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OK... ON we go! Let me start out thanking you guys. The encouragement has been amazing and frankly I am humbled as I read the stories you folks are producing to think that my work is in the same category. I really like the easter eggs and cross-overs that have cropped up, so I'm going to try to ... build on that, shall we say? ;-)

Anyway, here goes nuthin'....

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Wind Chimes

Chapter 1: Questions

I threw myself into a forward tuck-and-roll, carefully folding myself around my blade as I tumble across the floor. Even now, after five months of rest, healing and rehabilitation, I can feel twinges of pain in my arm and side as I roll, and in my thigh as I come upright and spring high into the air. Yellow fire flashes as I free my blade from the tuck position and exchange blows with my opponent. He is fast and strong, but I know his body is just as well used as mine and older.

Still the unexpected Ataru attack proves ineffective against his mastery of Soresu. As I arc overhead a slight smile splits the red-and-black face of my opponent. I sing the song of battle in my own chest: I know he sings it as well.

That is why he is so dangerous.

“Ataru? I would have…” He begins a taunt, but even before my feet are on the floor I’m reaching out with the force. A typical force push or pull, even an attempt to lasso a particular joint or tendon or any other foci within his person is pointless. I’ve already tried. But maybe..

I reach out and instead of him I use the force to grab the mat he is standing on, pushing it suddenly away from me – and out from under him. He staggers forward, arms flailing, and for a moment he is off-balance, falling.

Vulnerable…

I strike. Nothing fancy now, just a clean, fast cut. My blade stops as he catches his balance and he stands, grinning at me as my blade hovers bare millimeters from his neck. Silver-blue eyes shine and he throws back his head and laughs. “Well done! You’ve improved, Master Karmack.”

I grin back at my sparring partner and withdraw my blade. The battle-song in my chest fades into a tranquil, pastoral sense in the back of my head and I wipe sweat from my brow. “Thank you, Kage Silman.”

Kage Silman Lo deactivated his own blue blade and came to attention facing me. I assumed the same posture, and with a flourish we both activated our blades and raised them in salute, then bowed, performed another flourish, and deactivated again. Ritual complete, the Kage grinned again. “So, how is the leg holding up? I could have sworn you were starting to slow a bit and favoring it there at the end, but then you pulled that forward somersault off like you were twenty again. That was nicely done.”

“Thank you, Kage Silman. I have to admit, I still get twinges of pain and it can wear on me when I’m working out, but when the song of battle is flowing I don’t feel it. Only afterward….” I grimaced dramatically and rubbed my thigh. “I’ll feel this properly tomorrow I am quite sure.”

“Yes, I have a some of those myself. They never really go away. Proof that I’m still alive.” The Kage smiled a brilliant white-toothed smile. “And I meant it when I said you’ve improved. You were always dangerous, Karm, but that improvisation with the mat was very nicely done. I was expecting something, but not that.”

“Well, sir, I am glad I didn’t disappoint.” I couldn’t hide the pleasure in my voice. Kage Silman Lo was of Dothamirian descent, a male smuggled off the planet as an infant and brought to M’Tzigon by his mother and father. She had been a member of the Red Hills Clan. He had been, on Dothamir, her chattel-slave. Her radical views on female/male equality had led her Clan Mother to “suggest” she find a new home. Fortunately for them a Republican freighter happened to be on-planet trading with the Singing Mountain Clan. Vri Lo and her mate Shleiman had boarded the freighter and never looked back. Their son Silman had been born almost exactly one standard month after they landed on M’Tzigon looking for a new life. He had been inducted into the Order as a child and had spent his life serving the Mak’Tor, eventually leading the Mak’Tor Water Warrior Sect and serving as the Clan Singer before being voted Kage. His policies had kept the Clan both active and mainly safe during the Purge, though many of their number had fallen to Vader and his Inquisitorious. None had found M’Tzigon, however, in large part to his efforts to hide us in the force. His power and closeness to the song, combined with his physical prowess and abilities with a blade made his praise very high indeed. “So, where do we go from here, sir?”

With the Emperor and Vader gone and Corsucant returned at last to balance, the song was becoming freer and richer again. But there was still a job to do. Now that the way to build a “super laser” using these kyber “smart” crystals was out, it was imperative that the source of them be found – and stopped. I waited, watching his face shift to thoughtful contemplation, and pondered the question myself. What do we do next?

What very few knew was that the “singing” crystals of the Mak’Tor shrines in the Spire were … manufactured. The crystals themselves were natural, but just as a Jedi or Sith spends time with his saber crystal infusing it with his own essence and personality, these crystals had also been “infused” – by Master Klu Xandin, widely acknowledged by the Singers of the Mak’Tor as the greatest that had ever lived. He never shared his method, but the three crystals – light, dark and balanced – had been infused by their matching songs nearly 3000 years ago and placed in the monoliths he built for them in the Spire on Coruscant. Until we opened those monoliths, all specific knowledge of the site had been lost, but the Council had known they were indeed there. Master Chillum and I had partaken in a rather heated debate about the wisdom of maintaining the secrecy of those sites one night shortly after our return, but no consensus had been reached. Since I was not a member of the Council, I had not been entitled to know. That was the end of it.

But now the secret was out, and it was apparently going to continue to be my job to find out where these new crystals were coming from. The one I had acquired and then used to replace the missing “Light” crystal suggested that the removal of that crystal had something to do with the origins of these new ones. How that all tied in, however, remained a mystery. I had stayed in place as long as I had mainly because no one knew where Arnor and I should go next. Hopefully that was about to change. Kage Silman didn’t ask another Mak’Tor for a sparring match unless he had something else in mind.

Then the thoughtful gaze shifted again, back to the impish grin. I couldn’t help but grin back. Kage Silman’s features were pure Zabrak – red-black markings and horns garish and evil-looking. His eyes, however, were bright and silver-blue and danced with mirth. “When do you meet with the Council of Balance?”

“Three days. They asked for a slight delay, no explanation.” I replied.

“Very well. You will have your answer then. Until then, spend some time with your wife and relax.” His smile turned impish. “Maybe have another debate with Master Chillum. He needs to explain why our newest Master will not in fact be accepting the position as Singer of the Council, after all.”

He bowed and I returned it. It would be nice to spend a few more days with Arnor, but…

Three more days! Argh!

Chapter 2: Allies

I approached the council chambers with more than a little apprehension. Two weeks ago the current crop of padawans who had passed their trials had been formally inducted into the Order and assigned as Teidowans to their mentoring Koawans. Kenneniah had joined his peers in the front ranks of the remaining padawans, faces shining as they anticipated their own trials commencing soon. His sister and younger brother had also been in the ranks behind him. I had been able to feel each of them pulsing in the force, their songs bright in the greater melody of the Clan and the universe as a whole. Ken and I had grown closer these last few months, which was good since I fully intended to take him as my Teidowan next year. Arnor and I had both stayed closely involved in our children’s lives and progress since they became padawans. Training the younglings and padawans in the art of the saber was especially rewarding, and I enjoyed it immensely. It also kept me on my toes. That and teaching history were the things I missed when on mission. This had been the real temptation of accepting the Council seat: becoming a full-time teacher. But if I had done so I would have been planet-bound, and training Ken would have fallen to another of necessity.

No, I had other things to accomplish, and I would see my children trained. Then, perhaps, the Council could impose on my time and efforts. But not before!

Arnor chuckled next to me, sensing the tenor of my emotions and guessing the content of my thoughts. “Karm, no one is going to impose on you today! We’re here to get our next mission, not defend our fitness to be assigned to it!”

I looked down at her smiling eyes and smiled back. “You are right, as ever.” I took a deep breath and steadied my body’s rhythms. “OK. Let’s go find out what the Council has for us.”

“Like you don’t already know.” Arnor fired back.

“Only in general. And as you know, the devil is in the details.” I replied. I ran my hand down my robe one last time, unconsciously verifying that everything was straight, and pushed open the door.

The chamber where the Mak’Tor Council of Balance met was round and hewn from the cool stone native to the planet. The granite was a dark gray flecked liberally with red, green, blue and purple crystals. It was rumored the crystals were the reason we were here, that they had called to the Founders that this was the place to settle when the Sith overran the Spire on Coruscant. Then, as ever, we had been the Mak’Tor: followers of the Maker, singers of the Maker’s Song. While the language and terms of the Jedi had long infused our systems and syntax the core beliefs were far different. We were, however, defenders of the Light and Good, and so considered ourselves natural allies of the Jedi and natural enemies of the Sith. The Sith agreed with our assessment whole-heartedly. The Jedi … were not as clearly in agreement.

I noticed the visitors immediately, and came to sudden halt. Arnor bounced lightly off my shoulder, but she was also staring at the central chamber. It took us far too long to recover our mental balance and resume our slow and purposeful walk to the center of the chamber. The pause was ample proof that our outward calm was nothing but a sham.

Our different view of the force and isolation along the Outer Rim made visitors rare. Finding not one but three visitors in the Chamber when we arrived was something of a shock. As we walked down the stone aisle to the central circle where the Council sat I took a moment to observe these newcomers.

All three were wearing Jedi garb similar to our own, variations on silver and gray interspersed with color and covering belts that carried various gadgets and the ever-present light sabers. The leader of the delegation was a small, delicate woman, a Hapan, striking in both appearance and bearing. She was conversing quietly with Master Chillum while her second, a formidable looking warrior with a cybernetic hand hung on the words of Kage Silman. From the markings of their robes I could see that the warrior was a member of the Water Warriors Sect, a group that Kage Silman was also affiliated with. Kage Silman had spent some years on Zonama Sekot studying the ways of the Water Warriors, as had Master Chillum, before the Purge had driven us all into hiding. It was obvious that the warrior was thrilled to meet someone of high rank from his own order and was clearly taking the opportunity to converse with him while it lasted. Behind him, also a knight but clearly the junior member of the delegation, was a strikingly marked Togrutan. She felt … light in the force. Not that she didn’t have a presence, she was simply without worry. It was a striking contrast to her mentor, who was quite serious and grounded despite his obvious fascination with Kage Silman.
My time for observation, however, had run out as we reached the edge of the circle and bowed, announcing ourselves. “Members of the Council, Sage of Song Master Gray Karmack and Silver Koawan Arnor beg your audience.”

Kage Silman paused his conversation and returned the bow. “Master Karmack! Knight Arnor! Welcome. Join the circle and enter balance.” His voice was light and I could sense that this would not be a formal briefing or form-fettered meeting. I shot a quick side-glance at Arnor and caught a glint of humor in her eye as she met it with one of her own before we both advanced into the circle and joined the conversation there.

“Master Karmack, Lady Arnor, let me introduce you to our friends, Gray Jedi of the Vhal’Dan Order based on Zenoma Sekot.” I found myself face-to-face with a petite and strikingly beautiful woman with equally striking blue lips. “May I present Master Gray D’Aylanna Vih’Torr of the Vhal’Dan.”

I dipped my head to D’Aylanna in a greeting of equals and evaluated her quickly. Her song was strong, I could hear it clearly ringing around me, and the clarity of it was more striking than the power. This was a formidable woman indeed. Like most Hapan women she was physically beautiful but like Arnor it was also easy to sense that she was quite deadly – when she chose to be. Not a woman to be trifled with. “I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Master Vih’Torr.”

“Please, call me D’Aylanna.” She replied. It will make things easier. You’ll understand in a moment.” I chuckled at the twinkle in her eye as she turned her attention to Arnor – and I met the eyes of the man who had seemingly teleported to D’Aylanna’s left shoulder.

Well, eye, actually, as the left had been replaced with a cybernetic implant. Kage Silman continued the introductions. “Master Karmack, Lady Arnor, I present Maenowan Zearic Vih’Torr of the Vhal’Dan. Zearic is also a fellow Water Warrior, having attained the Waterfall of Balance.”

I again bobbed my head, noting that Zearic returned the courtesy with ease and self-assurance. At closer range I could see that his cybernetic hand mated with the organic at mid-forearm, typical of someone who had been dismembered in light saber combat. His cybernetic eye and hand both appeared to be very good Hapan replacements, and from the eddies in the force around him I thought his left leg might be at least partially cybernetic as well, though I wasn’t sure. Here was a man who had been through a very hard trial indeed! Nor had only his body been scarred. His eye was just as friendly as his wife’s eyes had been, but there was a certain veiled guardedness to them that I instantly recognized. I reached out my own right hand in a clasp of friendship and he took it with a slight clash of the cybernetics. The sound caused an instant break in the ongoing buzz of conversation around us, and we both grinned slightly at it.

Yes. I think I like this man…

“Meanowan Zearic. It is good to meet another of Kage Silman’s Sect. We have few Water Warriors here, unfortunately.” I glanced at the Kage’s smiling face. “We prefer singing to gargling.”

I was rewarded by the Kage’s laughter. He was famous among the Mak’Tor for his inability to sing. As he put it during social gatherings, he “couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket.” Ironic, considering his more than modest ability to sing the Song of the Maker, though by his own admission he didn’t perceive it exactly as we apparently did. The differences did nothing to diminish his skill, however, nor could they be adequately explained. They simply were – and no one really cared anyway.

Zearic looked slightly stunned for a moment, his eyes widened slightly but he instantly relaxed, perceiving that he was not being mocked. As he relaxed his grin widened. “Well, perhaps in the future we may return and … persuade you of the error of your ways. In the mean time, I must say I am honored to meet you all. Your healers are unmatched. I have experienced their aid myself on more than one occasion. And please, call me Zearic.”

I nodded “As you wish, Zearic. My friends call me Karm, a play on my family name, which I won’t pronounce here.” I let my grin widen. “I don’t like to gargle, after all.”

“Ha! Your clan names are worse than gargling!” Silvan said. “These humans brought their clan culture to M’Tzigon with them from ancient Coruscant. Even their writing was some kind of primitive runic symbols. Barbaric! Fortunately in the last century the influence of your Order has at least brought them into step with the rest of the Universe in regards to terminology and language! Karmack, please let me present Koawan Jorya Fah. Zearic is her mentor.”

I turned to the tall Togruta female tagging along behind Zearic, just taking it all in with a twinkle in her eyes. She was outwardly calm but her presence in the force simply boiled with pent-up humor and playfulness. I bowed to her politely and shook her hand as well before turning my attention back to the Kage.

“Kage Silman, thank you for the introductions, but am I right in assuming that this delegation from Zenoma Sekot isn’t here just for a social visit?”

“Lad, you’re killin’ me!” Boomed Master Chillum’s voice. “Do you always have to cut right to the chase?”

I turned and bowed to my mentor and friend. “Always, Master. Always.”

The bright eyes laughed at me from his wrinkled face. “And so you do. So you do.” He bowed to Kage Silman “With your permission then?”

“Let the Council be convened.” The Kage replied, gesturing to the circle of chairs. As we settled into them, the Council in their widely spaced outer ring of nine with Arnor, myself and the visitors in two curved lines facing the center, Master Chillum stepped down into the small stage area in the center and activated a hidden holographic system. Instantly the air was filled with an image of a crystal, slowly tumbling along all three axes. “Some time ago we intercepted a cache of Kyber crystals, modified in a way no one in our order had encounter in millennia. We traced them and managed to destroy most of them before they could be used for ill, but the end of that mission did not lead us to the source as we had hoped. While Master Karmack and his team returned and recovered I received a … troubling report from one of our healers operating along the Outer Rim. With the permission of Kage Silman I reached out to Kage Oyuna for help and advice. We go back a long way, the lass and I, and I was perplexed by how to respond to what we had learned. What I was NOT expecting was what she shared with me, and which she has sent this delegation to share with us in detail. Lady D’Aylanna?”

I watched as Master Chillum sat and D’Aylanna stood. The holograph shifted, the Kyber crystal joined by another one, subtly different than the first. “Thank you, Master Chillum. Some time ago a team of our own, in the course of investigating an attack on our own people, penetrated and downloaded the Imperial database from Kuat Drive Yards.”

There was no outright gasp from anyone on the council but I could sense the ripple of shock that flowed through the room. Kuat? They hit Kuat?!? That was … audacious. I stole a glance at Zearic and saw a look I recognized: vivid and painful memories playing unbidden across the mind. So, a costly trip…

D’Aylanna paused to let us collect ourselves and continued. “As you can imagine we’ve spent years combing through that data. Only recently did we discover an indication of activity that oddly matched what you describe. The key difference: the crystals themselves. Instead of Kyber, we’re looking for Adegan Pontite crystals. These crystals, unlike Illum or even Kyber, are potent and have a naturally occurring strong connection to the force. If someone were able to pre-set that connection…” D’Aylanna let her voice trail off. She hit one more key and the crystals disappeared, replaced by a fuzzy image of a partially constructed Death Star. “The super-laser on the second Death Star was far faster to recharge and easier to aim than the first one. That advancement we believe came from the programming of the crystals used in it’s construction. They ‘knew’ what to do and so were only partially dependent on their hardware support to make the laser function. What someone with the engineering knowledge to build that weapon could do with these crystals does not bear contemplation. We know that there were two “programming” sites, one in Kuat and a second at Sallust, the staging area for nearly all of the materials shipped to Endor for the final construction of the second Death Star. What we don’t know, or didn’t rather,” D’Aylanna tossed a nod to Master Chillum, “was who was doing the programming. Sir?”

I sat up a little straighter as D’Aylanna sat down and Master Chillum returned to the floor. “Thank you Lass. As you can imagine, I was stunned when I learned this from Kage Oyuna. Lady D’Aylanna has brought all of the details of this intelligence with her, and she now has a copy of everything we have on the “who” side. You see, I didn’t know the “what”, just the “who”, which is…” the crystals disappeared, replaced by two pale faces. “Julwynn and Jennira Hri, Night Sisters from the Spider Clan of Dathomir.” Master Chillum turned a quick grin at Kage Silman. “No relation, I am sure.” He turned back to the hologram. “We don’t really know that much about these two, just that one was operating on Sallust and the other on Kuat. Reports from Sallust indicate that the Sister there, Julwynn, had a small group of Sith Shadow warriors at her command and was seen in company with one Namman Cha, a Dark Jedi in service to the Emperor. Cha is apparently the mastermind behind whatever is going on, and has a history of recruiting among the Dathomirian Night Sisters. There were also reports of possible Inquisitorius activity, including a shadowy figure some IDed as Darth Vader, but we have confirmed reports that Vader was already at Endor at that time, so the identity of this Inquisitor is considered unknown. All we know for sure is that they were equipped with similar cybernetics and apparently carried a red or orange bladed light saber.”

I sensed another ripple through the force at that last detail, this time emanating from Zearic, and to a lesser extent D’Aylanna. So… They knew who this mysterious Inquisitor might be. Someone with history… Perhaps something to do with Zearic’s cybernetics, considering how he was suddenly flexing the right hand. Interesting…

Master Chillum continued. “Considering the two targets Kage Oyuna and Kage Silman agreed that we should split our effort. D’Aylanna’s team is headed to Kuat to follow up on the lead there. Karmack, you and Arnor will go to Sallust and track down Julwynn. Our primary objective is to stop whatever devices or weapons these enhanced crystals are being prepared for. If we can recover the crystals as well and liberate them that would be a bonus.”

I nodded, reaching out to the flow of the song. What had been still and deep, the essence of “rest, wait, and see” had suddenly become urgent and full of movement. And there was a third thread…
Someone else would be coming with us. Not Illian, he was immersed in training with Master Kovren. But another thread, familiar…

Who?

Chapter 3: A Chord of Three Strands

I watched unobtrusively as Kenneniah made his final walk-around pre-flight inspection. It was generally a formality but like all pilots Ken had been trained that the final responsibility of his ship was his, not his ground crew. As much as he trusted them, he was the one who would be in trouble if something was wrong, and he and his passengers and crew that would pay the price for any mistakes or errors. So, like all pilots had for millenia, he did his own final walk-around inspection of the hull, looking for anything amiss.

I already knew he'd find nothing. My own inspection had been completed an hour ago. The Wayfarer was ship-shape and ready to roll. We'd also made some more modifications in the last two months, many of which Ken and his classmates had helped with.

The old CEC XS Stock Light Freighter had undergone many modifications over the years, including the last round. The most dramatic change this time had been to the exterior color. The ship now sported a color scheme consisting of almost all medium and dark gray colors. The colors were a sharp scheme that looked vaguely like a corporation or some kind of trade union, but in space the effect was to render the ship nearly invisible when her running lights and engines were shut down. However, it was the internal changes that were profound.

Over the last two months I had overseen the installation of new real-space engines that gave the Wayfarer an MGLT of 107, faster and nimbler than all but the fleetest fighters. A TIE Interceptor or an A-Wing or E-Wing fighter could run her down; nothing else would. Even more significantly the hyper-drive engine and motivator were fully upgraded. The new hyper-drive was rated at 0.7, nearly as fast as the legendary Millenium Falcon, and far faster than anything that looked like a refugee from the Old Republic had any right moving through hyperspace. For fighting she was equipped with a pair of concussion missile tubes forward as well as two heavy turbo-lasers mounted below the bridge, with twin laser turrets mounted dorsally and on the starboard cargo pod. The main hold had also been modified, and contained a huge electronics bay with custom-built ECM and ECCM gear, designed by myself and several friends here on M'Tzigon who liked to ... tinker with such things.

The expanded drives had eaten into the internal spaces a little, but the Wayfarer still had comfortable crew spaces. Arnor and I would share the Captain's cabin while the adjoining conference room had been converted into three double-occupancy state rooms. On the starboard side of the ship the main hold had become the medical bay while the area around the primary holoterminal now doubled as a briefing room / conference room. These modifications were done because the main crew quarters and medical areas had been incorporated into Engineering to make room for the larger engines and weapons power systems, as well as enhanced shielding and deflector screen generators.

R3-T2, also known as "Two", rolled up next to me with his new partner R2-K9 aka "Mutt" and emitted a series of chirps and whistles. I chuckled as I replied to his question. "Yes, Two, I really plan to let Ken fly the ship." More electronic sounds followed. "No, he's a fully qualified pilot. I wouldn't say he's "wet behind the ears" at all. He's even flow combat against raiders and pirates in his ARC-170 during the clashes last year."
Two emitted another series of beeps and low, rude-sounding electronic grunts. "No, I am NOT being paternalistic. He's a good pilot."

