Chapter 28: Close call

I exit the submersible, stepping onto the metal that made up the docking ramp of the hanger bay. The hanger bay looked like a war had been fought in it, bodies of multiple races, though many of them being Human or Selkath. Blood litters the walls, the ground, and a few splattered limbs that had come off when grenades had gone off. It had been a war zone here, and at the end of the day, it looked like none of them had survived. That or the survivors had ran.

I follow the line of Republic bodies, they had all gone down near and around a door, almost as if they were trying to protect it, or using it as an escape route from the Selkath. It had to be that, a battle between Selkath and the Republic troops. But what was happening down here, what had caused this fight?

"Katarina, Jason!" Jax calls out, standing near the doorway which many Republic troops had died. He was wearing the robes of a Jedi Knight, his short brown hair hadn't gotten wet despite being in a facility that looked like it was falling apart and could collapse on itself in any moment. I feel a smile work its way onto my face as I slowly walk towards him.

Katarina and I walk to him, as he glances at one of the bodies at his feet. A human male, deep, almost chocolate coloured skin with stubby black hair. His eyes were wide open, like he'd been terrified when he'd been attacked. Poor man, probably never saw his attacker due to the black blaster mark on his back.

"Looks like they were trying to hold back the Selkath, keep them from coming down this hallway" says Katarina, pointing at the majority of Republic bodies having attempted to set up their defensive circle around the door. Outside of a few other bodies that seemed to have been taken down, seemingly hit during the initial attack, the Republic troops had attempted to stop them. That means one thing, whatever was down this hallway, was worth dying over.

I grip my lightsaber, pulling it of my belt and swinging it around in my hand several times before gripping it tightly. I see, out of the corner of my eye, Katarina taking grip of her own lightsaber, and finally, Jax pulled his own weapon into his hands. He goes into the hallway first, and then I enter it behind him, and I feel Katarina following up behind me.

I can hear each footstep clearly, making sure to avoid steeping on the occasional Republic body, or the numerous Selkath one. The corridor itself was large, giving us plenty of room to walk. I glance at the ground forwards. The bodies stopped, meaning either the Republic won and retreated, or the Selkath had won had moved forwards, either was possible.

We turn a corner, and I stop. In front of us, about 5 metres, was a purple barrier. But that isn't what caught my attention, but what the barrier is protecting. Two humans, one with light skin, the other a darker tone. Jax runs forwards, and I see Katarina run forwards too, seemingly excited to see Republic survivors of the attack. I start the run forwards, before freezing in my tracks. There was something wrong about this. There were no bodies in this part of the hallway, but a bit further there was several Selkath corpses not far from the purple barrier. In fact, if the Republic is still the Republic, then this form of barrier would work in unison of a duel-barrage system, which is a fancy way to describe an airlock that doesn't involve space.

I feel a cold sensation run all along my body, as that barrier and the bodies makes instant sense. It would mean, that those Selkath hadn't died in battle. They'd been trapped by the other barrier, and spaced…Wait, no, not spaced, we aren't in space. But what we are surrounded by, is water. They'd be surrounded by water, and then, who knows. Toxics in the water perhaps, or even just held them in there long enough for the oxygen in the water to run out.

"Get back!" I yell, and both my allies turn to face me, but just as they do, a purple barrier shoots itself up in between me and the others. I hit my hand against the barrier, but it doesn't even shimmer, it holds up strong.

"We've got to flood the chamber!" I hear a deranged voice yell. I frown, why would they lock them in? They were Republic troops, why would they flood and drown their own troops? That doesn't' make any sense, then again, that voice didn't sound like they were in the right state of mind.

"WARNING: Flooding sequences initiated, the sealed chambers will be flooded in TWO minutes" came an automated voice, the systems computer, or what's left of it given the report from Jax at how the others were keeping the base running.

