Looking for Something to Die For

Jolee frowned as he peaked around the wall and into the nearby corridor. No enemies in sight. He was safe, for now. And a little disappointed at that.

Exar Kun's Sith would never have left this ship so bare and defenseless, he thought to himself as he crept his way through the hallway. The bad guys of this generation are far more incompetent.

He paused for a moment as he put his hand to the lighstaber strapped to his belt.

Of course, he admitted. It could be a trap.

He grumbled a little at the thought and then put his ear to the door to check for any sound of a garrison. He heard nothing. Still cautious he opened himself to the Force, checking for life signs. None. He heard nothing around him. There were, so far as he could tell, nobody in the next room.

He smiled as he pulled out a security spike and opened up the key card slot, plugging the spike into the small computer mainframe hidden within the electronic lock. He whistled softly as he fidgeted with the dials of the mainframe, hacking into the security systems on the door.

Nobody these days has any respect for finesse. It's always slicing your way through things, these kids. I say if you can open a safe without breaking it, why break it?

Realizing what he had said he chuckled and shook his head nostalgically.

Who am I fooling? People were just as reckless when I was a kid. Look at Andor Vex.

He chuckled half-heartedly at the memory, taking light at the situation as he had told it for years, making the tragic event a joke of sorts, but also remembering fully how it had really happened. Andor, the engine sucking hero with a destiny, a destiny which had gone to his head. It was funny in a way, how his overconfidence had led to his destruction and yet that same destruction also fulfilled his destiny.

Thrown into an engine shaft of a Dimean warship he'd somehow managed to sabotage the ship, accidentally or purposefully. The result was the destruction of the ship and Jolee's escape while the warlord responsible for Andor's death had met his end. To this day Jolee didn't know how Andor did what he did, but he'd known that Andor had done it and that it had cost Andor his life.

Poor kid, that Andor. Idiot, yes. But he saved me in the end.

He remembered the story like it was yesterday. He was not nearly as senile as he pretended to be. His memory was sharper, his body fitter than they appeared to be. The Force was partially responsible and Jolee had long said half-jokingly that good living was a side benefit of being a Jedi. He was nearly seventy and as fit as many people in their forties.

In a way, Jolee cursed his luck. He had long ago convinced himself he deserved oblivion, or at the very least eternal suffering. He blamed himself for things he knew weren't his fault and punished himself for things he knew were. He wished he could be the forgetful old kook he so often imagined he was, that so many who did not know better thought he was. At least then he wouldn't have the memories.

Nayama.

That name brought tears to the old man's eyes. He shook them away, biting his tongue.

I can't, not now. I have a job to do. I can't let my nostalgia get in the way of things.

He closed his eyes and breathed a sigh, trying to focus his work on opening the door. Relentlessly he plugged away, rewiring the lock so that the right code would be entered into the door. All of a sudden, the light on the lock's surface went green and Jolee could hear the door's grip on the wall disengage, a short clicking sound.

The door slid open.

A dozen battle droids snapped their heads around and raised their weapons in the direction of Jolee.

'Ah, frell.'

'Intruder!'

Carth ducked his head instinctively, just in time to miss a volley of blaster bolts come from the other side of the hallway as two Sith soldiers opened fire on him. Carth's twin blasters were out in a minute as he rolled to the back of the wall and breathed a sigh of relief. He pressed his back to the wall he was now against, looking at the wall that had seconds ago been behind him but which was quickly becoming a slab of metal slag, melted, burnt, and broken under the Sith barrage.

This wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I said let's infiltrate the Retribution, he thought to himself. More shooting than I'd hoped.

He peeked around the corner for a split second to take a glance of the situation. The two Sith had taken positions on opposite sides of the hallway, each similarly taking a position on their respective wall. Carth ducked again, took a second to remember where they'd been, darted out and shot his own volley of death, aimed towards the Sith on the left. He was behind the wall before he knew whether he'd hit his mark or not although once there the groan heard faintly beneath the storm of blaster fire seemed to indicate yes.

Then he was out again, he rolled out and then stopped, blasting his way to the other wall. A stray blaster bolt him on the arm, fizzling away on his armor, leaving a charred but otherwise unremarkable spot. Then he was behind the wall.

The shooting stopped.

'Command, I've got a-'

Carth dashed out, knocked the comlink out of the Sith's hand and shoved him against the wall. Before the Sith had a chance to arm himself Carth kneed him in the stomach then took the blaster in his right hand and slammed it into the Sith's helmet. The Sith crumpled and fell to the floor.

Carth sighed and looked around the hallway, not another Sith in sight.

Good, I still have time to hide the bodies.

He set to work. On his way in he'd noticed a closet which would serve as a good place to dump some troublesome bodies. He dragged the bodies back to the closet and stashed them in, then went running down the corridor.

This mission is taking a turn for the worse. I can only hope that Jolee's doing fine.

He stood still and buried his face in one hand, scratching his beard with the other. He knew there was nothing wrong. He knew that Jolee wasn't in danger. But he had this feeling that something was about to go wrong.

It didn't help that Jolee had been joking around like he always did when he was feeling nervous, making comments on how Carth was worrying too much, telling some story about his past. But Carth had known the old man too long to be fooled by Jolee's antics. Jolee had known the mission was dangerous, and had gone in anyays.

Sometimes Carth felt that Jolee had a death wish. He didn't know the story, although he supposed that Emerin - Revan that is - did considering how close Jolee had gotten to the ex-Sith. But he knew there was more to the fallen Jedi than could be seen on the surface and that something was eating away at Jolee.

He knew because he had been there himself, before the Star Forge mission, before he had met Revan and discovered his son Dustil was still alive.

So he worried for Jolee, because the old man, no matter how absurd or irrational or simply frustrating he could be at times, had grown on Carth. The time they'd spent together in the years since Revan had left for the Unknown Regions had knit them closely together. In a way, Jolee was a replacement for Saul, Carth's treacherous mentor who had turned on all he had fought for in order to join the Sith, an about-face that cost Carth his home and family.

The discovery of Saul's treachery had driven Carth down a path of darkness, a path devoted to one purpose - revenge. Carth knew what it was like to be in that place between life and death, to be a dead man walking. He'd gotten over it in time but he wasn't sure if Jolee had gotten over whatever was troubling him.

That was why he had been so reluctant to send Jolee on a dangerous mission like this, to recover the data hidden within the cruiser regarding the one they were looking for: the so-called Last Jedi.

The name had emerged a few weeks before. A holonet report was made that indicated that evidence had been discovered that indicated that not all the Jedi had been destroyed during the Jedi Civil War and its aftermath and that, according to an anonymous source recently, the last Jedi was an exile. At first, Carth was worried his cover had been blown. Since the incident at Katarr a year earlier where most of the remaining Jedi had been killed Carth had been protecting the identities and existence of the handful of remaining Jedi known to him: Bastila, Yuthura, his son Dustil, and Jolee (although the latter would probably deny being one).

