Chapter 2:

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN

The time was three in the morning. The night sky was plastered with bright, small lights that radiated with both life and beauty. In that moment, I could feel billions of life forms across the expanse of the universe going about their daily lives with their simple tasks and duties.

In that moment, I was restless as I palmed the communicator from my pocket. I rotated the small, cylindrical device between my fingers before I finally made up my mind. This was a call that I had been meaning to make for a long time, but I hadn't had the time to do so due to the duties of being the Grandmaster of the Rebirth.

I switched the transmitter on the bottom side to the delta-nine com-signal and placed the communicator on the railing ledge. Taking a deep breath, I calmed myself in the Force and pressed the activation switch.

The unit beeped once. A few second pause followed.

Then, it beeped twice.

Pause.

Then, three times.

Then, the line went dead.

I stared at the communicator for a full minute before I reached my senses outwards while still keeping my presence low and guarded as to not be sensed by anyone else. When my awareness reached out to the final fringes of the galaxy itself, I felt something push back out to meet me, but it was not what I was expecting.

The presence that met me was not the one I wanted to find, but I received it nonetheless. There were no words spoken, but the Force connected us all the same. The connection lasted four seconds, but there was something clearly said.

Red.

"Red?" I mumbled to myself, retracting my presence in full, letting my hands fall to my sides.

Quickly, I searched the recesses of my brain as I tried to find a correlation with that color. There were many red things in the galaxy. There were many red things that I'd seen over the past thirty-five years of being alive. Obviously, a red lightsaber was at the top of that list. However, the person I was searching for was very accustomed to those lightsabers.

I sat down in the chair on the balcony and looked at the communicator again in silent worry.

"You said you would always answer." I mumbled to myself. "You never miss this call."

Unless, something happened.

Again, I reached out through the Force to peer into that region of the universe and found nothing. Nothing whatsoever.

I pulled back again and leaned back, my brain automatically going to the foes that laid in the Unknown Regions.

As my brain started to run scenarios, the com unit started to beep. I pushed all other thoughts out of my head and reached my hand out, the unit activating in a blaze of blue light.

Suddenly, there was a familiar individual before me. The person was clad in black combat trousers and tunic with a silver sash around his belt. In his hand was a lit lightsaber, a crimson beam of energy that flicked its light across the ground and carnage that surrounded it. On the ground beside the one in question laid several bodies. They weren't sentient. They were a type of bipedal four-legged carnivores.

Holding the head of the creature his other hand, Kane gave me a look of confusion missed with a hardness that felt unwarranted, "Marko."

"Kane." I cleared my throat, no longer sensing the other presence that flooded my system mere moments before, "You normally don't miss our appointments."

Kane shrugged, releasing the head in his left hand and letting it fall to the grassy ground below him, "My apologies. I was a little preoccupied. This particular sect of annoba are more vicious during the night than the mid-day."

I nodded, remembering that the annoba were spread through the galaxy and were most likely spread through the Unknown Regions as well. The case in point being that I had never seen that particular kind of annoba before. They were darker furred than typical gray, almost edging into the black coloration.

That didn't matter to Kane, however.

"Fair." I said, then leaned back in the chair I was perched in, "Should I contact you tomorrow then?"

Kane shook his head, wiping a smidge of blood off his face and deactivating his lightsaber, "I'm just finishing off the alpha pack. My squad should be able to clean up the rest."

Again, I nodded, then I gave him a questioning look, "Have you encountered a Force user out there yet?"

Kane nodded, "A few, but none that pose a threat to the galaxy at large, previously known and unknown."

"This coming from you." I gave a dry smile, "Kane, leader of the Shadow Brigade and Sith Master."

Kane smirked, "I prefer the title Lord."

"You won't get it from me. You know that." I said. As I opened my mouth to inquire farther about the mysterious presence, I felt the Force nudge me in warning. Taking the sudden warning in full, I changed the subject, "What is the current situation on the Vong?"

The Yuzhan Vong were a species that posed a threat to the entire universe if left unchecked. They were a violent, dangerous species that served their own assortment of gods and deities. Controlled by a single ruler, they went about the regions 'cleansing' the worlds that their gods 'commanded' them to. After the last encounter with Ator during the Shadow War and my subsequent revival on Kashyyyk, Kane and I had made the decision to send several well-trained teams out into the Unknown Regions to keep a watchful eye on the would-be invaders.