"Jason" came a yell, Katarina was standing next to the barrier near me "You've got to open this thing, before it floods and kills us"

I nod my head, spotting the control panel to my left. I start it up, my hands going over the control, opening the control mechanics. I try and over-right the flooding procedure, but a red light comes up. Probably saying I don't have the authority to access that system. I opened up a control panel, inserting a cord that links the control panel to my datapad. I bypass the security code by simply disabling the keyboard, an old trick. Once I was in, I redirected power from the primary systems, being the flooding, onto other systems like lightning and turbines, anything I could find. I tracked the power monitor, hoping to make it hit 0 so the flooding won't occur.

Wait! Shit, even with 0% power, when the timer hits 0, the water will flood in since it's powered by a different generator, and now I didn't have enough time to reroute the power systems. Fuck! I can't fix this, am I really going to be the reason behind Revan's death…and Katarina's…They'll never forgive me if I let them die, I'll never forgive myself if they die! Every system has a way around it, a weakness, and a loophole I can open…open...

Wait, the whole point of this flooding system would be to kill whoever was in it, or to separate the base in case something's gone wrong. But surely the system wouldn't let it flood the facility, just separate it…Meaning if the barrier's fall, the command over-right would certainly cancel the flooding process, unless the Republic engineers are stupid and didn't enforce that fail-safe system. Only one way to find out.

"Katarina!" I call out, turning to see her facing me, hands pressed against the barrier. She looked scared, and I don't blame her. Her life was, in her mind, entirely in my hands. As a warrior, trusting someone to help you, or finding yourself in a situation that your weapon cannot fix, is the worst thing that can happen.

"Yeah?! What is it? Why is the barrier not down? There is less than a minute till it floods!" She was yelling, panicked, I could see that in her eyes, those beautiful brown eyes. Behind her, Jax was simply standing there, not seemingly panicking at all. Like he, had faith in me? That or was meditating for find a way out, either one is commendable.

"You need to breach the barrier, that'll set of a fail-safe and stop the flooding!" I yell back "I can't stop it from the control panel, not enough time. It's up to you or Jax to do it, I'm not sure how to do it"

I see a flash of Blue, Jax's lightsaber! I watch as he walks calmly up to the wall opposite me, raise his blade, before clashing it against the barrier. It shimmered, but held, and again, and again as Jax repeatable strikes the barrier with his blade.

"WARNING: Flooding sequence will commence is 20 seconds" said the A.I as I watch Jax continue to beat his weapon against the barrier. A red light started flashing, the final warning.

"NO!" I yell, activating my own blade in a flash and taking a swing at the barrier, but as I clashed against the barrier, my blade glided across the barrier, not bouncing off it like I had expected it to. My blade traced to near the edge of the barrier, where the barrier generators start…Wait, the barriers generators! I'm a bloody idiot! I pull my blade back, before hearing a yell from the other side of the barrier.

"It's not working!" yelled Jax, who had twisted his head to face me.

"Jason!" Yells Katarina, banging her hands against the barrier. I look at her face, it looked. Wet? Was she crying? I suppose anyone would, if they thought they were about to drown knowing their own friend had failed them. "I...I just wanna let you know something"

"Kinda busy!" I yell back at her, spotting the place where the power source, and raising my blade, aiming it right at the wall that held in.

"WARNING: Flooding sequence will commence in 10 seconds"

"If we die here…." She starts to say, but that's right as I make my own move. I thrust my blade downwards, jamming it roughly into the circuits next to the generator, and sliding it finally into the Barrier generator, damaging the device. The purple light shimmers, before vanishing completely. The barrier had collapsed on itself.

I press the deactivation button on my blade, turn to where Katarina and Jax had been trapped, only to see a black blur launch itself at me. Out of nothing other than pure instinct, I feel the urge to use my weapon to defend myself, but I don't have enough time and that black blur launching itself at me didn't look dangerous. It crashed into me, and I lose my balance and fall onto my back, the metal I'd fallen against causing pain all over my back. Looking at what had tackled me, I see Katarina on the ground beside me, looking like she'd expected me to be able to hold us up from that. She turned to me, and started laughing, almost hysterically so. I can't help but start chuckling, her laugh had something contagious about it. Plus, after what just happened, I think we deserved a little time to relax.

