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It was nearing the end of the autumn season on Pabu. Soon it would be getting cold and snowy, but for now the weather was cool and pleasant. During this season, there was a special solstice holiday celebration that was said to occur when the spiritual veil was thinnest. It was mostly a kids' holiday, and most of the activities were family friendly, but there were also some adults who enjoyed scaring each other during the holiday. The thing most children on Pabu looked forward to was Trick-or-Treating, when each child went around to the various homes on the island and received sweets while in costume. Omega and Batcher had been gone since sundown - Omega dressed a pirate, and Batcher as a ghost hound. Just as Hunter began getting anxious and was about to go track those two trouble magnets down, they bounded back into the yard where the rest of the team + Phee were roasting foods and conversing around a bonfire.
Omega sat next to Wrecker and began doling out sweets among the team, being the big-hearted kid that she was. Batcher laid down in the warmth of the fire and promptly dozed off.
"Did you get a good haul?", Phee inquired.
"Yeah, we got tons of good stuff, and some people even had treats for Batcher!" Omega replied. "I wish we could do this every day!"
"You know, getting sweet stuff isn't the only thing that happens on the solstice..." Phee said mysteriously, "They say that all sorts of spooky things can happen due to the thinning of the veil between this world and the next - ooooOOOOOOoooo." Phee said this last part with a ghostly wailing flourish.
"There is no scientific evidence to support other worlds," Tech chimed in, right on cue. "In fact, it's likely a tactic used more for entertainment purposes."
"Well, next world or not, there's no better way to close out the autumn season on Pabu than with scary stories around the fire!" Phee declared. "And I've got just the story to kick us off...""Nothing too scary!" interjected Hunter, with a subtle nod towards Omega, who was drinking in every word Phee said.
"Not to worry, this one is kid friendly. And it's a true one too, happened to me many years ago," Phee started.
"This is about how I liberated my first ancient wonder. I'd heard through the spacevine about a group of pirates who had gone missing right after bragging about discovering an ancient lost Sith hoard. Of course, most people didn't really believe them and thought they were just trying to fake their own deaths to get the bounty hunters off their trail. But then I heard that multiple bounty hunters who had followed the same trail to collect the pirates had also disappeared. Well that got me interested. And there wasn't any competition to get there, as most people felt it wasn't worth losing their lives or whatever was happening."
"So I land on this backwater planet that looks completely dead. No plant life, no animals, no settlements, just foggy, barren, rocky ground as far as the eye can see. I had landed near a collection of ships that I had assumed belonged to the missing people, and followed a trail onward. I was pretty suspicious that there was such an obvious trail to follow, so I kept on my guard. I couldn't see too far in front of me due to the fog, and I kept thinking I was hearing whispering, but just barely and I couldn't make out any distinct words. I know it wasn't the wind, because the air was unnaturally still."
"Suddenly a cave loomed out of the fog, the stalactites and stalagmites making it look like a huge mouth ready to gobble me up. I thought the whispering was getting louder and I felt like I was being watched, but I continued on. There were many paths through the caves, so I made sure to mark my turns with chalk in order to find my way out again. But eventually the paths looped on each other and I found myself returning to my marks over and over."
"Just as I was about to turn back and try to find my way out of the convoluted path, I saw a light flickering up ahead. So I took a chance and followed it. It turned out the light was coming from a room piled to the ceiling with treasure. Gold, silver, jewels; you name it. But the thing that drew my eye most was small statue on a pedestal in the dead center of the room. It had jewels for eyes, the light catching them and making it seem alive. I decided that would be my main target, and I could fill my bag with as much additional treasure as I could fit on my way out. As I stepped up to the pedestal and reached out my hand, the whispering suddenly became deafening, although I still couldn't make out any words. My hand closed around the idol, and the lights went out. I placed the idol in my back while I grabbed my own glow light and shone it around. All the other treasure was gone. Not even one speck was left. I decided I needed to get out of there immediately."
"I was about to turn back to the door when I noticed glowing red eyes at the back of the room. They were getting closer and I was able to see that the creature or person or Sith or whatever it was looked like the statue I had grabbed. I fired my blaster at it, but the shot went straight through and hit the wall behind it. I didn't wait to find out what exactly it was, I just started running. I couldn't find any of my chalk marks anymore, so I took turns at random. Each time I looked back the glowing eyes were still behind me, but a touch closer. I felt like I had been running for hours, and the eyes were nearly on me. I was hopelessly lost, my blaster had no effect, and the only thing I had was the statue. I did the only thing I could think of, which was to throw the idol at the creature following me. There was a roar and a huge flash of light, then suddenly I was back outside on the path. I couldn't see any sign of the cave I had just come from. I started running back towards where I had left my ship, ready to get off the cursed planet. I came upon my ship much sooner than I should have, but I didn't question it, I just took off and never looked back."
Omega's eyes were as big a saucers, and she glanced behind her to check there were no glowing eyes looming out of the darkness. But she sounded excited when she responded to the story. "That sounds soooo scary. Did you ever figure out what it was?"
