Disclaimer: I don't own the Star Wars universe or Star Wars KOTOR, George
Lucas and Lucas Arts do. They also own all the Characters and Worlds
contained therein. The characters created by me for this story are all
that I own.
Kashyyyk – Questioning, a Star Map and a Wookiee Rebellion
We returned down to the Shadowlands and went to Jolee's home. He asked where Bastila was and I told him that she had gotten ill and had decided to return to our ship. He nodded to us and joined the group and we proceeded to were he indicated the barrier was located. As we approached I could see the blue shimmer of the sonic barrier that prevented us from entering the lower Shadowlands. Jolee disabled the barrier and we crossed into the lower Shadowlands. As we walked down the path we heard the sounds of a battle and the sound of a Wookiee battle cry. I glanced at my companions and we broke into a run, as we rounded a bend in the path we saw a lone Wookie fighting with some Mandalorians.
We rushed to the aid of the embattled and outnumbered Wookiee and assisted him with dispatching his attackers. I gave the Wookiee a med pak to heal his wounds as well as force healing him for he was close to death. He said his name was Grrrwahrr and that he and his companions had been attacked by stealthed ambushers. The Mandalorians had attacked like cowards waiting until the Wookiees were resting and did not have weapons to hand.
Canderous said they were probably poachers and had been the first to flee when the fighting had went against his people. I promised Grrrwahrr that I would seek them out if I could find them. He advised that they would not attack unless they thought we were unarmed and I nodded to him.
We secreted our weapons as best we could and continued on, shortly we came upon the bodies of three Wookiees and paused to examine them. I could tell that we had unseen guests with my force senses and I waited for the Mandalorians to unstealth themselves. As soon as they did we attacked them. The ferocity of our attack took the Mandalorians by surprise and we were able to kill our attackers without anyone being seriously hurt. We paused to heal and rest then continued onward. We came across another group of Mandalorians and had a slightly more difficult fight; I narrowly blocked a blow that would have decapitated Jolee when he was attacked briefly by all three Mandalorians. I was able to use my force powers to knock back the Mandalorians and the fight was easier afterwards. We found a signaling device on one of the Mandalorian bodies I pocketed it. We had gone only a short distance along the path when I spotted a group of swoop bikes back in a valley.
We cautiously approached and I could sense that there was no one about. I inserted the signaling device and we waited for the Mandalorians to respond to it, which they did after a short wait. Canderous and the Mandalorian Commander exchanged words and then the fight began. I once again used the force to break up our attackers and knock them back and down, and we were able to engage them separately. I fought against the Mandalorian Commander and was able to easily parry all of his attacks, he over extended and I took the opening and pierced him through the neck where he was unarmored. I turned to assist the others but all of the Mandalorians had been killed. I stripped the Commander of his armor and insisted that Canderous wear it, I told him "Canderous I know you like Davik's armor but pink really isn't your color." Canderous growled at me but accepted the blue and silver armor.
We proceeded back to where Grrrwahrr was resting and I presented the Wookiee with the damaged helmet of the Mandalorian Commander. Grrrwahrr thanked me for avenging his fellows and gave me the symbol of his hunting clan in thanks. I nodded to him and he proceeded back along the path to the upper Shadowlands. We returned to exploring the lower Shadowlands and finally in the distance saw the Wookiee that Jolee had spoken of, we approached him cautiously. The Wookiee would not listen to either I or Jolee and said only that all outsiders were enemies and attacked us. We were hindered by our desire not to kill the Wookiee and so it was a difficult fight, finally I managed to stun the Wookiee and he stopped fighting saying "I... I am beaten. Take my head, Czerka filth. You won't get another chance. So swears Freyyr of Kashyyyk." I blinked realizing this was Zaalbar's father and told him that I was not going to kill him and would he just listen for a moment. He said that I would only lie and I asked him if he knew Zaalbar and Chuundar. He asked why I would speak his son's names and I told him that I had come to Kashyyyk with Zaalbar, he asked if I was Zaalbar's owner and I told him that Zaalbar had swore a life- debt to me. He then told me of how he had not believed Zaalbar's claims and had exiled him but later had found out that Zaalbar had told the truth.
Freyyr told me there was a way to challenge Chuundar, he could appeal to the traditions of his people if we could recover Bacca's blade from the Great Beast. The blade had been broken a generation ago when Rothrrrawr fought the Great Beast and had broken the blade off in its hide. Several years ago a Jedi had come seeking the beast and like many before him the Jedi had not returned. He told us that we should display the bodies of the viper kinrath's we had killed in the Ritual Glade to the south of here and wait for the Great Beast to come. If we were successful there was a chance he could challenge Chuundar.
We had come across the Ritual Glade earlier and had been puzzled by the marker there, now we made our way back to it and hung the bodies of the kinraths from the vines in the glade and waited. It was not long before the Great Beast arrived; it matched the descriptions of the terentatek that I had been told of back on Dantooine. I knew that the beast would resist my force powers so I sprang to the attack determined to take it down. With the four of us fighting it, the beast did not last very long and I was able to recover Bacca's blade from the hide, within the body of the beast I found a journal and headband which I gingerly cleaned. I was amazed they had survived in the beast's stomach. The journal belonged to Gun Han Saresh and I wondered where his companions had been since he had fought the beast alone.
Curious I paused to read the journal, it revealed that Duran and Shaela had loved one another and had admitted their feelings for one another. He spoke of them as being doomed to fall to the dark side and he had abandoned them on Korriban. The tone of the journal was one of arrogance and he spoke of how the two had dared to warn him that he was on the dark path and that he had left the fools. He had heard of a beast on Kashyyyk and had gone there to slay it and prove that he did not need either Duran or Shaela with him to defeat the terentatek. I shook my head and sighed, it certainly sounded from the tone of the journal that whether he had known it or not he had begun the path down the dark side when he abandoned his companions.
We proceeded back to Freyyr and gave him the blade. Freyyr was energized by the finding of the blade and said that he should have challenged Chuundar long ago. I cautioned him to proceed carefully and he told me that he would climb to the surface and try to gather support. I told him we had one last task to perform in the lower Shadowlands before we could return to the surface and he said that he would wait for us before confronting Chuundar. With that he began to climb the great trees toward the surface.
