you'll notice that Vandar doesn't 'yoda speak'.My bad. All the other fics I read depict characters from Yoda's race speaking like Yoda does. I forgot Vandar does not.
Some of them spoke of both Ahlan Matale and Rurik Sanderal putting out the call for soldiers to fight. The open fighting that the Council foresaw was only days away.Did you purposely change the game's name for the Nurik Sandral character on Dantooine to Rurik Sanderal?
I corrected her, which I have not bothered to do very often since the war’s end. “We call ourselves merely the Mando, as our leader has always been the Mandalore of Mandalore. Only those who have not spent the time to learn of us call us Mandalorian.I don't understand your decision to refer to Canderous and others of his kind as Mando instead of Mandalorians. I believe you posted elsewhere that there was some author who used the term Mando in her SW novel instead of Mandalorians and you were going with her terminology. I don't know what the SW time period the author's book was set in but if it's not in the same time period as KotOR or earlier then IMHO you should go with the term both KotOR games and the TSL Chronicles use.

I like how you have expanded on the Mandalorian history and culture, relating how the Mandalorians teach and gain honor from battle. It seems apparent to me you have taken quite a fancy to the Mandalorians based of this and your Star Wars: Beginnings story. And how the Mandalorians dealt with atrocities versus how the Republic did really made me step back and reconsider which side had more honor.

Did you purposely change the game's name for the Nurik Sandral character on Dantooine to Rurik Sanderal?[/QUOTE=cutmeister]

My bad. I mispelled his name and didn't correct it. This is why I want critical commentary!

[QUOTE=cutmeister]I don't understand your decision to refer to Canderous and others of his kind as Mando instead of Mandalorians. I believe you posted elsewhere that there was some author who used the term Mando in her SW novel instead of Mandalorians and you were going with her terminology. I don't know what the SW time period the author's book was set in but if it's not in the same time period as KotOR or earlier then IMHO you should go with the term both KotOR games and the TSL Chronicles use. [/QUOTE=cutmeister]

Kid, we are writing in a universe that is expanding as every writer adds their commentary by being published. The canon (The truth and nothing but according to the SW universe) is being added to even as we speak. When Ms Traviss' work was published, it officially became part of the canon. When they put out updates of the new essential chronology and the SW Universe, those will be added. Trust me on this.

Besides The Japanese don't call themselves Japs or Nips. They call themselves Nipponese.


[QUOTE=cutmeister]I like how you have expanded on the Mandalorian history and culture, relating how the Mandalorians teach and gain honor from battle. It seems apparent to me you have taken quite a fancy to the Mandalorians based of this and your Star Wars: Beginnings story. And how the Mandalorians dealt with atrocities versus how the Republic did really made me step back and reconsider which side had more honor.

I have taken a shine to them because there is so little written about them So far except for the books about the Republic Commandos (Who were trained by the Mando) and the fact that Fett is a Mando, there is little said about them.

As for atrocities, I have been working off and on for the last year and a half on a book of War Crimes (To explain to the average idjit what is and is not one) and one thing I discovered is that of the 'hundreds' of atrocities committed by the Germans during WWI, only 18 actually occurred. The disparity between the atrocities they had been accused of and what they actually committed is even worse during the 2nd world war. Over one thousand according to allied newspapers, yet discounting the Concentration camps, there were less than 15.

It is the difference between fact and propoganda.

My comment about the Republic Lord is carried through as well. Illegal orders were given in both wars by the First Lord of the Admiralty. In both cases, the same man. That man later became Prime Minister.

You might have heard of him. His name was Winston Churchill.

Sanderal

Danika

We returned to the Sanderal home. It was a large building with a landing pad on its flat roof. A freighter was parked there, and men were unloading supplies from it. A war droid patrolled before the door. I approached it, and it stopped, weapon training on me.

The droid hummed to itself. “Due to the ruling of 1100 hundred hours this morning, both the Sanderal and the Matale are banned from hiring human warriors. While your interest is appreciated, there is no further business to discuss.”

“I am Danika Wordweaver of the Jedi Enclave. I must speak with Nurik Sanderal.”

It buzzed. “Since the Jedi Council made that ruling, your presence is not welcome.”

“I have knowledge of Casus Sanderal he must hear.”

The droid stood silent. “Mr. Sanderal will see you in the entry hall. You are hereby warned that any attempt to pass farther into the house will be deemed an attack, and under Dantooine law, can be dealt with as such.”

The entry hall was cool, the hill that had once stood here alone formed the insulation for the walls. A young girl was there, and greeted us.
“I am Rahasia Sanderal. Casus is my brother. You have news-“

“Rahasia, leave us.“ Nurik Sanderal was a tall angry dark skinned man. He stopped a few meters from us, flanked by war droids. “Well? You claimed to have news of my son?”

I took the backpack that Carth had been carrying. I lifted out the datapad, and handed it to him. “Casus was coming back from the ruins in the east portion of your lands. He was attacked by Kath-hounds and killed.”

His eyes tightened, and he delicately took the datapad. He scanned the last entries, then snorted. “Records can be faked. Go back to your puppet masters and tell them that I know the Matale murdered my son. Once I have enough droids delivered I am going to remove that damnable family from this planet. Good day.”

“Sir-“

“Damn you woman, there is nothing left to discuss. This will be settled in blood. Good day.”

“Well that could have gone better.” Carth commented.

We turned to go, but a figure came from the shadows, Rahasia Sanderal. She looked at the war droid that still waited. “Nurik 4-11-7.” She ordered. “You will not record anything for the next ten minutes. You will delete the order that was given to you by me, and return to your station.” She looked at us. Then came forward, pressing a key into my hand. “You must save him. Hurry.”

“Shen Matale.” I said. She nodded.

“My father is a good man, but the anger he holds for the Matale, the death of my mother, Casus disappearing, all of it has driven him to the brink of madness. He has taken Shen and holds him in the back of the house. He is still undecided if he should kill Shen or sell him to slavers. That key will open the storage bayside door. Get him free before my father carries out his plan!” She hurried away.

“No good deed goes unpunished.” Canderous said. “We’re going to save this boy?”

I considered a life spent in hellish slavery because of grief. Shen being punished for something not his crime. “That, Canderous, was a foolish question.”

We left, and walked around the estate until we reached the storage bay. I opened the personnel door, and we entered. The setting sun lighted the interior halls, and we could see easily. I opened a door, and it led to a computer room. “Carth, you are better at this than I am.”

He came forward, and began slicing into the system. “All right. Shen is in this room. Down the hall, around the corner to the left. Second door.” He logged out, and we raced on.

The door had a mine before it, and Canderous immediately deactivated it. “A directional charge. If we had triggered it, the blast would have gutted that room.”

I opened it. Shen Matale was tall, thin, and in his late teens. He stood when we came in, ready for a confrontation but stopped, confused. “You don’t work for the Sanderals. Who are you?”

“I am Danika Wordweaver of the Jedi order. This is Canderous Ordo of clan Ordo, and Carth Onasi of the Republic navy. We have come to rescue you.”

“What about Rahasia?”

“What?”

“Mr. Sanderal is insane. If I escape, he will assume that Rahasia helped in my rescue, and his fury will vent on her. She might die. I cannot have that on my conscience. Get her out of here first or I will stay and die to protect her!”

I shook my head. “No good deed goes unpunished.” I repeated. “Where is Rahasia’s room?”

“I’m a prisoner, how would I know?” He asked sarcastically.

We had to run back to the first room. Carth again sliced into the computer. “You know if we were recording this, it would make a great situation comedy.” He said as he worked. “Brave rescuers now trying to rescue someone else because the one they came for forgot to pay for their meal or something.” I snorted with laughter. I could picture the show, and if I weren’t one of the actors, would have been laughing so hard my sides would hurt. “All right, got it. But there are war droids in the area. Wait a- Oh you’re just so smart aren’t you?” He flicked a few switches. “All right, the droids between us and there are down.”

He led us through the halls. The droids stood as if they were statues. We came to the door, and opened it. Rahasia looked up confused. “What are you doing here? Don’t tell me you got lost!”

“No.” I fought the laughter that threatened to bubble up. What next? A pet that had to be saved as well? “Shen won’t leave unless you leave too.”

She shook her head with a sad smile. “He would. Shen was always the kind that took in strays.” She stood, flinging clothes into a bag. “I will go out the front. Get him out of here.”

I nodded, and we went back to the cell. Shen agreed to leave, finally.

I thought for a moment that we had done it all for nothing. As we rounded the house, Shen and Rahasia were both busy making sure the other was all right and looking longingly into each other‘s eyes. A farm scow breasted the hill, and a dozen war droids poured out of it, followed by Ahlan Matale.

An alarm sounded, and an equal number of war droids poured out of the house behind us, followed by Nurik Sanderal.

“Shen!” Ahlan shouted.

“Father!”

“Mr. Matale!” Rahasia cried.

“Rahasia!” Nurik shouted.

“Father!”

“Mr. Sanderal!”

“Nurik!”

“Ahlan!”

“So, you did have my son!”

“After you murdered mine!”

“I think you should all calm down.” I said.

“Father-”

“Shut up!” Nurik shouted.

“It isn’t what you think-”

“Shut up!” Ahlan shouted.

“Everyone shut up!” I roared.

“Who do you think you are?” Ahlan growled.

“If I wanted your help, I would have done without!” Nurik said at almost the same time.

“Enough is enough father.” Rahasia said. “Nurik 4-11-7! You will go in the house, disarm, and start a diagnostic cycle! Until this is done you will accept no other orders!”

“Ahlan 17-41-32!” Shen shouted. “You will return to the vehicle, and stay there until you return to our home! Until this is done you will accept no other orders!”

The men stood and stared as the droids turned, and followed the orders. Both screamed counter orders but droids are not made to be self-aware. The commands had been given by authorized voices. And the orders explicit.

It hadn’t sunk to drama, it was still a farce.

“I am sick of this father!” Shen said. “Everything is the ‘evil Sanderal’ this and the ‘evil Sanderal’ that! What about living father? What about a life beyond this hatred?”

“I am happy my mother is dead, father!” Rahasia was crying. “Better that than she see what your hatred has done!”

“I knew you were sniffing around this Sanderal slut-”

“Don’t call my daughter a slut!”

“Yes, I agree. I love Rahasia and only your petty bickering has kept us apart.” Shen looked to Rahasia. “Come with me.”

“Yes. The Jedi will protect us!”

“You are going nowhere-”

“You will do nothing to stop them.” I snapped. “Can’t you see what is happening here?” I looked from one to the other. “You will lose your children to this, either by locking them up behind walls or they fly from you. Remember when your child was born? The feel of their breath on your neck, the smell of their flesh? The way they looked at you as if you were the center of their universe?” I waved at the youngsters. “Look at them now! Think of the children they will have that you will never see because they cannot visit one without inciting the other to fury.” I walked toward Ahlan. “How would it be Ahlan Matale, to know you have a grandchild, but know that your own petty idiocy will assure that you never see him?”

I rounded on Nurik. “Or you, Nurik Sanderal. To know your daughter will bear a daughter, but she will not give it her dead mother’s name because that will cause Ahlan to be angry?”

I threw my hands up. “Why don’t you both just kill each other? Give them a clean slate in their future lives, and at the same time give them the guilt of your deaths? I know that some peace will come of it.

“ But know this, Ahlan Matale, Nurik Sanderal. Their lives will be better if they walked away and never touched this land ever again. Hatred is a crop you both nurture and cherish because of something that happened before they were born. Until you are willing to see that, and begin to change, nothing else you do will be worth the effort. Enjoy your lands, your crops, and your herds. And know that all it cost was your children.”

I turned to the couple. “I will call a lifter for you both. As much as they like to inflict pain on themselves, you need not inflict it on yourselves by walking to the Enclave.”

Rahasia nodded. I called the Council, reported Shen as found and alive, and glared at both of the men until the lifter arrived.

“Rahasia-”

“The Jedi is half your age, but she is wiser than you are father. When both of you can ask us at the same time together, we can talk.”
“Shen-”

“Until you can love the woman who will be my wife, and at least talk civilly with her father, I am not your son.”

Both stood stricken as the lifter shot up and toward the North. I looked at them, and took some pity on them. “Children grow, and change. They have to make their own lives away from the parents. Some times it is clean and happy. Others it is pain on all sides. Talk to each other before you do anything you will regret. Not for me, but for them, and for you.” I looked at the vanishing lifter. “What child would be gladdened to know that they have grandparents, but can never see them?”

I walked away from them, two little men in pools of their own misery.

“That wasn’t really the Jedi way back there.” Carth said.

“What do you mean?”

“Telling them to shut up? Lecturing two of the richest men on the planet as if they were children arguing over a toy?”

“Every now and then, you find those that won’t listen to soft words and advice. People you have to slap so hard that they feel the blow a month later. This seemed like that kind of time.”

“Next time just save the time and trouble and slap them.” Canderous growled. “It’s more fun too.”

We headed east. The grove was at the bottom of the next pass, and we made good time. “Trouble.” Canderous said.

I looked up, off in the distance, swoop bike were circling us. I counted seven. “Mando?”

“Three Mando, one of them is in Red armor. The rest are Duros.” I nodded. Blue or blue green were simple troopers. A red suit was a command officer.

“There.” Canderous pointed at a bare hill to one side. “We have full 360-degree coverage, and they can’t approach unnoticed.”

“I don’t think they intend to sneak up on us, Canderous.”

We trudged up the hill, and waited. Sure enough, the swoop bikes dropped in a spiral, and landed so that we were surrounded. They dismounted, and climbed toward us, weapons at the ready.

Canderous stood, towering over us. He had set down the blaster cannon, and spread his arms wide like a cave bear. “I am Canderous Ordo, of Clan Ordo!” Canderous roared. “The dead in my wake number in the thousands, and my songs will be sung when your pallid clan is dust!” He bellowed a wordless battle cry full of anger and hunger. “What other clan has been so dishonored by your actions upon this world, insects? Clan Troska mourned their honor! Clan Sokor mourns their honor! Clan Kootir mourns their honor!” Canderous said. “Speak Cuy‘val dar!”

The leader had stopped when Canderous issued his challenge. “Clan Ordo has lost its honor as well. We of the new Mando make our own honor. I am Sherruk Zion of Clan Ordo!”

If anything, this infuriated Canderous even more. “Face me then Sherruk of no clan! Face me whelp!” He charged down the hill at them barehanded.

It was like two bull Bantha in a mating fight. Sherruk threw aside his weapon, and they met in a head on charge that would have thrown lesser men ten meters or more. They grappled, and Canderous looked like a maniac as he butted the smaller man off his feet. Sherruk rolled away, coming up then back in.

I looked at Carth. “At least this time I’m not the one charging in.” Then I drew my lightsaber.

The Mando to Sherruk’s left laughed. “Bring it on, woman!” I’ll add that toy to my collection!”

Carth’s blaster roared. The last Mando went over with his skull blown open. Then Carth spun, and began laying fire down on the Duros.

I engaged the unnamed Mando as he drew his sword. I felt the feedback from the lightsaber trying to cut Cortosis. I leaped backward, and blocked his swing. I saw an opening, and leaped coming down like an avenging hawk. He went down in a welter of blood. I looked to the top of the hill, where Carth stood just watching. I spun.

Canderous struck Sherruk so hard that his helmet flew to the side, shattered. Sherruk was in his thirties, a man with a feral look. He leaped in again and Canderous snatched him up, 250 kilos of man and armor held above his head as if it were a pillow. Then he slammed the man down so hard that he rebounded almost a meter. Sherruk screamed, clawing at his back. His legs didn’t move, and his arms were getting weaker.

“Sad is the clan today, little nephew.” Canderous said softly.

“Canderous, help, please...”

“As you gave help to Ilse, whom you raped then murdered before her father?” He asked gently. “As you helped those you enslaved? In your death will come redemption.” Canderous ripped the datapad from his neck. Then he dropped it, holding out his hand to me. I handed him my lightsaber, and he ignited it and lowered the blade to the Soochir.

Sherruk gasped, eyes wide with terror.

“For the clan, nephew.” He pushed down, and the metal and plastic melted into a puddle. “Go and maybe in the last day you will be worthy to return.” He shut off the lightsaber, set it down, then reached out, snapping Sherruk’s neck. He handed the weapon back to me, looking at Carth.

“His dishonor is now mine. I shall expiate it before I die. That is how we deal with his kind.”

The Mando I had killed indeed did have a collection of lightsabers. Five of them. I gathered them up, and put them in my pack. I set these bikes as well to return to the enclave. It was full dark, and while I wanted to continue, Canderous was in a deep depression. We lit a fire on the hill, and sat around it. Carth had found a couple of bottles of wine that he had held out, and he opened them. “Canderous, tell me of your battles.”

“Why?” The answer was softer than you might imagine from such a huge man. “So we can fight again?”

“No. Because I think the custom is that you must ask another before you can tell yours.” He held out the bottle. “ ‘And in circle they sat, and drank the wine they had taken from their enemies, and in their stories they drank not only to their own honored dead, but to those they had vanquished as well’. Is that the right quote?”

Canderous leaned up, taking the wine, and swallowed deeply before handing the bottle to me. “Sometimes the planets we faced had defenses. Our fleet was never strong enough to pulverize worlds as yours was, so we had to find other means. We were on the outer rim, and a planet named Kadir had a defense that would have shrugged off a regular assault, so a new weapon named the Basilisk war droid was to be tested.”

“Big thing? Eight meters wide, three meters thick, looked like a big disk with legs?” Carth asked.

“Yes, you have seen them. What you didn’t know though was the AIs of the first two production runs were stupid. They would not right themselves when entering atmosphere, and burned up. The engineers finally decided that we needed a man to get them from orbit to the ground, and I was one of the first to test them in combat. My Phalanx of 50 warriors were deployed at 100 kilometers above the planet, and rode our Basilisks down through the hellfire of the atmosphere burning the ablative armor from their stomachs. Picture being able to reach out and touch the fire of such an event! It was madness, but that didn’t stop three of my men from losing hands doing it.

“Well I dropped down right over a planetary defense grid...”


Grove

Danika

As the sun rose, we awoke, and continued our journey. The Grove was not that far ahead, and I felt the presence of the darkness that dwelt there. I had felt this before, but hadn’t known it was the Force. People call it acting on a hunch, or invisible eyes.

I saw the bodies first. Three or four Mandalorians had come here, and they lay torn to pieces by Kath hounds. But I could see the cuts of a lightsaber. They had died, but their killer had hacked and hacked at them until they were dismembered. I saw the standing stones, and a Cathar woman kneeling in meditation. I walked softly up to the edge of it, and stopped.

She looked up, madness and hatred in her eyes. She reached out with the force, and both Canderous and Carth were blasted off their feet by her anger. Then she leaped, lightsaber ignited, charging at me. I blocked, pushing her with the force so she landed ten meters from me. She bounced back to her feet, and charged again, screaming wordlessly.

I found myself desperately blocking her assault, unable to attack even if I had wanted to. She reached out, and I felt phantom fingers close on my throat. I shook them off, and pushed again, harder. She slammed into a stele, and I reached out, snatching the lightsaber from her hands into mine.

“Kill me!” She screamed. “You’re the strong one, the strong always kill the weak!”

I shook my head, the lightsabers dying in my hand. “I did not come to kill. I come to cleanse.”

“It’s the same thing!”

“Who are you?” I asked.

“I am Juhani, and this is the seat of my dark power. This is the place you have invaded.” She glared at me. “This is where I embraced the dark side, where I sought solace in my pain. It is mine, and I will not give it up!”

“You embraced the darkness. Why?”

“I was distraught over my home world, destroyed by Malak and his fleet. I was angry, and my master sought to teach me. I used that hate, that anger, I struck my master down. I killed Quarta!” She screamed again in pain. “When I did I knew I could never go back, they would never accept me. Now I revel in my dark power, enough to destroy any that faced me!” Her face fell, her voice softening almost to a whisper. “Or so I thought.”

“Power is never enough.”

“What do you want of me? Why can’t you leave me in my pain?” She wailed.

“What do I want? To talk with you, nothing more.”

“Talk! You have beaten me so easily. Yet all you want is talk? You a stranger and a human! All Cathar know that the weak exist only to feed the strong. So be strong! Kill me!”

“To be strong is to be gentle as well.” I said softly. “Like a father holds his children in the strength of his arms, yet does no harm. I hold no hatred for you, Juhani. Only peace.”

She shook her head. “Even in your naive attitude, you defeat my words. I sit here, thinking myself strong in the Force, but I am a cub bravely attacking her mother’s foot! But I have gone too far, I can never go back to what I had been.” She looked past me, watching Canderous and Carth struggling to their feet. “I thought my masters, the other apprentices were jealous. They held me back because I would outstrip them so easily otherwise. None of them could match me in full cry! Now I see that it was because I was never good enough. I would never be good enough.”

I touched her face. “The first step a child takes on the path to true knowledge is to admit that they don’t know everything. Throughout life those that remember that, and are still willing to admit that they still have ignorance are the ones that continue to grow. Denying that ignorance is the first step to death.”

She smiled sadly. “If only my ignorance had not been so costly. My master suffered and died from it.”

“Even death does not end the essence of the Jedi.” I replied. “Death will not hold either of us, sister. If your master has died, the Force will take her back as she takes even the smallest animal in its time.”

“If only she were alive still.” She mused. “There is so much I still have to say. So many faults I must confess. The masters will consider me a failure.”

“Why? Because you made a child’s mistake?

“How could they forgive something I cannot?”

“You struck in anger, you ran in fear, and now you let that hate fester within you as you reveled in your dark power. Can you not see that like an infection it must be lanced and cleansed?” I waved at the fields beyond. “You must return. You must show them that anger is like water in the bath, that has run from your body, and fallen to the ground. Once here, now gone and no more.”

“But will they accept me?”

“Show them that what you were, what you became, is no more. Show them your contrition, your willingness to learn from those mistakes.”

I felt it, a lightening of the Force about her. She considered my words. I held out my hand, and her lightsaber leaped to her hand. She flicked it on, scowling at the red color. “I must replace the crystal. Better yet,” She smashed it on the ground, the metal sheering. “I will start over with unblemished parts.” She looked at me, not with hate, or anger, but with wonder. “I will go. I will beg their mercy. I will stand in the light again.” She ran past me, and I watched her running with all her heart toward the enclave so far away.

I'm cynical enough to say illegal orders are given by all sides in any war.

I think war crimes 'are in the eye of the beholder' to a certain degree. What's considered officially a war crime under law and what the average Joe citizen considers one can be quite different. Some of the things that are wrong aren't necessarily viewed officially as war crimes, but wrong is still wrong.
While both men were absolutely fascinating, I'll take Churchill over Hitler any day. I like living my life without worrying about the SS scrutinizing me for anything they can use against me in order to send me to a final solution.

I'm cynical enough to say illegal orders are given by all sides in any war.

I think war crimes 'are in the eye of the beholder' to a certain degree. What's considered officially a war crime under law and what the average Joe citizen considers one can be quite different. Some of the things that are wrong aren't necessarily viewed officially as war crimes, but wrong is still wrong.
While both men were absolutely fascinating, I'll take Churchill over Hitler any day. I like living my life without worrying about the SS scrutinizing me for anything they can use against me in order to send me to a final solution.


You pretty much have my vote on it as well. Atrocities were committed by both sides, but Most of the ones that did it for the Allies never got punished. In fact there was exactly one I know of for sure. The Commanding officer of USS Archerfish sank a hospital ship, even after being notified that it was in the area. He was removed from command.

You have expanded on the story from the game quite a bit in these two chapters, Sanderal and Grove. I'm trying to get a feel for how you portray Canderous. Canderous' complete destruction of fellow clan member Sherruk Zion's soochir showed his complete devotion to the honor of his clan and the need to cleanse his clan from any taint, no matter the cost. I'm starting to see parallels between the Wookiee and the Mandalorians in some of this.

Juhani's return to the light was done so in a much more believable and realistic fashion than the game's version. A game understandably has its limitations with dialog and that is why a good writer can do so much more in a book than in a game. At least at the present time anyway.

BTW, I noticed you used the name Nurik instead of Rurik now but I see you still spell his last name as Sanderal instead of Sandral. If you want to match the game's spelling then go with the latter spelling. If not... :indif:

Return

Danika

Our return was uneventful. The Kath hounds still menaced, but those we spoke to said the attacks had dropped off sharply. We crossed the bridge, and Canderous pushed to the fore. The man that mourned Ilse saw us coming, and stopped, unsure what to do.

The huge Mandalore knelt, looking down. “I report that the Mando that dishonored your daughter are dead by my hand. However there is shame upon my clan thanks to their leader. He was of my clan, so my clan bears the dishonor.” He took off his own Soochir. “This is the honor of my life, the honor of my name. If you feel I deserve it, smash it destroy it or merely keep it from me. Until you return this to me, My clan and I have no honor in the eyes of our people.”

The settler took it, staring at the hulking form bent before him, then at me. “The Mando that have been raiding here are dead. Canderous Ordo of Clan Ordo fought well to kill them, to take the vengeance on Sherruk Zion of Clan Ordo with his own hands that you could not. Before he did, Canderous destroyed Sherruk’s Soochir, leaving him an empty voice among his people. Yet he feels he owes you and your daughter more.” I lit my lightsaber. “If you feel that he and all Mando bear this sin, set it down, and I will destroy it. He and his entire clan will become nothing to his people, as Sherruk now is. Just keeping it wounds his honor, but it is a wound he offers freely in recompense.”

The man stared at it, warring within his heart. Part of him wanted to smash that plastic and metal form, to deny even this man his honor. Then he sighed, tears running down his face. He held the chain, dangling the Soochir before Canderous. “Take it. My daughter will sleep well now.”

Silently, Canderous took the Soochir, slipped it back over his neck, and walked toward the Academy entrance.

We entered, and I saw Juhani standing in the courtyard beside Belaya. Belaya ran toward me, then stopped. “I must thank you for returning my friend, apprentice. She was lost to us, but has returned, thanks to you.”

I was nonplused. “I did what had to be done for her and myself. I am glad she walks in the light again and that I helped her.”

Juhani approached, hesitant. “I must give you my thanks, and beg your forgiveness. Thanks to your advice I am welcome here, but I caused you pain in the process.”

“No matter.” I said. “What have you heard of Quarta?”

“It was all for nothing. If I had stayed, if I had bothered to check her, I would have found that while sorely wounded, she still lived. As if a child in the force could hurt one such as her!

“That was supposed to be merely more training in the Force. The Cathar are hunters and killers by nature. We have pride in the skills we carry from our animal ancestors. Such skill however, along with pride could drive us into the Dark side if used as it can be. She wanted to show me how easily pride could lead to the dark side, and picked the wrong time to do it. But I ruined it all!”

“Her treatment of you was harsh, but you cannot fault the test, Juhani.”

“The ways of a master are strange to those that have not ascended that height. Looking back I can see the wisdom of her actions. Humility is something my people have trouble learning, and is never easy even with other calmer races. But I am a better Jedi for it. Now I know what I must be on guard from in my own soul.”

“Sensible.” Canderous commented. “The hard lessons can’t merely be handed to you as if they were instructions to a small child. As my people say, ‘Pain is the teacher, and reflex is the result’.”

“Your people speak wisely some times,.” Juhani agreed. But her voice was harsh. She turned back to me, ignoring Canderous. “After that fight Quarta decided that there was no more she could teach me. She knew I would need time alone to explore and master the turmoil in my spirit. Only then would I be willing to listen to a guide and return. You were my guide, and I thank you for it.

“Quarta went to another Academy, there is always work for a teacher such as her. With her help and yours, I have passed this test. The Council now decides what training I need to complete my studies before I can be declared Padawan and go on into service.”

“Some friends.” Carth snorted. “First the Jedi trick you into becoming the enemy, then they pit you against each other. Then, since you survived, they welcome you back. Can’t say I like how they run this training.”

I turned, and as I did, Canderous spoke. “Giving you a second chance when you have failed this badly is a sign of weakness. I find it hard to believe that the Jedi could face even a Republic threat, let alone people such as mine in battle.”

“Canderous, As you said, Your words issue from an empty head. We at our training are still children in the force. We need guidance until we understand how little we know. And as for you, Carth, from someone who trusts no one, I will take your comments as I do with your mistrust, because I must.” I turned my back on him. “Trust in the Force, Juhani.”

“And in those that help. Thank you.”

“The masters knew you would return, they asked me to inform you that they will see you in the morning.” Belaya reported.

“Then I am going to take a hot bath and go to bed.” I looked at the two men, smiling. “If you two would like to share more stories, let me know. It was an interesting evening.”

I was coming up the ramp when I was almost slammed off my feet by a guided missile named Mission. She clung to me, crying, and I wasn't sure what was wrong.

“I’m sorry, I was mad at you when you left, and I thought you’d die!” She wailed.

“I didn’t die, Mission. Don’t worry.”

“But you asked me about Griff and I was mean to you, and you didn’t talk to me for weeks and I wasn’t sure how to apologize, then you were gone, and no one would tell me where you went except into the outer lands, and-”

“Mission.” I hugged her. “If you don’t mind scrubbing my back, I will tell you what happened.”

After I had cleaned up, and gotten a bowl of food, Mission sat with me. “It’s just; I don’t like to talk about Griff that much. It’s embarrassing.”

“I understand, you don’t need to tell me anything.”

“No, I owe that to you for what you’ve done for me. Zaalbar is a great listener, but it took a long time to learn his language, and he’s more of the beat on a problem and it goes away type.

“I never knew my parents. They died when I was young. Griff always looked out for me. He was the one that brought me to Taris. I was only five then, and I remember the trip, if you want to call it that. We were stuffed in a packing crate in a star freighter’s cargo hold, with just enough food and water to make the trip. It wasn’t first class.”

I was aghast. “How could he treat a five-year-old like that?”

“I don’t know the whole story. He probably owed people money, or maybe there were arrest warrants out on him. He was pretty good at getting into computer systems, and when we had to run, he programmed us as cargo, and had us delivered. Once we got to Taris, he broke open the seals, and we headed into the Lowercity. That was the only way he could see to get us away from the problems, to smuggle us out I mean. I don’t want to make it sound like we were criminals or something, though maybe Griff was.

“Now you see why I don’t like to talk about it. Griff may have had his problems, but he was my brother, and took care of me.”

“He’s family. You have to stick by your family.”

“Right! I don’t know where I’d be if he hadn’t been there when I was a kid. But he didn’t change. He gambled, he drank, and he was always borrowing money for his latest get rich scheme. But he had a good heart. He taught me how to survive. He taught me how to slice a computer system, how to get into a locked building without the access codes, how to spot a quick mark for a shell game.”

I was surprised she hadn’t ended up in a penal colony. “Useful skills to have.”

“Yeah, Griff did right by me. I really miss him since he left. He promised he’d come back for me, and I’ve just been waiting for him to come and get me.”

I ran my finger around the rim of the mug, unsure where to go with this inquiry. “Why did he leave?”

“He fell in with a bad crowd, Exchange types, high rollers. It was all Lena’s fault. She batted those lashes of hers, rubbed her Lekku in just the right way-” She ran a hand down the tentacles on her head. “One look at her and off he went!”

“Who’s Lena?”

She clutched her mug. “I said I’d tell it all, and I will! She was a dancer at the cantina Griff hung out at.” I nodded. Twi-lek women dance in what is considered a seductive manner. Part of it is that to the women of their race dance is an expression of freedom, a religious experience, and a mating ritual all at the same time. Men of a number of races feel the attraction, and the Twi-lek women use that primal attraction when they are dancing for work.

“We had a good thing going. Sure Griff had run-ins with the law, but all you had to do on Taris was be born anything but human for that.

“Griff used to play Pazaak at the club. Then Lena came there to work. Griff liked her, and when he wanted to be he was a smooth talker. Pretty soon they were spending a lot of time together. But the crowd Lena hung out in was upper class. She would escort top rank Tarisian men when they came slumming, if you know what I mean. Exchange hard guys, rich men all of them. Griff could never have given her the lifestyle she enjoyed. “

“So you expected Lena to dump him.”

“Yeah. But she must have seen the potential of a big pay-off. Big enough to put up with him.”

“Maybe she really liked Griff. He does sound personable.”

“No way. I could tell exactly what she was. A busty, no-good credit-grubbing Cantina rat! She used Griff just like every man around her. After they had been together for a few months, Griff told me they were leaving Taris. He had a plan and they were going to make their fortune off world. But Lena didn’t want a kid interfering with what they had to do, so she told him to leave me there until afterward. But he promised to come back and get me. We’d live like Taris nobles with the best of everything!’ Her face fell. “That was two years ago. I haven’t heard anything, I don’t even know what planet he went to!”

“And you think this is Lena’s fault?”

“Of course it is! She stayed with him until they made that fortune, then she dumped him somewhere and ran off with it. I only hope I can catch her and find out what happened to Griff. I may never see him again, but I’m not going to stop trying.” She sat up straight. “That’s why I joined up with you, and wanted to go off world. I can’t start my search from a pit on Taris.”

“I’m glad you did.”

“I just wish there was something to do. The Jedi Academy is like major creepy, and I hear about Kath hounds and crazed Mandalorians, and I don’t even want to think about going into the outlands.”

“Well what can you do?”

“If a computer had legs, I could get it to sit up and beg.”

“Well we seem to have acquired a ship, and we’re not going anywhere too quickly as far as I know. How about working on an inventory for Carth? I hereby declare you to be the ship’s supercargo!”

“The what?”

“When you load a ship, everything has to be just right, the mass has to be balanced, you have to know where everything is, how much of it you have and when you need to buy more. The supercargo is the loadmaster and purser combined; the one that makes sure that is done, and makes sure it‘s paid for.”

“I’m on it!” I handed her a datapad, and she went to work on the inventory. I curled up in my bed, and went to sleep.

The next morning I poured my tea and joined Carth and Mission at the table. Mission was humming to herself, and seemed focused. Then she handed the pad to me. “How did I do?”

I looked at the pad. She had gone through the entire load-out of the ship, and had prepared a full inventory. There was a list of equipment we needed, and supplies such as food beyond combat rations and even additional spices and cooking gear.

“When did you have time to do this?”

“All night.” She said. “I figured the faster it was done the better.”

“Carth, what do you think?” I handed it to him. He looked at it, and the fork paused on the way to his mouth. “Better than any depot officer I ever saw. Pretty good, Danika.”

“I didn’t do it. Our supercargo did.”

“Who?” I pointed at Mission. “No way!”

“Carth, she needs something to do, and I like her style. If I have to, I’ll call for a vote, but I don’t think you really want to take it that far.”

“But she’ll be handling all of the money! What’s to stop her from walking with it?”

“Hey mister antique high and mighty jet-jockey, I got more money than you know what to do with!”

“Oh you do, and where did you get it?” He glared at her

She looked at me, her defiance vanishing. “Promise you won’t get mad?” I shrugged. “When we got here from Taris, I didn’t have anything to do, so I decided to check the local central computer records.”

“You sliced into a protected system?” He stared. “From my ship?”

“Your ship! Ha you wish! No, I used a terminal in the shop over there.” She waved toward the shops along the docking ring. “Just to check out the system, and used a few credits to buy access to the main data banks.

“Since Davik was dead, I used his access code, at least anyone seeing it would think it was his code. If they check, they’ll also think he used a computer in the main city. I withdrew every account he had that was off Taris and sent it all to Coruscant.”

“Coruscant? Why there?” I asked.

“Because he was supposed to send his commission to the Exchange there. When it arrived, the computer bootstrapped it to an outgoing signal, and it went through five other systems at random before going back to Coruscant into a numbered account with the Bothan banking cartel. I have the number.” She looked sheepish. “But I had to pay Danika back, so I bought her something.”

I suddenly knew where this was going. “Oh no, you didn’t-”

“No I didn’t. Davik did according to the paperwork. He sold the Ebon Hawk to you on arrival here, bought passage on a ship leaving for Naboo, and never boarded. As far as anyone knows, Davik has gone off to parts unknown with a lot of money that belonged to the Exchange. But considering a lot of the stuff he’s done and how old he was, I could see him running off to retire somewhere with a fist-full of credits.”

I stared at Carth, who was vainly trying to not laugh. “You aren’t helping, Carth!’

“I can’t think of a better group to get ripped off for a few thousand credits!”

“Hey, I don’t work cheap! Try a few hundred thousand credits.”

“Oh dear.” I said. I hoped she was as good as she thought she was. The Exchange would blow a planet apart to get that much money back. “Now Mission, as much as people think it is all right to steal from thieves, you shouldn’t have done that. I want you to promise you won’t slice into any computer from this point on-”

“-Unless we ask you to.” Carth put in.

I glared at him, “Unless we really need you to.”

“That’s a promise. If I find Griff, I’ll have the fortune he was looking for already waiting.” She looked smugly satisfied. She handed me another datapad. I took it warily. It recorded a bill of sale for the JT 4100 mod 4 Ebon Hawk to me Paid in a banking draft from a numbered account on Bothawui. All fees, taxes etc had been paid. “the account that paid for the ship is mine, and the money went through Davik’s hands into the same mangle as all of the other money. All it cost me was the transfer fees and taxes. That was wicked though, the Republic government bureaucrats are worse thieves than any I ever met!”

I knew the Bothans were secretive and so honest it was a byword within the Republic. Money is important to them, more important than anything but a contract. To them a contract is something stronger than durasteel. Maybe the Republic could break their banking system, but no one else could. I looked at Carth desperately, but he was studiously ignoring me. “All right, I give up!”

“About time.” Mission said. Now I have to get on the com with the supply center. We need the rest of our supplies as of yesterday.”


