Keepers of the peace. Not soldiers.

Many of them have volunteered to be inducted into the Republic Army.

Including, unexpectedly, Colonel Geptun.

He has not been charged with any crime. The vast bulk of the atrocities committed against the Korunnai were done by jungle prospectors, not the militia. Even his threat of a massacre at the Lorshan Pass turns out to have been a bluff. He never ordered any such thing; in fact, the militia's written rules of engagement specifically prohibit the targeting of civilians.

Not only have I recommended he be accepted into the Grand Army of the Republic, I have already written out his transfer to Republic Intelligence.

We will need him.

Nick-I should say, Major Rostu-continues to convalesce in a medical center here on Coruscant. I do not know if I can keep my promise of a job teaching unconventional warfare, but I have no doubt we can find something for him. I have submitted a recommendation to the Senate that his brevet rank be confirmed.

And that he be awarded the Medal of Valor for conspicuous gallantry under fire, and actions above and beyond the call of duty.

I have also assigned to Chalk a posthumous commission. Her real name, I have learned only now, was Liane Trevval, and that name will appear in the Senate record. I gave her the commission to render her eligible for the same medal.

I have no other way to express my respect for who she was.

Her great akk, Galthra, has vanished. If an akk's Force-bonded part ner dies, it is customary to put the beast down, for it is not uncommon for akks who have lost their person to go insane, and vicious.

Galthra went into the jungle. I can only hope she stays there.

Pelek Baw will be rebuilt. There is too much money in the thyssel trade for its epicenter to lie in ruins for long. The casualties- Are recorded elsewhere. It is a staggering number.

No one on Haruun Kal will ever forget that night.

Kar Vastor also continues to recover from his wounds. His hands were saved, and he is under detention here in the Jedi Temple, where his power cannot sway his jailers.

He will not be immediately tried for the murder of Terrel Nakay; that will only be filed against him in the event of his acquittal on his initial charge. For the trial of Kar Vastor, we have revived a category of crime under which no one has been prosecuted in four thousand years: since the days of the Sith Wars.

Kar Vastor has been charged with crimes against civilization.

And Depa- Depa will face the same charge.

Someday.

If she's ever declared competent to stand trial.

After reading my report on Haruun Kal, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine-in his characteristically warm and compassionate way-took time from his more pressing duties to come to the Temple and look in on Depa personally.

He was accompanied by Yoda and myself; the three of us stood alone in a darkened observation room, watching through a holoviewer as three Jedi healers attended to poor Depa.

She hung suspended in a bacta tank. Her eyes were open-submerged in bacta one has no need to blink-and they stared fixedly through the transparisteel at something only she could see.

Depa has not spoken-has not moved-since her collapse. The greatest Jedi healers of the Temple can find nothing organically wrong with her. Bacta has cured her physical wounds; it cannot touch the rest.

When the healers touch her through the Force, all they find is darkness. Vast and featureless.

She is lost in infinite night.

The Supreme Chancellor watched only for a moment or two before he sighed and shook his head sadly. "Still no progress, I take it?" Yoda watched me gravely while I struggled to find words to answer. Finally he sighed and took pity on me.

"To end her life, she tried," he said. "Most tragic this is: to have sunk so deeply into despair that she can no longer see light. Yet we must not follow her there; hold on to hope, we must.

Recover she may. Someday." Though perhaps I should not have admitted it, the truth pushed its way out of me. "I would almost have preferred to lose the planet, if I could have saved Depa." "And do you know what caused her breakdown?" Palpatine pressed his hand against the holoviewer, as though he could reach through it and stroke her hair. "I recall that learning this was one of the stated purposes of your mission to Haruun Kal, and yet your report offers no definite conclusion." Slowly, I admitted, "Yes. I do know." "And?" "It's difficult to explain. Especially to a non-Jedi." "Does it have anything to do with that scar on her forehead? Where her-what did you call it?" "The Greater Mark of Illumination." "Yes. Where her Mark of Illumination once was. I recognize that this is painful for you, Master Windu, but please. The Jedi are vital to the survival of the Republic, and Master Billaba is not the only Jedi we have lost to the darkness. Anything we can learn about what might cause one to fall is incredibly important." I nodded. "But I cannot offer a specific answer." "Well, the scar, then. Was she tortured?" "I do not know. Possibly. It is also possible that the wound was self-inflicted. We may never know." "It is a pity," Palpatine murmured, "that we cannot ask her." Some few seconds passed before I was able to respond. "I can only speculate in general terms, based upon what she told me, and upon my own experiences." Palpatine's eyebrows twitched upward. "Your own?" I could not meet his gaze; when I lowered my head, I found Yoda staring up at me. His wise wrinkled face was filled with ancient compassion. "Fall you did not," he said softly. "From this, strength you can take." I nodded, and found myself once again able to face the Supreme Chancellor. "It's war," I said. "Not just that war, but war itself. When every choice you make means death. When saving these innocents means that those innocents must die. I'm not sure that any Jedi can survive such choices for long." Palpatine looked from Yoda to me, his face a mask of compassionate concern. "Who would have thought that fighting a war could have such a terrible effect on a Jedi? Even when we win," he murmured. "Who would ever have thought such a thing?" "Yes," I could only agree. "Who would have thought it, indeed?" "Wonder, one must," Yoda said slowly, "if that might be the most important question of all." There followed a long, uncomfortable silence, which Palpatine finally broke. "Ah, sadly, questions of philosophy must wait for peacetime. We must focus on winning this war." "That's what Depa did," I said. "And look what it did to her." "Ah, but such a thing could never happen to-say, for example-you," Palpatine said warmly. His lips wore an enigmatic smile. "Could it?" I didn't tell him that it could. That it nearly had.

I think about that a lot, these days. I think about Depa. About everything she said to me.