The Shadows Fall

[Beniboybling]

They're so cool!

 

Few more chapters before we see the dragon in combat, but The Master will be in action in the next chapter.

Just as good.

[Aurbere]

Just as good.

 

Probably going to post it tomorrow, now that I've finished editing it.

[Aurbere]

Finished editing it so here's an early chapter!

 

Chapter 32

 

 

 

 

Star Forge 2- Command Deck

 

Freed from their torturous cages and fully conscious, The Soldier, The Lore-master, and The Guardian felt a tremor in the Force so shocking it felt like the very fabric of existence was being torn asunder. Darkness was coming, a quiet rage that, when unleashed, would threaten to destroy every iota of their existence.

 

From the platform above them, The Brain studied The Master’s approach through a vidscreen. The Master walked like a man, looked like a man, but through the Force, they could see what he truly was. He was a dark phantom that glided through darkness and cast a shadow on darkness itself. The Master had died and been reborn as a being far more powerful than anyone could possibly imagine. The Watchers had never felt true fear before now, never until they had felt The Master’s true darkness. And they felt that this was only the surface of The Master’s power.

 

Nothing could stand in his path. Time seemed to slow for The Watchers as they felt death come for them.

 

The Soldier pounded his fists into the red containment The Brain had put around the other Watchers. “Let us out of here, Brain!” He demanded furiously. “We’re the only ones who can stop him!”

 

The Brain did nothing to release them. “On the contrary,” he replied. “I have ways of stopping him, methods beyond simply bashing his skull in with a cudgel.”

 

The Lore-master joined The Soldier. “You know you can’t stop him, he’s become more powerful than we could possibly imagine!”

 

The Guardian stood up as well. “They’re right, Brain.” She said calmly. “Nothing any one of us can do will be enough to stop him. We can only defeat him if we work together.”

 

The Brain turned back to the vidscreen. The Master was getting closer now. He was not moving as quickly as he could. The Brain feared that he was delaying his arrival to let fear take hold of them. The Brain looked back down at the others. It was already taking hold of them. Most would cower, but they stood to fight.

 

“We’ll see,” The Brain finally said. “His arrival is imminent.”

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Herald of Death- Level 3 Training Center

 

The Beastmaster twisted and turned away from a flurry of blaster bolts fired at her from twenty battle droids around the room. Disarmed of her lightsaber, the exercise was a simple one taught to The Watchers early in their training. It was designed to test their agility and hone their affinity for battle precognition. Each of them could predict the paths of blaster bolts before they were fired, or see the paths combat would take before it happened. The Beastmaster was already beyond this exercise, but she did it because it was the only real means to test herself now. Well, the only viable means. She could spar with passengers if she chose, but The Master was gone, and she had no intention of sparring with The Seeker.

 

She had been practicing against the droids for over an hour, dodging thousands of blaster bolts. She was growing tired. Rather than wear herself out, she signaled the droids to shut down. She sat down on the steel bench on the far side of the room and picked up a damp rag to wipe the sweat from her brow.

 

Her frustrations began to surface as she reflected on her situation. When The Master had been defeated on Hapes, she had sworn to punish the traitors. But The Master had taken that responsibility upon himself, and denied her the sweet pleasure of exacting her vengeance. But what could she do? He was her master, her life. She could not stand before him and deny him his vengeance. So she stayed behind and took out her frustration on the training droids.

 

Across the room, The Master’s son entered through sliding doors. A shadow hung over him and the lights in the room flickered. For a moment, The Beastmaster could see The Master’s power within him. A golden furnace holding in the true power of the Dark Side that needed only to be opened. When that happened, he could unlock the potential that had been passed down to him, the potential to annihilate all life in the galaxy. But it wasn’t opened, he wasn’t that man. He had a long way to go before he became that man.

 

He stepped into the boundaries of the training yard, a dark grin on his face. The Beastmaster stood up and met him in the squared mat. Her lightsaber dangled at her hip, her right hand hovering over it. She took a quick glance at The Seeker’s lightsaber before meeting his gaze. The Seeker cocked his head to the side and grinned a toothy grin.

 

“What do you want?” She asked him, frustration quickly rising in her tone. “Why are you here?”

 

The Seeker cracked his neck and said: “Consolidation of power, as they say.”

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

“It’s quite simple.” He explained. “I am The Master’s true heir, you were groomed to replace him when the time came.” He began to pace in front of her. “He cannot have two heirs, two beings cannot hold his authority.” He looked at her through the corner of his eye. “Do you see where this is going?”

 

The Beastmaster knew perfectly well where the conversation was headed. Her silence was defiance and contempt for this man’s supposed authority.

 

The Seeker cocked an eyebrow and cleared his throat. “It means that you will be removed from the running.” He said. “This can happen in one of two ways.” He stopped pacing and leaned over her. “You can step down and admit your inferiority to me, or you can die.” His grin grew wider.

 

She scoffed at him and his bravado. “Do you really think that you could kill me?” She laughed in his face.

 

“Why not?” His grin didn’t fade at her defiance.

 

“You could never match my power,” She said. “And you would never get away with it even if you could kill me.”

 

The Seeker leaned back. “If you don’t stand down, maybe we’ll find out.”

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Star Forge 2- Command Deck

 

Darkness enveloped the Command Deck as its doors opened for The Master. An eternal darkness casted a shadow across the massive chamber as the greatest evil in the galaxy entered the deck. The cloak of shadow, the shroud of the Dark Side, fell away. For the first time in his entire life, The Soldier felt The Master’s true power, the power to warp the very fabric of existence and destroy all things. The Master was a shadow under the guise of a mere man. He seemed untouchable, invincible.

 

He was closer now. The Master stood at the red force field that separated him from his former minions, yet they all knew that a manufactured shield could not stop him from killing them.

 

“Such is the nature of the weak.” The Master said, shaking his head. “They conspire and plot just for a taste of power, true power. And yet when they finally hold that power, their alliance shatters.” He put a hand against the ray shield. The Soldier fought the instinctive urge to back down in fear. The Master’s head turned to the side and he peered at The Brain out of the corner of his eyes. “Clearly this is your doing, Brain.”

 

The Brain betrayed no emotion, no fear. The Soldier and his ilk feared the power The Master possessed, but The Brain knew that their battle was one of wits. The Master’s power was exceeded only by his mental capacity, and that mental capacity was rivaled only by The Brain’s. He had prepared for this. Constant augmentations to his cybernetic implants, connections to technology across the galaxy, and the control of the Star Forge replica all served to increase his mental capacity and his ability to strike The Master without the Force—to strike in ways The Master would not expect.

 

“Indeed,” The Brain finally replied. “They are my—soon to be willing—hands. Until then, I will defend this station myself.” He waved a hand at the lower platform. The flooring connected to the upper platform opened up and out from that opening raised a grey, cylindrical tube. “I continued my research into ancient technology, as you ordered. You have no idea what I uncovered. The first was teleportation devices.” Another wave of his hand opened a small hatch on the tube, revealing an empty opening. After a brief flash of light within, the space was occupied by a small lizard creature—an Ysalamir. A furry lizard-like creature, the Ysalamiri were most well known for their ability to repel Force energy and create an area in which the Force did not exist.

 

The Master felt himself removed from the Force. He tried to reach out to it, but the creature had blocked him.

 

“You’ve been busy.” He said simply.

 

“You have no idea.” He waved his hand again, causing more tubes—a dozen, at least—to rise up from beneath the lower platform. “I’ve constructed a new droid army, one far greater than our old one.”

 

These tubes were not the same as the one containing the Ysalamir, these tubes opened widely, allowing droids to step out of the tubes. There were a dozen of them in total. Blue lights flared over the skeletal droids, and each one took an individual form.

 

“I spent nearly a century collecting information on history’s greatest users of the Force.” The Brain said as the droids began to surround The Master. “Now I have created an army of droids capable of replicating their skills and abilities. A dozen Starkiller-class droids could annihilate your entire droid army.”

 

The droids each took individual forms. Starkiller, Galen Marek, Darth Malgus, Darth Vader, Count Dooku, Revan, Exar Kun, Ulic Qel-Droma, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu, Meetra Surik, Anakin Skywalker, they were all represented by these droids.

 

The Master sneered at the droids. “Centuries I trained you, Brain, you should know these droids are no match for the power of the Force.”

 

The Brain nodded. “That is true, but you are without the Force, aren’t you?”

 

He was right. The Master could not call on the Force properly, but these droids couldn’t either. They were on equal footing.

 

“You shouldn’t have come alone.” The Brain said. “I have proven my intellectual superiority, and now you will die.”

 

The holo-droids activated their lightsabers. The Starkiller droid came first, swinging both of its blue lightsabers furiously. The Master pivoted and activated his own lightsaber, surprisingly severing one of the droid’s legs off as he did. He speared his blade through the droid’s head as it fell to the ground.

 

The Galen Marek droid attacked next, this one fighting far better than the last one, like an actual Jedi. The Master took a defensive posture. Without the Force, he could barely defend himself from the droid’s attacks. It was faster and stronger than average Force users and mimicked the fighting styles of its replicated target near-perfectly, but it didn’t use the Force and it was not as skilled as the real thing. The Master assumed this was the case for the other droids as well.

 

He let the Galen Marek droid push back towards the Ysalamiri. Curiously the other droids stood back and watched, surrounding the two as they fought, containing them within a circle. Their battle pushed the Obi-Wan Kenobi droid’s back to the Ysalamiri’s cage. The Master continued to defend himself purely on instinct as the Galen droid relentlessly attacked. Each blow was staggeringly strong and fast, but The Master managed to keep up, if only for a brief while.

 

The Master backed closer to the Obi-Wan droid and, as he predicted, the droid attempted to backstab him. The Master spun away from the attack and positioned himself behind the droid in time for the Galen droid to behead the Obi-Wan droid. The Master quickly switched to a backhand grip and drove his lightsaber into the Ysalamir.

 

The creature’s death allowed the Force to wash into the area. The Master let the Force fill him, let it build up within him. Then, just as the Galen droid’s blade came down to cleave him in two, he released the Force energy in a massive explosion that rocked the station. Droids went everywhere, their magnetic joints and impressive durability keeping their metal bodies intact. They were quickly back on their feet.

 

With The Force flowing through him, the droids attacked, this time all of the droids attacked him. The Master charged into the group, his blade cutting a red line through the Meetra Surik droid. He flipped high over the Revan droid and pointed his blade downward as he landed on the Galen droid, spearing it through the chest. He then quickly raised his blade upward, striking the Revan droid’s blade from its grasp and cleaved it in two.

 

The Master ducked under the Vader droid’s lightsaber and drove his boot into its right knee and swung his lightsaber through the Mace droid’s legs. He blocked a strike from the Anakin droid and thrust a palm out, hurling it into the Ulic droid. He then decapitated the Mace and Vader droids in a single stroke and brought his blade to block an attack from the Exar Kun droid. He forced the blade up and blocked the second blade of the droid’s double-bladed lightsaber, which he forced downward and followed it into a strike that bisected the droid at the waist.

 

Only a few of the droids remained. They had surrounded him, weapons raised. The Master lifted a hand above his head and let the power of the Dark Side gather at his fingertips. Bolts of red lightning forked from his fingertips and lashed out at the droids. Their programming was surprisingly limited when the Force was brought into play. They did nothing to stop the attack, they stood motionless and let the bolts strike them dead in the chest. The energy disrupted their holographic projectors and then spread over their droid bodies, vaporizing them utterly.

 

The Master sheathed his lightsaber and looked around. Droids were scattered around the lower platforms, some with their holographic systems sputtering, trying to maintain their form as if they hadn’t realized that their droid bodies were inoperable. The battle had lasted only a minute, surprisingly. He had expected the droids to be more formidable, for all The Brain’s boasting.

 

The Master exhaled loudly and turned to look up at The Brain, who appeared very surprised. “Your plan was a good one, but you have failed.”

 

The Brain’s face quickly returned to its expressionless state. “Indeed, I looked over a minor detail.” He was referring to the Ysalamiri. He should have placed a shield around the lizard to protect it. “Need to work on the prototypes” He said to himself to cover up his true mistake. “Now,” The Brain said to him. He waved his hand again.

 

Panels opened on the walls and ceiling, from which protruded strange pronged devices. Power surged through the devices. Bolts of electricity forked from the devices, striking at The Master with lightning speed. The Master quickly raised a Force Shield to absorb the bolts. More bolts were fired, a continuous assault from over a dozen sources struck at The Master’s shield.

 

If The Brain was pleased or disappointed by these events was unknown. He simply said, “You can’t defend yourself forever.”

 

This was true, The Master thought to himself. But he could defend himself for as long as he needed to. He maintained the shield and began dividing his power between three separate tasks. The destroyed droids began to lift off the ground and rotate around him. Lightning bolts of his own began to fork out of his defensive shield. The bolts of his maelstrom struck out at the lightning casters, overloading their power generators and causing them to rupture in flashes of blue light.

 

The Master released his concentration and let the whirling maelstrom dissipate. He let out an annoyed sigh. “Anything else?”

 

The Brain’s left eye twitched. “Perhaps.”

 

The Master shook his head. “No, it’s time to end this.”

 

At that he was gone, only to reappear behind The Brain and plunge a red lightsaber through him. The Master pulled the blade out and discharged a burst of red lightning at the falling traitor, utterly vaporizing him. He vanished again, only to appear a moment later before the last three Watchers.

 

The Master’s dark presence supplanted their rage at The Brain’s cruel end. They could focus only on survival. The Master pointed a finger up at the shield generator and fired a vein of red lightning at it, shattering the generator’s shielding and causing it to implode, raining debris down on them.

 

The Watchers ignited their lightsabers, prepared to fight, to the death if they have to. But The Master simply laughed at them. He reached out a hand and thrashed them with a powerful wave of Force energy.

 

“Do you really think that you could even hope to challenge me?” A rhetorical question as he thrashed them again. “You have always been children before me!” He hurled them into the base of the overlooking platform. “But if you are so eager to fight,” he said as he activated his own lightsaber. “Then I will oblige.”

 

[Aurbere]

A bit early, but it has been a while since I posted the last chapter, so here is Chapter 33.

 

Chapter 33

 

 

 

 

Star Forge 2- Command Deck

 

The Master’s blade hummed and its red glow illuminated the cruel grin on his face. The traitorous Watchers activated their own weapons and took fighting postures.

 

“You children have no idea what’s about to happen.” The Master said to them.

 

The Watchers charged their master, and he fell in between them. A second lightsaber flew out from his robes and into his off-hand. His two blades spinning and twirling, clashing only long enough to catch their attacks as he danced between them.

 

The Watchers were trained to fight in perfect unison to overcome any foe, and they put their training to use in this battle. Their movements were made in perfect sync, following the flow of battle and striking out at The Master like vipers. They flipped and pivoted as they jockeyed for position to strike at their master. But The Master knew them, trained them. He knew their movements before they made them and moved out of the way before the Watchers could gain any real ground.

 

They were fighting as equals. Neither side could gain an advantage. The Watchers danced around The Master, striking at him in perfect unison, while he effortlessly defended himself. The Guardian and Lore-master occupied The Master’s defense so The Solider could strike, but by then The Master had pivoted away, forcing one of the other Watchers into The Soldier’s path.

 

The Master moved with blinding speed, ducking and weaving his way between the three Watchers. But The Watchers felt their attacks begin to push The Master further than he was comfortable with. He put more and more energy into his speed. His physical form seemed to fade from existence until nothing could be seen except for flashes of darkness illuminated by the blood red glow of his lightsabers.

