"The Luminos are the guardians of all peace and justice. Despite your neighbors sins you must always seek their redemption."

Excerpt from the Book of Lucias

Chapter Ten: Of Traitors and Tyrants

Twilight spread over the steel structures of Coruscant, flooding the city in a soothing orange glow. In the court yard in front of the palace, Constans strolled through the garden, admiring the dying sunlight as it reflected of the palace's towering spires. Eva wandered down the steps and stood along side Constans, looking off in the same direction as he.

"Good of you to join me, Eva," Constans finally said, "It's a wonderful palace, isn't it? The way it catches the setting sun…"

"It's lovely," Eva answered.

"Indeed… reminds me of home."

Eva turned to look at Constans; the smile on his face had faded away.

"I have a feeling there is more on your mind then architecture," Eva said.

"Do you remember what Father said to the elders on Terresta?" Constans asked, "He said, 'There was peace before, and there can be again.'"

"What of it?"

"Well, what if this is our second chance? Our chance to correct the mistakes of the past, create a new council, a stronger council, just as Father had envisioned."

"And who would be the elders?" Eva laughed, "Us? Constans, you're only twenty years old, you can't be an elder."

"The four of us together are more then capable of upholding order on this planet. Trust me."

Suddenly, in the distance, the sound of footsteps caught Constans and Eva's attention. Ajunta Pall entered the courtyard from the city followed by hundreds of Libertas.

"Ajunta? What's going on here?" Constans asked.

"Oh, you didn't hear?" Ajunta said, "Our friend Carashi has decided to take an extended vacation, and he has left me in charge of things in his absence. Now, if you would be so kind as to step aside."

Constans and Eva exchanged glances, and then looked back at Ajunta.

"Where did Carashi go?" Eva asked, "We need to speak with him."

"Heh, heh," Ajunta laughed, "Oh I have a feeling we've seen the last of that pirate. Coruscant is now under my jurisdiction."

"But what about everything Carashi had planned to do?" Constans asked, "Creating democracy, giving Coruscant back to the people!"

"Mmmm… nah. Jurran!"

Jurran Reed stepped forward and stood at attention.

"Yes sir."

"See to it that our Luminos friends find their way out, and make sure to extend our appreciation for all that they have done."

"Very good, sir."

Ajunta Pall continued up the steps into the temple as Jurran and the other Libertas quickly surrounded Constans and Eva.

"Jurran, what are you doing!?" Constans yelled, "You know this isn't right, this is not what the Libertas stand for!"

"It's out of my hands… I'm sorry," Jurran stepped forward and unsheathed his katana; the other Libertas did the same. Eva quickly ignited her lightsaber only to have Constans stick his arm out in front of her.

"No, Eva. There's no need for this… they win this round."

Meanwhile, inside the palace, Terentius, Splin and I stood in the throne room as Ajunta barged in. The son of a bitch had come back… and I knew why.

"Atredious… good to see you again," Ajunta said with a cocky smile on his face, "Have you considered my offer?"

"Offer?" Terentius said, "What's he talking about, Atredious?"

"This planet belongs to the Luminos now, Ajunta," I answered, "We will never bow down to a human."

Ajunta's eyes began to burn a hole through me, although he didn't seem too surprised at my response. Suddenly the Libertas poured into the room behind Ajunta; they quickly cut off all of the exits.

"Splin!" Ajunta shouted, "Fall in!"

Splin stepped back away from Ajunta.

"What are you trying to do here Ajunta?" Splin asked, "Carashi trusted you."

"You are either with me… or you're with them," Ajunta responded, "Choose."

Splin glanced back at me and Terentius, then back forward at Ajunta. He closed his eyes and slowly lowered his head.

"Very well," Splin said. He then suddenly unsheathed his katana, "Then I am with the Luminos!"

"Hmph," Ajunta chuckled to himself, "So be it, Luminos," As Ajunta readied his sword; the other Libertas did the same. Terentius and I both ignited our lightsabers.

"Careful, Splin," Ajunta said, "This isn't your daddy's royal army. Why don't you do like Carashi and run for cover."

"Since when, Ajunta!?" Splin shouted back.

"Pardon?"

"Since when have you been entertaining these delusions of grandeur?"

"Ha ha, I think you misunderstand," Ajunta said, grinning from ear to ear, "It has always been my intention to someday rule over Coruscant. Of course, your incompetent father stood in my way. That old coot never did trust me, but I still had the loyalty of my men, and thus the Libertas came to be."

"So you were just using us," Splin said, "Manipulating us in your own quest for power."

