Canderous
I hardly saw Jennet for the next five days. She holed up in our former quarters most of the time, glued to the computer, calling up holocatalogs of furniture, paint samples, window dressings, and other household goods. The second day Atton's decorator friend arrived and devoted himself to memorizing floor plans and designing rooms. He had a clever little computer that projected three dimensional images in miniature so one could judge the effect. Half the female population, including a fair amount of Republic soldiery, wandered in and out, oohing and ahhing over details. I dutifully witnessed a few rooms, approved anything Jennet wanted, and made myself scarce. I avoided the area like the plague and the honor guard set up a fair rotation in duties so each member only had a few hours a day with it.
Stefan arrived two days into the madness, and cheerfully set about making himself useful helping with the decorating chaos. That was fine with me; Jennet was never alone with him, being surrounded constantly with chattering females, and it kept him out of my hair. I spent most of my time with camp details and observing the daily fights between the Mandoa and Republic soldiers. They were having a blast with the battle scenarios, and I spent a good portion of my days in the company of the other males avoiding the decorating craze in the computer room.
We had taken a quick half day trip up to Onderon to deposit Jennet's assets with my investment broker and get her set up in my accounts. I was impressed by how much she had put aside over the years, especially as she was so young. I insisted her credits were her own when she simply wanted to dump it all in with mine.
"We don't need it, Wildcat, and you earned it yourself. Keep it for our future children if you like, or fun, whatever. I can support us," I tried to explain.
Her eyes narrowed and she said carefully, "Are you saying I won't be contributing to our family?"
"Of course not," I said, recognizing the signs of an impending argument, and wondering what the hell I'd said wrong. "I just don't want to take any independence away from you."
"I was under the impression that what's mine is yours," she said reasonably. "That includes assets. You're free enough with your credits with me. This is a partnership. Ergo, I contribute too."
A half hour of wrangling, we came to the compromise that she would pay for half the furnishing of the house, and split the rest of her assets between an independent fund in her name only, to be used at her discretion, and the rest to be deposited into our now joint accounts. In return, I made my own independent account. I was utterly mystified as to her insistence of these terms, and said so.
"I don't mind you supporting me," she explained, "but I am bringing my own modest wealth into this marriage. If you insist on what's mine is mine, and what's yours is mine, I won't feel like things are equal. I don't care if you can buy several small planets."
"That's why I wanted you to keep your credits," I protested. "You're not chattel, you're my wife. It's your money."
"But you're saying your money's mine, too. So where am I contributing, exactly?" she countered. "Think of it as dowry, if you like."
I saw the wisdom of that, and the compromise satisfied both of us. Privately, I figured my account would be held in trust for any children we had. She caught that before I could bury it sufficiently, and admitted that she had had the same thought about hers. Serious argument diverted, I set about enlightening her to the extent of my personal wealth. She was silent for a long time after the broker had explained things.
"You know," she said thoughtfully as we headed back to the shuttle, "for someone who didn't care if they lived or died or thought they had a future, you certainly were preparing for one."
I stopped in my tracks, and stared at her. "I hadn't thought of it that way," I said slowly.
"I think you were subconsciously planning to pursue the Helm long before Revan handed it to you," Jennet said quietly. "Otherwise, why invest your earnings at all? It's easy enough to blow credits on gambling, drink, expensive weaponry, women, whatever. But you didn't do that."
"No," I said, thinking back. "I didn't. I could usually build better armor than what's available to buy; I never saw the use of spending credits on that. A few excellent quality and well-maintained weapons were all I ever needed, and most quarters I had were already furnished. I always thought that my tendency to invest my credits were just habit; I hadn't any need to have a lot on hand, and it seemed wasteful to just let them sit. Plus, rumor of lots of disposable wealth makes you a target. I had considered getting a good ship from time to time, but never really needed it until I went looking for my kin, and by then I had followers that were more than happy to share expenses on their own vessels."
"Amazing how your brain works," Jennet said, smiling. "You're one of the most intelligent people I've met, and yet you compartmentalize things so completely that you're not even aware of half the things you reason out until you need it. Makes me wonder what else you have going on in there you're not aware of."
"I could say much the same about you, Wildcat," I grumbled.