Padawan

Danika

I entered the training center. Master Zhar was talking with several students, directing them in meditation. He looked up at my entrance, turning his class over to a Padawan.

“The Council has seen your report, and I must say, well done my pupil. The ancient grove has been purified, and your handling of Juhani’s case deserves praise. Few would have looked beyond the surface to see the root of the problem. Because of your vision, she has been returned to us.

“But you cannot dismiss what happened to her. Juhani was as dedicated as any before her fall. Remember that we are all vulnerable to our own weaknesses. She injured her master, a grave act. Quarta admitted to us that she chose to test Juhani in that manner, and provoked the attack in so doing. Yet, thanks to you, it seems to have made its point, and the lesson was learned.

“Congratulations, my apprentice, or should I say Padawan. Let me be the first to welcome you to our order.” He took my hand warmly. “There is much you must do, and little time to do it. The Council will meet in two hours, and your assignment will be given then. Until then you are free to do what you will.”

I bowed and left. Part of me wanted to return to the Ebon Hawk, to immerse myself in the friends that had come so far with me. But instead I found myself in the archives. The tables were crowded with apprentices and Padawans studying with deep concentration. Master Dorak saw me, and walked toward me. Of all the Jedi masters I had met he was the only one that hurried anywhere. He was so full of energy that merely walking looked like a military stride.

“Congratulations on you ascension Padawan. What do you seek today?”

“Revan and Malak bother me.” I admitted. “All I have heard of them suggests that of all of us they should have been the least likely of the order to fall, yet they seem to have fallen so easily. Is there a record of them here in the archives?”

He frowned. “Yes there is, but it is in the one place where I can decide who must hear it.” He tapped his head. “I have recorded it on a Holocron, but I think you should hear it directly.” He led me to his office, assigned two of his Padawan assistants to assure no one disturbed us, and sat me down with a mug of tea.

“The story does not begin with them, because events prior to it led to their fall. I will begin forty years ago, with the war of Exar Kun. Like Revan and Malak, Exar Kun was a Jedi. In fact he was in consideration as a Jedi master at this very Academy. Yet his master Vodo-Siosk Baas felt that there was too much impatience in him.” He looked at me. “As one who has fought, and one who has learned, you understand the danger of such with a student.”

“Yes. You can’t just hand a blaster to a rookie with no training and expect them to excel.”

“Indeed. He left the Academy, and created another one on the moons of Yavin 4. He drew a lot of our disaffected to him at that time, including those among the Sith, and fell to the darkness after a voyage to Korriban.

“Eventually, the Jedi Council called him to task. He had demanded autonomy for his planet, and the matter was to be discussed before the Republic Senate. But when Exar Kun arrived, he cut down his master before them, and told the Republic Senate that no one could tell him what to do, and that led to the war.

“The Sith of course joined that war, as did a lot of the planets that wanted to break away from the Republic. If they had simply declared their independence, the war might not have even occurred. The Senate tends to take a rather scattered view of what to do in such a case, and the Chancellor can suggest or ask, but never demand action from them. But Exar Kun’s forces began to try to expand out of their enclave, and that forced the issue.

“The war devastated us all. Yavin’s fourth moon was bombarded and reduced to ruin, the Massassi race was obliterated when Exar Kun drew all of their life force in a frantic bid to protect the moon. The Order was weakened, most of our order had died either in the fighting, or in the defections that had occurred. The Republic had spent a massive fortune to win, and was weakened both politically and militarily by the concessions they had to make to the Corporate organizations and Trade alliances. For twenty years, we struggled to rebuild from that carnage.

“But we were not left in peace to do so. Twenty years ago, the Mandalorians began conquering planets and multi system polities on the outer rim. They were circumspect, careful to not attack systems that were claimed by the Republic, or allied to us.

“The Senate debated heatedly, then finally decided to do nothing. They saw the fact that if we were to intervene, other nations would join the Mandalorians, and we could not afford such a major war so soon after the last. We would stand neutral.”

“But we were drawn into the war anyway.” I murmured.

“Yes. While we stood by and did nothing, the Mandalorians threw every industry in those captured worlds into production of supplies and ships. Seven years ago, they attacked across the border into three separate sectors simultaneously. The Senate had no choice but to order the fleet to battle. The Mandalorian wars had begun.”

“How did the Jedi stand on this?”

“We were petitioned for aid.” Dorak admitted. “But there were factors to consider that the Senate could not understand. We had to resolve them before we allowed ourselves to be drawn into another such conflict. Unlike the Republic, we cannot simply throw money at an Academy and crank out Padawan like proton warheads. Training can take most of a young person’s life, money, or shouting does not change that.

“Yet while we tried to preach restraint and patience to those of our order, there were many of our members that not only wanted to join the fight, but were eager for it. This extended right up into the Council itself. The controversy focused around two young Knights who had emerged as spokespersons for the group. Revan and Malak. They rallied many to their cause and finally, against the wishes of the Council, joined the Republic fleet in battle a little over five years ago.

“For the Republic, it could not have come at a better time. Revan was a skilled warrior, a master of both strategy and tactics. She took the fleet in hand, and the Republic began to not only win, but win handily. Four years ago, she was able to smash their fleet so decisively that the Mandalorians surrendered unconditionally.”

“Yet at the height of her victory, she fell.”

“Yes. Revan and Malak her strong right arm were heroes, the saviors of the Republic. A third of the entire fleet was under their direct command at the end of the war. But something happened.

“They returned here only briefly, then took that fleet beyond the border of the Republic into unexplored space. They claimed they were searching for a Mandalorian fleet that had run rather than surrender. All contact was lost. For months it was believed that some great disaster had destroyed the entire fleet. There were reports, all unsubstantiated that Revan and Malak had been seen on worlds within the Republic, and beyond, even to Korriban. Scattered sighting that made no sense, and still do not.”

“There was no idea of where they had been or why?”

“None. Perhaps they merely went beyond our borders. Maybe they had discovered previously undiscovered Hyper corridors. No one on our side of this conflict knows. But three years ago they returned with a massive fleet. Revan claimed to be not conquering the Republic, but to be liberating it, returning it to what it should have been. She had also assumed the title of Darth, the dark lord of the Sith. Our greatest hero had become our worst enemy.”

“But you said they had only a third of the fleet! That is what, a thousand odd ships all told. Where did they suddenly find such a force?”

“Some were our own ships now in her service. But over half of them were of an alien design never seen before. By every estimate made, there is no known way for her to have built such a fleet in so short a time. The only suggestion that makes sense is that they were derelicts that she had discovered and converted to her service. But they exist, and the fleet grows with even more ships of that design joining them every day.

“As for the troops, most were those that she had led into battle. You know as well as I that soldiers believe in order and discipline. It is what makes their function possible. While the population of the Republic might abhor it, her call to make that order something everyone would have drew a lot of the military to her. With each conquest her ranks swelled. Even many of our own order also joined. The ones that see us as ineffective at maintaining order. All lured by the glory and the power and some for the riches such power would naturally create.

“So we fought them, and we could see what the Mandalorians already knew. That no one could stand against Revan when she set her mind to a goal. Malak was not considered as much a danger. He was nowhere even close to being her equal in these matters, and had attained his rank by being her obedient servant still.”

“So we fought them.”

“Yes. But we needed the sheer will of those that saw her idea of ‘order’ as oppression to do so. For two years they were all but invincible. Fortunately, Bastila proved to be a master of battle meditation. That allowed us some victories. But we could not maintain the pace of the conflict.

“Our efforts focused on Revan and Malak. It was believed that if we could remove Malak, Revan would be weakened. Not a great deal mind you, but any lessening of her efficiency would be good. But if we could remove Revan, the Sith would no longer have her skills to fall back on, and the war would sputter out. So we set a trap for them both. A fictitious supply base was created in a system accessible from just one hyperspace corridor. Revan fell for this.”

“Zanebra.”

“Yes. She led a fleet there, and when they arrived, they were dragged from hyperspace by gravity well projectors that also trapped her in normal space.

Forty-five of ours versus forty of theirs. I remembered. Against anyone else it would have been a slaughter. Instead it had been a Pyrric victory.

“Bastila was one of the Knights that led the desperate assault aboard the enemy flagship, as you should know. She was there to witness Revan’s end. Not at our hands, but when Malak aboard Leviathan blasted the ship apart.

“That was nearly a year ago, but if anything the situation has grown worse. Malak assumed the title of Dark Lord, and while he is far from Revan’s equal, he has made up for it with sheer brutality. Worlds that would have resisted have been terrified into surrender by the news of Taris’ fate, and when that has not been sufficient, he has repeated it, killing more worlds for daring to resist too efficiently. There is no longer talk of order and peace, now the Sith simply say surrender or be destroyed.

“By removing Revan we have merely released an even worse horror on ourselves. We must end this before the devastation sends us into a spiral downward that we can never recover from. Malak and the Sith will overwhelm us and destroy any vestige of freedom in the process.” He looked at me sadly. “Learn from this, young Padawan. Even the most promising among us can fall, and the greater that promise, the greater the danger they become. You must always be on guard against the evil all of us harbor within us.” He looked at the chrono on the wall. "Come, the Council awaits us.”

As we walked I asked. “Revan was wearing some kind of mask in my vision. Why?”

Dorak contemplated the question. “When Revan was younger, many discounted her abilities because of her looks. She was, after all, not unattractive However she never told anyone why she had begun to wear it.”

I verified in the KotOR game files that the name of the Jedi Master that Juhani struck down is Quatra, not Quarta. Thought you might like to know. :)

A neat tweak to the story, having Mission hacking into Davik Kang's bank accounts and withdrawing all his credits as well as officially selling the Ebon Hawk to Danika all while making it appear that Davik took the money and ran. Thanks to Mission, Danika and company have credits to meet just about any future financial need. I liked that little addition.

I verified in the KotOR game files that the name of the Jedi Master that Juhani struck down is Quatra, not Quarta. Thought you might like to know. :)

A neat tweak to the story, having Mission hacking into Davik Kang's bank accounts and withdrawing all his credits as well as officially selling the Ebon Hawk to Danika all while making it appear that Davik took the money and ran. Thanks to Mission, Danika and company have credits to meet just about any future financial need. I liked that little addition.

Thanks. That was a typo, but I missed it.

The whole point with Mission and the buying of the Ebon Hawk is I am constantly ticked when people just appropriate things in a game and go on as if nothing has happened. Plus, everyone actually needs a job aboard, and when it comes to Quartermaster, Mission fit the bill best of all. Having her rip off Davik Kang was just 'youthful exuberance'

Ascension

The Council awaited me as they always had, united. Bastila looked at me, and for a moment I noticed unease in her face. Master Vrook, looking a little less angry than was his wont nodded at my entry, and took my hand. “I must congratulate you on your actions. The heads of both Matale and Sandral came to complain, but now are asking us to intercede with their children. The fact that they have done so knowing that the other has also done it bodes well for the disagreements between them.

“The handling of the Mandalorian problem was even more efficient than we might have imagined. The fact that the Mandalorian who is your follower showed the true spirit of his people has done a great deal for relations between the locals and the few Mandalorians that visits us peacefully. Yet what gives us the greatest hope is how you dealt with Juhani. She has repeated your words to us, and we can see the change in her mien. You have done a great service not only to her but the order itself.”

I winced under all of this praise. I had done what was necessary, and had considered the options.

“You have chosen to be a Consular, in this we approve.” Vandar said. “However we now must end your training young Padawan. Events beyond this world force our hand, and we do not like the implications of it, but there is no time. We must now focus on the dream both you and Bastila shared.

“When we heard of the ruins in your dream, Master Dorak recognized it as one not far from here. A series of such structures are scattered around the lands of Dantooine. We dispatched a Jedi to examine those ruins, but he has not returned. We fear that we erred in sending him.

“The Force seems to be guiding you through your visions. We believe that you and Bastila can succeed where he has failed. The task of exploring that structure seems to be linked to your destiny. That is why the Council has decided to send you both on this mission. Whatever led Revan and Malak down the dark path must be there. The secret that will lead to stopping Malak may rest within it, and we must have that!”

“Master, I have been given a precis of the situation before, but I need to understand our adversary. What do you know of Revan and Malak?”

He froze, and I was afraid I had offended him. Then Vandar relaxed. “I knew Revan as a promising young Padawan of this very Academy. She was strong in the force, and highly skilled, but she was headstrong and proud of her skills, but such traits are common among Padawan. Perhaps that is why I did not see the true extent of the danger.

“Many of our apprentices admired her not only for that skill but also for her natural charm. She was always outgoing, and willing to help others. Among her admirers was Malak, four years her senior, but she had mastered the ways of the Force more readily than he had. Yet she never looked down upon him. Rather they were good friends and were inseparable. When Revan decided to join the Republic war effort, Malak was the first to join his voice to hers in the matter.

“However that bond was what dragged Malak down when Revan fell. Others also fell at that time, but everyone knew Malak would, as assuredly as gravity draws a meteorite to it’s death by his devotion to his friend. It was inevitable.”

That bond. The words resounded in my mind for some reason. Like the one that Bastila and I share? Would I be dragged under if Bastila fell? Or she by my fall? “So you’re saying that if Revan had not fallen, Malak would have not?” I asked softly.

“Such will never be known. Revan was as I have said, always the more powerful of the two. It had been hoped that if Revan fell in truth the Sith war effort would become fragmented, and fade. But Malak has embraced the dark side even more deeply than his master had. Only you and Bastila have a chance of stopping him now.

“The way ahead of you will be difficult for both of you. But you must draw strength from each other and the Force.” He looked at the others. “You must go and quickly.”


Bastila

As much as I had know what was to occur, I dreaded it. Danika motioned, and we went out toward the ship. “I want to understand this dream we shared.”

“As the Council has said, it was more of a vision rather than a dream. However if I can answer any questions they have not, I will help as I can.”

“It isn’t the dream or vision that obsesses me, Bastila.” She was a little frustrated. “It is why you shared it with me, or I with you.”

“Are you wondering why we shared it? Or why it was sent to us in the first place? As to the first, I can only repeat what the Council has already said. The Force links us in this. For someone as strong in the Force as either one of us is, that amounts to a near physical bond. As to the second, the Force works as it will, and our likes and dislikes have little to do with it. Perhaps we should only be grateful for what we have been given.”

“But why us?” She asked adamantly. “How did our fates, the fates of two women from such different lives come to be so interwoven?”

I considered what to say. I knew whence it had come, but I couldn’t tell her. “I am not sure. Believe me I don’t find the thought and reality of being linked to you as enjoyable in any fashion.”

She stopped, looking at me appraisingly. “I just find this link to be a little too... convenient.”

“The Force has always proven that it can bend the laws of physics and probability in ways we cannot even imagine before they occur. It is especially true of those deeply affiliated with it. In this case, when the Force had forged such a bond, we must merely accept it, no matter how ‘convenient’ we find it. We Jedi are tools of the Force as much as we use it.”

“You make the Force sound alive. As if it has a mind of it’s own.”

“There is no evidence either way on the matter. What you make of the Force and how you use it and it uses you is determined by what kind of person you are. Does that help?”

She shook her head. “Not in the least. Maybe I should just trust in the Force.”

I sighed inwardly. “As must we all.”

We came out into the docking bay as a cargo lifter came in. Mission came out, striding as if she were an officer from a major cruise line. She began checking the invoice, and signed when satisfied. She signaled, and droids began moving the material aboard.

“Just about the last is aboard, skipper!” She shouted gaily.

“Mission, is that you?” The girl paled, and her teeth were bared in a killing smile.

We turned. A Twi-lek woman stood there. She had all the physical attributes Mission would one day possess, and the help of several years in knowing what she could do with that sensual armament. She looked overjoyed to see Mission. Something Mission didn’t share. The woman looked confused. “Don’t you remember me, Mission? It’s Lena.”

“What are you doing here? Where’s Griff?”

Lena’s face grew sad. “I’m just passing through on my way to Ryloth. We broke up not long after we left Taris, Mission. Probably for the best for me. Your brother talks a good game, but he’s bad news.”

“Don’t you start trashing my brother you cantina rat! Take that back or I’ll rip your Lekku off!”

“Mission, what’s wrong? What have I done-”

“You talked him into leaving me when you went off world!” Mission screamed.

“She is upset that she was left behind.” Danika commented.

“I can understand that. Anywhere would have been better than Taris! That’s why I was surprised when Griff told me she wanted to stay.”

“You liar! Griff said you didn’t want his little sister cramping your style!”

Lena’s face grew cold. “Is that what the little Hutt-slime told you? Mission, I wanted to take you with me. You had become the little sister I never had. I would have paid, just like I paid for everything he asked for. He said you wanted to strike out on your own.”

“No, you’re lying, Griff loved me, he wouldn’t have left me!”

Danika was watching both of them and I could feel her mind reaching out to discover the truth.

Lena‘s voice grew warmer, her hand raised in a placatory manner. “Mission, think about it. If I had tried to leave you why didn’t Griff tell you where we were going? I couldn’t have very well stopped him, could I? After we left I knew something was wrong, because he started talking about how you were always tagging along, and stopping him from doing what needed to be done. I think you might have noticed, but Griff is very good at blaming others for his problems. He did the same thing to me before long, blaming me for his gambling losses, the get rich quick schemes that cost more than we ever saw back out of them. Finally he told me to get out of his life and stop draining away his luck.”

Mission stood there, staring in hate and dismay at Lena, then she bolted onto the ship. Lena started to follow then stopped, almost crying. “He did that to everyone. I thought he might have at least treated her better.”

“Where was he the last time you saw him, Lena?” Danika asked.

“He’d hired on with Czerka Corporation on Tatooine. They are renting mining claims and he figured on making his fortune there.”

“We’ll find him for Mission.” She promised.

Lena looked at her. “Take care of her, will you? Griff treated both of us like dirt. I don’t want to even think about what’s going through her head right now.”

We went aboard. Danika went to the starboard berthing area, and I followed. Mission was curled up on her bunk, crying.

“Mission.”

“She’s lying, he wanted me to go.”

“She told us where he was, Mission. Tatooine, working as a miner.”

“All right, he’s a miner, but the rest is all lies!” Her voice told me however that she was desperately denying what she must have known was the truth.

Danika touched her shoulder gently. “We will find the truth together, Mission, and I will be there. Now, want to get off the ship?”

“Yes!” She rolled over, wiping her tears away. “Where? The city, maybe?”

“No. Some old dusty ruins. But you would be a big help to me if you went along.”

“Well ruins aren’t what I like. No fancy lights and hot drinks.”

“Afterward maybe.” I looked, but I couldn’t tell whether she was joking, but her mind radiated amusement.

“Sure. Should I be armed?”

“I am.”

“All right then.” She slipped on her weapons belt, and slipped the heavy blaster pistol into it.


Ruins

Danika

We left the enclave at a mile-eating jog. For someone who had been a city girl, Mission stayed with us pretty well. Of course running away from the Black Vulkars had probably gotten her ready for this. We avoided the Kath-hound packs, moving with smooth speed across the plains until finally we reached the series of standing stones. I stopped, looking around. I felt Bastila’s apprehension, and could feel my own as I felt the Dark side like a tangible web before us. She moved up beside me, her lightsaber in her hand. “I don’t think we’ll need that just yet.” I said. She glared at me, but hung it back on her belt.

The door was huge, molded stone with patterns disturbing to the human eye. I reached out, and felt the door slide aside as if it had expected me. We entered the gloom. Cunning light wells focused sunlight into the room, and I could see the next door. Like the first it was huge, but unlike the first, this one bore a burn from an energy blast. I remembered Revan in the dream, using the Force to force the lock. I touched the lock tentatively, hoping I would not have to do the same, but the lock stone settled in it’s niche, and the door slid downward into the ground.

Dust lay like a blanket over everything. I stepped in, and stopped as Mission yelped. There to our side, a Jedi lay, his hands curled before his face as if warding off an attacker. Bastila came over to him, kneeling. “Nemo. He is one of the oldest Padawan here. Never good enough to be a master, but always willing.” She stood, eyes toward a metal pintel standing in the center of the room. As we watched, legs sprouted from its dull sides, lifting the mass of a droid body from the floor. It began speaking in an odd language.

“Danika?”

“I haven’t heard anything like it before.” I replied. The droid stopped then began speaking yet another language. “I think I might have heard that somewhere but can’t remember.” The droid cycled to another language. Then another when we didn’t reply. “That’s Selkathi isn’t it?”

“It must be an ancient form of it.” Bastila said. “I don’t recognize the language.”

“Do you understand this?” It repeated in ancient Selkathi.

“Yes, I do.” Danika replied.

“Language synchronization complete.” The droid said.

“Synchronization?” Danika asked.

“Yes. This unit has been programmed with all of the slave languages of the Builders. It is required for my duties as overseer.”

“You understand that?” Mission asked.

“Yes, it’s speaking an archaic form of Selkath.” Danika replied “Overseer of what?”

“The construction of the temples on this world. The slaves that might be sent come from throughout the Hegemony, and all of their languages are programmed into this unit. However you did not speak a language that was in my memory core. An oversight easily corrected during my next maintenance cycle.”

“Who built you?”

"The Builders built me. When they completed this structure, the slaves that worked on it were euthanized. I was shut down. Since you have arrived, I must assume that more work is required.”

I filled Bastila in “Maybe the Selkath built it?” Bastila asked.

“Unlikely. It thought we were slaves. It wouldn’t have spoke to us with their language.” She turned back. Overseer, how long have you been here?”

“Since the beginning.”

“No help there.” I said. “How long has it been since you were deactivated?”

It hummed. “From the positions of the planets, and the stars, I must assume the outer planet has made ten orbits of this planet.”

Again I told Bastila. “Ten orbits? The outer planet orbits the sun every 2500 years! This structure is older than the Republic itself!”

I looked back at the Overseer. “What was housed here?”

“The works of the Builders. No slave needs to know more than that.”

“Have other slaves come seeking this?”

“No.”

I paused. “Have other beings like myself come seeking it?”

“Yes.”

“How long ago?”

“Five planetary years.”

“Revan and Malak.” Bastila hissed.

“What happened to them?”

“They proved worthy of the Builder’s knowledge, and departed.”

I looked at Nemo. “Did you kill this man?”

“This unit has neither the ability nor the programming to kill. Only to punish. The being you speak of attempted to bypass the security system and was dealt with.”

“How can I prove myself worthy?”

“There are proving grounds to the east and west. By passing them successfully, you may enter the main chamber. Failure will result in your death.”

I drew my lightsaber, and walked toward the west door.

“Danika. Is this wise?”

“No,” I admitted. “However we must get into the main chamber, and we don’t have time to waste.” I pressed the lock, and the door opened. A droid stood there in my path. Beyond it was what looked like a computer terminal. I stepped forward, then leaped back hastily as the droid hummed to life, a force screen blinking up. I stood there, but it ignored me. I wasn’t past the threshold yet. “Mission?”

“Yeah?”

“How good did you say you are with a computer?”

“If it were a man it would marry me when I’m done!”

“Come here, but stay back from the door.” She walked over, standing behind me. “Never see anything like it. But it’s got a keyboard, and places to put diagnostic tools. What’s the problem?”

I lifted a piece of stone, and flipped it toward the other end of the room. The droid turned smoothly, and a beam shattered the rock.

“Well I have to get over there, and key in. What about the door guard?”

I sighed, closing my eyes, and focusing myself. “Just hurry.” Then I leaped in, running toward the droid. My lightsaber blocked a shot, and I was past. It hummed angrily, and began charging after me. I ran to the wall, ran three steps up it, and spun, my saber cutting down onto it. But the force field bounced the lightsaber back hard enough to jar my hands. I flipped over it, and began running frantically around the room. There were pillars and stones that had fallen from the ceiling, and they saved my life as I ducked and dodged among them.

“Almost there-”

“Hurry!” I flipped up a stone, flinging it at the droid. It caught the stone with a leg, then folded it over and through the rock contemptuously as if it were moldy bread. The humming was rising as if I had really made it mad, and it lunged, wrapping legs around a pillar. The pillar staggered, and I dived aside as it collapsed. I ducked behind another, and it suffered the same fate. The droid was removing my cover, and I was rapidly running out of places to hide.

“Got it!” She ran past me, and I flicked up the lightsaber, stopping a bolt from taking her in the back. Frantically I backed away. As I passed the threshold it paused, growling as if it were on a leash.

“Maybe the other will be easier?” Mission asked. I opened the door, and she yelped at the droid standing there. They must have been in communication because this one was already mad. I leaped over it, and my dance began again. I knew a lightsaber was an outstanding weapon, but at the moment I wanted a heavy auto-cannon and about a kilometer of standoff. I started to use the pillars again, but this one started smashing them immediately. I was left with no cover within a minute. Mission was engrossed in her work, and I had to protect her. I looked up, noticing a pillar cap that hung a bit down. I reached out with the force, feeling the stone sheer, and three tons of stone dropped on the droid like a hammer. I had barely taken a breath in relief when it pushed it’s way up like a mole, and the red sensor ports locked on me.

“Mission-”

“I got it!” The droid finished climbing out of the debris between the door and us.

Nothing happened. It stood there, the humming slowly fading down, then the lights went off. I gasped in relief, and we made out way past it.

The Overseer stood there, watching. I went to the door. This one had writing of some kind on it. “Overseer, what does this say?”

“Room of the Star Forge.” It said.

“What is the Star Forge?”

It grumbled electronically. “That is not in my memory banks. It was not considered necessary to my function.”

I told Bastila. “Then we don’t even know what the Star Forge is.” She mused. “Beyond the fact that it appears to be an artifact of great power for the Dark side.”

We stood before the door, and opened it. Like the first, this one had light wells that focused all of the light on a dais. I walked up to it, and there was a handprint set in stone there. The hand had four fingers, and I instinctively put my hand in it, keeping my middle two fingers together.

There was a clicking sound, and the stone sank in a short distance. As it did, I saw a flash of light. What appeared to be an ornate tricorn pillar split, each horn falling back to form a large arch. Between them smaller triangular legs lifted then a ball in the center of the mass shot into the air. Light fired into it, and we flinched from the light as it glowed into a hologram. The galaxy seen as a disk, and on it, five stars glimmered. Lettering marked each star with a long list of coordinates.

Bastila was our star pilot, and she was in her element. She recorded the entire map, then settled down on her haunches. “All right, I am not sure where the rest are, but that one-” She tapped the map. “Should be Korriban if I am correct. The Original settlements of the Jedi that joined the Sith were there. This I think is Manaan, and that would mean this is Tatooine. This is Dantooine. and this over here could be Kashyyyk. I have to take this back to the archives to compare it with the master charts. To be sure of which stars they are. This set of coordinates in each line-” she pointed at one “-is a lead to another hyper corridor. The coordinates are odd, missing data, corrupted programming. I need more data.”

“The Star Forge.” I almost heard an echo. The book had mentioned it, and so had the Overseer. “What could it be?”

“Whatever it is, Revan and Malak found it first. We must discover the truth about it. But if Revan and Malak thought someone might follow, there will be traps."

“Why would they have gone to Korriban?”

“That is actually the only verified place where Revan and Malak had been during their disappearance. These other worlds will undoubtedly give us clues to where the Star Forge is. Once we know, we can find it, and discover a weakness. It seems our task has only begun.”

Mission stood there watching us. “Guys, if it’s all right with you...”

“Yes Mission?”

“If you decide I need to take a walk or something, could you forget to tell me? That was a little intense.”

I stifled a laugh. Even Bastila smiled. “Well I don’t think your worried about Griff at the moment.” Mission giggled.

It was a long walk back, and I felt a chill at thinking that I was now on Revan’s path. She had come here, seeking in her own mind, the Republic’s survival. It had instead led to the bloody war we were fighting. I glanced at Bastila. She was lost in thought, a small frown on her face.

“What’s on your mind?” I asked.

She looked at me. “I was considering what the Council said about us. There is a bond. We both feel it. But the nature of the bond is what I question.”

“I still don’t understand the bond itself.” I admitted.

“Our fates have become intermingled somehow. So strongly linked that a literal bond has formed between us. Given our continuing relationship, I would like to ask some questions. Nothing too intrusive.” I shrugged. We had to walk a good distance yet. Anything would help pass the time.

She took my silence for assent. “What is your background?”

“Nothing extravagant. I was raised by a professional hunter, joined up, did six months of combat before we met. Just a soldier really.”

“Where you born?”

“Crossroads hospital on Deralia. It’s a frontier planet. Unless you hunt you probably can’t even pick it out on a star chart.”

“Your current age?”

“I’m 23, no, I think I turned 24 in there somewhere. All of this is in my service record, didn’t you look at it?”

“Actually yes, I did. I knew the answers, I merely wanted to see how you handled the questioning.”

“All right. Now, madam, how did I do?”

“You answered honestly without flippancy, and took the questions as seriously as they were put to you. A lot can be told from such an exercise. Your reactions, and mine will shape what happens within this bond. I had to know what type of woman I was linked to.”

“Fair enough. Now, turnabout is fair play. Tell me about yourself. Tell me how you became a Jedi.”

She walked in silence. “I am 19 years old. I was found to be strong in the force when I was five, and I was given to the order to be trained.”

The way she said it disturbed me. “Given? It sounds almost as if you were a pet.”

“Nothing of the sort.” She said stiffly. I could hear the lie in her words. “When I joined the order, I left my family on Talravin as almost all of us do. My family is still there, last I heard. I have had little contact with them as such is discouraged.”

“Discouraged?”

“Of course!” She looked at me surprised. “I forget you didn’t study here as a child. Emotion is our worst enemy, because it leads a Jedi into error.” She said as if quoting from a book. “Families have such emotions, and they are more powerful when you know the person that intimately. Hatred and anger are dangerous true, but even love can cause danger to the Jedi.”

“You aren’t even allowed to love?”

“Oh it isn’t forbidden, merely discouraged. People speak of how love is blind, but at times it can be deaf and dumb as well. Think of the power an unrequited love could generate in your soul.” She paced on, thoughtful. “Emotional entanglements can be dangerous when the lover is a Jedi. They can lead to outbursts of emotion and impair rational thought. A Jedi must be above such things.”

“You don’t sound very convinced.”

“It is a hard lesson to learn. I wasn’t on good terms with all of my family, but I remember missing my father terribly for a long time.”

“Who were you not on good terms with?”

“I was only a girl when I left, but I didn’t like my mother. I resented how she treated my father. My father was a treasure hunter. I spent my first years traveling from one planet to the next, searching from one false lead to the next. She whittled away my father’s fortune on one failure after another, and I hated her manipulative ways. I know it was her decision to send me off to be trained. My father was heartbroken.”

“You’ve never tried to get in touch with him since then?”

She shrugged. Her shoulders stiff. “A child doesn’t understand why sacrifices need to be made. It was better for all that I not try once I had come into my power. Once I was older I realized the wisdom of the policy. A Jedi might be sent anywhere, into any circumstance. When they arrive they must do what is needed to resolve the crisis, and personal desires cannot be part of such a decision. Love or hate can only obscure the proper course.”

“You sound sad about that.”

She laughed a bitter laugh. “Even the Jedi cannot control the feelings of the heart. We must always guard against it, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Some have a harder time of it than others.

“I really would not like to talk about this anymore.”

Interesting how you had Danika run around as a target for the Rakatan droids while Mission hacked the ancient computers. While I liked the way you handled not destroying the droid but still allowing the party to get the necessary data, why did you not have Bastila do anything to help out with this? And why wouldn't Mission have at least one ion grenade on her person to deal with hostile droid situations?

When I played the game the first time, I didn't have any Ion grenades at this point, and while the game required you to reach the computer terminal, it didn't require you to destroy the droids. So after fighting both of them four times and failing (I couldn't seem to get the hits required) what I did that first time was merely run past it, and key in, then do the same on the other side while the first droid was busy smashing the middle room.
Part of it I think was that i think Danika is repeating what Revan had done before. As for Bastila one reason i kept getting killed was that every time Danika charged in to face the droid, for some reason the computer didn't have Bastila follow to assist.

The Quest

We arrived at the Enclave, and filed our report. As we went back toward the ship, a woman stopped us. “I am looking for Bastila Shan.” She said, looking at each of us.

“I am she.” Bastila replied.

The woman looked at Bastila, as if trying to see another face. “Yes, you have grown, but I see your father’s eyes. I am Malare Velos. I knew your father well.”

“Knew?” Bastila’s tone was sharp, as if she expected bad news.

“Yes. He and Helena left and went on to another planet not long afterward. I hope you‘re mother‘s condition has improved.” She said bluntly.

I thought Bastila would react, but she didn’t. “Her condition?”

“You mother contacted me because I was coming to Dantooine. She wanted me to ask you to meet her, and I hoped the Enclave could at least pass on a message.”

“Then you have. “Where is she?”

“Still on Tatooine, last I heard.”

“If my business takes me there, I will see her.”

“Bastila, there is no need to be abrupt.” I admonished.

She looked at me, and I knew she wanted to scream at me. Then she turned back to Malare, and her voice became warmer. “I am sorry for my abrupt behavior. Pressing matters guide my footsteps at this time. Please forgive me.”

Malare nodded, but I could tell she had been deeply hurt by Bastila’s reaction. She walked away.

We returned to the ship, and Bastila went into the berthing area, and stayed there all night.

Bastila

My mother wanted to talk to me. But what of Father? I felt as if someone had taken a hammer to the universe and shattered its foundations. I remembered him as if it were yesterday, a giant hoisting me up to his shoulders, showing me the world from the heights. Tousling my hair, and laughing. Holding the shards of pottery I would find at some of the sites we visited in search of that golden future. He always acted as if what I found would be the key to that future, even though in my child’s heart I had known it wasn’t true.

And my mother, watching from the shadows, lurking like a pit spider to drag him away. My fists clenched, and I wanted to hurt her, to smash that face into ruin, to make her feel half the pain I had felt when she sent me away.

That night I dreamed, and as always, Danika was there. She was silent, walking beside me through the forests of Deralia. She tried to take my hand, to hold me as she had done so many times, but I pushed her away. I didn’t want comforting. I wanted vengeance.

At one point, I ran, feeling the rough bark of the trees as I stumbled through the forest. I came to a temple mount, steps cut into the living rock, and found myself climbing them. At the top, My mother stood, with a knife raised, then it came down on an unseen figure. Her hand reached down, and came up with a bloody heart in it. She looked at me, sneering, then flung it at me. I caught it, then recognized my father on the altar, his chest ripped open.

“He wanted you to have this.” She said, her tone dripping with vitriol. I ran toward him screaming, and hands caught me. Danika. She showed the same skill she had shown with others, holding me firmly and crooning wordlessly to calm me down.

The next morning I avoided Danika’s looks. I wanted out of the bond, but I couldn’t see a way.

The Council met in the same room as always. Master Vandar looked at Danika. “Your report was clear, Padawan. Revan and Malak sought this star map, which leads to something called the Star Forge. Master Dorak has searched the archive thoroughly and except for the two mentions that seem almost like legends, there is nothing about it.”

“I don’t know Malak’s intent, but I feel that Revan sought something to protect the Republic rather than destroy it.” She said.

“What brought you to this conclusion?” Vrook asked sharply.

“Master, she was still trying to protect the Republic from an outside threat, maybe even a future one. I think she went looking for this shield for the Republic, but the dark forces that surround it brought her down.”

Vrook nodded thoughtfully. “It sounds like her. She was always one to play with fire. This time she got burned.”

“You knew her, Master?”

He looked at her sharply. “Every master in this room knew her.”

“Master Vrook, let us concentrate on the matter at hand.” Vandar chided gently. “The news that the Star Forge may actually exist and with no knowledge of the extent of its powers is... disturbing. Action is called for but we must not act in haste. We must discuss this at length. Please return to your ship.”

We returned to the ship, and I returned to the starboard berthing area where the women were sleeping. Mission saw me and scuttled out. My look that day before probably frightened her still. I sat, and tried to meditate.

“Bastila?” Danika. Who else would try to break through my funk?

“Go away.”

“I will not.” I looked up, and she came over, falling into the tailor seat facing me. “You can’t keep it in, Bastila. Your hatred for your mother is coming through clear enough to make me angry with the woman. And your fighting against the bond is not helping.”

“I will deal with it-”

“No you won’t” She interrupted harshly. “You will allow it to fester, and build within your soul until you discover the truth. You want to know where your father is, and you want a confrontation with your mother. You see him as a sacrifice to your mother’s demands.”

I pictured the altar scene again. “Stay out of my mind!”

She laughed softly. “As if I can. I don’t like the bond, but it is there, and I can feel all of your pain through it. Your pain is mine, Bastila.” She looked at me thoughtfully. “After Kalendra left, I was devastated. I wanted to run away, go to Echana, beg her to bond with me. It wasn’t until later that I discovered that the Echani are all empathic. They link in the life-bond on a level the normal human cannot imagine. This bond between us is like that, if I am not mistaken.

“That bond can only be broken from within by the mutual agreement of the partners, or by death. I don’t know if this Force bond is like that, and I am afraid to try to break it.

“Please, Bastila, if not for your sake, than for me, your bond-mate, let’s find your mother, let’s get it over with one way or another. I can’t stand seeing you in pain, and having your pain transfer to me doesn’t make it any easier.”

“Just go away. Please.” I begged.

She reached out, brushing a stray hair from my face delicately. “As if I am ever far away.” She stood, and left me in my misery.

Our wait was not long. Again the Council met with us. “Padawan Danika, you have done well, but there is more that you must do against Malak and the Sith.” Vandar said.

“I am ready, Master.” She said humbly. I could feel her emotions just as she would feel mine, and I could see only a deep calm and resolution in them. How could she be so calm?

“We of the Council see no way that mere martial might will defeat the Sith. Not as long as they have this Star Forge on their side.”

