Chapter 29: Treatment

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Fear struck the senators inside the Rotunda as Sith clad as Republic soldiers tried to blast their way inside the building. The Jedi defenders had defeated any Sith that managed to breach the Senate Building and were holding a strong defensive line. If a Sith ever managed to get into the building the Jedi wouldn't allow them to get very far. It seemed that inside was safe for the moment. Outside the Senate Building however, was complete chaos. Republic soldiers and Jedi battling the Sith. And losing. The Republic soldiers were to hesitant to fire on those that wore the same uniform as them. Even the Jedi seemed hesitant to fight them.

Most of the senators had been taken away to a secret, safe bunker. Sienn and a small group of senators had decided to relinquish their spot in the bunker and gave their spots to the excessive amount of innocent news people that were sent to the Senate Building to cover the accession of Rasch as the new Chancellor before the invasion. Most of the news people took the offer to take the senator's positions in the now fully occupied bunker. But the hardcore news people that wanted to cover this story stayed behind for the sake of getting a story.

Troubled tears ran down Sienn's face as a group of friendly Republic troopers carried an injured padawan to the back of the lobby where Sienn and other senators had remained during the battle. The injured padawan, a furred Caamasi boy, was placed on the floor near Sienn and safely away from the fighting. The boy let out a pained shriek as he laid on the floor. Sienn knelt over and looked at his wounds. He had a brutal cut on his left thigh and a blast wound on his right lknee. Both of his legs were in tough shape. Sienn wanted to help the boy but she didn't know any medical treatments beyond wrapping the wound. The two republic soldiers that carried him had already wrapped two rags around the boy's wounds to slow the bleeding. But it didn't help enough. And he was still in pain. An amphibian, green skinned, head crested Vurk senator from the planet Sembla knelt by the boy. Across from Sienn. He asked Sienn, "Can we do anything?"

Her assistant, Yaubla stood over Sienn's shoulder and spoke to the padawan boy in a rough dialect of the boy's native language. Yaubla and the padawan had a short conversation to which Yaubla relayed to the others, "He doesn't seem to care his legs hurt. He is only hurt that his Master was killed by a Sith."

"Poor child." The Vulk senator said under his breath.

Sienn cursed under her breath, "This needs to end."

________\-V-/________

The battle outside the Senate Building was gruesome. Sith vs Republic. Sith vs Jedi. Republic vs Fake Republic. Jedi vs fake Republic. If this battle continued as it was all the sides were going to keep killing each other until nobody remained. Which would end up as a victory for the Republic I suppose since they'd have held the Sith back. But it was a victory unworthy of the sacrifice. You'd think the Jedi would be able to come up with something. But as usual, it was going to be up to me to save their sorry behinds once again.

I had taken the Hutt-Slug to an emergency infirmary the Republic has set up in the middle of a large department store in the city. I left the padawan girl to get treatment. I left Lwyn there as well. I didn't want Lwyn to come with me this time because I saw how she looked at me when I used Force lightning on those two Sith. As much as I didn't want to do anything like that again there was always a chance I'd be forced to do something dark again. I didn't like the way she looked at me. She must have understood that too. Because when I asked her to stay behind, she didn't push it. Uncharacteristically she agreed with me for a change. I gave her my necklace I got from Lanoul and told her I'd be back.

With that taken care of I grabbed a white handkerchief and a long, tan, overcoat from the clothing section of the infirmary/department store. One big enough to hold four lightsaber handles on the inside flap and a hood on the back. I wrapped the handkerchief around the bottom half of my face and put the coat on over my clothing from Hyarsythe. Thus covering my old clothing's appearance as a Sith. It was bad enough I was using the Sith's signature lightsabers I didn't want to dress like them too. The last touch was popping the coat's hood over my head. With he handkerchief and hood I was satisfied I wouldn't be recognized as "Laan; the Jedi Outcast". Sure I was older, bigger, and... much more handsome than I was as a padawan but I didn't want to risk it. I wasn't convinced that those in the Jedi Order that were once my enemies were all gone now. I heard rumors that the Jedi Council was dead... but why risk it?

