Stolen - part 12

So peaceful, so serene. So completely unlike who he truly was. He always had his say, and now his voice was disturbingly quiet, silent.

Bastila shook herself mentally. This was no time to lose control. She had to be calm, like Terra and Juhani had to be also. This was what they were doing for a good friend, a mentor and aid during their times of need. This was for Jolee.

Bastila inhaled deeply and then, calmly, stepped forward. Her eyes flicked to her left to watch Terra step up, and than to her right to see Juhani follow suit. They all stood there for a moment, waiting... waiting for the procession to begin.

Uneven breaths behind her caught Bastila's attention, and she sent her senses out to uncover who it was. Emotion radiated from a small individual, an individual with blue skin and half a lekku missing. Of course Mission was crying; she'd woken up to find out that she'd lost five years worth of memories, Jolee was dying, now dead, and there was a little girl that they all cared about who was in the hands of the Sith. Who wouldn't be crying in that position?

Thunk... The tone was being sounded. The service had to begin. Steeling herself, Bastila looked forward. She unclipped her lightsabre and held it out in front of her. She watched Terra and Juhani copy her actions. The three styles of lightsabre combat were shown to all. Bastila with the double blade, Juhani with the single blade, and Terra with the dual sabre. It was supposed to be a coming of the three different classes of the Jedi: Sentinel, Guardian and Consular. Unfortunately, Juhani and Terra were both Guardians. Jolee had been the Consular.

The trio turned round, one by one. Terra went first, turning round to take a burning torch from Carth, and then to turn back to the procession. Juhani was next. She turned to face Zaalbar and relieve him of his torch, before turning back to Jolee. Now, it was Bastila's turn. She slowly turned, knowing that she would end up staring into Mission's despairing face.

Sure enough, Mission's face was blotchy with tears. Dustil stood behind her, helping her to remain standing. Looking into Dustil's eyes said all that needed to be said. Unfortunately, it had been decided that the crew of the Ebon Hawk would perform the procession, and Dustil, while close, was not a member of the crew.

Bastila wished that it had been Canderous, or Mandalore as he was called now, was the one to hand her the torch. It wasn't fair that Mission had to take part in this, but, no one had heard anything from Duxn in three weeks. Canderous, Mandalore, had always complained that the relay dish was not up to his expectations. Whenever contact was made, the transmission was always terrible. So it seemed that the relay dish was down again, and it couldn't have come at a worse time.

Bastila turned round, torch in hand, and took another step forward along with Terra and Juhani. She looked into Terra's eyes and saw the tears running down her face. Moving her vision to Juhani, she that the Cathar's face was also damp. At that very moment, she felt a droplet fall down her own face.

She opened her mouth, she had to say something; she had to start everything. But, the moment her lips parted, her throat seized up. She felt as if her voice has suddenly been ripped away and thrown to a cannok. That cannok could speak, but she was now mute... mute forever. She could say nothing and Jolee would lie there, waiting to be sent into the force, and he would wait forever. She had to say something, but how could she speak if she was mute?

"The leaves on the tree of Kashyyyk fall, and give way to new life," Terra spoke, her eyes wide at Bastila, not knowing what to say.

"And with the passing of the old leaves, they will join the soil and enrich the new," Juhani added hastily and was staring at Bastila. They were messing this up, and they all knew it.

"Aaaa- and like the passing of the old leaves," Bastila forced her throat to open and her tongue to move. "Jolee Bindo passes from this life into the next."

"His essence, his being will become one with the Force," Terra continued, relieved that they were now back on track.

"His wisdom will teach us all," Juhani recited flawlessly.

"And his teachings will echo, forever, through the Force," Bastila finished the recital, sighing inwardly.

"Jolee Bindo," the trio called out together. "May you find peace in the Force. Guide us and those who will walk our path long after we are gone."

"Goodbye Jolee," Terra whispered quietly, quietly enough so only Bastila and Juhani could hear her.

Then, as one, they lowered their torches and waited. Jolee's funeral pyre slowly lit and when it had, the fire quickly covered the entire pyre. Jolee was engulfed in the flames that slowly consumed the wood, cloth and flesh. The fire fed hungrily, without care and without formality.

Bastila stood back to watched the pyre burn. Her eyes turned to the witnesses. Terra was watching the fire, in Carth's arms, tears streaming down her face. Juhani and Zaalbar stood together, silently, stiffly. And behind her was Mission, she was sitting down now that she had relinquished the torch, Dustil had his hand affectionately, supportively, on her left shoulder.

