Chapter Six
Caius jolted awake to the obnoxious morning hum of Nar Shaddaa. He was disoriented and struggled to remember what had happened the night before. He leaned forward and tried to work the knot out of his neck that resulted from sleeping sitting up. He rubbed his eyes open and looked to see that Bastila was gone. He got up and glanced around the dormitories to see that Elliott, too, was gone. The Exile hobbled lazily out of the room. He strode through the halls into the main hold of the Hawk, and was surprised to see Dustil standing there, working on something.
"Dustil," he said groggily before clearing his throat, "you're back."
Dustil looked up, his eyes tired but otherwise in good shape, he said, "Yes, I'm back."
"Where were you?"
"Oh, you know, I was out enjoying a casual stroll through romantic Nar Shaddaa when I was jumped by two dozen thugs."
Must be the same group that attacked the ship, Caius thought. He said, "That's a lot, how'd you make it back?"
"Well, Xristos found me."
"How'd he do that?"
The old man strode in behind Caius and answered the question himself. He said in his deep tone, "I just followed their screams."
Caius turned back to look at Dustil who was grinning boyishly, he asked, "You killed them?"
"Well, they attacked me first," he said, defending his actions. "Who were those guys anyway?"
"They were probably trying to collect the bounty on my head, maybe figured they could use you as collateral," Caius answered. "Probably Exchange, but the whole syndicate is in chaos right now—it explains why these attacks are so sporadic and, percentage wise, so ineffective."
"You sound like a machine when you say it that way," Dustil stated.
"Sorry," Caius answered, "but I had to spend most of last night with HK. You know how that droid is."
Dustil didn't say anything, but his wince told Caius that he understood how hard it would be to try to make conversation with the psychotic droid. At that, Bastila and Allie entered the hold as well. Caius was relieved to see that they were both well, but especially Allie, considering the previous night's debacle. Her face had mostly healed, there were a few discernible marks on it, but it was obvious that Xristos had healed her and eliminated most of the damage to her appearance. She looked towards Caius and their eyes met for a second. Allie flashed another brilliant smile, clearly having regained her unabashed enthusiasm for…everything.
Bastila strode into the middle of the room and stood in front of the central console. She purposefully avoided Caius's gaze, as though she was embarrassed about something. Caius vaguely wondered what she could possibly be ashamed about, but then the conversation from the previous night flooded back into his memory. Oh yeah, he thought, she poured her whole soul out last night. He hoped that her confessions to him wouldn't make their relationship strained or awkward, considering how much he now knew about her. She seemed to be on edge, at least from his perspective.
His musings were interrupted by Elliott's voice blaring through the intercom. "You want me to patch it though?" he asked.
"Yes, Elliott, go ahead," came Bastila's accented reply.
Apparently there was a meeting going on and they were getting a transmission. Caius pretended that he was there intentionally and that he knew what was going on.
A shimmering, blue hologram appeared in front of them. It fizzled and eventually materialized into the Admiral Onasi.
"Good morning, Carth," Bastila said to the uniformed figure. His image projected tall over the console in the middle of the room. It was much bigger than his real self. And considering he was standing on the pedestal it seemed that the Admiral was ten feet tall.
"Good evening," he replied, "it's very dark here on Coruscant."
Bastila continued apologetically, said, "We haven't made much progress, Carth. We're still here on Nar Shaddaa."
"I know, Bastila," he confirmed, his voice holding no dissatisfaction or anger, "that's not what this transmission is about."
"What do you have to tell us?" Bastila asked.
"We have a lead—that's all I can say," he said, his demeanor now grimmer. "I wish I could say more, but this is not an encrypted network and we don't know who is listening. Suffice to say, it is a huge break." He paused for a second. "I've transmitted the coordinates of where you need to go. They've been encrypted, so you'll have to decode them with T3. Once you do that, go straight to where it tells you."
Bastila was rather stunned. Was it really this easy? They had done nothing and stumbled upon a lead? She had no idea what it could possibly be, but the glimmer of hope that it offered was enticing. Perhaps they would be able to track down the elusive former Jedi after all. She asked, "Are you sure there's nothing more you can tell us?"
"Absolutely," he responded, "but trust me, Bastila. It's the answer you've been looking for. You'll know what to do."