With my anti-Sith makeover I took the Hutt-Slug and traveled to the Senate Building. I was expecting to encounter enemy fire from the Sith on my way there but either 1; There weren't many Sith left to attack me. Or 2; They took one look at this ugly piece of flying fodder and figured I wasn't worth the effort. It wasn't until I came within view of the Senate that the occasional blast bolt would come flying my way. From my aerial view I got my firsthand look at the carnage. It looked like the Sith hadn't breached the Senate yet so there was some hope they they'd be able to hold them off.

I found some random place to park the slug outside the Senate grounds. A place relatively deserted of Sith and Republic. I hoped out, took one of the four lightsabers in my hands, and charged forward. There was a narrow bridge from where I parked that lead straight for the Senate Grounds. I ignited the crimson blade and sprinted down that bridge as fast as I could. Looking ahead towards the grounds I could see I was running straight into a complete battle zone. There were no tactics, no formations, no friggin order of any sort. Its was just desperate individuals trying to pick out an enemy in the chaos and eliminate them. That what one Republic Soldier tried to do when he saw me. I guess my disguise didn't work. All they saw was a red lightsaber blade. That equaled shooting. Oh well. It was only a minor nuisance. They fired at me, I deflected it away from me and into the back of a Sith trooper.

When I reached the end of the bridge I ran straight into the sea of bodies. The first thing I did was run between two Republic Soldiers, ignoring them, and headed for the jerk Republic soldier that shot at me. He had a visor to cover his face but by body language alone I could tell that he was terrified by me charing at him. Before I could reach him he pointed his blaster at me, ready to fire again. I didn't give him the chance. I reached my hand out and gently Force Pushed him on his butt with my left hand while I launched the lightsaber in my right hand like a javelin over his fallen body. The saber soared over the top of him and found it's mark in the chest of a Sith knight a few yards behind him.

Another Sith with a red saber saw this and took a swipe at my head, thinking I was now unarmed. I ducked under the swipe, at the same time grabbing for one of my concealed lightsabers in my jacket. I ignited the saber while it was still clipped to my coat. The blade pierced through the coat flap and up into the Sith's chest. I quickly pushed the wounded Sith off of my blade and he fell back with a thud. I removed the ignited saber from my coat and gripped it my left hand. Then with my right hand I reached down and liberated the lightsaber from the hands of the Sith I'd just defeated. With two sabers in my hands and a sense of warning in the Force, I twirled the saber in my right hand just as blaster bolt came flying at me and deflected it back into the shooter's stomach. The shooter was wearing Republic armor but I was pretty sure it was just a Sith in disguise. At least I hoped so... but I was pretty sure.

With a brief lull in the battle around me I looked at the soldier that I had Force pushed on his butt and told him, "I'm on your side."

He stood up with his blaster gripped tightly in his hands, "I-I see that..."

"Good!" I told him before I ran past him, headed towards the Senate and dealing with any Sith I saw along the way.

Ahead of me I saw a Republic soldier with an injured leg. He couldn't stand and two fake Republic Soldiers stood above him with blasters pointed, ready for the kill shot. I reached my left hand towards one of the fakes and through the Force I grabbed her and levitated her into the air and threw her into her friend. Knocking them both to the ground, her on top of her friend. Without slowing a single step of my stride I ran past them and made one single stabbing towards the ground that struck both of them down in one move. With those two fakes defeated another Republic friendly took the injured soldier over his shoulder and rushed him towards safety.

After that I came across a couple more troopers with their backs turned towards me and I dispatched them with little effort. Then yet another Sith trooper where the only real effort that was required of me was when I had to hurdle over his body as it fell to the ground. But it wasn't all this easy. Shortly after that I actually had to come to a full stop as I locked eyes with a Sith Marauder. A Sith dedicated only rage, blood lust, and combat. Caring little about the mental aspects of the Force and concentrated only on how to use the Dark Side to increase their sword skills. A tough opponent on a battlefield like this. One that someone with Lwyn's type of skills would be better off fighting. But I had larger bounties of Sith under my belt than a single Marauder.

