By the time they had made it from the caves back to the shuttle, Calen having given his fourth explanation of the events that had just occurred, his shipmates were still heavily in disbelief (save for Niyasa, of course). Even Calen couldn't honestly say that he believed everything that he had seen, but there had to be some truth to it. Whatever was on Pergitor, it was something Critus wanted. If he wanted it, so would the Empire. The fortune hidden on the ship was nothing, nothing at all compared to this Gem this. . .Heart. Whatever it was called, it was something that couldn't fall into the hands of Critus or the Empire. This information, the map, the only chance they had was to bring it to the Alliance.
"So Critus. . .in this vision. . ." Tessa started.
"Was an illusion created by the Gesaril. . .I think." Calen said. "I had thought the other dreams were him speaking to me, but now I don't know." He hadn't forgotten the nightmares that had plagued him since the news had broken about Alderaan's destruction, when the need to run away had first built up in him. If only he'd had any idea of what he'd be running to.
"So, you're telling me that a kook leading a cult of eye-worshippers is trying to get a magic rock that's going to destroy the galaxy?" Tessa asked.
". . .basically, yes. That." Calen nodded. He supposed magic was as good a term as any, given that he wasn't completely certain about the Force, either. He'd seen Niyasa use it, and her insistence that he had used it in their escape, but it was all still. . .very confusing to him. Once they were on the shuttle, Calen slid into the pilot seat, Tessa moving to co-pilot.
"You do realize that there's no way they're not going to think we've gone crazy, right?" Tessa asked as she tapped the monitor's UI, doing pre-flight checks.
"We'll have to make them listen." Niyasa said adamantly.
"Oh, sure. Because Vos totally thinks we're on the level." Tessa snorted.
"Who?" Calen asked, glancing up from his own set of instruments.
"Our boss." Niyasa said. "Above Glin, unfortunately."
"I'm guessing he's not a big fan of Force-related. . .whatever, is he?" Calen asked.
"Only one worse is the Empire." The Mrlssi said darkly. Calen shifted a bit in his seat. Odds or not, they had to try. There was no way he'd be able to do this himself or even the four of them working together. It would be a bridge to cross when they came to it, but not now. Now, getting to the Alliance was the important part.
"Think this thing can slip out before the Empire reacts?" Calen asked.
"Fly it right, they'll probably see the exhaust right before we jump to lightspeed." Tessa said. "Sensors are clear." Under Calen's skillful hand, the shuttle lifted. The engines purred as the craft moved smoothly through the air, up and up and up into the atmosphere. Unlike before, with the stolen transport, nothing seemed to be pulling them down. The jungles below vanished, replaced with cloud formations that grew thinner and thinner as they moved further away until finally they escaped the planetary shell and entered the vacuum of space.
"There we go. Up and up." Calen said, steering them and preparing the computer to calculate their jump.
"Looks good! Prison's on the other side of the plan-oh, kriff!" Tessa was cut off as the sensors began to go haywire.
"What happened? What is it?" Calen asked.
"Vigilant Warden." Tessa said. "Admiral Ayro's flagship. It's almost in tractor beam range. . ."
* * *
Corrin Dax stood on the bridge of the Vigilant Warden wearing a grin. The crazy Rebels had actually done it. There was no mistaking it - they'd actually managed to escape the inescapable planet. Perhaps. . .perhaps there was some hope yet.
"Captain Dax. Unidentified vessel coming within range of the tractor beam." The sensor ops officer called from down in the crew pit.
"Lock on with the beam when they come within range. Prepare a boarding party." Dax commented nonchalantly. Moving down into the pit proper, he watched over the shoulder of the office preparing the beam. His hand slipped to a nearby panel. "Prepare the ion cannon." He ordered, another office doing so with his own display.
"We're in range, sir."
"Fire!" Dax ordered. The correct key combination was input, but no effect was produced. Neither the ion cannon nor the tractor beam fired. "What is happening? Report!"
"Sir, the controls aren't responding!" The ops office spoke up. "We have system failures."
"What?!" Dax demanded, doing his best to channel the outrage at failure that Ayro seemed to cultivate so easily.
