Chapter Seventeen

Elliott could hardly control the Sith vehicle as they rocketed towards the Ebon Hawk. It skidded over the roads, slipping and sliding as he tried to maintain a semblance of order. Everyone in the back was thrown to and fro inside the small passenger space in the back. Bastila tried to desperately to keep Dustil from getting hurt more than he already was, but her job was not easy. Time dragged on, but finally Elliott got them to the Hawk.

Bastila and Xristos immediately picked Dustil up and got him inside the freighter to the medical room. They rushed like madmen, leaving everyone else behind and effectively locking the rest of the crew in the main hold. Elliott, Allie, and Caius all found themselves waiting behind as the two healers worked to save Dustil's life.

"I hope he'll be okay," Allie said quietly as she strode back and forth across the room.

Caius looked over at Elliott who was reclining in one of the seats, his head falling backwards. The Exile said, "I think he'll be fine."

"How do you know?" Allie asked.

"It's hard to explain…" he responded ambiguously.

Allie frowned and stopped walking.

Elliott said, "You mean like it was hard to explain how that Sith guy exploded?"

"Yes," Caius said, but did not elaborate.

"How did that happen?" Elliott asked.

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me," came Caius's answer.

Elliott sat upwards and then looked Caius in the eyes. He said, "You know? Then why not tell us?"

Caius then launched into a lengthy explanation of the Krothyr and the ghosts he had seen. How they had killed Cyaxares and how they had promised to heal Dustil. He didn't think Elliott believed him—even Allie was somewhat skeptical.

Caius just shrugged after he was done. "It's the truth," he said.

"Yeah, I'll bet," answered Elliott, "but I guess it's a better explanation than anyone else can come up with."

Allie hadn't commented at all during Caius's talk. She said simply at the end, "I can't stay in here anymore. I'm going to go try and repair HK; T3, do you want to come?"

The droid beeped angrily, signifying a 'no'.

"T3," Allie then said forcefully, "come help me repair HK."

The temperamental trashcan then resigned and followed her out of the ship slowly.

Several hours later, both patients had been saved. Dustil was awake and talking, asking questions and responding well. He was still very weak, however.

HK was alive again, and he had a few choice words for the Sith who had deactivated him. Caius had never heard HK speak this way, generally he was unconcerned with sentient life—but this was extreme. He was livid.

Before Dustil had fully come out of his paralysis, Allie had repaired HK and brought him on the ship. Caius then asked him questions about what happened.

"Statement: My behavior core is melting with white hot fury even as we speak of the damnable Sith enemies. Master, I desire to eliminate all of them. Give me the word, I will wipe this race from the galaxy."

"Not yet, HK," Caius said hesitantly, "we'll get there."

The droid then explained the circumstances of his deactivation. Apparently he had destroyed three Sith before they resorted to trapping him and using an ion scrambler. The droid despised those weapons.

In the middle of the droid's tirade, Xristos walked outside and told Caius that Dustil was awake.

"He wants to talk to you," the old man informed the Exile.

"Me? Why?" asked Caius.

"I don't know," Xristos admitted, "but he seems to think it's important. He wants all of us there."

Caius turned to look at Allie and Elliott and then back at Xristos, he asked, "Should we bring them in too?"

Xristos shook his head, "No—we don't want to overwhelm him. He's still weak from the poison."

"All right," said the Exile. He turned to the other two and said, "We'll be back soon."

Meanwhile, Xristos led Caius into the med room. He found Dustil laid out on a small cot in one of the room's corners with Bastila leaning over him. His skin was still very pale, and his face was thrashed with cuts and bruises, but he was very much alive. He did not move too much when he talked, but it was clear he was recovering.

"Hey Caius," he said softly. His voice was barely more than a whisper; apparently he could not muster more strength behind the words. "Thanks...for rescuing me."

"No problem," said the Exile as he walked in.

Dustil tried to shift and raise his head, but Bastila stopped him, said, "Dustil—don't move too much. You're still going to feel the effects of that poison."

"What did that Sith Lord do to you?" Caius asked.

"Some of his soldiers found me and HK when we were scouting. They fired at us and I had to try to hide to keep from getting hit. We were split up and then the Sith Lord found me—he froze me through the Force somehow." The recounting of the tale seemed to weigh on Dustil, which was certainly understandable. He continued, "He set me up outside their wrecked ship and then interrogated me. He raided my mind and found out everything he wanted to know. All of it—about Revan and everything."

