I fear any explanation as to why this took so long will come across as trite and insincere. So I can only offer my apologies. Here's the second half of the Peragus part. Virtually all of Kreia's dialogue comes from in-game. While she's a fascinating character, I don't like her, and I have a hard time writing for her. I'll try later, but for now I just want to get us the hell out of Peragus.

HK-50 made no effort to hide its identity as an assassin droid, and indeed admitted to murdering the poor souls in the medbay, as well as nearly everyone else on this ship. I was saddened that I was found only by luck, or rather my lack of luck. The last straw fell when the droid threatened to shatter my body to keep me from escaping. This droid really likes the sound of its own voice. "I don't want to fight you, but I will if you leave me no other choice." This was a half-truthful statement. I wanted to fight the thing, but only to keep it from inflicting harm on anyone else.

The fight was a difficult one, and Kreia was hit hard as the droid engaged its self-destruct protocol; she took several minutes to rise. After that we moved quickly; I hoped she'd be able to restore herself on board the Harbinger. The moment we boarded, Kreia wasted no time in starting one of her trademark awkward conversations.

"Something is wrong…. I sense no one on board."

"'You sense no one on board?' Sense any assassin droids creeping up behind us like last time?" Atton added. I was torn about whose side to take. They were both kind of irritating me at that moment.

"Everyone here has been slain, yet there are few signs of battle, no carbon scoring, no blaster fire. This place has been hit by assassins of a different sort," Kreia clarified.

"Then what are we doing on this ship? We were better off in the facility!" I felt for Atton, until he continued, "You two are supposed to be Jedi? You two are the worst Jedi I've ever met!"

I resented his comment, but held my tongue about the insult. Instead I decided to mediate. "Calm down. We need a plan, not accusations." Morons.

Kreia decided to annoy me more than Atton ever could with her next remark, "If the assassin machine was correct, then we cannot reach the hangar…. Be silent, I need some time to think."

Don't tell me to be quiet, I happen to have an idea, and I've had one since before you decided you needed to think. I wasted little time in ignoring her statement, saying, "We can bypass the force field to the hangar by getting to the engine room on this ship, then exiting through the fuel pipe." Duh.

Atton was kind enough to be my second personal little rain cloud by countering, "I don't mean to cast another shadow on this, but even if you could reach the ship you came in on, it wouldn't matter. You'll need the orbital drift charts to clear the Peragus asteroid field, unless you want to have the shortest flight out of Peragus ever recorded."

I failed to remove the last traces of petulance from my voice as I countered, "Then how did this ship dock here?"

His reply was at least as mocking, "Well of course, they have the asteroid drift charts in their navicomputer. They'd have to."

I realized that if I wasn't going to be the adult in this situation, then nobody would. It occurred to me that I was also almost certainly the youngest among us. I smirked at the irony. I took a deep breath, and managed to reply calmly, "So let's get their codes, then. Then we can worry about reaching the Ebon Hawk."

"Well, we'd have to get to get to the bridge. I mean… well, that's the biggest problem I can see."

"That is a sound plan… for the moment. Let us go." Kreia must have fancied herself the leader of this little operation, for when it took us more than a half second to get moving she added in an irritated tone, "Our enemies gather while we wait here."

Holy Force, Kreia, don't have a stroke on me, I thought. I decided to take Atton's side. "Atton's plan was a good one. Let's head to the bridge and get the drift charts."

"All right… but this won't end well, trust me." I believed Atton's assertion, but there wasn't exactly anything I could do about it.

We found the bridge almost immediately. Corpses littered the cramped space. I found myself on tip-toe as I tried not to touch them. Atton, who had been curious enough about my behavior to stay behind, took in a breath sharply as I braced myself on his arm to make my way through a particularly dense corpse heap. "Sorry, I have this thing about dead things…I've never liked the coldness," I whispered to him as we approached the command console.

"I don't blame you," he whispered back, "Do you need me to search them?"

"Would you? Please? I feel like we're gonna need it," I breathed back.

"Sure, no problem," Atton whispered.

"Please don't tell anyone," I pleaded in reply.

"Not a word," he replied as I moved forward to hack the console.

Getting the asteroid drift charts was almost disturbingly easy. I poked through the Harbinger's logs out of curiosity. I gathered that the Ebon Hawk and the Sith freighter that had fired upon it both appeared to be all but empty, with only a handful of corpses on board each craft. I also learned that an Admiral was interested in the freighter, and that the freighter was brought in to the Harbinger. I supposed that the stealthed crew of the freighter boarded the Harbinger in secret, crippling it. What was most puzzling was the strange voice that came from the ship's medbay. I decided to not over think its source for the time being, and we pressed on.

