"Incoming!"

The whole building shook. The ceiling came down in some parts and flames erupted everywhere. Medical staff hurried through the passages, attempting to rescue those trapped under the debris.

"We must evacuate and leave for another system!" shouted one of the men.

Mon Mothma had managed to hold her balance and tried to re-establish communication with the Supreme Cannon. Was there something left of the fleet? The explosion was huge and the debris of ships and vessels falling down was many.

"This is General Han, go ahead, Chancellor."

She let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks goodness you are still alive up there, Han. What happened?"

"The ships just all flew involuntarily and collided with each other! As if they were possessed!"

"Where are you?"

"The explosion blew us away. We're just a few ships still alive, but we're quite far off and our engines are down. I'm afraid this is it, Chancellor…"

Mon silently wept, but there was no time for grief.

"Ma'am, Imperial ships are penetrating the atmosphere."

"Blow them away!" cried the Supreme Chancellor. It was an instinctive shout, but she could no longer care. Her reign was at an end. All that she had fought for in the last few years was about to be undone. The Republic was once more forcefully undermined.

"Ma'am, it's not having any effect on them… Could shields be that strong?"

"All soldiers to the landing platforms! Kill them as they get out!" Chancellor Mothma had regained herself and was determined not to give up that easily. But it didn't matter. Fifteen minutes later the barricaded door burst open and a squadron of stormtroopers jumped in and shot all who resisted, but never tried more than just to disarm the chancellor herself.

A tall presence followed them, dressed in black. He was nearly bald with a leather strap in front of his eyes and strange tattoos around the corners of his mouth that seemed to move. This was Jerec, she knew it.

"Hold your fire," he demanded and the stormtroopers instantly obeyed. His voice was a little bit hoarse, but still sharp and cold in tone. He moved closer to Mon Mothma. Suddenly, a New Republic soldier appeared from behind and fired his rifle at the Dark Jedi. His reflexes were impressive: he didn't even turn around to face him to stop the laserblasts, which just dissolved into nothing upon reaching him. More so, the soldier dropped dead seconds later.

When Mon Mothma eyed Jerec with great fear, he said: "Well, he was asking for it." He knelt down by the chancellor, whom the stormtroopers had forced to the ground. "As for you, dear Chancellor… I desire something from you."

"I will give you nothing!" She spat at him.

"Well, there's no need for that. If the futility of your petty resistance hasn't been proven yet, it will be in just a few seconds. For I need the location of the Jedi Academy and you will give it to me, voluntarily or not."

"Unleash your dark magic on me, you monster!"

"Magic?" He smirked. "You silly woman. Now, concentrate, please." He put his hand on the Chancellor's face, not because he needed to do so, but more to annoy her while he concentrated hard to pull the information he required from her mind. He released her soon after. "Thank you, dear Chancellor. Now that I have what I wanted, the time has come for you to part from this world, preferably in a public place." He turned around. "Yun!"

The youth came in, wearing his blue-ish grey robes and holding a lightsaber hilt in his right hand.

"Yes, my master?"

"Take this woman to the top of the building and publicly execute her. Allow her to fly to her death."

Yun nodded and came closer to take Mon Mothma with him.

Kyle watched the scene happen from the Vengeance's screen. Members of the technical crew had made sure the screens were connected to security cams in the Republican fortress. He had been shocked by what had happened and more so realised the power Jerec possessed now. To move objects from a distance is one thing, but to make an entire fleet implode was pure madness. Kyle forced away a curious thought of his former friends. He felt Boc's presence coming up behind him.

"Magnificent, isn't it?" howled the Twi'lek in feigned awe. "Look, it's going to happen any minute now!" He pointed at the screen.

The screen showed the rooftop of the fortress. It showcased an amount of stormtroopers, a few Republican prisoners, Jerec, and finally Yun, who was driving Mon Mothma near the edge of the roof. The images didn't come with sound. Jerec was raising his hands, gesturing charismatically, or so Kyle assumed as it probably would've fit the speech he was holding at the moment. He more than once pointed at the Chancellor, but at the end he rather pointed at Yun, who was to set an example for any future rebels.