"Thank you, Carth," she said sincerely.
"Don't mention it," he responded. There was a brief pause before he continued, "Well, I suppose that ends this transmission. Follow the directions I've given." His holographic eyes scanned the room and settled on his son, he said, "And Dustil, let's not have a repeat of last night. All right? Admiral Onasi out." His image then blinked and vanished.
Caius spoke first, "How did he know what happened last night?"
Dustil didn't move when he answered, just stared at the empty console. "My dad's omniscient. He knows everything I do."
"That must be rough," Allie said sympathetically.
"Just for once…I'd like to be…independent of him. He can't follow us into the Unknown Regions, so I guess I will." Inwardly, the chief reason Dustil had wanted to go on this voyage was to escape his father's scrutiny. It was hard enough being the son of a famous war hero. But as a Jedi, Dustil was expected to be even more "heroic" than his father. This was finally his chance to step out of his father's shadow, both in the public eye and in private. He had embraced it wholeheartedly.
Bastila interjected, "We haven't gotten that far yet. First we need to go where Carth told us, in case you all just forgot what the Admiral just told us."
Elliott strode in from the cockpit having overheard the conversation. He said, "Bitter, aren't you, miss?" Bastila frowned. "So," the pilot continued, "where are we going?" He rubbed his hands together.
"Don't know yet," Xristos answered.
"T3!" Bastila called. Moments later the little droid rolled into the main room, beeping happily. HK stormed in behind him, fuming as well as a droid could do. Bastila spoke to the small unit, said, "T3, we need you to decrypt the transmission and instructions we just received from Admiral Onasi." The droid beeped in agreement and plugged itself into the main console.
Dustil took a look at HK and asked, "What's eating you?"
"Answer: That abominable T3 unit! He froze me in the cargo hold with an ion scrambler!"
Dustil burst out laughing and Allie giggled to herself. Bastila pretended not to notice the conversation. Caius asked, "How is it that none of us can get you to do what we want, but that little droid foils you at every turn?"
"Answer: I do not know, but is causing me considerable stress. My circuits are overloading with contempt even as we speak of the horrid situation."
Suddenly a new projection exploded out of the main console. A large map of the Republic was displayed in the same translucent, blue hue that the Admiral had been colored with. The galaxy shifted and then zoomed on a small planet near the edge of Republic space. The ball then took up the whole projection area and began rotating in front of them.
"That's Korriban," stated Bastila.
Carth's voice then began as a recorded message started. "Just yesterday a group of Republic researchers investigating Korriban in light of the recent Sith attacks came across an artifact buried within one of the tombs near the old Sith Academy. We believe it's of the 'True' Sith, at least in origin. Evidence leads us to believe that they once occupied this planet—many generations ago. Our best guesses lead us to believe that this artifact is a map of some sort, though you'll have to journey there yourselves in order to find out for certain. This is highly privileged, classified information, so I expect all of you keep your lips sealed about it. We've just fought two wars with the Sith, any leak that there may be more of them would be…costly. I expect you to see to it immediately—Admiral Onasi out."
"Well, that's convenient," said Allie.
Xristos mused, "In my experience, whenever it looks convenient it won't be for long."
"Don't jinx it," Dustil said quickly. "I'd like to just get there and then leave with the map as quick as possible. Korriban is not one of my favorite places."
"Xristos is right," Bastila said, "we need to be prepared. It might not be as convenient as it looks. We can't expect anything to go according to plan when Korriban is involved." Dustil frowned, but said nothing.
"So," Elliott began, "when do we leave?"
"No point in wasting time," Bastila stated, "let's go now. It's the start of a new day, and on Korriban we won't have any incidents will we?" Her question was pointed directly at Elliott. He didn't respond directly, choosing to interpret her words as a statement rather than a question.
His answer was a different topic. He said, "Then I'll prepare for lift off." He turned and exited the room. The droids filed out to their recharge stations, and Xristos, Dustil, and Allie all suddenly vacated the area as well. Bastila and Caius found themselves alone in the middle of the room almost immediately.
Caius noticed that she seemed to try to avoid his gaze. The silence was awkward as they both stood in the room saying nothing.
