Star Wars_ The New Jedi Order_ Dark Tide 02_ Ruin - Michael A. Stackpole [38]
Luke nodded solemnly. “I can understand the desire for peace.”
Qwi sighed. “Very few do. Here I have a chance to create something of beauty which might counteract the horrors I created.”
Luke and Mara exchanged a grim glance before Luke spoke. “I’m sorry if my appearance here reminds you of past pains. I wish you all the best in seeking this peace. If there is anything I can do to help . . .”
A quick smile contorted her face for a heartbeat. “I had hoped, perhaps, that Kyp Durron might come here. I don’t know if he is haunted as I am, but I would hope he would hear the people of Carida singing here.”
“That is a request I will relay to him.” Luke glanced down at the ground for a moment. “Kyp could use some peace.”
Mara brushed her red-gold hair back over her shoulders. “Why is it you think we’re here?”
“You are after the Twi’lek Jedi. She was here.” Qwi’s voice tightened. “She came to me to ask after superweapons. She knew of the third partial Death Star at the Maw. She wanted to know if there was yet one more, or another Sun Crusher, or perhaps other abominations that no one knew of save me. She noted the Emperor seldom had only one of anything produced.”
Luke nodded. Even the first Super Star Destroyer, the Executor, had had a twin being produced at the same time. It had become the Lusankya and was given over to Ysanne Isard as her personal playground while the first one was presented to Darth Vader. I’ve always assumed there are more of his vicious little toys waiting to be discovered out there.
Mara frowned. “So, was there a second Sun Crusher?”
Qwi shook her head. “Not to my knowledge. The armor was a breakthrough. Some of the quantum crystalline technology was used here, to rebuild the Cathedral. Unless the Emperor had a parallel facility matching the Maw’s work, he could not have produced another. Had such a facility existed, its lethal harvest would have already been seen. As it was, the Maw produced enough terror weapons that he must not have felt a need for another facility.”
Luke’s head came up. “There was nothing else?”
Qwi thought for a moment. “Well, there was the Eye of Palpatine. Its mission failure caused the Emperor to support the Maw. Perhaps the Eye has a twin. Daeshara’cor seemed to think it might have.”
“Did she ask you if you knew of plans for other things that had not yet been produced?” Luke asked.
“Or for knowledge of scaled-down prototypes or anything else that could be used as a weapon?” Mara added.
“She asked and I told her that all the memories from that time were gone, destroyed by Kyp Durron.”
The Jedi Master’s eyes narrowed. “But you just said you used the Sun Crusher’s armor technology in the Cathedral. She would have picked up on a lie.”
The woman laughed lightly, but the sound came mirthlessly. “Kyp stole the memories, but I still possess the foundation upon which all that work was built. Reviewing files, experimenting, I now know what I once knew then. I can see how I did what I did. I did not lie, so no lie was detected. Regardless, never again will I create things that maim and kill. Never.”
Mara snorted. “Never say never, Qwi. There’s a threat out there that might require a Sun Crusher or Death Star to deal with it.”
The blue-skinned woman shook her head. “It does not matter. I stand by what I said, no matter the price.”
Mara’s hands curled into fists. “How can you say that? Your work could save billions.”
“How, by killing billions?” Qwi pressed a hand to her breastbone. “You are heroes. You may have killed, but it was in battle, defending yourselves. I created weapons that shattered worlds and murdered billions in an eye blink. Innocents were vaporized. You may have felt that through the Force, but I have felt it by studying about the worlds I destroyed. I know the names, know the images, and with them I work to give those extinguished lives a voice. I strive to let those people contribute to