Chapter 11: A Good Knight's Rest

You are alone.

You are powerless. You were there, you could have saved all of those people, but you didn't. When the fate of the galaxy rested upon your lightsaber, you flinched. You stared into the darkness and flinched at what you saw.

All of that death in the Force. All of that pain. Nobody would have blamed a lesser Jedi for trying to cut themselves off from it. But you never claimed to be a lesser Jedi, did you? You claimed to be the very best of them all. My how the mighty have fallen.

Only… you didn't cut yourself clean off, did you? Some small part of your arrogance mixed with your fear made you take one last peek. You thought you might see your friends in the Force one last time. You fool, all you saw was me.

You can't redeem yourself from this. You are mine now. This latest adventure will end like all of the others. Remember Parmarthe? Akiva? Nar Shaddaa? Failures, all of them. You haven't had the power since Coruscant. Since he took it from you and I was birthed from his actions. Your power is gone, your strength is gone, soon your name will be gone. I will be all that remains. Accept me, it is your destiny.

What's this? Still trying, I see. No matter, I am patient. I am eternal. You will embrace me one day. It is the will of the Force. Though it's not like you can still feel that anymore.

Can you, 'Master' Windu?

Location: Vyndal Station - Hangar Bay 2

The fall of the Jedi was seen by many people as the end of the Republic. The defenders that had stood athwart any and almost every single evil to befall their civilization gave people confidence that as long as the Jedi survived, so would the Republic.

When the clones started killing Jedi and there was a mass exodus from the Jedi Temple in the next few hours, many despaired and thought that it was the end of days. As fell the Jedi, so too would the Republic inevitably fall.

Not all of the Republic's citizens were so sad to see it fall though. In the few weeks since Chancellor Palpatine had enacted Order 66, the Hutts had gleefully gobbled up large swathes of galactic space and forbade anyone that was not one of their gangers from entering.

Others that did not have the power of the Hutts merely settled for committing acts that would have surely brought the attention and intervention of the Jedi before. Syndicates like the Black Sun for instance, took over hundreds of space stations like Vyndal Station and used the obsolete locations to store their precious and illegal cargo.

Cargo that in this particular case, was children. Living children, and very valuable ones at that. Using information that was so classified that the commander of the station had no clue to its original owner, Black Sun ships had been skirting as far as the Mid Rim to snatch up Force-sensitive children and bringing them back for processing and storage before their inevitable fate.

The commander shuddered. He didn't know where those black ships that occasionally came to the base were originally from, and he didn't want to. The less he knew, the better. Things were crazier now that the Jedi were gone, and all sorts of strange people and groups that had once sulked in the shadows now brought that darkness into the open. He wasn't getting paid to think about nonsense like that.

In fact, he was paid very handsomely to think about such things as station security. His men had started taking more and more risks recently. Originally, they'd followed their instructions to the letter and only took small children, scarcely more than babies, from their homes to await transport to Vyndal Station. That had gone well, but there were troubling rumors that… something was pursuing them. Several of his men had reported a shadow stalking them. Some had been killed, and they'd all been scared.

So the commander had authorized something far more risky, but much more lucrative. Though small in the grand scheme of things, they had been a sizable amount of Jedi students that had survived the massacre while their master perished. The fools had probably sacrificed themselves to save their pupils. If only they knew what that sacrifice had bought for those that lived.

It hadn't been easy. The Black Suns weren't the only ones looking for Jedi students, and some of the small outfits hadn't been so easy to bribe. At least one had openly tried to fight them, and this last batch of Jedi that had been wrangled onto Nar Shaddaa had been an odd job from the start. They had predicted violence, but nothing on the scale of what happened there. The sheer amount of destruction was high, even for a war between rival gangs on a lawless planet in the outer rim.

That's why he was overseeing this new batch personally. They looked so frightened and scared as they were marched off the transport, but that mattered little to him. To the commander, they just looked like a hefty profit.

As his men led the children away, the commander stayed a little longer to look over the lightsabers his men had taken from some of the children when they were abducted. Pretty little things, and they'd fetch a generous amount of credits when he could unload them.

Those thoughts were cut short by a loud *tsshhew*, the smell of burning air, and a purple glow that filled the small cargo room.

"Where are the Padawans?" came a voice from behind him. It seems that a Jedi had stowed aboard their ship leaving Nar Shaddaa. The commander cursed his stupidity. He'd bothered to check the men as they'd left the ship, but he'd forgotten to do a sweep of the ship.

"Where are the Padawans?" it said once again, much deadlier than before.

"Don't know what those are." the commander snapped, both scared and angry.

"The Jedi. Where are you taking them?"

"Prisoner cells. We turned the lower living quarters into prison cells!" the Falleen wailed. The lightsaber was closer to his throat now, and he was starting to worry that this might not be a normal Jedi.

