"Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

22 BBY, Month 7 – Low Orbit over the planet Yag'Dhul

Beneath the thick, unapologetic atmospheric conditions, and above the massive, crashing waves of the ocean, the Republic Carrack-class light cruiser Resilient appeared out of hyperspace, slamming into the ocean only to reappear a few seconds later, skimming the water and crashing through the massive waves thrown about by the colossal storms.

The vessel slows down when it's pilots spot the approaching landmass; giant cliffs stretching over a mile into the sky, only the apex of the rocks visible through the low-lying vapour clouds being created as the giant waves crash into the rock. The ship rolls onto it's side and out of it's cargo door shoots three LAAT Republic Gunships before it disappears once more beneath the waters. The three gunships stick close to the cliffs as they skirt the waves, the pilots pushing it hard to keep their formation tight as they shoot around the rock-face and into a fjord.

Cahal stood in the transport section of the lead gunship, looking out between the pilots to where they were headed. "I can feel it from here, Master."

He had been told he had more than natural skill as a telepath, but his little apprentice completely blew him out of the water. What came to him with a few years of training and effort Miyuki did with unrecorded casualness. He felt himself smile at the thought, And I thought I'd caused a stir in the Temple.

Arrogance is the prerogative of the talented. And the foolish. He smiled at the small girl topped with a red mop of hair to his right. Not always are they mutually exclusive, little one. She looked up at him, smiling, her too-large red eyes shining. You don't have to tell me. What transpired between their minds next was no actual words of any sort, just an overflow of mutual fondness that resulted in him mussing her hair and her knocking his hand away.

All of that still took effort on their part, and it was beyond many Jedi to achieve such a connection at all. She is becoming more skilled all the time. And then he felt it too, a sort of faint thump, thump. A steady rhythm, as though someone were beating against drums. But we'll see if she can keep it up through this. He stepped up to the cockpit and leaned between the pilots, gesturing off to their right. "Over there."

"Yes sir." Ever find it odd how their responses seem automated? Almost like a machine. He moved his arm down as the gunship turned, his fingers finding the terrain display; pinpointing for the pilots exactly where to take them. And that they all sound the same is in no way even remotely disconcerting.

He turned to look at Miyuki, nothing left to do but wait. Patience little one, mind on the now. None of us are comfortable with this. We have more important things to concern ourselves with.

The three gunships kept their tight formation as they flew over the edge of the cliff so close to the ground the sand below them billowed into a huge dust-cloud that streaked behind them as they shot across the plains of the Red Desert. Behind them the Resilient lay waiting their return. Off to the east sat one of the largest of the Separatist shipyards, crawling with the advanced machines of the Techno Union as they dealt with the natives of the planet; a people known for their mathematical brilliance.

And ahead of them lay the subject of their mission. Only a few days ago Cahal had been dispatched to treaty with the locals and to at the very least try to get them to remain neutral, but it was not to be. Instead he had been greeted by a feeling of immense uneasiness that was confirmed the moment he lay eyes on the shipyards; looking then as they did even these few days later, the frameworks of giant warships laying everywhere he looked. But the shipyards were not what caught him when he came beneath the clouds.

After a quick scout he was discovered and harassed away from the planet's surface before contacting the Jedi Council, who immediately ordered him to return, and dispatching the Resilient, for support. Sometimes his old Master's faith in him still surprised him, it seemed Mace Windu had less trust to go around as the days went by.

Cahal felt the worry emanating from Miyuki when the gunships touched down in a dank cave. It's so strong. But quick as it was to rise in her he felt it dim once again as she stepped with him onto the rock floor. They were so close the Dark Side called out to them like a beacon. For Cahal, so many years trained in the Force, it would have been impossible for many not to follow it.

Behind him the squad of seven Special Forces soldiers sent to back them up spoke a few hushed words before they quietened at the command of their Lieutenant, the helmets they wore giving them light in the darkness when Cahal and Miyuki, like most Jedi, needed only the Force to guide them. Almost as dark as the Underground. But needed isn't to say relied. Having spent his formative years where no light touched, it was nothing new to him. And Miyuki had better eyesight than any normal human.

Fifty yards. A hundred. Even more as Cahal led the group down into the rock, deeper into the planet. The mere presence of the two Jedi a comfort to the Republic soldiers as they continued into the darkness, their steps far more sure than the others even though to the soldier's eyes they walked through the tunnels blind.

But Cahal and Miyuki didn't need their eyes. Many Jedi would use the Force in their situation to feel the very shape of the tunnel, becoming one with the world around them. If they were a true master, like Kenobi or Yoda or Windu, they would become one with the others around them, the Force guiding all of them in an overarching synchrony. But Cahal and Miyuki were not Kenobi or Yoda or Windu. Not only would Cahal never match their strength or wisdom, but Miyuki was still only a child. A Jedi, but still a child.

