Manaan - Chapter 132
Link to the masterpost. Chapter 131. Chapter 133.
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There is a door to another airlock visible just across the Rift from the airlock I just left. That must head back to the main station. Maybe if I tune the communicator just right I can find Carthâs communicator, let him and Juhani know whatâs going on. I slowly turn the dial until I hear something other than static. âCome in,â I say, unsure if anyoneâs even there, âCome in, anyone. This is Rena Visz. Is anyone on this frequency?â No static. Maybe itâs a one-way frequency? Nobody can transmit on it and talk back to me but theyâre receiving? Then again, who would be on the other end? Except for us, the merc by the docking bay, and Kono and Sami, thereâs nobody left alive in the Hrakert Station. I canât help but hope. âIf anyoneâs receiving this transmission, Iâm out in the Hrakert Rift, on my way to the kolto harvesting machinery at the edge of the Rift.
âI found two of the researchers here, a biologist and a biochemist, Sami and Kono Nolan. They informed me that a giant firaxan shark had risen up from the Rift. The current theory is that the installation disturbed the habitat of the giant firaxan, and destroying the machinery should calm it down." I turn away from the station, towards the Rift. âIâm heading there now. Sami and Kono also informed me of some ruins down here, like the giant firaxan was guarding them. I doubt that, but if Iâm right about the source of the ruins, the two are related. Iâve seen ruins like these before. Whoever set up shop here were part of a race capable of terraforming on a massive scale. Maybe with this ocean they bit off more than they could chew, like the wroshyr forest on Kashyyyk. And the ruins have been steeped in the Dark Side. Wouldnât be the first powerful creature Iâve seen in the vicinity of these ruins.â
God, Iâm exhausted. To think, I was just on trial this morning. âI wonder how long Iâve been down here. Feels like an eternity.â Sand and rocks crunch beneath my boots, and the metal plating clunks with each step. âOf course Iâll probably end up back in jail at the end of it. If the Selkath arenât aware of this already, they will be once I destroy the machinery.â A firaxan shark approaches. I activate the emitter and it swims away. âKono told me they had managed to create a toxin that would kill the shark, but there was never any chance of me using it. Even as little as I know of this ecology, itâs clear that the kolto and the firaxa are linked. Thatâs why the Selkath researchers changed when the machinery was completed, started attacking the others here. Any damage to the firaxa could hurt the kolto, and anything that damages the kolto will harm the environment. Theyâre all parts of the same whole. And I think this war has done enough damage already.â
I step in front of the kolto machinery. Sami said four million sangen. Looks like I just need to shift the fuel so that one of the tanks holds four million. âIf anyoneâs listening,â I say again, making the transfers between tanks, âIâm loading up the Hydrolium fuel to four million sangen. It gets explosive at that point. Parts of the machinery will likely float to the surface. When the Selkath find it, thereâs going to be some uncomfortable questions. I recommend the truth. Nobody takes well to being lied to. I should know.â
Four million sangen. The computer displays a warning message so I move back, bracing myself against the wall of the station. A massive bubble of air and kolto erupts as the machine bursts and breaks apart. Metal floats slowly to the surface. And thatâs that. âIâm going to check out the ruins now.â Thereâs a metal bridge that spans across the Rift. I look out across the ocean floor. Through the fog of the display, I see the shark. The utterly massive firaxan shark. The ancient creature is scarred from its collisions with the machinery. But now that the machine is gone, its mechanical reach no longer penetrating its home in the depths of the Rift, the shark descends back down, down into the Rift, letting me pass peacefully. âThat seems to have done it,â I say simply. And I continue crossing.
Even through the display, I can clearly make out the shape of the Star Map. I canât help but wonder if this is just how I found it before. As Revan. If I approached it this way, from this bridge. Met the great shark. The station wasnât here then, but surely Revan and Malak were able to take a submersible down here. Surely they⌠I⌠managed to convince a Selkath to let us see the ancient ruins below the surface, on the edge of the Hrakert Rift. Or maybe we contacted the Republic, or the Sith, or an independent faction. I donât remember. Maybe the memory will come back some day. Maybe Iâll remember Revanâs entire quest for the Star Forge. Maybe Iâll remember why she⌠why I sought it out to begin with. Why Malak and I started another war when weâd only just finished one. Malak certainly wouldnât tell me, even if I asked.
