Krych couldn't decide who thirsted for battle more; him or Talon. The monster pounded across the snow with every breath in it's bodu, trambling towards the maze of shipwrecks where the remaining surviors of the Republic army were franticly gathering together. What was left of the Republic army was scattered across a landscape more than a mile wide, littered with disassembled ship parts the size of houses. Even at two miles away, beneath the dim of death, he could feel their panic, their struggle to mount an offense inside their labyrinth of metal.

And it fed him in turn, nurturing the Dark Side that had already claimed all but a fragment of his soul. Beneath the polished mask his lips peeled back in vicious grin, aching for fighting, aching to inflict pain. Wanting more than anything to hear and feel his lightsaber slashing up throats, chests and faces. Anything to sate the pain already inside of him. He desired the screaming, the horrible painful screaming of his enemies.

Instead of running around the first obstruction they reached Talon leapt from the ground onto the large sheet of metal that reached up towards the sky. His claws stabbed into the surface and he climbed up the side of it, Krych hugging his reins, reaching the peak and then jumping down on the other side.

Republic soldiers cried out in delightful terror as Talon came crashing down upon them, his powerful limbs and tail thrashing in their midst. Bodies were tossed to the wind, screaming for their lives before they smashed against metallic surfaces or broke their necks as they impacted with the ground.

Talon's tail wagged in frenzied glee as he mauled his way through the enemy, and never once did Talon save one for devouring, his mind was set in the same mode as Krych's; this was about killing, not eating.

Krych himself swung his red blade in grand circles around him as Talon prawled the killing fields, severing heads and bouncing bolts back at their owners. A faceless monster mowing through the enemy ranks from his loyal pet's back. He became the war itself, spreading his awareness to every living soul around him, feeding off their emotions. And never sustaining a single injury he hunted them down one by one, leaving a trail of dead in snow behind him and Talon as they swept through the maze.

Behind him and Talon their own soldiers finally reached the area, their rifles sweeping across the fields, gunning down the fleeing Republic soldiers. Bereft of honor, they dropped to the snow, their backs riddled with bolts, left to die on a world where no Republic would come for their bodies.

Krych hadn't noticed it until late in the slaughter but he tasted blood upon his tongue. His jaws had been clenched so tight several of his teeth had broken loose inside his mouth and he spat them out through the mask, biting down harder and relishing the pain and the taste of his own blood.

His soldiers charged past his sides, yelling their battlecries, mowing across the snow and through the impossible mazes. It was all over too quickly for him, in retrospect he wished he'd left the Sons of Destiny back inside the repair yard. He wished he could have had them all to himself. The wind around him cleared up his visibility and beyond the killing field he saw a large shape begin to form.

His ferocious grin dripped blood down his throat, but the sight of a grounded star destroyer just waiting to be pillaged made him kick his heels into Talon's rips. The vhronik monster charged towards the Masamune, knocking aside even his own men as he raced to get there first.

A moment of jealousy overtook him, he wanted all of the survivors onboard the destroyer to himself, although he had a feeling there were nowhere near enough onboard to satisfy his thirst for carnage.

Anyone that found themselves in the unfortunate situation of going head to head with a Jedi, would consider running away to be their best chance at survival. Jedi were fast, unpreditable, resourceful; basically unbeatable. For millenia they'd survived on magic and an outdated weapon, their own mystiscm worked as a weapon in itself. They were supernatural fighters that could read emotions and predict future movements. They were the perfect warriors, and in history the only thing that had been able to insure their fall was overwhelming in sheer numbers.

Then again, the same thing could be said for Mandalorians, and Boba Fett was a one man army.

Fett blasted off from the roof using his jetpack, Joon's lightsaber cutting a wide fissure in the air beneath him where he'd just been. Activating his flamethrower on his gauntlet the bounty hunter layed out a thick fan of napalm that washed the blind youth on the roof in fire, while his jetpack took him higher and even further from Joon's lethal weapon. But Joon launched from the roof like a missile, free of the fire although the ends of his bandana had been scorched in the heat.

Joon settled in the air on invisible cushions at Fett's level, his red blade stabbing out. Fett contorted his body, leaning back, letting the blade sweep clean across his chest. Using the momentum Fett kicked out his legs, catching Joon in the midsection and pushing him away. Joon's arms and legs flayed wildly until he dropped back down on the roof, rolling to a stand, instantly charged.

Fett still flew through the air above, switching to his rocket dart launcher. The first dart stabbed through the wind but Joon easily brushed it aside with his lightsaber. The second dart fell on the same course and Joon once again intercepted it with his blade. But this one was different, this one had a small concentration of explosives and Joon was thrown back by the detonation, sliding to a halt at the edge of the roof.

Feeling brave, Fett touched back down on the opposite end of the roof and, despite the weight of his armor, ran for Joon. Joon managed to jump to a stand at the last second, but only to ram his face into Fett's fist. Fett damned himself a second later for not using the gauntlet's blades as Joon withstood the punch easily and knocked the hunter back with a push of the Force.

Fett trashed down onto the roof and Joon came at him, swirling his lightsaber as a mocking gesture. Fett rolled onto his belly quickly and pushed himself up, igniting his jetpack. But Joon's lightsaber strafed his back before he could rocket off and the jetpack exploded between them. Joon side-jumped away from the blast but Fett was slammed into the roof, armor bent and burning.

A groan filtered through his helmet and the hunter hugged his broken right arm tight to his chest as he rose. Joon stalked the Mandalorian, chuckling lightly. By all evidence it seemed Boba Fett was down for the count, broken and defeated. And the Dark Jedi Joon was slowly circling him, coming from to Fett's front, lightsaber ready to end the fight.

Fett remained proud, facing Joon directly, staring at him through his visor. Joon spun the lightsaber one last time and raised it, leveling it at Fett's neck. Joon seemed to wait for Fett to surrender or say something, but nothing except filtered breathing escaped his helmet.

Joon frowned dissapointedly and decided to end it. But before his lightsaber could connect with his neck, Fett's left hand grabbed onto Joon's wrist and twisted it around, relieving Joon of the lightsaber.

Joon yelped in pain. Fett then delievered a head-butt, the helmet ramming into Joon's face. While immobilized, Fett still maintaining a grip on the boy's wrist, the hunter spun himself around, pulling Joon off the ground and threw the light-weighted boy over his shoulder. Joon cried loudly as his body touched down, franticly clawing at his own wounded limbs.

Fett hissed through his helmet and extended two sharpened blades from his left wrist. Normally they were best suited for climbing, but the hunter seemed satisfied with using them to cut Joon into pieces. Joon was still lying on the ground, covered in snow, as Fett resolutely approached him, one arm tugged into his waist, the other brandishing a set of lethal daggers.

"Playtime's over, kid," Fett declared menacingly as he finally reached the young boy, holding the gauntlet's blade to his face.

Fett pulled his hand back to but the boy rolled away as the blades stabbed into the ground. Joon didn't roll far, he countered his roll next to Fett and landed a kick on the hunter's shin, dropping Fett onto his side, the blades breaking off at wrist as he fell. Joon jumped to a stand and called the lightsaber to his hand, grinning victoriously.

But before he could use it on the bounty hunter, Fett unleashed a snare from his wrist, tying Joon's hands together at the wrists. The boy managed to preserve his grip on the saber but he snarled at the capture nonetheless. Desperate to end the fight Joon started to hack the roof with his lightsaber which Fett evaded by crawling and rolling.

Joon's lightsaber worked too well; stepping onto a section he'd hacked with the lightsaber, the roof fell apart beneath him and Joon tumbled through, snow falling around him and pieces of ceiling following him.

Before even thinking it, Fett produced a thermal detonator from his armor, activated the timer and sent it down the hole. The blast launched Fett from the roof as the surface bulged outward, straining the roof itself. He touched down again uncontrolled, crying out in filtered agony.

Heavy smoke drifted from the hole in the roof, but no Joon reappeared. Fett laid himself out flat, exhaled and savored the silence for several minutes. His broken arm ached but a lifetime of battle and injuries far worse allowed him to ignore it. He watched snowflakes melt on his visor and slowly collected himself, getting up to a standing position with delicate effort.

He stepped over to the edge of the hole, using his helmet's sensors to scan for the young boy. The level below was black and torn apart, the flooring and walls slightly melted from the detonator's impact. He could see down several levels, smoke and destruction obstructing him from seeig details. Fire danced here and there but there was no sign of Joon.

"Blast," he muttered to himself, and counted his damages. Blades were gone, the jetpack was in pieces, pieces of his armor were wrecked and useless, the flamethrower was running on empty and he had one broken arm. If Joon was waiting for him, he had no chance of winning the fight.