It was simultaneously thrilling and terrifying to keep getting jumped by assassins. When we reached the briefing room, I poked through the logs. I was shocked to learn that the Harbinger was sent specifically to retrieve me from the outer rim, and before I had even crashed. How did the Republic find me? I had assumed that my ship's default distress call had been detected and eventually heeded. Also, I wondered why the Ebon Hawk was so important to this Admiral Onasi. I sensed a personal tie regarding its recovery, and wondered what his story might have been. I pushed these thoughts aside, however, as we moved on to the crew quarters.

A lump formed in my throat as we approached the second pair of doors. "Are you all right?" Kreia asked.

"I just need a second, this was my room," I replied.

"This was your room? When?" Atton asked. A small smile touched his face.

"When I was on board the Harbinger," I replied. I kicked myself inside. Could I have been any more vague?

"We do not have much time. Whatever you intend to do, do it quickly," Kreia noted. Feeling defiant, I took my time inside as Atton followed. Atton grinned lewdly at me as I bent down to open my old footlocker.

I had been emptying the footlocker when Atton spoke. "What's this?" he asked. I saw him seated on my bed, but I couldn't see what he was talking about.

"A bed," I quipped, "Surely you've seen them before."

"No, seriously, what's this?" Atton persisted, holding up a object that looked a bit like a rope.

"That's my hair," I replied shortly. He held a braid of light brown hair that was secured at both ends.

"What did you do?" Atton asked, "I mean obviously you cut it off, but…"

"It was time for the hair to go, and all I had on hand was a vibroknife."

"What? It must have gone all the way down your back. Why did you cut it off?"

"Mourning," I replied simply. Before he could inquire further, I asked, "How did I do?"

"You tell me," he said, motioning to a mirror in my quarters, which I rose to meet.

I looked at myself for the first time in ages. I was startled by my appearance; my personal mental image was still of the blonde, well-fed Jedi knight I'd been just after the end of Mandalorian wars. My grayish blue eyes looked a bit dull, and my skin especially pale. I'd lost a lot of weight during my exile. I still had the same wide jaw and high cheekbones, making my thin appearance seem almost gaunt. I supposed that the weight loss made me look especially rangy below my neck, I couldn't say for sure; it was a very small mirror. My haircut was surprisingly acceptable, jagged but uniform in a manner that I hadn't anticipated. The unevenness looked artistically intentional. I also noted that my hair had darkened considerably over the last decade. "Huh. Not as bad as I expected."

Atton chuckled, and I heard Kreia clear her throat outside. I rushed back to the footlocker, not eager to be lectured. I put on my favorite wrist band over my corpse-looting gloves, and pocketed a few items that Atton didn't need to see. My datapad reminded me that my last memory of the Harbinger and my first memory of Peragus were essentially the same – quality time in the medbay. It became rather ironic in my eyes that it also happened to be our next destination.

As we moved on to the medbay, I used my datapad to discover that the last time I was here, someone had pulled the same stunt on me as they had on Peragus: administering a massive dose of sedatives to put me into a coma of sorts. I immediately suspected that horrible droid. I saw my old kolto tank, and hoped I'd never again be injured badly enough to warrant one. Even after the better part of two days, the taste of the last was still heavy in my mouth.

I viewed the medical logs and security recordings, which were were quite unnerving; I found a face to assign to the strange voice I heard while on the bridge.

We passed through the turbolifts of the Harbinger, when Atton chimed in "I have a bad feeling about this."

I decided to be the adult, and simply ask, "What's wrong?"

"Don't you feel it? Something's gonna get real wrong, real quick."

"We'll have to be careful, then. But we have to keep moving."

"All right, but don't say I didn't warn ya. Trust me, when it comes to staying alive, I'm rarely wrong about these things." I didn't feel anything at first, but a half dozen steps later I could feel it too.

We pressed forward through the engine deck, when all hell broke loose. A man who looked to be the embodiment of "bad feeling" stepped into the light.

I was simultaneously worried and relieved when Kreia stepped forward. "This battle is mine alone. I am not defenseless. He cannot kill what he cannot see, and power has blinded him long ago. Run, I shall be along shortly."

I drew upon the force to hasten my step as we continued forward. I stopped only to steel the edge of my blade against the last of the droids I was sure to encounter. We made our way into the engines, readying the ship for our entry into the fuel line.

Atton was ready to be Mr. Sunshine once again, saying, "Tell me you're joking. We are not going to cross back into the Peragus facility through the fuel line. That's crazy!"

I thought I'd already told you that was exactly my plan. Thanks for listening. "Atton, you need to trust me. Come on."

"How can I possibly trust someone I don't even know? Against my better judgment, I'm following around two Jedi, neither of which have the decency to even tell me their names."

