AN1: I want to offer a giant thank you for Fairywm who beta-ed this chapter. In short amazing and quick work.

AN2: I came across a very interesting video series by Belated Media on youtube What if Star Wars Episode I was good (and Episode II and III). They are very intersting to watch with a bunch of cool ideas.


Chapter VII

The Shadow of Korriban

Rex turned out to be a decent teacher when it came to weapons or hand-to-hand fighting. Harry never had any particular interest in either of them, so the former commander had his hands full with him. On Felucia he had tried his newly acquired DD-20 heavy blaster pistol with minimal improvement on his accuracy, though he had had much more pressing matters to attend to. While he was a bit more inclined to learn, it was mostly for being forced into incognito. They couldn't use the Force, or their lightsabers, every time a fight broke out with them in the middle. Hearing that a horde of bounty hunters will be after them, as Jedi heads worth a small fortune or in some cases a large one, not to mention the Empire and its Inquisition, Harry decided that at least one of them beside Rex should learn how to shoot and as the only one even remotely interested it was his job.

The easiest part was the use of hand blasters. The difference between Rex's and Aayla's help was clear to anyone with eyes. Of course Aayla knew next to nothing about blasters and the commander was something of a weapons fanatic, but Harry had to admit that Rex obviously knew his stuff. That was apparent when they made a little 'contest' in the cargo of the Traveler. Three targets were lined up twenty five meters from them. The 'contest', if you could call that as such, was over in less than a minute. Harry sometimes didn't even hit the target's edge while Rex's only problem was where he wanted to hit his own, then making six sure kill hits in less than five seconds. The soldier however made something clear to the other man: the clones were trained and bred for this, Harry was not. The young wizard will probably never reach his expertize or even close to it.

When it came to hand-to-hand training, things only became worse for Harry. He had never practiced martial arts, let alone those styles where the intent was to quickly and efficiently take down your opponents, like what the clone troopers used. The displaced male had near superhuman reflexes, and was one of the fastest men alive, which was more than enough against an average man. The native soldier, however, was anything but average. He was both more skilled and experienced than the man he was training. It came to no one's surprise that Harry got his ass handed to him, badly and repeatedly.

So the 'contest' quickly became a training session. And let it be known that Rex was a harsh teacher. Despite the fact that Harry will probably only use these skills on very rare occasions, he demanded the best from the sorcerer. After nearly an hour of learning how to grab, toss, hit enemy, and how to fall the commander seemed satisfied, if only a little bit, with the emerald-eyed man's performance.

Harry's next idea was one of those that the blond-haired man referred as Jedi nonsense. The dark-haired man decided that as the other man was quite the marksman and he, himself, was skilled with the lightsaber, so they could try and use both to maximize their training. Meaning that Rex would fire on him, and Harry would try and deflect the incoming bolts. The clone commander had a very bad feeling about it, and had a reason for that in the form of a Rutian Twi'lek.

He was, of course, correct. They had only been at it for about a quarter of an hour when the girls entered. They all were distressed, obviously thinking that the two men were really fighting over some issue. When they cleared the air, Aayla started ranting about "stupid, idiot males", who had "egos and competitive sides of the size of a bantha", and were indeed only as "smart as one". While the blue-skinned woman paced around the room, the other three women nodded along quite enthusiastically.

Harry could only stare wide-eyed at his girlfriend as she seemed to get more and more into tearing him a new one. He did not know what a 'bantha' was, but got the gist of Aayla's speech.

When Rex finally decided to try and defuse the situation, injecting that he had powered down the blasters so the shots would have left nothing more than a slight burn after then and a little numbness, Aayla shot him a look that left the veteran soldier shaking like a leaf. When she opened her mouth to berate him even more, Harry decided it was enough of that, and grabbed Aayla's waist, spun her around, and silenced her with a kiss.

"I'm sorry, love. We were only training a little, nothing more," he said, after breaking off the kiss. "I'll admit it was mistake not talking with you first, but it was pretty harmless."

"I bet you wouldn't say that if I cut Rex's head off like I wanted the moment I saw this... 'training session,'" Aayla growled, still a bit put out by the display she just seen.

"Well, I suppose that's true," the wizard admitted with a shrug. "We'll inform you the next time we decide to do something like that."

"You'd better, because I didn't like it," the Twi'lek replied hotly. "Seriously, Harry..." she said more softly, after seeing that Harry still didn't grasped how worried she was, "...it wasn't that long ago that the clones betrayed us. Seeing one shooting at you..." She put her head on his shoulder, willing him to understand.

"Fuck," Harry swore quietly, realizing how stupid his idea was in hindsight. "I'm sorry. I didn't think that one out, did I?"

"No, you didn't," she replied, finally relaxing in his arms. "Next time we land on a civilized world, you have to take me somewhere nice as an apology," Aayla stated firmly, making sure that he would do just that.

"Yeah, of course. Whatever you want, love," he assured her quickly. He was more than a little relieved that he got off with only that much. Though he had a feeling it was only because the situation stayed relatively calm.

"I'll hold you on that."

The couple looked at the rest of the group, and it seemed that Ahsoka already finished chewing Rex out on their stupidity. It was pretty amusing seeing the tall, battle hardened former field commander of the 501st regiment being scolded by a young woman half his weight. After she finished with a huff, Ahsoka turned towards the Maris and Shaak and the four started to talk about the recent news in the Galaxy.