Bastila consoled him, said, "It doesn't matter now—the Sith is dead. What he knew is of no importance."

Dustil continued on, however, said, "He showed me their plans for the future. He showed me how they wanted to destroy the Republic. It was all in images…it was terrifying."

"Why do they want to destroy the Republic?" Caius asked aloud.

"Does it matter?" answered Bastila. "They clearly do—we have to prevent it."

"But I'm just curious—why do the Sith always want to destroy the Republic? There has to be some reason, I find it hard to believe they just desire it because it's in the handbook."

Xristos ignored the sarcasm and answered, "It's because of the Jedi. They are antithetical to them, and, to the Sith, the Order is synonymous with the Republic. The death of one would herald the death of the other."

"This is not the time to discuss it," Bastila interrupted the old Jedi. "We need to figure out a way to get off of this planet." She turned to Dustil, asked, "Did you see anything when you were near the Sith ship? Was it in good enough condition to salvage parts?"

"I don't know," Dustil answered. "But it was more or less intact. It was cracked into two or three pieces, but it was in surprisingly good condition—at least, from what I could tell."

Bastila sighed, said, "Then I guess we have to go to the Sith ship and look. It's our only option, really. We can't use the comm to radio for help—it's past dead now."

"What if we can't fix the ship?" Dustil asked warily.

"I'd rather not think about that," answered Bastila.

"Who should go?" Caius asked.

"Well," she began, "Xristos and I need to stay here to keep our eyes on Dustil. We're not going to risk any sort of relapse—we'll need as many healers here as possible if it happens." Dustil did not look very comforted by the comments, as his tired eyes glazed over when she spoke of the possibility of relapse. Bastila continued, "So you should go, Caius. Take Allie and the droids for their technical skill. And you may as well take Elliott too."

"All right," said Caius. "I guess that's our only option. What are we looking for?"

"I don't know," answered the woman, "but Allie does. Ask her."

Caius bade them goodbye. They wished him luck, and Dustil thanked him again. He was not sure why the young Jedi insisted on thanking him, but he accepted it nonetheless. He turned and then left the medical room.

Caius decided it would be better to rest first. They had been through a lot that 'day', and they needed time to recuperate. The nonexistent night on the planet made it difficult, but the Exile forced himself to sleep a few hours before getting ready to leave for the enemy ship. He strode out into the main hold of Hawk and, finding Elliott there, began detailing his plans. But they didn't get very far.

"I am not going out there again!" Elliott insisted stalwartly.

"We need someone to drive that Sith vehicle," Caius said, trying to pressure him into coming, "and you already know how."

"You figure it out," said the pilot, "I'm not leaving this ship again. It's not that hard—a Jedi like you could probably drive it with your eyes tied behind your back."

"…what?"

"I'm not going."

Caius sighed. It did not look like the conversation was going to go anywhere. He tried to think of reasons to make Elliott go, but he could not come up with anything particularly convincing. He stood in silence in the main hold, staring at the reclining pilot, trying to glare him into going. But he would not.

At length, Caius admitted defeat and left the room. He turned left and descended the Hawk's loading ramp. Allie was standing outside in front of the Sith contraption, waiting patiently. HK was keeping guard next to her and T3 was driving around in circles.

"He's not coming?" Allie asked.

"No," said Caius flatly. "It's just us and the machines."

"Satisfaction: Very good, master. Of all the meatbags, I find the pilot the most objectionable."

"Let's get going right away, then" said the Exile.

Caius had wanted Elliott to come with them—badly. Not because he really enjoyed the man's company—although he found new respect and tolerance for him since the revelation about his past—but because he did not want to have to be alone with Allie. What he feared most was actually confronting their situation, which was bound to happen eventually. He had hoped he could just ignore the whole thing, but that was not entirely possible. No, he would have to talk to her about this now and end the 'relationship' before it began—and before it began to complicate their objectives.

There was only enough room for the two of them in the front of the transport. HK and T3 were loaded into the back and Caius and Allie occupied the cockpit. Caius took the driver's seat and Allie sat adjacent to him. The controls were odd, and the Exile was not sure how well he would be able to steer the thing. It did not have a wheel, but a series of levers that one would have to pull up and down in order to slant the front wheels left or right. Its speed could be increased with a sort of knobbed wheel that he had to run his left hand over. All in all, it made driving unnecessarily difficult.