 

Against any other foe, even the mightiest of Jedi, The Watchers would be unstoppable, but The Master had become more powerful than they could possibly imagine. The Master’s speed and power were unmatched. The Watchers’ only defense against him was their vast precognitive abilities, but The Master’s speed was outpacing them.

 

And behind the twirling blades, behind the cloak of shadows, and beneath the flesh of man, The Master’s darkness reverberated. Palpable waves of energy pulsed out from him, buffeting The Watchers with debilitating energies. Their forms and coordination broke down under the crushing weight of The Master’s presence. It was then that they realized that The Master’s speed-based defense was a stalling tactic. He was waiting for his dark power to disrupt them and create an opening to strike with the full power of the Dark Side…

 

And he did strike. Within a moment’s notice, The Master unleashed a powerful Repulse of Force energy, casting his students aside and thrashing them against the chamber walls. The Master’s second lightsaber returned to his robes as he blitzed The Guardian, grabbing onto one of her cranial montrals before she could recover. He thrust his knee up into her stomach, and then forced her down. He raised his right knee into her face, knocking her head back up. He felt The Lore-master flying at him, whirling her twin blades as she fell down on him. The Master tightened his grip on The Guardian and whipped her up at The Lore-master, sending them both to the ground.

 

The Soldier was on him then, desperately battering at The Master, but his blows were ineffective, clumsy. He was falling apart mentally, and it was destroying his ability to fight. He had never realized the depth of his master’s darkness, his power. Was The Master always holding back? Was this even his full power? The Soldier was distracted by these questions and trying to block The Master’s influence over him, and his strikes showed it. He was clumsy in comparison to the perfection his form once was. He was slowing down as The Master’s influence required more focus to hold back.

 

The other Watchers joined the fray again, but they were as disorganized as The Soldier was. The Master had turned them into little more than dull brutes trying to strike a graceful Twi’lek dancer. The Master was slowing down too, mocking them, laughing at them as they struggled. He ducked and dodged and parried their strikes. He moved with a purposeful clumsiness, staggering his steps and nonchalantly batting their blades away.

 

But the speed quickly returned again. He bolted at The Soldier and swiped his blade horizontally, leaving a gash in The Soldier’s durasteel armor. The Soldier stepped back and placed a hand over the glowing gash. The Master pivoted on his heel and put both hands outward in opposite directions. The Force erupted from him in a wave of energy, blasting the Watchers in opposite directions.

 

The Soldier hit the other end of the chamber and heard his skull crack. Darkness crept into his vision. He almost wanted to let unconsciousness take him, but that would be submission. He would be surrendering to The Master, and he wasn’t prepared to do that. He closed his eyes and focused inward. He focused his efforts on blocking The Master’s influence, building metaphorical dams in the currents of his mind to cut the connection between them. Surprisingly, The Soldier’s efforts were working. The Master’s presence in his mind began to dissipate until it was gone completely.

 

The Soldier quickly stood up and rushed forward. He hoped that the sudden assault would catch The Master off-guard as he fought the others, and that he would be surprised by The Soldier’s sudden fury enough to be cut down.

 

The Master whipped the other Watchers away with a powerful Force Wave, but he was unprepared for The Soldier’s attack. The massive muscle-bound man fell on The Master in a furious frenzy, striking with such strength that The Master was forced down to a knee. But that was only for so long. The Master was quickly on his feet, parrying The Soldier’s strikes as he gave ground. The Soldier’s movements reached the perfection he craved, a perfection rivaled only by The Master’s skill. Every move was made with perfect timing, his strength and agility measured to perfectly to each strike he made.

 

The Soldier began to draw more heavily on the darkness that followed The Master. He gained strength from the nexus that formed in The Master’s wake. His blade was a hazy red line that began to form a cage of energy around The Master. His sweeping blows were graceful and strong. He pushed his offensive with grand sweeping blows immediately followed by deft parries to block The Master’s counter-attacks. The Soldier found himself pushing The Master further than he had ever been.

 

Each blow that connected threatened to knock The Master’s lightsaber from his grip. Each blow he blocked made the bones in his arms feel like they were about to splinter into pieces. He switched from a defensive wall to an acrobatic dancer, dodging The Soldier’s strikes as he continued to fall back. But even that wasn’t working. The Soldier’s blade was always where The Master was going to be, forcing him to block the attacks.

 

This is a problem. The Master thought as he ducked under an attack that would have removed his head.

 

The other Watchers joined the fray again, but they were dead weight to The Soldier now. The Master wasted no time in dealing with them. A forced blade lock gave him time to wave the others away again, though not without being forced on the back foot again. The others quickly recovered, but realized that they couldn’t compete with them. They realized that The Soldier had managed to erect some defense against The Master’s influence, and that they would need to do the same in order to gain victory.

 

The Master and The Soldier continued their battle, a stalemate that could continue forever, if The Master wished it to. But he had no intention of fighting The Soldier for all eternity. He poured more of his energy into his speed, and then it was he who took the offensive. A flurry of blows turned the tide and put The Soldier on the back foot. At first he could defend himself, but he quickly fell apart as each strike came faster than the last. The Master was a dark tornado laced with red light. A graze to his left shoulder led to a swipe on his upper thigh. The Master then pushed The Soldier’s blade up with his own and forced his hand against his chest. At that blow, his armor cracked and The Soldier went careening across the chamber.

 

The Guardian and The Lore-master sprang into action, striking at their master with renewed vigor. The Master fell into a defensive posture, ducking and dodging and blocking each strike they made. His speed began to slow as his influence entered their minds again; slowly battering down the barriers they had built. It was quicker this time, The Master was growing impatient, and he had little interest in their games now.

 

Across the chamber, The Soldier felt The Master enter his mind again, and again he fought. He found The Master distracted by the others. His influence was quicker to purge this time.

 

A contest with the lightsaber could go on for a very long time, and would only end in The Master standing victorious. The Soldier resolved to not let that happen. He stood up and began to gather his energies, summoning all of his power for a single attack. The air became charged with electricity, the darkness The Master had cast over the chamber gathered above The Soldier. Lightning crackled around him. He formed a protective barrier around himself as the lightning began to strike the ground around him, leaving black scorch marks on the floor. The Soldier stretched out a hand and directed the storm of lightning against The Master. Lightning cracked and flashed, and then it struck out at him.

 

The Master was occupied with the other Watchers, gaining ground as they struggled against him, when the lightning bolt struck. The Master was just as quick as the bolt; his second lightsaber was in his hand to catch the bolt. The energy infused in the blade leapt at The Guardian, charging her with energy and singing her skin. Another bolt came, but The Master dodged, leaving The Lore-master in the bolts path. She used her blade to catch the bolt, but the intensity of the blast knocked her off her feet and threw her against the wall at the far side of the room.

 

The lightning bolts shot out rapidly now, bombarding the area surrounding The Master with purple lightning bolts. The Master absorbed the bolts with his lightsabers or simply evaded them, growing closer and closer to The Soldier with each bolt of lightning. As The Master neared, The Soldier directed his protection bubble to fire bolts of lightning as well. The Master began to fuel his body with more Force energy, increasing his speed exponentially. The bolts of lightning fired from the storm above and the bubble around him seemed to faze through him as he dodged faster than the eye could see. The Master discharged bolts of lightning at The Soldier, but the red bolts dissipated harmlessly into the bubble.

 

The Master continued his assault, using more and more of his energy to evade and attack with Force lightning, but each bolt was simply absorbed into the barrier. Seeing no possible way to pierce the barrier, The Master chose a different strategy. He struck at The Soldier’s mind, breaking through his mental barriers and immediately sending him into unconsciousness. The bubble and the storm evaporated, and the darkness that made up the storm dispersed back over the room like a black wave.

 

The Master felt the other Watchers moving behind him, prepared for another attack. He whirled around and discharged a bolt of red lightning at their feet. The Guardian and The Lore-master paused, almost cowering.

 

The Master sheathed his lightsabers. “Did you really think that you could challenge me?” He asked rhetorically. “Arrogance! My fault, I know. I let you grow, let you achieve your potentials.” He raised a hand, his power forcing the female Watchers to their knees, quivering in pain. “But to think that you could challenge me? That is arrogance!

 

“In your arrogance you plotted against me. In your arrogance you betrayed me. In your arrogance… you challenged me.” The darkness began to manifest around him, crackling with energy and swirling furiously. “For your arrogance, it is now time that I show you the full power of the Dark Side.”

 

[Beniboybling]

Ho ho ho! Awesome duel, I eagerly await the full power of the dark side.

 

P.S. Some pages of the next chapter to my fic went AWOL and are currently being recovered, hence the wait.

[Aurbere]

Ho ho ho! Awesome duel, I eagerly await the full power of the dark side.

 

P.S. Some pages of the next chapter to my fic went AWOL and are currently being recovered, hence the wait.

 

Thank you! It went through several changes, but I feel that this one was the best of the bunch.

 

No wonder. Well, that's understandable. I've had that happen to me before. I eagerly await the next chapter, though. Hope you get things in order soon.

 

I'll probably post the next chapter of mine on Monday so I can get back into the weekly schedule.

[Aurbere]

Chapter 34

 

 

 

Star Forge 2- Command Deck

 

“Wait!” The Guardian—still smoking from The Soldier’s redirected Force lightning—cried out. “You can’t just kill us, after all of these years!”

 

The Master slightly lowered his hands. “I never said I was going to kill you.” He said with an evil grin on his face. He raised his hands back up and let loose forks of red lightning at them. Rather than foolishly resist, the two women accepted the attack, allowing the lightning to surge through their bodies, wracking them with pain.

 

The barrage continued. Bolts of red lightning wrapped around their bodies. Screams of pain echoed in the chamber, mixing with the sound of crackling lightning. After several minutes of torturous pain, The Master relented. The two Watchers curled their bodies inward, breathing struggled breaths.

 

“Your pain has only just begun!” The Master exclaimed. He prepared an attack again, but instead of Force lightning, he reached into their minds. His presence wormed into their thoughts. He attacked them from within, terrorizing them with illusions of fear and ripping them apart from the inside.

 

“The Dark Side is fear,” he said over their screams. “Fear is a powerful tool, far more powerful than any gout of lightning could possibly be, because it attacks the mind.”

 

He pressed his assault harder. The women clawed at their heads as they tried to fight back. All to no avail.

 

“Feel it take hold of your mind,” The Master continued. “Feel the fear warp your thoughts and twist your will.” He laughed at their struggle and continued his invasion of their minds. After several minutes of terrorizing the women with their greatest fears, The Master’s assault on their minds was halted by the groan of machinery. He snarled as he looked to the upper platform.

 

Hydraulics hissed, wires sparked, and gears turned as a cylindrical containment unit rose up from the platform. The unit opened and out stepped a hologram droid. The droids wires and joints sparked, and a holographic image began to take form over the droid’s body. The image took the form of The Brain.

 

“Master?” The droid said. “Don’t do that again, please, I did not expect the backlash from the loss of that body to be so… painful.”

 

The Master waved his hand at the students in front of him to knock them unconscious. He then teleported up to the platform the droid was standing on. In response, the droid back-stepped in self-preservation.

 

“A droid?” The Master said to himself. “Interesting,” He looked at the large cylinder container at the back of the chamber. It seemed inconspicuous, but the machine’s importance became apparent as he took in the size and scope of the machine. It stretched up to the ceiling, large wires and cables connected into it from the walls and ceiling. Its presence dominated the chamber like a dark colossus. “I assume that your real body is within that containment unit, yes?” He approached the container.

 

The droid followed after him. “Please stay away from there!”

 

The Master put his hand on the container. “I wonder what would happen if your real body was snuffed of life.” Energy surged through his hand, shattering the container into massive pieces. He waved the massive pieces back onto the lower platform.

 

Asleep on the table was The Brain’s real body with wires and cables plugged into him.

 

“You cannot kill me.” The droid said. “I have integrated my mind into this station and technology across the galaxy. My influence is unending, I cannot die.”

 

“Perhaps,” The Master said as he turned back around. “Or perhaps not.”

 

The droid’s projected image’s face contorted in confusion.

 

The Master laughed to himself. “How can I kill you? I’ll keep that to myself.”

 

“Master,” The droid said. “Please leave us be, for your own benefit.”

 

“My benefit?”

 

“I haven’t finished my work,” It said. “I am changing them, making them superior beings, like us.”

 

“Like us?” The Master said to himself. He pondered The Brain’s request and his possible reasons, and silently laughed at him for believing himself to be a being in The Master’s league. “Perhaps, I’ll leave you to your work. Do not disappoint me.”

 

As The Master jumped back down to the lower platform, The Brain said: “Of course, master, I would never do anything to endanger everything we have worked for.”

 

This made The Master stopped. He turned back to him. “Is that why you betrayed me,” He pointed at the unconscious Watchers. “And them?”

 

The Brain was taken aback. “I only did what needed to be done for victory. You understand, yes?”

 

The Master did understand. He would have done the same under different circumstances. “Indeed.” He pondered the proposal. A tool as useful as The Brain should be preserved, and if he could make the others useful again, why should he kill them? He was hesitant, of course, he did not want to be betrayed again. However, such betrayals could be dealt with, and they had no real power over him.

 

“Do not fail me again, Brain.” The Master said. “I will not be merciful next time.”

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Unknown Planet in the Unknown Regions

 

A green world on the fringes of the Outer Rim, torn by war, and ravaged by its primitive natives. The woman came to the world as a refugee in hiding, easy prey for the millions of native warriors, so they had thought. She was beyond them, and she had no interest in ruling these creatures. She annihilated over a dozen villages in the first week. Her actions attracted the attention of the rest of the planet’s warriors. They forged alliances, gathered armies, and hunted her. But they failed to understand the power of the Force. It took less than a year for her to eradicate the native population. When the planet was cleansed, the woman built a small hut to live in. The first piece of furniture she constructed was a dejarik board, a means of tracking The Master’s progress.

 

The Master had always referred to the galaxy as a dejarik board, it was only fitting that she acted out his war on a game board. With no technology to speak of, she was forced to make her own board and creatures out of mud and clay.

 

The woman brushed back her silver hair and sat at the table. She rolled back the sleeves of her black cloak and placed a delicate hand on a clay rancor. She moved the clay Rancor into the center of the playing field to ‘subdue’ a quartet of Sand Panthers.

 

Yet another piece moved. The game is almost over, dear. What is next? Corellia? Or even Coruscant itself? And what of the Jedi? This has been a long game indeed, but these final stages may prove to be even longer yet.

 

Unless someone finally puts you in your place.

 

She picked up the Rancor and held it in her hands.

 

Yes, someone should show you how weak you really are.

 

She closed her hand around the clay figure and crushed it into dust.

 

[Aurbere]

It's Monday, so here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

 

Chapter 35

 

 

 

Herald of Death- Bridge

 

The Master watched the spinning blue tunnel of hyperspace as the mighty warship screamed towards its next target. At his side, Jaina Solo stared blankly into the tunnel, as if mesmerized by it. Behind him, The Seeker and The Beastmaster stood at attention, waiting for their master’s next command. The silence was heavy. The Master had not spoken to them since commanding the jump to hyperspace. Important thoughts consumed his attention. He pondered why he let the traitors live. Certain Sith teachings believed that tools should be used until spent, but why allow threats to his power to live? It was dangerous to leave them be. He wondered if The Guardian had a point, that he had formed some emotional attachment to them over the years. It was only natural, of course, for the teacher to develop bonds with his students. He put the thoughts out of his mind for now.

 

“It’s time to move on to the next step of my plan.” He said, finally.

 

The Seeker quickly spoke before the witch beside him. “Command me, father,” He said. “I am eager to meet the Jedi in battle again.”

