Chapter 3

Black Tide

Chandra caught herself as the edge of her blade hovered less than a centimeter away from Siri's neck. The young Padawan looked at Chandra in fear, her purple blade motionless in her own hand. Something inside Chandra urged her to move the blade just slightly, and the Jedi would be dead. Obi-wan quickly pulled Siri away from Chandra before she was able to make a decision either way. Chandra struggled with her composure and tried to understand the conflict inside of her. She never did anything to me, and I would have killed her. Chandra wished for her Master's council as she deactivated her lightsabre. No, Depa, not my master.

Adi calmly approached Chandra. She could feel the battle raging inside of the young girl and she felt nothing but compassion. Suddenly, Adi felt Chandra let go of the Dark Side. She closed her eyes momentarily as relief washed over her. Opening them Adi took Chandra's moment of weakness as an opportunity to speak.

'Your master is waiting for your return,' Adi said matter-of-factly.

Chandra said nothing as she looked at the weapon in her hand. She had carved the smooth metal casing, had added every detail. The rings that comprised the grip were her creation. The two crystals inside had been found, prepared, and placed by her hand. Every part of the weapon was hers, and yet it was not. She had no right to this weapon, no right to the power with in it. Suddenly she understood why the Jedi had withheld the plans from the population. Even in her own hands the weapon was too dangerous. Too powerful, she thought.

'Padawan,' Adi commanded Chandra's attention.

Chandra looked up at the Jedi Master. She had seen this woman, only this morning, in the Council Chamber. She had received the punishment this woman helped to decide for her. Now Adi Gallia's eyes radiated the power and energy of the Force as Chandra gazed into them, but there was no trace of the compassion that was in her heart. Looking into Adi's eyes Chandra knew what awaited her. The depth of the returning gaze reflected what Chandra's heart had told her. This had all been a test, and she had failed.

'No,' Chandra said, slowly shaking her head.

Obi-wan looked up sharply. He knew there was some silent communication between the two, but he did not understand it. Obi-wan shot a warning glance at an irritated and impatient Siri who gritted her teeth.

Chandra's eyes defocused as her gaze turned inward. She searched for the strength within herself to finish what she had started. No Force, no master to aid and guide her. She had to do this alone or she would never survive.

Life returned to her dark eyes and they turned again to regard the Jedi Master. Adi Gallia's head was held high, her back straight, her shoulders squared, her eyes boring into the girl's. Somewhere, despite the formidable presence before her, deep inside of Chandra courage began to grow and take shape. She returned her gaze momentarily to the lightsabre in her hand. Yes, too powerful, she thought for the last time and took as step forward, extending her arm out to the Jedi Master. Adi reached out and took hold of the weapon; her eyes betraying her heart for the first time that day.

Obi-wan watched sadly next to Siri. He knew how difficult it was to do what Chandra was doing. Twice he had handed his lightsabre to over into the possession of his master, once to save him; once to leave him.

The instant Chandra let go of the lightsabre she felt a sudden release. 'I was never meant to be a Jedi,' she told no one in particular. A rueful smile danced on her lips. 'Qui-Gon should have left me on Corellia.'

'Chandra, come back to the temple and talk to your Master about this. She deserves to hear it from you,' Adi said firmly, having composed herself.

Chandra shrugged. 'What's the point?' she asked, sticking her hands into the folds of her outer robe. 'I will never be a Jedi. Depa knew it from the beginning.' Chandra paused, amazed at how calm she was. She opened her mouth to continue but then closed it again, turned, and disappeared into the shadows of the perpetual night.

*****

The Rodian hardly noticed the Jedi's exit. His slow mind was still trying to grasp what was happening. The instant the Jedi had ignited the shimmering blue lightsabre his mind switched to automatic. Jedi, he hated Jedi. So did Vressk. That was why they had attacked. Leader told us not to. Poor Leader. The Rodian looked down at the still form of his friend. The unconscious young man had, for reasons the Rodian could not understand, allowed the Rodian to join the Raptors, offering protection for service. Even though the Rodian was a slow thinker the human had shown a compassion alien to the Crimson Corridor by letting him live. For that alone the Rodian owed the human his life.

I shot Jedi, but not Leader. He whimpered softly as he slowly rocked back and forth. Who shot Leader? Who did this? The Rodian clenched his fists and a strange sensation rushed up his arm. He looked at his hand in surprise, for though he thought he had clenched his fists there was no fist to clench, no hand below the wrist. He thought he felt fingers, they itched, one of them had something slimy on it, but when he tried to move them or relieve the itch there was nothing there. Jedi did this. He thought angrily, not understanding that the phantom sensations were coming from his remaining hand. Did Jedi shoot Leader? The Rodian thought about that. In his mind he played back the string of confused images. He only saw one enemy. Jedi must have shot leader.

