Faith XIII - A Child Underfoot
Faith had expected to get to Balmorra, meet some stuffy military type who would give them some aid and point them in the general direction of the nastiest badness on the planet, then they would find another ancient ruin, and that would be that. She had most certainly not expected for the General in charge of the Republic forces here to be her dead Master's twin brother.
Faith had also not expected to discover that Ralto had been taken from his family shortly after birth to train as a Jedi so that he wouldn't have to deal with any attachments. General Kalkos Nalarn clearly had no love for the Jedi, but he had kept tabs on his brother all the same over the years, and now he wanted to hear about the twin he'd never known from the three people who had been with him when he died.
"When I first met him," Faith said, "I thought he was a demon. I'd never seen a Nautolan before, so I tried to kill him with a shovel, if I remember right. He just disarmed me and made sure I was taken care of, and then he decided to train me."
"That seems strange," Kalkos said thoughtfully. "How did he know he could trust you?"
"I don't know," Faith admitted. "Maybe he didn't. The Force can be really weird sometimes. Sometimes it tells you things that aren't ever clear, even in hindsight. Whatever he saw in me, he had to deal with a lot of crap. Ralto was always proper and polite, and here I was fresh off the streets, cussing like a sailor with no patience for authority."
Kalkos chuckled. "I remember being like that when I first joined the military. The drill sergeants kept trying to put me down, and I kept shouting back at them. Took a while for me to get how things worked."
Faith laughed along with the Nautolan general. "Yeah, well Ralto just took it all in stride, patient as anything. You could tell he was tired as shit, but he just tried to let it flow as best he could. That's how he was: He accepted things as they were, never tried to force a change that wouldn't come naturally."
"You make my brother sound like a good man, Jedi Faith. What about you, Major? Lieutenant? Do you agree with Faith's assessment?"
"Yes, sir," Tal said with a small smile. "Master Ralto was always fair and just when I dealt with him. A bit strange, but I guess that's because he was a Jedi."
"I agree, sir," Vira said. "I didn't agree with his choices all of the time, but he never passed judgment or looked down on us. I'm sorry we couldn't keep him alive, sir."
Kalkos waved an armored hand. "The battlefield is always changing, and a Jedi Master knows the score better than most, even if I don't like to admit it. Thank you for taking the time to talk with me. It's good to know that my brother was doing some good out there, even if I never knew him.
"I know that your rise from apprentice to Knight was something of an event, Jedi Lehane, but I don't know why, exactly," Kalkos said. "I do know that from Tython, you went to Coruscant and met up with Major Cortland and Lieutenant Septus, and after that you saw battle on Taris and then Nar Shaddaa. My brother died there, fighting something on the surface there that's probably a lot worse than the standard fare for the Smuggler's Moon.
"And now, you're here," Kalkos said. He leaned his head forward and rested his chin on his hands, his fingers together in a steeple. "I don't know why, exactly, but I can't wait to hear the details."
Faith nodded and looked to her left. "Tal has… I mean that Major Cortland has the info you need. Major?"
"Yes, ma'am," Tal said professionally as he produced the datapad for the General.
Kalkos was chuckling. "You three are used to working as a unit without any real formalities, aren't you? I'd like to be that way with my men, but I think they're a bit scared of me to be honest. This sword on my back has seen too much use in this damned war, and I guess it leaves more of an impression than a blaster or a lightsaber. Do me a favor and address yourselves as you usually do. So long as you maintain proper military protocol with others – myself included – then I won't begrudge you being casual with each other. Anything that helps to lighten the mood is something that keeps men and women under stress from breaking."
"Thank you, sir," Vira said. "It's very rare to see a General who fights alongside the rank and file, if you don't mind my saying. It's refreshing, sir."
Kalkos waved one hand as the other held the datapad. "I prefer that people speak their mind so long as it doesn't get in the way of their duty. A good soldier knows when to trust in the chain of command and when to ask a question. They might not always like the answer, but it's always good to know that the people I command are still people underneath their armor. I don't care what some of the appropriations people in the Senate say, droids and clones are just no match for a real, flesh-and-blood person with a mind of their own."
