Crosshair stared at Tech for a moment, then said, "So it's likely we'll have to deal with a flash flood?"

"Ah – yes." Tech quirked his mouth to one side, looking concerned.

"Awesome." Quinlan was already walking forward again. "Perfect. Just what we wanted."

Crosshair slung his rifle over his back, put on his helmet, and shot a look at Hunter, who hadn't budged. "We need to get out of here, fast."

The sergeant was resting a hand on the wall, head tilted and eyes narrowed as he felt the earth for tremors. He didn't comment, but Crosshair saw the slight twitch of fingers that meant he'd felt something.

"How long do we have?" Wrecker asked him.

"Not very long." Hunter pulled back. "Do we go back over the chasm or into the riverbed?"

"River's closer," said Quinlan, gesturing Vythia forward. "If the water enters the tunnels while we're still in 'em, we'll get crushed, even if we don't drown."

"Neither of which is desirable." Vythia closed one hand over the black satchel she carried before taking the lead.

The others followed, and Hunter glanced over his shoulder to say, "Tech?"

Clipping his datapad to his belt, Tech secured it with one of the many leather loops. "I do not have enough data to provide an accurate analysis of the situation."

"Then we get to the river and hope for the best."

"Oh boy," grumbled Wrecker, who was ahead of Quinlan and the sergeant. He squeezed between a suddenly narrow segment of the walls. "Vythia? Can you move any faster?"

"Almost!" she called back.

Crosshair automatically dropped back to rearguard position as he ducked his head to avoid the increasingly low-slung ceiling. As if that wasn't bad enough, the tunnel was narrowing again, and stalagmites sprouted from the floor, getting in their way. Wrecker, who was directly behind Vythia, had to slow down even more, which made everyone else slow down as well.

Hunter skidded to a halt, while Wrecker made his way past a grouping of stalagmites, and rested a gloved hand on the tunnel wall. He froze and shot a look at Quinlan.

"Let me guess," muttered the Kiffar. He took a step back before vaulting sideways over a half-formed pillar of rock in his path. "The walls are vibrating. Cue the oncoming flood. We need to move faster or we're gonna die."

"Yeah." Hunter slid past the last stalagmite and broke into a run.

"Great." Quinlan followed, letting out a dramatic huff. "That just figures . . . Good thing Tech thought everything out."

Crosshair didn't agree – at least, not out loud. Within half a minute, they were very nearly out of the tunnel. The light was stronger now, and when Vythia switched off her lantern, it didn't make too much of a difference. Crosshair's senses, apart from his sight, weren't as sharp as Hunter's, but even Wrecker could probably hear the dull-pitched rumbling now. It sounded like a distant, oncoming tram.

Vythia reached the mouth of the tunnel and wavered, then jumped down, vanishing as she shouted, "Hurry!"

Wrecker followed, then Tech, Hunter, and Quinlan.

Crosshair paused on the very edge, the rock vibrating beneath his feet for an instant before he jumped down to land in six inches of ash. Here, the cave ceiling extended above them and sheltered them from the wind and rain; but the storm, which appeared to be centered directly above the collapsed roof, swirled in yellow-tinged clouds.

"We've got to hurry!" Hunter shouted obviously as he stepped back to eye the steep river banks. They towered overhead, at least seven meters in height. The rock walls of the riverbed were smooth, almost polished as though they'd been ground down. Definitely too smooth for most people to climb.

Crosshair was not most people. He flicked his gaze over the bank, then spotted a slight protuberance some four feet above his head. "Wrecker."

When Wrecker dropped to one knee, Crosshair scrambled up to his shoulders and clutched at the narrow, rocky shelf with one hand. He caught sight of another one, some two meters above that, and carefully pulled himself up until he had one knee on the ledge he was clinging to. He tried to reach the second ledge, but couldn't get to a full standing position on the two-centimeter width of rock.

"Let's go upstream," Quinlan suggested, eyeing the far end of the riverbed. "There's a shallow area there."

"No," said Tech, and grabbed his cable attachment from his belt. "It is too narrow. The water will come through there with enough pressure to crush you and then drag you under."

Hunter already had his grappling hook out. Whirling it over his head, he let it extend a few times before releasing it. It disappeared over the edge, but slithered back down in seconds, having found nothing to hold on to.