But that didn't stop them being more confident or relaxed in this situation than even some of the most seasoned Masters. Though neither could truly become one with the world around them, they both needn't hone such a skill. With effort and focus they were both able to tap into not only each other's heads, but also their backup troop's as well. Each of the Republic soldiers saw the tunnels through a a pair of eyes looking through a green hue in their helmets to allow them to see in the dark. Both Cahal and Miyuki saw through every one of the nine pairs of eyes. This was how they naturally saw the universe, and for Miyuki, such a gifted child, this made Cahal her perfect mentor. Telepathy, not a dying skill, but in Cahal and Miyuki it was a true gift whereas many Jedi required effort and a great deal of time to discover and master.

Do you feel that Master? The dark seemed to pulse, or perhaps more like a steady drum beat. Tapping out a rhythm that was growing louder the deeper they went. Not louder, stronger. Very close now.

Indeed, they could see the end of the tunnel now. Through the eyes of the soldiers behind them it seemed as though the tunnel just ended. Not a cave-in, or even any sign that the diggers had discovered anything at all. "Sir, are you sure this is right?" To them, the tunnel appeared to have simply ended.

Cahal stepped up to the tunnel's end, and so close he could feel a light hum coming off of it, and the drums beating behind it. An illusion. But hiding what? Cahal reached forth his hand and to the soldier's eyes it appeared that as his hand grazed the wall's surface the rock sort of melted away, leaving revealing a wall behind. An impossibly smooth wall with no cracks or breaks. A wall made of a single piece of rock. A wall with an inscription that was written around in a large circle in a script not known to any outside the Jedi Order, and even precious few of those could actually read it.

Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Cahal knew the script for what it was when he saw it, but he couldn't read it. Through passion, I gain strength. He'd never learned the ancient Sith writings, he'd never seen the need. Through strength, I gain power. That didn't stop him knowing the words. Through power, I gain victory. He knew them, had seen them before somewhere, but he didn't remember when, or where. Through victory, my chains are broken. It was as though it were another life, someone else's life. The Force shall set me free. The words resounded in his skull, a memory not quite there, but it was like trying to hold water in his hand so he pushed those thoughts away, focusing on the now. What do you think?

"Are you kidding?"

That made him smile. Miyuki always was one for directness. "Alright then." And there's something about those drums. He touched the wall in the middle of the inscription – though that needn't have mattered – and with the Force he, kind of twisted the wall. Everyone heard the rock move against itself, and then the wall cracked from bottom to top in a line as impossibly smooth as the wall itself; and parted.

No light came from within, only more darkness. And the drums are stronger. The air itself seems to amplify them. The group stepped through the doorway behind Cahal. The living force has it's perils as much as it's wonders.

Speaking of which. The moment Cahal stepped through he had to duck and roll to avoid a beam of blue plasma before it took his head.

"The Colonel is under attack."

"Spread arc."

"Did you see it?"

"The Padawan's engaged."

"Enemy sighted."

"No shot, I have no shot."

Cahal saw all of it, for what it was worth through the green haze of the soldier's helmets. By the time he had rolled to his feet he looked up to see by the flashing plasma lights; Yuki holding her ground between their assailant and the soldiers.

"Wait for the opportunity."

"It looks like a Muun."

A Muun turned into a Techno Union nightmare maybe. The creature was perhaps once a Muun, slighter taller than average at just over two meters, it towered over Miyuki who was still holding her own with relative ease. Note, thank Obi-wan again for the advanced Soresu lessons. But none of that was what held his attention. That belonged to the metal exoskeleton.

Metal rods running along along the Muun's frame, from a helmet covering the eyes and what looked like a breastplate, spine and heavy legs, to what seemed to be fully functional arms, right down to the individual fingers; all fixed to the body of the Muun by tiny needles. And attached to the exoskeleton forearms were a pair of plasma weapons, not unlike the lightsaber, though only about two-thirds the length and the beams thicker than the Muun's arms.

All of this came together to provide strength and speed that the Muun should never have been able to achieve. And presumably perception too. If only it were the only one. Orange plasma sprouted in his left hand as the Force told him four more stepped toward them in a circle, more bursts of blue plasma lighting the room up.

"There's more sir!"

"Form a tight arc and open fire!"

Blasterfire burst into existence at the new enemies, who immediately started running so fast they were little more than blurs in the darkness trailing blue light as they shot around the room.

Cahal darted over and even with speed that it never should have had, the first Muun couldn't escape being pinned between him and Miyuki; combining to strike at it's weapons, and when they died a quick strike to the spine of the exoskeleton had the Muun hit the ground. "Stick close."

