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Darkness Rising	By : Jarkota Category: +S through Z > Star Wars Rebels Views: 27054 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own "Star Wars" or any characters or settings appearing within. This story is purely for entertainment purposes and I neither seek or make any profit from its writing.

Chapter List
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Star Wars: Rebels
Darkness Rising

Chapter Two:
Unification and Separation
by
Jarkota

Author's Note:
Not a lot to say so I'll make this brief. There are going to be story elements, in this chapter and in the future, which not everyone is going to agree with. And a few I have to take some liberties with to make things read more like a story and less like a Wookieepedia article. But rather than say "It's my story and I'll tell it like I want", I'll ask for some patience. I honestly believe I have a good story here and everything has a purpose in the end. I've had the ending in mind for months and it's all leading up to that, though it will be an untold amount of chapters in the future. Hopefully, you'll all stay with me on this journey and it will have been worth your time.
As to why this was delayed so very long, well, I got married last summer and my new wife and I are still adjusting to making a household function. Coupled with the depression I felt at my Grandma's recent passing and there just wasn't a whole lot left in me that felt like writing.
Lastly, to answer a question from reviewer Alexander Brossart: The reason Maketh is training to use lightsaber is because the group discovered at the end of my previous story, Ménage à Tua, that she was Force-sensitive and she has decided to train as a Jedi to further help overthrow the Emperor. That's the extremely short version, but I have always planned on explaining how she has this ability further down the road.
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The day after the Ghost returned from Felucia, the rebels sat around the common room eating their morning meal, their numbers bolstered by the addition of Togrutan Jedi Master Shaak Ti and her Padawan, the Zabrak known as Maris Brood.
Sabine gulped down a packet of nutrient broth, wishing not for the first time that they could go into town more often to buy actual food instead of the dehydrated ration packs sold in what laughably passed for Dantooine's planetary spaceport. "So," she began, turning towards Shaak Ti, "how did you end up on Felucia and what made you leave?" Hera had pleaded with her to at least be dressed around Master Ti, so begrudgingly the Mando had agreed to put on a white tank top and skin-tight black workout shorts, but no more than that.
The elder Jedi looked up from her own barely-sufficient meal. "Getting there was courtesy of the Emperor. I was on Coruscant when what we now know as Order 66 was given and the Clone Troopers marched into the Jedi Temple, killing everyone in sight. Some Intelligence officers who were still friendly to me helped me get off-world. They told me that Palpatine had enacted a 'contingency plan' called Operation: Knightfall and that all Jedi were now considered enemies of the government." She paused for a long moment, the sadness in her eyes saying more than words ever could. "The only Jedi whose locator beacon I could find still broadcasting was Aayla Secura’s and the signal was coming from Felucia, so I headed there. But I will save the rest of mine for later, since Maris has her own story to tell right now."
Maris nodded. "I was never raised in the Temple; my teacher had different ideas. There was a starship called the Gray Pilgrim, retrofitted to be a mobile Jedi academy. My instruction was supposed to be a secret, since I was being trained for what you would call 'black-ops' missions."
She took a long drink from her water glass, then continued. "Because of the nature of my training, I was never formally brought before the Jedi Council. I had been found by my Master, a man named Rahm Kota, during the early days of the Clone Wars. He was an unorthodox Jedi and felt we couldn't win the war using clones. He considered them too unreliable and unable to think outside of their programming; to him, they were no better than droids. Using the General's commission they gave him he put together his own battalion, made up of an all-volunteer militia, and commanded his fleet from the Pilgrim. I was ten years old at the time. He found me in one of the Outer Rim colonies after the Separatists destroyed my village. He sensed how strong I was in the Force and took me as his Padawan. That was when he retrofitted the ship to allow for my training, which included stealth, infiltration, espionage, computer slicing, demolitions use and disposal, everything a lone operative would need in the field."
Kanan raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like he was training an assassin."
"That wouldn't be an inaccurate description. But Master Kota believed that every possible resource, every course of action, had to be on the table in order to win a war. And so I went though most of my training on the battlefield, holding a blaster and giving him cover fire as soon as he figured I could shoot straight enough." She unclipped her weapons from her belt; each was a long metal shaft with a shorter perpendicular shaft acting as a handle. Ezra recognized the design from the data tapes stored in the Enclave, though they were exceedingly rare even at the height of the Jedi Order. "When he thought it was time, he put me through his version of the Jedi Trials, the end result of which was to survive the retrieval of a lightsaber crystal from a tomb. On Korriban."
