The Apprentice

Sabine let out a long breath through clenched teeth as she eased her Kom-RK into land, a voice on her com line had guided her to a large encampment far away from any of the cities on the grass plains. She bit her lip anxiously as she tapped out a coded message to Kalani, two sets of walls, barracks space for an entire legion, mounted turrets and, she paused, the pressure on her lip building between her teeth, a ray-shield.

"Well, that complicates things." The ship rocked gently as she set it down, she felt a more than obvious sense of foreboding twist in her stomach. "You'll be fine." She murmured to herself as she gripped Ezra's old lightsaber, she'd refused to leave it behind, she didn't feel right without it.

"His Majesty will be waiting for you." Her gut lurched again as she got to her feet, it had been a long time since she and Remnous had come face to face, she cleared her throat, took one last steadying breath, then turned and walked out of the cockpit.

Her foot tapped anxiously against the floor of the cargo hold as she waited for the loading ramp to lower, in the back of her mind she vaguely wondered if her nerves would help her be more convincing. The Mandalorian's thoughts were cut off as the ramp gently thudded to the ground. Remnous was waiting for her, he was wearing the black and red armour her clone had made for him. Sabine gulped loudly as she felt a large lump form in her throat, she'd almost forgotten just how haunting those golden eyes were.

"Well, at least you have the right attitude." Sabine flinched and took a half step backwards at the sound of his voice, it didn't even dawn on her that she and her clone were very much alike in that moment, she bowed her head.

"Please, your Majesty, forgive me." An odd look flashed in the Sith Emperors' eyes, he strode up the ramp towards her.

"Where have you been? Your guards said you tried to eliminate Wren on your own." Sabine's boots seemed to have suddenly become very interesting.

"I thought I could do it, I wanted-" She cut off as she felt a cold metal hand caress her cheek and tilt her head upwards.

"I know what you wanted." Remnous's eyes roamed over her, drinking in every detail. "I assumed you failed." She averted her eyes and shook her head.

"Yes, I was captured, they were going to kill me."

"But you escaped." Remnous frowned down at her belt and raised his hand, her lightsaber was pulled into his grip. "And left with a souvenir." Sabine felt her blood begin to boil as the Sith Lord turned the weapon over in his hands. "I haven't seen this in a long time."

"I wanted to take something of hers." Sabine held her hand out, Remnous smiled knowingly at her as he handed her back the weapon.

"That is your right." Suddenly he seized her arm and yanked her in towards him, she did her best to mentally prepare herself, but still flinched slightly as he roughly pressed his lips to hers, for a second as they broke apart, she could swear she could see, disappointment in his eyes, then it was gone and he was taking her hand.

"Come, I have much to show you."

##

The Rebel fleet waited in the void, they were a shot jump away from the Lothal System, all the fighter wings were prepared and maintenance crews were stationed and ready, all they needed was Sabine's call and they were ready to go.

Hera Syndulla sat back in the pilot's seat in the Ghost as she watched a wing of X-Wings bank overhead and soar past information. The final battle was at hand, any minute now, the call would come in and the Galactic Civil War would come to an end.

"Dramatic, isn't it?" The Twi'lek spun around in her chair and smiled as Kanan took the seat next to her. "Clones and Droids battling it out for the Galaxy in the Outer Rim? Feels like old times."

"Especially with the Jedi leading the charge." Hera reached forwards and took Kanan's hand, there was a moment of silence between the two. "It's finally all going to change, we can give Jacen a new Galaxy."

"One where he won't have to live in fear." Kanan nodded, they had left Jacen on Ryloth with Hera's parents, only a few weeks ago, he had managed to levitate his bowl of porridge and toss it halfway across the galley.

"I hope my father isn't getting too frustrated with his grandson's newfound abilities." Hera smiled proudly as she remembered her son's laughter.

"Let's just hope he's proud and only that." Hera frowned slightly.

"What are we going to do with him?" Kanan shook his head.

"I'm not sure, he has amazing potential with the Force, but the life of a Jedi..." The Jedi's voice faded, he didn't want to doom his son to the passionless life he had led.

"Maybe we can wait, he can make the decision for himself when he's old enough."

"And maybe Luke's Order will be different."

In the Dauntless, Tandi patted the back of the pilot's seat before turning to Lando.

"Calrissian." Lando grinned cheekily.

