14: Into the Long Dark

Lal's boots clicked in swift staccato on the gleaming steel of the ramp that lead into the belly of the Ebon Hawk. Turning into the central rec chamber, she saw Zaalbar huddled over a coiled heap of milky white cyberoptic cabling, with a fuser clutched in a huge furry paw, throwing up tiny gouts of sparks as he reattached the stripped leads within the cable. Beside him, Mission held up Ay-Vee's sensor module to her eye and peered through it. Zaalbar snapped a curt bark at the Twi'lek and she immediately placed the charred component back down on the table before her, where Ay-Vee's blackened chassis sat and warbled hopelessly.

Lal stopped and drank them in…their scents…their silhouettes in the eddying flows of the Force. Like a hand gently pressing against a sheet of silk, she could feel them, feel the weight of them in the air. Her heart pounded faster as she realized this; a flush of excitement, heating the skin on her cheeks, quickening her pulse. Had she felt this before? Had she always been able to feel them this way? Had she always relied instinctively on this sense, never knowing that it was unique to her? Unique to a Jedi Knight? It felt odd; as if she had just been told that she was the only person in the universe with a sense of smell…

She felt herself smiling at them…for no reason. She moved behind Mission and laid her hands on the girl's shoulders. The contact felt good, rich and warm. It felt right.

"Lal," Mission said sourly, "you kinda stink…"

Lal sighed in reply, rousing from her brief reverie of sensation. She chuckled and playfully swatted mission across the back of her skull. "Not as badly as you, smelly-girl. You probably didn't notice because of this great smelly old Carpet sitting beside you, though."

Zaalbar growled out a comment about Wookiees smelling exactly like they were supposed to smell. Then he suggested that they both roll around in some katarn dung to improve their own native scents.

"I don't quite know about that," Lal replied, "but I am dying for a shower. She glanced over at the Fresher adjoining the chamber and frowned. "Not much in the way of privacy, though…"

Zaalbar snorted an offhand comment about Lal's modesty and Mission began giggling. Lal rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Zaalbar, I think you've missed your true calling as a comedian. I didn't know Wookiees had a sense of humor."

Zaalbar grumbled something under his breath, which Lal chose to ignore. She made her way to the Fresher but stopped when she noticed Mission's rifle propped up against the edge of the table. She turned back to look at Mission and said, "You did well out there. I…you did well."


After luxuriating under the gentle thrum of the sonic shower, Lal put her Slipsuit back on and stepped out of the Fresher to head to the starboard crew berth. She stepped in, thinking to close the door for a bit of privacy to put her hair up, but she felt a familiar gust, like a warm breeze drenched in sunlight. She smiled without turning and sat down on a bunk with her legs crossed. Carth drifted in behind her, leaning on the top bunk as she activated a holo-mirror display to put her hair up. She could see him watching her in the mirror's reflection. She could almost taste the errant thoughts skipping along the surface of his mind.

"Can I help you Captain Onasi?" she asked, teasing him.

He chuckled and shook his head. "You…uh…your hair…looks nice like that. Down, I mean…"

"It's not exactly functional," she told him as she separated her long dark tresses into two thick streams, bundling them slowly into tight buns at the back of her head. "Gets in the way."

"Then why don't you cut it?"

She stared at herself in the mirror, with her hair up and sighed. "Haven't really had much of an opportunity. I used to have it short. I think. I…it feels too long sometimes…I'm always putting it up it seems. But I never cut it…"

He sat down behind her and put his hand on her shoulder. A tingle of excitement rushed through her at his touch and she laid her hand over his. She glanced over her shoulder at him and resisted the urge to brush back the unruly spikes that hung over his brow.

"You could use a shave," she told him.

"I uh…haven't had much of an opportunity…"

"I thought you Republic flyboys were all clean shaven and spit-polished sorts."

"Maybe at one point. I guess things change, hmm?"

She lowered her eyes and nodded. She glanced back into the mirror for a moment, and then, pulled the buns free, letting her hair tumble downwards. "I suppose they do."

He leaned towards her, sweeping her hair from her shoulders, back, away from her throat. Where his fingers brushed against her, she tingled, even through the shiny fabric of her Slipsuit. She shifted on the bunk, turning her body into his, leaning towards him, wanting to feel his lips against hers…

But a wall crashed down over his thoughts, and he eased back from her, taking his hand away. A frown briefly shaded her face, and she wondered why he had pulled away. He hadn't resisted her kisses before.

"What is it, Carth?" she asked him softly, taking his hand in both of hers.

"I…"

"You're not still angry with me, are you? I thought we had gotten past that."

"No, Lal," he whispered. "I'm not angry…I'm just…it's just that…"

"You want to know what's going on," she finished for him.

"Well, yes. That would be nice…"

"But there's something else…you're worried about something…"

"Damn, what did you do, go from exotic assassin to Jedi psychologist?"

"Job qualifications are exactly the same. Reading people is one of the requirements of both professions, you know."

"Bastila won't tell me what I need to know. Either she doesn't know, or simply refuses to tell me. The Council is like a wall. And my last orders were pretty much vague as hell. There's a war going on, and I'd like to know when I'm gonna be able to fight it."

"Oh Carth…" she fell silent, wondering what was safe to share with him. Perhaps the Council didn't want her running her mouth, but then again, they hadn't exactly been forthcoming. Looking at Carth's eyes, she knew what is was like to be left alone in the dark. "I…I've been having these odd dreams. Dreams about the Jedi…about Revan and Malak."

"Dreams, huh? Like…visions or something?"

Her cheeks reddened and she nodded. "Probably sounds silly to you…"

"Nothing you could say would ever sound silly to me, Lal."

She glanced up at him hopefully, searching his face. Then he smiled and added, "Well, if you said you were gonna paint your nose red…that would probably sound pretty silly…"

She grinned despite herself and chucked her fist against his shoulder. "If you're going to tease, I simply won't say anything, Captain Onasi."

"Of course," he nodded, snapping off a mock salute. "Sorry, ma'am."

"Mmm-hmm. Just don't do it again. I still have contacts you know."

"So I've heard. So, visions. Alright. I know the Jedi are pretty big on visions, but I don't really know too much beyond that."

She folded one leg beneath her and went on, "I don't think I know much more than you except to say that I've had one…er…well, more than one…but it's the one I had about Revan and Malak that has the Council interested."

"Does this have anything to do with that Cathar girl you brought back?"

"Juhani…no. Well…yes. No…not her…rather the…being that I encountered in the Grove. Perhaps indirectly. You see, Master Dorak said that there were these ruins once used by the previous inhabitants of this world…these places resonate strongly in the Force…"

"Okay," he said, "hold on a sec. What exactly does that mean?"

"Oh…I'm not really sure! From what I understand of it, the Force is a…an energy field that surrounds everything…maybe like…imagine yourself floating in a pool of water…if someone else jumps in, the water ripples, and you feel it…"

He nodded. "And the bigger the things that falls into the pool, the stronger the disturbance…ripples spreading further? Damn, Lal, why is it that you are the only person who has ever explained the Force in a way that makes sense?"

"I don't know…I…it just seemed like the best way to describe it…"

Carth stared at her for a moment. "That was something you remembered, wasn't it? From before."

"I guess it must have been…" She brushed a curl of hair from her brow, tucking it behind her ear and shook her head. "Sorry…well, in my dream…vision…whatever it was, I saw Revan and Malak in this, this…place. They had found something. I couldn't see it, but it felt like it was…well, terribly important. Maybe dangerous. I think they set that Shadow thing free."

"Intentionally?"

"No…I don't get the sense that they knew about it…they were trying to hide from the Jedi…it was before they fell to the Dark Side. Malak was…he was so…young…handsome."

"Handsome?" Carth grunted. "The guy wears a mask. He can't be that good-looking…what about Revan? Was he handsome too?"

"He was…I don't know…I couldn't see him very well I don't think…"

"Figures," Carth snorted sourly, "piece of filth was probably wearing a mask back then too."

"Carth…that's not…that…I mean…they had broken from the Council in my dream, but even so, they were still trying to…to protect the Council from whatever was in that place…"

"I get it," Carth nodded dubiously, "you're trying to tell me they were still good guys back then. "As if that matters, Lal. Those two destroyed my world. Killed my wife and son. I know they were once good…that just makes what they did all the worse."