"Nope, never," Phee replied. "Now, who else has a story? How about you, Brown Eyes?"
Tech's brow creased as he tried to dig up a story to share. "Well, I've never experienced what I would call a supernatural entity such as that, there was that time I was temporarily stranded behind enemy lines and experienced something strange. We had been trying to infiltrate a research facility in order to check out a new type of weapon the Separatists had been working on. It was supposed to be transmitted digitally, so we were assuming that it was targeting networked devices. However, when I escaped containment on the prison block level, I discovered that there were many more sentient beings held there than would be expected for this type of research. I found my way to the research level and found evidence that supported my suspicion of testing on sentients. There were restraint tables, medical monitoring devices, and similar such paraphernalia."
"I kept looking, and was able to locate the central data storage. While I was copying the data over to a data spike, I viewed some of the files to get more information about what hazards I might encounter during my final escape. What I saw was both disturbing and fascinating. The victims of the experimentation appeared to be shown a data file and told to memorize the information. As they read the document, they began to show symptoms of illness, starting with elevated heart rate, sweating, and other signs of distress. Eventually in each video file I saw, the victim progressed to convulsions, foaming at the mouth, bleeding from the facial orifices, and eventually death. I was intensely curious to see what the victims were reading, but I didn't think it was worth the risk. I had to change my plan to purge all data from the facility rather than deliver it back to the Republic. The risk was too great and the ability to spread too high. I ended up sabotaging the main computer and the entire facility to be sure. I sometimes still am haunted by what I saw, and what could have been if the anyone had actually implemented such a weapon."
Omega looked a bit pale. "But if you don't know what the document contained, how can you ever know if you were seeing it? Could there be other things out there like that? By the time you read it, it would already be too late."
Tech replied, "I did what I could to destroy it, and hopefully that was all there was. But I suppose that is a risk."
Omega looked like she never wanted to see written words ever again. Hunter decided it was time to intervene. "That seems like enough for one night...," Hunter declared. But Omega quickly replied, "No way! I want to hear more. I'm not scared! You should tell us one next, Hunter."
Hunter considered. He didn't want Omega to get too scared, but he still wanted her to get to experience the holiday. He thought back, looking for something from his past that was thrilling, but not actually frightening.
"Okay, okay, I've got something I think you'll like. This happened early on before I was even fully grown. I was on a solo mission to test my enhanced senses, see how well they could be applied to field operations. I was supposed to be navigating rough terrain while not being detected. In order to have a relatively controlled test environment, the Kaminoans allowed the trainers to use some of their specimens kept on another planet. It was like a zoo, except it was not for public use and it was full of only the most exotic and rare creatures that the Kaminoans could use as backup for future cloning and for conservation projects. And, as I came to find out, part of their weaponized genetic experimentation."
"We arrived on planet, and the trainers gave me directions of which habitats I was supposed to cross. There were flags in each that I needed to retrieve in order to successfully complete the mission. It sounded easy enough, so I started on my way. As I moved from one environment to the next, I started to get the feeling something was off. I was noticing things that weren't too abnormal individually, but all together started to become worrisome. For instance, in one habitat, I noticed that the zookeeper's door was open, but I couldn't see the keeper. It seemed like poor security - the creatures in this habitat weren't dangerous, but they could get lost or injured if they escaped. But that wasn't my mission, so I moved on."
"As I went further along, I noticed more concerning things like giant scratch marks in duracrete walls, drag marks, and puddles of what could have been blood. I also noticed fewer of the creatures that were supposed to be living in these habitats. Eventually, I began to notice small signs that I was being tracked, and by multiple pursuers. I'd hear a stone being kicked, a twig breaking, a rustle in the foliage. But I didn't see anything to indicate who could be following me. I wasn't sure if it was part of the test, but I decided my best option would be to trap whoever it was and prevent them from capturing me or interfering with my mission. I was going to make it look like I finally was investigating the strange activity by going through an open door that should have been properly secured. As I entered, I called out for a zookeeper and acted like I wanted to notify them of the security lapse. I noted the light change as my pursuers followed my through the door. The were mostly silent, but made a strange clicking sound as they walked. I continued down the hallway and came to a large storage area that had a locking door. I went in and pretended to be wandering through the isles of shelves, though I was really creating an escape route in my head."
"Once I was sure the beings following me were all inside the storage room, I took off running along my planned route. I could hear them behind me, or so I thought, when suddenly something stepped out into the path in front of me. I thought it was a Trandoshan, but it didn't stand up straight, it's head was more elongated, and it had a long tail. It had one really long claw on each foot, which must have been making the sound I had been hearing. I was at a four way intersection among the shelves, and the two other of the same kind of creatures were blocking me in. There was only one way to go, and it led back where I would be cornered. I knew I was going to have to do something crazy to get out of it. The creature in front of me was staring me down. I feinted like I was going down the only open path, and lucky for me the creatures bought it. As they all tried to converge on that path, I switched and slid underneath the one blocking the way forward. They weren't able to maneuver so well in such a tight space, which gave me time to get tot he exit and slam and lock it behind me. I was walking away when I heard the door handle turning. I looked back and could see one of the creatures looking at me through the glass window in the door. Good thing I had locked it."