"I still can't believe it," the youngest Padawan answered to what she said. "Why would they leave Kashyyyk?"

"What are you lot talking about?" Harry asked as the pair joined them.

"There was some news that Wookiees have been leaving Kashyyyk," Maris replied with a worried look on her face. "And not just a few families or something, but tens of thousand. I don't understand it. Kashyyyk is more to the Wookies than just a planet."

"It is," Shaak agreed with a nod, looking grim hearing the news. "I did not think there would ever be any reason for them to do so."

"Maybe there's some kind of poison or toxin, which the Separatist released just like the news said," Ahsoka reasoned. It wouldn't be the first time the Separatist used such tactics.

"You do not believe that Imperial bureaucrat more than I," the older Jedi replied with a frown. "The Wookies would not leave Kashyyyk without at least trying to solve whatever the problem is."

"It was an Imperial who said this?" Harry asked after a moment. "And no Wookiee said anything about it?"

"Yes, they said that there is only some drawn out plans if some of the Wookiees would like to settle on another planet," Rex replied, having heard bits and pieces of the situation before they met up with this crew.

"I don't understand. It's obviously just Imperial propaganda," Harry said, causing the others to nod their heads at that. "But what could the Empire attain with this farce?"

"Perhaps..." Maris started, drawing everyone's attention to her. "Perhaps, they want to steal the star-maps of the Claatuvac Guild without being found out?"

"Possible, very possible," Shaak said, pursing her lips together as she contemplated that. "However, that would be a very dangerous game to play, especially this soon after the Empire was established. I do not think they will force the issue, not for a while at least."

"Claatuvac?" Harry asked, not familiar with the term.

"One of the Galaxy's oldest and most influential navigator guild," Aayla replied to her lover's question. "It's said that they possess many ancient star-maps describing routes long forgotten, which could reform all we know about space-trade and routes." Unsaid was that such routes could be used for much more than just trade.

"Sounds valuable." It was obviously was. Trade was the greatest avenue as it had a connection to everything.

"An entire campaign was fought to keep them safe," Ahsoka explained. That campaign was fought after she left the Order, but she heard of it. Hell, she doubted that anyone having access to news didn't hear of it.

"If I know anything, it is that Chief Gumbaeki will not allow that data to fall into the wrong hands, no matter what," the Jedi Master stated with certainty. The Wookiees were famous for their honor and loyalty.

"Well, that's good to hear, I suppose," Harry said uncertainly. There was more than one way to get such information after all. "Now if you don't mind I have to take a shower," he added, noticing that he kind of smelled.

"He looks good with sweat," Shaak remarked with a small grin, as they watched the man's retreating form.

"He sure does," Aayla replied with her own grin. "And you know what? He looks even better with nothing on!"

"Oh my, Aayla!" the older woman exclaimed mockingly, raising her hand before her lips. "How daring of you!"

"Please, as if you didn't checked him out at the beach!" the Jedi Knight replied with a tinkling laugh, not in the least bothered by it. "Well, I think I should also retire to my cabin."

"But don't you and Harry share a cabin?" Maris asked confused.

Aayla let out another giggle as she walked -skipped- out of the cargo hall. Shaak and Ahsoka hugged the confused Zabrak girl between them, cooing at her, while Rex also walked out shaking his head.

A few hours later, they assembled again in the cockpit. In just a few minutes they'll exit the hyperspace at Korriban. A planet that was at the very core of various Sith empires, and Orders, for the last few thousand years. Harry was curious how such a planet would look.

Two minutes later, they exited the hyperspace, and Harry's first thought in seeing the planet before them was Mars. Korriban was very alike to the Red Planet at first glance. It was mostly russet, with some smaller, or larger, spots of white and brown, and a few greenish brown ones with the twin icecaps. However, it was far larger than Mars, even larger than Earth, with seven moons instead of the other planet's two. However, that wasn't what grabbed their attention.

"Somehow when I look at it I find myself a little nervous," Rex said cautiously. His face was a blank mask, but his eyes betrayed the true scale of his feelings.

"It proves how much of the Dark Side has engulfed this planet, when even a non force-sensitive can feel it," Shaak said from the com-seat. All of them held themselves rigid, with all of their attention on the planet.

"This is what you felt when you faced Ventress?" the commander asked Ahsoka quietly.

"No. What you feel is nothing compared what we can sense," the orange-skinned girl replied from where she sat in front of Shaak, in the co-pilot's seat. "And Asajj is very complicated person."

"I still can't believe you would work with her," Rex murmured quietly, but not quietly enough.

"Working with Ventress?" Shaak asked sharply, looking at the younger Togruta with narrowed eyes.

"She isn't that bad," the ex-Padawan defended the former Dark Jedi. She felt that Shaak was being a bit unfair, given her own contact with a Hutt information broker, who was in and out of the Hutt Great Council. Since those positions were often filled after the previous owner's unfortunate death it was quite rare, if not unique, to see someone getting on it more than once. The young Togruta didn't want to think on why or how Jool sat on the Council so many times. "She was lost and lonely at the time, and Dooku capitalized on that and twisted her into what you saw."

"Just like Aurra Sing," Aayla interjected slowly as she piloted the ship towards the planet, slowly entering the stratosphere.

"Who is she?" Harry asked.

