Star Wars: Echoes of the Past: Descent/Story

Star Wars: Echoes of the Past is an origin story for the character Nalrik J'tarr. It is a complete and total retcon of Star Wars: Echo in the Force as it redoes Nalrik's back story completely, explaining why he became a Sith Lord. EotP is a "meta-story", told in flashbacks via Flow Walks from Nalrik to his son L'ssek.

''Note: The story contains material that is not suitable for younger readers. Discretion advised.''

Forgotten Memories
Nalrik stood in the cargo bay of the Stone Talon II, watching the stars through a window when his son, L'ssek, approached him. Nalrik reflected on his life: where he was born, his first love, his family and friends who he left behind when he turned to the dark side and became a Sith, and the joy of being reddemed in his wife's eyes.

His wife.

Nalrik had learned that Kortha disappeared, possibly killed, on Taris a year prior during the Viper's Plague incident that nearly cost the Talons their lives. Early reports that her body was identified among the dead were misconstrewed, and she remained missing. Nalrik, constantly feeling the sting of her likely death, never gave up the search, but it was null. The eight members of the Stone Talon were beginning to feel like a family to him, especially his son L'ssek's girlfriend, a kind-hearted reptilian woman named Keera Jal'esk. Keera recently learned a bit more about her long lost family, as well, finding her brother Grengar Jal'esk, or as many saw him Darth Viper. She brought him down from the clutches of darkness, redeeming him in her and every other Talons' eyes.

As Nalrik went over these things in his mind, L'ssek approached him, standing next to his father. "Hello."

"Hey L'ssek, what do you need?"

"I need to ask you something, before I can make a decision." L'ssek asked, looking between Nalrik and the window to the stars. "Something important."

"Anything, I am here to help."

"What makes a person turn to evil?"

Nalrik felt a lump of air in his throat. He knew that his children knew of Nalrik's past as a Sith Lord, and thought he was prepared for questions like this, but after hearing the words escape his son's mouth, he froze in place. "What... what do you mean?"

"I need to know the circumstances of your turning to the Dark Side, before I can decide whether I want to go through with something. I don't want to bite off any more than I can chew. Please, father."

"It's not a happy story."

"Tell me anyway."

Nalrik closed his eyes and shook his head, not in negativity but in sadness. "You ask what makes a man turn evil, but I cannot tell you, not really."

L'ssek sunk his head and started to walk away, prompting Nalrik to grab his arm.

"I can show you." With that, Nalrik waved his hand and L'ssek felt a rush of Force energy flow through him as he closed his eyes.

''L'ssek re-opened his eyes and found himself staring down his father, but they were no longer aboard the Stone Talon. Instead, they were standing on the plains of Dantooine. L'ssek felt the wind blow across his skin, and heard the trickling of a nearby stream. Off in the distance, he saw a large gray building. Nalrik stood beside L'ssek, watching a young trandoshan playing with a piece of Muja fruit. The Trandoshan tossed the food into the air and catching it with the Force before it hit the ground.

''L'ssek heard footsteps approaching and turned to see a man wearing a Jedi robe... L'ssek watched the man approach the young trandoshan and bow to him. After looking into the eyes of the child, L'ssek instantly realized who he was. "How old were you here, father?"

"Seventeen. I had been a Padawan since I was thirteen, and this was the day I was to be going through the trials of a Jedi Knight. But things have a... very funny way of changing themselves for the worst..."

The Girl in the Yellow Dress
Young Nalrik J'tarr stood in the fields of Dantooine, passing the time by using the Force to play with a Mjua fruit. Off in the distance, he could see young Jedi training against droids, slicing them down. When he finally stopped playing with the fruit and let it fall to the ground, he saw an aging Jedi Master, Bav Tohl, approach him.

"Padawan J'tarr." Bav said, his long robe flowing in the wind. Nalrik did not like Master Tohl, not as much as he did his trainer, an alirar named Veshin Drenak. "The council is awaiting your arrival. Do not keep them."

"As you wish." Nalrik said. He reached down and picked the Muja fruit up, taking a bite off of it. As he walked towards the Enclave off in the distance, he tossed the piece of fruit over to Bav. "Save that for me will ya'? I intend to finish it when I get done discussing 'business' with the council."

Bav eyed the fruit and lowered his head with disdain. Ever since Nalrik came to the Dantooine Enclave, he had slowly begun to become stubborn and hotheaded. Evidently, his baser trandoshan personality was beginning to come into focus, moreso than his Jedi teachings. "Nalrik, be mindful to others, even me." He said. "Especially yourself."

Nalrik shrugged it off and walked towards the Enclave, stopping occasionally to take in his surroundings. The calm rivers, the gentle breezes, the amber fields...

Nalrik didn't like them.

He was more attuned to the cold, gray, urban jungles of Coruscant, where he had spent the fist twelve years of his Jedi life in the temple. But when his master, Veshin Drenak, was called to be a council member of the Dantooine Enclave, he took Nalrik along to keep training him long enough for the trandoshan to become a Knight, then Nalrik had free reign to go anywhere he pleased without having to be muddled down with a Master.

Nalrik entered the Enclave through the large stone doors. The Council was waiting for him, but when he saw his best friend standing next to a tree garden inside the building, he altered his course.

"Hello Maleki!" Nalrik said, patting a young human on the back. "They make you a master yet?"

"No." Maleki said. "I haven't even become a Knight. So what's the story with you? Aren't you supposed to be meeting with the council? Master Vandar asked me if I knew where you were so you could get the meeting underway."

"And what did you tell him?"

"I said 'No. Probably off saving some damsel in distress." Maleki's face turned to a sarcastic one. "You see I was being ironic at the time because you... um... weren't saving a damsel in distress at the time...." Then he frowned. "...were you?"

"Oh come on, Hyrm." Nalrik addressed him by his nickname, "I would never, ever, ever save a girl without you there... I'd let the evil monsters eat you as a distraction while I swooped in and saved her."

"Oh I see." Maleki said. "At least I'm good for something." Maleki chuckled and turned back to the tree. "I was going to ask the council if I could... leave the Order."

"What?!" Nalrik had to grab the fencing around the tree to keep himself from falling. "You... have... Jedi... Order... Muja fruit..." Nalrik stood back up and regained his calm. "Why would you do something so... so... preposterous?"

"I don't know. I have been a Jedi all my life, it's starting to burn me a little. I feel trapped in this life, nowhere to go or do. I want people to know the name of Maleki Korath, not as a Jedi, but as someone who is capable of more than that. I would ask you to leave as well, but knowing you, you'd probably say no."

Nalrik sadfully nodded. "I can't believe this. I mean, we just got our little brotherhood back together three months ago when I arrived here on Dantooine, after that while we were separated, and now you drop a bombshell like this? It saddens me, Maleki... but you are your own person, and I cannot tell you what to do or what not to do."

