OSSUS
The fire spreading through the evacuated Jedi Academy continued to rage, as did the aerial battle between the Republic and Sith vehicles.
Kira barely registered the smoke drifting in and out of her nostrils and lungs as she started to climb the stone steps towards the seventh floor of the Academy.
The burning flames were nothing compared to the storm of hatred inside her, directed right towards the evil Ultor. She would kill him, tear him limb by limb with her lightsaber and cause him tenfold the suffering he had caused her, Ben, their parents, and the Jedi he had killed.
The intensity of Kira's boiling emotions made the climb to the seventh story feel very short, as was her advancement through the curved, hollow corridor leading out onto the ash-infested bridge where Darth Ultor waited, his lightsaber poised to strike.
Upon coming face to face with her worst enemy, Kira halted in her tracks. She was still trembling with rage and hatred, but taking in the sight of him would make her kill all the more satisfying.
"You've come a long way from that girl in the cave," Ultor remarked, his voice light and neutral, yet only barely concealing his sadistic character, "You've faced off two of my apprentices, not to mention an army of mercenaries and thugs. All for this, to witness the death of Luke Skywalker's failed experiment and the bloodline of the Chosen One."
Kira's response came from her burning, twisting gut without a thought.
"You murdering traitor!" she yelled, waving her lightsaber in her twitching right hand, "I'm going to kill you!"
"Of course you are," Ultor replied sarcastically, assuming a defensive stance as Kira rushed at him with a scream.
Kira's first strike, propelled by her raw anger, was harder than Ultor had expected. He pushed back and kept his remaining saber diagonal, gripping it with both hands.
It was to Kira's benefit that Ultor had already been wounded by Ben, as was her rage boosting her strength in battle.
At one time, Ultor might have felt a sliver of guilt for killing his old friend, but the act now brought him nothing but pleasure. It was comforting to know the extent to which he had shed his former identity, now a complete master of the dark side. Ultor truly had earned his self-imposed title, he reflected.
"Do you hate me?" Ultor asked, seeking to throw Kira off balance as Ben had him, "Do you hate me for cutting down your beloved brother?"
Kira did not reply with words, but with a snarl that seemed unnatural coming from her, attacking Ultor with a high speed.
Ultor had no trouble matching his new opponent, creating the image of two rapidly moving blurs of red and blue light on the bridge over the Academy's burning courtyard.
"It's a testament to how much he loved you," Ultor said, admittedly short of breath due to the challenge he had faced through Ben, and now Kira, "that Ben nearly had me beaten before you showed up."
"Shut up!" Kira yelled, striking low at a rate where Ultor could not aim for her neck as he might otherwise have without risking the loss of both legs, "SHUT UP AND DIE!"
Ultor's red blade managed to catch Kira's lightsaber and keep her at bay, pushing back as she tried to bring her weapon down into him.
"He knew you were coming to his aid," Ultor continued, stabbing at Kira's heart more lethally than any lightsaber or dagger, "and he was distracted by your presence, allowing me to finish him off."
"NO!" Kira shrieked, neither caring about nor able to process what she was hearing.
She stepped back to begin a new onslaught, and Ultor used this gap to press an attack.
He swung his red blade sideways towards Kira, barely leaving her room to defend herself.
As he crossed the abandoned corridor linking the north and eastern towers, Luke grew weak in the knees, sensing that Kira was in terrible danger.
It was inevitable that Kira would immediately seek to avenge her brother's death, Luke realized, but even if she was holding her own perfectly, she was in even worse danger of falling to the dark side.
Luke instinctively drew his own lightsaber and activated it as he followed his niece's trail.
As the Blue Harvest drew both Sith Infiltrators away from the Falcon, towards the canopied forest, Talon said, "We'll finish them off, and then deal with the Falcon."
She and Nihl both fired at the fleeing Republic command shuttle, but then soon faced a several volleys of laserfire from above.
"The Republic is here," Tahiri said, pointing to the fleet Interceptors flying down from the cruiser high above in the clouds.
Talon and Nihl were both forced to deviate from their present course, swerving away on either side of Sam and Tahiri to contend to their new antagonists.
Aboard the cruiser, Vice Admiral Praxium stood with Supreme Commander Omas, directing troopers and officers to their shuttles.
"It looks like the Jedi fighting their own war," Praxium replied, "This will be an advantage to us in capturing Skywalker and the Solos."
"We can't say that for certain," Omas replied, "Advise your men to hold back until the Jedi and Coalition have finished each other off."
"What about my son?" Praxium inquired.
"We'll give him one more chance," Omas replied, "and see if he is truly loyal to the Republic, or to Solo and his new friends. I'll contact him myself once this has blown over."
Praxium did not reply with words, but nodded in understanding, his expression faintly reflecting his relief at Omas's mercy.
