The Royal Ship exited hyperspace and Solin got his first look at Ord Mantell since the invasion began. He was slightly surprised to see the blockade no longer surrounding the planet. Instead, he saw the planet in its full glory; it looked much bigger than it had with the ships crowding it.
"I have one battleship on my scope, Master," Keira reported, looking at her computer screen. Solin glanced at it as Captain Senih sat down in his pilot's seat to land the ship on Ord Mantell.
"It looks like General Nute's command ship," Solin replied.
"They've probably spotted us," said Captain Senih.
"If that's true, then we haven't got much time," Solin said.
Captain Senih flew the ship into the atmosphere of Ord Mantell, headed toward the Capital City. He landed the ship on the outskirts of the Royal Palace. Solin was surprised nobody had shot at the ship in an attempt to down it; he wondered if this meant their arrival was expected. Once the ship had powered down, Solin led Keira and Captain Senih into the throne room, where King Mobbs his entourage and Elocin were gathered, all prepared for the pending battle. Most notable was the King himself, dressed in a red battle suit that looked as if it hadn't seen much action in quite some time.
"Ah, Master Solin, we've just gone over the battle plan and finalized it," said King Mobbs as Solin, Keira and Captain Senih entered the room. "We're ready whenever you are, but I was wondering if you had any words of encouragement for us since our numbers are so small."
"I can do that," Solin replied, looking around at the group, which consisted of just about a dozen people. "Well, the odds may be against us, but we have something the Army of Malastare doesn't have: hope. Hope will get us through this battle and whatever consequences come from it. But there is something you must remember about hope; it's something my old master used to remind me of: 'Hope is like the sun. If you only believe it when you see it, you'll never make it through the night.'"
At that, most of King Mobbs' entourage cheered loudly, fired up by Solin's words. Even King Mobbs looked more comfortable with his decision to return to Ord Mantell to liberate his planet.
"Thank you for those words, Master Solin. I certainly have hope for us. Now then, let's get off this planet and get to the palace."
King Mobbs led his entourage from the throne room, along with Elocin. Solin stayed behind with Keira for a moment.
"Don't come into the battle unless you can sense you have no other choice," Solin cautioned. "We'll need you to use your Battle Meditation for as long as possible."
"Yes, Master," Keira replied, sitting down in King Mobbs' chair and folding her legs. "May the Force be with you."
"May the Force be with you, Keira," Solin said as Keira closed her eyes, crossed her legs and started to float in mid-air above the chair as if she were losing herself in the Force. With that, Solin hurried from the throne room and down the ramp, joining Elocin, King Mobbs and the others.
The group made its way toward the palace, not encountering any soliders of the Army of Malastare. This confirmed Solin's suspicions that their arrival was expected and that the Army planned to fight them in the palace. He couldn't yet sense Vulcan, but he could sense the presence of the Dark Side.
When they reached a side entrance to the palace, they saw several armed guards standing outside of it, waiting for them. On King Mobbs' signal, the group stormed into the entrance area, firing on the unsuspecting guards. Solin and Elocin ignited their lightsabers; Solin was slightly taken aback by the orange blade that sprung from Elocin's lightsaber but had no time to dwell on it. Together, Solin and Elocin cut down several of the guards as King Mobbs and his entourage handled the rest. Within seconds, they had cleared the entrance.
"That's only the beginning!" King Mobbs declared. "They may have been easy to defeat, but we have no idea what awaits us in the palace. Onward!"
King Mobbs pressed a button, which opened the door to the palace. Immediately, a handful of guards came running toward the group. Solin and Elocin deflected the laser bolts, which took down the guards. Once the guards were down, they proceeded inside.
Nearly every room of the palace had soldiers of the Army of Malastare waiting for the group to arrive. While they were huge in numbers, they were overwhelmed by the combined forces of Solin and Elocin, and Keira's Battle Meditation; thanks to Keira's powers, the group remained inspired to keep fighting at all costs and did not wear down from the physicality of the battle. In one room, they stumbled upon several palace guards who were imprisoned under heavy watch. Within moments, the soldiers in that room had been taken down and the imprisoned guards were able to retrieve weapons and join the entourage.