The Exile prodded her, said, "Is something wrong?"
She finally met his gaze for the first time that day and began, "What I said last night…don't ever repeat it."
Caius almost laughed, but held his tongue when he noticed how serious she was about it and said, "Uh, sure, no problem. I wasn't planning on it anyway."
Bastila had worried tremendously ever since she woke up that she had said too much. The initial relief that she was rewarded after confessing all her problems abandoned her once she realized that Caius now knew her most embarrassing secrets. She didn't know if she could confide in him, but now she just had to trust him.
As if he read her mind, Caius said, "You can trust me."
The flight to Korriban was relatively uneventful. Xristos seemingly took Dustil under his wing and the two discussed the Force and its meditative capabilities. Bastila and Allie seemed to gravitate towards each other. Or, at least, Allie felt more comfortable around Bastila than any of the other crewmembers save for Caius. Bastila, however, did not really enjoy Allie's presence. Of course, she did not really enjoy anyone's presence as of late. Regardless, that left Caius and Elliott to themselves in the cockpit of the Hawk as she blasted through hyperspace.
Although it probably would not be an issue any longer, Caius felt it necessary to confront Elliott about his drinking the night before. Now it was not possible for him to get his hands on alcohol, but that did not offer the Exile any relief.
Caius sat in the co-pilot's seat and stared blankly out of the viewport, watching the kaleidoscope of blue shapes unfold in front of him. Without turning his head towards the pilot, he said, "We're not going to have a repeat of last night ever again." Even Caius did not know if his comment was an order or an inquiry. He didn't think it mattered.
Elliott sighed, said, "Look man, I've been over this two dozen times with Bastila. It's not going to happen again because it can't. That's all there is to it."
"I don't think you've got it in the proper perspective—our entire mission was almost derailed last night. I don't mean to harp on the same thing, but seriously, show a little more responsibility all right?"
"Yeah, yeah," said the pilot contemptuously, "I'd like to see the day when any of you turn down free drinks."
"Free drinks?" Caius asked.
"Yeah, free. What, did you think I paid for all that? Hell no!"
"Who would pick up your tab?" Caius asked, "I'd thought you wouldn't take free liquor after what happened on Coruscant."
Elliott shrugged, said, "Well, I'm still alive. They were well-meaning enough. Gruff, but not terrible."
"Did you get a good look at them?"
"Yeah, hell, I took 200 credits off one of them in pazaak. He had five o'clock shadow on a thick, heart-shaped face. Black hair. Why do want me to describe them to you? Prove that they existed?"
An image of the contorted, burnt body on the floor of the ship confronted Caius. The man's tortured face was similar to the one described by Elliott. His gut instinct told him that they were the same person. "You know, your friends who bought you drinks were probably the ones who attacked the ship later." Elliott looked rather confused. Caius continued, "I wonder why they didn't just kill you."
"Don't shoot the messenger?" Elliott suggested. "I'm not the one they're after."
"Well, whatever," Caius said at length, realizing that there was no way he could argue with an addict. "Just…don't do it."
"Don't do what?" Elliott asked.
Caius stood up and moved to leave the cockpit. He froze right at the mouth of the hallway and answered, "Just…don't. If you're thinking about doing something, just stop for a second and think about it. And then don't."
"Damn. Thanks, boss," Elliott said sarcastically.
Caius didn't think responding was worth it, so he just meandered out of the room. There was still some time to be passed before they made it to Korriban. He thought about resting, but he had wasted enough time doing that recently. And every time he fell asleep it seemed that something terrible happened. His resolve, then, was to go talk to his crew. He realized that he really didn't know much about any of them. It was like he was starting over again.
The finality then struck him.
He'd been with the same group of people for almost a year, and now they were all gone. All of them. Every last one was either dead or had left. The fact weighed heavily on his mind. Was he really the only one left of his crew? Now, here he was with a completely new crew—only the droids were with him before Malachor. He barely knew anything about the rest of them, and his life was in their hands and theirs in his. He stopped and stood still in the main hold. Well, he thought, I know Bastila well enough. At least well enough for her to tell me about Revan. No, Bastila wasn't unknown. He had, after all, known her even before the Mandalorian Wars. The others, they were mysteries. Elliott was the incorrigible drunkard who amounted to nothing more than a chauffeur. Allie was well meaning and a very nice person, but he wasn't really sure if she meant anything to him other than a means to repair the ship. Aside from her brilliant smile and sharp intellect, at least concerning machines, there seemed to be nothing really extraordinary about her. Then there was Xristos. Aside from the brief conversation Caius had with him at the Jedi Temple, he hadn't really spoken to the man. The same went for Dustil. Those two he knew the least. Well, I've got some time to kill, he thought to himself, I may as well go find them.
