Bacta was a miracle liquid, but it couldn't heal every wound. After removing Shado Vao from the tank aboard the Second Wheel, they placed him on a shuttle and ferried him to Coruscant. He had the entire inbound flight to review a written summary of the events at Te Hasa. The report was heavily redacted and much of it failed to make sense. He had no idea why Darth Maladi had permitted a single delegation to land at her secret base, and the specifics of the Sith Lord's death were unclear. It was said that her dying triggered a baradium bomb that vaporized the contents of the laboratory, and with it all her research, but nearly all of the second landing team sent to secure the facility escaped the explosion unharmed. Apparently they'd even brought Maladi's body with them. The only thing clear from the report was that attempts to procure an antidote to her disease had failed utterly.
More became clear once his shuttle set down inside the palace complex in Galactic City. Shado's welcoming party consisted solely of Azlyn Rae, who greeting him with a weak smile and quick embrace.
"You look like you're coming along," she told him after pulling back.
He wanted to tell her he wasn't, not at all. He still remembered the grim conviction that overtook him on Ord Mantell as the Mandalorians' laser-blasts tore through his flesh: death would be better than life without the Force. Nothing to have happened to him since gave argument. Still, when he looked at Azlyn he saw her scarred face and the breathing apparatus plugged into the husk of her lungs. At Had Abbadon she'd been damaged far worse than he had, physically and mentally.
So instead he squeezed her arm with his one hand and said, "I'm trying to manage. It's been… difficult wrapping my head around everything."
She glanced at his other arm, terminated at the elbow. "You didn't ask the techs at Ord Mantell for a replacement? Or didn't you trust them to make a good one?"
"I'm… undecided if I'll get a new one."
She didn't argue, didn't ask questions. Something in her face suggested she was remembering Master Sazen, who'd lost his arm at Ossus and his life eight years later, during the final battle with Krayt. Sazen, at least, had been able to dissolve into the Force when he died. There's be no such relief for them, whenever that day came.
"You've read the report from Te Hasa?" she asked.
He nodded. "There's a lot I still don't understand."
"Let me give you the full story."
She held to his forearm and tugged him along. Shado followed her down the palace halls without question. His injuries and the Force's silence had cast a everything in a pall of futility, but curiosity was the one thing that still moved him. Azlyn pulled him into a lift that took them down twenty storeys, then directed him down another hall until they finally reached their destination.
It was a simple room, with windows looking out on Galactic City and walls framed by sofas and chairs. And standing in the center, meeting Shado's stare with an abashed look, was Cade Skywalker.
It couldn't be a Force-vision; Shado thought he was going mad. He looked at Azlyn and she gave him a nod.
"You're really Cade," Shado said, stepping forward, close enough to touch but afraid to.
"Stang, what'd you think I was?" He gave a rude grin; definitely Cade.
"I thought you were dead."
"I thought I'd lay low after dumping Krayt's body in a sun. But you know how my plans work out."
Shado reached out and clasped Cade's shoulder. The firmness of muscle and bone convinced him he wasn't mad after all. The dark pall around him seemed to lift, and it took him a moment to find the right words.
"I needed this, Cade. I really needed this."
"Yeah, no problem," Cade squeezed his shoulder back. He was doing a good job not looking at Shado's missing arm; Azlyn must have told him everything beforehand.
Shado, Cade, and Azlyn. They regarded eachother warmly in the center of the room, and for a second Shado thought he'd recaptured some of the brightness of their shared youth, when anything seemed possible through the Force. Then their faces in memory clashed with the reality before him; Azlyn's was scarred, her body broken. Cade's was worn and weighted by too many sorrows, and even now couldn't quite escape its habitual sneer. In a way Shado has escaped the damage like they'd been dealt, at least until now.
The cleavage between past and present stole the reunion's brief cheer. They regarded each other from steps apart, faces sober. Then Cade said simply, "I've still got the Force."
It should have been shocking, but it wasn't. Shado recalled that the empress, too, had retained her abilities, and then starting falling into place. "You went to Te Hasa."
"That's right," Cade said grimly.
"Maladi wanted to experiment on you and see why her virus didn't work."
"Yeah."
"But why did you go? Did you think you could get an antidote out of her?"
"My mother. She was there."
More pieces locked together. There was a deep sorrow in Cade's eyes, and Shado asked, "Dead?"
Cade nodded.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"Yeah, everybody's sorry," Cade sighed, looked away. "We'd never have found Maladi if it wasn't for her. I don't know if that's even a good thing, given how it all turned out… But she did her part, you know?"
Shado couldn't read Cade's emotions through the Force, but in his eyes and face, his trembling voice, Shado sensed none of the bottled-up, simmering anger Cade had long held toward his mother. Shado had never blamed his friend for that; Morrigan Corde, and Nyna Calixte, had done many things that were hard to forgive. He saw now that Cade had forgiven her and was grateful, at least, that his friend wouldn't have to carry the burden of hate.
He had enough to bear already, now that he was one of two Force-users left in the galaxy.
"So what happens to you now?" he asked Cade.
The other man shrugged. "I was gonna ask you the same question."
"I don't know. This situation is… unprecedented…"
"Yeah, I know. You guys might all have to get real jobs." Cade tried to smile, but nothing could make that joke funny.
Azlyn said, "The empress is supposed to make a statement soon, about… all of this."
"But what will she do?" asked Shado. "The Jedi Order makes up a third of the triumvirate. The Order… I don't know what it is now."
Cade sighed. "Back on Te Hasa, Maladi said she did what she did to free everybody from the Force. She said without it you'd have to discover what you really were. Experience, what did she call it, the agony of silence and the joy of rebirth." He shook his head. "But Maladi was out of her damn mind."
They thought on that grimly; Azlyn said, "I don't know what will happen to the Imperial Knights, but I want to keep being one, whatever that means now."
Shado was surprised; he'd known all about her conflicted loyalties. "You're certain?"
"I think so. Even without… even after all that's happened I still have obligations. But what about you, Shado?"
"I don't know." He avoided her eyes.
"Shado, listen to me for a second." She stepped close and grasped the bicep of his severed arm. "I always thought you were a true Jedi. When I thought what one should be- calm, brave, selfless- I always thought of you."
