ACT TWO - STAR WARS: MYSTERIES OF THE FORCE

Days, weeks, months, years...

Does it even matter?

The wounds can be healed, but the scars remain... no matter how much time will pass...

...

Five years ago, just in a week, Max had saved lives, found love, handled a lightsaber and fought the Sith Lords with their Imperial minions... Yea, this may sound a bit unappropriate, but it is completely true, although Max is the only one that remembers it.

Emperor Palpatine, growing fearful of his own downfall, devised a cunning and evil plan how to turn the crushing defeat over the Forest Moon of Endor into the triumphant victory. He used his knowledge of the Dark Side of the Force and learned about Darth Vishaah, a Sith Lord who nearly destroyed the Old Republic by time travel - everytime the Sith have lost a battle, he rewinded back in time before the battle and undone the mistakes.

But not everyone is without limits or with unlimited power of the Force. Vishaah's life was hanging on a slight rope since he started to rewind time. Everytime he used his power, his life shortened by a year. It was like a disease that was slowly killing him. But the Sith Lord did not care, he was entirely determined to crush the Old Republic, no matter what the cost he will pay in the end.

Pride determines the fall. Darth Vishaah's end came on the battlefield. In the devastating battle for Byss, the Republic Fleet engaged the Sith's war fleet, making the warships busy enough to allow the Jedi Strike Team to infiltrate the Vanquisher, Darth Vishaah's Defiant-Class Star Destroyer, and strike down the Sith Lord. Of course, he tried to rewind back, but he touched his limits, at last - his face started to 'melt', forcing the once powerful warlord to fall down on the ground, weakened. Jedi Quir-lan Dorgis was ready to strike him down, but right when he was about to impale his lightsaber into the dying Sith Lord, a damaged V-Wing Republic fighter rammed into the bridge, killing all the Jedi and the crew of the star destroyer aboard, including the Sith Lord Darth Vishaah. The collapshing battleship slowly fell down and after some time, enduring the fire from the Republic Fleet, rammed into a distant moon, destroying both itself and the moon. The battle ended in supreme Republic victory and the final defeat of the Sith Empire, but what was the cost? The knowledge of the time travel could be studied, understood... but the jeopardy of the Jedi destroyed everything.

Finding out about the risky power to rewind time, which included the shortage of life, Sheev Palpatine learned how to wield this power thanks to Korriban holocrons and found the 'time distortion hole', created by Max Caulfield's time travels and sought his only chance - which proved him very costly.

...

After five years, Max and Chloe lived together in Arcadia Bay, burying the past long behind them. Finding the middle ground between the punk ass and a nerdy geek, the girls found peace and serenity in home of their childhood. Although Max was the only who remembers that crazy week between October 7th and 11th, she had time and will to explain everything to her rebel counterpart. They were happy together and finished studies on Blackwell Academy well... together.

...

The thunder pierced the fresh air and the storm came in. The air became a bit unbreathable, the fog was very thick all around. The rain made the atmosphere depressive and depriving.

A girl in black jacket and knee boots stood up from the wet mud, looking all around where is she. "Where's everybody? Where am I? And where is here?"

Max Caulfield had another nightmare. She had some bad dreams, from time to time, from worries about Chloe and her life. Since the 2013 events, Max was a bit overworried about her bae's life. She carefully picked almost everything to keep her safe, which made Chloe feel a bit uncomfortable, but after the thought she was killed many times by Nathan Prescott or Mark Jefferson, she got used to Max's worries.

The nerd was confused by the set up around her. The rain, the fog, the storm... it was reminiscent of the past, which scared Max a lot. Another tornado, another deaths...

'No fucking way!' Max said to herself, determined not to let the past repeat... even if it ended as an alternate reality.

The only difference was that Max found out, even through the fog, she was not in Arcadia Bay or at the lighthouse, cause the ground she was standing on was not leading upwards into a hill or grass. It was flat.

After Max regained some sense, she started walking through the misty fog, trying to think what is going on. She could not recall she had a similiar nightmare in the past. It was all so weird she could not believe it. No trees, no animals, no nature... only rocks.

Suddenly, some voices sounded in the distance as well around Max, but as much as she looked around her, nobody was there. A mix of scared and dark voices, both neat and violent.

"The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities, some considered to be unnatural..." This voice was too creepy and too familiar to Max. She got a bit more scared.

Palpatine.

"To defeat an enemy, you must know them..." This voice was too calm and too reserved to be of an evil person. But something strange, something... elusive was hiding behind the balance and reservance.

"Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate. Hate... leads to suffering." This voice was full of wisdom and care. Max recognized Master Yoda behind the voice.

Finally, when she came into a bigger gap in the fog, she spotted a tall standing figure few meters off her. The blue hair, leather jacket and torn jeans slowly revealed in the mist as the rain retreated a bit.

"Chloe!" Max shouted out of happiness and fear, sprinting to give the punk a hug. She felt so happy her bae was okay and well, and wanted to prove herself it is true.

Chloe turned on the nerd slowly, smiling on her. She raised her hands in a hug. She looked happy and relieved too...

But as soon as Max got closer to Chloe Price...

Red laser blade pierced Chloe's body with one swift stroke like a knife through butter. The punk cried in agonizing pain. The nerd crumbled inside as her lifeless body fell in the mud. Her life dispersed quickly as the little veins of blood sprinkled off the hole.

Max fell on her knees, in despair and fear. "No... no, this can't be happening!" She felt broken, alone... seeing Chloe dying again... it made her heart crumble and painful...

She looked on the murderer - a shorter figure full in black, torn robes and high boots, dirty from the rain and mud. The black metal mask gave Max some reminescence of the past... but it was not possible, HE was dead.

A group of white armored troopers came behind the dark figure. They looked like Stormtroopers, but with different visors, and more like the future ones... Then, Max remembered seeing one sci-fi film with Chloe back in 2015...

"You!" The masked man turned his head quickly towards Max Caulfield, stepping to her, full of hatred with his lightsaber in his hand. He looked obviously tampered by something.

Max tried to step back, but she stepped over a hidden rock under mud and slided into the ground, trying to back off the man who killed Chloe as much as she could. But mud made her slow. Hella slow.

Now I wish I never tampered with time... Max said to herself. She was so scared shitless she was not willing to live without Chloe. So, she stood up and gathered all her courage. She was ready to take the hit.

"I'll show you the dark side!" The masked man said as he was really close to Max and raised his lightsaber towards her. As Max looked into his eyes behind a mask, she saw the eyes of a man. A boy, full of anger and hate. If there is anything humane in him, that mask covers it perfectly.

The Sith swung with his weapon quickly, jumped in the air and struck young Max hard. All she could see was the red light in her eyes, she felt pain in her stomach right afterwards as everything went black...

Then, she woke up in a bed, scared and sweated. But nothing was clear...