Chapter 11

Malachor

Disclaimer: If anyone but LucasArts owned them, fanfic wouldn't be necessary, would it?

Author's Note: This chapter begins to use some of the cut material for the ending of the game. Also there are some adult situations alluded to in this chapter.

Time was short. There could be no more excuses, no more indulging his fears. If he was ever going to speak the truth to Visas, it had to be now. They flew through the mottled tunnel of hyperspace, drawing ever nearer to Malachor. Mandalore had not returned after the fight with Darth Nihilus; there was no sign that he had ever been on the Ebon Hawk at all. The Disciple knelt in meditation in Kreia's old chambers, seeking refuge in the calming peace of the Force. Mira moved slowly through the main hold, performing routine exercises to stay limber, her mind light-years from her body. And Alia spent this last night with Atton, behind closed doors that no one would have dreamed of knocking on.

Bao-Dur sat with Visas on the floor of her room. They faced each other, as if they were merely pausing in a conversation that had already lasted for hours, but in truth neither of them had spoken in some time.

The silence could not be allowed to endure. Bao-Dur cleared his throat. "I must tell you something."

And at the same time, Visas said, "There is something I must tell you."

Cowardly though it was, Bao-Dur welcomed the chance to once more postpone his confession. "What is it?"

Visas showed no fear to speak her words, and again Bao-Dur was reminded of just how strong she was. "When we were on board the Ravager," she said, "we came across my old chambers. Although there was no time for luxury, nonetheless Alia allowed me to enter, and to meditate there once again.

"When I lived on board the ship, I spent most of my time there," Visas went on. "My master was cruel and harsh, and I would escape his attentions by meditating in my quarters. He did not intrude there, and so I felt safe."

Bao-Dur took a deep breath, and then another. He forced himself to focus on his breathing. It was either that, or go insane with rage. The thought of anyone touching Visas, of hurting her, was unbearable.

"I knelt there one last time in meditation," Visas said, "and I reached out for the Force. At last I was able to accept what happened to my people, and my homeworld. At last I found peace. The dark side will haunt me no more."

He loved her so much then! She had endured more than anyone ought to know, and yet she had survived. And she was the stronger for it, not bitter and angry, but quietly in control of herself. There was a new serenity to her now, a peace that came from having walked in the darkness, and coming through to the light on the other side.

"I will surely be tempted again. Such is the way of the galaxy. But I no longer fear that moment. I will not succumb. I will not fall. The dark side has no more power over me."

There would never be a better time to say it. Bao-Dur looked at her beautiful face. "I love you," he said.

Visas did not react at first, and Bao-Dur held his breath. He could not think what he would do if she rejected him. In fact, he could not even think at all.

Then Visas smiled radiantly. "As I love you," she whispered.

Somehow he was on his feet, although he did not remember standing, and she was there too. She was in his arms, and he kissed her until he was breathless and she was leaning against him, trusting him to hold her up.

"Whatever happens after Malachor, I want you to stay with me." He never wanted to let go of her. It seemed too cruel that he had finally found her now, when their time together was so short.

"Our fates are entwined," Visas said. She kissed him hungrily. "I will never leave you."

"I love you," he said. "I love you." Now that he had said the words, he could not say them enough. He wanted her to hear it. He wanted her to know how much she was loved.

"Bao-Dur." She breathed his name, just the once.

He looked up and saw that somehow they had moved while kissing, so that they stood in front of her bed. And he saw too that she was not afraid.

He kissed her again, and then they were falling down together, and he told her that he loved her, in oh so many ways.

It was too dangerous to come out of hyperspace near Malachor V, which meant they had to arrive at a distance, and travel on sublight engines. The enforced slowness of the flight meant they had more time to prepare for what lay ahead, and that was good.

The bad thing was that their approach to Malachor was so slow, they could see for hours the destruction that awaited them.

Bao-Dur was horrified. The ruin of Malachor was far worse than he had even imagined. His memories of the final battle of the war were fragmented; his ship had been one of the few to survive, but it had been a near thing. The damage to the cruiser had been terrific, and many soldiers had died. He had lost his arm, and only the quick thinking of one of his comrades had kept him from dying that day. The other soldier had dragged him through the blast door only moments before it closed, sealing off the damaged area of the cruiser. Had he been left behind, he would have died instantly.

Seeing it now, he almost wished he had died. Wrecked ships orbited the planet, Republic cruisers and Mandalorian warships alike. Some of their orbits were degrading and they would soon crash onto the planet, to join all the other dead things on Malachor's desolate landscape.

Malachor itself was dead. Nothing grew there. Nothing lived there except great Storm Beasts that fed off the thousands of corpses littering the planet's barren surface. And nothing would ever change. No Republic restoration project would ever come out here and try to make the planet habitable again. No one would ever care.

