A/N: Heading back to Tython for a debriefing, Arik and Talia are finally in a relationship to find their next destination. Meanwhile, Vitiate's dark army is regaining its strength from the loss of its commander. The Dark Lord vows revenge on the young Jedi Knight who betrayed him and humiliated him in front of his men. He is aware of Arik regaining his strength and gaining allies in his fight against the ancient, but mad Sith Lord.
Chapter 9: Broken Part 1
3612 BBY, several days after vacation.
Arik and Talia were talking each other's ears off for several hours while playing chess. She asked him, "Arik, I have wondered this. How did your parents reunite?"
"That is a good question." Arik said as he began to remember.
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The rallying cry for the galaxy to rise against the Eternal Empire's conquest was made by Terrik. In a duracrete/durasteel house, a young Arik and his mom Kira were watching the Holonet about the Battle of Odessen. She was in tears over seeing her husband still alive after all these years. Arik noticed this and asked, "Mama, what is wrong?"
"I am crying because I am happy. Your father is alive. The man you keep asking about." Kira answered while drying her tears. Suddenly, she heard a beeping holodevice go off in the basement. The image projected itself as Satele Shan. She addressed Kira, "Hello, Kira, it has been a while."
"That is has, Master Satele. That it has." Kira said.
"Is Tania and Jarrik around? Bring them in here. Leave Arik in here." Satele asked carefully.
"Alright, I will." Kira answered.
"Hello Arik, do you remember me?" The former Grandmaster asked.
"I remember you, Master Satele. I wondered if we would meet again even though I was an infant." The young Elan said. "One question, why is mom is crying happy tears?"
"She is crying because your father is safe." Satele said.
"Who is my father?" Arik asked.
"The Outlander is. He is better known as the Hero of Tython or the Battlemaster." Satele said. "Search your feelings and close your eyes. The Force will reveal to you who he is and what he looks like."
Arik did as he was told, but doing it too hard put too much strain and he caused himself to black out. It was then the former Jedi Knights were shocked to discover Arik passed out on the floor. Tania said, "Arik! Satele, what happened?"
"I told him to search his feelings to understand who his father is. He must have done too much all at once. He was doing it too hard." Satele explained to her sister-like friend.
"Arik, come on. Wake up." Jerrik said. Arik got and shook his head involuntarily.
"Kira, you need take to him to Odessen to meet his father. I believe the time has come to begin his training soon. Tania, Jerrik. Can you take them to these coordinates and head back to your house?" Satele said as she carefully typed and encrypted the coordinates to their holoterminal.
"We can. Need to be careful, though. We do not want to draw unwanted attention considering Arik's strength in the Force." Tania noted.
"Agreed, my love. Arik's life could endangered by the Eternal Empire." Jerrik said.
Hours later…
The family arrived on Odessen after being followed by two fighters through the atmosphere. "Unknown airscraft, please state your intention." The family was nervous when they were being escorted.
Jarrik responded, "This Jarrik and Tania Elan requesting permission to land to drop off someone for their safety."
"Who is the individual?" The fighter pilot asked.
"Individuals. The Commander's wife and son." Tania replied.
"Standby for one moment." The silence lasted for two minutes before the pilot responded, "You are confirmed to land in the hangar. Please follow us, welcome to Odessen."
The elderly Elan duo were in space and were unloading the essentials that Kira got for Arik and herself. Arik was excited at leaving Corellia and meeting his father. Kira was crying that she would have to see her son become a Jedi. Noticing this, Tania told her, "Hey, do not feel bad for Arik. He will be in good hands. Satele will help watch over him. Besides, he seems to trust her."
"I know, I am just worried over his stomach pain he had many months ago. He just passed out like he had been pierced." Kira said.
"He'll be okay. He is strong like his father before him." Jerrik told her. "We're here." The Alliance fighters then escorted them to the nearest landing pad. There they met with the Alliance leader. When she saw him, she ran hard toward his arms while Arik looked confused. She began crying over how long he was gone. She then told him about her son and how he had grown without him. The parents quickly made their way to him and hugged him and the three of them introduced him to his son, Arik.
"Hello, Arik. I am the Alliance Commander. But you can call me dad." Terrik said.