"S-Sir, I-"
"Useless! You are dismissed! Get out of my sight!" Dax shouted, forcing the man aside and taking the controls himself.
"Sir! It's too late! They're. . .they're making the jump to hyperspace!" The controls were indeed unresponsive and, moments after they reactivated, the shuttle had vanished from the sensors grid as it tore through the fabric of real space and into hyperspace. The entire bridge tensed, fearing the end result of this failure. Before they received the rage of their new captain, the column-like form of a medical droid rolled its way to the edge of the crew pit, chirping out a synthesized voice.
"Captain Dax. Admiral Ayro has regained consciousness and requests your presence in the Medbay." Dax knew the crew had been running betting pools on whether or not the Admiral would survive. Even Dax himself had been prepared to hear the news that Ayro had passed on after being near the heart of a thermal detonator explosion.
Upon reflection, he should have known better.
"Maintain standard orbit." Dax said, moving from the console and heading up out of the pit and then following the droid. The crew thought they were watching a dead Captain walking. Dax, however, wasn't worried in the least.
It hadn't been his override code that had cut off the controls to the tractor beam.
* * *
Hyperspace seemed oddly calming to Calen, and he never knew exactly why. Hurtling through space at speeds fast enough to tear through the fabric of realspace should have been terrifying, but it was so distanced from everything else. A great, big, tranquil nothingness between the many worlds of the cosmos. No cares, no worries, no fears, only the stars streaking by.
"It won't last." Niyasa told him. The pair had come into the stern of the ship, an area most often reserved for drop troops and supplies. Several bucket seats lined the walls where they would sit, waiting for deployment. As it happened, now, it was just the pair of them. Tessa and Rook had taken over piloting while Niyasa had brought Calen to the back.
"What do you mean?" Calen asked her.
"In a few hours, we'll be back on Karideph." Niyasa said. "If we got the jump coordinates right."
"Pretty sure we did." Calen said. "Imperial shuttles have at least halfway decent drives."
"Indeed." Niyasa chirped. "Now, the holocron." Calen had almost forgotten about it, in their tense departure from the planet. Niyasa pulled if from her pack where it had ended up in their leaving the cave, the gold-framed cube set on the floor between the pair of them. After a few seconds of staring at it, they realized nothing was happening.
". . .so, what is it, exactly?" Calen asked.
"A holocron is supposed to be a receptacle of Jedi knowledge," Niyasa said, "specifically about the Force. I've never seen one before, just read about them. I'd thought they'd all been destroyed or captured by the Empire."
"Why would they do that?"
"Think about it." The bird woman looked at him. "If you'd defeated the only people in the galaxy that opposed you, wouldn't you want to make sure that anyone trying to follow in their footsteps couldn't?" Calen had to admit, she had a point. He watched Niyasa twist the cube around with her clawed hand gingerly, yet nothing seemed to happen.
"Wait, then how would it have gotten onto Gesaril?" Calen asked.
"The Force works in mysterious ways." The reply came as Niyasa seemed more interested in examining the artifact than in conversation.
"That. . .is an unsatisfying answer." Calen replied flatly.
"There's no controls on this one." Niyasa's beak clicked a few times as she looked over the holocron.
"I'm sure it'll make a lovely decoration for the dashboard, then." Calen answered sarcastically.
"No, no, it's a holocron." Niyasa corrected him. "We just have to figure out how to access it." She twisted it around, even picking up again, and examining it from every angle. Neither she nor Calen could find a method of opening it or accessing it. "Maybe we could plug it into the shuttle's computer. Or. . ." The Mrlssi was clearly stretching for ideas.
"What if. . ." Calen started. ". . .no, never mind."
"What?" Niyasa asked.
"Well, I mean. It's not like a regular data tape or anything, is it?" Calen asked. "The Jedi had. . .space magic, the Force, whatever. What if they made that the way to lock it?" He raised a hand, waggling his fingers, indicating the power that they both of them held. Niyasa's eyes lit up.
"Let's try it." She nodded. She raised a clawed hand, closing her eyes and concentrating. After a few moments, it was clear that nothing was happening. Niyasa huffed. "Well, so much for that idea."