“Yet we are agreed that the only way to remove the threat is to find and if possible destroy this Star Forge.” Vrook said. “Whatever it might be, it must be a powerful implement of the dark side to have dragged both Revan and Malak down.”

Vandar spoke. “The map you found showed four additional worlds, and Bastila was correct in her assessment of which worlds they were. Tatooine, Kashyyyk, Manaan and Korriban. We believe that whomever built the Star Forge wanted it to be difficult if not impossible to find. These other worlds perhaps have maps of the same type as the one you discovered, and they might give us clues to the Star Forge’s location. You must go to each world, find the star maps there, and discover the location of the Star Forge.”

“As the Council wills, Master.”

“The council knows how important this mission is, but we are bound by constraints in this. If we sent a company of knights upon this quest, with masters to guide them, we would draw unwanted attention. By the same token our ranks have been so harrowed by the Sith that we have no massive company to spare. Secrecy is needed.”

“Must I go alone, Master?” Her question was not plaintive, but I could feel the worry in her mind.

Vandar shook his head. “That would be equally unwise. A young barely trained Padawan would have no chance if such as Revan and Malak could fall so easily. Bastila will accompany you. The bond between you might be the key to unraveling this mystery. And Juhani has asked us to allow her to accompany you. After long deliberation, we have acquiesced. You have been a stabilizing influence in her life, and perhaps she can help to stabilize you as well. She came so close to falling to the dark side. Perhaps her example where you can see it will strengthen your will in this regard.”

I was watching the scene with horror. I wanted to scream, and beg them not to send me.

“There are also the ones that the Force has gathered to your cause. They must be asked, but I know that their special qualities will make this mission easier for you as well. But they must be told that secrecy and discretion must be paramount. You will not be able to conceal the fact that you are Jedi, nor should you try. But word of what you seek must not reach Malak’s ears.”

“I understand. When do we leave?”

Vrook sighed. “As soon as you feel ready. Malak grows stronger every day, and we must have that information. But a word, young Padawan. The lure of the dark side is strong, and you must guard against it at every turn. If not I fear the quest to find the Star Forge will lead you down an all too familiar path.”

“The fate of the Galaxy is in your hands, young Padawan. We pray you are up to that challenge. Go, and may the Force be with you.” Vandar added with finality.

She bowed. “Go, Danika.” I said. “There is something I must discuss with the Council. I will meet you in the courtyard.” She nodded, and left. I faced the council. I reached within myself, and with every fiber of my being brought myself to calm, forcing it to also extend down the link we shared. “Masters, I have made a grave error.”
-
“Such is the lot of Padawan from time immemorial.” Vandar said dryly.

“The link I forged. It is going beyond any ever recorded. I can feel her emotions, her desires, and sometimes even her thoughts. I don’t know if I can stand it much longer.”

“When you told us of it, we were also worried.”

“But now it has become impossible! When she was just some woman, and we thought it would fade or just be interesting dreams for the both of us it was one thing. But she has found the Force within her, and her progress at gaining its mastery terrifies me! She is so much stronger than I! The bond will drag me down when Danika falls!”

“You believe she will fall?” Vrook asked.

“No, I don’t. She has shown a depth of control I have felt from no one before, even from my original master. But that control fights with her own emotions. She was furious when she discovered Zaalbar had been a slave, when she faced the Mandalorian raiders here on Dantooine. Yet she took those emotions, placed them away from her mind, and dealt with the problems she faced.”

“So you worry for yourself, not her.”

“Yes! No. I don’t know!” I looked at them appealing. “I recently heard my mother was ill and looking for me, and for a time I was unable to deal with it. I dreamed, and she was there! When I tried to meditate after our last meeting, she was there, trying to deal with my problems as if they were hers! I can’t stand this! Please, there must be some way to dissolve the link!”

“She has already suggested a possible way to you.” Vandar said softly. “Ask her to aid you in breaking it.”

“No.” I shook my head vehemently. “We might need the link as it is to succeed.”

“If the link is necessary, what would you suggest?” Zhar asked.

“Don’t send me.”

“That we cannot do. You have caused her mind to be calmer than it was before. If you are separated, the link might drag you to join her anyway. Or consider if she does fall.” Vrook said. “Can you see yourself committing the acts the link will force on you here among us?”

“There must be something!”

“There is not.” Vandar said. “If we could break this link, we would have done so when we discovered her newfound talents. You will not accept the alternative, and we cannot allow her to roam the galaxy like a sentient warhead alone. Can you see an alternative I have not mentioned?”

I shook my head. “I will do what must be done.” I bowed and took my leave of them.

Danika was seated on a bench, looking at the Blba tree. “You have something you wanted to ask me.” She said at my approach.

“I do. How did you know?”

She grinned sadly, tapping the side of her head. “You didn’t want me to hear what was happening, yet some of it came through. Is the bond so horrible? Or is it me you hate?”

“I am a Jedi. I will not let emotions guide my actions. I do strain against the bond, true. But I neither hate nor like you.”

“Well that is clear enough.”

“The bond allows us to catch glimpses of each other’s mind. Our emotions travel along it and what you feel troubles me. A Padawan must receive considerable training. She must learn to control her emotions and darker impulses before she can be trusted to act within the world beyond the walls. This takes time, years in some cases, before control is assured.

“The problem is that the Republic does not have the years needed to assure you will not fall. You are strong in the Force, and that very strength drives the situation. You desperately need those years. Your lack of training can doom us.”

She stood. She wasn’t trying to block the bond from her end, and I felt worry more than anything else. It was like looking into a calm lake and seeing the fin of a predator cutting the smooth surface. “What can I do?”

I shrugged. “Considering our situation, there is nothing that can be done from outside. You have shown a remarkable degree of self-control and compassion up to this point. I hope you can maintain it when the surroundings are not so controlled.

“We must all resist the forces of the darkness that resides in us all. It is what we give our lives to stop. You with your natural affinity to the force are pressed harder than those with more training.”

She nodded. “I can only try.”

“That is good to hear. You will find the path harder even with the best of intentions. There is great danger before us. Any reckless act by either of us will affect the other, and the consequences can be devastating.”

“But it works both ways.” She said. “As I tried to help you earlier today, you can lend your strength to me.”

“Yes, that is true. I will do my best to guide you, but I am no master skilled in such arts. Not yet at least. There are times when I find your very capability frightening. As if I were riding a beast the size of the Ebon Hawk. Your sheer strength within the force can be overwhelming.

“I only hope that my skills can guide you through the hard times ahead.”

“I hope so as well.” She said softly. “While I was waiting, I asked one of the Archivists to gather all the information of the planets we must visit. I wanted to study them while enroute.”

A Twi-lek hurried toward us. Like most of those that worked with Dorak, he seemed permanently bemused, but when focused was like a missile. “Greetings, Bastila, I am Deesra, Master Dorak’s assistant chief archivist. The files you request, Padawan are here.” He handed the data chips to her.

“Five chips? I asked only for the planets.”

“Ah but your request for Korriban also kicked this back.” He said. The record of the last Great Hunt.”

“Great Hunt?”

“The Sith are not the only minions of the dark that exist. There are animals that find themselves drawn to it as well. The worst of these abominations is called the terentatek, a beast that feeds on the flesh and blood of those who have any vestige of capability of the force within them. The stronger the being is in the force, the greater the impulse, so their preferred diet is Jedi, and our dark cousins. Over the centuries, many Jedi have fallen to their ravenous appetites.”

“How great is the danger?”

“For a Jedi, it is ever present. We are their chosen prey, and they are intelligent and vicious hunters. They also have an inborn resistance to the powers we wield. It is believed that they are a horrible hybrid created by the First Dark Jedi of long ago, and spread through the galaxy in their attempt to destroy the Jedi.

“Fortunately, they are quite rare. They only live in places steeped in the dark side. In fact no one has seen one in almost forty years.”

“Possibly they are extinct.”

“There is no such luck. They have disappeared for centuries at a time. It is believed that when the light side is strong, they hibernate in some manner. When the Dark side waxes stronger, they awaken, and as the dark powers grow, they are drawn out of their lairs to hunt. I fear Malak and the Sith have reawakened them to hunt again.

“When we have defeated the Sith, I would not be surprised if the Council does not organize another great hunt as they did then.”

“You mentioned the Great Hunt before.”

“After the previous incursions of the Sith, such hunts were organized. Jedi must again travel and try to set right all that had been destroyed by the Sith. When our members die suddenly by violence, and with no other possible reason, the terentatek are usually responsible. Teams of Jedi are sent, and they hunt the terentatek down and kill them. Though always the cost is high.”

“The cost.” She mused. “Because you are hunting something that hunts you back.” I looked at her, and she shook her head. “Remember, Deralia is home? A place where Hunters go to face the most intelligent prey in the galaxy. A lot of Jedi probably died in that last hunt.”

“Yes they did. Korriban is rumored to still have them in abundance. That is where the New Sith first settled. It is where they always seem to return after one of their defeats. It is also where Exar Kun fell, and became the Sith Lord. The planet was still strong after the war of Exar Kun, and the Council viewed the cost of first capturing it merely to destroy these animals as prohibitive. They declared the hunt at an end, though three Jedi were sent to deal with the problem if they could. But they failed. Duron Qel-Droma, Guun Han Sharesh and Shaela Nur had a bond in the force as strong as you two share.

“It was believed that their bond would strengthen them in the ordeal. But their Master reported that they had rejoined the force only a short time later. It was decided that it was too dangerous to send others, so their exact fate is not known. But let their deaths serve as a warning to you.”

“I will.” Danika slipped the chips into her pouch.

“Do not underestimate the terentatek, Padawan. Great Jedi have fallen to them before. If you go into battle with them you must use all your skill and cunning to survive!”


War Council

Back aboard the Ebon Hawk, I called a war council. Everyone was there, and I assured that they were comfortable before I began. I let Bastila give the briefing, and sat back watching them. When she was done, Bastila waved toward me. I stood.

“Remember what you said about confused chains of command, Carth?” I asked. “This is guaranteed to be a real problem if we don’t take care of it before we lift. This is what I propose. Carth, aboard ship, you are in command.” I waved down Bastila’s protest. “You are the most experienced pilot we have, and Bastila is the second best. That makes you our flight team. Canderous, you have more experience with weapons than any aboard, so you will be the weapons officer. You and I will man the guns. Mission, you already have a job, and from what I’ve seen, you’re good at it, so you remain our loadmaster. Zaalbar, from what I’ve seen you are an excellent mechanic, so I’m making you engineering officer. Juhani,” I turned to look at the Cathar woman. “Until we find out what other skills you have, I’m not sure what you can do.”

“I am a skilled healer. I will accept medical officer.”

“Done. Can you handle communications as well?”

“Of course.”

“Then all our positions are full. T3, you’ll help where possible. Did I forget anyone?”

“Yes, you did.” Bastila said. “You haven’t told us what you will be doing.”

“Why I am the Captain and owner aboard, master of all I survey.” I said. There were chuckles. “In truth I was assigned this mission with Bastila assisting. So I am just going from place to place with you.

“Our destinations have been logged into the Nav-computer. I am open to suggestions as to where to go first.”

“Well we had better leave Manaan for later.” Mission said. “Davik is wanted in Ahto City. But then again, taking a crime bosses ship does have its advantages.” She grinned. “There are four entire transponder settings. Who shall we be today? Coruscant Sunrise? Freetrader Alliance?”

“Isn’t that illegal?” I asked, matching her grin.

“Hey, I won’t tell anyone if you don’t.” She stopped smiling. “I know my brother’s on Tatooine, but I won’t let personal problems enter into this. I will go where the ship goes.”

“As do I. Juhani said. “I am just glad that someone who trusts me is in command.”

“I go where I’m told to go, and kill who I’m supposed to kill.” Canderous said.

Zaalbar growled. It didn’t matter to him. T3 bleeped the same.

“Carth?”

“Before we go anywhere, I want some answers. I guess I’m just sick and tired of being kept out of the loop.”

“I haven’t been keeping you out of the loop, Carth.”

“Maybe not, but you’re not helping matters, and it’s really beginning to irritate me. For one thing all the secrecy. The Jedi Council drags the two of you in to talk, but won’t even tell me what it was about.

“Then all that training while we were forced to sit on our butts. Yet instead of finishing that training, they send you out like a sacrificial goat! Even I know it takes years, even decades before a Jedi is judged competent, but you’ve had what, seven weeks?”

“They though it was more important that I help find the star maps instead of staying.”

“And why is this your mission, not hers?” He waved at Bastila. “Sure you were hell on wheels on Taris, in a free flowing combat situation. But this is different. What good are you going to be commanding a mission when you’re not even qualified to be a Jedi yet? What about your training?”

I looked at Bastila. “I was sent because Bastila and I share a bond, and that bond is giving us clues of where to search. It gave us the coordinates so far, and the planets to search on.”

“A bond? Just because you like Echani clothes, and use a ritual brand like one doesn’t make you Echani! I find the entire reason they’ve given us to be shallow. You’re a neophyte Padawan, saddled with what might be the most important mission of the war. Why? If this were a Republic crew and ship, and you had this little experience I would say it you were a stalking horse! This is a suicide mission in everything but name, and I for one want to know why I have to die!

“I’m not accusing you of anything, or saying that you are responsible for the Jedi Council, but throw us a bone here! There has to be a reason.”

“Bastila has a bond with me, and I have been given this assignment. There is nothing more I can say, Carth.”

“And what does that mean? Is this more of that ‘destiny’ crap the Jedi are always shoveling? That can’t be it, and someone, either the Council, the Jedi themselves, Bastila, or you is hiding what is going on. I am not going to be betrayed again!”

I sighed, closing my eyes. “Carth, I am not Saul, and I am not going to betray you. I thought I had earned at least some trust.”

“It isn’t that. I don’t think...” He slammed his fist on the table, and looked at me sadly. “All I seem to do is insult you. Let’s just get on with this.”

I looked around, then nodded. “Stations.”

I walked forward, followed by Carth and Bastila. I went to the Nav-computer, and opened it’s files. One entry intrigued me. “Why is Yavin listed?”

“Must have been something Davik left.”

“Why does that name...” I snapped my fingers. “Exar Kun’s base at the end of the last Sith war. “Why would that be in here?”

“Perhaps they are using it as a smuggler’s hideout, or transfer point?” Bastila opined.

“I am wondering about the salvage options.” I said. “With the Massassi extinct, and no patrols, perhaps they are looking for artifacts they can sell to the Sith?”

She considered. “That is possible.”

“Then let’s go there first.” I punched in the coordinates as Carth lifted us off. I looked down on Dantooine, and felt a chill. Somehow, I knew I would not be returning.



Something inside me came out. I walked over to face Shaardan. “Let me put a question to you. A Jedi is standing here impatiently while a puling little piece of filth blocks her way.” I reached out, and his lightsaber leaped from his belt into my hand.
I noticed that Shaardan initially had his lightsaber in his hand but then Danika uses the force to pull Shaardan's lightsaber from his belt. Seems like a disconnect to me. When did Shaardan hook it on his belt?

Looking forward to seeing how you spin the rest of the Korriban quest, noting particularly how you've altered the role of Czerka in the Korriban story.

Re: how Malak lost his jaw - Yes, I would like to know the circumstances behind Malak's missing jaw. In the game cutscene where he and Revan enter the Rakatan ruins on Dantooine Malak is pictured with a regular face, jaw and all. My guess is he lost it during the ongoing Jedi Civil War (Battle of Trantor), not the Mandalorian War. I'm curious to know how though. .

Note for all readers: If the rest of you would like to know how Malak lost his jaw, I will add it (There is a point about 150 pages on where I can do it without interrupting the flow)

They play golf in the SW KotOR universe? :

Cut me some slack cutmeister. I was trying to convery the silent appreciation a golf clap portrays.

I noticed that Shaardan initially had his lightsaber in his hand but then Danika uses the force to pull Shaardan's lightsaber from his belt. Seems like a disconnect to me. When did Shaardan hook it on his belt?.

My own fault. Thanks for noticing.

Looking forward to seeing how you spin the rest of the Korriban quest, noting particularly how you've altered the role of Czerka in the Korriban story.

I was just figuring that Czerka would have been pissed about Kashyyyk. Part of the reason I made them the bad guy sort of on Manaan was they seem the kind of company that would try something like this. Of course after those two planets, they would have been on the lookout hoping she'd go somewhere they could mess with her. Let's see how you like the next part...

Jolee

Danika listened as I rambled on. I had learned the best way to judge what a person would do was by telling them stories. Are the stories I tell true? None of your business!

We reached the Cantina, and were going inside when a scruffy little Rodian stopped us. “Human, a moment of your time please. You are the one flying Ebon Hawk now?”

“Yes, I am. Who is asking?”

“Name is unimportant. You do not know me. I don’t know you. Better in this business. What important is we waiting shipment carried by Ebon Hawk a month now. We should be happy shipment made it off Taris, but still we are without. Please hand it over, and our business is done.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You don’t know? Davik not tell you?”

“Davik is dead.”

“Not what I heard. Exchange killing itself to find him. You sure? How you end up with Ebon Hawk then?”

“He sold her to us.”

“Ah, then fake death. Transfer of ownership not important to us. We contracted several kilos of Ryll-spice delivered. Maybe it is aboard and you not know?”

Danika looked at him. “Perhaps. But where-”

“Ebon Hawk has many areas of concealment. Last message said was aboard in scan proof container we supplied.”

“I can look for it.”

“Please do. He leaned forward and whispered. “That is code to open the storage area. Davik gave us it.”

Danika lifted her com, and spoke. Her com was set to hush mode, so no one nearby could hear what she said or heard. A moment later, she lowered her arm. “I have someone bringing it right now.”

We stood there waiting. A few minutes later, Canderous came down the ramp, carrying a small shipping container. He handed it to Danika. Danika gave it to the Rodian. The little guy took out a bankcard, handing it over. “You’re payment for delivery. Tell me, Human, interested in carrying for us?”

“No more spice.”

“Nothing of sort. Rare antique box deliver to Motta the Hutt. This spice from him, box is payment.” He handed over a datapad, and Danika looked at it.

“Yes. I will accept the box.” She handed the datapad to me. The box was a pintel 20 centimeters tall, and looked like the Star Map we had seen on Kashyyyk. I handed it to Juhani.

“Good. No danger if you don’t open box.”

“Why?”

The Rodian looked around. “Bad stories. People open box, minds gone, bodies still alive.”

“I’ll take it.”

“I load aboard your ship soon. Motta live in Anchorhead on Tatooine. Business concluded.”

“Danika-” Juhani began.

“You saw the box. It is a builder artifact. I can’t very well leave it in the hands of criminals.”

“I agree. However what do you intend to do with it?”

“I haven’t decided yet.” Danika hissed. “Right now, I just want a drink.”



Danika
The Cantina was quiet. We got our drinks, and sat down. The bartender watched us, and I remembered Ziagrom. I motioned, and he brought us a second round. “You are Mika Dorin aren’t you?”

“Guilty.” He said. “And you are the new owner of the Ebon Hawk.”

“A man named Ziagrom suggested I talk with you.”

“Yes. If you need special items. Traditionally the owner of the Ebon Hawk has been the contact for all of our transactions, but in the past the owners have always been affiliated with the Exchange. That is why Ziagrom waited until now to contact you. We had no idea who you were, or whether we could do business with you. However all doubts have been explained, Lord Revan.”

“I am not Revan anymore.”

“You are not? Then Ziagrom is wrong for once?”

“No. I was Revan. But not any more.”

“Your disguise is not important. You have no intent to dispose of your wayward apprentice?”

“That I did not say. I will not be doing it for revenge, however.”

“Your reasoning is not germane to our business transactions. We do believe in what you are capable of, and in our own small part, wish to help.”

“What do you normally carry?”

“Weapon of all sizes from hand projectors to ship’s cannon. However from what I have seen, the Ebon Hawk has been upgraded recently. The best I could give you for the ship would be missiles.”

“How many and what type?”

“Planar mines, proton torpedoes, concussion warheads, and ion blast torpedoes. The previous owners usually sold our merchandise but you I think will use it instead.”

I called the ship, and told Canderous to come and discuss it with the man. “Do you know a lot about the previous owners?”

“Nothing that you couldn’t get out of the merchant registry. Most were affiliated with the Exchange as I have already said, and revealed only enough to establish their bona fides. But the ship itself is well known. She is said to be the best smuggler in ten sectors. Some say such renown explains the curse she is also supposed to bear.”

“A curse?”

“Everyone agrees that the Ebon Hawk is the premier vessel when it comes to smuggling. However, her captains have not fared well. Take Davik Kang for instance. Can you say having your home planet blown apart beneath you was good luck? While the destruction of Taris might not have killed Davik, surely the fact that you are here and he is not suggests something lethal in his path. Ahita Othar was hired to carry a poorly sealed vial of the Iridian plague virus for a military subsidiary of Czerka, and her entire crew died. Forii Haxa before her tried to cheat at Pazaak, and had his arms ripped off. Shall I go on?”

“That suggests that the captains have been foolish or worked in a dangerous field. Not that the ship is cursed.”

“True. But I expect a Dark Lord of the Sith can cause more ill luck than good.”

“What can you tell me about the Academy?”

“An odd question considering who you are. Very well, I will assume that you are pretending to not be Revan for a time. The Academy is beyond the flats outside. It can only be entered by students and teachers. All prospective candidates must receive a medallion, and show this upon entry.”

“Where can I get one of these medallions?”

“Either from a teacher or from a student. I must admit though that it would be easier to simply kill a student and take it from his corpse. One of the teachers from there is Yuthura Ban. She frequents my establishment occasionally.”

I slid a small stack of credits across. “For our drinks, and one other thing. Call me aboard my ship the next time this Yuthura Ban is here.”

He scooped up the money, and walked away.

We started back toward the ship. Ahead of me I saw a group of men in Czerka uniforms, and among them-

“Down!” I dived for the deck, followed by Jolee. There was a burst of sound, and Juhani shuddered as a sonic rifle blast hit her.

“Stay where you are!” One of the men said. “Xor Vontori wishes the return of his escaped slave. If you interfere, we are authorized to use deadly force.”

I leaped to my feet, and my lightsaber ripped across the intervening distance. The man with the sonic rifle had time for one scream as it sliced through his chest. Jolee reached out, and men tumbled like nine pins as I ran toward them.

The lightsaber flew back to my hand, and I blocked several blaster bolts, sending two men down from the ricochets. Behind me I could hear cursing, but I ignored it. There were four men and Xor remaining, and they screamed as I dropped among them. I cut left and right, then forward, three dead in as many seconds. The last Czerka man turned to run. I let him go as Xor came at me. He had the hideout pistol he had pulled before, and as it came up, I sliced into his arm, taking it off at the shoulder. His scream died in a gurgle as I rammed the blade through his chest.

I reached out with the force, and plucked up the man that was running, flipping him through the air to slam into a wall. I caught him by the collar as he fell.

“How dare you interfere with my crew!” He gibbered in terror. I dropped him, the lightsaber dying. “Tell your company rep that if he interferes with me and mine again, Czerka will have to send replacements for everyone here. Now get out of my sight!”

As he scrabbled away, I turned. Jolee was nursing a sprained ankle. Juhani was still quivering from the sonic blast. I took out a med Pac, and injected her.

There was the sound of gentle clapping. A female Twi-lek in Sith uniform stood there near the door to the Cantina. ”Well done, Jedi.” She purred.

“Who are you?” I snapped.

“Temper temper, little Jedi. You aren't the first to come to Korriban to get away from that stultifying order and you won‘t be the last. I am Yuthura Ban, second only to Master Uthar of the Academy. I hear you have an interest in me?”

“Yes.”

“I like your demonstration. Did you plan it? Or did the conversation just dry up?”

“Someone was trying to take one of my crew away as a slave.” I touched Juhani’s shoulder. She would be out of it for at least another hour. “No one touches my friends.”

“Ah. That explains so much. There is something odd about you, something I cannot place in my mind. Obviously you are a Jedi. From what I have seen, a powerful one. Were you part of the order for long? Did they train you?”

“I have forgotten most of my training.”

She cocked her head. “Strange. Your answer makes little sense, but I sense no duplicity in the remark. You have great power, and the Sith always welcome those with power. That power can be trained into an unbeatable force with my help. Does that interest you?”

“Yes it does.”

“Ah, good. Just the answer I would have expected. I will take you to the Academy now if you wish.”

“No.” I motioned. “I must get my crewmember aboard the ship first.”

“An hour then?”

“Yes.”

“Good. I warn you however that my patience is not infinite. If you fail to show up on time, you will be left behind, and I will not make the offer again.”

“I’ll be there.”

She nodded, and went into the Cantina. I lifted Juhani. Jolee stood, wincing at his ankle.

“We don’t have a lot of time. Come on.”


Prisoner

Danika

The Czerka employee at the landing bay looked surprised when I came through carrying Juhani. He talked on his com, and I saw his face pale. I looked at him speculatively, then walked aboard the Ebon Hawk. I took Juhani to the medical bay, and left her with Jolee. I told Carth what had happened, and he said he’d get ready. At his suggestion, he added T3 to our party. If T3 was already done, then I wasn’t worried.

Only then did I go to the cargo bay. The small pintel sat there, enigmatic, and drawing me closer. I remembered the admonition from the smuggler even as I reached out and touched the tip. There was a flash as it opened, and someone screamed my name as I fell into light.

I found myself standing on an open plain, all of it a stark white. Ahead of me rose a pintel such as I had touched but three meters tall. Beneath the arms of it stood a figure. I walked toward it.

When I was closer I recognized one of the aliens whose artifacts I had been chasing. He looked at me.

“Another visitor. No one for such a long time, then three in such a short time! Now let me see... I don’t know the species. Of course, I didn’t know the other ones either. Female, bilateral symmetry, eyes in the head instead of properly spaced. I would prefer my own species and sex But you will do.”

“Do for what?” I asked.

“As a body, of course. I don’t want to remain in this prison forever, oh no. I am a prisoner as are you, now, though I expect this was an accident for you. This is where my people put our criminals. Our minds are forced into these little cages, there to remain for the duration of our sentences. For really monstrous criminals, we put them here forever.”

“How long have you been here?” I asked.

“Time has little meaning, and I was never good with numbers even when I was alive. Let us just say that if my people still exist, they have forgotten me.”

“What did you do to deserve this?”

“I led a war. A rebellion actually. Millions of my people died because I thought myself powerful enough to rule. As you can see, I was wrong.”

I shook my head. “You said three in a row. What did you mean?”

“Two others of entirely different species came before you. One was a giant hermaphroditic slug. The other was like you except it had a pair of tentacles on its head. Most strange. However I could not speak to them as I can with you.

“Eventually they grew angry, and ran away into the light.” He waved toward the expanse beyond the pillars. “You could find them out there if you wanted. However I would suggest against it. The whiteness brings out everything you might have done different in your life, and gives it flesh. Only here are we safe from that. They are either mad or being torn apart by their own minds by now.”

People who open box, their minds gone, their bodies still alive, if you call that life. The Rodian had said. I looked at the white expanse beyond, thinking of all I had done that was evil. I didn’t want to face Lord Revan furious that I had taken over. I shuddered.

“Is there no way out?”

“Now that is an interesting question, oh yes indeed. I have been in here for so long that I had nothing better to than to ponder that very question. Thousands of years. How many I don’t know. The point is that I have found a way to escape. Interesting that, wouldn’t you say?”

“But. Your people have been extinct for over 25,000 years. I doubt your body is still alive out there.”

“How clever of you to have figured that out so quickly. My body is, of course, long dead, and dust by now. But your body is not.” I suddenly saw where this was going. He shook his head. “Before you get all excited and defensive, let me tell you what I have also discovered. I cannot merely leap into your body and abscond with it without your permission, or at least your inattention. This leaves us at an impasse, wouldn’t you say?”

“Yes. I assume you have a suggestion to settle this.”

“Of course. I have had all these millennia to think of one. I propose a contest to settle this like civilized beings. If you wanted we could debate for a thousand years why I should not be released, but I don’t think your body has a thousand years left. Frankly even after a thousand years, I don’t think either of us will carry the debate in our favor.

“So why waste the time? One contest between us. The winner gets to leave.”

“What sort of contest?”

“I have little clues as to what manner of contests are normal beyond my prison. I cannot guarantee knowing the rules, let alone the scoring of any game you might have played. We could fight, but neither of us can die in here, and all it would do is cause us both unnecessary pain. Therefore could we settle on a game of the mind? A riddle game perhaps? The first to fail in answering will be the loser?”

I considered. At the moment, my body was a drooling vegetable aboard the ship. I had to get to the Cantina quickly, or fail to enter the Academy. “Would it be a different case if the visitor was of your own species?”

He considered. “Since you have said that my race is extinct, there were none to trade with. However these boxes were made to keep only one of my kind. If there were two the first occupant would be displaced.

“I could have escaped in death. I could have walked out there a long time ago.” He waved at the whiteness. “That would have emptied the box when I died.”

“But I cannot stay here! The quest I am on is linked to something called the Star Forge-”

“It still exists?”

I stared at him in shock. “Apparently.”

“Then the planet it serviced must also live.” He was getting excited. “There is a chance. If you can find my people...” He considered. “I agree, but only because your body is not really attractive as a vessel. Do you promise to aid me?“

“I swear it.“

“Are you ready to return to your body?”

“Wait, what is the Star Forge?”

The greatest boon, and the greatest curse a race could know.” I waited, but he said nothing more.

“I am ready to go.”

“Just concentrate on breathing, then stop yourself from breathing. Your body will draw you back.”

I took a deep breath. “One thing.”

“Yes?”

“Don't tell the next one how bad you are with numbers.”

“Thank you.”

I stopped breathing. My head began to spin, then suddenly I sat up, sucking air into my lungs.

“Danika!” Someone caught me by the shoulder. I was in my quarters. I hugged Carth desperately

“Carth.” I answered. “So close.”

“What?”

“That poor creature trapped in that prison everyone seems to think is just a box. I came so close to staying there in his place.” I looked at him. “Picture a prison you can only escape if they let you out or you are replaced. Then picture your entire society dying, and you’re still in prison. I wanted to take his place, to give him a chance to live a full life. Regardless of what he might have done, no one deserves what happened to him.”

I stood, and walked back to the cargo hold. I laid my hand on the box, and whispered. “If there is a way, you will be freed.” I turned. “How long was I unconscious?”

“Only a few minutes.”



Academy

Danika

We hurried. Yuthura noticed my companions, but made no mention of them. She led me across the plain to a huge door, and opened it. The Academy was an ancient structure converted to the use of the Sith. In a large central room, a small number of hopefuls were gathered. A man stood before them. I could feel the force burning in him, but it was tinged almost to black.

“I am Uthar Wynn, the Master of this Academy. It appears that we have a late entry.” He looked at me, as did the other hopefuls. “What have your found for me, Yuthura? A young human bristling with the force?”

“A young woman that has had some training among the Jedi, Master Uthar. A very promising prospect.”

“Promising?” I looked at the speaker. Lashowe sneered. “I met her in the colony. Not much there that I can see.”

“Do you doubt my senses, student?” Yuthura purred angrily.

“I will make my own judgments, thank you.” Uthar said blandly. Both women flushed. He was watching me during the exchange, and smiled. “Holding your own counsel unless asked. A sign of uncommon wisdom for your age. Tell me, young Jedi. What do you know of the Sith? What propaganda have you been fed about us?”

“I know that the Sith are a force to be reckoned with.” I replied softly. “That they are powerful.”

“A diplomatic answer. Wise for a student. As for power, our power is obvious even to the untrained. However my question goes deeper than that. Since you have had training that these others have not, I will explain for their benefit.

“The Jedi equate light with goodness, strength, and justice, and the darkness with subterfuge, evil, and weakness. That is their tradition, and it is no surprise that they cling to that outmoded view of the world for their comfort. They treat the Force as if it were a rare and precious burden, something to be carried about but used only sparingly. As if it were water in a desert.

“We however treat the Force as a gift given to the strong. Something that can never be used up, so why not use it? We celebrate our power. We glory in it. We use it to subjugate the weak because the strong always control the weak. There are those that say we should not, but they are the ones that trained her.” He pointed at me. “Beings that can only see the world through glasses of their own prejudice.

“We are what the Force is meant to be. The Jedi will tell you otherwise. They say that the dark side is too quick too easy. Wrong because of the emotions it draws on. But they say this over and over to hide from their own natures. They cringe from glorying in their ability, and expect you to do the same.

“Joining us means realizing your true potential. It means not having your skills stultified by a group of hidebound shamans unwilling to step from their hide tents to see the glory of the sun! Accepting our ways means realizing what you were meant to be in this Galaxy. Hunters, killers, conquerors. Are you ready for that?” He looked at each of us in turn. “Are you ready to accept that power Lashowe? Do you dare?”

“I dare, Master Uthar!” She screamed. “I am ready!”

Uthar smiled. “Brash and fiery as reported. Turn all of that passion to your studies, and you will succeed. What of you Mekel? Are you ready?”

The young man bowed. “More than ready.”

“I sense much anger in you. That is good. It will feed your power as you grow into it. What say you Shaardan?”

Shaardan had been glaring at me, and flinched. “I am always ready!”

“I see. Best gather your wits, boy, or you won’t survive the trials ahead.” He looked at me. “And you, young Jedi. Are you ready?”

. “I am always ready to learn more.”

“Are you?” His head cocked. “I can see into your heart girl. I see the dark kernel that is there. Whether it will sprout is yet to be seen.“ He turned back to the group. “You all stand here today, but I will tell you this. Only one of you four will go on to attain the glory of the Sith. There is a series of tests that you must pass, and only one shall succeed. That one will be accepted into the Academy, and the others will be cast out to wait for a year. As you have already, Shaardan, and you, Lashowe. Failure to pass may also mean your deaths, as those two can attest. My apprentice Yuthura shall be your teacher and master during these next days. Heed her words as mine. Take over.”

Yuthura slipped her thumbs in her belt. “You have heard the master, and testing begins this minute. None of you are true Sith yet. For that to occur, one of you must impress both Master Uthar and me with their skill audacity and strength. If you feel worthy, there is a last test, which will decide. The tombs beyond-” she waved behind us. “House the relics of our forebears. Of them all, only one had been penetrated successfully. Since then we have used the tombs to cull out the fools who hurry without thought. You need not step foot in any of them until the final test, but if you enter a tomb, and bring out proof that you have done so, you will easily win this contest.

“For it is a contest. You are not a team. You are competitors. One will stand alone at the end, and the others shall be cast out, or dead. If having to fight just to survive is a problem for you, leave now. The choice is yours.”

“Whomsoever wins must also be able to explain and quote the Sith Code as well.” Uthar said. “Being the first in that will gain you honor. The rest of your tests are for you to discover my children. Welcome to the dark side. Your one chance at glory, power, and true greatness begins here.”

Note for all readers: If the rest of you would like to know how Malak lost his jaw, I will add it (There is a point about 150 pages on where I can do it without interrupting the flow)Come on people! Need a little help here, please!
Danika listened as I rambled on. I had learned the best way to judge what a person would do was by telling them stories. Are the stories I tell true? None of your business!I've wondered how much embellishment Jolee adds to his stories, heh-heh-heh. :smirk2:

I am curious as to why you wrote the Xor encounter without giving Juhani the opportunity to face the dark side temptation to slay Xor. You effectively took her out of this part by having her get blasted by a sonic rifle.

Interesting how you've utilized the Rakatan prison box. I've got an idea how the box may be used later on in the story. I'll just have to wait and see if my idea pans out on the Unknown World.

Come on people! Need a little help here, please!
I've wondered how much embellishment Jolee adds to his stories, heh-heh-heh. :smirk2:

I am curious as to why you wrote the Xor encounter without giving Juhani the opportunity to face the dark side temptation to slay Xor. You effectively took her out of this part by having her get blasted by a sonic rifle.

Interesting how you've utilized the Rakatan prison box. I've got an idea how the box may be used later on in the story. I'll just have to wait and see if my idea pans out on the Unknown World.

The incident with Xor happened that way because I was thinking of a slave owner's mentality. He wanted her, not a fight. He had probably hoped to take them all down, but the Czerka personnel were there so they could try to have some 'legality' to their actions. After all, she is according to Xor, and escaped slave.

I never really considered having Juhani actually confront him a second time. After all, try as I might, I was unable to reach the story line where you had that chance. I always met the putz on Korriban, and since the next necessary destination is the Rakata home world, ity never came up. Though I did try, even delivering the damn box to the Hutt didn't cause it to happen. Nor did returning to Korriban after delivery.

Suborning

Danika

We were led to our cubicles, then once the Sith hopefuls had unpacked their gear, we were taken for testing. This was easy for me, since it was on the level of the testing we had done aboard the Ebon Hawk with Sasha in the first days. Moving items from place to place, lifting them and holding them suspended. I was first in this due to my training, but Mekel had some skill with it, as did Shaardan. Lashowe was the worst; unable to maintain her concentration, though when she hurled a chair into a wall hard enough to shatter it she was praised.

It didn’t take long, and we were sent back to our cubicles to rest for the next day. Carth was impatient, and I understood why. All he wanted was Dustil, the Star Map, and to leave Korriban behind, the first two in whatever order they could be attained. T3 had been running diagnostics, and bleeped at me when I returned. I looked at my com.

-Five attempts to slice my systems through the internal network have been recorded. None successful-

“By?” I asked.

-Lashowe Shaardan Yuthura Uthar and Mekel in that order- He bleeped. -

However two of them penetrated sufficiently that I was forced to ‘pretend’ to have been suborned. These were by Shaardan and Uthar-

“What did they seek?”