"Carth, I know. I wasn't trying to justify--"

"It's not a new story," he went on venomously, his eyes glinting coldly, staring beyond her. "Ever since men found a way to gain power over other men, there have been guys like Revan…like Malak. Power can be a poison, and it spreads its effects to everyone it touches, turning good men to bad, making it easier and easier for them to make choices that are atrocities…"

Lal fell silent and watched him rant. She was afraid to speak; afraid to further ignite his rage. But as he railed on about Revan and Malak, she felt the wall surrounding his thoughts collapse. Slashes of memory and slices of agony tore through her suddenly, tearing a gasp from her throat. Her mind could form no words to describe the shearing onslaught of images and thoughts and fears and hatred that blazed from him. She had never experienced anything like this surge of emotion pouring form him into her.

Her head spun and her body threatened to collapse. And a distant anger rose within her; anger at her own weakness in the face of this new challenge to her will. Anger at falling to it…

Her fists shriveled into hard little balls and her muscles tensed into cords of steel wire. She opened eyes burning with heat and screamed. "Carth!"

He fell silent and focused on her, as if seeing her face for the first time. Then he saw the trembling in her taut body, shivers along her arms, in her cheeks; the clenching of her teeth. "Lal…what is it…?"

"Y-you…y-your r-rage…" she hissed tightly, closing her eyes and fighting to control her sudden madness. "I'm not the one who did these things, damn you! Don't you…don't ever…you…"

"Lal…" he reached out to grip her shoulders, but she struggled away from his hands. He fought through her resisting arms to take hold of her. He pulled her close, embracing her, and her struggles instantly died. "I'm sorry, Lal. You're right. Of course you're right. I didn't mean to upset you…You didn't deserve that outburst…I'm sorry."

In his tight embrace, she pressed her head against his shoulder and nodded slowly. Her anger fled her as swiftly as it had seized her, and her arms gingerly slipped around his waist. She felt the slow rhythm of his breathing, mingling with the thrum of his heart beat. She felt her own pulse mirroring his, entangling together into one distant thunder.

He opened his mouth to speak, but his voice faltered. "I told you…about the Sith destroying my world…"

She nodded against his shoulder again.

"That's not the whole…story. Telos saw some hard times. During the war with the Mandies…But we were fighters. Any man whose home is threatened will fight in his own way. I was always a pilot, you know. When I was a kid, I flew my dad's little twin engine Seeder, recharging the soil beds on the banks, whenever the rivers would get too low in the dry season. That's how a lot of people made money when the droughts came. We lost our own plots some years earlier…wide scale blow-outs; hard winds come crashing over the mountains and literally blow away the topsoil…some folks started building artificial farms in terraces on the sides of cliffs. Used to be a time when the soil on the river banks was rich enough to be shipped to those terrace farms. But that only lead to other problems. Floodplains weren't really broad enough for that sort of thing. And when we got hit by the droughts, well, do the math.

"So, anyways, we'd developed ways to recharge the soil by overhead seeding. It was good money. Stake a plot of river-land, sell the soil when it was recharged. But it was also tricky work. You had to be a good pilot, flying those valleys. I got to be one of the best. So when the Mandies came in their basilisks and fighters, some of us got in our Seeders and took 'em on. We couldn't take 'em one on one unless we lured them down into those steep valleys and chasms.

"When the Republic came to help us, their resources were stretched pretty thin. They couldn't spare their fighter squadrons and battle groups for one planet on the Rim. But they did send the Black Sabers."

"Who?"

"Black Sabers. A loose affiliation of rogues and smugglers who were on the republic's payroll from…well, from way back. They had a reputation for being able to handle the bush-wars that were too…ah…dirty for the Republic's forces…Tough bastards. They were led by a man named Saul Karath. When Karath came with his Sabers, he was impressed by us pilots. Impressed by our ability to routinely defeat Mandie fighters and Basilisks with minimal or no weaponry. Karath was the man that convinced me to join the regulars, even after Telos had been liberated. That was when I discovered that Karath was more than just the leader of the Sabers. He was regular military himself. Special Forces. When I was fighting on Telos, I joined the Sabers. And when the battle left Telos, I followed Karath back into regular service. He was a good friend back in those days.

"But things change, don't they? I was loyal to Karath. He taught me a lot. I would have died for him, Lal. But that all changed when I learned…when I saw with my own eyes, Karath and Revan and Malak…executing enemy soldiers. Not killing in battle…executing. Putting defeated, disarmed soldiers to death. You know why they did it? Not to demoralize the Mandies. They don't see death the same way we do. It doesn't scare them a single bit. I've seen Mandalorian women…no older than Mission, throw themselves into bonfires rather than be taken prisoner by the enemy. Death before dishonor. Mostly, it didn't come down to that, because the Mandies always fought to the death. But sometimes…sometimes, that wasn't an option. Mostly, when we took Mandie prisoners, we'd find them the next morning…having committed suicide. That was honorable to them, and that's what they did.

"but like I said, sometimes, they couldn't. We took to keeping them in shackles so we could interrogate them…hell, even just to keep them from killing themselves. It was against Republic conventions to allow an enemy combatant to come to harm while in captivity. If it could be avoided. But Revan…he and Malak started putting them to death when they were out on the front. Beyond supply lines…out in the cold where insanity is pretty much the only law. They'd leave the bodies humiliated and violated for the Mandie forces to find. It didn't demoralize them; it pissed them off. Enraged them. It drove them crazy. They started to throw strategy right out the door. Made foolish assault simply for the sake of vengeance. Basically, their rage blinded them to tactics. Made them stupid."

Lal nodded silently. She knew how easy it was to defeat a foe made foolish by rage.

"I confronted Karath about it. I couldn't believe it at first. But he admitted it, like…like there was nothing wrong with it. He told me, 'when you fight a monster, you must become a monster.' Can you believe that? I didn't buy into it. A lot of soldiers did, I guess…do. They think that pointing a gun at another living being in war gives them the right to be monsters. To commit any atrocity against the enemy. To call war hell is like saying a Hutt is a little overweight. It's true, but it doesn't come close to the reality. But it's important for civilized beings to remember that they are civilized. That they're not monsters, because after war, the business of peace takes precedence. But men like Revan and Malak…and Karath, their entire lives are consumed by war. By a need to make war. Without it, they lose their power. They lose the very thing that makes them stronger than others."

"I suppose that's why the Jedi didn't want to get involved in the war?" Lal asked in a soft, tiny voice, hugging him tightly.

"No…I reckon not," he said after a while. "But that's not why I hate Saul Karath."

Lal pulled back from Carth to stare into his eyes. She took his hand in hers, holding it on her lap. "What is it Carth? Why do you feel so much hatred for this man?"

He sighed and lowered his eyes. "He destroyed my planet, Lal. He destroyed my home. He was following orders from Revan and Malak, but he stood on the bridge of the ship that slid into orbit…He ordered his officers to target the cities and the villages. He ordered his gunners to hit the targets again and again. He gave the order to target lifesigns and keep firing. Saul Karath took my world away from me. And I mean to make him pay for that."

She wanted to tell him something comforting, something to remove the pain. She wanted to tell him to let go of his anger. That he couldn't live his life for vengeance, that his wife wouldn't have wanted that. She wanted to say those things, but when the words formed on her tongue, they wilted upon her lips. Just because she now wore a lightsaber, it didn't qualify her to preach morality, to speak about what was right and wrong. To give advice.

Truth was, she would have dipped her hands in the man's blood without a thought to right and wrong. Taris had been the school in which she had learned her lessons of morality. Anything she might say to Carth now would feel cheap and shallow. She only knew one way to comfort a man after all. Well, perhaps two ways…

"Carth, I…"

"So now you know," he cut in with a hard whisper. "Now you know all there is to know about me. Being a Republic soldier doesn't give me any moral high ground over you. All the times I tried to act like I was…like I was better because I had something to fight for…it was all hypocrisy…"

He stood and moved away from the bunk, turning his back to her. She understood now why he was so impatient to get back to the war. To his war. She understood his frustration, his drive. She understood his anger.