As Allie strapped herself in, Caius activated the vehicle and they rocked backwards, the engine stalling shortly after. It shuddered and died, the transport falling lifeless.

"Uh…oops," said Caius.

"Oops? What oops?" Allie questioned.

"This thing…I don't know. It goes the opposite of how it should—I'm amazed Elliott was able to drive it."

"Well," she responded, "that is his job."

"I guess," said Caius. He then rolled him palm over the stylus and tried to accelerate the vehicle. It blasted forward and he felt himself pushed against the seat as it went. He tried to flip the levers and it swerved left and right and then spun around in a full circle before he could stabilize it again.

Allie was clutching the wall, trying not to get sick, and Caius exclaimed angrily, "This thing handles like a fat man on a unicycle!"

At length he got the hang of controlling it, and the ride became more tolerable. However, the occasional hiccup still jolted him nearly out of his seat. Overall, though, the journey got easier.

What was not easy to deal with was the awkwardness of the situation Caius was in. He knew he would have to talk to Allie and end this 'relationship' now before it became a real problem. He just did not know how to do it. And it even occurred to him that he had not even spoken a word to her about it before. This whole absurd thing had developed through his discussions with everyone except her. It was rather ironic. But he had to start somewhere, so he began with a simple question.

"How is it that you're so good with machines?" he asked. The question was simple enough, but it shattered the uneasy silence and sounded almost like a demand considering the quiet context.

"Huh?" she said back. She was rather surprised by the question, as it seemed to have arisen from nothing. "What do you mean?"

He retraced his verbal steps, said, "I mean—how did you get to learn so much about droids and computers…" he paused, then added on, "how is it that you're so good at this?"

"Oh," she responded simply, beginning to understand the query. She said, "I don't know—it's just something I've always been doing. Ever since I was a kid I had to work on droids, so it just kinda carried over."

"You worked on droids a lot?"

She took control of the conversation, answered, "Yeah. It had to do with my home planet. It was an old, backwater place on the outer rim. My mom and dad were farmers and I was the only child. We depended on droids to do a lot of the work, so I grew up around them. So I got to know how to fix them and stuff."

"Where's your family now?"

She sighed, said solemnly but quickly, "I don't know."

Caius was silent. She continued, "They disappeared. I was in my late teens and the Mandalorians hit our world at the start of the war. There was some fighting but the planet was conquered easily. My parents were lost in it. I never heard from them again. I stayed on the farm and worked it myself with the droids until I had enough money to leave the planet and travel to Coruscant. I've worked there as a hacker and slicer since."

Caius was thinking about her parents. He said, "That's terrible…". There was an awkward pause and then he continued, "You don't know where they are?" She nodded. "They might still be alive, you never know."

"I suppose that's possible, but I don't have much hope. You know how the Mandalorians are."

"Only too well," Caius said distantly.

"Right, you fought in the war," said Allie. "You asked me about my past, it's only fair to turn the tables. Where is your family?"

Caius shrugged, still keeping his hands on the levers, said, "I don't know either. The Jedi take children from their families when they're young. I was only four years old."

"They do that? You don't remember your family at all?" she asked.

"No," he answered, "just vague recollections. It's been so long and they're so distorted I can't distinguish them from dreams or imaginings. It may as well have been that they never existed."

"How can the Jedi do that?"

"You mean how do they justify it? They say that it's necessary in order to train the child. Older people tend to defy the teachers instead of accepting it. And they oftentimes go rogue or worse. Xristos is an example, though a tamer kind. He doesn't agree with hardly anything that they teach. If they can avoid people like him, they will."

"What about you?" she asked. "Do you agree with them?"

He laughed to himself quietly, answered; "I'd be an idiot if I did. They exiled me from the Order."

"They…did?" she asked, confused.

"You didn't know that?" he asked.

"How was I supposed to? No one ever talks about that, and it's not like I would come up and ask you."

"Sorry," Caius said sincerely, "I'm just so used to everyone knowing about my past that it's easy to forget what other people know." He lowered his voice and said in a somewhat grudging manner, "I was kicked out of the Order. A long time ago."

"Why?"

"For going off to fight in the Mandalorian Wars. I disobeyed the High Council and chose to follow Revan and disregard their 'wisdom'. When I came back, they punished me."

"Why would they punish you for going back?"