"Right." The drums are so strong in here. They needed to focus on the now, but the air itself seemed to beat against their skin to the steady rhythm. And the Force was calling him. Now. He wove through the blasterfire as it cut through the darkness, following the Force and bringing his lightsaber crashing into the plasma weapons of one of the cyborg Muun, stopping it in it's charge toward the soldiers.

He exchanged one blow, two as the Muun stepped forward, driving his weapons down trying to carve Cahal's head open as he stepped back and deflected the weapons away toward the floor. Three, two, one... And the Muun that came up behind him was stopped short as Miyuki came flying in from the side, using her wrists to control her weapon as she cleaved through it. Cahal in turn, twisted and spun the cyborg in front of him around, holding all three beams of plasma behind it's back; as with his right hand he grabbed the spine of the exoskeleton where it joined the Muun's pelvis, using the Force he overloaded the joint with energy and then there was burst of electrical power as he ripped the spine out of the joint and a dozen needles in the small of it's back tore free of it's flesh. The Muun squealed, and Cahal was frozen in shock for a moment. That's not right. It writhed on the floor, flopping around in an absurd attempt to get back on it's feet and continue fighting. Would be funny if it weren't so sad.

"Master!" he turned to see Miyuki pinned by the last two, the Republic soldiers having halted their weapons fire. He flashed across the room, his orange weapon crashing against blue as he struck for one of the Muun's head, altering his strike slightly to knock the weapon away as he swung around in the air, his left knee slamming into and breaking the neck of the exoskeleton in a blur of speed. It's blue weapons instantly winked out of existence.

The last Muun in a moment seemed to completely recalculate the position it was in, shifting it's stance to fend them both off at once. Suddenly, with the Muun on the defensive, everything seemed to change. Cahal took the lead and pressed the cyborg, Miyuki almost eager at his side, but the Muun was fast enough and strong enough as it accounted for every strike they attempted, and he had to make sure not to over-reach or the Muun would have the speed to counter.

And just like that they had been fighting the last Muun for as long as they'd fought the other four. Behind him Cahal heard the Republic solders kill the Muun he'd left flailing on the floor. Beside him, Miyuki started trying to move around to attack from the side, but the Muun accounted easily, stepping around to keep both him and Yuki side to side.

"Well then, how about we try this?" Cahal spoke as he started pushing the speed up even more, piling on the pressure as he kept striking toward the Muun's head and shoulders. The moment both it's arms jumped up to fend him off Miyuki flew in from underneath, sliding her lightsaber up underneath the Muun's breastplate and with a small twist carved through all three of it's hearts. In that moment of slack Cahal whipped his blade in an arc and cut through the Muun's forearms, taking the weapons apart.

But he had little interest in finishing it as he watched the creature lower itself to it's knees where it seemed to look at it's missing hands, struggling to breathe, and then wrap it's arms across it's chest before curling up on the floor to die.

I need to know. He switched his lightsaber off, and by the light of Miyuki's he knelt down beside the dying Muun, took a hold of the helmet which he now saw was as much of a plate bonded to the creature's body. A small trickle of Force energy was enough to sever the bonding and he lifted the plate away. Looking into the Muun's eyes he saw life, but not much else. "Master?"

Holding the Muun's head in his hands, he opened his mind and delved into the Muun's and found; Nothing. No barrier, no attempt to keep him out, no memories except for the darkness. Nothing at all.

He let the connection go and stood up. How is that possible? He looked up to the soldiers he had brought with him, making sure the others were dead too. No, that'd be too easy. He looked back to the Muun at his feet. Would it? He found himself struggling for clear thoughts. The drums were calling.

"Master?"

Miyuki stood at his side, waiting as he kept his eyes on the Muun, then raising his right hand to look at his palm, covered in an electrical burn and beginning to throb. All the while he saw the room they were in through the eyes of the soldiers; an open stone chamber with one wall that gaped into a long hallway. Thrum-thrumb, thrum-thrumb. "Come on." He turned to the hallway, following the sound of drums.

"Master, somethings not right here." Miyuki followed his lead, walking at his side as the soldiers followed on behind. "It's just wrong. The Force feels, slick somehow."

"I know Yuki. I know." He was trying to remain a calming presence, and judging by how he felt the emanations from his apprentice fluctuate and then settle somewhat, he was doing a better job than he thought. I've felt that before. And it wasn't the only reason the place was unsettling.

At least the Soresu study has paid off. Miyuki had always wanted to be more proactive, but with youth and small size he had helped her understand that those things can come later, explaining that that was how he had done it. It wasn't that she was unwilling, far from it, and Obi-wan had described her as one of the fastest learners he'd ever seen. No, it's just that Soresu and proactive don't normally go well together.