"If you are my father, then why did you leave us?" Arik said with an annoyance in his voice.
"Arik!" Kira yelled.
"No, it is alright. It is just too much for him to take in all at once." Terrik said.
"Well, we need to head back to Corellia. We will meet again, my grandson." Jerrik said as he and his wife were heading back to the ship.
"Goodbye, mom. Goodbye, dad." Terrik said as Arik started to walk away.
"Goodbye, son. May the Force be with you all." They both said.
"Arik. Before you go to the forests just at least give your father a chance to explain why he was never there for five years, please?" Kira said to Arik who was all ears.
Kneeling to his level, Terrik told Arik, "Son, I am sorry that I was never there to see you walk, say your first word, or even to comfort when you were sad. I sent your mother away from the battle five years ago to save her life and yours while you were in her tummy."
Arik began to feel guilt and regret wash over him. "I will be in my room if you need me, Arik. Excuse me, Theron." Terrik said as he was heading to his quarters.
Arik began feeling tears form in his eyes. Noticing this Kira told him, "Go to him, he loves you, no matter what you said and done."
"Hey, kid. His room is right down that area." Theron said pointing in the direction of the room. Arik just stood there motionless while tears were falling down his face.
"Arik? Oh, hey come here. It is alright, we all say things that we later regret. Go and give him another chance. Let him know that you love him." Kira said hugging him and comforting him.
Arik then ran with tears in his eyes towards his father hoping it was not too late to say sorry for his words and actions.
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"So that is how they reunited?" Talia said. "And you didn't like him for leaving you and Kira with your grandparents for five years?"
"No, I did not. But hearing it from his own words made me see my thinking was flawed. He spent the entire day with me to play. I had never been happier to see him." Arik said as he moved his rook piece near the king piece.
"That was sweet of him to do that." Talia said as she moved her queen to Arik's king piece. "Checkmate."
"What? Awwww! I lost again. Strategy is not my strong suit on this game." Arik said. Suddenly the holoterminal began beeping. The two Knights went to the comm. An image of Satele appeared. "It is good to see you both again. I have another mission for you both when you reach the surface. How was your vacation?" She asked.
"Well, it was good to celebrate Life Day with my grandmother. By the way, is Master Kiwiiks around? I need to tell her something." Arik asked.
"She is, hold on one moment." Satele said.
"Kiwiiks here." The Togruta said.
"Hey, Master Kiwiiks. This is Arik. I need to tell you something." Arik said scratching the back of his head.
"What is it?" Kiwiiks asked.
"Well, I wanted to apologize for attacking you on Kashyyyk and making you think that I was dead." Arik said.
"I have already forgiven you, my friend. No need to feel guilt over past actions." Kiwiiks said.
"Yes, Master Kiwiiks." Arik said.
"One more thing, Arik. There is something you should know. I let you know when you land and head to the Council Chambers." Satele noted.
"Yes, Master Satele." Arik responded as the image disappeared.
"What do you think she is talking about?" Talia asked
"I guess we'll find out." Arik said.\
Two hours later…
Arik and Talia walked into the Council Chambers. Satele was the first greet them. "Hello, my friends. We have called you here to discuss your next mission. On a cold planet known as Rhen Var, we have learned from the SIS about a group of Dark Zakuul Knights are attempting to lay siege to a Mandalorian outpost. The Mand'alor herself begrudgingly asked for the best Knights capable of challenging them. This brings up another detail what I wanted to tell you."
A young Mandalorian male with dark hair and blue eyes appeared in full Mandalorian armor. He told the Council, "Thank you, Masters Jedi. I have come to request the aid of the former Outlander's son. Someone named Arik Orgus Carsen-Elan."
Arik stepped and addressed him, "I am he. I am who you seek. May I ask why the Mand'alor needs my help? No disrespect intended, just curious."
"I am Cragg Cadera. She asks for you because these Dark Zakuul Knights are merciless. For our entire prowess on firepower and swordsmanship, we are outmatched by a group with whom you associated with. We respect you as a fellow warrior. No one has done that since the days of Revan." The young Mandalorian said.
