Chapter 10: Dark Forces Rising
Geonosis, Weeks Ago
After the downfall of Luke Skywalker's Jedi Order, those of his Padawans, Knights, and Masters who had survived were scattered to the four corners of the Galaxy. As had happened with the fall of the Jedi after Order 66, the survivors tried to hide out anywhere and everywhere they could, ever-desperate to avoid detection and elimination. That history was repeating itself in the worst way did not go unnoticed to the Jedi, many of whom lamented it mightily.
One such planet a group of Jedi had fled to, was Geonosis. Ironic in itself, considering how so many Jedi had once died fighting there. Fighting a battle that would begin the very war that would end with their last near-total annihilation.
But, one of Luke's new Jedi was a Geonosian, a hitherto-unseen case of the Force manifesting strongly in a member of that species. Even though said species had enjoyed a resurgence in the years after Palpatine's attempt to annihilate them, their numbers were still not what they had been before the Clone Wars, and Geonosis was still on the whole uninhabited and desolate, not to mention remote. In short, the perfect place for the Jedi group to hide.
Or so they had thought.
"What happened to Bargost?" Asked Arwen Ulyette, an attractive Mirialan female garbed in robes and leather gloves and boots that were almost all white with some green.
"Dead." Was the blunt response of her mate and fellow Jedi Knight, Elen Starks, a fairly young and handsome human male with brown hair and blue Jedi robes with bits of armor. "Whatever's hunting us got him. Saw it with my own eyes."
"I can't believe it." Another human Jedi, Waymar Seri, said bitterly. "We run so long from the Knights of Ren, go so far, and hide out here in this wasteland, and still something manages to find us! And kill us!" He shook his head. "It's hopeless. The Galaxy has it out for the Jedi. It always has."
"Don't despair, Seri." Said Kirana Ti, a Dathomiran who had embraced Luke Skywalker's Jedi Order after rejecting the ways of the Nightsisters. "Yes, our predicament is dire, but if we give into those emotions you're feeding, then we've truly lost."
"What if we die anyway?" Asked Elen.
"Then we do it on our feet and with dignity. Not curled up in a ball whimpering and despairing." The other Jedi nodded in agreement. Not a Nightsister she might be, but Kirana Ti still had a warrior's bluntness, not to mention preference for assertiveness and perseverance, not blanching in the face of...well, hardly anything. It was why she was the unofficial leader of the pack at this point.
The Geonosian Jedi, Ikvizar Fac, said in his native dialect (which the others understood through both education and the Force): "Master Ti is quite correct. We were seven when we started, and now we are six. To not stand united would invite swifter death."
That was the thing about Ikvizar Fac; he was still a Geonosian, even without the usual bad qualities that entailed. And so he thought as many Geonosians did, namely in terms of a collective. To him, numbers and unity were always better than going at it alone. In that sense, he was perfect for the life of a Jedi. He already thought so little of his own individual importance and so much about the concept of group benefits, that the relentless altruism that the life of a Jedi demands came easily to him.
There was a pause. Elen was the first to sense it in the Force, and then his beloved Arwen, who took his hand in her own and squeezed it. "I sense him too." She whispered. "He's out there. And he's coming...to us."
Vjun, Now
The Dark Warrior wasted no time in getting right to it where dueling Rey was concerned; she scarcely had time to react to the opening flurry of slashes from the crimson blade, and soon most of her vision was red light as the Dark Warrior continued throwing around relentless strokes. As Rey did what she could to muster a respectable defense, the Dark Warrior advanced purposefully, continuing to throw the strokes around but being in no way sloppy; there was clear purpose behind every arcing slash, every wide swing, every brutal cleave and hack. Then it dawned on Rey that she recognized what she was being shown, and when she did, her gut dropped like a stone.
The Dark Warrior was using Juyo.
Juyo, the Seventh form of Lightsaber Combat, was one that Rey knew only by reputation; Luke and the holocron of Cin Drallig had both given her some basic knowledge of it; in essence, Juyo was a wild and erratic form, even more than Ataru, and a very aggressive form, even more than Djem So. It required proficiency in all of the other lightsaber forms to be able to use, and involved the very kinds of relentless strokes Rey was under attack from now. So dangerous a fighting style was it, that Jedi had long debated whether or not it was a safe style to learn or teach.
But of course, those aligned with the Dark Side, such as the Sith and this warrior, had no such concerns.
Next thing Rey knew, her double saber had been swatted out of her small hands. She tried blasting back the Dark Warrior with a two-handed Force push, but the Dark Warrior was having none of it, kicking Rey harshly in the face and leaving the whole side swollen and bruised from where the clawed, metal foot had connected with her cheek. The blow was also such that it sent Rey flying through the air and slamming into the statue of Vader. She gasped in pain as she felt as though an angry Wookie had punched her right in the spine. She tasted blood in her mouth and the wind felt knocked out of her. Looking up, she could see the Dark Warrior twirl the red lightsaber about for a few moments before advancing slowly towards her...
Geonosis, Weeks Ago
"He's coming here." Arwen repeated. "We need to move again."
"I say we stand and fight." Kirana Ti said. "We can't keep running forever."
"We can't face that thing!" Protested the sixth of the Jedi, a Klatooinian Padawan named Uroc Gon.
"We must try." Kirana retorted firmly. "I told you; we can't run forever."
"I can try to scout ahead and find us a higher, more easily defensible position." Ikvizar suggested.
"Might as well." Kirana Ti agreed with a nod.
Keeping his lightsaber pike close, Ikvizar took off on his insectoid wings, flying out of the cave and up towards some of the nearby mountains. Those were so abundant on Geonosis that the Jedi could hardly have any difficulty in finding an effective place to prepare for an attack.
