I still remember standing there in that hall when Venn stormed in, small vial in hand, and slapped it down onto the holotable. He made Talen start when he did and he nodded, "We had suspicions about what this was. Old records indicate that this is a diluted form of a substance known as Isotope-5."

"Never heard of it," I replied and picked the small vial of orangeish liquid up between two of my fingers and turned it over in the light of the overhead lamps.

"Not surprising," Venn began. "It hasn't been used since the First Galactic War. It was once used to power an entire fleet of the most powerful destroyers ever used by the Sith Empire and powered their most dangerous droids."

"It was mined from the core of the planet, correct?" Talen asked and took the vial from me, examining it. "Are they doing that here on Zeffo?"

"Possibly, but the form in which they're getting this is... suspect. It's heavily diluted, meaning they may be finding it from a secondary source."

"Which means we need to shut it down," I added as Venn gave an affirming nod. "Alright. Got any ideas on where we need to start?"

"Izvoshra, if you would be so kind," Venn gestured to the holotable and the Magnaguard stepped from behind him to tap in a code for the table. It lit up to reveal a completely surveyed tunnel map of the entirety of the mine. Venn jabbed a finger at one spot that was off from the rest and looked back to the squad and me. "There. There are some old ruins that begin there and go down pretty deep. My droids and I are under the impression that they might be funneling it from here based on loading and transport patterns."

"We've already sent Seku and her scouts ahead to investigate," Talen added with a quick glance at me. "They can maneuver a lot faster than our soldiers can."

"You used to getting questioned a lot?" I finally asked after he had finished, and he looked at me almost quizzically as I did. "You're awfully quick to justify yourself."

"They see a kid and they don't put into context that he's also a Jedi," Venn added as he looked to Talen. "Trained to do what most people could never dream of..."

"Child soldiers, if you ask me," Kote's voice resonated through the room ahead of him, and we turned to see both him and Orar walk in bedecked in full beskar'gam. He already had a frown on his face by the time he reached the holotable and his eyes were locked onto Venn with all the intensity I had come to expect from him by that point. "Either way, I don't disagree that the jeti'ika has earned respect. Don't worry. You won't get guff from us. Orar and I found some rather interesting ruins the Seppies are looking at. We think they may be getting your miracle fuel from there. We have the Twi'leks checking it out now."

It never ceased to amaze me at how Seku and her people got around.

Talen seemed relieved to see them there and made his way around the table to stand beside the brothers as they pointed out the location of the discovery on the map. Venn gave me a quick look before he and his Magnaguard retreated to a far corner of the room. He knew where he stood with every single other person in this room. A part of me didn't trust him. I had been raised to view any Separatist as little more than target practice, and no amount of good detective work on his part was going to break ten years of hard conditioning. The only person who seemed to be giving him the benefit of a doubt was Talen, and despite that I found our jeti'ika to be far too trusting for his own good. I trusted Talen, but there were things even I couldn't put behind me. Venn turned on his people once. What's to say he wouldn't do it again?

"Kando," Talen turned to me and motioned for me to follow him from the room. I did, and soon I found myself alone with him on one of the nearby ridges overlooking the green, snowy slopes of Zeffo. He turned to look back at me, his brow furrowed and his lower lip pulled up under his front teeth, before he sighed, "The tension was palpable back there. I understand your hesitation and your reservations about Major Venn, but you must understand that right now he's our best resource."

"I do, kid, but I don't trust Separatists. Nothing personal."

He gave a sympathetic smile, "I understand. Just... try not to shoot his droids or anything, yeah?" He looked back over his shoulder after I gave a nod. "Something has been bothering me since we landed on Zeffo. I can't place it, but you should be on your guard."

"Any ideas?" As I asked, Talen shook his head, eyes narrowing as he focused.

