Star Wars: The Starkiller

= Chapter 12 =

Gat! Gat! Gat! Galder fired off three shots from the blaster pistol he had confiscated from the dead body of one of Faylar’s men. The red lasers soared quickly downwards, scorching the air with the usual smell, and collided with solid ground. Arashan, a deadly hitman who worked for Faylar, had activated his anti-gravity boots and dove off to the side. This gave Quam room to breath, and his lightsabers clashed with Krisha’s.

Battle droids and security men alike spun in place to see Galder, aiming over the balcony’s railing and firing quick bursts. The battle droids began opening fire with their standardized carbines, the bolts exploding against the railing where Galder had been standing mere seconds ago. He had leaped up another floor, just one below his target: Faylar.

“Come here you slimy bastard!” he shouted up to Faylar, as he and his bodyguard scrambled out of sight. He bashed away the firepower coming his way with his lightsabers spinning fast and bright, then noticed the sound of another familiar snap-hiss.

“Galder!” shouted a deep voice. He turned to see Lance Windu with his pale blue blade extended towards him. A Geonosian in Jedi robes stood by him, a yellow blade spinning in his hands. Snarling, Galder prepared to leap again, this time up to Faylar’s location, but in midair his leap was interrupted by a stream of accurate gunfire. Arashan had opened fire, signing his death certificate.

Galder leaped over the two Jedi, who decided that Galder was having enough trouble as it was and did not want to get involved. He landed just in front of Arashan, who backed away extremely fast with his gravboots, sliding backwards without any trouble. Galder flipped over the next stream of gunfire that was aimed at him, landing just in front of him.

By this time, nearly twenty people were firing at him at any one time, and Galder was flipping, sliding, twisting, dodging, blocking, and deflecting through the firestorm while charging down Arashan. He hurled his red lightsaber quickly at the hitman, who threw himself prone to avoid it. Galder called it back, rolling under the blaster fire, and used the Force to yank the repeater from Arashan’s hands as he tried to bring it to bear on the Dark Jedi. The gun came halfway and clattered on the ground, but Arashan had already pulled his backup weapon, a scoped pistol, from its holster and was firing again, trying to reach for his gun. Vwoom! Galder slashed downwards as Arashan snapped backwards. The hitman did not have a firm grip on his repeater, and the gun was divided in two.

“Now it’s your turn!” Galder raged, spinning to the side and slashing at Arashan, driving him backwards towards the balcony’s edge. Galder used the Force to pull Arashan towards him, but the hitman grabbed onto the balcony railing, hanging on for grim death. Eight of his men came rushing to his aide, Galder observed. I’ve got to kill him, now! Galder reversed his use of the Force and instead tried to toss Arashan over the edge. It overbalanced him and he flew over the railing. His eight men rushed to his side, two of them reaching to pull him up, the other six opening fire. Galder speared one of the men helping Arashan up, and the remaining struggled to pull his leader onto solid ground.

Galder tossed a grenade at the group of men surrounding Arashan, who was still dangling over the edge. Boom! While the men were spread out, the grenade did get one of them. That one just so happened to be the one pulling up Arashan. He gave a cry and tried to keep pulling on Arashan, but shrapnel had burned into his back and his grip was loosening. Galder strode forwards and lopped off the guard’s arm. Arashan plummeted three stories downwards, screaming.

“Thanks for wasting my time!” Galder hollered after the falling hitman, watching with satisfaction as the man lay crumpled on the ground a few dozen feet below. He turned and with a few swift cuts dispatched his men.

Vwoom! Vwoom! Chion was bounding up the stairs, taking three at a time, leading from level three to level four, a level below where Galder was now holding off the battle droids. He cut through droids in droves with his massive lightsaber, and then severed a section of the balcony below the stairway to slow the droids considerably.

Galder did not wait for the gargantuan albino to reach him, and leaped up to the sixth floor, out of the line of the battle droid that had been flooding onto level five. There were very few droids on this level, if any at all, and Galder walked casually into the last remaining working lift. It took him up to the upper cargo area, then stopped. Kuylen had sent him a message earlier, saying that he would sabotage the lifts. This was what had just happened to the lifts.

Prying open the doors, Galder emerged, both lightsabers glowing in the darkness of the storage area. The level was a towering maze of cargo crates, piled many stories high. They formed wide and narrow corridors, open areas, and cramped alleyways randomly. Above it all were the cranes and other mechanisms used to move the crates, hanging idly from the ceiling. Galder could sense Faylar’s fear, sense his urge to escape...he was definitely on this level.

The place was unorganized and hard to navigate, so Galder could not find Faylar immediately. Eventually, he came to a door. There was something behind the door, he could tell, but opened it nonetheless.

“Halt,” ordered the battle droids in a monotone voice. Galder pulled the carbine from the droid’s hands and used the butt to crack off the droid’s head.

“Halt,” ordered the next droid. Galder fired one bolt into the droid, destroying it.

“Halt," ordered the next. Galder shot it as well, then saw that the corridor in front of him was crammed full of battle droids, all marching forwards. They began to fire, and he sped wildly in the other direction, firing the carbine blindly behind him. Lasers exploded around him, but none hit. Galder dropped another grenade behind him, scattering the droids. Doors everywhere on the level began to open up, droids spreading into the storage area. Blaster carbines were being fired everywhere, including the two that Galder now toted.

Pelting like mad, trying to sense for Faylar, Galder picked up another presence nearby, and almost ran head-long into the presence rounding a corner.

“You!” Lance Windu shouted, holding his lightsaber out in front of him. He looked every bit as desperate as Galder did, but defiantly stood in Galder’s way. Galder held both blaster carbines aimed at Lance, and it was inevitable that the two would once again engage each other in combat.

“Move!” Galder ordered, taking the aim of one gun off of him for a moment to pick off some droids.

“Galder, I can’t do this right now,” Lance said, picking off droids with his own blaster pistol, the blue bolts colliding with the droids quickly, but not as accurately as Galder’s. “We’ll need to put our heads together to get out of this...”

“You’re out of your mind, Jedi,” Galder said, firing a warning shot which Lance deflected into a droid aiming for Galder. “I’d never work with you.”

“Better than fighting your way through these droids yourself,” Lance retorted, deflecting a few more shots from the surrounding droids.

“I wouldn’t trust you with my life even if it meant becoming a Sith,” Galder hissed. Then, quicker than the normal eye could see, Galder planted his foot in Lance’s face and flipped off, landing a few feet away with lightsabers drawn. Lance shook it off easily, not one to be easily stirred by a kick.

“If you wish to fight me,” Lance said, cracking his neck. “Then your wish has been granted.”

“Good, killing a Jedi today would spur my morale,” Galder snapped, twirling his red lightsaber in one hand, holding his green one parallel to his legs. Lance held his blade out in front of him in a defensive posture.

Galder dashed forwards, eager to start the fight. He jabbed rapidly with both blades, but Lance flipped and corkscrewed over him, landing behind him with a slight slash. Galder spun and blocked, both of them displaying their perfecting timing once more. The lightsabers crackled in a lock.

“Just like on Avalar, only that this time, I shall be the victor, and you shall be the one retreating...”

“We fight to the death this time, for I will not run like a coward...”

Lance twisted his saber to the right and unhooked his from his opponent‘s. Immediately after he slashed up, aiming for Galder's left arm. Galder attempted to block, but threw himself backwards as a quick burst of blaster fire flew past him. Lance attempted to press forwards, but blaster fire also came at him. Two droids now flanked them both, firing their carbines.

Galder snarled and shot at the two droids flanking him, leaving Lance to deal with his attackers. He managed to gun down one, and Lance charged him down while he was performing this feat. Galder countered the charge by slashing for the Jedi’s midsection, but he was knocked off balance by the firm blow he received. Galder made a desperate dodge by throwing himself prone and rolling away, the blue blade melting into the ground. He recovered and rose with a mighty slash, disabling the attacking droid, but Lance had already started moving towards him again.

Boom! A stray bolt had blow apart an ammunition crate, sending burning debris around it. Galder used the Force to toss the flaming wood at Lance while he was approaching. The combined attacks of the flaming debris and the aggressive droids forced Lance to jump out of the way.

Two droidekas rolled into the area with two battle droids behind each of them, leaving Galder with four attacking droids and Lance with five. Both frequently deflected bolts, but Lance started to charge again. Thinking quickly, Galder grinned smugly and deflected the blaster bolts from his attacking droids towards Lance. The incoming firepower was too much for Lance, and his feeble strike was parried with ease.

“Foolish Jedi, you do not know the power that the Dark Side could bring you,” Galder hollered at him as the droidekas unfolded and opened fire with their cannons, emitting the unmistakable low-pitched noise. Crates splintered and ammo burst, lasers racing about in the dim light of the storage area. Their lightsabers clashed again and again in rapid motions, Galder forcing the Jedi back into a narrower corridor of boxes, rather than the now flaming, open area near the lifts. The droids could not follow them, though the lasers continued to skim across their flesh and bounce off their blades.

Galder’s blades flew in, making his signature scissor cut to behead Lance. Lance forced his blade between the two, canceling it, and kicked the Dark Jedi in the stomach. As he kicked, Galder’s right hand reversed itself from the blade lock and swung Lance’s vulnerable left side. The Jedi retreated just as the red blade sputtered through his outer tunic, moving back into the confined corridor.

Less droids means less advantage, but I can still defeat him, Galder thought with glee as he made rapid blows with his green lightsaber, holding the red one high above his head. Crack! Hiss! Crack! The two blades locked again.

“You should not fight with such anger,” Lance said. “Surrender and the Jedi can help you...”

“Forget it, I’m happy where I am.” Hiss! Crack! Crack! The lightsabers buzzed and crackled as they pushed out of the lock, Galder forcing the Jedi backwards further. The Jedi then struck back with an overhead cut, bringing it down on the red blade held over Galder’s head. Galder retreated a few steps, but then brought out a different weapon: his words.

“I remember when I killed your master,” Galder snarled. “All too easy...”

“If you think I will fall for your tricks...”

“I drove my father’s lightsaber directly into his gut and left it there, scorching his flesh...”

“Your sniveling will get you nothing...”

“You shall be joining him soon, I am sure...” Galder locked on his father’s green lightsaber and threw it spinning towards Lance, a blur of light and glinting metal.

But Lance had been subjected to such tactics by him before, on Avalar. He closed his eyes and reached out with the Force, slowing the spinning sword and lashing out. There was a tremendous flash and a shower of sparks. When the light burst finished, Galder’s father’s lightsaber lay on the floor in two pieces. The pieces sizzled and crackled with the dying energy within, the Adegan crystal shattered.

Galder stared in horror and nearly fell to his knees. “No...no...” Galder said in disbelief. “My father’s lightsaber...”

“You should have followed in your father’s footsteps and become a Jedi!" Lance shouted heroically. “The Dark Side has brought you nothing but pain and suffering...”

Galder looked up. “Then you shall suffer with me,” Galder seethed through gritted teeth.

Lance flipped upwards and over Galder, landing behind him and attempting to drive his lightsaber into his opponent’s back. Holding the red lightsaber in a backhanded fashion, he spun and knocked the jab away with an angry roar, then engaged Lance in a quick burst of furious strikes and parries. Galder spun and slashed, parried by Lance, but the strength of the blow forced Lance to backpedal immediately as another slash came. Crack! Crack! Hiss! Vwoom! Lance swung low but Galder leaped over it. Vwoom-oom-oom! Crack! Crack! Sss! Galder twirled his lightsaber wildly, his face distorted by his anger, and swung for Lance’s waist. He blocked the initial blow, but the follow-up attacks caught him, burn across his arm. The Jedi flipped backwards in desperation, somersaulting until he had landed on his feet a few yards away.

Galder could sense that the end was near, that soon enough he would be victorious. The Jedi was tiring, breathing heavily, with two light injuries inflicted by Galder’s blade. Quite the opposite, Galder was in his prime. “Come, Jedi, strike me down...”

Lance rushed in to attack the Dark Jedi. Galder sidestepped easily and as the Jedi made his blow, the tip of his lightsaber caught against the top side of Galder’s block. Grinning victoriously, he lifted up his blade and negated his guard, twirled his lightsaber in his hand, and stabbed forwards. The red shaft of light pierced through Lance’s right side, but he was already moving backwards by instinct, pulling himself free. He attempted to put up his guard again, but he dropped backwards, dropping his lightsaber. Galder could sense his excruciating pain and laughed.

Saying nothing but still laughing insanely, Galder stepped forwards. This time, I shall strike fear into the hearts of the Jedi! Galder thought, lifting his blade to finish Lance off...

An entire column of crates began to topple towards Galder, who threw himself backwards, away from his prize. No! What bastard could have done that? Galder thought as he landed on his back and rolled to his feet.

Kak! Kak! Kak! Kak! Kak! Kak! Someone, from high up, had begun firing a very rapid succession of highly accurate shots. Galder deflected them in no particular direction, waiting to see who it was. Battle droids and droidekas did not have such weaponry, and Faylar’s guard would probably not attack him directly if he did not know where they were. Frowning with thought but still angry from losing his chance to kill a Jedi, he leaped upon a small stack of crates.

The figure was moving downwards, surprising to Galder. It was a large man in worn clothing now descending from a harness attached to the crates that was approaching him. He dropped to the ground, sporting untidy hair and a scar across his right eye. All the time, he kept Galder under intense fire.

Galder could sense the hatred and contempt whirring about in the shooter’s tiny brain, and that his left arm did not appear to be living in the Force. Before he could contemplate, the man, obviously a bounty hunter, extended his left arm forwards. Six small compartments slid out, and with a few metallic clanks and thuds, Galder found himself spinning about with a foot-long extremely sharp spike impaled through his left arm, nearly pinning him against a crate. He gave a shout of pain and agony and pried it from his arm, which was now bleeding profusely.

Galder charged, his face visibly showing his intense anger, deflecting the blaster bolts as he went. The hunter shook his head in disgust and fired the harness upwards. With a loud chunk it hit something, probably the ceiling, and he started to rise very quickly into the air. As he went, he plucked a crate from a pile with his mechanical arm and dropped it on Galder. Sensibly, he dived out of the way and began a hasty retreat, but not before a blaster bolt scored a hit on his leg.

<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

Galder sat in the cockpit of his starship, soaring through hyperspace, gloomily awaiting a message from Kuylen. His arm was bound as was his leg, the bacta having acted fast but left the new flesh relatively weak.

It had been a week since the conflict on Damagran, but Galder was depressed. He had not killed the Jedi he had defeated due to Balek, and then was roundly beaten by the hunter’s accurate blaster fire and mechanical enhancements. After retreating, droids had flooded him and he had nearly been swamped by the robotic soldiers. Luckily, on the other side of the battle, Chion had driven his lightsaber through Faylar’s sniveling and frightened body while Quam handled the bodyguard. Chion’s large foot had crushed the droid code box, shutting them down.