"I don't know—that's what I wanted to find out from them. But Kreia killed them before they could fully explain why. And Vrook never wants to tell me anything. All I know, I think, is that they did it because they were afraid. Something happened to me in the war, and it made me different. They were afraid of what happened to me and what I could become. So they sent me away, probably hoping I'd get killed out in exile."

"That's awful!" she said. "I didn't know the Jedi could be so cruel."

"They can," he said with some disdain, "just look at Bastila. That's the kind of mental wreck the Jedi can create."

Allie glared at him, not exactly pleased with his words.

He said cautiously, "That was a joke…"

She just shook her head.

Caius continued, "But really, it's hard to rationalize their teachings with the real world. It drives some people crazy."

"Does it drive you crazy?"

"I don't care anymore. I am completely neutral; the teachings of the Jedi don't mean anything to me anymore. Not since Malachor."

"Wasn't that the final battle of the war?"

"Yes, and it was a brutal fight. Thousands died, and I lost my soul in the process."

The ambiguity of the statement confused Allie, and she asked, "Surely it wasn't your fault, I don't think you lost your humanity…"

Caius interrupted her, said, "No, really. I lost the Force at that battle. All the deaths reached out to me through the Force and the pain was so tremendous it almost killed me. I lost consciousness, and as a defense mechanism, I somehow killed the Force in me. It died, and it left only a void. That's why the Jedi teachings don't mean anything to me, they can't mean anything—I lost the Force. And that wasn't the only thing; a lot of people I knew were killed too. My best friend, a Jedi named Marcus Celer died there—he was just another casualty in a list of millions…it was terrible."

Allie did not say anything directly. She was unsure how to respond to such a weird and somewhat frightful thing. She didn't want to talk about Caius's friend, so she said, "But…it clearly means something to you because you use a lightsaber and wear the robes. And you can still use the Force. If you really felt nothing for the Jedi, would you still work with them? Or still identify with them?"

"No, I suppose not. I still adhere to their teachings, how can I not? I'm conditioned, have been since I was little. But they can't mean anything to me because I lost the Force. Even if I wanted to be a Jedi, I couldn't."

"Do you want to be one?" she asked.

Caius was stunned by the question. He had not really thought of this in this way, he had to admit. Did he want to be a Jedi? "I…I don't know," he confessed. "I guess I haven't given it much thought—I just assumed it wasn't possible."

"I think it's possible. You have the Force back. You could easily rejoin if you wanted—I bet they would let you."

He had not thought of this. Was she right? Maybe. He looked over to her; she was staring right at him. Yeah, he thought, I think she is right. He could not believe it, but this possibility was something that was totally new to him. Maybe he should go back to the Order after this. Any other lifestyle was something he could not embrace. So maybe he could go back—but did he want to? He wasn't really sure, but at least he had a new question to ponder.

"Maybe," he said. "I still don't know, but…" he looked at her. He looked into her dark brown eyes as he said sincerely, "Thank you, Allie." They continued looking at each other, Caius foolishly not keeping his eyes on the road. He really looked straight into Allie's eyes for, what he thought, was the first time—or at least the first time he really paid attention. She was very pretty. At least he thought she was. Her face was the perfect combination of pleasant radiance and beauty, and she had that infectious smile. He had to admit; he always had thought that women with darker features intrigued him. Her brown hair and tan skin fit his tastes perfectly. Yes, he thought, she is pretty—but I can't do this. It just doesn't work.

It was evident that, beneath her superficially attractive exterior, she had a nimble mind. She was nice and helpful too. Really, she was too good for him. But then how was all of this developing the way it was? It was going too far, Caius thought, even though he was not sure what he thought anymore.

But he decided he had to end it. And now.

The whole thought process had only taken a moment, and he had only looked into her eyes for mere seconds before turning back to the road in front of him, but he had thought it through. It was now—he had to say something now.

"Allie…" he said slowly, swallowing hard before continuing.

"Yes?" she asked.

"This isn't going to work," he answered bluntly.

"Uh, what…isn't going to work?" she asked, rather perplexed.

"Us—you and me. This whole thing, it isn't going to work."

"I still don't understand…" she insisted.

Caius, however, was not buying it. "Don't pretend," he said, "there is no use ignoring it. We have to solve this now."

Allie did not say a thing, and Caius only continued on. He said, "I don't really even remember how this began. But neither of us has said two words to the other in this time—Allie, we've got to address it."