I wasn't much for dual-saber combat so I found the nearest Sith trooper and promptly deposited my extra saber in his back. Comfortably leaving me with one saber. The human marauder grinned at me. His teeth had been filed to look like fangs. I guess he was trying to intimidate me. He didn't. If it wasn't for the increasing noise around us I would have made a snarky quip to this joker. But alas, I would have to keep my comments to myself this time.

The two of us charged at each other, meeting in the middle with a clash of our sabers. Immediacy after the initial strike we followed up with a burst of attacks and clashing blades. I wasn't sure who had the advantage. It seemed 50-50. Not bad. To be honest, me matching blows in straight forward combat with a marauder wasn't too shabby. It was their one and only strength. Their entire beings are dedicated to fighting. But their weakness was anything beyond combat.

As we were clashing our blades together I pulled back a little just so he would have to extend his hand closer to me when he attacked. With his lightsaber and hand closer to me, I quickly moved my free hand above the knuckles of his hand that held his saber. I contracted the Force into a Force Point attack that hit him directly on his hand. I heard some disturbing cracking and popping sounds come from his hand as he dropped his lightsaber.

I was unaware at the time but a second Marauder was watching us fight from a close distance. When he saw me essentially destroy his buddy's hand with a well placed Force Point, he took that as an invitation to join into the fray. He ran up from behind me and swiped his lightsaber towards the back of my head. I was able to sense it in time to crouch down as the saber passed over me. The marauder with the broken hand wasn't as lucky. The second marauder's blade kept arcing forward and decapitated the first marauder. From my crouching position I saw the decapitated marauder fall to the ground with nothing more than a stump on his shoulders. Slain by his own kind. Holy Jawas... These guys were nuts!

I didn't let that happen to me. From my crouching position I quickly reached out through the Force and located the third lightsaber hanging in my jacket. The blade ignited and flew from the back of my jacket, piercing a second hole in my brand new coat, and striking the second marauder square in the chest. The marauder fell back, yanking the lightsaber from my coat and taking it with him when he hit the ground. Another Sith down and another lightsaber lost. I looked ahead towards the Seante Building. For all this effort, loss of lightsabers, and holes in my coat I had only progressed a quarter of the way towards the Senate Building.

I may not have been able to make up for my lost effort and holes in my coat but I was going to make sure I had plenty of disposable lightsabers to spare. So I quickly plundered the two lightsabers from the two slain Marauders and retook the saber sticking from the second Marauder's chest. With three sabers back in my coat and two more in my hands I pushed on. The senate didn't seem that far away by looking at it but when you add in all the Sith obstacles... this was going to be insane. And I was the perfect man for the job.

________\-V-/________

Master Sarval-Styr gallantly stood at the threshold of the Senate's main entrance. The top of his Jedi ropes cut and fell around his waist. With a blaster wound in his right shoulder that he managed to ignore for the most part. He and some other Jedi had formed a defensive line on the threshold to prevent the Sith from entering. The Sith would enter this building over their dead bodies. Sith after Sith were sent to break through the Jedi line but the growing piles of the defeated Sith around the main entrance was evident that the Jedi had succeeded so far in holding them back. Not without hefty costs to the Jedi though. The line started with five Jedi. Now only Sarval remained. And he was questioning how long he could continue.

His body was reaching it's limits and the Sith weren't backing down. Two Sith warriors, both with dual-bladed lightsabers, came charging for Sarval. He took a deep breath and clasped his hands around his single saber. He was so weak he didn't think he'd be able to handle these two anymore. But he wouldn't allow them to pass. At the cost of his own life. If be.

Sarval put every effort he had left into deflecting the initial strikes from the Sith. He held them off until one of the Sith sliced Sarval's lightsaber handle in half. Disabling his saber and leaving him defenseless. He dropped what remained of his saber and backed away. He put his hands towards the Sith and let out a mild Force push. The push knocked them stumbling back a step or two but it was only effective as a brief diversion. That was all Sarval had left. He stammered backwards and began breathing heavily. He had been using the Force to keep his stamina peeked but that had ended. He wanted to keep fighting to protect the Senate but he feared he was no longer able. Still, out of instinct he put his hands up, as futile as it was, to defend himself.

