"You need ol' Doc to check you over, beautiful?"
Kahlei sighed at the wink. And she sighed even more when Ashara failed to roll her eyes at Doc's comment. "Do you really need to hit on every single woman you see?" Kahlei asked.
"Always worth a shot," Doc said with a shrug. He then turned his attention back to Ashara. "I've always thought Togruta women were beautiful. But you, you're ...unworldly."
"Oh, um, thanks."
Kahlei pinched the bridge of her nose when she noticed that Ashara was blushing. Scourge, on the other hand, appeared rather amused by the conversation. And Teeseven just watched. "Come on," she said, exasperated. "There are way more important things than a discussion like this."
Teeseven beeped his agreement and all of the crew turned their attention to Kahlei. She slid the datapad that Nox had given her into the middle of the table and zoomed in to make the text easier to read.
"First up is a Je'daii meditation stone that is said to be imbued with the power of the light. Hm, it says we need it to amplify the light side's energy in the ritual. And it's on Tython - no wonder Nox couldn't get that one. It was recently recovered from Kaleth's ruins but now it's located in the Jedi Archives." Kahlei frowned at Ashara. "How did Nox get access to this kind of information?"
Ashara shrugged.
Kahlei scrolled further down the page. "Next is the opposite - an artefact of the dark side. It's the a tuk'ata fang that the original Sith used to worship.. Uh, it was some guy called Adas's favourite tuk'ata."
Scourge scowled. "Some guy? King Adas was the first and greatest Sith'ari that has ever existed. He was the epitome of strength. His tale is the first that our young learn and they all aspire to his power."
"So, he was your childhood superhero?" Kahlei asked, not missing the chance to provoke the Sith. The ferocity of Scourge's scowl grew at the mockery. On the other hand, Ashara and Doc repressed laughter. Even Teeseven beeped in a way that almost sounded like a giggle.
Kahlei turned her attention back to the datapad. "Well, if he was such a big bad Sith King like you say, then no wonder they worshipped that fang." She squinted at the text. "It says that the Dreadmasters had hold of it and Calphayus might know its whereabouts. Apparently he was taken into Republic custody." Kahlei scrolled even further down and was glad when she got to the end of the page. "And lastly, we're to go to," Kahlei pulled a face upon remembering Scourge's description of the planet, "Ziost."
Scourge raised an eyeridge, finally losing his scowl. "What for?"
Kahlei continued to read. "Uh, says here that Nox has created an item that will be able to capture the energy residing in the tombs. But isn't Korriban where all the tombs are?"
"Nearly all of them," Scourge corrected. "But there are a few Sith Lords who were buried elsewhere - such as Ziost."
"I don't get why Nox can't go there herself. And apparently we need the energy to get the ritual going," she said.
"And where is this item that will allow us to harness the energy?" Scourge asked.
"Uh," Ashara pulled a face as she dug around in a pocket. Finally, she pulled it out and placed the item on the table. "I've got it." Like the relic Ashara used to contact Nox, this one was triangular and full of pointed edges. Kahlei wondered how the shape hadn't dug into Ashara's skin through her robes. "Where first then?" Ashara asked.
"We may as well just do them in the same order. So, Tython first."
It was strange to be back on Tython. It was even stranger to be there on an unauthorised visit. Kahlei pulled her hood further across her face, thankful for how deep it was. She had opted for plainer Jedi robes and aimed to get in and out of the Archives without anyone recognising her. As an extra precaution, she had also tried her best to alter her force signature. Although, that had been Scourge's suggestion when she'd declared that she wanted to do this alone and without attracting unwanted attention. He really did think every little detail through.
Walking through the courtyard, Kahlei passed several Jedi that she recognised. As she did, she felt her breath catch in her throat. But she tried to stay calm and kept her gaze firmly fixed straight ahead.
Fortunately, the Archives only had a few Jedi scarcely scattered around and she was able to easily make it to the ancient history section. Luck appeared to be on Kahlei's side as this particular section was completely empty. She stopped in front of the data-terminal. It wasn't specific to this section of the Archives and listed all sections on its main screen. She selected ancient history and then Je'daii from the list of categories that dropped down. The screen then displayed even more categories.
Kahlei frowned, noticing options for two different types of Je'daii artefacts: Bogan and Ashla. Her knowledge of the ancient Je'daii Order was very limited as it was barely mentioned in the Jedi curriculum. The little that she did know consisted of the fact that the Je'daii Order had eventually split in two. One half had followed Ashla and the other Bogan. This conflict had lead to Bogan's defeat and the followers of Ashla had created the Jedi Order that she knew.
The Je'daii artefact mentioned on the datapad had been of the Light Side. Kahlei selected the Ashla Artefacts category. Kahlei scrolled down until she saw "Ashla Meditation Stone". She clicked on the link and memorised the data-disk number listed.
It didn't take too long to locate the data-disk and the relic that went alongside it amongst the stacked boxes on the dusty shelves. Kahlei pulled out the stone from the box. It was perfectly spherical and its surface was completely smooth. Aside from its cut, there was little else that was remarkable about its appearance. Its texture looked like a piece of any ordinary rock. But Kahlei knew it was different: she could feel the energy of the light side pouring out of the rock.
