Kalu and Z rounded the lower wall of the palace. Nestled on top of a butte, it over looked the city and the entire valley below. The entire structure was chiseled out of the natural rock. A pair of guards made their rounds above. Kalu crept down below an eave to avoid being seen. There was no telling how many guards and what sort of artillery resided in the palace. This question made Kalu extra cautious. He wanted to get inside the king's quarters and complete his mission. After that, he could care less what happened.
The guards walked past them and onto the other side of the palace wall. Kalu smiled.
"Stay here until you get my signal. Don't let anyone see you."
"What signal am I waiting for?" Z asked.
"You'll know it."
With those cryptic words, Kalu leapt up and latched onto the top of the wall. He pulled himself up and stealthily moved toward the palace's southern entrance. There were two more guards that stood at the doors. The stairs leading up to them were so steep that Kalu hid beneath a curve in the bannister. Fools, he thought. How ignorant one could be to build in such a way that one could hide themselves using the very path that lead to their royal family. His anger grew when he thought that such Neanderthals were able to annihilate his race. This confirmed his belief that other systems or criminals had assisted them in the assault.
Kalu jumped and landed behind a pillar on the level with the guards. Peering round, he saw that they were weary from the heat. One couldn't keep his head up for more than a few seconds without it dropping and quickly recovering. The other leaned against the wall and held a loose grasp of its spear. Kalu motioned with two fingers causing a noise to come from opposite side of where he was. Both guards turned toward it. Kalu sprinted at them. He drove his lightsaber into the stomach of one and before the other could call for help, he silenced it.
He opened the door slowly and shut it behind him. Scanning the inside there was nobody in the vicinity. He turned off his lightsaber and continued forward. The large hallway was in the shape of square and went completely around a large housed area. He knew this was the throne room. It was sealed without any visible door. For a second, Kalu thought these people might not be as dumb as previously thought. However, this changed an instant later when he saw a patch of rock with a slightly different hue, in the shape of the door, to his right. He chuckled to himself at their stupidity.
Running to the door, he saw the insignia that Z found that led them here: a flag with the two suns positioned at ten o'clock and three o'clock. He pressed it and the stone door shook and moved to the right. Dust dropped from the high ceiling as it did. Kalu removed his goggles and breathing apparatus as he walked in. He wanted them to see who had so easily broken into their palace.
The royal family turned to him from their dining table. The king, a large man, with two chins sat at the head. He had a dumbfounded expression and looked more foolish with an oversized crown sitting cockeyed on his head. A collection of what looked like Tatooine commanders and dignitaries filled out the rest of the table. Kalu's jaw clenched and his veins throbbed as it appeared to him that they were celebrating something. Perhaps the destruction of Athuan.
"Guards seize him!" One of the military looking men yelled out.
A pack of ten guards closed in on Kalu. He held both hands up and stalled them in their place. He lifted all of their spears into the air and pointed them toward their owners. Everyone halted their movements.
Kalu couldn't help his teeth from bearing as he sneered at the collection of cowards.
"Fools!" Spittle flew as he yelled. All of the people shot back in their chairs at his outburst.
"You destroy my people. Murder my family. And you leave your royalty so lightly guarded?" Kalu asked as he scanned all that sat at the table. Their expressions oscillated between bewildered and frightened.
"You celebrate your conquest of my great city with bootlegged wine and smuggled meats?" he said as he looked over the food and drink that looked marked for transport and was clearly stolen from a cargo ship.
"Sir, we have no fight with you. Why are you here?" An older man dressed in common robes stood up and asked.
Kalu's face fumed as he glared at him. "Oh but you do have a fight with me. Can you not think something you have done that would bring the likes of me down upon you?"
A grave look came across the old man. "You are Athuan?" He took a step back. "But you are a Jedi, why are you threatening us?"
"Silence!" Kalu yelled. The man dropped back into his seat.
Kalu turned to the king who held onto his queen and two young children – a boy and girl.
"What is your name, great king?"
The man assured his queen and children and stood up to address Kalu. "My name is King Praedo." the man stammered out.
"Well then, King Praedo… say goodbye to your wife and children!" Kalu yelled as he lifted him out of his chair.