It had been a difficult task, and Carth kept the secret even from his superiors whom he didn't know if he could trust. Ever since Karath's betrayal he'd been careful with who he told secrets to and he knew that superiors were not always reliable. Especially now and with the particular issue as Jedi had begun in general distrusted and often hated because of the carnage suffered in the so-called Jedi Civil War, a war blamed on the Jedi and not altogether unjustly.

But Carth quickly learned it had nothing to do with them. Shortly after the report on the holonet Admiral Dodonna herself pulled together a briefing regarding the supposed Last Jedi. It was revealed to Carth and others that the Last Jedi was believed to be, based on some classified information recovered by the Republic a Jedi General who had fought under Revan and disappeared in the years after the Mandalorian Wars, possibly due to having been exiled like the report claimed. She told then that it was in the interests of the Republic that the issue be pursued and that Sith remnants were already on the chase.

Carth and his ship the Harbringer had been trusted with the mission and shortly after Jolee had learned of it and volunteered to carry it out as well. Carth had refused at first, he didn't want to lose one Jedi while looking for another. Jolee had remained self-assured however and told Carth not to worry for his sake. So Carth hadn't, assuming their search wouldn't put Jolee in considerable danger.

He discovered he was wrong however. There search had led them to a Sith vessel, the Retribution. Here lay the answers they sought, kept by a Sith Lord who had for some time been searching as they had for the Last Jedi. To get those answers they'd have to take them from the Sith.

Easier said than done of course. The Retribution was an Interdictor-class Cruiser left over from the Jedi Civil War and armed to the teeth. The Republic didn't want to spend the resources necessary to capture the ship so they had prepared an infiltration team. Once again, this was more difficult than it first appeared. Such an infiltration team would have to be well-prepared to fight through hundreds of Sith to get to the computer database.

So Jolee had volunteered to infiltrate the Sith himself. He'd pulled similar stunts during the Great Sith War four decades prior and believed he could probably make it out with the data. All he'd have to do, or so he said, was take a small starfighter and trail behind the cruiser's engine trail, latch on, and cut his way in. It wasn't a bad plan, or so it sounded, but Carth knew that things were rarely so simple. So he had insisted that if Jolee was going, so was he.

He knew command was going to have a fit .

Jolee had given in, although initially reluctant, but told Carth that they should probably split up, therefore having the best chance of getting past the Sith and into the database. If one of them failed the other would still have a chance of succeeding. Therefore neither would be able to communicate with one another until they met up (or didn't) in the computer room. Then they'd retrieve the data and make their way back to the star fighters and head back to the Harbringer.

It sounded simple. It sounded easy. All the same...

I have a bad feeling about this.

'Command: Identify yourself, intruder.'

The droid that looked to be in charge was pointing a blaster at Jolee. A large one. One that looked as though it could make Jolee hurt very much if the droid decided to use it. Sighing, Jolee put his hands in the air imitating puzzlement.

'I'm as confused about this as you are,' he answered. 'I thought this was the bathroom.'

'Statement: Your answer is not logical. This is not a lavatory. Lavatories are not locked and guarded by Aratech battle droids.'

'Well, you can see how I might then be confused by your presence,' Jolee replied. He looked at a pile of boxes behind the droids. 'Out of curiosity what are you guarding?'

'Command: Identify yourself, intruder.'

'I see you're getting straight to the point. Let's just say I'm a friend.'

'Query: Whose friend?'

'Somebody's friend.'

The droid didn't look convinced although Jolee couldn't say for the life of him how he knew that. He sighed. No matter how incompetent the actual Sith had gotten in forty years it seemed as though droid technology had made a few advances. He should have known after seeing HK-47, although he'd hoped the homicidal droid was an exception in intelligence.

'Statement: Your answer is not sufficient. You will put your hands on your head and proceed to the brig under our escort. We will notify command about your presence. If you are telling the truth you shall be released. If your answer is incorrect you shall be interrogated and terminated.'

The droid raised its blaster and aimed it carefully at Jolee.

'Statement: Come now quietly or we will be forced to resort to violence.'

'That would be a shame now wouldn't it?' Jolee said sighing. He closed his eyes, focusing himself.

There's twelve of them. Those aren't good odds. But on the other hand going with them is worse odds. I've got to move quickly. Hit the leader first, it will confuse them if they're anything like Krath battle droids. Then hit the lights.

In a second his lightsaber was out, blazing green. The droid fired its blaster on reflex but Jolee carefully moved the blade to meet the bolt, sending it back at the attacker. It hit the droid straight on, sending sparks around the floor. Before the other droids reacted Jolee thrust out his left hand and focused on the Force, sending a stream of electricity through his hand and into the droid, making its circuits sputter and spark. The droid crumpled on the ground, its minions turning their gaze towards their fallen comrade.

The droids distracted Jolee turned towards the ceiling and threw his lightsaber forward, aiming it for the light. The lightsaber hit, short-circuiting it and sending sparks everywhere. As the droids adjusted from the light to the dark, their sensors adjusting to focus on the infrared light in the room, Jolee was already on them, catching his lightsaber and swinging it through droid after droid, the Force guiding his blade. Limbs were severed from their bodies and heads tossed about the room as his blade burned its way through the droids' metal skeletons.

Within a moment all the droids were laying about the floor, smoking.

That went well, Jolee thought, disengaging his lightsaber and tucking it away within his robes. He walked towards the boxes, seeing their silhouettes dimly through the Force. He put his hand on one of them.

Let's see what's inside.

He pulled the crate's top off and peered inside. What he saw was rather unremarkable for the most part. Mostly it was a bunch of blasters. But what interested Jolee was the manifest, which indicated the cargo was bound for Onderon.

Onderon? Now there's an odd destination for a ship full of Sith if I ever saw one. I wonder what they're up to. Nothing good I expect.

He closed the crate.

In either case it's not really my concern. My concern is the computer database, which if our good friend Kreia was right will contain the final clues we need for the location of the Exile.

He walked over to the door and on the other side of the room to the right and opened it. He peeked around the wall, looking for Sith and saw none. He smiled.

Alright, looks like I'm clear. The elevator's at the other side of this hallway. If I get there I can head on up to the computer database, which is a level below the bridge.

He checked the hallway for a camera. It wouldn't be like the Sith not to have a security camera down such a tactically important hallway. If any intruder was going to board the cruiser they'd likely come this way or up the maintenance shaft, which was the way Carth was going.

I wonder how the kid's doing.

He grinned at the word 'kid'.

He'd probably be angry with me if I heard me call him that. Kid - him. Heh. He is only in his forties though.

He chuckled and then frowned.

Damn. I really am old.

This is a lot less fun than it probably looks, Carth thought as he looked down towards the bottom of the long shaft he was now climbing. He couldn't quite see the bottom, although he was sure it couldn't be that far considering the dimensions of the cruiser.