Caius strode into the port dorms to find Xristos and Dustil were both in there. Dustil sat on the floor cross-legged, flipping cards, and Xristos was on one of the beds, his legs hanging over the side.
"Hello there," Xristos said jovially to Caius. "I take it you're tired of the women and the fool? You've been around them a lot lately, I'd imagine it must take a toll on you."
"I guess so. I don't really know what to make of this crew yet."
"You know a lot more than you think," Xristos stated. "For instance, you know more about Bastila than anyone in this galaxy. Allie's shy, but she seems willing to talk to you any chance she gets. And Elliott's a fool. However, he's a lot more complex than we give him credit for."
Caius took a seat on the ground across from Dustil. The young Onasi then dealt him in on a game of pazaak. Caius said to Xristos, "I don't know how you know this stuff, old man."
"Allie, I can read her emotions easy. She's no Jedi, so she doesn't hide them very well. She likes you. The rest of us she doesn't trust." He cleared his throat. "Elliott, on the other hand, hides his emotions too well for a non-Jedi. That means he's hiding something and he's gotten very good at doing so. I think he'll surprise us."
"And Bastila?"
"I don't want to analyze her for fear of guilt," Xristos said ambiguously.
"Why?" Caius asked.
Xristos sighed, said somewhat ashamedly, "I overheard part of your conversation with her last night." Caius felt a cold wave pass over him as Xristos continued. "I won't say a thing, don't worry."
"About what?" Dustil inquired.
"I'll tell you when you're older," Xristos said jokingly.
Dustil and Caius continued their pazaak game, which the young Jedi was winning rather handily. At length Dustil said, "The old man has some strange philosophies. He's not you're ordinary Jedi."
"See, that's exactly what I am talking about," Xristos responded. "What is an 'ordinary Jedi' anyway? Our Order is composed of the most skilled individuals in the galaxy, in terms of combat and diplomacy. Entire wars have been averted through our influence. There's nothing ordinary about that. No Jedi is like another and no Jedi should be like another."
"I disagree," said Dustil, "individuality promotes vanity. We can't be greater than the Order itself or we might fall. Look at history, the most famous Sith are individuals, but the Jedi are famous as a group. Take Revan, for example."
"But Revan made a name for himself as a Jedi, did he not?"
"Yes, and he fell afterwards."
Xristos smiled amusedly, "So, you think that he fell because he became greater than the Order? Perhaps if the Jedi didn't stifle his personality so much he would never have fallen."
"That's hypothetical, it doesn't change what happened."
"Yes, you're right," Xristos conceded somewhat tongue in cheek. The man's mannerisms were strange. He was reacting as though he won the debate even though it seemed Dustil had made the better argument. Caius never understood people like that. They would inwardly know that they were right, but for some reason they would not think it necessary to enlighten you. Xristos was content to just let Dustil think he had won the discussion.
Their philosophical musings were interrupted as Elliott's melodic voice blared through the intercom. "Preparing to drop out of hyperspace in five minutes."
All three men stood up and began to file out of the room, Xristos leading the way. They were met by Bastila and Allie in the central briefing room. "Looks like we're almost there," Caius said.
"Thank you, Captain Obvious!" Elliott shouted in response over the comm.
Bastila wasn't thrilled, said, "I just hope we can get in and out as quickly as possible."
None of the crew could see the scene on the rocky planet's surface as the Ebon Hawk swooped in over the barren landscape. Only Elliott had a visual, and he wasn't exactly sure what he saw. He reported it vaguely, and it was the best he could do. He said through the intercom, "It looks there's a welcoming party for us."
"They must be the Republic scavenge team that Carth was telling us about," Bastila suggested.