Bastila finally turned her eyes back to the pyre. Jolee could hardly be seen now amongst the hues of yellows, oranges, reds and the occasional blue. The heat was harsh against her face, but she didn't even think of pulling back, not for a second.

"Goodbye."

 ----------*****----------

"I'm sorry I didn't make it, Carth," Canderous' voice crackled through the feed. "I didn't find out until yesterday evening, which was when we got the damn terminal working again. A cannok made it into camp and ate the transmission converter, so we haven't had access any messages stored in the relay dish buffer. You have no idea how many cannoks we've had to gut to find that damn converter. As you can probably guess, the converter's damaged, so I hope you'll forgive me if the transmission gets cut."

"That's alright, Mandalore," Carth replied carefully.

Canderous didn't like the Mandalorians to know his name; he was Mandalore now and had an image to keep. If there was anyone in the room, he insisted in being called Mandalore, if he was alone, then he was Canderous, or in Mariah's case, Cander. It was easy to tell if he was alone, because he always took his helmet off so he could speak to the person, face to face.

"Any news on Mariah?"

Carth shook his head sadly.

"None. Hey, Mandalore, Terra said that she might know where the Sith have taken Mariah. Do you know if there's a planet, or a moon or something, in the Malachor system, something with a dense jungle in it?"

"Maybe, I don't know. Malachor is a taboo system for us. We avoid it as often as we can."

"Hmmm," Carth mused. "Thanks anyway."

"Mandalore!" A person out of the feed called. "There's a ship on its way to our position. It's not Republic."

"What?!" Canderous disappeared out of the feed for a moment before reappearing. "Carth! There's a-"

The audio of the feed cut out, but the video continued to be transmitted. Carth's ace dropped into pure concern and fear.

"Mandalore! Mandalore!" Carth called desperately. "Canderous!"

At that point, Canderous tore off his helmet and stared straight into the feed. Carth had never seen the Mandalorian so afraid. He continued to watch the feed when Canderous mouthed one word that chilled his blood.

Sith!

Then, the screen went blank, all but for a little, flashing sign that said 'Transmission lost'.

Carth could stop staring at the screen. It couldn't be possible. It wasn't possible. Canderous had chosen Duxn for a reason, how could the Sith have known they were there?

"Father?"

Carth turned to face Dustil's concerned face. He was wearing his Jedi robes again, which obviously meant he had been discharged from the hospital. There were still plenty of scratches on his son's face, and Dustil's left wrist was bandaged. Rather bandages than a cast, Carth thought before hastily turning to face the screen again.

"The Sith have just attacked Duxn," he stated tensely.

"Duxn? Why would they attack Duxn?" Dustil asked rhetorically, staring at the screen. "Isn't that where-?"

"Yeah, that's where Canderous set up the Mandalorian camp."

"How did the Sith know about it?"

Then, the faces on both father and son dropped. They turned to stare at each other. Their faces spoke of nothing but dread of the unspoken culprit. Carth noticed that Dustil's twitch had started again; this was not going to be an enjoyable moment.

"She wouldn't," Dustil defended.

"She's only three, Dustil. You were very good at saying things you weren't meant to say, at that age."

"She wouldn't! Mariah knows how important Canderous' secret is."

"Apart from the crew of the Hawk, only you and Mariah knew where Canderous had camped."

Dustil opened his mouth to speak when a technician turned to face the pair.

"Sir, we're receiving an emergency transmission. It's from the Onderon palace."

"Put it on the screen," Dustil commanded, all trace of Dustil the son was gone; Dustil the Jedi was working now.

The screen flashed as an image of green eyes upon a worried face appeared. Strands of black hair stuck out from under a crown and veil. No, thought Dustil, Talia does not look well at all.

"Greetings, Queen Talia of Onderon," Dustil greeted her formally. "I am Dustil Onasi of the Jedi. How can I be of service?"

"The Sith are in orbit!" Talia cried hysterically. "They have attacked our moon for unknown reasons, and now they are in orbit around Onderon. I need help, Master Jedi."

"Uhhh," Dustil looked over his shoulder to look at his father. The look could not be more obvious.

Carth's stern face gave away nothing to his poor son. Dustil had gotten himself into this, and he had to get himself out. But Carth knew how unnerving speaking to someone with that high a status, so, in support, he nodded his head. Dustil's back straightened and he turned back to the screen.

"Someone will be sent to Onderon as soon as possible, your Majesty."

"Thank you, and hurry."

With that, the transmission ended. Dustil instantly exhaled the breath he hadn't noticed holding. But, Carth realised, his face hadn't changed expression.

"I..." Dustil started. "I will be in so much trouble."