More beeps, and I tried to maintain a straight face as Ken rounded the boarding ramp and called out "I heard that!" I laid my hand on Two's dome and patted him gently. "No fear, you and Mutt will have full control of the navicomputer and on-board electronics. I promise."

That seemed to satisfy the droid, and with a final whistle to his companion the two boarded the ship. Two, Mutt and another R2 unit, R2-V8 aka "Vegan" would be critical to our mission. While it was possible for one person to fly and even fight a ship like the Wayfarer it was extremely hard to do alone. Nor could a person stay awake all the time. Despite the teasing - and I was convinced that was exactly what it was - I knew Two had actually flown one of those combat missions with Ken while I was recovering. Vegan had also flown with him. Both droids had shown little or no hesitation in joining the mission with Ken as the designated pilot. That spoke far louder than any quirky hazing done in public did.

Still, we had a long way to go and little time. The urgency in the flow of the song was palpable. The quiet, restful time we'd spent with Zearic, D'Aylanna and their adopted daughter Zorya had been both relaxing and reassuring. Seeing Zearic shift easily from Master and Mentor to Father as the situation required had done as much to ease my own disquiet at taking Ken as my own Teidowan. Eased, but not removed. Still, it felt good to have him a part of our shared song again. The melody, so long a fugue of two lines interwoven together, was now a three-part harmony with Ken's thread dancing around Arnor's and my own tightly-woven lines. His energy and enthusiasm were infectious as well. I could only hope that, when the times came, I would be able to shift as easily between rolls.

And those times will come...
.
The tranquility of those hours were gone. It was time to move with urgency. I was glad for the upgrades we'd made to Wayfarer. Her speed and firepower would be needed, I was sure of it. Just as I was sure that there would be conflict before this mission was out. Unlike the last, this time we knew we were head-hunting. I let my thoughts turn to our final briefing this morning. Julwynn Hri...

Julwynn and her sister Jennira were NightSisters from Dathomir. Unlike Kage Silman, who was a native of the planet, the sisters are human, members of the Witch Clans which had populated the planet for centuries. And what I had explained to both teams this morning, the thing that troubled me the most, was that in order to do what they were apparently doing these two had to be Singers.

Dark Singers

I shuddered a bit involuntarily. A Dark Singer was very unlike a Sith or even a Dark Jedi. These harnessed the raw power of the force for personal gain. They were often emotionally driven. Sometimes, if they felt it was in their own best interest, they could and would ally with a Gray or Jedi force user, but generally they were simply in it for themselves and would do whatever they wanted to whomever they wanted to further their own ambitions and position. They were Evil, and in the end the best way to describe them was simply "selfish".

In the song such as these tended to present as a pounding rhythm or simply as a primal scream of rage and fury. If there was any organization to their presentation in the Song it was rhythmic, a pounding beat that threatened to overwhelm and subsume everything else within their influence. Around them, the song was destroyed. In its place was raw power.

Interestingly, Jedi also presented as equally one-dimensional in the Song, but they came through as a single line. Like a chorus of monks singing a chant rather than a mob of people screaming. One was organized and powerful and had its elements of beauty and composition. The other was also powerful and the near opposite of the first.

Between the two the Mak'Tor had grown, hearing and cultivating the Song, the ENTIRE spectrum of melody, harmony, rhythm, even times of pure percussion. But always, ALWAYS in balance.

But a Dark Singer was different. It was our own version of a Sith... and far more rare. A Dark Singer used the song for their own ends. They bent it and twisted it into evil, but in a way that didn't destroy the song. The SONG was made Evil...

A stab of pure dread coursed through me, colored by fear. Real fear. Until recently I had never heard a dark song in the force. On Naboo I had sensed it, heard the echos of it, and it was ...

...unnerving...

I suppressed the shudder that coursed through me. Yes, it was unnerving. I was so used to hearing the song and trusting it, nearly without question. Darkness in the force? No problem. But an evil song? It was like a form of blasphemy.

And yet... I thought back on that brief touch on Naboo. The song there had been corrupted, disturbed by the usual evil influences, but there had been elements of true song none-the-less. Someone was singing to these crystals, using the Song to program them. Not since the days of the Great Cleansing, when Kage Dorian had slain the final Dark Singer on Coruscant and cleansed the Spire and her crystals of their song, setting up the crystal balance in the Cave of the Wind on the cliffs of the Spire had a true Dark Singer been confronted. The stories of that encounter were legendary, filled with traps and twists and blind allies and dead-ends... Then-Master of Song Dorian spoke of not knowing if the Song was Good or Evil, pure or corrupt. Of not being able to trust the song...

Trust the Singer, not the Song...

The words echoed in my mind again. Ancient words, etched into the very walls of the Cave of the Wind. I'd seen them without comprehension, briefly, but the words were burned into my mind. Words I had heard Master Chillum speak. Words repeated to our students and padawans and Teidowans. Words I had spoken to Ken myself. But words I had never really understood. Never truly believed.

Until now.

I sighed and shook my head. Arnor was aboard. Ken was at the ramp and stopped to look at me. It was time to go. I smiled and nodded at his gesture and started toward the ramp myself. Earlier we'd seen the team from the Vhal'Dan off. Now we were leaving as well, headed for Sallust to pick up the trail...

One Dark Singer had nearly destroyed the Mak'Tor. And now...

Now we were hunting two.

"Maker, preserve us..."

Chapter 4: Skydancing

The fiery ball of Sullust burned in the view port but no one was looking. Mutt was piloting the ship, with Two and Vegan overseeing engineering while we gathered around the holoterminal. Ken was actually driving the console, freeing Arnor and I to study the data. "Well, this place is a mess..."

Orbital space around Sullust was sprinkled with rash of red beacons marking debris. There were cleared lanes for traffic, but most of the space around the planet was littered with pieces of star ship, large and small. The Rebel Fleet had staged through Sullust in it's attack on Endor: part of that attack had been a heavy attack on the fleet base and attached assets in Sullust. Several Nebulon-B frigates and older star destroyers had been destroyed, as well as a few Rebel cruisers, and the attack had been partially successful in that the Empire had sent reinforcements. It had NOT uncovered Endor, but that battle had already been fought and won.

The problem was that, while Sullust itself was now part of the Rebel Alliance, the space around the planet was still controlled by the Empire - which was still here in force.

"Why are they still here?" Ken voiced the question we were all thinking.

Arnor sighed. "At a guess? Because no one has told them to be somewhere else. The Empire has been decapitated and is in disarray. But after nearly twenty years of Palpatine and Vader weeding out anyone who even appeared to think for themselves or stepped out of line..."

"... rest are to afraid or simply incapable of acting on initiative." I finished the thought. "Whoever is in charge here probably has specific orders to stay put, likely from Admiral Nida on Executor, and there is NO way he or she will move until the chain of command is re-established and someone tells them what to do. That kind of paralysis would normally be an asset, but here?" I waved at the display.

There were no less than four Star Destroyers parked in orbit around Sallust. They were generally aligned with the cleared lanes in the debris field, which was naturally funnelling traffic by each ship. It didn't appear that they were actively blockading the planet or attempting to bring it back into Imperial control. For that matter, they may not know the planet was technically in rebellion. What whoever was in charge knew was basically irrelevant. How to get past his ships and patrols undetected, however, was. "Recommendations?"

Ken's fingers clacked across his keyboard. "I recommend penetrating the debris field here. This is the furthest point from any Destroyer. We'd only be in sensor range of one ship, and it would have spotty coverage at best. The other three would be behind the planet. It also puts us over Fulluusub, which seems to be the best starting point for our search."

"Son, you do realize that the reason there are no Destroyers over here is because the debris field is the heaviest in this area, right?" My lips twitched at the sarcasm in Arnor's voice, but she had a point. Still...

"Arnor, he may be right." I reached into the hologram, framing the route with my hands and expanding it to zoom in. "The debris is thick, but certainly not impassible. And the high concentration of metals and radiologicals will effectively screen us from detection."

Arnor leveled a very serious look at me. "That's part of my worry, actually. Some of that debris is very hot, and in order to avoid detection we're going to have to run it without deflectors or shields. That's kind of like running through a fire naked. You can do it, but if you stop for even a second..."

I didn't reply, simply stared at my wife and let my imagination play for a moment ... which led to a playful slap on the shoulder. "What? Oh, yeah... Sorry, I was ... distracted by your argument."

Ken just rolled his eyes at us and cleared his throat. "I am here, you know. In the room?"

"So you are." I smiled at Arnor and turned back to the display. "Its risky, but I'd really like to get down without anyone knowing we're here if at all possible. Ken, it's your course. Can you pilot it?"

The answering grin was almost as brilliant as the sparkle in his blue eyes. "Better strap in, old man."

***************

I felt my gorge try to rise again as the Wayfarer swooped through another seemingly impossible series of spins and rolls, narrowly avoiding a huge chunk of ship while also putting it between our naked hull and a particularly strong radiation source. "Almost there."

"Good." I flexed my hands, consciously pulling them back from the dorsal turret firing controls. Our external weapons were live, on the theory that it was better to be detected than dead, but despite the close calls both Arnor and I had managed to keep from firing.

Barely.

A series of chirps and chatters emitted from the speaker. "No, Two, I am NOT trying to kill us all! Just keep that starboard power coupling online for another ninety seconds and don't let anything happen to the lateral thruster arrays until we're through!" Ken replied. I could see the crimson slash of damage from our one actual collision. What had appeared to be simply a tight fit had nearly ended the flight when the debris had shifted unexpectedly, scraping across the starboard side between the boarding tube and the expanded engineering spaces. Fortunately the main casualty had been the turbo-laser capacitor, which we didn't need anyway, but the primary starboard power coupling had also been damaged. Two and Vegan were keeping it online by patching and replacing as fast as the circuits crashed, but in order to really fix it the starboard engines and manuevering thrusters had to be taken offline.

Which, at the moment, would result in our nearly instantaneous immolation.

My fingers twitched again, responding to a flutter in the force, a "danger" motif humming in the song in the back of my head. Yes, there is danger. Trust Ken...

I pulled my hand back ... and the debris skittered by just a meter from touching our hull. I released the breath I'd been holding.

"I heard that..." Ken called. "Almost there. Stand by..." The ship swooped, spun and twirled, showing the legendary agility of her type enhanced by the modified engines and the touch of a skilled pilot. And with a final control input Ken slid the Wayfarer sideways around a huge chunk of debris, and we were out of the field.

"Engines to ten percent. Approach vector locked in. Two, hand-shake with Fulluusub control when we hit atmosphere and arrange for a docking bay. And you can take the Starboard coupler offline now and make repairs."

The answering sounds were brief and rude. We all chuckled as the tension flowed away. "Well done, Ken."

I could sense his pride as he moved us to a safe landing, free of any Imperial entanglements. I laid my hand on his shoulder and let the smile I felt play across my face, but my thoughts below the surface were troubled. The song was roiled, confused and in turmoil. There was no overt hammering of the Dark here, but still...

There is a Dark Singer at work. Be afraid ... and very, very cautious...

Chapter 5: Walking in Shadows

Fulluusub was nothing like what I had expected. My experience with going underground consisted of various caves and caverns on M'Tzigon as well as the lower levels of Coruscant. Fulluusub, however, was a massive underground habitat, kept light and airy by a combination of innovating lighting and architecture by the Sullustians. The space port itself was interesting. Ken had brought us in for a flawless landing while Arnor handled the pursor duties. The Wayfarer had settled into a sunken bay, the "roof" consisting of a permeable force-field which allowed ships in and out but kept the corrosive and toxic atmosphere out. The Port Authority had made it clear that they didn't care what we were carrying in or out, or how we were armed, as long as we paid our docking and port fees. They also made it crystal clear that if we did NOT pay up, the entry portals would be locked and the overhead field dropped, flooding the bay.

We paid. Free Enterprise at its finest...

Fulluusub was the largest settlement on Sullust outside the control of the Sorosuub Corporation - which was the same as saying outside the control of the Empire. It was also a swirling mixture of free-thinkers, mercenaries, artists, and non-conformists that made it the perfect place for smugglers to transact their wares.

Or for someone hoping to fly under the radar to hide.

Our Intel also put Julwynn Hri here, spotted only a few months ago. I didn't have any details, but someone in the Cobolt Front was supplying the Mak'Tor with a steady if sparse thread of information. Despite the recent uprising and the new provisional government in Pinyumb, the Empire was still very much tied into SoroSuub and the presence of the Imperial Navy in orbit despite the recent Rebel fleet activity in the area spoke volumes about who was really in charge.

The fluid situation dictated caution and stealth, so we donned our new "uniforms". We would present as the Captain and crew of the independent merchant ship Wayfarer. This consisted of dark blue paramilitary utilties and multi-terrain boots over dark gray smart-fabric to control our body temps - and hide our infrared signatures. We each also had low-slung "gunfighter" holsters with matching blasters, to better project the air of a moderately successful mercenary smuggler crew. Our sabers were hidden away in seam pockets in the thigh seams of our utility pants, and we were each liberally supplied with spare power packs and electronic gear.

It turned out to be a short walk from the docking bay to a moving walkway that transported us down into Fulluusub's main business district and the adjoining 'red light' district. We spread out slightly and I let Arnor and Ken keep watch as I opened myself up to the force...

DANGER DANGER DANGER

I recoiled from the hammering thread of danger in the song, my hand twitching toward my saber by instinct. I barely kept myself from drawing the saber, instead settling for a quick stroke of the blaster's handle. I blinked hard and extended my senses, looking for signs of aggression or malevolence in the force.

Nothing...but I did sense a slight ripple in the surface of the force, like a ripple caused by a pebble hitting the surface of a still pond.

I nudged Arnor as I tracked it back to a man standing across from the slideway we were riding. He was looking away, but it was obvious in the force that his attention was riveted on us. Arnor found him instantly and nodded slightly, acknowledging that she had picked him up. I left him to her and slipped back into the force, tentatively touching the song again...

DANGER Danger Danger danger...

I dialed it back again, looking around yet again. Something was way off... Or was it? I had an odd sensation, one I hadn't felt in many years.

I didn't trust the song.

The ancient voice from my visions echoed in my head again: Fear the dark singer ... Trust the Singer, not the song... In a flash of insight I suddenly understood a little better what he meant.

The song here was ... corrupted. I felt like a cat on ice, unable to trust my own tread. Each step was filled with danger and treachery.

We passed the lookout. From the closer range we could see he was wearing light Mandalorian armor. No helm, but he had the full clam-shell top as well as arm and leg armor, and he carried a standard Storm Trooper E-11 blaster rifle. I turned to Arnor casually, as if discussing the weather or where to eat dinner. "What do you make of him?"

"Lookout." She responded instantly. "And he made us, no mistake."

"But how would he know who we were?" Ken asked, also maintaining a casual stance and not looking at us at all. "Are we blown?"

I looked away. "No. I think he felt us in the force. He's force-sensitive."

Arnor nodded. "Yes, but untrained. He just felt a ripple and zeroed in on it."

"Well, the alley-way is coming up. Ambush, you think?"

Arnor nodded. "Danger signals are hammering. It has to be an ambush."

I glanced at Ken and saw the full agreement in his eyes. I wanted to join them, but something wasn't right. "Maybe... Not sure. There's something I can't put my finger on..."

"So what do we do? Pull back?" Ken asked.

I caught another glimpse of Mandalorian, behind us now, and following along discretely. "No. Either he's just following to see where we go or he's the back-door of a trap. Lets duck down the alley like we planned. If he follows us he'll see what we want him to see: three crewmen getting a drink and some socialization after a long trip in a less-than-reputable establishment. If its a trap, we may bypass it."

"Or spring it." Ken tossed back.

"Or spring it. Either way we'll know. Just stay alert."

I felt the tension rise between us as adrenaline levels rose. The Battle Song tugged at my chest, and I longed to surrender to it completely but I held a part of my concentration back, walling it off from the song. I wanted that objective viewpoint, now more than ever. There was a trap here, alright, but I still wasn't sure what it was, or where. The song felt ... odd. Slippery. Elusive.

DANGER DANGER DANGER ... don't trust it ... DANGER DANGER DANGER ... don't trust it ... DANG...

The conflict was deep and threatened my ability to act decisively. I could sense it ... but nothing worked. The song was hammering the danger motif louder and harder than I had ever felt it. Mortal combat awaited us, I was SURE of it. But...

But....

We turned the corner. Mandalorian followed.

The alleyway was crowded but far from packed with traffic. I sensed Arnor and Ken open themselves to the Song, entering their battle songs. They were convinced we were about to fight for our lives.

What is wrong with me? You're going to get us all killed! Sing, Master Singer!

I shook my head, falling back further into the remote part of myself walled off from the song. No! Something is wrong...

With an effort I pulled myself back, away from the Battle song, away from the danger motif. I switched to less-used force-perception techniques and opened myself again to the force....

...and found a hammering, blinking kaledioscope of confusion. The force was full of ... ghosts? Shadows? False images?

How is this possible? I looked up the alley in amazement. It was like the alley was filled with powerful, sensitive force users, all projecting ... white noise. White light. In a disorienting pattern of strobes, not unlike thousands of flash-bulbs going off over and over and over...

The effect was amazing. How did so many force-sensitives gather in one place and coordinate this kind of attack? I shied away from the onslaught, wanting nothing more than to dive back into the song, to protect myself from this blinding series of flashes, but somehow I knew that was the wrong move. It was logical. Predictable.

Exactly what anyone from our order would do...

I blinked and saw Arnor drifting toward our normal combat spacing. Her hand was already hovering over her saber hilt, ready to extract it. Her eyes locked on a man I suddenly realized was at the head of a short column of armed men all dressed alike. Ken was also drifting out, deepening his connection to the Battle song, zeroing in on a similarly armed man on the right side of the alley, opposite the column Arnor had chosen. Mandalorian was still behind us, but had now been joined by three more men in similar armor. I longed to throw myself into the Battle song. We were about to be attacked! If I didn't fight with them, we would all be cut down by the ones behind....

Don't trust the song....

I swallowed hard. Indecision reigned. With effort I turned away from the song and boosted my perception higher, focused on Mandalorian and probed....

tense ... fear ... nervousness ... caution ... determination ...

Nothing malevolent. No aggression. No ill will....

I turned to the man in front of Ken and repeated the process. Again, nothing but determination and caution mixed with a heavy dose of fear.

They're afraid of us... Of US!

No time for debate! Decide!

I looked at Arnor and Ken, both prepared to fight to the death... It was a risk, but something was not right!

I made my decision.

"Arnor, Ken, STAND DOWN!" I hissed, the voice of command. "Do NOT engage!"

I felt Arnor's shock. The Song was screaming that we were about to be killed, and I was telling her to stand down? She looked at me, and I saw a flicker of defiance, of fear, then trust overrode and she relaxed, spreading her hands away from her sides, stepping back from the brink of battle. Releasing the song...

Ken was close. I laid my hand on his shoulder and felt him flinch. "Stand down, Ken."

"But..." He shuddered. "Don't you hear it?"

"Trust me. I'll explain later." I said, meeting his eyes. He nodded, but remained tense, and kept his saber hand a little closer to his side than I would have liked. I quickly stepped past him and confronted the soldier (for that's what he had to be) who was now leading his squad at a trot up the alley, using hand-and-arm signals to control his troops as he approached.

The alley had cleared out like magic, the people previously scattered everywhere disappearing into every available door and crack. Ken drifted back behind me, facing the Mandalorian and his companions. Arnor, arms akimbo, continued to face off the half-squad on her side of the street. I made my body posture as non-threatening as I could as I approached the Sullustian in command of the unit. "Sir, good afternoon. I am Captain Karmack of the freighter Wayfarer, recently docked in the port. Apparently there's been some kind of ... problem with our paperwork? I'm sure we paid the approriate docking fees and duties, and we paid in hard currency."

The Sullustian stopped and blinked. I couldn't really read his expressions, but his emotions were naked in the force: apprehension, confusion, determination and the ever-present fear. But still, no aggression. He glanced back at the being who was apparently his second, a massive four-armed Besalisk carrying two blaster rifles instead of one, then turned back to me. He spoke Sullustian rather than standard, but between my own youthful studies and the force I could understand him well enough.

<You are one of her servants. You are not welcome here. Go back now and no harm will come to you.>

So. These men did know of Julwynn Hri and her operations here! I barely kept myself from smiling. "Sir, I am afraid you have me at a disadvantage. I am no one's servant. I Captain an independent freighter..."

The Mandalorian interrupted from the back of the pack. <LIAR! I could ... feel you. You feel like one of hers. One of them.>

I turned and looked at the Mandalorian. He was gripping his weapon tightly. I could feel the fear radiating from him. The song.... Of course! He's sensing it as well! The force is hammering it at him just as it was at us. Danger

I made eye contact and bored into his mind, trying to calm him. "We are sensitive to the force, as you are, but we are not 'One of the Them'." I turned back to the commander. "We are Gray. Of the Mak'Tor. We have come to find her and ... end her activities on this world."

The Sullustian blinked again. <So you say. How do I know you speak the truth?>

Before I could answer the Mandalorian cried out again. <He LIES! HE LIES> His blaster was up and he was firing...

My saber was in my hand and swirling, sweeping the bolts away. Simultaneously I reached out with the force and found the power coupling in the E-11 and separated the motivator from the power source. The blaster died in the Mandalorian's hands. To make sure everyone knew what had happened, I reached out my left hand and yanked the blaster away from him, bringing it to myself.

I turned back to the Sullustian and retraced my blade. I stepped forward and handed him the rifle. "I have no quarrel with you. Only with her."

<You could kill us all...>

I nodded, looked around the alley. "Yes, I could. But if I wanted you dead...

I looked back at the Mandalorian. He was reaching now for a back-up weapon. I froze his hand, locking the joints in his arms in place. "...you'd be dead. All I want is to know where she is..." I looked at the Sullustian "And your assurance that you and your men won't try to kill us again."

