A/N: Thanks for the feedback on the last chapter. To celebrate...er...Saturday, and the fact that I have made tremendous progress recently, I'm going to be updating with more frequency. So, here we go!

Chapter Sixteen

Caius barely jerked himself out of the way as the huge, black sword sliced through the air. It swung vertically and ran itself into the degraded road where had has stood. The Exile fell to the ground, but had the presence of mind to keep his lightsaber in front of him as the Sith Troopers were firing wildly.

Bullets sprayed at him as though from a hose and he could not block them all. Fortunately, these weapons were of a smaller caliber than the sniper rifles with a slower rate of fire than the Sith used on Korriban, so his lightsaber was effective against them. What they lacked in power, however, they made up for in quantity. The lethal spray was too much for him to keep back. He would have been torn apart had their volley not been cut short

Bastila had the presence of mind to use the Force to topple a large, weak structure during the chaos. The pillar smashed into the ground, crushing one of the Sith and blocking the line of fire of the other five or so. Dirt scattered into the air, impeding their vision even more. Caius could not see exactly what was happening, but apparently Bastila had engaged the Sith Lord. Her two blue blades were mere blotches of light through the clouds of dust, but Caius, momentarily free from the hail of bullets, could tell she was on the defensive. He charged into the fray.

He drew nearer to see Lord Cyaxares in his full glory. His swords slid through the air in huge, sweeping strokes, lacking speed but bearing tremendous power. The Sith fought very oddly. His left hand held his sword naturally, but his right hand gripped the weapon backhand. The combination made it difficult to perceive and anticipate his movements. Bastila tried desperately to parry them, but even making contact with the swinging weapons forced her backwards as the Sith Lord had much more strength than her. A ferocious upper cut with his backhanded sword collided with her blue blades, the force of the impact sending the woman backwards.

Caius tried to catch the Sith Lord unaware and, running at the left side of the foe, thrust his lightsaber at the Sith's chest. Cyaxares, without looking at the Exile, caught his stroke in mid-air with a free sword and then flipped Caius's lightsaber around, exposing the Exile. Xristos hurled a wave of the Force at Cyaxares, and it affected him enough to cause the Sith's follow through to miss the Exile, saving Caius's life. Unfortunately, though the blade missed, the Sith Lord's fist and hilt came into contact with Caius's chest and thaw him backwards. He vaulted through the air, tried to land on his feet, but tripped over a rock and fell onto his back.

His mind was swimming. Where the hell are Elliott and Allie? he thought. He scrambled backwards, trying to get to his feet, but wanting to make sure all his enemies were in front of him. Apparently Cyaxares had not pursued him. He tweaked his neck to his left and saw that Elliott had taken refuge behind some wreckage. He was firing at the Sith Troopers. The Sith Troopers? Caius thought. He had forgotten about them. Another glance to his right showed that they were back in order, at least what was left of them. Another had gone missing in the scuffle, but the dust had cleared and they were firing again. Their torrent of bullets was directed at Bastila, and she could not dodge them and fight Cyaxares at the same time. The Sith quickly gained the upper hand against both Bastila and Xristos. The two Jedi were rapidly retreating, barely even offering strikes at the Sith Lord. Any counter that they mustered, he batted aside like their attacks were mere nuisances. Elliott was firing at the Sith Lord from behind cover, but his shots either missed or glanced off of him harmlessly.

Caius tried to get to his feet. He looked to his right again, and focused on the Sith soldiers. They needed to be dealt with first. They would not escape alive, let alone kill Cyaxares, if they continued to rain fire upon his companions. He tried to keep as much of his body hidden behind the nearby boulder as possible as he planned his attack. He scooted around the side of the rock and then released a wave of lightning. The charged blast caught one of the Sith soldiers in the chest and sent him flying quite far due to the light gravity. They instantly redirected their fire away from Bastila and Xristos and brought it down upon Caius. He was much closer, and their automatic weapons did not need to be as accurate to hit him.

He let go of his wave of lightning and tried to bring his lightsaber back up, quickly on the defensive. Dozens of bullets shrieked past him. He could not dodge them all. One shot tore into his left shoulder. The Exile cried out in agony and fell to the ground, conveniently behind the rock. He gripped his shoulder, and brought his lightsaber up to his chest.