The Sith came for him, ready for the deathblow. Sarval prepared himself for it... when they suddenly stopped in place and held their lightsabers close to their chest in a defensive stance. A brief moment later Zade ran from behind Sarval and engaged the two Sith with his dual-yellow-sabers. Sarval watched in fascination as Zade danced around the two Sith in combat. He used his speed advantage to run from Sith to Sith, engaging one in combat while avoiding the other. Then when the two Sith were able to gather themselves, Zade would use the same tactic against the opposite Sith. Keeping the two disorientated and confused.

Zade kept them on the defensive. Never giving them the upper hand. The battle concluded when Zade sharply ran behind one of them and thrashed one of his lightsabers out. This forced the Sith to sidestep Zade's attack and bump into his Sith friend. The distraction of the two bumping into each other gave Zade his desired opening. With his second saber he made one slash that cut both of them. One in the chest and the other in his back. With one strike Zade had defeated two Sith. And despite all of his running and dancing about, Zade still looked as if he had all the energy in the galaxy. Zade looked back to Sarval and smiled, "They sure roughed you up. Didn't they?"

"Hmph." Sarval grunted. He pointed towards the door, to the outside battle, "I thought you were out there. How did you get behind me?"

Zade raised his eyebrows and smiled flatly, "The sewers of course. By the way, I'd avoid drinking from the water for awhile."

"Noted."

Zade seemed concerned about Sarval's state, "You don't seem well, my friend."

Sarval nodded, "Unpleasantly so."

"I don't ever wish to overstep my authority but... perhaps you should take it easy." Zade cautiously suggested. Hoping not to offend him.

Sarval frowned, but agreed, "Yes. The wounded need treatment. I can assist them."

Zade nodded and smiled, "Leave this gate to me."

Sarval left the entrance and headed to the back of the hall. He would use what little energy he had left to help the injured. Meanwhile, Zade took his place at the entrance's threshold. Ready to take on any foe that came near him. He didn't have to wait long before he got his first official opportunity at gate duty. And a mighty one at that. Three Sith marauders. They locked eyes on Zade. Three against one. They liked those odds. Zade on the other hand wasn't too pleased with that stipulation. But he'd take in on anyways.

The three charged for him. Ignoring to take in their fallen allies on the ground as a warning. Zade remained in place, planting his feat firmly in the ground. Keeping himself steady. When they were only five meters away from him, Zade inexplainably saw streaks of red light come from behind the Sith. The light seemed guided and driven. Zade raised an fascinated eyebrow when he realized the three lights were the three blades of lightsabers. Three guided and driven lightsabers that found their marks in the marauder's backs. The three blades stabbed the charging Sith. The Sith fell forward mid-stride and all hit the ground simultaneously. Their bodies slid across the ground and halted just before Zade's feet. Zade could only say to himself, "Interesting."

From the battlefield a man in a long, tan coat walked towards Zade. He stretched out his hands towards the fallen Sith and summoned the three lightsaber handles into his hands. As he walked for Zade he clipped the three blades on the inside of his coat. Zade couldn't tell who this man was. His head was covered under a hood and his face masked behind a white bandanna. The hood even covered his eyes. Zade could sense strength in this man. He was a curious individual. As the man approached Zade, he paused briefly and asked, "Zade Rad'hyth?"

Zade nodded, "Umm... Yes. And you are?"

"Not important." The man said followed by a brief chuckle.

"Alright." Zade said, very confused, "I guess I only need to know, friend or foe?"

"...Friend." The man said as he walked within arms reach of Zade. He stopped and asked him, "But lets not chit-chat. We can't have this battle continue on as it is. Now can we?"

"No." Zade agreed.

"Then I have an idea. If you are willing to bend your Jedi teachings just a bit."

