Disclaimer: Lucasfilm, Bioware, Disney, et al. and whoever they sell the rights to next own Star Wars and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. I write this for fun and not for any monetary gain.
A/N: This chapter depicts HK-47 performing rubber hose cryptanalysis (i.e. using torture to extract cryptographic secrets). Reader discretion is advised.
Chapter 25: Fall of a Guild
The next day, the Ebon Hawk landed on Manaan. The couple prepared to assassinate Ithorak, who was potentially—if not probably—a Genoharadan Overseer. They were both in a serious mood, like warriors preparing for a battle. Revan idly noted the difference between Bastila's current state and the eager and obedient slave girl she was last night.
I am still your obedient slave girl, Master, and I always will be, she interjected in his mind as she sensed his thoughts. I even had to ask for your permission to get dressed… Now, I am merely obeying your orders to assassinate our target.
Of course, he agreed. It just shows how talented of a slave you are, able to serve me in so many ways…
Thank you, Master. "So how would we do this?" she asked out loud. "The Selkath have surveillance almost everywhere in the city."
"Except in embassies and hangers. Hulas did mention Ithorak liked to do business in hangers, and we would only need to schedule an appointment with his guard, Vek," Revan recalled. It was clear to both of them that Ithorak's business was probably highly illegal.
"I suppose if Hulas really wanted to take over the guild, he would give us real information," Bastila deduced. "So just schedule an appointment, go, throw out a Death Field, and walk out. Just a body with a mysterious cause of death in a hanger, and by the time the authorities find out, they won't be able to pin it on anyone, and we'd be off the planet," she suggested, somewhat jokingly.
"Great plan," the Dark Lord grinned. Turning more serious, he continued, "Realistically, Ithorak would likely put up a fight. That works in our favour, because we could argue for self-defence after a business deal gone wrong in the worst case, but it shouldn't come to that. The Selkath have a reputation for ignoring crimes in hangers, which one of my poor soldiers found out the hard way a few years ago."
"I assume he was lured by Republic soldiers to a hanger and then murdered?" she guessed. "Awful. But it works to our advantage this time."
"Yes, that's basically what happened. Despite the efforts of the whole embassy, the Selkath refused to do anything, so we had to settle for warning people to never go into unsecured hangers without backup."
"Well, it seems like we know what to do," Bastila observed. She checked to make sure her lightsaber and backup lightsabers were in place. "Shall we go?"
"Yes," he replied after a similar check. After giving a quick excuse about visiting Bastila's mother to the rest of the crew, the couple left the Ebon Hawk for Ahto City.
Not long after, they entered the registration area for swoop races. Ignoring the noisy swoop fans, the Sith Lord quickly located Vek from the description given by Hulas. They immediately noted that Vek wore a Sith uniform. After a quick mental chat, they agreed that the green Twi'lek was probably pretending to be a Sith trooper. He decided to let Bastila talk, letting himself stand back as if he was her bodyguard.
"Greetings, Vek," she introduced herself.
"Greetings, human," Vek replied. "Have you come here to watch the swoop races? I find they are an excellent way to relieve stress. And in my business, I need all the stress relief I can get." He sounded unhappy.
"No, I need to meet with Ithorak Guldar. Can you set it up?" the secret Sith apprentice asked.
The guard took a glance at the couple and frowned. "You need to meet with Ithorak?" he asked skeptically. "Forgive my skepticism, but you hardly resemble our typical client. We deal in the kind of pieces found in the chambers of a galactic senator."
Bastila idly waved her hand, lacing her words with the Force ever so slightly. "I represent a wealthy buyer from Coruscant. In times like these, it's best to dress inconspicuously, lest stars forbid, we get boarded by whoever is in charge these days."
"Yes, you do have that look about you; the air of one who serves the rich and powerful. Servile, fawning… a look I have seen in my own mirror far too often," Vek sighed as he finished his rant.
