"Our records show no mention of anything called a Star Forge," Master Dorak said, scrolling through information on his datapad. "What's more we don't have any records of a pre-Republic Empire that spanned as much of the galaxy as you've indicated." The Jedi Chronicler looked up from his datapad to regard Bastila and Venar, standing before him and the rest of the four High Council members.

"Nevertheless," Vandar spoke up, "the star map they've brought us suggests perhaps our records are incomplete."

"We don't even know what this Star Forge is," Vrook spoke up.

"We will discuss this later..." Zhar said to the other Jedi, before turning back to regard Bastila and Venar. "You have both done very well in your handling of this matter. It is of course regrettable that Master Nemo did not make it back. We have sent to retrieve his remains and give him a proper Jedi burial."

"Of course, he was a great Jedi," Bastila acknowledged.

"We require some time to look over the information you've provided us and confer with the rest of the Council on Coruscant," Vandar said, "In the meantime, you may prepare your crew and your ship. It is very likely we will have an assignment for you soon."

"Of course, Master Vandar," Bastila said, "We will await your call."

"You are dismissed."

As they walked out of the Council chambers, Venar wondered how often the Council was secretive and reluctant to discuss matters in front of Jedi who were not considered Masters. Not to mention he found it odd that if the so-called "Jedi Masters" were the most powerful Jedi of the Order, why were they not on the front lines with the rest of the soldiers and Jedi fighting the Sith? One could wrongly assume they were hiding in cowardice.

At the ship they were greeted by Carth who was leaning against the wall at the top of the landing ramp. He was tapping his fingers against his sleeve, looking more impatient than usual. His facial scruff had grown in more and frankly he looked restless.

"Where have you guys been?" he asked a little more accusatory than he had meant.

"My trials are over," Venar said, "I've been accepted as a Padawan of the Order with Bastila as my glorious teacher..."

"Right... What about us?" Carth asked, "I've reached out to my superiors in the military and they said the Jedi requested me to remain with you here. What's going on?"

"We can't tell you anything until the Council deems it necessary," Bastila said, "I'm sorry Carth. However, it seems as if the Council will have a mission for us very soon. They have instructed us to begin preparing the ship and the rest of the crew."

"Perfect," Carth grunted, "More Jedi secrets..."

"I'm sorry Carth but the truth is there isn't much to tell," she said, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must inform the rest of the crew."

As Bastila went aboard, Carth inched closer to Venar as if he were about to say something he didn't want overheard.

"So," he said in a lower voice, "you're in the loop now. What did the Jedi say?"

"Honestly," Venar said, "I'm not really even sure yet. We may have a lead in tracking down the source of the Sith's battle fleet but the Council is trying to determine exactly what it means."

"What do you mean source of the Sith battle fleet?"

"We don't think the Sith amassed such a fleet so quickly on their own," Venar explained, "We discovered a partial star map that Revan and Malak found. It leads to something called the Star Forge but we don't really know what that is."

"Interesting..." Carth said thoughtfully, "It would explain some things that's for sure."

"Yeah... just... don't tell Bastila you know anything or that I told you any of this."

"Sure thing, soldier," Carth said.

"I have a feeling things are about to get a lot more interesting for us."

Fifteen years ago: the planet Serroco: the Mandalorian War. Carth was hunkered down next to the wreckage of his crashed starfighter. The mud caked to his boots as the rain poured down around him. He retrieved the blaster pistol from the holster on his thigh. Explosions sounded in the distance and the rumbling of cannon fire thundered from the gray sky. In low atmosphere, the battle raged between a small detachment of the Republic Navy and the flagship of Mandalore the Ultimate.

Leading the charge on the Republic side was the man he trusted more than anyone: Admiral Saul Karath. He had ordered the ground troops to camp next to the major cities of the region. As Admiral Karath had put it, "The enemy won't risk destroying their plunder if they can help it."

That had turned out to be a grave miscalculation. The Mandalorians had begun bombing the cities, and their encampments with it. Carth had been dispatched with the rest of his squadron to defend the encampments from enemy bombing runs. They had been making some progress when he had been shot out of the sky by a falling basilisk war droid.

