Chapter 8

In the Sith Temple

Disclaimer: They still belong to LucasArts and Obsidian.

Note: Once again, I have changed some of the game dialogue, to make it sound more realistic.

Korriban was an ugly planet. Bao-Dur was very thankful that he was not required to set foot upon it.

Kreia announced that she would not set foot on Korriban's surface. Exasperated, the General asked Atton to go with her, so she would have a fellow Jedi companion. Then to everyone's surprise, she turned to HK-47 and told him to get ready – so she would have someone with her who was immune to the Force, just in case the worst should happen.

Within ten minutes of landing on Korriban, she was gone.

"I do not think she will find anything here," Visas said later that day. They sat together in her room after yet another failed attempt at meditation. "I cannot sense any Jedi."

"Maybe it's too hard to do it from the ship, with all the influence from the Dark Side," Bao-Dur suggested. "But if Master Vash is here, the General will find her."

Visas did not respond; her silence itself was all the answer she needed.

"You have been very quiet lately," Bao-Dur said. Since their departure from Onderon, Visas had kept to herself. She no longer ventured out in the evening to mingle with the rest of the crew. He did not know the reasons for this, but he was determined to find out. He wanted her to be happy, and have friends. He did not like to see her alone so much.

Part of that was his fault, he knew. He had been very busy on the trip to Korriban. He had finally found time to perform the upgrades G0-T0 had requested. T3 had needed some routine maintenance, and then half the cameras in the security room had blinked out, and he had spent the better part of a day trying to get them working again. A ship the size of the Ebon Hawk was pretty much in constant need of repair and maintenance, and they were all expected to pitch in and help; even Mira had been spotted on her hands and knees examining the hyperdrive. And somewhere in the midst of all this, he had quietly made some very personal upgrades to his own remote, although no one knew that yet.

Still, he was disappointed to see that Mira and Visas weren't becoming friends, or that anyone even seemed to notice her absence when they gathered at night to eat supper.

"I have been doing much thinking," Visas said now. She gave him a sad smile. "Perhaps too much."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I have been thinking about the promise we made," she said.

Bao-Dur shook his head. "Do not dwell on it," he said. "That only makes it worse."

He knew part of the reason he had thrown himself into his work was to forget the vow he had made. If it was not there in his mind, Kreia could not dig it out of his thoughts. Or so he told himself, hoping it was true.

"It is hard not to," Visas said. "But I know you are right."

He took her hands and kissed her. "Think of me," he said.

Visas returned the kiss with surprising fervor. "You are never far from my thoughts," she whispered.

Hearing the words sent a thrill racing through him. "When this is over," he said recklessly, "I want you to come with me."

She frowned. "Where will we go?"

He laughed, still filled with happiness. "Does it matter? We could go back to Telos. They could use a Jedi as strong as you to help with the restoration project."

"You are a Jedi now too," Visas reminded him.

"Then we could work together, side by side." He put his arms around her. "I only know that I want you in my future."

"And I wish to share it with you." She laid her head on his chest. "I worry that we should not think of such things. They are too dangerous."

His happiness dimmed. She was right. They were engaged in a dangerous mission to stop the Sith. Battle lay ahead, and there were sure to be casualties. Yet knowing all this only made Bao-Dur more certain that they should enjoy what they had. If their time together was to be short, he wanted the end to come knowing he had lived that time to its fullest.

The General was on Korriban for a day and a night. When she returned the next morning, she was pale and subdued. HK-47 returned to his place in the garage and shut down immediately. Atton went straight to the cockpit, without a word to anyone, and within minutes the Ebon Hawk's engines were powering up.

No one mentioned the missing Jedi Master.

Reluctantly, Bao-Dur told the General that they had received a message from the Mandalorians on Dxun. Master Kavar needed their help.

She merely nodded when she heard this news. "Thank you, Bao-Dur."

And so they returned to Dxun.

This time no one stayed behind at the ship. They all followed the Mandalorian guide back to the camp.

Where, to Bao-Dur's immense annoyance, Kreia took charge.

The old woman had something to say to everything. She knew about the Sith temple hidden in the jungle. She sniffed at the Mandalorians, calling them "common soldiers" and saying contemptuously that their military tactics were nothing compared to the Force. And then she turned to the General and said, "You must choose who will lead the expedition through the jungle to find our enemies and defeat them."

Bao-Dur did not like her attitude, not one bit. She seemed to be challenging the General, daring her to make a wrong choice.

The General lifted her chin imperceptibly, perhaps realizing that she was being tested here. "Visas Marr would be ideal for the job," she said.

Bao-Dur caught his breath. He did not want Visas going out there into the jungle. The mission to stop the Sith sounded very dangerous; plus he was not sure how she would fare when faced with her former allies.