"No... No, I don't have any. That's what troubles me..." He eventually smiled and waved his hand as he fully turned to face out over the landscape with the wind catching his pale hair as he did. "I'm probably overthinking it. Either way, try to be careful. I haven't lost anyone yet and I don't plan to start now."

*

There was little that scared Clones. There can't be much that scares the soldiers in one of the most powerful armies in the galaxy or we wouldn't be much of an army. You became sort of numb to the whole process of war after a time. You could face down a rancor and stop caring by the end of everything I saw, but some of what we saw on Zeffo defied explanation. Talen was right about one thing: something was happening on Zeffo that even he couldn't place.

We were packing up later that day to head out when Talen approached us. He watched with quiet anticipation as we loaded our things into packs before he made his way over to us. I wanted to ask him what was wrong before he grabbed a hold of my wrist and opened my hand. He had pressed a small crystal into it and closed my fingers around it with a look of worry across his features as he looked up at me, "Call me superstitious or maybe just a little bit insane, but keep that with you."

"What is it?" I asked as I opened my hand to see the small blue crystal laying in the center of my palm. It was a tiny, delicate thing that seemed to shimmer on its own without the aid of any of the overhead lights. It was weightless, thin and slightly long, and the blue that colored it was almost white.

Talen gestured to it with a nod, "My old kyber crystal. From my first lightsaber." It was something so utterly priceless that I was positive he had completely lost it. I went to protest, but he held up a hand, "Just... keep it. I have a feeling you may need it." He then added quickly, "Don't ask me how."

"Sounds a bit sketchy, Tal," Cobalt had walked over behind Talen and crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head down at him. Talen just smiled up at him and patted his upper arm before he turned away to go and speak with several of Seku's scouts.

It left us alone with Jent Squad, most of whom were regarding us with their helmets under their arms and a skeptical look on their faces. "Tal likes you a lot," Umbra began as he turned his bucket over in his hands before he glanced up our way with a frown.

Cube was scowling at us, "What's your angle, Fun Police?"

"Yeah. You want something from the kid?" Vex had narrowed his eyes as he spoke and snorted.

"We worked on Ryloth together to catch an assassin," Red countered. "It's not like we're trying to steal him or something."

"You better not be," I heard Vex growl under his breath as Trill rolled his eyes beside him.

"Knock it off, bucketheads," Trill snapped and mad ethe other clones all grumble under their breaths as they put their helmets on. "You can get jealous that the kid likes the shiny new boys more later. We have a mission to take care of."

Cobalt finally looked over at me and shrugged, "What can we say? We like being the favorites." He gave a smirk as he put his helmet on just in time for Talen to return with Seku and company in tow.

He looked between us and raised an eyebrow, clearly feeling the tension, but he chose not to comment on it as he cleared his throat, "We have an attack plan. Major Venn and his droids have cleared out a caved-in section of the mine for us to look at. According to his readings, he's found several pockets of concentrated Isotope-5 down there. We have been warned to be careful due to the volatile nature of the substance."

"Any idea what it's being used for?"

I received a negative shake of Talen's head in initial reply. "We have no idea. All Venn knows is that there seems to be something that the droids there uncovered before they were... summarily decommissioned," Talen's reply was phrased carefully. It made all of us look at each other quickly, and I could feel the ghost worry coming off of all of my brothers. Strange caves with copious amounts of dead clankers were about as far from good as you could get.

"You don't like this," he walked beside me once he had dismissed the rest of the party to finish prepping for the trek across Zeffo.

"Frankly, I don't like not knowing what I'm getting into, kid," I replied and looked down at him from the corner of my eye.

"Not that I can blame you," Talen's reply came as he looked back up at me. "Venn reported that the droids they found when they were clearing the way into the shaft were all destroyed. Something is down there."

"Your Jedi powers give you any hints?"

"None that I could make out. Just... promise me you'll hang onto my crystal," he stopped as we neared the transport and I turned to face him, helmet still up under my arm. "

"Kid, what's the deal with this-?"