He made a quick scan of the area. He was in an open flat area near one of the targeted cities. It wouldn't be much of a walk at all to reach the camp. Even now he could hear the anti-air turrets firing at passing fighters. He saw smoke rising in the distance, near one of the walls of the fortified city.

He took off running towards the city under siege. More basilisk war droids were beginning to fall into the city and more explosions and smoke were rising from inside the walls. On the bright side, it seemed like the bombing runs had stopped at this location. The Mandos probably figured their basilisk riding warriors could mop up the rest of the resistance.

The mud sloshed around his ankles as he ran, the rain obscuring his vision partly. He was determined to press on towards the city. Perhaps there would be a ship he could use to get back up into the air. He neared the walls of the city just as a republic gun ship began to set itself down just outside between him and the city. Just then the comm squawked on his chest.

"Revanite reinforcements incoming at Serroco Camp Four," the voice on the radio said.

Revanites... He hadn't been expecting any of them at this battle. They must have been contacted by Admiral Karath. Whatever the case, Carth was happy they were there. As he neared the transport, the gunship doors opened and several hooded robed figures began pouring out onto the muddy ground. Many of them also donned armor plating over their robes. Their lightsabers lit up as they charged forward to the city. A few of them stayed behind with the ship, several soldiers also with them.

The Jedi calling the shots was none other than Alek, second in command of the Jedi sect known as the Knights of Revan. His bald tattooed head gave him away. He wore a tight fitted dark red and brown suit and was giving orders to the rest of the soldiers gathered around him.

As Carth neared, the soldiers broke away and made their way to the wall where the rest of the Jedi were positioned. They began arming charges onto the wall, and proceeding through detonation procedures. Alek turned to regard Carth, his young face was kind looking but it had a serious quality to it.

"Welcome, soldier," Alek said, "Please state your name and rank."

"I am Carth Onasi, call sign: Striker Two of Striker Squadron," Carth reported, "I was shot down from the battle overhead. My mission was to defend Serroco Camp Four from bombing runs-"

"That will no longer be necessary," Alek said, "Bombing runs have ceased in this sector. We've recieved intel that the governor of Sarkai is holed up in the government square here in the city. We have orders to extract him before the Mandalorians get to him and force him to sign a surrender to the Mandalorians."

"Understood, sir," Carth said. Alek handed him a blaster rifle and walked forward towards the wall where the demolitions had now been set up.

"Stay behind me, Striker Two," Alek said igniting his blue lightsaber, "We'll get you back to your squadron soon enough."

The wall exploded, opening up a huge hole in the wall for the to go through. The Jedi and the soldiers charged through, weapons drawn and ready. Blaster fire whizzed through the air as the Mandalorians began firing on their position. The Jedi swarmed into action, leaping forward through the smoke, their lightsabers lighting the way as they arched through the air.

Several Mandalorians ran forward to face the Jedi strike force, their vibroswords clashing against the lightsabers. Some of them used their jetpacks to fire down on the battlefield from the air. It was utter chaos. Carth took cover behind a chunk of the wall that had blown loose during the breach. He occasionally peaked around the edge of the cracked stone to fire several shots into the Mandalorian line.

Then the basilisk droid struck down in the center of the fighting, crushing one of the Jedi underfoot. It began firing its powerful cannons at the rest of the Jedi strike force. Alek didn't waste any time. He ran forward throwing his lightsaber in a wide arch toward the droid and leapt into the air. The lightsaber cut through one of the turrets on the droid, rendering it useless. The lightsaber arched back into his hand as he came down and stabbed the Mandalorian basilisk rider straight through the chest. He then leapt backwards off the massive war droid and steadying himself, grabbed hold of it with the Force and lifted it into the air. Several Mandalorians were perched atop one of the buildings ahead, firing rapid fire blasters into the fray below. Alek launched the massive tank-like droid through the air, sending it straight into the building where they were perched. The basilisk erupted in a ball of flame and the building itself caved in where it had struck.

