Jude Watson: Jedi Quest 10: The Final Showdown

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.

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.