"Thank you, my friend. I will approach the council when your meeting is adjourned." Maleki said. Suddenly he looked over and saw Nalrik staring off into space. "Nalrik? Don't you have a meeting to go to?"

"Ummm... tell you what, you go to the council first and make your little motion about leaving the Order, and I'll... I'll go after you."

"And what am I supposed to tell them? They've been waiting for over an hour to speak to you."

"Tell them I got a little tied down with other things. I don't know, make something up."

Maleki shook his head in disdain and ran into the council chamber. Nalrik was distressed about his best friend deciding to leave his life behind. They met when they were younglings, they trained together for ten years. To Nalrik, Maleki was more than a friend, he was a brother. Maleki's master, Jace Gronal, also became a member of the council, and took Maleki with him to Dantooine a year before Nalrik went. The part of Nalrik that disliked the calmness of Dantooine was overshadowed by the joy of seeing his best friend once more, but now that inate feeling was becoming grayed out, cold, and lost in an ocean of ice capable of rivaling the fields of Hoth.

Luckily for Nalrik, another, brighter feeling was there to replace it.

''L'ssek and Nalrik stood and watched the past-Nalrik walk across the Enclave courtyard. L'ssek frowned. "So your best friend wanted to leave you behind? Is that why you turned to the Dark Side?" ''

''"No." Nalrik said, "Maleki was a good friend to me, but his decision did not effect me as much as it should have."''

"So what made you turn?"

"You'll see."

Nalrik smiled as he sat down next to a seventeen year-old reptilian girl sitting on a stone bench. "I assume you are here for the Jedi training?" He said, turning to her.

Smiling, the girl said "I don't have Force powers, I don't have a lightsaber, and I'm not wearing Jedi robes. What do you think?"

"...I think you need Force powers, a lightsaber, and a Jedi robe." The girl laughed and went back to a book she was reading. Nalrik took notice of the girl. She had bronze-colored skin, green hair-spines, golden yellow eyes, and was wearing a sun dress with a shade hat. "So what are you doing here if not to learn the ways of the 'all powerful Force'? Spooooky Force..." Nalrik made a twiddling motion with his hands as he said the second part of the phrase.

The girl laughed again. "I am waiting for someone."

"Would it happen to be the author of that book... hey is that a book about me?! You know, truth be told I am actually kind of a goofball, nothing like the dashing and daring hero that book would make me out to be."

"No, I am not waiting for the author of this book. And no, it's not about you." The girl smiled and went back to reading.

Nalrik smirked. "Good, because that book I mentioned... it calls me a goofball... alot." The girl laughed again.

"Mr. Jedi, are you flirting with me?"

"That depends... is it working?"

She laughed and said "I thought Jedi couldn't make attachments. I thought they were all droll statues who swung laser-blades."

Nalrik smirked again. "Well, consider me a... um... rebellious Jedi. Isn't that just plain bad of me?"

''"I think I'm going to be sick.", L'ssek said.

''"Shhhhh."

"Well, I think I should be going now. Nice to meet you, Mr. Jedi."

The girl stood up and walked out of the courtyard. Seconds later, Maleki walked up to Nalrik, smiling. "Well, I am leaving the Order within the week."

"Where will you go? What will you do?" Nalrik asked, watching the girl in the yellow dress as she turned around and winked at him.

"I don't know... maybe Felucia, I might start a colony up there or something, you know. Who knows, I may even have a town named after me or something."

"Okay." Nalrik said while standing up. "Send me a postcard when you get there. What did the Council say when you told them about me?"

"They said they will reconvene at dawn." Maleki said. "And that you had better not skip out on them this time."

Nalrik nodded. This was the third time in as many weeks that he did not meet with the council when summoned and his master, councilman Veshin Drenak, was starting to feel the heat from the other members. Nalrik knew that he was going to get an earful scolding by the alirar, and had a good sense to lay low until dawn. "Well, I have to run along now. I have more... business to discuss with a... business partner. It's busy business that's busily busy. I'll see you later okay?"

Nalrik stood up and ran out of the courtyard before Maleki could even respond. As he made his way out of the Enclave, Nalrik Force-sprinted out to the Khoonda fields, feeling the rush of air on his face. He arrived at a small house three miles from the enclave just as a landspeeder came to a stop there.

"Glad you could make it... Mr. Jedi." The girl in the yellow dress said as she climbed up out of the speeder. "You know I was beginning to think you would skip out on me."

"Of course not, Fara," Nalrik chuckled. "You're not a Jedi Council. If you were, I would divorce you." Nalrik ran over and picked up his wife before her feet touched the ground.

Fara J'tarr chuckled. "I don't know if I'm flattered by that." She said.

Nalrik kissed Fara and then danced with her, smiling the whole time. "You should be." After a little dance outside, Nalrik picked her back up and carried her into the house.

''Nalrik blushed. "What happened after that was... well you're my son, you don't need to see that."''

''"Who was she?" L'ssek asked, watching time quickly pass to that evening. ''

"She was my first love, my sweetheart... my everything..."

Nalrik opened his eyes and saw Fara lying in bed next to him. As he watched her sleep, he moved a bit of hair from her face to let the moon light it completely, and for a moment there he actually thought she was an angel. Nalrik lied back and smiled, remembering the first time he laid eyes on Fara, when he himself first arrived at the enclave...

After her her home was burned down by a group of Mandalorian mercenaries, Fara and her sister went to the Jedi for help. The Jedi sent her younger sister to live with family on an outer-rim planet called Bolmara, and offered Fara a room in the enclave, which she accepted. On his first night at the enclave, Nalrik was told to bring food to Fara. He grudglingly accepted, but as soon as he entered the room he instantly fell in love with the drakon girl, despite all his Jedi teachings against romance and attachment.

Nalrik spent the next three weeks secretly trying to win her heart, but to no avail as she was worried about what the council would do if they found out they were together. One day, Nalrik approached the council and requested them to build Fara a new home, near the Enclave this time in case more Mandalorians wanted to bother her. He petitioned the council, the Jedi Enclave, and the people of the nearby settlement Khoonda to have a home built, and after a few words from the charasmatic Jedi, they accepted.

The home was built in a month by Jedi and workers alike, and Fara moved in as soon as it was constructed. That night she contacted Nalrik on a secure frequency, asking him to help her clear out a group of Kath Hounds that was scratching at her walls and windows. Nalrik arrived to find no hounds, and when he knocked on the door she opened it and jumped into his arms, kissing him. They dated in secret over the next seven months, and within a year they were married, privately, at her home by the only other person who knew about the relationship: Veshin Drenak, Nalrik's Jedi master.