Just then the door to the hide-out burst open and three figures strode in. The first, a Human, the Rodian immediately recognized. His frame was slightly smaller than Leader's but his spiked green hair added another two or three inches to his height. He had the same pale eyes as Leader, all the same features. All the same characteristics. The Rodian knew instantly he and Leader were dead. There was no hope for them.

The boy, Ryland, was quickly followed by a young Gotal, Nig, and a Bith, Kiowa. Nig stepped forward and, after examining the scene before him, hissed something at Ryland. The Human nodded and Nig took action. Ignoring the Rodian's pathetic cries Nig pulled out and activated a vibroblade and attacked the creature, quickly putting his cries and whimpers to an end.

Ryland took a step toward his brother's unconscious form as Kiowa fingered a fully charged blaster. The wounded boy woke up as Ryland's hand touched his shoulder. For the first time in his life the leader of the Raptors felt fear. His death hovered over him in the form of his own brother as Ryland pulled out his own blaster, its energy cell barely depleted. He carelessly fired off two high-powered bolts in rapid succession. Without speaking, Ryland gestured Nig out of the safehouse and followed after recovering the Bith's blaster. At that moment, with Nig, the Gotal, as a witness, the Raptors changed leadership; their new leader a thirteen-year-old Human boy.

*****

The stench of blood, burned flesh, body waste, and the ever present odors of garbage hit Siri like a wall as soon as she entered the small room. Near to her were three dead bodies; the bodies of the boys Chandra had told them about. She staggered to the side as her gag reflex kicked in.

Obi-wan and Adi quickly scanned the room and Adi motioned Siri to check outside. Siri gladly bolted from the room. Obi-wan stooped next to the body of the Rodian and examined it. Adi did likewise with the Human.

'These are all blaster wounds. This one's been bandaged,' Adi thought outloud for Obi-wan's benefit. She quickly changed to examining the body of the Bith. 'Another blaster wound.'

Adi stood and moved to where Obi-wan knelt. 'This arm was instantly cauterized,' Obi-wan reported. 'A lightsabre wound.'

'That chest wound is quite messy,' Adi stated, knowing the cause of it. She deliberately left it out to test Obi-wan.

'A vibroblade.'

Adi nodded. 'Come, Obi-wan. There's nothing we can do h...'

Both Jedi leapt out the door in unison, lightsabres activated, to find Siri chasing off several thugs, seeming to randomly swing her lightsabre in their direction. At the sight of two more lightsabres the thugs ran even faster. Wordlessly the three Jedi started on their way back to the Temple.

*****

A dark ship swooped down to make a quick landing in the darkest part of the night. The entire planet, once a terrifying, inhospitable place, was crawling with young people, digging, prodding in places they did not belong. Darth Maul had chosen an already excavated and abandoned area to plant the decoy. He landed near an small, overlooked cave and started working. He left no removable evidence, only paintings on the walls. It was primitive, he knew, but before the Jedi Dissenters had ruled the planet the native Sith could have done such. It was a stretch but he had no doubt that it would be considered authentic. The script was that of the native Sith who had lived on Korriban and all drew the viewers eye to the centre where a large rendition of a black Sith Holocron held the viewer's attention.

A quiet, distant noise passed through the entrance to the Sith apprentice's ears, the sound of approaching foot-falls. Maul stepped back and looked at his work, deliberately sloppy, aged, and misleading. It would suffice. Quietly he melted into the shadows and waited.

After a time two Human males stumbled near the hidden entrance, joking around and pushing eachother. At Maul's silent bidding one looked down near his feet and pushed aside enough rubble and overgrowth to see the entrance.

'Hey, Rat,' he addressed the taller of the two. 'Take a look at this.'

The two men pulled away some of the rubble and cut away the brush enough to make a small passageway into the cave. Something inside of both warned them not to go in but Maul's manipulation through the Force, combined with their own curiosity, urged them forward. Rat maneuvered himself inside the opening followed quickly by the other Human. Their faces paled as they saw the markings on the wall.

'Jareth,' Rat said, pushing a little at the other man. 'Jareth, go find the others. They gotta know about this.'

Jareth turned toward the exit only to be thrown aside by what felt like electric fire. Rat turned at the snapping sound to see his friend literally lifted into the air and thrown aside by what looked like lightning. He ran over to Jareth once it stopped and helped him to his feet. Jareth's face was a mask of pain and he cried out as he was pulled to his feet.

