Star Wars: Tails of the Old Republic

Chapter 053
Dantooine — The Jedi Enclave


'Oh no… not this dream again!'

"Diagnostic complete. System compromised! We're under attack!"

Tails barely registered Nicole's warning when the explosion blasted him into the console. With a loud roar, the roof of Freedom HQ disappeared, and Snively's taunting voice echoed through the building.

"Knock-knock, my friends!"

Beams of light shot out from the green battle mech's hands. Tails' friends vanished in rapid succession, leaving only screams in their wake. The roof collapsed above him, and Rotor smacked him out of the way just as steel and rock came crashing down.

"Rotor!"

One of the beams caught the big walrus, and Tails watched Rotor disintegrate before his eyes. He couldn't believe what had just happened! Rouge, Julie, Vector, and now Rotor were just gone! The boy stumbled into the next room to see Bunnie zoom off to face Snively, but to no avail — the maniacal midget's mech caught her midair! Debris of their underground base had fallen everywhere, knocking Sonic and Knuckles flat. More beams of light took Charmy, Ray, and Antoine, with barely a wisp of smoke marking their absence.

"Like shooting fish in a barrel!" Snively mocked.

Sally spotted him as she crawled out from the rubble. "Sonic, Tails, I want you to—"

She never finished her sentence. Tails watched in horror as his Aunt Sally disintegrated right in front of him. He could only stand there slack-jawed as everybody he cared about was stolen away from him! Snively zapped Bunnie into nothingness, and Mighty of all people was first up the rubble to the roof, and the enraged armadillo wasted no time smashing the mech's legs.

Tails saw Sonic's face. There were few things more terrifying than seeing Sonic truly angry. Rage and hatred pushed shock and confusion to the wayside, and Sonic bolted up the rubble pile to face Snively topside. Besides Tails, Knuckles and Amy were the only ones left inside the ruins of Freedom HQ. Before they could get outside, a second explosion rocked the base, sending what remained of the roof crashing down on them. Knux took the brunt of the dirt and rock as the three of them tumbled. They huddled together for safety, but Tails was closest to the surface.

"You guys OK?" said Sonic.

"Sonic!" Tails cried out. "Dr. Robotnik must be attacking Knothole! We're OK in here — go protect our families!"

'But it's already too late.'

Below him, Knuckles was holding up literally a hundred tons of earth and metal as Amy propped the walls up with her hammer. Tails heard the crack of a sonic boom.

"Tails, you've got to get up there and help him," said Knux. "We'll get out of here soon, but every second counts. Go!"

'Wait, I don't remember helping during this part…'

The fox didn't need further prompting. He wriggled through the dirt and debris as fast as he could, then tore through the collapsed roof with his tails. He didn't even bother shaking himself off when he reached the surface. The entire sky was aflame, and muffled booms shook both the air and ground. Tails took off like a rocket, dreading what he might see when he reached Knothole. When he crested the last hill, his heart dropped into his stomach.

Knothole was gone.

His home. The Freedom Fighters' home. The secluded hideaway that had grown into a city of thousands, the very nerve-stem of the Mobian resistance was gone. Robotnik's airship fleet circled overhead, expanding outwards. Their bombs and cannons had reduced Knothole to a patch of scorched earth, and now busy were obliterating the last untouched stretch of the Great Forest.

Tails heard himself scream. Despite the smoke and tears in his eyes, he zoomed ahead to search for survivors. No life remained. Up ahead, near the ruins of the castle, Tails saw Sonic and Robotnik battling. And Sonic was losing.

"Limit? Limit!?" Sonic screamed.

'Something's odd… I found out all this after the fact.'

Suddenly, Sonic fled the scene. Tails was stunned — Sonic had never ran from a fight before! Was Sonic… giving up? That couldn't be true! Grimacing, Tails descended on Robotnik's battle mech like a flying saw blade and tore into one of its rocket launchers on its shoulders.

"Wha…?"

'I never participated in this battle! Did I…?'

Tails couldn't give Ivo the chance to recover, given how badly he was smacking Sonic around. He drew upon the power rings he'd absorbed and weaponized that power, forming a golden ring of light between his hands. Tails threw the ring bomb like an explosive frisbee, blasting Robotnik's mech off balance. The boy dashed low and swiped at its legs with hardened tails, but Robotnik dodged!

"So, my idiot nephew missed one, eh?"

The boy could barely see through his own tears. He threw a dozen more ring bombs at Robotnik, only for his mech to jump back out of reach. The madman blasted the boy with laser fire. Tails dodged what he could, but each strike sapped his store of rings. He clapped his hands together and formed a gun-like shape with his fingers. It was still completely untested, but Tails powered up his personal copy of Shadow's signature attack. The boy's gloves shone with energy, but he never got the chance to fire. Robotnik surged forward and smashed Tails' tiny frame against the mech's shield.

"Wait your turn, you weak little fox!"

'I hate you. I hate you so much, Eggman.'

Tails sailed into the wreckage of the castle. The broken wall cracked and crumbled on impact, and came crashing down on top of him. The debris pinned him to the ground, and Robotnik laughed. Tails could still see outside, and Robotnik suddenly made a one-eighty degree turn with his mech. The earth rumbled beneath the fox, and a bright light appeared over the eastern horizon.

The very next instant, the world exploded. Sonic struck the Eggman's machine at several percent the speed of light, and the shockwaves reverberated for miles around. Robotnik crashed through the castle, tearing down what little of it had remained standing. Tails was overjoyed to see Sonic standing, even if he was holding his head.

"How's that… for my 'limit'… Eggman!"

'No, get out of there, Sonic!'

"It's just fine, Sonic!" bellowed Robotnik. To Tails' dread, he saw the madman's machine rise from the wreckage with scarcely any damage. "Though I am upset you dented my shield."

Tails cried for Sonic to get out of there, but events played out like a horror film. Ivo Robotnik surged toward the hedgehog and resumed blasting and pummeling him like a child's toy. His mech was faster, stronger, and tougher than any Boss Machine that Sonic had ever faced, and he was winning. Tails desperately tried to crawl out from under the rubble, but he was stuck. He watched helplessly as Sonic received the pounding of his life.

'I've got to save him!'

