Luke Skywalker’s journey into the caves of Tatooine was unlike anything he’d ever experienced before.
It was chilling and haunting to walk through them, not knowing truly carved the caverns, where they led to, or what they were protecting.
For two hours straight, there were no sounds, no words exchanged between Luke and Obi-Wan. Master led Padawan down an empty, dark, path, occasionally, kicking a tiny stone out of the way or crunching a few others beneath their boots.
Other than the humming of their lightsabers, and the usual ‘plip’ of water into the odd pool, there were no sounds. Nothing.
Luke could sense there was a massive chasm opening not far off from the ledge where he and Obi-Wan began to walk through. It was the first bit of danger Luke was able to avoid, and he correctly chose to stay as close to the cave wall as he could.
[You have leveled up Force Sensitivity to LV 28!]
[You have gained +400 EXP!]
They were walking down, down, and down the steps. Occasionally up one ledge, to keep walking ever downward.
Luke wondered just how deeply they were walking, hours towards Tatooine’s center. How deep was the planet’s core?
Obi-Wan uttered the first words that he had for hours to his student. “Turn off your lightsaber.”
Luke immediately sheathed his sword, with how connected to the Dark Side the cave was, he told himself to never question Obi-Wan, no matter how dire things got.
“Can you sense that Sand Bat nearby?” Obi-Wan whispered.
Luke nodded. “Mhm.” he murmured.
“Try not to wake it.”
Luke closed his eyes, trying to focus on the creatures breathing.
With his leveled Force Sensitivity, he tried honing in on the creature’s life essence.
He could feel the calm and relaxed state of the tiny winged beast hanging upside down from the cave ceiling. What Luke was looking for was signs of other life nearby.
Luke was successful in connecting the bat to other signatures nearby.
He opened his eyes. “Obi-Wan, I think there are other bats nearby.”
“I sense them too. We best be cautious, this is the deepest I’ve been in this crossing of the caverns.”
As disheartening as it should’ve been to hear that, Luke did not waver.
Instead, Obi-Wan and Luke let the Force guide them forward, always sticking to the very edges of the cave.
Suddenly, the few signatures of life Luke felt began to multiply.
And multiply, more and more.
Until after about five minutes, Luke could sense enough Sand Bats around him that they were in the hundreds.
Obi-Wan and Luke slowed their pace too, taking each step as cautiously possible.
The amount of Sand Bats Luke was sensing began to overload his mind, he wasn’t unnerved, because of Gamer’s Mind, but unable to distinguish from a tiny baby bat from the gargantuan amount of bats in all directions in the far reaches of the caves.
Luke gasped quietly, the baby bat squealing and shrieking in pain on the floor.
“No!” Luke whispered. “No, no, no it’s okay, I’m sorry.”
Obi-Wan was alarmed, instantly becoming worried when the tiny bat began to flap away.
The entire swarm was warned of potential prey.
Luke and Obi-Wan instinctively turned around to give each other one hundred and eighty degree vision of the bit of light their swords offered in the cave.
There was a tiny bit of silence, and then, a deafening roar of combined screeching, wing flapping, and the shifting of claws from rock from all directions.
What initially should’ve been a flash of Sand Bats all moving in one direction, became an upwards cyclone of bats around Luke and Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan moved back, pressing his back against his students.
“Any idea how we can get out of this?” Luke began to get a little more worried for their lives by the second.
Obi-Wan quipped casually as if they were training on a casual Tatooine afternoon. “Open to suggestions, if you have any.”
Out of the storm of bats, Luke saw a couple fly straight for him, and he instantly swiped twice, killing both with the same slash of his lightsaber.
In a single blue flash, Luke killed the first monsters in his very first dungeon, ignoring the EXP gains he got from the blow.
Luke could already tell these bats were very low level enemies, but a single bite could be potentially problematic.
Obi-Wan began to side step, dodging a bite towards his hip to kill a few other bats.
The few bats flittering out of the cyclone began to turn into a storm.
Luke had to move faster, striking the groups of bats now attacking him with Force Push and several swings of his sword.
He turned around, sensing his Master was in trouble.
Obi-Wan was by no means injured, but he began to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of bats he had to face.
