Betrayal and renewal part 2

Armageddon

Danika

Everyone ran to the lounge as Carth punched in the codes necessary to communicate with the fleet. A holographic image of a dark haired woman in uniform appeared. She would never be considered beautiful. Handsome was the best I could say for her. Her green eyes moved from face to face, stopping on Carth.

'This is Admiral Forn Dodonna commanding the first, ninth, and fourteenth combined fleets. Who is in command of Ebon Hawk?'

'This is Carth Onasi, Admiral.'

Her face broke into a smile, and I revised my estimate. She was a beautiful woman. 'Carth! I'm glad to see you're still alive. We are about to begin our assault on the Star Forge.' She looked away, and she looked shocked. 'My god, how did the Sith ever build this thing in secret?'

'The Sith didn't build the Star Forge, Admiral. We don't have time for a full explanation, but that station is older than the Republic.'

She scanned the invisible monitor. 'And they outnumber us almost four to one. We didn't bring enough firepower to break through that. Not and live. I am ordering the fleet to withdraw.'

Carth shook his head. 'You can't do that Admiral. The Star Forge is a factory of incredible design and capability. It has been churning out warships, fighters and assault droids since Revan and Malak found it. If you retreat now, they merely have to leave this fleet here to protect it, and you will still face an unending supply of reinforcements. It will be the same as before you arrived, except we will never have the chance to destroy it again.'

She nodded at the logical statement. 'Then I guess we have no choice. But it isn't going to be easy. The Sith fleet is maneuvering to block us even as I set the fleet into motion. We may all die without getting within range of the Star Forge itself. Almost as if they know what we plan to do.'

'The Jedi Bastila went over to the dark side.' Carth said. 'That is her battle meditation you're seeing. We suspect she is aboard the Star Forge using it even now.'

Dodonna shook her head. 'You can really pick the fights a smart Admiral would avoid.' She turned, then motioned to her side. Master Vandar entered the holo-projection. 'This is Master Vandar. A number of Jedi have joined our fleet.'

Vandar leaned on his cane. He looked his age. 'If Bastila is using her battle meditation, the Sith fleet is invincible. Our only hope is to stop her somehow.'

'Can we do that?' Dodonna asked.

'The Republic cannot, but we have Jedi trained in their own snub fighters. I will order a squadron to fly through the enemy fleet and board the station. If they can fight their way to her location, they can stop her by whatever means necessary. That should allow you to move your capital ships in for the kill.'

I tugged Carth's sleeve. He looked at me, then back at the holo-projection. 'Some of our crew have a plan to defeat the Star Forge. Request permission to join that assault, Admiral.'

'After all you have been through, no one would be surprised if you wanted to rest. Except for me, Carth. I hate to ask you all to risk your lives again, but the Jedi could use your help.'

'We wouldn't miss it.' Carth replied.

'May I speak to our Jedi aboard?' Vandar asked. I stepped in to face the hologram as Dodonna stepped away.

'Master Vandar, there is a way I can at least cripple the Star Forge.' I reported. 'But there is a great risk to all that use the Force within this system.'

He shrugged. 'There is risk in everything we do in life, young Jedi.'

'I only meant to warn you. We will be more affected than the normal people on both sides. But it will level the playing field.' I looked down. 'I have worried about the Jedi on Dantooine. The Masters. How many survived?'

'All of the very young did.' He answered sadly. 'The rest of us fought to assure that. But of the Padawan and Masters, only a handful remains. Only Master Dorak escaped when I did.'

I felt a hand clutch my heart. 'Master Vrook?'

'His body was not found. A number of the bodies were not found. We do not know what happened to them.'

I lowered my head. Then I looked up. I could tell there were unshed tears in my eyes, but I refused to cry until it was all over. 'Then we shall send them an appropriate honor guard, Master.'

'May the Force go with you.' Vandar replied.

The hologram collapsed, and I turned to the others. 'Let's go.'