"I know, I seem to recall, as Deimos, I hit the Mandalorians so hard, that they had no choice but to call a truce to avoid causing more deaths on either side. Vitiate didn't like it, but it was the only way to carry out our plan to attack the Temples of all three major Force-sensitive organizations." Arik noted. "For whatever happened as that Dark Lord, I apologize for whatever damage I caused."
"Cin vhetin." Cadera said. "What is done is done. The Mand'alor heard the reports about how you were used like a puppet. Some of them respect you, but other need convincing to show them you are seeking a new start. And maybe revenge for your years of being under his control."
"Revenge is for the Sith. And I do not seek it. My father always warned me, 'If you seek revenge, you better be ready to dig two graves. One for yourself and one for your enemy.' I want justice, not vengeance." Arik stated with a warning. "By the way, what does 'cin vhetin' mean?"
"It means 'fresh start' which it what you are doing. I figured you needed help in your quest to stop your former Master." Cragg said.
"When do we start?" Talia said.
"As soon as you pick up Teff"ith." Satele said.
"Teff'ith? Teff'ith? You mean the Twe'lek who helped Theron over the years?" Arik asked.
"Yes, she is on the station above Tython, she is expecting you. This meeting is adjourned." Satele said.
As the members of the Council left their seats or their holograms disappeared. Satele motioned Arik to follow her.
"Alright, Cragg, go ahead and get your stuff and get it on the Crusader. We will be with you shortly." Arik told the Mandalorian.
"Got it. Meet you on board, boss." Cragg said.
Arik went to Master Satele's quarters and began waiting for his Master to speak. "We need to talk, my former student." Satele stated while she was lighting candles and incense. She then sat down and meditated.
"I know, Satele. What about?" Arik said with understanding in his voice.
"I am trying to make sure that your learning from your mistakes. Namely having a new relationship with my granddaughter." Satele said.
"I can admit to telling you, she and I are now officially a Jedi twosome. But we made it quite clear that we are going to take things nice and slow." Arik said sitting down in front of his Master.
"It is good that she has a guy who is careful and not forceful. I am surprised that you did not beat up her last one." Satele said with a smile.
"Well, you did tell me to approach every situation with a calm mind. I was angry, but I cooled off to avoid doing something that I would have regretted." Arik said looking down to remember.
"I was proud that you didn't something stupid." Satele agreed heavily.
"Any advice about relationships?" Arik asked.
"Never hold back, and do not have a pregnancy happen. Not like me." Satele said with worry.
Do not worry, she and I may use the same bed, but we do not have relations outside of marriage. I am not repeating my mistake of not weighing my actions. Besides, I would get shot, stabbed, and spaced all at once." Arik said with calmness in his voice.
"Good, I know you love her too much not to have her go through what I did." Satele said. "Now go and may the Force be with on Rhen Var." Satele bowing her head.
Arik went to the door and was about to leave when he remembered something. He noticed his hand had the lightsaber his Master lent him. "Master, wait, I forgot to give this back, I made a new one while en route back to the Temple. My new one is designed similar to yours but with one difference: more leather wrappings." Arik said.
"Thank you, Arik. I am glad you remembered. Be careful." Satele said.
Several days later…
The Crusader entered the atmosphere and began to carefully descend to the Mandalorian camp. The hologram of a Mandalorian showed up in front of the pilots Arik and Talia. "Unknown Republic vessel, you are in restricted airspace. State your intentions." The Mandalorian said. The Jedi Knights noticed that were two fighters each bearing the Mandalorian symbol in on the wings.
Cragg then approached the hologram and said, "This Cragg of clan Cadera. The captain of this ship was asked by the Mand'alor herself. She asked me to bring him here to help us out."
"Stand by for one minute." The Mandalorian hologram said and then disappeared. Arik then turned to Cragg and asked, "Think they will buy it? Mandalorians aren't known to be very trusting of Jedi or Sith, especially since it was I who once attacked them."
"They will, I am sure of it. Besides, the clans are aware of what is going on. They watched the HoloNet. They were outraged about how you were used and about to be tossed aside. Valkorian or Vitiate, as you call him, has no honor even by Sith standards." Cragg assured. The Mandalorian hologram then appeared and addressed them, "We have received confirmed from the Lord Man'alor herself. Land at these coordinates here, and meet her in her tent. Attempt to deviate from the course given or attack and you will be shot down. In other words, welcome to our home." The Mandalorian said.
