Despite what he told Tionne when he last spoke to her over his space helmet's commlink, Kam Solusar knew that he couldn't simply hide amongst the asteroids while the Sith continued their jamming of all outgoing communications from the Maad system. It also helped that should the Sith have intercepted his communication with Tionne, they would assume that he was telling the truth and pay him no mind as they continued to deal with the Jedi StealthXs that still remained in the system.

Of course, he would have also risked the Sith's ChaseMasterX frigates firing upon the asteroids to flush him out, if not outright kill him, but he doubted that they would have wanted to put their ships at risk from meteorite strikes that would have resulted from their turbolaser fire. So, as it was, Kam leaped between the tumbling asteroids in various areas that he assumed to be the frigates' blind spots until, finally, he got to a giant rock that was less than 100 kilometers from the closest Sith vessel.

Kam took a few deep breaths before he pushed off from the asteroid and shot his body on a direct course for just above the shielded entrance into his target's hangar bay. He used the Force to cushion his landing just enough so that the impact on the hull was only bone-jarring instead of bone-breaking. Then, just slowly enough, he swung himself through the shield that kept the bay separate from the vacuum of space and let the artificial gravity pull him down to the deck.

With a quick look around while keeping his Force-senses alert, Kam saw that no one was here; all of the Sith starfighters were either destroyed or still engaged with the remaining StealthXs. Now he just had to get to this ship's bridge, find out if this was the only ChaseMaster to put out the jamming frequency, and-

He seized up in place and couldn't help but scream in pain as he felt Tionne's agony through the Force. Though the moment was brief, it still felt eternally long to Kam as he dropped to his knees.

When he felt a hollowness overcome him, he feared the worst; that his wife had been killed. Hastily, he stretched his senses out to Shedu Maad to see if she was still there. He didn't feel as if Tionne was dead, but he had to be sure...

No. No, she wasn't dead. He could feel that her presence was still anchored in the physical realm; but her mind... Her mind was separate somehow.

She was in a coma, Kam realized with less horror than he would have had had his wife just been dead.

Still, he knew that he had to get off his knees and continue with this mission, or the children on the planet would be subjected to the Sith's mercy.

So Kam pushed himself to his knees and was about to take a step forward when a dozen Sith charged into the hangar bay with their lightsabers ablaze. Gritting his teeth in preparation for what was to come, Kam unhooked his own 'saber from his belt, activated it, and leaped toward the throng with a battle-cry.

. . .

From the throne room of the Oroboro's Memory, UnuThul's expression was set in determination as he willed all of his hive-minded forces to disengage from whatever dogfights and bombing runs in which they were embroiled and move toward a singular point in the Corellian system. That point was an Interdictor cruiser belonging to the Colony's enemy in this battle; all they had to do was destroy that cruiser, thus dropping its portion of the interdiction field that encircled the system, and then the ship that would ferry Luke Skywalker could slip through and jump into hyperspace.

It took several minutes and just as many dozens of losses, mainly on the part of the Killik dartships, before they all converged upon the Interdictor. As expected, though, the Corellians increased their rate of fire upon the Colony vessels even as several of their own warships moved to defend the Killiks' intended target.

But in the end, because all of the Colony's nestships in the system had also moved in toward the Interdictor, the full power of their armaments—dozens of turbolaser and ion cannons and proton torpedo and concussion missile launchers between all of them—had utterly annihilated the six cruisers that the Corellians had brought to bear before that Interdictor was reduced to a holed ruin.

Unfortunately, due to the Colony's single-minded approach in destroying that one vessel, they were left open to so many flanking and rear attacks from Corellian bombers and fighters and fire from their capital warships that eight of them were pounded into dead husks that failed to support the life that remained aboard them. And the rest of the Colony nestships and dartships continued to be harassed and struck into oblivion even after the Corellian Interdictor's destruction.

Still, UnuThul and the rest of the Colony thought, it was a worthy sacrifice; for if Abeloth were to escape, no one in the galaxy would be safe. So, as soon as the Corellian Interdictor was dead, the F8 freighter containing Master Skywalker was launched from the hangar bay of the Oroboro's Memory and rocketed over the floating ruins of the destroyed enemy vessels to the open space beyond. Two squadrons of dartships covered the F8 by fending off the few Corellian starfighters that broke off from the main body of the battle.

Thankfully, because it was only one seemingly insignificant ship, and the Corellians had no idea who was aboard it, it went relatively unmolested as the bulk of their concentration was focused solely on destroying the remaining nestships, dartships, and Joiner vessels that remained in their system.

