Slavery on Yavin

by Leinad Ekkru

4,000 years before the Battle for Naboo, the dark shadow of the Sith extends all the way to the planet Yavin. However, a Sith Lord, a Jedi Knight, and a Forcestrong slave come together to bring about the end of the Sith

Disclaimer: I own no pre-mentioned Star Wars characters, only my own. This story is set towards the end of the Great Sith War.

For Chris

Slavery on Yavin Four

Far from the distant Core of the galaxy, the giant planet Yavin lay in the deep reaches of the Outer Rim. Yavin itself was not a habitable planet. Deadly bands of radiation enveloped the huge world; its hurricane force winds whipping the temperatures down, meaning only the tiniest forms of life could eek an existence out here. Temperatures plummeted far below the standard 300 Kelvin so often necessary for widespread life, and toxic gases made the already hostile planet nearly uninhabitable for the handfuls of microscopic life that had made their homes there. However, swirling around the giant world was a plethora of moons, ranging from no larger than a few kilometres across to planet-sized bodies themselves. Of these, three were capable of what their giant host could barely do; support sentient life. Yavin 4, 8 and 13 were the moons that could hold complex life forms, but owing to Yavin's distance from the Core, few even knew the gas giant and its accompanying satellites existed. Yavin laid just on the inner rim of the life zone for its system, meaning that despite the chill of the gas giant, three of its moons enjoyed a luxuriously warm climate. Lush jungles occupied most of the moon of Yavin Four, along with five moderately sized seas. In the far future, Yavin 4 would become famous, but for now, the tiny moon was all but ignored.

Thoughts of fame for the world on which he was standing were the last thing on the mind on Dreldra the Ryn as he struggled to tug the massive granite block into place. Tall, muscular and athletic, Ryn had long been ignored in the galaxy. Often, they were chosen as culprits for heinous crimes that would make even the most evil Hutt blush. Ryn originated from a world in the Core, and were being forced to leave by the dark users of the Force known as the Sith. Dreldra stood just under two metres tall, not exactly tall for a Ryn, but taller than many humans. He had snowy white fur, marking him as an albino Ryn. His forked tail flicked the hot air as he pulled mightily on the granite block. Slowly, the heavy slab of rock slid into place. Dreldra sighed. Ever since his capture near Vortex, he had been performing heavy labour at the hands of his Sith abductors. The Sith Lord Exar Kun had slaughtered many Jedi in his rampage over the galaxy, but now, more Sith were dying than Jedi. Exar Kun was afraid, and seeking to immortalise himself in the stone temples being constructed. He wielded a double-edged blue lightsabre and an attitude that permitted no defiance. Sadistic Trandoshan slavers brutally tortured the slaves, both innocent people and defeated Jedi alike. So far, most of the temples were half finished, and the biggest one, the one Dreldra was working on, was barely started. Exar Kun grew impatient, since fleets out for his blood were scouring the galaxy for him. The defeated Jedi were making it tough for him to be located, since their light Force energy cancelled out the negative energies of the Sith. As Dreldra sagged, a whistle sounded, prompting a sigh of relief from the Ryn. Finally. Work was over for the day. On the horizon, Yavin's sun was slipping below the rim of the world. Yavin itself wasn't much higher, meaning that dark night wouldn't be long in coming.

Dreldra hauled himself off to the shantytown the slaves all lived in. Food was fortunately not hard to come by; at least the Sith knew their slaves needed a lot of feeding. Their Trandoshan companions however, soiled the food as much as they could, knowing the Sith were already being too soft on the slaves they had. The Ryn sat down by his tent, noting with a frown the slash marks torn into the weak fabric. He rolled his blue eyes and sighed. Not surprisingly, Ynnek had been here. Ynnek was merciless even for a Trandoshan, and had a sadistic streak ten parsecs wide. Worse, he had some grasp of Force use, and wield the title of slave master with the same air of toughness he did with his Lightning Pike. Many slaves had been crippled or killed by the reptile, and few had ever resisted him. As Dreldra began to prepare his food, which had been left in his tent, he became aware of a group of slaves not too far away who seemed to be discussing something. Pricking up his velvety ears, Dreldra listened in. Fortunately, they were all speaking Basic.

"…So I cut out my power, plummeted to the ground, then restarted, pulled out, and smacked that wannabe pilot into a cliff."