He looked to where Bastila and Xristos had been fighting Cyaxares. Bastila was almost completely subdued.

Oh no, Caius thought.

Cyaxares spun his swords around horizontally, slicing his swords through the air at the woman. She fell to the ground, perhaps unintentionally, and the attempt skimmed over the top of her head. Her lightsabers were deactivated and she scrambled backwards, trying to get on her feet. The Sith Lord pursued her, but she, to Caius's shock, turned around and bolted.

"Run!" he heard her yell above the din, "Split up!"

Cyaxares was slow. He tried to throw one of his swords after Bastila. The sailing weapon would probably have impaled her if Xristos hadn't appeared out of nowhere and struck it down with his green lightsaber. No sooner had he done so than did he make for the hills as well. Caius saw Elliott turn and run the opposite direction, and he saw Allie—alive, fortunately—emerge from behind some rubble and take off another way.

He instantly got to his feet, the pain in his shoulder searing violently, and turned. He hobbled as fast as he could through the closest alleyway, trying to escape.

He had no idea what plan they had after this. What was he thinking? There was no plan—the script read 'try to survive'. He ran as fast as he could and disappeared into the skeletal city.

Cyaxares stood motionless in the middle of the road, his Sith soldiers—the four that remained—filing in behind him. He let his two swords fall to his side as he relaxed. He did not face them, allowed his devilish, smiling mask to function as his eyes. He growled fiercely, "Find them—fail…and die."

With that the Sith broke off individually to pursue their prey.

Cyaxares went after Bastila himself.

Allie scrambled up on top of a small structure, hoping that if she got to the roofs she would be able to more easily avoid being killed. There were ramps on some of the buildings that allowed her to ascend to the top of one of the ruins. The roof was smooth and solid, composed of the black, metallic substance of which all the structures seemed to be made.

Once atop the building, she realized she had hit a dead end—there was no way to get anywhere else from the structure. The other things were too high. As she was about to turn and go back down, she heard a blood-curdling shriek. Startled, she saw one of the hooded Sith soldiers come into her line of sight. It wielded a longsword and was springing up the ramp after her.

She instinctively backed up, but had very little room to move. She quickly fired two shots at the Sith with her blaster, but—in her haste—missed both of them. The creature charged wildly towards her and swung horizontally. She jumped backwards and the Sith's blow caught her blaster by the barrel and smacked it out of her hand.

The Sith almost fell down it swung so violently, the animalistic creature screamed the whole time. Weaponless, Allie tried to make a break for the ramp. The Sith gathered itself and let fly another strike, but she moved too quickly and its attempt went wide. Allie was about two feet from the ramp when she was hit hard from behind. The Sith, in its wild fury, had abandoned its sword and tackled her from behind.

She crashed into the ground, landing awkwardly and hurting her sling-bound arm again. She rolled over and tried to move, but the Sith fell on top of her. It screeched its menacing howl as it tried to get a hold of her. She squirmed as hard as she could, but the thing would not let up. She tried to kick it in the groin, but could not muster any strength behind her attempts as it pinned her down. She writhed again, but the Sith would not let go of her. It grabbed her by the shoulders, pushing her body towards the edge of the building. Though the structure was not too high, a fall would likely be fatal. The Sith seemed to be trying to shove her off of the side, but she tried hard to resist it. With only one good arm, though, she did not stand much of a chance.

Just as the Sith was about to finally toss her off the edge, it suddenly shrieked in agony. Its hands let go of her and it grasped at its side, howling in pain. It flew to her left and fell onto its back, twitching spasmodically—though very much alive. Allie, confused but grateful for the relief, turned her head and saw T3 beside her, his shocking iron extended from his body. He had blasted the Sith in the side with some kind of seizure-inducing droid utensil.

Allie, keeping her wits about her, seized the hydrospanner she had on her belt. She quickly fitted a large bit onto it. The mechanic got to her knees and just as the Sith seemed to be regaining control over its body, she struck.

