Chapter 35

A storm was brewing on the distant planet. Strong winds were lifting the black ash from the ground and whipping it up into an ash-storm. The hot air would scald a person's skin if they left themselves exposed to it for too long.

Jani did not care. She strode toward her target without concern for anything other than reaching her goal and taking what she believed belonged to her. The exposed parts of her skin were being assaulted by the ash – it rubbed away at it, like sand paper – but still she didn't seek shelter.

She made her way relentlessly through the black mountains, eventually emerging into the same canyon that had greeted Sar and the Dark Jedi. Its walls blocked out the wind and the flying ash, providing welcome relief. The ground was covered with purple flowers, which were almost hypnotic in their beauty. Jani was mesmerised momentarily – the endless purple seeming to engulf her – but then her eyes were drawn to the only imperfection in the sheet of purple.

She moved closer to it, and as she did so she realised what it was; it was flowers which had been trampled underfoot. The footprints were still fresh – perhaps thirty minutes old – but Jani knew that if she didn't hurry her prize would have already been claimed. She followed the trail around the curve of the canyon, not stopping even once.

She noticed a change in the path through the flowers that she was following. It had been quite wide – as though two people had been walking side by side – but as she got close to the temple it became narrower. Clearly, one of the people was no longer walking. Had Marc tried to fight back, and been carried the rest of the way?

The vast doors of the temple came slowly into view, and to Jani's… annoyance, if not her surprise, the doors had been left open. Part of her dismissed it as the Dark Jedi just being in too much of a hurry, but another part of her… a dark, paranoid part… was convinced that he'd left the door open to taunt her. They were screaming at her. You're too late, they screamed. You've lost.

She ground her teeth together and tried to drown out the voice. I'll show you, she thought. I'll kill you. She quickened her pace, passing through the doors quickly. Inside, the first thing she noticed was the mutilated corpse on the floor to her left. Guess he lost his head, she thought, and gave a vicious giggle. The next thing she noticed made her heart almost stop – the door in front of her was wide open. The door that had been locked for so long, that led to the second fragment.

She growled and rushed through the door, emerging into a vast cathedral – grey walls, wooden floor. It must have been a hundred yards long.

Gabe was in front of her, his massive hood still covering his face, and his light sabre was drawn. But Jani's eyes were drawn to what stood beside him. There was a tall pedestal – maybe three feet tall – and on top lie a small piece of what looked like glass. It was the second fragment, and it was glowing a bright purple.

Jani force her face to soften, and looked at Gabe. "Take down that hood", she said, smiling. "Let me look at your face".

Gabe made no movement for several seconds, but then his hands rose and slowly pulled down his hood. Jani analysed his face. His blue skin was much paler than she remembered, his eyes dark and baggy. He looked tired, she thought.

She walked slowly toward him, trying to keep her eyes on him and not the fragment. She needed to find out where the second fragment was, and then kill Gabe.

"Where's Marc", she asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

Gabe smiled for the first time. When he spoke his voice was completely calm – so calm that it caught Jani off guard. "As if you ever cared", he said. "He was always just a tool for you… a way to get what you wanted".

Jani stopped walking and smiled. "That's true", she said. "But are you any different?"

"Maybe not at first". Gabe sighed and leant sideways onto the pedestal. Jani let out an involuntary sound – how could Gabe treat it so casually? "But my goals have changed", he continued. He looked directly at Jani and smiled. "The difference between us is that, no matter how much I lusted after the power of the orb, I was always willing to share it. When you opened fire on me above Socorro it broke my heart".

And that was her way in. She smiled, as sweetly as she could, and reached out her hand slowly towards him. Gabe flinched but didn't move away. "It broke my heart too", she said. "But I was… scared. I thought you'd never want to share the power, and I thought that you were going to kill me".

Gabe grunted laughter. "You've never been that insecure", he said harshly. "Even if I was going to kill you it wouldn't frighten you".

Jani's smile fell from her face, and her hand fell from his. "Fine", she said. "I wasn't scared. I was seizing my opportunity – as you should have done. Come on, Gabe! This thing has enough power to destroy planets! It's the embodiment of the Force – anyone who controls it can control everything! How could you not expect me to try and take it for myself? Anyone would have done the same".

"I didn't". Gabe's eyes were full of sorrow, accusing her.

