Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance (61 page)

"Yes,
Master Nobil. I believe there is a price on my head. "

"We've
all had one of those, at one time or another, " said Master
Traless with a wry smile. "Don't lose any sleep over it, but do
keep an eye out. "

"Thank
you, Master. I will. "

Shigar
knew what they were trying to say. Don't expect to play this game
without breaking the rules. You've done it once, and you'll do it
again. Get used to it. It was Larin all over again.

The
squabbling of Hutt crime lords didn't worry him in the slightest. He
had much bigger concerns.

"May
I address the Council freely?" he asked.

"I
think you should, " said Grand Master Shan, the first time she
had spoken during the discussion. He had almost forgotten she was
there, standing quietly in the corner of the audience chamber they
had requisitioned. "There's been something on your mind ever
since Sebaddon. "

"It's
true, Master. I'm not sure where to start. "

"Start
with what pains you the most. "

He
had never thought of his new understanding as painful, but he saw
that it was true. It burned in his chest like fire.

"So
many people have died, " he said, "for nothing. Don't tell
me that this is what it's like in wartime, because officially we're
not at war. Xandret and her hexes weren't our enemy; Darth Chratis
was in fact our ally for a while. Yet they are all dead. I see no
sense to it. "

"Go
on, " said Master Nobil.

He
tried to explain himself clearly. "This whole affair is endemic
to the current crisis. The Sith are on the rise. We are on the wane.
The Mandalorians and the Hutts stand between us, creating confusion
and jostling for advantage. Our options are limited. If we do
nothing, millions of people die. If we fight back, we engage with
them at their level. "

"Tell
us your solution, Shigar, " said Master Traless.

"Attack
now. The war is coming-we all know it-so why sit on our hands waiting
for the Emperor to make his move? Preempt him before he has a chance
to consolidate his power any further. Use the element of surprise
while we have it. Don't expend lives for nothing. "

"The
owners of those lives might question the necessity of it, " said
Master Nobil. "There is much talk of how we caused the current
misfortune by making enemies of the Sith in the first place. Starting
a war now would not ease those misgivings. "

"When
we've won the war, people will see the necessity for it. "

"And
if we lose?" asked Master Fane.

"We
must not, " Shigar said. "We cannot. And we will not if we
act quickly enough. With every day the Emperor grows stronger and we
grow weaker. How many spies and traitors erode the fortresses we've
built around ourselves? How many fruitless battles must we fight
before everyone in the Republic deserts us? How many other Sebaddons
are out there, waiting for us? The next one might be the one that
finishes us. "

"Our
mission is to promote peace, " said Master Nobil. "Have you
forgotten that?"

"Never,
Master. But there are degrees of war, just as there are degrees of
peace. An early strike might spare the galaxy from total war. "

"But
at what cost? Remember, Shigar, when you used to argue for justice
for the billions of ordinary people, caught between the two sides in
this conflict? If we act now, their deaths will be laid at outdoor.
Do you want that on your conscience, my young warmonger?"

"No,
Master. That is, I don't-I just-" He looked down at his hands,
so startlingly unburned after holding so much power on Sebaddon. If
he could do it, why couldn't the Jedi Council? That was the one
lesson Darth Chratis had taught him. "I just think it's worth
considering. "

"We
have considered it, " said Master Fane. "And we will
continue to consider it until the proper solution presents itself. "

"You're
not the only one who feels this way, " said Master Traless,
leaning forward. "We have a thousand young Jedi just waiting..."

He
might have said more, but a glance from Master Nobil stilled his
tongue.

"Your
passion is undiminished, young Shigar. You must take care that it
never rules your head. Thank you for your opinions. Come to Tython
and finish what you started. When you are fully installed as a Jedi
Knight, then you may play your part more fully in the times to come.
"

But
what is my part?

He
let those words sit silently on his tongue as, one by one, the images
of the Jedi High Councilors flickered and disappeared.

"We
will go together, " Grand Master Shan told him. "The trials
are difficult. Many try and fail, so I advise you not to be
complacent. "

Her
face was unreadable.

"I'm
sorry if I've displeased you, Master, " he said.

"You
haven't displeased me at all, Shigar. I am simply tired. Like you, I
wish a speedy resolution to these times. "

"But
not through war. "

"Not
if it can be avoided, no. I understand that you don't see it this
way, though. You are a product of your time. "

He
started, recognizing her words from the vision he'd had on Sebaddon.

"I
know what you're about to say, " he said. "I've seen it.
You're about to tell me that I must confront the times ahead with
great care. But I've already said that, so now maybe you won't. "

She
smiled. "It's disconcerting when what you've seen doesn't quite
turn out the way it's supposed to. "

That
was true. The conversation had already headed off in a different
direction, thanks to his intervention. Next she was supposed to warn
him that the Sith were the enemy and that he shouldn't become like
them in order to beat them.

"So
the future isn't always laid in stone?"

"No,
and I am glad of that sometimes, Shigar. " She put a hand on his
shoulder and guided him toward the door. "You will learn to be,
too, I think. "

She
did seem tired. He wished there was something he could do to make her
feel better. But how could he, a lowly Padawan, understand or even
begin to shoulder the heavy load she was under?