Carth felt very out of his element. He wasn't used to fighting in the thick of it here on the ground. He was used to fighting battles from within a cockpit. Nevertheless, they made good time progressing towards the capital square. They pushed through heavy installation after installation. The Mandalorians were formidable warriors that gave even the Jedi a run for their money in a fight. In fact, it seemed as this generation of Mandos had been trained specifically to fight Jedi.

Two minutes later, they reached the capital square to find that the Mandalorians had already cleared out, the governor of Sarkai lying dead on the floor. The city around them burned, a crumbling testament to the brutality of their enemy. Carth and the other soldiers watched as Alek received a call on his personal holocommunicator. From the short conversation he overheard he gathered this scene had played out on pretty much every other city on the planet. They had lost the battle.

"Understood," Alek said to whoever was on the other side of the call. He returned his comm to his belt and then turned to the rest of the remaining soldiers and Jedi. "Serroco is lost," he said, "We're to get back on our transport and regroup with the fleet. We're pulling out. We need to hold this position until they arrive to get us. More Mandos could be pouring in to finish us off at any moment."

A feeling of defeat swept through those gathered as they waited for their transport to arrive. The soldiers and Jedi spread out to secure a perimeter. Carth sat down on a large piece of a stone chunk that had been blown from the side of one of the buildings. Sweat dripped down his forehead as he listened to the distant sounds of blaster fire and explosions. His thoughts kept returning to his home, to Telos, and his wife Morgana. He had been able to make a short visit to her several weeks before he had been dispatched to Serroco. He missed her terribly.

"Thanks for your help, pilot," came a voice from behind. He turned to see Alek standing there, a solemn look on his face. "You fought well. Mandos are coming in from all sides though. I don't know if the transport will get here in time. If not there's a chance we won't make it out of this."

"I see," Carth said, his heart sinking a bit.

"Here," Alek said handing him his holocomm, "If there's anyone you want to talk to... in case..."

"Thank you," Carth said, looking down at the comm in his hands. Alek nodded, and walked over to a group of soldiers. Carth dialed in a series of numbers into the comm and waited. A few seconds later, a hologram of a woman in long robes floated over the device. "Hey, babe" he said forcing a smile.

"Carth!" the woman said in surprise, "I'm glad you called."

"Morgana, listen I..." he stopped. She seemed unusually excited. "What is it?"

"Carth," she said, "I just got back from the doctor. There's something I have to tell you... Carth... I'm pregnant."

"You're... I'm... That's wonderful!" He felt a surge of excitement and adrenaline surge through him, more so than from the battle he was just in. Tears spilled down his cheeks and he let out a laugh laced with a hint of sadness.

"Carth, you're going to be a father."

"When you say it like that it sounds terrifying."

"You? The best pilot on Telos? Scared?" she teased.

"You bet I am," he said, "but I wouldn't miss this for the world." An explosion erupted nearby and soldiers began shouting as Mandalorian warriors drew closer to their position.

"Carth? What was that?"

"Nothing, my dear," he assured her, "I have to go. I'll see you soon. I love you."

"I love you too." He cut the transmission and tried desperately to contain his composure. Blaster fire began erupting from the perimeter lines as the Mandalorians engaged. Carth felt his world spinning, he felt a knot in his stomach. He couldn't bear to say goodbye to her. Not now. Not after that.

Some of the weight was lifted off his shoulder as their gunship came into view and began firing on the Mandalorian line. Alek began shouting for his men to draw back and prepare to board the shuttle. The ship touched down in the city square and he was ushered inside as the rest of the soldiers and Jedi began piling in. Alek was the last to board the shuttle and the ship immediately took off. Carth let out a deep breath as they ascended toward the battle cruisers above. They weren't out of danger yet, but he felt much safer within the hold of a ship then on the front lines.

Carth stretched out his hand toward Alek to return the borrowed communicator. Alek took it and smiled.

"Congratulations, Striker Two," Alek said, "I overheard your conversation."

"Thank you, Commander."