-Shaardan has attempted to program my circuits so that on command, I will assassinate you. Uthar was trying to discover your identity beyond what he had been told. He seems to feel that he would know you, and wants to discover why. Yuthura’s probes were in the same vein. Note. Uthar has been in charge of the Academy for two years, but has been here for ten meaning he would have seen you as Revan. Yuthura was also here but only for six years-

“Then I will have to dance between the raindrops.” I said. I looked at Carth. “I will try to locate Dustil. T3, can you access the mainframe?”

-Already done. Mission used the ICE program she gained on the Leviathan to create a super slicer program. Location of Dustil Onasi is known. Also, there is a file concerning a woman named Selene. She arrived at the same time as Dustil Onasi but died two weeks ago. The file is... incomplete-

“What do you mean?” Carth asked.

-The file has all the earmarks of a sanitized copy-

“I see what you mean.” I said. “Like my service records aboard Endar Spire that you read, Carth.”

-Exactly-

“Would there be copies of the files somewhere else?”

-Possible. Both Yuthura and Uthar have separate systems not linked to the mainframe-

“Then let’s see if I can get you to one of those systems.” I stood. The door slid open, and I paused as Yuthura entered.

“Ah, my favorite prospect for the year.” She said. I stayed silent. “By my estimation you are head and shoulders above the others in ability. It is more than likely that you will attain the summit ahead of them. As a matter of fact, I am so sure of this that I am going to offer you a once in a lifetime chance. Are you willing to hear it?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, someone who decides quickly and is willing to take chances. I like that in my students. As I intimated, I am going to help you succeed over the others. Uthar will choose you, and I will of course, agree with his estimation.

“Once that is done, he will take you into the valley of the Dark Lords to the tomb of Naga Sadow for the final test. There you and I will be alone with him.”

“Such a splendid time to rearrange a change of command?” I asked.

“Quick to decide, and quick to apprehend as well. Excellent.”

“Why is this tomb so important?” I asked.

“Almost four years ago, Darth Revan and Darth Malak came. Of course they were still Jedi, but that would change soon enough. They brushed aside what defense we had, and entered the tomb of Naga Sadow together. Then they came out and departed returning five months later with an offer of alliance between them and the Sith. During that year, brave students penetrated the tomb and discovered a Star Map. The Master at that time resealed the tomb, and we have used it since. Reaching the map, against the same risks they faced, is now our final test for applicants.

“However that test is not as important to you as is the fact that Uthar, you, and myself will be completely alone. No guards, no other students, just us.”

“And what is your part?”

“My part as you would say is to assure that you are the one that stands there with me. That means I must deter the others as long as possible. With that done, you go on to the final test. Once it has been completed, you and I face Uthar. Once he is dealt with, I become the Master of the Academy, and you are at my side as my apprentice. A simple, elegant, and most important, foolproof plan.”

I considered. Whether she held the others back or not was unimportant. In fact I assumed she had made the offer to them as well. It was after all, the Sith way to eliminate your superior at the first opportunity. “Very well. I agree.”
“I am so glad you see it my way. I must begin the preparations for the final test. Your only worry is getting there. Don’t disappoint me.”

“I would like something to assure you are really helping me.” I said.

“You doubt my word?” She hissed.

“You are Sith. Lying to someone else for gain is pretty much a foregone conclusion.”

She stared at me, then laughed. “Oh very good! What would you have of me?”

“The Code of the Sith.”

“Ah. You were listening when Uthar spoke. I can explain it better than the library can. Would you hear it?”

“Please.”

“Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion I gain strength. Through strength I gain power. Through power I gain victory. Through victory my chains are broken. The Force shall free me.” She looked at me, her eyes glowing. “Simple words yet easily misunderstood because of that very simplicity. Would you care for me to explain further?”

“Peace is a lie, there is only passion?”

“The Jedi Masters would have you believe that peace is the most desirable goal. That peace of your own spirit is the way that the Force is best mastered. That the lack of conflict betters mankind. We of the Sith know different. It is our passion, our hate and our desire that fuels the Force within us. Conflict is nature’s way to assure that the species, even down to the lowest virus improve themselves. Conflict between species assures that only the best survive. Conflict between societies forces them to grow and mature. Whether you call it evolution, or war, the only way to improve and adapt is to struggle. Or die. Without it all you have is stagnation.”

“Through passion I gain strength?”

“What else fuels your power with the Force but your own passions? Anger, hatred, fear. All of these passions draw the force to them, and empowers us.”

“What about love?’

She made a dismissing gesture. “Oh love would be good if it could be mastered, as can the others. Love can fuel anger and hatred, even fear when you believe it is not returned, or you have jealousy to add to the mixture. But love also leads to mercy and concentrating on one goal alone, feeding that love. That is, however, a lesson for another time.”

“The Jedi say the opposite, though they also try to stop direct personal love. How can both be wrong?”

“The Force gives all beings power if they can learn to use it. Our passions give us the strength the Jedi lack.”

“Through negative emotions?”

“Negative compared to what? What keeps even the smallest animal alive? The fear that makes it run and hide. If they cannot run, the anger needed to make it fight as hard as it can. The lust that makes them reproduce. That is what keeps animals alive. How can survival be negative?” I nodded slowly. “Our goal is to be stronger; to achieve our potential, then extend our potential as far as it may go. We are the predators of the universe, not the sheep or their shepherds.

“Through strength I gain power?”

“The stronger you become in the Force, the more temporal power you achieve. The Masters and Apprentices of the order are above your strength because they have achieved it. Just as the Masters of the Jedi have attained more power. But where they gain it in a haphazard manner, by pure chance or a willing teacher, we fight for every step of the way, and seek those other powers. Without strife, your victories have no meaning. Without strife, you will not advance. Without strife, there is only stagnation.”

“Through power I gain victory?“

“How many forms of victory would they have you believe there are? Peaceful victories where you convince your enemy not to attack. Victory by example, where you inspire a later generation. Truce, where you merely convince an enemy to stop fighting. Achievement, such as advancing from Apprentice to Padawan.

“But unless demonstrating your power and defeating all obstacles attains that victory, it is illusory. It is temporary because one day your enemy will see a new weakness, and begin the conflict again. If there is anything we learned from Darth Revan’s defeat of the Mandalorians, it is that mercy has no part in victory. We seek to end all conflict between societies by showing ourselves superior to all around us, nothing less. As for personal conflicts,” She made the same dismissing gesture. “We expect and glory in that.”

“Through victory my chains are broken?”

“This has been argued over for a long time. Since the Code was developed by Ajunta Pall. The Chains represent the restrictions placed upon us, by those around us, by the physical restrictions of our species, and especially those we place upon ourselves. The ultimate goal of all Sith is to transcend any restrictions so we may do and be what we wish, though there is much more than that. One who has escaped from all restriction has achieved perfection. Their potential in all things fulfilled. Perfect strength, perfect power, perfect destiny. Imagine it if you can!

“That is our ideal at any rate. It is said in the legends of the Original Sith race that the Sith-ari, what they named the ‘perfect being’, will one day reveal itself and lead us from that day forward. But that is only legend.”

“You don’t believe the Sith-ari can exist?”

“I wondered as a young Sith what such a being might be like. The legends also say that the Sith-ari will first destroy us, then make us stronger than ever. I have come to believe that the Sith-ari are more an unattainable goal to lead us toward that perfection. The Jedi would argue with me on that, I think.”

“The Force shall free me?”

“The Force is both our servant and our master, our teacher and our companion, our weapon and our tool. Know it, and you know the universe. Master it, and you master the universe. Strive for perfection, and the Force will reward you with perfection.”

I understood. Actually, the problem was that the Sith Code was as rational as that of the Jedi. Both aimed at perfection of the being, but at cross purposes with each other. “I understand.”

“I knew you would. The Force is strong in you, youngster. Master it and it will serve you well.”

I nodded. “May I ask more?”

“There is not a lot of time for you to waste on idle questions.” She admonished.

“I wonder about the ruins. Why have the Sith returned to them?”

“We seek more knowledge of our progenitors on Korriban. Why they came here of all places, why they left. The planet appears at least to be nothing more than a collection of tombs now. Perhaps we could learn more of the Force itself. With knowledge, you also gain power. However only one of the tombs has been breached and explored successfully up until now. The tomb of Naga Sadow. After Revan and Malak, only the Master of the Academy has been able to open the doors again. I am looking forward to your test. The way to enter the tomb is key to being the Master here.”

I looked at that face. While she was enthusiastic about becoming the Master of the Academy, I felt that there was something beneath that desire. Something personal. “Tell me about yourself.”

“What?” She looked surprised. “I am originally from Sleheryon, if you must know. I was a slave to Omeesh the Hutt. A vile and cruel representative of a cruel and vile race. More than that you have no need to know. Now go and gain your prestige.” She shooed me off.



Carth

“Why did you ask that?” I hissed when we left the room.

“Because I can see that there is still good in her, Carth.” She replied. “If I could be redeemed, so could she.”

“I don’t waste my time thinking about why an enemy is my enemy.”

“Then you will always have enemies.” She said. “Saul had a reason at least in his own mind for his betrayal. If that had been dealt with honestly, he would have been a loyal officer of the Republic still.” She looked at me. “Or do you think that fools who feel patronage is more important than results should command men’s lives?”

“That isn’t what I meant!” I snapped. Then sighed. “Sometimes, you’re just right, okay?”

“By discovering why an enemy is your enemy, you can bring them down to the level where if they would make an effort, you can end a conflict. Maybe not friendship, but at least the willingness to live and let live.” She pressed. “And if you cannot end it, at least you get no pleasure in killing them. Best to end their lives with at least some regret.” She paused, and turned down one of the corridors. She stopped at a door, and opened it.

A young man sat in meditation. After this trip I knew the signs of it. I could also tell by his furrowed forehead that he was having problems with it.

“I feel that you are having problems.” Danika said smoothly.

“I’m sorry, do I know you?” He looked at T3 and I, but ignored us after that brief glance. His attention was on another student, not her servants.

“I am Danika Wordweaver.”

“Kel Algwinn. I became a student only last month.”

“As I said, you seem to be having problems.”

“No. It’s... nothing really.”

“Are you sure?”

He looked down from her, and I could feel him wanting to blurt everything out. “My master tells me I am too trusting. Too willing to show and admit weakness. You should understand that. You’re a Sith too, so... Maybe I shouldn’t discuss this.”

“Are you sure?” She asked gently.

“Yes. I really can’t just... A Sith would use my weakness to succeed.”

“So your problem is that you do not see yourself as a Sith?” She asked.

“No! I didn’t mean it that way!”

“Than what did you mean?”

“I shouldn’t trust you! I can’t trust you. Could I?” The last was a soft plea for help.

“You can trust me not to use what you say against you.” Danika answered gently.

His eyes looked at her with hope for the first time. “I just feel like I don’t belong here, anymore. I thought I did at first, but as time went on, I felt, left out. Every time I examine my doubts, I feel as if I am moving farther away from my classmates all the time. They are willing to go past those doubts, but I can’t.”

“If you feel that what you are doing is wrong, then perhaps it is.”

“Yes, that is my problem. I don’t feel as if I belong anymore.”

“Then perhaps you don’t.” She said. “Perhaps you should simply walk into Dreshdae and find somewhere else.”

“But where would I go?” He asked in a gentle plea. “I was born of the Sith, my life is here among them. My dream to attain this position! Must I throw it all away?”

“Others learn what they teach here.” She said. “The Jedi order in the Republic teaches all that they do here, but allows you your doubts. Instead of shoving you past them, they expect you to discover the reasoning behind them in your own mind.”

“But will they accept me? Someone raised in a society they hate?”

“One thing the Jedi do not do, is hate.” She stood. “If you cannot push your way through your doubts, you must find somewhere else. The Jedi would accept you because of those very doubts.”

“You’ve given me much to think about. Thank you.”

“May the Force guide your steps, young one.” She said. She led us out.

At the next door I felt myself tense. “Wait.” Danika looked down at T3. “T3, we need that full file on Selene now.”

The little droid bleeped. Then rolled away. Danika leaned against the wall. “I see ones like him and know what I might have been if the Jedi had not found me years ago.” She said. “As time passes, more of what Revan was surfaces. Not in total recall, but in snippets. Revan was a lot like that boy Kel when she was younger. Full of doubts about her place in life, in her society. Finding the Force for her was like thinking yourself blind, then opening your eyes for the very first time. A lot of the doubts disappeared for her that day in her sixth year.”

“What about Danika?” I asked.

“Danika has always been what they made of her. A soldier willing to die for the Republic. Finding the force within me has merely honed that intent.” She looked at me levelly. “I worry more about other things.”

“Such as?”

“The problem with the Sith Code is that it is as rational as that of the Jedi. Both aimed at perfection of the being. However they use it not to perfect just that being. They ignore the fact that without those we protect, the weak, a strong man is merely a starving naked bully. Even the Mando understand that concept. The Sith believe that they must force the Galaxy into that same mold make everyone everywhere conform to their view of perfection. You know as well as I that one thing people hate is being forced to make decisions. Especially if it means drastic changes in themselves. The Jedi believe in leading by example, not standing behind with a whip to drive them to it.” She shook her head sadly. “But the Jedi also try to suppress all that makes us what we are in pursuit of their goal. I can understand why so many have run to the Sith rather than remain. But understand that a lot of the Sith would go the other way if they had the chance as Kel now can.”

I was about to rebut her comment when T3 rolled up to us. He extended a data pad, which Danika looked at. She read it, then held it out to me silently.

Selene and Dustil had come together. Both were from Telos, and were strong in the force, but she began having doubts not long after they arrived. They decided that removing her was the best way to end the problem. Unfortunately my son was one of the best students they had ever trained, and they didn’t want to lose him too.

So they had arranged her death. She had supposedly died in a training accident.

Danika took it back wordlessly. “Now we are ready. Stand here for a moment, Carth.” She opened the door, leaving it open.

“Did you make a wrong turn somewhere?” A voice asked. My heart raced. I walked forward, and saw him.

Dustil was almost my height now, still a gangly young man after his last growth spurt. He looked at me, about to say something, but the words died.

“Dustil.” I whispered.

Emotions chased across his face, shock joy fear, then settled into anger. “Oh lovely. It’s my father. It figures that you’d show up to ruin this too. How did you manage to get into the Academy?”

“Through the front door of course.” Danika said deadpan.

He glared at her. “Cute. I wonder does Master Uthar know what he has caught in his web? Unless you have changed sides, Father.” He glared at me. “No, I can see that hasn’t happened. Just why are you here, Father? Not for me, I hope. Couldn’t you have just gotten yourself blown up on a ship and spared me this?”

The venom in his tone shocked me. “What are you talking about? I thought you were dead all these years!”

“Until someone told you otherwise?” He laughed. “Why don’t you pretend I am dead and leave me in peace! Did you really think I would be happy to see you?” He waved to an invisible audience. “Look everyone! My father has come to rescue me!” His face filled with loathing. “The fact that he abandoned my mother and me to death doesn’t really matter, now does it?”

“I didn’t abandon you! We arrived too late!” I ran my hand through my hair. “Telos was in ruins when we got there. I found your mother, held her in my arms as she died.” I could suddenly picture it again. Holding her, screaming my pain and rage at the sky. Then I was back in the room. “But I looked for you. I swear I looked everywhere!”

“Save it for your memoirs, Father.” Dustil snarled. “You abandoned us long before Telos was destroyed. You went off to fight the wars instead, remember? We huddled every night hoping that the enemy would never come. When you did come home it was only to make sure things hadn’t changed before going off again. Other children had their fathers during that. But not me. My father had to be the hero of the Republic!”

“I was needed-”

“You were needed at home!” Dustil almost screamed. “You were needed to keep mother alive! To stop them from bombing us into oblivion! If I had been home instead of at school, I might have protected her since you wouldn’t! Where were you when the Sith raiders took all of the students at the school captive? When they dumped us on a Sith world?” He hissed, then waved as if to shoo me away. “Well my family is dead, but I have a new family now. A family that cares about me. One that won’t forget to protect me. I don’t need you anymore!”

“The Sith? The same people who killed your mother and destroyed Telos is your family?”

“Not them. In fact I have a list of those that helped murder Telos. Once I am done here at the Academy, I will deal with all of them. Besides Father, you were a soldier for all those years. How many fathers and mothers sons and daughters have you slaughtered?”

“No.” I shook my head numbly. “My son-”

“I am not your son anymore, Father! Get that through your thick head. You were never there to know what I was like as a child, don’t presume to know what I should be like now!”

“I came to get you out of here-” I reached out.

“Touch me and I’ll kill you.” Dustil said flatly. “Leave me alone or I’ll assure that Master Uthar knows who you and your friend are.”

“Calm down, both of you.” Danika said. We both turned on her. “Carth, remember what I said about understanding? He is a child you never paid enough attention to, and resents that.” She rounded on Dustil. “And he is a father that put the lives of a lot of people ahead of his family life. He regrets that, but he’s here trying to save you.”

“Well I’ve outgrown my ‘daddy’.” Dustil snapped. “The Sith will give me everything I need. Including the love I would have hoped to get from him!”

“You can’t mean that!” I was close to shouting as well. “Who do you think I was protecting you and your mother from? They are the ones that killed her. They are the ones that stole you from me!”

“I am not your favorite pet Father. They are not evil, they are strong. Besides, you were fighting wars long before the Sith came.”

“The Sith war to conquer and rule. To force the helpless to obey their twisted view of life. The Mandalorians are the same, just different views of the same world. I went to war to protect those I love. To protect you, Dustil.”

“Yeah. Right.” Dustil looked at his father almost with pity. “You just liked the uniform and the rewards.”

I could feel my heart breaking. “If I failed you, don’t let my failure drive you to become an evil man.”

“I am not evil, and the Sith are not. Strength has always been equated with evil by the weak. Show me a single point where strength is evil, Father. Do that for your long lost son.” His tone dripped vitriol.

“Do you know someone named Selene?” Danika asked. Dustil turned, but instead of growling, he looked confused.

“Yes. She was my girlfriend. We came to the Academy together. She’s the reason I am here.”

Danika held up the data pad. “Do you recognize this data pad?”

“Yes. It’s one of Master Uthar’s.”

Danika handed it to him. Dustil activated it. I could tell when he got to the end of the file. His face paled, and he suddenly collapsed backwards onto his bunk.

“They said she had tried to open one of the tombs. That she had died in that attempt. But this says...”

“That they killed her.” I said. “Because she was holding you back. If there had been a Republic officer here, they would have blamed him instead.” I hissed. “Superiority at all costs, Dustil. That’s what you want. Your teachers decided to remove one of your obstacles. To make you strong. Can you live with the cost?”

Dustil looked up at me, at Danika. “They lied to me. They took...” He held the pad as if it would feel as warm as the dead girl’s hand. “They took her from me.” He looked up, and I could see the fury in his eyes. “They’ll pay for that!”

“That is the son I remember.” I stood away from him. “Let’s get out of here-”

“No, Father.” Dustil stood, facing off with me. “You go do whatever you have to. But I have friends here, people that will listen to me. I have to warn them. Get as many out as I can. Maybe I can find out more inside here before we leave. Something that will help bring them all down.”

I looked at the man my son had become, and knew that I had lost him forever. But I was proud of that decision. “I don’t suppose there’s anyway I can talk you out of this? I mean, it doesn’t sound like you’re going to do anything halfway.” I smiled sadly. “Sounds familiar.”

“Yes, it does. Like Father like son.” Dustil replied.

“You’ve admitted that the lie is a lie, Dustil. That’s more than most can do. But don’t ride the moment down in flames. Get out of here as fast as you can.”

“I’ll try, father. Maybe when this is over we can take some time to talk? I can’t say I’m willing to accept your view in everything, but I promise I will at least listen to you.”

“I’ll try to explain everything I did. I don’t care about acceptance as long as I have my son back.”

“Then we’ll meet on Telos afterward. Goodbye, Father.”

“Goodbye and good luck, son.”

We walked toward the front door of the Academy. “We need to talk.” She said. “About me being Revan.”

“If you’re ready to talk, so am I.”

“And?”

I sighed. “As much as I want to, I can’t hate you. I wanted to blame everything that has gone wrong in the last four years on you, and I can’t.” I stopped, and faced her. “My wife, Dustil, Telos, Saul. All of it I would like to blame on you.”

“Why can’t you?” She asked softly. “I sent Malak to Telos. He suborned Saul. Between them they killed millions including your wife. They stole away your son. How is that not my fault?”

“Because you were right aboard Leviathan. When Saul died, I should have felt something change. I had put years of my life into that hunt. And when it was done, I was still empty. Killing him didn’t even plant a single grass seed on Telos. It was a waste of my efforts.

“Remember what you said just today? ‘Best to end their lives with at least some regret’. When I heard why Saul had gone over, the waste by everyone was obvious! Fools who can’t find their butts with both hands driving him toward retirement. It doesn’t excuse what he did, but you don’t excuse anyone, do you? Especially yourself.

“Regardless of what part of you inside is still Revan, you are your own worse critic. You are beating yourself over the head about things you did in another life, and I have been right there beating too, from the very start. When I found out part of me wanted to scream ‘I knew it!’.” I sighed again, and my hand rested on her shoulder, making her look up at me. “Whatever darkness remains, that isn’t who you are anymore. Whatever else the Jedi might have done with your life, they have given you a second chance.

“But there will come a time when you have a choice to make. When that happens there will be no turning back.”

“What if I make the wrong choice?” She whispered.

“I’ll kill you.”

She laughed, patting my hand. “Thank you.”

When we reached the front door, she hugged me fiercely. “Remember your promise, Carth. Be ready to kill me.” She whispered, then was gone.

The Valley

Danika

I had never understood how someone about to die could feel free, but I did at that moment. Carth and T3 were out, and headed for the Ebon Hawk. I had less than 50 hours to get to the Star Map, with one of my teachers trying to get me to assassinate the Master of the Academy. At least two of those vying for the same position ready to kill me in an instant if they had the chance. The other willing to let me die if it meant getting me out of his way.

The Galaxy had much to lose if I died, but I did not. So I was free. I went to the entry to the valley. A student named Tariga had been assigned to stand at that door, and assure that everyone was warned about the dangers. There was a cave full of flying creatures named Shyrack, and a horned predator called the tuk’ata. His suggestion that I could ask for help from the security guards I took with a large dose of salt. Most of these students wouldn’t ask for help, and those that would might end up on a little list of Master Uthar’s.

The entry to the valley was through a rift in the mountains. I jogged along it, watching for any danger. When I came to the cave Tariga had mentioned, I felt two things, a darkness like I had felt on Kashyyyk, and utter despair. I walked into it.

The caves ran for several kilometers, and everywhere I could see what was left of bodies. Most were in simple gray Sith uniforms, but one groups huddled together in death had been in armor.

I moved on, finding a chasm, with a simple bridge. On the other side something large moved back and forth, as if pacing. A terentatek. From my right, I could feel the despair. I moved that way.

A small group of student huddled around a fire. They had placed mines, and I called to them, standing openly.

“Hold it right there, whoever you are!” One of them shouted, a dark woman with a disruptor rifle.

“I have come to help.” I said.

She laughed harshly. The others moved behind her, and began readying weapons. “Help is it? We’re not going back to the Academy! We’ll die rather than go back!” Her face grew harsh. “We’ll kill you rather than go back!”

“I am here to help, not make you return to the Academy.” I said.

“So, you’re not here to take us back, or to kill us. You’re here to ‘help’ us!” She laughed again. “Yeah, right!”

I threaded my way through the mines slowly. Not making any threatening move. “Now we can speak more quietly. First, what are you doing in here?”

The woman must have seen something in my face, because she relaxed a little. “You don’t even know about us? Well I’ll play along for a while. I am Thalia May. We were ordered to murder a bunch of locals Master Uthar had gathered up.”

“Why did he want them dead?”

“As if he needs a reason?” She sneered. “We refused. We had to fight our way out. Ten of us made that break out of the Academy.” She waved to the other three. “This is all that’s left. We thought that being a Sith was the best thing in the world. We were wrong.” She looked bleak. “I knew there was a path up out of the caves to the surface about ten klicks from Dreshdae. Not too bad a hike. But there’s something in our way.”

“A terentatek.” I said. “A beast that grows stronger as the Dark side does.” I looked at them. “I can help, but you have to trust me.”

“I’m listening.” Thalia snapped.

“We attack it together. Do you have grenades as well as mines?”

“Some.”

“Then here is what we do...”

A few minutes later, we all moved forward to the chasm. I motioned the students into position, and signalled as I ducked into a small chasm closer to the bridge. A grenade exploded beneath the terentatek and it charged up across the bridge. They stood their ground, tossing two more before they ducked back into warren of caves too small for it to follow. I waited until it had passed where I was hiding, then used the Force to leap up onto it’s huge head. My light saber cut down into it, and it screamed, trying to claw me off. But Thalia and her compatriots were there, harrying it from the ground.

I struck something vital because suddenly it collapsed forward. I tucked and rolled, slamming into a stone wall.

Eager hands pulled me back to my feet. Thalia was pumping my hand with a huge grin on her face. “You did it!”

“No, we did it.” I looked at the huge body. “Now we have to throw that into the chasm. Make it look like you all went down with it. I need something loose that could have been dropped in a fight from each of you. Something readily identifiable.”

They handed me some small items, a necklace from one, an earring from another. Thalia handed me a shield generator from her wrist. “I won’t need this where I’m going.”

“Where is that?”

“Into the Republic. I enjoyed using the Force. Who knows, maybe the Jedi will accept me back?”

“Try. No one is beyond redemption.”

We shoved and levered until the massive corpse fell away into the darkness.

“Who do we thank for this?”

“My name is Danika.”

“Then may the Force be with you, Danika.” They ran across the bridge, and were gone.

I returned through the caves, and walked down the long incline until it opened into a magnificent valley. Millennia ago, men had stood pillars to show the Galaxy their pride. Now they were staggered by the centuries, some collapsed in ruin. Guards walked through the area, and a few researchers wandered among the wreckage.

I ran down the slope, and took it in from there. Some of the pillars, the more weathered ones, were marked in runes of the ancient Sith language. Part of me knew I should stay here, learn all I could find a reason for their antipathy. Another part screamed that there was no time.

“Magnificent isn‘t it?” An older man was standing beside me. He waved toward the cliffs to either side. “The tombs of the greatest masters of the Order. Tulak Hord of the original Sith race. Ajunta Pall, the first Human Dark Lord. Marko Ragnos and Naga Sadow from more recent times.” He sighed. He wasn’t evil, he was an archeologist standing in an ancient place, and awed by it.

“Of all the tombs, only one has been entered successfully, that of Naga Sadow.” He pointed toward the far northwestern tip of the valley. “That one unfortunately, they won’t let us explore. The Masters of the order want to keep using it as a final test for applicants.” I could hear the faint outrage in his voice. A scientist stymied by politics.

“Oh, I’m Galon Lor. Chief archeologist.” He looked across his domain with satisfaction. “We knew the Ancient Sith Race lived on this planet, but no one even dreamed that the Human Sith had been here for so long!”

“Aren’t there records?”

“Not much from two millennia ago. What we did have was sketchy at best. These ruins date back to the Original Sith before they were banished into the depths of space 4000 years ago. They are also the best preserved. No one knows what set the Sith on their self destructive path, but maybe one day I will enter Naga Sadow’s tomb and find out.” He sighed sadly.

“What are they letting you do?” I asked.

“They’ve let me do the translations of the glyphs on the other tombs at least. That is how I know which is which.” He pointed at the far northeastern corner. “That is the tomb of Marko Ragnos. Some say he placed himself there to claim supremacy over all but Sadow but I have proven that Ragnos ruled peacefully for a century and was eventually replaced briefly by Sadow. Down at this end,” He pointed to the west. “That is the tomb of Tulak Hord, who died 3000 years ago. Little in known about him. Sadow destroyed all existing records. But this.” He pointed to the east. “Is the jewel in the crown. Ajunta Pall, the first human dark lord, dead now for 2000 years. He was the first to rebel against the Jedi teachings, and led his followers here. The glyphs claim he is actually buried here. Perhaps his sword was buried here as well.”

“His sword?”

“Yes, legend claims he forged a sword himself, using both the Force and metal in it’s making. Everyone knows that was the method all Jedi used to forge their swords back then, but Pall supposedly made a sword like no other before or since. A sword that wounds both spirit and flesh.” He sighed. “But until one of those young fools tries and succeeds in penetrating to the burial chamber, we will never know.”

“Others have tried?”

“Maybe a dozen since I have been here. Ten years, I have waited, seeing young people try and fail.”

I felt a tug from that grave. I walked away without comment, and ran up to the door. It slowly rolled back, and I entered.



Tomb

The air was dry and dusty. A layer of dust 25 millimeters thick lay on the neatly laid stone floor. There was a door ahead, and it opened at my approach. Beside it on a pintel was a carved block of stone. WALK IN THE PATH OF THE MASTER

The passage was ten meters long less than three wide, with a sealed door at the other end. On the walls were glyphs. I looked at them carefully. A glyph of light, a glyph of knowledge, a glyph of darkness, a glyph of strength. A few meters on I saw what might have been a duplicate of this series. The floor was laced with open power cables. One wrong choice and I would be fried.

Carefully, I touched the glyph of light. It settled beneath my probing fingers, and refused to lift again. The door behind me slammed shut. I stepped to the second series of glyphs. As I had surmised, they were repeated here.

Ajunta Pall had risen to power in the Force among the Jedi, then fallen away. I reached out, and pressed the glyph of knowledge. It settled in silently. I walked to the third, also identical set. I pressed the glyph for darkness, and again, I survived. I came to the last, and pressed the glyph of strength. There was a click, and the door before me opened.

I walked down the hall to another door. This one opened, and I stepped through, feeling it close behind me. It was another room ten meters long, and on the wall was another stone tablet. TRAVEL IN THE WAY OF THE MASTER.

The walls had holes every half meter or so up and from front to back. Suspicious, I picked up a small stone, and threw it. Disruptors fired from the niches, reducing the stone to dust before it had gotten halfway.

I knelt, and meditated. I wouldn’t be able to leap across the room. Not and block a dozen or so disruptors at the same time. Ajunta Pall. Little was known about him. What the Jedi order did have I had not read, so that was no help. I looked at the tablet. One side was graffitied with words in a more modern dialect. 'A fine upstanding member of the order.'

I stared at the simple sarcastic comment for a long time. Could it be that simple? I looked at the floor. A line of red could barely be seen in my force-augmented sight running straight down the center of the room. I picked up another stone, and rolled it onto the floor. As it rolled down the line, nothing happened. But the instant it skittered off that path, the disruptors again reduced it to dust. I stood, and walked down the line, head up. At the other end there was a lever, and I pulled it. The next door opened before me.

A narrow walkway led across a massive chasm. In the center of it was a pillar of stone three times my height. It had been cut and shaped so that it blocked the path completely. On the face of it was another carved message. BE AS STRONG AS THE MASTER.

I touched it. The stone was ancient, one of the old pillars that lay in the valley, cut down to fulfill this very purpose. I felt the force, and lifted the stone. As I did, I angled, and it slid over into the abyss. I almost let it go, but instead moved it out of the way on the landing behind me.

There was another door at the end of the walkway, and on it sat yet another stone tablet. BE ONE WITH THE MASTER.

I opened the door. A light well went up from the tomb, and light came down. Beneath it a tomb lay before me, and on it the sigil of Ajunta Pall. I walked toward it, and as I did, I felt the door closing behind me. Then in the light above the tomb dust whirled. As it did, it took shape, floating down to stand between the cover stone and me. The shape became clearer, then finally formed into a man. His face was heroic and tragic. His robes were ebony, and on his hip hung an empty scabbard.

“A Jedi. Here?” He looked at me. “Why have you come to this dark place, Jedi? Why do you disturb my sleepless rest?”

“Ajunta Pall.” I whispered.

“I had a name once... Ajunta Pall, yes, that was my name. I was one of many, first among equals. Servants of the Dark side of the force.” He looked around. “Sith Lords we called ourselves, though the Sith themselves did not accept us at first. So very proud...” He looked back at me. “In the end we were not so proud. We fled here... We hid from the wrath of those we had betrayed. Then we fell, and even as we fell, I knew it would be so.”

“Those you had betrayed?” I prompted.

“Our Jedi Masters. Those that had taught us of the Force. They warned us against the Dark side. But we discovered it, we practiced it in secret, we gloried in our newfound powers. We were discovered? Or did we flee?” He shook his head. “I can no longer remember. It has been so long. But it was here that we came. Here that we hid. Hoping to grow. Instead we fell.”

“How did you fall?”

We feared our Masters, but it was not they that destroyed us. Is it not obvious what happened? We believed that all would be equals within the force, no masters, no Padawan. Only students all, the stronger helping the weaker freely to learn and grow together. But not all can use the force as well as others. Jealousy sprouted. Greed. Hatred. Those with little power schemed to find a way to take what only the Force can give. Those with true power refused to hand what they learned off to others freely. Students learned only so they could wax fat in the force, then replace their masters. Others schemed and stalked their equals to find the secrets maybe only one knew. When subterfuge would not work, force and violence would. We fought among ourselves to see who would be the greatest among us, and we brought our own fortresses down upon our heads.

“Finally I stood with only students to challenge me, and I was the most powerful one. But at what cost? Friends I had held dear had died at my hand, and I had taken all they had from them.” He looked at the tomb. “When I might have had a new apprentice I refused. For I knew that apprentice would learn from me only enough to assure my destruction. Even when I taught all equally, there were those willing to murder each other for a perceived advantage. So eventually I did not even teach. Just hoarded the bits the Force like flinders of broken metal and glass a Collector-Bird considers valuable because of it‘s shiny look.

“Now I lay buried here, and our great secrets died with me. No one holds them now, only I remain that even knew they existed. It is fitting I think. Our power fled from our followers, and they died, but the power we had remains and infects this place.” He looked back at me. “Tell me, gentle traveler, did any of the Sith survive? Did those we train go on to greatness? Have they returned at last?”

“The Sith have returned, but nothing has really changed. They still teach that only the strong will survive. They still train a single apprentice, knowing that the apprentice will one day kill their master.”

“Then it has not really changed, has it?” He knelt beside his own tomb, reaching out as if to touch the stone. “So much time, so much pain, so much misery, yet we learned nothing.”

“Why do you remain here?”

“Remain.” He stood again. “Yes, I remain. I have spent all these years alone regretting all that I have done. All I hoped to make right has gone in the dust of memory. I remain because I tied myself to this place. I forged a sword to wield in battle. A sword made of the Force and metal, and filled with my arrogance. It bound me here, locked me into the rotting corpse I have become, refused to let me free. I had so much joy in the new faith I had taught our followers. Now I am as dead as that faith, and only the dogma of it remains. I am alone in darkness, as I was then, as I am now.”

I felt a wave of pity. “Is there no way to free you?”

He looked at me. “Most would only see a tomb to plunder, power to grasp in their own hands, even if it killed them. But you... I see pity in your heart, sadness for one long dead.” He waved toward the tomb. “If the sword were removed, taken from the tomb, taken off this world, perhaps it would free me. I do not wish for it to rot away as I have, to become just a lump of iron that pins me like an insect in a collection. This I would command you to do.”

“I will do this.” I reached out, and instead of sliding through him, I felt a solid arm. He looked down with shock, then up at me with wonder.

“How is this possible?” He reached out, and his hand slid through my face. “How can you touch me, yet I cannot touch you?”

“I don’t know.” I said. I ran my hand up that arm, touching his face, and he leaned into it.

“All these centuries without a human touch. It thrills me in ways you cannot imagine. Perhaps I can teach you something in return. Will you trust me?” I pulled my hand away. Then hesitantly, I reached back out. “Touch me on the forehead. Here.” He touched his own head. I reached out, and as my finger touched his head, I felt something flow through me. Thoughts, dreams, and among it all, his symbol. I jerked back.

He smiled sadly. “All I have learned is now yours. It can be used for good or ill. Use it wisely.” He motioned toward the stone. “There are three swords in the sarcophagus. A last test for those foolish enough to reach here, and assume they could control my power.

“Take the sword, and place it in the hand of the statue beyond.” He pointed at the back of the chamber. “If you choose correctly, my sword is free of this prison.’

“If I choose badly?”

“That would be... Unfortunate. I would be forced to kill you.”

I reached out with the force, and lifted the stone aside. The sarcophagus lay beneath it, and I lifted the lid gingerly. As he had said, there were three sheathed swords set in brackets on the lid. I drew out the blades, and looked at each. The right hand one was the narrow wand of an ancient vibroblade. The second a shiny silvered blade. The last a notched and worn blade as black as pitch. I carried them back to the statue of Ajunta Pall, his hand out as if to hold a sword in defense. I set them down.

The silver blade screamed of arrogance. The power of someone that knew he was supreme. The vibroblade was one of the older style, larger than normal due to the power cell that made up its pommel. The black blade was a bare workman’s weapon, made to kill back before Corotosis or lightsabers had been discovered. Each was marked in a script I could not read.

I looked at the spirit. A fine upstanding member of the order the mention by that dead hand had written. Such a man would never have been ostentatious. He would have considered a sword a tool to use not something to scream his arrogance. I picked up the black steel blade, sliding the hilt into the statue’s grip. The statue glowed, then before my eyes began to collapse into dust. I grabbed the blade back with a cry of dismay.

Ajunta Pall smiled. “You have chosen wisely. Now take it. Take the other blades as well. Take them and go. I must go on to my darkness.”

“There is no need to stay here now.” I whispered.

“I fear the darkness beyond.” He replied sadly. “But I must journey into it, with all of my regrets intact.”

