INT. GEONOSIS – ESCAPE TUNNEL/EXIT – TWILIGHT

After days of travelling on foot, the escapees have come to the end of the tunnel. A narrow doorway stands before them, leading out into a cave.

EXT. PLATEAU WALL – CAVE – TWILIGHT

Chlorian emerges out of the cave. The cave is situated up in the wall of the plateau, a winding pathway leading down to the flat, open desert terrain which stretches out to the horizon.

Chlorian begins climbing down the pathway, the hundreds of escapees following after him single-file.

EXT. XUTHLTAN – DESERT – GROVE OF DEAD TREES – DAWN

Another day has come to Xuthltan. Rising with the hidden sun(s), Bail, Cody, Obi-Wan, and Nik get ready to resume their trek.

Vaness, for her part, remains asleep upon the ground.

BAIL: (approaches Vaness) Raia?

Crouching down, Bail gives her a shake. Waking with a groan, she turns over; she looks absolutely peaked.

BAIL: (frowns) Raia, you feeling okay?

CMDR. VANESS: (nods) More tired than usual. I didn’t have that great a sleep; bad dreams.

BAIL: But you’re well to travel?

CMDR. VANESS: (sits up) Of course.

Smiling, the captain gives the commander a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

CUT TO

All four men and last remaining woman as they leave the grove of dead trees and the smouldering remnants of the pyre.

EXT. DESERT – MONTAGE

As the next couple hours pass on by, Vaness grows evermore tired and weary. As she steadily weakens, the others gradually have to take up her portion of the supplies to ease her progress.

EXT. DESERT – ZIGGURAT – DAY

The travellers come to a stop. A kilometre away, the ziggurat looms over the landscape like a slumbering titan from a lost dark age.

Vaness – her usually tan features pale, eyes dark and heavy, forehead slick with sweat – collapses.

BAIL: (alarmed) Raia!

Rushing to her aid, Bail gets down to the ground and takes her into his arms. Afraid of what he’ll find, he puts a hand to her forehead.

BAIL: (voice small) She has a fever.

The others say nothing. There is nothing they can say.

BAIL: (runs his hand through his hair) Jango, how much charge is left in your blaster?

CMDR. CODY: (pulls out his blaster and checks) There’s enough for about twelve shots.

BAIL: Hand it over to me.

CMDR. CODY: (hands the blaster to Bail) Sir?

BAIL: Commander, you and Anakin are going to stay here with Raia; make sure she’s comfortable. Kenobi, you and I are going on to the temple.

OBI-WAN: Bail –

BAIL: There may be more rakghouls lurking about, correct? We’ll have to clear any out if we’re to make base camp at the temple, right?

OBI-WAN: (resigned) Right.

BAIL: Good to hear you agree with me. Let’s go.

EXT. ZIGGURAT – DAY

Arriving at the ziggurat, the captain and the Jedi begin climbing the ramp, headed directly for the Sith tomb. Bail – face grim, hands clenched tightly around the shaft of a spear – takes point.

INT. ZIGGURAT/ENTRANCE GALLERY – DAY

Bail and Obi appear in the entrance. As the captain goes on ahead, the Jedi activates his lightsaber.

Walking past the Sith statues, the two head on towards the tomb.

BAIL: Just cover me and slice anything that comes for my back.

INT. ZIGGURAT/TOMB

Bail and Obi-Wan enter the tomb. Much is as it was before – except for the six rakghouls which now occupy the chamber, arranged in a circle around the sarcophagus, kneeled like supplicants before it.

Unholstering his borrowed blaster, Bail takes aim and empties three shots into the back of one of the rakghouls, killing it instantly.

BAIL: (enraged) Salutations from the Galactic Empire!

Alerted to the Human presence, the rakghouls rise and turn, growls low in their yellow throats. Bail gives them no opportunity to do more than that. Charging, he impales one of the beasts, shoots it right through the head, then pulls the spear out just in time to spin around and open up the throat of another rakghoul coming for him. Bringing his blade to bear, Obi-Wan comes to his commanding officer’s aid, slicing the hands and head off another rakghoul.

CUT TO

Sometime later. The rakghouls are all dead and the two Imperials have finished investigating the rakghoul stasis chambers, finding no more hidden within.

OBI-WAN: The chambers are all empty. If there are any rakghouls left, they’re not to be found here.

Bail doesn’t respond. Instead he hefts up his black blood-stained spear and approaches the white jade sarcophagus. Ramming the point of the spear under the lid, he begins prying it loose.

BAIL: Help me with this thing.

Joining Bail, the knight adds his weight to the spear. The lid is stubborn, but it soon begins to give way. In moments it pops off, sliding away and hitting the floor with a great big CRASH as it breaks in two.

There, nestled within the confines of the ancient sarcophagus, arms crossed over chest, are the mummified remains of a Sith Kissai priestess. The mummy is dressed in faded vermilion and aureolin robes, its stringy black hair beaded with precious gems.