When Luke began to shift, and take his attention off his half of the kill circle he and Obi-Wan formed, he was scratched. A Sand Bat flew quickly enough so that it scratched, likely with its talons, across Luke’s elbow.
The boy felt a bit of pain, but there was no real damage to his skin because of Gamer’s Body.
He turned, to slash and Push away the incoming bats, but Obi-Wan was forced to take a knee, winded from taking several hits in a row.
Luke turned again, even more worried, and suddenly enough bats from the entire cyclone began to overwhelm them both.
The boy was knocked over, his saber clattered out of his hand, and Sand Bats began to scratch his shoulder, his knee.
His HP began to drop, the boy shielding Obi-Wan from further strikes.
Obi-Wan stood up a little, using his blue lightsaber to cut away a few more bats but it was a drop in the bucket. There just began to be too many of them.
Luke summoned his lightsaber back to his hand using the Force but it struck a bat halfway there, clattering just a few feet away from where he stood.
Now, Luke began to get worried, it began to become a little worrisome, that maybe Obi-Wan and Luke’s lives were truly in danger.
“What are we going to do?” asked Luke dodging a random swooping bat as the entire swarm screeched and spun around them.
Obi-Wan panted, still blocking and parrying attempts to bite and scratch the only exposed part of himself, his head, fine with leaving all other parts of him open to attack just to rest for a split moment.
“Hope is never lost, so long as you still have the Force.”
Luke remembered that he didn’t just have FP, or Force Points, the Force was all around him. Not just in general, but it was extremely prevalent, in the entire cave.
Luke began to channel the Force through his entire body, fine with using every ounce of energy behind what he was about to do.
At his greatest amount of effort, Luke summoned his saber right back to his palm, smacking several bats out of the way in the process. And then-
There was a huge snap in the air as an explosion of energy and air overwhelmed the cyclone of bats all around Luke.
[You have activated Force Blast LV 3! (49.17% to LV 4)]
[You have gained +350 EXP from leveling up Force Blast!]
[You have gained +1 LV!]
The Force Blast killed or disabled every single bat in a huge radius all around Luke, several bats could be heard falling to the ground smacking against the walls of the cave or just fluttering off afterward.
Luke paused, looking down at Obi-Wan.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” said the Jedi Master. “Are you?”
Luke nodded. “I’m ready to keep going if you are.”
Obi-Wan always knew Luke was talent, honorable, and dedicated to the ways of the Force from the first moment he began to learn to be a Jedi. But it was here where it struck Obi-Wan and he was powerfully reminded who his father was, what Luke was capable of.
And the kind of Jedi Luke was going to be.
Obi-Wan took Luke’s hand. “Just got a bit tired there, I don’t think we were in too much trouble.”
“That’s the spirit.” Luke smiled, and they began to walk deeper into the cave.
…
As what would’ve been sundown back on the surface approached, Luke and Obi-Wan reached a sight that Luke doubted he’d be able to find anywhere else in the galaxy.
At least, with ease.
The entire time to reach their destination, Obi-Wan had used a special paint unremovable from cave walls except with a special ointment he brought to mark their path back.
Luke was forced to detect where to jump, double jump, swing from vines, and simply walk through with nothing but the light from his saber, and his trust in the Force and Obi-Wan to guide him.
Random slugs and winged insects likely living off cave leeches, and other strange creatures, would strike randomly from the darkness, but Luke’s instincts were razor sharp by now.
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He turned, and struck, instantly.
The bugs all fell to Luke’s cerulean blade, and eventually, they reached a city.
At the mouth of the cave where Luke and Obi-Wan reached underground, after an entire day of fighting, hiking, and a bit of rest, they found a massive and expansive underground city.
Obi-Wan stroked his beard, hiding how impressed he was.
“I can’t even, just.” Luke sheathed his sword, attaching it to his hip. “Incredible.” he breathed out.
The city was clearly abandoned, and its architecture strong after what was likely tens of thousands of years. The only way Luke could see anything at all in the utterly massive cavern where the city took place was because of two sources of light.