Biting down hard on his teeth, Fett tighted his good hand around his broken arm and with one quick powerful pull the arm snapped back into place.

Now it was a fair fight.

Fett pulled out another grenade, a flashbang grenade, set the trigger and let it bounce down into the hole. Flash grenades caused minimal physical damage, but could blind enemies for several seconds. It was highly effective in situations where confusion could help counter superior forces. He activated his visor's shield setting and dropped into the hole the moment the grenade blew.

The visor dulled the flash and Fett used this advantage to scan the surroundings. Joon was already waiting, stepping out behind Fett. As Fett saw him, and his bandage, he managed to remember the boy was blind, which made the flash grenade pointless, just before Joon kicked him, sending him tumbling down into the lower level. Even before his back smashed against the flooring, Fett sent an angry salvo of blasterbolts from his gauntlet up at Joon, which the boy effortlessly whipped aside with his lightsaber.

The lower level was a council room of sorts, the walls had been redesigned to grand viewing screens which displayed countless images from around the Galaxy of local scenery and art. An elaborate dining table was at the center of the room, a diamond-shaped table with a small crystal volcano on top. Four of the five walls were holoscreens, but the fifth was a viewscreen showing the mountains outside.

Joon joined him in the council room just as Fett backed away from beneath the hole in the ceiling and awaited the boy's next move. Joon's free hand reached out to the dining table and with one swipe of his hand, the heavy table lifted from the floor and flew at Fett. Fett's only defense was holding up his arms to absorb the impact, but the table's size and weight was considerable and Fett was flattened against one of the viewing screens. He cried out in pain, the screen behind him breaking into a million pieces.

Joon raised his hand again and the table lifted off Fett -

- only to crash down upon him again much harder.

Joon chuckled and when his mouth opened, a voice much older than Joon himself spoke. "What a pitiful creature you are, Fett. A relic. You should have died along with your father and all of his mindless drones," Eknath chuckled, "perhaps now you wonder; are these the thoughts that went through your father's head before he died?"

Fett groaned beneath the heavy table, his fingers clutching the edges of the table, trying to lift it off him.

Joon hefted his lightsaber. "You should take comfort knowing that I will take care of the Kjoil you came for - "

Fett released an inhuman scream, the filter in his helmet adding even terrible effects to the sound. And by an invisible force the table lifted from Fett, slowly but surely, releasing him. The table moved sideways and dropped suddenly down next to him. Joon stepped back, as Fett was freed and the hunter revealed a ready detonator in his palm.

Joon raised his lightsaber.

"Five seconds, kid," Fett said calmly, and he juggled the detonator in his hand. "Better hurry."

The boy quickly reached out to the detonator and pulled it from Fett's hand with the Force, throwing it through and out the window behind him. The grenade detonated just outside the viewscreen, filling the chamber with a powerful light for a few seconds.

With Joon's attention drawn to the grenade, Fett had just enough time to get up and throw himself at the boy. Fett smashed into Joon's back like a wild dewback and the two fought even as they rolled across the floor, delieving kicks and punches at short range. Fett added a few more head-butts to the count, and finally managed to pry the lightsaber from the boy's palm.

They came out of the roll at the edge of the torn window, Fett pinning Joon to the ground. The boy yelped and snarled, but Fett regarded him calmly, lightsaber in his right aloft hand.

"Sorry, kid. You can have it back when you're old enough," he said and tossed it out to the window.

Joon cried out in anger and released a powerful wave of the Force. Fett was lifted off Joon's body and slammed into the ceiling above him. Joon rolled away to the safe side of the window's edge as Fett came crashing back down.

Fett was weakened and when he tried to stand his arms failed. Joon walked up to his side, the wind outside pulling his bandana's trails, and kicked Fett in the ribs, launching him ever closer to the edge of the window. Fett cried out in pain, but even the anger and the pain couldn't give him the strength he needed to fight back.

"I'm sorry, bounty hunter," Eknath spoke through Joon in a mocking voice, "but this - " Joon kicked again, "- is -" another kick, "- the -" and another, "- end!"

Fett flattened against the floor, one arm and helmet dangling outside the window, life starting to fade out of him. Everything was darkened, with only a few stars dancing around in front of his visor.

"Off to see your father," Eknath said through Joon, while the boy wiped sweat from his face, "and all the rest of his soul-less clones!"

Joon pulled back his foot for a final kick but as it came at Fett, the hunter caught it at the shin and pushed outwards, throwing Joon onto his back. Fett stood up again, slower this time, clutching his wounds and groaning with pain, but still willing to fight.

Joon raised his hands and and lightning poured from his fingers. "Die, you sick freak!" Eknath thundered omniously, "the world no longer needs you!"

The lightning touched Fett and washed over his body, but he showed no pain. The electrical charges merely moved over his clothes and armor, continuing to build but appearing to belong on his body, like the evil that had spawned them had found a match in him. Fett grinned, his body alight with blue sparks of energy that coursed over his every pore.

Joon roared again and continued to send more powerful streams of lightning at the unaffected Fett. Fett raised a hand, the lightning playfully dancing around his fingers. And then, while the blue tendrils moved across his body, Fett's helmet suddenly looked out at the window behind him, as if wary of some danger.

"Sorry, kid," Fett said, "I ain't got time to play with you anymore."

Joon's lightning onslaught stopped and the boy stared at him confused as Fett deliberately took one backwards step out the window, unleashing his snare just as he lost footing. The snare attached itself to an unseen ledge and the gauntlet started to retract. Fett was whisked out of sight outside the window, and Joon laid alone on the floor of the council chamber, wind pulling at his bandana.

Joon got up and walked to the window, staring in all directions for the hunter. There was nothing there, except the dark clouds above the distant mountains. Joon's eyeless face crunched up and he felt his Master calling. Although most of Joon's soul was directly under Eknath's control, there were some shreds of him that were still his own. For instance the ability to feel fear for his Master's absolute zero tolerance for failure.

No, no, no, no...

He didn't know when it had happened, but at some point he must have fallen backwards into his command chair on the bridge of the Masamune. The holographic projection of the battlefield appeared to be malfunctioning, or so he hoped. None of the soldiers were moving, the AT-ATs and the snowspeeders were gone. Nothing, not a single sign of life. They were dead.

Seven.

Thousand.

Soldiers.

Dead in only a few minutes.

Admiral Saul's head was shaking involuntarily. It couldn't be possible. How had they wiped out his entire army so fast? He stared dazed into the hologram, searching for a single movement, something that wasn't just a flicker in the relay.

His fingers tapped the controls on his armrest. "This is Admiral Saul of the Masamune, is anyone out there?"

As he expected there was no return. Not even static.

"This is Admiral Saul of the Masamune, respond!" he shouted, refusing to believe it, someone had to be alive out there. "General Davon, this is a direct order! Respond immediately!"

"Admiral," a voice spoke up behind him, one of his junior officers, "scans show no activity outside. They're all gone, sir."

Admiral Saul turned his chair around to face the officer. "What happened?"

"Sir, our last visuals show a high concentration of...debris, pieces of disassembled starships hitting the battle site. We don't know where the debris came from, or how it traveled, but...well, we don't really know anything, Admiral."

Starships. Admiral Saul remembered the scrapyard of ships that he'd seen on his first surveillance of the base, how innocently it had looked. He'd never included it among his calculations for an assault. How could he have known?

He straightened out. "Get us off the ground, immediately!"

"Yes, sir."

He looked back at the holographic projection again, the thousands of shiphulls were still lying out there, small hills of spaceships cluttering the fields. He tapped the controls by his hand.

A full-sized hologram of the Ronin'scaptain appeared before him. "Ronin, this is the Masamune, do you copy?"

The man nodded crisply. "Captain Kerner here, Admiral. What's going on down there?"

Admiral Saul stood up from his chair. "Our ground forces are gone," he made sure to talk as fast as he could before he could linger on the reality behind the words, "we've lost the battle and it is imperative that we immediately notify High Command. We need authorization for a full-scale planetary bombardment."

Captain Kerner tilted his head. "Admiral, I'm sure we - " he trailed off, his eyes looking at something Saul couldn't see, something outside of the Ronin's viewports. The captain's eyes widened and his face went pale with fear. "...by the Force."

Admiral Saul stepped forward. "What's happening, Captain?"

Captain Kerner was still hypnotized, eyes blank. "The orbital repair yards...they're powering up..."

Admiral Saul felt ivy running down his spine. "But they're all empty, there's no way they could power up on - "

A man stepped through the hologram itself right before his eyes, clad in arcane armor and twirling a red lightsaber in his hand. An armored hand knocked the Admiral to the floor, sending him sliding across its polished surface, only to bump up against the short section of wall beneath his viewports.