A chorus of laughter arose from the slaves. Most of them were humans, with the odd Twi'lek, Rodian and even one or two Bothans. Dreldra sat alone. Many of the slaves wanted nothing to do with a Ryn, even if they were all in the same escape pod. However, a defeated Jedi by the name of Sirch Senoj went against this rule, and would often take Dreldra up on his offer of cooking food. Ryn cooking, despite all rumours, was little short of fantastic. As Dreldra lit his fire, sure enough, Sirch wandered over, carrying a pair of dead woolamanders, creatures native to Yavin 4. He sat next to the Ryn's fire and put down his kills.

"Good to see you again Sirch. Being a Ryn can be depressing at times."

Sirch smiled broadly. Raised on Corellia, he had a good nature with many, although he wouldn't lightly make friends. Fortunately for Dreldra, he was an exception to that rule.

"Trust in the Force my friend. Works for me."

Dreldra sniffed as he began to prepare herbs to season the woolamanders with.

"Seems to work for Lord Exar Kun too. With the Jedi down in numbers, taking him down isn't going to be easy."

"Numbers don't matter with the Force at your back. Even if the Sith do outnumber the Jedi, we're better trained. Hope won't die, Dreldra."

Dreldra looked up at the Jedi Knight through the flames of his fire.

"Well, you never lose hope, that's for definite. Pass me those woolamanders and I'll start to prepare them."

Sirch threw the furry creatures to his friend. Many other slaves had attempted to cook the somewhat stringy woolamanders, but all had either burnt them or skinned them too much. Dreldra worked wonders with food, even if his species was the retards of the galaxy. In a matter of minutes, they were roasting on the fire. With Sirch's strength in the Force and Dreldra's talent for cooking, they were in one aspect at least, unbeatable. As some of the stars began to shine in the sky, Sirch used the Force to pluck the roasting corpses off the fire. Dreldra used his talon-like nails to rip the carcasses open, pulled out the herbs, and passed the larger of the woolamanders to Sirch. Sirch nodded his thanks as he began to eat the meaty creature, making a mental note to catch more in the future. Where another species would have made the already frugal meal little more than a snack, Ryn could almost make a meal out of anything. In being chased from their home, they had garnered nearly every skill known to most species, and learned to excel at them.

Later that night, when two of Yavin's other moons shone in the sky, Dreldra sat listening to the sounds of the jungle. Sirch had used his Force talents to promote healing in a stubborn wound in the Ryn's shoulder blade. An explosion had buried shrapnel into the wound, and the flesh had been slow to heal. Using the Force was forbidden to slaves, but with captured Jedi and Sith slave drivers mixing so much, its use was hard to detect. High overhead, a meteor flared in the sky like a fragment of aurodium. Dreldra gave a hiss of pain as Sirch extracted the last piece of shrapnel, one that had been lodged in against the bone. Finally, the tension eased in the Ryn's shoulders. Sirch threw away the bloodied piece of metal and tied a patch over the small hole in his friends' back. Dreldra gave a smile as he flexed his muscles.

"Well, with Jedi like you, it's no wonder that hope never dies."

Sirch nodded deeply, smiling.

"Anything for a friend."

Dreldra huddled down on his pallet of grasses and used his tail to pass Sirch his blanket.

"You'd best sleep here tonight. If Ynnek catches you running about after dark, he'll slash you in half."

Sirch nodded and pulled the Ryn's blanket around him. Even if he was offended by the Ryn's natural, somewhat musty odour, he didn't let it show. Friends on Yavin 4 were all too hard to come by. And Dreldra was as good as they came, even without his many assorted talents.

Barab System

Barab 1

Kothassa T'or was not a happy Barabel as he pulled his Talon Fighter into a tight twist to shake off his Sith pursuer. For six standard weeks, Barab One had been under siege, and finally, the Barabels were beginning to crack. Their orbital station was a wreck, their fleet was in tatters, and only their Talon Fighters were keeping the Sith from landing invasion troops on their hot world. Kothassa fired a barrage of yellow lasers at the Sith Pursuer, and gave a grin of satisfaction as it exploded.

Well, he thought to himself, now we know for sure who has the upper hand with a one on one dogfight.