Strange bits of moss and glowing rock attached to the edges of the walls of the cave. And a single faint bit of sunlight, just ever so slight, almost nonexistent falling into the deep center of the city.
Luke squinted, in complete confusion. “We’re miles and miles underground, how can any sunlight get down here!?”
“It was said the first and only civilization intelligent and powerful enough to domesticate Sarlaccs used to roam Tatooine. Thousands and thousands of years ago.”
“So the biggest Sarlacc, probably in existence, guarded the surface of this city? Then where did it go? How come I’ve never heard of it?” wondered Luke. “I’ve lived here in Tatooine my whole life, and I definitely would’ve known about it.”
“The planet’s surface is empty enough that most of it is uninhabited. Even scavengers and treasure hunters likely would never approach this place if the closest settlement was on the other side of Tatooine, its legends lost to time.”
Obi-Wan began to descend deeper into the cave to approach the city. “Remember how difficult it was for us to get here? Not everyone in the galaxy has the Force Luke, even, the most desperate.”
Luke nodded, understanding. “Right.”
Luke did however know enough about Sarlaccs to know it only really had on predator:
The Krayt Dragons.
And if a Krayt dragon down in these caves ate a Sarlacc of that size, Luke knew that was probably the reason treasure hunters stopped coming here tens of millennia ago.
He however, gained a new notification that surprised him.
[Quest Completed! Venturing into the Unknown
Objectives Met: Find the Ancient City
New Objective: Discover the reason why the legend was lost to time, and the treasures beyond.
You have gained: +10 LVs, +8,000 credits, Advanced lightsaber augmentation]
Luke was curious was this lightsaber augmentation was ever since he got the quest, and he instantly checked what it was.
[Lightsaber Augmentation - This upgrade allows the given lightsaber upgrade’s user to deal double damage with |Saber Techniques|, EXP and credits are generated 1.3x faster, and all Force techniques are 30% more effective.]
Luke initially considered to save the upgrade for another lightsaber if he ever found it, but the new augmentation was just too good not to use.
However, he decided to check the Gamer’s summary for his sword, currently resting on his hip, given through his Inventory.
[Standard Jedi Lightsaber - The weapon of a Jedi knight, belonged to the Gamer’s father…Whoever he was. Blue blade, Kyber bonuses: None. No passives.]
Even the Gamer acknowledged that technically the sword had nothing special about it besides belonging to Luke’s father. But for now, it would suffice until Luke had the need and means to produce a second lightsaber, Luke applied the augmentation without a second thought.
…
The Ancient city was so expansive that it took Luke and Obi-Wan an entire week to search through it from top to bottom.
Luke soon found out that there was a name to the people who resided on Tatooine tens of thousands of years ago, who built the massive city, and the tombs around it.
The Kumumgah.
Luke discovered that it was very likely that the Krayt dragon that had eaten their Sarlacc ate them too, only finding charred bones in the many houses he searched.
He was attacked by [Cave Insects] of all types while searching through homes, buildings, and the tombs.
The Kumumgah did have Force sensitive beings in charge of some sort of religion as Obi-Wan theorized back at The Pool.
Luke used the entire week to annihilate as many [Cave Insects] as he could find.
Slimy and buzzing creatures living of scraps and whatever moss and slime existed down in the caves and abandoned homes of the Kumumgah, hoping to make a meal of Luke, failing utterly.
He farmed EXP in droves, and he also gained lots of LVs from using the several obstacle courses the Gamer produced throughout the rooftops of the Ancient City.
Luke used the opportunity to practice his Force techniques, especially Force Jump and Force Speed.
Still using their lightsabers as if they were torches, Luke and Obi-Wan reviewed a massive mural. A stone wall carving in what passed for a Kumumgah temple for their equivalent of the Jedi.
Their Elders saw their destruction through the Force at the hands of the Infinite Empire. They were cast out for their paranoia, called traitors and conspirators from the civilization on the surface, banished into the caves.
Knowing they’d eventually be the only survivors of their race, the Kumumgah built a solitary treasure cove in the very deepest heart of Tatooine, as deep as the caves could ever go. So that if they’d ever need to return, they’d be able to buy their way to rebuilding their lost civilization.