"Thank you." the voice said, before there was a flash of pain in the back of his head and his world went black.

That was foolish. You should have killed him. Now he'll wake up and alert everyone that you're here. A race against time that could have been avoided, if only you'd get rid of that pesky morality. You can't even use the Force anymore, so you'll need to start getting rid of that little 'code' if you want to make it out of this alive. That droid hand of yours you got so recently after I arrived seems to be breaking down. I wouldn't trust it if I were you.

Ah, trying to pull up schematics? It would have been so much easier to just mind trick that last guy to do it, wouldn't you agree? You're powerless, Windu. You're a painter gone blind, a composer gone deaf, you are a shell of the man you once were.

Those kids are gonna die. You can't save them like this. Only way you're all getting out of this is to let yourself go. Just let me take over, and I'll take care of the rest. Some of them might even live this way.

Be Silent

…

…

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You spoke to me. You acknowledged my presence. You fool, I'm a part of you. I can't be silent any more than you can use the force. But now you spoke to me. I have more power now. You can never shut me up, Windu. I'll be here forever.

You're pathetic. Your list of failures cannot, and will not, ever be forgiven. You don't deserve to keep rescuing these younglings. Don't keep trying. Don't keep going on. Just let me take over.

…

Ignoring me now, are you? How cute. It's pointless, you know. I'll get your attention again eventually, because now I know I can.

Days, Months, Years, it doesn't matter to me. You spoke to me once, and you'll speak to me again. But your will can't hold out forever, and you'll eventually surrender to me.

I have a feeling we'll be getting to know each other very well quite soon.

Location: Vyndal Station - Lower Levels

Cal Kestis was shoved roughly into the impromptu holding cells on the lower levels of the station, and soon found himself falling face first into a puddle of filth on the floor.

His master was dead, pushing him through the door of the escape pod as he held off the clones until his death. Cal had crashed onto the surface of Bracca where he'd been taken in by a scrapper guild that had eagerly sold him off to the Black Suns when they'd come snooping around for possible Jedi. He'd been so stupid. His master had told him not to trust anyone, but the clones had not bothered to search for him on the surface, and he'd naively assumed that nobody else would be looking for him.

Lying on the dirty floor of the former miners' living quarters, he should have known that life wasn't ever going to be easy from here on out.

"Are you a Padawan too?" a voice called out. Cal's eyes were beginning to adjust to the dim conditions of the room, and saw that several gaunt looking faces were beginning to peer out at him from their bunks as they cautiously made their way over to the newcomer.

"Yeah… I am." Cal said in a defeated tone. He might have still technically been a Jedi Padawan, but he didn't feel like one any longer. He'd failed his master, and had lost his lightsaber. Not exactly Padawan material. In fact, his self-pity was so great it kept him from worrying too much over what his future held after this. "I'm Cal Kestis"

"Who was your master?"

"Where did you come from?"

"How did you escape your clones?"

"Why is your hair red?"

"Alright, alright." said a slender, dark haired girl that looked to be a few years older than Cal. She slid out of her bunk and looked at him with bright eyes that had none of the gloom that the rest of her pallid looking face had. "The newbie has had quite the journey. Give him time to rest, and then you can all pester him to your heart's content."

The assembled kids that had swarmed around Cal grumbled slightly, but moved off to sit in other places in the dimly lit room. The dark haired girl waved to Cal and motioned for him to sit next to her and another boy who wore dirty padawan robes with dark brown hair.

"Sorry about them." she said with a shrug. "You're the first new person they've seen in a long time. We're all curious about the outside world."

"It's not a problem." Cal said self consciously, fiddling with a stray thread on the sleeve of his robe so that he didn't break down into tears.

"Hey… it's alright." the girl said, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It's alright, you don't have to worry, you're among friends now. My name is Trilla Suduri, and that over there is Caleb Dume."

Caleb merely lifted a few fingers to say a mild hello, seemingly preferring to look at Cal with bemused interest.

"Look… it's going to be fine." Trilla said, seeing that introducing themselves hadn't exactly made their new friend look any happier. "We have to trust in the Force and we'll make it out of this alive."

"It's not that!" Cal said, a little more pitifully than he would have liked. "When our clones attacked, I failed my master. He died because I lost my lightsaber. If I could go back, I would… I would…"

It wasn't Trilla's hand on his shoulder now, but Caleb's.

"My master and I were trapped by our clones and it looked like there was no way out." he said. "She told me to go on ahead and she would be with me shortly. I ran and never looked back. I felt her pass into the Force, and every night since, I've been haunted by the fact that if I had stayed, she might still be alive. Her memory still haunts me, but I'm learning to forgive myself. Don't let it haunt you too, Cal."

