SOJOURN
Kira could indeed sense the dark side as she approached the resort home belonging to Hego Damask,but it wasn't explicit in the way that Kira had sensed its shadow from Ultor or his domain of evil.
Rather, the tremor that Kira felt was hiding behind a curtain, not even sure of itself.
It really didn't matter, she decided, she would leave if Damask wasn't worth her time, and if he tried to pull a fast one, then she'd faced and escaped from worse.
Finally, Kira had reached the cobblestone walkway that led into Damask's residence.
Upon her arrival, the old-fashioned door opened and the silver protocol droid was there to greet her.
"Greetings, traveler," 11-4D said, "You must be Kira Solo."
"You contacted me," Kira said hollowly.
"Yes, if you'll come inside," 11-4D offered, gesturing for Kira to enter the manor, which was very shadowy and poorly lit behind the foyer.
"Miss Solo," another voice said from a distance behind the droid.
Kira made out a tall figure emerge from the shadows to reveal a tottering Muun, smiling kindly at her.
"You must be Magister Damask, then?" Kira asked, trying to feel out the strangers aura. She sensed mystery and hidden secrets within the man, but as of yet, nothing sinister.
"Former Magister," Damask replied, "My company has been defunct for many years. I'm just a simple man now, and it's an easy enough life without pursuing some goal or another. I sense that you live with a purpose, dear girl. You have a goal that you seek to achieve."
Kira nodded confidently, glad that they were getting to the point.
"I was a Jedi, but I left because I couldn't live with the philosophy. The Sith killed my brother, and I wanted revenge. I still do." The rage she had felt on the day of Ben's death was flowing back to her as she spoke of her motivations, feeling more confident in them. "I want to kill Ultor for what he did to Ben, after Ben tried to appeal to him more than once. I want to destroy Ultor and stop him from committing even more atrocities than he has. But Master Skywalker stopped me when I had the chance for revenge- he said it wasn't the Jedi way, right after I watched my brother die!"
Kira was immediately ashamed of herself for the tears that had befallen her, but they were few enough to hide from the stranger.
"Well, my dear girl, I certainly don't believe in letting scores remain unsettled. If somebody does something bad to you, it is the natural order of things for you to return the favor. We cannot rely on fate alone, don't you agree, Kira?"
Kira nodded in agreement, glad to have her feelings validated by somebody else. That was exactly how she had felt after Luke had held her back from finishing off the weakened Ultor on Ossus.
"So you say you have knowledge to share with me?" Kira asked Damask, "Knowledge that will help me beat the Coalition."
"Come on in," Damask said, beckoning for Kira to enter.
This time, Kira did, following him into the beach house.
All of the sudden, Kira felt a sharp beacon pierce her brain- a radiation of intense power and energy calling to her. She was pulled from reality as she saw flashes, different images passing her by as voices whispered in and out of her ears.
"What's happening?" She asked, staggering blindly around the room and she felt for something to grab onto.
"Are you all right, Kira?" Damask asked, shaking his visitor to her senses.
Kira saw a blur that turned into Damask's wrinkled and alien but humane face.
"You have something here, a weapon tainted with the dark side."
"Not a weapon exactly," Damask replied, "But something that concerns the training I have summoned you for. Behind that door is a secret that I have discovered during my years of studying the Force; a secret that I have shared with no one. Behind the door is the key to your victory against the Coalition and against the Sith known as Ultor."
The longer Kira stood in the glow of the radiation from the door panel, the more she enjoyed the feel from its presence.
"Show me," she said with an eager voice.
"Before I do, I want to be clear about something. What you will find down there is heavily wrought with dark energy. But the powers you will learn is not exclusive to the dark side, but they can be used for good or evil. My goal is not to train you in the ways of the dark side, but to give you the abilities you need without regard for the narrow, dogmatic views of the Jedi."
"I understand, Mister Damask," Kira replied, "Now I'm ready to learn whatever it is you have to teach me. Show me what's down there, if you really intend to teach me anything."