 

The Master pivoted his high-backed chair around. “And you will, my son,” He said in response. “It is time to strike the Jedi at their heart.”

 

“Kuat isn’t the heart of the Jedi.” The Beastmaster said flatly. “It is an inconsequential world that sought to stand against us.”

 

The Master nodded. “Quite,” He said. “But the heart of the Jedi is not any world or monument; their emotional attachments are our target.” He turned his gaze to his son. “We have the Solo child,” He said motioning at Jaina Solo. “Now we need the Skywalker child.”

 

The Seeker bowed his head. “I am ready, father.”

 

“Good,” The Master said. “Bring the boy to me.”

 

The Beastmaster was puzzled by this. “For what purpose, master?”

 

The Master was equally puzzled by her need to ask. “To strike at the Jedi through their emotions.” He said. “With the Skywalker and Solo children, we can move their friends and family to a position that we want them to be in.”

 

She nodded in understanding. “They will become predictable, and a predictable foe is an easy foe to kill.” She had asked the question for The Seeker’s sake. She wanted to make sure the boy knew the purpose of his mission.

 

The Seeker snorted. “Obviously,” He turned on his heel for the door. “I’ll depart when we exit hyperspace, father.”

 

“Find the boy.” The Master said to him.

 

“I already have…”

 

When The Seeker had left, The Beastmaster turned back to her master. “Your son is much like you are, Master.”

 

The Master arched an eyebrow. “In what way?”

 

She gestured her hands innocently. “Confidence, ability,” She said. “And other ways, though he seems to take his confidence too far.”

 

“You think he’s overconfident?” He asked. He chuckled. “His actions are his own, and he will have to deal with the consequences.”

 

The Beastmaster folded her arms. “You should have sent me.”

 

The Master pondered the thought. “Perhaps, but it is of no concern now.” He paused for a moment. “You have something else bothering you, speak.”

 

The thought he was referring to had been troubling The Beastmaster for some time. She hesitated for a moment, knowing that questioning her master was not something to do lightly. “Yes, master,” She finally said. “I don’t know why you spared those traitors. They tried to kill you, they almost did kill you!” Her voice unintentionally rose. “They are traitors. And traitors deserve no mercy.”

 

A smile touched The Master’s face. “That’s true, child,” he responded. “But they could be useful in the future. Remember that we should use our tools until their usefulness is spent, then discard them. Or perhaps they are more important than you know.”

 

“How do you mean?”

 

The Master waved it off. “It’s nothing.”

 

The Beastmaster took a deep breath to calm herself. “Regardless, they could pose a threat to us.”

 

The Master shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. I have put doubt in The Brain’s mind, and I feel that he has proven himself master of the other traitors.”

 

“So?”

 

“So the others will not act without his authority.”

 

The Beastmaster doubted that. “I don’t believe that.” She said. “The Brain mastered what he wanted to learn, but he was never a real fighter. They’ll kill him and come for you again.”

 

The Master laughed at that. “Let them try. The Brain has proven himself a difficult foe to overcome, and he is not one to take lightly.” The Master waved his hand at her. “But enough of this. Whether or not they attempt to attack me again is irrelevant, what truly matters is our current target.”

 

He swiveled back to look out of the viewport. Through the swirling blue tunnel of hyperspace, The Master could see Kuat waiting for him. Another act of vengeance would soon be made.

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Coruscant- Galactic Alliance High Command Center

 

Wedge Antilles studied the holographic map of the Core and Inner Rim. A web of lights marked the range of the sensor network. It had been over a week since the last attack, only days before the net had been set up. Wedge knew most would be grateful for this reprieve, but he was on edge. It was never a good thing when an enemy paused their assault. Something was coming, and it was most certainly being orchestrated by The Master.

 

It had also been a great deal of time since The Master’s flagship—a monstrous warship larger and more powerful than even the Galactic Empire’s most terrible superweapons—appeared. Thus far, the warship has been unstoppable. It almost seemed impossible. He often found it difficult to believe that something so terrible could be created. But then, that’s how everybody felt about the Death Star.

 

Wedge believed that the next move the enemy made- the next attack- would be spearheaded by that warship. His plan revolved around this hypothesis. When the sensor net picked up the next attack, a large fleet would respond, but it would be a sham meant to deceive. After the battle and after The Master’s ship left, scavenger drones would be dispatched to recover anything that could help them analyze the warship’s capabilities and search for potential weaknesses.

 

It wasn’t long before Wedge found his idea put to the test when sirens and alarms blared. The holographic web flashed around the Kuat system. The engineers and technicians snapped to attention and began sending transmissions to fleets stationed at and around the system.

 

“Get those ships moving,” Wedge told them. “And send a message to the Jedi Temple.” War was here once again. It would have been too much to ask for The Master to crawl into a hole to live out the rest of his days, however long that was.

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Kuat System- Kuat Orbit- Herald of Death- Bridge

 

Kuat had been a loyal servant-world for The Master, obediently building his shipyards and warships. The Master had eliminated one administrator to maintain that relationship, and now a second one dared to challenge his authority. He was sick of these betrayals. It was time to show the galaxy the consequences of trifling with him.

 

Between the Herald and the Kuat shipyards stood a large fleet of Alliance warships of Kuat design. Various Star Destroyer design warships moved into firing range while the Herald’s long range guns pounded them from afar. It did not take long for battle to be joined at close range. Missiles and proton torpedoes launched from their bays, turbolaser blasts bit into the shields of their targets, and, quickly enough, Alliance ships began to shatter in short-lived explosions. The black warship didn’t stop to acknowledge their destruction. It continued moving closer and closer to the planet, chunks of ship hulls bouncing off the hull and being pulled into the molecular factories by tractor beams as the ship bore down on the planet like a dark colossus. Within minutes, the two dozen Alliance ships guarding the planet had been destroyed and their carcasses brought into the Herald’s maw to be used to further The Master’s cause.

 

As the black dagger drifted closer to the shipyards ringed around the planet, The Master tabbed a key on the left arm of his chair, hailing the shipyard. As expected, the new Kuat of Kuat responded. His holographic image shimmered above the right arm of The Master’s chair.

 

“My lord,” the man said hastily while falling to his knees. “I know what you are thinking, but you can’t blame me! You were supposed to be dead!”

 

The Master raised an eyebrow. Begging was so unbecoming of a noble. “I gave you everything you have, fool,” He said with contempt. “Why shouldn’t I exact vengeance when you can offer me nothing to make up for your transgressions?”

 

“Please, no!”

 

The Master waved him off. “Enough! Now, before you die, serve as an example to the rest of the galaxy.” He shut the transmission off and stood up.

 

He peered at the shipyard through the Force. He saw every crack, every weakness, and every shatterpoint in the installation. It was a station that stood the test of time, but it was flawed like everything else The Master saw. It was waiting for the cold touch of the Force to break it, finally.

 

He took a moment to gather his energies, then he stretched a hand out. An invisible hand stretched over the planet. The hand wrapped around the command module. The Master closed his hand into a fist. The command module ripped away from the shipyards and began to collapse in on itself, slowly being crushed into a sphere of mangled metal. He opened his hand back up and closed his eyes. He brought more energy into himself and gripped onto the crushed module even tighter. He then let the energies out and pushed the module towards the planet.

 

Unlike the rest of the shipyard, without its gravity stabilizers the command module was caught by Kuat’s gravity field and pulled down towards the planet’s surface. The Master imagined it like a meteor. Upon contact, anything nearby would be vaporized, the damage would be quite extensive to anything caught in its explosive impact.

 

The Master exhaled heavily and slumped back into his chair. He looked out into space and saw his personal shuttle make the jump to hyperspace. His son had finally left on his mission. The Beastmaster had retired to her quarters to rest, meditate, and prepare for her part in the events to come. The Master rested his head against one of hands. He was tired. He had not yet fully regained all of his power, and his recent exertions had taxed him beyond what he was comfortable with. His rest was interrupted by a transmission from the Thrawn Clone.

 

“My lord,” He said respectfully. “There is an enemy fleet coming out of hyperspace.”

 

The Master waved his hand. “Destroy them.”

 

The clone bowed. “Yes, my lord.” He said before his image disappeared.

 

The Master closed his eyes, prepared to let unconsciousness take him, but a presence in his mind stopped him. It had entered his mind and sought to attack him. The Master fell into the Dark Side and fought back, tracking it to its source.

 

On Coruscant, in the heart of the Jedi Temple, Grand Master Luke Skywalker meditated, stretching his presence across the breadth of space. He reached into The Master’s mind. It was subtle, of course. Had The Master been more focused on the battle, or had Luke done this when he was exacting his vengeance, the Jedi could have accomplished whatever his goal was. But The Master could not allow that.

 

He struck back with sudden force, severing the connection between them. Quickly, before Luke could push back in, The Master cut himself off from the galaxy, closing his presence off from all but his most trusted allies.

 

This intrusion perturbed The Master. He was greatly disturbed that his mind had been entered so easily. If given the opportunity, the Jedi could learn his plans, or worse. The Master resolved to not let that happen.

 

[Beniboybling]

Interesting twist... just got round to reading these new chapters, been so busy!

[Aurbere]

Update: I've been rather ahead in the editing and writing process so I'll be posting chapters twice weekly for now. Expect the next chapter tomorrow or Thursday.

[Aurbere]

Sorry for not posting anything in such a long time. I've been rather busy. So to make up for it, here's two chapters!

 

Chapter 36

 

 

 

Coruscant- Jedi Temple

 

The woman was much like a ghost as she moved through the Jedi Temple. The Jedi there couldn’t see or sense her. She was completely invisible to all. She could have leaned over the shoulder of any of the Jedi studying their holobooks in the Library, or watched Master Cilghal in the med lab, or even enter the chambers of Luke Skywalker himself. But she was not here to spy on the Jedi.

 

She entered the Jedi Training Ground. Dozens of Jedi were present. They meditated, or sparred, or developed telekinetic abilities by lifting rocks large enough to sit on. All of this they did completely oblivious to her presence, until she revealed herself. Her presence sent a ripple through the Force like a stone tossed into a pond. All of the Jedi—even the younger ones—turned to see the source of the disturbance. She had clouded her presence, but left enough darkness visible to them for them to register her as a threat. But she did not attack, she simply raised her hands above her head.

 

“I’m not here to fight.” She announced, a sly grin appeared on her face. “I surrender.”

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Jedi Council Chambers

 

Standing at the center of the Jedi Council Chambers and being surrounded by the most powerful Jedi in the galaxy would make any enemy of the Light nervous, but the woman had no reason to fear the Jedi, not when she had so much to offer them. The chamber was eerily silent; the tension in the air could be cut with a knife. None of the Jedi stirred while they studied her. She imagined that they saw her as a shadow. They couldn’t sense her darkness, but the inky presence she was would make them feel sick. Of course they could only feel this because she wanted them to. Not even The Master could feel her presence… not anymore, at least.

 

The woman recognized all of the Jedi present: Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa Solo, Kyp Durron, Corran Horn, and Kyle Katarn. The rest of the seats were empty, their owners dead or marshaling military forces, or captured in Jaina Solo’s case.

 

She had been brought to the Jedi Council Chambers to be questioned. They clearly understood that she could be a threat, yet they did not put her in a Force Cage. And why? Because they knew that it wouldn’t matter. Their experiences with The Master had led them to believe that they could not contain this new breed of Force user, all they could do was show that fighting back was foolish. The only real way to do that was to confront the woman with the most powerful Jedi among them. Of course it helped that she told them she wished to aid them, that she would answer any questions they had about her and The Master. They would be foolish to turn down such an opportunity to learn more about their enemy.

 

Finally, the Grand Master spoke: “Who are you?” The first question was an obvious one.

 

The woman gestured her hands innocently. “Just a woman who was betrayed and seeks vengeance,” She said. “That’s why I am here.”

 

That answer sparked the curiosity of the Council as a whole. She was obviously referring to The Master. “You know The Master?” Luke asked.

 

The woman made a small grin. “As much as anybody else knows, perhaps more.” Her grin widened. “Perhaps much more.”

 

Kyp Durron huffed. “This is getting us nowhere,” he said angrily. “She’s not going to tell us anything, she’s just here to waste our time.”

 

The woman let out a laugh. “Don’t be too sure, little Kyp-“

 

“Little!?”

 

“All will be revealed in time.” She continued. “That is why I am here, after all.”

 

Luke raised a hand at Kyp to calm him down. He then turned his gaze back to the woman at the center of the chamber. “How do you know about him?”

 

“The Master, you mean.” She replied. “We met on The Prism decades ago, when the Clone Wars was in full swing.” She continued. “I was the warden of the prison. He recruited me to his little cult, made me… something I shouldn’t have been, something that caused me great pain recently.” She became visibly upset, as if drudging up bad memories. She quickly shook it off. “I eventually learned his true plan.”

 

“And that is?” Luke asked, curious.

 

“What he says, and what you believe,” She said. “Is only the beginning.

 

“What you have no doubt felt is the shifting of the Force towards the Dark Side. This was The Master’s doing, but there is a reason for it. He feeds on this shift through an unnatural connection to the Dark Side. As the Dark Side grows in dominance, so too does his power.

 

“You,” She said, pointing at Luke. “Are the only one keeping the darkness at bay. When you die, then he has won. When the Light Side is supplanted and the Dark Side reigns supreme, The Master will have unlocked the full power of the Dark Side. And as time goes on, his desire for peace will lead him to desire more power. He will seek more power. Those who stand in defiance of his rule will be victims of that desire. He will destroy them, feed on their deaths, and become stronger for it.

 

“But that is only the beginning.” She continued. “The Master is not so simple as to devour the galaxy outright. He will allow it to continue existing, consuming lives and worlds whenever he pleases. The galaxy is a source of unlimited power to him.”

 

Luke regarded her with a look of disbelief. The Master was powerful, incredibly so, but Luke didn’t believe him capable of such an act. “How could he do that?”

 

The woman’s face turned grim. “It is the nature of the Dark.” She responded. “In time he will lose control, and destroy all life.”

 

“How do you know this?” Luke asked.

 

“I have foreseen it.” She replied. “And I have come to tell you to stop him, or I will.” And with that she turned on her heel and left, vanishing as she did.

 

Luke Skywalker fell deeply into his thoughts. The woman was clearly enigmatic and powerful, but he was not sure of her chances. The pragmatic side of him appreciated her efforts. An internal feud between The Master and his servants had temporarily stopped him before; another one could secure a more lasting victory. But the news that this mysterious woman had delivered made Luke uneasy, and only strengthened his resolve to stop The Master at any cost.

 

He rested his chin on his knuckles. “We have a lot to discuss.”

 

 

Commentary- Discerning a Fraction of Reality:

 

I generally don’t care for villains with the motive of destroying the galaxy, but the threat that they pose is undeniable. One of the things I wanted to do was have this mysterious woman deliver this message as a warning to the Jedi. Basically light a fire under them and get them moving. I had been going back and forth on this chapter, trying to figure out how she tells them this stuff. But, in the end, it didn’t really matter. What she has told them may or may not be true, or there is simply a nugget of truth hidden behind a curtain of lies. That’s how I wanted the character to be. She’s kind of like Darth Traya. She manipulates people and moves them into positions that favor her agenda. So that’s kind of what this situation was.

 

Whether or not she was telling the truth is for the rest of you to find out.