Jolee now took the lead and we followed him to where the Star Map was located. I could see it from the distance as we approached, unlike the other Star Maps there was some type of installation around this one and amazingly a hologram of some unknown species stood in front of the installation. I walked up and addressed the hologram, the terminal said something about initiating a neural scan and that there was a prelimary match. Jolee was surprised at this since it had apparently said negative match to him before. I proceeded to ask the hologram questions about the installation and found out that it was 30,000 years old, records of the builders of the installation had been corrupted and were unavailable. I asked what the purpose of the installation was and it replied that it was an agricultural reformation installation built to increase the production levels of the planet. The hologram theorized that the installation was the cause of the giant trees of Kashyyyyk and mentioned that the planet had most likely been bio-seeded to allow the ecology to remain balanced. I could get no answers about who had installed the hologram interface except for the fact that it had occurred five years ago, about the time Revan had been here I commented.
I finally asked about the Star Map and the hologram said additional security access was needed, I needed to be made to match the parameters it had been supplied. It told me to answer its questions honestly and it would be able to determine whether I would be able to access the Star Map. I grimaced and then shrugged, there was no help but to play the computers game. It began by stating that both Zaalbar and I had been captured and if we remained silent we would each serve one year, if I said Zaalbar was a traitor he would serve five years while I served none. I told the computer that I would remain silent of course knowing that Zaalbar would remain silent as well. My reply seemed to puzzle the computer which told me that my loyalty was dangerous. I had a bad feeling about the way this was going but the computer had been clear that I could detect false answers.
I told the computer to continue and the next question dealt with a war situation. I had obtained information from intercepting a transmission that would allow me a victory in ten days, in five days the enemy would attack one of my cities but if I responded the enemy would know that I had found out their battle plans. I told the computer that I would evacuate my city. Unsurprisingly the computer said that it was shutting down and defense mode was being initiated. From the depths of the installation two attack droids appeared. I sighed and went to attack them. The droids did not last long and I went back to the computer hoping there was some way to activate the Star Map despite the interface's shut down.
To my surprise the interface was still active; it said that secondary scans during battle had revealed that its initial scan was incorrect and that I now meet the parameters to access the Star Map. It continued that it's had completed its primary duty and was finished with the subject. I tried to ask it what had changed during the battle but it said the information was not available, and that soon I would recognize the proper course to follow. I frowned at it and was about to retort, when the Star Map opened and the interface shut itself down.
Jolee mused that maybe the Star Map being an artifact of the dark side had an influence on the evolution of the creatures in the Shadowlands which might explain why it was so dangerous. He then said that we needed to return to the treetops and meet up with Freyyr now that we had the information we had come for. As we approached the basket Gorwooken attacked us yelling about us betraying Chuundar. Reluctantly I attacked him and had to kill him as he would not surrender. I had watched as he had operated the basket earlier and I was able to operate it to return us to the treetops. Chorrawl was waiting for us above and told us that Freyyr had went to confront Chuundar and that we should follow him to the throne room.
Freyyr, Chuundar and Zaalbar were all there and Chuundar dismissed the pieces of the sword as ancient trinkets, Zaalbar finally yelled at both of them to stop arguing. He asked me what I suggested they should do and though I didn't like Chuundar I though he should be given a chance to change. I advised Zaalbar to seek a compromise between the two sides so that the fighting among the Wookiee would end. Freyyr was willing to compromise with Chuundar but Chuundar was not willing to compromise with anyone and attacked Freyyr saying that he had Czerka support. The fight in the throne room was fierce but in the end we prevailed and Freyyr was once again the Chieftain. Freyyr apologized to Zaalbar for doubting him, and said that he had been blind. Zaalbar said that he forgave him, he had learned a lot over the years. Freyyr asked him to stay and I was willing to relieve Zaalbar of his life-debt but Zaalbar said that honoring that debt was more important to him now than ever before.
I asked Freyyr what he was going to do about the slavers and he said that he had sent quick-climbers to the other villages and that they would fight the slavers and drive them off the planet. We would be the last outsiders that were welcome on Kashyyyk for a long time. Freyyr asked what he could give us as a reward for all that we had done, and Zaalbar requested that Bacca's sword be remade and that it be given to him for safe keeping until he returned to his home. I smiled at Zaalbar and agreed that that sounded like a fitting reward, Zaalbar would make a great Chieftain someday.
We left for the Ebon Hawk and on our way to the landing pad assisted the Wookiees against the Czerka forces that were still opposing them. I hoped that Matton had been able to leave the planet before the fighting began. As we passed the area where he had been selling items I was relieved to see that the stall was gone and there was no sign of Matton among the bodies near the area. He must have sold his stock and managed to buy his way off planet.
We decided to stay on Kashyyyk that night and get a few fresh supplies and take the opportunity for everyone to get a good nights rest. I stopped to talk to Canderous and he was willing to tell me about the start of the Mandalorian War, they had started by conquering worlds just outside of the Republic quietly so that the Republic would not notice. When they had finally attacked Republic worlds they did so trying to provoke the Republic into a counter attack. Canderous called the Republic defenders cowards saying that they hid among the civilians, and thought that the Mandalorians would not use appropriate force against bases inside major cities. I looked at him and told him they could have found another way besides wiping out entire cities to defeat Republic shield devices. He exclaimed that cowards deserved to be hunted down and exterminated. Then he calmed and said that there was no honor in wiping them out like they had, but that some of the Republic forces had redeemed themselves in the Mandalorian eyes after Reven had joined the war. Canderous said that Revan was a genius on the battlefield and was willing to make sacrifices to win victories. I looked at him but let it pass that Revan had made the wrong decisions. Canderous said that in the end Revan proved to be too much for them, Revan fought them to a standstill and then began pushing them back. Canderous said that it was what they had wanted all along a battle worth fighting.
Canderous paused then said that the battle was supposed to be the most glorious battle in their history, but it was a costly one. There were not alot of them left after the last battle, Revan defeated Mandalore personally. The survivors were stripped of their armor and weapons and forced to watch as they were destroyed. Some of his people had taken to raiding worlds, and were nothing more than bandits now. Canderous had ended up on Taris as an enforcer for Davik, but it was not a worthy challenge. He said that now with me he thought he might find opponents worth fighting. I told him I was honored and I was, though I strongly disagreed with many of his ideas.
I also had a chance to catch up with what Juhani had been up to while we were in the Shadowlands. She looked bothered by something and began the conversation by saying "I never told you where I came from, did I? Where I grew up as a child? I suppose I was trying to deny what I was feeling." I was puzzled and asked her what she meant. She grew agitated and said she needed someone to blame for the destruction of her homeworld, for the deaths of everyone she had known except those on Datooine. I was stunned and realized she must mean she had grown up on Taris. I tried to apologize to her but she continued that it was my and Bastila's fault that her homeworld had been destroyed, I tried to get a word in edgewise but she said "Just let me vent my anger, I need someone to blame anyone!"