She felt emboldened by the vibrations flowing through her, although she couldn't quite explain why. But the energy that Kira sensed below her was something that she oddly felt that she wanted to possess for herself.
"Very well," Damask replied, twisting the round latch to open the sliding doors, "This way."
Damask disappeared into a black corridor that led down a staircase into the abyss.
Hesitating only for a fraction of a second, Kira followed him into the dark, until she saw a lit-up room at the bottom.
Damask entered what could only be described as a secret laboratory, with bottles full of potion on the tables, and several rows of liquid tanks.
Kira wrinkled her nose and gagged in disgust at the sight of what rested in each of the tanks- Damask was storing dead, rotting corpses in his laboratory.
"What are these?" Kira asked.
"These are the results of long research and years of studying the origins of the Force," Damask replied, "Tell me, did your Jedi Academy teach you about the midichlorians?"
Kira nodded. "They're the microscopic life forms that live inside us. They communicate the will of the Force, and enact its power through the beings that they dwell in."
"Then you'll know that midichlorians determine the potential of an individual," Damask replied, "But just imagine- what if there was a way to control the actions of midichlorians, inject our own wills into the living Force."
"You can do that?" Kira asked, admittedly becoming increasingly marveled but what she was hearing, "and you say you can teach me?"
"Maybe a demonstration will clear up any doubt," Damask replied.
He selected a tank containing the body of a long-deceased Bith, who wore a breathing apparatus bound to his rotting chest.
Damask stretched his bony fingers towards the Bith and concentrated. Kira watched, trying to detect exactly what Damask was doing to the cadaver, but sensed nothing concrete.
She couldn't even bring herself to react with surprise when the Bith's decaying flesh slowly became whole once again, until its face regained its color and it opened its large, black eyes, which immediately glowed red with malice
Kira gaped in horror and stumbled back against a table, causing the bottles on it to shake loudly.
The Bith looked around in confusion, evidently unsure of where he was and what was happening.
"Can you hear me?" Damask asked the Bith in a gentle, almost paternal voice.
The Bith seemed to recognize Damask's voice and turned his large head in his direction, his eyes flashing.
"What have you done to me?" the Bith asked in a labored voice. Kira could feel the rising wave of anger and sensed a vague notion of deep-seated rage looming overhead.
"You are being encased in this flood tank for your own well-being," Damask assured the Bith, "While I show my new student how your midichlorians can revive you at my will."
Kira remained awestruck, gazing intensely at the Bith as he turned his eyes on Kira, then back to Damask.
"Plagueis...you...traitor!" the Bith snarled, trying and failing to break the glass of the tank encasing him with his weakened arms.
A wave of Damask's hand silenced the Bith, and he began to drain his experiment's life force once again.
"Go back to sleep," Damask whispered soothingly to the angry Bith.
Kira watched with a mixture of repulsion and fascination as Damask manipulated the Bith midichlorians to shut down once against, slowly reverting him to his state as a corpse.
"Did you...bring him back from the dead?" Kira asked with disbelief, still gaping.
Damask nodded with a smirk. "Yes, as you can see, I have achieved the power to cheat death. Controlling the midichlorians to take or revive a life is something that no other has achieved. Even Ultor only dreams of such power."
As Damask spoke, the Bith, apparently named Tenebrous, began to lose consciousness, returning to a state of death.
"I want you to teach this power to me," Kira said determinedly, "I want to learn how to control the midichlorians like you can."
"I will teach you," Damask replied earnestly, "But just remember, learning such power takes a great deal of patience, just like anything worth mastering."
Kira's face formed a small, barely perceptible scowl. Damask wasn't sounding much different from Luke and the other Jedi Masters at the Academy. Still, Kira decided, he had something of value that they didn't, and she would use his knowledge to end the war, triumph over her worst enemy, and possibly even bring Ben back from the dead.
Kira now knew for certain that this was possible, and not merely the stuff of legends.
