Chapter Twenty-Four: In Darkness
Bastila was playing the role of corruptor within her cell.
Aedal had focused her on shoring up his defenses and organizing the repairs for his ship. This she had done, but as she did it, she did something else. She chipped away at the will of her guards, slowly but surely eroding their devotion. They were well trained, of course, but so was she.
Bastila drew their minds to things they'd rather be doing. She diverted their attention to distractions. Little by little, it had worked. Their efforts to guard her were failing.
At the same time, she'd put out her mind farther and farther afield. Zegil was gathering his people, using new weapon systems. He already had a plan in mind, she could sense it, and she encouraged him to strike. At the same time, she undermined everything she could.
A flurry of activity was underway. They were achieving everything Aedal wanted. And that flurry was leaving other areas vulnerable.
Bastila had done all she could here. If she stayed here, she'd end up dead.
Bastila opened the door and walked through, wishing she had her lightsaber. As she made a run for it, she just hoped what she was doing wasn't going to lead her to the Dark Side...
Yuthura Ban had been meditating a lot lately. There was very little else to do when hiding from patrols. The Mandalorians had gotten spread out throughout the forest, trying to find her. But she'd avoided detection so far.
And so she had meditated, misdirected, and worked to keep herself hidden.
"Awaken," said a voice.
Yuthura's eyes opened, and she realized it belonged to Kreia. Suddenly it seemed as though Yuthura was kneeling before Master Kreia within a dark cave. A slight beam of light emanated down from above, and Master Kreia was amid it.
"Master Kreia, what..." began Yuthura.
"You sense it, don't you?" asked Kreia. "The guards have at last relaxed their patrol. They are still on orders to stay alert, but how quickly the weak mind abandons the watch. And the mine guards have been retasked to sentry duty.
"Now is the time."
"But Master Kreia I..." Yuthura realized she couldn't stay here forever. So she shrugged off the leaves and made her way out of the roots, drawing her lightsaber. "Yes, as you command."
The Mandalorians were far afield. As Yuthura came to the edge, where they had stood a few days ago, she saw that there were many fewer guards. She'd slipped through the gaps in Aedal's encompassing net.
But how had Aedal known to search for her? Yuthura quickly made her way down, keeping low as she moved across the pavement toward the cave. The only people she could see where two Mandalorians eating their lunch.
"You hear about that ship Aedal sent out?" asked one.
"Yeah, I heard they're sending the kid to infiltrate a bunch of Dark Jedi," said the other. "They must really want him dead, don't they?"
"Either that or he's got a high opinion of him, Ren," said the first. "Aedal fits the test to the people who do it."
"Do you think he'll make it?" asked Ren.
"Well, he fooled us about those droids. Not sure how well he'll do in combat," said the first. "Don't worry, the Sith are as good as dead anyway. We Mandalorians are the future."
Yuthura slipped by, seeing Ren and his friend move on. Still, she sensed something... a coming presence or event coming. Looking up to the fortress, she had a vision of it writhed in flame with many ships around it. And a sense of urgency came to her as she reached the cave. Within, she saw a guard sleeping by the entrance.
As if the force itself was paving her way.
Slipping by, Yuthura was suddenly assailed by rage. The power washed over her, and she trembled. She felt as if a strange figure was coming at her with a knife. Drawing her lightsaber, she stood ready.
Yet there was nothing. Only the snores of a guard.
She should kill him here and now. He was a slaver, it was no more than he deserved and he could catch her later. Raising her lightsaber, she halted. No, this wasn't a fair fight, and she couldn't kill someone just because they might be a threat.
It was not the Jedi way.
Sheathing her blade, Yuthura moved onward, deeper into the darkness. Soon she came to a chamber where many slaves were mining a vein of ore. Several arms guards were standing by, and a taskmaster was cracking a whip.
"Move it, you worthless slaves!" snarled the man. "All of you keep working, if the ore isn't extracted by the end of today, I'll extract your blood."