Soresu, the most defensive and energy efficient form of lightsaber combat will allow a master to outlast almost any assault. And Miyuki can already withstand a heavy barrage and she's not even passed the trials, won't for years yet. All wrists, she was already good enough that she can fall back into what amounted to a thick defensive ball with a solid stance. Despite her small size Cahal had never allowed her to use a smaller length blade, insisting that she learn to wield one only a faction smaller than his own. And the result? Her abnormal, slightly too-long arms had bested many more experienced Padawans in sparring contests. But already in this war she's begun to learn the value of caution and deception. But I'll make a proper Jedi out of her yet.

"Colonel."

"I see it Lieutenant."

Five tubes rising from the floor to the roof, almost like pillars. Various power leads and tubing hanging from the top with open locks at their base.

"I'd say they're the cells for the Muun."

"Does anyone see any more?"

"No Lieutenant."

"Colonel sir? What do you think?"

That they're treated like machines. Though the drums were ever present, the air beating around them, the Force told him that those five were all, For now, at least. "There are no more here. We move on." He stepped up to one nonetheless, taking a close look. "But Lieutenant."

"Yes Colonel?"

Cahal reached up with a hand and touched the equipment. But if not, what are they? He found only one answer, and remembering that he saw the most complete nothing he could have ever considered, he didn't like it. "You know why we're here."

"Yes sir. Corporal, set some explosives.

"Yes sir."

Cahal stepped away as the Corporal took his place, moving toward the end of the hallway just beyond the tubes. He glanced at Miyuki, feeling her so unsettled. She's so quiet. Like me. But he didn't have it in him to change that right then. He needed to know, and the drums were calling.

At the end of the hall was a heavy steel door with no apparent way through. Someone really doesn't want anyone to see what is in there. He touched the door, and delving it with the Force he found the right gears, triggering it open with a click and a screech.

"Well, I guess they know we're here now." Cahal looked at his apprentice, saw her smile, and couldn't help but give one in return. Her ability to do that amazes me sometimes. Her beginnings weren't easy, even compared to him.

He let out a breath and stepped into the next room, seeing all as the squad fanned out around them, flash-lights sweeping over every nook, cranny and alcove. Stairs, leading in three directions, the drums their loudest from those leading further down. Well, even if they weren't thumping I'd kinda know where to go. Miyuki followed him down, the soldiers only a few moments behind after setting up sensors to let them know if anyone was to come up behind.

"You'd think they'd have at least one light." Came from one of the soldiers. What would a Sith need to fear from the shadows? But his only actual response was to raise his hand as they came to the end of the staircase passageway, the soldiers stopping and grouping at his command. Without looking around the corner he knew there was at least a weak light-source in the room, But the drums are too strong to know anything else. The air itself beating against them, the Force slick and trying to slip away.

"Sir?" The Lieutenant whispered to him, stepping forward to move around the corner. "This is what we're here for." Alright. He nodded, the officer taking command of his squad.

Silently, decisively the soldiers moved by Cahal and his apprentice, the two Jedi using their eyes to see what they saw. And it was exactly what Cahal had expected. Five groups of half a dozen tanks, smaller versions of the columned tubes that they'd passed at the gates. Tables of research materials and data storage. And dull-blue lights coming from above that never shone enough to reveal the whole room.

He could feel Miyuki disheartening at his side. She won't be the same after this. "What is this place?" Cahal stepped around the corner, Yuki a moment behind heading to a different group of tubes from him.

"There's a cavern over here, Colonel." Three of the soldiers were in a line off to the side as the rest were divided across the room, just looking around at the tubes and materials. "It doesn't seem to have an end." Cahal could see, to their eyes there was no back or bottom, just the rocky roof above their heads stretching off into the distance above a endless black cavern. A fine metaphor if ever there was one.

"Don't disturb anything." He stepped up to a group of the tanks, seeing the little bodies of flesh suspended in a watery-red fluid. The drums seems to be coming from all of them. All at once.

"Not drums. Heartbeats." Miyuki muttered, so soft a normal person wouldn't have heard if they were standing right next to her. She walked across the room, red eyes almost unnaturally sharp in the darkness. "Kenobi. Mundi. Secura."

Windu and Ti. All newly scribbled down, all beating as one. Cahal kept on moving toward the end of the room, where one solitary tank sat almost like a shrine. The creature within was a four year old human boy. Doesn't take a genius to know this one is special.

"You knew about this, didn't you?" Miyuki was frozen in place, still trying to comprehend what she was seeing. "From upstairs I mean, you knew it would be this."

