A/N: Okay guys, what we got here is a teaser for a storyline arc in my upcoming big project, Star Wars: Chains of Destiny. It's just Total War with a different, snazzier name. And a better-fitting name at that. Because as our readers/viewers/players will discover, the statement "The Force binds the galaxy together" will take on an all-new meaning as heroes from the greatest video game and entertainment genres of the modern day cross paths and destinies in the endless battle of good versus evil.
So now that that advertisement is out of the way, this teaser is a spoiler teaser, and will greatly give away one of my favorite secrets from what I like to call the "Shadows" storyline arc. You can speculate all you want as to the identity of the mystery enemy in here, but I'll confirm or deny nothing; if you can't figure it out from the clues I gave, then you'll just have to wait for the storyline arc to be published, won't you:3
So with that in mind, enjoy "A Thousand Years, A Single Generation."
Why? Why is this so familiar to me?
Before her eyes, shafts of blazing violet and red energy clashed against one another, releasing a blinding flash of light and a shriek of energy being met and repelled. The two combatants retreated a step, their hostile gazes unleashing nearly as much energy as the humming weapons in their hands. Sheer lethality emanated from their eyes; neither would hesitate to end the life of the other.
To her right, Yuna was nearly beside herself as she watched her master go blow-for-blow against an opponent as skilled with the blade as he, himself was, leaving her incapable of doing anything to assist him. On her other side, two of the white-armored troopers watched their leader battle restlessly, clearly incensed that they could also do nothing to aid him.
Looking down at the metal walkway of the darkened corridor, she narrowed her eyes, not in frustration, but in confusion. It's as if I have seen all of this before, even though I have never seen this man or these weapons in my life.
A shocked gasp from Yuna drew her attention back to the duel. The lower half of the enemy's saber staff, now-inactive, smashed into the jaw of his opponent, staggering the man. The enemy grinned and reignited the second red blade, sending it arcing around toward his stunned enemy's head. Yuna looked away, but she kept her eyes on the fight.
It won't be that easy…
Surely enough, the hissing snap of energy blades meeting erupted as the violet blade rose up to intercept the fatal blow. Struggling to hold his enemy at bay, the man never saw the boot rising up until it had slammed into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him and sending him tumbling backwards, the violet blade retreating into the weapon hilt as it left his hand.
And came rolling to a stop at her feet.
Ignoring her, Yuna, and the two troopers, the enemy grinned as he raised his saber staff high over his head, prepared to deal the coup de grace to his stunned opponent.
"NO!"
---
For about two seconds, Jedi Knight Kagi Vayun wondered where in the hell his enemy had pulled that AT-TE from that he'd been hit in the gut with. Then he remembered that he was fighting a Sith, and that meant that the fellow's lightsaber should be hitting his head right about…
KASHIOU!
Funny, that wasn't the sound of a lightsaber severing a head. That was the sound of a lightsaber blocking a finishing blow. Then his eyes focused on the two blades in contention above his head; the red of his enemy and his own violet blade. For a brief instant, he thought that Yuna had taken up his lightsaber and come to his defense. He'd told her not to for a reason; his own contest with the Sith had been proof enough that he was out of Yuna's league.
The wielder of his lightsaber pushed directly back against the silver-haired Sith, smart for protecting a prone ally against a staff-user, with more physical strength than Yuna had demonstrated in training sessions. The Sith willingly gave ground, allowing his mystery benefactor to step past him, placing herself protectively between the two of them.
She glanced back at him to ensure he was okay, the curtain of her long brown hair sliding across her back. He wondered why he never noticed before that her hair tone was somewhere between Bastila's light brown and his own darker brown. Her grey eyes were wide with concern, a look he recognized easily enough.
His mind, still foggy from the blow of the saber staff, couldn't conjure her name for the life of him. "L…Le…Lannah?"
