Chapter 25: Purgatory

The White Tower is abuzz with activity, but I have no idea what's going on.

"He came to us for help," one of the women is saying. "We're obliged to help him. We must gentle him so that he won't be a danger to himself or anyone else."

What does "gentle" mean? And why do I get the feeling that this isn't going to be as nice or pleasant as they make it sound?

"What are you going to do?" I ask.

"It's alright," the woman says. "You don't need to be afraid. We're just going to get rid of the nasty power in you before it can hurt anyone."

"What?" I say, alarmed. "It's not nasty! What is wrong with you people?"

I try to bolt in terror, but they restrain me with invisible bonds. I'm terrified. I don't want to lose my magic!

"I know you're too young to understand," she says. "But realize that this is for the best, for you and for everyone."

"No!" I'm screaming. "Let me go! Leave me alone! I just wanted to learn to use it, not lose it!"

I wake with a shudder. Now that was a particularly terrifying dream. What would happen if I were cut off from the Force? Would I really die, then? But I have to relax a little. If that's really a memory, I obviously must have been fine after all, even though I had no way to get out of the situation. And I must make a mental note for safety purposes that if I ever should happen to come upon a "White Tower" full of female Force users, that they don't like men.

"Lexen!" It's Mission, rushing into the crew quarters. "Are you awake? We've got problems!"

"What is it?" I say, bolting upright.

"A Sith interdictor ship!" Mission says. "We were pulled out of hyperspace and caught in its tractor beam!"

"Fuck," I say. "Let me get dressed."

I get up and put on my armor as quickly as possible, grab my lightsabers, and head for the cockpit.

"I can't keep fighting this, Mandalore," Canderous says. "It'll tear the ship apart."

"Let it go, Canderous," I say. "We'll fight on the inside. We'll kill every damned Sith on that ship ourselves if we have to."

"Yes, Mandalore," Canderous says.

Canderous eases off on the engines and allows the tractor beam to reel us in like a fish. I should have been more wary that something like this would happen. We spent, what, maybe a week on Korriban? And Malak knows we're after the Star Maps, so he'd know exactly where we'd be going next, and hence exactly where to put an interdictor ship to stop us. If we'd taken a detour to Dxun with the others, this could have been avoided entirely, but it's too late for that now.

I rally the crew and make sure that everyone that can fight is armed and ready. Armor on, weapons in hand, waiting to dock.

"What about me, Stormseeker?" Neeja asks.

"Make a choice," I reply. "Fight for your freedom, or hide and risk capture? I won't judge you either way. I know you haven't had the combat training many of us have had."

Neeja swallows hard. "I will fight."

I toss her a blaster. "Aim for the Sith. And try not to hit any of us."

"Yes, Stormseeker," Neeja says diligently.

We're taken aboard the ship, and the battle is on. I wade out into the thick of the fight, lightsabers spinning. I really don't overestimate our chances here, but if I'm going down, I'm going to take as many enemies with me as I can.

We cut a swath through the Sith. But there's too many of them. I barely notice as my companions are cut down one by one. By the time I reach the bridge, I'm all alone. And Malak is there.

"You've paid a high price to get here, Revan," Malak says. "Your friends are dead. Was it worth it?"

"You'll pay for this, Malak," I reply.

I throw myself at him in a blind rage. I know I can't win. All I'm hoping for is a vaguely honorable death and the chance to try it all again. I will save them next time...

I wake. I quickly get up and get dressed. I'm busy putting on my armor when Mission comes in.

"I know," I tell her before she even has a chance to say anything. "Make sure everyone is ready."

I grab my lightsabers and head out to the main operations room to meet with the crew. Most of them are looking very nervous at the moment, with a couple notable exceptions. Besides the droids.

"We can't hope to fight off every Sith on the ship ourselves," I say. "So here's what we're going to do. We're going to allow ourselves to be captured, and then break out later."

"How will we break out if we're all captured?" Bastila wonders.

"They'll certainly pay attention to whatever the two of us might do," I say. "But they're less likely to pay attention to the droids. They're just droids, after all, right? T3, HK, between the two of you, you should be able to hack through and kill anything that gives you trouble, right?"