I sighed heavily. "Atton, my name is Lexi Mayn." I extended my hand for him to shake. He grasped my hand firmly, and looked into my eyes.

"Lexi, huh?"

I was briefly hypnotized by his eyes, and I stammered out, "I… I guess my name is really Alexis, but nobody's called me that since…" I broke off, remembering.

"Alexis. I like it," Atton replied.

I noticed that even up close I couldn't quite say exactly what color his eyes even were, but finally my mind focused back on the task at hand, "Atton, please just trust me, this is important."

"All right, but I know I'm gonna regret this."

As we pressed on, I almost thought I could hear snippets of Kreia's conversation in my head, but that feeling was cut off abruptly. I felt a horrible sensation, almost as if all of the skin on my hand was being ripped off at once. I collapsed, gritting my teeth and trying not to cry out. I heard Atton say, "Wh- what's wrong? Are you all right?" He scooped me up in his arms. "Lexi? Lexi! Dammit, hold on! It's only a little further. Don't give up on me now! Alexis!"

Hearing my name snapped my mind out of delirium, and the pain subsided not long after, to be replaced by an even more disturbing numbness. I knew my legs wouldn't yet carry me, so I didn't try to free myself from Atton's arms. He carried me out of the fuel line, and placed me gently down inside the fuel depot. "What happened to you?"

"Kreia…I think she was wounded…badly."

"Huh? How do you know that?"

"I…think it was through the Force."

"Look, if she's in pain, then that pain's buying us time we can't afford to waste, especially if sleeps-with-vibroblades gets tired of playing with her and decides to use us for practice next."

I slowly rose to my feet. I still felt weak in the knees, but that couldn't be helped. "All right…let's go." I noticed that besides the numbness in my hand, my whole body was tingling. A few seconds later my hand was tingling too, but differently. Where it felt like my hand was just waking up, the rest of me felt wonderfully alive. I wondered if my being carried here had any connection to the feeling.

I took in our surroundings, which consisted of little more than a rather large tunnel. Ahead of me, I saw a small metal mass. Atton spoke up first. "It's a utility droid. Looks like it's been hit with an ion charge and dumped here."

I recognized the droid as T3-M4. He beeped slowly, almost hesitantly, and he seemed even more cute than I remembered him being. He was explaining how he had arrived in his current predicament.

"I know, we ran into the 'protocol droid' earlier. He attacked us too." T3 sounded like he was apologizing for not doing more. "Don't blame yourself. If you hadn't gotten us out of the administration level, we'd have never made it this far."

T3 seemed satisfied with my reply, so I continued, "Come on then, we have to hurry." He consented immediately. I disabled the mine in our path, and collected a rather mundane and yet strangely important-looking object from a stash near where T3 had been dumped.

We continued, where once again I had to fight a bunch of reprogrammed droids. I had already removed the mines from the fuel line when I attempted to disable the emergency energy field, so it deactivated immediately. From there it was simply a matter of taking down several more droids to where I could get to the hangar bay.

Mr. Sunshine and Fracking Rainbows came out to play again, "This door's magnetically sealed. I can't believe this! The ship's right out there, and we can't get to it."

T3 started beeping excitedly at that moment. I had a hard time understanding him at first. "Woah. Slow down little guy. One more time."

"Huh? What is that piece of junk saying?"

I smiled. "He said he can open the door to the hangar. He just needs needs a minute to access the hangar terminal up on the platform."

"How can you even understand that noise?"

"I served with a lot of utility droids in the… well, many years ago."

"All right. Well, if he can slice the door open from the terminal above, don't let me stop him." I gave T3 the item we'd recovered just minutes before, and he quickly went to work on the console. A few moments later, the doors slid open. I was thrilled.

We fought some more droids, which seemed to far outnumber the people here, both living and dead. I kept a careful eye out for traps of all kinds; I kept the other two back as I collected a handful of mines for later use.

Next came the decontamination chamber. We only had one breath mask, and I couldn't spare the spikes needed to get rid of the poison gas, much less to open the doors.

"That's too many. Just smash it open," Atton said.

I nodded. "Put this on," I said to Atton, handing him the breath mask. I called upon the Force to calm my nerves before I smashed the console; I knew that this would be unpleasant. Poison gas flooded the room, overwhelming my senses. Atton took my hand and led me through the cloud; the poison was disorienting and I was rapidly losing consciousness.

I shook for a moment or two after we cleared the poison, my body removing it quickly but not painlessly. I clutched Atton's arm as we pressed forward, until I could once again breathe without wheezing and walk without trembling.

A few steps later, we arrived in the hangar bay. There she was, in all her glory. The Ebon Hawk. I approached her loading ramp hesitantly, but I only paused for a moment before boarding.