Faith decided to stay silent and let the General ramble on. He seemed to have heavy opinions on just about anything, and she figured that it would be best to let him keep voicing his thoughts aloud for as long as it took. The resemblance to Ralto ended at the brothers' outer appearance, and even then, Kalkos had more scars than Ralto. The General had a raspier voice than his brother, and Faith suspected that if the two had ever met, they would have debated the merits of just about everything while agreeing on nothing.
Ralto would have welcomed such a discussion, but Faith guessed that Kalkos wouldn't be satisfied unless he won what he saw as a sort of verbal battle. Faith wondered how the two of them would have turned out if their places had been switched.
"So," Kalkos said, dropping the datapad onto the table, "you're looking for some ancient alien ruin that you think leads to a superweapon of some sort. Is that about right?"
"That's about right," Faith confirmed. "I don't suppose you might know where on Balmorra we could find it?"
"We might have something," the General admitted. "I'll send the images here to some of our intelligence analysts and have them take a look. If it's as old as you say it is, it'll probably be underground. I'd guess somewhere beneath the Balmorra Arms Factory or maybe in Bugtown. I'll send for you when we have more intel. Until then, just try not to get in the way and lend a hand if anyone asks. We have plenty of local resistance fighters who aren't Republic military that could probably use a bit of guidance here and there."
Faith nodded. "Sure thing, General."
"Very well, then. The orders on this pad are clear that this is my priority, so I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible. You're dismissed until I call for you again," Kalkos said as he got to his feet and walked out of the command tent.
As soon as Faith could no longer hear the General's heavy footfalls, she turned to her two friends. "So, what do you make of this guy? You ever hear anything about him before?"
Tal shifted about in his seat. "I'd heard of him before, but I guess I never made the connection between him and Master Ralto. He was never really Ralto Nalarn to us, he was just Master Ralto."
"Same here," Vira said softly, as though ashamed to be admitting it. "What I can tell you is that General Nalarn may not be a Jedi, but he's got a reputation for getting the job done with some of the lowest casualty rates in the Republic."
"Definitely," Tal agreed. "General Nalarn has a reputation for caring about the people under his command a bit more than is proper for a commanding officer. Before he got to be a General, he'd alter the orders his higher-ups gave him if he thought it would save lives, and he usually made the right call in that respect."
"I've met a few people who've served under him," Vira said. "They all agree that he really gives a damn about everyone he's responsible for, down to the lowest grunt. He doesn't let all protocol go by the wayside, but he'll go out of his way to save a fellow soldier, no matter who that soldier is."
Faith's eyes widened slightly. She was definitely impressed. "Any rumors as to how good he is with that mammoth sword of his?" she asked.
Vira smiled viciously. "Sith Lords weep and tremble while their grunts beg for mercy when they see him coming. Or so the stories say. Bottom line: He knows how to use it, and he's used it well and often."
Faith smirked as she saw an opening. "All right, so that's Kalkos Nalarn. But I gotta know, Vira…"
"Yeah, Faith?"
"What about Tal? Does he know how to use it?"
"Faith!" Tal protested loudly.
"Well, I mean I guess he has to," Faith continued as though no one had spoken up. "I mean, I don't know if you use it well, Tal, but you sure as hell use it often. How many hours were you two at it back on the ship again?"
"Faith," Tal said uncomfortably, "just stop, please."
"You know how she is, Tal," Vira said. "She'll never shut up unless we throw her a bone. As for if Tal knows how to use his mighty sword," she said lasciviously with a smirk, "I'd say he's honed his blade technique quite finely, but he knows how to use that assault cannon, too."
Tal buried his face in his hands. "Do I have to stay here and listen to this?"
"That's how it works, Tal," Faith said cheerily.
Vira chuckled along with Faith while Tal tried to hide his growing embarrassment.
