Another scene from Luke/Corrun's point of view. Hopefully it gives a better explanation of what he means to do. I mean to write the Luke/Jaina fight in the next chapter. After that it will -likely- go into the final confrontation. Or maybe I'll think of something else that needs said. We'll see. I'm amazed by the number of hits this story is getting. So please, if you like it, please leave comments as to what you like about it. :-) In the meantime, here's chapter eleven! :-D

Chapter 11

They were out there; Corrun knew it. He looked around, keeping his eyes on the underbrush. Tahiri was somewhere about a kilometer away according to his senses in the Force. Ben, on the other hand, had hidden himself. If Corrun really wanted to find Ben he suspected that he could do it. But then he would be too vulnerable to attack. At his side, Allana shifted restlessly, kicking at the dirt.

"You know what to do?" he asked, not looking down at her. He could sense her well enough.

She didn't look up. "Yes, Corrun," she said shortly. He hadn't yet convinced her to say 'master,' and that was fine. It wouldn't matter much longer, anyway.

"Get to it, then."

She grumbled to herself, shuffling away. Without pulling too hard on the Force, Corrun let just a small bit of lightning erupt from his hand, ending right before it reached her. She needed encouragement. Allana jumped forward, spun around and stuck her tongue out at him, then ran into the jungle. He sighed. If he had more time she held such promise. But that time was about to be cut short.

"Alright, Ben. I need you here," he muttered to himself, moving in the direction that he felt Tahiri.

This would be harder than the others; Ben was his son. Still, Caedus had tainted Ben with his teachings of the dark side and by killing Ben's mother. Ben was too strong with the force, too able to take revenge. There lay the danger in the Force. It was so easy to take revenge, to constantly bicker back and forth between who had the most power, who was the best. If there was ever to be lasting peace, then all traces of revenge from such powerful beings had to be destroyed, or at least subdued. So far he had succeeded in his plans, but for the moment things were more vengeance-worthy than before. Only with Ben, Tahiri, and Han's death could he ensure that the most powerful would not be able to retaliate. Allana would be taken care of in one way or another. Either Ben and Tahiri wouldn't trust her, Allana would fall to the wilderness, or she would die when he killed the two Force users. If those didn't work, he would come back for her after he had killed Han.

Darth Corrun soon came to the spot where he had felt Tahiri. She was sitting in a tree, but he still moved almost directly underneath it. Without making a motion that he knew where she sat, he spoke. "Tahiri, your master is dead." He felt a slight shift in her emotions, fear. She knew that he knew where she was. "It doesn't matter whether you've returned to the Jedi, you have been tainted. I'm partially responsible for that, for killing Caedus."

He sensed confusion, but more importantly, he felt Ben's cover lifting. Ben was only a few meters behind him. "Hello, Ben," he said quietly.

The leaves rustled, but he kept his back turned. "Dad…" Ben's voice cracked.

It was to be expected. If there was someone Ben had least expected to turn, it would have been him. "I love you, Ben," he said honestly. "Understand this before you die- the dark side is often accessed by those meaning to do best. Some have been more successful than others. In an off-hand way, Darth Caedus was achieving peace. The problem is that he didn't stop the source, and that is revenge. Jedi kill Sith, Sith kill Jedi, all because of revenge, whether they admit it or not."

"And this is reason to kill us all?" Ben asked angrily.

Corrun didn't turn around just yet. If he did, he might not do what was needed, or he would be caught off-guard. "Not all of you. There are still a few who do not distinguish between Jedi and Sith, who are innocent in the ways of revenge. How angry where you when you realized that someone you looked up to killed your mother, my wife?"

Ben didn't answer. Corrun felt Tahiri inch slightly down the branch she sat on. Somewhere in the distance he felt Allana running. They hadn't killed her, after all. Very well, he could do it later.

"You're a murderer, Luke," Tahiri snapped. "Just like Jacen was!"

He felt Ben wince. It was decided that Jacen died when Caedus took over. But things didn't happen that quickly. It wasn't like an entirely separate entity. Somewhere Corrun was still Luke, but that Luke had changed. As a person learned new things, the part of them that believed falsely died and the new one was born. In that sense, Luke and Jacen had died, but in yet another Luke was very much alive. "Yes, I am," he answered. "But not like Caedus, as you mean. Jacen meant well, as I do. However, unlike Jacen, I will not claim that this is the 'good' way to do it. Doing it the 'good' way overlooked the sole reason that we kept fighting wars in the first place."

He sighed. Might as well get it over with, he had said what he needed to. He began to build the power of the Force within him, and then turned around. "That is why I must kill you."

"Liar!" Ben screamed, lunging forward with his lightsaber igniting at the same time that Tahiri leapt from the high branch, red lightsaber gleaming.

Corrun didn't look away from his son as he raised his still-flesh hand at an angle between the two Jedi. Without a word, he yanked the Force and their life-will from them. Tahiri gasped and lost her control of the Force, crashing behind Corrun. Ben simply stumbled forward, falling life-less to the ground. Corrun didn't let go of the power he held, feeling it run from them to him, feeling a stronger surge in his ability to use the Force. Then both bodies were gone, entirely usurped by his power. He let go, holding his arm still in the air. He closed his eyes, trying to block out the sudden brightness in his surroundings. He let his breathing slow down, concentrating.

He had done it. He had actually fed on the Force. It was an accomplishment and a curse. He lowered his hand, opening his eyes again and looking around him. The tree he stood under, as well as the bushes around him, had turned brown and dead. He wasn't yet able to control how far he went with that ability. It was a sad ending to the two apprentices, he thought to himself. They didn't even get a chance to fight him.

There was still something he needed to try, though. He knelt near one of the bushes he had killed, then placed his hand over its leaves. Concentrating, he went into meditation, then let go. He urged the Force to rejoin with the bush, to stir it back to life. He could feel the extra strength not leaving him, but running through him like a conduit. When he opened his eyes, the bush was green again, blossoming better than before.

So it worked. Two powers in one man. It could be done- life could be returned. Of course, he didn't have the power yet to do it with someone that had been killed like Ben had. But if the body was there…

"So Palpatine wasn't lying to Father, not entirely," Corrun whispered, standing again. He looked around.

Allana had stopped running, and he sensed that it was because she felt the deaths of Ben and Tahiri. He started to go after her, when something in the Force felt like it back-handed him. He waited, listening with his senses. There is another with Han. He's training a Jedi. She's not particularly powerful, but she has help, the help of many Jedi…

Corrun cursed to himself, turning instead to go back to the ship. Allana would have to wait. If he didn't deal with the girl - Kayala? – he could lose what he had done so far. Han and the girl had to be killed now to avoid any further complications. Then he could deal with Allana, and maybe even have the time to train her.