knows me a little too well. Without a constant connection to the Force, I'm at a disadvantage when it comes to sensing ambushes and the like. So I need to solve this problem."

Wei pointed at the pair of lightsabers. "I see you have two lightsabers. Ran into a Padawan recently who seemed interested in the idea. How do you like fighting that way? Is it more difficult to learn than using a single lightsaber?"

[Zeke]

"Oh, it's ultra-hard," Zeke replied. "I used to practice with lengths of durasteel rods, so I wouldn't accidentally cut off my own limbs. You need incredible spatial awareness, strength, and control to dual-wield. Otherwise, your opponent can just tangle up your arms, knock one blade into the other and tie them up, or even just take off your own limb with your own weapon! I practiced lightsaber combat almost daily against a Djem So master for most of the Clone Wars, and I only ever won if I wasn't dual wielding. He could lock up my weapons, spin me around, throw my arms out and then just pummel me in the ribs all he liked."

He held up the inactive saber that he used in his off-hand, the one that carried a deep blue crystal in its hilt. "This one belonged to a Padawan I worked with often during my own training. He died when we were on a mission together, and I used it via telekinesis to harry our opponents and ultimately win. I practiced hard with my Force Senses and Telekinesis to be able to guide this thing all over the place while engaging enemies up close with my own lightsaber." He now held up the other, which contained a crystal that produced his gold-yellow blade. "During the Clone Wars I kept this one at hand because it was mine, and it made it easy for our troops to tell my position from the other Jedi I fought with, who had blue and green lightsabers." He shrugged "Ultimately I wouldn't recommend anyone learn to dual-wield until they had completely mastered fighting with a single weapon, and maybe not even then. It just never went well for anyone I've ever known that tried it."

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei nodded. "I see."

The rest of the walk passed with an exchange of stories about their time in the Clone Wars, and a brief sharing of what happened after. Wei glossed over much of his own story, but only because he still wasn't entirely sure how to tell it. When they reached the Library, the pair displayed their identification, then stepped inside.

"Most of the newer excavation begins in the back," Wei said. "I figured we might as well start there."

Wei bowed to Master Ood Bnar's tree as they passed by it. The spirit of an ancient Jedi rested in that tree, and spoke to Wei through it a short time ago.

The support team waited at the entry point. Long cables dipped down into the darkness. The team fitted out the Jedi with harnesses, light sources, and a small pack of basic archaeological gear. "Let the probe make scans of each room before you enter," the lead told them. "And trust your instincts. If you're scared to touch something, snap a holo image of it, and we'll extract it later. Good hunting!"

The Jedi snapped their harnesses to the lines, and swung out over the pit. with the press of a button, the clip released the rope enough that they could slide down it at a comfortable pace.

"Onward to adventure!" Wei said as the darkness swallowed them.

[Zeke]

Zeke gave the tree of Ood Bnar a squinted, shifty look as Wei bowed to it. Again, he wasn't sure if there was a custom he didn't know about, or unknown lore, or if Wei was just eccentric. As Wei's pace quickened and Zeke was momentarily left shortly behind, he shot the tree a "I've got my eye on you" gesture with his index and middle fingers, then jogged lightly to catch up. All the talk of the Clone War was fresh in his mind, along with the memory of his old feats. Part of him wanted to dismiss the detail that was busily harnessing him up, and to levitate himself down the hole, but he thought it wiser to conserve energy, just in case it was as dangerous as Wei thought it might be. Once Zeke had spooled out enough rope that his eyes passed the ground level, he let out a long whistle that mimicked the sound effects of falling holocartoon characters and took the lead.

The pit was lined with glowing cables to a point, shedding dim, chemically-produced light for the excavation teams to work on shoring up the pit and set in the foundation for a rudimentary lift for when the buried wings of the Library would be ready for their own renovation. As the glow faded above and the two Knights became surrounded by the subterranean darkness, Zeke took his breath and spread his senses. Wei was there, dim without his lightsaber's hum, and in the soil and rock all around he could feel the worms and insects that called the place home. The air was strangely wet, unsurprisingly earthy, and grew staler until their boots contacted the pit's floor at last. Zeke deftly unhooked himself from his line and activated the light source that sat dead center of his body harness's chest strap.