"Thurinos." The grin faded as Tandi stared back coldly, unimpressed.

"This ship is my baby, I don't want you taking any unnecessary risks with her." Lando raised two hands.

"Baby, don't worry about it, I'll take good care of her."

"Don't call her baby." Both of them turned to see Allana stood in the doorway, her arms folded against her chest.

"Ah, my apologies my dear." Lando grinned at the dark-haired girl as he edged out of the cockpit, "I'll give you two some privacy." Tandi did her best to hold in a giggle as Lando slipped away.

"What's up? Do you need my help?" Allana shook her head.

"The first of Sabine's transmissions have come through, apparently there's a ray-shield."

"We can take care of a shield, you don't have to come to the front lines." The dark-haired girl raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not helpless Tandi, we're going to need to bring that shield down quickly, Mothma hand chose me." The Grey Jedi rolled her eyes, a sour expression spreading across her face.

"Of course she did, will the woman ever stop?" Tandi jumped slightly as Allana took her hand.

"It's alright, one more battle, and we'll be out of here."

"A battle I'd feel so much better about if you were as far away from it as possible." The Grey Jedi wrapped her arms around the dark-haired girl's waist as she pulled her close. Allana smiled up at her.

"Don't worry. I'm tougher than I look, and I've got the old faithful." She fondly patted the monkey wrench on her belt.

##

Rex typed a few commands into the communications console as Bran examined the navigational controls.

"We're almost at Coruscant now, once we're there I can get us aboard Cody's ship, the Regimes codes are a slightly modified version of the codes we came up with back in the Clone Wars." Bran frowned to himself, he didn't like the sound of that but it was too late to turn back now,

"Let's hope this works."

"Trust me, the codes will be good." Rex patted the blonde on the shoulder as the vortex of hyperspace began to fade back into stars. A slight jolt ran through the cockpit as they dropped into real space, Rex scanned through the ships in the void, his eyes quickly settled on the Super Star Destroyer that hung over the planet. "The Network said Cody has been stationed onboard the Organa." They didn't move. "Bran?" Rex turned to the blonde to see him staring down at Coruscant, his eyes wide as the reflection of all the lights danced in his eyes. "First time seeing it?" Bran nodded, his mouth still ajar. "Quite something isn't it." The blonde nodded once more then tore his eyes away from the planet, the shuttle banked in the void and turned towards the Organa.

"Do your thing." Rex nodded and turned a dial on the communications panel.

"Shuttle Tydirium to Organa, requesting emergency access, we have a one-five-seven, repeat, a one-five-seven on our hands, urgent repairs required or we're gonna have a three-three-seven-six." Bran rolled his eyes, how anyone could remember any of that was beyond him.

"Organa to shuttle Tydirium, access granted."

##

"Amazing!" Sabine gasped with awe as she stared up at the massive portrait.

"Impressive isn't it?" Remnous folded his arms behind his back as he looked up at the painting. "Palpatine believed that this picture held the key to history itself." The Mandalorian turned on her heel to stare at Remnous, a new look in her eyes.

"History?" Remnous nodded, his eyes still on the portrait.

"Think of it, the keys to the very essence of the Galaxy, the lifeblood of creation your hand, all behind this one portal." Remnous pressed his artificial hand against the rock face.

"Can you open it?" Sabine folded her arms behind her back and subtly typed another transmission to Kalani into her wrist-mounted console. Remnous smirked as he raised his left hand and clicked his fingers; several clones, all supporting a large piece of stone between them, hurried forward. Sabine frowned as they set the stone down.

"We can with this." The Mandalorian frowned as she knelt next to the stone and examined it; three hands, surrounded by an intricate mesh of golden lines, decorated it. The top hand was open and facing right, the middle hand was an open palm facing upwards and the bottom hand was a closed fist. "Thrawn believes this stone holds t secret to the portal, you'll never guess where we found it." The Emperor snorted. "In a cave, surrounded by Loth Wolves of all things." Sabine glanced up from the stone, her eyes wide; Loth Wolves?

"I thought the Loth Wolves were wiped out?" Remnous smirked.

"As did I, it appears one pack survived."

"Survived?"

"I'm afraid we had to wipe most of them out, though we kept a male and a female, they'll make wonderful guard dogs." Sabine felt her blood begin to boil in her veins, if Ezra could hear the words coming out of his mouth he'd be disgusted. "You don't approve?"