He wasn't in the condition to be flattered. "I really don't think-"
"She's right, you know," Cade said. "Azlyn, well, she's had her problems, and you know about me. But you always kept on the straight path. Pure Jedi, you are."
"Were," he said.
"Maybe. But if Azlyn's gonna try to still be an Imp Knight, you should keep trying to be a Jedi. You were good at it, Shado. Way better than either of us could hope to be."
Their eyes were intense, and he shifted uncomfortably. After Ord Mantell it was hard to imagine he could feel like a Jedi again, but he didn't know what else he could do. They were right; unlike Azlyn and Cade, being a Jedi was all he'd ever known. He'd never even imagined another fate.
"You never said what you'd do now," he told Cade.
Now it was the other man's turn to look down. "Not sure yet, but I got some ideas. Everybody's got something to carry. Especially me."
-{}-
In the end, there was no choice but to come out with the truth. The obliteration of Maladi's lab on Te Hasa meant that all attempts to counteract her disease would have to start from scratch. The technicians at the palace were already working with the Jedi's best healers and scientists to evaluate the disease, comparing blood- and tissue-samples from every infected patient and comparing them to samples taken from the empress, as well as recent donations from Cade Skywalker and Ania Solo.
Their goal, in theory, was straightforward: discover why the midi-chlorians of those outliers were not damaged and use that knowledge to design a counter-agent. It was, of course, far more difficult than that. The virus had been engineered to attach itself to midi-chlorians, deform them, then die after accomplishing its task, thus limiting the chance of the virus mutation beyond Maladi's carefully-constructed parameters. There was no guarantee that damage could be undone; indeed, preliminary diagnosis was that the midi-chlorians of had been irreparably damaged. To fully search for a scientific solution to this problem, they were going to have to bring in outside help from the galaxy's best medical centers.
That wasn't Marasiah's only reason for making a public, official announcement. Rumors had been spreading across the news-nets since the Jedi and Imperial Knights had been placed in seclusion in the palace medcenter, and her father had taught her that the longer she tried to cover problems up, the wilder the rumors would become and the less likely people would be to believe the truth when it came out. Therefore she went before the assembled reporters in the palace's main audience chamber, accompanied by Admiral Stazi and K'Kruhk, as well as a set of Imperial Knights in full scarlet armor.
For the press she outlined the disease that had attacked the Imperial Knights and Jedi both. She said that the disease had been manufactured by Darth Maladi, one of the last renegade Sith. She explained how, despite the gracious assistance of the Gree Enclave, they had been unable to capture Maladi or secure her laboratory on Te Hasa. She insisted that a solution for this illness would be found, and that the triumvirate government had unanimously agreed to devote all funds necessary to researching a cure. In the coming weeks the best geneticists and disease experts in the galaxy would be sought and hired for their services.
That was the relatively simple part of the speech. Next came the hard one. Gesturing to the triumvirs standing on either shoulder, Marasiah said, "After extensive consultation with my fellow members of the Galactic Federation triumvirate, we have agreed that the current arrangement is not sustainable in light of recent events. Grand Master K'Kruhk has volunteered to withdraw the Jedi Order from executive decisions affected the triumvirate until the time comes when the Jedi can confidently state they are working the will of the Force. I'll let him say a few words."
Tense, confused whispers rippled through the audience in the five seconds it took for Marasiah to step off the podium and for K'Kruhk to replace her. Folding clawed hands in front of him, the old Whiphid said, "The Jedi have always sought to serve the greater galaxy. In nearly two centuries of life I have seen the Jedi Order take many forms. Sometimes it has served the government on Coruscant. Sometimes it has sought independence. In dark times, it was an active enemy of Sith emperors. The Jedi are keepers of the peace. We are not rulers, and we joined this triumvirate reluctantly, for the sake of ensuring stability in the aftermath of Darth Krayt's terror. Empress Fel and Admiral Stazi convinced me that our insights into the Force were invaluable. We no longer have that insight. Until the day comes when the Force speaks to us again, the Jedi will recuse ourselves from government. We will still work with the Federation in every way and place ourselves at its disposal.
"Thank you for listening," K'Kruhk said, and when he stepped off the podium the audience welled up with questions. There were many ones they could ask: whether there would still be a Jedi Council, whether the new academy on Coruscant would remain open, whether all the knights and masters who'd been slowly rebuilding their order after Krayt's purges would even stay together, or scatter across the stars.
They were all valid questions, and Marasiah cut them off before they could begin. Neither she nor K'Kruhk had good answers for them. Raising her voice to drown out the chatter, she said, "In light of these events, I have another important announcement. Admiral Stazi and I have agreed to move up the timetable for elections of a new galactic parliament. We project that its inaugural session will take place within six months. We have also agreed that many former Alliance officials currently jailed or blacklisted will be released and freed to run for office, if they so choose. In this way we will create a government which all citizens can proudly claim as their own."
She said it with a smile, but it had been a hard argument, and she'd lost. She's told Stazi that, in light of the breakup of the triumvirate, it was all the more important that government on Coruscant be strong and centralized, and that suspected dissidents should be banned from seeking office. The admiral hadn't fought Krayt with his renegade fleet by being merciful to his opponent. He'd said that currents events threatened confidence in the central government itself, and that the only way to salvage this unwieldly Federation was to appoint an empowered parliament where every vote could be seen to count, and every citizen could feel they had a say in the collective enterprise. She'd argued such was a gateway to chaos; he said chaos was already coming and this was the best way to forestall it.
In the end, she'd given in. The Force gave her no guidance one way or the other, and she was too tired to fight.
After letting another round of murmurs subside, Marasiah said, "The Imperial Knights have served my family for half a century. They have been guardians of the noble spirit of the Empire, as remade by my great-grandfather Jagged Fel. They fought the Sith with unparalleled bravery and for that every citizen in the galaxy owes them respect. In their vows they swear loyalty both to myself, as monarch, and to the light side of the Force. Like the Jedi, the Force no longer speaks to them, but the Force speaks to me, and I will continue to lead them. I accept that some Knights may not feel comfortable serving, now that they are deaf to the Force. Those who wish to follow another path, or those new recruits who have not completed their training, will be allowed to resign. Those who wish to remain Knights, and I believe the vast majority will, shall continue to serve as my guards, agents, elite soldiers, and valued counselors."