"Hey, they made it tall enough for us to stand up in. Wasn't that thoughtful?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei smiled at Zeke's sound effects, and laughed outright at his remark when their feet touched the subterranean floor.

"Very considerate."

Wei activated his head lamp and activated his comm. "Ok, crew, we are safely on the ground. If we have an emergency, we'll contact you again on this frequency."

He turned in place very slowly. "So far it looks like this level imitates the ones above: a rectangular hallway with rooms on the outside. That is, not on the side of the hallway that would be nearest the courtyard." The Jedi Knight scratched at where the straps for the headlamp were already making him itch and sighed. "I wondered if there were chambers under the courtyard, but it doesn't seem to be that way for now. Keep an eye out. We don't want to miss anything."

[Zeke]

"Not sure how we could, what with everything being so very well lit and clean," Zeke said dryly as some dirt wafted down from the ceiling as his helmet scraped it. Zeke took a moment to try to visualize the floorplan, grateful that he hadn't changed his orientation since unclipping the rappelling line. The Courtyard and its shifty tree were to his rear, so then the hall should extend right and left, with rooms only on the side he was currently facing. Rectangular, though? Maybe it would turn at a right-angle at some point. Zeke wished he'd scouted the Library, but he'd been too caught up in construction and holocamming Carol. He wiped a hand down the side of his face and let out a long sigh. "Ok, well, let's not split up." Of course don't split up; there wouldn't be much use to his coming along if he couldn't assist Wei.

"Anyway! Right? Left? Do we care? Any idea which wing your stuff might be in?" Zeke wanted to go right, but right was his dominant hand and the direction he favored when making lateral strikes. He deliberated on getting a lightsaber back out of his pockets, to link Wei back to the Force and offer a little more light, but in the cramped space it might be a detriment. He'd let Wei pull his own weapon if he wanted to feel the Force.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "So I suppose it doesn't matter. Right is good."

They walked off in that direction. "Up above, there's been evidence that there were markings above the doors that told you what kind of information was in each room. Aurabesh has been around for a long time, but Ossus has been around for such a long time, the archaeologists aren't sure if the fragments and worn etchings they've found are Aurabesh or not."

A few meters down, they found a door opened just a few centimeters; barely enough space to slip in a finger. "Zeke, activate a lightsaber for me, please. And get ready in case opening this door does something to our surroundings."

When the hum was in his ears, Wei put his hands to the door and pulled it to the side. It made a horrendous grating sound as it moved. The hallways echoed the sound until it almost drowned out the lightsaber. Wei, however, did not feel his power diminish. When the door was open enough for the pair of Jedi to squeeze through, he stopped.

"Thanks," Wei said when it was done. "I suppose we could have cut our way through, but archaeologists hate for anything old to be destroyed. After you?"

[Zeke]

"After this," Zeke said as he recalled their instructions and reached into a belt pouch to remove one of the archaeology team's little probes. He tossed it softly underhand, like how they used to toss smoke grenades into hostile rooms back during the War, then peeked around the corner as the droid activated. There was the hiss of its repulsors, and low chirps as it swept broad scanning beams through the room. The broad lights shut off with an audible click, the probe flashed green with a happy-sounding chirp, and floated back to Zeke as he pressed through the opening. "All clear," he said unnecessarily, slowly turning so his chest light could show him the room. It seemed fairly bare, with roots penetrating the ceiling and web-like fungi clinging to every surface. Dust and dirt had gathered in various places, coating everything with a gritty layer of particles.

Zeke approached the far wall, where racks and shelving stood desolate and empty. Zeke supposed that flimsiplast books had once filled the shelves, but given the sheer thickness of the fungus on the shelving, it had probably feasted on that lore ages ago. He could detect no changes in the fungus's shape or structure that might imply something buried beneath it, so he moved on to another, even lying flat to peer into bottom shelves after igniting his own headlamp. "EEeewww-uh. Gross," he mocked dryly as he swept a hand through it to double check. "First room is Boring Room," he sighed, standing up. "Found anything fun?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Mostly fungus. A datapad that won't come on." Wei shrugged. "We'll keep looking."

The next two rooms were much the same. They turned the corner of the corridor. There was only one large door set in the middle of the outside wall.

"That looks fun," the Jedi Knight said.