Elliott's voice came out of the ship's speakers again. He said, his words filled with confusion, "We're…picking up a distress signal. From these coordinates. Should I set down the Hawk?"
"We don't have much of a choice," Bastila answered.
Elliott navigated the ship through the dirty atmosphere towards the old valley of the Sith Lords. It was a place the Hawk had visited twice before already, and hopefully the third time would be a charm. Dust kicked up from all around as the freighter lowered to the ground. Eventually it settled down and the thrusters turned off. The dust cloud dissipated and the loading ramp opened up.
Caius strolled down the ramp first, with Dustil, Xristos, Bastila, and HK right behind him. Allie stayed behind and Elliott remained in the cockpit. He quickly surveyed the area, dirt and dust still cloaking the afternoon sky and hindering his vision. Caius stepped onto the hard unforgiving ground, his hand over his squinting eyes. A short ways off, perhaps one hundred yards, he could make out a sort of small camp—or at least an assembling of something. He continued onwards towards it, with the rest of his party following behind, not saying anything.
Suddenly a figure appeared in front of them, coming through the now-settling dust. The silhouette gave way to detail, and Caius saw that it was a woman in the uniform of a Republic officer. She walked up to them very labouredly. Caius noticed the bars on her shoulders that said 1st Lieutenant and a tag reading "Garko."
"Are you Lucullus?" she asked, forsaking any conversational pleasantries.
"I am," replied Caius. "Are you with the Republic excavation team?"
She didn't answer his question, "When the Admiral said we'd be getting company, I didn't think he meant one freighter. What are you? Fugitives?"
HK started with irritation, "Indignant: This is a pitiful camp, what are you? Homeless?"
"No," Caius said, holding his hand up in between HK and Garko. He didn't feel like explaining himself to her, changed the conversation to the present. He asked, "You sent a distress signal. Were you attacked?"
"Yes and no," the woman responded, although she was looking at the droid. "Come, we'll talk about it over at the camp."
Caius didn't know why she wouldn't talk about it right there, considering they were only fifteen feet outside of the camp. Hell, they were only one hundred yards away from the Ebon Hawk, but he didn't question her reasons.
"We haven't been attacked directly," she said, returning to his question as they entered the small camp. There were a few tents and some excavation equipment set up around a large campfire. There were a few unhappy patrons as well. "But ever since we found that artifact we've been harassed by these…things."
"Things? Could you please be a little more vague?" asked Bastila dryly.
"Hey, little missy," the woman said sharply, her demeanor darkening considerably, "don't go spouting off those pretty lips of yours and give me shit like that, I don't want to deal with it. We've had enough as it is." She turned and looked back at Caius, "Now, if we'll be spared moronic comments like that, I'll explain what we do know."
Caius was surprised how quickly the woman turned sour, and a glace at Bastila showed a red face. He wasn't sure if she was embarrassed or angry. Generally sarcastic quips don't earn that kind of response, and it was clear Bastila was used to being in charge and not talked down to.
"All right," Caius said, trying to keep the peace, "what do you know?"
"Just this," she continued, "we don't know what the hell they are. We've only caught a few glimpses of them, but as far as we can tell they're unlike anything any of us has ever seen." She paused and took a deep breath, scanning the desolate wastes around her. "They're rather tall, thin, and generally wear a kind of black robes. Very ornate, from what we can tell. Their heads are covered, we think, unless they have really dark skin. They haven't really attacked us per se, although they've fired a few shots our direction. Projectile weapons, but high powered. Nothing to scoff at, we lost two men to them. They mostly work at night. But despite the fact that they seem to have every advantage over us, they haven't attacked other than a few potshots. Oh," she paused, "and that." She gestured a couple hundred yards off towards one of the Sith tombs. There was a giant pile of blackened metal all twisted together in a mutilated heap. "That was our ship," she said, "they blew it up. Hence the distress signal."
Caius frowned, "I guess it couldn't be another excavation team. What, are they indigenous or something?"
"I doubt it, nothing lives here," she answered. "I have no idea what the hell they're doing. I'd say they wanted to stop us since they blew up our ship, but since they haven't actually shown themselves, I'd say they're just a bunch of pricks trying to stir up trouble."
