Eeth
Chapter 5


Sifgia gave one final scan of the instruments, then turned to Iinth and said, "Keep an eye on things, will you? I'm going to talk to Sio and Eeth."

Iinth nodded, and Sifgia climbed out of her seat, and headed into the passenger section of the shuttle.

Both Eeth and Sio were watching as she came back. Eeth spoke first.

"We'd like some more information on this planet, if you don't mind, and perhaps a rundown of what happened?"

Sifgia nodded, and took a deep breath.

"First of all," she started, "the planet Besaphor. It's slightly larger and more massive than Coruscant, so gravity is higher, by about twelve percent. Curiously, the atmosphere does not reflect this greater mass - sea level pressure is eighty percent standard. It orbits a late K-type star, so, even though it orbits closer to its primary than Coruscant does, it's about five degrees cooler. It rotates slower, so its day is almost two standard."

She called up some information on the computer, and a second later, a hologram of the planet floated in the middle of the shuttle. It showed an interesting two-toned globe, blue on the bottom half, brownish-gray on the top half.

"I thought all information on Besaphor was erased?," Sio commented.

"Personal data I managed to save," Sifgia explained.

Pointing at the globe, Sifgia said, "The northern hemisphere contains the sole continent. It covers ninety-seven percent of the northern hemisphere. It is highly mountainous, with an average elevations of fifteen hundred meters, and peaks over ten thousand meters. This, plus its cooler primary and slower rotation causes temperatures to drop to about fifty below at mid-northern latitudes."

She looked around at everyone. They seemed impressed.

"And this was a retreat?" Arvandal asked.

Sifgia shrugged. "For Jedi's. The extremes focussed you."

"‘Extremes'?" Galanda asked.

Sifgia nodded. "During summer months, highs reach into the high forties. There are great deserts that routinely reach fifty-five to sixty."

"That's quite extreme." Sio made the understatement.

"It also has an axial tilt of fifty degrees."

"Fifty?!" Galanda cried out. "That's incredible! Does it have any native life?"

"Not much. Plants, insecta, small mammals, a few about the size of a Xithor, or two meters at the shoulder, if you don't know how big that is. Mostly of the equine species."

"Tectonic activity?" Sarvent asked.

"Plenty," Sifgia answered. "The northern continent is constantly shifting about, and the mass distribution is what causes the extreme axial tilt. Volcanoes dot the mountains, which is the primary terrain. This is accented by the five moons the planet has - three rather small, but close in, and the other two are large, and at a medium distance."

On the hologram, the moons swam into view.

"A difficult planet," Sio said, "with some strange properties."

"It must be a wonderful tourist attraction," Ozlo said dryly.

"It does provide a hardiness that toughens one spirit, I would say," Skysa said, taking him seriously.

"It does," Sifgia confirmed. "Some people came for a toughening of the spirit, and stayed for their life. Why Niles came seems to be two-fold. One, he was interested in some archeological aspect. I'm not sure what. Two, he wanted to retire from life."

"‘From life'? How do you mean that?" Sio asked.

Sifgia sighed. "His wife died two years before he came to the planet. He had three kids, but they all died in various accidents. I think he was tired of civilization. He wanted some place to - to hide in."

"‘Some place away from the rest of the universe,'" Sio quoted. "That's from his auto-biography. I'd have to agree with you, Sifgia. He was running away. He did have something to distract him, it would seem. The archeological site you mentioned."

"You know of him Sio?" Eeth asked.

"Well, I did read his auto-biography some years ago," Sio explained. Reading a book once was enough for a Jedi. He'd remember it to the end of his days. "He had a passion for saving old civilizations. Perhaps a bit to much. I don't think he fit in well with the current world."

"Perhaps," Tran Desulla said, "but what led him to this world?"

"I would hazard a guess," Sio said. "After his wife died, he became obsessed with various societies views on the after-life. Here, he first learned of the Ancient Ones."

"Ah! The all-powerful Ancient Ones!" Galanda pretended to be afraid, then shook his head. "Are we still going on about that? I though Yoda said they don't exist!"

