Opening your mind

Mira

She came out looking like she'd lost the last friend in her world. She didn't talk until we had gotten back to the refugee sector. I was walking around that huge pit on deck nine when she stopped.

"What's wrong?"

She walked to the edge then turned, facing me. "Why did you avoid this place?"

"What do you mean? I walk by it an average of once every other day. Have for years."

"Not this place." She waved at the sullen buildings around us. "I meant this place." She pointed at the street at her feet.

"I did not!"

"When we went to meet Master Zez-Kai Ell you made a point to avoid this very spot. Now on our return, you do it again."

I stared at the street at her feet. Something about it felt, I don't know, wrong. "So what? Just habit."

"Remember when I told you of my listening. Come here, take my hand. I will show you what listening is."

"Could we try somewhere else?" I could hear a note of panic in my voice. There was nothing there, nothing that could cause such an unreasoning terror. Yet she stood there as calm as if she lived here. I wanted to run away screaming.

"If you would listen, this is where it must be." She stretched out her hand.

I found myself walking toward her as if someone was controlling my feet. My hand was out, less than a centimeter separated us. "I... I'm afraid."

"I know you are. But the first step from the womb for all of us is facing our fears. You can walk away. I will not force you, or drag you here. If you come it will be your own choice."

Our fingers touched, and played with each other idly. Nothing. I moved closer, and they interlocked, palm to palm. I felt emboldened. "So what? How do I listen? With my ears?" I asked sarcastically.

"With your eyes closed."

"Sure, no biggie." I closed my eyes. Nothing. Just the usual rush of people moving past, vehicles flying over.

"Now think of a simple kindness. Like a stone it echoes in its ripples when thrown into the pond."

I could see a flash of light in the darkness and ripples flowed away from it in perfect rings.

"To those of us who touch it, this is the Force. Not an electrical outlet that we stick a cord into, but a living breathing thing that life and emotions create and nurture."

The rings were coming faster and faster. Suddenly I heard Nar Shaddaa. Not a person, not what I was used to. It was like being thrown into the ocean when you can't swim. Turning on your brother's music system without checking the volume, and having the reverb blow your eardrums out of the other side of you head. Like sitting down and finding that you'd sat on an ant nest, or kicked a ground bee hive, and they are swarming around you.

But it was not a danger or painful. It was like having a puppy the size of the planet that has seen you for the first time, and tail wagging comes over and wants you to play, and somehow I knew that if I had thrown a stick, the entire planet would have leaped after it in an attempt to fetch it. It had all the unbounded exuberance and love a puppy possesses, but there were thread of pain in it. This puppy had been abandoned. It knew that mankind hated it, yet still it was willing to extend that love onto the one that held out a hand and let it choose.

I found myself leaned against the rail gasping. I still held her hand, but part of me wanted to leap into that abyss. Knowing that if I wished, it would buoy me up like an ocean where you merely float. Or allow me to fall to my death, because it was what I chose. It was heaven and hell. I wanted to let it go, and never leave it. It was your mother's hug when you are sad. It was the Sergeant's palm when you did it wrong. I could have wrapped myself in it like a blanket and died at that very instant, content.

"Mira, open your eyes."

"No." The stubborn little kid was back inside me. I can feel them all... all of the people that had ever lived and died on this rock were there, and I could feel them. The good... The evil, I felt them all! I tried to lock the door it had come through, but the hinges were gone, the door in scattered fragments. It was in the house, and nothing was going to chase it back out again.

"You are feeling what every Jedi feels when she first touches the heart and soul of a world." She whispered. "To know the pulse of the place, the taste of it on your tongue. To know that by touching just the right place you can stop or start an avalanche, and either save or slaughter millions. This is why we have such power but use it so sparingly. It is the reason we are the guardians of the Republic because we care if those millions live or die."