But, out of nowhere it seemed, a spinning streak of crimson fire cut through the air, and though Ikvizar tried to react to it in time, the lightsaber still slashed him and he fell out of the sky like a shot bird.
"Ikvizar!"
Elen ignited his crossguard lightsaber, forest green blades bursting forth. His lover followed suit with her own traditional green lightsaber, while Waymar and Uroc ignited their blue ones, and Kirana Ti drew both her orange-yellow lightsaber and her battle-staff. The five Jedi huddled together and they all looked out for any sign of the assassin. They could all sense their foe through the Force, but none of them could get an exact "fix" on their foe's location, like scanners on a ship that could tell a spacer only that there was an enemy fighter nearby, but not the direction in which it was coming from.
Up in the shadows of the mountainous cave the Jedi had taken shelter in, the Dark Warrior drew two lightsabers from the belt that, at present, had four hilts on it. The characteristic "snap-hiss" of lightsaber blades springing to life alerted the five Jedi to the Dark Warrior's presence, and they moved out of the way just as the assassin came down with two red lightsabers in hand...
Vjun, Now
Rey weakly reached out with her hand, calling her double-bladed lightsaber back to her. She activated one of the blades just in time to block the smashing strike from the Dark Warrior. Rey felt her arms strain trying to keep back the sheer power of the attack. She tried to muster a counter-attack, but the Dark Warrior casually deflected the few weak attacks before contemptuously swatting Rey's lightsaber out of her hands again. With the clawed hand not grasping the lightsaber, the Dark Warrior grabbed Rey by the throat and lifted her up. Rey chocked and gasped as she felt oxygen being squeezed out of her lungs at an alarming rate. Her hands reached weakly for the her throat but she had no hope of prying those clawed, metal fingers away. She could feel blood on her neck from the cuts being left as the claws dug into her flesh.
Air returned to her lungs abruptly as the Dark Warrior released her and she fell to the floor. Looking out, Rey could see that the Dark Warrior was being pulled telekinetically towards Luke. With a mechanically modified roar, the Dark Warrior created a wave of telekinetic energy so powerful, Luke was briefly staggered and had to release his quarry. Whipping around, the Dark Warrior stared Luke down, red lightsaber held at the ready in a reverse grip.
"Halt, assassin. Who are you? What are you? Knight of Ren or something else?"
"I do not serve the Knights of Ren." The Dark Warrior hissed, voice completely distorted by the vocabulator in the all-face concealing helmet. "And my name is not important to you."
"Step away from my Padawan."
Without a word, the Dark Warrior put away the lightsaber and raised both arms. Luke could sense a Force Storm building up inside his foe, and moved in to intercept. In an instant, the Dark Warrior's red lightsaber came back into a clawed hand and met Luke's green blade head-on, the nascent storm dying away as the Dark Warrior focused on defending with a lightsaber. The lightsaber of Obi-Wan Kenobi flew into the second hand, catching Luke's attention. As the Dark Warrior ducked under Luke's next swing and leaped backwards to avoid his follow-up, Luke said: "I recognize that lightsaber. It belonged to a great Jedi once."
The Dark Warrior's wordless nod confirmed that Luke's foe understood this. And the lowering of that blue blade at Luke's face confirmed that the Dark Warrior didn't care that they were now using a Jedi lightsaber to try and kill a Jedi. Correctly reasoning that the Dark Warrior must have found it within Vader's castle, Luke readied his green lightsaber, and prepared himself to engage his foe.
Geonosis, Weeks Ago
No sooner had the Dark Warrior landed, did exchanging of lightsaber blows commence with all speed. The Dark Warrior blocked the strikes from all five of the Jedi admirably, spinning and twirling the red lightsabers as needed to force back some of the Jedi whilst focusing attention on the others. Taken aback somewhat by how their enemy could hold their own against all five of them at once, the Jedi's assault briefly weakened, allowing the Dark Warrior to unleash a Force Wave that blasted all but Kirana Ti and Elen Starks to the ground. The former simply moved out of the way in time, the latter did the same and fired out a Force Blast. The Dark Warrior sped out of the way before the attack could connect, then leaping up to a wall before kicking off of it and shooting towards the ground, all the while spinning with the two red lightsabers to create an image that vaguely resembled an out-of-control propeller.
The Dark Warrior's landing unleashed a Force Wave that kept the Jedi down and grounded, save for Uroc Gon, who leaped out of the way just in time (having been the first to get back to his feet earlier). The Klatooinian met the Dark Warrior's lightsabers head on, but the exchange of blows was pitifully short; the Dark Warrior needed to block only four strikes from Uroc before slashing off one of the Klatooinian's forearms. As Uroc fell to his knees, the Dark Warrior cleaved down on his neck.
Arwen gasped in shock and horror as Uroc Gon's headless body fell to the floor. She fired out a Force Blast at the Dark Warrior, but the attack was shrugged off. Arwen next tried hurling several stones at the Warrior with telekinesis, but these were destroyed with fans of crimson as they came. Waymar came running in along with Kirana Ti. Outstretching a clawed hand, the Dark Warrior telekinetically lifted Waymar off the ground, and with a sickening crunching sound crushed his internal organs, before slamming him hard into the ground. Kirana Ti was disposed of with a two-handed Force Push that sent her flying up into the air and smashing into the stone ceiling as though she'd been shot out of a cannon.