Lasers. Missiles. Shield. Wrecker ball. Sonic took hit after hit, draining him of his power rings. The glowing rings of congealed chaos practically exploded out of him, only to flicker and fade away. Sonic bled from his nose, mouth, and dozens of small wounds, and his body bounced across the battlefield like a meat puppet. But he wouldn't give up. Sonic didn't know how to give up. Even when he didn't know how to win.

Even when it would kill him.

Sonic landed in a mud puddle and struggled to get up. Robotnik pounced, crushing into Sonic's back with his mech's metallic heel. Tails heard the crack of bone. Just for kicks, Ivo rotated his foot back and forth, grinding Sonic deeper into the mud. He then flipped Sonic over and began stomping. No more rings left the hedgehog's body.

'NO! This isn't what I remember happening! He's supposed to just gloat and fly off!'

More castle debris collapsed around Tails. A shiny cylindrical object bounced near him, open at one end and melted at the other. It looked so familiar. He reached for it, but it lay just beyond the reach of his fingers. The Eggman was gloating, all right. Sonic's screams of pain were punctuated by each stomp and heel-grind, and there was no more trash-talk directed toward the mad doctor. Tails could hear words over the loudspeaker, but the boy couldn't make them out. Tails reached harder and farther for the alien object, touching it with his fingers, even as his idol's screams became weaker and more guttural. Then the noises stopped.

'SONIC!'

Tails called the object to his hand, and it obeyed. He grasped the weapon and activated it, and a shimmering golden blade roared to life. Tails burned away the heavy debris with the beam sword until he could smash out with his namesakes. He huffed and wheezed, and set Ivo in his sights with single-minded intention. His tails spun up, and he rocketed off with blade in hand. Ivo saw him and turned his machine. Tails sensed the attack and placed the blade in front of him, deflecting the barrage of laser fire. Ivo fired his remaining missiles; Tails dodged and destroyed them. The incoming wrecker ball slowly crawled through the air; the fox cut its cable. When the mech's shield closed the gap between them, Tails spun like a saw and sliced right through it, the shield's edges glowing yellow-white with heat.

Tails flew in circles, slicing bits off Robotnik's machine. He chopped its arms off and cut the legs off at the knees, and the mech toppled to the ground with its occupant screaming all the way. He plunged the glowing blade into the mech and carved a swath of destruction through it, culminating with the cockpit window. Tails smashed the rest of it and grabbed Robotnik by the neck with a tail.

"Mershy — mershy! I'm sawwyAAAGH!"

The boy leaned in closer, raising the shimmering weapon over him. "Bring. My. Sonic. Back!"

Ivo gurgled and groaned under Tails' tightening grip. The man wriggled and thrashed all he could, but it was no use. Tails pointed the shining golden blade at the Eggman's face.

'Then die.'


Tails awoke in a cold sweat. No matter where he was, the teenage Mobian couldn't escape the fires of his past. Knothole was only one such fire, the memory reawakened by the utter destruction of Taris. He panted and wheezed, and hoped his body would stop trembling soon. Everyone he had thought died… everyone who DID die in the attack… it was too much for the boy's conscience to bear. It had been an all too frequent nightmare on Mobius, tied too closely with the loss of Cosmo.

'The loss of Cosmo,' he thought, mocking himself. 'Even in my own head, I still speak of it in euphemisms!'

Something else disturbed him. The nightmare of Knothole… it rarely went so far off the rails like it had. Sure, in some iterations Snively zapped him, or in others Robotnik had killed him directly, but it usually played out like events had happened. It dawned on the boy that the object he found was a lightsaber… Bastila's lightsaber, in fact. This had been the first version of that dream in which he had watched Sonic die, so helplessly and so gruesomely, and the first time he had exploded into rage like that. Thinking back on it, it scarcely seemed like himself.

'Was that… really me?'

The fox could only lie shivering until he realized there was another body with him. Tails' eyes flung open.

'Oh, not again.'

Tails' heartbeat skyrocketed. Mission' arms were firmly wrapped around his legs, and her head rested on the middle of his back. One of her lekku draped over his stomach and had somehow looped around one leg. The Twi'lek girl normally 'wore' her tendrils looped around her shoulders and upper torso, but Tails marveled at how long they really were — they could both hang down near her hips or even upper thighs when fully unfurled. The fox considered his own two tails and noted that, if they were hairless and blue-skinned, they wouldn't be too different. He tried to ignore the feeling the oddly serpentine tendril made where it touched him, and really tried not to think about what his fur must feel like on her smooth skin. After several minutes of deadly cuddle-panic, the boy calmed down.

'I'm not your plush toy, dang it!'

Mission had barely scooted from her original position in the last twelve hours, and was still securely coiled up by the boy's gigantic brushes. But, Tails had rolled around in his sleep, giving her the chance to grapple him like that in the first place. To the boy's chagrin, despite how embarrassing it was to be treated like a stuffed animal, he had to admit it felt really, really nice. Part of him sorely wanted to wriggle closer so her arms squeezed around his stomach and her chin rested over his head, but he had enough restraint (and residual embarrassment) not to. Tails wriggled his whiskers in frustration.

As if on cue, Mission took that moment to draw him closer and squeeze the boy even tighter. "Fluffy doggy," she mumbled.

Tails face warmed uncomfortably. 'Why me?' he thought.

With still several hours to go until the ship reached Dantooine, Tails resigned himself to death by cuddles in Mission's ever-tightening grip, doomed to be completely swallowed up by her embrace. It was when Mission started jerking and audibly crying in her sleep that Tails stopped pretending to resent his position — being her fluffy orange pillow was the least he could do for someone who had just lost her entire world. Hoping he wasn't violating her boundaries, Tails found one of her hands in the darkness and gave it a firm squeeze in his own, trying to tell her he'll be there for her no matter what. The boy was unsure she was getting the message, but whenever she twitched or thrashed, Tails applied a little more pressure until the nightmare passed.


Tails awoke again to an odd rumble in the ship, and deduced it must have dropped out of hyperspace. True to his predictions, Mission had completely engulfed him, clutching him tightly like a living body pillow. At least a quick check to his cybernetics confirmed nothing nefarious had happened. Tails was torn between dozing a few more minutes and rushing out to see what might be outside.