The trouble was, all too often the Talon Fighters won only by sheer luck. The Sith Pursuers linked through a Force meld that helped them co-ordinate their every move. True, the Sith Pursuer was a very basic craft, armed with only one laser cannon, and a single ion cannon too. The Talon Fighter boasted five lasers, all aimed to shoot on paths that would converge a kilometre away from their point of origin. A hit from five combined lasers had spelt death for many a Sith Pursuer, since their crafts held no shields at all. The Talon Fighters had a hyperspace capable engine, and were quite fast. So too were the Sith Pursuers, but they often swarmed the heavily armoured Talons. Kothassa pulled in towards one of the surviving Blood Dagger cruisers used by the Barabels. This one, named Pride of Barab, was about the only ship in the Barab fleet that kept the Sith at bay. It was raw red in colour, a soothing colour for a Barabel. As Kothassa landed on the top deck, hyperspace sirens slowly began to wail. Emerging from the direction of the red dwarf Barab came a fleet of Jedi starships. Cheers rose from the ship as the Sith began to panic. All Talon Fighters were launched, as were hundreds of Jedi fighters. The Sith occupation of Barab One was over.

Yavin System Yavin 4

Dreldra awoke early the following morning, even though it was pitch black outside. Yavin 4 had two types of night; light night, where the bulk of Yavin itself cast a pale red light over its moon, and dark night; which was rare, but lasted for two whole local days. The sun would rise, only to be seen to be blocked by the gas giant. Dreldra looked around in the gloom as the eclipsed sun rose. He could see Sirch had gone, probably back to his own tent to sleep, and walked outside. As he left the tent, he felt something pointed scratch the sole of his foot. Something hard and rocky. Fumbling about in the gloom, Dreldra soon found the object. It was a focusing crystal, used by Jedi and Sith alike. He clutched the gem in his hand tightly, very excited by this. Four months ago, a Jedi had stolen a Sith lightsabre, purified the focusing crystal and changed the handgrip, and rebelled against the Sith. Naturally, the Jedi had been killed, but not before killing four Sith and eight Trandoshans. The lightsabre had been destroyed about a week ago, explaining the shrapnel in Dreldra's back. But he had no inkling that the crystal could have survived all this time. He hurried to Sirch's tent and shook his Jedi friend awake. Sirch looked up, barely awake.

"What? Can't you see it's still dark night?"

Dreldra gave a smile and dropped the focusing crystal onto Sirch's chest. Sirch sat up and looked at the small crystal, then gave a gasp when he realised what it was. He fumbled under his bed and found the half-built lightsabre he and the other Jedi had been working on. Dreldra suddenly began to snarl, knowing a Trandoshan was near. He gestured for Sirch to hide the lightsabre, and slunk off into the darkness. Just as the Trandoshan reached Sirch's tent, a voice yelled out from the darkness.

"FOR THE JEDI!"

The response was remarkable. Red lightsabres ignited as dozens of Sith ran to the source of the sound. Trandoshans followed suit as Dreldra crept back to his tent. Two Sith apprentices ran into one another, one retracting his lightsabre, but the other dropping it completely. Sirch watched as the lightsabre turned off and rolled across the ground. Luckily, no one saw where it went. After a while, the Sith and Trandoshans walked off, seeming very angry at a false alarm being raised. Sirch crept over to where the lightsabre lay, and picked it up. Even touching a Sith lightsabre sent a shiver down his spine, but if it would help his escape, he'd do anything necessary. He walked back to his tent in the gloom of Yavin 4's dark night, and began to take apart the weapon, finally seeing the glint that meant the crystal was in there, and could be removed. Sirch took a deep breath as he pulled out the reddened crystal and slid the one Dreldra had found into the sabre. He smiled as the crystal fitted in perfectly. He knew that repairing the lightsabre would take a few hours, but at least the Sith knew their slaves couldn't work in pitch-blackness. Sirch squatted down and began to reassemble the lightsabre. With an armed Jedi Knight on the moon, morale would soar, and with any luck, the Jedi Fleet would be able to pummel the Sith.

Mustafar system

Outer Rim

Many warships aligned with the Sith had fierce reputations, but the Blade class cruiser Blood Gutter was ruthless even for a Sith vessel. Owned by Darth Sorus, one of the most feared Sith Lords in the galaxy, Blood Gutter was his personal conveyance. Stained red in long stripes against a cement grey hull, the Blade cruiser had a fearsome look to it. Weapon emplacements blistered the surface of the ship, dish-like weapons that used the Force to shoot rayed lasers. Missile launchers surrounded the control tower, as if daring a cocky enemy pilot to try and attack. The command deck was actually nestled below in an upraised bump. It was here Darth Sorus stood. Almost 2 metres tall, he had fair hair, a smile that had often been the last thing many a captive had seen before their death, glacial blue eyes and an aura about him that stank of the dark side of the Force. He wore jet black Sith robes, and from his belt hung a single red lightsabre. He spoke to his workers, not raising his voice, but knowing they'd pick up what he said. If not, well, examples could always be made.