BAIL: Hand me a torch.

Heading over to one of the many sconces lining the walls, Obi-Wan pulls an unlit torch free and brings it to the captain. Taking the torch, he lights it with one shot from his blaster.

BAIL: (raises the torch over the bones) Ashes to ashes.

Bail tosses the torch into the sarcophagus. The rotted clothes and dessicated flesh immediately catch, engulfing the mummy in flame – unnatural green flame. As the ancient corpse is consumed, a gust of wind blows through the tomb, carrying with it a sound not unlike a tortured wail.

BAIL: We’re done here.

Turning away from the violated sarcophagus and its burnt contents, the two men depart the tomb.

EXT. ZIGGURAT – TWILIGHT

Cody and Anakin have brought Vaness to the ziggurat, and the team now sits camped outside the monument, off a ways to the right from the entrance into the tomb.

Vaness, in the advanced stages of her transformation, is now so weak that she needs Anakin’s assistance to take a drink of water. Lips blue, skin tinted yellow, she can only take two swallows before she begins coughing.

The other three men stand away from the Jedi apprentice and the poor woman.

OBI-WAN: Here they are, Bail, the final symptoms of the plague: yellow skin, blackened lips, paralysis. In three hours, maybe less, she will complete her transformation; Raia Vaness will be consumed by the plague, everything she was lost to the voracious hunger of the rakghoul. Is that what you want to see happen?

BAIL: Damn you, of course I don’t!

Reaching into Bail’s holster, the Jedi pulls out the blaster.

OBI-WAN: Then put an end to her suffering. Let her die with the dignity she has left.

Bail, torn between the love for his best friend and confidante and the knowledge that he can’t let her leave this life a profane monstrosity, doesn’t know what to do.

CMDR. CODY: Bail, if you can’t do it ….

BAIL: (angry) No! (beat) I’ll do it. Give me the damn blaster.

Obi-Wan hands the blaster to Bail. Accepting the gun, the captain approaches Vaness and Anakin.

BAIL: I’ll take over from here, son.

Nodding, Nik gets up, keeping his hands on Vaness to keep her from toppling over. Bail moves in, taking the young man’s place as he steps away. Vaness’ condition has worsened in the brief time that has passed since we saw her last. Her lips have turned completely black, her skin a solid ghastly yellow.

BAIL: Raia?

Vaness’ eyes crack open. They remain the same rich brown they have always been.

CMDR. VANESS: (weak) Bail?

BAIL: (smiles faintly) I’m told you’re not feeling well.

CMDR. VANESS: (laughs) Not feeling well’s putting it quite mildly.

BAIL: (drops the smile) Raia, what happened to Naad is happening to you. There’s nothing any of us can do to stop it.

CMDR. VANESS: (rolls her eyes) I wasn’t born yesterday, Bail.

BAIL: (tearing up) You know what I have to do.

CMDR. VANESS: (nods) I’ve known before you did.

No longer able to hold back, Bail begins to weep.

CMDR. VANESS: Bail, it’s better this way. Better this than to become one of those things.

BAIL: (wipes tears out of his eyes) I know, I know. (beat) I don’t want to lose you.

Mustering up the last of her strength, Raia reaches up to touch Bail’s face.

CMDR. VANESS: You proposed to me once, remember?

BAIL: (nods) I remember.

CMDR. VANESS: I couldn’t return your affections then. (beat) I can now.

She tries to lift her face to Bail’s but she can’t. Instead, he lowers his face to hers. Then, for the first and last time, they share a tender, loving kiss.

CMDR. VANESS: (sighs) Remember me as I was.

Cmdr. Raia Vaness then loses consciousness.

Shuddering, Bail gently lowers Vaness into a reclining position. Rising to his feet, he takes a step back and brings the blaster into firing position.

DARK FORCE’S P.O.V.

At first there is only blackness, then a pinpoint of light appears in the centre of that blackness. That pinpoint quickly widens and grows, overtaken the blackness until there is nothing but a white brilliance. The brilliance then subsides, affording us a view of the dim skylight situated in the ceiling of the Sith tomb directly above the jade sarcophagus.

Moving, the Dark Force reorients itself. Turning in a circle, it takes in the view of all the open doors; ignoring those leading into the stasis chambers, it focuses in on the doorway leading out into the entrance gallery. Moving forward, the Dark Force leaves the sarcophagus for the gallery.

The Dark Force speeds through the gallery, passing the silent statues and walls of glowing runes in a blur of motion, emerging out into the open air of Xuthltan’s approaching night. Turning on its left, the Dark Force spies the five Imperials. Advancing, it closes in on the most vulnerable of their number.

EXT. ZIGGURAT – TWILIGHT

Closing his eyes, Bail prepares to press the trigger which will release the bolt of green plasma that will end Vaness’ life and send her on to the Force.