Looking across the gallery, projecting strength like her parents had taught since she was old enough to stand, Marasiah said, "We face a challenge unlike anything we have faced before, but it is my firm belief we will overcome it. One day soon its voice will return to the rest of the Jedi and Imperial Knights. Until that day comes we will wait. The Force still speaks to me; I hear its voice and I will guide this galactic federation justly. The progress we've made in rebuilding the galaxy since the fall of Darth Krayt will not be undone. I will safeguard the peace of all with my life, as my father and grandfathers before me. Thank you for your time."
When she was done, Marasiah stepped off the stage without acknowledging the reporters baying questions at her wake. K'Kruhk, Stazi, and her Knights fell in behind her, and when they stepped into the dark, hidden space behind the stage, every one of them bled relief.
"I must admit," a weary Stazi said, "That went better than expected."
"We've only told them what they needed to know," said K'Kruhk. "The real difficulties will be in days to come. I wish we could do more to help."
"It was brave of the Jedi to know when to step back," Stazi said. "Brave and wise."
The Whiphid nodded his long face. Stazi's demeanor was respectful, on his face and in the Force, but he and Marasiah both knew that the entire governing structure of the Galactic Federation had been upended. Without K'Kruhk as a moderating influence, the differences between herself and Stazi would magnify. The bulk of the Federation's collective military was still Imperial, with Imperial admirals, Imperial ships, and Imperial soldiers, while Admiral Stazi's Alliance troops were segregated into their own units, answerable only to a triumvirate that no longer existed. The Duro was a bold being, and Marasiah knew that if he became truly unhappy with her rule, he'd have a ready-made and very loyal war machine waiting in the wings.
She'd have to appease him. Allowing Alliance extremists into parliament was only the first step. Stazi would press when he saw his advantage, and she would press back, and somehow they'd have to refrain from breaking each other for the sake of this fragile peace.
She looked into the admiral's blunt green face and blank red eyes. He understood all the same things she did, and she forced a polite smile. "It will be difficult, losing Master K'Kruhk's wisdom. We should still seek his counsel regularly."
"I'm sure we'll have need of it," Stazi agreed, politely.
-{}-
It felt strange that, after all she'd been through the past several weeks, Azlyn should return to the place where it all started. After the empress' public statement she went to the palace complex's medical wing, where every nurse and doctor she passed watched with questioning eyes. She walked quickly, ignoring them all, until she found the observation room where Ganner was staying.
She was surprised to find him not in a bed but a soft chair angled to look out the window. It was one of the rare days when Coruscant weather control conjured rain over Galactic City, creating a suitably dreary backdrop.
When she stepped cautiously across the tile his head turned. "Azlyn," he said, "They didn't tell me you'd be coming."
"I didn't think I needed an appointment."
"You don't. I'm glad you're here."
His smile was weak, but seemed honest. She'd heard about what he'd done, or tried to do. He'd been kept in the medical center for observation since. He'd gotten paler; his face looked gaunt. Still, there was a light in his eyes as she came close and dropped into the seat next to his. Both chairs faced the window and she looked out at the rain-faded skyline. It would be easier than starting straight at him when they talked.
"I heard you went to Te Hasa," Ganner said. Despite his weak appearance his voice was strong.
"I wasn't much good there."
"I'm sure you did all you could."
She considered asking how much he knew; if he'd gotten the redacted version like Shado or if he knew the rest. Now wasn't the time to bring up Cade. Instead she asked, "Did you hear the empress' broadcast?"
"No. But Antares came here this morning and told me everything she'd say."
"Did he ask you what you plan to do next?"
"Is that what you came here to ask, Azlyn?"
She looked at his face's profile. "I wanted to see if you're okay. And if I could help. You helped me so much after Had Abbadon. I'll do anything I can to help you recover. Just ask."
"You shouldn't do something because you feel you have to."
"I'm doing it because I want to, Ganner. Because I care about you."
He continued to stare at the rainy city. Eventually he asked, "What are you doing now?"
"I still want to be an Imperial Knight, whatever that is now. I don't know what all this is going to mean for the galaxy, but I want to help with whatever comes next. Being a Knight, working for the empress… I think that's the best way to do it."
"You sound confident."
"I'm not. I'm confused and terrified, just like everybody else. But I have to keep doing something." She wanted to tell him that sitting around just made your worst feelings well up and consume you, but it was too harsh a thing to say. Besides, she imagined he knew already.
Ganner stared at the city for a little while longer, then said, "Okay. I agree."
"You… agree?"
His hand lifted off the armrest, reached across the gap between chairs, and clasped hers. "We can keep being Knights. Whatever that means."
He squeezed her hand softly; she squeezed back. She would have felt encouraged by that, but Ganner still stared out at the gray city, as though unwilling to meet her eyes.
-{}-
Cade Skywalker had spent a good part of his life running from what needed to be done. At various points he'd denied it, raged at it, tried to cheat it and tried to hide, until he'd finally turned around, faced the dragon at his back, and done what he had to.
The compulsion this time wasn't so strong. He didn't have Force-ghosts of his ancestors hounding him to be a proper Jedi. He didn't need them. The Force wasn't nudging him along at all, not really. It was the knowledge that his mother had left some things undone, and he needed to finish the job for her.
Therefore, Cade went to Coruscant's Jedi academy looking to talk with the Jedi Council, or whatever was left of it nowadays. The academy was housed in the old Jedi consulate he'd spent time in as a boy; the place had gotten a big ugly makeover from its Sith occupiers and over the past two years the Jedi- and Federation credits- had gone a long way to restoring the place to its former good looks.
Despite having been prettied up, the place radiated quiet misery. Cade felt it in the Force as he walked down its grand, near-empty halls. The collective desolation of all the Jedi was oppressive, like the misery Shado had emanated on a vaster scale. It took a lot of effort for Cade to shut it out; he knew how easy it was to get sucked into a black hole of destructive self-pity, and right now it felt like the entire Jedi Order was getting swallowed by that singularity.
