The crew had a lead a while back on a base Dalt had on Rodia. They figure this might be a good time to check that out while the Council observes Dalt’s recovery.
On the planet (which Kedrihm'Val really likes, as it's all wild and jungley), they hire a Rodian guide to take them through the jungle. He tells them about a haunted area in the forest. Indeed, one night while they're camping, they see a ghost ship crash into that area. Definitely something to check out on the way back.
Dalt’s base is an older base, converted for his use. It’s been locked up for a while; looks like one of his early labs. He has experiments running that feature Dark Side plants growing in tainted water. Definitely ties in with a few of the older things of his they've found floating about the galaxy.
Downstairs, the experiments focus on Dark Side radiation. The notes they find reveal that Dalt believed in a Dark Side star and a Light Side star--one for each side--at that time. Records say he thinks he actually detected traces of them once. Something to ask him about, perhaps.
Further down, they find a huge observation ring surrounding a large living area almost like a village, which is in an energy cage. Used to be a hydroponics bay. There’s a box above the village, with everything wired into it. A small garden hosts freaky mutant Dark Side plants. No sign of current inhabitants, but apparently there were at one point. The box produces massive energies; it holds some kind of power source, but it’s shielded by a force field. Dalt’s records don’t say what the box is, which is uncharacteristic of him. Oola digs up data: the base has been inactive for 12 years. She finds vid-feeds showing 10 to 12 humans living in the village—Imperial slaves. Comparison holos show physical changes in them over the years. Some people evolved, some devolved, turned bestial, but most didn't survive for long.
14 years ago, the last person left was a 20 year old girl. She looks normal, but there’s something just...unsettling about her. 12 years ago, Dalt realized that he couldn’t get the girl out without exposing himself to the radiation source he’d set up. Oola does a life scan: it shows no one present, but there’s a hole torn in the floor to lower levels. Been there 3 or 4 years. Oola checks to make sure radiation isn’t leaking out downstairs.
Heading down, they find Dalt didn’t do much here. It’s just living quarters and hydroponics. No sign of people. Figuring they've seen as much as they can here, they head back out to meet their guide.
On the way back out of the jungle, they pass haunted area again. Near it, Kedrihm’Vahl gets jumped by an evil plant. Of course they decide to go into the haunted area, at which the guide volunteers to stay out of it. Says he'll wait to see if they come out for a couple of days.
Inside the area, they find dead Stormtroopers. There are signs they died out of fear. They find also wreckage of a transport that matches the ghost ship they saw crash. Oola hacks its systems to discover that these people were on a mission to gather some mineral from an asteroid field for Dalt 12 years ago. The thing had odd properties. Signs are that the mineral drove these crazy during the transport back. The storm troopers, loyal to death, tried to carry it to Dalt. Records end when they leave the ship.
Oola downloads the records. Figuring it might teach him something useful, Kedrihm’Val communes with nature while they wait for her, and indeed he discovers a path of corrupt life. Following it, they’re attacked by a giant mutant lizard. Ree cuts its leg off and it flees, but they kill it. The trail of corruption leads back to Dalt’s base. Contemplating that mysterious box, they're willing to bet that the strange mineral is in there. Zann suggests tightening the force field around the box to remove it.
And Kedrihm'Val notes that the box is exactly, perfectly, and in every detail, yay big.
They call Luke and tell him. He patches through to Dalt. Dalt can’t remember the experiment, but suggests they leave it there and track back to the asteroid field. He thinks it may be a "magical artifact.” “Don’t bring it back. I don’t want to face down Darth Anakin-Vader...Skywalker Luke.” Luke cuts in with, “It’d just be Luke.” Kedrihm notes that Dalt never called anything “magical” before.
The crew places some guards and an alarm to guard the base while they head out to follow the trail backward.
Onward to the asteroid field! Interesting thing here is that no one knows of a planet ever being there for the field to originate from. It’s vaguely near Wayland, Dathomir and Yavin. A veritable Bermuda Triangle of space-evil. The Jedi of the crew note that one asteroid seems, well, really evil. It has a black spire and doesn’t move like an asteroid. Oola notes that it’s a battle station, holding synchronous position with Dathomir and Yavin.
They look around outside it. Maybe it's Rakata or Sith in origin? Looks like a sort of proto-Death Star without a laser. The Rakata ship claimed that the Death Star was of Rakata design. Oola’s downloaded recordings show that the troopers went in. Inside, it was an advanced battle station. Weird writing and disturbing images covered the walls. The pictures look like evil space-catfish: the Sith race, shortly after encountering the dark Jedi. They found the rock--a shiny black orb--at the top of the spire in some kind of energy amplifier. They call Kyp to fill him in and send him copies of the writings. The place was built specifically to host that spire, which seemingly exists specifically to hold that stone. What's it for? The only way to find out is to go inside.
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