Ebon Hawk:

Enroute to Dantooine

We were all stunned by what we had seen. Even Carth who had seen it before. Planets have been bombed into rubble before, but that had been when active resistance was being suppressed. Taris wasn't resisting the attack. The com waves had been frantic with calls pleading for them to stop but the Sith had kept firing.

All because of us.

Mission was hit hard. In the day and a half it took for us to reach Dantooine, she didn't speak to anyone. Zaalbar had taken her in his bosom, and had sat through that entire time merely holding her, being there in her grief. The picture of that poor child hunched against the furry chest, eyes wide with pain and shock will haunt me for the rest of my life.

There was nothing the rest of us could do. She didn't want to hear how they had gone to the Force. That they would be avenged, or maybe they had lived. She wanted the world back the way it had been the day she had met us. Like any child who has just lost everything she cared about, she wanted it back.

We couldn't give her that.

Carth was flying us, with Bastila assisting. I couldn't pilot so I haunted the ship as we tunneled through space. Canderous had moved into one of the cargo holds, and was tinkering with his weapon. Only one thing was on my mind.

Malak. What kind of madman were we dealing with? The problem was that in war you always demonize the enemy. He's always a brutal monster that kills without compunction while your men were superior because their hearts were pure. As a soldier I knew better. The enemy you faced was you in a different uniform mostly. Sure there were monsters over there, but if you watched those around you there were monsters on your side as well. Those that would take it too far, kill without reason, enjoy the deaths of the enemy.

War is mankind at her best and worst. Best because She finds something beyond herself to care about, defends those that depend on her even unto death. Worst because sometimes the beast in all of us gets free, and won't go back into its cage afterward.

I checked the computer files aboard but there was nothing about the war at all except for planets to be avoided. Davik Kang obviously had been indifferent to the slaughter. After seeing some of the files of 'items' sent to slavers, or opponents within the Exchange removed I understood. If he wasn't dealing the pain or feeling it personally, it didn't exist.

Bastila probably knew, but she was uncommunicative. She would watch me with hooded eyes when she left the flight deck. Almost as if she were afraid of me.

Finally I took a cup of tea to Carth. He nodded his thanks, leaned back, and sipped it. "Take a load off." He waved at the copilot's chair. I sat, made sure the controls were not active, and sipped my own tea.

"What do you know about Malak?"

He looked at me. "Malak and Revan were Jedi, you know that, right?" I nodded. "Well we were deep into the Mandalorian wars. The Jedi had been asked for help but they had refused." He shrugged as if that was no surprise. "But some of them didn't like the Council's ruling. A few led by Revan joined us. Malak was Revan's right hand man. They spread out among the fleet, and almost immediately things changed. Before that it was like the Mandalorians were everywhere, hitting us from all sides. But those few people made us see the pattern.

"They made mistakes at first. Revan took a fleet to catch a Mandalorian one at a place called Hotma. But when she did, the enemy fleet had jumped from Hotma to Kando, where Revan was based. So she arrived, found the base empty, and smashed it, then returned to find her own base destroyed."

I understood the concept. In military parlance it was called being overtaken by events. The enemy was supposed to be here, so you went there. But you didn't know they were moving, so you missed each other.

"She got better fast though." He sighed. "When she hit her stride, the Mandalorians didn't have a chance. She always had Malak close at hand. Maybe she saw Malak for what he was."

"Which was?"

"A hardheaded pragmatist. Watching them work alone was interesting. Revan was like a sniper. Picking her targets and taking them down fast with minimal damage. But when the going got tough, she let Malak have his head. If Revan was a sniper, Malak was more like a Gamorrean, smashing everything in his path to his goal. He lost a lot of his own people, but he decimated the enemy as he did it. He never settled in battle for anything but absolute victory. If a garrison resisted, he bombed them into submission. If he wanted it, nothing could keep him from it." His face hardened as he remembered that Malak was now the enemy. "When Revan was still there, even when she had turned to the Sith, she had remained the same. She didn't smash entire planets unless there was no alternative. She kept Malak on his leash, only letting him out when all else failed. Since Revan's death Malak has changed. He's become even more brutal. It was like someone had stripped the governor on an engine. The Sith have been following his lead, and picked up the pace ever since."