On the other hand, he thought, considering the idea of falling down. Maybe it is.

He continued the climb up the shaft. It couldn't be far until he hit the deck where the database was. He had been climbing for several minutes and was about through with this whole vertical travel thing.

I'll never have the urge to climb another mountain - ever.

It was somewhat ironic, him being uncomfortable at such a height and yet being a pilot. But somehow falling from a ladder into a deep, deep pit seemed a lot more frightening than crashing a starfighter into the ground.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the number of the deck he was headed for and climbed over onto the ledge, pushing the button on the door to open. The door slid open, leading to a long corridor. Down it were two patrolling Sith. Carth sighed and touched his blasters lightly. He hoped he wouldn't have to use them. He poked his head inside of the hallway carefully and slowly, looking either way. To his right there was a long corridor, not currently filled with guards although Carth was sure there were some nearby.

Sitting in the shadows and carefully timing himself so that the Sith were both looking away from Carth's location, Carth darted out to the right. Just as he did he heard some commotion from the hallway behind him and snapped out his blasters.

'Intruder!'

Instead of the familiar sound of blasters Carth heard swords being drawn and a crackling sound. He turned around, pistols at the ready, to see that a Jedi had just ignited a green lightsaber and was now engaged in a fight with the Sith, who had drawn their swords.

Great sense of timing, Carth thought. While the Sith battled on he carefully adjusted the power setting on one of his blasters, aimed for the back of one of Jolee's opponents, and opened fire. The bolt hit the Sith squarely in the back, who squirmed for a minute, stunned by the bolt. The Sith's companion spun around to see who'd shot his comrade.

This gave Jolee enough time to kick the stunned Sith in the stomach, sending him flying into the wall and knocking him unconscious. The other Sith turned around to fight again, just in time to parry a blow from Jolee. Carth took aim again but before he could fire Jolee had disarmed his opponent, sending one arm smoking to the floor. The Sith howled in pain and crumpled to the floor.

'I see you got here before I did,' Jolee remarked, disengaging his lightsaber and placing it on his belt. 'Why didn't you clear the way for me, poor old kook that I am? That fight nearly took my back out.'

'Yeah, you really handled yourself poorly,' Carth replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes slightly at Jolee's insistence at playing the fool at a time like this. It was funny usually but sometimes it got on Carth's nerves. 'But I suppose we don't have time to lament over your longevity. Shouldn't we be headed for the database?'

'That we should,' Jolee agreed. He kicked the groaning Sith on the ground who was still clutching the stump of an arm he had left.

'Oh, quiet you,' he commanded sternly. 'Or you'll bring down the whole Sith Army. Wouldn't want that would we?'

He turned to Carth and gestured down the hall.

'You first?'

'Sure.'

Carth and Jolee walked their way down the hall to a door on their right. Carth hit a button on the wall next to the door, disengaging the lock down the center of the door and opening it. The door slid open to both sides, revealing an empty room with a few disengaged battle droids.

'They sure weren't expecting us, that's for sure,' Carth observed. 'These droids aren't even active. They must have figured the regular patrols would prove sufficient.'

'Either that or they're overconfident in their youth,' Jolee interjected.

Carth looked at Jolee.

'Most of these Sith are probably in their thirties. I think they'd object to being called 'young.''

Jolee rose his eyebrows.

'Hey to me,' Jolee argued, 'anyone under fifty is young.'

'And why exactly are we standing here arguing this while the door to the database is right there?' Carth asked, pointing to their left. Jolee turned his head to look at the door, took a look at the sign that said 'computer database,' and laughed.

'Well, there you are,' Jolee said. 'Already there. Time flies when you're having fun.'

They walked over to the door and Carth pointed towards a card lock.

'Looks like we need a security pass to get through here.'

He turned to Jolee.

'Unless you can break us in?'

Jolee nodded.

'I can manage.'

The old Jedi knelt down in front of the lock and opened it, playing with the various dials on the inside. Carth turned his attention to the droids, still standing inactive, heads drooped.

Just to be sure.

With that he took out is blasters and pointed them at the sedentary machines. A few seconds later their maintenance panels were fried open and the circuitry within melted beyond easy repair. Assured the droids wouldn't be bothering them anytime soon Carth turned his head to look at Jolee again. He noticed that the old man wasn't using a security spike. He looked at Jolee with an expression of puzzlement.

'Where's the security spike you brought along?'

'Already used,' Jolee answered. 'Saw some trouble down a few decks that required its use.'

'Sure you can get through without it?'

'Sure, done it a hundred thousand times at least,' Jolee said confidently. 'All it takes is a little...'

All of a sudden a siren went off in the ship, a high-pitched pulsating sound filling the room. Jolee sprang up and looked around, as though he expected to see someone looking at him. Carth closed his eyes and held his head, the noise ringing in his ears. Then a voice came in over the siren.

'This is the bridge to all crewmembers. We have an intruder. Repeat, we have an intruder.'

'Oh, the hell with it,' Jolee said resignedly, pulling out his lightsaber and turning it on. He shoved the blade into the oval door, plowing his way through its durasteel hull, gritting his teeth.

Carth watched as the metal bubbled and melted, heated to incredible temperatures by the lightsaber, sparks flying on to the floor. Shards of metal fell to the floor, melted off the doorframe. Despite the fact that it was made of near solid durasteel Jolee had in the few seconds Carth had been watching managed to make a semicircle in the door.

Carth looked around carefully, to make sure that no one was coming. He knew that they couldn't stay long. Within minutes the ship would be crawling with Sith and it would be near impossible to escape all the way back to their fighters.

'Almost there...' Jolee grunted. By now his lightsaber had cut two thirds of the way through the door. It wouldn't be long now, although Carth wasn't sure how long was too long. He heard distant yelling coming from beyond the room.

'We don't have much time, Jolee,' he said nervously.

'I know, I know!'

There was a short hissing sound as Jolee turned off his lightsaber and tucked it away.

'Step back,' he told Carth.

Carth took a few steps backward and watched as Jolee kicked the door in. Sparks exploded from the hole left in the doorframe and smoke flooded the room. Carth coughed and waved his hand about, stepping in behind Jolee into the computer database.

There was only one terminal but it was connected to a large CPU, five or six times as large as a regular one and no doubt filled with an enormous store of knowledge ranging from Sith training techniques to tactical information on the Republic to the location of one particular individual some called the Last Jedi.

'Force be praised,' Jolee sighed. 'Now all we have to do is find what we're looking for.'

'I'll look,' Carth proposed. 'You guard the doorway against any unwelcome visitors.'

'My pleasure.'

Carth stood over the terminal. He pressed the on button and watched as the black screen popped to life. Windows filled the display, which Carth clicked with way through until he came to the search engine. He typed in the key words 'last jedi location' and waited as the terminal hummed.

