Star Wars:
Dark Legacy

By: Myst-Dragon

Chapter 3

Caitlin and Jak entered the Cantina where they agreed to meet Nate for dinner. Caitlin looked around the main room. The area looked even dingier than the one she'd met Jak in, but the Bith band helped keep the atmosphere relatively upbeat. What the girl sensed from the moon still made her feel uneasy. "Is this really a good place to eat and talk?"

Jak laughed. "Don't worry. It may not look like it, but this place has great food, and people only pay attention to you if they think you have something to hide." The man's words did little to put her at ease as they made their way to the table where Nate sat. They joined the old man at the table and ordered some food.

"So, what can you tell us about that woman you met?" Caitlin asked with a slight smile, trying to sound pleasant. She didn't like being on the 'Smuggler's Moon', and the young woman felt uncomfortable holding a conversation in the Cantina.

The old man could tell she was forcing herself to smile and be polite in spite of her discomfort with the place and her obvious desire to get down to business. This made Nate grin as he started. "It's not a long story, so we should be able to cover everything before you get bored and want to move on to more recent events." The old man paused deliberately, scratching his brow with his droid arm as he grabbed a drink with his right. He noted a twitch of frustration on her face, and thought to himself, 'She's a serious one.', and continued. "Goin' on about ten years ago, I'd gotten myself into a little misunderstanding with some of the local thugs. Back in those days I still had everything I was born with. Anyway, I was running from these guys and before I knew it, I was trapped in a dead end! As they were about to tear into me; she'd jumped between us and 'persuaded' them to forget why they were mad at me. I'll never forget the face of that woman." Nate smiled at the memory, and resumed. "It turned out she was told to find me because she wanted to use my smuggler connections. Lucky me."

Jak Laughed, and shook his head grinning. "That's about the only real reason most people would help you; you old goat. Did she let slip what she needed moved?" He asked his question shortly after they were left with their food.

The old man cocked an eyebrow as a glared at Jak. "Who're you callin' an old goat?" He shook his head and continued. "They needed some ships delivered for them. Saying they disliked the Emperor would be an understatement, but I don't think they were linked to the Rebellion. Tallus, was very hard to read, but the guy with her practically wore his heart on his sleeve. He may have been doing a fair job controlling it, but it wasn't hard to tell that he was the ambitious type, seemed to have a lot of built up anger two."

"Did the man with her have anything, or do anything that would make you think he was a Jedi?" Caitlin asked, leaning in.

The girl's question made him laugh. "You mean except call the woman 'Master'? No, there wasn't anything to separate him from any resident on this moon." The insinuation Caitlin caught in his statement caused her to look at him suspisciously.

"If he's the kind of person you seem to think he was, then I can only hope he wasn't trained in the ways of the Jedi." She commented as she brushed back some of her short, brown hair.

Nate couldn't help but laugh. "I like this kid, she's sharp!" He looked over to his friend. "You should try to keep her on board, Jak. She seems smart, and I'd bet she's handy in a fight." The old man looked at her as if he were examining a rare stone, and amended. "Plus, she's easy on the eyes!"

Jak groaned. "She's sixteen."

The old man took a bite of his food and grinned. "She'll get older."

On one of the Moon's docking station near where Jak's ship, the Ivory Dream, had landed, a tall man wearing a black cloak walked down the ramp of his small ship. His hood was drawn, casting a shadow over his face. As he walked to the dock's exit; three men approached him. One was a red scaled, reptilian alien holding a repeating blaster rifle. One of the two human thugs approached him with more confidence than the he felt the thug should have. The man's voice was heavily accented as if he were more used to speaking Huttesse, rather than Galactic Basic. "You want to land here; then you gotta pay our toll. This is our dock, and we don' let anybody land here without paying." The reptilian alien smirked and gave the trigger guard of his rifle a few taps.

"Remove yourselves from my sight and never bother me again." He ordered the men with an even greater arrogance in his tone. As the reptilian alien readied his rifle, the man reached out his left hand and grabbed the alien through the Force, and ignited a yellow lightsaber blade, skewering the man that spoke to him. As the man he'd skewered with the one activated blade of the double lightsaber fell, he tossed the alien over the railings and approached the remaining human. The man cowered, looking at the cloaked man as a cornered mouse might look at a cat. A grin was barely detectable under his hood. "If you can prove yourself useful, I might spare your life. Do you know where I can find a ship called, the Ivory Dream?" The cowering man could only manage to silently. "Good, then lead me to it and you will have your opportunity to escape." The Dark Jedi was sure to emphasize 'opportunity' as he spoke.