"I defer to you, your Majesty," Remnous smirked.

"Good, then you won't mind taking a look."

"Uh." Sabine bit her lip as her heart raced, she couldn't just hand Remnous that kind of power! Suddenly, a cold metal hand clamped around her shoulder.

"Hesitation? And you were doing so well." The Mandalorian felt the blood drain out of her face. "Stand up very slowly, Sabine Wren."

Slowly, Sabine reached forward and dialed one last transmission into her wrist-mounted console.

##

Juno frowned as she tapped a few commands into the Rogue Shadow's controls, the attack was due to begin any minute,

"Something on your mind?" The pilot smiled as Galen took his place in the co-pilot's seat

"Just, thinking about the future." Galen raised an eyebrow, his surprise more than evident.

"Not like you." He'd never known Juno to give much thought to the future, she'd always kept her mind on the here and now. The blonde smiled softly, her eyes far away.

"No, but for once I can't seem to help myself." The Jedi reached out and took her hand, squeezing it in his.

"What are you thinking about?" Juno spun her chair around to face Galen, her blue eyes meeting his brown ones.

"What are we going to do? Once all this is over?" Galen paused, then his brow furrowed and he sat back, his hand still gripping Juno's.

"You know what?" The Jedi shook his head, an amused smile spreading across his face. "I don't know." Juno smiled too.

"I guess we never gave it much thought." It was true, the two of them hadn't given much thought to anything except the mission over the last few years. But to be fair, Galen hadn't cared for much else when they first met.

"Any ideas?" Galen rubbed the back of his neck, Juno screwed her face up thoughtfully, her empty hand idly winding a lock of blonde hair around one of her fingers.

"Well, the New Republic will need pilots, and there'll always be work for a Force Wielder." The Jedi nodded slowly, for some reason, that suggestion just didn't jump at him, he'd been in the fight for all his life. "You don't like that idea?"

"I dunno, more fighting? We could just-" He was cut off a red light began to flash on the centre console. Juno immediately pulled her hand free and spun herself around to face the controls.

"That's the signal." Galen nodded as his hands flew over the weapons controls.

"Here we go. The beginning of the End."

##

Sabine rose to her feet very slowly, her hands rising above her head cautiously, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the Clone Troopers that had brought the stone pointing their blasters at her.

"I can't believe you actually tried it." Remnous scoffed as he ran a greedy eye up and down the Mandalorian. "We knew the clone had likely been captured, but sending you in to take its place?" Sabine's fists clenched as she glared at the Sith Lord, Remous was smirking broadly.

"She isn't an it." Remnous's smirk faded into a frown as he stared at her bemusedly. "She's alive, she's a real as I am."

"I never imagined this." The Sith Emperor shook his head. "You of all people, so passionately defending the same science experiment that killed your mother."

"We both know she didn't." An evil gleam came to life in Remnous's golden eyes as Sabine glowered at him. "Sixteen of them, dead." The Mandalorian screwed her eyes shut, a pained expression on her face. "Why?" Remnous shrugged nonchalantly.

"Some had accidents, others died in combat, I distinctly remember the third one dying in an explosion on Coruscant, the rest." Sabine shuddered at the insane gleam that came to life in Remnous's eyes. "The rest, well, it was their fault for having such wonderful screams."

"You son of a-" The Mandalorian took a few heated steps towards the Sith Lord only to freeze in place.

"I've killed so many clones, I wonder if killing the original feels any different." Sabine's eyes widened with horror. "But I'd like to avoid that, not now that I finally have you for myself." The Sith Lord gestured to the portrait, "so open the portal!" Sabine gasped as she felt all the energy drain out of her, she slumped to the ground next to the stone. "Well?" Sabine glared at him before taking another look at the stone, the golden lines looked similar to the lines on the painting, she ran an eye over each of the figures before turning back to the stone. The hands on it matched the hands on the portrait. "Well?"

"It's some sort of Star Map, though I'm not familiar with this specific kind of map. The lines are the paths and the rings are, I don't know, maybe they're planets, or doorways."

"And how does the cypher fit into all this?" Remnous nodded at the stone impatiently.

"Well, the hands must represent different configurations, right now it looks like the painting is lined up with the central figure, if I had to take a guess I'd say you want this one." She tapped the hand on top of the stone. "The one where the lines match up."