In the skeletons of a lost empire, Obi-Wan and Luke dedicated themselves to the ways of the Force.
Teaching the son of his old student Form II and III, Obi-Wan tried to instill the necessary physical, mental, and spiritual training to fully become a Jedi.
The boy was made to do pushups with Obi-Wan sitting cross legged on his back.
Even as strong as he’d gotten and with the Gamer, it was extremely difficult.
Luke grunted, sweating, the Jedi Master sipping a warm drink he’d made with a ceramic bowl he’d brought from the surface of Tatooine in his pack.
“You can do better than that.”
Luke put a hand behind his back, straining with just one arm.
Obi-Wan raised an aged eyebrow. “Use the Force, Luke.” he mentored.
Luke tried to do a pushup using the Force, without any hands. Even without Obi-Wan sitting on his back it would’ve been difficult.
It might’ve worked for a second, but that was pure wishful thinking.
He collapsed under Obi-Wan’s weight, and sighed, on the rooftop of an old Kumumgah building.
They sparred, and Obi-Wan no longer took it easy on him.
Luke would strike, Obi-Wan would parry, trip him, strike him.
He wouldn’t try to attack with enough force to injure him, but he wasn’t pulling his punches.
Obi-Wan twisted into a back kick, Luke barely had enough time to react as he was already stumbling back from blocking a powerful downward slash.
Luke was jumping through the air, using his dash strike use of Force Speed to spin and use his lightsaber combination.
Obi-Wan would just barely side step, grab Luke’s wrist holding his saber, disarm him and bump him back.
Luke had no chance to recover at all, he was staring down the long end of Obi-Wan’s blade pointing straight at his chin.
Obi-Wan couldn’t give Luke any openings anymore, but the boy had started to become skilled enough, that even with Obi-Wan pulling no punches during sparring he could land a few shots here and there.
And he learned far more for it.
Between all the adventuring, exploring, platforming, and gathering of small treasures of ancient gold, silver, and jewels, in the caves and Ancient City, Luke was now at LV 71.
He had gained five levels from the caves leading to the Ancient City, ten from completing the quest for making it there, and another twelve from grinding out and improving his skills while training with Obi-Wan for a week underground.
Luke had already felt quicker, stronger, and more connected to the Force when he begun his training.
But now, Obi-Wan could see that he had more than passed his first degree of training as what would’ve been a Jedi Youngling or Initiate.
Luke Skywalker would’ve been far and away a Jedi Padawan by his rank or skill, and an extremely talented one at that, with just two months of formal experience under Obi-Wan’s tutelage.
…
Watching the small fire Obi-Wan and Luke made in a large and completely empty Kumumgah home for shelter and warmth, Luke began to think.
“I sense you have something you want to tell me.”
“Why did Darth Vader turn to the Dark Side of the Force? You said he was your student right?”
Obi-Wan nodded.
“How could he turn like that? You’re an incredible teacher.”
“Thank you.” he smiled at the boy’s words. “But I’m afraid even the best of teachers can’t change the nature of the Dark Side of the Force.”
“So what happened?”
“Like you, your father was an incredibly skilled warrior.”
Luke swallowed his dinner. “More skilled?”
Obi-Wan stroked his beard, Luke put down the bowl that contained what was left of his food.
“I don’t wish to give a comparison, but given your performance so far, I can’t say you two are far away from each other at all. When your father was first inducted into the Jedi Order, he hadn’t had any experience of any sort besides from Pod racing and building droids.”
Luke was fascinated. “Wow.” he took a closer seat to Obi-Wan.
The Jedi Master went on. “In only his first battle, he flew within an enemy battleship, and by his own, destroyed it.”
“How did he do that?” Luke crossed his arms over his knees.
“Luck.” Obi-Wan smiled seeing Luke laugh. “But the truth was that he was talented, and admittedly. Fearless, skilled, and powerful with the Force.”
“So then, how could he be defeated by someone like Darth Vader?”
Obi-Wan chose his words carefully, knowing his words could help shape the boy forever.
“Vader was equally as powerful with the Force as your father. He saw my teachings not as respectful of his growth and abilities, but as patronizing. He was so obsessed with finding the truth of his destiny, and what he was capable of, that he completely abandoned his humanity.”