Unfortunately, the shutters on their bunk chose that moment to open, and Tails' eyes were reduced to pinpricks not just from the sudden change in brightness! Bastila Shan glaring face appeared in the dormitory hall.

"We did nothing!" Tails blurted out much too quickly and forcefully. "And how did you even open that? Those shutters were locked!"

Meanwhile, Mission squealed and tried to retreat further into the bunk space, and only succeeded in tangling herself up in Tails' brushes. She accidentally kicked Tails closer to the edge of the bunk, sending him tumbling out. Only the fact he and Mission were still tangled, and the boy's comparatively lighter mass, prevented him from splatting against the deck. Tails meekly stared up at Bastila's face as the Jedi woman looked on with a raised eyebrow. Zaalbar, who stood adjacent to the bunks, looked uncertain what to do.

Tails prayed for instant death. His embarrassment might just kill him anyway.

"Firstly," Bastila said finally, "I'm not even going to ask what you two were doing in there. Secondly, even the best locks can be circumvented with the Force, and an electronic shutter is hardly a formidable barrier. Thirdly, I'm here to tell you we have arrived in orbit above Dantooine. If you two would get dressed and come to the cockpit, you might appreciate the view before we descend."

The woman left in a huff. Before Tails could reel himself back into the bunk, his long brushes slipped off Mission and the boy unceremoniously crashed into the deck — Zaalbar made a valiant lunge to catch him, but the big Wookiee was a hair too late. Abashed, he let go of the pawful of tail he had caught even as stars circled around Tails' head.

"Thank you, Big Z," he croaked. "You tried."

"Tails! Are you okay?" said Mission, poking her head out of the bunk.

To Tails' dismay, several other people occupied the starboard dormitory, and had seen and heard everything. "Physically…"


Tails' pants were scorched and shredded, but it was the only item of clothing he had left besides his shoes and gloves. Not wanting to be shooed away for lack of them, he tightened his belt as he made his way to the cockpit. Mission and Zaalbar trailed behind. The refugees were less physically reverent of him today, which only meant they were less inclined to glomp him and cling to him wherever he went aboard the ship. The boy wearily accepted all the bodily contact. And no, the one woman who so desperately wanted to mate with him still wasn't getting any.

Still, the boy actually enjoyed dragging the few children along the floor like his tails were big fluffy sleds. Hearing their peals of laughter was a welcome change from the muted sobbing from before. Despite wanting to reach the cockpit as quickly as possible, Tails zoomed around the Hawk's interior, children in tow, arms spread like an airplane and making engine noises with his mouth! The fun ended all too soon, but Tails' spirits were the highest they've been since boarding.

"There you are," said Carth from his seat. "We just received landing clearance a minute ago."

Bastila sat second seat next to Carth, while Mission, Zaalbar, and now Tails crowded behind them. Tails idly noted he hadn't seen much of Canderous lately. Dantooine filled the cockpit window, and as the Hawk descended from low orbit, the boy's breath froze and his heart skipped a few beats. Bright green and blue dominated the color palette with brown, tan, and yellow tones intermixed. There were forests, grasslands, farms as far as the eye could see. No sign of pollution, industrial destruction, or war existed. Tails' eyes watered and leaked over his cheeks. His whole body went weak and he bent forward, hands on his knees, to catch his breath.

'Have I really forgotten what a living world looks like?'

"Whoa, you OK?" said Mission.

After a few more seconds of panting, Tails looked up. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I was just… overwhelmed… or something."

Mission still looked concerned, but Tails ignored it and wiped his face on his arm. To get a better view, he walked up behind Carth's seat and hoisted himself up on his prehensile brushes until he could see over it and lean over the headrest. Funnily enough, Carth failed to notice, but Bastila saw him out of the corner of her eye and did a mild double-take from her seat.

Atmospheric plasma due to the Ebon Hawk's entry caused a faint glow outside the windows, but the ride down was smooth as glass. A far cry from the harsh jumping and jostling Tails had experienced during other atmospheric entries, there was hardly even any vibration or noise. Even the ship's engines and thrusters barely registered. The ship's artificial gravity was exerting at an even nine-point-five meters per squared second acceleration, and Tails barely felt a few percent deviation from that as the ship maneuvered downward.

As the Hawk entered the troposphere, the boy could make out scattered settlements on the surface and even flocks of birds as they passed by. As they made their final approach, a single large complex ahead grew closer.

The Jedi Enclave.

The facility consisted of two enormous disc-shaped structures with rectangular buttresses jutting out, and several smaller ring-shaped structures connected with underground corridors. It looked a lot like a concrete castle or monastery. One such ring appeared to be a landing pad, and Carth maneuvered into position. The Hawk hovered for barely a moment, then touched down gently. The interior hardly fluttered.

Bastila got up. "I've informed the Enclave medical staff of our unconscious patient and her condition. Doctor Forn will be transferring her to the infirmary here as soon as the boarding ramp opens, along with several other refugees who still need more intensive care."

"You mean Sarna," said Tails.

"Yes, that's who I meant," said Bastila, a bit perplexed by the boy's comment.

"So what do we do now?" asked Mission. "Just wait here and twiddle our thumbs?"

"Temporary accommodations are being prepared for the refugees. That includes you and Zaalbar, if you so choose. Otherwise the Ebon Hawk is permitted to remain at this pad for the time being. Most of the Enclave is still off-limits until a few things are sorted out, but everyone's free to step outside and stretch their legs. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to meet with the Council regarding Darth Malak's attack on Taris."

As Bastila left, Mission closed her eyes and sighed. Her fingers twitched, and Tails offered up his hand to squeeze.

'Still the queen of tact, there, Bastila.'

Tails' stomach chose that moment to break the tension, growling like a starved rancor beast. The boy could only close his eyes and stifle a whimper in embarrassment as Mission laughed. Zaalbar made a brief choking noise. Carth partly lifted out of his seat just to peer behind him, in case some ravenous carnivore had snuck up on him — which was true from certain perspectives!