The Twi'lek winced a little bit. Aurra was a very uncomfortable point for her. She could clearly see why Aurra Sing turned out the way she did, and could see herself going down that road if history was only a little bit different. "A Jedi Padawan who became a bounty hunter. I fought her on Devaron," was Aayla's short reply. There will be time and place when and where they could discuss the other woman. "I think I still have the dress I wore on that mission. I'm sure you would love to see me in it."

"She and Bosk helped some Mandalorian kid last I heard," Rex spoke up. Since he had a nice bounty on his head, and accompanied Ahsoka, he always kept an ear out for news on bounty hunters, or at least the more notorious ones.

"Well, you must tell me about that adventure the next time we can rest," Harry replied, remembering his girlfriend mentioning those two one time or another, if his memories served him right. "About Mandalorians... didn't they have something to do with the clones?"

"One of them, named Jango Fett, was the genetic template of us. Some would consider him our father," the commander replied. Though those who would call him that obviously knew nothing about the famous bounty hunter, even his so called son Boba. His payment for the job as the donor for the clone army, meant he wasn't a father in how the the new, more peaceful Mandalorians viewed such position. Fett followed the ancient Mandalorian traditions, though by those standards he was a loving father, using physical discipline as the last resort. In the old days, and even now in conservative families, a Mandalorian father meant something closer to a drill sergeant than an actual father. It should be no surprise that Jango cared very little for the clone army, aside of making sure that they are well trained fighters. From his perceptive, they were indeed nothing more than bio-droids. He trained the first group to a certain extent, and then left them to teach the groups after it.

"Speaking of clones, we got another message from Jool," Shaak said. "It seems that Sidious didn't want to leave the cloning technology in the hands of the Kaminoans." Truthfully she felt rather ambiguous about the news. While she certainly did not want a clone army or factory in the hands of the Empire, she did not believe the Kaminoans a better owner by much. A lesser evil, sure, but one she could do without.

"That's surprising," Ahsoka commented, her hand tapping the armrest of her chair. "Did she say the reason? I mean an official reason."

"Just the unoriginal, to minimize cost and danger of attacks. Obviously Sidious wouldn't trust them with the supply of his army," Aayla replied, while piloting the Traveler through the clouds.

"The Kaminoans weren't against him as Chancellor," Rex reminded her. True, the Kaminoans were one of the greatest supporters of Palpatine. Of course given that they had a very profitable business arrangement, and were invited into the Galactic Senate not even months after their rediscovery, while some planets had to wait hundreds of years for that honor, may have had something to do with it. "I didn't think they'd have any problem with him being declared the Emperor."

"Perhaps they don't like the fact that he deceived them?" the youngest girl wondered aloud, though she seemed unsure of it herself. That high in politics, deceiving one another was everyday business.

"Not likely. They're very practical. If their contract is fulfilled, then that's it. They could care less about the purpose of the clone army as long as they gain from the making of it," the commander argued.

"Perhaps, that's what happened," Harry said, after thinking it over. "If this Sidious is anything like the bad guys from my home planet, then he is egotistical and power hungry. I'd bet that he doesn't want to depend on his army's supply for manpower by a semi-autonomous government, even if they would happily serve him."

"The Kaminoans are highly intelligent," Shaak said, catching on to Harry's concept. "Sidious exhibited all those qualities when he ascended as Emperor. If the Kaminoans could calculate what he would do with them when his powerbase is set..."

"They would plan something to counter him," Ahsoka finished it.

"Whatever happened, it has now come down to Kamino being under siege by the fifth armada," Rex said as they finally broke through the clouds.

Harry looked out of one of the side windows and was startled by the landscape. "What happened here?" he asked, seeing the countless craters in the planet's surface. There were dozens of them in view, but the wizard would bet a large amount of money that numerous more existed out of sight. What really surprised him was the sheer size of some of them: hundreds if not thousands of meters in diameter.

"Orbital bombardment," Ahsoka explained. The young woman was also wide-eyed upon seeing the destruction around them. "I've seen a few from space, but never on this scale."

"Neither have I," Rex agreed as he nodded along.

"The Battle of Korriban. It was fought at the end of a millennia long war," Shaak explained, her voice taking on a sorrowful note. "I heard that the Jedi and the Senate did everything in their power to break the Sith's power, but..."

The surface seemed oddly bipolar. Some places were scarred beyond nature's help, others were nearly untouched by either war or time. Luckily for them the Talisman should be in one of the latter places, near a mountain range running from the South to the North. It was a little valley, only a couple of miles away from the largest peak. The palace of Muur was a grand structure, and at least half of it was inside the cliff behind it. Outside it looked like a great Aztec pyramid made out the same sandy brown and red granite as the mountain.

Aayla took the Traveler to the front of the great steps, leading to the middle and most likely the main gate. After a brief talk, they decided to leave Rex behind as backup. He was the least experienced concerning the Force out of the group and someone must remain here to watch for pursuers. Taking the first step on the soft sand and rock surface was bizarre for the girls. For them it was as if they were walking into a swamp filled with thick fog. They couldn't feel anything clearly in the Force, unless at a very close distance. It stressed them immensely, filling them with a sense of danger. Before, it always meant a Dark Jedi, or a Sith, was in the vicinity.

Harry fared slightly better as he didn't opened himself up to the Force to the same extent, despite Shaak and Aayla insistence. However, even he could feel it, making his body stiffen even further than on the ship.