Kane's eyes hardened considerably, "Their conquest is not in the near future, but they will strike at some point. Trust that. Our teams have only encountered a single team in the past three months that was bent on having better knowledge of what lies beyond the veil of their understanding. They were quickly dealt with."

"And, by dealt with you mean?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Mind rubbed." Kane said, tapping his head, "The team consisted of thirteen Vong. Two survived and were made to think they had encountered a rival clan and they were victorious but needed time to heal from their wounds."

I nodded, "Good job. At least we don't have to worry about them for a while longer."

"Our watches will stay the same regardless." Kane said firmly. "Next?"

"Please."

"I have not encountered anything as of late that would be a threat to the galaxy at large." Kane said. "The threats that were perceived from Earth seem to not exist at this current moment in time. I'm starting to think that having Cultrous here in the first place all those years ago disrupted the timeline to the point of such a drastic change in events."

"Maybe." I said, raising a hand to my bearded chin in thought, "Or, perhaps they are being warned and moved. I mean, it hasn't been roses and peaches for the last twelve years, but I can see history unfolding differently. People are missing, dead, still alive, or in different professions than originally anticipated."

"Which means it's harder for us to keep track of when the shit will hit the fan." Kane added, a wry smile on his face. "For the most part, however, everything seems to be in order."

I mulled that over, then held a hand up. My lightsabers flew from the bedside table to my hands. They disassembled in mere seconds and the two kyber crystals – the legendary Kyber Shards – floated in front of my eyes, one glowing blue and the other glowing white with a black center.

"And, the Shards?" I asked.

Kane gave a small nod of his head, "I do not have them with me currently, but the Shards are in maximum security with Ysalamiri Vaults holding them in place. The only way through the vaults is with the passcode combination that only I carry within my brain."

"For anyone else, I would say that's not the wisest decision based on the fact that thoughts can be broken into. However, considering that you are my clone with my brain and my power of control, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and say that it is in the safest conditions." I said, reassembling my lightsabers and laying them down on the small, glass table beside me.

Kane looked around for a second, then came back, "I believe that is all to report."

"Good." I said, reaching for the comlink, "If anything changes, you know the code to get in touch with me."

"Or, if I just get lonely." Kane said, smirking.

"Or, that." I joked back, though not feeling the entire range of friendship that such a joke would have had if it was a normal being and not a clone made of darkness.

As I reached for the button, Kane held a hand up. The Force, from all the way on the other side of the galaxy, stopped my finger.

"What?" I asked, blinking my eyes.

"There is one more thing." Kane said, his voice low and grave.

"What is it?" I asked.

Kane lowered his head for a moment, then raised it up. When his eyes came back to mine, they were shining yellow and gold with the power of the Dark Side. Wisps of red flickered into the specks of gold and orange, creating the illusion of molten lava.

"The future, Marko, is never in stone." Kane said, his voice echoing with the Dark Side, "Our steps should be measured. You have thought of nothing but the next war and have trained Jedi over the last twelve years to fight in such a war. Be sure that you know what you are doing should it find you."

There was gravity in his tone. My heart, for an instant, felt like it was full of lead. I could barely breathe for an instant.

"Have you seen something?" I asked, my own eyes sharpening.

"Nothing yet. Only feelings." Kane said. "The Dark Side is a pathway to many abilities that some consider to be unnatural, but sensing the future isn't difficult. However, sensing the correct future is. I've reached out but only found feelings of the futures that could come. Be careful."

The connection suddenly died out and I was left there in the dead of night. I took a deep breath and scooped up my lightsabers. When I turned around, Ahsoka was standing there in the doorway to the balcony. She was dressed in red underwear and her eyes were wide and focused.

"How did that go?" She asked.

I gave her a shrug, "As well as it always does, I guess. Nothing to report on in the Unknown Regions as of yet."

Ahsoka gave a small nod of her head, moving closer to wrap her arms around my neck and press herself to me. Her head leant against my chest, my hands coming up to hold her bare back.

"Good." She said softly. "If Kane hasn't found anything as well, then we should be in good standing for the time being."

"That being the operative phrase." I said back, equally as soft. I pulled back slightly too look at her face. My hand came up to caress her soft features before I settled my thumb on her cheek, "Tell me we're doing all we can."

Ahsoka's eyes shone, but her voice was a whisper, "We always have."