"Quick! We're gonna need some time to fire up the engines. Let's give the laser turret a workout." I had a lot of fun being able to take down Sith from the safety of the Hawk. I missed a few, but they weren't terribly difficult to dispatch.

I had greater difficulty dragging their lifeless bodies off of the boarding ramp. As usual, while they were still warm I had no trouble touching them at all.

"All right, let's get out of here!" shouted Atton, just as Kreia arrived. I recognized immediately why my pain had centered around my hand. Hers had been removed at the wrist.

"Kreia? Your hand – what happened?"

"There is no time, we must leave," was her dark reply.

Leave we did. Atton maneuvered the Ebon Hawk through the nearest portion of the asteroid field, with the shattered husk of the Harbinger hot on our tail. Where I was determined not to fire into the asteroids, our enemy held no reservations. All around us, small asteroids exploded with our enemies' missed shots, and our ship shuddered when the Harbinger's shots found their mark. I held my tongue; my words could be of no assistance here.

"If they hit us, we're dead, but if they keep missing us, we're dead. That's great odds."

T3 started beeping, making Atton shout back, "Somebody shut that trash compactor up!"

I knew already that attempting a jump to hyperspace in the middle of an asteroid field was a recipe for disaster. I didn't bother to ask. "Just do your best to keep your distance – we'll get out of this yet."

"What about the asteroids? They can be destroyed by us as well as them, can they not?" Kreia had the nerve to interject. I shuddered. What am I getting myself into, traveling with this woman?

"That'll take out the whole field, the colony, and maybe us. We might not even be able to jump to hyperspace in time," replied Atton. For once, his Mr. Sunshine routine was a relief. I wasn't about to be the one to destroy Peragus.

"Then we die here. Choose now," Kreia demanded.

I wanted to tell her to space herself, but instead I said, "There's got to be another way. I won't be the one to destroy this colony. Keep evading the asteroids until we clear the field, and we'll try to jump to hyperspace."

Atton looked relieved as he shouted, "Hold on! This is going to get a little rocky."

Atton flew magnificently, avoiding countless asteroids as well as enemy fire. I couldn't help but be impressed. The Sith pursuing us took no heed as to where they shot in the asteroid field. I silently wondered how anything could burn without air, but I quickly realized it really didn't matter; the asteroids burned in the vacuum of space, even if I didn't understand how. (Occasionally I still wonder if that's why the fuel was so rough on engines). And burn it did. The raging inferno pursued us as eagerly as the Sith had, and we had perhaps a second or so to spare when we made the jump to hyperspace; the stern of the Hawk was detectably warmed by the blast.

In the cold embrace of hyperspace, Atton was the first to speak. "Well, now that we just killed a planet, maybe one of you can tell me what's going on. Because between assassin droids, a Sith Lord that looks like he sleeps with vibroblades, and being target practice for a Republic warship, I was better off in my cell."

"The Republic warship was the Harbinger. It was seized on its way to Telos by the Sith - they sought you, Jedi," Kreia's replied acerbically. She caught my attention by virtue of a single word.

"Telos?" I whispered. I was being brought to Telos, and I had been all along.

"Yes, to aid in the recovery effort there. Many roads lead to Telos, including ours."

"Not like we have much of a choice, the Peragus astrogation charts being what they are," added Atton.

"It is where we must go… and where the Harbinger was bound before our unfortunate encounter on Peragus," whispered Kreia.

"Yeah, I caught that the first time you told me. Care to explain how you tracked me down?" I replied.

"You were difficult to find, but… coincidence was on our side. When I learned that you were on the vessel, I knew the Sith would not be far behind. When we intercepted the Harbinger, it was crippled, drifting in space. I was a simple matter to board the vessel and rescue you. Unknown to me, however, the Sith were already on board. Just as we made the jump to hyperspace, they fired upon us, nearly destroying the Ebon Hawk."

"Well, that's quite the unusual set of coincidences," I replied, failing to keep my thoughts from flying out of my mouth, but fortunately diminishing the sarcasm which had accompanied the thought.

"True, but as one trained in the Force, you know that true coincidences are rare."

"And what, we just magically appeared on Peragus?" I asked.

"I do not know how the Ebon Hawk was able to make it to Pe-" T3-M4 cut off Kreia's statement with a series of excited beeps. "Be silent! We're having a conversation here." T3 ignored her demand for silence.

"He says he repaired the ship and got us to Peragus," I added, translating. Little guy, you are even cooler than I first thought.

"Repaired this ship, my eye. Next thing you know it's going to claim credit for saving our skins. If that little noisemaker says it repaired the ship once, then it can prove it by doing it again. Go on, get!" added Atton.

I'm willing to believe him. T3 beeped and whirred in a distinctly sad fashion, and I picked up the threads of the old conversation. "So why are these Sith looking for me?"