"Slime," hissed Yuthura, wanting to attack. "No, control yourself. There is no emotion, there is peace..."
Yuthura didn't feel any peace as she moved on. In fact, the emotions, rage, hatred, bitterness came to her in greater degrees. The further she walked, the more she felt in danger. As she scaled down a metal ladder, it was like going into boiling water. Her flesh rang with the sensation of hate.
She wanted to bolt back up the ladder and flee. She had to get out!
But she couldn't run.
Yet if she went further, the hatred seemed to infect her. She had visions of killing slavers over and over again. If she resisted, she wanted to flee; if she went further, it became stronger.
"Ah, and there you sense it," said Kreia. "There is darkness in this place, concentrated rage, despair, and anger. You feel it as well, do you not, Yuthura?
"Do not reject it.
"Let it flow into you, but not control you. Focus that power, channel it toward your ends, and then release it when it is of no further use.
"To be driven by emotions is to be an animal. To have none is to be a machine."
Zaz-Kai Ell had taught her to channel her emotions. So Yuthura forced herself on, taking the hatred and channeling it into moving forward. If she did not move forward, her Master would die. She hated the fact that she had to use her hatred, and that allowed her to use it.
Kreia spoke no more.
Yuthura made her way on through the darkness, and as she walked, she heard the drip of water. The air was hot as if a fire was burning, yet the walls were cold to the touch. On Yuthura watched, desperately trying to head forward.
And then she saw it.
A single beam of light shot down upon a dead end, like in the vision.
Yet it was not Kreia there, but the Sith from years ago. He sat, kneeling and shirtless, his pale flesh broken and cut in many places. His head was bald, and one of his eyes was pure white. At his feet was a lightsaber, and his eyes were closed. And Yuthura knew his name.
"You come, at last, Jedi," said Sion.
"You..." Yuthura halted. "Master Kreia spoke of a Sith who died here in this place. You're Darth Sion."
"I am," said Sion, looking at her.
Yuthura could not strike first. He would crush her if she did that, and... and it was against the Jedi way to strike first. "Where are Master Kreia and Zaz-Kai Ell?"
"Why do you seek them?" asked Sion. "Do you believe such fools can enlighten you?"
"I don't need to explain anything to you, Sith," said Yuthura.
Sion looked at her. "I remember you now, Jedi.
"You stowed aboard my ship, seeking to become Sith. I gave you a test, and the Jedi stole it from you. The struggle that should have led to your triumph became another form of slavery."
"Zaz-Kai Ell saved me!" said Yuthura.
"Did he?" asked Sion. "And how much trust has he placed in you? How much trust do you believe the Jedi shall place in you, should you become a Knight?"
"The Jedi are selfless," said Yuthura. "They serve others and liberate those from chains people like you put them in."
"And what of the slaves here?" asked Sion. "In Melinda? And on Sleheyron, have they been liberated? What measures have been taken to free them?"
"They will be freed in time," said Yuthura. "I trust the Jedi Council."
"Would you free them?" asked Sion.
"Of course!" said Yuthura.
"Would the Jedi let you?" asked Sion.
Yuthura shifted, backing up a pace. "What? I... of course."
"And yet they have done nothing," said Sion. "The Jedi have reigned supreme for ages. Four thousand years ago, slavery was commonplace. Today, it remains commonplace. Will it end tomorrow? Or the day after?
"What plans are in motion to destroy it?"
"Sleheyron is a fringe world!" said Yuthura. "It isn't part of the Republic!"
"Does not the Republic allow slavery?" asked Sion.
"Yes, I mean..." Yuthura shifted. She wished he would attack her. It would be easier than this. "It allows individual member planets their own customs. It is immoral to force one's will on others."
"Have the Sith not been hunted to near extinction?" asked Sion.
Were...