T3 beeps in the affirmative. "Assertation: Indubitably, master," HK replies.

"Good," I say. "We'll be counting on you. Hide, avoid getting captured, stay out of trouble, and then when things have settled down enough, come for us."

The crew isn't too happy about having to surrender, but they trust me enough that when I say it would be suicide to try to fight out way through outright, they believe me.

The Ebon Hawk is brought aboard the ship, and the Sith come for us. They take our weapons away and lead us to the prison area. Bastila and I are separated from the others and locked in a pair of force cages.

"I'm sorry I got you into this, Bastila," I murmur when we're alone.

"Tell them nothing," Bastila says. "Not even for my sake."

I don't have time to say anything else before a human man steps into the room. He's familiar. I should know him. Yes, it's Saul Karath. The general who did the actual bombardment of Telos.

"I must admit," Saul says. "I'm disappointed that Carth Onasi does not appear to be with you. Were the reports of him traveling you mistaken?"

"I'm not answering any of your questions," I reply flatly, giving him a hard look.

"Oh, that's fine as well," Saul says casually. "I have these cages rigged to give you a little jolt when I feel like it. Shall I give the two of you a little taste of it right now?"

He taps two buttons on the controls, and electricity shoots through my body painfully. Ugh, it's almost as bad as Force Lightning. I look over to Bastila guiltily. I don't want to have to put her through this.

"Now, I could torture you for information, but I know how you noble types work," Saul says. "It'll bother you much more if I torture your little lady friend here instead of you. I don't know if there's actually anything between the two of you or not, but I've seen many men who simply could not stand to see anything bad happen to any woman."

I grit my teeth and don't give him the dignity of a response. He's going to torture Bastila over this? He's right. I don't know if I could stand to watch that. But she's a strong woman. Stronger than any I've ever met, except maybe Surik, and I don't remember Surik well enough to judge. Bastila told me not to worry about her and refuse to answer his questions regardless.

"I'm not playing your games, Saul," I say.

"We'll see about that when you see your lady in pain," Saul says. "Now, tell me. On what planet is the secret Jedi academy that you were trained at?"

"Not talking, Saul," I reply.

He sends another shock of electricity through Bastila's cage. I wince myself as she cries out in pain. I feel sick to my stomach. Saul continues to ask me questions, and although I suspect that he knows the answers already anyway, I refuse to say anything.

"So nice of you to let me have a little fun," Saul says, chuckling darkly. "Of course, I already knew all that. The Jedi Enclave is on Dantooine. Which, by the way, has been destroyed."

"No!" Bastila cries out.

"And you," Saul says, turning to me. "My master has given me instructions that Bastila is to be kept alive. You, however, have no such insurance. Especially given that your refusal to cooperate indicates that you will not be readily swayed to our side. So, let's see just how much you can take, shall we?"

Saul turns on the torture device, sending electricity through my body. And leaves it on. Leaves me writhing and screaming in agony. Such terrible pain. Hurting me. Hurting. Screaming. Until everything goes black.

I wake with a groan. It's never pleasant to wake up after being tortured to death. Well, okay, it's pleasant to be waking up at all. Just not so pleasant to have been tortured to death.

I get dressed quickly and head out to the main operations room, bypassing Mission on her way to the crew quarters. I'm leery about doing this at all, but I reiterate my plan about allowing ourselves to be captured and escape. It wasn't a bad plan. I just hadn't expected Saul to actually torture me to death. I'd have thought, at best, he'd leave me for Malak.

The Ebon Hawk is brought aboard the interdictor ship again, and we're taken prisoner. Bastila and I are stripped and taken to the force cages.

"Don't tell him anything," Bastila is saying to me.

I shake my head slightly and put on a figurative mask. This is going to take some trickery to survive.

Saul Karath comes in and looks us over. "Hmm, it was my understanding that Carth Onasi was with you. I'm disappointed. What happened with him?"

"We had a bit of a disagreement," I reply. This is true enough. At some point in the recent past. It just has nothing to do with our current separation. "He thought I was excessively bloodthirsty and violent." I shrug a little.