Luke listened.
The fireplace crackled for a moment.
“You see Luke, as evil and twisted as the Sith may be, their viewpoint can be seen as logical to some. Vader was convinced that just as we lived in a galaxy where the Force co-exists with us. In harmony with us, it binds us, and penetrates us. The opposite is true to them.”
Luke nodded.
“They believe that the Force exists in our universe, not the other way around. That the Force is ours, not an entity too vast and too powerful to be controlled or weaponized.”
Luke was curious. “But in a way, aren’t they right then?”
“What do you mean?”
“Just the other day, the Sand Bats would’ve eaten us if I hadn’t used the Force. You said it yourself, isn’t this cave powerful with the Dark Side?”
Obi-Wan asked Luke. “But how did you feel after you saved us both? Or, at least, prolonged our fate?”
“I don’t know. Grateful? You were safe, that was all I cared about.”
“That’s the difference Luke,” explained Obi-Wan. “Your intention, was to protect. That is the way of the Jedi, not to harm. Not to enjoy chaos and suffering, but to protect life. You needed the Force in that moment, and it responded to you.”
Obi-Wan shrugged. “Sure, a Dark Sider may use the Force in the very same way. But their outlook is completely different.”
Luke looked inquisitive.
“They wouldn’t be grateful I was alive. They’d relish in the suffering of the poor bats they’d struck down. They would not see their growth as evident of their hard work and part of their oath to protect. They’d see it as another ladder in their step to ultimate power. No matter the cost.”
Luke nodded.
“Does that make sense?”
Obi-Wan stood up as Luke responded. “Yes, I, I do, that definitely makes sense.”
As Obi-Wan turned around and began to prepare to put the fire out, Luke asked. “Then, who was my mother?”
“What do you mean?”
“Who was she? If my father was this incredible warrior, an amazing star pilot. My mother must’ve been some woman.”
Obi-Wan smiled. “Indeed she was.” Obi-Wan extinguished the fire with one strong side ways Force Push.
“And how did she die?”
“Darth Vader killed her as well. Seeing your father die at his hands, well. He murdered her when she confronted Vader for what he’d done.”
That brought up more questions for Luke, and Obi-Wan knew that the boy could ask endlessly about his parents.
“That’s enough for tonight.” Obi-Wan asked respectfully, lightly raising his hands. “I suggest you rest up for tomorrow. We have plenty more training, and there’s the last area of the city to explore.”
“Alright then.”
Obi-Wan permitted one more question, sensing through the Force something seriously nagged at Luke that it wouldn’t let him sleep for a moment.
“Fine, what do you need Luke?”
“That mural, the carving the people who lived here made.” Luke’s head turned towards Obi-Wan on his sleeping pad. “Of the cave holding all their treasure. That’d be more than enough to pay off my family’s farm wouldn’t it?”
Obi-Wan scoffed. “It’d be safe to say it contains enough money to buy it multiple times over. Who knows what sort of wealth the Kumumgah had saved to rebuild the entire planet.”
“Why shouldn’t we head towards the deepest parts of the cave? The other end of this city has to have the openings carved right towards what I’m sure is that treasure room.”
Obi-Wan leaned up in his sleeping pad, pulling his bed sheets up, shaking his head. “There’s no need.”
“Why not?”
“What you’ve found here in the city would be more than enough for now. Your aunt and uncle would be more than proud of the money you’ve uncovered.”
“But-”
Obi-Wan chuckled. “Luke. I’m proud of you.” he pointed towards himself. “You’ve done far, far more than anyone in your position should’ve been able to given the minimal amount of training you’ve received. This is only the first real mission we’ve done together.”
“Is this more about the Dark Side?”
“Yes, and likewise, it’s also about restraint. There’s no need to venture deeper, at least not for now. This beast that destroyed what was left of this ancient peoples, it guards the greatest treasure ever known to Tatooine. Luke, to this side of the galaxy. Your aunt and uncle would be so grateful for what you’ve done so far.”
Sighing, Luke explained. “But don’t you see? It’s about more than just me. Fixer, Camie, everyone I grew up with. Everyone on this planet, in one way or another, most of them, live under Jabba’s rule. This could change that.”
