______Ever since she first heard the tale, Aeon had been fascinated by the final voyage of the Iridescent IV.
______Hundreds and hundreds of years ago, during the Republic's Golden Age, the Iridescent explored the uncharted depths of the galaxy, discovering new systems and constantly expanding the border of the known universe.
______With a crew compliment of only thirteen, it was the smallest ship of its time to be outfitted with a hyperdrive, utilizing a rudimentary hyperspace engine common in that era called a 'jump drive'.
______The crew of the Iridescent was a legend in its own time, and for over ten years the name Iridescent was synonymous with discovery. They charted the systems now known as Utapau, Aquilae, and Bespin.
______Fame and fortune inevitably followed, and they cultivated both toward the singular pursuit of their shared goal: a new voyage, a new discovery.
______When the opportunity came to test an experimental new hyperdrive system called Slipstream, they naturally jumped at the chance.
______The Iridescent IV was commissioned, and fitted with the Slipstream engine. In theory, the new drive would increase the ship's operating range by almost thirty percent from the same displacement of fuel.
______With the promise of its new propulsion system the crew planned its boldest mission ever: they targeted the stars of the distant Andara cluster. With the Slipstream engine, those systems were now within their grasp.
______This was the mission they had been waiting for, and the Captain announced that regardless of the outcome, this next voyage would be her last. After the maiden voyage, she would turn the center seat over to her first officer and retire.
______She never got the chance.
______A seemingly minor problem with the sublight engines during the launch would be their undoing.
______Under ideal conditions, Slipstream's catalytic reaction created an even fuel equation, but because of the slight instability, the Slipstream's equation became increasingly erratic.
______A chain reaction within the hyperdrive was causing them to consume fuel at a rate faster than with a conventional jump drive.
______The navigator called an emergency meeting of the entire crew, and relayed the somber news:
______They had passed the point of no return.
______They didn't have enough fuel to get home, and with every passing second were plunging further and further away. They had to decide quickly on the few options they did have.
______They could turn around immediately, and get as close as they could to the nearest charted system. They would call for help then, and hope to be found in time for a rescue.
______They could take a slow, fuel-efficient course back, returning in a few years instead of a few weeks. There was even a good chance they'd be recovered beforehand.
______They were heroes, after all. Luckier than most, a great deal of resources would be expended to find the crew of the Iridescent.
______The Captain's log was jettisoned, the final entry recording the crew's unanimous decision:
______They kept going.
______All of them voted to continue on-not just to their original destination, but to the farthest system they could reach.
______The Slipstream engine was stabilized, and they would find out what was at the heart of the Andara cluster. If luck were with them, they would send word of what they'd discovered.
______No trace of them was ever found.
______Their decision had almost guaranteed that. It would be a thousand years before hyperspace engines had the range to reach the system they had targeted-if they had made it at all. It would be a miracle-an accident, really-if they ever were found.
______They must have known that, choosing to be the masters of their own fates instead of relying on chance to save them. Perhaps they chose to be pioneers of a different sort: civilizing a primitive new world.
______In the centuries since, the systems of the Andara cluster had been explored and colonized. They weren't even considered to be an Outer Rim territory.
______The Iridescent IV was floating somewhere between those stars, a forgotten remnant of another age. Once the pioneers of the murky depths of the galaxy, time had passed them by...
______The stars of the Andara cluster flickered briefly in the night sky, as if responding to her thoughts.
______Intellectually, Aeon knew it was an atmospheric phenomenon that made stars twinkle. And yet it gave them a personality-a voice by which they communicated to her, trying to pass along their secret.
______She basked in Yavin's night air-still very warm and humid-as the breeze washed over her gently.
______The calm air lent itself easily to such romantic imagery.
______She studied the Andara cluster just over the horizon. She had never seen it from Yavin before, but that was because it wasn't normally visible.
______Aeon enjoyed a view of the celestial canopy that was unique among her comrades in the Alliance.
______Ironically, from her current perspective the stars of the Andara cluster held no secret to the fate of the lost ship. The crew of the Iridescent wouldn't set off on their fateful last voyage for another five thousand years.
______For her, the past and the future intertwined in a way that was often confusing. The same could be said for her two lives, and it was very important that she remember the distinction.