The Sith had been a problem for several millennia. Originally I knew, they had been a race, a violently xenophobic race. They had hit us hard back then, killing anyone that stood in their paths. It was one series of wars the Jedi had gotten into willingly, because the Sith had been strong in the Force. Finally they had been beaten back, the race almost destroyed. But the problems had not stopped there.

The nihilistic worldview the Sith had enjoyed must have been catching. A number of Jedi had split off from the others, and left abruptly, seeking the remains of the Sith. They had settled on a planet named Korriban, which had been smashed, occupied by the Sith, smashed again, then left fallow for almost two centuries. The Jedi had proclaimed themselves the New Sith. The actual Sith that had still lived there hadn't been amused and considering the carnage these Dark Jedi and the Sith were inflicting on themselves, the planet had been pretty much been left alone by everyone else.

But that had not ended the problem either. The Sith race was long gone, but others had gone there, and now the Sith, albeit only those that believed the old ideals had struck again a millennia ago. They were beaten, regrouped, and struck again in a pattern that has lasted now for over a thousand years. Yet another Jedi expatriate had led the last Sith war before this one. Exar Kun had left, become the dark Jedi master, and become Darth Kun, the first time the title had ever been used. He had ravaged the galaxy, and been put down as those before him had. His base had been smashed into ruins, and the Republic had again turned its eyes back to the business of living.

This was the result.

"I saw Revan in my vision. She was wearing some kind of mask. Why?"

"Rumors abound." Carth commented. "Some said that she had been disfigured when she was young. Others that she was an attractive woman and had problems dealing with people as a Jedi because of that." He grinned. "Sort of like you and me when we first got together."

"Maybe I'll get a mask then."

"Oh, don't do that." He teased. "Then I'll have to ask what make up you put on that day."

I shook my head. "I am going aft before your fantasies get the better of you."

Dantooine

We came out near Dantooine, about two planetary diameters away, as close as you can get safely. No one really knows where or when the hyperspace drive was developed. About 22,000 years ago, it just appeared, discovered in ancient ruins on dozens of worlds. Everyone would like to claim the credit, but even a hyperspace physicist can't explain exactly how it works. It's like electricity. For the layman, you flip a switch and it's there. But it worked, and with the proper astronavigation calculations, you can go anywhere.

But here you immediately ran into problems. You had to first find out where to go before you could go anywhere. Each planet that had discovered the drives in ruins tried. A lot of them gave up after a time. Others kept at it with bloody-minded persistence until they discovered the corridors that exist today. It's like the old man everyone had heard of that when asked for directions, replies, 'You can't get there from here'.

Hyperspace travel is like nothing else. There are 100 billion stars in the galaxy, but only a few hundred thousand are accessible to date. Unless you want to slow-boat it at less than light speed, you don't go anywhere unless there's a hyperspace corridor.

Scouting new ones is the most dangerous job in the galaxy. A mathematician would do the math, sometimes taking decades, then submit it to the local planetary government, or back when the Government was in charge, the Republic Survey Department, and eventually a ship would be sent to try the new equations. Out of every ten ships that try, only one succeeds. Of the others most make it back, but others disappear. Corridors don't care about something as thin as a star's core, but the people in the ship get fried anyway. Getting too close to a planet on arrival is only one of the problems you face. Most of those deaths come when the gravitation of the planet, star etc, drags you out of hyperspace, usually too close to get away.

Around two centuries ago, the Republic had quietly gotten out of the Survey business. It just wasn't cost effective. There were already a few hundred thousand planets, some of them virgin terrain, and the population hadn't grown enough yet to make it vital, so the Republic instead handed it over to Corporations. They could deduct the expenses from their taxes, and didn't care about the piddling losses of a hundred men or so a decade.