Suddenly a dark presence drew their attention to the entranceway. Only a few meters away stood a figure cloaked in black. His long robes swirled around him and his hood was thrown back revealing a red and black tattooed visage. In his hands the figure held a long metal cylinder. The overall effect was a paralyzing fear that held both men in its grasp. Jareth and Rat were both terrified and entranced.

Then something clicked and Rat's fear overpowered his fascination. Ignoring his friend he darted into the shadows, searching frantically for another way out. He started to panic, breathing in short gasps and throwing himself against the stone walls.

Jareth inched his way away from the Sith slowly, then turned and followed Rat into the shadows, ramming into him and throwing them both onto the ground. The two friends eyed eachother in the dim light and they knew that their assessment was correct, that this was, beyond any shadow of a doubt, a Sith Lord, one of the rulers of this dead planet.

For moments that seemed like an eternity the two sat where they had fallen and the Sith did not move. Suddenly Rat remembered. His hand darted inside his heavy jacket. Tucked into the inside pocket was a small, low powered blaster. It was not much but it was his best chance. Jareth saw what his friend was doing and smacked the taller man to get his attention, shaking his head. Rat looked over at the Sith, an image of fear and power. Swallowing hard he spread out his hands in a gesture that challenged Jareth to find a better solution to their problem. Jareth shook his head. Rat turned and raised his blaster. Even hidden as they were, the Sith seemed to be looking right at him, seeing exactly what he was doing. Rat swallowed again and fired three blasts as quickly as he could. In the blink of an eye he was scrambling over Jareth to dodge the bolts reflected by the Sith's twin bladed lightsabre. It was futile. One bolt struck him in the face, killing him instantly. Looking down at the faceless corpse that was his friend, Jareth panicked and darted from the shadows out into the open. In his rush he nearly collided with the Sith who seemed to have appeared directly in front of him.

Jareth looked into the Sith's cold yellow eyes, a young man, no older than himself, and felt his body go numb. In that instant a thousand thoughts flooded Jareth's mind. I thought the Sith were extinct. How many others know about this? I hope no one finds this place. Maybe...

Jareth's thought flow was cut off by the hum of a red blade slicing through the air. His body crumpled to the floor as his head rolled into the shadows, his expression captured in a mixture of amazement and fear.

*****

Chandra sat cross legged in a small dim room lit by only a few old glowsticks. It was two days since she came to the Corridor and joined the Raptor gang. She had cut off her Padawan braid as well as most of her hair to avoid catching the lice that frequented the dark alleyways.

Ignoring the conversations of the boys and girls around her Chandra focused on the little things around her. She heard soft shuffling outside the heavy door. Her mind painted a picture of the scenery around her based on the sounds she received. There were eight creatures in the room including herself and Ryland. The Human was conversing with a Gotal, Nig, on the other side of the room. Two Rodians and one Bith, all children under the age of ten, were playing a knife throwing game, spreading their feet apart and dropping the knife straight down. Two other Humans sat across from Chandra, near the back wall. Chandra tried hard to ignore the different stenches of the room, the garbage, the rotting meat, the unwashed bodies.

Whether or not she was still sensing currents in the Force, Chandra did not know, and she did not question it. At that moment an alarm went off inside of her and her eyes shot open.

'Ryland, duck!' she called.

Ryland turned and flattened himself out on the ground, as much as there was of it. One of the two Humans behind him fell backwards, a blaster burn searing the side of his skull. Ryland and the rest of the Raptors, including Chandra, pulled out blasters and vibro-blades. Ryland and Chandra hung back as the three children dashed blindly out of the room.

'Rattlers,' the Human mumbled as he ran out, quickly ducking behind some trash.

Another bolt came through the open door between Ryland and Chandra. Nig stood with his back to the wall and fired blindly out of the doorway. Chandra and Ryland each jumped away from the open door. Ryland glanced over at Chandra who held her blaster ready.

'There's five left,' she said over the shouting and screaming in the alleyway.

'Rattlers?' he asked, already used to her uncanny ability to know exactly where things were without seeing them.

Chandra nodded. 'I'm assuming.'

The Rattlers were a rival gang who wanted complete control of the Crimson Corridor. Once and a while a few of their members would get bold and try to attack the Raptor strongholds. It was a skirmish with the Rattlers only two days ago that got Chandra into the Raptors. Their big mistake was that they only brought along a few members to fight. The Raptors, though they were usually spread throughout the Corridor, had the advantage of numbers and skill. Even the three children were excellent marksmen.

Just then a small grenade tumbled into the room, filling it with a toxic smoke. Ryland, Nig, and Chandra left the room as quickly as possible. Once they were in the alley they looked around, the fighting had stopped with no more casualties on the Raptor side. The three children were dancing around in victory before noticing the smoke coming from the room. Together with Nig and the Human they ran off down the alley.