Lal stood up and moved behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. She laid her head against his shoulder and squeezed him tightly to her. "Carth," she said in a gentle whisper, "do shut up. You've already proved yourself a thousand times over. This…feeling you have…wanting to punish this Karath…it doesn't make you a hypocrite. It doesn't make you anything. And wanting to do it doesn't change who you are." She turned him around to face her, and stared up into his eyes. "Carth, I don't know what to say about Karath. But I do know that I wouldn't be here if you hadn't stumbled into my life. And, given the fact you had the good sense to save my life, you can't be all that bad a man."

She finished her words with a kiss and leaned into his strong embrace, pressing against him. Their lips met in a desperate crush and their breaths merged in a cloud of heat. Carth's hands whispered across the glossy surface of her Slipsuit, roaming along her body. She let his curiosity wander and explore while she reveled in the caress of his lips against hers.

"I thought that Jedi didn't uh…indulge themselves…like this," he murmured, gazing hungrily at her.

She smiled and stepped backwards, towards the bunk, pulling him with her. "Funny thing about that, I can't seem to remember…one way or the other…"

He kissed her again, and she tasted his desire for her upon her tongue. They collapsed backwards onto the bunk and he pressed atop her. She reached down to press the switch on her belt that would remove her Slipsuit…

And the door hissed open.

"Lal, I…" Bastila stopped inside the doorway as she saw the two of them. Her face turned bright red and her mouth hung open.

Lal glanced past Carth's shoulder at her sister and groaned inwardly. Carth's gaze lingered on her a moment longer, and then he pulled away, breathing heavily. He glanced at Bastila and then lowered his eyes. Lal fell the wall rising back over his thoughts again…

Bastila regained her composure and closed her mouth. She lifted her chin and arched an eyebrow to glare critically at Lal and Carth. "Forgive me for intruding. I suppose I should leave you now to indulge your base animalistic passions in privacy."

Lal caught Bastila's eye and nodded desperately, but immediately stopped when Carth glanced over at her. Carth squeezed her hand and stood before her. "I'll be going with you tomorrow, Lal."

"Oh…really?" Lal squeaked. "Well, I--"

"I'm afraid you can't, Carth," Bastila said archly, icicles dripping from her words. "This is Jedi business. I'm sure you understand."

"I do, Bastila," he sighed. "I'm just making it my business too. I'm sure you understand." He moved past her and turned back to nod once at Lal while Bastila searched for a response. He smiled at both of the sisters and left.

Lal growled softly and rolled her eyes. "Wonderful. You couldn't have found a worse moment to walk in here if you'd tried, Basi."

Bastila's eyes widened incredulously, and she sputtered out a string of stammering disbelief. "Why I…you…of all the…how in…I…ohhh!"

Lal stood and placed her hands on her hips defiantly. "Here it comes…"

"Lal! You…you're a Jedi! We cannot…do that!"

"Do what?"

"That! What you were doing with Carth! It's forbidden!"

"You mean kissing?" Lal asked innocently.

"Kissing? You call that kissing? The two of you looked like a double-humped Sirrilian Octopod! All bloody arms and legs! A Jedi cannot engage in…relations…like…like that!"

"Oh don't be absurd, Basi. You're overreacting."

"Lal, love is an emotion that can lead to the Dark Side as easily as hate! We do not form attachments because of that reason! It is forbidden."

"Oh, who said anything about love, Bastila? We were merely kissing is all."

"Your thoughts betray you, sister," Bastila countered, calming her voice. "I can sense your emotions for him. Not that anyone needs to be a Jedi to notice!"

Lal narrowed her eyes and folded her arms across her breasts. "I see. Surprising that the Jedi would forbid any of their order to love when they obviously don't forbid them from poking their bloody noses into everyone else's business, don't you think?"

"I am not poking my nose into your business!" Bastila gasped. "I am your sister--"

"My nosy sister! Well, I have a question for you, sister dear. If the Jedi frown upon emotional attachments, then what do they think about you and me?"

"I…" Bastila frowned and turned away, searching for a response. "I'd rather not discuss this right now…"

"No? Well, you brought it up, Basi. The Council frowns on us speaking to our parents? On kissing? But they don't seem to have a problem shoving two sisters together? Doesn't that strike you as a bit odd?"

"I just came in to inform you that our transport was ready."

"That's lovely. What about my question? I can tell you have something on your mind, Basi. I can sense your feelings as easily as you can mine. You're hiding something. Tell me."

"Lal, I have no time for this…"

"Because you're simply so very busy, I suppose?" Lal dashed to stand in the door, blocking Bastila from leaving. "Tell me."

"Lal, I…"

"Tell me."

Bastila sighed and threw her hands up in frustration. "You're always doing this, you know…or at least you were! Doing your best to drive me insane!" Bastila whirled to face Lal and jabbed a finger at her. "You wish to know the truth? The truth is…the truth is you never listened to the Council. You were always rebellious and stubborn…in your own way…They thought your stubbornness would make you unsuitable for advanced training, but somehow, you managed to excel at it…The truth is, no matter how much they tried to separate us, you always found a way to be with me…Breaking the rules."

Lal felt her shoulders loosen and she stepped forward to lay her hands on Bastila's shoulders. "Is that such a bad thing, then? We are sisters…we should be close, Basi. It is the way of things that children be allowed to see their parents, that sisters should be close and that bloody grown people should be allowed to…have relations, as you put it. Just because it may or may not lead to the Dark Side doesn't mean it should be ignored."

"You sound so very much like you used to, Lal."

"Good. That means I've been making sense for a long time then," Lal smiled, gently patting Bastila's cheek.

"Lal, just because you believe it does not mean it is right. The Sith fell to the darkness because they could not control their passions. It is a great danger the Jedi face every day."

"I cannot argue that, Basi. I don't even care to, because I don't fully understand all of this. But I do know this: you cannot master a thing by turning away from it. By ignoring it. There is no ignorance…"

"There is knowledge…"

"That's right. One thing I learned on Taris was that you have to know yourself before anything else. Back then, I thought it was just knowing the limits of what you are capable of…of how far you're willing to go…But it also means you must know your heart before you can control it, don't you think? That's why I've put up with all of this. To know who I am."

"And what will you do, Lal? When you've learned all that you've forgotten?"

"How can I answer that, Basi? Is predicting the future another Jedi ability, then?"

"Actually…"

"Nevermind. I never make a plan beyond the things I can see anyway."

"Lal…if you could go back…back to Taris, back to being what you were…would you?"

Lal frowned at the suddenness of Bastila's question. She let her sister's thoughts seep into her head and saw that it had been something that had long weighed upon Bastila's mind. A fear, perhaps. An old fear…

Lal sat down on a bunk, tugging Bastila down beside her. They sat together, their legs pressed against each other, shoulders touching. And to Lal, it felt like interlocking pieces of a puzzle fit snugly into place. It was an odd thing to have emotions with no memories to explain them.

"Bastila, you changed my life. It seems I was trapped on Taris for so long…not so much being trapped on the planet as…well, being trapped in that life. I did not ever imagine that my life would be anything else. I don't know if your world, your life can ever fit me, but at least…at least my skies are no longer bound by kilometer-high towers and walls stained with the ruin of society. To answer your question, Sister, I wouldn't go back to being Davik Kang's assassin for all the credits in the galaxy. On Taris, all I saw was opportunity. Now, when I look around, when I see you, or Mission, or even Carth, I see only…possibilities. Does that make any sense, Basi?"

Bastila turned to her with a little girl's wide, uncertain eyes. Not the stiffness and veiled arrogance of a Jedi. Now, she was just a little sister trying to listen to her big sister. For one moment, she was nothing more than that. Bastila shook her head and waited for Lal to go on.

"I don't know if I can explain it any better. Don't know if I understand the difference myself…I've always been in a maze, Bastila. Endlessly turning corners, stumbling into dead-ends, retracing my steps. Searching for an exit that never could be found. I'm still in a maze…the Council has made sure of that. But even so, I feel like the exit is very close. That for once in my life, every step I take brings me closer to getting out of the maze."

"You still do not trust the Council, do you?"

"Bastila, all of this…the lightsaber…the powers…I don't know if this is in my future. All I know from them and from you is that it is a part of my past. Whether it will be my future…I can't say. But I intend to find out."

"I…I wish I could make you understand how great a threat Darth Malak is, Lal. And how important you are to the struggle."

