Chapter 13
Adannu, Part II
Durasteel corridors were nothing but a blur as Yoda dashed through the hallways. Agony pulsed from his shattered knee with every step. Rather than block the pain receptors in his brain with the Force as he had been taught as a padawan, Yoda allowed the near-debilitating fire to occupy his racing mind.
Keeping his focus entirely on reaching the hangar bay, Yoda marshaled his will to swallow the torture he was inflicting on his body, turned hard on the next corner, and barreled down another hallway.
A sudden shift in the floor, and Yoda tumbled. He silently thanked the Force as the warning it whispered to him the instant before the violent quake rocked the ship enabled him to tuck into the fall. Clutching his wounded knee protectively as he toppled head over heels down the hallway, Yoda desperately called on the Force to overcome the power of inertia.
Abruptly cradled in the arms of the Force, Yoda's plummet halted. Hovering just above the shaking floor, he sunk deeper into himself and waited for the vibrations to subside. No longer under pressure, the fire in Yoda's knee receded to a dull ache. With no pain to distract him, and forced into this unexpected respite from his flight to the hangar, Yoda's mind wandered to the moment right before he began his flight.
What had happened?
He had planned to kill her. Despite the overwhelming sense of calm that had overcome him before facing her, the darkness had erupted the moment the weapon fired on Migruna. Each death had been an individual outcry in the Force.
All seven thousand, three hundred, and seven.
Yoda closed his eyes more tightly and bit back the tears that threatened to form. The rage that had exploded in his chest had surprised him. As hard as he had fought against it, the anger had clashed against his breastbone, scratching and seething and demanding release. He had wrestled with the writhing creature, confident the Force would light the way.
But he had found only darkness.
Rizza had stopped the destruction of the station, and it was clear that she had planned to escape. Migruna would never be safe as long as the Sith wanted her destroyed. The Force had told him this, and the creature had agreed. In an instant, the dark side of the Force had overwhelmed him, and Rizza's death had been assured.
What would have happened then?
Who would he have become?
It had felt so good to let the creature free. It had been a relief. In those brief moments as he tortured her, relishing her fear, Yoda had felt…powerful, invincible, strong. He had felt righteous in his rage. She deserved to die. No one could have stopped her but he. He was judge. He was jury. Most importantly, he was the executioner.
And he was just.
No.
It had been wrong.
Yoda whispered silent thanks to the Force for the timely communication from Kaine. The irony of owing his soul to a Sith was not lost on him.
The vibrations settled beneath him and Yoda lowered himself gently to the floor. Tearing a piece of cloth from his robes, he knelt down and appraised his injury. Rizza's attack had severed the cartilage and destroyed his knee cap. Yoda frowned. The wound would not be cured with bacta. An artificial replacement was anathema. Yoda tied the strip of cloth around the damage and stood.
Breathing deeply into the Force, Yoda harnessed the invisible energy that surrounded him and directed it to his leg.
The ground shook beneath him again.
Time was growing short.
Yoda ran.
The sudden surge in the Force clashed against Yoda as he turned down the last corridor to the hangar bay.
He stopped.
Thirty meters down the hallway, standing between Yoda and the entrance to the hangar, stood the last remaining Dark Lord of the Sith. Yoda was not sure how he knew this, but the truth of it rang deep into his soul.
Kaine had killed Rizza.
Yoda nodded.
It was done.
Pulling his robe aside, Yoda extended his hand and willed the chrome hilt of his lightsaber to his open palm. He stared at Kaine. Calm. Ready.
Emerald energy reflected off the durasteel walls.
"We can fight if you wish," Kaine called out. "But I'm quite certain that if we do, neither of us will survive."
Yoda sneered. "Too confident, you are! To kill a defenseless Sith, no great skill this takes."
Kaine laughed. "I was referring to the imminent destruction of this station, Yoda." The Dark Lord clasped his hands in front of him and leaned nonchalantly against the bulkhead, glancing down at his boots. "I'm quite certain you could defeat me in combat, as you did Rizza. At your peak, I'm quite certain you could do away with me in less than the five minutes this station has left." Kaine pushed himself off the wall and looked steadily at Yoda. "But you're not at your peak now, are you?"
Yoda contemplated the Sith who stood before him. There were only two. If he destroyed this Sith, or they died together, the menace would be over. The Force would be in balance. Yoda nodded. A Jedi must be willing to sacrifice.
He started down the hallway.
Kaine seemed to interpret the movement correctly. He moved away from the wall and drew his weapon, though he did not ignite it.
"Even if we die here, Yoda, that won't be the end of the Sith. My children will carry on in my stead." Kaine paced across the doorway but made no clear movement toward Yoda. "Except they will lack my discipline. They will lack my knowledge. Can you imagine how dangerous those powerful boys will be?"
Yoda gritted his teeth behind sealed lips as pain began to seep back into his leg.
He slowed.
"Destroy your children, the Jedi can." The pain was growing more intense.
