Note: Ok, this chapter will finish off several things in regard to the Ghorfa and the overall mission to Tatooine. I loved exploring the Ghorfa, but I have to move on to the next part. There are a number of planets to go through before the end of this fiction, and as much as I love working on it, I don't want to give you guys 100 chapters. That would just be ridicules.

Instead the third part will be… reasonably short. I want to do something with Maris and have a bonding moment for Team Skywalker. (Which sounds cheesy as hell to say outloud. I do not recommend doing that.)

As a couple other side notes I want to mention

1) I am only just finishing chapter 40. I haven't actually done the last segment yet, as I both, am not sure how to portray what I want from the correct perspective in the right way, and I have been busy lately. So regardless, chapter 40 is almost done, but until I can manage the time to sit down and seriously figure out what the characters would do in the scene and how to phrase it, then I can finish it and move on.

This means that while the story is not done yet, the me-constantly-uploading-every-four-days will come to a sudden halt once I reach the dead end. I will make sure to alert everyone when we reach it, so they are aware. Because I don't want to rush myself into a frenzy with the final arcs, I will be putting a halt with all uploads until I can get the rest of the chapters written, and I can say they are good. I will naturally let everyone know all of this again when its time.

2) The story continues to surprise me with having reached the top 5-6 Galen Marek stories in reviews, and just went over 100,000 views! :D:D:D:D:D:D:D I'm freaking out here, and trying not to have another nosebleed! (Had one last night. I'm exhausted.) This is so above and beyond everything I've expected, so it is giving me focus, and scaring the crap out of me, because it tells me I have a fair number of people with good expectations of me. I will try not to disappoint.

3) I am still working with my Beta Reader, but at this point she and I are so far behind on editing, it isn't funny. (ok, it is! xD) Once she finishes the next batch, we will have finished chapters 1-20, but as we are now in chapter 34, that is a moot point. Editing is being done. Just not necessarily at the pace you would like. So if anything obvious sticks out , please do let me know.

4) I was really really kinda hoping to get opinions on the deeper perceptions of Koj'Ineh as a person. I am happy that some of you fell in love instantly with HK (as a canon character, I love it!) because I think that HK fits so well with Varus. Anyone who knows Starkiller's canon story knows of his evil droid companion, whose job is literally to kill him every chance he has, so I think HK fits perfectly as a replacement. I might bring in the ACTUAL canon-starkiller-buddy-droid at some point, but not as a replacement to HK.

But still, would ya mind telling me what ya think of Koj specifically? He is a character I fell in love with, and one whom I have plans for in the distant future.

Episode 11 - Builder's Valley Part 2/3

"Master."

"AAAAAAH!" I jump away.

The droid watches me freak out with casual amusement. It may not be amused, but it's a killer droid. It's going to find the idea of jumping me to be absolutely hilarious! And of course Ahsoka has to find it funny. "Don't do that!" I snap at it.

The droid tilts its head and says, "Query: Master, you are fully away of my capabilities. Why are you pretending to be surprised at my appearance?"

Yeah, it definitely did that on purpose.

Damn invisible, jumping, assassination obnoxious piece of shit droid with a twisted sense of humor…

"Kiss my ass…" I growl. I turn and walk away. Koj and his Sand People are messing with the panel trying to figure out the proper way in. So until they punch the proper keys in, its not like I have anywhere to go. Its not like Revan can just waltz in and press the keys for all of us.

All twenty-six of them are working. HK follows me as I pace.

"It is illogical to equalize the equation of how kissing your flab of hanging flesh would prevent ignorance of my impending de-cloaking."

"Oh, will you shut up!" I yell. Twenty-four heads turn to glance at me, but turn back while HK and I argue. Wait… wasn't there twenty-five of us? Ahsoka, Tree-Hugger, Koj, me, HK, one, two, five, ten, twenty Sand People, and…

Revan.

"Move." I dash into the crowd and push them aside to get a good view of him. The Sand People look like they take great offense at my outburst, but Koj calms them down.

Revan presses buttons much like them. I watch the buttons, memorize them, but when he finishes, he growls in aggravation and trys again. Nice to know he is having as good of a time as us.

"You see something?" Tree-Hugger wonders.

"Yeah. Revan." Revan finally just grabs the panel, rips it open, and messes with ghost-wires that I can't see clearly. "Rip this open!" I grab the panel and tug. It doesn't give, so Tree-Hugger cuts the side with his saber. Without the lock, it slides open easily.

