Prologue:

Showdown

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

Blayde ducked under the incoming attack. The purple lightsaber singed the tops of his hairs, telling him he was millimeters away from being a dead apprentice. Spinning away, he regained his composure, and waited for the battle to ensue. Nearby, Master Palidore was engaged with an enemy of his own.

"Who are you?" Blayde shouted at the masked being in front of him. The humanoid body was covered entirely in white robes and armor. Nothing gave him any hints about the attacker's age, species, or gender. He hoped his question answered some of his confusion.

"We are the darkness," a deep male's voice answered, distorted slightly by the mask. "We are the Sith."

Blayde nearly laughed. It was impossible. The Sith died with Palpatine and Vader nearly five hundred years earlier. Some tried to rise and grasp the mantle, but they were all dealt with by the surviving Jedi of Luke Skywalker and Rey. They were dealing with another couple of imposters. Dark force-users, yes. But not Sith. They couldn't be. Besides, the enemy was wearing white. "And I am a Hutt Crime Lord."

"Pathetic human," the voice sounded again. "Your arrogance blinds you from the truth. Believe what you will, Jedi. The Sith are alive, and very real. Soon you will see, but it will be too late for you, the Jedi Order, and the Galactic Alliance."

Despite his initial response, Blayde felt the truth of the man's words echo through the Force. It caught him off guard.

And the self-proclaimed Sith attacked.

Blayde formed an X with both his lightsabers, intercepting the Sith's downward slash. A myriad of colors splashed around him as the tones of blue, orange, and purple intersected. The Jedi kept his orange saber in place and attacked with his blue. Instead of trying to defend, the Sith backflipped away from danger.

A stalemate once again.

Blayde deactivated both his swords and waited.

The wind howled outside the storage facility they found themselves in. A storm was raging, and Blayde was glad their duels were happening away from the hostile environment of Mygeeto. His Master and he were sent here to help one of the Lurmen colonies relocate after a storm – like the one outside – destroyed their village.

Rumors spread about the storm. Some called it unnatural – never seen before on Mygeeto. At first, they thought nothing of it. Then another storm occurred, and Master Palidore felt a small disturbance in the force. It led them to investigate. And when they did, they discovered the two dark Jedi: who were just as surprised by the Jedi's presence.

Taking a quick look to his left, Blayde watched Master Palidore dance gracefully in battle with his opponent – a non-human of some sort. He couldn't even begin to speculate what species he or she was.

"Tell me, Jedi, what do you fear?"

He said the first thing that came to his mind. "Your face, apparently. Why else would you keep it covered up? Must be a hideous sight." Casually, he moved his left hand over his wrist comm. "I must thank you for saving me from having nightmares about your disgusting visage. It is quite honorable of you."

The attacker growled and lunged towards him with incredible speed. Blayde clicked the button on his comm and somersaulted into the air. Seeing an opportunity, he propelled the hilt of his orange lightsaber with the Force towards the unprotected back of his enemy. At the last moment, he activated it, hoping to catch him unawares. However, the dark Jedi spun, and electrocuted the lightsaber with a blast of lightning. His weapon went soaring across the room.

I must leave it for now. Blayde ignited his second lightsaber, rushed forward, and the two warriors exchanged blows with their weapons.

Block, attack, dodge, Force push, block, attack, attack, dodge.

Blayde lost himself to the flow of the battle, allowing the Force to guide his attacks and steps. The problem was his opponent was also being guided by the Force. Which one of them would make a mistake first? Which one of them was going to lose their focus?

The Sith imposter gathered the darkness around him, and conjured a shadowy spear shrouded in glowing red energy. Blayde's eyes grew large. He'd never seen anything like this before. With a yell, the spear came hurtling towards him.

Focusing within himself, the Padawan summoned the Force from every part of his body, and emanated a wave of blue energy, repulsing the shadowy spear away from him. Not willing to lose any momentum, he willed the wave into a whirlwind, and sent it soaring towards the masked figure.

His attack failed to connect. A loud scream of anger and frustration broke through his whirlwind and shattered any hope of Blayde gaining the upper hand. He prepared himself for another flurry of attacks from a lightsaber, but it didn't come

Instead, his mind started reeling from fears he thought he conquered and buried a long time ago. He dropped his lightsaber, and placed both of his hands on his head, trying to remain in reality. He saw himself failing to become a Jedi Knight. An image of his Master lying dead flashed before his eyes, and he felt hopeless as there was nothing he could do to stop it. Finally, he saw his own death, a purple lightsaber embedded in his stomach, and the life draining from his eyes. The three scenarios replayed themselves over and over in his mind.

