Disclaimer: I am not Rick Riordan or George Lucas.

Enter Luke, Mara, Jacen, Ben, Tahiri, Jag, and Danni, on the Millennium Falcon.

Gathered in the main cargo hold and sharing Admiral Ackbar's sweetcake, Tahiri and Jag relay their adventure on Mon Calamari to the rest of the Seven.

Jacen. Incredible. These is really good sweetcake.

Danni. That's your only comment?

Jacen. [surprised] What? I heard the story - Mon Calamari, Crystal Reef, letter of introduction to the Ravelin River god. Got it. But this sweet cake . . .

Jag. I know. Try them with Jira's shuura fruit.

Jacen. Pass me the jar, man.

Luke, meanwhile, seems to focused on Ackbar and Niathal to bother with the sweetcake.

Luke. They didn't want to meet me?

Tahiri. It wasn't that. It was just . . . marine politics, I guess. The Calamarians are territorial. The good news is they're taking care of that aquarium in Theed. And they'll help protect the Falcon as we cross into the Intergalactic Void.

Luke. [nods] But they didn't want to meet me?

Mara takes Luke's hand.

Mara. Come on, Farmboy. We've got other things to worry about.

Tahiri. She's right. After today, Kyp has less than two days. The Calamarians said we have to rescue him. He's essential to the quest somehow.

Danni. Kyp must have information about the Doors of Death. We'll save him, Tahiri. We can make it in time. [to Ben] Right, Ben?

Ben. What?

Ben turns back to his allies.

Oh, yeah. We should reach the Intergalactic Void tomorrow morning. Then spend the rest of that day voyaging toward Bastion. Perhaps even sooner if I can get the hyperdrive working again . . .

Jacen looks up from the sweetcake and shuura.

Jacen. Which will put us on Bastion on the last possible day for Kyp. Twenty-four hours to find him . . . at most.

Luke. And that's only part of the problem. There's the Mark of Ashla, too.

Mara reaches in her satchel and draws the Star Map.

Mara. This is the map that I found in Salis D'aar. It's . . .

Mara glances at the Star Map and frowns.

It's blank.

Luke examines the Star Map.

Luke. It wasn't like this earlier?

Mara. No. I was looking at it in my quarters and . . . [curses] It must be like the Mark of Ashla. I can only see it when I'm alone. It won't show itself to other demigods.

Jag inches away from the Star Map.

Jag. What did it have on it? And what is the Mark of Ashla? I still don't get it.

Mara takes the Star Map back from Jacen.

Mara. The map was hard to read. But it showed a spot on the Ravelin River on Bastion. I think that's where my quest starts . . . the path I've got to take to follow the Mark.

Danni. Maybe that's where you meet the river god Ravelin. But what is the Mark?

Mara. The medallion.

Luke. [frowns] What medallion?

Mara reaches in her pocket and takes out the Jedi Credit.

Mara. I've been carrying this ever since I saw my mother in Eastport. It's a Jedi Credit.

Mara passes the Jedi Credit amongst her allies.

Ben. A lightsaber. Well, that makes sense. I guess those towers are the Jedi Temple spires? But what's this inscription, VV7?

Mara. It's leth, leth, resh. In Aurebesh, it stands for long live the Republic. It was sort of the unofficial motto of the Old Republic.

Danni. Like morut'yc tor naak for the Empire.

Mara. Aye. Anyway, the Mark of Ashla is a griffin, the symbol for Ashla. It appears in fiery red. I've seen it in my dreams, then twice in Salis D'aar. [describes her mission on Bakura]

Luke takes Mara's hand.

Luke. I should have been there for you.

Mara. But that's the point. No one can be there for me. When I get to Bastion, I'll have to strike out on my own. Otherwise, the Mark won't appear. I'll have to follow it to . . . to the source.

Jag takes the Jedi Credit from Ben, staring at Jedi crest.

Jag. "Abeloth's bane stands bronzium and pale, won with pain from a woven jail." [looks up at Mara] What is it . . . this thing at the source?

Jacen. An insignia, the emblem of the Old Republic . . . at least that's my guess.

Danni. [frowns] You said you didn't know.

Jacen. I don't. But the more I think about it . . . there's only one artifact that could fit the legend. [to Mara] I'm sorry. I should have told you everything I've heard much earlier. But honestly, I was scared. If this legend is true . . .

Mara. I know. I figured it out, Jacen. I don't blame you. But if we manage to save the insignia, Jedi and Imperials together . . . Don't you see? It could heal the rift.

Luke. Hold on. What insignia?

Mara takes the Jedi Credit and slips it into his pocket.

Mara. The Galactic Roundel, the original emblem of the Old Republic. It was known as the Insignia of Unity. It was placed on the podium in the Senate Rotunda on Ashla.

Silence.

Ben. Okay, I'll bite. What happened to it?

Mara. It disappeared.

Ben. [frowns] How does a artifact in the middle of the Senate Rotunda just disappear?

Mara. That's a good question. It's one of the biggest mysteries in history. Some beings thought the insignia was melted down for its bronzium, or destroyed by invaders. Ashla was sacked a number of times. Some thought the insignia was carried off . . .

Jacen. By the Empire . . . at least, that's one theory. And it fits the legend I heard at the Imperial Remnant. To break the Jedi's spirit, the Empire carted off the Galactic Roundel when they took over the world of Ashla. They hid it in an underground chamber on Bastion. The Imperial demigods swore it would never see the light of day. They literally stole Ashla, so she could no longer be the symbol of Old Republic military power. She became Taselda, a much tamer goddess.

Mara. And the children of Ashla have been searching for the insignia ever since. Most don't know about the legend. But in each generation, a few are chosen by the goddess. They're given a medallion like mine. They follow the Mark of Ashla . . . a kind of blood trail that links them to the insignia . . . hoping to find the resting place of the Galactic Roundel and get the insignia back."

Luke and Danni watch their lovers converse in unity with surprised amazement.

Luke. So if we . . . I mean, you find the statue . . . what would we do with it? Could we even move it?

Mara. I'm not sure. But if we could save it somehow, it could unite the two camps. It could heal my mother of this hatred she's got, tearing her two aspects apart. And maybe . . . maybe the insignia has some sort of power that could help us against the Yuuzhan Vong.

Danni. This could change everything. It could end thousands of years of hostility. It might be the key to defeating Abeloth. But if we can't help you . . .

Mara. I have to succeed. The risk is worth it.

Tahiri. I don't like the idea of your risking your life alone. But you're right. We saw what recovering the Imperial insignia did for the Empire. If this roundel is the most powerful symbol of Ashla ever created . . .

Ben. It could kick some serious choobies.

Tahiri. [frowns] That wasn't the way I'd put it, but yes.

Luke. Except . . . [takes Mara's hand] No child of Ashla has ever found it. Mara, what's down there? What's guarding it? If it's got to do with arachnes . . . ?

Jag. "Won through pain from a woven jail." Woven, like webs?

Mara pales.

Danni. We'll deal with that when we get to Bastion. It's going to work out. Mara is going to kick some serious choobies, too. You'll see.

Luke. Yeah. I learned a long time ago - never bet against Mara.

Mara looks at her allies gratefully.

Silence falls, finally broken by Ben.

Ben. Well, good briefing. But there's still a ton of things to fix on this ship before we get to the Intergalactic Void. Please report to Supreme Commander Skywalker for your bombad list of chores.

Exit all.