 

 

Chapter 37

 

 

 

Coruscant

 

The terrible war had put the Galactic Alliance on high alert. Despite their expansive military, the nature of their enemy had forced them to be reactive. They could never put the full might of their military to use, and they were losing because of this. Yet despite this the heart of the galaxy continued buzzing as if nothing was wrong. Such was the nature of Coruscant, or was it people in general? The Seeker preferred to leave such thoughts to those more qualified to ponder such thoughts. He continued to watch the buzzing insects as they went about their pathetic lives, and he watched the sun set on another day in the Galactic Alliance.

 

Shadows rose up from the underbelly of the planet, engulfing alleyways, then rising to swallow the last of the day’s light. Night came, bringing with it darkness. The Seeker imagined a similar darkness when his father’s flagship eclipsed the sun on the Day of Reckoning, the day that would see the end of the Galactic Alliance and the Jedi Order.

 

From the rooftop of a skyscraper near the Jedi Temple, the Seeker watched the activities of the Jedi Temple, a powerful cloak of deception hiding him from their senses. The Jedi guards at the front entrance were, as expected, alert and vigilant, though more so now for some reason. He had tracked the Skywalker boy to the Jedi Temple, but assaulting the Jedi Temple alone was not his plan, not with the elder Skywalker around at least.

 

The Seeker felt something briefly in the Force, a familiar but faint presence. He whirled around to see a beautiful woman at the far end of the rooftop. She was cloaked in black robes with her hood up, and she was shrouded in darkness. Anyone else would have been unable to penetrate the cloak, but The Seeker could, and he knew who this woman was.

 

His lightsaber was in his hand immediately. “You?” He said as he activated both ends of the weapon.

 

The woman merely raised her hands and sent a storm of white lightning at him from her fingertips. The Seeker pulled up his blade to absorb the bolts, but the attack was too powerful. His guard was almost immediately overpowered and the bolts slammed into his chest. His body writhed in pain; every nerve was on fire as if he had been thrown into a star. His mind willed his body to move, but all he could do was fall to his knees. His weapon fell to the ground with him.

 

When The Seeker was on the verge of unconsciousness, the barrage stopped. He struggled to take in another breath, his lungs felt like they were on fire. His hand trembled as he reached for his weapon. Lightning crackled and the barrage came again. White lightning struck his body one last time, sending The Seeker into unconsciousness.

 

The woman walked up to the unconscious man and picked up his lightsaber.

 

“Let’s see what the Jedi do with you, boy.”

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Star Forge 2- Command Deck

 

The command deck had grown quiet since The Master left. The darkness had receded and light was restored to the station. The other Watchers were suspended from the ceiling by wires that were embedded into their bodies like sick puppets.

 

The Brain was relieved to find that mercy was still something The Master could show. But The Master’s possible knowledge of a way to kill him concerned him greatly. He resolved to find this weakness and eliminate it before he enacted his final plan. But that had to wait for now.

 

The Brain motioned for The Soldier to be lowered down to his level. He then motioned for a surge of adrenaline to be injected into The Soldier to wake him up.

 

The Soldier was groggy at first, but he quickly recovered. “Uh…” He tried to move his arms, but found them unresponsive. “What is this?” He tried to free himself, only to find that he could not reach the Force either. “What have you done to me?”

 

A servant droid carrying several surgical tools on a silver tray wheeled up next to The Brain. He picked a serrated scalpel off the tray and pointed it at The Soldier.

 

“I inhibited your movement and ability to call on the Force,” he finally answered. “It is the only way to ensure that you don’t struggle during the operation.”

 

The Soldier tried to move again. “What are you going to do? What operation?”

 

The Brain had The Soldier lowered so that he was laying flat face down. He touched the scalpel to the back of The Soldier’s bald head.

 

“The pain you will experience is only natural,” he said as he began to cut. “And it is crucial to your evolution.”

 

The Soldier gritted his teeth and growled. “You won’t get away with this!” He growled again as the scalpel reached the point above his left temple. The pain was unending, and only intensified as The Brain purposefully scraped the tool against his skull. The tool began to cut the skull, eliciting a cry of pain from The Soldier.

 

As the scalpel continued cutting The Soldier’s scalp, it cut through arteries and veins. Blood squirted out and drenched The Soldier’s face and bleach-white skull in red. Each vessel that was cut was quickly cauterized by The Brain, who used the Force to burn them. Afterwards, microscopic machines would enter into the trailing cut and embed themselves in his skin.

 

The Brain’s cutting continued. The Soldier had made his mind ignore the pain, but his body was still reacting. He could feel no pain, but physical reactions were out of his control. Darkness began to cloud his vision. He fought as much as he could, but he couldn’t fight his body’s urge to protect itself. His mind and body wanted to let the darkness take the pain away. He couldn’t fight it anymore, the darkness took him.

 

The Brain stopped cutting for a moment. “Oh,” he said slightly saddened. “It seems you passed out. Unexpected.” He was tempted to bring him back, but he elected to continue the procedure.

 

When he finished cutting, he carefully removed The Soldier’s skull cap, revealing the precious cargo within. The next part of the procedure was far more interesting…

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Coruscant- Galactic Alliance High Command

 

The military actions planning center had become a darkened room that reflected the situation the Galactic Alliance had found itself in. The Master had returned with a vengeance, his first major action resulting in the elimination of the galaxy’s largest shipyard. A clever plan put forth by Supreme Commander Wedge Antilles had allowed them to witness the destructive capabilities of The Master’s flagship, and would allow them to learn of possible weaknesses.

 

Wedge Antilles and his military advisors and Luke Skywalker and the Jedi Council gathered around a robust holoprojector that occupied the majority of space in the room. It displayed an image of The Master’s flagship, a massive forty thousand meter dagger that had ripped apart everything put in front of it. They had never had a proper image of the massive warship, but an intelligence package found on a servant of The Master dumped at the doors of the Temple provided the image and the schematics.

 

The best analysts in the galaxy studied the schematics, and their findings were enlightening:

 

The Herald of Death (deemed a Void-class Super Star Destroyer) is a 40,000 meter long wedge-shaped warship. Over 20,000 weapon systems line the hull including heavy turbolaser cannons, quad turbolaser cannons, heavy ion cannons, missile tubes, proton torpedo launchers, and mass driver cannons.

 

The vessel is defended by a complex regenerative shield network, a layer of thermal shielding, and triple-layered neutronium and durasteel hull armor. These systems are powered by multiple reactor systems converging on a single power source that provides energy to the entire ship.

 

It is possible that a technology more advanced than we have seen is powering this ship. The numbers suggest that the vessel should have been destroyed in battle above Hapes, yet it appeared to sustain little to no damage.

 

Wedge tabbed a button to enlarge the warship’s image. “Having seen what The Master’s flagship can do,” he said to his comrades. “Luke and I have created a strategy to bring it down.”

 

This prompted Luke to speak. “Conventional warfare is useless against a ship like this. The only way to destroy it is to destroy it from within.” Luke tabbed a key on the projector to zoom in on the center of the ship. “Here,” Luke pointed at a large reactor in the ship’s bowels. “Is the main reactor. A team will board the ship, fight their way to the reactor, and place a powerful bomb near it to destroy it.” He then tabbed another key to move the image to the ship’s bridge. “However, an attack is unlikely to succeed with The Master fully aware of what is transpiring on his ship.”

 

Kyle Katarn stroked his graying beard. “Which means he’ll need to be distracted.”

 

Luke nodded in affirmation. “Correct,” he said. “And that will be me.”

 

Kyp Durron quickly interjected. “You can’t! I’ve been on that ship; it’s a source of Dark Side energy greater than anything I’ve ever felt. You can’t go alone.”

 

Luke was fully aware of the power of the Herald. “I know, but the objective is not to win, or even to fight. I just have to keep him occupied.”

 

Leia Organa Solo put a hand on Luke’s shoulder. “How are you going to do that?”

 

Luke smiled at her. “I’ll take a page from your book.”

 

[Beniboybling]

Luke's going to disguise himself as a bounty hunter!

 

I kid. Nice chapters, I like this new character, she is interesting.

[Aurbere]

Luke's going to disguise himself as a bounty hunter!

 

I kid. Nice chapters, I like this new character, she is interesting.

 

Nah, he isn't going to do that. I should have thought of that, though.

 

Anyway, here's the next chapter.

 

Chapter 38

 

 

 

Herald of Death- Command Center

 

The Herald of Death hurtled through hyperspace towards its next victim: Coruscant’s defender, Anaxes. The noble world was a haven for innovators of naval warfare, and held great pride in its noble children. It was a gateway to Coruscant. Victory would devastate the Galactic Alliance militarily and morally. From there, Coruscant would fall swiftly.

 

The clone of Grand Admiral Thrawn tabbed a key on his armchair to activate the robust tactical projector at the center of the room. Across from him stood The Master and The Beastmaster, their dark presences gave the clone a migraine so strong he had thoughts of suicide to make the pain stop—the only thing keeping him sane being the intense mental training The Master put him through.

 

The tactical projector displayed a map of the Anaxes Citadel- their main target on the planet Anaxes. The Thrawn clone was cautious about using this information as it was from the last intelligence transmission before Operation Eleven was activated. The information was unreliable, but a plan made based on this information would be superior to one made upon an initial scan of the planet’s surface. Either plan would be flawed, but it allowed them to prepare for the battle.

 

“As you can see, my lord,” The clone said. “The enemy defenses can be separated into tiers. The first tier,” he said pointing at a series of trenches and defensive turrets. “Is a series of trenches and defensive turrets set up in the plains surrounding the Citadel.”

 

The map zoomed in on the trenches. The hills—which were once used for royal estates—that surrounded the Citadel had been turned into sniper nests and positions to fire down on approaching soldiers.

 

The Beastmaster waved a hand casually. “I have engineered an army of unstoppable monsters,” She said confidently. “Trenches won’t stop them.”

 

“Perhaps,” Thrawn responded. “But the second tier is more difficult.” The map moved to the Citadel walls. “Positioned on the walls are several anti-vehicle and anti-personnel cannons, as well as light artillery platforms and snipers.”

 

The map moved again to the heart of the complex. The Anaxes Citadel was a massive complex filled with training schools, intelligence centers, offices, administrative offices, and parade grounds.

 

Thrawn pointed at the large tower at the center of the complex. “This is our goal.”

 

The Beastmaster sighed. “Again, my beasts can handle this.”

 

“This is a planetary campaign, not a single battle.” Thrawn quickly responded, practically ignoring her. “Dedicating all of our forces to a single battle is foolish, so I have prepared several bombers outfitted with special ordinance to clear out most of the resistance in the Citadel itself.”

 

The Beastmaster did not often tolerate being undermined by lesser beings, but she dared not act against someone The Master prized. “My beasts can handle the Citadel, our droid forces can be deployed to other areas.”

 

The Master finally spoke. “This is all meaningless if we cannot penetrate the planet’s shield defenses.” His voice was hollow, as if he was focused on something else entirely, as if he wasn’t there at all.

 

“Of course, my lord,” Thrawn replied. He tabbed a key to display a map of the space above the planet. The only remarkable thing above the planet was Anaxes Station.

 

“The planet is defended by a multi-tiered shield generator powered by several power generators powered by an advanced fuel resource, which gives the shield regenerative properties.” Thrawn continued. “Even our advanced weapon systems can’t penetrate the shield long enough to land a considerable amount of troops without dedicating most of our arsenal to the assault.”

 

The Beastmaster pointed at the Anaxes Station. “Knock the station out of orbit.” She said. “That will disrupt the shield long enough to drop hyperspace pods with Jump Droids to shut down some of the power generators.”

 

Thrawn nodded. “Correct,” he tabbed another key to shut the map down. “And if even one generator is taken down, the shield will be easier to penetrate.”

 

The Beastmaster grinned. “And the planet will be easier to conquer.” She turned to The Master, but he was already leaving, his pace troubled. She turned back to the Thrawn clone. “I’ll be ready for battle when we arrive.”

 

“Be sure that you are,” He responded. “We are on the edge of victory, and defeat is not an option.”

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Coruscant- Galactic Alliance Intelligence Center

 

The woman The Master betrayed had spent decades developing her ability with the Force’s concealment techniques, mastering them to such a point that even The Master could not detect her even if she were in the same room as him. She was able to walk through the Galactic Alliance’s Intelligence Center in plain sight. The agents, technicians, secretaries, and other workers went about their work, completely oblivious to the woman’s presence. She could have walked up to a pair of white-suited men standing in front of a refrigeration unit, slapped one of them, and walked away without even being noticed. The security cameras that kept watch would not even pick her up as she walked in their field of vision.

 

She continued through the facility, rounding corners, walking down narrow hallways, until she reached a door labeled “Server Room”. She entered the room and quickly walked up to the main console. A quick slice let her into the system. She pulled a datapad out from the folds of her black robes and connected it to the console. The system immediately began downloading the files from the datapad. When it was finished, she sent the data to Alliance High Command with a message instructing them to wait two weeks before acting on the information, else they destroy the galaxy.

 

There goes your failsafe, ‘Master’. So much work moving those Baradium charges into the Core and Inner Rim and now it is all for not. Too bad, too bad. That should be a surprise for you, but I’m going to have to deal with your little cybernetic monstrosity before these fools try to deactivate the charges.

 

But don’t worry, I’ll see you soon.

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Executor-class Dreadnaught Enduring Spirit - Bridge

 

Wedge Antilles and Luke Skywalker looked out the main viewport of the Enduring Spirit’s bridge and into the blackness of space above the planet of Anaxes. The sensor net had alerted them to a ship signature moving through the Perlemian Trade Route. Wedge deduced that it was headed for Anaxes, Coruscant’s last line of defense.

 

“Is your team ready?” Wedge asked his long time friend.

 

Luke nodded. “Corran, Kyle, and Kyp will succeed.”

 

Wedge looked to him. “Are you ready?” He asked him. “I’m not sure what you’ll be going up against, but from what I’ve seen and heard, this guy isn’t someone you mess with.”

 

Luke put his gloved hand on Wedge’s shoulder. “I’ll be fine, Wedge.”

 

Sirens blared, interrupting their conversation. One of the officers managing the communications consoles quickly swiveled around on his chair to face them. “Sir! A massive ship signature just passed into the Axum System!”

 

Wedge allowed himself a smile. “Just as I thought.” He said. “Get ready Luke, let’s see if we can end this here.”

 

[Aurbere]

Chapter 39's a short chapter, so I'll post another chapter later this week. In the meantime...

 

Chapter 39

 

 

 

Executor-class Dreadnaught Enduring Spirit - Bridge

 

The space above Anaxes was unusually quiet. Ship staff members were silent as they looked out the viewports or stared at sensor screens. Jedi and Commanders alike stood quietly at the bridge as they waited for The Master’s imminent arrival. The watched, they waited. It was the calm before the storm.

 

The defense fleet of over three dozen heavy cruisers floated motionless over the planet. The Anaxes Station had been moved above the planet and outfitted with heavy weapon systems. The defense fleet had been set up in a defensive perimeter around the station.

 

Sirens blared as the sensors detected a massive ship signature coming out of hyperspace. It was as impressive a ship in person as it was on the holo. A massive dagger black as the void of space. The lights on the ship were like stars, and were the only way to visually identify the vessel. To the Jedi, the Dark Side seemed to seep out of the ship like black smoke. But there was no time to admire or fear the most powerful vessel in galactic history. It was time for action.

 

Luke Skywalker and his Jedi allies had no words as they left the bridge. They and Wedge had exchanged words before The Master had arrived. The time had come to end the war once and for all.

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Herald of Death- Beastmaster’s Chambers

 

Her chambers were dark and cold. Silent, if not for the heavy breathing of the winged Krayt Dragon resting in the darkest corner of the chamber. The Beastmaster liked the dark. It was comforting to her, it felt like home. She had spent much of her life in the dark, in the shadow of her great Master. These rare moments when she could sit in the dark were often longed for, though not as wanted as the time she spent near her master.