"Yes." But that didn't stop any of the unease when he saw the names of the most powerful and skilled Jedi of his era. Or what this is, and what it could mean. He came to a stop in front of the tank, not even needing to look at the name to know. Skywalker.

"Master?"

How could he know when he don't have all the pieces? It could be Dooku, seeking aid in the war he sought an obedient powerhouse to possibly fuel a mistrust of the Jedi. But that wasn't right, he had no genetics experts in his circle of friends or Confederacy.

"Master?"

His Master then? But that didn't make sense either. From what they knew of Sidious, he was on Coruscant, possibly in the Senate.

"Master?"

He shut his eyes, trying in vain to think despite the slamming beats filling his head. But what of the Chosen One? And why only one? With a group of mindless Skywalkers to command a person could break the galaxy. Break. Way to undersell it.

"Cahal?" That brought his attention around instantly, finding Miyuki standing barely two steps away and looking straight at him. "Please, say something." He took a breath and focused on his apprentice to try and put the sickening slime on the Force out of his mind. It was then that he noticed.

"We're missing people." Two to be accurate. Two of their Special Forces support had disappeared into the darkness. And I can't feel them. Can't connect with them.

"Neither can I." But three were still looking out into the giant gaping chasm. One was working across the tanks and desks, setting more explosives, and the last was about to step around a corner and be lost to the darkness.

"Wait!" Both he and Miyuki shouted at the same instant that there was a loud Crack to accompany a burst of energy that struck the man in white armour, covering him in jagged forks of red electricity and throwing him across the room. Red?

The other soldiers all snapped around and raised their weapons as they watched their comrade hit the ground, waiting for commands from Cahal who stood steady, lightsaber handle ready in his left hand. First came the steps, accompanied by intermittent crackling., barely heard as the Force in the room continued to beat, fuelled by the unnaturally growing life around them.

Then the man emerged from the shadow, body but not face lit by the flashing of his red energies. "It's interesting what you can achieve with knowledge when you lack raw power." Yes, it is. The man threw his hand out and the red energy shot from his hand once more to crash into the soldier just barely rising. And by the red light Cahal saw the man's face, and froze. Xoren?

He didn't know how much time had passed before it registered that Miyuki was now standing between the man and the white soldier with her lightsaber drawn. He seemed to look at her as little more than an annoyance. "Out of the way little girl."

"No."

He felt Miyuki try and do the same; reaching out to try and touch Xoren's mind, but they found instead the Force at it slickest, and no matter how they tried, the moment they touched his head they simply slipped away. There is so much wrong here. Xoren looked at him with a twinkle in his eyes, a look he'd never seen on his friend's face before.

"That won't work in here Cahal Meyrick, Jedi Knight." Even the voice is wrong somehow. "This is my place. And here, you'll obey my rules." Xoren stepped backward, and to the regular eyes he stepped into the darkness, but with the Force and the night-vision of the soldiers it was more accurate to say the darkness enveloped him. Patience, calmness, think.

"I can't tell you how long I waited for this." The voice seemed to come from all around them, all at once. "So many years trapped. Trapped with the knowledge of what I thought to be my total failure."

He could feel Miyuki starting to become agitated. "What is this? What have you done to Xoren?"

"Who are you?" He tried to calm himself though, stemming the panic welling up within. Thrum-thrumb. The incessant beating didn't make it easy by itself.

"And then this creature found me. Sent out to search the galaxy like many others to find anything on your hiding Sith Lord." A twisting, inhuman laugh. "Well, I guess he more found something to occupy him."

Cahal looked to the lone tank at his side. "So you want the body of the Chosen One." A body without a mind. His thoughts on the Muun upstairs. "You were a Muun."

"Sure, why not. It doesn't matter anymore." Cahal felt what amounted to a slight breeze in the Force, almost imperceptible against the beating in the room and his skull. He turned to see Xoren reappear by the table, his arm a shadow that punched through the white armoured soldier, only the Force telling him that he squeezed the soldier's heart until it burst and then threw him across the room, the other three hitting the ground as their Lieutenant flew by them and into the darkness of the chasm. Xoren looked at the blood and muscle covering his hand. "So, fragile." He licked the blood off his hand. "So, tainted. A mockery of science really."

Xoren walked across the room toward the darkened far wall. Possession. It has to be. "Who are you?"

But Xoren seemed to be treating him as little more than entertainment. "Right now I am Xoren Frey. But soon." He stepped into the shadows and touched the wall, which rose up into the ceiling at command. "Soon I will be the Chosen One. And in the interim," the rising wall revealed another tank, this one far larger than any of the others, almost the side of the wall itself. "I think I'll demonstrate what I meant earlier, Jedi." Such contempt.