"I…um…okay then…" she said a little apprehensively. "What are you going to say?"

Caius took a deep breath, said, "Everyone was right about me. I may not be a Jedi in name, but I still am one in spirit. I still act like one. Allie, I can't get involved with any woman. It's just…who I am. It wouldn't…be right," he said, uncertain.

This time Allie just waited. There was an uncomfortable silence before Caius began again. He said, "I don't wan this to sound mean or anything…but it can't work. I feel like we're characters in a bad romance novel—and the idiot author keeps trying to force us together. We don't fit—I'm an ex-Jedi…and you're a computer specialist. Doesn't that just sound odd to you?"

"What?" she said, rather offended at his comment. "That's your reason?"

Caius was rambling. He knew what he had to say, but he wasn't sure how to say it. He wanted to simply say that there was no way any relationship between them would work out—but he could not find the words. It could not manifest. He then asked, seemingly randomly, "Why…me?"

This time Allie responded, said, "I don't know." It sounded more like a lamentable confession, "I really don't know. But you've helped me a lot. It's not as if I can explain it—maybe because you saved me on Nar Shaddaa. And then you kept watch when I was asleep just because I asked you to. You didn't have to do that…" She then broke off.

"I don't really know either," Caius admitted.

"I didn't mean to get the wrong signals…" Allie said hesitantly.

"You didn't," he stated. "I…Allie…well, hmm." He paused, then resumed, "I am attracted to you," he said somewhat suddenly.

Allie looked at him oddly, but did not talk.

He said, "And that's what makes this difficult. You are…different. No—that's not right. There's something alluring about you and I can't explain it. But…the reason I bring this up is…we have to end it. Now." He gulped, "Whatever possibilities or any sort of scenarios we can envision, they aren't meant to be. Maybe in a different life…"

"That's it?" she questioned rather brusquely. "That's all you have to say? I understand that this is…complicated. But you can't just do nothing like this!"

"I'm not doing nothing," he answered. "I'm saying that we have to drop this. Pretend it never happened."

"And you think it'll just go away if you pretend?"

"Yes."

Allie was not happy. She said angrily, "That is so…childish! You can't just will your feelings away."

"That's what the Jedi teach," he replied, staring straight out the viewport.

"Yeah," Allie said, crossing her arms, "and look where it got them. If I'm not mistaken—they're all dead."

The comment stuck in Caius like a barb. Yes, most of them were dead. He may not really identify with the Jedi, but he did not believe his fallen comrades should be subjected to callous remarks like that. Even if he was an exile, those deceased had been his friends.

He said, "How can you say that?" Before Allie could speak, he interrupted and continued, "No—never mind. Forget it."

"You're doing a lot to make this worse," she said.

Caius said vaguely, "I don't know how to say this..."

"What do you expect me to do, then? How about you just say what you mean and forget all this cryptic fluff."

Caius was getting a little angry too. He said firmly, "Fine. All right, you want me to? Here goes. I like you, Allie. For some inexplicable reason I am attracted to you. But I don't want to be. I don't want to ever get involved with any woman—it just does not fit with who I am. You understand now?" He took a deep breath after expelling all the words, then tacked on needlessly, "If I could change the past, you wouldn't have come on this mission—then we could have avoided all of this."

The Exile regretted saying this the moment his mouth had closed. But it was too late—the damage had been done. He chanced a wary glance at Allie as he drove, and she just did nothing. She turned away and faced out the opposite side of the vehicle.

Caius tried to apologize, began, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I mean, I don't want you to think—"

"Just stop talking," she shot at him, though she did not look at him while speaking.

"No, that was wrong—I shouldn't have said that. I'm glad—"

"I said stop talking."

"I'm sorry…" Caius stated again before falling silent. He really could not do this the right way. Somehow he knew that the conversation would be difficult, but he had to do it. He had hoped he would not hurt Allie by talking about such things, but now he saw that it was rather inevitable. He wished that none of it had ever happened.

Caius sternly rebuked himself for the remainder of the trip, but he dared not say a thing. The silence was suffocating, but it was better than the alternative. He regretted saying what he had said, but he tried to console himself by insisting that it was necessary. He had to end their 'relationship' before it really began. Just as he had with the Handmaiden and with Visas. Somehow, this happened to him a lot. This was the only time he actually felt that the feeling was mutual—but still, he had to avoid it. His mission was too important to be compromised.