I nodded and let her continue, she said that she had an ache in her heart where all her childhood memories were and my face was there with them. She wound down and I apologized to her. She seemed to deflate and then said "I... I know... I suppose I realized that. But it is so hard to lose your entire past. You would not understand." She paused then realizing what she had said to me and dropped her eyes, I did know what it was like to lose my past. I told her that it would be alright, and she said that she supposed that it would, if we remained focused on our task.
I left her to calm down and went to rest in my bunk for awhile, it was not to be though for Bastila tracked me down and hesitated. I said "You look like you have something to say" I said while lying down on my bunk. Bastila stood there and I finally sat up and she said "I do. I have been trying to come up with the best way to say this for some time, but I suppose I should just come out and say it." I looked at her curiously and she continued "The truth is, I have come to depend on you. Not just for the sake of the mission, but for my own sake as well. I am... I am glad you are with us." I blinked and then grinned and said "What was that? I think I'm going deaf. You better say it again." Bastila smiled back at me and said "Now you're teasing me. You know very well what I said." I put a hand to my heart and fell back in my bunk and said "I'm still reeling from the shock. Was that a compliment?" Bastila was starting to look a bit annoyed with me and said "Well, yes. Surely that is not so surprising." I stared at her and said "You're kidding, right?"
Bastila smacked my thigh with her hand in annoyance and I laughed at her and she said "No, I'm not. Why must you make this so difficult for me? Can't you just accept a simple compliment?" I replied "Maybe I was distracted by the grudging manner in which it was given." Bastila looked me in the eye and said "I see. Is there nothing I can do to make it up to you? I would rather we were friends." I had to drop my gaze so as to not ruin the moment and got myself under control and glanced back at Bastila. She was blushing and looking elsewhere, damnable bond I thought betrays me every time. I replied mildly "I would like that I suppose."
Bastila looked back at me and said "I know my manner can be a bit taciturn. I know you must be getting sick of my lectures about the dark side and... and everything else. I spent all my years being hounded by my instructors. Being told so often how gifted and important I was until I was sick of it. I remember when I was younger I used to swear that I would never become as self-absorbed and stodgy as the Jedi Masters. It's ironic, really" I smiled at her and said "Nonsense. You're not self-absorbed or stodgy." She shook her head and said "That's kind of you to say, but I know that it's not really true." I said to her softly "You don't have to be that way."
She looked at me and said "Being controlled has kept everyone around me at an arm's length; even those like yourself who are most in need of my understanding and compassion. But maybe it's time to change that. You deserve to know how much I respect and admire you. I had to tell you how much I care for you." I looked at her searchingly and she quickly said "As a friend of course." I held her gaze a moment but accepted what she was offering for now and replied "I'm glad you did." Bastila said "Well, that was not nearly so difficult as I feared. Thank you for hearing me out. I feel... I feel much better."
I showed the journal to Bastila and she said something about Duran and Shaela falling to the dark side, I looked at her and told her to re-read it again and look at the way Gunn had phrased his statements. She frowned at me but re-read it and from the crease in her forehead I could see that she was now seeing what I saw. She finished and looked at me and I said to her "I do not know if they fell but his tone indicates that they were correct in their warning to him. The bond was supposed to have been among the three of them, maybe the two of them acknowledging their feelings affected him somehow, making him more susceptible to the dark side on Korriban." I shrugged; there was no way of knowing exactly what had happened. Bastila nodded and returned the datapad to me, after that she left me to my rest.
After a few hours I decided to get up and get something to eat. Carth was also eating and he looked morose and was pushing the food around on his plate. I asked him what the matter was and he confided that he had been trying to remember his wife's face, he could remember the way she smiled, and what her hair smelled like but not her face and he said it felt like he was loosing her. I told him he still remembered the important things but he shook his head stubbornly and said that he should be able to remember her face. He said the thing that had kept him going since her death had been the need to find Saul and kill him. He said that maybe if he could find and kill Saul that he could let her go. Carth wanted me to promise that I would let him kill Saul but I told him that things didn't work that way in a battle and he knew it. He reluctantly nodded and said "Whether it does or not, that's the way it has to be. I... guess there's no need to discuss it until then." We finished our meals in silence and I went to find Juhani to see if she had calmed down since her earlier outburst.
She apologized for her earlier outburst and talked about how miserable her childhood had been on Taris, how her family had struggled to just survive. How the humans from the upper levels would occasionally visit with their droid escorts and laugh at them. She said that she had meet several decent humans though since Taris. I knew she was thinking of the Jedi she had meet on Taris and I encouraged her to continue. She said that I reminded her of the Jedi who encouraged her to join the Order, she saw something of her when she looked at me. She said that she sometimes cursed the day her parents fled to Taris but then again, if they had not, she would not be where she was today.
I asked her about her parents and she told me of how her homeworld had been attacked by the Mandalorians, her people had a reputation as warriors, and that appealed to the Mandalorian version of honor. The Mandalorians had destroyed everything that moved; the few Cathar that survived packed themselves into the remaining ships and attempted to escape. A few of them had survived. Her parents had settled on Taris, and Juhani admitted that it was a terrible choice. Her father had turned to stimulants, and spent too much time in bars. One day he was provoked into a fight by a man who had killed him like an animal. I nodded to her when she said that she couldn't continue right now and gave her a hug and sat awhile with her until she looked calmer.
We headed back to Tatooine before going to Manaan so that I could deliver the Tach glands to Griff. Mission had been fairly angry and had rambled about how maybe a few broken bones would do Griff some good, but she also didn't want him seriously hurt. I pointed out that no one could change Griff, he would have to decide to change himself. Mission and Jolee decided to come along with me once we reached Tatooine, and we headed out for the Czerka offices. Along the way an old man stopped us and asked us if we had seen a mechanic. Jolee look startled and then called him by the name Davin, Davin peered at Jolee then called him by his name. It was obvious the two knew each other and had known each other for a long time. Davin commented that Jolee looked much like he had the last time he saw him, said that Jolee pickled well. Mission and I chuckled at this and Jolee glared at us. Jolee said we really had to be off and Davin said that he supposed Jolee had heard about Sunry? Jolee shook his head and Davin informed him that Sunry was being held for murder on Manaan and that he could probably use Jolee's assistance about now. Jolee said that it was up to me and I told him we would look into it first thing, Manaan was our next destination.