Now only the lovers Elen and Arwen remained. They each attacked the Dark Warrior from a different side, but with two lightsabers, the Dark Warrior could meet each of their green blades as needed, blocking strikes casually and keeping both Jedi at bay before a flick of a wrist blasted Elen backwards dozens of feet and smashing into a stone outcropping. Once that was done, the Dark Warrior turned to Arwen, slamming both red blades into her green one again and again and driving her back steadily, as Arwen did everything she could to hold out.
"Elen! Help me!" Arwen cried out over the clashing lightsabers. But alas, by the time Elen recovered and sped towards her and the Dark Warrior, the latter had already disarmed Arwen with an expertly delivered slash, and blasted her through with a Force Push that sent her flying through the air and going through a large outcropping of rock so hard said rock was smashed to pebbles. There was a cracking sound too, and as Arwen's bloody and battered body hit the dusty ground and tumbled along, Elen's heart caught in his throat.
"No! Arwen!"
The Dark Warrior turned to face Elen as he cried this out. Elen did not sense Arwen pass into the Force, but he could sense how desperately she clung to life as her body lay broken.
Reaching out to reclaim the lightsaber he'd dropped when the Dark Warrior had blasted him backwards, Elen was left horrified when another crimson slash left said lightsaber in two useless halves.
"I think not." The Dark Warrior said simply, the first and only thing the assassin said during the entire fight. Frowning in the face of this, Elen noticed the two lightsabers on the ground; the discarded weapons of Uroc and Waymar. Knowing what he had to do, Elen fired a Force Push at the Dark Warrior. The Warrior sped out of the way of the attack, but Elen had been counting on this; while the Dark Warrior was moving, Elen summoned the two lightsabers safely to him and re-ignited their blue blades.
The two Force users stared each-other down for only a moment. Then, the Dark Warrior leaped into the air with red lightsabers raised overhead...
Vjun, Now
Luke Skywalker had to admit, that his age was finally getting to him.
Even granting that he'd been fighting through the greater part of the First Order's forces on Vjun before finally reaching the Dark Warrior, Luke still felt more tired than he ought to. And he knew he didn't used to get this tired. Not when he was still young, or even middle-aged. But now, even with his skills not diminished, his stamina was. He was getting slower, and in the face of his younger, more relentless and vicious opponent, Luke took notice of that too.
He inwardly sighed. That will make this more difficult.
Just as Rey had discovered quickly, Luke didn't need long to realize that his opponent used Juyo, and used it well. A common misconception held, that knowing Juyo automatically made one nigh-unassailable as a lightsaber duelist, but that was not true (as Meetra Surik's sound thrashing of Atris demonstrated). Like all other lightsaber forms, not every user of Juyo was equal. Having said that, the Dark Warrior clearly knew what they were doing. The use of two lightsabers, far from a mere gimmick, made the assault of Luke's enigmatic foe all the more erratic, vicious, and hard to keep up with, no mean feat in itself given that this was far from the first time Luke had had to fight a dual wielder.
He's been trained well. Luke admitted to himself as he struggled to block another dual-strike from the Dark Warrior before replying in kind with measured and controlled swings and thrusts. Their lightsabers lanced back and forth, flashes of green and red and blue filling the vision of both combatants. Watching the sight, Rey found it increasingly difficult to keep track of the two and their movements. They were becoming blurry to her, and Rey was sure that it wasn't just because she was struggling to stay conscious.
So this is what Master Skywalker looks like in a duel when he's not holding back. Rey thought as the intense duel continued. The white hot flashes of lightsabers clashing continued. The two combatants began moving around the area, which was wide open enough to allow for ease of movement and ensured that neither combatant was wanting for room to move around. But as the duel continued, it occurred to Rey as she did what she could to reach through the Force, that the Dark Warrior was not losing. The revelation was more shocking to Rey than perhaps it should have been. She was so used to her master being the best lightsaber duelist in the room by a lightyear that the notion that this nameless, faceless, terrifying hunter could ever possibly win against him was all but incomprehensible to Rey. Sure, he was tired, she could sense that, and sure, the Dark Warrior would be as augmented by the darkness of Vader's castle as any of the others, but even with those two things, Rey couldn't believe that her master would lose. Wouldn't believe it.
Please, Master... Rey thought silently, even though she knew Luke could probably read her thoughts, even in the midst of battle (though she hoped he couldn't). Please, Master Skywalker...you have to beat him.
The lightsaber duel continued relentlessly, the two combatants now regularly inserting Force Pushes and Blasts into their fight, but each one dodged the other's attack. The Dark Warrior also tried to use Force Lightning, but Luke caught the bolts on his green blade. For his part, Luke tried a cousin power to Force Lightning called "Kinetite", launching a compressed ball of electricity that the Dark Warrior narrowly ducked to avoid.
Luke sighed and fought hard to keep the frustration at bay, as such an emotion did no Jedi any favors. But he couldn't help it; the Dark Warrior was too good. If he weren't so damn tired from both age and all the fighting he'd done up to that point, Luke was confident he would have won by now. But as it was, the decisive blow, the expert disarming, something, anything he could do to end the fight, seemed to elude him.
That said, Luke did finally disarm the Dark Warrior of Ben Kenobi's lightsaber, the hilt clattering to the floor as the blue flame of it's blade winked out. Luke called the lightsaber to him and hastily clipped it to his belt. The Dark Warrior snarled angrily in the face of losing a new trophy, and surged towards Luke with renewed fury. Satisfied that he'd made some progress, Luke renewed his own assault. He ducked under an overhead slash, thrusted with purpose, and was satisfied that the stab grazed against the armor of the Dark Warrior. The Dark Warrior reeled back from the blow, and Luke seized his chance, knowing full well that he probably wouldn't get another.
