Chapter 34 – Mustafar (1)

Mustafar looks like a fireball from space. This world was volcanic, the ground was primarily made of lava and only once city exist on this desolate world.

Mustafar may be infamous in Layan's memories, but it was really mysterious, except for the last hundreds years, almost no information's were knowns about Mustafar history, but this world hold relics of a distant past which could be considered priceless to anybody.

This world was the place was where events which would shape the fate of the galaxy took place, like Darth Maul training, the duel between the new Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi, or the execution of the Separatist Council by Darth Vader.

Master Ti told him about the duel after she became a force ghost but it was difficult for him to imagine this world to be such a key place in the galactic history.

The Phoenix landed on a platform in Fralideja after receiving the landing coordinates. The last city that was still standing after a cataclysm which almost wiped out the civilization of this world.

The ambience was red and hot. The city was located on a rocky ground, and around it was flowing boiling lava. The molten surface of Mustafar was giving an odor of Sulphur. Around him, he could see several races walking in the streets, among them was the two types of Mustafarians, the taller and thinner types living in the north and the shorter and bulkier living in the south.Both were hard-shelled arthropods with long snouts and insectoid eyes. Their exoskeletons lay in plates over leathery skin, serving as a protection from the heat they experienced on Mustafar.

Layan knew that the HK-47 was somewhere on Mustafar inside a crashed hammerhead cruiser. If he didn't modify the flow of time, he would be discovered by separatists but they soon will be killed by the newly named Vader. Then everything would be dormant until 1 ABY were spacers would help HK-47 to create himself a new body but everything was a ploy created by the droid which will then create an army to try to take over Mustafar, but this army would be defeated later on.

(What should I do with the original HK-47?)

It was the problem he was thinking ever since he thought to salvage the droid to create an army of droid's assassins. This particular droid proved himself to be independent and possess psychopathic tendencies.

To Layan who was a technology freak, this droid was a mystery, and he wanted to study it, but it didn't mean he was ready to unleash an army of sentient droids upon this galaxy. Even more so if he achieved his plan of taking over the separatist factory built during the Clone Wars to build a few HK-series in Cortosis which would become the nightmare of Siths and Jedis alike.

"What is this?"

As he didn't know where was the exact location of the droid, he was currently looking over the market stalls to see if he didn't notice something maybe a clue which could have led him to his objective. While doing so, he found something particularly strange and intriguing.

A short mustafarian male market stall attracted his attention, or more precisely a glowing item attracted his attention. On this stall were items unearthed from Mustafar soil, the mustafarian was used to search for old trinkets to sell them on marketplaces. From time to time, archeologists would become crazy over it, but not one of them came on this world in the past few years.

"It's a relic of the past, the owners of this object all had glorious destinies. If you found it on my stall, it means you must be fated to hold it. Listen to me young hero, this cube will make of you a legendary figure."

While Layan was looking over the glowing cube, the short male mustafarian started a lengthy speech to make him buy the old relic he found some months ago but proved to be useless, just a flashy trinket.

The relic was a cube of a shiny blue color with a black design on each face and a white circle over it. To others, it may appear only as a shiny cube, but to Layan it was undoubtedly a treasure. He could feel the force inside this cube, but he had no ideas as to how to use it. At first, he thought to be a Jedi holocron, they can be found in all shapes and forms, but this cube wasn't one, it was something else.

"How much?"

When he saw the young Miralian taking the bait, he was happy, sure that he could scam him a hefty sum.

"30,000 credits."

"3,000 and not a credit more. Don't take me for a fool, it's just a shiny cube without any use. It has only historical value, and no one care about Mustafar history otherwise you wouldn't be selling your so-called relics in the streets."

The mustafarian expression changed from excited to disappointed as the idiot proved to be smart, the negotiations would be more difficult.

"10,000, to let this old man live one more day."

"Don't try my soft side old man. 3,000, last offer, otherwise I'll buy something else elsewhere."

The old mustafarian finally complied, not without regrets and Layan left with the glowing blue cube in his pocket. Lady luck was with him, finding a force relic barely a few hours after coming on Mustafar. He couldn't ask for more.

Layan really had a hard time on Mustafar, this horrible heat was really unbearable, which may explain why the mustafarians evolved to resist tremendous heat.

After a day of exploration and asking around, no one saw or heard about an old crashed hammerhead cruiser. He would have to explore by himself if he wanted to find the droid he was searching for.

"V2, bring fresh water, now."

At night, which mean 36 hours later as he arrived in the morning, he was back in the ship and was ready to head to the refresher suites of the Phoenix but was so thirsty he had to drink first.

"I really was inspired when I chose to repair you."

The Phoenix was spotless and everything was ready when they needed it, this droid was really a high-end product.

"Thanks for the praise, may I can do something else to help you?"

This droid was really efficient and diligent, just as he liked his droids.

While they were chatting, a communication alert appeared in the communication room. Layan headed toward it and soon, a hologram of Lyn appeared.

"Hi, Master. Did you find what you were searching for?"

"No, and it may take more time than I thought. So, how is your day-off?"

"Normal, I can't say there is a lot of things to do on Ossus, and everyone else is either training or helping at building the greenhouses."

Lyn was telling the truth. Ossus wasn't really the best place to spend holidays, for the time being there wasn't even a bar and even fewer places to relax.

"I took my bike and headed for the few giant lakes left on the planet for a swim, and it turn into a fight as I was attacked by an aquatic creature, fortunately I had my lightsaber and my blaster on me just in case."

"Enjoying yourself, I see. You're swimming while I'll die of heatstroke on this volcanic world."

Seeing his bad mood on the hologram made her smile, and she had the idea to tease him a bit just a bit.

"No one forced you to go on Mustafar, except your droid lover."

"Wait for me to come back, you'll take a beating."

He saw her sly smile, since their first encounter she really opened to him but he had more and more difficulty to bear with her sly side. This girl was really snippy when she wanted to.

"I'm waiting for you."

After saying that, she cut off the communication with a giggle.

Layan headed to the fresher suite and took a long and enjoyable shower. This was good after enduring the searing heat of Mustafar for hours.

After a meal, he was laying in his bed while looking at the cube in his hand under every angle. It really was a mystery and he couldn't understand how to open it. The symbols imprinted on it were clearly Jedis, so there must be some traces of Jedi history somewhere on Mustafar.

His stay was already longer than he wanted, but if he had to search and explore Jedi ruins, it would take him even more time, but it can be worth it. Only time could tell.

The next day, he took the Phoenix for a flight at low-height and used the radar to search for big structures. During this flight, he detected Darth Sidious facility, where Anakin and Obi-Wan would fight in the future from afar, not really difficult and located at the peak of a cliff, but the security was really high.

(High level security, but I may be able to enter stealthily inside to build my HK series droids. I'm sure Sidious won't be resentful against me if I use his facility.)