He looked to Miyuki behind him, still standing by the injured soldier. He felt her mind jump for his as he went for hers. Be ready for anything. They both blinked at each other as the words crashed into each other, not knowing who echoed who. Fighting a smile they turned back to the tank one of his closest friends was opening. I'm going to reach into him and pull this thing out of it's own arse.

What? Dull light filled the giant tank as the liquid was flushed out of it. A creature all bone and tentacles with seven and a half feet of height. Krevaaki. But no, that's not right. Krevaaki don't have legs. And this thing did, a pair of thick double-jointed legs holding up the tentacles that rippled around it's bulk and bony face with more, tiny tentacles running from the top of it's head like thick hair.

"Shoot it before it wakes!" The Sergeant commanded. No argument here. And then they fired at the creature, and Cahal had to quickly dodge, the blasterfire shattering the glass tank as it bounced off the creature's hide, flying off in every other direction.

"Stop!" he threw his hand up, the soldiers immediately obedient.

"Some nice toys you have there." Xoren said, smiling, "But I think mine is better." The creature slowly stretched six tentacles to grip the walls and stepped out of it's broken tank. It's head turned to Xoren, who simply smiled up at it, made a gesture and by the command the creature turned to them. Every tentacle is forked, almost like fingers. And the underside has no thick hide.

"Got it." He felt Miyuki ready herself, but his attention kept shifting naturally to Xoren. With every answer I have only more questions. And it was becoming more of a fight just to hold onto the Force the longer they stayed.

Xoren lifted up a bag and tossed it, opening up in front of the creature who moved it's tentacles so fast it was barely a blur; snatching six small lightsaber hilts out of the air. Vaapad! A moment later they erupted in a variety of colours, though all just over half the length of a normal Jedi weapon. Any small advantage really.

Orange burst from his left hand as he put his right foot back, turning side-on to the creature. "You stay back and wait." He ordered to the soldiers before going to speak over his other shoulder to Miyuki, but deciding better of it when he felt her readiness.

Xoren remained stationary, watching. "Let's see if what he thinks of the pair of you is true."

The creature stepped forward, the six tentacles waving smoothly, almost elegantly in the air in front of them. Then it struck with a crack, whipping a blade forward to keep itself well out of Cahal's reach. A half a moment later another crack, and another, and another. The creature seemed to be warming up, stretching limbs long unused. Inching closer to him and bringing more strikes down on him.

But it's uncoordinated. And as Cahal stepped and twisted he saw a chance and struck, connecting with the exoskeleton that covered it's tentacle, only to knock the limb away. And inexperienced. And lacks forethought. He kept stepping and striking, always urging the creature to keep straining to pin him, and deep within him he felt, totally underwhelmed. No experienced Jedi should have a problem with this.

As it overextended two strikes in a poor attempt to pin him Cahal struck at the underside, ripping long gashes in the unprotected flesh. The creature screamed and dropped two blades. In the lapse he looked over at Xoren, mouth agape in shock. "Is that it?"

"No!" he spat, confidence all gone he threw his hand up and launched red lightening at him which Cahal caught in his blade with ease, standing his ground as he watched Xoren flee down the passageway behind him.

"You handle this!" He yelled at Yuki as he charged after Xoren, dodging a pair of strikes with ease before slipping by the creature. Glancing at the last of the soldiers he commanded, "Aim for it's eyes!" and then they were gone from his view, the heavy drums slowly easing from around him as he followed Xoren. It is difficult to relate to a normal being, but it is sort of feeling out a scent within the Force.

He raced down the hall, seeing a dead end ahead. Have to try better than that. He wrapped himself up in a ball of energy and threw himself at the wall, exploding through it in a shower of dust and rock. And then he found himself in a hanger. The Force gave him the warning and he got his weapon up to catch more red lightening.

Taking the energy in he turned it, and folded it. "Don't you have anything new?!" And he threw it out in every direction, sending light to all corners of a room made for darkness. He saw Xoren disappear in a puff of shadowy smoke, break apart and race around behind him as though caught in a breeze. That it? He reversed his grip on his weapon, going to drive through where the shadows collected behind him; where it connected with a line of blue plasma as it surged into existence. He turned to look into the eyes of his friend, his brother, and found nothing he remembered.

"You have no idea who you're trifling with boy." A flick of the switch and the man in front of him triggered the other end of the saberstaff.

"You seem to be in over your head." The man spun the staff, throwing the orange plasma away as he backed up. Being Xoren won't save you.

"I know all you're skills and moves." As he said it he kept back, cautious. Then lets see you defend against them. Cahal stepped forward, pumping the Force into his body, raising his blade in both hands. Stance steady and solid as he advanced, orange blade whipping around at all angles as fast as he had moved in avoidance of the creature only moments before. And the man that was Xoren was stepping back hurriedly, twisting and turning the saberstaff awkwardly to catch all the strikes coming in at him.