"In my defense, I don't think I've eaten anything since… half a sandwich at Davik's place," the boy grumbled. "And before then, a quick snack at Javyar's after we met with Canderous… a couple of MREs on the way to deliver supplies the Outcasts—" he held his stomach and groaned, "holy crap, I'm starved. My own nanites are going to start eating me alive soon."

Mission giggled. "Come on, Tails. Let's go get something to eat before someone misses a leg. I'm hungry too, and so is Big Z!"

The big Wookiee rumbled in agreement.

"You three go on ahead," said Carth. "I've still got to run through several post-flight checks on the ship — and get in contact with Naval Command, and let them know…" he trailed off and pinched the bridge of his nose, before sighing, "everything."

Tails, Mission, and Zaalbar walked in silence until they crossed into the main hold. At least, until both Tails' and Zaalbar's stomachs started growling in hungry concert.

"I can't believe you two," groaned Mission.

The Ebon Hawk actually had very little food on it. In the two weeks it had been grounded by the Sith quarantine, Davik apparently saw no purpose in keeping the larder stocked, and the machine marked as "food synthesizer" had its circuits blown out in their escape from Taris. Yes, even with the shields up, a shot to ship's ass could still blow up random equipment — Tails rolled his eyes at the thought. It was something else the furry engineer could fix when he wasn't about to pass out from hunger. But, in the three and a half days it took to fly from Taris to Dantooine, it meant that the ship's nearly forty passengers had cleaned the place out. A few scattered meal packets were all that remained.

At a bench seat in the main hold, Tails and Zaalbar devoured the last of the food packets like ravenous beasts, while Mission poked at hers and rolled her eyes at the spectacle.

"You not… actually that hungry?" Tails asked between ragged gulps.

"Yes, I am," sighed Mission. "I know I'm hungry. I feel hungry. Just… having trouble working up the appetite."

"Oh," he said. Tails stomach complained mightily about the lack of food, even though there was nothing else to fill it with. FEEEED MEEEE, his stomach demanded. He felt strangely guilty, obsessing over food after what had transpired, even if it didn't make logical sense. But, Mission's thoughts were clearly elsewhere, and the boy desired to empathize with her. Despite knowing exactly what she was feeling, for all the losses he suffered on Mobius, Tails struggled with how to express his empathy. "Are you… going to be okay?"

'Brilliant.'

"Yeah," she said softly. "Like I said before… you don't need to worry about me, Tails."

Tails sighed. "What about you, Big Z?"

The Wookiee was silent for a moment. "It's… hard," he rumbled. Tails didn't quite understand what he meant, but he let it be.


Tails approached the open boarding ramp with trepidation. It felt too unreal, like he was walking into a trap. The early morning light filtered into the ship, competing with the artificial interior lighting, and the environmental systems fought the chilly, dewy outside air. The fox's fur stood on end as he descended; the sweet spring air filled his nostrils. Birds chirped, bugs buzzed, the breeze rustled every leaf and blade of grass, and a hundred scents competed for his attention. It was intoxicating! Stepping off the metal ramp onto the concrete landing pad, Tails remembered he was still inside an artificial structure, but the Enclave's outer docking ring did little to hide the nature around him. Vines trailed from the top of the wall, and even inside the ring there were small trees and patches of grass and flowers. The boy wanted to stand there and drink it all in. Better yet, he wanted to scale the wall and explore the outside.

The Taris refugees who weren't taken in for medical treatment milled about the docking ring. Many had gravitated to the cultivated plots of plant life, some apparently seeing actual dirt for the first time; others sat on benches to think and wring their hands. The rest still shuffled about like zombies. The two children he had briefly played with on the ship had taken up a game of tag, and quickly spotted Tails. They ran for him.

"Uh oh!" Tails said in mock panic. They tackled him, and Tails wrapped the three of them in his giant brushes as the rolled on the ground. The two children giggled.

"Hi, Mister Big-tails!" said one, a Human boy of about age seven.

"Just 'Tails' will do," the fox said.

"Is that really your name?" said the other, a girl about a year younger.

"Well… it's my nickname, actually. All my friends call me that. My real name is Miles — Miles Prower."

"That sounds funny," said the girl. Tails pondered how the Mobian pronunciation of his name sounded in Galactic Basic. In Earth-English, it made a horrible pun with common units of speed — he may as well have been named Meters Per Second!

"It is what it is. You can call me Tails, too."

The two kids suddenly had a flurry of questions for the young fox. "What kind of alien are you? What planet are you from? Why are you so fluffy? How did your tails get so big? Are you a nice dog? Are you a meat-eater? How many friends do you have? Where are your friends? Do you miss them? How strong are you? How do you fly? Are you a soldier? Are you a good guy?"

"I… uh… one thing at a time please," said Tails.

"Have you seen our dad?"

Lightning shot down Tails' spine. "Your… dad?"

The Human boy nodded. "He was at work when the scary lights fell. Mom was taking us shopping. The people in robes took her through the big door over there."

Tails began twitching involuntarily. "I… he… wasn't on the ship?"

"No. Is Daddy going to be okay?"

'Oh no. No no no no no.'

Tails untied himself from the two kids as fast as he could without hurting them, his namesakes a blur as he tried to stand up. He hyperventilated and wobbled unsteadily, and tears streamed down his face unbidden.

"If… he's not here…"

"Is he still on Taris?" asked the girl. "Can we go look for him?"

"I don't think he… he's not… I'm sorry!"

Tails couldn't take any more. He ran. He ran halfway up the wall before kicking off and landing on the Ebon Hawk's roof. He continued running and jumped. His tails spun for only a second, but it was enough to propel him outside the docking ring. Tails failed to stick the landing and tumbled through the grass and underbrush down the hill until his brushes made an improvised two-spoke wheel with his body as the hub. He didn't want to stop himself. He just wanted to keep on falling down forever.

The hill leveled out and the Mobian lost his momentum, and finally he collided with a tree at low speed. His tails cushioned most of the impact, but his head still rung. He slowly slumped into a tiny sobbing heap, barely noting the cuts and scrapes he had collected on the way down. The leaves and grass were still wet with dew, and a light mist obscured the early morning sun. Despite the brand-new aches in his body, Tails rolled between the gnarled roots of the tree he was under until he was in a semi-comfortable ball, determined to shut out the world. If something tried to eat him, he didn't think he'd care.