She stabbed the tool into the Sith's chest, bypassing the cloth, and then activated the bit driver. The bit thrust into the Sith with tremendous strength, tearing through its flesh. It screeched and tried to grab at Allie's arm, but she twisted the tool into her attacker further. It wailed, but she did not allow it time to try any last ditch attack. Just as it had attempted to do to her, she used her good hand to shove the Sith off the side of the building. It slid off easily, its limbs flailing as it went down, the drill bit still imbedded into its chest. It hit the side of another ruin, bounced and then impacted into the ground with a thud. There it twitched and died.

"And I've only got one arm!" she yelled down at the carcass.

T3 rolled up next to her and said, "Dwooo…"

Allie was hyperventilating. She knelt down next the droid, trying to regain her composure.

"Thanks, T3," she said, patting it on the head, "I always knew I could count on you."

The droid beeped in agreement.

Caius stumbled through the labyrinthine back alleyways of the old city. His shoulder was bleeding profusely now, and his pace had fallen to a mindless stroll. Each step took too much energy out of him.

The loss of blood was too much. He winced and stopped, heaving giant gasps for air. He realized he would have to use the Force to try to heal himself. He steeled his resolve and began to focus, believing that he put enough distance between his enemies and himself. Regardless, he would have to do this no matter how close they were.

He closed his eyes and, calling on the Force, located the bullet in his shoulder. It was a good quarter inch into his flesh. He was lucky that it was only that shallow—the shot had probably been a ricochet, but he would have to get it out. He would not be able to use his hands so he used Force push. Trying to expel the bullet from the wound, he used his powers to push against it. Pain shot through his arm. He grunted audibly, but still pushed, clutching his left bicep with his good hand.

He winced tightly, but soon he was rewarded. The bullet ejected from his arm and fell harmlessly to the ground.

It did not alleviate the pain, however, and the Exile fell to his knees shaking, still clutching his arm.

It was fortunate that he did, as one of the Sith pursuers had come up behind him as he operated on himself. Falling to his knees saved him the misfortune of having his head cleaved by a longsword.

The Sith screamed in anger. Caius instinctively twisted to the ground, but opened his eyes to find the Sith standing above him, one leg on each side of him. It was about to swing downwards and cut him in half long ways. The Exile jerked to the side and the downward strike narrowly missed him. As the Sith was about to pull the sword back up, Caius reached up—causing his bad shoulder to scream in protest—and grabbed the sword just above the hilt. The blade cut into his gloved hands, piercing his skin, but he held on despite the already intense pain.

The Exile then used his foot to kick the Sith in the stomach and vault the creature over his head. The Sith smacked into a wall upside down, and fell on its head. Its body limply followed suit, as apparently it fractured its neck. In agony, Caius staggered to his feet. He slowly pulled out his lightsaber and stuck the blue beam into the back of the unmoving Sith. He again fell to his knees as he killed the creature, struggling to breathe and resist the pain.

He could not deny that he was lucky to be alive. It was only by chance that he had 'ducked' the Sith's blow. He should be dead.

He remained on the ground for a while longer, gathering his senses. He hoped no more Sith would attack him from behind, as this time he surely would not survive.

Slowly, he built up enough energy to stand again, gritting his teeth. His shoulder was throbbing and his hands were lacerated—he was certainly in no condition to fight. He stumbled around the back of an exceptionally large ruin and decided it would be best to summit it. He would be able to see where he and everyone else was, and perhaps figure out what to do. There was an old staircase that had been carved into the mysterious black stone, though now it was smoothed over and resembled more of an incline than anything else. He trudged slowly onto and began his ascent.

Once he reached the top of the building, he realized that there were very few structures that were taller—he could see very far. Still the planet was bathed in the eternal gray haze of dusk, but there was enough light to see a long way. However, he could not make out where anyone was.

He scanned the horizon vainly, hoping to see something, anything, but could not discern any unusual images. He stood and watched for any movement for several minutes, but he didn't see anything. At least, not for a while. When something finally did catch his eye, it was not…natural.

There, in the distance, he saw a green energy beam suspended in the air. He squinted to look at it. Surely it was a lightsaber. It has to be Xristos, Caius thought, but why the hell isn't it moving? The saber just hung still, floating in the air at a seventy-degree incline. Caius stared at it for almost sixty seconds, and still nothing happened. It just held its position.