"The ancient homeworld of the Sith," Ahsoka said, her eyes going wide.
"I'm not going to defend his choice of tasks, other than it did its job and removed the last of my fears and doubts. But most trying to do that would have gotten themselves killed. He dropped me off at the ruins of an old trade city and I had to pick my way through crumbling, vermin-infested buildings to reach an old Sith Temple. I thought there would have been a crystal there, but of course it wasn't that easy. Once I made it out of there, I was in a desolate, rocky valley, and quickly learned that this was where the ancient Sith had buried their most powerful leaders. There were dozens of tombs, and if I picked the wrong one I knew I would never leave. So I meditated for several hours, trying to let the Force guide me. It led me to the tomb of Tulak Hord and a nest of some rather ugly beasts called tuk'ata. Killing them proved difficult with just blasters and a pair of thermal detonators, but Master Kota had trained me well enough and I merely got a few scrapes and bruises for my trouble. In the main chamber, I found Hord's sarcophagus and several others full of old relics, but no crystals. It took me another hour of searching to find a hidden compartment in the base of the sarcophagus with two crystals inside. I took them both and made my way back to the Gray Pilgrim. Over the next few weeks, we built my lightsabers."
Picking her weapons up once more, she held them by the short handles and turned them on, the bright red blades filling the room with an angry glow. Kanan and Ahsoka glared at her, but before they could say anything Maris switched the sabers off and clipped them back to her belt. "I know what you're thinking; Master Ti has reservations about red crystals, as well. But at the time there weren't a lot of options and there are even fewer now." She finished draining her water glass and continued her story. "Anyway, after that I started being sent on missions without Master Kota, sometimes alone and sometimes with some of his troops, until the end of the war. When that happened, we both felt the the Jedi dying en masse and he left to investigate. He had me set a course for the Yavin system and concealed the Pilgrim in a crater on one of the uninhabited moons. I was told not to move until he got back. Days went by before I heard anything and the message I did get was short. The Jedi Order was gone, the clones had turned out to be the enemy, the Chancellor had declared himself Emperor and a Sith Lord named Darth Vader had helped him kill the Jedi. After I heard that, I took off and set course for the Core, determined to get my revenge."
Shaak Ti spoke up. "I discovered her not long after leaving Coruscant. I made my way to Taris and abandoned the ship I had left the Core Worlds in to try and hide my tracks, but getting passage off that world was more difficult than I had realized. I had no hard currency on me and any bank accounts I had access to were no doubt being monitored, so they were of no help to me. By the Will of the Force I met Maris at a spaceport, refueling her ship. We instantly recognized one another as Jedi and I joined up with her, eventually persuading her away from revenge and asking for her help in rescuing Aayla. When we got to Felucia, however, we learned from the natives that she had died when her troops turned on her. We found the locator beacon not far from where she was gunned down, still transmitting. It must have been triggered accidentally in the attack and the Empire never discovered it."
Ezra leaned forward on his elbows. "Quite a pair of stories so far, but why did you send a distress signal now after all this time?"
Shaak Ti shook her head. "We had no choice. The natives turned on us. First the wild rancors started acting unusually aggressive, then the tamed ones kept in the villages. Then the Felucians themselves began to attack us. We were not safe anywhere. We ran for weeks, always hiding, always on guard. We went to the Ancient Abyss, where the mighty sarlacc rested. It was normally a place the natives avoided, except during times of sacrifice, but they pursued us relentlessly. We had no choice but to call for help. We had already cannibalized the Gray Pilgrim for useable equipment over the years, but Aayla's locator beacon was still functional. It merely needed to be charged and reprogrammed."
Maketh nodded in understanding. "That's why the message was in text rather than a hologram. The limited capacity of a locator wouldn't allow for anything else."
"And why we spent more than two weeks tracking them down. Sending the transmission completely burned it out, and of course Master Ti had to keep moving to evade native pursuit. And it just so happened to come in on one of the few frequencies we set the Ghost's comm to monitor. With that and how garbled the message got inbetween their sending it and our receiving it, it's lucky we picked it up at all."
"Or maybe luck had nothing to do with it." Sabine took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "Maketh....I think we need to tell them."