Walking up towards the entrance, they looked at the statues lined up on either side. Most were human, some humanoid and few more alien, to at least Harry's eyes. The style only added to it as it only used rough forms. The material they used making them varied greatly: bronze, gold, marble, obsidian just to name a few. They all wore simple armor and weapons.

Stepping inside the palace, they arrived in what at first glance seemed as the continuation of the outside, but these sculptures were much more detailed, if still a bit minimalist. Just from the greater care of how they were made Harry theorized that they were Sith Lords instead of the warriors outside.

"The structure and decoration is unlike anything I have seen in the Archive," Maris said in wonder. It wasn't surprising as the Jedi Order as a whole only had fragments of information on the Sith from a thousand years ago. Their knowledge of those that built the palace was even more lacking.

"There are a few examples, I think. And I have seen some statues like these in Palpatine's office. I believed him ignorant of their origin. I was naive," Shaak admitted with a grimace. "Palpatine is not that kind of man who would just use something, even decorations, without knowing their hidden meaning."

All the walls bore artwork telling the old Sith Empire's history, and even ancient Sith legends. There were carvings and frescos of battles fought ages ago. Their most glorious victories, along with their greatest defeats. The walls depicted how the Lords, and champions, would rise to power, and how they fell, conquering numerous worlds across the galaxy. Both Harry and Maris would have loved to remain and study them, but time was of essence.

The hallways were wide enough that they all could walk next to each other if needed. Harry and Shaak led, followed by the two younger girls, while Aayla brought up the rear. Even with their briskly pace, it took time to arrive to the first real chamber, because of the long and twisting paths. At first it was hard to navigate with so many forks and offsets.

It was a throne room, assumedly Muur's. A large throne of black obsidian of the finest quality sat on a high platform. It had a square base and everything else was square on it. Aside a bit of gold decoration on it's armrest it remained in the minimalist style the furniture of palace seemed to bear. This of course also included the long table and the surrounding seats. The table was a marble slab sitting on two simple straight poles of metal, which were on two bent metal poles in half circle form. In the middle there was a twenty centimeter wide dome of a holo projector. The chairs were also made with the same principle in mind. It had a circular stem with a rather thin metal holding the also circular seat. The backrest, which was cut in half at the middle, while the end was cut at approximately a sixty degree angle. The walls of the hall were finely decorated, unlike either the table or the chairs. The carvings were so exceedingly intricate that Harry could see the master working at them for weeks, if not months. Of course, he could hardly know that it took two masters of the art nearly a year to complete the whole chamber.

"Alright this looks like some kind of audience chamber or conference room," Aayla said, carefully stepping inside. Maris and Ahsoka didn't have this restrain and went to study the walls. Harry and Shaak stepped on the platform and started to work on the throne's electronics, which were integrated with the palace's own communication and computer system. After few minutes, they got the map of the entire palace to appear in mid-air above the table.

"The vault is underground," the Jedi Knight stated as she pointed out the section on the three-dimensional map. It was quite obvious that something as valuable as the Talisman would be placed there.

"And there's a lift behind the throne room leading there," Maris said, pointing at the line running through the whole structure. Convenient, to say the least, but Harry was glad that Fortuna smiled upon them..

"Let us hope we can find that talisman in that vault," the Jedi Master said as they moved to the turbolift. The older female Togruta was restless on this planet, even more so than her companions. Not only were her instincts sharper, but she was also more naturally open to the Force than even Aayla.

The ride to the heart of the complex was uneventful if a bit cramped. When they stepped out, the lights turned on. They made their way into the main vault directly ahead of the lift. Sadly this section was just as zigzagged as the main one. After only a few meters, Harry stopped.

"What is it, Harry?" asked Aayla. The others also stopped, seeing him turning around looking at every corner.

"I feel like someone is watching us," Harry said softly. "I've felt it since we got off the Traveler, but I thought it was just the Dark Side."

"It is, Harry..." Shaak tried to reassure him. She shared these feelings with the man, but was much more successful at locking them up.

"No! Shaak, my instincts have never failed me in my live," the wizard interrupted her. Glancing at the girls, he could see their perplexed expression. He sighed, "I'm sorry. It's just that I'm sure that there is someone watching us and it's driving me crazy."

"It is alright. All of us are on the edge," the Jedi Master stated calmly, as usual she was the first to regain her cool, even as her eyes narrowed a little bit in suspicion. "It matters not if we are not bothered. Let us move on, but stay alert."

The path to the vault, some hundred meters long, was made in silence. All of them breathed a sigh of relief when they arrived before the doors of Muur's vault. Luckily the mechanics of the gate were still functional. The vault was larger and emptier than what Harry envisioned, especially with the large door leading into it. There were several pedestals, but only a select few were occupied, most with weapons of defeated foes, mainly lightsabers. However, there were other things as well, such as gold bars in neat piles on the sides. Harry's main interest was in the triangular pyramid crystal device on the central platform. He recognized it from Aayla's tale as a holocron, a storage of phenomenal quantity and quality of data. Only a true master of the Force could create and use it to it's fullest capacity. Being in the center of the vault convinced Harry that it was pretty important.

"I don't see the amulet." the Twi'lek said, glancing at the objects in the chamber.

"It isn't here," a frustrated Ahsoka said, taking a quick look around.

"We can see that," Maris said from the side, turning towards the younger Togruta, with a frown on her face. "We came here because of you, so maybe instead of just standing around you should search for it," she sneered, sarcasm dripped from her voice.