"Then you're saying I am a Jedi." I laughed, not a healthy this is fun laugh, but the manic laughter of someone skating on the edges of hell. "If this had happened yesterday, I would have had to turn myself in for the bounty." I shook my head, tears running down my face. "But I'd be a tough catch. And getting away with the money afterward would have been a problem."

She laughed softly, and it eased that manic lunacy that threatened to sweep me away. "I have found that being a Jedi means you are always short of pocket change. It sort of goes with the teachings."

"Doesn't really matter." I said softly. "The money has always been just a way to keep score. But I can't handle life like this. I need to get a handle on it or I'm in a psych ward by noon!"

There was a long pause. I found that I had opened my eyes and was looking at her. She was no longer just a nice looking older woman with a killer body. She was a flame of potential even I could not stand to look at. "If you stay on Nar Shaddaa, I cannot help you. Perhaps you can catch Master Zez-Kai Ell."

"No way!" I was on my feet, hands clenched in her robes. "You brought this out, you made me see, if anyone is going to teach me, it's going to be you if I have to pound your head into the pavement to get that idea through!"

"All I have done is shown you the door. Going through it must be your own choice. There are those that would drag you down a path as one did to Visas, but I will never force you to do or learn anything."

"You're so gods dammed self assured all the time! You may walk around like a Nerf in a china shop, but you let yourself be guided by things I can't begin to understand, and it feels right. I want to be like you. To stop being afraid of everything around me. I want someone in my life that doesn't think of me as something to do on a slow afternoon. I want to hunt those that hurt others because while my putting out the stars is bad, there are those that do it without even caring! I want to find those that were lost, or hide from fear, bring them into the light of day again!

"I never let go when my family died, when my unit died, when friends , my entire planet died! I want to let that all go, and have the ability to close off that echo with only the regret you feel when it is something you can never have again! Please teach me how to do that!"

"I don't know if I can." She said softly. "I can only lead you on the path as I have walked it. Lead you to where I am. The rest is up to you."

"If you had promised me the moon I would have called you a liar. But what you can teach me... It looks pretty good from where I'm standing."

"Then we had better go and pack your books. This may take a while." She stopped, head turning. I closed my eyes, and there was something, like a storm cloud in the distance, but nowhere on the planet. "We had better go. They need me on Dxun."

Desperate race

Marai.

I did not know why I felt compelled to race back to Dxun. We had over a week before Kavar had told me to come back. Yet suddenly it was imperative for us to be there. As before we settled in. Mira moved into our family as if she were the naughty niece that had been sent to stay with you. The Handmaiden and Visas had come to some sort of accord, and there was no longer acrimony between them. Bao-Dur was happy with more machines to fix, and Atton, well he was still Atton, just a little more ready to smile. I spent a few hours giving T3 that oil bath and polishing I had promised, and Bao-Dur grumbled that I was stealing his thunder, but I could see his grin of fond delight as he watched.

Between the three of us we despaired of ever teaching Mira how to fight with a lightsaber. I finally had her put on some phototropic cloth that fluoresced if you hit it directly with a light beam, and made her practice with a flash lamp. After seeing the carving she would have done if she'd had a light saber, she suddenly got the idea that she was swinging a 'blade' with no weight. Once that idea was there, she improved dramatically. She spent time with me, learning to meditate, with the Handmaiden learning to fight hand to hand and with blade, with Visas learning to extend her senses. It is said that a good teacher learns from even the worst student. She was not by any means the worst student and all of us learned from her.

I spoke with G0T0 and was astonished at the machine's capability. It could disrupt enemy droids, switching targeting information so that the enemy was their own people. It could intimidate just by flowing into a room; was programmed for standard interrogation and was capable of torture if that was your only alternative. It had a camouflage field as good as the Mandalorians had, and it's ability to fly high enough that it could pass by as if it were a cloud gave it added capability.

We were surprised and amused when T3 came up with the last parts we needed for that antique HK droid. It went active, and I stood back as it did a self-diagnostic.

"Assessment: It seems I have been afflicted with an almost total dismemberment! I can feel every crack in my motivators. My central control cluster seems to have been used for target practice too."