I nodded, turning my head to the side for a moment to look at the stars once again. It was so interesting to think that there was life near almost every single one of them.

Before I could speak again, Ahsoka beat me to it. She took my face in her hands and stared directly into my soul, "You have done anything and everything to prepare us for the coming conflict that comes with being Jedi. You have done your very best to make sure that the children, the Masters, the Knights, everyone is ready for the time that battle calls upon us once again."

"For the moment we have to save the galaxy again." I said, a small smile on my lips. The Star Wars.

"We take each day hand in hand, my love." She said. "We fight through it all. We will always come out victorious as long as you are there to guide. The Force chose you."

I snorted quietly, "Yes. It did. It chose me, a lone, fourteen-year-old boy to save the galaxy from the Sith while finding love and saving his family at the same time. A truly well thought out story. Only the Force could be so poetic."

"Often, we find that the things that we see are only a small part of the whole picture." Ahsoka said. "Here and now, I can see what the picture is forming."

"And, what is that?"

"A future filled with balance and love." Ahsoka said, her heart melding with mine. The feeling of her over-encompassing love caused my heart to swoon. She continued, "A future where we can go on vacation one day and be the Jedi Masters that the galaxy needs. Where strength comes from training and from meditating. Where we can be us."

I leaned my head down, catching her lips in a soft kiss that we held for the next ten seconds. All that could be felt in that instant was love and purity. There was no fear about the future or any uncertainty that at the cusp of the day, there would be something to smile about.

She was right. The Force had chosen me. It had chosen me to correct what needed to be fixed. First, it was a mission. Then, it became a new life. Now, it was my very existence. It was who I had become forever. The life that could have been did not mean anything to me.

All that mattered was that the coin had been flipped. Earth was on the side turned.

This is where I was meant to be. I thought as Ahsoka pulled me back into the bed. She wrapped us in blankets before tossing a leg over mine and holding my head against her chest. As I listened to her heartbeat, I felt consciousness start to fade again. A beautiful feeling erupted in my chest as I felt her presence envelop mine.

This, I thought, is the other side of the coin.

Interlude 2.1

As her parents laid back down into their bed, Mara Jade could feel their respective energies in the Force change from an alert tone to one of relaxation and peace. Within mere seconds, both were sound asleep, holding each other in an embrace that showed how close they would always be.

How close they had always been.

Mara leaned back from the door, letting it slide shut without a sound. She stood there for a few more minutes, processing her own thoughts before walking into the living room. She checked the chrono that hung above the door frame to the common area. It was twenty-five minutes past three in the morning.

She couldn't sleep. She had the dream again.

In the dream that had been plaguing her thoughts for the last few weeks, she saw herself with her lightsaber ignited, fighting against an enemy that she couldn't see. They were all encased in shadows. However, she could feel the Dark Side pulsing within each of them. Sometimes, in the dream they came at her with lightsabers of all colors. Other times, they came at her with blasters, staffs, and even slug-throwers.

Regardless, they were attacking her. She fought them on all different types of terrains and planets, which some of them she recognized and others she didn't. The dream always came to a point where she was fought her way to a darkened room full of…nothing. There was nothing. Then, she would hear a laugh.

And, the voice that was responsible for the laugh would speak.

"You will kill Luke Skywalker."

And, yet, there she was. She meditated on it whenever she had a free moment. That wasn't often, but she had been trying her hardest to reach into the future with the Force. The Force, however, had other plans. The veil of the future was never certain, and therefore it could only be a possibility for what she could see.

So, the Force had not given her any vision of that future besides the dream.

Every time she thought about the voice, she could feel her skin prickle and her blood turn cold. The voice was familiar and alien to her at the same time. It was as if, in another life, she had been a subject to that voice. In a way, it gave her comfort and in another it caused her heart to shrivel with fear.

In the back of her mind, she wondered why her father hadn't sensed the inner turmoil within her spirit. He had always been good at that. Though, she admitted to herself, she had done a better job at concealing her emotions without allowing the tension to pass through the Force.

Mara moved over to the windows that showed the outside world of the planet she called home. The world they lived on was strong in the Force, both the light and the dark. She eyed the community that had been formed around the Temple. She could remember when it was just the Temple and the training grounds. Now, it was a community made of nearly a hundred homes, each with levels that were like entire furnished homes. Each level per family with three levels per building. There were some students who had families that didn't want to make the trek to the unknown with them and stayed behind on their home worlds.