Jani threw her hands up in exasperation. "Only because I didn't give you the chance"

Gabe didn't respond to that, but his eyes filled with pain. Jani knew that she had him… he was still in love with her. She walked over to him, put her hands at the back of his head and kissed him full on the lips. The kiss lasted what seemed like an eternity. When their lips finally separated Gabe's eyes were closed.

"OK", Jani breathed. "Let's share it".

Gabe looked into her eyes, and nodded.

Jani nodded back, encouragingly. "So where's Marc?" she asked. "Where's the other fragment".

Gabe indicated towards a far corner of the hall; a corner shrouded in shadow. Jani strained her eyes, and she could just barely make out a dim purple glow. It was the first fragment.

Jani rushed over to him and grabbed the fragment. She tried to drag it away from Marc, but he held it tightly.

"Let go, you bastard!" she screamed. Then she looked at him – at his face, and his eyes. The life had drained from him… she could tell that his mind was not in the room with them. But his fingers would not uncurl from around the fragment.

Gabe folded his arms and walked slowly over towards them. As he did he saw Jani try and fail to prise the fragment from between Marc's fingers. He heard her scream in frustration and reach for her light sabre.

Gabe smiled. "What are you going to do with that?" he asked.

Jani growled and looked at him, her eyes filled with rage that she wasn't even trying to hide anymore. "I'm going to cut his fucking hand off!" she screamed. "I want that fragment! I WANT IT!"

"I know you do", he said, soothingly. "But instead of taking the fragment from Marc why don't you just bring Marc over here?" He moved slowly over to where Marc was sitting and put his hands gently on his shoulders. He lifted him slowly, and as he did Marc's body moved with him. His eyes were unfocussed, and his mind was elsewhere, but still his body moved with Gabe's prompting.

Jani's eyes narrowed, but she followed silently behind them. They walked over to the second fragment, and as they got closer the two fragments started to pulse in synch with each other. The pulses got faster and faster as they got closer.

"Come on, girl, just a little farther".

Elle was being led through the mountains, flanked by a group of maybe a dozen Alliance soldiers. The Admiral was walking beside her.

They had left the Endor in the middle of the battle which raged above, taking a shuttle down to the planet. Elle had been dragged along to convince Marc to cooperate with the Alliance. But she had no intention of doing so. She knew that Jani would be there, and that she would fight to the death to get what she wanted. When that inevitable battle was taking place she would slip away, with Marc, and make her way back to the Alliance ship.

She had been keeping her head lowered, trying not to make eye contact with anyone. But when she saw the first purple flower she lifted her head, and let out an audible gasp at what she saw. The ground – for as far as she could see – was covered with purple flowers. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen – so beautiful that she forgot about the Admiral, and Jani, and even Marc. And she forgot about moving.

A hard shove from behind her forced her back to the here and now, and they continued walking.

They made it to the temple several minutes later, not stopping to admire the view. When they got past the doors Elle saw the body of her friend, and she let out a cry before a hand could cover her mouth and stifle the sound. They hurried to move to the sides of the still open door, not knowing whether the two Jedi beyond had heard Elle's cry.

They stood in silence for a long time, readying themselves to move. But they never got the chance. Gabe and Jani burst through the door, light sabres glowing bright in the dark. They sliced away at the Alliance soldiers, Jani's face was covered with a sickening smile – she was enjoying the slaughter.

Elle hurried into a corner – she didn't think either of the Jedi had seen her. While she was waiting – trying to filter out the screams of the soldiers – she couldn't help but let her eyes drift towards Sar's corpse. It had started to rot in the heat – she could smell the rancid flesh from across the room. Tears started to pour from her eyes. Rescuing Sar was the one thing that was good about what they were doing. Without that, what was the point in everything that she'd been through?

She realised that the screaming had stopped – it had stopped a long time ago. She peeked out from her hiding place, and she saw two figures standing over the dead bodies. It was Jani and the Dark Jedi, and Jani was still smiling.

Gabe looked at her. "Did you enjoy yourself?" he asked her. "You're slipping further and further away, you know. Just because you're seeking power doesn't mean you have to turn completely to darkness".

"Fuck you", Jani snarled. "I'll do what I want. Now let's get back to business".

The pair turned back towards the fragment, the Dark Jedi leading the way. Elle saw what happened clearly from where she was. Jani walked behind him. Just before they passed through the doorway, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a knife. She grabbed the Dark Jedi's shoulder violently and plunged the knife into his back. He fell through the doorway, Jani following menacingly after him.