This doesn't make any sense, Caius thought.

He then realized that his arm and hands did not cause any pain. He was utterly confused.

And then he noticed his surroundings. There was no noise. The wind had stopped blowing; he could hear nothing. There was a profound deadness to the air, even bleaker than the planet was generally. He sensed nothingness.

Uncertain, he turned around. He was then frozen with fear.

Before him, in all of its might and glory, was the phantom.

Caius was paralyzed.

"Do not fear," it said in his mind.

The great specter towered above him. It floated a foot or so off of the ground, its six, long legs not touching the surface of the building. The ghost was inherently insect-like. It clearly bore an exoskeleton—its legs hard and rigid, and its joints were visibly external. Upon the six legs was a broad, round body with two shorter, arm-like appendages the sloped off of the side of it. Its head was at the tip of a long neck that hung down below its shoulders, looking at the Exile. The face was solemn and stoic, large, bulbous eyes but no nose or mouth visible. Its whole body was rendered in a shiny, translucent light—like it was a spiritual hologram.

"What…what are you?" Caius asked, still frozen.

"I am of the Krothyr, and this was our city," it answered. Its voice was not a physical thing, but a mental one. It was in his mind. "Me—I was Overseer of this place. We are atop my palace."

"Palace?" Caius stuttered at length, "were you the ruler of this planet?"

"You do not understand. No one governed Samarkand, it was merely watched over."

Caius had a million things to ask, but could not state them all at once. "What…what is happening?" he said vaguely.

"You have become unstuck in time," answered the apparition.

"You mean…time has stopped? How?"

"A foolish race is yours—already I sense that you think this the most important question."

Caius did not understand, he just said, "What?"

"In all your observations of universe, you ask 'how' and get what? Another question? But did you all ever cease and wonder the timeless inquiry? Did you ever ask 'why'?" The alien was somehow displeased, but it answered, said, "This is a vision—surely you understand what it entails?"

Caius then realized it was a Force vision. He had heard of these things before, but he had to admit that it was not as he would have predicted it. He always expected that he would somehow be transported into some happy, gray, foggy world in a vision. He was surprised to see that he had merely been put into suspended animation in the middle of a battle.

"Okay…" Caius surrendered, "why am I having this vision?"

"So that we may be permitted to speak."

"Why do we need to speak?" Caius asked, figuring the creature would be pleased he was framing the question how it would like it.

"You do not already know? The lives of your companions hang in the balance."

Caius already knew this, and this aggravating ghost was not really helping matters. By stopping time, it had apparently just delayed the inevitable.

"You must focus," said the ghost, "and cease your fretting. Nothing can or will happen until we are finished speaking."

"What do you have to say?" the Exile asked bluntly.

"Nothing said will matter unless you are willing to listen," it said sharply.

"I am listening," Caius responded.

"Behold," said the apparition in a stunningly operatic voice, "you stand upon the Palace of Samarkand. You have walked in its Seven Gardens. You have an audience with the Overseer. Now the histories will be made known to you. But first, you must be made to see."

Suddenly, Caius found himself in a far off place. It was the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Grandmaster Nantaris was addressing a congregation of Jedi, no doubt about the future of the Order. He stood with a solemn look on his face, very different from the normally comic and lighthearted aura the man emitted. It was a frozen image.

Then he saw Carth and his pristine uniform sitting behind a desk. A young lieutenant was approaching him, but Onasi only regarded him grimly.

An unnatural shift then found Caius standing in a hospital waiting room on Citadel Station in Telos. He saw Atton with his arm around a frail young woman, and a bald doctor standing next to them. The girl was holding onto two rails, trying to use them to walk their length. She had very red hair and an unhappy look on her young face. Mira! Caius suddenly thought to himself. She's alive! He was overcome. The current situation was so dire, and yet…he was happy.

"Do you now see our power?" asked the phantom. Caius was then back atop the large ruin in 'Samarkand'. "I can use your mind to show you what can and should happen."

"What about my friends here?" he asked breathlessly, "Are they okay?"