"Tell us what?" Kanan asked.
The rebels listened intently as Ezra, Sabine and Maketh told their story. The four older Jedi were greatly disturbed by the content of Maketh's vision and more than a little angry about the adventure in the cave. When it was all over, Shaak Ti was the one to speak.
"One of the first things we learned in the Jedi Temple was that there are no such things as coincidences. The storm you described, which so conveniently unsealed that cave, was not typical of this planet's season, and it happened during a time when you three, the ones most likely to go in, were here without supervision. A cry for help, with no apparent sender, takes two of you away from the third, who has what I would call a premonition and then left panicked and alone. The crystal was there to entice and I have no doubt that the cave-beasts were meant to be the end of at least one of you. And none of it would have been remotely possible had my distress call not lured the rest of you away."
Kanan's hands clenched into fists. "Master, I hope you're not suggesting what I think you are...."
"There is no suggestion, Caleb, or whatever you call yourself now. Only facts. And when put together, those facts lead to an inescapable conclusion." She placed a hand on Maketh's shoulder. "All of this was the work of the Dark Side of the Force, and you need to figure out what your vision means."
"Why?"
"So you can follow it."
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Just before dawn the next morning, Ezra, Sabine and Maketh were in their quarters, making preparations for their journey. The limited information they had suggested that the stone structure seen in Maketh's vision was on Dantooine, which further proved to Shaak Ti that there was a deeper purpose than merely luring her into the kinrath cave. Kanan and Ahsoka, on the other hand, were in the central room arguing with the Master about sending the trio on this mission.
"I realize I'm no more than a Padawan in your eyes, but so are they!" Kanan said. "Ezra is brash, hotheaded and reckless and Maketh doesn't even have as much training as he does! What makes you think this is safe for them?"
"Simple: It isn't," Ti replied. "Every Jedi must experience something like this sooner or later. Think of this as Maketh's Trial."
Ahsoka frowned. "The Trials are also to be undertaken alone, as I recall."
"Every Trial is unique, Ahsoka. This one is no different. We need to know what exactly that vision was about."
"Well, why don't the three of us go instead?"
"Because none of us had the vision. Maketh saw it, Sabine was in it, and both of them have a very.....intimate bond with Ezra. It is clear that they must do this."
Kanan opened his mouth to make another complaint when the aforementioned trio emerged, bulging packs over one shoulder and weapons at their sides. For Maketh, this meant a vibrosword across her back and a BlasTech DL-18 pistol slung low on her hip. The crimson of her sparring outfit provided a stark contrast to Ezra's black robes and Sabine's silver armor.
"Save your breath, Kanan," Ezra said, smirking. "You're not going to win."
"You're only saying that because you agree with her," Kanan pointed out.
"Well, you're not wrong." The boy's smirk faded when he saw the genuine concern on his teacher's face. "We'll be careful; I promise. But this is something we need to do."
Sabine gave him a reassuring smile. She set down her pack and helmet and hugged Kanan. "Our little family just got bigger - we're not going to do anything that would make it shrink again."
The earnest smile on the girl's face, as well as those of her companions, seemed to reassure him somewhat. "I still don't like it, but I think we're outvoted, Ahsoka."
The younger Togrutan shook her head. "Looks like it. But if Master Ti thinks they can do it, I don't see how we have much choice."
Shaak Ti placed her hand on Ahsoka's shoulder. "On the contrary. Your opinions are quite valued, Jedi Tano. I may have been on the Jedi Council, but that does not make me the leader of this cell. Rest assured that I am concerned for their safety as much as you are, but one must do what one must do."
"Of course, Master." She turned to the trio once more. "Well, there's no reason to hold you up. The sun will be up soon and you should get going. May the Force be with you."
"There is one more thing," Shaak Ti said. "I want you to take my apprentice with you." As if on cue, Maris came out of her quarters with a small rucksack resting on her shoulders. "She is experienced in dealing with wild beasts and I'm sure she will be of use to you on your journey."
"Well, I can't say I have any objection," Maketh said, "but it is rather sudden. How long were you planning to send her with us?"
"Since I decided to send you three. But I assumed there would be less arguing if I told you at the last minute."