We delivered the tach glands to Griff and Mission asked that this be his last scheme. Griff said that he had turned over a new leaf and the ale would be a big investment for us, did I want to put in some cash? I steadfastly refused and he finally said that it was my loss and went off to brew the ale. We decided to wait around the few hours it would take for the attempt to see if it went well. While we were waiting on the Ebon Hawk I decided to ask Jolee about the friend we had meet and who was Sunry?
Jolee said he hadn't been a hermit all his life, and even though he hadn't seen Sunry in twenty years he was still a friend. He couldn't see him as a murderer though he admitted people could change a lot in twenty years. He said that Sunry had put him up in his home for a year after Jolee had left the Order, and was a war hero he had heard. He said that he owed it to him to help him if it was possible, and I nodded to him. Since he seemed relatively talkative I decided to ask him why he had decided to come with us and leave Kashyyyk. He said that I had a fast little ship, he had forgotten what engines sounded like, the closest thing to that on Kashyyyk was an uller in mating season. I blinked at this description and he added Ugh! frightful. I could see that he was going to be difficult about this and I said "So you wanted a ride on my ship?" He said maybe it was the free food and what was that gunk that came out of the synthesizer anyway did I never have it cleaned. Since I knew darn well the synthesizer had been cleaned recently I ignored the comment, but I decided it might be a good idea to have it cleaned on Manaan. I said "No, seriously, tell me." He told me he was old and entitled to be enigmatic when he wanted to be.
He also said that I reminded him of someone else he had known ages ago, pleasant fellow, great destiny, and breath like a bantha. I chuckled and decided what to say next since he was trying to bait me. I answered "Did you annoy this person endlessly, too?" He chuckled at the comeback and said it wasn't it fault I was impatient. But he did continue with his story the mans name had been Andor Vex, the Force had swirled around him like a hurricane. I decided on a noncommittal reply and asked "And you traveled with this man?" Jolee said that he had, and mentioned that just because someone has the Force swirling about them didn't mean that they had a great destiny but it was worth checking out. He continued and said that Andor believed a bit too much in the infallibility of that destiny and it turned into his downfall. I wondered if he was telling me to not to depend on the mysterious destiny that the Jedi Masters had talked about constantly.
I had always been put off by their comments, all the great destiny talk had just sounded like pep talks to me. I had never needed pep talks, and the implication that I was somehow more essential to the mission than others had irritated me. The team was essential not any one of us, and I could die at any time. If that happened I fully expected the others to proceed with the mission and not declare defeat just because I had been killed. I was a team player not some glory seeking individualist. Team work had been drilled into us all during training and so had the contempt the instructors had for those of us who though of ourselves before the team, of course those people had been weeded out during training. Covert Ops had no room for the glory seeker, they got too many people killed seeking the fame they wanted.
I realized that Jolee seemed to be waiting for me to say something and I asked "Is there supposed to be some hidden meaning in this?" He replied that he didn't know was I overconfident? He hadn't noticed and if he did he wouldn't comment on it. I grimaced at that, some help he was. Jolee continued that we were talking about Andor anyway not me and he had been a young lad with a full head of hair at the time and had thought Andor's destiny was pretty boring. He had been ready to leave Andor when they had been captured by Kraat a Dimean. Kraat had them hauled to the bridge of his ship for questioning and Andor, believing his destiny made him invulnerable told him he wasn't answering questions didn't he know who Andor was? I waited for Jolee to go on with the story, wondering how the arrogant idiot had gotten himself killed. Kraat had started choking Andor and then decided to toss him into a energy intake shaft. Jolee started chuckling and said that Andor had bounced around in the shaft screaming and had apparently hit something sensitive on the way down, because all the ship alarms started ringing.
I said in disbelief "You're kidding..." Jolee continued describing how everyone had panicked at that point and he was able to make it to his ship and leave before Kraat's ship exploded. The Dimeans never recovered and it had changed the political course of the entire sector. He looked at me and said "I'd call that quite a destiny, wouldn't you?" There was really no other way to for me to reply, I looked at him with narrowed eyes, I was both amused and insulted and replied "I hate you, old man..." Jolee choked off a laugh and said "Well that's the ingratitude of youth for you. I relate an exciting tale and do I get thanked for it? No, no." I had to finally laugh at that and he rambled on for a bit more and finally said maybe we should go check up on young Griff.
We went back to the Czerka office, Griff wasn't there so I asked the store owner if he was still brewing the ale. The store owner told us that Griff had left a message for us, he had made a mistake in brewing the ale and had decided to leave Tatooine before the Exchange realized he had failed. He had hopped aboard the last shuttle off Tatooine and the storeowner had no idea where he was headed. Small loss the storeowner commented, Griff had been one of his worst employees and he thought he might have been stealing from him.
Mission said "Damn it, Griff - won't you ever learn? How can my own flesh and blood be so stupid!" At this the store keeper said he had one last message. Griff had said to tell his sister goodbye and he was sorry. As we were headed back to the ship Mission pause to thank me for all my help with her brother. She said that it didn't appear anything had changed because of it but at least she knew we tried to help him. I commented that he could still change and Mission nodded saying she knew people could change no matter how bad they were, but she wasn't holding her breath where her brother was concerned. She was thankful to him for looking after her when she was a young kid but she had no more illusions about her brother and she didn't feel that she owed him anything anymore. I told her that was a very mature attitude for her to have and she said that she had made her peace with who Griff was and what he meant to her, if he showed up again she would deal with him then but she wasn't going to dwell on him anymore it was time for her to move on.
I nodded and put a companionable arm over her shoulders and we entered the ship, I was quite proud of her and how she had dealt with her issues with her brother.
That night I pulled out my mandovil and took requests for a few hours, I had done this infrequently before and after seeing how everyone apparently enjoyed the evening I resolved to take the time to play more. Everyone's spirits seemed to rise after one of these impromptu concerts, and besides if when we could get Bastila to sing she had a very nice singing voice. Jolee surprisingly turned out to have a nice tenor range even though he grumbled about how he sounded. I played some of the tunes I had been working on, everyone commented after I was done that they were beautiful works. I hadn't really looked at anyone while playing them but I finally glanced toward Bastila and was surprised to see what I thought was a wistful look on her face that quickly disappeared as she realized I was looking at her. I wondered if she had picked up through our bond that they were songs I had composed for her.