Bao-Dur looked at it all and shuddered.

Immediately Visas was there, taking his hand. "Do not blame yourself," she admonished him gently.

After last night, he felt closer to her than ever before, yet he did not say anything now. He did not look away from the desolation ahead.

"All right, folks." Atton's voice came over the intercom. "We're ready to start out descent. Could be we're in for a bumpy ride, so you might want to strap yourselves in. Or just hold on really tight."

"Come." Visas led him away from the viewport. "Do not look upon it any longer."

Bao-Dur followed her without comment.

She could say what she wanted. He knew he was to blame for Malachor.

It's the war again. Can't let go. It's the war again.

That was as coherent as Bao-Dur's thoughts were.

Alarms were braying. Someone was screaming in fear. Sickening jolts made the ship shudder and groan. A droid was frantically beeping.

Then all forward motion stopped. At least, the ship stopped. Bao-Dur found himself flying all on his own.

And then he stopped, too.

It took some time to figure everything out.

The Ebon Hawk had come to a crashing halt in a narrow canyon. The ship was badly damaged, and there seemed to be no way to free it from the rocky confines of the canyon.

Bao-Dur was not the only one injured. Atton had broken some ribs when he had been flung from his seat in the cockpit. Mira was chalk-white as she held a cloth to long bleeding gash in her side. Visas had dislocated her shoulder when she had been flung against a bulkhead. The Disciple was limping badly, and there was blood in his hair. Only Alia was not hurt, and she moved calmly among them, using the Force to heal their wounds.

Bao-Dur watched her through half-closed eyes. He was lying on the couch, so someone must have placed him there. Blood ran down his face from a cut on his forehead, and his head ached atrociously. He suspected one of his horns was cracked. Worse though was the pain inside. Something was broken deep within him, and no amount of Force healing was going to fix him.

Alia came to him last. She laid her hand on his forehead and the Force washed over him, soothing the worst of his hurt. "I'm so sorry," she said softly.

"It's all right, General." He gave her a small smile. "We both knew it ended here."

Pain flickered in her eyes. She had not done much for him, but already she was backing away. "Rest, Bao-Dur. I will be back, and I can help you more then."

He nodded. She had to conserve her strength for the fight against Kreia. He did not begrudge her this. He did not want her to weaken herself in unnecessary healing for his sake.

"Try to get the ship operational," Alia said to them. "Stay close and if you have to leave the ship, go out together. Nobody is to go out there alone."

They all nodded, although Bao-Dur saw Mira frowning a little, as if she had just heard something no one else could.

"We can get it working again," Atton said, "but I don't see how we're going to get out of this canyon."

"One thing at a time," Mira said. She made a shooing gesture to Alia. "Go on. Go kill Kreia. We'll be ready to leave when you get back."

Alia gazed at them all for a long moment, as if fixing their faces in her memory. Bao-Dur had often seen soldiers do that before going on suicide missions, and he wondered sadly if she truly planned to survive her encounter with Kreia.

Then she was gone.

For a while no one moved. Then Visas came over to kneel beside the couch. She took Bao-Dur's hand. "I am not skilled in healing," she said, "but I will do what I can." Faint tremors shook her voice, revealing how frightened she was.

"I'm going out there," Mira announced.

"You heard what Alia said," the Disciple said. "Are you so quick to go against her wishes?"

"I have to," Mira insisted. "I don't know how, but I can feel someone out there. Waiting for me. I have to go."

"Someone is out there?" the Disciple asked. His hand dropped warily to his lightsaber.

"I don't even know how it's possible, but it is. It's Hanharr," Mira said. "It must have been Kreia. She brought him here. And he's out there, waiting for me to face him." She took a deep breath. "I have to go."

"We're all going," Atton said.

"No way," Mira responded. "I'm doing this alone."

"We're not going to help you," Atton said. He looked at Bao-Dur. "You remember our promise."

Mira looked flustered. "Yeah, but… But what about Hanharr? I can't just pretend he isn't out there."

"You can catch up to us," Atton said. He shrugged as if he didn't really care whether or not Mira came with them.

"Bao-Dur is hurt," Visas said. "He cannot leave the ship."

The thought of walking over the rocky surface of Malachor made Bao-Dur's stomach clench. He knew he would not be able to make it. "You go," he said. "I will stay here and work on the ship."

"By yourself? You are injured." The Disciple shook his head. "No. I do not like this plan."

"You made a promise!" Atton rounded on him. "You promised you would help Alia stand against Kreia when the time came. Does she mean that little to you? Now that she's made it clear she doesn't want you, are you just going to turn your back on her?"