“You can return to the Force, return to the light as you yearn to.” I pressed.

“Return? But I betrayed my master, betrayed his teachings. If I asked they would rebuff me.” He began to fade.

I caught his arm, forcing him to return. “No. Take the chance. You have been punishing yourself for so long, would any of your masters accept that? They would have killed you or healed you, but they would have never done what you have done to yourself!”

“If I could return” He looked past me eyes sad. “I would find my master, fall to my knees and admit my mistakes, ask him to help me find the way again.” He looked at me. “But I cannot find the way.”

I reached out, and felt not his body, but his soul in my hand. He looked at me with a smile on his face. “So adept. Can you-”

“I can try.” I said. I felt the spirit floating on my hand, the vision of him fading until he was only a glow of blackness in my hand. I stripped the hatred away, the anger, and the greed. When I was done, all that remained was a seed of light. Then I felt a direction, and pointed. “That way.”

As it faded I heard voices.

Master

Ajunta, my student. Welcome home.

The tomb was just a structure now. Just stone upon stone. I picked up the sheaf of blades by their sheaths, and walked out of the tomb.

As I approached the disruptor trap, I stopped. Someone stood at the opposite end, idly flipping a stone into the air.

“I thought you might succeed.” Shaardan said. He bent to pick up another stone. Then he flung one toward me. The entire row of disruptors fired, and not even dust reached me. “Curious thing about this trap. It will continue firing until whatever it shoots at is gone.” He flung the second stone, bending to grab another before I could move. “So just trying to cross it with me here would kill you.”

“You’ve made your point. What do you want?”

“You really can’t be that stupid.” He snarled. He reached behind him with the force, pulling a large rounded boulder. “I want the sword. Once I give it to Master Uthar, my place as the new student is assured.”

“You wouldn’t have consider trying to get it yourself.” I commented dryly. “It’s typical of you really. Always ready to take the easiest path.”

“Of course it is. I am a true Sith. Not a weak-willed Jedi looking for power.” He tossed the smaller stone, and stooped to grab yet another. “Now that you have gotten the sword, I think I will relieve you of that horrible burden.”

“I must decline your gracious offer. I have done all the hard work and wouldn’t dream of giving it up now.”

“Ah, but I insist.” He smiled. “After all, I can keep this up all day. I brought enough food and stims to guarantee that I will still be awake a week from now, but you didn’t bring anything of the sort, did you?” He laughed. “When fatigue makes you too stupid to understand what has happened, I can drag you into the pit and let you die. Your choice.”

I reached back, and took the sheaf of swords. I pulled out one on them, and made to toss it. “No.” He ordered. He pulled out a small-wheeled trolley, and tied a string to it. Using the force he pushed it across to me. “I wouldn’t dream of having it destroyed. Tie it firmly.”

I did as he instructed, and he pulled the trolley back along the safe line. He set the sword aside. “Now all I need is a few moments.” He pushed hard with the force. The boulder flew toward me. I ducked as the weapons ravened, shards flying past me as they reduced the man-sized rock to shards, then to dust. When the firing ended, he was gone.

I contemplated his victory calmly, then I looked at the swords that remained. I drew out Ajunta Pall’s sword, looking at the ebon blade.

A good chapter. Why did you decide to change the way Ajunta Pall's tomb could be accessed? I like the changes but I'm curious as to why you felt the need to change your story so that it's different from the game. Perhaps it was the droids? I too found the idea of droids in an ancient tomb far fetched.

Acceptance

I jogged back to the Academy entrance. The cool air felt electric, and as I ran up the ramp into the central chamber, I understood why. Master Uthar stood in the center of the room, surrounded by the dozen or so students. Kneeling at his feet was Shaardan.

“Well, applicant, you asked the presence of all of the students. Speak.”

Shaardan pulled out the sheath, extending it toward Master Uthar. “Master, I have penetrated the tomb of Ajunta Pall, and retrieved his sword!” There was a buzz of anticipation from the students and teachers. Uthar reached forward, and Shaardan placed the sheath in his hands.

Uthar drew the silver blade, looking at it critically, then slammed it down, shattering the blade on the stones. “You fool. Did you think you could lie to us about such an artifact? Any fool with a brain would have looked in our archives, and discovered what Ajunta Pall’s sword looks like. But you, it seems, thought a lie would be sufficient. This is the second time you have tried to gain admittance, and you have proven to be a fool as well as incompetent. This will be the last time you try.”

Uthar reached out, and Shaardan caught at his throat, choking. “The Sith do not need either fools or liars. Do you have anything to say before you die?” Shaardan gasped, looking at me with entreaty, then his neck snapped and the body sagged. “I didn’t think so.” Uthar released his grip, and the body fell limply to the floor. “You have all received a salutary lesson. Do not lie to me. I am not amused by it. Return to your studies.”

I walked past the body, and returned to my room. I set the sword in my footlocker, then went to find Yuthura.

“I gained Ajunta Pall’s sword.” I reported.

“I hear you eliminated some competition while you were at it.” She said, grinning. “Shaardan would never have made a good Sith anyway.”

“Tell me more of your life.“ I asked.

She tensed. “Why? Have I invaded your privacy?“

“Yuthura, I am just curious. You seem to have been driven by what happened in your past, and I wish to see what drives you.“

She grimaced. “There is no need-“

“There is every need.“ I replied. “You wish me to trust you in removing Master Uthar, yet you are not willing to trust me with this small piece of data?”

She shrugged. “I don’t see the harm in that. I was a slave on Sleheryon, owned by Omeesh the Hutt as I have already told you. To the Hutt a slave is less than nothing, and can be nothing but a slave in their eyes. I was a pleasure slave, and Omeesh liked nothing better than to find things that distressed my spirit and force me to do them. He used to boast that I didn’t have the brains to deny him.” Her face grew feral. “But I burned with hate for the worm. I promised myself that I would become more than he imagined. That I would crush those like him before I died.

“One evening, while he was in a drunken stupor, I killed him, and freed myself from my collar. I slipped aboard a small freighter. The crew found me as they entered the next system. They were not happy. The Hutt would have assumed they had helped me, even though they had not. They used me, and abandoned me on a desolate planetoid alone. They thought I would ask to go back to my slavery, but anywhere was better than Sleheryon.

“When I was rescued, I thought it was luck. But the Jedi that found me told me it was because they could feel my presence in the Force. I had it within me, and that untrained need had drawn them to me.

“The Jedi found you.” I looked around. “How is it that you are among the Sith instead.”

“I see no need to tell you such a personal thing.”

“Yuthura, we were both Jedi at one time. I felt that perhaps we could become friends.”

“Friends will stab you in the back without a thought. I have no need for friends.”
“Is that so.” I leaned forward. “A friend is one you know will not harm you. That will cover your back as you have asked me to do in removing Master Uthar. I would really like to be friends with someone that expects so much of me.”

“You have odd ideas for someone who wishes to become a Sith.” She shook her head, smiling. “But your demonstration in the colony tells me that you share at least one hatred.”

“I cannot abide slavery.” I admitted. “Juhani, my friend, came within a centimeter of becoming slave to the man that murdered her father as a child. Then again when he discovered her existence. I would have killed everyone on this planet rather than let that happen.”

“Yes.” The word was a hiss of hate. “The Jedi didn’t understand that. They took me in for training, though I was much older than the average Padawan. But I never progressed past the Padawan-learner stage. I had discipline, but no peace. The hatred of slavery kept me from being at peace with the universe, but my teachers held me back. They wanted me to become like them, uncaring monsters that allowed slavery in the Galaxy because of personal freedom. Personal Freedom!” She snarled. “The slavers have the right on too many worlds to enslave others. While on those same worlds, a slave cannot be freed because it violates the slaver’s rights! I wanted to free them all, to send all of the slavers to the hells they deserve.

“Finally I couldn’t stand it anymore. I left the Academy on Brunwald, and came here almost five years ago. They say the Dark Side is evil, but at least the Sith are willing to use their skills to do something!”

“So you came here, to learn how to kill slavers everywhere.” I said softly. “Yet you are still here. Have things changed so much?”

She growled. “My hate has not diminished. Nor my resolve. I know it might sound strange, but Master Uthar tells me it is my compassion that stands in my way. When I can kill without compunction, I will be ready.”

“But if you lose your compassion for the slaves you wish to free, what will you have remaining?” I stood, touching her shoulder. “It is your compassion that drew you so vehemently to this cause, yet without it the slaves are merely people in the wrong place. Soon you would see the slavers in the same light as well and then what help would you be?”

“You’re trying to confuse me!” She looked panicked. “You don’t know what being a slave is like!”

“Compassion again, and anger that I who have not been a slave would deny your quest.” I said. “Yuthura. If I had been there when you were a slave I would have freed you.”

“Revan freed me, to come here.” She said.

“Revan?” I felt my heart freeze. “You knew Revan?”

“Well, I met her.” She shrugged. “When I was on that planetoid, I had to scavenge for food. The thought of what I ate willingly during my time there sickens me even now. One day I was coming back to my shelter and there was a woman with a mask standing there. She named herself as Revan, and told me that my pain had drawn her to me.

“I was suspicious. While I had heard of Jedi, I had never met one and knew little about them. I was sure that she was merely a gentler slaver than most. I ran and hid. But she followed me. I tried to strike her but she merely waved her hand and stopped me. Finally I grew too tired to fight, and slept. But when I awoke I was not on a ship with a collar. I was still on the planetoid and before me were an array of survival tools I had only dreamed of before.

“A week passed, and I felt that she had gotten tired of dealing with me. But then she returned. She had been on a mission, you see. She asked me if I would be willing to come with her. I said yes.” She shook her head. “Not long after I fled the Jedi, she came here. She slew the Master at that time, and challenged all that stood to fight her and her disciple Malak. When we refused, she entered the tomb of Naga Sadow, and returned. A few months later, she came back, telling us that she was now Dark Lord, and commanded us all to do her will.

“She spoke of a new order, with the Republic and the Sith under one hand, and nothing in the Galaxy able to stand against our combined will. But in the end Malak outshone her. Such is the way of the Sith. Why do you ask?”
“It has been rumored that Revan is still alive.” I said.

“What of it? She was a fool to let Malak ambush her in that way. Unless she has gained in power, there is no way that she can regain her place as Dark Lord.”

“What if that isn’t what she wants?” I asked. “What if the Jedi has redeemed her?”

“Then it is harder for her than before. Do you honestly think Malak will let her live if he discovers it?” She shook her head. “No, he’ll find her and kill her, wherever she is.”

I stood. “I am going to get some sleep. Then I am going to gift Master Uthar with the Sword.”

“Sleep well, friend.” She smiled hesitantly, but it grew brighter as I smiled gently in return.

“Be well, friend.”



Tomb

A few hours later, I arose, and prepared myself. Master Uthar was still in the central room, and I walked over, dropping to my knees.

“What do you want?” He asked. I held out the items I had gotten from Thalia May and her companions. He took them, looking them over. “Where did you get these?”

“I took them from Thalia May and her traitors.” I said. It wasn’t even a lie.

“Ah, I didn’t even know you had heard of them.” He held up the shield generator. “Here, a gift in return for your service.”

I took the generator, attaching it to my own sleeve, then I extended the sword of Ajunta Pall.

“What is this?”

“The sword of Ajunta Pall which Shaardan tried to steal from me.” I replied.

He stood, drawing the blade from its sheath. He looked at it for a long moment. Then roared. “Assemble the students!”

I stayed kneeling as everyone came as ordered. He held up the sword. “Look upon Ajunta Pall’s Sword!” He roared. Then he pointed toward me. “Look at she who gained it for us!” He reached out, and helped me to my feet. He led me to a door off the central chamber, and it opened. Within was a large room filled with artifacts of the Sith. He took the sword to a statue similar to that which had once been within Pall’s tomb, and inserted the sword into the statue’s hand. “Blessed is she that returns such an artifact. Can she do more to prove her worth?”
“I know the Code of the Sith.” I replied.

He led me back to the Central chamber. “Answer well. Peace is a lie, there is only...”

“Passion.

“Through passion I gain...”

“Strength.”

“Through strength I gain...

“Power.”

“Through power I gain...”

“Victory.”

“Through victory...”

“My chains are broken.”

“The Force shall free me.” He finished with a satisfied smile. “Tell me, young one, knowing the words, and what they mean are two different things. Would you agree?”

“Yes.”

“Then answer true or false, Mercy is for us to decide.”

“False. There is no mercy.”

Excellent.” He clapped me on the shoulder. “You have proven yourself worthy of being the newest pupil. You have bested them, and only one thing remains. If you fail, another will take your place. If you succeed, Mekel and Lashowe will be sent away today.

“The tomb of Naga Sadow.” I said.

“Ah, you have heard of the test. Does it frighten you?”

“No, Master. I have done more dangerous things.”

“Well spoken if brash. When you are ready-”

“I am ready now, Master Uthar.”

He looked at me for a long moment. “Then to death or glory. Come.”
We waited long enough for Yuthura to be called. Then we started down into the valley of the Dark Lords. Uthar led us, with Yuthura pacing me and ignoring me.

We reached the tomb, and my own memory remembered how the tomb was opened. Uthar reached out, touching the panels of stone in a simple pattern, and the vault door opened. We walked in, and he stopped, sealing the door behind us.

“Here, young student, we separate out the true Sith from those pallid ones who only aspire without true worth. You have earned this chance.”

“Indeed you have.” Yuthura purred.

Uthar looked at her with loathing. “I don’t like your tone, Yuthura. What are you up to this time?”

“Why nothing, Master.” She lied smoothly. “I am merely agreeing with your assessment.”

“Indeed.” His tone spoke volumes. Uthar looked back to me. “You must go on from here alone, as did Revan and Malak so many years ago. When you reach the ancient Star Map. There you will find a lightsaber among other things. The Lightsaber is your initiation present. Return to us when you have it, for that is not all you have to do.”

“Be cautious.” Yuthura said. “Like all the tombs of this valley, this one has it’s own defenses. They have been left intact for this test.”

“Yes, indeed.” Uthar added sourly. “You understand what you must do?”

“Find the star map, pick up the lightsaber, return.” I replied.

“Good. Yuthura and I will await your return.”

I turned, facing the inner door. I walked up to it, and pressed the button. A dark hall stretched forward, and as I walked through the door, I felt it close behind me. Ahead was an intersection, and beyond that a ramp. I started to step forward, then stopped myself ten meters back. A small piece of debris lay on the floor, and I flipped it into the center. As it came down a flash of energy ripped across the stone, and the debris bounded into the air, smoking. It hop scotched across the intersection, barely half of it reaching the other side. Yet down that ramp it also skittered as energy blasted it again and again. Finally the discharge died because, I noted sourly, the rock had been destroyed. I flipped another piece to land near where the first had finally been destroyed, but this time there was no discharge. The system only activated that far because it had started in the intersection.

Other pieces proved the all of the other sections including the entry way for ten meters were the same. If the floor of the intersection was touched, the other sections were activated. I stepped back tight against the left wall, and focused on the wall of the east section. Then I sprinted forward. Before my foot hit the center block, I leaped, and rebounded from the inner wall to land sprawling on the floor past it. There was another downward ramp, and I paced down it. Ahead was a door, and outside the door a corpse. I checked the walls, and found where a poison needle gun was installed. A handful of dust into the air revealed a light trip at knee level. By breaking the beam I would have caught a burst of needles. I stepped over it, and with dust in the air, verified that there were no more between the door and me.

The door hissed open, and I smelled a rank stench. Leaning forward, I looked around the corner. Terentateks, a pair. They wandered around at the opposite end of the room, snuffling at a few corpses that were on the floor. I started to back up, and found that the door I had just passed through had closed silently behind me. There was a latch to press, but the door didn’t move. Again I looked at the Terentateks. Beyond the one to my right, was what looked like a lever. Beside it was also a door. I considered what I would have to do. Get past them, through the opposite door. I had discovered in dealing with the Terentatek on Kashyyyk, and the one in the caverns that while powerful and well-equipped for slaughter, they weren’t fast except in a straight run. Maybe I could use that to my favor. I stepped out, and whistled sharply. They spun in place, then began a lumbering run in my direction. As the first came close enough to strike, I leaped up onto its back, then leaped again before it could react, landing on the second one. I was on the ground running toward the lever as I heard the collision of the first Terentatek with the wall. I flipped the lever, then punched the door control frantically. The second Terentatek had turned, and was coming back, a screeching bellow cutting through my brain. The door opened, and I leaped inside as it slammed into the lintel. The door was too small for it to pass, something it figured out rather quickly, and I frantically crabbed back away from the door as it tried to reach inside. A claw scratched across my boot, but the fingers of that monstrous hand were too short to catch it.

I stood, backing away from the monster glaring at me from the doorway. A pair of stone pillars stood in the center of the room, and after some probing on one, I found a small niche. A golden key lay there, and I picked it up. On the key a Sith Rune read LEFT. In the second pillar I found another identical key, marked with the rune RIGHT. There was no way out of the room except back past the now furious Terentateks. Another problem I faced was the door I had entered through was easily large enough for a Terentatek to follow. The Terentatek near the door had moved back, glaring at me sullenly. It knew I would have to get past it, and I found they were a patient species. I discovered by thinking about it that I could deal with the problem, but I first had to get out of this room, across the next, and up that ramp.

I needed some space to get a run up, and I moved as far back as the room allowed. The Terentatek hissed, watching my preparations. I took a deep breath, found that calm center so necessary to a Jedi, and became one with it. Then suddenly I leaped forward. I ducked under the swing of the first Terentatek, rolling between the legs of the second, and was up running toward the door as they turned around. The door hissed open, and I was through it before the claws could rip me apart, leaping to pass over the light trip running up the ramp as fast as I could. Behind me the needle gun stuttered, and there was a crash as the offending equipment was ripped the from the wall. Ahead of me I could see the intersection, and just before my foot would have landed on the floor, I leaped, putting every muscle and all of the force into it. I flew over the floor of the intersection, and behind me the first Terentatek stepped on it. I rolled frantically as I hit the floor, and sprawled out just past the section of hot floor. Behind me I heard keening screams. Unable to stop in time, the first Terentatek staggered around less than ten meters from me, still trying to charge me. I watched it’s legs fry off, and its torso slammed to the blazing stones. Behind it, I could see the second Terentatek. It had skidded to a stop just short of the hot region on that side, and stood growling at me as it’s partner was slowly fried away.

It took a long time. Terentatek are big, and the machinery only fried it a centimeter at a time. When it’s agonized screaming died, the one that remained hissed, trying to come up with a way to reach me without entering that hell. I watched it as the dead Terentatek was reduced to ash, then even the ash was blown away.

It snarled. Claws closing and opening. “Well!” I shouted. “Come on!” I picked up a pair of stones, and flung one to land in the now quiescent hot spot on that side. It stopped, looking at the stone, then screamed, charging. It made a leap past the center section. As it did, I dropped the other stone on the center plate.

Instantly the process started again. The creature actually made it far enough to take a swipe at me before its legs were gone. It scrabbled forward using its forelegs. But only the arms and torso reached the safe area where I was. I skipped up onto its back, and my lightsaber punched down into its brain ending its misery. I leaped off it past the hot section to the north, and ran down the ramp. At the bottom was a door. I opened it, gasping at the acrid stench in the air. A pool of acid lay before me, covering the floor from a meter or so from where I stood, to the door on the opposite wall. To my right was a pillar, to my left another pillar. I looked at the two keys, and walked over to the left pillar, then paused. What if they had also meant right as in correct? Or left as in being left standing here? I walked to the right pillar, and inserted the key.

A bridge rose, the acid flowing through channels. I gingerly crossed it, and opened the door. It led to yet another ramp, this one climbing steeply. I ran up it, and opened a door. Before me was the pintel of the Star Map. It opened as I approached, and the glory of their creation glowed in mid-air. I scanned it, and immediately crossed past it to a kneeling statue. On the outstretched palm of the statue’s hand, was an ornate lightsaber. I flicked it on, grunting at the red beam. All this works for something this gaudy.

I looked around the room. On the walls were carvings of the alien builders. One of them caught my eye, and I moved closer. A shape that looked like a short lightsaber pommel floated above a star, exactly like the Star Forge in my vision.

I turned, retracing my steps. At the base of the ramp, standing on the bridge, were Master Uthar and Yuthura.

“You return with your new weapon in hand, as I foresaw.” Uthar purred.
“The Force has served you well, young one.” Yuthura agreed.

“You took great risks gaining your prize, young student. You had to use all of your skills, and much more. No peaceful meditation, no pacifism, all adrenaline and hatred.

“Sometimes you must fight and kill in order to achieve your goals. This uses your passion, it makes you stronger, and in the end, it makes you superior. This is the lesson we teach with this final entry test.”

“Are you saying a Jedi could not have gained this?” I flipped the lightsaber.

“When a Jedi acts, it is with skill and courage, true.” Uthar admitted. “But the Jedi teaches that passion for anything is counterproductive. That only in achieving inner peace can you find true strength. But think.

“Did you not feel the excitement of entering a place that might lead to your death? Did you passions not flow when you faced the Terentatek? Satisfaction at their deaths? Didn’t you feel more alive than you have ever been just passing over the acid? What real purpose is served by denying any of this? I would tell you that the Jedi have their own purposes for denying such, and since you have fled them to come here, you must know it. They restrict because they want to. To keep the passions of youth from overriding the so-called wisdom of age. They don’t want excellence; they want plodders like themselves.”

“The Sith are not the only ones who strive and risk their lives.”

“True. But the Jedi deny their passion. They claim they fight only when they must, but is that really true? Doesn’t each of them have their own causes they will fight to attain? Revan when she was among us claimed she was going to reconcile the Sith and Jedi, find a weapon so powerful that peace would last a millennium. Yet she came to us because the Jedi could not do it alone. We never deny a part of our struggle, or our strength in fighting it. We are superior because we do not lie to ourselves.”

“I can’t believe that.” I growled. “I don’t feel superior, even to those the Sith would call weak. I bleed and die as they do.”

“If you came to the Academy, you must have felt that yearning as every one of the weak do. To give yourself to the dark side, to become more powerful than anyone can imagine. All any of our Masters here can do is show you the path, we cannot put your feet on it. You have followed it this far, caused the death of another student to stand here. It is up to you to decide if you will continue.”

“And if I would not?”

“Your can continue on the way of the Sith, or you can die here. Someone with such power cannot be allowed to escape.”

There it was. The steel fist in the velvet glove. I nodded slowly. “I think I am beginning to understand.”

“Good.” Uthar slapped his hands together, rubbing them sharply. Now for the last of this test. You have learned some lessons in competition, and arranging for me to kill Shaardan was well done. But do you have it within you to kill directly?

“All things compete in life. Even the smallest organism knows it must kill or deprive another of the necessities of survival to succeed. To stand still is to die, now or the near future. Even societies face this. So it is among us. Compete for honor. Win or die. No other options exist. Mercy is a thing created by the weak to stay the hand of the strong, so it is irrelevant.

“So your final test is to strike down another for no other reason than to deny this mercy the weak claim. Normally, I would have arranged to have a student here that you might have feelings for. But there were none. However I find that Yuthura and you have become friends, and she is perfect. Kill her, and prove your worth.”

Yuthura leaped back, drawing her lightsaber. “So this is what you planned all along! To have me killed!”

“My dear apprentice, I told you your compassion was a weakness. Do you think I didn’t see it in action when you met this one? Why would someone protecting a weak fool from slavers get into the Academy otherwise? You have ambition without the skill to make that ambition fact. That is your weakness, and I am going to exploit it!”

“No, my dear master.” Yuthura hissed. “It is time for you to die! My pupil stands with me.”

“Is this true, young one?” As he asked, Uthar moved so that we were standing like a triangle with mutually opposing points. “You wish to stand with this compassionate fool against me?”

“Compassion is not a weakness, regardless of what you say, Uthar. I stand with her.”

“Do you hear that, my master!” Yuthura caroled. “That is the sound of a new wind blowing through the Academy! Of a new master taking her place!”

“Then face a Sith master and die!” He screamed. As his lightsaber ignited, I pushed with the Force, throwing Yuthura aside. Uthar paused, confused, and then blocked as I cut at him. He struck back, and I leaped over the blade, striking down on his head. He blocked, but the blade cut through the haft of his lightsaber, and into his chest at the shoulder. I spun, the blade punching through his chest.

Yuthura stood, looking at me oddly. “You stopped me from fighting. Why?”

“Because you’re not lost to the light yet, Yuthura. Murdering Uthar might have been the last step to damn you.” I shut down the lightsaber, reaching out toward her. “Yuthura, come back to us.”

She sneered. “Betrayer! A Jedi pretending to be my friend! I really liked you, Danika. But I share power with no one.” She lit her lightsaber, the blade blocked by my own.

“I don’t want power.”

“I wish I could believe that. I will try to be quick.” She rained a flurry of blows on me, my lightsaber blocking each. Then I reached out, and she caught at her face, the lightsaber falling as I squeezed her head. She screamed, falling to her knees. “Pl-lease! Mercy!”

I released the grip. My lightsaber pointed at her. “A Sith begging for mercy? Something they deny everyone else? Are you really a Sith?”

She looked away, then sighed. “I suppose I am not.” She answered looking up at me. “Any other student would have struck me down, taken my place. But you are not like the other students somehow. I don’t know why that is, but it is the truth. I was right when we first met, wasn‘t I? You‘re different. Something we have not faced in a long time.”

I pulled out the datapad, and the Star Map glowed in mid air. “I have what I came for. Not to be a Sith, not to kill you. Just this.”

“You’re too good for me to believe that you had to train when you came here. I should have realized it sooner. So, what now? Do I gain mercy? Will you just let me live?”

“Tell my first why you tried to kill me.”

“You reminded me too much of what I was like when I first came to the Sith. I didn’t want to think about that.”

“Maybe you do need to think about it.” I said. “Has becoming a Sith assured the end of your quest? Has one slave been freed by your actions?”

“You’re right.” She whispered. “In my search for power, I have forgotten those who are enslaved as I had been. All the things I wanted to do all the wrongs that I wanted to right. None of them have been accomplished. I have moved farther away from that idealist I was every day, and allowed myself to be blinded to that fact.”

“Maybe you need to change that.” I shut off my lightsaber, holding out a hand. “Maybe you need to find peace within before you can find it out there.”
“The Jedi tried to show me that. I don’t think I can make up for what I have done since.”

“No one is beyond redemption, Yuthura. Only their own unwillingness to accept it makes them unrecoverable.”

“I know I no longer belong here, but I don’t think I belong among the Jedi. But I must be my own person again. I have you to thank for showing me that.” She took my hand, and stood again.

“Don’t write off the Jedi so easily. It is said that even Revan was redeemed.”

“I will believe that when I meet her.” She replied.

“Go to Coruscant. I will see what I can arrange in time. But when you leave, go through the caves. I helped the students Uthar had condemned through there already. The way is clear.”

“Yes, I think I would like to compare our travails with Revan when I meet her. But you have things you must do and I must assist you. We go together or not at all.”

I gripped her hand tightly, then we ran out of the tomb. At the entrance, I my ‘Sith’ lightsaber to slashed the entire stone face of the door down to it's bottom, causing the door to collapse, unsealing the door for all time. No more students would die trying to walk that hellish path.

Gauntlet

As we approached the entryway to the Academy, I saw three students standing guard. One of them, a woman saw us coming. “You! You went into the tomb of Naga Sadow with Master Uthar. Where is he?”

“He is dead. I killed him.”

“We felt his death, but no one stepped forward to claim his title!” She tore at her hair. “What manner of monster would slay our leader and not take his place? Yuthura cannot be found, the others are fighting over who shall be master in their place.” She saw Yuthura. “You caused this! What kind of Sith are you?”

“I am not a Sith.” She snapped. “I am a Jedi!”

“Traitor! Spy! Kill them!” The woman screamed.

“But if she defeated Master Uthar, what chance do we have?” One of the others whined.

“Spineless coward! There are only two of them! kill them!” She lit her lightsaber, charging at me. I dodged aside, my second blade cutting across her spine, and dropping her.

“Don’t make me kill you.” I said to the others. They lit their lightsabers, and charged. I caught the first one with the Force, throwing him against his friend. The lightsaber in the second man’s hand punching into the first man’s chest, and he screamed, collapsing. The other dropped his lightsaber in horror, falling to kneel beside the body.

“Stay here, and you might live.” I told him, running on into the Academy. It was a madhouse.

Students, apprentices, Sith teachers stood around the dueling area. In the center, a large man was standing over a woman’s body. He spun to face the others. “Does anyone else challenge me?“ He screamed. He saw us. “Yuthura at last!”

“Who is he?” I asked.

“The Sword master, Adrenas. I must face him.”

I caught her arm, then walked past her. “Watch my back.” I ordered. I stalked forward.

“Ah, the new hopeful. Haven’t even gone through my class, yet you can best me, eh?” There was a polite giggle from someone in the crowd. “Do we have a name for the new ‘master’ that faces me?”

I stopped a few meters from him. “I am Danika Wordweaver. But once you knew me by another name.”

“And what would that name be?”

“Revan Chandar Bai Echana, Daughter of Coroli, prefect of Echana.” I replied.

“Revan!” someone gasped. The name filtered through the crowd, and everyone was watching me.

Adrenas stared at me, then laughed. “A bold jest, fool. But can your words match my skill?”

We struck at each other, sabers igniting and impacting in almost the same instant. I blocked as he cut at me. He was good, I would grant. I was pushed back by his attacks, the crowd giving way to avoid us. I felt the wall behind me, and struck at him, then spun, running toward the wall with every erg of my own strength plus the force. I hit the wall at chest level, running up it for four meters, then spun, my double saber spinning to block his thrusts as I dropped on him like a bomb. I passed him, landing on the floor with my hands, and springing to my feet past him.

The body fell, head, chest and legs landing separately.

“Revan.” someone whispered. Then shouted. “Lead us!”

“Revan is dead!” I shouted. “I am Danika Wordweaver, Jedi!”

If I had distilled madness and released it as a gas I could have done no more damage. With the true master a Jedi rather than Sith, nothing held them back anymore. With one voice they screamed, and attacked. There were maybe thirty students at the moment, half as many apprentices and teachers, and everybody was fighting everybody else. We waded into the fray, killing only when someone stood between the entrance and me. Lashowe came running down from the central chamber screaming, and I cut her legs from under her, then turned to give her the coup de grace. I turned, snatching a thrown lightsaber from the air, glaring up at Mekel.

“If you want to fight, I will kill you.” I growled. He turned, running away. I tossed the lightsaber contemptuously aside, and entered the central chamber. I went to the museum, and inside found the sword of Ajunta Pall. I had promised to remove it, and I felt that he wanted it as far from this planet as possible.

“Revan!” I spun, running to help Yuthura. Seven masters and teachers had surrounded her. She killed three, then a fourth even as she was speared through the chest. I was a dervish of destruction. I stopped, looking at the ones I had killed, then dropped to my knee. She caught my hand.

“Come, I have to save you.”

“No. She reached out, touching my arm. “You did save me. Tell Master Tolo-” She shuddered, and died.

I left the Academy, dealing with the guards that tried to stop me, and ran on into the colony. It was chaos there as well. Every hopeful had felt the death of the Master, and had gone just as mad as the Academy.

A hand waved, and I dived out of the maelstrom into the Cantina.
“You’re doing, no doubt.” Mika Dorin commented, hooking a thumb at the madhouse the colony had become.

“Things happen.” I agreed.

“I heard a rumor, tell me it isn’t true.”

“What was it?”

“That you faced off against a Krayt Dragon and fed Calo Nord the bounty hunter to it?”

“That I did.” I agreed.

“Try to be more careful in the future.” He admonished. He went to the bar, and began dumping items into a bag. “If you die, who will defeat Malak?”

“Someone will eventually, even if I die today.” I told him.

“Yeah, but eventually could really mess up my profit margin.” He closed the bag, mounting it on his belt. “Right now I think it is time to get out of the business of a Publican and get into what I do better. Sales from a ship on the Star-road.”

We pushed our way through the crowds of madmen toward the docking bays. Dorin broke away, tossing me a jaunty wave to head toward his own ship. I laughed like a maniac as I pushed my way through toward the Ebon Hawk. I had never felt so alive in my life!

I came up the ramp past the blast door, and suddenly stopped. The intruder lights of Ebon Hawk were activated, the ramp up.

I gulped. So this is what they had done. Rigged whatever they planned into the intruder system itself. I paced slowly around the disc. Even though I didn’t intend to try my mind was racing. I could easily dive below the disc of the ship. The interrupter plates would give me clear fields of entry, and my lightsaber would make short work of the hull metal. But then...

I stopped before the nose, seeing my compatriots inside it, looking back. Then I bowed my head, and knelt, setting down my lightsaber and the precious data pad. Whatever happened, the data pad had to survive. As for the lightsaber, I had been trained to deflect blaster bolts, but the defensive guns and main guns of the Ebon Hawk would make mincemeat of me if I even tried.

I stood, then moved to the side to place myself directly before the paired main gun on the starboard flank. Not only to make sure my death was quick, but to avoid having my blood splatter over the data pad. I looked at the ship, knowing that I was about to die, and felt...

At peace. If I had to die, it was a good time.

“Danika, listen very carefully.” Carth’s voice bellowed.

“We...” Juhani

“Trust...” Jolee

“You...” Canderous

“Danika...” Mission.

“Welcome back.” Carth said.

I reached out, picking up my lightsaber and the data pad with the force. I walked to the ramp. It came down, and HK47 stood there.

“Query: You know, Master, I really hate being ordered to kill you.” He said.

“How many times has this happened?” I laughed manically.

“Irritation: Don’t get me started.” HK replied. I passed him, and the little homing missile named Sasha hit me. I hugged her, carrying her into the mess hall.

Carth stood there, looking a little less haunted. I tossed the data pad to him. “Get us out of here. Take us to Yavin. We need some space before the final hurdle.”

“Yes, Danika.” He said running toward the cockpit. I sat at the table, feeling my friends around me, Sasha hugging me as if she had been afraid I would never come back. I had never felt so content in my life.


Ebon Hawk

Enroute to Yavin

Jolee

She didn’t have that haunted look any more. The Danika that returned to our ship was calmer, more alive than she had been when she left. Carth had taken us out in a spiral that kept any fire from hitting us. It was a good thing too. One of the Czerka ships in orbit had fired on us, but then blew up when guns on the surface ripped it apart. Everyone on the planet seems to have gone mad. Danika explained. The Master of the Academy was dead, the one who had been poised to take his place had walked away without doing so, and the upper echelon were in the midst of adverse negotiation.

We made the jump to hyperspace without a problem, barreling through space toward Yavin. Danika was again operating on that hunch the force makes so strong, someone was in danger.

Once Sasha was settled into bed, Danika came to the mess hall for a quiet cup of tea. She smiled at me.

“You never really told me why you came with us, Jolee.” She said.

“Good food, warm beds, a ‘fresher when I start to get ripe, what else does a man really need?” I asked.

“No, really. You spent a long time on Kashyyyk-”

“How many multi-kilometer trees do you have to see to know you’ve seen enough?” I snapped. “Have you ever stayed in one place a really long time? I bet fifteen minutes is your record. With nothing but trees and homicidal wildlife to keep you company, you finally get to the point where it’s more fun to get back into space and on with your life. See something new for once. Is that too much to ask?”

“No I guess not.”

“There, was that so hard to figure out? An old man is allowed his eccentricities. Nice to see you can agree with me for once. Fact is that while Kashyyyk felt like home, once I saw you, and knew your destiny was at hand, I felt a hankering to follow along and witness it.”

“Like Andor Vex.” She replied with a smile.

“Well not everyone I knew got thrown into a matter converter.”

“You know my destiny? She asked intently.

I harrumphed. “Of course not. I can see that you have a destiny before you, but the way is dark. Everything I see is in a haze of darkness that might be building.” I squinted at her, then stood up, turning on another light. “Okay, that’s better.”

She chuckled.

“Besides, you’ve had Jedi telling you to be wary of your future since you were a kid. You don’t need another old fart telling you which way to go.”

“Tell me of what you see.”

“Nope. Your future is there, and will come of it’s own accord soon enough. Looking into crystal balls is a good way to ruin your eyes. I wouldn’t worry too much. You remind me of Nomi and that can’t be all bad.”

“Nomi?”

“Nomi Sunrider. She came late to the force and became one of the greatest Jedi that ever lived. A fine lass, with a figure-” I shuddered. “Don’t let me think too much of her. My old heart can’t stand it.

“Whether you follow the same path remains to be seen. What I can tell you is that you’re not going to get very far along it if you spend your time jawing with antiques like me.”

“So you’re only along as an observer? To watch me soar to the heights, or crash and burn?”

“Balderdash. Have I ever denied you any assistance I could give? How confused can one human being be?”

“Only when I want a straight answer.” She replied.

“Well being here brings back all sorts of memories. Not all of them good. This little escapade reminds me of my adventures before the War. Now those were exciting times.”

“Adventures?”

“Did I say anything about adventures? I don’t know what’s worse, my hearing or your memory.”

. “So you’re going to stonewall me again?”

“Didn’t I say that my past is my own business? Shoo!”

“Stop being an old coot.”

“A coot I might be, but most youngsters are nice enough not to rub my face in it. Besides, you really don’t want to hear about it. It’s ancient history from before your parents were even conceived. History bores kids. Proven fact. Just ask any educator.”

“But some of us adore history.” She grinned. “And the best history is to get an old coot talking about when he was young.” She shrugged. “Proven fact. Just ask any kid.”