Do I actually look servile in public? Bastila asked mentally, startled. She thought she did a good job keeping that for when they were alone.
No, not as far as I can tell, Revan assured her. He's probably just trying too hard to see himself in others, especially with the empathy introduced by Force persuasion. Sounds like he hated his job.
After a moment, the Twi'lek recovered. "Very well, I'll set up a meeting with my boss. The Sith permit Ithorak to conduct his private business in their non-secured hangar. Go to the docking bays and we will meet you there."
Noting down the information on a datapad, the Sith apprentice nodded.
"See you soon," the guard said, before walking away quickly, no doubt to inform the Selkath.
Step one complete, Revan noted. Let's go.
Not long after, the couple found themselves next to the entrance of the hanger, where Vek waited.
"Ithorak is waiting for you inside the hangar," the guard started. "As you probably know, there are no security cameras there: the better to conduct our business away from prying eyes." He then made an attempt to look threatening, before continuing, "However, before we go in, I'll point out this rather large assault droid standing beside me. I and the droid will both accompany you to see Ithorak, just to make sure there is no trouble."
"That seems quite a bit excessive for a business meeting," Bastila countered. "We won't cause any trouble. It's bad for business."
"Ithorak is an important man with access to the rich and powerful," Vek explained. "He is not about to let himself become an easy target for a kidnapping or an assassination. When you meet Ithorak, I and the droid will both be there. It is my job to protect my employer." Then, more to himself, he continued, "And I intend to do that regardless of my personal feelings toward him."
"Personal feelings?" Revan cut in, sensing an opportunity. "You mean you don't like him?" He quickly remembered that the Twi'lek did not seem to enjoy his job the last time they met.
Vek winced as he realized what he had just said. Realizing a reply was expected, he decided to elaborate, "Ithorak can be as temperamental as his clients. Combine that with his arrogance and the way he treats his underlings and you can understand why I might soon consider seeking other employment. But despite all Ithorak's faults, he does pay well. So I serve my employer faithfully, for now." Beneath his words, the couple could sense an undercurrent of unease, as if the bodyguard suspected reprisal should he quit his job.
The two Sith shared a look. They realized that it would make everything much simpler if Vek could simply be persuaded to abandon his post. Naturally, he posed little threat to the seasoned fighters, but he would just be an extra, unnecessary complication, especially when facing an unknown and potentially very dangerous foe like Ithorak. Even the weakest enemies could get a lucky shot, after all. And besides, Vek was simply a devoted bodyguard and not a criminal, and people with such skills were useful to the galaxy.
"Perhaps it would be best for you to leave him right now," Revan said, waving his hand to add in a small dose of Force persuasion to help the Twi'lek overcome his fears. "What's the point of getting paid well if it can't even make you happy? Perhaps some other job would be better for your sanity."
"You're right," Vek admitted. "He's never treated me with the respect I deserve. Constantly yelling at me, insulting me, belittling me. He never appreciated me while I was around, so let's see how he likes dealing with you alone!" Realizing that the couple most likely did not have good intentions for Ithorak, he decided to part with a warning. "But before I go, one last warning, humans. Whatever your plan for Ithorak is, be careful. I've always suspected he was more than just a simple merchant. I've heard people who cross him are rarely heard from again. In fact, for the sake of my own safety, I'm going to disappear for a while. Just in case Ithorak gets the better of you in this, you understand. Goodbye... and good luck."
The couple watched as the Twi'lek walked down the hallway, followed by the assault droid, never to return. They quickly channelled the Force to create a shield against blasters, for there was no harm in being prepared. They then walked through the entrance to the hangar, suffering through a long warning about the lack of surveillance in the Selkath tongue.
"Is one of you the buyer I'm supposed to meet?" a Selkath said with a frown, revealing himself as Ithorak. Seeing the door close, he immediately raised his blaster. "Wait a minute: where's Vek? What's going on here!"