The Sullustian took two deep breaths, then turned to his second. <Stand down. Grev, go take Innick in hand please.> He lowered his rifle. <Come, lets have a drink, and I will tell you what I know of the Dark Mistress and her Warren-Clan.>

Chapter 6: Minions

The pub turned out to have excellent beer. At least, I assumed it was excellent - the squad from the Cobalt Front's local militia certain drank it quickly and efficiently. My own stood untasted: a personal choice concerning the drink's alcohol content. Coffee was as strong a drink as I allowed myself. Fortunately, the barkeep was apparently also adept at making hot, caffeinated drinks as well. The Sullustian waited until the replacement beverage was presented and tasted before speaking himself.

<Peace be upon you friend.>

I dipped my head to him. "And on you, peace, my friend." The formal phrases were not often used in society but here in Fulluusub where there were such a wide variety of views and beliefs it was still common practice to speak them - and honor them. I watched the Mandalorian tense a bit as the phrase was spoken, then suddenly relax at my response. Just as the Militia unit was now honor-bound to treat us as guests, we were bound by our honor to act as guests and respect our hosts.

Which meant no shooting, slicing or dicing allowed. Thank the Maker.

I took another sip of the drink. It was expresso based but had a high chocolate content and was almost to sweet but in small doses was very good indeed. "And thank you, this is excellent."

<You are most welcome. So, to business: You hunt the witch?>

I nodded. "Yes, we are hunting the witch. What can you tell us of her?"

<She spent much time here. She and her Clan-Sister came here together originally and took rooms not far from here. For some time they were very busy, rarely leaving or going anywhere at all, but they were supplied with a steady stream of cargo containers, usually from ships much like yours. Then those containers were taken back out and put on Imperial transports bound for the Sanctuary Moon.> He looked around, still obviously nervous. I was doing what I could to quell that, damping the odd danger signals in the song still hammering away from somewhere nearby and sending a soothing flow into the Sullustian's mind with the force, enhancing his sense of ease and well being, while encouraging him to trust me. <Shortly before the Rebels came one of them left, taking half of the males in her Warren-Clan with her. Others, young men of skill and ability, started to disappear after that, always near this place. She was adding them to her Warren-Clan, somehow convincing them to remain with her despite all we could do. Great fear enveloped this place, and finally we could stand it no more. We approached her and drover her from this place.>

"So, she is no longer here?" I hid my disappointment. I had already known the sisters had split up, but the Intel was so firm on her being on Sullust! How had we messed that up?

<She is not on the planet...> Eyes shifted. <But she is in the system. I know where.>

I sensed the change in the Sullustian's mood. This was going to cost us something. Something big. So big he was afraid to even ask for it... "Spit it out. What's your price?"

<End the fear.>

I rocked back, looked back at the Mandalorian. He was standing alone now, his blaster slung but still deactivated, and he kept glancing around, his empty hands flexing as if he'd much rather be holding a weapon. ANY weapon.... I braced myself and opened my senses to the force again...

Blinding strobes....

I damped my preception and turned to the song.

DANGER DANGER DANGER DANGER DANG...

I pulled away from the song hard, physically shaking my head. "Wow..."

<End the fear. That is my price.>

I looked at the Sullustian. "I make no promises, but I will try. Take me to her lair."

******

It was a short walk. I gripped my hilt in my hand, the gentle hum of the saber in my mind a reassuring presence. The sense of forboding and outright fear had grown as we had approached, to the point where it was nearly overwhelming. The force-sensitive Mandalorian was actually cringing, something I had never expected to see out of any Mandalorian soldier, merc or otherwise.

She had been here...

I looked around the room. There was an overpowering echo of the song here, but ... distorted. Twisted. And very, very powerful. I had not felt a place echo with the Song like this since my father's study as a child, and then it had been....

it sings to me

My eyes grew wide. "A crystal..." I could feel the power of it. It was very strong ... and very close. "Arnor, do you have a mineral scanner?"

"Yes." She reached into her belt pouch. "What am I looking for?"

"Pontite."

Arnor set her scanner and started her scan. "Interestring... There are trace amounts in the walls. Apparently the local plaster is laced with tiny microscopic Adegan crystals, and about 20% of those are pontite..." She stopped suddenly. "Whoa..."

I followed her orientation ... and there it was. Buried in the floor.

Singing...

I didn't say anything. Now that I knew where to look, I could isolate it. I could hear it...

Singing ... whispering ... danger! Attack! Kill!

I stepped forward, approached it. My saber was in my hand....

KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL

I was peripherally aware of the Mandalorian, hands flexing, empty and helpless. My wife, now holding her own saber. My son, in a combat stance, watching for threats...

I ignited my saber and plunged the blade down, through the floor.

Through the crystal.

There was a sound, an actual audible, other-worldly scream, like that of a banshee in the aether. But far, far worse was the massive release of chaos and noise in the force. For long seconds, the song collapsed, and there was nothing. No melody. No harmony. No rhythm. Nothing but over-riding, horrible, chaotic NOISE...

*** GRAY ***

"Karm?"

I started away from the light touch, started to sweep my saber toward the threat...

STOP!

I stopped. Snapped off my blade. Looked down at the jagged hole in the floor where a pontite crystal had been. "How long?"

"Almost thirty seconds, Master." Ken replied. He was looking at me with concerned eyes. "It hit us all pretty hard, but you just ... froze. Until mom touched you."

I nodded, stood. A quick check revealed no damage, but I felt like someone had run me over with a small truck. "Yeah. When the crystal ... died ... it's scream blanked out the song." I shook my head. "Hurt like anything, too...."

We all reacted when the Sallustian suddenly moved, sabers in-hand, but he was only doing a jig. I relaxed, shared a look with Arnor and Ken. "Sergeant?"

<The fear is gone! You did it!> The short, mousy man suddenly grabbed Arnor's hands and twirled her in a quick spin. <All is well!>

I looked over at the Mandalorian. He was also shaking his head in the after-effects of the crytal's destruction, but there was also a small smile spreading on his face. He met my eyes and then raised his hand in salute.

"Yes, the fear is gone." I said, turning back to the Sallustian. "Sorry about the hole in the floor."

<It is of little consequence!> he said, grasping my hand. <You will truly defeat her! You will find her with her Warren-Clan on Umnub, in mine 27-B>

"Umnub." I repeated. Looked at Arnor. "Well. Looks like our stay here will be shorter than we anticipated."

Ken looked confused. "Umnub? Where is that?"

I pointed toward the ceiling. "Up."

Chapter 7: Bread Crumbs
The trip back to the ship was uneventful, despite being delayed by the Colbolt Front troopers and an insisted-upon round of drinks. The revelry was rambunctious: I had the distinct impression that the oppressive fear the crystal had been laying down had been infesting the area for some time. Its removal was a relief for everyone, not just the force-sensitive. Arnor also managed to get several discrete samples of the local building materials, which she was now examining with Mutt in Engineering.

Ken was working with Vegan and Two to prep the ship for flight. That left me some time to do a little … consulting.

The holographic interface came to life as a connection back to M’Tzigon was established. “Master Karmack! How can I help you?”

I smiled back at the cheerful face. Telow’na Jackson was a lithe, middle-aged woman with silver hair and hazel eyes. Her rank of Silver Koawan was well-earned but also somewhat deceptive – like most things about her. She was the head of the Mak’Tor intelligence division and I knew from personal experience that she was fast and deadly with a blade, but at the moment she looked like nothing more offensive than someone’s grandmother. “Telow’na! I didn’t expect to speak to you! Surely one of your minions could have handled the call?”

“Oh, they’re all off to lunch or something. Besides, how could I pass up a chance to talk to my favorite nephew-in-law?” She smiled that disarming smile. “Are you keeping my niece and grand-nephew out of trouble?”

I tried to match her cheerful demeanor but I couldn’t help but let some seriousness creep into my face and voice. “Not entirely. Telow’na, what can you tell me about Umnub and the mines there? A local militia contact has indicated that our friends evacuated to the moon some time ago, to a mine he called ‘twenty-seven B’ specifically.”

I watched as Telow’na activated her computer outside the holographic pick-up, her brow nit now in concentration. “Nothing special is showing from the archive… Several of the tunnels have been converted into habitat over the years, primarily by investors looking to make some money from the played-out mines. Other than a reference to the mine being part of a complex attached to the Unysys Tor Mineral processing group there’s no mention of shaft 27-B.” She reached forward and clacked some keys. “I am sending you the coordinates of the complex as well as the maps made up by the mining company, but there’s no way to tell what modifications have been made. This should get you to the right place, however.”

I noted the indicator of a received data file and nodded. “I have it. Thank you, Telow’na. Have you had any word from our friends?”

“We received an initial contact report that they’d reached Kuat and were beginning their investigation. Why?”

I leaned back, cradling a cup of coffee. “Julwynn Hri managed to weaponize one of the pontite crystals. She had it programmed to give off the “Danger” motif, and since the building material in the area is liberally laced with microscopic Adegan crystal shards it propagated and blanketed the area around her workspace with it. It was … interesting. Felt like someone dragging their fingernails down a chalkboard combined with the urge to kill anything that so much as twitched. If you can get a message to D’Aylanna, please warn them. This is like nothing I’ve ever run into before.” I let out a tired sigh. “I am more than a little concerned about what might be waiting for us on Umnub.”

“I’ll forward your report as expediently as I can.” Telow’na said, her concern betrayed by the suddenly clipped, business-like tone of her voice. “If it’s any help, there’s no record of pontite crystals being mined on the moon. The Sullustians did have a major hand in the development of the lightsaber for the Jedi in antiquity, but they used Kyber and Illium crystals, no Adegan. The only record of Adegan crystals are on the planet, in the flows and mines around Fulluusub. That might explain why she was there originally, but not what she’s doing on the moon.”

I took a deep drink of my coffee. I am WAY to addicted to this stuff… “It’s a guess, but I think she’s hiding. Something that was said, that she went to the moon with her ‘Warren-Clan’…”

Now Telow’na looked confused. “What’s a ‘Warren-Clan’?”

“It’s the primary family unit on Sullust. Each one is centered on a breeding female, who takes on a harem of males and produces a bunch of children. The overall interactions are complex, but the underlying matriarchal structure would be familiar and welcome to a night sister from Dathomir. I asked a few discrete questions and it seems that Julwynn sees her collection of Sith Shadows not as protectors or employees, but as her personal chattel: a chattel that has been expanded with several Sullustian males as well as various mercenaries and vagabonds passing through the port. The locals could care less about the drifters but some of the ‘local boys’ were from good families and they were none-too-happy about them becoming slaves. They banded together and asked her to leave.”

“And she left?” Telow’na’s eyes went wide. “Why? She must be able to crush any opposition that faced her. Why run and hide?”

I smiled. “That may be the million credit question. Sorry, I have no idea. I guess we’ll just have to ask her when we see her.”

Telow’na nodded. “Understood. I’ll get my field resources digging for more. Maybe something will turn up. In the mean time, watch yourself. These dark sisters are dangerous.”

“No joke. You might want to get with Master Chillum and have him open up the archives of Kage Dorian as well as the Xandir Holocron. They may offer up some insight.”

“I’ll do that. Be careful. I’ll forward anything relevant that turns up. Jackson out.” The hologram leaned forward and then disappeared.

I keyed open the schematic of the mine complex and leaned back, finishing my coffee. As I studied it a figure appeared behind the hologram. I raised my cup in a quasi-salute. “You laced this with pain killers, didn’t you?”

Arnor nodded. “Yes, but a very mild one. I know you’re hurting.”

I leaned back and grimaced. I thought I had been hiding the pain, but I should have known better. “Thank you. That hit from the crystal really stung.”

Arnor sat as well. “Stung. I think it was more than that. You were out for over a minute, and you’re still not moving right.”

I leveled a gaze at my wife. “I am OK. Just … sore.”

Arnor snorted but let it drop. “So, what do we have here?”

“A mess.” Ken interjected, entering the room. “Dad, pull back and add the feed from the orbital traffic array.”

I entered the proper commands, pulling the “view” on the holographic emitter back to show the planet and its environs, then added the feed from the planetary traffic control array. I immediately noticed that one of the star destroyers that had been hovering on the far side of the planet was now nearly overhead. “What is he doing over here? Oh.”

Ken smiled. “Yeah. Glad you caught that. Apparently our friend isn’t just covering the local traffic lanes after all. He’s hovering near Umnub.”

“So, now we have to sneak up on them AND get past a star destroyer.” Arnor said. “I have a bad feeling about this…”

“Oh, its worse that that my love.” I looked at my wife, feeling her concern and its mirror in myself. “After that … scream … from that crystal do you really think she doesn’t know we’re coming?”

Arnor slumped back in her chair. “Great. You’re right. She has to know something happened, doesn’t she? And no doubt someone there is one of her minions, left behind to observe and report. So, what do we do?”

I didn’t answer, just let a boyish grin spread across my face as I punched a key. “Two, did you get those two special consignments loaded?”

A series of tweets and whistles answered. “Good! Prep ‘em. We’re going to need them.”

More tweets. “I don’t know … do rock-paper-scissors.”

The answering electronic sounds this time were obviously rude. “Right back atcha, dome-head.” I cut the circuit and turned to my wife and son. “Suit up. Vacuum combat suits, zero-gee and EVA gear.”

“Wait. How are we going to get in?” Arnor asked.

My grin became a full-blow smile. “We’re going to ride in piggy-back.”

Chapter 8: Hornet's Nest

I knew Ken was not happy with me. But someone had to pilot the Wayfarer, there were only two DCC's, and he'd picked paper against his mother! Paper. As if Arnor would go with ANYTHING other than scissors. I mean, anyone who knew us knew that I was the "rock" type and she was the "scissors" type.

It was obvious.

The thought made me chuckle, distracting me from the extreme discomfort of my current position. Umnub was your typical moon - gray, airless and utterly lifeless. The satellite was riddled with mines, most of which had been played out long ago. Some had remained in production longer, removing smaller amounts of high-value ores. Our target was one of the former, a long-abandoned iron mine which had been terraformed into a low-G resort and had been billed as a duty-free "playground" of the rich. That, too had passed, and the site had served as a hospital and research facility for decades before finally being sold to an eccentric entrepreneur as a private residence. How Juwynn had acquired it was unknown, but one rumor passed to us by the Front was that one of her 'harem' members was the heir and current owner, and had offered it up willingly when the people of Fulluusub had turned on her Warren-Clan. What we would find inside was anyone's guess.

I looked over at Arnor. I could sense her own discomfort - and anxiety - radiating from her own perch. The DCC's - Droid Combat Chassis - gave Mutt and Two amazingly good cross-country speed, but the cost was a hammering, jarring lope that made me feel like someone was slowly pounding me into a very small puddle of goo. A quick check of our position confirmed that the ride was nearly over, however. The fireworks should be starting any second now...

From the surface we could actually see the Wayfarer drop out of hyper. It helped to know where to look, but realizing that Vegan had run the calculations to drop into normal space between the planet and moon made me shudder slightly. Still, the emergence was spectacular, not something you got to see with the naked eye often...

The Star Destroyer reacted. Massive ion engines sprang to life, and despite the extreme range turbo-laser bolts sparked into existence. Ken's song rang clearly in the force as he concentrated, bobbing and weaving toward the main landing platform. The instant reaction of the Star Destroyer seemed to confirm the idea that they were there over-watching the activities on the moon. It was now up to Ken to convince them that they had thwarted an attempted landing, and perhaps even draw them away into a pursuit.

Ken's piloting was amazing. Even from the ground, barely able to see the ship maneuver, I was impressed. He even managed to put a few turbo-laser shots into the Star Destroyer, hammering it with weapons far heavier than they could have been expecting. The results were telling: shoals of TIE fighters erupted from the Star Destroyer's bays, moving to hem the nimble freighter in and limit its ability to maneuver, making it an easier target for the Destroyer.

Two whistled and beeped. "Yes, I'm sure he sees them, Two." I replied. "He'll pull out soon."

And he did. With a masterful helix course he carved a fiery pathway through the fighters before steadying on course long enough to engage his hyper drive and jump back out. The Star Destroyer did not follow, but two Nebulon-B Frigates, which had been thrusting in to join the fray - did move in pursuit and jumped out after him. The fighters milled about for a time, covering shuttles on SAR runs before all the auxilliaries returned to the Star Destroyer, now moving back into it's higher orbit.

That was our signal. The secondary entry point we'd selected was on the opposite side of a ridge from the main entrance to complex 27, but it was still serviceable. As long as it had power...

Arnor and I unplugged our exo-suits from the DCC's piggy-back life support modules and dismounted while Mutt and Two plugged in and tried to hack into the port controls. Indicator lights blinked, so there was power, but after several minutes it became apparent that nothing the droids could access would allow them to open the hatch. I listened as the chirps and beeps between the two gradually grew more and more frustrated and finally decided we had to take a more drastic approach. "Two, this isn't working. Can you scan into the interior? Is there air inside the lock?"

The answering beeps were accompanied by a series of hums as the droid's sensors probed the interior. "Thanks."

Arnor looked the question at me. "No, no air. The space inside the lock is void. So..." I drew and ignited my lightsaber. "Shall we?"

Yellow and teal fire sliced through the thick door, making short work of the outer airlock. Even with two of us we barely made a hole big enough for the DCCs to enter, and the area inside the lock was extremely crowded. "Now what?" Arnor asked.

"Now..." I gestured to the inner lock's port. "Try again. And let me know before you actually open the door, guys."

Two answered with a rude string of low chirps while Mutt twittered the equivalent of laughter. The inner lock apparently did not have the same security in place, and Two made short work of it. "OK, wait one." With a mental pull I dragged the severed door back into place and Arnor and I made a sloppy patch along the cut. "OK, that's going to have to do it." Arnor and I braced against Two and Mutt. "Hit it."

Two twittered one last time and triggered the inner lock. The chamber was immediately filled with a hurricane of swirling air, which immediately died down as the space pressurized. "GO GO GO!"

Arnor and I slammed into the corridor followed by Two and Mutt. We kept going, Mutt right behind, as Two turned to plug back in and close the inner hatch again. We didn't quite make it in time: The hasty plug failed under pressure and blew out, and the corridor instantly became a hurricane of wind. Arnor and I were physically picked up and hurled backward, only to slam into Mutt, who used his chassis to pin himself in place. I heard Arnor grunt as she hit, and felt a wave of red agony erupt from her in the force, even as her thread in our shared song suddenly dimmed. I saw her slipping to the side, away from me, and I struggled against the escaping torrent of wind to lay hands on her. I caught her just as she started to roll off of Mutt's chassis and held on with desperate strength as Two finally managed to insert his data connector and closed the hatch at last.

Instantly the wind stopped. Freed from it's pinning power, Arnor and I slid down the DCC's legs and to the floor. I rolled my wife over, eyes scanning her ExoSuit's tell-tails. Far to many were yellow and orange, indicating broken bones and internal trauma. Her eyes fluttered open, filled with panic and pain. I abandoned the suit's medical diagnostics, tore my gauntlet off, opened her helmet and made physical contact, laying my hand against her face.

The song enveloped me... I turned, found Arnor's thread, saw the pain and hurt there. I joined the song, shared her pain...
And I sang... A song of healing, learned long ago, flowed from me into her, easing the pain, repairing the damage...

heal ... heal ... heal ... heal ... heal

I opened my eyes, startled. The crystals are ... singing my song?

I leaned back and felt healing energy, focused by the song now echoing through the force, flow into both Arnor and myself. It wasn't enough to instantly repair all the damage - bones took time to knit, despite the force, and tissue still needed time to repair - but the bleeding stopped and if nothing was completely healed then everything was partially healed. More importantly, the pain receded, allowing Arnor to take over the healing song herself and drop into her own healing trance.

I sat back, relishing the power coursing through my own body. The crystal "explosion" in Fulluusub had hurt me more than I'd cared to admit. Now the song was coursing through me, replentishing my endurance and healing the hurt. It was refreshing in ways that could not be described. But it was also puzzling. Why is this happening?

I stood and walked over to the wall, laying my hand on the stone. It was practically pulsing with power, like a naked electrical relay, but the power was ... unfocused. Just a chiming chord, like a wind-chime in the wind. Random, beautiful in its own way, but with no real melody or harmony or rhythm. Exactly what I would expect from a natural crystal lattice, though even Pontite wouldn't normally carry this kind of carrier power. Softly I focused and sang, injecting a song of peace and tranquility. Nothing radical, just ... peace. Calm. I felt it radiate out from me, propagating through the crystal lattice. Maker, what a powerful weapon... Even in the 'Tragedy of Vyth, when Kage Odjina defeated the Two despite their dark manipulations of the song, nothing like these crystals is mentioned!

And the realization dawned. "Where is Julwynn?"

Two, standing close over Arnor's unconcious form, beeped a question. "This lattice should be HAMMERING us with power, like the alleyway in Fulluusub, only exponentially more powerful. Instead the crystals are passively accepting my songs. Why not hers?"

More beeps, this time laced with rude grunts. "No, I don't expect you to know. I'm just thinking out loud." I turned and lifted Arnor with the force, carefully draping her back into the carry harness we'd rigged on the back of DCC. "Plug her back into your life support, Two, and go to the extraction point. Your job is to keep Arnor safe. Do you read me?"

Thankfully the droid responded with only a serious and affirmative response. "Thank you." I brushed a kiss onto her cheek and re-sealed her helmet. "Mutt, you're with me."

As we advanced, my mind kept returning to the old sagas. My saber crystal, "The Ancient One", was supposed to be a crystal so strongly embedded in the song that it would only draw the strongest singers to itself. Some of the legends surrounding it were fantastic, but I could attest from my own experience that the crystal did indeed sing to me and even reinforced my own song in the force. Other stories, like the sagas of the Dark Times, the Tales of the Reaving, and the Tragedy of Vyth all told of Dark Singers who had threatened the Mak'Tor or others and had ultimately been defeated not by brute force but by the song itself. As Master Chillum had taught me, the point was that whether for good or ill, whenever a Singer bent the song to his or her own will, the ultimate outcome was tragic. Even the good intentions of Kage Dorian, who created the Crystals of Balance in their shrines on the Spire, ended up hurting more than helping in the end. Always the final lesson: Trust the Maker. Trust the Singer. Not the song.