"So it's my fault?! You're one to talk as you don't do anything. If you wouldn't just stand there, but perhaps even help a little we could do something!" came the orange-skinned girl's sharp answer.

"At least you admit that alone you couldn't do nerf shit!" was the Padawan's heated response.

"Aayla! We do not know what is in that casket! Must you always be that reckless!?" came Shaak irritated voice from the the other side of the chamber, where the two older Jedi stood in front of a rusty, old metal casket. The Jedi Master had her arms crossed, clearly unimpressed with the Twi'lek woman, who had her hands on the casket.

"Perhaps you could do something faster than a bantha for once!" Aayla hotly replied, twirling around to face the older woman. "You know that we need to get out here as soon as possible, so please worry a bit less and do things fast!"

Harry could feel himself getting angry. What the hell did they think they are doing!? They didn't have the luxury of wasting time arguing! Especially when they all knew what they were here for. It seemed that he had to calm them down and take the lead since only he could keep a level head in this kind of situation. Surprising, given what he knew of the girls, but well, it was what it was. He stepped next to them, and was just about to tell them to shut up, when he stopped himself and thought back on that.

Why the hell did they started to argue? None of it made sense. And why would he try to strongarm them under his leadership that way? It would only make matters worse. He imagined how they looked from the outside and felt his frown deepen. Maris and Ahsoka arguing? The two girls had hit it off immediately, forming a sisterly bond. Shaak and Aayla complimented each other flawlessly, with patience and assertiveness respectively, not having such problems before.

He reached out to the Force. The Dark Side was so thick it nearly choked him. For a second he couldn't even move. His power surged forward and burst through the chamber. The girls blinked at each other as the stress was literally lifted up from them.

"What happened?" Maris asked confused.

"We were trapped in some kind of Sith sorcery," Shaak answered with a frown. "Aayla, I am sorry for my words." Her voice was soft, but full of sincerity.

"Just as me." Aayla nodded back.

"Me too," Maris said it to Ahsoka, who hugged the Zabrak girl to herself.

"What have you found there?" Harry asked Aayla, trying to steer the conservation onto another path.

"I don't know," the Twi'lek replied, shrugging her shoulder. "There could be anything inside."

"Let's open it," he said as he pushed what looked like the open button. It gave a soft hiss as the door slid open and a humanoid shape stepped outside of it, revealing itself to be a droid. The next moment all of their lightsabers were out and ignited. The droid made no move of being threatening or aggressive.

"Greetings. I'm the caretaker of the vault, M3-S3," came a metallic voice from it.

"It's a protocol droid," Aayla murmured to the others. "An older model from the time of the Great Sith War. A C7 or maybe C6 model."

"Hello. We came here searching for a Sith talisman. Can you help us?" Ahsoka asked the droid, who shook its head.

"If you search for the Amulet of Master Muur then you will not find it here."

Harry felt his temper rise a bit at that. He was rattled by the earlier episode, and hearing that the entire journey may have been pointless did very little to calm him down.

"Can you tell us where it is?" the ex-Padawan all but begged the droid, not wanting to have come so far to not get what they were after.

"It should be in the tower of Master Muur," the droid replied. "It has been in a stasis casket for nearly four thousand years."

"How are you even functioning?" Aayla asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. If the droid was used by Muur then that meant it was also at least four thousand years old. No matter how well made, no droid could function after such a long time.

"My Master made me to last several thousand years if needed, using what he labeled as Sith Alchemy. Added to the fact, that I was also in storage until you stepped into the vault, means I am in peak condition."

"Sith Alchemy?" Harry asked intrigued at the notion of what was considered the most advanced transfiguration form on Earth being used in some way or form.

"It is outside of my programming," the droid replied in its emotionless, metallic voice. "However, the data storage on the pedestal has sufficient information on the subject."

"Then we should take it with us," the wizard said, glancing at the tetrahedral form of the Sith device.

"Are you sure, Harry? Sith artifacts can corrupt the minds of their user," Shaak warned warily, looking at the holocron.

"I think we'll have the strength to stop before too late," the dark-haired man said confidently.

"Should we even be tempted by it," Aayla added dryly. The Twi'lek girl had already felt the temptation of the Dark Side in the past. She highly doubted anything the Holocron could show them would lure them towards the Dark Side. It couldn't be as powerful as what she faced before, and she was confident that they would be able to fight it off. That and she had faith in Harry.

"They always tempt us," the Jedi Master replied, frowning at the lack of concern shown by the younger Jedi Knight.

"There won't be a problem. Not if we destroy it before anything happens," the younger woman shrugged.

Harry's comlink chirped at the moment, interrupting Shaak's response.

"Boss this is Rex. A Venator just dropped out of hyperspace and we've got three Sentinels and a squadron of Vs coming," Rex's voice was collected, a testament to his training and experience.

"Girls let's move! We've got company!" Harry said as he grabbed the Sith holocron and tossed it into the bag on Ahsoka's shoulder. With little to no care for M2-S3's protest for the theft, they ran out of the Vault straight to the turbolift.

Back on the Traveler

Rex turned the comlink off as he watched the Sentinels and their escorts approach on the sensor. He could make out the insignia of the 501th Battalion on the sides and wings of the aircraft. So, he'll have to fight against his former men. That will make this little battle even more difficult than anticipated.