But when they found a new world, the return could be fantastic. In the last century a planet named Kessel had been discovered. The company that had done so almost sold it to the Republic for a weapons test facility, but some enterprising young vice president sent a survey team down onto the planet itself. He found the energy spiders, and took samples of their web for analysis. Those webs, made of Glitterstim, had catapulted him to a presidency and the company into a major contender.

"Dantooine." Bastila sighed. "It seems like a lifetime since I last set foot on her surface though in truth it has only been a few months. We should be safe here from Malak. For now at least."

"Safe! You saw what his fleet did to Taris! There wasn't a building over ten meters tall when they finished! They turned the planet into one massive pile of rubble, and Dantooine, with no defense at all, will be safe?"

"Even the Sith would think twice about attacking Dantooine, Carth. There are many Jedi here, including several of the most powerful Jedi masters of the Order. There is great strength in this place."

For some reason, the view of the planet was like a cooling shower to me. "Bastila is right that we need to stop somewhere. This feels, peaceful somehow."

Carth snorted. Any amity he had felt for me had evaporated again.

"If nothing else we can resupply and recuperate here. The Academy is a place of mental and spiritual peace. Something we can all use after what we have been through." Bastila pressed.

Carth shook his head, closing his eyes tightly. "Maybe you're right. It isn't easy to watch the annihilation of an entire population. Mission is still taking it pretty hard."

"She will find a way to work through her grief." Bastila replied tartly. "She is stronger than she appears. We just need to give her time."

We called approach control, and were directed to a landing pad inside the Jedi Academy itself. I was astonished how mundane the evolution was. A brisk young man on the ground had directed us, no fighters came to check us out, no guns I could see tracked us. It was like there wasn't a war going on.

The Jedi Academy had been built by the standards of the planet, meaning it was burrowed into an existing hillside and set up within it. In this case the center had been hollowed out, and a glorious tree grew in the courtyard that had been created. The landing pad had also been dug out, the berm stabilized so that if something happened and the ship blew up, the energy would be directed mostly upwards. Other trees had been grown here, making it look as if we had landed in a small park.

Bastila had spent the descent in the communications room with the circuits locked so we couldn't listen in. I didn't care. The mission was over. I was ready for some R&R and then back to the front.

The ship settled down, and I could hear metal ticking as it cooled. Bastila came forward. "I must go and speak with the Jedi Council. I need their advice on... recent developments." I could tell she wanted to look at me, but she stared at Carth. "After I have met with them, I will contact you. The local authorities have instructed that no one is to leave the docking bay until I return. However the quartermaster of the Republic supply center is awaiting your list of our needs."

"Friendly place." Carth snorted. He got on the com, and began listing what we needed. I went aft. Mission was sitting alone for once. I could hear noises from the engine room. Knowing the Wookiee, he was happily at work tuning the engines. He had been complaining about tuner flutter for the last day.

I walked over, got a cup of tea, and brought one to her. She stared at it, then up at me. "Sorry I've been out of it the last couple of days." She stared at the cup. "I was just thinking about Taris. I can't believe it's gone!" She looked at me, begging for understanding. "I mean, I grew up there! I remember the old man who ran the sausage booth, the woman that sold clothes that were only ten years out of date. Now, it's-it's just gone!" The last was said as if she had seen someone disappear from a street, and never returned.

I motioned toward a chair, and she nodded. I sat, sipping my own tea. "I'm sorry, Mission. I don't know what to say."

She shrugged. "I don't think there really is anything you can say. I just have to find some way to deal with it, I guess. It'll take some time."

I watched her, and she looked at me, and got defensive. "Look, it's not like I'm saying I can't go on or anything like that. It's just, a shock, you know? I mean I'd heard horror stories about how evil the Sith are but the reality of it kind of slaps you in the face.

"But that's why we need to stop Malak, right? The more time I spend dwelling on Taris, the closer it comes for someone else. If I can stop just one person from feeling what I am feeling, I'll die happy. So stop worrying about me. I'll be okay. And I don't care what I have to do, if I can help bring down Malak, just let me know."