"But that doesn't explain why they're here, does it?" Xristos supplemented. "No, I'd say they're trying to stop you. You say they only first showed themselves after you found the map artifact?"
"That is what I said," she replied impatiently.
"Well, then logically we can assume that's why they're pestering you."
"It could be a coincidence," Dustil hypothesized.
Xristos disagreed, "We all know there are no coincidences, only the Force."
"Right," said the woman, "I thought all you Jedi were dead."
"Still kicking," said Xristos.
The woman didn't say anything in response to the old Jedi. Caius then interrupted and asked, "May we see the artifact? We've been ordered by Admiral Onasi to investigate it."
"Oh, bloody…" the woman gritted her teeth, said, "yes, you can look at it. This way."
They ambled through the tattered campsite towards a collection of stacked metal crates and boxes. On top of one of them was a rusted charcoal thing roughly the size of a briefcase. It was as solid a rectangle as could possibly be.
"That's it?" Dustil asked disbelievingly, "why is it just sitting there? Shouldn't it be…safe?"
Garko shot back at him, "What the hell you want us to do with it? I haven't heard any better ideas."
Before their exchange could gain momentum, they were interrupted by a young man by the name of Whillem, whose rank apparently was sergeant. He said hastily, "Lieutenant, Stockton's picking up several blips on radar moving towards us from the southeast. They're moving fast."
"Damn it all," said Garko. "It's probably those dickhead things again. I wonder if they'll actually engage us this time or if they'll scurry off. All right." She turned and looked at the young man then began issuing his orders, she yelled, "Okay Sergeant, get everyone who can carry a gun towards the southern embankment. I don't care if they only have one arm. We should have a turret or two set up there to hold them off if they actually attack us. Now hustle!"
HK seemed overjoyed, said, "Statement: Master, I will join them at the wall—this should be glorious."
The sergeant bolted away to carry out the command, HK behind him, but most of it was heard initially and he didn't have to relay any orders. Garko turned to Caius, an unconcerned look on her face. "Third time today. They'll shy away. They can't shoot straight anyway, not with those projectile weapons. I doubt they could hit the broadside of a—"
Before she could finish her sentence, the back of the lieutenant's head exploded in a grotesque pulp of pink mass, blasting parts of her skull every direction. A much smaller exit wound ripped a hole through her forehead as the bullet screamed past Caius's head, undeterred by the skull it had just shattered.
Caius was stupefied, it took a moment for him to even realize what had happened. The woman's body just hung still in the air, as though invisible arms were still supporting her. It seemed like an eternity, but she only held the position for a moment before falling down face first into the dirt. The thud of her body slamming into the ground shook Caius from his shock. He ducked down behind a large rock as more bullets tore into the ground around him. He suddenly remembered the others and quickly scanned his surroundings to see where they were. He saw Dustil to his right, hiding behind another, larger, rock. Caius was envious until he saw Dustil cover his mouth and then vomit onto the ground, the shock of the lieutenant's murder making him sick. Caius couldn't blame him, but he'd long been desensitized to that kind of sudden death. Farther off, he saw Xristos and Bastila were huddled together behind a metal crate. He was relieved to see them all okay.
He huddled there for a few seconds until he realized that his inaction was profiting them nothing. For all he knew these things were already in the camp, and he'd rather not have that kind of surprise if he could avoid it. He gathered his wits, took a deep breath, and then wheeled around the boulder, running towards the embankment at the southern end of the camp. The embankment was a sturdy, tan wall with a turret mounted on two ends. They were both being manned and firing at their attackers. In the distance, Caius could see them. Barely. He saw several tall specks in the distance, atop a ridge near Ajunta Pall's tomb. He noticed Xristos was next to him, apparently having the same idea as he. He hurried to the wall, noticed that two of the soldiers there lay dead. Closer examination showed that they weren't soldiers; they were scientists. They were stretched beyond their means out here. Out of his peripheral he noticed that Xristos was gone. He allowed a quick glance back and saw the old man lying on the ground grabbing his left shoulder. Bastila was hurrying over to him.