 

She sat legs crossed at the center of the room, meditating on the coming battle. She had spent much of the trip to Anaxes creating beasts for the coming battle. Much to her surprise, The Master had supplied her with dozens of various animal species for her experiments. Tauntauns, Akk Dogs, Sleens, Vine Cats, Gundarks, and more were available to her. When she had finished turning them into monstrous creatures, she began experimenting on the larger creatures he had provided.

 

All of this had tired her, and she required time to rest before the Battle of Anaxes began.

 

Her greatest monster stirred in the dark. A pair of golden eyes peered at her from the darkness. It puffed smoke from its nostrils. It stretched one of its wings before curling it back in to cover one its exposed flanks.

 

The Beastmaster felt The Master’s warship come out of hyperspace and grinned. “Are you ready, my pet?”

 

The beast growled in response.

 

“Then it is time to unleash you upon the galaxy.”

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Herald of Death- Bridge

 

The Master had exhausted all avenues of defending his mind permanently from intrusion. Luke Skywalker’s little incursion into his mind had revealed a weakness The Master had thought to be eliminated. He had not been able to find a way to permanently conceal himself from the Jedi without devoting a great deal of needless energy to the task. His only defense against future assaults on his mind was vigilance.

 

Since Skywalker’s incursion, The Master had become reclusive. He spent much of his time contemplating the state of things and pondering the future. The Master had foreseen everything that had transpired, yet lately the Jedi were able to catch him by surprise. They could still do things that surprised him, like waiting for him above Anaxes…

 

Indeed, a large fleet of Galactic Alliance warships awaited him above Anaxes. Even more surprising was that the fleet was much smaller than The Master would have expected. The Alliance had no doubt become aware of what they were up against, yet the fleet they brought before him was pitiful to say the least.

 

It was clear to The Master that the Alliance was planning something, but he would leave that to the Thrawn clone. There were more important things to deal with, such as the Jedi that he had sensed.

 

The Galactic Alliance starfighters had already launched, no doubt the Jedi were flying with them in their vaunted StealthXs. The Herald launched its own fighters, a swarm of tens of thousands of droid starfighters engaged the sorely outnumbered Alliance fighters. The Herald moved into the field of battle, unleashing volleys of plasma and missiles as it moved closer to the bulk of the enemy fleet.

 

The Master took his attention away from the battle and fell into the Force, stretching out his presence to the Jedi that approached. There were four of them. He sensed the presences of Kyp Durron, Corran Horn, Kyle Katarn, and, of course, Luke Skywalker. The Master, even with all of his great power, had doubts of fighting the most powerful Jedi in the galaxy alone.

 

But he wasn’t alone. No, he wasn’t. Sitting beside him like a faithful hound was an entranced Jaina Solo. Her mind was almost ready. Soon she could be unleashed against those she loved. And when that happened, the next phase of The Master’s plans would begin.

 

[Beniboybling]

A eagerly await the dragon's debut.

[Aurbere]

As promised, a second chapter this week because of the last one being shorter than normal.

 

Chapter 40

 

 

 

Herald of Death

 

Everything was going better than Luke Skywalker had hoped. He had successfully landed on The Master’s flagship and evaded detection as he neared the bridge. He had noticed droids massing for the ground invasion, and large drop ships being moved to the hangars, something within the drop ships sent a shiver down Luke’s spine, but he couldn’t worry about that. The Master had to be stopped, nothing else mattered right now.

 

However, he had moved through the ship without being noticed, and he was nearing the bridge. The Force guided him. The oppressive darkness that coursed through the ship grew stronger with each step towards the bridge. The darkness was heavy on him, and he felt like he was slugging through water.

 

When Luke finally reached the bridge, the doors opened for him, and he saw The Master was waiting for him as he sat in a high-backed throne, a cold grin on his face.

 

“Welcome, Grand Master,” The Master said with great confidence. “I have been expecting you.”

 

Luke walked to the center of the bridge. He quickly glanced at Jaina- quick enough that The Master did not notice. Jaina was sitting at The Master’s side in a trance-like state, completely oblivious to Luke’s presence.

 

“It has been some time, has it not?” The Master continued. “Indeed, I had thought that we would meet again during my final victory. But many things have changed, and here we are.”

 

Luke couldn’t defeat The Master here, but he wasn’t here to fight, only to buy time for Kyle and the others. “It seems you aren’t as infallible as you thought.”

 

That made The Master chuckle. “Indeed. I have not foreseen many recent events.”

 

“Then you see your problem, don’t you?” Luke asked, allowing a half-grin. “You’re growing weaker.”

 

The Master arched an eyebrow. “Is that so?”

 

Luke pushed this point. “It is, you’ve expended a great deal of energy to come back, and your inability to see the changes to your visions shows it.”

 

The Master’s expression turned sour. “If this were true, I would have felt it.”

 

“The fact that you haven’t felt your weakness only further proves my point.” He was pushing The Master, but that couldn’t be helped. Luke needed to push at nerves that would distract him from Kyp and the others. “Your arrogance has blinded you.”

 

The Master paused for a moment. He then turned to Jaina and waved a hand at her. “Kill him.”

 

At this command, Jaina stood up and activated a lightsaber, the blade was blood red.

 

Luke took a step back in surprise. “What have you done to her?” He had sensed that her mind was blank, but he didn’t realize the hold The Master had over her.

 

The Master’s grin returned. “She was strong-willed, but I broke her mind and gave her a new identity.” He laughed. “She is mine, and soon, you will be too.”

 

Jaina staggered towards Luke, a wide grin spread over her face as she raised her lightsaber at her side. Luke raised a hand at her. He had no intention to kill his niece, but he couldn’t leave her in The Master’s clutches either. He reached his mind out to her’s. The real Jaina was still in there, screaming and struggling to break free. He had to help her. As Jaina came in striking distance, Luke struck at her mind, shattering her fragmented mind and sending her into unconsciousness. He leaned down and picked her up off the ground and slung her over his shoulder.

 

The Master’s grin faded at that turn of events. “Very well.” He said as he stood up and activated his lightsaber. “Tell me, do you think your friends have reached their objective yet?”

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Herald of Death- Reactor Complex

 

Kyp Durron, Corran Horn, and Kyle Katarn had managed to traverse the massive warship undetected. As they moved through the warship, they saw armies of war droids and large barges being moved towards the hangar bays. One of the groups was led by a slender droid adorned with yellow markings that had alerted his group that Anaxes Station had collapsed into the planet, temporarily shutting the planetary shield down. This furthered their resolve and made them push for the main reactor even faster.

 

It didn’t take long for them to reach the primary reactor, a massive cylindrical structure shining with a bright orange light from the small windows along its dull brown shell casing.

 

Kyp Durron let out a sigh of relief when they finally found it. “Let’s get those charges set, Corran.” He said to the elder Jedi.

 

Corran nodded and slung his pack off his back and set down next to the reactor’s outer casing. Kyp had hoped that they wouldn’t have to deal with any resistance, but the sound of clanking footsteps shattered those hopes. Back the way they came, a formation of battle droids marched towards them. When they entered firing range, they leapt off into firing positions. Some droids jumped onto the walls and fired from there, stabilizing themselves with magnetic feet, others charged the Jedi and fired their blasters before switching to vibroblades.

 

Kyp and Kyle stood between Corran and the droids and spun their blades into a shield of light, deflecting blaster bolts away and redirecting them back to their sources. The droids that closed in for melee combat were quickly cut down. Nothing passed the Jedi’s defenses as Corran continued to prime the Baradium charges for detonation.

 

“How long, Corran?” Kyp shouted over the sound of spinning blades and torrents of blaster fire.

 

A few seconds later Corran replied. “Done!” He quickly stood up and ignited his lightsaber. “Let’s take the fight to them!” He leapt over his companions and into a line of five battle droids, all of which ignited jetpacks to distance themselves from the Jedi. Their flight was ended by a simple Force Push from Kyp that slammed them against the wall. Their frames, though skeletal, survived the impact and they stood back up and continued firing.

 

Kyp and Kyle fought back-to-back deflecting blaster fire as they made their way out of the reactor chamber.

 

“We need to get out of here.” Kyle’s gruff voice sounded over the sounds of battle. “And hope Luke got away, too.”

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Herald of Death- Command Center

 

The battle had played out just as The Master had predicted. Wedge Antilles proved to be a formidable adversary for the clone of Thrawn, but nothing could stop the Herald. The Alliance had used a defensive screen of fighters, using the skill of their pilots and the advanced technology of their ships to fight the swarm of droid starfighters. But even the most skilled pilots in the galaxy could not gain victory in ten-to-one odds. The fighter swarm eventually eliminated the pilots and provided sufficient cover for the Herald’s advancement into the enemy lines.

 

The Alliance warships on their own were easy to destroy, but united they were powerful. Without The Master’s protection, the Alliance had managed to bring the warship’s shields down temporarily, but they couldn’t withstand the overwhelming firepower the Herald could unleash. Many of the enemy warships fell before the Anaxes Station fell into the planet, temporarily disrupting the planet’s shields. When that happened, transports and drop pods were launched to begin the ground invasion.

 

With the space battle all but won, the Thrawn clone turned his attention to the ground invasion. A full-sized hologram of The Beastmaster stood across from him on the other side of the holoprojector, which projected an image of the Anaxes Citadel’s defenses.

 

“Our invasion has begun, my lady,” the clone said. “Droid units are engaging Alliance soldiers on fronts all over the planet, and are providing a sufficient distraction for your invasion of the Citadel.”

 

The Beastmaster stroked a fat, grub-like creature on her right shoulder. “Very good,”

 

Thrawn switched perspectives to an image of the planet as a whole. “This is a planetary campaign, so expect few reinforcements during your attack.”

 

“I have crafted my beasts specifically for this assault,” She replied, feeding an insect to her grub as she did. “We will take the Citadel, and the sister Skywalker will die.”

 

[Aurbere]

Chapter 41

 

 

 

Anaxes

 

The Beastmaster had grown tired of the so-called calm before the storm. She could feel the Alliance soldiers writhing like maggots in fear of the boot falling to crush them in the rain soaked ground. Their tension was rising, and with that tension came fear… and—somehow—courage. She found their courage amusing; it was only there because they had no idea what they were about to face.

 

Leviathans, Terentateks, massive Alchemically enhanced Rancors and Whiteworms, hordes of Alchemically altered Taun Tauns, Akk Dogs, Acklays, Reeks, and Nexu among many more were waiting eagerly to be let loose on the Alliance soldiers. But greatest of them all was her personal Alchemically enhanced Krayt Dragon- a monstrous winged creature much larger than even the largest of its species.

 

She stood next to her magnificent pet, stroking the scales of one of its massive legs. It was shaking with anticipation. A yellow-marked commander droid approached her side. “We are ready, droid.” She said to it. “Order your commando units to launch from the ship.”

 

“Shouldn’t we wait for his majesty?” It asked in a heavy metallic tone.

 

She waved her hand at it. “No, he has more important matters to attend to.” She replied. “Our attack begins now.”

 

The Beastmaster pointed forward and telepathically commanded her monstrous army to go forth to battle. The Whiteworms dug underground, Rancors and Terentateks led the smaller creatures in a ground shaking charge, and twisted avian creatures took flight with the massive Krayt Dragon.

 

She pulled out her lightsaber and let the Force carry her into battle.

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Herald of Death- Molecular Furnaces

 

Machinery groaned as gears and various moving parts kept The Master’s war machine turning. Spare parts, junk, debris, and ship carcasses were fed along conveyor belts above into furnaces that melted them down and turned them into whatever was desired. These were the machines that allowed The Master to build an infinite army, and what also built the shell that held his essence after his first death.

 

Luke and The Master fought along the edge of one of the furnaces, inside of which was a bubbling pool of molten liquid. The Master’s red blade unleashed a flurry of strikes that Luke could barely dodge. Fighting with an unconscious person over his shoulder was hard enough, but doing so while his opponent was fueled by a powerful dark side presence was getting nearly impossible. Yet, he also felt The Master was toying with him. His blows and movements were purposefully slow and clumsy. He wasn’t striking to kill; he just wanted to see how long Luke could last on this ship. But he was not so foolish as to allow Luke to take advantage of his arrogant approach. Luke’s counter attacks were consistently deflected and each blow The Master deflected nearly sent Luke into the furnace.

 

Luke continued to fall back. His memory of the layout of the ship told him that they were getting closer to the hangar bays. Luke backed to the edge of the furnace and jumped off to the side, dropping down to the passageways that diverged to the hangar bays.

 

“Keep running, Skywalker,” The Master spoke down to him from the lip of the furnace. “Death will always catch up to you.” He pointed his lightsaber at him.

 

“I do not fear death,” Luke said back. “Nor am I arrogant enough to think I can beat it.”

 

The Master was about to speak again when Luke’s allies had entered the furnace chamber.

 

“Luke!” The Jedi The Master recognized as Kyle Katarn called as he, Corran Horn, and Kyp Durron raced to Luke’s side. Kyle looked up at The Master then cocked his head to Luke, quickly recognizing Jaina Solo slumped over Luke’s shoulder. “Get out of here,” he whispered. “We’ll hold him off while you get her out of here.”

 

“This isn’t a fight we can win, Kyle,” Luke whispered back.

 

“It’s fine,” Kyp interjected. “We’ll just hold him off until we can figure out how to contain him, then we leave and blow this ship to pieces.” Kyp looked around the chamber. There were several ways it could work, but they would need to be done right.

 

“Just go,” Kyle said. “Get her out of here.”

 

Luke hesitated for a moment. “May the Force be with you.” He said as he backed down the passage.

 

The Master jumped down onto the platform they were on and ignited a second lightsaber.

 

“Yeah,” Kyp said to himself. “Let’s hope it is.”

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Anaxes

 

Monsters. That was all that they could be called—monsters. Monstrous creatures twisted into unstoppable killing machines. The carefully laid defenses protecting the Anaxes Citadel were strong, but the Alliance had not prepared for what they were facing now. Nothing could have prepared them to face an army of monsters.

 

The first wave was comprised of flying creatures that sprayed acid from their gullets. The hills surrounding the Citadel housed snipers, but their high-powered rifles could not take out the dozens of creatures soaring above. The creatures swooped down upon them, ripping them apart with sharpened talons or devouring them whole.

 

The avian creatures continued towards the Citadel, but their attack was pre-empted by one from underground. The defenders had no idea that massive Mygeetan Whiteworms had tunneled beneath them. They burst out from below ground, firing spikes from their hides and grinding soldiers in their mouths. Then the smaller creatures raced in: Taun Tauns, Nexu, Reek, and many more raced into the carnage. Taun Tauns sprayed acid from their mouths; Nexu speared soldiers with the spikes on their tails and then devoured them whole.

 

Turbolaser towers mounted on the walls surrounding the Citadel—from which on lookers could see that the Alliance soldiers were hopelessly outmatched—opened fire on the monsters in the air and on the ground. They struck flying creatures, Rancors and Terentateks, and Whiteworms with their plasma blasts. One sharp-eyed soldier turned his tower on a lone woman wading through the carnage. Just as he was about to fire, his tower began to melt down, subjected to a blast of fire from a Krayt Dragon flying above. The heat caused the tower to explode—killing all inside and the pair of snipers on either side.

 

Artillery within the Citadel walls had moved into position and launched energy projectiles over the walls and into the carnage. They didn’t worry about friendly fire for there was barely any Alliance soldier still standing outside the walls. Their globs of energy shattered the hardened exoskeletons of those they came in contact with. Anti-air weapons platforms launched missiles into the sky, free-targeting the flying creatures.