When he stepped into the Council chamber he immediately sensed that these Masters were controlling their feelings better. Ancient K'Kruhk and old sober Lowbacca contained their despair with many decades of experience. Little Tilli Qua, the Chandra-Fan who'd overseen the padawans back during Cade's training days, reached for unlikely optimism. The younger Zabrak woman Soht Lenar gave off an impression of enforced tranquility; she was pulling hard on Jedi meditative traditions to calm her Force-starved mind. Rasi Tuum, Azlyn's old master, emanated concentration fitting of a predatory Cathar.
"We're pleasantly surprised you asked to see us, Jedi Skywalker," Tuum began.
"Yeah, well, I figured you'd all drag me in here for a chat sooner or later," Cade said. Nobody disagreed. "I'll get to the point. I've got something none of your have got. I've let your doctors suck my blood so they can analyze my midi-chlorians and try and find a fix for Maladi's virus. I figure whatever's in my blood's the same as what's in the empress, so if they want a fresh supply to test, they can get it from her. That means I've got no reason to stick around."
"Where is it you intend to go, Cade?" K'Kruhk sounded like he already had an idea. Even without the force these Jedi could be too perceptive.
"We talked about Khat Lah. Somehow, that Yuuzhan Vong found a way to use the Force even though he doesn't have a drop of midi-chlorians inside him. I bet your scientists did all kinds of tests on him, right?"
"As much as we could," K'Kruhk said. "Nei Rin found nothing biological that explained how he could touch the Force."
"But he did. You're absolutely sure."
"I am. There's never been an indication that the Yuuzhan Vong, or their life-forms, have ever possessed midi-chlorians. Khat Lah suspected, and I agreed, that their entire race could once touch the Force directly, without the need for midi-chlorians. Their connection might have been deeper, more natural than ours, but they lost it when they were stripped of the Force."
"Maladi said that she'd been going over lots of Gree archives on Te Hasa. Those things were way, way older than the Jedi or the Sith, and there's no telling how accurate they were, but she said that the Gree- and the Rakata, the Killiks, and all those other old civilizations- used to use the Force freely, until they began to lose touch with it. Gotta say, that reminded me of the Vong. Speaking of which, what's happened to Zonama Sekot?"
"We've been in regular contact with the planet," K'Kruhk said. "Zonama has been isolated since before Maladi's disease spread. Our people there report none of the anomalies happening elsewhere in the galaxy."
"Then there's still Jedi left there," Cade said with a little relief.
"Yes," K'Kruhk said, "But for its own sake, the planet and everyone on it must be trapped in quarantine. No ship will be allowed to land. Those who leave can never come back, not until we've found a cure for Maladi's poison." The Whiphid shook his shaggy head. "As for her archives, we saw them on Te Hasa. Unfortunately, we didn't have the time to save them. It was a grave loss, maybe as bad as losing Maladi's research."
"What do you suppose they contained?" chirped Tilli Qua.
"Me?" Cade shrugged. "Hell if I know. I'm not a historian. But I do think it could be relevant. Maladi was full skocha loca by the end, but that doesn't mean she wasn't on to something."
Lowbacca howled a query, and Soht Lenar said, "Jedi Skywalker, what do you plan to do?"
He planted hands on his hips and took a breath. "Khat Lah's out there somewhere. Maybe he can show you how to reach the Force without midi-chlorians, maybe not, but someone's gotta go looking for him."
The masters eyed him thoughtfully. Tuum asked, "Why do you think you should look for Khat Lah?"
Cade knew Jedi better than to expect a thank you. "I've talked this over with my crew. My brother Jariah, he used to crew with a Vong. Learned about all kinds of rare, weird weapons from that guy. There aren't a lot of Vong wandering off Zonama Sekot and Jariah thinks his friend could point us in a direction nobody else could. And frankly, I've been around this galaxy and can work my way into places your average Jedi couldn't."
There was more, obviously. His mother had risked everything trying to track down Maladi, and lost her life trying to save her laboratory and its data. Looking back he could see Morrigan Corde had made mistakes that had probably cost her her life. She'd refused Cade and Gunner's help because she didn't want to endanger her children, and she'd fallen into Maladi's trap because she'd gotten too confident or driven and let her guard down. Nyna Calixte would never have made those mistakes; they'd been made purely by Morrigan Corde, and Cade felt bound to correct them. His father had left him a legacy to be shouldered; so, now, had his mother. He hoped this one would be easier to bear. At least now he didn't have a horde of crazy Sith breathing down his neck.
"We recognize your expertise in the galaxy's darker corners," said K'Kruhk, "But what do you know of Khat Lah himself?"
"Me? Not well. He was close to my grandmother. That's got to count for something."
"Did you train him as your student? Did you learn his wants and anxieties?"
Cade swallowed. "Well, no."
"Did you spend hours discussing arcane facets of Jedi lore in an attempt to riddle out the truth of his people's Force-blindness?"
"Obviously not."
"And did you give him a list of worlds rich in Jedi history where he might search for some secret that, however unlikely, has evaded similar truth-seekers for countless millennia?"
"No. But listen, I-"
K'Kruhk heaved a sigh. "Cade, I wish I could search for Khat Lah myself. However, I am Grand Master of the Jedi and I cannot leave them in our time of need. The empress and Admiral Stazi will also need help in the days ahead. I can't abandon them now."
"Master, I get it. That's why I was offering. But if you can't come-"
Lowbacca released a trilling roar. K'Kruhk said, "I have already briefed Master Lowbacca on all these things. He will go with you. He has Nei Rin's current location and suggests you start by speaking with her. It's possible the master shaper has been in contact with Khat Lah."
The Wookiee bore fangs; he looked fierce but Cade was pretty sure it was an imitation grin. "Wait a minute, what do you mean you already briefed him?"
"We were expecting to have to ask you," Lenar said, smiling faintly. "Thank you for volunteering your services, Jedi Skywalker."
Cade looked around the group. Even without the Force, these masters were too damned smart. "What would you have done if I just got into Mynock and flew off who-knows-where?"
"Then we'd have put together a team on our own," K'Kruhk said. "However, consider. One who can still feel the Force. One who once knew its voice, but no longer can. A mission to find Khat Lah and unearth his secrets should have at least one of each, correct?"