'How many are left?' Ryland asked.

'Three,' Chandra said. 'They're running.' Chandra gestured the way the Rattlers had gone, opposite the way the remaining Raptors had run.

'Come on,' Ryland said, pulling Chandra by the shoulder.

*****

A small child ducked out of the way, hiding behind a mound of trash as three Humans pounded down the alleyway pursued closely by Chandra and Ryland. The three came to a halt at a dead end and spun, vibro-blades raised and ready.

Ryland slowed to a stop and grinned mockingly. 'Know the turf ya' fight on, Rattler,' he said, raising his blaster.

'Listen, man, we were just followin' orders,' one of the boys explained.

'Come on, Ryland, ya' know me, man!' another said, lowering his vibro-blade.

Ryland shook his head and fired a badly aimed shot at the second speaker. Chandra quickly compensated with a quick blast that took out the first speaker. The two remaining Rattlers rushed Chandra and Ryland before either could get another shot off. Chandra's second blast harmlessly struck the opposite wall.

The boy who had claimed familiarity with Ryland chose him to strike at. He quickly followed a wide punch with a stab from his activated vibro-blade. Ryland blocked the punch but the vibro-blade bit into his side as he tried to spin out of the way. Biting back the pain he caught the boy's arm and pulled the boy past himself, kicking to the side at the same time. The kick landed firmly in the small of the boy's back, giving a sharp crunch and causing a scream to emit from the boy's throat. He fell to the ground paralyzed.

Meanwhile, and taking less time, Chandra battled the silent boy, exchanging her blaster for her own vibro-blade, which she kept deactivated. The boy swiped at her with an activated blade from outside arm's reach, expecting her to jump backwards. Instead she took and aggressive stance and leapt forward, completing a spinning kick that knocked him back a pace. The boy, blinded by anger, rushed Chandra and the battle ended with Chandra's vibro-blade jamming into his diaphragm.

Warm blood pumped out of the boy's wound as his eyes locked onto hers. His eyes, a deep pooling brown, were wide with shock. His face contorted in pain. The boy's blood spilled out over the hilt of Chandra's vibro-blade onto her hand. At the first touch of the warm liquid Chandra's eyes were drawn to her hand. In the darkness the blood appeared to be a black tide rushing over her hand and up her arm. No, she thought, realizing what she had done. It was so easy to kill from far away, but this close the reality of it struck her like a brick wall. She looked up in shock at the dying boy. No. Her mind filled with the boy's anger and pain. She felt his life-force ebbing away as the tide of the blood pulled stronger from the other side. The his life-force ceased and his body crumpled, pulling away from Chandra and her vibro-blade, creating a sickening suction sound as it did so. Chandra looked at her blood stained hand and weapon and her mind stopped. She could not believe what she had just done.

Her concentration was quickly averted by the crack of the other Rattler's back breaking. She saw the Rattler fall face down and watched silently as Ryland leveled his blaster and fired, leaving a gaping hole in the boy's skull. Ryland looked at the boy a moment longer and shook his head, walking away.

Chandra remained a moment longer, looking at the carnage of the battle. As of that moment the death count was seven; seven sentient beings killed by her hand. She listed them silently in her head: the Trandoshan, the hidden attacker, the three Rattlers from the other day, and the two from today. She never found out about the Rodian or the Human.

Behind her Chandra heard a scuffle and small sobs. She turned to see a small human child of about five or six years peaking out from her hiding spot among the trash. Chandra sheathed her dirtied vibro-blade in her boot, the drying blood on her hand cracking as she moved it. She slowly approached the child so as not to frighten her away. She silently knelt down in front of the child, gripping her shoulders gently. With her clean hand Chandra wiped away the child's tears.

'Hush,' she said softly. 'Stop crying.'

After a moment the child's sobs subsided into quiet whimpers. Chandra put her clean hand under the girl's chin and lifted it so their eyes met.

Looking deep into the girl's tear-filled eyes Chandra spoke. 'No matter what happens, no matter what anybody does to you, never let them see you cry. You'll only give them the victory.

The child looked into Chandra's dark eyes a moment longer before her sniffling stopped and she nodded, biting her lip to keep back the onrush of tears. Chandra nodded in return, patted the child's shoulder and took her by the hand, keeping her bloodied hand out of the girl's sight. She escorted the child out of the Crimson Corridor to the edge of a worn down, understaffed shelter. At Chandra's urging the child let go of her hand and made her way through the dull-witted crowed into the building, head held high and never once looking back.