Visas herself revealed nothing of her thoughts on the matter. She merely said, "I will serve as you wish."

Surprisingly, Kreia had no comment on this choice. Her voice remained bland as she said, "You should send two others to go with the leader. Who else will accompany the expedition?"

The General did not hesitate. "Bao-Dur."

Kreia nodded. "Yes…good choice. And who else?"

Bao-Dur's shoulders sagged with relief. If Visas had to go, at least he would be going with her. He was too relieved to even care that Kreia had given him a compliment.

The General looked at each of her companions. "Mira," she finally decided.

The corner of Kreia's mouth twitched, as though she was trying not to smile. "Hmm…okay," she said.

Instantly Mira bristled with outrage. "What is that supposed to mean? You don't think I can handle it out there?"

Before Kreia could say anything, the General touched Mira's arm. "I know you can," she said. "That is why I chose you."

Somewhat mollified, Mira backed down, but not before giving Kreia an angry glare.

There was no reason to delay. The General ordered them to leave right away. "Be careful," she said. The strain of sending her friends into harm's way showed on her face. "And may the Force be with you."

A few Mandalorian soldiers accompanied them as they made their way through the jungle. Visas led them confidently, her step unfaltering. She carried a lightsaber now, twin green blades that cut down any beasts in their way. The General had found it in a cave on Korriban, but beyond that she would not say anything about it. Visas had thanked her solemnly as she had received it, but Bao-Dur had felt her pleasure at being given the weapon. Now she truly felt like a Jedi.

As for himself, he carried a short lightsaber, another gift from his General. The hilt banged against his hip with every step he took. He had ignited it long enough to see that the blade was yellow, before quickly powering it down. Wielding a lightsaber in actual combat would be very different from practice sessions in the cargo hold of the Ebon Hawk. He was not sure he was ready for this.

They entered a short tunnel, and Visas stopped short. Mines lay ahead, and beyond them, a perimeter sensor designed to sound the alarm should anyone approach too closely. Bao-Dur peered at it, recognizing it even from a distance. It was a Czerka design, and he knew the corporate override code. If they could get up to it, the code would disable the sensor.

Visas surveyed the situation for a long moment, then turned to Mira. "If you use Bao-Dur's code, can you disarm the sensor?" She did not ask if Mira could handle the mines; she already knew the answer to that.

Mira nodded. "Sure," she said. "Who's got a stealth generator?"

"I do." Bao-Dur fumbled in his pack until he found it, then handed it to Mira. She buckled it on and grinned.

"Well, I'm off. Don't wait up, kiddies." She activated the stealth generator, and disappeared from sight.

They followed her slow progress forward by the way the mines would suddenly blink out, black and disabled. With every second, Bao-Dur expected to hear the piercing bray of the alarm, but it never came.

Mira turned off the stealth generator and appeared standing by the disabled perimeter sensor. She waved a hand. "Come on over," she called.

Smiling, Bao-Dur did just that.

The battle to reach the top of the temple seemed to last for years. Just when he thought they had surely wiped out all the enemy, more soldiers poured forth, more droids marched forward.

It was never-ending, that battle. He clung to his lightsaber with both hands, desperately afraid of losing it. He was appalled at how easy it was to shear off hands and legs with the shining yellow blade. But he could not stop and give in to his horror. This was war, and there would be no rest until all the enemy was slaughtered.

Inch by inch, they made their way up the ramp to the top of the temple. Dark Jedi called upon the Force, searing him with lightning. He saw Visas fall to her knees, and in utter panic, he reached out with the Force, attempting to heal her wounds. After that she managed to lurch to her feet and carry on, but he could see that she would not last much longer.

Behind them, Mira showered the Sith with rockets and grenades. Clouds of poison gas rose into the air, making Bao-Dur's eyes sting with acid tears. His energy shield ran out of charges, and after that blaster bolts found him everywhere, wringing cries of pain from his throat. He tried deflecting them with his lightsaber, but there were too many of them, and he could not catch them all.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Visas go down again. This time she did not get up again.

"Visas!" he called her name, but the sound was lost under the thunder of battle. He staggered in her direction. One of the Sith battle droids stood over her, ready to cut her down.

He acted without thinking. With the last of his failing strength, he flung out a hand and pushed with the Force. The droid was hurled backward a few paces, but then it instantly began moving in again.

Bao-Dur raised his hand again, but he had nothing left to give. A blaster bolt scorched along his chest, and suddenly he was falling.

His last conscious thought was that he had failed the one person he truly loved.

When he came to, it was to the sight of Mira frowning down at him. Smoke darkened her face, and blood dripped down her cheek from a cut above her eye. "Go slow," she said. "You took some bad hits. I had to use a lot of medpacs to get you to wake up."