"Kando, please. I can't explain it. Just... just call it a feeling," he replied as he passed me up and stepped up into the transport. I knew better than to trust the kid's gut, but I didn't like sending my brothers into a situation none of us knew anything about. Seeing Jent Squad step up into that transport after us without questioning anything gave me some confidence, though. If they could do it without hesitation, then so could we.

*

Hipshot kept us flying low through the canyons and low valleys to avoid tipping any of the Seppies off that we were about to barge in on one of their abandoned projects. The little Zeffo villages below were filled with people who would stop their daily chores to watch us soar low overhead. I only imagined that we must have been a terrifying sight. Zeffo had avoided most of the major fighting that the war had brought, and seeing a military transport with soldiers hanging out of it was probably the last thing those towns wanted to see.

We flew almost level with towns that were built into the cliffsides close enough that we could see the bewildered expressions on the faces of women with baskets of ore on their hips, children playing by the cliffside, and men heading down into the mines for their day's work. Red waved at the kids we passed, and a few of them even waved back if they weren't too startled to reply. Even some of the women and men who were going about their daily business cared to smile and wave our way when they realized who we were. It was a rather odd experience considering most people didn't care for the Coruscant Guard, but I could tell that Red and Grek were eating it up. Tor was too focused on studying the maps to care to wave or watch the sights as we passed. I only finally caved when a group of kids all riding on one of the rather large local fauna crowded up onto the creature's back to wave profusely at us. I was beginning to find that I had a rather soft spot for kids.

Keep that between us.

Talen had remained up just in front of the door to the cockpit on the floor. His legs were folded under him and his face had taken on a look of pure serenity as he meditated. To my surprise, a decent number of Jent Squad had joined him, all kneeling on the floor of the transport with him. Trill, Cobalt, and Umbra had all taken up places near him, helmets on the floor in front of them as the wind whipped through the open side doors of the transport. They seemed entirely unaffected by any of it, all caught up in the same state of calm as their commander.

Hipshot only broke the silence to inform us that we were approaching the dropzone, and at his voice, Talen's eyes snapped open and he rose to his feet along with his three officers. Helmets went on, blasters got one more once over, and before long we found ourselves stepping off into the snowy ground that led to a massive chasm in the side of the cliff. Seku and her crew had already arrived with Wings on a separate transport and she walked up and greeted Talen in Ryl, speaking quickly and gesturing to the cave with one hand.

Whatever she said made Talen raise his eyebrows before glancing back at us and replying in the strange language before he stood before us, hands behind his back. "Seku and her crew found ruins inside. She thinks this may have been what halted the excavations here. They didn't go far in case they ran into trouble, so that's where we come in."

We all nodded and not another word needed to be said. He made his way into the cave and we followed him without question. We had barely made it in three meters when the darkness began creeping in. Talen's lightsaber came out, and a part of me chuckled at the idea of this ancient and elegant weapon being a glorified flashlight. Our own night vision came on and we followed him down the steep incline of the path that gave way on one side into a drop straight down that we couldn't even see the bottom of. Hugging the wall became a favorite pastime for everyone involved.

It honestly felt like an eternity before we found ourselves slowly seeing light seeping in from up ahead. It wasn't a natural sort of light, but it definitely wasn't the bright lights of an excavation site either. We realized as we closed the distance exactly what was causing it when we entered into a massive open chamber riddled from floor to ceiling with carvings that just looked ancient by themselves. The walls themselves seemed more like massive carved tapestries than anything else, and judging from Talen's face and a feeling I got from how ornamented the room seemed to be, we were in the presence of something rather unique.