"Probably," she said cheerfully. "We're quite a pair."
The morning of our wedding dawned bright and clear. I had woken early, and took a quick run around the camp, Xarga and Kex in tow, leaving Jennet sleeping peacefully in our cabin on the Phoenix. It rained a lot on Dxun, mostly in early mornings or night. It had done so last night, and the air was clean and cooler than usual. I was glad of that, but knew it would be the usual sweatbox by the time the wedding battles started. Heading back into our cabin, I showered and was just thinking of waking Jennet up in a way guaranteed to start her day right when the door buzz rang loudly through the room, jerking Jennet awake and startling me off of the bed. Snatching a robe, I opened the door as behind me, Jennet fumbled for her own robe and shook the cobwebs out of her head.
Jarxel and Visas stood outside the cabin, both rumpled, as if they'd hastily thrown on their clothes in the dark. I had the impression that if I could see Visas' eyes through her veil they would be wide and frightened; she was nearly vibrating with suppressed agitation. Jarxel was looking concerned and confused, his arm around her. Xarga and Kex were looking on in puzzlement.
"What's happened?" I asked, stepping out of the cabin with Jennet right behind me.
"Nothing," Jarxel started to say, but Visas cut him off.
"Trouble," she said calmly enough but the fear was there; I could almost smell it. "A Sith warship is on its way to us."
I felt rather than heard a collective hiss of surprise from everyone.
"You're sure." It wasn't a question.
"Yes," she nodded sharply. "I had a vision. They're not in range yet, but will be in a matter of hours."
"Why here? Why Dxun?" Jennet asked, now wide awake.
But the answer hit all of us at the same time. The Jedi. Right now, Dxun had probably the biggest concentration of surviving Order members of anywhere in the galaxy. We all exchanged significant looks, and I signaled Jarxel to alert everyone, and have them meet us here. He hurried off to comm the Ebon Hawk and Carth.
"But how could they know they're here?" Jennet asked generally. "The rip in the Force is mended, how could the Sith track them?"
"They didn't," Visas said somberly. "We've been betrayed."
"Let's get dressed, Wildcat," I said. "No point in making Visas tell it twice; everyone will be here in a minute."
We threw on clothes and were emerging from the cabin again as everyone showed up, all looking rumpled and confused, but calm. I knew Jarxel had not told anyone what was going on over the comm; no telling who might be listening in. But everyone was aware something was wrong and looked at me expectantly. I shrugged, gave a wave at Visas and pointed to the common area. Crowding Jennet and me, nine Jedi, Jarxel, Carth, the honor guard and the Elders into the main cabin, we all turned to Visas expectantly.
"As I told Canderous, there is a Sith warship on its way to Dxun; it will be here in a matter of hours," the Miraluka woman was calm, but I could feel through Jennet that every Jedi in the cabin was picking up her agitation. "They are intent on exterminating the last of the Jedi, of course," she held up a hand as Ladria started to speak. "Our mission was successful; they are not tracking us through the Force. We were betrayed by one of our own."
"Who?" demanded Mira fiercely, echoed by several other voices.
I was somewhat surprised that no one questioned Visas' accusation. I've had my differences with Jedi, and certainly seen more than one fall to the dark side. But there was none of the disbelief that I would expect.
You weren't surprised when you were betrayed by one of your own and given to Rikes, Jennet reminded me silently. Why should Jedi? Besides, we've witnessed the accuracy of Visas' visions before.
How do we know it's not her? I asked cynically, but immediately relented. But no, she wouldn't warn us in that case.
Exactly.
Visas looked over the room, veiled eyes not lingering on anyone, and opened her mouth to speak. There was a blur of movement, and suddenly I was thrown with considerable force across the cabin by an unseen blast. I scrambled to my feet to find Jennet was being held tightly, an unlit lightsaber at her throat.
"Stay back," Bastila said calmly. "Or your Mate will never speak her wedding vows."
"You can't take all of us," I growled. "And your friends will kill us all anyway."
"No," she agreed. "I can't. But one brief flicker will sever her head nearly from her body. Your only hope to get her out of here alive is to do what I say."