"Visas." His voice was hoarse. He turned his head, frantic to see her, to know what had happened to her.

She was sitting up not far from where he lay. Her head was bowed. Her robe was charred black in places, and a great rip on the shoulder revealed her undertunic. "I am all right," she said faintly. "Lie still."

The Force washed over him, soothing and calming. It healed the worst of his injuries and gave him renewed strength. Before long he was able to sit up, and not long after that, he could stand once more.

Visas rose to her feet, swaying slightly. "I fear the worst lies ahead," she murmured.

"Thanks," Mira said. "Like I really needed to hear that."

"She is right," Bao-Dur, springing to Visas's defense. "This was just the outer guard for the temple. We do not know what awaits us inside."

Mira let out a sigh. "Well, I guess there's only one way to find out, right?"

When they entered the temple, one of the Mandalorians came with them and told them that the rest of their squad was en route to Iziz. He also told them that this was no ordinary temple. It was a tomb, the final resting place of a Sith Lord named Freedon Nadd.

"The echoes of his life are still here," Visas said. "I feel secrets can be learned here."

This did not reassure Bao-Dur. He felt that any secrets that could be learned in a Sith Lord's tomb were secrets best left undiscovered.

The tomb was heavily guarded. As they fought through the halls, however, Bao-Dur felt a cautious sense of optimism. They were holding their own. And with every use of the Force, he felt it surge stronger within him, guiding him in its ways and teaching him how to be a better Jedi.

In one of the rooms, dark, pulsating energy covered a wide patch of the floor. Bao-Dur eyed it warily. "Something feels wrong here. I don't think we should get any closer to it." He shook his head. He was under no illusions about how strong a Jedi he was, but even he could sense the dark side here.

Mira scrunched up her face, obviously not wanting to get anywhere near the energy field. "This…thing…has to be part of the reason why the Sith are so interested in this place."

"But it may give us a clue about what is happening," Visas said. Her head was cocked slightly to one side as she contemplated the energy field.

Bao-Dur took her arm. "Do not go in there," he pleaded.

"Well, I won't tell you how to do your job," Mira said. "But I know that I wouldn't get near it."

Visas looked at him. For a moment Bao-Dur contemplated pulling her toward him and refusing to let go. Then he lifted his hand from her arm.

Calmly she walked forward, until she was surrounded by the pulsating energy of the dark side. She swayed and gasped, and then folded to her knees.

"Get her out of there!" Mira cried, lunging forward.

"No!" Bao-Dur held out his arm. "She has to do this."

He prayed he was doing the right thing. Visas bowed her head as the dark side washed over her. She trembled all over, but she remained silent.

Please, he thought desperately. Please, do not give in.

With a shaky sigh, Visas rose to her feet. She backed away until she was no longer standing in the energy field. She looked very pale, but her head was high. "I have proven stronger than it," she said.

Bao-Dur's shoulders sagged. He swept her into his arms. "Do not do that again!" he breathed.

She hugged him back. "I won't have to," she said.

At last they came upon the three Sith Lords working on the ritual. Their leader stepped forward, a triumphant smirk on his face. "You are too late!" he crowed.

Bao-Dur held his lightsaber at the ready. He did not know what dark magic the Sith had been attempting, but he was not about to let them finish what they had started.

"But what is this?" the Sith asked in genuine puzzlement. "Ah, of course. The Force has guided you here. It echoes within you, yet I sense it is untrained." He nodded smugly. "It is good you have sought us out. This tomb is strong with the dark side. Here is where you will take your first steps on the path to your destiny."

Visas spoke clearly, her voice ringing throughout the tomb. "I will not walk the path of the dark side."

Love for her filled Bao-Dur's heart. Twice now she had been tested, and twice she had passed. She was truly a Sith no more. She was a Jedi Knight, and she was more than worthy to stand in the light.

"So be it," snapped the Sith Lord, and battle was joined.

But the real battle, the one that the General had known must take place – for why else had she named Visas as their leader? – had already happened. And victory was theirs.

When it was all over, when the tomb was empty and still, and the three Sith Lords lay dead upon the floor, they looked up at the soldier who came running up to make his report. His helmet made it impossible to tell what he was thinking, but there was no disguising the awe in the Mandalorian's voice.

They stood together, Bao-Dur on her right, and Mira on her left. They were injured and exhausted, but they were still standing tall.

"We are ready to go," Visas told him. "Tell us, what happened to Alia?"

Author's Notes: As always, I have to thank everyone who has been kind enough to leave me a review. I really cannot say how much I appreciate that you would take the time to write feedback. Also, because this site ate the link I posted with the last chapter, I have put it in my author bio. Anyone interested in reading the cut content for the game can find the link to the website there. Thanks to Kuramas Girl Angel for suggesting this!