The terminal responded with the request for a password. Carth cursed under his breath and began to type furiously, trying to enter an appropriate password. He wasn't much good with slicing. He wished for a minute that Mission was there. Then he regretted it. She might have been able to get past the Sith security but he didn't want her put in needless danger. They'd just have to do without her.

'How's it back there?' Jolee asked impatiently. Carth could hear his voice was edgy, the old man's otherwise cool voice straining a little bit. In the background he could hear the rushing footsteps of soldiers.

'This damn computer wants a password,' Carth answered, his voice filled with frustration. 'It might be a while.'

'We don't have a while!' Jolee snapped. 'We're going to have Sith on us in less than a minute.'

Carth nodded and felt sweat bead on his brow. He had to work quickly. Yet simultaneously he had to remain calm. He couldn't panic and miss something in his rush to slice the infernal machine in front of him. It was one of those paradoxes in life, which convinced Carth that the Force had a bad sense of humor.

He pulled out a computer spike and uploaded it into the computer. All of a sudden random windows began to pop up in the background of the display, all filled with meaningless data, all designed to jam the computer's security system so that Carth could more easily slice his way into the computer.

He began to search file by file, avoiding the password wherever possible. He saw one file that grabbed his interest, a file marked exile_loc. Then the security system blocked him again as he clicked on the file, a security window coming up requesting a password.

'Carrrth!' Jolee growled. Carth heard the crackle of a lightsaber springing to life and knew that the Sith were close. He wiped his forehead with the sleeve of his armor, which didn't do much good, merely smearing it around.

'I'm working!'

He pulled out the old spike, threw it to the floor, and plugged in a new one. Streams of data overwhelmed the security window, plugging in countless numbers and letters. An error log appeared and the security window disappeared. Carth opened the file marked exile_loc.

From behind him Carth heard the screeching sound of blasters coming and ricocheting off the walls. He also heard a humming sound with short intermittent buzzes in between as Jolee blocked the blaster fire rapidly.

'It's getting a bit hot here,' Jolee grunted. 'Might want to hurry up back there!'

The file opened. Carth took a quick look at it. It was coded.

Son of a Hutt. What am I supposed to do now?

He realized he didn't have enough time on his hands to do anything except take the file and hope it was the right one. If it wasn't, it would be his head. If it was, it would be the break he needed. But either way he didn't have time to ponder on his choices much longer. He jerked out the spike, through it on to the floor, and pulled out a small data card. He plugged it in and rapidly downloaded the file onto it, took it out, and tucked it back into his equipment pack.

'Done!' he shouted, spinning around with his blasters and pointing them straight out at the half dozen Sith firing in his direction.

'About time!' Jolee replied. 'I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to be finished.'

A blaster bolt skimmed past Carth's head and he sidled up against the wall. He turned his eyes towards Jolee but left his head in place. The old Jedi, not nearly as frail as he looked or pretended to be, deflecting blaster bolts wildly. Still, although Carth was amazed by Jolee's martial skill, he knew that the Jedi was beginning to wear down.

'What do you say I cover you while you go slice some Sith up?' he asked.

'Don't mind if you do,' Jolee grunted.

Carth nodded and pulled out a frag grenade he had on his belt.

'Get back,' he warned. He pulled the primer out, set the grenade to detonate on impact, took a second to look around the corner at the positions of the Sith, and tossed the frag grenade over his shoulder and into the fray. A split second later heat surged out of the room behind him and he heard the agonized screams of Sith coming from inside, not totally drowned out by the roar of the explosion and the sound of metal being ripped apart.

Jolee, as Carth had warned him to, ducked just in time behind the doorway to avoid getting hit by the shrapnel flying out. Metal shards flung themselves into the terminal Carth had been using a second before, shattering the display and sending sparks everywhere. Carth shielded his face, careful not to be hit in the eyes.

A second later it was all over and Carth shifted around to check the room. The room behind them was demolished. The walls were broken, holes torn through them by metal flying out of the explosion. Bodies were lying about the room, flung onto hanging wreckage or buried underneath the rubble.

'That should buy us a little time,' Carth said quietly, looking around. 'But not enough for comfort. We should get moving.'

'No objections there,' Jolee agreed. 'But there is the question of where we should move our sorry butts to. The elevator or the maintenance shaft?'

Carth thought for a second. The elevator would probably be faster but it would be the first place the Sith would look. On the other hand by the time they got down the maintenance shaft the Sith might have discovered the location of their fighters. Still, despite the fact that the maintenance shaft should take longer Carth had gotten to the command deck faster.

'I'd opt for the shaft myself, although I hate to think I'll be climbing down that hellhole again.'

'You're probably right,' Jolee said nodding. 'And we don't have much time to think on the subject. Let's try it.'

The Jedi disengaged his lightsaber and Carth tucked his blasters away, the two of them running off to escape the exceedingly hostile cruiser.

---

"Lord Sion.'

Whisper, whisper.

Someone was speaking to him, someone was calling to him.

He ignored the call. He let the wispy, timid voice flow over him. He must. He could not let it interfere. His meditations required his full attention.

'Sire, I apologize for interrupting you, but it is important.'

It came again. He cursed it, hated it. It brought suffering to him. No longer could he ignore the voice. Its repetition had broken his concentration. He felt the calm sea of serenity that was his consciousness slip into oblivion, replaced by the tempestuous waters of pain.

Pain.

He screamed within himself, a flood of agony sweeping over his body. He felt the flames return, the thousand little flames that engulfed his body's every crevice. He was on fire. He could feel his skin burning, drying and peeling open. He felt the urge to tear it all off, end the pain, bring an end to his misery.

But he resisted. For he knew it would do nothing. His misery would not be ended. His body would only rebuild itself. Such was the curse - and the blessing - of his power. He was immortal. Nothing, not even his own hands, could bring an end to his suffering.

So he embraced the pain. It was, after all, the source of his power. He was the Lord of Pain, the master of torture and suffering. Only through his pain had he been able to ascend to such a height, to stand the test of countless battles, and to finally usurp his own master. No enemy yet had conquered him and he was immune to the pain of battle, his every breath more agonizing than the deepest wound.

And yet... he could not help but wonder. Was it all worth it?

He rid himself of such foolishness. Of course it was worth it. Power was the road to perfection and perfection was the goal of any Sith. And the Lord of Pain was, if nothing else, Sith.

He rose from his position on the floor and breathed inward. His lungs felt smoky and dry. He turned his attention to the voice that had called to him, opening his eyes. He recognized the intruder in question. It was the captain of this ship, the vessel that gave Darth Sion the power to wander the stars and rule an empire of shadows. He was currently kneeling in a submissive position, his head lowered towards the ground.

He considered. Should he kill the whelp for interrupting his quiet ruminations? He had after all displeased his master, an action that many Sith would deem worthy of nothing short of a painful death. But Sion ruled off the thought. It would, in the end, do little good and may even serve to harm his cause. The captain was not completely incompetent, only incompletely so, and to kill him may lead to a far worse replacement. Better to leave him where he is.