"Because you are the last of the Jedi. Once you are dead, then they have won."

I hadn't wanted to believe what Atton told me about the Jedi being scarce. Kreia gave validity to his statement, and I swallowed my despair. "But I was exiled from the Jedi Order."

"Exile or not, the Sith believe you to be a Jedi Knight, and that is all that matters."

"But… last of the Jedi? That can't be true. It isn't possible," I insisted, my mouth dry.

"The Jedi Civil War destroyed the Jedi. By the war's end, barely a hundred Jedi remained. Many fell in battle… and many more were seduced by Revan's teachings."

Mention of Revan made feel a bit queasy. "What about the Jedi on Dantooine? And Coruscant?"

"The Jedi Academy on Dantooine is nothing more than a crater that echoes with the ghosts of dead Jedi, and the Jedi Temple on Coruscant lies empty. The waters in the Room of a Thousand Fountains have fallen still, in reverence to the fallen Jedi… and those now lost. Many Jedi blamed the teachings of the Jedi Masters for Revan's fall… and the civil war that followed."

I can't be the last. I just can't! "If any survivors still live, we need to warn them," I insisted.

"Perhaps, but they are Jedi no longer. If the Sith have not already slain them, then they will not help you, nor can you help them."

Wait, so they aren't Jedi, but for some reason I am? What kind of messed up logic is that? "Then how do we stop the Sith?" I wondered aloud.

"That… is not an easy question to answer. This threat is greater than you know… and I do not believe it is a battle that can be fought," replied Kreia cryptically.

"If we don't stop them, they're going to keep coming," I realized.

The vehemence in Atton's reply scared me just a little, though I didn't know why. "Look, enough with the 'we,' already."

"We cannot hope to triumph against them alone. To stop them, you will need weapons, allies, and… a teacher. In the end, I fear it may not be enough."

"What do you mean?"

"You fought in the Mandalorian Wars, and it cost you everything. Are you willing to sacrifice as much again?"

"The Mandalorian Wars were my choice," I said defensively, although not entirely truthfully.

"You are not listening to me. This is not like any field of battle you have ever fought in," Kreia hissed in irritation. "Think carefully on your choice. If you choose to fight, if you choose war, it is a path few turn from once the first steps are taken."

But I did. I rejected war, I thought angrily.

"It carries with it a terrible price. And in the end, you may find you have nothing left to sacrifice."

It's not like I have anything to lose. "If I do not try, then we have lost anyway."

"Pah, like so many Jedi, you hear, but you do not listen. You have much to learn," Kreia replied irritatedly.

Well it's about time you figured out I wasn't really listening to you.

"But we have spoken long enough, and my wound pains me. I you have other questions, find me in the crew quarters… there, we will speak more."

"Hey, don't stop your long boring rants on my account. I was just getting sleepy-eyed," Atton quipped with a grin.

"Also, in private, we will be mercifully free from the opinions of imbeciles and fools," Kreia muttered as she retreated to the crew quarters.

Thanks again for the redundancy. That makes you seem so much smarter than Atton. I chuckled at my private sarcasm, but my face fell stoic as I met Atton's gaze.

"Look, uh, not like I care or anything, but you might want to go check on our passenger, especially with that hand of hers."

"You're right, she may need help. You're good up here?" I was confident he was, but I wanted to keep talking to Atton far more than I wanted to start up another conversation with Kreia.

"We're on autopilot until we hit Telos. Until then, a droid could fly this thing. Besides, I think our passenger could use your help."

"What makes you say that?" I knew he'd already noted her discomfort, knew I'd already conceded that point. I think Atton saw me stalling. I was surprised, since he really seemed to hate the woman. I was curious why he was so concerned.

"I think she's barely keeping it together. I'm surprised she's able to stand with all that pain rolling off of her."

I could honestly say I didn't sense anything. Maybe I wasn't as good at reading people as I had hoped. "What are you talking about?"

"Are you blind? If I were her, I'd be screaming like a stuck mynock. Well, I mean a very strong, manly mynock. I think she's just too proud to show any weakness…especially in front of you."

Screaming like a very strong, manly mynock. I hid my smile. I'll have to bring that up again someday. I froze as a thought occurred to me. What if Atton leaves? The thought made me more ill than Telos ever could. I was slightly worried that the feeling was almost as strong as when I found out the state of the Jedi Order. I realized suddenly that I'd taken too long to reply. My mouth had gone dry, and I could only reply, "That's odd."

"Is it? In case you haven't noticed, she won't say two words to me, but she'll talk your ear off any chance she gets. What you think matters to her… a lot. She wants you to respect her. Besides, we haven't got much else to do until Telos."

If this was my last chance to tease Atton, I'd take it. "When did you get sensitive?"