He approached it, ran his hands along it, and checked each side of the doorway for something that might open it. "No seams, hinges, or handles," he reported. "Not even a button to push." He looked at Zeke. "What do you think?"

[Zeke]

Zeke paced slowly to the door as Wei stepped up to inspect it. Indeed, the only thing that really made this particular section of the wall feel door-like was the decorative arch that outlined it. There was no visible seam; it looked as one smooth, continuous carving on the wall. Frankly, Zeke was astonished that Wei had managed to intuit that this was meant to be a door. Perhaps he'd seen similar things elsewhere in the library, or just had a better spot check. Regardless, Zeke stood before it with arms folded, slowly rolling his shoulders and tipping his head in thought as he watched how the lights bounced and zoomed about it.

"I think," he said at last. That this is a simple trick simply made to look complex." He breathed a little heavier and slightly raised his chin and shoulders; the only outward sign that he was using his telekinesis. The wall groaned as Zeke tested it, then suddenly the door shot straight up into the wall overhead. Dust and dirt shook down gently upon them, and after Zeke waved it telekinetically away,they saw that the door's borders and the floor around it had been carefully made to blend with the wall, so that it wouldn't seem obvious. Zeke supposed that a painted mural, now faded by time, had aided in the camouflage of this secret room. "It opens from the bottom," he said brightly, sending out his archaeological probe.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei nodded his approval. "I like it. Doors like this mean only one thing; something precious is on the other side."

He stepped into the room and looked around. The room was stacked to the ceiling with holocrons. ancient Jedi artwork and sculpture stood on pedestals arranged in neat rows. There was even some old technology. "This looks good."

They stepped among the pedestals. Busts of Jedi Masters watched them pass with serene expressions on their stone faces. "I suppose it's time to talk to a holocron," Wei said. "Too bad there's no power. Place is kind of creepy with all these faces in the dark."

[Zeke]

The probe chirped its all clear and immediately the two stepped over the threshold to explore the chamber. It was rather larger than the rest, and filled with relics. Zeke paused before the bust of an ancient Ithorian master and pulled a face at its wide-set, staring eyes.

"Would there be a generator nearby this location?" Zeke asked. "A mainframe, utility room?" He paced about a little more, taking up a small, spherical sculpture that he interpreted as a physical representation of the flow of the Force in the universe. "A hand-crank powered engine?"

He replaced the sculpture and paused before a painting of a Jedi crossing blades with a Sith wrapped head to toe in bandages, the light from their weapons and the extreme angle of the pose mostly obscuring the Jedi's face. The warrior's cloak swept dynamically through the scene, also obscuring gender. He gave it a 3.5 out of 5 stars and moved ahead to where Wei was contemplating a set of holocrons. "Know which one you want yet? Should I flip a coin or roll a die?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei shrugged. "I really don't. I suppose one is as good as another. Let's start with that one there." he pointed to one just out of reach. "Activate it for me, please?"

As the holocron came down from its resting place, something else in subterranean level activated. Ancient parts bent and moved in a set of testing patterns. Diagnostics ran on a verbobrain that had not processed a bit of data in centuries. Optical sensors, sonar sensors, even temperature detecting devices all tested functional. It stepped off of its docking station and into the hallways, searching for the intruders that awoke it.

[Zeke]

Zeke zipped the cube-like holocron to his hand and floated it in the air before them, tongue pressed gently between his teeth as he focused on it. "Sit tight, it's been a while since I had to do this." The holocron split along invisible seams, rearranging itself as Zeke channeled the Force through it. After several long minutes, the activated holocron settled into its proper configuration and projected the image of its maker for them to speak to. The short-haired Jedi took a small breath and gave a tight, awkward smile to the apparition. How old was it? Should he bow? Would it even acknowledge him as a Jedi if he weren't wearing a robe?

"Hi," he said awkwardly as he remembered to exhale. "Master, we're Jedi Knights Ezekiel Saska and Wei Wu Wei, and we've come to ask you questions regarding the connection a being has with the Force."

The projected Master, a Cathar female with short brown hair and light orange fur, fading to white around the eyes, with a dark brown stripe running down the center of her forehead to her nose. Deep black striping around her richly blue eyes gave her natural stare a sort of far-off, through-seeing quality. Her mouth, a tad too broad to be attractive to Zeke, formed a welcoming smile.