I knew she wanted to end it there, but we hadn't had time to really talk, and the girl made me feel better. Talking so blithely about death had bothered me. "We haven't really talked before, Mission. Tell me about yourself."

"Me?" She chuckled, and I smiled. She was healing after all. "You want to know about me? Nobody's ever really been interested in me!" She seemed delighted.

"Carth talked to you-"

No. The geezer talked at me, not to me. Even when all I was to you was some kid, you talked to me. What do you want to know?"

"How did you and Zaalbar get together?"

"Big Z is my family, you know? My parents, well I think they're dead. I haven't seen them since I was really little. It was just me on my own until the day I saw Big Z in the Lowercity. I could tell right away he was in trouble.

"This was before the gang wars got out of hand but even then the Vulkars were slime. A few of them were hassling Big Z, trying to goad him into a fight. But he's really a big plushy toy, he didn't want to fight."

"What kind of fool tries to provoke a Wookiee?"

"Hey, no one ever said the Vulkars were smart. But there were three of them. I think they might have figured they could take him if they had to. Anyway, I don't like the Vulkars even on their best day. I'd sounded them out about joining the gang, this was before Brejik was in charge, you see, and they told me that when I filled out," She motioned to her chest. "They'd think about it. That really ticked me off.

"When I saw them picking on this poor defenseless Wookiee, new and all alone on a strange planet, I just lost it! I screamed, 'Hey! Leave him alone you core slimes!' and charged them. One of them saw me coming, and he belted me one good. He hit me so hard I just about lost consciousness."

"Striking a child?"

"Who you calling a child? I'm fourteen!"

I lifted my mug pretending to sip to hide my smile. This meant she had charged three adults when she was only eleven or so. She had courage at least.

"Those Vulkar didn't scare me. They're cowards, always have been. They see their own blood, and they run bleating home to mama. I was going to deal with them, but I never got the chance. I guess Big Z didn't like seeing me smacked because he grabbed the guy who hit me, and held him a meter off the floor by the neck."

What did the others do?"

"Like I said, cowards. They ran screaming. Can't blame them, really. The first time you see an irate Wookiee up close, it makes an impression you don't forget. I saw it and it isn't a pretty sight. I'm just glad he wasn't mad at me right then. I thought Zaalbar was going to rip that punk's arms off, and beat him to death with the wet ends. The Vulkar was so scared he wet himself and fainted. Or maybe Big Z's breath knocked him out.

"I keep telling him to brush those choppers of his, but do you think he listens? Just stand downwind when he talks, and you miss most of it.

"Anyway, I knew those Vulkars would gather up a really serious group to take him down, so I dragged him away.

"We've been together ever since. We're one hell of a team. We look out for each other, you know?"

I pictured an eleven-year-old Twi-lek a little over a meter tall towing a two and a half meter Wookiee as if she were a tugboat. I nodded. "How did Zaalbar end up on Taris?"

"All he ever said was there was trouble on his home world of Kashyyyk, and he had to leave. If you haven't noticed, he's not a motor mouth. He's the strong and silent type. Don't matter though. We don't pay attention to the past, it detracts from the now."

"How did you survive before you met Zaalbar?"

"What's that supposed to mean? You think I'm the damsel in distress like a historical drama? I got street smarts, I learned to take care of myself. In fact more times than not it's me getting him out of trouble. You know, Big Z is really gullible. If I wasn't there, he'd have bought the Senate tower or something."

I laughed. "Now he has a purpose, as do you. To beat this."

"Yep. It's like I used to tell my brother 'fast talk and slick banter don't get the job done'."

"Brother?" I looked at her. Suddenly she was wishing she was the silent type. "Mission, you have a brother?"

"Hey! My brother is something I don't talk about okay? He's a touchy subject. If it's all the same to you, let's just leave him out of every thing we ever talk about!" She stood, taking the empty cup with her. A moment later she came back in, and slid it in the sanitizer. Then she walked back out.