"That my be," Eeth said, "but that doesn't make it so."

"Indeed not," Sio said. "There are too many tales. Too many stories. Where did they all come from? There must be a reason for them. It's possible Niles had a reason for searching here."

"If there was," Sifgia said, "and I'm not speculating on why he was searching for these ruins, I think it's irrelevant. He came here, apparently found something, and let it loose."

"We can deduce that much," Sarvent said, "but the exact reason can only be guessed at. It is, however, important as to what it was. We cannot defeat what we do not know."

"I thought logic didn't allow for ‘higher planes' of existence?" Galanda baited Sarvent.

"‘Higher planes'?" Sarvent answered. "If by that, you mean an afterlife, then no, we can't prove that with logic. That is strictly an emotional issue. However, logic can postulate the existence of parallel dimensions - alternate realities as some call them, not entirely inaccurately."

Galanda looked disappointed with the reaction he got.

"In any case," he said, "I agree with her. We need to learn what it is if we are to defeat it."

"Then I would suggest we land near this site," Sio replied.

Sifgia nodded. "I had planned on that. Eeth, Depa and I had thought that to be the best place to start. It is, after all, where Rylla apparently died."

"Yes, about that," Eeth said cautiously. "If you can, will you tell us what happened there?"

"I've pretty much told it," she said, but she would not meet anyone's eyes. "With a few other Jedi on the planet, we did battle with this being. He took over Rylla, and while Rylla maintained her personality, she used his powers against him. And then, wiped away any reference to this planet. And changed it, at least, so it would not scan normally. It will appear as a hot-house world. Temperature will be over seven hundred, atmospheric pressure will be almost one hundred standard atmospheres. No water, and an inert atmosphere."

Sio and Eeth exchanged a glance.

"She was able to do all this?" Sio asked.

Sifgia nodded. "I got the impression from our link that she could almost do anything she wanted."

"If so," Sio asked no one in particular, "then what keeps Ussa in check? Why can't he wipe us out of existence with a thought?"

"Rylla couldn't do that," Sifgia said, struggling to remember. "She could change our perceptions, but couldn't destroy something that is."

She shook her head.

"It's not as clear as it once was, but there was something else that limited him. Something about his understanding of this universe."

"‘His understanding-'? Do you mean-?" Sio left the question unasked.

"What? That that's how I know he's from another universe? I don't know. It seemed so clear to me then. Now, I just don't know."

There was silence in the shuttle for a while. Eeth couldn't help but feel a sending from Iinth to Sifgia. He ignored it, feeling it was not polite to intrude on private conversations.

"Sifgia has made some maps from memory," he said instead. "If you haven't looked at them yet, do so now. We will be at the planet in six days."

As he spoke, he summoned up the maps from the computer main-frame. Several holographic maps hovered in mid-air. They all came to look at them, except Iinth and Sifgia. Sio came over to study one in particular - the area around the final battle.

"Well, this should be interesting," Sifgia said.

"Interesting? Isn't there a curse that says, ‘May you live in interesting times'?," Iinth replied.

Sifgia smiled, the first smile he saw her make in days.

"If that's a curse," she said, "then we've been cursed ten-fold."

Eeth considered arguing against her, to try a raise her spirits, but she knew exactly what they were getting into, at least as well as he did, and perhaps better. Still, they managed to beat him once, perhaps they could seal him away forever this time. Somehow, he wasn't too sure.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," he said.

**** **** **** ****

Six Days Later

"Coming out of hyper-drive, people," Sifgia announced.

"Oh, good," Galanda said, "another day of looking at these walls and I'd have given all this up for nerf herding."

"And a very good nerf herder you would've made," Depa responded. "From the neck up, you look like one."

Galanda looked hurt, then studied his reflection in the window.

"Hmm. You could be right, Depa," he finally replied.

"Alright, knock it off," Sifgia said. "Skysa, I want you to ignore the status of the planet, just aim for the co-ordinates."