The color drained from the Disciple's face. "You know that is not true," he said quietly.

"Then act like it," Atton snapped. He turned around, ignoring the Disciple. "Visas, are you coming with me?"

She gazed down at Bao-Dur, her mouth tight with concern. She stroked his face. "I do not want to leave you," she said sadly. Then she looked up at Atton. "I will go with you."

Bao-Dur squeezed her hand, grateful that she had made the right choice. "You go," he said. "I'll be here waiting for you when you get back."

She leaned down and kissed him, not caring that the others could see. "I love you," she whispered.

As she spoke, she called upon the Force. It touched Bao-Dur, making his eyes fly open. An incredibly powerful rush of sensation swept over his body, and then it was gone, leaving behind only a slow tingling.

"We share the Force now," Visas said. "See what I see, my love. See through the Force, as I do."

She caressed his cheek one more time, then stood up. "I am ready."

The four of them left at once. Mira said that she would go ahead and deal with Hanharr, so the threat would be removed by the time the others caught up. Atton, who was in charge of their little expedition, said that was fine.

Bao-Dur remained on the Ebon Hawk. He lay on the couch for a few minutes, gathering his strength. The pain deep inside him had abated a little, but he knew it would flare again when he tried to move. He was not looking forward to it.

His little remote hovered nearby, anxiously bobbing up and down. With a sigh, Bao-Dur realized the time had come.

"You know what to do," he said.

The remote bwooped at him and flashed its lights. Then it drifted off to do his bidding, following the programming he had hoped it would never have to utilize.

He watched the remote float away, and decided that it was high time he got going as well. He caught his lower lip in his teeth and slowly tried sitting up.

Immediately the pain increased, making him gasp out loud. His head sagged forward, and he slumped, wishing he could just slide off the couch and onto the floor, where he could close his eyes and fall asleep.

But he did not have that luxury. He was needed. He had to get the Ebon Hawk ready to fly again. He had to do his part. This was all part of his atonement for what had happened here so many years ago.

He was still trying to find the strength to stand when T3 rolled up to him. The droid let loose a long series of beeps and boops that would have puzzled most people. Bao-Dur just listened carefully, squinting against his pain, and frowning at what he heard.

Apparently HK-47 and G0-T0 had left the ship shortly after his remote had. He had no idea what they could be up to, but he did not like it one bit.

"Thank you," he said. "I appreciate your help."

T3 beeped some more. Bao-Dur breathed slowly in and out, waiting for the pain to subside a little before he stood up. "What can you do?" he asked.

The droid pointed out helpfully that he had worked on the Ebon Hawk's systems before. Bao-Dur started to nod, but the severe headache this motion brought on made him regret the gesture before it had hardly begun. "How far off the ground are we?" he asked.

T3 beeped an answer. Bao-Dur thought about their situation for a long moment, then made his decision. "Check the ship's systems," he said. "Do a full diagnostic. Then come report your findings. We'll figure out what to do then."

The little astromech droid booped in confirmation, then rolled off to obey his order. Bao-Dur watched him go.

Visas, my love. He missed her soothing presence. He wanted to feel her hand touching his skin. He wanted her to hold him and ease his pain.

Visas. He reached for her, wanting her.

And she was there.

He caught his breath in utter shock. Although he was still sitting hunched over on the couch in the main hold of the Ebon Hawk, he was somehow also walking through the wasteland of Malachor V.

He could see everything she could. He watched as she picked her way carefully among the rocks. She stepped over a gaping crack in the ground, and skirted a well of poison gas. Ahead of her Atton led the way. The Disciple walked behind her, unhappy and watchful.

My love. She spoke his name, and Bao-Dur flinched in surprise. Now you see, as I do.

Everything around him was surrounded by a faint aura. It was life, it was the Force, it was amazing. Atton was enclosed by a shining light blue aura. The Disciple's aura was a stronger blue. The surface of Malachor, however, shone with no light at all. It was dead in the Force.

Now you know, Visas breathed.

He understood. He had to remain behind, but part of him went with her. They were bonded through the Force, and through their love. Wherever she went, he could go with her. She was not alone in her quest, not truly.

The knowledge gave him strength. He stood up quickly, refusing to let his pain stop him. He had a task to do.

He must not fail.

Author's Note: Many thanks to everyone who has reviewed. I'm sorry this chapter is so late in coming. Things have been very stressful at my office lately and I've been working a lot of overtime, which is nice for my paycheck but unfortunately means I have less writing time available.

The next chapter may be the last one. It's hard to say. There's a lot yet to cover, and I'm still not sure what exactly will happen. I guess that's up to our heroes, isn't it?