Youth Wars Part II: Ashes of the Empire

by Exar Sunrider

A new adventure lies ahead for Aang, Exar, and Jo, as they recover from their gruesome battle with Erk. The Republic gains information of an artifact found in the Outer Rim, and the team is sent to retrieve it, with a little help; but they don't realize that their lives are about to get a little more interesting.

1. Chapter 1

Youth Wars Part II: Ashes Of The Empire

Prologue

Down in the dark part of Coruscant, the M3-A Scyk Fighter soared across the night sky. Erk stealthily traversed the ship over the nighttime-struck town. He headed towards a tall building, which had its docking bay doors opened for Erk to land. Erk opened the ramp to his ship and stepped down, and met Jayko, in full armor, in the building.

"Well, I had just finished packing for our mission to find Galen Marek, to find our objective being changed. What's with the sudden change of plan?" Erk asked as he and Jayko started walking down the bay.

"The master has seen that you did not complete your task to kill the Jedi, and he is very disappointed. And due to that, he's given us an alternate route for our mission." Jayko replied. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not too fond of this either."

"I may not have killed the Jedi, but I have greatly damaged them. They may not be dead, but their duties will be delayed." Erk informed as they reached the end of the hall.

"But you didn't kill them. Why? What kept you from finishing the mission?" Jayko asked as he opened the door and they walked across the hall into Jayko's private conference room. The room was small, like an office, but it had a round table with four chairs around it.

"Were you held back? Did one of the Jedi suddenly become strong enough to overcome you?" Jayko asked as he and Erk each sat in one of the chairs.

"No." Erk replied, "They had reinforcements. They arrived just as I was about to strike them down." Erk drew his pointer finger and thumb close together to emphasise.

"There are more ways to kill people. What happened to using the force?" Jayko asked.

"Their masters arrived, and if there's anything I know about them, it's that I can't beat them head-on. Five Jedi against one sith. How would you handle it?" Erk asked.

"Well I certainly wouldn't consider going alone. What about the stormtroopers that were being produced? Why didn't you grab some of those?" Jayko asked.

"There weren't enough produced to back me up. They were all on Kamino dealing with some government officials." Erk replied.

"What happened to the production?" Jayko asked. That stopped Erk in his tracks.

'The Republic was on Kamino. They did find out about the production. But did they shut it down? If so, how?' Erk was asking himself these questions for a few seconds.

'Well?" Jayko pushed on.

"I... I don't actually know." Erk finally answered.

"Well if the Republic is on our trail, then we need to cut them off. I'm sending you to Kamino to deal with any Republic forces before they catch on to anything." Jayko said, standing up and starting to leave.

"By myself?" Erk asked. Jayko stopped. "Think about that for a second. I couldn't kill three Jedi alone. So how could I take on an entire force on a nearly remote system?" Erk asked with a slightly teasing tone.

"Don't end up saying anything you'll regret. I can send you with some backup if it'll make you feel better." Jayko said as Erk got up and followed him down the hall and into another docking bay, where several modified TIE Fighters sat on the sides, and TIE pilots crawled the area.

"This will be the start of a new age in the galaxy. No more Republics. No more resistance. The Empire will rise again." Jayko said with pride and confidence. "My father would be proud if he was here with me." He then said with some discomfort.

"Your father? Didn't you tell me he's with the Republic now?" Erk asked.

"Yes." Jayko replied hesitantly, looking down and clenching his fists.

"We will strike such a huge blow against the Republic, that it will go down in history." Erk said, placing his hand on Jayko's shoulder. "Maybe your father will reconsider his side."

"Time will only tell. Go to Kamino, take whatever backup you may need, and I will commense with the assault here." Jayko said.

"Is it really time for that?" Erk asked.

"Yes. Every ship is ready, and our soldiers are getting prepared as we speak." Jayko replied.

"Well, you may meet your father again, sooner rather than later." Erk said, putting his hand forward. Jayko put his hand atop of Erk's, and they said in unison, "For the Empire."