The armored man's face was disguised behind a haunting mask and his sickening chuckle drowned out the sound of the officers in their workpits on the bridge getting gunned down by enemy soldiers.

Krych tilted his head. "Leaving so soon, Admiral?"

Captain Kerner of the Ronin stared mesmerized at the giant orbital repair yards drifting close to their proximity in the empty space outside. The Ronin and the Infinity was right in their center, the stations hovering around them like starships dead in space. Shaped like a giant silvery sphere with an outer ring of boxy hangars, their surfaces came alive with a million lights all at once.

Smaller even combined compared to the star destroyers, and although they were origninally designed for repair and maintenance, they were still armed with heavy artillery, enough to put a serious dent in their defenses.

And they were right there, right outside his viewports. Captain Kerner stumbled back a few steps, panic taking him.

"Captain!" someone yelled from the workpits. "Captain, do we open fire!"

He juggled his chances. Two two star destroyers with full shields and full armament and hangars packed with starfighters could easily blow those stations out of space, even if they had the element of surprise on their side.

Captain Kerner's mouth opened to confirm -

"This is...CommanderJovis of the Sons of Destiny," a slightly hesitant but loud voice broke through over their comm systems, "any attempt to retaliate will result in the destruction of your ships, as well as your lives."

Captain Kerner cleared his throat and allowed himself a smug smile. "Commander Jovis, this is Captain Kerner of the Ronin. I urge you to reconsider your threat. Surrender now and I will detain myself from blasting these pitiful defense into dust."

This Jovis laughed confidently. "By all means; that's why they are there. The orbital repair yards are devoid of life, and I am aware of their defensive capabilities," the way his voice rose it was clear that Jovis was leaning into his microphone, "I have my finger on their self-destruct switch as we speak, Captain."

Kerner's eyes widened and his mouth stood open. The repair yards were close enough for him to see intricate details on their hulls outside the viewports. If this Jovis detonated them the blast would -

"Correct, Captain; the combined blastwave at that proximity would engulf your star destroyers like a ball of snow next to a thermal detonator." Jovis chuckled. "You have lost, Captains. Admiral Saul is already our prisoner and your ground forces are evaporated. Do not throw away your lives and your ships so carelessly."

Captain Kerner tasted defeat at the back of his throat. The defiant and honorable part of him wanted to fight to the death rather than surrendering himself and his crew to these terrorists. But he realized going out in a blaze of glory would certainly kill his crew and surrender offered a slim chance that they might survive. He was loyal to the Republic and proud of his ship, but he wasn't a fool.

"Alright," Captain Kerner swallowed hard, "name your demands."

"Captain Kerner of the Ronin and Captain Cygan of the Infinity will board shuttles and travel to Hope's Haven. You'll be given landing instructions upon your approach. We have arranged a very unformal gathering in your honor," Jovis grinned, "suggest you do not keep us waiting."

He was getting used to the scent of death that clung to his nostrils, no longer horrified to see the bodies that laid by his feet. He could sit alone on a mountain of dead, staring into the wall on the other side of the room without even noticing any of it. It had become part of a world that brought him pain, a world that had just turned upside down in the last half hour. Nothing was the same anymore, no one was a friend, and nowhere was there any peace to be found.

Rishi Kjoil sat with interlocked fingers on a hill of corpses, listening to the Force, letting it cool the anger in his gut that longed for venting. He decided he wasn't going to let it win this time. He always blew whenever he got furious, but this time he would let it fade. All it took was time and thought, and although he knew he really didn't have the time for either, he felt he needed it.

That voice appeared in his head again. He's telling you the truth, Rishi.

Rishi snorted. I thought you said I shouldn't trust anyone.

You shouldn't...his motives may change, since even he doesn't know where he is headed. But I tell you now his words are no lie.

I wasn't talking about him, Rishi replied, I meant you.

I would prefer if you didn't trust me.

Rishi found whoever was speaking to him to be a nuisance. Why bother talking to me if you know I won't trust you?

You don't need to trust me. But that doesn't mean what I tell you is a lie. It's your task to seperate the truth from fiction. The truth is found beneath the lies. An answer cannot be found, without a question.

Rishi looked over at Jedi Master Raine, busy conversing with Kal. If what he said is truth, where is his lie?

He is a lie.

Rishi shuddered at those words. What?

I know when you look upon him you see a wise old Jedi Master, a tree of knowledge from which you eagerly pluck. You pay no consideration to the fact that what he embraces as truth is only his point of view, as all truth is. He will feed you one truth, but it is his own truth. Just as his view of the Force is wrong.

Rishi felt his interest peaking. Wrong how?

If he only treads where the Force wills him to tread, he is but an empty shell.

Rishi nodded. Jedi seem comfortable this way. And he seems happy this way.

Except now the Force tells him nothing, and the future is hidden from him.

Rishi rubbed the beard starting to form at the edges of his jaw. From me, as well.

What do you think this means?

Rishi considered his answer. That...the future is being altered. Fates are changing.

The voice laughed inside his head. But what is fate if it can be manipulated? What is future if there is none?

Rishi shook his head. I'm not old enough to answer those questions.

You never will be.

Rishi supposed that was true. So...there's no great truth? No real truth?

Oh, yes. There is.

Rishi felt brave. Do you know it?

Yes.

Tell me.

The voice laughed again, a cruel mocking sound. That which is given has no value. Nothing is more valuable than that which is found. You seek the great mystery of the Force, the all-empowering truth behind it's nature and use. Many have doubted it's real will, many Jedi have lost faith in their beliefs because they never knew for sure if they were wielding it correctly. Does the future exist? Is there a true way of the Force? These questions can drive anyone mad.

Rishi scoffed. But not you, of course.

I never said I wasn't mad.

Rishi gathered the pieces. You want me to find the truth on my own.

No, the voice teased, I want you to simply look for it. But know this; even finding it doesn't mean you can ever know if it is truth.

Rishi longed to strangle the one talking to him. That's nonsense. How am I to believe in something that will never be proven?

That is what they call faith.

Rishi looked back over at Raine. He has faith in his path. Yet you say he is wrong.

He had faith, the voice clarified, now that his path confuses him, he's beginning to lose faith. And he is being...influenced...by others. Consider that maybe his path is not lost, but only hidden. His faith is being tested, and he has already lost. His ways were proven wrong long time ago, and only now he has to face it. But he doesn't face it, Rishi. He continues to lie to himself and that makes him vulnurable.

Rishi looked down at the floor, pondering issues he knew he was too young to delve into. He'd always believed he would find a path through his life, an ideal or dream that would feel right to him, but he still felt too young, too eager. He knew he would make mistakes and that he would learn from his mistakes, as he already had. But there was still much to learn, many mistakes to be made.

He knew intimately what happened when someone, like Master Skar, threw themselves at a purpose in life when they weren't ready for such a responsibility. He'd done the same in the underground of Coruscant, but since his departure from Coruscant he'd begun to believe his exploits in the underground were not of an ideal, or a purpose. It was only to busy himself with a somewhat managable problem that kept his mind off the greater problems. A time in which he could make many mistakes.

That time was over.

I will...be observant.

The voice sent a wave of approval. Good, I ask nothing more.

Who are you really? Are you near?

Again the voice laughed. I am never further from you, than you are from me.

Kal looked away from Rishi, that tormented Kjoil sitting far away in deep thought at the other end of the room, and faced the Jedi Master. "More and more I'm starting to realize, what went wrong with the Old Republic."

Raine didn't meet the Jedi's eyes. "To the outside world, the Republic was a stabil unit, a functional government. But more than politics were at play beneath the surface. Exchanges of power, the Dark Side, and monstrosities unequaled."

Kal nodded. "What happens now?"

Raine sighed. "I am not sure. The Force yet eludes me, hiding my purpose from me. Something is not decided. I will return to where I am drawn, with the rest of the Sons of Destiny. It is where I am most useful."

Kal agreed. "I think so too. Nice to know someone is on our side."

Raine looked at Kal, doubtfully. "Your side?"

"Well, you're a Jedi Master. aren't you?"

Raine snorted. "Foolish boy. You're making an assumption that crumpled the old Jedi Order. The Jedi Order was an institution that had little to do with the natural way of the Force. The name 'Jedi' is not given to anyone by the Force, Jedi have created this term."

Kal was confused. "But...we're the same."

"No. The Force has never chosen the Jedi to nessicarily be a unit. The Jedi came together in past times, yes, but it doesn't mean that is what has to happen, or was intended to happen. The Jedi Order lost their view of the Force's way because they were restricted by other institutions within their own order."

Kal gave up and threw his hands into the air. "Fine, then don't help us."