Skysa, sitting near the cockpit at a scanner station, said, "I understand, you've only told me one hundred and fifty-six times."

"Then, I'll say it a hundred and fifty-seven times if I have to! This could be a matter of life and death. Keep the controls on manual, Iinth."

"Of course, dear," he said casually. Eeth couldn't tell if it was an endearment or if he was just being cheeky. "We're coming out in five, four, three, two, one. Real space."

Everyone quickly looked out their windows. Eeth saw a planet, much like the description given to him by Sifgia.

"Something's not right," Sifgia said.

"Sifgia," Skysa said, sounding alarmed. "You said this would appear as a hot-house planet. It's not."

"Something's happened. Just aim for those co-ordinates, we'll have to figure it out later."

"Shouldn't we figure it out now?" Galanda called out.

"Not if we don't want him to know we're here," Sifgia responded.

"What makes you think he doesn't know already?" Eeth heard Galanda mutter to himself.

"Skysa, what are those co-ordinants saying?" Sifgia called out.

"Nothing," Skysa responded, taking the question literally, as Durrans tend to. "Oh, I mean, it's showing a jungle."

"A what?," Galanda asked.

"That can't be right," Sifgia said.

"Well, we can't worry about that now, we're going in," Iinth announced.

The shuttle had a rough ride down into the atmosphere. Eeth admired his fellow Zabrakian's skill at piloting. After what seemed like several hours, the shuttle settled down on the surface.

Eeth looked out his window, and saw that Iinth managed to find a clearing in the middle of a forest.

"Forest?" Skysa asked. "I was reading jungle almost all the way down."

"Well, we're about five kilometers away from the site," Iinth announced. "I imagine the answer is there."

Sifgia didn't wait very long, leaving the shutting down of the shuttle to Iinth, she got up, and went out the shuttle. Eeth quickly followed her, and was in turn, followed by Sio.

"Wait! We don't know if it's safe out there!" Eeth called out to her.

"What? You think he'd kill us with a poisonous atmosphere?" She asked at the airlock. "That's not his style."

"That's not what I mean," Eeth replied. "I mean, that" - he pointed outside - "changes everything."

Sifgia stopped, and looked out the door to the airlock.

"Yes, it does," she said after a moment. "But all it means is he knows we're here."

With that she cycled open the airlock hatches, and a moment later, the fragrant breeze of a coniferous forest blew in.

Within a few moments, everyone had gone outside. No one spoke for a while. They could all feel the strangeness of the forest. It looked normal, it felt normal, they could even feel the Force pulsing through the trees. All, that is, except Ozlo, who just looked slightly baffled. He didn't see what the big deal was.

Skysa walked up to Eeth.

"Master Eeth, the com units aren't working."

Eeth checked his unit, and found it inoperative.

"Yes, my com unit is down as well. Anyone else?"

Every one checked, but with the same result. Something blocked their communications devices. At this point, Ozlo began to panic slightly.

Galanda tried to distract him.

"Well, for a mountainous terrain," he said, looking around at the forest that spread out about them, "I like it."

"Sifgia, I take it this isn't what you expected?" Sio asked.

"There were forests on Besaphor, but not like this. They were stunted, and covered a few hundred hectares. There weren't any giant trees like this one."

Sifgia patted the thick bark or a tree that disappeared into the mist above them, and had a bole of at least fifteen meters.

"Well," Arvandal said with a frown, "I guess this changes our attack plan."

"Perhaps," Eeth said thoughtfully, "perhaps not."

Sarvent seemed to think for a second, then said, "He would expect us to change our plans."

"Yes, but I think I'll rearrange our groupings. Tran, you stay with Ozlo here at the ship."

Tran quirked an eyebrow up, but said nothing. Ozlo did say something, however.

"I have to stay with her?!"

"Not now!" Sifgia said sharply. Ozlo flinched, and said nothing else.

"Sio, you take Arvandal and Sarvent on the west."

The three of them nodded.

"I will take Skysa and Depa on the east. Sifgia, you will take Iinth and Galanda straight up the middle. We should be able to get him in a pincher movement."

