Disclaimer: Sigh, here we go again. Read my lips: I DO NOT OWN STAR WARS OR ANY OF ITS RELATED MATERIALS! Whatever moronic lawyer who thought disclaimers were necessary ought to be drug out into the street and shot.

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Chapter 4

This was turning out more and more hopeless. I was trapped on an abandoned mining station in the middle of nowhere on the Outer Rim. If that wasn't bad enough, I had come so far, only to have found a dead end. I wasn't going to give up. I would die before then. I suppose that's what got me in so much trouble before my hiatus. Before the war.

Kriea must have been very wise to have known that I was once in the Jedi Order. But of course, that was almost ten years ago. I had never talked about it till this day. It sill pained me that I did what I thought was right and still was cast out. When the first reports came that a new group of warriors called the Mandalorians were attacking Republic planets, everyone was shocked. They were brutal and destructive. If they had only attacked military, I wouldn't have hated them as much, but they massacred millions upon millions of innocents. I hold life very precious and above all else. The Council wanted simply to hold back and observe the situation first. Normally, I might have gone along with it, but the Mandalorians were killing civilians, women, and children at a disturbing rate. I couldn't stand by and watch innocents slaughtered. My chance to defy the Council came when Revan and Malak started a movement to join the war. I didn't want to defy the Council, but life held a higher priority at the time. I quickly went about to join them and their efforts.

The war was brutal. Not only had the Mandalorians been strong and well-coordinated, they refused to give in. A "Mandalorian prisoner of war" soon became an oxymoron. The war dragged on, with a few victories here and there. Near the end, I had begun to doubt my decisions. The only thing that had kept me going was the painful memory of that girl.

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"Query: Master, are you well?"

I woke up suddenly and realized that I had fallen asleep. Slightly angry I had allowed myself to get sidetracked. Shaking off my reminiscent slumber, I got up and stretched a little.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just got a little tired. So you said that the password is voice-activated, right?" I assured the droid.

"Confirmation: Affirmative. The code must be spoken correctly and in the officer's voice. Sadly, I do not have a recording of him speaking it," said the droid almost sympathetically.

Suddenly, and ingenious idea popped into my head.

"Wait a second. You KNOW what the password is, correct?"

"Repetition: Affirmative: It is 'Password is B5-2K'."

"Are you capable of copying voices? If so, you could speak the password in his voice!" I exclaimed excitedly.

"Statement: My vocabulator is quite capable of fulfilling this task. However, I fear that I am unable to comply with your request, as much as I would like to Master."

"What!" I said with disappointment that another plan was shot down. "Why the hell not?"

"Clarification: Because, Master, it would be a severe violation of my ethical programming."

'Yet killing people isn't.' I thought with a sour internal tone. I sighed and sat down to think on this. I knew that my only hope of getting into the dormitory where the survivors were was with this psychotic, though oddly loyal, droid. I could have tried to take him apart and reprogram him, but I didn't think I had the time or the skill to do that. He certainly wouldn't be able to do it willingly because I was going to use it for an 'unethical' purpose. Yet again, I came up with another plan. Droids were rather advanced, but not THAT advanced. Droids like to be praised by their masters and can be somewhat prideful, if not arrogant.

"Say, you know, HK, you must be pretty sophisticated to be able to copy voices like that."

"Verification: Indeed, Master. I am able to reproduce any sound with a 99.8 accuracy level."

"Why don't you prove it to me?"

"Statement: Certainly, Master. What would you have me perform with his function?"

"Oh, I don't know. Why don't you try saying 'The password is B5-2K' in that dead man's voice. If you can't do it, I'd understand."

"Statement: Oh but of course, Master. I am perfectly capable of this. Allow me to exhibit my abilities."

Quickly, but quietly, I slipped out the comm-link I had and set it for recording.

"Derivative message: "The password is B5-2K." HK said in the same voice of the deceased officer.

"Query: "Was that satisfactory?"

"Yes. That'll do droid. That'll do."

"Query: I am not sure I understand, Master. What do you mean?"

"Oh, nothing." I said as I slipped my key to moving forward back into my pocket. "By the way, which way is it to the dormitory door?"

"Rectification: In actuality, Master, you must take a turbolift to the dormitory. But, regardless, it is down the hall to the right and is down the first hall on the right side. The console that controls the door is a little before the door on the left side. I do not know why you would want to go there, since we are trapped here. I suggest we stay here and wait for help."

"If all else fails, then I guess I'll have to do that. I'll be back for you later." I lied to the droid. I didn't want to ever see that droid again for the rest of my life. Once I got off the station, I wanted to just go back to my lonely wanderings in exile. How impossible that was going to seem in a few hours. And yet again, I was clueless, as a 'Republic' warship was heading towards the station via hyperspace. In just a few hours, my whole life was about to change.

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Author's note: Thank you for the good and non-negative reviews. I decided to give the Exile a little more introspection to keep things interesting. Also, in regards to whether he will be Light or Dark side: I was going to post it, but I think I'll keep it a relative secret to keep the story interesting. I've also decided on that matter to just go with the flow, so that even I won't know what he will choose in the end. I know this chapter was a little short, but I felt it was a good transition point. That and I only have about 10 more minutes before the SOL ends and I gotta go to class. Thanks again, and chapter 5 will be up ASAP.

PS- A PSP is a Playstation Portable.