"Really now," Saul says. "Well, I'm going to ask you a few questions. It'll be in your best interests if you cooperate. There will be severe consequences if you refuse... and there could be great rewards if you decide to fall in line with us."

"We're not going to tell you anything!" Bastila says.

I sigh and roll my eyes a little. Right, I really should have told her the plan beforehand.

"You, perhaps," Saul says. "But your friend here's loyalty has always been a little, shall we say, flexible. But first allow me to give a bit of a demonstration of what I can do to you should you fail to cooperate to my satisfaction."

Saul sends a shock through the two cages. Just a brief one, to let us know what he can do. It hurts, certainly, but I most importantly just need to make sure that he doesn't kill us with it.

Saul goes on, "And I imagine that you've kept her with you for a reason. You wouldn't want to see this pretty lady suffer, would you? If you don't answer my questions properly, I will torture her, not you."

"Why should I care what you do with her?" I say. "I have no need for an annoying Jedi bitch that keeps trying to redeem me no matter what I do. She'll be useful for her Battle Meditation ability, I'll give her that, but that just means you won't actually kill her outright."

"Too true," Saul agrees. "Tell me, then. Where is the hidden Jedi academy at which you were trained?"

"The not-so-secret Jedi Enclave is on Dantooine," I reply. "I don't know how they still think that it's any big secret, considering at least half of the people they train there get some sense and leave, and many of those wind up joining the Sith anyway."

"Quite so," Saul says. "We already knew about Dantooine. And have razed the Jedi Enclave to the ground already. But I'm pleased that you've shown the sense to cooperate."

"No!" Bastila cries. "All those people!"

"Bah, who cares what happens to the Jedi?" I say. "They kind of have it coming, anyway."

"Lexen, how can you say that?" Bastila says, looking to me in shock.

Seeing as she doesn't seem to realize that I'm bloody acting, damn it, I may wind up having to spend some time apologizing to her later. Oh well.

"Next question," Saul says. "What is the mission that the Jedi sent you on?"

"They sent us to track down the Star Maps in order to locate the Star Forge," I reply. "Not that I'm doing it for their benefit, anyway."

"I'm curious as to why you're doing it, then," Saul says.

"For my benefit, of course," I reply. "That's what's really important, after all."

Saul chuckles softly. "Of course. Lord Malak will wish to speak with you shortly. For now, I will leave you with a parting warning for standing against us."

He activates the torture fields again. Shock. Pain. Agony. Torment. And then I mercifully pass out.

I send a blast of Force Lightning at the captured Jedi. She's not cooperating so far, but that will change. It's not like I even care to get any information out of her. But she will see my point of view soon enough.

In my experience, everyone has a breaking point. For some, that's merely physical pain. For others, however, I need to get more creative with. There are some Jedi so stubborn that they will take torture into death and remain true to the light all the while. If the torture alone is enough to turn them, then they cared more about themselves to begin with.

On the other hand, if torture won't turn them, then I simply will go after their friends instead. Few Jedi can stand seeing their mentors, apprentices, and secret love interests threatened with harm.

"Revan..." she murmurs. "It's not too late for you. You can still turn back to the light! I know there's still good in you! Give up the Dark Side!"

I laugh grimly. The bleating of foolish Jedi. "You have no idea the power of the Dark Side."

You have no idea why I must do this...

I wake with a shudder. Ugh. Inside a force cage. Not where I wanted to wake up. I don't like feeling trapped or helpless.

"Lexen, you're finally awake," Bastila says.

"Ugh," I reply. "How long was I out?"

"I'm not sure," Bastila says. "I'm not sure how long I was out, either." She looks at me sternly. "How could you say those things to him?"

"I was acting, Bastila," I reply smoothly. "He would have killed me if I didn't give him a decent reason to keep me alive a little longer. Fucking Malak's always been a coward."

"A premonition?" Bastila says, softening a little.

I give a short nod. "And if we're not careful, we're going to run face to face with Malak himself, too. Where is that rescue? I hope nothing happened to T3 and HK."

