Chapther X:
Wrath
Darth Plagueis met his match in Rya Venn. The young Twi'lek could easily counter his blows or just simply jump out of their way – and she followed up with deadly counterattacks. Even the Legendary Lord of Sith had difficulties with foreseeing her moves, and that was a serious disadvantage in their encounter.
Fenn had no choice but to watch their struggle. His broken back was a curse, it made him feel like a useless pile of meat, waiting to be slaughtered. He would happily give his lightsaber to the Twi'lek, however she seemed to be content with one weapon.
Rya stepped out of an attack aimed at her shoulder, then cut the blade deep into the Muun's arm. Darth Plagueis bore the agony without a sound, he stepped back, giving himself some space for the next stroke of moves.
"You shouldn't be here. You were imprisoned," the Muun said under his mask.
"And your were dead," Rya answered, getting ready for an attack.
"The Force will never abide to one entity, it simply doesn't work in this manner. Now that you emerged from the shadows, your counterpart couldn't be far either."
"I can't wait to kill him," she answered.
"Then he would re-emerge, just like he always did."
"Then I shall kill him again," Rya said with a grim expression.
"And as you do so, the galaxy should burn. Is this really your mentality? Isn't this everything you were supposed to deny?" he frowned.
"I am the night, I am the terror, I am the death itself. I am the Light Side of the Force," she answered. "And you are just a mere pretender who knows nothing about the Force. It is not tool, it's not meant to protect anyone. The dead are the only one who could exist in harmony with this world. And dead they shall be. All of who exist."
"No you don't," Darth Plagueis raised his voice. "You are the protector of life. For you the Force is there to use. You wouldn't dare to kill anyone."
"You mistake me with the Mentor," Harmony laughed, raising her lightsaber in front of her.
Darth Plagueis raised his blade in defense, but Rya was already too close. The Twi'lek cut off his arm easily, then she put the blade into the Muun's chest with a sudden stroke. The fight was over before it would really begin.
"I was wrong..." the Muun said, struggling with his dying body.
"Fear not, all mortals are wrong, ever since my imprisonment," Rya told him, taking a step away from the body. "They thought the light of the burning fire is good, yet it consumes them. They thought power is wrong, that strength is nothing but a mere tool to destroy. Yet it is the only thing that can protect them from the fire. But now they shall learn, just as you did," Rya said as she raised her hand.
The Twi'lek pushed the half-dead Sith to wall, crushing almost every bone in his body. A broken pile of meat dropped back from the wall. It was lifeless.
"You've seen it all," Rya turned towards Jaris.
"You are evil," he said, trying to make sense of everything.
"My goal is nothing, but coexistence. Living don't coexist, they transform. Only the dead can exist in harmony," she said, leaning close to him. "The question is. Will you defy me and die, or follow me and perish among the last of the living?"
The answer was obvious. Jaris could do nothing against her, but later on he could make sure that both Harmony and the Mentor perish in the battle to come. Darth Plagueis was right about the balance, one of them couldn't exist without the other. But if none of them did, the cycle would be broken.
"I will serve you, Harmony," he answered.
Rya touched his shoulder. Jaris felt a sudden stroke of pain, then the agony was gone. He felt better than ever. His spine was healed, he could move again, and he quickly got up from the ground, thanking her for what she did.
"You seen nothing from my power," Rya said, glancing at the monitor, showing the ongoing battle. They lost many ships, yet the Traxan managed to stay in one piece. "But now you shall see what I can do."
Rya's eyes gloved with blue light as a large, fog-like entity appeared on the monitor. The vicious cloud approached Admiral Dahn's fleet, and it destroyed everything in its way.
"This is captain Egon from the Traxan," his deputy said in the comm, trying to reach him in the desperate moment. Jaris couldn't answer, the shock was too much. "There is a fog... it destroys all imperial ships... Sithspawn, they hit the Devastator! It's in pieces! They are retreating... No, it destroys them all..."
Silence followed as the entity wrecked the remaining imperial ships. Fighters, Cruisers, Star Destroyers, all were destroyed by Harmony's seemingly unlimited power.
"My lord, the enemy is gone. And the fog has disappeared. It destroyed the conduit too..."
"Roger that. I'm on my way back. Rya is with me," he answered as soon as the shock let him do so.
The Twi'lek gazed over the Dark Lord's body, then turned back to him.
"I deemed the Empire to be useless for my fight, but the Republic might still do. They shall come after this victory. With our forces I will be able to fight the Mentor on my terms, that ensures his demise."
"Where do you want to fight him?"
"We are going to the heart of the Seka Emporium."
Tha Atega's command center was as busy as ever. The Protectorate's best and brightest stood around the tactical table, planning the final assault of the never ending war. Mira glanced at the holographic image resembling Seka Prime, a giant metropolis surrounded by dozens of battle stations and the remainder of the Seka armada. It counted more than three hundred Battlecruisers.
The fleet didn't surround the entire planet, there were no need of it. The ships protected the key points of the planet-wide city: the defense grid's fortified bunker, where they could shut down their defense stations, and the Hall of Knights, the dreaded place where the Mentor and Noeya Adane seated, surrounded by hundreds of Justicars ready to fight to the death.
A blue arrow pointed towards the planet's orbit. According to Harmony, Fenn and a republic armada will come through there at the given time, helping them to stop the eternal evil.
Mira took a deep breath, and began the briefing.
"Gentleman, the time has come to end the war. A week from now, High Prophet Jaris Fenn will arrive with a republic fleet, launching an invasion from above the Hall of Knights. By this time, our forces will have to be present in the system, providing him with all the ships, vehicles and men he needs to stop the Mentor," she explained. Harmony promised to be there, however Mira had no idea where she would come from and what form she would wish to take part in the battle. "Concerning the stakes and the short time for the preparations, we are ready to launch four interstellar armadas to Seka Prime," she pointed towards the second arrow at the map. "The 16th fleet will go first, backed by the 29th and the 25th armada's. Soon after our arrival, the battle will unfold between our fleets and the remaining Seka forces. The 7th fleet will arrive at the midst of the battle, at safe distance from our forces. Depending on the present situation, they will either provide support to the High Prophet, us or hammer the planet with everything they've got."
"My lady, you mean to destroy the planet's surface in the middle of an invasion?" Admiral Egon asked.
"The mentor has to be stopped at all cost," Mira nodded. "Harmony promised us we would have the upper hand, but if anything goes wrong, we can quickly lose the three fleets alongside with our reinforcements. In that case the 7th fleet will be our last hope to stop the Mentor. They will have to eliminate the population, otherwise the mentor will have enough goons to march over the known galaxy."
"This is genocide," Captain Adam stepped in.
"They wanted to do the same with Tria," Egon glared at him. "The aliens will get what they deserve."
"Still, the orbital bombardment is our last resort," Mira stated. "With this, I declare the meeting to an end. We have a lot of work ahead of us, and little time to do so."
"What about Harmony?" Captain Adam asked. "Will she be here with us?"
"She will be here, providing vital support against the Mentor. We couldn't hope to win otherwise," she answered.
Mira felt uncertainty saying those words. She knew that Harmony deliberately wanted this battle, thus she couldn't be sure about her allegiance. Was she serving with the good guys manipulated by the evil? Or they themselves were the evil?
However it might have been, one thing was certain: if either the Mentor or Harmony leaves the battlefield, the cycle of destruction will continue, and death shall be brought upon to an untold number of people.
Thank you for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it! :)
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