The first rays of sunlight had started to brighten the surrounding prairie. Ezra sighed. "Well, you were right. Let's go, Maris," he said, heading for the exit. The Zabrak girl looked as if she would rather be doing anything else, but offered no objections,
A final round of goodbyes later and the four set out on their mission, determined to succeed no matter what they might find.
Once they were out of sight, Shaak Ti's face took on a much more serious expression. "Now that they cannot overhear, there are things I must tell you. Gather the rest of your crew as soon as they awaken - everyone needs to know this."
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It took longer than Ezra would have liked for them to figure out where they were going. Especially since Maris insisted on taking point and guiding them to their destination. She got them lost twice, sent into a dead-end valley once and even so completely turned around that they wound up on a hilltop from which they could see the crumbling structure of the Enclave. When Maketh suggested that she meditate on her vision to see if it would guide them any better, the Zabrak was most indignant.
"Master Ti taught me how to navigate using the Force. Back on Felucia I could find my way anywhere even if I was bound and blindfolded," she said, her eyes narrowing.
Ezra scowled at her. "Well, we're not on Felucia right now, are we? You haven't been here as long as we have, you don't know the lay of the land and you certainly don't have the same connection to all to this that Maketh does. Let. Her. Try."
Seeing that further protests would yield nothing, Maris walked over to a flat-topped rock several meters away and crossed her arms. Sabine could swear she saw the pale girl pouting.
Maketh stood on the hilltop for several moments, her eyes closed as she breathed in deep lungfuls of the fresh, open air. Eventually, she set her pack and weapons down, sitting cross-legged on the soft grass, letting the breeze waft over her skin and blow her hair around. Sabine and Ezra had never seen her look more beautiful. Maketh let the Force flow through her, feeling every blade of grass, every insect, every bird for kilometers around. Not for the first time felt so very, very small in the grand scheme of the universe, and yet so large because she was a part of it all.
It took thirty minutes before the blonde moved. When she did, she simply pointed. Eastward, towards what seemed to be nothing more than a small valley covered in dense foliage. "It's there. The same presence I felt in my vision. Somewhere, in that valley. Looks like three clicks away." Maketh stood and recovered her gear. Her lovers followed her, with an agitated Maris trailing behind them.
Cutting through the foliage and fighting off a trio of lost and half-starved kinrath, followed by a pair of young kath hounds that seemed overly aggressive, made the trip longer than it should have been. Three hours after they left the hilltop, the valley widened out into a clearing just before dead-ending at what appeared to be a grassy hill. The immediate area was littered with moss-covered stone pillars, some canted at odd angles. Pieces of others littered the ground, unmoved and untouched for millennia.
The group approached the hill cautiously, following the faint, overgrown trail until it terminated at the base. Ezra, Maketh and Maris felt a weak aura emanating from within and ran their hands over the surface. What at a distance had appeared to be short grass was actually a thick layer of moss and vines, and after brushing the foliage away they found an entryway mostly blocked by rubble that they assumed used to be the door. It took the better part of an hour for the group to clear enough of a path to enter the subterranean structure.
"What do you think is in here?" Sabine asked as she lit a glowrod with one hand and drew a blaster with the other.
Maketh closed her eyes. "Something very old."
"And powerful." Ezra added.
Maris shivered. "I don't like it. It feels like parts of Felucia, where Master Ti said the Dark Side had taken hold. The plants grew out of control there and even the normally docile animals were vicious and savage."
Ezra thought about that for a moment. "Do you think whoever wanted us lured into that cave used those areas to force you to call for help? Extended the influence of the Dark Side from one point to the other until it engulfed the planet?"
"It is possible," the Zabrak replied. "But that means two things I'd rather not think about."
"One of which," Maketh added, "that someone is strong enough to manipulate events on two different planets."
Maris drew her arms around her and shivered again. "And the other is that whoever it was knew exactly where both of our groups are, meaning we're not as safe as we thought. And never have been."
Sabine clipped the glowrod to her belt and pulled out her other blaster. “We'd better find whatever is in here and get back to the Enclave.”
The group entered two by two, weapons ready. Ezra and Maris took point. They moved slowly down a hallway, checking carefully for any traps or other surprises the ancient structure might hold for them, into what appeared to be an antechamber or receiving room. The crushed and heavily burned remains of an ancient droid stood near the center of the room with smaller pieces scattered about. To the east and west were ruined doorways and to the south was a surprisingly intact stone door.