Caius continued in his sprint and finally made it to the safety of the wall. He ducked down and thrust his shoulder into the side. Once there, he wondered what exactly he should be doing. He hesitated a second and then used the Force to raise the morale of the men around him. He wasn't Bastila, but he knew how to achieve very limited forms of her vaunted Battle Meditation. After feeding his energy into his allies for a few moments, he reached down and wrenched one of the blaster rifles out of the hands of a dead man. He flung the heavy weapon onto the top of the sand wall and steadied himself. The attackers were positioned on the high ground above one of the old tombs, a decrepit ridge. He aimed, steadied the gun, and then squeezed the trigger.
At length one of the figures on the ridge was hit and its body folded and rolled off the top, flailing as it fell to the ground. Caius wasn't sure if he had hit it or not, but it didn't matter. The urgency of the situation was growing, however. The enemy had the high ground, and there was no way this ragtag band of soldiers and scientists could hold out from such a terrible position. Their attackers had free reign to shower them with volley after volley. Almost instantaneously, his doubt fled him. He suddenly remembered that there were four Jedi present. Inwardly, he knew that his positive feelings came from Bastila's Battle Meditation, but he welcomed the thoughts all the same. He aimed and fired another direct shot, toppling a second figure on the ridge. HK was crouching next to him, firing quickly and precisely. The droid killed another attacker.
Behind him he heard massive gears grinding to life. Several huge blaster bolts were catapulted into the ridge that the assailants occupied. Caius twisted his neck and saw that Elliott was firing the Hawk's main guns at the attackers. The impact of the rounds was so great that it incinerated those still left alive and tore the canyon walls asunder.
Interrupting Caius's sense of impending victory came the voice of Sergeant Whillem. "They're moving in now!" he yelled. "Wait…what the hell are those?"
Caius angled his head slightly to see the narrow walkway towards the old Sith Academy. At the top of the pathway there were a couple more of their attackers with these large, reptilian beasts in front of them. There were two of the monsters, and they were sprinting towards the camp fast. Damn Hssiss, he thought to himself.
"Concentrate your fire on the monsters!" Whillem yelled to the two men manning the mounted guns. They opened up on the beasts, tearing into them, but somehow the things did not slow. Their speed was surprising, having already crossed half the distance towards the camp. The last of the snipers from up top was dealt with, and Caius then turned his thinking towards the oncoming monsters. His eyes darted back and forth all around him, trying to latch onto something that might be useful. His gaze fell upon a bloodied vibrosword that lay a few feet away from him. Without a moment's hesitation, Caius grabbed the large sword by the hilt and stood up over the wall. He reared back and heaved the heavy weapon through the air as though it were a javelin, and used the Force to steady the hurtling sword and strengthen its impact. It sailed through the air brilliantly as Caius focused on it. It arched and then fell. Its trajectory was perfect and its pointed blade buried itself into the shoulder just above one of the forearms of the closest beast. It let out a horrible groan that sounded like a stone being scraped across concrete. Its forearm folded and fell under it and it stumbled, sliding through the dirt. Caius thought his throw had killed it, but suddenly the great beast was back on its feet again. It continued its run, the sword impaled on it.
Caius was shocked that it was still coming. The gunners focused all their fire on the wounded one, and Caius turned his attention to the handlers that were running behind it. He tried to use the Force to throw them backwards, hoping that if he got rid of the handlers the beast would run wild and more importantly away from them. He threw the wave of Force at them, but much to his surprise one of the slender enemies lowered its shoulder and absorbed the attack. It was as if it were an athlete bowling over another player. The thing was completely unaffected. Damn, that didn't work, Caius thought.
There was an excited yell around him, and he realized that the gunners were commemorating the death of the Hssiss that he had injured. Apparently HK had blasted it with a rocket. Its great carcass lay in the sand a mere two-dozen yards from their embankment. They then turned and continued firing. Caius suddenly remembered the second monster. He looked to his right and noticed that the great beast was almost right in front of him. Before thinking he threw himself to the left, away from the wall. Right as he hit the ground the embankment exploded into a thousand shards of dirt and granite as the Hssiss had barreled straight through it. It let out a treacherous roar. The few remaining gunners, including the sergeant ran away from the wall and back towards the rocks Caius had previously been hiding behind, firing behind them all the way. He couldn't see where HK was. He tried to get up, but stumbled backwards. He looked at the gargantuan monster, its thousand teeth bearing at him. He thought it was going to eat him whole when suddenly a youthful Jedi landed right in between the beast and himself. It was Dustil, his green lightsaber glowing. He feinted at the beast and it backed up, understanding what the incandescent stick was. Caius scrambled to his feet, but no sooner had he gotten up than he was bludgeoned from behind and thrown again into the dirt.