I follow Revan's fingers as he works. Already I can see a bit of his handiwork. Wires are loose and tangled.

"Who else has access to the panel?" I ask.

If Revan was the last one to touch all these wires, shouldn't they be exactly as he left them? They are rearranged here and there. Someone else has been touching them. Revan takes a wire out of one slot and puts it in another. I follow his work and mimic it.

After HK translates back and forth, Koj says, "Aandrax has access to the Valley."

"Good or bad?"

"Bad. They will kill us all on sight and eat our remains." Tree-Hugger stiffens violently at the translation. Ahsoka and I share a worried glance briefly, but Tree-Hugger does nothing. He forces himself to relax, but his eyes are wary. He watches the horizon carefully.

"Well… Any reason why your 'Aandrax' would be sticking their sandy hands into this panel?"

"Every Ghorfa has rights to enter the place of The Builders." HK translates. "It is what is left of our birthright." Sounds fancy. Don't know anything about birthright, but it sounds deep.

"So… we can expect anyone to be banging down our door." I say to myself.

Revan ties several wires together, and stops. He turns around and seems pleased. I do the same, and the ground starts to shake. "I think I got it." I conclude.

The ground shakes and turns into an earthquake. Large rips appear in the sand and we struggle to stay upright. The rips go from one side of the valley to the other. "Oh yeah, you got it." Ahsoka responds.

The rips expand all across the valley, widening to the point that it looks like it might engulf us. More rips appear in the sand, and more, until there are ten rips in total going from one side to the other. The sand level falls, and reveals metal plating. From the ledge we managed to cling to, we can see down several feet into the top of a metal floor. The valley sand was ontop of a subterranean facility like a nuke silo or something much larger. Whoever these 'Builders' are, I can see where they got the nickname.

A small flight of stairs emerge as sand falls off it leading from where we are standing, on a metal platform, down, and along the sides of the great tube beneath us. Revan goes down, and I follow.

"Outsiders." HK translates for Koj. "The place is sacred. Only a few of us are allowed. One of you, and one of us."

"Fine, Varus, be careful. We'll be here when your back." Tree-Hugger says. He casts a wary eye on the Sand People, and puts a hand on his lightsaber. He doesn't do anything more, but the message is clear enough. He doesn't trust them.

Koj and I descend, and of course HK because the lovable robed-dude and I have this thing about language. I don't want to have to speak with hand gestures.

"It's a factory. A ship factory." I realizes in slight awe. "An underground ship factory on Tatooine. What is something like this doing here?"

"It was a place of the Builders. We built it for them, as we did many other things." Koj answered via translation.

The descent down into the belly of the beast was slow until the stairs came to a larger ledge. From there it opened up into doorways with offices and outdoor platforms where, supposedly, people would work. It all crumbled, rusted over, fell apart, and gathered dust long ago. A single source of light beaming down from the sky was our only comfort.

I followed the memory of Revan through the depths and hallways of this Builder place. "So you built this?" I wonder. There is a section with writing on the walls. Koj stops before the writing.

"There is much that would surprise you, Outsider." Koj replied. "This place is where our ancestors wrote history for us to later remember. The language is lost, but in its place are picture writing. We did, indeed, build this facility. The Builders enslaved us as they had so many others."

"Yeah? Why? What point would they have in a desert planet and… your people, no offense. About all I can imagine here is its position in trade routes."

Koj nods in agreement. "I believe you Outsiders take interest in us for rich minerals, but we were not always this way. The writings and pictures speak of a time when we were a strong smart people. We built great towers into the clouds, and traveled the night sky."

"Whoa, so you had space travel?"

"Perhaps to a degree, but how much, I don't know. We may have been vast with empires of our own, or only touched down on the distant moons. The Builders came across us, enslaved us, took us away to build things for them. When we were done, they killed us. We rebelled, so they burned our planet to glass."

I don't recognize the writing and words, but the drawn images are clear. The largest one has a round surface, I'm getting a planet surface, with beams of chalk hitting it from space ships above it, and people fleeing from the beam.

"But the planet is sand." I argue. "Not glass."