"And? What am I supposed to do?" The Mandalorian snorted as she rubbed her numb legs.

"You're the all-powerful Sith Emperor, you figure it out."

"You might want to watch yourself." Remnous glared coldly down at her. "I may still change my mind and dispose of you." Sabine glowered at the Emperor as he swept past her and inspected the portrait, brow furrowed with concentration, Remnous stepped onto a small sheet of metal and raised his hand, the metal rose into the air, levitating him to just the right height so he could place a hand on the portrait, he closed he eyes and rested his organic hand over the Daughters.

He could hear faint whispers hissing from the rockface, countless tiny voices calling out from the Force itself. He gritted his teeth as he tried to focus on what they were saying.

'Listen.' He raised one eyebrow, an amused smile spreading across his face. 'Listen'.

"No, you listen." The amused smile stretched into a prideful smirk as he pressed his hand against the painting more insistently. "Listen, and obey!" On the ground, Sabine shivered as a wave of cold washed over her, she looked up just in time to see a golden light begin to spread across the lines on the painting and the rings turned slightly so the lines matched up. Remnous lowered the sheet of metal and took a step back to watch as the image of the Daughter turned her head to the Father and respectfully bowed her head, after a seconds pause, the Father opened its hand and lowered it so one finger was pointing at the Sons clenched fist.

"So," Remnous glanced back at the Mandalorian on the ground. "What now?" The answer came as the Loth Wolves that stood at the Mortis Gods' feet suddenly came to life, the beasts raised their heads and for a moment seemed to stare at Remnous, then they all raised their heads. The Emperor took a few steps back and glanced around him as the sound of the wolves howl could be faintly heard around them. The Mandalorian and the Sith shared a genuine look of confusion as the wolves stood, and began to walk away from the portrait.

"I'll tell you all about it when I get back." Sabine glowered after Remnous as he sauntered after the Wolves, smug pride burning in his eyes.

"This won't end well." The Emperor followed the wolves away from the portrait, then the leader began to rise up the cliff face, his pack following behind him, as Remnous watched, the wolves formed a perfect circle and began to speed up. More howls echoed around him, cautiously, he reached out and tapped the stone at the centre of the circle, his hand passed through it, grinning ear to ear, the Emperor reached up to his neck and undid the clasp of his cloak, letting it fall to the ground, then he stepped forwards and disappeared into the rock face.

##

"General Cody?" On the bridge of the Organa, Cody turned and did a double-take, a Clone Trooper was stood at attention behind him, and with him...

"Rex?" His old comrade rubbed the back of his neck bashfully, he and the blonde youth at his side were both wearing ill-fitting Mark. II Clone Armour. "Did they really catch disguised as one of my men, creeping around on my ship?"

"Well, to be fair this plan always worked against the Empire." Cody rubbed his forehead exasperatedly.

"We aren't the Empire, Rex what were you thinking?" The other Clone Wars veteran shrugged.

"Can we talk?"

##

"Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is."

"What is this place?"

"A conduit through which the entire Force of the Universe flows."

"Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter."

"Just when you think you understand the Force, you find out how little you actually know."

"Train yourself, to let go, of all that you fear to lose."

"We'll see each other again, Remnous."

"I won't let him lose his way, not like I did."

The voices cut off as Remnous stepped out of the portal, the Emperor took a few steps forward and turn on the spot as he took in his surroundings. He was stood on a path made of light in an endless black void, the path stretched on as far as he could see, twisting on forever. He turned back and examined the portal he had entered from, the circular passageway was lined with running Loth Wolves.

"Remember that." He noted to himself. "Loth Wolves take you home." He turned away from the portal to take another look around him. "So, this is the world between worlds huh?" He paused and closed his eyes, tilting his head back as he listened to the whispers from history that echoed around the void. "For once, Palpatine was actually right."

"About many things, was Palpatine right." Remnous spun on the spot, his lightsaber flying into his raised hand, he relaxed when he saw the glowing green figure that was stood behind him.

"Master Yoda." The Emperor smirked as he lowered himself to one knee so he could look the alien in the eye. "We meet at last."

"A joyful event, it is not." The Force Ghost leant his weight on his cane and fixed the Sith Emperor with a stern stare. "Forces, beyond your control, these are."