"To me, Malak is nothing more than a man who abuses power. They came cheap on Taris. I don't know that fighting him is…well, I don't know. All I know is that this man is in my dreams, and there must be a reason for it. Hopefully, tomorrow, I'll find out that reason."


"This the same Soro-Suub from yesterday?" Carth asked as he circled around the massive speeder. He carried a cargo sack over his right shoulder and swung it down to the ground with a heavy thunk. Bastila sighed at his arrival and glanced down at the bag.

"Weapons, Carth?" she asked. "They will probably be of very little use to you where we are going. If there are dangers, they will likely be beyond the power of a simple blaster."

"That's why I brought grenades too," he told her.

Bastila shook her head in disbelief and climbed inside the speeder. Carth chuckled at her distress and glanced over to Lal. She stood at the mouth of the Enclave's vehicle bay, where the main door stood open to the chill morning. Her long brown hair danced in the cold breeze and her eyes glistened with the reflection of distant rays of sunlight peeking just above the wide, flat horizon.

She wore a heavy gray field jacket over her Slipsuit. It was so big that it hung down well past her hips. She huddled within the depths of the jacket, hugging herself for warmth. She turned at his approach and smiled. Carth stared at her for a minute, and nodded once before climbing into the speeder behind Bastila.

Frowning at his distance, not understanding it, Lal moved to join them inside, but she stiffened as another presence tugged at her senses. Canderous emerged from the shadows and moved to stand before her. She marveled at how silently the Mandalorian moved, even though he wore his full suit of battered blue armor. He wore a massive, heavy barreled rifle slung over his shoulder and carried a helmet in the crook of his arm. The helmet was sleek, like the tip of some archaic but deadly projectile, and was adorned only with an ominous and narrow slit that served as a visor. Something Mandalorian Hunters wore.

"Someone forgot to mail my invitation, I believe," Canderous growled.

"This is my business, Canderous. Not yours."

"Ah. And did you say the same to the soldier-boy?"

Lal cocked her head to the side and frowned. "Carth has his reasons, I suppose…"

"And, I suppose, so do I."

"So I gather. Mind telling me what they are, Canderous?"

"Mmm…I prefer to retain my mystery. If only in the hopes of catching you naked again."

"Always good to have a dream, I guess."

Canderous glanced at the cockpit through the windshield where he could see Carth and Bastila arguing about who would sit at the controls. "Of course, there is always your little sister. She's got quite a good deal of…spunk. Maybe I'll claim her and see if she's got the same little--"

"Canderous," Lal warned, "I have this thing called a lightsaber. It is exceedingly effective at slicing things off of other things. Vital things."

He chuckled and moved to tower over her. "Don't worry. I'll be a gentleman. She wears too many clothes for my tastes anyway. So, can we get on with this, or do you intend to compose a poem while staring off into the trackless morn?"

"You don't even know where we're going or why."

"Maybe I do and maybe I don't. But, for now, I walk with you."


They ranged north in the speeder, which smelled oppressively of stale Wookiee fur and scorched droid parts. Carth sat at the controls and Lal sat beside him as she had the day before, watching the grasses whip past in the newborn morning sunlight. They blazed past a farming community squatting on the dew-slick plains in a series of flat, earthen structures that reminded Lal of bunkers. There were a few ranches out this way, resting in lonely huddled repose in broad, ancient floodplains. According to the map, at any rate. Lal only saw one, and it looked abandoned, blackened as if from some old fire. She glanced back at the place as they zoomed past, and wondered what had happened to leave the place so dead and so still.

But after that, nothing stood on the grassy plains. Occasionally, short, rounded canyons rose up to snake around their path and unfold undulating arms of pale, worn stone. The sun stretched high into the air, painting the sky in broad strokes of gold and red. Bastila had told Lal that this world had always been home to her, her most favorite of places in all the galaxy. Lal didn't know if she felt the way Bastila had claimed, but that rich velvety sky was almost worth bearing the unyielding flatness of the land. The colors lairing within the lazy, swollen clouds filled her with warmth, wrapping her around like a snug blanket.

But as day passed slowly into darkness, Lal felt a shiver enter her spine. As the sun slipped beneath the horizon, the colors bled from the sky and from the land, leaving only a pale gray shroud and pools of shadow. Dantooine's night left Lal with a chill that had nothing to do with the brisk air. Perhaps it was the memory of Kath Hounds controlled by the Shadow; great massive packs moving with one mind, suffused with a hideous intellect.

But there were no packs hunting her. There was nothing alive in the night at all. Lal didn't understand the tautness stringing her muscles so tightly; didn't understand the source of cold quiet dread that had entered her skull.

As Carth hurled the speeder along, Lal's eyes caught tiny little hints of things she had seen before…vague shapes of rocks that coalesced into landmarks within half-formed memories. Patterns of canyons that made her think she had seen them before…been there before. Was that truly possible? Had she been here before? With Revan and Malak? Or was she just seeing what she had dreamed; remembering more?

"Lal?"

Lal glanced over, realizing Carth had called her name. "Hmm?"

"I was asking if there was anything on the map," he told her. "This looks like one great big slice of nothing."

Lal glanced down at the map on the screen of her wrist-comp and blinked a few times. She saw a ring of non-descript lumps resting against the rear of a box canyon on the map, with a text-link indicating that these structures were supposed to be the ruins they sought. "Another kilometer or so," she replied in a soft, tiny voice. "Around the next bend…"

Carth sighed and leaned the Speeder into a broad curve around a low canyon wall. As they crawled around the sweep of the pile of weathered stone, Lal caught the first glimpse of it. A ring of black tines jabbing up above the edge of the canyon. The closer they came, the more she could see of the spines; a crown of dark stone monoliths shooting starkly up from the ground at the far side of the canyon, each ebon stack towering like some ancient guardian.

Bastila eased into the cockpit behind them and leaned over the back of Lal's chair. Lal felt Bastila's warm presence as a comfort, a blanket that she wanted to wrap around her snugly. Bastila's hand fell upon Lal's shoulder, almost as if to provide comfort. Lal wondered if Basi was even aware she had done that.

"Father would be so very fascinated to see this," Bastila murmured distantly, staring at the cluster of monoliths. Lal sighed and struggled to subdue the anxiety boiling in her belly.

Bastila glanced down at her sister and pulled her hand away. She cleared her throat and said, "Yes, I can sense it too, Lal…they do look familiar."

Carth glanced over at them with an arched eyebrow. "How's that?" he asked. "You two have been here before?"

"The dream I had, Carth," Lal explained.

"Oh…right. Wait a minute," Carth frowned, "Bastila, you had the same dream?"

Bastila nodded at Carth and pursed her lips. "Of course, Carth. We are sisters. We share a bond unlike anything you could possibly have experienced."

"Oh. Right. Of course. What was I thinking? I don't know which is more mysterious…Jedi, or women. Maybe Jedi who are women…"

"Look," Lal called out, pointing. "Is that a speeder bike?"

Carth pulled their speeder up short, swinging the end around and cutting the engine off. They ground to a halt ten meters from the monoliths and the four of them climbed down out of their vehicle. Carth led the way, keeping Lal and Bastila behind him. He slipped a pair of low-light glasses on over his eyes and tapped the power switch. Canderous ranged out to their left, his helmet covering his face completely. He moved with the prowling tentative steps of a hunting saber cat, holding his massive blaster rifle up to his shoulder.

"Aratech 340," Carth noted, looking the speeder bike over with a critical eye. "Maybe a C or D? They don't make 'em like this anymore. Hell…look at that. Custom job."

"Master Nemo had a speeder bike," Bastila said, glancing around. Her fingers tapped the surface of her lightsaber, hanging at her waist. "He would not leave it unattended unless…"

"There are no signs of a struggle," Canderous noted. "There are tracks that lead from the speeder…" He pointed the barrel of his weapon into the midst of the monoliths and Lal's eyes followed.

She was just barely able to make out a depression in the ground that led to a dark hump of a structure. Squinting, she could see it was a building, fashioned from the same black stone, crouching, huddling in the night, like a beast waiting to pounce on unwary prey.

"Reminds me of the penitentiary on Gallos IV," Canderous growled. A small bunker above ground that lead to the prison under the surface."

"Why am I not surprised by that?" Carth grunted.

