The Wrap-Up: Chapter 1
Vestara Khai, Dubloch Velk, Waut Chauck, and Derely Dith all stood in the Keshiri desert wasteland where Vestara finally slew Abeloth with the Dagger of Mortis. The four of them were now stranded here, more than fifty miles away from the Mole Miner they used to get to Kesh, because Onimi, the psychotic and deformed Yuuzhan Vong who brought them here, couldn't bother to teleport them to safety.
"Well, what the fuck do we do now?" Waut asked to no one in particular.
"Well, I guess we start walking," Derely replied simply.
Waut looked at Derely wryly. "Derely, you know how far we are from the Mole Miner? We'll die of thirst before we get there."
"Well, I don't see you coming up with any bright ideas, Waut," Derely said.
"Derely, shut the fuck up," Waut said in annoyance.
"No, you shut the fuck up, Waut," Derely countered. "It's always shut the fuck up, or shut the kriff up, with you. Okay, why do you have to be so mean to me? I've never been this mean to you when we were Sith."
"Don't be such a fuckin' pussy, Derely," Waut said. "All right, it's not my fault that you were such a fucking pansy growing up in Tahv."
"Well, at least I managed to keep my figure after we left the Lost Tribe," Derely said, nodding at the considerable paunch that Waut had developed since they settled on Coruscant.
"Well, if by figure, if you're talking about how much of a skinny little prick you were, then yeah, I guess you did keep your figure better than I did," Waut spat. "But that still doesn't change the fact that I still got more poon than you did while we were here."
"Will you two idiots both just shut the fuck up?" Vestara interjected between Waut and Derely. "C'mon, Derely's idea is the only way out. Even if we don't make it, we have to try to get back to the Mole Miner. And no more arguing, you need as much water in your body for even a remote chance to make this journey."
"See, she likes my idea better," Derely said up close to Waut's face before joining Vestara and Dubloch in the direction their Mole Miner sat.
"It's still a stupid idea," Waut muttered under his breath as he joined his companions.
Five minutes later, the four of them heard a distinct whirring sound in the sky above them. They looked up and found a ChaseMaster frigate flying overhead before it slowed to a halt thirty meters ahead of them before settling to the ground. A few seconds later, an entire platoon of Sith, both human and Keshiri alike, disembarked, rushing the four teenagers with their red lightsabers ablaze.
With Vestara armed with the Force and the Dagger of Mortis, and her three male companions only armed with the former, there seemed no way they could get out of this one alive.
However, instead of rushing the four of them head-on, the squadron of Sith formed a loose circle around them once they were at least ten meters away. The squad's teenaged targets then stood back-to-back to confront this threat.
"Vestara Khai," the Sith's leader, Keshiri Lady Sashal, said in the direction of the circle facing Vestara. Sashal was the Sith Lady who had once led a platoon to capture Vestara in the bowels of the Jedi Temple during the final battle against the Jedi on Coruscant. Vestara had been forced to give out the identity of the Jedi queen, Allana Solo, to save her own neck from torturous interrogation, and to feign further loyalty to the Lost Tribe of the Sith. "What a pleasant surprise to see you return to Kesh. And I see that you brought back the three traitors to the Lost Tribe."
"Hey, we didn't betray you guys!" Dubloch exclaimed. "We just saw the stupidity of going up against the Jedi! We looked in the galaxy's history in the Galactic Alliance. We were always fucked over by the Jedi. And even when we succeeded, we were defeated anyway. So we just decided to stay out of the way."
"There is no middle ground in the conflict against the Jedi, Dubloch Velk," Sashal replied angrily. "Abandonment is equivalent to treachery in the Sith. You might as well have turned on us and sided with the Jedi, and it would make no difference to any of us."
"Like we would have made any difference against them back on Coruscant anyway," Dubloch replied. "By the way, how did that go?" It was clear he asked that sarcastically, in order to remind Sashal of the Sith's failure to conquer the Jedi.
Sashal snarled at Dubloch's insolence. "Since the deaths of Grand Lord Vol, High Lord Workan, and Lady Korelei," she said, "I have now taken over what remains of the Lost Tribe. We have rendezvoused back here to Kesh so that we may renew our numbers and be ready to battle the Jedi once again one day."
"That'll be a waste of fuckin' time, Sashal," Waut called out. "You might as well just give up like we did. The fact of the matter is, the Jedi will always triumph. And since I doubt any one of us can ever turn to the side of those foolish idealists, the best we can become are average, every-day folk."
Sashal looked to Waut. "Where has your ambition fled, Waut Chauck? Why would you relegate yourself into the position of those who cannot feel the Force?"
"Because it's brought nothing but pointless death and violence in our futile attempts to take over the galaxy," Dubloch answered for Waut. "So why don't we just drop this whole thing of being Sith and just... live, you know what I mean?"