Kaine pursed his lips contemplatively. "Perhaps…." Kaine locked his gaze on Yoda. "Of course, none of the Jedi are as powerful as you or Qui-Lek. Nor are they really prepared to deal with a threat like the Sith, are they? With the two most powerful Jedi dead, do you really believe the unprepared Jedi can hope to defeat warriors trained from birth to destroy them?"
Yoda stopped.
"Tell yourself it's the pain in your knee that has your attention and not my words, if it makes you feel better, Yoda." Kaine smiled. "But you and I are the only ones here."
Yoda stared at his leg.
"It is time, Yoda."
Yoda looked up, his brows tight. "For what, Frigeus?"
"This moment, right now, we can decide the outcome of this war between the Jedi and the Sith." The arrogance Kaine seemed to wear like a cloak slipped away as he slowly walked toward Yoda. "We can fight. I will, as I must, do my best. The end result will be both of us destroyed in a spectacular explosion, with nothing left of our knowledge and experience to prepare our people for the war. And the war will happen, Yoda. Rest assured."
Yoda closed his eyes tightly. The Force swirled around him in powerful eddies but no answers came. He could only sense that the Force was telling him that he already knew the answer.
"Or?"
"Or we part ways."
Yoda pulled back, confused. "Part ways?"
Kaine pointed behind to the hangar. "Behind that door are two ships. Both are hyperspace capable, and each is programmed to take us to our respective homes. If you go to your ship, I will go to mine, and we will both escape this deathtrap." As if in answer to a call, the station shook violently. "We will never speak of these events to anyone. A truce. Neither I nor any apprentice in my line for as long as I have the power to stop them will go after the Jedi. In return, you will stay clear of Korun." A new quake erupted, and the Jedi and the Sith grasped the nearby walls for support. "Time is of the essence, Yoda. Shall we die together or part ways?"
"Why agree to this, would I?"
"Because you need to survive, Yoda. You have the knowledge necessary to defeat the Sith. Your skills with a lightsaber are unsurpassed. Who will prepare the Jedi when you are gone?"
"Not enough, this is. Destroy Migruna III you would, if I let you go."
Kaine's brows drew together, and he stared at Yoda in apparent confusion. "Ahh…my station." Kaine glanced around the corridor, suddenly silent. He ran his hand along a bulkhead, his eyes closed. "Very well…I will not rebuild this station. I will never approach Migruna III again, nor mention her to my future apprentice or anyone else. You have my word."
Yoda swallowed. "Why should I trust you?"
Kaine blinked, as if surprised by the question. "Why should I trust you?"
Yoda lifted his chin. "I am Jedi."
Kaine laughed. "And I am Sith."
The floor erupted several meters behind Yoda and a fireball crashed through the hallway from below. The corridor darkened briefly before emergency lights provided muted illumination. Powerful gusts of wind escaped down the rupture and pulled hard against Yoda's robe. He grasped the wall more tightly as he struggled to remain in place.
Yoda stared at Kaine, searching his face for some indication of his intent. In the Force, Yoda could sense no deception in the Sith.
Kaine glanced nervously at the rupture as metal screeched and the hole opened wider. "We are now out of time, Yoda!" Kaine had to shout to be heard above the din. "You must decide!"
Yoda swallowed hard but maintained his gaze firmly on Kaine.
There would be no more words between them.
The emerald blade retracted into the hilt.
The Dark Lord nodded in apparent understanding and hastily opened the door.
The two crossed the threshold together, side by side.
The two ships were on either side of the hanger, ready. Yoda moved to his ship, knowing the small cramped vessel was the one programmed for Coruscant.
The explosions rocking the ship grew more insistent, but they barely registered in Yoda's consciousness as he entered the cockpit. He glanced out his viewscreen and watched as the twin-ion engines on Kaine's vessel roared to life.
Yoda sighed.
He energized his own engines, and the two ships exited the hangar, side by side.
Another explosion on the station, and both vessels pitched hard in the sudden inferno that engulfed them. Yoda twisted the yoke hard and spun the ship away from the station. Engaging the thrusters to full, the buffeted station began to shrink away. Yoda looked down at Migruna III, sensing new lives being lost moment by moment as fires continued to burn below.
Stretching out with the Force, he could feel the distortion in the planet. It was being shaken at its very core. The orbit was wrong. It was…No!
It was dying!
He had failed.
Yoda searched his scanners for Kaine, unsure what he would do when he found him. Kaine's ship appeared for a moment, before vanishing from all sensors. Yoda tightened his lips.
He clenched his fists tightly. His nails dug into his flesh, and small drops of blood splattered against the cockpit floor. The sight of ships leaving the planet and entering hyperspace did nothing to assuage Yoda's grief.
In all his life, Yoda could never remember having cried.
Tears surged and he tried to bite them back. As he stared out at his dying home, they finally fell.
When Rimasiss died, Yoda had felt his loss profoundly, but he had not wept. The Jedi Master had tried to console Yoda when it was clear that death was upon him. Now, as Yoda remembered the words, they brought no comfort.
"Yoda," Rimassiss had said. "All things die. That is the way of things. The way of the Force. Even stars burn out…."
Yoda wept.