"Poor being, isn't he?" moaned Boc sadistically as Yun kicked the defeated Mon Mothma over the edge. Soon Jerec raised his arms in victory and the stormtroopers followed his example. Yun, however, didn't.

"What? Who? Yun?"

"Yes… such a pathetic soul…"

"Why? What did he do?"

"I don't know why the Master still keeps him. The boy's a doubtful character. He's unsure whether he is serving Jerec or serving the light."

"Is that so?"

"Though I must admit he's a lot more sensible of late, courtesy of yourself, may I add."

"Ah…" Kyle pretended to understand what he was talking about, but failed to even care a bit for the Twi'lek's words. His thoughts were still with the immense demonstration of Jerec's power and the consequences it will have for the galaxy.

"You know, the Master has told me I will be his second in command, now that Sariss is gone." He gave a short giggle.

This rather pulled Kyle's attention. "Did he, now?"

"Oh yes! Most definitely! And to think that he even considered you for a second, hahaha!"

"He did, didn't he?"

"Yes, but we are talking in the past tense of course. Such is no longer the case. Now you must obey me, Katarn! Do a little dance for me!" He started a high-pitched laughter as if Kyle had just begun doing the most ridiculous of moves. He didn't stir, however.

"I don't believe you, wormhead."

"Why not?!" Boc suddenly almost attacked him and stared him aggressively in the eye. "Jerec knows I'm the best! I'm his longest serving servant! The position is mine!"

"You talk too much," said Kyle as he gently pushed him away. "You are a great and skilled Jedi, no doubt, my little agitated wormhead. No doubt you possess power and intellect worthy of such position. If Jerec would choose you as his right-hand, I would have peace with the decision. Any choice made by Jerec is a wise choice." Boc seemed flattered and calmed down a bit. "However," Kyle added. "If it were the other way around, wouldn't you have peace with the decision of our Master as well? Even though you think yourself worthier, wouldn't you also obey your Master as a servant should?"

Boc was a little taken by surprise and murmured a hardly intelligible "I guess so."

"Then let's, by all means, compete and annoy each other if we must," said Kyle as he made his way to the door. Just before he disappeared through it, he added: "But, Boc, if you are indeed his longest serving servant and you are still not in the second-in-command position, you must've done something wrong along the way." He quickly winked as the door closed and felt the irritation boil up inside of Boc.

Leia sat in Luke's accommodation on the top floor of the Academy. She had developed a severe headache over the hours. It has been two days since Mon Mothma last contacted her and she wanted to know what was going on. She felt things weren't right. She felt like vomiting, but the contents of her stomach never rose that high. Just hours ago she got contacted by Han Solo however. He had gone into hiding as he brought the disappointing message that Coruscant had fallen. Out of fear that Jerec's spies would be intercepting and tracing the message he had disconnected far too early. Oh, she felt so miserable. With all her friends into hiding, finding them was next to impossible.

Na-quam had been a real comfort however. Conversing with him proven both distracting and very interesting. He possessed such theoretical wisdom and generally had a knack for making her feel better. He had informed the other Jedi that Coruscant had fallen all too soon. A battle was at hand. It was in the air. Petiimark had insisted that Leia was given a lightsaber. She didn't know how to use it, but it didn't matter to him. She allegedly was to draw less attention to herself when armed with a Jedi's weapon.

"What will happen now?" Leia asked often.

"A battle is at hand," was often the answer, mostly by Na-quam. "We must be prepared. All padawans have been called home. The last of them are expected to return today. We will not go under without a fight." And such was the conclusion of all present. They worked hard at possible battle strategies and often discussed where to position themselves.