Raine sounded annoyed. "I am a Jedi, but I do not need other Jedi around me to understand or follow the Force. Neither am I a rogue Jedi. I'm just an old man with a old-fashioned view, doing what I feel is right."

Kal pointed at Raine and then himself. "You and me, it's a personality problem. We don't mesh."

Raine shook his head, sighing. "But I have advice for you, young Jedi. At the bottom of this structure is the cloning facility. There is information there that will help you. It is also where I last saw Koll Riokon and his wife. Best if you stay together."

Kal crossed his arms over his chest, pretending he didn't care. "And you?"

"I will stay close to Master Eknath. He is diverting from the cause, and I fear he has his own ends at heart. By staying close to him he will find it difficult to hide anything from me."

Kal nodded swiftly. "Fine. Great. Now run along, old man."

Jedi Master Raine groaned. "Kids."

Rishi came walking over to them, his head slightly bowed, lost in his own thoughts.

Kal raised his voice. "Hey, Rishi! This guy says he won't help us!"

Rishi reached them and looked up at Master Raine. "It's his decision. He's been truthful," Kal started to object but Rishi kept talking, "I kept it down. I didn't give in to the anger."

Raine nodded. "Youth carries a passion of their own, put together with Kjoil power it can be an unconquerable enemy. Your heritage allows you great power, but even great power must be harvested with patience. You are still young, Rishi, your feelings are a danger in themselves. You must trust in yourself and not allow the Dark Side to push your feelings over the edge."

Kal looked out of his place. "So, what now?"

"We go to the cloning facility."

Raine nodded.

Rishi's comlink activated itself, a hologram appearing over his arm of the lead commando from his unit. He looked very troubled.

"Commander," there was an undercurrent of panic in his voice, "we've linked up with Saber Two's unit inside the main structure and we've found the hostage site."

A light of hope shone inside Rishi. "Good work, soldier. Are the hostages safe?"

"I wouldn't know, commander. They're not here."

The light faded as quickly as it had shown. "What?"

The sounds of a firefight and explosions slowly came through over the link. And something else; a loud monstrous roaring.

"But something is, commander."

Another roar echoed over the comlink and Raine's head came up fast. "Ragh!"

Kal stared at the old man. "You got a bad cough there, old man."

Raine dropped from his seating on the column, his body falling into a state of panic. "Ragh is my apprentice - "

"But he's killing my men," Rishi said defiantly.

Raine fell inwards, his thoughts straying. "No...I didn't tell him to go there. This is not my doing." Raine allowed the cane to drop from his hands and revealed his lightsaber instead. "We must hurry!"

Eknath stood alone at the reflective pool, his fingers playing across the surface of the water, creating ripples and staring mystified at his own reflection as it broke apart and then reformed. The Inner Council had joined only once inside the grand, but confusing, chamber. He had yet to discern what purpose it might have had apart from self-reflection. It was a meditative place, a place of comfort. Even during a war, sometimes the soul needed to touch something real, something as simple as water.

The doors opened into the room and Joon walked with a single purpose down the singular set of stairs to the flat platform that took up one fifth of the sphere's size. He stopped behind Eknath and rested there for a second before bowing down on one knee.

Eknath could feel the fear radiating off his apprentice, since it was the only thing emanating from the boy that didn't belong to himself. Joon was, in a sense, his own reflective pond. And so there was no real point in talking to the boy, belating him his failure. No real point in striking him in punishment.

Eknath watched the water drip from his fingers, considering the events he'd seen through Joon's eyes. How, when or why Boba Fett had arrived on Regana eluded him and it caused him great aggrevation. This was not a part of the plan and although Fett was only one man, he'd already proven strong and crafty enough to become a serious dent in Eknath's plans. But, as it was, Joon was not the one he would send to kill the bounty hunter. He needed something else, or someone else.

Joon sat in silence behind him as Eknath contemplated, much like a weapon rested on the shelf while its owner slept after a battle.

He opened his mind to the Force, to its darker side, looking for an answer. He believed Krych might be an obvious match for the bounty hunter and it pleased him on a secondary level to think of the two in combat; two faceless warriors battling each other. Yes, it would make for a grand spectacle, but he doubted his ability to command Krych. Krych seemed to have a grudge toward him and he didn't look forward to the young man's return from the battle outside.

Raine would never be a match. Fett's late father had been able to defeat Jedi Masters in his prime and despite the old man's ability to wield the Force, he was a sentimental old fool.

Raine's apprentice, Ragh, was also a negative. That dumb beast would never stand a chance against someone like Fett. He grinned slightly to himself. Unbeknowest to Raine, Ragh had met with an unfortunate accident while they had been busy twarting the advances of the Republic army. It was a low and unglorified act, but he hoped the consequences would produce a favorable reaction from the old Jedi Master. He would find out soon enough.

Eknath found himself longing for Riokon's council, but the General was not available. He believed the General might have thought up the perfect solution, but as things were Eknath was forced to think for himself and come up with a plan.

Junn. Where was that woman hiding? She was an unplayed card, he noted. One he might not be able to play, but surely one he could still use. A plan started to form, that would bring Fett out in the open and perhaps draw both Krych and Junn back into the fold.

He turned and faced the young boy at his feet. He drew upon the Force and imbedded his thoughts inside Joon. "You will go to the cloning facility and there you will stay. You will defend it with your life." Eknath delved even deeper. "When the Kjoil apprentice arrives, which he surely will, you will not harm him. Kill anyone that travels with him, but leave the apprentice to me."

Inside the hangar where the hostages had once been held, three lightsaber blades stabbed through the ceiling from above it and rapidly each carved a circle. Each disc dropped from the ceiling and down towards the floor, with three Jedi following their descent.

Rishi flung his disc from the air with the Force, smashing it against Ragh's giant head. The monster roared murderously and dropped the half-eaten Republic soldier from it's powerful hands, turning all it's attention to the three newcomers.

Ragh was the height of two men, and three abroad. His mangled face was decorated with piercings and tattoos, huge rings hung from his nostrils, and studs ran up the front of his nose. More beast than man, he supported on short stubby legs, banging arms the size of a full-grown human on the foor.

Blue, green and blue lightsabers created a wall of cracking audio, a loud constant tremor that acted as a weapon in itself. Ragh took offense to the sound and growled his annoyance, creating a wall of sound in himself.

Kal looked to Raine. "Nice apprentice you got there. Hard to find Jedi cloaks in his size, I bet."

Kal's attempt at levity was wasted on Rishi, his eyes saw only the dead Republic commandos littered across the floor around Ragh's feet. But he shunted the fear and set his mind on Ragh, trying not to think about how him and Kal being completely on their own now. "No hostages," he muttered, "the hostages are gone."

Kal nodded on the other side of Raine. "Maybe big guy here ate them already."

Raine lowered his green lightsaber to aim at the floor and raised his voice, but when he spoke it was in animal tones, a series of growls and grunts. Rishi could feel the amount of Force the old Jedi used to create this voice, and with his own attention brought to it, began to hear the translation in his head.

Don't fret, precious. I'm here, Raine said in a mellow comforting voice, no one is going to hurt you.

Rishi looked back at the monster, starting to understand that the creature wasn't evil by nature. It was simply protecting a region it had made its own, a territory of its own. But seeing the monster extend its giant jaw, trails of flesh and blood dangling from the edges of its lips, he found the images didn't match. The creature seemed unaffected by Raine's words, thrashing about in canivorous rage.

Rishi felt a warning in his heart.

"Raine - "

"Don't worry, Rishi, it may take time but he will hear me."

"That's just the problem, Raine," Rishi nodded towards Ragh, "I don't think he can."

Raine looked and his heart sank with a sad sigh when he noticied it. On the sides of Ragh's enormous head, where two tiny pieces of lumpy ears should have been found, was nothing. The cavities that made hearing possible had been melted shut by great heat, a fresh but infected scar covering each cavity.

Without the ability to hear Raine's command, there was no speaking to him. Rishi contemplated speaking directly to the animal's mind, but the chaos erupting inside of Ragh's simple mind wouldn't be quelled by comforting voices from the inside, they would only be drowned out by the volcano of his own anger.

Raine's back slowly buckled and he dropped to one knee, sadness filling his voice. "No, no, no..."

Across from them Ragh still thundered with monstrous rage, slamming his giant fists down onto the floor, all sign of sentient being fading away.

"You poor fool..."

Ragh's eyes were the size of Rishi's fists and they fell upon Raine with no sign of recognition. The eyes only widened and he barked again, taking his first steps forward, snarling and flexing his giant bloodied fingers.

"Let them go, Ragh," Raine sounded defeated, "they don't care about you, like I do."