Weren't the Jedi forcing their will on others by hunting the Sith? "The Sith are evil. You are reckless and bloodthirsty, you kill and murder without regard for others!"
"So you have been told by the Republic. By the Jedi," noted Sion. "Will you end slavery?"
"Yes, of course!" snapped Yuthura before she could stop herself.
"Then why do those guards remain alive?" asked Sion.
Yuthura halted. She could have killed the guards and freed the slaves, she could have tried. They were off guard. But no, she'd have been overwhelmed. "Because I need to rescue Masters Zaz-Kai Ell and Kreia."
"Will they rescue the slaves? Can they do so?" asked Sion.
Yuthura realized that such a distraction would get them all killed. The Jedi Masters... they would know they had to avoid it. But then, was that why the Jedi had never ended slavery? Was it possible that if she remained a Jedi, she would never be able to hunt down the slavers? "...No, they won't. But even if we freed them, they'd just die anyway! They can't fight the Mandalorians!"
"You were a slave once," noted Sion. "When you killed your master, were you thinking of living another day?
"Or of revenge?
"Is it not better to die quickly harming the one who ruined you, than to sink into despair and molder?"
"You're one to talk," noted Yuthura, realizing that he appeared more like a walking corpse than a man. "And we may be able to save them later."
"All things end as they begin," said Sion. "If you begin by abandoning slaves to rescue the Jedi, that will be the pattern of your existence. To ignore that which you hate, for the sake of saving that which you are attached to."
Attachments? But... Jedi believed in severing attachments, not Sith. Yuthura scrambled to find a retort and picked something she'd read in a magazine. "Wars are won by protecting the things we love, not destroying what we hate."
Sion gave her a look with his decaying face that made his point for him.
It was a weak argument, to say the least. But it was all she could come up with on short notice while being menaced by a Sith Lord. Yuthura expected that whoever had come up with that line had probably made it up on a whim. It had the echoes of the pretentious about it.
It seemed like the sort of line someone trying to be profound would make. But of course, when you tried to be intelligent, you only made a fool of yourself.
"...Which wars do you speak of?" asked Sion.
More importantly, the argument was easily disprovable.
You could win wars by being incredibly brutal. The Sith would not have survived if such tactics were not workable.
"The Jedi, only fight to protect others," said Yuthura.
"Fine words from one whose only learning comes from them," noted Sion. "I know the true nature of the Jedi. They are ruled by fear, driven by hatred, consumed by pride, and full of their own vanity.
"In time, you will realize this. The Sith are but their reflection, inverted, but identical."
"You're a liar," said Yuthura.
"If I am a liar, I shall be revealed as such," said Sion. "You need only seek the truth with all your mind and spirit, and in time you shall find it.
"Open your mind, young Jedi. Look at the world without attachments, and you will see the truth of my words."
"I..." Yuthura wasn't going to listen to this. "None of this matters. It does not matter what you say or how good your arguments are. The Dark Side has no truth, it only corrupts and destroys. Even if you were right, I would not serve you because to do so would be to become a monster.
"I will not become like you."
Sion rose and took up his lightsaber. "Believe what you will, girl.
"You may take the Jedi with my blessing."
Then, suddenly, the light disappeared, and Sion was gone. A passage was opened before her, or perhaps it had always been there. Yuthura made her way down it, passing a cave in. And beyond, she found Zaz-Kai Ell meditating. Kreia was pacing beside him.
Eventually, she looked up. "Well, you certainly seem to have been busy, have you not?"
"Master Kreia, you're awake," said Yuthura. "How... why haven't you escaped?"
"The Dark Side is strong in this place," said Kreia. "I do not think you could have withstood the power within this place, were it sent against you. Those who walk here are assailed with visions and their doubts.
"Among other horrors.
"However, one who examined themselves fully is generally more prepared."
"You mean," Yuthura paused. "You mean that Sion let me through?"