Everyone now knew what to do. They had spent the last three days going over every plan, every movement. It didn't matter who was in what position. They had planned for every contingency.

Except for the planet suddenly becoming forested.

"Right," Sifgia said suddenly, "let's get this show-"

She stopped in mid-sentence, and crumpled to the ground.

"Sifgia!" Iinth called out, and rushed to her side.

"She's alright," Sio called out. "In fact, she seems perfectly normal. Other than being, um, asleep."

He had a puzzled look on his face. Eeth could feel what he was feeling. She seemed fine, almost like she was asleep. In fact, there did seem to be some alpha and beta activity going on in her brain.

"You've never seen this, right?" Depa asked. "She's communing with her Talz friend, Altoz."

"She just passes out like this?" Sio asked.

"Well, no," Depa admitted. "Usually she goes to sleep more normally. But this feels the same. . ."

Depa seemed a little more uncertain than a moment before. Eeth was wondering if there was reason to be concerned, or if it was a combination of the mission and the environment that was causing it, when Sifgia awoke as suddenly as she fell asleep.

She was murmuring something as she awoke, something Eeth didn't quite catch, but Iinth did.

"Biosphere? What do you mean?" He asked.

"Altoz told me we didn't leave this world as dead as we thought. It still had its biosphere," she said.

"I don't understand. . ." Iinth said.

"Neither do I," Sifgia answered, standing up, "but then again, I don't always understand what Altoz means. But I do know we're wasting time. Let's go."

They used the directions and planned movements as if the forest didn't exist, and struck out in three different directions. After walking about a kilometer, they split up. They were almost due south of the last known position of the entity, which they've taken to calling Ussa.

Back at the ship, Tran watched them disappear into the forest. She felt for them with the Force for a while after, until she felt a slight disturbance in the Force closer to the ship.

"Hey, Twi'lek! How does this food dispenser work?" Ozlo called from the ship.

Tran ignored him, and walked in the opposite direction the others had gone - to the south, away from Ussa.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" Ozlo called out again.

Putting the annoying humanoid behind her, Tran walked towards the disturbance. She thought she saw something move, and went to it, when suddenly she was grabbed from behind and whirled around.

"Listen to me! I'm asking you-"

Ozlo didn't get to finish his statement. He was suddenly hurled back a few meters, and landed hard on the ground.

"Don't talk to me like a slave girl!" She growled at him.

"I-I'm sorry!" Ozlo whined. "I just, I mean, Twi'leks have always talked to their women that way! I thought that was the way you were suppose to talk to them."

Tran looked hard at him, and said, "Did you hear anyone else talk to me like that?"

"Uh, well, I suppose. . ."

"No, they didn't. Twi'lek males tend to treat their females like slaves. I'm not a slave. Now, if you'll excuse me, there's something in the forest I'd like to check out."

With that, she turned and walked cautiously into the forest.

Ozlo listened intently to her explanation, rubbing his bottom where a stick had stabbed him. Half his attention was on concerns that he'd get some infection, but her saying there was something in the forest got his full attention.

"Huh?! What?!? What is it?!" Ozlo ran over to stand behind Tran.

"You'll be safer over in the shuttle," she said, annoyed.

"Oh, no you don't! I'm not going to sit there all alone! I want to be someplace where I can have help! Er, where I can help!" Ozlo added lamely.

Tran groaned to herself, and wondered why Eeth dragged this mass of flesh with them. He seemed completely useless, and hopelessly bigoted.

**** **** **** ****

It roamed the forest, searching for prey, as it had for as long as it could remember. That was, however, less than an hour ago. Its brain was small, compared to body size, and so couldn't be taken up with such unimportant things as a long term memory. The past blurred into one continual day. It was much more concerned about prey. That was what occupied its brain.

It had heard noises and had gone to investigate. More accurately, sensitive hairs on its fore-arms had detected vibrations in the air from a particular direction, and without really thinking of it, it moved in that direction.