 

Watching all of this carnage from the Citadel Tower was General Hargreeves—a staunch military commander descended from a long line of hardened soldiers. He was a tall man with a muscular build. His dark black hair was cut short; he wore a brown military uniform decorated with medals of service from several wars. At his belt was a scabbard which held a sword etched with markings from an obscure language. The sword had been passed down his family line for generations. It was permanently stained red with the blood from over a thousand soldiers personally slain by members of the Hargreeves family.

 

General Hargreeves watched the battle from the tower. When Commander Antilles had informed him of the possible attack on Anaxes, he quickly studied past battles and mobilized his forces. He had studied what the enemy had in its arsenal, and had prepared for anything that could be thrown at them. As he expected, the enemy had deployed war beasts, but he did not expect them in such quantities. However, he had prepared traps for them. The skies had been cleared and that flying Krayt Dragon had fled, but the battle on the ground continued. The war beasts had made it to the walls. They would break through soon, and when they did, he would be ready.

 

[Beniboybling]

Awesome chapter, very much looking forward to seeing the Krayt Dragon again.

[Aurbere]

Chapter 42 is here!

 

Chapter 42

 

 

 

Anaxes- Citadel Tower

 

General Hargreeves took a final puff of his Dilnlexan cigar before disposing it in the ash tray he had set on the robust holoprojector. Across from him stood Leia Organa Solo and Ben Skywalker, both of whom studied the battlefield map. The enemy’s warbeasts were soaking the wall with acid sprayed from sacs in their mouths, slowly corroding the wall away. It was only a matter of time before the wall fell.

 

The younger Skywalker brushed his flame-red hair aside and adjusted his Jedi robes. “I wish we were down there fighting.” He said sadly. “People are going to die while we stand here doing nothing.”

 

Hargreeves nodded. “It’s a sad thing, yes, but we can’t fight these monsters.”

 

Leia said nothing. She saw the predicament, but understood that these monsters couldn’t be fought conventionally. Still, she disapproved of using soldiers as bait.

 

Ben voiced his mother’s disapproval. “I don’t like this. Are you sure your plan will work?”

 

“Do you think it’s going to work?” He quickly responded. He waited as Ben considered the response, and then said: “Of course it will work.”

 

He focused back on the map just as the beasts finally broke through the wall. He turned on his heel and walked over to the observation window. The smaller animals rushed through the hole only to be riddled with plasma bolts from the Alliance tanks. The larger beasts- Rancors and Terentateks, mostly- were slow to come through, but they could take more punishment than the small ones. The beasts soaked up the plasma energy and rushed the tanks, smashing them underfoot or throwing them like a child throws its toys, hurling them onto buildings or thrashing them against walls.

 

With the bigger beasts in the Citadel grounds, he could do nothing for the brave men and women fighting down there. The horde of beasts spread throughout the Citadel grounds, viciously murdering as they went. Soldiers could do nothing to stop them as they continued to retreat, firing on the beasts as they ran.

 

Hargreeves noted the two buttons on the console beside him. One red button, one green button. The red button activated flame jets that could produce flames hot enough to melt down most known metals. The green button vented the Citadel grounds with toxic gases deadly enough to kill most any creature. The purpose behind the defense was to destroy anything the enemy could field in any combination. Fortunately for Hargreeves, the enemy had fielded the units most susceptible to these defenses.

 

He waited a few moments until the beasts had fully spread throughout the Citadel grounds and the remaining soldiers had retreated into the rear barracks. He put his finger on the green button and pressed it.

 

He looked out the window. Vents opened on the walls of the grounds and buildings, pouring a sickly green cloud of toxic gas into the grounds. Many of the beasts reacted violently as the toxic gas cloud washed over them, thrashing their bodies on the ground as the gas violently killed them and shrouded the grounds in a pervasive green cloud.

 

Hargreeves let the squealing and screaming of the creatures die out before he pressed the green button again, activated the grounds’ filtration systems. Quickly the gas cloud began to dissipate, revealing that the gas was not as effective as the general had thought. Several of the larger beasts such as the Rancors and Terentateks had survived, completely unfazed by the gas.

 

This did not deter the general, he quickly tabbed the red button. Floor panels on the grounds opened, and small dual turrets rose up from the ground. They acquired the nearest target and let loose streams of flame at the beasts, quickly incinerating the last beasts in the grounds.

 

Hargreeves let himself grin widely and let out a hearty laugh. “As I expected,” he said proudly. “My plan worked.”

 

But then something happened that he did not expect. A wave of energy washed over the entire Citadel grounds. The ground shook, buildings began to crumble as their supports were shattered, the turrets were blown out of their sockets by the force, and the Citadel Tower shook so hard the general briefly thought that the whole building would fall apart.

 

Leia Organa Solo and Ben Skywalker rushed to the cracked window. Hargreeves stood up and looked out as well. Occupying the Parade Grounds was the massive winged Krayt Dragon and a woman dressed in the garbs of the Nightsister clans.

 

Herald of Death- Molecular Furnaces

 

“Well?” The Master asked the three Jedi before him. “Which one of you will make the first move? Which one of you is arrogant enough to attack me on your own?”

 

He was baiting them. It wasn’t difficult for the three Jedi to realize that. What made his baiting worse was that the dark presence around them seemed to whisper to them, telling them to attack. The darkness wanted them to attack. They wanted to—not, had to—attack. So they attacked.

 

Kyp Durron leaped in first, striking high in an attempt to get The Master to dodge forward under his blade. He did just as Kyp wanted. Kyle fell into the fight next, moving left and sweeping at The Master’s legs, Corran came in and struck for his head. The attack was meant to catch the opponent when they attempted to dodge the attack one way or the other. But The Master didn’t fall for their trick. He contorted his body and dived forward between their blades, spinning his twin blades as he flew through to bat their lightsabers away. He landed gracefully on his feet.

 

“Good,” he said in a mostly congratulatory tone. “Working together is something Jedi are good at.” He grinned. “But don’t expect that to save you.”

 

The Master surged forward, spinning his blades in front of them as he broke the space between them like a bolt of lightning. His blades spun with blinding speed, always there to defend no matter where the Jedi tried to strike. He spun between them and constantly shifted his position and stance in blinding speed. Coordinated strikes from the Jedi were effortlessly dodged, and Force attacks The Master barely noticed as they were absorbed by his Force defenses.

 

Any other confrontation would seem hopeless, but the Jedi were not here to fight, not when the Dark Side was so strong here. They only needed to find a way to preoccupy him so that they could escape.

 

The three Jedi fell back, but The Master was fighting relentlessly now. He charged into them, separating them with a spinning flourish and pushing an offensive on Kyp Durron. His twin blades spun furiously and stabbed at his defense, moving so fast there appeared to be over a dozen blades striking from all directions, and this was only the tip of the iceberg.

 

Another coordinated strike came from the other two Jedi. Kyle and Corran came from The Master’s sides, swinging their blades at separate locations in a repeat offensive from their first attack. The Master reacted quickly, kicking Kyp away and angling his blades to block their attack, and then pushed them away with a small repulse of Force energy. Kyp quickly recovered and rolled forward, slashing The Master’s right leg as he passed.

 

The Master whirled around and lashed at Kyp with the Force, throttling him with a telekinetic wave. He then threw one of his blades at Corran Horn on his right and locked blades with Kyle Katarn. In the back of his mind, he controlled his thrown blade telekinetically to keep Corran Horn at bay while he pressed an offensive on Katarn. He stabbed and prodded Kyle’s defense in another surge of blinding speed. He felt Kyp rushing behind him. In a single fluid motion, he batted Kyle’s blade aside and whirled around, folding Kyle in half with a back kick as he did. He then raised a hand and sent veins of red lightning from his fingertips at Kyp Durron, embracing the Jedi Master in red death. The Jedi dropped to his knees. The Master rushed forward and kicked Kyp in the head, knocking flat on the ground and shearing off chunks of flesh from the side of his face.

 

Kyle didn’t go for his lightsaber, didn’t think, didn’t hesitate. He simply rushed forward in an attempt to tackled The Master to the ground. But he wasn’t fast enough. The Master whirled around and turned Kyle’s plan against him, tackling the Jedi to the ground and putting his lightsaber in Kyle’s right shoulder.

 

Kyle let out a pained groan through gritted teeth. The Master pulled his lightsaber out and turned to Corran, who was still engaging The Master’s telekinetically controlled blade. The Master called the weapon back and charged the last standing Jedi. Corran raised his blade defensively and caught The Master’s lightsabers in a blade lock. It was short lived, however. The Master pushed with such force that Corran’s lightsaber was sent flying over his head. The Master then drove a boot into Corran’s right leg, snapping it backward with a sickening pop! sound.

 

The Master deactivated his lightsabers and sheathed them in his robes. He sighed as the Jedi struggled against their injuries to stand against him.

 

“Is this it?” He asked angrily. “Is this what the great Masters of the Jedi Order are capable of? Pathetic! I knew you could never defend—“

 

His sentence was cut off when a lightsaber flew past his head and stuck into the conveyor belts transporting debris above them. The Master quickly noticed that Kyp Durron had recovered enough to attempt to kill him with a simple saber throw.

 

“Fool,” The Master called him. He raised his hands and fired another bolt of red lightning into the weakened Jedi, dropping him to his knees. “Did you think I would be felled by such a simple attack?” He unleashed another stream of lightning that threw Kyp on his back.

 

After the unbearable pain subsided, Kyp raised himself up and said: “I wasn’t aiming for you.” He motioned his head up.

 

The Master followed his gaze and saw the Jedi’s lightsaber embedded in the conveyor belt, burning through it. Moments later the conveyor belt fell apart, throwing debris down on The Master. He focused his concentration on the massive ship parts falling towards him. He raised his hands up to hold the ship pieces above him. But more ship parts were falling towards him, massive ship fuselages and laser cannons fell onto The Master’s raised Force Shield.

 

The Master knew his position was vulnerable, and he knew the Jedi knew it too. He expanded his Force Shield around himself and sent a telekinetic wave out, buffeting the Jedi as a warning. Machinery crashed and gears whined as the conveyor system continued to fall apart, and more debris was added to the burden The Master held up.

 

The Jedi knew that they couldn’t linger much longer. They had to carry out their mission and hope that it resulted in the ship’s destruction and The Master’s death. The Master could only watch as the three Jedi fled the area with all speed.

 

A few minutes later an explosion rocked the area. The Master immediately knew what had happened. The Jedi had detonated the explosives they placed on the main reactor. Thinking quickly, The Master dropped the debris he had held up and focused his defenses in a Force Bubble around himself. Ship parts and debris crashed around and above him. He could feel the heat of the explosion racing for him. If everything went as the Jedi planned, the Herald would be destroyed and he would die with it. He could only hope that his strength in the Force and the might of his flagship could prevent both from dying.

 

[Aurbere]

Sorry for the delay! Chapter 43 is here!

 

Chapter 43

 

 

 

 

Anaxes- Anaxes Citadel Grounds

 

The Beastmaster stroked the Krayt Dragon’s jaw. It purred like a small kitten at her touch, utterly elated when she scratched the scales protecting its lower jaw. It was her greatest creation. The most powerful creature she had created and the most loyal. She believed that not even The Master could override the dragon’s loyalty to her. It was loyal, but that loyalty was outdone by its power. It had laid waste to everything in its path, annihilated hundreds, and paved the way for victory.

 

The enemy had been formidable; their commander had planned his defense perfectly. But even the Citadel’s formidable defenses could not contend with the power of the Force. She waited now, waited for the female Skywalker to come to her. She would not stand for The Beastmaster’s actions here, she would come eventually, for it was in the nature of these Jedi.

 

The Beastmaster looked up to the sky. She felt The Master, his presence was stifled. Something had happened. Was it the Jedi? Did they injure him? She felt the presence leaving the system. The Herald had jumped to hyperspace. At first The Beastmaster was stunned, but she quickly remembered that the plan was for the ship to leave in the event something went wrong. The next part of the plan was what concerned her now.

 

But such concerns had to wait as Leia Organa Solo had exited the tower. With her was a staunch military man—the commander of the defense, no doubt—and a younger boy. She quickly deduced that the boy was the son of Skywalker, and that The Seeker had failed in his mission. That was expected, The Master should have sent her to deal with the boy. But past mistakes could not be changed, and she now had the chance to do what The Seeker could not.

 

The Krayt Dragon snarled at Leia and her entourage and puffed smoke from its nostrils. The Beastmaster waved a hand at it, signaling for it to be calm and then sent it away with a telepathic command. The Krayt Dragon took off and softly—as softly as it could, anyway—landed on the Citadel Tower, digging its claws into the tower and wrapping its tail around the spire.

 

The Beastmaster’s foes kept their hands near their weapons in case she tried to attack them. They were learning, at least, The Beastmaster thought to herself.

 

She first addressed Ben Skywalker. “So, you’re the son of Skywalker? I wonder what he will do when I kill you.” Her voice carried malicious tones; it manipulated the emotions of others, causing them to take hostile action. Her foes drew their weapons.

 

General Hargreeves fired a flurry of rounds at her with his blaster pistol. A wave of her hand brought up a violet Force shield, dissipating the energy bolts on contact. She thrust a hand towards the general, lashing out at his mind and hurling him away, the attack sending him into unconsciousness. She turned in time to see Ben Skywalker charging at her. She reached out a hand and unleashed veins of blue lightning from her fingertips, halting the young Jedi’s charge as the crackling bolts struck at his lightsaber blade.

 

Leia leapt towards her, both of her lightsabers flared to life. She threw one at The Beastmaster like a missile, but The Beastmaster caught it out of the air and used it to block an overhead strike from Ben. She quickly pushed him away and spun left away from Leia’s downward strike. At the end of her spin, she tossed Leia’s lightsaber back to her and unsheathed her own blade.

 

She flourished her blade and pointed it at them. “Come now, Jedi,” she taunted them. “How can you hope to stop my master if you can’t even contend with me?”

 

The Jedi took fighting stances, and Leia took this opportunity to speak. “Your master has already been defeated!” She was defiant now, she wouldn’t fall for this woman’s taunts. “He has fled and left you here, surrender!”

 

The Beastmaster laughed, almost cackled. “That was the plan!” A short laugh. “He left me here for a reason, which you will soon find out.”

 

On her last word, she charged with lightning speed, too fast for even most Jedi to see. Her blade was red malice, a streak of blood as it struck at Leia. Leia barely brought her blades up in time to keep The Beastmaster from slicing her through the chest. The Beastmaster quickly broke away, driving her heel into Leia’s right leg and flipping over her as she bent over in pain. As her feet touched the ground she launched Ben away with a wave of her hand.

 

Leia recovered quickly and leapt into the air, delivering a heel kick to The Beastmaster’s chin, staggering her several feet back. She landed on the ground and dashed forward, swinging her blade to cut The Beastmaster down before she could recover, but The Beastmaster was too quick. She flipped backwards, firing a stream of blue lightning while in the air. Leia caught the lightning on her blades and focused the energy back to its source.

 

As the lightning traveled back to The Beastmaster, Ben Skywalker’s lightsaber flew towards The Beastmaster. She leaned back, allowing the blade to fly past her. She then raised her free hand and caught the redirected bolt of lightning. She quickly pointed her hand at Ben Skywalker and sent the bolt at him, catching him out of the air. The force of the attack dropped him to the ground and left him unconscious.