Veshin knew about Nalrik's affection for young Fara, and had once told him of a story of when he himself was a young Alirar. Apparently, Veshin fell for a woman on his home world of Alira, but he was a Jedi Knight at the time the council discovered their relationship, and that they were about to be married. The council requested that he sever ties with her and remain a member of the Order, promising him the rank of Master when he reached the age of thirty regardless of his actions until then. It seemed Veshin gave important political standing for the Jedi Order at Alira, and if news of his relationship with a "commoner" was broken out, then the Order would be deemed "unfit" by Aliran standards, and all trade routes between Coruscant and Alira would be ended. Alira had an uncommon, extensive, natural supply of the chemicals needed to make bacta, and if they decided not to trade then Coruscant and all outlying systems would be in a dreadfully high demand for low supplies.

Extremely self-obsessed and overconfident at a young age, Veshin left the woman at the altar and dropped her from his life, never looking back. Three months after he left her behind, the woman died of a disease that only Veshin had known about. Veshin let the loss of his love simply pass over him, taking joy in that she was now one with the force.

But deep down, in the locked away sections of his heart, the Jedi Master felt regret so cold it stabbed him with every beat.

Veshin told Nalrik that the woman wanted him to marry him before she died, and he refused her last wish because he followed what someone else wanted him to do. Despite the fact that feelings of love could lead to loss, and loss could lead to the dark side, Veshin told Nalrik that he should do what his heart, not the Jedi, told him, and agreed to let the young trandoshan develop a relationship with Fara.

''"I felt not anger for what Master Drenak told me about his loved one and her demise." Nalrik said to his son. "It was more... pity. He could have had the best three months of his life, given her the best last three months, but he chose not to because... I don't know. Maybe he was afraid, maybe he didn't want to fall even more for someone who had a limited time remaining. The hell of it is that perhaps he could have saved her life with a special Force power he knew, if he had been there when she succumbed. I wonder what it took..."

''"What what took?" L'ssek asked.

"For Veshin to let her go... he loved her impossibly and he just... let her go. To this day, the concept that he was able to keep his sanity after her death... just truly frightens me to the core..."

The Beginning of the End
Fara opened her eyes after feeling Nalrik's touch on her face, smiling at the first sight that she was blessed with. Nalrik lied next to her, gently stroking her hair spines. "Good morning." She said. "Actually, it's 9 PM." Nalrik smiled back and moved more of her hair away from her face. "You are so... amazing." He said, watching the moonlight stream across her face as she smiled herself. "So... unbelievably amazing. I am blessed so much to be in your arms, and to have you be in mine."

"Well all the things you did to win my heart proves that you are... devoted to your emotions, something Jedi are not known to be. If something were to happen to me, would you go on living your life?"

"Fara, you are my life. If something happened, well, that would change me completely. But I do not wish to speak of the future, please. I just want to be here and now, with you."Nalrik wrapped her hand in his own, and the two fell back to sleep.

''“What happened?” L'ssek asked, “What happened between you two?”

''Nalrik didn't respond verbally, not at first. Instead, he simply closed his eyes. "Fate has a funny way of being able to find your one weakness... and exploiting it."

The next morning, Nalrik ran through the Enclave doors and stopped himself before he entered the Council Chamber. As he used the Force to press his clothes (he had to look his best), Nalrik walked through the entryway in stride, as if nothing in the galaxy could touch him. It sure seemed tht way to him, as he was young, married, had a Jedi Master who actually agreed with his relationship going so far as to keeping the truth hidden from the council he himself was a member of.

"Nalrik." He heard Veshin Drenak's voice calling him not from the chamber, but from behind him. Nalrik turned around and saw the twelve-armed alien walking up to him. "What kept you yesterday?"

"Uh... Miss Fara had a problem with... umm... kath hounds at her dwelling. I had to make sur-"

"The council is not with earshot of this conversation."

"Look, I had a choice between sex with my wife or boring lectures from the council... for some strange reason I chose the former. But hey, that's just me!" Nalrik whispered.

''L'ssek chuckled while Nalrik looked away. "I was so... arrogant when I was that age."

"Be that as it may, Nalrik, it is unwise to have the council wait around for your schedule to clear up. While I think it is great that you are trying to find a good balance between your private and public lives, you may have to come to a point as I did, and choose between one or the other. If you wish to follow in your friend Maleki's footsteps I can have a vote ready for you to leave the order peacefully."

"Well what would you suggest?"

"I would suggest... make the right choice, as I did not when I had the chance. But, as you so eloquently put it, 'that's just me.'... We will talk more about this when I return."

"Return?"

"Talk to master Tohl about it, he knows more of the situation than I do."

Nalrik thought about Veshin's words, and watched him walk away. After a few moments, the young Jedi walked into the council chamber and met with Bav Tohl "Good morning, master Tohl." He said. "Such wonderful weather we are having, wouldn't you say?"

"Why didn't you show yesterday?"

"Well I'm here now, where are the rest of the council members?" Nalrik looked around and saw Master Tohl was the only Jedi master in the room at all. "I thought you were going to reconvene today before you go... wherever it is you're going?"

"Well, there is a Grand Council Meeting on Coruscant, discussing a matter of relative importance, and all Council members from the enclave have been recalled back to the Jedi Temple."

"What's this about?"

"Well," Tohl said, "according to an unsanctioned probe droid, Sith Forces have gathered on a small, outer-rim world called Fenris, and there is a debate on whether the Republic should send a strike force or the council send a smaller, Jedi-centric group."

Tohl walked over and activated a holographic imagery of a Fenrisian, this particular one holding a rather large sword. "The Fenrisians are a tribe of great warriors, but our ways may be strange to them, and landing on their planet with a Republic army could stir up an interplanetary incident. On the other hand, the Jedi could be discovered and worshiped as gods to them, and that could become a severe headace for us."

"What about me? Will I be going to Coruscant with Master Drenak?"

"No. The Padawans to the Enclave council members will stay behind while we gather at the Jedi Temple. We will return in three days, after which your Trials to Knighthood will begin."

"So what am I supposed to do for three days?"

"I cannot tell you that, Padawan J'tarr. Take a leave of absence if you wish, or continue studying for the Trials. Well, we need to go. May the Force be with you, Nalrik."

"May the Force be with you as well, Master Tohl."

Bav walked forward, but stopped after a moment. "Hey, kid." he turned back to the trandoshan and tossed him a piece of fruit, Nalrik catching it with the Force. After a few moments, Nalrik realized that this was the Muja fruit that he had bitten off of and given to Bav the evening before, preserved from spoiling with a Force technique. "I saved it for you, as you asked." With that, Bav walked out of the council.

"So... you were pretty well liked around the Enclave, weren't you?" L'ssek asked. "That's why the council put up with your constant absences?"

"Yeah," Nalrik replied. "In fact, I am pretty sure half the place knew about my marriage to Fara, Bav included. When he said 'take a leave of absence', he probably meant 'go be with her for the time we are gone.'...I do not know why, maybe I had a way of bringing out the best in people."

"So what happened when the council left for Coruscant? What'd you do, I mean?"

Nalrik half-smiled. "I took a leave of absence."