But this left Galder on a low point. He had achieved nothing by himself, other than defeat the Jedi. The fact that he had not killed him left its mark on his mind. He did not have time to worry about it, though, as now it was time to scatter. Disappear. Flee. Gather his resources and stay low. Low until the Galaxy had lost track of him. Invisible among its innumerable stars. Hidden on Hoth.

“Incoming transmission” read one of the screen in the cockpit, which all glowed an eerie blue. Galder tapped a button, and the transmission flowed into his cockpit.

"Do you want to know the secrets of the Sith?" asked Kuylen. "Then meet me on Malastare in three months, and I will tell you how." The transmission ended quickly, as Kuylen’s messages usually did.

“The secrets of the Sith...” Galder thought wearily, yawning. “A tempting offer...”

<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

A blizzard was roaring outside of Galder’s home on the remote world of Hoth, but he was relatively warm and safe inside.

“Almost finished...” he muttered to himself, tinkering around through a bag of supplies that once belonged to his father. The pieces of his father’s lightsaber sat in front of him, pushed together as if it was still in one pieces. Galder was working on a cylinder that was quite similar to it, attaching buttons and a belt loop and other doohickeys that it needed. “And...it is complete.”

He stood and held the cylinder out in front him, pushing the activation button. Snap-hiss! A blue shaft of light shimmered in the diffused lighting of the workshop. It was the first lightsaber that Galder had ever built, modeled after his father’s.

= Chapter 13 =

As Galder’s ship landed on Malastare, a core Republican world that he would never have normally gone to, he summarized what had happened with him in the past three months.

It had been three months since Faylar was eliminated brutally on Damagran. The Damagran Confederacy that had filled up the Dark Jedi’s lives for a half-year was far behind them, deteriorating under the blockade formed by the Republic. The Dark Jedi had little to show for it; the Red Lance clan that was once their ally had died off or turned against them, their base of Jaglon Beta was lost, their millions of credits in gold all gone to pirates or Shareth, and the Monastery destroyed with only a hand-full of the tablets removed from the now buried Archives. It all seemed very fruitless.

Since their names and appearances were well-known to the authorities, though not easily recognized on the streets, the Dark Jedi had been trying to recover their mysterious anonymous identities, covering tracks and severing links, destroying secret stashes after gathering their things from them. They had spread out and used their talents and the natural obfuscation of the Dark Side to remain in the Galaxy’s shadow. They were out of sight, out of mind.

On top of all this, their plan still held. From Avalar they had recovered plentiful navigational data, which could tell them the location of other Sith sites, probably none as informative as Avalar, but interesting nonetheless. Kuylen was always knowledgeable on such things due to his stint in the Jedi Archives. He seemed to have somewhere specific in mind, and, as Quam could tell them, it had something to do with a long-dead Sith Lord named Demnos.

The problem was that the data was useless gibberish, made into nonsense by the heavy encryption of a dead language. It was incomplete as well, and trying to follow it was pointless. But Kuylen seemed to have the answer to that waiting for them on Malastare.

Galder stealthily snuck through the streets, remaining in the shadows of Malastare’s night life. No one recognized him after his disappearance, and he moved quickly. He found his companions in an alleyway downtown, having followed the beacon that Kuylen had put out through the transmitters he had given to each and every one of his disciples.

“Greetings Kuylen,” Galder said with a nod, seeing his leader in the alley, still wearing the military uniform. “I have arrived...”

“Who’s this?” Kuylen asked, looking to the looming figure behind him.

“Rura Ta, a trusted friend of mine,” Galder replied uneasily. “He has been helping me remain hidden these past three months.”

Kuylen speculated for a moment, then said that the Kaminoan could stay. The strange and oddly large Rura had served in the Southern Naadal Army, Galder told him, and they could use some backup firepower in any situation.

“We are not here to start a riot, Galder,” Kuylen interrupted with a knowing look.

With Kuylen was Chion, his Twi’lek pilot and Quam, as well as a face that Galder recognized from training on Dordellus. He was tall, middle-aged, with graying hair pulled back into a small pony tail.

“Takuan Soho,” the aging man dressed in brown greeted, shaking Galder’s hand.

“Good to see you again, Takuan,” Galder replied. “How’s Dordellus been?”

“Quiet and damp, though as of late I have been out in the Rim.” Takuan was moody as usual, but it was not nearly as noticeable as Quam’s getup and ever growing sarcastic enthusiasm. He was dressed as a Corellian crime lord in lavish robes of purple and gold, his Tommy blaster hidden underneath, next to his lightsabers.

“What did you find out on Tatooine and Naboo, Master?” Quam said mockingly. It was obvious that his friendship with Kuylen had been damaged over the past three months, or maybe something had happened to him that would make him hate their leader.

“Rumors, nothing more,” Kuylen answered. “The mighty Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn was indeed killed by a lightsaber-wielder. A Dark Jedi, no doubt.”

“Where is he? I’d of thought you’d recruit such a man...”

“He is dead, killed by Qui-Gon’s apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi. A waste.” There was a pause. “On different note, we are here to see a man named Kir Ascar.”

“I’ve heard of Kir,” Quam piped up. “A businessman who made a fortune and moved here. Keen historian too, avid collector of Jedi memorabilia.”

“He helped me find Avalar,” Kuylen added with a nod.

“So maybe he can help us again,” Kuylen’s Twi’lek pilot said. She was green-skinned and, as usual, seductively attractive. Galder mused on a few fantasies for a fraction of a moment before Kuylen spoke again.

“We are going to speak to Ascar. And I mean speak, nothing else. We will not threaten him and certainly not use violence. Ascar is too useful to kill. He is well guarded. His security system is extreme. If we murder him on Malastare the Jedi will be on us in an instant. He has many powerful friends who would come after us. And he is harder to kill than he looks. Clear?"

Confused at Kuylen’s even-handedness, the Dark Jedi slowly agreed.

"We just talk."

A transport was hailed and they were driven to the richer section of the downtown area, where wealthy Gran businessmen walked the streets enjoying the pleasures of a civilized society. Humans were among them, but more rare than Galder had ever seen. The transport dropped them off, and they walked through the sophisticated part of town. Galder felt self-conscious about it, for he had never had a sophisticated life.

They stopped at a humongous skyscraper, tall enough to rival Coruscant or Nar Shaddaa. According to Kuylen, it was all Ascar’s. “Ascar is more than just a businessman, he’s one heck of a gambler, too. He deals with the Hutts regularly, virtually as an equal. There are a string of Republican regulations that should stop a man building such an empire on gambling proceeds but a man like him knows the ways around them. It’s with is fortune that he acquired his collection, and it’s his collection we are interested in.” Kuylen walked towards the foyer, the motley crew of Force-users following him. Quam had vanished, obviously not interested.

The lower area of the building was really more of a garage than a reception area. There are well-armed guards around- some Grans, some Dugs, and some human- but they seemed to ignore the Dark Jedi as they marched past, into the reception area. Airspeeders were lined up around, and a number of officers are nearby.

“Wow, these are nice speeders,” Galder noted. “Ascar sure has some fine tastes...“ He pointed to a red, torpedo-shaped, enclosed speeder that was very shiny, with chromium plates in some areas, identifying it as a Mobquet A-1 Deluxe. He rubbed a hand over the hood of a lavender JG-8 luxury landspeeder was developed and manufactured by SoroSuub, known for its ornate bodywork and its lack of maneuverability. A green-blue Gaba-18 airspeeder, distinguished by a pointed nose cone and a long, rounded cockpit, sat next to the lift.

Kuylen stepped into the lift. “Just talking, remember?” Everyone agreed, and the lift shot to the top floor.

“What if Ascar does not deal with us or pulls something?” Galder asked.

“Then I guess we’ll be able to use our skills,” Takuan replied as if he had already heard it. He was much stronger in the Force than Galder was, but certainly no champion in swordsmanship.

The lift opened up on the top floor, the floor and walls done in a tasteful red with a warm, shaggy carpet. A pretty and young receptionist, sitting behind the welcome desk and doing her nails, was approached by Kuylen.

“I’m here for Ascar,” Kuylen said simply.

She nodded, not taking an eye off her nails. “Please wait a few minutes. You may take a seat.” Kuylen sat, his left hand fidgeting constantly, the female Twi’lek pilot on his left, Chion standing due to his size on his right. The rest just milled about, waiting for a few minutes before they were buzzed in.

Kir Ascar, a well-dressed by aging gentlemen, sat waiting in his office, looking upon the Dark Jedi keenly with an intelligent but rather unsettling face. "Kuylen," he said, as the doors slid closed behind them. "What an unexpected surprise to see you again..."

"Seeing as you wouldn't come to me," Kuylen said. Both men seemed wary of one another, but Dark Jedi should always be wary.

"Well, of course not," Ascar replied matter-of-factly. A museum of sorts was far to the left, with display cases and stands and the like. Most of the objects were of Jedi relation from the pre-Republican era, which made the collection valuable to an extreme. Not even the Jedi themselves had many artifacts from such a time. A suit of Jedi blast armor was set up against a wall, posed in a battle ready position by anti-grav generators, as if a Jedi was contained within the delicate suit and holding his lightsaber in a high guard. Numerous other things, devoid of dust due to a unique cleaning system, must have cost a fortune to find. The most notable one to have been that way was the ancient lightsaber that Ascar kept in a glass case. It was covered in dust, but it was the only thing that was. All the while, Galder’s instincts told him that something within the display was useful to the Dark Jedi, if not just him.

“So, how was Avalar, Kuylen?” Ascar asked politely, his hands clasped on his desk.

“You know damn well how that was,” Kuylen replied with a hint of annoyance.

“I followed the news, but that doesn’t tell me the whole story.” Ascar remained cool and controlled despite Kuylen’s attitude towards him. “Certainly not how the Jedi found your base on Jaglon Beta. That shows infallible instinct. I warned you that uncovering the Archive would have unforeseen consequences.”

“I can deal with consequences.”

“Did you recover anything before the Order’s untimely intervention?” Kuylen nodded and produced one of the tablets that had been snatched from the Monastery, the surface smooth and black. Ascar tossed it around his in hands curiously, then held his hand to the back. The Sith letterings illuminated his face and twinkling eyes, and he seemed to be reading what was inscribed.

“Interesting,” Ascar said. “Though ultimately rather irrelevant, especially without the set.”

“You don’t want one for your collection?”

“I think that would be unwise in the current climate.” Ascar turned his curious gaze to the rest of the Dark Jedi, looking upon each one. Galder felt uncomfortable for a moment, sensing something strange about Ascar’s mind, but the thought left his mind when Ascar asked if all of them had been on Avalar.”

“No, I was...not involved,” Takuan replied, arms folded underneath his coat.

“Ah...well, Kuylen has never been quite free with information...”

“I tell them what they need to know.”

“Do you mind?” Ascar said, and Kuylen motioned for him to continue. “Avalar is a myth,” he resumed, talking to Takuan. “Or at least it was; I had some idea about where it can be found but your Master here had the will and resources to find it for real.”

“I’m their leader, not their Master...” Ascar brushed the comment aside and continued to tell Takuan the story of the Monastery, from the humble beginnings of the monks to the brutal end at the hands of Darth Bane.

“That Archive could tell us everything it was to be a Sith,” Kuylen interrupted. “We could have taken their power and ruled the Galaxy.”

“But sadly no longer, I hear!” Ascar said. “Because you only got part of it before the Jedi arrived, and part of it is useless, and the rest is gone.”

“There are other ways...”

“Of course, and that is why you are here...” Ascar turned his gaze on Takuan and Galder again. “I see you like my collection?”

“Of course,” Galder replied, viewing the lightsaber. “Where’d you get that? It would be hard to get it from a Jedi, let alone the Order itself.”

“The lightsaber belonged to a Jedi many years ago. When he died he left it to his family, and it eventually found its way onto the private market. I would, of course, have no part in owning a saber that had been stolen from a Jedi. The Order would obviously want it back.”

Galder nodded, slightly disappointed in the story behind the lightsaber. He continued looking through the collection, then found something of great interest. His instincts had brought him to a halt in front of a security case that seemed to contain a brass sculpture. Upon further inspection, he figured that it was mechanical in some way. Most of it was decorative, but small representations of planets not unlike a vast orrery, done out in miniature. Sith writings covered it, but the only one Galder recognized was good old “Avalar.”

“Look, are you going to help me or not?” Kuylen asked. Ascar turned back to him, the calm expression not leaving his face.

“You got the maps from Avalar?” Kuylen nodded. “Where do you want to go?”

“The Mausoleum.”

“Demnos’ resting place? But of course...let me see the data.” Kuylen retrieved a small disc from his pocket and gingerly handed it to Ascar. “Now, if you shall excuse me, gentlemen...” Ascar rose from his desk with the disc and retired to another smaller office in the corridor of doors behind him. A young man with muscular build and extremely blonde hair emerged from the door with two guards behind, giving a nod before moving towards the entrance to the corridor. He eyed the Dark Jedi warily with slight contempt as Kuylen wandered over to Galder.

“Must be some sort of navigational device, maybe to other Sith sites and academies and such...” Galder suggested to himself.

“It’s an astrolabe,” Kuylen told him. “A Sith astrolabe. And you are right, those are worlds with connections to the Sith. The astrolabe was used by the Sith to navigate from world to world- if you had the maps. Which we do.

"There is one of these in the Jedi Temple, but it is broken. Even the Jedi Council is not aware that Ascar has a working one. And it's the only one I know of anywhere in the Galaxy.

"I don't know how to use it, though Ascar does, of course. But if we can persuade him to give it to us I am certain we will learn. Or if not, if he just gives us the one location we need, that will do." Kuylen looked up at the man watching them, obviously unwilling to speak about alternatives to persuasion while being watched.

"Have any of you ever heard of the Mausoleum of Demnos?"

“Can’t say that I have, though I’ll guess that Demnos is a Sith and the Mausoleum is on some remote world...”

"Demnos was indeed a Sith Lord. As in Darth Demnos. But he predates Avalar by many millennia. And unlike Avalar which was a rumored myth, the Mausoleum is solid fact. The Jedi always knew of it existence but were never able to destroy it.

"The story about it says that Darth Demnos killed himself in a ritual ceremony that made him become one with his final resting place. He did so because he wanted, after death, to be able to teach new Acolytes. The story says that if a being worth of the call of the Sith approached the hidden location of the Mausoleum, the spirit of Demnos would make it appear to him, and he could go inside and learn.

"So much for the story; such a selfless motive does not befit a Sith Lord. Anyone who has studied the Mausoleum comes to the same conclusion; that Demnos was murdered by his own apprentice who then used the name as a rallying call to gather followers. But the rest of it is almost certainly true; you could never find the Mausoleum by error. I am sure you remember the mirror tests. The Dark Side has a way of knowing its own. Finding the Mausoleum is our new priority. If we can locate the damn thing."

Kuylen turned to Galder. “Where is your ship?”

“In orbit. Why? Are we going on a little day trip?”

"One thing I do know is that the Mausoleum is a long way outside the Republic. A long way. The hyperdrives in your ships, and mine, won't be good enough. We're going to have to grab some long-range drives and have them fitted to the ships, which won't be very cosmetic but is very necessary. There's a depot in orbit we can get some from, though it will have to be very smash and grab."