"I wouldn't go that far, these men know as well as I do that there was a need for a change in the monarchy. My only regret is that your brother had to go all 'high and mighty' on me… he'd have made a much finer soldier then you…"

Splin was suddenly silent, a look of malaise spread over his face.

"You," he finally uttered, "You killed him?"

"I don't foresee you losing too much sleep over it," Ajunta shot back, "You'll be joining him shortly," Ajunta stepped back behind the Libertas and headed for the exit, "Take them."

The Libertas immediately swarmed upon us, I quickly spun around only to have my jaw met abruptly by a Libertas' black metal fist. Then everything went dark.

"I think he's coming around…"

Everything around me was blurry as the light began to flood back into eyes. I then realized that there was a large crowd standing over me, I couldn't recognize any of the faces. Suddenly someone grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet, it was Eva.

"How are you feeling?" She asked.

"Walkin on sunshine," I said, rubbing my jaw, "Where the hell are we?"

"The jungles," Terentius stepped forward, "We should be safe from Ajunta's forces here for now. And you, you're lucky to be alive. After you took that left hook, I had to carry you out on my back; we barely made it out in one piece."

"I guess I should be thankful… you going to introduce me to your friends?" I asked Terentius, motioning toward the large crowd.

"We were with the Libertas, just like you," One of the men said, stepping forward, "My name is Miles Drake. When Ajunta Pall decided to seize power over Coruscant, we were the ones who objected… He took our equipment and left us out here to die."

"Well, I suppose this is what we get for giving power to a human," I said, "Real good Carashi, real good!"

"Calm down," Terentius said, "If we're going to stop Ajunta, we're going to need some organization."

I turned to Terentius with a very cynical look on my face; he might as well have had three heads.

"Are you serious? You want to go charging back into that city with maybe a hundred men who, oh, by the way, don't have any weapons, and expect to have anything less then a massacre?"

"The weapons are a problem that we will deal with," Terentius answered, "but we can give these people a weapon that is more powerful then any sword."

"And what is that," I asked.

"The force."

"Oh no," I said shaking my head, "You've seen what came from Carashi teaching Ajunta Pall to use the force, it's far too dangerous."

"Give us a chance!" Miles suddenly shouted, "We're more then ready for any challenge!"

"Ready are you?" I said. I couldn't help but smile at the upstart, "Well then perhaps you're ready for this?"

I quickly flicked my wrist, sending a rock flying at Miles. It cracked him upside the head and knocked him to the ground.

"Pathetic… these men are not worthy of the force." I slowly turned away and began to walk off.

"They just need time to learn!" Terentius shouted after me.

"I think not," I replied, "Tell Mr. Drake when he wakes up, that if he's still ready for any challenge I have plenty of rocks waiting for him."

Terentius helped Miles back to his feet as I disappeared into the jungle. Splin sat alone, watching the whole incident as Eva came up next to him.

"Mind if I sit here?" She asked.

"Not at all," Splin said, "What's Atredious' deal?"

"He just misses our father."

"Were you close to him?"

"We all took his death hard," Eva explained, "but Atredious most of all."

"I know how he feels… when my brother died, I directed my anger at my father. I was so convinced that it was his fault, that I blinded myself to the real murderer who was right under my nose."

"Anger will always cloud your judgment, even if you have the best of intentions."

"It should've been me," Splin said, "Father was right, I'm not my brother and I never will be. Sometimes I think we'd all be better off if our places had been switched."

"I don't believe that," Eva said.

"But you never knew James."

"Well, I know you."

Splin smiled and averted his gaze away from Eva. She placed her hand on top of his.

"You can't live your whole life in another man's shadow, Splin," Eva said, "You have your good qualities too, and I'm sure you'll see them before the end."

Splin watched as Eva stood up and walked away, a smile still on his face. Eva walked over to Terentius and Constans who were collecting bamboo sticks for the men to train with.

"You guys know we aren't going to take a city with bamboo." Eva said.

"We're going to need to get some real weapons at some point," Constans answered, "And I think I know just the thing."

"What's that?" Eva asked.

"You remember the items the elders had stored on our shuttle?" Terentius answered, "Well among them was a stockpile of unused lightsabers. If we can find where James hid them before Ajunta…"

"I see," Eva said, "And how do you plan to do that?"

"Two of us would have to go ahead and infiltrate the palace," Constans explained, "It's a risky mission, but our success depends upon it. Eva, you wouldn't mind, would you?"

"Of course not," Eva answered, "I'll leave as soon as possible."

"I'm going too!" Splin suddenly shouted, walking up behind Eva.

"Are you sure Splin?" Terentius asked.

"I'm sure. This is something I have to do, for myself."

"Very well then. May the force be with you both."