She was right. Bastila was gripping the hilt of the 'saber in such a way that once lit, it would burn straight through Jennet's neck. All Bastila would have to do is drop her and it would split her from throat to through the top of her head. I stood very still. Jennet was calm, and not bothering to struggle. I could hear her calculating in her mind the chances of escape.
Don't do it, Wildcat, I warned her. Wait for an opening.
Thanks, she said sarcastically. I wouldn't have thought of that.
I wondered why the Jedi didn't throw a stasis on Bastila. Jennet answered that readily.
If she blocks it, she'll light the 'saber, and she's prepared. Too risky. Canderous, love, you might have to let her kill me. There's too much at stake here.
The hell I will.
"How?" Ladria asked simply. "Why?"
"Revan," Bastila said, spitting the name like it was poison in her mouth. "So sure of herself, so serene in her belief she actually redeemed me. As if I needed it, or wanted to be. I knew at the Star Forge she would win, and chose to live rather than die like that fool Malak. I let her believe she'd brought me back to the light," her words were like acid. "I helped the Republic win, because it was inevitable they would; no use prolonging things. And it occurred to me: what better place to strike at the Jedi than within their own ranks? She taught me that. I brought her to the Council, we turned her against her own people. And she lived in my head from the moment I saved her pathetic life. No privacy, always having to guard my thoughts." Her face twisted.
"It was the link, wasn't it?" Ladria said quietly. "You somehow have cloaked your own aura by linking with Revan. Where is she?"
"Nowhere you'll find her," Bastila said serenely.
She'd regained her calm, apparently having vented her spleen for the moment. This was both good and bad; angry, she might make a mistake, but could just kill Jennet out of hand. Calm, she could be much deadlier. On the other hand, the only thing from keeping everyone in the room from attacking was her 'saber at Jennet's throat, and she knew it. Impasse.
Keep her talking, Jennet suddenly said to me. We need to know all we can, and it buys me time to find a chink in her armor.
"I don't understand," I said, using my best growl. "You can cloak your aura with Revan's?"
I saw a few heads turn to stare at me incredulously, obviously thinking I was out of my mind to be asking stupid questions at a time like this. But Ladria caught my eye and I saw understanding there.
"Yes," she said, nodding and looking back at Bastila. "I've never heard of it being done, but it's the only explanation for how she could hide so long. Revan herself might not be aware of it."
"She is," Visas said with certainty. "Not at first. But she became aware of it just after she left to hunt the Sith. And Bastila followed, somehow captured her, and has been keeping her somewhere, alive, so she could continue the charade."
"Where is she, Bastila?" Carth said with a growl that I would have been proud to utter.
"Don't be foolish, Admiral," Bastila said quietly. "You know that's a useless question. Now, to business. I will spare the camp. You all will be my guests on board my ship. Atton will fly us, and the rest of you will kindly disarm and get into the captain's cabin. One wrong move and Dxun will be a smoking rock by the end of the day."
"Why the fuck do you think we'll do a thing you say?" I snarled. "The minute you let go of Jennet, you're dead, and you know it. Alive, she'll kill you; dead, we will."
Bastila smiled. "You have hope of escaping with her skin and everyone on Dxun's intact; that is why."
Mission walked into the cabin, calling "Hey, what's going on? Dustil was –" her voice died as she saw the scene in front of her.
Bastila had instinctively turned toward the sound of a new voice, and in that instant, Jennet moved. I had felt her shift her sight to hyper awareness almost as soon as Bastila had grabbed her. When Bastila relaxed her grip on the 'saber, Jennet simultaneously sent a burst of healing through herself and dropped like a stone straight down, breaking the taller woman's grip. The 'saber lit, but too slow to do more than singe a stray curl. Jennet rolled back as she hit the deck, forcing herself into a handstand and kicked Bastila in the face and wrist. The 'saber dropped from her hand, snuffing out, to be snagged by Bao Dur, and all the remaining Jedi threw stasis on Bastila; I could feel the energy soaring through the cabin. Jennet tumbled forward, coming up in a crouch. She stopped dead as she saw Bastila unmoving, trapped and struggling to break free.
"Well," she said brightly, "now what?"
"We need her alive to find Revan," Carth snarled. "Much as I would love otherwise."
"Could someone tell me what the Force is going on?" Mission asked generally, looking shaken.