Galder smiled. “Smash and grab, my favorite.” He leaned in and whispered so that Ascar’s men could not hear him. “Killing allowed?”

“I doubt the security there will just let us take the drives, though we will have to do a thorough job of eliminating all records.”

At this point, Ascar reemerged from his office, smiling.

“Well?” Kuylen asked.

Ascar sat behind his desk. “Interesting, in a purely academic sense.”

“Then can we have the astrolabe?"

Ascar twiddled a pencil in his hand for a few moments as the man who was watching them approached his side. “No.”

"Care to give a reason for that?"

"Aside from that Astrolabe being one of the centerpieces of my collection?" Ascar leaned forwards. "It's no longer safe to deal with you, Kuylen. Before you were a dead man, and dealing with dead men is always easy. But now not only are you very much alive, you and your cronies are some of the most wanted people in the Republic. It's not worth the risk of dealing with you. No archaeological interest of mine balances against the risk of a Republican investigation. Frankly, Kuylen, I think you were foolish to come here. You should return to the Rim."

Galder furrowed his brow. “We’d find more use for it than you would...” he said, glancing at the bodyguard with contempt.

“I’m not leaving Malastare until I get what I came for,” Kuylen said firmly.

Ascar sighed. "There is still a lot of the Jedi in you, Kuylen. It's infuriating. Very well, if you insist on staying here until you are found and hunted then I will not obstruct you, but nor will I allow you to put me in danger. Unless we have other business to discuss, or you have anything else I may be interested in, then I would ask you to leave. I have a busy schedule as it is."

"What will it take to get the astrolabe from you?"

Ascar chuckled slightly. "You have little to offer me any more. No artifacts from Avalar, and your money is all gone. You're an interesting man, Kuylen, but that's all you are."

"I'll see you again.” Kuylen meant it, Galder could tell. He would not let Ascar’s response be the final answer.

"Well, if you have anything that would interest me then please do not hesitate to call. Until that time, stay away from here. Persis will show you out.” Ascar indicated to the tall, blonde man nearby, with a noticeable gun in his holster, who then opened the door leading back to the reception area. He motioned for them to leave, and Kuylen motioned for them to obey.

As Galder walked past, he tapped Persis’ gun. “I’ve got more guns than you.”

“Why don’t you draw them, and see how well you do?” Persis replied, glaring with open hostility.

“If you want to die...”

“Persis!” Ascar called to his bodyguard, gently but with a wizened tone. Persis turned to the older man, who shook his head. Persis became unhappy, but dropped the attitude and followed them out the door.

“If you have any business with Mr. Ascar again,” Persis said. “you can leave your weapons with Majora here. No exceptions.”

“Fine hotshot, whatever,” Galder said, spitting at the blonde’s feet.
Chion extended a finger next to him and stroked a side of Majora’s face, who smirked back at him. Galder raised an eyebrow and started to say something, but bit his tongue and kept moving until he had entered the lift with Kuylen.

“Get your stuff together. We will get that astrolabe. In the mean time, we will get those hyperdrives.

= Chapter 14 =

BOOM! An explosion echoed loudly throughout the public depot, hitting no one but startling everyone. The explosion from a incendiary grenade started to set fire to its surroundings, and a fire alarm sounded. Security began moving everyone out, blasters drawn and looking for a culprit.

Galder had tossed the grenade, and now, sticking to the shadows, had his twin blaster pistols drawn and aimed for the head of the security guard insisting Kuylen that he should leave.

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be leaving soon,” Kuylen said, waving his hand and strolling to one side. His eyes flicked to a security camera, the red light flashing on and off.

Clang! Blast doors around the area closed tightly, with only ten or so security guards in the immediate area.

Beep! The camera turned off.

Pa-ping! Pa-ping! Galder strode forth from the shadows, firing a shot from either blaster and gunning down a security guard with ease. The security guards turned to take aim at Galder, but found that their guns were no longer in their holsters. Takuan grinned at waved at them, igniting his lightsaber. Kuylen and Chion both drew their lightsabers, their mentor’s fast-draw slash cutting down a man immediately next to him.

As shots ricocheted around the room, reflected off lightsaber blades or hitting the blast doors, Galder caught sight of ten slots on the roof sliding open. A swarm of lightly armed spheres descended on them, the nippy things firing shots on their first target in view: Takuan. The Dark Jedi deflected as best he could, but he was not accustomed to this sort of them. Galder shrugged and ran over to Kuylen.

“Plan?” he hastily asked as Kuylen retreated towards a wall and reflected lasers away from him.

“Make sure no one escapes!” With his lightsaber he motioned to security guards attempting to use manual overrides on the fire doors.

“Consider it done, Master,” Galder nodded, then raced towards the doors. Eight of the spheres firing upon Takuan moved in on him as he gunned at the escapees like a maniac, taking down one. Three of the remaining turned to him, firing their pistols in attempt to take him down.

Kuylen moved behind cover and closed his eyes, and they all felt a strong emotional release from him as he became an indistinct and speedy blur, hacking down spheres unlike anything Galder had been able to achieve.

Holstering his blaster pistols, Galder igniting his lightsabers in a fast-draw style, like Kuylen. It was now the first time that Galder had used a lightsaber of his own design in combat. Seeing as his father’s green blade had been shattered, he constructed a saber of his own, inserting a blue crystal his father left behind into the hilt. The blue flashed out next to the red of Pazol’s lightsaber, and he began his spinning moves and crazy attacks.

Using the Force, he pulled one of the security guards towards him, skewering him on his new blue lightsaber. The red deflected bolts and Galder kicked off of the body on his blade, propelling himself backwards and spinning, hacking through a guard’s chest. Another flip through the air and a dropping grenade took down the rest, and he spun to disarm the last, then kicked him into the blast door.

As alarms sounded all over the place, Kuylen moved calmly to the large blast door where the parts were stored. Galder and Takuan walked over to him, having completed their task of mopping up the security.

“Done,” Takuan stated curtly, deactivating his saber and placing it at his belt in one smooth motion. “Now what?”

“Right...” Kuylen looked back to admire the work, then proceeded with the explaining of the plan. “Get in there and get those hyperdrives out. Then I want a couple of thermal detonators to destroy everything else in there, so no one knows what we took. Fast!"

Takuan ran off to place his thermal detonators while Galder marched triumphantly through the molten hole that Kuylen had carved, the onus of moving the drives belonging to him. He found the drives just fine among the mass amounts of technological junk, but there were no means of moving it easily.

“Chion, Rura, care to give me a hand?” he asked as the lanky Kaminoan and the lumbering alien stomped in behind him. Rura attempted to shove the drives, though it achieved nothing, but Chion stood by and mocked him.

What is with this nutter... Galder asked himself as he tried to help Rura. Still the drives did not move.

“These things won’t be very aesthetic went we strap them on,” Takuan noted, moving in to see what was taking up his time. Takuan studied the drives for a moment, then a flash of Force-induced genius took over. “These got here some how...maybe something can move them elsewhere...” He turned to a large door. “Saber it open.”

Galder nodded, giving him a queer look, but cutting it open nonetheless. Takuan walked through, motioning for Galder to wait there. Quickly and quietly he ran back out, taking out his comlink to rejoin the Twi’lek pilot at the control room. Galder’s comlink crackled.

“Take out the cameras with your rifle,” Takuan commanded. “Just in case.”

“Alright.” Galder snapped a different gas cartridge into his rifle, setting it to ion cannon. He took aim at the cameras and quickly took them down. “Done.”

“Now the security devices.” Galder totaled them.

“Done.” Hammering sounds echoed in the silence of the room. “Hurry up, the security is getting through in less than a minute.”

Soon enough, a droid rolled out of the door that Galder had sliced open. The bulky thing rolled on treads towards the ship parts, grabbing a power core and heading towards the docking bay.

“Blithering idiot!” Galder cursed into the comlink. “He’s moving the wrong thing!” The droid stopped. Galder raised an eyebrow as the loader let the power core hit the floor with a resounding clang.

“Did that do it?” Takuan asked.

“Hardly. He dropped it, but doesn’t put us anywhere near our objective.”

The droid turned about and grabbed a hyperdrive.

“Now?”

“Success. Let’s get out of here.”

Following the droid, three hyperdrives were soon onboard Kuylen’s ship, in the cargo hold. “You’re late,” was all Kuylen said before getting in. He was not interested in explanations. He just wanted the job done, and it was.

= Chapter 15 =

“I have Edna off-world doing a job for me that may well get us some new allies, but I will have to wait to hear from her.” It was merely an hour after their raid on the depot, but they seemed unconcerned and were moving on with the plans.

Galder shook his head. Why send Edna to make friends? he pondered. If anything, she’ll probably get herself killed... “That cuts us down one man.” Galder took a small package of brown Magravian spice from a pouch on his belt and took a sniff. It burned his nostrils, but almost immediately he felt his mind become more honed, more concentrated. “So Ascar has the maps copied? I wonder if he would seek out the Mausoleum for collecting purposes...”

“Somehow," said Kuylen, "I don't believe that a place that reveals itself only to those who wish to learn of the Sith would hold much interest for him."

“If that is true," muttered the pilot.

"Of course it is true. And he didn't seem at all interested when I offered him what artifacts we found there. He's become too cautious.” Kuylen nodded to himself, then turned to Galder.

“Incidentally, Galder, do you want to hear some amusing news I heard? Apparently Pelloran- you remember our old 'dear' friend Pelloran? In charge of the pirates back at Jaglon Beta? We'll have to kill him one day. But I hear he has set a bounty on all the Jedi that were on Jaglon. Can you guess who has picked up the contract?"

“Probably that jack-ass that kept me from killing Lance on Damagran,” Galder said, spitting on the ground. “I’ve got something to settle with him...”

“Yes, Balek. And he won’t give up either. Thought you might be happy to know that.” Kuylen got closer to Galder. “What do you think we should do?”

“About Balek? Stay together! He whooped my ass when I was flying solo...”

“I mean about finding the Mausoleum.”

“Well, we can’t threaten him. Stealing it would be great...”

“Stealing would be good, if it were possible. Threatening has to be our last resort...I am more interested in blackmail...”

“Blackmail, huh?” Galder took another whiff his spice before slipping it back into the pouch. “What did you have in mind? Dirty things from the HoloNet? Altered messages?”

“A man like Ascar doesn't get where he is without having a few skeletons in his cupboard,” stated the Twi‘lek pilot. "The very fact he makes money out of gambling is dodgy. Malastare is a big gaming world- pod races and all- but it is strictly regulated. There are severe limits on how much one person can bet. But Ascar sends a lot of business out to Hutt space; from half the Galaxy away they make bets on what goes on here, and Ascar profits from that.

"But as far as I know, it's all fireproof. I'm not even sure if he is technically doing anything illegal. Certainly no one has ever gotten anything on him."

"Oh, he's doing something illegal," Kuylen said. "He's a careful man, but maybe some of the people working for him aren't. People like Persis."

“I think I see where you’re taking this...” Galder said, point to Kuylen. “He may have done some things that weren’t exactly as legal as Ascar likes to be.”

“Persis is more of a thug, you see,” Kuylen continued. “All those armed guards in Ascar's place...they are most likely Persis' men, not Ascar's, who is just a businessman, after all. We don't even need something that Ascar has ordered Persis to do; Persis might do a fair bit in his own right that would embarrass Ascar if it was blown open."

“Could we find something like that?” Galder inquired. “Should be easy with someone like him...”

“You mean like you?” Takuan hissed. Galder gave him a quick glare, then turned back to the others.

“We've hardly had the time," whined the Twi‘lek girl, flicking her lekku over her shoulder with annoyance. "Look, either we make an attempt to grab the thing or we get out of here. There is no point us just hanging around!" Kuylen was silent for a moment.

"We stay," he said firmly. She rolled her eyes, but Galder was to preoccupied with her slim figure to notice any other facial expressions she made. He snapped to attention when Kuylen snapped his fingers, however.

"I have an address I want you to watch; you might find some useful information there. You'll need to stay quiet; can you do that?"

Galder nodded, but said “You shouldn’t roll your eyes, girl. I should kill you for ditching Takuan at the depot...” He reached forwards to attempt a weak choking effect through the Force on the Twi’lek girl’s throat...

Whum-clash! The Twi’lek babe had drawn her lightsaber, crimson in color in contrast to her green complexion, and swung for Galder’s outstretched arm, but Kuylen’s blade had jumped forwards at great speed and blocked the crippling blow. Kuylen shook his head at the pilot, and she switched off the weapon, casting Galder an angry glare.

“You’re cute when you’re angry,” Galder teased, staring her in the eyes with a arrogant smirk. “I could kill you faster than you could fly the Kessel Run...” The Twi‘lek continued her scowl, but Galder brushed it aside calmly and turned to Kuylen. “What address is it Kuylen?”

“You’ll find out when you get there. Take a taxi speeder...”

“Anything we need to know before we get there?”

“Don’t draw attention to yourself...”

“Roger.” Galder led the others that were going with him to the street, where he hailed a cab easily and hopped in.

“Take me to this address,” Galder ordered the Gran driver, waving a datapad in front of his three eyes to show him the address. The Gran muttered something in Granese, something of a warning about going south of the river, but Galder just gave him the cold shoulder after he was sure he knew where he was going.

<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

The building that Kuylen wanted them to watch was massive. It took up a city block, which was rather large on Malastare, with the exception of a few odd shops and alleyways stretching out from it. No doubt it was made to accommodate large portions of members from around the city. Taxi speeders pulled up every once and awhile, and beings, mostly Grans, stepped out, dressed in a simple gi and toting a wooden katana.

“Must be a fighting dojo,” Takuan said, crossing his arms.

“Perfect...” Galder said, flexing his knuckles before walking inside. The door slid open before him, giving him easy access to the public building. Approaching the front desk, he cast a glance around uneasily at all the Grans. He did not like Grans, they were often hired hands and thugs that he vivisected on occasion, if said thugs were sent to tear him limb from limb.

He tapped the buzzer on the front desk. “Excuse me...?” The Gran woman at the desk turned from her work on a computer screen to him with a welcoming smile. I’ll be damned, why couldn’t they have hired an attractive human girl for the job? Galder pondered, but put up his best act.

“Yes, sir?”
“Hi, could you tell me about this place? I’m looking for the local dojo...”

“This is the one! Teshan’s sword dojo! May I help you?”

“Yes, could you tell me a bit about this place? I may be interested in taking a few classes...”

“Well, Teshan teaches all sorts of sword-fighting here...why not go to the visitor’s balcony and take a look? There are leaflets...”

“What’re leaflets? Is that some kind of plant?”

“Stairs, sir.”

“Oh...right...” Who the hell calls these things leaflets? He shook his head as he walked away from the woman up to the balcony, Takuan right behind. Heading through another set of doors, they emerged onto the flexiglass-walled balcony overlooking a gargantuan sword-fighting dojo.

“It’s beautiful! Now why did I not come here before...” Galder wondered aloud.