“I will be packing up our things tomorrow after we’re done with our studies. Please Luke, I don’t want to hear anymore of this.”
Luke turned, not saying anything else and thinking.
Obi-Wan was completely blocked off to the boy’s thoughts, starting to go off to sleep.
Luke thought about the treasure, about what it meant.
Not just because of the challenge the Gamer implied, but what it meant. That he fulfilled his task in his first go, that he was capable.
He didn’t just want to prove that to Obi-Wan, or to his aunt and uncle, his friends, or anyone else. But to himself.
Luke had lived in the Ancient City for only a week. There was nothing left of the Kumumgah, nothing but their name, and some old cave carvings and a very large and empty city.
Luke closed his eyes, remembering pressing his hand to the mural of the cave carving for the first time.
Through Touch Sense, he could feel the Kumumgah’s pain.
He truly pitied their plight, their destruction at the hands of their oppressors, and failing to save the rest of their people on the surface. In a way, their treasure would still fulfill their purpose, to return Tatooine’s freedom, just to free it from the Hutts.
Instead of whatever this Infinite Empire used to be.
…
As Luke slept he dreamt of something, not the future, nor the present, but something the Force showed him.
The past.
A younger version of Obi-Wan was battling during the Clone Wars.
Luke could hear his steed, a large reptile, wail. Obi-Wan battled a great general, led a proud battalion of veteran troops, and began a great victory.
Suddenly, a large blaster cannon erupted, dismounting Obi-Wan, and he began to fall towards what should’ve certainly been his doom.
Luke awoke with a gasp.
He rubbed his eyes, sleep was so much easier without the Force.
“Ben?”
Luke looked around their campsite.
“Ben!?”
The boy yawned, walking to the door of the ruined Kumumgah home.
“Ben!? Er, Obi-Wan!?”
Luke called out, looking around.
It was clearly early morning, the tiny ray of sun that fell from the roof of the ancient cave had just begun to glimmer.
Luke could see a Sand Bat fly to its family on the other side of the cavern.
He turned, starting to look around for Obi-Wan.
“Obi-Wan? Obi-Waaan?”
Luke shrugged, turning back to see the campsite was fully packed up.
Sighing, he began to turn towards the edge of the Ancient City.
…
“Wait!”
Luke turned, smiling.
Obi-Wan set down the packs of assorted trinkets and valuables they’d found. “I decided to help you.”
“Were you ever really going to leave me?”
“Of course not. I only have one student, don’t think I’m meant to fail you.”
“No, I don’t think you ever will.”
The two smiled, and Luke and Obi-Wan walked off together to the Ancient City’s border with the caves towards the treasure room.
Suddenly, they realized just what they were looking at.
A krayt dragon, or rather, the krayt dragon had taken up an entire smaller section of the city for its nest.
It crawled out of a hole seeing Luke and Obi-Wan approach, and the two watched a beast an entire half a mile long emerge.
The Krayt Dragon had completely grey scales, with patches of lined black up the back of its entire body. It also had three sets of arms, three on its upper body, two in the middle, and three on the bottom, totaling sixteen legs. Up its long snout, at the very end, resided a pair of black eyes so large, that a single eyeball was probably the size of Luke’s chest.
It opened its jaws, and instead of spitting venom, the Krayt Dragon bellowed a single roar, a challenge, a decisive question:
It had gone millennia since encountering its last meal in the city. Who was left to eat?
Luke and Obi-Wan didn’t even look at each other and nod.
They threw away their packs, got into their fighting stances, and summoned their blades to their hands using the Force, igniting their sabers as the Krayt dragon continued to scream.
The resulting roar was so powerful that several Sand Bats nearby began to flee through the tiny crevice allowing a peek of sunlight to slip through.
Luke and Obi-Wan began to battle the legendary beast, all the while Luke ignoring the notification the Gamer gave him.
[Elder Krayt Dragon LV 223 - The devourer of the last of the Kumumgah, able to eat Sarlaccs, and possibly smaller Krayts wandering through the sands of Tatooine. Legendary creature.]