Maketh looked the droid over as Sabine and Maris moved to check the doorways. “I've never seen construction like this, and I have seen a lot of droids in my day. I would say this pre-dates even the Old Republic. Appears to have weapons of some sort – compact but powerful. Probably a sentry, designed to make sure no-one got in here that didn't belong.”
“There's another one in here!”
“And here, as well.” Sabine and Maris had, indeed, found two more identical droids in the east and west chambers. Both were near consoles that had been completely wrecked.
Ezra ran a hand over one of them “These computers...it's like they were carved from stone.”
“And quite well, at that,” Maketh agreed, kneeling by the base. “I'd almost say these weren't so much built as poured. Such a feat of engineering would imply a very advanced level of technology. It's too bad these are in such bad shape. I'd love to see what information they held, but I doubt we could even power them on in the state they're in.” She pulled out a scanner and ran it over the surface.
“Definitely stone, but not native to Dantooine. Or anywhere else can can identify. Wherever this came from, it's not in any database – Imperial or otherwise.” She straightened up and brushed the dust from her hands. “Well, we've got one more door to check. Let's see what all the fuss over this place is about.”
Ezra raised an eyebrow. “You're a lot more enthusiastic about this than I would be, Maketh.”
“And why is that, dear?”
“Well, if I'd had a vision that led me to this place, found this Dark Side aura, wrecked security droids and ancient computers, I'd be more than a little scared.”
“And what makes you think I'm not?”
“You're not acting like it. You're acting like you're on a school field trip or something.”
Maketh offered him a grin. “That's exactly what this is like for me. I knew from a young age that I would always be a student, Ezra, even long after I would leave formal schools behind. Yes, this is a foreboding place and I am somewhat apprehensive about what we might find here. But no-one has set foot in this place for thousands of years. Imagine what we can learn, even from these wrecks. What we have already learned.” She took a deep breath. “Long before the Empire or the Republic or any other governing body our history records, another civilization existed here, at least, if not elsewhere. Don't you find that fascinating?”
The boy sighed. “I kind of do, but I'm more concerned about something slithering out of the darkness to eat us, or some ancient security system blowing us to pieces before we can react.”
“He is right to be cautious, and your exuberance should be tempered or it will cause you trouble,” said the ever-dour Maris.
Maketh shook her head. “You're quite aptly named, you know that?”
“What do you mean?”
“Brood. It's all you seem to do.”
Sabine stepped in before the Zabrak could respond. “Let's just get that door open so we can get out of here, okay? I'm not a Jedi and even I'm getting the creeps from this place.”
Putting aside their dispute for now, Maketh and Maris followed the Mando girl to the stone door, Ezra bringing up the rear and keeping an eye on all three other doorways, just in case.
The “door” appeared to be made up of stone bars spaced less than a handspan apart with a control panel on the central bar. Maketh handed Sabine her scanner. “It's fairly thick. About half a meter. Solid stone, same type as everything else in here. There's circuitry in the walls around it but I can't make heads or tails of it. No power readings anywhere.” She squeezed a hand through the bars and felt around. “I can feel the edge of another panel, but I doubt it would work even if I could reach it.” She extracted her hand and put the scanner away. “so... Plan B.”
Maris blinked. “What do you mean by 'Plan B'?”
“She means you want to be over here!”
The Zabrak whirled around and found that Maketh and Ezra had already moved all the way back to the western doorway and were taking cover. “How did you..I mean..”
Sabine was attaching a series of small boxes to the bars. “Hang around with us long enough and you learn when to run and how fast to do it.” She placed the final box and flicked a switch, causing the entire collection to light up. “I'd suggest you start now.”
There was just enough time for the two to duck into the eastern door when an explosion rocked the structure. Pieces of the ceiling dislodged and crashed to the floor, but the integrity held out overall. Once the smoke cleared, a rather neat, almost-circular hole appeared where the door had been.
“That was unnecessarily destructive.” Maris said after a long silence.
Sabine scowled under her helmet. “Sometimes you can't afford to do things the pretty way. You need to get in, get the job done and get out.” The group made their way back to the door, the edges of which they could see were partially melted. A testament, Maris thought, to the potency of Sabine's “hobby”.
In the center of the room they found themselves in was a human-sized black stone structure. Maketh took in a deep breath and held it. This is it; the room from my vision. Now we have to figure out how to open that thing.