Now he was with Allie. She was sitting on top of a ruin, similar to his but not nearly as tall, with T3 next to her. Her face was bruised, but otherwise she was all right.

Next was Elliott. The pilot was in the process of firing both of his blasters at a Sith soldier who seemed to be charging at him. Two bolts were striking the Sith in the chest, the freeze frame rendering a very surreal image.

He saw Dustil lying immobile inside the Sith vehicle that had tried to run them over. His face, though frozen, showed a great deal of distress. His eyes were traumatized. HK was slumped over next to him, apparently deactivated. Or perhaps destroyed.

Another transition, and now he saw Xristos. His green lightsaber was still raised up in the air, and he was about to let it fall down upon an incapacitated Sith soldier.

And then Caius found himself before the last image. This one was very romantic in the sense of grandeur—and tragic. He saw Bastila by herself—several hundred yards away from their first contact with Cyaxares. She was in the middle of the road, standing tall, her two blue lightsabers hanging down from her hands and nearly touching the ground. She was awaiting Lord Cyaxares, who Caius could see storming towards her. But she just stood there, unmoving, resolved to meet whatever fate had for her.

And finally Caius was on top of the 'palace' again.

"They need help," he said forlornly.

"They will get it," said the phantom, "and now you must listen. Will you hear the histories?"

Caius nodded his head.

"Then you shall. Behold, I am Overseer of Samarkand. I was called Orthys—atop the hierarchy of Krothyr, but equal with my fellows. This was our planet."

Caius wanted to ask how anything could have lived here, but he did not want to interrupt the ghost.

"Samarkand was not then as it is now. Once it was lush and bountiful—once it lived. We, the Krothyr, were an advanced race. We took to the stars and skies; we found other worlds. We could not eclipse the light, and we did not travel far, but we were the overseers of this region of the galaxy.

"But then they arrived. Foreign invaders. They were on the run, we believed they had been chased into this realm of the galaxy by others." The apparition then paused, an unusual act, "We were the main threat to their dominance," it continued, "to subdue this space—they had to subdue us. We were overmatched, but we resisted with all of our might. The Krothyr were not the mightiest race, but we fought valiantly. They tried to cleanse this planet of life, but they could not land upon it. We fought them in the jungles, and we repelled them where they landed. But ultimately, they controlled the skies."

It paused again before it continued the drama. It said ominously, "Then began 'The Siege'."

"They could not defeat us," it said, "so they surrounded our planet and hoped to starve us. We would have survived. But he—their leader—he wielded unknown power."

"Was it Severus?" Caius asked.

"No, it was another. It has been so long, his name has been lost. But he was connected with Unity. He manipulated it to his will. He feasted on its power, and then it infiltrated him and corrupted him. And he used it."

"What is 'Unity'?"

The ghost ceased its tale and answered, said, "It is an energy field that binds all living things. It helped us, and it gave us union with the earth and with space and with each other. We lived in harmony with it and it with us."

"So…it is the Force?"

The alien mused, answered, "Two names for one entity."

"But this outsider—he used it. Instead of letting it aid him, he took control of it. We could sense that it was tricking him, but it allowed him to perform acts of terrible power. He—through its abuse—murdered Samarkand."

"How is that…possible?"

"Through its power he halted the movement of our planet. Samarkand froze in time. There was no more day and no more night. We were undone. Half of our planet burned and the other half froze in darkness. Our jungles ceased. Our resources dwindled. Only those of us in the meridian survived—and then they invaded. Scorching, pillaging, they burned our planet through Unity. The few of us who had survived were as nothing. Mountains of skulls piled in the streets. Skeletons were strewn across the cities. Our palaces and buildings were burned through their magic. They turned our magnificent city into bones—into a skeleton, as we are now skeletons. They murdered our planet and our people."

Caius was shocked. Had the Sith this much power? If so, how did they get run out of the Republic to begin with? It was frightening indeed. But he asked, "Why is it that you remain here?"

"Remain?" it asked. "Do we remain? We have nowhere else. Samarkand was our home. When the invaders murdered it, they took Unity from it. The planet is fractured, not one. It has been removed from Unity—we were divided and now we linger. We cannot be made whole."