 

Leia was on her now; there was no time to help Ben now. Her blades were spinning furiously, desperation fueling her as she pressed the evil woman back. Her blades struck from all angles as the Force took her off the ground, holding her up as she struck at The Beastmaster from above, and then all of the energy she could muster went to her speed as she fell back to solid ground. Agility, grace, precision, they all came together in a single, desperate assault. She seemed to strike from everywhere, the energy of her blades filling The Beastmaster’s field of vision. Both of her blades moved in perfect sync. When one was blocked, the other moved to stab at an exposed flank. This was an assault few could defend against, and yet, The Beastmaster did.

 

Her desperation was rising, but The Beastmaster was not yet in a position to consider defeat a possibility. She backpedaled and spun away from attacks as their clash pushed her closer to the Citadel Tower. Leia’s furious assault was completely unexpected, but The Beastmaster had fallen into a proper defensive position now. She was in a position to let Leia let out her energy in this desperate assault.

 

Leia’s skill was great, but The Beastmaster was far more skilled and powerful. She poured her energy into her speed. She quickly began to outpace Leia’s strikes, and Leia’s desperation began to increase. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, she could only fight. She brought her twin blades in from her right, bringing all her strength and speed to bear in a single overwhelming attack.

 

The Beastmaster blocked the attack, and their blades locked. A contest of strength ensued. Leia’s muscles were stretched to their limit, and the Force could only do so much. Her opponent was tired, but the amount of energy she could bring to bear was greater than Leia’s. Leia pushed as hard as she could, and brought the crackling energy blades in between them, but their contest of strength was over quickly. The Beastmaster pushed Leia’s blades up and followed up with a flip kick, driving her booted foot into Leia’s chin.

 

The blow almost snapped Leia’s neck. She stumbled back a few paces before leveling her head. The Beastmaster didn’t attack. She could have killed Leia if she had pressed an attack while Leia was briefly stunned. But she didn’t, instead she sheathed her lightsaber and lifted a hand towards Leia.

 

“Enough games.” The Beastmaster said under her breath.

 

Leia felt something hit her mind. Her vision went white. She felt the worst pain imaginable as her body began to tear itself apart one cell at a time. She felt her legs being torn from her body, and then her arms, and then the rest of her body. She looked down and saw that she wasn’t being torn apart; instead she saw The Beastmaster standing over her, looking triumphant.

 

Leia tried to figure out what had happened. Possibilities ran through her head, but the reality was lost to her. She had been imprisoned in her own body, a Sith spell had formed a cage around her mind, imprisoning her mind in her own body. She couldn’t move, couldn’t talk, couldn’t even scream. She could only watch as The Beastmaster levitated her towards the tower, just as she did the same with Ben and General Hargreeves.

 

She tried to reach out to Luke or Jaina or even Ben, but she was cut off from them. She had been cut off from the outside.

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Coruscant- Ysanne Isard Correctional Facility- Solitary Confinement

 

The disappearance of The Master’s presence shocked The Seeker awake. He quickly took in his surroundings. He was lying on the floor of a small, dimly lit room occupied by a bunk bed. Lying on the bottom bunk of the bed was a young human male looking at him out of the corner of his eye.

 

“Well, look who finally woke up,” the man said happily as he sat up. “About time, I was getting bored.”

 

The Seeker shook his head and put a hand to his forehead. “Where am I?” He asked the man.

 

“Solitary confinement,” he said as he shrugged his shoulders. “Or, at least, it used to be until that prison break destroyed most of the upper levels.”

 

“Who are you?”

 

“Jadec,” he said, stretching out a hand. “Jadec Nellis.” An awkward silence followed until Jadec retracted his hand.

 

The Seeker rested his chin on his knuckles. He sat in silence, trying to piece together the events that brought him to this cell. Flashes of memories, images, words, ran through his head. That woman! She had returned. Mother had returned. But why? What did she want, and why come back now? Those were questions he would have to ask her when he got out of this prison.

 

Jadec leaned sideways with a quizzical look on his face. “You okay over there?”

 

The Seeker shrugged. “I’m fine,” he said under his breath. “I just need to get out of here.”

 

“That didn’t work out so well last time people tried to escape.” He paused for a moment. “But I’m guessing you’re not like us normal folks, are you?”

 

The Seeker grinned. This man could recognize power, but he sensed that Jadec had experience with individuals of great power. “Indeed, but what do you know about me?”

 

A banging on the wall behind Jadec interrupted him before he could speak. A voice echoed from the cell on the other side of the wall. “Shut it, human,” it yelled quite rudely. “I’m trying to sleep!”

 

Jadec pounded his fist against the wall. “Go to sleep, pal,” he shouted back, a hint of sarcasm in his tone. “We’re trying to talk here!” He turned back to look at The Seeker. “Sorry ‘bout that,” he said apologetically. “Manners aren’t common here.”

 

“Alright, scum!” A voice of authority came from outside the cell, a prison guard stood on the other side of the cell’s force field gate. “You,” he said as he pointed at The Seeker. “By order of the Chief of State, you are to be frozen in carbonite this time next week. Prepare yourself.”

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Lambda-class shuttle- en route to the second Star Forge

 

The swirling blue vortex of hyperspace wrapped around the exiled woman’s stolen shuttle as it traveled through hyperspace towards her next destination and the next pieces of her plan. The long journeys of hyperspace travel gave the mind time to wander, the exile was no exception. She had felt The Master’s presence vanish. As planned he had been defeated at Anaxes. The Master and the Jedi had played their parts almost perfectly. Almost.

 

The Master had survived, if only barely. His flagship had retreated into the darkest depths of space. Though The Master survived, he was now delayed, and this delay gave the Alliance time to recover. As much as she agreed with The Master, she couldn’t allow him to succeed. He would destroy everything if he was successful. She would rather see a weak central government in control of a living galaxy instead of a cruel man in control of a dead one.

 

But she had one last piece to move. Once that move was made, The Master would fall into her trap and finally die the death he so rightfully deserved.

 

 

End of Part 3

 

Part 4 is almost complete so posting will continue as scheduled.

[Beniboybling]

Nice ending, I look forward to finding about more about this mystery woman.

[Aurbere]

Nice ending, I look forward to finding about more about this mystery woman.

 

Jeez, stop predicting the future, man.

 

No seriously, you most certainly will find out more about her.

[Aurbere]

Part 4 Begins now! Unlike the previous parts, I decided to give this one a title, since it is the last part. Enjoy!

 

Part 4: Armageddon

 

Chapter 44

 

 

 

 

Approximately Twelve Months Ago…

 

Koros Major- Iron Citadel

 

Shara—former warden of The Prism and servant of The Master—rushed through the darkened halls of the Iron Citadel. Her pace was troubled, her heels kicked the tail of her black robes, and the darkness seemed to react to her anger as it furiously swirled around her.

 

She burst through the massive steel doors into the Citadel’s Council Chambers, her entry interrupting the debate The Watchers were engrossed in.

 

“How could you?!” Her voice boomed in the vast chamber. “How could you betray my trust?!” Her question was directed at The Master, who sat upright in his chair, the shadows concealing him and his expression.

 

The Beastmaster took offense to Shara’s pointed attitude. “Wretched woman, how dare you speak to The Master like that?”

 

“I wasn’t talking to you, slave,” she snapped back.

 

“Silence!” The Master shouted and slammed a fist into an arm of his chair, and the Citadel shook at his words. The Master leaned into the light. “What are you referring to, Shara?”

 

“Our daughter,” she answered after calming her voice. “You went against your word and trained her!”

 

“Daughter?” The Soldier interjected.

 

The Master waved his hand. “Leave us.” He calmly said to The Watchers.

 

His quiet tone demanded their obedience; they knew not to question him right now. The Beastmaster, Soldier, Historian, Lore-master, Guardian, Shadow, Assassin, and Brain stepped out of their chairs and down the steps leading up to them. As they walked past Shara, some gave her various looks, but most only looked down in fear for her fate.

 

“And do not return until I tell you to.” The Master said before the doors swung shut. He looked to address Shara. “Now, you were saying?” He asked innocently.

 

Shara pointed a finger at him. “You know full well,” she allowed her anger to grow now. The time had come to stop blindly following this man. “We agreed that you would only train our son, but now you take our daughter as well?”

 

“The plan has changed. I have altered the deal to reflect that change.” His voice was calm, an attempt to pacify the situation before it exploded.

 

Shara’s left eye twitched in anger. “Are you serious?! You put our son in danger, and now you do the same with our daughter.” She shook her head. “I can’t allow this.”

 

Years of training and discipline would now be put to use. She couldn’t allow The Master to put her children at risk for some crusade she could no longer believe in. His lies and deceit had to come to an end before her children died as a result. Shara unsheathed her lightsaber and activated its bright silver-blue blade.

 

“Is that your choice, Shara?” The Master asked.

 

“It is.” Were her only words.

 

“Indeed.” The Master said sadly. He stepped down the stairs leading up to his chair and activated a blood red lightsaber.

 

They strafed each other, cautiously studying the other’s stance. Shara had never been able to defeat The Master in single combat, but she had grown stronger, and she continued to grow stronger every day. But training sessions didn’t have the connotations that this duel had. Determination and maternal instinct drove her to victory. She had to win, she had to.

 

The Master made the first move. He charged Shara, swinging as he fell upon her in a furious assault. Shara leapt over The Master, striking for his neck as she did, but The Master ducked forward and swung his blade up behind him, just barely missing Shara’s legs. Shara landed on her feet and fell into a defensive posture. The Master charged at her again, swinging his blade from his right. As Shara positioned herself to catch the attack on her blade, The Master flicked his wrist, bringing the blade down. The attack would have taken her legs off but Shara leapt over the blade and kicked The Master in the stomach, folding him in half and sending him into the massive doorway.

 

The doors rattled at the force of the collision. The Master recovered quickly, but this time he didn’t charge. He mimicked Shara’s defensive posture, a basic stance with the blade held at a horizontal angle with both hands on the hilt. They strafed each other again. Shara was confident now, but they had exchanged nothing. They had studied each other. The waters had tested, and now the real battle began.

 

The Master charged again, this time he feinted left and leapt past her right side, dragging his lightsaber against the floor as he did, casting a trail of sparks and leaving an orange gash on the floor behind him. Shara spun away from the attack and around him and thrust her hand out, thrashing The Master with a powerful Force Push. The Master collapsed against the steps leading up to his seat, an expression of shock spread over his face. He realized now that she was stronger than he had thought. She was stronger than The Master had intended for her to be, and she had become a threat. Her skills in blade combat had progressed beyond his own, but he was still more powerful than she was.

 

The Master slowly rose to his feet. He snarled in anger. “You are strong, Shara, but this game has reached its inevitable conclusion.”

 

The Master extended a hand and unleashed veins of purple lightning from his fingertips. Shara caught the lightning with her blade. The bolts wrapped around her blade and the air around her crackled. She began to stagger forward, only to find The Master pour more energy into the attack, halting her progress. The Master unleashed more energy into the constant stream of lightning. The force of the lightning was too much for Shara’s blade to contain, it was batted out of her grip. Her offhand was up immediately to catch the bolts, her primary hand quickly joining the defense as well.

 

Power surged through her body. She felt every cell engorge itself on The Master’s power. Her muscles began to shake, her legs were about to fall out from under her. She couldn’t contain this power; she could only let it out. And so she did. As The Master’s attack ended, Shara let the energy fountain out of her in a massive explosion of energy. The Master was hurled back against the steps, his body shredded by the energy. The Iron Citadel shook as if the ground beneath it was about to swallow it up. The massive doors to the Council Chambers flew off their hinges and were shattered into pieces.

 

Shara’s entire body was shaking; every fiber of her being felt as if it had been ripped apart. She tried to stay standing, but her body was too weak. The Master had risen to his feet; streaks of blood ran down his arms and stained his black robes. Shara couldn’t stand to face him. She fell on her back. She looked around and found herself surrounded by The Master’s other students.

 

“Send her away from here,” The Master’s voice—higher pitched than usual—cried out. “I don’t want to see her ever again!”

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Star Forge 2- Hangar Bay

 

Shara—former exile—had finally come to The Brain’s greatest creation. The replica of the ancient Rakatan factory was most impressive. If used as a dedicated factory, it could manufacture a military force large enough to wipe the Galactic Alliance out within a few months time. But The Brain used it as a focusing center, a tool to aid him in his true plan. It had become a massive technological brain, the center of his technological influence. It provided the necessary hardware to spread his influence to technology across the galaxy.

 

That was only one reason for Shara to be interested in The Brain. She had plans, and he was a vital piece in her master plan.

 

What made The Brain fallible, however, was his reliance on technology. His abilities in the Force had atrophied in favor of technological control. He felt secure with technology. His security systems watched every corner of the station, but this system could not contend with the power of the Force. Shara never even registered on the system as she moved through the station with such speed that everything around her seemed to move in slow motion.

 

Eventually she reached the station’s command module. Her entrance into the module had alerted The Brain to her presence. He—the hologram droid representing him, to be more accurate—looked down at her from the module’s upper platform. Shara looked up and saw The Soldier, The Guardian, and The Lore-master suspended from silver wirings and tubes from the ceiling. Blood dripped slowly from their bodies. It was grotesque, but The Brain likely didn’t care.

 

“The exile,” The Brain said as if he had expected her. “Come back from the Unknown, have you?”

 

Shara addressed him with a sly grin. “You didn’t expect me to crawl away and die, did you?”

 

The Brain waved his hand at the suspended Watchers. “No, but I expected you would return much earlier.” The three Watchers began to lower down to the lower platform.

 

“Well, I have returned now,” she replied. “And I have a plan.”

 

“All of The Master’s students had plans,” The Brain waved his hand at The Watchers again. The tubes and wires detached from The Watchers. Blood briefly sprayed from the sockets before microscopic robots sealed the perforated wounds. “But my plans take precedence; your presence does not change that fact.”

 

The three Watchers stood to their feet and stared at her. Their faces were expressionless, their bodies hunched over. The Brain had done something to them, turned them into mindless thralls.

 

Shara was not fazed by their appearance. “I’m not here to fight you.”

 

“You’re a threat,” The Brain replied. “I can’t allow you to interfere with my plans.”

 

Shara gestured innocently. “If you merely help me kill The Master, then your plans can continue without interference. I can assure you that my needs will not interfere with any of your plans.”

 

This piqued The Brain’s curiosity. Thousands of scenarios ran through his processors in an attempt to predict the course of this conversation, and the repercussions of any actions he took.

 

The Brain leaned forward over the edge of the upper platform. “I’m listening.”

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Anaxes- Anaxes Citadel Tower- Storage Center

 

Leia Organa Solo didn’t know how long it had been, how long she had been trapped in her own body, unable to move or scream for help. She couldn’t even reach out to Luke or Jaina. It was as if she had been cut off from the outside by a cage of dark side energy, a powerful Dark Side spell. She tried to fight, but the woman called ‘Beastmaster’ possessed a will far stronger than her’s.

 

Leia’s body, Ben Skywalker—still unconscious—, and General Hargreeves were all strapped to individual torture racks in a small, dimly lit room in the sub levels of the Anaxes Citadel Tower. Leia could only watch as The Beastmaster studied her latest victims and wrote down notes on old pieces of parchment. She was currently examining General Hargreeves, who struggled against his bindings.

 

“You, General,” she said to him. “I think I’ll give you some features of the ancient Massassi, especially the talons. We’ll need to work on your loyalty, but pain should be a good motivator.”

 

Hargreeves spit in her face. “I’ll see you dead for this.”