"I am Master Neishala Rav," she said, her voice pleasant, but edging toward a detached monotone. Master Rav bowed, and the two humans returned it. "I will help you as best I can. What is it in particular that you wish to know?

Zeke carefully levitated her holocron to the floor and blinked hard as he refocused onto the task at hand. "Uh...best let him tell it." He gestured for Wei to explain.

[Wei Wu Wei]

"There's something wrong with my connection to the Force," Wei said. "The only time I can feel the Force is by the presence of a clear, pure tone or the hum of a lightsaber."

"That is interesting," Master Rav mused. "How peculiar."

"Well, I had heard of a technique that strips Force Sensitives of their power. I was hoping to study that technique to know if there was a means of reversing it."

Rav's gaze pierced Wei's. "I can see the wisdom in that. If the technique can be reversed, and you can learn how it is accomplished, you can attempt it on yourself. If it works, then that's that. If it doesn't, then you will at least be one step closer to solving your problem."

Wei's mouth tightened into a wry grin. "I suppose so. So, do you know about the technique, or point us in the right direction?"

[Zeke]

Rav pursed her lips, tapping her cheeks with her fingers as she thought. Processed. Whatever Holocrons do that passes for looking up data. Zeke wondered idly if he'd ever have the means, motive, or opportunity to create a holocron himself. It was something he'd wanted to do very much, back when the old Order was still established and his highest goal was to teach the new blood. He tuned back in to find Rav halfway through an answer.

"--techniques have existed over the millenia," she was saying. "Techniques to shield a person from various kinds of harm, to heal the body, and the mind...but no technique exists to connect an individual to the Force or to stabilize an erratic connection. Perhaps, some combination of techniques could be used?" As she posited her hypothesis, her left hand cupped her elbow and two fingers on her right hand moved to drum her chin. "I was a Consular; my knowledge of the Force was expansive...but I don't believe I learned many abilities for healing the body. To expend the metabolism of another creature to knit bone and renew muscle was often a dangerous technique. You could expend a creature's energies and it would die of hunger and exhaustion. Often Jedi healed through this technique did nothing but eat and sleep for days after. I advise caution if you choose to pursue these abilities. I certainly hope that the Jedi of the modern age have advanced these techniques and eliminated their weaknesses."

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Thank you, Master Rav." Wei bowed. "We'll take what you suggested to heart. Good day."

The hologram bowed. "Good luck," was all she said before her image winked out and the holocron returned to its normal configuration.

"Next," Wei said. "I wish there were ways to tell which holocron was which." He rubbed his chin. "Do you see anything that looks like a computer terminal?"

***********

"Do you see anything that looks like a computer terminal?"

The droid could hear Wei's voice echoing down the hall. It locked on to the sound and lumbered towards it.

[Zeke]

"Nnnnnnnnno," Zeke said, turning in a circle. "Holocrons don't strictly require terminals. We may need to switch rooms. Before that, do we wanna try another holocron? Do we wanna leave these or take them somewhere else?"

His headlamp flashed briefly over a statue, and when he turned to look back at it, it was gone. He raised a tentative hand, pointing with a furrowed brow, then shook his head and turned back to Wei. "I'd like to try one more Holocron myself, see if we can't get a more talkative Master. But really, we could probably spend a straight week in here talking to these and getting nowhere." He paced around and leaned on the display, looking them over and admiring their colors and shapes. Insane how these things are made. I wanted to try, but never had the chance."

Behind him, a dimly glowing light flickered that hadn't been there before.

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Maybe. I just wondered if someone took a record of which holocrons were which, kind of like how Jocasta had an index at the Jedi Temple. That lady organized everything."

Wei picked over the holocrons, then pulled one from the middle of the middle shelf. "How about this one?"

The Force Cripple looked at his partner, and saw the flickering light move slightly. "Zeke! MOVE!" Wei ignited his saber, and in its light he could see the metallic shape of a very large droid. Quick as a flash, Wei jumped over the pedestal to the right of him, spun around the second one, and scored a gash in the droid's side. The machine responded with an uppercut, thumping Wei hard in the chest and sending the Jedi Knight airborne. Wei landed hard on the floor a few feet away.