He rolled over only to see one of the slender attackers blotting out the sun behind him. The mysterious enemy landed right on top of Caius, burying its knee in his chest and grasping his throat with its hands. Caius instinctively grabbed the assaulter's wrists and tried to pry it off, but was unable to do so. Despite the creature's frail appearance, it had tremendous strength. Caius felt as though it was going to crush his windpipe in a matter of seconds. The creature then halted for a moment and muttered in a strange gurgling language that sounded all too familiar to him. Its sickening speech slithered out of its throat and it lowered its head as though it were whispering to him. Caius distinctly understood the last word as Jeedai. The creature hissed a wicked laugh and pressed down on his neck again. Just as he thought his head was going to burst, the creature shrieked a horrid, high-pitched wail. It let go of him and stood up, it's arms outstretched and maintaining the piercing wail. Blaster fire then tore into its torso, its body jerking with each impact. The thing then went limp and flopped onto the ground next to him. The Exile gasped for air, trying desperately to fill up his lungs with the oxygen that had been so awfully denied him. He writhed in his coughing fit and saw out of the corner of his eye that Dustil had severed the Hssiss's head from its body. A great, cauterized stump was now all that the monster had for a head. When he saw that there were no more enemies immediately around him, he let his head fall onto his forearms, his body collapsing due to fatigue.
Two spotless white boots stopped next to him. Caius spotted them and slowly rolled over, straining to look up. He saw two blaster pistols in the hands of a man dressed in full white body armor, the sun was blotting out his face. He saw a silhouette of somewhat long black hair that fell around the man's ears. Then he heard the unmistakable voice of Elliott Gallenti.
"You own me one, cap'n," he said.
"What?" Caius said, his voice creaking.
"I just shot that guy. You know, the one who was strangling you."
Caius blinked. A very long blink, only one step below a nap, then said, "How do you keep your shoes so clean out here?"
"If that's your way of saying thank you it's no wonder you're still single."
"Is that a come on?"
Elliott gagged, "Hell no it isn't, I'm only interested in…hey where's Bastila?"
Nice transition, Caius thought to himself. He caught his train of thought and wondered: why was he being so sarcastic? They had just been through a battle; he shouldn't be making jokes. It wasn't as if he hadn't been through a battle before, though, and certainly ones worse than this. His thoughts were interrupted by Bastila's voice of reassurance.
"I'm here," she said. Caius slowly got up, staggering to his feet, and traced her voice to where she was standing. She was kneeling next to Xristos, who was still favoring one shoulder. It looked as though something molten hot had burned through his robe and had fried the skin on a small area on his shoulder.
"How did that happen?" Caius asked.
Xristos was well enough to answer. "I blocked one of their shots," he said. "They use those projectile weapons, really big bullets. I wasn't thinking. I blocked one of them with my lightsaber, but instead of reflecting it, it turned it into a stream of white-hot plasma and it burned through my robe. Memo to the rest of you kids: dodge the bullets, don't try to bat them away."
Caius nodded in the affirmative. Xristos looked over at Dustil, who was rummaging through the crates. Whillem was on the other side of the boxes doing the same.
"You hear me, kid?" Xristos asked.
Dustil didn't respond. At least, not to Xristos's question. "It's not here!" he exclaimed.
"What isn't?" Bastila asked.
"The artifact! They must've taken it!"
The whole group paused for a moment, and then Whillem called out, "Look, up there!" They all turned to see three or four of their attackers sprinting up the old pathway to the Academy. One of them had a distinct briefcase-like box under his arm.
"Oh, hell," Dustil said and took off running after them.
"Dustil, wait!" Caius called.
Dustil yelled over his shoulder, "No, we have to chase them!"
Caius sighed and then took up the run after the young Jedi. He yelled, "HK, come with me!"
"Statement: Gladly, master."