Author's Note: At the beginning of the previous chapter, I had addressed an anonymous guest reviewer who had said, "Mara better survive this," because of their desire for something more than an LotF retread. In that address, I had said that that reviewer begged me not to kill off Mara, to which this reviewer said that I had gaslighted them because they didn't beg for Mara to not be killed off. Moreover, the reviewer said that my condescending attitude, more than my creative decision to retread old ground from the Legends Expanded Universe, would drive them away from reading my work any further and that I had lost a reader.
While that reviewer may not be reading any further, I nevertheless wish to extend my apologies for my condescending attitude and say that I am sorry for my behavior. I recognize now that it was uncouth and rude for me to say what I did. I also intend not to remove either the author's note from that chapter nor either of the comments from the guest reviewer for the sake of posterity and to demonstrate my sincerity for owning up to my behavior.
With all that said, to all those who want to continue reading on with the story, you may do so.
The Jade Shadow and the X-wings of Kyle Katarn, and Seff Hellin all dropped out of hyperspace into a system that held only a blue dwarf star and a giant asteroid field in the distance. Between the newly-arrived fighters and the field were four other X-wings; and from the bursts of acknowledgement through the Force from Kyp Durron and the Horn siblings, Luke felt relieved to feel that they had all made it to the rendezvous point in their departure from the Empire of the Hand's space. It didn't detract from the tragedy surrounding the loss of Natua Wan—or Tahiri's fall to the dark side of the Force—back in the Gerdrush system, but it was still consoling to know that Kyp was alright and that he hadn't lost his charges.
Remember, Luke communed to the other Jedi, we continue to communicate as much as possible through the Force. We're still in EH space, so it's best not to use comms unless it's absolutely necessary. Is that understood?
After another round of acknowledgements ensued from Kyp and the Horns as well as Kyle and Seff, Luke communed, Good. Now that we're all here, we should-
His telepathic communication was abruptly cut short when he seized up in unspeakable pain that suddenly exploded from the pit of his stomach.
Then, when the pain passed, he was left feeling hollow and empty, as if a part of him was just completely annihilated.
Which, in a sense, was true; because Mara had just died.
An overwhelming sense of numbness overcame Luke's senses for what felt like an eternity; he wasn't even vaguely aware that any of the Jedi were trying to contact him through the Force. Nor was he remotely aware of the beeping that emanated from the Shadow's comm console. It was as if the galaxy around him had faded into nothingness and he was left with the absolute desolation that his soul had been reduced to.
By the end of that eternal moment, Luke let out a scream that, as raw as it was, still couldn't encapsulate the sense of loss that he felt.
. . .
"How ya feelin', kid?" Han asked Jacen. "You look strong enough to pull the ears off a gundark."
"Gee, why doesn't that sound familiar?" Leia retorted next to her husband.
Han gave her a wry look before he returned his attention to Jacen. The three of them were in one of the many medbays of Galactic Alliance Medstation 03-60-19, which had been located in an empty star system that, so far, had yet to be targeted by the Chiss. Jacen, who was seated next to the bacta tank from which he emerged just two days prior, regarded his parents with a soft smile while holding up the artificial arm that had been recently grafted over the stump of his right forearm.
"It almost feels real," he said as he regarded the arm with dawning sadness in his eyes. He knew then that every time he looked at this artificial appendage, all he could think of would be the betrayal he felt, along with the physical pain, that Jaina had inflicted upon him when she removed his previous arm in their duel on Coruscant. That, and the fact that his grief for the World Brain was still fresh in his mind.
A sullen silence fell from Han and Leia for a moment before the former clapped an arm over his son's left shoulder and said in a light tone, "Well, don't you worry, Jacen. When the 2-1B gets that synthflesh over, you won't even know the-"
Han was unable to finish that sentence because his wife and son suddenly doubled over and groaned in pain. He reflexively hugged Leia and asked, "Hey, honey, honey, what's wrong? What is it? What are you and Jacen feeling? Is it through the Force? Jacen, what's going on?"
When the physical pain subsided and both Leia and Jacen straightened up, they both looked at Han with shock and fresh grief in their eyes.
Han said nothing as he looked between them before it was Leia who sputtered, "I... It's... it's Mara."
"She's dead," Jacen whispered as tears began to well from his eyes.
Han's mouth fell in shock just as Leia began sobbing; immediately, he grabbed onto her in a fierce hug as her sobs were muffled by him. And even with his eyes closed, Han also began producing tears.
Jacen, meanwhile, couldn't even muster the strength to stand up and embrace his parents; he just stared at the floor, allowing his vision to blur, as his grief for the World Brain became compounded with his sense of loss for Mara.
. . .
Now standing and her lightsaber switched off in one hand, Jaina regarded Mara's lifeless body with scorn for a moment before she turned and placed her attention in the scared, crying boy who looked between her and his dead mother.
The shocked sadness mixed with the fear from Ben's expression gradually changed to one of pure rage and hatred, even with the tears on his face still flowing freely, before he shouted, "WHY? WHY DID YOU DO THIS?!"