'Why do you disturb me?' he growled, clenching his fists. 'Did I not make it clear that I was not to be disturbed?'

'Very clear, my lord,' the captain replied nervously. 'But I'm afraid matters are at hand that may require your attention.'

'I should hope so, captain,' Sion said curtly. 'I would not want to be you if they did not.'

The officer did not reply but Sion could feel the fear rise off of him. Good. It was good to see that threatening this fool produced the desired result. It showed that Sion's reputation as a master of torture amongst the Sith remnants had not faded in recent months due to a lack of action. It was good to be feared, especially when a demonstration was not immediately necessary to promote that fear.

'You may speak, captain.'

'Sire, there are intruders aboard. They've infiltrated the command deck and are currently on the run.'

'That is all?' Sion snarled. 'Can you not take care of the trash yourselves?' His voice remained quiet, it hurt to yell and though he embraced the pain he suffered daily he tried to limit it whenever he could effectively. But there was a changing tone, his intonations growing lower and harsher. It was the sound of malevolence, a malevolence that shook the captain to the bone.

'You disturb me for this?'

The timid officer quivered as Sion approached.

'M-my lord... p-please, there is m-more,' he stuttered.

'Then speak, you try my patience.'

'L-lord Sion. Our s-security cameras h-have identified... one of the intruders. They... they are a J-Jedi, sire.'

Sion paused. Strange he had not recognized the presence of one strong in the Force. Perhaps it was the focus he had placed on his pain during meditation that had distracted him, left him unaware to the presence of a Jedi. He had not been expecting one to show up after all. As far as he was concerned they were all dead. Except...

A chill ran down his spine. Was this the one they were looking for? He had been searching now, ever since the leak. He'd been fortunate to, along with a handful of others he suspected, acquire a holographic record secret to all but the highest ranking Jedi. The record had been the exile of a Jedi, a general who had followed Revan to war and been punished for her actions.

Sion had always wondered what had happened to her.

To an outsider to the ways of the Force it would seem mundane. But to Sion it proved that there was at least one more Jedi. The following records indicated the Jedi traveled to the Unknown Regions after her exile. That meant she hadn't been part of the Mandalorian Wars. That meant she was still alive. Or most likely at least.

He felt light with the hope, but he dashed it.

No, she is alive. But whatever you felt for her in the past is gone. She is the enemy now.

Still.. If she was here... if she was on this ship. Was it possible that...

He shook his head. No. It must not be so. He was Sith. And she would die, ending the reign of the Jedi at last.

Besides, it might not even be her. Why afterall would she suddenly be within his grasp? It made no sense that it was her, not when his officer had not told him it was. He hoped. He hoped it was her.

But most likely it is not. Perhaps it is another Jedi, one who has yet escaped by reach.

He turned towards the door. It must end now.

'Well,' Jolee thought aloud. 'It looks like we might actually live through this.'

They were nearly to the engineering deck. From there they'd have to the deck's emergency airlock in the rear of the ship. Once out they could get to their fighters and off this Force forsaken ship. Jolee wouldn't miss the place a bit.

'There's an air vent to the left of here,' Carth explained. 'It leads straight to the engineering deck. It'll be a bit tight in there but I think we'll manage.'

'Speak for yourself,' Jolee jested. 'I'm not as thin as I used to be.'

'But not nearly as helpless as you pretend to be.'

Jolee smiled weakly. The snide comments helped to distract Jolee from the real dangers ahead. He knew that they still had a ways to go and that they wouldn't necessarily survive this. They didn't even know if the Sith had already discovered their escape route, if they were waiting to trap them, or even if they got to their fighters that they'd be able to escape the Retribution's turbolasers. Jolee believed they could, he felt that they could. But he didn't know.

Talking with Carth helped ease his doubts. To Jolee the self-proclaimed 'most handsome pilot in the galaxy' was family, if only because Jolee had taken a role as the teacher and uncle-like figure for Carth's son Dustil. He could easily talk with Carth, even if he had never been particularly close to the pilot himself. Usually, when they weren't in the thick of danger, they'd talk about Dustil and their experiences with the angst-ridden padawan. It gave them a common ground with which to build off, with which to laugh away their fears.

Somehow though, right now, it wasn't working quite as well. Jolee felt uneasy and he knew the Force was trying to warn him. Something was wrong.

'Get down!'

Reflexively Jolee ducked his head at Carth's command, just in time to avoid getting it blown to bits by a barrage of Sith blaster fire. In a flash his hand was at his lightsaber, whipping out from his belt. An instant later it was out, glowing green in a sea of red bolts. Carth meanwhile had rolled to the round and was now kneeling in the corner, blasters out.

Jolee assessed the situation. Eight Sith troopers. Four each for him and Carth.

Not exactly fair for them is it?

'Down you go!' Carth shouted, rapidly firing his blasters at the Sith in front of them. Some of the bolts ricocheted off the walls behind the Sith, one hitting the shoulder of a Sith who staggered back and grasped his shoulder. Jolee for his part was waving the lightsaber around in a defensive Soresu stance, deflecting from him the majority of blaster bolts. One bolt hit the blade, deflected backwards hitting another one of the Sith in the chest and sending him down with a gasp.

A bolt flew past Jolee's head, hitting the wall behind him. In a split second three more were coming towards him. He swung the lightsaber into a defensive wall protecting his face. The bolts hit, deflected, and hit the ceiling. One of Carth's blaster bolts hit the head of a Sith, sending him kneeling to the floor, a trail of smoke twisting its way out of a small hole in the Sith's helmet.

A burning sensation.

Jolee clutched his right arm tightly, gasping. He'd been hit, a sensation he hadn't felt for a while flooding over him. His reflexes kicked in and he let go, raising the injured arm just in time to block another bolt heading for him. Out of the corner of his eye he could see a hole in the patchwork of his robe, smoldering black and smoking. The skin beneath was red and crisp, burnt by the heat of the blaster.

Got to close the gap.

In a sudden surge, Jolee rushed forward, charging, all the while swinging his lightsaber in the standard defensive position of Soresu. Two of the Sith, both injured from the battle so far, turned and fled. The remaining five stubbornly stood their ground, one of them dropping his rifle and reaching for his sword.

In a swift strike Jolee whipped his blade downwards diagonally, cutting through one of the Sith instantly and leaving his corpse smoldering on the ground. He twisted around and caught the Sith currently drawing his sword, stabbing him through the stomach in a backwards motion. The Sith buckled and fell as Jolee removed the lightsaber and twirled it into a vertical shield descending down his back from over his shoulders, deflecting a blaster bolt already headed in his direction.

Then Jolee spun around, twisting the blade around his body so that it was in front of him and swinging it sideways, disarming one of the Sith next to him, removing the attacker's left arm. The Sith clutched the stump and howled, his misery ended by a well-placed blaster bolt from Carth. The two remaining Sith by now had drawn their swords however and were swinging them in Jolee's direction.

