The Final Showdown

  could see the blaster bolts streaking toward her emanating from a phalanx

  of spider droids. He withdrew his lightsaber and leaped to deflect them.

  He twisted in midair and landed on the top of a pillar, where he

  leaped again, this time next to Auben as he swept his lightsaber to deflect

  more fire.

  "Who are you?" she yelled, but there was no time for Anakin to answer.

  Ferus dashed forward, covering their retreat. Anakin hustled Auben

  into the shelter of the dark ruins. They paused a moment to catch their

  breath.

  Auben looked at the lightsaber. "Where can I get one of those?"

  Ferus ran in, already sheathing his lightsaber. "They have tracking

  droids. We've got to get out of here."

  "We don't know which way," Anakin said to Auben.

  She blew out a quick, exasperated breath, then nodded her head. "Okay,

  okay, seeing that you saved my life, I'll save yours. Come on."

  She led the way through the ruins, twisting through narrow passageways

  and climbing through blasted-out holes. Anakin knew that the other Jedi

  were following them. He could feel them close.

  The noise of the blaster fire faded, but Anakin knew the army hadn't

  given up. He could feel their presence, too. They were heading toward the

  outskirts of the spaceport now.

  Auben led Anakin and Ferus out of the ruins and into a series of

  narrow, twisting streets. The street dwindled into a lane. The small hovels

  and buildings were spaced farther and farther apart until they were alone

  in a rocky landscape. The lane turned into a narrow dirt path that twisted

  and turned sharply upward. Anakin guessed that they were climbing the lip

  of the plateau that cradled the spaceport. Sure enough, they soon scrambled

  over a last obstacle of huge boulders and reached it.

  Anakin looked down. Below them an ancient structure rose out of the

  steep mountainside and spilled out into a narrow valley. The mountain made

  two-thirds of the structure impenetrable. The entrance was in ruins,

  blocked by huge toppled columns and blocks of crumbling stone.

  Anakin felt the peculiar stomach-turning wrench he experienced when

  faced with the tremors of the dark side of the Force. He knew what this

  wreck of a building was.

  The ancient Sith monastery spread out below him, deserted for

  centuries, and still a presence of evil. Here was where thousands of Sith

  had once trained - and thousands of hopefuls had once disappeared forever.

  "Is that where we're going?" Ferus asked.

  "Creepy, huh? Don't let it bother you," Auben said. "Nobody lives

  there. Everyone's afraid to go inside, except for me. We won't be followed,

  that's for sure."

  "What was it?" Ferus asked, even though Anakin knew he was perfectly

  aware of its history. Ferus was too good a student. He had read the same

  briefing material that Anakin had.

  "Just an old monastery. They blasted out the side of the mountain to

  build it. Will you two hurry up?" Auben started down the steep path toward

  the monastery. It wound through the boulders and crags.

  Something in Anakin suddenly revolted. He rarely felt fear, but he

  felt it now. A deep voice within him was warning him not to enter.

  And yet another voice, deeper than fear, told him to go inside.

  CHAPTER-NINE

  Obi-Wan lowered his electrobinoculars. "The Sith monastery," he said.

  "Why is she going there?"

  "She doesn't want to be found," Soara answered. "I'd guess very few go

  in there if they don't have to."

  They stood on the lip of the plateau, looking down. Thousands of

  standard years ago, the original inhabitants of Korriban had all been

  killed after toiling for years to build the monastery. Nothing living

  thrived there now. Not a bush, not a blade of grass. If the ancient stones

  could speak, they would talk of blood and terror.

  "It could be a trap," Siri said.

  "Every step we take on this planet could be leading us to a trap,"

  Obi-Wan said.

  Siri gave a half-smile. "So let's go."

  They climbed down the steep, rocky path. Through the

  electrobinoculars, Obi-Wan had seen Auben lead Anakin and Ferus into the

  monastery through a crevice in the stones. He led the team there. The rocks

  that made up the giant walls had shifted over the years. Some large slabs

  leaned against each other, while others had toppled and crumbled into

  boulders.

  Darra and Tru slipped through the crevice easily. Siri, Soara, and

  Obi-Wan followed - Obi-Wan with a bit more difficulty. Ry-Gaul had the

  worst time. He was tall and solidly built, and even the Force couldn't get

  him through the crack. "I'll find another way in," he said when it was

  clear he couldn't make it.

  "I'll come with you, Master," Tru said, starting to slither out again.

  "No. I'll catch up." Ry-Gaul disappeared.

  Obi-Wan went a few steps ahead into the darkness. He felt the dread of

  the place. They were in a vast chamber, as big as the Great Hall of the

  Temple. Massive blocks of stone formed the floor. The last of the light

  came through the crevices in the walls like bony fingers.