Those students who didn't have families along for the ride resided in the Rebirth Temple, where she and her family stayed as well. There were three spires instead of four like the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, and in the southernmost one resided the Marko family.

In the twelve years that had passed since they had resided there, Mara had watched the number grow from around twenty members of the Rebirth – that was including her own master, his family, Master Kenobi's family, and thereon – to nearly two hundred and fifty members. The Masters Council of Eleven consisted of her father, her mother, Anakin Skywalker, Obi Wan Kenobi, Siri Tachi Kenobi, Ziv Kotan, Kiara Seto Kotan, Jacob Marko, Master Kanan Jarrus, and Master Kenneth Tarrak. The final spot was being saved for Jet Raal when he made master.

But, even then, sometimes the halls of the Temple never felt emptier than they did recently. There was still a kinship and familiarity with everyone around, but the voice she heard instilled her with a fear she had not known before. It wasn't as if it was currently speaking to her, yet she knew that it had at one point in time. Now, whether that time was one she could cognitively remember or not was still to be determined.

"Mara?"

Startled, Mara resisted the urge to spin around and merely turned slightly at the voice, "Yes? Who is it?" She completed her spin and saw that it was Max.

"It's just me." Max said, stifling a yawn and throwing a look to the chrono in the dining area, "I was up to get a glass of water and then I felt your emotions spike for an instant. Are you alright?"

Mara nodded, "I'm fine, Maxy. You know, just became a Knight. So, it's a late night."

Max gave a small shrug, "I understand that. It's not every day that you go through your Knighting Trials and become a leader within the Jedi Rebirth."

"Right." Mara agreed. "Must be all that excitement of what to do next. Tomorrow is a new day."

Max took a few more steps until he was in front of Mara, then he laid a hand on her shoulder. At fourteen years old, Max wasn't that much shorter than his sister. She was nearly five foot five and he was a few inches shorter. He would hit a growth spurt, he knew, but it wouldn't come sooner for him in his own mind.

Then, the Force blossomed for a moment. A connection between the two that was only distinguishable through the bond created. For that singular instant, Max gained a knowledge into Mara's mind. All pathways became unlocked for that one second, but that one second was all he needed.

Max released his hand just as Mara's brain sent a signal to her own left arm to remove his hand.

Max's expression turned somber, "Fear."

"You shouldn't be doing that, Max." Mara said, her voice becoming sharp. "Invading another's thoughts is not becoming of a Jedi."

"Neither is lying." Max retorted; his voice soft. "You weren't thinking about your Knighting Trails at all."

"I never said I was." Mara said, the sharpness fading slowly. Her chest heaved slightly with the added stress of the coming conversation. But, she released it into the Force.

"You agreed with me." Max said. "That's basically the same thing."

Mara quirked a small smile, "Depends on how you look at it."

"Mara."

Mara held her hands up, "Fine. Fine. Yes, I lied. But, I lied about something I want to keep to myself."

Max fixed her with a stare, then held a finger up to his head, touching his temple gently. He sighed softly, "This felt turmoil within you, Sis."

Mara opened her mouth, closed it, then started over, "I…I have a feeling. I've been having it for a while now."

Max cocked an eyebrow, "What kind of feeling?"

"That something…or someone is trying to contact me through the Force." Mara whispered as if she was a small child keeping a secret from her parents.

"Have you told Dad?" Max asked.

Mara shook her head, placing a hand on her hip, "No. I don't think I should just yet."

Max gave her a questioning look, "Why wouldn't you?"

"Because, the voice is calling to me not him." Mara said plainly, "It's not a matter of pride or of importance. I trust Dad with everything, including my own life. But, there will be things I will face that will be beyond his reach too. I need to know I can handle those times without him. If I can't, then I'll always bring him into the fold."

For a long moment, Max held her stare. She could feel the emotions wrangling inside his mind and she wondered for a moment whether he would be able to control himself. Then, he cracked a smile, "Fine."

"Fine?"

"Yeah." Max said, crossing his arms, "But, if you go and find out whatever is calling out to you and you get your butt handed to you, I'm never letting you live it down. And, you have to bring all of us to help when you come back."

Mara grinned wider, "Deal." She held out a fist.

Max bumped it without missing a beat. Then, Mara enveloped him into a hug. She held him tight, and he held her right back. There was a hidden message in such a display of familial affection. Both understood.