 

The Beastmaster tore off some fabric from the sleeve of the General’s blue uniform and used it to wipe the saliva off her face. “Maybe I’ll cut out that tongue of yours.” She snarled. She touched a finger to his forehead and sent a pulse of energy into his body. The General screamed in pain, and thrashed against his bindings. His body was wracked with pain far greater than anything that he had experienced in war. His body felt like it was going to explode. It felt like each cell in his body was imploding, piecing itself back together and then exploding again, and doing so a thousand times for each second the torture went on.

 

Leia could only watch as the General suffered pain of such magnitude. Minutes passed, but it felt like an eternity. But as the tenth minute of torture past, a wave of Force struck The Beastmaster and pinned her against the back wall.

 

A brown robed figure weathered by stress and age entered Leia’s line of vision. Her brother, Luke Skywalker, had come to stop that witch. His hand was raised up at The Beastmaster, keeping her pinned to the wall, despite her struggling with all her might.

 

A flick of his wrist released the binds of The Beastmaster’s captives, a sustained, invisible bubble beneath them kept them suspended in the air.

 

“You think you saved them?” The Beastmaster grunted. “Look at your sister, there is nothing there.”

 

Luke did not move. He had felt Leia was in trouble, and had deduced that something had happened to her. He also didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of seeing his worry for her.

 

“It’s a Sith spell, Skywalker,” she said to him. “I have formed a cage around her conscious mind, imprisoned her within her own body. And there is nothing you can do to save her.

 

“Release me,” The Beastmaster said through a sly grin. “And I will… heal her.”

 

Luke regarded her suspiciously. He had quickly learned not to trust The Master and his allies, but he didn’t know what to do to help Leia. It was similar to what had happened to him when the Spirit of Exar Kun had terrorized his fledgling Praxeum, but it felt different. He wasn’t certain that Leia could be freed in the same manner. Luke pondered the deal for a moment. There was no guarantee that she would keep her word, and it was possible that the Jedi could save Leia. Luke quickly made up his mind, and tightened his grip on The Beastmaster.

 

“I’m tired of these games,” Luke said sternly, his face darkened. “You’re coming with me, and you will answer for what you have done.”

 

The Beastmaster struggled against Skywalker’s grip. She couldn’t be taken to Coruscant, she had too much to do to prepare for her master’s victory. She didn’t have the time to deal with the bureaucratic nonsense the Galactic Alliance indulged in. She looked around the room for a way to distract the Jedi Master. Foolishly she had removed most of the room’s contents to make room for her experiments. The tables would have to do.

 

She gathered her energies and broke the tables off the floor and hurled them at Luke. Luke didn’t flinch, he simply let out a burst of energy to knock the tables away mid flight, but that split second, that single instant of split concentration gave The Beastmaster the time to break Luke’s hold on her.

 

Luke reacted instantly, blowing her through the wall with a Force Push. The Beastmaster let the attack carry her into a roll, and activated her lightsaber as she rolled to her feet.

 

Luke gently set The Beastmaster’s prisoners down on the floor and activated his lightsaber. “I’ve had enough of this,” he said as he pointed the green blade at her. “Surrender, now.”

 

“You’ll have to kill me before I surrender.” She replied in defiance.

 

“Don’t push me, I just might.”

 

The Beastmaster laughed to herself. “If you do, then you’ll be ready to truly face my master,” She grinned. “If you can actually kill me.”

 

[Aurbere]

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

 

The symbols ‘< >’ denote mental communication.

 

Chapter 45

 

 

 

 

Deep Space- Herald of Death- Medical Center

 

The Thrawn clone entered the Herald’s medical bay. It was a brightly lit, white-walled room, and mostly empty except for a single bacta tank at the far end, within which floated The Master, properly suited for medical treatment. He had survived the rupture of the main reactor through sheer strength of will, but the explosive force had ravaged his body. He would require quite some time in the tank to recover.

 

The clone had performed admirably during the defeat above Anaxes. The main reactor’s destruction would have caused a chain reaction that would destroy the rest of the reactor complex and the ship itself had he not activated several safety measures to contain the destruction to the main reactor. Unfortunately, the reactor’s destruction left the ship in a severely weakened state. Its capabilities had been reduced by more than fifty percent. Damaged, incapable properly managing energy reserves, and without The Master’s guiding hand, the Herald was forced to retreat, lest it be destroyed by Galactic Alliance reinforcements.

 

The clone stood before his master and opened his mind to allow The Master to mentally communicate with him. In his weakened state, The Master could only communicate with willing subjects, and only in close proximity. The clone felt The Master enter his mind, the dark presence chilled him, but he had been trained to deal with it to retain his sanity.

 

The clone bowed. <”My lord, the engineers report that the repairs on the molecular furnaces are progressing slowly, but they should be operational within the next day. Once they are complete, the main reactor will be repaired in short order.”>

 

<”Excellent,”> The Master’s voice—a dark, hollow voice that made the clone shiver—sounded in his head like an echo. <”We cannot afford any further delays. We must accelerate our plans.”>

 

<”I understand,”> The clone replied. <”One more thing, The Brain has gone dark on us.”>

 

The Master’s presence wavered. The clone felt a strange concern—or was it fear?—emanating from The Master’s presence in his mind. <”It is of no concern, proceed as normal.”>

 

The clone didn’t question his master’s commands. He only bowed and departed. But he felt no regret when he pondered The Master’s fear. There was something out there, something strong enough to eliminate The Brain. The Master possibly feared that something. And nothing worried the clone more than when his master feared something.

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Anaxes- Anaxes Citadel Tower- Storage Center

 

The Beastmaster fell back under Luke Skywalker’s furious assault. His blade was invisible to the eye, everywhere at once, and striking with the precision of a viper’s strike. He struck with a fury that she never expected from a Jedi. His Form was graceful, yet strong. Agile, yet stayed. He spun and danced on his feet as he forced her backwards. She could only rely on the Force to guide her hand, but she found herself being overwhelmed. Luke was faster, stronger, more precise, more balanced. He was just better than she was. She was outclassed completely. It seemed impossible to her. The Master had never outclassed her before. It seemed impossible to her, but the fact that he was pushing her into the final storage room made it all too clear that it was possible.

 

Luke was better than The Beastmaster, but she had something Luke did not have. She intended to let Luke disarm her and push her back, but she didn’t have to let him. Their blades locked and Luke quickly forced her blade out of her hands with a circular motion. Just as she had foreseen, Luke Force pushed her into a stack of empty crates. She fell on the ground and the crates collapsed around her.

 

But she was quickly back on her feet.

 

“You haven’t won yet, Skywalker,” she snapped as she brushed her long black hair out of her face. She thought quickly, sifting through all of her knowledge for the proper Force technique to apply in this situation.

 

She raised her hands up, palms outward. Black tendrils rose out from the floor around her, reaching upward until they reached the same height as Luke. The tendrils were slim and seemed to exude black wisps like smoke. The Beastmaster pointed a finger at Luke, and the tendrils shot at him like black vipers.

 

Luke dodged the first tendril, and it raced past him until it hit one of the room’s doors, disintegrating it in a flash of black smoke. The second tendril was there immediately, almost taking Luke’s arm off as he pivoted to safety. A flick of his wrist sent his lightsaber up through the second tendril, but the blade simply passed through the tendril, only briefly disrupting its composition. After that, the tendrils came with great speed. Luke spun past two of them, ducked under or leapt over others. Luke was about the strike at her with his blade when another tendril came up from the ground and wrapped around Luke’s cybernetic arm, disintegrating it and sending his lightsaber clattering to the floor.

 

Luke brushed the pain off and struck at The Beastmaster with a Force push. The attack broke her concentration and sent her back into the pile of crates. She struggled to get back up, but Luke attacked her again, thrashing her against the wall. She felt her head hit the back wall, and darkness filled her vision.

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Herald of Death- Medical Center

 

The clone of the infamous Grand Admiral Thrawn walked past Shara without even noticing her. She could have pushed him aside and he wouldn’t have flinched, but such a petty act was not her reason for being on this ship. This evil, evil ship. The time had come to announce her return to The Master himself.

 

He was there, suspended in bacta. Wounded, vulnerable. It would be so easy to kill him now, or so she thought. But she didn’t want to win in such a manner. She had plans, and she wanted to see everything fall around him. Besides, there was the possibility that The Master could defend himself and retaliate. She wouldn’t be able to defeat him here, not with the power of this ship under his command.

 

But Shara didn’t need to fight him. Not yet. She wanted him to see everything fall apart around him, to realize that he truly was nothing. For now, however, she wanted him to see what he had become, and what he planned to do. She reached into his mind, suppressing his weakened will and implanting a vision in his mind. She didn’t expect the vision to change anything, but it could create doubt, and that was a powerful weapon in the right hands.

 

[Aurbere]

Chapter 46!

 

Chapter 46

 

 

Anaxes- Anaxes Citadel

 

Luke Skywalker carried the unconscious bodies of Leia, Ben, General Hargreeves, and The Beastmaster out on a bed of Force energy. A Galactic Alliance transport had set down in the Palace Grounds just outside of the tower to pick the former captives and new Galactic Alliance captive up for transport back to Coruscant. Luke’s StealthX sat next to the Alliance transport.

 

Luke was weary of the conflict on this world, many men had been sacrificed to accomplish General Hargreeves’ plan, and yet that plan had failed. The Beastmaster and her army of monstrous creatures had taken the Citadel. Even worse, The Master’s droid armies had taken major cities across the planet, mercilessly slaughtering soldier and citizen alike. There was still more fighting to do on Anaxes, but Luke felt something was wrong. There was a dark presence still on the planet.

 

And his feelings were proven true at the sound of a ground shaking roar. Luke quickly looked up to the sky and saw a massive flying beast streaking down towards the Citadel Grounds. Flames spewed from the beast’s mouth, taking out Luke’s StealthX in a fiery inferno. The beast then landed on the transport shuttle, crushing it under its weight. The transport erupted in a furious explosion, engulfing the beast and incinerating nearby medical personnel, engineers, and pilots. A flap of the beast’s tremendous wings extinguished the flames, and Luke finally saw the beast for what it was.

 

The Beastmaster had taken a Krayt Dragon from Tatooine and turned it into an even greater monster. Mighty wings spread from its back, its tail was spiked, and its scales were a shiny black. The Beastmaster had altered it so that it could breathe fire as well. It was a monstrous creature, and it was staring hungrily at Luke Skywalker.

 

Luke set his unconscious allies and foe on the ground behind him. He activated his lightsaber in his only available hand and took a defensive stance. The Krayt Dragon noticed The Beastmaster behind Luke and growled in anger. Its wings flapped and it slowly took to the sky. Unwilling to hurt its master, or for some other reason, it retreated, leaving as quickly as it had arrived.

 

Luke deactivated the lightsaber and picked the comlink off his belt and sent a distress signal to the fleet above the planet. He had to get Leia and the others back to Coruscant, and he had to make sure The Beastmaster faced justice.

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Unknown

 

The Master was surrounded by blackness, complete and utter blackness. He felt weightless, like he was floating in space. And yet, he felt like something was pressing down on him from all sides, as if he was underwater. But then a bright white light encompassed his vision. Stars and planets exploded from the source of the light and took their places around him. He realized then that he was witnessing the birth of the galaxy. Planets rotated around the center of the galaxy, oh so slowly they rotated. They rotated around the center of the galaxy and passed The Master, never stopping for anything, even going around him in order to return to their natural alignment. He wrapped a hand around one of the planets, a dark purple marble—Dromund Kaas—that fit gently in his palm. He let the marble slip out of his grasp, it then zoomed back onto its path in the natural order of the galaxy.

 

Then the planets rotated faster, and faster, and faster still. Time seemed to be moving rapidly. Small ships appeared in space and spread across the galaxy. They engaged other starships and conquered worlds at lightning-quick speed. The Master witnessed every galaxy spanning war in history. The rise and fall of the Rakatan Empire, the rise of the Sith Empire under the first Dark Jedi, the Mandalorians and their wars, the fall of the Sith Empire, then the Clone Wars and the rise of the Galactic Empire, and then the Galactic Empire’s fall. He saw the New Republic and its wars with the Imperial Remnant, the Yuuzhan Vong, the Dark Nest, and eventually Abeloth.

 

Time then slowed back to normal. The planets returned to their normal rotations. The Master looked around. He was not hallucinating, so he deemed this event to be a vision, but visions had a reason for appearing. The Master didn’t understand this vision, but then he saw someone on the other end of the galaxy, only a mere five paces away. He was a tall man dressed in pristine white robes with dark brown hair and broad shoulders.

 

The Master eyed the man suspiciously. “Who are you?”

 

The white-robed man gave a curt nod. “The question is, who are you?” It was a cryptic response to a simple question. “For that is who I am.”

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Nal Hutta- Jigunna Spaceport

 

Han Solo stepped off the landing ramp of the Millennium Falcon and took a quick survey of the Jigunna Spaceport. It was dirty and covered in hydraulic fluid and other liquids Han didn’t want to think about. Dock workers loitered around the spaceport and ordered their slaves to the work that they were supposed to do. The familiar incessant chatter he had heard the whole trip from Bothawui came out from the Falcon as C-3PO and R2-D2 descended the landing ramp.

 

“…I know that, Artoo, but I’m sure Ardunna the Hutt will be more accommodating than Jabba was.” The protocol droid almost never stopped talking, even when he was surprised. “Oh dear, it seems Ardunna needs to take better care of his spaceports.”

 

R2 blurped a short response.

 

“No, I suppose I shouldn’t expect proper cleanliness from a Hutt.” Threepio responded.

 

Han rolled his eyes at their chatter and tightened his old Smuggler’s Vest. He had grown used to their incessant chatter and learned to ignore it, which came in handy in a tight spot. Han started his pace again as he and the two droids left the spaceport, their check-in handled before landing.

 

This was the third stop Han had made on his ‘assignment’—more like a favor—from Wedge Antilles. Wedge was working on a plan to end the war; he just needed a little help from groups not in the Galactic Alliance. Han had recruited the Corellians and the Bothans, both former enemies of the Alliance, and now he was going to recruit the Hutt Cartel. Both Han and Wedge didn’t want to get the Hutts’ help, but they had to. Recruiting them would add a massive war fleet to the growing Fringe Alliance and would sweep a support pillar out from under The Master’s feet. And that was worth it to the Galactic Alliance.

 

So here Han was, on a toxic mudball and listening to Threepio’s incessant chatter as he unnecessarily discussed recent additions to the Hutt Cartel under Ardunna’s rule. The journey to Ardunna’s Palace was short, a simple stroll through the gang-infested streets of Jigunna. Fortunately the gangs recognized Han and knew better than to try anything with him.

 

As Han and the two droids stepped up to the Palace, the sounds of Cantina music and fun-having patrons echoed out of the large antechamber. At the center of the chamber was a massive statue of Ardunna the Hutt that some jokingly said aspired to be the same size as the great Hutt himself. Two walkways wrapped around the statue and converged at the Cantina entrance, which was lit up with various colored lights that changed hues at the tempo of the music being played.

 

Han waved away drunkards and guards as he and the droids shuffled their way to Ardunna’s audience chamber. Ardunna’s majordomo—a pasty white Twi’lek garbed in simple black clothes—approached them and said something in Huttese.

 

Threepio leaned next to Han from behind him. “He wants to know why someone of your stature is here, Captain Solo.”

 

Han slowly turned his head towards the protocol and put on a fake smile. “Thanks.” He whispered.

 

“You’re quite welcome, sir.”

 

Han rolled his eyes and turned back to the Twi’lek. “Here for an audience, you got a problem with that?” He arched an eyebrow.

 

The Twi’lek was silent for a moment and then waved them into the chamber.

 

“This is where the fun begins.” Han said under his breath as he brushed past the majordomo.