The Force screamed at him just as his protector turned away from him, raising his lightsaber to stop the Sith's sudden attack cold. As her opponent began to swing his second blade toward her, her right boot came up, planting itself near the lower blade emitter of the staff itself and halting its progress. She then used the Sith's own saber staff as a step, twisting in midair to plant her left boot against the side of his head.
Both she and the Sith spun in opposite directions. But where the Sith collapsed clumsily to the walkway floor, she spun gracefully through the air, her off-white hip skirt flowing fluidly around her legs. She landed in a crouch facing the Sith, her weight leaning back against her right leg, her left stretched out in front of her with her heel the only part of it touching the walkway. She held the humming lightsaber in a double-handed grip up by the right side of her face, her long, beaded earrings swaying slightly as she came to a full stop.
The shock on the Sith's tanned face was clearly visible as he pushed himself up to his feet, supporting himself with his deactivated saber staff. "Hmph," he said, pushing his blue headband farther up on his head. "I'm impressed that a thousand year-removed songstress possesses the talent to wield a lightsaber."
"Swordplay is about more than wielding the weapon," she hissed, her eyes narrowed fiercely at him as she remained in her ready stance. "Shuyin taught me that much."
"Ahh, the failure," the man answered with a smirk. "Failed as a guardian, failed as an Unsent, failed as a harbinger."
A snarl curling her lips, she drew back the borrowed lightsaber, prepared to rush the Sith and carve him up like a game foul.
"Stop, Lenne!" Yuna's voice called from behind her. "Don't give in to your hate! You're better than this!"
The Sith laughed aloud. "Yuna, it pains me to see that you've chosen the path of weakness, the path of the Jedi. You could have been so much more. When next we meet, Yuna, I hope you will have come to your senses."
With that, he leapt off the walkway and vanished into the lower level.
Yuna, Lenne, and the two clone troopers immediately surrounded Kagi, who was just sitting up. Yuna dropped to her knees and placed her hands behind his shoulders to help support him. "Master Revan, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm good," he replied, working his jaw testingly. "I've been hit worse before. I should tell you the story about how me and a couple buddies infiltrated a Sith base on Taris once…"
Lenne likewise knelt by his side, holding his deactivated lightsaber out to him in her left hand. Quietly, the Jedi accepted it, running his fingers along a strip of metal running around the hilt, perpendicular to the activation trigger. For several moments, no one spoke.
Finally, Yuna quietly asked, "Master Revan, why did you call her Lannah?" It was a question even the clone troopers were pondering.
At that, he looked down, squeezing his eyes shut and taking in a deep breath. When he finally opened his eyes again, it wasn't the same crowd-pleasing cockiness that was normally in them; this time, he was showing the pain of his memories. "I…was almost a father once," he said. "I was going to have a daughter. But before she was born, a Sith lord attacked my wife, killing our daughter in the process."
Lenne laid her right hand on his left arm and squeezed gently. "Ever since you came to Spira…" she said. "I've felt as if I should know you. As if you should occupy a special part of my heart. For the longest time, I had no idea why I was getting these feelings. But just a moment ago, when I picked up your lightsaber, it was as if I had been using one my entire life."
Her eyes growing ever wider in confusion, she shook her head helplessly, realizing that there had been little, if any, point in what she had said.
"I just…when I saw you beaten, I felt an overwhelming need to protect you, to save you, like…"
"Like a daughter, wishing to protect her father," Yuna said.
Kagi smiled ruefully. "Reincarnation isn't something that the Jedi really buy into, but the fact is that since Force spirits are such a rarity, then those who don't become spirits have to do something, right? I don't know for sure, but I'd certainly say rebirth is a way to go."
He looked up at Lenne, studying her facial features, just now realizing what a striking similarity to Bastila that she bore. "If…if Lannah had lived, I don't doubt that she would look like you."
Lenne smiled at the Jedi, her would-have-been father, and her vision swam out of focus. "I… I never knew my parents," she said, her voice heavy with the emotion of the moment. "I wish that…"
Kagi reached out his right hand and grasped her left, squeezing tightly. "You don't need to wish, Lenne."