  They heard footsteps echoing as Auben led Anakin and Ferus farther

  into the ruins. The Jedi followed silently. The oppressiveness of the place

  where Sith had lived and trained was a burden they had to fight against.

  Obi-Wan heard voices, but he knew they were ancient ones. He thought he saw

  shadows move. When he turned a corner quickly, he saw a vision - a Sith

  student on his knees, begging..

  He averted his eyes.

  Siri's face was pale. Darra and Tru looked shaken. Soara moved closer

  to her apprentice, to give her support.

  In the distance, Auben climbed through a ruined doorway. The Jedi

  moved to follow, keeping out of sight.

  They stopped outside a small chamber. They could see through the half-

  ruined wall that this had once been a small enclosure, perhaps a reception

  room. Auben had turned it into a combination hideout and storage space.

  Along the walls were bins filled with what Obi-Wan had no doubt were stolen

  goods. There was a bedroll in the corner and a couple of durasteel boxes

  stacked to form a table. On it rested a glow lamp. Auben leaned over and

  switched it onto a low setting. Shadows sprang up, dark and ominous, as if

  the Sith hopefuls who had trained here had returned.

  Auben turned to face Anakin and Ferus, her hands on her hips. "So. Who

  are you really?" Her voice echoed against the walls.

  "We told you," Anakin said. "We're stranded."

  "I think you are Jedi," Auben said. "I've never seen a Jedi, but I've

  heard of them." She waited, but Ferus and Anakin did not speak. She

  shrugged. "Fine. Jedi credits are as good as anyone else's, I guess. If you

  wait a little while, the army will stop tracking and you can leave. They

  won't come inside the monastery."

  "Do you live here alone?" Ferus asked.

  Auben leaned toward the light as though it would give heat as well as

  illumination. "I live many places. But yes, I'm alone here. Sometimes I get

  spooked. I hear things... but it's just this old place."


  "Maybe we should look around for you," Ferus said. "Make sure you're

  safe."

  "I don't need any help," Auben said. "I have my friends to help me."

  She patted her belt, where her two blaster pistols were. "So, tell me. Are

  you really looking for a man and woman? And don't tell me they're your

  parents."

  "Yes, we're looking for a couple," Ferus admitted.

  "Do you think you can help us?" Anakin asked.

  Auben crossed her arms. "If you're Jedi, you can make it worth my

  while, right? I hear the Jedi control a vast fortune."

  "Who says that?" Ferus asked sharply.

  She shrugged. "It's just what they say."

  "Well, it's not true," Anakin said. "But we can make it worth your

  while, anyway. Do you know something?"

  Auben was in the middle of her usual evasive shrug when an explosive

  blast rocked the walls. Sand spilled from the ceiling. Auben was almost

  knocked to the floor. Anakin and Ferus rose.

  Behind the wall, Obi-Wan and the Jedi team ducked with the explosion,

  keeping their balance with difficulty.

  Suddenly they heard the sound of pounding footsteps and the

  unmistakable clack clack of spider droids snapping into attack position.

  Auben had been wrong. The Commerce Guild army had followed them.

  Inside the chamber, Auben jumped up, blasters already gripped in her

  hands. "They're coming through the main chamber. There's only one other way

  out. Follow me."

  Obi-Wan waited until he saw Auben kick open a small opening in the

  wall. He leaned over to Tru and Darra. "Stay with Anakin and Ferus,

  whatever happens. We'll take care of the droids and come find you."

  Darra and Tru nodded. Quickly, they slipped into the now empty chamber

  and followed the others.

  Obi-Wan, Siri, and Soara charged back to the main chamber, prepared to

  meet an army.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Anakin wasn't about to let Auben out of his sight. He had a feeling

  she was the key to finding Granta Omega. She knew so much about Dreshdae,

  and there was something in her eyes when they told her they were looking

  for a couple. His instincts told him she knew something.

  Unfortunately, Ferus felt it, too.

  Anakin could feel Ferus behind him every step of the way. They were

  moving close together in the narrow passage, Ferus's breath on his neck.

  As Auben pushed forward, he realized that they were now moving

  parallel to the great hall. Despite the thick blocks of stone, he could

  hear the clatter of droids and the steady, fast ping of blaster fire.

  Auben moved more quickly as the noise of the blaster fire faded, no

  longer afraid of being detected. The passageway led downward in a gradual

  slope. The stones were damp and slippery.

  "Where are we going?" Ferus asked.

  "Just follow me," Auben snapped. "And hurry!"

  The passageway made a sudden turn, and they came to a partially

  demolished wall. Auben stepped over the stones and jumped into a chamber a

  little larger than the one they left.

