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Chapter 10

Death of a Friend, Part I

Fire…

"Do not close your mind to it, Yoda."

A beam of particle energy ripped the sky apart.

"Look at it. See it for what it is. Observe it. Turn the vision over in your mind."

Energy the color of Yoda's blade burrowed into the planet with deadly precision.

"Is it not beautiful, my love?"

"No!" Yoda stood and stalked away from Rizza. "Our home this is! Save it, we must!"

With unsurpassed grace, Rizza crossed the short distance between them. Smiling, she took his hands in hers and gently pulled him back to the plush mat on which they had been meditating. "I'd like to teach you to meditate, Yoda. But you must trust me to lead you through this process."

"Know how to meditate, I do."

"Do you? How much calm have your meditations brought you, my love? Should not meditation leave you feeling free? Should you not rise stronger than you began?" Slipping into a cross-legged position on the floor, Rizza soothingly pulled Yoda down to join her.

Frowning, Yoda closed his eyes, shutting out her intense stare as he sat in front of her. He waited for some sign from Rizza. Saying nothing, she closed her eyes. Following suit, Yoda shut out the light of the room and drew steady breaths. Instantly, he felt the cold blanket of the dark side wrap around him. No matter how much he stretched out with the Force, all he could sense was the dark, impenetrable void he had experienced on so many occasions. Impatiently, he waited.

Suddenly, he felt her presence. Warmth spread from her in every direction. The feeling of suffocation vanished. Within moments, he felt himself being pulled along the currents of the Force. The barriers dissipated around him.

The universe resolved.

Fire…

A beam of particle energy ripped the sky apart...

Flames erupted around the planet. A conflagration engulfed Prime Village…

"Good, Yoda. Good. This is not something to fear." Feeling weightless and free, Yoda fought the familiar fear. "Now. Rise."

"Rise?"

"Yes, Yoda. Use the Force. Pull yourself above the flames. Rise out of them."

It seemed so natural. None of it was real, he reminded himself. It was a vision. It was his to control. He understood that now. The world slowly descended beneath him and Yoda floated above the burning forests of Migruna III.

"Higher, Yoda."

Nodding to himself, his ascent accelerated and white clouds whisked by from above. He could no longer see the flames below.

"Higher."

Stars filled his field of view. Far below, the tiny orb that was Migruna III grew smaller and smaller.

"Higher."

Migruna joined the pinpricks of light in the blackness of space.

"Higher."

Migruna III vanished into the darkness.

"Higher."

Yoda felt his breath catch in his throat as the spiral arms of the galaxy and its myriad stars came into view. His rapid movement came to a sudden halt.

"Yes, Yoda. You see it now, don't you? Here, among the stars, you are supreme. Here, you are unaffected by the loss of an insignificant planet on the edges of space. The entire galaxy is yours to command. Every system, every star, every planet, every creature, exists solely so that you can command it. You can destroy it all, if that is your wish. That is what it means to be Sith."

Yoda opened his eyes and held Rizza's gaze. "What if wish to save it, I do."

"Then—"

The doorway slid open and Kaine's silhouette filled the doorway. His stare lingered on Yoda briefly before he turned his gaze to Rizza. "Master Tyú, we have a situation."

The Dark Lord stood and lifted her cowl over her head. "Perhaps you refer to the Jedi craft in orbit around Migruna III?"

Darth Frigeus blinked for an instant. If Rizza noted her apprentice's surprise at all, she made no show of it. Instead, she turned to Yoda and extended her hand to him. Yoda stared at her questioningly but followed her lead, taking her hand as he stood beside her.

Rizza smiled in the shadows of her cowl, and then turned to face Kaine. "It is of no consequence. The Jedi have been trying to contact our friend here on their little device for the past few days without success. It is to be expected that they would send someone to search for him."

Kaine nodded. "Of course, my Master. I am convinced that the ship has not detected our presence yet, given the distance to the system when we dropped out of hyperspace. However, I believe it would be prudent for us to jam all signals so that our arrival will remain unannounced to the rest of the Order."

"Very well, my apprentice." She faced Yoda and regarded him. Kaine turned to leave. "And Darth Frigeus?" Kaine halted. "When we are within range, destroy the ship."

Kaine threw Yoda a sidelong glance. "And if the ship lands prior to us getting within weapons systems range?"

Darth Tyú's smile broadened. "Then, we will give our erstwhile Jedi what he is looking for, will we not, my love?"

Kaine seemed anxious. He glanced briefly at his hands, as if looking for something before returning his face to its normal, implacable appearance. Finally, he nodded. "Yes, my Master." Kaine's armorweave cloak whisked about him as he turned and exited the room.

"Come, my love." Rizza whispered to Yoda. "Let us complete our meditations."


Darth Frigeus arched a brow as the hangar door parted to admit the diminutive migru.

Yoda's gait was purposeful but unhurried as he crossed the durasteel chamber. His face was unreadable. As his robe parted with his steps, Kaine noticed the two lightsabers hanging from Yoda's belt. Pulling his brows tightly together, Kaine turned toward Yoda, clasping his hands behind his back.

If Yoda noticed the Sith Lord, he hid it well. Without slowing, he passed Kaine and started up the ramp into the personnel carrier. Frowning, Kaine turned to regard the two protocol droids that stood only meters away. True to their programming, the machines averted their gazes and attempted, unsuccessfully, to look busy. For a brief moment, Kaine considered crushing them both with a wave of his hand. Instead, he unclasped his hands and entered the ship.

Stepping into the cockpit area, Kaine noticed Yoda seated quietly in the copilot's chair, his cowl up.