With a cleaving slash that came like a flare of green-white flame, Luke struck at the Dark Warrior's helmet, slicing it cleanly in two. When the pieces clattered to the floor, both Luke and Rey gasped in shock at what they saw.
Geonosis, Weeks Ago
Elen collapsed to his knees defeated, each of the blue lightsaber hilts that weren't his own rolling out of a gloved hand. The tip of a red lightsaber blade was right at Elen's face and throat.
"Go on then." Elen said. "I'm a Jedi. I don't fear death, and I won't beg."
The Dark Warrior nodded understanding wordlessly, and prepared to deliver a final thrust. It never came.
A Force Push hit the Dark Warrior in the back and sent the assassin hurtling forwards and through the air. The source was none other than Ikvizar Fac, who stood there with his thin, bony arms outstretched and wrists flicked.
"Impossible..."
Lifting up his hands, the Geonosian Jedi telekinetically lifted the Dark Warrior, who was still reeling from the surprise attack, and tossed the assassin to one side, the Dark Warrior hitting the side of the cavern hard enough to dislodge some stones.
With the Dark Warrior temporarily stunned, Elen zipped towards Arwen and his heart ached as though he had taken that stab from the Dark Warrior when he saw her; she was a crumpled heap, her white and green robes stained with blood and her beautiful face bearing hideous bruises. Blood trailed down out of one of her nostrils, one of her ears was broken, and both of her eyes were blacked out.
Wasting no time, Elen took Arwen in his arms, cradling her in a bridal carry as Ikvizar Fac provided covering fire with more Force Pushes and Force Blasts. By now, the Dark Warrior had recovered from not just the stun but the surprise attack, and dodged each telekinetic attack as needed, though they were at least enough to keep the Dark Warrior at bay.
"I won't be able to keep him back much longer..." Ikvizar Fac admitted. Indeed, the Dark Warrior began to get closer. Seeing this, the Geonosian used the Force to lift Kirana Ti's own broken body, and telekinetically carry her out as he retreated along with Elen. The latter sped out as fast as he could, holding Arwen in his arms the whole way. Ikvizar for his part flew on his wings, which had somehow managed to stay intact and usable even after his bad fall. All the while, he telekinetically dragged Kirana Ti along with him. Knowing that the Dark Warrior would pursue regardless, Ikvizar and Elen called on the Force as best they could to start collapsing parts of the cavern to block the Dark Warrior's path. While they did not have even together the power needed to collapse a place that was larger than some buildings, they could with enough of a strain bring down enough large stones that it slowed the Dark Warrior down considerably, as their pursuer evaded each one without getting crushed. Finally, the two Jedi managed to make it out with their unconscious and injured fellows in tow, and promptly collapsed the cave entrance with their conjoined power before speeding away again. They ran for miles before finally, having spent most of what reserves of Force power they had, they collapsed.
"That won't hold that animal for long." Elen noted grimly as he continued to hold Arwen in his arms, despite now being on his knees and feeling as though he needed to be carried himself.
"I know." Ikvizar said. "Which is why we must contact help."
"We can't. The First Order could pick up the signal."
"That is a risk we shall have to take." Ikvizar said. "Against that assassin is certain death. If we make our presence here known, there is only the chance of it. Which would you prefer?"
"Fair enough." Elen said. "But we must hurry. Arwen and Kirana need medical attention."
"Can you use Force Heal on them?"
"I can try, but after that I'll have nothing left for at least a good day or two, maybe longer. Causing all those stones to fall plus collapsing the cave and then running for so long took a lot out of me."
"Me as well." Ikvizar noted. "But we must try. Our friends here will not last long enough to get proper medical attention otherwise."
Elen nodded. As he used Force Heal to do what he could for Arwen, all the while hating seeing her so injured, he asked: "How did you survive? We saw that lightsaber strike you..."
"Tutaminis." Ikvizar explained. "I absorbed most of the energy of the lightsaber strike. I regret to say that my Lightsaber Pike was not so fortunate; cleaved in two. I think the top half is still usable as a regular lightsaber, but I left it behind."
"Well, you still have the Force." Elen said.
"Yes, and I hope it's enough..."
Meanwhile, back in the area near the cavern, the Dark Warrior at last pushed away the last of the rubble in the way, and picked up the broken top half of Ikvizar's lightsaber pike. Sure enough, it was indeed still functional as a regular lightsaber. Satisfied, the Dark Warrior shrank the blue blade away and put the lightsaber pike half on the belt that already included several other lightsaber hilts. Arwen's discarded lightsaber also joined it, and so did the blue lightsabers of Waymar and Uroc. Four new trophies to mark the Dark Warrior's victory over four defeated Jedi. It also meant that the Dark Warrior's lightsaber "collection" had effectively doubled.
But it wasn't enough. It wasn't enough not in terms of how many lightsabers the Dark Warrior got. That was fine enough at eight and soon to be more. No, it wasn't enough because, the true target of the Dark Warrior, had not been among that group of Jedi. The Dark Warrior had known this going in, but had attacked the Jedi anyway because the Jedi were a fading, misguided light that needed to be snuffed out with all speed. No Jedi had been around to uplift and save the Dark Warrior's family when they needed it, and no Jedi could understand that it was through power that victory was acquired, and that through victory, one's chains would be broken; the Force would free them. The Dark Warrior knew this truth; only by embracing passion and rage and hatred had the Dark Warrior endured. It was just as the Dark Warrior's great grandfather and grandfather had wisely taught; the power of the Dark Side is superior, and the weak and delusional Jedi know not what is best for the Galaxy.