Kashyyyk – Questioning, a Star Map and a Wookiee Rebellion
We returned down to the Shadowlands and went to Jolee's home. He asked where Bastila was and I told him that she had gotten ill and had decided to return to our ship. He nodded to us and joined the group and we proceeded to were he indicated the barrier was located. As we approached I could see the blue shimmer of the sonic barrier that prevented us from entering the lower Shadowlands. Jolee disabled the barrier and we crossed into the lower Shadowlands. As we walked down the path we heard the sounds of a battle and the sound of a Wookiee battle cry. I glanced at my companions and we broke into a run, as we rounded a bend in the path we saw a lone Wookie fighting with some Mandalorians.
We rushed to the aid of the embattled and outnumbered Wookiee and assisted him with dispatching his attackers. I gave the Wookiee a med pak to heal his wounds as well as force healing him for he was close to death. He said his name was Grrrwahrr and that he and his companions had been attacked by stealthed ambushers. The Mandalorians had attacked like cowards waiting until the Wookiees were resting and did not have weapons to hand.
Canderous said they were probably poachers and had been the first to flee when the fighting had went against his people. I promised Grrrwahrr that I would seek them out if I could find them. He advised that they would not attack unless they thought we were unarmed and I nodded to him.
We secreted our weapons as best we could and continued on, shortly we came upon the bodies of three Wookiees and paused to examine them. I could tell that we had unseen guests with my force senses and I waited for the Mandalorians to unstealth themselves. As soon as they did we attacked them. The ferocity of our attack took the Mandalorians by surprise and we were able to kill our attackers without anyone being seriously hurt. We paused to heal and rest then continued onward. We came across another group of Mandalorians and had a slightly more difficult fight; I narrowly blocked a blow that would have decapitated Jolee when he was attacked briefly by all three Mandalorians. I was able to use my force powers to knock back the Mandalorians and the fight was easier afterwards. We found a signaling device on one of the Mandalorian bodies I pocketed it. We had gone only a short distance along the path when I spotted a group of swoop bikes back in a valley.
We cautiously approached and I could sense that there was no one about. I inserted the signaling device and we waited for the Mandalorians to respond to it, which they did after a short wait. Canderous and the Mandalorian Commander exchanged words and then the fight began. I once again used the force to break up our attackers and knock them back and down, and we were able to engage them separately. I fought against the Mandalorian Commander and was able to easily parry all of his attacks, he over extended and I took the opening and pierced him through the neck where he was unarmored. I turned to assist the others but all of the Mandalorians had been killed. I stripped the Commander of his armor and insisted that Canderous wear it, I told him "Canderous I know you like Davik's armor but pink really isn't your color." Canderous growled at me but accepted the blue and silver armor.
We proceeded back to where Grrrwahrr was resting and I presented the Wookiee with the damaged helmet of the Mandalorian Commander. Grrrwahrr thanked me for avenging his fellows and gave me the symbol of his hunting clan in thanks. I nodded to him and he proceeded back along the path to the upper Shadowlands. We returned to exploring the lower Shadowlands and finally in the distance saw the Wookiee that Jolee had spoken of, we approached him cautiously. The Wookiee would not listen to either I or Jolee and said only that all outsiders were enemies and attacked us. We were hindered by our desire not to kill the Wookiee and so it was a difficult fight, finally I managed to stun the Wookiee and he stopped fighting saying "I... I am beaten. Take my head, Czerka filth. You won't get another chance. So swears Freyyr of Kashyyyk." I blinked realizing this was Zaalbar's father and told him that I was not going to kill him and would he just listen for a moment. He said that I would only lie and I asked him if he knew Zaalbar and Chuundar. He asked why I would speak his son's names and I told him that I had come to Kashyyyk with Zaalbar, he asked if I was Zaalbar's owner and I told him that Zaalbar had swore a life- debt to me. He then told me of how he had not believed Zaalbar's claims and had exiled him but later had found out that Zaalbar had told the truth.
Freyyr told me there was a way to challenge Chuundar, he could appeal to the traditions of his people if we could recover Bacca's blade from the Great Beast. The blade had been broken a generation ago when Rothrrrawr fought the Great Beast and had broken the blade off in its hide. Several years ago a Jedi had come seeking the beast and like many before him the Jedi had not returned. He told us that we should display the bodies of the viper kinrath's we had killed in the Ritual Glade to the south of here and wait for the Great Beast to come. If we were successful there was a chance he could challenge Chuundar.
We had come across the Ritual Glade earlier and had been puzzled by the marker there, now we made our way back to it and hung the bodies of the kinraths from the vines in the glade and waited. It was not long before the Great Beast arrived; it matched the descriptions of the terentatek that I had been told of back on Dantooine. I knew that the beast would resist my force powers so I sprang to the attack determined to take it down. With the four of us fighting it, the beast did not last very long and I was able to recover Bacca's blade from the hide, within the body of the beast I found a journal and headband which I gingerly cleaned. I was amazed they had survived in the beast's stomach. The journal belonged to Gun Han Saresh and I wondered where his companions had been since he had fought the beast alone.
Curious I paused to read the journal, it revealed that Duran and Shaela had loved one another and had admitted their feelings for one another. He spoke of them as being doomed to fall to the dark side and he had abandoned them on Korriban. The tone of the journal was one of arrogance and he spoke of how the two had dared to warn him that he was on the dark path and that he had left the fools. He had heard of a beast on Kashyyyk and had gone there to slay it and prove that he did not need either Duran or Shaela with him to defeat the terentatek. I shook my head and sighed, it certainly sounded from the tone of the journal that whether he had known it or not he had begun the path down the dark side when he abandoned his companions.
We proceeded back to Freyyr and gave him the blade. Freyyr was energized by the finding of the blade and said that he should have challenged Chuundar long ago. I cautioned him to proceed carefully and he told me that he would climb to the surface and try to gather support. I told him we had one last task to perform in the lower Shadowlands before we could return to the surface and he said that he would wait for us before confronting Chuundar. With that he began to climb the great trees toward the surface.
