Discovery

The frigid air stung to breathe and left frost gathering on their clothes, coating the walls, made the weathered steps leading down—down—down, oh, so slippery. The rest of the archaeological team waited outside for the all-clear, while Qizulth and Synnda checked the ancient tomb for dangers.

 

“Back to where we started,” said Qizulth. He was bundled up with even his lekkus wrapped in furs. But, even with a scarf pulled up just beneath his eyes, his grin was all too obvious in his voice, and it only widened when his partner chuckled. He hated Hoth with a burning passion, but his hatred for the planet’s frozen air was numbed by the excitement of new discoveries.

 

The pair had dueled for the first time on Hoth all those years ago, when both had discovered a shrine buried in the ice, and it had led to a tense rivalry between the former Sith and Jedi Councilors as they fought for the holocron within. Synnda still had the lightning scar to show for it, while his partner had barely escaped with both arms intact and the device clutched to his chest.

 

Despite it, the event didn’t seem to sour their moods any. Instead the Twi’lek just kept grinning behind his scarf, even as he slowly picked his way down the spiraling stairs—stairs, that appeared to have been put together in a rush, and only Hoth’s ice had preserved them in their unsteady position. Synnda, for his part, had what he could offer for a fond smile that left the corners of his eyes crinkling.

 

Two weapons illuminated the dark: Qizulth’s ancient lightsaber from his ancestor that looked as though it would shatter into thousands of pieces at any moment casting a deep red glow about them, and Synnda’s carefully crafted dualsaber’s a soft purple.

 

“How was this one discovered?” Synnda’s voice was as soft as ever.

 

If he wasn’t so worried about tripping and falling to his death, Qizulth would have turned around to walk backwards to speak to his comrade. Instead, he tossed over his shoulder, “Alliance Intelligence, who else? Running scans for Star Fortress remains, and ta-da—” he cast a wild gesture above them, where the entrance now lay far out of their view, “—buried entrance found on the scans!”

 

A hum from the Jedi answered. His free hand reached up to pull his hood a little lower over his face, but he was noticeably careful not to pull it too taught over his horns, lest he risk tearing it. His usual metal mask had been replaced by a scarf much like Qizulth’s, though his was as white as the frigid planet’s snow, while the Twi’lek’s as dark as the shadows around them.

 

Silence fell between them, though it wasn’t awkward as it had once been, seemingly so long ago, now. It was a companionable quiet, disturbed only by their frost-touched breaths and spiked boots crunching into the ice to keep stubborn hold in their descent.

 

It wasn’t until they reached the bottom that either spoke again.

 

“Not much a tomb,” Qizulth mused more to himself than his partner.

 

Stretching before them was a tunnel network—no real walls to be seen, just more ice.

 

Synnda stepped ahead of the other to lead the way farther in.

 

“Lord Nox? Master V’ehsz?” Talos’ voice crackled over the line.

 

“We’ve reached the bottom,” answered Synnda. He had his mechanical arm pulled close to his face, the comm. system built into the wrist lighting up. Frost webbed its way over the metal limb in intricate patterns, and if Qizulth listened close enough, he could have sworn the servos within were grinding as they were forced to move against the frigid cold. It would surely need maintenance when they got out of there. “Not a tomb, as we thought. It appears we’ve discovered a large, natural cave system.”

 

Instead of using his own link, or pulling out his holo-communicator, Qizulth instead grabbed his partner’s arm to speak into that. The Zabrak’s arched brow and suddenly rigid stance with the surprise of it was almost enough for the Sith to bust out laughing. “The stairs are makeshift,” he said instead. “They weren’t meant to be permanent.”

 

Talos hummed on the other end. “Any clues what they’re for?”

 

Synnda pulled his arm away from the younger man and turned back toward the entrance. Crates were stacked near it, but most were empty. A select few had ropes, handheld scanners, ice chisels…

 

“A previous archaeological dig-sight,” he said finally. “It doesn’t appear that they left in any rush, though they did leave a number of cheap supplies behind.”

 

“We’re going in farther,” the Twi’lek offered, tugging at Synnda’s coat, which earned the pair a “Be careful,” in response.

 

Small caves lined the tunnel. Some appeared to have natural doorways, others more like they’d been carefully busted open by unnatural means. They peeked into each cave, sometimes taking a few steps inside, before moving to the next when nothing revealed itself within.

 

Then,

 

“A fossil network!” Qizulth gasped as he scampered away from his partner’s side. He was oh, so careful not to touch the bones protruding from the walls of the cave they’d peered into, but still did his hands hover.

 

Though Synnda’s gait was far calmer, and his eyes showed little, Qizulth could feel the excitement and awe from him as he moved to the Twi’lek’s side.

 

He reached forward, but like Qizulth, didn’t quite touch the bones. Farther in, there were others with fur and muscle still attached as the ice and frigid air had perfectly preserved the specimens. The most visible one, buried most shallowly in the wall of ice, looked vaguely like a Skel, or maybe a Wampa, but it had to have been thousands—maybe millions—of years old!

 

“Get working on those stairs—we need recorders down here!” Qizulth was laughing—it was joyful, excited, laughter. Holocrons were always a welcome discovery, but this…

 

His nose scrunched up as he grinned at Synnda. Oh, an ancient fossil network was a rare treat!