"What were you doing in the storage hold?" I asked.

"Answer: I do not know, master. It is curious that I am here, though for some reason it does appear familiar.

"Extrapolation: Considering my capabilities perhaps someone was in the process of repairing me."

"Any idea when that was?" I asked. This one needed more than a polish job. It needed sanding and rosin to even get it to where polish might help.

"Answer: To quote the human adage, it seems you would know better that I. My memory circuits have suffered a serious setback. Vast portions of it have been either erased or sequestered quite intentionally.

"Reflection: For some reason this fact does not disturb me. I postulate that at one time or another, removing sections of my memory was something I accepted as a matter of course. Still the loss of my higher combat functions and my assassination capabilities is distressing."

"But you're okay."

He looked at me. The voice was sarcastic. "Sarcastic answer: If they had removed your arms and legs, and replaced them with second hand cast-offs, I am sure you might be 'okay'. I for one am very irritated by this. Also someone has removed my discretionary programming. It is not my habit to say that I even have combat functions or assassination protocols. For that matter, I should have been able to stop myself from saying that I can lie! Okay is not in my list of adjectives I would apply to myself."

"There's a new series out, maybe we can blow another one to hell, and get you back on track."

"Irritated reply: Do not try to sell me such an obvious fabrication. I am HK 47. The last of the line of Systech cybernetics. Models HK1 through myself were forwarded to the Republic fleet to work with the humans in exterminating the Mandalorians." It's head turned as Manda'lor walked by. "Though I see there is still work to do." It turned back to me. "Soft soap: But I was the last of the series. I am like a painting by a dead artist. No more of my kind can exist."

"Well I hate to tell you, but someone is making knockoffs. I know at least three models followed yours."

"Statement: Humor is wasted upon a droid, Master. My designers said at the time they could not think of any improvements, and since the run was merely 47 units long, from HK1 to 47, you must be attempting to forcibly extend my lower limb."

"Forcibly extend... Oh, no, I am not pulling your leg. So far we've run into half a dozen HK50 models."

The bullet head glared at me, then it walked over to the console built into the table. A cord was withdrawn, and it accessed our memory banks. Then it disconnected and clumped back over.

"Outraged conclusion: Master you are correct! There are several thousand cheap copies of my system out there! This has caused me quite a bit of irritation and embarrassment. The fact that according to your own records show that you dealt with three of them simultaneously by yourself shows the lack in their programming. I myself never had a problem dealing with a lone meatbag Jedi by myself! To need three shows a lack of capability quite at odds with the legacy I should have.

"Shrewd estimate. "Since the parts necessary for my rejuvenation will come from them, it seems that our paths lead in the same direction master. Oh Gods how I hate that term."

"What? Meatbag?"

"Answer. No, master. Damn I have said it again."

"Listen, can you accept input?"

"Faster than any human could put it in, master."

"First, my name is Marai. You will call me that in lieu of Master. Second. I don't care how many of our enemies you call meatbag, but you will not use that term for anyone who is aboard this ship."

"Very well 'you-are-not-a-meatbag' Marai."

I sighed. "Work on it."

G0T0 came to me. "Odd, your intuition has directed you to one of the systems that I would have labeled as instrumental in halting the Republic's collapse." He told me.

"Oh?"

"Yes. They are the recovery efforts on Telos, the stabilization of Dantooine, and the political resolution on Onderon. If all of these are successful, the unification of a religious base would guarantee the Republic's survival."

"Explain. Start with Telos."

"The rebirth of Telos is instrumental in giving the Republic some hope for the future. The success or failure of that project is instrumental in determining economic forecasts for the future. However the destruction of Peragus as a source of fuel had caused the odds of that project being successful to drop to zero."

"I didn't mean for Peragus to get blown away." I protested.

"Of course not." He replied sarcastically. Your presence there caused the Sith attack, and your attempt to escape cause the destruction. If you had simply surrendered, then Peragus would still be there busily supplying fuel."