Scanner in hand, Sabine walked forward, taking careful readings of everything. As she got closer to the structure, she stopped. No-one noticed Maris taking a step backward, nor the look of fear in her eyes, as if she wanted to run away and never look back.
“Energy readings. Faint, but visible. Pulsing at regular intervals Whatever that thing is, it still has power.”
Her Jedi companions ignited their lightsabers and Maketh readied her blaster.
Sabine reached out and ran a hand along the object. “Different kind of stonework. Still not local material. Some parts are hyper-dense, others are hollow, almost like....I'd call them conduits. The energy pulses I'm reading seem to be following them.” Her voice took on a tone that betrayed her sense of awe. “There's no circuitry here, guys. The power distribution system seems to be molded into the structure itself.”
A few more minutes went by as they tensely watched Sabine check every inch of the structure. “I can't find any kind of switches or levers...how am I supposed to turn this thing on?”
“Maybe you aren't,” Maketh said after a long pause. Holstering her weapon, she slowly walked up to the obelisk. “I had the vision. I'm the one being called here. Maybe it wants to talk to me.” She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, held it and placed her hand on the smooth stone.
Nothing happened.
“Slight change in energy fluctuations,” Sabine reported, “but nothing major. It's still in some kind of standby mode.”
Ezra walked up and looked it over, Maris cautiously following a moment later. “Maybe whatever destroyed the rest of this place damaged it.”
Maris shook her head. “I don't think so. Look around. This room hasn't been touched. No rubble laying around, no cracked floors, no droid remains. No indication whatsoever that this room was even touched by what happened here.”
Ezra placed his hand next to Maketh's. “It feels...warm. Not like you'd expect.”
The scanner pinged in Sabine's hand. “Energy readings just spiked – it's doing something.”
“Doing what?” Ezra asked.
“Wish I knew.” She tapped a command into the control pad. “Readings stabilized, but stronger than before.” She looked up at Maris. “Care to see if three is the magic number?”
The Zabrak girl raised an eyebrow. “You really expect me to touch that when we have no idea what it will do?”
“Well, it didn't do anything when I touched it or I'd help them out. But it seems to like Jedi well enough. Besides, what's the worst that could happen?”
“Famous last words,” Maris grumbled. Despite her reservations, however, she did place her hand on the obelisk.
A moment later, the scanner went berserk. The steady pinging became a long, high-pitched whine and the three Jedi felt a vibration coming from deep within the stone. They jerked their hands away as the middle portion split open into three pieces which folded down towards the floor. Once fully retracted, a spherical hologram flickered to life.
It took only a second for them to realize it was a map.
“It's the entire galaxy,” Maketh said. “Look at the Core. That's Coruscant, right there. Which means Corellia is here, and this would be Felucia, which makes this red dot here Dantooine.” She poked each spot on the hologram to illustrate her point.
“And what about those blue dots?” Ezra asked, indicating four other spots on the map.
“These two are easy – Tatooine and Kashyyk. But this one...” She trailed off and tapped her chin with an index finger, looking as if she was trying to remember something learned a very long time ago. “That's it! Manaan! You don't hear much about it these days, except from thrill-seekers and adventure divers. The entire planet is covered in water, with a few cities and outposts built to float on the surface to accommodate visits by offworlders. They used to be a major trade power in the Old Republic due to their planet being the only source of kolto in the galaxy.”
Sabine asked, “What's kolto?”
“It's a medicine; kind of a cure-all. Heals wounds, kills infections, that sort of thing. At the time it was the best treatment for anything in the galaxy. But the discovery of bacta, which is easier to produce and more effective, pretty much killed off their main export. The native Selkath were never part of galactic politics, refusing to take sides in any conflict or join any governing body. A few ventured out from time to time as merchants or mercenaries, but they mostly kept to themselves and let most of the galaxy go on without knowledge of their existence. That and their rather remote location meant that they weren't even considered as a world to be fought over in the Clone Wars.”
“That's all very interesting,” Maris said without bothering to hide the sarcasm in her voice, “but it doesn't help us here at all. So, mind telling us what that fourth planet is, Miss Know-It-All?”
“Well, if you wouldn't interrupt me, you might find out!” Maketh snapped.
“That's enough!” Ezra yelled. “From both of you!”