"My master and I both survived the original attack." Trilla chimed in. "But we found another group of younglings, on their way to get their lightsabers from Ilum. We all hid in caves on a planet that I don't even remember, but some of the younglings got sick. I begged my master to go into town to get medicine for them, because I could guard the caves until she was back. The Black Sun caught her, and tortured our location out of her before killing her outright. I was the only one they took alive. The others were too far gone to be of use to them. Just like Caleb, I feel that guilty every day. Cal… you have a chance at a better path. Learn from our mistakes, and use the Force to guide your actions, don't let your memories take its place."

"No, you don't understand, I can't-" Cal began before being interrupted by the sound of blaster fire coming from outside their doors followed by screaming and the unmistakable *thrum* of a lightsaber. The door hissed open and the room was bathed in the purple glow of a lightsaber whose wielder Cal didn't recognize.

"Master Windu!" gasped Caleb, who leapt to his feet and joined the gaggle of people surrounding their Jedi rescuer.

"Caleb!" Mace shouted, leaning down to embrace the Padawan. "I'm glad you made it. Let's get you all out of here."

"Out of here?" Cal asked hopefully. "You're going to rescue us?"

"Yes." Mace said, and Cal felt hope for the first time in far too long. He'd heard stories of the great Mace Windu, and if even half of them were true, he was going to save them all.

How nice of all of those younglings to believe in you. Didn't have the heart to tell them the truth, did you? Starting to act more and more like me all the time.

Not going to answer me? Ah well, no matter. I can make conversation all by myself. Let's see where that takes us, shall we?

Oh dear, it seems that you've got your first problem on your hands. How are you going to get them back up to the top? Want to take the stairs? I think we both know that's not going to happen. Ah, and would you look at that! A thermal detonator explosion that collapsed the stairwell. Looks like it's back to the drawing board on how to get out.

The turbolifts? You're not serious. Look, Mace, trust me just this one. You're never going to be able to rescue fifteen or so younglings by cramming them into a small metal box. They'll be shot the moment they step off the lift. Seriously, are you feeling well? I'm asking as a friend, here. Maybe it really is a good idea if I take over for a while.

Oh, going to just climb an empty turbolift shaft. I'd say I'm proud, but you're still going to die doing this, so why don't I just hold off on my praise until you give me the controls here.

See? What did I tell you? Sure the first part was easy, but no sooner did you find a level to stop at, then those Black Suns opened other doors and started shooting into the shaft. Almost lost that little red-headed kid except that you grabbed him at the last minute. Next time you won't be lucky. Next time you'll lose the kid and-

Wait, wait, wait, are you serious?! Did you seriously just lose your lightsaber when a simple blaster bolt of all things knocked it out of your hand? I'm sorry, but this is just too funny. I'd be laughing, but I'm just too shocked to chuckle. Oh man, you really are losing it, aren't you? The old Windu would never have lost a lightsaber to a blaster bolt.

Shoot the old Windu would just extend his hand and summon his trusty lightsaber back to him. Why don't you do that? Ah, that's right. You can't. Tired of me saying that? Tired of failing? Just let me take over and it all ends. You've lost the Force and your lightsaber now, you have no chance.

I find a way. I always do.

I mean, you did, but that was before you lost the most important thing you had. What is it that Kenobi says? "This weapon is your life, blah blah blah". That was truly your life, Mace. You invented a new form of saber combat, and became Master of the Order because of your skill in battle.

I became Master of the Order because of my character!

Sure, buddy, sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night. Don't come crying to me when it all comes crashing down around your head. I'll be here for you anyway.

Perhaps this is what you needed, a little lesson in your fragility. Oh you'll be mine soon, Mace Windu, I can feel it.

Location: Vyndal Station - Hangar Bay 13

Cal was breathing hard, but in good spirits. Master Windu had led them up an elevator shaft, saving his life along the way, and they were now just outside of the hangar bay doors leading into the rest of the station. A Zygerian cruiser was inside, fresh from delivering some of the people that were now a part of the group looking to escape this place.

Trilla assured everyone that she could pilot the thing, and Cal had picked up a few tips and tricks from his weeks working for the scrapper guild before he was taken. With Caleb and a few of the older Padawans using blasters they'd scavenged from fallen gangers, this was looking like something they could pull off.

Still, it wasn't all a pretty picture. Master Windu has lost his lightsaber, and while Caleb and the Padawans had made short work of the skeleton crew that was guarding the ship, Cal could sense a large force of gangers hot on their heels.

"To the ship!" called Master Windu. "Go, hurry!"

They scrambled forward up onto the cargo ramp, and Trilla scurried her way upstairs while Cal made sure the hyperdrive was in working condition. Everything was looking great. They might actually make it out of this.