"Quite possibly," said Kreia. "He has always been an immensely patient creature. Perhaps he hopes to sew seeds within your mind that may lead you back to him.
"For my part, I am far beyond his comprehension. I wonder what Aedal sought to achieve by putting me here? Certainly, it has irritated me a great deal and kept me in one place for a time.
"I take it you received my visions?"
"Yes," said Yuthura. "But, I thought they were a deception by Sion."
"In a way, they were," said Kreia. "I convinced Sion to allow me to send forth my mind to contact you when the time was right. No doubt, he put his own color to things.
"When a Sith is defeated, their last act is usually to try to kill or ruin the one who destroyed them. Sion is like any of the others, he likely wished to tempt you to the darkness. For my part, we were in need of escape."
"What's wrong with Master Zaz-Kai Ell," asked Yuthura, not sure how to reply.
"He is meditating," said Kreia. "He has sealed himself off wholly from his surroundings. A blunt force means of resisting the Dark Side, but effective."
Zaz-Kai Ell opened his eyes and looked far older for it. He rose. "I have dreamed many dark things, despite my efforts to shut this place out. Yuthura, I am glad to see you safe.
"We should leave and soon. I sense conflict coming, a terrible conflict. It would not be wise to be caught in the crossfire."
"But we can't just leave the slaves in this place," said Yuthura suddenly. "We've got to save them."
"If a breakout is staged now, it will likely lead to serious casualties," noted Kreia.
"Wouldn't it be better to die than stay in this horrible place, though?" asked Yuthura.
"I believe an impulsive action may be our only option," said Zaz-Kai Ell. "If we do not free these slaves now, they may be corrupted. Or they may all die in what is coming."
"You are incorrect," said Kreia. "Washing our hands of things and letting them die still constitutes an option. The road of apathy is one taken by many."
"Perhaps," said Zaz-Kai Ell. "But not a preferable one. Come, we have work to do."
The return journey took far less time. Yuthura felt oddly relieved, feeling as though she'd lightened a terrible burden. Scaling up the ladder, they came to the same room where the guards were staying. As they did, the guards reached for blasters.
Before they could fire a shot, however, Kreia raised a hand without stopping her walk. Lightning poured forth from her hands and struck them. The guards cried in agony, falling to the ground, dead. Kreia looked back.
"Quickly, Yuthura, free the slaves," said Zaz-Kai Ell.
Yuthura drew her lightsaber and rushed over to the bindings of the slaves. Quickly she hacked them apart. "Quickly, come to me, I'll free you."
"That power, Kreia, that is not one traditionally taught to Jedi," noted Zaz-Kai Ell.
"It is but one more tool," said Kreia. "Difficult to use when not consumed by anger, but not impossible. And without out lightsabers, we must improvise."
And so they went throughout the mine, freeing everyone they could. There were only a few guards, and they were rapidly defeated.
"Quickly, all of you have got to come with us!" said Yuthura. "We've got a chance to escape, but you must follow me!"
"Escaping will be difficult with such a crowd," noted Zaz-Kai Ell. "Still, we have to make the attempt."
Leading the slaves out, they fled out into the open. There they sprinted for the forest, and for a moment, it seemed no one was about. Then someone noticed them.
"The slaves are free!" cried someone. "To arms!"
Blaster bolts shot toward them, but Yuthura stepped in the way and deflected them. As they did, they made for the woods, Yuthura heard the sound of music.
It was happening.
Aedal was in his throne room, gazing out the window in contemplation.
He'd enjoyed his time on Melinda Daan so far. Yes, many of the actions he was taking now might not bear fruit. At the same time, they might. Clasping his hands together, he sensed it before the guards rushed in. A sudden onslaught of life and hope.
"Chieftain, the slaves have staged a breakout!" said the guard. "The Jedi Masters are making a run for it alongside your prize! We're preparing a pursuit now but-"
"Calm yourself," said Aedal. "Let them go and man your posts. Something else is coming."
