Chapter Three
The Oracle raised his head and looked at Moona and Syke.
"I know where the last battle will take place and who will win. But you can't be told. The outcome might change if you do."
"And once again, you have just proven how entirely useless you are!" said Moona angrily.
"Where will it take place?" asked Syke.
"Coruscant."
"More details required." said Moona.
The Oracle sighed.
"I can't tell you." Moona swore loudly, then turned, stormed through the portal behind her, and disappeared.
"What should we do?" asked Syke.
"My vision implies that I am to help you no further. The outcome of this war rests in your hands."
"So what you're saying is, me and Moona have to decide what to do and if we end up doing the wrong thing, we will lose and there is nothing you or anyone else can do about it?"
"Correct." said the Oracle.
Syke turned and followed Moona out of the portal, emerging onto the pathway surrounded by purple sand. Moona was off to the side, looking down at the three cairns she had made sitting in the sand, representing Alku, Runcock, and Aliga Frucle's deaths. Syke walked up behind her.
"Before I met him, I thought he would be a great person, judging by his title of course. He could see things, but he was not willing to help anyone. I know because most people ended up in worse situations than they were before seeing him. Your friend Aliga Frucle was a good example."
He paused and looked down at Frucle's cairn on the right.
"Before he met you, he had a problem and asked the Oracle for help. But all he would tell him were vague hints about his future. I had decided to return to my guard post because I thought it was a good way to stay on his good side and get more information from him. But he will not help us anymore. Do you have any ideas on what we should do?"
Moona had been looking at Alku's cairn the whole time.
"That detonation sequence you set off to blow up the palace wasn't at full power, was it?" she asked finally.
Syke sighed.
"No. At full power the explosion would have activated hours later and by that time, Zograf might have been able to shut it off. I figured a small explosion was better than none."
Moona looked up at him.
"But since it wasn't a real explosion, does that mean that some people in the building could have survived, depending on where they were located?"
"I suppose." said Syke.
"Then two things the Oracle said before could be proven true. He said that the final battle would be on Coruscant: If there were any survivors from the explosion, then that would be where they would be hiding out. Plus, you said the explosion was not powerful enough to detonate the whole building, so they might be hiding there. Also, he said that our last enemy would be familiar and new. In this case, familiar would mean someone from the Empire, and new would mean someone we have not met yet or totally inconvenient until now."
Syke stared.
"Wow. You sure know how to make a theory work."
"Thanks. So if my theory is true, then I should go to Coruscant and find the palace to see if anyone's still there."
"By yourself?" asked Syke, "Are you sure you don't think you'll need some backup?"
"I'm sure I'll be okay. You stay here and keep an eye on things."
Syke sighed.
"If you say so. Good luck."
"Thanks." said Moona, turning and walking down the path toward her battered ship parked nearby.
After she got into it and took off, Syke kneeled down in front of the three cairns and closed his eyes.