Still balancing precariously on the ledge, Crosshair slipped his own cable attachment from his belt with his right hand.

The riverbed walls were shaking harder now, and the oncoming sound increased from that of a distant tram to that of a roar.

"Tech, I need a target." Crosshair and Hunter said together.

Crosshair looked down. Hunter looked up.

"I have one," said Tech, who was studying his datapad again. "Hunter! A meter to your right and six from the edge."

The vibrating roar was still increasing in intensity.

Hunter threw his grappling hook again as Crosshair fired his cable. Both caught. In a matter of seconds, Hunter climbed rapidly hand over hand and swung himself over the edge of the bank. "Wrecker! Tech, show the others how to get up!"

Using Hunter's cable, Wrecker climbed two-thirds up the wall while Crosshair leaned down, grabbed Tech's wrist, and hoisted him up. Tech braced one foot against Crosshair's knee before kicking off toward Wrecker, who easily boosted him the rest of the way to where Hunter was waiting.

Vythia was next, and she followed easily in Tech's footsteps. She was surprisingly strong, lifting more of her weight than Tech had been able to, and swung over the edge without needing Hunter's help.

Quinlan had just grabbed Crosshair's hand when the entire wall jolted so hard that the Jedi nearly lost his grip. Still hanging in mid-air, he glanced at the cave entrance to the riverbed, and Crosshair followed his gaze. A grey sludge filled the mouth of the river for a short instant, blocking out the dull light, then rushed in.

"Right . . ." said Quinlan, for no apparent reason.

He jumped with the Force, caught the ledge Crosshair had been unable to reach, and snatched at Wrecker's cable with the other hand.

Crosshair and Wrecker scrambled up after him, pulling themselves over the angled stone edge to the road that bordered the river. They got to their feet and backed away, waiting with the others as they watched.

A few interminable seconds later, the ponderously moving flow of ash and water surged past. Crosshair eyed it in surprise – he'd never seen water moving that slow. It swelled and rippled like water, but much more heavily. Even when it sloshed against the rock walls, the waves folded back into the rest of the river almost reluctantly.

Then the grey, pulsing water slammed into the opposite end of the tunnel and backwashed, sweeping back over itself and creating odd slurping sounds as the riverbank vibrated.

"We should get to higher ground," Tech observed.

"Let us return to the mansion," said Vythia. "It will be safe."

"Yeah?" Crosshair cast another look at the churning, rising mass of thick grey mud and foam. "You sure about that?"

"I'm not," said Hunter dubiously. "Why don't we just get to the ships and get out?"

"Because," Vythia said, "I am not entirely sure yet that there is not an artifact to discover in the labyrinth itself."

At almost the same moment, the Jedi glanced up, and Crosshair raised an eyebrow at the look on his face. It was startled, and yet he seemed preoccupied.

Narrowing his eyes, Crosshair followed Quinlan's gaze to the satchel Vythia carried at her side. The Jedi was going to give himself away if he didn't focus.

"What do you mean?" Crosshair demanded, stepping towards Vythia. "We already searched the labyrinth."

"Quinlan did not locate an artifact there," she replied.

"I did find the artifact I felt, though," the Jedi interrupted. "Lothal's mask – that's what I was – sensing – from the labyrinth."

"Nevertheless," she said, following Wrecker along the street towards the mansion. "I would like to at least see if you believe you can feel anything else in the labyrinth now that the mask's presence is not overpowering it."

The Jedi, who was walking between Hunter and Crosshair, let out a huff and muttered, so quietly that only they could hear him, "Yeah, except I can still feel that thing."

A minute later, they reached the mansion. Opening the door, Wrecker gestured the others in and said, "Hey, Vythia, how long do you think it'll take us?"

"Perhaps an hour or so," she said, resting her hand on the black satchel. "Why?"

"Because, uh –" Wrecker waved a hand toward the river. "The storm's getting worse, and the river's just gonna keep on rising, isn't it?

"I suspect not," she replied. "It has been four thousand years since the Scourge, and yet the rooms show no evidence of having ever been flooded. It would be extremely unlikely for the entire town to flood more than usual during the one day we are here."