CHANDRILIA
Another Republic cruiser leapt into orbit of the terrestrial Chandrilia, which had already been surrounded by the Coalition blockade.
The Last Command was accompanied by a fleet of Alpha 3's, upgraded from the Interceptors used at the start of the war.
Four gunships sailed in accompaniment of the Alpha 3's, all in procession towards the planet's surface on the other side of the spherical surface from the Coalition fleet.
From the trooper carrier of the lead gunship, Major Sam Fel Praxium said into his comlink, which was programmed to transmit to all ships participating in the counterattack, "This is Major Praxium. Do you read me?"
"I read you, Major," Commander Diqua replied from her Alpha, "All fighter units ready to engage."
"Engaging now," Sam said, looking over the armed and armored Brigadiers squatting in the gunship.
From the deck of the Phantom Revenge, the three Sith, escorted by a small unit of Coalition guerrillas, observed as the Republic fighters and gunships approached the planet.
"They're going to try and block us in," Nihl said.
"Lucky that's what we want, anyway," Paxis replied.
"All Cartel units, advance to the planetary surface," Nihl said into the built-in communication radio of the command bridge.
Below their feet, silent Shadowtroopers were operating the controls of the crusier, content to remain in the background.
Suddenly, a large, portly hologram appeared in full color before the three Sith, revealing the corpulent, bespectacled Gorga the Hutt.
"Gorga, what is it?" Nihl asked with visible irritation.
Gorga's black protocol droid, TC-70, appeared on the scene next to his master.
"The mighty Gorga wants to make sure that the Sith do not forget the bargain. The aid of the Hutt clans for the Chandrilia strike for the recapture of Tatooine."
"You'll have to take that up with Ultor," Nihl replied with indifference, "I'm just the Sith Lieutenant."
"His excellency has tried to contact your Dark Master without avail."
"Well, then there's nothing we can do about that, is there?" Nihl snapped, eagerly terminating the communication.
From the mountain summits bordering Blakis with the capital of Hanna City, Tionne and Tahiri watched the Coalition ships enter the atmosphere, followed closely behind by the Republic Alphas.
Luke emerged from the safe house and said, "Let's go."
The three of them proceeded to the landspeeder perched beside the back entrance of the hideout and climbed in, with Tahiri sitting behind Luke and Tionne.
"How are we going to avoid being seen by the Republic if we join the fight?" Tahiri asked as Luke pulled the throttle to launch the speeded down the mountain slope.
"We're not joining," Luke replied, "We're only going to make sure innocents don't get hurt."
As the three Jedi sped towards the capital city, the Coalition fighters opened fire on the buildings, causing every pedestrian in sight to scream and run for cover, while the air traffic scattered and fled in any direction possible.
Aboard the Phantom Revenge, three Sith Infiltrators fired up their engines and began lifting off along with the Hawk gunships carrying mercenaries. They descended down the bottom hatch that allowed the ships to exit the cruiser into the orbit of space.
"This looks bad!" Green Three said from his Alpha, "Major, I don't think we'll last long against them up here."
Sam looked out the viewing screen of his gunship, immediately realizing their disadvantage.
"All craft, prepare to land on Chandrilia's surface, set your courses for Hanna City!"
The Republic ships sped away from their new pursuers, by default following the Coalition Vipers and Sycks that had begun to attack the capital already.
On a public Holonet screen hanging over the city on a skyscraper's outer wall, Darth Talon's face appeared, scowling down at the cowering, terrified population.
"Greetings, people of Chandrilia," Talon said, "My name is Corla Kreshi, Lieutenant of the Coalition, representing the Dark Master. We are here to liberate the people from the tyrannical grip of the New Republic."
A older male civilian shouted at the holoscreen from the sidewalk, unheard by anybody not in his vicinity, "You people are terrorists!"
Talon's reply seemed almost on cue in response to the random man's defiance.
"I want to show you an example of the Republic's oppression, from the neighboring world of Trandosha."