"Delta and Gamma Squadrons, pull back," Captain Eros ordered from his command shuttle, the Black Ring.
The Interceptors obeyed, rising away from the battle that they had joined.
"They're off our tail now," Tahiri said, "We need to get to Kira."
Sam watched sorrowfully as his friends and comrades were mowed down by Talon and Nihl's Infiltrators.
He wished he could help them more, but this whole battle was taking place because Kira had given up her fellow Jedi entirely for his sake.
He sighed with remorse as he steered the Harvest back in the direction of the burning Jedi Academy.
Kira brought her lightsaber all the way back before thrusting it forward.
Ultor grinned as he pushed it aside with his own, his face now unprotected from Kira's hateful glare.
"The more you attack, the more you prove Skywalker a failure," he said, "Even now, you must know that the dark side calls to you."
Kira was too enraged to retort, merely striking again in hopes of slicing through him. Her mind was hopping from one crazed thought to the next, staying nowhere except on her motive to end Ultor's life.
"It's a shame that you'll never realize your full potential, Kira," Ultor mocked, "Now, we will never know for sure what you could have been."
Kira let out another frenzied yell, pressing her attack with everything inside her.
Ultor staggered sideways, preparing to rebuke just as Kira's lightsaber painfully brushed his right forearm.
Ultor hollered and pushed back, bumping his muscular body into Kira's lithe one as his lightsaber pressed hers towards the floor.
Before Kira could make her next move of counterattack, she felt a sudden, searing pain around her wrist, pain that worsened as her left hand fell from the spot where Ultor's weapon had cut through it.
Kira's screams were now filled with pain as well as rage. She was not aware of when Ultor whispered, "No more games, Jedi."
He then prepared his fatal strike, but missed as Kira blindly fell from the bridge, still gripping her lightsaber with her remaining hand as she tumbled.
The sharp burn of Kira's severed hand made the impact of her fall that much more numb.
Kira was now moaning, willing the pain coming from all directions to go away. She could not bring herself to get up, knowing that everything would be so much worse if she did. She just allowed the fire to seep into the courtyard, taking out one weed of grass after another.
She only faintly heard her uncle shouting, "Kira!" as he descended the staircase towards her.
Luke panted as he ran to his fallen niece, kneeling at his side.
He gently took her by the arms and shook her, wincing as he noticed her handless wrist.
"Kira," Luke whispered, "Oh, Kira."
Kira finally turned her head to face her grieving uncle.
"Kira, we need to get out of here," Luke said, "Your parents will be landing soon."
Kira couldn't leave, she realized. She still had business to finish.
"Where...is...he..." she rasped, still boiling in agony from her fall, her lightsaber injury, and the hole left by Ben's death, "I need...to finish...him..."
Luke draped Kira's arm around his him pulled her up to her feet.
As soon as her boots were planted, Kira slipped her arm away from her uncle's shoulders and stumbled slightly away.
Seeing her still-activated lightsaber boring scorch marks in the reeds of grass that the fire had not claimed, Kira slowly bent down to pick it up.
"Where's Skyler?" she growled, the adrenaline returning to her in a single rush, "Where is he?"
"Kira, come on," Luke urged, putting a hand on Kira's arm.
Kira moved away from him and walked slowly towards the hearth of the fire towards the distant corridor leading up a stone ramp.
Sure enough, through the flames, Kira could see Ultor's hulking figure appearing from the small doorway that ended the slope inside the Academy, his lightsaber still glowing devilishly.
Fortunately, Ultor's physical condition wasn't prime enough for him to make up the distance between himself and Luke and Kira in such a short time, allowing Luke to use the Force to manipulate the flames raging in the courtyard.
Kira momentarily paused as a wall of fire drifted between her and Ultor, shielding him from her view.
Kira charged anyway, straight towards the open flame, caring about nothing but her dead brother, whose body had by now faded into the thin air, one with the Force.
"Kira, no!" Luke shouted.
He used the Force to grab his niece and pull her back from the fire and Ultor.
As soon as Kira unwillingly reached Luke, she started to run back in the fire's direction, even as it grew taller and caught onto the half of the Academy it had not yet touched.
"Let me go!" Kira screamed as Luke grabbed her, holding tight as she detachedly kicked, screamed, and punched in whichever direction she could.
Luke glanced up at the familiar sight of the Millennium Falcon soaring over the rooftop over the courtyard.
"There he is!" Han yelled. His body was shaking and he was weeping openly in a way that he almost never had before in his life. "I'm going to kill him!"
Han was red in the face as he pointed the Falcon's guns at Ultor and opened fire, forcing the Dark Master to take cover inside the tower.
As Han kept firing, his wife tapped his arm and pointed in the opposite direction.
"Han, wait," Leia said, herself only able to talk i between sobs, "Kira needs us."
