Hey, everybody. Here we go. We've come to the last chapter of this story.

Let's get to it.

Chapter 16- New Path

(October 25, 2004)

In the near total darkness of the ancient battle site under the surface of the planet Malachor V, Philip slowly walks among the many petrified bodies of Mandalorians, Republic troops, and Jedi strewn across the battlefield. Looking up, he sees the massive Sith temple in the distance.

After he fled Naboo, Philip had wandered the Outer Rim for almost two weeks, just consumed by the emotions of self-hate and disappointment in himself for having become the very thing he swore to destroy. After almost two weeks, Philip had, during a look through his holocrons, remembered the story of the famed Jedi Revan, and the story of how he defeated the Mandalorians during the Mandalorian wars by using the superweapon of the Sith Temple on Malachor V. Drawn to the story, Philip had traveled to Malachor V.

For the last hour, after his arrival on the planet, Philip had been just slowly exploring the ancient battlefield where the Mandalorian Wars ended. As he explored, he had become overwhelmed by guilt. He realized that he had not only become like Revan had in that moment, but far worse. He had become someone who didn't care what lengths he went to to achieve victory.

As he looks out over the fields of petrified bodies, Philip feels a crippling sense of guilt. Although he doesn't regret any of the Imperial personnel he's killed, he realizes now that over the past few years, he's been carrying out his crusade with little to no regard for civilian life. He remembers how he abandoned the few survivors from that farming village destroyed by the Seventh Brother back in 1999, several civilians that died during his hunts for Inquisitors over the past 5 years, and of course the civilians that died or almost did on Naboo during his effort to draw in Vader.

Philip kneels down beside the petrified body of a Jedi, looking at the frozen expression on the face. The similarities between these bodies and images he's seen of the bodies from Pompeii in history books are startling, although these bodies are a little more detailed than the bodies at Pompeii. Once more, fresh pangs of guilt rush over him. Had he not had his epiphany on Naboo, who knows how much further he could've gone in his pursuit of vengeance. How many more would've died. And what terrifies him most of all is the thought that perhaps, one day, he could've fallen so far he could've either tried to become the Emperor's new apprentice or tried to kill the Emperor and take his place as Dark Lord of the Sith.

Philip looks out slowly over the barren landscape. Had he continued on his path, perhaps devastation like this might've begun to follow in his footsteps.

Philip takes his helmet into his hand, looking down at the skull-like design. This mask has struck terror into countless individuals over the previous years. It has become a symbol of fear and death. Philip once took pride whenever he saw that mask, but now he feels nothing but disgust. With a cry, Philip flings the mask away. The mask tumbles across the ground, the sound of it seemingly amplified due to the near total silence prior.

Philip looks at where the mask stopped, then slowly turns and begins to walk away. He knows what he has to do.

(November 1, 2004, Ossus)

On the ground outside the old Library, Philip carefully looks into his holocron. After leaving Malachor V, Philip had traveled to Ossus. He had gathered almost everything he owned, including the rest of his armor, all of his holocrons he had gathered from the day he fled the Jedi Temple, and his lightsaber, the one that once belonged to Darth Bane. At the same time, he had created two holocrons himself. In one of the holocrons, he recorded everything he felt noteworthy that he had learned over the past decade. Once he had finished, he put that holocron and everything else he had gathered and put it all in a chest. He had then taken the chest into the depths of the Great Library and buried it.

While Philip had considered destroying it all to remove the temptation towards darkness from the galaxy, the day after leaving Malachor, he had had a vision through the Force. In that vision, he foresaw that one day, several individuals would embark on a quest to save the galaxy from darkness, and that the knowledge he had acquired would be of great help to them. Against part of his conscience, Philip had decided to bury all of his acquired knowledge and his saber to prevent them from ever being found except by those who were might to find them.

Now, he is holding the second holocron he created. This holocron is very small, and has only one purpose. To hold a message that he is about to record.

Philip takes a deep breath, then begins the recording.

"My name is Philip Nelson. It has been 10 years since Empire rose. I am recording this as my final message.

"Over the last 10 years, I have been called many names. The Inquisitor killer. The Dark Warrior. The Crimson Blade. All of them earned, for I have slaughtered not only 16 Inquisitors, but thousands of the Empire. I have delved deeper into the secrets of the Force than most have since the time of the New Sith Wars. I have travelled the galaxy, visiting long forgotten sanctuaries of the Sith and the Jedi, learning their secrets and building my own knowledge.