"I am afraid Vek didn't wish to witness your tragic demise," the Sith Lord said mockingly.
"I knew I couldn't trust that idiot," the Selkath cursed. "Some security advisor, letting an assassin walk right in on me! He's going to pay for that… after I—" he managed to say before being cut off by a Force choke. The two security droids with him immediately opened fire, but Bastila easily dispatched those with the Force.
"Are you quite done yet?" Revan asked with annoyance.
To Ithorak's credit, he didn't let go of his blaster to futilely pry off the invisible grasp, but chose to fire. Unfortunately, it had little effect, and Bastila quickly relieved him of his weapon… along with his entire lower right arm.
The Sith Lord tightened the Force choke, before continuing to mock the suspected Genoharadan Overseer. "I really don't see how you lasted this long, when you seem so much more competent at talking than fighting. Perhaps talking is the only thing that matters for overseeing others." The latter's eyes bulged out a bit at the emphasized word.
"Thank you for confirming my suspicions," the Sith replied, before snapping Ithorak's neck with a mere thought.
Bastila was rather impressed by how her Master managed to extract the confirmation. After committing his methods to memory, she searched through the remains, finding a datapad, on which a single message addressed to Famine was shown: "Someone has discovered that you are more than you claim to be. Watch your back, because you know Vek is too incompetent to watch it for you." This further confirmed their suspicions. Namely, that they had just eliminated three of the four Overseers of the Genoharadan. The Sith Lord pocketed the datapad.
"You know… isn't Force persuading potential enemies to desert their allies, especially en masse, a much quicker, easier, and seductive method than actually fighting them?" the apprentice wondered, genuinely curious. "Why do the Jedi say the 'Dark Side' is quicker, easier, and more seductive while also spreading stories of the Sith killing everything that moves, even when they don't have to?"
"It shouldn't be a surprise that the Jedi teachings are inconsistent, Bastila. But they are not all wrong here," he explained. "Most intelligent Sith will solve problems the quick and easy way, if possible. Exactly what that is depends on the situation. Sometimes, smashing a door is easier than slicing it, so you just smash it. If the door is too heavily reinforced, then you should of course slice it if you can… Here, dealing with Vek and Ithorak separately is defeating them in detail, and that's usually the better strategy, having numerical superiority in every confrontation despite being outnumbered on paper. My favourite strategy, actually. I used it against both the Mandalorians and the Republic, and it worked great. My side suffered much fewer casualties, and the overwhelming power defeated the enemy much more quickly. But sometimes, the complications increase the difficulty and make it not worthwhile. If Vek was not already thinking of leaving, forcing him to do so could lead him to attack us when we least expected it—should he break free of the mind trick—and that wouldn't have been worth the risk. There are always trade-offs involved, so there is no one option that's always better."
"That makes a lot of sense," she agreed, "but what about the Sith killing everything that moves?"
"There are always certain members of the Sith Order who think the whole thing is a competition about brutality, and they give us a bad name. Fortunately, natural selection does not work in their favour," the Dark Lord answered with a straight face.
The apprentice could not stop giggling at his completely serious and scientific tone. "Maybe people tend to like you more and not try to kill you when you aren't trying to kill them all… Who would have thought?" she said finally.
"Yes, exactly. I taught my followers the very simple maxim of 'do unto others what they do unto you.' Thus, you leave alone those who leave you alone. Those who foolishly challenge you and are defeated deserve their fate, but there is no need to foolishly challenge others who have done no wrong…"
"You would think this is self-evident," Bastila sighed. "Yet so many would do exactly that…"
"Those who have little power prefer to wield it openly to feel powerful, while those with true power need not pull such stunts," the Dark Lord lectured.
"It explains a lot, doesn't it?" she observed. "Malak's followers killing unarmed civilians, petty Republic bureaucrats making the life of common people hell… Pathetic, really."
"Yes. Now, go back to the ship, Bastila," Revan ordered. I shall deal with Hulas. Naturally, she was eager to obey.