As if on cue, the door opens to reveal the two droids. T3 beeps happily to see me. HK-47 says, "Pleased statement: Oh, Master, it's good to see you again! We got to kill a large number of meatbags on the way here. Such delightful slaughter!"

I chuckle softly as T3 goes to deactivate the force cages. "Let's see about getting our stuff and getting out of here, then."

Down the corridor, we find the cell containing the others, and release them. In a locker off to the side, we find our equipment, haphazardly tossed in to be sorted through later, presumably.

"We should split up," I say. "One group to go secure the ship and clear the way there, and the other to deactivate the tractor beam, or we're not getting anywhere."

"I'd best lead the team to secure the ship, Mandalore," Canderous says. "Since I'll have to be at the helm getting us out of there as quick as possible."

I nod. "And I'm going to go to the bridge to disable that tractor beam. I have a feeling I'll run into Malak somewhere along the way..."

"I'm going with you, Lexen," Bastila says.

"I'd really rather you didn't, but I'm not going to stand here arguing futilely about it," I say with a smirk.

Bastila and I head for the bridge, leaving the others to head back to the Ebon Hawk. I'm uneasy about this whole business. I know Darth Malak is somewhere nearby. And I know I'm not going to get off this ship without running into him. Furthermore, I'm pretty sure that I can beat him in a one-on-one fight. However, I doubt that he'll give me the opportunity to have a fair fight with him. He knows I could beat him as well, so he's certainly not going to fight fair.

We reach the bridge and get the tractor beam disabled without incident, but on the way back, Malak is blocking our way.

"Darth Malak!" Bastila exclaims, raising her double-bladed lightsaber.

Malak casually raises his hand and holds the two of us in place with the Force, and then gives an evil mechanical laugh with his metal jaw.

"You know, Malak, your flair for the dramatic is really unnecessary," I say. "It's generally polite to stand around and talk in the middle of dueling, anyway."

"Oh, but I have no intention of dueling you, of all people," Malak says.

"No, because you know you'd lose," I reply. "I was always better than you. In a great many ways."

"Still, I can hardly believe my eyes," Malak says. "Why did the Jedi spare you, Revan? Especially if what you told Saul Karath about your intentions is true."

"Look, Malak," I tell him. "I'm not fighting you because I've redeemed myself and returned to the Light Side and want to stop you to save the galaxy. I'm not fighting you because I want to reclaim the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith and conquer the galaxy. I'm fighting you because I don't like you."

Malak says, "So I take it you seek vengeance against me now?"

I grin evilly at him, and I'm sure I've got that murderous gleam in my eye that always scared Yuthura so much. "You better believe it."

"Then I'd best not give you a chance to gain it," Malak says. "In your weakened state, I will finish you off now, as I should have done before."

Malak raises his hand, and Force Lightning shoots from his fingertips and rips through my body. I scream helplessly in agony for what feels like far too long, before everything fades away.

I wake back in the force cage, groaning. Well, that could have gone better. I sit up, rubbing my temples.

"Lexen, are you alright?" Bastila says.

"I'm going to need to convince Malak not to kill me out of hand right away," I say with a sigh. "Frustrating, as good as I am, I'm not prepared to face him yet. He's too powerful."

The droids come to rescue us, and we're reunited with the rest of the crew and our equipment. I'm not sure that bringing along anyone but Bastila will make any real difference in the inevitable encounter with Malak. But I don't want to actually join with him, and he'll doubtless kill me anyway the minute he realizes that I'm not just going to bow down to him.

I head up to the bridge in resignation and get that tractor beam disabled. And, sure enough, on the way back, there's Malak directly in our path.

"Hello, Malak," I say to him cordially. "So nice to see you again."

"I'll admit that it's a surprise to see you alive again, Revan," Malak says. "I have to wonder why the Jedi would let you live, after all we did."

"The Jedi don't believe in killing their prisoners," I reply. "And they're far too easily swayed by claims of redemption."

"I find it hard to believe that they'd think you would redeem yourself and return to the light," Malak says. "And yet, perhaps it is true. The Dark Side does not touch your face as deeply as it once did. Your eyes are green again, as they were before you took up the mask."