But again, the Jedi were not, strictly speaking, the Dark Warrior's true target. That, was a more personal one. One the Dark Warrior had been searching for for years, and had finally sensed through the Force, now that she'd finally "awoken". Awoke to her connection to the Force and began to embrace it, to nurture it, to use it. But as she grew more powerful, so too did she become more aware to the Dark Warrior.
And as she became more aware, so too did she become easier to track.
Soon... The Dark Warrior thought. ...soon I will get my revenge on you. You will pay for betraying me. For betraying our family...my vengeance will not be denied. And the glory of the Sith will return under my leadership. My birthright. No one will take it from me. No one."
Vjun, Now
Rey was looking into a mirror.
Not in the literal sense; there was no polished glass in front of her, no frame to house it, no product of rays of light hitting a surface, bouncing, and leaving an angle of incidence to create a copy of whatever was beholding it. Rather, she was staring at a woman who, with her helmet gone, had Rey's face as her own.
Of course, there were differences too; her skin was paler than Rey's, looking diseased and sick and an almost deathly pallor. As if it were a Rey who hadn't known the beauty of a good sleep or sunlight in days or possibly even weeks. Her hair was the same color as Rey's, the same shade, but the style was different, being somewhat messier and with a braid that had spilled out from behind the now-destroyed helmet and always been visible. Perhaps Rey should have taken that as her first clue that her stalker and nemesis was a woman and not a man, but it had never even crossed her mind.
But the biggest difference, were the eyes:
It is often said that one can learn some things about a person by seeing the look in their eyes; their personality, their thoughts, their motives, their feelings, and so on. Rey had been on the receiving end of this but also the one making the judgments; she had looked into many pairs of eyes over the years, and generally, her intuitions about them didn't let her down. Similarly, most who looked into Rey's brown eyes would correctly guess her to be kind, good-hearted, compassionate, and something other than gentle only when she had to be and not before. They contained warmth, a human warmth that Rey had also seen in the eyes of the woman from her visions who she knew to be her mother.
But these eyes...the eyes of the woman in front of her who bore her face...those eyes were not warm. They were not good-hearted, or gentle, or containing any of the kindness or compassion that were such a part of who Rey was. Instead, in those yellow orbs ringed with a scarlet border that looked like terrible bloodshot, Rey saw hatred and rage. Raw, condensed, unrelenting hatred and rage. In those eyes spoke of someone who had surrendered herself to whatever poison had been in her heart and now shined through in those hideous yellow eyes as well. Yellow. Yellow like a festering, bubbling venom from some wretched toxic predator that had fallen to the ground. Yellow like the mark of a horrid pestilence. Yellow...like the Sith. The eyes of the Sith were her eyes. This woman with whom Rey's face had so much in common and yet, she realized, so little.
So yes, Rey was looking into a mirror...a very unflattering and terrifying one.
"Who...who are you?" Rey asked.
The unmasked Dark Warrior turned to face Rey and glowered hatefully at her. Pointing her red lightsaber at her, she hissed: "You know who I am, sister. You betrayed me. Betrayed our family! And for those crimes, you die!"
"No, please, I don't know what you're talking about..." Rey said weakly, her mind reeling from the confirmation that she had a sister, and a twin sister from the looks of it. One who evidently wished to bring down fatal punishment for crimes Rey had no knowledge or memory of ever committing.
In any case, the Dark Warrior's charge was promptly cut off by Luke, who was finally able to conclude the pair's lightsaber duel by expertly taking the rag-covered hilt out of the Dark Warrior's clawed hand. A flick of his wrist sent her flying backwards and away from him and Rey.
"Yield." Luke said firmly.
"I can just draw another one!" The Dark Warrior shouted defiantly, and to prove her point, drew Darth Vader's lightsaber from her belt and activated it's crimson blade with all speed.
"We both know what will happen if you attack me again." Luke said grimly. "You gave a good fight, but it's over now. Stand down."
The Dark Warrior looked at Luke, and then looked at Rey. As Rey locked eyes with her sister again, she was suddenly hit with a flash of a vision, as she saw again the face of the woman she knew was her mother.
"Find me, Rey. Please, find me..."
"This is not over, sister!" The Dark Warrior hissed, which ended Rey's brief vision and returned her to the present. "I swear, I will kill you one day! I will break you! I will kill you and then your master and all the Jedi there are left!"
Luke advanced towards her, but the Dark Warrior sped off towards the window. She expertly cut a hole in it with Vader's lightsaber whilst calling the one she'd been disarmed of back to her. She spun as she dove down, before landing on the rocky ground without so much as a sprained ankle despite it having been a several story drop. Then she took off into the wilderness of Vjun in a burst of speed.
Luke shook his head as he watched her go. Then he walked over to Rey and began using Force Heal to tend to her back and face.
"Thank you." Rey breathed. "She'd have killed me if you hadn't come..."
"I know." Luke said grimly. "She was well trained. Very well-trained. Best lightsaber duelist I've ever seen aligned with the Dark Side since my father and Palpatine." He grimaced. "And I fought plenty before even the Knights of Ren showed up."
"Who do you think taught her to fight like that?"
"I don't know." Luke admitted. "But that was no mere adept. I could sense a lifetime of bitterness and hatred in that woman. I suspect she's been taught the ways of the Dark Side all her life."
"I...I feel sorry for her." Rey said, and all at once she couldn't understand why she had said that. But then she realized; it's because all that anger and hate had to come from somewhere...something. Whatever she held Rey responsible for. Something had happened to this woman who shared Rey's face, and for her own part, Rey realized it must have been something truly awful.
"She's my sister..." Rey muttered, still not wanting to believe it even though the evidence was irrefutable. She looked at her master hard. "Did you know?"