Soon, the secret Dark Lord of the Sith found himself near the ocean on the east side of Ahto City, nearing Hulas the Rodian. He had just revealed the completion of the missions.
"Vorn, Rulan, Ithorak," Hulas said with giddy excitement, "that is all of them! You have done it, Erich Bond. I hardly dreamed it was possible, yet now the task is done! All the years of planning. Spying and digging to discover their true identities—it was all worth it! Now the Genoharadan are mine alone!"
Revan thought the Rodian's reaction either resembled a child who had just received a mountain of gifts, or a man who just had the best orgasm of his life. He couldn't decide which was closer… or worse. However, he pushed the thoughts away. He had a role to play, after all. "You tricked me!" he almost yelled, full of outrage, his face twisting in anger. He might have overdone it, but Hulas was too excited about his success to notice any imperfections.
"Poor, foolish Erich Bond," Hulas replied condescendingly, revelling in the human's apparent misery. He continued mocking his tool, "You had no idea that the targets I sent you after were three of the Overseers of the Genoharadan, did you? The Overseers have always acted in secret, their true identities hidden from the guild and even each other to prevent one person from seizing control of the entire guild. But now they are dead, and I am the only Overseer left in the guild! All the agents of the Genoharadan are mine to command! And I couldn't have done it without your help, Erich!" Hulas was laughing by the end.
"So when do I get to join the guild?" the apparent victim asked, appearing rather put out.
"I'm sorry, Erich," the surviving Overseer said, not sounding sorry at all. "Even after all you have done for me I cannot let you join the Genoharadan now. You are far too dangerous: you know the true identity of the only surviving Overseer. I suppose I could try to have you eliminated, but I have seen your skill in dispatching the other Overseers. I think it would be in both our best interests if we were simply to part ways."
"This isn't over!" Revan shouted back. "Nobody plays me for a fool!"
Hulas sighed. "I was afraid it would come to this. Very well, we will finish this as these things always seem to end: in bloodshed. But the streets of Manaan are no place for this confrontation. Meet me in the Dune Seas of Tatooine, Erich. There we will engage in a ritual battle according to the customs of my guild, just you and me. I will wait for you in the Dune Seas. I don't need to remind you that you must come alone. If you do not, then you won't see me and you will never have your revenge."
"I shall meet you there," Revan agreed immediately. He continued with pretended arrogance, making sure Hulas underestimated him, "After three Overseers, what's one more?"
The Rodian turned and walked away, no doubt to gather his minions and prepare for battle. The Sith glared at his retreating form, committing his Force signature into memory. After he was sure he could identify Hulas in a crowd elsewhere on the planet, he turned and walked back into the Ebon Hawk.
Back in the ship, Revan summoned Canderous, Bastila, and HK-47 to the cockpit. He gave a summary of his meeting with Hulas.
"So we just need to get Hulas and the Genoharadan will be destroyed," the Mandalorian summarized.
"Yes, that is the gist of it," the Dark Lord confirmed.
"Are we actually going to go to Tatooine just to fight him?" his apprentice asked.
"That sounds like a terrible idea," Canderous interjected. "He could either send us on a wild bantha chase or prepare a trap to kill us all."
"Indeed, which is where HK-47 comes in," Revan agreed.
"Query: Which meatbag would you like assassinated?" the droid offered. "My assassination protocol aches to be used."
The Sith Lord quickly described Hulas's appearance. "He's likely to be surrounded by a bunch of minions. Do not kill Hulas immediately," he ordered. "Search for his datapad and get him to unlock it first if you can, by any means necessary. Then, secure his signing key, which he uses for orders to Genoharadan agents. Once you've extracted all the data and keys on the datapad, then you may eliminate him."
"Affirmation: I shall torture the information you desire out of this meatbag with great pleasure, Master!" HK-47 promised. "Query: Can we predict where this Hulas might be for an ambush?"