[Zeke]

Zeke's face went quizzical, then he rotated his upper body, swaying to see behind himself. A giant metal fist resolved out of the dark to take the place of his torso. Zeke looked along the metal forearm to its fist, then traced the arm back to where it connected to the droid's shoulder. It had a broad, domed head with a single red-glowing photoreceptor in the center of its rim. "It's a trap!" Zeke stated, pitching his voice low and hopping into a backflip to avoid a follow-up. The distraction put Wei into position to cut it, which earned him a hefty blow that sent him sailing off into darkness. The light from the other man's headlamp marked his position further back in the room, and Zeke jumped nimbly over the droid, sliding between its shoulders and the ceiling to join Wei at a spot where, hopefully, destruction to the ancient archive could be avoided.

"You all good here, champ?" he asked, drawing out his gold-bladed lightsaber and igniting it. He stood in a low crouch, his arms slightly wide so that he could have stability. The droid, to its credit, moved carefully past the relics and deeper into the room. Here, the space was a little broader. Zeke took a moment to look about; it seemed this was where the holocrons and other records were meant to be activated and meditated upon. "Good spot for a fight, if we gotta have one. Think the droid is wired to understand Basic? Would it even understand Basic as we speak it?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

"I'm not sure it matters. The droid is ancient. Who knows how much of its programming is intact? The verbobrain might be corroded or corrupted, or just rusted. It needs to go down."

Wei sized up the droid as it entered the space. "I don't think it can shoot us. It just punches. If we can just sever its limbs, we should be home free. You specialized in Ataru, right? I think I have a strategy for knocking out this droid!"

The droid swung at Wei. The Jedi Knight dodged, rolled, and came up on the droid's right. "I think if you can use your Ataru to distract it, I can get in close and lop off its arms and legs with Djem-So."

[Zeke]

Wei rolled out of harm's way, but Zeke, intent on the plan, took the blow in his side and tumbled in a heap to land sideways against the wall. "Oh, right, roger," he gritted through his teeth, taking to his feet and stumbling forward at a running pace. He jumped, landing on the droid's leg, backflipped over a grasping hand to land on the floor, then leaped over it to a position behind it and to the side spiraling and letting his lightsaber graze the droid's domed head. Zeke laned in a crouch, now also on the droid's right. It turned the long way to get to him, its vocabulator warbling a ragged babble that once may have constituted a language. "I think you were right," Zeke said testily. "At least part of the verbobrain is totally fried. Armoring on the body and head are pretty tough, maybe a little weaker than what you'd see on tanks and blast doors. I can tell from some of the slagging, and from having burned through quite a few armors and blast doors in my time."

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Indeed," Wei grunted through clenched teeth. He got the impression he had missed some sort of humorous reference. Being an alcoholic vagrant for a few years put him more outside the realm of pop-culture than he guessed.

Wei smoothly swept his feet forward, gliding along the stone floor to maneuver around the malfunctioning droid. The Jedi Knight opened with the Falling Avalanche, swinging from overhead starting with his shoulders. He turned his hips to add power to the strike. His blade bit the metal leg and slowed. Zeke was right. The field maintaining the lightsaber's blade crackled as it was disrupted. Heat from the blade turned the droid's leg orange-hot. Wei pulled back and ducked the swinging arm, but caught a ringing blow to the head on the droid's folllowthrough. His vision swam and his ears rang. At least he wasn't incapacitated.

[Zeke]

Zeke hopped a cartwheel over the droid's next attack. "No," he said flatly. He stepped, moving his body in crescents, turning the droid to face away from Wei so he could recover. "Nope. Nope. Nope." He bent at the waist to duck a wild backhand strike and swiveled his body to bring his own rotating overhead chop down on the droid's forearm. He leaned on it, pressing the droid's arm down, but the armor was too thick to penetrate swiftly. The droid swept it's arm up, carrying Zeke briefly with it. The Knight dislodged his blade and backflipped to the floor, landing in a low, four-point crouch. The droid kicked out at him hard, clipping him and rolling him away.

"This ought not to be hard," Zeke grumped.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei shook his head. He just couldn't seem to walk in a straight line. The boys from archaeology weren't going to like what he was about to do, but the Jedi Knight didn't see he had any choice anymore.

"This isn't working! Try using the Force to pin it down! I'm going to shut this thing down once and for all!"

