Star Wars: Fate Of The Jedi: Omen Part 20

Ben groaned slightly.

The hours seemed to stretch on with no sense of time pa.s.sing, although their chronos were working just fine. Sometimes Luke would think hours had pa.s.sed when it had just been twenty minutes. Other times, he was shocked to realize he'd spent three hours without realizing it.

What had at first been an intriguing, if laborious, undertaking had become almost mind-numbingly rote. Luke forced himself to stay open to the Force and not let his mind drift from the task at hand. He couldn't afford to miss anything, no matter how subtle. But so far, they had found nothing that could give the Aing-Tii any sort of guidance.

Luke straightened and stretched, eyeing the next round of artifacts. His eye fell on something s.h.i.+ny, catching the light of the glowing Force stones.

It was a small pyramid of gleaming metal. While some of the other artifacts had shown signs of age and wear and tear-some of them seemingly so fragile that Luke and Ben had been reluctant to touch them-this item looked almost newly minted. Luke extended a hand, grasped it-and gasped.

THE OUTER RIM.

PRESENT DAY.

Vestara had always hoped that one day, if her path toward Sith mastery unfolded as she had dreamed, she would be permitted aboard the Omen, the s.h.i.+p of Destiny, to learn its secrets and that of her own history. She had never in her wildest dreams imagined that another s.h.i.+p might descend from the skies, looking like a red, winged eye, to summon and teach her.

But the ways of Fate are strange indeed, and Vestara seized the challenge eagerly.

Shortly after the devastating news that the Sith, far from ruling the galaxy as the Tribe had ignorantly a.s.sumed, were facing extinction, Vestara had been called to enter s.h.i.+p itself. She was not the first, she knew; Lord Vol, the Grand Lords, and the Masters had all preceded her. But she was the first among the apprentices, and had stood quietly before it.

The spherical vessel was bizarre almost beyond her imagining. Where a moment earlier had been a seamless, red, pebbly, curved surface, there was now an open hatch. Before her eyes, a line formed beneath the glowing yellow, eye-like viewport. A ramp extended in welcome. Vestara did not hesitate; indeed, she had to stop herself from racing upward. She felt the vessel's pleasure as she first placed her boot upon the ramp. It was almost like-a sigh of relief. She forced herself not to grin.

Steadily she walked upward, into the heart of the vessel. She was not certain at all what to expect, and so simply observed. The interior was smaller than the exterior would indicate. It was a single chamber, four meters across and two and a half high. The curving walls inside looked exactly like those outside, and before she could think, Vestara extended a hand and ran her fingers lightly along the pebbly orange surface. She could have sworn she felt the vessel quiver, like a pet muut being caressed. The wall was warm to the touch as well and seemed to pulse slightly, like a living thing.

There were no sets of controls, no chairs, nothing she had been led to find inside of a s.h.i.+p or indeed any mechanical construct. s.h.i.+p wasn't going to give her any clues, either. What was expected of her, then?

Vestara frowned, then knelt down in the center of the empty, warm chamber. She closed her eyes and reached out in the Force to the vessel.

Command me, s.h.i.+p told her.

A smile tugged at the scarred corner of her mouth.

Fly, then.

She didn't really expect it to obey so simple an instruction, and when suddenly the door was sealed over, like a wound closing, and the s.h.i.+p instantly vertically rose, Vestara tasted fear.

Only for a moment, though. She did not blindly trust the s.h.i.+p, but she knew what he was designed for, and she knew she had the will to direct him if she didn't panic. She moved forward on the strange surface to where she could see out the viewport to the Temple that had receded, the faces of the Sith watching in the courtyard rapidly becoming tiny dots. She was as high as she had ever been on Tikk, and then suddenly she was higher still, and looking down on her home planet with eyes wide in astonishment.

It was beautiful, green and brown and blue with wisps of white clouds here and there, and Vestara suddenly wasn't sure she wanted to leave it.

You wish to be a Sith Master, do you not?

You know I do.

Then leave this world behind, so that you may conquer others.