Jolee now took the lead and we followed him to where the Star Map was located. I could see it from the distance as we approached, unlike the other Star Maps there was some type of installation around this one and amazingly a hologram of some unknown species stood in front of the installation. I walked up and addressed the hologram, the terminal said something about initiating a neural scan and that there was a prelimary match. Jolee was surprised at this since it had apparently said negative match to him before. I proceeded to ask the hologram questions about the installation and found out that it was 30,000 years old, records of the builders of the installation had been corrupted and were unavailable. I asked what the purpose of the installation was and it replied that it was an agricultural reformation installation built to increase the production levels of the planet. The hologram theorized that the installation was the cause of the giant trees of Kashyyyyk and mentioned that the planet had most likely been bio-seeded to allow the ecology to remain balanced. I could get no answers about who had installed the hologram interface except for the fact that it had occurred five years ago, about the time Revan had been here I commented.
I finally asked about the Star Map and the hologram said additional security access was needed, I needed to be made to match the parameters it had been supplied. It told me to answer its questions honestly and it would be able to determine whether I would be able to access the Star Map. I grimaced and then shrugged, there was no help but to play the computers game. It began by stating that both Zaalbar and I had been captured and if we remained silent we would each serve one year, if I said Zaalbar was a traitor he would serve five years while I served none. I told the computer that I would remain silent of course knowing that Zaalbar would remain silent as well. My reply seemed to puzzle the computer which told me that my loyalty was dangerous. I had a bad feeling about the way this was going but the computer had been clear that I could detect false answers.
I told the computer to continue and the next question dealt with a war situation. I had obtained information from intercepting a transmission that would allow me a victory in ten days, in five days the enemy would attack one of my cities but if I responded the enemy would know that I had found out their battle plans. I told the computer that I would evacuate my city. Unsurprisingly the computer said that it was shutting down and defense mode was being initiated. From the depths of the installation two attack droids appeared. I sighed and went to attack them. The droids did not last long and I went back to the computer hoping there was some way to activate the Star Map despite the interface's shut down.
To my surprise the interface was still active; it said that secondary scans during battle had revealed that its initial scan was incorrect and that I now meet the parameters to access the Star Map. It continued that it's had completed its primary duty and was finished with the subject. I tried to ask it what had changed during the battle but it said the information was not available, and that soon I would recognize the proper course to follow. I frowned at it and was about to retort, when the Star Map opened and the interface shut itself down.
Jolee mused that maybe the Star Map being an artifact of the dark side had an influence on the evolution of the creatures in the Shadowlands which might explain why it was so dangerous. He then said that we needed to return to the treetops and meet up with Freyyr now that we had the information we had come for. As we approached the basket Gorwooken attacked us yelling about us betraying Chuundar. Reluctantly I attacked him and had to kill him as he would not surrender. I had watched as he had operated the basket earlier and I was able to operate it to return us to the treetops. Chorrawl was waiting for us above and told us that Freyyr had went to confront Chuundar and that we should follow him to the throne room.
Freyyr, Chuundar and Zaalbar were all there and Chuundar dismissed the pieces of the sword as ancient trinkets, Zaalbar finally yelled at both of them to stop arguing. He asked me what I suggested they should do and though I didn't like Chuundar I though he should be given a chance to change. I advised Zaalbar to seek a compromise between the two sides so that the fighting among the Wookiee would end. Freyyr was willing to compromise with Chuundar but Chuundar was not willing to compromise with anyone and attacked Freyyr saying that he had Czerka support. The fight in the throne room was fierce but in the end we prevailed and Freyyr was once again the Chieftain. Freyyr apologized to Zaalbar for doubting him, and said that he had been blind. Zaalbar said that he forgave him, he had learned a lot over the years. Freyyr asked him to stay and I was willing to relieve Zaalbar of his life-debt but Zaalbar said that honoring that debt was more important to him now than ever before.
I asked Freyyr what he was going to do about the slavers and he said that he had sent quick-climbers to the other villages and that they would fight the slavers and drive them off the planet. We would be the last outsiders that were welcome on Kashyyyk for a long time. Freyyr asked what he could give us as a reward for all that we had done, and Zaalbar requested that Bacca's sword be remade and that it be given to him for safe keeping until he returned to his home. I smiled at Zaalbar and agreed that that sounded like a fitting reward, Zaalbar would make a great Chieftain someday.
We left for the Ebon Hawk and on our way to the landing pad assisted the Wookiees against the Czerka forces that were still opposing them. I hoped that Matton had been able to leave the planet before the fighting began. As we passed the area where he had been selling items I was relieved to see that the stall was gone and there was no sign of Matton among the bodies near the area. He must have sold his stock and managed to buy his way off planet.
We decided to stay on Kashyyyk that night and get a few fresh supplies and take the opportunity for everyone to get a good nights rest. I stopped to talk to Canderous and he was willing to tell me about the start of the Mandalorian War, they had started by conquering worlds just outside of the Republic quietly so that the Republic would not notice. When they had finally attacked Republic worlds they did so trying to provoke the Republic into a counter attack. Canderous called the Republic defenders cowards saying that they hid among the civilians, and thought that the Mandalorians would not use appropriate force against bases inside major cities. I looked at him and told him they could have found another way besides wiping out entire cities to defeat Republic shield devices. He exclaimed that cowards deserved to be hunted down and exterminated. Then he calmed and said that there was no honor in wiping them out like they had, but that some of the Republic forces had redeemed themselves in the Mandalorian eyes after Reven had joined the war. Canderous said that Revan was a genius on the battlefield and was willing to make sacrifices to win victories. I looked at him but let it pass that Revan had made the wrong decisions. Canderous said that in the end Revan proved to be too much for them, Revan fought them to a standstill and then began pushing them back. Canderous said that it was what they had wanted all along a battle worth fighting.
Canderous paused then said that the battle was supposed to be the most glorious battle in their history, but it was a costly one. There were not alot of them left after the last battle, Revan defeated Mandalore personally. The survivors were stripped of their armor and weapons and forced to watch as they were destroyed. Some of his people had taken to raiding worlds, and were nothing more than bandits now. Canderous had ended up on Taris as an enforcer for Davik, but it was not a worthy challenge. He said that now with me he thought he might find opponents worth fighting. I told him I was honored and I was, though I strongly disagreed with many of his ideas.
I also had a chance to catch up with what Juhani had been up to while we were in the Shadowlands. She looked bothered by something and began the conversation by saying "I never told you where I came from, did I? Where I grew up as a child? I suppose I was trying to deny what I was feeling." I was puzzled and asked her what she meant. She grew agitated and said she needed someone to blame for the destruction of her homeworld, for the deaths of everyone she had known except those on Datooine. I was stunned and realized she must mean she had grown up on Taris. I tried to apologize to her but she continued that it was my and Bastila's fault that her homeworld had been destroyed, I tried to get a word in edgewise but she said "Just let me vent my anger, I need someone to blame anyone!"