Rishi felt the floor shake as Ragh approached them. "What do you want us to do?"

"Go!" Raine cried. "Now!"

Rishi shook his head. "Let us help you!" He raised his lightsaber.

"No!" Raine snarled. "I raised him. Why should I let anyone else destroy him?"

Kal started to back away. "You're sure you can do this?"

Raine looked down into his lap, Ragh only ten feet away, opening his mouth to swallow the small Jedi Master.

"He's already dead to me."

Rishi looked over his shoulder and saw a lift behind them at the edge of the hangar. Kal saw it too and they both turned away from Ragh and ran for the lift. The floor trembled beneath them by Ragh's heavy steps and they both fell to the floor, sliding the last few feet to reach the inside of the lift.

Rishi kicked the controls with his foot and the lift doors closed, leaving one last glimpse of Ragh towering over the small Jedi Master. The roaring and heavy sound of Ragh moving around died out instantly.

Kal got up first and powered down his lightsaber. "Old fool. He's going to get himself killed!"

Rishi sat up on one leg, trying to keep a connection with Raine's mind. "He's got to follow his own path."

Kal spat. "Death is not a path. It's the end of one."

"Someone mutilated Ragh," Rishi pointed out, "there's something happening inside their ranks. Something bad, they're falling apart, which could work to our advantage. The hostages were gone too."

Kal shook his head. "More mysteries."

Rishi looked up at the controls to the elevator and he found it an impossible coincidence that his kick to the switches could have sent the lift to the lowest level where it was now headed.

Ragh's head came down fast, jaws wide open. The gaping mouth almost enfolded Raine's head, but there was a split second between getting the jaws around the Jedi and actually closing the mouth. In that split second Raine swept wide, slicing off the external sections of upper and lower jaw with his green blade.

Ragh screamed in tremendous pain through half a mouth, smoke and blood fossing from his face. Raine jumped to his feet, and watched Ragh back away, trying to hold his broken face together with huge palms.

The sight didn't wreck Raine's heart as much as the sound of Ragh screaming in pain. The irony of it all was that Ragh was actually screaming for him, pleading him to come and save him from the pain. Raine didn't fight the tears flowing down his cheeks as he took small steps to reach Ragh, and fulfill his apprentice's wishes.

"I'm coming, my son," he cried, tightening his grip on the lightsaber, "I'm coming, precious."

He felt so betrayed. Someone, and he had a good feeling who, had tortured Ragh, stolen his ears, forcing him to now kill the poor creature. For the first time he found himself thankful that the Force had taken away his ability to see the future. If he'd known he would stand here now and have to take his beloved apprentice's life, he never would have coped with it. But he knew now it was all he could do, it was the will of the Force and that was something he never questioned.

Ragh stumbled clumsily over the bodies of his victims, falling onto his back with a loud racket of armor and already dead bones breaking. Ragh thrashed on his back, screaming and crying and begging for death, a rage of thunder so great Raine could feel it in his head, testing the very stability of his mind, as if his skull itself would explode.

Raine leapt reluctantly onto Ragh's chest, asserting himself through effort onboard the wild monster's frantic tossing. He raised his sword, and prepared to plunge it, straight through the bloodied hands that covered the wrecked face of his old apprentice. Sorrow wrapped his heart before the stroke had even fallen, since Ragh was no more alive to him now than he would be a day from now.

The lightsaber's blade aimed down, the tip dancing just above Ragh's huge hands, it's green blade bright before his eyes. He closed them to stifle the tears, and to not catch a glimpse of Ragh's eyes as the blade fell.

Ragh's hand unfolded in an instant from his mangled face, what remained of his severed jaws spitting blood onto Raine's face and blade, the monstrous eyes fell wide and an angry roar blasted through burnt flesh and gushing blood.

Raine's reflexes betrayed him, the blood that washed over his face made him cover it with the sleeves of his cloak, and in that moment Ragh knocked the Jedi Master from his chest with a bloodsoaked hand.

Raine slammed against the far wall, his face dripping with blood not of his own, falling to the floor with a heavy thud, pain spreading like a spider's web across his chest. Nebulas of light and dark swirled before his eyes and when his head moved the concussion stabbed through his very brain with a blade of ice.

He forced his mind to focus, willed his pain to settle into steady ache, and commanded his body to react in spite of his frailty.

Ragh was still downed, wailing mournfully his own fate. His hidious bellow shook the walls of the hangar, his muscular limbs beating effortlessly all that he could touch, like a tortoise caught on its back and unable to stand.

Raine pushed himself up, steadying his breath and willed his lightsaber to his hand again. He would not make the same mistake again, Ragh was gone and in his flesh now remained a beast that needed to expedited quickly. The monster's pain swept over Raine in powerful surges but he found his way through the storm and ignited his green blade.

He heard a chime -

From within slowly opening lift doors, a lift at the opposite end of the one that Rishi and Kal has escaped through, a trail of smoke tore through the air and impacted with Ragh in a great explosion, rocking the hangar as though the giant itself had taken the room into its palm and slammed it down upon Regana's surface.

Ragh died in a blaze of fire, blood and smoke, pieces of black flesh flying in all directions like the pieces of armor from the dead Republic soldiers. Raine felt the shockwave shove him up against the wall but he stayed on his feet, covering his face from the flames with his free hand.

When the ringing in his ears stopped, he looked upon the blackened hole in the floor where Ragh had been seconds earlier, a cloud of smoke barely obscuring the burning ribcage that had once held Ragh's animal heart.

Raine looked towards the hangar lift off to his right and saw what could only be a battered Boba Fett standing there, holding a rifle with a grenade launcher attached beneath, smoke trailing from the barrel.

The feeling of threat drowned out his initial shock and he held up his lightsaber. Deep inside he knew this was his dying day. Battling Ragh had exhausted him and his mind was already a haze of stars orbiting a black hole. He resigned himself to his dreary fate and prayed only -

"Master Raine," Fett said in a stern voice and shouldered his weapon. "It's been too long."

Kal and Rishi arrived at the lowest level and the tunnel outside the lift doors ahead was carved straight out of the snow, with multiple defensive installations around the walls that had been destroyed by a lightsaber's blade. The permasnow had started to melt from a heat source even Rishi could feel on his skin.

A small pond of water covered the floor.

Kal stepped out of the lift. "Think he'll be alright?"

Rishi didn't answer right away, he spotted an entrance at the other end of the corridor and sensed motion behind it. Rhythmic motion. "I'm more worried about us."

As they started walking down the tunnel, Kal sniffed the air. "Oh, damn. Do you smell that? What the hell is this place!"

Rishi shrugged. "This is where Raine said the cloning facility would be. "

Kal stopped walking. "Well, that's just great!"

Rishi kept moving. "What's the matter?"

Kal ran up beside him. "Calm down? We're hundreds of levels beneath the station, following directions given to us by the enemy!"

Rishi couldn't help laughing slightly at Kal's flustered face. "Yeah, this is kind of bad. But at least there's no - "

A loud inhuman scream echoed down through the hallway, followed by another shortly after.

Rishi and Kal readied the weapons.

" - trouble," Rishi finished.

The stink that Kal had caught worsened as they pressed on down the tunnel, feeling a great deal of darkness with every step they made. Their lightsaber hummed in sync, adding another tension to their hearts. As they cleared the tunnel they came inside a cylindrical chamber with small lights on the walls, that flickered on they were inside. The chamber was wide, ten meters across Rishi guessed and maybe three times that high at the center.

A fusion generator delievered a steady hum at the other end of the room, the very same powersource that now ran the entire Hope's Haven. Crude rewiring on its controls and nearly left behind tools confirmed it.

Powering down their lightsabers, they ascended the small steps that led to a dais in the center of the room, seeing five man-sized glass tubes spread in a crescent pattern around the dais. They too had been rebuilt it seemed and only one was still operational. The stink seemed to come from a strange liquid covering the floor around the tanks, drained hypernation fluid from the discarded cloning cylinders. A human shape hovered inside the center holding tank, a clone almost at completed state.

And what was before only a tremor in the Force, now became a thick veil that blinded both of them from the light of the Force. They said nothing to each other, and Kal stepped slightly away as Rishi read through the log on the console. It confirmed his worst fears, and Rishi fought the urge to cry as he read through the pages.

He also noted that they'd already completed one cloning procedure, but it wasn't the body in the tank before him. This one was a back-up, in case the first go faced difficulties. The life inside the cloned body would never see true birth. It was destined to die and no one would care in the slightest way. A timer in the corner suggested that only a few more hours remained before the procedure was finished.

Rishi looked away from the scene and saw Kal leaning against the railing on the dais, clearly affected by what he'd seen. "You alright?"