Cal should have known that thinking such thoughts was only going to make problems appear in their path.

"The gate!" a Padawan wailed, running towards the ship as fast as they could. "I can't close the gate! The gears are jammed!"

Cal felt his stomach drop. They couldn't close the gate. They might escape, but gangers would be hot on their trail, pursuing in fighters that would take out their engines before they could jump to hyperspace. They only needed a few minutes too, just enough time for the gangers to figure out that the gate was jammed and find another way in. That was more than enough time for the Padawans to escape.

"I will hold them off."

Mace Windu seemed larger than life as he stood up and made for the exit to the ship.

"I'll hold them off and give you time to escape. It should be close, but you should make it."

Caleb seemed to get what Windu was implying, and simply nodded his head and tightened his grip on his blaster.

"No!" Cal said, rushing towards the Jedi master and grabbing his hand in an effort to hold him back. As he did so, a rush of emotions and memories flooded into Cal and threatened to overwhelm him. Grief, despair, anger, and above them all there seemed to be this intelligent dark cloud that hung over the Jedi Master's thoughts. Cal immediately backed away, cutting himself off from the Force as he did so in an effort to prevent further pain from entering his mind.

Mace knelt beside the young boy, cupping his face with his hand and raising his face up to meet the Jedi's.

"I know you just cut yourself off." Mace told him with a firm look. A look that quickly turned into one of joy and surprise.

"I felt that…"

"Master?" Cal asked him.

"What is your name, Padawan?"

"Cal Kestis."

"Cal, I know you are worried. I know it seems like darkness will win and the world will grow dim. Trust me, good always wins in the end. Even a single spark of light is enough to brighten a room. And your spark will be much brighter than that. My part in the galaxy's journey is at an end. Yours is just beginning."

And with that, Mace Windu walked out of the cruiser with a surprising lightness to his step. He was right, Cal Kestis would go on to become a great Jedi Knight who would do many great and beautiful things. But no matter how high he rose, he would never forget what a true Jedi Knight looked like.

It looked like Mace Windu, unarmed and outgunned, going forth to meet his destiny with a smile on his face.

How dare you not listen to me! Ignore me at your own peril! Listen, Mace, you are about to die.

The Black Sun is about to round that corner and take you out. They'll fill you with so many blaster bolts that they won't even be able to bury what's left of you. You won't even let that ship with the younglings escape. You have no plan, no lightsaber, and no Force. It's hopeless, and if you'll only let me take control I can-

I see you

You… you what?

I see you

For the longest time, I really did believe you, fool that I was. I thought you were some sort of darkness that Palpatine gave me when he took my hand. A dark passenger that would tempt me into joining the dark side and give me back my connection to the Force.

But then that Padawan touched me, and I saw the true. Sidious didn't give me anything, but he did make me doubt myself. All those things that I thought made a good Jedi, he took those from me, if only for a moment. What replaced that was a fear. A fear that I wasn't good enough and that I needed the Dark Side to be what I once was. It wasn't him… it was my own voice the whole time.

I never lost the Force, I hid it. I threw it away because I thought that in my fear, I was unworthy. But I see you now. I see it. I am no longer dominated by my fear. I can look you right in the eyes, and not let you dictate my course of action.

Mace, don't do this…

You have no power, because the Force is with me today. It has always been with me. I was a fool not to see it, but I see it now. It will be with me, and I will do what I must for the light to persevere in the galaxy.

I can give you more power though! I can let you live through this!

Death is not the end, it is only the end of the beginning.

I beg you please, no… NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

This is the story of how Mace Windu died.

His fear had been right. The Black Sun was on him quickly. They screamed at him to move aside, but he drew on the Force and pushed them back. When they sought to move around him, he leapt on them with blinding speed and knocked them out cold.

The order came from the commander to open fire, but Mace Windu did not back down. Each and every blaster bolt was topped in mid-air, hanging suspended by the sheer power of the Jedi Master's connection to the Force. The couple of blaster bolts soon became dozens, and the dozens became a hundred. Still, Mace Windu did not flinch.

Only when he saw that the Padawan's cruiser had safely jumped to hyperspace did he let go. Blaster bolts filled his chest, but he did not feel them. As he fell down and lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling, he had a smile on his face. As the commander drew his pistol and aimed it at the Jedi's head, the Jedi simply disappeared, truly becoming one with the Force that he had been such a faithful servant to. A noble end for a noble knight.

This is the story of how Mace Windu died. It is not a story of despair or tragedy. It is not a story of fear or a grim darkness gripping the galaxy.

It is a story of hope sparking a bright light in dark times.

It is a story of a great Jedi Knight, and a man who more than deserved the title Master of the Order.

For Mace Windu was one with the Force, and the Force was with him.