"I expect he will end up in some hangar…" Revan guessed. "Let's get T3 to slice the Selkath's systems to find out which one. HK, you should report to us who he's associating with if you can do so without suspicion. We'll stay in touch through T3."
"Affirmation: I shall do as you asked," the assassin droid promised and left the ship.
Meanwhile, Revan took T3 into their unsecured hangar. Finding a network-connected thermostat, he simply unplugged it, allowing T3 to plug into the Selkath's internal network. Without any authentication, the slicer droid was able to access the video feed of any surveillance cameras in Ahto City, making it almost trivial to track down Hulas and his minions.
The Sith Lord almost sighed at the Selkath's poor security, but at least according to T3, they couldn't make any changes to the system without authentication, so he supposed that it was more likely the Selkath simply didn't care about people's privacy in Ahto City. It was not a pleasant thought, but at least only the public areas of the city were under surveillance.
Regardless, they soon discovered that Hulas was leaving the planet, most likely to set up a trap on Tatooine, and found the ship and hangar registered to one of his minions. They communicated this information to HK-47 and waited.
An hour later, Hulas and his minions boarded their ship and closed the boarding ramp.
"Wait!" the Genoharadan Overseer shouted. "Where's the rest of the crew?"
As he shouted, a pair of malevolent red eyes appeared next to the entrance. "Answer: Their cold, dead bodies are in the cargo hold," a voice said. A figure stepped out, revealing itself to be an orangish droid. He positioned himself to block their escape.
Before Hulas and his gang could react to this development, a few concussion grenades exploded, dazing all present. Within moments, everyone who'd just entered the ship were gunned down by blasters—except for Hulas, who was simply punched in the head by the droid, knocking him out.
When Hulas woke again, he found himself tied to a bed in a spread-eagle position, tilted so that his head was higher than his feet. The same malevolent eyes stared at him.
"Query: What is the password to this datapad, meatbag?" the droid asked, holding up the device in question.
"Why should I tell you?" the Rodian demanded, trying to hide his panic.
"Explanation: Because if you cooperate, I'll shoot you in the head," the droid explained. "If you don't cooperate, I shall enjoy your screams for however long it takes to get you to cooperate."
"I won't tell you anything!" Hulas declared.
The droid simply pulled on the ropes restraining the Rodian to the bed, forcibly pulling on his victim's joints. With his mechanical strength, there was no need for any ratchet mechanism to use the bed as a torture rack. Hulas screamed in pain.
"Query: What is the password to this datapad, meatbag?" the droid asked again, and seeing the Genoharadan Overseer's reluctance to answer, kept pulling harder and harder on the ropes, generating louder and louder screams, until with a loud pop, the Rodian's arms became limp as his elbows were dislocated.
"Query: Would you like me to test my grip strength on your pathetic meatbag arms next?" HK-47 asked.
"I should never have trusted that Erich Bond guy!" the Rodian cursed.
"Observation: That's not the password," the droid said simply, before crushing the bones in the Rodian's lower right arm, generating a new round of screams. He grabbed the upper right arm, but since Hulas refused to say anything still, he crushed it also. "Query: Would you like me to squash the other arm?" the droid prompted.
Knowing he was beaten, Hulas offered up the password to stop the torture, hoping that the droid wouldn't think to ask for the password of his secret key used to sign orders for the Genoharadan agents.
"Threat: If the password somehow disables this datapad, it will be years before you are allowed to die!" the droid threatened.
"It definitely won't!" Hulas insisted, though he regretted not thinking of the fake password idea.
The droid entered the password, unlocking the datapad. He quickly extracted all the information on the datapad into his own systems and searched it to find the secret key that his Master demanded. "Commentary: Meatbags always prove cooperative eventually," he said at last.
"Will you shoot me now?" Hulas asked, hoping for the torture to end.
"Refusal: Not before you tell me the password of that signing key."