"I didn't see that as an option."

"We can only hope that you do not decide that the Galaxy itself must die to save you from another attack. Perhaps a neutral observer must ask himself at what point your continued survival is more important than the Galaxy itself. After all, is the death of only 50 percent of the people where you next stop an agreeable option?

"Onderon is important because it's wildlife and plant life is highly aggressive. The moon Dxun could supply all of the necessary transplant-able life to bring any or all of the 20 worlds back to life. Unfortunately, there is an ongoing attempt by the Sith to control that planet, and if the Republic survives, there is no reason the Sith would supply those needs. So the choice is, will you support the Queen who has linked her political and physical survival to the Republic? Or General Vaklu who had hitched his political star to the Sith? Note that a number of Outer Rim worlds not at present members of the Republic, seventeen to be precise, will either walk away or embrace the Republic viewpoint in this equation."

"Dantooine is important because it is a resupply nexus to the Republic on the Outer Rim. If the Sith capture it, they will control access to all of the resources that come in from the Outer Rim, and the loss, while seeming minor to the Republic as it stands now would signal the death knell of any commerce inbound from the Outer reaches of the Galaxy. Why should a planet stand with the Republic if the Republic itself does not care if they are within or without it?"

"Isn't there anything you could do to assist in this?"

He turned. "The destruction of my base of operations, the turmoil you have inflicted on my operations is so great monetarily that if you went to work for me the instant the yacht had been destroyed, as a faithful overseer, you would not live long enough to pay me back all that you have cost me.

"However if greed is linked in, I am willing to assist. I will reward you monetarily for every system you stabilize."

"I wasn't thinking of money, Goto. At least, not in money that I would touch and spend."

"Oh?" I detected a touch of confusion. I turned, and it retreated from the smile I gave it.

"You have diverted the cargos of what, fifty of Vogga's ships?"

"Seventy-four." He replied.

"How many are fuel tankers, still loaded with fuel?"

"Thirty-four. The prices are jumping, and I had been holding it-"

"For every system I stabilize, you will give me a third of that fuel."

The droid spun on his axis. "That does not make sense. The fuel is worth a great deal, true, but-"

"That one third per system will be sent to Telos. The fuel sold to them at fair market value, and the money is yours."

It froze in orbit. "I see. By making me send it to Telos, you hope that I will succeed where you cannot on the third planet?"

"By my estimate, each tanker will extend their deadline for more than a month. Six will give them approximately eight month's worth of fuel, and I am willing to bet you twice as much fuel that I can stabilize all three in the next six weeks."

The droid hummed. "You know the odds of one person successfully doing all I have set out? Do you want odds?"

"No. I'll take flat rate. I succeed on Onderon, six tankers. On Dantooine, six more. If I succeed on all, you owe me not five more, but 22 more, because I have won the bet."

The droid watched me. "Even though my better nature says I should not, the gambler in me says to go for it. I will agree."

We were a day out of Dxun when I found myself in a nightmare. I was working on a device. It wasn't me doing it, I knew. It was a man and his hands-

It was Bao-Dur. I could see him making a final connection. He heard a step, and turned. It was me, a decade younger. I looked past him. "Our child." I said, then looked at him with an impish grin. "Whatever shall; we name him?"

I could feel his own humor driven with horror. "Must we even name something we hope will never be born?" He asked.

The image of me came over, hands set against the machine. "If we only fought one war, I would say yes. Let the chips fall where they may. But we're fighting the Mandalorians, and on the second front those idiots in the Navy and their Senate backers who want their chosen puppet in charge.

"Then we have the third front of those damn stupid liberal peaceniks that seem to think it's all a misunderstanding and everyone knows it's our fault that this war happened. If we only ceded the planets the Mandalorians occupied, they would be happy, and the liberals could spend all that military appropriations money on gardens for the terminally stupid or something just as important." I sounded even more exasperated than I remembered. "The same idiots on their side that called for a cease fire, and as soon as they had rearmed, broke it. How many men on both sides died at Serroco because we gave them six months to recoup?"