“Maybe it is because you are a wanted man throughout Republic space...” Takuan interjected.

“Quiet you,” Galder hushed him, then continued looking down upon the Grans and humans sparring. But something made him uneasy about the place, and looking at the walls, he realized what.

“You don’t suppose Teshan was a Jedi, do you Takuan?”

“I do not know, why?”

“Look at the walls, painted in blue.” He grabbed Takuan’s pony-tail and positioned his face so that he was staring directly at the Jedi symbols that were plastered all over the walls.

“Do you think there are Jedi here?” Galder asked, the question intended for Takuan.

“I don’t sense anything out of-” His comrade was cut off by the Gran from the desk. She was smiling another ugly smile.

“No," she answered, "but Teshan used to be a civilian instructor at the Jedi Temple- he helped teach the young kids. He retired and came here to open this place! Him being an ex-Jedi instructor is rather good publicity, see. Interested? He's a great teacher!" Galder turned back to the Grans clashing against the humans as an organized battle unfolded beneath him. Those who were declared dead by the instructors lay still in their spots while their slayers were tallied for points.

“I might be interested. How do I pay for the lessons, if there are any?”

“We take payments through banking accounts.”

Galder shrugged while Takuan asked where Teshan was teaching currently. He had no banking account. Being a dangerous criminal meant no interest earned for his credits monthly. “I think I am too low on credits right now. Maybe another time.” The Gran walked away. “Close one, Takuan.”

“Indeed.” Takuan watched as the musashi clattered against one another. “I would still like to talk to Teshan, though...”

Galder nodded, taking particular interest in a duel happening in the middle of the floor.

“That must be Teshan,” Takuan said. “He has center stage currently.”

“Must be. He is the older, more skilled one...” The two individuals that Galder was watching in the dead center of the praxiskrieg were sparring harder than the other students. One fighter, speedy and jabbing, continued his onslaught on what Galder judged to be an older man with more experience in the art of swordplay, for the fighter’s target parried nearly effortlessly, though not as effortlessly as Galder would be. The young one jabbed for the chest, but the master knocked the blow upwards, then sidestepped the next two jabs before jabbing himself, clacking neatly into the chest plate of the practice armor.

“The old one is good,” Takuan avowed.

“The young one has potential,” Galder retorted, rubbing his currently unshaven chin. The kriegspiel reminded him of a similar fight that occurred just outside of Bestine, in Beggar’s Canyon. Of course, this fight he had just viewed had completely different results. “But I could kill both of them as I can scratch my ass...”

“I am sure you could, Galder. No one can argue against that.”

“Damn straight.” The younger one stepped back, tossing down the wooden blade with frustration before pulling off his combat mask, only to reveal another mask.

“Check it out,” Galder said, giving Takuan a nudge.

“What do you think it is?” Takuan asked after a few moments of studying the mask.

“Some sort of apparatus, no doubt...” The combatant continued to strip off his armor, it revealed an all-over suit. It was an ugly brown, with a diamond-shaped piece of electrical equipment fused to the chest of the suit.

“Odd looking thing, I wonder what it is,” Galder wondered. Takuan remained silent as they both attempted to sense the being’s mind. It seemed elusive, almost as if it was not there...

A Gran, still fighting his opponent, accidentally stumbled into the path of the mysterious, suited person, and the mind suddenly flared with anger, fully sensed to both of them. Takuan took a sharp intake of air as he was taken aback by the rage from the suited man. Galder narrowed his eyes at the being, who pressed a button on his chest and accepted the apology the Gran spluttered as he cooled down.

“I think we should have a chat with this...thing...”

<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

Galder twiddled his fingers on his blue lightsaber before swinging open the door to the cloak room. “Damn, he’s not here.”

Takuan was still quiet, though he had tagged along while Galder stalked the strange being. He was flicking through some promotional literature for the dojo that he had picked up on his way.

“You think maybe he knew we were following him?” Takuan suggested, still reading.

“I would find that odd.” Galder took out his comlink. “Rura, have you seen the strange, brown-suited being pass through the front?” The response from the Kaminoan was negative.

“It appears that Kir Ascar pledged a huge donation to Teshan to make the building of this place possible,” Takuan informed him as he rummaged through the armor for some signs of identification, which was fruitless.

“Do you think it has anything to do with the suited guy?” Galder asked.

“I am unsure...” Takuan tossed the paper down, crumpling it in midair with the Force. “Something is going to happen...something soon...”

Galder stood to full height, closing the locker door gently before placing his hands on his hips. “This pledge doesn’t sound like the business man we met.”

“Part of his interests?”

“Perhaps, perhaps...”

<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

“May I speak to Teshan, please?” A local law enforcement officer had entered the dojo.

“Certainly.” The man that Galder and Takuan had been watching, and were watching now from behind a crack in a door, removed his helmet, revealing him to be elderly. Takuan tried to get a better sense of what they were talking about by using the Force, but they were interrupted as a staff member approached them, asking why they were in a members-only area if they were not paying members of the dojo. Takuan distracted him while Galder received a report from Rura via comlink.

“What is it, Rura?” asked Galder as Takuan questioned why Teshan’s dojo replicated the Jedi Temple’s interior.

“The local police are arriving in numbers, Galder. Be careful.”

“I noticed this man in a brown suit...is he a regular?” Takuan asked the employee.

“One of the Mogarians? Oh yes, he’s a regular. He joined two months back.”

“Thank you...” Takuan motioned for Galder to come with him to exit to dojo, slipping through the gathering crowd out the front door. They stepped past the police men running up the steps, thankfully unarmed, Takuan drawing up his hood and Galder staying behind him.

Galder came up behind Rura and drew him to the alleyway across the street. “What is going on?”

“I don’t know...” Rura said. They all watched as seven or so police officers headed back into an alleyway, which they began to seal off.

“Something happened back there...” Takuan whispered uneasily. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this...”

“So do I...” Galder smacked Rura on the back. “Go find out what happened, eavesdrop or something...” The lanky alien had no choice but to obey, so wandered off towards the dojo, disappearing inside. Soon after, they received a message on their comlinks.

“He’s calling the Prefect, Galder. That’s the damned police commander of the entire section this planet!”

“I know what a Prefect is you ditz, keep listening!” Galder turned to Takuan. “Well, they can’t be looking for us. We haven’t even been back there...”

“We should try to find out what happened from an officer...” Takuan said.

Galder pushed him out of the alley. “Then go for it!” He slid one of his blaster pistols out of his holster in case something went wrong, deactivating the safety mechanism. Takuan came back after waving his hand in the face of one officer.

“It seems there has been a murder.” Takuan stared hard at Galder for a moment, and Galder caught the gist of it.

“It wasn’t me!” Takuan shook his head and looked over to the police again.

“Maybe we should stick close to all this Prefect stuff, we might find something out.”

“Not likely. I don’t even know why we are watching this damned place...”

“The Gran didn’t just drop dead there, he’s connected to the training building. We should’ve gotten to that Mogarian first. He did seem like more than a normal student...”

The Prefect arrived in a grand air speeder, painted black with Malastarian colors in the form of stripes. He shook hands with other police officers as he transpired the speeder and headed to check out the crime scene.

“Hmm...I’ve got an idea...”

<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

Galder opened the back door from the cloakroom, but quickly closed it again as he caught a glimpse of the Prefect. He was ordering everyone out of the alleyway, and that the crime scene remain untouched. To ensure this policy, he ordered that no one enter without his express permission. Not even the officers themselves.

“Is it clear?” Takuan asked.

Galder waited a few moments as the police shuffled out. “Clear.” Blaster pistol out, he slipped quietly into the gloomy alleyway. One wall was part of the dojo, year-old carved stone, but the other wall was of the other building next to it, cracked and decrepit. Galder quickly glanced around, walking stealthily in the shadows. A first glance found the body of the Gran leaned up against the wall. A second glance found his other half, which included part of the chest, his right arm starting at the shoulder, and lower.

He’s been cut clear in half! Galder realized. Casting a cautious glance at the police, who Takuan and Rura were distracting with a blitz of questions and uses of the Force, he got closer to the bisected corpse and began investigating. One thing was immediately and blaringly obvious, since the large wound was cauterized.

It’s a lightsaber wound! Galder panicked, his instantaneous response being “Jedi.” While he did not know much about Jedi mentality, he was sure they did not butcher innocent people in dark alleyways on major Republican worlds. Some of his panic left him, but the fact that someone with a lightsaber killed the Gran still remained.

A piece of flat wood was near the body, heavily burned. Upon a closer look, Galder identified it as a musashi from the dojo. The other half, with the hand-guard and leathered grip, lay a few feet away, equally as burned. This Gran was in a lightsaber duel armed with a wooden sword...who would be stupid enough to do that? Galder sensed someone coming, and quickly ducked back inside the cloakroom.

That Mogarian...he was out of here in a hurry...could it have been for another reason on than us following? Galder thought, tossing around ideas in his head. I wonder if maybe that Mogarian did him in...

He met up with Takuan and Rura outside and filled them in.

“Could it have been one of Ascar’s minions? Persis or Majora?” Takuan asked.

“We are in need of blackmail material for Ascar...perhaps that is why we are here...”

“It sounds as if the Gran was either exceptionally stupid or he figured out that his weapon was useless a second too late,” Rura alleged. “The killer would have to have Jedi reflexes, like yourselves.”

“Hmph, like someone with such powers would be stupid enough to commit a murder next to a fighting dojo...” Takuan snorted.

“I don’t know, Persis seems pretty stupid to me...”

= Chapter 16 =

Galder, Takuan, and Rura left the lift and came to Ascar’s receptionist.

“Hello there, Majora,” Galder greeted. “Still as pretty as ever...”

“I don’t seem to remember you making an appointment...” Majora said, who had just finished painting her nails and was now looking at a color supplement.

“Thanks for the warm welcome,” Galder replied sarcastically. “I know Quam is here, we need to speak with him...”

“Mr. Ak-toh is talking to Mr. Ascar, which he made an appointment for, which you did not,” Majora continued, not looking up as she applied a stroke of the color supplement to her fingernails.

“Do I have to be a suave Corellian or a hulking albino to get any attention around here?” Galder asked with obvious annoyance. Ignoring whatever Majora said next, he stomped past her and into Ascar’s office.

Busting in, he found Quam and Ascar just finishing their talk. Persis, lounging on the other side of the room, immediately leaped up, a large pistol drawn.

“You no permission to be in here!” he shouted. “Get the hell out!”

Rura and Galder narrowed their eyes, glanced at each other, and nodded. As Galder had worked out with his partner in crime before, Rura reached forwards with his slight use of the Force to pluck the blaster from Persis’ hand while Galder slung his multipurpose assault rifle from his shoulder and took aim, fingering the trigger to the grenade launcher and resting another solidly on the main trigger.

Persis, however, was not impressed by the gesture, and shrugged it off. Pa-pat! Pa-pat! The thug let loose two shots, one burning neatly into Rura’s chest, the other skimming Galder’s shoulder. Galder got closer, pressing the nozzle of the rifle to Persis’ forehead while the bodyguard pressed the barrel of the pistol to Galder’s gut. Behind the two, Takuan ignited his lightsaber, looking on with anticipation.

Ascar stood with an air of authority. “Stop this at once,” he ordered, the volume of his voice unwavering. Takuan nodded to Quam, deactivating his lightsaber while Quam nabbed a few data discs off Ascar’s desk. Then Takuan stepped back to check on Rura, who was just laying back, surprised that he had been shot.

“Get away from him,” Persis commanded, but Ascar waved him into silence.

“Drop the weapon,” Ascar repeated to Galder, who was frozen in position, resisting the temptation to blow Persis’ brains out. But eventually, Galder pulled back, lowering the rifle but giving Persis the finger.

Persis moved to shoot Galder as he flipped him off, but Ascar shouted to him as well. “Persis! You as well. Lower the gun.” Persis obeyed, just as readily as Galder had, which was not very at all, but was at least happy that his shot was good. “Check him.”

Persis kneeled down next to Rura, purposely bumping into Galder before getting there. “He’s alive. Shall I finish him?”

Ascar rolled his eyes at his security man. “No.” He called to reception, meaning Majora.

"Majora, call Dr. Kiergard. Make the standard arrangements, no questions asked." He looked over to Galder and Takuan, showing no emotion. "The Doctor will take care of your friend. And that will be the end of the matter. I have no intention of making enemies of you people. And I would ask you to leave now, please. Mr. Ak-toh, you will excuse me, but I have much to do. I am afraid this has all rather upset me. Maybe we can meet again later."

"Oh, what, so now we pay to stitch up this moron?"

"That will do, Persis."

“Hey, you shot, so you pay,” Galder hissed. “At least it’s not coming out of your paycheck...”

“Gentlemen, this petty insulting gets us nowhere. Please leave us. We will have your friend taken to a private clinic.”

Galder and Takuan met Quam in the lift, leaving the injured Kaminoan behind with the businessman, the ditzy receptionist, and the violent bodyguard.

“Good display, gentlemen,” Quam smirked. “That ought to rile them up a bit.” He flashed the two a glimpse of the data discs he had swiped from the desk. “Perhaps we can get some blackmail out of these.”

“I think we have some material already, Quam,“ Takuan notified. “We think Persis committed a murder next to that dojo that Kuylen told us to watch.”

<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

“Kuylen here. What do you have for me, Galder? Keep it brief; this channel could be monitored.”

“There was a murder next to Teshan’s dojo, the one you told us to keep an eye on. Death by lightsaber, since I got a close look at it. Also, Ascar made a very generous donation to the dojo. I would have stayed longer, but the police were acting strange and there wasn’t much else to see.”

“A murder?” Kuylen was interested, Galder could tell. “Very well.” Kuylen dictated an address for Galder to meet him at in fifteen minutes. “Keep this line closed until we meet. Kuylen out.”

“Galder out.” He closed the channel.

<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

As the taxi drove, the trio tossed around ideas as to what had happened.

“It is a wonder to me that he defers to Ascar at all,” Quam said, clasping his hands, elbows on his knees, hunched forwards to whisper with Galder and Takuan. “He seems independent enough. Why does he not head his own organization if he has all those men?”

“He was damned fast as well, nearly drew as quick as I did,” Galder added. “And that is saying something.”

<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

Galder and Takuan slipped into the shadows of another alleyway, Quam having disappeared into the crowd upon arrival at Kuylen’s rendezvous. Chion loomed above Kuylen, standing behind him in the dank darkness, the Twi’lek standing on his right.

“Galder,” Kuylen welcomed with a nod. “Tell me what you think of things.”

“Well, I am almost positive it was Persis that committed the murder. Did you know he could use the Force? We went back to Ascar’s office, but Persis shot Rura saying that I had no right to be there when Quam was already there...”

“Ascar is taking Rura to his doctor,” Takuan added.