Kal shook his head. "I thought I would be the one asking you that."

Rishi shrugged. "I'm alright, I guess."

Kal stared at the floor. "Although I know I can't avoid feeling pain, or sorrow, I'm sure I don't envy you anymore, Rishi. I've finally understood that. This way...I am humble. My victories are greater because I worked to acheive them. Sometimes you have to see the walls, in order to be free."

Rishi nodded. "Wise words." Rishi looked to the floor. "Now I know the truth. Raine wasn't lying."

Kal nodded. "Then let's destroy this place."

Rishi centered his attention on the fusion generator, slightly curious as to why its hum had begun to increase, to build and build in sound. He could hear the sound moving somehow, as if the sound itself was trying to reach out to him -

"Look out!" Kal shouted.

Rishi was pushed aside by Kal as two lightsaberhandles came falling down from the shadows above them, lighting up in different colours in midswirl. A red and green blade sought out their targets and stabbed through the air. Rishi dived away from his red blade, rolling to safety, while Kal plucked his green blade out of the air, firmly grasping it and claiming it for his own. Rishi called the red to his free hand and, with a grim expression, surveyed the rest of the chamber.

Kal locked eyes with Rishi. "Do you feel it? It's a trap."

Rishi swirled both blades in his hands. "Now, what would give you that impression?"

Kal sneered. "Wisecracks from a guy who walked right into said trap...how quaint."

Rishi shrugged. "Lets just hope this was their best trick. And that these were their only lightsabers." Rishi looked at Kal and then faced forward again. "Lets make this our last mistake as a team. Stop concentrating on each other and start focusing on our surroundings, alright?"

The sound of movement stole away Kal's reply and they looked up to see a little boy with a bandage across his eyes crouched down on top of the center cloning tank.

Kal smiled. "Hey! Hey there, kid!"

Rishi held out his hand to stop Kal from approaching the boy. "Stay back, Kal."

Kal hesitated and looked at Rishi strangely. "But it's...just a kid." As he said the words his senses reached out to the boy and found the very same disturbance that Rishi had already undercovered.

And as much as Rishi wanted to deny it, he couldn't. The Dark Side emanated from the little boy with a powerful sense of sorrow, a deep mourning. And although the boy couldn't be more than fifteen, a confidence and strength poured from him that spoke of a lifetime of training. The little young boy had a piece of cloth tied around his eyes, trails hanging on his shoulders, the rest of his garmants were pitch black like the soul of the boy. Rishi saw a young boy, but in the Force he felt a black hole of sorrow sucking everything in its void. Bruises on the boy's face and hands suggest he'd been in a recent fight.

Rishi took a step forward. "Come down!" he yelled at the boy, in the voice of an unpleased father.

The boy tilted his head as if he'd heard the words but didn't understand what they meant. Then he straightened again and started to talk. But when he spoke it was not the soft voice of any young boy.

It sounded like the Dark Side itself was communicating through him, a deep terrifying angry voice that snarled every syllable. "I am Tragedy. My Master bids you welcome to Hope's Haven."

Kal tensed up. "Where is your Master?"

"He comes...like wisdom from a scar. He comes for you...but he only needs one of you." The boy hefted another lightsaber from his belt and aimed the pommel at Rishi. "He seeks you." The boy sniggered, bellowing darkness that shook the glass of the tanks beneath him. "All he wants is you."

Rishi found the boy very disturbing. "Me?"

The boy continued to chuckle, oozing darkness. The boy, Tragedy as he called himself, leapt from the tank and landed on the dais before them. He ignited his single red lightsaber and walked towards the two of them unafraid.

Rishi looked for any sign of hesitation, the slightest hint of fear in the young man's stride, but there was none. He moved straight forward at a brisk pace, motivated to fight as if it was the only thing he could do.

Kal and Rishi both switched on their four blades, casting an apprenhensive glance at each other and then moved as one towards the young boy.

They fought him on opposite sides, both of them with twin blades, but his speed and mastery of the blade allowed none of their feints or ploys to be effective. His blade was a swirling shield of red energy, easily twatting the four blades aside. For such a young man Tragedy moved with the fluid elegance of a master swordsman, his style of fighting closer to the art of fencing than any other style. He used the tip of his blade as a weapon rather than the length of it, the way Rishi and Kal had been trained.

Kal found himself caught off guard more than once, Tragedy's red blade exploiting every small opening in his defences. The Jedi became more and more angry at his own lacking skill, turning to his aggression much too easily.

Rishi sensed this and tried to turn Tragedy's attention to himself, leaving himself open to an attack more than once. But the boy was smart for his age, and his lightsaber stayed orientated on Kal, merely blocking Rishi's attacks and leaving his weaknesses unexplored. Rishi continued his stragedy nonetheless, trying to stop Kal from losing his control and tamper with the Dark Side.

He took Kal's well-being, physically as well as spiritually, onto himself. Where he'd once seen a stuborn arrogant brat, he now saw a fellow comrade, a friend even. One he was not about to lose to a boy good with a blade. There was more than wielding lightsabers to using the Force.

Rishi also sensed an underlying threat in the Force that went beyond Tragedy's impressive use of a lightsaber. A ploy. A trick. Something hidden. Something their eyes couldn't see because of the heavy sadness the Dark Side had pulled over their minds. Something they hadn't detected because all their attention was focused on defeating the boy.

Rishi could feel it growing stronger, crawling up his back like a cold shiver. He jumped back, disengaged from the battle and took a look at his surroundings. He couldn't remember when it had happened because he'd been so focused but Tragedy had led them down several narrow corridors on the other side of the cloning facility, perhaps to make it easier for him to fight two at a time, or maybe he was actually leading somewhere much more dangerous. A place a trap awaited them. But how -

"Rishi!" Kal shouted.

Forced to return to the battle Rishi unloaded all his energy into Tragedy's blade, trying to overwhelm him and weaken him, trying to make him focus on Rishi yet again, leaving Kal time to recuperate. Tragedy seemed to be aware of this and turned to face Rishi instead, cutting and stabbing his weapon with all the fury his young heart contained, while Kal dropped back, panting for air, staring at the young boy with great anger.

Don't let him, Rishi urged, it's what he wants. He wants us to lose it. He's got something waiting.

Rishi couldn't tell if the words got through to Kal, the Jedi seemed unchanged.

Hear me, Kal. Don't give into it.

At that moment the boy revealed a secret manuver. He pushed Rishi further and further back, finally stabbing straight through the air between them, forcing Rishi to jump back several feet using the Force. But before Rishi had even touched back down, the boy had turned back to Kal, who was still weakened.

Rishi saw it too late, and Kal never saw it coming.

"No!" Rishi managed to scream as he landed, instantly running forward to reach Tragedy before the boy reached Kal. He felt like he was running through water, miles seemed to separate him from the other two and he already knew he was too late.

Kal rose as fast as he could, his lightsaber rising to defend himself. Tragedy came in a fast sprint, dropping to his knees and gliding the last few feet, stabbing the lightsaber beneath Kal's blade and punctuated his left thigh. The red blade didn't retract but moved sideways to the right, in a wide arc just in time to block Rishi's falling stroke, pressing the battle instantly.

Kal dropped onto his back, screaming in pain, unable to fight.

Rishi had to fight the boy alone now and Tragedy threw himself at Rishi with all he still had, which was impressive. Within a series of feints and blocks, the boy managed to relieve Rishi of the red blade by slicing through the only part of it that wasn't covered in Rishi's fingers. The fingers were spared miracuously and Rishi counted his blessings that they'd survived. Tragedy still pounded on the single blue blade with all of the Dark Side fueling his attacks, delievering a strength that no young boy should possess.

A rumble went through the floor beneath them and Rishi felt the floor give way. Tragedy had lured him onto a lift of some sort that descended slowly through a blackened tunnel. Their fighting slowly died and each retreated to their separate side, while the lift fell. Rishi kept his side and lightsaber to Tragedy, steadying his breathing once again, staring at that eyeless boy.

Tragedy's face was aimed at the floor, lost in his own thoughts, gathering his energy on currents flowing from Darkness. The floor they'd left fell out of sight above Rishi's head and the thought occured to him that maybe this was the trap. Maybe the lift would fall forever, maybe there was no bottom or something even worse.

Rishi shunned the thoughts away and lifted his lightsaber with both hands before his face, staring into its snapping hue. Being able to see nothing but light centered his thoughts, just as he was sure Tragedy's blindness helped him grow stronger in the Dark Side.

The lift finally reached its destination with only a narrow corridor for an exit, placed right behind Rishi. Realizing a trap existed was the first step in evading it, he'd once heard. But escaping it was not Rishi's plan. He took steps to his left, circling the boy, forcing the youth around on the lift so the boy stood with his back to the exit.