"Oh, don't give me that. All it takes is being around people enough to read them. You should try it sometime."

I believe I've just been bested in a duel of wills with a scoundrel pilot. "I'll go check on her, then."

I approached Kreia filled with trepidation, even though I couldn't place why. What could I possibly say? This feeling continued until I approached her. She spoke first, which should have broken the tension. It didn't.

"Have you come for more answers? There is little more left to give."

"When you lost your hand… I felt it too," I whispered.

"That does not surprise me, any more than you hearing my thoughts when we were apart. The pain, however, was unexpected; if I could, I would have shielded you from it."

A thought struck me hard. "If I felt the loss of your hand, what would have happened if you had died?" I asked, horrified.

"I do not know. I fear that… the consequences… would have been more extreme."

I was afraid to pursue this line of conversation, but my mouth got ahead of my brain. "More extreme? I felt like my hand was being degloved and dipped in salt!"

"Then the sensation you would feel upon my death might be less than that… though much quicker."

"Quicker? Like, death quicker?" I felt my stance weaken, and I sat on the edge of a bunk rather than risk falling.

"Possibly, yes, and I fear it works both ways. I would not wish to test it… nor should you."

I don't believe you. I won't believe you. But I don't intend to kill you, so I guess it doesn't matter, I thought irritatedly. "What could we possibly do? I don't want my actions to put you in the line of fire."

"When battle is upon us, I suspect our minds are prepared enough to shield each other from the pain. I think we shall not have a repeat incident of what happened at Peragus," she replied.

Yep, she's lying. She was in the heat of battle when she lost her hand, so I don't see how that could possibly have a bearing on the situation. Yet there's definitely a bond here. Blast it. "I've never heard of a bond this extreme," I noted aloud, trying to hide the disbelief in my voice.

"I confess its nature eludes me as well. But the bond is strong, and its roots run deep," she replied, seemingly oblivious to my skepticism. "It seems the Force flows easily between us. When one of us manipulates the Force to heal or strengthen ourselves, the other is aided as well. A powerful technique indeed. Though, as we have noticed, it has its drawbacks."

Well yeah. Even if it isn't lethal, I don't anticipate enjoying the feeling when you drop dead. And you're old, so I'm likely to experience it. Okay, time to change the subject. "When we were on Peragus, I could feel the Force again." No need to tell her I could feel it before.

"Indeed? And it was the same as before?"

"It was like a whisper, at the edge of hearing," I replied softly. Like my days as a youngling, when the Masters opened my eyes to the Force for the first time.

"If my suspicions are correct, perhaps the damage the Jedi Council did was not as permanent as they thought. It is not an easy thing, to cut one off from the Force," she replied.

If I couldn't tell she was lying before, I sure could tell now. "I don't believe the Jedi would do such a thing," I returned. Well, not to me, anyway. I remember losing my connection, and it definitely wasn't by the Council's hand.

"What did you believe? That you suddenly lost your connection with the Force without reason?"

"But to cut one off from the Force… it's like losing all your senses at once." Reduced to a shell of a human being.

"Indeed it is. It is much like losing one's ability to listen, or being put into a deep sleep, unable to awaken to the galaxy around you. Such a thing has been done before, when Jedi have pronounced sentence on their own… and exiled them, as they did you."

"I don't believe the Jedi would inflict such a punishment on someone." On me, I thought. "It seems… too cruel." Yet strangely appropriate for someone who could still feel the Force by the time their judgment passed.

"If not the Jedi, then what did you think was the cause of such a loss?" Kreia asked, with a touch of harshness in her voice.

"I blamed the Mandalorian Wars… I did a lot that I'm not exactly proud of." And then some, I thought bitterly.

"War leaves many scars, but rarely does it blind one to the Force. If anything, conflict and challenge may make the connection stronger, more intense. No matter what horrors you experienced in the war, no matter who you served, it is unlikely that the Force would be lost to you unless another factor was involved."

Well yeah, but there were a few million factors that all happened to die simultaneously. I'd think that would be enough. "Can my connection to the Force be healed?"

"It is possible that such a thing can be undone. Still… even so, the chances of the Jedi undoing such a thing for a traitor… is a slim thing at best, assuming they yet live."

"But you said it's possible. How?"

"Our link… may have had other consequences. Perhaps you can hear the Force again… distantly, through me. If so, then there is hope. I may be able to teach you, train you to feel the Force again. And if you will not allow me to help you, then other Jedi must train you… or undo the damage they have done."

"But there are no more Jedi," I replied in disgust. What makes you think I can feel the Force through you anyway?

"Then I am your only hope, as you are mine. We are a sad pair, you and I, to defend the galaxy against such a thing. I offer to train you to become strong again, to know the ways of the Force, and to hear the Force sing within you as it once did."