The dew soaked him. After the minor disturbance he caused, the world was silent, but signs of life soon returned. Everything sounded and smelled so new and alien, but at the same time so comfortingly familiar. Tails imagined he was back in Knothole, or the forests of Emerald Hill. Something landed on the tip of his ear, but with a few flicks it was gone. He was too wound up still to sleep, but he half-dozed as the sun rose higher and baked the mist away. Groaning wearily, the boy uncurled and lied on his back, tempted to roll in the grass just for the sake of rolling. He was already covered in dirt and leaves and twigs, why not go all out? It would take his mind off his meltdown.

"I'm so pathetic."

Someone would come looking for him, he reasoned. Eventually. Until then, he found no reason to get up or go back. The sun rose higher, the air grew warmer, and the dampness of the early morning slowly evaporated away. Tails was content enough to just lie where he was and stew in his own thoughts. The moment he thought of Planet Taris again, though, he wished he hadn't. How many billions had died that day — how many more survived the bombardment, only to die in the wreckage without outside relief? Only the Undercity offered any hope of survival, tenuous as that may be. Did the Outcasts find shelter? They were still weeks or months away from reaching that ancient landing colony, but their path lead them directly into the mountains. But, what about Gadon and everyone in the Lower City? Would anyone there have ran to the elevators, or even have made it if they tried?

'Why couldn't I save them?'

The poisonous thought echoed over and over in the boy's brain. Against it, however, Dantooine's natural wonder proved to be a powerful antidote. Tails marveled he was lying under a canopy of living trees, on a mat of soft spring grass. There were no sounds of war or industry in the distance. This place was pristine. As much as he had admired the technological wonder of Taris' kilometers-tall towers, this place was paradise.

With the sun now shining directly on him, Tails wanted to melt into the landscape and become part of it forever. Barring that, however, the boy rolled over once more and curled into a ball. Not to shut out the world around him, but to be one with it — in spirit if nothing else. He relished the touch of the grass on his face, the scent of the still-damp earth beneath it. He took his shoes and gloves off and dug his claws into the rich loamy soil, reveling the sensation in his fingers and between his pads. Childlike glee beamed from his face! The boy's ears flicked as sounds from above drew his attention. Bird-like creatures danced from branch to branch, singing a melodious orchestra, seemingly unaware the boy existed. One particularly fat bird sat alone near the tip of a branch, aloof, and unconcerned with making music.

Tails' stomach rumbled softly.

Buried instincts bubbled up to the surface. Tails' breathing slowed, his eyes dilated, and his salivary glands went into overdrive, forcing him to swallow or else drool over his chin. Without even realizing about it, he had already plotted his course up the tree. His paw pads were more than grippy enough to cling to the smooth bark, and the claw on each finger and toe was sharp enough to anchor himself in place if he needed to. The climb, slow and deliberate, was near effortless with his muscle strength vastly overpowering his diminutive mass. His twin brushes hung freely, swaying only for balance. It was only when he neared the branch his target was perched upon did the rational part of Tails' brain catch up with him and wrestle the animal within. He facepalmed.

Tails hid it very well, thanks to years of practice alongside Sonic, but the boy had a more tenuous relationship with civility that he'd like to admit. Sonic had rescued a feral child from the forests of Emerald Hill, but never quite succeeded in taking the emerald forests out of him. Sonic had tamed him and patiently trained him how to behave civilized, but alone, Tails found it too easy to revert back to his feral roots and forget all notions of proper behavior. Sonic had never shamed him, but Tails' path to civility had been a rocky one, and the terror in other Mobians' faces shamed him anyway. In public, or with company, it was easy to see by their reactions whenever he was acting "off" — sometimes it was little more than a smile with too many teeth — and he corrected his behavior as soon as he realized it, though sometimes Sonic had to gently nudge him.

Hunting felt like the ultimate repudiation of civilized behavior. The instinct called to him even when food was plentiful, and only grew stronger the hungrier he got. Now, two weeks after waking up on the Endar Spire, Tails' body was nearly in full revolt against his civilized nature; despite a few good meals, the boy had been chronically starved on Taris. The fat reserves normally stored in his tails were completely gone, and since he first landed on Taris, he had lost nearly four kilos of lean tissue from the strain of combat, injury, and sleep deprivation.

'Come on, don't do this!' Tails thought. 'You'll get food later! And what if you're caught?'

Reasoned argument had little effect, however. Tails climbed onto the branch the fat bird sat and scrunched into a very small ball. The chorus around him noticeably reduced in volume, and he heard chirps of alarm. To its credit, the plump plumed creature finally appeared to take notice of him and ruffled its wings slightly. Tails grinned savagely. He gripped the branch beneath him with his paws and speared the tree trunk with both his brushes, winding them tighter and tighter like a spring. Unable to comprehend that the dangerously intelligent predator on its branch had Chaos powers, the juicy blue-black bird thing gazed at him with an aloof and unconcerned eye. Tails' stomach grumbled painfully, and he wriggled his hindquarters in anticipation.

"Tails!" a voice called in the distance.

The boy's eyes widened. His neural implants analyzed the voice — at this range he calculated thirty percent chance of it belonging to Carth, and fifteen percent chance it being Canderous. Although, realistically, he figured the chance it being Davik's former merc was closer to zero. Tails' heart pounded in his chest.

'Aw, come on! Not right now!'

He stared at his dumb prey and groaned. His tails twitched, and he was rapidly exhausting himself holding them coiled and tensed like this. His breathing became more and more labored. It was now or never!

'Fine! I don't care!'

Tails exploded from his perch, arms outstretched and mouth agape. He closed five meters in an eighth of a second, and the poor, dumb bird barely registered what happened before the fox boy's jaws chomped its neck. His momentum carried him far from the tree, and he spun up his tails once again for a soft landing, carving out a patch of grass like an alien lawnmower before touching down on one knee. The prey in his mouth twitched feebly for a few more seconds under the crushing force of his jaws, then was still.

