Star Wars

The Arden Lyn Chronicles

Into the Void

By

Christopher Cleveland & Diego Feliu

Prologue

Even though Arden Lyn had had more than enough time to get accustomed to lightspeed travel, having it done it several times since her revival on Irkalla, it still bedazzled her every time. Something about it awoke a kind of wonder that reminded her of her childhood, a speck long forgotten to others. For Arden Lyn had been born twenty-five thousand years before the present Clone Wars and was imprisoned in a state between life and death for her insubordination to the Jedi Order of those old days. Now, with her new apprentice Depa Billaba, the Ember of Vahla, and the Sorcerers of Tund, she set out to forge a new life and a new destiny to call her own.

As far as she was concerned, at least part of that destiny intelled journeying to the Great Void in the Universe where an enemy unlike any other awaited her. This enemy was the Yuuzhan Vong and Arden knew that what she had seen of them before was only a sample of what lied ahead for them. "Milady, we're getting very close to the end of the path taken by the fleet we destroyed in Malastare," one of the Sorcerers stated. "Good, have all forward and flanking cannons ready to fire at Yuuzhan Vong ships upon arrival," she replied.

Bowing, he left her alone except for her apprentice, who had joined her to enjoy the view of the current of starfire all around them. "It's beautiful when it's new to you, isn't it?" she asked her mistress. Arden nodded and added that it still never ceased to take her breath away as to how beautiful it was to her. "I've been around it long enough to take it for granted but I forget that you were in hibernation for twenty-five millennia and as such, don't have my luxury," Depa added.

"You say that like luxury is a curse to you," Arden said. "It's a double-edged sword, as you know, that has both its benefits and its disadvantages. Sadly, the disadvantages outnumber the benefits for the most part though there are exceptions," Depa admitted. "Like what, for instance?" Arden asked her apprentice.

She was testing to see if Depa had learned anything useful from Arden's training though her own personal wisdom never ceased to humble Arden when it came up. "The spoils of war mistress, sometimes they can be far more beneficial than detrimental to the progress of our fight," Depa said. Smiling, she was content with that answer and knew that Arden would not object to it though there might be slight disagreement within her.

She learns more by the hour than I can teach her in a day, I wonder what dangers lie ahead for that sort of progress. The best student is one who does not greedily consume what the Master has to teach though they refine what they have been taught Arden thought rather silently. "Even the spoils of war are sometimes deadly to the victors but in the end, there is no true victor in any fight. War eats and eats and eats until all that remains are those who have destroyed all their enemies; even then, war does not stop eating and eventually consumes its original supplier," she said aloud.

"But if the supplier is something like the Jedi, war always has a guaranteed supply of food," Depa stated. "That's probably the reason they've survived: war eats the best of them and the rest are left to spoil in the heat of the rotting dead," Arden agreed. Before anymore could be said, they arrived.

Chapter One

Thrawn was baffled at how his Yuuzhan Vong enemies could be so patient, perhaps they were waiting for his allies to arrive. If that was the case, he would need to act quickly once they did arrive in order to get them our alive. Whoever's leading these fleets has learned from their previous mistakes, can't say I'm not surprised considering how long I've been fighting them he thought. "Sir, Arden Lyn and her allies will be in position to face the Yuuzhan Vong Main Fleet shortly; all our own forces are ready just like you ordered," one of his captains told him.

"Good, tell them that they may begin their attack when the Yuuzhan Vong have begun their own attack on Arden," Thrawn replied. The captain bowed and went to relay his orders to the Chiss Ascendancy's mightiest fleets. "Oh and Captain, before you go, the Killiks are still in position to be used as our shield against the Yuuzhan Vong, correct?" Thrawn asked, catching the man before he left. "Yes sir, they'll be the first ones to fight them at your command just like you asked," the officer answered.

"Good, tell them the signal for their attack against the Yuuzhan Vong shall be given soon. And tell them to wait until the hear the words 'Sword of Morpheus' on the open frequency. That will be their signal to attack the Yuuzhan Vong when I'm ready for them to do so. But first, Arden will contact me upon her arrival if she does not come under bombardment immediately," Thrawn stated.