[Zeke]

Zeke halted his roll and came up on his knees, arms raised, lightsaber still gripped in his right hand, just in case. He began to lower his hands, palms down, as he breathed and focused on the droid. He could sense the flow of its power in the Force, feel the conduits that gathered and propelled energy through its body. Zeke found its joints and put on pressure, stiffening its arms so it couldn't swing them. The droid howled, its shattered verbobrain unable to comprehend the malfunction as it sank slowly to its knees, its palms flat on the ground. Zeke was breathing hard, sweating profusely. Wei's chance was now, and the window of opportunity was short.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei wasted no time. He leapt at the droid's prone form, using his momentum and every muscle in his legs, arms, and torso to chop down on the droid's neck as hard as he could. The Jedi Knight could feel the droid resisting--resisting Zeke, resisting him. The armor slagged and turned hot. Wei grit his teeth with the effort. He got halfway through the droid's neck when the mighty metal head started to tip towards the stone floor. A few seconds more, and the droid's powerline was cut. Without power, the brain wouldn't function. Without the brain, the droid wouldn't function.

"Whew! They don't make them like they used to, do they?" Wei said as he looked at their handiwork.

[Zeke]

"Thankfully, otherwise the Clone War would've--" No, it would've ended the same, just much sooner. "Let's see if we can't get this thing up the surface sometime. I got a Padawan who might could tinker it back into usefulness." Zeke stomped the head, snapping the few wires that it hung from. He still could remember moving around the sites of small skirmishes, double-tapping droids to make sure they wouldn't reboot and try to finish their missions, even with half their bodies missing. "So, we were discussing Holocrons. I've got a few pouches and a small sack to carry some in, if we want." He pulled the sack in question from where it had been rolled into a little ball and tied to his spelunking harness.

He moved around to the front of the shelf and stooped to pick up Rav's Holocron, gripping it tightly so he wouldn't drop it. "What do you think? I just...I don't even know. I don't think I have problems these Masters could solve."

[Wei Wu Wei]

"I think that's wise," Wei replied. "If there's another one of those down here, we'll have our work cut out for us." He sighed.

"All right, let's call a team in to come get all this stuff. Better tell them to bring the anti-security equipment."

The call was made, and a few minutes later, the two Jedi Knights were surrounded by excited, scurrying archaeologists. Wei sat in the corner, trying not to feel like he gave up too soon. Something about it all just seemed to weigh him down. One of the technicians picked up one of the ancient lightsabers, still connected to its power source by a long cable and pressed the ignition plate. Everyone sprung back in surprise as the blade of light erupted from the emitter and hummed. Despite the loudness in the room, Wei could have sworn he heard something like a whisper.

"Zeke, you hear that?"

[Zeke]

Zeke's eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed as he tried to listen up for whatever Wei was hearing. His head tilted a little up and back, and his mouth put on a strange, confused, thinking kind of shape as he tried to hear something over the shuffle of the workers getting back to business after the sudden appearance of the Jedi weapon.

"Ah...mmmmmmmmmmaaaaybe?" Zeke tested, head tipping quickly to one side. He held up his right hand and moved it in a downward motion at the crew's foreman. He shushed his team and Zeke listened carefully, remembering to shut his mouth and listen. A sound, maybe rushing air, maybe a murmur, maybe just his clothes rustling. But yes.

"Yeah?" he said again, his voice still making it a question instead of a statement. "Precisely what are we hearing, again?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

"It was like..." Wei considered his words. "A whisper in the Force."

He held up his lightsaber, trying to use its light to perhaps find the source of what he had sensed.

"Perhaps it's here, or at least in the compound."

Wei took a deep breath. "It's one of the things I hate about having been trained during the Clone Wars; if it's not combat related, I'm not terribly good at it." The Jedi Knight closed his eyes. "But I think if I can just let it reach me, I will know."

Most Jedi, when meditating, would likely sit with legs crossed on the floor or on a mat, bow their heads, shut their eyes, and breathe. Wei did his meditating standing up, in Shii-Cho stance. The beginning stance for Form I was solid, grounded, and simple. For the Force Cripple, there was no better way to prepare his state of mind than to take up a position that mirrored it.

Wei took big, full breaths. As each one entered his nose and escaped his mouth, the Jedi Knight felt it brought a cycle of settling calm to his being. Wei's sword-arm twitched, pointing off at an angle from where he stood.