"We seem to have had it easy thus far," Solin said as the imprisoned guards regrouped and checked their weapons. He and Elocin and just deactivated their lightsabers, but kept them held. "How close are we to getting to the throne room?"
"The next hallway will take us straight there," King Mobbs replied. "We could be just moments away from capturing General Nute and forcing him to surrender. Is everyone ready?" The rest of the group except for the Jedi cheered. "Then let's go!"
They left that room and walked toward the next hallway. Suddenly, Solin could feel a strong dark presence close by and tightened his grip on his lightsaber. He was not surprised when they turned down the hallway leading to the throne room and saw a hooded figure standing in the center of it, blocking their path. They stopped short of the figure, each of the guards pointing their weapons at the figure.
"State your business!" Ngema demanded, sounding more confident than Solin sensed from her. "You are blocking the King of Ord Mantell and -"
She stopped speaking as the figured lowered their hood and she realized it was Vulcan, looking utterly pleased. Solin and Elocin stepped forward, tossing aside their cloaks as they did.
"We'll handle this," Solin said to King Mobbs, who nodded at him.
"We'll take the long way," said King Mobbs as he and his entourage turned and walked away. Once they were gone, Nacluv lowered his hood, tossed his cloak to the side and ignited his lightsaber. Solin and Elocin imitated him.
"You got lucky the last time, old friend," Nacluv said with a manic look in his face. "But, even with a Jedi Master assisting you, you won't stand a chance against the power of the Dark Side! And once I'm finished dealing with you, I will capture King Mobbs and this planet will remain under control of Malastare and the Sith!"
"An empty threat means nothing, even coming from you, Vulcan," Solin retorted. "Your reliance on the Dark Side of the Force will be your undoing."
"We will see," Nacluv snarled before he leapt forward and attacked Solin, who easily blocked his attack. Elocin then made to counterattack, but Nacluv blocked it before pushing her away slightly.
It was the most ferocious duel Solin had ever participated in. Even with Elocin's strong abilities working with his, they could still not get an advantage over Nacluv. Luckily, Nacluv was also not able to get an advantage over them, either; he was having to exert all of his energy on holding back Solin and Elocin, and couldn't find an opening for several minutes. Suddenly, he was able to block an attack from Solin and before he could react, Nacluv managed to land a kick on Solin, sending him to the ground.
Nacluv then focused on Elocin. Despite her years of training, Elcon began to wear down slightly as she and Nacluv dueled; she had never faced an adversary as powerful as Nacluv. Within seconds, they had entered a lightsaber lock, each holding their ground and attempting to use the Force to remain steady. Suddenly, Nacluv broke the lock and was able to slice on Elocin's left arm. She screamed in pain and fell to the ground as Nacluv laughed and turned back to face Solin, who had recovered from the kick.
Solin kept up a fierce counterattack against Nacluv, but it wasn't enough to hold off the Sith Lord. Despite knowing all of Nacluv's favorite moves from his days as a Jedi, Solin was unable to defend against the barrage of attacks by Nacluv and began to wear down from exhaustion. Nacluv seemed to sense this and redoubled his attacks. Within seconds, he held up a hand and blasted Force Lightning at Solin, who was unable to block it. Solin fell to the ground, convulsing in pain and losing his lightsaber in the process.
Nacluv laughed loudly as he raised his lightsaber to deliver the killing blow. He stopped when he heard a woman shout behind him.
"NO!" Keira shouted as she leapt toward Nacluv, igniting her own lightsaber and bringing it down to attack Nacluv, who managed to block her strike. He pushed Keira back with his weight, but she recovered quickly. Nacluv cackled as he looked at Keira and could see the fire in her eyes.
"How sweet: a young apprentice comes to rescue her precious, Master," he mused. "Well, you may be another Jedi, young one, but you don't stand a chance against me."
"Your words mean nothing if you can't live you to the reputation you hope to have," Keira snarled and she hurried forward and attacked Nacluv, which forced Nacluv back. Nacluv sneered at Keira, annoyed that he would have to take care of her first, but basking in the glory of killing three Jedi.