"And plus, it would be nice not be abused in our training, which would only get our asses kicked by the Jedi anyway," Derely interjected.
"Derely, shut the fuck up," Waut said to him. Derely only gave him an annoyed look in return.
"If by live, you mean demean yourselves to ugwumps, I refuse to be a part of that," Sashal said. "Along with every other Sith here today." She then looked out among the squadron. "Am I correct?"
Instead of affirmative answers, all of the other Sith either looked to their feet, to Sashal, or to the teenagers who brought up their argument.
"Well?" Sashal emphasized, not liking where this was going.
"Lady Sashal," one of the Sith in the circle-a Keshiri male-called out. "May I speak freely?"
"Speak," Sashal said sternly.
"Look at what we've been reduced to, milady," he said as he waved his arms around the circle, deactivating his lightsaber so that he wouldn't accidentally maim or kill any of his fellow Sith in the circle. "Every Sith here on Kesh is all that remains of the Lost Tribe. This is what has occurred in our goal to take over the galaxy from the Jedi and the Galactic Alliance. Why should we expect anything different when we are deemed strong enough again."
"Because we will be stronger, Saber Jeza," Sashal answered. "And we will be more swift and cunning. We will defeat the Jedi, and then the Galactic Alliance. I promise you that."
Sashal then then her head over into Vestara's direction. "You have a thought, Tyro Khai?"
Vestara stared back at Sashal with a shocked look. "Yes, I do, Lady Sashal."
"Speak your mind then," Sashal said.
"Even if the Lost Tribe could recuperate their numbers," Vestara began, "I assure you, by the time that happens, the Jedi and the Galactic Alliance will be defeated anyway... by stronger Sith."
"Stronger Sith?" Sashal asked in shock just as all the other Sith-including Dubloch, Waut, and Derely-gasped in the same state. "What are you talking about, Khai?"
"I'm talking about the One Sith," Vestara answered. "We are stronger and much more numerous than the Lost Tribe is. The One Sith accepted me because of the fact that they won't kill me, and because I have spent quite a bit of time with the Skywalkers. My knowledge of the Jedi Grand Master and his son, along with a substantial amount of knowledge regarding the Jedi Order, makes me an asset to the One Sith. Even as we speak, we are gathering in power, and we will overthrow the Jedi and the Galactic Alliance. But if you go after us, you and the rest of the Tribe members will not only be defeated, but you will be wiped out entirely. So you can either join us, stay out of our way, or die, Sashal."
Sashal's eyebrows lifted at the boldness of Vestara's speech. "If the One Sith are so powerful," she said, "then I say we join them."
"Not I," Saber Jeza said.
"Nor I," the Sith beside him said.
The rest followed. No one wanted to be part of the One Sith other than Lady Sashal.
"I think I speak for all of us when I say that Velk, Chauck, and Dith are all right," Jeza said, and he got nods of affirmation from the other Sith in the circle. "There's no point. We should just drop out entirely."
"That's your decision, Jeza," Vestara said. "As for Lady Sashal, we shall depart in Ship now."
Everyone else looked at Vestara curiously as she looked up into the sky. They stared up at what she was seeing, which was the organic, circular form of the Sith Meditation Sphere known as Ship. It landed outside of the circle, next to the ChaseMaster frigate, and one side of its hull lowered into a makeshift ramp.
Vestara waved Sashal along, and the two of them then departed the circle for Ship. "As for the rest of you," she said as she and Sashal retreated, "you may take your leave as you wish. But keep in mind, if you're not joining us, stay out of our way, or you die." At that, she completely turned her back on them as she followed Sashal up the ramp and into Ship himself. After he furled up his ramp, he lifted off and disappeared into the bright, daytime sky.
Once Ship was gone with Vestara and Sashal, Dubloch, Waut, and Derely looked around to the other Sith, who extinguised their lightsabers as Dubloch said, "So who wants to come back to Coruscant so we can have some delicious food?"
They all agreed.
"Wait," Jeza said, "what about us Keshiri?" He nodded to all of the Keshiri members. There were six in total, which were half that of the group of Sith around Dubloch, Waut, and Derely.
"Ever hear of makeup?" Dubloch retorted.
"Or if you wanna go permanent, cosmetic surgery," Derely suggested.
"I think skin bleach might do well enough, Derely," Waut said contemptuously.
"Eh, whatever, let's go," one of the other Sith, who was human, said.
With that, they all boarded the ChaseMaster frigate and departed for the sky.
"Hey, shouldn't we go back for the Mole Miner?" Derely, who was in the copilot seat, asked as the ChaseMaster, piloted by Waut, soared into the sky.
