Fighting Back (Sequel to Savior)

Chapter 9

The thought bomb was intense. Waves of Dark Side energy bombarded them as the ventured through, making it all the more harder to traverse it. Dark red and black root-like tendrils were everywhere, tangling with each other and never-ending, and a hazy blood red fog surrounded them. It was no wonder none of the souls are able to escape, the tangle of tendrils made it near-impossible to pass.

"Damn this maze." Fay cursed, jumping off one tendril onto another above her.

"They certainly didn't make it easy for us." T'ra commented, jumping beside Fay, "It would be easier if we could've taken our lightsabers with us."

Fay nodded in agreement before squeezing through two tendrils, grunting as she pushed herself through.

"To the souls, closer and closer, we get." Yoda shouted from below. He sat on the middle of a tendril, looking up at the two women. His small stature made it easier for him to navigate the tight spaces.

"Careful, don't stray too far," Fay called out in warning, "We don't know what this haze is, or if we'll be able to find each other if one of us gets lost."

Yoda used the Force to propel himself upward, dodging any tendrils in his way and landing next to T'ra and Fay. The three Jedi ventured forward together, careful not to stray too far due to the fog thickening the further they traversed.

"How do we know we're going the right way?" T'ra asked, stopping.

Yoda stopped as well, and looked up at her, asking, "Feel it, do you?" He pointed into the fog.

"The further we go, the more intense the Dark Side gets." Fay said, looking to where Yoda pointed before looking back at Yoda and T'ra, "We're going the right way."

The trio traveled again, weaving in and out of tendrils. As they traveled, a bright light illuminated through the fog. Noticing it immediately, Yoda and his two companions immediately headed for it.

They finally escaped from the maze of tendrils and into a large oval-shaped opening. Wisps of blueish white mindlessly floated throughout the hollowed-out room, and in the middle of the space was a floating, luminescent sphere.

"This is it." T'ra muttered.

"That sphere right there," Fay pointed towards it, "That's what's keeping the souls trapped here."

"It's pull, feel it, I do." Yoda added, head tilting in curiosity as a wisp floated by him. Inside, the ghostly face of a human man screamed silently, seeming to be in agonizing pain. Yoda took a step back, recoiling slightly, "In pain, these souls are."

Fay grimaced, "I can feel their turmoil. Intense, unbearable..." she trailed off, shaking her head, her flowing blonde hair shaking with the movement.

"How are we going to reach the core?" asked the Neti, frowning, "It's levitating in the middle of this space."

"Pull it, we can, with use of the Force." Yoda suggested.

Fay shook her head, "Even if we could, we would have no way of destroying it."

"What if we use the thought bomb against itself?" T'ra said, garnering intrigued looks from Fay and Yoda. Seeing their looks, she elaborated, "We could use the tendrils to destroy the core."

"Work, that could." Yoda muttered, stroking his chin in thought.

"Then let's try it." Fay concluded. She turned towards the wall of tangled tendrils, and held out her hands, gathering the Force around around one of them. The tendril started to move, slowly untangling itself from the others. Yoda and T'ra Saa followed her lead, finding tendrils of their own and untangling them from the rest. Fay was the first to finish, and she extended it forward, wrapping it around the core. Yoda and T'ra wrapped their own tendrils around it, and used the Force to pull as hard as they could. A loud, ear-piercing shriek echoed throughout the cavern as the core was strangled, making the Jedi wince. Soon enough, the luminescent sphere's glow faded away, and the Jedi felt the intensiveness of the Dark Side weaken significantly. The three Jedi let go of the tendrils, letting them fall to the ground with the sphere. The bluish white wisps no longer looked lifeless or tormented; they sped around the room, bouncing off of the walls, off of each other.