"I would welcome whatever aid you offer," I heard my lips say before my mind could register what exactly I was agreeing to. Oh, no. This can't be good. I backtracked in our conversation. Definitely not good.

"Then our training shall begin. Whenever I travel with you, I shall impart what I can to you, through my words and presence."

"Okay, um… would you mind updating me on galactic current events?"

"Much has happened in the galaxy in your absence, and since the defeat of the Mandalorians at Malachor V."

"Yeah, I can imagine. Many Jedi died at Malachor V… and the conflict split the Jedi Order."

"You speak the truth. The wars' end was merely another beginning, and what seemed a victory for the Republic was far from it. Many believed the Mandalorians defeated at Malachor V, but the Mandalorians taught the Jedi much through battle. And so it was that Malak, Revan, and the Jedi that followed them discovered their true natures in the Mandalorian crusade. But you know this."

"I felt them fall. The war had consumed them," I added.

"Consumed them? No. Taught them, defined them, yes. As Revan and Malak fought the Mandalorians in battle after battle, they grew to despise weakness, just as the Mandalorians did. In the end, the Mandalorians had taught them through conflict. Shaped the Jedi, and turned them into a weapon against the Republic."

"The Jedi Civil War," I muttered.

"Revan and Malak and all the Jedi that served them turned against the Republic and the Jedi Order. Jedi fought Jedi. Revan was ambushed by the Jedi and captured. Malak continued to wage war in his Master's place, inflicting terrible wounds on the Republic… wounds that bleed still."

"I've heard rumors, but how were Malak and the Sith defeated?"

"As all Sith do, without a strong enemy, the Sith turned on each other. Revan escaped the Jedi and returned to finish Malak… and that was the end of the Jedi Civil War."

"But… what happened to Revan?"

"No one knows… certainly not I. After defeating Malak, Revan left the Republic, and there are none who know where she has gone. It is said that the Sith remnants turned on themselves after Revan defeated Malak, reducing Korriban to ruin, as the Republic still bleeds and struggles for life. Where Revan wanders now, I do not know."

It broke my heart that Kreia didn't know where Revan had gone, but I hid my disappointment from my reply. Instead, I grasped at the one good thing I could glean from the conversation. "Revan turned against Malak for the sake of the Republic?" I asked hopefully.

"It would seem that way… from a certain point of view, perhaps. The Jedi Civil War left wounds that have yet to heal… we shall see if the Republic has the strength to survive."

"Then we must do what we can until it has a chance to recover from the war," I replied.

"A culture's teachings, and most importantly, the nature of its people, achieve definition in conflict. They find themselves… or find themselves lacking. Too long did the Republic remain unchallenged. It is a stagnant beast that labors for breath… and has for centuries. The Jedi Order was the heart that sustained its sickness. Now the Jedi are lost, and we shall see how long the Republic can survive."

"Can't we do anything to help?"

"We shall see. The Jedi Civil War cost the Republic much; the resources of the Sith seemed limitless. The Republic's was not. Fleets of warships, soldiers, and people were lost. Entire planets were decimated, their inhabitants dead… or refugees. It is a great burden for any civilization to bear. And this new threat… it is a quiet thing, unlike the Jedi Civil War. It drives at something deeper than the strength of the Republic. It is aimed at you."

You've got to be kidding me. "At me?"

"The Republic was never what was important. Ever. It was but a shell that surrounds the Jedi, just as the teachings of the Jedi are a shell surrounding the heart of man. You see, the war, the true war has never been one waged by droids, warships, or soldiers. They are but crude matter, obstacles against which we test ourselves. The true war is waged in the hearts of all living things, against our own natures, light or dark. That is what shapes and binds the galaxy, not these creations of man."

You make it sound like the Force couldn't exist without us.

"You are the battleground. And if you fall, the death of the Republic will be such a quiet thing, a whisper, that shall herald the darkness to come."

Without me. This was a massive concept to contemplate. But placing the battleground within myself? I knew in my heart that the spirit of a person was where all important battles are fought, but that the battle for the Republic could be within my own spirit was troubling. "This is a lot to take in all at once. I need time to think."

I was starting to respect her for the lying old witch that she was, and then she had to ruin it all by insulting a man a hoped would be my friend. "I would see to that fool in the cockpit, and remind him of our destination. I would not want him attempting to veer from Telos."

"He's not a fool, but he does feel odd to me."

"He is a fool and an imbecile, his potential lies downwards, not up. Watch that one. His thoughts are slippery… I do not trust him, and nor should you. Such a man serves himself first… and his 'allies' next."

Yeah, sure. And you lying to me with every breath is so much better. And I'll bet it's just that I'm not the only person on this ship who doesn't like having a weird old lady getting comfortable in their head.