Carth took her aside to bring her up to speed; the rest of us busied ourselves with restraining Bastila. Jarxel fetched the gurney from the infirmary and I had the distinct pleasure of roughly frisking the still immobile Bastila for weapons and strapping her tightly down. I wanted to snap her neck but acknowledged that if we could get any useful information from her, that would be best. I might have tightened the cords a tad more uncomfortably than was strictly necessary, though.
"This will do for now," I announced, "But I wouldn't trust it to hold her forever."
"The stasis unit in the Elder's shuttle," Jarxel suggested. "Is that strong enough?"
"She's broken out of one on her own," Carth said. "I wouldn't trust it for long."
"I'll see what I can do about that," Bao Dur said briskly. "I might be able to fine tune it to be more effective."
"Do that," Ladria agreed. "Disciple, what sort of drugs do we have on hand that might get her to talk?"
"I'll check," he sped off toward the infirmary.
I sent Kex and Xarga to fetch the stasis unit. Bastila during all the commotion was almost eerily silent. Jennet, her face impassive, approached the gurney and studied her thoughtfully.
"Visas," she said softly, "I have an idea. I need you and Ladria to help me. Canderous too, and Carth."
The four of us gathered around Jennet, out of earshot of the captive.
"Visas is a Seer," she said quietly. "And Ladria is gifted in creating Force bonds. You've said I might be the same way," Jennet looked at her, and Ladria nodded.
"I'm almost certain you are," she acknowledged.
"I share a bond with Canderous, and Carth has a connection to Revan, who is linked to Bastila. I was able to connect with the Republic soldiers during our mock battle. Is it possible we could combine Force abilities, harness that to Visa's power of Sight, and break through any mind trick of Bastila's?" Jennet asked, a little uncertainly.
"It's a good theory," Ladria said thoughtfully. "I have no idea how to go about it."
"We all felt Kriea's thrall," Jennet pointed out, "except Carth. I figured out how to draw on the Republic soldiers by following Canderous' energy trail through his men during mass battle ecstasy and mimicking it. If we meditate and recall the thrall and its energy signature, we might be able to connect directly with Bastila."
"Worth a try," I said, trying not to show how uneasy I felt about letting anyone other than Jennet into my mind ever again.
"I don't love the idea," Carth said, a slight frown on his face. "But if it helps us find Revan and avert the attack on Dxun, I'm game."
"This could be dangerous," Visas said softly. "She's twisted enough to make Kriea look perfectly sane." She shuddered slightly. "I can feel the darkness in her like snakes writhing. She has an extraordinary gifted mind to be able to have hidden that for so long."
"To fool a Miraluka for even a few days is extraordinary," Ladria agreed. "I don't think we should attempt this with just the five of us."
"You're not going to," Jolee strolled in, the rest of the Jedi behind him.
Ladria looked at him, a slight frown on her face. "How much did you all hear?"
"Most of it," Mira said brightly.
"Look, little girl," Jolee addressed Ladria in his usual brisk manner, "Bastila fooled all of us, and was instrumental in exploiting the rip in the Force to hunt down Jedi, I'm sure of it now."
"You had an idea about this, and never said anything to the Council?" Stefan asked incredulously.
"Since when did the council ever really listen to me?" Jolee countered, eyebrow raised. "But no, not really. I just caught a glimpse of something once in her aura that made no sense…until now. Thought my eyes were playing tricks on me."
"General, I'm not letting you do this without me," Bao Dur said firmly.
"And I've had experience with twisted minds," Atton said gruffly. "I might be useful."
"You're all insane," Mira said clearly. "My kind of stupid. I'm in."
"As senior Jedi present," Stefan said with a smile, "I should point out this idea is completely unorthodox and probably would never have been allowed by the council. Fortunately, we seem to be the council now. Let's do this."
"Senior?" Jennet said, raising her eyebrows.
"Highest rank here," he said, shrugging. "That will change, I expect. Revan and Ladria certainly have more practical experience in leadership than I. Anyway, I never did follow Order rules all that well."
"Could we stop chatting about Jedi ranking systems and get this done?" I growled. "Sith warship about to destroy my planet, thank you very much."