"And the storm?" Crosshair asked.

Vythia shrugged. "We are more protected here than out in the open."

Hunter glanced at Tech, who nodded in confirmation.

". . . Okay," the sergeant agreed. "But I still want the Marauder moved farther back."

"Probably wise," she said, raising an eyebrow. "I will move the Phoenix, as well."

Tech pressed a button on his datapad. "We can land outside the cave system, a few hundred meters to the east or the west of the riverbank. . . Or, we could simply move them as far from the river as possible, given that the storm outside the cave is more likely to be a problem than a little water, should it reach the shuttles."

"Keep it in the east end of the cave," Hunter said. "Wrecker, go with him."

"Sure thing, boss." The two commandos left, with Vythia following, and the door shut.

Crosshair waited a few seconds afterwards, then folded his arms and rounded on the Jedi. "What's the problem?"

Quinlan raised an eyebrow ". . . What?"

"What is it with the mask?"

The Kiffar gazed blankly at him, then shook his head once. "Uh, Crosshair, the mask is a Dark Side artifact."

"Yeah. Got that." Crosshair removed his helmet, tucked it under one arm, and put a toothpick in his mouth. Biting down on it, he added, "But what's your problem with it?"

"It's a Dark Side . . . artifact?" Quinlan rubbed at his forehead. "Which . . . are always kind of a problem? Sorry, I don't know what exactly you're asking."

"How is it a problem?" Crosshair asked. "The shard and scepter weren't so bad."

"Oh." Quinlan's eyes cleared with understanding. "Right. I think my shields have been getting weaker – it's not easy to block the presence of dark objects anymore."

"Yeah, and it's obvious," Crosshair informed him. "You're being obvious. I'm surprised Vythia hasn't noticed."

Before the Jedi could come up with a scathing retort, Hunter stepped forward. "Why are they getting weaker?"

"Because they're under constant attack." Quinlan tilted his head towards the door that lead into the main room. "This whole planet is full of dark energy, and places like Lothal and Adas Academy – and wherever it is Vythia wants to bring us next – they're even more strongly steeped in the dark side."

"That sounds like it's gonna be a problem." Hunter narrowed his eyes.

From outside came the sound of two ship engines starting.

The Jedi took a deep breath, then let it out, wilting a bit. "It is a problem," he admitted with a shrug. "And if she doesn't leave that mask on her ship, it's going to be even more of a problem."

"Hm." Hunter drew his knife and sheathed it a couple of times. "So, your shields work like normal energy shields in that the more they're under attack, the more they're weakened?"

"Yeah. Think of the whole planet like a – like a power drain on a shield, right? And the artifacts end up being like constant, direct attacks. There's a reason those things were kept shielded even by the Sith."

Hunter nodded slowly and sheathed his knife with an audible click. "Okay. Anything you do about it?"

"Normally, I'd meditate. But that's really not going to work here. I need to reach the Force in order to meditate, and to do that I have to lower my shields. . . Course, it's not like there's enough light energy around here to even bother trying that."

Crosshair rolled his eyes. Jedi sure had weird problems.

The two shuttles landed, clearly audible in the silent town as Vos continued to stare thoughtfully at the floor.

A minute later, he said, "Leaving Malachor as fast as possible is our best bet. And I guess that means finding artifacts as fast as possible."

Crosshair took the toothpick out of his mouth, considered, and put it back in. "What about the one Vythia thinks is still here?"

"Umm . . ." Kneeling down, Quinlan rested his hands on his knees and bowed his head.

Hunter eyed him uncertainly, then turned suddenly to face the door – the others must be coming back.

"I . . . don't feel anything," the Jedi said, and got up again. "Vythia's coming back, but she doesn't have the mask. Well – that's one thing in our favor. Of course, she's not gonna believe that there isn't another artifact unless I tell her I searched through the Force instead of with psychometry."

"So we'll still have to enter the labyrinth," concluded Hunter, and glanced briefly at Crosshair.

The sniper frowned at him for worrying, and for being so obvious with his thoughts. "It's not like we'll be down there long."

Then the door opened, and Wrecker cheerfully shouted, "Okay, Hunter, the Marauder's moved and locked up!"