Slowly, her palms moist, Vestara had nodded. We will need more than you, s.h.i.+p, if we are to conquer worlds in the name of the Sith.

I will teach you. I will teach all of you.

And so he had. Every apprentice, every Sith Knight, every Master and Lord learned how to navigate the vessel. He knew more about the Omen than they did, and they eagerly drank in the knowledge he shared. And then he took them to the stars.

They began with the conquest of a single vessel, alone and unprotected, no match for s.h.i.+p. They harried it, dancing and fighting with weapons that s.h.i.+p manifested into physical form with a thought, forcing the vessel to crash-land on an uninhabited world. What crew did not die in the accident met death by Sith lightsabers, s.h.i.+kkar, or gla.s.s parang-a bladed weapon originally used for clearing undergrowth that had new value as a weapon that could be thrown and then return to the thrower. The Sith aboard s.h.i.+p scavenged this, their first kill, and with the vessel's parts were able to make strides toward reconstructing Omen.

And they returned to s.p.a.ce. Isolated and distant from the rest of the galaxy they might have been until now, but no longer. s.h.i.+p knew where to take them, how to get there, and they would hunt and take their prizes and return with no one left to reveal the location of their hidden world. So they did, again and again, until Omen was completed and s.p.a.ceworthy Five thousand years old it might be, but it was Sith, and with repairs, it again dominated the skies.

Two s.h.i.+ps, now. One a Sith training vessel, the other a Sith battle cruiser. More vessels fell beneath the determined Sith attacks; more vessels that would be pressed into service to the dark side of the Force. Vestara was permitted to be part of the crew of one of the very first craft so commandeered. It had been given to Lady Rhea to command and renamed Eternal Crusader. Vestara learned as all of them had-by a few practice drills and by jumping with both feet into full-on s.p.a.ce battles.

These new, s.p.a.cefaring Tribe members had even adopted new garb for the purpose. Loose, flowing robes were a hindrance in scrambling aboard downed vessels and fighting in tight quarters. Instead, Vestara and the other crew members of the various vessels in the new Sith armada wore tight-fitting pants, s.h.i.+rts that permitted air to circulate and cool overheated bodies, comfortable boots for running and climbing, and weapons that were small, deadly, and clipped neatly to a belt, such as vibroblades, shotos, s.h.i.+kkars, and parangs, as well as the traditional lightsaber. Vestara's light brown hair, which she still kept long, was almost always tightly braided now. She could not afford any distractions.

Two years had pa.s.sed so, and they had been the fastest of Vestara's young life. Sixteen now, she had transformed from a girl who yearned to become a Sith Master to a highly respected apprentice; from an innocent who had never taken a life or even dealt a severe injury to an accomplished killer who had slain dozens by all methods imaginable. She had once dreamed of being allowed even the most fleeting of glimpses inside Omen; now she served on a vessel even larger and more powerful than that ancient, respected wars.h.i.+p.

They were returning home after a particularly satisfying attack: six Sith s.h.i.+ps against two bulk freighters, which now were being towed back to Kesh to be repaired, refurbished, renamed, and integrated into the increasingly powerful Sith armada. They had nearly a dozen vessels now. Vestara was happy in her current a.s.signment, though she would have preferred to stay with s.h.i.+p. He had accompanied them on this battle, and she could feel his contentment in the Force at their progress.

And then she felt ... something else.

She couldn't figure out what it was-a jolt, an unsettling in the Force, like a stone being thrown into a pond. It was nothing negative, but-very powerful.

Lady Rhea gasped, her fingers digging into the arm of her command chair. Her face had gone white, and her eyes were enormous and unseeing. Vestara glanced at her in concern, then left her station to go to her Master and kneel beside her.

"Lady Rhea-what it is?"

For another moment, Lady Rhea simply stared, wide-eyed, at nothing. Then she blinked and seemed to come to her senses.

"I-felt someone very powerful in the Force," she said, her voice slightly shaky and laced with an uncertainty that Vestara had never before heard from her. It made her stomach clench. "Strong in the power of the light side. A Jedi ... a great Master."

And Vestara felt a surge from s.h.i.+p and a name was placed in her head: Skywalker.