Jedi Council

Carth

We expected a couple of hours, but it wasn't until noon the next day that Bastila finally signaled for us to let her back aboard.

"I have spoken briefly with the Council. Danika, they have requested an audience with you. We should go at once."

"An audience, and not even a command performance? And making it to someone that isn't even a Jedi? That's pretty unusual for Jedi under even the best of circumstances." I was gathering up my weapons. "Any idea what this is about Bastila?"

"I am sorry, Carth, but I can't tell you, and you are not invited. I ask you to please just trust in the Force and the Council."

I glared at her, then threw the holstered weapons back down. "The same Force and Jedi council that gave us Revan and Malak? What type of spice have you been sniffing?"

She looked at me until I looked away. "I don't like being left out of the loop, but I'm not looking to get you in trouble with the council, Bastila. We'll do things your way this time."

"Come, I will escort you to the council chamber."

Danika shrugged helplessly. She had changed into some clothes we had brought aboard, but she still carried the Echani Brand and a holstered blaster. I watched them off the ship, then went to find something to beat on, or fix.

Danika

Stepping off onto the surface of Dantooine for the first time was like slipping into bed as a child. Everything felt comfortable and soft. I almost hugged myself. The docking area was cleared except for two Blba trees. These had been dethorned by the council, because the natural life cycle of the tree included the local carnivorous snails, and they were a pest in dwellings.

Bastila and I walked together, pacing in rhythm. The dreams about her had stopped, but I still felt uncomfortable. It was like someone had taken my life and turned it into an entertainment drama without my consent. She was more silent than usual. I wanted to ask her why, but I felt she would refuse to answer.

The entryway had a massive blast door and the hall beyond jogged sharply right then left at the other end. Simple safety precautions. If a ship exploded, it might blow the door to hell, but even if the door stood open as it did now the hall would act as a blast channel to slow it before it reached the living areas.

Everywhere there was a bustle of movement. Children streamed in laughing crowds from room to room, shepherded by older men and women in Jedi garb, the ubiquitous robes they always wore. I later discovered that while it looked crowded, it wasn't. There were fifty of the order here, About fifteen Masters, the same number of young students, and the remainder were Padawans.

There was room for three times that number.

Padawan is an indistinct title. A trained Jedi, but one who wasn't yet considered a master. Most of them were still in training, just learning the basics of their craft. I would only learn the nuances of the title much later.

We came into the courtyard, and the massive Blba tree there rose ten meters over our heads.

"You there, Padawan!" A sharp voice called. I looked to the speaker She was a young woman younger than Bastila. She stormed over to me glaring. "Why are you not robed? Do you mock the honored traditions of our order?" Bastila shook her head wryly and walked on, leaving me to the girl.

"I don't know what you mean." I replied. "I am not a Padawan. I am a guest, Danika Wordweaver. I am here with Bastila."

"Bastila! I have heard of her. They say she has already mastered the art of battle meditation. Remarkable in one so young. Though I have also heard that she has a foolish pride in that accomplishment." Since she was about three years younger than Bastila, I took that more as envy than anything else.

"But as for you. You claim you are not a Jedi? I find this hard to believe. The Force is strong within you, I can feel its presence. If this is some kind of jest take heed! The masters will not allow the order to be ridiculed."

"I didn't even know what the word Padawan meant before I came here." I replied. "I have no reason to jest with you, or lie to you." I let a touch of irritation creep into my voice.

She sensed it, and regarded me with hooded eyes. "Please forgive the abruptness of my greeting." I could tell from her tone that the apology was pro forma. "It was harsh and perhaps unfair. My master often warns me I must learn to control my emotions. I see I have much left to learn. I wish you a pleasant stay among us, Guest Danika. May the Force be with you."

I nodded, and walked on. I wouldn't let some child irritate me. Bastila rejoined me. "I could have used a little help there."

"Why? You handled it well. And Belaya does need to learn to control her temper."

"You know her?"