"You can't keep this up!" The man screamed, manoeuvring just enough to avoid being backed against a wall. I won't need to. So caught up in the hectic nature of the fight, the man had no time to notice anything else, had no chance to notice the slight trickle of Force energy that Cahal manifested and slammed into his left leg from the back, tripping him up and throwing him off so completely Cahal felt the man know it was over before he'd finished. Without slowing his blade strikes he cut the saberstaff in half, and as the man's backside hit the ground a swift stroke the opposite direction sliced the hand and the still functional half-hilt apart as one.

And with that the man started wriggling to get back, raising his still-together hand up to tell him to keep back as he panicked. As I thought. Cahal took a breath as he slowed down, sweat trickling down his arms, trying to relax once more. "Wait! Wait! Wait! Cahal!" With that he took a closer look, and his friend was back.

Everything changed, the way he held himself, the twinkle in the eyes, that drop in voice. "Xoren?"

"Of course it is Cahal!" He was straining to hold himself together. Cahal could see it, it seemed as if his friend had aged a lifetime in the small time he hadn't been himself. Cahal lowered his weapon to his side, looking down at his friend, cradling his half-hand. I did that. "Cahal?"

"Yeah?"

"He's not gone." I know. He could still feel him there, that slick feeling remained stuck to his friend. Xoren looked up at him. "You know what you've gotta do." I know. "It's the only way." Maybe not, but point taken. "Do it."

"You're asking me to kill you."

"Cahal," his friend spoke softly, already comforting him. "You're setting me free."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it."

"You're a Jedi. Do what you are meant to." Alright. He couldn't say no to those eyes. They seemed to reach right into him. His grip tightened as his mouth twisted into disgust. He raised his weapon. Xoren smiled gently, fondly. "Thank you." Don't. A tiny turn of the wrist, with so little pressure a child's arm could have stopped him, yet he met no resistance as his blade separated Xoren's head from his torso.

And then, as though the Force were playing some cruel joke on him, the slickness that covered all slipped off him, and he saw. And he already knew it was too late. Miyuki had been watching from the hole in the wall he had busted through, saw him behead his friend, and neither of them had the proper time to react.

A red cloud burst out of Xoren's corpse and momentarily hovered in front of Cahal, small forked energy crackling through it. Then it seemed to move as though it had a better idea, coalesced into a tiny ball, and shot like a beam across the room at Miyuki who dived in an effort to get out of the way, but the beam altered course and slammed into her. She seemed aglow with dull red light for the briefest of moments before she slammed into the rocky wall and then face first to the floor.

Cahal hurried over to her, the orange light from his weapon non-existent. Please no. Please no. He figured it was pretty obvious what it was as he knelt beside his apprentice, feeling that sickening slickness covering her life-force. Not this. I never saw this. And then he saw the lightsaber hilt by his Padawan's hand move ever so slightly into it. This isn't happening. Not today.

He fell back as Miyuki flew up off the floor, blue plasma streaking for Cahal's face. His head dropped well below the beam as his foot came up, kicking the little girl well away from him.

Cahal rolled over and pushed himself to his feet to see Miyuki land on hers and charge him, weapon raised above her head. "Jedi!" she screamed in a twisted, deep voice. "You can't kill what is already dead!"

Cahal reignited his lightsaber only when Miyuki was about to strike him, stepping back smoothly, effortlessly holding off the assault. "I already killed my friend. Do you really think I won't hesitate?"

"That's- up- to- you-!" there seemed to be so much effort going into every move the girl made, but there was no strength or precision to any of the strikes. This is not happening! Saberlocking above her head with his left hand he grabbed her wrists with his right, then planted his foot into her gut, knocking all the air out of her. Twisting he ripped the weapon out of her hands and threw her onto the floor.

When she rolled over her mouth fell open in shock as he tossed his weapon to the side. Come on. She didn't disappoint. She flew at him. As her arms and legs tried to pelt him with blows assisted by the Force his hands went to her head, and reaching inside her he put her to sleep. Thank you, idiot.

She went limp and he caught her in his arms. So light. She weighed far less than he expected. And the shadow is enveloping her. It wasn't in the same sense as when the man had shifted through space, but similar enough. The man. His eyes fell on what was left of his friend, and his stomach churned. He wanted that. Wanted this. Well, not today. He held her in his arms, hands on her head. In one sense he was delving her mind. In another their minds touched. Both were correct and yet not quite.