He quickly made his way to his cabin getting his phase II clone armor on. He slid the two hand blasters in their holster and grabbed his DC-15S blaster. While he preferred the pistols, their short range would be quite the hindrance for him in this situation. Taking several grenades with him, he went down to the cargo hold. The YU-410s had a fairly large cargo bay for its size and Rex wanted to capitalize on that.

With little to no options, he opened the hold's door and crouched down behind one of the crates in the front. He could see the first squad already coming up the ramp, slowly, gun-stocks to the shoulder with three at the center. The first was a bit more forward and two other at the sides. Then the second half, four forming a half circle as they made their way after their comrades.

The first shot got the sergeant of the squad in the neck, the weakest link in the armor's design. But the clone troopers were trained well. The first four returned the fire, while the three others carried the sergeant behind one of the crates on the side to treat him. The last one also went with them, but he radioed in, requesting back-up.

Rex couldn't help but feel strangely pleased with their caution as he took cover behind the crate again. Even with an entire squad against him, they felt the need for aid. Nearly immediately, he sprang up and started to fall back to the next crate. He got one of them in the shoulder, forcing him to drop the blaster in his hand. The next wasn't that lucky; he was hit in the stomach, then as he started to fall. Rex shot him again this time in the chest area. This was when the two who had carried the sergeant off, joined the lone survivor from the first wave.

The combined firepower had Rex on the defensive for a little while. That was when the three changed tactics. Two, presumably those who got there later, started to move to the sides trying to flank Rex. It was a good plan in theory. The only problem was that Rex had a vast experience in such tactics, thus expected it and had time to set some traps onboard. The explosion caught the advancing clone on his right side in the back. Rex didn't need to look. The clone's back was most likely ripped open by the blast. He just prayed that Harry could restrain General Secura from killing him for getting scarps on her new Z-95 'Headhunter'. That Jedi was worse than Ahsoka when it came to her ships and that's saying something!

His thoughts were interrupted by the clone closing in on his left. He quickly disregarded the blaster, the close quarters they were fighting in making it less effective than his hand blasters. Grabbing said weapons, he let loose two barrages of plasma in the direction of his enemy. He was just quick enough: the clone's shot was only inches away from his head, while his was spot on. The first four got him in the chestplate and the three other in his face. The last clone started to back off, realizing that whoever was behind the clone armor was good enough to be one of them. Rex's concern wasn't him. As the lone clone hid where his sergeant and com officer were, four figures came up the ramp. They were running, instead of cautiously walking up firing at Rex's shelter. The clone commander murmured a series of curses so long and bad, it would make even the worst pirate in the Outer-Rim impressed.

These four were also an entire squad. While regular clones operated in squads of nine led by a sergeant, the special forces did so in four men cells. It was said that one squad of clone commandos would equal a platoon of regular clone soldiers. What made matters worse was that Rex recognized them. They were the first squad in the Torrent Company, which Rex led since its foundation until he deserted about a month ago.

"Captain Appo," he greeted his former comrade as he leaned over to fire at the man going to the right, Attie.

"It's commander now, Rex," Appo's deep baritone filled the cargo bay as they returned his fire.

"That's Commander Rex?!" came the surprised shout from a clone trooper, either the com officer or the corporal. Obviously the regular clone troopers weren't informed who they were going after. "What the... fuck!" as the signature sound of metal hitting flesh came from there.

"Shut the fuck up! He was declared traitor and lost his rank! Got that?!"

Rex shook his head. Boro was as passionate as ever. It never became an issue as he reserved it to mostly to the Sep's battle droids and the scum of the Galaxy. The first category didn't care, the second deserved it in Rex's opinion.

"But he is..." There came the next slap.

Rex had to concentrate on his enemy, so only in the back of his mind did he wonder what changed. Boro was aggressive to his enemies, yes, but it mostly came from his strong sense of brotherhood with the other clones. So, why did he start to became a tyrant toward the underlings?

"The next one will be a blast to the head!" growled Boro out.

"It seems that you enjoy smacking your subordinates down, Boro," Rex called out even as he fired at the three other member of the squad.

"He needs to learn his place!" Boro shouted back angrily. "Just as you! Traitor!"

"What would you have me do, Boro?" Rex asked back, as all of them ceased shooting. "Should I just hand the Little One over to the Empire?!"

All of the clones fell silent as they remembered their petite Togruta commander. They were battle hardened, tier one operators, but the young Jedi girl wormed her way into their hearts.

"She would have served Lord Vader," Appo said at last, his voice sounding less sure than he would have liked.

Rex actually snorted at hearing that sentence. They all knew it was a lie. A lie the first squad of the Torrent Company wanted to believe in, sure, but still a lie. "You know how much truth was in that sentence. I sure do and it isn't a high number. If she wanted to do that she would already be at his side."

"It doesn't matter..." Boro was interrupted by the corporal.

"Commander Rex! Please, sir, reconsider! If you surrender I'm sure that Lord Vader would..." the plea was cut short by a shot from Boro, making the clone cry out in pain. The next shot silenced him forever.

"Enough of that," the clone commando said. "We have our orders. Today clone trooper, CT-7567 will die by the finest of the Torrent Company."

Rex could hardly believe what he had just witnessed. There were public executions among the clones, but only after being brought before the court-martial court. Of course, that was never released to the public, in any way shape or form. The political backlash would be catastrophic, after all. But even the most dysfunctional clones were better than this. Clones only killed one of their own on direct command and sometimes even that was questioned. Of course there was a chance that they had orders to eliminate everyone else as the first squad obviously did not know his presence and maybe the higher ups wanted to keep it that way.