"Why?" Jaina echoed as she turned to fully face him, placing herself between Ben and the corpse of his mother. "You want to know why I did this?"
Swiftly, she brought a hand up and used the Force to entrap Ben in an invisible grasp that completely enfolded him from his shoulders to his ankles. Then, with him completely unable to move save for his head and feet, she pulled him toward her. Then, with her other hand, she grabbed him by the collar so that their faces were inches from each other.
"Because I can," Jaina seethed as her gaze bored into the scared, confused, sad, and angry expressions on her kid cousin's face.
Her lightsaber switched on and she tilted her head back enough so that the blade could be levelled safely between their faces; she held it there long enough so that she could see the confusion and fear for his life completely overcome his grief and anger for his mother's death.
When that occurred, she hefted her lightsaber over her shoulder to deliver the fatal blow to Ben.
"Stop!"
Jaina's whole body froze in place for two seconds before she released her physical hold on Ben's collar while still maintaining her Force-hold on his body. Then she shifted him off to the side so that she could regard the illusory form of Lumiya standing before her.
"Oh, c'mon," Jaina said impatiently. "Don't tell me you had a change of heart and want me to spare lil' Ben here, now do you?"
"But I do," Lumiya said.
"What?" Jaina asked confusedly.
"Not from the goodness of my heart, of course," Lumiya added. "Instead, I've decided that it would be more appropriate for young Ben to have his education... remedied, shall we say. Now that he's lost his teacher." She nodded down at Mara's corpse behind her.
"What do you mean?" Jaina asked.
Lumiya tutted. "Bring him to me. I'll make everything clear when you return Home, Jaina." Her form disappeared.
Jaina turned her head and regarded Ben, who stayed silent even as his grief, anger, fear, and confusion all returned to his face. She tilted her head at him with a belligerent expression before saying, "Well, cousin..." She trailed off before he was levitated back to her. "Looks like you might get a chance to kill me when you're older."
. . .
Three days after she felt Mara Jade Skywalker's presence in the Force depart from the physical realm, Tahiri set her X-wing down upon a blackened desolate field on the world of Korriban. Outside, two figures stood side-by-side before her fighter: her Devaronian captor, torturer, and teacher Gosuj, and the Chagrian male Darth Wyyrlok, who, in the hierarchy of the One Sith, was second only to Darth Krayt himself.
Tahiri popped the canopy off, unbuckled her crash-webbing, and leaped out of her X-wing to land a few meters in a crouch from Wyyrlok and Gosuj.
When she fully stood up, Gosuj said in an off-handed tone, "I half-expected you to simply use your your quad lasers to vaporize us."
"I wouldn't make your death that easy, Gosuj," Tahiri said as she mimicked his tone. "It deserves a personal touch, just like Alema."
The Devaronian regarded her with a toothy grin. "Spoken like a true Sith. Just as you appear to be one now." His tone was prideful, as if Tahiri's accomplishments as a dark sider were somehow his own.
"Well, now, we are here to determine if you truly deserve that description, Tahiri," Wyyrlok spoke up. "Garis Boric confirmed your success in eliminating Rar and Gorog just after you reported back to us. All that is left for you to attain true Sithhood is by eliminating your individual master. Fail that, and not only would you meet your death, but Gosuj will just have to find someone else to kill him." The Chagrian's tone had been flippant through and through as he spoke.
"So, to pass, I have to grant him his death wish?" Tahiri asked incredulously.
"Essentially, yes," Wyyrlok said with a nod that was mirrored by Gosuj. "And this time, without the power loan that Garis gave you to fulfill your assignment."
"Power loan," Gosuj scoffed. "Makes me wonder if Boric is a true Sith if he is willing to share power like that, if even temporarily."
"Do not forget, Lord Gosuj," Wyyrlok said, "that young Garis was tasked with aiding Tahiri here and he fulfilled that assignment. We never specified how he should have gone about fulfilling it."
"You should tell him to fight like an actual Sith instead of letting himself lay around on a Star Destroyer while she does all the-"
"Enough, Lord Gosuj," Wyyrlok intoned. "You are here to die by Tahiri's hand, not mine. Do not make me find another way for her to prove her loyalty to the One Sith."
Reluctantly, Gosuj nodded but didn't apologize before he and Wyyrlok looked back at Tahiri.
"Well, then," the human said before she Force-pulled her vibroblades from her belt and bared them as she adopted a battle-ready stance. "Let's get this over with."
Gosuj snickered while Wyyrlok remained expressionless and silent. "Lost your lightsaber, huh?" the Devaronian asked.
"I can kill you without it," Tahiri growled. "And you won't get the chance to cut through either of them. So get your blade ready; I wanna make sure Lord Wyyrlok here knows this was a fair fight."
"Fair fight?" Gosuj asked as he unhooked his lightsaber from his belt and activated it. "How very Jedi of you."