He wanted the blood on his tongue to be revolting. It was different from anything from Mobius or Earth, but he didn't hate it. It actually tasted pretty good, and the smell sent his nerves into a frenzy. Scattered memories of his feral existence bubbled up, before Sonic, before he actually had a life, and he wanted to cry. Not because it was evil to kill to eat, but because it was so beneath him! Every secret hunt reminded him where he came from, a feral beast enslaved to its instincts, not the heroic engineer, scientist, and Freedom Fighter he was praised for being!

"Tails!" the voice called, closer and more distinct. Now he was ninety percent sure it was Carth approaching.

The boy didn't have much time to act, and he could barely think. He briefly considered putting the bird in storage for later, so he could dispose of it at his leisure, but his stomach panged at the thought of such betrayal. Tails groaned, and resigned himself to finishing what he started. He tilted his head back and opened his vulpine jaws as far as they could; with both hands, he shoved his prey deeper into his mouth and down his throat. He swallowed methodically, and his throat bulged as his prey passed through it.

'Ugh, why did I have to pick the fat one?'

The bird creature was nearly too big to swallow, and there were audible cracks as his tongue, jaws, and esophagus crushed it tighter. With only its feet and tail feathers sticking out of his mouth, the bulk of it slid into his chest cavity, squeezing precariously against his heart and lungs. He couldn't breathe like this anyway, but his heart raced as it was pressed against his sternum. Finally, the unsettling feeling passed as the poor bird squeezed into his stomach, filling it out and giving his belly a semi-spherical bump. When his airways were finally cleared, he panted for breath.

"Oooough, of all stupid things… There! You happy now, stomach?" he hissed.

Tails could only roll his eyes as it gurgled in reply. With a groan, he flopped onto his back and massaged his belly with his hands. In only twenty minutes or so, the poor bird would be completely obliterated, and his stomach would drain into his intestines for assimilation. From there, it would only take a couple of hours for his prey to fully integrate into his body, as if it had always been part of him. The boy had to admit, he had a scarily efficient digestive system, made even faster thanks to his augmentations. In spite of himself, the edges of his lips curled upward and a wicked grin took hold of his face. Karma struck, though, and an unwelcome flashback of him being swallowed by the rancor monster made him shudder.

'At least I have the courtesy to kill my food before I eat it!' he told himself.

"Tails! Damn it, where the hell are you?" yelled Carth.

'Oh, crap… that problem.'

He had left an easily navigable trail from the Jedi Enclave to the tree he collided with, and that was more than an hour and a half ago. Tails drummed his belly with his fingers and tried to think of what to do. Carth would certainly find the tree in question in a few more minutes, and the boy suddenly realized he had left his shoes and gloves at the base of it. But, as embarrassing as it might be to be caught with bare paws, he was more concerned with his distented gut and he didn't want Carth asking awkward questions. If he had just torn his prey into chunks instead of stupidly swallowing it whole, he could not only have eaten it faster, he would have digested it faster, too — but then his face, arms, and probably his whole front would have been stained with blood, and that would have been infinitely worse.

'Argh, why'd I have to be stupid? If I can just give him the slip for twenty… thirty minutes tops, no one will ever know…'

Tails slinked through the grass, noting his orange coat didn't exactly blend in with the sea of green. He just had to get far enough away to throw Carth off his trail for the next quarter-hour or more. His meal was making him really sleepy, too, and he wanted nothing more than to curl up and nap someplace quiet.

"Tails! PFC Prower, when I find you I'm tying a leash around your neck!"

'Private First Class? Huh, so that's what my military rank was…'

He found another tree with large, exposed roots where he could curl up and hide. The boy wrapped himself up with his namesakes, reveling in how dirty he was getting. He yawned and patted his belly, and he felt his stomach muscles hard at work mashing and mixing his meal into mush.

"Just ten more minutes, Dad," he mumbled sleepily, and dozed off.


Smack!

"Ack!"

Tails' gloves and shoes tumbled off his head as he startled awake. Carth Onasi glared down at him.

"Found you."

"Oh, uh, h-hi Carth, um… nice day, right? Eh heh heh…" stammered Tails, panicking. Twenty-six minutes had passed since falling asleep, and a quick gut-check indicated his stomach had flattened out considerably, but he still felt guilty as sin. Carth continued glaring.

"What happened earlier?"

Tails sat up cross-legged and tucked his hands under his armpits. He shifted uncomfortably. "I… uh… had a bit of a… breakdown earlier." He squeezed his eyes shut. "Are those two kids OK?"

"Well, they seemed to be of the opinion that they made you angry and you flew away forever. Took forever to convince the Jedi security droids you had actually scaled the wall. I think you should go apologize to them."

"All right, Carth…" he said, and with a grin, "I'll go apologize to the security droids."

"The children, Tails!" the Human growled.

"Aye, all right, geez. Sorry for trying to lighten the mood."

Carth smacked himself. "Must not shoot… must not strangle," he muttered. Then, to Tails, "What were you doing out here, anyway?"

"Uh, enjoying the scenery? Taking a nature walk? I was trying to run away from my problems and I literally crashed against a tree."

"Have I ever mentioned how exasperating you are?" Carth sighed.

Tails allowed himself to grin. "Once or twice, I think."

"Come on. Grab your accessories and let's get back to the Hawk — and get you cleaned up."

"Yes, sir."

Tails slipped on his shoes and gloves, and as he got up, Carth eyed him suspiciously once again.

"Uh, is something wrong?"

Carth pointed a finger to the edge of his mouth. "Why are there feathers stuck to your face?"

"OH GEEZ!" said Tails, and the boy frantically clawed the offending remnants off him. The damage was already done, but he transitioned to just patting the dirt and leaves out of his fur. "Ahem, I… collided with a bird… creature. At high speed. Yes."

Carth Onasi's eyes narrowed, and flicked between Tails' mouth and stomach. The physical evidence (sans feathers) was nearly gone, but there was just enough of a lump left to trigger Carth's bullshit detector. "Collided," he repeated.

Tails desperately tried to look like innocent, fakest of fake smiles plastered to his face, which only made him look like the cat that swallowed the canary. "Y-yes," he squeaked, voice cracking.

The officer looked to the treetops and inhaled, drawing out the long-suffering breath as if to contain his displeasure.

"Okay," he whispered. "Just gonna forget the last five minutes forever." He turned and started walking back up the hill.