"I don't suppose you'd care to explain why you chose to keep me waiting for over an hour?" Kaine took his seat, glancing at Yoda briefly as he engaged the controls to raise the ramp.

"Need to inform you of my movements, I do not."

Kaine nodded and turned to see the hatch seal shut. Turning in his seat, Kaine faced Yoda. "Let us be clear, Yoda. We are going down to your home to find, and most likely destroy, Jedi—friends of yours." Kaine let the words hang in the air. "Then we are going to return to this battle station and obliterate your planet, if all goes well."

Kaine couldn't see Yoda's reaction behind the cowl but felt certain he would get some sort of response.

Yoda's head swiveled slowly to face Kaine. Shadows hid his visage. All that could be seen were the twisted corners of Yoda's smile and his gleaming teeth. "And what happens next, hmmm?"

Kaine blinked.

"Yes, Lord Frigeus." Yoda hissed, his voice filled with malice. "It is what happens next that concerns you, no? When destroyed Migruna III is, no longer required will your services be. Know, Rizza will, of your weapon's power."

Kaine inhaled slowly, opening his perceptions in the Force. His eyes widened in surprise. Nothing. The Migru Master was completely inscrutable in the Force! Had he not known better, Kaine would have believed that Yoda was no longer sensitive to the Force. No tendrils of power emanated from his tiny frame.

"I see that Master Tyú has already begun your lessons in Sith deception," Kaine commented as he righted his seat and punched in the command codes to begin exiting the bay. A sidelong glance toward Yoda caught his satisfied grin as the Migru Master leaned back in his chair.

"Taught me many things, Rizza has," Yoda whispered.

The blast doors opened, and the star field came into view.

The hum of the ion drives grew louder in the cockpit as the ship exited the bay. Kaine looked out at the blue-green ball that represented his future conquest and possible demise. He angled the nose of the craft toward the main continent and began a steady descent.

"I would prefer that we were not adversaries, Yoda."

Yoda lowered his cowl and smiled. "For a Sith, Darth Frigeus, only two possibilities there are—allies and obstacles. Which are you?"

"I suppose that is a matter of your point of view, wouldn't you say?"

Yoda leaned back into his seat and closed his eyes. "Many truths, we cling to, lie in our point of view. An obstacle today, an ally tomorrow."

"Indeed?"

"Treachery is the way of the Sith."

"Indeed."


The soft earth of Migruna III gave slightly under the increasing pressure of the landing gear as Frigeus disengaged the ship's engines. He continued the final shutdown procedures, glancing at Yoda occasionally. When he had completed his tasks, he rotated in his chair and stood.

"Shall we get this over with?"

Yoda remained seated, staring out the transparisteel window, appearing deep in thought. Kaine raised his right brow. He had just begun to open his mouth when Yoda raised his hand.

At length, Yoda stood. His voice was resolute. "Stay here. Prepare to depart immediately when return, I do."

Kaine did nothing to try and hide his surprise. "What do you plan to do?"

Yoda flashed a fiery glare at Kaine. "My duty, I will do. Expect no less, you should!"

Kaine chuckled. "Your duty? I'm sorry, Yoda, but you'll forgive me if I don't exactly trust you."

Yoda's face contorted. Hopping down from the copilot's seat, Yoda grabbed one of his lightsaber hilts and poked the deactivated weapon into Kaine's knee.

"Your trust, I do not require, Kaine!" he spat.

Kaine stepped backward and regarded Yoda. He was not sure what was happening at the moment, but he could not allow Yoda to diminish him. He had to regain the upper hand. Drawing his own lightsaber, he angled the weapon down and ignited it.

"I beg to differ," Darth Frigeus sneered.

Yoda laughed.

Anger pounded in Kaine's chest, and he drew on it. Feeling the dark side of the Force humming within his body, Kaine grinned. "Very well, my little green friend. Let us finish this now."

Yoda's laugh grew louder as he turned and walked out of the cockpit area and activated the ramp mechanism.

"Desire to kill you now, I do not," Yoda snorted. As Migruna III came into view, Yoda's smile melted away and was replaced by a look of absolute malevolence. "No audience, there is."

Kaine moved into the small holding room with deadly purpose but was drawn to a halt by an invisible wall as dense and impenetrable as cadrinium, apparently called into existence by Yoda's casually raised hand. Kaine's lightsaber flew out of his hand before he was even fully aware that he could not move and landed at Yoda's feet.

As the realization that he was, at that moment, completely at Yoda's mercy dawned on him, Darth Frigeus noted wryly that he was more embarrassed than afraid. Until the moment Yoda unleashed his power, the migru had seemed completely at his mercy. There was no hint of the strength that Yoda clearly possessed in the Force. Yoda's mastery of the ability to hide himself in the Force was nothing short of astounding. Without a doubt, Yoda would become the most powerful Sith of all time.

A smug look on his face, Yoda clasped his hands behind his back and faced the frozen Kaine.

"A few observations for you, I have, Darth Frigeus." Yoda looked down at the discarded weapon and kicked it absently out of the ship. He glanced back up at Kaine and smiled. "If alone, gain the Jedi's trust, I can. Deal with him, I will. Need your assistance, I clearly do not."

"Release me this instant!" Kaine roared.

Yoda smiled and placed a contemplative finger to his chin. "Interesting, this turn of events is, no?"

Heat flushed the Korun's face.

The corners of Yoda's mouth turned downward and his eyebrows drew tightly together.

"Stay here."

Without another word, Yoda leaped out of the ship and disappeared. A moment later, Kaine fell in a heap to the floor. Gathering himself up, Kaine considered, for the first time, that he might need to develop a new strategy.