She reached into the box again and this time pulled out the data-disk that accompanied the stone. She slotted the disk into the data-terminal and a detailed article on the stone loaded.
The stone was said to be a chunk of Ashla that the Je'daii used for meditation. Surprisingly, it was used more often by Je'daii who feared they were falling to the dark side. They did this to avoid being exiled to Bogan.
But the article ended there. Curious, Kahlei retrieved the data-disk for "Exiled Je'daii" and replaced the previous with it. This article in particular caught her eye.
The J'edaii sought balance between Ashla and Bogan (Light and Dark) in order to maintain balance in the force upon Tython. When it was not in balance, the planet was devastated by storms and earthquakes. If a Je'daii fell out of balance, then they would be sent to one of the moons to meditate and achieve balance once more.
Upon reading the line "In the light, there is darkness and in the darkness, a light," Kahlei almost fell out of her seat. That single sentence summed up her observations of the nature of the force. She had seen Sith with light inside them and Jedi with darkness inside them. But she had never seen one without.
And then, Kahlei understood the path that she had to take. Was this what the force had been trying to show her all along?
Barely containing her excitement, she retrieved as many data-disks as she could find on the Je'daii Order. At that moment, Kahlei didn't have time to read all of the articles and teachings. But she was able to upload them all to her datapad.
She'd seen the advantages of the Light Side; she'd seen the advantages of the Dark Side. She knew how difficult it was to control anger, yet how dangerous it was to let it control you. Until now, she'd never imagined that it was possible to neither fully follow the Dark or Light Side but both. And her answer lay right in front of her.
As the files were downloading, another thought occurred to her. The Archives were extensive. What if they contained information on her parents?
Searching the database for her parents was nowhere near as easy as searching for the meditation stone. She noticed the search bar at the top of the page. But what could she type in? Kahlei thought back to the most recent conversation on her parents that she'd had with Scourge. What were the names that he'd mentioned? If she could find out more information on the Sith Lords he'd talked about, then she would be able to determine if her parents had been those people.
Kahlei frowned. Lord Malica? There were no results. Lord Malissa? Again, no results. Kahlei tried several variations until a result finally came up. Lord Malyssa.
The data-disk that contained the article was located in the "Important Individuals" section. Kahlei peeped around the open door that lead into that section. Unlike the "Ancient History" section, this one had another Jedi studying at the data-terminals. And she knew this Jedi. He was a Jedi Knight who had been in several of her classes as a padawan. They hadn't been particularly close, but there was no doubt that he'd recognise her if he saw her face. Kahlei pulled her hood down so far that she thought she heard a seam tear. It was a massive risk. But it was one that she had to take.
Careful not to draw attention to herself, Kahlei walked as casually as she could to the 1000-2000 shelf unit. Thankfully, the Jedi didn't even look up as she retrieved the 1371 box and slotted its data-disk into the terminal.
She didn't need to scroll down far to see the faces of her mother and father staring back at her. Kahlei clasped her head in her hands, trying her best to control her emotions. If she didn't, the Jedi would have sensed something peculiar and come over to investigate her.
But it was nearly impossible to rid herself of the emotions that were forming. Wrath had been telling the truth. The Order had lied to her. Kahlei tried to replace her anger with curiosity. Why had the Order lied to her? Why had her parents lied to her?
Fortunately, the article was highly detailed. It contained all the answers to the questions that she had on her parents.
It was in 3668 BBY that her parents first contacted the Jedi Order. They'd told the Order had they had information that would swing the War in the Republic's favour. When the Jedi questioned their motives, they simply said that they sought a quiet life and to be able to raise a child in an environment other than the backstabbing and politics of Sith society.
Her parents'd had information on the Dread Masters whereabouts and this had allowed Master Kaedan and his Special Forces Team to capture the Dread Masters. They had also assisted the Republic in destroying a few commanding Sith - one of which Kahlei guessed had been Wrath's father.
Four years after the capture of the Dread Masters, her parents had decided to retire from the war. Although they had allied with the Jedi, they refused to become Jedi.
Kahlei frowned at the following line. The force severance hadn't been a punishment by the Order. In fact, her parents had begged the Order to do it so that they could live a normal life - a life away from both the Jedi and the Sith.
At a young age, Kahlei had discovered that she was force sensitive and her parents had sent her away to the Order. Kahlei guessed that they'd decided that if she had to go to one, then it'd be better to go to the Jedi rather than the Sith. But she wondered why they hadn't tried to hide her. Why hadn't they told her that they'd been Sith?
Perhaps they'd feared that knowing that they'd been Sith would have encouraged her to have become Sith? Kahlei couldn't think of any other reason. And why had the Order also lied to her? Because her parents had requested it?
At the very bottom of the page there was a small paragraph on their death. The report stated that it had been a Sith who had killed them. And Kahlei didn't doubt that it had been the same Wrath that she'd killed. She couldn't help the satisfaction of knowing that she'd slain her parents' murderer.
Kahlei was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't hear the approaching footsteps. And it took her several moments to process the, "Kahlei," that came from behind her.
She slowly turned round. But when she saw his face, she froze.