"DAD?"

Ben's voice seemed to come to Luke from far away, floating to reach him. It was only his son's touch on his arm that finally brought Luke out of his Force-induced reverie.

"What just happened? You all right?"

Luke shook his head, staring at the item in his hand, and then gently placed it back down on the pile. Once he had ceased to be in physical contact with it, the strange tingling in the Force ceased.

"I-yes. I'm all right."

"What was that?" Ben looked warily at the object, clearly deeply reluctant to touch it himself.

"It's called the Codex," Luke said, knowing this was true but not remembering getting the knowledge. "It seemed to ... enhance my Force powers. Augment them, make them much stronger."

Ben lifted an eyebrow and looked with new respect and curiosity at the item.

"That's kinda astral. What is it?"

"I don't know. It's old ... it's powerful. And-" Luke hesitated. "It felt ..."

Ben frowned. "Dark? Is it dark-side technology?"

"No, no." Luke shook his head. "But it ... while it enhanced my Force abilities, it also-" He groped for words, unused to being unable to articulate what he needed to convey. "I felt vulnerable. As if my ability to resist the temptations of the dark side was being tested. But it's not dark-side technology in and of itself, it's just ... there's a price for that kind of power."

Ben nodded slowly.

"And there's something else. I sensed a disturbance in the Force."

"That's ... hardly ever a good thing," Ben said.

"Agreed. But it wasn't violent, or tragic. Just ... there was a kind of wrongness out there. Something's amiss. Out of harmony."

"Could you tell where? Or who it affects?"

Luke turned to Ben and looked at him searchingly "It's coming from the Maw."

THE AING-TII HOMEWORLD.

TADAR'RO WAS WAITING FOR LUKE AND BEN WHEN THEY FINALLY emerged, blinking slightly at the change from the comforting dimness of the Force stones to the harsh sunlight of the Aing-Tii homeworld.

Luke was willing to bet that Tadar'Ro had not moved at all during the entire time he and Ben had been inside, testing all the artifacts. The Aing-Tii teacher had curled up like a boulder, and now as they emerged he slowly uncurled and stood to face them. His tongues flickered, and his yearning flooded the Force.

"Do you have an answer for us from Those Who Dwell Beyond the Veil?"

Luke and Ben exchanged glances. Luke nodded. "I do. But I feel strongly that what I have to say should be told to all the Aing-Tii together."

Tadar'Ro was disappointed, but he also understood. He nodded, the gesture seeming to come to him more naturally now. "Very well. But let us make all haste now to return to them. I am sure that they are as anxious as I to discover what Those Who Dwell Beyond the Veil wish for us."

Tadar'Ro was indeed anxious, if the pace he set was any indication. Luke and Ben found themselves using the Force to keep up with him. They could, of course, simply have asked Tadar'Ro to slow down, but knowing what he did, Luke understood the Aing-Tii's driving need. And he, too, wanted to share what he had learned as quickly as possible.

Force-sensitives all apparently, the Aing-Tii knew they were returning. By the time Luke, Ben, and Tadar'Ro reached the Jade Shadow, dozens of Aing-Tii were waiting for them.

Still as stone they were, as ever, sitting on their haunches as if they had been carved so. Luke almost felt buffeted by their emotions in the Force: fear, excitement, hope, anger, resentment, grat.i.tude. A rainbow.

Luke glanced over at Ben, who nodded solemnly. Then Luke took a deep breath, calmed himself, and spoke.

"When we came here, we had many questions about Jacen Solo. Thanks to Tadar'Ro, we have learned more about him. We also learned many things we didn't expect to: about Jorj Car'das, about the Aing-Tii and how you use the Force. How you regard it. We are the richer for that knowledge.

"And in return, you asked something of us. Something that no one among you could do-consult the relics that are compiled in the Embrace and seek guidance from them. We have done so. I give you my solemn word that Ben and I have handled every single artifact in the Embrace, trying to find the answers you, our hosts, asked of us. And here is what we have learned."

Ben s.h.i.+fted beside him uneasily. Here we go, Luke thought.