"Know of her. She just became a Padawan last year. They want to have her more seasoned before releasing her on the galaxy."

"Maybe they should marinate her instead." Bastila choked back a giggle. Suddenly in my mind the dreams came back in full force. What was happening?

There were four Masters awaiting us. Two were human, one Twi-lek, the last a race I had never seen before. He was short, not even a meter tall, green skinned, with wide mouth, expressive eyes, and ears that flicked about as he talked. Vandar Tokare's race has been among the Republic for as long as the Jedi order has existed, but no one knows what their race is called, or where they are from. All of his answers were the same as every one of the race since they had joined us. He said they called themselves the people, which means exactly nothing. If you look up the root languages of the Republic, you will see 'the people' is what all of them call themselves, with minor variations. He said they came from the planet Dirt, which also means little. Every version of language and race throughout the Galaxy calls their home planet 'the dirt from which we came'. But he spoke Basic, slightly changed by the way his mind worked, and never spoke his native tongue.

The Twi-lek motioned for us to join them. The council room was large enough to hold everyone of the order on Dantooine at present. They were standing, not seated as if in judgment. But somehow I knew they were judging me.

"Ah, so you are the one that rescued Bastila. It is appropriate that you are here for this discussion." His voice was deep an mellifluous. His basic clean and precise. "After all, we had been discussing your rather, special case. I am Zhar Lestin of the Jedi Council. With me are Master Vrook Lamar, Master Vandar Tokare, and of course the chronicler of our Academy, Master Dorak. Padawan Bastila I am sure you already know." I nodded to each in turn. Vandar watched me as if I was an amusing pet, but it didn't bother me as much as you might think. Vrook glared at me as if I had come in half dressed. Dorak merely looked at me coolly. I later found that he had a perfect photographic memory, and would record exactly what happened afterward. They all stood there, as if waiting for me to speak.

"What does the Council wish of me?" I asked.

Zhar motioned to Bastila. "Bastila tells us you are strong in the Force. Under the present circumstances, we have been considering you for Jedi training."

My mind reeled. "Strong in the Force?"

"Master Zhar speaks out of turn perhaps. We need indisputable proof of your strong affinity to the force before we would even consider you for training." I looked to Vrook. If anything his animosity was growing. For a moment, I thought maybe he actually hated me but I set that thought aside. I had known Drill Instructors in boot camp that were the same, always angry, never satisfied. When everything went to hell, it was them you thanked because they were the ones that never allowed any slack.

"Proof!" Bastila was outraged. "Surely the entire Council can feel the strength of the Force in this woman! And I have already related the events that took place on Taris."

Vrook shook his head. "Perhaps it was simple luck."

Master Vandar looked up at the man. "Master Vrook, we both know that there is no luck. There is only the Force. We all feel the power that flows from this woman, even though it is wild and untamed. Now that this power has manifested itself, can we safely ignore it?"

Vrook was adamant. "The Jedi training is long and hard, even when working with the open mind of a child. Teaching a child is hard, how much harder will it be with an adult mind already set in its ways?"

"Masters, I consider this a great honor." I said. They all looked at me as if they expected the next word to be 'but'. "I do not know if I am ready for this, but if you believe I can learn, I will try my best."

"There is no try. You do or do not." Vandar piped.

"Master Vrook, traditionally the Jedi do not accept adults for training, this much is true." Dorak interjected in his dry pedantic way. "There however have been exceptions in the history of our order. In each it has come down to one such as her." He motioned toward me. "A special case."

"I agree with master Dorak." Vandar said. "The times are hard, and we must be ready to face that. Many of our own students across the galaxy have left to learn the ways of the Sith instead. The order needs numbers, and if the recruits must be older than is customary, we must consider the need. To stand against Malak we must have strength. Since Revan died-"

"Are you certain Revan is truly dead?" Vrook roared. He glared at Bastila, who looked away. "What if we were to undertake training this one, and the Dark Lord should return?"