Before to long, though, the sounds died down, and he couldn't locate any prey that way. After standing very still for a few minutes, it occurred to it to check with other methods. Smell always seemed to work rather well.

Before it could activate its smell organs, a large heat source appeared before it. The heat source had, in fact, been slowly moving towards it for a while, but it had been busy thinking, and hadn't noticed them until it stopped thinking.

It was quite surprised. The heat source was actually moving towards itself. And he knew without thinking that a heat source was always good to fill its belly.

It moved causally to attack. Nothing yet had hurt it, it didn't see why anything would.

**** **** **** ****

Tran moved slowly forward. She didn't have much choice. With Ozlo clinging to her, she had to. At first, all she could see was trees. And then, one struck her as rather odd. It wasn't even quite a meter wide, and had smooth, gray-brown bark. Most of the other trees were bigger, and had rough bark, and a deeper shade of gray-brown. Not real noticeable, but still, it did attract her attention.

Almost without her noticing, the tree moved. She was startled enough to just stand there, until she suddenly realized she was looking at the leg of a much larger creature.

It broke free of the foliage, and Tran got a good look at it. It was at least eighteen meters long, built rather like a mantid, except it stood on eight legs, and it did have the two pincher fore-arms. It also had what looked like some sort of stinger at the rear of its abdomen. It's whole body, except the legs, was a green and brown mixture, blending in with the trees almost perfectly. It was also covered in some sort of green bristles, resembling the leaves of pine trees. It head, like a mantid, was triangular, except instead of mandibles, it had some sort of beak. Tran had seen similar mouths on lice she had studied.

Rearing up its thorax to its full height, it towered nine meters above Tran. Lightning fast, it lunged for both of them. As fast as she could, she lifted Ozlo and herself into the air, and back to the shuttle. The creature crashed into the ground where they had stood just a moment ago, throwing dirt up into the air around them. It actually spent a fraction of a second digging into the earth, as if it thought they were still there.

Just less than two seconds had passed since Tran first realized what she was looking at.

"Holy shit!" Ozlo cried. "What is that?!"

Before Tran could answer, the creature looked up, straight at Ozlo. Ozlo gave a squeal of fear, and the creature made a screeching noise, not unlike fingernails on an old-fashioned blackboard. Once again, with blinding speed, it lunged for them.

Tran quickly lifted them both up to the top of the shuttle - Tran landing gracefully, Ozlo falling on his stomach. A moment later, the creature slammed into the shuttle, almost knocking them both off.

Ozlo got up, and looked down at the creature. It was clawing at the side, trying to pull itself up to the top of the shuttle, where they were watching.

"Now what?" Ozlo asked.

"I don't know," Tran admitted. Part of her was wondering how such a beast could exist. Surely it wasn't any sort of natural evolution. Could it have been bio-engineered? By whom?

**** **** **** ****

After separating, Eeth lead his group north and east, with a plan to attack from the east.

"Master Eeth," Depa began, "do you think splitting up like this is a good idea?"

"If you thought it was a bad idea, why didn't you speak up?"

"I didn't want to give any idea of disagreement to the others. I felt a unified front was better."

"Even if false? If you had any misgivings, you should've spoke right away."

Eeth glanced at Skysa, but he seemed unconcerned with their discussion. In fact, he seemed a little pleased. In truth, Skysa was pleased. He felt their talking about possible dissention in front of him was a sign of trust.

"True, I should have," Depa admitted. "It's just that I was always taught that splitting up was dangerous."

"It is," Eeth said, "but it does have advantages. We'll be able to hit him on three sides, and according to Sifgia, the north side is a volcano, with no escape that way."

Skysa said, "We have gone over this before. I think it is a sound plan all around."

Depa nodded. "I'm just concerned that he may attack us while separated."

Skysa stopped suddenly. "I can't feel Tran's presence any more."

Eeth and Depa both reached out.

"You're right," Eeth confirmed. "Or Sio or Sifgia, either."

"I think it's this mist," Skysa said. "It seems to have a nulling effect of the Force."