"History is written by the victor." Remnous rose to his feet and turned his back on the Old Master. "I see no reason why the victor shouldn't shape it."

"Blinded by arrogance, you are, Sith." The old being gestured around the void as he followed Remnous down the path as the Emperor examined all the different portals. "Not to be meddled with, time is. Understand the implications, you do not."

"I know exactly what I'm doing!" Remnous paused in front of one portal as he turned back to Yoda. "I thought this through you know."

"Those words, said them before, have you." Remnous paused, his eyebrow rising.

"What do you mean?" Yoda gestured to the portal with his cane.

"Watch, and see, you will." The Emperor frowned as an image began to take shape in the portal. "Been here before, you have." The haze cleared up and the image took shape; Remnous watched curiously as a young man with short cut midnight blue hair wearing Scout Trooper armour fell face-first out of the same portal he had just stepped through, he frowned as the youth climbed to his feet.

"Wait." The Sith Lords' eyes narrowed as he examined the image. "Is that what I look like with short hair?" Next to him; Yoda rubbed his forehead.

"The point, that is not." Remnous scoffed as he looked into the portal again. The other him had climbed to his feet, a sour look appeared in the Sith Lords Golden eyes when he saw the other him's blue eyes.

"So, I came here as a Jedi, curious, since I have no memory of these events, or that haircut." The Sith Lord took a strand of his overgrown hair between the thumb and forefinger of his robotic hand. "Should I cut my hair like that? It doesn't look half bad."

"Came in another time, you did, only the first of many visits, was it."

"What are you talking about? Another time?" Yoda nodded to the portal again.

"Came here, by accident, you did, learned of the power of this realm, did you." Yoda shook his head, his large eyes closing mournfully. "But not to be meddled with, is time."

"What did I, or." Remnous glanced at the portal, his lip curling back with disgust as he took another long look at Ezra Bridger. "He, do?"

"Cruel, the hand of fate is, lost your Master, you did."

"And he brought him back using this place." Yoda nodded.

"And began, the loop did."

"The loop?" The Force Ghost pointed to the portal again, the image was reduced to a haze and another took shape, it showed the same portal as before, but a different Ezra Bridger stepped through it, this one was bald and wore brown Jedi robes.

"A tricky thing, history is, when altered, shockwaves are sent, realigns itself, the Galaxy does, created, a new time is." The image faded and another took its place, a different Ezra flew backwards through the portal as if he'd been shoved into it. "Begin again, events would, with each alteration." The image faded and yet another took its place and yet another Ezra stumbled through the portal. "Each time, here you would find your way, again and again, rebegin events, you would."

"And that's where my visions came from?" Yoda nodded, his eyes stern.

"Echoes of previous interferences, converged on you they did, as the creator of the loop. Saw glimpses of other times created, did you, let them steer you, you did." Remnous shook his head as he massaged his temples, suddenly, so much made sense. The visions he had experienced in the beginning had been so clear, so precise, yet some also proved to be inaccurate, his brows furrowed as his first vision of Vera replayed in his mind. 'No markings.' Now it all made sense, those visions hadn't all been from the same future.

"How many times has this happened now?"

"Countless." The image in the portal began to speed up, showing more and more versions of Ezra step through the portal, each grower darker than the last, until; his eyes widened as he saw himself step through the portal.

"Palpatine said I'm a perversion of nature, that I violated the natural order time and time again in self-service." Yoda nodded.

"Right he was."

"A Jedi just gave Palpatine credit." Remnous raised an eyebrow as he turned away from the portal. "Now I know this is serious."

"You were always so funny." Remnous slowly turned on the spot, his teeth gritted and his golden eyes burning with hatred. The Force Ghost of Ezra Bridger was striding across the walkway towards him.

"You again."

"Don't act like I'm uninvited, you're in my world now." As the Ghost walked, it seemed to grow taller and older, its hair started to retreat into its scalp and its clothes shifted. "Here, thought is given form." Ezra's voice grew deeper, his blue eyes hard with determination. "Here, I exist." A green lightsaber came to life in the Jedi's hand. "As I would have." Remnous scowled as he raised his own lightsaber, the Ghost seemed as real he was now. "Here, I finally have a chance to take back my life."

"So, that's how it's going to be?" Remnous's face was lit up with bloodred light as his lightsaber sprang to life. "You and me? One last battle for this body?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Likewise." The two charged at each other, green and red lightsabers rising, ready to clash.