"You got a point," Cade admitted, and refrained from saying he'd had someone else in mind for the second part. He wouldn't turn down help from someone who was old and wise but also strong enough to rip arms off a gundark.
Tili Qua asked, "When are you planning to depart, Jedi Skywalker?"
He shrugged. "Dunno. Couple days. I got a thing or two to take care of first."
"We will make sure you have all the information you need before you go, and inform Nei Rin we'll need her help." K'Kruhk said. "Our scientists will continue to work here, but… a feeling tells me your search may be the most important one. May the Force be with you, Cade Skywalker. Once again, our fates rest with you."
Cade nodded solemnly and refrained from telling the Jedi how much he hated them saying things like that. The worst part was, they usually ended up true.
-{}-
Prostrate on his hands and knees beside Darth Talon, Eli tilted his neck up to watch Darth Nihl's black boots pacing a line in front of them. Beyond Nihl's feet he saw another pair, Darth Havok's, and beyond that the gray ferrocrete wall of Nihl's bunker. One short, wide window looked out on a gentle valley slope covered in green grass and lit by a clear blue sky, but that view was the only escape from the oppressive menace in the chamber itself.
"Without Maladi we have nothing," Nihl growled. "Lady Talon, you were in Maladi's laboratory when she died. Couldn't you do anything to keep her from killing herself?"
Head low, leukku sprawled on the ferrocrete floor in front of her, Talon said, "My hands were bound, and I was separated from her by fifteen meters' height. I'm sorry, Lord Nihl, but there was truly nothing I could do."
Nihl made a snarling noise and paced faster. Begrudgingly he said, "You were good to return to us. Even without the Force you could do that much. But we need more. The empress is doing everything she can to find a cure for Maladi's disease. If she's successful, the Jedi and Imperial Knights could regain the Force, and we would still be blind to it. That is unacceptable."
"We must insert an agent on Coruscant who can track their progress," Talon said.
"I know that," snapped Nihl. "I've already tasked Darth Havok with that. The question is what to do with you, Lady Talon. You were Krayt's most trusted Hand. Now I wonder if you're worth anything without the Force."
Glancing sideways, Eli saw his master tense. Pacing once more, boots slapping pavement inches from their fingers, Nihl said, "Until we recover the Force, we must all reevaluate our skills and redirect our priorities. The government on Coruscant will be weaker now than ever. We'll destabilize it further. There are Nagai here who would join us in battle, and I've been looking farther afield for more allies. But what place you will have in it, Lady Talon, I'm still trying to decide."
The pounding of feet just past his head had driven down Eli's nerves. He picked his head up again and said, "Lord Nihl, may I speak?"
Nihl stopped and glared. His eyes had red natural irises, like molten dark side-affected eyes but different. "Go ahead, apprentice."
"Our mission was a failure, but not a total failure."
Quietly, angrily, Nihl asked, "In what way?"
"May I rise, Lord?"
After glaring for a moment more, the Nagai said, "On your feet. Both of you."
Eli and Talon rose as one. Nihl and Havok faced them imposingly, and Eli fought down anxiety and he stuffed hands into his pockets and drew out the datacards he'd grabbed from Darth Maladi's laboratory.
Havok's eyes went wide. "Is that Maladi's research?"
"No," Eli admitted, and both their faces went hard again. "There are translations of the ancient Gree archives on Te Hasa. They contain histories and lore that predate Jedi or Sith by millennia."
Nihl's face twisted. "That's what you salvaged from Maladi's lab? Stories? Myths?"
"My Lord, Maladi thought they were important. So did Darth Acheron. He commissioned these translations centuries ago."
He didn't know whether the name of long-dead Banite Sith would provoke admiration or scorn. Instead Nihl went thoughtful. "There may be some value in them. Or it may be impossible to pick out truth from the lies."
"I know, Lord. But it is something."
"Not enough."
"He is right," Havok said in a more measured tone. "It is worth reviewing."
"Then we'll review them. But it doesn't answer what we should do with Lady Talon and her student." Nihl fixed red eyes on the Twi'lek. "Do you have a suggestion?"
Eli watched Talon's throat tighten. His master was struggling to bring words to the fore; finally she got out, "There is one more thing we can do."
Nihl raised a black brow. "What is that?"
"We can find Khat Lah."
Havok frowned. "Who or what is Khat Lah?"
Talon's blue eyes shifted to Eli. "Perhaps you should tell them, apprentice."
Eli had yearned to broach the subject of Khat Lah, but he'd been too intimidated. Nihl and Havok might still think him a liar, but he launched into an explanation of the Yuuzhan Vong who'd become a Jedi. He omitted everything personal: the debt Khat Lah had owned Eli's father and the way he'd been captivated by the strange warrior as a youngling. He explained that the Yuuzhan Vong had somehow managed to connect with the Force despite having no midi-chlorians inside him. Zonama Sekot itself had chosen to restore Khat Lah's link to the Force, but apparently it was also related to the death of Jade Skywalker on Mustafar in the middle of the Sith-Imperial war. On mention of that both Nihl and Havok looked deeply interested.
When he finished his tale he stood before Havok and Nihl, awaiting judgement. Less angry and more thoughtful than before, Nihl asked, "Do you know where this Yuuzhan Vong went?"
"No. But I recall some conversations he had with Mast... with K'Kruhk before he left us."
Nihl did not let the slip pass. The Nagai stepped close enough to snort hot air in Eli's face. "You have embraced the Sith teachings. You've accepted your liberation from the arcane straits of the Jedi. Even without the Force you are still one of us, apprentice. Say it. Say it now."
"I am Sith!" Eli snapped. "You- and Darth Talon- have opened my eyes, Lord Nihl. You've shown me strength the Jedi could never touch. You've let me unlock the power of my anger. I will always follow your path, Lord, and I will do whatever you say."
Nihl still glared down on him. "Do you wish to find Khat Lah?"
"Lord, he was already unlocking powers beyond anything the Jedi knew. That was years ago. What he can accomplish now… I can't imagine."