Everybody screamed. Kalu launched the spears into the hearts of all the guards. The commanders hollered at him as he drew the king up and to the middle of the table. Several of them got on top of it and jumped up, trying to pull him down.
"Witness the end of your king!" Kalu opened his hand up and Praedo gasped loudly.
He coughed and gagged as his wife and children screamed and begged. Several of the men sprinted after Kalu. He drew up his lightsaber and lashed the first one while still maintaining focus on choking the king. Driving it through two commanders at once, he compressed harder on the king's throat. Guttural gasps and groans echoed in the throne room. The king forced out a suffocated scream as his face turned purple. His head dropped with a final wheeze. Kalu threw him down, causing blood to splatter onto his family.
Kalu launched forward and sliced into the remaining men. Their screams fed his thirst for vengeance. The oldest and most decorated looking of the men fled toward the door. Kalu held out an open hand and caused him to collapse. Walking toward him, Kalu lifted his body into the air and slammed him to his knees. His military uniform was adorned with at least thirty medals.
Kalu's body shook as he stood over the cowering General. "Which one of these was for murdering my people? We both know you had the plan."
The man hyperventilated and eyes didn't blink. "You are a Jedi. You're supposed to be a peace keeper."
Kalu jammed his lightsaber into the man's shoulder. He screamed in agony as Kalu held it there—melting his flesh without killing him. "No one tells me what I am! I am my Father's reckoning!"
The General tried to pull away, but Kalu held him there to feel the insidious burn of the lightsaber.
"Just kill me!" He shrieked and squirmed.
The man's body convulsed and his squeals hurt Kalu's ears. He held him there and inched his weapon toward his heart. Plumes of smoke from burning flesh rose. Melted skin and muscle dropped.
"I want to taste your misery! I want to digest your anguish! For you took everything from me!"
Kalu drove the lightsaber the rest of the way across the man's chest—severing his heart.
"Your rage is mine now!" Sauron said into his head, bringing Kalu back to the moment.
"No more! No more!" Kalu yelled.
"You still have one more thing to give me—your soul."
Kalu's head drooped down. His entire body wheezed, causing his lungs to burn. "No… No… please spare me."
"But what happened next was your greatest accomplishment. It is what set you on the course to your destiny."
Kalu looked up at the Dark Lord with a pitiful expression. "That is the only thing I regret. Show mercy on me. Do not make me relive it!"
Sauron chuckled and held out his palms. "There is no quarter in my domain."
Kalu's vision plunged back into his memory—back to Tatooine.
He stormed out of the palace doors and looked over the city of Mos Enis below. The queen and her children had run out of the throne room before he could deal with them and now they escaped through the middle of the city's main road. Kalu ignored them and went to finish what he had started.
"Z!" he yelled to his droid coming around the side of the palace. "Did you find what I wanted?"
"Yes, master. They had three tankers providing power here."
Kalu smiled as he scanned Mos Enis. An aqueduct that started on both sides of the palace, dropped down sharply and encircled the entire city was his target.
"Dump a tanker into each of sides of the aqueduct. Make sure that every last drop of fuel is drained."
"Sir—" "Just do it, Z!" Kalu barked at the droid.
Hesitating for a second, Z moved the tankers into position. Kalu saw the queen pleading with anyone she saw to get inside. Hordes of guards came from every part of the city and started massing on the main road. They marched toward the castle.
"You're too late." Kalu said to himself.
He walked to the left aqueduct as Z drained the last of the fuel into the right one. Reaching down, he unlatched his lightsaber and turned it on. Its pale blue made him shudder. Its harmonious sound unearthed a deep joy within him as it would enable his final stroke of revenge.
"This is for you, Mother." he said as he lowered the saber into the oil soaked water.
A wall of flame burst and tore through the aqueduct. The blaze made its way around the entire city in a matter of seconds. Splashes of fire spilled over and ignited the entire channel itself – trapping all of the people within the city. Turning to the final tanker, Kalu closed his eyes and focused on the heavy piece of equipment. Raising a hand, he raised it into the air. Opening his eyes he watched as he moved it high above Mos Enis. He closed his fist and the massive tanker halted directly above the middle of the city.