Picture a chip in a millrace. For those of you that have never seen on, picture a kayak in white water, the kayak driven by only oars plunging through water that will tear it to shreds in a second if the pilot makes a mistake.

Now picture that water as fire, and you have an idea of the next fifteen minutes. One hundred massive Republic capital ships were plunging into that hell, fighters screaming through their formation as the smaller ships charged in to come to grips with the foe. From the other side almost 400 enemy ships from frigates to massive cruisers were charging toward them, their own fighters plunging into the maelstrom. In fighters the Republic was actually fielding more, but that wouldn't matter. No fighter made could destroy a capital ship by itself.

Through that hell Ebon Hawk charged. Energy ravened as the capital ships tried to destroy us, fighters roared in on us. We lost count of the fighters we destroyed on that day. I figured thirty or more. Canderous estimated maybe fifty. We even slipped in close enough to slam several salvoes into a frigate which was ripped apart even as we fled it's return fire. We burst through their lines and behind us less than a dozen Jedi followed. Vandar had sent not one squadron but two. It was a wise decision. Only eight or ten docked ahead of us as we dived toward the landing deck of the massive structure. Over half dead in as many minutes.

Ebon Hawk roared in, thrusters blasting madly to halt herself as Canderous and I left our stations. Beyond the force field barrier, the madness continued.

A Jedi ran up as we exited the ship. 'I'm glad you made it!' The young woman called. 'I didn't expect any of us to make it!' She waved toward the elevator shaft on the right. 'A number of Jedi have gone ahead. We have to strike deep and fast while we still have the element of surprise.' She looked haggard. 'We have to stop Bastila any way we can or the fleet is doomed!' She motioned. 'Come on before-'

A lightsaber flicked across space, and she went down, head bouncing on the deck. Four Dark Jedi charged toward us. There were only three Jedi remaining, and I leaped to their defense followed by Juhani and Jolee. We made quick work of them.

'So much for surprise.' Another of the Jedi commented. 'We'll hold here to protect the exit.'

I nodded, turning to my followers. 'Carth, Mission, stay here.' I ordered. 'Zaalbar, Canderous, T3, HK, support these Jedi. Juhani, Jolee, this is our party.'

Star Forge.

Malak watched as the very fabric of the star formed the ships before him. He had pushed the Star Forge to over 500%, and still it worked without a flaw. He snarled as a Dark Jedi master came toward him, bowing.

'Why have you disturbed me?'

'A party of Jedi has boarded the Star Forge and is moving toward us as we speak My Lord.'

'That is not unexpected.' Malak considered. 'Send the droids in.'

'Master, what chance can mere droids have against Jedi?' The master asked.

'You underestimate the strength of the newest droids I have constructed.' Malak admonished him. 'Even I would have a problem dealing with these.'

'As you will, my Lord.'

'Good. I am going to the Operations deck.' Malak turned. 'Report to me when the Droids have completed their task.'

Danika

We ran to the elevator shaft. The car was large enough for a snub fighter and we faced outward as it shot half a kilometer upward. I led my smaller party out onto a walkway. I stopped them, and we flinched as the heavy battle steel doors to either side exploded. Droids of a design I had never seen before stumped out. Their arms rose, blasters appearing.

I gasped, because I felt the force from them as if they were alive. Malak had included life force in their construction.

I lowered my lightsaber reaching out as I would with a living mind, and felt that spark. 'We are authorized. You will let us pass.' I ordered.

'We will let you pass.' One of them spoke.

'Negative, Jedi mind powers being used. Eliminate.' Another spoke almost in unison.

Juhani reached out, lifting two of them, slamming the metal forms together Metal sheared, and both collapsed in ruin. I reached out, catching another pair, and flung them off the walkway to smash kilometers below us. Jolee threw his lightsaber, the blade flicking through the carapace of one, then circling to cut the last from behind. We charged past the wreckage.

Ahead of us I could hear the snarl of lightsabers in battle, and flicked mine on as I continued to run.