Fara opened the door to her home, half asleep, and Nalrik used the Force to bring her to him. "I am going to leave the Order."

Fara had tears well up in her eyes and hugged him. "We can go away, far away, maybe even to your family manor on Trandosha! We can raise a family, and you can teach me how to fly a ship, and we can finally be alone!"

"That's the plan, my sweet wife, and it is amazing that you are supporting me on this so much."

"Well, I'm a supportive person." Fara smiled and hugged him again. "But I have a question for you, Nalrik. A serious one."

“What is it?”

“Do you think we'll be together forever?" She asked him.

Nalrik smiled and lifted her in his arms, looking for the exactly, perfect, absolute words to respond with. After a split-second of thinking, they came to him.

''"Forever and ever and ever... 'till the end of time."

Nalrik stood inside his wife's home on Dantooine, watching as she prepared a lunch in the kitchen. "I am making you your favorite: Kath steak with a salad." Fara said, "I was thinking... we can go out for a picnic, you know, out in the fields. I know you want to keep our marriage a secret from the Jedi, but I saw a secluded cliff overlooking the entire valley. It's beautiful."

"Now, Fara, I must stress what would happen if the Jedi saw us together."

She lowered her head. "You're right, we should stay indoor-"

Nalrik put a finger on her lips, playfully silencing her. "But since I am leaving the Order anyway, I don't see any particular reason to have to spend such a beautiful day inside." He grabbed her hand and kissed it. "Do you?"

Fara blushed. "I knew what you were going to say, Nal. But I must say I enjoyed every moment of it."

Kravik
''"Blug! This is painful to watch. I never did like those romance movies.", Vedan J'tarr, L'ssek's twin brother, said after entering the Flow Walk. He brought along another Jedi Apprentice and co-pilot of the Stone Talon II, a woman named Lara Keyto.

''Nalrik casually said "Well that's how we felt back then, so shush..." before realizing that it was his other son who had said that. "Wait... What are you doing here Vedan?"

''"Meh, just trying to keep on the up and up, but now that I've seen what's going on I wonder what Zherin's up to.", he said as he walked out of the room.

''"Well I think it's sweet." Lara said while walking out with him.

Fara grabbed a basket with the food inside and attached it to a belt while She and Nalrik stepped outside her house, setting a lock on the door as they left. Nalrik walked over to Fara's landspeeder and smiled. "This little thing is built for one person... we cannot both use it at once unless you want to sit on my lap."

"Is that an invitation?" Fara gave a soft, seductive look.

"Well, it would be cramped and uncomfortable. You know, there is a technique I've been learning to use with the Force, a very unique power." Nalrik reached out his hand and smiled. "Do you trust me?"

Fara looked into his trandoshan eyes, and said. "'Till the day I die." and took his hand. "Just don't let this be the day I die, please." Nalrik scooped her in his arms and looked up, closing his eyes. After a few seconds, Fara felt herself lifting off the ground. She looked down and saw that she and Nalrik were being lifted off the ground. Nalrik was using the ability of Force Flight, surprisingly well for a padawan of his age. A few more seconds had passed and the two were flying into the air, Nalrik having his eyes open to direct them. Fara looked at the evening sky in a way she had never seen outside a spacecraft, and was astounded by the beauty of it.

After a few moments, Fara pointed to a mesa overlooking a massive, serene hillside not far from her home and Nalrik landed there, letting Fara go. She walked over to the cliffside and pointed at the valley, "Isn't it beautiful? I found this while hunting Kath hounds. You can see all the way to the ocean from here!"

Force Flight had taken a lot out of Nalrik, but he weakly smiled and slowly walked over to her. She grabbed his arm and helped him stand. "It certainly is, Fara... but it pales in comparison to the real beauty I have come to love, from this planet." He leaned over and kissed her, then they went back to the food basked she had dropped and sat down to eat. Nalrik, his energy still gone, lied back and fell asleep when they were done eating. Fara knew that he needed to regain his strength for the trip back, and lied down next to him as the sun set.

--- Nalrik had tears well up in his eyes, then stopped the Flow Walk. L'ssek was speechless at first, then said "You absolutely loved her. This was no little fling, you loved her to your core... she died, didn't she. She died, and you turned to the ways of the Sith."

Nalrik frowned. "Flow walking, it takes more out of me than I realized. I need to lie down."

"Father?" L'ssek watched Nalrik stop at the door. "Did she die?"

Nalrik didn't answer, and walked away. ---

"You seem tense." Keera said. L'ssek shared quarters on the Stone Talon II with his Drakon girlfriend. "What's going on with you lately?"

"I've been speaking to my father, and he's been showing me his past with a Flow Walk. He was in love with a girl, Fara, when he was younger, married to her in fact. She was a Drakon, and I am worried that my current life is beginning to... echo... his. He absolutely loved her and, I'm beginning to get the feeling that she died well before her time."

"L'ssek," Keera said, holding her boyfriend's face to hers. "I will not die, not now, not for many, many, many many years I hope, and when that unfortunate day falls, I want you to know that I will die with love for you in my heart."

L'ssek smiled and kissed her, and they departed to their bed shutting the light off.

''Three hours later...

L'ssek woke up after a nightmare, frantically looking over to see a sleeping Keera next to him. Nalrik's story was starting to get to him in a bad way, and he needed to learn how it ended. L'ssek stood up, putting everyday clothes on over his pajamas, and walked out of the room. After a few moments, he found Nalrik back in the cargo bay, where he was meditating. "I was expecting you to show." Nalrik said, opening his eyes.

"I need to know what happened to Fara." L'ssek said.

Nalrik closed his eyes and somberly lowered his head, then stood up and walked over to his son. "I will show you, my son, but I am pretty sure you already know." He closed his eyes again and the two found themselves on the cliffside where Nalrik and Fara had their picnic. It was night time, past midnight as far as L'ssek could tell...

Nalrik opened his eyes and began to stand, accidentally waking Fara when he gently pushed her off. Both of them climbed to their feet and smiled at each other, but the smiles faded when they heard a noise from behind the trees. Suddenly, three armored beings emerged from the treeline on hoverbikes, surrounding the pair. The first one to get off his bike wore a distinctive red armor with a "T" shaped visor.

A mandalorian hunting party.

"Well well well," The lead mandalorian said, "It seems we found a couple slimy creatures enjoying the night and look, there are two worms crawling across the ground here too." The rest of the mandalorians laughed, until the leader stopped them and took off his helmet. "I am Kravik, and this is Mandalorian Territory. Why, may I ask, are you here?"

"We are just having a night out," Nalrik said, "we don't want any trouble."

"Well, I am afraid that trouble is out looking for a couple o' reptiles like yourselves." Kravik unsheathed a vibroblade which shone brightly against the moonlight. "Such luck, too, as my favorite pair of lizardskin boots are needin' some patching." Kravik eyed Fara maliciously and licked his lips. "And it's been a while since I've been in a lizard... skin."

