“Why did Merlyn come here…” Dan squinted against the blizzard of ashen dust, a storm that shed what little remained of the planet into space. “Within a hundred more years, there will be nothing left.”
“It’s not a great tourist spot, that’s for sure,” May nodded, suspended in the air beside him on the plasma thrusters of her symbiote. “Ultron said to head to the south pole, where the crust is the thickest.”
Dan waved for his Wife to take the lead and followed at her side. It took little time before a bizarre sight greeted their eyes. A city of black rock, suspended over a chasm that reached the planet's core. Held in place by thin blackened arches, either the material was beyond strong, or something else kept everything from the abyss below.
“He’s over there,” Dan pulled May toward the central structure of the city. A squat pyramid, connected to the buildings beside it by thick bands of stone. “Let’s see what he’s found.”
They landed in a wind worn square, rocks smoothed to a polished gleam by the spirals of corrosive dust. May poked at the slippery stone, a confused look in her eyes.
“How is all this dust flying around, if there’s no atmosphere…”
“That was my first question as well,” Ultron strode from the pyramid’s entrance, voice projected over the com. “It seems to be the result of the technology with this structure… a powerful energy field that is slowly destabilising.”
“I assume it has something to do with the force, if Merlyn was interested enough to travel,” Dan led the way into the darkened chamber within the stone zigurate. An irregularly shaped doorway stood ahead, raised up on a platform in the centre of the room. “That looks like a stargate…”
“That was the Wizard’s thought as well,” Ultron shrugged, aggravation in his voice. He tapped at the smooth blue metal, untouched by time or wear. “I am unable to activate the device, but both the old fool and the boy walked through fifteen hours ago and have not returned.”
Dan nodded, hand extended to the sharp edged gateway. It contained a strange energy, a lifeless, drab version of the Ki that ran beneath his skin. He barely grazed it, before the door filled with a silver light. Dan looked over his shoulder and sent a grin to May and the irritable A.I.
“Come on, we’ll head through together,” Dan waved them forward. “We can find our new location with Ultron’s drone and your true body can come to pick us up.”
They all stepped forward as one. As soon as Dan touched the surface of the portal, time and space seemed to fall away. Colour streamed into separate lines, a kaleidoscopic vision of a surrealist’s painting of reality. The moment passed and darkness replaced the chaos. Quiet and damp. They stood within an expansive cavern. Tunnel mouths gaped from all directions, a guarantee that they were in for a long search.
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“Can you connect to your other bodies?” Dan turned to Ultron, who stared ahead, emotionless. “Hello…”
“Connected…” Ultron shuddered, eyes dim. “We are almost out of range, far in the unknown regions.” The A.I. tapped his chin, head tilted. “We are also moving… sublight speeds, but bordering on relativistic. “A blue wave of sensor energy swept from Ultron’s palms. “Every day here… is two days in the rest of the galaxy.”
“That’s not too bad,” Dan walked toward a tunnel, eyes set on a small scratch in the grim covered wall. A marker, to let someone know the way. “Let’s go this way… and stick together, this place gives me the creeps!”
“It seems fine to me?” May laughed as she skipped after him, Ultron on her heels. She lowered Mayhem from her face and sniffed the air “There's a breathable atmosphere in this place!”
Dan followed her lead and received a pleasant surprise. Warm and damp, but clean and fresh. The smell of life. A click in his head caused Dan to lean down and touch the ground. There was a subtle hum that ran through the earth, a beat of life he’d only recently learned to sense.
“I think this place is alive…” He stood and gave the walls a suspicious glance. “We should find Meryn and Anakin as fast as we can and go back through the gate.”
[Quest available: Find the lost summon and save the chosen one. Bonus rewards for acquiring a location unique pet for your wife!]
Dan stopped. It had been awhile since a quest had appeared, and this one didn’t require him to leave his current location. He would keep quiet and surprise May with both a new pet, and the rewards from the system. Smile on his face, Dan led May and Ultron into the depths of the tunnels, on the trail of his lost servants.
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“This commute will be the death of me…”
Doom sighed as he let his symbiote recede into his body. Even with a phantom capable vessel, it was a pain to travel for his duties as Mandalore. His current residence was a newly constructed luxury tower, built entirely by Ultron to serve as their base on this godforsaken world.
“What say you, Jor-EL?” Doom tapped his fingers and a hologram appeared before him. The distinguished A.I. was far more to his taste than the devious Ultron, more subservient. “How can we begin our conquest of this planet and its government?”
Jor-EL stroked his beard as his hologram walked to the window. Beyond the reinforced transparisteel, a huge section of Coruscant’s mismanaged surface was under construction. “Ultron has already given us a power base, the long abandoned industrial sections of this world have awoken again!”
“Yes, but it’s not even a drop in the ocean,” Doom sighed as he joined the A.I. by the window. Clear blue eyes reflected back at him from the glass, his own cold gaze as it took in the countless beings in this world. “To control this place we must control the senate, and the senate lies in the hands of a monster.”
“Then you must out monster him,” A wicked voice sneered from the speakers around them. Ultron projected a hologram and joined them in their overlook. “I’ve watched him, he is meticulous, controlled…” The A.I. transformed into a black robed figure, face hidden behind a thick hood. “But he is still weak, by our own summoner’s words!”
“Yes, yes,” Doom swiped a hand through Ultron’s false body, disgust on his face. “He won’t have his true power, until after he kills his Master…” He let out a snort of disgust. “What good is that, when his Master in question is a paranoid obsessive who holds enough strength to destroy us all?”
“Plagueis is an issue, to be sure…” Ultron fell silent.
“I have a suggestion,” Jor-EL stroked his beard, a light in his eyes as he ran complex simulations. “We must wait until Palpitine becomes chancellor, and kills Plagueis, so why not stand behind the Sith?”
“Interesting…” Doom smiled, a dark grin that carved out his hollow face. “You suggest we back the King, and then take his place at the pivotal moment…”
“The Sith can do the heavy lifting, and we can drive a dagger into his back as soon as his value has been fully exchanged,” Ultron laughed, red eyes bright. He waved his hand and projected a newly designed drone. “I plan on installing a complement of these within our district on Coruscant,” the display shone and the image shifted to a cross section.
The thick bodied drones each contained a small lizard, hooked up to a transplanted section of tree. Safely encased in their massive chests, the Ysalamiri suppressed the force for about three metres around a single unit.
“Fascinating…” Doom leaned closer to the display. “I have a suggestion, and I would like to order a dozen of those lizards for this office, enough to cloak the whole building from the force…”