"Fuck the Mole Miner, we got a good ship, Derely," Waut said.
Once they were in space, however, they ran into an entire wave of Jedi StealthXs that came immediately out of hyperspace.
"Oh, fuck," Waut said with eyes wide beneath his shades.
The ChaseMaster's comm beeped. Derely answered it.
"This is Grand Master Luke Skywalker of the Jedi Order," a firm, male voice came over the comm. "I am only going to say this once: Surrender or die."
"We surrender," Derely said abruptly.
"R-really?" the voice at the other end said in a surprised tone. "Okay then. Prepare to be boarded and arrested for your crimes."
"What crimes?" Waut asked angrily.
"For your near-takeover of the Galactic Alliance, the subsequent devastation caused by your alliance with Abeloth, and numerous other atrocities too numerous to count," Skywalker replied.
"Hey, if it weren't for you Jedi, that might never have happened!" Waut exclaimed. "And plus, all the individuals on this ship had nothing to do with that battle! In fact, we're actually going back to Coruscant for food, and to set up a new lifestyle! So how 'bout you leave us alone and fuck off!"
"Hold on, I recognize your voice," Skywalker said. "Aren't you the same Sith who kidnaped Vestara Khai from the academy on Denon?"
"Former Sith, thank you very much," Waut said as Derely and Dubloch-who was in the navigator's chair while the other Sith were in the passengers' compartment-slapped their foreheads to Waut's idiocy. "And yes, that was me and my two friends, Dubloch Velk and Derely Dith, who did that."
"Well, you'll be arrested for that," Skywalker said.
"Shit," Waut replied.
"Yeah, well, what the hell did you think was gonna happen, Waut, telling him that shit?" Dubloch said.
Waut waved him silent. "Oh, yeah?" he continued into the comm. "We have like twelve other former Sith who just renounced their allegiance to their way of life so they can start anew as civilians in the Galactic Alliance. And I'll remind you, Master Skywalker, that they had nothing to do with the devastation on Coruscant individually."
"We'll see about that after we board you," Skywalker replied. "Oh, and by the way, you're also under arrest for baradium poisoning back on Denon."
"What? How the fuck did that happen?" Waut asked as one StealthX headed for the ChaseMaster.
"When you somehow disappeared, the baradium missiles fired upon you caused nuclear blasts that began seeping radiation all throughout Denon's atmosphere," Skywalker explained. "We had to commence a short-notice evacuation as a result. Our experts in the Order say that it'll be about half a decade before the poisoning in Denon's atmosphere will clear out."
"Where ya gonna relocate then?" Derely asked out of curiosity.
"Back to Ossus," Skywalker said. "That's where you will all be imprisoned for your crimes. And given your cooperation, you may very well get out early for good behaviour; with the exception of the gentleman who just told me to 'fuck off.'"
"Oh, get over it, you're even more of a pussy than Derely here," Waut said.
"Hey!" Derely exclaimed.
"Shut up," Waut said.
"Well, at least it wasn't 'shut the fuck up, Derely,' this time," Derely said sarcastically before they heard the StealthX dock with the ChaseMaster's airlock.
"Wait, you sent one Jedi for us, Master Skywalker?" Dublock asked.
"Yes. While your cooperation maybe misconstrued as a trap, assuming that you're lying about your surrender, I sent the one Jedi that none of you could hope to combat anyway."
"Who?" Derely asked.
"You'll see," Skywalker said. "In the meantime, may I have a word with Vestara Khai?"
"No, you may not, Master Skywalker, because Khai isn't here," Dubloch said.
"Where is she?" Skywalker asked.
"She left with Ship and Lady Sashal to the One Sith," Dubloch answered.
"The One Sith?" Skywalker asked.
"We didn't bother asking what it was because we didn't give a flying fuck," Waut said. "The only thing she told us about it was that it's assured that the One Sith is going to bring down the Jedi and the Galactic Alliance sometime in the future."
"Really?" Skywalker asked. "Well, that sounds like something that the Jedi Order needs to look into. Did Vestara say where she was going exactly? A planet, a moon, or station?"
"We don't know," Dubloch said. "You'll have to find that out for yourself."
At that, they heard shocked gasps from the passengers' compartment from all of the former Sith there. The three former Sith in the cockpit turned around in the direction of that compartment, and just a few seconds later, Jaina Solo, the Sword of the Jedi, stepped in.
"So you're the Sith who took Vestara Khai?" Solo asked.
"Former Sith, former," Waut clarified in restrained anger as Dubloch and Derely stared at Solo in fear. When Waut saw the expressions on his friends' faces, he asked, "Who are you, by the way?"