After quickly realizing Kravik's horrific intentions, Nalrik used the Force to grab his lightsabers, activating them. The blue light struck the Mando's armor and illuminated it. "Your depravity is pathetic... If you so much as touch a single spindle on her head, I'll sever yours, Mandalorian."

"Ahh... a Jedi and a commoner in an entanglement, it would be so... romantic... if the subjects weren't slimy, pathetic..." he looked at Fara again, "if not rather attractive slime-spawn."

"Get the hell out of here." Fara said, brandishing a Aerotech blaster pistol.

Kravik smiled, "Someone grab her and shut her the hell up.", he said, "The adults are talking." One of the Mandalorians walked over with a blaster pistol trained on Fara, but Nalrik quickly Force-pushed him off the cliff before twirling a lightsaber. Seconds afterward, Kravik's vibroblade fell to the ground along with his forearm. Kravik fell back in pain, and the third Mando took out a pair of blades and went after Fara.

Before the mandalorian could even reach her, Nalrik grabbed his entire body with the Force. "You should really see how your friend is doing." he said, and threw the screaming hunter off the cliff as well. Nalrik then Force-pushed Kravik into a tree, knocking him out, before scooping up Fara and Force-sprinting away while using his blade at the same time to destroy the hoverbikes.

Kravik snarled when he awoke and saw the destruction, then screamed furiously into the night.

Nalrik and Fara made their way inside Fara's home and locked the door, closing the windows at the same time. "Do you think they were following us?" Fara asked, shaking off the events of the night.

Nalrik shook his head. "No. I zig-zagged and ran as fast as I could. All the same, I think I'll stay here to protect you until my master returns. Veshin has pull on the Council, perhaps he can have a group of Jedi guard you, or at least temple guards."

Fara smiled. "Then when you leave the Order, you can be here at all times to protect me. I feel safer already."

Nalrik smiled back and walked over to her. "I will do what I can, when I can, to make sure nothing happens to you." He said. "Just tell me you will be safe, and that will lift this weight from my shoulders."

"I will be safe, Nal." Fara looked away and blushed "But, if something were to happen to me, I will still love you, even from beyond, and I hope for you to do the same. Frankly I don't care if it is in this life or the next, as long as I have you, I will be complete. Like you said, we will be together forever and ever and ever..."

"'Till the end of time." Nalrik felt himself grow stronger just by hearing those words, "'Till the end of time."

Fara smiled and kissed him, then walked through a doorway. "I am retreating to bed." She said, "Will you join me?"

"Uh... yeah, in a while. I just want to make sure things are alright out here, then I'll join you."

"Okay, just if I'm asleep, you can wake me if you want." Fara walked into the room and changed into her gown, then climbed into the bed. Nalrik could see her from where he was standing, as she had the door opened, and took note of the fact that she was asleep. Nalrik used the Force to sense the area around the house, within miles, using a power he was developing called "Force Echo", and when he came to the conclusion that the Mandalorians were long gone, he went to sleep next to his wife.

- Elsewhere, while Nalrik and Fara were sleeping, Kravik was still tending to his wound, cursing their names out loud. Suddenly, three mandalorians decloaked behind him. "What is your order, my lord?", the first one asked while the other two, medics, fitted a mechanical limb to his severed arm.

"This will sting." one of the medics said as he clamped the limb down onto the severed hand. Kravik growled as the limb twisted and turned and somehow took a mirrored shape to his opposite hand. Kravik smiled.

"Where did you obtain such wonderful technology?" He asked the medic. Suddenly, a mysterious being emerged from the shadows, his face hidden, his voice altered. Kravik had never seen the man before, but he still did not stand up and slice his head off as he wanted to.

"I gave it to him, a present from... a friend."

"Who are you, mysterious stranger?" Kravik asked, using his vibroblade to try reflect light on the mysterious man's face. The light seemingly faded away when it reached the man's hood.

"I am... a benefactor of sorts. I want you to take revenge on the Jedi who had wounded you and killed your men, and in exchange, I will help you take control of Dantooine. Complete and total control."

"...I see, but in order to take proper revenge upon the Trandoshan, I need to know everything about him. His Jedi Master, the girlfriend of his, where she lives, everything."

"How about I tell you when his master returns from a mission, and let you go from there?"

"...okay."

Three days later...

Nalrik ran down the terrace to the Enclave, watching the ships from the Jedi Council begin to land. As he did so, he saw Maleki Hyrm'natyr standing with a packed bag. "Well, I see you're off to great adventures." Nalrik said, jokingly punching his best friend in the arm.

"Ah, and I see you have returned from that busy business." Maleki smiled and grabbed his case and stepped aboard an offloading transport. "Well, this is my flight." He said, "give Fara my best wishes."

"Ok I will-WAIT! You know about Fara?"

"Please, Nal, it doesn't take a genius to know you two are meant to be together. A girl like that gives you something to live for! You should leave the order and be with her forever."

"I am. When Master Drenak returns, I will tell him I want to leave, and he has enough pull on the council to grant it. But thanks for the compliment on my wife!"

"No problem old friend." Maleki said as the transport closed. "And may the Force be with you."

With Hyper-binocs, Nalrik watched the ship take off for a Republic colonization outpost on Felucia, leaving the sky and jumping to lightspeed. Suddenly, another ship caught his eye. Nalrik could recognize Veshin Drenak's Alirar vessel from a mile away, even if he was blind, and watched it come in for a landing at the Enclave depot. Nalrik ran down to meet his master as he returned, but yet another ship came off the horizon which met his gaze. As Nalrik caught eyes with a smiling Veshin, his world exploded.

Literally.

The vessel Nalrik had seen after Drenak's arrival had crashed into the depot, namely Drenak's ship, at sublight speeds. In space, sublight is next to nothing, but it still a marginable fraction of light speed.

On land, crashing into a parked starship at sublight delivers a death blow to both vessels, ending their peacful existences into a flaming pit of hell no living creature could escape. Nalrik was far enough away to withstand the brunt of the explosion, but Master Drenak had barely begun to leave the loading ramp. Nalrik stood to his feet despite them feeling like jelly, and heard screams and alarms despite the ringing in his ears. His robe was singed, his eyes were bleeding, and his face was caked in blood and soot, blood that was not entirely his own.

Trying to regain his composure, Nalrik ran forward into the flaming debris as fire crews ran to put it out. He used what little ability of the Force he had in him to push chunks of twisted metal and burning control fuses away from the site, looking for his master. After a few moments of searching, Nalrik noticed a hand emerging from a twisted rope of smoked metal that used to be the boarding ramp. He ran over to the hand and tried pulling his master out, but his heart sank when he turned the metal around.