Luckily for him, they did not have the experience Jolee did in swordplay. While their swords, forged from the lightsaber-resistant metal cortosis, could stand their own against Jolee in combat the Sith's clumsy maneuvers left them open for attack and not just from Jolee. Within a second Carth had downed one of them, unleashing a tempest of blaster fire on the Sith's unprotected flank. The one remaining Sith swung his sword aggressively towards Jolee but the aged Jedi blocked it flawlessly with a quick twist of the lightsaber, then kneed his enemy in the gut. The Sith buckled over and fell to the floor.

'These constant interruptions are really getting to me,' Carth said as he brushed himself off and put his blasters back in their holsters.

'Don't get me started,' Jolee agreed. 'We don't have much time left. We've got to make it back before the Sith figure out how to think and realize what direction we're headed for.'

That won't be long either, he thought grimly. For all his talk of Sith being intolerably incompetent they weren't really any more stupid than your average Republic. Sometimes that even meant some of them were intelligent. Maybe even smarter than him.

He hated it when that happened.

They found the air vent not far from the smoldering heap of corpses left in their wake. It was smallish and despite Jolee having been joking about being too fat he wondered now whether it was true or not. If he hit it sure was going to be cramped. He shuddered. He'd never really been one for cramped spaces.

The grating was already gone, Carth having blown it out on his way in. It would be a small matter of climbing in and then crawling for who knows how long until they found a suitable exit.

'I'll go first,' Carth volunteered. Jolee nodded. It made sense being that Carth knew the way back through the vent.

'Alright,' he agreed. 'After you.'

'This is what they took sire.'

Sion examined the datapad in front of him. The data from the terminal they'd sliced had been recovered, only the display screen had been damaged during the earlier explosion. The actual data was still intact thanks to a backup system. And not just the information the intruders stole, but also records of entry and files transferred.

The officer had, before handing Sion the datapad, pointed to a small entry on the log. It detailed the withdrawal of a file from the database during the timeframe the intruders were in the room. The Lord of Pain clutched his free hand into a fist when he saw what file they'd taken.

It wasn't her.

He had been a fool. He should have known it couldn't be her. There was no way she could have snuck her way on board. No way she could have come to him before he found her. It was against all sense. But he had hoped. A foolish hope that once again, he could see her.

And now he had proof. If it was her she would have no reason to be looking for where she'd been. Whoever was the Jedi on this ship, they were someone else, someone looking for her.

'My lord, we also believe we know their path. Various personnel have encountered them moving towards the ventilation shafts that lead to the engineering bay. We think they may have docked near the engines and were using our own engines to disguise their signature.'

Sion nodded. Yes, it made sense. If they had arrived in two fighter craft they'd have been able to use the Retribution's engine trail to shield them from sensors. If Sion's crew had seen them at all it would only have been as an irregularity in engine performance.

He'd have to deal with this problem, get to their destination before they did.

'Leave it to me,' he said sternly.

'Yes, Lord Sion.'

He walked away. He still felt anger pulsing through his veins, blinding even the pain he felt with his every movement. Anger at himself. He was furious. How could he have been so blind to hope? He was a fool.

Still... Even if this wasn't her it was just as important. If there was even one Jedi alive his rule was in danger. He'd have to deal with this Jedi, now, whoever they were. He wondered how they had survived the War and the purge that had come afterward. Until today he had believed her to be the last Jedi. Now...

Now he wasn't so sure.

He walked down the hall towards the lift and felt the lightsaber at his waist.

Either way, their days are numbered.

'Almost there.'

'That's what you've said half a dozen times,' Jolee pointed out, clutching his way blindly through the tunnel. Even with the Force he couldn't see much. The Force only enhanced his vision of energy, mostly that of organic lifeforms as only they were able to generate and manipulate the currents in the Force. In this cold, barren ventilation shaft there was little energy other than that flowing off of himself and Carth.

So he had a really good view of Carth's foot.

'Get moving will you!' Jolee barked. 'I'm tired of getting a front seat view of your backside.'

'I'm moving as fast as I can!' Carth snapped back. 'Besides, it should be just around the corner.'

'I'm sixty-eight and I can move faster than you,' Jolee grumbled underneath his breath. They were now nearly all the way to the drop that would bring them to the engineering deck. They'd been crawling for what seemed a day although Jolee knew it was probably no more than ten minutes. The walls pressed up against Jolee's arms and thighs, squeezing him inward and cramping his bones. The air was stuffy and humid, sweat filling the atmosphere. Every time Jolee breathed he felt as though he were breathing through a straw, each inhale exhausting.

'Here it is!'

Through the Force Jolee saw Carth grab on to a ledge above the shaft, twisting his body around so he was facing up. Then he pulled out his legs and dropped down, disappearing from Jolee's vision. From the hole he had disappeared into Jolee could just barely see a light.

Great, he thought to himself. This should be fun.

He crawled over to the exit and twisted himself around. He poked his head out. Instantly he could see much more than he had before. It was still dark of course, but there was a little light coming in from grating to the side. Dimly Jolee could see a ledge to which he could grab on. He clutched it, then pulled himself out. Then he dropped himself down, hitting the ground with a soft thud, crouching to minimize the sound. In the darkness he could see Carth next to a hole in the floor of the vent.

'This way.'

He jumped down and Jolee followed him. When Jolee was out he breathed a great sigh of relief, glad at last to be out of the cramped crawlspace.

'At last, some air!' he exclaimed. He breathed in deeply, letting the cool air fill his lungs. He looked around. This was the engineering deck alright. There were warning signs all around, indicating the presence of flammable gases and radioactive material. There also several doors with signs on them saying restricted.

Jolee was as familiar with this area as Carth was. Well, perhaps not completely. After all, Carth had served on an Interdictor cruiser during the Mandalorian Wars, the only one at the time, the beast called the Leviathan. But both of them had been in this same spot an hour earlier when they'd first come aboard.

They both ran down the corridor and then to the right, coming to a thick blast door labeled 'restricted.' This door led down another hallway that would eventually come to the airlock preparation room where Carth and Jolee had both left their spacesuits. Carth punched a button on the side of the door, opening it. The circular lock disengaged and the door broke into two, both halves sliding outward.

'Look like we ma-'

Carth stopped cold mid sentence as he turned around to look at Jolee. Jolee turned around and saw, in the distance, a figure he deemed vaguely humanoid, walking in the shadows towards them. Although the person in question had two arms, two legs, a torso, and one head his body seemed to be shattered, broken into pieces. To Jolee it looked as though the body couldn't even hold itself together although he clearly saw that it was. Scars covered its entirety, deep, rugged scars that ran about the skin like deep valleys and trenches.

The figure was bare-chested, only wearing a pair of dark pants. His chest looked to Jolee like a patchwork of skin, literally torn apart and sewn back together. The figure's skin looked dead. It was dark yellow, a sickly color like bile. The figure's right eye was a swollen, pale orb, not even moving anymore and the left eye was yellow-orange with the fury of the dark side. And at the figure's waist was a lightsaber.