Kuylen did not look one-hundred-percent pleased. “So now Ascar has Rura? And you think that would make our position stronger, did you? I'm warning you, Galder, no risks will be taken to save his life. I will not allow him to be used as a hostage; he is of no value to me now

"I warned you about using force against Ascar. His position is more secure than it looks, though he gets moody if I tell anyone why. Though it seems Persis isn't hiding things as well as he used to, so Ascar can hardly blame me for speaking about that. He is indeed trained with the Force; he is most likely our killer as well. He uses the dojo to train himself- with an ex-Jedi instructor doing the teaching there, it's a way for him to get around having no teacher. You never knew Teshan, did you?"

"Nope, I've never even been in the Jedi Temple, remember?" Galder replied. "I was trained by Pazol on Tatooine after I left Hoth..."

"But that's not the point! Why would Persis kill an innocent student at the dojo? Seems too strange...speaking of strange, the cops around the scene of the crime seemed very odd. They left everything as they had found it; completely untouched.

“I would like to get a closer look at the body, due to curiosity. There could be other evidence there that we could use against Ascar."

"Take me there," said Kuylen. "We will take a quick look. But it must be said, Persis may need no reason to kill anyone. He is that sort of man."

<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

Galder began to approach the dojo again, preparing to make his way back to the cloakroom. Kuylen had hung back because he knew Teshan would recognize him if he was spotted by the swordsman, so Galder had gone ahead alone, as before.

He was marching up the steps, preparing to enter the dojo, when a small police speeder parked just outside. Galder recognized it as the Prefect’s, since he had seen it earlier.

Oh not again... Galder thought, hopping down the steps and making his way to the alley across the way, where Takuan sat crouched.

“More police?” Takuan asked.

“Yes, why are those bast-...”

“Wait...“ Takuan cut him off, sweeping his hand through the air at Galder. “I sense something...someone...strong in the Force...” said sense soon entered Galder’s mind, who crouched low in the shadows.

Emerging from the speeder was the Prefect and his six officers, but they were not alone. This time, a few more bodies emerged from the vehicle, and the Dark Jedi discovered who they were sensing. It was a group of human beings and a Geonosian, all wearing Jedi robes.

"Fallen Jedi! On Malastare of all places! What are things coming to!? Of course, you people must be livid..." ranted the Prefect to the Jedi accompanying him. Unfortunately, Galder recognized every single Jedi in attendance, with the exception of a woman wearing typical Jedi attire. His eyes flicked back and forth between each Jedi, remembering them well.

Kellan Gundark. The Jedi Master who had been hunting Kuylen since their first meeting on the Damagran moon of Jaglon Beta. She tossed a coil of her blonde hair over her shoulder as she followed the Prefect into the alleyway.

Xeth Tam. The stupid bug of a Jedi had joined the Jedi on Damagran, defecting from a job to work up a case against Shareth the Hutt for the Taloraanian government. Over his Jedi robes was the light plating of Geonosian blast armor, a sonic blaster slung over his back, two pistols and a lightsaber at his belt.

Mah Ar’cor. Another Jedi of notable pain-staking combat ability that had challenged Chion and Quam in Faylar’s headquarters. The tall, light-footed fool had his lightsaber in hand as a precaution, nearly as paranoid as Alik Saar would be.

Then, Lance Windu. Oh how I hate him so! The ire in his mind grew, but he was careful enough not to feel too much anger or the Jedi would sense him. He won’t escape me next time I fight him... The towering black Jedi, his black hair short and a thin line of a beard sprouting on his face, brought up the tail end of the group.

Galder furrowed his brow, trying to figure out who the other Jedi Master might be. “I ain’t never seen him before,” Galder said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. He pressed a button on his comlink, sending an alarm to Kuylen.

Kuylen advanced to their position, staring in the direction of the Jedi until they had disappeared into the shadows of the crime scene. “Come on,” was all he said after a few minutes, taking them back deeper into the shadows of their own alley.

“Kuylen, what are they doing here?!” Galder asked, realizing that Kuylen was debating what to do about the situation.

“I..." Kuylen hesitated. "It must be that cretin Persis...damn!"

"Nice one," said the Twi’lek, having joined them when Kuylen rushed in. “Well, that's about that, then."

"No. We stay. We will get that Astrolabe!"

“You mean we will," argued the pilot guy. "Seeing as you are off again. Aren't you?"

"You should watch that tongue of yours. Lest I cut it out. Yes, I am leaving, and you," he said, pointing at the Twi‘lek, "are coming with me. I need to sort something with Edna. But I will send help for you people. Until then, stay low and do whatever it takes to make a deal with Ascar. Threaten to reveal to the Jedi that Persis killed that Gran. Get anything on him you can. Force some sort of deal with him. I don't care! Give me time if nothing else; we might be able to force the issue soon."

“Is Chion staying?” Galder asked quickly before Kuylen began to walk away.

“Yes, he is.” Kuylen began to walk away. “I am off to Belseraphon. Edna is there. I will send help, as I said.”

= Chapter 17 =

Majora looked up from her nail-filing and directly at Galder for the first time since he had met the receptionist. However, she seemed alarmed to see them, and ushered them towards a private lift that would lead them out.

“I take it that I cannot speak with Ascar right now?” Galder asked with slight curiosity.

“We don’t have a lot of time, and we really must speak with him,” Takuan said, even as she pushed them into the lift, joined them inside, and pressed the button to take the lift down.

“The Jedi are coming to see Ascar,” Majora whispered, as if someone might be atop the lift and listening to her every word. “What are you still even doing on the planet?”

“Unfinished business,” Galder replied, narrowing his eyes for a split second. “How’d they find out about Ascar?”

They've found out from Teshan about the collection and think you are here to steal it. They are coming to our 'aid'. We can bluff it out but there must be nothing to connect us with Kuylen here, understand?"

“Do they know about us?” Takuan inquired.

“No, and let’s keep it that way!” The lift stopped at the bottom. “Go!”

Galder stepped out, Takuan behind him. “Expect us later,” Takuan said in parting, pointing to Majora. “We will be here...”

<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

Galder sat further back in the alleyway, spying on the Jedi with electrobinoculars as they took their time investigating the crime scene and talking to Teshan.

“They have no reason to suspect anyone but me,” Galder thought aloud with a confident thought that his reputation was growing. “They have no idea about Persis...”

“Unless we tell them, which we cannot, unless Ascar does that yield to the blackmailing...” Takuan said, sitting in a meditative position as Galder spied. He opened his eyes for only a moment and flicked them to the space craft that had just arrived. “They are leaving.”

“Thank you for your obviousness...” Galder quickly took a pistol-shaped device from his utility belt.

“You’re not going on a rampage, are you?” Takuan asked.

“No, just keeping track of our friends...” He opened another pouch on his belt and removed a small, black object, no bigger than a coin. He slid open the chamber on the pistol-like device, placed the object inside, and slid the chamber shut. Chink! The object was expelled from the silencer-enhanced barrel, a brass casing jiggling on the cement. It hit the starship dead on without a sound, or at least not one that could be heard above the roar of airspeeder traffic overhead and the trafficking of the public.

“What was that?” Takuan questioned.

“Tracking device. Now we’ll know where they are...” Another item was produced from his belt as he placed the small launcher back in it. Switching it on, it told him that the tracking device was across the street, as it should be. The Geonosian Jedi, Lance Windu, and Mah Ar’cor stepped inside the craft soon afterwards, the Prefect joining them. Master Gundark and the two unknown Jedi got in the Prefect’s speeder and made for Ascar’s building, as Takuan had guessed.

A few minutes later, the tracker indicated that the shuttle had landed at the depot.

“They must be on to us,” Galder noted.

“We left no evidence at the depot,” Takuan said. “They are just making vague guesses...fools...”

<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

Takuan and Galder shuffled into a bar, the former pulling his hood down before walking in, but quickly pulling it up again.

“Outside!” he whispered urgently to Galder, stepping backwards into him.

“What?” Galder asked, but Takuan slapped a hand to his mouth and pointed to a monitor that was displaying the local news of Malastare. A Gran in a nice suit was reading off a data pad.

“If you see these individuals, please report them to the authorities as soon as possible,” the newscaster read. “They are armed and dangerous, having committed numerous crimes and murders. Do not try to apprehend them yourselves. The Jedi on Malastare are hunting them down.”

A picture of Kuylen, from his days as a Jedi, appeared on screen. He was posed with a purple lightsaber ignited in a vertical guard. “Larios Kuylen” was printed beneath the hologram. Then another hologram appeared. Chion’s mug shot from a prison camera, though it showed him slowly crushing someone’s ribs with a closing fist. Next one. Quam, from an old news article, him being hauled away from a bar by Corellian police. Final one. Galder saw a short clip of himself caught on camera as he attacked soldiers on Naadal.

“At least they got my good side,” Galder said with a haughty expression before leaving the bar as the murmuring began.

<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

“Mogarians come from the airless world of Mogar- 'airless' is a colloquialism; there is an atmosphere there but no oxygen. Oxygen is toxic to a Mogarian; even the touch of it is caustic. Mogar is a world rich with natural precious metals but Mogarians rarely venture off-world due to this slight problem of interacting with others...”

“Takuan, that doesn’t help us at all!” Galder yelled. “We need to find something about Mogarians that will help us prove that the one at the dojo isn’t really one.” Galder and Takuan were back on the Raging Reek at the shady dock they had landed at. To be cautious, they were giving the Jedi space and finding information that could help them blackmail Ascar. So far it had been fruitless.

Takuan ignored him and continued reading. “When they do leave, they wear these sleek, all-over body suits in a brown color, inside of which is the atmosphere they need to survive. The suits must be complete as otherwise the oxygen would kill them quickly. Because of this, they speak through voice synthesizers built into their chests, so you never hear a Mogarian’s true voice.”

“Anything else?” Galder asked impatiently.

“Yes.“ Takuan turned to Galder.

“Well?“

“Mogarians are pacifists; it has never been recorded for one to become a Jedi.”

<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

Hiding among the speeders in Ascar’s garage, they watched Master Gundark and the other Jedi leave. The Jedi Master looked in their direction, apparently having sensed something, but Takuan clouded her senses as best he could with his strong connection to the Force. She shrugged it off and kept up with her companion.

As soon as she had left, they came out of hiding. Galder smugly grinned at Majora, but she ignored him.

“Told you I would be back,” Takuan hissed at Majora.

“Like a bad credit,” Majora replied, narrowing her eyes at him. “Well, you know the drill. Leave your weapons here and go on in.”

“I do not possess or use weapons,” Takuan said, attempting a mind trick on the receptionist.

Majora rolled her eyes. “Even if you hadn’t drawn it earlier, I know that all of Kuylen’s people use lightsabers. You can leave it with me.”

Takuan forked over his lightsaber, and Galder slowly discarded his weaponry: two pistols, his Southern Naadal assault rifle, his two lightsabers, and a large knife.

“Did you ask the Jedi for there’s?” Galder rasped.

“As it happens," said Majora, "Persis tried to take them. Ascar intervened to let them through. He has less reason to think the Jedi may try and kill him."

“We would never think of it,” Galder chuckled before heading up.

As before, Persis was sitting around in a bad mood, Ascar behind his desk.

Ascar folded his hands. “I am surprised to see that you are still on Malastare. What brings you here now?”

“You know why we’re here,” Galder said. “What did you tell the Jedi?”

"They brought a Master named Kellan," explained Ascar. "Her instincts are strong and she suspects. However, her suspicions are not enough. Logic tells her that you and your friends are here to steal the Astrolabe. She does not know of the Mausoleum but she knows you have the navigational data that it is used with, and so you must not be allowed to have it. They have gone for now, with my promises to keep it secure in their ears, but they will inevitably keep an eye out for it again. It is not safe for you here any more."

"Don't worry, we're only here for one thing and hopefully we'll be taking off soon,” Takuan told him. “I wouldn't call it...stealing...the Astrolabe. More like a .....deal. I'm sure we can settle something.”

"Takuan, normally a deal would delight me, but the current circumstances dictate a certain amount of caution on my part.” He stopped and motioned for them to take a seat.

"Dealing with the Dark Side is a dangerous business; I say no long enough and your feelings tend to take control which is very dangerous for me. So you understand when I say I that the Astrolabe will not be given away to anyone under any circumstances, I intend that no to be absolutely final and understood, yes? So I do not have to keep refusing you."

Takuan nodded and took a seat. “Yes, i see...can never be too cautious. But in the end, we should be more trustable then the Jedi. If they had it their way, they would put the thing in their Archives, to be locked up forever.”

“What an ironic idea. What I can trust is that each of you will act for your own selfish interests, and that if you hesitate to kill me it is for no reason other than it being more trouble than it is worth. Which is why I keep friendly relations with Kuylen. But the actions of your friend Galder in here earlier show that I am wise to take such precautions with you people.“

Galder tensed at the comment and opened his mouth to say something, but Takuan hushed him.

“As a gesture of goodwill I will return the being Rura too you, unharmed and without cost. In return I will expect you to leave Malastare and get the Jedi off my back. I think as far as deals go that is most reasonable, yes? Other than that you have little to offer me."

"Ascar...this doesn't count much, but if our goal would've been attempting to your life, we would've tried it already, no? And us leaving wouldn't get the Jedi off your back. They would continue to spy on the Astrolabe just to be sure. Besides...we could both be advantaged from this situation.”

"Leaving will get them off my back! It is only your presence that keeps them here. And as I say, you won't kill me while you still find me useful, and I have no idea when you may change your mind about that. You can be so...temperamental...frankly, I find it hard to see what advantage there can be for me now in dealing with you at all."

Takuan smiled. “Being unpredictable is just an advantage.”

Crunch time, Galder, echoed Takuan’s voice in his head. Galder nodded in agreement.

His comrade hesitated a bit before going on. “Persis, I have noticed that you like to play with sabers, particularly at Teshan’s dojo. I would ask myself if it was really worth it in your place.”

“Suits me just fine,” Persis growled, leaning against the wall.

“You have a point to make?” Ascar asked of Takuan.

“Ascar...I don't like to talk just for the fun of it. I always have a point. Persis' little piece of work is looked upon as we speak."

"Piece of work? Something I should know about?" The question was open-ended, but Persis said nothing.

“Actually...several pieces, Ascar....the wonders of what a saber can do. A nasty looking picture. I'm sure Persis told you all about it."

"My, my," said Ascar, flatly. "What have you been up to?"

"Nothing," responded Persis.

"Hmm. That's a lie, though, isn't it?"

Persis sighed. "Just one of the students at the dojo mouthing off to me. He won't be missed."

Ascar closed his eyes. "Somehow I cannot help thinking the timing could have been better."

"If these cretins had just gone when they should have it wouldn't have been a problem," Persis hissed angrily.

"Nonetheless, now I am in rather an uncomfortable position. No matter, I am sure I can deal with it. Did you have anything else to say about it, Takuan?"

"Ah...deal with it. Of course. I'm sure cleaning after your...minions is rather unpleasant, this would be a serious accusation. It could get in the way of your...profit. Though, this incident can stay...let us say, low profile. Do you agree?"

“I do agree,” Ascar said, eyes still closed. “So what is this, blackmail?” Persis stepped forwards, but Ascar waved him back, opening his eyes.