Before he could answer Quintain pranced in. I had always seen the bastard as a caricature, but Bao-Dur's memories made him look like something from a comedy based on that war.

He strode up, looked at the device then reached out "What does this do?" He asked stupidly as he hit the big red button-

I snapped upright, covered in sweat. I climbed out of bed, and went to the cargo hold where Bao-Dur often worked. He was sitting at the workbench, the remote spread in a sheaf of parts before him. He looked as if he were praying, but after a moment I saw a tear fall to his clenched fists. Agony flowed from him as if I could feel his pain, and since I had been the cause of it, perhaps that is what I felt.

"Bao-Dur?" He snapped upright, wiped the tears from his eyes. "General! I couldn't sleep so I figured I could do some quick upgrades-"

"Bao-Dur. Don't lie to me." I knelt beside him. He looked at me, and the pain in his eyes made me want to weep with him.

"I was dreaming of Malachor, General. The flash of failed fusion ignition, the blast as hyper accelerated plasma lashed out. The ships..." He began to cry again. "The last stand of the Republic you called it, and I believed you. Win or lose, the Mandalorians had to be shattered beyond repair." He stared at his hands.

"I made it with these two hands. I knew that you were right. When they came at us like starved wolves at the end, attacking three times their firepower, I knew you were right. They had nothing left. We did, but they would have retreated if we let them. If they slaughtered us there was two more years of war we faced. Dying with them in one Pyrrhic blast would have ended it. Beyond Malachor they had nothing left. Even if we died, if we killed them... or took them to hell with us, the war would have been over.

"I remember before the battle. You hated putting all that power in Quintain's hands. You wanted it to be clean. If we were going to die, let it be our own hands that decided. My hand at your command on the button. But they didn't leave us that, did they? When the order came you turned, I felt your eyes, felt the fury in your heart when you cut our systems, leaving the fates of three million and more in the hands of someone we wouldn't trust to walk a hound. And you were right. Three million men, all of them condemned to death because of that bastard!" He clenched his fists, slamming down on the table. I caught them, and he stared at me with hopeless eyes.

"Only you were lucky. You were in a coma when it happened. So I got to witness it for you." I suddenly saw within his thoughts:

The Mandalorain left flank had broken. Revan had looped out and was coming back like a hammer from the outer system. Bao-Dur like so many others had been in an escape pod, barely surviving Viridian.

Sanso had done her bit, using the shadow of Malachor V to trap any that tried to escape and a forlorn hope made up of over half their remaining fleet had plunged in to attack her, to smash her so that they could try to flee. Less than a hundred ships remained of the enemy. Bao-Dur had felt elation. They were losing, it was only-

Then there had been that flash of light. Malachor V had convulsed, the atmosphere slamming into Ravager as gravity tried to ignite it as a star. Bao-Dur had closed his eyes, looked away, then unbidden he had looked back. The new star burned for perhaps a tenth of a second, then it had exploded outward as the pressure of that fusion fire overrode the gravity of the generator. He had seen the forefront approached as if it were a tsunami of fire, his pod had been battered and broken. Pure luck had saved him from death. But of three fifths of our battle line, four fifth's of the enemy battle line, nothing remained but dead ships and wreckage.

"It's worst when the echo hits." He whispered against my shoulder. "When you realize that three million people would still be alive, except for me.

My nightmares come from there."

"My decision. You may have figured out how to make it, but I was the one that pushed." My own voice cracked and I was crying with him. "If I had kept my mouth shut-"

He enfolded me in a bear hug, and I felt my ribs creaked as he squeezed. "No. Never say that! You did what you had to do to make Malachor V the last battle. If you had your way you would have died there with all of your friends. I know that. You wanted to be the one to push the button, because there would have been no one you cared about alive if you did. You could have restrained yourself." I felt his tears on my neck, and I hugged him as hard as he hugged me.