Jolee realized then, this was the danger he had been sensing. And he realized that he had to let Carth go. There was power radiating off of this person, he could sense it in the Force. There was too much risk. One of them at least would have to escape, one of them at least would have to get the data out. And they stood a better chance if they split up.

'Get out of here, Carth,' he said simply.

'What are you talking about?' Carth asked. 'We can take him together!'

'No, Carth, get out of here, there is great power coming from him.'

Carth shook his head.

'You're out of your mind. There's no way I'm - hey!'

Jolee pushed Carth backward, a surge of Force energy flowing through his hand and into the pilot, knocking him into the next door. Jolee hit the lock on the door, forcing it closed while Carth rushed forward to try and get back in.

'What are you doing?!?' he demanded.

'Tell Dustil I'm sorry. That I couldn't be there for him, that I couldn't finish teaching him.'

'Jolee don't through your life away!'

The door closed. To ensure that Carth couldn't reopen the door Jolee ignited his lightsaber and stabbed it into the door, fusing the lock mechanism. Then he turned his attention to the approaching Sith.

Well, if I'm going to go best thing I can do is make sure I take him with me.

He raised his lightsaber high.

Sion observed his adversaries. He recognized them instantly.

Strange that they would come, he thought. The companions of Revan. I would never have thought them the intruders.

One of them was Carth Onasi, a hero of the Republic which any informed inhabitant of the Known Regions should have recognized instantly having twice been awarded high-ranking awards within the Republic Navy and well on the way to admiral. Captain Onasi, hero of the Mandalorian Wars, slayer of Saul Kerath, Darth Malak's right hand man, and companion of Revan. He was the one that was now trapped outside, thrown out by the Jedi fool.

The Jedi, the one that had now foolishly trapped himself so that the other could escape, was less obvious but Sion also recognized him. He was Jolee Bindo, a companion of Revan, yes, but even before then he had been known. Never graduating past the rank of padawan formally he nonetheless had the skill of a Jedi Master and had been infamous prior to the Great Sith War more than four decades ago for being a rather unconventional Jedi, often embarrassing the Order by his associations with smugglers and pirates.

He was also an exile. Like her.

Odd that he is here. I thought he was at Katarr.

It was of little concern. They would both die now.

'You have come to the end,' he said, looking at both of them.

'Is that so,' Bindo replied. 'I was under the impression I'd come to the Sith Café. I'd like to order a Sith sandwich if you'd be so kind.'

Sion ignored him. He had heard the Jedi was eccentric, even in the face of danger.

'No? No need to get angry about it,' he jested.

The Lord of Pain rushed forward, raising his blade high with one hand, ready to strike. He swung it at Bindo, who was now diving to the side. Bindo's blade, shining green as a sharp contrast to the crimson color of Sion's, swung sideways to strike Sion. Sion spun around, twisting his lightsaber with him in a downward swipe, just in time to block the incoming attack. Their blades clashed with a sizzle and Sion looked straight into the eyes of his enemy.

Jolee stared the nameless Dark Jedi in the eyes, straining as he held his opponent in a lock. He saw nothing in those eyes. Nothing but hatred. Hatred for Jolee's kind and the desire to see them dead. Why this Sith hated him so he did not know, but he could practically feel it radiating off the Sith's broken, shattered body.

On that note he is pretty gruesome looking, Jolee admitted. Even Malak, the jawless wonder, he could now place as second place to this walking scab. There was nothing at all beautiful about this Sith.

Maybe that's why he's so ticked off.

'What happened to your face?' he taunted, gritting his teeth as he struggled to hold the lock. 'Have a close encounter with a Mustafar lava pool?'

The Sith snarled, and Jolee began to feel himself pushed back as the Dark Jedi put more and more energy into forcing him back. He felt the grip begin to loosen. Once again the Sith was focusing his anger, transforming it into raw power with which to destroy his enemy.

Not today, he thought and drew the Force into his arm, throwing it forward with all his might. The Sith flew back, caught unprepared by the push. He hit the wall behind, grunting as the air was knocked out of him by the impact.

Maintain a strong defense. That is the way of Soresu. That is all that matters. Wear the opponent, tax his strength and force him to come to you.

Jolee twirled his lightsaber around, swinging it close to his body as to provide a strong, nearly impenetrable defense. He took a slice at the mysterious attacker but the Sith was on him in a second, swinging his sword in an artfully skilled maneuver, twisting around backwards while swinging it in a downward arc, both hands holding the hilt tightly. Jolee ducked but a little too late. The blade grazed his robes, burning through it and leaving a trail of smoke and burnt fabric. He cried out in pain as it nicked him, leaving a deep cut on his arm, and staggered back, the Sith preparing to strike again.

But this time it was Jolee's turn to strike. He swung his lightsaber close to his body making a close cut. In a swift stroke the Dark Jedi blocked Jolee's attack, once again masterfully blocking his opponents' attacks.

He's good, Jolee observed silently. This isn't just any Dark Jedi. He's got as much experience fighting as any Jedi. And his footwork is perfect. Who is he?

They lifted their lightsabers again and Jolee swung, his blade carving its way through the chest of the Sith. The lightsaber swept into the flesh of the Dark Jedi, tearing its way through skin, muscle, and bone alike. To Jolee's surprise the Sith's reaction was mild. He simply groaned and swept around, swinging his lightsaber with both hands at Jolee. Instinctively Jolee jumped back, astounded by the swift reaction of the Dark Jedi. It was as though the attack had done him no harm.

The Dark Jedi charged Jolee, swinging his lightsaber in aggressive yet impressively complex moves. His lightsaber whizzed by Jolee's face. The old Jedi raised his blade in a defensive position and the Sith swung downwards, aiming for Jolee's legs. Jolee jumped, the blade sweeping under him, and somersaulted over swinging his lightsaber as he jumped. The Sith howled in pain and when Jolee dropped to the ground and twisted around he saw that he had cut through the Sith's left arm, a black ring of char surrounding the Sith's entire shoulder.

And yet... it hadn't fallen off.

Not who - what is he?

The Sith turned his head around, glaring at Jolee. Jolee's heart chilled, watching as the wound sealed close. It was as though the attack were a graze, not a serious injury. Then the Sith turned around and twirled his lightsaber, swinging at as he spun and then grasping it with both hands and striking downwards. Jolee lifted his blade to block and the lightsabers clashed again, sending a flash of light through the room. Jolee struggled to throw the Dark Jedi off and the locked blades twirled around in a circle, hitting the floor in a shower of sparks.

With surprising strength for one whose arm and chest had both been badly injured the Sith flung his lightsaber up, throwing Jolee back. Then he lifted it and swung it lightly in the direction of Jolee's arm. Jolee lifted his lightsaber to block the attack but he had been fooled. The feint complete the Dark Jedi spun himself around, placing him at Jolee's back from where he took the advantage and jerked his lightsaber back, plunging it into Jolee's robes.