As I step closer, the Star Map activates, just as the others all did. I canât get at my datapad to download the Star Map, but even as I look at it, I remember. A set of coordinates. Pointing at an area of the map, getting Malakâs attention. âThere it is,â Iâd said, âThat grid there, a parsec from the edge of the Outer Rim.â Barely outside of known space. âThe heart of the Infinite Empire.â Infinite Empire? Not so infinite, judging from the state of the Star Maps. But now that Iâve remembered the coordinates, the grid, the planet they lead to, thereâs no forgetting them. âIâm heading back now,â I say aloud, âNothing more for me here.â And I turn back to the main part of the station. No sharks bother me. The invader is gone.
The far airlock takes me to a different part of the station from where I left Carth and Juhani. Not far. But with the suit off I can access my comm unit. âCarth, Juhani, you out there?â
âRena!â Carthâs voice comes through loud and clear.
âWe felt a massive explosion - we were afraid you were caught in the blast,â Juhani says.
âNo, that was me,â I say, âIâll explain when I see you.â
âAre you back in the station?â Juhani asks.
âWhere are you?â Carth asks.
âThere was another airlock, let me check my map really quick--â
âMap -â Carth interrupts, âDid you find the Star Map?â
âI did - more than that I know exactly where we need to go.â I pull out my datapad and consult the facility map. âHead down the main hallway, back the way we came. Hang the last left, then the first right.â
âWhat if we encounter more Selkath?â Juhani asks, âYou have the only sonic emitterâ
âShouldnât be a problem. Like I said, Iâll explain when I see you.â
It isnât long before they join me, and as we make our way back to the submersible, I explain everything. The mercenary, the sharks, the toxin. The explosion. The map. The memory. Juhani lays a comforting hand on my shoulder, but I shake it off. Iâm not so fragile. I either have to live with this or collapse into a pile on the floor. Which, honestly doesnât sound so bad at the moment. Carth begins the ascension in the submersible. And I sit in silence. Ready to go to jail. Again.
Roland Wann meets us when we surface, but skips over the niceties. âMaster Jedi- â Ugh. â- we received your transmission from the Hrakert Rift.â Oh! Guess thatâs where it went. âIs it true? You blew up the machinery?â
âEverything I said was true,â I tell him, âThe machinery has been destroyed and the giant firaxan shark is at peace.â
âNo!â Roland curses, âThat is terrible. That will set our work back yearsâŚâ He sighs. âIt may even cost us the war.âÂ
âIt was either that or risk poisoning the kolto,â I say, âTrust me, this is the outcome you want.â
âWhile I am glad that you were able to solve our problems, the cost may have ended up being much too high,â he sighs, âBut you have done your job and helped us in our time of need, and for that I thank you. Oh, and did you end up finding your Star Map?â
âYes, I have what I came here for.â
âGood. Good,â he says. And I can tell heâs nervous.
âI assume the authorities are waiting outside the embassy for me?â
âHow did you--?â he starts to ask, âOf course. Jedi. Yes, I am to turn you over to them. Of course, we could deliver you directly to your vessel--â
âNo,â I interrupt him, âThe Selkath need to know whatâs happened here.â
âI do hope youâll reconsider,â he says, âThis could jeopardize our entire relationship with the Selkath.â
âThen you shouldnât have done it.â Feels like a very Revan thing for me to say. âThis was inevitable.â
I open the embassy door. The police. Again. âStop, human!â says the one in charge, âWe have detected a number of underwater detonations coming from the vicinity of the Hrakert Rift. You have been known to have asked questions about this, and our spy monitors in the Republic Embassy recorded you leaving in a submersible that descended to the Hrakert Rift. You will come with us immediately to answer for your actions, or we will be forced to take you by force!â
âI will come peacefully,â I say, âWeâve been through this before.â
âNo, human,â he says, "There will be no arbiter this time.â Good. God forbid they assign me Bwaâlass again. âYou are to be taken directly to the Ahto High Court.â