Venar and Carth were greeted with quite the scene upon entering the ship. Everyone was gathered around the main crew area. Zaalbar was eating as usual, creating quite a mess in the process. Canderous had his blaster rifle disassembled on the table with parts scattered about. T3 was performing diagnostics on the ship's functions and Bastila and Mission were engaged in a rather heated argument.

"What do you know??? If it weren't for me Venar and Carth probably would have never even found you," Mission shouted.

"You're not going to make this easy are you?" Bastila shot back frustrated.

"No I'm not. I'm not going anywhere. And don't even think about using those mind powers on me!"

"Woah, hey," Venar chimed in, "what's going on?"

"Bastila doesn't want me aboard the ship!" Mission protested.

"That's not... I was only suggesting that we might be going on some dangerous missions and this ship may not be safest place for a child," Bastila explained.

"A child?!" Mission fumed.

"Oh no..." Venar said with a sigh. He got between the two of them and held his hands up for them to be quiet. "Alright settle down. No one is going anywhere, at least not yet. We haven't even been told what our mission is yet."

"I can be useful, you know," Mission said matter-of-factly, "While you two were off playing Jedi, Carth has been teaching me how to repair the ship and run diagnostics and stuff."

"Its true," Carth confirmed, "she's pretty good at it too. She's already optimized some of the ship's major functions. Should be running even smoother than before."

"See?" Mission said, putting her hands on her hips.

"She's like thirteen!" Bastila protested.

"She's pretty grown up for her age," Venar said, "It takes a special kind of resilience and spunk to live on the streets like she did. She's done more than her share so far. I think she's earned a place aboard."

"Fine," Bastila sighed, "Assuming the Council allows it."

"We'll deal with that when we come to it," Venar said.

"Besides, if anyone should be leaving its Mister Triggerfingers over there," Carth said, nodding to Canderous. The Mandalorian looked up from his weapon for a moment, let out a short grunt, and then returned to his work.

"Ok I'll say it yet again," Venar added with sarcasm in his voice, "No one is getting kicked out."

"Just saying," Carth said, crossing his arms and leaning up against the wall.

"Alright well I'm going to go meditate," Venar said, "and what I mean by meditate is that I'm going to take a nap. This Jedi stuff is exhausting."

"Grrrraaaaaaawwwwhhhh!" Zaalbar got up from his seat and wrapped his arms around Venar in a big hug.

"Actually Big Z... I don't need a cuddle buddy... I'm good thanks..."

"Grrrrwwwahhh?"

"No, no you're fine. Don't worry about it."

"AaAAAggghh."

"Yes I'm sure Wookie fur is very soft but I'm fine thanks."

"Raaawwwhaaahh."

Venar turned his head to see Bastila, Carth and Mission staring at them, clearly amused by the interaction.

"What are you guys looking at?" Venar asked trying to pry himself away from the furry alien.

"Oh... nothing," Carth said.

"That's adorable," Bastila said teasingly.

"Oh yeah?" Venar said slyly, "You like my Wookie?" Her face immediatley changed to a dissaproving scowl.

"You're so immature."

"Hey Z," Venar said, "You should be my wingman sometime. You know go hit up some cantina... find some hot-"

"Now we're talking!" Canderous suddenly spoke up, cocking his now assembled blaster rifle. He aimed down the sights and grinned, admiring his now polished weapon.

"I'm uncomfortable," Venar said raising his hand, "Anyone else uncomfortable?" The rest of the crew also simultaneously raised their hands, with their faces twisted into concerned expressions.

"I like guns," Canderous said with a wide grin.

"Yeah... so I'm gonna go take a nap... Bastila?"

"I'll make sure he doesn't shoot anything," she said.

Venar left the main hold and went to go lay down in the crew quarters. As he lay down on the soft sheets and rested his head against the pillow, his thoughts drifted to the events of the day. Before the events of the Endar Spire, he knew the galaxy was full of secrets and all sorts of strange and unexplained phenomenon. Still, he never truly imagined it would be as strange as he has come to realize. As a smuggler, he had been skeptical of even the Force. Since joining the Republic, though, things have only gotten stranger.