King Mobbs paused his entourage just outside the rear entrance to the throne room. They had managed to cut through several more waves of guards, all without suffering any casualties. But, King Mobbs could feel the sense of confidence ebbing away slightly; he knew that met Keira was no longer using her Battle Meditation and had entered the palace to assist them in-person.
"Well, everyone, we've made it this far," he said, his confidence remaining despite the loss of Keira's influence. "It seemed unlikely, but we've been able to do it, even without the help of the Jedi on this side of the palace. This is all that's left. But if it's our time to die, then we can do nothing about it, but ensure we take as many of these Malastare cowards with us! Let's go!"
The entourage cheered as King Mobbs pressed the button to open the throne room door. Everyone hurried in, firing upon the unprepared soldiers guarding General Nute and Lieutenant Silas. Within moments, each of the soldiers had been dispatched and only the General remained with his Lieutenant. Captain Menousek and another guard held them at gunpoint.
"Jam the doors!" Captain Menousek ordered. Two guards obeyed his command.
"Now, General Nute, you will have to answer for your actions with this blockade and invasion," King Mobbs declared. "I doubt you'll get leniency from the Senate."
"Don't be so confident, Your Majesty," General Nute retorted, trying to sound angry even though he felt nothing but fear. "Lord Nacluv, the Dark Lord of the Sith, is here now and once he's done dealing with your Jedi friends, he will free us from this room and take you hostage and force you to legitimize our occupation of this planet."
"I wouldn't count on it, General," said Ngema before King Mobbs could reply. "I believe your Lord Nacluv will be forced to flee from this planet before he can defeat our friends. It's as if I can see it happening right now."
Nacluv was taken aback by Keira's dueling abilities. He was forced to admit to himself that none of his apprentices lived up to her skills, and that they matched and even outpaced his own. But he did not dwell on it, focusing on trying to get an upper hand in the duel, which was proving more and more difficult as Keira kept up her barrage. Eventually, Keira was able to push Nacluv away with her body weight. When he recovered from his stumbling, Nacluv lowered his lightsaber, keeping it held.
"You've done well, young one," he said, trying to change tactics. "Your skills are impressive and would serve you well as a Sith. Join me as my apprentice and you will be awarded above all of my apprentices!"
"Save your breath," Keira replied, scowling at Nacluv but not letting her anger cloud her judgment. "I will never become a slave of the Dark Side!"
Nacluv laughed as he lunged forward to attack Keira again. Before he could, he was forced back by a powerful Force Wave. As he regained balance, Nacluv looked up and saw Solin standing up again, holding his green lightsaber in his hands.
"YOU!" Nacluv screamed, deactivating his lightsaber and tossing it onto his belt. "I WILL KILL YOU AND THE REST OF YOU JEDI SCUM!"
Nacluv sent a powerful burst of Force Lighting at Solin and Keira, who were both ready and held up their lightsabers to block the attack. They strained under the effort, but their combined abilities made it so they could approach Nacluv slowly and force him to release less lightning to prevent injury to himself.
Just as Solin and Keira reached Nacluv and were about to attack him together, Nacluv let out a bellow of fury as he sent an incredibly powerful Force Wave through the room, sending Solin and Keira to their feet and shattering all of the windows surrounding them.
"THIS ISN'T OVER, SOLIN!" Nacluv screamed. "WE'LL MEET AGAIN!"
Solin and Keira were stunned long enough that by the time they recovered, Nacluv had disappeared without a trace. They stood up just as Ngema came running down the hallway and Elocin stood up, nursing her arm.
"Are you all right?" Solin demanded as they walked toward Elocin.
"I'll be fine," Elocin replied. "Are you two OK?"
Solin nodded.
"I'm all right," Keira said. "A little tired from that duel, but I'll recover in no time."
"Where did Nacluv go?" Ngema asked. "We were able to corner General Nute and his lieutenant and they're being detained now. I could almost see Nacluv being forced to flee as if it were happening right in front of me even though I was in the throne room."
"Then you were unconsciously using the Force," Elocin said, sounding happy. "If the Force flows through you like that, you are most certainly ready to be admitted to the Jedi Order."
Ngema's face lit up.
"Really?" she asked excitedly. Elocin nodded at her, smiling. "I would be honored!"