"Your whole race is like this?"

"Indeed we are."

"I saw a few of you on the way here…is there anything that can be done?"

"It is through the power of the abominable invaders that we are in this state. They must be destroyed—only then will the dark power that corrupts our world be removed. And then we can be in union again."

Caius was unsure what it was asking, said, "What is it you want me to do?"

"Defeat these villains. It was already your destiny."

"If it was already my destiny," Caius asked hypothetically, "then why have you confronted me?"

"Because," answered the specter condescendingly, "you cannot do it alone. You will need our help."

Caius used the opportunity, asked, "Can you help us defeat this Sith Lord? We cannot escape this planet."

"Verily, I promise unto you—we will provide aid. Behold!"

And suddenly Caius was vaulted back into time—the universe flowing through and around him once again. His shoulder and hands had mysteriously healed and he felt no pain. He was transported to an entirely different place, inexplicably removed from the tall ruin he had summated. He was in the middle of the road, and he witnessed a terrible sight.

Immediately in front of him was the fearsome figure of Lord Cyaxares. The malevolent enemy was leaning forward as he ran, his swords pointed outward, and charging towards him. But he was not alone. Bastila was right next to him, both of her lightsabers in hand; ready to meet their foe. Xristos burst into view at her right, the three of them awaiting their enemy. Lord Cyaxares hesitated for a brief moment, completely befuddled as to how two Jedi had manifested out of thin air right in front of him.

Bastila, Caius, and Xristos, however, did not question it. They instantly raised their weapons and charged.

Allie and Elliott appeared simultaneously on opposite sides of the street, situated in precisely the perfect vantage points to fire down upon the lone—and now heavily outnumbered—Sith Lord. The Krothyr had orchestrated them all to have the perfect positions, and it had been done so seamlessly the others did not seem to realize what had happened.

The Jedi met their assailant. Caius struck quickly, a jab at the Sith's side, but the behemoth swordsman batted it away violently. He kicked the Exile's leg out and the ex-Jedi fell to the ground as one huge black sword tore into the road he had occupied. Cyaxares used his other blade to deflect both of Bastila's lightsabers out of the way, and at the same time ducked under a wide swipe from Xristos's green lightsaber.

Though the Sith was down three to one on the ground, five to one including the snipers, he did not relent. Blaster bolts rained down upon him from above, but the ones that managed to strike him did not cause anything more than aesthetic damage to his armor. Despite his slow speed, the Sith fought smoothly and fluidly. He dodged and ducked and twisted majestically, not allowing one opening of which the Jedi could take advantage. Not only was he repelling their attacks—he was forcing them backwards. Somehow, the outgunned Sith was beating them into reverse.

The duel continued, four energy beams colliding with the jet-black vibroswords of the Sith Lord. The shafts of light spun and whirled through the air, but did not make contact with anything but metal.

Cyaxares then called on the Force. Without so much as a hand gesture, he blasted Bastila backwards. She flipped through the air and landed on her back, rolled once, and then fell into a heap fifteen yards away. Elliott, in desperation, threw a grenade at the Sith Lord, but he did not time it correctly. It struck the Sith Lord in the head, but bounced harmlessly away. Unfortunately, it landed right near Xristos, and the aged Jedi had to leap out of the way. A spout of dirt and rock exploded into a geyser, thrusting high into the air and distorting their vision. Caius could not see where the old man had gone, and Bastila was somewhere behind him.

Caius found himself face to face with the Sith Lord, alone.

This could not be the help I was promised, Caius thought.

But nothing happened.

Is that it? he called out in vain.

The Sith Lord swung at him and Caius barely blocked it. He threw his lightsaber upwards, trying to shift the Sith's positioning. He countered and tried to hit the Sith in the stomach, but Cyaxares had anticipated the move. He jerked to his left. The thrust missed, and Caius found his arm entangled. Cyaxares dropped one of his swords in the counterattack, but managed to grasp the Exile's right arm and wrenched it into an unnatural position. Caius cried out in agony, his lightsaber flying from his hand. The Sith Lord then heaved him up by the bicep and threw him across the road. Caius smashed into a boulder and ricocheted onto the dirt, landing in a pile.