"Good. Tech, what's the river looking like?"

Tech looked up from his datapad and gestured with it. "It is continuing to rise, though at a far less advanced rate than I had initially feared. The storm, however, is worsening. We might not be able to leave Lothal."

"Why not?" Vythia asked, with a look of mild surprise.

"Well. We will not be able to leave until the storm has passed," Tech amended, and paused to push his goggles back up to the bridge of his nose. "It is causing a significant downdraft, and even if we did manage to get out of the cave, flying in these conditions would be highly inadvisable."

Quinlan checked his chronometer, looked up and opened his mouth, hesitated, then shut it again.

Crosshair cast a brief look at his own chrono. It was just past fifteen hundred hours, which meant that it wouldn't be all that long before nightfall . . . something that seemed to worry the Jedi. Crosshair didn't understand that, but he had also begun to think that if it worried Quinlan, it might be worth exercising caution over. "So we might have to stay the night," he said.

Vythia glanced at him with a faint smile. "Well, what of it? If staying in this building concerns you, you can always move to your shuttle. Or is it staying in the city itself that you dislike the idea of?"

Crosshair spat out his toothpick and reached for a new one. "Just making an observation."

"Mm-hmm."

Not looking up from the small screen on his vambrace, Tech said, "The initial plan was to return to the shuttles after searching the basement."

"Yes." Vythia nodded her agreement and headed towards the main room. "I suppose we should rest for a bit before searching the labyrinth."

"I still don't know why we need to search it again," said Quinlan, following her. "The mask was what I felt – why are you so sure there's another artifact down there?"

She shrugged once, eloquently.

Crosshair eyed her retreating figure with suspicion. She had been fairly open so far about answering the team's questions. Why was she avoiding this one? Or did she not want to admit that she only hoped there was another artifact down there, and had no reason to suspect that it was actually the case?

Dropping back a little, Hunter glanced at his squad mates. "You think we should try to beat the worst of the storm and get out?"

"Yeah," Wrecker said.

"Well, I disagree," said Tech, then lifted a finger in response to Hunter's raised eyebrow. "But only because I believe it is already too late for that."

Hunter let out a huff. "Okay. Then let's rest later. I'd rather get started so Vythia doesn't decide to search the labyrinth in the middle of the night."

"Good idea," Wrecker whispered, stepping around the statue of a slave. "Quinlan wouldn't want to do that."

Crosshair paused to eye the statue of the female Zabrak and wondered if she had been Lothal's wife. The markings on the cloaks seemed to match. Tech noticed that he was observing the runes and paused next to him.

"Why do you say that, Wrecker?" asked Hunter.

"'Cause he was worried about getting out of the academy before the sun went down."

"Because of the stormbeasts," Tech interjected.

"No . . . I don't think so."

I don't think so either, Crosshair thought, though in any other situation he'd have passed off Quinlan's dislike of the night as a ridiculous superstition. What was it about this place, anyway? Everything seemed wrong – even apart from the stone people.

Halting at the back of the group, he cast a look back at the empty doorway that led back to the entry room. It was still open. . . for now. He wondered if that would last.

It was nearly four hours later that the team climbed wearily back up the long stairways and to the top floor. The storm was still raging, worse than the previous night, though for some reason there was very little lightning. Hunter was grateful about that. The constant pricks of alertness were just tiring.

Quinlan was – once again – looking as though he weren't really paying attention to his surroundings. He'd been quiet during the fruitless search in the labyrinth, answering Vythia's questions in brief sentences and not engaging in the half-hearted conversations the others had begun. Hopefully that was because he was tired, and not because Malachor was starting to be a real problem for him.

Not that Hunter really knew what that meant. Even though Malachor was darker than the spirit urn, according to Quinlan, the Jedi hadn't seemed to get exhausted or sick the way he had with that artifact. . . at least, not until now.

"Well," Tech said. "This seems as good a place as any."

Hunter looked up. They were at the doorway of one of the unfurnished rooms he and Wrecker had searched earlier in the day.

There was no question of returning to the shuttles. Hunter would have preferred to, though he didn't exactly have an objection to staying in the mansion; but after debating it quietly, the team had agreed it was better to stay here, where they could keep an eye on Vythia. Even Quinlan had agreed, though he seemed far more nervous about staying in the mansion than the others did.