As they reached a point where the two men could see Jak's Correllian ship, they held back where the men unloading its cargo couldn't see them. While the Dark Jedi studied the activity surrounding the small freighter, his guide began to creep away. Before the frightened man could turn around, the tall man reached back without averting his eyes from the ship, and used the Force to strangle his guide. The man's face is filled with fright as his hands struggle to find the unseen hand crushing his throat. As his body became lifeless, the tall man made a slight gesture, sending him over the railing.

With the guide disposed of, he pulled down the hood of his cloak, revealing spiked, blonde hair. Quiyllo reached into his cloak and pulled out a small, spherical remote droid. He activated the droid, and it floated off to the side, making its way into the open cargo bay of the YT-1930 freighter. He smiled as the small droid entered the ship, unseen by even the R2 unit sitting near the cargo bay entrance.

That evening Caitlin found herself in an empty void, surrounded by darkness. The young woman looked around and could see herself clearly as if she were standing under the midday sun. She was fully dressed in her dark, Charcoal grey outer robe tunic and boots, with the lighter grey inner robe and pants. Her feet seemed firmly planted on an unseen surface. She glanced around nervously and moved her feet into a defensive posture as she her approaching footsteps echo all around her. As the footsteps came ever closer, she saw a woman dressed in Jedi robes colored primarily in black approach. The woman wore a single silver and black lightsaber on her belt, and looked as Caitlin might in her twenties. "Who are you?" The young Jedi apprentice asked, barely concealing her nervousness.

The woman gave a light laugh in response, which did little to ease Caitlin's nerves, and spoke with a pleasant tone. "I am you, or rather a part of you which you've been suppressing." She paused with a smile that showed her confidence. The younger woman didn't like it at all. It made her feel like a cornered mouse.

She shoved her fears aside and decided to ask another question, hoping to arm herself with knowledge. "Why are you… why are we here?" She asked her question even though she thought she might not get a straight answer.

Much to her irritation, the woman continued to smile ruefully. "I have a warning for you." The simple answer caught Caitlin off guard and stunned her. "The man who murdered your master is looking for you. He will find you on Onderon. You only have to continue the quest Master Van gave you, but be warned, you cannot defeat him as you are." She spoke sharply as she finished her warning.

"What are you trying to tell me to do then?" The teenaged girl tried gain herself some sense of control as she asked.

The woman's smile widened. "You only have to accept the power buried within you. The power that you've been trained to burry and reject! If you fight him without that power, then you will die!"

Caitlin's eyes narrowed as she took what felt like a bold step forward. "I won't turn to the dark side. I won't be consumed for the sake of vengeance!"

The woman sighed. "Perhaps if I give you a taste of what you'll face, and what you will need to survive, you may see things differently." With that, she reached out to Caitlin's neck, and the girl felt herself being strangled!

Caitlin awoke, sitting up in an instant. She was once again in the bed she'd laid down on, onboard the Ivory Dream, and stripped down to her light grey inner robe. She was covered in sweat, and her throat felt sore as she rubbed it. "Was that just a dream?" She asked herself nervously as she looked around, noting her gear on the nearby table. She found it difficult to get back to sleep, but once she did, no other dreams haunted her.

With Jak's business on Nar Shadda complete, they left the moon soon after waking up. Caitlin spent the morning half in a daze as she cleaned up, maintained her gear and wandered the small YT-1930; occasionally rubbing her throat. R2-10 kept watch in the cockpit as Jak and Caitlin sat in the galley for lunch. Jak had prepared a simple meal and sat a plate down on the small round table for each of them. He'd half cleaned his plate when he saw hers was completely undisturbed. "I know it doesn't look like much, but it's better than what they serve in that cantina Nate likes to visit."

"It's alright." Her answer was weak and half-hearted, as she looked to the plate and up at him.

He sighed. "Cait, what's wrong? You've walking around like a zombie and going at your neck all morning." His eyes held nothing but earnest concern.

She looked away. "I just had a bad dream and I'm a little tired, that's all." Jak didn't have to be a genius to tell she was hiding something.

"It might help if you talk about it." Jak suggested, hoping she might open up.

"I can't really remember much of it." She lied, still looking away from the older man, weakly. Her memories of the previous night's dream were in fact still quite vivid. She especially remembered the very real feeling of being strangled. "I'm just tired from not sleeping well, that's all."

He sighed again and spoke softly to the young woman. "Something's bothering you. I can tell, but if you don't want to talk about it, then I won't try to force you to. Just remember, I'll be there for you when you're ready."

As she slowly stood, it looked as though she were bearing the weight of the galaxy. "I'm going to take a nap. Don't bother worrying about me."

As the young woman walked away, he shook his head. "Real smooth."