His mind was foggy. Where is Bastila? he thought. A glance to his right showed that she was alive, but could not help him. She was on her hands and knees, struggling to breathe. Xristos was farther away and he could not see him. He shifted his view and looked in front of him. The dark figure was almost on top of him. Cyaxares, only a few feet away, came in close for the kill. He raised his right arm above his head to strike—to end Caius's life.

Caius was unable to move, and he did not even have his lightsaber to defend himself. He lay there like an animal in front of an oncoming vehicle, just awaiting the blow.

But it never came.

A strange stream of translucent energy, sparkling in the dim light, pierced Cyaxares's chest. It flowed into him like a river, thrusting into his upper body and then diffusing throughout him. It spilled over him in a pure, unbridled form of energy.

The Sith Lord immediately dropped his weapons to the ground and put his hands on his head. His knees buckled and he screamed a demonic wail as his body was invaded. He wavered, sloping down to the ground. Another of the clear projectiles impaled him. The Sith's cries grew louder, but deeper. They rose until he stood up fully again, twisting.

Another and another spirit slammed into him. His feet lifted off of the ground and he was suspended two feet in the air. His cries grew more frightening as he was under siege by the translucent beings. Caius then recognized what they were. They were the Krothyr, and they were exacting revenge on the invaders that killed their planet.

Cyaxares's sinister mask, the one with the sardonic smile on it, suddenly jerked to the right, a loud pop emanating. The Sith screamed, and again his mask jerked. Now Caius could see the tragic face. The process repeated. The Sith's mask—and inside, his head—wrenched sideways over and over again until it was spinning like a rotor on a propeller. The Sith, still alive, was raised higher into the air. The rotating of his head warped his voice. His arms flailed as he tried to regain control over his body, but it was to no avail. Beams of light shot out of the Sith's body, as rays that pierce clouds, and then—suddenly—he froze.

Still suspended in air, the beams of light shot out of the eyes on his mask. Caius squinted, unsure what he was witnessing, and then was blinded.

Cyaxares body was consumed in light, and then what looked like an explosive force enveloped him. Dust and dirt and rocks rose up to meet him. He was still shrieking, but there was no relenting. And as suddenly as the assault began, Cyaxares's voice stopped. It was replaced by the sound of an explosion. Caius covered his eyes as the Sith Lord seemed to burst out of existence, the rocks and dirt flying every which direction, sending shock waves out from the epicenter that had been Cyaxares. The air he had occupied contained nothing—it was merely empty. The Exile was showered with dirt, the remains of the killing. He covered his head to keep anything from striking him until the calamity subsided.

Caius slowly uncovered his head and looked around. Out of the sky, a singular object dropped to the ground. It bounced twice and then landed softly in front of him, between the two unused vibroswords. He looked at it closely, and then realized that it was one of the masks of Cyaxares. Its frightening smile gaped up at him, but through it he could only see the dirt of the road. Steam and smoke rose from the teardrop eye sockets, the mask lying still and harmless.

The Exile struggled to his feet. He trudged up slowly, feeling a tremendous pain in his back and right arm. He hoped that Cyaxares had not broken it. He eventually turned to his right, and saw both Bastila and Xristos were on their feet. Bastila had her hands on her knees, and Xristos put his hand on her back. Elliott and Allie then joined them, running down from their points atop the ruins—T3 behind them.

"What the hell happened?" Elliott cried out.

"The Krothyr…" Caius said quietly.

"The what?" Elliott demanded.

Bastila interrupted them, exclaimed, "We have to get to Dustil!"

They took off running towards the vehicle that had brought the Sith Lord to them. Caius nearly tripped over his lightsaber in the process, but was able to scoop it up in the middle of his sprint. He eyed his companions as they hurried, and saw that all of them had wounds. Xristos had a deep gash that ran vertically in front of his right ear, bleeding on his neck and shoulder. Bastila's nose had turned into a faucet, letting a frightening amount of blood spill out of it. Both Elliott and Allie had assorted cuts and wounds. Caius only figured that he probably looked like hell too.