Indeed, from the viewpoint of the Falcon's cockpit, Han and Leia could see Kira struggling to free herself from Luke's grasp, writhing to get back to the fateful battle that consumed her existence.
His vision blurred by tears, Han flew the Falcon into the courtyard, preparing to dock.
The Blue Harvest appeared a moment later, just as the Falcon was docking.
"Oh, no," Tahiri gasped, seeing her best friend screaming and struggling in sheer agony.
"She's in pain because of me," Sam observed, "all of this is on me. If I hadn't left you both on Metacorn, none of this would have happened."
"Sam, enough, please!" Tahiri snapped.
Both landing parties hurried from their ships and rushed towards the struggle between Luke and Kira.
Leia quickly took her daughter's wrists and knelt in front of her.
"Kira, it's me," she whispered, still brimming with tears herself.
Kira had no choice but to stare into her mother's tearful gaze as she struggled. Gradually, she felt her movements slowing and weakening. Then, she found herself slipping from reality into unconsciousness.
"We'd better get out of here," Luke said, gently carrying Kira's limp form.
Moaning softly, Chewbacca grabbed on to Kira's legs and helped Luke carry her onto the Falcon, followed by Luke, Leia, Tahiri, and Sam, who silently chose to leave the Harvest to the fire.
The probe droid K3 whizzed out of the fire and followed the group of sentients as they boarded the ramp into the Falcon. Sam caught the droid in it hand and flicked its off switch as Chewie carried Kira into the medical bay.
The Blue Harvest was consumed by the flames a moment later as the Falcon launched out of the burning Academy, towards the dark orange sky of poison.
Captain Eros led Gamma Squadron in pursuit of the Falcon, keeping his pilots back a medium distance as they sped out of the atmosphere of Ossus.
"Vice Admiral, we are in pursuit of the Millennium Falcon. I'm sure the commander is aboard with Solo and the others."
On the bridge of the Republic cruiser Black Ring, Praxium looked to Omas, silently asking a question. Omas grudgingly nodded in approval.
"Hold your fire for now," Praxium replied, "We'll send a message to the commander."
Tahiri, Sam, Luke, Chewie, and the droids gathered around Kira as she continued to lay unconscious in the cot. All of them kept a respectful distance away from her, mournfully quiet as they watched her.
Once the Falcon entered lightspeed and set to autopilot, the puffy-eyed Han and Leia entered the sickbay as well.
"We're headed for the rendezvous point on Sullust," Leia said quietly, barely able to talk without crying, "But we can't stay long."
"Just enough time to give Kira a new hand," Luke replied, "and confer with the rest of the Masters."
"What about Ben?" Han asked, himself speaking at a croak, "His body is still there on Ossus."
"Not anymore," Luke assured him, "He's one with the Force now. There's no more body left."
Leia silently stroked her daughter's hair and touched her warm, smooth cheek.
"She's going to be scarred for a long time," Leia commented, "Witnessing her brother die."
"We should give her some room," Luke suggested.
Chewbacca quietly expressed his agreement.
The group trickled out of the Falcon's sickbay, but Tahiri remained at the entrance for a moment, peering sadly at her friend.
SULLUST
The planet Sullust looked very bare upon first look, with its turquoise-colored lava beds and the fields of obsidian throughout the terrain.
The small, humble villages, however, were very advanced, being high producers of military technology and transport equipment.
Although the survivors of Ultor's attack on the Jedi Academy were fleeing from the Republic as well as the Coalition, it was a Republic cruiser production factory where the Falcon was docking, joining the handful of StealthXs and Jedi Corvettes hidden in the factory's secret hangar.
The Sullustan administrator, Ten Nunb, silently welcomed the Falcon's landing party as they exited the ship, with Chewbacca delicately carrying the still-unconscious Kira.
"We need to get her to the medical center," Han said to Nunb, his voice even but heavy with pain.
Nunb replied in his native language and directed the group from the hangar into the factory's main walkway.
"Master Skywalker!" Luke turned and broke away from the group as Tionne approached with Sebatyne and Nodlad.
Their students who had escaped were taking shelter inside the docked consular ships, napping for the most part. A few remained awake, anxiously stirring or taking in the sights of the unfamiliar environment of Sullust.
"Were the rest of the Jedi able to escape?" Saba Sebatyne asked.
Luke closed his eyes and regretfully shook his head.
"I'm afraid we took heavy losses. Many of our Knights attempted to fend off the invaders, and lost their lives. Ben included."
"Han and Leia must be suffering terribly," Nodlad replied.
Luke found his eyes a bit wet as he responded, along with a tightness in his throat.
"We all are," he replied.
HAD ABADDON
Three small, narrow ships entered the orbit of the acid world of Had Abaddon- two Infiltrators and a SuperStealther.