"What a fun bunch, I think I might visit Mandalore sometime." Arik said with a sarcastic smile.
"You are indeed like your mother. Too bad your sister outgrew her sarcasm." Talia as helped Arik prepare for descent. The ship set down carefully on a solid duracrete plate. Arik then began to make sure the ship was secure. Arik and Talia dressed up in their armor with insulation from the cold. The crew made their way off the ship and closed the ramp. The Mand'alor Shae Vizla herself along with Cragg's sister and their mother Mako, with her hair hanging down bearing Mandalorian armor (A/N: These are Torian Cadera's children in this story. Both are twins.).
"You are the expert on how to deal with these auretii. I was told you could help us." Shae Vizla said. (A/N: Auretti means "outsider" in Mand'oa.)
"I am, you must be the Mand'alor herself. My father told me all about you." Arik stated.
"You are correct, you must be Terrik's little cub, Arik. You are a formidable auretii. The reason I have called you down here is that the attacks seem too organized to be just random. I believe that they are being led by another fallen Sith Lord. Similar to you, of course." The Mand'alor said.
"Who do you think?" Arik asked with his curiosity piqued. "Do you have a recording?"
"We do, follow me." She said. Arik and the others followed the Mandalorian leader to her tent. The technicians then decided to show the Jedi Knight the mysterious Sith Lord. The recording shown a tall dark individual with a cape and a hood while taking down the Mandalorian with ruthless efficiency. When he approached the last man, the Sith choked him and used Force Lightning on him killing him in two minutes. He then said something in the Sith tongue that was translated as, "Jedi Knights, come and get us."
Arik eyeing the recording then asked, "How tall was the individual?"
"The recording shows his height was 2.2 meters." Mako said. "Are you sure this a fallen Sith? It could be what you call 'Dark Jedi' doing all of this."
"There is one problem with that: This attack was deliberate and well planned. Too organized to be some Dark Jedi doing all of this. Any survivors?" Arik asked.
"Just one, me." Cragg said.
"Is there is a reason why?" Arik said curiously.
"I was scouting at the time. I saw individual was white-skin, human-looking, but bald. I believe that it is Darth Malgus." Cragg said.
"That's impossible; he was killed above Ilum by a Republic strike team. They push off the station." Talia said with her crossed.
"My father did sense he was not truly gone, somehow." Arik reminded Talia. "I am not trying to disprove you."
"I know you weren't, Arik." Talia said calming him about possibly hurting her.
"When do we attack them?" Arik then asked the Mandalorian leader.
"We attack at first light. Get some rest. You auretti will definitely need it. The tent is already set up for you." Vizla said.
As they were walking to the tent, one Mandalorian starting to curse at Arik for attacking them years ago on their homeworld before realizing that it was futile to attack the planet. That same one was also cursing Arik for taking Talia away from him. Suddenly curious, Arik stopped in his tracks. He then turned around slowly with a blank face.
The Jedi Knight asked, "What did you say?"
"You heard me, Jetii." The Mandalorian asked before spitting in Arik's face.
"That is disgusting. Have you lost your mind?" Arik said with anger in his voice.
"It should be, you cost me my career in the Republic military for exposing me for my supposed crimes. I had to join the Mandalorians to fight. You should be dead, auretti." The Mandalorian said.
"Ah, I remember you now. Tyle, I remember you gave Talia a black eye. By the way, you did all that yourself. You tried to kill me, but I mind tricked you into changing your ways. I guess you want to fight me. Well, you won't get such from me. Deimos is dead. Bury it." Arik said with his arms crossed.
Enraged, the Mandalorian pushed the Jedi Knight to the ground. The Mand'alor then appeared and asked, "What is going on?"
"This auretti made me angry, so I pushed him." Tyle said.
"Why?" The Mand'alor asked.
"When he was in the Republic military, he was dating my partner here for a time. When she refused to sleep with him, he punched her in the face giving her a black eye. When I found out, I was infuriated, but Master Satele told me to confront him with a calm mind." Arik said as he got up and wipe his face with towel.