Vandar looked up at the man calmly. "Such is not for the ears of anyone save the Council, Master Vrook. Bastila, take your companion back to the ship. Tomorrow morning we will speak with her again."

Bastila bowed wordlessly. I echoed the bow and followed.

"I thought Revan was dead."

She merely shook her head.

Acceptance

The room was stone, the separate blocks locked together in a manner that suggested not only cutting, but the Force as well somehow. Doors opened, and air screamed into it as the pressure equalized. Two figures entered, and I wafted toward them. One was huge, head shaved, and male. The other was smaller, slimmer, wrapped in a flowing robe, with a mask. I felt a chill. Revan! That meant the other, young, handsome, unblemished, was Malak.

"Can you feel it, Revan?" Malak raised his arms as if embracing the entire room. "I can feel the Dark side here, stronger than you have ever imagined!"

"We do not have time for this." Revan replied. Her voice sounded familiar somehow. "If the text we read is correct, there is a key to the survival of the Republic in this place. That is why we are here."

"Yes. Forgive me, my old friend."

Revan waved forward. "Come. It is beyond that door." I turned unbidden, and there was a door that looked like a solid block. "Yes, it is here." She whispered. Her hands came down, and I felt the Force run through them, slamming into the door. It began to open-

I snapped upright in my bed. I knew the room they had been on was just a few kilometers away from where I was. How I don't know. They had sought something of great strength. To protect the Republic, Revan had said. But Malak had felt only the Dark side there. They had instead found something that had brought about the war we were fighting even now. Something so steeped in the darkness that no sane person would consider using it. But Revan had not cared.

I couldn't get to sleep after that. When I finally arose, Bastila was already gone. Carth and Canderous were off getting the supplies we had requested, Mission and Zaalbar were back in the engine with T3 kibitzing. I drank my morning tea, and tried to wake up. The meeting was- I looked at the chrono. Supposed to be in a few minutes.

I stepped out into the crisp morning air. A lifter had just landed, and droids were moving crates from it. Carth saw me, and shook his head. "This morning is getting stranger by the minute. The quartermaster didn't even quibble about what we needed. That's a switch. Then Bastila left looking like she'd seen a ghost. She did say you should go to the Council chamber without her when you got up. I think it's important." He snorted. "So you shouldn't keep them waiting."

"Did she say anything else?"

"No she didn't. She didn't look well as I recall. For that matter, neither do you. Are you alright?"

"I had a rough night." I told him. I walked away.

The Council was already there, as was Bastila. They stopped talking as I walked in, and Zhar motioned for me to join them.

Vandar looked up at me. "Bastila has told us of a most unusual development. She claims you and she shared a dream. A vision of Malak and Revan in one of the ancient ruins right here on Dantooine." He tapped his cane on the ground for emphasis. I was stunned. I had thought I was alone in that dream!

Dorak coughed delicately. "These ruins have long been known. After all, the Academy has been here since Master Vodo-Siosk Baas established it a century ago. It has been believed all this time that they were merely ancient burial mounds. But it seems that they are more than that if Revan and Malak found something of such power there."

"Yes." Suddenly the dream returned in full force. "They were looking for something. Something they had read about in the ancient records here."

"Bastila has described this shared dream to us in great detail. We feel that this is more than a mere dream. It is a vision. The Force is acting through you, and at the same time, is working through Bastila as well." Vandar continued.

I looked at Bastila. She looked haggard. I must have looked as bad. "I see no answer than to trust in your wisdom, Master."

"You and Bastila share a powerful connection to the Force. Through the Force, you also share a powerful connection to each other." Zhar took up the narrative. "This is not unheard of. Connections such as this can form between master and apprentice. Between friends who learn together, between lovers even." I blushed at that. I hadn't told them about the earliest dreams. "But it is rare for them to form so quickly."

"From what we see whatever dangers lie ahead, we can no longer ignore the destiny that brought you and Bastila, to us at this time together." Vandar said softly. He looked up at Vrook who was ignoring him. That man's eyes were locked on me.