Faith was waiting by the speeder pad with Tal and Vira for their ride to show up. General Nalarn had radioed them and told them to meet him for a trip to 'Bugtown,' whatever that was, where the next alien ruin supposedly was.
"Remind me again why they call this place 'Bugtown?'"
"The Colicoids," Vira answered. "Before the war, they came to Balmorra looking to experiment on themselves with the toxic waste from all the factories. They're insectoid creatures that are usually bigger than a human by a fair margin, but they're intelligent creatures. They were hoping to mutate themselves into something better with the waste out there, but the Empire got in the way. Now, the mutant Colicoids are running around unchecked by their normal, smarter cousins, so we have a fair stretch of Balmorra infested with ravenous, carnivorous bugs.
"And to top it all off," Vira said with a sigh, "the place was the only area on Balmorra where the Empire feared to tread for a while, so the main Republic base is set up right next door."
"Look on the bright side," Tal said. "At least reinforcements won't be far behind."
"The reinforcements," General Nalarn said from behind them, "will be coming with us."
"No shit!" Faith said, genuinely surprised. "We actually get backup for a change?"
"If this mission is anywhere near as vital as my orders would have me believe, I'd be a fool to send you in there without support," Kalkos said. "We've had some success clearing out the Colicoids, but when we tried to dig deep and destroy the supports of their tunnels, they encountered a structure that definitely wasn't of Balmorran or Colicoid design."
Kalkos took out a datapad and showed them an image on it. "Look familiar?"
Faith, Tal, and Vira just nodded silently at the picture that looked nearly identical to the ruin they'd encountered on Taris.
"I thought so," Kalkos said. "I hear the speeder coming. Let's get to Bugtown, get in, and get out as fast as we can without drawing too many Colicoids on top of us."
"I like that plan," Faith said as an open-air, droid-piloted speeder landed next to her. "Let's do it."
The four of them quickly got into the speeder and took off without wasting a moment.
"Before I forget," Kalkos said from the front passenger seat, "here's what you might have to face down there."
He offered a datapad to Faith, and she took it to find a picture of a multi-legged bug with a torso and head curving back and upward from the rear of its lower body.
"That's a Colicoid. In addition to their size and strength, some of the mutants might be able to spit acid at you. I don't know if your lightsaber can deflect liquid like it can blaster bolts."
"Good thing to know," Faith said quietly. For her part, the Slayer-Jedi had never understood some people's fear of bugs. To Faith, you squished them if they troubled you, and if they didn't bother you, you just stayed away from them. These bugs might be bigger, but if they got in her way, then she'd squish them. There might be a lightsaber involved in said squishing, but it was what it was.
The speeder passed over a toxic-looking lake and landed close to where the shuttle had deposited them from orbit. There was a definite artificial construction built into a nearby cliff side – probably the Republic base – and down in a valley were mounds of dirt and acid, between which scurried a few Colicoids, which looked much larger in person than on the datapad.
"We've cleaned most of the bugs out of the immediate area," Kalkos said as he exited the speeder. "We're guessing that most of them are still underground, but we don't know how many. If you see a really big one, it's probably a queen. From what we can tell, if you don't threaten her eggs, she won't bother you. That'll be someone's unpleasant job another day, but for now, we're just going to get in and get out."
"Yeah, it's never quite that simple," Faith said. "These places tend to have all sorts of Force-based traps built into them. I'm honestly not quite sure how we've gotten past them so far."
"Probably a lot of dumb luck," Vira said.
Faith shrugged. "You know what they say: Better lucky than good, right?"
Kalkos slapped an armored hand on Faith's shoulder. "Come on, then. Let's go meet your support squad."
Faith wasn't sure how comfortable she was with Master Ralto's very different twin brother giving her such a familiar gesture of support, but she decided it was better than if he was hostile, so she went with it and walked down a path into the valley proper…
And saw several neatly-ordered rows and columns of white-armored Republic soldiers standing at attention as their General came to meet them.