Below us on another walkway, three Jedi faced three dark Jedi. As I skidded to a stop, the last of the Jedi fell. One of the women looked up, and I could almost see her eyes twinkle.

'Good. More for us to slaughter.' She purred.

I charged down, and when I was close enough, threw a ball of light that illuminated my face.

'Revan!' One screamed. I singled her out, reaching out with the force, and squeezed until she screamed.

'Yes. I am back!' I twisted, and the woman moaned, holding her head in agony. 'Who dares stand against me?'

They backed away, trying to avoid my stare. 'If you are going to fight, do so! If not, cast your lightsabers off the edge. Now!'

Four lightsabers flew, glittering as they disappeared into the depths. The women moved back, fearful of my very presence. 'Get out of here while you have the chance.' I ordered. We brushed past them, running toward the entrance to the elevator on the right. Two other dark Jedi were there, and we fought a brief nasty battle.

Canderous

We had set up to defend the elevators, and had barely gotten into position when a platoon of Sith armored troops poured out. Carth Mission and I met them with a hail of fire, the droids popped grenades into their midst. The Jedi took care of any that got through our fire. It was over in just a few moments.

The elevator that Danika had ridden up opened, and a scene from a nightmare came out. It was huge, a droid weapons platform the size of a heavy cargo lifter. I flicked a switch, shouting, 'Duck!' as I dove for the floor. The Ebon Hawk's guns roared, blasting the huge weapon into scrap. A figure cut across behind the wreckage, and I started to my feet.

'Sasha!'

She stopped, saluted with her lightsaber, then was on the elevator before anyone could stop her.

'Who is that?' One of the Jedi asked.

'A little girl. We rescued her on Dantooine.' I replied.

'The little fool thinks she can take on dark Jedi?' He started toward the elevator.

I stopped him with one hand. 'The little fool fought with that lightsaber aboard the Leviathan, activated the intruder system of our ship without being able to read, and killed about fifty Sith there.' She looked at me shocked. 'And she spent three years of her life among the Mandalore. If she wants to die fighting, we will not stop her.'

Another rush poured down on us, and I went back to killing the enemy.

Star Forge.

The Dark Jedi Master strode up to his master. Before them both Bastila knelt. In the massive holotank, the battle was going well. The fleet had formed a globe not far from the Star Forge, and the Republic fleet was trapped in its center by the four Interdictor class cruisers.

'Why have you disturbed me this time?' Malak growled.

'I have news about the Jedi force.'

'Ah, my droids destroyed them as ordered.'

'No, My lord. The droids were unsuccessful.'

'Strange. I didn't think there were any Jedi in the order with such capability, except for the Masters.' Malak mused.

'It was Revan, my lord.' The Dark Jedi admitted. 'She leads one of the assault teams.'

Malak turned to face him. 'That would explain it. My old Master was always strong in the force.' He turned back to face Bastila. 'Very well, send all the available troops. All of them, Armored troops, Dark Jedi, even the apprentices. Strike at the landing bay to cut them off, and slaughter that putrid little forlorn hope. Revan must die. Lead them yourself.'

'But my lord, will the apprentices even have a chance?'

'No. I expect them to all die.' Malak said. 'But their deaths will give me a chance to prepare the last of the Star Forge's defenses. I am curious to see the full extent of those defenses. I am sure Revan will also be curious for the brief minutes she lives.'

'My Lord-'

'Don't beg. It is not befitting of a Sith. Either go and do as I have ordered, or kill yourself now.'

The Dark Master bowed, hurrying out. He decided to lead the team against the ship. After all, Malak had told him to lead, but failed to mention which attack.

Danika

We ran onto another walkway heading for a door that should lead to the factory floor. It opened and a dozen dark Jedi poured out. We fought savagely, piling up a windrow of dead before us, and still they kept coming. Force bolts shot through from either side, and anyone who didn't deflect or dodge them died.