Vythia stepped across the hall to a second room and opened the door. "We might stay here only a few hours," she said. "I would like to head to our next destination as soon as the storm clears."

"Works for us," said Hunter. "Tech's going to keep an eye on the weather conditions."

"Very well." She entered the room and started to close the door, but Quinlan raised a hand to stop it.

"Vythia," he said. "What is our next destination?"

"Trayus Academy," she replied with a vague smile.

Quinlan lowered his hand and stepped back. "Trayus Academy? Is it anything like Adas Academy?"

"Who can say?" When he didn't answer, she closed the door.

Everyone seemed to relax, and Hunter looked up. That was a bit odd . . . "She making you nervous?" he asked quietly.

Crosshair and Tech looked at each other in confusion – they probably hadn't noticed their own reactions.

Wrecker shrugged. "I dunno. A little, kind of."

"Yes, she's making me nervous," said Quinlan. "Since I first met her, actually. There's something . . . wrong . . ."

"The whole planet's wrong," said Crosshair coolly. He seated himself against the wall and crossed one leg over the other.

"Yeah." The Jedi shot him an unamused look. "I meant besides that. And now we're headed to Trayus Academy. Kriff it all."

He sat down and rested both hands on his knees. Hunter almost asked him about the academy, but decided to wait when Quinlan shut his eyes. Maybe he was trying to meditate and get his mind shields back up to standard.

There were a few minutes of relative silence while everyone tried to get into a comfortable position. Hunter lay flat and clasped his hands behind his neck, thought about removing at least some of his armor, and decided against it. Wrecker sat against the wall near the door, and Tech sat cross-legged next to Hunter and started typing.

Hunter watched him through half-lidded eyes. Tech had been unusually twitchy for the past couple hours. Seeing the statue's eyes glow must have bothered him more than Hunter had thought.

Opposite the door from Wrecker, Quinlan apparently gave up on trying to meditate, or whatever it was he was doing. Flopping onto his stomach, he rested his head in his arms and shut his eyes.

Tech continued working. The clicking and rattling of the keys didn't bother Hunter, but being ready for the next phase of the mission was important. . . and being ready usually involved some form of actual rest.

"Tech," he said.

Tech hummed inquisitively, not looking up from his screen.

"What are you working on?"

"Researching," said Tech. "More accurately, I am attempting to research. I cannot locate any new facts about the Sith or their artifacts."

Quinlan mumbled something into his elbow.

"What?" Hunter asked.

The Jedi lifted his head so that he was no longer speaking into his sleeve and repeated, "For good reason."

"I assume that to be the case," Tech said. "Still, it would be useful to know at least a little more about – "

"Lower your voice," interrupted Quinlan. "Nautolans have excellent hearing."

Wrecker shrugged. "Her door's still closed."

" – what we will be dealing with in Trayus Academy," finished Tech.

The Jedi groaned and shut his eyes. "Don't remind me."

Tech blinked and went back to reading while Hunter thought over what he knew about Sith academies, which was almost nothing. Then he wondered how much Vythia actually knew, because he was pretty sure she was lying about not knowing more about the destinations she'd picked. Then he opened his eyes, realizing he knew very little about Vythia herself.

"Hey," said Wrecker suddenly. "I wonder why Vythia left."

Crosshair let out an impatient sigh. "Maybe she wanted to get some actual sleep."

"Aw, come on." Wrecker cracked his elbows. "It's not that late."

"Yeah!" said the Jedi defensively. "And I am asleep."

The others glanced at him.

"You are not sleeping," Tech said, finding it necessary to reply for some reason.

"Yes, I am."

Realizing he'd better intervene, Hunter tapped Tech's knee with one hand. "Tech, time to get some rest. We might be headed out shortly. And that goes for the rest of you, too. Go to sleep. That's an order."

"Sir, yes sir," mumbled Crosshair. Hunter didn't have anything handy to throw at him, so he only huffed and shut his eyes.

"Going to sleep, sir," added Quinlan, and Wrecker chuckled.

Hunter breathed slowly and deeply, as if he were already asleep, and pretended he hadn't heard either of them.