"I haven't cried in years. Ever since you came back into my life, suddenly it's not as hard to deal with any more. All that anger, that hatred of them and myself. It's begun floating away. I no longer hate myself."

"What of me?"

"Never General! Even in my darkest moods, you were never to blame! You didn't want to use it. You begged for them to leave it in your hands. If the Senate hadn't demanded control most of those people would be alive today. You did what you had to do, and you got the blame for every idiot in the chain of command that reacted instead of acting.

"But I can't get past the fact that it was this mind, these hands, that made it."

"If Ulic Qel-Droma was forgiven for making war upon the Order and the Republic, why should a man that only tried to save it be condemned?" I asked.

"They might forgive me. But I have blood on my hands, the blood of more that I even want to count. How do I begin forgiving myself?"

"Let it go." I snapped shaking him. "The past is done, the dead are dead, and nothing you do to yourself will change that. Let the past go and embrace the future."

"I need to atone."

"You already started doing that! It was you that designed the Ithorian force fields. It was you that tried to stop Czerka. You have been atoning since Malachor V. But only you can finally say it is enough." I pulled his head up, looked into those eyes. "I can forgive you, because you have spent your life paying it all back. Let it go."

We spent an hour in each other's arms, crying. I had no innocence to lose when I arrived at Malachor. I had lost my soul and my purpose there. Some beneficent Deity had returned it with the Force; I was not going to lose it again.

Interlude

Atris

"There is still no sign of the ship?"

"No, Mistress. Not since they left Nar Shaddaa." The Handmaiden replied. We do not know where they are bound or why."

"The freighter. It all comes back to that damn freighter, I don't know why. I thought the droid might have the answer but I was wrong."

"Perhaps we looked in the wrong section of its memory, Mistress." The girl admitted. "We downloaded everything you asked for, but there were sections we did not get to. But we have searched the data and have not found what you seek."

"Then perhaps you should have faith that your sister will come to her sense and return to us with that information." I replied tartly.

"We all hope that Mistress, but she and her four companions are nowhere to be found."

I tensed, then turned slowly, eyes searching the girl's face. "Four?"

"Yes mistress. The Exile, the Iridonian, the Echani trained pilot, and the old woman."

"The old woman?"

The girl looked surprised. "Yes, Mistress. There was an old woman with them."

I turned away, and I felt a sudden chill. How could anyone have been able to come here and not even be noticed? "I do not seem to... recall her."

"She was confined as were the others until after your meeting with the Exile, Mistress. During the brief time they spent here afterward, you were in meditation and we saw no reason to disturb you."

I looked down. Yes. Meditating, listening to those voices, seeking what I sought in vain. Only one woman knew that answer, and she was not to be found.

"Mistress? Is something wrong?"

"I am... tired." I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "I sometimes feel as if everything will collapse around us like a house made of cards. Something is out there, just on the edge of perception, and I feel it waiting, biding its time. I fear that all of our preparations will collapse before our enemy even arrives."

"Have faith in your skills, Mistress. We do."

I wanted to scream at her, but she was merely saying she thought I could hold it all together. "I will meditate for a time. Perhaps that will clear my mind."

"Yes, Mistress."

Dxun

Marai

We came out at Onderon, and things had changed drastically. Republic merchant ships were fleeing like a school of fish before a predator. Onderoni naval vessels were firing on each other!

We dived out of the debacle, and approached the Mandalorian camp. We were hailed, and I saw Kelborn looking at us in astonishment.

"Talk about quick! We just sent the signal an hour ago-"

"What signal?" Manda'lor demanded.

"Someone named Kavar contacted us on the Queen's frequency just under three hours ago. He was trying to find her." He nodded toward me. I leaned forward.

"Report."

"He said that the Queen had arranged safe passage for you, and seemed upset that you had left. We had your ship code, and I sent the message, but then..." He paused and looked back up face grim. "I don't know now if that offer is still good. Things have gone to hell down there in the last hour."