"What is glass but fused sand? What is sand but glass that has crumbled into its tiniest form?" Koj says cryptically. "I don't know how my ancestors lived. They most likely established themselves here. Our songs and ways revere this Valley as our place of origin, and destruction. They left their writings here when they could ascend into the world again."

Koj looks me square in the eye, facemask to face. "You are the second Outsider to be allowed in this place in many generators. Your predecessor because of his promises, and you because it was the will of the Good Spirit."

"Thank you." I answer. I step away from the writings and pictures. With my luck, if I get too close, I'll blow something up.

I can't say what it is I feel about these people. I lack Tree-Huggers history with them, so I'm not angry. Instead all I know is that they are going through, in some ways, the same thing as me. I'm endangered. They are on the brink of annialation. They were enslaved, murdered, nearly killed in mass genocide, and then spit on when they returned to the surface by invaders. No wonder their culture was twisted to fit the situation.

We continue walking, and I lead the way as I follow the ghost of Revan.

When was the last time they had a vacation? They need to go to a beach or something. They would be right at home with the sand and yet get to relax. Maybe shoot a seagull or two while they're at it. "You people really need a vacation. Nice hotel, a buffet, a swimming pool, room service. Good view of the oceans. All that crap."

"Outsider, we would give anything to see an ocean, or be able to leave for a chance."

"Then why don't you rebuild this place? Build a ship? Or just find a spare that was left behind."

Koj stops walking, and looks to me. I don't know whether to be stunned or frightened. "You mean, you've never considered looking through this vast place? Nor your ancestors?"

"This place is sacred."

"As much as I can respect that, Dude, I'm telling you. Find a ship. Find a blueprint. Find something. Which is more important to you? Keeping this place the way its been? Crumbling and dusty and dark? Or building a new chapter?"

Koj goes silent, and I swear I can hear the cogs turning in his head. Seriously, has no one thought of this stuff?

A door stands in our way. Revan walks straight through. As much as I want to just blow it out of our way, this place is… special. It's like I'm walking where millions have died and lived in desperation. I opt to get through the problem with blowing everything up.

We take hold of the broken door and shove it aside. Koj says in a subdued voice, "I shall… consider… your options. Thank you." He says it with more emotion and respect than I would have thought possible, and this coming from a guy who I've already been getting points from since I've been trying to understand him. The more I understand of these people, the more I realize about myself. Sand People. Miraluka. Our existence both sucks.

"What do you call yourselves?" I wonder. "Do you call yourselves 'Sand People'?"

"Our name is not to be known by Outsiders."

Aaand the happy feelings gone.

"We are the Ghorfa."

Happy's back.

I chuckle, "Well, my man Ghorfa, if I get a ship, I'm going to show you a vacation planet. And that's NOT a promise."

Koj glances at me out of the corner of his eye through the head-mask, and says nothing. But he doesn't have to. I'm fine with ending it there. Too much sappy will turn me into a girl.

Time to get back to saving the galaxy and kicking ass.

Revan, and I, turn a corner and the hall opens into a aroom that is… huge. There is the nice holographic projector like from Dantooine. There is nice lightning. There is a nice snake-baller.

Snake-Baller.

"OH SHIT!" I shove Koj to the side and we hide behind the corner.

Koj says something, and I wait a moment for translation… and nothing. HK's gone. THAT IS JUST BEAUTIFUL!

Force, Just… just… go away. Go mess with someone else already. The first fifty times was amusing, now its rediculas.

Koj asks me something, and I don't know whether to laugh or cry. I don't understand a word my Ghorfa-friend is saying, the other one is gone, and there is a snake-baller in the middle of the room where I need to be. Would it be reasonable to do both?

I put a hand up to shut him up. Really, Koj, figure out the fact that we lost our translator! I slowly inch my eyes around the corner -and theres the baller. I jump back a bit, and slowly. Every so slowly, at such a break-neck slow pace I have to restrain every inch of my body to achieve, expose a corner of my eye to see the side of the boss at the end of the dungeon.

The boss sits there resolute as any droid I've ever met. Watchful, observant-

A shot is fired.

-,and very much dead.

Wait, what?

The snake-baller falls forward straight on its face and HK appears in front of me. "Disappointed sigh: The undesirable was already deceased."

I kick the dead droid in the face, and jump back as my instincts tell me its going to get up and kick my ass. I peek at it from behind the holographic projector, but it doesn't move.

"Serves you right." I scoff.