[Zeke]

"In the compound," Zeke echoed, stepping out of the room into the hallway. He looked both ways, spreading his senses. Wei in the room, bright in the Force with his lightsaber on. The dig team, slightly dimmer, unable to reach the Force but no less present in it. Even dimmer, the shifting, subterranean creatures that inhabited the deep earth of the planet. And...

Zeke brought his fingers up to his eyes and turned his upper body, searching the broad corridor. "I've got my eye on you," he said aloud, uncertain of who he was talking to, or where his fingers needed to point to get the message across. "Just did this at the tree in the courtyard," he commented, exasperated, his hand dropping to slap against his thigh. Well, while they were chasing akk dog tails, might as well ask dumb questions. "What you bow to a tree for, anyway?" Zeke looked for the tree and found it, ancient and steeped in the Light. Probably it was concentrated on the spot from centuries of exposure to the presence of Jedi, much as places became rank with Darkness after Sith had laired there for too long.

[Wei Wu Wei]

"That was Jedi Master Ood Bnar," Wei answered. "Master Bnar helped me when I first came to Ossus, before the Jedi decided to settle here. He was so strong in the Force that he metamorphosed into a tree. His spirit lives in that tree, you see."

Wei kept his lightsaber raised, maintaining his connection to the Force, and allowing the hum of the blade to assist in keeping his mind clear. "I'm sensing a presence in the Force. It's likely his."

He moved carefully down the hallway again, still in Shii-Cho stance. He heard the whispers again. Wei pivoted towards the direction of the presence.

"Come on. I think there's a path through here."

[Zeke]

"I didn't know there was a Jedi Tree Master," Zeke said, his voice flat as his mind recovered from the blunt force trauma of his surprise.

"So, uh...how exactly does a tree become a Jedi Master? Wields lightsabers via vines, Force boosts his roots to grow really well, just...really maxes out that oxygen emission?"

He tried to gesture with his hands, a really kind of go-getter motivated totally into this talk sort of movement, but it fell flat as he tried to get a sense of the massive tree overhead as a creature wielding the Force, and not simply a location that had strong affinity for one side or another.

"You're sure it's not just that Jedi presence here through centuries has just made a strong Light side aura in this place?" he asked skeptically. "It makes so much more sense than to say Master Groot--I mean, Master Ood, the Tree."

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei shook his head. "No, I do mean Master Bnar is the tree." His face grew serious. "Master Bnar spoke to me once, when I was in deep inner turmoil."

"I think his transformation was somehow similar to how some of the great Jedi Masters have maintained their essences in the Force--you know, what we call Force Ghosts."

Wei approached a wall. The wall was filled with grooves and patterns. For the most part it looked like art. Bu there was a strange sort of whistling sound near it. "That's interesting." The Jedi Knight looked at his compatriot. "What do you think?"

[Zeke]

"I think this has a trick, too, but it's not as obvious as the one previous."

Zeke put his ear to the wall, moving along it and feeling at it with his fingertips and palms, trying to find the source of the noise. "Must be air blowing through here from somewhere, right? Need to figure out where from, or how, it's happening. That might give us a clue." He tried to sense at it with the Force, but all he could figure out was that there as nothing living on the other side. "Don't want to take a risk moving it by telekinesis just yet. Want to think on it some more, or just skip it? We've probably got another kilometer of hall to check out."

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei shut down his lightsaber. "Hold on."

He laid his hands on the wall, and felt the vibrating stonework as the wind passed through it. "It resonates here. As in, a resonating that I can connect with."

The Force Cripple shut his eyes and concentrated. "Create an intense wind through this. I think if you can increase the vibration frequency, it might offer me some insight."

[Zeke]

While Zeke had used his telekinesis to fly on multiple occasions before and during the Clone Wars, he didn't do it by manipulating the air. Was that even something he could do? He moved his arms, feeling the air, tracing broad circles that had tangents with the breeze blowing through the vibrating door. Zeke tried to focus his mind on that current of air, trying to pull it faster, to work with it to enhance Wei's resonance. He wasn't sure it was working; he had his eyes shut and was doing his best to avoid distractions...like how much of a fool he must look windmilling and waving his arms. He began to breathe, to settle into a rhythm. He'd know if his efforts were bearing fruit soon enough.