The fox hung his head in shame and followed. "Um, Carth…"

"Forever!"

The walk back up to the docking ring was one of the most uncomfortable half-hours he had faced in recent memory. The path was trudged in silence, with Carth only occasionally looking over his shoulder to ensure Tails was still following. The ten-meter high walls of the ring loomed ahead. Thirty meters around the perimeter the ground was mostly cleared of forest, though there were still lawns, shrubs, and a few remaining trees for ornamental effect. A pathway encircled the docking ring, but there wasn't anyone visible, save for the single security droid guarding the bronze-colored, four-meter-tall gate.

Surprisingly, Bastila was standing near the Ebon Hawk when they approached.

"There you are!" she said. "Where have you two been?"

Carth glanced at Tails. "Nature-walking," he deadpanned.

"What? No one was permitted outside these walls until—" Bastila paused to pinch the bridge of her nose "—never mind. I've spoken briefly with the Council." She turned to Tails. "They request an audience with you. We should go at once."

"Wait, me?" said Tails. "Am, um, I in trouble?"

"Should you be?"

"An audience with the Jedi Council?" said Carth. "That's pretty unusual for someone who isn't a Jedi. What's this about, Bastila?"

"I'm sorry, Carth, but I cannot tell you. But I ask that you trust in the Force and the wisdom of the council."

"Well, I don't like being left out of the loop, but I'm not looking to get you in trouble with the Jedi masters. We'll do things your way for a while.

"Come, they are expecting us. I will lead you to the Council chambers."

"Uh, now?" said Tails. "I'm a bit… dirty."

"Yes, I can see that," said Bastila. "The Council is already assembled, however. Your ablutions will have to wait."

With Tails in tow, Bastila made for the opposite gate leading to the Enclave interior.

"I guess I'll just… wait in the ship!" Carth grumbled.

The landing pad had been cleared of the remaining refugees; Tails hoped they had found some accommodations for them inside. Beyond the gate, the eight by four-meter corridor led underground. It was pleasantly well-lit, unlike so many spaces on Taris. Narrower corridors intersected the one Tails and Bastila walked through, and the boy figured the big disc-shaped structure must house everything from dormitories, to dining halls, libraries, study areas, and more — like a gigantic monastery, or even a university.

The interior buzzed with activity, and numerous people, likely all Jedi given the robes, bustled through the halls. There were brown robes, red robes, blue robes, and even the occasional white robe, and Tails tried to make sense of them. The inhabitants were predominantly Human, but there was a surprising diversity of species represented here. Twi'lek, Ithorian, Bith, and many more Tails had never seen before in all shapes and sizes were visible. Only rarely did the Jedi travel alone, but usually they were in pairs — master and apprentice, perhaps — or a group of young ones traveled with a group leader.

Tails was surprised how few of them paid him any heed. Many glanced at him, but after a cursory look and a seeming mental shrug, passerby just went on their way. A Mobian amongst Humans had always become the center of attention, and Tails didn't know whether to be disappointed or relieved. A few of the older ones looked at him disapprovingly, but if all they saw was a dirty, shirtless outsider with shredded pants, he couldn't blame them. A few of the younger ones craned their necks for a second glance, though, earning a them glares from their elders!

The corridor opened up to a wide open area in the center of the structure. It was about fifty meters across, and the morning sun shined on the interior walls. Along the walls were rings of grass and shrubbery, and in the center a pair of trees stood tall upon a raised bed. It wasn't exactly a quiet area, but many Jedi sat on benches studying or meditating.

'I never knew Humans could have such high Chaos affinities,' thought Tails, feeling them out. Most were at least as strong as he was, and he wasn't used to sensing such powerful figures that weren't hedgehogs or echidnas!

Bastila followed the path to the left around the circular bed in the center and into another large corridor. This next leg was short, and after only a minute, they came to a cavernous circular chamber. Only a little smaller than the central open space, the chamber was about thirty meters in diameter. Three raised platforms along the wall each had ten seats, and two large alcoves each housed a tree. In the middle of the chamber stood four figures: a pink-tinted Twi'lek in blue robes, a light-skinned Human in red robes, a dark-skinned Human in brown robes, and a very short, greenish… imp in blue robes.

Tails blinked. There was actually someone shorter than him here! A very immature part of himself wanted to jump for joy.

"Ah, welcome," said the Twi'lek.

"Council," said Bastila, and made a slight bow. Tails, wondering if he was expected to do the same, made a comically stilted bow that looked like a bent plank. Inwardly, he slapped himself.

"And greetings to you, Mister… Prower, is it?" said the Twi'lek. When the boy straightened himself and nodded, he continued, "So you are the one who rescued Bastila. It is appropriate you are here. We've been discussing your rather special case. I am Zhar, a member of the Jedi Council. With me are Master Vrook, Master Vandar, and the Chronicler of our academy, Master Dorak. Padawan Bastila I'm sure you are already familiar with."

'Wow, so Bastila actually admitted to them that I rescued her? Or did they deduce that themselves? Either way — SCORE!'

"Ah, hello!" said Tails. "It's an honor to meet you," (I think) "but, I'm a little confused why you asked for me. Why would the whole Jedi Council be interested in me? Aren't I a little… insignificant for that?"

Master Zhar smiled patiently. "The High Council of the Jedi Order is on Coruscant, the capital of the Galactic Republic. We are the Council in charge of the enclave here on Dantooine. A bit smaller in scope."

"Oh," Tails said sheepishly.

"I am sure you have questions, and I assure you that we will have answers for you," said Zhar.

"Why?!" Tails blurted out. He squeezed his eyes shut, the fires of Taris still burning inside him. "Why did the Sith destroy Taris? They couldn't do anything!"

Vandar, the short green Jedi, sighed sadly. "Darth Malak seeks to destroy the Jedi Order and overthrow the Republic. Our most effective weapon against him, perhaps our only hope, is Bastila's skill with Battle Meditation. With this power, Bastila can turn the tide of nearly any battle in our favor. This is why Malak was seeking her so fervently."

"And if he could not have her, he would see her destroyed," said Vrook. "Taris was just in the way."

'Just in the way?!' Tails inwardly screamed.