"Yes sir, I shall await further orders in the meantime and obey the ones already given," the Captain said, bowing before he left. Such formality, I'm beginning to wonder if I should ban it considering how it delays sending the point I need send to the Yuuzhan Vong Thrawn thought. However, he concluded that it ultimately matter because if done right, this would mean his victory against the Yuuzhan Vong forevermore and a commendation like no other from his people. Granted, he had no use for the fame and fortune of his people's formality in the long run but it would be good for revenge.

After all, his peers had dictated that he was to be exiled because of "treasonous action" against the Ascendancy. In all actuality, Thrawn would have proven that he was far more loyal to the cause of wiping out the Killiks and destroying the Yuuzhan Vong than did the Council that had banished him. Smiling, he was smug in his ultimate victory, knowing that there was almost no reason that it would go wrong for him. The only thing that could go wrong was all that concerned Arden Lyn, from losing her life in the battle to having to abandon her and leave her to a worse fate than even he could imagine.

Undoubtedly, the latter would have her thinking that he had betrayed her and her new cult, making her vow to come for him and kill him when she caught up to him. It wouldn't matter if it took her thirty years to come back from the Void or just thirty days, she would find him and make him pay. Whatever it takes, I must not let this woman fall into their hands or into a place where I cannot rescue her from their savage attempts at destruction. She is far too temperamental for me to allow that to happen her and she has dealt with enough betrayal as it is he told himself silently.

And as if the thought was heard across the stars, Arden called in to signal that she had arrived alas to the edge of the Void. "I will be engaging the Yuuzhan Vong shortly, I will be taking on the Main Fleet but I cannot cover any that come behind us," she said. "We will take care of the blind spot for you, just worry about destroying the Main Fleet and forcing the enemy on the run," he replied. "Very well, I look forward to the celebrations for our victory against the Yuuzhan Vong," she stated calmly.

"As do I, milady, as do I," Thrawn said. Bowing, she cut transmission and he knew she probably did so just in time to see the beginnings of the attack. He wondered if there would be anything to celebrate at the end of this conflict or if there would only be sorrow. For with war, there was always a balance between the festivities of the victors and the grief they feel within for those who perished.

Czulkang Lah, Warmaster of the Yuuzhan Vong Fleet, had decided to bring his son Tsavong along so that the boy could witness the grand finale of the war. If their people won, they would be able to move into the divided galaxy and take it for themselves like all the rest before it. "This enemy has given us a good run for our riches even if in the end, they must fall," Tsavong stated in his observation. "Careful what you say son, the battle has not yet even begun and victory can very quickly turn to defeat before you are no longer helpless to do anything about it," Czulkang replied.

"Look over there sir, it looks like they've sent their first force to try and take on the Main Fleet," an officer interjected bluntly. Interrupt my son's learning like that again and I will surely kill you when we're through unless there's a damned good reason for it Czulkang thought angrily. Tsavong, however, continued to observe the space around them as it immediately began to fill with ships that were both friendly and hostile to his father's armies. "Good, hold position and let them begin their attack, I will have the fleet to the southwest come and strike them from behind," Czulkang ordered.

"But sir, with due respect, that is very risky: their resources could surely wipe out up to half of our Main Fleet by the time that other group arrives," the officer stated. "That's the risk we'll have to take in order to wipe out this enemy and besides, we have no other choice. We need everyone to even stand a chance of fighting against this enemy we face, let alone win this war forever," Czulkang said. "Very well milord, we shall order them to begin making their way and to bombard the enemy as soon as they arrive," the officer stated before beginning the preparations he mentioned.

"He looks to be afraid for his life, father," Tsavong whispered to his father. "What makes you say that, my dear boy?" Czulkang asked, whispering in return. "Notice that his forehead glistens with his sweat like a coward's head does when he fears death," Tsavong answered. "Hmm, that is a good observation: perhaps I shall bring it up to his attention after we have completed our task here," Czulkang said.