They finally stopped coming, and Jolee leaned on his knees, gasping. 'I'm getting too old for this.' He wheezed.

''We'll probably die before we're done, so stop worrying!' I shouted gaily.

'Don't tease me.' He grumbled back.

We came out on the factory floor. Before us was the massive factory chamber. As we watched a form began coalescing from the haze of particles, and a snub fighter gleamed in the lights, then floated toward the ceiling. Beyond it a frigate was almost completed.

'We must stop it.' Juhani shouted.

'This way.' I led them down the floor to another room. This had Rakata computer consoles. Attached to them were ones designed by the Republic, translating instructions and replies for those that hadn't learned how to operate a Rakata computer. I pushed past them, going to one of the consoles. I tried to access it.

ACCESS DENIED

I considered, then put in the back-door password I had created. I saw now that even in my fall I hadn't been a complete trusting fool.

ACCESS GRANTED

I slipped the datapad into the interface. CONSTRUCT

QUANTITY?

I considered. I didn't know what it would do. I know what I expected it to do, but it is like the first fission weapons made by humans millennia ago. The theoretical mathematics had suggested that the chain reaction they wanted to create might be self-sustaining. A raw burst of power that would only stop when it ran out of fuel meaning the entire planet would have gone up in nuclear fire. If they had been correct, there would have been no human race afterward.

Foolish humans that they were, they tried it anyway.

I typed in ONE.

CONSTRUCTION COMMENCED was followed an instant later with CONSTRUCTION COMPLETE.

'Juhani get the grenade from the container over there.' I ordered. I took out the datapad, and reduced it to slag. DELETE ALL SPECIFICATIONS OF GRENADE CONSTRUCTED.

ALL SPECIFICATIONS DELETED

Now how to bollix up the works? I typed CONSTRUCT BLASTER RIFLE, CORELLIAN.

QUANTITY?

I typed in INFINITE.

The system hummed, then answered. PRIORITY?

I typed in ULTIMATE. WEAPONS MUST BE CONSTRUCTED USING ALL RESOURCES.

The system hummed again a little irritated now. PREVIOUS CONSTRUCTION TO CONTINUE?

NEGATIVE

COMMENCING CONSTRUCTION.

Behind us there was a rattle, and a blaster rifle fell to the floor from a slot. Another followed it almost immediately, and then another. The rifles were starting to jam in the mechanism as we left.

There were more guards and dark Jedi awaiting us, but we cut our way through them

Mission

I ducked as another mass of Sith erupted from the elevator. How many of them were there? I flicked a thermal detonator over their heads into the elevator, and it landed at the feet of a man in armor. The man screamed, and dived forward as the detonator blew the elevator to fragments. The thermal shockwave threw smoking bits of him out of the door. I gasped as the metal began to reform, almost as if the elevator was healing.

Canderous turned, and his blaster leveled as he began blasting a second wave coming down the other elevator. 'Mission! Power packs!' He screamed.

I ran aboard the ship, snatching up a bunch of bandoliers that Canderous had laid out. Each carried a different power cell size. One for his weapon, One for Zaalbar's another for Carth's and mine.

I dropped back to the deck, running to cover behind him. I handed the belt to him, then low crawled to where Zaalbar was. He took his belt without speaking, and continued firing into yet another wave of attackers. Carth was kneeling behind the wreckage of another one of those tanks. He grinned at me, grabbing a belt when I got to him.

'I don't want to be here!' I screamed.

'Who does?' Carth asked, popping up to shoot a Sith crawling toward us. 'How are we doing for ammo?' He asked.

'This is the last of it!'

'All I have to say is I hope they finish up there fast!'

Star Forge

Malak walked down to stand behind Bastila. A pity. The chit had power he could use, but there wasn't much time. 'Bastila.'