"WARNING: Security system compromised. Protective barrier has been breached, flooding sequence cancelled" said the computer system, but I'd known that that would happen, so it was just confirming what I already knew at this point.

"Jason…" said a voice, Katarina's. I turn to her, both of us still lying on the ground. Me because my back was in a bit of pain, and Katarina because, well, probably her not wanting to get up. Her eyes, those brown eyes, looked bloodshot and wet. She'd been crying before, for certain now, everyone handled with death different ways, and I suppose hers was getting upset? Then again, not many people see drowning as the way to go.

"Yeah Kat?" I ask, feeling a small rush to my cheeks as I started at her, unable to help myself. I look at her face, that beautiful face. Her skin looked to smooth that anything would just roll off it, that small smirk that always came onto it when she felt confident, not arrogance, but confident. Her bright red hair that always seemed to just fit her, even in the middle of battle, burning as bright as her heart, which is what she fought with. I can't help but feel my cheeks burn up, and I lean up, fitting myself on the ground to try and hide the burning on my face.

"I...I just wanna say thanks, for that. I thought I was dead for certain when that trap activated..." She also sat up, before running her hand through her hair. I can't help but smile, and shrug.

"It's alright Kat. I wouldn't just let you die, I couldn't forgive myself if I let you die like that" I say, which was honest. Katarina was a warrior, and no matter what happened, she would most likely die on the battlefield, fighting the good fight in her opinion. And I know Katarina, she'd take as many of them with her as she could.

"I wouldn't have forgiven you either. If I'd of died in there, I'd of been pissed!" She tried to sound angry, but even I could tell she was just trying to blow off some steam after what just happened. Not that I blame her.

"No, you wouldn't have been pissed" I say, unable to stop myself from laughing slightly "You'd of been dead". Katarina starts to laugh again, nodding her head as if to say that's so true or something along those lines. It felt nice, on this suicide mission against Darth Malek, to just laugh a little. I know our duty was high, and that if all of us made it out of this mission alive, I'd be amazed, but it had to be done.

I stand up, and hold extend my bare hand to Katarina, offering her an easier way to get up. I feel her take my hand, her hand felt as smooth as butter, but warm too. It was, a nice feeling as I tightening my grip and pull her up onto her feet, where I let it slide off. I turn to face where the humans who looked Jax and Katarina in the tube of death, and Jax seemed to be talking to them. Lucky it was Jax and not Katarina, given that she'd probably of cut them in half for trying to kill her. I point at the ground, and slowly start walking towards them. Now the barrier is down, I can get a better look at them. One of them was female, with dark skin and shortish hair, as is Republic protocol. She was short, and her arms looked lanky. The other one was male, standing a bit smaller than Jax, white skinned with slightly longer hair than the female, but not by much, and had the starting of a beard, but that isn't what catches my eyes the most. They were both wearing civilian clothing, meaning they aren't Republic troops or mercenaries, but scientists.

"You're telling me this all started when you build that extra part of the base?" asks Jax, as Katarina and I are close enough to start hearing the conversation.

The girl nodded her head "Yes, specifically the Kolto Capturer, which was meant to allow us to start bringing in Kolto. It was shortly after that it showed up, the Selkath went mad. There was this cry right before the attack, I felt like my head was coming apart"

"Yeah" continued the guy "I remember that. Then all the Selkath turned on us, the troops tried to cut them down, but they couldn't kill all of them. We sealed ourselves off, and I doubt anyone else is actually alive out there"

Katarina and I walk up to, and next to, Jax. He glances over to us, and a small smile emerges on his face. Whether that's a smile to that he isn't alone, or that he now has something he wants, I can't tell. Trying to read Jax's face sometimes is like trying to read a book in a language you don't know backwards.