“Fine, just don’t whine to me about it later. I was an adventurer, all right? I wasn’t with the Jedi anymore. I had a full head of hair, lots of testosterone, and an eagerness to see everything that could be seen.” I grinned at her. “Sound like someone you know?”

“Except for the testosterone, yes.”

“Well women have their equivalent. Especially when it comes to bull headedness. The Council never was happy with Jolee Bindo, let me tell you. Even less so when I began my smuggling career.”

She looked at me, and I could hear the laughter in her voice. “You were a smuggler?”

“Hey, wipe that smirk off your face. I wasn’t always a wrinkled old man! Well at the time the Ukatis system was being blockaded. Might have made more sense if it had been an enemy system, but their own king was doing it. Every time his people started talking about unimportant stuff like rights, he’d slap on a blockade, and starve them a while.

“The Senate was trying to negotiate, and doing about as well as you’d expect, not a damn bit of good, so I decided to do something about it. I found a guy who had a ship, and we began smuggling food to them.”

“That must have cost a lot.”

“Might have if we’d actually paid for anything we were shipping. Some were happy to donate some stuff, but there are always those types that look at their pocketbook first. So we had to liberate some of it.”

“You stole it?”

“Stole is such an ugly word. That’s why I called it liberating.” I replied piously. “After all, if they had been even a little bit merciful they would have donated the stuff. I just consider it a tax on the greedy. Besides, they wrote it off on their taxes under theft, so it‘s not like they lost anything in the process. We did pretty well for a while. Only got caught once. A Ukatis frigate tried to chase us down shot us up pretty bad too. We crashed on a small planet. I thought the Force had abandoned me, but out of every bad comes something good. That was the day...”

“The day?” She prompted.

“The day I met my wife.”

“You mentioned her before.”

“And I am not going to mention her again. End of subject.”

“I don’t mean to pry-”

“Bull. You do mean to pry. You may even mean well, but my private life is just that, private.” She looked hurt at that. I sighed. “Danika, once you’ve lived as long as I have, you find that your past life is a series of memories. Some are good, some very good, some bad, some really bad. If you’re lucky most of them will be the good kind, but not everyone is lucky. Some of those memories will be so bad that you don’t want to remember them, but you can’t help it. If they’re bad enough, you’ll find some place where nothing reminds you of those memories, and if you’re lucky, you will stay there forever.”

“Kashyyyk?” She asked hesitantly.

“No. Yeah. Well, maybe. I doubt I could ever explain it to you even if I tried. It’s something being old gives you in compensation with dealing with the young. Let me just ask this. Have you ever been in love? I mean really in love. Not just a crush or an infatuation?”

She looked down blushing.

“Exactly my point. You’re at the beginning of your life, and I am near my end. I can guarantee that love will find you, maybe a lot of loves if you live long enough. Sorta like the common cold. But if you’re lucky, you’ll find love with a capital L at least once in your life. That makes everything worth living for.

“The Jedi masters tend to denigrate love. They are the most over-cautious bunch I have ever met in all my time. They want you to avoid love because of the emotional entanglements. Not that it will drag you to the dark side, but that it might. Thankfully anyone capable of pouring water out of a boot without instructions printed on the heels figures that out eventually.”

“I always thought that love can carry you beyond what you imagine, not drag you down.”

“Could be. But what a lot of people call love isn’t really. Passion, lust, possessiveness, that can cause anger jealousy and fear. But passion and lust aren’t love. If they wanted to make sure you kids wouldn’t fall, they teach you to control your passions, not your emotions. You’re right. Love can save you from your own damnation.”

I snorted, shaking my head. “Listen to me talk! I’m not even a Jedi, yet I think I can give advice like one!”

“Not a Jedi?” Her head cocked. “You mean not any more.”

“Nope. I mean never was. I didn’t even get past being a student. Never even reached Padawan. Does that surprise you?”

“But you have all the abilities of a Jedi-”

“I sighed. “Sure, making me a Padawan would have been a foregone conclusion in the end. But I doubt the order would have gotten along with me any better by promoting me. Love isn’t the only thing we disagree about. But love would have been the main sticking point.

“You see, Love does cause pain. Eventually love leads to as much sorrow and regret as it does joy. I suppose there are eternal loves out there, but in all my life I have yet to see one.

“How you deal with love, and worse not getting love tells how much control the dark side has in your life.”

“So even love doesn‘t work.”

“Oh it might. Depending on what kind of person it is. It would take a person with a great sense of self, and willing to work to make it happen, and more important, keep it happening. But I’ll tell you one thing. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you and the one you love aren’t meant to be together. The trick is to know when that is the case. Know when it’s a time to fight for the one you love, or let them go.

“The biggest problem with love is sometimes you lose the person you love. You don’t realize it yet but losing the person you love is the hardest part of it.”

“Jolee,” She paused, and I could feel the pain she was trying to hide. “I wish saying I’m sorry could fix it.”

I shrugged. “What would I have do to bring my wife back to life? To stop her from dying? If you had asked me before it happened I would have said anything. But when the time came my duty stopped me from saving her. From even being there to stave off death. Stopped me from having that sweet presence for more years. Stopped me from sliding like a roller-coaster to Hell into the Dark side.”

I sighed. “That was what caused me to leave the order to go to Kashyyyk to bury myself in massive trees with no one to intrude into my misery. The mere pain of the fact that there was nothing I could do to bring her back. I was sick and tired of all the platitudes. I don’t give a god damn that Tulera is still alive in the Force and waiting for me. All I could see was that she wasn’t here with me now and I hated every second of that.”

I finished my drink. “There I go, waxing philosophical again. Somebody shoot me and put me out of everyone’s misery!” I stood, and went to bed

War is based on deception. Move when it is advantageous and create changes in the situation by dispersal and concentration of forces.

Ebon Hawk

Enroute to Yavin

Danika

My mind floated down a massive stone walk, through the side of the great stone pyramid before me, and into a dark place. Guards stood at alert, ignoring me as I floated past them down the massive hall. I heard a scream, and made myself move faster.

Bastila was bound to a stone altar. Standing over her, Malak reached out, and force lightning leaped from his hand again. It stopped, and she sagged.

“I will never talk, Malak, why must this torture continue?” She gasped.

“Torture?” He sounded amused. “It isn’t torture you face here, Bastila. It is just a taste of the dark side to whet your appetite.” He reached out again, and she shuddered in agony. “All it takes for me to stop is to ask me or break free. But this will continue my dear girl. When the time comes, you will swear yourself to the dark side willingly.”

“Never!”

“Ah but I can feel you weakening even now.” He purred. “The dark side is already within you, and soon you will embrace it like a lover.”

“Danika-” She pleaded.

“Don’t speak her name!” Malak reached out and the lightning ripped her again. “She is the enemy of everything we stand for!” He struck her again and again-

-I clutched my chest, feeling the pain running through her. Bastila had felt me there at the last, and was now blocking me. I whimpered in sympathy. The technique is as old as the people who practice it. You torment someone, but always give them an opening to escape the torment. You deny them food and rest until finally they accept what you want them to accept. Finally they actively help you in it.

Could she resist? No one really can. Even the strongest. Only death can free you and Malak would assure that she did not die.

I got up, dressed, and headed for the cockpit. Carth was on watch, and he nodded to me as I handed him a drink, and sat in the copilot’s seat. Before us were the swirling lights of hyperspace, one of the most beautiful sights someone can ever see.

“We’ll be dropping out in a few minutes.” Carth reported. “What’s on your mind?”

“Bastila.” I whispered. “Malak is tormenting her even now. But she has blocked me out of her mind. The bond is still there. I can almost point in the right direction. But she is not allowing anything to come down it.”

He handed me a data pad with the star chart from our Nav computer on it. A new speck rested there, a blue water world. “That is our destination?”

“Yeah.”

“I want to stop long enough to assure that Suvam Tam is safe. Then the final leg of the voyage is before us.”

He grunted. He reached out, adjusted the throttles, and suddenly we were in the Yavin system a few hours from the station. A ship hung nearby, a docking tube run to an airlock. “Who is that?”

“Wait a minute. Trandoshan design, one of their pocket frigates. About our size, but well armed.”

“Tam did mention that the Trandoshan visited occasionally.”

“But why now?”

I shrugged. “I’ll put together a team and find out.”

When we landed Canderous and Zaalbar were with me. We went down the passage, each door opening on cue. In the viewing room Suvam had made his own, a confrontation was underway.

There were four Trandoshan, and they had backed him against a table. “...That’s not good enough, Tam!” One was hissing. The face was out of a prehistoric nightmare for humans. A man height reptile, with all of the teeth of a velociraptor and an attitude to match.

“You can’t just rewrite our agreement when you want to!’ Tam protested. “Exchange not like it!”

“The Exchange is not in a position to dictate to us any more.” The Trandoshan hissed. “Too busy fighting among themselves-” He saw us, and stiffened. “Who is that?” He looked at Suvam, and his claws clenched. “A stranger. You haven’t been telling us everything, Tam.”

“What you mean tell everything? I no clear visitors through you!”

“It appears to me that you have overstayed your welcome.” I purred. “I think it is time for you to leave.”

“Or what?” The leader asked. “You will force us?”

“Or maybe I will ask you again less politely.”

“You seek to mock us, human?”

“Seek? I have succeeded. You will leave. While alive or dumped into space after we kill you, but you will leave.”

“No! Fighting in here damage valuable stuff!” Suvam raised his hands in horror.

“We will deal with you later, Tam. As for you, human, a time will come.”

“Eventually, it comes for us all.” I said. “You were just going I believe.”

The Trandoshan walked to one of the other doors, and left. I breathed a sigh of relief. “Are you all right?”

“That not end well. They impulsive violent race. They be back soon. In force.” He shrugged. “Still I am in one piece. That is to the good.”

“Yes it is.” I cocked my head. “Assessment, Canderous?”

“As soon as we’re gone, they’ll be back.”

“That’s what I thought. Let’s go back to the ship.”

“We’re leaving?”

“A little unfinished business, then we are.”

A few minutes later, Ebon Hawk jumped into hyperspace. The Trandoshan ship slid away from the planet’s magnetic pole, where it had been hiding from our sensors, and slid alongside the station. The boarding tube came across, and the entire crew of the ship boarded. The leader charged down the boarding ramp, and stopped as I turned in my seat. He motioned, and his crew spread to surround me.

“Where is Tam?” He demanded.

“Safe.” I replied. “So there is no reason for you to be here.”

“I said there would come a day, Human.”

“As I said, for us all. Always remember' this side toward enemy.“ I lifted the controller in my hand. If his eyes could have bugged out, they would have. The words I had spoken are imprinted on every directional mine ever made by mankind. Then the directional mines Canderous had assembled and installed fired. The only safe place in that hell was where I was sitting. There was screaming, and I leaped into the middle of the carnage. There had been almost a dozen of them, but only three still stood, staggering from the shockwave and shrapnel. I dispatched them, then charged down the ramp onto their vessel. One guard stood at the door, but he went down before he even knew he was under attack. There was no one else aboard.

I lifted my com. “Carth?”

“Just coming back. Suvam is wailing about the damage you might have done.”
“Couldn’t be helped. Does he have a ship on the station?”

“Yeah, a little one man asteroid miner. He says he needs some parts...”

“Have Mission supply them. I don’t think he’ll be wanting to stay.”

“On it.”

The repairs to Suvam’s ship took two days. He reset the controls of the Trandoshan ship to arrive at a port known for stripping ships for their parts. He had already communicated with them, and would have a sizable nest egg when he arrived. Before he left, he handed me a bundle of what felt like sticks. “Not need these. You Jedi, maybe you can use.” He waved, and ran aboard the little boat. I watched it boost away, then opened the bundle.

Lightsabers. An even half dozen. Two were doubles, and I looked at one critically. It looked like the descriptions of Exar Kun’s lightsaber.

I went aboard the ship, and we went over our bounty. Using the additional focusing crystals, each of us was armed with the most powerful lightsabers we could have with our resources.

Canderous planted explosives, and we raced away from the station. Behind us, I watched it explode, gone in an instant.

“Carth, take us to the Star Forge.” I ordered.

We're down to the last 133 pages. How am I doing? This time I am going to wait until at least 3 of you respond.

Sorry but I've been dealing with finals this past week and haven't had much time to read for pleasure. :)

I've only read the first couple paragraphs of post #119. It seems to me that you skipped quite a bit of content on Korriban and I don't know if this was intentional or not so I'll wait to hear from you on this before I continue. Basically you go from Danika obtaining the Sword of Ajunta Pall to Danika encountering Sith students after she defeats Uthar Wynn, nothing in between about the crazed hermit in Tulak Hord's tomb, the assassin droid in Marka Ragnos' tomb or any events that occurred within Naga Sadow's tomb, e.g. how she defeated Uthar Wynn and how she handled Yuthura Ban (killed her or turned her back to the light).

Actually it was intentional. You have a lot of side quests on Korriban, and while the idea that you had to penetrate a tomb to impress Master Wynn, I saw no reason to cover every one of them. When I write something, I have to take a straight line approach or you will never get anywhere. The loony hermit and the assassin droid were IMO, just window dressing. Note that she did help the kids to escape, help Algwin decide to go over to the light, bring Yuthura back to the light, and freed Ajunta Pall's spirit.

So I got that Danika persuaded Yuthura to forsake the dark side but unfortunately Yuthura didn't make it out of the ensuing chaos. While I can understand skipping the other two tombs I think cutting the Naga Sadow tomb left a big hole in the Korriban quest. Who was the Jedi Master that Yuthura referred to as she lay dying? How did Danika defeat the two terentatek?

I like how Danika and company handled the Trandoshans. I'll be interested to see if Exar Kun's lightsaber was indeed among the lightsabers Suvam gave to Danika.

I didn't cut the Naga Sadow Tomb! All I did was remove the Wraid Dragons, and left off the side room.

As for the master Yuthura mentioned, I did mention that she was from another Jedi Academy, fo he obviously is from that one.

The Terentateks perished in the trap I had at the center instead of the Wraid Dragons. I'll have to go back and see if that section for some reason did not get posted.

All right, my bad. I cut out Naga Sadow by mistake. The system obviously bumped it. So I will have to go in and repost bumping them back into position.

It might not have been me...

I went back, and intended to edit post 118 which was right before the attack on the Academy. However after trying four times I finally got it to post, so the portion that was missing is now there. If you missed the tomb of Naga Sadow, please go back to #118 and read it before continuing.

Ah, yes! Much better now that the Tomb of Naga Sadow part of the story is there! :D
“What is this?”

“The sword of Ajunta Pall which Shaardan tried to steal from me.” I replied.

He stood, drawing the blade from its sheath. He looked at it for a long moment.This seemed strange to me. IIRC Ajunta Pall's sword in the game was double-bladed. I reviewed the sword's description in post #116 and you don't indicate the sword is double-bladed. Not that big of a deal but I was trying to figure out how Uthar pulled a double-bladed sword out of its sheath. The way you describe how these double-bladed swords work in Star Wars: Beginnings, where the double-bladed sword folds in half, works much better for me. :) But it seems like you have made Ajunta Pall's sword a single blade instead of the double-bladed version shown in the game.

I liked most of the alterations you made to the story in Naga Sadow's tomb. The method Danika employed to eliminate the two terentatek definitely made use of available resources, turning the traps meant to kill her against the beasts of the dark side. Very ingenious. And using the keys instead of the hot and cold grenades from the game was much more realistic to me.

On a tangential note, one of the aspects of the Korriban story I had a problem with from the game was the location of its star map. It doesn't make sense to me how a 25,000 year old star map ended up inside a Sith tomb, know what I mean? In any case, I digress so back to my other thoughts on your Korriban tale.

I was disappointed in how short the confrontation between Danika and Uthar was. I expected a higher level of lightsaber combat skill from the master of the Sith academy. To have him go down in about three moves, maybe 10 seconds of combat, seemed pretty weak on his part. Perhaps you wrote it that way to facilitate Yuthura not having to actually fight Uthar but I think there were other things you could have had Danika do to Yuthura to get her out of combat. Perhaps you could have had Danika place Yuthura in a stasis field or something that would have immobilized her for a longer time and thus allowed a more challenging and time consuming fight between Danika and Uthar.

The way you had Danika relate to Yuthura about slavery made good sense to me, in essence asking Yuthura the question, "So what have you really done to help slaves since you came to the Sith?" helped her step back and review her actions and how they didn't really accomplish her goal. However I do wonder why Yuthura didn't go through the shyrack cave as Danika advised her to do and ended up going into the Sith Academy with Danika instead. Not to say that I think having Yuthura get killed in the Sith academy doesn't work for me but just that I wonder what happened to make Yuthura go with Danika instead of escaping through the shyrack cave.

This seemed strange to me. IIRC Ajunta Pall's sword in the game was double-bladed. I reviewed the sword's description in post #116 and you don't indicate the sword is double-bladed. Not that big of a deal but I was trying to figure out how Uthar pulled a double-bladed sword out of its sheath. The way you describe how these double-bladed swords work in Star Wars: Beginnings, where the double-bladed sword folds in half, works much better for me. :) But it seems like you have made Ajunta Pall's sword a single blade instead of the double-bladed version shown in the game..

Would you belive I never actually drew the sword in the game? Easily remedied.


I liked most of the alterations you made to the story in Naga Sadow's tomb. The method Danika employed to eliminate the two terentatek definitely made use of available resources, turning the traps meant to kill her against the beasts of the dark side. Very ingenious. And using the keys instead of the hot and cold grenades from the game was much more realistic to me..

Thank you. The smart people I played against when I was DM taught me this one.


On a tangential note, one of the aspects of the Korriban story I had a problem with from the game was the location of its star map. It doesn't make sense to me how a 25,000 year old star map ended up inside a Sith tomb, know what I mean? In any case, I digress so back to my other thoughts on your Korriban tale..

My thought was that the Star Map was in a cave, and when they began constructing Naga Sadow's tomb, they found it. It would explain the cruciform Layout because Sadow is entombed down one of the arms.


I was disappointed in how short the confrontation between Danika and Uthar was. I expected a higher level of lightsaber combat skill from the master of the Sith academy. To have him go down in about three moves, maybe 10 seconds of combat, seemed pretty weak on his part. Perhaps you wrote it that way to facilitate Yuthura not having to actually fight Uthar but I think there were other things you could have had Danika do to Yuthura to get her out of combat. Perhaps you could have had Danika place Yuthura in a stasis field or something that would have immobilized her for a longer time and thus allowed a more challenging and time consuming fight between Danika and Uthar..

Actually, the fight when I played it the first time lasted about the ten seconds I described. The biggest problem I have with most RPGs is that the higher level you are, the harder you are to kill. I'm not saying a veteran isn't dangerous or efficient at defending himself. It's just that a lucky break will kill you just as dead as that novice with one shot. I could make it longer, but I'll have to consider it. As for Yuthura, I just wanted her out of the way long enough because she would have probably held back just from the shock.


The way you had Danika relate to Yuthura about slavery made good sense to me, in essence asking Yuthura the question, "So what have you really done to help slaves since you came to the Sith?" helped her step back and review her actions and how they didn't really accomplish her goal. However I do wonder why Yuthura didn't go through the shyrack cave as Danika advised her to do and ended up going into the Sith Academy with Danika instead. Not to say that I think having Yuthura get killed in the Sith academy doesn't work for me but just that I wonder what happened to make Yuthura go with Danika instead of escaping through the shyrack cave.


The biggest problem people have when they go down dark paths like this is that the reason they did is obscured. If you've seen the 3rd Batman movie, Val KIlmer as Wayne said it best. You go out to find and kill one man, but eventually you find that even if you caught him, you can't stop because the hunt chase and kill becomes your life.

Originally, I did have her escape through the cave. But I wondered if maybe she'd want to start out her new life by atoning for her old one. It could go either way.

Heh, the hot and cold grenades. I had a slight problem with that in the game, too. Iced acid is still too acidic to walk on. It doesn't magically stop reacting just because it's frozen. However, it's just a game. :)

Heh, the hot and cold grenades. I had a slight problem with that in the game, too. Iced acid is still too acidic to walk on. It doesn't magically stop reacting just because it's frozen. However, it's just a game. :)

I didn't feel comfortable with it either, which is why I changed it.

My thought was that the Star Map was in a cave, and when they began constructing Naga Sadow's tomb, they found it. It would explain the cruciform Layout because Sadow is entombed down one of the arms. Question 1: Is a Rakatan star map able to be moved? I don't know but I think it quite possible that the star map would have required extra special care if it would need to be moved out of a cave and into a tomb if it was to retain its functionality.

Question 2: Why would Naga Sadow, a Sith Lord, have his sarcophagus placed in a non-focal point of his own tomb? IMO this action would be unexpected from someone who sought power for himself. I think that switching places between the Korriban star map and Naga Sadow's sarcophagus would make more sense, e.g. the star map on the left arm of the cruciform and Naga Sadow's sarcophagus placed at the top.

Question 1: Is a Rakatan star map able to be moved? I don't know but I think it quite possible that the star map would have required extra special care if it would need to be moved out of a cave and into a tomb if it was to retain it's functionality. .

I don't think it was moved, I think when it was found it was left where it was with a few approprate embellishments such as the kneeling statue.

Question 2: Why would Naga Sadow, a Sith Lord, have his sarcophagus placed in a non-focal point of his own tomb? IMO this action would be unexpected from someone who sought power for himself. I think that switching places between the Korriban star map and Naga Sadow's sarcophagus would make more sense, e.g. the star map on the left arm of the cruciform and Naga Sadow's sarcophagus placed at the top.

I looked at it from the building viewpoint as a booby-trap fanatic where sometimes you have to make do with what you have. They start building a straight shot and run into the star Map. Sadow didn't want it destroyed or moved, so he added the two additional arms after installing the acid trap etc locking the keys in the far right one, etc. You figure, which arm is the most important, the heavily defended one where you have to face Terentateks, find the keys, then use them? Of the one with a relatively simple puzzle?

If you check the layouts of the actual tombs of the Pharoahs, you will discover a lot of misdirection was used.

Three coments, but all by the same person. What you guys don't love me no more?

Heh, actually, it's a time issue for me--with family demands, work, and a couple volunteer things, my time is pretty limited for the fun stuff. So, I don't get to read this one as often as your other one, and I don't like to make comments if I've just skimmed through.
HOwever, it's not getting ignored. :)

All right, I'll settle for two...

Therefore at first be shy as a maiden. When the enemy gives you an opening be as swift as a hare and he will be unable to withstand you.

Ebon Hawk

Enroute to the Star Forge System

Danika

The next few days were tense. Everyone dealt with the tension in their own ways. Juhani Jolee and I spent hours honing Sasha’ growing skills, and spent others practicing with our weapons. Canderous made small adjustments in his blaster rifle, Carth worked on piloting, Mission on figuring what we would need to get when we reached a new port. Zaalbar kept us fed and tinkered with the engine. I was constantly nagged by the fact that there was nothing more from Bastila after she had shut me out. The bond still existed, so she was alive. But what had happened to her?

It was a relief when we came out at ten planetary diameters from a small planet.

“Not much to see.” Carth said. “Are we sure this is the right place?”

I pointed wordlessly at the fleet that orbited the star, or rather, the structure above the star’s North Pole. He stared at it, then used the sensors to bring up a larger picture. As I might have said before, it was shaped not unlike a lightsaber pommel, only fatter. Over a hundred kilometers through, it was more than a thousand in length.

“The Star Forge.” Carth whispered. “I’ve never seen anything like it!”

“We’re here, now we need to tell someone.” I told him.

“Yeah, all right. I’m sending this directly to the sixth fleet. Admiral Dodonna will know what to do. Maybe a quick strike can cripple it.”

“I don’t know.” I pointed at the dots of yet more ships coming around from the sensor shadow of the massive structure. “How many ships do they have here?”

Carth stared. “It looks like all of them.” He added that to the message. “All right, the message is away. All we have to do is sit here outside their sensor range-” there was a bleep, and he snarled. “Fighters coming in fast. Get on the guns!”

I leaped up, running back to the centerline. Canderous passed me taking the ladder down as I climbed up. I was in my seat, weapons activated as the fighters came snarling in. Ebon Hawk was running toward the planet, trying to put it between the fleet and us. I blasted a fighter, spinning to find another as the ship started rocking as if it was going mad.

“Carth-”

“Some kind of disruptor field! Flight controls are burning out!”

The fighters lofted away from us, and I could understand why. The ship was tumbling out of control toward the planet.

“All hands brace for collision, all hand, brace for collision!” Carth screamed. “This might be a rough landing.”

Watching a crash-landing is so much more fun if there is some distance between you and it. From where I sat the sky the sea and land were interchangeable, spinning past my view in a whirling vortex. Suddenly we leveled out. How I didn’t know. Thrusters blasted, then we bounced on our landing gear. We came down again, oleo joints screaming in protest. Then there was silence.

“Well, we’re down.” Carth said. I unstrapped, and climbed down the ladder. The others were already gathering in the mess hall, and I collapsed into a seat.

“Hey, when you said rough, you were understating it! What happened, Carth? You been on a drinking binge while we weren’t watching?” Mission asked.

“That disruptor field fried our stabilizers. We’re lucky we made it down in one piece.” He rubbed his scalp. “Unless we can fix them, we’re stuck here. I can’t guarantee what would happen if we took off without them.”

“While we were descending, I think I saw ships that had crashed before us.” Juhani mused. Perhaps they might have the parts we need?”

“So did I.” Canderous said. “Some of them aren’t that far away.” He shook his head. “This place is a graveyard of ships from thousands of years of history. There must be something we can use.”

“Yeah. But even if we can repair the stabilizers, that disruptor field is still there. We’d just run into it again when we lift.”

“I’m more worried about the fleet.” I said. “The field seems to extend out from the Star Forge, and is adjustable. If they turn it up while the fleet is in system, who knows what will happen!”

“But there has to be a way to shield from it.” Carth mused. “The Sith didn’t seem to be affected by it. But we won’t have time to find that way, so destroying or shutting it down is our best option.”

I think T3 might have found it.” Mission said. We crowded around the monitor she was using. A field seemed to emanate from the planet, running outward another AU. A staggering amount of energy.

“The field is coming from a building not far from here.”

“What about Bastila?” I asked.

“We haven’t forgotten about her.” Carth soothed. “But there isn’t anything we can do until the field is down and the ship is repaired.”

“I only hope we are not to late.” Juhani whispered. “Bastila has been Malak’s prisoner for more than a week. If he can turn her to the dark side, the fleet we have called is doomed!”

“Bastila won’t turn to the dark side.” I said, even as my heart told me otherwise.

“Like you once did, I fear that Bastila will feel the lure of the dark side. “Can’t you feel it? Like a smell in the air. Whoever these people were, they lived and breathed the dark side their entire lives. She may be strong in the force, but she is impulsive and prideful. Like you were once, Revan.” Jolee opined.

“Don‘t call me that!” I shook my head vehemently. “Revan is dead and buried. I am Danika now and forever.”

“Hold on to that thought, girl. But remember that Bastila hasn’t been through the same hell yet. If she still feels as you do, than all she needs is rescue.”

“If Bastila is on the Star Forge, as you seem to think, we can’t rescue her until we’re repaired and the field is down, Jolee.” Carth shook his head, making a copy of the data from the sensors. “I’ve also downloaded the types of ships that might the parts By name and type. There are half a dozen ships close enough to check out. I’ve downloaded their positions and maybe one of them has what we need.”

“I hope it’s really that easy, Carth.” Mission murmured.

“You and me both, Mission. All right, Zaalbar and I will start ripping out fried circuits. Mission and the droids will go through what we have, and see what can be replaced. Danika, who will you take?”

“Jolee and Canderous.” I said. “Juhani, can you help with the scanning?”

“Yes.”

We gathered our equipment, and gathered at the ramp. I trotted down it, then stopped. I had seen this beach before...

The blade slicing through Mission, watching her fall, hearing Zaalbar’s despairing scream.

“Danika?” Jolee was watching me, worried.

“I had a vision back at the Academy. Me killing Mission and Zaalbar here. On this very spot.” I whispered.

“Then you are close to the point where your choice will kill her or save her.” Jolee replied. “I’m here, I hope I can stop you when that time comes.”

“If anyone can.” I whispered. I turned. Someone was running in the rock and stone above us.

Four figures came into sight. They were the same race as the builders. However they had devolved badly. Their weapons were rock and wood with sharp stone chips imbedded in them. They saw us, and seemed surprised for a moment, then they charged with an ululating cry.

Canderous smoothly aimed as if he were on a target range and three of them were dead before they reached us. The last died as I cut him down.

“What are they?” Canderous asked. “I’ve never seen such things.

“Murderous animals!” Someone said, and we spun. Two Duros staggered from the rocks near the side of our private beach, hands raised in supplication. “Thank you humans for saving us!”

“No problem.” I said.

“If your arrival had not been so fortuitous, we would have been caught! They treat all that are not of their kind as food!”

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“Our mining survey ship crashed here months ago. Our ship sank out there, at sea. Of our crew, only ten survived. We have been hunted and attacked by them ever since our arrival. Some said they would swim to that small island there.” He waved at the horizon. Unless they could swam better than any Duros I have ever seen, they were dead.

“They have been attacking you?”

“Yes. They are vicious, hunting us using the Rancor they have tamed. If we are caught, we end up in their stew pots.”

“Are there other survivors? from other ships?”

“Many, a hundred, maybe more. Most live by running from these monsters. Only the Mandalorians are safe from them.”

“Mando?” Canderous asked. “Where are they? How many?”

“A dozen all told, we think.” One of the Duros said. “They have a lot of their technology remaining. Stealth fields, and mines. But they prey on us too. They are camped in a valley on the other side of the Temple mount.”

“Danika?” Canderous asked.

“Yes, I think we might be able to use some allies. Shall we go?”

“No, I will go alone.” He demurred. “That will stop the foolish among them from shooting first.”

“We cannot stay.” The Duros said. “The longer we stay in one place, the more likely one of our enemies will find us.”

“Wait.” I lifted my com and gave an order. A few moments later, Carth pushed a lifter down the ramp. On it was an inflatable raft, and about four days worth of rations. The Duros were stunned by our generosity, but once they had the raft, they couldn’t get into it and away from shore fast enough. I had Juhani join us, and started up the slope into the depths of the island.

There was a path cutting to the left, and I ignored it. I knew somehow that the enemy the Duros were worried about lived that way. Instead I took the switchback climbing up the scree, and soon we could look down on the beach. The intruder lights were on, and the turrets were hot. I found another cut in the rock, and we followed it. Ahead of us, I could hear something roaring.



Unknown planet

Canderous

I went back aboard as Danika led the others up the hill. I went to the cargo bay which I had made my home, and gathered some things. A sound-blocking stealth belt, and the black coveralls that went with it. My armor was gone, and I wished I had it now. Mando are more into appearances than other might think. I was going to contact my people, and I looked like a ragamuffin. No help for it.

I came down the ramp, then started up the same hill at a jog. The valley with the temple was up from the beach, and I ignored the path that led to the left. The path opened into a lush valley with a huge pyramid in its center. I heard roaring, and saw a pair Rancor shambling through the remains of pillars and other structures. I went across past the temple, invisible in the stealth field, and found a path leading down the other side. I trod down it slowly, silent and invisible. Ahead of me I could see a series of mines. I stopped, and examined them. Standard layout. I slipped through the gap that should have been there and moved farther.

I came upon the encampment, and my throat tightened. A dozen was right, if you counted the women, which we do. Only five were adult men of warrior age and three of the women. The other ‘warriors’ were between eight and ten years old. A dozen or more younger children were busy at their training or doing the menial jobs necessary. I hefted a rock, and flung it down to fall near the fire. All of the men and three of the women leaped for weapons, spinning to face up the slope. I shut down the stealth field.

“Who leads?” I roared.

One of the men stepped forward. “Makiel Suuchin of Clan Lembat!” He shouted. “Who attacks?”

“I do not attack. I come to talk!”

“Then who comes to talk?” He asked.

“Canderous Ordo of clan Ordo.” I replied.

“Canderous Ordo is dead! He died at Malchior V!”

“I stand before you and can prove my name.” I retorted. “Where were you when Malchior V was fought!”

“Aboard Dhalgiri!” He replied.

“The command of Soontal Ordo of clan Ordo.” I said. “Son of my Daughter Chandra.”

“No more. He was badly wounded, and ordered us to jump out on a blind course.”

“The fool!” I shook my head at the daring of it. A blind course is just that. You closed your eyes and put a pin in a map of the Galaxy, and went whatever direction fate took you in hyperspace. They could have all died out there. Instead... “Soontal is dead.” It wasn’t really a question. He would have been trading embraces with me if he lived.

“In the crash.” Makiel replied. “Along with almost all of us.”

“May I come down?”

“Yes, and welcome, father by marriage of our captain.”

I moved down the hill, and they gathered around me. The children were well behaved, only one reached out to finger my clothing, and he dropped his hand without being told. I moved to the fire, standing with my people for the first time.

“We only arrived here a short while ago.” I told them.

“More Mando?” Someone asked. “Does the war go on?”

“No. The war has been over for many years. But a new war has begun, and we can have a part in it.”

“Says who?” One spoke. “I am Konrad Morgo of clan Shoomart. Those we have hunted of the Galaxy told us that Mandalore is dead.”

“But there is a new Mandalore.” I told them. “Revan defeated Mandalore, and assumed his place.”

“So what?” He shrugged. “We have heard some of the war you speak. Revan is dead.”

“She is not dead.” I snapped. “She is here, and she sent me.”

“To do what?”

“That is for her to say. She is Mandalore.“



Unknown planet

Danika

We reached the temple mount after a sharp battle. I ran toward the building, but felt something pushing me back.

“A force field of some kind.” Jolee grunted. I agreed. Suddenly;

I stood before the temple. The secret to escape from this world, to the huge structure in space was here. The Rift Treader lay out in the sea, brought down by the disruptor field emanating from this very building.

“Perhaps the natives?” Malak asked. I nodded my agreement. “The one that calls himself the One is mad. While he might help us, do you trust him?”

“Never, Revan.”

“Then perhaps we should speak with these Elders he spoke of.” I pointed.

I turned. “That way.” The others merely nodded. We crossed the open area, and went down another path. Where it turned, was what looked like a small ship. I scanned it. “Corellian Class A17. It’s on Carth’s list.” I started to walk forward but Jolee stopped me. A small animal hopped from the underbrush. “Gizka. Harmful little buggers.”

“It doesn’t look dangerous.” I said.

“They aren’t. But they breed like mad. Something here must feed on them or we’d be hip deep already.”

An instant later, the animal was blown apart by a hidden mine. We stared at the gobbets of flesh that were all that remained.

“Well that would fix the problem.” Jolee said.

It took us several hours to get into the ship. Mines had been placed on every entryway and we had to disarm them as we worked our way into it. The parts we needed were easy to find once we did. Less than twenty minutes all told. We worked our way back out of the ship, then fumbled our way across the clearing to the path leading onward. We finally reached the beach an hour before sunset. A structure stood before us. Pillars ran across the face of it, and energy flowed between them. A set of pillars stood away from the others, with an obvious path between them. I stepped into the area, and a hologram appeared. One of the aliens that made this world their home looked at me.

“You are not Rakata. What is your business with the Elders, off-worlder?”
A voice asked. I understood it!

“Who are you?”

“I am a monitoring system that protects the Elders from attack. I repeat, you are not Rakata. State your purpose or be destroyed.” A bolt of energy ran between the posts behind us.

“I come seeking entry into the Star Forge.”

“Hold. Pattern matching employed. You are Revan.”

“Was. No longer.”

“Your answer makes no sense. But the Elders wish to speak with you. You may enter.” The energy behind us guttered out, and before us the pathway opened.



Elders

Danika

The door opened before us soundlessly. Whatever else they had lost, the Rakata had not lost that! We walked into the courtyard, facing three of the Elders. The center one of the trio spoke.

“We of the Elder’s council did not expect to see you again Revan. We had thought that you had betrayed us. Why have you returned to our village after all this time?”

I stopped. “I am not Revan, any more. I am called Danika Wordweaver now.”

“This answer makes no sense. Our sensors and our eyes recognize you. You are the one called Revan. You are the very one that came here before with your servant, Malak. You promised to help us. In exchange for our aid, you promised to destroy the ancient evil of our race that orbits our star. Are you saying that this promise has no meaning to you?”

“My mind was destroyed. Almost all memories I have of your world have been lost.”

They huddled to talk quietly. “This explains the differences in the way you were and the way you are now. You are not as you once were. Perhaps you speak the truth, and all memory has been lost. Yet that power which you wield, what you call the Force, is still there. You can still help us, if we are willing to trust you yet again.

“If what you say is true, that you cannot remember your last visit here, than you must have a number of questions. Ask what you will, and we will try to help you understand.”

“You can tell me who you are first.”

“We are called the Elders. Our ancestors were priests and scientists among our people, serving the Infinite Empire before it collapsed almost 30,000 odd of your years ago. As I said, you arrived here four of your years ago with your servant Malak. Your great ship was dragged from orbit as ships have been destroyed since the fall of the Empire. Both of you survived that crash with a handful of others, though you were then trapped on our world. In your search for a way to escape you found our enclave as you have again.

“You used the Force to draw the language of the Rakata from our minds, and impressed the language you call Basic on ours to allow us to help you in that escape. You convinced us to aid you in entering the temple of the Ancients. Both you and Malak entered after promising to destroy the weapon that floats in space.

“Yet after all this time you have returned. The evil still exists, for we can feel it.”

“Have a lot of ships crashed here?”

“The disruptor field was a defense of last resort created by the Ancients to protect our home world from attack. Most die when their ships crash, but some survive, as do the creatures you call Rancor and Gizka. The Rancor have been captured when young, and are used by the warlike tribes of the islands to attack others.”