I shook off the wool-gathering thoughts, reaching out to mentally caress Arnor one last time in the force. I felt her stir in response. That was good. She was out of danger...

Mutt turned a corner and let out a warning squeal just as a flurry of blaster bolts cascaded into his personal shield. He began returning fire while emitting a series of hoots and screaches that should have made him blush. "Mutt! Language!"

I ignited my saber and did a forward shoulder roll past Mutt, bringing myself fully into the main chamber and into the fight. The song of battle hummed in my chest and there was no reason to fear it now. My blade described a golden shield around me as red, blue and green blaster bolts arced away in multiple directions, some at crazy angles, others into enemies wielding weapons. Mutt was also in rapid-fire mode, showering the Sith Shadow positions with a steady stream of fire, using his heavy blasters to concentrate on weapons positions and anyone firing from effective cover. Meanwhile, bouyed by the force and the power still flowing through the crystal lattice around me, I launched into a full-blown Ataru attack, spinning and slicing my way through the enemy from one side as Mutt worked the other. Together we met in the middle, where a trio of Dathomirians attempted to make a final stand. Several times I severed a hand or fore-arm only to have my target ignore the injury and pick up a weapon with his other hand. None stopped until they were either dead or unconscious. In the end I found myself surrounded by fallen foes, mostly dead. "Mutt! Status!"

Mutt answered with a string of chirps and whistles. "Understood! Try to conserve weapons power. Right now I need you to look for a computer terminal so that..."

"You'll find nothing. She's apparently taken her favorites and flown the coop, as it were." called a silky baritone from across the room. "And there's nothing in the computer, either. I checked."

I turned, spied a comm port and gestured to Mutt to plug in. "You won't mind if we check for ourselves Mr....?"

"Lord Cha, at your service, Master Jedi...?"

I shifted uneasily, reaching out and feeling the raw power of the man. Sith for sure, the hammer of the drums was unmistakable. But not a singer, or I'd feel him in the very walls of this place! "Ka'Ah'Re Mack of the Mak'Tor." I replied. "There are no Jedi here. Your Master saw to that."

Cha chuckled. "Did he, now? Considering what I just saw I find your assertion ... disappointing. I was hoping for more of a test." I sensed the massive force push building, the lighting, and brought my own blade up and prepared to block, but the Sith didn't attack me directly. Instead, the push and lighting snapped out and struck Mutt, slamming him away from the data port and burning out the interfaces of his DCC, leaving him alive but trapped in his shorted-out body. Meanwhile the Sith closed with me, a pair of red blades snapping into existence in his hands as he closed, laughing.

I smiled, the song of battle swelling within me, and I sang it into the force. I adopted a middle guard and waited for his attack, letting my song echo and break around me, swirling like a dervish in the force.

Sing, master. Sing sing sing ... KILL KILL KILL KI...

I snapped myself back out of the song, confused and slightly panicked. What was that????

The Sith had also stopped, his eyes wide, filled with sudden recognition ... and fear. Without saying a word, Cha turned and ran.

I let him go. I was stunned. The shock was still washing through me, like the after-effects of adrenaline in the system. My hand shook slightly as I deactivated my blade and hung my saber on my belt. I walked over to Mutt and opened his systems panel. The DCC was fried, but with a couple of pushes and tugs in the force I was able to disconnect him and free him from the chassis. He whistled his thanks and returned to the data port, intent on scouring the computer for anything of value.

Meanwhile I sent another melody of peace and calm into the crystal lattice, slowly dropping the Sith Shadow survivors into a half-sleep, half-trance that would incapacitate them for a time. That done, I carefully centered myself, wrapped mental fingers tight around my shared song with Arnor and Ken, and opened myself to the song again. And I sang...

What are you?

I am Master and Slave. I am yours to command! Let us rule together! Sing to me, Master! Sing!

I shuddered and pulled back as a wave of desire to sing, to bring all around me into subjection, washed over me. Where? Where are you?

Here! Why do you not sing?

I stood, focused. There was now a beacon in the song, a bright, repeating motif. It was very close. "Mutt, carry on ... and brace yourself."

Mutt answered with a single whistle. "Yes, I'll be careful." I replied, stepping up to the spot where the beacon was shining in the song. I was facing an inner wall. "So, here you are..."

I opened the cabinet, expecting wires or some kind of fancy shrine or something. I was disappointed. A single, red crystal lay on the shelf. Pontite. Perfectly formed. Visually very plain.

And literally pulsing with power. I swallowed, and walled myself off from the force as much as I could. "Mutt, relay to Two. Contact Ken and execute Extraction Two." I ignited my saber and closed my eyes. "OK, here goes nothing..."

Master! Sing to me!

Sing!

Sing!

SING!

I struck...

Chapter 9: Fractured

I blinked. Blinked again. Took a breath.

Nothing. No explosions. No massive energy releases. Just … nothing.

I could hear Mutt continuing his data search behind me. I took a deep breath and opened myself slowly to the force. Cautiously I probed the energy patterns of the room and the cavern beyond.

Nothing. Just the normal flow of connections. The crystals were still there, but where there had been a sense of connection, of tuning and structure before there was nothing more than the normal background hum I’d heard in other places where natural crystals occurred. The pervasive sense of untapped power was simply gone. Feeling surer of myself I opened further and listened to the song. Instantly I found Arnor’s melody, still twisting around my own, Ken’s now dancing a playful counter-melody around our entwined melodies. But beyond that…

Nothing

It was like the entire lattice-work had simply vanished, the power conduit disappearing into the rock as if it had never existed in the first place. “Odd…”

Mutt’s chirping response pulled me back into the present. “No, I wasn’t talking about you. And I meant it when I said to watch your language. The other R2 units might not mind but I don’t want you speaking like that around Ken.”

Mutt responded with a rude grunt and whistle combination. “You can insult me all you want. Just do it with class.”

I chuckled at his verbose response. Mutt’s vocabulary was expansive, and not just in the vulgar sense. “See? That didn’t hurt a bit.” A shorter string of interrogative tweets and whistles followed. “No, everything seems to be OK. Any luck with the computer?”

The response was a short, low grunt. “Well, keep digging. It’s possible our Sith friend was telling the truth, but I don’t want to count on that.”

While Mutt returned to work I decided to experiment a little. Like before I opened myself up and sang a simple melody of peace and calm into the force. Again, it permeated the area around me, but unlike before it wasn’t picked up and propagated by the crystals around me. The crystal lattice, while still there, was totally non-responsive. The background hum was pleasant, but a mildly soothing tone was its only effect in the song or the force.

The cabinet was scarred from contact with my blade. The perfect pontite crystal had shattered into dozens of fragments. I reached into the cabinet and picked one of them up, rolling it over and examining it in my hand…

Sing to me… Sing….

There. The voice was the same, but now instead of offering power and control it was just … asking. Like a small child asking a parent to sing a lullaby…

I set the fragment down and picked up another. The response was the same. Each was small, weak, but still “there”. Whatever Julwynn had done to the crystal had at least partially survived the shattering effect of my saber’s blade. Maybe her control could be undone? I took a small sample container from my belt and gathered up the crystal fragments. Together, I could just feel the ghost of what they had been as the fragments struggled to “tune” to each other. “Not yet, my friends. Not yet. First you need to learn a new song.”

Mutt, now unplugged from the computer terminal, whistled a response which included a few bars of a local bar song from the M’Tzigon space port. “That’s an old song, and you know it. Struck out with the computer?”

Mutt whistled an affirmative. “OK. Let’s go. Get a status from Two on Ken’s approach. I have one more job to do here.”

Mutt whistled and chirped again, heading down the corridor toward the place where Two (in his still functioning DCC) waited with Arnor. I looked around the room again, letting my senses trace over the bodies. Most were cooling in death, but here and there survivors remained. “So a thermal detonator is out…”

I walked over to the disabled DCC. Despite the damage, it wouldn’t be difficult to make the chassis operable. The interface couplers were fused but the bulk of the processors were intact. Most of the chassis was composed of “off the shelf” parts, but the computer hardware and especially the software were another matter entirely. I located the appropriate areas of the chassis and ignited my blade once again, making short work of the key components, as well as critical parts of the weapons systems for good measure.

The work of destruction complete, I turned and sliced through the blast door controls as I jogged past, sealing myself out and the Sith in. Extraction Two called for Ken to hyper in close and do a high-speed approach and landing, then dash out. It would be tight with the Star Destroyer hovering overhead but his previous performance proved he was up to the task. The urgency in the song indicated that Ken was already on his way, however, and I for one did not want to be left behind.

First, get off this rock. Then…

Then get some answers!

Chapter 10: Healing

It had taken hours to find the key, but now the chorus was strong. It echoed around me, the power of each individual voice small but the overall effect was surprisingly strong. Time to test it…

I listened to the chiming chord for a moment longer, drawing a deep breath, then carefully tapped into the song. I selected a healing song, a powerful song that would push my healing skills to the limit, as well as my endurance. I sang, weaving my song into the correct key for my new ‘chorus’ – and wove the song around Arnor.

Heal, my love. Heal…

The burst of healing energy on Umnub had been enough to stabilize her, but Arnor had suffered several broken bones, including ribs, her left femur, and three cracked vertebrae. Soft tissue injuries had been equally extreme. That influx of force energy, amplified by the tuned crystals, had saved her life and her ongoing healing trance was keeping the bleeding and internal injuries in check, but without a fully equipped med center and staff of healers she was in for a long, hard struggle just to stay alive. My first instinct was to tell Ken to plot a course for the nearest planet with appropriate facilities, but something held me back. A sense of … urgency? Danger? Both?

Time was short. There was a tense undertone in the song, accompanied by a ripple in the force. It wasn’t specifically addressing our here-and-now. It was more elusive. Indistinct. An impression more than a warning. Someone without training might call it a “gut feeling”.

I trusted my ‘gut’.

Which meant that I either had to bundle my wife into a stasis tube, or leave her in the Wayfarer sick bay, or…

Or.

The song curled around me, building in power. Each crystal in the chorus amplified it, adding its power and voice to the song. The pontite crystals were living entities in the force, with a strength all their own. They weren’t just focusing the song – they were amplifying it. I added my own voice, my own strength, and a small corner of my mind was amazed as the healing song built and built and then in the throes of its climaxing crescendo broke over Arnor like a massive, healing tsunami. Her body twitched as it moved over her, force energy pouring through her in a torrent that was almost visible…

Exhausted, I finished the song. Sweat poured down my head and back, drenching my shirt. I looked down at the array of crystal shards, which I had simply laid on a cloth in front of me.

They glowed a white-yellow, alive with power…

Arnor blinked, her eyes opening. “What… What happened?”

I laid my hand on her forehead, and felt the pin-pricks of force energy still bleeding through her body, like static electricity. “You were injured when the air-lock blew. As near as we can tell the initial force of the air blast hit you square, and you struck Two’s DCC at a bad angle as well. Two also said that something heavy from the corridor hit you. I was too busy just hanging onto Mutt, so I can’t verify, but the injuries are consistent…” I looked at the medical scanner and felt my heart lift. “Or they were anyway.”

“Were?” Arnor sat up. “Injuries? I remember the airlock blowing…” Her eyes clouded. “I hit Two … something hit me … and I was falling… and you caught me. And it hurt. A lot.” Arnor turned and swung her legs over the side of the bed, putting bare feet on the floor. “Then there was … a choir? A choir in my head? Singing?”

I sat back, smiling now. “That would be the crystals in the base, embedded in the walls. Just like on the planet, but fewer of them. Ken’s out with the droids collecting them now.”

“Collecting them? So Julwynn wasn’t on the moon after all?”

I shook my head. “No. She had been. We ran into some of the Sith Shadows we’d been warned about as well. I thought they were attached to Julwynn, but Mutt pulled a lot of data from her computer. Nothing that tells me where she went or what she was up to, but we did get enough security log data to match faces and none of the Shadows we killed or captured were a match to any of the recent faces logged in and out. But we did get a hit on Julwynn as well as two of her entourage. Both from the “missing persons” databases on Sullust, men who have gone missing in the last year or so. But no clues as to where they went Just … gone.”

Arnor stood gingerly. “My leg’s a little sore…”

I grabbed a hand scanner and ran it over her thigh and let out a low whistle. The read-out showed a fully healed bone! The clean break that had been there only a few minutes before was fully healed. I quickly scanned the rest of her injuries. The soft-tissue damage still showed some heavy bruising and the discoloration of her skin was still present, but the underlying cause – bleeding – was gone. Her muscles were stiff and sore, but otherwise undamaged.

"What? You're starting to sound like one of the droids!" Arnor teased. I showed her the scans, before and after. Her jaw dropped. “What? How? I know you’re a pretty good healer and singer, but ... this???”

“It's this Pontite.” I said, scooping up the crystals and placing them in a leather pouch. “It was a … ‘control’ crystal is the only way I can describe it. It sensed that I was a singer and it was apparently programmed to serve a singer. Most likely Julwynn. It let me focus and pour a massive slug of healing energy into you right after you were injured, and so I decided to try it again, see if I could make the shards into my own chorus, as it were. It worked…”

I wobbled and sat down suddenly, the room spinning. “Karm? What’s wrong?”

I closed my eyes, opening myself to the force, to the song, drawing healing energy into myself…

Heal… You must heal…

Again I felt the cyclone of energy building, but it never reached the overwhelming level of before. Instead of a tsunami it was a gentle wave, washing away the fatigue and injecting a buoying energy and sense of well-being.

I saw Arnor’s eyes widen as she sensed it: the healing song, being sung by a powerful, chiming chorus, but this time without my lead. Only my suggestion that it was needed… “They heard me call for the song…”

“And they answered.” Arnor’s eyes were very wide. “And this is one crystal?”

I nodded. “Yes. A fractured one.” I let my eyes fall. “I ... destroyed it. It offered me power. Too much power….” I looked at the pouch, containing the shards. “I’m not even sure I should have these. Except … I think we may need them. Soon.”

Arnor laid her hand on mine. “Karm, you know I can’t really sing the way you do. I don’t understand how this is possible. How you connect with your saber so effectively. I don’t really understand even how you can heal so well, crystals or no.” She tipped my chin up, bringing my eyes up to meet hers. “But I love you. You’re wise and strong and good, and you follow the Teachings of the Maker and the Principles. Trust the Maker. Listen to the Song. What is it telling you?”

I stared into her eyes. Blue into green. I stared a long time. “It’s telling me that I have an amazing wife.”

The kiss that followed was very, very good.

“Ewwww, really?” Ken’s comment was punctuated by a string of whistles and tweets from Two, following behind.

“Enough out of you!” I pointed a finger at Two. “You’re already a bad influence on him. As for you…” I looked at Ken. “Hug your mother, then tell us what you found.”

Ken grinned and wrapped Arnor in a rib-bending bear hug. “Glad to see you back on your feet. Dad’s experiment worked. Good.”

Ken released his mom and sank into a chair. “As you know, we hooked up with a small Alliance unit that was supporting the Cobolt Front here on Sullust. After our decoy flight and jump-out I met up with them and we hopped back into the system, well out, and burned in-system as fast as we could. Those Alliance boys were all hot to take on the Star Destroyer, but by the time we arrived all three had pulled out, following a small frigate of some kind down the Sanctuary Corridor.”

“A frigate? I’ll bet that was our friend.” I said, turning to Arnor. “Someone else, called himself ‘Lord Cha’, was also looking for Julwynn. He’s familiar with singers – and the crystals.”

“So, a new player.” Arnor frowned. “What’s his part in this I wonder?”

“No good, I’m sure. Ken, did the Front take the surviving Shadows into custody?”

“Yes sir, and happily. They were also EXTREMELY happy to see the Empies de-camp. Seems they’ve been a real crimp on business recently. They even stuck around to help me collect these.” Ken nudged a satchel with his toe, making it clink slightly. “We found them all through the place, usually just sitting in small cubbies or in access points. They’re Kyber, though, not Pontite.”

I reached over and picked up the satchel, pulling out several of the crystals. They were clear, pure kyber crystals. Not very big, but with a peculiar cut… “Two, scan these. Do they fit together? In a lattice or pattern of some kind maybe?”

Two rolled over and scanned the crystals as I pulled them out of the bag. There was a long pause, then he activated his holographic projector, showing a complex grid that accommodated the pieces we had, placing them into a far larger matrix. “What is your confidence level on this reconstruction?”

Two beeped and chirped. “Fifty-four percent? That’s a little weak.”

More beeps. “Alright, alright! I know, it’s a small sample. I don’t expect miracles! The point is, they could be part of a larger grid, even form a far larger crystal, right”

Two’s beep this time was a simple affirmative.

“Where are you going with this, Dad?” Ken asked.

“These came from somewhere. There’s Pontite and Kyber both on Sullust, but not in large quantities. The Adegan crystals that Julwynn used for her amplifier on the planet were microscopic crystals embedded in the building materials. It only worked because it had a powerful focusing crystal and there were literally billions of them in range. Here, on the moon, she used the kyber crystals as her matrix and a powerful “gateway”, as it were. These crystals have reverted to a near-natural state now. The lock to the gateway was broken when I shattered it. But they’re still aligned, physically and within the force. These were part of a bigger construct, and not to long ago.”

“The only thing anywhere nearby with that much crystal was the Death Star, at Endor.” Arnor replied. “Do you think these came from there?”

“I do. And our friend had some reason to go that direction – and take reinforcements with him.”

Ken nodded. “It makes sense. She was compromised here, so she headed to Endor, where she would have better cover in the force…”

“… and more raw materials to build a stronger crystal network.” Arnor finished. “But why leave the ‘gateway’ behind?

“I don’t know.” I said, patting the small pouch of crystals. “Temptation? Another trap that failed? We could speculate all day and get nowhere. I think we should call in a quick update and head for Endor. Any objections?”

My family – human and electronic – maintained silent agreement.

We were going to Endor.

Chapter 11: Dance Card

The twisting tunnel of hyperspace coursed outside the cockpit windows, its turmoil a good match for the jumble of thought twisting through my brain. What had been meant to be a quick update with Telow’na had turned into a bit of a shock: Jennira had been captured. Followed by another shock: She had subsequently disappeared, along with the four Knights escorting her home and the entire crew of the Rygillian freighter they had booked passage upon. The Night Sister had been restrained and placed in a medical coma. Tracking indicated that the ship had left on the proper course for a straight jump to M’Tzigon. Yet somehow someone had … interdicted their flight.

Interdicted… Telow’na had used that term conspicuously. She hadn’t said it out loud, but the implication was clear: someone had known where they were and managed to intercept with an Imperial Interdictor Cruiser. Who could have pulled that off remained a mystery, and I was pretty sure Telow’na didn’t have any real evidence or she would have said it plainly. Instead she’d left it to be inferred, almost a hint. She had a gut feeling, and couldn’t support it, but wanted to pass it along anyway.

Hint recognized, Telow’na. Now what?

Now… Nothing. No recommendations. A warning was posted back to Zearic and D’Aylanna, letting them know what had happened. They were on Bar’Lev, following a lead. Just like we were…

A beep on the console brought me back from my wandering thoughts. The NaviComputer was starting the countdown to hyperspace egress. I toggled the intercom to the passenger compartment. “Ken, Arnor, coming up on Endor.”

I swung forward and re-oriented myself to the board. Two was the first to join me, plugging into the modified flight engineer’s position and catching up on the ship’s systems. Ken and Arnor were right behind him. I vacated the pilot’s seat for Ken, moving to the tactical station. Arnor sat in the updated gunnery couch and took direct control of the Wayfarer’s defensive turrets. Her targets would flow from my sensors, prioritized by my systems. I could also feed Ken tactical maneuvering data and even override his flight controls at need, as well as fire the fixed forward guns. Mutt and Vegan were in the engineering spaces, monitoring all systems and standing by in case repares needed to be made. I checked the computer. “One minute to emergence.” I activated our tactical sensors and prepped the turbo-laser capacitors and the shield generators. We were as ready as we could be, though if all three Star Destroyers were close by when we emerged…

Calm. Breathe. Flow… Whatever was there, we would deal with it. The tension was already high, no sense in adding worry to the load.

The counter hit zero and Ken dropped us out of hyper, right on the mark. The swirling blue tunnel fell away, resolving to stars – and a beautiful view of the gas giant Endor, with its class-M moon nearby. From a distance, the debris field from the destroyed Deathstar was a glittering ring around the moon, settled mainly into orbit. I brought all our tactical systems online, shunted power from the hyperdrive to the defensive systems, and brought our shields up. “Shields online. Thirty seconds to turbo-lasers. Scanning.” I reported. Ken nodded, scanning visually. Arnor was also using her turret sensors to scan the area, looking for any sign of the Imperials.

The tactical system scan took 127 seconds to complete, two very tense minutes while Ken brought the Wayfarer up to speed and sent us streaking toward the planet. “No sign of those destroyers… There are heavy ion trails originating from the standard jump-in point, but they veer off, loop around and end on a reciprocal bearing. However, there is a conspicuous ion trail that breaks off and heads for the planet. That should be Cha’s frigate heading for the planet.”

“Where did the Imperials go?” Arnor asked. “Why hop in here with Cha and then just leave?”

I felt my face form a scowl. “Maybe we’re making too many assumptions. Who says Cha was working with the Imperials?” I let my face relax into a smile. “Besides, Telow’na said that she had indications that the Alliance was about to pull the trigger on something called “Operation Ring Buster” and hit Kuat. That might have had something to do with it.”

“Kuat? That’s … ambitious.” Arnor replied, still studying her own sensors. “Still, if it clears away the heavies, I’m all for it.”

Ken was bending over from his station, looking at main tactical sensor screens. “Father, any indication of what exactly Cha is flying?” Ken asked. “This ion trail looks...odd.”

“No… Two, can you take a crack at it?” I shunted the data over to the Engineer station.

Two twitted a quick reply and started chewing on the sensor data. It didn’t take long for him to spit out an answer. I bent over the console where his profile displayed. “Republic Frigate, modified from the Consular class cruisers, Clone-War era, but probably modified.” I read. “Nice work, Two!”