“Ascar...words tend to generalize things. You can call it however you want. But the mutual advantage of an agreement is visible.”

Ascar fixed Takuan with a stare. “I won't give you the Astrolabe for your silence. I would have no guarantee and I am confident my contacts here can silence the problem in any case. But if it would help make things easier...what sort of deal did you have in mind?"

“A deal that would involve the astrolabe of course. That's basically it. Guarantees are out of discussion. What interest would we have, what would we gain to not keep our end of the deal. We can use as many....friends as possible. And I'm sure we can make things difficult to silence, Ascar."

"If you make things difficult for me, there will be a dozen Jedi around every corner you turn, understand? As soon as dealing with you becomes more difficult for me than dealing with the Jedi then I will not hesitate to turn the lot of you over to them.

"I cannot give you the astrolabe. If I do, the Jedi will discover it, sooner or later. I am only interested in deals that make life easier for me, not harder."

"We're not exactly the local gangsters...we can make things disappear if we want. And you shouldn't find it too difficult to cover it's missing while we have it considering your relations, no? Returning it is an aspect we seriously consider. And I doubt the Jedi will be pleased in you killing innocent students, Ascar. After all...Persis works for you. You know money won't cover it with the Jedi."

"The Jedi don't run the courts," says Ascar. "And in any case, the Jedi investigation is interested in what you people are doing. Persis' killing comes under the jurisdiction of local law enforcement. And by the time the case comes to trial the Jedi will be long, long gone.

"They would not be pleased, but all your threat will do is irritate me...not cause me actual trouble. As for the astrolabe...maybe I would be prepared to let you borrow it...though it must not leave this building." Ascar leaned forwards.

"But only if you are prepared to do something for me...if you feel like taking a chance."

“A good call,” Takuan said with a touch of hubris. “What did you have in mind?”

“There is something you might be able to do for me. But however it works out, if we do this deal then when we are done you will leave this place; leave me be. I will return Rura to you unharmed, you won't mention anything about Persis, I will continue to deceive the Jedi as to your presence, and we can all live happily ever after, so I hope.

"Tell me, Takuan... have you ever seen a pod race?"

<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

“Are you sure you weren’t a business man in another life, Takuan?” Galder asked as Majora showed them to the podracer hangar.

“I’m positive,” Takuan answered. “I’m just good at...passive...negotiations...” He said passive quite pointedly, and Galder gave him one of his popular menacing glances before following the receptionist into the hangar.

“Well, here’s the podracer,” she said. The thing was long and brown, quite unimpressive to Galder’s eye, and Takuan completely oblivious to how the thing even worked. In essence, it was a piece of junk.

“We will transport it to somewhere safe for you,” Majora informed them. “in case the Jedi return here. I will call you in thirty minutes with its new location. Rura will be there.”

Galder nodded as what appeared to be Persis’ security force guided the podracer onto a hovering transport, piloted by Majora. As he watched, his comlink beeped.

“We’ve got a message, Takuan,” Galder said, checking the comlink.

“Minions of Kuylen,” said a voice, somewhat distorted by static, “come to docking bay 8311 A.S.A.P.”

“Who was that?” Takuan asked.

“I’m not sure...” Galder placed the comlink back at his belt. “Let’s find out.”
<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

Galder and Takuan wandered into the docking bay, which had an assortment of five or six ships, ranging from private craft to large freighters. Galder probed with the Force, and began feeling the presence of intelligent life nearby.

“I sense someone,” Galder alerted Takuan.

“I sense someone and another someone and another...” Takuan scoffed. “Be more open to the Force...”

“Hush,” Galder whispered. He moved into the center of the hangar, just before he sensed four sharpshooters up in the rafters. Immediately it whipped out his assault rifle, training it on one, then switching targets to another. But they had had their rifles, rusty gray things with long barrels and sturdy stocks, trained on him since he had entered the hangar, he could tell.

They’re good... he considered as three figures approached him from the shadows. A man and a woman accompanied another man, who was obviously the leader. The woman and the leader had rifles similar to the sharpshooters’ slung over their backs, and the man had a long, metallic stick, that sparked at one end.

Galder recognized the emblem on they bore with a tinge of fear. “You are warriors of the Order of Miramar,” Galder said, mainly to confirm. “Famed and very dangerous assassins from Belseraphon, a long way out by the Rim. You kill to order, which is to say a very large amount of money, and are very good at your job.”

The leader nodded. “You are Galder Starkiller?”

Galder nodded back. “Yes.”

The leader motioned for the sharpshooters to relax their aim, and Galder relaxed his. “I am Prelate Nayler of the Order of Miramar. Your Master Kuylen sends us to aid you.”

“Man! East side entrance!” a shout went up from one of the sharpshooters. The sharpshooters put their rifles up again as Chion lurched from behind a freighter. The massive albino stopped suddenly, sensing his own personal danger.

“One of theirs,” Nayler educated his sharpshooters, motioning for them to relax their aim once more. Chion glared at Nayler before coming to a halt behind Galder.

“So, Kuylen sends us fierce warriors as allies, not bad!” Galder laughed. He was now very joyous, knowing that he now had highly valued contract killers to back him up.

"Kuylen says we are to help you secure the artifact you seek; either to protect it once you have gained it, or to take it from its resting place by force if necessary. Are these orders in keeping with your needs?"

“We are working on gaining the artifact, currently,” Takuan said. “A deal has been made.”

“However, do you think you can throw the Jedi off our tail?” Galder asked.

“I do not think it is prudent to reveal ourselves to the Jedi at this time,” Nayler answered. “Especially as we have observed three more arriving on the surface approximately the same time as us.”

“Three more?” Galder cracked his fingers and his neck. “Excellent. More for you guys to kill.”

“Also, Kuylen has asked us to inform you that he sent your ship into deep space via slave chip, the very one you installed. With any luck, it will help the Jedi think that you have left.”

“Why’d he do that?”

“The hyperdrives being installed were completed.”

“Ah, I see. Makes perfect sense.”

“He judged that it would take approximately a half hour to reach you if you called it.”

“Good.” Galder rubbed his chin. “Would you like to see the building you may be assaulting?”

“Certainly...” Nayler, with his companions on either side of him, followed Galder and Takuan out of the docking bay, the sharpshooters dropping from the rafters. More Miramar warriors stepped out of hiding spots behind and inside ships, carrying pistols, rifles, and the long, sparking sticks. Once they were gone, the place was quiet.

= Chapter 18 =

Galder, under the alias Unad Bejeem, hopped into the cockpit of the long, narrow podracer that Ascar had given to him to race with.

I hate this suit! Galder thought irritably. His own voice and breath echoed throughout the suit, and his movement was restricted. Mogarians had no sense of peripheral vision, apparently, because the suit’s mask gave him none. When he had registered, sponsored by Ascar, he learned that the chest-mounted talk button turned his words into a monotonous, flat tone.

Galder now took the time to look over the other podracers before the race, assigning quick nicknames.

A small blue pod driven by a small blue thing he nicknamed Speedy, for it was obvious that it contained great speed. The little alien struggled to get into his pod, but one of his mechanic droids helped him up.

Then next pod was painted in a combination of a black base with orange and red flames blazing across it, lined with white. It was a four-engine pod, giving it great speed but barely any traction at all. The Dug that drove it, obviously a local, waved to fans in the audience, shouting things in his native tongue. Quad, Galder called him, seemed experienced.

Dodgy was the nickname of the next pod. Driven by a greasy ape-like being, who wore a big smile, it looked fast, but it also looked like it had been pasted together with binding grip tape and spare parts. If it fell apart as soon as it left the starting line, Galder would not have been surprised.

Boring was another small pod driven by a small creature, though green rather than blue. The pilot also had trouble getting into the pod, but shouted to his live mechanics and kicked his robotic ones. The thing had a great temper, and hopeful would get itself killed before Galder had to deal with him.

Orthodox was a podracer similar to Galder’s. The thing was a tad wider, but just as lengthy, painted orange. The Dug pilot was casting glares at Quad, maybe a rival from past races.

Galder liked the look of one particularly large pod, piloted by a slimy tentacle-ridden creature. The thing was a sickly yellow, with a few putrid green stripes here and there. Things had been added on to the largest of the pods to allow it good traction and maneuverability, but despite the large engines, its weight made it slow.

The second largest pod seemed to be the most dangerous. The pilot was a hard-scaled reptilian being who has guzzling down fermented drinks with a nasty look in his eye, setting down his explosive rail gun in the mechanics’ pit before getting into the large red pod. The slow thing was built better to ram and jostle other pods, and Galder had a feeling that the lizard at the wheel would try to kill as many people as he could before the end. Basher was a fitting title.

The final pod made Galder’s heart stop for a moment. It was a wide but fast, maneuverable brown pod. The pilot: a Mogarian. The Mogarian was giving off feelings of anxiety, and Galder gathered that he did not want to be doing this, but that he had to.

“Odd,” Galder said, not touching the talk button, his words echoing back to him in the mask. He powered up his pod as everyone else did, the couplings sparking wildly and connecting with arcs of purple lightning. The other Mogarian’s pod stalled, but he pounded the controls and it started up again.

The track was cleared of mechanics and tools and droids as the announcers wailed into the comlinks hooked up to the large speakers, relaying news to the spectators, including interesting facts like how four months ago most of the podracing competition was wiped out on Tatooine, and that there were currently Dark Jedi roaming about Malastare. Most of the crowd gasped at such news, and Galder laughed heartily to himself inside the suit.

The countdown began. There was one minute till the race, but even that went by like a blink. Three...two...one...

Galder slammed the accelerator throttles and pressed the triggers on each, activating a booster that shot him ahead, rocketing away from the other podracers as the Malastare Open began. Speedy, however, had the same idea, and his nippy blue pod zipped by Galder at the last second before entering the Narrows.

The Narrows consisted of four straight paths, and Galder followed Speedy into one. The Narrows were not called the Narrows for nothing; Galder could find no way to pass this annoying racer that did not involve getting scraped off the walls later. He traded paint with the small blue pod, bumping him a few times, but to no avail.
Suddenly, the Narrows became the Twists. The gently-curving straights became hairpin turns that Galder raced about, trying to overtake Speedy. He was gaining and gaining...until the two of them threw on the air brakes. A wall loomed in front of them, and the two narrowly avoided a fiery death. The bottom of Galder’s engines, as he turned the pod dramatically onto its side, scraped the jagged rocks jutting out, the greasy ape Dodgy and the four-engine Quad racing buy unscathed. Galder recovered, but Speedy was still ahead of him.

“Damn you!” Galder shouted in a flat tone to the blue midget in front of him. He looked behind him to see the other Mogarian closing in on him.

They raced out onto the Lake. A green fog closed around them, and Galder had great trouble trying to control his pod as it slipped and slid over the slimy surface. The small green alien nicknamed Boring attempted to pass him, his eyes firmly fixed on the route. With a shunt from Galder’s pod catching his aft, he sent the thing back. The other Mogarian, having just blocked the Orthodox Dug, came side by side with him.

“Having trouble?” asked the other one.

“Just a tad,” Galder answered back crossly. “Now get back, slimeball!”

The Mogarian just shook his head rigidly as the mists cleared and the four middle pods crossed the line almost simultaneously and entered the Straight. Galder and his opponent Mogarian shot forwards with another boost, yellow flames spouting from the thrusters of pods. However, Galder braked hard as Quad moved to block him. The other Mogarian, the Dug, and the green alien all soared by without a problem.

As they entered the Narrows once more, a solid repair robot thudded against the hull of Galder’s pod. Smoking debris was strewn about, having come off of the greasy ape’s pod. The strain was obviously beginning to show, by the announcer’s reckonings.

“I think it is time we take things up a notch!” Galder roared through his synthesizer as he shunted the back of the four-engine pod. The Dug squealed angrily, but he entered the Twists spinning wildly out of control. One of his engines, the top left, snagged on an overhanging formation, exploding in a shower of flames. The pod tumbled on the bottom of the Twists, scrap metal tossed in every direction before coming to a halt. Galder looked back to view his work, but was blinded as the sickly yellow pod of Twisty was thrown straight into the wall and vaporized. The lizard-like Basher, who had side-on crushed the pod, laughed a deep, horrible cackle of glee.

As the green mist enclosed the racers once more, Galder lost sight of the other Mogarian and the four racers in his way. The large Basher, taking his best part of the track with his powerful traction, activated a boost, aiming to go straight through Galder’s pod. Galder pulled out of the way just in time for the Straight.

“Force don’t fail me now!” Galder shouted to himself in the suit, before extending a hand towards Basher’s pod. The lizard had been laughing boastfully, when suddenly one of the long tubes holding the pod fastened to the right engine became unhook. His cockpit began spinning wildly as Galder passed him up. The green alien Boring attempted to block as he activated his own boost, but there was a great smash! as Galder rammed the pod head on. The alien did not think Galder would be insane enough to ram him, but he did not know Galder very well. He was sent out of control, and there was an explosion as Basher, having fixed his problem, finished him off.

Galder leaned out of his cockpit for a moment to observe the large bend in his right engine. It was still functioning fine. “Hold together...” Galder whispered to his podracer.

Galder followed the other Mogarian into the Narrows, who was behind the Orthodox Dug in turn. Galder plowed forwards into the Mogarian’s tail, who had been tail-gating the Dug. The Mogarian mashed into the Dug, who scraped against the walls alongside the other two.

“Getting messy!” Galder shouted up to the others. Suddenly, his comlink beeped.

“Galder, be careful on that final turn...” Takuan said worriedly, but Galder just shut off the comlink and kept racing.

The Orthodox Dug was still blocking them when the Mogarian and he took to the Twists, rolling with the movements of the race and the turns rather than against them. The Dug was slowing down to avoid crashing, but Galder had grown wise to such things by now. Extending a hand, the left engine of the Dug’s pod turned, forcing the Dug sideways. The Mogarian’s head swiveled around in surprise.

“What are you looking at?” Galder asked before crashing into Speedy’s pod. The small blue hunk of junk pulled out of the way, retiring to a third place position as the podracers roared towards the finish over the misty Lake.

Galder and the Mogarian wrestled for the final position. Their engines collided again and again, but Galder’s bent right engine began to spark, having rammed Boring and Speedy, then being rammed by the Mogarian just now. Smoke drifted from the engine as it began to die.

“No!” Galder shouted at the machine. “Work!” He hit the dashboard, but the Mogarian slammed forwards on the accelerators, effectively tearing a chunk out of Galder’s engine. Flames burst forth as he crossed the finish line, and the brown podracer landed in the mud on the edge of the Lake, just over the finish line.

The Mogarian began his victory lap as the judges came over to Galder’s pod with the announcer. “Congratulations! Second place!”

“Thank you,” Galder said dully, his thoughts already on the Astrolabe that he would now have to take for himself. The crowd roared in approval as the Mogarian and he were declared the finest racers in the competition.

The two of them bumped into each other after they received their prize money.

“Congratulations, sir,” the Mogarian said. Galder was unnerved by the Jedi Master Kellan Gundark looking around for the Mogarian, along with the other Jedi hauling a bounty hunter along in custody with numerous amounts of Malastarian police.