"If Mon Mothma is indeed dead," said Na-quam. "Then there is no time for grief. She would not have cared for grief. There is a time for such emotional matters and there is a time for necessary steps to be taken to make sure what happened to her will not happen to us. Remember the dead, forget them not, but accept their death quickly and return to the living, to which you yourself belong." Leia found the statement rather insensitive, but knew it was true and it was the way the Jedi maintained their inner balance. "Now, let's try it again," recommenced the elderly Jedi as he rose his lightsaber again and gestured her to do likewise. Leia mirrored his stance and tried to defend herself against his gentle, but treacherous moves.

"For one who has been holding this weapon for but a day, you are certainly not to be ashamed of yourself," concluded Na-quam. "You will most certainly be able to defend yourself. The blood of a Skywalker definitely runs through your veins." With a smile he concluded the lesson and left the room to welcome the newly arrived padawans. Leia followed.

The new arrivals certainly came across as an interesting duo. They were softly quarrelling among themselves and ignored half of their surroundings. The first of them was a Human in his late teens, while the other was a species Leia had never seen before. She later understood that the tall, reptilian humanoid was part of the Chistori race, which was mostly living on an independent planet rather far from the Republican society, which would have explained why she had never heard of them before.

"Jaden, Desann, what in the world would be able to cause a little quarrel between two best of friends?" said Na-quam with a smile as he welcomed them with open arms.

All too quickly, the both of them said "Nothing, Master Na-quam."

The peculiar answer made Na-quam's eyebrows rise, but suddenly Petiimark came up from behind and interrupted them. "Jaden, Desann, finally! Come with me, quickly! We'll discuss the battle plan. They can be here any minute!"

"As the matter of fact, Master, I think they'll be here within the hour," spoke the Chistori with a low voice, who apparently was named Desann. "On our way back, we soared past a small fleet of Imperial ships."

Jaden seemed rather absent, which did not go unnoticed.

"Jaden, is there something you should tell us about?" inquired Petiimark curtly.

The padawan quickly regained himself and tried a convincing "No, Master," but Leia wasn't convinced and from the corner of her eye she noticed Na-quam wasn't either.

"Be sure to talk about it if you want," continued Petiimark. "But as of yet I think you should meditate on it right now. Return to me in thirty minutes… If they are indeed here in an hour, we must be prepared." He looked at Jaden as if investigating him, then looked at Desann and left with a curious look on his face.

The two apprentices, slightly disturbed, resumed their walk and, to some degree, their quarrel. Na-quam stared at the two for a while, mumbled something unintelligible and eventually walked away.

Thirty minutes later the radar had detected the Imperial ships slowly approaching Yavin IV. It was a matter of minutes until they would land. Petiimark called everyone down to the main hall for a small meeting and, as people had come to expect of him, a speech. Now that everyone was in the same room Leia could for the first time really estimate their chances. There were but two true Jedi, about five older padawans and two handfuls of younglings aged between seven and fourteen years old. It was admirable that they decided to fight, but this would seem rather too easy for five experienced Dark Jedi, who were backed by an army of well-trained stormtroopers if necessary. However, she soon found out that the Jedi knew of the danger and did not intend to be slaughtered like that.

"The moment is nearly there," spoke Petiimark with his somewhat barking voice. "There are five known Dark Jedi aboard that ship and they are most likely to leave out the army in this battle. We might not all be equal to them in terms of training, but if you think we are about to be slaughtered here, think again. We have no choice but to defend ourselves. However, I have been in talks with Na-quam concerning the younglings. When the fight commences, they will be escorted by him to a solitary flight vehicle hidden somewhere underground. Leia, you must join them. Na-quam will guide their path to safety while we hold these Dark Jedi up.

"The fight knows two different outcomes: defeat or victory. In the case of victory it is our job to leave for Coruscant and reclaim the capitol of the Republic for the sake of democracy. In the case of defeat it is the job of those who have survived to maintain resistance and to strike when Jerec's face is averted." He concluded his little speech with a sigh and eyed the Jedi as if expecting lots of questions, which didn't come. "Very well, may the Force be with you all." His eyes rested for a moment on Desann and he frowned a little. "Can I speak to you in private, Desann?" The saurian padawan followed Petiimark to a separate room. The remainder of the older padawans quickly meditated a little, while the younglings walked about nervously.