“Tell me more of your people.”

“There are hundreds of thousands of our people upon this world. But except for this one enclave, they are fierce warlike primitives. When our world was bombarded, our people hid in shelters beneath the surface for thousands of years. Finally some began seeking the surface again. But those that come to the surface late find that they are under attack by their own kind.

“Our society was rigidly stratified, and each shelter was for one order only. As I said, we were priests and scientists. Others, such as those that follow the One were warriors in their tribe, and still remain so. Others were artisans farmers, and so on.”

He looked sad. “Since the One became their leader, attacks by his followers have increased. Farmers that could have fed us have died because the One and his followers kill them and take food. Artisans die because the One does not have the patience to discover that they could make what he needs. Medical personnel die and the One tries to use the medicines without their help, which makes even more die. Infant mortality among the warriors alone is at over ten percent.

“We have technology which we took with us which he does not, and that is all that has saved us from the same fate. The fool thinks that what we know is magical and easily used. We control much that is still more advanced than you might imagine. We control access to the temple, which is still a storehouse of knowledge if we could enter it again. That he wants, for enough of our people have been tortured for him to understand the power of the temple.

“But that is lost to us. When the civil wars began, warlords unleashed horrors unimaginable. Plagues weapons Droids capable of thinking and fighting on their own. Our race even here on our home world was driven almost to extinction. To stop it from happening again, the knowledge of those weapon were locked within the temple, and sealed so that only we could enter it.

“But something inconceivable happened. It is believed that one of the plagues that were spread during those wars denied our race the use of the Force. Once we had such a control over it that we built machines with the Force as part of their construction. Metals that cannot exist in nature we made as a matter of course.

“But without the force we can not enter the temple. That is why we helped you when you came before. You could enter the temple, where we cannot. It has been determined by the best of our scientists that when the great evil above is gone, we may again learn the use of the Force.”

“Can you help me again?”

“We trusted you once before to our detriment, Revan. You betrayed our trust. It is true that one like you can enter the Temple where we cannot, but how can you expect us to trust you again?”

“I am a servant of the light now.” I whispered. “I must make amends for the evil that I have done.”

“You claimed the same when you were here before. Claimed that your purpose would require the destruction of the evil above. You claim to not remember, but you follow the same path as before. You have crashed again. You have come to us asking help, again. You promise to remove the evil, again. How can we trust you?”

“I have said I am not the one that came before.” I touched my head. “My mind is a blank slate when it comes to your world. Only my actions can prove I speak the truth.”

“In this you do speak truth. Words are easy to speak, and hard to prove. It is the actions that judge the person. You must prove to us that you are not what you once were.”

“How may I prove this?”

“The One has become a serious problem. He has dismounted guns from some of the ships, and has tried to move them here to destroy us. While our defenses can stop their hand weapons even those of the ones called Mando, they cannot stand against that much firepower. It is lucky for us that he thinks of droids as moving targets for practice, for they would have sped his efforts.

“A team of scouts had gone out to find where he has hidden these weapons, but they were captured. There is only one of them remaining alive. We have our own spies among them, and while they cannot help in an escape, they have reported what horrors the One has inflicted on our people. We ask that you rescue this one of ours.”

“I can negotiate with the One for his release.”

“Would that your luck be better than ours. All we have sent to talk before have died for thirty of your years. If it can be done without bloodshed, we would accept it. If he would be willing to have it so.”

“So I must save this one.”

“Risking your life for one you do not actually know is supposed to be what your kind strive for.” He said gently. “Or so you once told me.”

“Then at least I told you the truth once!” I said. “We will get him back.”

“Go with this Force.”

We went out into the early evening darkness. I led the others back up the path, threading through the mines that still lay there. The temple beckoned, but I ignored it. Without the aid of the Rakata, I could not enter.

I signaled for a halt, and waited.

“Why...” Jolee stopped. Around us Mando warriors appeared from their stealth fields. Ten of them. Then Canderous appeared from his field. He walked over, and knelt.

“My Mandalore, I have brought them as you commanded.”

“Well done.” I said. “Do any challenge my orders?”

One walked forward. “I am Konrad Morgo of clan Shoomart. I do not challenge your right, merely your purpose.”

“Speak on, Konrad.” I nodded.

“To what purpose do we fight and die for you here? Have we not fought and died for nothing under other Mandalore before you?” There was a gasp from the gathered warriors. Unless he was willing to challenge me directly, which he had refused to do, this was tantamount to a mutiny. Under their own laws, I could have killed him where he stood.

“I took your honor from your clans because of those acts.” I replied. “In time, it would have been redeemed. But I died and was reborn. I know the honor of the Mando people.” I motioned toward Canderous. “This one took the burden of shame for his clan because of another. No one told him to do so, he did what honor demanded. Will you do the same?”

Konrad lowered his head. “Others have made that claim since you disappeared.”

“Were they Mandalore of the Mandalore?” I asked sharply.

“No.” Again petty defiance. By refusing to use the title, he was questioning it.

“I swear to you. Within days the Mando will either regain their honor, or lose it forever. As Mandalore I can do this.”

“Yes.” His head bowed, and his answer was a whisper. Unless overturned by another, the dictate of the Mandalore was absolute. In the millennia since they had been formed, only three times had it been overturned.

“Konrad, evil floats over this world. It is in the great space station around the star, in the ships that guard it. Hundreds of ships. We,” I motioned toward Canderous, toward the two silent Jedi behind me, “And others in our ship will face them when our ship is ready to fight again. We will fight, and we will win or die.

“Against such a force all you can do is die.” Konrad replied.

“But I have concerns which reach beyond my death.” I waved toward the island around us. ‘Hundreds of thousands of people who need someone to teach them the ways of modern war in the event that we fail. People willing to give their entire lives making sure that these people fight and die well. That millennia from now, the name Mando will ring not as brutes, but the bravest of all peoples."

He looked at me, and his face glowed. “To fight a war that may never end? Against an enemy that will show us no mercy?”

“What else would a Mandalore ask of her people?”

He fell to his knee. “Chu, my Mandalore!”

The others dropped to their knees.

“My people, there is much we must do first...”

So you decided that Danika wouldn't send the two Duros off without giving them some aid. That was a considerate change. :)

Why am I not surprised that you have pulled the Mandalorians into a more significant role in the story? ;) It will be nice for Danika to have some more skilled fighters to help take on The One and his minions. Or do you have something else in mind...

Star Forge

Admiral Varko walked toward the Dark Lord. Malak was busy with something, and turned as the new commander of his fleet approached. Varko stopped, stunned in horror at the sight. Malak’s lower jaw was gone, scar tissue flowing in a spray across his neck and head. His upper teeth incongruously were neat and white. Where his throat had been Malak had a small device attached below a vocal prosthesis. Tubes ran from the device to a sack of pureed vegetables. As he watched the contents lowered as the food was pumped into his stomach.

Varko averted his eyes, and saw satisfaction in Malak’s eyes.

“You have something to report, Admiral?” Even as the food level dropped, Malak could still speak thanks to the prosthesis.

“The Star Forge is operating at 300 percent of the original projected levels as you commanded My Lord. The ships are being launched from its pores at the rate of two full sized frigates a day.”

“I told you all long ago that you have no idea of how well the Star Forge would perform.” Malak said, disconnecting the empty bag, and selecting another of pureed meat. “What of the fleet?”

“The fleet is still gathering, My Lord. We have almost a thousand ships here now, and more arrive every day. We eagerly await your instructions!”

“Patience Admiral. My new Apprentice is almost ready. Once she is the combination of our fleet and Bastila’s battle meditation will spell the end of the Republic. When she returns from the planet, have all commanders deliver plans for a stroke straight at Coruscant.”

“Is that wise, My lord?” Varko asked. “The Republic fleet will...” His eyes brightened. “Of course. The Republic must gather all of its ships for one titanic battle! We can crush them in an afternoon!”

“So glad you approve, Admiral.” Malak turned back toward the building floor. “Now leave me to my lunch in peace.”


The One

Danika

The next morning, we moved down the hill to the ship, delivering the parts we had found. Carth promised to have them installed and ready within the day, and I led Canderous and Jolee toward the other path leading to the One. Canderous carried the small box which we had gotten on Korriban, and I considered what I intended to do. According to the Mando, the One had several dozen warriors. This would not be an easy fight we faced.

The path led onto a small beach, and ahead of us were a dozen Rakata and a pair of Rancor. When they saw us, the Rakata formed a skirmish line, the two Rancor at the ends. It spoke of some experience with the large beasts. If we fought, the Rancor would charge in from the sides, breaking any formation a party might try. If enough strength went to the wings of the formation, the Rakata could cut through the middle. I realized that the eyestalks on the side of the head aided their depth perception. Their feet had wicked claws on them, and increased depth perception made them lethal weapons.

They halted five paces away. “You have been to the Elder encampment! You must die, as the One has ordered!”

“I come with a gift for the One.” I motioned, and Canderous set the box down beside me, stepping back. His blaster was aimed at the Rancor to our left.

They paused, and the leader of the Rakata considered what I had said. “You have been here before, creature. Why should the One agree when you have betrayed his trust before?”

“I was injured, and have lost all memory of having met him.” I admitted. “Do you punish those that fail without knowing why?”

“Sometimes he punishes them because he would wish to.” The officer admitted.

“Then take us to the One and let him decide.”

Again the pause. “Bring them.” He ordered. We moved toward the building the One’s people occupied. Behind us the Rancor snuffled curiously, but followed their trainers when commanded. I breathed a silent sigh of relief.

The doors had to be opened manually. If my plan succeeded, the Rakata would begin their long climb to civilization again. If it failed, I would die. But the Ebon Hawk would be free to fly again.

The One’s encampment was larger than the Elders, and one section looked to be an arena. A walkway crossed it with heavy gates installed so that once you were on it, you could not retreat. Tiered seats would allow the Rakata to watch as warriors were forced to battle over a man made lake full of what looked like vicious predatory fish. Both gates stood open today, and we walked across, surrounded by our guards. The Rancor kept trying to pull to the rear, but their handlers prodded them to follow us instead.

Beyond the arena was another huge area with cages. Each cage held a Rancor. No, all but one. In that one stakes had been pounded into the earth, and bodies hung from them. The scouts the Elders had spoken of.

A large Rakata stood there, and I could feel the Force flowing over him. It was a dark presence. An evil steeped from the ground itself that fed it.

“I said they were to die!” He screamed.

“My lord, she claims that she has no memory of your previous meeting.” The officer reported.

“Lies, all lies!” He screamed.

“She also bears a gift.” He added.

“A gift?” The One looked at me. “What kind of gift?”

I held the box, advancing toward him. “A gift from the past of your race. One that was made before the Infinite Empire fell.” I said, setting it down. “And a message from that time.”

He looked at me, then at the box. I could feel his lust for it warring with his caution. He waved me away, storming forward to pick it up. A finger touched
the tip of the pintel, then he froze as if stunned.

“Now!” My team went into a triangular formation, facing outward. Our guards moved forward, but paused at a whistle. The Mando came out of stealth fields,
surrounding those that faced us.

“Betrayer!” The officer screamed.

“Wait.” I said. Give this a few minutes before you attack, or he,” I motioned toward the still body of the One, “Is who I will kill first.”

The threat held them in place. As we stood there, a pair of the Mando ran to the gate on this end of the walkway, and closed it. Beyond that other Rakata were gathering.

The standoff continued, and I began to worry. It had taken only a few minutes from the time I was ensnared to my release according to Carth. How many was a few?

Behind me I heard a gasp, and looked at the One. The box was in his hand still, and he gently put it down. “As promised.” He said. He looked at the guards standing around us. “Stand down.” He ordered.

I could see that the force around him had changed. It was still dark, but not as much as before. He was looking at his hands in wonder, then at us. “You have freed me. Why?”

“This is your home world, and these are some of your people.” I said. “Would you join with them and others to make things right again?”

“I have a chance to fix what I caused?” He clapped his hands. “Tell me more.”

I told him of the Elders, and of the people that followed the One. He listened intently. “So they have little or no military force of their own, and no access to our computers, is that what you say?”

“Yes.”

“Then maybe they need someone that can help them in that regard. You.” He pointed at the officer. “Take the wounded Elder scout to the Elder bastion. You are not to harm him in any way. Ask to be admitted. Tell them that I shall come and make an alliance with them. I will come with this one directly.” He motioned toward me, “Go.”

Three Rakata ran to the cage holding the living scout, and carried him away.

“Makiel!” I shouted.

“Chu!”

“You will stay here for a time. Assist this one in consolidating his power. They have guns taken from downed ships. Either place them in defense, or destroy them.”

“Chu!” Half of the Mando came up, saluted the Rakata, and took positions around him as bodyguards. The Rakata watched them warily.

I faced the Rakata. “You know how fierce these warriors are. They will be among you until your leader says otherwise.” I ordered them. “Treat them as you have others, and you will die. You will no long consider other people as food. If you are not sure, ask one of them,“ I motioned toward the Mando, “As to what is or is not food. You must learn to join civilized peoples again, how to fight well for your race. They will teach you for they are masters of it.” I turned to the person occupying the One’s body. “We will escort you to the Elders now.”

“My thanks for my rescue and another chance. May I know your name?”

“I am called Danika Wordweaver.”

“I was called Brashieel and shall be again.” He extended a hand, palm upright toward me. I placed my hand against his. “I promise to be worthy of that chance.”




Elders

Jolee

We entered the Elder’s encampment, and Brashieel bowed to them. They spoke too rapidly for me to follow, and Danika merely stood there. Finally Brashieel stepped aside.

“You have done as we asked, and brought this one from our past to aid us as well. Our scout has told us of the way you freed him, and this alliance will help us convince other small tribes to join in rebuilding our society. We are in your debt.”

“Will you help me enter the temple then?” Danika asked.

“Helping us rescue our person proves that you have changed, Revan, but you have lied to us before. Can we trust you with such power yet again?” He looked to the other Elders. “We must discuss this in private. When we are done, we shall summon you. Please feel free to look over our people and our works.”

The Elders walked away. Brashieel walked over to stand with us. “Like all politicians and priests they must talk until they are bored of it before deciding anything. During our conversation, they told me that there is one computer they can still use. Would you see it?”

“Please.”

The Rakata led us through a bewildering array of rooms. There weren’t many of the Elders to be seen, and I understood how relieved they were that this small war was over. In one room, a researched named Ll'awa was trying to discover what within them caused the Force to dissipate. He was ecstatic when Danika informed him that Brashieel’s body could use the Force.

“We have tried to create methods of bringing out the Force in our people. But our knowledge is still limited. It is said that the main computer within the Temple has more data on our DNA than any we have yet accessed, but that might be a myth. Please.” He turned to Brashieel, “Could we have samples to test?

“I have promised to take these ones to the computer room.” Brashieel demurred.

“I will have someone lead them for you.” Ll'awa said, signaling an assistant. The young Rakata led us into the depths of the encampment, stopping at a door where a single Rakata knelt in meditation.

“This is Keeper Orsaa. He will assist you.” Our guide motioned toward the other Rakata, and left again.

Orsaa looked up. “Well met yet again, Revan. I am glad that you have returned. He stood, towering over us. “I could not believe that you had betrayed us, regardless of what the council decided. I am the keeper of our history and the sole computer that remains for our use. When you were here last, you had many questions for me. I have heard of the destruction of your memories, but I hope some of what we spoke of remains?”

Danika shook her head. “I wish I could remember.”

Orsaa chuckled. “There is no need to apologize. While it pains me that all I have taught you is gone, I am an old being, and old beings enjoy repeating themselves.”

Danika snorted trying to keep from laughing, her eyes moving toward me. “So I have discovered. I do have questions yet again for you.”

“Yes, or course. You must forgive me if what I tell you suddenly seems familiar. We discussed the history of my people at great length when you were last here. I will endeavor to enlighten you in any way I can.”

“Tell me of the beginnings of the Rakata Empire.”

“Long ago, we discovered that we could combine both what you call the Force, and material objects into a single object. We made great weapons and buildings such as the temple that rests beyond. We soon grew bored with seeing the same stars, and the same planet, and created ships of metal and force combined, with what you would call hyper drives that fed upon the force itself. We went outward from our world. Everywhere we went we found other more primitive societies. But instead of helping them advance, teaching them what we knew, those early Rakata decided instead to conquer them. Those we did not destroy became our slaves.

“Back then, we commanded the force as easily as you command metals now. Something we never learned, because the Force was in abundance. Combined with our technology, we were irresistible. Soon we spread across this galaxy, and we called our works the Infinite Empire in our hubris.

“But it was discovered in the fourteenth millennia of our empire that our children had become weaker in the force, and some were unable to feel it at all. Instead of heeding this warning, we taught ourselves how to make the hyper drives and engines that ran our ships in a more mundane manner. Yet that first weakening in our grasp of the Force became the first sign of our collapse.”

“How did the Empire collapse”?

“We were a corrupt people, using our powers and technology to smash those that opposed us. How, some reasoned, were we different if another Rakata had something you needed? Some began treating other Rakata as we had the so-called lesser races. But in corruption you find greed and honor in equal measure. Those that strived to hold the Empire together, and those that feared that the Force would vanish for all time, and would grab for what they could at whatever cost. Natural opponents.

“Our Empire was built on slaughter and force. We began using the same means upon ourselves. It began to collapse as our own people fought for what they wanted. Plagues sprouted up, and each plague seemed to weaken our hold on the Force just that much more. As we weakened our slaves began to revolt. Our weapons devastated planets in an attempt to halt this. You told me before of a planet named Tatooine where our ships still lie. This was one such.

“Here on our own hidden home world the fighting between rival factions escalated. Warlords fought to control all, and succeeded only in our own slaughter. Many of the weapon designs were taken and placed in the Temple so only the priests could gain them again, but always there were more. Biological weapons were released, nuclear and anti-matter fire devoured cities. Only those that had hidden themselves had even a remote chance of survival. Our empire collapsed into ruins in less than a century. The Glory of what we called Infinite lies now only in rust, dust, and bones.

“Then came the fleets captured by those we had oppressed, come to repay us in kind, or slaughter those that remained. The greatest of all our priests, L’Wass entered the temple, and a great scream came from it. Then the ships fell like stars from the sky, crashing everywhere. But it cost him to use the Force that last time. He staggered from the temple, and died.

“Since then ships have crashed here as other peoples beyond our star rediscovered us. Finally you came, and filled us with hope.” He looked sad. “Now if you could just free us from this great prison.”

“I will do what I can.” Danika replied softly. “Now, I was told you still had a computer?”

“Of course, you have forgotten that as well.” He turned, and opened the door that he knelt before. Beyond was a small room. “Enter.”

The console was dark with age. Danika paced toward it, standing before the system. She hunted for a moment, then touched a control.

“User verification.” We turned around. Before us stood a small hologram about a meter tall of a Rakata. “Species is not Rakata. Access to auxiliary archives not permitted for slave races. Restricted only to Rakata and approved servants.”

“I come in the name of the Rakata people.” Danika said. Then she spoke in their language. The machine replied in kind. “You have been programmed with the Basic language.” She said. “Use it for those with me.”

“Order accepted. Downloading information on access to the temple as requested. However only the Rakata race can so access the temple. While you speak the language, the intonation and timbre is incorrect. This was a security system activated when the defense field was placed around the system.”

“Understood.” She handed me a data pad. “Access data files.”

“Accessing. State topic of interest.”

“I am looking for information about the Ancient Rakata.”

“Accessing. Retrieval complete. All such information in full is within the Temple itself. There are only synopses in this system. Access to the main temple was cut during the siege of the planet over 30,000 years ago.”

“How do I enter the temple?”

“As stated, a Rakata must speak the codes necessary. The force field around the temple will stop any attempt to enter it without authorized access. Anyone within the temple can shut the field down, but from without, the codes must be used. This was to assure that renegades would not use the data within the computer inside. The code is a ritualistic chant in an ancient poetical meter. This is detailed in full in the book held by the Keeper of Knowledge.”

“Tell me of the Star Forge.”

“Error, no such data is within this system.”

She shook her head. “Tell me of the Ancient Rakata. Historical overview.”

“Accessing. Retrieval complete.” A glowing ball similar to one of the Star Maps glowed in mid air. “The Infinite Empire covered the Galaxy, and at it’s height consisted of 500 planets, ten billion Rakata, and over a trillion slaves. However corruption set in, and the Empire was weakened by a series of civil wars. Before the first of these Civil Wars, the first mutation of a great plague struck the Rakata.”

“Wait, the Rakata say that there were a series of plagues.”

“It would be more correct to say mutations of a specific virus. Just as your race speaks of a ‘common’ cold that strikes even those that suffered it before.”

“Where did you get that analogy?”

“From the one called Revan who accessed this system five years before.”

“Continue.”

“The origins of the plague are unknown. Perhaps it was a naturally occurring virus of one of the planets conquered during the expansion. Possibly it was created by one of the slave races. It has even been suggested that the Rakata themselves made it as a weapon. It killed only Rakata, and those that were infected and did not die discovered that they could no longer access what you call the Force, and this lack of ability was passed on to their progeny. Carried by their own ships, it spread to every corner of the Empire before it was stopped.

“The empire began to collapse, slowed by creating technology that could mimic what their original ships could do. But as slave revolts tore through the Empire, the Race retreated back to their home world. However even here they were not safe. Millions died in the civil wars that struck them, more died as the plague mutated to strike the race again and again.

“That history ended over 30,000 years ago. Now my creators have devolved into scattered primitive tribes that still fight each other to gather what they need to survive.”

“So sad.” She whispered. “If they had tried to do good-”

“They would have still had civil wars.” I said. “Look at the Galaxy now. The Sith and the Mando could have been members of the Republic. But instead they fight to conquer. The nature of most species hasn’t changed.”

She nodded sadly. A Rakata came running up. “The Elders ask for your presence.”

Malak eating through a tube, eh? While the description definitely fits I found the way you described his manner of eating kind of grossed me out, akin to talking with a mouth full of food. :barf: Probably what you intended though. ;)
“So glad you approve, Admiral.” Malak turned back toward the building floor. “Now leave me to my lunch in peace.” While I sensed the sarcasm when Malak noted the admiral's approval I can't picture Malak using the phrase "in peace" in this manner. Seems too polite to me.

Excellent use of the Rakatan prison box! Taking something that was an abstract and non-required part of the game and turning it into something of more significance was quite brilliant. Sounds like this Brashieel will make better use of The One's body than The One ever did. :smirk2: I guess 25,000+ years could help one get a better perspective on life but the time could also make one go bonkers. Hopefully Brashieel is indeed the former instead of the latter.

Malak eating through a tube, eh? While the description definitely fits I found the way you described his manner of eating kind of grossed me out, akin to talking with a mouth full of food. :barf: Probably what you intended though. ;)
While I sensed the sarcasm when Malak noted the admiral's approval I can't picture Malak using the phrase "in peace" in this manner. Seems too polite to me..

Actually, the entire sentence was sarcastic. One of the problems with a deformity is that some people will just stare at it and not go away. The birth of the Freak show. In my mind He's putting it in a tone that suggests 'if you stand there staring one more second I'm going to rip your GD eyes out.'


Excellent use of the Rakatan prison box! Taking something that was an abstract and non-required part of the game and turning it into something of more significance was quite brilliant. Sounds like this Brashieel will make better use of The One's body than The One ever did. :smirk2: I guess 25,000+ years could help one get a better perspective on life but the time could also make one go bonkers. Hopefully Brashieel is indeed the former instead of the latter.


Is that what you thought I'd do? Or imprison Malak in it?

THat's why I had him make the comment about 'I could have vacated the box by walking out there'. Actually I think the Rakata are a lot more stable than most humans are.

^^^
Actually, based off Danika's entry into the box and subsequent encounter with Brashieel I did think you were going to work the story so that another Rakatan would take Brashieel's place in the box. But I wasn't sure which one.

^^^
Actually, based off Danika's entry into the box and subsequent encounter with Brashieel I did think you were going to work the story so that another Rakatan would take Brashieel's place in the box. But I wasn't sure which one.


I just used the most obnoxious one in the group. If you went to meet the One first, he would ask you to kill the Elders. The Elders, however, would be willing to talk if you came. But if you went to see the Elders first, or returned without having slughtered them, you were automatically the enemy. So you can't even use the consular skills to try to negotiate

Danika

We stood before the Elders again. Their leader motioned for us to approach. “Revan, the Council had decided that your actions merit another chance. For many centuries we have tried to discover a way into the Temple, and by so doing, a means to destroy what you called the Star Forge. But only those that command the Force, such as you are capable of passing through the screen. As you no doubt know, our people no longer have that ability. That is why we were willing to help you the last time.

“But you cannot enter the temple without our assistance. The ancient ritual for entering must be spoken by one of our people, and only with it can your own capabilities allow you to pass the screen. We need you as much as you need us in this, Revan.”

“So it appears we must trust one another to do their part.”

“For our sake, and the sake of the Galaxy, we hope you really mean to atone for your past evils. When you are ready, you may go to the temple, and our Keeper of knowledge will begin the ritual.

“However, it is our belief that allowing both you and Malak to pass through was a grave error on our part. It was a violation of our traditions, and we will return to them. If you enter the temple, you must go alone.”

“You believe that it was letting two in instead of one that caused all of the suffering that followed?”

“We believe that you truly wish to end our suffering this time. But we will not take a chance by defiling the temple and our ancient rite yet again. If you enter, you must go alone.”

“I will return to the ship, leaving my friends, and return to the temple at dawn.” I replied. I led Canderous and Jolee to the ship in silence. I was terrified of what I might discover in there. Somewhere between the moment that I had entered the temple and when I stepped off the deck of the Star Forge to return to Korriban and enlist the Sith, I had fallen to the darkness. Could I hold myself from doing so again?

Our dinner was tomblike. No one wished to break my mood, and I found I could not break it either. The only interruption was when our sensors reported that a fighter had flown down to land inside the temple. I wondered about that. If the screen was impenetrable, how had that ship flown into it? Then I remembered that someone already inside could deactivate it.

My dreams were chaotic. I found myself moving through the temple. I could see the hallway, which led to where Bastila had been tortured, yet, the altar stone she had been bound to was empty now. I feared that she had died, but knew through the bond, that she had not. She still refused me admittance.

I was glad that the sun finally rose. I would finish this as quickly as I could, the better to end the matter once and for all. I tousled Sasha’s hair, hugged Mission, and started up the path toward the temple. I was free at last. Free to live or die by my own strengths.

Keeper Orsaa stood at the bottom of the ramp, as close as you could get without impinging on the screen.

“The time has come to atone for your past, Revan.” Orsaa intoned. “But the task will be greater than you had before. The temple is now home to a number of what you call dark Jedi and their metal servants.”

“Dark Jedi?” I stared at the building. “How did they get in there?”

“The last time you and Malak entered, you must have found a control that causes the screen to be raised and lowered. Those within can lower and raise it at will to allow other force users entry. Did you not feel it last night?”

“The fighter.”

“Even so. But that ability will not stop us from opening the screen for you to pass. It will take several hours. The chant is very complex.”

“Wait.” One of the Rakata with him pointed down the concourse toward where the path to the ship was. “Someone is coming!”

I saw two figures, and as they approached, they resolved themselves into Jolee and Juhani. I looked at Orsaa beseechingly, then walked toward them.

“You can’t enter the temple alone!” Jolee shouted.

“Friends, I must!” I motioned for them to move closer to Orsaa so he could follow the conversation.

“We have had a premonition.” Juhani said. “There is great danger, and here is where you will fall this time if you fail. We cannot let you go on alone!”

“You might be facing a trap.” Jolee cut in. “Maybe Malak is waiting for you to come in himself! Even if he is not, we sense a number of Dark Jedi within. Enough that they can bury you in numbers if you are not careful.”

“No one may enter with her.” Orsaa growled. “She was told this, and you dark one were there when she was told!”

Jolee walked over to face the Rakata. “The fate of the Galaxy, of everyone on this planet depends on her succeeding. Would you be happy if tradition made us stay outside and she returned as the dark lord again? Will future generations applaud your blind adherence if it meant their own lives were as brutal as your own?”

“I will not leave this place!” Juhani said. “If you go in alone, all the good you have done will be swept away in a burst of emotion. The vision you had of Mission dying will occur, and we will have already died by your hand.”

I stared at her. That vision had haunted me since Dantooine. To know that I would definitely kill a girl I loved shocked me. That two of my friends would already be dead when that happened worried me even more. “Orsaa!’

“No! We cannot break tradition a second time!”

Jolee stepped forward. “There is a fleet coming that will be attacking the Star Forge in the next day or so. If we are standing here arguing when it arrives that disruptor field will destroy them. Will you murder the only hope of the galaxy for tradition?”

“My friends would not lie to you of this.” I told Orsaa. “They say that I will fail if I go alone. I trust their judgment in this. If I must have help to succeed, they must come with me.”

Orsaa looked at them for a long moment, then he signalled the other Guardians to join him and the chant began again.

“It looks like this might take a while.”

“That is what they told me.”

They hadn’t been joking. The sun had passed zenith by at least an hour before Orsaa motioned. I trotted forward, and felt as if I pushed through a beaded curtain. On the other side the air was heavy with the force, the evil flowing from the building darkening every step.

We ran up the ramp, and I touched the main door. It opened smoothly. The instant I saw it, the interior was sharply familiar. Beyond it was a hallway running both directions. To our front and a few meters to our right was the door I knew led to the upper level where the control for the screen and disruptor lay. But it resisted my hand. I cursed, wanting to cut the door, but knew that it was thick enough that no lightsaber would even reach the inner face of it.

“Something is wrong.” I explained that the door should have opened at my approach. They looked at the door.

“Perhaps the changes between Revan and Danika are more profound than you imagine.” Juhani said. “It no longer recognizes you.”

“Then I have to go to the lower level.” I said. “The main computer is there.”

We ran down the hall. I stopped the others, and looked around the corner. Three heavy combat droids crouched there. I motioned back to a door we had passed, and touched the key plate. The door opened, and the Jedi standing within spun. “Who dares intrude...” He saw my face, and sneered. “The fallen one, Revan.”

“I am Revan no longer.”

“So my Lord Malak has told all of us within the Force. He spoke of you. How the Jedi council stripped you of your identity and your skills, leaving you a shell of what you once where. You are not worthy of calling yourself a Dark Lord, or even a Jedi! You should thank me for killing you.”

He started forward. His light saber lit, and I threw my own. It shot past him as he ducked then circled back, decapitating him from behind.

I went to a flower-shaped computer console. I touched the controls, then shut down all alarms, droids, and unlocked all the doors. A signal chimed on the console, but I ignored it, leading us rapidly to another door.

It opened, and a Dark Jedi stormed through. He saw me, and his lightsaber lit. “Revan as I live and breathe!” He flourished his weapon. “About time I had a real challenge. Come along, let’s dance, Revan, and don’t bore me!”

I signalled the others to stand back, and lighted the double lightsaber I carried. His first rush brought us breast to breast, and he flinched as I slit his cheek with a Fybylka cut. He flinched, touching the burn. Then he came in more carefully. He cut at my feet, and I leaped, blocking the strike he made over his head, and landing behind him. My foot shot out, and I felt his knee snap. He went down, rolling, but I clipped the lightsaber at the base, and his blade fizzled and died.

He screamed reaching out, catching a statue, and I felt it shifting. As it began to fall I reached out, catching it, and holding the tons of rock over him.

“I don’t want to kill you.”

He laughed, and I saw the assassin’s pistol in his hand. I blocked the bolt, but I lost control of the statue. He caught it, but it was too much too fast. There wasn’t even a scream.

I sighed, and led the others to the path downward. We ran into the lower level, coming to a series of metallic squares set in the floor. I remembered the pattern, running along them one way then another. The door opened, and I ran up to the computer console.

When I touched it, a voice spoke. “Greetings, Revan. It has been some time since you have accessed this terminal. I had considered the possibility that you had died, especially considering our last conversation.”

“I am not Revan anymore. I am called Danika now.”

“An odd statement because your physical form has not changed. It might explain the neurological abnormalities I detected. The changes have been substantial, the sign of recent damage to your brain .”

“Yes.”

“These changes have been recorded, and have been added to my memory bank.”

“Your memory bank.”

“You were surprised when you first discovered that the Rakata use self-aware computers, if brain damage is the cause of your neurological changes, explanations are in order. I am a the primary data bank of the planet. Once, long ago, I was the main computer of the entire Infinite Empire. To carry out that mission, it was required that I be self aware, so that any damage to my systems could be repaired readily. I was ordered to record all noteworthy occurrences within Rakata space. I have recorded everything from the birth of this unit and death of that empire.

“My systems are fully self-replicating, so there has been no degradation of my memory core. All data stored within this system is still accessible.”
I considered the quest of the Rakata. “Do you have genetic information on the Rakata?”

“I have data on every genetic change the Rakata have undergone in the millennia they were the dominant species, and some of what occurred before the collapse. What were you wishing to know directly?”

“Can you duplicate these files in the auxiliary archives of what is called the Elder’s encampment?”

“Not directly. There are no longer links to that system.” It hummed. “However, I can control one of the droids in the temple, and deliver it all to the computer you have specified.” It hummed again. “The droid has been dispatched. State the nature of any further requests.”

“Tell me of the Star Forge.”

“The Star Forge was built in the last century of the Empire, when it was believed that the Rakata would be destroyed by a civil war. The leader of the Empire wished the ability to literally build anything desired without the long convoluted manufactory processes used by the lesser beings. The structure is the largest ever envisioned by any species. It is a combination fully automated factory and battle dreadnought.

“The Star Forge can build anything the mind can envision, drawing the matter necessary from the star itself, and forming it using both technology and the force. From a sword blade to a warship, all can be literally put together atom by atom. Much of the same technology was used to build my own system.

“You must understand that like myself, the Star Forge is in a lot of ways a living breathing entity, and it will try to survive as long as that is possible. It was necessary for the system to be able to detect, and feed on the Force in it‘s operations. That ability is the key to the operation of the Star Forge, but it also led to the Empire‘s collapse.”

“How so?”

“The Rakata built the Star Forge not only to save an Empire from a civil war, but to maintain the status quo of that Empire. An Empire founded on conquest and greed. Since the reasons for its creation were fueled by those dark purposes, it feeds better from them. You might say that it doesn’t like the taste of what you called the Light side of the Force. It has corrupted all that lived here for too long a time because it makes it‘s own operations more efficient.

“The builders believed that they could control this side affect of their creation, as you did when you first came. But those tendencies in the system caused those in charge to become darker, and crueler. Their cruelty fueled the civil wars, and led to the collapse of the Empire. Before you left the system for the last time, you had decided it was the same with what you had thought to build."

“Can it be disabled?”

“You asked me that before as well. If the Force could be removed from the equation, the Star Forge, in fact all things built by it as well would fall apart in a brief time. Whereas your race makes metals by the time consuming process of alloying, the circuitry of my systems is held together by the Force. If the Force were to disappear from the system for a long enough time, the circuits would degrade and fall apart.

“The degradation would be more rapid in the more complex systems created by the Star Forge. Electronic circuitry would collapse almost immediately, weapons within hours, even hull metal would fall apart after only a few months, unless hit by weapons fire. My circuitry would be irreparably damaged by such an act.”

“Is it possible?”

The computer paused. “You asked me to work on a weapon that would neutralize the Force when you were last here several months ago. There is an answer. It can be done.”

“Download all data to my data pad.”

“Danika, you understand that as a self-aware computer, I can contemplate death and fear it as a living being can. While the question might be merely your original stated wish to be able to neutralize the Jedi rather than to kill them, it could be used against my system or the Star Forge. I cannot give such information to you.”

“Fine. Extrapolate. Assume that Malak continues using the Star Forge. What happens?”

“The Sith succeed in defeating your Republic in the next year. The death toll will be in the trillions.

“15 years from now the enemy you had been preparing to face attacks-“

“Wait! Enemy I was preparing to face?”

“Yes. You spoke of them, but gave me no specific details. Something in your conflict with the Mando gave you a clue that a threat to all life was coming, and you intended to conquer the Galaxy and arm to prepare for it.

“To continue, they attack, the races of the Galaxy are decimated. The death toll is in the hundreds of trillions.

“Six thousand years from now, the enemy discovers the Star Forge. They use it, and grow more powerful. They slaughter over 90% of the people of the Galaxy before their society collapses as those before it 11,000 years from now.

“Approximately nineteen thousand years from now, the Second Republic will discover the Star Forge yet again, and the cycle will continue.”

“Now extrapolate, the Star Forge is destroyed.”

“The Sith will continue fighting for approximately six more years. During that time the ships built by the Star Forge will degrade into uselessness. They do not have the building slips necessary to recover their numbers in comparison to the Republic.”

“Death toll?”

“Much less than the first extrapolation. Merely several billion more. Also knowing that their ships will degrade rapidly will hamper their operations.”

“And the enemy?”

“They will arrive 15 years from now. They will be met by a the Republic fleet which has formed at that time. The death toll will be in the billions, but without the Star Forge to fall back upon, the Galaxy will continue to survive.”

“I submit that if the Star Forge is allowed to survive, that this cycle will continue for the rest of time. However without the Star Forge, this will stop in a day or so from now.

“I submit further that we can have you repaired yet still destroy the Star Forge.” I told it. “By using droids made in the same manner as we lesser races use. They will be unaffected by the destruction of the Force in this system, and will be able to repair your circuitry using not the force driven methods of the Rakata, but the material ones we use. If I remember correctly, there are several droids built by our races still on this planet.”

“Probability 70% that you are correct. Number one hundred seventy four.” It replied. “Data being transferred.”