Two tweeted back. “Really? ‘dim-witted biological’? You couldn’t just say ‘Thank you’ and be done with it?”

The answering tweets sounded a lot like laughter and I hid my grin behind a stern face. “Careful, buddy. I have your core programming access keys and know how to use them!”

The response was sarcastic but also apologetic, and I let my grin show now. The by-play had broken the tension in the cockpit and I was grateful for his humor. Still, Endor was a big place and we didn’t have time for orbital sweeps. “Ken, shape for a standard equatorial orbit while I … look around.”

Ken acknowledged the command and shaped our course toward a high equatorial orbit, well clear of the debris field that was beginning to circle the moon like a small steroid field or ring system. I shut it out, closing my eyes and opening myself to the force and the song, reaching…

A chorus of chiming notes exploded around me, thousands of voices joined in song… A battle song… It was beautiful and deadly, all at once. I homed in on it, listening to it, feeling the echo of response from the crystals I carried. Even the Ancient One stirred slightly, its own ever-resent chiming altering slightly, subtly, a shift that it radiated out to the small chorus that I suddenly realized surrounded it in the Song like group of electrons orbiting a nucleus…

I shook it off. No time… I zeroed in on the intense song and focused on the same area in the force… Yes! A strong, dark presence, echoing with the rhythm of evil… And a second presence, intense, strong and …

…confusing. The second beacon was bright and strong and lacked the hammering rhythm of a Sith or someone who had embraced the evil pathways. But it didn’t shine with the bright light of one who was following the Way, either. And it was singing… sort of… Simple songs, melodies used more like tools, not woven in the fabric of the greater song the way a true master would. More like a healer or Knight using a simple tune to aid in focus or intensity.

And there was fear. Great fear. Terror … and death… and the twisted braid of my family’s song wrapping itself into the very heart of it…

With a shudder I pulled myself back into the hear-and-now. It took me a moment to orient the “where” from the force vision to the tactical overlay of Endor, but once I did a quick scan confirmed the presence of several small ships in the vicinity. “Ken, new coordinates coming your way. Approach behind the horizon and keep us out of line-of-site, but get as close as you can. And move quickly.”

“Yessir!” Ken replied, pitching us down for a least-time de-orbit. I turned to Arnor. “How do you feel, my love?”

“Serviceable.” She replied. I could feel some pain from the remnants of her injuries in the force and her song, but both were very minor and far less than we’d had to deal with in the past. “Why? What’s the play?”

“Cha is here, with his troops, and he’s already engaging Julwynn and her Warren-Clan. And for our sins, we get to join in the fun and mop up.” I turned to Two. “Two, is the DCC serviced? I think we’re going to need the support.”

There was no sarcasm in his trilling response this time. Just affirmation … and eagerness.

“Good. Hand off to Mutt as soon as you can and get prepped. Full combat load. Ken, move smartly once we’re down. We’ll be landing in three minutes. I want to be on the move in five.”

Arnor and I unbuckled and headed aft to don our own tactical gear taking a moment for a quick hug before we put our ‘game faces’ on once again.

Fear…

Terror…

Death…

I felt the Ancient One humming. Again, that odd shift…and the shards responding…re-aligning…

As always, you have my back old friend. Thank you. It’s time to dance … and this time we’re going to call the tune.

Chapter 12: Dance with the Devil

I felt the tremor of the Wayfarer touching down as I pulled the last lead from the DCC’s maintenance ports. Two tweeted his thanks and impatience as he stepped over to the cargo lift. “I know, I want to go too but we have to wait for Ken.”

More tweets. “No, I don’t think you and I can handle it alone.”

Two responded with another string of beeps and tweets. “Oh? All by yourself, eh? I might be tempted to take you up on that, if only to see your epic failure.”

The response this time was laced with rude grunts. “No, I don’t just want to share the glory. We’re going to need each other. Mutual support will be critical.”

More grunts and whistles. “Yes, I’m saying it out loud: We need you.”

The droid twittered one last time and returned to his diagnostics while I grinned and resumed my own pat-down. Arnor, Ken and I had the “deluxe” Mak’Tor Knight combat gear tonight: dark gray smart-weave fatigues with a load-bearing harness and belt strewn with gadgets and gizmos, extra power-packs for our sabers and side-arms, and the holsters which contained the official Mak’Tor militia side-arms – Blas Tech BL-44 heavy blasters. Unlike our militia, however, Knights carried light sabers as our primary weapons instead of the blaster rifles common to our militia infantry. I drew my pistol and checked the power pack, which was still at 98%, and re-holstered it. My saber hung in its customary spot as well, and I knew it as fully charged, as was my second hilt.

I patted it, checking it by feel as I worked my way down. I rarely carried two blades, but today I felt the need for it. Something in the song seemed to call for it, and the Ancient One was reinforcing the feeling. It would be a two-handed fight.

So be it.

The combat uniform was completed by a combat “smock”, an overlay of black and dark gray that had a blaster-dissipating mesh woven into it and a song-steel wrist shield. I wore the shield on my left arm, protecting the fore-arm and wrist and providing me with a few physical blocks against blaster fire or saber blade at need. I also carried two stiletto blades, one per boot, and a combat knife, all also crafted from the extremely rare song-steel. Arnor’s kit was even more paranoid, with two wrist shields and a half-dozen throwing blades in addition to her combat knife and hold-out blades. Ken had mirrored my kit almost exactly, but favored a vibro-blade instead of song-steel. Many of our fellow knights would probably call it overkill.

I preferred the word “prepared”.

First Arnor, then Ken entered the hold. A quick check of our comm link-up confirmed we were connected and we dropped out of the hold in the gray of the local twilight. Mutt and Vegan were running the ship and lifted off as soon as we were on the ground. They would position themselves to cut off any escapes and provide air support or evacuation as necessary.

The feeling of abandonment was profound.

I could sense Arnor and Ken’s vigilance as they formed with Two to form a circle around me. They were open to the force, reaching out around us. Two was covering the EM bands with his sensors, ‘eyes open’ to all around. That left me to monitor the song. I took a deep breath, anticipating an assault as I opened up to the song…

The hammering, incessant pulse of the Sith hammered through the song, flooding everything. But it was not just rhythm. This was subtle, with a supporting melody and harmony. Evil, yes, but also beautiful in its own way, more than just raw power. Power under control and focused.

And very, very deadly…

It was a battle song. The battle song of a Dark Singer, focused, powerful and very strong. And yet…

There was another song, weaker, attempting to counter. Attempting … and failing. A novice, matching simple, rote motifs against the woven construction of a master singer. But there was also a … clumsiness on the Master’s side. As each of the weaker songs was deployed there was on odd delay before it was expertly countered. Almost like communications lag…

I blinked. “Communications lag…” I looked at Arnor and Ken. “There’s a Dark Singer at work here. Two, actually, but only one is a Master. I think that singer is … working remote. Through some kind of connection…”

Before I could continue I felt the Ancient One stir. Almost like it was poking me…

Control. You must be in control…

I blinked. Control. Of course… But there was something else, something more. Something elusive. The crystal shards, still in a pouch in my belt, seemed to stir as well.

Control? Of myself? Or the battle space…

I shook my head, clearing the thoughts. I already had a plan for that, but time was short. The song was urgent: we had to move, now. “The battle is already underway. Wedge formation, Ken on point, Two in over-watch. They should be just over the ridge.”

I split off on the right flank of our formation, Arnor on the left. Ken took the center and moved ahead slightly. He was inexperienced but his youth made him very fast and I was confident the strongest forces would be on the flanks. We were coming in at right-angles to the fight, the weaker singer on our left in front of Arnor and the stronger singer in front of me. Ken and Two would be free to swing behind and support whoever needed help the most, once we engaged.

The ridge was high and we were several hundred meters below the crest. I tapped into the force to augment my strength as we bounded up the slope. Two used jump juice to keep up with our ground-clearing bounds. I began my own battle song, weaving it around Arnor and Ken like armor. I felt Arnor join me, the familiar fugue of my wife and lover and fellow warrior, joined in turn by the more free-ranging counterpoint of our son. As we crested the ridge, I played my hole card: I reached into the pouch and threw the crystal shards into the air, using the force to disperse them across the battle-field we were about to enter.

!!!Control!!!

I felt the Ancient One lock into my battle-song as I ignited my blade … and then the song spread and multiplied, blanketing the field. I felt a small surge of triumph as I felt the echoes of my song reverberate across the field, as well as the shock as it slammed into the dark song, largely negating it, but then I had no time for analysis.

Battle was upon us: the deadly dance began.

I heard my own voice bellow a battle cry, an echo of my song, as I ignited my blades. My second blade was gripped in a reverse grip, allowing me to parry and block with my off-hand. But even as I engaged I felt shock slam through my system as I finally comprehended what I was seeing: Sith Massassi warriors.

Lots of them.

The battle was larger than we had realized, spread across a small vale among the giant trees of Endor. The left-hand group was a large group of sith shadow warriors from a dozen races armed with heavy blasters, side-arms and armor. Their leader appeared to be a Sith warrior wielding two red sabers, but he was on the far side of the formation dueling hammer-and-tongs with a pair of individuals. One, a woman, was employing what appeared to be a light-whip while the second supported her with an energy baton and blaster pistol. The line of meeting between the two main bodies of troops stretched in a line from the battling trio on a ragged front that ended just where Ken crested the ridge. And on the right…

A site not seen in thousands of years: A small horde of Massassi warriors, armed with red saber-pikes, led by a pair of red-skinned humanoids wearing Sith armor and wielding red light sabers. It was from these two that the powerful Dark Song emanated. I spun into the mass of Massassi, spinning and turning like a golden whirl-wind, riding the waves of my battle-song through the horde…

Control… Reach out, young one. Control…

I felt the subtle poke again, even as battle swirled around me. I don’t understand… Two of the largest Massassi suddenly confronted me, hammering down on my extended block. I caught one of the angry blades on my own saber’s golden blade but the second slid toward my exposed hand – and neatly sliced the hilt in half.

The hammer-blow of the two pikes on my arm drove me to my knees, but the song-steel held. A back-hand slash separated one attacker’s torso from his hips and the reverse cut transsected the other’s torso, ending the immediate threat, and I rose with an extravagant blade flourish before dropping back into my combat stance.

The Massassi immediately around me gave ground, opening a circle around me. I let a deadly grin spread to my face. “Had enough?”

The edge of the circle parted to admit one of the Sith Lords. “Hardly, Jedi. You should not have interfered.”

“Interfered with what? This little gathering?” I mentally touched the other threads of the song in the back of my mind, feeling the strain from Arnor and Ken as they were also engaged, but for the moment everyone was still alive and generally intact.

Generally. My left arm was on fire from the abuse, song-steel or no, and I was suddenly aware of just how much energy I had expended and channelled. The longer this guy would talk, the better… “I mean, I like a good party, but I think you over did it with the costumes…”

The Sith grinned. “You are the Gray who has been interfering with the Sisters. Excellent. Mendax will be pleased at your death.”

I realized that stalling wasn’t in the cards and readied myself for his attack.

CONTROL!

Not a poke this time, but a slap on the back of the head… I felt the frustration in the song, something I hadn’t felt from The Ancient One in many years, not since I’d first learned that it was more than just a crystal…

Learned that it could communicate. That it was a form of holocron, carried the experiences and wisdom of those who had touched it before. Xlyvan. Dorian. Odjina. That it was more than just a crystal. That it was a gateway…

A GATEWAY!

CONTROL!

I shifted into Soresu and absorbed the Sith’s attack, my mind working furiously. The crystal was a gateway! When I retrained the shards to be a chorus, it had been facilitated by the Ancient One! Not just the song, but the crystal itself! I reached out in the song, looking …

There! The Sith’s saber crystal was there, in the song! As were dozens of others. I shifted my battle song, incorporating the motif for taking control into it, and felt the new song ripple out, augmented by the Ancient One. I locked blades with the Sith, nose-to-nose with his sneer, and a small smile came to my own lips as his blade suddenly went from blood-red to snow-white, sputtered, and went out. “You lose.” I didn’t give him time to recover – I flipped my wrists and drew the blade down, severing his weapon arm at the shoulder before reversing and removing his head.

I stepped back from the toppling corpse and fell back into my ready stance as the Massassi circle around me collapsed. I blinked as I realized that every single red blade on the field was … gone. I caught sight of the second Sith Lord shouting orders, pulling back from the fight. Several of the Massassi with him were hauling large crates, likely filled with the crystals we were here to recover. However, I had no opportunity to pursue as several of the Massassi near me suddenly let out a roar and charged. Their pole-arms might be lacking blades but they still made respectable spears and staves and each of the warriors was nearly 3 meters tall and twice as heavy as I was. I spun back into Soresu, drawing power from the force and falling back into my battle song, trying desperately to break out of the ring and go after the Sith Lord, but it was to no avail. By the time I cut my way through the wall of Sith Warriors I was exhausted and had picked up several minor wounds from close calls and the simple math of trying to fight to many opponents. By the time the last warrior fell the Sith Lord and his remaining troops were airborne and I was exhausted. “Mutt, one of the enemy ships is lifting. Can you intercept?”

The tweeting response told me that they were trying. I left it in his hands and turned back to the fight.

Chaos reigned.

Ken, Two and Arnor had linked up and appeared to be fighting with the singer and her companion. For the first time I noticed a habitat behind them: they were literally fighting on it’s doorstep. Arnor and Ken had cut a wide swath through the field, and I realized in looking that Ken was the reason I wasn’t dead. He’d taken down enough Massassi in his charge to make my battle win-able. Now, though, Cha’s mercenaries were crowding in around my wife and son.

Time to return the favor.

The Ancient One was again silent, but I had learned from it. As I loped across the field I dropped back into song, selecting a motif of sleep and rest and mixed it with fear and defeat, then wove it into my battle song. With concentration I could leave just the right gaps in the song to prevent it from impacting Arnor and Ken…

“Ughh….” Something slammed into me from the side, driving me down and into the dirt. My saber skittered away and my concentration was broken completely. The complex song I was weaving died and I fell back, feeling the standard song of battle spin back up as I did an awkward shoulder-roll and used the force to slam my attacker away from me. To complex, Karm. Keep it simple, stupid…

I rose, feeling the fatigue now, the drain of energy from channeling so much force energy in so little a time. Whatever had flooded through me to disable the vitreous blades the Massassi and Sith had carried had been powerful. Not as damaging as what had flooded me on Sullust, but nearly as powerful for all that.

It hurt. A lot.

But there was no time for that now. My opponent rose, and I recognized him. “Lord Cha. We meet again.”

He grinned back at me. “Master Karmack. Your song will not help you today.” He laughed, full and deep, and launched a force lightning attack…

Pain…

I felt a nudge in the force, a feeling that was becoming familiar. No word this time, just the clear impression of channeling water down a canal or series of cut channels. With an effort I sang a motif that would be used to channel healing force energy and linked it to the Ancient One…

FIRE – CHANNEL – ENERGY – CHANNEL – RELEASE

I felt the fire in my body from Cha’s force lightning drop and fade. There was still pain, but it was suddenly bearable… and all around the field lighting erupted, hammering out and slamming into Cha’s troops and a few Massassi warriors still struggling on the field. Cha blinked, his mouth dropping open, as he realized that his force lighting attack had been absorbed and channeled to a dozen different places on the field. I used the moment of his distraction to call my saber back to my hand, igniting it as I rose. “Good shot. My turn…”

Cha, no longer laughing, fell back as I advanced. He reached down on his belt and withdrew a saber hilt, igniting it. The blade pulsed a steady, deep blue. This was not his saber, but one he’d taken from another Jedi, probably someone he’d killed. I felt my battle song spinning around me, filling the space with deadly energy as I advanced. Pain forgotten. Mercy forgotten. Just deadly purpose.

We engaged.

I could sense the mercenaries now streaming away, falling back to their own ship. They, too, had several crates of crystals in their possession and it was time for them to make good their escape. Arnor and Ken were still busy with whomever these two … armies … had come to kill. I could sense from the song that both were also in pain as well, but I pushed it all back.

Survive. Fight. Win.

My focus narrowed to simple survival. We were engaged. We would not disengage until one or both of us were beaten. It was as simple as that. Fatigue and strain allowed for no other thought. Our blades were a blur, blue and yellow swirling and clashing in a flurry of strikes. Cha was highly skilled and well trained. And he was not as weary.

I made the first mistake, a small opening, but an opening. Cha saw it and lunged, nearly driving his blade through my torso. Off-balance, I fell back … and feinted. I purposefully swung my blade right, as if I were still struggling to regain balance, and gave him an opening on my left side. It was a gamble. If he took the low shot I was risking losing my left leg just below the knee. But his own blade was high, his own balance not as sure as he would want…

He struck, aiming to sever my left arm and perhaps continue the stroke through to my torso. It was a solid blow, and it struck exactly where he aimed - square on the damaged but still intact song-steel gauntlet. I blocked the blade – hard – driving it down and away with the gauntlet. The heat of the contact nearly burned through, and it did burn my arm badly, but the gauntlet held and the blade deflected. My own counter-strike was on-target and bisected the hilt neatly, disarming my opponent, but Cha was fast and still fairly fresh. He somersaulted away and landed several meters up-hill, next to some of his men. “Saber-resistant material. Nicely played, Karmack! Until next time, then.” He laughed and sprinted up-hill, covered by a hail of fire from his men.

Two returned fire, hammering the hillside but in the rapid-fire exchange there as little actual damage done. In that moment I didn’t care. I clawed the gauntlet off my arm, hissing as the agony of the burn finally registered.

A hand touched my shoulder, and soothing energy flooded through my arm. Cool... Heal…

I turned and looked up at green eyes, framed with flame-red hair. Julwynn Hri, night sister of the Spider Clan, and a singer. Next to her a human male, pale gray eyes, graggy face. Mandalorian armor and odd headgear. Just behind them, Arnor and Ken, both with their attention focused outward… Julwynn spoke, her voice a soothing low alto, very unlike Arnor's soprano. “Master Karmack. Are you alright?”

Confusion muted me, but I managed to nod.

She let out a sigh of relief. “Thank the Maker. And thank you. You’ve saved most of my Clan, and my mate.” She glanced at the man next to her, who I also noticed had his attention focused outward. Her eyes came back to mine. “How can we ever repay you?”

It was too much. The pain, the fatigue… Shock overcame me and I felt myself sink down to the ground.

...gray…

Chapter 13: Revelations

I blinked, looking around me. The room appeared to be one of the meditation rooms in the Sanctuary on M’Tzigon, Only it wasn’t. The windows should have been flooded with light from the deep blue sky. Instead they were gray. Everything beyond the room was a simple gray mist. But the dry, alpine climate on M’Tzigon meant that the sky was almost always clear, and never simply gray… I shook my head, resisting the urge to run, too move. Breathe. Look. Listen. Think. Then act with reasoned intent.

The air was light and sweet, but without the thin, dry feel of the altitude of the Sanctuary. It smelled of cinnamon and spices. I was sitting, legs crossed, on a meditation mat before a low table made of red-streaked granite. The stone matched the walls. Again, not an exact match for M’Tzigon. There was a cushion on the table, cradling…

The Ancient One!

The crystal pulsed pale yellow on the pad. How had it gotten there? I reached for my belt, feeling for my saber hilt…

The hilt was gone. All of my utilities were gone, my weapons, everything. I wore the simple robe of an acolyte, light gray and tied with a wide cloth belt. Bright yellow, a color reserved for those who could hear the song. The man seated across from me was similarly attired. And he was ancient. “Ka’Ah’Re of Clan Mack, Master of Song of the Mak’Tor, Maenowan Master Knight of the Mak’Tor. Holder of the Ancient One. Greetings.” The old man dipped his head.

I returned the bow, keeping a respectful eye on the old man. “I am called Karmack, sir, but you have me at a disadvantage?”

The old man smiled. “I am – or was, anyway – Master of Song Klu Xandin. I’ve been wondering how long it would take for you to find your way in here.”

I blinked, stunned. Master Klu Xandin?!? Like most of the Mak’Tor’s early records the specifics of Xandin’s career had been lost when Kimar had purged them from the ranks of the “official” Jedi but the legends stated that Xandin had been one of the first to recognize the Song and being to isolate the Motif’s from the greater melodies and harmonies within it. He had taught the first of the Mak’Tor singers to truly sing, but his holocron had been lost…

I started. No, not lost. Hidden! The Ancient One was his Holocron! “How… Sir, how did you do it?”

Xandin laughed. “The Ancient One isn’t a proper holocron. It’s more like a … recording device. Only a very few of those who have carried it since my day have reached this point. Dorian was one. He’s around here somewhere. And Odjina, though he never unlocked the deeper secrets. He ran out of time. That was a dark day indeed, though glorious as well.”

I nodded. I was familiar with the Tragedy of Odjina and his sacrifice, both the official and family legends. “But why now? What unlocked it to me? I’ve been probing and prodding the Ancient One for years, and nothing like this was even hinted at!”

Xandin closed his eyes and seemed to concentrate for a moment. Then his face relaxed and his eyes twinkled when they re-opened. “Ahh. You’ve discovered the connection motif! That’s probably it.”

“You mean that the crystal can, um, well, bind is the best term I can think of … that using the connection motif the Ancient One can bind other crystals to itself and form a chorus? Is that what you mean?”

Xandin grinned. “Yes. That’s not its’ only trick, but it’s a doozie. I’d say you also discovered just how much energy it takes, as well. It’s a powerful tool, but use it with care!” Xandin leaned forward. “In order to bind the crystals, the Ancient One will draw power from the Force, and it channels that power through you. The more crystals, the more powerful those crystals are, the more energy is required. It is possible to … burn out from the passage.” He leaned back again, regarding me with concern now. “I suspect you’re going to become intimately familiar with the side-effects of this when you come out of this vision.”

I nodded. I could feel the fatigue even now, bordering on burning pain, coursing through my entire body. If it feels this bad when I’m unconscious… “Um, any advice?”