He shook his head and answered honestly. "No. She conceals her presence and nature well. The hatred is so intense it can't be hidden, but the rest..." He sighed. "She's as much a mystery to me as she is to you."
"She says I betrayed her...betrayed our family...but I don't know what she's talking about!"
"I think it may be something she blames you for, not something that's really your fault."
"But what?" Rey wondered. "I don't even remember her! I didn't know I had a sister! What happened that she holds me responsible for?"
"The answers may lie in your early childhood." Luke suggested. "That part of the past you recall the least."
Rey sighed. "I don't remember anything about my early childhood, Master Skywalker. My oldest memory is being left behind and missing my family. But that's it." She shook her head. "I don't know a thing before that."
"Do you think your visions of your mother pay provide a clue?"
"She keeps telling me to 'find her', but I don't know where she is. I don't even know if she's still alive."
"But if she is, she may be able to answer the question of why your sister hates you and seeks your death."
"Maybe. But I still don't know where she is."
"Yes, well, we shall have to focus on that later. At present, we still have a job to do."
"Please tell me it's almost over." Rey said. "I feel better now that you've healed me, but...I'm getting tired."
"I know. Knights of Ren and Reborn are everywhere here."
"Reborn?"
"Those men in red and blue you've been fighting throughout the castle. They were a group of Dark Siders founded and led by a former student of mine named Desann. One of my best swordsmen, Kyle Katarn, killed him and most of the Reborn. But some of them slipped through the cracks. It would seem that they've since fallen in with the First Order."
"Not surprised." Rey said bitterly.
"The two of us together should be able to handle anything that comes our way, provided we don't allow ourselves to get swarmed. Come on. We still need to go to my father's throne room. Once we search that place, we should be ready to go."
Geonosis, Weeks Ago
Using what communication devices they had between them, Ikvizar Fac and Elen Starks finally managed to get a signal out. They waited for some time, as they did resting and allowing their Force power to return to them whilst Elen periodically healed Arwen and Kirana's injuries a bit at a time as his own strength came and went. Finally, the Jedi were able to hail a ship successfully, a cargo freighter that had been making a fuel run that had taken them near Geonosis. When the ramp lowered and the Twi'leks on board saw who it was, their mouths dropped.
"Who in the name of...?"
"Please help us." Elen said, scooping Arwen up into a bridal carry again. "Our friends here are stabilized but they need more medical attention. We need to get off this planet."
"Well, we were heading to Tatooine to drop off some fuel..."
"That's fine by us. We just need to get off Geonosis and get our friends help."
"Who are you, anyway?"
"In trouble, hurt, desperate, on the run, and dead if you don't help us. That good enough?"
The male sighed and said: "Oh, alright, come on, come on..."
Elen and Ikvizar both gave their thanks before getting on board, as always taking Arwen and Kirana with them. The former was actually coming to and mumbled: "Ugh...what...? Where...?"
"Hey, hey take it easy..." Elen said. "You were really badly hurt. You're lucky to be alive."
She smiled weakly at him. "You look like you did okay for yourself..."
"I'd be dead were it not for Ikvizar." Elen said bluntly, to which Arwen turned to look at him. "I...I thought you were..."
"Yes, I would be were it not for my knowing Tutaminis." He said.
"I see Kirana there..."
"She's badly hurt, even worse than you were, but she might just make it. We've gotten on a ship and we're headed to Tatooine now."
"Tatooine?" Arwen sighed. "And they always say nothing ever happens on Tatooine."
Elen chuckled. "Well, I think we all know that's a lie..."
Once the ship landed on Tatooine, Ikvizar and Elen got Arwen and Kirana Ti to a medical station, and as they stayed at their side, they discussed their next move:
"We can't stay here." Ikvizar said bluntly. "Tatooine is close enough that the Dark Warrior will almost certainly think to look for us here. And in any event, I believe we have made a mistake distancing ourselves from both other Jedi and those who would fight the First Order. We must ally ourselves with the Resistance."
"Yes, I think you're right." Elen said with a nod. "We were fools to run and hide for so long. As we've gotten weaker, the First Order and the Knights of Ren have only gotten stronger. The Dark Side itself has gotten stronger. This dark assassin who's been hunting us proves that. Yes, we need to start fighting back. But first thing's first; Arwen and Kirana need to heal. And then we need to ask them what they want to do."
"Agreed." Ikvizar said. "Though I suspect they will agree with us."
"How do you think we should best meet up with the Resistance?" Elen asked.
"I think we may wish to go to a world contested between them and the First Order. Go there and help them. Show them that the Jedi haven't abandoned the Galaxy."
"Good idea." Elen agreed. "Better than searching around aimlessly for wherever they've hidden their base." He paused, then said: "I hope we can help."
"Indeed."
"We almost lost Arwen and Kirana. And we did lose Waymar, Uroc, and Bargost. I'd rather they didn't die for nothing."
"I know, Elen." Ikvizar said. "But there is only so much even four Jedi can do. Especially four Jedi without lightsabers."
"I wish Master Skywalker was still with us."
"Master Skywalker made his choice to walk away from the Jedi Order." Ikvizar pointed out. "It will be his choice to return, if and when he does. Until then, we must not become attached to his absence. Jedi are not ones for clinging to the past."
"...I still wish Master Skywalker was with us."
Vjun, Now
At long last, Luke and Rey came to Darth Vader's throne room.
It was a fairly spacious room; almost all dark gray, including the cool metal floor, but the steps leading up to the imposing black isolation chamber that was Vader "throne", were all adorned with eerie red lights. Red. Like the glow of Vader's lightsaber.