Smiling, he let his son continue to watch as the attack began, the enemy's starfighters taking off from the main hangar of their cruiser to intercept the Yuuzhan Vong equivalents. "Have our fighters stall the enemy as long as they can while our main cruisers warm up their batteries for firing," he ordered. "Batteries, milord?" another officer asked. "Their weapons, have all cannons ready, you know exactly what I mean when I say batteries!" Czulkang hissed.

At his nod, Czulkang watched as his son used his whip to move some people along and had to admit that the boy made him prouder and prouder by the day. Soon, you will be ready for the title of Warmaster and your place as my equal, very soon. But the time has still not come though I am faithful that it won't be much longer before it does he thought but didn't say. Then he turned back to watch the battle slowly take shape and substance before him, a strategic puzzle ready for solving.

Onimi and Shimrra observed through a video recorder that Czulkang had engaged the Chiss and Killik union for what would be the final battle between them. The stakes were simple: defeat meant being lucky to have mere scraps of their military out of it, nevermind their livelihood. Victory meant that they would have one more galaxy to add to the collection of galaxies that fell to their conquest. If successful, they would be able to move on to other galaxies that probably could be more powerful.

No matter what happens, I will still have Shimrra under my belt until I'm ready to dispose of him Onimi thought to himself. He liked being this close to the Supreme Overlord and being indirectly able to control his people for the first time in his life. After all, it had been not long ago that everyone had persecuted and cursed him for his more frail body as well as his other shortcomings including his power. But this power was put to good use and many of his former persecutors had now turned their faces the other way to find new scapegoats rather than harass him a while longer.

Now, he could command their executions in revenge if he wanted but he wouldn't, not yet anyway. He would wait until either victory and defeat was assured for Czulkang's forces and then he would determine whether or not it would be a good time to do it. After all, a defeat would mean having to ensure that every powerful officer alive in order to keep the people unified in crisis. But victory would mean that Shimrra and Czulkang could both gloat in any manner they desired, especially with murdering.

Yes, the Court Jester would have to continue his duties and kiss ass for many of these nobles either way. However, the victory would mean that he could persuade Shimrra to do away with these old enemies if he wished. Perhaps, I can even bring up Czulkang's past actions that are more treasonous in nature and have his heroism automatically discredited. That would be so dishonorable to him that he would have to kill himself and his family Onimi observed silently.

Something like that was useful to his advantage especially since it was uniquely a Warmaster means of restoring honor. The only downside was that the dead had no value for honor and the living stripped themselves of any chance of enjoying it if they did that. Czulkang and Tsavong, his son, would not realize that until they were already almost dead and that was what Onimi wanted. "Tell me friend, what do you foresee being the outcome of this battle?" Shimrra asked.

Onimi observed the setup of both formations and had to admit that he could already notice several mistakes that Czulkang had made. Instead of pointing them out to Shimrra immediately, he decided just to answer the question first and then use them as his reasoning if need be. "I foresee Czulkang failing and coming back here with very little if any of our mighty fleet," he answered. "And why is that?" Shimrra inquired, prompting Onimi to state his observations.

"Czulkang intends to use the Main Fleet as a shield to our floating cities whilst stalling our enemy until the southwestern fleet arrives and surrounds them. Good setup but the man we fight is Admiral Thrawn: he will probably have anticipated this and will act accordingly. This simply means that he probably has the Killik forces set aside just waiting for their chance and he will send them to attack. Warmaster Lah will be lucky if he manages to save anything of the Main Fleet and saving the southwesterners would be impossible," Onimi explained.

"Would we still have enough to defend ourselves from invaders if need be?" Shimrra asked. "Not against our enemy no but against other intergalactic species, quite possibly yes," Onimi answered. "Good, we can punish Czulkang for his incompetence, stating that it has dishonored our people and may need to kill himself to restore his family honor," Shimrra said. "Let us not do that: Czulkang has been one of the finest officers we've employed against Thrawn and doesn't deserve ingratitude," Onimi said.