No one spoke as they drove further into the darkened snow, the gray light evolving into an unpleasantly dark shadow world. The light snow falling around them did not alleviate the dismal feeling of the place.

Eventually they arrived at the crash site. The Sith ship was not huge, but it was larger than the Hawk. It was cracked into three parts, severed near the bow and again in the middle. It was blackened and charred at the break points, but other than that, it was more or less intact, as Dustil had said.

Caius stopped the vehicle and got out. As he turned to look, Allie was already gone—she moved quickly. The Exile moved to the back of the transport and opened up the back door, letting HK and T3 out.

"Help us find the hyperdrive," he ordered them.

The droids complied, and they set about scouring the wreckage. They all split up, and Caius periodically bumped into them as he moved through the derelict ship. T3 only beeped happily, while Allie avoided him whenever he accidentally approached her. The Exile was growing tired of the silence, so when he found HK again, he did not allow the droid to go.

"Query:" HK began, "Master, why are you not permitting me to leave?"

Caius did not oblige HK with an answer, only asked, "HK, remember when you told me that love is blasting someone in the knee with a sniper rifle?"

"Answer: Of course, master."

"You were right."

HK was unimpressed, said, "Query: Master, when have I ever been wrong?"

Caius did not answer the question; he preferred to treat it as rhetorical. He looked at the ground as he walked, but he wasn't really paying attention to what he was seeing. In front of him, laying at his very feet, was a dead Sith. It was inside the destroyed ship, probably died during the crash. Caius merely stared at it as he was thinking. HK stood guard next to him, looking around and satisfied with his master's inactivity.

Suddenly Caius had an idea.

He said, "HK, find all of the dead Sith you can and take their uniforms and armor."

"Statement: Very well."

It occurred to the Exile that having the uniforms at their disposal would be incredibly useful. Especially if they ever needed to disguise themselves as Sith. He stole the clothes of the Sith before him as HK moved off to do the same elsewhere.

He did the same to a few more deceased Sith until T3 startled him. The little droid beeped excessively and Caius almost jumped out of his skin.

"What is it, T3?" he asked.

The little droid said that he and Allie had found the hyperdrive, and the mechanic had successfully stolen the necessary parts from it. They were ready to go.

"All right, T3, let's get out of here."

Caius moved towards the Sith transport and found Allie and HK waiting there for him. He opened the back of the vehicle and let the droids in, but not before he and the assassin droid had loaded all of the Sith uniforms into the back as well. Once he was done, he shut the door and moved to the front of the vehicle. He opened it and Allie got in on the other side.

"Did you find the right parts?" he asked her innocently.

"Let's go," she replied sternly.

"What should we do?" Bastila asked Xristos. "Can we go on with the mission now? The Sith probably know we're here."

As much as Bastila wanted to find Revan, she was nervous now. The Sith had intercepted and shot them down. They probably were completely aware that a Republic ship was cavorting about inside their territory. She did not want to end up dead.

The two Jedi and Elliott sat in the main hold, just outside the medical room.

"What are you proposing?" Xristos asked.

"Well… I don't know. I just don't know if it's safe for us to continue. Especially since we have to go to the Sith homeworld."

"Well, I suppose turning back is a possibility," said the old Jedi.

"No," said Dustil's feeble voice from inside the medical room. "We can't turn back. Even if we wanted to, we don't have enough fuel to do both."

"Dustil, you need to rest!" Bastila insisted.

"I am resting, but I have to say something," he retorted. "You didn't see what that Sith showed me. I saw their plans; I saw what they were going to do. We have to keep going, we can't stop. They are planning an invasion, and it's going to happen no matter what we do. The only thing we can do it find Revan and try to learn how to stop it. That's the only thing we can do." Dustil's weakened and faded out as he finished, and he coughed several times once he finished with his speech.

Xristos sided with him, said, "I agree with Dustil. We're going to have to find Revan."

"We should take Dustil back to a hospital on an outer rim world," Bastila suggested, "and then maybe we could come back."

"No," Dustil insisted, "you didn't have to talk to that Sith. Their invasion is starting soon; we don't have time to backtrack. We have to go."

Bastila just sighed and said, "I wish our communications equipment worked, we could radio Carth and ask him what he thinks we should do."

"But wishful thinking won't help," said Xristos, "we have to make the decision on our own. And I think Dustil's right—we have to keep going. If we don't find Revan, then we have to figure out a way to stop the Sith. The only way I can see doing either of those is going to the Sith homeworld."