Canderous turned to glare at him through the slit of his visor. "Hunted a man who was locked away inside. He was running a Death Stick trade with the collusion of the warden…"

"You mean to tell me you actually killed someone who deserved it?" Carth chuckled incredulously.

"Well…the price was right, after all."

"We don't have time for this," Bastila sighed stepping forward, towards the entrance. Lal followed close behind, her hand brushing the hilt of her own lightsaber where it bounced against her hip.

"Hold on, you two," Carth called out, moving ahead of them. "There might be booby traps…"

"I sense no such threats," Bastila said, glancing around. "Obviously, Master Nemo entered without any difficulty."

"Not so obvious," Carth pointed out. "What if there are no signs of struggle because he never made it in? Just be careful is all I'm saying."

Bastila opened her mouth to reply, but instead simply nodded.

Carth turned and scowled at the door, a slab of smooth black stone. There were no controls to speak of, not even a handle. "Canderous, that helmets have scanning equipment in it?" Carth asked.

Canderous ran his gaze up and down the surface of the door in silence. He gave a shake of his head and propped the rifle onto his shoulder. "Not seeing anything. Of course, that doesn't mean there are no traps. If there are, I simply cannot detect them." He leaned a bit closer to Carth and chuckled, "Have you thought about knocking?"

"Be my guest," Carth replied.

"You're the polite one, 'Public…"

"Heavens," Lal sighed, reaching out and pushing on the door. It slid inward with a whisper of stone sliding against stone and snapped rapidly upwards. It revealed a tunnel that drank up the moonlight and spit forth only darkness. A gust of air whispered forth across her cheeks, filling her nose with the murky stink of wet stone and soil. The smell reminded her of Undercity with its dank and huddled horrors, squirming from the light…

Cold blue light, wavering as footsteps clicked out a steady patina that bounced echoes down a long corridor…

Beside her, Bastila gasped and staggered against the doorway. Carth was quick to grip her arm before she could collapse. Lal turned her head slowly, dreamily to look at her sister…Bastila's skin seemed very white in the moonlight, and her voice seemed to reverberate from far away.

"I'm fine…I…momentarily…I am fine," Bastila murmured, shaking her head. She shrugged out of Carth's grasp and steadied herself against the door frame. "Th-this place…strong in the Dark Side,"

"You think?" Canderous snorted, casting a wary glare at the entrance and the black corridor. "I could have told you that, and I don't even believe in your vaunted dark side."

Bastila snapped her head towards him and fixed him with a stabbing glare. "A foolish conceit, Canderous Ordo. You don't know the power of the Dark Side! It is--"

"Bah," he sighed, waving his gloved hand. "Good Jedi, bad Jedi, all the same. Only difference is in what methods they are willing to use to gain power. Not in how far they are willing to go to gain it. Even a good man, with a fanatic's commitment to his goals is…dangerous."

Bastila frowned and mulled his words over for a moment. "That may or may not be true, but--"

"There is no 'but', Jedi," Canderous cut in casually. "Wrapping mere temptation in the mysterious cloak of the dark side is merely a clever rationalization…a means of instilling the fear of some intangible devil into children and young Jedi too foolish to determine the nature of good and evil on their own. Dogmatic nonsense."

"Canderous," Carth began with a chuckle, "I'm surprised. That's actually a complete thought that doesn't end with 'and then I killed them all.' You're making progress."

Before Canderous could fire off a reply, Bastila spoke in a low growl, "It is not wise to underestimate the power of the Force, Canderous. Not wise at all."

"Spare me your veiled threats, Jedi. I have seen Jedi powers in battle, and have killed more than a few of your kind myself. I do not doubt your powers. Only your philosophy."

And as they continued to argue, no one noticed the first tentative steps that Lal took into the darkness, her eyes all but closed like a sleepwalker's. She left their heated voices behind and moved deeper into the black corridor, where she could hear other voices…

"I've got a bad feeling about this, Revan," Malak whispered, his wide eyes darting all around. He held forth his lightsaber, and adjusted the power setting to cast a beam of harmless blue light instead of a shaft of deadly humming energy. But the beam of light only sliced through the barest layers of shadow within the ruins.

"Oh, stop it, Malak," Revan hissed back. "You always have a bad feeling. This place is somehow shielded…masking Jedi senses."

Malak shrugged his massive shoulders and rolled his eyes. "Revan, maybe the fact that this place is shielded is…I don't know…a warning of sorts?"

Revan sighed in growing annoyance. "Go where your enemy cannot go. Remember Master Vrook telling us that? Be where you cannot be and no one will ever expect you."

Malak nodded silently. "So, does that mean the Council is our enemy now, Revan?"

Revan stopped and turned to glare at Malak. "Of course not. It was…damn it, it was a metaphor and you know it. But they would try to stop us. Unless…do you want to turn back?"

"I…I just don't know…I mean about defying the Council…It feels wrong."

"It is wrong. But which is the greater wrong, Mal? Defying the orders of a bunch of old men too far removed to feel the pain of the average person? Or saving the average person when no one else will stand and fight for them?"

"What did you say, Lal?" Carth asked, turning to face her. But she was drifting down the corridor into thick, liquid shadow. He dashed to catch up with her, and Canderous and Bastila followed. Yanking her arm, Carth stopped Lal and spun her around. "Lal!"

She glanced up at him with blank eyes. "Th-they came through here…talking. They were…n-nervous…"

"I suppose that puts the booby trap theory out," Canderous growled softly.

"Not necessarily," Carth noted.

Bastila sighed at the two of them. "Would you please stop worrying about booby traps? We would have sensed something…"

"I'd like for you to sense some light, to be honest," Carth replied, glancing around.

Lal reached for her lightsaber with stiff, mechanical motions and adjusted the power setting as she had seen Malak do. Her saber cast a beam of pale lavender light forth from the emitter assembly, sawing into the darkness. A second door resolved from the blackness, standing before them. Like the outer door, there was no keypad, no handle. Just featureless smooth stone.

"Any ideas for opening it, Revan?" Malak asked after pushing on the door with all his considerable strength.

"Hmmm. I've got an idea…how about you take a running start and hit it head-first?"

"Nice," Malak chuckled. "But you're the one with the ideas. Your turn."

"Indeed. And once again, brawn gives way to brains…"

Malak folded his arms across his heavy chest and shook his head. "Be my guest, brain-trust."

Revan sighed and stepped before the door, looking up and down the surface. "Interesting…there had to be a way to get in…not necessarily a means accessible to outsiders but…"

Lal held up her hand, with her palm facing the door. The muscles in her shoulders and neck tensed briefly into steel and a tingling wave flooded her body, flushing her cheeks bright red. Her hand trembled tautly, and the door rumbled and shivered. It slid to the side slowly, invisible hands pushing it aside. Once it was fully opened, Lal's body sagged, and she nearly collapsed. Carth and Bastila caught her and held her up.

Lal steadied herself, but her eyes remained vacant, staring at images long ago departed…

"Didn't know she could do that," Carth murmured, keeping a protective hand on Lal's shoulder.

"She's remembering," Bastila whispered, taking hold of her sister's hand. She stared into Lal's face and went on, "Sister, what is it you see?"

"Hell," Canderous snarled, "I'm picking up an energy surge--"

Before any of them could respond or react, a flash of light blazed over them, turning the darkness into day, flooding their sight.

"What the hell is this?" Malak cried as the light washed across their bodies.

"Don't resist it!" Revan warned. "Something's…it's scanning us…"

Malak fought to remain calm, grinding his teeth and squaring his jaw. "What is scanning us, Revan? I'm not sensing anything…"

"I…can…I can feel it…hard to describe…intelligent…? Alive…?"

The wave of light passed harmlessly over the two Jedi and dissipated like dew vaporizing in the heat of the midday sun. Revan swallowed a gasp and nodded to Malak. The two of them stepped through the doorway into a large chamber that flickered dimly with ghostly light. Streams and strands ran in bright threads through the air, flickering and blinking, like the display from a computer read-out; but floating in the air like glowing spider webs disturbed by a gust of wind.

"What is this?" Malak whispered hotly, glancing around at the hovering strands and streaks of light.

"Machinery…" Revan replied. "Hidden…I can feel the pulse of engines…the flow of power to…to circuits…capacitors…"

"And these lights?" Malak asked. "Holograms? A three-dimensional display system, maybe?"