"Then you are saying that we are joined together somehow. That a bond I do not understand has been formed." I said, still reeling. Suddenly I heard the words again, but now it was Bastila's voice. Bond with me.

"You and she are linked as is your fates by this bond as you call it. But this is something we can use. This link may be what is needed to defeat Malak and the Sith." Vandar explained.

"But don't let thoughts of power and glory fill your head." Vrook snapped. "Such thoughts are sure paths to the Dark side. The way of the light is long and hard. It is like climbing a mountain. Sure you can stay at the bottom, but that is the Dark side in all its strength. Sure you can climb up a ways, then give up, but that can lead to the Dark as well, for the Dark never gives up on dragging you down. Or you can fall as many have. To reach the light you must climb and never allow yourself to make a mistake that send you crashing down again. Are you ready for such an undertaking?"

"I can only do my best not to fail." I looked at Master Vandar. After his first comment, I had found another way to say it.

He looked up at me with a twinkle in his eye. "You must understand that there is little choice in this decision. For you, or for us. Across the Galaxy our numbers dwindle at an alarming rate. We have had to send many Jedi on quests to find that which we can use to stop Malak and the Sith. Most have not returned.

"The Sith as well know what we must do. They hunt our brothers like animals, striking from ambush, or by assassination wherever they are found. We feel that it is only a matter of time until they discover this hidden refuge, and destroy it as well." I suddenly pictured the hell rain I had witnessed, seeing the Academy falling in ruins, the Jedi dead in windrows, unable to strike back from the ground. I was terrified by it.

"Others of our order have fallen from the light, or turned from it willingly." Vrook's face was a mask, and again I felt his hate directed at me. "They have given their allegiance to Malak and the Sith."

"Jedi leave the order to join them?"

Vrook snorted. "Where do you think the Dark Jedi within their ranks come from? The lure of the dark side, of learning rapidly what we know must be taught more slowly calls to these weak ones. Malak's power grows as more planets fall to his armies, make agreements to surrender, or swear themselves ally. And those of our order who cannot stand the chance of losing run to him instead of fighting."

"Yes." Zhar cast a warning glance at Vrook. "If Malak is not stopped, the Republic will fall. The Sith will never stop trying to hunt us down, for in all the Galaxy, only the light can confront the darkness. If the Jedi are no more, the Galaxy will fall into the dark times before the Republic existed again. A time of Darkness and tyranny that has not been seen for a thousand generations."

They all looked thoughtful at that. Vandar broke the silence. "The Council has decreed that if you are willing to undertake it, you have a mission that can be handled only by you and Bastila. You must investigate the ruins you dreamt of once the Council deems you ready."

"Yes." Dorak said. "Perhaps you will find something there, some clue, that can explain how Revan and Malak were corrupted. Perhaps a way to stop Malak at last. As you go, I shall be going through the ancient archives of the order. You say they found the clues that led them there in our own records. If it is there, I shall find it!"

"I'm ready to go now." I considered what weapons I would need. Bastila could cover my back with her lightsaber and Force abilities. I was considering taking T3 with us when Vandar interrupted my thoughts. "Your bravery does you credit, but an untrained person in the force, entering such a place would be a danger we will not countenance. First you must be trained in the ways of the Jedi. You must learn to resist the darkness within you, which resides within all of us. Otherwise you are doomed to fail before you have even begun."

I wanted to scream that there wasn't time. That Malak would be knocking on the door with a 10-megawatt turbo laser before I learned enough to help! But part of me knew that like any weapon, I had to take this Force in me and learn to control it before I destroyed myself with it. "While I worry about how long this will take, I accept your judgment, Master Vandar."

He looked at me with that knowing look. I knew that somehow he had been watching my mind wrestling with the two constraints of time and necessary training. He seemed pleased with my decision. He motioned toward Zhar.

"We must begin your training at once. You have a destiny that awaits you that we must prepare you to face. The fate of the entire galaxy may rest on your shoulders."

"I just hope she is ready for it." Vrook growled.