I nodded and let her continue, she said that she had an ache in her heart where all her childhood memories were and my face was there with them. She wound down and I apologized to her. She seemed to deflate and then said "I... I know... I suppose I realized that. But it is so hard to lose your entire past. You would not understand." She paused then realizing what she had said to me and dropped her eyes, I did know what it was like to lose my past. I told her that it would be alright, and she said that she supposed that it would, if we remained focused on our task.
I left her to calm down and went to rest in my bunk for awhile, it was not to be though for Bastila tracked me down and hesitated. I said "You look like you have something to say" I said while lying down on my bunk. Bastila stood there and I finally sat up and she said "I do. I have been trying to come up with the best way to say this for some time, but I suppose I should just come out and say it." I looked at her curiously and she continued "The truth is, I have come to depend on you. Not just for the sake of the mission, but for my own sake as well. I am... I am glad you are with us." I blinked and then grinned and said "What was that? I think I'm going deaf. You better say it again." Bastila smiled back at me and said "Now you're teasing me. You know very well what I said." I put a hand to my heart and fell back in my bunk and said "I'm still reeling from the shock. Was that a compliment?" Bastila was starting to look a bit annoyed with me and said "Well, yes. Surely that is not so surprising." I stared at her and said "You're kidding, right?"
Bastila smacked my thigh with her hand in annoyance and I laughed at her and she said "No, I'm not. Why must you make this so difficult for me? Can't you just accept a simple compliment?" I replied "Maybe I was distracted by the grudging manner in which it was given." Bastila looked me in the eye and said "I see. Is there nothing I can do to make it up to you? I would rather we were friends." I had to drop my gaze so as to not ruin the moment and got myself under control and glanced back at Bastila. She was blushing and looking elsewhere, damnable bond I thought betrays me every time. I replied mildly "I would like that I suppose."
Bastila looked back at me and said "I know my manner can be a bit taciturn. I know you must be getting sick of my lectures about the dark side and... and everything else. I spent all my years being hounded by my instructors. Being told so often how gifted and important I was until I was sick of it. I remember when I was younger I used to swear that I would never become as self-absorbed and stodgy as the Jedi Masters. It's ironic, really" I smiled at her and said "Nonsense. You're not self-absorbed or stodgy." She shook her head and said "That's kind of you to say, but I know that it's not really true." I said to her softly "You don't have to be that way."
She looked at me and said "Being controlled has kept everyone around me at an arm's length; even those like yourself who are most in need of my understanding and compassion. But maybe it's time to change that. You deserve to know how much I respect and admire you. I had to tell you how much I care for you." I looked at her searchingly and she quickly said "As a friend of course." I held her gaze a moment but accepted what she was offering for now and replied "I'm glad you did." Bastila said "Well, that was not nearly so difficult as I feared. Thank you for hearing me out. I feel... I feel much better."
I showed the journal to Bastila and she said something about Duran and Shaela falling to the dark side, I looked at her and told her to re-read it again and look at the way Gunn had phrased his statements. She frowned at me but re-read it and from the crease in her forehead I could see that she was now seeing what I saw. She finished and looked at me and I said to her "I do not know if they fell but his tone indicates that they were correct in their warning to him. The bond was supposed to have been among the three of them, maybe the two of them acknowledging their feelings affected him somehow, making him more susceptible to the dark side on Korriban." I shrugged; there was no way of knowing exactly what had happened. Bastila nodded and returned the datapad to me, after that she left me to my rest.
After a few hours I decided to get up and get something to eat. Carth was also eating and he looked morose and was pushing the food around on his plate. I asked him what the matter was and he confided that he had been trying to remember his wife's face, he could remember the way she smiled, and what her hair smelled like but not her face and he said it felt like he was loosing her. I told him he still remembered the important things but he shook his head stubbornly and said that he should be able to remember her face. He said the thing that had kept him going since her death had been the need to find Saul and kill him. He said that maybe if he could find and kill Saul that he could let her go. Carth wanted me to promise that I would let him kill Saul but I told him that things didn't work that way in a battle and he knew it. He reluctantly nodded and said "Whether it does or not, that's the way it has to be. I... guess there's no need to discuss it until then." We finished our meals in silence and I went to find Juhani to see if she had calmed down since her earlier outburst.
She apologized for her earlier outburst and talked about how miserable her childhood had been on Taris, how her family had struggled to just survive. How the humans from the upper levels would occasionally visit with their droid escorts and laugh at them. She said that she had meet several decent humans though since Taris. I knew she was thinking of the Jedi she had meet on Taris and I encouraged her to continue. She said that I reminded her of the Jedi who encouraged her to join the Order, she saw something of her when she looked at me. She said that she sometimes cursed the day her parents fled to Taris but then again, if they had not, she would not be where she was today.
I asked her about her parents and she told me of how her homeworld had been attacked by the Mandalorians, her people had a reputation as warriors, and that appealed to the Mandalorian version of honor. The Mandalorians had destroyed everything that moved; the few Cathar that survived packed themselves into the remaining ships and attempted to escape. A few of them had survived. Her parents had settled on Taris, and Juhani admitted that it was a terrible choice. Her father had turned to stimulants, and spent too much time in bars. One day he was provoked into a fight by a man who had killed him like an animal. I nodded to her when she said that she couldn't continue right now and gave her a hug and sat awhile with her until she looked calmer.
We headed back to Tatooine before going to Manaan so that I could deliver the Tach glands to Griff. Mission had been fairly angry and had rambled about how maybe a few broken bones would do Griff some good, but she also didn't want him seriously hurt. I pointed out that no one could change Griff, he would have to decide to change himself. Mission and Jolee decided to come along with me once we reached Tatooine, and we headed out for the Czerka offices. Along the way an old man stopped us and asked us if we had seen a mechanic. Jolee look startled and then called him by the name Davin, Davin peered at Jolee then called him by his name. It was obvious the two knew each other and had known each other for a long time. Davin commented that Jolee looked much like he had the last time he saw him, said that Jolee pickled well. Mission and I chuckled at this and Jolee glared at us. Jolee said we really had to be off and Davin said that he supposed Jolee had heard about Sunry? Jolee shook his head and Davin informed him that Sunry was being held for murder on Manaan and that he could probably use Jolee's assistance about now. Jolee said that it was up to me and I told him we would look into it first thing, Manaan was our next destination.