The Oroboro's Memory, of course, was chief among those nestships that had gone critical following the F8's escape. Various levels had been exposed to the vacuum of space from enemy fire, key systems such as life support had gone out in several other areas, and most of the crew had all but died through either explosions or exposure to vacuum. At this point, the throne room was one of the few areas of the main nestship that still operated at optimum efficiency, but UnuThul—and, by extension, the rest of the Colony—knew that that wouldn't last for very long.

Master Skywalker, UnuThul conveyed, may the Force be with you.

And as if those parting words had sealed his fate, a run from a Corellian bomber took out the shields that protected the throne room. Then, directly afterwards, an enemy fighter that was trailing smoke from an earlier dogfight rocketed on a straight course for the forward viewport.

UnuThul and all of the Killiks who were with him then and there were annihilated almost instantly; and it was right when the precious F8 had launched into hyperspace.

. . .

Kam panted in exertion as he briefly regarded the maimed corpses of all the Sith he just fought and killed; thanks to his own skill with the blade, and with his Force-powers, he had only received flesh wounds from his opponent's blades—both their lightsabers and knives—that had the unfortunate, and obvious, side effect of tearing into his spacesuit.

Knowing that his suit was now useless, and that he would have to find some other way off this ChaseMaster—what it would be, he didn't know since there weren't any other ships in this hangar bay—he yanked off his protective helmet, shrugged off the remainder of his suit, and stretched out with his Force-senses to see if there were any other Sith on this frigate.

After a while, he could only sense one, and it was several levels above. Kam could only guess that this Sith must have been the last line of defense to what must have been the system to the jamming field.

So, with no further hesitation, he charged out of the hangar bay and into the corridor that he guessed might take him up to where this last Sith was. Instead of using a turbolift, however, Kam was smart enough to take an emergency stairway, even if that would cut into precious time that the younglings might need down on Shedu Maad (if they hadn't already run out of it, he thought grimly).

After several minutes of bounding and leaping up several flights of steps, during which he encountered no resistance—or, indeed, any other presences aboard this ship—Kam finally got to the level that had the sole Sith presence remaining aboard this ChaseMaster. It only took him two minutes more before he honed in on the presence behind a door. He produced his lightsaber, slashed it open, and stepped in to confront the Sith.

But instead of bearing his own lightsaber, the Sith—a male Keshiri—had a thermal detonator in hand.

"Nice try, Jedi," the humanoid said bitterly.

Then the Keshiri pressed the button, and Kam barely had time to jump back and Force-shield himself from the resultant explosion. But when it passed, his head hit the bulkhead behind him, and he collapsed into a coma that mirrored his wife's.

. . .

Even if this bunker didn't have security cameras that could have told Oxla and Nelani about the five approaching Sith, the latter could still sense the quintet's dark presences through the Force. Thus, even with the knowledge that she was heavily outnumbered, and the fear that accompanied that knowledge, she had readied herself into a battle-ready posture in the bunker's center and her lightsaber in hand, though unlit.

When the door slid open, Nelani activated her lightsaber and announced, "Take no further step in, Sith, or I'll cut you all down!" Despite the feeling of her heart racing, her tone was surprisingly calm and confident.

Still, the five Sith at the threshold only regarded her with amused sneers. Then the one in the center looked to his right and said, "Trenck, take care of this one."

The indicated Sith—Trenck-activated his lightsaber in one hand and unsheathed a knife from his holster in the other. Then he rushed in and started clashing blades with Nelani, who was almost immediately driven back from her initial position under the onslaught of the Sith's attacks. Within seconds, her back hit the wall, and for several seconds, she fended off her opponent's attacks with increasing desperation.

Less than thirty seconds after her back hit the wall, though, the Sith's knife slipped past the Knight's defenses and plunged itself into Nelani's stomach. She seized in place and collapsed forward only after the knife was pulled out of her; the Sith she so briefly fought paid her no further mind as her blood started to pool around her.

She would be dead in minutes, Nelani knew, if she didn't get treatment as soon as possible. But that didn't bother her as she felt her life gradually slip away into the Force; instead, what bothered her was the utter sense of failure, of being unable to save the children in her charge, as she died.

As Nelani's consciousness began to blur, she was just able to see Oxla's neck be snapped by a gesture from the lead Sith. And after the Weequay's body dropped to the floor, the five Sith began corralling the frightened Jedi younglings into a large group in one corner of the room; none of them resisted, though only two of them complied without fear.