Talen ran his hand along the stones and followed the lines that scrolled their way along the walls. He followed them with his eyes, following the swirling lines and figures across the great grey expanse as he shook his head in awe, "This is incredible." The words emerged from his lips as barely a whisper as he began to follow the wall onward. None of it made any sense to us, but we followed him on anyway. It seemed like he was witnessing a living story through the stones, and while I couldn't make any sense of it, it seemed like Talen did. "They're legends," he whispered after a long beat of silence between all of us. "Stories... recorded down likely from oral traditions into a form that anyone who follows can understand..."

"Who exactly wrote them down?" Seku asked as she reached up and touched the wall with the very tips of her fingers.

Talen shook his head and continued down the wall, "They're ancient. They must have been exposed when the Separatists started opening up the old mines." He began looking around the room, and we all followed suit and broke out into our own little groups to see what we could find. There were carven statues in the walls and gilded guardians of sorts that stood seemingly dormant. "This place feels..." He looked around the room. He turned slowly, his eyes scanning over every single nook and cranny that he could find. "It feels... familiar," he shook his head as his eyes finally went to a pedestal where we all saw what he did at the exact same time.

It looked like condensed Isotope-5 and shimmered with eerie orange light. Something about his eyes fixated on the stone, and I didn't like the look that came over him. "Kid," I called out, but he didn't move an inch at the sound of my voice. "Kid, you okay?"

"Can't you hear it?" He asked as he turned slowly back to us. "The whispers?"

Everyone in the room exchanged looks. The room was silent except for the sound of rocks and pebbles falling from where we had moved debris to get into the shaft. "Tal," Cobalt walked over beside him, his head turned to face the stone, "no one hears anything."

Talen seemed troubled for a moment before he walked up the steps and hesitated a moment before he reached one hand out to place his fingertips on the strange crystal. When he did, the room flashed with brilliant light for a moment before the carvings on the wall glowed and shimmered with that orange light. It seemed to flood every nook and cranny of the whole room. The walls, the floor, the statues - everything erupted into light.

"This can't be good," Grek grumbled from beside me as he hefted his rifle off his back. Everyone seemed to be in agreement with the sentiment and followed suit.

My attention went straight back to Talen. He was staring past the stone, eyes wide and mouth gaping. There wasn't anything there, but he was clearly seeing something. Cobalt had a hand on his shoulder and seemed to be trying to get him to snap out of it, but whatever force held him was stronger than anything we could do. At one point, his eyes widened and I saw him shake his head, "You're lying..." was all I heard him say before another bright flash made him wrench his eyes shut with a pained scream before the light retreated into the crystal and shot through the carvings in all directions like rivers when a dam was broken. A great thrum shook the cavern as the sounds of movement began stirring farther in the ancient tunnels.

He dropped to his knees and fell back onto the hard floor before any of us could catch him. Whatever had happened had caught us all by surprise, and before long the entire room seemed to come to life and the deactivated droids were starting to make more sense. Cobalt had the kid up on his shoulder and turned to look at Trill, who was cursing in at least three different languages under his breath. "Sir, I'm taking him back to base," Cobalt

"Get out of here, Lieutenant! Take the Padawan and get him to safety. Umbra, go with them!" I saw the other ARC nod and they ran out of the room together as the whole place seemed to glow a bright orange.

Statues burst forth from the walls with glowing cores of orange light that gave away at once how this place had stood for as long as it had. That Isotope-5 was powering ancient automatons that reacted to whatever Talen had done, and now we knew that the kid wasn't going to get out unless we put ourselves between them and the one way out. It was a wall of painted armor between these ancient abominations and Talen.

Seku and several of her armed party had moved to stand with us, but we all slowly began to realize that we weren't exactly positive that weapons would do anything to these massive metal things. They weren't fast, but have you ever looked at something and known that if it hit you, it would really, really hurt? That was where I was standing. Rather than instantly attack us like we had expected, the three automatons stood before us and began speaking in a mechanical, albeit guttural, language that no one could understand. When none of us replied, one of the things strode forward and took a swing at Grek, who was able to dodge it just before the arm slammed into the wall behind his head, cracking one of the ancient murals.