Bastila sighed. Elliott had just watched the discussion in silence; merely turning his head as the two Jedi spoke. His observation was interrupted when they heard the screeching noise of the Sith transport grinding to a halt outside. Moments later, Allie strode briskly through the ship, said, "Hello" very tersely, and then went into the engine room.

Caius and the two droids came in slowly after her, HK carrying several of the Sith uniforms. The Exile said, "Hey Elliott, can you help me carry these in?"

The pilot grunted, but resigned to aiding the Exile. The two men strode outside and moved to the transport.

"So, how'd that go?" Elliott asked ambiguously.

"Not well," answered the Exile.

"What, you didn't find the parts we need?"

"No—we did. I meant Allie."

"Oh," said the pilot, "well, sucks for you."

Caius tried to change the subject as he piled several of the Sith uniforms on top of each other for carrying. He asked, "What's the plan?"

"Same," answered Elliott. "We're going to the Sith homeworld—mostly because our other options are pretty much nonexistent. It's either go back and wait for a Sith invasion unless Revan succeeds—if he's alive—or go find him and learn how to stop it."

"I'd rather not put my trust in Revan that way," answered Caius as the men moved back towards the Hawk.

"You don't trust him?"

"I didn't mean it like that—I just mean, I'd rather find out. I don't want to just hope he succeeds. We can't just do nothing."

"Right," said Elliott. "Well, we're leaving as soon as Allie fixes the hyperdrive and we can get off of this damn world."

"I can't wait," said Caius.

Mira was now well enough to leave the hospital. She could even walk fifty yards by herself without stopping. Slowly, she was regaining her strength. Atton was glad to see she was all right. He had rented out a hotel room on the Citadel Station and the two of them had been staying in it for a few days. He wasn't sure what he was going to do after, but he had to make sure Mira was all right first.

Mira was sitting on her bed with her arms crossed as Atton was trying to talk to her.

"Come on, Mira. You have to eat something—you heard the doctor."

"I'm not hungry," she insisted.

"It doesn't matter that you're not hungry," he responded, "you have to eat. You're body needs the nutrition."

"All right, mom," she said.

"Don't start with that. I'm just trying to help you, you brat."

Mira silently moved to the edge of her bed, she was about to force herself up when Atton came over and put his hand around her arm and pulled her up.

She exclaimed, "I can get up by myself!"

"You couldn't yesterday," he answered.

"Just let me do it," was the stern reply.

"All right," Atton backed off. He muttered to himself, "Why do I put up with this?"

Mira heard him as she slowly took one step at a time until she made it to a nearby table. She plopped down into a chair and said, "I thought it was because you couldn't bear to live without me?"

"Ha ha," Atton said sarcastically. "I promised Caius I would help you, so I am."

"You're not doing this out of the kindness of your heart?" she asked, his voice drenched with the same sarcasm Atton had displayed.

He sat down in a chair on the opposite side of their chrome table. He said, "Sure I am. I'm the suave, debonair pilot who's helping the damsel in distress because an old friend asked him to. Can you be a better person?"

"I'm not a damsel," insisted Mira as she poked at her food. "If I were strong enough, I would punch you in the face."

"But you're not strong enough," said Atton mischievously, "because you're a damsel."

Atton chuckled at his joke before a messy pile of substance hit him in the face. He reached up with his hand to wipe it off, and saw that it was the food substitute that Mira was eating.

"Hey," he said, "why did you do that?"

"Do what?" Mira asked innocently.

"This," Atton answered, and then threw another dollop of the white substance at Mira. She tried to block it, but it hit her in the forehead. She started laughing and then threw another volley at Atton. The two exchanged rounds, the unappetizing food getting strewn about their entire hotel room. Globs of the stuff went flying everywhere. Atton stood up and used his chair as a shield as Mira threw more of it at him. She could not make contact, though, and she could not move from her chair due to weakness.

Atton then reached out with the Force. The whole plate of food, or what remained of it, was suddenly turned over and thrown at Mira's chest. It collided with her and stuck there as the food substitute worked like glue.

"Cheater!" Mira accused, "you can't use the Force."

"Why not?" Atton asked, letting down his chair/shield. "There aren't any rules!"