Then Nelani passed out.

. . .

After all of the scared children were herded into one group, they were still moaning and muttering in fear before Gavar Khai loudly shouted, "Silence!"

All of the younglings complied without uttering a noise.

When Gavar was satisfied that he wouldn't be interrupted, he said, "Now... we have no intention of hurting any of you. Contrary to what the Jedi may have told you, we Sith are not the mean, nasty monsters of the galaxy who only want to bring death and destruction everywhere we go. No; we are the ones who want to bring peace to the galaxy, more than the Jedi want to, in fact. We just do it in a way that not a lot of people like; but, really, it's the only way that most beings in the galaxy understand. So, if any of you would like to join us, you may do so. If not..." He nodded his head over to the collapsed form of the Jedi Knight who tried so hard to defend them. "You can join her in the Force."

He allowed that to sink into the scared minds of all the younglings for a moment.

But once he was just about sure that there would be no pushback, a single male Quarren child leaped out from the midst of the gathered crowd with a yellow-bladed lightsaber. His body arced through the air for Gavar in what was meant to be a downward bisecting strike, but the Sith blocked the blade; and with his free hand, he Force-pushed the Quarren over the heads of the startled children so that the alien ended up pinned against the wall behind him.

Then, without hesitation, Gavar threw his lightsaber into a spinning arc across the room that decapitated the Quarren; his head hadn't even hit the floor before the 'saber returned to Gavar's hand, and that occurred just as most of the children screamed and backed away from the beheaded corpse.

"Anyone else?" Gavar asked simply.

"Father."

Gavar's head turned to one corner of the room as his lips lifted into a satisfied smile. From amidst the crowd, his daughter walked out and stepped up to him; her own grin mirrored his.

"It is good to see you again, Vestara." Gavar allowed a small amount of sentimentality to spill into his tone.

"Likewise, Father," Vestara replied with an obeisant nod. It was all she could do at the moment; a passionate hug between them would be inappropriate right now and unbecoming of Sith who needed to present an intimidating front to these Jedi younglings.

With all that could be said between them, Gavar returned his attention to the crowd. "Now who here would wish to follow Vestara's example? I advise you do so; it would be better for your health in the long-run."

"I would," a voice piped up from the crowd.

A redheaded boy who looked to be around Vestara's age stepped out from among the younglings; hushed murmurs that conveyed a sense of shock rippled among them. He walked right up next to Ves and levelled a blank gaze up at Gavar.

"And you are?" the Sith asked.

"I am Ben Skywalker," the boy answered evenly, "and I wish to join the ranks of the Sith."

"Ben Skywalker, you say?" Gavar asked.

Ben nodded. "Yes, sir."

"You wouldn't happen to be the son of Luke Skywalker, the Grand Master of the Jedi Order?" Gavar inquired further.

"I am," Ben answered, his tone still even.

"His soul is steeped in the dark side, Father," Vestara cut in. "He can-"

"Silence, Vestara," Gavar interrupted sharply.

His daughter obeyed instantly.

Gavar then deactivated his lightsaber but kept it in hand as he knelt down to face the boy. "Why do you, the son of your Order's Grand Master, want to join the Sith, young Ben?"

"The Jedi aren't good enough, sir," Ben answered. "They can't help me. They don't know how. Because all they care about is keeping the dark side at bay; I don't want that. I want to embrace it, with my whole heart, because... it's the only way I can truly feel better."

Gavar's eyes narrowed in curiosity. "I see. Yes. I can sense the darkness within you, Ben, Vestara is right about that. But tell me: do any of your friends share that darkness?"

"None of the kids behind me are my friends, sir," Ben stated. "And I don't know any of them enough to know that."

"Is that really so?" Gavar asked.

Ben nodded. "It is, sir."

Gavar tilted his head back a few inches without taking his eyes off of the boy. Then, slowly, he stood back up to his full height and returned his attention to the crowd of younglings.

"Well?" he asked. "Who here shares Ben's darkness?"

Only six hands were raised from the crowd; a male Zeltron, a female Bothan, a male Falleen, a female Twi'lek, a male Yuzzem, and a female Mon Calamari.

"Very well," Gavar said. "Now who would be willing to see if they can find that darkness within them?"

Less than a dozen more hands were raised.

"Fine, then," Gavar said. He looked over to his four surviving Sabers. "Kill the rest."

Frightened screams followed as those Sabers activated their namesake weapons and began cutting down the younglings who didn't raise their hands.