"Hang on." Calen said. "Let's try it together." He suggested, Niyasa raising a brow. "Trust me." After a second, his companion nodded. Calen closed his eyes, reaching out as Niyasa reached out once more. Calen tried to put everything from his mind - The Heart, the Empire, Critus haunting his nightmares, the task ahead of them to stop all three - and focused on the here and now. This item, right here, and their need to open it up. He felt it flow through him, smooth like silk against the skin. It seemed like he had touched his finger into still water, and it had created ripples that moved through that water and then touched something else, bouncing back toward him.
"It. . .it worked!" Niyasa's voice got his attention and Calen's eyes snapped open. Before him, the cube was projecting a light - a hologram! The image took the form of a human male, wearing a heavy cloak.
"Greetings, young acolyte. You have accessed Training Holocron A-24-Beta-7." The man's voice spoke out to them. "I am Jedi Master Karras Toph."
"We did it!" Niyasa clapped her claws excitedly. To the surprise of both her and Calen, the hologram turned and looked directly at her.
"That is correct, young acolyte. You have successfully accessed the Training Holocron A-24-Beta-7." He spoke.
"Wait, what?! It knows we're here?!" Calen stared, caught entirely off-guard.
"I am a holoprojection based on the brain patterns and knowledge of Jedi Master Karras Toph at the time this holoprojection was made." The hologram explained, now looking at him. "I am what is known as a Gatekeeper. The entire repository of knowledge contained within the hologram is now open to you. Simply choose a topic and I shall elaborate."
"I don't. . .understand." Calen said.
"Make an inquiry, and I or another Jedi Master shall enlighten you regarding the topic in question." The projection of Master Toph spoke in the same, even tone.
"Okay. . ." Calen said, looking to Niyasa. The Mrlssi shrugged, at a loss herself. He looked back to the hologram. "Tell us about the Force."
"The Force is an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together. A user of the Force may use it for a variety of purposes. The Jedi, serving the light side of the Force, use it in the defense of all sapient life in the galaxy."
"The light side of the Force?"
"The light side of the Force is revered by the Jedi Order. It flows through all living things, both created and spread through acts of benevolence and selflessness. It is reached through a state of calm, which all young acolytes such as yourself much learn to achieve. By the time you have accessed this holocron, you should have already done so. If not, please consult holocrons of the A-46 series for Basic Meditation Techniques."
"Okay, so there's that. . ." Calen muttered, then a thought occurred to him. "Wait, light side? So. . .there are other sides of the Force?"
"The doctrine of the Jedi Order recognizes two sides of the Force. The light side, as previously described, and the Dark Side. The Dark Side is a perversion of the Force for selfish or evil ends. It, too, is a great power, though it comes at a grave cost." Calen felt that same, familiar chill going down his spine as the hologram spoke of the Dark Side. "The Jedi Order works to eradicate the use of the Dark Side and, when possible, bring users of that power back to the Light. For more on the nature of the Dark Side, please consult holocron Q-55-Sierra-17."
"They must have had thousands of these." Niyasa mused.
"All of the Jedi Order's holocrons are kept in the Library at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. I would recommend traveling there if you wish to know more." Toph's words caused a twinge of pain to go through Calen. This was a man, what was left of a man, who had once been real. Had he been among those Jedi who had died in the Clone Wars? Or even before? Maybe he had been one who had fallen to the Purge undertaken by the Empire? There was no real way to know, but Calen found it more than a little unnerving to think that this was all that was left of the man.
An echo, stuffed into a box for others to listen to.
"I. . .I thought that the Jedi had betrayed the Republic." Calen said, thinking aloud more than expecting a response. It had been what he'd been told. Allies to the Republic who had made their grab for power, and had barely been stopped. Palpatine had become the Emperor and, with Darth Vader at his side, he had saved the galaxy from the Jedi menace.
Had it all been a lie?
"The Jedi Knights have been the guardians of peace and justice in the Republic for a thousand generations." Karras Toph intoned. "If you wish to know more, I would recommend traveling to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant and accessing the historical archives." Calen, feeling sick, slipped into one of those seats lining the wall.