The large holoscreen replaced Talon's red face with a moving picture from one of Trandosha's villages, with Republic soldiers marching through the mossy vines, forcing Trandoshans to move out of their way. The publicly displayed scene then cut to the skirmish outside of Drussk's headquarters, purposely omitting the onslaught of Darth Judicar.
"Is this what you want to happen to the beautiful Chandrilia?" Talon asked through the Holonet display, "Do you want the Republic to ravage your cities and homes for political disagreement?"
The citizens of Hanna city began to argue amongst themselves as they kept cover from the ships flying overhead.
"Allow us to liberate you, and show the Republic that your freedoms are not to be crunched!" Talon yelled.
About half of the crowd yelled with enthusiasm, while others still shouted abuse at the screen, while throwing objects as well.
Suddenly, the screen's image changed from Talon's broadcast to that of Mon Mothma.
"Everybody, stay calm," the old Senator advised, "Help is on the way."
As if they were acting on cue, the Republic gunships and Alphas came soaring from the clouds above, drawing the attention of the hovering Coalition fighters.
The people scattered and fled for their lives as laserfire sailed a hundred yards over their heads.
"Make way to land!" Corporal Yorn shouted from the gunship with the unit of Brigadiers that he led.
The Alphas kept the Sycks and Vipers at bay as the gunships landed, and the Brigadiers came rushing onto the streets, opening fire on the small fighters above them.
On the other side of the downtown plaza from where the Republic Brigadiers had landed and were now rushing through the streets, Darth Talon, formerly known as Corla Kreshi, emerged from the shadows, hiding two long lightsaber hilts under the sleeves of the Sith cloak she had put on over her casual disguise.
As the landspeeder reached the outskirts of the battle-torn city, Luke did a double take and winced.
"What is it, Luke?" Tionne asked, recognizing the look on his face, "Do we have more than the fighters to worry about?"
"We have Sith company," Luke replied, "they're getting better at hiding themselves through the Force."
He began to slow the landspeeder down once they had approached the outer city wall, stopping it under the cover of a large, overhanging bush among the many in the countryside valleys.
The three Jedi pulled their brown hoods over their heads and hurried towards the city to defend the local population.
Four Sith Infiltrators appeared among the chaos, beginning to descend towards the surface.
Seeing her fellow Lieutenants docking their crafts near her own, Talon hurried towards them as they each began to exit the open ramps of their Infiltrators, each donning the signature black robe of a Sith.
"You're late, all of you!" she hissed, "We have a mission to achieve here. Follow me!"
As Talon beckoned them towards the intersection that led to the exchanges of gunfire, Nihl, Judicar, Paxis and Wyyrlok all exchange fierce, sinister looks.
After shooting at the cockpit of a Syck fighter, Sam dove under the protection of an open speeder garage and pulled out his comlink.
"What's the situation from above?" he asked.
"We've lost five so far," Trix Azer said, herself in the middle of swerving between two volleys of laserfire just on top of Hanna City's slanted Capitol building fifteen hundred feet above, "I know Marcavian was one of them."
Sam's insides lurched, but he had gotten so used to such losses that he was able to transition back to battle mode with ease.
"Keep driving those fighters away," he said, "We'll have a proper memorial when this is over."
Sam had to jump aside as a trail of red laserfire drilled a hole in the ground beside him
He looked around, his heart filling with horror at the sight of smoke and flames encroaching the buildings around him, with laserfire trailing high above.
"I've had enough of this," he muttered to himself, his mind briefly flashing through every battle against the Coalition that he had been through, as well as every dead body he had had to carry through the battlefield, and every fighter pilot who had been blown up by the Coalition ships.
"Advance to the Capitol!" Sam yelled at the men and women near him, finally running out of the cover of the abandoned garage.
He led the Brigadiers forward, ducking as the volleys of fire from the Coalition ships continued to hail. A scream and a thud behind Sam indicated that at least one of his Brigadiers had been fatally struck by a blast, but he couldn't bring himself to look back.