"This is for you, Father." Kalu drew his lightsaber back and threw it at the tanker.
They collided. The oil exploded. The ground under Kalu's feet shook and his ears rung. A tsunami of flame rained down onto the city. His smile grew wider as the screams rang louder than the explosion. Whether it was men, women or children—their final cries were a gift to him.
"Your soul belongs to me!" Sauron's voice brought Kalu back out of his memory.
He could still hear the screams. His entire body cringed and cowered as it felt like it might collapse into itself. What was pleasure in the moment of it happening was now torment. His vision came back in a few seconds. The Dark Lord walked toward him. Peering down, Kalu saw an unusual sight. A sphere with three different colors swirling within; one was red like Athuan's sun on summer's first day, one was orange like the fires below, and the last one was blue like his lightsaber. Kalu felt hollow as he stared at it. As if something was taken from him.
Sauron raised a hand and the sphere rolled down the canal. The further it went, Kalu grew weaker. Sauron's eyes flared. The sphere dropped into the pool. A blinding light burst out. Kalu turned and closed his eyes. Turning back, Sauron had come closer to him.
"You have something. Something more I can use." The Dark Lord said.
Kalu scoffed and shook his head. "I have nothing more…" He hacked on his last word and felt like his lungs might collapse. "Whatever I was, is no more."
"You do have something… I can feel it." Sauron raised his right hand. An invisible force tugged at Kalu's pocket.
"There it is."
The shard of Kyber crystal floated out and into Sauron's palm. Kalu was too weak to argue, to plead or to care. In his mind he knew something that powerful could only mean more trouble, but he had no fight left in him. The Dark Lord eventually claimed whatever he sought.
"This is truly one of the most remarkable things I have ever seen." Sauron said in a seduced voice with entranced eyes.
The Dark Lord carried it with caution over to the pool. Holding it over he let it drop. It descended slowly. The walls began to shake, building as the crystal came closer. The Kyber glowed green and pulsed. What sounded like a heartbeat thumped throughout the chasm. The pool of Kalu's blood, suffering and soul rose up. It swallowed the crystal.
"Release them!" Sauron yelled.
A river of liquid metal that glistened like star light and magma shot down the third and fourth canals below Kalu. A hurricane wind swirled around the pool, causing the Orcs to retreat. Sauron remained and his eyes blazed. The star metal and magma collided with Kalu's secretions. He and the Orcs blew back as the substance exploded. The white light blinded all. The pressure pummeled his battered body. Devilish voices chanted in a harsh tongue. Their cryptic and sharp words sounded like a curse. Kalu tried to block them out and box his ears with his shoulders. The restraints prevented him.
"Enough!" Sauron bellowed above all. Everything ceased.
The Dark Lord stood with a glowing fist over the pool. Something rose to it from below. The cowardly Orcs treaded lightly toward their master. They dropped to their knees and groveled at his feet. He opened his hand and the object hovered into it. Kalu's sight returned and made out what the torture concoction had created. A hammer, glowing like all the constellations. It shimmered whether light was abound or inert. An inner craving for the hammer grew inside Kalu. He fought it back for he knew what had created it.
"You will be the gift… the gift that will bring me The One. You will be the creator of the greatest as I am the creator of you. You are… the Mithril Hammer." Sauron's voice boomed like a god addressing his people from on high.
"Is that what this was all about?" Kalu hollered at Sauron, breaking his focus. "All this suffering, all this torture… for some trinket? A useless symbol of your rule?" Kalu burst into laughter and shook his head. His voice was hoarse and it hurt to laugh. "You are no lord! You are a wolf who slaughters sheep when their shepherd is away." His laughter turned maniacal as he lost control. "One day though. One day the shepherd's staff will crack your skull and you'll just be another dead wolf."
Sauron's fist clenched around the hammer's handle and his eyes beamed into Kalu's. "Kill him." he ordered the guards.
The four Orcs drew their swords and skulked toward him.
"Ha! I great death with gladness! Everything has been taken from me and my life should be as well!"