No matter the reasons, he had a hard time digesting what he just saw, even as the 'finest of the Torrent Company' started to advance. Rex was forced to retreat as his former comrades made their way from behind one crate to the other, one at a time while the other three covered for them.

He got lucky. It had nothing to do with skills or experience. When he fell back to the last crate before the door leading to the other areas of the ship, he let loose of another barrage of blaster fire. He caught the right leg of the one on his right side. Time seemed to still in that moment. All of them watched as the trooper fell and with a loud thump landed on the hanger's floor. Rex quickly shot him in the chest, silencing him forever.

Rex knew that the hard part was starting from here on. Now that he took out one of their members, Appo and the other two will be on the edge. There was only one advantage in Rex's hand, he could use the ship's inner sensors while his pursuers couldn't.

His pursuers parted as they got behind the door. Appo went to the cock-pit, Boro to the other cargo bay, while Nax went to the residential area. Rex, himself, was in one of the hidden compartments littering the entire ship. When Nax made his way into the first cabin, Rex's own, the ex-commander quickly stepped out his hiding place. Slowly he took out his standard issue vibroblade and inched forward to get into stabbing distance. Nax turned around just as Rex came near for his blade to strike.

With the Jedi and Harry

When the group of five arrived at the peak of the palace, Harry was a bit surprised. The building was huge by his standards, but he wasn't prepared for the sanctuary of Muur to be this large. The chamber was nearly as large as the cargo bay of the Traveler. It was nearly identical to the audience chamber in the heart of the palace. Overlooking the lack of table and the raised platform for the throne and the large terrace looking over the valley, there was one very outstanding difference: a black coffin in the right corner.

They had little time for looking around and honestly there was few things in the room to begin with. The metal casket was nearly two and half meters long with a square base. On the front it was straight up two feet then gently curved to its end where it was easily a meter in height.

"What could this be?" Harry asked the girls.

"It is obviously some kind of coffin or casket, but I do not know its purpose," Shaak replied as she carefully examined it.

"Should we open it?" Ahsoka asked.

"What if there is a Sith Lord in there?" Aayla questioned as she knelt next to the device to take a closer look.

"We don't know that!" the younger Togruta pointed out.

"Well, what else could there be?" Maris asked, stepping away from it as soon as Aayla said 'Sith'.

"I don't know, but nothing says that it must be a Sith in there!" Ahsoka replied with an eye roll. She got that they were on the homeworld of the Sith Order, but expecting Sith Lords every turn they took was a bit much in her opinion.

"Hey, girls! There is something here!" Harry shouted as he looked at the side of the throne's platform towards the black machine. "What do you think it is?"

The girls stepped beside him and looked at the fist sized orb on it.

"I don't know." Shaak and Maris said at once, but both Ahsoka and Aayla looked at it with furrowed brows.

"I feel like I had seen something like that somewhere, but I don't know where," Aayla said.

"It looks like the messenger droids, but it's a bit smaller than normal and I don't see any repulsor for it to move with," Ahsoka stated with her hand on her chin.

"Maybe a predecessor?" the Twi'lek guessed as she took it from Harry's hand with Ahsoka stepping next to her.

"Only one way to find out." The young Togruta lifted the orb with the Force out of Aayla's hand. Before the girls and Harry could start to berate her for her impulsiveness, a little holovideo started to play out. It only showed a young man, maybe Ahsoka's age with lightly curling, brown hair and brown eyes.

"If you hear this, Stranger, than my mission to help Jedi Knight Celeste Morne failed. I'm Zayne Carrick, Jedi Padawan, falsely accused of killing my fellow Padawans. The truth is that a group of Jedi Masters committed the atrocity. I do not know why they did that on that day, but it matters little in the current situation. I do not have time to tell you all of which led to this. Celeste Morne is in the casket behind me. The Muur Talisman, a fearsome Sith artifact attached itself to her when she saved me from it. To protect us, and herself, we locked her away in this Sith device. It is a torture device, but it also keeps the body intact. I beg of you, free her of its influence. The Force be with you always, Stranger!"

"Well, that was interesting," Harry said as the holovideo ended. "Your thoughts?"

"We should help her!" Ahsoka immediately declared.

"It is not so simple, Ahsoka," Shaak replied sadly as she regarded the coffin. She truly felt sorry for what had befallen on their Jedi sister, but...

"What do you mean, Master?" Maris asked, who was on the same mind as Ahsoka.

"She was locked up with the artifact for at least a thousand years," Aayla replied back. "It would take an exceptionally strong mind not to succumb to the amulet's influence."

"Even if that this is the case, we can only get the talisman if we open the casket," Harry stated as they moved to the device. "And we should at least make sure that this Celeste Morne has a clean death."

"I don't want to push anyone, but the Sentinels will land shortly. I can see them," Ahsoka informed them as she looked out from the balcony, pointing to the rapidly approaching shapes on the sky.

"Then we don't really have a choice, do we?" Aayla asked as she pushed in the open button, before anyone could stop her. Not that there was much to discuss. They came for the amulet and had no other means of getting it fast enough to avoid the Imperials.