Master Drenak was dying, the metal ramp had heated itself so much so that it had fused around his body tightly, and the ramp had become so sharp it nearly severed him in half. Drenak looked up at his apprentice and smiled. "Take... good... care... of her." He said, struggling to get the words out. "Do what I had... failed with Voreen."

Nalrik had tears well up in his eyes, tears that stung when they dripped into the open cuts around them. "I will, Master. Don't you worry. Please don't you worry."

" Don't waste your life kid... don't let the Jedi... tell you what to do... be with her..."

"Master..."

"Don't waste your life... Voreen... I'm coming... I only... hope... you can... forgive..."

Drenak's three eyes glazed over and his head fell, Nalrik, holding on to his hand, felt it grow cold.

''"It was the first time someone close to me had died." Nalrik said. "And it would not be the last..."

---

A casket stood in the middle of the terrace.

It was closed, as the twisted, scarred damage done to the body inside was capable of making even the most hardened soldier queasy. Fifteen Jedi held their activated lightsabers in front of their faces, uneasily wincing as rain drops hit their blades. A seating of Jedi in ceremonial garb was layed out in front of the casket, but one Jedi stood next to it...

It had been a day since the death of Nalrik's beloved master, and he was beginning to feel the cold, hard sting.

The sting was not from his eyes, despite the fact that they were blown half a centimeter out of their sockets. The sting was not from his leg, despite the fact that it had caught shrapnel from the explosion. It was not from his hands, despite the fact that they were burned when Nalrik moved flaming wreckage out of his way so he could reach his master.

No, this sting came from within his own mind, a burning, pent up fury which tore his soul to shreds. A fury that had been brought upon by one particular thing: Mandalorians.

Nalrik was aware that the Mandalorians had deliberately crashed a Starfighter into his master's docked ship. He was aware that the explosion was intended for Veshin, not him, but it still stung his mind, the question:

''Did I do this?

Ever since he saw the Mandalorian vessel crash, Nalrik had the aching feeling that Kravik had been responsible. And if that was the case, then perhaps Kravik was targeting those close to him. Nalrik had invited Fara to the funeral, partly to keep her safe, and partly so she could pay her last respects to the man who had been there when she and her husband was married.

Nalrik could easily tell who was in the knowing about his marriage to the young Drakon girl, as he studied each and every face of each and every person who had been at the funeral. Bav Tohl smiled as Fara stood to her feet and silently walked over to Nalrik, as did Master Vrook Lamar, and Master Vandar. Nalrik knew that if these three Jedi Masters, respected from their time as knights, had good notions about his marriage, then everyone should. Trying to push the thought of his master's death away in an effort to bring a new hope for the Jedi Order, Nalrik picked up Fara and kissed her, producing a wedding ring that he had carried on a chain around his neck when he was in the enclave and putting it on his own hand.

"Yeah, I'm married to this girl. And Master Veshin Drenak, the man we are here to pay respects to? He commuted the ceremony. He wanted me to do this, he told me I should wait until all Jedi from the enclave were present to deliver the news, and now, here we all are."

"You know, I'm happy being with her, she is my everything. Veshin knew that, he knew that people are meant to be happy and that the Jedi Order should not get in the way of emotions. The first line in the Jedi Code says 'There is no emotion, there is peace.', but to me, love is peace, and love is an emotion, so... Master Drenak asked me to do this, and I am honoring his last wishes... I am leaving the Jedi Order. Me and Fara here will find a place wherever we can, because we know that we will be together forever and ever and ever, 'till the end of time."

The Jedi had become as quiet as statues, before one clapped. Then another, then another, then more. In a minute the entire tearrace was in thunderous applause, and Nalrik scooped Fara into his arms and walked out of the room. "Goodbye, my master." He said, and turned around to see a blue Force ghost materialize on top of the casket, smiling. The ghost was of Veshin, only Nalrik could see, and he said something only Nalrik could hear.

"Thank you, Nalrik, for turning a sad day into a joyous occasion. I could not have asked for anything better for my funeral."

Nalrik smiled and nodded, then went back to carrying his wife away as the ghost faded away.

Suddenly, the mysterious man who had approached Kravik in the forest stood on the top of the Enclave, invisible to all eyes, and watched Nalrik carry his bride. "Smile now, Nalrik. Even in your master's death you find peace... but worry not... in due time, your smile will fade..."

--- Nalrik took the two of them out of the Flow Walk and sat back down to his mediation. "I have shown you what I can."

"There has to be more." L'ssek said. "Please, tell me there is more. I really, really need to know what makes someone turn to the Dark Side!"

"You want to know what makes a man turn? Okay, I'll tell you: You think you can rule the world, you think everything cannot happen to you because, let's face it, you're 'the hero', but then, reality hits! Your best friend leaves you, the closest thing you can remember you've had to a father is murdered, and my beautiful, innocent wife is raped and murdered by a bunch of savage monsters and I had no way to save her! THAT'S WHAT MAKES A MAN TURN TO THE DARK SIDE, JEDI!"

"You... you called me 'Jedi'... almost like you're still Sith... deep down inside you, you're still a Sith."

"I am not a Sith, not anymore. And I will never turn back to that path. Now please, leave me... so... I can meditate."

L'ssek uneasily nodded and walked out of the cargo bay, leaving his father to break down into tears as he fell to the floor.

The Greatest Tragedy
L'ssek climbed in bed next to Keera and fell asleep, disheartened by his father's decision to prevent him from seeing the rest of his past. Suddenly, he opened his eyes and saw Nalrik sitting on the floor beside the bed, cradling a dying, faceless woman in his arms illiminated by an invisble fire. There was no sound from him. L'ssek rapidly blinked to get the vision out of his head, but he then saw Nalrik standing in front of a dismembered corpse with two red lightsabers. After a few seconds, Nalrik turned and looked at L'ssek with glowing red eyes before fading into nothingness. L'seek stood up and ran down the cargo bay, seeing his father asleep on the metal floor.

"Father. Are you alright?" L'ssek kneeled and shook Nalrik awake, who then slowly tried to stand and sat against a cargo box.

"What do you need, son?"

"I... saw something in my room, a vision of yourself. You had a woman in your arms, and then you stood before a corpse. I cannot help but feeling that your flow walk is affecting me. I am starting to see events from your own past, a vision I do not want to continue."

"I know exactly what is wrong... your mind is without resolution, so the Force is trying to put you on the right path for you to make your decision..." Nalrik sighed, "The visions will continue until you have been granted a revelation, and the only way to hasten that is for me to show you the reason you are having it in the first place... I must show you what happened to Fara which made me turn. I know I have already told you, but for something as important as whatever you need to decide upon... you have to see for yourself."

Nalrik lifted his hand again and he and L'ssek found themselves back on Dantooine.

--- The rain was falling as Nalrik and Fara went back to their home near the Enclave. Nalrik was upset by Veshin's funeral earlier that day, and Fara quickly picked up on it. Trying to smile, Fara walked over and started giving him a backrub as he sat on a chair in the kitchen, drinking blue milk mixed with juma juice. "Nal, drinking yourself to death will not bring our friend back."