Rey felt her breath mist as well as saw it. She hadn't thought it possible, but the Dark Side was even stronger here than it had been inside the rest of the castle, and stronger than it was on the rest of the planet. All at once, without needing to think about it, Rey knew the place was as evil as the man who had been inside it for years.
Seemingly not bothered at all by it, Luke Skywalker strode forwards with purpose and walked past the isolation chamber. Rey was surprised by this, but quickly realized that she shouldn't be; why in the world would Darth Vader hide anything valuable inside his Isolation Chamber? Especially when the thing made for such an eye-catching distraction? No, Vader was too smart for that. Whatever was in there of value, would be elsewhere.
Walking up to the wall on the far back of the throne room, Luke ran his hand along it, reaching out with the Force to try and find some hidden "switch" or something to that effect. As he did, Rey instinctively turned around and saw another red Reborn. The feeling of the Dark Side was so oppressive and omnipresent in the throne room that it had effectively masked the man's presence entirely; where it not for survival instincts honed from a lifetime of scraping by on Jakku, Rey never would have realized he was there until it was probably too late.
There was only a brief staredown before the Reborn produced an elongated lightsaber hilt that was brown in color. Rey knew what it meant. Sure enough, a scarlet blade came out of both ends.
Just when I thought these 'Reborn' couldn't get any worse...now here's one with a double-saber.
However, whether or not Rey would have been able to take the Reborn was a question that would be left unanswered, as at that moment, a powerful telekinetic burst of energy sent the Reborn flying through the air and dropping his double-saber. Not wasting time, Rey called the weapon to her and destroyed it with her own lightsaber with all speed. Seeing this, the Reborn, clearly not fancying his odds without a lightsaber, ran for his life.
"He'll be back." Rey said. "And he'll probably bring friends."
"We'll be long gone by then." Luke said simply. Rey turned to see that he was walking forwards with a small, onyx pyramid with intricate silver patterns and border held in his mechanical hand.
"I found what we came for."
"A holocron?"
Luke nodded. "Yes. Probably the last one my father ever made. And given that he kept it hidden in a special compartment in his castle, I can only imagine what he put into it. Possibly all of his knowledge, even what he put in his other holocrons."
"Then I guess it's a good thing it's ours now. We don't want Kylo Ren getting his hands on that."
"No, we don't." Luke agreed. "It's time for us to leave now."
Rey nodded her agreement. But as they were about to leave, several rows of First Order Stormtroopers and officers with red pauldrons ran forwards and aimed blaster rifles.
"Halt right there! We've got you blocked off!"
Rey and Luke turned to look at each-other and just smiled.
The Resistance Fleet, Now
"You summoned us, General Organa?" Elen Starks asked as he, Arwen, Kirana Ti, and Ikvizar Fac all appeared before the leader of the Resistance. She nodded. "I did, yes. Now that Luke is back and helping us, I want to see if there are any other Jedi besides him and you four that can also help. We need everyone we can find."
"We know of no other survivors who could help." Kirana Ti said. "I mean, I know Kyle Katarn, Streen, and a few others survived the loss of the temple, but we don't know what happened to them after."
Leia smiled. "Funny you should mention those two. I know exactly where Kyle Katarn is, and my agents think they know where Streen is."
"Where?"
"We think Streen may have gone back to Bespin." Leia elaborated. Elen and Arwen for their parts were not surprised by it (the latter had been his apprentice after all).
"He was once a Tibanna Gas Miner." Arwen said with a gentle smile. "I would like to go and try and find him, General Organa. He was my Jedi Master, and the closest thing I had to a father after my real one died. If anyone's going to find him and bring him back, it should be me."
"And I go where my wife goes." Elen said quickly.
General Organa's smile widened. "Fair enough. I give you both permission to go to Bespin and find Streen. But be warned; we think the First Order may be sending a garrison there soon. And Knights of Ren will be with them."
"We understand." Arwen said. "We'll be in and out quick. If Streen's there, we'll find him and go. If he's not, we'll get out all the more quickly."
"And what of Kyle Katarn?" Kirana Ti asked.
"Right now, Onderon. He's trying to help manage the bad situation there. We were going to send our own people there to help with that and get Onderon on our side against the First Order. And to help those people, who haven't known a good leader in decades."
"We understand." Ikvizar Fac said. "We recommend that we be allowed to accompany your men and help Master Katarn with his efforts."
"Permission granted." Leia said. "Three Jedi's better than one obviously. But be warned; when I say it's a bad situation, I mean it. Onderon has bounced back and forth between anarchy and tyranny as a new dictator rises up, gets assassinated, and then anarchy reigns again, before the whole process repeats itself."
"Definitely sounds like a place that could use three Jedi's help." Elen said with a nod of acknowledgement.
"Well then, good luck to all of you. And I don't think I need to say it, but I will; May the Force be with you."
Vjun
Now that they'd gotten what they'd come for, Rey and Luke fairly flew through the hallways and passages of the castle. Luke ran "slowly" enough that Rey could keep up, but both were running fast enough that no Stormtrooper could ever hope to keep up even if he'd shed all his armor and took off in naught but his undergarments. Going back to the place where the statue of Darth Vader was, Luke leaped out the window, erecting a new Force Barrier as he exited. Landing gracefully and without injury as the Dark Warrior had, Luke used telekinesis to lift Rey up and pull her down to the ground gently so that she wouldn't have to make the same fall. He simultaneously made a second Force Barrier to protect her as she became exposed to the acid rain. Once Rey was safely on the ground, Luke turned to face the castle and grimaced.
"To think, this could have maybe been mine one day, if I'd taken father up on his offer on Bespin."
"You wouldn't have..."