"Yes, sir," said the guard.
Aedal gave a number of commands, having the feeling this place was about to be attacked. The Dark Side of the Force gave power, but the Light could illuminate the future. A true Sith, therefore, must remain alert of their surroundings.
"Sir, someone's hacked out speaker systems," said a man.
"What?" asked Aedal. "To what end?"
And then he heard a familiar symphony of straining cords and blaring trumpets. It brought to mind mythical Force Gods and beautiful Skywalker maidens. Ones who chose worthy warriors. And it was playing across the entire compound, he could hear it.
"They're... playing music," said a man.
"Is that... Rise of the Skywalkers?" asked Aedal, honestly dumbfounded. "But why would someone hack our speaker systems just to play some mediocre opera music?" And then he saw the gunships surging toward them in the distance at an alarming rate. With them were also a flight f heavy transports. "So, Daan's decided to get a head start, hmm?"
He opened a line. "Call all vessels online, get our ships ready for battle. Call the patrols looking for Yuthura back! Man the weapon systems and prepare for battle, now!" A series of missiles were launched and blasted several air defenses to shreds. The crews should have responded by now, but they were slow. "Where's Bastila Shan?"
A soldier ran in. "...Sir, Bastila has escaped!"
"How?" asked Aedal.
The guard halted. "...Someone left her door unlocked. And they stopped drugging her. The guards there have been having a lot of trouble staying motivated since the Jedi escaped."
The gunships passed over, unleashing bursts of turbolaser fire into the courtyards. Turning around, they prepared for another pass. But one of them was blasted down by an anti-air turret.
"So, we're at a disadvantage then," said Aedal, before opening a channel. "Men of Clan Ordo! You are being of steel! The ancestors who shall bring about the ultimate being! You do not know pain, you do not know fear! End them! FOR MANDALORE!"
"FOR MANDALORE!" came the cry back.
"Are the repairs on my vessel ready yet?" asked Aedal.
"Yes, Chieftain, Bastila's meditation did speed the repairs a great deal," said a man.
"Good, then she served her purpose," said Aedal. "Tell the ship to activate all batteries and be prepared to evacuate on a moment's notice.
"I'll join the fray myself. That should offset Bastila's meditation."
And he drew a lightsaber before heading toward the window.
"Sir, the stairs are that way," said a man.
Aedal smashed the window with his lightsaber, then leaped into the open air as a gunship passed. Landing on top of it, he raised a hand and grabbed the gunner by the head and threw him down. The man fell downward toward a storage building that exploded into a great rose of flame. Aedal's lightsaber cut down two passengers as they raised their guns. Then he clashed with a third, blade to blade.
With a nudge from the force, he sent the man falling away. Turning to the pilots, he unleashed a barrage of energy. They screamed and died as their controls were destroyed. As the gunship hurtled toward the ground, Aedal grabbed ahold of a side and nudged it in the air.
It headed into the path of another gunship.
Leaping out, Aedal surged into the air and saw the two collide with a vast explosion. The Mandalorians cheered, even as a great line of fire kicked up in the distance. For a moment, Aedal was in freefall, but as he descended, he shifted his weight, so he fell toward the walls of a tower. Slowing his fall with one hand, he landed on the ground and drew his lightsaber. As he did, the gates exploded into a million fragments beneath a barrage of missiles.
Walking fearlessly forward, Aedal wielded the force to destroy the gunships controls. Falling from the sky, it exploded, as anti-air turrets came online. But as the smoke settled, Aedal saw the forces of Milenda and Daan rushing up the slope. The Mandalorians joined him, raising their weapons as one.
"FOR DAAN!"
"FOR MELINDA!"
"FOR MANDALORE!"
This was where the fun began.
For a day, the war was bliss incarnate. And then the Republic ruined everything.
Author's Note:
For context, Aedal's section is best to read while listening to Ride of the Valkyries by Wagner. Apocalypse now style.