He set down the chair in front of the table again and moved in front of it. He moved to sit down, but he never made contact with the chair, as Mira had kicked it backwards with the Force. He lost his balance and fell straight onto the floor. He fell onto his back and almost rolled over his head.

He quickly pushed himself up and sprang to his feet, glaring at Mira. She only shrugged innocently and said, "No rules."

"I forgot you could use the Force," Atton admitted.

"I forgot you could, too," replied Mira.

Atton sat down at the table again and said, "All right, you really should eat."

"Eat what?" she asked, showing him her plate. There was nothing on it.

Atton glanced around the room and noticed that the walls and floor were scored with the vile food, craters of unappealing sustenance all over the place. There was even one sticking to the ceiling.

"I guess you're done," he said.

"Finally!" she said. She then used the Force to gather up all the food and dump it into a nearby trash receptacle. "I can't believe how long I lived without the Force," she said, "it sure makes things easier."

"Sure as hell does," said Atton, "those Jedi have it easy."

"Except for the fact that they're all dead," answered Mira.

"They're not all dead," he replied. "There's about twenty of them—at the temple on Coruscant."

Mira was surprised, said, "Why didn't you tell me that? We should go see them."

"What? Why?" Atton asked.

"Because…we're Jedi?" she said, though it was partially a question.

"No, we're not," he answered. "Like hell I'm a Jedi."

Mira thought for a second, then said, "You use a lightsaber. And the Force. Doesn't that make you a Jedi?"

"I could be a Sith," he answered.

Mira laughed out loud, said, "You're as much a Sith as I am a damsel."

"I was a Sith once," Atton admitted.

"You…were?" Mira asked, stunned.

"Yeah…" he said, "I served under Revan. But I fled."

"Well, you clearly aren't a Sith now," she answered. "You should go to the temple."

"I don't want to go to the temple," he said sternly.

"But Ido. Caius wanted us to become Jedi, I don't know why, but he did. Otherwise he wouldn't have trained us. I want to go to the Temple. When he comes back we can meet him there."

"I'm not going to any Jedi temple," Atton insisted.

"Well, you promised to take care of me, right?"

"Well…"

"I'm going to the temple. If you want to watch over your damsel, then you better come with me."

Atton sighed and put his hands on his knees, leaning forward. He asked, "Why are you doing this?"

"Because Caius wanted me to. Isn't that a good reason? That's why you're doing what you are. We could even wait for him there. And I can help people, just like he helped me. That's what I want to do."

"That seems uncharacteristic of you," Atton accused.

"No it's not!" she asserted, "I always help people. Remember, I protect my bounties."

"Okay," Atton said, defeated, "I'll take you to the Jedi temple. But don't expect me to stay there with you."

"I think you will," she said somewhat cryptically. She stood up quickly and was about to head towards her bed. She said, "I'm tired, I'm going—" She trailed off and lost her balance. It looked like she was about to fall, but Atton quickly sprinted over to her and caught her by the arm, holding her up.

He made sure she was all right and then picked her up and carried her towards her bed. He said, "Looks like you aren't well enough to go anywhere yet." He gently laid her down and said, "All right, you should sleep."

"Atton," she said, "I think I'm falling in l—". She stopped her sentence and cleared her throat, said, "I think I almost fell down."

Atton was unsure what this meant, said, "Uh… yeah, you did. Don't worry, though. You're fine now. I'm going to go out, will you be all right by yourself?"

She said softly, "Yeah, I'll be okay."

"Okay," said Atton, "call if you need anything. I'll lock the door—you should get some rest."

"Goodnight," Mira said.

"Goodnight, Mira."

Atton left the room and made sure the door was locked. He had his personal comm in case Mira needed anything. But now he needed to get out and do something else. Her last few comments had confused him, and he needed to clear his head. But how should he clear his head?

Pazaak, he thought to himself, a smile curling around his lips. The game enticed him, and besides, he was running low on money because of Mira. He needed some more, and this was a perfect way to get it.

I sure am doing a lot for her, he thought. Forget it, I need a drink—or twelve. Then pazaak. He then marched off towards the closest cantina.

A/N: Cool, lots of feedback from the last one. Thanks for your thoughts, peoples. I'll try to work on the powerfulness aspect of the characters in future chapters. This one, however, gave me the most trouble-I think out of every one in the story, this was the hardest to do. The...romantic aspects of this story are not easy. I feel I may have gotten in over my head.

Anyway, they're getting closer! Next up: Malacandra.