"Yes, I think you're right," Eeth said. Shortly after they separated, the mist came in, hanging off in the distance. After a moment, he started forward.

"Shouldn't we go back?" Depa asked.

"No, that would upset the schedule too much. We can't contact them to let them know we're going back, and everything depends on timing. If we don't get there at the same time, it could all be wasted."

Depa nodded, but said, "It does look like he was planning for us to be apart."

Eeth was deciding how best to respond, when the mist thickened about them, briefly, and then thinned out. They all felt normal, except now there was a clear path in front of them. And they all were surprised to find a river flowing next to them.

"What happened?" Depa asked.

"I'm not sure," Eeth said. "We seem to have been teleported."

"Is that possible?" Skysa asked, slightly alarmed.

Eeth thought for a minute. "Maybe not. Perhaps we haven't moved any, just the terrain has changed."

"What? How is that possible?" Depa asked, shocked.

"I don't know, but remember what Sifgia said after she came out of her trance?"

"She said, ‘Altoz told me we didn't leave this world as dead as we thought. It still had its biosphere.' So what does-" Depa froze as it dawned on her.

"Yes, I think Ussa has possessed the planets' biosphere."

"That's - incredible!" Skysa said.

A blur of movement caught their attention.

Looking down the path, they all saw a Jedi standing in green-brown robes. The person was in a defensive position, unmoving. Then, equally quickly, two more green-brown robed Jedi's appeared, running in from some other position, all taking defensive poses. Curiously, they all had their heads bowed, so they couldn't see their faces.

Eeth looked at the three of them. He could feel the unForce coming from them.

"Our fight is not with you," he said quietly. "Let us pass."

The one in the middle looked up, her hood falling from her head. Eeth gasped.

"I don't think we can," she said.

"Do you know her Eeth?" Depa asked.

"Yes," he replied. "I do know her. It's the woman that started all this - Sushanna."

The other two raised their heads, hoods falling off.

Eeth said, "I'm not surprised to see Gi, but you!"

The third member, standing on Sushanna's left, gave a shrug.

"If it makes you feel better, you can call me Ussa."

With that, all three ignited their light sabres, and took up a slightly more aggressive position.

**** **** **** ****

Sifgia confidently lead the way forward. Even though the terrain had changed, she knew the way. The same thoughts that Eeth had about the biosphere, occurred to her as well. When she had shared them with Iinth and Galanda, they agreed that he must've possessed the biosphere.

"We should be prepared for anything," Iinth was saying. "He's obviously mutated the plant life, who knows what else he's done?"

"Quite so," Sifgia said quietly. Her thoughts were currently on Rylla. She pushed them aside when she almost hit a branch on a tree.

"Be careful," she called back, "it's getting thicker up here."

"Well, if the worse he's done is change the terrain, I don't think we'll have to much problem," Galanda said.

"You forget the words of Master Mace. ‘Never underestimate your opponent. If you do,-'"

"‘-You've lost half the battle,'" Galanda finished for Iinth. "I know, and I'm not being overconfident. I'm just pointing out if this is the worse he can do-"

Galanda stopped suddenly.

"Hey, wait! I think I see something!" He moved off to take a closer look.

Iinth had just gotten far enough ahead, he hadn't quite heard that last remark. Assuming he was just once again being glib, he said, "But we don't know if this is the worse he can do. That's what I'm saying-"

He stopped as he turned around, and saw Galanda wasn't following him anymore.

"Galanda? Galanda!" He called.

"What is it?" Sifgia asked, coming back to Iinth.

"Galanda's gone."

"What? That idiot! If he's goofing off again-!" She let her threat go unfinished. Mostly because she didn't mean it. She didn't believe even he would goof off in the middle of a mission. Joke, maybe, but not endanger anyone.

"He may be close by - perhaps he's fallen and unconscious," Iinth suggested, uncertainly.

"Alright, let's take a quick look. But we can't take too long."

Sifgia quickly supressed anger and her true feelings that were below that flush of anger. She was afraid if she lost some one on this mission before the fight even started, it wasn't a good sign. Either for the mission, or of her leadership skills.