“You won’t race again by the time I‘m through with you...” Galder said, jabbing a finger at the Mogarian. He moved away before the Mogarian could reply, the Jedi approaching him to congratulate him.

<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

Takuan seemed relieved to see him as they rendezvoused outside the arena, Rura right behind him. Galder still wore the Mogarian suit

“Galder...” Takuan gasped, breathing heavily.

“What is it, Takuan?” Galder asked crossly.

“Bounty hunter...” Galder reached for his pistol.

“Where?”

Takuan waved his hand. “No, he was in the arena.” Takuan stood up, stretching his back. “I saw a vision from the future, brought to me through the Force. There was a bounty hunter under the stands with some kind of bulky weapon, intending to shut down your podracer without any warning at the end of the third lap.”

“An electro-pulse gun, designed for fight droids,” Galder answered, identifying the weaponry easily. “Blows out electronics in a fraction of a second.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Takuan replied. “I moved to apprehend him. Strange character, that bounty hunter. Stuck to the wall with a harness, used a blaster pistol and fired accurately, seemed to have a false arm...”

“Balek is here?!” Galder yelled in shock, though it was dull as it filtered through the suit’s synthesizer.

“Do not worry, he did not follow me into public,” Takuan said. “I do not think he wanted to be seen by anyone anyway.”

“Well...thank you,” Galder said. “For stopping him. I owe you my life, I guess.”

“Who would have thought that would happen?” Takuan laughed. “So far, it seems to be you who has the greater life-saving capabilities.”

Galder just nodded. “Still, I didn’t win.”

= Chapter 19 =

Their cab began to slow. Traffic out of the arena was particularly bad. Galder leaned out the window to see what was going on. Every outgoing vehicle was landing on the side of a building.

“What’s the delay?” Takuan asked the driver.

“Dunno, yet, sir,” replied the human pilot. “Seems all the vehicles ahead are landing somewhere.”

“You’ve got that right,” Galder said, leaning back in. “What is it?”

“I think it’s...”

“A police checkpoint!” Galder finished, realizing that this could be very bad.

“Right, that...” the pilot said. “Everything okay?” Galder, Takuan, and Rura said nothing until they reached the checkpoint. The pilot was asked to show identification by a droid, which he did happily.

“Rura and I are wanted men, Takuan,” Galder said. “You are not...at least, not yet...”

The security droid, a 501-Z security droid with a red-and-white exterior, bulky and armored with a club and a pistol, rolled down the window with a device and blared his photoreceptors brightly into the interior of the vehicle for lighting purposes.

“May I see your identification card, sirs,” it asked. Galder and Rura froze, but Takuan took out his card and the droid scanned it.

“What are your purposes for being on Malastare, as you are not originally from Malastare?” it asked.

“I’m a big fan of podracing, I’m coming from the arena. I like to visit as many tracks as possible and had never been to the Malastare Open before...so purely recreational purposes. Anything else?” Takuan forced a big smile.

“I cannot find a record of you ever paying taxes,” the droid responded after processing information. “or having properly registered travel documents. You seem to have no insurance.” The droid stood back. “Sir, can you please step out of the vehicle.”

“Yes, of course...” Takuan opened the door, but ignited his lightsaber into the droid’s chassis in a multicolored shower of sparks. The green blade deactivated and Takuan returned it to his belt as soon as he was satisfied with the damage he had done to the droid, which fell back, half melted. “You, scoot over, hostage!” The driver nodded jerkily, but he was thrown into the passenger-side door with Takuan’s use of the Force.

“You’re catching on,” Galder said, impressed. Suddenly, a blaster bolt struck the rear of the vehicle as another security droid emerged from the checkpoint, pistol drawn. “Get us out of here!”

The vehicle shot forwards and narrowly under the vehicle in front as the droid moved to the end of the walkway, only to join the other 501-Z security model on the ground, riddled with blasts from Galder’s rifle. Two police speeders in Republican colors pursued quickly, the men riding shotgun in either vehicle bringing out pistols, which they soon swapped for flechette shotguns. Blaster bolts and burning metal shredded the vehicle’s rear, but Galder kept in cover behind the seats.

“Takuan, faster!” he shouted as he loaded a small missile into the launcher barrel of his rifle. Taking aim, he squeezed the second trigger. Poomf! The missile shot forwards with an orange light, emitting a high-pitched whistle and striking the nearest police car head on. The burning speeder flew out of control and collided with the other. They were vaporized by the next missile, but then three larger, gray vehicles joined in.

“Military vehicles, six o’clock!” Takuan hollered, seeing the things in the rear view mirror.

“I know!” Flak exploded about the small taxi, but Galder fired back with another missile.

“Ascar’s building!” Takuan yelled at their hostage. “Directions!”

“I-I-I...” the man stuttered.

Takuan whipped out his lightsaber. “Speak weakling! If they catch us, you will be the first to die by this blade tonight...”

“Uptown! Uptown!”

“Thank you.” Takuan made a sudden right, jerking the speeder around violently. To make matters worse, a laser shot tore through the rear port quarter, blowing smoke and sparks into Galder’s face. He fired another rocket, but the shielded craft drove through the blasts. The speeder began to lose power and height, and began losing them fast.

“Land it!” Galder ordered as another blast exploded near him. Takuan put the vehicle down rather noisily, scraping the side of building and coming to a halt with a smash on the street. Takuan and Galder hopped out, pulling Rura out with them. They dropped into the sewers.

“Nayler, Nayler come in,” Galder said into the comlink. “Begin the assault.”

“Mission is on my mark...” answered Nayler. “Mark.” He hung up.

A few minutes later, as they sprinted in the sewers, guided by the Force in the direction of Ascar’s building, Nayler called back. “The Jedi are attempting to seize the navigation device.” In the background, gun fire was heard, as well as lightsabers humming violently. “End transmission.”

The three turned a corner, and a large being loomed in front of them. A red lightsaber flashed, but Galder put it down as he recognized Chion in the dim red light.

“Chion! Fancy meeting you down here,” Galder said in greeting, somewhat annoyed that he had not sensed Chion earlier. “Enjoy yourself?”

Chion just looked between the two of them, contemptuously as ever.

“Well, big guy, we need to get to Ascar’s place,” Galder continued. “Things are starting to heat up...” He turned to run, but Chion did not move, instead staring at Takuan.

“Something the matter?” asked Takuan, staring up at the enormous alien.

“You don’t look like you can fight a Jedi,” Chion bellowed in his intensely low voice. Galder had never heard him speak before.

“He can, Chion...wait, did you just talk?” The talking had caught Galder off-guard, since Chion usually remained dead-silent.

Chion took his claymore-sized lightsaber to hand, fitting his hands onto the bulbous grips. “If he cannot fight he will die. It is about time those Jedi were killed.”

“And they will be, you big oaf!” Galder yelled at the albino creature. “The Miramar are attacking the Jedi as well speak. If we join them, they will be finished.”

“Don’t trust the Miramar,” Chion hissed, sending a shudder down Galder’s spine. He narrowed his large blue eyes menacingly at Takuan before plodding along, Takuan and the others in pursuit.

“No worries, I can fight,” Takuan hissed back. “As long as you don‘t eat me first, Gigantor.”

<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

Gat-gat-gat! Gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat! Gat-gat-gat-gat! Three sleek black hovercraft floated lazily outside the windows of Ascar’s office, spraying the insides of the place with heavy repeater fire.

Suddenly, a Jedi threw himself out the window, landing on the hovercraft. A few precise flails of his blade and his dispatched the gunner and the pilot. The vehicle began to slip out of place, and then to fall as sparks showered down from it.

This is what Galder could see from the street, just before the blockade barring his entrance into Ascar’s speeder hangar.

“We should find a way to disperse the guards...” Takuan suggested, but Galder was not listening.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Galder’s three grenades exploded, throwing Persis’ security men backwards in agony. Galder’s quick-draw abilities with his pistols gave him a chance to blow the camera probe out of the air and take a few shots at the security.

“Great...” Takuan said sarcastically before following with a toss of his own thermal detonator. This widened the gap in the line of Persis’ minions and burned the decorative entrance to shambles. Out of the flames and smoke, Galder flew in, lightsabers out, spinning and slashing through the men still alive. Takuan followed, tossing corpses in the direction of the security. Rura kept his distance, firing his heavy Kaminoan blaster accurately. Chion had, once again, disappeared.

Takuan raced through the massacre to the blast door covering the main entrance, Galder and Rura covering him with their blaster rifles. He began to cut through the door, Galder jumping in harm’s way to deflect all blaster bolts coming towards his compatriot. Rura ignited his lightsaber and used what little skill he had with it to deflect a few shots.

"Greetings," Majora said loudly over the intercom. "Mr. Ascar has deiced this is not an apposite time to speak to any of you at the moment. I hope you enjoy your future lives far, far away from Malastare! Good day!"

“Please...” Galder laughed. A trio of guards stood in his way, but he slashed in a crisscrossing pattern, hacking an X in the chest of the middle man and relieving the other two of their ability to stand. Another trio, Galder drove his blades into the two side men and kicked full speed into the center guy’s chest, breaking ribs and throwing him bodily away.

“Ah! This is more like it! No more sneaking for us!” Galder cackled gleefully before cutting another man down. The men began keeping their distance, but Galder took out his multipurpose assault rifle again and loaded a pulse cannon gas cartridge into it. Electronic whispers sounded as masses of purple energy struck their targets. Rura joined him, pumping large bolts into other threats.

Peeling away the melted metal with the Force, Takuan threw the bulkhead inwards. Galder motioned for Takuan and Rura to go in first, sensing danger ahead, but comprehending the danger at hand. A few more shots and the guards were silenced. He passed through the incision in the blast door, taking in the warmth before turning to see what was in the speeder hangar.

“Gentlemen, I do rather suspect you are not welcome here at this time," said Ascar, arms folded. "Though I believe it to be the good fortune for the Jedi that they have found two of the desperate criminals they were searching for. You must be delighted, Master Gundark." Ascar and Persis stood in front of a large amount of the security men, blasters leveled. More alarmingly, the Jedi stood off to the side. Master Kellan Gundark, lightsaber ignited, glanced to them. The blue-bladed lightsaber was not one that Galder recognized, but he did not mind that too much. He grinned widely, seeing that Lance was injured, clutching a blaster wound on his shoulder.

“Where did your Master run off to, Galder?” she asked.

“I’m afraid that his location is completely irrelevant to this situation,” Galder said, allowing the rifle on its sling to swing idly at his hip.

“Don’t worry about Kuylen,” came the deep voice of Chion behind them. “Worry about me.” Chion held his gargantuan lightsaber out in front of him, igniting the blue blade forebodingly.

Galder laughed. “So, let’s cut to the chase, shall we?” He turned to Ascar. “Hand over the Astrolabe and maybe I won’t rip off your head as a trophy...”

"Brave, but foolish, boy, to make such threats with the Jedi staring you in the face,” Ascar responded, his emotions unchanging. He gestured to the Astrolabe, sitting behind the Jedi, clearly in their possession. “But you can have that if you want.”

Takuan pulled Galder aside. “He hasn’t changed his mind about giving the thing to us, but he said we could have it. It doesn’t connect...”

“Just get it over here...”

Takuan stepped away from him and extended a hand, palm up, in a lifting motion. The Astrolabe smoothly floated into the air and began its approach towards the Dark Jedi. However, it halted when Mah extended a hand and buggered Takuan’s lift.

“So the Jedi want it to?” Galder chuckled. “Where we’re headed you’ll find nothing of interest...”

“Indeed so,” Takuan added. “And if you don’t let go, you might break it with these maneuvers...”

Xeth Tam, the Geonosian Jedi, ignited his yellow lightsaber. “You are outnumbered, Dark Ones. Surrender, and your lives will be spared. If you're lucky you will be kept in the prison facility of Oovo IV for the rest of your life."

“I hear they have sunny beaches on Oovo,” Takuan laughed. Galder smacked his forehead.

“Takuan, Oovo IV is an asteroid...” he corrected, almost at the same time as the Jedi.

He rubbed his chin. "I doubt you could get us to Oovo IV alive, Jedi. It would be rather difficult. I sense the anger in you, Geonosian. Let it flow. See to it that I get to Oovo IV, you slimeball. And aren't your species weapon makers? They could supply me in more stuff to kill you Jedi with..."

“My people would never supply you scum,” Xeth snarled, taking a step towards Galder with a twirl of his lightsaber. The older Jedi, who seemed to be another Master, his garb concealing his features, held him back with quiet words.

“Holding back? I want to see if Geonosians can really fight,” Galder said, chiseling away at Xeth. “Or is it true that one Jedi is worth thirty Geonosians?”

Still he was held back by his comrades, twirling his blade with a grim determination.

"Well, this is all very fascinating..." said Ascar, "but I really think it has little to do with me. I am sure you will all resolve this in any way you see fit. As for my part, I can solve one of the problems currently dogging me at once. Persis?" Persis looked up. "You're fired."

Persis gave a contemptuous snort, readying his heavy pistol for combat.

“Now, if you will excuse me, people...” Ascar began to head towards one of the speeders in the garage, close as possible to the only open blast door out.

Persis indicated to all his men, thirty or so armored security bearing firearms of various models, and motioned to the Jedi and the Dark Siders. “Take these clowns out.”

= Chapter 20 =

Poomf! As Persis’ men raised their pistols, Galder fired the first shot. A large canister issued from the launcher, deploying three smaller canisters in midair. Streaming a whitish vapor, the Jedi and Persis moved away from them before a cloud of gas surrounded the security. Nonetheless, they opened fire, coughing violently. Auto-pistols rattled off dozens of bolts in seconds, Galder throwing himself sideways as a line of pockmarks and vaporized concrete appeared to his left.

“Hah!” Galder roared triumphantly as another streak of bolts passed him. He began to run towards the security that was moving out of the tear gas, strafing as more streaks and individual bolts hit close but not on target. Gyrating his blades wildly, he suddenly stopped as he snapped his red blade into place mere seconds before a particularly large blaster bolt ricocheted off it. He brought his other blade down level to his hips and batted a second bolt back to the firer. Persis jumped out of the way, charging up his pistol again, but the lackey behind him as thrown backwards, a hole fizzled clear through him.

In midair, Persis dropped his gun. Galder tossed the blue blade into the air and pulled the blaster pistol to him with the Force, bringing his red lightsaber down upon it to divide it in two.

“Drop something, moron?” Galder asked the blundering blonde.

Suddenly, his multipurpose rifle snapped off its strap and flew to Persis. There was a flash of blue, and it fell, vivisected, onto the ground. Persis kicked it away, holding a blue lightsaber out in front of him.

“I win,” he scoffed, then rolled to the side as an auto-pistol roared to life behind him. Sidestepping got Galder to safety, glowering at his opponent before timing a leap over an airspeeder that Master Gundark attempted to topple the Dark Siders with, throwing it with the Force at great speed. Takuan rolled backwards to safety, allowing the speeder to block many blaster bolts coming his way, thanking the ill-timed shots from Persis’ men.