"More than that." Revan lifted a hand to touch a fan of flickering lights. The lights changed color suddenly. "An interface system. Like nothing I've ever seen…"

"Interface system…for what?"

"I'm getting some very odd readings, here…" Canderous warned after the light faded.

Carth frowned at that, and pointed into the chamber beyond the corridor. "I'd guess it has something to do with…that…"

Lal stared at the floating holographic displays she'd seen in her vision, manifested now and here, before her. She took a step towards the room, but her foot hovered in place, not touching the ground. She hesitated for some reason…She stumbled backwards and shook herself free from her reverie. "I can't…I can't see any more…"

Bastila wrapped her arm around Lal's waist to hold her sister up. Lal glanced over to her, seeing her face clearly again and smiled, a silent message of thanks. Then, Lal glanced down to the lightsaber in her hand and noticed the beam of light shining from it.

"I didn't know it could do that," she muttered. "Or did I…?"

"You were having a vision," Bastila explained. "Seeing what Revan and Malak saw."

"What?" Carth asked suddenly. "Why would Lal see what those two saw?"

Bastila glanced up at Carth for a moment and shook her head. "I cannot say for certain, Carth. Perhaps because they were once close. I shared her dream because we are sisters. It is not…uncommon for Jedi to share perceptions…memories…even visions of the future. Lal's visions may be the key to unraveling what it was that Revan found here."

Carth digested that with a frown and then turned to Canderous. "Can you make any sense of what you're detecting?"

"At a guess, I'd say complex machinery" Canderous replied.

"That's strange," Carth said. "How old are these ruins?"

"No one knows for certain," Bastila told him. "Colonization of Dantooine is fairly recent. People have only lived here for, perhaps less than a thousand years. Early prospectors made mention of these ruins, but there has never been a concerted effort to actually research them. And the Council's presence here is really only quite recent, after all."

"I think it's an interface," Lal said, struggling to piece together the exact words Revan and Malak had said in her vision. "For a computer system."

"A holographic interface?" Carth asked. "I've never heard of such a thing. I can think of a few engineers who'd love to be standing here right now, though."

"Perhaps not, 'Public," Canderous murmured, pointing to the floor of the chamber before them.

They all glanced to where he pointed and saw a dark stain of the floor. "Blood," Carth whispered.

"And recent, too," Canderous nodded.

"Master Nemo!" Bastila cried, dashing into the chamber suddenly.

"Basi!" Lal shouted, grabbing after her sister. Bastila slipped through Lal's fingers, thrusting herself inside the room. Lal followed without a bit of thought, drawing a shared curse from Carth and Canderous. They all surged into the room filled with glowing spider webs of light. Carth whipped out his blaster pistols and cast a wary glance around. Canderous took up a defensive position on the other side of the door, instinctively seizing a place from which he could lay down a broad field of fire with his massive rifle.

Bastila swooped to the floor before a ripped and torn corpse, tossed casually aside like an old rag doll. A pool of thickened, sticky blood stained the floor beneath the body, and Bastila gasped in shock and horror.

"Where is…his head…? Oh, Master Nemo! Oh…"

Lal tugged on Bastila's shoulders and hauled the young Jedi into her arms. "Who would do something so horrendous?" Bastila moaned against her sister's shoulder as Lal hugged her. "They took his head…who would do that? Who would do something like that?"

"More importantly, who or what could do something like that?" Carth echoed, leaning over to examine the shredded body. "Who could do that to a Jedi Knight? He's still holding his lightsaber…This happened fast."

"Visions aside," Canderous remarked coolly, "I don't think we want to find out."

Carth nodded. "Bastila, Lal…I think we should--"

The door slammed shut with a hiss and a boom, and the holographic webs flickered angrily with streaks of red. A cold voice thundered through the air, rumbling in tones that snapped like sheets of thin steel reverberating in a hard wind.

"Nars haas slus yi sar ick-thal-ya. Noos saan thi." A circle of red light appeared before them and rotated with needles and arrows of flickering green.

Carth snapped his blaster up at the floating circle and glanced briefly at Lal and Bastila. "What the hell is it saying?"

Bastila shook her head. "I don't…I don't recognize…"

"Neet-choo hadda. Nal chut tooda. Yee sai-ooto."

"That almost sounded like Huttese," Canderous said.

"Early Huttese," Lal clarified. "Predates the Hutt trade language…"

"Add linguist to the list of talents," Canderous noted with a snort.

"Can you understand it, Lal?" Carth asked.

She shook her head. "Structure is too different…something about…image…face…or…or…Identity! Maybe…maybe it's asking who we are…"

"My guess is he gave the wrong answer," Canderous grunted, nodding once towards Nemo's corpse."

"She's right," Carth said, "makes sense. Like a computer requesting a user ID. Can you respond, Lal?"

"And tell it what?" she snapped. "'Hi, I'm Lal. These are my friends. I don't think we've bloody met…'"

As she spoke, a grinding of steel against stone hissed from the walls and ceiling.

"Not good," Canderous pointed out. He reached into a pouch at his hip to withdraw a thermal charge. "This should take out the door…"

"And us with it!" Carth cried. "There's no cover here, Canderous!"

Canderous whipped around to glare at him, but had no choice but to agree. "Last resort, I suppose…"

"Band-dee nah sihanjee tahl. Summa that sanji-nod."

"Wait!" Bastila called out, "I recognized that! Durosian! It's like…it's cycling through the ancient languages…trying to determine a frame of reference!"

"Durosian," Lal murmured. She cleared her throat and took a step towards the red circle. She opened her mouth to reply then turned back around. "What the hell do I tell it?"

"Tell it to open the damned door!" Canderous snarled at her.

"I…uh…Sihan…sihanjuu," Lal began, stumbling over the Durosian tongue. "Damn it…uh…Band-loo nah! Uh…shian sal…?"

"Scan/scanning local phonemes. Pattern/patterning." The voice suddenly fired off a stream of words in standard Basic Trade, flooding them with a barrage of simple articles and nouns and verbs. It then flung a horde of prepositions at them, followed by a volley of adverbs and adjectives, establishing simple translations of basic concepts. "Analysis complete. Assimilation verified. Do you understand?"

Lal glanced at Bastila and Carth and swallowed a dry lump in her throat. "Ah…yes."

"Voice pattern analysis commencing. Recognized. User access granted. Defense systems on stand-by. How may I assist you, User?"

Lal scowled in confusion and looked again to Bastila, who could only shrug. "Um…excuse me? 'User'? Do you know who I am?"

"This unit is not programmed to provide that information, User. Please resubmit."

"Um…okay…how about this…open the door."

Behind them, the door slid open.

"Time to go," Canderous grunted, heading for the door. Carth made to follow him, but Bastila stopped them with a word.

"Wait a minute," she said. "We cannot leave yet. We must discover what Revan and Malak were doing here."

Canderous and Carth shared a glance and a single thought, which they gave voice to at the same time: "Something evil…"

"No!" Bastila cried. "We have to learn what it is! Master Nemo died for that knowledge! Whatever it is could be the advantage we need to bring this war to an end!"

"Damn it," Carth hissed, "alright…"

Canderous sighed and propped his rifle on his shoulder. "Well, I never expected to live forever, after all…"

Lal moved to join the three of them at the doorway and whispered, "I don't know what to ask it…"

"Perhaps allow me to try," Bastila offered. She stepped towards the red circle and cleared her throat. "Yes. Ahem. Please define your purpose and design parameters."

"Subject not recognized. Defensive systems engaging."

"Wait!" Lal cried, stepping in front of Bastila. "Don't…do not engage defensive systems! Do you understand?"

The voice hesitated for a moment. "User command acknowledged."

"Seems like it only wants to talk to you, Lal," Carth sighed. "For some reason it recognizes you."

"Uh," Lal went on, "please…define your purpose. And uh…design parameters. Please."

"This unit was designed as a stage-2 operations monitor/sentinel with the intent to oversee and organize slave functions within this sector. This unit has at its disposal internal and external integrated and mobile defensive systems to enforce and maintain security. This unit has access to archive data files x2r45 to a34z15. This unit was modified to provide User access to command architecture and information systems."

"Okay…who…who built you?"

"This unit was designed by the Makers."