"Damn," Tal said quietly. "He must've emptied the entire base to scrounge up this many soldiers. Must be two or three full platoons."
"Listen up, people!" Kalkos said as he paced in front of the gathered soldiers. "Standing with me are Major Tal Cortland, Lieutenant Vira Septus, and Jedi Knight Faith Lehane. When it comes to the Colicoids, you are the experts. You've dealt with them for months now, and you know what they're capable of.
"Beyond their nests, however, is our goal, and that's where these three come in. You are most likely not equipped to handle their objective. Get us down there safely and then back out again just as safely. And yes, I said 'us.' I'll be accompanying them on their mission, and this mission is one of galactic importance. I know you probably hear that a lot from officers and senators looking to make an impression, but if you know me, then you know I won't sugarcoat a piece of crap just to make it smell better. This mission is one that could tip the scales of the entire war. Remember your training, do your duty, stand with your brothers and sisters in arms, and we'll all come out ahead and give the Empire what's coming to them!"
The assembled soldiers let out a fierce battle cry to show that they were pumped and ready for action. Somehow, they managed to sound professional while doing so.
"Squad leaders, confer with your people and get ready to move out quickly. That's it, people. Get moving!" Kalkos barked to his troops.
Faith was silently impressed by Kalkos's leadership skills. He talked to his troops as if they were intelligent and mature soldiers – which they seemed to be – and he knew how to inspire them and get them psyched for the coming ordeal.
"You definitely have a way with people," Faith said. "I see why they pay you the big bucks."
Kalkos laughed. "I wish my salary was as big as you seem to think it is. Whatever the case, as long as my men know the score, they should be able to handle themselves. We don't have any chemical agents that can affect the bugs, so we'll have to rely on stealth where we can and brute force where we can't. You up for that?"
Faith looked to Tal and Vira and saw the steely looks in their eyes. "General, we are ready as hell."
"Stay that way for a few minutes longer, and then we'll move out."
The Colicoid nests were not quite what Faith had been expecting. They weren't like a traditional insect hive, but resembled industrial tunnels more than anything else. Kalkos had reminded her that the Colicoids who had first built these tunnels were intelligent creatures who manufactured heavy duty droids that both Republic and Empire sought to use in the war.
Thus far, Faith had managed to subtly nudge with the Force the Colicoids they had encountered, making their group seem more intimidating than they had any right to be. There were overall a lot fewer bugs than Faith had been led to believe would be here.
"The squads ahead of us have done a good job clearing out the place," Kalkos said as he caught Faith's eye. The usual trio of Faith, Tal, and Vira was joined only by Kalkos and a pair of soldiers the General had hand-picked to help him on this mission. The other squads were busy securing entrance and exit routes for them.
"I'm impressed. Again," Faith said as they passed a checkpoint of Republic soldiers standing over a group of Colicoid corpses. "A lot of dead bugs and a lot of living soldiers."
"I'm damned proud of these men and women," Kalkos said. "This planet has seen some of the fiercest fighting in the entire war, and we've kept it together all throughout. And while I don't usually like working with Jedi, you aren't like any Jedi I've ever met, Faith. You'd fit in well with us if you decide to put on the white armor."
Faith felt her cheeks heat up a bit, but it might have been the humidity in the tunnels. "I'm a fighter, always have been. And I got the best partners I could hope for right here."
"Right back at you, Faith," Tal said warmly.
Kalkos nodded. "You do seem close, and that's good. Some officers say that soldiers shouldn't get close to each other because they'll be distracted from the mission. I say it gives them a reason to fight and to live. One of the reasons why I'm not big on the Jedi for the most part."
"You wish you had a brother to grow up with, huh?" Faith asked gently.
"You're damned right I wish that!" Kalkos said more fiercely than Faith had expected. "They took him from me before I even knew he existed! How am I not supposed to be mad about that?"