As he went inside he found himself dragged off-track. Looking around he discovered a place where a moment translated into an eternity outside. And there, in this place of shifting time and realities, a small girl turned to face him. He saw the visage of the girl he knew, blue tattoo-brands gone and replaced with blade lines wrapping her limbs and torso, a black as dark as the orbs of her eyes. Black eyes.

Hello Master.

You're not Yuki.

Of course I am. I'm just more than I was before. You're not, afraid of that are you?

Miyuki knows me better than that.

Perhaps she doesn't know you as well as you think. Perhaps she isn't who you think she is. Perhaps the Jedi are not what she wants. Perhaps the Jedi don't want what either of you want. All the while, that smile and demeanour was the same as before. The same as when he'd infested Xoren.

The Jedi are a group of people. Strictly Orthodox perhaps, but people nonetheless.

People wouldn't adhere to your vaunted Grand Master's deception to lean toward his Orthodoxy. People are the ones who threatened to leave in the wake of those like Yoda when they chose to outlaw relationships.

What do you mean?

Classic Jedi to misunderstand too. A Dark Sorceress curses a pair of Jedi, using their love as a weapon to hurt and punish them, and they decide to completely outlaw an innate concept of life itself. And yet, the real tragedy was that he was Rain's brother, cursed because he'd always had her back, swore he always would, until she indiscriminately killed that is.

You're just trying to waste my time.

Tell me it isn't the truth. You can't, because the Jedi have rewritten their records on the subject, deciding after what amounted to rebellion to simply allow what they saw as the problem for the time being and discourage it later.

No, not just that. Somewhere, deep within himself, somehow, he knew it was truth, or at least, most of it. And suddenly, he saw a man and a woman, both no older than himself, holding each other. A simple image, conveying so much.

What?

What?

How could you know that?

I just do. And for the first time, the man was in such shock that the image of Miyuki changed, turning into the large, smooth yellow-skinned head and lidless eyes of a Bith. No more time wasting. He reached across the intervening space and touched the Bith's face, reaching into him and removing the cloud on the place he was in.

He felt her, pleading to him for help. An ever quietening voice as he struggled to pull the slick shadow away from her. It just slips away, pulls itself loose. He tried, and again, and again. But the more he tried, the quieter Yuki got, and the slicker the shadow became. The darkness absorbing and twisting her in on herself. No! You're not getting her! He was losing her. The shadow laughing him off as it changed her. But looking at the slick blackness that covered her mind he still couldn't argue that it wasn't her, it was just wrong, twisted, sick. No damn it! Not another one! If asked before that very moment, he would have said what he did next was impossible. Not today! Or at the very least dismissed it out of hand that it wouldn't serve any cohesive purpose.

His mind touched with his apprentice's far more deeply than it ever had before. And there, inside her, where the shadow had not yet found root, he tore himself apart. He took all his memories, everything that he had done, everything that he had been through. Everything that his life had amounted to up to that point, and jammed it into her skull. All that his life had been, and meant to him.

And the shadow stopped it's creep over her mind. So, that's who you are. He heard. In his head, or Yuki's, he didn't know. But the shadow hesitated, unsure. Then what about me? We are who we choose to be. The way they communicated was a puzzle in itself. Baffled, he opened his eyes, and looked straight into his young apprentice's too-big orbs, finding them a dark blue stained with black flecks. Lines of shadow seemed to stretch across her body, holding on to her, threatening to rip her apart. Yet, she was smiling up at him. "You backwater earworm."

"Which part?"

"All of it." Look at yourself. He felt her do just that, and suddenly she screamed as light exploded out of her. Her eyes, mouth, and the tattoo-brands that had been imprinted on her since her birth, all glowing bright as she was jerked up into the air, the light completely banishing the darkness from the room all around them.

After what seemed years but could only have been a few moments Miyuki fell from the air, Cahal catching her light-weight body easily in his arms. She's sleeping. He could feel in her head that the shadow was completely gone. Somehow, it seemed clearer than he ever remembered it.

He looked from Yuki to Xoren, and the wonder that filled him moments ago was completely gone. Time to go. He pocketed his and Miyuki's lightsabers, and carried Xoren's body back to the cloning room where he stepped by the shot-apart body of the cloned creature as he met up with the three surviving men, two carrying the one who had been struck by lightening. "We're leaving." The same-faced trio had no complaints.

It took them far longer to reach the light of day than he remembered it taking to get down into the complex. When in the air once more the Special Forces Sergeant hit the detonator and nothing visible happened from their view. But Cahal felt the seismic disturbance in the planet's surface, just as the gunships registered it. He felt a hand on his arm and looked down to see Yuki's red eyes open and twinkling at him, relief and happiness filling his head. Then he understood the full extent of what he had done to save her. Without any effort whatsoever on either of their parts he heard her in his head. I choose me.