He's got me there. One can't fake Dark Side corruption. "And yet you can be assured that I still have no compunctions against using the Dark Side."

"If you are still capable of using the Dark Side, then prove it," Malak says. "Use Force Lightning on Bastila."

"What?" Bastila exclaims, then looks at me in alarm. "Surely you won't do what he asks! We're in love!"

I look at her blankly. "What are you talking about, woman? I have no such feelings for you."

Bastila looks at me in shock, and I wonder, for a moment, if I haven't forgotten something important. I raise my hands and try to call upon rage, hatred, anger, but I can't even manage frustration or annoyance at her. Whatever I do or don't remember, I still can't bring myself to harm her.

Malak laughs at me. "You can't do it, can you. You can say what you like, but you can't fool your own emotions."

And with that, Malak electrocutes me with Force Lightning again.

I wake, and find myself in a force cage. Where am I? How did I get here? No, wait, this is a Sith ship, and I was captured. They singled out me and Bastila for some reason, though I'm not too sure why, seeing as we weren't exactly the only Jedi on the crew. They weren't nearly as interested in Juhani and Jolee Bindo, however.

The two droids come in to rescue us, and we meet up with the others and retrieve our equipment. We split off into two teams, with most of the crew heading back toward the Ebon Hawk, and Bastila and I going to shut down the tractor beam.

And then, just as we think we're going to escape, we come face to face with Darth Malak, the Dark Lord of the Sith himself. I'm not nearly ready to be taking on Sith Lords just yet! I'm just a Padawan!

"Darth Malak!" Bastila exclaims. She hardly gets a chance to draw her lightsaber before Malak has us held in place with the Force.

"Leaving so soon?" Malak says. "And after I went to such trouble to track you down, too."

Malak throws back his head and gives an evil laugh. That sounds particularly creepy given his mechanical jaw. This must be a good reason why droids don't generally laugh, too.

"And you," Malak says, turning to me. "It's quite fascinating to see that you're still alive, despite everything."

"Well, I do try," I say. "Dying would be bad, after all. But why do you care about me?"

Malak stares at me, and says, "Ah, do you truly not remember?"

"Remember what?" I wonder. "Well, for one thing, I'd hope that I'd remember meeting somebody with a metal jaw before. Which I don't, by the way. And I'm pretty sure that I'm not personally acquainted with any Sith Lords, either."

"Ah, how mistaken you are..." Malak says. "You don't even know who you really are, do you?"

"I'm Jedi Padawan Lexen Skywalker," I reply. "Who else would I be?"

"So you fall in line with the Jedi now?" Malak says. "I was wondering why they spared you. But it seems that they brainwashed and manipulated you into being their lackey instead. Oh, how the mighty have fallen."

"What are you talking about?" I say.

"Once, you were Darth Revan, the Dark Lord of the Sith before me," Malak says. "I was the apprentice then, and together we were the scourge of the galaxy!"

"Oh, come on," I say. "Don't give me that bantha shit. Before I became a Jedi, I was a Republic soldier. But they made an exception for training an adult, since they said I had so much potential."

"Lexen?" Bastila says quietly. "Are you... alright?"

"What? I'm fine," I say.

"So the Jedi gave you false memories and a false personality?" Malak says. "Are you certain about having been a Republic soldier?"

"Well... no," I reply. "It is kind of hazy." I sigh. "But having been the Dark Lord of the Sith? That's ridiculous."

"Surely you've had dreams," Malak says. "Your true self bubbling up to the surface again. Your memories attempting to restore themselves."

"Oh, sure, I've had some awfully weird dreams," I say. "I once dreamed that I was fighting some strange eyeball monsters with tentacles. But somehow I doubt that was anything more than just a weird dream. You know, kind of like dreaming that you're going to meet the Jedi Council without any pants on."

"I have to wonder how much of this is amnesia and how much is willful self-denial," Malak says.

"Lexen, he's telling the truth," Bastila says. "You are Darth Revan."

"And why should I listen to you, either?" I wonder. "You're just some other random Jedi that's hanging around for no apparent reason."

"Lexen..." Bastila says, looking at me with a hurt expression.