Nihl took a long step back, allowing Eli to see him in full. The Nagai said, "You will find Khat Lah for us. Your aim is not to convert him to the dark, though if that can be accomplished it would be a great feat. You need to learn how he can connect to the Force without midi-chlorians. We need that knowledge, desperately. And we cannot allow the Jedi or Imperial Knights to have it. Do you understand?"
Eli's heart lifted. He tried to keep joy from his voice as he said, "Yes, Lord. Absolutely."
"Good." Red eyes swung to Talon. "You will go with your apprentice. Find Khat Lah, capture him, and bring him to us. And make sure this young human does not stray from the path we've made for him."
Talon said, "By your will, Lord Nihl."
"Yes. By my will." The Dark Lord clasped hands behind his back. "Always by my will."
-{}-
Ania had no love for Coruscant. Too many people, too much money, too many rules, too many people who thought their money made the rules.
The planet still had some uses, though, and while everybody was trying to make sense of the empress' stunning revelations, Sauk and AG-37 located a bank that would be quite willing to transfer the crates of hard bullion they'd been hauling around into liquid assets. Ania felt very strange walking into the slick, shining headquarters of a major financial conglomerate, wearing a formal suit she'd bought just for the occasional. Stranger still was walking out of the place holding a datacard with access information to an account with over five million credits.
Being rich beyond her wildest dreams should have made her feel better. As they took their rented landspeeder back to the platform where Free Agent was docked, Sauk sounded completely different from his usual dour self, and there was something ineffably upbeat in AG-37's precise speech. Ania couldn't share their happiness. Losing the Force had wrought unhappy changes in Kyra and Jao, which was bad enough, but her thoughts kept going further back, to the woman she'd left behind on Surcaris. No, best to put it plainly: the woman she'd run from.
Jao had been spending a lot of time in the government palace lately, probably seeking council from old teachers and friends in the Imperial Knights. Ania hadn't talked to him much since coming to Coruscant. Kyra was busying herself with doing repair and replacement work in Free Agent's systems, though she'd expressed frustration that without the Force she no longer possessed the seemingly-natural knack for repair work she'd once had. She'd borrowed Skywalker's astromech to help with the operations, and when Ania returned from the bank she saw another landspeeder already parked at the landing pad. Then she spotted Deliah Blue's bright-pink form standing with Kyra and C-3PO beneath Free Agent's engine block and she figured Skywalker had come to finish the job and take his droid home.
Kyra spotted Ania, Sauk, and AG-37 after they'd docked their speeder and started across the platform. As they got close she asked, "How did it go?"
"Congratulations," AG-37 said, "We are all very rich."
Deliah smirked. "We've been rich since Soccoro."
"Yes," said Sauk, "But now that it's in the bank it feels more… official."
"Made progress?" Ania asked Kyra.
The younger woman shrugged. "Some. Deliah's been helping."
"We're almost good, actually," Deliah smiled encouragingly. "Force or no Force, the girl knows her way around a ship."
Kyra smiled awkwardly, like she wasn't sure if it was true.
Ania asked, "Where's Artoo?"
"Inside Free Agent with Cade and your meeshku." Deliah jabbed a thumb at the lower landing ramp.
"My what?"
"Meesku," C-3PO supplied. "A Huttese term of affection frequently used to denote a-"
"Alright, I get it. Except he's not," Ania wagged a finger at Deliah, then jogged to the ramp. Coming up it she nearly ran into R2-D2, who tootled as he rolled down onto the platform. Ania kept going into the ship, and she followed the sound of voices to find Cade and Jariah in the cockpit, on their feet with backs against opposite bulkheads, facing each other with guarded postures.
The moment she stepped inside they stopped talking and stared. Ania blinked. "Sorry. Am I interrupting?"
"No. Not really," Jao said. "Cade was just telling me about what he's doing next."
Cade, she noted, not Skywalker. Leaning against the doorframe Ania asked, "What's that?"
"We're going looking for Khat Lah," Skywalker said with a tone inviting comment.
It took Ania a second to come up with one. "Where are you even going to start?"
"We've got a couple ideas. There's a few more Vong floating around the galaxy we can check with. Might be a long, long search, but let's be honest. Somebody's got to do it. There's no telling if all those scientists they're bringing in are going to do the job, so the Jedi Council figured we've gotta explore all options."
"So the Jedi gave you this mission?"
"I suggested it to them, actually." Cade sounded slightly embarrassed. "They're sending Master Lowbacca along. You know, really tall and really hairy."
"That describes a couple Jedi Masters I've met, but yeah, I know which one. So you're going with Deliah and Jariah?"
"That's the plan," Cade said, but looked at Jao.
Ania looked at him too. He avoided their eyes and he had the expression of somebody who was thinking hard and didn't want to be bothered. Ania had seen that one on him before; it meant he'd already decided what he was going to do and was trying to justify it to himself.
"He invited you to go with him?"
Cade said, "I did, believe it or not. Figured we should have another ex-Force-user or two aboard and he'd cramp my style less than most." He shrugged. "That and I went to a couple old friends who turned me down. Not that I blame 'em. They usually get in trouble when I'm around."
"It seems like everyone gets in trouble when you're around."
"Hey, cheeka, you dragged us into your poodoo on Mon Gazza. And we got you rich out of it, so don't complain."
He was right; she really had no grounds to. If she hadn't run into Skywalker and his crew she'd be in prison again or fugitive in the backest of backwaters. Instead she was in the bright center, but she wasn't exactly pleased to be here.
"Jao, are you really thinking about this?"
Still avoiding her eyes, he nodded. "What's happened to us all… I can't just sit on the side and do nothing."
No, Jao had never been one for that. Because it was the right thing to do, he'd defied his Imperial masters and joined Ania on the quest for Darth Wredd. This was no different, but for some reason she felt personally slighted.
"Listen, I came here to make my offer and pick up my droid," Cade spread his arms. "Consider the offer made. I'm gonna go check on Artoo. You can hash this out."
He made for the exit, and Ania stepped aside so he could pass. Once he was gone she took up the spot he'd just been in, facing Jao across the width of the cockpit.
"You're going with Skywalker, aren't you?"
"Ania… I don't know what else I would do."