As they turned the corner to advance on the plaza, a row of Hutt Cartel Hawk gunships blocked the pathway leading to the large, spiral-shaped skyscraper.
Out of the enemy carriers, the doors opened and at least forty armed mercenaries emerged.
"Look out!" Sam yelled as the masked thugs opened fire. He hurried to the side with his adapted reflexes as he sent a deadly shot from his own blaster rifle into the chest of a Coalition warrior.
It helps that they don't show their faces, Sam thought as he made another shot, this time to the head. This way, it was easier to kill the various beings who were somehow persuaded or tricked into joining the ranks of the terrorist Coalition.
"Krebbs!" Sam shouted as one of his sergeants was struck in the head by a fatal blow, dying instantly.
"Look!" one of the men shouted.
Sam's stomach turned inside out as soon as he looked to the street opposite the one from which they had come.
Five cloaked figures were approaching, throwing back their hoods to reveal the Sith Lieutenants; Talon, the female Twi'lek who had just broadcasted herself to the public, the male Nagal Nihl, the female Nautolan Paxis, the male human Wyyrlok, and the male Kiffar Judicar
Sam didn't even wait for the Sith to activate their lightsabers to give the command.
"Fall back!" he yelled, "retreat!"
He turned on his own heels and started running, turning back with his blaster rifle to continue firing at the masked guerrillas who had begun to pursue, now led by the five Sith.
Talon was the first to activate her lightsabers, now carrying two red blades.
The rest of them soon hissed to life, and the streets were suddenly filled with screams of pain and death.
"Don't look back!"
From the Republic cruiser Black Ring, General Praxium watched the holo footage of the battle.
"Prepare my ship," he said to his aide, "and have them deploy the 50th and the 73rd Brigades as well. We need a lot more men if we're going to win this."
From the covers of a desolate building in the burning city, Luke, Tionne and Tahiri observed the battle.
"Sam's there, and more good people," Tahiri insisted, "They don't deserve to get mowed down."
"No, they don't," Tionne reluctantly agreed, shaking her head with sadness. "Master Skywalker, I know we said that the Jedi wouldn't fight a war, but this is just senseless destruction."
"You're right," Luke said with a nod, "And that's why we're here."
He knew what had to be done, to a point. The Jedi were not neutral, he knew that much for certain.
MORABAND
Ultor trudged alone through the red sand, his eyes fixed on the ancient Sith Temple before him, between groves of sharp rocks.
His cape billowed up and down behind him as he strode down the slope of the rocks where he had landed, quickly approaching the pillared structure.
At last, the Dark Master reached the entrance, climbing the stone steps and crossing through the archway.
Statues of ancient Sith Lords were built along two rows on either side of the walkway into the temple, their faces boring into Ultor as he walked past them.
Once he was fully inside the Sith Temple, Ultor stopped to scan the interior and take in the sights. He saw several panels in the walls that had clearly been broken into, with tipped-over caskets scattered across the floor. Some Sith bones remained, but many were detached from the skeletons that had rested in here.
"It seems I'm not the first to come here," Ultor remarked. His eye pupils flashed yellow as he absorbed the energy of the Dark Lords whose spirits screamed through the walls. He would have success where they had failed.
Passing the broken tombs and coffins, Ultor entered another room, full of shelves that held a few stray Holocrons, but none that shined or radiated energy the way that Sidious's had.
Summoning a powerful wave of darkness power, Ultor raised both hands and concentrating, digging hard and intensely into the dark side of the Force.
"Activate, keepers of Sith knowledge, and reveal your secrets to me," he growled, straining with intense efforts as he tried to activate the Holocrons all at once, "Where is the most powerful wielder of your power?"
Ultor's muscles were cracking from the pressure he was applying, his face growing red and clenched with rage as he failed to activate the Holocrons.
Finally, a glare of red light shone from a solid prism. Ultor turned his pale face to the source of energy, rushing to grab the Holocron.
He then let go of the rest, dismissing the artifacts as worthless. Holding the Holocron that had called to him, Ultor willed its knowledge to flow through his hands into his veins, and tunnel through him.