"What signing key?" the Rodian asked, pretending to be ignorant.
Instead of playing along, the droid simply destroyed the other arm. "Query: Do you want me to do the legs next or take out the water?"
Receiving no reply, he smashed the knees as well, then forcefully dislocated them by pulling harder on the ropes. Still, the Overseer remained reluctant to divulge his most sensitive secret despite the screams, so the droid used his mechanical strength to break the femurs as well.
"Statement: It's time to bring out the water," the droid declared. He tied the ropes so that they kept the tension on the Rodian's body, before returning with a piece of cloth ripped from one of Hulas's minions and a pitcher of water. He covered the Rodian's face with the cloth and poured water all over his face, the incline of the bed ensuring he wouldn't drown. After a minute, he lifted the cloth and let the Rodian take a few breaths, before repeating the procedure.
"Query: Would you like another round, meatbag?" the droid asked a minute later.
"No!" the Rodian shouted.
"Query: What is the password to the secret key?" the droid demanded.
The Rodian took a few breaths and read it out loud.
HK-47 quickly tried to decrypt the key in his own systems, but found the password was incorrect. "Statement: Wrong password means another round," he declared, repeating the procedure.
When Hulas was allowed to breathe again, he carefully read out the password, carefully enunciating to avoid mistakes that would lead to another round of waterboarding.
"Exclamation: Thank you for your cooperation, meatbag!" the droid declared, before punching said meatbag.
Hulas coughed up some blood. "Aren't you going to shoot me?" he pleaded.
"Clarification: The shooting was if you cooperated immediately," the droid elaborated. "After all the trouble I went through, I might as well finish trashing your pathetic meatbag body!"
And Hulas spent the next few minutes screaming before he finally passed out. Seeing that, the assassin droid smashed his skull, ensuring he wouldn't wake again.
After letting HK-47 know where to ambush Hulas, Revan returned to the cockpit.
"What's next after Manaan?" Canderous asked impatiently. "Are we going to head over to the Star Forge now?"
"We are ready," the Dark Lord answered. "Still, I wish we had better equipment…"
"Master?" Bastila interrupted. "I found a space station with a lot of exotic goods near the Yavin system." She had discovered it while tinkering with the navigation system when Revan was out with T3-M4 to slice the Selkath's systems.
"Oh? Let me see that." He walked over to the navigation system.
"Here it is," she said as she loaded up the station, complete with Davik's notes.
"Interesting…" the Sith Lord murmured. "No doubt one of Davik's suppliers… What is this? The legendary Baragwin technology?"
"What's this Baragwin stuff?" she asked.
"They made some of the best armour and other equipment back during the Exar Kun war. Things we definitely could use," her Master explained. "It was supposedly all destroyed during Exar Kun's last stand, when the Republic bombed the entire Yavin system from orbit. But I guess if anything survived, it would be there."
"If half of the stories I heard about Baragwin equipment were true, then we should definitely try to get our hands on some," the Mandalorian interjected. "We'll need all the advantages we can get if we are to fight Malak and take the Star Forge."
"That was my concern, yes. Doing that with our current equipment would be… unideal. We definitely should go."
With that decided, Bastila programmed the destination on the navigational computer, while they waited for HK-47's return. Soon, the droid entered the cockpit, looking completely pristine and free of blood stains, as if he'd simply gone out for a walk.
"Statement: Target is destroyed," HK-47 replied. "I have the key. Tomorrow, the target's ship will explode."
With that, Revan started the engines and took off, unwilling to risk the Selkath discovering what had transpired on Hulas's ship. After entering hyperspace, he handed over his datapad to the droid to get a copy of Hulas's datapad.
"So what are we going to do about Ithorak's datapad?" Bastila asked in the privacy of their bedroom.
"We need only one Overseer identity to control the guild, and we have two already. Still, having more couldn't hurt, since there's apparently a contingency procedure to elect new Overseers from the ranks of the Genoharadan, in case an Overseer dies," Revan noted, reading Hulas's notes on taking over the guild.