While Talon and Nihl flew their vessels towards the main hangar entrance just past the acidic moat leading into the castle via drawbridge, Ultor quietly piloted his SuperStealther to the private landing platform adjacent to his throne room atop the highest tower.
"Talon, Nihl, contact the Hutts on Coruscant and commence with the Coalition campaign on Malastare," he ordered, his voice sullen.
As soon as he landed his craft, Ultor exited the ramp and strode quickly into the tower.
His lightsaber wound from Ben Solo's blade still seared, but he would attend to that in due time.
The battle against the Jedi had seen mixed results, Ultor reflected. He had slain at least half of Skywalker's Jedi, proving himself superior to any. He had taken the life of Ben, Skyler's oldest and closest friend from his Jedi days, with no remorse.
Yet he had failed to kill Skywalker or the rest of his family. Ultor especially wanted to make Luke pay for the visions he had tormented him with before the Academy raid . He had even failed to kill that pesky little sister of Ben's, when she'd been right there in his grasp!
Now, however, Ultor knew that the tide had turned in his favor. The Jedi were on the run, and they had no support from the Republic.
Ultor entered his throne room and went over to a small, secret doorway attached to the wall behind his seat of power. With a wave of his hand, Ultor used the Force to open the secret compartment.
With his gloved hand, he grasped the red, pyramid-shaped Sith Holocron, pulling it from the compartment and setting it on the arm of his throne.
He put his hand to the Holocron and closed his eyes, reaching out intensely with the Force to activate it.
The Holocron began to glow, its dark power radiating throughout the dim room.
"Reveal yourself to me, Great-Grandfather, Emperor of the galaxy, my spiritual mentor in my journey through the dark side."
Ultor stepped back and allowed the Holocron to produce the red, glowing visage of the long-dead Emperor Palpatine, whose face was now deformed and twisted, unlike his kindly appearance the first time Skyler had come across him in the Jedi Academy archives.
"My beloved great-grandson, my only worthy heir. What news do you have for your departed ancestor?"
"I have driven the Jedi from their hiding place," Ultor reported, "And they have made an enemy of the Senate. They have no place to turn to."
"I know you can do the job well," Palpatine responded, "And soon, you will find the remaining Jedi and destroy them. Then, nobody will be there to stop you as you take over the galaxy and bring back the rule of the Sith."
Ultor took a moment to revel in his great-grandfather's posthumous approval, smiling faintly despite his disappointment.
"With the death of Luke Skywalker, I will have cut all ties to my past. There will be no greater being in the galaxy."
Palpatine's voice changed from one of triumph to a note of concern.
"Be careful, my boy. There is one master of the dark side who still lives."
Ultor looked directly into the red, translucent image of his great-grandfather emitting from the Holocron.
"You're right," he said, "And he dies today."
In that moment, Ultor realized that if he was really going to be the Dark Master, he would answer to nobody.
He used the Force to summon the Emperor's Holocron to him, grasping it.
The ghostly image of Palpatine followed Ultor as he carried the Holocron to the throne room's side exit, towards the gantry leading back to his SuperStealther.
"You don't know what you are doing," Palpatine said, fear in his voice, "You don't want to get rid of me!"
"If I am to be the only master of the Force, I will answer to nobody," Ultor replied, "Even you."
"I have been your source of power all these years!" Palpatine replied, "You would be nowhere and nobody without me!"
"That is correct," Ultor said matter-of-factly, "and that's exactly why I need to dispose of you. You are my last obstacle to complete mastery."
"Listen to me," the Holocron projection of Palpatine's spirit urged, growing frightened and desperate now, "I know of a Master of the dark side who still lives! One who can cheat death! I can show you his secrets!"
"Your time is over, Palpatine," Ultor snarled, growing impatient now, "I'm done with you."
"Young fool!" Palpatine hissed, "I showed you love when you craved it, guided your when you were lost! I still have knowledge that you will desperately crave, and that you will never receive if you get rid of me now!"
"I have already triumphed over you," Ultor gloated, smiling dispassionately at the pleading spiritual projection hovering next to him, "The Dark Lord of the Sith, now a just phantom. I always had the real power."
"No!" Palpatine screamed as Ultor wound up his arm that clutched the Holocron. The Dark Master pitched the small, red object over the side of the hangar, watching as it flew into the acidic lake below.
Ultor felt a great triumph now, one that made up for the underwhelming results of the Ossus attack. He smiled as he watched the Holocron boil in the acidic lake and disappear.
Palpatine screamed as his image flickered off and on next to Ultor in thin air, before vanishing entirely with a dramatic explosion of light.
Ultor shielded his eyes from the death of Palpatine's spirit, then looked down from the hangar at the acid lake into which he had thrown the Holocron.
Satisfied, the Dark Master turned and walked back over the bridge, disappearing into the tower once again.