Baring her teeth, Tahiri charged.
Immediately, with his free hand, Gosuj launched a torrent of Force-lightning for Tahiri. The latter leaped over it and, with two fingers from each hand, launched a double-torrent of lightning of her own. Gosuj quickly ceased his own torrent and rolled out of the way so that Tahiri's lightning created a small crater right next to Wyyrlok, who remained still as a statue.
Less than a second after Gosuj rolled out of the way, Tahiri had also ceased her double-torrent so that she could land in a roll between the Devaronian and Wyyrlok. When she came up, she was less than a meter from Gosuj, who promptly swiped at her head. Naturally, she ducked beneath it and threw the 'blade in her left hand over to his right thigh. The Devaronian was able to twirl out of the way from the strike, only for Tahiri to use the 'blade that was still in her other hand to strike at his grounded shin.
Then, just as Gosuj collapsed on his back in pain, Tahiri used the Force to recall the 'blade that she had thrown back to her hand, but not before it sliced neatly through the Devaronian's weapon-wielding hand.
Gosuj's intense screams of pain were completely silenced once Tahiri's right blade plunged through his throat while the other wedged itself into his heart.
And just like that, as quickly as it had begun, the fight between Tahiri and Gosuj had concluded with the latter's swift death.
When she took the blades out of her dead opponent's body, Tahiri stood up and turned to look back at Wyyrlok.
"Come with me," the Chagrian said.
When he turned and began walking away, Tahiri followed without question.
. . .
Once Ben had been plunged into a nightmare-filled sleep in his cell and the door to it had been locked, Lumiya turned to Jaina and said, "His training shall begin first thing tomorrow. And you may head back out to rejoin the Dodonna as Noonya Niazh; I'll arrange for the coordinates to be set up in advance once I get my hold on Klauskin again."
Jaina regarded Lumiya warily before she said, "But that's not all you brought me back here for, is it?"
The Dark Lady of the Sith shook her head. "How astute of you. No, your return was for more than just acting as a courier for young Ben."
"What is it then?" Jaina asked when Lumiya wouldn't say anything for a while.
"Follow me."
Several minutes later, when they had returned to the training area of the Home, they stopped at the opposite ends of its center and Lumiya turned back to face Jaina again.
"Kneel," the Dark Lady commanded.
Jaina did as instructed without hesitation and even bowed her head; she didn't have to be told that that was also required of her.
"Tell me, Jaina Solo," Lumiya intoned, "do you have any lingering feelings of doubt or guilt over having killed your aunt, Mara Jade Skywalker?"
"No." Again, Jaina displayed no hesitation when she answered.
"Do you have any remorse, any regret, for facilitating the future downfall of the Jedi Order?"
"No."
"Do you have any wishes to return to your old life, the life you knew as a Jedi, with the family that you had known and loved?"
"No."
A long, pregnant pause ensued before Lumiya said, "Jaina Solo, you were tasked with having to kill your brother, Jacen, as part of your full initiation into Sithhood. Instead, however, an even greater sacrifice was made when you killed your aunt, whom you had no problem killing. That sacrifice was any hope that you had of rekindling the love and bonds that you had with your uncle, with your cousin, with your parents, or with your brother. Let alone anyone else you knew from the Jedi Order. In this regard, you have more than earned the right to rise up and be Jaina Solo no more."
When Jaina arose, Lumiya proclaimed, "In your previous life, you were bequeathed the title of Sword of the Jedi by your uncle, Luke Skywalker. As you had explained, this role would have seen that you would never know peace, though others shall be blessed by the peace that you would establish as you served as a burning brand to your enemies. As a Sith, in which you disregard that title, you nevertheless take on the role of that burning brand to your new enemies, to the Jedi, as you act as their final judge. Henceforth, you shall be known as Darth... Judicar."
"Thank you... my Master," Darth Judicar said.
. . .
In the training area of Korriban's Sith Temple, a ceremony similar to the one that the Sith once known as Jaina Solo had undergone had played out. And the Sith once known as Tahiri Veila rose up before Lord Wyyrlok with her new name: Darth Acheron.
"Go," Wyyrlok said with a wave of his hand, "and be the river in all the hells of this galaxy for those who would deny justice."
Without another word, Acheron turned and left the room to eventually depart from the Temple.
Minutes later, after she had received her next assignment, she had returned to her X-wing. But once she was several meters away from the vessel, her heart stopped with her tracks when she saw who stood there.
But as quickly as he appeared, the saddened ghostly form of Anakin Solo disappeared.
It took Darth Acheron several seconds of calming herself down before the steely resolve of her will returned to her and she resumed the final steps of her trek for her X-wing.
. . .
Mere seconds after Acheron saw an apparition of Anakin Solo, Darth Judicar froze mere meters from her own ship, the New Purpose, when the same apparition appeared before her.
He stood there for the exact same amount of time as he did with Acheron before he dissipated. And it took Judicar just as long as Acheron before she resumed her trek for the Purpose.