“Yes. Be VERY careful when you use the Connection. It’s not something you can control. The Ancient One will attempt to bind EVERY crystal it can reach, until it either runs out of suitable crystals … or you can no longer provide it with the force energy it needs.”

“Understood.” I rose and bowed, my legs shaky, even in the vision. “Thank you, Master.”

Xandir rose as well, returning the bow. “No, thank you, Karmack. You’ve done us proud. I and the others look forward to future conversations.”

I felt my eyebrows rise slightly at that. “How many others? How do I get back?”

Xandir’s smile turned mischievous. “In due time. The door is open now. It is no longer hidden.”

I opened my mouth to ask for more clarification, but Xandir raised his hand and a white flash filled my vision. I felt a push, almost like a light force push…

… a sensation of falling …

I caught myself on my hands, hissing in pain as my damaged left arm took part of the load. With a groan I recovered to my hands and knees. Pain coursed through me, every nerve on fire from the abuse and overload…

A touch on my shoulder and cool energy again flowed through me, a healing motif similar to the one I knew yet different…

After a few seconds I was able to left myself back to a kneeling position. The singer, Julwynn, was still in contact with my shoulder. Her eyes were closed in intense concentration. The man was watching her protectively, concern in his own eyes, a concern which matched what I saw in my wife’s eyes as she stared at me. “Karm, what’s wrong?”

Still on my knees, I sat back into a meditation position. “Drained…” The healing energy was still flowing into me, but I could tell it was starting to take a toll on the night sister as well. Whatever she was, she was NOT primarily a healer. I reached up and pushed her hand off my shoulder, breaking the contact. “Thank you…”

Julwynn started at the contact, but stepped back rather than attempting to restore the link. “No, thank you, Master Karmack. You saved all our lives.

The man standing behind her grunted. “Ach! Thank ye, Lass, for dat vote of confidence!”

She turned to him with a small smile. “You were magnificent, Bal, but we were being overwhelmed. The only reason we were still alive at all was because Namman showed up with his goons at the same time. But eventually one or the other would have won out and we … I … would have been taken.” She shuddered. “I’m not sure which would have been worse…”

Arnor’s arms were around me now, and she gently lifted me to a standing position. My legs were rubber, barely able to hold me up, but my attention was on Julwynn. “Namman? Namman Cha? What’s your connection to him?”

Julwynn’s eyes fell. “He is … was … my employer. He recruited Jennira and I for a project years ago to use Jennira’s force strength and my songs to re-align kyber crystals for the Death Star’s laser. We did that for two years, but then Jennira … changed. She bonded the cruelest and worst of the Sith Shadows to herself and became very abusive. She built a light-saber for herself and had me program that crystal to keep everyone away from us in the city…”

“Yeah, we had a … run-in with it.” I said. Julwynn gave me a questioning look. “It was broadcasting … well, fear. Fear and the urge to kill. So I killed it.”

Julwynn flinched. “Ouch. I bet that hurt.” She looked at Arnor, then back at me. “We programmed that crystal together. It has some serious punch. Shattering it with a saber would have released enough energy to do major damage.” She looked at me again. “When did this happen?”
I shrugged. “A few days ago.”
“Days?!?” her eyes grew wide. “What exactly are you??? You carved through dozens of Massassi warriors, did something to every pontite crystal in line-of-site, threw out a battle song that I’ve never heard before and which has improvisation in it, and then you took on Cha…” She stepped forward, her hand reaching for my forehead.

Before I could flinch away, Arnor’s saber was alive and a bare millimeter from her wrist. “That’s enough. Talk only, if you please.”

Julwynn’s hand jerked back. “Oh, of course. Sorry. Habits die hard… My warren-clan find it easier for me to delve complex tails than to tell them. It becomes a habit…”

“A habit you’ll be breakin’ lass.” Rumbled her companion. “And right noo, I’m thinkin’.”

I looked at him again. Bal Kohl was older than Julwynn and … I realized I couldn’t feel him in the force. It was like looking at a droid… No, worse. I could feel his armor. Components for his weapons. Fibers from his clothing. But not him… “That she will, Mr. Kohl. Please continue to remind her.”

The mercenary nodded. His gray eyes were utterly neutral, but his weapons were holstered and his shoulders relaxed. It was enough. More about you later, I think…

Arnor turned back to Julwynn. “So you had a former association with Cha. Who were the others? Where did the Massassi come from? That race was supposed to be extinct.”

Julwynn looked distressed now. “I don’t know for sure. I only know a name: Darth Mendax. Someone of great power. And someone able to supply Jennira with an alternative way to access Song. She’s always been a far more powerful force-user than I was but she's a very weak singer. I had the song, so we had to work together. Now? Now…” Tears welled up. “She’s after power. And someone else is feeding that greed to use her abilities.”

“Why all the pontite? What did Cha or this Mendax want with it?” Ken joined the conversation.

Julwynn turned to look at the young man. “I was hiding it. Cha want’s to build another super-laser. Mount it in another Death Star or battle station or Super Star Destroyer or something. He wants to kill people.” Julwynn looked at Kohl and took his hand. “I’ve had enough of killing…”

“And what about Medax?” I asked.

She looked at me, still holding Kohl’s hand. “Mendax isn’t after a laser. He has Jennira helping him design a psionic amplifier. He plans to use it and Jennira’s new song abilities to cast his Qâzoi Kyantuska across the Empire.”

I felt a shock-wave roll through me, even as the urgency of the song suddenly expanded into my awareness. There was nothing placid about the background music now. It was pressing, tense, anxious… “Where, Julwynn? You know, don’t you? Both sides made off with large quantities of the pontite you’ve been hiding from your sister. Where did they take it?”

Julwynn’s lips pressed thin. I could feel the conflict raging within her, but then Kohl placed his large hand protectively on her back and she sighed, taking another step toward good and away from evil. “They both need specialized machines to form their weapons. The shops on Kuat were capable of it, but they were damaged in a rebel raid. Similar machinery on Sullust was dismantled by the Cobolt Front before the Death Star strike. They were hoping to prevent the super-laser from being completed, but they were too late. The only other place where the right machinery is already in place and ready for automated production is Geonosis.”

Julwynn turned and cried into Kohl’s shoulder. Betrayal, even when you’re doing the right thing, is never easy. I looked at Kohl. “Truth?”

“Truth.” He rumbled back, and his steady gray eyes were also soft. “You’ll be goin’ after them I suppose?”

“Yes.” I replied. Rubber legs, left arm still on fire from the burned-up armor, nerves burning with overload and fatigue, and strange visions mattered not. “We have a job to do.”

Chapter 14: Preparations

We were back in hyperspace and on our way to Geonosis. I wasn't sure what we'd find there, but the tension in the song was building. There was urgency, but also a sense of building to a finale. There were cadences coming ... and the motifs that would cadence were hidden. The urgency and tension were there. The pace of the song was there. The direction was clear - a final conflict, on Geonosis. But the outcomes...

The song was elusive and vague. But there was plenty of pain, sorrow and loss as well as songs of victory and triumph. Who's loss? Who's triumph?

Only time will tell...

I blinked as the voice invaded my mind. Since the vision, the old man - Master Xandir - had become the personification of the nudges the Ancient One gave me from time-to-time. It was still a little ... unnerving ... to hear the voice of a man dead for over 3000 years in my mind. Especially when he was right - time would tell. Until then...

Trust the Singer, not the song...

I smiled and returned to my meditation. It had taken two days to pack Julwynn Hri, her ... companions ... up and move them. I'd spent much of that time off my feet myself, recovering from the immense energy surges of the combat and the crystal 'capture' I'd initiated. But I had been privy to a very intense conversation between Julwynn and Kohl, a conversation that had led me to recommend to Telow'na that Kohl and Julwynn be relocated to M'Tzigon for debrief ... and protection. Kohl was a bounty hunter and "free trader" which normally wouldn't have recommended him to me, but he was obviously smitten with Julwynn. And over the course of a year he'd gone from captor to protector to friend to lover and finally to spouse, completely supplanting the rest of the Warren-Clan Julwynn had built around herself. The other men had remained with them as part of the extended household, but it was partially due to Julwynn's refusal to cut them loose. They were bonded to her in the way of her people. Even if they were not part of her 'harem' to let them go would constituted a major loss of prestige and status on Dothomir. But as they prepared to leave, Kohl had confronted his lover and friend.

The conversation had happened in the airlock on the Wayfarer. There had been no shouting, no screaming, no raised voices. There had been few words on Kohl's part. Just a simple statement: "Its time, lass. Let them go." What had followed were a series of arguments, each dismissed by Kohl with a chuckle and variations on the same words: "What of it? The past is past. Let it be. It's time. Let them go."

And in the end, she had. I had felt the ripple in the force as she withdrew her hold on the men.

What followed had been equally intense, as several of the more violent types had come to themselves with some serious anger issues. Ken and Arnor had managed to handle them, fortunately, and as most of them had been part of the same crew from their original recruitment they decided (with a little persuasion from Arnor) to peacefully load their belongings onto a YT-1300 in moderately good repair and head off on their own.

The remaining men - all Sullustians from Fulluusub - had hitched a ride back to Sullust from Endor as we back-tracked down the Sanctuary Corridor. We'd returned them home then seen Kohl and Julwynn - now alone together - off in Kohl's modified YT-2000 to M'Tzigon, where they would seek sanctuary. What exactly Telow'na would do with them or approach them I wasn't sure, but I sensed a turning in Julwynn Hri that could not be ignored. It may fail in the end, but she deserved a chance to do the right thing.

As for Kohl... Kohl remained a mystery. I had managed to engage him in conversation once or twice, and he was open and forthcoming about his ... special abilities. While he had no idea how it was done, his genetic makeup had been altered in a way the rendered him force-blind and invisible to force users. Nor did force techniques work on him. Pushes, mind tricks, healing, probes - none of it worked on him. The only thing I could touch and use against him was his actual armor and gear. Those were present in the force, but he himself just wasn't there. A check of his blood showed no miticlorians present. How that had been done without killing him was anyone's guess. No doubt it would be one of the things Telow'na would attempt to look into.

I took a deep breath and opened my eyes, looking down at the crate of glistening pontite crystals. It was the last crate Julwynn had possessed, only a fraction of what Cha and this mysterious Mendax had gotten away with, but where they both needed intact crystals for their weapons I did not. Exposure to the correct resonance in the song had neatly fractured them, forming thousands of smaller pieces, each still possessing that potent connection to the force that made them so amazingly efficient at channeling the song. Capturing them and creating my own chorus had been easier this time as well, though the raw power the Ancient One had drawn on to do the deed had left me feeling like someone had poured acid through my veins. Even now, after days traveling along the Outer Rim trade routes it was still an effort to exert myself in the force or song.

But I could listen ... and it was glorious!

I opened closed my eyes and let the majesty of the universe sweep over me. I could see and feel stars flow by, entire planets streaking past in the blink of an eye as we moved down the hyperlane. I could hear them in the vast chorus of the universe as well, part of the ever shifting, ever changing song that rolled over and around me in a massive chorus of praise...

Not that all of the threads were in harmony. There were dark threads, minor keys, tragedy and chaos, but even these blended in, filled in gaps and cracks. Even Evil served its purpose, in the end. Even chaos filled a role in the greater plan of the Master Singer.

I sensed Arnor's reluctance as she entered the cargo hold. Since Endor she had become very protective. We hadn't spoken of it, but while she wasn't as attuned to the Song as I was she could sense its tides, and the gathering motif of suffering and pain that enveloped our shared fugue was impossible to miss. I feared for her and Ken. She for Ken and I. Ken ... well, Kenneniah was still very young and of the three of us he alone remained utterly optimistic. For him it was all-or-nothing. Victory or defeat. He had yet to learn that sometimes the cost of victory was immense ... and could be very, very personal. I had hoped to ease him gently into this truth of the universe, but now I feared that lesson was sooner to come than any of us had hoped.

Trust the singer... Sing the song!

I turned and smiled at Arnor. "Greetings my love! What news?"

My playful banter was rewarded by a bright smile of her own. "We're coming up on Arkanis. We need to drop out of hyper, re-position, and recalculate for the final jumps to Tatooine and then Geonosis."

"Very well. Lets get to the bridge then. The locals will want to see the crew on the screen." I rose, trying hard to hide a slight wince of pain - and failing. I caught the slight frown around my wife's mouth. "Oh no you don't! Its lots better than it was and you know it! And we're still a day away from Geonosis, plenty of time!"

Arnor stepped into me and wrapped her arms around my waist, looking up into my face. "Yeah, sure. Plenty of time. You just promise me, mister: No crazy heroics! I want you back, and in one piece. Understood?"

I cradled her face in my hands and kissed her. "Yes, dear." I locked my gaze on her and studied her eyes, opening up and sharing the flow of my own emotions with her, our shared fears and apprehensions at what lay ahead. I let myself dive into her green eyes - and let her feel my love for her, for Ken. For us...

Then it was time to break the link. "Lets go. Ken will need our support to get past the system picket."

Arnor nodded, kissed me one more time, and we headed toward the bridge, hand-in-hand.

***********************

I could feel the tension in my wife and son as we approached the traffic control point in the outer Arkanis system. We weren't trans-shipping or approaching the planet, so no inspection was needed, but it was required that we check in and update the sector government with our flight plan and destination.

Our flight plan had us following the Triellus Trade Route around the outer rim for some time, ending up eventually at Teth. This would cause anyone inspecting our flight plan to suspect we were planning to enter Hutt space, and also suggest that whatever we were up to it wasn't happening in the Arkanis system.

Which was totally true.

Ken handled the comm, and casually uploaded our flight plan to Sector. After a few tense minutes of waiting, we were cleared for departure. With a sigh we turned and assumed the proper course for our next jump - to Tatooine, and then on to Geonosis.

The tension and urgency of the song mounted, building to a climax. We were jumping toward the big finish. And ending ... one way or another.

************************

The Arkanis control officer noted the freighter's entry into hyperspace. He waited a full minute for the computer to confirm a correct course and speed for a jump to Tatooine before opening his hypercom.

"Yes?"

"Vice-Admiral Brunson, the target is on its way."

"Thank you, Lieutenant." The Vice-Admiral's face displayed a cold smile. "Initiate black-out."

"Aye, ma'am." The lieutenant replied, but the connection was already dead. The Lieutenant just shook his head. He'd done his job, and now he completed the plan.

Ten seconds later the flight plan and any trace that the Wayfarer had ever entered Arkanis space had been wiped from the system, replaced by a standard "over-due" message triggered by the flight plan and a missed check-in.

The overdue message was sent back up the chain and the Lieutenant turned to his next task - a custom inspection of a battered YT-1270. The ship just screamed "smuggler".... He decided to take a squad of storm troopers with him to sit on the crew. And who knew? They might just find something interesting. The Lieutenant locked down his station and headed for the boarding shuttles whistling cheerfully. First, rebel scum herded into a trap, and now probably some interesting and lucrative contraband to seize.

Yes, it was shaping into a good day...

Chapter 15: The Butcher's Bill

The Wayfarer shuddered and groaned as it was dragged out of hyperspace. "Gravity well!" I managed to activate the tactical board and begin the power-up cycle on the weapons systems despite the turbulance as Ken fought the ship's tumble in real-space. "Two, re-route main power, the primary coupler fused from the re-entry overload!" Ken called. "Main drive is down, stabalizing with thrusters..."

"Star Destroyer! Between us and the planet!" Arnor called next from the gunnery station.

I laid my sensors on it and frantically tried to shunt power to the turbo-laser capacitor rings. "Looks like an Interdictor Cruiser... That explains the abrupt exit from hyperspace..."

"Going evasive!" Ken called from the pilot's chair. "Weapons status?"

I checked my boards. "Turbo lasers and missile launchers off-line. Deflector screens at thirty-eight percent and rising slowly. Turrets are charged and ready to fire." I checked the damage control side-bar. "Main power is still off-line, ion engines are restarting now..."

We all felt a sudden kick of thrust as the main engines came back online. The stars outside the window went crazy as Ken threw the Wayfarer into a series of crazy maneuvers just as turbo-laser fire from the Interdictor started to rain down on us. Near misses rattled the ship, slamming energy into deflectors straining to work with insufficient energy. I boosted the charging of the defensive systems at the cost of the offensive firepower, but before I could notify Ken blue-white lightning slammed into the ship. Lights flickered and control consoles went haywire as the charge from the ion-bolt blew through our systems. I faintly heard one of the droids scream from engineering and Two started chattering randomly from the flight engineer station.

"Controls are dead..." Ken was shaking his hands, trying to recover from the nasty static shock he'd just received. "I'm not sure, but I think they've locked a tractor beam on us."

I felt the Wayfarer shudder and we were suddenly being drawn into the landing bay of the Interdictor cruiser. While not as big as a true Star Destroyer, the ship was far larger than our modified freighter. The ion cannons had been our undoing - without power we couldn't move or fight. "Main and auxilliary power are offline. Emergency power only, we're good for about 3 hours of life support, five if we cut the grav plates."

Arnor met my eyes. "They're going to board."

I nodded. "Yup. Suit up."

Arnor and Ken headed for the lockers. I turned to Two, who was unplugged now and appeared to have rebooted. "Two, what's the DCC's status?"

Two twittered back to me and I nodded, face serious. "I know. I can't say why, but I think..." I laid my hand on his dome. "Two, initate bootstrap protocol, all three of you."

Two didn't respond, he just plugged back into the console and began the protocol. I looked out at the Interdictor, growing to dominate the sky. Geonosis was a small disk in the distance. We were well beyond the normal emergence zone, away from any natural gravity wells. "They knew we were coming, Two. This isn't the end... The song is to tense, to wound-up. We're in for a fight..."

Two twittered. "Yes, I know. We'll put up a resistance they won't soon forget. I doubt they're ready for a DCC, either."

Two responded with a long series of whistles and groans. "Don't worry, we'll be very careful." I crouched down and looked directly into Two's sensor lense. "Give them hell, buddy."

Two's affirmative tweet was appropriately cocky. I grinned as the droid went to armor up. Mutt and Vegan would be joining him. There was only one working DCC, but we had a few other little add-ons the other two droids could use. I headed for the armory to don my own combat suit. There was little or no chance we could win, but by the Maker these Imperials would know they'd been in a fight!

***************

I felt the hum of my battle song spinning up around me, filling the space around me with energy and focusing my attention. We were in full battle gear. The main hatch of the ship was covered by a quartet of Sentry blasters, controlled by Mutt from main engineering. Mutt would also trigger additional measures as the boarders moved onto the ship, until they forced their way into Engineering. At that point he would disconnect and shut down. With luck the "caretaker" program we left in the main engineering computer would take the blame for it and Mutt would be able to avoid reprisal.

Vegan had drawn the short straw (or won the lottery, as he put it) and was already shut down and in a storage bin in the spare parts locker. He was set to reactivate in four hours in low-power mode, hopefully to emerge and begin slowly restoring power and making repairs to the ship. Also, hopefully, with Mutt's help.

The rest of us were clustered on the cargo elevator in the main cargo bay. As soon as the main hatch was blown, and the boarders' attention was focused on it, we would blow the hatch and follow Two into the landing bay - and into the cruiser.

I felt the song grow around me. The bulk of the pontite crystals, so key to our plan to counter Mendax, were locked away in a smuggler's hold, but we each also had several with us. They would become more powerful as they spread out, covering more area, but for now they served to boost our connections in the force. With their aid we were able to maintain a very comfortable battle meld, allowing me to lock Arnor and Ken into my own battle song.

And it was time. "Here they come..."

We felt the hatch blow, heard the sentry guns open up ... and the elevator hatch opened and Two bounded out. As soon as Two cleared the hatch we followed him out.

The landing bay was in chaos. Two had light shielding, very much like the old Destroyer battle droids from the Clone War, and it turned the light blaster fire from the Storm Troopers that sheated into him. Fire that was already thinning as his own return fire thinned their ranks. I funneled Arnor and Ken to a side entrance, watching as Two laid into the main body of troopers arrayed to assault our ship. He trilled a scream, a droid battle-cry as he closed, and troopers fell in job lots.

"Karm!" Arnor's voice tore my attention away from Two's forlorn hope and back to our own exit - and exit suddenly filled with reinforcements coming into the bay to help their fellows. Arnor's saber flashed and she felled the front ranks before they even knew they were under attack, her own battle cry echoing...

"Go! I'll hold them here!" She called, wading into the fray, her blade a cyan scythe reaping its butcher's bill. I felt her in the force, in the song... I love you...

I grabbed Ken. "Lets go, Ken!" I turned...

Ken resisted me, pulling away. "Mom needs us!"

I turned and faced him, and I was no longer the loving father of Ken'en'Ia Mack. I was Master Ka'a'Mack, Master of Song and Maenowan Master of the Mak'Tor Knights. "TEIDOWAN! With ME!"

Ken's eyes went wide, but he only swallowed and nodded, falling in a step behind me on my left shoulder. Arnor was buying us time. I single tear tracked down my left cheek as I mentally caressed the tightly woven thread of our fugue in the song...

There is no time... Trust the singer, sing the song...

We ran and came to a junction. The sounds of battle faded behind me as I led my Teidowan - my son - furhter away from his mother - my wife - and her desperate fight to give us time.

Engineering lay ahead of us, and we were nearly there when the corridor went red with warning lights and filled with the sound of klaxons. Instinctively I reached out with the force and jammed a set of rollers in the wall - then comprehended that those rollers were for the heavy blast doors slamming closed all around us. The door stopped, frozen in-train, and I dove through the gap, Ken right behind me.

We're here! Retreat, my love!

I dashed deeper into the compartment ... reached the fusion reactor controls ... and slithered to a stop.

"Master Karmack! So glad you could make it." Namman Cho stood in a relaxed pose, a squad of Storm Troopers on either flank. The troopers were spread out in combat spacing, weapons leveled. Cha's hands were empty, but I had no illusions about his willingness to fight. "Let me be the first to express my condolences on the loss of your lovely wife..."