The next morning Jak took the ship out of Hyperspace and began landing procedures with the spaceport nearest where Caitlin told him she needed to go. It wasn't long before the Ivory Dream finished setting down in one of the port's docking bays. "Ok Ten, keep watch on the ship. We'll probably stay here a day or so extra to see if any jobs come up. Besides, I hear this port has a good Pazaak scene. Once the engines and other main systems were taken offline, he went to Caitlin's quarters, where the young woman had been since they last spoke the previous afternoon. He knocked on her door, pausing to give her a chance to answer.

"Just a minute." She answered, and a moment later she opened the door, ready to go. She showed no signs of anything being wrong, as she had the day before. She gave him a slight smile to hide the fact that she was still worried about the attack which may or may not come. "I'm ready to go."

Jak could very well see that she was ready. He looked her over, seeing that she was wearing her normal robes, the blaster he gave her was strapped on, and he'd bet his life that her lightsabers were strapped in place under the sleeves of her dark grey outer robe. "I guess that little 'nap' did you some good. Just remember; as long as you're with me you can talk to me about anything that's bothering you."

She shook her head a little. "You really shouldn't worry about me. You'll be rid of me soon enough." With that she started on her way off the ship. Once they departed the ship, Ten closed the gantry.

"You know Cait, there's no rule that says I can't worry about whoever I want. Besides, as I recall Jedi are supposed to be trained in Diplomacy and Protocol; as well as being taught to use their training to help others." The light-hearted tone of Jak's comment made the teen feel a little better.

"I'm sorry for not having much practical experience." She apologized jokingly as they walked through the settlement. "Did you manage to pull up a map of the area?" She asked as she pulled out her datapad.

"Give me your datapad and I'll give you a copy." Caitlin handed hers over and Jak setup the data transfer. It was finished in a matter of seconds. "There ya go." He told her casually as he returned her datapad. "Just what are you here after anyway?"

"I'll tell you once we've cleared the settlement. You know, you didn't have to come with me."

"Chalk it up to an old man's intuition, but I'm pretty sure you're gonna need some backup." He grinned.

"You're not that old, you're barely old enough to be my father." She gave him a wry grin. Soon after, the pair made arrangements to rent a set of swoop bikes, and made out for Caitlin's target. They passed through one of the planet's forests to arrive at what seemed like an ancient temple. They passed into the large courtyard to see the entrance to the main part of the temple, which was built into a mountainside. "Well, we're here. Once I get the artifact Master Van left in here, you can take me to my next stop and I'll be…" She paused as she caught sight of the pair of statues, surrounding the door.

"What's wrong?" Jak asked, as he moved a hand down to his holster.

"I thought I sensed the Dark Side, but I didn't expect to see Freedon Nadd's image here." She looked at the images of the long dead dark Jedi as if she expected them to come to life and attack.

"So, was this guy supposed to be a Jedi?" Jak asked, half-joking.

"He once was, a long time ago, but then he turned to the Dark side. I was taught about him and that he was trained by the spirit of the Dark Lord Naga Sadow." The young Jedi apprentice continued on as she worked on controlling her anxiety.

"I never would've expected a Jedi to hide something important in a place like this." Jak mused as he followed the girl. "It actually seems like a pretty clever camouflage." As they walked through the well worn halls of the abandoned temple, the pair heard a skittering sound on the floor. From around a corner, walked two grotesque creatures. They appeared to be giant spiders with long legs and necks. Caitlin quickly used her powers to pull her lightsabers to her hands, and wasted no time igniting them. The predators wasted no time as they aggressively skittered across the floor. The young woman threw one of her sabers, and used the Force to guide it as it sawed through the body of one of the beasts. As its partner was cut, the other long-necked spider leapt for Caitlin's head! The beast was shot out of the air, inches away from her pale face. "Caitlin, you alright?" Jak asked as they checked the two dead creatures.

"I'm fine, thanks." As she answered, gratefully, it seemed like she'd been holding her breath. They had several more encounters with the strange predators as they wandered the halls, until Caitlin sensed something familiar. Jak gave her a strange look, as she stopped and began examining one of the walls. Before he could ask, she activated a hidden trigger, opening a hidden door. Past the door, they saw a triangular holocron mounted onto an old terminal. "Looks like we've found the key." As she attempted to interface her datapad with it, a message appeared requesting a pass code. She thought about it for a moment and then spoke with an old Corellian dialect. "Seize the day, but live for peace." After a moment her datapad's screen flashed as the holocron began transferring data. Once the process of copying was completed, she returned her datapad to its pocket inside her robe, and they carefully made their way back out.