"I. .. think that will be all for now." Niyasa said, seeing the state of her friend. "How do we deactivate you?"
"The holocron will deactivate on its own after a certain time left idle. It may be activated again in the same manner you did before." With that, Niyasa padded over to Calen.
"Are you alright?" She asked.
"I. . .I don't know." Calen said. "There's just so much that doesn't make sense. The Jedi. The Dark Side. I mean. . .I was raised my whole life to think the Jedi were traitors. But to find out that I'm one of them, I just-"
"Well, I mean. . .you aren't." Niyasa said. Calen stopped, staring at her for a moment.
"Huh?"
"We're Force users, not Jedi." Niyasa said.
"What's the difference?" Calen asked.
"There are many different kinds of users of the Force, Calen." Niyasa said. "There are the Baran Do Sages, the Aing-Tii monks. There are many beliefs and many types of beings that use the Force."
"So, which are you?" Calen asked.
"I'm a scientist." Niyasa said. She earned a blank stare. "I believe in the Force, yes. I see the proof that it exists. But I'm also a Mrlssi. It's in my nature to poke and prod and find out how things work. So, in that way, I'm looking into a lot of different systems."
"Like the Jedi?" Calen asked.
"Yes. . .like the Jedi." Niyasa said.
"I was just wondering. . .back on Gesaril, in the cave. You were-"
"Drop it." Calen was surprised at his companion's very flat, final tone. He did, indeed, drop it right then and there. Clearly it was something she didn't want to poke and prod at.
"I just. . .I guess I don't really know what that makes me, then." Calen said. "A few days ago, I didn't even know the Force existed, much less believed in it." He looked over to see the hologram of Karras Toph wink out of existence.
"I suppose, for now, you're an acolyte learning from the lost lore of the Jedi Knights." Niyasa said with a shrug. "If you have to put a label on it at all."
". . .learning from the lost lore of the Jedi Knights." Calen echoed her first sentence. In his mind, he shortened it a bit. "So. . .a Lost Knight, then?" He asked with a grin.
"Trying to start a religion, are you?" The Mrlssi chuckled.
"No, I just think it sounds cool, honestly. 'Lost Knight.' We could totally be Lost Knights." Calen suggested.
"It'll never catch on." Niyasa shook her head, still chuckling. Laugh as he might with her, something about it had a nice ring to it. Ironically enough, for the first time in a while, he certainly didn't feel lost.
"Well, in any case, at least we can learn what we can from that holocron." Calen said. "If Critus is already so far ahead of us, then we should probably try to use any advantage we can get."
"If we can." Niyasa said. "If the Gesaril are right and that Heart has so much power that we don't know about, then we're going to need more than study and practice to take him on."
"Well, for now, let's focus on getting the Alliance and convincing them to do something about it." Calen said.
"Quite right, too." Niyasa nodded.
* * *
"Come closer, Captain Dax." Dax did approach the bed in the medbay, seeing the form upon it. It took everything in him to not jerk his head back in revulsion. "You have secured the Rebels?"
"No, Admiral." Dax said. "Due to the incompetence of-"
"I HAVE NO USE FOR EXCUSES!!!" Ayro roared, immediately followed by a loud bout of coughing.
"Admiral, I must advise you to rest. Your lungs have not completed reconstruc-" The medical droid chattered, but Ayro waved it off forcefully.
"Shove it up your processing unit, you animated scrap heap!" Ayro snapped, the droid rolling out of his strike range once again. The man's remaining whole eye turned on Dax. "You have lost Calen Darkhaven, which means you have lost the map."
"Sir, the map ca-"
"You have jeopardized our entire operation in the Cluster. The weapon for the Emperor may very well be lost. Forever." Ayro said. The eerie calm the man had settled into was. . .eerie. "You will explain now, and your explanation had better be good."
"Admiral," Dax began, "in their escape from Gesaril, they were aided by a member of our own crew." There was a silence, Dax could tell the man was clearly thinking his words over carefully.
"Who is this imbecile?"
"Midshipman Varian Delt." Dax said. "We believe he is a Rebel plant and he's been working to subvert our operations for months now."