He'll die anyway but that way would be much too direct and nearly shameless though also entirely pointless Onimi added to himself. "As you wish, my friend. For now, let us enjoy the final battle of this war that we have been waging against the Chiss and the Killiks for years, shall we?" Shimrra requested. Onimi nodded and took a seat beside his Overlord before continuing to watch the battle unfold in its entirety.

Depa Billaba, apprentice of Arden Lyn, attempted to connect her mind to her Mistress's in order to conduct Battle Meld and enhance their troops' motivation. But she immediately noticed a problem: none of her telepathic powers worked here nor did any telekinesis. She could still use Pyrokinesis, Force Crush, and several other powers she had but those were mostly energy-based. Then it occurred to her that her Mistress had mentioned Yuuzhan Vong resistance telepathy and telekinesis.

Unfortunately, this included all related powers such as Battle Meld and perhaps Force Crush. Since the fires of pyrokinesis came as an energy, she could use that but it was far more limiting than not. Force Lightning was much better power to extensively use and she would do such a thing if her lightsaber and other manual means failed. However, instead of worrying about that entirely, Depa went to obey Arden's orders and join the Ember of Vahla as they faced down the enemy Yuuzhan Vong.

Not since fighting with Mace Windu had she been on a starfighter and her rustiness showed somewhat though not very much. Good thing these warriors have not yet noticed that I am rusted in piloting a starfighter, otherwise they might have thought me a rookie she said to herself. But overcoming her rustiness, Depa was quick to begin leading the Ember of Vahla into battle. It felt good to be leading an army again even if her new Mistress wasn't here to enjoy the thrills with her.

Understandably, Arden still had much to learn and that included piloting a ship capable of hyperspace flight. But that did not mean she wasn't participating in the battle: Arden was using the power of her Talisman to help the Sorcerers of Tund fight from in the ship. Its power meant that they would be able to send energy-based attacks at their enemy whilst having a shield to protect them. But Depa began to wonder if even its power would be enough to sustain them against this new enemy.

After all, they could resist telepathic-based and telekinetic-based attacks as it was. Unless the Talisman undid this resistance, which she doubted, there wasn't much it could do to stem the tide. Whatever Thrawn was up to, he would need to do it soon if there was to be any chance of them all surviving this battle and returning for festivities. Unless he planned to sacrifice Arden, Depa, and their forces in exchange for complete and total victory over this extragalactic species that had plagued him.

Thrawn saw the formation that Arden and Depa had taken and had to admit that he was impressed despite the overall shoddiness of it. After all, the women had set themselves up perfectly for the completion of his plan and when he saw the southwestern fleet arrive, he knew what to do. "Captain Lethe, you may send the signal to the Killiks to engage the southwestern fleet ," he said at last. "Yes sir, I shall do that immediately: the insectoids already know what the signal is and will act on it," Lethe said.

"Copy that," Thrawn replied. And when he saw the results, he was immediately dazzled by what it turned out to be. When the Killiks were given the signal, they crossed the border of the Unknown Regions and hit the southwesterners so quickly that they couldn't hit back for many minutes. Such was the efficiency and speed of their takeoff that Thrawn even wondered if he shouldn't kill them but spare them when he had to dethrone the more treasonous officers of the Chiss Ascendancy.

Holding his glass of wine, Thrawn decided to take a stroll across his facility though he let the officers surrounding him know where he was going beforehand. Slowly walking along the snaking passages and hallways, Thrawn enjoyed the cold scent of Irkalla's clean air entering his lungs. This planet couldn't support much without help from importers but it was a good place for a military base. Isolation, desolate weather, and uncharted dangers did all sorts of things to help the training of future soldiers of the Chiss Ascendancy such as those who joined Thrawn.