______Kavolo had emphasized that point to her that again and again. His explanation for what had happened with the crystal had been quick in coming, and surprisingly accurate.
______He told her that when she sank into the crystal, it was because she had, on some level, chosen life as the Prince over her own.
______There was an element of danger to her experiment now. When she came back wearing the ring, it proved a physical link between her and Vail. It also beckoned the question: What would happen to Aeon if something were to happen to the Prince?
______Going forward, Kavolo began, you have to stay cognizant of who you are.
______Wait... Aeon blurted out. Going forward?
______She grinned. I thought-- she stammered. But it's dangerous now. We know that. You promised my father--
______Look, he took hold of her wrist, I know what I told your father, but we can't stop now. He gestured toward the ring. We have to keep what happened a secret, he whispered conspiratorially.
______Aeon nodded excitedly. She had been afraid that he would tell her it was the end of the experiments. Of course, she agreed.
______She would have agreed to any terms, as long as she was able to return to this place.
______Although it was the world she knew, it was different at the same time.
______She was overlooking the temple plain from the vantage of a small hill. Instead of thick jungle growth, the panorama was fertile grassland that swayed gently and silently, tumbling in the warm embrace of the seasonal breeze.
______As her eyes scanned the plain and then up at the stars, she marveled at such a perfect evening. This really was her world.
______It is a wonderful night for stargazing, a tired old voice agreed.
______She turned quickly, and saw Agdamaria looking at the stars in the other hemisphere.
______While there's time, the old woman added.
______A sense of déjà vu passed over Aeon like a chill. While there's time...
______I have some questions, Aeon said.
______You always do, the witch replied. She turned, and hobbled slowly up the hill away from Aeon.
______Wait, Aeon called out, and followed after her. She stopped, and craned her neck to steal a glance at the stars the witch had favored that evening.
______Having been born in space, and spending at least half of her life there, she thought that she had seen almost every celestial phenomenon there was.
______Apparently not.
______Something hung in the sky: a murky black cloud undulating in place. It seemed to squirm there, its shape and border constantly shifting-advancing in some places, receding in others.
______Its mass was pitch black-totally devoid of any stars or light-and its contour was defined by a small corona that hemmed in close to its edge.
______The corona reminded Aeon of an eclipse-but its stunted length conjured up visions of primitive single celled organisms, specifically the tiny hairs surrounding their border.
______What is that? she asked warily.
______You see it? the witch queried, somewhat surprised.
______Of course I see it, Aeon explained. How could I miss something like that?
______We're the only ones who can see it, you and I, Agdamaria informed her. She paused a moment, and looked thoughtful. Maybe one other, she added.
______Aeon could guess who that was.
______As she watched, the shape appeared to expand in size, occupying more of the sky than it had just a second ago.
______Did that just...? she asked, letting her question trail off.
______The old woman nodded. Yes... Agdamaria answered. It's getting closer.
______Closer? She spoke as if it were sentient.
______I want you to do something for me, child, the old witch beckoned. I want you to reach out to it. I want you to stretch out your inner self as you did with the planet.
______She gestured toward the shape in the sky. Tell me what you see.
______Aeon nodded, and looked up toward the pulsating darkness.
______Instinctively she closed her eyes, and concentrated on the amorphous mass in space.
______Aeon reached out to it, her consciousness unbound by the shell that encased it, and not tethered by the planet's gravity.
______She soared into space, and could see the cloud hovering there. It seemed to be waiting for her.
______She reached out with her self to touch the very heart of the cloud. She opened herself to it, merging with the presence she now sensed within.
______It came without warning, penetrating her defenses. She felt a cold so intense the bones in her body were agony beneath her flesh and muscle.
______She heard screams of pain, of agony and despair. It wasn't just one, or a thousand, or even a million.
______It was all of them.
______She wanted to scream herself, and cry, and surrender. And fight.
______Oh, how she wanted to fight. She would kill Sahaar before he did the same to her.
______No! She couldn't believe the images she was seeing: the things she was imagining. She had to resist, but the part of her that tried to do so was a lone dissenting voice lost in the multitude of chaos.
______Her soul withered inside of her, caving in as her brittle bones collapsed under the intense pain.
______It was so cold. It stole her breath. It was stealing her life.
______The fear welled up inside of her as she gasped for air. She had to escape! She fought back the panic as she struggled to center her focus.