"What happened when you confront him?" Shae Vizla asked with her arms crossed.
"What happened next was that he tried to stab me with a knife. Even tried to throw one at me, but I used the Force to stop it. Mind-tricked him into treating women with respect from that day on. Apparently, it didn't work on him as I thought it did. I then got a report from a female Republic Emergency Response Corps member that said he was continuing his behavior. So I helped that lady set up a trap to catch him doing this. We caught him on video, when I tried to show him evidence to prove his guilt and convince him to stop his behavior, he attacked and held me at gunpoint as a hostage." Arik continued while pacing back and forth explaining what was going on.
"Why didn't you kill him?" Shae asked.
"It is not the Jedi way to kill an unarmed man. Besides, I prefer to end things peacefully, not violently. He brought me before the Grandmaster and the Supreme Commander threatening to kill me if I didn't agree to drop the investigation on him. When he pointed the gun at my Master and her partner, I throw him over my shoulder and used a lightsaber pointing it at his head ending the fight. In the result court martial, he was convicted of assault and battery, and threatening superiors and Republic officials. The sentence was he was dishonorably discharged and banished from the Republic for life." Arik said as the man pointed a blaster at Arik's head. The Jedi Knight was not intimidated by the blaster.
"First, the Republic. Now, the Mandalorians. You really want me to suffer? Don't you, snitch?" Tyle asked with anger in his face.
"Tyle! Put the gun down! You dishonor me by threatening this auretti." Shae Vizla pointing her blaster at him.
"I will not! This man cost me everything, my job, my girlfriends, and my career." Tyle pointing a blaster back at the Mandalorian leader.
"You have done that yourself. Your anger and lust to dominate others have done that already." Arik said without fear in his voice.
"Well, I hope you made your peace with the Force, because I get a chance to repay for all the misery you caused me. Time to die, Jedi…" Tyle said.
Just then, Teff'ith snuck behind the individual and hit him in the back of the head. "Stupid Mandalorian." She muttered. "Didn't you try to attack him?"
"No, Teff'ith. I was going to crush the blaster with my left hand. Speaking of which…" Arik said before crushing the weapon in his hand causing it to sizzle.
"I am going to kill him for this insult." Shae said.
"No, let him live in prison for his actions. Life imprisonment with no parole." Arik said.
"Even better, let him learn the price of his anger. It's a shame that he chose to try to kill you. You didn't even flinch despite having that blaster in your face. Impressive." Shae said as she motioned to the men to put him in the brig.
"What can I say? We Jedi are trained to stay calm even under tense situations. It's what allows us to solve things diplomatically." Arik said with a smirk.
"Go on get some rest. I apologize for his attempt on your life. Mandalorians aren't like this, most of the time." Shae said.
"No matter, I've had worse. Getting threatened is a price to pay for a clean conscience. Have a good night, Mand'alor." Arik said as he motioned for his crew to follow him.
Upon entering the tent, Teff'ith tried to slap Arik. Cursing at him in Huttese, "Are you stupid or something? You could have got yourself killed dealing with that boy. Why didn't you just fight him?"
Arik responded back saying, "First off, do not call me stupid. And second, I was trying to defuse a fight before it happened. Besides, that guy is angry with me for helping Talia all these years ago."
"Well next time, ignore their rants. It ain't worth getting yourself killed over it." Teff'ith said before hitting him in the head.
"Ow! What was that for?!" Arik said in Basic rubbing his head.
"A lesson, learn to keep cool when the pressure is tense in a conversation." The Twi'lek said before trying to hit him again. Arik ducked and she said chuckling, "Ha! See? You kept cool and responded correctly!"
"Yeah and you hit hard, too."Arik said getting his thick pajamas on. Talia and the others followed suit. The crew then began to sleep soundly as the snow fell hard around.
Meanwhile…
A tall Sith Lord was teaching the Dark Zakuul Knights how to better fight against the Sith, Jedi, or their light-sides counterparts. Suddenly, a hologram appeared bearing the image of the Emperor's Voice. The Sith Lord bend his knee for his Dark Masterl. The host's half Sith Pureblood, half human body addressed the Dark Zakuul Knights in his dark voice, "We have a new enemy, Deimos, your former Commander has decided to turn against us. When you see or face him, leave him to Malgus."