Finally, a bright glow came from the Holocron, and produced a light that spread across the room, until Ultor was met by a shimmering figure, very much like the figure of his great-grandfather had appeared to him before Ultor had destroyed the Holocron encasing Palpatine's spirit.
"You're a Sith spirit," Ultor said, neither impressed nor repulsed. He'd seen it all before.
"Yes and no," the glowing image replied. It was a Bith who spoke to him, one who wore a breathing apparatus and spoke in a slow, labored voice. "I encased my soul in this Holocron, but I still have an organic body disconnected from it, stolen from my tomb by another Sith. I have been revived and killed again countless times, always returning to my home here whenever he chooses to bring me back."
"You're referring to the Sith Master that Lord Sidious spoke of," Ultor replied, slowing piecing things together, "The Master that can cheat death."
The Bith replied, "That would be my former apprentice, Darth Plagueis. He was the master of Sidious. You were a disciple of Lord Sidious?"
Ultor shook his head before replying, "I was his blood descendant. I discovered his Holocron in the Jedi Archives. Before his death, Sidious used the dark side to preserve his spirit in the Holocron, and Luke Skywalker kept it locked away. I learned from Sidious's Holocron before destroying his spirit."
"As is the tradition of Bane's Sith Order," the Bith spirit replied, "And now you wish to pursue knowledge beyond what Sidious had to give you?"
"Plaguies is still alive, somewhere in the universe," Ultor replied, "I want his power, and I want to make sure that nobody can take it!" He felt even more sure of himself in the presence of this old, dead Sith Lord, his determination and anger pressing against his heart and soul.
"Plagueis killed me after I prepared to move my consciousness into this Holocron," the Bith explained, "As I had eventually expected. He took my body and those of dozens of Sith Lords to his secret facility, where he has been experimenting with the art of midichlorian control. When I last awoke in the physical realm, I saw that he had found a new apprentice to teach his secrets to."
"A new apprentice?" Ultor asked, growling with frustration. It sounded like he now had two adversaries to conquer that possessed the knowledge he sought, "Who was it?"
"A young woman," the Bith spirit replied.
Comprehension dawned over Ultor as he realized exactly who had already visited this mysterious Plagueis. "I know who she is," he snarled, "My mission is to kill her as well."
He then drew his lightsaber, as if to threaten the glowing Sith apparition.
"Now, tell me where Plagueis and his new student are."
"Why should I help you?" the Bith rasped, "You're not going to bring me back as a conscious body the way Plagueis has. Your conquest will do less for me than if he was still in power."
"I destroyed Sidious, and severed his spirit's last link to the physical world," Ultor threatened, activating his red blade and waving it menacingly at the former Sith Lord, "I can do the same to you."
"I would still have a link to the physical universe, through Plagueis," the Bith replied, "If I told you where he was, you could destroy my body and ruin any chance I have of returning to life in full."
Ultor dipped his lightsaber towards the Holocron on the floor, considering making good on his threat.
Then, he realized he would need to change his tune to get what he wanted.
Switching off his lightsaber, Ultor took a moment to calm down and compose himself.
Then he said, "If I found Plagueis, I could avenge your death and ensure that he never returns to power himself. If I had you as an ally, we would have revenge on both him and the Jedi who have reduced the Sith to living the way we have, forced into hiding and keeping our numbers low. So now, mighty Dark Spirit, are you willing to help me?"
The glowing Bith was silent, considering Ultor's false, hollow offer.
Ultor kept an earnest expression on his face as he sensed the Bith's vengeful nature coming to light.
"You propose an alliance with my physical body?" the Bith asked.
"Yes," Ultor replied, "Once I learn Plagueis's secrets, we can crush him and his new Jedi disciple. With me, mighty Lord of the Sith, you can have the chance that you never had in your life, to be the one to realize Bane's Grand Plan even further than Emperor Sidious ever had."
The glowing Sith spirit remained silent, gazing intently at Ultor.