"Explain." I ordered.

"This morning, almost four hours ago, General Vaklu met with the Council and had the Queen declared a traitor. The Council in his name ordered her to surrender herself, and she refused. That started a full-scale shooting war between different units of the army, and that mess you see in orbit is only the closest part.

"There is a full scale civil war going on down there, and it won't end until either Vaklu or the Queen is dead."

I shook my head. G0T0's prediction was spot on. "What help can Queen Talia muster?"

"In that part of the city not a lot. Vaklu has packed that area, 80 to 90 percent of the troops on checkpoints are his. Maybe a thousand men. The loyalists among them went under within minutes. The Royal guard has always been small. They muster less than four hundred. The Palace is a natural fortress and it had defenses in depth, but I do not know if her men can man all of them, and anything they do not man will be easily overrun. The Iron Eagles have complete air superiority and over two thousand troops that tried to fly to the Queen's assistance are dead. Add to that Vaklu's allies are the Sith and they're driving the beasts that have been driven mad by the fighting before them. Both Bralor and I agree. I seriously doubt she will survive until nightfall."

"I think I will have something to say about that." I snarled. "I must get down there."

"Are you mad? One Jedi, even two, you'll last as long as a bottle of Tihaar at a funeral!"

"You have little understanding of what the Force can do, warrior." Kreia snapped. "There is a Jedi Master within that palace. Even five thousand troops will find him something to reckon with.

"But I feel something more ominous. Tell me of the visitors."

"What? How..." Kelborn looked stunned. "One of the ships that had been in the queue broke formation and landed a large cargo shuttle on Dxun less than two hours before Vaklu's announcement. All we had were the passive sensors, and it read a medium sized transport shuttle." He brought up a map. "They landed here, about five kilometers away. That's all we know."

"Your enemy settles in that close, and that is all you see?" She looked at the map. "Look for the patterns, my child."

I leaned forward. The map told me little, except for an odd squiggling mark. "What is that?" I reached out, and touched the symbol.

"A tomb of some-"

I didn't hear what else he said. I saw Mira, Visas, my battle sister. They faced men in black robes, lightsabers in their hands. Visas stood to the fore, and I knew she spoke. Then suddenly battle was joined.

I snapped back. "A Sith Lord's tomb." I hissed. "All of the power of the dark side from such a place, what could it do?"

"Weaken those opposing them, help those attuned to it by strengthening their arms." Kreia said.

"Drive the beasts mad. Damn, that is what the problem has been! The Sith have been directing that energy at the city!" I slammed a fist on the table. "They must be stopped."

"Dividing our forces is not wise." Manda'lor said.

"Wise or not we must." I snapped. "If they finish whatever they are doing here, Talia loses. If we go to Talia's aid, they will finish uninterrupted, and Talia dies. Think Manda'lor! I drove a wedge between a Beast rider and her mount. What would the people say if the Queen was denied by hers?"

"But you cannot be in two place at once."

"Yes." I closed my eyes. It was harder than any decision I made during the war. Should I act to stop the vision I had seen to save the women of my crew? The only ones who had a chance since this was the Force we dealt with?

I turned. "Visas, I wish you to lead."

"But-" The Handmaiden stopped as I raised a hand.

"These are men who use the Force. They could wipe the Manda'lor and his men from the map, or delay them long enough to win. You, Visas will know which are which."

"I serve as you command."

"My sister, you must go, for of all, you are the best warrior. You must help your little sisters come home safe."

"Little sisters?" Mira asked. "You trying to get away from me?"

"No my dear." I reached out, and rubbed her cheek. "The danger we go into will be a thousand times worse, and I know how you feel about killing. If you merely defend, the others can handle the fighting. Will you go?"

"And if I don't you'll take away my desserts?"

"No, I will ask you again."

"You would too." She shrugged. "Besides, I haven't gotten the hang of a light saber yet."

"In the middle of a battle is not the time."

"All right. Maybe I can at least run them around so the others can kick butt."