##

Every officer on the bridge of the Executor snapped to attention as Grand Admiral Thrawn strode into their midsts, Rukh followed half a step behind the Chiss, his eyes never leaving his Lords back. Admiral Piett appeared at Thrawn's shoulder.

"Grand Admiral, we weren't expecting you, it was my impression you would be spending more time on Lothal."

"There has been a change in plans Admiral, the recent capture of Sabine Wren has shone a new light on events."

"Grand Admiral?" Piett hurried to keep up with Thrawn as he swept the length of the bridge.

"I do not believe the Rebels sent her here on a long-term assignment, more likely she was simply sent to mark the Emperor's location, if I am correct, then an attack is likely-" Before Thrawn could even finish the sentence the space on the fleets right flank began to fill up with dozens of mix-matched frigates and cruisers as the Rebel Fleet began to drop out of hyperspace. "Battle Stations!" Piett ran to relay Thrawn's orders, the mood in the air shifted instantly as reports began to pour in and orders were relayed. "Deploy all fighters, raise shields and prepare the weapons systems!" For the briefest instance, Thrawn's composure slipped, and pure contempt burned in his eyes. "I have had quite enough of these Rebels. No quarter! No prisoners! Destroy every last ship." Countless TIE class ships poured from the Regime's destroyers and hurtled through the void, flinging themselves at the approaching Rebel fleet with reckless abandon. Thrawn's eyes narrowed and a small smirk spread across his face, despite their newfound courage the Rebels were misguided, a quick assessment of their fleet reassured him of his tactical superiority. The Rebels simply didn't have the numbers to be a direct threat.

"Grand Admiral." Piett had reappeared at Thrawn's shoulder. "We're detecting several more vessels approaching." The Chiss's brow furrowed.

"More vessels? Surely not, the Rebels can't have that many ships."

"No, the Rebels don't." Thrawn and Piett turned to stare in shock as fifteen Imperial Class Star Destroyers appeared on their left. "It appears that the Rebels and the Remnant have set aside their differences."

"It would seem so, Admiral, how fitting, cowards and traitors, cooperating."

##

Galen took a deep breath as he assumed his combat stance, he was stood in the Rogue Shadows cargo bay, he could feel the ship twist and roll in the void as Juno wrestled with the controls. The Jedi let out a long breath to calm his nerves as he reached up and tapped the commlink in his ear.

"How's it looking, Juno?" There were a few seconds of silence before the pilot answered, Galen could swear he could hear her teeth grinding with effort.

"It's total chaos! I've never seen so many fighters!" Galen grimaced, there was no way the Regime would have made it easy for them.

"What about the plan? Has the Xyston cleared a path?"

"You could say that." He could hear the more than obvious strain in her voice and he stumbled as they rocked violently. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine, did it work?"

"It got off eight shots and then broke down!" Galen felt his heart fall slightly, "but the job's done, the carriers are entering the atmosphere now." The Jedi breathed a sigh of relief. "Are you ready?" Galen gripped his lightsabers tightly, the familiar weight of his old Sith Weapon was oddly comforting.

"As I'll ever be." The cargo hole lurched as Juno brought the ship sharply.

"Good, get ready to jump!" The loading ramp began to lower as the Rogue Shadow blasted through the ray-shield covering the Loth Wolf's lower hanger and shot into the Venators depths. Galen started to run before the ramp had even fully lowered; bending his knees as he reached the end of the platform he leapt into the air, blue and yellow lightsabers springing to life in his hands in a reverse grip, Juno's voice whispered in his ear as the Rogue Shadow turned and shot back the way it had come. "May the Force be with you."

##

Remnous grunted as a telekinetic gust hit him squarely in the stomach; sending him toppling backwards onto the light path, his lightsaber blade sliding back into its hilt as the weapon slipped from his grasp. Swooning for breath; Remnous placed his palms flat against the path on either side of his head and swung his legs up as he pushed off with his arms, backflipping back to his feet.

"Well, you certainly aren't human." The Sith Lord glared at the Force Avatar as it advanced on him, Ezra grinned as he raised his emerald lightsaber.