Lal frowned, again glancing at Bastila. "Who are the Makers?"

"The Makers are the ones who rule in complete and uncontested sovereignty. The Makers are eternal and unyielding."

"Right…of course. But who are they?"

"The Makers are the ones who designed this unit."

"I see…" Lal sighed and placed her hands on her hips. "Hmmm…Give me all information you have on the Makers."

"Please input User code for information access, User."

"Oh, hell…"

"Invalid code. Please input User code for information access."

"Bloody hell, nevermind…Um…when did the Makers build you?"

"This unit is incapable of providing an answer within the parameters of this language. Accessing star chart data. Correlating astronomical temporal data. Please stand by. Accessing…stand by…accessing. Correlation complete. Twenty two revolutions of the outermost body in this star system."

"Huh?" Lal grunted.

"Oh my…" Bastila murmured softly. "Lal, if what this thing is saying is correct…why, that's nearly…it would predate the formation of the Republic by roughly…thirty thousand years!"

"That's not possible," Carth said. "This technology is…it's too advanced to be that…thirty thousand years?"

"Since there are no records of these Makers," Bastila began, "they are likely extinct. Somehow, Revan and Malak accessed this system. Reprogrammed it."

"I must have been here too!" Lal said. "It recognizes me as a 'User'…" She readdressed the red circle: "Has this User been here before?"

"Yes."

"With Revan and Malak?"

"This unit is not capable of providing that information."

"What? Why not?'

It paused before replying. "This unit was modified to restrict assess to User identification."

"Damn it," Lal growled. "What did the Users seek when they last accessed this unit?"

"This unit was modified to restrict access to that information."

Lal thought for a moment on how to frame her next question. "What actions did the users take when they last accessed this unit?"

"Users accessed archive file g3t27. Users accessed archive file g5y03. Users de-initialized security overrides. Users gained access to Interior Sanctum. Users successfully established secure access to Maker engineering files. Users successfully engaged cartographic access."

"That sounds interesting," Carth noted. "Interior Sanctum. Sounds important."

Bastila nodded. "I'm more concerned about these engineering files…Lal…"

"What information did the Maker engineering files contain?" Lal asked.

"Specific information restricted. Please provide access code."

"Nevermind…um…what is the subject of these files?"

The system unit hesitated again, as if considering its reply. "The Starforge," It finally said.

"Starforge," Lal whispered, letting the word tumble experimentally upon her tongue. "Starforge. What is the Starforge?"

"The Starforge is the greatest of all the creations of the Makers."

"But what did they…what is…what did they build the Starforge to do?"

"Access to that information is restricted."

"Of course it bloody is," Lal sighed. "Wait, you mentioned an Interior Sanctum…how do I gain access to the Interior Sanctum?"

The floating lights patterns suddenly shifted, and a glowing rectangle appeared on the far wall. "Access is gained through this portal, User. Does the User wish to enter?"

"Um…er…stand by…" Lal turned to face the others for their opinions. "Well…? Do we?"

"I don't know," Carth said. "What the hell is this Starforge? Whatever it is, Revan and Malak probably took it with them…"

"Maybe the damned thing creates suns," Canderous suggested, "going from the name alone, of course."

"It definitely seems like it is meant to build something," Bastila said.

Lal folded her arms over her breasts, and her brow creased in thought. "What happened to Revan and Malak after the end of the Mandalorian War?"

"No one knows, Lal," Bastila said. "Rumor has it they…oh dear…rumor has it, they disappeared beyond the Outer Rim…and when they returned, they had a fleet greater than anything fielded in the entire Republic! Massive, powerful warships of a design never before seen!"

Lal nodded. "Indeed. Maybe that's what the Starforge does…or maybe it's some sort of…shipyard…but that doesn't…feel right…"

"Hold on now…that kinda makes sense…" Carth began, his brow wrinkling as he considered the logic. "Think about it for a minute; Okay, say the Starforge is some sort of shipbuilding facility. It would mean that it's capable of creating an entire fleet of ships like Malak's Leviathan…almost literally overnight! How long does it take a normal shipyard to build just a single vessel? Months? Years? See what I'm getting at here?"

"'Public's right," Canderous said. "Tremendous tactical and strategic advantage. The one thing that limits the power of any fleet is attrition. You could create a dreadnaught capable of razing whole worlds, but the damned thing would literally be too valuable to ever use, for fear of losing it to battle. That fact limits the strength of your fleet. But if you had…an unlimited capability to produce dreadnaught class vessels, your losses would cease to be a limiting factor. No fleet could match you. Nothing could stop you. It is quite elegant in its simplicity, Lal."

"I suppose," Lal shrugged. "I just…I can't explain it, but I have this feeling that the Starforge is…I don't know…more. More that that…"

"Well, regardless," Bastila said, "we have to go into the Sanctum. We have to learn what Revan and Malak learned."

"Alright," Carth sighed. "I'm game. But I'll bet real money that it ain't gonna be as easy as just walking across the room and opening the door."

Lal nodded and thought about it for a second. Then she addressed the circle once more. "Will accessing the Interior Sanctum trigger any defensive or security systems?"

"Yes."

"Wonderful," Carth groaned.

"Is there a way for this User to deactivate the security systems?" Lal asked.

"Implementation of User Identification Code."

"Which we don't know," Carth said. "Great."

"Wait a minute, wait…" Lal whispered, her mind burning with sudden random thoughts. "There's a way around this. This thing is just a machine…it isn't actively trying to keep us out…it's just following a program…"

"What are you thinking, Lal?" Bastila asked.

"How is the User Identification Code implemented?"

"Verbally."

"I thought so," Lal smiled. "That would mean that you have to keep a record of the words used."

"Correct."

"Mmm-hmm. Do you have the capability to play back recorded words?"

"This unit has that capability."

"Play back all words recorded when the security system was last de-activated."

The system hesitated for a moment, and Lal felt her heart pounding against her chest. She found herself suddenly back in the deep shadows of Taris, relying on her wits to slip into places, to circumvent security systems and step where she was not supposed to.

"Play back commencing:" it finally said. Then, a woman's voice reverberated through the air in stiff, disjointed, chopped syllables: "free-dom-is-nev-er-free."

Bastila released a gasp as she heard those words, drawing a glance from Lal. "What is it?" Lal asked.

"That voice, Lal," Carth said.

"Huh?"

"It's your voice," he explained.

Lal shook her head and frowned at him. "No it's…not…" She lowered her eyes, realizing that Carth was right. It did sound like her voice. "Did this User implement this code before?"

"Yes."

Lal clamped a hand to her mouth in shock. "Why can't I remember? I don't understand this! It doesn't make sense!"

"This unit is not programmed with that information. Please restate."

"I wasn't asking you!" Lal screamed, her fists clenching into heavy balls at her sides. Bastila stepped forward to take hold of Lal's shoulders.

"Be at ease, sister," Bastila murmured in a soft soothing voice. "We will deal with this later…"

"I should be able to remember!" Lal moaned.

Carth laid a hand over Lal's shoulder and moved close to her, kissing her temple and whispering into her ear, "Lal, you're not alone here, okay? Your friends are here. We'll deal with this, but right now, we got work to do. Understand?"

Lal nodded, and stared gratefully at Bastila and Carth. She turned to Canderous and wondered what expression he wore beneath his impassive helmet. If he sneered at her weakness. He merely inclined his head and glanced away from her. Lal nodded again and straightened her field jacket. She took a step towards the circle and said, "Freedom is never free."

"Security system disengaged."

Upon the far wall, a sheet of stone outlined by the green hologram rumbled aside, revealing a room within faintly glimmering with amber and green light. Lal sucked in a deep breath and lifted her chin. She moved across the chamber to the opposite wall, her feet barely touching the floor, it seemed. The others fell in step behind her, as if they were meant to.

She stepped inside the smaller chamber and glanced around. Inside there stood a console at the center of the room, twinkling with scrolling alpha-numerics across the display screen. A few meters away from the console rested a twisted mesh of black steel and dull red lights, bristling with slender, spider legs, tapered at the end like spears; with grasping pincers hanging down to the floor; with blunt angry nozzles and barrels blackened from carbon scorching.

It was some sort of droid, built solely to inflict pain, to rip and tear flesh. To destroy. It slowly swiveled a flat ellipsoid head, studded with a single great red eye, following her movements. Waiting.