"How so?" Ayro asked.
"I am unsure, sir. I do know, however, that it was his access codes that locked out the controls to the tractor beam and the ion cannon." Dax reported. "I have no doubt that he aided him, just has he has aided the Rebels on numerous occasions throughout the Cluster. If there is a chance to reclaim the map, or find out where the Rebels will hide it, it lies with Delt."
"And from the bridge of my flagship, no less!" Ayro's fist slammed against the bed, a bit of flesh flying free from the knuckles. Dax winced, imagining the horrific pain the already angry man must be in. "You will escort a security team and take Midshipman Delt into custody. Have a confession from him within the hour. No excuses."
"At once, Admiral." Dax clicked his heels together, saluting him, and turned to leave.
"And Captain. . ." Dax stopped in the doorway, turning to see Admiral Ayro as he sat up. Exposed in the light, the Admiral's face was a hideous patchwork of dermis, charred epidermis, and even exposed bone in a few places (particularly around an eye that had not fully been restored or replaced with a synthetic). "Do. Not. Fail. Me. Again." He intoned in a dangerously low voice as a bit of his charred skin flaked away.
"At once, Admiral." Dax said, once more saluting and leaving the room as he resisted the urge to vomit.
* * *
"Force, I have never been so happy to see a planet that isn't a barren wasteland or a quarantined jungle!" Calen said as the shuttle fell out of hyperspace and back into realspace, having entered the Karideph system. That bit of happiness fell away, though. The realization hit him that, the last time he'd been here, he'd been with at least some of the crew he'd come to know over that year since he'd left Coruscant. Now, they were gone. Even the Dawn was gone, wherever it had ended up after Pergitor. Maybe, once this was all over, he'd go looking for it again. Even if he was the only member of the crew left, Calen had a feeling Caius would want him to carry on with it.
More to the point, he'd want him to finish this. Tin Daheel was still out there to be found, and answers were coming.
"Working on getting us landing clearance." Tessa said from the co-pilot chair, listening on various frequencies through the comms. "Keep us on these coordinates. That'll keep us off the Imperial sensors."
"Right." Calen nodded, slaving the auto-pilot to the coordinates Tessa gave.
"Well, even once we get it, we might have some problems." Niyasa said. "Seeing as we flubbed up the mission."
"I'm sure that. . .what was his name? Vos?" Calen asked. "I'm sure he'll understand."
"Well, uh. . .that's the thing." Niyasa said.
"What?" Calen asked.
"He. . .didn't exactly give us this mission."
"What?"
"It technically wasn't a mission given by the Alliance."
". . .what?!"
"We told you, we worked for Glin." Tessa said. "He was the one who sent us on the mission."
"Wait. . .so you're telling me you went and broke into the most heavily fortified Imperial prison in the entire sector to save two people and then shot your way out just because he asked you to?" Calen asked.
"No, he gave us a mission that wasn't on the record." Tessa said. "And for the record, you were the one that caused the shooting out. If you hadn't needed to go back for the other guy, we would have gotten out of there without a hitch."
"I'm sure your plan to released every prisoner on the station in one go had nothing to do with that!" Calen shot back, his head half-turning to face her.
"I'm sorry, who do you think you are, fly boy?!" Tessa was learning closer to him. They were almost eye to eye at the moment.
"Someone who really doesn't know what the kriff is your problem!" Calen snapped.
"Now, now, the two of you can go and mate when we've landed." Niyasa chirped.
"THIS IS NOT A MATING RITUAL!" Calen and Tessa yelled in unison. The two suddenly stopped, looking from Niyasa to one another, and then quickly looking away as both turned as red as a dwarf star.
". . sure is pretty out there, isn't it, Rook?" Niyasa asked, looking through the viewport as though she hadn't been on the receiving end of some serious bellowing from the two humans onboard. The Wookiee was making a barking laugh, almost falling out of his seat. Tessa seemed not to notice, instead focusing intently on her station.
"We have the coordinates. I'm putting them through now." Tessa managed out, still not looking away from her console.
"Got it." Calen said, turning off the auto-pilot and moving along the new coordinates.
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