There was a long moment. In the holotank, the Sith attack faltered, and an arm of the Republic's dwindling fighters punched through to rip into a score of ships. She opened her eyes, then stood, bowing. 'Master, why have you summoned me?' She motioned toward the Republic counter attack. At least three of the massive ships were dying even as they watched. 'Without my battle meditation there is a chance that the Republic capital ships will break through to attack the Star Forge itself!'

'I only interrupted you for a moment. You will return to your meditation in a moment. I just wanted to inform you that Revan is fighting her way here even now.' Malak looked at the holotank. The second tier of warships had closed the gap. Not soon enough to save a dozen of his ships. 'The Force has arranged a nice neat confrontation for us. Revan the Republic fleet the Jedi. All of my enemies in one place so I can destroy them all in an afternoon!' He swept his hand toward the screen. 'Even without your battle meditation, we cannot fail. There are too many of my ships, and too few of theirs.

'But there is something you must do to prove your worth as my apprentice. You must finish what you started in the Temple, My Apprentice. You must cut the bond that links you two together. Revan must die here by your hand.'

'Y-yes Master.' She replied in an uncertain voice.

'I sense your fear but it is unfounded. The Star Forge surrounds us, pure evil in metal and Force combined. The Star Forge will feed the dark side within you, and sap the light from her. Stay here in this chamber. She must pass through here to get to the floors above. Kill her, earn your rightful place.'

'Of course, Master. I will not fail you again.' She turned, kneeling, and returned to her meditation.

Malak walked away from her, stopping at the door leading upward. 'Perhaps you will triumph, Bastila. But your death serves my purposes. It will give me time to finish my last card. Cutting Revan's heart out before she faces the power of the Star Forge itself.' He chuckled, stepping into the elevator. 'We shall see my old master if you can face the full power of the Star Forge itself!' As the elevator rose he roared with laughter.

Danika

The last of the Sith died, and we paused for a moment to gasp. I knew we were only three levels from the upper observation deck. I fingered the grenade I carried. I had to be sure of where Malak was when I triggered it. The door opened onto another floor, and we charged the group of Sith soldiers blocking our way. We bowled through them and into another series of walkways. There were a few dark Jedi here, and we dealt with them swiftly. Three had been before another door, which my memory told me led into the command center. I stepped over their bodies, and pushed the button. The door opened and I paused.

Bastila knelt there, and before her I could see the carnage of the battle beyond the station. The Republic fleet was being mauled, yet pressed forward even as it died toward the Star Forge. I mourned all those lives. I straightened my shoulders, and stepped over the threshold. As I did the door slammed shut behind me.

Bastila

I felt her presence, along with Juhani and Jolee. I rose from my meditative state, and a flick of power leaped out, sealing the door behind her.

'So predictable.' I said, standing smoothly. 'The grand leader with her hounds at her heels.'

'You knew I'd come, Bastila.' She said with a sad smile. 'It's starting to look like it might be a habit.'

'What?'

'Saving you.'

I barked a laugh. 'As always you think more highly of your own actions than others would. 'How can you rescue someone from something they do willingly?'

'I'll never give up on you, Bastila. I know you can be saved.'

'Quit wasting your time. I see the Jedi for what they are weak fearful old fools that cling to a path no one in their right mind would follow. The Sith are the true masters of the Force, and have always been. You have forgotten that, Revan.

'Now you must pay the price. Here on the Star Forge, the Dark side is supreme. This time you will die.'

'Please, Bastila.' She said softly. 'We don't have to do this.'

'I do have to. As long as that bond exists I am linked to a whining cowardly being that doesn't have the decency to die. I can take my rightful place at my master's side without the anchor you have become. Without you I am superior to all but him. With you, I am nothing.'

'No. You have never been worthless.' She said sadly. 'You are the one that put a shattered mind together. That redeemed me. I must try to do the same for you.'

'Don't make me laugh!' I snarled. 'When I found you all I had to work with was a mewling pile of flesh without the wit to stop drooling! I didn't redeem Revan, I put together a composite of one stupid woman with another and here you stand! All I did was reprogram your computer, and over-write it as the Jedi would have wanted.'