A screen flickered behind him, a power flow schematic replaced by what had to be security camera feed from the bay. Two was ... gone. The DCC was a smoking wreck, pieces of the chassis and its occupant spread across a wide area of the bay. The troopers around it were also milling about, disorganized, many wounded and bloody. Whatever else had happened, Two had stopped the storming of the ship ... for the moment. But then the camera zoomed in and I saw Arnor...

NO!

"NO!!!" Ken screamed, started forward...

I laid my hand on my son's shoulder, felt him pull his rage back under control with a herculean effort. His eyes blazed with raw fury and rage. I turned back to Cha. Unlike my son, I knew my eyes were not hot. They were blue-white, the temperature of liquid helium, and there was no fury. No fire. Only death. "Cha. Release her."

He laughed, the rich baritone a mockery of beauty. "Even if I could, I would not. You see, these troops answer to Vice Admiral Bruson. She was very clear that I am not in the chain of command. Only these meager ... escorts ... are under my command." He turned and looked back at the screen. "I am afraid your beautiful wife is about to undergo field interrogation, followed by summary execution, probably by spacing..."

On the screen, Arnor, visibly bloody from at least one wound, was already nearly naked as the troopers stripped her of anything that might be used as a weapon. A continual rain of blows fell on her, no doubt accompanied by questions, on the off chance that she might let something slip by accident before she either fell into unconsciousness or death or the troops tired of the game. At that point, she would be ejected into space, with or without the specified blaster bolt to the head as the mood of the troopers dictated.

Words were pointless. I met Cha's eyes, filled with hatred, loathing, and cruelty...

"Go!"

Ken and I spoke as one, our battle meld suddenly snapping into a complete unity that I had never achieved with anyone before, not even Arnor. I felt his rage and fury in the link, and lent him control to temper them. No berzerker, sell yourself well... Control... I sent at the speed of thought.

Blaster fire erupted from the troops but we were already upon them. Whirling, spinning, slicing a path of death through the squad, blaster bolts ricocheting from my blade and hitting other troopers... Within seconds the squad in front of me was reduced to dead and dying men...

My blade hit something solid. Something red...

I ducked and spun, pulling away and parrying the off-hand strike. Cha was skilled and fought Jar Kai, his twin red blades rising and falling in a fury of Ataru-inspired attacks. I dropped into pure defense for a moment, concentrating on him. Falling back slowly, I noted Ken's progress. Ken! The energy flow controls! Do it!

Ken's ice-blue blade slashed through the final pair of Storm Troopers and deflected blaster bolts from the engine room crew as he advanced on the control station. I continued to fall back, deflecting and parrying Cha's strikes. Absorbing his anger, his force attacks. Blocking and containing, always falling back slowly. Drawing him away. Holding his attention, until...

Ken reached the station. Now!

I never switched styles, continued to block the rain of blows, but I reached into Cha's left knee and found a nexus. With a savage yell I pulled...

Cha cried out as his knee collapsed, spilling him onto the ground. My saber orbit never faltered as I dipped the cut a bit - and severed his right arm just above the elbow. The next orbit cut his left saber in half - and severed his hand at the palm. And the last orbit took the top of his head off, just at the level of his ears and nose.

Ken slashed through the engineering control system, sending a massive power spike through the system and putting the fusion generator into terminal overload. He was already sprinting past me as Cha's body fell, headed for the landing bay. I was right behind him.

...karm...i can't hold on...

I screamed as I ran. I shifted my battle song, improvising, sending healing energy into the link, boosting them with the small chorus, bolstering Arnor. Hang on sweetie! We're almost there! Almost there!

I felt her thread in the song slipping away. ...i ... love ... you ...

"NO!!!!!!!!!!!"

Ken threw a savage force push down the final corridor and into the closed bay doors. They exploded away from the portal and into the bay. I caught the shards and directed them - through the bodies of the troopers standing over my wife, still abusing her fully exposed flesh, beating her slowly to death. Enjoying it...

Blood fountained as the shards penetrated armor, accellerated by the force and turned from random shrapnel into deadly, precision-guided missiles. Arnor was surrounded only by the dead and dying when I reached her. I stripped of my cloak and wrapped it around her, cradling her in my arms. "Ken! Lets go!"

Ken left the shattered remains of Two - there was nothing left there to save - and sprinted up the ramp. The sentry guns recognized him and let him pass. He hit the deactivation switch just as I reached the ramp. The guns read our transponders, but Arnor no longer had one. No sense risking it.

"Ken, GO GO GO!" I called down the corridor. A quick glance at the engineering panel as I ran by showed that main power was back online but we still had to get out of the ship... "Ken! Deflectors and torpedoes!"

"IN the bay? Are you NUTS???" Ken called back.

"Yes! DO IT!"

"Yes sir!"

I pounded into sick bay, my heart racing from exertion and now fear. I keyed open a bacta tube - I had no time to properly evaluate my wife's injuries, but the auto-doc could do wonders with bacta. I stripped off the cloak as the tube formed around her, and for a moment I laid my hand on her head. I love you, Arnor! Heal... I reached into the song and sang the healing motif...

...and felt resistance! Arnor blocked the motif. ...no, my love. you need the ... energy ... bacta will do... i ... love ... you ...

Shocked, I pulled my hand back and opened my eyes. Green met my blue. Full of love, full of pain, full of fear. Not for herself, for me...

"I love you." I said, and kissed her on the cheek. Then the tube closed and filled with bacta, cutting me off from her. I waited as the tube completed its set-up and locked into the armored cradle, then sprinted for the flight deck.

"How's mom?" Ken asked, hands flying across the boards.

"She'll live - assuming we make it out of here." I replied. Torpedoes ready. Turbo lasers available in twelve seconds. Target loaded." I spotted the control junction I wanted in the force and plugged the coordinates into the tactical panel. "Engines at 48%.."

"It will be enough. What's that? All I see is a wall..."

"The main power feed to the bay force field is behind it." I replied. "Five seconds. Three ... two ... one ..."

I fired, launching the torpedoes and firing the quad turbo-laser array on our nose. The turbo-lasers tore the bulkhead open, exposing the armored power junction to the full fury of our concussion torpedoes. Either one wouldn't have been fatal to the bay power systems. Both together were to much. The force screen holding us in - and maintaining atmospheric integrity - collapsed. Air pressure did the rest. With a whoosh we were ejected into space, along with every other piece of unsecured equipment, bodies, people, and battle-damaged equipment in the bay. Within seconds we were free of the ship and surrounded by a cloud of debris fit to hide a heavy cruiser, let alone a single light freighter.

"Engines online!" Ken called. "Heading?"

"two-two-four mark eighty-seven reletive! Shape for Geonosis orbit! And punch it! That thing is about to..."

White blossomed behind us as Ken turned away from the Interdictor, now an expanding ball of plasma as first one, then the rest of her fusion engines exploded. Ken rode the shock wave like a surfer, rocketing away on its crest, using that power to avoid all but the smallest pieces of debris from the cruiser.

One down... I felt a stab of fear as I reached out to the song... The tempo was still up, the tension continuing to rise, the music building...

Arnor's thread was ... still there. Untangled and separated from mine in a way that I hadn't experienced in many years, but still there...

I slumped back in my seat, suddenly drained. Fire burned through my body. I was not as recovered as I had believed, and the planet...

The planet held ... evil. A song twisting through my own now, malevolent and dark. And another thread, close by, familiar...

Zearic and D'Aylanna! They're here! I took a few more deep breaths, gathered myself, and sat up. I reached out with the force, following the dark song to its source, pin-pointing the location on the holographic overlay of the planet.

"Best speed, Ken. Landing coordinates are at your station."

The end was near. It was time to dance.

For continuity's sake, I am posting Dutchman's 'finale' chapter here un-edited. This is the ultimate "cross-over" scene between Wind Chimes and Shadow Etude and is the climax of the story. For me it is Chapter 16. Enjoy!

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Chapter 16: Contrapasso (part 1)

Exiting Fenris’ Dirge, I was first to see that Arnor was not with Karm or Ken. As I took the taller man’s hand in my grip, I asked, “It’s good to see you, my friend but is Arnor alright? Ken.” I nodded and gave a brief smile to the shorter teidowan then turned my attention back to Karm.

“She’s alive. She’s recovering.” I could see by the tight set of his eyes that there was more to it than that but I respected his prerogative in what he wanted to tell. Nodding in understanding, I looked at our surroundings while I waited for Jorya and D’Aylanna to disembark.

Before we’d made planetfall, Karm had transmitted coordinates on where to rendezvous. It was one of the major hive-spires, adjacent to the Petranaki Arena. The redish landscape and orange sky was a direct contrast to the Steppes. Combined with the gravity of the situation, it was disconcerting to say the least.

Feeling Jorya’s hand on my pauldron, when I saw D’Aylanna walk down the ramp, I knew that we were ready. Grasping both my lightsabers, I was about to talk when my wife spoke first.

“Shakal, you and Master Karmak needs must go together.” Her dark eyes were watery and full of worry.

“I was going to say that Ken and I would set the pontite.” Karm’s steady voice intoned. Even as he spoke, D’Aylanna was shaking her head.

“Forgive me, Master Karmak. I’ve had a vision. You and my husband must go together; otherwise, without the other you both will succumb to the dark tide.” D’Aylanna’s blue lips thinned in apprehension. “I will take Jorya and Ken to set the pontite along geodesic positions.” Suddenly, her hand shot up, resting upon Karm’s tall shoulder, her voice full of compassion. “Karm…trust the Singer.”

With only the barest of hesitation, Karm nodded, giving no hint of astonishment. “Thank you, D’Aylanna.” He faced Ken. “Watch their backs, son,” he said as he smiled. And turning, Karm gathered me with a hand on my shoulder. “Let’s go, Zearic.”

As I fell into step next to him, I said, “Lead the way, Karm.” He nodded without a word, instead grabbing his own lightsaber. Together, we ran into the hive-spire, heading further inward.

Instead of waiting for our eyes to adjust, we ignited our lightsabers, Karm’s golden blade casting a warm glow which, combined with my own silver and sapphire, helped to dispel the oppressive darkness. Following the tunnels, I had already opened myself to the Force, projecting ever outwards, looking for life signs. As I did so, I could hear Karm gently Singing what I recognized as a battle-Song. Up ahead… I thought. And before we knew it, they were upon us.

Springing from the shadows, six figures with red lightsabers attacked. They were almost all different species—Zabrak, Trandoshan, Lorridian, Duros, and human—but they were of single intent: to kill. There was also another similarity: they were all Singers. Karm engaged the nearest three, his saberwork immediately recognizable as superior to the Dark-Siders. Gritting my teeth, I simultaneously went through my Mental Water Forms as I met my three opponents, my blades against theirs.

As my Force-assisted muscles propelled my body quick as thought, part of my mind made notice of each of our blades: one and all, they were pulsating. With Karm and the Dark-Siders, there was a…cadence that was reflected in both voice and blade. With my own, my sapphire lightsaber beat with my own heart.

The shock on each Dark-Sider’s face was evident: they didn’t know that they faced a Singer, much less one of Karm’s caliber. And it was then that I had my second epiphany: Karm’s battle-Song mirrored my own attacks, almost exact. My Nexu Master had taught me the Water Form: the style was one of flow and control and, like waves washing ashore, the moves followed the rhythm of advance and retreat. So too was Karm’s Song: the changes in the Song directly changed our environment; notes—form—were only temporary in the flow. Whether the Song—the form—was gentle or hard depended on the situation, changing from one state to another as a matter of the moment. Both Song and Form were melodies in one harmonious tune, the whole greater than the sum of its parts. I smiled, feeling kinship once again as we fought as though of one mind. Within moments, four of our opponents lay dead, the fifth failing in his defense against my shoto. And as I feinted low, the opening that it created was immediately exploited, my blue blade sweeping upwards, cutting the Lorridian’s face completely from his head.

Glancing past Karm and his opponent, I noticed that a small army of Sith-Shadows were attempting to flank us. Before they could blindside him, I made a quick jump to engage them. Even as their numbers continued to grow, I was untouchable; with my lightsabers an extension of my arm, of my will, I furiously cut them down. And while a few blaster shots did make it past my blades, the dissipating weave of my cloak and armor protected me. Soon, I noticed that there were less and less Sith-Shadows—and blaster fire—to contend with: feeling his presence from behind, Karm’s golden blade was scything through the Sith-Shadows upon my flank, returning the favor. Soon, we met towards the middle of the large antechamber, not one Sith-Shadow remaining alive.

“Thank you.” We both said in unison. Smiling, Karm closed down his saber, kneeling by the Dark Singers’ bodies. And from each fallen Dark Singer, I saw him open the housing that held the pontite crystal, removing them from the lightsaber. “These Vitreous weapons each have a potent primed crystal that I can take advantage of.” He turned his eyes towards me. “But how is it that their Singing didn’t affect you? I could almost feel their Songs being absorbed around you.”

“I don’t kno—” I suddenly stopped, immediately thinking about the black stone dagger. “…I think that it might have something to do with…this.” I reached behind my cloak, pulling out the dagger. Karm’s intense gaze scrutinized the seemingly innocuous weapon.

“Incredible.” With that, he had the last crystal from the Dark-Sider’s weapon in hand. He looked as if he were about to say something else when suddenly we both felt a disturbance in the Force coming from somewhere in front of us.

“Zearic…I need a short distraction.” He looked up, the hint of a smile on his face. “Would you mind terribly?”

“Not at all.” I could feel the oppressiveness radiating out in waves of darkness from before me. “Just don’t forget D’Aylanna’s warning.” I said, only half-joking, running forward.

I noticed that from the distance we’d traveled, we were no longer in the hive-spire. As I continued down the halls, the rock crags were soon replaced by foundry machinery and automated assemblies. Soon, the tunnel opened into an enormous mechanized cavern, a break in the ceiling leading to the surface far overhead. And in front of me, a presence that I’d felt before…

With a lightsaber in her hand, the pulsing red blade slowly strobing in time with her Singing, Jennira stood a lone sentinel against me. Her face drawn back in a feral sneer, the witch made a flourish with her lightsaber, advancing upon me. “I’ve dreamed of this day. But before you die, I want for you to know that I will have my revenge upon your daughter.” I was already angry, but it was tempered with righteous justice. As my blue blade met her red, she ignited a second blade on her saberstaff, intent on bisecting me. Thankfully, I deflected her blade with my shoto, slowly circling. The Night Sister’s face furrowed in confusion. “…How is it you are resisting my Song?” And as she mentioned, I noticed that her Singing was diminished. Her Song still affected me but almost as if having been strained through a…filter, as if muted. Regardless, I was grateful for the effect. Jennira was not only powerful in the Force but clearly also a practiced saber practitioner.

Each attack that she pressed, I was able to parry but she was good enough to not allow for any riposte. And from time to time, she would try to distract me, either with a Force Push or some telekinetic missiles. Each attack I was able to thwart, to her growing agitation. “You will pay for the deaths of my brood-chattel. You will beg for death at my hands! You will come to realize that the only release left you in this world is a quick death that I will never grant you!” Emphasizing her words, her swings became more power-prone, less precise. Smiling inwardly, I…flowed into my next Form. Using the momentum from Jennira’s last lethal swing, I surged straight into her, grabbed her saberstaff and threw her across the room where she hit the far wall, hard.

Shaking her head as she rose to her knee, I wondered why she still had a small smile upon her lips. “Surrender. Or die.” My voice was cold but I could feel the heat of my anger below the surface. Yet with my sapphire blade at her throat, the witch only smiled further.

“Neither.” Her eyes flicked behind me for the briefest of moments. “Now you die.”

Before I knew it, I was attempting to pick myself off from the floor. I felt as if I’d been run over by a speeder. Trying to clear my field of vision, I shakily stood. What the hell…? Turning, I saw a figure clad completely in black. Almost two meters tall, he was slender, a mask hiding his face, the rest of his body in black durasteel armor. And before I’d regained my faculties, I was again blown across the room, through the far wall. Only my armor protected me from dire injuries, although I felt the soreness that promised future pain. As I came to rest, I heard Jennira’s voice behind me.

“Meet my Master, Darth Mendax.” She laughed, a melodious and pleasant sound. “And your death.” As if to illustrate her words, I was bodily thrust from the floor to the ceiling, a crushing force that even my armor couldn’t fully mitigate. After a moment, I fell and hit the floor, hard. Spitting blood, I tried to focus on this Mendax and his Singing.

And for the first time, I noticed that he held a staff affixed with a large, glowing green crystal, its light a sickly hue. “The Rur crystal…” I inadvertently said aloud.

“Yes.” Mendax’s voice sounded mechanical, inhuman. “I’m impressed. Most people know nothing of Rur, much less its provenance.” And then he again began to Sing, pain erupting all over my body. I felt as if my nerve endings were being burned by the coldest ice, that my tissues were being ripped from my bones, and my blood was being boiled. By the Maker… If Jennira’s Singing within the crevasses of the Canticum Lowlands had been bad, this was worse. “You see Zearic, the Rur crystal confers the ability to Sing. Not that the fools who had it before would know.” Mendax laughed. “They were actually using it as their computer core!”

I was doubled over in pain as both Mendax and Jennira approached me. My lightsabers…where? I thought. Spying them out of the corner of my eye, I was about to call them to me when a surging wave of pain inundated me. Compared to what the Night Sister had done to me, this was by far the worst. And even as I screamed, Mendax’s Singing was interrupted when he spoke, almost conversationally.

“You see, the Rur crystal also allows me to utilize people as if they were themselves kyber crystals. Like Jennira and her brood-chattel. And in conjunction with the pontite that Jennira and her sister Julwynn have provided me, an entire planet is mine to enthrall.” Both Mendax and the Night Sister stood above me as I writhed in agony. “And now, Zearic, before you die, know that I will make suffer your wife and your daughter, that they will plead for death, a death that I will deny them. And they will experience torments unending…and they will have you to thank.” Again, Mendax laughed.

Involuntarily, I closed my eyes against the agony that I anticipated to come…

And suddenly, I began to feel a comfortable warmth, healing coursing throughout my body, muscle, tendons, and ligaments mending themselves as my body felt…rejuvenated. Looking up at Mendax and Jennira, I could see that they were both confused. And on the periphery of my vision, I noticed that the Rur crystal’s glow no longer cast the eerie, ill green light about. From the core of the crystal, a pure golden radiance began to shine. I couldn’t help but smile.

“…By the Emperor’s ghost…” Mendax’s voice held disbelief, his Singing no longer effective. Besides him, the Night Sister looked about in fear.

“M…master? What’s happened?” Her black eyes looked haunted.

And that’s when I heard Karm’s Singing. And I wasn’t alone in doing so. Jennira’s mouth dropped in utter astonishment. And as I stood, I saw Mendax retreating towards the far tunnel. Calling my lightsabers to my hand I ignited them, the sapphire and silver blades casting shadows across the witch’s fallen face. Karm stood beside me, his baritone voice resplendent, his golden blade glowing like a newborn star.

“Great timing. Thanks.” I spoke quietly.

“Don’t mention it.” He said easily. Louder, “Jennira, surrender.”

“A Night Sister would rather die than be taken by the likes of you fools.” She said haughtily as she adopted an aggressive stance with her saberstaff.

Karm’s eyes bored into Jennira’s. “Julwynn would object to that.” He continued as the witch’s face changed from arrogance to shock. “You see, she didn’t surrender; she came to us willingly.” Karm’s smile took on an almost vicious slant. “I guess that you don’t know your sister half as well as you’d thought.”

Jennira’s entire body twitched, her face assumed a broken look. “No.” She said quietly. Then, as if a conflagration had ignited, the Night Sister shrieked, a howling keen that almost deafened us.

“NO!!!” And Jennira began to Sing, a torrent that threatened to subsume Karm and I, her saberstaff blades a continuous blazing crimson beating in cadence with her Song.

Screaming in order to be heard, Karm put his head next to mine, “She’s trying to wrest control of the crystals from me!” Looking at Rur, the crystal had resumed a green glow, albeit faint. “She’s using her own life-energies as well as the Force!” Force winds born of Jennira’s Singing buffeted us, threatening to break us against the wall. Both Karm and I went down to one knee. “Zearic…I’m holding control of the crystals but barely.” I could hardly hear Karm despite the fact that he had to scream at the top of his lungs.

I fought against the storm, squinting my eyes, hoping that a plan would take root. Think dammit! We couldn’t move; using the Force, I thrust my lightsaber at the Night Sister, throwing the blue blade at her. Right before it impaled her, my saber rebounded as if it had hit an invisible wall. I knew that Karm couldn’t release his own lightsaber and risk losing the Ancient One. And, in the back of my mind, I had a singular thought. The dagger… Grabbing the hilt, I reversed my grip and held it by the blade. And with a powerful flick of my arm, I sent the dagger end-over-end at Jennira. She must have expected her Force Storm to protect her as it had against my lightsaber; her face didn’t change from its furious scream.

Suddenly, the air around us was silent, both Karm and I stepping forward against the gale that no longer battered against us. Jennira’s eyes looked shocked for a moment…but then the life left them as she collapsed to the ground. The black stone dagger had buried itself to the hilt in her forehead.

Calling my lightsaber to my hand, I had to physically retrieve my dagger from the Night Sister’s body. Meanwhile, Karm was busy removing the Rur crystal from Mendax’s staff. Once detached, he placed it in a deep pocket of his combat smock. “Karm…where to now? I can’t sense Mendax…”

As if anticipating my question, he was already walking towards the far tunnel. “This way.” Again, Karm’s baritone voice Sang. Clearly, it was a healing Song, as it helped to assuage the agony that I’d suffered under Mendax’s Singing. I thanked him again as we ran down the tunnel, greasy and rusted pipes lining the entire passageway, small billowing clouds of vapor condensing around the ceiling. His head turned sideways, a grin on his face. “No problem. Maybe I can teach you next to gargle.”

I gave a short, appreciative laugh. “Why not?” With the Force flowing from me, I could feel three life signs in front of us, unmoving as if they were expecting us…

As the industrialized tunnel opened to the next antechamber, the walls changed back to the megalithic structures of the hive-spires. And once within I pulled up in shock. Mendax was standing there unconcerned but I looked past him at the other two people in the room. One was Mellichae, his cybernetic arm whole and grasping his pulsating saber. But his left arm was locked around the neck of the third person: Jorya. She was bloodied and bruised, one eye almost completely swollen shut, her lower armor all but missing, the femur of her right leg jutting out through a savage, ragged gash. She had a pair of binders around her wrists. No…! Dear One!