"You said it yourself." Remnous panted as he raised his hand and resummoned his lightsaber. "I've been dead for a long time now, you'd be amazed by how much you can learn once you are one with the Force itself!" Ezra leapt at Remnous once again, barely giving the Emperor time to raise his lightsaber to counter. A growl of frustration began to grow in the Sith Lords throat as he was forced backwards, his lightsaber blade reduced to a bloodred blur of light as he struggled to defend against Bridgers's assault.

His left eye was beginning to twitch. 'Damn thing hasn't done that in years!' Remnous snarled, he needed move to manoeuvrer, the pathway could only be a few meters wide at most; he needed distance!

A spark of golden light flared to life in Remnous's eyes as he raised his left hand and flexed his fingers; bolts of lightning arced off the Emperor's fingertips and tore through the void towards Ezra. The Jedi instinctually leapt a few meters backwards and raised his lightsaber. Remnous seized his chance and leapt backwards, soaring a good thirty meters away from his opponent as the lightning crackled against his emerald plasma blade. The Sith Lord couldn't quite stick the landing and he stumbled backwards and rolled heels over head before crashing to the light bridge in an undignified heap. His fists clenched as he gritted his teeth, his face still pressed to the floor, below him, he could see the void, stars spanning on and on forever.

"No." The Emperor's shoulders were racked with tremors as he quaked with frustration. "This isn't the way it was supposed to be!" Remnous hoisted himself up onto his knees, his teeth bared in a vicious snarl as he glowered at Ezra. The Jedi had recovered and was slowly advancing on him once again. "This place was supposed to be mine for the taking! What right have you to be here?! I destroyed you!"

The Emperor rose on unsteady legs and activated his lightsaber once again, he could feel a new rage flowing through him now, restoring his strength and driving him on; what right did this child, this ghost, this relic of an erased timeline have to interfere with his life, his plans, his destiny?! "None!" Remnous roared at the top lungs, the spark of light flared back to life in his eyes and grew slightly brighter. "I won't let you destroy everything I've fought so hard to build!"

The Sith Emperor took his lightsaber in both hands and raised it against the Jedi one last time. "So come at me with everything you've got! Knowing you gave your all will make destroying you again so much sweeter!" Bridger snorted as he came to a halt about fifteen meters away from Remnous, he bent his knees and prepared himself to leap.

"Alright." The Jedi leapt, vanishing in a blur of light, Remnous's eyes widened and he barely managed to block the assault as Bridger's lightsaber crashed into his. As quickly as he had arrived, Ezra tore past the Sith Lord; the gust of energy that accompanied him making him stumble backwards.

Remnous hurriedly righted himself and spun around, raising his plasma blade as Bridger shot at him once again, his body completely vanishing into a stream of emerald light. This time he wasn't quick enough and the stream of light crashed into his chest, sending him to the floor; fists clenched, Remnous climbed back to his feet, his head whipping too and frow as he searched for the beam of light.

His lower peripheral vision was suddenly filled with a blinding green glare and a searing pain blossomed to life in his jaw, knocking off his feet once again. 'I can't even see him! What the kriff is he!?' Remnous snarled as he tried to get to his feet again, he'd barely made it to his knees when the light was on him again; he felt a hand wrap around his face and force him onto his back, a sharp weight suddenly appeared on his chest, as if someone were pressing their knee there.

"It's over." The light faded and the older Ezra Bridger took shape over him, heavily pressing his hand against Remnous's face, keeping his head pinned to the pathway. "You want to know what I am?" Remnous's eyes burned with rage as he glared at the Jedi through the gaps in his fingers, the golden light in eyes started to fade again. "I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me." Ezra closed his eyes as his body began to glow with a soft. "It took a lot of patience and training, but I'm grateful for this chance to retake my place in the Galaxy." Remnous's eyes clamped shut and he shuddered as an odd warmth began to spread through him, the world fell away as the heat coursed through him and a blinding white light began to press in all around him. "And I vow to use this second chance, to right all the wrongs you've committed." Remnous was beginning to feel himself slip away; even the light had begun to fade away, so, this was really it, the Regime, the war in the Outer Rim, all of his labours, all of them, for nothing.