When they saw the droid, both Carth and Canderous snapped their weapons towards it. Bastila swiftly held her hand in front of them. "Wait," she hissed, "Lal deactivated the security! But it still might attack if it perceives a threat from any of us…"

Carth sighed and cast her a doubtful glance, but he lowered his weapons. Canderous released a growl and moved the barrel of his rifle aside. Lal kept an eye on the droid as she moved to the console. Keeping watch on the droid, her hands danced out and of their own volition, tapped a series of keystrokes on the display screen. She glanced down with a frown of confusion as a series of alpha-numerics scrolled across the screen. "What…what happened?"

The others stared blankly at her. "You tapped in a command, Lal," Carth said quietly.

"I did? I wasn't…I didn't…" Lal stared at them with wide helpless eyes and shook her head. "I don't know what to do…I don't remember!"

"Maybe your mind doesn't actively remember," Carth told her, "but something inside you is starting to, Lal. It's like…you weren't paying attention to what you typed. It was like instinct or something."

"But I don't know how to…" Before Lal could finish, a series of visuals flickered across the display panel; coordinates, planetary data, star charts. Lal stared down at the panel, her eyes flicking back and forth across the lines of information, the images flashing and scrolling.

Finally, the screen went blank but for a single flashing prompt:

WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACCESS STARMAP DATAFILES?

Lal rubbed a hand down across her mouth and glanced at Bastila and Carth. "Starmap?"

"Probably a means of finding this Starforge," Carth suggested hopefully, resting a hand comfortably at the small of Lal's back and hovering very close to her. "Look…doesn't that look like a typical DS-109 dataport?"

Lal stared at the nodule on the left side of the console and nodded. She supposed Revan and Malak…and she had modified the systems here to integrate more familiar technology. She held up her palmtop computer and whispered, "I can upload the files to here…" She flicked open her comp's interface port and slid the flat device against the console's port where it snapped snugly into place. She entered an uplink command on her comp and then glanced back down at the console.

"Wait," she said, "there's something wrong."

"What is it?" Bastila asked.

"All this information…it looks like it's…I don't know…corrupted or something. I can only make out some of it…"

"It's probably encrypted," Bastila told her. "There should be a decrypt command in the menu…"

Lal tapped the screen, searching for a decrypt option, and shook her head. "No, there's not. It only offers a download option."

Bastila frowned in thought for a moment. "Well, download everything you can and we'll take it back to the Council's computers. They have powerful decryption software. We'll figure it out there."

Lal nodded reluctantly as something tugged at the back of her mind. A memory trying to push through, perhaps? But like a word on the tip of her tongue dancing at the edge of recognition, she could not grasp it. "Damn."

"What is it?" Bastila asked.

"I…nothing. Nevermind." Lal keyed in the sequence to start the upload. The information trickled through the datalink in tiny droplets at first, but then, the dam burst and the files flooded into her palmtop. In seconds, half the palmtop's empty memory disintegrated, replaced by swollen virtual packets stuffed with optical data. The memory counter display bar steadily shrank away to nothing as information shoved itself into the comp's storage banks. Finally, squeezing the last errant bits of data onto her palmtop, the link shut down. Lal checked to make sure the transfer was complete and then tugged the palmtop free of the data port. "We're done here," she said.

As she turned to go, a beam of light erupted from the base of the console, stabbing straight up towards the ceiling. They all fell back from the glowing shaft, shielding their eyes from the sharp blue glare. The beam warped and bulged, seeming to spin, into a circle…a sphere. The sphere was shot through with tiny strands of light, spaced at even intervals. A grid, revealing itself in three dimensions before them. Tiny pinpricks of light erupted within the sphere like stars, clusters of stars, gathered in familiar patterns like the nebulae that formed the heavens.

"The Starmap…" Lal gasped, staring at the holographic display in wonder. She reached out to touch a cloud of little stars, twinkling like diamonds just beyond her fingertips. But her hand passed through them.

"A map of the entire galaxy…" Bastila mused in fascination, walking around the sphere. "Once, when we were children, we went to the Temple on Coruscant…in the Archives, there exists the most complete map in all the Republic…and still, it pales compared to this…"

"Yeah, I've seen it," Carth nodded. "But there's just one problem."

"Hmm?" Bastila murmured.

"Take a close look," he urged.

"I don't…wait…is that the Koornacht?" Bastila asked. "It shouldn't be there…"

"Stellar drift," Carth explained. "This map is nearly forty-thousand years old. It's showing the galaxy how it looked back then."

"Oh," Bastila gasped, covering her mouth. "Well…but…We can correlate it with current star charts…can't we?"

"Maybe," Carth shrugged. "But star charts have to be updated constantly, based on newly recorded data. Every time a surveyor puts into port, they download their navigational scans into the Republic's databanks. Navigational markers and galactic buoys are then updated…this is a constant process. And even then, it's still not accurate. This thing is so old that…well, it may not be of any use…"

Canderous cleared his throat. "Perhaps we could continue this fascinating discussion at another time. Our friend here looks a bit impatient."

"Alright," Carth nodded. "Canderous is right. We probably have overstayed our welcome."

The headed back to the outer chamber and prepared to leave. But Bastila paused at Master Nemo's body. She glanced up at the others and tried to speak, but no words left her mouth. Carth turned to Lal, who stood at her sister's side.

"Uh," Carth began nervously, watching Lal's eyes closely, "I guess we could find a blanket in the Speeder? Canderous?"

"What? It's a dead body," Canderous shrugged. "Just an empty shell. Why do you…Oh hell…"

Lal imagined she could see Canderous rolling his eyes beneath his helmet, but the Mandalorian went to get a thermal blanket from the speeder. When he returned, they carefully wrapped Nemo's body in the blanket and carried him to the speeder. This seemed to ease Bastila's feelings a bit, but neither Carth nor Canderous appeared terribly enthusiastic about riding all the way back with a corpse in the speeder.

As they stowed the body in the rear of the Sorosuub, Lal stood outside the entrance to the ruins and the questions in her mind danced wildly with the fears lairing there. She had stood in these ruins at some point with Malak and Revan. She had learned its secrets alongside those two. That meant they must have trusted her, even as they turned to the dark side. They trusted her. And she wondered, she feared what that meant for her.


He growled softly as he watched Lal on the remote display. She didn't see the tiny surveillance droid floating twenty meters away from her. Didn't know she was being watched. With her hair left unbound, fluttering in the wind like a dark cloak, she was perhaps the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

She had always been beautiful; perfect in her beauty. But something had changed. He had no words evolved enough to describe her change. But it left him in awe, with a silent pit of churning nervousness inside him. It excited him, it confused him. And ultimately, it enraged him.

As he sat many kilometers away, examining the droid's telemetry readouts, distracting himself with numbers, the thought occurred to him that Lal Sideen was so very much like a woman he had known so long ago. Someone who could have been his mother…or perhaps a sister had she shared any blood with him. It was one of the few pleasant memories of his childhood, and it had been so fragile, so fleeting. She had taught him his first letters and numbers. He recalled little more than her smile, which encouraged him and shamed him at the same time.

But he had ruined it.

He had ruined everything, and was sent away, to an even darker place, where he had grown to hunger for the taste of an enemy's blood. Where there were no pretty, perfect ladies to guide him in his learning, only death and killing.

He shook himself from his memories and watched Lal's perfect form as she turned to climb into the speeder. He didn't know what had drawn them across the countryside to those ruins, and he didn't care. He wanted to feel Lal's sweet form turn cold in his arms. Wanted to stare deep into her perfect, sculpted face as her eyes turned into sightless white balls. Wanted to feel her taut muscles go limp, and know that he had killed her.

But she was careful and she was clever. As always. No way he could take her with all the people surrounding her. He couldn't even get to the Ebon Hawk, safely ensconced away within the Jedi Enclave. It angered him that he saw Canderous Ordo with her; that man needed a good killing…He had spent nearly a day, body covered with Kolto sheathes, healing from the burns Canderous had given him…

He couldn't touch them. Couldn't touch Lal. But that didn't mean he couldn't hurt them.

He walked up the ramp into the belly of his ship and activated the commsystem. "This is Calo Nord. I've found her."