"We have an attack skimmer. I can send you three and my best squad." Kelborn said.

"We have other transport to prepare." Manda'lor said. Take them."

"My sister, a word." The Handmaiden said.

"I will hear all you say." Visas said softly. "Must you pretend that I cannot?"

I sighed. "Manda'lor, please get whatever you planned ready. You three with me."

We walked into the day. "All right, who first?"

"My friend your sister must speak first." Visas said softly. "Else all will be confusion."

"I worry for my friend your student." The Handmaiden said. "She was just taken from the clutches of such beings. Must she chance being taken again? If she were to fall..."

"I shall not fall." Visas said calmly. I looked at her. "I would not fail the one who has given me my life back in that way. Better to die. But there is an option." She turned to Mira. "Little one, do you have what you call a come-along designed for Jedi?"

"Well I thought of one, and what is this 'little one' crap? I'm almost four years older than you!"

"I was speaking of height." Visas said deadpan.

"If I wasn't going to have to cover your butt, I'd place kick it to Onderon!" Mira snarled." She went through her row of weapons, and pulled one out. "Special design trigger. If you try to remove it without the proper code, the charge goes off, and nothing but a blast door will survive it." She hesitated. "Are you sure?"

"Attach it. In the center of my back where I cannot reach." Visas turned, and the shorter woman slapped it to her, the sticky chemical bonding to her clothing. Visas moved her arms. "I have fought with wounds that bound me more." She turned to face me. "I promise I shall not fall. But if I fail in that, my life is already forfeit at your command."

"No, Dammit. You will not fall." I rasped.

"Then we must go."

I stood there damning myself. I had always hated sending others to their death alone. I wished them well, and went back in.

"You will love this." Manda'lor said. "Show them, Zuka."

"We found a special cache right after you left. A lot of equipment was deployed here that never got used. Too bulky, that kind of thing." He led us across the compound to a huge hanger. He grinned, and pulled the switch. The doors opened, and I stared in amazement at the behemoth that waited for us. The last time I'd seen one of these was watching them drop on us on Baramina.

"Mark III Basilisk." Zuka said proudly. "The cache was hermetically sealed. This one must have been in for repairs, because a lot of systems were down. But it's as clean as the day they sealed it. I have it up and running, though it isn't up to full capability. Weapons are off line along with a few other systems, but the engine is smooth, and her shields are intact."

"What other systems are down?"

"Navigation and targeting. It has to be flown manually. But we can rip out the targeting computer and the missiles, and make room for three inside instead of riding it. Still state of the art in ablative armor and shields. Not even their corvettes will do much to it, and it's less than an hour and a half to the ground."

I chuckled. "I never thought I'd be flying one!"

"You don't. When it comes to maneuvering, it's a brick. But the auto land sequence looks sound."

"Looks?"

"Well the only way to know is to test it, and unfortunately, once this is in the air, everyone will be paying attention if you know what I mean."

I sighed. "All right walk me through this."

"No." We turned. Davrel was there. He was out of his Mandalorian armor, dressed as a mercenary. He came over, snapping a salute at Zuka, then at me. "I dreamed of this. I'm going with you."

"Davrel, this isn't your fight." I pointed out. "You should be with your comrades."

"I will be." His face broke. "They destroyed all the others when Revan took our surrender, this is the only one left. I... please."

"Are you checked out?" Zuka snapped.

"Yes, sir."

"How?"

"That old simulator disc you threw out. 'No one will ever need this anyway'. Well I wanted it, and I want this."

"But you'll be riding inside." I pressed.

"So? At least I'll be with it."

I looked into that face. Everything he'd wanted from life had ended thanks to Revan and I. If he wanted to be the last Mandalorian to ever fly a Basilisk into battle, I wasn't going to complain.

"Mount up. That just leaves-"

"Space for me." Kreia walked up. "Not the most comfortable ride, but I must admit it will be very ostentatious."

I sighed. "All right then. Let's go."