"My Lord, if he turned back to the dark side, then we could regain our strength and destroy those who stand in our way." Malgus noted to present another option.
"If he can be turned, then do so. If not, destroy him or humiliate him. I want him to suffer for his betrayal. And Malgus, do not underestimate him. He is Satele's former apprentice."
"He will join us or die, my Master." Malgus said bowing his head.
A day later after much planning….
The Mandalorians began to make their move along with Arik's crew. The Mandalorians with their fighters and bombers began to bomb the facilities turrets and the power generators. The Skytroopers then began to descend on the troops while the DZK (Dark Zakuul Knights) began to diverge on the Mandos, Arik and Talia then began to step in and bring the fight to help the Mandalorians. Teff'ith then began to dual wield blasters to help bring down the Skytroopers. Realizing they could not win, the DZK ordered a retreat. Arik noticed that something was off when he was suddenly hit with a powerful Force Push. Talia was thrown away as Arik hit the ground. It was then Arik looked up at the legendary Dark Lord of the Sith himself, Darth Malgus.
"Malgus, why I am not surprised?" Arik said with disdain as he got up off the snowy ground. He noticed the Mandalorians try to open fire on Malgus. When they did, deflected every single shot and turned it right back on them.
"Stop! You will get yourselves killed facing him." Arik warned the Mandalorians. "He is mine to face."
The lightsabers Arik had been ignited and he rushed Malgus trying to overpower him. However, he made missed lunge and was kneed in the gut. He then lifted him by his throat and began taunting him, "You and I, we are alike we are Sith Lords with great power. You were meant to lead Vitiate's forces to victory and rejected it for this Jedi woman!"
Arik then used Force Light to get him to let go. He then Force pushed him into a dark area. It was then Arik turned off his lightsabers and used Force Camoflauge to hide to try to sneak on the Dark Lord. Then the Dark Lord said, "Ah, you think darkness is your ally? Unlike me, you merely adopted the darkness. I was born and molded by the dark. I didn't see the light until I was older. By then, it was nothing but blinding!" He then grabbed by his throat and then Force pushed him into a durasteel wall. He began to approached Arik with his lightsaber drawn.
Before Malgus could stab him, he rolled out of the way and tried to run on the walls to do a powerful speed slash on Malgus. The more experienced Sith Lord ducked and made Arik hit his shoulder on the metal hard. Arik became frustrated with getting taking down for every time he tried to attack with a powerful maneuver. He got up tried to hammer Malgus with his left arm. The Dark Lord responded by blasting him with Force Lightning, then sent him crashing through a duracrete wall.
The Dark Lord said to him, "I admire your courage and power, but you have no wisdom to guide it properly, boy. Alas, it is time I take your ego down a notch you Corellian Jedi dog. He then lifted the boy up with his strength by his neck and lower back and dropped him hard on his metallic knee pad fracturing Arik's back.
The pain caused Arik to scream loudly, "Aaaaaaaaahhh!"
Talia woke up hearing her boyfriend's screams and got her lightsaber and hit Malgus in his left eye blinding the eye. She then raised her lightsaber.
"What is you see in him, that you do not in other men?" Malgus said to make her angry. "A friend? A lover? Or perhaps your Prince Charming?"
"Back off, Malgus! My grandmother bested you on Alderaan. Do not make finish what she started." Talia warned.
"Foolish girl, you cannot help him. He is broken. I trained the Warrior side of him. Vitiate trained the Inquistor side. I helped shape him into the perfect killing machine. And you, a descendant of Revan and that shik femal Bastila Shan, thinks that you can help him with your love? How foolish. When he recovers, tell him meet me to challenge me." Malgus said to her. "We will meet again, Jedi.
The Dark Lord said before Force Blasting the ice away. Talia then put Arik on his back. She then contacted the Mandalorians for help.
To be continued…
A/N: This is first time I have made a chapter based in parts rather than one. The second will be worked on. Be patient until then. If you have any questions concerning the story, make sure you have an account on or DeviantART to that I can talk to you. Thank you and God Bless!