He looked Maris right in the eye. “Ever since we started this, you have contributed nothing and shown bitterness whenever someone else does! Shaak Ti and Rahm Kota might have let your attitude slide, but I won't. You need to learn how to be a team player, Maris, and that's all there is to it.”
Then he turned to Maketh. “And you. You've been under a lot of stress lately. I get that. We all have. But this? This isn't you. What happened to the brave woman who risked everything to help out a band of rebels, knowing it could mean her death and fought her way past a legion of Stormtroopers so we could rescue her?” He took a long breath. “Where is that woman, Maketh? The one whose free spirit and iron will make me feel like I have to win my wife back from her every day? Where is the woman who agreed to bear my child? I haven't seen her at all today, and I'm worried about her.”
Silence fell over the room once the echo of Ezra's words faded. Several long, tense minutes went by without anyone saying or doing anything and only the gentle humming of the holographic projector gave any indication that time had not simply frozen.
It was Maris who finally spoke. “He's right. I'm sorry. I've never had to work with anyone before. My Masters taught me things and then I'd just be cut loose, sent to do meditations on the Gray Pilgrim or dropped off in a remote Felucian jungle and told I had to navigate my way back alone. And, to be honest...I'm jealous.”
“Of what?” Sabine asked.
“You. I see the three of you working together and it's like you're the same person. This entire trip I've been nothing but a hindrance.”
Maketh put a hand on the girl's shoulder. “And I could have been more patient. But the last few weeks haven't been easy. Just when I was getting comfortable with the way things are, your distress call and that blasted vision came along to shake things up. And I guess I was blaming you, sort of, since you and Master Ti calling the others away meant I had to face everything alone and was nearly killed in that cave. It wasn't fair to you, and I apologize.”
Ezra exhaled and ran his head through his unruly hair, quite visibly relieved. “Now that we have that out of the way, what is that fourth planet, Maketh?”
The blonde shrugged. “Beats me. It's not on any Imperial chart I've seen. It's possible the Empire doesn't even know about it.”
Sabine sighed. “Well, it was obviously important to whoever built this place. Let me download this and we can compare it with the charts back on the ships. They might yield some answers.” She placed her datapad under the hologram and the screen came alive with a representation of the data stream being copied.
Maris looked at the map for a long time, then at her three companions. You should tell them, a voice in her head was saying.
And what good would that do? she mentally replied. All it would accomplish is that they would go there and probably die.
Like you almost did?
Shut up.
You were afraid then and you're afraid now. Afraid that these upstarts, a bounty hunter and two fledgling Jedi, will be able to do what you couldn't.
Who says I'm afraid?
You do. Every day.
I am a Jedi. We do not fear.
Are you a Jedi? or are you just some mewling little pup who comes running at her Master's beck and call? You don't even have the courage to tell them why you're here.
Watch me.
As the download finished, Maris spoke up. “Wait. That planet. I know it.”
“How?” Ezra asked.
“I was there. Master Kota sent me.” She let the implication sink in. “It's Korriban.”
“No way.” Ezra said.
“I wouldn't lie to you. Not about this. And as long as I'm being truthful....I've seen one of these before.” She pointed at the obelisk. “I went into the wrong cave the first time I went there. In Naga Sadow's tomb, there's a structure exactly like this. It took my four days to navigate the tomb and find it, but I couldn't activate it as we did this one. I made my way out, found the right tomb and spent another three days locating the crystals. But what I saw...it terrified me. I can't explain why. It just sat there, not doing anything, but a part of me could sense that it was very, very evil and that I should get as far away from it as I could and never go back. I never told anyone what I found. Not Master Kota, not Master Ti. Nobody. Until now. And when I saw this one, all that fear came right back.”
Sabine hugged the girl. “And it took a lot of courage to tell us.”
Maris sighed and pulled away, sitting cross-legged on the stone floor. “Not as much as what I'm going to tell you. You won't like it. Master Ti won't like it. I know I don't like it.”
Sabine took off her helmet and sat next to her. “Why?”
“It's the reason I'm here. Master Ti didn't think I'd be able to help you. She knew I couldn't help you. It's what she was counting on.” She looked up into Maketh's eyes. “I'm sorry...but I was sent here to stop you from finding this place.”
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Earlier that morning, Hera and Zeb had met the three Jedi in the dining hall with Chopper trailing close behind. The group sat down and ate a small breakfast before Shaak Ti took a deep breath, let it out slowly and began to speak.