Iinth noticed the anger, and gave her a concerned look. She let her calmness speak for herself.

They both walked side by side, until Sifgia found the branch she almost hit.

"Alright, we know he was with us when we passed here," Sifgia said. "Let's move forward and see what we can."

Carefully retracing their steps, they found a section of grass to the east that had been most recently trampled.

"Why did he go in there?" Iinth indicated the shrubbery the trampled grass led to.

"Ours is not to ask why, ours is to go and save his butt," Sifgia responded with a smile.

They followed the trail, carefully going through the shrubbery, watching out for any concealed pits, and came out the other side.

What they found surprised them, although Sifgia later thought she shouldn't have been.

"A tropical rain forest," Iinth said numbly.

"How-?" Sifgia started to answer. "Never mind. Do you see him anywhere?"

Iinth didn't have time to answer. A piercing noise hit them, and they felt as if their heads were about to explode.

Gritting her teeth, Sifgia managed to yell, "Sonics!"

Iinth, struggling to keep conscious, nodded, and struggled to stand upright.

The noise increased, and both Jedi's let out a cry of pain.

Sifgia moved her hands away from her ears, to catch herself as the ground rose up to meet her. She saw blood on her hands. Her ears must be bleeding, she thought dully as she hit the ground.

She forced her head to turn to one side. Moving swiftly through the grass, she saw a huge snake, easily big enough to swallow her, heading straight for her.

**** **** **** ****

Sio stood on the rock outcropping. He felt he shouldn't be surprised at all. And yet, he was.

They had been moving through the forest, and they came across a fog bank. After determining it wasn't dangerous, the passed through it, and came out into a desert.

The sun scorched down on them. Sio was quite certain the humidity was zero, and if possible, below that. Temperature had to be over fifty degrees. And they had a very limited water supply.

He had them rest in the shade of a large rock, sipping carefully at their water.

"Master Sio," Arvandal said slowly, as if speaking were an effort. "Are we on the right trail?"

Sio looked at Arvandal and Sarvent. Even with their Jedi training, they were suffering. So was Sio. He made to answer him, and found that speaking was an effort. It felt like the heat sucked the moisture right out of his mouth, which wasn't to far from the truth.

"I believe so, yes," he managed to answer. "I don't think we've left the trail, I think the trail has only changed its appearance."

Sarvent nodded. "I believe I have figured out what Sifgia's vision meant."

"Mmm, that Ussa has control over the biosphere, yes," Sio nodded. "He's able to control the planet. Able to put desert next to forest, with no consequences."

"No," Sarvent said, "there are consequences, he just doesn't care what they are. For the planet, or himself."

Slowly, and with effort, Sio nodded.

"Yes, you're quite right. Now, we must go. We still have a couple of kilometers to go."

Wearily, they got up.

Sio was very concerned. If they were this tired after only twenty minutes, they would be in no shape to fight once they got to their destination. And how were the others fairing? He could no longer sense them with the Force.

Putting that concern aside, he moved his people onward. He wondered if coming here with such a small group was a good idea. Perhaps a direct assault would've been better.

As they struggled through the desert heat, Sio forced all of his concentration on their direction. He knew all to well the dangers of being lost in the desert, as undoubtedly was the plan.

They came to a rocky rise, and Sio gathered them around.

"Drink some more water, but very little. Concentrate! I do believe our target is on the other side of this hill."

Suddenly a shadow fell across them.

Sio looked up, and couldn't believe what he saw. He remember when she first joined the Jedi, became his padawan learner, and how she grew strong in the Force. He remembered being very proud when she became a Jedi Knight, and took on padawans of her own. And he cried when she had supposedly died on Skaros, and quietly rejoiced when he learned that she wasn't necessarily dead.

And now, he was looking up at the face of her.

"Rylla?" He asked in a horse whisper.

"I was once known by that name," she said, "when I had weaker masters. Now, I serve Ussa, Lord of the Universe!"


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