“Karmak, Zearic. You will both drop your swords and hand to me the Rur crystal.” Mendax pivoted his head and then addressed Karm directly, “If there is even a hint of Singing or using the Force, I will have Mellichae run the Togruta through.”

I stood there, hesitant. I didn’t know what to do… To his credit, Karm did not Sing…and neither did he relinquish the Rur crystal. “I cannot do that, Mendax.”

I knew that he was right. “Karm…” My voice was borderline pleading; I knew that we could NOT give Mendax the crystal…but I feared for my daughter…

“So be it… Mellichae, kill that tralk.” Mendax’s voice was flat, impassive.

Smiling and quicker than the eye could see, the Zabrak held out his left arm, gripping Jorya by the neck, his right arm holding his raised lightsaber, the red blade poised to cut her down. And laughing a gravelly, incredibly deep laugh, his right arm fell.

Contrapasso (part 2)

“Jorya!!” I took a step forward, readying a Force Pull, knowing that anything I did would be futile.

There was a flash of blue and both the Zabrak and Jorya flew from their places; Jorya to the floor and Mellichae up to the ceiling. He then dropped back to the floor like a clipped mynock, hitting some stacked crates. Nearby, his severed cybernetic arm reflexively gripped the still-ignited lightsaber, until the biomechanical servos recognized that they were no longer receiving electrical signals from the synapses and released the lightsaber, closing down the weapon.

With a curse Mendax ran, escaping through an opposite tunnel. Stunned, I turned back to see Ken holding his ice-blue lightsaber at the ready, standing just behind of where Mellichae and Jorya had been. Running to my daughter, I helped her up to her feet. “Karmak, can you please help her?”

Standing by Jorya, smiling a proud smile for Ken, Karm quietly began Singing a healing Song. Adding my own meager healing flows, I heartily thanked the teidowan, “Ken, you have my eternal gratitude! But…what happened? Where is D’Aylanna?”

Still standing where he’d telekinetically thrown the Zabrak from, he answered with a small grin on his face, “We were ambushed by Sith-Shadows before we could set all of the pontite so Master D’Aylanna told Knight Jorya and I to finish with the crystals while she ‘took care’ of them. But when I was setting the last one, Jorya was attacked by a couple of Dark Singers. I countered with a battle-Song and we fought back-to-back…but then that Zabrak attacked us.” Ken bowed his head, shame radiating off of him. “I…he got me with a Force Push… Jorya, she…she tried to stop him but… And he…took her.”

“Ken.” I spoke severely in order to get his attention. Looking up, his blue eyes tentatively but resolutely looking into my hazel, I sternly continued, “Ken. You saved her. I cannot thank you enough.” Slowly, his confidence returned. I smiled at him, “I owe you.” Looking from Ken to Karm Singing and then to Jorya, I saw that she looked better, if still a bit bruised. But the bone of her leg was no longer fractured and she was able to tentatively put her weight upon it.

“…Well, th…I mean, you’re welcome, maenowan.” Ken looked somewhat bashful, deliberately changing the subject. “Say…do you think that I…killed him?”

Both Jorya and I chuckled while Karm stopped Singing, speaking to his son fondly, “Well, Ken—”

Suddenly, a red blade arced through the air, cutting off Ken’s arm near the shoulder. The teidowan’s face contorted in both shock and pain; Karm’s yell echoed throughout the chamber. “No!”

Mellichae’s face appeared above and behind Ken’s shoulder, his rough, deep voice rasping, “No, you didn’t kill ‘him,’ but you did get ‘his’ attention!” And with that, he plunged his blade through Ken’s back, the red tip exploding through his chest.

“Ken! No!! NO!!!” And after a second of silence, Karm began to Sing.

When Mendax and even Jennira had Sang, they were drawing strength from the river that was the Force.

Karm was the river. No, he was an ocean.

As Karm Sang, the Rur crystal began to glow, becoming a radiance that began to outshine a thousand suns. The surrounding walls, floors, and ceiling began to vibrate intensely as the pontite crystals began to propagate the Song, an earthquake shaking the hive-spire. Waves of pure energy washed over all present, healing Ken, Jorya, and myself while hammering against Mellichae, propelling him against the wall, knocking him insensate. All of my pain, all of my injuries were entirely healed; Jorya’s broken leg, lacerations, and bruises completely restored.

And still Karm Sang.

And even as I watched, Ken’s chest reformed itself to its natural state, the skin, muscle, and organs regenerating completely as if nothing had occurred. And, slowly, his arm began to grow back, first from the shoulder…and then his bicep and tricep…and then his elbow. And all the while, Karm began to shine as brilliantly as the Rur crystal, his sonorous baritone reverberating throughout the chamber, as strong and as bright as a star during noon, growing ever greater, wonderful, and more powerful.

The abruptness of the silence was deafening. Karm’s Singing went from a rising crescendo to absolute stillness. He looked at Ken, the look on his face one of absolute joy…until his eyes rolled up into his head. And before I could react, the taller man collapsed, his lightsaber rebounding on the floor, coming to rest in the shadows. Jorya and I ran up to Karm, examining him as we both opened ourselves to healing flows of the Force. His pulse was slow but stable. But try as we might, neither of us could revive Karm.

He was in a deep coma.

“Dad…Ken?” Jorya reminded me tentatively, looking at the teidowan. I approached Ken’s body and knelt down, rolling him over. The sight that met me was…wonderful. Of the chest wound, there was no sign of it. And Ken’s arm had…grown back. Well, much of it; his arm ended in a stump just past his elbow. Still, considering the injuries he’d sustained… Ken’s chest rose and fell with the regularity of peaceful sleep, his pulse strong and steady.

Thank the Maker… I thought, smiling. And Karm…

Looking around, my eyes fixed upon the Rur crystal. Or rather, the thousands of shard pieces. It must have shattered as a result of…whatever Karm did. And lying prone and motionless—but alive—was Mellichae. Gabbing my lightsaber I ignited it. I would correct a mistake that I’d made, one that I regretted profusely. Slowly, I walked over towards him…

“How different you’ve become, Zearic.” The voice behind me had the mechanical quality of a droid. Turning, I faced Mendax as he approached, dust and small rocks covering his armor, his saber hilt in hand. I grabbed my shoto and ignited it as well. Mendax slowed to a halt, his body language seemingly unconcerned.

Whispering to Jorya, I hastily spoke, “Get Ken and Karm out of here and back to Fenris’ Dirge, fast as you can. Find your Mother. Now, apprentice.” The last I said more harshly than I intended but I wanted them all out of danger. Hurriedly, Jorya got the Mak’Tor Jedi out of harm’s way using the Force.

Facing the black and gray mask, I squared up against the taller man. “How would you know, Mendax?” I adopted a ready stance in Juyo, again preparing my Water Forms.

“I know…because…I know you.” And he ignited his saber.

An orange blade sprang into existence.

Stunned, I almost lowered my defenses. “…Gaetana? How…you…you’re dead…” Even as I asked the question, she attacked. Automatically, I flowed into my defense, intercepting her brutal attacks, her blade probing, searching, trying to force any advantage. She found none. I knew that I’d bettered my saberwork exponentially since I’d last seen her; she followed a quick strike with a savage cut that I barely had time to parry. But before I could take advantage, her blade was moving again.

But if I had improved, so too had Gaetana. Even as a Jar’Kai practitioner, I was pressed in matching her single bladed combat. Still, I focused on my Water Forms, the ebb and flow as we circled each other, attacking, defending, always moving. Even as she struck my shoulder, my pauldron absorbed the worst of the blow, the Charubah plate holding. Better still, it had helped to create an opening. Before she could recover, my shoto cut through the armor at her leg, piercing the black plate. Using my momentum, I brought the blue blade of my main saber in a swift overhead cut connecting with her helmet.

Instantly, my lightsaber deactivated.

I could hear Gaetana’s laughter as I desperately tried to recover, my shoto at a disadvantage compared to her full-length blade. Her helmet is made of cortosis?! I thought. I also noticed that the cut on her leg didn’t impede her in the least. Knowing that my main lightsaber would not work for several minutes, I tried to delay.

Before I could react, Gaetana’s fingers splayed apart, dropping her lightsaber and simultaneously projecting a torrent of Force Lightning at me. Normally, I would be able to block it with my blade, but my shoto was too short to effectively intercept it. Even as the lightning coursed through my face, Gaetana pulled with her other hand upon a large stack of compartmented storage boxes. Before I could completely clear the falling metal containers, several pinned my legs against the floor, my shoto knocked from my hand and buried beneath some other cases. As soon as I couldn’t move my legs, Gaetana’s full lightning barrage hit me, overwhelming my armor, surging into my body. Between lightning strikes, I attempted to grab at the black dagger in my belt holster.

It was empty.

I must have lost it when the compartments had fallen upon me. Looking around, I spied it several meters away from me, but then another onslaught of lightning ripped through my body. As my muscles seized, micro-tears forming, I could not focus upon anything except the pain. Without stopping, Gaetana kept up her lightning assault even as my screams stopped, not from a loss of consciousness but from lack of breath.

Barely holding onto cognizance, my eyes lost focus as I attempted to follow Gaetana as she walked towards me. Clearly, she’d learned a valuable lesson from our first encounter: she stopped short several meters. “I have waited years for this.”

Slurring my speech, my jowl muscles locked forcing a rictus grin upon my face, I spoke, “You are the only one to blame, Gaetana.” I hoped that she understood my words. “But why now when you had escaped, ‘Mendax?’”

“That damned earthquake nearly brought the hive-spire down upon me. But it did block my route of escape.” She paused briefly. “But now since your Singer is no longer a concern, I need not fear reprisals from a superior opponent.” I could feel her rage even now despite the mask, her voice quivered with anger. “You were right: Gaetana died that day on Byss. Lord Vader himself saved me…but not without…consequences. And from that day forth, there was only Darth Mendax.” She let loose a potent onslaught of Force Lightning, not once letting up while she spoke this time. “And it is Darth Mendax that kills you now, Zearic.” And to emphasize her point, her Lightning only intensified. My existence was agony, pain without measure. Curling into a fetal position, or as close as my armor would allow, I waited…hoped…solicited that death would take me…

Incredibly, I had not shut my eyes. I saw Mendax suddenly fly bodily away, crashing into the far wall, stone and detritus falling around her as she collapsed to the ground, her helmet flying off. Pivoting my head, deliberately, carefully, I saw D’Aylanna swiftly approaching, her lightsaber on her belt. “Shakal…shh, husband, mine. I am here.” Her quiet words were softly emphasized by the gentle stroking of her hands upon my face. But I saw her face grow serious again and she stood. “So. You are ‘Mendax.’ Gaetana.”

Standing, Mendax towered over my wife. Dusting herself off as she walked forward, Mendax stepped into the light. The once beautiful face was terrible to behold: her skin was gray, what little hair she had was white and unkempt. Her left eye was a mechanical replacement, not even cybernetic. And her face belonged to that of a decrepit, old woman. “Yes, D’Aylanna. I am Mendax. And your doom.”

Quicker than my eyes could see, she raised both of her hands, Force Lightning cascading from her fingers towards my wife, the blue electrical cloud lethally surging at D’Aylanna. Unconcerned, my wife raised both of her hands, accumulating Gaetana’s—Mendax’s—Lightning and absorbing it with tutaminis. Mendax’s face fell, her disbelieving look painted across her features.

“…How…?” Mendax’s mechanized voice was alarmed.

Igniting her saber, purple blade casting righteous light upon Mendax’s face, D’Aylanna attacked. I had practiced with my wife for years, especially after Gaetana had first wounded me. But never had I seen her this…savage. Her purple blade struck so fast, it created a virtual haze obfuscating her person, always attacking, searching, and striking home. As the minutes passed, D’Aylanna had scored several cuts against Mendax, most on her legs. As before, they seemed negligible.

But even as D’Aylanna’s mastery was evident, so too was Mendax’s. She countered my wife’s offensive with a series of brutal saber strikes, one cut almost decapitating D’Aylanna. Thankfully, she parried in the last moment. And almost simultaneously, both women flew back from one another, both having delivered a powerful Force Push upon the other. D’Aylanna backflipped, gracefully landing on one knee while Mendax plowed through another stack of metal containers, skidding to a halt along the floor. Even in pain, I could tell from the look on Mendax’s face that she was afraid, as scared as she had been of Karm. She looked around the room, her eyes belonging to prey cornered by an apex predator. But D’Aylanna did not relent; she was upon Mendax again, working her lightsaber blade, purple against orange. It was truly a meeting of masters.

Both women locked their sabers together, Mendax’s much taller stature seemingly smaller despite my wife’s diminutive frame. Suddenly, D’Aylanna launched upwards, head-butting Mendax, blood flowing from her broken nose. Moreover, it stunned her. With a scything swing, D’Aylanna separated Mendax’s right arm from her body. And in the next orbit, she bisected her left leg just below the hip. Before Mendax had even fallen, D’Aylanna’s Force Push sent her crashing against and through the far wall, causing the far room to cave in. Even as D’Aylanna ran forward, she must have known that there was nothing that she could do. As she stared, the far side of the hive-spire collapsed, weakened from the earthquake that Karm had caused earlier. Turning, my wife ran towards me, never once looking back.

“My Shakal…” The love and concern in her voice warmed my heart as she collected me in her arms, healing flows from the Force embracing me. “…Are you OK?” Her voice cracked as a single tear flowed down from her dark eye, across her cheek and upon her blue lips.

I did not even attempt to rise, not that I could. “I will be, Ereneda, I will be…” Gently she rocked me until Jorya returned, our daughter both relieved and dismayed by what she saw had happened to me…

<<<<< >>>>>

Mellichae woke to the sound of screams, his ice-blue eyes quickly surveying his surroundings. The rocky antechamber had strewn about it several large metal containers, two of them crushing the big man’s legs and effectively pinning him against the ground. Knowing that he was hidden from view by one of the larger containers, he had the perfect vantage to see the big man writhing in pain as Force Lightning engulfed him, his Master pitiless in judgment. His Master. He couldn’t be sure…but something felt…different. As if his mind were no longer…constrained. Could it be…? Could Lord Mendax’s tether have been…broken? He knew that Jennira was dead; he no longer felt her within. But his Master as well…?

A flash caught his eye, the Lightning from his Master reflecting off of a silver surface in the shadows. Crawling over, it looked like…a lightsaber. Wait…it was that Singer’s! With as much facility as he could, he opened the weapon, specifically the housing for the crystal. And there, he saw, was a true treasure: a golden kyber crystal unlike any he’d ever seen. Greedily, he grabbed it when something else glinted within the shadows. It was a shard of the Rur crystal, he was sure. Momentarily, his breath stopped. Singing ever so quietly, he saw the glow within the crystal shard as it propagated. Mellichae hurriedly pocketed it, closing the lightsaber and placing it on the ground near where he’d found it. Again, carefully looking around the corner of the container, he could see his Master in furious combat with a petite Hapan woman. Incredibly, the woman was superior to his Master. Not waiting to learn anymore, Mellichae carefully worked his way further in the hive-spire where his ship was docked.

Boarding on shaky legs, the large Zabrak hurriedly went through preflight and rocketed off the planet surface. Achieving escape velocity, his ship entered into the Geonosian stratosphere and, finally, outer space.

As the Sith Infiltrator made the jump to lightspeed in a flurry of pseudomotion, three things went through Mellichae’s mind. First, he no longer was a thrall, not to Jennira and not to Mendax. Next, he would get revenge upon those Gray Jedi. And finally, he now had not one but two potent crystals beyond compare to do with as he chose.

Mellichae smiled, his memory lingering on killing…well, almost…that Jedi welp. The next time that they met things would be much different. And he thought of the name that the big man had said. A name that both filled him with hatred as well as dread. One that Mellichae would use in his personal litany to forever remind him of the price of his failures. And the realization of his vengeance.

“Karmak.”

Chapter 17: Cadence Point

The Wayfarer settled gently onto the wide landing pad under Ken’s steady hand. I felt the ship rock ever so slightly as the Fenris’ Dirge settled next to us. I looked over at Arnor and grinned. She smiled back from the tactical station, a tired smile still filled with too much pain, but there was a hint of her normal sparkle in her eyes.

It was good to be home. Especially when you’ve gone through hell to get there…

My body reminded me of just how hard that journey had been when I rose. Even now, after a journey home which had taken several weeks thanks to the torturous routes around the Outer Rim as well as Wayfarer’s damage, my legs were unsteady and my body wracked with the fiery after-effects of the energy that I had unleashed. Arnor was better – and worse. The Bacta had done wonders on her body, aided by the auto-doc built into the medical bay as well as Ken’s healing songs. Unfortunately Arnor had been out of range of the massive pulse that had healed Ken. She still had some residual healing to do, but the real damage was internal. She’d been brutally savaged by the Storm Troopers, stripped and beaten nearly to death. She’d had broken ribs, a broken femur, dislocated shoulder and elbow and her right cheek had been crushed along with a blow that had cracked her skull. But far worse was the fact that, in my effort to save her life, I had poured healing energy into her, which had prevented her from falling unconscious.

I’d forced my wife to endure every painful moment of her horrific beating … to save her life, to be sure, but the cost…

A tear trickled down my cheek as Arnor sensed my emotions and turned. She reached out and wiped the tear away, laying her wet finger on my lips. “Shhh… None of that, dearest. You saved us all. The pain is just part of the journey.”

I wiped the unshed tears from her eyes and managed a smile in return. “Yes, I know. But it still hurts…” I let my hand fall to the empty place on my belt where my saber with the Ancient One usually rode.

Sometimes it hurts a lot…

I pulled Arnor close into a fierce hug. “Thank you, my love.”

Behind us Ken cleared his throat. “Landing post-check completed. Mutt is cracking the hatch. Are you two ready to debark?” Ken’s playful poke at our PDA was another familiar touch-stone, and like the rest it was also now slightly muted. Ken’s right hand was gone, but the fully-healed stump had easily accepted the cybernetic implants needed for a more complete version of the glove I still wore. It was perhaps a sad commentary on our Order that our medical bays carried such cybernetics routinely.

It’s called being prepared…

I chuckled, at the thought as well as the look of long-suffering pain Ken had affected to cover the amused warmth I felt from him. “Of course, Teidowan.” I reached back to my station and retrieved a memory crystal with Two’s “bootstrap” download on it and slipped it into my pocket as I followed Arnor down the ramp. His body had been destroyed again, but with his core memories and programming intact all I needed to do was build him a new one. I’d already decided on a few new … refinements … to the basic R2 chassis to incorporate as well. Two always complained about changes, but in this case I didn’t think he’d mind.

After all, everyone loves having a lightsaber, right?

I was chuckling slightly as we reached the bottom of the ramp, imagining Two swinging a saber around. OK, maybe not the best idea after all… I saw a matching smile on Zearic’s face as he cleared the ramp from his own ship. Even out of armor, he was a big man, bigger even than I was, and his need to scrunch down to clear the overhead on the ship’s ramp obviously triggered some humorous memory of his own. “Master Zearic, welcome back to M’Tzigon.”

I extended my hand and Zearic grasped it, eschewing the hand-shake and pulling me into a bear-hug. “And welcome home, Master Karmack!”

I gasped slightly as he let me go, mentally counting ribs and avoiding a flinch of pain only with effort. “Um, thank you, Zearic.” Mistess DAylanna, welcome. Zorya, welcome.” I bowed to each as they emerged behind the exuberant Zearic. “It appears we’ve been expected.” I gestured toward a small group of officials headed by Kage Silman standing at the edge of the pad. “Shall we?”

“Certainly.” D’Aylanna replied, her bearing regal. Arnor fell in beside her as we fell into pairs – D’Aylanna and Arnor, Ken and Jorya, and myself with Zearic. Something in the song nudged me… Ken’s melody and Zorya’s, suddenly becoming entwined. Well, now that is interesting…

I felt a ripple from Zearic and I turned a raised eyebrow to him. “Thoughts?”

Zearic had felt it as well, in his own sense of the force or parental intuition. “Tell Ken to buckle up, he’s in for a wild ride.”

I chuckled again. “More than they know. Kage Silman transmitted a few days ago that the Council has decided to offer Ken the Trails.” I chuckled. “Seems his performance on this mission impressed more than just his parents.”

“I am not surprised. The same offer will likely be forthcoming for Zorya from our own Council.” Zearic looked worried, the worry any father would have for a daughter headed out into a dangerous world on her own. “I am proud, but…”

“Worried.” I finished for him. “I as well. He’s ready, but…”

“…are any of us ever really ready? I certainly was not.” Zearic stopped walking, allowing the gap between us and the others to open a bit. “I wanted to apologize for…” His eyes dropped to the empty place on my belt.

“My friend.” I laid my hand on his shoulder, meeting his eyes. “There is no need.” I leaned closer, lowering my own voice. “The Ancient One is in the Song. I can feel it still. The Zabrek will get nothing from it. It only shares it’s secrets willingly. Meanwhile, everywhere he turns he will find himself vexed and foiled until I am ready to take back what is mine. Nor will I have forgotten what he did … and tried to do.”

A dangerous light flickered through Zearic’s eyes. “Excellent. If I can be of any assistance…”

My own smile was also dangerous. The smile of a predator. “I will not hesitate to call.” Again I extended my hand, and this time he took it shook. The bond was made: Mellichae would face justice.

But first… I looked back for a moment, watching crews begin the process of unloading the pontite we’d recovered. It was still dangerous and would be carefully dispersed and hidden over the next few months and years. Most of the shards of the Ruh Crystal ahd also been recovered, but not all. Another mystery to track down. After the reception.

I sighed and we turned back to the awaiting welcoming committee, following our wives into the fray…

*** The End ***

Saber Forum

General Chat => Fan Fiction and Art => Topic started by: Karmack on October 26, 2017, 02:35:50 AM