"We need Bastila in our fight against the Sith," said Zhar. "Indeed, we need every available Jedi we can muster, since the Sith have been hunting us down at every opportunity. Which, actually… brings us to you."

"Wait, what? Me?"

"Bastila tells us you are strong in the Force. We are considering you for Jedi training."

The sounds of circuits frying echoed inside Tails' brain. "Hubba-wubba?"

"Master Zhar speaks out of turn, perhaps," said Vrook, shooting a glance at his fellow Jedi. "We need indisputable proof of strong affinity to the Force before we would even consider you for training."

"Proof?" said Bastila, incredulous. "Surely the entire Council can feel the strength of the Force within this young man. And I have already related to you the event that took place on Taris!"

"Maybe it was simple luck."

"We both know there is no luck. There is only the Force," Zhar said to Vrook. "We all feel the power in Bastila's companion, though it is wild and untamed. Can we safely ignore it?"

As Vrook and Zhar politely bickered, Tails found his annoyance growing.

'You want proof? I'll show you proof.'

Tails backpedaled several steps so he'd have ample room. He stretched and yawned, popping stiff joints, and extended his brushes — all two-and-a-half meters of them — to opposite sides of himself. He then knelt down like a sprinter at a race track, and immediately all eyes were upon him. His tails spun, deliberately slowly at first, then faster and faster until his body lifted off the floor. The draft rustled everyone's robes.

Bastila watched with some amusement as the four Masters reacted to this display. Dorak looked on with amazement, Zhar looked perplexed, and Vandar eyed the boy with curiosity, but Vrook was the only one who looked threatened, and the man had placed a hand nearer his lightsaber.

The five-meter high ceiling gave Tails plenty of room. He leaned back, then in one swoop, pulled his tail-props beneath him so that the spinning, twister-like cone pushed rather than pulled him up. He 'sat' upon them, legs tucked under him, like he was in an invisible chair. He bobbed up and down just slightly as he tried to find equilibrium with Dantooine's gravity. He tugged on his bangs to restore their spring.

"I'm not that familiar with what you call the Force," said Tails. "But where I come from, we call it Chaos energy, and I've honed my particular mastery of it for more than ten years. We don't have any Jedi on Mobius— not that I've ever been aware of — but I rank within the top twenty most powerful Chaos adepts on my world. And yeah… I can fly."

In a snap, Tails dropped back to the floor and his namesakes returned to normal, and he tried not to look too pleased with himself.

For her part, the edges of Bastila's mouth twitched upwards as she battled her own facial muscles. "As you can see, Council," she said, "this is what I meant when I reported he could directly manipulate his body with the Force. When I mentioned his ability to fly, I wasn't referring to just his piloting skills."

Three of the four Masters returned to looking stoic and dignified, but Vrook still looked like a grumpy old man.

"Look, I don't know if I want to be part of your organization. Not yet," said Tails. "But if you need me to fight Darth Malak, I'm more than willing to work with you."

Master Dorak, who had remained silent thus far, cleared his throat. "Traditionally the Jedi do not accept adults or adolescents for training, though there are rare exceptions in the history of our Order. But you are… very clearly a special case."

"I agree with Master Dorak," said Vandar. "Many of our own pupils are leaving the Jedi Order to follow the Sith teachings. We need recruits to stand against Malak! With Revan dead—"

"Are we certain Revan is truly dead?" Vrook interrupted. "What if we undertake to train this one, and the Dark Lord should return? The Jedi training is long and difficult, even when working with a young and open mind. Teaching a child is hard. How much harder will it be for this… adolescent to learn the ways of the Jedi? Just look inside him: already he's a firestorm of anger, guilt, and shame! With a foolish arrogance in his abilities and his own sense of morality!"

'HEY!'

"We should discuss this matter more fully in private," said Vandar. "Bastila, you and Mr. Prower must go. This is a matter for the Council alone."

"Wait!" Tails shouted. Everyone stared at him. "There's… another matter. Maybe… maybe the Jedi Council won't think it's that important right now, but I do!" He paused to catch his breath. "I don't know what I'm doing here. I mean, here, in your Republic! I have no memory of leaving Mobius! I've been told I'm a soldier for the Republic, but how? When did this happen? Between my last few memories on my homeworld, and waking up on the Endar Spire as it was attacked over Taris, everything's blank! Maybe… maybe I'm asking the wrong people, but both Carth Onasi and Bastila here have told me I was selected by the Jedi for the mission aboard the Spire — whatever that was originally supposed to be. I've had to do things — terrible things! — in escaping Taris and in service to your 'Republic,' all without knowing who or what I was truly fighting for!"

Tails was gasping for breath at this point, and tears trickled from the corners of his eyes. "So yes, maybe I am a 'firestorm of anger, guilt, and shame!'" he said, with a glance at Master Vrook. "But, I can't keep soldiering on like this. Not until I get some answers. I'll still pledge my help in fighting Malak — I can't let what happened to Taris befall anyone else! — but it's going to be on my terms."

The Council chambers were silent for several uncomfortable seconds.

"We'll look into the matter," said Vandar. "If there is nothing else, this session is adjourned."

Tails slumped. All the strength he had evaporated, and wanted to rest.

"Come," said Bastila. "I'll lead you out."

It was a quick minute back to the central atrium, though it felt like ten to the fox. Bastila stopped.

"Do you remember the way back to the ship?" she asked.

"Uh… yeah. Why?"

"I have matters of my own I need to attend to, so I cannot travel back with you right away."

"Oh. Well… okay. If nothing else, I can fly up and find it."

Tails was left all alone, and he suddenly wondered if he had the strength left to even reach the ship. He walked along the path, but stopped halfway and sat on a bench. He admired the beauty of the place. Even if it wasn't exactly a natural environment, the well-manicured foliage was very much real, and so were the insects and birds that made their homes here. The sun beamed brightly down on him, and Tails stretched himself out to catch its rays. He caught a few stares from passerby, but otherwise no one bothered him. He idly wondered if someone should have given him a visitor's pass. As he sat there and absorbed the sun's warmth, though, sleepiness took over.

'Mmmm, I'll set a timer for one hour. I need this right now.'

The boy's eyelids sank lower and lower, and in moments he was fast asleep.