Again,
a spark of predestination told him that he was brushing closely
against something seen in the past.

Be
kind, Shigar.

Had
she meant herself all along? Had all his agonizing about Larin been
for nothing?

Then
another thought occurred to him.

Some
roads are harder than yours have been.

Were
the words so far left unspoken for him to consider now?

She
was talking about him.

As
they left the audience chamber, he decided that it was okay to feel
torn. In fact, he should get used to it. There were serious
challenges to come, whether the High Councilors succeeded with their
diplomatic efforts or not. In a universe that demanded black and
white, he would settle for gray.

And
when he passed his trials, he would talk to Master Traless in
private. If a thousand Jedi Knights really felt as he did, there
would be hope when diplomacy failed.

CHAPTER
49

Darth
howl, Dark Lord of the Sith, was less imposing on second meeting than
he had been the first time. He wore a black uniform lacking both
insignias and trophies, and Ax interpreted that to mean he wasn't out
to impress. That he had asked to meet her in private, on his personal
hunting range on Dromund Kaas, she took as a mixed sign.

"Pick
a rifle, " he said, indicating an extensive collection lining
the wall of his study. "Follow me onto the deck. "

Ax
selected an antique weapon with a stock made of bone. Its charge was
full and its sights, perfectly aligned. She bet herself Darth Howl
kept them all that way, and not just for show.

She
was right. The "deck" was an extensive viewing platform
overlooking dense, tropical terrain that had been cleared in patches,
allowing an unobstructed line of sight to the undergrowth. The sun
was at its zenith above the clouds. Conditions were as good as they
would ever be on the Imperial capital.

Darth
Howl rang a bell. Somewhere in the trees, a cage door rattled open.
"I brought you here, Eldon Ax, " he said as he raised his
own rifle to scope the range, "so you could explain to me how
you killed Darth Chratis. "

She
froze. How did he know? She had told no one, and she was sure none of
the troopers on Sebaddon would have understood what had happened that
day. The hexes had killed so many people. Darth Chratis had been just
one of them.

Darth
Howls rifle emitted a sharp, high-pitched crack, making her jump.
Something cried out in the trees below.

The
Dark Lord glanced at her and offered her an eerie, sharp- toothed
smile.

"Don't
worry, " he said. "As long as you're up here, you'll be
fine. "

She
wondered how long that good fortune would last.

"What
makes you think I killed him, my lord?"

"Whenever
a former apprentice returns without her Master, the question asks
itself. It's something of a tradition, although not one you'll hear
spoken of much. First you survive the Academy; then you have to
survive your Master. That's how I earned my reputation, and I presume
that's how you plan to do it, too. The question is: how?"

The
rifle cracked again.

"If
you don't fire soon, young Ax, I'll be forced to assume you've lost
your nerve. "

Ax
did as she was told, raising the rifle and holding it steady against
the ball of her shoulder. She couldn't remember the last time she'd
fired a blaster of any kind. Certainly not since building her first
lightsaber.

She
scanned the foliage through the scope. When a fluffy, dark-eyed head
peered warily out from cover, she took a shot at it. The rifle
produced an odd whining twang but launched an impressive bolt of
bright green energy in the right direction. The terrified creature
exploded into a ball of flaming fur.

"I
used the hexes, " she told Howl, appropriately satisfied, as she
lined up for another shot.

"How
did you get them to do your bidding?"

"It's,
uh, hard to explain. "

"I've
not brought you here to make life easy for you. " Another shot
from his rifle; another squawk below. "You've already told us
about the remnant of Lema Xandret present in all the droids. What did
you call it, again?"

"The
amnioid. "

"Yes.
You mentioned in your report that you and the Jedi Grand Master were
both able to influence the hexes, thanks to the amnioid. I didn't
realize that you were able to do so to such an overwhelming degree. "

"That
wasn't how I did it. "

Her
second shot missed. He was beating her three kills to one.

"Be
assured, young Ax, that I'll get it out of you one way or another. "

There
was no denying the threat now. She sought the same steely strength
Satele Shan had demonstrated on Sebaddon.

"There
was something I omitted from the report, my lord, "she said.
"The amnioid didn't exist solely to control the hexes. It was
designed also-mainly, perhaps-to sustain a child in a Force-free
bacta tank. She was Xandret's child. A clone. "

"Of
you?"

Ax
wouldn't use the word me. She refused to. "Her name was Cinzia.
She believed that I was her. "

"You
talked to her?"

"Yes.
"

"Then
you killed her?"

"No,
but I might have. The Grand Master released her when the amnioid
tried to smother her. She died upon exposure to air. "

They
both fired. At the very same time a bolt of lightning shattered the
gloomy sky into a thousand jagged pieces. The synchronicity was
unintended but impressive.

"When
the hexes weren't operating independently, " she went on, "they
obeyed Cinzia, not the amnioid. Because we possessed identical
genetic codes, they also obeyed me. It was easy to make them turn on
Darth Chratis. "