Zade titled his head to the side, "Just... how much would I have to bend?"

"No more than you have already."

Zade greatly wondered who this stranger was. His sudden approach caught him off guard. Zade was hesitant but for some strange reason felt he should trust this man. He told the man, "Well then, what did you have in mind?"

________\-V-/________

In the Force there are those that can manipulate senses, feelings, and emotions of those in wide areas. Some Jedi could spread a sense of easiness and clarity around a large area. I even heard strong Jedi of old could even heal minor wounds on a single battlefield. On the other side of the coin, the Sith could cause uneasiness, fear, or even madness over an area. That was waaay out of my range of abilities but I wanted to try something a little different. A combination of the two sides by joining Zade's and my united Force energy. Zade had no idea what I was talking about as I tried to explain it earlier. That was fine. I didn't really need him to understand. In the Hyarsythe library I read of a Sith Lord that took a Jedi's wide area skill and manipulated it to use as his own Dark skill. Even though that particular Sith had never used a wide area skill before. Basically, the Sith Lord hijacked the Jedi's light side skill and made it all dark and evil. Thats kinda what I was planning on doing. Only toned down quite a bit.

So here I was. Standing shoulder to shoulder with a man I once, and still admire. Zade Rad'hyth. He may not have known who I was but I knew him from my padawan days. It was an honor. But I didn't have the time to stand around and shoot the breeze. It was time we tipped the scales in our favor. And to do that we'd have to try something new and highly unorthodox. Zade would provide the skills of the Jedi and I would provide the skills from what I learned from the Sith.

We stood at the threshold of the main entrance. Our eyes closed and each one of us with an arm stretched out towards the ongoing battle. Behind us were a battalion of Republic solders. Ready to fire at any Sith that came for the entrance while we were occupied. While Zade held his hand out he spoke to me through the side of his mouth, "You know I haven't really done this in years. Even then I wasn't very apt."

With my eyes still closed I smiled under my handkerchief and told him, "Thats alright. I don't need you to be."

He paused a moment, "If I don't like what you're doing I'll be forced to stop this. Understood?"

"Just trust me."

"I don't even know you." He said gruffly.

Yes, he did. But I wasn't going to tell him anything about myself. Instead I told him, "Do you want more innocent lives to be lost? Or do you want to end this?"

"Fine." Zade reluctantly agreed.

"But... you know I've actually never done this. So this will be quite interesting." I said with a chuckle.

"Great." He said sarcastically.

He clutched his outstretched hand into a fist. Then extending his index and middle fingers towards the battle. As he did I could feel a warming aura emit from him. The moment I felt his power emerge I could feel what to do. The Force lent me a guiding hand through an area of skill that I had no experience. With my eyes closed I could see only darkness. But when I concentrated on Zade's power it was if I could see the range and measure to his ability in my subconscious. Like a second sense of vision. It was like Zade released a calming, mist over the area. This ability, this second vision was like nothing I'd ever tried before but it seemed so easy. Like a hidden, inner nature.

When I was ready I joined my powers with his own. My Force energy concentrated and my mind focused. Using my extended hand as a conductor I released my own power. My second vision grew frenzied. I could see Zade's power as my own. As if I had absorbed it. Everything that Zade's power touched, I could sense. Every life and every emotion. I could sense those that were touched by the Dark Side. The Sith. They couldn't disguise themselves from me and appeared like red shadows in my second sight. They may as well have had a large floating 'Sith' sign above their heads. It was overwhelming yet exhilarating.

Now that I had achieved this wide area effect, I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. I could tell who were Sith and who weren't. But how could I use that to my advantage? The Force guided me again. I could sense what to do. Since I could sense the Sith's emotions I could perhaps use it against them. Just like I could hack into computers, I could hack into their angered, yet fragile minds. The weaker Sith, like the troopers, were fearful. They acted tough but on the inside they were afraid of combat. So I changed the calming aura that Zade was using and changed it. It was now a wide aura of intimidation directed only at those weak minded Sith. I could sense the fear in them grow. A sense of paranoia crept into their minds. They became hesitant and sloppy. Making them easy pickings for the Republic.