Vaness’ eyes fling open wide, the irises now a feral yellow. Focusing on the man with the gun before her, she lunges at him with a GROWL. Grabbing his wrist, she pulls him to her then takes hold of his shoulder and twists him around, wrenching his arm from its socket.

BAIL: AAAAHHHH!!!

With a push, the woman that was Raia Vaness sends Bail flying. Landing on his dislocated arm, he issues a second cry of agony.

Done with Bail, Possessed Vaness lifts herself up with the Force, using it to levitate centimetres above the ground. Lifting up her hands, she then releases a subhuman HOWL. As Obi-Wan, Nik, and Cmdr. Cody back away from the floating woman in terror, she turns toward them, eyes blazing, bared white teeth contrasting sharply with her pitch black lips.

POSSESSED VANESS: (dual-toned) Defilers! The death-screams of my children called out to me through the darkness, roused me from my ancient slumber! Now you murderers – you profaners – now you all shall die!

Taking up a spear, Cody is the first to make a move against the possessed woman. As the Journeyman Protector lunges at her, stabbing twice with the spear, she simply dodges, moving left then right faster than he can strike. As he strikes a third time, Possessed Vaness grabs the point of the spear, holding it and him in place.

Igniting his lightsaber, Obi-Wan enters the fray. Dashing forward, he leaps up into the air, over Cody and Possessed Vaness, landing behind her. As the Jedi strikes, though, she catches the blue blade, the superheated plasma failing to burn through her hand. Chanting an incantation, she begins to resonate with a dark green aura. The lightsaber blade overloads with power then explodes, hurtling the Jedi away with plasma burns all over his face and hands. Turning her attention back to the commander, Possessed Vaness pulls the spear to her, bringing Cody close. Tossing the weapon aside, she takes the Concordian’s face into her hands and begins clawing at it, gouging bloody furrows into his cheeks, nose, and forehead.

Realizing his lightsaber could be hazardous to use against the possessed woman, Anakin takes up the fallen spear and charges, trained for her back. At the last second she spins around, using Cody’s body as a shield. Before he can stop himself in time, Anakin ends up running Cody through. Eyes flinging wide with surprise, the commander utters only a short CHIRP in response to the length of cold metal running through his abdomen.

Grinning, Possessed Vaness tosses Cody aside, sending him hurtling over the edge of the ziggurat to the ground below. Desperate, Anakin reaches to his lightsaber, but she telekinetically pulls it from his belt, calling it to her hand instead. Raising her other hand, she releases a blast of green energy, knocking Nik off his feet.

As Anakin lies there, fighting to think of what to do next, Possessed Vaness chants another incantation. In response to that arcane recitation, several vines erupt from the stone under and around the apprentice, entwining and thickening around his body to hold him in place. Struggling, he tries to loosen the hold of those conjured vines, but they refuse to slacken.

That horrid grin still plastered across her yellow face, Possessed Vaness glides over to Anakin, raising her free hand towards him. The black nails on that hand elongate and sharpen, forming glistening ebon claws.

Moving up close to the trapped Jedi apprentice, she rests her hand upon his forehead, sinking her black nails beneath the pliant flesh.

ANAKIN: AAAAHHHH!!!

EXT. NYKRES EIKHAN’S MINDSCAPE

Anakin stands in an unsettling mindscape. A dark sky of violet clouds sits overhead, a thick layer of fog hiding the ground beneath his feet. Before the Jedi stands an attractive red-skinned humanoid woman attired in vermilion and aureolin robes with precious gems beaded in her hair – the very same figure whose bones rested within the jade sarcophagus, the very same figure who appeared in Nashira’s nightmare.

ANAKIN: You … who are you?

RED-SKINNED WOMAN: Nykres Eikhan. When I lived I was a Kissai of the Third Order, archpriestess in the Pearl Cloister of Ch’hodos. I served the Immortal Gods and their appointed Sith Lords until the sundering of the Empire.

ANAKIN: Why have you brought me to this place?

NYKRES EIKHAN (RED-SKINNED WOMAN): You are a young one, aren’t you?

ANAKIN: Twenty years old.

NYKRES EIKHAN: Barely a man. And how long have you spent in tutelage to your Jedi master?

ANAKIN: Six years.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (nods) I sense there is much you are ignorant of, much which has been concealed from you; a great many truths.

ANAKIN: I’m no history buff, if that’s what you’re after.

NYKRES EIKHAN: (laughs) Oh, you’re a witty one. How I would have cherished you for a protégé. (grows serious) Unfortunately, that time is past. All I have left is vengeance unfulfilled; you will saite that vengeance, as will your companions. But first I will reveal to you the truth.

ANAKIN: What truth?

NYKRES EIKHAN: The truth of my past and your future.

Taking hold of the folds of her robes, Eikhan sweeps them over Anakin, casting everything into oblivion.