Arriving at his destination, he examined the painting that Arden Lyn often visited which remained on the wall even now that the Chiss had made this fortress their base. He never really noticed the details before though he knew it well enough from several glances and some moments of looking at it. But he never truly examined the texture and the dimension in the portrait painted of Arden's mighty husband. Xendor held a massive red cloth tied to a flagpole in his left hand and in his right, he held his unsheathed sword whilst standing amidst a massive pile of dead Jedi bodies with the sky burning behind him.

As Thrawn examined the perfect portrait as well as the damage on the wall surrounding it from when Arden had punched it in anger, he came to realize something. The way Arden had touched it had not been only in memory of Xendor but also in memory of how she had originally painted it. Arden Lyn, mighty woman warrior and survivor of the First Schism, was a painter too he thought, smiling. Luckily, his gloves were on and he had done no damage to the portrait itself but he could see nothing from when Arden had touched it with her bare hands.

Perhaps she used some trick with the Force in knowledge of the damage human hands could do to such fine art but then, perhaps not. Finally, the Admiral supposed that it couldn't harm since she was the first to have touched the portrait of her husband in twenty-five thousand years. The composer lives to see the rather minimal damage that time has taken on her creation. No wonder why she liked coming here after all Thrawn said, chuckling to himself in respect of the woman he had befriended.

He also came to another realization: that the portrait was not a depiction of Xendor as the glorious hero Arden remembered but rather what he had become before his death. She had painted the possession of the Talisman as it took its toll on him both mentally and physically. In this one painting, she had beautifully depicted the inner demise of a hero before his outer shell was destroyed by the Jedi. Because of that, Thrawn had to admit that he truly didn't know Arden half as well as he thought he did for she had displayed talent in an area where he had least expected it: artistry at its most beautiful.

He heard steps just as he came to this realization and the pace indicated that this was something that immediately demanded his attention. "Admiral Thrawn!" Captain Lethe exclaimed, panting violently due to running to his Master. "What is it, Lethe?" Thrawn asked. "The Ascendancy Council has just withdrawn their support from the fight and have taken half our men with them!" Lethe answered.

"They did what? The war isn't even over yet for goodness sake!" Thrawn demanded, marching back to the communications center with Lethe. "I know it sounds ridiculous (I couldn't even believe it myself right as they told me) and I even told them that it was a bad idea but they wouldn't listen to me. In fact, they told me to tell you that as soon as the Killiks and Arden Lyn are through with the Yuuzhan Vong, you are to make a truce with their Supreme Overlord!" Lethe replied.

"Are they still on the channel?" Thrawn inquired. "I was able to get them to stay on condition that they speak with you to make sure you approved of this. They say it's the only way you'll regain the lost half of your resources if you want them back badly enough," Lethe explained. By the time I manage that, it could all be over for Arden and the crew with her Thrawn thought angrily.

He couldn't believe the incompetence of the Council nor could he believe that he was actually having to betray Arden in order to avoid defeat. After all his inner talk and his vow not to betray the poor girl, it had been for nothing now that the Council had done this insult to his honor. "What is the meaning of this?" Thrawn demanded as soon as he could see the Council's faces.

"For thirty years, we have been fighting with the Yuuzhan Vong and have been in the Killik alliance for ten. Soon, the Killik warriors will be annihilated and we will have the Yuuzhan Vong at a point where they cannot fight back at us if we hit them with our full might," the leader, Moses, said. "The Killiks are not our only allies out there in those stars, you pitiful, incompetent fools!" Thrawn hissed. "Are you referring to those female Humans with the Sorcerers of Tund, the Ember of Vahla, and four dozen of your hand picked staff on board their cruiser?" Moses asked.

"Of course, I'm referring to them you moron! I promised them that I would see to it that they safely returned and I am not about to betray them," Thrawn answered. "In war, great sacrifices such as this are always necessary; I can't imagine them lasting very long without Killik aid," Moses said. Thrawn turned his screens to see that Moses was surprisingly close to the truth on his suspicion that Arden wouldn't last much longer.

"Which do you choose Thrawn? The women and their witchcraft or your life and your future?" Moses asked, warning Thrawn. After a long moment of thought, Thrawn vowed he would pay for this.