"...I know. I just want this. I helps to dull the pain."

"Nal, I-"

"Please... let me drink."

Fara uneasily smiled at him and gently took the glass away, setting it on the table. "You don't need this, Nal, you will never need this as long as you have confidence in yourself. What you need is someone to talk to, and I'm all ears."

Nalrik smiled back and kissed her hand. "I love you, Fara, and I always will. Veshin knew that, and I think I will honor the last words he said to me. What would you say if I found a job here on Dantooine, and we save up for a mansion on Trandosha fit for a queen like yourself?"

"I would say... go ahead, Dantooine is becoming a bit dull for my tastes."

Nalrik nodded. "Alright." He grabbed his glass of milk and poured half of it into another glass, giving it to her. "To Trandosha, and our future."

With those words, they drank from their glasses and started their last good time...

--- ''Nalrik waved his hand and L'ssek watched as time rapidly moved forward. The pair watched Past-Nalrik and Fara dancing, kissing, eating lunch, watching holofilms, Nalrik left every morning after a while, wearing a crisp suit, and he would return hours later every day. Finally, the time had slowed down to a crawl, where L'ssek could see Past-Nalrik sleeping alone in his bed.

''"This is it.", Nalrik said, "This is the last good morning..."

Nalrik woke up to see that Fara was... not next to him. Five months had passed since Veshin's death and Nalrik leaving the Order, and in those five months the young ex-Jedi had celebrated his and Fara's eighteenth birthdays, he had gotten a job in Drexin City three hours away doing paperwork for an Ithorian company, and Fara was falling even more in love with her husband. As Nalrik stood up, he saw Fara walking out of the kitchen with a plate of food. "Hello, Nal." She said, putting the plate on the table for him. "Eat up, you have a day of work ahead of you and you need all your energy."

Nalrik sat at the table and began digging in to his breakfast. Fara had grabbed a plate as well, and she sat next to him at the table. "Thank you for this, Fair. For everything."

"You are welcome." Fara liked the nickname Nalrik had given her, and Nalrik thought it best described her beauty and personality. "Look, Nal... when you get home from work, I was thinking we could go to the riverside. There is something I want to tell you, something very important, and I want to tell you there."

"Can you tell me now?" Nalrik smiled.

Fara glowed and said "No, this is something you should find out in a more... wonderous setting."

Nalrik wolfed down his meal and stood up. "Then that is something to look forward to after a long days work."

Nalrik prepared himself for his job and kissed Fara. Suddenly, he caught eye of the time and turned to run outside. As he did so, she smiled at him. "So, Nalrik? Still think we'll be together forever?"

Nalrik smiled back. This was a tradition he and her had been following every morning. Instead of the good old "I love you." thing, the two developed their own version of expressing verbal affection. "Forever and ever and ever, 'till the end of time."

Nalrik climbed into their new two-person landspeeder and drove off towards Drexin City. Fara smiled as she watched him leave, then went back into the house. On a hill near their house, however, Kravik was watching the landspeeder leave as well. After a few hours of waiting, Kravik and five other Mandalorians drove down the hill and parked outside the J'tarr house.

-- Nalrik stopped the Flow Walk as the Mandalorians climbed off their bikes. "L'ssek, this is what happened to her. The beginning of the end. Are you sure, absolutely sure, that you want to do this?"

L'ssek thought back to Keera sleeping in the bed. He was sure he had already seen enough of his father's past to avoid echoing it, but there was an aching feeling that he needed to complete the journey into Nalrik's past. Something was missing, and he needed to see what it was. "Yes."

Nalrik waved his hand and vanished into the illusion. ''L'ssek could not see him, but he could hear his voice. "Then this is something you need to see alone..."

''L'ssek turned and watched the Mandalorians climb off their bikes and approach the house...

---

Fara sat on the couch looking over a holographic picture of herself and Nalrik while smiling. "This is what you wanted." She said, "You wanted a-"

The door exploded. Fara jumped from the couch and reached for a blaster pistol, but Kravik shot a tether from his wrist gauntlet that grabbed her arm. Another Mando used a similar tether and entangled her other wrist. "Well well well!" Kravik said, "What's a hot piece like yourself doing away from the puzzle?"

"Get away from me." She said, "run away now and you won't get hurt."

"You are in no position to threaten me, woman." Kravik smiled while taking off his helmet, "your husband is long gone, and there are six of us here... you know, they say Drakon anatomy is not too dissimilar to humans... how about you say, guys, that we find first hand?"

Fara's eyes grew into the size of dinner plates, especially after hearing a collective agreeance from the other Mandalorians. With nothing else to do, she spit at Kravik but the mando, with his quick reflexes, caught the saliva in mid air and wiped it off on her shirt. "Spitting in a house?" He maliciously smiled. "Now that's just rude." Kravik backhanded Fara across the face, knocking her out. "Take her to the bedroom..."

Nalrik had just gotten to his workplace in Drexin city when he heard Fara crying in his head. Without thinking, he turned around and ran out of the building. He realized that he had sensed a wound in the Force, an echo, meaning something terrible was happening. Since he heard Fara's voice, he was compelled to sprint back home faster than he ever thougt of, faster than his landspeeder could take him. Before he could reach the halfway mark, however, he felt something jab his neck and his legs gave out below him...

Nalrik awoke several hours later in a daze, night time had fallen across the horizon and Nalrik could see smoke off in the distance. Realizing that the smoke was coming from where his house was located, the trandoshan stumbled to his feet and kept running. A single mandalorian stood outside the now-burning house, smiling, when the pit of anger and hatred that was Nalrik jumped out from the shadows and snapped his neck before he had a chance to scream. Nalrik then used the Force to put the fire out from the doorway and ran inside to find Fara tied to the bed of their home. He fell to his knees when he saw his bruised, burned, half-naked wife crying while struggling to escape her bonds. "Fara... no... no..." He ripped the tether cables off her arms and legs and picked her up, carrying her outside.

Rain had begun to fall on the planet as Nalrik cradled his wife in his arms, the only light in the area was the now-dwindling fire that took the house that Nalrik had helped build.

"Nal..." Fara said, trying to smile. "You came back..."

Tears were welling up in his eyes. "Yes, yes I did Fair..."

"I... always liked that nickname..." Fara closed her eyes, smiling. "You said it suits me so well."

Nalrik tried to smile himself, to give her something positive to look at, but when he felt his hand on her side, and the blood pooling from it, his eyes turned to a pit of sorrow. She had been stabbed, and Nalrik recognized the tip of the blade that was broken off inside the wound... Kravik's vibroblade. It seems that Kravik had stabbed one of her vital organs... she had minutes to live. "Fara... no..."

"I.. feel... better... the pain..."