All four of them raised their swords in unison. Goodbye world. Father, Mother, I will see you soon. Filaments of lightning shot out of one of the caverns. They blasted the Orcs who screeched and wilted on contact. A familiar voice came from the darkness.
"Z!" Kalu yelled as the droid flew out of the cavern to his position.
He blasted all four restraints and caught Kalu as he dropped. Sauron turned with the massive mace in hand.
"Halt!" Z barked out as he landed softly with Kalu slunk over him.
Sauron reared his weapon back, but remained in his place.
"Your magic is no use against my weaponry." Z said.
Sauron laughed. "You know little of what I can do."
"I am taking my master and we will be leaving. If anyone tries to stop us, they will be killed." Z started to go toward the Dark Lord.
Kalu grabbed onto him. "Don't! Let him be. He has what he wants."
"And you have what you want." Sauron said to him.
Kalu scoffed at him almost willing to send Z after him. Perhaps with both of them and his lightsaber they could defeat the Dark Lord. But he was weak and it was true, they didn't know what Sauron could do. "I have nothing because of you. I am a barren man."
"You remain intact. Your body will heal. In time you will realize I have given you the means to carry out your destiny."
"You're a deceiver. I will be a beggar for the rest of my life."
"No. You're a fool."
Kalu gave Sauron a curious look.
"I have given you an open path to your rage, the deepest connection to your soul. When you become well, you will be more powerful than you could have possibly dreamed."
Kalu tightened his fist. He could already feel his body starting to mend somehow. He turned back to Sauron. "If that's true, I will be coming for you one day." He held out a shaking finger.
The Dark Lord turned away and walked toward a fissure. "I will be waiting for you, if that day should ever come." He disappeared into the darkness.
"Please, sir. We must leave now." Z said, shaking Kalu out of his trance.
They made their way through the labyrinth of passages of Mount Doom as quickly as Kalu's legs could handle. Z knew the fastest route and got them out fast. Reaching the outside, they were still only halfway down. The sky remained scorched and the heat outside was a relief compared to chasm.
"Latch on, sir." Z said, extending a pair of hand clasps.
Z launched off and they flew over the barren land that was Mordor. It passed like a blur to Kalu—still weak from the past two days. They wound through the mountain passages and finally over the spider's lair. The ship still sat in its original landing spot. Kalu tried to smile, but couldn't. His body relaxed for the first time since he could remember.
"All repairs are complete with the proper parts, sir."
"How did you manage that?" Kalu said surprised.
"After you told me to not search for you. I knew you had lost the capacity to make sound decisions. I took it upon myself to find the resources to make the parts and search you out."
Kalu managed a smile at Z's blatant disregard for his orders. "You heard that?"
"Yes. I wasn't able to respond though."
"How did you find me?"
"I know you well, master. I know that there isn't much in this galaxy that would cause you to give up. With that knowledge, I looked for something that might cause that reaction in you. When I saw the mountain shooting out flame, I knew that was where you were."
It hurt to laugh, but Kalu mustered a subtle one. "I am forever grateful to you, Z."
"No thanks is needed. Only to fly us out of here and never return."
They landed and Z gathered the remaining things as Kalu carefully made his way into the cockpit. He settled down gently and sealed the door. He took a deep breath as the security of his ship and its weapons reassured him.
"All set, sir." Z Spoke through the comm.
Kalu started the ship and they rose quickly. Coming above the mountain peaks, he took one more look on the planet that nearly took his life. He thrust the controls forward and they blasted into the atmosphere and back into space. The schism was still there and he could see through its opening. He pushed the controls to full speed and shot back through into the known galaxy.
"We made it, sir."
Kalu closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "We made it."
"Where to now?"
Kalu gripped the controls. His strength was already starting to return. He felt like given another hour he could rip the control stick right out of its socket. The memories of his parents, his destroyed homeland, and his master telling him not to go to Athuan, to turn himself in, all came flooding back. All the switches on the control panel started to vibrate. He felt the Force swirling all around him. The haze was gone – his control had returned. An inferno brewed in his chest as the Force gave him power – more power than he had ever felt. His teeth gnashed together as the rage flowed through him at will. "To Coruscant… to the Jedi Temple… to my master… the traitor."
The End… for now