Zade could sense the change in the surrounding area. He broke his stance and turned towards me, "What are you doing?! This is wrong."

I ignored him. I didn't want to get distracted. I could already sense the energy being sapped form my being. This power was too much for me to handle for too long. But I couldn't stop here. I was driven to make up for my mistake of not destroying the Citadel when I had the chance. But I was afraid I wasn't being as much of a help as I wanted. I was only effecting the week minded Sith troopers but the stronger Sith were unaffected. And they were the larger threat.

Try as I might, I couldn't be as effective I would have liked. And this was draining my energy fast. I was breathing heavily and I could feel tight pains in my chest and back. This was doing more harm to me than it was the Sith. Zade grabbed me by the shoulder and pulled me towards him. Also pulling me out of my trance. The wide area effect ended and my second vision vanished. He looked me in the eyes and scowled, "I've had enough of this."

I put my hand up and placed it on my head. I was lightheaded. I coughed before I told him, "Alright... alright. I'm finished. But the damage has been done. This should at least bend the battle in our favor."

Zade grit his teeth and closed is eyes briefly, "I know. I can sense a change in the battle. I don't like how you did it... but you helped."

I had to take a few steps away from him and lean my back against side of the entrance's archway. My legs were getting wobbly and I needed support to stand. Man, so much side effect to a seemingly ineffective ability. At least ineffective to the strong minded. This was a skill I don't think I'd want to use again. I don't even think I could without Zade's help. Zade walked over to me and asked, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." I told him, "This just very new to me."

"You used the Dark Side. These can be the effects of doing so. You should stop now while you can." Zade preached.

I wasn't feeling up to arguing the points of Light, Dark or in between right now. Nor did I think it was the appropriate time. I nodded to him, "Thanks for the concern. But now is not the time."

Zade nodded back, "True. Despite the ways you did this, I thank you for your help."

"Zade!" A voice called out from our side.

Zade turned to his left and saw Master Sarval walking towards him. Zade greeted Sarval, "Master Sarval. I thought you were treating the wounded."

"I thought I sensed something... odd. I wanted to examine this disturbance I felt." He told Zade.

Zade nodded, "Yes. That was," He turned to face where I stood but I was already gone. Zade looked at an empty wall and said, "Well, there was somebody here."

"I see." Sarval asked him, "Who was it?"

Zade paused for a few seconds, "I'm not sure... but I have my theories."

Those two were left inside the Senate building while I high tailed it out of there. I had removed the Citadel from the battle. I'd slain quite a few powerful Sith or two. I destroyed a Sith academy. And I'd hopefully gotten into the heads of the Sith troopers. I wasn't satisfied with all that I had accomplished. I could have done more... Not to say I knew I hadn't done allot. But I was quite sure that I was finished in this battle. Hyarsythe seemed like it had happened so long ago, but it was only a couple of days ago. If even that. I'd lost track of time. My body was tired and my mind fatigued. I was confident enough that the Sith would fall. And they did.

After I left, the Republic destroyed the Sith. The Jedi defeated the Force sensitive Sith and the Republic made quick work of the weakened troopers. The Senate was, for the most part, untouched. This battle was over. But the damage had been done. Thousands of lives were lost from the Citadel alone. The Republic and Jedi Order was only beginning to rebuild their reputation as it was. Now they had to rebuild a city as well. I was confident enough that they could do it though. There was nothing more that I could do to help them. I would leave them to their work while my work was only beginning...

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Note: Again, sorry for the slightly long update. I would have liked to post a week or so ago but... this just hasn't been a very good month... or couple of months. I'm still getting over some sickness but HOPEFULLY I'll be able to write the 30th chapter soon. It will be the last chapter of this first story so it'll may be a long chapter. But after that I do plan to continue with a second volume shortly after I end this one. But I'll explain more about about the second volume at the end of chapter 30. So, thank you for reading and please leave a review if you'd like. It's always appreciated.