"You ridicules. Like scared weasel rat." Koj mocks me offhandedly.

"Yeah, well. You have one of these bastards bring down the house around you, and you learn to check twice."

I step move around the projector to where it looks like a panel is, and I see Revan appear. He puts his hand on it, and steps back to talk to something just outside my memory. I do the same, and Koj jumps in fright at the sight of an alien-freak appear on it.

"A Builder." Koj says in awe.

"Hello, Miraluka." The Builder says to me. "You seek that which your predecessor sought?"

"I do. Show me exactly what you showed him."

"Be warned, Miraluka. What you seek is of great power. If you fall short of its expectations, it will kill you before accepting you."

"Yeah, yeah…" Really, not my problem. The Jedi will be the ones to have to worry about that. Or the Republic in general. I won't go near the Star Forge if it comes with a death price tag.

The Builder-thing disappears, and in its place is a whole lot of dots. A looooot of dots.

…

Is that it?

Anakin kept a fair distance from the Sand People. After slugging Varus a few times, and regretting every moment of it now, he's had better control of himself. All the same, being so close to the murderers has left him… well, let's just say their presence strikes him too close emotionally for his comfort. As a Jedi, he was taught to detach himself. For most things he could do that. With Padme, he couldn't. It left him with worries and problems, but they were doable with her help.

With his mother, it was much worse. It was a problem that couldn't be helped. He grew up here. His family was killed by these people in savage rituals. Try as he might, he couldn't detach himself fully from that fact. He didn't want to hurt them, not truly, but there was still that part of him that screamed and raged. That part of him that reached for his saber and forced him into a constant internal struggle between the Jedi Code he revered, and the images of his dead mother who he loved.

A noise made him jump, and caused every single one of the savages to reach for their weapon and aim around. The sight of armed Sand Raiders made his inner-beast rage within its cage. Anakin reached for his datapad and said, "Guys, guys. It's ok. Just me."

At the sight of the datapad, they calmed and lowered their weapons, slightly. Anakin answered the call and said, "Hel-"

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" A yell comes out so loud Anakin felt his eardrums boom. He pulled the datapad away at arm's length and winced as a high-pitched whistle was all he could hear. After the whistle disappeared, the person continued to yell. "PLEASE JUST GRAB ME, SHAKE ME, AND TELL ME YOUR DAMNED WELL KIDDING ME! DOTS… DOTS! WE CAME HERE FOR DOTS?! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE TREE-HUGGER AND GET YOUR DAMN DOTS!"

"VARUS!" Anakin yelled back. "Settle down! What are you talking about?!"

"The. Projector. Is. Giving. Me. A bunch of ****** DOTS!"

Anakin pinched the top of his nose and forced himself to calm down. He shoved his inner-beasts in its cage as far as he could. He answered, "Varus. Do the dots form a picture?"

"No. They form a bunch of crappy dots!"

Anakin groaned. He closed his eyes and recited the Jedi Code. "Varus. Play connect the dots."

"Play? What kind of a game is-"

"Ok, better idea. Pull up a cam. Let me see it." In hindsight, a Sith Lord wouldn't be the type to play 'connect-the-dots' with their mutual apprentice.

"Okay… one second." After a few moments a moving picture appears on the screen.

"Varus, that's a constellation."

"Oh… Is that what we're looking for?"

"Yes."

"Well, why didn't you tell me?!" The transmission cuts off and Anakin groans, deeply.

"Explain this to me…" I say. I would ask, but I'm not in the mood. "What do constellations have to do with a Star Forge?"

"How much do you know about maps, Varus?" Ahsoka asks me curiously.

Maps. Pieces of paper with mountains and crap on them. Fancy drawing. A star map is more along the lines of a million dots with swirly mist. You can see planets and things on them if you really really closely, and have a microscope. Beyond that, "not much."

Tree-Hugger answers, "A coordinate on a three-dimensional chart requires at least three points around it, more for accuracy. The coordinate itself is the center-point where the lesser coordinates intersect. The points are input into computers in much the same way as a phone, but they are not numbers. They are constellations. You require coordinates to where you are, and where you are going, and for the constellations to be mapped. Computers automatically analyze stars around you for the constellation coordinates of your home-position, and you have to input the constellations of the arrival-position."