"Canderous has a point," Disciple said. "I have some drugs here that should make Bastila less a threat to us all, and more open to suggestion. Let's get on with it." With that, he strode over to her and injected a hypo into her carteroid artery. She went limp, her head lolling against her shoulder.
"Jarxel, I want you and the honor guard ready to shoot Bastila if she so much as gets one strap free while we're busy here," I said to my XO. "If something goes wrong, kill her. Then alert the camp, evacuate non-combatants and fly the Phoenix and the Ebon Hawk to that warship and find a way to take it out. Take as many warriors as you can pack into both ships. That program Bao Dur gave us should get you on board."
"Aye, Mandalore," Jarxel said, nodding grimly.
We all stood around Bastila, taking hands and starting to meditate. I had Jennet on my right and Visas on my left. Jennet was very calm, her small hand steady and warm, engulfed in my much larger one. I could feel a small tremor in Visas' that stilled as she breathed slowly and began to go into a trance. I concentrated on listening to Jennet and keeping my own vigil, and soon was unaware of the physical touch of the women by my sides.
An energy much like battle meditation ran through me. I was always aware of Jennet; the warm feel of her mind was so much a part of me I couldn't always separate my thoughts from hers. I sensed now that she needed me for grounding. I had wondered why she included me, with no real practical experience in this sort of thing. I became aware of the life energy and mood of each member of the circle: Disciple calm and assessing, Visas strong and confident, now that we were entering her area of expertise. Jolee faintly worried but relaxed and alert, Ladria remote and still, Mira eager, Atton solemn, Bao Dur quietly calm but fiercely protective, Stefan serene but with a kind of wild energy I wouldn't have associated with him. Carth was grimly determined, but was gradually relaxing, realizing that calm was the best tool now.
Jennet was faintly anxious, but very controlled and focused. I felt her assessing each life force around her, tracking their energy and mood. Touching mine was almost a physical caress, and I felt my whole body relax and my mind settle to an alert calm. Then I felt Ladria and Visas step forward mentally and sort of merge with Jennet; I can't think of a better word than that. Drawing on the energy of the circle, they joined their own abilities. The intensity of the energy focused to a fine, piercing blade. I could almost see the three of them reaching out, plucking threads of power from each of us in the circle: Jolee's clear sight and balance, Mira's strength of will, Atton's cunning, Bao Dur's serenity and compassion, Disciple's logic, Stefan's raw reckless power. They wove these traits into a single shining sword. I felt a weight from Jennet, and knew I was the anchor keeping all of us from drowning. I didn't know what exactly she was doing; there were no words for it. But I braced, and felt it take hold, and was determined that I would lose no friends this day.
The last thread was Carth's. Ladria carefully sorted through his psyche and gently wove his connection to Revan through the whole. And then, with a smooth thrust, the blade struck Bastila's mind.
The drugs were working; she was wide open. I saw things I hoped I would never witness again. I've killed more people than I can count, but the sort of blackness she was could never compare to what I'd done. I've killed without remorse, or pity, but she thrived on death and the souls of the fallen.
Hold on, ti kar'ta, and pull us back when I say, I heard Jennet's voice floating a million light years away.
I don't know how, I answered, near panic. I don't panic, and this feeling scared me worse than what I saw in Bastila's brain.
Just find me, and pull me back. You can do that; the rest of them will follow.
She was right, I could. I'd drawn stim from her, and remembered how it felt when she helped me break Kriea's thrall. I braced myself again, and waited.
Confused images raced through us and I hoped someone more qualified than me could make sense of them. There was a great emptiness where the Bastila I had known five years ago had been. I wanted to weep from the desolation. Emotions I hadn't expressed in decades were surging through me, and I grimly bottled them, put them aside. Jennet would need me soon.
NOW!!
I heard, and heaved with every ounce of strength I had, actually feeling my hand grip Jennet's and hauling her from the nameless pit of hell she was teetering on. The blackness was trying to suck her down and away from me, and I roared at it, beating against it, slashing with my mind, pummeling with fist and feet and soul. She suddenly popped free, as if flung from a catapult, and I felt the darkness reach for me.
That's right, you bastards, take me, not her. Never her, was my last thought as the pit engulfed me.