"You're not," Faith said softly. "And I think it's cool that you kept tabs on him even if he never knew it. You cared about him, and you care about your soldiers. Makes you one of the good guys in my book."
Kalkos huffed appreciatively. "Thank you, Jedi Faith. And, here we are."
A squad of six soldiers guarded a large platform that looked like it was meant to descend.
"Area secure, General. No reported contact from down below, either going down or coming up."
"Well done," Kalkos said. "Have you sent a recon probe down there?"
"Yes, sir. No Colicoids near the structure. They're tunneling away from it as best we can tell."
"Good. One less obstacle. Stay here and watch our six. We won't be down there too long, if we're lucky."
"Yes, sir."
"All right, then," Kalkos said. "This way forward, everyone. Let's go."
Faith felt a chilling sense of foreboding as she stepped onto the platform. Tal and Vira were right behind her, followed by the General and his two guards.
"Going down," Kalkos said, and the lift began its descent.
Faith had to give the Colicoids credit for building all of this in what she understood to be only a few decades. Bugs they might be, but they clearly had a mind towards industry.
The journey downward took almost ten minutes before the lift began to slow and then finally stop.
There was no enormous cavern like back on Taris. There was a small opening in front of the lift, and then the stone double doors with the now-familiar emblem of the Infinite Empire.
"We'll stay here and guard the exit," Kalkos said, gesturing to his two guards. "This is your show, Faith."
"Right. Tal, Vira, let's do this."
Faith stepped forward and tried to ignore the creepy, cold feeling that the ruin was giving off in waves.
"All right," Faith said loudly. "We, um…. We seek to do the bidding of the Builders of Lehon."
That was good enough for the ruin. The double doors opened and revealed a darkness that the artificial lighting in the cave could not penetrate.
Faith let out a breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "Here we go."
"Right with you, Faith," Vira said.
Faith nodded and strode forward, trying not to let the darkness overwhelm her. Even if she'd encountered it before, it didn't stop being creepy.
Something in the Force indicated another stone door blocking their path. Faith reached out with the Force and tried to slide it open.
The door gave way slowly, as if it was pushing back against her efforts. Faith had to stop to catch her breath twice before she realized the door wasn't even halfway open yet.
"Come on, you fucker!" Faith shouted in frustration. "Open up!"
That did the trick, as the sound of stone grinding against stone told Faith that her display of anger had triggered something that her calm ministrations had not.
"Not liking this," Faith said carefully. "Onward, then."
Faith stepped forward into the darkness and felt an unnatural cold seep into her bones.
Closing her eyes to shut out the pain of the cold, Faith felt a sudden change in her surroundings.
Her eyes opened to reveal a cavern of stone and metal with colored bursts of energy surging outward from alien-looking machinery.
Standing alone in the center of the room was a masked Sith Lord holding a red lightsaber over a slew of fallen people, both Republic and Imperial.
"You did this, you know," the Sith taunted, its voice distorted through its mask. "You killed them all, because that's what you are, Faith: A killer."
"No," Faith said, bringing her own lightsaber to bear in front of her. "I don't buy that shit anymore. I messed up, yeah but that ain't me anymore."
"Of course it is," the Sith taunted. "It always will be."
Without warning, the Sith lunged at Faith from across the room, closing the meters-long distance in an instant.
The Sith's red blade crossed with Faith's blue lightsaber in a flurry of strikes and parries before Faith disengaged.
"Not gonna happen. I'm not a murderer."
"Sure you are," the Sith taunted. "Those scientists back on Taris weren't even armed, and you cut them down without a second thought. You left your Master to die on Nar Shaddaa. You might as well have been the one to cut him down yourself.
"Shut up!" Faith said, not wanting to listen to the taunts.
"He never believed in you, anyway," the Sith taunted. "You were always a failure, and he knew it. He might have humored you and let you delude yourself into believing you mattered, Faith. But he knew just as well as you do that you're nothing more than a murderer. And you always will be."