"However, this path has driven me far into darkness. I have gone to far in my pursuit of vengeance, and I will allow myself to go no further. I intend to disappear from the galaxy forever. But I do not do so without leaving something behind. I have foreseen the future, a time of darkness when great heroes will arise to defeat it. This message is for you.

"I have gathered many holocrons and secrets of the light and dark side of the Force. I have buried them in the ancient sanctuary of the Jedi on Ossus. There they will remain hidden until the heroes I foresaw come forward. This holocron will guide someone of the purest heart to their location. When the time comes and you discover this holocron, take it to Ossus. I pray the knowledge I have left behind will be the crucial aid you need.

"I now bid goodbye to the Terran Alliance, my old friends and family, and the entire galaxy. I now go into exile. I pray that one day, the Empire's reign will be broken by someone more worthy than me, and that evil will finally be defeated. For those who find this holocron, do not attempt to look for me. I have renounced the Force, for I will no longer be an instrument of darkness. Farewell."

Philip then ends the recording and looks into the distance, hoping that his plan with the holocron will work.

(November 4, 2004, Tatooine)

Deep in the Junland Wastes, Obi-Wan sighs as he walks up towards the cliff where his new home lies. He had just been out for hours, getting food.

As he comes over the top of the cliff, Obi-Wan starts a bit as he sees an Imperial Lambda-class shuttle parked just outside the house. He reaches for his lightsaber, but then sees a single R2 unit sitting at the base of the loading ramp.

Obi-Wan approaches cautiously. However, the R2 unit shows no sign of aggression or hostility. As Obi-Wan approaches, the droid beeps a few times. Obi-Wan, understanding it, responds, "You have something for me?"

The droid extends an arm out of its front, holding a small bag. Obi-Wan takes the bag and looks into it, seeing a small holocron in it. A second later, he jumps a bit as the droid suddenly projects a holo-recording. Obi-Wan quickly recognizes that its a recording of Philip.

"General Kenobi. I'm sorry to have to do it like this, but I figured it was for the best. You were right. I had allowed myself to fall too much into the dark, even if my original intentions were good. I have allowed myself to become the very thing I swore to destroy.

"I sent R2 to bring you the holocron. It contains a brief message I recorded, and will serve a greater purpose one day. I have foreseen that one day, a hero will need it to find the store of all of my knowledge I have acquired over the years, which I buried in a secret location in the galaxy. This holocron will act as a compass to that location. Please, bury it near to your home. Someone will one day come and find it there.

"I hope that you will accomplish what you are on Tatooine to do, General. Protect that boy. He is the hope of the galaxy. I will never see you or anyone else again. I have left everything behind and now go into exile to protect the galaxy from myself. My only hope is that one day, someone can use what I left behind to make up for everything terrible I have done." There is a pause, and then the recording ends with Philip saying, "May the Force be with you, Master Kenobi. And godspeed."

Obi-Wan stands there. The droid then beeps a few times before heading back aboard the shuttle. A minute later, the shuttle takes off and flies out of sight.

Obi-Wan looks down at the holocron, wondering just what kind of depository it will lead to. He then looks into the distance and smiles a bit. "You have realized your mistakes. I pray that you may one day find peace," he says.

As he walks back into his home, his thoughts are not on himself or Luke. Instead, they rest with the fate of the man called Philip Nelson.

And, with that, the story has come to an end.

I hope you like the end I chose for Philip. I thought it appropriate after he recognized the danger he posed that he would exile himself. And yes, he will never return to the settled galaxy. I may have him make one brief cameo in the future, but not likely. In any case, this is the end of Philip's direct involvement in this series. However, the depository he left on Ossus will play a major role in the sequel trilogy story.

Alright. I hope you enjoyed this story. I may take a brief break, no more than a week or so, before I begin the next two Terran Alliance EU stories. One of them will be about the Hammer Squadron and few other characters from the Terran Alliance Strikes Back and some new ones. And the second will be the anticipated story of what happened to the battlecruiser TAS Hood after it vanished at the end of Terran Alliance Strikes Back. I will be posting both of those stories to both and Wattpad in conjunction with each other. Both will about the same length as my other EU stories I've posted. Then once I've finished both of those, I will finally get around the sequel trilogy story.

Well, I hope you all liked this story and how it ended. Please leave one final review. Keep an eye out for the next two stories in this series, and other stories I publish, and stay tuned.

Raptor2216 out for now.