"I get it. Really. This Force thing… it's always been what guides you, right?"
"It has," he said firmly.
"Even when you're roaming around the galaxy with me, chasing rogue Sith Lord and ripping off pirates."
"Maybe." One side of his mouth tugged wryly.
"You know what I think?"
"What?"
"I don't think it was the Force leading you on. Not after we took care of Darth Wredd, anyway."
His eyes came up. He watched her very closely. "What was I after, then?"
She stretched her arms. "Excitement. I think you knew you'd get bored hanging out with your Imp pals."
He smiled, incredulous. "Really?"
She smiled back. "Oh, yeah. There's way more excitement on this boat."
"You have a point," Jao chuckled.
"Of course I do. Though from what I've seen of Skywalker, there's probably even more excitement on his ship."
"I'm not going with Skywalker for excitement. This time it's really about the Force. About getting it back."
"I know." Her smile wilted and something clenched in her chest. "So you're leaving."
"I… have to think about it a little more."
"Damn it, Jao, I know you. I know when you've made up your mind. You know…" She tried to get it out but couldn't. "The whole crew's going to miss you. A-gee, Sauk, Kyra…"
The last name caused another tightening in her chest. Softly Jao said, "She deserves to know. And make her own choice."
This was too much; she didn't want to lose them both. On Esseles she'd been thrown into a rage at the thought of losing Kyra, the Kyra who existed in her head as a replica of herself who could still get through life without making some of Ania's mistakes. It had unlocked a possessive streak Ania hadn't known she'd had, and she felt shame in retrospect.
So even though her heart wrenched at the thought of losing them both she said, "You're right. You should explain it to her."
"Me?"
"You'd do it better than I could. Besides… I've got to think about my own course."
"What do you mean?"
She'd been considering her own fates, her own goodbyes. Because she'd been bracing herself for them she was able to take the loss of Jao and Kyra better than she otherwise could. Ania pushed off the bulkhead, gave Jao a soft smile, and said, "I'll tell you later."
She stalked out of the cockpit, hands clenched tight, legs pumping fast. When she neared the exit, light from outside blurred over the wetness in her eyes. She stopped at the top of the ramp, wiped them dry with her sleeve, and took a few deep breaths to compose herself. Then she walked outside.
Thankfully, Skywalker wasn't gone yet. He was with everyone else beneath the engine section, gathered around Deliah, who was using R2-D2 as a step-ladder while firing a welding torch inside an open access hatch. As Ania approached the big, happy group she forced a smile. "How's it going? Are we good to fly?"
"You've been good to fly," Deliah glanced down from her work. "I think I've just upped your fuel efficiency by a couple percentage points."
"Are we getting charged for this?"
"Think of it as a favor," Deliah glanced down at Kyra. "And a free lesson."
The younger woman smirked; it was an earnest smile, a nice change from the disappointment she'd had on display lately. That was something else Ania was about to lose, and her heart twisted again.
She tapped Cade's arm and said, "Can I get a word?"
He was still watching Deliah, admiring. "Sure. What do you want?"
"Privately."
"Okay, fine." Cade turned away and followed her to the edge of the landing pad. "Hey, if this is about me stealing your meeshku-"
"Don't start." She put hands on her hips. "This is about something else."
"Like what?"
Ania took a breath. "I'm sorry about your mom."
Cade looked out at the city, uncomfortable. "Yeah. Me too."
"From all I've heard, she got herself killed trying to stop Maladi. And I was wondering if you weren't taking on this new mission as a way of, well, finishing what she started. Making peace with her memory."
Cade rankled. "That's a damn personal question."
"I know. But we are family."
"I thought you weren't big on family."
"I'm not. Wasn't. It's… complicated." She sighed and joined him in looking out at the endless spires, the endless speeder-traffic. It should have made all her concerns feel small but it didn't.
Eventually Cade said, "Maybe I am. I'm also doing it because I want the Jedi back. They're a pain in the butt sometimes and way too serious, but the galaxy'd be worse off without 'em. And because I've got friends- Jedi and Imp Knights- who need the Force back too. So I got a lot of reasons."
"But if weren't for your mother… would the rest be enough?"
Cade stared at the skyline, arms crossed. "We'll never know, will we? What's with all the questions?"
Now it was Ania's turn to unburden. She said, "I just found out my mom's alive."
Cade turned, stared. "Huh," he said.
"That's why I got kidnapped by a bunch of Mandalorians. My mom's their leader, and she wants to oust Yaga Auchs, the guy in charge."
"Huh," Cade said again, then, "I thought your mom was dead."
"I thought so too. And she thought I was dead until a year ago. Then she had her people scouring the galaxy, trying to find me."
"So she had her bucket-boys grab you so she could, what, recruit you for a private war?"
"It's not like that," Ania said, but she wasn't even sure. "She has… a long history with the Auchs family, way longer than I've been alive. She used to be a Jedi, and it goes back to stuff she did then. She blames herself for the Yaga being in power. The way she sees it, she's trying to fix her mistake. Not just by killing him, but destroying everything he stands on."
"And what about you?"
"I don't know. I don't think she was… recruiting me exactly. I'm her daughter. If things had gone another way at the end of the war, things would have been so different for us both."
"But they weren't. Now you've both gotta live with it."
Ania knew that already. It didn't provide any answers.
Cautiously Cade asked, "Your mom… can she use the Force?"
"You mean is she part of the whole Skywalker thing? Yeah. She can."
"So there's four, then."
"Four Skywalkers left? Or four Force-users?"
He thought again. "Both."
"Everyone gets the fancy mind powers except for me, then. Not that I'm complaining. They seem like they bring a lot of trouble. It just feels… strange." In a weird way, she felt left out.
"The Force touches everything, even if you can't touch it back," said Cade. "Maladi went on about how there's something special about Skywalkers, like we were made to the Force to be its instruments of destiny. I thought that was poodoo once. I wish it were… but I think she was right."
His voice had gone soft. Ania didn't like the idea of some invisible power using her life, especially if she couldn't use it back. All she'd ever wanted was to keep moving, keep acting, keep being free and never looking back, not in longing and not in anger.
It sounded like a nice life, but she'd never managed to attaint it. Maybe it was time to stop trying.