He is using the dark side to break me. I must break through. I can't let this destroy me.

Blayde quieted his mind, despite the draw of the three fears dominating his thoughts. He reached out to the Force, and slowly began to retake ground. He dismantled each fear one by one. This is not real. The Force is my ally, and my strength. This is not real!

Dropping his right hand from his head, he picked up his lightsaber. The attack of fear intensified. "No!" Blayde shouted out, allowing the Force to clear his mind, and regain clarity. "You will not control me!"

He leapt into the air, ignited his lightsaber, and attacked. Recently, he started teaching himself a technique that allowed him to slow down time during a fight to gain the upper hand. He created a Force bubble around him and thrust his weapon forward.

Unfortunately, he was too hasty. The Force bubble wasn't fully complete. His jab was intercepted and countered. Blayde saw the purple blade coming for his face. Instinctively, he pulled back, but it wasn't enough.

The tip of the purple lightsaber hit his cheek and slashed up over his right eye. Instant pain raced through his body. Once again, he fell to the ground, unable to see out of his right eye. Master! His mind reached out with the Force.

Blayde wasn't entirely sure of everything that followed. All he heard was a loud roar, and his opponent's focus was no longer on him. He lifted himself up to his knees. Across the room, Master Palidore held out his left hand in his direction. Turning his head, Blayde saw a massive crystal worm – one of the many unique creatures of Mygeeto – burst through the facility's foundations and attack the Sith imposter. One of his master's many abilities with the Force was being able to control creatures of any kinds, and he summoned one to protect his apprentice.

Can you move? His master's voice sounded in his head.

I don't know. I cannot see out of my right eye.

You can always see. Let the Force guide your steps. Don't rely on your strength. It will fail you, my Padawan.

Blayde listened to the caring, and correcting, voice of his Master. Once again, he opened himself up to the Force, and let it guide him away from danger. Arriving near some containers, he saw down with his back against them, and waited for their reinforcements to arrive. Aldacav should be here soon. I summoned him while I was fighting.

Good. When he arrives make sure he…

His master's voice cut off. Pain once again ripped through Blayde's body, but this time it wasn't his own. With his one good eye, he saw the other Force User standing close to Master Palidore, and the Chiss' left arm lying on the ground, separated from his body.

The crystal worm, who was being controlled by Palidore, regained its mind, and started thrashing around wildly. It knocked out one of the building's supports. The roof creaked. If another support was hit, the entire building was going to come down on top of all of them.

Before the crystal worm had a chance to do any more damage, a storm of lightning enveloped the creature from the fingertips of the non-human. Using the distraction, the other humanoid, climbed up the worm's figure and stabbed his lightsaber into the location of the creature's brain. Within seconds, the showdown was finished.

"Master," the dark Jedi with the purple lightsaber spoke. "Let's finish these Jedi. Send a message to the Order that we have returned. Show them the Sith are still alive and well."

"No, my apprentice," his master's voice boomed. "We must leave."

"What? Why? We have their lives in our hands."

"Others are coming."

Aldacav and Zeta squad, Blayde thought.

"We can kill them too."

"No!" The room reverberated with the power behind his words. "We must go back into hiding. Now is not the time for us to be revealed. The galaxy is not yet ready for the Sith to return."

"Then we should kill them, so there are no witnesses." The apprentice pleaded. He yearned to kill.

"You underestimate our opponents. Yes, they are injured. But they are far from defeated. And if we stay, and the others arrive and see us, we risk losing everything the Sith have fought so long to build." The master paused. "No, these Jedi must live. The Force tells me they still have a part to serve in our plans. Now come. It is time to return to the shadows."

The two Dark Jedi…Dark Force users…Sith…whoever they were – disappeared.

Thirty seconds later, Zeta squad stormed into the building.

"Blayde!" His friend's voice was music to his ears. "Hurry, someone get me the medical supplies!"

"Master Palidore is injured too!"

"I will be fine!" His master's voice declared. "Help Blayde first."

"What happened here?" Aldacav asked as he prepared to work on Blayde's wound.

"The Sith…" he managed to say before he entered into the dark horizon.