"Waut, that's Jaina Solo Fel, the Sword of the fucking Jedi!" Dubloch exclaimed. "This woman could kill us all in under five seconds with just a toothpick, nevermind her lightsaber." He turned back to Solo. "No wonder Skywalker sent you."
"Exactly," Skywalker's voice said over the still-open comm.
"Oh, shut up," Waut said before he cut the comm. He then turned back to Solo. "So you gonna take us in now?"
"Once you relinquish control of the ChaseMaster frigate, I will," Solo said calmly as she approached Waut. "And by the way..."
Suddenly, she punched Waut straight in the face and then threw him out of the pilot's chair by his shoulders. Landing prone to the deck, Waut then felt his back being stepped on by Solo's boot so that he was pinned there.
"Don't disrespect the Grand Master of the Jedi Order by telling him to shut up," she said. She then took her boot off of his back, allowing him to push himself to his feet. Waut then looked to Dubloch and Derely, who sat in their seats in fear.
"Gee, thanks for helping me, guys," he said sarcastically to them.
"All of you, back to the passengers' compartment," Solo demanded of them. "I can handle the piloting myself."
Without hesitation, Dubloch and Derely stood up from their seats-not too fast so that Solo would react in a way that would make her activate her lightsaber and kill them-and then proceeded to the passengers' compartment. They each grabbed one of Waut's shoulders so that he wouldn't have anymore problems with Solo.
The second after they fastened themselves to the seats they found, they felt the ChaseMaster disappear into hyperspace.
Several minutes later, Solo walked out of the cockpit and spotted Dubloch, Waut, and Derely all in different seats around the passengers' compartment. With the exception of Waut, who seemed to be more angry than intimidated by Solo, they all cowered in fear at the site of her.
Seeing that Dubloch was closer, Solo approached him and knelt down before him next to his seat, his expression of fear never changing.
"Vestara Khai killed Abeloth, didn't she?" she asked him.
"How do you know that?" Dubloch asked.
"We Jedi felt her death in the Force after we evacuated from Denon," Solo explained. "And you were there when Khai killed her, weren't you?"
"Yes, I was," Dubloch confirmed.
"What did she use to kill Abeloth with?"
"The Dagger of Mortis," Dubloch answered.
"Of course," Solo said in realization. "And did she take the Dagger with her?"
"She did," Dubloch nodded.
"Ah," Solo said with a blank expression. "I need to inform that to Master Skywalker as soon as we get out of this hyperspace run. Thank you for your time." With that, she returned to the cockpit.
Dubloch then released the breath that he hadn't realized he held at that moment.
~o~
After Ship settled down on one of the One Sith Temple's landing pads on Korriban, Vestara and Sashal disembarked as the former carried the Dagger of Mortis in her hands. She told Sashal of what it was, and the fact that she used it to kill Abeloth. Sashal was pleased with that, feeling that Vestara had avenged Grand Lord Darish Vol's death, since he died under Abeloth's hands early into the Lost Tribe's occupation of Coruscant.
The two Sith women entered the Temple and were met by a few Sith attendants. Seeing the weapon that Vestara held, they all guided her and Sashal to a nearby room off in one of the Temple's corridors.
The room they entered was filled with prize collections of varying objects too numerous for Vestara to note. It was large and grandiose, yet it seemed as if it couldn't contain the splendor that it held.
This must be the One Sith's trophy room, Vestara thought. She never thought she would ever be in this room.
One of the attendants found a spot for Vestara to place the Dagger of Mortis on. She approached that spot and laid the Dagger there for all to see.
~o~
Although Ossus looked the worst for wear, Luke thought in the cockpit of his StealthX as he and the rest of the Jedi fleet approached the planet with their cargo of Sith prisoners-or former Sith prisoners, as the former Sith known as Waut Chauck felt appropriate to emphasize.
All it would take, really, was a few repairs on Ossus, and then the Jedi academy there could begin anew. The hasty retreat made by the Order several months ago was because of the impending Lost Tribe invasion that resulted in only one Jedi shuttle being destroyed by the Sith. That was made in a failed attempt to assassinate Hapan Queen Mother Tenel Ka Djo.
The site of Ossus, however, wasn't what was holding Luke's attention at the moment. He was having a brief comm conversation with Jaden Korr, the leader of the Ten Knights.
"We will continue our search for the Dagger of Mortis, Master Skywalker," Jaden said. "Thank you for the update regarding Vestara Khai's current possession of it."
"I'm glad to hear it, Jedi Korr," Luke said. "In the meantime, you should know that the Jedi have relocated back to Ossus because of the baradium poisoning on Denon."
Jaden nodded. "Is there any other updates that my squadron and I should know about, Master Skywalker?"
"No," Luke answered. "That will be all, Jedi Korr. Skywalker, out." He then cut the comm, and continued his approach to Ossus without further interruption.