Carth knew small talk was not in the plans for this mission. His brief contact with the scouts was all about mission detail and then more mission talk.

He spent the other hours analyzing the datapad. From what he could gather, the planet was a serious, VERY serious concern for both the Jedi and the Republic. He was lost in thoughts about why this was just a scouting mission, after reading the data, when the sensors began to emit a resounding alarm.

"All passengers to the safety hold" he announced over the ships intercom. He quickly set one droid to defensive mode, while leaving the other to piloting commands, as before. He raced to the turrets, hoping it was just a few enemy ships, nothing that he couldn't handle without endangering the scouts lives. To his great relief he only saw one ship, and a mighty small one at that.

7-53, the piloting droid, came across just as Carth was settling into the turret seat and realized they had nothing to fear. "Incoming message from unfriendly ship – requesting confirmation of Sector 7 bypass."

Carth was surprised, sector 7 bypass was only initiated from fellow comrades, this must be a republic ship. Thank goodness they decided to talk first, instead of fire first ask questions later!

"Patch them through 7-53, request level 2 security measures, and um, don't identify ourselves in the process".

After the initial security codes and clearances had been validated, via droid relays between both ships, Carth found out that this ship was also heading to Malachor V. Both had been very secretive so not much had been accomplished, but the initial threat had been abated. He did learn that this ship was due to arrive at the opposite end of the planet, which meant it had no concerns about being blasted into oblivion, unlike his crew. He used the time in between communications to relay this information to the Republic, who assured him there was no need for him to be further concerned with this lone ship. Repeated attempts to actually speak to the pilot of the other ship instead of a droid held no success.

With the temporary crisis abated, Carth decided to get some rest before they entered the life-threatening domain of Malachor V.

--------------------------

Juhani had completed all the secret codes, security measures and clearances required for her landing. Only that small encounter with another republic ship had strayed her mind from the current task. The pilot had sounded an awful lot like Carth, but he was back on Coruscant. Dismissing that thought and leaving the droid to handle the situation she returned to the task at hand.

Not knowing what might await her she packed up everything she could carry that wouldn't be an encumbrance. She traveled down the pre-determined path, stopping only at the required areas, searching for the datapads that would guide her to the next. After recovering three datapads, she knew things were worse than she had hoped. Only two datapad locations were required for normal emergency procedures. The fact that she had already recovered three and still needed to find a fourth told her things were very bad. She tried to send a quick transmission to the council about this development but static charges in the area made the transmission useless. "I knew I hated this place before but now I hate it even more" she thought. She understood why this place had been chosen but still, surely something else could have sufficed. Off she trekked in search of the, hopefully, last datapad.

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Bastilla stormed into the chambers, feeling stronger than ever before, but quickly lost all sense when she looked upon the Masters.

They too looked a bit lost for color as she told them what she had felt.

"Meditate on this we must"

"Wait to see what develops we shall"

"Continue on your path, young Padawan, the Council will see to this matter."

"Yes Masters, but what does it mean? Is Revan in danger? Is there nothing I can do to help?"

"The Council has spoken Padawan, you must not concern yourself. This will be addressed. Things beyond your bond are working here. All will become clear, for the right eyes to see."

"Yes Masters" she bowed and left the chambers. Why did she always feel like she didn't understand? She couldn't understand why she had fallen, when she followed the path so directly. And now, now, she couldn't understand how this didn't concern her; did they not believe what she had felt? No, she couldn't think this way, she needed to abide by the councils wishes, she had told them what she needed to, and now. Now, she needed to carry on her training.