Nalrik closed his eyes and held his hand to her forehead. When he was in the Enclave, Nalrik had read about one last technique with the Force, an extremely powerful one. Nalrik put everything he had into changing her mind around, and used the Force to erase the events of the day from her thoughts. Then, again with the Force, Nalrik "programmed" false memories into her mind.

''Fara, visibly pregnant, and Nalrik had a picnic on the fields of Trandosha, off in the distance was a massive castle.

''Nalrik cradled a baby reptilian of trandoshan and drakon descent as Fara lied in a hospital bed.

''Fara and Nalrik's children grew up, playing with friends from school, going out to parties, and dancing in the school training rooms with hundreds of others.

''Nalrik held Fara's hand as they were older, and at the age of ninety, both of them passed away in each other's arms...

Nalrik had always known that Fara wanted to be with him forever and ever 'till the end of time, so she died with an entire lifetime with him in her mind. Nalrik took away her memories of being raped, beaten, tortured and burned, and that was his final gift to her. As he looked at her, she gave one last smile of love at him. "I... love... you... Nal.... ..."

With those parting words, Fara's head sank, and she died in her crying husband's arms...

Descent into Darkness
''"They took turns having their way with her... repeatedly took turns... while I was knocked out by a tranquilizer dart... I never used this power to watch it, never will, as doing so would be a descent into a personal hell..."

''Nalrik returned to the Flow Walk, but L'ssek rapidly waved his hands. When the walk vanished, the young trandoshan ran over to an empty cargo box and vomited into it. "So... that was the reason you turned... I would have too."

''"No..." Nalrik said with a crying expression on his face... "It gets worse..."

--- ''Two days later...

Nalrik sat against a wall in the Jedi Enclave, trying to fight back tears. His wife, his love, his everything was killed by Mandalorians, and his home was burned to the ground. He had nothing left. Suddenly, he saw a familiar face walking somberly towards him. Maleki had returned from Felucia to attend Fara's funeral, and he was told by Bav Tohl to pass along information to Nalrik. As Nalrik watched him arrive, he had thousands of angry thoughts fly through his brain, all of which were questions and ideas on how to torture a Mandalorian so much so that it would rip it's own skin off to escape the physical and mental trauma.

Maleki walked up to Nalrik and motioned his hand to have the young trandoshan follow him into a nearby room. When they got inside, Maleki closed the door. Nalrik could see that the human was trying to fight back tears of his own, and watched his lips tremble as he began to speak. "Nal, th-there is something you should know... it's about Fara."

"What else could it be?" Nalrik's breathing became heavy and cold. "I watched her die. I held her in my arms as she died. What could it possibly be?"

"Nal, please listen to me..."

"What."

"Fara...Fara was... she..."

"No." Nalrik slowly started to shake his head.

"Nalrik..."

"No... it's not true... it's impossible."

"Please listen..." Maleki tried to stabilize his friend as he delivered the most heart-breaking news the young ex-Jedi had ever recieved in his life.

"Nothing, no overall Force of life is that cruel..." Nalrik continued shaking

"Nal..."

"Nothing is..."

"Fara was pregnant. One month."

Nalrik fell to his knees and screamed so loud it echoed through Maleki's ears. Those five words, they rang in the trandoshan's ears, repeating themselves over and over and over again in his mind like an endless echo. He felt his legs burn, his heart beat out of his chest, and he had the sickening feeling that he was going to explode. Suddenly, he felt a wave of calmness pass over his body, a calm so tranquil that Maleki thought the young reptilian had entered a comatose state.

"Nal? Are you... are you okay Nal?"

Nalrik looked up at his friend. "Yes. Perfectly fine. Never... been... better." He said with an impenetrable calmness that, quite frankly, terrified Maleki. "You should run along, Maleki. I have a strange feeling about something tonight, and you should get out of here."

"What do you mean?"

"People are going to die."

With that, Nalrik stood to his feet and walked out of the room, not bothering to catch a reflection in the glassy wall of two glowing red circles where his eyes should have been.

''"What happened next?" L'ssek asked his father.

''"...revenge."

Nalrik Force sprinted to his burned-out home and slowly crept through the wreckage. When he found himself where his backyard used to be, the trandoshan used the Force to lift a buried metal box out of the ground. Within this box were two lightsabers crossed against each other, relics from Nalrik's first Lightsaber duel against a Sith apprentice named Darth Kabal. Nalrik activated the blades, uncaring that they were as cimson as human blood, then deactivated them and clipped the hilts to his belt.

"Showtime."

The Trandoshan stood to his feet and ran down alongside a river which led to a Mandalorian outpost. It wasn't long inside that he found a lone patrol along the outer wall. The rain had begun falling, and the young Mando was beginning to go back inside to grab his trechcoat when Nalrik used the Force to grab his body.

The young Mandalorian, maybe twenty years of age, struggled in vain to escape Nalrik's grip, but the Trandoshan manipulated every current in the Force. To disuade the man from fighting, Nalrik simply broke his arms and legs as he lifted him closer. Within seconds, the man was five inches from Nalrik's blood-colored eyes.

"Man, you trandoshans are ugly up close." The mandalorian said, trying to get Nalrik to drop him. His limbs were snapped, but all he needed was to press a button on his jacket and fifty allies would emerge from the base.

"So I've heard. Now, Mandalorian, there is something I want to know, and you are going to tell me. If not, I will dismember you very, very, very, very slowly and I will not use a lightsaber to do it. Now, where is Kravik?!"

"I ain't telling you anything, reptile."

"We shall see. First off, what's your name?"

"Velin. Velin Cel."

Nalrik, still holding the mando with the Force, moved him to the nearby river. "Well, Velin, how about a swim? You like swimming, Velin? Do you fancy it, Velin?"

Before the mandalorian could answer, Nalrik dipped him into the river for over a minute. When Velin resurfaced, he spit out water. "I will never tell you!"

"Well then, you need more swim time." Nalrik dipped Velin into the river again, and bobbed him out seconds later. "You know, Velin, I knew someone who liked to swim. Her name was Fara, and she was my wife. She and I swam all over the place, but you see... Kravik took my wife from me, and now I have no one to swim with! Perhaps you can... help me out there." He dipped Velin into the rushing waters again, holding him under even longer this time. "I like this. You and I, Velin, we can be a great swim team. Maybe even go to the regionals on Manaan! Would you like that Velin?"

Velin resurfaced and coughed hard. "I'LL TALK! I'LL TALK!"

"Wow, guess you didn't like the idea. Okay, so where is Kravik?"

"He's in a cave base, below the Othaj Mountain range! The co-ordinates are 50.29.82! THAT'S ALL I KNOW!"

"Thank you." Nalrik smiled. "And you know what? You need a little more swimming practice, Velin, before I will let you on my team." Nalrik held Velin under the water this time for so long that the bubbles stopped surfacing, then he simply let the lifeless body float down the river...