  "There's a whole system of passageways that were once hidden," she

  explained. "I guess the big monks used to spy on the rest."

  That sounded like standard Sith procedure to Anakin. Trust was not

  part of Sith doctrine. It seemed to Anakin to be a bleak way to live.

  Auben led them down a bigger hallway. They went steadily downward,

  deeper and deeper into the complex. The walls began to weep with moisture.

  Anakin guessed they were now in the part of the monastery buried in the

  mountain.

  They went through so many twists and turns that Anakin wondered if

  they'd have to use tracking devices to get out again. Even with his Jedi

  memory skills, he was beginning to feel disoriented.

  At last, Auben paused. "What I'm about to show you isn't visible from

  above." She pushed open a rotted door.

  Anakin followed. An ancient ship stood in the middle of a large space.

  He had never seen anything like it. Crude and clunky, it must have been

  state-of-the-art at one time. The afterburner tanks were huge.

  "This was probably from before the sublight engine was perfected,"

  Anakin said, half to himself. Under normal circumstances, he would love to

  investigate the ancient technology of the ship.

  Around it, various decaying parts of what looked like droids were

  littered, models so old he couldn't identify them. He saw sheets and shards

  of durasteel and other metals on the floor and realized they had once been

  servodrivers, valves, and pumps, the hoses long decayed.

  "It's a service bay," he said. "We must be near a landing hangar."

  "You got it," Auben said. "Look."

  She led them through the open arch, into the darkness. Anakin stepped

  out and released a breath. The hangar was so vast, it ended in darkness.

  Service bay after service bay ran down each side of the hangar, waiting to

  repair the ships that no longer arrived. Hulking wrecks of ships still

  littered the floor, bits of metal that had once been droids, decayed tanks.

  Huge statues of terrifying creatures from many worlds marched on either

  side down the hangar. The statues had crumbled and cracked over the years.

  Some were headless, and the huge heads had fallen and crumbled into blocks

  of stone.

  There was a smell of rust and rot, and the air seemed full of

  something thick, something like memory. Here the Sith had sent off their

  attack ships. Here their blood lust had pooled into technology and

  aggression. Here they had thought themselves invincible. Here disaster had

  overtaken them, their vengeance ending in defeat as their greed tore their

  order apart.

  "It's huge," Ferus said. He walked forward a few steps. "You could

  dispatch an army from here."

  "Yeah, a lot of ships for a bunch of monks," Auben said.

  "The Sith were more than monks," Anakin told her. "So I've heard. The

  original evil guys, right?" Auben looked around. "Well, they're all dead

  now."

  All except for one, Anakin thought. Maybe two. If Auben knew as much

  as they did about the Sith, she wouldn't be so casual.

  "So where's the exit?" Ferus asked.

  Auben waved vaguely toward the darkness. "The landing platform is

  completely blocked off. From what I can tell, it's buried behind the

  mountain again, probably blasted with artillery a couple of thousand years

  ago or so. But you can get out through one of the hangar bays.

  It's a tough climb down the mountain, but it's better than tangling

  with the army."

  Anakin suddenly felt a surge, a feeling that seemed to rise up through

  the soles of his feet and blast out the ends of his hair. His stomach

  turned. His nerves screamed an alert. He could feel the dark side of the

  Force, lurking deeply in the vast hangar.

  "Anakin," Ferus said softly.

  "I know."

  "Let's... go back. Quietly."

  They backed up, stepping into the service bay again. The cool shadow

  calmed Anakin's tripping heart.

  Auben looked at both of them. "What is it?"

  "Something worse than the army," Anakin said. "And it's coming this

  way."

  CHAPTER ELEVEN br />
  Obi-Wan quickly assessed the attack. The first and second lines were

  made up of dwarf spider droids and homing spider droids, skittering toward

  the Jedi with laser tracking devices sending thin blue lines bisecting the

  space between them. Behind the droids were the army troops, locals dressed

  in full plastoid armor with battlefield helmets. The sophistication of the

  force was surprising. Obi-Wan wondered why the Commerce Guild needed such

  an awesome security operation.

  The blaster fire from the spider droids was fast and accurate. They

  marched on spindly legs toward the Jedi. Obi-Wan and Siri moved forward,

  lightsabers moving like pinwheels of glowing light, cutting down the first

  droids who moved forward to engage them.

  They had fought together so many times that they had learned how to

  merge their styles. Siri was the flash, Obi-Wan the strategist. He set her

  up, and she closed the deal. He maneuvered, she struck. They moved faster

  than the droids could track, and, with Soara entering from the other side,

  they mowed down the first two lines easily.

  Soara was a renowned fighter, and Obi-Wan always appreciated a chance