The pair emerged from the temple, to see Quiyllo waiting for them in the middle of the courtyard. Caitlin flinched as she almost attacked him right out for murdering Master Van. "Give me back Master Van's lightsaber and turn yourself in, I don't want to kill you." As she made her request, her voice quaked as she felt a part of herself crying out for his blood!

The blonde haired man smirked as he stood up to his tall, lanky height. "Isn't that cute? You don't want to kill me, huh? Your fear is delicious. You know you're too weak to go up against a disciple of the Dark Side." He pointed towards the temple with his left hand as he brought out the lightsaber he acquired while fighting Caitlin's master. "Give me what you've recovered from there, and I'll let you run for your worthless lives." His arrogance flowed through every syllable as he spoke. He lowered his hand, activated both sides of the double lightsaber, and stood there; giving Caitlin a chance to surrender to what he felt was his superior strength. After all, he'd beaten a Jedi Master. There was no way a whelp that hadn't even achieved knighthood could beat him.

Caitlin gritted her teeth as she used her power to call her lightsabers from their hiding places. "I can't hand it over to someone who'd fallen to the Dark Side. Don't make me fight you."

Jak pulled his blaster, and brought it to bear on their tall foe. "You'd better listen to the lady. Even being a Dark Jedi, I don't see how you could stand a chance against the two of us."

"Allow me to illuminate you then." Quiyllo held out his left hand and used the Force to pull Jak's blaster from his hand. The next instant, he'd charged Caitlin. The young Jedi barely had time to bring her lightsabers up in defense! She struggled to defend herself against the torrent of slashes and thrusts from Quiyllo's double-sided lightsaber. She gasped as one of the golden lightsaber blades grazed her left thigh, and she barely managed to perform a back-flip to avoid a slash that would have taken off her legs below the knees. Before her feet had settled back on the ground; the Dark Jedi Used the Force to push her. As her back struck the wall she nearly dropped her lightsabers. As she returned to her feet, she saw her enemy standing before her as if she were harmless. "Do you finally understand my superior strength? Do you understand you have no chance against me?"

She could feel her anger and fear building up inside. The anger she felt at this man who'd killed her master had been growing strongly since the beginning of the battle. It was as if the temple itself had been feeding her emotions. She noticed Jak starting to move, and called out to him. "Stay back!"

"I'm getting bored with this. Let's make it more interesting." Quiyllo yawned lazily and started walking towards Jak. "I'm going to see how you feel about witnessing a murder with your own eyes." Caitlin leapt at her foe with a vicious slash, forcing him to turn around to block. "I see you're really ready to fight now."

"I won't let you use the Force or that lightsaber to murder anyone else!" Quiyllo forced her back, and the two began exchanging blows. Her attacks were now far more aggressive! As the tall man tried to use the Force to choke her, she used her power to push him into a wall. He grunted with the impact and dropped the double lightsaber. As he looked up at her, he finally noticed the true nature of the change that had occurred within her. Before he could say anything, he felt himself lifted off the ground and was flung into another wall. The impact nearly broke one of his ribs. The Dark Jedi once again felt himself being lifted off the ground, but this time there was the additional sensation of an invisible hand strangling him. "Is this something like what you trying to do?" Her tone was deathly serious as she scowled at him. It was now his turn to feel fear, only his fear was far different from what Caitlin felt. At that moment he feared for his very life. "How does it feel to know you're going to die?"

"Caitlin! You have to stop. You can't kill him out of anger or hate!" Jak called out to her, hoping to call her back from the darkness.

"And why not? He murdered Master Van, and who knows how many other people!" She yelled back at him.

"Caitlin, you have to let go of your anger. If you kill him like this, then you'll be just like him. Do you think your master would want that!" He walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

A tear rolled down her cheek as she lowered her hand, letting Quiyllo fall. He groaned as he hit the ground. "You're right." Caitlin spoke in a low voice as she turned to face him. The young woman burst into tears as she wrapped her arms around him. "Why'd he have to die and leave me alone? I need him, but now he's gone! What am I going to do?"

"You can stay with me for as long as you need. I'll help you." His words comforted her.

"Thank you."

"What do you say; we get out of here now?" Jak asked with a slight smile. As Jak held Caitlin, Quiyllo's eyes opened and he glared at the young Jedi, whose back was exposed to him. He quickly reached out with his power, pulling Jak's blaster to his hand. The moment he pulled the trigger, Caitlin pushed her friend aside, using one of her lightsabers to deflect the blaster bolt. The deflected bolt struck Quiyllo between the eyes. She dropped her lightsaber in shock. "Damned fool." Jak cursed, as he retrieved his blaster from Quiyllo's corpse. "C'mon Caitlin, let's get out of here."