"Katarina, Jason. We may have a bigger issue that I first thought" he says, not actually turning to face us.

"Let me guess" starts Katarina "They have no idea where the Star Map is, and the base is about to self-destruct?"

Jax shakes his head "Not that bad. We have a general idea where the map is, issue is that head signature we saw on the way in, of the giant shark that Jason called the Progenitor. It is right between us, and the map"

I feel a cold chill run over my body once again, that shark was the thing of legends, and many didn't believe it existed. Of course I knew, after all, Darth Revan had told me about it. He used the dark side of the force to force the creature into submission, before, much like the Krait Dragon on Tatooine, getting to guard the map so the Star Force couldn't be found.

"Jason?" Katarina asks as I feel something on my shoulder. I turn my head, seeing her hand resting on it "What is the Progenitor?" she asks.

I let out an audible sigh "It's known as the Mother of Manaan, though many don't believe it exists. The Selkath believe it as the oldest creature on this planet, being there since the start. They honestly believe that it created them" It was, in the Selkath's views, a god in many definitions of the word. But this isn't a god of logic or mercy, it was a shark, or a god in the body of a shark. And in no way peaceful god, it would kill you without a moment's thought.

"How do you know about it, and how did you know it was going to be here?" Katarina asks, leaving me in a tight spot. Telling them that Revan told me, would imply that I know more about this mission than I'm letting on, which would be disastrous. They can't know the truth, not the real truth.

"That doesn't matter right now, what does matter is we find a way to get to the Star Map safely. And right now, from what I've heard, all this only happened when this new machinery has been made. Right?"

The girl nodded her head "Yeah pretty much. I've even seen it on the cameras, bashing itself against them. If they were to be destroyed, then maybe it would leave"

"You can't be serious!" Protests the male scientist "We need those in order to harvest the Kolto, if we lose them, we might as well give up on this whole expedition"

"Then this expedition is over" I say, getting surprised looks from the scientists, not Jax and Katarina don't even looked fazed but it. As if we were all thinking it, and it was just me who made our thoughts audible. "This expedition has cost the lives of everyone on this base, par 2, which is not worth it"

"But, if we can manage to synthesize Kolto..." the male scientist starts to protests, but I interrupt him.

"Enough! Enough lives have been lost for this project, besides, the only way to reach that map is to destroy it. If we can reach this map, we have the chance to end the war. All Kolto will do is prolong it"

There is now silence after my outburst. The scientists both seem to be mulling it over, even the girl who seemed to be on our side. Katarina had become an ice queen, and Jax was wearing his poker face, or at least, I think he is? I can't tell with that guy. He could be thinking about food, to the worse torture imaginable, and I wouldn't be able to tell.

"Fine, we destroy them" the male scientist said, submitting to us. While he may have his points, he was in a 4 against him, and 3 of us has access to the force. Sometimes you just can't win.

"Good. Now the real question is, how to we destroy them?" Asks Jax, looking at the male scientist as if he was expecting an answer from him.

"Overload the system controls, issue is that there is only 1 dive suit in this part of the base and the sharks will get you before you get there" he replies.

A flash of annoyance comes onto Jax's face, before vanishing "Fine, then I'm going out" He turns to me "Jason, I hope you don't mind, but I'll need your help. These machines are more your expertise than mine, meaning you'll need to help overload is"

"Wait, you want me, to come with you, out there, with the Progenitor, to destroy some equipment?" I ask, feeling the cold hand of dread consume me once again. I can't help myself, I was never a fan of water, and being in this base I could forget we were surrounded by water. But out there, in a suit, I hated to admit it, but it terrified me.

Jax nodded his head "Yes, I do. I doubt I can do it, meaning I need your help Jason. We need to find this map, need to find the Star Forge, and this is the only way to do it"

I feel all eyes on me, knowing there was no choice in the matter. "Fine" I say, taking in a deep breath "I'm coming. Let's go get this map"