"While we learned much from the relics, and while we touched the Force through them, it is with deep regret that I must tell you, we gleaned no insight from them. No direction, no guidance, nothing that we could bring to you as proof that Those Who Dwell Beyond the Veil had plans for you at this juncture. I am afraid that the Aing-Tii are on their own. You and you alone must decide your destiny.

Whether you continue to believe as you have in the past, that the Force guides everything, or what the Prophet told you-that everything is pre-ordained-you must chart your own path."

Grief and anger poured into the Force with such violence that Ben winced, and even Luke had to steel himself against it. Out of the corner of his eye Luke saw Ben's hand twitch. Ben, sensing the hostility rampaging in the Force, desperately wanted to grab his lightsaber-but did not. Luke was very proud of him. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and protection. Never attack.

Then as quickly as it had come, the crowd's anger abated. The onslaught of enraged, disillusioned Aing-Tii did not come. Luke relaxed slightly as he watched them. They were talking; their tongues flickered wildly. But he sensed it was less of an argument than a discussion. Something had s.h.i.+fted. It was subtle, but present. Luke could not understand them without the translation device, but he had a good idea as to what they were thinking. He glanced at Tadar'Ro, who hesitated, then translated.

"Some of them say, this is proof that we do not need offworlder aid to decide our own issues. Others say that Those Who Dwell Beyond the Veil have turned against us-while still others say they have enough faith in us to choose what is right. And still others say that if it were not for Luke Skywalker and Ben Skywalker, we would still be hostile to one another."

Luke smiled a little. He could live with that. It was time for them to go.

The Aing-Tii began to drift away, returning to their ordinary lives and letting the "offworlders" be about their business. Luke turned to Ben.

"If you have any more questions for Tadar'Ro, you'd better ask them now."

Ben shrugged, not looking at his father. "Nah, I'm good." Luke frowned slightly, curious. "You haven't attempted the flow-walking yet."

"I decided not to do it. Come on, let's get packing." Tadar'Ro was confused. "But Ben Skywalker-we discussed this." Luke's eyes narrowed. "Tadar'Ro, can you give us a minute?" Tadar'Ro nodded. Ben and Luke strode up the ramp into the Jade Shadow and closed it.

"Ben," Luke said gently, smiling, "I know what you're doing."

"Again?"

"Yep." Luke's smile widened. "You're not going to flow-walk because you want to make a gesture to me. It's been uncomfortable these last several days, and it's all centered on the flow-walking. You're denying yourself this to try to smooth things over after this rough patch."

Ben nodded, not looking at him.

"I'll be honest. I'd be just as happy if you never learned this skill, never used it. Especially not to see Jacen. Because that's what this is all about. But you know what?"

Luke placed his hands on Ben's shoulders and turned his son to face him. "The Aing-Tii aren't babies who need the watchful eyes and control of Those Who Dwell Beyond the Veil. They can make their own decisions. And the same goes for you."

Ben looked up at him searchingly Luke smiled.

"Go on, if you need to do this."

Ben hesitated for a long moment, then nodded, opened the hatch, and stepped outside. Luke watched him as he went to Tadar'Ro, and then was surprised when Ben strode off alone. Tadar'Ro turned to look at Luke expectantly. Confused, Luke hastened down the ramp to the Aing-Tii.

"I thought you would go with him."

"He knows the technique. For what he must do, he does not need me present."

Luke felt a pang as he glanced at Ben, a small figure growing smaller in the distance. His son looked terribly alone to him, but Luke understood.

"And," Tadar'Ro continued, "there is something else I must share with you, Luke Skywalker."

BEN WONDERED IF HE SHOULD HAVE HAD A SANISTEAM AND SOMETHING hot to eat before attempting what he was about to do, but it was too late now. He trudged slowly but doggedly toward the spot where he and Luke had spent so many days learning from Tadar'Ro. It all looked as it had before, the time-smoothed stones warm from the sun, the taller stones casting cool shadows. But it didn't feel the same to Ben.

Here was where Tadar'Ro had taught Luke, and Ben, and Jorj Car'das.