"Believe me or not," Malak says. "But if you join me, I will make everything clear again. Embrace the Dark Side, and you will know greater power than you could possibly dream of!"

"Like what?" I wonder.

"Lexen, don't do it!" Bastila exclaims. "He's just trying to trick you, to tempt you into joining him!"

"There is no temptation, there is only choice," I murmur, quietly but fiercely.

"So you at least remember that much," Malak says.

"I don't know where I heard it," I say. "It doesn't sound like something the Jedi would say."

"It's not," Malak replies. "It's something you said."

"I'm still not sure on this whole amnesiac Dark Lord business," I say. "But why don't you start by telling me what you can teach me? I'm always eager to learn."

"Lexen!" Bastila cries.

Malak chuckles metallically. "They could obfuscate your memories, but they could not bury your personality. Allow me to give a demonstration of the power of the Dark Side."

Darth Malak raises his hand toward Bastila, and lets forth a bolt of lightning to streak across the air and strike her body. Bastila screams in agony as the electricity rips through her.

"Lightning?" I say. "Wow, cool. I want to be able to do that!"

"Lexen, no!" Bastila says. "What's wrong with you? Don't you remember? We're friends! Lovers!"

"Huh?" I say. "You're both telling me confusing things that I don't remember anything of. What proof do I have that either of you is telling the truth?"

"Oh, so you're romantically involved as well?" Malak says. "This is indeed rich. Especially considering I thought you were gay."

"Hey, don't take this the wrong way, but I really don't know her that well," I say. "And, um, I don't think I'm gay, either..."

"You certainly were never interested in Surik," Malak says. "You spent more time trying to hit on me."

"Really?" I say, raising an eyebrow. "I don't know about that. Even if I were gay, I'm pretty sure you're not my type."

Bastila says, "Lexen, trust your senses. Trust in the Force. Let it guide you."

"Well, alright," I say. I calm myself and reach out with the Force. That's how the Jedi always taught us. Peace, calm, serenity. There is no emotion, there is only peace.

"So, do you want to be a Sith, or not?" Malak says. "I could make you my new apprentice. You did, after all, already kill Darth Bandon."

"You know, as nice as the idea of learning new things sounds, I frankly don't think I can trust you," I reply. "And I don't think it sounds right to be your apprentice if I was once your master. I think you're just trying to trick me and draw me in to the Dark Side. But there's no temptation. I choose to remain on the side of light. I will be loyal to the Jedi."

Bastila breathes a sigh of relief. "I was afraid, for a moment there..."

"Foolish," Malak says. "Thoroughly brainwashed. And yet you would be too dangerous to leave alive, should your memories return. I think I'll play it safe and finish what I started."

Malak, shaking his head, lifts his arm and allows electricity to fly from his fingers and into my body. Terrible pain. Indescribable torment. And he doesn't let up until I'm dead.

I wake slowly, blinking. Where am I? What is this place? I appear to be laying in the middle of a glowing yellow circular field. It crackles a little, and jolts me when I try to touch it. A prison of some sort? There's a scantily clad woman in another field next to mine. I feel like I should know her, but I can't remember her name.

"Lexen!" she says. "I was afraid you weren't going to wake up."

"I'm alright, I think," I reply. Obviously, she knows me. It would be pretty embarrassing to admit that I've forgotten her name.

"We have to get off this ship," she says. "The droids should be along to rescue us soon, I hope. We're in big trouble if they don't get here before Malak decides to show up."

I take it that this Malak, whoever he is, must be a bad person. I don't think I really care to meet any bad people if I can help it.

Sure enough, two droids momentarily appear to open the door and deactivate the fields around us. The small, boxy one beeps happily, and the taller, humanoid one says, "Cheerful statement: Master, I'm pleased to see you. We blasted a number of Sith meatbags on the way here. It was positively wonderful!"

I glance aside at Bastila, but the droid appears to be addressing me. I suppose it thinks I'm its owner. And what are Sith? I'm assuming that Sith must be bad people or things, too, since the human woman I'm with doesn't appear very upset with it. This is getting really confusing.

"Come on, Lexen," the woman says. "Let's get our equipment back and meet up with the others."