"After I finished up my mission successfully and returned to the trainers, I asked them about those creatures I had encountered. They were alarmed and went to notify the preserve staff. Turns out there had been a massive security failure, and those creatures had escaped and wreaked absolute havoc. I even got a special commendation from the trainers for my 'heroic efforts'!"
Omega looked halfway terrified and halfway excited. "I heard about that! It was big trouble. Apparently one of the contractors felt they hadn't been getting a good enough salary and was trying to make it up by stealing genetic material of long extinct animals. I overhead Nala Se talking about it back on Kamino a long time ago. I heard later on that those creatures eventually escaped captivity entirely and were never found...maybe they even managed to get off planet." She looked around like she expected to see one of the creatures poke its head out from around the corner of a building.
Wrecker jumped in, "Hey I went to the same place for one of my training missions! I didn't get hunted by critters or anything though. I did almost get eaten by a plant. I was supposed to be doing a controlled demolition in an area filled with these strange red plants. The explosion was supposed to create a sinkhole that everything in the area would fall into. I kept hearing rustling when I was setting my charges, but I figured it was the wind or some small animals running around. Right up until one of the plants bit me! Good thing I had armor on or it would have taken my leg right off! Now that I think about it, maybe they were trying to get rid of those plants..."
Omega peered at the closest plant like she expected it to lunge at her.
Oblivious to Omega's increasing level of terror, Wrecker slapped Echo on the back saying, "You're up next!"
Echo chuckled. "The last time I was part of a scary story-a-thon, my brother Fives told some ridiculously exaggerated story. But this is a true story that actually happened to us, so I'll do my best to tell it like he would have."
"This happened when we were part of the 501st with Rex. Fives and I had been sent out to patrol on speeders. Our route took us around a few small villages that we had just pushed a unit of Separatist battle droids out of and were trying to keep them out. When we were at the furthest point from base on our route, we saw something on the path ahead. We slowed down as we approached and saw that it was a young Twi-lek. We were pretty far out from the closest village, so we stopped to ask if she needed a lift or if she was lost. She told us she was from the village that was next on our route, so we offered to let her ride with us. Figured it was safer. She climbed onto the back of Fives' speeder. He remarked that she must be feeling frozen, but she didn't say anything else. We kept on our patrol router and didn't come upon anything else strange until we came to her village. As we pulled up to the outskirts, I turned towards Fives' speeder to ask the girl where exactly she needed to be dropped off. But she was gone! I called to Fives asking when she got off or if she could have fallen off. Fives laughed at me saying she was still there, he could feel her hands on his sides and her weight on the speeder. I told him I was serious, so we both stopped. He turned to look back and realized she was gone. He jumped off that speeder so fast and jumped on mine instead. We didn't wait around to find out what was going on, we just abandoned the now haunted speeder and returned to base."
"Of course when we got back they wanted to know what had happened to the speeder. We fibbed and said we had left it at the village for the villagers to use in their rebuilding process. The guys in charge of the motor pool bought it, and we never spoke of it again."
Omega ran her hands over her sides like she was checking there was nothing holding on to her. She scooted closer to Batcher.
Hunter again tried to call it a night, but Omega insisted. "Only Crosshair is left, he has to tell a story too!"
Crosshair grumbled to himself, then smirked deviously. "Oh, I've got a good one. Once on a mission to free a planet from Separatist oppression, we came upon a village whose inhabitants believed that a coven of witches living in the nearby mountains were harboring Separatist forces. Since we were there to eliminate the Seppies, we scouted the mountains for these so-called witches."
"We found no Separatists and no witches, just a group of people trying to live off the land. Unfortunately, we discovered too late that the villagers lied to us in order to follow us to the mountain people, who they blamed for their failing crops. We tried to explain that the failing crops was likely due to pollution caused by the droid factories, but it was too late. They wouldn't listen to reason and turned their weapons on the mountain villagers."
"We left quickly, but once we got to the Marauder, we found the matriarch of the mountain village in the gunner's nest. She used her dying breath to curse the ones who murdered her clan, and to curse us for leading them to her village. She said the one day she would return to this world from the land of the dead and possess whoever was in the gunner's nest when she crossed over. We buried her and hoped that it would appease her spirit, but I guess we won't ever know for sure...Good thing that's not my room. Who's room is it again? Oh right, it's your room Omega. Well sleep tight and don't let the spirit of a dead possibly witch possess you," Crosshair finished with a malicious grin.
Omega looked like she was never going to sleep again. "How will we know when she's coming?" Omega asked.
"That's the best part, we won't!"Crosshair replied. Hunter smacked his arm.
Echo jumped in to smooth things over. "Don't worry Omega, I'm sure that's not a true story." The rest of the team looked uncomfortable, causing Omega to be even more frightened. Wrecker chimed in, "Well actually it is a true story. But witches probably can't come back from the dead. I think."
Hunter groaned, seeing many sleepless nights in his and the team's future. Next year no stories he decided.