All I heard was coordinates, something about charts, and that it's a phone… aaaand there goes my interest. Basically plug constellations into a computer and whammo, you got yourself a Star Forge, hold the lemon. So that's why we are looking for five clues… I was hoping the first one would be a welcome mat straight to this Star Forge, and the rest were just optional one telling us the same place.

Well crap… This is going to take forever!

In the distance a city shows up, and Koj turns the whole caravan around, save for us. He points to the city, and HK tells us, "He says, 'That is a star port. Safe travels, Outsiders, Varus.'"

Hey! I earned a special mention. "Bet you wish you had that." I smirk

Tree-Hugger doesn't look particularly desiring of any special mention from the Ghorfa. Ahsoka smiles politely, but I can tell she doesn't care that much. Their loss.

Lord Tyraneus, otherwise known by his more common title of Count Dooku, turned on his holoprojector and inputed the private decryption key. The decryption key transformed into a location of a chat room buried deep within the holonet. The holonet path buffered quickly and a stable transmission was established. On the hoverdisk was the form of his master, Darth Sidius.

Dooku put his hands together and greeted his master. "My Master."

"Dooku." Sidius returned.

In the brief moment of their exchange, Dooku looked his master over. Always he could tell how good their plan was going in his master's mood. If his master was pleased, it was readily seen in his drive to be ever more cautious and further stablize the next steps. If his master was displeased, he would seek more aggressive action to return the galaxy to the proper path their plan required. Namely one of never ending blood-baths and stalemates fueled by desperation. Make just enough droids to make the Republic desperate, but not so many as to produce a winner.

Today, he saw nothing. Most days, he might see boredom in his master, and listen patiently as Sidius would rant about the stupidity of the Senators he has to deal with daily. But there was none of that. His master's expression was blank, and the Force he felt was empty. There was no pleasure of a good days work, nor the displeasure of it falling back, no boredom, no need to rant. There was simply nothing. Absolutely nothing. Sidius almost looked… Dooku couldn't quite put his finger on it. But Sidius appeared just as robotic as the droids Tryaneus has to deal with every day.

Puzzled, Dooku asked, "Does something displease you, my master?"

"No." Sidius cocked his head to the side. Dooku was even more puzzled by this subtle movement. Sidius never did that.

"I… see." Dooku hesitated, but figured his master was having an 'off' day. "Then it would please you, my lord, to learn that everything is going efficiently. We are preparing to move the droids back for maintenance, which will give your side the time necessary to-"

"No."

Dooku stopped in mid-sentence and wondered. His master had been ordering him to get the droids back for maintenance. The Republic was being pushed too hard, too fast. They needed more time to give the Supreme Chancellor more politicial power in their desperation, and they needed to win the Chancellor more points in his victories.

The ruse of pulling the entire confederacy army back all at once for maintenance was actually true, albeit designed to do that for the exact purpose of the Republic retaking the entire border back to approximately where it all began. At the end of the year, the Republic would have gained nothing, and the Confederacy gained just as much in the entire war.

It all made sense. It would look like nothing was gained, which would make everyone more desperate. And the Chancellor would be there to comfort their pleas and provide victory in these trying times, as he always has.

So why?

"I do not understand. Are we changing the plan?" Dooku asked.

"Do not continue to evade, Darth Tryaneus." Sidius ordered.

Darth Tryaneus… Never in his life had Sidius called him that. The title of Darth would only be earned on his master's grave. "Evade?"

"You know this one may be Sidius, but I am not him. Even Sidius did not consider you stupid enough to think so little."

Dooku blinked and briefly gaped in surprise. Yes, he figured there was something wrong with his master. But what was his master eluding to? Was he saying he was an imposter using Sidius' virtual image? That was suicide. Sidius and Dooku would both hunt down this imposter and kill him.

Darth Tryaneus…

Unless Sidius was dead…

But that made no sense, Sidius was here, before him.

Dooku puzzled the words, until a realization hit him. He recognized the feeling in the Force his 'master' was giving off. In his early times as a Sith Apprentice, Dooku had encountered many Sith in passing, his master's equals. Malak was filled with hatred, Revan with dark purpose, Sion with madness, Treya with the loneless of the betrayed, Sidius with scheming ambition, and Nihilus with hunger.

Sidius's ambition was gone, replaced with nothing but the void.

Sidius nodded. "Now, you see. Now, you understand. Darth Tryaneus, it is time we… modified the plan."

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