Faith let out a feral scream of rage and charged at the masked Sith. Her lightsaber technique lost all of its form and grace as she viciously slashed away at her enemy until she sliced off the hand that held the red lightsaber.
Unsated, Faith swung her weapon with both hands and sent the Sith's head flying.
The masked head rolled over on the ground, and then the mask began to dissolve.
The dead face of Buffy Summers stared up at Faith, the accusation clear in her Sister Slayer's lifeless eyes.
Faith was so shocked that she barely registered the shift in reality as Buffy's body disappeared and a glowing galaxy map took her place.
A tripedal droid spoke in a language that Faith didn't recognize, snapping her out of her haze. Tal and Vira were on their knees, but they were recovering. Faith didn't want to know what sort of ordeal they had just been put through.
The droid cycled through a few other languages, but Faith knew it would settle upon Basic sooner or later.
"You guys okay?" Faith said.
"Not really," Vira said as she got to her feet. "I will be, but not anytime soon."
Tal winced as he stood up. "That was… I don't want to go through this again."
"The final trial is complete," the droid said in Basic.
Faith turned her attention to the machine. "What does that mean?"
"The way is laid clear. You and the other have proven yourselves worthy. The way to the Purge Engine is open. You will find it and use it to deliver the ultimate revenge of the Rakata."
Faith almost laughed. "Oh, I'll find it all right. Dunno who this other is, but I guess I'll meet him soon enough. Tal, you got that pad?"
"Yeah," he said. "It's right here."
The moment Tal fished the datapad out of his pocket, the galaxy map turned into a funnel of white light and poured itself into the handheld machine.
"Go now," the droid said, "and see that the will of the Builders is done."
"Right," Faith said. "Let's get out of here."
Faith strode out away from the interior of the ruin eagerly, hoping to put the cold darkness behind her.
So why did she feel a different sort of darkness waiting for her outside the ruin?
"Stay on your toes, guys," Faith warned. "Something ain't right."
The double doors of the ruin were still open, and through them, Faith saw Kalkos Nalarn standing over the bodies of his two guards. He was holding his enormous vibrosword, and it was dripping with blood.
"I see you've managed to unlock the location of the Purge Engine," Kalkos said with a cold venom was completely unlike the man who had inspired a small legion of Republic soldiers. He felt different in the Force as well. "You've done well. Better than expected, even. But now, your time is over."
"What are you?" Faith said, drawing and igniting her lightsaber. "I can tell you aren't really the General, so what the fuck are you?"
"Oh, but I am Kalkos Nalarn," the Nautolan laughed cruelly. "I've just had my eyes opened to my true purpose. I know now who and what I truly am."
"Is that so?" Vira spat. "And what, pray tell, are you?"
"I am a Child of the Emperor himself," Kalkos said. "I carry a part of his vast spirit within me, and I know now that I was but an empty shell of a thing before my true purpose came to be."
"A Child of the Emperor?" Tal asked disbelievingly. "What are you talking about?"
"My memories were altered along with my parents' when I was young. I was taken before the Emperor and given His blessing. I lived my life unaware of my true purpose until but a few minutes ago. Now I serve Him and Him alone."
Faith snorted. "I bet you're just the apple of his eye. What did he think he was gonna gain by possessing a single kid?"
Kalkos laughed coldly. "I am but one of many Children across the galaxy. My siblings are everywhere, just waiting to be awakened to their true purpose. But enough talk. My Father wants the Purge Engine, and you cannot be allowed to interfere with His plans. You have served your purpose, and now you must die."
Kalkos lunged at the trio of companions and slashed widely with his vibrosword. Vira and Tal had to roll to the side to evade the blow, and Faith had to jump over the sword to save her own hide.
There was very little space to maneuver, which worked to Kalkos's advantage. Each of his blows forced Faith and her friends to rearrange themselves. Vira's blaster rifle could only get off a few shots which were either deflected by the sword or absorbed into the white armor, and Tal could barely move his assault cannon.