Knowing he was able to outmatch the boy by merely defending himself he began to press the battle forward, pushing the boy down the corridor, into whatever trap that waited beyond it.

He could sense the boy's starting to worry about the outcome of the battle for the first time, breaking his barrikades. Rishi pounced on that sensation, letting his determined grin be clearly seen by the young boy, as they fought on down the corridor, their swords occasionally scorching the close walls.

The boy was the first to back-step into an open area, an unfinished entry for another emergency evacuation tunnel underneath the snow. The space was large enough to land the Koniduz inside, a deep lake of melted ice filling most of the floor. Small islands broke the water's surface, tools and equipment left behind here and there.

Thick cables crossed the ceiling of the high chamber, same dangling down like vines in a jungle. The ceiling itself was supported by a repulsor in the center, keeping the chamber from caving in until proper construction could be conducted. There was still technical machinery at the other end of the space to hollow out another tunnel, but the hollowing out portion had barely begun.

There was no other way out.

The boy's boots sank down into the water up to his knees, while it barely reached above Rishi's boots. They continued to fight ferociously, their lightsabers tore up the placid water, sending waves out to their sides. Smoke followed the touch of the heated blade upon the water, but they moved so quickly that neither noticed. The outside world was a frame, a crystal ball that held them locked inside. Nothing else existed, nothing but them and the Force that bound them together.

The Force that ripped them apart.

He could feel the boy losing his confidence, and something else. A connection between the boy and something far away. Someone far away. The boy's sorrow was turning into fear, and the boy didn't fear death. He feared his Master. Rishi went for a conscious clash of their swords, letting himself get close enough to talk to the boy.

"Kid, listen to me!" Rishi urged. "You don't have to do this! Stop listening to him!"

The boy shook his head, his face red from exhaustion. "He...he won't stop!" It was a boy's voice, a frightened boy. "I can't get him out of my head! He's always there!" The boy wailed, crying his terrified heart out. "He's hurting me!"

Their blades threw sparks at Rishi's face. "Stop it! Put down your weapon and I can help you, I swear! We can stop him together!"

Then suddenly the boy was lost again and that dark grin flashed across his face again, and when he spoke the boy was gone. "Stop me?" he asked in a dark etheral voice. "Silly little Kjoil. Your Master couldn't destroy me, even at his weakest."

Rishi understood it wasn't the boy talking, but his Master. The one controlling and manipulating. "Afraid to face me yourself? Sending little boys to kill me? Pathetic!" Rishi pressed his advantage, putting all his strength into their clashed sabers, pushing the boy's own blade back against him. "But...fear is the nature of the Dark Side."

Tragedy screamed with insane anger and the power pushed Rishi's blade back towards his own face. Rishi summoned the Force into his body and created a vacuum between them. Rishi moved one hand away from his saber and grabbed onto Tragedy's wrist. Shutting down his own saber, he pulled Tragedy's hand and lighstaber aside and the vacuum pulled them together.

Rishi slammed his forehead into the boy's face and thought he heard bones break. The boy retorted instantly with a powerful shove and the two of them flew away from each, landing deep in the water at opposite ends of the room, but remained facing one another.

The cables above their heads swayed on the outburst of Force they'd employed, dangling back and forth as if wind was passing through the chamber. Tragedy held his rasping blade out and away from himself, his small body trembling with each breath. Rishi stood firm, willing the boy to attack once again. The only exit was behind him and there was no way the young man was getting out again.

"Strange place for a burial," Rishi mocked the one behind the boy's actions, and played with the tip of his saber on the surface of the water. The blade sizzled, creating small clouds of smoke as the water instantly boiled. "Nowhere to put flowers."

The boy's soaked bandana clung to the side of his face, his face turning blue from the cold water he stood in, and yet the dark grin stayed on his face. The Master spoke again, his omnious voice echoing off the frozen walls. "Kill this shell if it pleases you, young Rishi. That's what it's there for."

Rishi's every sense devoted itself to the voice, but could reveal nothing. The voice seemed familiar somehow, gruff and hard, the voice of a man tired of the world. "Who are you?" Rishi demanded.

The boy stirred. "We'll meet soon enough."

Rishi was starting to feel fed up with half answers. "Are you Koll Riokon?"

Tragedy's body was shivering from cold and exhaustion but the voice was solid as rock, and deep as hell itself. "No. I am the reason why you are here. The man you called Master...you'll find his body at the highest peak of this station. Look there for your answers, and your future."

Rishi stepped forward, letting his defenses fall. "The highest peak?"

"Yes. Now, kill the boy and be on your way. There's much to be done." The voice trailed off. The boy was suddenly in somewhat control of his body again, straightened up and raised his lightsaber.

Rishi raised his lightsaber up over his head, preparing himself for more fighting. But as he did so, his eyes subconciously looked at the ceiling above his head, at the heavy cables still swaying, thick power cables that hummed slightly with electricity.

Tragedy jumped into motion, sprinting across the water, his lightsaber spinning in his small hand -

Before even planning it, Rishi tossed his lightsaber at the biggest cable he could find, cutting through it easily. The length of the cable, unsupported, dropped like a falling snake towards the water, sputtering with electricity. Tragedy reacted impressively, and leapt straight up from the water before the cable could touch it.

But the cable never touched the water, instead it slowed to a hovering position just above the water's surface, while his airborne lightsaber made its way back towards Rishi. But it only made it half the way, obstructed as it drove through Tragedy's back while he was still in the air, the blue blade exiting dead center in his chest. Tragedy fell from the air, splashing into the water below like a giant stone.

Rishi moved the cable away from the water with the Force and set it down where it could do no damage, and slowly waded towards Tragedy's floating body. The body moved away from him due to the waves his own movements stirred in the water. Tragedy lingered face down in the water, his body suddenly looking so small and so fragile.

Rishi felt a stab of remorse and stopped moving towards the body, he never even really knew what he wanted with it. There were no answers to be found on his corpse. He was saddened that he couldn't have avoided the kill, and sad by the nature of the boy's fate. He'd lived a life of loyal servitude, a pawn only, never to know the riches of a real life.

As Rishi called his lightsaber back to his hand from beneath the water, he allowed himself to feel sad for the boy, because he knew no one else did. His own Master had left him to die.

Rishi turned away from the body, thinking of the wounded Kal back in the cloning facility. He'd been reckless to leave him alone back there, wounded and defenseless. He sensed nothing had happened to Kal, but he could feel darkness closing in around them -

Splash.

Rishi's body froze.

"H-help me," a young boyish voice cried from behind him. "It's...dark in here."

Rishi turned back around to see Tragedy floating on his back, shaking from pain and the cold water. The bandaged face looked here and there as though the boy didn't know he was blind and was trying to find light in the darkness.

Rishi's heart sank beneath the water.

"Is there anyone there? Please help me. It hurts," the boy whimpered, "I can't see anything. My eyes hurt."

Rishi's lips opened to talk, but he didn't know what to say. What could he say to the young boy? Could he help him understand any of it?

He walked over slowly and dropped down to his knees in the water, holding his hands out beneath the boy and holding him close. The boy's shaking intensified, unable to see who it was. "I'm here, kid," he said, using the Force to calm the boy, "everything's alright."

The boy's trembling lips were blue. "I can't see."

"Your eyes were taken from you," Rishi said as carefully as he knew how, "you've been under the influence of the Dark Side."

Tragedy's face moved towards him, locking on to his voice. "The Dark Side?"

Rishi cursed internally. The boy had been manipulated for so long he probably hadn't even known about the Force before. There was no way of comforting a fifteen year old boy who'd had his life stolen from him, only now to come back horribly scarred and - Rishi felt a stab of guilt - dying.

"Listen to me, kid; you're wounded. You're dying."

The boy's cheeks quivered, his lips starting to curl. "Die? Why?"

There were no words Rishi could find to explain why things were as they were. He contemplated using a sleep technique on the boy, knocking him out so at least death wouldn't come suddenly. And, he admitted to himself, to stop the boy from asking any more heart-wrenching questions. "It's alright," he whispered, feeling the muscles in his jaw start to tighten, "go to sleep." He placed his hand on the boy's cold forehead, letting the Force move through his fingertips. "Go to sleep."

The boy trembled one last time, and then his body softened in Rishi's hands. "It's...getting darker," he said with his last exhale.

The boy finally died in Rishi's hands and he urged the body away from himself, letting it float away on the water. Rishi stood slowly, feeling a sickening sensation in his gut. He'd never taken a life this way before, never a mercy-kill. He watched the body float away, getting angry, feeling infuriated that he had to do what he did for the boy. That someone could take a person so young and completely wipe away the identity. To take a life and twist it to his own will.