"Jump to the planet Yavin to reinforce Exar Kun. The battle group here is lost; we must go where history will make us known as warriors instead of the defeated."

An officer gave a snort of disapproval at Darth Sorus's word, enough to stir the Sith Lord into action. Sorus walked menacingly up to the underling, and used the Force to grip him by the throat, lifting him up off the ground. The man choked and gasped, and then, Sorus used the Force to smack the man into the ceiling. There was the snap of breaking bone as he held him up there, then, with an evil smirk, he smacked him down to the deck. Blood flew everywhere. Sorus walked into his chambers, leaving the unfortunate underling to die on the walkway.

Yavin 4 Outer Rim

Sirch stirred in his sleep. He had plans for the formation of rebellion against Exar Kun, but so far, he and Dreldra had scavenged a single lightsabre, some pointed rocks, two pistols and a mine. Outside, a gentle breeze blew through the underbrush of the shantytown. Sirch woke up, thinking he could feel something near him. As he lay down, a soft voice reached him on the wind.

Awaken, Jedi Knight. Awaken and let me touch your mind.

Sirch sat bolt upright and looked around. The voice sounded amused at his panic.

Relax Master Jedi. I bear no harm.

Sirch sighed and decided to converse with this disembodied voice. "Who are you and where are you?"

I am the essence of a Jedi passed on. I died on this moon.

"You said something about me letting you touch my mind? How do I know I can trust you?"

You don't. But I won't appear again after this time assuming you choose to ignore me.

Sirch considered.

I can tell you how to bring down Exar Kun's forces.

At that, Sirch nodded.

"Do what you need to do."

He instantly felt a second presence, and when he looked next, a woman aged perhaps twenty-four was sat near to him. She had pinkish red hair, brown eyes, a fair complexion and wore much lighter colours than the average Jedi. She smiled at Sirch, and reached for his half-completed lightsabre, not the one he had stolen from the Sith. She cupped her hands around the lightsabre, and almost instantly, a lavender hued beam extended to about a metre in length. Sirch took hold of the lightsabre, and looked at it in wonder.

"You can create the focusing crystals needed for a lightsabre?"

She smiled, her look alone telling Sirch that she could. Sirch retracted the blade, and pushed the lightsabre's components back together. With a click, the weapon was ready. The girl spoke again.

"My name is Kepani Jinn. My people sent me here three hundred years ago. I was trained in use of the Force since I was a baby, but I barely reached the status of Jedi Knight before being sent here. I died at this very spot, killed by a Trandoshan slaver named Ynnek, but my essence is preserved, awaiting my chosen Jedi."

Sirch cut across Kepani's story.

"Ynnek? He's a slave driver here now!"

Kepani nodded.

"Yes, I sensed his presence. I would wish him dead, but it was never in my nature to hate. My time is up Sirch, but to beat Exar Kun, you will need to convert the Dark Lord Darth Sorus. There's still good within him. Many of the Sith will surrender if Darth Sorus turns to the light."

With that, Kepani vanished as if she had never been there. Sirch looked up at the sky, and even as he did so, he felt a ripple in the Force. This could only be Darth Sorus arriving.

Two days later, the sun rose over Yavin 4 again. The Trandoshan slavers were in a foul temper, since it had been cold whilst the sun was eclipsed. Darth Sorus had descended, and things were becoming more and more dangerous for any of the slaves. All work on the main temple was complete, and only two of the smaller temples were still incomplete. Obviously, the remaining Massassi slaves were being forced to work quicker than ever. Dreldra walked out of his tent, looking sleepy. Ynnek was about to prompt the slave into faster action, when Darth Sorus himself came along. Instantly, all slavers and slaves apart from Dreldra dropped to their knees. Darth Sorus looked at the albino Ryn in something approximating amusement.

"A reason why you do not bow before me, Ryn?"

Dreldra narrowed his eyes, his prehensile tail flicking the ground behind him.

"A Ryn does not bow before a tyrant."