The made it to the vehicle in mere moments, running faster than any of them would have thought possible in their current state of fatigue.

Once they arrived, they found Dustil sprawled out on the small loading ramp. He was half hanging off of it, his face buried into the dirt, but he had moved there of his own volition. The paralysis had died with Cyaxares.

"Dustil!" Bastila called out, unsure what to say after his name.

She and Xristos were immediately next to him. They tried their best to gently turn his body over, and once they did so they were appalled by his condition.

His face was pale and his flesh was shifting into a disturbing green color. Each breath he took was labored and obscured by a wheezing croak, blocking air from getting to his lungs. His eyes were sunken and surrounded by darkened circles. Dried blood was underneath his nose and his face bore an absurd amount of cuts and bruises.

"Dustil, can you hear me?" Xristos asked him.

He merely croaked, choking on his words. He tried again and muttered the first letter, "P—"

"What is it, Dustil?" Bastila asked louder.

"Poi—," he coughed again, "poison…" Once he had finally expelled the word he jerked sideways and threw up on the ground.

Bastila's hands were shaking, she just sat there and said nervously, "Oh no—he's poisoned! Xristos! What do we do? What can we do?"

"I…don't know!" he said, defeated.

Elliott just looked on, more horrified than Caius had ever seen the man, and Allie was chewing on her nails.

Dustil seemed to be experiencing a seizure, as his body was then out of his control and his muscles twitched and jolted in a definitely pained manner. Caius did not know what to do. He was several feet away from them and felt completely helpless. He had no experience in medicine—he only knew very limited forms of Force heal, but that was it. He felt completely useless as the other two Jedi tried to save the young Onasi.

"T3!" Bastila called, "do you have a medpac?"

The droid beeped in agreement and wheeled over to her. She took out on and injected it into Dustil's leg. They tended to him for another moment before she exclaimed, "It's not working! He's just getting worse!"

Caius chanced a quick look at the young Jedi. Now his eyes were turning red, and his face was morphing even further into the ghoulish green shade.

"We have to get him back to the Hawk," said Xristos. "It's our only hope. We don't have the supplies here to keep him alive. We have to go fast."

"Wait," Bastila said, "let's try something together first—it may buy us some time." She gestured to Caius, said, "Get over here. Come on, we've all got to funnel the Force into him. It may give us the extra time we need to get him back." Caius obliged and came over to Dustil, kneeling over his broken body.

Before they could begin, however, Caius felt the disembodied voice within his skull again. It said, "The boy will live."

"Can you help us?" Caius asked.

"I shall. The rest is up to you."

"Okay," said Bastila, "together!"

All of the Jedi put their hands on Dustil, who was completely loosing his grip on reality. The channeled all of the healing power they possibly could muster and poured it into him. They maintained this state for almost a minute. In that time, Caius, though he had his eyes closed, knew that the Krothyr had done something to Dustil. He could feel its presence within the boy. The others mistook it for the Force acting on him.

After they ceased their efforts, Xristos gripped Dustil's wrist and then said, "I think…I think it worked!"

"Quick," said Bastila, "we've got to get back to the Hawk!"

"How?" questioned Elliott.

Xristos ran over to the front of the vehicle and yanked open a small hatch. He peered inside, then said, "You drive."

Elliott looked stunned, but then resigned to obeying. He cautioned, "This may be a bumpy ride."

Bastila and Caius then picked up Dustil and carried him gently into the passenger area in the back. The laid him out on three of the seats. The Exile noted quickly that HK was still inside the vehicle. Bastila stayed with him and Caius went to help Allie through the door. Xristos followed with T3 and then the hatch flew shut. They heard the engine explode to life and suddenly the vehicle rocketed forward like a ship jumping to hyperspace. Caius fell out of his chair, and Bastila did her best to keep Dustil from experiencing any unnecessary discomfort. As their vehicle roared through the desolate streets of Samarkand, Caius thought to himself.

He said in his mind, "Thank you, Orthys."

"Keep the covenant we forged," answered the specter. The promise—now the Exile had more incentive to bring down Severus, as if he did not already. But to do that, he would still have to find Revan first.

And Caius never again shared thoughts with the Overseer of Samarkand.