May the Force be with...

Rishi couldn't even think it without feeling disgusted. The same Force that had given him life, had bereft the boy of his. It made him question many things about the Force again, questions that would perhaps never be answered. If the Force had a will, why did it let boys like this one be corrupted? What fate or destiny required such evil? What grand scheme of things would be benefacted by the loss of someone so young, so new to life.

He flicked on his comlink. "Kal?"

Kal's reply was hoarse. "Yeah, I'm still alive. Where are you?"

He started walking for the exit. "Not far away. Took care of the boy."

"Dead?"

Rishi nodded. "Yeah, there was no other way."

Kal chuckled slightly. "I believe that. Never seen anything like him before."

Rishi didn't want to talk anymore about the boy. "Listen, the boy was being controlled by someone. I..sort of spoke with him."

He sounded puzzled. "Spoke with him?"

"He was using the boy's body, and he talked to me. He told me to go to the highest point of the station."

Kal sounded confused. "He told you? And you're going?"

Rishi bit back his irritation, barely. "Does that mean you're not coming with me?"

Kal snorted. "That's for sure. I'm not going up there, Rishi. Its obviously another trap."

"Kal, this whole thing is a trap. We're exposed. They're playing with us."

Kal was a master of sarcasm, if not the Force. "Yeah, like psychopaths play with their victims before they kill them."

He rolled his eyes. "We're going. It's all we got. Can you walk?"

He could almost envision Kal's smirk. "My leg is halfway severed, Rishi."

Rishi frowned. "Alright. I'm headed your way, try not to - "

The connection filled with static and then blasterfire. He could hear heavy rifle fire on the other end. Rishi stopped dead in the water.

He could make out Kal's panicked voice. "...Ris...on't...come...his...way...RUN!"

Inside the reflection chamber Eknath's eyes opened like curtains pulled slowly, his lips thinning out until a very unnatural smile spread across his face. His eyes moved to look upon Master Raine, his head following seconds later.

"It would seem we are both without apprentices now," he said without any emotion.

Raine looked crestfallen. "Joon?"

"Yes," he was still weaing his smile, "the Kjoil has ended his apprenticeship."

Raine quickly changed from sad to disgusted. "And you feel nothing, of course."

Eknath sniggered slightly, rubbing his chin with thin fingers. "Oh, I feel much, Master Raine. In killing my apprentice, the young Kjoil has started to fall beneath my control. It won't be long before he will come to face me. He's already walking the path I've laid before him." Eknath looked into the future, seeing many possibilities. "You've met him. What do you think?"

Raine hugged his cane to his chest. "He's young at heart. There are many things he has not yet learned, not just about the Force, but about himself."

Eknath seemed delighted. "Good. An unsettled mind is easily influenced."

"What will happen when he finds his Master?"

Eknath shrugged. "That remains to be seen. He is unpredictable, but the bait I've planted will at least give him resolve for our encounter." The telepath stretched out with his feelings. "The other Jedi...we'll need to do something about him."

Raine was afraid to ask. "What do you suggest?"

Eknath looked over at Raine, his red eyes beaming with excitement. "I suggest we once again call upon the loyalty of young Krych."

More and more Raine knew he was just a pawn in Eknath's great game, merely a playing piece, just an asset. Just like Joon had been. And it struck him for the first time that maybe he was already under Eknath's control, and that many of his actions were perhaps influenced directly by the telepath. It scared him more than a world without future, more than the pull of the Dark Side.

"You mean...to kill him?" Raine asked, wishing he hadn't.

Eknath stood from his seating on the edge of the reflective pond and clasped his hands behind his back. "Betrayed by the Republic, faced with the Dark Side, mourning his Master, alone and unsupported; this young Kjoil will break just as his Master did. And then together, Master Raine, we will break him some more." Eknath took in a deep breath, a dark smile forming on his lips again. "But first there's another matter we must resolve. The commanders of the Republic's fleet have been brought to us and we would be poor hosts not to welcome them personally."

Kal rolled sideways, despite the splitting pain in his leg, to avoid the many blaster bolts dotting the floor around him. Four Sons of Destiny soldiers were shooting at him from inside the tunnel that led back to the lift. He tried to get his lightsaber out for defense but the barrage of bolts kept him moving. To get the lightsaber out he would have to lie still and his body would have been pierced by angry red bolts.

"DIE!"

Kal heard what sounded like an armored hand smacking the back of a helmet.

"Would you give it a rest!"

The firing stopped and Kal rolled onto his back, staring past his feet at the four enemy soldiers standing in the doorway.

The biggest of them had a rifle in his hands that was still venting smoke. "Sorry, commander." He reached up and unfastened his helmet, throwing it away in irritation. "I can't see a thing in that helmet!"

The others relieved themselves of their helmets, eyeing the odd one with rolling eyes and frustrated annoyance.

The lead soldier turned around to face Kal. "Sorry about that. He gets a little carried away sometimes."

Kal stared at them in disbelief.

The lead soldier looked embarrased. "Oh, sorry, sir. We're the Dragon's Tooth, special forces unit for the New Republic."

Kal's heart beamed with light. He couldn't stop the smile from growing on his face even if he wanted to. But before the smile could settle in proper, Kal thought of Rishi. He cursed himself and reached for his comlink, only to see it lying on the floor next to him, destroyed by a stray blaster bolt.

With one swipe of his lightsaber Rishi demolished the repulsor at the center of the underground chamber, the only thing had kept the unfinished ceiling from caving in. With it offline the ceiling fell down around him and Rishi used the Force to leap straight up through the avalanche of snow, ice and metal. Rishi fought against a storm made out of snow as heavy as steel, and eventually metallic floors and ceilings.

With the Force as his ally, he carved through several ceilings as he progressed. Once he reached the first level of the main building he realized since he was heading for the roof, he might as well continue that method. He leapt through another ten floors, always moving, his lightsaber proceeding him in an invisible fist, carving a gap for him to leap through as he jumped from level to level.

He lost sense of time and space doing this, since the Force demanded all of his attention to maintain both the awareness on the saber as well as his ability leap those great heights. He'd long since lost track of Kal's situation but his mind was occupied with the idea of reaching the roof of the structure, to find the body of his Master.

The prospect of what he would find brought him no elation, but he could feel resolution coming. Seeing his Master's body would at least cement the knowledge that he was infact dead. He didn't doubt it, but finding physical evidence would destroy any flimsy hope his subconscious might hold. It couldn't happen fast enough.

Rishi began to feel the air getting colder around him, feel a tug of wind that pulled at him as he cleared the highest level and came down with his feet on each side of the hole his lightsaber had carved for him. His lightsaber waited for him in the air and Rishi plucked it and secured it to his belt.

The weather outside was no better than before; night had fallen and the winds were colder and stronger. Dark clouds had created a veil, that left the battlefield he knew was out there out of sight. He was thankful for that small luck, having no desire to see what remained of the Republic's forces.

His eyes began searching by their own will, the roof was immense but small light fixtures along the rim showed him where the edge was. There was nothing there, nothing but a thick layer of snow, snow that continued to whip past him on the wind. There was also a light fixture at the top of the communications-mast in the center of the roof, a mast that boosted in communications with the outer buildings of the station as well as the orbital space stations -

There.

Rishi's eyes saw it but all of his soul wanted to look away. His feet started to walk towards the base of the mast and he couldn't stop them. Even the wind seemed to pull him closer to the base, begging him to come closer to see it.

The corpse danling from the middle of the mast. Master Skar's naked corpse was half-eaten, the legs ending just below his kneecaps. The skin was gray and dead, and in several sections pieces of flesh was missing, eaten away by teeth as well as the ripping winds.

Much of his stomach was gone, his entrails hanging from the wound, frozen by the cold. His right tattooed arm was tied to a girder crossing the lateral mast, while the other was missing from above the elbow. His face was still recognizable, despite the many cuts and gashes crisscrossing his skull.

The eyes were gone, empty black sockets staring down at Rishi, filling him with terror. His hair had frozen solid down the sides of his head. Someone had nailed his body to the mast with claws used for mountain-climbing, and they had nailed through his shoulders as well as his hips.

Rishi fell into a kneeling position at the base of the mast and looked down at the blood on the snow surrounding the mast. Tears welled at the corners of his eyes and all of his body started to tremble. He cried freely, knowing he would achieve nothing by suppressing it. Anger crept up inside his chest and he felt it wrap around his heart.

His heart started to race against his chest, and though he was sure it was the sound of the wind moving through the buildings, he couldn't block out the sound of a million voices crying in sorrow at the back of his head.