"No, I wouldn't have." Luke confirmed. "And of course I didn't. I never could have. And with father gone, this castle's not much use to anyone else..."
Reaching out with both hands, Luke concentrated deeply and purposefully. Even though Vader's castle on Vjun was positively massive, a structure that must have been the width of a good-sized shipyard (maybe even two), and dozens of meters in height, incredibly, after several moments of Luke holding out his hands and straining himself, the structure began to shudder, and Rey could feel the rocky ground beneath her feet shaking violently. She couldn't believe it; she knew Luke had said he would destroy the castle once they were done, and Rey had said she'd be happy to see it, but even granting those things a part of her still couldn't believe it was actually happening. Her master was powerful, sure, but could he really do this?
And yet, it was happening. It was happening before Rey's eyes; the castle of Darth Vader continued to shudder violently and slowly but surely started to crumble. Bits and pieces and chunks of rubble broke off and fell away. It was as if the castle had been hit by an earthquake and was slowly being torn apart by it. But Luke was not effecting the ground beneath his feet, but rather what was in front of him.
All the while, Luke held his position, arms outstretched. Rey could perceive sweat trickling down his forehead, and her master appeared to be wincing as if in pain. As the act of bringing down Vader's castle continued, Luke's wincing seemed to increase even further. As his clear discomfort and strain increased, so too did Rey's anxiety; her studies under Luke had stressed that, even with the infinite power of the Force, individual Jedi had their limits and should not try to exceed them too mightily, lest they push themselves too hard. That lesson had entailed more than a few sample cases of Jedi who had reached too far or pushed too much. One particular one that stood out in Rey's memory was the female Zabrak Jedi Ilyi Duer, who had pushed her Force powers so much she'd suffered an aneurysm and fatal cerebral hemorrhaging to go along with it. Not a pleasant sight.
But, Luke steeled his way past the increasing agitation, and continued his efforts. More and more of the castle started to break away, larger pieces falling off from the main structure. It seemed that, now that the initial period of "locking on" to the castle and directing the full might of his Force power on it was over, Luke was taking it apart steadily a large chunk at a time. Finally, after several more moments, the last of the castle finally fell away, sending up increasingly large clouds of dust that soon dissipated in the air along with the noise the whole process had made.
Rey's jaw was by now almost on the floor. He'd done it. Her master had actually done it. Brought down Darth Vader's entire castle. All of it. Now it was one big pile of rubble. That he'd done it whilst still maintaining the Force Barriers that protected him and Rey from the omnipresent acid rain just made it all the more impressive a display in Rey's mind. Never in her wildest dreams about the Jedi or the Force had she imagined anything like that.
Luke sighed and hung his head low and dropped his arms as he finished. Rey could sense how much weaker he was now; without him having to say a word, she could sense how bringing down the castle had taken so much out of him. Incredibly, he wasn't completely drained by the act, but Rey could tell he was still no longer anywhere close to top strength. He could keep up their Force Barriers and maybe let loose with a Force Push or two if necessary, but that would be about it. This was confirmed when he silently walked off slowly, rather than speeding away. Rey followed dutifully behind, still in silent awe at what she'd seen. Eventually though, she saw fit to break the silence by saying: "So...are we going to Onderon now?"
Luke nodded. "Yes. But before we do, I think we could both do for a rest."
Rey nodded her own agreement. "No argument there. I'm exhausted from all that fighting in the castle. Hope I never see anymore of those 'Reborn' ever again."
"I wouldn't bet on it, Rey." Luke said sadly. "I wouldn't bet on it."
Author's Notes: Trivia!
1. Arwen is, believe it or not, an actual Mirialan character's name in Legends. Thought I'd use it here. Her beaux's name of "Elen" is a reference to "Elendil", who's descendant Aragorn of course marries Arwen Evenstar in Tolkein's legendarium (which I am ALMOST as much a fan of as Star Wars).
2. Similarly the name of "Waymar" is a reference to Ser Waymar Royce from George RR Martin's Dark Fantasy world. The character has the dubious distinction of being the very first character to die in the story, so I figured it'd be a good name for the throwaway Jedi character here.
3. Kirana Ti is an actual Jedi from Luke's order in the Legends continuity, and she is indeed from Dathomir originally. Think of her as being almost an Asajj Ventress who never fell to the Dark Side.
4. The Force power that the Dark Warrior uses to break free of Luke's telekinetic hold is Force Scream. Force Scream is an actual DS power that factually exists in Legends and possibly in Disney's Canon. In the former, it's the specific power Vader uses to destroy the lab he's brought back in at the end of Revenge of the Sith. So if you wanted to know what happens to the droids and the room right before Vader does his infamous "NOOOOOOO!" there's your answer.
5. Likewise, Tutaminis is an actual Force Power. Comes in handy for blocking lightsaber blade strikes (as demonstrated by Satele Shan in the SWTOR "Hope" cinematic trailer).
6. The New Reborn were in Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy and just as they are in this story, were the remnants of the Reborn from Jedi Knight: Jedi Outcast. The Reborn were hitherto Non-Force sensitives who were endowed with Force power unnaturally via exposure to the Valley of the Jedi, which had been a sort of "pool" of Force energy for over a thousand years because of Darth Bane's killing so many Jedi and Sith at once there during the Battle of Russan. Desaan for his part was the Big Bad of Jedi Knight: Jedi Outcast, but again, like in my story, even after Kyle Katarn killed him, some of his Reborn remained, becoming baddies in Jedi Academy. Like in my story, they did indeed come in blue and red variants, with the latter being both more powerful and more common.
7. Streen was indeed a Tibanna gas miner in the original Star Wars continuity, which is why he has that background here.