"No." Ezra opened his eyes, the glow surrounding him fading slightly, then he gasped as the Sith Lord seized his hand in a bone-crushing grip. Through the gaps in his fingers, he could see a golden pinprick of light in Remnous's eyes. "No!" The light grew brighter as the Sith Lords' grip tightened. "I have not!" Ezra raised his hand his free hand to shield his eyes as the glare from Remnous's grew painfully bright. "Come this far!" Ezra's eyes widened as the Sith Lord slowly began to sit up, still gripping his hand tightly."Or fought this hard!" Golden flames erupted to life in Remnous's eyes as he tore Bridgers's hand off his face. "To lose, TO YOU!" A shower of golden sparks erupted from the Sith Lords' eyes as the inferno in them burned with a blinding light. Ezra grunted as a wave of golden energy pulsed off Remnous and tossed him across the light path, the Jedi looked up in shock as the Sith Emperor rose to his feet, his whole body bathed in an aura of shimmering and snapping golden light. "You and Palpatine and just alike Bridger." It was the Jedi's turn to hesitate as Remnous advanced on him. "Both of you are nothing but relics of a bygone era, desperately crying out against the darkness, trying to delay the inevitable!" Remnous raised his hands, turning them over as he examined the power pulsing around them, sparks of golden light escaping from the aura. "Kriff the past! I have all the power I need to shape the future." The inferno in the Sith Emperor's eyes roared as he slowly stretched his hands out towards his former self. "I am Darth Remnous, and this is my time!" Bolts of golden lightning lanced out of Remnous's fingers, time seemed to slow as they arced through the void towards Ezra; the Jedi bowed his head and closed his eyes.

"I see." The lightning struck him squarely in the chest, lancing over him, Remnous smirked as Bridger began to fade back into a ghost, then he started to disappear, fading back into the void around him. "Perhaps next time." The aura around Remnous faded as he took several deep, steady breaths, the flames in his eyes died back down to a dull glow; he shook his head as he turned back the way he'd come.

"Who says there's going to be a next time?"

"Forgotten already have you?" The Sith Lord rolled his eyes as Yoda appeared in front of him. "Once altered, events are, begin a new time will."

"I'm not tampering with the timeline Yoda." Remnous didn't even glance down at the Old Master as he strolled past him, his eyes searching for the portal he had entered from. "I realised something as I was fighting that ghost. The Galaxy is already mine, the New Regime, both my life's greatest labour and source of pride stands as the soul power left in the known universe." Remnous glanced over his shoulder. "Ultimate power is already mine, why would I change a damn thing?" Yoda hummed thoughtfully as the Sith Lord walked away.

"Curious."

##

Starkiller snarled as he glared out into the void, the battle had somehow managed to turn in the Rebels favour. With over half of their left flank destroyed they'd been nearly powerless to stop the steady stream of C-9979 landing craft that had emerged from behind the Remnants fleet as they had entered Lothals atmosphere.

"How did they pull this off?!" The Clone groaned to himself incredulously as he rolled his eyes under his helmet. He turned his back on the battle, he needed to get to the surface, Remnous had a lot of trouble headed his way. The Sith Assassin paused in his step, he could sense a familiar approaching presence. "So, you've come at last." One of the turbo lifts opened to reveal Galen Marek, heads all over the bridge turned to stare in shock as the Jedi advanced on the Sith Assassin, his blue and yellow lightsabers humming menacingly. "I suggest you all leave. You may well die if you stay." Starkiller raised his voice slightly so the whole bridge crew could hear him.

"He's not wrong." Galens eyes narrowed as he took his fighting stance and raised his lightsabers. "It's time." There was a mad scramble as Starkiller activated his lightsabers and within seconds they were on their own.

"No friends to save you this time Marek, no Masters to die for you." The Sith Assassin raised his crimson blades. "Are you ready to die?"

"I was just about to ask you the same."

Authors Note: There's been a slight change in plans. The three-part finale is a four-part finale, so there's still three chapters left. I was looking over the chapter plan for the next chapter and it was long, easily long enough to cut into two and I don't want the penultimate chapter to feel bloated.

Thank you for all the reviews, most of you guessed that Remnous wouldn't find what he wanted in the World Between worlds, but so far none of you have come close to what I have in mind, which means, get ready for a shock!

I've started considering writing some alternate endings, now I've got nothing but time I need something to do. Would you guys be interested in that? Leave a review with your thoughts.

As always, leave a review with your thoughts on the chapter, did I have you going there? If I do do any alternate endings one will definitely be Ezra winning this fight.

So, until we meet again

Regards

Nighttrek