______In a delirious blurring of her senses, she was falling away from the cloud.
______She snapped back into herself, the horrible chill still gripping the length of her spine. The hairs on her arms stood straight as the gooseflesh raised the surface of her skin.
______Her hand trembled, and unconsciously she took a step back in the grass. She was too shaken to worry about how others might perceive the Prince.
______What is that? she demanded, unable to mask the fear in his voice.
______The old witch paused a moment before answering, and Aeon collected herself.
______It is darkness to a child, Agdamaria began cryptically, her ancient voice crackling under the weight of time. It is the anger of the betrayed. It is fear. It is despair...it is hate incarnate.
______Aeon was unable to tear her gaze from the old woman, and for the first time she saw a glint of fear in the witch's eyes.
______It is the Sith.
______The intonation in the old woman's voice was enough to make her tremble, and yet the word was familiar to her. She'd heard it before, but couldn't place the source.
______A door has been opened, Agdamaria warned, and it cannot be closed.
______This is bad, Aeon surmised, and then chastised herself quietly for such an incredible understatement.
______Yes and no, the witch offered. Good and evil must coexist. You cannot have one without the other, and the power of the Ashla has reigned for a thousand years. This is long overdue.
______But--
______Balance, child, the witch interrupted. The Universe always seeks a balance. It is the nature of things.
______Aeon looked up at the ominous shape in the sky, a twisting and contorting mass that bellowed rage at the unsuspecting moon. What will happen? she asked.
______I don't know... the old witch replied. Aeon looked, and she too was staring up at the thing.
______A thought struck Aeon, and she remembered what she had wanted to ask Agdamaria. The old man had implored the Prince-her-to deliver a plea to Agdamaria, to beseech her--
______In a flash of insight, Aeon was able to weave together the connection between the past and the future. The Rites of the Bogan...! she exclaimed.
______Agdamaria just looked.
______This happened before, didn't it? Aeon challenged.
______The old witch nodded. I told you: this was overdue.
______You used the Rites of the Bogan before-to stop it, Aeon implored her, surely--
______And now they've been cast again, the old witch said ominously, only this time to summon it.
______Aeon only had to think for a moment. She glanced up at the stars, at what that summoning had conjured. Sahaar!
______Her eyes narrowed, and she made a plan to confront him. She imagined the scenario in her mind: she would make him undo the spell.
______Careful, child, Agdamaria said. You're walking a dangerous path. She placed a hand on Vail's chest.
______The Sith seek out your weakness, the old woman said softly. Her touch felt cool and comforting-even through the fabric of Vail's tunic. You have much anger inside of you-buried so deep you barely realize its existence. But it does, and until you confront it and release it, it will be a liability to you-and those you care about.
______I-- Aeon moved to reply, but she sensed a presence drawing near.
______Agdamaria felt it also. Her eyes shifted to look behind Aeon. She turned, and only then was the sound of the tall grass being trampled audible as the figure approached.
______Morgan crested the small hill, short of breath.
______I've-- he began, panting between phrases, been looking everywhere for you...
______A pallor fell over Aeon, and she had a flash of another time and place-the far future from then, but the distant past of her own personal history.
______She relived a moment from a day long ago, when one of her father's lieutenants came to retrieve her from the observation deck of the Ameil.
______He wore his message in his eyes, the terrible news evident in the way he looked upon her.
______Aeon remembered also walking down the corridor, trying to keep up with the man. He didn't understand that her small legs had to move twice for everyone of his large strides. He seemed in such a hurry to be done with this unpleasant task, and he kept saying that he realized this was 'all very hard to understand.'
______What was so hard to understand? No, Aeon knew what was happening. Even then, she was a very intelligent girl-and very perceptive. The truth was in the faces of all the adults who looked at her-especially her father's.
______From time to time, Aeon still saw that same officer. The last time she saw him she noted that he was finally promoted to Captain-but that was well over a year ago.
______She couldn't imagine he was a very effective leader. When she saw him in passing, he still couldn't look her in the eye...
______You have to come quickly, Morgan said, bringing her abruptly back to the present.
______And just as she had so long ago, Aeon knew exactly why Morgan was there.
______The Queen...!
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