"What is with this Desann?" asked Leia.

"Yes, Desann," replied Na-quam with a frown. "He is an interesting case, really. He always was a little different than everyone else. His race, the Chistori, is generally not a Force-sensitive species. More so, the very few who do seem to feel the Force are expelled from their society rather violently. But out here, where he is trained, he is often excluded by other species, simply because most of them have never met a Chistori before. He seemed to have become good friends with Jaden Korr, however." He pointed at the apprentice that had entered with Desann earlier that day. "But they've come back from a mission to Sullust and Desann feels a bit… odd today. I hope nothing evil took place in him."

"Evil? What do you mean?"

"Nothing in particular. Don't worry about it." It seemed casual as he told her not to worry about it, but she felt it was rather excluding her from the details. Eventually she had peace with it and decided it was their matter after all, so she changed the subject.

"Why don't we all go to the underground ship right now?"

"Jerec is a powerful man. He will know where we are. We can only leave successfully when he has engaged in battle and nobody's watching the backdoor."

The next few minutes seemed long. They were waiting for an attack, but apparently they were farther off than she thought they were. Leia decided to walk a little around the building to counter the increasing nervousness.

Kyle had never been to the Academy when he was still on the side of the New Republic. Seeing it through the window of the small vessel that was to bring them to the surface felt odd. It was as if he was always meant to be at that building, but for a whole different purpose than the one he pursued now. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see it was Jerec's.

"Feeling sentimental, aren't we?" The blind man smirked. "And now I can finally see you in action! Have I never said how fine a job it was to rid the galaxy of Luke Skywalker?" Jerec walked about in the small compartment with all his followers listening carefully. "These petty targets aren't worthy of the name Jedi. They are nothing compared to Skywalker… but do you not feel what I feel? Do you not sense what I sense? It's almost as if Skywalker is still here… I sense his blood…"

"Leia Organa…," uttered Maw.

"Very good," Jerec agreed. "She's mine! I shall have the leader and her. You can divide the rest amongst yourselves. And I do long for captives, might I add… New blood to add to the cause."

Boc poked Kyle. "Let's do a little competition here! The one who kills the most Jedi wins! Ha-ha!"

Kyle shook his hand in agreement, while Jerec smiled contently.

Angry shouts came from the main hall. Had the battle begun? She'd have heard the repulsor engines of the enemy ship, she reckoned. What was it then? Leia hastened down the stairs to find out what the fuss was all about. Desann ran past her and fled up the staircase. The shouts came from Petiimark. Leia caught bits and pieces of it. Words and phrases like "irresponsible" and "disloyalty to the Force" flew by. Did it mean what she thought it did? She entered the hall and saw Na-quam speak sternly to his fellow Jedi, addressing him on his self-control.

"I guess we are all a bit agitated now," she heard Na-quam say. "But that should not be a Jedi's excuse for losing temper like that!"

"But he's betraying us! He's gone down the Dark path!"

"And yet we are to set an example. We do not attack unless attacked. We have more important matters on our hand right now. We will fight the battle first and then we will look at this problem of ours."

Their conversation was interrupted by Rosh Penin, who entered the hall in a run and shouted: "Alright, everybody prepare! They have landed!"

"Assume positions!" roared Petiimark.

The reaction of the padawans was remarkable. They all started running into various directions and Na-quam gathered all the younglings and ordered them towards the passage that led underground. Apparently they had all discussed who would stand where.

"Leia, come on!" called Na-quam. That was when Leia realised she wasn't carrying the saber she was given.

"I'm fetching my saber, give me five minutes!"

"What?! We don't have five minutes, Leia! Come here, now!"

She was on her way up already. She couldn't tell why, but something made her feel this was very important. More important even than escaping the planet. She bumped into Desann just before she reached the quarters she had resided in the past couple of days.

"Has the fight already started?" he asked.

Leia nodded. "Yes. They could use your help, I think."

"They need my help." He hurried towards the main hall.