Some of the slaves exchanged dubious looks. Dreldra had normally been a lot more placid than this. Yet here he was, openly defying a Sith Lord. Darth Sorus only smiled more widely.

"You have spirit, Ryn. More spine than these gutless Trandoshans. Come with me to the Great Temple. I'll be certain to see your talents used wisely."

Dreldra didn't move. Sighing, Darth Sorus used the Force to try and influence the stubborn Ryn to move. For a long time, nothing happened, but in the end, Dreldra began to walk towards the towering temple.

Once outside the Great Temple, Dreldra broke free of Darth Sorus's mind trick, and lashed the Sith Lord in the face with his tail. Darth Sorus looked shocked at this. Dreldra crouched, his muscular legs ready to propel him into a leap comparable to those done by the Jedi themselves. Darth Sorus took hold of his lightsabre and ignited a blood-red beam. Dreldra leapt into the air, trying to get onto a ledge about four metres up. Darth Sorus smiled, and used the Force to grab the Ryn's throat. Dreldra hung in the air, choking and starting to vomit. Darth Sorus gave a malevolent smile, then dropped the Ryn and walked up to him, his red lightsabre humming. Dreldra looked up at the Sith Lord, and used his tail to lash out at him again. Darth Sorus simply used his lightsabre to slash the end off the Ryn's tail, prompting a screech of agony. He lifted the Ryn up by the neck, and used the Force to smack him, time and again, into the stone wall. Dreldra crumpled on each bloody impact, and when he was finally let go, he was clearly dead. Darth Sorus smiled, shook his head, and retracted the red lightsabre. He walked back to the shantytown, deciding to eliminate the Jedi captives.

Sirch had felt Dreldra dying through the Force, and hung his head for his friend. As he looked up, he could see Darth Sorus coming towards him. Thunder rumbled as a massive storm began. The other slaves had gone, presumably to be killed by the other Sith on the moon. Darth Sorus ignited his red lightsabre and smirked at him.

"Once I would have been honoured to slay such a powerful Jedi as you, Sirch Senoj, but now, you are nothing. Prepare to meet the Force."

As he slashed down with his red blade, a blue lightsabre beam intercepted it. Before Darth Sorus could register his surprise, Sirch was up and on his feet. He battered away at the Sith, forcing him back. He called the second lightsabre to him, but did not activate the purple beam. As the two traded blows and lunges, a torrential downpour began, lit with powerful lightning bolts as once again, Jedi battled Sith. Darth Sorus leapt onto one of the temples and headed for the very top, Sirch hard on his heels. Desperate attacks by the Sith were either blocked or allowed to go wide of their target. Sirch battled hard, pushing the Sith Lord back to a long drop.

In space, high overhead, the Jedi fleet located the Blood Gutter. Despite the ship's high defensive shields, concentrated fire from the Jedi ships punched holes in the shields and in turn scarred the red ship. But the Blood Gutter had one thing going in its favour; the fact that it wasn't pinned up against Yavin, meaning escape into hyperspace was possible. As it lanced out with orange lasers, its main engine fired, and the ship leapt into lightspeed. Dismayed, the Jedi ships turned to pummel the fleet Exar Kun had assembled.

Below on Yavin 4, Jedi insertion teams were battling the large numbers of Sith. So far, it was a complete stalemate, and neither side had taken a single loss. High atop the temple, Sirch continued to battle Darth Sorus. By now, the Sith Lord had run out of tricks, and was tiring. With a single Force push, Sirch had him down. He took the red lightsabre and lowered the points of both weapons to his neck.

"Well, looks like the honour's mine. You have lost."

Darth Sorus shut his eyes, bracing himself for death. Sirch knew that Darth Sorus had been Dreldra's killer, and doubtless had murdered other beings as well, but he couldn't bring himself to slay the Sith Lord. He shut off both lightsabres and used the Force to sense what was going on in his mind. He was surprised to sense the darkness crumbling away from the Sith Lord, and decided to take a gamble few other Jedi had ever done. Namely, trying to convert the Sith Lord to the good side.

"Assuming I spare you, Darth Sorus, would you abandon use of the Force, or would you embrace the good side?"

Darth Sorus opened his eyes, looking confused.

"I would turn back to the good side I once used. I wasn't always a Sith."

Sirch smiled.

"Then rise."

Darth Sorus got up, feeling totally different now that the Dark side had left him. Over towards the Great Temple, the clash of Sith against Jedi carried on unabated.