'True.' She smiled sadly. 'But did you actually read her files? There are memories here that are not hers.' She tapped her head. 'Danika was from Deralia, true. But she worked in one of the resorts. She never saw what I was able to show you. Revan went to Deralia just before she went off to the Jedi Academy. She met a girl a few years older than herself named Kalendra. Kalendra introduced me to the Tirlat, and the idea of compassionate love.

'That memory, you lying on the ground asking me to bond, me above you. That was the same except it was a six-year-old girl on the bottom,' She touched her chest, 'And a nine-year-old kneeling over me. Not the love you created for a much older girl. I didn't bond then because I had sworn to bond with the Jedi. It was I that didn't want to be separated, I that cried in her lap wishing I could change the world and stay.

'Don't you see?' She stepped toward me, hand out. 'You didn't just create another program as you think. You took what I was, merged it with a person so selfless that she died assuring we would live, and made me. I cannot help being what and who I am. You made me in the image of what you wanted in a companion and life mate. How else can we feel as we do?'

I screamed and cut at her savagely. She blocked, and suddenly she smiled.

-It was evening, Danika faced me. We were dueling not with lightsabers, but with long springy vines. Our movements were fast and clean, but they were more two girls playing rather than serious. 'Dance with me.' She whispered.

-'Stop it!' I leaped back. She didn't follow. I laughed, but even I could hear a string of panic in it. I see now why Malak followed you. A shell of what you once were but still a formidable opponent. I can't even imagine the power you once had and wielded as the Dark Lord. You were a fool to give it all up and follow the light.'

'I am as strong in the light as I ever was in darkness, Bastila.' She replied.

'Lies! The dark side has made me stronger than I have ever been. Stronger than Master Vandar, stronger than Vrook! I will have control of more power than their strait mind would even imagine!

'As Malak teaches me the greatest secrets of the Sith I will unlock all of my potential. Eventually there will be will be no limit to what I can achieve. I will even learn to build another Star Forge!'

'As Ajunta Pall told me, all you will accomplish is death and destruction. Those around you, then yourself.'

I shook my head. 'Ajunta Pall is dead for two millennia. He speaks no more. If any knew the true strength of the Sith he was it! All else is Jedi propaganda. The dark side is a tool, nothing more. A more efficient and cutting tool than the light. Eventually I will surpass my master. When I do, I will challenge him, and he will die.

'Then I shall take on my own apprentice and the cycle will begin again. This has always been the way of the Sith. It assures that only the strongest rule us.'

'We fought among ourselves to see who would be the greatest among us, and we brought our own fortresses down upon our heads.' I repeated.

'What?'

'As I said, I talked with Ajunta Pall. The first true lord of the Sith, yet he knew it was all a lie.' She said. 'You doom yourself, you try to doom the Galaxy to an endless cycle of death and betrayal.'

'No, it is you that is doomed!' I cut at her knees, but she blocked me. Then she began a fluid attack that had me backing away desperately. I leaped backward ten meters, throwing my lightsaber. She flicked it off with the force, then caught it. She smiled, then flipped it back to me.

'You are growing tired! I can feel it! Your strength falters as the dark side saps the light!'

'Then strike me down, Bastila.' She sighed, setting the lightsaber on the deck. 'I won't fight you any more.'

'Then die!'

'Bond with me.' She knelt. 'You only see the pallid shapes of the bond, Bastila. You didn't know how to bond with an Echani, and all you get is glimpses. I know this because you would not fight me if you had. I see it all and it is wondrous and glorious. All that you are, all that you had, all that you feared. I see it!'

Bond with me.

My mind repeated the phrase over and over. I remembered kneeling over her body. Frantically I had reached into her mind in a way I had never imagined, a dark place, yet in it was a spark of light. It was a vision of a young girl, her heart racing, looking up at an older girl laughing at something. She was older than I was so I substituted us for the girls. As the younger it was I that lay on that suddenly soft grass, touching the face that hovered above me.