"Even Maris does not know all of the details of this, which is one reason I sent her away. This is a secret that must be kept between the six of us. It goes no further until I say so. Am I clear?" The Ghost crew nodded in agreement. "We should have most of the day to go over this, since I did not tell Maketh where she was going and if I am right it should take them some time to locate it."
Kanan blinked. "Wait....are you saying you know exactly what she saw?"
"Yes. What she described in her vision could be nothing else than the ancient ruins here on Dantooine. They were seldom visited even when the Jedi had a presence here and should be moderately difficult to find now, especially since Maris has orders to delay them as long as possible, which is the other reason I had her to go. With any luck, they will not return for a few hours. And if Maris does her job right, they will never find it." She took a deep breath, then let it out. "Now, what I have to say will not be easier to hear. And it will be harder for some of you than others." She said this looking directly at Ahsoka. "But it must be said."
She took a long drink of water before continuing. "I was there, on Coruscant, the day it happened. Order 66. The beginning of the Jedi Purge. And the attack on the Jedi Temple called 'Operation: Knightfall'. An entire Clone legion marched into the Temple, the place we all called home. You were fortunate, Kanan, to have been offworld. Otherwise you would have been killed, as all the others were." Her voice trembled as she continued.
"It is still hard to think about. The Jedi I had grown up with, trained with and fought beside my entire life, cut down one by one by Darth Vader. Padawans and Younglings were cut down by blaster fire from the Clones, who once were our steadfast and loyal allies. Cin Drallig, Jocasta Nu, Serra Keto, Jurokk.....heralded as some of the greatest of our Order. They never stood a chance. I had been meditating when the attack began and I hurried to the central security station to coordinate the defense of the Temple. On the monitors there I saw the Jedi being slaughtered like animals. No remorse, no mercy, no acceptance of surrender. It was absolutely horrifying.
"The way Vader fought was a horror I hope to never lay eyes on again. He was like the embodiment of brutality. His mastery of Form V was like nothing I had ever seen before. Not a single Jedi, not even Master Drallig, could overcome such raw power.
"But by far the most sickening thing I saw was Vader himself, walking into the Council Chamber where I had ordered the Younglings to stay hidden. He opened the door, walked right up to them.....and killed them. All of them. They were defenseless. No threat whatsoever to anyone. And he still killed them all."
Kanan blinked. "He opened the door? He didn't cut through it or have the Clones blast it open?" Shaak Ti shook her head. "But that's impossible. I remember that door; you had to have special security codes to get in there."
The elder Togrutan look him square in the eye. "And that is the part of this that is so difficult to hear, Kanan. He had the codes."
"But," Ahsoka interjected, "there's no way he would have had them. None of the Clones were ever given clearance that high, so he wouldn't have gotten it from them So the only way for him to have them......" Her eyes went wide. "Master....no.....you can't be saying this."
"I am. The man who entered that room, who led the attack on the Temple that day, who is responsible for every bit of suffering that we have endured for the last fourteen years, was one of our own. A Jedi."
Ahsoka slammed her palms down on the stone table. "No Jedi would do something like that!"
"They would and you have seen them do it, Ahsoka. Count Dooku, Asajj Ventress, even your friend Barriss Offee were all Jedi before the Dark Side corrupted them. Trust your mind, not just your feelings, and you will see the truth of my words."
"That kind of power would be unthinkable. Master Drallig was the best swordsman of the entire Order, better even than Master Windu. I can't imagine anyone who could....." She trailed off, consumed by her thoughts for a long moment, then she gasped. "Master....did you say he was using Form V?"
"I did."
"Which variation?"
"Both."
Tears began welling up in Ahsoka's eyes. "The Clones that attacked.....what Legion?"
"The 501st."
"No.....it's not true! That's impossible!" Ahsoka had lost control of her emotions and was crying freely as her hands clenched into fists on the table.
"You know it to be true, little one." She gently stroked the younger Jedi's head as she looked up to speak to the rest of the group. "Darth Vader is none other than Anakin Skywalker."
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To Be Concluded.....
Webs within webs. Lies and half-truths layered atop facts. I've got one more outing planned for Dantooine, and then the sky's the limit. Hope you've enjoyed it so far.
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Darkness Rising