One such Jedi Knight was a Chandrilan named Drachir Flet. He wielded a green and blue lightsabre, and used the Force to boost his speed to unimaginably high levels. So far, the Sith he was battling were barely keeping him off. Drachir gave an exasperated sigh, and slashed with one of his sabres, lunging with the other at the exact same moment. Two Sith Knights were caught off guard by the Jedi's move, and fell down dead. For half an hour, the Jedi seemed to be only able to keep the Sith in check, but now, the Jedi were starting to win. Soon, Sirch and Darth Sorus, who had joined the fight, were inside the Great Temple, looking for Exar Kun.

Exar Kun smiled as the former Sith Lord entered with the Jedi Knight.

"You're too late Jedi. I have already got all I need for immortality."

Darth Sorus smiled back.

"Still, killing you will lessen the pain from so many…"

He broke off as the slave master, Ynnek, blasted him with Force Lightning. Sirch drew the purple lightsabre Kepani had repaired, seemingly so long ago, and ignited it. Ynnek hissed as the Jedi Knight slashed off his tail, then threw the purple lightsabre at him. In too much pain to use his Force skills, Ynnek was decapitated by the thrown lightsabre, and collapsed dead to the floor. Darth Sorus got up hesitantly, and called the purple lightsabre to him, but Exar Kun had vanished as if he was never there. Sirch sighed in exasperation. With Exar Kun immortalised, the threat posed by the Sith would remain. Sirch and Darth Sorus walked out to the landed Jedi ships. By now, all the Sith were either dead or had surrendered.

Many people had said that no matter what happened to the galaxy, Coruscant would never change. Sirch stood before the twelve Masters of the Jedi Council. Darth Sorus was constructing his lightsabre, and Drachir was teaching a Jedi student.

"For your heroic efforts in fighting the Sith, converting a Sith Lord to the light, and foiling a plot which would have reached all of us, we confer on you the rank of Jedi Master, Sirch Senoj. Rise, and may the Force always be with you."

Sirch bowed to the Jedi Council.

"Thank you. I am truly honoured to be a Jedi Master."

Sirch took his leave, and went to the hangar to find Drachir and Sorus waiting there for him. A Jedi student was tinkering with a small transport, and beside him lay a pile of lightsabres recovered from the Sith. Drachir watched with something close to amusement on his face as the boy used the Force to turn them all on at the same time. Most of them were blue, but some were green and one was yellow. He selected the yellow one, turned it off, and threw it to Sorus, who still didn't have a lightsabre. Sorus caught it and smiled.

"Thanks kid, I may well need this. But I don't think you'll need fifty-odd lightsabres."

The Jedi student smiled.

"The rate I go through them, I probably will. Didn't one of you commune with a Jedi called Kepani on Yavin 4?"

Sirch nodded.

"Yes, that was me. Why?"

The student looked uneasy.

"Could I, err, have her lightsabre please?"

Sirch smiled as he threw the purple lightsabre to the Jedi student.

"Go on then kid. Don't lose it."

The boy smiled.

"I won't. Thanks."

He turned off all the lightsabres and put them in the transport, then got in himself. The small, bullet-shaped ship rose off the ground and shot out into the sky.

Few people knew of the remote casino at the furthest brown dwarf in the galaxy from Coruscant. It was known as 'The cantina at the end of the universe', and attracted all sorts of people. Sirch, Drachir and Sorus however, had come here to visit a person known only as Ylcu, a dancer and singer who could put a Twi'lek to shame. Both the Jedi Knights smiled as Sirch and Ylcu embraced and kissed gently.

Back on Yavin 4, once bustling with slaves, now silent, a Jedi transport landed near the battlefield. A Jedi student named Leinad Ekkru walked to where he felt a presence in the Force, almost as if he were in a dream. He poured all his Force powers into the one area, as his mentors had taught him. The presence in the Force increased, and finally, a solid, flesh and blood form took over from the scanty Force presence. Only when Leinad had drained all the Force power he could did he open his eyes. A girl, about four years older than him, stood before him, smiling in the sunlight. He smiled back, pulled her close to him, and delicately kissed her.

Just over four thousand years later, the spirit of Exar Kun possessed Jedi student Kyp Durron, persuading him to destroy entire planets before, once more, the Jedi were victorious.

To all I wrote this story for

May the Force be with you