The casket's top lifted up revealing the woman inside. She was beautiful, as all Jedi Harry had the fortune to meet. She was human with a body closely resembling Aayla's. Her textile clamp, ebony hair reached the small of her back if not lower. She wore light armor with shoulder plates, fingerless gloves that ended on her upper arms. Her chest piece left her rift bare. Her pants also bore several plates of armor on the side of her thighs.

Her eyes flashed open and all of them stepped back in fright. Her eyes were flame like, filled with anger and fear. They were lucky to react so quickly as where Harry and Aayla stood only a moment ago a blue lightsaber's blade sweep through.

"She is possessed by the amulet!" Shaak shouted as their lightsabers were ignited.

Celeste quickly rolled out her prison for the last thousand years and rushed at the nearest opponent, Shaak. Thankfully the Togruta Jedi Master was seasoned enough that she didn't freeze like Maris did, whom Ahsoka dragged back several paces from the enraged Jedi. Aayla and Harry jumped in the fray.

The possessed Jedi thrust her blade at Shaak, who gracefully twirled out of the way, but didn't used her momentum to kill the other woman. She studied her opponent, who was distracted by the arrival of Harry and Aayla. The Twi'lek slashed at her with both sabers, but Celeste ducked under the two blades and Force pushed the advancing Harry away. The only male in the room could feel his breath being stolen away as he flew across half the room to land heavily on his back.

Satisfied that she took out one of her assailants for the moment Celeste turned to the Shaak/Aayla duo. Aayla was the first to attack being angry even if Harry quickly got on his feet. The ebony-haired Jedi Master utilized that, her eyes flashed towards Harry's form for a second. If not for Shaak's quick save, Aayla would have at least lost one of her arms, possibly her head.

That was when the two younger girls joined them. With Ahsoka and Maris, they started to keep Celeste on the defensive.

"Master, she..." Maris said to Shaak, who nodded back.

"Yes, I know. She is fighting against the talisman."

"Master, we need to help Rex," Ahsoka shouted as she battled Celeste, just as she twirled out of the way and kicked her in the side.

That was the moment when the side of the chamber opened up revealing a staircase, and two squadrons of clone troopers. The next moment the turbolift also opened, letting out another squad of them.

"Drop the your weap... arrgh!" the clone couldn't finish his order as he let out a scream of pain, filling up the chamber with its sound.

Harry could hear the bones as they broke then reformed, and the skin being ripped open as the muscle grew. The phase II armor fell off as the muscle snapped the band holding it together. Only a few moments passed but in the place of the soldier stood a monster. Larger than most humans, it was a hulking mass of muscle, razor sharp teeth and claws. It's hideous head looked at the Jedi. The eye sockets disappeared, but it's nose became huge and had two holes on it's snout. Looking around Harry could see two things. One, all of the clones were in similar state. And two, Celeste, and more importantly the Muur Talisman, obviously had something to do with it. The Talisman glowed and the possessed woman's arm was outstretched towards the monsters.

"Now, we know what the tale meant by 'raising and controlling' an army," Harry said as the course of battle turned against them.

The mutants jumped on them or rushed straight at them. Thankfully, they behaved no better than any animal or even less so. They charged blindly, making it easy to roll out of the way, or jump back or merely just step to the side. The problem was that they were fast, powerful and tough as nails. Celeste seemed content in stepping back and watching them fight with the beasts. Harry bisected the second mutant charging at him, the first being beheaded, then stabbed down the one who nearly slashed open Ahsoka's back.

"Vader! He is here, on the planet!" the former Padawan whispered.

Harry felt his eyes widen. They weren't really prepared to fight with the second most dangerous man in the galaxy. He quickly came up something resembling a plan. "Maris! Shaak! Go downstairs and help Rex, then get the Traveler up and pick us up on the balcony!" he roared to the girls closest to the stairs.

"Are you sure?" Shaak asked back, not wanting to leave them behind, since they were outnumbered, but they were not ready to face Vader so an escape plan was necessary.

The wizard turned and stabbed another monster attacking from behind as he yelled, "Yes! We can take care of this. Go!"

Maris and Shaak jumped towards the stairs immediately. The three monsters jumped up to intercept them were hurled to the side by Aayla, while Ahsoka got in the way the four other running after them.

"Why would they take the stairs and not the turbolift?" the Togruta girl asked the man in charge.

"Vader will most likely will use that," Aayla replied as she slashed at two monsters, cutting off one's arm and the other's head "And hopefully they can jump down somewhere along the way so it will be easier for them to reach the Traveler." She stabbed another beast, then did a backward somersault over the back of another one.

That was when the turbolift again opened up. There stood a giant clad in midnight black armor. Harry heard his companions' tales about the man once known as Anakin Skywalker. This man was imposing, even while only standing there silently. Indeed, he was perhaps even more imposing than others as he just watched them.

Harry, Aayla and Ahsoka jumped back to near the throne. Celeste actually did the same as the remaining monsters, one and half dozen, formed a protective circle around her. Harry could feel Darth Vader clearly in the Force, and couldn't believe they didn't feel him sooner, only when he was that near to them. The Dark Lord was a storm in the Force, the Dark Side twirling around him. He was full of anger and hate.

There was movement on the stairs as a full platoon emerged again. The captain leading them saluted the Dark Lord, "Sir, two Jedi got away."

"It is not an issue, captain." The deep voice from the armor reverberated in the chamber. "My targets are here." The head turned fully towards Ahsoka. "It has been a long time, my Padawan."