"Right," I say dumbly, following her and the droids out of the prison area.

The others would appear to be a motley collection of humans, a few weird aliens with dangling tentacles on their heads, a vaguely cat-like woman, and a large, hairy humanoid thing. I look at them blankly. I can't shake the feeling that I should know these people, but I can't remember any of their names. This is a little disconcerting, to say the least.

Especially when they all start looking to me for what they should be doing. "Mandalore, orders?" one man says.

I look amongst the others, trying to figure out who Mandalore is, but he looks like he's addressing me. "Huh?" I say in confusion.

"Mandalore?" he says, frowning. "Is something wrong?"

"Are you talking to me?" I say. "I thought my name was Lexen."

"Shit," he says. "Do you have amnesia again?"

"Do I?" I say.

"Do you remember who I am?" he presses. "Canderous, of the Mandalorian clan Ordo?"

"I don't even know what a Mandalorian is," I admit sheepishly. I suppose I shouldn't be too embarrassed if I do apparently have amnesia. "Has this happened before?"

"Yes, but never this bad," the woman who was in the cell with me says.

The little droid beeps at me, and for some reason I can understand it. "The droid has my journal in its memory?" I say.

"No time to read it now, though," the woman says. "We need to get off this ship as soon as possible. You'll just have to catch up when we're out of here."

"Someone's going to need to disable that tractor beam, or we're not getting very far," Canderous says.

"I'll take care of it," the woman says. "The rest of you, get Lexen to the ship. He's in no state to be doing anything else right now."

"By yourself?" Canderous protests.

"I'm a Jedi," she says. "I'll be fine." By the worried look on her face, I can see she has doubts about that.

The cat-like woman says, "Bastila, you mustn't do this. We need your Battle Meditation if we can hope to win! What if you're captured?"

"Malak won't kill me," the woman, Bastila apparently, says. "Precisely because of that. Any of the rest of you, he might just kill outright. If I'm captured, I have faith in the rest of you to be able to rescue me later. I can just pretend to fall to the Dark Side until then."

"That's a risky plan, kid," says an old human man. "But we really don't have time to argue about it."

The cat-like woman gives a small nod and says, "Bastila... May the Force be with you."

"Keep Lexen safe, all of you, alright?" Bastila says. "If I discover that he's come to harm in my absense, I might just turn to the Dark Side and start killing people."

"I will protect Mandalore with my life," Canderous pledges. The others echo similar sentiments. Including the tall, hairy one, who I'm not sure how I can understand either.

I'm still pretty dazed, but I don't really care to argue. I let the odd assortment of sentient beings escort me out of the prison block and toward the docking area. They seem very protective of me. I must be very important to them.

My companions start fighting past a number of people wearing shiny silver uniforms. The cat-like woman holds out a strange cylindar to me and says, "Do you still know how to use one of these, Lexen?"

I shake my head. "I don't even know what that is."

"Yeah, this is bad," Canderous says. "I hope he gets back to normal after he's had a chance to read his journal."

I feel a bit like baggage here. Scared, weak, and helpless. But we eventually make it back to the ship. I can't believe that we came in on this piece of junk. It doesn't even look like it should be able to fly! Nonetheless, we climb aboard.

The cat woman directs me to where I keep my journal, but I'm way too nervous to read it right now. I'll just have to trust the others to know what they should be doing.

"The tractor beam's down," Canderous says.

"Where's Bastila?" I say, frowning a little. I think I should be concerned with this person's safety, even if I don't really remember her.

"No word from her yet," Canderous says. "We can't wait for her for too long. We'll give her a few more minutes, but she pretty much told us to leave without her."

"I hope she'll be alright," I murmur.

"She's a grown woman," Canderous says. "And a damned good fighter. She can take care of herself."

After several minutes, there's no sign of Bastila coming, and no word from her. Canderous decides that it's too risky to remain here any longer, and pilots us out of here. He sets a course for someplace called Manaan, and makes the jump into hyperspace.

"We left her behind?" I say in a small voice.

"Didn't have any choice," Canderous says.

"... There are always choices," I say. "I just hope that we can live with the consequences of this one."