Jolee felt the blade sink into him, pushing its way through his body. He groaned, then look down at the crimson blade that had come up through his chest. He winced and groaned again.

'You are nothing,' he growled, then withdrew his lightsaber and shot a blast of lightning at Jolee, throwing him to the wall. Jolee coughed and blood splattered on the ground beneath him. He let the Force flow through him, to know how bad his wound was. His senses told him that the injury was bad, but probably not lethal. It had gone in right below the rib cage and the angle it had entered the body probably meant it hadn't hit any vital organs. He might yet live, but he was in excruciating pain.

'But before you die you will know pain,' the Dark Jedi said. 'You will know oblivion.' It was then that Jolee realized that the Sith had spared him purposefully, if only to cause him more suffering. The fact that the Sith was that skilled with a blade to stun an opponent required a unique kind of skill, different from the powerful but clumsy strikes of most Sith whom Jolee had fought.

His form is strange. It's as though he fights both fast and strong. He parries our blows nearly flawlessly and executes complex feints and footwork, like a master of Makashi. But when he executes a killing blow its as though he is a master of Shien, swinging his blade with unstoppable force.

He pulled himself off the floor and wiped the blood off his lips. He let the Force flow through him, easing the pain of his wounds.

'You, Jedi,' the Sith said, looking straight at Jolee. 'Will suffer.' He approached slowly, he and Jolee circling one another, preparing for the fight. The Dark Jedi held his lightsaber high, in a striking position, Jolee holding his horizontally in front of his face in a strong line of defense.

He waited for the Sith to make the first blow. They came closer.

Then the Dark Jedi raised his blade, twirling it as he spun around then thrust it backwards. Jolee moved his lightsaber carefully downward and brushed the attack away, a crackling sound filling the air. The Sith took his blade in both hand and strike downwards. Once again Jolee blocked the attack masterfully and then countered, twisting both lightsabers in a circle and then swinging towards the arm. The Sith dodged then sent a kick at Jolee. The old man leapt back, raising his lightsaber in defense.

Parry, block, parry, swing, block, parry. The pattern continued, a dance of twirling blades of light, crashing against one another. Parry, block, parry, swing, block, parry. Yet never did the Sith seem to tire. Never did he seem to lose his strength. Each blow came just as strong and each time Jolee took a strike at him he blocked, parried, or dodged it without failure.

Their blades collided and crackled as they hold them tightly against one another. Jolee stared his opponent in the eyes for the second time. He saw no sign of fatigue and he himself was now sweaty, tired, and losing ground. Furthermore, he was still straining under the pain of his wound.

The Sith raised his blade to strike again. And Jolee decided to try something different. To try a feint, like his opponent had been doing. He waited for the crimson sword to come close, then ducked. The Sith swung over his head and in his attack was left exposed. Jolee thrust his emerald blade forward, shooting it into the Sith's chest. The Dark Jedi staggered, back, grasping the hilt of the lightsaber, kneeling down to the ground, and collapsing.

Jolee smiled. He'd actually survived it. Now all he had to do was get to the fighter. He turned to the door he had sealed. It would be too time consuming to burn his way through right now. He didn't know how long it would before more Sith got here and...

Danger!

Jolee ducked but too late, the Sith had once again fooled him. He twisted around as Jolee swung his blade at him and thrust the red blade forward. Jolee felt a hot blade plunge into his back and slide down through his spine. He howled in pain and reached back to touch his wound but found that he couldn't. He fell backwards onto his back, to stare up at his attacker.

Impossible, was all he could think.

'Fool,' the Dark Jedi said simply. 'Haven't you realized by now that I'm immortal?'

He felt himself lose all feeling in first his legs, then his chest. The world seemed to be drifting and the sounds grew incoherent. Jolee moved his head around. It took him only a second later to realize he was dying.

I... I failed, he thought to himself. Carth, Dustil, the others. They all were counting on me. But I failed.

He felt like laughing.

Yet... all the same. I feel free. Freer than I've felt since...

He felt his eyes grow wet.

Nayama... Nayama... We can be together... again...

Darkness.

Carth hated himself for doing so but he had run. He didn't know what else to do. What else could he do? Jolee had shut him out, sacrificed himself as Carth had always feared he would. And now Carth was left with his mission. And only his mission.

And damn him if he didn't accomplish it.

He'd made it back to the starfighter. It was a small matter once he'd gone through the airlock door. There was no one left to fight him, no left to delay him or kill him or otherwise harm him. All that was left was the blue sea of hyperspace as he escaped the Retribution and his own thoughts.

And alone, in the night, Carth Onasi cried.

Jolee... Jolee! You didn't have to do this you fool!

He had lost more than a comrade. He had lost a friend. He had lost family.

He only hoped it would be worth it.

Sion did not find feeling very happy at the thought of having killed another Jedi. It wasn't something he took pride in, killing. To him it was merely a chore, like taking out the trash, something that had to be done. But he derived no pleasure from it. For Sion, there was no pleasure in life. Only pain.

Besides, he had killed the Jedi but he had not stopped the intruders. He could sense Onasi escaping, and with him the data he had stolen. It was not a pleasant thought. The thought that the Lord of Pain had failed. He cursed himself and his failures. For all his power, for all his accomplishments, he was not yet infallible.

And if Bindo had survived there was always the possibility that others too had. He knew of at least one besides the woman he searched for. Revan long ago had disappeared into the Unknown Regions and Sion had no reason to believe the prodigal knight had since died.

That one is strong, just as she is. Like her he will not die easily, not even alone.

It was an infuriating feeling. To know that your mission was not even close to complete. To know that you had not yet succeeded at accomplishing your goals. It made Sion feel inferior, diminished, lesser. He hated that feeling. The feeling of being less than perfect.

There were still Jedi. Still Jedi left he must yet kill. He hated it.

Or maybe there were no more. Perhaps this Bindo was the last of his kind other than her. He no longer could be sure, now that he knew that he and his fellow Sith had missed at least one mark. But it seemed likely that even if Bindo wasn't the last besides Revan and the Exile, that at least he was close to. If there were others, the Lord of Pain would find them soon.

'Sire.'

It was that voice again. That cursed voice, the one that brought pain to Sion's ears with its weakness. It begged to be killed, to be crushed and brought to bleed. But Sion controlled his urges. Not all were perfect.

'Yes?'

'We've detected a small fighter leaving from near the engines. We are sure it is one of the intruders. Should we pursue?'

Sion paused. Then shook his head.

'No. It is not important. They simply know what we know now. They know where the Exile can be found. Perhaps it is better that way. We will find her in the end.'

'Yes, my lord.' The officer bowed and departed and Sion closed his eyes.

And when we do find her, I will break her and she will be mine.