We delivered the tach glands to Griff and Mission asked that this be his last scheme. Griff said that he had turned over a new leaf and the ale would be a big investment for us, did I want to put in some cash? I steadfastly refused and he finally said that it was my loss and went off to brew the ale. We decided to wait around the few hours it would take for the attempt to see if it went well. While we were waiting on the Ebon Hawk I decided to ask Jolee about the friend we had meet and who was Sunry?
Jolee said he hadn't been a hermit all his life, and even though he hadn't seen Sunry in twenty years he was still a friend. He couldn't see him as a murderer though he admitted people could change a lot in twenty years. He said that Sunry had put him up in his home for a year after Jolee had left the Order, and was a war hero he had heard. He said that he owed it to him to help him if it was possible, and I nodded to him. Since he seemed relatively talkative I decided to ask him why he had decided to come with us and leave Kashyyyk. He said that I had a fast little ship, he had forgotten what engines sounded like, the closest thing to that on Kashyyyk was an uller in mating season. I blinked at this description and he added Ugh! frightful. I could see that he was going to be difficult about this and I said "So you wanted a ride on my ship?" He said maybe it was the free food and what was that gunk that came out of the synthesizer anyway did I never have it cleaned. Since I knew darn well the synthesizer had been cleaned recently I ignored the comment, but I decided it might be a good idea to have it cleaned on Manaan. I said "No, seriously, tell me." He told me he was old and entitled to be enigmatic when he wanted to be.
He also said that I reminded him of someone else he had known ages ago, pleasant fellow, great destiny, and breath like a bantha. I chuckled and decided what to say next since he was trying to bait me. I answered "Did you annoy this person endlessly, too?" He chuckled at the comeback and said it wasn't it fault I was impatient. But he did continue with his story the mans name had been Andor Vex, the Force had swirled around him like a hurricane. I decided on a noncommittal reply and asked "And you traveled with this man?" Jolee said that he had, and mentioned that just because someone has the Force swirling about them didn't mean that they had a great destiny but it was worth checking out. He continued and said that Andor believed a bit too much in the infallibility of that destiny and it turned into his downfall. I wondered if he was telling me to not to depend on the mysterious destiny that the Jedi Masters had talked about constantly.
I had always been put off by their comments, all the great destiny talk had just sounded like pep talks to me. I had never needed pep talks, and the implication that I was somehow more essential to the mission than others had irritated me. The team was essential not any one of us, and I could die at any time. If that happened I fully expected the others to proceed with the mission and not declare defeat just because I had been killed. I was a team player not some glory seeking individualist. Team work had been drilled into us all during training and so had the contempt the instructors had for those of us who though of ourselves before the team, of course those people had been weeded out during training. Covert Ops had no room for the glory seeker, they got too many people killed seeking the fame they wanted.
I realized that Jolee seemed to be waiting for me to say something and I asked "Is there supposed to be some hidden meaning in this?" He replied that he didn't know was I overconfident? He hadn't noticed and if he did he wouldn't comment on it. I grimaced at that, some help he was. Jolee continued that we were talking about Andor anyway not me and he had been a young lad with a full head of hair at the time and had thought Andor's destiny was pretty boring. He had been ready to leave Andor when they had been captured by Kraat a Dimean. Kraat had them hauled to the bridge of his ship for questioning and Andor, believing his destiny made him invulnerable told him he wasn't answering questions didn't he know who Andor was? I waited for Jolee to go on with the story, wondering how the arrogant idiot had gotten himself killed. Kraat had started choking Andor and then decided to toss him into a energy intake shaft. Jolee started chuckling and said that Andor had bounced around in the shaft screaming and had apparently hit something sensitive on the way down, because all the ship alarms started ringing.
I said in disbelief "You're kidding..." Jolee continued describing how everyone had panicked at that point and he was able to make it to his ship and leave before Kraat's ship exploded. The Dimeans never recovered and it had changed the political course of the entire sector. He looked at me and said "I'd call that quite a destiny, wouldn't you?" There was really no other way to for me to reply, I looked at him with narrowed eyes, I was both amused and insulted and replied "I hate you, old man..." Jolee choked off a laugh and said "Well that's the ingratitude of youth for you. I relate an exciting tale and do I get thanked for it? No, no." I had to finally laugh at that and he rambled on for a bit more and finally said maybe we should go check up on young Griff.
We went back to the Czerka office, Griff wasn't there so I asked the store owner if he was still brewing the ale. The store owner told us that Griff had left a message for us, he had made a mistake in brewing the ale and had decided to leave Tatooine before the Exchange realized he had failed. He had hopped aboard the last shuttle off Tatooine and the storeowner had no idea where he was headed. Small loss the storeowner commented, Griff had been one of his worst employees and he thought he might have been stealing from him.
Mission said "Damn it, Griff - won't you ever learn? How can my own flesh and blood be so stupid!" At this the store keeper said he had one last message. Griff had said to tell his sister goodbye and he was sorry. As we were headed back to the ship Mission pause to thank me for all my help with her brother. She said that it didn't appear anything had changed because of it but at least she knew we tried to help him. I commented that he could still change and Mission nodded saying she knew people could change no matter how bad they were, but she wasn't holding her breath where her brother was concerned. She was thankful to him for looking after her when she was a young kid but she had no more illusions about her brother and she didn't feel that she owed him anything anymore. I told her that was a very mature attitude for her to have and she said that she had made her peace with who Griff was and what he meant to her, if he showed up again she would deal with him then but she wasn't going to dwell on him anymore it was time for her to move on.
I nodded and put a companionable arm over her shoulders and we entered the ship, I was quite proud of her and how she had dealt with her issues with her brother.
That night I pulled out my mandovil and took requests for a few hours, I had done this infrequently before and after seeing how everyone apparently enjoyed the evening I resolved to take the time to play more. Everyone's spirits seemed to rise after one of these impromptu concerts, and besides if when we could get Bastila to sing she had a very nice singing voice. Jolee surprisingly turned out to have a nice tenor range even though he grumbled about how he sounded. I played some of the tunes I had been working on, everyone commented after I was done that they were beautiful works. I hadn't really looked at anyone while playing them but I finally glanced toward Bastila and was surprised to see what I thought was a wistful look on her face that quickly disappeared as she realized I was looking at her. I wondered if she had picked up through our bond that they were songs I had composed for her.