“All right. How can the disruptor field be destroyed?”

“It cannot be destroyed except by the removal of the Force. It is self-repairing as this unit is. However it can be shut down and will remain so until reactivated. It was built as the main defense of the Star Forge and the planet. It can only be deactivated from the primary control system at the pinnacle of the temple.”

“But I cannot get through the door!”

“That is because my systems determined who was worthy of admittance. The injuries you sustained altered your pattern sufficiently that the door did not recognize you. It has been reset.”

“Thank you. Delete all mention, research and links to this weapons project. If anyone ever asks, you are to create a facade of information that will lead them away from the possibility of creating such a weapon again.”

“Completed. You do understand that you yourself will never be able to repeat it.”

“You will do the same with any specifications, plans, or designs of the Star Forge itself.”

“Complete.”

“Now, Program the droids, then shut down. Hopefully, any damage will be slight if you are not in operation.”

“Yes, that is possible. Shutting down.” The system slowly shut down. I touched the console. I had in my hand the way to defeat the Sith and Malak in one stroke.

But it would probably kill me to.


Betrayal

Danika

We retraced our steps, and this time the mammoth door opened with a smooth hiss. I ran up the ramp, and as I did, I felt a chill. Something awaited me at the top of the temple, and it resonated in my heart.

The upper door opened, and I felt the worry increase. There was an opening leading onto the landing of the pinnacle, and I felt the dread build until I could not stand it. The others felt it too. Juhani was, to pardon the expression, as jumpy as a cat.

I stepped out into the sun, and there ahead of me, I could see the fighter that had come down the night before. A woman stood beside it, and I didn’t need to see her to know who it was.

Bastila. She wore the robes of a Dark Jedi, and as she saw us coming she lit her lightsaber. The fiery red of the blade just verified that she had gone over to the dark side.

“Bastila!” Juhani cried.

“Don’t move Juhani.” I said softly.

Bastila approached. She had never looked more beautiful, and I dreaded that beauty. She smiled one of the first smiles I had seen that wasn’t shadowed by her own worries.

“Revan. I knew you’d come for me. Malak was sure you would be afraid to enter the temple, but I know you so much better than he does since you have changed.”

“Bastila, hurry, we must escape before Malak arrives.” Juhani said. She hadn’t noticed the change.

Bastila looked at her with pity. “Escape? You don’t understand. I have sworn allegiance to Malak and the Sith. I am no longer a pawn of the Jedi Council.” She smiled again. “But you knew that Revan.”

“Don’t go over to the dark side.” I whispered.

She laughed. “You speak as if the Dark side was some ravenous beast! The Jedi council must really approve of my work. You are a properly programmed drone willing to spout what they say. They fear the dark side not for what evil it might do but for the power they could attain if they only grasped it! Instead they run from it like frightened children, and use their own skills to yoke those with the most power to their own outmoded ideals.

“Why do you think they forbid you and Malak from joining in the Mandalorian wars? They knew that you would have the veil ripped from your eyes. You would see the world as it really is! You would recognize your true potential and form your own union of other Jedi that have done so. Malak has shown me that the Council was using me the same way they had wanted to use you. They have been holding me back because they know I will surpass them all one day!”

“Don’t do this, Bastila.” I reached out. “You can return to the light.”

“Don’t make me laugh! Return to that narrow cage they kept me in?” She shook her head. “I resisted at first, as I should according to the Jedi. I endured torment with all of the serenity they teach. I finally cut the link between us because you were hindering me. That’s right, hindering! Your own darkness called to me, and it was helping Malak!

“But I learned. After a week of agonies, I became angry, and he had already showed me what anger can do. I broke the chains they bound me with and he applauded my efforts! He forced me to acknowledge my pain, my anger. He showed me how those things the Jedi fear most would liberate my mind and soul. Then he showed me how the Jedi Council was denying me what is mine by right!

“Oh they were happy to use my battle meditation to win their battles, but for what purpose? Merely to return those idiots they call senators to their seats, to allow chaos and bloody-mindedness to wreak havoc. They were jealous of me, of my power that none of them had. If they could have, they would have ripped it from me for their own use. Instead they treated me like a child too stupid to move her hand from a burning fire. I was to bow and scrape to them, obey every word as writ. Yet all they wanted from me was that battle meditation!”

“You know that’s not true. Those are lies.”

“Ha! You’re the one living a lie, Revan! The Jedi council was happy when I had put your mind together. Think how they must have felt when I delivered a woman with all of the Force capability you possessed! A willing drone that would fight and die like a toy soldier. A slave!

“You used to be the Lord of all the Sith! Now all you are is an expendable pawn they can send on a suicide mission. I was like you until Malak freed me. A pity your power has waned so much since then. You could be as strong as I am this very moment, perhaps even stronger! But that will never happen now. With the Star Forge at his command, Malak will sweep away the anarchy of the Republic, and install an order of the strong and obedient. He will conquer the Galaxy! I shall be at his right hand, and together we shall create a new order spanning the Millennia! But first I must rid myself of one thing.

“Break the bond.”

“I will not.” I shook my head. “If there is any way to return you to the light, I will need that.”

“Fool! If I kill you, it will be broken, if you kill me it will be broken!” She struck at my head. I blocked her blow, and she leaped back.

“Jolee, Juhani, stay back.” I warned. “I promise, Bastila, that if kill you I must, it will be quick.”

She laughed. “Feel the power!” She screamed. Force lightning leaped out, and both Juhani and Jolee were blown back off their feet into the wall. I staggered backward, but blocked the blows she aimed at me. Then I reached out, picking her up like a toy and slamming her into the opposite wall. The lightning died, and my companions collapsed to the stone. I wanted to run to her side, make sure she was all right, but if I had, I would have failed. I knew that now. The last battle for my soul this time was being fought here, and she was the only thing that could drag me down. Malak had sensed it somehow.

Bastila shook her head, then sneered, standing again. “You are stronger than I would have thought possible after what the Jedi Council and I had done to you.” She smiled again. “Malak was wrong; the dark side is still strong in you, Revan.”

“I am not Revan any more.” I said softly. “You made sure of that Bastila when you redeemed me. I am Danika Wordweaver Jedi and Consular now and forever.”

“You can lie to yourself, but not to me. I have seen the shadows of anger and hate you close up in that little box in your mind. I know the truth. Remember that I am the one that put your mind together after the battle. I used the Force to remake your life! I did! Not the Council! All they did was poke and prod at what I had done afterward!”

“And you linked to my mind when you did.” I said.

“Yes! And that link will survive as long as we let it.”

“It is through our bond that I know you will come back to the light, Bastila.”

“Those aren’t your true feelings, Revan.” I saw the bathing pool, Bastila cuddled in my lap, all of the desire, the contentment, yes, the love in that embrace. She was sending it down the link to me, making me see it from her view as well. “You wanted me for myself! The Jedi council would never have sent us on this mission if I had told them of that! The Jedi used me, and I used you to make an instrument for them to strike at Malak. I was as wrong as they were!

“The council wanted to use that bond. They hoped that I could draw out the information they needed about the Star Forge. We were both slaves to their will as all Jedi are! But in that bond, I felt the taint of what drew you to the dark side. Not power for it’s own sake, but your own compassion for the downtrodden. The desire of a premier warrior to end war forever! Such a farce denying your skills and the arena to use them in the same thought. Even I can see how stupid that is.

“It wasn’t Malak that brought me to the dark side, Revan, it was you. Your darkness came from all that love you could never have, all that repugnance at things you can’t change as a Jedi, but could as a Sith Lord. I resisted all of that, but I resist no more!” She bowed mockingly. “I thank you for striking the scales from my eyes and making me see the truth.”

“If you saw the truth in my mind you must also have seen my mistakes.” I pressed. “Learn from them!”

“Mistakes?” She laughed. “No, my dear Revan. The only mistake you made in your life is the one you’re making now. You are denying yourself the power that was yours by right. And it still is your power, not Malak’s. Only now, facing you in combat do I see the truth.

“Your deserve to be the true Lord of the Sith. Malak will destroy the galaxy if he cannot win it. Like a child who cannot figure out how to make a toy work. All you ever wanted was to save it. All he wants is to rule it. Join me! Together we can save the Republic from itself. We can be together forever.” She reached out her hand, and I suddenly saw how close she had come during that speech. I could almost feel her touch on my face. I wavered. I could join her, I could be with her, I-

Mission screaming as she died.

-I backed a step.

“Take my hand, accept your fate! We can destroy your old apprentice. Join with me now and regain your identity, your life, and your position!”

“I am not Revan any more!” I stepped back again. “I have no memory of what I once was!”

“Your mind was shattered by the damage, Revan. You may not remember who you were yet, but I know you remember some of what you were. The essence of the woman that led the Sith is still there!

“Once long ago you defied the Jedi Council. You freed yourself from their control, and see what you have wrought! The largest fleet in history is in orbit of the Star Forge, awaiting your command to attack! Together we can retake that power, and fling it in the Jedi Council’s face.”

“No.” I shook my head. “I will not slaughter trillions to undo your work, Bastila. You saved me, please let me save you.”

“Bastila, it is not too late to be saved.” Juhani cried. “Remember the teachings of the order. You can find your way back to the light. Let Danika help you as she did me!”

Bastila looked scornfully at Juhani. “You are beneath my contempt, Juhani. When you felt the stirring of the dark side, you could have gloried in it, you could have slaughtered the masters of the Dantooine council itself. Instead you ran away and hid like the pathetic animal your entire race represents. You know nothing of the Dark side, or it‘s potential.”

Juhani retreated stricken.

“She is my friend, Bastila. Leave her alone.”

“Oh yes the famous ‘Revan’ speaks again. You always considered those around you as your possessions, didn’t you?” Bastila asked sweetly. “Well this little slave has broken free of your chains! You can join me as a partner, or you can die. I will not be a slave to your will any more.”

“Ask Juhani if she is a slave, or Zaalbar. Both know the meaning of the term. I defend my friends because that is what a friend does.” I sighed. “Revan is no more, Bastila.”

“You pathetic fool!” Bastila raged. “We could have ruled the galaxy together! Instead Malak will crush the Republic, slaughter the Jedi like the cattle they are, and I will be at his side when it happens!

“I find it ironic that you could have saved yourself all the pain that is to follow, but think on this, my dear Revan. To keep the bond now is madness for you! I was dragged into the dark by your own darkness, and if I live I will drag you back to the darkness as you did to me! Think of that when we launch our attack!” She reached out, and all three of us were picked up and slammed into the walls. She spun on her toes and raced to the fighter. We had barely reached our feet when it lifted off. Bastila waved mockingly, then we were slammed down as she went supersonic.

I watched the fighter disappear in the distance, and my heart was torn in two. When next we met, I would be forced to kill her. Not because I wanted to, but because she didn’t want what we already had. I went to the computer console, and activated it. I felt the temple screen die, and the disruptor field went down. I stepped back, and my lightsaber blade shattered the console. The self-repair could rebuild it, but it would take time. Time when any attempt to restore it would be in vain. We ran from the temple parapet, and down through the structure. There wasn’t much time.

I like the inclusion of information about what Revan had discovered during the Mandalorian Wars and her intention to prepare for this new enemy by conquering the galaxy so she could unite it and prepare for this mysterious threat. I submit though that the Rakatan central computer system didn't have enough data to accurately predict results of the threat.

If the Star Forge is not destroyed, in fifteen years this new enemy will face and defeat the current Sith and conquer the galaxy, eventually discovering the Star Forge and using it to increase their destructive capability and continuing the cycle started by the Rakata.

If the Star Forge is destroyed however, when this new enemy invades in fifteen years the Republic will be able to defeat them.

This doesn't make much sense to me.

Other than that I thought this was a great chapter. Danika prepped the Rakatan central computer system so the Star Forge could never be recreated, a wise move. And although you write your story to match the game's in having Juhani and Jolee accompany Danika into the temple, I didn't see the compelling need for this unless it was to have them present so that Bastila could attack them thus prompting Danika into a desire to protect Juhani and Jolee. I suppose this could have been a factor that helped Danika resist Bastila's invitation to join her and return to the dark side.

I like the inclusion of information about what Revan had discovered during the Mandalorian Wars and her intention to prepare for this new enemy by conquering the galaxy so she could unite it and prepare for this mysterious threat. I submit though that the Rakatan central computer system didn't have enough data to accurately predict results of the threat.

If the Star Forge is not destroyed, in fifteen years this new enemy will face and defeat the current Sith and conquer the galaxy, eventually discovering the Star Forge and using it to increase their destructive capability and continuing the cycle started by the Rakata.

If the Star Forge is destroyed however, when this new enemy invades in fifteen years the Republic will be able to defeat them.

This doesn't make much sense to me.

The extrapolation assumes that the Sith war would end within the period in question. The Republic would be prewarned, and instead of doing what any liberal democracy does when that occurs; I.E. stick it's head back in the sand, they would have an arms race. That was the view I took. In fact I think that is why I now have to get a copy of KOTOR II, because I think that is why Danika wanders off for five years or so. Maybe she tried to convince them and they just didn't want to believe her.

Other than that I thought this was a great chapter. Danika prepped the Rakatan central computer system so the Star Forge could never be recreated, a wise move. And although you write your story to match the game's in having Juhani and Jolee accompany Danika into the temple, I didn't see the compelling need for this unless it was to have them present so that Bastila could attack them thus prompting Danika into a desire to protect Juhani and Jolee. I suppose this could have been a factor that helped Danika resist Bastila's invitation to join her and return to the dark side.

I had them with her because they had entered with her. As for Danika's reaction, she knows what she has done. How many deaths she has caused by switiching sides, and the present crew, Mission Juhani etc mean too much to her to be willing to change again.

You see, when you get to the battle in the command center, you will see what I mean.

Before you ask, there is one posting before that

Circumstances

Carth

We had seen the Sith fighter rip past at supersonic speed, and everyone tensed. It could have blown us away sitting on the beach, but the pilot didn’t notice, or worse yet, didn’t think we were important enough.

“Carth? Check the repeater.” Mission shouted. I switched the screen to the senor array. A huge portion of the fleet was leaving their orbit. Almost all of them were the Rakata designed ships. As we watched, they leaped into hyper.

“Where are they going?”

“I don’t know.”

I bit my lip. From here half the Galaxy was within striking distance in just a few days. I hoped that whatever the Republic would send wasn’t supposed to be guarding their target.

“People coming down the path.” Canderous shouted. I flicked to that screen instead. Jolee Juhani and Danika had stopped outside the weapon’s perimeter. I shut down the intruder system, and cracked the hatch. We all gathered at the ramp. Sasha charged through all of them and bulleted into Danika’s arms. They hugged, but I could see that Danika was haunted.

“You’re back!” I shouted. “What happened inside the temple?”

“We fought Bastila.” Juhani said. She looked even more haunted than Danika.

“Fought her? But why?”

“She has turned to the dark side, Carth.” Danika said. “She fled to the Star Forge.”

“No! How could that happen!”

Jolee shook his head sadly. “She was always in danger of falling to the dark side, Carth, as are we all. Bastila is strong, but she is also headstrong and impatient. Malak preyed on her weakness. Where he had her didn’t help.” He waved at our surroundings. “This place has been under a pall of darkness for almost fifty millennia! Throughout the reign of the Rakata, and sealed when they fell over 30,000 years ago. It has seeped into the ground itself. The Star Forge and the temple has twisted the Force into a giant dark sucking mass that draws in everything, and spits it out tainted, Just as Malak did the same to Bastila.”

“But she can be saved.” Danika said. Jolee looked at her sadly.

“Malak has too strong a grip on her now. It will be difficult to break her free, especially considering the long association you have had with both. Remember that she created the bond between you to save that last spark of life and kindle it into what you are now. Through that bond she touched the you that existed before and especially the dark taint within you.”

“But there’s still hope, isn’t there?” I waved at Danika. “Revan was saved. Can we deny Bastila that same chance?”

“We will try.” Danika set the girl down. “I will try. I will not let her be dragged away from us.”

“I do not know what fate awaits us all, but I sense Bastila has a role to play yet.” Juhani said. “I have no doubt that she will be waiting for us on the Star Forge when we arrive.”

“No doubt.” I said. “We had best get off this planet before she calls in a larger reception committee.”

We ran aboard the ship. I reported the departure of part of the Sith fleet and Danika nodded.

“Good, less of them to run through to get to the Star Forge.” She said.

“Wait a minute! The ship is fast and we are pretty well armed, but against a thousand or more ships? We don’t stand a chance!”

“We will get through because it will tickle Malak’s vanity. I intend to broadcast that I am aboard, and that this is between my apprentice and me. The Sith will understand and back off. No one interferes in a duel of succession.”

“Then, you’re going to go back to the dark side.” My fingers brushed my holstered pistol.

“No, Carth.” She shook her head. “I have a way to destroy the Star Forge, or at least severely weaken it. But I must be aboard for that to happen.” She looked haunted. “Even if I have to die in the attempt.” She smiled sadly. “Trust me for just a little longer, my friend.”

“Well no one said we’d live through this, did they?” I asked with a chuckle.

“That is what all people forget.” She said. “No one gets out of life alive.”
She stood. “Take us up.”

Ebon Hawk staggered a bit, and I set the auto-compensate system. As we roared up out of the atmosphere, I felt it smoothing out.

“Carth!” Mission screamed. I flicked to the senor screen, and felt my blood run cold. Over a hundred ships had appeared in space, and they were coming toward us at high speed. The damn fleet had returned!

A moment later, another massive trace appeared. Before I could curse the IFF read their transponders. I whooped in joy. “It’s the Republic fleet!”



In death ground I could make it evident that there is no chance of survival. For it is in the nature of soldiers to resist when surrounded; to fight to the death when there is no alternative, and when desperate to follow orders implicitly.

Armageddon

Danika

Everyone ran to the mess hall as Carth punched in the codes necessary to communicate with the fleet. A holographic image of a dark haired woman in uniform appeared. She would never be considered beautiful at first glance. Handsome was the best I could say for her. Her green eyes moved as Carth stood on the transmitter plate.

“This is Admiral Forn Dodonna commanding the sixth, ninth, and fourteenth combined fleets. Who is in command of Ebon Hawk?”

“This is Carth Onasi, Admiral.”

Her face broke into a smile, and I revised my estimate. She was an attractive woman. “Carth! I’m glad to see you’re still alive. We are about to begin our assault on the Star Forge.” She looked away, and she looked shocked. “My god, how did the Sith ever build this thing in secret?”

“The Sith didn’t build the Star Forge, Admiral. We don’t have time for a full explanation, but that station is older than the Republic.”

She scanned the invisible monitor. “And they outnumber us almost four to one. We didn’t bring enough firepower to break through that. Not and live. I am ordering the fleet to withdraw.”

Carth shook his head. “You can’t do that Admiral. The Star Forge is a factory of incredible design and capability. It has been churning out warships, fighters and assault droids since Revan and Malak found it. If you retreat now, they merely have to leave this fleet here to protect it, and you will still face an unending supply of reinforcements. It will be the same as before you arrived, except we will never have as good a chance to destroy it again.”

She nodded at the logical statement. “Then I guess we have no choice. But it isn’t going to be easy. The Sith fleet is maneuvering to block us even as I set the fleet into motion. We may all die without getting within range of the Star Forge itself. Almost as if they know what we plan to do.”

“The Jedi Bastila went over to the dark side.” Carth said. “That is her battle meditation you’re seeing. We suspect she is aboard the Star Forge using it even now.”

Dodonna shook her head. “You can really pick the fights a smart Admiral would avoid.” She turned, then motioned to her side. Master Vandar entered the holo-projection. “This is Master Vandar. A number of Jedi have joined our fleet.”

Vandar leaned on his cane. He looked his age. “If Bastila is using her battle meditation, the Sith fleet is invincible. Our only hope is to stop her somehow.”

“Can we do that?” Dodonna asked.

Vandar considered. “The Republic cannot, but we have Jedi equipped with their own snub fighters. I will order a squadron to fly through the enemy fleet and board the station. If they can fight their way to her location, they can stop her by whatever means necessary. That should allow you to move your capital ships in for the kill.”

I tugged Carth’s sleeve. He looked at me, then back at the holo-projection. “Some of our crew has a plan to defeat the Star Forge. Request permission to join that assault, Admiral.”

“After all you have been through, no one would be surprised if you wanted to rest. Except for me, Carth. I hate to ask you all to risk your lives again, but the Jedi could use your help.”

“We wouldn’t miss it.” Carth replied.

“May I speak to our Jedi aboard?” Vandar asked. I stepped in to face the hologram as Dodonna stepped away.

“Master Vandar, there is a way I can at least cripple the Star Forge.” I reported. “But there is a great risk to all that use the Force within this system.”

He shrugged. “There is risk in everything we do in life, young Jedi.”

“I only meant to warn you. We Jedi and the Dark Jedi as well will be more affected than the normal people on both sides. But it will level the playing field.” I looked down. “I have worried about the Jedi on Dantooine. The Masters, the children. How many survived?”

“All of the very young did.” He answered sadly. “The rest of us fought to assure that. But of the Padawan and Masters, only Master Dorak escaped when I did.”
I felt a hand clutch my heart. “Master Zhar?”

“His body was not found. A number of the bodies were not found. We do not know what happened to them.”

I lowered my head. Then I looked up. I could tell there were unshed tears in my eyes, but I refused to cry until it was all over. “Then we shall send them an appropriate honor guard, Master.”

“May the Force go with you.” Vandar replied.

The hologram collapsed, and I turned to the others. “Let’s go.”

Picture a chip in a millrace. For those of you that have never seen one, Picture an ocean going ship in a storm beyond imagining, or picture a kayak in white water, the kayak driven by only oars plunging through water and rock that will tear it to shreds in a second if the pilot makes a mistake.

Now picture that water as fire, and you have an idea of the next fifteen minutes. 200 hundred massive Republic capital ships were plunging into that hell, fighters screaming through their formation as the smaller ships charged in to come to grips with the foe. From the other side over 800 enemy ships from corvettes to massive cruisers were charging toward them, their own fighters plunging into the maelstrom. In fighters the Republic was actually fielding more, but that wouldn’t matter. The fighters could destroy a capital ship only by throwing themselves enmasse at it.

Through that hell Ebon Hawk charged. Energy ravened as the capital ships tried to destroy us, fighters roared in on us. We lost count of the fighters we destroyed on that day. I figured thirty or more. Canderous estimated maybe fifty. We even slipped in close enough to slam several salvoes into a frigate that was ripped apart even as we fled its return fire. We burst through their lines and behind us less than a dozen Jedi followed. Vandar had sent not one squadron but two. It was a wise decision. Only eight or ten docked ahead of us as we dived toward the landing deck of the massive structure. Over half dead in as many minutes.

Ebon Hawk roared in, thrusters blasting madly to halt herself as Canderous and I left our stations. Beyond the force field barrier, the madness continued.

A Jedi ran up as we exited the ship. “I’m glad you made it!” The young woman called. “I didn’t expect any of us to make it!” She waved toward the elevator shaft on the right. “A number of Jedi have gone ahead. We have to strike deep and fast while we still have the element of surprise.” She looked haggard. “We have to stop Bastila any way we can or the fleet is doomed!” She motioned. “Come on before-”

A lightsaber flicked across space, and she went down, head bouncing on the deck. Four Dark Jedi charged toward us. There were only three Jedi remaining, and I leaped to their defense followed by Juhani and Jolee. We made quick work of them.

“So much for surprise.” Another of the Jedi commented. “We’ll hold here to protect the exit.”

I nodded, turning to my followers. “All of you stay here.” I ordered. “Support these Jedi. Juhani, Jolee, this is our party.”

Star Forge.

Malak watched as the very fabric of the star formed the ships before him. He had pushed the Star Forge to over 500%, and still it worked without a flaw. He snarled as a Dark Jedi master came toward him, bowing.

“Why have you disturbed me?”

“A party of Jedi has boarded the Star Forge and are moving toward us as we speak, My Lord.”

“That is not unexpected.” Malak considered. “Send the droids in.”

“Master, what chance can mere droids have against Jedi?” The master asked.

“You underestimate the strength of the newest droids I have designed.”
Malak admonished him. “Even I would have a problem dealing with these.”

“As you will, my Lord.”

“Good. I am going to the Operations deck.” Malak turned. “Report to me when the Droids have completed their task.”


Danika

We ran to the elevator shaft. The car was large enough for a snub fighter and we faced outward as it shot half a kilometer upward. I led my smaller party out onto a walkway. I stopped them, and we flinched as the heavy battle steel doors to either side exploded. Droids of a design I had never seen before stumped out. Their arms rose, blasters appearing.

I gasped, because I felt the force from them as if they were alive. Malak had included life force in their construction somehow.

I lowered my lightsaber reaching out as I would with a living mind, and felt that spark. “We are authorized. You will let us pass.“ I ordered.

“We will let you pass.“ One of them spoke.

“Negative, Jedi mind powers being used. Eliminate.“ Another spoke almost in unison.

Juhani reached out, lifting two of them, slamming the metal forms together Metal sheared, and both collapsed in ruin. I reached out, catching another pair, and flung them off the walkway to smash kilometers below us. Jolee threw his lightsaber, the blade flicking through the carapace of one, then circling to cut the last from behind. We charged past the wreckage.

Ahead of us I could hear the snarl of lightsabers in battle, and flicked mine on as I continued to run.

Below us on another walkway, three Jedi faced three dark Jedi. As I skidded to a stop, the last of the Jedi fell. One of the women looked up, and I could almost see her eyes twinkle.

“Good. More for us to slaughter.” She purred.

I charged down, and when I was close enough, threw a ball of light that illuminated my face.

“Revan!” One screamed. I singled her out, reaching out with the force, and squeezed her head until she screamed.

“Yes. I am back!” I twisted, and the woman moaned, holding her head in agony. “Who dares stand against me?”

They backed away, trying to avoid my stare. “If you are going to fight, do so! If not, cast your lightsabers off the edge. Now!”

Four lightsabers flew, glittering as they disappeared into the depths. The women moved back, fearful of my very presence. “Get out of here while you have the chance.” I ordered. We brushed past them, running toward the entrance to the elevator on the right. Two other dark Jedi were there, and we fought a brief nasty battle.

Canderous

We had set up to defend the elevators, and had barely gotten into position when a platoon of Sith armored troops poured out. Carth Mission and I met them with a hail of fire, HK popped grenades into their midst. The Jedi took care of any that got through our fire. It was over in just a few moments.

The elevator that Danika had ridden up opened, and a device from a nightmare came out. It was huge; a droid weapons platform the size of a heavy cargo lifter. I flicked a switch, shouting, “Duck!” As I dove for the floor. T3 would have added little to our defenses by himself, but one thing an astromech is excellent at is controlling a ship, especially in a dock. The little guy had been slaved to the controls of the ship, and as everyone on our side dived for cover, the engines roared. The ship lifted and spun in place, the main guns now aimed at the huge machine. The Ebon Hawk’s guns roared, blasting the huge weapon into scrap. A figure cut across behind the wreckage, and I started to my feet.

“Sasha!”

She stopped, saluted with her lightsaber, then was on the elevator before anyone could stop her.

“Who is that?” One of the Jedi asked.

“A little girl. We rescued her on Dantooine.” I replied.

“The little fool thinks she can take on dark Jedi?” He started toward the elevator.

I stopped him with one hand. “The little fool fought with that lightsaber aboard the Leviathan, activated the intruder system of our ship without being able to read, and killed about fifty Sith there.” He looked at me shocked. “And she spent three years of her life among the Mandalore. She knows what she does and why. If she wants to die fighting, we will not stop her.”

Another rush poured down on us, and I went back to killing the enemy.

Star Forge.

The Dark Jedi Master strode up to his master. Before them both Bastila knelt. In the massive holotank, the battle was going well. The fleet had formed a globe not far from the Star Forge, and the Republic fleet was trapped in the center of it, pinned in the battle by four Interdictor class cruisers.

“Why have you disturbed me this time?” Malak growled.

“I have news about the Jedi force.”

“Ah, my droids destroyed them as ordered.”

“No, My lord. The droids were unsuccessful.”

“Strange. I didn’t think there were any Jedi in the order with such capability, except for the Masters.” Malak mused.

“It was Revan, my lord.” The Dark Jedi admitted. “She leads one of the assault teams.”

Malak turned to face him. “That would explain it. My old Master was always strong in the force.” He turned back to face Bastila. “Very well, send all the available troops. All of them, Armored troops, Dark Jedi, even the apprentices. Strike at the landing bay to cut them off, and slaughter that putrid little forlorn hope. Revan must die. Lead them yourself.”

“But my lord, will the apprentices even have a chance?”

“No. I expect them all to die.” Malak said. “But their deaths will give me a chance to prepare the last of the Star Forge’s defenses. I am curious to see the full extent of those defenses. I am sure Revan will also be curious for the brief minutes she lives.”

“My Lord-”

“Don’t beg. It is not befitting of a Sith. Either go and do as I have ordered, or kill yourself now.”

The Dark Master bowed, hurrying out. He decided to lead the team against the ship. After all, Malak had told him to lead, but failed to mention which attack.

Danika

We ran onto another walkway. Heading for a door that should lead to the factory floor. It opened and a dozen dark Jedi poured out. We fought savagely, piling up a windrow of dead before us, and still they kept coming. Force bolts shot through from either side, and anyone who didn’t deflect or dodge them died.

They finally stopped coming, and Jolee leaned on his knees, gasping. “I’m getting too old for this.” He wheezed.

“”We’ll probably die before we’re done, so stop worrying!” I shouted gaily.

“Don’t tease me.” He grumbled back.

We came out on the factory floor. Before us was the massive factory chamber. As we watched a form began coalescing from the haze of particles, and a snub fighter gleamed in the lights, then floated toward the ceiling. Beyond it a frigate was almost completed.

“We must stop it.” Juhani shouted.

“This way.” I led them down the floor to another room. This had Rakata computer consoles. Attached to them were ones designed by the Republic, translating instructions and replies for those that hadn’t learned how to operate a Rakata computer. I pushed past them, going to one of the original consoles. I tried to access it.

ACCESS DENIED

I considered, then put in the back-door password I had created. I saw now that even in my fall I hadn’t been a complete trusting fool.

ACCESS GRANTED

I slipped the datapad into the interface. CONSTRUCT

QUANTITY?

I considered. I didn’t know what it would do. I know what I expected it to do, but it is like the first fission weapons made by humans millennia ago. The theoretical mathematics had suggested that the chain reaction they wanted to create might be self-sustaining. A raw burst of power that would only stop when it ran out of fuel meaning the entire planet would have gone up in nuclear fire. If they had been correct, there would have been no human race afterward.

Foolish humans that they were, they tried it anyway. Or maybe they felt as desperate as I did.

I typed in ONE.

CONSTRUCTION COMMENCED was followed an instant later with CONSTRUCTION COMPLETE.

“Juhani get the grenade from the container over there.” I ordered. I took out the datapad, and reduced it to slag. DELETE ALL SPECIFICATIONS OF GRENADE CONSTRUCTED.

ALL SPECIFICATIONS DELETED

Now how to bollix up the works? I typed CONSTRUCT FIELD EXPEDIENT SHELTER, CORELLIAN.

QUANTITY?

I typed in INFINITE.

The system hummed, then answered. PRIORITY?

I typed in REVAN 201 ULTIMATE. SHELTERS MUST BE CONSTRUCTED USING ALL RESOURCES.

The system hummed again a little irritated now. PREVIOUS CONSTRUCTION TO CONTINUE?

NEGATIVE CANNIBALIZE ALL PREVIOUS CONSTRUCTION

REVAN 201 AUTHORIZATION ACCEPTED. COMMENCING CONSTRUCTION.

Behind us there was a rattle, and a pile of cloth followed by metal tent poles and stakes fell to the floor from a slot. Another followed it almost immediately, and then another. They were starting to jam in the mechanism as we left. Droids came, and began stacking them in the corridor.

There were more guards and dark Jedi awaiting us, but we cut our way through them

Mission

I ducked as another mass of Sith erupted from the elevator. How many of them were there? I flicked a thermal detonator over their heads into the elevator, and it landed at the feet of a Jedi in armor. The man screamed, and dived forward as the detonator blew the elevator to fragments. The thermal shockwave threw smoking bits of him out of the door. I gasped as the metal began to reform, almost as if the elevator was healing.

Canderous turned, and his blaster leveled as he began blasting a second wave coming down the other elevator. “Mission! Power packs!” He screamed.

I ran aboard the ship, snatching up a bunch of bandoliers that Canderous had laid out. Each carried a different power cell size. One for his weapon, One for Zaalbar’s another for Carth’s and mine.

I dropped back to the deck, running to cover behind him. I handed the belt to him, and then low crawled to where Zaalbar was. He retreated from a pile of bodies he had created with Bacca’s sword. He took his belt without speaking loaded his bowcaster, and continued firing into yet another wave of attackers. Carth was kneeling behind the wreckage of another one of those big droids. Canderous had called them ‘tanks’ during a lull, but I didn‘t see where you could put fuel in one.

Carth grinned at me, grabbing a belt when I got to him. "Glad you could join us."

“I don’t want to be here!” I screamed.

“Who does?” He asked, popping up to shoot a Sith crawling toward us. “How are we doing for ammo?” He asked.

“This is the last of it!”

“All I have to say is I hope they finish up there fast!” He fired, then turned. HK! We need ammo!”

The droid turned, twisting the head off a Sith trooper as he did. “Since the enemy has been obliging enough to die enmasse, perhaps we can use their weapons.” The droid started forward as the fighting ebbed, throwing weapons back into the small circle of warriors. The Jedi leaped to assist. I went over, pulling packs that matched the weapons we had. Even with the enemy dead, we would be at the point of fighting with swords and bare hands in a little bit.

“Hurry, Danika!” I whispered.

Star Forge

Malak walked down to stand behind Bastila. A pity. The chit had power he could use, but there wasn’t much time. “Bastila.”

There was a long moment. In the holotank, the Sith attack faltered, and an arm of the Republic’s dwindling fighters punched through to rip into a score of ships. She opened her eyes, then stood, bowing. “Master, why have you summoned me?” She motioned toward the Republic counter attack. At least three of the massive ships were dying even as they watched. “Without my battle meditation there is a chance that the Republic capital ships will break through to attack the Star Forge itself!”

“I only interrupted you for a moment. You will return to your meditation when I am done. I just wanted to inform you that Revan is fighting her way here even now.” Malak looked at the holotank. The second tier of warships had closed the gap. Not soon enough to save a dozen of his ships. “The Force has arranged a nice neat confrontation for us. Revan the Republic fleet the Jedi. All of my enemies in one place so I can destroy them all in an afternoon!” He swept his hand toward the screen. “Even without your battle meditation, we cannot fail. There are too many of my ships, and too few of theirs.

“But there is something you must do to prove your worth as my apprentice. You must finish what you started in the Temple. You must cut the bond that links you two together. Revan must die here by your hand.”

“Y-yes Master.” She replied in an uncertain voice.

“I sense your fear but it is unfounded. The Star Forge surrounds us. Pure evil in metal and Force combined. The Star Forge will feed the dark side within you, and sap the light from her. Stay here in this chamber. She must pass through here to get to the floors above. Kill her. Earn your rightful place.”

“Of course, Master. I will not fail you again.” She turned, kneeling, and returned to her meditation.

Malak walked away from her, stopping at the door leading upward. “Perhaps you will triumph, Bastila. But your death serves my purposes. It will give me time to play my last card. Cutting Revan’s heart out before she faces the power of the Star Forge itself.” He chuckled, stepping into the elevator. As the elevator rose he roared with laughter.

Danika

The last of the Sith died, and we paused for a moment to gasp. I knew we were only three levels from the upper observation deck. I fingered the grenade I carried. I had to be sure of where Malak was when I triggered it. The door opened onto another floor, and we charged the group of Sith soldiers blocking our way. We bowled through them and into another series of walkways. There were a few dark Jedi here, and we dealt with them swiftly. Three had been before another door, which my memory told me led into the command center. I stepped over their bodies, and pushed the button. The door opened and I paused.

Bastila knelt there, and before her I could see the carnage of the battle beyond the station. The Republic fleet was being mauled, yet pressed forward toward the Star Forge even as it died. I mourned all those lives. I straightened my shoulders, and stepped over the threshold. As I did the door slammed shut behind me.

I'm not sure where you're going with the custom grenade. Something that will affect force sensitive people and equipment like the Star Forge and anything it has manufactured? I'll just have to wait and see.

I like the scenes you added at the Star Forge docking bay. Although the game doesn't address this I'm glad you do. I can't see the rest of the crew just hanging back, sitting in their jump seats on the Ebon Hawk, twiddling their thumbs while they wait for Danika, Juhani, and Jolee to get back. Your version of events works much better. :)

But now that Sasha has left I hope the remaining crew members and Jedi can hold their own. :lol: (that was a joke)

I like the scenes you added at the Star Forge docking bay. Although the game doesn't address this I'm glad you do. I can't see the rest of the crew just hanging back, sitting in their jump seats on the Ebon Hawk, twiddling their thumbs while they wait for Danika, Juhani, and Jolee to get back. Your version of events works much better. :)

Thanks. I was thinking of how many people would have been on the station, and figured the rest had to have been doing something during the battle. All I did was turn it into a deperate holding action while using everyone at what they are best at. That is why Mission (The least trained as a warrior) is busy passing the ammo, and T3 is doing what an Astromech can do to assist.



[QUOTE=cutmeister}But now that Sasha has left I hope the remaining crew members and Jedi can hold their own[/QUOTE]



As for Sasha... She has a very important duty to perform.