I went to him anyway, needing someone to talk with who didn't make me want to murder things. His greeting was priceless. "How's our passenger? She still aging?"

Atton's sense of humor lightened my heart somewhat, but I answered seriously, "For someone without much to say, she can't seem to shut up."

"Yeah, to you, maybe. I don't usually hear much beyond 'fool' and 'imbecile.' She's lucky she's a Jedi, or someone would've killed her years ago. I'm mean, how old do you think she is? She may have been good-looking once, but it takes some hard living to make creases like that," Atton countered.

I laughed out loud, "'Good looking'? Are you that desperate?"

"Hey, I just got out of prison," he countered, conjuring up images in my deluded little brain of all the holovids I'd watched during my exile. He didn't leave it at that though, and continued, "If we had a decent navicomputer, trust me, we'd be dropping out of hyperspace into the Nar Shaddaa Red Sector right now," he said, making me wince in disgust. "After spacing that old witch of course."

I cringed a little. He's the type of man my… I couldn't allow myself to finish the thought. Instead, I decided to defend Kreia. "Look, ease off the insults. She was wounded helping us escape, remember?"

"Woah, all right, all right! Don't get mad at me. Hey, I didn't ask her to stay behind and get her hand cut off, okay? I mean, I appreciate what she did and all, but she could stand to lay off the insults herself, you know?"

"Getting empathy from you is like squeezing water from a stone."

"Oh yeah? Well, how much water you get from a stone depends on what planet you're on, sister," Atton replied hotly.

Come on Atton, don't take it like that. I'm not exactly great with people I have to interact with for more than a few minutes. Please don't get mad at me. I sighed heavily, and walked towards the galaxy map to check our course.

Atton decided to confuse the hell out of me with his next statement. "So… what happened?"

"To what?" I answered softly, hoping he wasn't going where I thought he was going.

"Don't give me that. There were plenty of times back on Peragus where a lightsaber would have been helpful. So, where's yours?" Atton asked.

Oh, Force. He's going there. Just stay calm, Lexi. "Exiles aren't allowed to keep their lightsabers," I said quietly.

"Oh yeah? I thought a Jedi was supposed to be married to their lightsaber. Guess I heard wrong. Were you a single hilt or one of those double-bladed Jedi?"

"It wasn't a double blade," I whispered, barely audible over the creaking of the ship.

"Huh. Figures. It wasn't red, was it?"

I left the galaxy map and settled down in the copilot's chair. "Not quite. Both the blades and the crystals were unique."

"Yeah? Unique how?"

"Will you humor me for a moment?" I asked.

"Uh, sure," Atton replied, not looking very sure at all.

"Close your eyes and picture for a moment a stoic yet excited young Jedi Knight. She's dressed in the traditional robes of the Order, a saber in each hand." Atton nodded, his eyes closed. "She carries the burden and dignity of a respected officer, at the precious age of sixteen. Her lightsabers, though poised for battle, are extinguished." I paused for a moment, before deciding how to continue. "The hilts show signs of heavy modification. They have been etched, decorated, rebalanced, taken apart and reassembled hundreds if not thousands of times. Yet still they sing sweetly, having stolen no lives. A muscle twitches, a blade comes to life, humming gently before its song is to begin. It glows silver, like the streams in the Room of a Thousand Fountains on Coruscant. Another muscle twitches, and the second blade awakens."

"And?" Atton asked, leaning towards me on the captain's chair.

Oh dear, I've set this up to be anticlimactic. I hope he forgives me. "You think you see red at first, but then you realize that it is not red, but a pale feminine pink."

"Pink?" Atton shouted incredulously, but with a hearty laugh.

"The Jedi Order had never before seen such a thing. I had to use two color crystals and heavily modify the emitter to get the shade just right, but I managed to make a pink blade. And yes, I took my pink lightsaber to war with me. It helped my troops to identify me from a distance."

Atton sat silently for a time, so I added, "Atton, I was deaf, blind, and mute to the Force for a decade. Revan betrayed me personally. I didn't trust a soul, and so I forsook the company of all others during that time. There was nobody to fight. I could not have wielded a lightsaber during that time even if I had desired it, so after I time I no longer missed it."

"What did you do?"

"I spent the first few years searching for something, anything, to save my sister."

"You have a family?" Atton asked, interested.

"I used to," I mumbled.

"And your sister, she was dying?"

"No, I wished to save her from evil. From the dark side," I cut off Atton before he could reply, "Look, Atton, I'll discuss this with you some other time, but right now I'm so tired I'm about to drop. I'll be in the starboard crew quarters if you need me. If I'm not already awake, will you please wake me up when we exit hyperspace?"

Atton nodded. "Sweet dreams."

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and I know it.