"Does that mean that I messed up by destroying Rulan's datapad?" she wondered. "Since there's going to be a contingency election? What's Hulas's plan anyway to deal with that?"
"He figured he'd just use the guild to assassinate their own to ensure his underlings get elected as Overseers," Revan decided after scanning through the notes. "I suspect he was focused too much on the short term, since contingency elections happen after an Overseer reaches radio silence for ten years."
"I suppose I did mess up then," the apprentice stated, rather disappointed in herself.
"We couldn't have known," her Master assured her. "Besides, with two or three identities, we should be able to rig things in our favour."
"Then let's see what we can do about Ithorak's datapad," she decided.
"I highly doubt we will be able to break through the security system this time around," Revan observed after inspecting the datapad. "No biometrics, just a password."
"I suppose this is why rubber hose cryptanalysis is a lot better than real cryptanalysis…" she noted with a sigh. "Sentients are really the weakest link in security… Would we have been able to torture it out of Ithorak?" she wondered.
"Perhaps we should have tried," he reasoned. "Still, I think we made the best decision with what we knew at the time. We didn't know we needed more than one Overseer identity, so this was just a backup and it wouldn't have been worth the risk of spending too much time in that hangar…"
She nodded in agreement.
"No, there's not much we can do now, not when his datapad fries itself after too many incorrect password guesses," he continued.
"Do you think the private key for the Famine identity could be in the system memory? Maybe it could be decrypted, or maybe the encryption password is as well…" the apprentice pondered out loud.
"Possible… are you suggesting that we attempt a cold boot attack?" the Sith Master asked. "It's not a bad idea. The longer we wait, the more likely the valuable data is lost, so we might as well do what we can now." Normally, the data in RAM chips needs to be refreshed many times every second, or they fade away. Disconnecting the chip would instantly stop the refreshing process. However, at cryogenic temperatures, the data fades away very slowly, giving plenty of time to reconnect the chip and read from it.
"You know, I thought stocking up on a tank of liquid nitrogen on the Ebon Hawk back on Dantooine was rather excessive, even though it never hurts to be prepared," Bastila remarked. "I never thought we'd actually use it."
The couple entered the storage bay. They dug through the items leftover from Davik, finding the tool that would read RAM chips. They had discovered it earlier during their first tour of the ship, before their arrival on Dantooine. So much has happened since then, and it seemed as if years had gone by, though it was a little more than two months ago.
Placing the datapad on a desk, Revan carefully pried off the back panel with the Force, exposing the internal circuits. He poured the liquid nitrogen onto the internals, instantly freezing everything, including the data inside the RAM chip.
"Wait…" Bastila called out, realizing she hadn't thought the plan through properly. "The chip is soldered onto the board, how are we going to get it off? To desolder it, we have to heat it."
"I was thinking we can cut the chip off… It's worth a shot." He took out a knife, telekinetically using it to cut the pins connecting the chip to the circuit board, while she poured liquid nitrogen to keep the chip at cryogenic temperatures. Guided by warnings from the Force, Revan managed to remove the chip intact. Placing the chip carefully into the reader, they were able to dump all the data on it, storing it onto the Ebon Hawk's systems. He made a backup in his datapad just in case.
After dumping the RAM chip, they also dumped the storage chip. This was a much easier process, as freezing was not necessary.
"So what are we going to do with the dump?" Bastila asked. "The books I read just said it would be possible to find the password or encryption keys in it, but that's like finding a broken datapad in the sea, no?"
"You are right. There is no way either of us are going to be looking through this," Revan agreed, pointing at the screen showing what effectively was gibberish. "But once we take back the Sith, we'll control the Galactic Security Bureau, and they have the resources capable of looking through the dump."
"Good plan. I guess we are done here. How about some lightsaber practice, Master?" she suggested. The Sith Lord granted her wish.