"I think," said, "I need to go back to my mother."
Cade asked, "To do what?"
"I don't know. That woman on Surcaris was a stranger to me… but she shouldn't have been. I can't leave it like that."
Cade watched the skyline. Wind rustled his hair. Eventually he said, "You shouldn't."
"I figure I'll regret it if I do."
"Yeah," his voice cracked. "You will."
-{}-
Departure was just before dawn local time. The sky over Galactic City started as violet and fell through red into gold. Spires obscured the horizon and the hid the rising sun. Most had turned off their inner lights in anticipate of day, and from a distance they looked like a dark and jagged forest rising out of nighttime black. As their airspeeder docked at the landing platform, it was all Kyra could do not to stare.
She had been on Coruscant for almost a week and she still wasn't used to it. She'd heard of this place and seen holos of it, but she'd barely dreamed of seeing this trillion-person wonder for herself. She'd never allowed herself to hope. Very, very briefly she'd been allowed to touch something a power beyond her every dream. Then it had been stolen from her.
Now, maybe, she was going to get it back.
Once Ania locked their speeder into its docking clamp, Jao was the first one out. Her wore his white armor and carried heavy sack on his shoulder. Kyra's bag of supplies was about the same size, and Ania gave her a little help clambering over the rim of the speeder and onto the platform. Finally, all three of them helped C-3PO out of the speeder.
Mynock waited for them on the platform. Its landing ramp was down and two figures approached. They couldn't have been more mismatched: the tall, shaggy Wookiee raised arms and roared, while squat dome-topped R2-D2 whistled greetings.
"Goodness, how pleasant to see you both," C-3PO said. "Yes, yes, Artoo, calm down. Of course I'm coming with you. Mistress Kyra requested me. Besides, I couldn't let you run off on a mission like this by yourself. Someone has to keep you out of trouble."
The astromech made a rude blurting noise.
"What do you mean, you have to pull me out of trouble? I don't know what you're talking about. What's that? A droid factory? On Geonosis? I say, Artoo, I think you're the one who needs his memory checked."
Lowbacca trilled and reached for Kyra and Jao. He plucked the heavy packs of their backs with ease and began carrying them to the ship. R2-D2 and C-3PO followed in his wake, battering back and forth.
Kyra was glad to be free of that weight. She flexed her shoulders, then looked at the jagged Coruscant spires and the glorious sky a little closer to dawn. She imaged what new places she'd see on this journey, what fresh wonders, and hoped a few would be half as grand as this.
The sound of smacking bodies interrupted her reverie. She looked to see Jao and Ania joined in tight embrace. They lingered, then pulled away, and then it was Kyra's turn. Ania hugged her just as firmly; they'd talked over their respective choices the night before, and it seemed to Kyra that her decision to go chasing a Yuuzhan Vong Jedi wasn't half as brave, or risky, as Ania's decision to go back to her mother.
When they released Ania kept a hand on Kyra's shoulder and squeezed it. "Be careful out there," she said. "Don't take risks you don't have to. And follow Jao's lead. He'll watch out for you and he'll set a good example."
"I know."
"Seriously. He's way more trustworthy than that Skywalker guy. And watch Jao's back like he'll watch yours."
"I will."
After a second's twinge of reluctance, Ania let go. Another Wookiee yell summoned them to the landing ramp; Kyra looked in that direction and saw Skywalker himself, half-hanging from a landing strut, messy hair blowing in the wind as he gestured for them to come.
Kyra and Jao walked forward. Lowbacca ducked into the ship, but Skywalker waited on the ramp and asked, "Said all your goodbyes?"
"We're ready to go," Kyra said firmly.
Skywalker gave her a hard, evaluating look. Then he gained a tight smile. "Yeah, you'll probably do. Not sure about that Imp you've got with you, but who knows? He might surprise me."
"I look forward to it," Jao said.
Skywalker snickered and walked up the ramp. Kyra and Jao turned back in unison for one last look at Ania, standing on the platform's edge next to her speeder. She raised a hand in a wave. They nodded back, then clambered inside the ship.
The landing ramp retracted right after they came in, and the engines started to warm. Lowbacca, still dangling a heavy bag off each arm like it was nothing, roared and waved toward them. C-3PO, standing in a corner with R2-D2 said, "Master Lowbacca wishes to show you the crew cabins you will be staying in. Please come this way."
Jao followed, but Kyra allowed herself to be drawn elsewhere. She hurried up the nearest stairwell, through the crew lounge, down the long hallway and finally to the cockpit. From this elevated angle the first rays of fresh daylight were stabbing out of the skyscraper forest. The violet in the sky was all gone, and soon red-gold would clear to pure cool blue.
"Glad you could join us, darling," Deliah said. The Zeltron was hanging over Cade's pilot seat, while Jariah worked the co-pilot's controls.
Kyra pressed herself against the back of Jariah's chair. Holding tight to its edges, staring at the bright day, she asked, "Where do we go first?"
"First we're gonna talk to Nei Rin," said Cade. "She's the best shaper off Zonama Sekot. She was close to Khat Lah and my father too. The Jedi say she's on Chasima, trying to undo the Vongforming damage from a decade ago."
"Plus we'll check in with my Vong pal Chonyo," Jariah said as he finished pre-flight checks.
"And where is he?"
Jariah chuckled. "We gotta find him first. Don't worry, I know some places to look."
"We're ready to push out," Skywalker said as he wrapped both hands around the control yoke. "You ladies are gonna want to strap into your seats behind you or hold onto something tight."
"Always looking out for our welfare, meeshku, that's you." Deliah mussed his hair, then let herself fall into the nearest chair.
Kyra didn't do the same. As Mynock pushed off on its repulsors she stayed standing for the better view. Morning light got to sharp it stabbed her eyed; then Mynock pivoted, and for a second she could look down and see the landing platform below, Ania a shrinking white-and-black mark on its edge.
Then the ship angled upward. Skywalker pushed the throttle and Kyra held on tight, still standing, still watching as they soared past the morning sky, into night-black space and mystery none of them had ever known.
TO BE CONTINUED IN
STAR WARS: LEGACY'S END II: DEPARTED GODS