A voice bellowed over the intercom. "This is Jedi Master Grevor Scovione," the man roared. "This place is surrounded by elements of the Malastarian security forces. All illegal combatants are to put down their weapons and surrender to the Jedi at once.”

“Fat chance!” Galder spat, hacking down one of Persis’ men callously before looking up to the hole that Takuan had carved. Standing within was a Jedi Master, one of great power at that, and his eager Padawan. Their green- and blue-bladed swords jumped forth from their hilts, knowing that their orders would go unheard by Persis’ men and the Dark Siders. The blast door around them slid up into Ascar’s building, revealing a small army of police men and armored military speeders. Persis’ men began to fire at them as well as they began to march in, the Jedi rushing to the head of the forces. The police, armed with pistols and flechette launchers, marched undaunted by the twenty men that were left under Persis’ command.

“Give the word,” Nayler’s voice crackled quietly over Galder’s comlink.

“On my mark, attack all forces in the area, repeat, attack all forces in the area...” Galder said, responding to the Miramar leader. “Now!”

Smoke grenades clattered onto the ground, bumping on speeders and police, obscuring everyone’s aim. A reddish haze settled over the battle as holes were blown in the ceiling, the Miramar rappelling down. Air vent coverings were blasted from the walls by Miramar rifles, the warriors crawling out of them like ants. The lift doors slid open, the Miramar clambering out with electropoles sparking dangerously. They immediately dove into the police ranks, skewering men upon their javelins, firing dual pistols at point blank range, knocking about with the butts of their rifles.

“Chaos,” Galder said, simplifying the battle into one word. “Utter and complete chaos.” He joined Chion and Takuan at the head of the faction of Miramar, turning about to stare down Persis and Majora leading the security forces, the Jedi heading the Malastarian police. He repeated “Chaos,” once more before charging, Miramar behind him. Blaster fire roared, skittering about him and scorching flesh.

He leaped up, kicking one policeman into another. The two backed up into a Miramar electropole, dropping dead with a jolt. His red blade flashed like fire and his blue one biting like ice as they spun uncontrollably through limbs and guns. In the confusion, he quickly lost track of Takuan and Chion. Hacking and yelling through the fray, he caught up with them again.

“Galder, we’ve fought our way into the ring of Jedi!” Takuan alerted him. And he was right. All around them, Galder spotted blue and green lightsabers, occasionally the odd yellow one of the Geonosian, flashing through Miramar and security men. “I doubt we can make an escape without taking one of them on...”

“Excellent,” Galder shouted about the din of the battle. He continued to monitor the Jedi as he absent-mindedly slaughtered police, who fell screaming to the ground.

The Geonosian Xeth jumped up from the ground, staring in astonishment as Majora whipped out her own lightsaber, tossing down an auto-blaster after kicking him solidly. He backed into Mah Ar’cor, who was receiving personal attention from Persis. The two of them, back to back, held their lightsabers up in defensive guards, letting blasters hang loose at their sides.

Lance, injured, was keeping among the policemen, mostly defending them alongside the other female Jedi. The tall black youth was deflecting bolts back into the Miramar, developing a tactic to dispatch the spear-wielding ones, evading their jabs and bringing his blade down upon the shaft of the weapon to destroy it, then bringing it up into the jugular of each. The female, who Galder learned to be Sieri Gaph as the Jedi shouted to her, spun her blue blade in one hand while blasting away with a Nubian royal pistol in the other.

Of great interest, however, and more reachable, was Master Gundark. She swung twice to drop a Miramar, then leaped up many feet into the air, planting a kick on Chion’s chest. As she fell to the ground, she landed on her feet, but toppled over from there. Chion moved in, slashing downwards, his massive blade splicing a policemen and a Miramar in two down the middle before continuing its deadly windmill spin that beheaded a few other men around the Jedi Master.

Seeing the Jedi on the ground, Galder took his chances. Placing the blue blade at his belt, he snatched up an auto-pistol. Holding it with one hand, he squeezed the trigger once, a blue stream of superheated gasses flowing forth. Men standing in the way were blown back, riddled with holes, until Galder had cleared the way to Master Gundark’s position. He continued to squeeze the trigger, giving her great difficulty as she attempted to rise from the ground without being bisected by Chion.

Unexpectedly, the beams changed direction and nearly caught Galder in the chest, instead blowing apart a Miramar warrior behind him. Obscuring his view of Master Gundark, but certainly not Chion and his massive whirring blade, was the Jedi Master that had concealed himself in Jedi robes from head to toe, only his glowing green eyes visible within the hood. He spun a green blade and swiftly disarmed one of Persis’ men. The security and Miramar blocked his path to Galder, but he took painstaking efforts to maim rather than kill. This man was Jedi Master Marcus.

Galder fired a few more times, but saw that it was useless. Dropping the auto-pistol’s strap around his shoulders, he ignited his second lightsaber. He held them in an X below his belt, the blades crackling together.

“I see that talking is not going to help with you,” the Jedi Master said, saluting with his lightsaber. “I sense great anger in you, infidel...”

“I’m not afraid of you, Jedi,” Galder hissed back. Charging forwards, he brought both blades around to strike at Marcus’ right side horizontally. Slamming his blades towards his target, he felt confident that he would strike home as he only blocked one blade, throwing his weight into the attack. But when his sword swung through, Marcus was not there. He had moved to his right, the exposed side. Still holding his block, he attempted to blow off Galder’s guard with a powerful Force push, then ducked, releasing his block and aiming for the back of his leg. However, Galder swung down, using his skill to reposition the vibrant foil to bat the attack away. Marcus’ ducking gave Galder height advantage as well.

Galder kicked the Jedi Master away from him, then charged him down, spinning his lightsabers wildly. Putting the pressure on Marcus, the Jedi Master realized that there was little point in blocking the insane strike. He thrust his hand forwards, breaking Galder’s stride with the Force but still needing to roll back as he edged closer.

Marcus’ response to Galder’s assaults was dazzling, however. Flipping his lightsaber around on either side of his body in an effort to confuse his opponent, Marcus made for the middle. In mere milliseconds Galder’s senses kicked in and realized the feint, Marcus side-flipping to the left in hopes that Galder would fall for the feint and jabbing for the ribcage. Galder spun and parried the prod. Still, the athleticism that the Jedi Master used, though obviously not required for a great time, made Galder’s flashy blocks more desperate. It really put him in a bad position as a laser bolt skimmed across Galder’s back, though the follow up shot from one of Persis’ security men ended up reflected back into him. Tumbling, the man still stood, but Galder quickly dropped from the air behind him and impaled him upon his red lightsaber, kicking him off and into Marcus before leaping into the air again, raining heavy blows down on Marcus as he came down.

The Jedi Master kneeled down under the pressure of Galder’s blows, or so it seemed. As Galder concentrated on beating the man down and breaking him, he was caught off-guard as the Jedi suddenly sprung forwards, riposting. The green lasersword grazed Galder’s shoulder and he cried out. Backing away before Marcus could capitalize, he bumped directly into Takuan, spinning to face him with a ferocious roar but realizing him to be an ally. Nodding to him, Galder attempted to leap into the air as Corelay, the Padawan of the Master Scovione, made a leaping kick into Takuan.

Things took a turn for the worst right there. Galder and Corelay, both in midair, were thrown clear to the other side of the room by a powerful surge in the Force, driven by Takuan’s fear of death welling up inside of him. Both of them smashed into the wall and crumpled to the ground, concrete showering down on them from the now-shattered walls. Corelay was first to his feet and ran off to confront Takuan once more, who had disappeared into the fray covered by Miramar, but Marcus came to Galder.

“Ready to give in?” Marcus asked. “You must realize we can do this the civilized way...”

“The Republic’s courts?” Galder replied, spitting. “No thank you.”

Galder slashed at Marcus’ legs from the ground, the blow blocked cleanly. He rolled to his feet, striking again. The Jedi Master dodged, flipping into the air. Galder spun and blocked his first blow in midair, taking the second blow as he landed with a low block.

Whum! Galder fell back against the wall, then slid down in stunned surprise. Strangely, he felt no pain, but looking over to his left, he eyed his arm and blue lightsaber. The arm was lying on the ground, cauterized where Marcus’ blade had taken it just below the shoulder.

= Chapter 21 =

Marcus stood over him, lightsaber held to his throat. Galder did nothing, instinctually calling his discarded lightsaber to him with the Force and clipping it at his belt. Half conscious and surprised that he had lost his arm, his remaining arm just flopped at his side, despite his efforts to swing the still active red lightsaber.

Bzzt! Marcus spun and the tip of an electropole crackled against his blade. Three other Miramar, armed with the spears, surrounded the Jedi Master, jabbing at timed intervals to keep him occupied. Galder felt himself being dragged away, keeping his eye on the Jedi Master. Skillfully, he used the Force to fling one of the warriors past him and into the electropole of the one behind, then spun his blade twice to disarm the others. From somewhere behind him, a fusillade of heavy gunfire erupted, obscuring his view of the Jedi Master with fiery red lasers and explosions. More smoke grenades went off around him, further reducing his visibility.

“The Astrolabe is fake!” Nayler yelled at Galder as he dragged him with one arm, firing his pistol into police with the other. “The bodyguard has the real one!”

“Then get that...b-bastard,” Galder commanded indolently. “We need t-that Astrolabe...”

“We cannot stay!” Nayler replied. “We are withdrawing!” An officer moved to apprehend them, but Nayler dealt with him with the large pistol he wielded. Another policeman joined his fallen comrade when Takuan appeared behind him, tossing him away with the Force.

“Galder, you don’t look too great,” Takuan commented before turning to deflect a barrage from a multitude of police getting out of a Republican troopship. Turbolasers opened fire on a Miramar hovercraft, obliterating it within a few blasts. The troopship then lowered a launcher from just below the cockpit, unleashing a barrage of missiles on a group of speeders moving to attack. A gray Malastarian military airspeeder swooped down, firing cannons in aid to the troopship, but Miramar anti-aircraft blasters, mounted on the hovercraft, brought it down. The flaming thing collided with Ascar’s office building.

Beep! Galder’s ship caller alerted him that his ship had now arrived. Looking into the air, the Star Viper swooped down, screaming past military craft and troopships. It halted within jumping range, and Galder got to his feet. The cockpit door slid open with the push of a button, and he leaped through it with agility. Takuan followed, and Chion managed to squeeze in with a loud thud.

“We’re all clear,” Takuan said to Galder as a military craft moved to open fire on the Raging Reek. Galder flopped down in the pilot’s seat, grabbing the controls with one hand and clutched the fire button, unleashing a quick volley of lasers at the military craft, which was vaporized in a flash of flames.

Galder shook his head. “Let’s get out of here...” He pulled the ship up, disappearing through a pillar of smoke, flak bursting about him before the Star Viper pulled out of Malastare’s atmosphere.

<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

A holographic form flickered on the Reek’s communications unit, wearing a military uniform. Kuylen had contacted them in advance of the rendezvous.

“What is the progress of your mission?” he questioned. “You have the Astrolabe?”

“Unfortunately...” Galder began to answer, but halted himself.

“No, sir,” Takuan finished.

The three of them could feel a wave of anger emanating from Kuylen, even over the comm.

“Galder? What have you to say?”

"We did get our hands on an Astrolabe, but not a real one. Ascar and his damned security guard made a mock-up so that they wouldn't have to give up the real one after the podrace ended. Plus, the Malastarian police force has pretty much overpowered everything, and a Jedi Master has unfortunately severed my...arm..." Galder reported, catching Kuylen's angry glare.

I'm toast... thinks Galder. He thought back to tales of Sith Lords who killed their followers who had failed them.

However, Kuylen seemed to remain calm. “And Ascar?”

“He escaped,” Takuan answered. “Maybe the Jedi dealt with him.”

“Somehow I doubt it," said Kuylen. "The Jedi are no match for him. Set down on the asteroid, I will meet you on board."

<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

It was two days later, and Kuylen had heard the entire story.

His rage at the time was mostly directed at Chion. He paced up and down in front of the three, in his full military uniform, ranting as he went. His pilot sat quietly in the background, playing with her lekku idly.

"There is no excuse for this failure!" he yelled, unfazed by Chion's size. "And I told you to get the Astrolabe, not start a war! Now half the Republic will be on our tails."

“If you has not left us when you did..." said Chion, darkly. Kuylen stopped in mid-pace. Chion had never spoken back to Kuylen before.

"What do you mean by that, Chion."

Chion did not answer for quite some time. "Nothing. I'll put it right."

"Remember this, Chion. You only fail me once, and that goes for all of you." He addressed them all, turning his anger upon them as well.

"A fake! A damn fake! A ploy a child could have seen through! You let Persis deceive you! And I had such hopes for you, Takuan...

"And as for Sannan..."

“Who?" asked the Twi‘lek pilot, looking up to Kuylen.

Kuylen looked annoyed, then continued. "As for Ascar," he continued, "I warned you about him. He is cunning. And clever. And can make our lives intensely difficult. I warn you now. Ascar has power beyond you. Beyond me. Beyond the Masters that pursue us. At least as great as the Council. Not only have you made him our enemy, you have gotten us nothing in return!

"Obviously you cannot be relied upon to handle him. I will take care of Ascar myself. And then if I have heard that any of you three have failed me again, I will take care of the failures after that. I hope that is clear."

<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

Galder and Takuan spent the next two days in fear of Kuylen killing them on some whim. But instead, he planned. The one piece of relief was that they had leads. The Jedi were hunting for Persis and Ascar. Kuylen had a good idea where each will go to ground.

"There are some problems on Belseraphon as well," notified Kuylen, referring to the home of the Miramar. "Edna has disappeared on some personal quest of hers at a particularly bad time. Saar needs more help; you will replace her, Takuan."

Saar is the most condescending git I have ever met, Galder thought. He had not seen him since his days on Dordellus, but now he realized that he had set up the alliance with the Miramar.

“As for you two," he said, to Chion and Galder. "Find Persis. Kill Persis. Get the Astrolabe. Simple enough for you?

"I will go to Nar Shadda to find Ascar. With luck he will give me the location of the Mausoleum, for which I may spare him.

"How is your arm, Galder?"

“Not bad at all, Kuylen,” Galder answered, flexing his replacement. The synthetic arm was sleek and dull gray. Just to be delicious, Kuylen had purchased it from the same Hutt contractors that had given Balek his. Though it was not the bulky Swiss-army knife job that the bounty hunter had, it still had some special features. There was a spring-loaded compartment to conceal his left-hand lightsaber and put it in his hand during an emergency, a knife for quieter killings, and a blaster built into the wrist.

Kuylen reached out with a remote control and presses a button. The synthetic arm went limp, now a heavy dead weight on his body. Kuylen was forward with a flash and his saber blade held up against Galder’s throat.

“I am glad it works," he said. "Because if you ever lose a duel with a Jedi again, then even if you escape, I will kill you."

Galder froze, fearing for his life, but Kuylen backed down, putting the lightsaber away and turning to address them all again.

"We leave tomorrow."