Belatedly, Faith realized that there was some space to move, but it would mean going back into the Rakata ruins. It was either that or death, so Faith jumped again and retreated back into the dark of the ancient stone edifice.
Faith had to rely solely on the Force now to guide her blade. The light of her weapon was more of a distraction than a help, and she was only just barely holding her own against Kalkos's vicious onslaught.
"You cannot win, little Jedi!" he taunted. "You've failed your Master yet again. Think about that when I strike you down for my Father."
Faith knew he was trying to goad her, and she decided not to give him the satisfaction. Tal and Vira were nowhere to be seen or felt, and Faith suspected that they wouldn't be able to get back inside the ruin without her accompanying them.
She was alone against a superior enemy who wore the face of her old Master, and the thought sent shivers down her spine.
Faith retreated further and further back until she felt a stone wall pressing against her backside.
"End of the line, Jedi," Kalkos snarled. "And now, your end is here."
The expected sword strike did not come, as a hail of blasterfire suddenly poured into Kalkos.
The Rakatan droid advanced on its three legs towards Kalkos. "She is a servant of the Builders," the droid intoned. "You will not obstruct their revenge."
Kalkos snarled with rage and brought down his sword in an overhead chop that broke the droid into two neat halves.
Faith was still in shock that this evil place was working to save her life and barely got up her guard when Kalkos turned away from the downed droid and back to her.
"Now then, where were we?" he asked sadistically.
Four flashes of light from all corners of the room became four more tripedal droids. "You will not harm the bringer of the Builders' revenge," they said as one.
And then they opened fire.
Kalkos Nalarn was a tough soldier, even if he didn't have his armor and his weapon. Faith decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and if these droids wanted to help her, then she'd let them do just that while she got the hell out of there.
Faith ran as fast as she could out of the ruin, and as soon as she was clear of the place, the stone double doors began to seal themselves.
"Let's get outta here! Right fucking now!" Faith shouted.
"No arguments here!" Tal agreed. "Come on!"
The three friends got onto the lift as Vira began inputting the command to take them up.
The ruin hadn't fully sealed itself, and Kalkos flew out of the tiny space between the double doors and leaped towards the lift, which was starting to rise.
The Nautolan caught the edge of the platform as it ascended, his armor burned and smoking from repeated blaster bolts.
"You have lost, Jedi!" he snarled.
"Not yet, we haven't," Faith said without anger as she crouched down. "I'm sorry, Kalkos. You'll see you brother soon, I promise. I hope you both find peace with each other."
Faith put her hands on Kalkos's shoulders and shoved him off the rising platform, but her mind's eye saw something else entirely.
In a brief moment that lasted forever, Faith saw past Kalkos Nalarn into the Child of the Emperor that had taken him over, and what she saw terrified her.
It was a memory from an ancient mind of unfathomable power. A red-skinned Sith with black eyes like a void gathered thousands of other Sith Lords onto a planet that was now long forgotten, but that the memory called 'Nathema.'
The black-eyed Sith somehow dominated the wills of all the others and forced them to undergo an immense ritual of great power that lasted for days.
And then Nathema died. The Force, the very fabric of the universe itself, was sucked dry from the planet along with every living thing down to the smallest bacteria.
All that remained was the black-eyed Sith, imbued with all of the power that he had just depleted from all around him. Faith knew that despite this memory being over a thousand years old, she was seeing more than just the past of the Sith Emperor.
This monstrosity of a person had sucked the life force out of an entire world, and he wasn't done yet. He was going to snuff out every single world, every single life in the entire galaxy if he wasn't stopped.
And he might just use the Purge Engine to follow through on his plans.
"Are you all right, Faith?" Tal asked softly.
Breathing heavily, Faith tried to steady herself. "I don't think I am, Tal. We know where the Purge Engine is now, and I think the Empire does as well."
"What does this mean for us?" Vira asked with a tinge of fear.
"It means that the end is almost definitely nigh," Faith said seriously. "Buckle up, kids. Now comes the hard part."