Bond with me.

She had resisted, but I refused to let her go. She had kissed me, and I felt myself kneeling again, holding her hand. She was alive, but if I moved away from her she spasmed as if being struck by seizures. I had to touch her every second.

The others had helped, carrying her on a stretcher as I ran along side. We had reached the escape pods, and the door had barely closed when the ship began to break up. Something shattered the pod's engine, and we whirled away as the ship exploded.

Long hours had passed, and the others had fallen off to sleep. I was bound to Revan by that link I maintained. Then I felt the wreckage shift. I looked up, just as a faceplate blackened. It was the real Danika. She was dying from anoxia even then. Somehow I reached out a second time, feeling her thoughts and memories flowing through her. Then starting to fade as she died. I touched her mind, and was suddenly buried in them. While she had consciously known she must die, her spirit had railed against her fate. I found her memories trying to force themselves into my mind, and frantically I pushed them away into the only receptacle free for them, the now empty mind of Revan. As the shuttle came alongside, I felt the last of them pass through me into Revan.

When I was done, two people had become one. She awoke in the sickbay, remembering Danika's life vividly. Yet I could feel her questing outward for something, and when she felt my mind, we had bonded.

Now I could feel her questing again, pushing along the bond like an eel slipping through a crack in a wall. 'Revan-'

'Bond with me or kill me.' She whispered. 'I who was once Revan Chandar Bai Echani ask you Bastila to bond with me in full. To share the joy and the sorrow the pleasure and the pain, to share all that two people can share until death. To stand with me until the universe dies.' She closed her eyes, looking down. 'Don't make me go through life alone.'

She was defenseless! I could kill her! I raised my lightsaber, ready to cut down-

-The only person who had never asked for more than I might give at any time. Never berated, never screamed, never pressed too hard. The person that had held me in my pain at my father's death, that had forgiven me for what I had done to save her life. The person-

-Whose hand I touched so delicately. Her fingers spread, and I felt my own interlace. My other hand came up unbidden, and those fingers locked as well. I found myself looking at her as her eyes opened, and in them I could see myself. Not the inner picture of yourself you create. Not the mirror that you preen before. I saw myself dirty and bedraggled in a slaver's cage. Snarling at my rescuer. Pontificating to both her and Carth. Woebegone as she stood on the floor of the apartment on Taris. Deep in thought as I puzzled out the first star map. Stricken when I learned of my father's death. Cuddling in pain when we found his body. Bleary when she had taken off that collar on Manaan. Screaming in fury as I had charged Malak. Haughty when I faced her in the temple. Then the same sneering face when I fought her here.

Yet all had a glowing quality, as if the person saw deep within, measured all my good, all my faults all my petty worries, then cast them aside and embraced them in a love that cannot be matched by any hate. I felt as if my father held me again, as if nothing would ever hurt me, and I knew she would protect me from anything as long as I lived.

I found myself kneeling with her, my head buried against her neck, her voice crooning softly to me. I couldn't hate her, I could never fight her. It would be like slicing off my own hands.

'I always had faith in you.' She whispered, her lips brushing my cheek,

I opened my eyes, then suddenly spun, staring at the battle. The Republic fleet was being smashed before my eyes. 'What have I done!' I wailed.

'You can help them.' She said. She reached out, touching my face. 'I must deal with other business.'

'But I can help you!'

'Do you think you're strong enough to face Malak again?' She whispered gently.

I shook my head. It had been too easy to turn me to the dark side before. She must know my own strength. 'You are right. Go, I will help the Republic fleet as long as I can.'

'Only if you promise me one thing. If you feel as if the force has left you suddenly, run. Get to the ship, get away.'

'I don't understand.'

'Trust me.' She walked toward the door. She looked back, and gave a small wave. I knew she didn't expect to see me again.

I reached out, feeling the struggling Republic soldiers stand a little straighter. 'I will be here when you return.' I whispered.